Lemma Soft Forums

Other working titles: Minty Fresh, Life’s in Store, Zephyr’s Whisper, with a sweet smile

Story: In a sleepy, quiet town in Hokkaido, 18-year old Haruka Nakamura is just starting her university education at the prestigious Tomoko Kami International Academy. Her goal? To figure out what her goal is in life. The possibilities for new friendships are endless, not to mention for a little romance on the side...

Main characters:
Haruka Nakamura

Could be easily confused at first sight with an ordinary student, but is actually our protagonist. Haruka has had a happy childhood with her loving, endlessly supportive parents, who passed on opportunities for promotions or overtime in order to spend as much time with her as possible and taught her the importance of possessing a strong moral compass and doing what she enjoys in life, and her inseparable friends Noriko and Hitomi, who never failed to make her days more interesting and enjoyable.

A kind, easygoing and carefree person with a great sensitivity and concern for helping other people, Haruka's plan for the future is to find out what her plan for the future is. Preferably as soon as possible. (Unfortunately for her, she can't find it at the end of an RPG quest after defeating the final boss.) In the meantime, she makes sure to take it easy and do everything she can to enjoy every day and have fun with her friends.






Akane Asahi

A principled and determined athlete, Akane is a scholarship student at the academy, studying mechatronic engineering. (No, not the science of engineering mechas. This isn't next Sunday AD.) Moderately competent in academics but excelling at football, she is an introvert who has trouble getting along with people on account of her defensiveness and wariness inherited from a difficult family background. Her siblings and close friends whose patience and persistence in befriending her succeeded have the privilege of witnessing a different side of her personality.

Will the new beginning as a transfer student herald a new outlook as well?



Miyuki Kujō

Half-British, half-Japanese, 100% ojou. Miyuki has not had the happiest childhood, losing her mother at birth and being saddled with a rich, cutthroat businessman of a father who has been too busy to raise her, and in the few occasions he has been present in her life it was mainly to pressure her into following a particular path in life. Rebelling aganist her stifling background, Miyuki has shunned the most high-profile, prestigious universities in favour of coming to Tomoko Kami to study a subject she genuinely enjoys: Japanese literature.

Miyuki’s caring, mature personality and effortlessly elegant aura have earned her at least one instant fan club during her years in school, a fact that made her uncomfortable because she felt like she was being judged based on assumptions of who she was instead of what she was actually like. A diligent learner who is sensitive to other people's feelings, Miyuki does her best to play down or not acknowledge her background, in order to remain firmly grounded as a person. Her main desire in life is to be loved and have friends, though she wouldn't mind learning to cook food instead of improvised rat poison if the opportunity presents itself.




Kanako Tsuchiya

Tomboy racer to the end. Growing up, Kanako and her younger sister Sanae lived with their parents in Murata, where her and her father's visits sparked a lifelong interest in cars and motorsports. The increasing rift between her father and mother, as well as their intolerant attitude towards her sexuality, led Kanako and Sanae to move in with their more accepting aunt and uncle in Hokkaido. Kanako also took the opportunity to enroll in the academy, to study mechanical engineering with a focus on cars.

Beneath Kanako's proud, unflappable exterior and intimidatingly thorough knowledge of motorsports and automobile engineering lies a heart of gold, best demonstrated by her protective instinct and care for Sanae. A bookworm when it comes to engineering and an occasional mechanic in her spare time, Kanako's ambition is to become a racing driver. She considers Deep Purple’s “Speed King” and “Highway Star” to be her “jams”.





Karen Kerslake

A native of Seaside, Karen has long regarded Japan as a very interesting place indeed, and when she found out her Californian university was twinned with the academy she practically leapt at the opportunity to study there for a year as an exchange student. Even if she's actually studying English.

An intelligent, insatiably curious and very open and honest person, Karen loves to learn more about... everything, really. She has a well-honed ability to ask questions and start conversations about anything, followed by wondering how did so many hours go by so quickly once they end. She enjoys swimming and surfing, though she's not particularly good at the latter. She hopes to finish her year abroad with a minimum of embarrassing linguistic faux-pas and leave with broadened horizons and new friends. (And the ability to instantly tell whether a kanji should be read with the on’yomi or kun’yomi, when she’s feeling invincibly, world-conqueringly ambitious.)





