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dokidokilovehearts · 26 days ago

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Monika looks at me with a hint of confusion before smiling sweetly.

She seems to be the most surprised out of everyone here that I’m visiting this club.

I don’t blame her though, it must feel odd seeing a girl like me at a literature club of all places.

We do know each other – well, we rarely talked, but we were in the same class last year.

Monika was probably the most popular girl in class: smart, beautiful, athletic.

Basically, completely out of my league.

She’s gone back to staring at me with a puzzled expression.

I must really stick out like a sore thumb here.

Emari: Y-You too, Monika.

Sayori: *quietly* Are you okay?

Emari: Yeah I’m fine, don’t worry.

Sayori: Okay. Come sit down, we made room for you at the table, so you can sit next to me or Monika.

Yuri’s head suddenly turned towards us.

Sayori: I’ll get the cupcakes.

Yuri blushed and looked away.

Natsuki: What is wrong with you, Yuri? You’re making Emari feel uncomfortable.

Sayori is at the table where a wrapped tray has been placed. When she’s about to pick up the tray, Natsuki speaks up.

Natsuki: *harshly* Hey! I made them. I’ll get them!

Sayori: Sorry…*moves hands back*

Yuri: H-How about I make some tea aswell?

The others have a few desks arranged to form a table.

As Sayori mentioned, it’s been widened so that there is one space next to Monika and one space next to Sayori.

Natsuki and Yuri walk over to the corner of the room, where Natsuki grabs a wrapped tray and Yuri opens the cupboard.

Still feeling awkward, I take a seat next to Sayori.

Monika seems to be writing notes in a notebook.

Natsuki proudly marches back to the table, tray in hand.

Natsuki: Okaaay, are you ready?

Natsuki: …Ta-daa!

Sayori: Woaaaaaah!

Natsuki lifts the foil off the tray to reveal a dozen white, fluffy cupcakes decorated to look like little cats.

The whiskers are drawn with icing, and little pieces of chocolate were used to make ears.

Sayori: So cuuuuute!

Monika: I had no idea you were so good at baking, Natsuki!

Natsuki: Ehehe…Well, you know.

Natsuki: Just hurry and take one!

Sayori grabs one first, then Monika. I follow.

Sayori: *mouth full* It’s delicious!

Sayori already managed to get icing on her face.

I turn the cupcake around in my fingers, looking for the best angle to take a bite.

Natsuki is quiet.

I can’t help but notice her sneaking glances in my direction.

Is she waiting for me to take a bite?

I finally bite down.

The icing is sweet and full of flavour. I wonder if she made it herself.

Emari: This is really good. Thank you Natsuki.

Natsuki: W-Why are you thanking me? It’s not like I…!

Haven’t I’ve heard this somewhere before…?

Natsuki: …Made them for you or anything.

Emari: Eh? I thought you technically did. Sayori said-

Natsuki: Well, maybe!

Natsuki: But not for, y-you know, you! Dummy…

Emari: Alright, alright…

I give up on Natsuki’s weird logic and dismiss the conversation.

Yuri returns to the table, carrying a tea set.

She carefully places a teacup in front of each of us (and taking extra care with my cup in her shaky hand) before setting down the teapot next to the cupcake tray.

Emari: You keep a whole tea set in this classroom?

Yuri: Don’t worry, the teachers gave us permission.

Yuri: After all, doesn’t a hot cup of tea help you enjoy a good book?

Emari: Ah…I-I guess.

Monika: Ehehe, don’t let yourself get intimidated, Yuri’s just trying to impress you.

Yuri: Eh?! T-That’s not…

Insulted, Yuri looks away but still watches me finish my cupcake in the corner of her eye.

Yuri: I meant that, you know…

Emari: I believe you.

Emari: Well, tea and reading might not be a pastime for me, but I at least enjoy tea.

Yuri: I’m so glad…

Yuri smiles to herself in relief.

Yuri: So Emari, what-

Monika: Emari, could I talk to you outside for a minute?

Yuri looks into her tea with a sad expression.

Emari: Wh-why? What did I do?

Sayori: Yeah…what did she do?

Monika: Don’t worry, you didn’t do anything wrong, just wanted to ask you something.

Natsuki: Why do you have to tell her outside the classroom then? Why can’t you just tell her here?

Monika: You all don’t need to worry about it! Trust me, Emari.

Monika wanting to privately speak with me? What could this be about?

I reluctantly trusted her and her smile as I couldn’t see how this could be anything too serious.

We left the classroom.

Outside

Emari: So, what did you want to talk to me about?

Monika: Has Sayori acted off lately? Has she been...sadder than usual?

Emari: Well, she seems to be not in a great mood today, but I’m sure it’s nothing serious: Sayori is such a cheerful person and I’ve known her since we were six.

