Viewing post in Bitter/Sweet Blythe comments

Aww, poor bunnies x3 But they’re so cuuuuute and floofy x3

Anyways, thanks for giving this one a go as well! So glad to hear you like the art ^-^ A whole bunch of games I’ve made wouldn’t have been possible without the awesomeness of Lazy Polar Bear and her amazing art!

If you like her art style, we’ve worked on a fair few projects together that all have yandere vibes of some kind :D If you haven’t already checked em out, take a peek at:

Limbo Line (this one’s a finished project)

Tunnel Vision (also a completed project)

Aaaand Lovestarved (only a long demo currently available for this one, but it’s our active project that we’re hoping to finish sometime this year after many irl things prevented us from finishing it last year x3)

She also drew the sprites and CG art for the BxG version of Apartment No.9 (another finished project). The otome version of Apartment No.9 has art by a few different artists instead.

Anywaaaaays... Blue Blythe is a bad bunny x3 Well, I mean, Orange isn’t exactly a saint either, but compared to Blue, Orange is an angel xD

To answer your question, there are 2 separate reasons why the ‘Oblivious End’ is an end. One general, and one practical. They do kinda tie into each other though.

The general reason is because, as you surmised even without there being a hint of it, it’s the end of the road for MC. The fact that you figured that means it probably wasn’t really necessary to show it. We know that MC has pretty much murdered some random strangers at that point, so they’re gonna be apprehended and locked away somewhere.

And it’s the practical reason that answers exactly why I didn’t expand on the ending x3 Because, in truth, I would have liked to have shown MC locked away, still oblivious to the consequences of their actions until Blythe is either forcibly taken from them OR the opposite, they wind up seeing even more of Blythe as a result, leading them to live the rest of their life in a complete haze of fantasy when in reality, they’re trapped. The second option would be more what Blythe was hoping to achieve x3 If the first option came true, it would have meant game over for Blythe too.

Anyways, rambling, sorry x3 The practical reason was that I had to write and create the game for a game jam in under 1 month, haha. So in order to finish telling the story I was trying to tell in such a short space of time, I had to be conscious of word count. Expanding on that scene was just something that had to be sacrificed T_T That’s not to say it won’t ever be expanded on though :3 With the jam and its time constraints over, I’m free to add it in whenever I get around to adding Blue’s route at least :D

I guess that brings me neatly onto Blue’s route! Basically, you’re not really missing much story-wise by Blue’s route not being there. My intention with Blue’s route is more to add some spicy fluff x3 There might be vague additional hints of story stuff in there that ties in with Orange, but for the most part, the actual story is complete with Orange. We can kinda view Orange's route as the 'true' path to take.

I don’t know if you have encountered it, but the ‘true’ ending, if you can call it that, gives the final reveal on the title screen. That should explain most stuff. The problem is, I realise it’s possible to miss it >.<

A friend of mine who can’t play my games but likes to check em out watched someone stream it. The streamer got the true end, then they sat on the title screen for like 2 secs before closing the game. My friend just about managed to see and realise what was spawning in and she got the hint, but she said the streamer had no idea T_T They completely missed the reveal and consequently spent a while trying to guess the meaning of the end even though it was right there on the title screen >.<

Maybe it was stupid of me to do a reveal in that way, but I wanted it to be subtle x3 I didn’t wanna write a scene that straight-up explained everything. I wanted to show it, and have players go “Ooooh… I get it now”. I guess maybe it was a bit too subtle >.<

Sorry for rambling on for so long in both of my replies to your comments btw x3 And don't feel as though you need to reply :3 I just always feel like if someone takes the time to play my stuff and leave a comment, I should take the time to respond, buuuuuut... sometimes my responses can get long xD Thanks again for playing ^-^

Raven10 days ago

Not a super-fan of Apartment Nr. 9. The artwork especially.
Tunnel Vision was...eh.... I seem to recall the ending wasn't very good, and I couldn't find a good ending.
I'd say I like Lovestarved, but I'm clearly mixing it up with a different game. There may be more games by the same name out there.
(Or something wrong with my memory. 50/50) Not a superfan of sci fi, but I like neon colors, so I guess I'll check it out.
And I'll check out Limbo Line. It seems a bit mild, but you can't always tell how good a game is just from the warnings.

