#ESTER AND AKARSHA?

[balls-on-my-face]

would you even try?

[starg1rl-123]

[laisychips]

ppkm!! :3 took away Akarsha's space buns while drawing

I THINK I DISCOVERED MY NEW ART STYLE WITH THE SCRIBBLES

enjoy my art i tried 😼😼

pinterest: laisychips

[brianna-lei]

Butterfly Soup 2 Asks #1

It's that time again...I-just-released-a-game-and-am-answering-questions-about-it Time!

I get way too many asks to answer individually, so I've consolidated some commonly-asked ones along with a few I thought would be fun to answer!! Sorry if your ask isn't in here!

I put all the lore/character questions first and all the "real world" questions (like about the merch shop) at the bottom. Obviously there's spoilers below so if you haven't played Butterfly Soup 2 already go do that!

LORE

What was Akarsha thinking when she confessed to Noelle that it was her brother who sent the chat message and not her? Did she think Noelle would remember? Or did she know Noelle wouldn’t?

Akarsha thought Noelle would remember. In Akarsha’s mind, that incident was so conspicious and embarrassing, there’s almost NO WAY Noelle would forget it. To Akarsha, this was practically her telling Noelle directly, “I have a crush on you.”

Unfortunately, it was much less memorable on Noelle’s end because she didn’t see Akarsha in that way and genuinely did believe it was just her brother typing nonsense at the time. And it doesn’t help that it was buried in months’-worths of Akarsha’s wacky messages.

When Noelle doesn’t really respond to her confession at the assembly, Akarsha has two theories:

Noelle remembers, and doesn’t like her back

Noelle doesn’t remember (unlikely)

And she doesn’t know which one it is.

You guys are going to hate me for this, but because they’re Disaster Gays it takes them YEARS after that to become official.

As I was writing the assembly scene I kept thinking: If only Min could possess one of them for 10 seconds and just blurt out “I like you, will you go on a date with me”! It would’ve saved them literal years of confusion and turmoil...

Why was Akarsha in handcuffs at the end of the game?

You’ll understand when you’re older. Don’t worry about it!

It was so out of character for Noelle to start crying over Akarsha when she got hurt!

Noelle is so emotionally repressed 24/7 that when something jabs her unexpectedly, she sometimes loses control and it all starts rushing out like water out of a pressurized tube. That's why she randomly starts crying when Chryssa praises her in the first game.

So in my opinion, if she suddenly thought Akarsha was possibly dead or seriously hurt, she'd react how she did (as corny as it is)! I think that part also got colored by something that happened partway through development. My dad fell and hit his head on something so hard that he nearly died! So when Akarsha falls and hits her head, I think I see it as a lot more serious and scary than most players do.

This actually reminds me of a bit I’ve had in my head for many years now! When Noelle's in college, it's her first time in an environment where Asians are a minority. So she doesn't have asian food for a long time, but isn't aware that it's bothering her.

One day Min drives over to her college and takes her to H-Mart, and when they walk in Min goes "ok I know it's Korean and not like Chinese or whatever" and out of nowhere Noelle starts crying

Why do Noelle's joints crack every time she sits or lies down?

Because she’s stiff and doesn’t exercise enough. It’s harmless but whenever Diya hears it, she’s like :(

Is Ester’s webcomic based on/a reference to (webcomic here)?

Nope! Ester was inspired by a few friends of mine, including one who worked on her stories at school in a notebook. Her webcomic’s plot is based on a story idea I had at her age.

Are you SURE X character doesn’t have autism/ADHD? It’s so obvious!

My original answer to this years ago was “I didn’t intentionally do any research on either of those conditions, and I wasn’t aiming to portray them specifically.”

Well..........A while ago, I finally properly started doing research, and a lot of what I learned about autism sounded eerily relatable. So I took every autism diagnostic test I could find online and they all said I was autistic. I’m like 75% sure I am, but at my age I’m not sure I’ll ever get a real diagnosis.

So maybe all my characters are accidentally neurodivergent because I am? I feel like Diya is for sure because I gave her a lot of traits I relate to that I now know are signs of autism.

What are Akarsha and Noelle’s kids like? Do they have any pets?

I think I'll keep it secret for now, sorry! But I saw this comment on Reddit once and this is their family on April Fool’s day. Akarsha is the one faking a heart attack and Noelle is the one making the soup

Before they had kids, Akarsha and Noelle got the most fucked up old cat from the shelter because Akarsha felt sorry for him. He’s affectionate toward them, but he’s rude to their guests like Diya/Min and hisses at them for no reason.

