synokoria - Tumblr blog

[synokoria]

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone!!! Whether you celebrate or not, here's hoping you've had a good year and wishing you a better upcoming one!!

These images are sneak peaks at images from the upcoming Christmas Otome Fan Book (that we hoped to have finished this year but that's clearly not happening so ...)

As a special treat here's a an unedited extra related to everyone's favourite eccentric doctor from Christmas Otome for anyone interested in reading that:

I glanced at my watch in irritation as I made my way towards paeds. There was still an hour before midnight, but if he wasn’t here then I wouldn’t have time to check anywhere else. Why couldn’t he just stay at home? No, that’s a stupid question - when had he ever made my life easy?

???: “Cantankerous old codger.”

I felt my lips pulling into a fond smile at the thought of him. I’d only been gone for a month but it felt like longer - probably because he couldn’t be bothered to return my calls or texts. He really could turn sulking into an olympic sport. My smile froze the moment I saw him swaying to the festive music coming out of the hospital speakers while belting out the lyrics and stopping only to take large gulps out of a vodka bottle. He hadn’t noticed me yet thanks to my position and I spent a moment just drinking in the sight and his melodious voice.

It was only the reminder of my deadline that had me clapping to get his attention before he could launch into another song. The speed at which he spun around wide-eyed would have been comical if he hadn’t almost toppled over in the process. I was by his side helping him stay up before I’d even registered I’d moved.

Shippe: “You?”

???: “Merry Christmas to you too, Shippe.”

He shrugged my hands off and plopped himself into a nearby seat looking for all the world more like a petulant teenager than a distinguished doctor. I ignored his show of pique and sat down beside him - after decades in his company this was par for the course, really. I took the bottle from his hands and gulped down a swallow only to choke on the unexpected taste. I glared at him through my coughs while he stared at me like I was an idiot.

Shippe: "It's just water."

???: "Why's it in a vodka bottle?!"

Shippe: "It's more fun that way."

That statement was so - so him that I couldn’t stop myself from laughing. God, I’d missed this screwball. He looked away uncomfortably.

Shippe: “Why are you here?”

???: “You know why I’m here - you weren’t at home. Why are *you* here?"

Shippe: "There was no reason to go home."

???: "I'm not a reason to come home?"

Shippe: "You weren't home."

???: "You knew I was coming back to spend Christmas with you."

Shippe: "How was I supposed to know that?"

The sentimental answer was that I always have and always will but I knew that wouldn't be enough for him so I used the practical one instead.

???: "The same way you always do - you check my bills, you phone airlines pretending to be me confirming my return date, you hack my email account. You psycho."

Shippe: "..."

???: "You're telling me you didn't?"

Shippe: "..."

???: "Why?! The one time I expected it of you and you-"

He swallowed, his adam's apple bobbing erratically.

Shippe: "I was afraid of the answer."

The vulnerability openly showcased by that admission stunned me. This was a person who preferred to hide behind wordplay and sarcastic jokes, not one that would willingly show his soft underbelly.

???: "You… You had to know I would come back to you."

Shippe: "You went to visit your family without me."

I remembered, then, that we'd argued about it, but then we'd always argued about these sorts of things. It really hadn't struck me as anything out of the ordinary at the time.

???: “I always visit them without you - you hate my family gatherings. You once likened it to giving yourself a lobotomy with a rusty spoon.”

Shippe: “It really does feel like that. Your dad-”

There it was - the jokes he used when things became too emotional. Was he really this bothered by it? Why? As much as I wanted to push the subject, I knew that wasn’t the way to deal with this - not yet anyway.

???: "Your team said you spent your entire vacation time pretty much haunting the hospital."

Shippe: "... I need to assign them more work if all they do is tattle to mommy."

???: "Shippe."

Shippe: "There was work to be done."

???: "There's always work to be done; it's a hospital. You were supposed to be on leave."

Shippe: "I was on leave."

???: "... You do understand that being on leave means *not* taking on new cases, right?"

Shippe: “Well, what was I supposed to do for a whole month then? You weren’t around.”

