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I was not aware of that. I also wasn't sure if this was a style of writing that I was reading. I hope I didn't come across arrogant or hypocritical in my essay of a rant. That's why I mentioned other examples of playing and reading through other visual novels and my own experience with game development. Even when I type up visual novels, I can end up with typos, and my work can range from boring to angsty and dramatic story-wise, which I'm astutely aware of. Plus, my art is bad, and I've been told it's crude. I've even criticized my own visual novels in the comments of my games. So, I am a critic all around. 

I also realize I write my visual novels differently than others. People write theirs like books or with streams of consciousnesses. I also tend to write by the seat of my pants, and there's no one way to write a piece of fiction. I just write mine like a movie script where they are more dialogue-driven and fast-paced in the sense that there is always some sort of conflict in every scene whereas other authors can be more light in that regard due to the slice-of-life nature of the genre they're writing in, which there's nothing wrong with that either. 

Although, if you poke around YouTube or Google, you'll find authors say that the driving force of any story is conflict, and without it, it can feel like a random series of events. At its core, a character having a goal plus an obstacle in the way of said character's goals is what equates to a plot. My works just happen to be more character-driven. 

Otherwise, I know what it's like to be given feedback on a piece of art, whether written or drawn, and it can hurt. So, I didn't want to shoot down your ego. However, I wanted to be truthful while giving advice along the way, even if it was unsolicited. Plus, I didn't know if I was being too harsh for a prototype. I've also done and participated in many game jams, too, where I rushed for the deadline. So, I know the feeling. 

Ultimately, at the end of the day, you got something out there, submitted your VN into a game jam, finished a story from beginning to middle to end, and you can always update the VN later if you so choose. That's still a win, and I'm just giving you my take as someone who appreciates the genre. You can write your visual novels however you want. That's the joy, power, and freedom of creativity. I just didn't want my critical feedback to discourage you from continuing your journey of game development, is all. 

don’t worry, I’ve gotten plenty of critiques in my life as a author. My skill is more so in the art department anyway, I’d love to do art for somebody else’s story, but the opportunity has not come up yet so I’m just doing it on my own

I highly appreciate people who take time out of their day to tell me where I can improve so I highly appreciate your comments and will be continuing making games with it in mind. 

Cool! I’ve also collaborated with two of my artsy friends for two of my visual novels so far. So, I’m always down for collaborating, too, if you’re interested. 

I actually really like your art.  It’s cute and colorful. My only critique is that it sometimes looks flat in some places, but I think that was the point, and my art is flatter, anyway. 😅

Otherwise, I’m pretty flexible. They gave me art, and I would just build a story around said art. Examples include When Winter Comes and Vibrant Love on my page.

I mainly write coming-of-age dramas or romances that are wholesome or angsty, but I’ve dabbled in writing in the fantasy and horror genres before. Examples include The Power of Friendship and Curse on my page. 

I can work with a character sprite and a background or just a character sprite. A lot of my earlier works were self-contained stories like that, especially since they were for game jams. Examples include A Night Out, Class in Session, and Beach Waves on my page. 

I can also do branching paths that diverge into different plots or nuanced routes like in Mother and Love Days on my page. 

I’ve successfully done 25 game jams in total, and it usually takes me on average two weeks to a month to complete a visual novel. It can take me a week or less to write a good short story. 

I have Reddit, FB, Snapchat, YouTube, email, and this account if you’re interested in collaborating with me further. 

I'd love to collaborate! I normally do themed dating sims or stuff like strawberry darling, currently I have beyond the stars [zodiac theme], Yoshi [place holder name but it's a Tamagotchi creepypasta/yandere game], chocolate mafia [place holder name again, theme is clear there], and a few others I'd like to do but they all are ether dating sims or yandere games.

the only places we could really talk this over I have is discord, Instagram, and email

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Whoo! I have Discord, but I never use it. You can hit me up at shelbylnofer@gmail.com.

if you’re more comfortable with Discord, I can see about setting that up, too. 

I used to be into astrology and creepypastas, and I’m always down for a good dating sim, too. I’ve been meaning to write a yandere VN, as well. So, those ideas work for me. We can also start from scratch with a new idea, too.

I am more comfortable with discord just because I’m more likely to see the messages faster. and if you’re willing to do a creepy pasta/yandere, I already got the beginning of the tamagotchi game written and a character design for Yoshi.

Okay. My display name is also ActiveDayDreamer on Discord. 

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It’s not working, saying I got the username wrong. Here try mine odysseus_991

Maybe because there were numbers added to the end of my username that Discord gave me. Sorry about that. 😅

I figured out why. I went by display name, not username.