I Think!! I Think He Very Pretty!!! I Wanna Be Pretty For Him And With Him!!!!!!

Not self projecting at all but Lowell with an MC who craves validation and will push themselves to the max just to get it-

He's pouring out the love and validation before you even have the time to ask- honestly, Lowell is a nonstop praise machine. Brush your teeth? He's cheering on your incredible powers of executive function. Wear a cute outfit? Hell, wear ANYTHING or NOTHING at all?? You're getting complimented on how gorgeous you are as long as you'll let him. It's damn near impossible to get him to shut up about how amazing you are just for existing, and if he notices you pushing yourself too hard to get love and validation from him, he'll crank it up to 1000 and specifically begin praising you for NOT trying to hard and just letting him shower you in affection.

man I really have to emphasize how Big Scary Lowell is in croquembouche bc while the other two settings range from fluffy to mid-tier yan shenanigans like. I want to make it abundantly clear that there are going to be elements of drug use, non consensual sex, heavy gore, gaslighting, and attempted mind control in this game. it's a murdersim and it'll be made to be fairly intense and frightening in its full realization. the other modes will be there for players who don't want as intense of an experience but this is a game by a horror kinkster for horror kinksters

how would Lowell feel about an MC who had kids already or was already pregnant, would he still kiddnap them?

Worried. He isn't father material and the life that he wants to keep his dolly in is not conducive to children. Depending on the level of obsession he feels for them, he'd either kidnap them and leave the existing children at their home, choose a different target entirely, OR, in the case of a pregnancy he was not aware of, potentially leave the child at a firestation or hospital.

Lowell is not a good person, and he knows that. One of his major boundaries is not purposefully subjecting children to neglect, abuse, or emotional harm, to whatever extent he can manage that. If he's obsessed enough with his current victim, he might risk neglect of the children by taking his target away from them... but that's about the extent he'll go.

pending the completion of Flowers of Evil, Lowell is gonna be getting a little design change to freshen up for you all :3 if there's any clothes you'd love to see him in, feel free to kick a few pictures my way! I'm going to be running a poll below to see how you all feel about a couple different aesthetics I'm kicking around. vote below !

SO, YOU WANNA MAKE AN INDIE HORROR VISUAL NOVEL ON TUMBLR

Have you been seeing some cool blogs for hot, murderous men who are attached to indie projects? Have you ever wanted to try and make your own, especially as someone who doesn't come from a game design background? Not sure where to start, whether with your Tumblr blog to promote it or with the game itself?

Hi, I'm Kat. I have a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Game Design. I've been making games for 4 years and visual novels for 2. You may know me for Art Without Blood, 10:16, or Limerence. I'm here to help you make your first visual novel.

Though this is specifically geared for a Tumblr crowd making horror games, horror/yandere dating sims, murdersims, etc, I think anyone will find this useful! All of my advice is under the cut.

THINGS TO CONSIDER BEFORE STARTING

You should be wanting to make a game because you want to make a game. I'm sure there's someone out there who is only making a visual novel because they saw that dev's OCs and artwork get their own fandom. Do you want to make a game, or do you just want the attention that comes from making a game?

You cannot be a perfectionist, especially with a demo.

YOUR FIRST PROJECT WILL NOT BE GOOD. THAT'S OKAY. No one's first anything is good.

Some of this advice may sound rude. It's not meant to me. It's just meant to be realistic. Making games isn't fun 24/7. It'll be stressful. And that'll be okay.

OKAY, SO, LIKE, HOW DO I START?

"I've never done programming in my life! I'm so fucking scared right now!" You may be telling yourself this, shaking in your boots with tears running down your face. You're going to have to learn a little programming. It's not going to be all that bad, I promise.

ENGINES

Ren'py is the number one engine you will be recommended. It is very beginner-friendly, with lots of tutorials, assets on itch.io to use and download, and support. The engine comes with a few tutorials in the form of games, whose code you can freely browse. This is the engine I use most often.

Twine is a text-based engine that most people use for interactive fiction. You can add images and audio, though, if you don't mind messing with HTML. I use Twine for text games and for outlining for my larger games.

RPG Maker has multiple versions and has been used for exclusively VNs if you don't mind fucking around with plugins. It can definitely give your game a super unique feel. I recommend RPG Maker MV, since it has the most resources. This line of engines usually costs money, but it often goes on sale for under $5-$15.

People will recommend TyranoBuilder, but as a user and player, the lack of options and the format the games often come in is just...not fun to navigate. It advertises itself as little to no code, but it's often evident in the final results. Some good games have been made in it, though, so if you want to use it for prototyping/practice, you can. I'm not a fan, but that doesn't mean that fans don't exist! This engine costs money.

There are tons of Youtube tutorials for each of these engines. Promise. It's okay to be scared of code, but you're not going to stop fearing it until you learn how to combat it.

YOUR FIRST GAME

This is probably the most important piece of advice I will ever give: DO NOT MAKE YOUR FIRST GAME A LARGE PROJECT.

Your first game will not be good. And that's okay. What I recommend is doing "one week prototypes", where you make games in a short amount of time to learn skills. It doesn't matter how bad they are, just try to make them polished, and try to learn a skill along the way.

Eventually, start working your way up until you feel that the load for your dream project is going to be manageable.

ON MAKING YOUR DEMO

Your demo does not have to be perfect. That's why it's a demo! You are free to (and often will do) change things in it for the final game.

