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Tomorrow night at 10:30 PM, I'll be presenting "Getting Started with Visual Novels" at SakuraCon. On the off-chance you'll be there, come by to support me. If not, well, you can get something not wholly unlike that experience, since I just posted a video recording of my rehearsal up on youtube. Note that the video will be rather boring if you don't listen to the audio - the slides are just supporting material, not the meat of the content. Be advised: this is really intro-level material, designed to provide maximum information for people with almost no VN experience. Unless you're somewhat new to this whole VN thing, it's probably not going to teach you anything. Disclaimers done, the video is below. I'm still fiddling with editing out the cruft at the beginning and ending of the video (I'm new to this video stuff), so if you watch it right now be aware there's a few seconds at the beginning and end where nothing's happening. Edit: man, I really didn't do Comyu justice in this recording (I'm going off pretty bare-bones notes, so I say completely different stuff every time I rehearse, especially in the last section). I was just listening to an earlier recording, where I unfortunately messed up the video part or I would've uploaded it instead, where I absolutely nailed Comyu. I somehow made it natural to say "It's about not giving up on connecting with other people. And it's about doing that with a giant robot, because that's what brings people together." Hopefully when I have to do the actual thing, I'll do it right.

The last GM standing Q&A: Link to the thread: Would you rather read the chapter in a PDF document? Click here! Chapter 1: 20/03-2016, Location: Fuwanovel headquarters Nayleen and Tay were relaxing in their seats, exhausted after a long day of work. The past few weeks had taken a toll on them, but they were staying strong, keeping Fuwanovel safe from DDOS attacks and global mods breaking stuff. As they fall asleep, gathering their strength for another day of defending the forum, a shadow glides into the room. The shadow moves quickly, slithering across the floor, sneaking up behind Nayleen's chair. The shadow splits in two as it reaches its target. One part wraps itself around Nayleen, the other moves over to Tay and wraps itself around him. ... The next day. Nayleen looks over at Tay with a mischievous smile on his face. "The global mods have gotten too soft lately. I think it's time we taught them a lesson." Tay turns his head, meeting Nayleen's gaze. "What exactly did you have in mind?" Nayleen looks down at the chess board in front of him. This was no ordinary chess board. Each piece on the board represents certain members of the Fuwanovel forum. In addition, there was three sets of pieces, meaning there was a total of three kings. Picking up two of the kings with the tip of his fingers, Nayleen breaks them in half. "Three global mods, only one can remain in their position." Tay nods, letting out a subtle, evil laugh. "Who will come out alive?" Nayleen joins in. "Who will come out as the winner?" He turned his gaze towards the broken chess pieces that had fallen to the floor. "Now then... How will this end?" Their laughter continued into the night, as the two made preparations for the fight that was to come. .......... Chapter 1 The three armies It was a cold day. A dark sky filled with clouds that never seemed to disappear was hanging over the battlefield. It was quiet; so quiet that one could hear the heartbeats of the people around you. The battlefield was a huge piece of land that went on for miles and miles. With terrain ranging from harsh deserts to big forests and steep waterfalls, it was truly an overwhelming place. Standing in a line in front of their commander, Kaguya's forces were prepared for battle. It had been four hours since the battle had started, and yet no one had reached Kaguya's base yet. He thought it was a good idea to remain in his base and wait for someone to attack, instead of wasting his fighter's energy by charging through the huge landmass. It was possible that the other moderators were thinking the same, and if that was the case, the day would end without a drop of blood being spilled. Thinking back on the previous day, Kaguya rubbed his temples in anger and exhaustion. The three global moderators had suddenly been summoned by the admins. They had no idea what was going on, and they did not have the time to ask. The second they were teleported to the administrator's location, they realized something was amiss. In front of them were huge racks filled with weapons, armor and the likes. Ranging from big swords, crossbows, shields and kunai knives, it was quite a scary sight. Next to the equipment there was a grand, black stone tablet with red letters written across it. It read: "The time has come. Three global moderators, only one can remain. Recruit those you can from the forum within the next hour, prepare for battle with the equipment before you and then ... Go to war. Good luck." Neither one of the moderators knew what to do. They stood still, immobilized by confusion and fear. They were sure this had to be some kind of a twisted joke. "Alright, this is stupid. What the hell is going on?" Breaking the silence, Kaguya shouted that as he surveyed his surroundings. A dark voice suddenly echoed through the area. It was impossible to tell where the voice came from; it was a thundering roar that made all the moderators flinch. "Select your fighters, or face the consequences! This is not a joke. This is a matter of life and death!" The sudden overpowering voice made the mods even more uneasy, but they still didn't act. This was a mistake. Suddenly, a strange black sphere appeared before them. It was about the size of a football, and for a few seconds it merely floated in mid air. It gave of a strange crackling noise, similar to an electric current. Slowly but surely, the sphere started increasing in size, until it was big enough to fit a small car. Then, a big rift of pure white light split the sphere in two, and the figures of two people suddenly appeared in its stead. It took a few seconds for the moderators to recognize the people in front of them, but they soon realized, they were Fuwanovel members; 12kami and XionsProphecy. They both look terrified, as if they had just seen the devil himself. XionsProphecy took a step forward and approached Kaguya. "W-What is going on?! Where am I?!" Before Kaguya had the time to respond, the overpowering voice once again erupted throughout the area. "You will do as we say, or the consequences will be grave!" And with that, a red magic circle appeared under the feet of XionsProphecy and a pillar of fire burst out beneath him. The sound of his screams and the smell of burning flesh made all the people present stare at the spectacle in shock. Terrified he would be next, 12Kami tried to run away, but chains sprouted from the ground and wrapped around him violently. "Now, what will you do?" "S-Stop it!" Nosebleed shouted. "... Very well. If you are ready to begin, let me explain the rules. Each one of the moderators can recruit members from the forum to join their ranks. The moderators can use their own powers any way they want. Make your own fighters stronger by lending them your strength, directly attack your opponents army, make shields protecting your warriors. The game will be over once only one global moderator remains. Oh, and one last thing. You can name one of your fighters a general. This person will have ... A second chance at life, should something tragic occur." As the voice finished explaining the rules, an evil laughter followed. Soon after, all that was left was dead silence. ___________________________________________________________________________ "That was four hours ago, huh..." Kaguya whispered to himself as he looked at the quiet battlefield. In the end, no one knows what happened to 12Kami. Was he killed too? Was he released? When the moderators chose their armies, only a handful of the forum's members were selected. It seemed that only the ones who volunteered for the battle could be picked. Looking over the warriors in front of him, Kaguya made a decision; he had waited long enough. "You two, move out!" The two soldiers saluted, and then they sprinted into the darkness of the forest ahead. ........ Eight warriors were scattered across the battlefield on the first day. Among them were team Down's soldiers Nashetania, Funyarinpa, Fred the Barber, their general Tiagofvarela and Moekyun. From team Kaguya, Dergonu and Velociraptor were deployed, and from team Nosebleed, only < ?? >was sent out to fight. ........ In a forest, 2 km from Kaguya's base Dergonu and Velociraptor were headed for Down's territory, when a sudden fireball shot out from the depths of the forest. Barely dodging it by a hair, the two were separated from each other. Losing track of Velociraptor, Dergonu turned to face the person who fired the fireball. He was protected by Kaguya's armor, but the amount of energy put into each warrior's shield was small, meaning he couldn't take more than one or two of those attacks. Who had fired it? Was it someone from Nosebleed's team or Down? "Who's there?!" Calling out for the person hiding in the darkness, Dergonu readied his mace. The weapon of his choice had been a huge metal mace, almost as big as himself, with menacing spikes. It was a weapon he couldn't dream of lifting without the strength given to him by his commander, Kaguya. A shadow suddenly burst out from the forest. Before Dergonu could react, two throwing knives collided with his armor. Both of them hit right around the heart, but they were stopped by the thick, red armor. Not wasting any time, the attacker nimbly closed in the distance. It took a second for Dergonu to recognize the attacker due to their speed, but he soon saw that is was MoeKyun from Down's army. The shimmering green garb he wore had several chains filled with throwing knives. Reaching for two more, MoeKyun made sure to stay so close to Dergonu that swinging his mace was impossible. Taking the opportunity when Dergonu was unable to do anything, MoeKyun stabbed at Dergonu's armor repeatedly. It didn't take long for the attacks to completely remove the protective shield made by Kaguya, and the knives started poking small holes in Dergonu's armor. "Tch." Clicking his tongue, Dergonu tried to think of a way to get out of the situation. But before he could think of anything, one of MoeKyun's knives hit Dergonu's collarbone, sending a sharp pain through his body. Taking a step back and readying his knife, MoeKyun was preparing to deliver the final blow, when he suddenly froze up. Turning his head to depths of the forest from which he came, his mouth dropped open in surprise. "N-No way ... G-General..." Not wasting any time, Dergonu used the chance to take a step backwards and swung his mace straight at MoeKyun's chest. A green barrier deflected the hit and made sure the mace didn't break the skin, but MoeKyun was knocked down from the impact. Landing on the ground with the air knocked out of his lungs, he never stood a chance. The giant mace came down, hitting his head. Once again, Down's protective barrier blocked the attack, but every part of Moekyun's body felt like it was lit on fire from the pain. "This time..." As he said that, Dergonu lifted the mace over his head one last time and brought it down on MoeKyun. What followed was a gruesome crack like sound, like breaking a branch of a tree. Team Down MoeKyun- DEAD END ___________________________________________________________________________ A few minutes earlier, 100 meters from Nosebleed's base. Down's general, Tiagofvarela, was making his way towards Nosebleed's base. Compared to Down and Kaguya, Nosebleed had a significantly smaller army, and so Down thought it was best to target him first. Because of this, Down had sent his strongest fighter in an ambush. If Nosebleed wanted to participate in the fight, he had to send several of his forces out into the battle, meaning his base would be exposed. It would be a fast, quick attack. Take out whoever is there and get the hell out. For his weapon, Tiago had chosen a long katana, which rested in a sheath strapped to his left side. He was wearing a green garb, woven by powerful silk threads imbued by Down's own energy. His garb was slightly different from the others in Down's army. This one was specially created for the general. The biggest difference was the big crest on the chest and back, with the word leader written in kanji. As he spotted Nosebleed's base, Tiago took a deep breath and drew his katana. The blade was about a meter long, with beautiful markings. "Let's do this." Preparing for his attack, Tiago steeled his nerves and readied his blade. Then, he charged. "Perish." A soft whisper suddenly reached Tiago's ear, and a strong sense of despair washed over him. The voice sent a chill down his spine. It was as if the voice literally grabbed a hold of him, preventing him from moving. Before he could do anything, a man in a pink and black cloak stood before him. It was impossible to identify who it was, as the large cloak covered his head and body completely. The man simply snapped his fingers, and a huge explosion knocked Tiago several meters back. He felt his barrier slowly draining. Whoever attacked him was truly powerful. "How did he notice me?!" He asked himself, trying to calm his hammering heartbeat. "Game over." Suddenly, a different voice could be heard behind Tiago, and something cold cut through his chest. Looking down at his own body, he saw a long spear sticking out of his stomach. "W-Who..?" He never got the answer to that question. Tiago's body fell to the ground, lifeless. Team Down, Tiagofvarela- DEAD END ___________________________________________________________________________ The volcanic region, 3 km from Down's base Fred the Barber from team Down was positioned behind a large rock. The area around him was filled with smoke, ash and fire, and the only thing stopping him from being burned alive was his commander's protective garb. This was a volcano located a few km away from Down's base. Fred had been in a battle with one of Nosebleed's men for several minutes, when he suddenly felt it. His general, Tiagofvarela, had fallen. Hit by the sudden shock of losing one of his leaders, he fled from the battle in order to gather his thoughts. It was a strange feeling. Tiago had been his friend, and in this crazy battle, he had been his general. A powerful sadness welled up in him as he shook his head, holding back his tears. Why? Why was this happening? Just a day ago they were messing around on the forum, having fun like any other day. And now? Now they were here, caught in some insane death game. "I ... I want this to be over." He whispered as he placed his hand on his forehead and closed his eyes. "Then die." A sudden hostile voice made Fred jump backwards, and just as he opened his eyes, he saw a fist slam into the rock he was leaning against, crushing it into small rubble. It was him; the fighter from nosebleed's army that he had been in a scuffle with a few minutes ago. Because of his cloak which covered every part of his body, it was impossible to identify who the attacker was. The cloak was black, with pink markings all over. The attacker was unarmed, but his hands glowed in a bright purple light. Clearly, he was using his energy to make his punches stronger. Whoever this person was, he was powerful. Had they underestimated team Nosebleed? Fred's general had fallen in nosebleed's territory, and this person was clearly using energy to make his fists into lethal killing machines. How could Fred fight such a fearful foe in his current state? "No... I can do this. I have to avenge Tiago!" Encouraging himself, Fred got to his feet and readied his weapon. It was dagger with a fairly long, curved blade. The tip was emitting a faint green glow and the blade itself was black as the night. Of all the weapons on the weapon racks, this was the only thing Fred felt comfortable wielding. Carefully taking a stance preparing for the fight, Fred calmed his breathing and grasped his dagger tightly. The attacker moved first. His movements were really fast and precise. Fred managed to dodge the first punch, but the second one followed right after. The assailant's fist hit Fred in the left flank, causing him to fall backwards. But as his body fell to the ground he moved his arm holding the dagger downwards and cut a deep gash in the attacker's cloak. It didn't look like the blade pierced his flesh, but Fred felt the resistance of his opponents barrier. He had done some damage to it at the very least. The problem was that he had taken a strong hit himself, and wasn't able to move very well. His opponent quickly regained his posture and moved in for the kill. Just then, an arrow flew past Fred's cheek and hit the attacker in the stomach. The impact of the arrow sent him flying. "You okay Fred?" Turning his head to see who had come to help him, he was met by Funyarinpa's gentle smile. In his hands was a beautiful green longbow. "Come on. Let's retreat for now. Whoever that guy is, he isn't normal." As he said that, Funya reached out for Fred's hand and helped him up. Tilting his head slightly, Fred wondered what Funya meant. "Isn't normal? I think we can take him if it's the two of us." Funya simply shook his head in response. "I got word from Down to come and get you. There is something wrong with Nosebleed's army. We have to go back to the base and ..." Before he could finish his sentence, a purple light flew past Fred's field of vision and collided with Funya. His bow was crushed into pieces and Funya was knocked down, his