Hitomi Amatsuka

A close childhood friend of Haruka and Noriko, Hitomi is a sweet, caring, good-hearted person who can be friends with anybody. Her gentle personality and low-key, calmly happy demeanour serve to subtly brighten her surroundings and improve the mood of the people she's with. They also automatically make anybody in her vicinity look more energetic and driven by comparison, but at heart she possesses a great inner strength that has been known to surprise people who mistake her quiet nature for submissiveness. She works as a miko at the local shrine when she isn’t attending the academy, where she studies veterinary science.





Team: Kirina (writing), Gyl (writing, music), Hodori (writing), Tori (writing - secondary characters), Yuuki (writing, artist) and Rinima (additional writing, beta-reading, minor coding and concept art) so far.
4 August 2014: Rinima (additional writing, beta-reading, minor coding and concept art) joined the party!
Note: None of us are actually Japanese. If anybody knows more about Japan than we do, or is actually Japanese, and would like to join or help to make sure our writing isn’t laughably clueless, we would love to have you onboard!

Other comments: This is our first VN project. We’re aiming for a lighthearted, easygoing slice of life/iyashikei kind of story. The kind that somebody could play and have a warm and fuzzy feeling at the end. :3

Assets:
Writing: The rather messy main planning document + the prologue. (Please excuse the disorganisation :3)
Soundtrack demo: Daisy Morning, Gakkō e no sanpo, Your Call Is Very Important To Us Please Hold, Girls und Post-Disco, Orange Knickers (WIP) (early WIP)

Purpose of thread: Gauging interest in project before expanding the team + gathering feedback on what works and what could use improvement, mainly. Providing updates on progress of project as a secondary use, if people are interested in following.

Questions:
1. Would you be interested in playing this game?
1.5. Or helping out with its creation?
2. What do you think of the characters?
2.5. Would you like more details about them, or the supporting characters?
3. Do you prefer any of the working titles so far, or should we come up with another batch?
4. Any other things in particular you would like to suggest?
Q. Are we not men?

EDITS
5 August 2014: Awesome logo contributed by Rinima!
13 August 2014: Setting updated, additional writing in progress, "Daisy Morning" finished.
14 August 2014: First concept artwork contributed by Rinima!
14-16 August 2014: Character descriptions upgraded with more detail.
14-17 August 2014: Concept artwork contributed by Rinima.
19 August 2014: "Gakko e no sanpo" and "Your Call Is Important To Us Please Hold" added.
1 September: Concept artwork for Karen contributed by Rinima.
12 September: "Girls und Post-Disco" added.

1. It's GxG, of COURSE I'm interested in playing it.
1.5 Not really, mostly because I'm busy with my own projects and because I lose interest quickly
2. Not very interesting, to be honest. The characters seem like your typical female anime cast and I don't really like those. I'm pretty tired of those tropes by now. I guess I simply prefer a more western approach to these games and characters. (I would also greatly prefer if this wasn't set in Japan, but, you know, personal preference.) While I'm not interested in the characters now, I am willing to let withhold further judgement until I actually see them in action.
2.5 Unless the supporting characters have some really important roles, I don't think I'm interested enough to want to know more about them before playing the game. (Although information about both would be ideal.)
3. If you're going for slife and/or comedy, I like the title 'Minty Fresh'. It somehow makes me think of colourful, fluffy letters. Don't ask me why, though. (Although I should warn you that most people are probably gonna associate toothpaste with such a title.)
4. As I already said, have the game be set somewhere other than Japan. Set the game in college instead of high school (or somewhere else entirely). Ask yourself "What makes my characters different from others?". Again, though, this is simply personal preference.

Oh, whoa, a response already? This is exciting!

bellice wrote:1. It's GxG, of COURSE I'm interested in playing it.

Thank you. I hope we can live up to that expectation. :3

1.5 Not really, mostly because I'm busy with my own projects and because I lose interest quickly

I know what you mean, I've been there too. Still, I figure it doesn't hurt to ask just in case.

2. Not very interesting, to be honest. The characters seem like your typical female anime cast and I don't really like those. I'm pretty tired of those tropes by now. I guess I simply prefer a more western approach to these games and characters. (I would also greatly prefer if this wasn't set in Japan, but, you know, personal preference.) While I'm not interested in the characters now, I am willing to let withhold further judgement until I actually see them in action.