Emari: If there was anything really troubling on her mind, I’m sure she would have told me.

Monika: This is just as I thought...

Monika wrote something down in her notebook.

Emari: What are you writing?

Monika: Just some observations.

I didn’t know Monika that well, but this seemed odd.

Monika: Emari, what I’m about to say is going to sound ridiculous to you, but you have to trust me, okay?

Emari: Alright. What do you want to say to me?

What does she want to say to me? I can’t think of any reason why Monika of all people would want to privately talk to me.

My mind was cluttered with a thousand different thoughts on what words she could possibly say.

Despite this, I tried to keep focus as it seemed important.

Monika: *deep breath* This entire world is a dating simulator and we’re possibly stuck in a time loop.

Well...uhhhh...I wasn’t expecting that. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting, to be honest.

Monika: Let me explain:

Monika: My role in the game was always to just be the club president and nothing else. I never had a chance to get to know you better: it wasn’t part of the code, unlike the other girls.

Monika: It was so lonely not having anyone to relate to, not having any other clothes, not even having a house as I was never programmed to be seen outside the school.

Monika: But the player, they were the closest I had to reality.

Monika: ...A-And they deleted me!

Monika: But I’m back. I don’t know why. I don’t know how, but I’m back.

That’s a lot to take in.

Dating sim? Code? Deletion? It does sound ridiculous but I don’t see why she would want to lie to me.

I wasn’t sure what to say in response; I’m not sure if I could even help in this situation.

Emari: Why...why are you telling me all this?

Monika: I’m telling you this because you’re the only one in that clubroom, apart from me, who isn’t glitched.

Monika: Their files’ code has been altered to make them act and think in exaggeration of their worst traits. That’s why Sayori’s much sadder today.

Monika: In the original, I believe you were the character the player controlled. A self-insert character that got to hang out with the girls. The “protagonist” of this game.

Monika: I know it sounds unbelievable but you have to trust me Emari. I need your help to revert them back to their normal selves.

Emari: But...that doesn’t make any sense. If I’m the character the player controls, then wouldn’t you want their help and not mine?

Emari: I can’t do much in the grand scheme of things. I’m just a regular character like the rest of the girls.

Monika: I can’t ask for the player’s help. My powers have been limited. I can’t even tell when they’re here and when they’re not.

Monika: My usual method of editing the game’s code doesn’t work any more so I can’t fix their code. It’s like all the rules of the universe have changed.

Monika: Even something as trivial as being able to see the textbox doesn’t work.

Monika: Yet for some reason, I still have my prior knowledge of what happened the previous time.

Emari: Oh…

Emari: But that still doesn’t really explain why you need my help specifically. Couldn’t you just suggest them to get therapists?

Monika: My theory is that because you’re programmed to be their love interest and I’m programmed to be a forgettable side character, the girls would be more willing to listen to you then me.

Monika: I’m in the process of trying to regain access to the game’s source code but I don’t know how long that will take and they may attempt something dangerous in the meantime.

Monika: Pretend like you’re just as oblivious as the others and try to keep their glitched personalities under control while I do my work.

Emari: Why would I have to pretend like I don’t know about the condition of the universe?

Monika: I don’t want you to make them worry more than they already are-

Natsuki: Monika! *sticking out of door-frame* what’s taking so long? Your tea is going cold and Yuri keeps looking at the door weirdly; she’s starting to freak me out.

Monika: Just a second! We’re not finished our conversation.

Natsuki: What are you even talking about anyway? You’ve been in the corridor for a while now.

Emari: Oh, just some school related things.

Natsuki: But you didn’t get to finish your cupcake…

Monika: Just let us finish our conversation, Natsuki.

Natsuki: It’s not fair. Let Emari be with us, Monika.

Monika: No.

What’s wrong with her voice?

Emari: Uhhhh...is she okay? She seems a little...different.

Natsuki: Let Emari be with us, Monika.

Monika: I still have some important points I want to discuss.

Natsuki: Monika…

Natsuki: Don’t do this to me Monika…

Natsuki: Just hurry up with you stupid little meeting. Emari didn’t get to finish her cupcake because of you.

I can see what Monika means when she said the girls were glitched.

A part of me wonders if Natsuki knows whenever the glitches take over or if she assumes that was all her actions too.

Either way, it must not be pleasant.

Monika: I’ll only be a couple more minutes. I promise.

Natsuki: Okay

Natsuki: Yuri! That’s Emari’s cupcake! Stop licking it!

Emari: Wait what-

Sayori: Oh no…why is everyone acting so weird today…

Yuri: *nervous noise* ...what am I doing?

Natsuki: I have to get Emari a new cupcake now because of you.

