Some changes in Gray's route
Added 2021-09-21 19:39:53 +0000 UTCI wanted to announce a couple of changes in Gray's route, which is still under development.
MC's animosity towards Gray
I've seen a few sentiments about MC's character in particular and how while they enjoy Gray as a character, they dislike the MC because she's too standoffish towards Gray. From other feedback before on previous routes, people's enjoyment of the route is directly linked to whether or not they enjoyed (or tolerated) the MC. If they disliked the MC, then the entire route was a mess.
So the comments that said they think the MC is too abrasive towards Gray, I've taken them into account and have started editing the story to tone down her animosity towards Gray. She'll be mellowed out and is no longer openly hostile towards Gray. Hopefully this will improve people's enjoyment of the route. So if you think it's strange that MC is suddenly much nicer in the upcoming chapters (and previous ones), this is the reason why!
Ivan and Jed
This was something that I felt was necessary to address. As I work on Tailor Tales, I try to add more and more diverse characters in the routes. Ivan is one such character, clearly depicting a black man with dreads. The downside is; he's also the villain of the story. Due to the nature of how black people are portrayed in media, I realized that I turned the only black man (in Gray's route) into a bad guy. That's not a connotation I wish to make, nor was it my intention.
(Original Jed on the left, original Ivan on the right)
That's why I've decided to swap Ivan's sprite with that of Jed. They both had similar builds and their voices could easily fit for the other one, but more importantly; Jed is one of the good guys in the story. So from now on out, Jed's appearance will have swapped with that of Ivan's. Their personalities, names and voices remain the same, only the sprite will have changed.
I hope you understand my reasoning behind this. I have many people of colour as players here and I want to represent them as well, but not by accidentally shoving the only relatable figure into a villain role.
So please be mindful of the upcoming update that Jed's sprite will have changed with that of Ivan's and vice versa.
With that said, I want to let everyone know if there's something in the route that bothers you, or makes you uncomfortable, you can always let me know what it is and we can figure out a way to make it more palatable. This includes adding more trigger warnings if necessary etc. I do take your concerns seriously.
Comments
I am loving the updates based on what I've read it used to be. The only thing that I have a hard time with is the MC hiding her identity so hard. I personally can't keep a secret from someone who would be honest about their past. I'd crash under that pressure and give it up almost immediately especially if I felt I was interested in them/knew that I hurt them. I understand that more than likely will be relevant to the development of the story and the characters, that being said. It's just hard to think in the MC's mindset for me, haha, but I appreciate the story none the less.
Amanda Haas
2021-10-18 06:54:06 +0000 UTCThanks so much, Celina. Must say I also found that the MC was too focused on old high school hostility. You are such a great writer. Definitely going to reread now from chapter 1. :)
Luna_Roll
2021-10-04 07:59:15 +0000 UTCHaving Patrons follow the process of the game, and hearing their opinions on the current build definitely influences future builds! Stories can change and go in a different direction depending on how its received etc. This is also why Eeyok turned from a throw away character, to one of the most important supporting characters in James' route due to his popularity with the players. This is why feedback is always important and nice to have as a creator! It's all still a work in progress, so seeing what works and what doesn't is part of the process :)
Celianna
2021-10-03 21:11:52 +0000 UTCThe fact that you took this into account makes my heart swell. Thank you! Not many would have made such a change but you have proven to me that creators can be aware of these types of damaging stereotypes even in fiction <3
Meshea462 .
2021-10-03 19:00:27 +0000 UTCI am excited b/c this means there is technically more content! I can go back and see if I can figure out what changed :D I really like that a perk of being a patreon member is that we get to see a lot of the process of the game development as well as influence it. It is another layer of entertainment in addition to the game itself. Thank you for all your hard work!
Besotted
2021-10-03 17:38:45 +0000 UTCAs far as the sprite, I really liked the sprite you had for Jed but I get the reasoning.
Laura Mastric
2021-09-25 20:29:37 +0000 UTCI would like to see some romantic developments between Sarah and Jed. Just putting the idea there if it isn't already. There seems to be a good basis for them coming together and i personally love the idea of besties dating. In Caine's route i enjoyed how Sarah had more of a role in the story.
Laura Mastric
2021-09-25 20:29:05 +0000 UTCNoooooo she was perfect :( It is nice to see a MC not automatically befriend someone especially with their history. Her behavior didn't seem extremely harsh either :(.
krysiis
2021-09-24 07:39:54 +0000 UTCThank you for this change! I love a more outspoken and strong MC but in this route I did find her too harsh. It wasn't horrible but sometimes I wish she was nicer towards Gray.