barrier broken. "FUNYA!" Screaming for his fallen comrade, Fred turned to face the attacker. It was the same cloaked man from before. The arrow was still sticking out of his chest but he moved around like it was nothing. "..." The man said nothing, but approached Fred with his fists raised. The purple light which surrounded his hands flickered about intimidatingly. The man jumped at Fred, knocking him to the ground. After that, he made sure to grab Fred's blade and throw it away. "..." The man still didn't say anything, but Fred could see a hint of an evil smile under the darkness of the attacker's hood. Raising his fists above his head, he prepared to bash Fred's head in. But he had made one miscalculation. The arrow that was sticking out of his chest was within Fred's reach. Fred had merely pretended to be defenseless when he lost his dagger to get an opening. Grabbing the arrow with all his might, Fred pulled it out of the man's chest and thrust it upwards into his throat. The arrowhead pierced his Adam's apple and blood started spewing out from the open wound. Making a disgusting gurgling sound, the man slowly lost all strength in his body. The endless stream of blood poured out, staining Fred's clothing in red. After defeating his opponent, Fred checked on Funya. He was too late. The attacker had crushed his entire rib cage, and one of the bone splinters had hit his heart. "Who ... WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!" Screaming in anger, Fred ripped off the attacker's hood. All he could do once he removed the hood was gasp, and fall to his knees. "W-What the fuck..?" Lying on the scorched ground in front of him was ... Team Down, Funyarinpa- DEAD END. Team Nosebleed, < ?? > - DEAD END. ___________________________________________________________________________ Meanwhile, at Nosebleed's base "Hmm, it seems our puppet has been destroyed." "Aww, I thought it would at least take out a few more enemies before it broke." "Hmph. It doesn't matter, it did its job just fine. Now we know ... They work." Three men were sitting around a fire with their weapons next to them. They wore black cloaks with pink symbols; the armor given to them by their commander, Nosebleed. The three men were chosen as guards, and were protecting the base of Nosebleed. Nosebleed's army consisted of about half the number of warriors that Down and Kaguya had, but Nosebleed had a trick up his sleeve. Using the life force of the fallen general from Down's army, Tiago, he had created clones of his own warriors. These warriors were as strong as Tiago himself, and took the place of his own fighters on the battlefield. They didn't have the extra life that came with the role of general, but other than that, they were powerful and loyal. Each clone was linked to one of Nosebleed's soldiers. The one that had been killed in battle had been the clone of Kiriririri, but Nosebleed had made the clone itself wear the face of Tiago. That would assure him an edge in any fight versus a team Down member. Sadly, that trick only worked once, as the body of Tiago himself had been used to create the clone. All the other clones were identical to the person they copied. Basically, it was as if nosebleed literally had two of each of his fighters, except for Kiriririri who had just lost his clone. With this, the difference in numbers between the three armies meant nothing. A sly smile spread across Nosebleed's face as he looked at his own general, Mitchhamilton. He held a long, golden spear stained with blood. "Now... Who is next?" ___________________________________________________________________________ * Quick note, the clones in Nosebleed's army works just like a normal fighter. This was done so that each commander has the same amount of fighters, making the first week of the RNG rolls completely even. Each clone will die just like a normal team member, though the person won't get a DEAD END unless he has lost his clone already. (Like Kiriririri has now.) Mitchhamilton, Nosebleed's general, does NOT get a clone, as he is a general and already has 2 lives. ___________________________________________________________________________ A forest, about 2 km from Kaguya's base Having lost sight of his comrade, Dergonu, Velociraptor was making his way through the forest. Who had attacked them? Was it an attacker from Nosebleed or Down's army? Well, it didn't matter. All he could do now was search for his opponent and hope that Dergonu hadn't fallen in the time they were separated. "Hm?" As he was running through the dense forest, Velociraptor spotted a strange light about 30 meters away. Was it an enemy? The light seemed to be flickering ever so slightly, though because of the tree cover it was hard to see what it was. Preparing for a potential fight, Velo readied his weapon and ran towards the source. He was surprised to find a member of Down's army sleeping near a fire. Was he for real..? Not only had he approached Kaguya's territory, he had lit a fire and then he went to sleep?! Who the hell was this guy?! Taking a step closer, he saw that the fighter was Nashetania. "Hmph... A free kill I guess." Whispering to himself, he readied his weapon. It was an extension of his hand; a glove with long, sharp claws. Each claw was at least 10 cm long. The glove itself was made out of tough leather, and the claws were metal. Lifting the glove above his head, he brought it down on Nash, who was sleeping peacefully. Or so Velo thought. As the glove was about to make contact with Nash, he quickly spun around and brought his fist upward. It hit Velo right in the face, making him stagger backwards. "Well would you look at that. Like a moth to a flame." Nash moved his hand behind his back and brought out a large battleaxe from inside his garb. "RAAAWR!" Jumping forward, Nash struck at Velo with full force. Barely dodging the attack, Velo sidestepped and cut at Nashetania's exposed back. The claws hit, but something tough was stopping them from doing any damage. "Damnit, a barrier?" Putting some distance between them, Velo ran a few steps backwards, positioning himself behind the fire Nash had lit. "You can't cut me! Down gave me the strongest barrier among all his men! No matter how many times you hit me, a blade won't ever cut through it!" After taunting Velo, Nash launched another attack, swinging his battleaxe around like a madman. Velo was faster and had a lighter weapon, but just like Nash had said, his attacks were useless against the barrier. Had this been Down's tactic? Draw someone in close to his soldier, then have him crush the attacker when he least expects it? Seeing has he had put so much energy into the barrier protecting Nash, it must have been the plan all along. "Damnit..." If only Dergonu was with him they would have the upper hand, but because of the attack earlier, they were separated in the forest. "What's the matter? Tired?" Smiling from ear to ear, Nash relentlessly attacked Velo with his battleaxe. A few of the attacks hit, sending strong waves of numb pain through Velo's body. "Think! THINK!!! How can I beat him?!" Trying to figure out a way to win, Velo looked around. "An opening!" As Nash yelled that, he spun around quickly and his battleaxe hit Velo in the chest, sending him flying over to the fire. He landed hard, most likely breaking a few bones in the process. Had Nash been the one who attacked them earlier? Was his plan to split them up, then draw them in one by one with the use of the campfire? ... Wait a minute... Fire! Nash had said that no blades could cut through his barrier. Could that mean it had little defense against magic? Was that the reason he was trying to lure his attacker into close combat? "DIE!" Running towards Velo who had fallen to the ground, Nash prepared to crush his defenseless prey with a final attack. "Now or never!" Velo brought his hands together and focused all his remaining strength on tapping the flames from the campfire besides him. Just the act of moving his arms hurt like hell, but he had no choice but to fight through the pain. As Nash was about to strike, Velo released all the flames in a vortex that wrapped itself around Nash. The flames ate through his barrier like it was nothing, and soon started burning away his flesh. Screaming and swinging his battleaxe around like a lunatic, Nash moved around desperately. In order to not get caught in the frenzy, Velo crawled away, sinking his glove's claws into the soft ground and pulling his body forward. "I ... Lost..." With those final words, the burning figure collapsed. Team Down, Nashetania- DEAD END ___________________________________________________________________________ Deaths this week: Team Nosebleed: Kiriririri (clone) Team Down: Nashetania, Funyarinpa, Tiagofvarela, Moekyun, Team Kaguya: None ___________________________________________________________________________ To be continued ...