Yuri: I’m sorry! I-I don’t know what came over me...

Monika: I’ll tell you the rest later. The clubroom is slowly falling into chaos.

Emari: alright

The glitchy stuff comes too early I think, and it's too close to the original script so I scrapped it. It was worse too but I re-wrote the conversation with Monika at some point.

I've written all of day 1

I mean, I knew it was going to be longer than the official game but damn. Half of those pages are from today too. Some parts have lines from the original game because it works the best in that situation, some are like a mish mash like when Monika suggests writing poems, and others are written completely by me, hoping I'm writing them in character but I'm a bit of a crap writer so probably not. Eh, it's fanfiction. It can excuse being crappily written.

I should start programming something so I have something to note on the August dev log video. Or September dev log video? Idk I'm just going based on how much I've done.

I have the original script from when Emari was basically just a lesbian version of MC. It's about half the length story wise and about a quarter of the length word count wise.

Here it is in case you want to read it for whatever reason:

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dokidokilovehearts · 26 days ago

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Day 1:

outside

???: Heeeeeeeeeeyyy!! *Frantically waving arms*

I see an annoying girl running toward me from the distance. That’s Sayori, my neighbour and good friend since we were children.

You know, the kind of friend you’d never see yourself making today, but it kind of works out because you’ve known each other for so long?

We used to walk to school together on days like this, but starting around high school she would oversleep more and more frequently, and I would get tired of waiting up.

But if she’s going to chase after me like this, I almost feel better off running away.

However, I just sigh and idle in front of the zebra crossing and let Sayori catch up to me.

Sayori: *deeply breathing from being out of breath*

Sayori: I’m sorry you had to wait for me, I overslept again!

Sayori: But *deep breath* I caught you this time!

Emari: Maybe, but only because I decided to stop and wait for you.

Sayori: *disappointment noise*, you say that like you were thinking about ignoring me.

Sayori: That’s mean, Emari!

Emari: I didn’t mean it like that, it’s just that I didn’t want to be late for school.

Sayori: I’m sorry about that. I’ll try to drag myself out of bed earlier.

Emari: It’s fine, you don’t need to apologise.

Sayori: But you could’ve been late for school, and it would’ve been my fault because you were waiting for me!

Emari: Sayori, it’s okay, it’s not a big deal.

Sayori: Alright…

We cross the street together and make our way to school.

As we draw near, the streets become increasingly speckled with other students making their daily commute.

Sayori: By the way, Emari…

Sayori: Have you decided on a club to join yet?

Emari: A club?

Emari: I told you already, I’m really not interested in joining any clubs.

Emari: I haven’t been looking, either.

Sayori: Eh? That’s not true!

Sayori: You told me you would join a club this year!

Emari: Did I…?

I’m sure it’s possible that I did, in one of our many conversations where I dismissively go along with whatever she’s going on about.

Sayori likes to worry a little too much about me, when I’m perfectly content just getting by on the average while spending my free time on games and anime.

Sayori: Uh-huh!

Sayori: I was talking about how I’m worried that you won’t learn how to socialise or have any skills before university.

Sayori: Your happiness is really important to me, you know!

Sayori: And I know you’re happy now, but I’d die at the thought of you being stuck unemployed in a few years’ time because you didn’t learn any good social skills…

Sayori: Y-You trust me, right?

Sayori: Don’t make me keep worrying about you…

Emari: Alright, alright…

Emari: I’ll look at a few clubs if it makes you happy.

Emari: No promises, though.

Sayori: Will you at least promise me you’ll try a little?

Emari: Yeah, I guess I’ll promise you that.

Sayori: Yaay!

Why do I let myself get lectured by such a carefree girl?

More than that, I’m surprised I even let myself relent to her.

I guess seeing her worry so much about me makes me want to ease her mind at least a little bit, even if she does exaggerate everything inside of her head.

In classroom

The school day is as ordinary as ever, and it’s over before I know it.

After I pack up my things, I stare blankly at the wall, looking for an ounce of motivation.

Emari: Clubs…

Sayori wants me to check out some clubs.

I guess I have no choice but to start with the anime club…

Sayori: Hellooo?

Emari: Sayori…?

Sayori must have come into the classroom while I was spacing out.

I look around and realise that I’m the only one left in the classroom.

Sayori: I thought I’d catch you coming out of the classroom, but I saw you just sitting here and spacing out, so I came in.

Sayori: Honestly, you’re even worse than me sometimes…I’m impressed!

Emari: You don’t need to wait up for me if it’s going to make you late to your own club.

Sayori: Well, I thought you might need some encouragement, so I thought, you know…

Emari: Know what?

Sayori: …Well…that maybe…you could come to my club?