Yes.... I liked orange Blythe's balloon game. And treat. ^_^
I was just sad you ended up, well, ending the game over it.
I see no reason you wouldn't be able to continue your date. Which are annoying endings.
(If we had seen you dragged away by police-rabbits to the eternal funhouse with padded walls, THAT would make sense it's an ending.
If done right, that would actually have been an ending that seems like a happy one, but with a twisted darkness. Which would be nice.
But the current ending for that part doesn't so much as hint at what happens, which makes it just confusing.
It's one of the dangers with using the Unreliable Narrator style; It COULD have been real with the bunny magic and all that.
We don't know if he has magic or not for real. And that's a good thing, it means you did a good job, but it also means the ending needs a bit more reality breaking through to make the end feel more...final.)
Also... even if she got locked up it doesn't mean the end of Blythe. You cannot cure someone who doesn't want to be cured. That's a psychological fact. If her fantasies are in her head (and they could be) then no amount of medication can block them out.
(Plus Blythe would help her come up with tricks to not take them.)
In many ways it could be an ambiguous ending, that was happy or sad depending on how you view it.
(Kinda like the ending in Kaori Yuki's Boys Next Door.) Which actually makes for a great ending.
And it wouldn't take all that much more writing/drawing to show that type of ending. One scene being dragged away, a second with a tea-party seen from the eyes of a mental worker, where she is happy and talking to Blythe, would say it all.
Tho the runaway option where she sinks into Blythe's fantasy world could easily be added by ending the balloon scene with a choice where Blythe tells her to run as they see some 'evil cats' (or whatever) in police uniforms, and you can choose to run or talk, or succeed or fail at a chase scene. Spawning two endings from one, making the game better with low effort.
(More endings is always good. Just look at Particles of Reality. ^_^ )

If you made it in less than one month, that IS impressive.
I take months just to write a single fanfic chapter. lol
(But that's cuz I'm lazy and playing games instead of writing. ^_^; )

I think Blue's route could be a chance for you to attract those who like the darker side of yandere more tho.
(And/or use him as a medium for the MC's self-hatred. If you can pull off a more manipulative and mentally abusive story.
If done right, that's actually quite attractive to a lot of people --especially when overlaid with the yandere possessiveness. Where he takes care of you, make you rely on him and only him, and the whole story have so many dark rabbit-holes it could go down it's insane.)

I think that if you wanted to go down that path, Blue could push the MC into becoming more of a killer, more isolate, potentially committing suicide to be with him forever, be locked up (not my personal favorite, but some love it), and a whole other slew of Dark endings.

Because Orange contrasts him so much, you'd attract twice the amount of players, but catering to both the lighter and the darker side of the yandere trope.

You do what you want of course, but I think your plan is missing out on some great opportunities with Blue.
And if you need books on manipulation and manipulative men, just ask. I study psychology so I have plenty.

I don't remember if you have a "Warnings" part on your page or not.... but it's smart to have.
If you have separate warnings for the different Blythe's that will help the reader choose better too.

And speaking of choices... what's up with the singing voice choice at the start?
I can't see any difference in which one you choose, nor any impact difference.

Mh... I can recommend you to check out Brandon McNulty on YouTube.
He should have a video about how to properly use the Chekhov's gun technique.
Which should give you the subtle but later on "Ah-hah! I should have known!" moment that you're looking for.
It's tricky to balance subtlety with the reader catching it, because readers are so different.
Some catch your hints right away even when they're subtle, and others just can't see it.
Balance is tricky.
But having a good set of 'warnings' is actually hint enough of what to expect, without actually revealing the story details.
So that can help a lot.

Is there a guide to the game on your page?
It's something most readers appreciate to have access too --especially if they want to see all the endings.
(That, and some kind of achievement tab or the likes that names which endings is unlocked and which is not.)

And feel free to ramble as much as you want. I tend to do it myself too. lol
Especially when it comes to the art of writing. I'm a writer myself, however lazy I am.
It's always fun to talk about with someone as skilled at it as you. ^_^

I really hope you plan to write more on this story once you have the time tho.
I did end up enjoying this game far more than I would have expected.

Melancholy Marionette7 hours ago

Fair enough on A9! I have also avoided certain games based on artwork that turned me off, so I totally get it :3

I dunno which ending you got on Tunnel Vision cos there are a few different ones, most of which are pretty dark or gory x3 There is an endings guide for it, but if it wasn't your cup of tea anyhow, that can't be helped, haha.

