Hello everyone, Keyko here bringing you the fourth Q&A, but before showing you all the data I wanted to make a small preface about certain things and how the whole session will be structured.

I'll be numbering everything, both questions and non-questions. It's a big essay so I'm leaving behind ways to stop and resume. I've removed generic praise. I appreciate them, truly, but the Q&A is big, almost as big as an update. I'm keeping only the ones with sauce or the ones I can comment on.

I broke the long comments into tinier pieces for better readability so that I could also chime in if needed.

Previous Q&As First - Second - Third

I will copy paste the preface from our second Q&A because what I said still stands true and there's no other way to put it. I might keep using it.
(I actually copied the whole beginning of the third Q&A because it perfectly encapsulates what these feedbacks are about, no reason to change it).

Before jumping into the Q&A I have to preface a few things because it’s hard for everyone to understand emotions through words alone. You can, but they can be misunderstood.

My tone shifts between serious, joking and dramatic. (I love to be dramatic for absolutely no reason at all.) Your questions didn’t offend me and I hope my answers won’t offend you back.

My opinion on the game isn’t meant to be considered canon. I don’t want to taint your theories and thoughts on the story because I’m not perfect either. Sometimes you can find meaning I didn’t expect to add, a layer I didn’t see and, if it resonates with you, please do keep it.

And absolutely do not force people to change their minds because the author said this so it can’t be that. Don’t destroy people’s fun, ok?

What you’ll learn from me is my thought process and behind the scenes. I did my best to keep spoilers out of the way, but I figured stuff can slip out, be careful of what you want to learn.

TL DR this is just a fun discussion we’re having and some questions brought to light issues I didn’t see before. (There’s too much content and having a fresh reader tell me about it is helpful.)

Some notes before jumping into it
We have a new Patreon goal of 200. Hitting that will reward everyone with a double update for next month. It's not a permanent offer because N5 is big, but I can do it now that we have multiple D5s.
D1 and D2 will receive their last polishing update thanks to my new editor GoldenGlow (Tysm you're my hero). We have plans to push the whole game together up to D3 (Or more if he feels comfortable doing it). When that is done I will prepare the art required for a Steam release. (And will offer free keys to Patreon supporters of Premium tier and above).

Roadmap

Russell 4 - April (Itch)
Liam 5 - May (Itch) | April (Patreon)
Patrice's backstory scheduled to release in May as a standalone game for the May Wolf Jam.
Blake 5 - June (Itch) | May (Patreon)
Next route not picked yet. (Might be leaning into Patrice 5)

Ok, now we can jump into the actual Q&A, cheers! (36 people participated this time, but the final question counter was 270)

Select the route\s you've read.

I'd say 50% of you who took the survey played the majority of what the game has to offer. Thank you! The Patrice victory caught me off guard, but it's a really good sign, especially cause I haven't seen Patrice hate flying around in this feedback form lmao.

Select the route/s you're interested in playing in the future.

The wolf bias is crazy, but that can't be helped. It's a matter of fact that everyone goes crazy over wolf characters. You're legally required to have one. Anyway, nothing to say besides READ RUSSELL 4 BECAUSE THERE'S SOMETHING INTERESTING THERE YOU WANT TO SEE. If you like Dylan, consider it an additional source of crocodile content.

Rank the characters (1 worst up to 8 your fave)

I hate horizontal pictures...

(Ranking them in order)
8) Blake Clyde Patrice Liam Joel Ryan Dylan Russell
7) Joel Dylan Patrice Blake Liam Ryan Clyde Russell
6) Patrice Joel Ryan-Blake Clyde-Liam-Dylan Russell
5) Russell Clyde-Ryan-Joel Blake Patrice-Dylan Liam 
4) Dylan Russell-Joel-Ryan-Blake Liam Clyde Patrice
3) Russell-Liam Dylan Ryan-Clyde Blake-Patrice Joel
2) Ryan Russell Patrice-Clyde-Liam Joel-Dylan Blake
1) Russell Liam Ryan-Joel Dylan Blake-Clyde-Patrice

This whole thing felt so pointless, but there you go, I reordered them for you. I hate myself.

How do you feel about the choices you were given so far? (Middle for balanced).

Majority is okay with two small subgroups of "Easy versus a bit hard" I know the hard group mostly speaks for very specific choices, we won't discuss it here. I already expanded upon them plenty in the open question part of the feedback. I did forget to say one thing though. Choices are also bookmarks and save points for when we press the skip button. They're a mechanic I use to help you navigate the game as well. Enough of this, you'll learn why Liam and Ryan's choices were harder than others. (Technically you shove Russell too). I do have plans to alternate easy and hard questions, so these stats are on point for me.

How do you feel about the dream sequences?

There's a crushing positive reception which is good.
I ended up removing the simple compliments and kept the longer ones/the ones I wanted to answer and expand on.
The question counter beings here!

1Q) I like that they give us further backstory and context for the characters. They're a major privacy violation though, so I'm looking forward to how Joel handles that. Will he willingly use them to get more information on his friends, or avoid doing so? It's fun to think about.

A—  I don't have anything to add here, I just wanted to show this one because the privacy violation made me giggle. The snippets learned from dreams will come into play soon as Joel grows closer to the route character you've picked.

2) Confused me a bit when it happened for the first time, but after I understood what was happening they became some of my favorite parts, since I like knowing the backstories of all the characters 

A— I thought about it; How do we do it without literally stating HEY THIS ISN'T JOEL BTW. I saw how other games approached the POV swap by giving the new character a color change, but I didn't like having the text stay that color the whole time. I thought it'd bother me. Do you want to see the entire sequence green? I wouldn't. So this was the simplest and easiest approach.

3) A little jarring, the usefulness of that scene in different routes vary vastly.
A— Different stories have different themes and goals attached to them. It's not important how useful they are to me if the message came across.

4) I'm not sure how to put it, but I think the dream scene is like an opportunity to make amends if you say it on the 3rd night. It's like an opportunity for Joel to make things right.
A— You're a bit confused, but I appreciate the answer.

5) They were a bit confusing at times, but gave some insight on the character's backstories
A— This is what the feedback should be about! Ask me! I want to know what exactly confuses you so I can touch it up a little!

6) the,, what??-
A— Did you reach D4 yet? If not, why are you here?

7) Good as long as its explained why Joel can do it.
A— Please tell me if I'm wrong, but you're told this exactly after the dream sequence ends. This isn't a Joel power, but a medium generic talent to find information.

8) They're some of my favorite parts. Getting insight into the character's past is really interesting. However, I would really like to see them come into play. Let Joel think about how what he's seen affects who the character is as they are now. In the case of Ryan, it's literally the other night, so maybe less so, but with Liam, or Clyde, or even Blake, where we see them significantly younger, it would be nice to have him go "oh, I see how the things that happened here lead to who you are today, and why you have the problems you do." or even just a little more sympathy from him.

A— I don't know if what I'm going to say makes sense, but there is a limited window frame in which this can happen and, when that time period shows up, something more important is taking place, something that can't be delayed either. So I find myself standing at a crossroad. I'm going to prioritize the present over the past and solve this issue later as the biggest story beats have passed. This also ties with the "how much information can you feed the reader without overwhelming them? You want them to remember and that means actively selecting what's most important. In order to avoid an info dump you need to make sacrifices somewhere else. This doesn't mean I won't follow your feedback. I'll find the opportunity to bring this back for sure.

9) The dream sequences in writing are amazing already, but just a suggestion, make an indicator during the dream sequence like a white frame on the edges cuz I was confused the first time I read through it haha

A— This is a good suggestion. We'll see if that's doable. Nice.

10) I like it, gives more background to the character. Though I'm sometimes left confused whether its hinting at why theyre assigned that specific deadly sin or whether theyre just random memories. I'm saying this because I dont really see the connection of Liam's dream to his deadly sin

A— They're not necessarily hinting at their sin? I didn't really have that theme in mind when I was writing these sequences. Some do, definitely, but Liam didn't need it. His whole ongoing arc has shown his sin PLENTY.

11)I like them, but I have a feeling that if they would have been more spread apart they would have resulted in being more interesting, I don't want to be spoon-fed information about the character, I want to hear it from their own mouth- if that makes sense.

A— Having a character dump it on you across a conversation over actually seeing it happening? (You know, show don't tell vibe) I've done that on Dylan 3A and it wasn't as satisfying as watching it "live". What you want is definitely going to happen regardless though, because I'm not going to abuse dreams that way either. It's such a short fragment (1k, every single one), that has not only the function of giving you a glimpse into a character's life, but also makes Joel understand that this is now going to severely impact his life moving forward.

Free space for additional questions you might want to add after completing this section.

12) I think there should be a separate section to rank routes next time. While I don't love Russel, I think his route is done well. This could give some insight and sentiment as a whole, but at the same time most would probably rank routes the same as characters

A— I was mostly thinking that there's a lot of stuff I could be asking and I wanted to compress that, but I see your point and will definitely spread more next time.

13) Shirtless Patrice is all the details I need... he deserves a good nipple rubbing. Jokes aside, Liam really grew as a character, now it's Russel's time, hopefully the new updates will rectify that.

A— *cough* Russell 4 is coming out soon. Really sad I didn't get to release it before this feedback, but you can always let me know if the next update was to your liking.

14) I enjoyed most to all routes, just some are clearly better or more interesting than others for story or character reasons. I like Clyde but he isn't my top pick but his route gives important information on the castle for example. I love Blake! But I doubt his route will be as interesting if that makes sense.

A— This is very subjective. I said this before every character brings his own themes, goals and they intertwine with the story differently. It happens that you might find one route better than another (That's exactly what I expected!) Blake could be doing nothing and people would cheer him on haha. There are other Blake questions so I won't dwell here too much, but it makes for Blake to have the least amount of involvement. His story is more on the selfish side.

15) It's always hard to rank the characters, because I like them all so much. So while Russel and Ryan ended up at the bottom, it's not because I hate them, I just like the others more. Still going to read their routes though.
A— Don't worry. I know that. I'm not mad at all. The "pick your faves" are completely unnecessary and only exist to satisfy my own curiosity.

16) The dream sequences offer Joel a useful way of getting information, on the castle, his friends, family, other mediums, etc. I'm looking forward to how you and Joel will navigate this power.
A— It's most likely on its way out. We already discussed the "teach me how to turn it off" moment (D5). I want Joel to be involved and not a spectator if that makes sense.

17) I don't know much English so when I read your stories I have to use translation sometimes so if I misunderstood something or typed something wrong I apologize.
A— That's ok! Thank you so much! You spend so much time translating just to read? That's flattering. It makes me happy to hear that!