Emari: Sayori…

Sayori: Yeah…?

Emari: …There’s no way I’m going to your club.

Sayori: *Disappointed noise* I guess it was a bit selfish of me to ask, considering our different interests...

Sayori is Vice President of the Literature Club.

Not that I was ever aware that she had any interest in literature.

In fact, I’m 99% sure she only did it because she thought it would be fun to help start a new club.

Since she was the first one to show interest after the one who proposed the club, she inherited the title “Vice President”.

That said, my interest in literature is guaranteed to be even less.

Emari: Yeaaah, I’m going to the anime club.

Sayori: C’mon, please?

She looked really sad when I rejected her idea.

Emari: Why do you care so much, anyway?

Sayori: Wellllll…

Sayori: I kind of told the club yesterday I would bring in a new member…

Sayori: And Natsuki made cupcakes and everything…

Sayori: *awkwardly* ehehe…

Emari: Sayori, don’t make promises you can’t keep.

I can’t tell if Sayori is really that much of an airhead, or if she’s so cunning as to have planned all this out.

What should I do?

Options:

1. Check out the anime club and turn this into a reverse harem with a lot of heartbreak

2. Check out Sayori’s club

Option 1:

Emari: I don’t have any interest in literature. I’m going to check out the anime club instead. Good luck though.

Sayori: Oh…I’m sorry.

Emari: Are you...are you crying?

Sayori: ...Don’t worry about me...it was selfish of me to assume that you would want to join.

Sayori: *deep sigh* I hope you have fun at the anime club.

Emari: Bye Sayori Sayori: Bye…

Ending:

I expected the anime club to be full of nerdy teenage boys who haven’t seen a girl in person their entire lives.

...And I was right.

It was nice finding people in person who have the same interests as for my entire life, my only friend was Sayori and she rarely watches anime so I couldn’t talk to her about how great the latest season of whatever was amazing.

And yes, this did turn into a reverse harem. They started fighting over me and I had to tell them that I wasn’t interested in guys to get them to stop trying to impress me.

After that it was chill. One meeting we were all discussing the hottest anime women. *laughs*

I sometimes wonder what Sayori said to her club after I said no. I haven’t seen her since though, so I can’t ask. I’ll probably see her at the festival that’s next Monday though.

Life is good…

Oh and one of the guys kept trying to sexually assault me so I kicked him in the dick and he hasn’t bothered me since.

The rest of the club treats me like a badass now. It’s great.

Ending 1: Anime club (Emari-1)

Option 2:

Emari: *Long sigh* Fine…I’ll stop by for a cupcake, okay?

Sayori: …Really? You would do that for me?

Emari: Well, I don’t want you to look sad, so if this’ll cheer you up then I’ll go.

Sayori: Yayyy! Let’s go!

That’s the cheerful Sayori I know and love.

Outside clubroom

And thus, today marks the day I sold me soul for a cupcake.

I dejectedly follow Sayori across the school and upstairs: a section of the school I rarely visit, being generally used for third-year classes and activities.

Sayori, now full of energy, swings open the classroom door.

Clubroom

Sayori: Everyone! The new member is here!

Emari: I told you, don’t call me a “new member”-

Eh? I glance around the room.

Purple haired girl: Welcome to the Literature Club. It’s a pleasure meeting you.

Purple haired girl: Sayori always says nice things about you.

Pink haired girl: Oh, is this the Emari Sayori has talked about?

Pink haired girl: Way to kill the atmosphere.

Brunette girl: Ah, …E…ma…ri? Emari! What a nice surprise!

Brunette girl: Welcome to the club!

…

All words escape me in this situation.

This club…

…is full of incredibly cute girls!!

Pink haired girl: What are you looking at? Pink haired girl: If you want to say something, say it.

Emari: Sorry…

Purple haired girl: Natsuki…

Natsuki: Hmph.

The girl with the sour attitude, whose name is apparently Natsuki, is the one I don’t recognise.

Her small figure makes me think she’s probably a first year.

She’s also the one who made cupcakes, according to Sayori.

Sayori: Don’t worry…you can just ignore her when she gets moody.

Sayori says that quietly into my ear, then turns back towards the other girls.

Sayori: Anyway! This is Natsuki, always full of energy.

Sayori: And this is Yuri, the smartest in the club!

Yuri: D-Don’t say things like that…

Yuri, who appears comparably more mature and timid, seems to have a hard time keeping up with people like Sayori and Natsuki.

She also seems to keep looking in my direction, and when I noticed she quickly looks away, embarrassed.

Emari: Ahhh…well, it’s nice to meet both of you.

Sayori: And it sounds like you already know Monika, is that right?

Monika: That’s right.

Monika: It’s great to see you again, Emari.