???: “Okay, I’ll concede that you don’t actually have many hobbies outside of work but you could have gone home at least once. I left you frozen meals in the freezer and the answering machine is pretty much full with messages from me.”

Shippe: “... ”

I waited for an answer - he might have been stubborn but so was I.

Shippe: "I was afraid to find out you'd moved out."

???: “Why would I move out?! I pay the bond! I'd kick you out!”

Shippe: "You're too soft to leave me on the streets even if I deserve worse than that after the things I said."

I tamped down on the urge to tell him that he didn't deserve to be alone; all that would do is make him try to prove me wrong - to push and push the boundaries until something makes me hate him as much as he thinks I should. It wouldn't even be a conscious decision on his part - just his brilliant contrary mind gnawing on what he sees as a fallacious statement.

???: "Since when has this been about what you deserve?"

He made a surprised sound. Good. Any deviation from the script he's spent our time apart simulating in his head was a step closer to bringing him out of the pit he's dug.

???: "I stay because it makes me happy. I can leave you at any time."

Shippe: "No, you can't."

My lips twitched at his automatic response. He'd hate it if he ever realised how much insight our years together have given me into his contrary mind.

I doubled down on my chosen course.

???: "I absolutely can leave. I just don't want to."

Shippe: "No. You -"

There it is - that spark of clarity as he's forced to analyse why he's so certain I can't leave.

Shippe: "You're just as dependent on me as I am on you. I'm the only one you're comfortable enough to be real with instead of putting up that saintly act."

Codependence wasn't the way I'd have chosen to put it but he'd shy away from anything more sentimental.

???: "Is that so?"

Shippe: "It is. I'm your safe space."

'My home - the one place I will always return to - where I can be my truest self' is how I would have phrased it, but he's not wrong.

He leaned his head against my shoulder, seeming a lot more tired now, like he'd taken off a great weight and could finally rest.

Shippe: "You missed the Christmas party. You would have loved it - I had the nurses dress up as Mrs Claus."

???: "I saw the photos in the staff chat. That outfit of yours was something."

Shippe: "I knew you'd enjoy that. Weirdo."

I might not be able to see his face but the grin in his voice was unmistakable.

???: "We're both weirdos."

Even this standing Christmas 'date' of ours seemed to highlight that. After all, neither of us even celebrated the holiday.

But this was just us and I wouldn't have it any other way.

[synokoria]

i do not at all mean this in a perjorative manner, but i do think it’s important to be able to consume a piece of media and go, “i’m not the audience for this” and be able to just walk away 

there doesn’t have to be something wrong or “problematic” about something for a person to not like it. personal taste is personal taste. but something not doing it for you doesn’t mean it automatically has to be wrong or bad. it’s just not for you. 

[synokoria]

Hi! Old time fan returning here (I loved all three Otome sim dates before and played them alot when I was in highschool-college) and I'd first like to say congrats on your new release!

I just have a question!

Do Erik and Mick have determined MBTIs? And if yes, haha I'm really curious to know!

Thank You!

We haven't established MBTIs for any of the characters, but if anyone has an opinion on which they think is fitting, we'd be delighted to hear it. (We're always delighted to hear things about our stories and characters!)

[synokoria]

Our Otome Jam entry IS OUT NOW!

Yep, that's right - we're releasing it a little early because we're too hyped to hold back! Have fun romancing Silhouettes and not dying!

Everyone on the team did a great job - the voice acting is top notch.

[synokoria]

Our Otome Jam entry IS OUT NOW!

Yep, that's right - we're releasing it a little early because we're too hyped to hold back! Have fun romancing Silhouettes and not dying!

Everyone on the team did a great job - the voice acting is top notch.

[synokoria]

With less than a week until release, it's time to drop a trailer for "I transmigrated into an otome game as villager A and am I determined to marry a NPC to escape the plot! But wait! Everyone is a silhouette?!" ... That's a long name hahahaaa, we're been reducing it to Silhouette.

