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Thank you so much for this beautiful comment! You wrote that this story made you feel seen, and I just want to say that comments like these make me feel seen, too. :) The story may not be a literal retelling of what I've experienced myself, but I do very much relate to the characters and share many of their struggles. Writing this thing was pretty difficult and after it was done, I remember feeling as if I'd shared too much of myself. However, that feeling faded away quickly when it turned out that other people found the themes relatable, too. This sense of connection reminds me that it's absolutely worth it to put your raw feelings out there sometimes. :) So, thank you.

I've always been a fan of sympathetic monsters, too. Thank you for the kind comment!

Thank you! I'm glad the ending resonated with you. :)

Thank you so much! I'm glad the game was a good experience.

Thank you for your interest, but I'm currently not open to translations. Good luck with your other projects!

Hi! There's a link to my twitter in my profile, same username as here. You can send a private message there!

Thank you! In an earlier version of the script there was more Ella content, but there wasn't enough time to focus on her during the month-long jam that this game was made for. :') I think of her as someone who is very dissatisfied with her own life, and unfortunately that dissatisfaction seeps out sometimes and affects her relationships negatively. I think she genuinely wants to be a good person and a good friend, but in her current state she struggles.

Thank you for playing it! :)

Thank you for the lovely comment! I'm glad you found it uplifting, I did too.

I'd been meaning to read this for a long time and finally got around to it today. Bawling my eyes out. This is a raw and beautiful story, written from a perspective I've never seen explored before. You did it with a lot of care. Thank you for writing this. I don't know what else to say, I'm still choked up.

Yeeeaah she's not the best. I don't think she's a bad person, necessarily, but she certainly has her own problems that she isn't dealing with very well. I hope ending 3 made up for it!

Thank you! What a kind thing to say. I'm glad you enjoyed the game even more than you thought you would!

Hi! I assure you you're not bothering me at all, in fact, I'm glad you asked these questions before playing the game. Unfortunately I'm not too familiar with the topic of plural systems, but hopefully this reply will help you decide whether this is a good game for you to play or not.

The game does not feature any intentional depictions of plural systems. I can totally see why some might interpret the characters that way, though. The exact nature and origin of the demon is intentionally ambiguous, and a bit of a spoiler, so I won't explain it here, but I certainly can if you'd like me to! I can say that I personally view the protagonist and the demon as completely separate entities from each other. Both have their own body and mind.

You asked about endings, and about how the demon character is treated. There are three endings. Some are sad, some happy. What all three endings have in common is that the protagonist never, ever sees the demon as evil. Other characters do, but the protagonist never does. I consider the two of them to be very much on the same team, as you put it, no matter what choices you make during the story. I should warn you that some of the endings  do involve separation, and those paths were upsetting for me to write, so I imagine they may be upsetting to read, as well. But there IS a happy ending, and I have a feeling you'd find it easily.

I'm not sure how much more I can say without spoiling everything, but I want to reassure you that I find the demon character highly sympathetic and relatable, and I think that comes through in my writing. They are not an enemy.

Hope that helps! If there's anything else you'd like to know, please ask, I know my answers were quite vague since I was trying to avoid spoilers. And if you do end up playing the game, I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Aww! You're right, she totally wouldn't ask, but I'm sure she'd appreciate the sentiment.

https://cryoslight.itch.io/the-life-weve-chosen

Thank you for the kind offer, but currently I'm not open to translations. I wish you luck on other projects!

Aw, thank you for the thoughtful comment! Good to hear you enjoyed the story, that makes me happy.

Thank you for playing! I'm glad you liked it.

Thank you so much for playing my game! I really enjoyed your voice acting, that was good stuff.

Thank you, I'm glad you found it interesting!

Hi, I'll answer your question below to avoid spoiling anyone!

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There are only two choices that matter for Ending 3, and the first one of those choices you might not even encounter during your playthrough, in which case there is only one choice that matters. You only encounter the first choice if you kiss Ella. After the kiss, you must answer:

"No. I won't leave them."