18) I think that it was a bit annoying that we learn almost nothing about Russell compared to the other characters, yet we're expected to 100% back him up. It was a bit hard to connect with the character in this way that I ended up disliking him more than Liam, who's the obvious choice for annoying character
A— The trust issue character doesn't trust you and you don't get to learn anything about him? That's crazy. I'm joking, I'm joking!

Also Joel absolutely did NOT back him up. The entirety of D3, N3 is Joel slowly losing his mind having to put up with his garbage. The king of pettiness did NOT back him up. Did we all forget they argued the whole time? That Joel had to get comforted by another Joel! (There's two variants of those convos, they're so funny, especially the B side).

19) Joel best boyyy ! !!! ! =^w^= He's such a cutie pie, i think the cutest mc so far in all the furry visual novels i've seen…
A— Awwww thank you

20) I think the choices are a bit hit or miss sometimes. In some cases I can see the thought process behind them, but in some I think the choices are close enough together, or not quite relevant. Like on Ryan's route, both answers feel correct, and in character for Joel to say. It's hard to know which one is right the first time, and I think that's occasionally unfair to the player.

A— I like that you said it feels unfair. I've been discussing choices with my friends after Liam 4 released because this issue came back one more time. Some are easy, others are just reading checks and then we have the big boys.

When I create, I like to put myself in the players shoes. What would I do in this situation? I'm kind of the rule breaker, always trying to find the shortcut and immediately go back and fix things if I took the wrong approach.

And in VNs you can do everything you want. Save, load, skip, pick a different choice. So, my thought process is "First I save at the choice, then I go read all 3 and try to figure out which one feels more appropriate." But you probably think that's not enough otherwise we wouldn't be discussing this in the first place.

This is what I also think — as the story progresses, you actually do find which answer is the right one (In Liam 4, for example, Blake gives you the right answer). So, if you picked the wrong choice I'm most likely going back to pick the other.

Choices matter, but I won't punish you for making one mistake. I also gave you the tool to guarantee the good ending anyway. Pick what you think is right and go with the flow.

Anyway— you cited Ryan 4 and I agree with you. Both choices are very Joel-like, but one is obviously better than the other. I see it as Old Joel against a Joel that is changing. This becomes more fun if you've read Liam's route first and then Ryan's. This isn't an unfair choice to someone who has read the former first. They know immediately what to pick. That's really fun to me. It's encouraging replayability. The context has changed drastically. This happens in all routes to a certain degree.

I remember seeing a similar question about this topic so I'll hold on to say the rest when I get to it.

21) there's a bug where after loading a previous save into day 4, the entire story repeats, idk if it's been patched
— I can't say. I stopped receiving this kind of bug report a long time ago.

22) I think there needs to be some time where Joel and Ryan are apart on his route since their codependency seems to be the crux of their conflict and it would give them a chance to breathe individually. So far Ryan's got the most screentime of the LIs and it's made his route drag a little for me. (Note: Worst of a bunch of 'very good' does not mean bad.)

— There is something I want to highlight first before fully answering your question seriously: THEY'RE BEST FRIENDS! IT'S INEVITABLE! THEY WANT TO SPEND TIME TOGETHER! Don't you have something similar in your life? I do. (I hope this didn't come across as mean, I'm joking). Besides, haven't you seen the Ryan interactions slowly going down as the story goes on? I'm fully aware of what you're trying to convey but I can't exactly snap my fingers and make him disappear. That'd be jarring and would make no sense.

Now, the serious answer is— you're right. Your theory is on point and I won't discuss this further. This is spoiler territory.

Rank all the Day 4s (1 worst, 7 your fave)

I'm really sorry, but I don't want to do this again (Typing down every single ranking I mean). Clyde Patrice and Dylan seem to take the cake while I respect this outcome I believe you guys are missing on Liam 4 and Ryan 4. Incredible days. Honestly the D4s have been really strong, holy shit. Only Blake feels lackluster. This is also discussed in the open questions, let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Dy4 Spoilers! Choose the outfit you like the most.

Having an excuse to just.... shove art in everyone's face was really fun. DID YOU SEE IT? LOOK AT IT NOW IF YOU DIDN'T!

Fun fact - Joel wasn't supposed to cheat and give pants, but Raykyu took initiative and changed them so instead of making him undo the work I decided to rewrite that single segment instead. It... kinda made the choice much easier than it was supposed to be BUT ART IS ART!

Liam D4 choice

Oh boy, the elephant in the room. I won't say much because I have discussed this A LOT both with my friends and in the open questions so I'll stick to observing the stats. A big percentage of didn't play (You are SO missing out). It boils down to a 50/50 between do you want to help Ryan or do you want to condemn Ryan? And I totally understand if you picked up condemning Ryan. One would think to do that after he's actually awake though.

Are you willing to read more routes if that allows you to better understand the story?

I wonder which characters you guys hate to the point of not reading. The easy answer is Liam, but you can find some surprise picks.

Which secondary character did you end up liking the most?

The Mark win is based. Thank you, I love him too. His introduction CG is SO FUCKING GOOD. The Daniel second place when he shows up for two frames is crazy. Do I get to bait a couple of you into reading Russell 4 with Daniel? I'm jingling my keys, come look at the shiny thing pls.

Absolutely flabbergasted that Eric got a single vote. YOU BETTER STAY ANONYMOUS!!!

Give me any thoughts you might have on one (or more) of the newly introduced secondary characters.

One of you sent me the keep yourself safe picture for Eric and, ngl, I giggled. Thank you for assisting me in my evil ploy to make people hate horses.

23)[Margaret] I am pleasantly shocked and surprised at how great and much characterization she has gotten, given how little "screen time" she has.
—We're not done.

24)[Gavin] I enjoyed reading his section, but it did not leave a lasting impact. But I can easily see him becoming great addition to a cast
— It makes sense considering how Joel and Clyde completely stole the show.

25)[Daniel] More please
—WAITER, WAITER! MORE FAT BEAR PLEASE. April 7th.

26)[Mark] I feel like his first and second appearance are simultaneously in and out of character. I would love to see a scene with him in next update (one on one with Joel or Joel and Dylan), to round him up as a character

— You're forgetting about the circumstances in which you meet him. His first meeting with Joel in Dylan's/Liam's route has completely different starters. It makes sense for Mark to harbor no animosity toward Joel and ignoring his existence for the bigger threat makes the most sense.

27)[Anabel] It's great to finally put a face to a character. She is a fantastic addition to a cast and made Joel more complex protagonist
— Yippe, she's queen.

28)[Eric] I am getting a Dolores Umbridge (that pink one from Harry Potter) vibes, but not as great. Both Dolores and Eric are hateable characters that make you feel THIS certain way. I think that Eric is exaggerated though, to a point of being a dick for the sake of being one

— I don't think Eric is exaggerated. I wish that was true. The way I wrote him is… unfortunately based on real people. *Sigh* People sometimes are just evil and find pleasure in taking things away from you. Not every villain needs a reason to be, sometimes villains are villains for the sake of being villains and I think it's fine (God, it's fine in writing, not irl!!!) Anyway— as one of the secondary antagonists, not all of them need to be as nuanced. We can have a piece of shit that wants Joel out of his life as a treat. (What a terrible treat.) Life's unfair. Did I mention that before? Yeah.

29)[James] I think i missed some detail, because I thought that he was just a childhood friend of Joel and Ryan, but aside from that good addition to a cast
— Aside from James being Ryan's cousin, no. You got it in one. I hope I didn't forget to mention it in the story HOLY SHIT. I DID, DIDN'T I??????

30)Anabel surely deserves better, but if she really likes Eric... well, I guess it's all good then. But at the same time we still don't know Eric enough to make such harsh judgements. (It's really hard not to tho)
— Depression and grief can be really tough. When someone, anyone, finds the time to look after you, help you get better— you can't help but grow attached no matter how bad someone is.

31) Want more evil Eric moments. I still don't really get the deal with James. Gavin was a okay side character. Idk why but I love Margaret evil cattiness. I kind of wish Mark was a route. Daniel was too quick to really get a feel for and Anabel was very one note (loving mother) but doesn't seem to realize the main issues going on? Just need more for a lot of them.

— You'll get to see more of them anyway, hopefully that will help clear things up if not feel free to let me know next time! (Also no Mark route, sorry.)

32) Joel's mom is just really sweet. Same with Daniel. Eric is absolutely awful, good job on writing him.
— You and number 28 are duality of men rn

33)I'm conflicted on Gavin's choices. He cares about Clyde, and it's probably not easy making the choices he does, but he was very quick to volunteer to find someone to take the curse instead of Clyde and his friends. It feels selfish and cowardish.
— RICH PEOPLE MENTIONED LETS GO!

34)I'm unsure on James. He's an asshole, but in a different way to Eric.
— hehe, you'll get back to me on this next time.

35)I feel like I haven't seen enough of Mark and Margaret's actions to form a strong opinion on them.
—They'll show up again, dunno how much that will contribute cause with such a big main cast, I don't have the luxury of fully fleshing everyone out, but we try!

36) I want to put James on the edge of a cliff and hit him off of it with a comically large hammer
— LMAO

37) Anabel is a bad mom making excuses for Eric's behavior / letting it continue and Eric is a bad person I personally know people like Eric and anabel and they have horrible relationships with there kids
— I find it hard to be upset at Anabel. I know exactly what you mean and yet she's still trying her best.

38) need more Daddy Daniel
—WAITER, WAITER! MORE FAT BEAR PLEASE x2.

39) I hate Mark, not because of his design, I can't tolerate his personality, I don't want to see him much
— This reminds me of when one person told me the exact thing but it was Dylan. Mark is currently the most liked secondary character, but that's ok. We all get to have our little custom hater.

40) Let me talk about Eric, I don't think he's a bad father if he really loves Joel's mom. I think if Joel had an open talk with his mom and Eric, but maybe I'm wrong because I might have missed something or misunderstood something.
— Joel doesn't even see him as a parental figure. He never once called him dad, not even stepfather. (I made sure of that) I can't comment on the rest, we'll see how the story goes.

41)I thought that it was a nice surprise that Gavin wasn't fully just a stuck up snob. It made me be able to connect with him a bit better and understand him better.
— He's not stereotypical rich, but he definitely showcases rich behavior.

42)I understood James the least and found his section hard to not want to skip since it feels like his introduction was hinged off of information that wasn't pre established, so I had less time to want to care about him
— It's going to be something like… learning about him backwards. Joel lived James well enough and he considers that chapter done. That's why you found it harder to learn about him.

