Hello hello everyone! <3

So welcome to this new realm we call the butterthoughts where you are now subjected to the thoughts and yearnings of the butterheart! So if you are ready for all that then smile and say "sweetie" three times to signify your consent to be bombarded with all my rants and rambles!
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Ah you're still here?

WELL THEN LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOO!

Now more seriously, hi!  <3  Welcome to my devlog hahaha! This isn't my first devlog, but it is my first published devlog (I'm still working on my Threads of Snow one, but it's getting so long lol). 

If you are here, I assume you belong to one of two categories: 

1. Those who have played The Day it Rained Roses 

 2. Those who have not, but are curious about this game or have expressed interest in it (I mean, you wouldn't be here if you weren't at least interested yes?)

But either way, I would first like to say, thank you so much! For either playing the game or at least expressing interest in it! All of my games, even the ones I'll make in the future really contain many  little pieces of me, interwoven into the the games' DNA, hidden in plain sight. So I'm really baring my heart here each and every time hahaha! Thus, it really means a lot to me when people express their interest and/or thoughts about them, more so when they play the games. 

And I think before I ramble on about TDiRR, I guess I should explain first the general premise shared by all the Butterverse games  (this name is not final lol, but that's really how I call my games for now hahaha!)

All of my games, both released and planned, are a part of a greater collective universe, all centering around my character named "Brielle". 

For those who have known me since last year, you might recognize this drawing! She's this girl right here, in her mermaid iteration from May! And yes! This was my contribution for MerMay back then! Because at her core, Brielle is HEAVILY inspired and based on the Little Mermaid, for reasons that will be expounded upon later. (hint: it's the unrequited love lol)

Now each game that is not part of a trilogy (e.g. Threads of Snow, my first game and my O2A2 entry is  part of a planned trilogy actually), are all Alternate Universes of each other. So Brielle is my protagonist in each and every universe, all with differing iterations of her (though sometimes, the roles switch and one of her LIs is the POV character).  And every game I make, every iteration of Brielle and her LIs, as well as the stories they are in --- all of them lead to my "main VN" (yes,  I don't have a title yet, but I just call it "Stranger from the Stars" as a working title, inspired by Owl City's "Thunderstruck").  But while they are all AUs of each other, they are all linked together in some way that you will all see in the future! Culminating into my main VN! 

And let's just say time travel is really one of my favorite things in the world, so it's gonna be a huge thing in the butterverse, as well as myths and fairytales! 

Now... back to TDiRR <3

To be honest, I was actually going to make a different game as my OUAT entry --- one based on the Snow Queen and the Ice Maiden, with the premise of hero x villain.   It doesn't have a name yet, but it's quite a long VN with three acts. Act 1 is named "The Death of Spring" and Act 2 is named "The Life of Winter", while act 3 doesn't have any yet lol. And I think that you already saw why I never ended up making it. It was simply too long lol. I wanted to make it, even at least half of Act 1 as a demo (it's already been outlined after all), but gosh, when I re-evaluated my working pace (based on experience I was quite slow, like lol, I submitted my O2A2 entry roughly 1 hour before the deadline), and I think with the assets and the writing needed for the stopping point I wanted, I really couldn't make it. So yes, I was foiled by over-scoping, a villain that shall return to thwart me anew for TDIRR. So I had to scrap it and work on a shorter game, as I really wanted to make something for OUAT.

And so, in October, I found myself with this idea: the little mermaid confessing to her prince of her love, not as a way to win his heart but to thank him and to express her gratitude at how beautiful and wonderful her world became thanks to falling in love with him.  And so she dies as seafoam, not in sadness, but in peace and happiness at being able to express her love in the end.

 But...well...let's just say that some things happened in my personal life and I did not see the need to tell this story anymore, as the state of the butterheart had changed significantly.

And so life carried on and I still wanted to make an OUAT entry, so I tried brainstorming of ways on how to write my original idea (because it was more than just the little mermaid scene, but it's spoilers so I can't tell you yet lol).  I even tried making more assets while brainstorming...and then November came.

THE END OF NOVEMBER CAME AND OMG I WAS DOOMED ADFCGVBWGVHBNDXFCG

LIKE I ONLY HAD A MONTH LEFT AND OMG I STILL DON'T KNOW WHAT TO WRITE . A part of me thought that I should have just gone with my OG!OUAT entry or the sequel to ToS, but lol nope, it really wasn't the right time for that.  SO. I. WAS. DOOMED. 