To be honest, this is something I was a bit nervous about going into it - the possibility that the characters might come across as clichéd. (I jokingly suggested to Kirina the possibility of including "Warning: do not attempt drinking game where you take a shot every time you encounter an anime cliché. You will die of alcohol posioning." in the OP, but he wisely suggested to leave it out.) Sorry to hear that you don't find it as interesting because of the specific aesthetic we're going for, but no worries - it's personal preference on our part as well, so I understand.

Yeah, I agree that the tropes you're mentioning are kind of inevitable at this point in the writing, and I know what you mean. Everybody has at least a coupla tropes they find played out or dislike. My personal ambition is that we'll at least write the story in such a way that people won't accuse us of being lazy and unimaginative and using tropes just because. I don't mind those kinds of tropes when they're done well, so that's what I'm aiming for - writing a good quality story in a style I enjoy.

I can only hope that seeing them in action will make you think they're okay.

2.5 Unless the supporting characters have some really important roles, I don't think I'm interested enough to want to know more about them before playing the game. (Although information about both would be ideal.)

We have made up several character pages with detailed characterisation (in bullet point lists!), but I was worried that putting it all in from the first post would be overkill and cause TL;DR. Now I wonder if I might've cut out too many details in a quest to make the OP short and to the point, and helped create your impression that they're a generic female anime cast...

3. If you're going for slife and/or comedy, I like the title 'Minty Fresh'. It somehow makes me think of colourful, fluffy letters. Don't ask me why, though. (Although I should warn you that most people are probably gonna associate toothpaste with such a title.)

I actually got that title from the name of the record label that handled the US release of The Cardigans' Life and Veruca Salt's American Thighs, so that's what I associate it with.

(Sidenote: I've been a hobby musician longer than I've been a writer. I guess a good comparison I can make, for the kind of thing I'd like to make with this project, is American Thighs - a catchy, upbeat power pop album with very straightforward, almost lo-fi kind of production. I find that kind of production helps power poppy songs by lending them an air of intimacy, being there and watching/listening to a band enthusiastically bashing the songs out in a garage kind of vibe. A similar album that gives me that kind of feeling is The Breeders' Last Splash - definitely one of my favourite albums -, and Heavenly's albums work in a similar vein - they're classified as twee pop but they appeal to me because the rough production and fast tempos provide a good counterbalance and ensure that the cute elements aren't so overdone as to cause a gag reflex, instead remaining catchy and loveable. I guess that's as good a summary as any of my main approach towards this project - good writing exercise in restraint and letting scenes speak for themselves instead of trying to hammer the audience over the head with how I want them to feel.)

4. As I already said, have the game be set somewhere other than Japan. Set the game in college instead of high school (or somewhere else entirely). Ask yourself "What makes my characters different from others?". Again, though, this is simply personal preference.

We actually did debate about whether the setting should be high school or university, but we eventually decided to go for high school. Can't speak for Kirina, Hodori, Tori or Yuuki, but for me the setting helps create some additional distance from the characters - I tend to have a writing style that leads to a degree of identification with the characters and an inability to properly separate IC/OOC that's caused me some problems in roleplay and I'm trying to work around. As I see it, it's better that the characters aren't close to my age. I try at all possible to completely avoid treating characters like my sockpuppets, but I've had the occasional slip or two where I was trying to write in a situation where I just wasn't feeling it, and that ended up leaking into the writing and I had one of my characters feel troubled because I was feeling troubled by something or the other at the time, like they're my avatar instead of different people. I'm lucky that those moments were caught by my friends' beta-reading or I junked them while the thing was still in draft stage. In a way, I think you can say I'm trying to go for the opposite of Write What You Know, and push myself to create characters that are in some way different from me for stories - I don't think what I know or have personal experience with is sufficiently interesting to sustain an audience's interest for the duration of an entire story, so I prefer to try to take those things as starting points, to see how I can modify or adapt them to make a better story/scene while keeping the effect.

(Referring back to the musical analogy I drew previously, I know from my musical tastes that some songs are helped by being polished in presentation and production, whereas others work better with a more raw, lo-fi kind of sound. But I also believe that there is a point past which polishing a song further doesn't lead to any noticeable improvements, and can even harm it by making the song sound increasingly lifeless and perfunctory because it's been drained of its spark in the elusive quest for perfection. In a way, you can say that my approach as a writer is about trying to find that sweet spot, where the polish has improved the product as much as it can, while keeping the lively core of it intact.)

