bleetdev - Tumblr blog

[bleetdev]

So what's next? You've all but disappeared from the internet for a while. As an artist, are you going to continue to terrify people in the best ways or do you have another pursuit in mind? I've stuck with your art since around the time the first part of Fleshchild was released. It's been fun keeping up with your creative things.

I've had ideas, but I'm honestly grimdark'd out. Already been living a lot of real life thrills, so my personal art is private, introspective, hopeful.

If you're looking to support an artist, my husband is currently working on a cartoon pitch based on our experiences during COVID together.

His art is a classic American skater-punk style, inspired by 2000s Cartoon Network/Adult Swim shows. His style is opposite mine; energetic, bold, and optimistic. Give it a look, see if it might interest you. 🙂

[bleetdev]

FIVE OR SIX YEARS? This person has GOT to go outside and touch some grass. Hope you’re doing well. I liked what I played with your games! Even though they’re done now, I still had fun :)

Thank you, I'm happy to hear you enjoyed them. :^)

[bleetdev]

hello bleet! i found your blog very recently after stumbling upon fleshchild when looking for yume nikki fangames. i really like body horror and puzzles, so i found the game very charming. but even thought i liked it, i get why it was cancelled and it didn't bother me. i am very sorry to hear about the harassment/stalking you had to face over it. playing the game is already very enjoyable as it is! and i'm happier without a conclusion if it means you didn't force yourself to do it ^^

as i said before, i discovered fleshchild very recently, so i haven't checked out your other works yet, but i sure will! :)

Hello! I'm glad to hear my games are still circulating for the curious out there, and I'm happy to hear you've enjoyed my work so far. Thank you for your kind message and have a wonderful day. (◠‿・)—☆

[bleetdev]

I'm not very articulate so hopefully this will come across okay; I just want to say that I'm really sorry to hear that you've had to deal with this rando for so long. I first followed this blog many years ago bc I liked your work and I still do, so I hope that whatever you end up doing in the future, under this name or any other, goes well.

Thank you for your kind message, I really appreciate it. :^)

The rando situation is just as much my failing to accept it for what it is, as it is that person's failing to accept I'm not going to give them whatever they're fixating on. It's a natural, potential side effect of choosing to be public with my art. Honestly in comparison to like, Tom Holland, it was the petttiest hill to die on, for my art and for this rando.

It's time to be better. Thank you again. ( ´◡‿ゝ◡`)

[bleetdev]

while fleshchild won't be finished, i definitely love the experience of getting to play it!! would you ever consider telling those who fell in love with it how it was supposed to go? even just a short little paragraph about it?

Yeah, I don't mind talking about it now.

By the end of the game, Vis was going to have a choice to either grow up into the next Visceriph, or continue living as a human. I was going to have the police become a more serious factor in it as well. The first ending was going to look cool, they'd become this towering monstrosity that would dwarf the city of Ashvale. The second was for mostly anyone who preferred their human selves.

My problem with this, now, is that the first choice is pretty huge for just one character and would require even more development to reach that stage. The other choice is a logistical nightmare since Vis would be known to police/nation by that point, and allowing a murderer to live how they want scot free is maybe not the best message.

I'm going to say that my indecision and vague awareness of how much effort both of those endings required is what ultimately put the kibosh on it. Fleshchild as a premise is already ludicrous, and the moral complexity to its completion was more than I could comprehend at that time.

The sources I drew inspiration from, Saya no Uta and Parasyte, were maturely handled and needed to be to ensure the handling of such a dark premise. Fleshchild wasn't silly enough or serious enough to make it to endgame.

[bleetdev]

Hi i just wanted to say that your games and art had a very big impact on me and my art, and i still hold your art in a very special place in my heart. From when i played huntress of the hollow as a teen to citing it as inspiration at uni haha,, Your ideas are truly so interesting and inspiring. Im just happy and excited youre choosing to share ur art once again and i wish u the best of luck <3 just wanted to let u know tht u really affected people really positively

That's awesome! I'll have you know I cited my own favorite indie games as inspiration at uni too. (Yume Nikki itself mostly!) Keep being cool, I see you and thank you. :^)

[bleetdev]

I'd like to join the others in saying that I really appreciate your work, and that whatever you choose to do next, in art or in life I hope that it makes you happy!

The Looking Glass and Fleshchild have both been huge influences on how I have approached someday (hopefully) making my own rpgmaker game in terms of design and narrative. Thank you for sharing your game projects with us, they've all been something very special!

You're welcome, and thank you as well for sharing your kindness with me! If you do decide to go for it, enjoy it and follow the kind words and advice your peers here have given to me: your art is your art, and suplex anyone who tries to take it away from you. (( Well not really suplex but you get it :^) ))

[bleetdev]

while i'm sad that fleshchild will never see the light of day, i'm glad you cancelled it for the sake of your own mental health. take care of yourself, ok?

I appreciate what you're intending to say, and thank you for your sincerity.

But this is where I'm changing my approach here, and you, me, and everyone else who has these similar sentiments are going to do this change together.

Fleshchild DID see the light of day. It's still seeing it. It's out there, it's playable, it's on your computer, it's got let's plays for heaven's sake. It is OUT and OWNABLE to you right now. It isn't buried in a vault, it's /done/.

Is it a game with an ending? No. Is it 60 hours of gameplay? No.

But it is a game, it has my art and interactivity and fun content, it has everything I could put in it. What you have is what everyone has. What you get is what you get.

