Hi!

Last character discussion devlog here. Edits have come in, but still waiting on GUI, so we're hoping to release in the next two weeks or so. Anyways, here's some notes on Nasir and Alyssa! There are mild spoilers ahead, so do be careful. :)

Nasir

So, if you take someone who's prodigiously accomplished and seems to have it all together...but doesn't, you'd get Nasir. I based him off of one of my friends who I'd gotten to know during my last year of high school. At first, I was completely star struck that someone that accomplished would want to reach out and befriend me, but as we got closer, I began to realize that we harbored a good chunk of similar insecurities. We'd both gotten "hyped up" from our social circles that we were smart, that we'd be perfectly fine no matter what we did, and that we shouldn't worry so much...which doesn't really help the self doubt and fueled a decent amount of mental health struggles that we didn't feel comfortable opening up to people "on main" about, lest we seem ungrateful.

I should probably note that Masami, although he does experience some of this "hyping up," doesn't experience it to the level that Nasir does and definitely not for as long. Nevertheless, they both feel a similar emotional entrapment from expectations.

Alyssa

If you're wondering why Alyssa's Piccrew looks different than everyone else's...it's because we weren't expecting to have a sprite for her on time (which is also why we didn't end up getting a VA for her). I'll take the blame for that one - this was my first jam and first time leading a project, so my sense of time was rather skewed. 

Anyways, although she might have been a relatively minor character plot-wise, but I still want to give her the credit she's due. She's that one friend who sees the good in everything and will hype you up whenever you're feeling down and always wants to make sure you're doing okay. It's definitely a great quality...in the right circumstances. In overabundance, it starts to feel hollow, even if a person means well. You don't want to show your abhorrence towards it, so you pretend everything is fine. And so they don't notice you're not fine. Which makes you feel even worse.

Or maybe that's just my experience.

* inhales quietly *

Yeah, so that's that.

(Actual Final Thoughts)

I had a lot of fun coming up with this world and even more fun working with everyone to help make it. It isn't perfect by any means, but I hope that this story gives a bit of light (or at least a place to commiserate) for those who need it. If you have any questions, I'm always open to hearing and fielding them. :)