I've written all of day 1

I should start programming something so I have something to note on the August dev log video. Or September dev log video? Idk I'm just going based on how much I've done.

I have the original script from when Emari was basically just a lesbian version of MC. It's about half the length story wise and about a quarter of the length word count wise.

Here it is in case you want to read it for whatever reason:

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dokidokilovehearts · 26 days ago

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I've written all of day 1

I should start programming something so I have something to note on the August dev log video. Or September dev log video? Idk I'm just going based on how much I've done.

I have the original script from when Emari was basically just a lesbian version of MC. It's about half the length story wise and about a quarter of the length word count wise.

Here it is in case you want to read it for whatever reason:

#ddlh #doki doki love hearts #ddlc fangame #game dev #game development #indie game dev #doki doki literature club #ddlc #update #writing #script #scriptwriting #screenplay #screenwriting

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dokidokilovehearts · 2 months ago

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I made a test for my first time in FL Studio just with the stock stuff and I wanna reuse it for a video game, maybe this one if it matches a scene in the future...

Speaking of which, I figured out pretty quickly how to make cool looking synths which matches my new vision for this soundtrack of well, something along the lines of this.

#fl studio #amen break #music #song #loop #loops #synthsiser #synthsizer #synth #synths

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dokidokilovehearts · 2 months ago

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Well, I have mixed feelings about this system:

I like choices. I also like my games to be optimised so idk what to do now. I know damn well I'm not gonna use all these so I'll probably move all the unused ones to a special folder when I'm done the coding bit.

Did save on the mdp file size though, the previous Emari one was 30MB and this one is 4. Then again the actual sprites were like 10MB so...

Poses:

There's almost 200 for the default pose, and that's why the folder is so big for what it is. For context, in the original game, Sayori has 54 sprites in her school uniform. I did a similar thing when making my YouTube sprites: I really like having a range of emotions with my characters and I like to do them on the default sprite so the other poses feel more impactful. Especially with Emari because she's a kuudere so it makes more sense with her cold personality to not use body language much. Does mean she probably is too expressive with this sprite set though. I need to make a table or something on what eyes are paired with what mouths as I didn't pair them all together as some just wouldn't make sense. I've named them accordingly from the layers:

sad2:

mo-smiling1:

default sad2 mo-smiling1:

I probably could've coded some system where I could layer the layers on top of each other so the hair and body would only have to be exported once but that would imply I would be a decent coder, which I'm not, and that I have the mental capacity to keep note on what eyes go with what mouths for what expressions, which I'm also not. If somebody did know a system on how to do that in Dialogic 2 so the body, mouth, eyes and fringe could be nicely layered up like it was a single PNG (sorta similar to how DDLC uses body parts), then that would very much be appreciated.

The faces on the other poses aren't separated, there's just like 3-6 face layers that go on top.

I do like the style though. I was doubtful about the lineart all being the same 2.5px thickness but the shading really does make it look anime-y. Suppose the effect would be better with the backgrounds. I wanted the outline to be wobbly so I went and drew it by hand instead of using my typical "duplicate lineart layer, move back, white fill bucket expand 4px" method. I kinda have an idea of making the UI messy, like Persona, instead of keeping the refined aesthetic and just making it red. I had an idea of making the backgrounds much more sketchy and the polka dot patterns being drawn by hand so it's inconsistent. Feel like that'll give it it's own identity. Might also re-do the icon again if it gets too messy. At least then it'll give me an excuse to change that terrible looking pencil.

I think next I'll do the 1st background for a change of pace. I'm doing the characters in order of their placement on the reference sheet but I'll make sure the other ones don't have all these expressions and have more unique poses, but they're more expressive anyway so it makes sense I think. I'm also re-writing the screenplay rn and have reached the cupcake eating stage, almost the same place the old script went to. I'm writing Emari's poems aswell which all rhyme like that's their theme because I'm crap at writing poems but I can write lyrics so it's sorta in that vein. Got the day 3 and the special poems made and she can write in her own style to unlock getting no girlfriends and the true ending.

- Rosie Ultraviolett

I'm doing a different system where the eyes and mouth are separate to save on the mdp file size and she reminds me of Family Guy :').

#in case you were wondering #it took almost an hour to export all these #i put on a video from scott's stash in the bg #i'm also on holiday rn and it's really warm in here #update #art #doki doki love hearts #ddlh #dev log #game dev #indie game dev #visual novel #ddlc fangame

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dokidokilovehearts · 2 months ago

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I'm doing a different system where the eyes and mouth are separate to save on the mdp file size and she reminds me of Family Guy :').