43)I love Nia of course , she's so witty and the likes , she bounces off Joel very good and their dynamic is really fun to see , I want to see more what her hidden goal is in the future.
— I don't think we'll be exploring Nia a lot. She's "done" as a character, idk if that makes sense. Helping out Joel protect everyone and destroy the castle is her final wish before departing the mortal world. (We'll be picking this up again in a different Nia question).

44) Margaret is nice also , I figured she had an alternate objective since she's dealing with Clyde after all , the fact that she's tied with the prison and Clyde's uncle is very interesting , looking forward to seeing her more in Clyde's chapters.
— Happy to hear that. She might show up in other routes too, who knows.

45)Gavin , I really like the air around him , he gives off this caring vibe around Clyde but his ways are more than sinister in a way , doing everything just to appease the Castle , the fact that he mentioned Joel's father means he has a major role in the story.
— We got the good, the bad and now we come full circle with the middle of the road approach.

46)Daniel's neat.
—WAITER, WAITER! MORE FAT BEAR PLEASE x3.

47)Mark is just there I guess , he doesn't really have an impact on the story so far , all I know is that he follows Dylan and calls him Boss and such, hope he gets fleshed out in the future no pressure.
— Unsure if he will, but he's destined for more screentime so we'll see what the future has in store for us.

48)Anabel is pretty caring , maybe a little bit too overbearing for Joel but I think that's just what mothers do.
— Mothers are mothering.

49)Eric's kinda an asshole in a way in Joel's POV , some might even think that his thinking is okay and that's fine everyone has their own opinions , still kinda an ass though.
— According to the messages I've received the majority doesn't agree with Eric, with a minor "he has a point but"

50)James looks like an asshole due to the portrayal in Ryan's story but I think he has more use in the future.
— James is already scheduled to return soon. I'll have to give him more sprites as well.

51)please let mark have sex. please let mark get laid. he's having a rough one.
— I haven't thought about his sex life, sorrgy.

52)Margaret: I liked that she keeps acting her part after being discovered.
— It's a part of her, all you can do is tone it down.

53)Gavin: idk if it's a design choice but none of his buttons are connected which is why I'm confused why the jacket is attached.
— I CANT BELIEVE WE DIDN'T NOTICE THIS. I'M LOSING MY MIND I HATE IT WHY DID YOU SHOW ME THIS (thank u). We're fixing the issue as I'm typing this.

54)Daniel: Liking the design, but his personality could be pushed into more, hoping for Russel day 4.
— WAITER… no, not this time. He gets some more screentime, but it might take a while for a true identity to form.

55)Mark: I love a man who can actually just kill me.
— Oh that Dylan 3A CG got you good.

56)Anabel: as someone with the same type of mother, I heavily empathize her trying to connect with her son but please leave the asshole.
— LMAO. She doesn't see it. Love is blind.

57)Eric: He's an Asshole. a greatly written one but an asshole nonetheless
— I forgot who said exactly the opposite. It's funny every single time.

58)James: as of now, he gives the closeted internally homophobic gay dude, not quite sure if he is supposed to be because that singular ear piercing definitely ain't screaming straight.
— I scolded my husband because he loves gives piercings to everyone and I fucking knew it this would happen

59)I can fix James.
— yeah he just needs the right man ;)

60)Daniel route when?
—WAITER, WAITER! MORE FAT BEAR PLEASE x4.

61)I didn't think I'd like Margaret. Then she got real screentime and I'm like 'oh you are scary and competent as well as pretty. I have a crush now.'
— It is my duty to please people from any position in the rainbow

62)Mark's a little poop so I automatically enjoy him.
— I love assholes (Eric not included)

63)I feel like James lost a bit of his character identity through the dialogue.
— I don't think there's enough James screentime to make an identity yet

Free space to discuss any Day 4

64)Anabel should WAKE UP and BREAK UP
— LMAO

65)Russell day 4 where, but seriously I think Ryan's day 4 changed how I see him and VASTLY improved him in my eyes.
— Russell 4 is super close.

66)I don't know why, but at first I could not tell what was his deal. Had I stopped reading before day 3, I could sum him up as a red flag and would have put him at the very bottom, especially given the backstory (that is still unraveling) with Joel.
— I've come to accept that many will see Ryan as the cuck chair meme or as a Leo. It's a very superficial reading(funny as a joke tho), but there are fights you're meant to lose. MC REFERENCE HOLY SHIT

67)It does not help that my reading order (Blake -> Dylan -> Clyde -> Liam -> Patrice -> Ryan -> Russel) was working against him. Him being possessed in one route and inadvertently killing Joel and being overprotective in others was puzzling.
— Reading Liam before Ryan is always really funny. The whiplash is insane.

68)Then it started to make some sense, shopping and fight with Dylan made him more human (I know he's a bear, but you get my point XD), Maybe I am weird (most likely) and did not put 2 and 2 together, but after day 4 and day 5, I know why he is the way he is. I can now sympathize with his struggles.
— I don't make it a fault for missing the signs. There's a lot of shit going on.

69)Still his relation with Joel and being overprotective is problematic to me, one sprite gives me uncanny valley and him looking straight is nightmare fuel.
— Which sprite? I discussed his relationship with Joel already so I'll avoid repeating myself.

70)I hope that Russel's day 4 could do the same what Ryan's did. While Ryan being previously at the very bottom, before Night 3, Russel wasn't high either. After reading his Night 3 and previous Q&As it gave me some understanding to his motivations. Right now I don't think that there is a "bad route" in Moonlight Castle.
— Russell is a special route. I'm unsure myself if this one will have romance.

71)I think that Russel's route could lead to some great moments especially that Daniel is here and Day 5 happened. See "Russel day 4 where" was justified XD
— WAITER WAITER… I enjoy this route more for drama than romance. The mind reading jokes are so fucking funny and Joel is constantly one step away from losing his sanity.

72)Also Clyde being such a tea enjoyer is PERFECT. I did not think that I needed to see a rich dragon tea connoisseur until now.
— Clyde has been diagnosed with British :(

73)I really liked all of them, I wonder if the outfit we chose for Dylan will appear in the future as something he will wear (but I guess it would happen no?)
— Yes/No. I can't say more. But you can guess why the answer is both.

74)Blake day 4 felt pointless. I learned or got something from them all. Blake is my top pick in the group (slightly above Patrice) but I felt like his route will the least interesting.
— I'm gonna let you fully yap about Blake's route and then answer

I actually had to go and reread Blake and Ryan's day 4's for this, because I had forgotten what happened in them. Partly because it was longer ago that they released, but also after playing them again, not a whole lot happens in those 2 day 4's compared to the others.

Blake's route, you meet with Clyde, go find Blake, interview some people, get a lore drop on the person behind the pranks, Liam says some cryptic shit, you find out the prankster might be a medium, walk to the saffrons stash and it's over.

This is overshadowed by Liam's route that covers the same topic more in depth.

— Ok, this one was interesting. When I read your feedback the first thing I did was compare length. It's been a while on my end too, so I didn't remember.

Blake and Ryan are indeed the shortest D4s, they're respectively 14/13k words. I was still trying to figure out how long an update should be to feel "enough" you know— how much can a reader go through in one sitting?

15k is the minimum, but it's not as filling. 18/20k should be the standard, at least to me.

Anyway— after checking lengths I noticed how I had this growing curve. Each update was bigger than the other until I ended up settling around the above-mentioned quota.

At first I was like— I could buff their D4s by adding an additional scene, but that's it? Because, yeah, the content is shorter and if I were to write it now I would stretch some more, but their D4s hold perfectly fine. They do exactly what I set them up to do.

Let's read your Ryan 4 feedback as well so I can continue my own yapping.

75)Ryan's route is really short compared to the rest, I was fast forwarding through the bowling section, since I remembered that part, and was surprised when the next scene was the saffrons stash.

My guess is this is due to these being the first day 4s written, with the others having more time to simmer ideas in your head.

— Yeah my comment above basically answered what you typed here.

I'd say that we're both right, but I chose them first because their stories were the most polished at the time. If anything now that my ideas simmered longer I can confirm this was the optimal choice.

Ryan 4 is holding really fucking good. It's on the shorter side but delivers HARD. I'm surprised how much emotion that day has with only 14k. Blake 4 isn't useless but it can feel that way when Liam 4 takes matters into his own hands and breaks the rules.

Blake owns the title of sloth. Does… that help a little? His dream sequence, his behavior toward the case, him wanting to wait by sticking to the rules, like, we have a lot of pieces that tell us why this day is the way it is. He's constantly telling us how he feels obligated, and is now the only one who isn't interested in the castle but has to stick around.

I mentioned that before, I think, Blake is a selfish route. But not selfish in a bad way. Blake literally cannot handle this right now. He doesn't have the capability to do it because he's broken.

It's slow. Blake keeps to himself. And there isn't much progress. I'm genuinely surprised this is longer than Ryan 4. I want to share something about sloth. I don't read sloth as laziness, that's just the superficial reading.

The way I interpret sloth is "I've given up." It also ties into his depression. And that's because he has given up that there is no progress. There is the bare minimum because that's the amount he needs to be considered alive enough.

I'm yapping a lot, sorry. Blake's just really interesting even if the content isn't there yet. You'll have to wait N5 for a bigger opening.

76)I loved Patrice's day 4, it's responsible for him now being my favorite character. I love the additional lore on the black ghosts, the implications that Joel saw one at the start of the game, the scene between him and Nia, Joel using his medium powers to solve a puzzle outside of the castle. The whole thing was just *chefs kiss*

— I'll take the opportunity to grieve my Patrice hater. He didn't stick to the bit. I will always remember you unless that person was you then I'll consider this character growth for you.

77)Liam's day 4 was also well done. I love how his route breaks the template that the other routes follow. I loved seeing Blake and Patrice interacting with each other, no Liam in sight, and it's his route! I'm the guy that talked about VN's boxing you in with the character you choose last feedback form. So seeing these interactions made me really happy.

— Liam 4 was impossible to box because of how much work behind the scenes he puts in. It would be stupid of me to do that, but yeah. I kept your feedback in mind and dropped other interactions in the mix for all routes.

78)Clyde's day 4 was good. The distaste Joel has for the 'higher class society' really shows, and I enjoyed that. It fleshes Joel out as a character of his own in this universe, not just a fill in for the player. I'm a sucker for lore too, which is why this is rated above Dylan's.