How does Akarsha's parents feel about her and Noelle dating?

Before Noelle and Akarsha started dating, Akarsha's parents really liked Noelle. She made such a good impression on them at the birthday party that she became their Favorite Friend, so they'd ask Akarsha about her a lot.

One day Akarsha watches an LGBT+ movie with her parents and thinks "Since they like the movie so much, they'll be okay with my sexuality!”

Akarsha's dad is cool with it, but her mom isn't. She says those things only work in movies, and that those people aren’t happy in real life. She blames Akarsha's dad for constantly saying fruity things and in the same breath goes "Everyone thinks girls are hot! That's just normal"

She and Akarsha's dad have a few arguments over it and after Akarsha's dad claims he'll go on a "hunger strike" (???) she does come around. She ultimately becomes a very supportive Ally who sends Akarsha random news articles about gay celebrities like Ellen DeGeneres

So by the time Akarsha and Noelle actually start dating, Akarsha's parents are onboard with it. They end up being the family Noelle always wished she had

Real world questions

When is the online store coming back? I’m hoping to reopen it within the next couple months! I’m hoping to restock Min’s jacket and the charms, and I wanna add new prints and plushies of the main four. If anyone has manufacturer recs for any of these that they’re willing to share, please let me know!

Are you going to make a Butterfly Soup 3?

I have an idea for a third game, but there’s a couple other projects I’m busy with (and am pretty excited to show you guys!) so I won’t be making it for several years. 

Is it alright if I write a fanfic of Noelle and Akarsha’s wedding/smut/my headcanon of the characters being trans/etc etc etc ?

Write whatever you want! Just please be mindful of younger fans and make sure to tag sensitive content appropriately. And don’t ask me to read it because I can’t! I’m legally not allowed to.* *EDIT: Okay, this was a bit of an exaggeration, but I've heard that it's a bad idea for a variety of reasons! So it's a can of worms I'm not going to open as a creator

[mv-damn]

I think a lot about egg transfem akarsha and comphet noelle getting into a relationship sometime in mid-late high school and it just like, working. Not in some magical way, mind - they go through their honeymoon period and have their first argument and it's loud and ends in tears. And it threatens their grades and their friendships and their extracurriculars. And maybe it's Chryssa, maybe it's Ester, or maybe it's Diya who gives them a push. Maybe Noelle is determined not to be like her parents. Maybe Akarsha cries into her mother's arms and her mother says, "honey, you need to talk to her."

But they get through it.

And maybe they go off to college together. Maybe they do some kind of LDR. And it's hard! And college is hard! But they keep talking. Keep sending each other memes and links and voice recordings. Eating dinner together across timezones.

Maybe they get their degrees and keep studying. Maybe Akarsha gets a BS in CompSci and gets out. Maybe she gets an early WFH job, or else is able to swing a job near enough to where Noelle's doing her Master's. And maybe they don't move in together just yet. Maybe they're just in the same city again, or within an easy drive of each other again. And it's wonderful.

And all this time, their identities are simmering away in the background. Maybe they still don't know. Maybe they do, and don't know what to do about it. Maybe it's somewhere in between.

But their lives progress, and so does their relationship.

Maybe they become traveling academics. Maybe they get married. Maybe the settle down together somewhere, get jobs, agree not to have kids (because honestly, in this economy?) and become the double-income-no-kids cool aunt & uncle to the rest of Akarsha's family.

And one day, as they're lying in bed together, getting ready to go to sleep, or sitting on the couch watching TV, or sipping coffee together on some lazy saturday, Noelle turns to Akarsha and says, "I have something to tell you."

And Akarsha says, "so do I."

And Noelle says, "you first."

So Akarsha says, "well, I think I'm a woman."

And Noelle's eyes go wide. And she says, "oh." and she says, "how fortuitous. I'm gay."

[mordeiswrld]

BUTTERFLY SOUP

Diya

Chryssa

Akarsha

Noelle

Ester

Liz

Sakura

Min-Seo

[amarionetista]

    Lorraine estava sentada no chão do vestiário do clube de baseball, seu tornozelo doendo tanto que ela sentia vontade de chorar, apesar de se esforçar muito para não fazê-lo.

   Meia hora atrás ela estava com as outras garotas do Death Bagels tentando o seu melhor para acertar uma das bolas que arremessavam contra ela. Foram necessárias tantas tentativas, mas enfim conseguiu, quando a bola arremessada por Akarsha voou alguns metros pelo céu Chryssa gritou para que ela corresse até a primeira base.