I know some people seem to get a different project called Touchstarved (I think that's what it's called?) mixed up with Lovestarved x3 Just cos they both have the word ‘starved’ in the title I guess. Lovestarved is basically a Limbo Line spinoff about the world's escort service, Deadly Desires. You don't have to have played Limbo Line for Lovestarved to make sense though and vice versa cos the two stories are mostly unrelated.

With Limbo Line, I guess it depends what sorta stuff you're looking for in a game and what you would consider mild :3 I don't really know what sorta stuff you're looking for.

There are some pretty dark endings, but if a player was looking for something like dark sexual content, for example, it doesn't have that. The mature stuff in there is all non-sexual. There isn't any romance in it either, so it's not like it's a dating sim. There's a yandere in there, but a platonic yandere. (I realise there are also arguments around whether platonic yanderes are even a thing that can exist, but that's a debate I can't even be bothered to have anymore, haha).

---

The problem with trying to go in too many directions with that particular ending in Bitter/Sweet though, is that you have to keep the reveal from the ‘true’ ending in mind.

For reference, I might as well be super clear and actually say it here, but I'll do so under spoilers on the off chance someone else reads this x3

Ahoy! There be SPOILERS below!!! x3

So yeah, with the ‘true’ end revealing on the title screen that Blythe is basically an antidepressant medication, it makes it a bit harder to play into certain themes too strongly. Especially when the game was supposed to be an exaggerated parallel of my own experience of being on certain kinds of antidepressants (this is something I think I mentioned in the extras section).

I did want to leave it a little open to interpretation still because I'm not a huge fan of when endings are 100% explained and told as gospel. I find it more fun when there's room to draw your own conclusions and come up with different theories. Which is a big part of why I revealed the whole 'Blythe is an antidepressant' thing as a visual element on the title screen post-'true’ end credits rather than writing it into the story x3

If MC were locked up for murder, those in charge of MC would either increase the dose of medication, which would in turn increase Blythe's influence over MC. Or they could potentially take MC off of the medication, either completely, or to trial them on a different kind of med. If the medication was changed or stopped, Blythe would technically disappear because MC only experiences Blythe as ‘real’ because it's a side effect of the Blythe antidepressant.

Basically, if we take the ‘true’ ending to actually be the truth of how Blythe exists, then Blythe only exists because MC is taking the drug named Blythe.

---

Don't hate me here, but I'm gonna have to respectfully disagree that more endings = always good >.< My reasoning: I've played waaaay too many commercial Japanese VNs full of pointless bad ends at this point x3

Now, don't get me wrong, I usually LOVE bad ends! I tend to enjoy them more than good ends, haha. The problem is, a lot of VNs pack tonnes of bad ends in that are sooooo boring. They feel like a complete waste of time because often, they're not bad enough, but even more often, they just don't really do much of anything beyond be an irritating inconvenience to players trying to 100% the game or meet certain conditions to unlock hidden routes/scenarios :(

I'm all for more decent bad ends in games, gimme loads if they're epic bad ends! x3 But more doesn't always necessarily = better. Sometimes more is just a chore >.<

As a side note, I've never played Particles of Reality, and probably never will. It was on my radar at one point, but I remember when I looked it up thinking it's just not really my cup of tea, and my backlog is so huge at this point that I really needed to try and condense it somehow x3

---

To be honest, most of my games were made in under 1 month xD ~~Because I'm a game jam addict T_T~~

Bitter/Sweet was made for Yandere Jam, which only lasts a month. So the content that's currently available is basically what I was able to complete within the jam's 1 month time frame :3

Some of my stuff was made even faster though, like The Hostage, which was made in under 1 week for O2A2 jam. That jam is so much fun x3 I really love how all the limitations force you to come up with something you can squeeze in to the restrictions!

Solipsism Reigns is my first (and only) game that I didn't make specifically for a jam. That took a few years from start to finish to complete >.< I was my grandma's carer when I started working on the game though, so I was only getting to spend like 1-2 hours per day on it.