— I had to rewrite D1, D2 and Clyde N2 just to make that bit work, but it was so worth it

79)I enjoyed Dylan's day 4, it was a nice change of pace, especially since it gives us strong interactions between Dylan and Ryan. The competitiveness between Ryan and Joel was also fun to read.

— Considering how action-paced Dylan's route is, down time for him was a must.

80)I didn't like Patrice very much but day 4 changed my perspective and now it's one of my favorite routes.

— Cheers

81)I have to be honest I didn't play anyone's route on day 4 and 5 except for Ryan's but that doesn't mean I didn't play anyone else's route but I just stopped on night 3 because I wanted to wait for everyone's route to finish before reading but of course except for Ryan because I like to watch Joel spend time with Ryan so he is an exception.

— You can read any order, any time, whenever and whatever you want. If someone comes in, reads only one route and leaves, why should I be mad at them? It's supposed to be my job to charm them into reading more.

That's also why I like intertwining routes, pushes that subtle thought of "oh I should also read this route" I don't expect it to work all the time, but if I got even one person then I won.

82)I thought it was a bit weird that Ryan 5 came before Liam 4

— There are many decisions behind prioritizing a route over another. Like— I already know what I want to write for this route, but the other needs more time so I'll delay it as I let my creative juices do their magic... or assets. Liam 4 needed more CGs, new sprites were added, the music was being commissioned. People needed more time. So I delayed it.

But it can also be a silly reason. My husband likes Ryan, it was December so I wrote it as a gift. He was also really happy to be working with BenBinturong to get that song done. I like to go with the flow and just adapt my shape to where the story leads. Trust me, waiting is never a bad thing. The food needs to cook and alternating routes helps a lot.

83)I really like Liam's day 4 , there's already crumbs from his previous days that he's usually just an actor of his own story but in his current day , he starts to show his true feelings about what's happening , he truly regrets putting his colleagues in danger and is trying his best to reverse the damage and Joel slowly cracking his walls to better their friendship.

— In the game we often talk about "roles that are given to us that we're forced to play" combined with the imagery of wearing a mask. These are really important themes when it comes to Liam.

84)(In my mind , its kinda weird that Nia's around you 24/7 seeing you flirting with her brother , its kinda funny ngl.)

— It's implied by her lack of response that she's not actively watching. Only Blake wants to see you pee.

85)As for Clyde's day 4 , there's so many lore drops in his chapter , the thing about Joel's father , how Clyde and his Uncle has a direct correlation towards the castle itself , how Nia and Liam fits into their previous jobs and many more , I like to see more lore too in other routes but I think it suits more in Clyde's and Liam's chapter.

— Lore drops will happen everywhere but it's obvious by now that Liam, Clyde, Dylan will be the heaviest lore routes

86)As for Dylan's day 4 , I like how he's interacting with Ryan of all people , a person outside what you see in other routes since he's most likely hanging around Liam / Mark or being alone.

— Technically Ryan introduced Dylan to Joel. They have been buddies for a while. And Ryan heavily shows his admiration for him as a person.

Dylan won't tell you, but he likes Ryan (when he's not talking)

87)As for Patrice's day 4 , there is an unexpected lore bit towards what happened to him back when he was a kid , how he got into an accident and how Joel and him are trying to solve it. Maybe this is the reason why he reacted than way in Nia's memory being scared of everything and stuff , the way he reacted in the whole chapter captures what Patrice is usually, scared but also brave.

— Patrice is my underdog (even if he isnt a dog haha).

88)As for Blake's day 4 , he really does feel like Liam at times , how he acts and how he behaves although there's a polar oppositeness in a way since Blake is more of a people pleaser while Liam is trying to do the opposite making him want others to distance themselves from him in order for him not to hurt himself or others. Blake sometimes acts fake , putting someone feelings over others , when Joel mentioned this directly to him it immediately piqued his interest. Joel acting as a pillar for him , as Blake needs to realize that he needs to live for himself and not for others. I've been loving all the story so far , please continue doing a good job but also to take care of yourselves , I will be reading all the updates as soon as they come out.

— They are actually very similar so it's nice to read this. Liam 4 does a great job at showing you their relationship up close.

89)I think the Liam day 4 choice is bad. It took me a long time to formulate exactly why, but it's because of two key reasons: 1) it's too vague. I still think the reader should, when balancing between "what would Joel say and what's the right thing to say?" should be able to guess it right on the first try. This is part of the problem with the Ryan D4 choice as well. 2) it has nothing to do with Liam at all. I suppose one of the answers is "discuss liam" but it's with an unconscious body, and that's one of the two wrong answers. I think if you want the choices to feel meaningful, you should have them directly involve the route anchors. Even in the case of Dylan, where it's low stakes outfit, or Blake, where it's just making sure you have basic reading comprehension, they're still involved. Maybe have the player choose whether Joel asks Liam to check in on Ryan, because it shows he trusts Liam, or whether or not Joel calls out to Liam afterwards, because he still cares despite Liam actively trying to stop him from doing that. I know Ryan is important to Joel, so on the route where Ryan gets sent to the hospital, it makes sense for Joel to be pretty self focused and trying to pull himself together, but it doesn't sit right to have the decision be made in the absence of the route anchor, and still somehow supposed to link to the affinity that character has with you.

I like how day 4 give a lot of illustrations for Ryan, Dylan and Liam I can only hope the others get their share as well in the future

— Sheesh this one was big. I thankfully already addressed the Liam and Ryan choices before so you can just read that again.

I understand your desire to pick the right choice the first time, but it's not always possible to execute that. I personally couldn't find a satisfying way of delivering my argument without making this kind of sacrifice.

They should be vague. I'm not going to tell you straight up what is the right answer, unless it's funny (Dy D4) And lastly— the choice didn't involve Liam directly so what's the problem with that? It aligned with Liam. That was enough.

That whole scene was Joel processing his thoughts, working his way through grief. It's a very important and impactful scene that, by offering vague and difficult choices, help you understand that Joel is feeling just as lost and confused as you are.

Talking to an unconscious body is a bit flat considering how much I make sure to let you know that it's not entirely true. I think a story is allowed to make unfair/bad decisions as long as the tools are there to make it right later.

90)The CGs for Liam's d4 were phenomenal.

— Hell yeah. DID YOU GUYS HEAR THAT? PLAY LIAM 4

91)Honestly despite me kinda sleeping on Clyde overall his Day 4 had the biggest spike in route quality. Might have to bump him up overall because of it.

— His whole character had a big buff, not just D4! Reminder here that D1+ and D2+ have BRAND NEW JOEL CLYDE INTERACTIONS! 

92)I was surprised to see Joel can be rude or argue with Margaret and Clyde's driver, Alfred, in Clyde's route. I didn't think and expect Joel can do such thing with them as I have been always thinking Joel is not much talk to others and doesn't look can be rude or argue. The way how Joel reacts when he interacts with James in Ryan's route, is really showing his character/personality more than he does in Clyde's route

— Ofc his behavior is different toward these three characters. Margaret and Alfred didn't bully and torment Joel when he was a child. It makes sense for him to be on edge, knowing that James can get violent.

Alfred is just pettiness banter on the low end.

Margaret is higher level pettiness after learning what she does and what she is to Clyde. This is like watching your friend getting back with their ex, you know full well it's a mistake and your friend is too stubborn to listen so you start throwing snarky remarks.

Also Joel's not rude? He is the king of pettiness and has been a little shit to the majority of the cast. His jabs are always justified, but they're still considered "rude"

Rate Ryan 5 (0 didn't read, 1 bad, 5 perfect)

These 8 people should totally read Ryan 5

Ryan's song

Emotional and cried were extremely flattering. Thank you for that tiny confidence boost.

Do you agree with Eric?

93)50/50. understand where he's coming from, but not fully agree.
--Sorry, I thought you and the answer below were the same, but I already expanded plenty on this topic so I'm gonna let the other questions do the talking.

93*1)At some degree. Financial independence is important for anyone. If protagonist is getting financial support from them, he should show some degree of respect with it.

— Something to consider, not just for you, this is in general. Joel is already paying his mom back by being a good student. Scholarships are a big deal. They save money. And he doesn't ask for his allowance, not just because of Eric. Oh yeah. He's one BIG reason, but he hopes to lower the financial strain on his mother.

Why not work a job then? Well, fuck society and how they force us to take debt work and study at the same time. It's fucked up. They're literally sapping our time and freedom because we have to, because we gotta fucking survive. Sorry, ranting again.

Point is that Joel is in the position where he can avoid that why the fuck are we going to inflict this kind of torture on someone who can enjoy his life? He has other issues to deal with, not just the castle, and it's really funny to discuss something like this to an American audience as an European. FUCK WORK I DONT WANNA WORK EITHER!!!!!

I'm most likely going to reply to a lot of questions by sending you back here LMAO.

94) Another keep yourself safe gif
— Cheers

95)To SOME extent. He still is a dick and said his arguments in the most aggressive and accusatory way possible
— Honestly? I like that the answer is both yes and no.

96)He got some points, but his attitude makes them rather weak.
— The only fault I give Joel is that he shouldn't let Eric ruin his relationship with his mom, not until he explicitly tells her so first.

97)I wish there was more to get a real feel of the situation but I felt Joel needed to do SOMETHING which I'm glad he finally is (depending on the route). I worked 10hrs today. I can't feel for anyone who just is there.
— Oh, you would HATE my ass LMAO.

98)Not at all. He's a manipulative menace.
— Absolutely. I love assholes who try to do bad by abusing "good" arguments.

99)No.
Not at all?
Bitch Eric stfu
— It's a three man package deal. No reason to answer all of them.

100)A little bit, he has a good point from his perspective, that's why Joel has to talk to his mom and say how he feels and sees from his perspective.

— I'll be leaving a few of these blank unless there is something else for me to say.

101)I don't agree with him 100% but there are some truths in what he said, but he may not understand that Joel is also struggling and struggling. I think they need to talk things out.

102)No. Eric's whole spiel is about Joel wanting to have a taste of the real world and how it is to suffer without the support of your parents giving you the comfort of money and etc. Although Joel already has something on his plate being the curse and such in which he obviously prioritizes over his own wellbeing , true that he benefits from his mother Anabel but there will come a time where Joel will eventually find a job that can support himself and will no longer need the support from his mother. Really it all just depends on the circumstances and what's available or not.

NO!!!!!

103)NO!!!! AGAIN!!!!! Truly I think he's wrong, because he would be right, if it wasn't for the fact that he's the very presence that's stopping Joel. It's like someone telling you to stand up while actively sawing your legs off. It's an unfair position.

104)On a personal level, I wish he would die. on a practical level, yes, Joel should at least try to be more independent BUT only if it doesn't hinder his studies, like, I dunno, part time at Russel's?

