Hi henlo! So, traditionally, thanks for playing, I'm really glad you liked it 💖
I'm really happy that the experience feels somewhat dream-like, after all, this is a core part of the whole universe concept lol. When it comes to music, when nobody's got me, I know Scott Buckley's music library's got me (there are so many amazing pieces there that you can use for free, beautiful thing!). When it comes to sprites and backgrounds, I can't stress enough how talented Val and Katelynn are (not to mention how many design decisions and ideas came from Val, they really understood the characters! And Katelynn is capable of nailing the exact shade and vibe of things I envision, it's honestly amazing). I even made two backgrounds myself for fun (the Field/Glitched Field one and the blood glass; the "blood" is actually ink from Vatican, I'll never stop talking about it because it's pretty dope imho) and I'm pretty satisfied with how everything turned out.
Yep, it is the ending – I wanted it to end like part 1 did, with an invitation and the same set of words. I'm debating about maybe writing a little "post-credits" scene or two, but certainly not now.
I'm happy that you liked the False Choice sequence because it's probably one of my favorite things in LGBT (I'm still crying over the short version as well, it's both hillarious and a curse). The main idea was that things that were a choice remain clickable, while things that couldn't be fixed or undone remained unclickable (I actually got a little inspired by the unclickable "IGGY THIS ISN'T A CHOICE" section from OW's Act 5.1; the first plan for this sequence was more or less similar, but the current version had more appeal from narrative standpoint I guess?). Funfact about it: the options are unclickable because you need a variable called "agency" to be at least 1; there's no way to rise it above 0, so, here we are.
Eva being a writer dives back into my dreams – she appeared there to pitch an idea for Sugar and Spice to a certain VN company and since then, I couldn't really get her out of my head and just had to make her into a character. She remained a writer, but for IFs, since at the time of her being made I only had experience with IF making, and it just stayed like this. Lirion being a part of the fandom is an idea that came to me way later (at first, they were supposed to have no idea about it, but it's just funnier this way!). The Eva/Maria duality is there specifically for all those people who separate their real selves and the "dev personas" (myself included, really.)
Lirion being recognized universally as THE friend makes me so happy, yes, they are THE friend, THE warm, huggable being. Put them in your pocket and give them headpats. Feed them crumbs, perhaps. When it comes to Cass, I just really wanted someone who gives A Vibe and has a strong presence. After all, she's making up for the years of not being able to show it... She's definitely the boldest out of the four and writing her made me smile to myself too. As for Meredith... oh gods. I'm glad the harsh vibe getting more sad came across. I didn't know it'd be that intense, but hey, I'll take it. And yeah, the cornflower fields... I pass by countless cornflowers on my daily walks (this is where the background came from!) and that was pretty inspiring. Ivehorn was vaguely inspired by the vibes of my surroundings, so, it was only natural that the almost liminal vast fields will eventually make it in.
To finish it, thanks for going on this trip! Hopefully I'll see you in Ivehorn soon (if the world's kind, most likely at the end of August with Convergence, heh...)
PS: the melody from the main menu is "Reawakening" (it used to be "This Too Shall Pass in the Amare Fest version)