Game Page

Otome Jam 2023 Logo by: Akua Kourin

Backgrounds by: Minikle

Music By: Joel Steudler Music

The trailer features the voice talents of:

Loganne Digma

Anthony B Perez

Kit Wakefield

Arthur Pelino

[synokoria]

obligatory welcome guide for redditors

A lot of the guides I've seen don't actually seem to understand how reddit works in comparison to tumblr so

your blog is basically your own small subreddit. some people curate this heavily to fit a theme, like a sub, most people don't

reblogs are culturally equivilant to upvotes but functionally equvilant to crossposting

there is an algorithm. it sucks and nobody uses it. turn it off in settings. everything is generally chronological

likes are functionally equivilant to saving a post

you've probably already seen this but change your icon and put something in your bio or people WILL assume you're a bot. personal info not required

generally, anything you would put as a comment on a thread should go in the tags or the replies of a post. only add comments in reblogs if you want it to become part of the base post

tags are mostly equivilant to flairs, used for organization and commentary

your dashboard is an aggregation of everyone you follow

there is an r/all equivilant(trending page) but it sucks and nobody uses it

our search also sucks. your best bet is using tumblr.com/tagged/[TAG] and not /search

there are no mods

by extension, reporting something doesn't put it in front of the mods, it sends it to staff, who may or may not do anything(usually they don't)

there is no karma, there are no karma limits. anyone can reblog anything, comment/reply to anything, or post in any tag

"reposting"(reblogging) old content doesn't matter. people can and will reblog the same post multiple times, including in a row

CAVEAT. reposting someones art(NOT reblogging, making a new post) is a dick move. i know this is commonplace on fandom subs but its not necessary here. everything you post should be [OC] unless you are reblogging. or posting shitty memes

we have our own sitelore, you'll pick it up

(though im not opposed to bringing some over from reddit)

our app also sucks. we do not have third party apps and any that claim to be are scams. sorry

for desktop, most people use the XKit Rewritten extension for QoL improvements and to revert shitty aesthetic updates, much like old.reddit

we have no idea where the porn rules are at either. add a mature content flag to anything you'd get fired for looking at at work, that's about it

finally, from the bottom of my heart, fuck u/spez

[synokoria]

... Seems unlikely, but okay XD

I got the Top 4.47% on this English Vocabulary test

[synokoria]

Silhouette - Progress Update!

The jam is almost halfway, so it's time for a status update! 

The writing is complete at ~23,5K words and in the final proofreading stages before being sent to VAs for voicing. 

Ah, that's right I mentioned Voice Actors - we're actually holding voice-actor casting calls right now! If you're interested or know someone who is , the details are at https://veryberrystudios.com/#silhouette. Casting call close in ~3 days though, so be quick!

Other than that - our handsome LIs are on the title screen, but here's a look at their sprites:

First, our illustrious Guild Frontman - Jack:

Second, but no less impressive, our Café and Item Shop Owner - Derrick:

And last but not least, here's a sneak peek of CG from the game. It's not our MC~:

[synokoria]

Itch.io page is up for our Otome / Josei Jam entry. We're still hard at work on the script, but eager to see what people think of the idea.

[synokoria]

Thinking of joining this year. We've got a pretty fun idea for this one!

The annual Otome Jam page is up, with a few tweaks planned before the end of March, but ready for a sign-up! Join here!

[synokoria]

Happy Singles Awareness Day.

If you're looking for love or just up for a bit of reading, why not do both? Halloween, Valentines and Christmas Otome are all waiting😘

[synokoria]

SOOOO... Osiria/Varan DLC when? I would legitimately pay for a full game of just getting those two together.

I mean --

I can't say anything about when or what, but there will be something at some point in the future.

[synokoria]

I thought a lot about whether I would address this publicly as I tend to keep this to myself but I'd like to just say something in regards to why I have turned off anons for now and the foreseeable future.

Please don't call me names or curse me out because I choose to have all of my main characters be FMCs. I have never gone into a yuri space demanding male LIs or in a BL space demanding an FMC and I think it's interesting that as soon as a person to decides to concentrate on black women centered stories it becomes a problem.

