Bartje

Hello everyone, I'm mostly going to use this thread as an introduction to my project and to go a bit more into detail about the development and team as we go along. First before I get started about the project itself I'd like to tell a bit more about the team. Our team, that I tend to jokingly call Y.R.S (Yuri Rescue Squad) is given its name primarily due to the fact a lot, if not most of the ideas we have tend to involve Yuri as a romantic background. However, even if this doesn't interest you, the Yuri element's presence often is different in strength from one story onto another so if you don't care about it, but can tolerate it you will hopefully still find a story to enjoy. Why Yuri? One reason is that I myself tend to feel a bit more motivated when it's involved in some form, while our artists either don't mind it, or actually even like it (for example our main series' artist pretty much was interested in this element cause a lot of her past works involved Otome settings, so this was a healthy change of pace for her.) The team's purpose has 3 goals. The first one is my personal dream of telling stories, and getting them to be read by a large audience. I love thinking up stories and seeing what people think about them, to the point that once a month I spend the day volunteering at a school to read stories to disabled children (and gods, let me tell you it's a wonderful experience, but sometimes pretty brutal cause those children are some of the most honest critics ever. If they find a story boring... you'll know it right away.) The second one is the desire to support artists financially who in my opinion have a lot of potential and skill, but for some reason often aren't able to make their living out of it. In the end it's a story everyone knows, an artist who loves to draw but for some reason (whether it's connections, fame or something else) are forced to combine their lives in the illustration world, with that of a regular everyday job. My goal is to give those artists a chance to earn money doing the things they like, not just so they can work more actively on a project, but so that by having more time to draw they can possibly grow into even more awesome artists. Finally, the third and last goal is my personal desire to see more English visual novels that don't need to feel inferior to those of the Japanese studios we all know and love. On terms of our team, we have a bit of a small, yet nevertheless dedicated group, albeit there are a few elements I can't openly talk about yet until January (mostly cause they aren't finalized yet, so anything I say might still change). Artists: Enjelia: http://otakumode.com/enjelia Akiko: http://k-meijji.deviantart.com/ Mystic: http://mysticswordsman21.deviantart.com/ Irvin: http://www.coolboysph.com/works.html To go a bit more into detail about each member their involvement: Enjelia is the artist in charge of our 'main project' a manga series. She is someone with professional experience in the field (in the sense that she had her work published in magazines before inside her country) and someone I'm very confident in when it comes to delivering quality. While Enjelia specializes in 'adorable or cute' looks, she will be surprisingly you all with some interesting changes to what you can see in her portfolio. Please look forward to some sneak-peeks of her work soon (as in, next week soon if all goes well) Akiko/Meijji is someone I known for a longer period and have often commissioned to draw my personal forum roleplay characters. She is the artist in charge of a side-project of our team and if all goes well we'll be able to tease you all with some art that will be used in it. This side-project is a visual novel not related to our manga series Mystic is another artist I had the joy of getting to know (amusingly as a result of him seemingly knowing Enjelia) and is the leader of the Indonesian doujinshi circle 'Nextheaven'. Mystic is in fact the artist who will be working on the visual novel aspect of our main series and will be drawing inspiration directly from the source material of the manga so that the style readers of the manga are used to, will remain familiar to them. After talking to him I have learned two important things: The world of artists has this huge secret network most of us are unaware of, and then the second bit is that I totally believe they are related to the Illuminati >_< Irvin is currently the one in charge of designs and concept art for something top secret *hush hush* Writing department: Me: Little old me, while most of my former experience in writing has come from forum roleplaying, I did dabble a bit in writing for visual novels before by means of helping out some friends, albeit later on I went my own way and decided I wanted to start working on my own stories. I'm pretty much working full-time on the project, and if it's anything story-related, whether it's the dialogue or narration, the characters or the story and its lore, you can expect me to have been hiding around writing them down (often throwing in unexpected curve-balls with sudden plot ideas that none in the team expected). The Red Pen coach of doom: http://www.theredpencoach.com/aboutnancy/ Ignoring my silly title for her, one of the important things I wanted to ensure that would happen at all costs is that the text would feel as natural as possible. Not only is Nancy a professional editor but she is also a writing coach. Whether it involves using that pen of her to tear through my scripts as if she was a sword-wielding warrior slicing up a monster (aka correcting grammar and ensuring the dialogue and narration are able to be read without someone needing to go 'what did he mean with that?'), or giving me feedback on the scenes. She also is the creative adviser who ensures that the actual story stuff isn't one hotpot of messy ideas. If there is any point in the story where something super important is explained in a way you can understand it? Then you got her to thank for the fact you didn't read Latin disguised as English. Karlos: Karlos is a friend of mine from my forum roleplay days, and he serves as the first line of defense on terms of helping me with suggestions on how to deal with the wording inside scenes. You know, it's always nice to have a native English speaker with an eye for detail to watch over your stuff. After his opinion and input things pretty much go forth to Nancy, who is like the big bad my script has to defeat before it reaches your eyes. Audio: We are currently in the process of talking to some professionals to get their support as a composer, but will be looking at using some of our connections to get Japanese Seiyuu down the line, but that's a thought for when the visual novel actually is in a state where we can consider it truly needed. Secret Elements: ??? 