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I majored in creative writing in college and am hard at work on my own YA fantasy novel (and have been for a long time!). Your game moved me in a way I hadn't been moved since Doki Doki Literature Club, and before that by Undertale.  I am impressed at how the symbology is neither subtle nor ham-handed: it is there to be seen if people want to see it. It takes a certain kind of confidence to say, "Yes, I will have my character hide in the literal closet," and then let the more subtle aspects come from what leaving the closet looks like (the player must not be seen leaving, but they *must* leave). 

I was impressed by how masterfully this game uses the nature of the medium to its advantage. The diaries are obviously by different people, but everybody "knows" that anything established in the first five minutes of a game is canon, and the first five minutes of the game implies that the two diaries are the same. This aspect is particularly what I've been thinking lots about:  what level of thought went into the introduction of the two diaries to make them *imply* being the same, without ever actually saying so? What configurations did you try before saying, "Okay, yes, this sets up the expectation I want."

I knew it : ) I've always admired those whose speciality is literature, and I am honored you took interest in my writing.

One of my biggest challenges was how to make use of the narrative powers only a game possess without being too 'direct or descriptive'. I was fascinated by games like the Portal series, Undertale and A Way Out for their creativeness of telling a story in a way that only a game can achieve. In a similar sense, I wanted to deliver symbology that only a gamer could experience, although reading is the main instrument of story telling in Love, Sam. For example, after obtaining the camera, I designed my game so that the players have to continuously press the shutter in order to progress. This was an attempt to help players empathize with Kyle who frantically took pictures to achieve his goals. And of course, the part where you exit the closet is also one of my attempt to deliver symbology in a game. I was really concerned if those attempts was too subtle, and you have no idea how relieved I was when the streamers exclaimed "oh he came out of the closet".

To be honest, the "trick" of two diaries was not difficult to orchestrate. This is because of the nature of the subject i tried to talk about: love. The two diaries are different in many ways: the writings' tones are different, the paper designs are different, and even the hand writings and drawings are different. But I wasn't too worried about the readers suspecting that the two diaries are written by different people, even if Kyle's diary has a more 'obsessive' characteristics while Sam's diary gives a more lovable aura. This is because both Kyle and Sam's feelings are, in a way, the same. At first glance, the two diaries seem to portray different feelings for Brian; one is love and the other is obsession. However, many people don't suspect that the two diaries are written by different people despite a number of hints suggest that they are. This is because we naturally accept that Sam's sweet feelings can always turn into something ugly like Kyle's. Some say Kyle is a psycho, but his feelings are not that different from Sam's. It's just that his anger and frustration was too much for him to bare. Remember that I said I wanted to talk about the fine line between love and obsession? This was my way of saying it.

Hello again! I wanted to let you know, I'm going to be on DamageBoost Podcast talking about "Love, Sam" and what it is that makes it so effective. Would you be interested in being interviewed on the podcast? I really think it's criminal that there aren't more essays/thinkpieces/content people who love this story can read.

It's nice hearing from you, cynkatie! First of all, thank you for asking. It would be an honor to participate in such a meaningful discussion. 

However, I must warn you that I am not used to talking in interviews, and since English is not my first language, I'm not really confident in my English speaking capabilities. Is there a chance I can take a peak at the topics we will discuss, or questions that I might have to answer on the podcast? If i'm really doing this, i want to be prepared as much as possible and practice a bit. 

Lastly, how are you guys planning to do the interview? There is a small chance I can't use certain podcast services since I'm in Korea right now.

I'm sure that would be fine! I'll message you so we can email and I can get Damage Boost to answer more about the logistics.

Hello, I'm interested in listening to this podcast. Is it available? If so, what website did you use to publish it? 

Actually, it looks like I can't message you. But if you will email katiespam2017@gmail.com, I will coordinate things!