^ Pretty much. Thing is: I don't post a lot, I'll give you that. When I do it's mostly silly stuff or in one of the chatter threads, but mostly because I don't really have anything to contribute to one of the core sub-forums or threads. I don't develop VNs (yet), and I've read pretty much everything I wanted to read (which is not a whole lot), so there's nothing for me to talk about. I like spending time with the community members, and opt not to moderate too heavily, because that's what the moderators are there for, right? Wrong. If I went around swinging the ban-hammer I might as well call it Lucille (props to whoever gets the reference), because thing's turn bad, people used to and feel entitled to the fluffiness that is the normal moderation flow; You can get away with pretty much anything, as long as you don't bitch about it and tone it down. That's when I like to make an appearance, to remind each and one of us that some things are not okay, and while the moderating team is tripping over their own feet trying to figure out how to go about a particular issue without offending anyone, I just do. I'm here to remind people that there are other, very real people sitting in front of their computers, that you think you can talk down and feel bad about whatever happened to make you so angry that you'd probably think twice about in your everyday life to throw a tantrum like that. People would call that out, and rightfully so. I'm the priviledge check that comes ringing bells, and reminds people that some things are just not okay, and shouldn't be tolerated. When I do, things have usually gone way past sour already, so lately I've been trying to keep an eye on a few things, topics and certain people. Which is not favoritism or persecution, but just the plain reality: Some people will get people on edge, no matter what they do. I'm definitely one of them, which is why I tend to stay in the background. We're here thanks to the creators and the people who built this site, and I think it's disrespectful to feel entitled about any of it - without them, nothing would be here. Without interested and motivated people we'd probably still be torrenting VNs left and right, instead of seeing some actual quality being put out, both from established companies and indie groups. I'm fighting for them, and I think everyone who's dealt with me in the past can confirm that I do so consistently - heck, I even fought my then-girlfriend back in the day when shit hit the fan over one of the very, very rare bans, that I of all people thought was uncalled for. Anyways, and that's why I wanted bitfatround0 to back off of OriginalRen: The guy's fighting the good fight, no matter what happened to any of the files. Back off, and leave the guy be, enjoy your time on these forums or reddit, but god damn people, stop it with the entitlement. I know it's rough waiting on something you're really interested in, but it's not your place to bitch about any or no progress being made, unless it's your own project, and then you're in charge, so take matters into your own two hands. With that said, peace.