After that, the only important choice left is this:

"I'd like you to stay."

I hope that helps!

I have a similar prediction for the characters' future! :) Thank you for the lovely comment!

Thank you for the beautiful comment! I hope you live a long time. Everyone has a different path in life so I know the "lesson" of this game is not going to apply to everyone, but it's something I continue to experience over and over in my own life. So I wanted to share it. :) I'm glad the message resonated with you as well!

husband ;_; <3

This is looking amazing! The art is very high quality and the short bit of story in the demo was enough to get me hooked. And most importantly the characters all feel like real people with real motivations. The little romance previews at the end of the demo made me so eager to find out more about the love interests! (especially Frey) (what does his scene mean??)

I liked this! Every character had their own distinct voice and personality and I liked everyone for different reasons, haha. It was wholesome  to see the cast doing all these little things to make Christmas special despite not being able to celebrate it the way they usually would.

Thank you, I'm happy to hear that! :)

Hi! No jumpscares, exactly, but at one point the music and imagery change kind of suddenly. You'll know it's coming when the music stops, if that helps!

Haha, thank you! I also like pining, don't know if it shows. :)

Just played the full version and I still loved it! No spoilers but the addition to Jak's scene made me giggle. And Grimm was exactly how I imagined he'd be, and by that I mean he was perfect.

It's rare for someone to make all the art by themselves like you did with the sprites and the backgrounds and the CG and the GUI and the literally everything. That's a ton of work, I hope you're proud! :)

Great atmosphere! The black and white art really helps. I quite liked the characters (especially Ember..?) and the plot was delightfully spooky.

Yay, thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed the story.

Thank you for the comment! :) I understand your critique on the way the relationship with the friend turned out. If I'd had more time during the jam, I would have written more foreshadowing and such to make it obvious that the friendship is toxic.

The friend has a certain idea of what's "wrong" with the MC: the MC lives alone, is single, has no car, doesn't socialize with the correct people, etc. None of those things are actually problems, but the friend thinks she knows what's best for the MC and is always trying to help them in ways the MC doesn't really want or need. The friend likes being "the competent one" in the relationship. Basically she looks down on the MC.

The story is about the MC discovering their self-confidence and trying to change the relationship that isn't making them happy. Unfortunately the friend refuses to listen (because the MC's new confidence threatens her position as the MC's savior), and the MC decides it's better to end the relationship than to keep talking to a wall. It's not pretty, but it's what the MC needs in that moment. 

Maybe someday the friend will experience character growth and she'll be willing to set her ego aside and actually listen to the MC? But currently she's just not there. 

Sorry this reply is a bit long, I got carried away! Wish I'd had time to show the nature of the relationship better in-game. Thanks again!

Thank you! I'm glad you liked it. :)

Thank you! Yeah, I felt there was no way for those two to have a nice and healthy relationship, at least not within the scope of this short story. It MIGHT be possible after several years of character development, maybe. Or maybe not! I never planned that far.

Adorable!! A charming and wonderful little story. :D Strangely nostalgic for some reason. I was impressed by how many variations the sprites had, and how well every piece of art and sound fit together. Mothdude's personality was just perfect and his little blushing sprite made me stop and go "awww" every time it appeared. Thank you for the delightful game!

I'm glad you thought I handled the heavier topics well! That was something I really wanted to get right - the goal was to make the characters' struggles realistic and engaging without going into "this is too dark" territory. Thank you for the comments!

Aw, thank you! I'm glad you liked it.

That was a fun adventure! I'm not gonna spoil the story but I can say I found every character interesting even though some had very few lines. Everyone looked really dang good, too! I also liked the transitions between showing sprites "normally" and next to the text box whenever necessary. Very smooth!

The CGs were also done really well. I don't normally pay much attention when games display a picture of some important object, but the object illustrations in this game made me stop and go "oooh, pretty." :D

That was a great read!! Such gorgeous illustrations and such a beautiful story. <3 I've never felt so emotionally invested in a spider before. Thank you for the fun experience!