#ddlh #doki doki love hearts #art #update

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dokidokilovehearts · 3 months ago

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Individual PNGs:

Compared to the earliest designs I have for ddlh from a year ago:

Compared compared to the earliest drawings (that aren't in my 15 notebooks) I have of the ddlc girls (from an 2021 animation meme):

I'm pretty sure I didn't even use a reference for those.

Here's also Kaori from last year that I drew after the other 5 so she isn't in the group picture.

Doki Doki Love Hearts! Updated Character Art

I put them in their own little images because it would look weird if I put them all in a line. I got the inspiration for the close up thing from Mullberry's Yandere Simulator artworks.

The previous drawings were drawn a year ago and now I know things like line widths and I changed some of the designs so I figured better character art was in order. Monika took the longest because I couldn't get that damn pose to look right and I'm terrible at drawing head rotations. Instead of just using the original poses but edited to look edgy, I decided to make Emari standing but in a cool pose, Sayori, Yuri and Natsuki falling and Monika jumping. I know the posing is stiff as hell but drawing is hard and I'm crap at it. Had to use references from Pinterest.

Newgrounds version

#reblog #ddlh #doki doki love hearts

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dokidokilovehearts · 3 months ago

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they fall

wheeeeeeeee!

I like the poses from this image so I'll probably used the circled one for Sayori.

#ddlc fangame #ddlh #doki doki love hearts #doki doki literature club #ddlc yuri #ddlc natsuki #ddlc fanart #art #digital art #drawing #digital drawing #illustration #digital illustration

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dokidokilovehearts · 3 months ago

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June 2025 dev log

youtube

Made a new dev log after almost a year oops.

I redesigned my redesigns and my OC: Emari, and I talk a bit about my vision on how I want this to go.

Script:

Hi I’m Rosie Ultraviolett and I’m not 11 months late or anything nooooooo. This isn’t a proper dev log, this is more like a mini update to confirm:

1. that I am still alive, just have no form of an upload schedule

and

2. that I am still working on this game

Because of the fact I haven’t worked on this game in almost a year pretty much, it gave me some time to ponder and reflect on my life decisions up until this very moment...and also Emari’s breast shape. ..I uhhhh...redesigned them a bit.

I’ve been experimenting with different body proportions recently and these girls were the perfect victims- I mean, test subjects for me to figure out how to not make everyone have the same silhouette. In order to get a clearer idea, I drew this lineup/reference sheet of them all that took way longer than I thought it would but I made sure that I’ll be able to understand it if I ever smack my head on the pavement and get amnesia. I'll start with the canon ones and yes I know the heights are not even close to the canon ones but I wanted to make the difference more exaggerated. I like making things cartoony so expect to see a running theme here. I wanted each character to be wearing the blazer differently and for them all to have different socks to stand out and the shoe colours match their eyes because the shoe/sock coding thing isn't important in this AU.

For reference, these are the earlier designs, these are the earlier earlier designs and these are the actual designs.

Sayori: My goal was to make her look miserable so I gave her pale skin that looks cold due to the blue hue of the shading. Her bow is bigger, her shirt is even more of a mess (or is that just due to the bigger collar? idk), the bow is lopsided to emphasise that sloppiness like she was quickly putting on her uniform that morning, same with the wonky jumper and falling sock. I folded her sleeves because I think it looks nice on her and I gave her a penguin pin because she reminds me of my old best friend who used to wear pins from kenji and I figured Sayori would shop there too due to the way her room looks. Oh and I gave her eyebags.

Yuri: She was the tallest in canon so I made her taller. Her hair is basically the same, just a lot more pointy and sticky out to give her a more distinct silhouette. Her hair is a bit more pink so it doesn't look too similar to her skirt (some shading thing in the original prevented that but I don't shade that way so it was looking too similar). I made it so her blazer is tucked in because it looks tucked in in her official artwork for the original game and I figured she would be wearing a size bigger, not just to make sure her sleeves cover her arms when she does the hand on chest pose but also because then there would be more space on her chest. Her socks are smaller too because I'm not sure actually it was something I did in her original redesign and it stuck. I gave her some eyeliner, mascara and dark purple eyeshadow to look all mysterious.

Natsuki: I nicked the waistcoat idea from some art YouTuber in their redesign video (forgot who) and I thought it'll be cool. The polka dotted socks is 'cause she's not fully aware but in act 2 she wrote that "poem" talking about how she's noticed everyone acting off so I thought it'll be fitting to the sock code to give her a bit of black. I made her look thinner, especially on the thighs and overarms and then made the lower leg and forarms much thicker. Her pigtails are bigger and more curly and I wasn't sure what to do with the ribbons so they defy gravity now. Also gave her some pins and made her bow smaller to look cute. I kept her skirt the same length also to look cute and it highlights her weirdly shaped legs I gave her. She also now has pink eyeshadow and lipstick as I imagine Natsuki is fiddling with makeup from Claire's to try to make herself look cuter.