As for the Japanese setting... *shrug* You are right that the game could be set somewhere else and it would probably not make a huge difference. I guess all I can really add is that in the very embryonic stage of the project, I was the one who suggested a setting based on Hokkaido, because... well, I hadn't seen a story set there yet, and I figured, "why not?". Yeah, it does open up risks of creating what TV Tropes would call the Theme Park Version, which I hope to avoid at all costs, but I figured that in a way, by using the Japanese setting we were at least being honest and upfront about what we're doing. I like easygoing, quietly feelgood stories like Yokohama Kaidashi Kikō and Aria, so it made sense for me to use that kind of setting, y'know? I see your point, but I haven't really thought about whether the kind of ambiance we're aiming for in the story would transfer well to, say, a Costa Rican setting... Sorry that I can't give you a better answer, but my thought process at least really could be summarised as: "Hey, why not set the story in Hokkaido?" "Uh... I got nothin'." "Okay, good enough for me!" *writing ensues*

That is a question that is at the heart of my approach towards the project, actually. Again, can't speak for my teammates, but my intention as a writer is to try and see if I can pull off "different, yet similar" characters. In the sense that... well, to use a RL analogy of mine: I have two friends who happen to be from the same country, coincidentally have the same first name and even look a bit similar, but I know them well enough that I've never confused one for the other. I mainly write things that make me feel good and hope that whoever else reads it will also register some improvement in their mood, no matter how minuscule, so I'll be the first to admit that I prefer writing characters who are nice, cool to hang out with, cute 'n cuddly, and that kind of thing, but I do try to figure out specifically what makes them tick and adding enough detail to their characterisation that they come across as their own individuals, y'know? Distinct people who happen to interact very well, I guess. (I'm reminded of John Peel's description of The Fall as "always different, always the same". It sounds like a total paradox, but I guess it's a good metaphor for what I try to do with character writing - I know what kind of niche I prefer to be active in as a writer, so I focus on polishing my ability to write in that style, as well as see what other influences and genres I can bring in and assimilate. Some of my favourite albums have this kind of sprawling quality where the musician/band in question touches on nearly every genre from A to Z, but the final product is still unmistakably theirs - The Beatles' White Album, Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti, Yoko Kanno and the Seatbelts' Cowboy Bebop soundtrack; I'm a total sucker for that kind of genre-blending. )

Anyway, thank you very much for the reply, it was very helpful. I'll do my best to keep what you've said in mind - and even if we don't end up making that many changes to the final product, I hope it will in some way inspire me to write better.

PS I apologise for the big walls'o'text (being excessively wordy on certain topics is something I have to live with, haha!), and I hope they're not too unreadable and don't sound insufferably pretentious.
PPS Thumbs up for having Pinkie Pie as your avatar.

1. Would you be interested in playing this game?
Of course~ :v GxG .... *takes tissue and wipes tears* This world needs more vn like that....

1.5. Or helping out with its creation?
I would be interested :v but...who knows at this point in time~

2. What do you think of the characters?
They're pretty nice. Even if there are cliches, well, the reason cliches are cliches is because people like them so much that the type of character becomes a bit overused. So~ hrm~ I've got no problem because I guess I like them anyways.

2.5. Would you like more details about them, or the supporting characters?
I prefer to have not a lot of detail about the characters told to me upfront in these posts and learn about them in the game..

3. Do you prefer any of the working titles so far, or should we come up with another batch?
I'm not sure since I'm bad at naming things and suggesting names.

4. Any other things in particular you would like to suggest?
Hokkaido should be one of the regions of Japan that gets snow since it's in the north. Plus, the summers are slightly cool. It'd be nice to see something about Hokkaido in there too~

Ooh, and another one? Thank you~!

Shinoki wrote:Of course~ :v GxG .... *takes tissue and wipes tears* This world needs more vn like that....

*nods approvingly*

I would be interested :v but...who knows at this point in time~

I'll keep that in mind for future reference.

They're pretty nice. Even if there are cliches, well, the reason cliches are cliches is because people like them so much that the type of character becomes a bit overused. So~ hrm~ I've got no problem because I guess I like them anyways.

Yeah, I personally think that's what people mean when they complain about clichés - that they're used thoughtlessly, more out of obligation than genuine feeling. I hope to avoid that kind of thing.

I prefer to have not a lot of detail about the characters told to me upfront in these posts and learn about them in the game.

Very good point. Now I feel better about making the OP descriptions short and basic.