    E ela fez, correu verdadeiramente rápido, mas vacilou no último segundo. Seu pé deslizou e ela caiu, todo o peso de seu corpo despencando contra sua perna direita.

   As garotas correram até ela, formando um círculo em volta dela. Ester se abaixou para ver como Lorraine estava, seus ombros tremiam enquanto ela segurava seu tornozelo.

   Ester disse alguma coisa que ela não conseguiu entender e todas se afastaram, deixando que Ester a levantasse e a levasse até o vestiário.

 — Fica aqui. Já volto. — Foi tudo o que Ester disse antes de sair, a deixando sozinha lá.

   Ficar aqui? Como se ela pudesse ir para algum lugar com seu tornozelo daquela forma.

   Então a porta foi aberta novamente e Ester reapareceu, em suas mãos uma grande bolsa de gelo. Ester se abaixou perto dela e, com muito cuidado, ela tentou retirar o tênis de Lorraine.

— Me avise se doer.

   E é claro que doeu para um caralho, Lorraine sentia que até mesmo sua dor tinha dor, mas ela mordeu os lábios para não deixar nenhuma exclamação de dor escapar.

    Uma vez seu pé estava livre do tênis e da meia Ester pode ver o quão feio estava a lesão. Seu tornozelo estava inchado e tinha uma marca roxa que começava do tornozelo e ia até o peito de pé. 

— Vou colocar gelo agora.

   Assim que o frio tomou conta da região, Lorraine estremeceu, era uma pequena sensação de alívio misturada com a dormência que o gelo causava em sua pele.

    Ester se certificou de que a bolsa de gelo estava bem equilibrada no lugar lesionado e então se sentou ao lado de Lorraine, apoiando a cabeça em seu ombro. 

— Desculpa por atrapalhar o seu treino… mas obrigada por cuidar de mim.

   Ester bufou, então se afastou, uma expressão mal humorada marcando seu rosto.

— Você é minha namorada e está machucada. Não peça desculpas por isso.

   Lorraine segurou a mão de Ester, entrelaçando seus dedos, então a trouxe para perto e beijou cada nó dos dedos de Ester.

— Na próxima vez eu prometo ficar só no banco torcendo por você.

— Na próxima vez eu vou te ensinar o jeito certo de correr pra não me assustar assim de novo.

   Lorraine tentou rir, mas assim que o fez o menor movimento fez a dor aguda tomar todo o seu corpo.

— Você ainda quer que eu jogue? Eu fui péssima.

— Isso é verdade…— Ester comentou enquanto apanhava seu caderno de desenho na mochila. — Mas é divertido ter você lá.

    Dessa vez foi Lorraine que deitou sua cabeça no ombro de Ester, ela assistiu em silêncio enquanto a namorada traçava os primeiros detalhes de seus desenhos no papel.

— Eu amo você. — Lorraine disse.

   Ester sorriu e beijou carinhosamente sua testa em resposta.

[melkizv]

more noelle ester headcanon! They’re so cope

U GUYS SHOULD READ BUTTERFLY SOUP EXTRA INNINGS BTW. THE PERSON GIVING IDEAS TO THIS MADE THAT COMIC

[blueecitrus]

hello! i have a butterfly soup discord server that isnt very active but its very fun! we have an ask feature so you can get answers to all those burning questions you have for the ladies of butterfly soup, heres the link: https://discord.gg/9pfnsAh

[akarshaholic]

hot take uwu

[noelleisqueen]

the death bagels /// kkuffhh it looks bad h

art by: Brianna Lei

[starg1rl-123]

guess what bitches I’m back

[laisychips]

PPKM?!!! 🙀

next i'll draw Akarsha and/or Diya‼️ (or ppkm)

i take criticism so please give tips!!

ANYWAY ENJOY MY ART 😋🤞

[marsdemo]

this is stale but still relevant

[thebutterflysoupblog]

Butterfly Soup Trivia - Extra Details

This one will cover details about the work behind Butterfly Soup!

When creating the game, Brianna used different pitches for characters so the player can tell who is speaking.

Brianna wanted to share messages such as: It's okay to be a mess, you deserve to be happy, et cetera. She also wanted to share that sometimes friends "are your real family."

For more specific details about the game, Brianna used her own experiences, her friends, and the Internet. For example, she researched if Min-seo and Jun-seo were convincing matching names for twins, and then asked a Korean friend for her opinion. Noelle picking out sausages for Diya was something she saw because she grew up with Hindu friends. Diya's feelings of feeling shorter than Noelle is like Brianna feeling taller than her childhood friend who is now 5'8. The pronunciation of tandoori was something her Indian friend taught her friend group in high school. The "madrasi" exchange between Diya and Akarsha was from a Facebook exchange.