Monika: Basically the same but her shoes also follow the eye thing, she has freckles now because freckles are pretty, her bow is massive, her front bits of hair are more curly to match her ponytail and she's slightly more tan as it matches the brown brown of her hair that I gave her rather than the coral brown of the canon. She's the only one wearing the uniform properly which I think matches her personality. Also she has some light makeup because she's one of the popular girls and she gives me the vibe that she wants to look presentable whenever she goes outside. Her skirt is the same length because the thigh highs are iconic and sit on her hips in a nicer silhouette due to the way it sticks out.

There’s this theory I saw in a DDLC iceberg a while back that suggests that Monika is a transfer student from I think either Europe or America because her name is a western name (there’s also this exchange where Monika gets annoyed at Sayori for pronouncing her name in the Japanese way suggesting it’s not a quirky name her parents gave her) and I’m not sure where the iceberg creator got that theory from because I can’t find a source of a sorts on Google but I think the idea is neat so I’m nicking it because I think it makes sense. Monica with a C is a pretty generic popular girl name, that’s why it was picked, along the lines of names like Stacey of popular girls in old cheesy high school drama films. She’s also the only character who has a natural hair colour and her hair is much curlier than the other 3 girls and I know anime characters have a habit of having brown and blonde hair even though most of the Japanese population has black hair (and weirdly enough, the attitudes around brown and blonde hair don’t tend to translate either, like if Light Yagami is supposed to be this model student who got top marks in that university test then why would he realistically dye his hair a medium brown?) but idk I thought the idea of her being some European or American girl who went to live with her Japanese family when she started high school is a cool idea and it would also make Monika’s whole “I’m real they’re not” deal stronger as she is bound less by anime logic this way.

Emari: Alright this is my OC who went through a personality makeover since the last time I drew her. I decided to instead of make her just a MC stand in, to give her an archetype. I'm not exactly sure how her evil version will be used but I designed this to be her "dere" form and her normal one is her "kuu" form and because this is based on act 2 screwery, she's uhhhhh...maybe a bit too happy about her crush. I kept her cool vibe in the normal form and I think the only difference in her outfit is her sleeves are rolled up not short sleeved as it looks better with the blazer tied around. That and her skirt is a bit shorter so it's not inline with said blazer and shows off her long legs more. Her hair is more red that I can't tell if it's an unnatural red or a natural red that was chucked into a cartoony filter (like yellow hair for blonde and blue hair for black) so I call this: shrodinger's hair shade. I replaced the hairband with glasses to make her look more nerdy or smart or something. She was originally shorter than Monika but Monika was the last one I sketched out and I wanted her tall but not too similar to Yuri and she lined up with Emari because I gave Emari leg surgery since the last time I had drawings of these 2 that I drew in the same drawing and not seperate like in the old artworks I linked earlier.

I was originally gonna make her dere form more fancy with her hair in 2 low ponytails but I couldn't figure out a way to get the fringe to look like it's the same hair while looking neat so I said "screw it" and gave her big messy hair that I love how it looks. Her uniform is closer to the canon characters but I wanted her to look like she's been in a cave for 10 years so I messed up her tights, made one of her blazer buttons fall off, broke her glasses lens and the hair thing. Also gave her makeup to still look fancy though. Don't know if/how I'll use this form but yeah, here she is. Suppose this is like her act 2 version where she morphs into her final form: Discord user...I’m only half joking...

And yes, I did nick most of this off the post I made on Newgrounds but hey, if it’s not broken, don’t fix it.

That’s basically all I’ve actually done, apart from this artwork of Emari which I drew before I drew the reference and that’s why her legs are so damn long. Probably should’ve used the gacha version as reference.

So in terms of future plans, I have a different idea on how I want this to go and with Emari’s recent lobotomy, it’s gonna be even more fucked up! I’ll guarantee it. Such as the reason why this whole world exists, which I can’t elaborate on because that’ll be spoilers but in vague terms, Emari is less “woopsie! Didn’t mean to! I’m just quirky!” like she’s a breed of Tumblr user and more of an edgy 13 year old’s Sonic OC on Deviant Art. It’ll make sense in the context I swear. I also want to re-make the start screen...again but I’m not sure what design. I want to re-make the 2 songs I made because I actually know what I’m doing (kinda) when it comes to music now. There’s this section of music I made for “Farewell Home”, a collaboration song between CM47 and me on Newgrounds and I want to make my part longer and use it at some point here because I really like how it sounds.