I'm not sure since I'm bad at naming things and suggesting names.

I'm probably worse at that.

Hokkaido should be one of the regions of Japan that gets snow since it's in the north. Plus, the summers are slightly cool. It'd be nice to see something about Hokkaido in there too~

It also has mountains, so there will certainly be snow. And we'll do our best research to see what we can add to the setting so that it resembles the real Hokkaido.

Again, thank you very much for taking the time to answer the questions! Much appreciated~

1. Would you be interested in playing this game?
It's yuri! Of course!

1.5. Or helping out with its creation?
Maybe, depends what you would need help with XD

2. What do you think of the characters?
They all sound interesting and varied

2.5. Would you like more details about them, or the supporting characters?
Hmm, maybe?

3. Do you prefer any of the working titles so far, or should we come up with another batch?
The current one is nice~

4. Any other things in particular you would like to suggest?
Nope!

Q. Are we not men?
Huh?

It's yuri! Of course!

Why, it's almost as if yuri is very popular or something! :O

Rinima wrote:Maybe, depends what you would need help with XD

Right now, we're planning a recruitment thread in the future, and we're mainly aiming at bringing a programmer (none of us really knows how to program - so far we've been writing the script in google docs to later be transferred into the game) and an artist or two. Having an additional writer on board wouldn't hurt. One of our goals in the team-building will be to have a good gender balance within the team, which I think is especially important when dealing with a story that involves a majority female characters. It's important to avoid unfortunate implications or noxious, narrow-minded, insulting messages/depictions of genders, and currently our team is 100% male, which I feel increases the risk that we could miss out on certain nuances, y'know?

They all sound interesting and varied

Glad to hear that!

Hmm, maybe?

Would you prefer that those be added to the OP, or that they be added in a separate post?

The current one is nice~

Kirina will be very happy to hear that, I'll be sure to pass that along!

Huh?

I put that in there because I was curious if anybody would get it and respond with "A. We are Devo!", haha. Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! is Devo's debut album. Really great new wave album, one of my faves. I knew it was incredibly unlikely, but I liked the mental image of somebody reading the OP, possibly not being completely sold on the project, and then seeing the final question and going, "Oh! A fellow Devo fan!... I'm suddenly more interested and I don't know why!"

Fun fact: I actually considered instead making a reference to Chicago's "Questions 67 and 68", by ending the post with "67 and 68. <quote from lyrics>", but I'm not as familiar with Chicago's song so I stuck with what I know better.

Again, thank you very much for the time! I'm actually a bit surprised how fast there's been replies... I guess that's what happens when a thread's on the first page?

Gyl wrote:Right now, we're planning a recruitment thread in the future, and we're mainly aiming at bringing a programmer (none of us really knows how to program - so far we've been writing the script in google docs to later be transferred into the game) and an artist or two. Having an additional writer on board wouldn't hurt. One of our goals in the team-building will be to have a good gender balance within the team, which I think is especially important when dealing with a story that involves a majority female characters. It's important to avoid unfortunate implications or noxious, narrow-minded, insulting messages/depictions of genders, and currently our team is 100% male, which I feel increases the risk that we could miss out on certain nuances, y'know?

Well, I could proof read and help you bounce idea's around if you need a girl to help out?

Rinima wrote:Well, I could proof read and help you bounce idea's around if you need a girl to help out?

Certainly, that would be great! We mainly hang out and talk in a dedicated IRC channel, I'll PM it to you right now if you don't mind.

Gyl wrote:Certainly, that would be great! We mainly hang out and talk in a dedicated IRC channel, I'll PM it to you right now if you don't mind.

Fine by me

I'm going to have to second bellice's recommendation regarding the setting. Don't do Japan. Let the actual Japanese creators make games set in Japan (believe me there are plenty of them) and choose a setting you have personal knowledge of. I do see you have that exchange student character, so why not make that character Japanese if you really want that element in the story?

Also, regarding the characters, it's hard to make any real judgement on them based on their description. They all sound like stock characters you would see in practically any anime or manga. While that's not necessarily a bad thing, it doesn't make them particularly interesting.

As for the titles, if you don't know what to call it yet, why no just keep using a working title until you have fleshed out the plot more? You should know better than us what the title should be.

wererat42 wrote:I'm going to have to second bellice's recommendation regarding the setting. Don't do Japan. Let the actual Japanese creators make games set in Japan (believe me there are plenty of them) and choose a setting you have personal knowledge of. I do see you have that exchange student character, so why not make that character Japanese if you really want that element in the story?