1: I can't go too much into detail about them yet, but they are pretty much the ones with actual professional experience on terms of visual novels and manga, and hopefully will help ensure that the end result is something that WOW you all. (You might end up recognizing them when I reveal their identity) ??? 2: Potential publisher for the manga, everyone on this site of the internet likely heard about them at least once, albeit the reason they are secret is because things will only be set in stone in January when the first chapter goes out. ??? 3: A game developer studio, wait what are those guys doing in this project? Well, they are actually huge fans of manga! And as a result are looking into all sorts of ways to help us out, only reason I'm not saying their name yet is because I'm still talking with their CEO about the project, and an actual proper decision will all depend on the manga itself. However, things are looking really positive right now, so I might be able to tell more about them soon. Now enough with the boring real life stuff, and onto the exciting things... the projects! Our projects are mostly made up out of 2 series, and I'm already going to reveal one of them. Our main series: Misadventures of an Overlord Main cast revealed so far (far from everyone involved): On terms of giving a comparison to an existing series I would compare it a little to High School DxD, in the sense that the series has those fancy action scenes, a lot of comedy, some fanservice (yes, I know the example has a LOT of fanservice, but you could say that in this story it's a bit more balanced) and fantasy as its setting (but unlike the example this story takes place into an actual fantasy world.) also who doesn't love following the story of one of those who is labeled the 'big bad' in their world? Well, that and the fact our protagonist doesn't want to get her own harem, nor wants to become the Oppai queen... As mentioned before we are also having a visual novel being developed, and to provide a sneak peek: Visual Novel: Everyone likely knows that feeling, the dream of being a character in your favorite series. It's that idea that led to the decision to focus the Visual Novel on a different type of story than one might had expected. By introducing an original protagonist for the VN (who is either male or female depending on the player's choice) the involvement of this character pretty much changes the story of the manga. There will be familiar characters to talk to (and even romance), events from the manga (albeit those will obviously have potential changes or different outcomes depending on your choices and actions) but one of the reasons we went with this choice is to make it feel as if YOU the reader were given the chance to enter the story of the manga. Now on terms of the development itself I'll hope to explain a few things: The important thing to keep in mind is the fact that our projects are 'linked' together. What does this mean? It basically means that the progress of the visual novel depends entirely on the development of the manga. At its core our primary focus remains the manga series, especially since we plan to get it translated to Japanese and then use the studio involved in that work their connections to try to hit one of the Japanese publishing houses. I know, this is a crazy endeavor, getting serialized in a Japanese manga magazine is crazy difficult for a foreigner, and remaining in there is an even more insane endeavor on its own. It's part of why starting end 2016, you'll find me in Japan... studying Japanese (that sounds a bit silly.). I already been in contact with a language school in Fukuoka, where I'd be staying at if all things go according to plan. Ideally my dream would be to stay there at least for a few years to intensively learn Japanese, so that I'll be able to communicate with people through it (in the end communication and connections are some of the most important weapons at your disposal in the creative world.), of course I'll still be working on the project during that time. But one of the cool things about this studio is that they actually have been involved in the anime industry, so all in all we are given a fair chance to get our manga at least read (part of their service involves the submission of the manga, albeit I won't be able to provide details on that till later) and if we do get accepted? Then all the better! Albeit we're totally gonna release in English also, and it will be our main focus at first also. But back onto the visual novel itself. One of the reasons the Visual Novel will have a development that is different from most, is due to the link to the manga series. You could say the Visual Novel is going to be divided into monthly episodes, that pretty much serve as an update to expand the story up to where the main story of the VN reaches the same 'level' as the manga (or arc). I'd like people to know that I will also be using this topic as a means to communicate with everyone. Whether it's answering questions about the manga, or the visual novel or even just something like 'hey, how did you do this', as long as it isn't some top sensitive information, or a huge spoiler to the story I will be trying my best to answer every question. Aside from that I hope to be able to provide everyone with a little teaser in the form of a finished manga page (if you ever read or watched Bakuman you'll likely know how much work goes into making a manga) next week, and in the near future be able to provide everyone some concept images of the visual novel. Have a fine day, and a happy start to 2016 \^_^

Dutch Or to be more correct, Flemish (Vlaams) I guess ^^ Cause if I said I spoke Dutch instead of Flemish (or rather the Antwerps dialect) my parents would look oddly at me =3