But yeah, I find that writing is the most difficult part of game jams in general because if it's a 1-month jam, you really need to try and have the full story script finished within the first week of the jam if you wanna stand a chance at actually submitting a finished game by the jam deadline >.<

It's fun, buuuut it also means you're kinda forced to think fast and run with a first draft, which is pretty much always gonna mean the writing is weak in places, if not throughout :(

At least you can always update stuff when a jam is over :3 Even that comes with issues though because sometimes, voice actors are happy to play characters for game jam games, but may not want to reprise the same roles later on once the jam is done >.< That means script revisions aren't always possible without recasting. And even if recasting happens, re-cutting, editing, and implementing voice lines that you've already done once is a nightmare to have to go and do a second time cos it's so time-consuming T_T

---

As for Blue's route, weeeeell, when I say it's supposed to be mainly spicy fluff, I'm still talking DARK spicy fluff :P Some of what I've written is already sort of along the lines of some of the things you've mentioned :D

What I've got so far is definitely heavy on the manipulation side of things. Somewhat on the abusive side, but in a twisted caring kinda way x3

I've had a tad too many manipulative and abusive men in my actual life, so I'm kinda always conscious of that stuff cos what's fun in fiction isn't always so fun in reality >.<

I don't tend to get triggered by anything, but there are still certain things I avoid writing in fiction because they're things I've actually been through and don't particularly want to write about them in a fantasy kinda way x3

---

There is indeed a warnings section on the page, but I adore your idea of having separate warnings/triggers for each version of Blythe :3 I will absolutely make sure to do that when the time comes so that it's extra clear to players what to expect from each, and then they can avoid whatever they might not be into. As you say, it's good to help players choose better :D

---

The singing voice choice at the start is literally just to choose whether you want Blythe to have a masculine voice or a feminine voice :3 Whichever you pick determines for both versions of Blythe for the rest of a playthrough.

I've tried to include masculine and feminine voice options for the love interests in as many of my games as possible just to be more inclusive :3 Sometimes the sprites will appear physically different too, but because Blythe is designed to be androgynous, the sprites look the same whichever voice players pick.

It doesn't change anything else about the story because you pick MC's name and pronouns separately. So yeah, it's just a choice for Blythe's voice.

---

I do appreciate the YouTube recommendation, but I'd be lying if I said I was actually gonna look the guy up >.< I just really don't like watching stuff on YouTube. I find written articles easier to digest than people speaking. Like if I need an answer for something in the form of a tutorial or whatever, if videos are the only option available, I will just go back to trying to figure out whatever the problem was by myself x3 I dunno if it's cos of my autism or something, but I just can't seem to process information very well in audio/video form >.<

There is a guide on the game page, yeah :3 Well, a link to the guide anyways since I made it in a separate post that I linked back to the page. It's here: https://melancholy-marionette.itch.io/bittersweetblythe/devlog/496221/walkthroug...

---

I don't know if I could consider myself a skilled writer, but it means a lot that you would say that :3

I always assume my writing is clumsy >.< Partly cos of always having to run with hastily typed first drafts for game jams, but mainly cos I don't have much faith in anything I do, haha. I still haven't learned how to actually grow some self-esteem x3

Doesn't help that I always feel like an impostor when it comes to everything about game dev since I'm entirely self-taught.

I didn't even really get an education as a kid cos my school couldn't be bothered to teach anything. I only passed my GCSEs by studying textbooks at home. And I never had the opportunity to go to college/university because I was trapped in an abusive relationship and confined in his house. So yeah, I guess I just always feel kinda inadequate and inferior to all the folks out there who have actually had the opportunity to study stuff and get real degrees and experience etc. x3

---

I do intend to keep writing for this until I have Blue's route finished anyhow :3 I'm not entirely sure when cos my main focus is finishing Lovestarved before anything else, and then I also have another older project I wanna finish since the script was written years ago >.<

Just not sure what to prioritise after that because I want to get back to working on Darling Duality. That's a really long project though, so maybe I'd be better of finishing Blue Blythe's route before getting into that. Cos once I get working on Darling Duality again, I'll probably be on that for a couple of years or more x3

Sometimes I wish I could clone myself and make my clones work on my projects so I can have some time off to play games xD My clones would probably just wind up murdering me or something though knowing my luck!

Thanks again for all your insight :3 I'm so glad you wound up enjoying this one. Hope you have lots of fun gaming and writing in general :D