105)Eric had some valid points, but definitely worded it badly given his disposition. Joel himself has faults, after all.

106)No. Should I?

— You want my opinion? This whole argument is also super personal to me, like a tiny piece of my life was once again inserted into this story.

Fun fact before I let you continue I wrote this answer before number 93, forgot, and now I'm seeing my insanity showing again. How the fuck did this happen— whatever. We keep both.

The answer is the middle, but I truly understand Joel if he were to refuse and not reach any compromise.

Life isn't work, but we have to work to live. That isn't fair. Joel is already chaining himself down. He vowed to his studies so he could avoid this altogether.

Because… the reality is that a job is hardly satisfying if it doesn't mingle with your passion, but what is his passion? He failed to find an answer. He's walking on a path not even Joel understands because he couldn't find his calling.

Now Eric demands even more chains to be added and it's upsetting because you know you should, but you still can't. You don't want to. There's no happiness in doing that.

It's tough. I get it. Every day I wonder what will happen to me in the future and… I guess I shouldn't talk about myself here. It's not appropriate.

107)No, I really wished ANYONE would tell him to shut it.

108)So-so, Eric makes decent points about Joel's short comings but does so for both the wrong reasons and in the wrong way. I sentence him to 1,000 years in acid jail for being both a bad dad and a setereotype.

109)Yes

— This might be the only straight up yes feedback. Gigachad energy.

110)Fuck Eric... Not in that way!

— LMAO

111)Yes, but not in the way how he says it. It's not nice.

Did you like Blake's drawing? Did they tickle your curiosity into checking other routes?

Ok so I'm going to assume this is yet another super straightforward section, I'm not gonna answer all of these. I'll take the opportunity to advertise Ikers instead. He made these sketches YOU NEED TO FOLLOW HIM NOW!

112)loved them and yep, absolutely

113)Maybe a little?

114)I loved Blake's drawings, they're very cute :3

115)Words cannot express how much I love them..., but numbers can 12/10. Banter in that section is in my top 5 moments of the entire novel. I think I am an exception, but I am up to date and have read all routes.

— No, you're not but it does make me happy to hear you've checked everything there is to see.

116)Had my memory been erased, and started reading from the beginning it would DEFINITELY pique my interest. It would also give me a confirmation that all routes are unique and not just the same events with different people.

117)I did, now I need to see Clyde breathing some proper fire.

— Hey! Who told you that?

118)I. Love. Blake. Anything he does can't be wrong.

119)His drawings were good, I had already read the other routes though. (I agree with Patrice and Ryan completely)

120)I had already seen some of the by the time I got to Ryan 5, but the drawing of the slime monster got me even more curious of Russel's route

— Some routes don't reveal the monster yet, I think thats important to point out. But it's a guaranteed encounter on N5.

121)Yes; Slime monster; Cerby's dumb third head

122)I kinda liked them, they're funny, 

123)I'm not really interested in the pillars at the moment.

— *thumbs up*

124)I like Blake's paintings, but it doesn't make me want to play other route any more or any less. But that doesn't mean I won't play other route, I still intend to play other route

— Thank you for reading them

125)I did like the drawings and checked the other routes to see how accurate they were

— Ikers made them just as hot as the sprites

126)Yes I do like Blake's rendition of the pillars , yes it did tickle my curiosity (although I already read all of them) but I am excited to see them fully fleshed out in their own routes.

— We are slowly getting there. N5 requires a lot of new assets…

127)Ikey popped off, they're very charming, and the writing around them was good. I think the cast is cowards not finding armor attractive, but admittedly Mr. Fridge is not my go to idea of Hot Knight either. The pained grunting, dripping blood, and "SINNER" thing is all kind of a turn off. He is losing the Pillar Smash or Pass.

— I'm so sorry I'm not really interested in armor either so my bias leaked through. There's no way someone would find armor attractive. I'm taking it back!

128)Sadly, I played Ryan the last because I tend to save the most interesting character for last so it didn't tickle my curiosity BUT it was a good laugh when I saw the doodles

— The future will remove this problem overtime, but hey having met them before the drawings makes the whole scene much nicer.

129)Yes, and I like how it gives a tidbit on what Blake's artstyle and preferences in drawing are.

— You calling him a whore or something????

Nice drawing
Yes.

130)I mean I was planning on playing all the routes anyway but me likey the Kerberos

131)Yeah, No not really

— Ouch, critical hit

132)Yes, however I've already read other routes beforehand.

— Just your average mc enjoyer

133)Neutral, but it makes me curious about checking other routes for more.

— Hell yeah

134)I did! They intrigued me, but the drawings specifically didn't influence my decision to check out other routes.

— Mission failed we'll get 'em next time

Free space to discuss Ryan 5

135)Loved it. I wish you could finish his route first.

— It wouldn't be optimal. All routes are intertwined and built upon one another. Going too deep in one route is going to cause plot holes. I believe I'm managing all characters properly so far, but keeping that balance isn't easy.

136)Russell when (snif snaf)

— You read it by the time I'm answering you here.

137)It's actually nice to see Joel being concerned about Ryan's health.

— Why wouldn't he be slfkskcnsfkwk

138)Love Ryan's evolved character and the depth to him and want more. I hope Joel will man up more and they just talk ffs. I want to shake that adorable beagle man!

— I love my failed hero bear

139)As much as I dislike Eric, the scene between Joel, his mom and Eric was needed. The other D5's haven't been released yet, so I'm saying that here.

— The mom scene is actually unique to X routes. It's going to be really funny.

140)The discussion Joel and Ryan had shortly before the song was also needed. Those two need more conversations to sort things out.

— One step at a time. I have a small document named "Things Ryan needs to say before X can happen." And I make sure to cross a couple whenever his route gets an update.

141)The medium training with Liam was great. Getting to see a ghost core after reading about it was cool.

— It's important to have imagery so you guys can picture it in your head

142)I like Ryan's route the most, I like to see Joel spend time with Ryan, when they are together it makes me feel good and want to see them together more, which makes me afraid that in other routes Joel will spend less time with Ryan or worst in Liam's route I'm afraid that Joel will stop being friends with Ryan.

— If you like Ryan I heavily encourage you to read other routes because he gets more nuanced and real as a character. 

143)Eric reminded me of past trauma, which angered me in the moment, causing me to bond with Joel a bit over our shared distain for the character

— The realest comment so far. Talking to someone like that just gets you mad immediately even when you shouldn't because they will use that anger against you

144)I've liked it so far , it gives new perspective

— bear emoji

145)I HATE YOU ERIC!!!! I'm gonna be honest I did not care for the song. this is my deep blue feeling hater moment, i'll admit it freely. it was a cute cutscene, but it's just not to my taste. Maybe I've just sat through too many wonderwalls to care for guy with guitar. insert "I love you bitch" vine

— How could you, Blue. I will forever remember this and inflict the worst punishment upon you. Mark my words!

146)For Ryan's song, I was a bit moved but the game kinda restricts your movement during it, Clicking to save ends it abruptly so I'm sad I couldn't save during his illustration. that might just be a me problem.

— Renpy did not like having a video added in. Sorry if it's a little scuffed. I figure that a lot of people might accidentally skip, go back and give it a proper listen.

I couldn't exactly put a warning either, that would ruin the surprise!

147)Like I said he gets the most screentime and it hasn't let his and Joel's relationship breathe on his route/doesn't address their biggest issue to me but it doesn't ruin the route in the slightest

— I already discussed this but I'll say it again. They're glued to each other, it wouldn't make sense to pry them off one another.

There will be moments where they're apart, but not as big as in the other routes. It's going to be tricky and will be subjective if that is considered "enough" solo time. We'll see when we get there.

148)I think Ryan does a good job covering Joel from Mr. Eric's suspicion. He also saves Joel pretty much from being troubled by Mr. Eric.

Tell me something you really liked about the game, something you'd like to see more of.

149)I really enjoyed the character development and the story so far, can't wait to see more characters and some information about their backstories are really interesting. I really like that you can see yourself in some of them and relate, that really adds to the whole atmosphere

— The key to good writing is to have experienced it yourself first then you add a touch of imagination to it.

150)I love how every characters have flaws in their mind. They are distinct and unique, but also lead out some kind of empathy.

— Gotta keep them realistic

151)I LOOOOOVVVVVEEEEEEE dead relative trope, we need more dead relatives guiding the cast from the afterlife. It's so peak. (ily nia)

— *cough*

152)I really, really love the fact that you can get the understanding of certain events through multiple perspectives - Liam's alleged attack and subsequent investigation being the best example.

It makes the whole story feel that more planned and cohesive.

— I love how the whole world doesn't feel static. Things happen outside of Joel's sight as he chooses where to engage with his own free time

153)The hat update was great.

— I give what the people demand

154)Also more TEA and banter.

— You know who also loves tea?

155)I really liked the intimity between Joel and the characters, it's nice.

— There's a lot more coming

156)Ryan's song was a nice personal touch for his route. It would be nice to have really big moments for each but at the right moment like that was. I also love the interactions between other characters. They play off each other very well.

— It's a given, only time is needed to properly set them up.

157)More medium training and medium lore. You've built this world, and it's fun learning about how it works.

— We're getting there, just gotta juggle through the priority list

158)More conversations between characters, outside the current character route box. It builds 2 characters at a time.

— WE WANT MOREEEEEE and you shall receive more

159)More Joel characterization. He's a person living in this world, he has opinions, flaws and quirks that change how he reacts. I love MC's that aren't Mary Sues or complete blank slates.

— So far Joel is the most fleshed out! The main story needs to progress before we get to more Joel content.

160)I really liked Blake. I developed an unhealthy attachement to him, which makes him the best character. I want to see angst with a good ending, as I like to see with all my favorite characters.

— You're lucky I fully endorse good endings. Life is already shitty, let me see people overcoming obstacles to inspire me in doing the same. We leave the pain inside the bad endings.

161)More friendly interactions

Characters interacting; You did very well on characterization.

— Thank you! I've been told that's one of my strengths

162)I like that in this game Joel understands that he has to change and stop being complacent, not like in the typical furry vn where the main character doesn't learn anything, has no development and has the same personality as a Disney princess (none). It's quite refreshing to see a main character who has to change his passive attitude.

— It's important to display his desires and his failures before claiming victory. The hero's journey is such a classic.

163)I love watching Ryan and Joel spend time together.

