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Tragedy begets tragedy when unresolved hurt branches the edges of our walls like mold. Extremely palpable dread of rural american life and the disdain for the "other" it feeds.

Things that was so awesome:

• The blocky crunchy yum texture and shading of the environments and distinct expressions and character designs of our mains. Not so often you see pockmarked and yellow-teethed main characters I liked thaat...
• The intro was super well done setting the mood and making it feel like a show or feature film
• The sfx and music becoming abrasive and loud to depict Nadja's senses so u really feeling it too
• I enjoyed the ost matching the mood of being tween/late teen/imperfect rural mid america family in mid of nowhere and trapped in a situation you cant even leave like u literally cant get away how was anyone gonna
• Dreams and sense of time and reality being warped to protect you but coming to taunt and haunt instead
• Incredibly understandable unreasonable actions by honestly everybody here
• The txt being allowed to display one side so we get big views of the awesomesauce art 
• The well done subtle allusions to the hell of american existence told through two broken families' trajectory toward an unfixable state
• i love america

I am half white and half black. The family I have any sort of tether to, are all black. There are multitudes I will never relate to, due to having white skin. 

However. 

Reading this, I heard so many echoes of points I have vented only to myself before. There was a rumbling in my ears as I continued through the note. It took me right back. There are memories, disjointed and bruised memories we share. 

I constantly feel the stinging of an isolation that cannot be cured. Layers of this incurable isolation grow each year and I'm somewhere wallpapered in and made to be quiet about it. I'm made to be a fraud, anywhere I'd decide to go. I think you understand. 

Identity. I only get to be a ghost inhabiting a body. Who's there? I think I heard something, felt someone pass by. I'm a curiosity, a novelty, and crucially, not worth keeping. Nowhere beckons for me to please join in. There are no flyers being spread around town. 

It's nice to know someone else feels it. It hurts to know it will be like this for our lifetimes and beyond. I'm glad to know you, and to learn more of you through your many works. In the pit of my heart, I was hugging a sniffling school-aged version of me. I hadn't done that in so long. Thank you.

One of the sweetest little stories I've read for vn cup. The main character, and how their world is expressed in this visual novel was unexpected and beautiful. I don't want to give that twist away here as it was such a welcome surprise when I started reading. The interpretations of inside rooms, outdoors, the two speaking to each other over long distance, and their "view" of the world in general was so interesting. I enjoyed following along with their messages and the airport sequence with the paper and her face was so very adorable, it really made me smile.

The writing of the characters speaking and Miya thinking to herself is really natural in depicting how uneasy circular thoughts and moment to moment casual speech can be. The characters are also so blunt and hard-headed that they become super funny with no prior warning. This vn got several laughs out of me, not expecting how silly they get towards each other, or while Miya is monologuing internally. #hadtosayit The music was bittersweet and tugged at my heart and was paired with the visuals in scenes nicely. I liked getting to see the different alternate coloured backgrounds and the story payoff when they appeared. The art is beautifully done with great use of colour and the scene transitions were fun. These character designs and expressions are all so cute. Along with the sfx, the art direction makes the world feel real and tangible. This story featured realistic frustration with one's perceived unchanging self, prospective future, temporary companions, among other things. It was both a comedic and touching read.

This vn is both goofy funny and sweet. The end sequence got me a little emotional. It reminds me of how the early episodes of digi charat made me feel. The story is to the point, differentiating between characters and setting really well. The transitions make this a lot of fun to experience. It almost doesn't seem like a vn, but a short little animated oneshot episode. The sound and visuals are adorable, and the writing style makes the characters pop in a way they couldn't without the casual text-speak. This vn will be getting a few replays from me as it's such a fun time. 

This vn feels like an old classic that spawned its own OVA decades ago and is currently going through a fanculture revival. Everything is realized as if it is a story and media entity beyond vncup. Molly is silly but easy to understand and root for. I thought the the tossing away of usual expectations for her transformation was fun. The balance of emotional lorebuilding, impending doom, and henchwoman goof is handled really well. This was an interesting take on Yuri too, with it not being a bubblegum sweet love-love story, but exploring the more sinister forms of companionship. This vn's use of sound is sometimes startling. It is well blended with the different phases of the story. The graphics make this look like it was worked on and tested for more than what the time limit allowed. Thursday has a very distinct 3D model style they've been working hard on for years and got to show some of that technique off in a big way here.  In some alternate universe, doujin mangas are still being spread around and reposted featuring Molly and Tenny...

When I first saw this browsing the submitters for vncup, I got really excited and hoped I would like it. This vn was surprising for its subversion of a few usual story conventions. The limited colour usage was such a great choice for this space-story, I really liked the details found in the backgrounds of scenes, and the character design was cute. To not spoil something I thought was done really well (yet still comment on it), the ending featured what was hinted at throughout in multiple forms, but remained a shock when it actually hit. The pacing of the several days of her work made it easy to follow her rhythm and take in her complicated dreams and visions. The music was neat and charming to fit with the space colony slice of life themes. Their feelings of being trapped in their life were easy to relate to, and made me hope there was a bright ending full of clarity for them...