The direction of the story and characters:
Originally Molly was going to be the focus of the story in terms of side characters. She was my favorite character when I started out and it made the most sense to have Laura's best friend be the second most prominent character. This however changed as I began to plan out the Teen years of these characters. Rachel I immediately realized a way to keep her relevant to the story even with her minor role overall. Her tale is mostly an unfortunate tragedy that functions primarily as a means to bring the characters together. Clarissa I had a hard time with until I realized where I could take her story. Once I realized the direction I wanted to take her I simply had to make her the focus. Her story will not be a happy one. While I've in some degrees marketed this Visual Novel as one that is super cute and happy that is perhaps a facade. I am not writing a cutesy moe story here, I am writing something that is more akin to reality and sometimes things just aren't as they seem. I don't want to spoil where I'm going with Clarissa, but this does explain why a lot of the art I've worked on has involved her. She is by all accounts the focus of the game. Molly's role in the story is going to be something akin to a rock. She will be the level headed character, in a sense the mentor. She has matured faster than the other characters, and has gained a better grasp of herself than the others. She is the only one that was never hiding, never faking, never trying to be something she wasn't. She will be an integral character in helping Laura realize and actualize herself and her feelings. Molly will be a bit absent in the start of the story, and this is because she has moved to the nearby town and as such can't see Laura very often. This will make their meetings have a lot more weight to them and show a degree of strain on their friendship.
My one regret:
Not making Laura a proper brunette... I originally intended for her to be a brunette, but due to the only promotional art I ever drew of her using a soft color pallet, I accidentally make her more a dirty blonde. Because of this Laura and Clarissa are a tad similar looking. I also needed to give Laura a different hair color than Molly who actually has proper brown hair, so I needed to give laura lighter hair to contrast these two. This is also true with Rachel who has Black hair. Because of this giving Laura the dirty blonde hair made sense so I wound up keeping it. If I could go back and edit her a bit I would likely harden her hair a bit more so its of greater contrast to Clarissa's blonde. I think I've countered it a bit in most of the drawings by giving them some different features. Laura has darker hair but lighter skin, and Clarissa has a less chubby face and is younger looking as well as shorter. There is also a special treat when it comes to Clarissa as she will have some degree of a design change later on in the game that will give them an even better contrast.
Another really important aspect of my writing is drama:
I have noticed a trend in Japanese writing to have a huge emphasis on melodrama, and it seems many anime enthusiasts actually enjoy this form of drama. I will be doing my best to fight against this trend. I want my characters to act appropriately to the situation and to their character. These characters are teens so they will make irrational decisions and perhaps get angry and provoked from something they shouldn't but they won't betray their characters. Don't expect to see many anime style tropes in this story and honestly don't expect it to feel like an anime at all. The character designs are obviously inspired to some degree by anime, but the writing simply isn't. This is a huge risk, I know, as most visual novel fans are also anime fans. In many cases they don't read that much north American literature and instead read Japanese, or simply watch anime/manga more. In the end I believe by writing in this way I can make something that is enjoyable to everyone and not just anime fans. This is meant to be a story that any book lover would enjoy to read, not something that only an anime fan will like.
On sexuality:
I decided to make Laura a lesbian from the start. This was a decision to make a story about a young girl coming to grips with her sexuality as she moves from being someone that believes she should do what is normal and into someone who has her own identity. The decision does not whoever mean that this will feel like this is meant to cater to the LGBT community or is meant to be read by those in it. While it will be present and constant, the LGBT representation will not be a focus of the story. Which is to say, Laura is a lesbian, but her being a lesbian does not define her character or the genre of this game. This is not a GxG game where your goal is simply to get Laura a girlfriend. This story is meant for anyone, there is no reason a straight male or female can't enjoy this story. The theme of coming to grips with your sexuality, coming of age etc that will be seen here are ones that are universal in nature. In this story it just so happens that Laura is a lesbian, but this story could easily have seen her as a heterosexual. Now the story will deal with various forms of sexuality, and if you have a problem with that, than perhaps this isnt the game for you. For the first time I will outline each character.
Molly- Bisexual
Clarissa- Lesbian
Rachel -Heterosexual
Laura- Lesbian
While I know that the likelihood of this spread is pretty low, I felt it necessary for molly to be a bisexual, and actually planned on it from the start before I changed Clarissa. It also should come at no surprise that Clarissa is the ending love interest possibility of the game based on previous talks of her. It is still possible I will change Molly to be hetero as well, but I'm unsure what if any consequences that might have in the plan.
Game Rating:
PG-13 There is no actual violence on screen but physical signs of violence will be seen. Swear words will be used sparingly, at the moment used only once. There will be plenty instances of teasing, and people making fun of others or using derogatory terms. There is also an instance of underage drinking, and very light reference to smoking both cigarettes and marijuana. The story will deal with delicate issues, such as abuse and sexuality.
Anyways, thanks for reading! Would love to hear any feedback people have on my decisions mentioned above.