I understand your point, but I unfortunately can't give you a better answer personally than the one I gave bellice: I couldn't think of a particularly compelling reason either way and went with the "hey, why not?" factor in order to get the project off the ground instead of having it be another idea gathering dust on my PC.

Plus, there is an element that's going to come up that I think would stick out like a sore thumb in other settings, to be honest.

We'll think it over next time all of us are online at the same time, hopefully all of us can give you a better answer than me alone. I'll see if I can also get Kirina in here, he might have a better answer.

Also, regarding the characters, it's hard to make any real judgement on them based on their description. They all sound like stock characters you would see in practically any anime or manga. While that's not necessarily a bad thing, it doesn't make them particularly interesting.

Point taken - I cut out too much detail to keep the OP short and snappy. I'll edit the OP in the morning after consulting with everyone else to have it hopefully not sound so generic.

As for the titles, if you don't know what to call it yet, why no just keep using a working title until you have fleshed out the plot more? You should know better than us what the title should be.

Yeah. We couldn't really pick one title, so I more or less drew one at random to use for the thread. I was curious if anybody felt that one of the working titles would fit the mood of the story better than others.

Gyl wrote:Note: None of us are actually Japanese. If anybody knows more about Japan than we do, or is actually Japanese, and would like to join or help to make sure our writing isn’t laughably clueless, we would love to have you onboard!

Here's the thing; when you made a comment like this, it really got me wondering why you would want to pick the setting if you weren't confident enough to write about it that you would ask other people. You say that your most compelling reason was "why not" but then say that there is an element that wouldn't make sense if it wasn't Japan? Are you referring to the shrine maiden character? How much do you know about Shinto? Is this aspect of the character completely necessary or something that cannot be changed to fit a different setting? Will the character just be a stereotypical imitation of what you assume a shrine maiden is as represented in anime/manga?

I'm sorry if my response comes off as harsh, but looking at this from a Postcolonial point of view, are you planning to create a story set in Japan that we as English-speaking westerners perceive based on preconceived notions derived from media?

wererat42 wrote:

Gyl wrote:Note: None of us are actually Japanese. If anybody knows more about Japan than we do, or is actually Japanese, and would like to join or help to make sure our writing isn’t laughably clueless, we would love to have you onboard!

Here's the thing; when you made a comment like this, it really got me wondering why you would want to pick the setting if you weren't confident enough to write about it that you would ask other people. You say that your most compelling reason was "why not" but then say that there is an element that wouldn't make sense if it wasn't Japan? Are you referring to the shrine maiden character? How much do you know about Shinto? Is this aspect of the character completely necessary or something that cannot be changed to fit a different setting? Will the character just be a stereotypical imitation of what you assume a shrine maiden is as represented in anime/manga?

I'm sorry if my response comes off as harsh, but looking at this from a Postcolonial point of view, are you planning to create a story set in Japan that we as English-speaking westerners perceive based on preconceived notions derived from media?

Trust me, it's not because of the shrine maiden thing. I don't want to give it away (spoiler stuff), but it really wouldn't make sense anywhere else.

Someone called?

Right, gonna address the points about having Amber Skies set in Japan very quickly. First off, I will admit that I don't know much about the amount of research that goes into the production of a visual novel, this being my first foray into the nitty-gritty of visual novel creation after all, but the very fact that we are definitively committing to a Japanese setting should be a good indicator that we, as a team, are willing to invest our time and energy into shaping a realistic representation of Japan in general. It seems ... a tad premature to dismiss our efforts to create a visual novel set in Japan out of hand simply because none of us are Japanese. Believe me when I say that the team as a collective whole have put in plenty of work in this respect - we've done our research, bounced ideas off one another, and asked questions whenever needed.

Frankly speaking, I fail to understand why a perceived lack of knowledge or even the fact that we are seeking a consultant would count against us. Regarding the latter point, we simply undertook a collective decision to seek the advice of a consultant in order to ensure the sustained quality of Amber Skies in terms of cultural nuances. This only serves to highlight our dedication towards this project, does it not?

A sidenote - we don't do stereotypical cardboard cutouts of characters But yeah, in case that isn't enough to convince people, we'll be back with more updates whenever we can get away from writing scripts and tossing ideas around!