Hello everyone,

I wasn’t going to post a devlog this month because of exams but… SURPRISE! Life said "plot twist" and here I am ^^ 

Now you might be wondering, “Wait Deniz, you didn’t fail your exams, did you?” (thankfully, I’ve passed everything so far phew / still have a few left to go, but the main bulk is DONE).  

And if you’re wondering, “Weren’t you buried in exams? Do you even have any updates?” well, let’s just say I went into full-on stress-writing mode. A series of spiral-inducing events hit back-to-back: exams, getting rejected from a writing job I was really hoping for (it was for a visual novel too T~T), my phone completely giving up on life (hello, white screen of death… now I’m phoneless for a bit), and some personal stuff.

So instead of letting the spiral win, I poured all that energy back into Chromatic Agape. Did it help? Well, let’s find out~

The Good

~Writing Progress (Prologue)

I’ve officially wrapped up 25k words from the script (the rest of the prologue!) and sent it off to our editor for a final pass. If you remember, back in March, our editor finished working on 10k words. Since then, I revised another 15k, had it beta read, applied the feedback, and now it’s finally reached the “editor round 2” stage. So from my side, that portion is more or less locked in.

Once I move into the programming phase, some sections might get trimmed down depending on how the scenes, animations, and transitions flow, but I’m estimating the full prologue for the game's release will be around 45k words (the current build sits at ~22k). Here’s a little snapshot of the outline for the prologue, by the way. You can spot the arrow marking where the current demo build ends.

Throwback time! This is the original outline I put together back when I first started planning the script for CA during NaNoReno + Otome Jam. Felt like sharing it for nostalgia’s sake. We’ve definitely come a long way since then, wild to think how much has grown!

Truth be told, it’s been a bit of a bumpy ride with the script (and with programming too, but that’s a whole other story). Sometimes beta readers aren’t available, or the editor’s overwhelmed, or I just don’t have the time or energy to tackle the revisions right away. The last recruitment didn’t really take off, and with exams and everything else going on, I haven’t had it in me to put up another call. So… I’m just kind of playing it by ear for now. We’ll see how it goes.

~Writing Progress (Adonis - Route)

In April’s devlog, I mentioned being neck-deep in Adonis's route. I finally managed to revise 20k words of his script. You would not believe how many times I rewrote his route, especially since I’m trying to juggle that “dom daddy meets playful menace” combo (help).

Once I wrap up revisions, it’s off to the beta/editor loop again. And because I love you all, here’s a cheeky little snippet from his route where he teaches you how to use his beloved kiseru (don't judge me XD):

“He gently lifts the mouthpiece.”
Adonis “Open your mouth for me, sweetheart.”
“I do. And the tip of the pipe slips past my lips.”
Adonis “Now, take a breath in. Don’t rush and swallow.”
Adonis “Let the smoke sit in your mouth.”
“I follow his instructions, awkward at first. The smoke curls around my tongue. It burns slightly, not in a bad way, just enough to remind me this isn’t my usual territory.”
Adonis “Good. Now, pull it a little deeper, then exhale through your nose. Slow.”
“I breathe out like he says, and the smoke rolls from me in a soft cloud. It doesn’t feel as harsh as I expected, maybe that’s the herb blend, maybe it’s just the way his eyes are on me the whole time.”
Adonis “Congratulations, you just had your first indirect kiss with a pixie.”

~Milestone

ALSO, big milestone alert: we just hit 30k downloads!!  Can you believe it was just March when we were celebrating 15k? Time flies by, and I’m honestly so, so grateful. This milestone wouldn’t have been possible without you, thank you to everyone who rated, commented, shared, and helped push our game forward with your support. Without y’all, we probably would’ve been swallowed whole by the Itch algorithm abyss (and I’m not even joking).

We even made a little celebratory post starring our baby boy Shyloh this time. Go show him some love! It’s up on Twitter and Bluesky.

The Bad

We’ve recently had a few spam comments pop up, usually with shady links like this:

We’re doing our best to remove them as quickly as possible to keep things safe. But, please be cautious and DON'T click on any suspicious links in the comments. If you see anything off, feel free to report it or let us know! 

Adding on, something’s been on my mind lately, and I wanted to check in with you all real quick… How often do you actually see CA posts on Twitter/Bluesky? I’m not sure if the posts aren’t reaching folks, or if maybe it’s time to switch up the type of content we share?

Truth be told, it's been giving me a bit of posting anxiety too. I’ve definitely had moments where I post something and then immediately delete it out of panic. If you ever saw one of those rogue posts in the wild... no you didn’t XD

Marketing is hard and I’m suffering T~T

Fan Spotlight

Alsooo, I think it’s high time we kick off something I’ve been meaning to do for a while now— a FAN SPOTLIGHT!!! (๑>ᴗ<๑)

Each devlog, I’ll be highlighting some amazing fan creations made by folks in the community (be it fanart, fanfic, you name it). And to kick things off, I’m super excited to feature our very first mentions: @Pipalapeda (fanart) and Jasmine_Flower (fanfic). I wanted to share these two absolutely gorgeous pieces featuring Helios and Kai, and listen, your eyes deserve this blessing. Feast on the icons~

Kai… our precious baby. I’m gonna cry fr, his route, y’all… Protect him. Cherish him. You're not ready (neither am I).

I’ve come to the conclusion that someone seriously needs to put Helios in his place. And guess what? It’s you. You’re the chosen one.  Go forth. Fluster the smug man. Knock him off his pedestal. Do it for all of us.

FURTHERMORE, we got our first fanfic, everyone!! You can check it out HERE, and ya'll, just know: the word choices?? The scenery?? I was so marveled I nearly dove into the story myself <3

As for the prize... would you believe me if I said I'm STUCK??  Maybe an extra ending for Rosario??  Let me contemplate it a bit more, bear with me.

(Victor, if you’re reading this, I’m totally adding you in for the next devlog~ LotusLavi, you too!! Let me know if I have your permission to include your artwork, I haven’t found a way to contact you in private T~T)

On an unrelated note, I’ve gotta say— I’m SUPER surprised that we don’t have anything for Shyloh yet! So far, the only characters without any fanart or fanfic are Shyloh, Adonis, and Merka. Which is wild, especially considering how many people have expressed interest in Shyloh. Our editor actually put it perfectly in two words: Ringelmann effect.

In Closing

That’s it from me for now! Fingers crossed I survive the next round of exams too, so I can come back with even more exciting CA updates. In the meantime, if you’ve been enjoying the game, please consider rating, commenting, or sharing it (really makes a huge difference).

Right now, only 1.43% of our total downloads have resulted in ratings. It’s a free game, costs you nothing, and your support truly means the world to us <3 Let’s hit that 500 ratings milestone together!! (And once we do… I'll drop a handsome Adonis CG preview ^^)

Until next time~