— Raykyu please get off the Q&A

164)I liked the mistery of the castle and the medium stuff. It pushed me to want to learn more of the lore and figure out the mistery. I'd like to see more bonding with the characters as, even though Joel may know the characters, I as the reader do not

— It's planned, but the main plot is currently the priority rn. Downtime is coming soon.

165)I like the clear differences in the routes (duh they're routes for a reason) how they approach things whether Joel has a hand in doing it. i.e in Blake's day 4 and Liam's day 4 , Blake had a fight with Liam in turn doesn't know what Liam is thinking or doing at the moment while in Liam's route , Joel has a part in the plan in which takes another course in the story in which Blake actually stayed in the conversation to learn what happened about the librarian and I like seeing these details in the other routes how you see different perspective , lore drops and others. I like the music and themes for each characters too , they fit them so perfectly.

— I also enjoy showing the multiple layers through different angles. That's the fun part. It's not just Joel's story. It's everyone's story.

166)Uhhh, really loved all the pats and hand holding. more of the mc getting flustered, please !!! (definitely unbiased)

— You are so gay I can't believe this. Joel would be so embarrassed to hear you say this.

167)Joel occasionally has really moving moments of empathy, especially with some of the harder to deal with characters like Dylan, Liam, or Russell. This is when he's at his strongest (writing wise). I also think Joel struggling with PDA and running from his family is very, very moving, and I would love to see him slowly overcome these things.

— *quickly checking what pda means* OH. WOW. There's a term for everything. Joel and I share a lot of fears and insecurities so it makes sense this happened LMAO

Moonlight Castle, in a way, can also be considered an autobiography of my life, my feelings, my fears and desires that are carefully hidden behind a spooky story and gay romance.

It's so difficult for me to explain what MC is to people who innocently ask me. There are many themes hidden away in every route; a tiny shard of I am is buried everywhere.

I'm here to entertain, but I'm also being open and vulnerable. This story is my legacy and, if at the end of this journey, I helped you in some way then I'm happy.

168)One of my favorite moments in the whole game is in Patrice's route on d4, where he hugs patrice in the empty train. he's surrounded by capable and caring friends, who are ready to stand up for him. Let him feel safe around them, and grow into holding hands in public, and let him be gay!!!

— Joel hates the overall situation happening in the first place. He feels responsible for making it happen and he doesn't want that. It doesn't matter to him that his friends are "Stronger" he's not looking for power. He's looking for happiness and people's hate stands in the way of it. He holds it in because, no matter how bad it feels, this makes him feel safer. It's… an oxymoron but sometimes we're a walking contradiction.

169)I really liked how every characters backstory is connected to one another (although, Ryan's is a little bit flimsy I'll give it a pass since he's our best friend)

— You might feel that way cause his dream sequence didnt include the past. I skipped it for two reasons, but I can only reveal one. It wouldn't make sense for Joel to dream something he already knows. You don't and I'm aware of that. Stay tuned.

170)The use of the setting and themes

— I love screaming into the void for nobody to listen.

171)I really like the characters sprites.

— Sameeeeee

172)Something I want to see more... I guess, I want to see more interaction between Clyde, and Blake together. They have the best dynamic for me.

— Noted. You will see more of that after main story goes on cooldown

173)Great art, Cgs are pretty, characters are distinct and interesting, story set up is good.

— *thumbs up*

174)I like the growth moments and flashbacks that provide character context. If I can see more conflict driven growth like in Clyde's route this will become a top Tier VN for me.

— Absolutely. This is main story hitting us in the face with Clyde.

175)Just the art, it's really good.

— +1

176)I adore Liam's character design, and I want to see more intense scenes that give you the feeling that you have to re-read the previous few dialogue lines.

— Ooohhh you have no idea what's coming. I will allow you to raise your expectations. Stay tuned.

177)I like the new CGs. I really love Clyde CG, which showing him eating ice cream with full happiness. I would like to see more new CGs if it's possible and not hard for you guys.

— This question made me go "Fuck, I should've asked if people have a moment in the story they liked to see as a CG" oh well, I'll start asking that on our next Q&A.

Anyways— it's all about money. Art is expensive. Each update the CGs can range between 1 to 3, but I'm trying to make 2 minimum.

Usually I try to predict a CG before it happens, because I brainstorm before writing the script so we have the premeditated CG and then we have the unexpected CG that spawns into the script.

It's not easy to get an artist to make a CG on a tight schedule. I'll do my best and I will also go backwards if needed. So make sure you do let me know if there's a specific scene you'd love to see in CG format.

178)Maybe it just me, but I like Blake's route for helping Blake find the culprit, which 2 mysteries are in Blake's route need to be resolved.

— Happy to hear that you liked it!

Tell me something you didn't like that should be changed or removed.

179)I don't think there was anything that I didn't like that much

180)I would really appreciate if you could add subtitles for Ryan's song in the game. It would be useful for non native speakers like me. I had to watch youtube to understand the song..😅

— They're the same video. I don't know why your version wouldn't have subtitles. That's a mystery I can't solve, sorry!

181)I can understand why you are progressing the love-like relationships slowly, along with the main story. But I can't wait them expressing their mind each other more like, radically? Directly? Show us some more love lines ;)

— Joel wouldn't let that happen. Patrice D3 is basically proof of what happens if you accelerate the relationship. He placed a boundary and said "I'm not ready. This is too fast. Things need to gradually evolve between us." You'll have to feel the slow burn and enjoy the gradual cooking.

182)Eric should be purged from this realm.

— S o   T r u e

183)Normally I finish my novels "in one go" be it Danganrompa, Zero Escape or even Echo. I start playing and finish it.

Moonlight Castle on the other hand is a phenomenon. I started reading before D1+ was a thing, before the 2.0.0, I think. I could not for the life of me get past the first few scenes.

— You cooked me hard but everything you said was completely true. That's why I focused on improving my skills and calling for help.

Can I say it? EARLY GAME WAS BORING AS FUCK!!!!!

There, it's out. I fucking hated how I was gatekeeping my own story for the longest time, but I wasn't ready to adjust it yet back then.

184)I didn't even get to meet the whole cast, before shelving the novel. In theory a mystery novel should be interesting to me, even if it's a furry visual novel. I don't really care for them being furries. As a AroAce am here for the plot and weird things. I have watched Beastars and played Echo before playing this one, so furries are not a problem, I would say that it's even good because I can remember who is who XD.

— I totally understand. I'm Ace myself so I'm inclined to write a good story first, sexual jokes are funny and then if the porn scene makes sense you get that. (Skippable)

185)After a month or so I gave it another go. This time I met Blake and Clyde, but it was still a chore. Another month passes and I could not leave a mystery not solved, so I took a drastic measure and skipped Day 1 and Day 2 and got straight into exploration.

— Ouch ouch ouch ouch I can't even blame you. It was such a bad slop before the rework.

186)It was the correct choice, as I completed a route and was engaged. Then I reread Day 1 and D2 and I still was not feeling it.

— Im gonna let you talk for one big answer now

187)Then D1+ dropped and SIGNIFICANTLY increased the readability of the first part of the game. I sill think that pre exploration Moonlight Castle is a whole different beast (pun intended).

— REDEMPTION LETS GOOOOOOO

188)But as the things are right now I don't know how to improve the first part. Definitely not by cutting or compressing content, because D1+ is good on it's own. I think that there should be something to show the new players what this game will be about.

— Ok, so… after studying, learning shit. The biggest issue in these two early days is the lack of a proper hook. My strategy was to keep that hidden away, but then the slop isn't digestible anymore.

So I added the black ghost. It's still not enough, but at least you know something is up. The reader isnt as confused later, they know this is a thing beforehand.

But but but this is where I think I clutched it. The new rewrites, the characterization and the main cast introductions are now much better, funnier and nowhere as boring as they used to.

The slop is now eatable. Feel free to give it a try April 7th with Russell 4. Me and my new editor added the final polishing and coat of paint to the entire pre—route selection days.

I'm hoping to polish N2s and early D3s as well so the game is at its best and I can safely let it go. (IM GONNA DROP IT ON STEAM BABY IM SO READY!!!!)

189)I feel like Liam is THE most important character from a plot's perspective. Be it the supernatural or real part. He is connected to nearly every other character. Also HE basically got the whole thing going. So it comes as a surprise to me to see that, his route is in my opinion the one providing the least amount of answers.

— This was a main story priority checklist. You know that Liam is helping 70% of the other routes behind the scenes. Clyde, Russell, Patrice, Blake NOT ONLY THAT BUT THEN THE RYAN SITUATION

So… I needed to, once again, prioritize. You don't want to overwhelm the reader. The other routes also need to catch up since they don't know shit yet.

But I already wrote Liam 5 by the time I'm typing this. You're getting exactly what you want. Unique knowledge, just like the ones you pick up on Patrice's route.

190)His route gives me the distinct feeling of "this will not be explained, just because". I think there are more supernatural things explained outside his route than in his. I very much enjoy his character and route, but I leaves me yearning for more.

— Im hoping that doesn't happen, but with 7 routes to juggle some unexplained knowledge can escape me. This is also why I make these yearly Q&A, to check with the readers if everything's going the intended way. If you find something that didn't get explained yet, make sure to let me know. I love explaining shit. I don't want to leave it a mystery.

191)His day 4 was fantastic though.

Some routes are just better than others currently. Even if I love the characters, I worry for their future. I don't care for Liam much (I get his character don't get me wrong) but his route is super interesting and I love his sister more. While I love Blake I can't recall a single thing outside the drawings in day 4. Clyde route is good for information, Russell is interesting outside anything castle related, ect.

— Yeah, I already discussed and came to terms that every route has a different story and theme. It's fine to find one better than the other. The longer we go the better it should get.

192)I mentioned it earlier, but if you do rewrite the Day 4's, I would like to see more of Blake and Ryan, even just a short conversation with Margaret in Blake's route for example.

— What you said is really funny. Please keep this in mind for the future. I'm sure it'll get you a little chuckle when these routes update.

But I don't think I'll be rewriting D4s. I already expanded on why. They actually hold quite nicely and I can be quite a hater toward my own writing.

193)I think I enjoy all things in the VN. I don't like Liam, but even without reading his route I can tell he is a well written character, my dislike for him is more so from his actions rather than his role in the story, so despite my dislike for him, I do not think he needs to be changed in any way, besides whatever character development you have planned for him.

— Heyyyyy fun fact this Q&A didn't have people wishing for Liam to not exist at all.

… maybe they're too focused on doing that on Eric. Fair point.

194)Eric's whole existence /j/j

— Manifested

195)I disliked Russell constantly talking about Joel "breaking his boundaries" over little things that are insignificant. It felt a bit jarring and made me view Russell as more of a whiny snowflake

— Russell might not be your character. He shouldn't bother you much outside of his own route.

