VN Ren'Py Completed Life Changes for Keeley [v1.0] [Tora Productions]

[FatGiant]

Hmm, I think you might be confusing some feminists with lesbians, the two don't always go hand-in-hand (though often do). I would say that it's very much down to personal taste, so all I can really do is speak from personal experience and share the opinions of others that I've spoken to, which is, that we're attracted not just to females but to the feminine. Despite some modern takes on what that is (and it is something that will always be subjective and somewhat 'unattainable'), to many, that still includes taking pride and care over appearance (to varying degrees). Considering that nowadays it's very common for both gay and straight men to spend a lot of time on grooming and self care, why would it be different for women that are attracted to other women?

It really isn't a huge deal, I just commented that (in my experience and that of friends and former partners) I found it odd and out of place. That is by no means any indication of a larger trend or bias. And thank you for politely sharing your thoughts.

You see, grooming and self care go hand-in-hand with beauty trends and beauty standards.

What you see in Porn, is largely male oriented. That many women, and many of them lesbians or bi-sexuals, inherit those standards is quite unsurprising. It is a powerful imagery that many are introduced to way too early while still in their formative years, that are also when curiosity and interest are developing.

There's nothing wrong in liking or preferring this or that, especially in regards to our own bodies. The harm, if any, may come when generalizing. I don't think that ALL lesbians feel the same way, act the same way, like the same things, etc.

But, I do think that many of them (and again I'm sorry if I'm wrong) don't give a rats ass to beauty standards created and needed by the male population. As you say some are feminists, which by itself is a whole another population that couldn't care less about male standards of beauty, but, even them have as much variety as anything else in the world.

It is a common saying that beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, I agree with that. Let's just not presume that there is only ONE beholder, or that it is a male.

Peace

 

[Avaron1974]

Why should Lesbians that have no interest in pleasing males, go to that trouble?

I'll answer this first ..... because we spend a lot of time with our faces down there.

It is my experience and by that I mean really close family, that a large majority of lesbians don't buy the hetero normative views of body hair. By this I mean, no armpit shave, no pubic hair shave (at most some taming, but some times no effort is made), no leg shaving.

Typically it's more the extreme feminists, naturists and naturilists that don't shave.

A good portion of lesbians care very much about being well groomed.

I love a hairy bush. I trim mine and so does my girlfriend but that's it with regards to pubes. However I can't stand having leg. arm, arse or armpit hair. That's one of my wastes of money, I get my body hair, minus bush, regularly eloctrocuted the hell off my body. I feel really uncomfortable if I let leg hair grow out.

Only ever shaved my bush once when I was younger and it itched like I had a dose of crabs growing back.

 

[FatGiant]

I'll answer this first ..... because we spend a lot of time with our faces down there.



Typically it's more the extreme feminists, naturists and naturilists that don't shave.

A good portion of lesbians care very much about being well groomed.

I love a hairy bush. I trim mine and so does my girlfriend but that's it with regards to pubes. However I can't stand having leg. arm, arse or armpit hair. That's one of my wastes of money, I get my body hair, minus bush, regularly eloctrocuted the hell off my body. I feel really uncomfortable if I let leg hair grow out.

Only ever shaved my bush once when I was younger and it itched like I had a dose of crabs growing back.

Great.

Well, maybe it was really a problem of the sources I used. Or my bias against shaving (I'm a VERY hairy guy) that got in the way.

Thanks kind lady.

I do apologize if it offended anyone. TIL.

Peace

 

[Tlaero]

I'd like to say that the world would be a much better place if all disagreements were handled with the respect and dignity that you folks showed each other in this one. Well done!

As for breasts and hair, I tend to defer to Mortze on most things visual, and he tends to go with what he finds attractive. That said, his characters have definitely gotten bigger and harrier over the years. I would put my foot down if he ever went crazy and made a character with beachballs for breasts though.

If you play the Elsaverse Omnibus (https://f95zone.to/threads/elsaverse-omnibus-vol-1-tora-productions.90315/), you can see his earlier characters, who were smaller.

Tlaero

 

[Avaron1974]

Great.