Yes, our beer is terrible (the reason I never even tasted a glass, but that's cause I dislike beer in general.) but when people hear about my country they often end up talking about its beer =P And of course you can \^_^ Brussels waffles for everyone~ (I really could go for one right now, but at midnight that's a bit late =P) The only thing you can't get is my waifu >_> ahem~ Thank you for the welcome ^^

Hello everyone, First and foremost: Thank you very much for taking the time to look at this introduction thread, I would give you a cookie but sadly they were used as tributes for someone. My name is Bart, a 25 years old (gods it does start to sound old those days) man living in Belgium. While I'm not the best with introductions I'll try my best not to make everyone fall asleep. When we get onto real life subjects I'm afraid I won't be able to provide you with any exciting tales. I'm just an ordinary everyday person, trying to live life the way it goes, and chasing my childhood dreams. I'm still living with my parents (partly because I'm Autistic and have only recently started to become independent enough to be able to consider the idea of living on my own). Aside from that I got my younger brother staying in the same house, two abandoned cats who were taken in several years ago during a stern winter and since then became part of the family, and one cat who thinks he is a tiger. On terms of interests I tend to have the type of interests most people here likely are familiar with. Video games (whether Japanese roleplaying games or MMORPG or visual novels), manga and anime. On terms of manga or anime I'm particularly fond of comedy or fantasy settings, and if there is any yuri involved then it's an even greater bonus for me. My first manga was Mahou Sensei Negima, and my first anime was Ah my Goddess!. On terms of visual novels my first one was Ever 17 (Tsugumi Komachi shall forever my favorite heroine of that game) and on terms of story I would likely say Tears to Tiara or Utawarerumono have been the most memorable for me due to my fondness for fantasy. I'm a HUGE fanta addict, and usually a fanta bottle is more than enough to keep me happy for the rest of the day. Hmm what else to say... I learned English primarily through self-study, hence my grammar is rather flawed in some points, but I keep trying to improve myself ^^ That aside my reason for joining Fuwanovel is two-fold. The first, and perhaps foremost reason is to get the chance to talk and get to know people with similar interests, that seem to be plenty over here. The other side is more related to my childhood dream. You see, I have always been incredibly fond of stories, especially those of the fantasy genre, and one of my most favorite ways to pass the time is to daydream my own adventures, and sometime hope to bring those stories to the world for people to enjoy. Of course, the courage to take initiative, and the determination to chase your dreams all the way is the magic that turns dreams into reality (I wonder how many will notice the quote from a certain game I hid in there...). In the end this childhood dream of mine became a reality when I started to team up with a professional manga artist who was interested in my project, and through the connections I obtained from that I found myself getting a team of sorts. Of course, when you end up getting the interest of some businesses that see potential in your work, then you arrive at a point where a childhood dream becomes an endeavor you have to take serious, and aside from the fact that one of my stories will be having its first chapter published end January, the conversations with those businesses led to things to expand. There were talks about the idea of developing a game alongside the series (obviously super exciting when it's an actual game development studio that suggests it), but what made me even more happy was that the project was also returning to its roots, in the form of a visual novel (that unlike the aforementioned game would be developed more internally.) Yet one of the things I always considered incredibly important when I started this project was the fact that I wanted it to be something that would be of a high enough quality that the readers would be satisfied for the time they spend experiencing the story, but also to be something that the team could be proud of as a whole. Certainly, there are some ways to secure a certain sense of quality. For example by hiring skilled artists to ensure the art is something pleasing to the eye. But at the same time all of you, considering that the visual novel genre is so dear to you know that just art or fancy music doesn't make a good game, right? You need good art, good music and equally important: a good story to draw you in. Especially the last bit was important to me, because with myself being in charge of the story, not to mention working full-time on the project as a writer I was quite to acknowledge my own shortcomings. My self-taught English was far from good enough to deliver the type of writing people would expect in a visual novel, and in the end I secured the aid of a skilled and (in my opinion) amazing lady who doesn't just work on the project as an editor, but due to her career also functions as a writing coach and a creative adviser. For example ensuring that our plot doesn't get filled with enough holes to make a block of cheese feel jealous, to keep all the characters their personality consistent over the entire series and to provide feedback and suggestions on the story as a whole (alongside ensuring that the prose feels natural and yet eloquent enough that it pleases the readers.) But there is one more thing that would be considered an essential ingredient to make a visual novel have the potential to become great: The feedback and critic of those who have read so many visual novels they could almost (or perhaps they even can) consider themselves an expert on them. To learn the opinions and ideas of those people, to learn what they like and dislike about various things would become a key factor in helping me improve my story even further. And that's what became my second reason for joining this forum. Anyway, thank you for reading this likely way too boring introduction, and please look forward to the revelation of my project in greater detail soon (and in the right area ^^) Short version: Guy from Belgium says hi, hopes to get to talk to people and hopefully create a series with the help of some people he is working together with.