A lot of the game came from personal experience. In high school, her friends did the Valentine's Day prank on a friend every year (the friend wasn't like Akarsha). Like Noelle, Brianna's best friend had a crush on her archnemesis. She also had two friends who had no interest in each other but interacted (and later became friends) because they both liked her.

Brianna decided to have Min and Noelle's parents shadowed because of the "huge gulf they have between themselves and their parents cultural differences" while still having power over them. And also because it saved time of drawing different facial expressions.

The initial version of the game would have been in Diya's point-of-view the entire time.

The initial version of the game had its conflict between Diya and Min because of Min somehow accidentally hurting Diya and felt guilty. Because Brianna had a hard time making it sound convincing, she found Min and Noelle drama to make more sense.

The initial version of the game had Akarsha and Noelle as supporting characters. Because of their strong personalities, they became main characters like Diya and Min.

The idea of baseball in Butterfly Soup came suddenly. Brianna's baseball knowledge came from the few times she played it during gym class or when she watched movies and sports anime.

Brianna first created Diya and Min during a winter break in college (2014). She did not start officially working on the game until much later. Because most of the time was spent drawing art and figuring out how to make the game work, she notes she only has to do about 25% as much work for the sequel.

Noelle normally wears a surgical mask to prevent contaminating others, but Brianna could not put it in the game because "blocking the lower half of her face made her look less expressive."

Brianna had trouble naming Butterfly Soup. The original title was "Queen of Diamonds" because she liked the pun of diamond/DiyaMin. She changed it because: the tag was filled with Marina & the Diamonds, people could misremember it easily, and it made it sound like Diya and Min were more important than Noelle and Akarsha.

Brianna was inspired by "the feeling growing up that there wasn't any media out there made with [her] in mind." She wanted to focus on relationships between South and East Asian characters being friends with one another, especially because it is a huge aspect of her daily life that is missing from a lot of stories. Due to that lack of representation—even when making Butterfly Soup—she thought "Is it realistic for that mix of people to be friends?" despite her childhood being that.

Brianna decided to use the font Myriad for dialogue. The font for the character labels and menu is a modified form of Yunus that Brianna edited by hand. The fonts are included in the game download files.

Brianna planned on making the sprites blink in the game.

The game is set in Fall 2008 (when the characters are in high school), but references things much later. Examples include a Durarara reference and memes. The IGF trailer was also modern-day because it broke the fourth wall.

Brianna wanted to add 90s and early 00s hits in the game for nostalgia, thus making the experience even more "surreal." Examples include Complicated, Rock Your Body, Dilemma, etc.

Brianna referenced Akarsha's surprised sprite off of Trucy's surprised sprite from Ace Attorney. (You can see it in AA4, Apollo Justice.)

Brianna wondered if she should have made the main characters older, but is happy she kept them at 14. She thinks that "a lot of people in their 20s instinctively feel 14 is too young because they've forgotten what they themselves were like at 14."

Brianna did not design a backpack for Min knowing that she would not wear it.

Brianna did not plan on the characters' names spelling words, but noticed it early on. For example: Diya, Akarsha, Min, and Noelle spells DAMN; Yuki, Ester, and Sakura spells YES; and although Chryssa and Liz don't spell anything, it can make chrysalis.

That’s it! My next post will probably cover given information about the sequel. (●'◡'●)

[lycchis]

Chapters: 11/? Fandom: Butterfly Soup (Visual Novel) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Akarsha/Min-seo (Butterfly Soup), Diya/Min-seo (Butterfly Soup), Akarsha/Noelle (Butterfly Soup), Akarsha/Diya/Min-seo/Noelle (Butterfly Soup), Ester/Sakura/Yuki, Chryssa/Liz (Butterfly Soup) Characters: Min-seo (Butterfly Soup), Akarsha (Butterfly Soup), Diya (Butterfly Soup), Noelle (Butterfly Soup), Jun-seo (Butterfly Soup), Sumi "Sakura" (Butterfly Soup), Grace "Yuki" (Butterfly Soup), Ester (Butterfly Soup), Chryssa (Butterfly Soup), Liz (Butterfly Soup) Summary:

Miscellaneous Min-centered hijinks with a lot of Akarsha, but also everyone else.

--

happy third butterfly soup anniversary! have this unfinished chapter based on a post I made this past month, lol. if you read memory pools, a single chapter update should be ready this month. i’ll post the next one at a later date.

ff.net link