BUT THEN THE SOLUTION CAME ONE DAY THROUGH AN UNEXPECTED SOURCE:

LEN <3

Like, I was scrolling through our old conversations and I WAS HIT BY THE ARROW OF INSPIRATION. So this, coupled with some of chattercap's comments about Julian gave me this idea: Vampire Prince!Julian X Fangirl!Brielle.  And my idea earlier? I FOUND A WAY TO TELL IT AGAIN!!! (In  a different context and in an entirely different way though hahaha!) YEAH BOIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!! AND SO MY IDEA WAS BORN.

Thus, with the start of December, I was given this idea and I was pumped to make into a complete game by the end of December.

But lol, that's when my old nemesis returned...

Overscoping.

SO LIKE I PLANNED FOR IT TO BE LIKE A SHORT O2A2 STYLE  GAME , OR MAXIMUM OF 5K WORDS BUT OMG  WHEN I WROTE THE OUTLINE IT WAS 12 PAGES LONG OMG.

And since it was December already, I couldn't work on the game much because December is a pretty busy month, so in the end, the script only got finalized on December 26 and I had until January 2 to make assets + do GUI + code + polish the game. And well...let's just say that I was crunching so much and found myself pulling all nighters! BUT in the end, I MADE IT AAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!!

I was able to submit my game 9 minutes and 52 seconds before the deadline (I wanted to code more at the time but lol I finished coding at exactly 1 hour before the deadline adfscgvbdnc). 

Now since it was very much rushed, I wasn't happy with it as much, as it wasn't the demo I envisioned AT ALL. But...I wasn't discouraged because of all of the encouragement I got before. I can't mention all of you (especially since I have goldfish brain), but just know that I am VERY grateful to you all. 

But I would like to mention someone specifically here.

Thank you so much!!!!! At the start of December, I was really doubting if I can make the game and if it can live up to what I envision, as something I can be satisfied with. So this gave me courage and fuel to actually do what I can! So yes, it lead me at least to a healthier mindset about it! So thank you!!! You're one of the reasons the game exists haha! (And by the way guys! Check out their game here aaaahhhh!!!! It looks so cool!! And of course my little mermaid loving heart is so happy seeing it!!! I wanna play it soon! Actually all of the OUAT entries looked so stunning I WANNA PLAY THEM ALL ADFGVSHBDJNF)

And so this leads me to today's devlog! After roughly a month after the TDiRR demo was released, here is the FULL DEMO of the game, containing ALL that I envisioned for it, as well as a piece of my heart embedded deeply within it. AND I AM SO HAPPY AND PROUD WITH IT AND I AM VERY MUCH ECSTATIC TO SHARE THIS GAME WITH YOU ALL AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH.

I expected to update the game within at least the first week, BUT OMG I KEPT GETING DELAYED, I NEVER EXPECTED THAT CODING WOULD TAKE UP SO MUCH TIME. But I guess that is another lesson in game dev that I must learn as a baby dev (well, I consider myself as such since this is just my second game after all, and it kinda feels like my first since O2A2 felt more like a trial version for me in easy mode lol). 

And I guess that's it for today's devlog! I'll make another devlog for TDiRR soon, as this next one will go much more in depth with the game, as I plan to discuss a bit of the lore + clothing inspiration and character design + fairytale inspirations and maybe a bit of the symbolism if you're interested in that! As well as some behind the scene snippets such as sketches and all + plans for the future, more so as it is HEAVILY connected to my OG!OUAT entry. 

For now though!!! Here's an inside look at my main pair, with their profiles!

And that's truly it for this devlog hahaha!

But before I go though! I'd also just like to thank chattercap, chimeriquement and len once again! Truly, my game would literally not exist without them! My inspirations, my encouragement, and my ever tangible help and hands to hold as I go through the maze of game deving. Check out their games here too btw!!! They are STUNNING OMG, AND I WAS CRYING LIKE A BABY DURING MY PLAYTHROUGH AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH. 

The Deepwater Witch - chattercap

Beyond the Fairy Tale: A Dialogue with the Stars - chimeriquement

Talisman of Dawn - lenlen

So now, with the FULL DEMO finally out, I can finally rest and play the other OUAT entries. AAAAAAAAAHHHHH SWEET FREEDOM!!!! (So lol, fellow OUAT participants, maybe you'll catch me bombarding you later on hahaha! Truly the entries looked AMAZING AND I AM SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!)

So see you again with the next devlog~ 

Au revoir sweeties~ <3