Originally Molly was going to be the focus of the story in terms of side characters. She was my favorite character when I started out and it made the most sense to have Laura's best friend be the second most prominent character. This however changed as I began to plan out the Teen years of these characters. Rachel I immediately realized a way to keep her relevant to the story even with her minor role overall. Her tale is mostly an unfortunate tragedy that functions primarily as a means to bring the characters together. Clarissa I had a hard time with until I realized where I could take her story. Once I realized the direction I wanted to take her I simply had to make her the focus. Her story will not be a happy one. While I've in some degrees marketed this Visual Novel as one that is super cute and happy that is perhaps a facade. I am not writing a cutesy moe story here, I am writing something that is more akin to reality and sometimes things just aren't as they seem. I don't want to spoil where I'm going with Clarissa, but this does explain why a lot of the art I've worked on has involved her. She is by all accounts the focus of the game. Molly's role in the story is going to be something akin to a rock. She will be the level headed character, in a sense the mentor. She has matured faster than the other characters, and has gained a better grasp of herself than the others. She is the only one that was never hiding, never faking, never trying to be something she wasn't. She will be an integral character in helping Laura realize and actualize herself and her feelings. Molly will be a bit absent in the start of the story, and this is because she has moved to the nearby town and as such can't see Laura very often. This will make their meetings have a lot more weight to them and show a degree of strain on their friendship.
My one regret:
Not making Laura a proper brunette... I originally intended for her to be a brunette, but due to the only promotional art I ever drew of her using a soft color pallet, I accidentally make her more a dirty blonde. Because of this Laura and Clarissa are a tad similar looking. I also needed to give Laura a different hair color than Molly who actually has proper brown hair, so I needed to give laura lighter hair to contrast these two. This is also true with Rachel who has Black hair. Because of this giving Laura the dirty blonde hair made sense so I wound up keeping it. If I could go back and edit her a bit I would likely harden her hair a bit more so its of greater contrast to Clarissa's blonde. I think I've countered it a bit in most of the drawings by giving them some different features. Laura has darker hair but lighter skin, and Clarissa has a less chubby face and is younger looking as well as shorter. There is also a special treat when it comes to Clarissa as she will have some degree of a design change later on in the game that will give them an even better contrast.
Another really important aspect of my writing is drama:
I have noticed a trend in Japanese writing to have a huge emphasis on melodrama, and it seems many anime enthusiasts actually enjoy this form of drama. I will be doing my best to fight against this trend. I want my characters to act appropriately to the situation and to their character. These characters are teens so they will make irrational decisions and perhaps get angry and provoked from something they shouldn't but they won't betray their characters. Don't expect to see many anime style tropes in this story and honestly don't expect it to feel like an anime at all. The character designs are obviously inspired to some degree by anime, but the writing simply isn't. This is a huge risk, I know, as most visual novel fans are also anime fans. In many cases they don't read that much north American literature and instead read Japanese, or simply watch anime/manga more. In the end I believe by writing in this way I can make something that is enjoyable to everyone and not just anime fans. This is meant to be a story that any book lover would enjoy to read, not something that only an anime fan will like.
On sexuality:
I decided to make Laura a lesbian from the start. This was a decision to make a story about a young girl coming to grips with her sexuality as she moves from being someone that believes she should do what is normal and into someone who has her own identity. The decision does not whoever mean that this will feel like this is meant to cater to the LGBT community or is meant to be read by those in it. While it will be present and constant, the LGBT representation will not be a focus of the story. Which is to say, Laura is a lesbian, but her being a lesbian does not define her character or the genre of this game. This is not a GxG game where your goal is simply to get Laura a girlfriend. This story is meant for anyone, there is no reason a straight male or female can't enjoy this story. The theme of coming to grips with your sexuality, coming of age etc that will be seen here are ones that are universal in nature. In this story it just so happens that Laura is a lesbian, but this story could easily have seen her as a heterosexual. Now the story will deal with various forms of sexuality, and if you have a problem with that, than perhaps this isnt the game for you. For the first time I will outline each character.
Molly- Bisexual
Clarissa- Lesbian
Rachel -Heterosexual
Laura- Lesbian
While I know that the likelihood of this spread is pretty low, I felt it necessary for molly to be a bisexual, and actually planned on it from the start before I changed Clarissa. It also should come at no surprise that Clarissa is the ending love interest possibility of the game based on previous talks of her. It is still possible I will change Molly to be hetero as well, but I'm unsure what if any consequences that might have in the plan.
Game Rating:
PG-13 There is no actual violence on screen but physical signs of violence will be seen. Swear words will be used sparingly, at the moment used only once. There will be plenty instances of teasing, and people making fun of others or using derogatory terms. There is also an instance of underage drinking, and very light reference to smoking both cigarettes and marijuana. The story will deal with delicate issues, such as abuse and sexuality.
Anyways, thanks for reading! Would love to hear any feedback people have on my decisions mentioned above.