The majority of game protagonists are male and I will not be contributing to that statistic.

It's unfair to accept the fact that the vast majority of games have male protagonists and are not customizable and put all the weight of diversity on tiny studios that are making games at a loss.

It is especially unfair while expecting no change from those major studios and purchasing whatever they put out, and on the same token expecting the smaller ones to come up with resources to conform to the wants of their players when said players do not offer any monetary support to those smaller studios.

All games give the player the feeling of, "oh I wish I could have seen this included," but only players of the works of indie developers choose to make their dissatisfaction our problem.

At what point does it no longer matter what the person or people behind the studio wants to make? At what point are we just venues for the desires of others and no longer creators trying to put out the ideas that have been festering in our own hearts?

The honest truth is that my audience is not everyone. If you feel attacked or excluded by this truth, then I am beyond sorry you feel that way, but not all games can be made for you. The solution? Seek out the games that you DO connect with on a personal level, cling to those people, support them with everything you have, tell them how much their work means to you - because you never know how people are working against them to break them down to make games that you don't personally connect with.

I'll wrap this up to say this: to all the polite anons, thank you for your interest in Afrodesia. Desia will be the last customizable character created by Jellyfish Parade.

Thank you for reading,

//owl.

[synokoria]

I just breezed through all your posts again after having a dream of Valentine otome years after beta testing and playing it. As an aspiring game designer, what do you use for writing? Pen and paper? An app to help you create character pages? And so on. I've tried many ways myself and wanted to know what my favorite game devs do

For the mechanical process of writing, we use Google Docs because it's easier for us to collaborate and chat in real-time with it - extra important because we work as a collaborative duo from different parts of the planet. Also, the autosave function has saved us from losing work so often - no need to fear sudden power cuts or hardware failures.

For the more creative aspects of writing, we throw ideas at each other in chat and let the characters build themselves up over time. Bouncing ideas off people is one of the best ways to see what works and what doesn't. Also to pump yourself up to work on the story! I have jokingly called myself an energy vampire because the more positive responses an idea/implementation gets, the more motivated I get to do more.

Also - super flattered to be considered as one of your favourite game devs!

[synokoria]

Hello, I was wondering who the canon guys are for each of the holiday otome games? I love your games, they're so lovely.

We decided a long time ago to leave the canon guys up to the players. Instead we go with it being a multiverse so they're all canon in their respective universe.

We try to keep this as far as possible in sequels as well by allowing the player to choose who it was in cases where the significant other would have an impact.

That's because we know how disappointing it can be to know your favourite did not get a happy end in sequels/other media.

Not to say we won't ever have games that pick a canon as the past but, due to the multiverse, that would just be a possible future among many.

[synokoria]

yknow ever since people realized tumblr isnt dead and have decided to flock here from twitter and tiktok ive seen a huge influx of people in fandom spaces who dont reblog anything. at all.

like, i used to have an art blog with 340 followers. not a ton but not a small amount either given how this website works with creators. and in my experience back then even the ones who only left likes still reblogged other things or at least posted their own stuff. literally the only empty blogs were clearly bots.

but on this New art blog, i've had so many people with fandom-specific headers and icons with actual usernames as urls and some kind of title or description, but have. Nothing. no posts. all they do is like things. and it's always public, too. their following list and their likes list.

and honestly all it makes me think is that these people are New and also don't know how tumblr works. how likes don't give exposure. not even in a "oh, i know it doesn't give exposure, but i'm still going to reblog anyways" way, but in a genuine honest to god straight up doesn't realize tumblr likes don't work like twitter's.

PLEASE please if you're from tiktok or twitter or whatever please reblog people's art both fandom and original if you like it!! and maybe actually pad out your blog's content in some way so people won't potentially see you as a bot and block you.

REBLOG ARTIST'S WORK. THIS IS THE ONLY WAY THEY GET ANY ATTENTION ON THIS WEBSITE OH MY GOD. PLEASE. I BEG of you