The purpose of the demo is to showcase the features, the general theme, etc. It doesn't mean it has to be the start of your game, but with a visual novel or other narrative game, it's easier to start from the beginning. One demo I really like is Dead Space 2's for E3 because although it's 2 hours into the game, it gives you a full feel for how the real thing will be.

I would say make your demo only 5-15% of your game. If your game is going to be less than 30 minutes of playtime, there isn't really a reason to make a demo.

OUTLINE AND PLAN YOUR STUFF, especially if you aren't used to writing. Keep a list of tasks on a website such as Trello, Notion, or Jira.

Do not spend more than 3-4 months on your demo for a visual novel. You can update it later. You can add things. You can do whatever. But if you are spending more than 3 months on a demo build, then you are never going to get the full project done. Unless your project is going to be super, duper big (as in you have a longer than 2 year plan on creating it), I'd be wary of your time. You also have people who are waiting for your game. Let them know of your speed, your scope, and your own expectations.

ON MAKING YOUR BLOG

Your Tumblr blog should enhance your game. Your game should not enhance your blog.

Make your blog, I'd say, when you have 75%-ish of your demo done. There's a lot of times I've seen people make blogs when they have ideas, those blogs sit for a year, and a demo never manifests.

One thing we do in game development is the devlog, where we basically talk about what we've done with our game. Set how often you want to write a devlog. Weekly? Every two weeks? Monthly? In it, list everything you've done, some challenges, and what's to come. It keeps it real, it keeps you working, and it keeps your followers consistently excited for your game.

If people send you hate, anon or not, do not engage. I know how tempting it will be to clap back or to be upset by it, but any sort of response from you is ammunition and fulfillment to the person who sent it. The best thing to do is to delete it. Feel free to joke about it in a private group chat or something, but being public will only make you a target.

In the same breath, do not be immune or rude about genuine criticism.

It's good to be joking and casual, but keep a sense of professionalism.

People on this website are horny. You are not obligated to indulge in horny asks, even if your game is NSFW.

In fact, you are not obligated to indulge in any asks that you don't want to.

People often make tags for asks per character (I have #dorian ask, #aeron ask, etc). Make a pinned post that has your demo's link and any other important social medias for your game.

ON MAKING YOUR GAME PAST THE DEMO

Try not to overscope! Try to give yourself a deadline. "I want to finish this game in a year." Try to stick to that. It is very tempting to want to continue adding things to it, but please make sure you get the important stuff done first. Core features and core gameplay. You can add extras in later updates, helping to prolong your game.

Practice writing and art in other places. Do short writing exercises. Talk about your game and its plot with other writers to help you tweak bits.

Plan your assets. Try to set a weekly goal for yourself ("I'm going to write 5k words and do 1 background this week").

Most of us aren't musicians. That's okay. Make sure the music you get for your game is allowed to be used. You can use anything non-commercial if your game will not cost money or donations. I try to do songs in the public domain or free to use overall with credit if I don't have a musician. Consult the Creative Commons website if you're unsure how you're supposed to use a certain piece of music. If you don't use the right stuff, not only can it put you in legal trouble, but it can put streamers in hot water if they play your game and they can't upload the video because music is copyrighted.

For the love of God, have fun.

So ahem, me a trans male asked my father to use he/him on me, he said he wasn’t comfy with it, and that we can’t deny the laws of nature. He just said to me I’ll always be his daughter. So I’ve been crying for like 5 mins bc of that lmao, how would Lowell help MC with that?

Lowell is also trans and would be absolutely FURIOUS on your behalf. He also comes from an unsupportive family and he knows exactly how much that hurts. He would hold you and reassure you that you're more of a man than someone like that could EVER be, pet your hair and tell you thay he absolutely sees you as a male and that anyone who says otherwise is wrong and that you don't deserve to be hurt like that.

As a side note, I'm also trans and have dealt with a lot of grief about it, so if you ever need someone to talk to, my DMs are open. I hope that you're safe and that you find a supportive and validating community that can help you with how awful and painful that is. Stay well, and don't be afraid to reach out if you need.

OH MAN THE URGE TO GO DOWN ON THIS MAN AND BITE HIS THIGHS AAAKKSMSKSKSJSJ I'M IN CLASS TOO RN HAVING THE BIGGEST POKER FACE SO I DON'T GET EXPOSED AAAAAAJAAJAJAJSNSN

>:3c I live to pester with yan trans porn

Take a bite he's got good thighs and extra junk in the trunk iykwim

did something happen to Lowell for him to be the way he is?? or has be always been murder-y since childhood??😅 (dont have to answer if it’s spoilers)

a little of both! he was raised in a pretty toxic environment and he is also just a fucked up little guy! his chronic illnesses have a lot to do with his actions during the game as well- he is in a position of feeling like he is losing total control, and he is desperate to regain any semblance of it back. if he can't control his own body, maybe controlling someone else's will make him feel better :3c

Another tidbit for you all !

Lowell has one (1) tattoo. It IS silly it WAS a drunk accident and he DOES actually love it.

He'd love to get more though, especially if you wanted to get matching sets!

He also did all of his piercings himself.

WHATS THIS?? A SMALL KINETIC NOVEL FOR THE O2A2 QUEER JAM FEATURING ASEL???????

who wouldnt say no to that face!!!