Everywhere? Even to Seattle in time for SakuraCon?!

C'mon Rooke, stay there and admit to yourself that this thread is the best idea Ren ever had.

1. Those multiple times Yuuji considered ignorance to be a perfectly valid excuse for gross generalization in his godawful internal monologues. "All "big" women are shopping in a certain way. But I'm not an expert in this sort of thing." "Students at this age have got nothing but homework and masturbation to fill up their free time. But I'm not an expert in this sort of thing." Well, if you're such a non-expert-at-this-sort-of-thing, then kindly shut the fuck up. I mean... um... stop this train of thought the fuck up. Whatever. 2. That one time Yuuji (and the writer) couldn't figure out whether his superiors value him. At different points in the story, he describes himself as an extremely valuable asset and a worthless disposable dog. Alright then! 3. That one sequence with EEEEEVUL cannibal orgies and the notion that tasting human flesh (even unwittingly) somehow makes one beyond help and/or salvation. They're all GHOUUUULS now, Amane. So, you know, don't feel bad about abandoning all of them. And try not to think too much about all the stashed food Kazuki hogged. 4. That one time Yuuji couldn't make up his mind about conventional medical treatment. When it comes to Sachi, medical science is obviously worthless... but sure, let's send Michiru off to a hospital, I'm pretty sure it wouldn't hurt. 5. The whole thing with Yumiko's dad, wherein barely legal teens play the stock market (or something). Gawd, that part was so awful, I've done a pretty good job at erasing it from my memory. That entire sequence after Yumiko's dad arrives at the school? That's what I am referring to. 6. That one time they blew up the fucking school. Really? REALLY? 7. Michiru's "GOOD" ending. Ugh. 8. Sachi's final decision point and its completely random consequences. Huh. I guess thought really is material. Who knew? 9. Those several times I nearly dropped the whole thing even before the first decision point. The common route eventually turned into the most excruciating piece of slice-of-life I've ever read. I couldn't wait for the repetitive and pointless torture that stopped providing any new insight into characters' personalities and motivations after the first hour or so to be over. 10. Those seven and a half million times Yuuji was being a reprehensible douche. Worst protag ever? Worst protag ever.