Appreciate it for what it is, and let it go. It was a happy circumstance that you found it. It was a happy circumstance that I made it. Let's keep it happy.

[bleetdev]

Hi, I know you’re answering a lot of asks today but I just wanted to say that the stuff you’ve made is absolutely insane, especially for mostly one person working on them. If they’re ever updated or if they’re not I’m just happy we have them at all! You’ve been a massive inspiration to me and I’m honestly just glad to hear from you. I wish the best for you going forward!

Thank you, truly. This may sound a bit out there but I am so grateful that you're sharing your kindness and support with me, one person of billions. I suppose everyone talking with me today is also a handful of people in a sea of billions.

Thank you for seeing me, and know that I see you too. :,^)

[bleetdev]

Hi bleet, I'm so sorry about what has been going on. I hope everything turns out alright for you. I just wanted to say that I was 12 when I first played TLG and began to follow your blog. I'm 21 now and making my own indie games - your projects have been a huge source of inspiration for me since I was young, and I still find myself coming back to Fleshchild and Huntress over and over even after all these years. Thank you for everything you've done, and I hope your future ventures are fruitful :D

That's really cool that you're making your own! Thank you for sharing this with me. Now I'm all smiles. :^)

[bleetdev]

Thank you for all of the joy that you have given me, along with everyone else that has found you one way or another with your games & art.

I really liked Looking Glass for its narrative and the environments that is has.

I really liked Fleshchild for its lore & characters being very distinctive.

I really liked Huntress of the Hollow for its take on Red Riding Hood, while being a unique adventure by itself.

I really liked Jasei no In for its mythical & mystical attributes.

No matter where you go next in life, you have found a fan from me due to your works, but also from any interactions.

Thank you and look after yourself bleetdev! :)

Flare, this is exactly why I don't want to give in to this dude. It's from talking to cool people like you that gave me that extra kick of desire to make my art! And I let this guy get in my brain and sour it.

Thank you for being cool.

[bleetdev]

Glad to hear you're doing so much better now! Been wondering where you've been all this time. It's truly despicable how people put others down, and I'm sorry to hear how a rando absolutely destroyed your self-esteem. Looking forward to what new projects are in store for the future! I'm sure they're going to be amazing!

Hey dude!

Yeah, things have been rough and I've been quiet about it. Conventional wisdom, or so I thought, was to be quiet and ignore them, and maybe they'll go away. But now I am quickly coming to grips that this is a stalking scenario and stalkers don't quit because they're, you know, maliciously mentally ill.

I'm actively choosing as I write this and respond to you and everyone else to stop thinking this guy controls my life. It's exhausting, draining, and damaging, and I'm stronger than that.

[bleetdev]

hey man i just want to say that as a game dev myself, i have a lot of respect for you for cancelling fleshchild instead of keeping it in development limbo. people do not understand how difficult it is to produce a game on the scale and with the quality that you were doing. your insights and thoughts have been a pleasure to read about here, and i appreciate all the time you have spent with us on tumblr. if you do decide to leave i just want to say thank you for everything! :))

Hey, this guy gets it! Ah but for real, thank you. People like you are why I've kept my inbox open despite the stalking. I need to firmly decide what's actually best for me with this so we'll see.

[bleetdev]

One artist to another: Glad to hear you're safe. Your art is your own and you don't owe a thing to anyone. Here's to whatever comes next!

Thank you!

[bleetdev]

Hello everyone, this is Bleet.

And I would like to be a real person with all of you, just for a moment.

For the past five or six years, perhaps even longer, I have had at least one single person persist in stalking me, messaging me their awful thoughts about me. It mostly started when I cancelled Fleshchild and The Looking Glass. When I closed my askbox, this person emailed me with an anonymous address, to continue their harassment.

As I expected, after opening my askbox again, they messaged me again sometime in the last month or so.

I have made a lot of my choices based on trying to avoid this person. I have lost my desire to make art because I have let this consistent harassment feed into my own self criticisms and fears. It sucks, because I have denied myself from sharing my art, even though it can bring me joy, and I love talking with those of you who enjoy my art too.

This person will not leave me alone and will not stop. I've let it get out of hand for myself, mentally.

But this name, my games, have been such immense sources of happiness and self confidence for me.

Part of me has struggled with the idea of letting go of all this. I don't want to let go when so many of you have been kind and encouraging. But I need to share this and say that I might have to.

So, thank you. Thank you to all of you for being cool when things got tough. As it stands, this stalker has only been limited to Tumblr and my email, so I'm hoping it's still a contained situation.

Have a good one, everyone.

[bleetdev]

What are your creative plans now that you've returned? I'm glad you're back. By the way, both as an artist and by extension wondering what kind of brilliant mind such a human being would have, you scare the absolute hell out of me in the best possible way. I thought you'd appreciate that as a horror artist.

I've been slowly redeveloping my creativity after a long time away. That means I've been feeling a little bit of a drive, but it's still a lot of trying to rein in my focus again.

Thank you sincerely for your compliments, too. It's kindness like yours that motivates me and encourages me to try creating art again. I'm looking forward to coming up with something new.

[bleetdev]

I first found your stuff through your lets plays a few years back and have also watched some Fleshchild stuff, I love your work and look forward to whatever stuff you decide to put your talents towards in the future! Hope you're doing well.

I'm glad you've enjoyed my work! Thank you for your kind message. My next art work will be a big fresh change, that's for sure. Hope to hear from you again. :^)