196)I also disliked that Ryan tried to kill Liam in his route. It was different from the other routes in a jarring way and just confused me

— I'm sorry you feel that way but it is actually peak writing

*I wrote this answer much earlier than the rest cause I couldn't help myself and now I'm re-reading and yeah, that's based.

197)I'm not really nitpicky. I do wish that the words or parts that I have read before doesn't reset for an upcoming story update , like words that I can't skip because I read them before in a previous build or If I accidentally skipped new words because I used the skip via the option in the menu . But I do like the new extra that lets you skip towards certain days or towards the new update.

— I FIXED THAT. IT SHOULDN'T HAPPEN ANYMORE. Kinda. Sometimes Renpy can whine a little but I'm expecting a big improvement toward readability starting with the Russell 4 update.

Apparently having two different coder create a new build was fucking up with the game and I genuinely didn't know. So far I simply thought the saves were broken and I was like, eh, thats not a big deal. I never realized everything was getting reset back to 0. That was indeed annoying and I'm sorry for not catching on sooner.

198)Dylan. /hj, i Still think he's way too much of an asshole. everyone understands these kinds of tropes, i know we'll get to delve deeper into his insecurities and help him if we go with his route, it's just... he's so mean it makes it hard to actually care for him =w=

— Dylan is actually so based, I'm so sorry you don't vibe. Are you pre D1+ D2+? Cause I adjusted stuff. He's still an asshole, but it's more on the side of "what is this strange grumpy man saying wtf?"

199)Russell's route could still use some patching up. maybe just get rid of the choice? Sometimes it's hard to follow the thought process of Joel.

—The early Russell choices matter very little anyway, dont sweat it. (I will give a lookie everywhere anyway, just need time)

200)I really don't like that horse. there's no reason for him to be removed since he did his job perfectly, but still, I don't like him.

— Horse slander campaign successful

201)that and also Gavin's buttons.

— *dies* (i fixed them, wait next update)

202)Sometimes, I just feel that scene transition is jarring in the recent days. It feels disconnected between Days 1 - 3 and Day 4 onwards. It might just be because it's building up to them returning to the castle again, seemingly coming on day 6?

— I have no clue what this means. I'm stupid, sorrgy.

203)Hmmm... apart from not liking certain characters, but that's pretty normal in a VN.

— And this is why you make 7 routes uwu.

204)My main criticism with the game isn't something I really expect to be 'fixed' due to it being more of a taste thing, so I don't really have anything to say here.

— I want you to know that a lot of improvements came from me searching discussions about Moonlight Castle and just reading without commenting. I tanked EVERY. SINGLE. HIT. ohhhh my confidence was absolutely wrecked after that. And, you know, it helped shape my own preferences too.

Now I'm at that point where I read criticism and I'm capable of being like "You're right" or "No lmao you're silly."

Anyway— if you feel like it, next time, feel free to say it. I want to read everything there is no matter what it is. You can't just edge me like that and then not tell me!

205)Maybe a little shorter backstory

— Oh, look at this free plug. I'M GOING TO WRITE A PATRICE BACKSTORY IN MAY AS A JAM GAME!!!!!

There you have it, new exclusive short story. 

206)I didn't like Clyde's character, I wish he had a visible melting point to his feelings and hard work.

— People are workaholics. They exist. I'm not though. Melting point for his personality doesn't make sense, but he did have a few sparks already.

D3 with Margaret
D4 after Joel leaves Gavin's house
Yeah, they're not full on mad. They're short, but it wouldn't make sense to have him flip a switch. Characters should stay consistent.

207)I would like to ask if it is possible for you to add auto forward dialogue speed in the setting?

— Gotta ask coders but I'll see what I can do.

208)I would like to ask if you can add Margaret character sprite in Clyde's route, when Joel is with Clyde in the corridor/hall background?

— Already done. Both Margaret and Daniel are now correctly showing up in Russell 3 and Clyde 3 (Starting April 7th).

Tell me something you didn't understand and would like to be explained.

209)Wish there was more explanation to world building and such

— Depends what kind of world building you're looking for. I won't give the world of MC a geographical position. I left it vague on purpose so I could get away with technical shit that I didn't want to research. I wanna talk about fun stuff. If you want to know more about the Devine corps/PMC/The Dumps/The Castle then that stuff will slowly develop as the main routes progress. The world of MC shares the same time as ours, more or less.

209*1)Was it the same green slime monster we saw that possessed Ryan? Or was it a different one? If yes, it would be weird since it seemed friendly. But I guess we'll know in the future updates.

— *I had numbered all the questions and missed this one. No shit I'm swapping numbers now. Anyway— It is the same slime monster. I feel like I mentioned that he works as a hivemind, so being both friendly and aggressive makes sense (if not I'll mention that again in Liam 5 just to make sure).

210)I'd like a bit more in-depth explanation of the workings of Liam/Gavin's organisation.

— You'll have to wait for the main story to progress. You will see it a bit everywhere because it isn't just tied to Clyde. His route only gave you early access.

211)I still don't get the deal with James, I wish I could see how "Evil" Eric has been outside of hearsay from Joel (i love a good antagonist), and I want to go on a date with Mark to know more about our grumpy Cheetah and hope he gets with Dylan instead of Joel.

— Some more James lore is actually much closer than you guys know. Eric is a bit further away, like, 3 to 5 patches. Same for Mark. It's a given you'll see him on Dylan 5, just dunno when his route will be available. 

212)I was rereading Blake's route, and when he climbs out the window in the first loop of Day 3, he comes back and says he heard wings flapping. This is interesting, and I'd like to be able to learn more about what creature(s) guard the outside of the castle when the 'gate' is closed.

— This is the first time someone brings it up. No comment.

213)Not so much "don't understand", but I would like to know more about how medium's talents work.

— I wrote Liam 5 already by the time I'm answering this question. You're getting a more in-depth answer there. Scheduled end of April (Patreon), mid May (Itch).

214)I think I wonder about the first night of the 3rd that we saw them die, was it a dream like Joel saw the future or went back in time?

— Time moved backwards. Not a dream.

215)I understand the story fully as for the Medium stuff , if there is a word correlated to being a Medium or what a Medium does , I hope it gets added in the Handbook that Liam provided , I like reading those.

— I planned new terminology for the handbook when Liam 5 drops.

216)Why Ryan so mean to boywife,, </3

— Who's boywife??? Joel??? No, I'd think of Liam but I just can't see him as a boywife. The agent of chaos, emissary of misfortune, the grand gremlin could never be a boywife.

217)What does Joel's mother find interesting in Eric? It's something I don't understand for now, but I pretty sure it will be explained at some point.

— Love is weird. Sometimes nice people go after shitty ones. It happens… way too often irl.

218)The motives and thoughts of the Pillars. Some of them are clearly malicious in line with the curse while some of them are obviously serving their own agendas and possibly even benevolent. I'm curious about what makes them tick.

— This is a main story arc. You'll get to learn everything about the pillar of your route.

219)The story is explained well, and for a story that deters away from realism, everything is explained extremely well.

— I pride myself in giving everything a valid reason, even with magic/fantasy stuff. If something can't be explained it's because we don't understand it yet. That's how I feel.

220)There are several things I don't understand, but I'm pretty sure it's all will be explained as every route progresses further. The thing I want to be explained is, what is the history of Joel's dad, Nia, and Claude? That's something I want to be explained more.

— Make sure to let me know as the game progresses. Something might slip past me and reminders are appreciated. The three disappearances will be explained across routes, but Claude's story is Clyde unique.

Tell me what you hope to see in future updates.

221)More character development and more emotional moments with them

— Character development is queued up for N5, you'll enjoy some emotional moments in there and after. D6 and D7 will be the downtime everyone's been asking for.

222)Well, NSFW obviously haha!

— I have some funny nsfw in mind, nothing serious unfortunately. I don't see sex happening for now. (Every nudity scene will be properly labeled before it happens and will be offered the timely choice to skip it.) Joel's personal story arc needs to proceed further before porn actually makes sense if it does anyway. (I don't like slapped meaningless porn.)

Buuuuut you can definitely expect porn somewhere else… (don't ask. You'll have to wait for this sentence to make sense.)

223)Clyde being cute :3

— He's always at the top of his cute game.

224)I remember there is an inactive choice of "Not helping" Liam and not agreeing to continue. I would love to see this thing explored.

I feel like this option will lead to "bad timeline" that will show the consequences of not solving the mystery and make the player WANT and actively choose to engage in this admittedly dangerous activity.

— Oh yeah, it's there but I won't write this funny alternative route any time soon. Writing it now would spoil the shit out of this game. And I want everyone to learn about the game the normal way first before I destroy every single rule writers have created.

225)I understand that this is in no way a priority, more of a polishing and finishing consideration.

Besides more of the fantastic story, just more good looking manly guys. XD

— Thank you. It's gonna take a while, but I didn't forget about that. 7 routes man. What the fuck is wrong with me. We're SO dropping down to 5 routes next game.

226)I love how some routes are very focused on a sort of theme with the character. We learn more of the major story naturally playing multiple routes without just having exposition spat at us.

— I also pride myself in avoiding info dumping. It's better to offer less than giving too much.

227)Blake. Obviously I want to see every character but he is my favorite so I want to see him a lot more than the others. Also Nia, she is my second favorite and I liked how I got to see more of her when I did Patrice's route. I would like to see a bit more of her, even if just some small things like the ring changing temperature in reaction to certain events.

— Blake is the slowest starter. Give him like… end of N5 to get him going. Nia, well, if you've read Ryan 5. There's going to be another pattern that you should like a lot. Read all routes and you get a big segment all about her.

228)Some romance like hints of feeling or slight romance

— Depends on route. I feel like the hints are there already

Ryan 5 did exactly that, Clyde 4 ends with a hug, Patrice 4 has another hug, Blake 4 ends with "NOT A DATE HAHA!!!", Don't expect romance development in the other 3 for now. (Especially Russell and Dylan lmao)

229)MORE DYLAN CONTENT RAHHHHH

— HELL YEAH!!!!

230)Joel being a little more confident, and assertive, I think he needs to be if he doesn't want anything bad to happen to them

— Small steps forward

231)I would love to see Ryan and Joel's wedding

— That's cute. The VN ends before that, sorry.

232)More character bonding or romance with the selected character

— Coming soon

233)I would like to see more lore in the future alongside new faces / characters , new places , more bgm.