Fangboylover
2021-09-24 03:44:04 +0000 UTCI admit James' route's endings did end up rushed. I was running out of chapters to wrap up the story for both plotlines (Varitus & Hulio), and ended up resolving them in the same chapter, which can feel rushed and out of place. Since each character has a fixed 28 chapters, I realized more and more as I wrote James that... I couldn't write what I wanted to write and still keep it 28 chapters long! That's why each chapter became longer and longer because I knew I still had a lot of content to go through, but not a whole lot of chapters left. If I knew how long James' route would have been in the end, I'd have stretched out content among earlier chapters so there'd be enough chapters at the end to write two separate chapters to resolve the conflict instead. I may revisit James' route to fix the pacing once I have the time for it.
Celianna
2021-09-23 18:13:36 +0000 UTCSorry to hear you don't like the rival gang theme! I always wanted Gray and MC to be rivals in a way and this is what we ended up with. Twists and reveals are pretty standard for each story (Neil's, Caine's, Aiden's and yes, Gray's), and for this story's conflict, MC doesn't want to reveal her identity to Gray. The dominant and submissive dynamic only comes into play once MC has already confessed and they start being honest with each other. Please note that this dynamic is not the focus of the route either! This is not a story about a dom LI and sub MC, but a story between two rival rang leaders who are learning to work with each other. Please hold your judgement about them being in an unhealthy relationship until you've read more of the story. Unhealthy is definitely not what we're going for, but that will need a little bit more time to develop. Nadine and I work hard on this route ❤ You know what, if it pleases you, I would invite you to come and read over Gray's current script and you can tell me if there's anything problematic. You can join the Discord and message me if you'd like: https://discord.gg/Hh5RGA3
Celianna
2021-09-23 17:57:01 +0000 UTCThe MC's personality towards Gray will be a bit more toned down, it does not mean she becomes a passive pushover. It's the difference between MC glaring at him for no reason, or just looking at him normally. Small tweaks.
Celianna
2021-09-23 17:50:33 +0000 UTCPlease dear god don't be another boring passive pushover MC. 😐
Junesong
2021-09-23 15:12:11 +0000 UTCSame tbh. There's already so many VN's with passive MC's and one of the things I like about Tailor Tales is that you can be a little firecracker without getting punished for it with a bad ending and such. Not loving this change at all.
Junesong
2021-09-23 15:10:55 +0000 UTCI really dislike the liar revealed stories too. I like when you have multiple opportunities to tell them before things get serious. Plus if Ivan one of the other rival gang leaders is in some kind of alliance with Gray after all those years why is the MC still afraid to come clean, they all did some messed up stuff but waiting until Gray finds out from someone else or on his own is ridiculous
Naima
2021-09-23 14:44:36 +0000 UTCSame, the gang storyline is strange and I was confused of how the nickname/gangname was supposed to be masculine or something but I didn't name it that way which mixed up people's response to thinking MC's a male. That gang mess reminds me of Riverdale which I stopped watch bc I got too confused. Maybe the MC's brother should've been the gang leader and the MC not in the gang at all but got mixed up in their mess because they know her brother idk
Naima
2021-09-23 14:33:29 +0000 UTCThe main issue I had personally was the whole high school gang storyline, it's just weird and something I can't relate to at all, it felt like a very strange choice to begin with considering Gray is supposed to be a dominant LI, and pitting him against MC from the beginning destroys trust, which is necessary for a dom/sub relationship to be successful. And as someone stated before, it feels like it's leading to ANOTHER liar revealed storyline, which has been done already and doesn't really work with the VERY important guidelines for SSC d/s dynamics. Sorry for rambling a bit, but there's a huge difference between playful undertones to a d/s dynamic and an unhealthy one.
Cupcake
2021-09-23 04:40:27 +0000 UTCHonestly, I'm so grateful that you listen to feedback like this. I do agree that the MC went at Gray HARD sometimes for barely any reason when the dude was really trying but I'm so glad you're tweaking it down a bit. I love the mc in every route and this was the only time I've disliked part of the MC's personality so happy it's getting fixed! Looking forward to the next build release!
Empty My Bank Account
2021-09-22 22:27:10 +0000 UTCI felt MC's animosity towards Gray was warranted given from her perspective he had brought a knife to their fight intending to stab her. In fact I didn't really understand why she felt guilty enough to let him stay in her basement given that he's obviously dangerous. (I know Ivan planted the knife but MC doesn't)
sarap
2021-09-22 18:48:19 +0000 UTCThat’s wonderful! I think when the next update is ready I’ll restart to see it. Thank you for being such a kind and considerate human. ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🖤🤍🤎
MermaidVictory
2021-09-21 22:57:52 +0000 UTCThank you so much for your awareness! I know you will get a lot of differing feedback but I am actually glad that you made the switch with Ivan & Jed. It didn't bother me to much but I definitely had a "of course he's black" eyeroll moment (not a literal eyeroll, lol I love your content too much for that). Thank you for your thoughtfulness when it comes to these issues! I love it!