Good lord you have a chip on your shoulder for no apparent reason, bringing this shit up in every thread. Had you heard of Root Double before the Kickstarter? I sure hadn't. Root Double is far from famous, and has no particular pedigree to speak of (even I/O, with a fan translation, isn't all that highly-regarded or famous, and is the only somewhat-known VN from the developer). There was a fair bit of hype around here, presumably because influential people know about it and regard it highly, but it still had extremely little name recognition in the English VN community. Here's a useful contrast: Chusingura, despite presumably being much harder to read in Japanese than Root Double, has about twice as many votes on VNDB with roughly the same distribution. That's a pretty huge difference in terms of name recognition (and anecdotally, I'd at least heard of Chusingura before it appeared, unlike Root Double). We all saw how that game's Kickstarter went down in flames immediately. The Root Double Kickstarter was far from Sekai Project bungling some universally-acclaimed game, and it succeeded in the end; just let it go. We'll see what happens next time, but here's a bold prediction: if they try to bring over something actually famous, everything will probably go just fine. And frankly, given the following they clearly have, even if it's not already famous it'll also probably be fine. Anyway, sorry for the threadjack; I'm just getting tired of reading this same crap in every discussion thread I go to, and this time I felt obliged to shoot back. Here's a token attempt to be on-topic: the Shuffle! anime is one of my least favorite of all time, so I have zero desire to play the VN. Maybe it's better, but I'll never know. That said, that's just my opinion and clearly a lot of people actually like it, so you have my condolences on that. It is definitely a shame if it means MangaGamer is losing a partner, since I think they're the most competent licenser on the scene right now by a good margin, despite a few oddities like their sketchy-as-hell storefront, and I like to see them be successful.

So, because I'm a massive weeb, I've made some poems about VNs as the months went by. Some were made with a special purpose in mind, some were just seedlings of my warped brain. Anyways, here are some I made. "Engines of Today" From Ourai no Gahkthun "Promise" from Hoshizora no Memoria "City of Distortions" from Sekien no Inganock "Broken Pieces" from Grisaia no Kajitsu & Meikyuu "Friendship" from Majikoi Short poem collection I'll add more poems, when I get some more done

Team Down-but-not-out: we collectively killed ... something that wasn't even a person? Oh come on.

Of course, Tales of Cold Steel... *snickers at the mention of anything Digimon*

A) Nayleen takes care of the server and most of the tech stuff. He’s very important to Fuwa cause he keeps the place running. That is why he's 'admin'. B) He was also an admin a couple of years ago. C) The first page of this thread was cut from Ren’s thread in the fan translation forum, so you’re likely missing context. D) He’s had over a thousand posts, so if you don’t see him around it’s because you’re not around

Eww, a normie.

IMO it's mostly due to wrong expectations or just not the thing that people were looking for, in regards to the bashing. I mean I fucking loved Shuffle! and Ikikoi, VNs that people love to shit on a lot, why? Because I had the right expectations about them, and I was actually engaged on what they were trying to deliver, no matter how average or mindless it may seem.So I can only agree that most bashing is unwarranted, however people are entitled to have been expecting something else I suppose, I'll just never stop being the heretic that once gave Shuffle! a 9 (´・ω・`).

...no Uta. Oh wait!

I have developed a good technique for dealing with upcoming big events that I would otherwise find near-panic-inducing: 1) Every up until the day before the event, tell myself "No need to panic, I have several days left". 2) On the day before the event, tell myself "Well, it'll all be over tomorrow, so there's no point panicking about it now". To be clear, I still worry plenty (worry is good; worrying keeps you on task and doing proper preparation), but my stress doesn't go beyond that level. Most recently I applied it to getting my SakuraCon presentation done (tomorrow is the big day, so I'm on phase 2 now), but it was also pretty successful for making me not worry overly much about interviews as well, when I was doing that a few weeks ago.

Dammit. Here's to hoping they still fail and the final nail gets put in that crapfest's coffin. I wonder who was dumb enough to give them money, even with strings attached. Oh yeah, I forgot about Fruitbat Factory landing LB My bad. Probably just a bunch of doujin games and 1 or 2 "real" announcements. That's typically what they tend to do. I still think it's amusing that they're endlessly grabbing new licenses even though they haven't even gotten Meikyuu out the door yet lol

Anything that isn't moe/charage or nukige I'm fine with it, that said I do hope someone grabbed chusingura preferably MG.

So there I was watching random CSGO videos like the addicted bastard I am and suddenly I listen to a voice that's uncannily like Run's. I may just be losing my mind, however I do seem to hear his voice on this one. (time stamp @ 1:04)

