Character creation

A big thanks to Sodabit! Thine name shall be recorded within the Commemoration shrine in the game for...ETERNITY! Well...as long as hard drives or internet exists...

We shall do our best to live up to your donations and the cum-munity

Natan S and Ape, thou art the winners of this month, write to me in private, discord or other to receive the prize of this month Patreon lottery.

As promised last week, every character is build on an angular block formed by a single idea: yearning. A primal, instinctive emotion that runs through its entire existence. Similar to a sunflowers entire existence is driven by its quest towards the sun. An animal driven by an instinct for survival or reproduction. To take an example for Ximena it was freedom or Nefer-Katebet: acceptance. Then it was easier to build everything from that. Ximena lives in a meadow, she is devoted to the Goddess of Air, wind, she sleeps in a tent, she cares for plants and nothing else, she reads books as she pleases. She kisses, fucks who she wants and does not who she does not want. Her previous life, before the Island was that of oppression and rules: that of a criminal underworld.

It has always been an interesting fact to contemplate, that often, criminal gangs, groups or syndicate members in real life, often seek a sense of freedom from a society they find constraining, yet end up in society build on tight-knit rules that suffocate and become more and more obtrusive, the deeper one goes. Though that is another long topic XD.

Yet...she isn't free. That is the starting point of the Hostile Affection route: she is stuck. every romanceable character is stuck in their life. So the question was: what was the constraint, what was the natural constraint that made them unable to move onward in their life? It was very obvious for Taylor: a yearning to honor her mother, her sister, her family, yet born with a weak body, watching the ocean every day, a lack of confidence and unable to find the courage to "just try" or to find the means to do so. Like stuck in a day job, wanting to do arts and craft, looking every day at the window of an art studio, yet never finding the courage to enter. How many have found themselves in that situation? They repeat the same day, in and out, never finding that hand in the back that says: hey, let's go together, let's find out. Taylor is simply: alone, alone in a crowd. Which is the next part. What is the pull downwards?

That is the hostile route. What pulls the psyche of that individual downwards? Taylor: the alone, the fear of being more alone. Ximena fears losing control of what she can handle in her little made up "world of freedom", April is caught in her lack of confidence, her voices that tell her she is never good enough, others are smarter than her. This is precisely the weak point that the protagonist exploits until it either becomes untenable or the players finds the sweet spot, the balance.

After all, people break eventually, everyone has a breaking point and also a point of comfort of suffering. Employees working for years without salary increase, believing every single lie, without changing job. Wives or husbands believing each other's make-believe for years on end. Humans have strangely an incredible capacity to accustom themselves, habituate to certain types of sufferings depending on the persona, history, conditionings and such. A bit of a dark topic, nonetheless, every npc were carefully tuned in that manner. We hope to make it more obvious and evident in the "willing submission arc" where npc becomes the antithesis of marriage: complete subservience, thus opening the corruption/purity route.

On the other hand is the affection route, what is the journey to leads them to reconcile themselves with their self. April gradually learning to do things on her own, Taylor accepting that she is not alone and accepting a hand that is pushing her in her back. Ximena, having someone to share experiences with and enjoy the wonders of life...together. Nefer, having a pillar to rest her head against, a shoulder for her weariness. All of them in that aspect focus on , in a sense friendship. An important part of romance, the companionship, partners, someone who shares the highs and lows.

That was essentially the approach behind the building of each character and their routes: what they yearn for, covered by what causes stagnation and what do they need to uplift or what could pull them down.

Yet, in a sense it is ephemeral, if I look past in my own life, I cannot talk for Cute, those cycles have often repeated themselves. As one grows, our yearnings, our longings change, and those that either uplifted me or pulled me down...changed. Even towards myself, my competitiveness was what brought me forward at some point, another point it pulled me down. My self doubts and extreme self imposed standards got me further in life, made me a better person overall, these days, they are crushing me to shreds and I must learn to let go of them.

Nonetheless, because they are ephemeral, the most profound causes have still not been resolved or addressed. That is the essence of the corruption/purity route. Overcoming one's own self to discover one's Self or simply embracing things and saying: let's be more of myself. To accept things as they are and say: I will make the best with precisely that.

In a sense we don't see the corruption as bad. Some people are given lemons and they make lemonade, find peace in that. Some people are given lemons and they say: let's plant a tree or make art from it or cake!

I found that always fascinating, to simply turn left, to go against all our instincts and say: I will do something else with my life. My whole life I have been this or that, acting like that or this, today I shall do that, become this. Like a seed saying: seed no more, let me become a flower.

it reminds me a bit of that beautiful Taoist poem: "Am I a man(or woman) dreaming I am a butterfly, or am I a butterfly dreaming that I am a man(or woman)" I think I heard it when I was 6 years old, I carried it in my heart for a few months, it had deeply moved me at the time.

You, dear Patreon members, have voted last time, so we went overboard. I was reading so many Yuri stories and caught in a sea of Yuri...Went overboard with Nefer-Katebet's date. Over 35 images and a whole lot of texts as you accompany her on a walk across the Island, naturally there is more content for a female protagonist as she is our resident 100% yuri npc. Fleshing out more her character, the lore of the Island and it's residents. (As I speak, I am drinking Yuri, a fantastic nihonshu/sake from Tsunuroe Shuzo in Aizuwakamatsu, it was made by one of the rare lady brewers in Japan in partnership with...her own mother! Also one of the rare female brewers in Japan. A must try for sake lovers, a sublime onnazake both literally and figuratively)

Went also on another tangent, according to your wishes, with the Secret Character...I think it is the date we should be the proudest of until now. Since she lives in a world of dreams and aspirations, we thought it was fitting that her date was a "choose your own adventure book" Where the protag tells the story and she makes choices. The images serving as a reference to how she imagines the story as it is being told. It became so long....That we had no choice to end it as a "part one".

Overall, looking forward for this weekend and the biggest update yet, android port and a lot more. It was overly ambitious and somehow, we made it. I even rewarded myself with the first day in months where I did not work on the game late at night. We even continued to work on it as we took for the past two weeks a short vacation. For a long time, I did not feel I could express in a language that is not my native tongue, English, the stories we really wanted to tell, though recently it feels we are getting closer and that deserved a well-deserved one evening break.

Thank you for your continued support, encouragement, participation and inputs, ideas, the cum-munities participation in creating villagers, tag requests and so on is really what has been the fuel. We feel like kids every time someone donates. As much as some harsh comments can be painful to receive, we are still grateful as it brought us to make this game better.

Cuddles