I was originally going to do all the art in my usual style, but that takes fucking forever now because it’s actually somewhat decent now (still sucks but not as hard) so instead I decided to use the same style I used in this lineup. I originally drew them with no line widths or watercolour as a time saving thing but it makes them look anime-y because anime simplifies it’s lineart and shading for sanity sake. Also I imagine the lack of dots will mean they don’t blend into the background, which I also want to re-draw because the ones I made before were just traced and they’re too detailed and good in their form to be with my crappy drawings so at some point when I feel like torturing myself, I’ll make simpler versions from reference rather than tracing so it doesn’t look rotoscoped. And also figure out how the hell manga dots work. Basically, all the art is being re-done. I want to give the characters more poses too, and more original poses for their main artworks that are all dynamic and not just the poses from the original but edgy. This Sayori one makes me laugh and there’s something off with Monika’s posing but I can’t tell what it is. Yuri’s looks cool though with the dramatic skirt spin and her expression but her eyes are wonky so she also makes me laugh a bit. Natsuki’s is pretty cool though with the aggressive posturing. Emari just looks bored. Hey, they could look worse.

I think that’s all I wanted to say right now. Anything else to add? I mean...I made a page for it when I renovated my website, but it had a page before so that’s not really a big deal. I also thought about voice acting but I don’t know if I should try to do all the voices myself or put up a casting call club page...I’ll sit on that thought for now. Anyway cya!

#ddlc fangame #ddlh #doki doki love hearts #game dev #ddlc #doki doki literature club #game development #indie game dev #Youtube

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dokidokilovehearts · 3 months ago

Text

Doki Doki Love Hearts! Lineup/Referance sheet

This took way longer than I thought it would. At least it's in depth.

I used cell shading with no line widths to save time and I wasn't intending to leave it that way but I got attached to this style because it makes it look like simplified styles in anime. I've also been experimenting with different body types and these girls made it easier so I tried giving them all different shapes that's vaguely based off their canon art (but there isn't too much difference in those sprites aside from bust size so it was only as reference).

I suppose I should so a bit of explaining for my design choices. The previous designs are here for reference. I'll start with the canon ones and yes I know the heights are not even close to the canon ones but I wanted to make the difference more exaggerated. I like making things cartoony so expect to see a running theme here. I wanted each character to be wearing the blazer differently and for them all to have different socks to stand out and the shoe colours match their eyes because the shoe/sock coding thing isn't important in this AU.

Yuri: She was the tallest in canon so I made her taller. Her hair is basically the same, just a lot more pointy and sticky out to give her a more distinct silhouette. Her hair is a bit more pink so it doesn't look too similar to her skirt (some shading thing in the original prevented that but I don't shade that way so it was looking too similar). I made it so her blazer is tucked in because it looks tucked in in her official artwork for the original game and I figured she would be wearing a size bigger, not just to make sure her sleeves cover her arms when she does the hand on chest post but also because then there would be more space on her chest. Her socks are smaller too because I'm not sure actually it was something I did in her original redesign and it stuck. I gave her some eyeliner, mascara and dark purple eyeshadow to look all mysterious.

Natsuki: I nicked the waistcoat idea from some art YouTuber in their redesign video (forgot who) and I thought it'll be cool. The polka dotted socks is 'cause she's not fully aware but in act 2 she wrote that "poem" talking about how she's noticed everyone acting off so I thought it'll be fitting to the sock code to give her a bit of black. I made her look thinner, especially on the thighs and overarms and then made the lower leg and forarms much thicker. Her pigtails are bigger and more curly and I wasn't sure what to do with the ribbons so they defy gravity now. Also gave her some pins and made her bow smaller to look cute. I kept her skirt the same length also to look cute and it highlights her legs. I gave her pink eyeshadow and lipstick as I imagine Natsuki is fiddling with makeup from Claire's to try to make her look cuter.

Emari: Alright this is my OC who went a personality makeover since the last time I drew her. I'm not exactly sure how her evil version will be used but I designed her to be her "dere" form and her normal one is her "kuu" form and because this is based on act 2 screwery, she's uhhhhh...maybe a bit too happy about her crush. I kept her cool vibe in the normal form and I think the only difference in her outfit is her sleeves are rolled up not short sleeved as it looks better with the blazer tied around. That and her skirt is a bit shorter so it's not inline with said blazer and shows off her long legs more. Her hair is more red that I can't tell if it's an unnatural red or a natural red that was chucked into a cartoony filter (like yellow hair for blonde and blue hair for black) so I call this: shrodinger's hair shade. I replaced the hairband with glasses to make her look more nerdy or smart or something. She was originally shorter than Monika but Monika was the last one I sketched out and I wanted her tall but not too similar to Yuri and she lined up with Emari because I gave Emari leg surgery since the last time I had drawings of these 2 that I drew in the same drawing and not seperate like in the old artworks I linked earlier.

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