Hello guys!

INTRO

Just wanted to make a post here since it has been awhile and I have gone quiet not only on here but on all my social medias. I just wanted to say first off, thank you to everyone who has been supporting me and this project since it first launched. It's a lot of work to make a game, but seeing the support I get from it is all the worth while.

I know I have been going back and forth the last couple months, like going on hiatus then working on the game then going back on a hiatus. I did not mention it on here, but I did go on another long hiatus due to a lot of reasons that I would like to talk about today.

WHY I WENT ON HIATUS

I went on hiatus for many reasons- main one was mental health and burnout. I have anxiety and depression (not that this is imperative to note but helps with the idea of my daily experience), but on top of that I also recently got diagnoised with ADHD. This is also not so much as an importance to why I went on hiatus, but may explain why I find it so difficult to get myself to focus on my game lately. I go in and out of hyperfixations with my own game, working on it everyday for months on end ignoring my personal needs then not touching it at all due to burnout or pure hatred for my creation. Either way, both are unhealthy habits that I have had. Recently I also quit my job (on my own accord) and I did find a new job but it caused a lot of my mental health to worsen over the past two to three months. Me sharing this information is in no way me trying to find comfort or validation or even pity, I just want to share some of what has been going on lately. I also, if anyone saw the last post, decided to rewrite the WHOLE script for Jack Frost. I was 30,000 words in and had to start over and it was a hard pill to swallow. This was not only due to me hating what I wrote, but also hating why I was writing it. Which goes into my next topic.

WHAT IS JACK FROST ABOUT?

I've struggled with this topic for so long, because I am big into yandere games and had a lot of yandere easter eggs in Jack Frost intially, of course people would assume and rightfully so that Jack Frost is a yandere game. Though I do want the game to discuss themes of obsession v. admiration, I do not want anyone going into this game thinking that Jack Frost is a traditional yandere. When I discussed this in a previous post, some people responded by saying that Jack is a soft yandere. I liked the idea at the time, because I thought it fit his character, but as I get back into making my game- I wonder if that's really how I want to label Jack. Despite the urge to make a traditional yandere game (which I do have at least two in production at this time), I don't want to label Jack Frost as a yandere in any way. Though the game may explore some "yandere" themes, especially based on the player's choices, I don't want anyone to assume because of that- that it will be a traditional yandere game. The main focus of the game is on friendship/romance, alienation from others and yourself, self-hatred v. self-love, and exploring the topics of mental health especially when it is ignored. I want so many of you guys to love this game for what it really is, but I felt like I may not have been clear enough on what this game is because I myself was still trying to figure it out but also please people at the same time. I struggle a lot with wanting to make others happy before myself, but for now on, that is going to change. 

WHEN WILL JACK FROST RELEASE?

This is a question that I myself was struggling to answer, but I really want to get this game done BEFORE winter of 2025. In some of my earlier posts I told y'all that I would release Act I of Jack Frost and a small game too- now I am not so sure about that. I may still do, but right now I am going to go with the flow and play it by ear instead of making promises I probably can't keep. Sorry to disappoint but I will do my best.

TO END IT OFF...

Thank you guys again for your support and overall your PATIENCE. I still have a lot of work to do, but I'm going to do my best to take a more healthy route when it comes to working on Jack Frost to make it the game I want it to be. If you have any questions about the game or it's development- respond to this post or go on one of my social medias and I will answer. I'm going to also work on being more active and be a part of the visual novel community again- I really missed interacting with everyone and I don't want to lose that.

Also, just for fun, I started streaming on Twitch and playing a Modded Survival Skyrim run. I will most likely be streaming Jack Frost's game development on there as well here soon (It will mostly just be me redrawing backgrounds and sprites from the demo and answering questions).

Please scan the QR Code or press it to access my linktree, from there you can support/follow me on multiple platforms. Thank you!

Until the next update, my Flowers. <3