Well, maybe it was really a problem of the sources I used. Or my bias against shaving (I'm a VERY hairy guy) that got in the way.

Thanks kind lady.

I do apologize if it offended anyone. TIL.

Peace

It's not offensive at all it's just a really hard question to answer because so many people have such different preferences.

 

[Turska]

That said, his characters have definitely gotten bigger and harrier over the years.

Not a native speaker of english and got a bit confused for a while. Then realised it was about hair and became convinced for a second that it was actually spelled like that, haha. But now that you mention it, Mortze's characters do resemble american fighter jet with the ability for vertical take off...

 

[EndlessNights]

I tried it and whilst I really liked the writing, certain aspects of the art really detracted from my being able to complete this. I would love to see the writer working with a different artist but as they've now made several games together, I sadly don't think this is likely to happen. As with another of their games, the breasts are incredibly badly done. It's not just about proportions but how they sit on the chest and how they defy gravity. The hair is another area where I believe the artist struggles and it's a shame because the faces are unique yet undeniably attractive. Also, speaking as a card-holding member of the L Club, characters having that much pubic hair (more bush than the Australian outback), is in my experience both rare and unrealistic (when there's obviously a lot of time spent on cunnilingus, excessive hair is very unwelcome for obvious reasons). I wish the devs good fortune with all their future endeavours but it would appear that their games seemingly aren't made for me.

I think what you'll have to decide ultimately is how important the art is to you when it comes to enjoying VNs. Personally, I put the writing and story way above everything else...so much so that I can even enjoy games with quite amateurish or weird, off-putting art if the writing engages me sufficiently. Ultimately, what I like best about Life Changes for Keeley is that its best route is a fantastic love story. Claryce always amazes me with how understanding and patient she is with Keeley who is going through one of the absolute toughest things in life to experience. They don't experience love at first sight or conversation, but they develop an amazing connection and a relationship based on open communication, trust, and emotional intimacy. There aren't many couples in fiction who feel as right together and perfectly suited for each other as Claryce and Keeley do to me.

I would say personally that I think Mortze is a great artist and that he and Tlaero make up one of the greatest dev teams in VN history, but he definitely follows a particular vision for character design that isn't particularly based on how human beings actually look in the real world. I also would like to see more realistic and varied bodies in AVNs personally, but thin + big boobs + big butt is more or less the industry standard and many artists exaggerate the breasts to a far greater degree than Mortze does. On the other hand, I do like the bushes partly because most AVNs present fully shaved as the absolute norm and also partly just because I like them despite the logistical challenges/accidental flossing opportunities they present in reality.

One thing I'm curious about is if Tlaero has ever played around with Daz Studio or similar software. What would the games look like if she was doing the art herself? Would the characters look similar to Mortze's or completely different? Of course, I'd never want to see our dynamic duo actually broken up...I'm just curious about what Tlaero game players in alternate universes might get to experience.

 

[Avaron1974]

I'm just curious about what Tlaero game players in alternate universes might get to experience.

If you travel back a few years, there was a time she created games without Mortze, they didn't start working together until they both had a few games under their belts.

I can't remember if Tlaero ever worked alone but I know she worked with Phreaky when her first few games came out and she made he own game engine which, if I remember right and I may not because my memory is awful, the original Elsaverse games were on.

It might be the first Christine and Keeley games that used that engine, it was a few sleeps ago now.

Fangirl extra points for mentioning she has used other names online and preferred using Tlaera.

 

[Tlaero]

One thing I'm curious about is if Tlaero has ever played around with Daz Studio or similar software. What would the games look like if she was doing the art herself? Would the characters look similar to Mortze's or completely different? Of course, I'd never want to see our dynamic duo actually broken up...I'm just curious about what Tlaero game players in alternate universes might get to experience.

Before I created "Tlaero" I was teaching myself to draw with an end goal of writing and illustrating my own comic books. I started out by scouring the internet for source materials. Then I moved to an early version of Poser. I'd pose a character and use it as source material for drawing.