— Russell 4 is bringing new faces and a new original track. But we also have more characters planned for the future. A bunch of females to restore balance.

234)WHAT'S THE NAME IN THE TEXT AT THE BEGINNING!!!!????

— what name? The name you type? The secret name typed inside the phone? The strange voice that texted you at the very beginning of the game? That name? Joel's fake name? The name I bamboozled you with that is totally not a password reference? That name? :)

235)Ryan's curse being removed having a significant impact in Dylan's route

— It does have an impact on Ryan's story, but not necessarily for Dylan's. This also plays out on the fact that I like to make the world feel alive. It did matter, not to you though. You should know the positive influence of that happening if you played Liam's route.

236)Continue with the current narrative and the characters dynamics and growth. Also, hot two-headed demon dog monster. lol

— Three-headed* but yes. I'll do my best to deliver more bullshit.

237)Russell content. I want to know more about him, even with knowing his penchant for keeping his work and life separate. (Also Clyde since I'm a Clyde bias :3)

— You're the meme of "If there's only one Russell fan, I am that fan and if there is nobody who likes Russell that means I'm dead." Good for you though!

238)So... during Clyde's route, and after this scene with Blake in the infirmary, I thought that the reason he wanted to know if Clyde like women or men, was because he had feelings for him, and with the way he really cares about Clyde could imply this, too. (Or he just wants to be a very good friend, and that's all)

— I didn't give that scene too much weight because it's just an insanely Blake thing to do. He did the same to Joel literally at the beginning of the game. 

239)So... I kinda hope to see in the future how Blake will deal with the fact that Clyde was developing feelings for Joel. Will he be happy? Sad? Or... (Let's go insane with this one) will we see a possibility of a triple relationship between Clyde, Blake and Joel.

— You're not the only one who asked me this. I have a close friend who's also whispering into my ear "Patrice, Liam, Joel" and I'm like… I get it, that sounds fun, but I don't trust myself to write poly the way it deserves to be written. ALSO That would mean more variants and I'm really really really not in the mood for more. Plate's gigantic already. 

240)Apart from that, kinda hoping to see more of random and bizarre things happening in the castle.

— Got it, Boss!

241)More Daniel content!

— WAITER, WAITER! MORE FAT BEAR CONTENT! (I lost count of the bit).

242)More pillar content.

— Guaranteed.

243)T.b.h. I'd like to see something emotional again

More about Nia, I would like her to have a flaw because until now it felt like she's the perfect individual, which makes me hope that somethings brewing under the surface.

— "Too much of a good thing becomes a bad thing" in this specific situation, for Nia, it's being selfless. She didn't value her own life enough and left everyone behind. I'd say thats a pretty I FUCKED UP. Anyway, Liam 5 has a unique morning sequence because of how messed up his D4 is. Look forward to that.

244)I would like to see what will happen if we choose "No" for helping Liam on his quest searching his sister.

— Discussed this point already, moving on.

245)I kind of hope all secondary characters will show up later, finding out that what kind of problem Joel and his group have. It may gives more conflict reach its peak, and explain some things.

— I can't predict the future yet, but certain secondary characters will know what's going on with the castle. Stay tuned for that.

246)I also kind of hope if Patrice gonna do some naughty things in the future update. (Lol XD)

— I don't have to answer that one.

Free question space. Say anything you want, criticism is super welcome.

247)Wish there was more information about characters and world. it would have been really cool if we'd get some specials/stories about specific times in characters life's (like from their POV).

— This is planned. Dream sequences were just an appetizer.

248)I think it would have been interesting if we got more time to get closer to characters. like some more relaxing scenes and casual dialogues would have given more chances to see characters in specific life situation etc. It would have added more depth to them (but even how they are rn characters are really well written).

— This is a spicy point because what you want is more slop, not in a bad way ofc, that's just how I label these kinds of scenes when nothing is really happening. These are actually harder because you gotta keep them interesting and, well, the past taught us that D1 and D2 weren't appreciated. The slop was bad. But I think that nowadays my characterization skills are high enough to make it tasty.

I'm ranting. The point is the whole early game is downtime. Then the story kicked in and there's been a constant flipping between that and the main story. Gotta wait for the castle section to end to get what you want. D6 basically. (But some D5s have a little bit of what you want).

249)If I'll have anything else to say I'll leave a comment on itch page (if you don't mind criticism over there).

— Yeah, Itch is fine. I made these here so people could give me a more unfiltered opinion and they dont have to be worried about what theyre typing.

250)Thanks for this awesome game and keep up with your work! Wish you the best and hope to see more updates :D

— Thankies, hope you stick around

251)I'd love for CG's to be shown for a little bit longer, to me it sometimes feel that CG's fly by. Even if it's just a pause to appreciate the artwork.

— By my own coder who can easily do that himself if he wanted to. I'm not stupid. I remember you saying that in passing and when I read this I was like, look at the audacity of this bitch (ily). It's not that I want them to be short, it's that they don't make sense if they stay too long, like, let's take Clyde eating ice cream CG. The window frame on which the story highlights him eating is short and keeping it too long becomes jarring. And I get it, this is subjective but nobody is forcing you to keep clicking. You want more time to stare at it? Then… stop for a second and look at it LMAO. Open the gallery, idk, you'll live through this minor inconvenience I promise. Also I asked you "How long should they stay then?" He never got back to me. 

252)When (not if as we all hope) the mainline routes are completed, will there be something more - additional routes, side content?

— I have plans to expand the MC universe if there's enough interest. We'll see what the future holds for us.

253)If you had to drop one of the routes, which one it would be and which one would you fight to save?

— I know you'd like an answer, but I genuinely see no reason to drop any of them. I will finish this game or die trying.

254)Threesome with Patrice, Joel and Liam's sister for closure.

— Yeah, of course. She can just temporarily possess someone and ignore all the terrible implications of what I just typed.

255)I have nothing to criticize here sadly. You've shown yourself to welcome and accept feedback, as seen in the day skip feature, character interactions, the unification of the Liam speech across routes, hide button on mobile, changing the color of the black ghost text in the journal, etc. I'm looking forward to Russel's day 4 to see what you've cooked up next.

— Yippeeeee

256)I really enjoy your work and hope to see more of it in the future. Sadly I am not in a position where I can support this project financially, but I talk about it to anyone that will listen, so I hope that helps grow it's audience <3

— You're fine. I was never here for the money. I mean… god that's not entirely true. I do love being paid for writing garbage but that's not the main reward. You wanna make me happy? Make your voice heard. I love hearing what people have to say, share snippets of the story on socials, let people see the game. My future rides on you guys, word of mouth is the best way to spread a niche game such as this. There are other, very important tools, you guys have that can help!

257)The game is pretty good, I don't think it needs any changes, I just don't want the game to be ruined by lewd content.

— I'm not here to defend or go against this statement, but I need you to know that we're in a niche gay space. People wanting porn is a fair and reasonable request. I'm Ace, porn isn't something I wish to use as fanservice, but as a narrative tool instead. Because, yeah, lewd can be used in ways that isn't just omgggg you make me hard time to jork it hehe. TL DR I will add skippable porn scenes to the game eventually, dunno when but they will be in. It's also part of the self discovery journey, accepting everything about yourself etc. I hope you can give it a chance without condemning porn as a whole. I believe it's hard to use the right way, that's why sometimes it feels weird or it makes you laugh and comes across as unserious. And for my homies who are uncomfortable it's skippable, I don't want you to feel bad about pp. I get it. I'm also bothered by irl porn.

258)And Liam was my first route and my favorite so far which is a bit xd that I have to eat spoilers when I see more advanced routes, that or wait

— Playing Liam first is crazy. I live for people who go against the current.

259)I wonder if Ryan and Joel will remain friends, whether we choose Liam's route or someone else's.

— I think it's an easy answer considering how much they care about each other, but I say no more. It's something you will see in the VN eventually.

260)I cant think of anything atm. Hi , I love you guy's work , Stay safe!

— Thank you!!! Same to you!

261)Not a question and this might sound kinda weird, but the first thing i noticed when i started reading was the UI??- it's rather unusual, people usually put some free space between the text box and the bottom of the screen, and you don't typically have the option for preferences on the top like that. and That's not bad!!! it doesn't say who did the UI in the credits, but i think they did a really swell job ^w^ it looks very neat and clean!

— Oh, that's because the UI is a group effort. We all contributed a little bit sharing with the coders our favorite preferences and him going like "Doable. I'll do it asap." Raykyu did the visual assets for it and I was the one who requested small features like the buttons. I'm addicted to the fast button and instant sentences.

262)More Liam!!!! also, I'm still confused whether the gargoyle was a pillar or not.

— Liam is everywhere. You're going home well fed. The Seer is a pillar, yes.

263)Keep doing what you are doing and keep in mind not to incorporate more than a scene or story needs.

— *thumbs up*

264)Are you still going to release update like you do (Day 4 for all, and then go Day 5 for all), or is there any chance that you might focus on one specific character, finish it, and then go on another character?

— Kinda answered this but I can summarize again. I'm going to stick to fully completing a day cycle for every character. At most you'll see me pushing a 1+ like Ryan 5 before Russell 4, but no more than that otherwise it might ruin my careful event planning.

265)Can Joel get a backbone surgically inserted into him on Day 6?

— OUCH! THIS IS PROBABLY THE MOST HURTFUL ONE SO FAR! Imagine throwing a jab at Joel, but he's invisible so it phases through and HITS ME RIGHT IN THE FACE.

He might not exist but I do! And no, I can't get a backbone either, sorry.

266)Keep going!

— *bear noises*

267)Make Dylan less loveable so ill have a reason to stop dreaming about the day he gets a full completed route.

— Duality of man yet again manifested

268)This is not really criticism, but I'm wondering more. As the story progresses, I wonder if you will add few very fatal choices, which one or few choices can lead 1-7 characters die in the future updates? Not mean to be cruel, but it may add thrilling sensation as the castle is so dangerous for them.

— Yes, bad endings are a thing. You will not go through scripted deaths anymore. Good luck. Also, now that we have guaranteed affinity thanks to the chapter selection screen certain choices will cause a game over by default. Careful of what you sayyyyyyyy (This is not in the game and is going to be a feature that shows up in castle segments only, deep breaths, no need for anxiety.)

269)And finally, good work for you all who have put a lot of effort into this VN. Thank you for entertain me and others~

— Yippe

270)Thank you as well to hear what's our thought about this FVN in this questionnaire~

— I'm a bit confused, but you got the spirit. Thank you!

We're done, but damn... this was SO SO MUCH. I'll see you guys April 7th for the next update!