This list is entirely devoted to VNs that serve to provide healing, light catharsis, laughs, and warm fuzzy feelings. Understand, most of the games on this list will be moege, charage, or nakige, with almost no exceptions. Some of these, I would not rate highly by my own tastes, but in the eyes of someone seeking this quality, would be awesome. I WILL NOT provide a translated list, as the last time I played a translated VN was more than three years ago, and thus others would be a better judge of what to include in the translated portion of it (hint, hint, Kaguya, Steve, and other Fuwa vets). A great story is generally not a requirement for this type of game, which is why I didn't always give them as high a rating as they would deserve from fans of the genre. Heavy drama (outside of the 'it is definitely going to end happily' type that you get in nakige) is not acceptable. I am going to be very picky for this list, as games that leave you with a bad aftertaste or leave you wondering why you bothered waste people's time, lol. (Hoshimemo would be borderline out of bounds, if you want a clear marker of what not to include. This kind of game has to be almost devoid of violence and meant to heal or soothe) Untranslated: Haruka ni Aogi, Uruwashi no (seriously, this game is my universal recommendation from this type) Moshimo Ashita ga Harenaraba Otome wa Boku ni Koishiteru ~Futari no Elder~ (rare example of sequel far surpassing the original in every aspect) Toppara Zashiki Warashi no Hanashi Sukimazakura to Uso no Machi (yes, this starts out kind of sadly, but its generally light nature and characters definitely make it soothing) Koisuru Natsu no Last Resort (as I said in my comments on this game, it is like a much weaker imitation of Uruwashi no) Clover Days (another recent addition, perfect example of a light charage with no serious drama that isn't solved relatively quickly) Chiisana Kanojo no Serenade (pure moe, stops just short of moeblob, totally light, no really serious drama) Kaminoyu (no human heroines... but this game is enormously soothing and decently funny) Shiro no Pikapika Ohoshi-sama (this was the game that came to mind when I thought of making this list) LoveKami Sakura Bitmap Strawberry Nauts Tenshin Ranman - Lucky or Unlucky!? Natsuiro Recipe AI Love: Koisuru Otome wa Kikai-jikake YES I am being very picky about this list. Not every nakige is soothing/healing for the reader, and not every moege is capable of providing easy laughs and adorable cuteness. The basic reasoning behind all of these choices is: emotional release from sympathy/empathy with the characters and an overall sense of relief of pent-up non-violent stress for the reader. I could have put up to three times this many games up here if I'd been less picky... but then I would have been wasting the readers' time. Have fun, yall.

http://vocaroo.com/i/s0K1qpObGjoT

Well I won't ban you, that's for sure. \ 7

Yeah, I was thinking along the same lines yesterday; what happened to this AI is really pretty much identical to letting 4chan raise a child.

Yeah, Ren's all but disowned it, so for all intents and purposes it's mine :^)

Because anime never intends to be good on its own except when it's an original story. In every other case it's promo for the source material. Anime is not supposed to be good or even being an adequate adaptation. It's about motivating you to buy the original game/novel/manga. Or, if you already read the source, to see your favorite scenes animated because in this case it's just fanservice for people who already know the story.

Yeah, that's what I meant. But mmk, no worries if you don't.

There were a tonne more than that. Went through all of them though and added all the names. Narration lines are left nameless, since it seemed a bit weird to list them as "Narration." Same download link as before, so try downloading again.

Can't wait for the part where I kill you with pyaa-punch

Alright, I went through, and here: https://dl.dropbox.com/s/myonl5e05v0aqxo/SnowSakura.rar Like I said though, I can't guarantee 100% accuracy that every single string is in there since I didn't fully decompile the script or anything, just did a very quick basic check. I've looked through a bunch of them randomly and can't see any missing, so I hope they're nearly all ok. If you find some messed up or missing though, yeah, sorry. Hopefully someone else can do them all properly.

I believe in you mangagamer

Checks out

You know what this feels like? Winning!

Oh... DO TELL

I might have forgotten to inform my team that the RNG gods are currently displeased with me. But I am sure that that in no way contributed to this outcome.

In a way I'm relieved that they at least made a clean cut now. So potential fan translaters at least won't keep away from their titles anymore, just because they respect a partnership that was actually long gone. And maybe that makes them an interesting partner for Sekai Project now. I would gladly back a Kickstarter if it would be for Oretsuba or Tsuriotsu.

Aight one more midterm gogogo then its time to finally PARTY12#$%&*

That makes me more than qualified. Promotion, please?

I still defend Shuffle due to it being one of the first eroge I've ever played and the title that made me discover and appreciate MangaGamer. It's bland, generic and cliché, but it delivers what it wants to deliver decently. Call it a cookie cutter eroge if you will, you know exactly what you're getting, but if you're into it then it's not bad. I think a lot of the bashing it gets is too unwarranted. There's way worse VNs out there, like Ikikoi. Also Shuffle Essence+ made the whole experience a lot more enjoyable with the amount of content it added, but now that's never getting translated.

We shouldn't have anything to worry about, since Green is the most juiciest of targets and will function as a wondorous meatshield

Well, it's time for another Texas Dice story, I guess. In middle school, when I was somewhere between 12 and 14, I was invited to a classmate's (who was also my friend) Halloween-party. So, on the day of the party, before I left the house, the phone rang and my classmate-friend called me like "Hey Texas, we have a problem. The girls from our class that I invited were followed by some older guys and they won't leave. We could use some backup, in case things heat up." (Rephrase this sentence in your head so that it sounds more like something a middle schooler would say). So, I put on my costume, took the bus and traveled the 30 minutes to his house. When I finally arrived, the guys he mentioned on the phone were getting a stern talking by my classmate's mom, who was in the house the entire time. So I wasn't needed at all and me spending the entire drive there thinking about what the hell I they expected me to do was completely pointless. And that was basically it, really. The party started, there was shitty music, we ate party-food, I got in a small middle-school brawl, we played spin-the-bottle and I kissed a girl. So what do we learn from this story? Not much, I guess. Don't be a white knight, because girls at parties will smooch you anyway? Let the adults solve all of your problems? Black girls kiss way better than white girls? Just pick something.