I quickly learned that, while I enjoyed drawing, I was so abysmally slow at it that I'd never release a comic book. When I stumbled into ArianeB and started thinking about making erotic games, I dusted off Poser, and quickly moved to Daz. I played with it a fair amount, but never got good at it. I believe there are two sex scenes that I rendered. They were bonus scenes I created for re-releases of my early Phreaky games. I don't remember which ones. Probably Meeting Keeley and Life with Keeley.

I'm extraordinarily happy to be working with an artist as talented as Mortze. He does way better than I ever could.

If I were doing the characters, they would have smaller breasts, but wouldn't look anywhere near as good as Mortze's. He's a master of facial expressions, and that's what I care the most about. If you want to see him at his most impressive, play "Chasing Beth" and pay close attention to the Beth scenes. She spends the majority of that game sitting in front of a camera, and he managed to make her interesting. He practically made her act.

I have a lot of respect for a number of people in this niche. And, while I'd consider collaborating with a few of my favorites, I wouldn't dream of doing serious work with anyone but Mortze.

Tlaero

 

[Tlaero]

If you travel back a few years, there was a time she created games without Mortze, they didn't start working together until they both had a few games under their belts.

I can't remember if Tlaero ever worked alone but I know she worked with Phreaky when her first few games came out and she made he own game engine which, if I remember right and I may not because my memory is awful, the original Elsaverse games were on.

It might be the first Christine and Keeley games that used that engine, it was a few sleeps ago now.

Fangirl extra points for mentioning she has used other names online and preferred using Tlaera.

Mortze started with me. After I stopped working with Phreaky, Mortze approached me and offered to be my new artist. I didn't know him, so I asked him to send me an attractive, clothed character. Given what I'd been seeing from people, I expected him to send me a stock Victoria 4 with the Breast dial set to maximum. What he actually sent me was the original Elsa. That made me sit up and take notice. I then asked for 3 facial expressions. When I saw what he sent I knew I had someone special.

Yeah, I created the engine I used on all the Phreaky games and all the Mortze games in Elsaverse Omnibus Vol1. I've since converted the Mortze ones to Renpy. I actually wrote the engine to convince other people to make ArianeB-stlye games. It was a year or so later that I started using it myself.

When I made up my name, I intentionally didn't specify my gender and purposely ended it in "o" to give the impression that I was male. The internet wasn't a very friendly place for women back then, so I covered. Had I not tried to do that, I would probably gone with "Tlaera." But everyone knows me as "Tlaero" and I'm fine with that.

Avaron, in my book, you have infinite fangirl points. <hugs>

Tlaero

 

[Tlaero]

I believe there are two sex scenes that I rendered. They were bonus scenes I created for re-releases of my early Phreaky games. I don't remember which ones. Probably Meeting Keeley and Life with Keeley.

I found them. They were indeed in Meeting Keeley and Life with Keeley. It looks like the code doesn't work anymore, but you can get around it to see the scenes.

In Meeting Keeley, go into the "files" directory and run "bonus1.htm" (not bonus0).
In Life With Keeley, go into the files directory and run "extra1.htm" (not extra0 nor extra0a).

You wanted to see what alternate universe people are seeing? I think you'll agree that this universe with Mortze doing the art is a MUCH better place to be...

Tlaero

 

[bacienvu88]

If I were doing the characters, they would have smaller breasts, but wouldn't look anywhere near as good as Mortze's. He's a master of facial expressions, and that's what I care the most about. If you want to see him at his most impressive, play "Chasing Beth" and pay close attention to the Beth scenes. She spends the majority of that game sitting in front of a camera, and he managed to make her interesting. He practically made her act.

Much agree. Another one in Chasing Beth is the first sex scene with Serena where she first looks very uncomfortable (due to her injury), but gradually gets into it. And T&T of course, those are great as well.

PS. I love how you have kept the comments with your instructions to Mortze in the source code. It is great fun reading your comments and then comparing to Mortze's interpretation of those instructions.