Monola
2021-09-21 22:41:53 +0000 UTCI didn't mind the MC's hostility towards Gray; I'm more dreading that Gray's route is a "liar revealed" kind of story, which I kinda hate. Plus another LI's route already had a similar element, so I really hope Gray's route isn't a repeat from another angle. About Ivan and Jed: I was prepared to enjoy the latter's character as Sarah's LI and feel jelly that he's not the MC's LI! But I truly understand the issue of making the first black guy of your game the villain is a bit questionable, and whatever you'll say as the creator, people might still interpreted it in unintended ways. But could you maybe change his story instead, so that he's not the "villain"? Make him an "anti-hero" or something? I mean I really like both Ivan & Jed for their designs and characters, but I don't like the idea of them switching places/roles.
Hattivatti
2021-09-21 21:53:12 +0000 UTCThank you so much for your consideration for the black community when changing Ivan’s sprite. I really appreciate that🥰🥰
Fairy sweet
2021-09-21 20:57:23 +0000 UTCThe ending definitely felt rushed; I figured it was just writer fatigue, considering how long James' route is compared to the others. While I largely enjoyed his route, the ending put a bit of a damper on it.
Muur _
2021-09-21 20:27:41 +0000 UTCThe only route I had an issue with was James as it seemed to end too...kindly. The ending felt rush and I immediately didnt want to bother reading through the plus scenes.
eddiebyme
2021-09-21 20:17:15 +0000 UTCEh, dunno. I actually was fine with that aspect of the MC in his route thus far (variety and all that), but at other times I felt she was a bit too... emotional? Unaturally so, like she was overreacting to the point I was thinking "girl, calm down." As someone else said, you can't please everyone, so do what you feel is best.
Muur _
2021-09-21 20:16:48 +0000 UTCI understand why you felt the need to change ivan and jed spirits out but to be honest the thought of ivan being a villain never bother me. I am black myself, but to be honest- there are villains of every race and skin tone. I thought it added to Ivan's character development as he would (hopefully) turn around as well as all the old gang leaders in gray's route. I'll respect your wishes though. Thanks for thinking about everyone.
eddiebyme
2021-09-21 20:16:00 +0000 UTCGood on you for the sprite swap! It was something that had crossed my mind but I assumed maybe I was overreacting. Thank you for making changes as you go along.
BIRBtown
2021-09-21 20:04:20 +0000 UTCYay! I'm really glad the MC won't be forced to be such an abrasive ass now. Although I don't mind (and do enjoy) having the MC give as good as she gets (as she did with James in the beginning), when Gray is being kind/flirty/not a jerk, it'll be nice to see her to be decent, instead of defaulting to being nasty to him all the time. I mean, other than letting him rent out the basement, she really did come off as flat out horrible, often with no reason--to a guy whose life she pretty much ruined. Left a bad taste in my mouth. As for the other change, I never took it as you making a statement that the only person of color is bad, but I get why you're doing it. Besides, original Ivan is way hotter than Jed, anyway. The dude's eyes are killing me. <3
EvilChani
2021-09-21 19:49:43 +0000 UTCYou are so sweet and thoughtful with these changes!! I really appreciate it, I will admit when I first realized Ivan is the villain of the story I did feel kind of uncomfortable with it — I really appreciate the changes you’ve made and am excited for the next update. 🥰
MAE
2021-09-21 19:48:57 +0000 UTCNot only did you Make Ivan amazingly HOT but I really do appreciate you taking the current social climate into account :) your forever amazing
Ariel Juliet
2021-09-21 19:48:02 +0000 UTCI haven’t started Gray’s route yet but I am very grateful of this change after reflecting on everything. I’m sure Ivan would’ve been very hot as a villain but I’m grateful for how much thought you put into this <3
Charlie Taylor
2021-09-21 19:45:22 +0000 UTCI have to admit, I really enjoy being able to give it back to Gray as much as he gives - you can’t please everyone, that’s a fact, but I hope you leave in a few where MC refuses to take any nonsense still! 💖
Wren
2021-09-21 19:43:01 +0000 UTCI understand your changes
Smol Fox
2021-09-21 19:41:33 +0000 UTC