I don't understand how they got sued for one HUNDRED million dollars. What makes him worth that much? I could see a 'take it down or we'll legally shut down your company", but this kind of compensation is ridiculous. Fucking legal system. I'm all for sites like gawker going away, but there's a million double standards. It seems like he made a convincing case and played the legal system, and convinced the jury to legally vaporize the company off the face of the planet. /rant.

I/O VNDB Summary April 26th, 2032 A.D. - Megalopolis Tokyo - 00:12 in the morning A total lunar eclipse occurs for the first time in 3 years. Even though it's supposed to be a simple astronomical phenomenon, it soon sets off a series of unexpected events. Unexplainable mysteries, terrorist incidents, and network crime surge as if in unison. The truth mixes with lies, as if the world is awake but still sleeping. Something has begun. Somewhere no one can see. Something no one knows about. This is a story of the chance meeting and tragic parting of the young men and women living in this world. Players get to play the game from 4 different points of view: Route A - Hinata, a youth who has lost his sister and himself. Route B - Ishtar, a freelance programmer and leader of a hacker team. Route C - Ishtar, but seems a bit different from the Ishtar in Route B.... Route D - He, a man completely shrouded in mystery. And thus.. "The beginning is the end, and the end is the beginning" Ending Guideline / Suggested Route Order Every time you complete a route, bits of the Defrag system (Defrag System info below) will be "recovered" and you will unlock further content. If you're aiming for 100% then you'll have to replay all routes from the beginning after completing the whole visual novel. That's why I recommended you save on every choice you encounter. Expected Route Order: Route A: Ver. 0.1 -> Route B: Ver. 0.1 -> Route C: Ver. 0.1 -> Route D: Ver. 0.1 Route A: Ver 0.1 = Unlocks Route D: Ver 1.0 Route B: Ver 0.1 = Unlocks Route C: Ver 1.0 Route C: Ver 0.1 = Unlocks Route A: Ver 1.0 Route D: Ver 0.1 = Unlocks Route B: Ver 1.0 After you complete the four 0.1 routes above, you can start Route E to get Bad End 2/Solitude since you can only encounter this ending before completing any of the 1.0 Routes. You can go back to it using the Defrag system though so this is optional. If you choose to continue completing without Route E: Bad End 2/Solitude then start the 1.0 routes: ・ Route A: Ver. 1.0 - End/Sunset ・ Route B: Ver. 1.0 - End/Nether world ・ Route E: Bad End 3/"Marduk" (Optional; complete before completing Route C: Ver. 1.0/Overlap, or get back to it using Defrag System afterwards) ・ Route C: Ver. 1.0 - End/Overlap ・ Route D: Ver. 1.0 - End/"Enigma" ・ Route E: End/Lead Out Then you can continue onto Route E/Lead Out. When you complete Route E/Lead Out then you can continue onto the ' routes which are the true endings. It's recommended you play in the reversed order D' -> C' -> B' -> A' while leaving Route E for last again. ・ Route D': End/Dilmun ・ Route C': End/Beginning of legend ・ Route B': End/True End: O ・ Route A': End/True End: I ・ Route E': End/True End: I/O WARNING: REMEMBER TO COMPLETE ALL AVAILABLE BAD ENDINGS BEFORE COMPLETEING THE ACTUAL ENDING FOR ALL 1.0 ROUTES. If you complete the normal ending before completing the BAD ENDs, then it will reset the "Route Value". So if you complete Route A 1.0's normal ending and finish the BAD END after that, you'll never be able to reach Route E because Route A's "Route Value" is resetted. The DEFRAG SYSTEM: -If you want to find out if your "Route Value" is resetted or not, you can refer to the defrag system. If the value of the Route isn't zero but one, then you're fine. -If you're curous as to what the "X" on your defrag system means; It means that either there are material still have yet to be unlocked, or your "Route Value" is resetted. -This system is very important and is required if you want to complete Route E 100%. Certain conditions have to be met regarding the "Route Value" for certain scenes to appear. (but if you follow the recommended route order, then this won't apply) Complete Recommended Route Order: Route A: Ver. 0.1 - END/Clover Route B: Ver. 0.1 - END/Ishtar Route C: Ver. 0.1 - END/"He" Route D: Ver. 0.1 - END/Conclusion Route E: - Bad End 2/Solitude Route A: Ver. 1.0 - End/Sunset Route B: Ver. 1.0 - End/Nether world Route E: - Bad End 3/"Marduk" Route C: Ver. 1.0 - End/Overlap Route D: Ver. 1.0 - End/"Enigma" Route E: - End/Lead Out Route D': - End/Dilmun Route C': - End/Beginning of legend Route B': - End/True End: O Route A': - End/True End: I Route E': - End/True End: I/O Route Guideline Hinata Route A: Ver. 0.1 Route A: Ver. 1.0 Route A' Ishtar Route B: Ver. 0.1 Route B: Ver. 1.0 Route B' Ishtar Route C: Ver. 0.1 Route C: Ver. 1.0 Route C' {HE} Route D: Ver. 0.1 Route D: Ver. 1.0 Route D' True Route Route E Route E' 100% Scene Recovery: Up to this point, the leftovers hindering 100% would be messages/key words. They are not important, so the rest is up to yourselves if you want everyone complete! Good luck! Attribution This walkthrough is based on info attained on desertrain.sakura.ne.jp and from lemniscatranslations's I/O Guide with major adjustments made by me.