 

[Kali_K]

Damnit! Tlaero, you seem like you've such a beautiful soul. I am kicking myself even more for not being able to experience your writing. I really did enjoy the little I did experience. If you ever release a straight-up novel (no pictures), I'd love to read it. My failing, and I suppose it really is something that casts a poor reflection upon me, is that when the medium is both narrative and visual, that I need to feel a balance, or harmony between them. Sure, there are hundreds of 'pretty' games out there with bad writing and some (though considerably less) with the inverse but I've never been able immerse myself in them and I feel your writing is something that one really should immerse oneself in (an opinion that EndlessNights' glowing praise amply reinforces). Sadly for me, I currently lack the ability to sufficiently separate one medium from the other when both are presented. Mortze absolutely does manage to create not only gorgeous but unique and interesting faces but the previous issues I've mentioned with the body designs, for some reason just make me unable to be anything other than distracted from the prose and feelings and emotions that it conveys.

Thank you for sharing your lovely work with us here and also for being so willing to discuss not only the game but other matters with us. Hopefully one day I'll acquire the cognitive resilience to better separate one thing from another and be able to experience your tales. Until then, I shall continue to appreciate you and to also be slightly envious of those who don't share my failings. <3

 

[Turska]

Hardly a failing to have preferences and pet peeves. I like big breasts, pubic hair and faces that have character so Mortze's girls are perfect for me. But if some other game has models that I'm not attracted to (or even worse, that I find distracting) I'm pretty sure I wouldn't keep playing it either. Tlaero actually has alluded to the fact that she has written prose under other alias, but she wants to keep that part of her career separated from this erotica venture and hasn't given any book names.

 

[bacienvu88]

Damnit! Tlaero, you seem like you've such a beautiful soul. I am kicking myself even more for not being able to experience your writing. I really did enjoy the little I did experience. If you ever release a straight-up novel (no pictures), I'd love to read it. My failing, and I suppose it really is something that casts a poor reflection upon me, is that when the medium is both narrative and visual, that I need to feel a balance, or harmony between them. Sure, there are hundreds of 'pretty' games out there with bad writing and some (though considerably less) with the inverse but I've never been able immerse myself in them and I feel your writing is something that one really should immerse oneself in (an opinion that EndlessNights' glowing praise amply reinforces). Sadly for me, I currently lack the ability to sufficiently separate one medium from the other when both are presented. Mortze absolutely does manage to create not only gorgeous but unique and interesting faces but the previous issues I've mentioned with the body designs, for some reason just make me unable to be anything other than distracted from the prose and feelings and emotions that it conveys.

Thank you for sharing your lovely work with us here and also for being so willing to discuss not only the game but other matters with us. Hopefully one day I'll acquire the cognitive resilience to better separate one thing from another and be able to experience your tales. Until then, I shall continue to appreciate you and to also be slightly envious of those who don't share my failings. <3

Tlaero has written a number of short stories and novellas as well. The Elsaverse Omnibus has some of them.

 

[Tlaero]

Tlaero has written a number of short stories and novellas as well. The Elsaverse Omnibus has some of them.

Thank you, Kali. What Bacienvu said is correct. You might check out the Omnibus. I think you'll find the visuals more to your liking (although, these games are a number of years old and both the technology and Mortze's skill has increased since then). There are a few mostly text and text only stories as well as a novella in there, but they're really add ons to the games. I'm not sure how much sense they'd make stand alone.

Tlaero

 

[Joshy92]

I hope people don't think I'm weird but I'll be honest
I like when a woman has small breasts
That is a big turn on for me personally
I don't know why tho

 

[FatGiant]

I hope people don't think I'm weird but I'll be honest
I like when a woman has small breasts
That is a big turn on for me personally
I don't know why tho

I don't think you're weird. My preferred boob sizes go from Tattoo to Bazoongas. To me, actually isn't about the boobs, but about the pleasure I can provide the person carrying them by stimulating that area. I get my fill with any size, anyway.

So maybe I'm even weirder, uh?

Peace

 

[Joshy92]

I just finished James side of the story for the first time
And I have to say I loved it
It was a great story.
I chose to Try and win back Keeley And I succeeded
It was an awesome ending

I'll try Claryce's path soon

 

[Tlaero]

I just finished James side of the story for the first time
And I have to say I loved it
It was a great story.

I'm glad you liked it. The story on James' side is a little thin. I'll be interested in hearing what you think of Claryce's path.

Tlaero