#opal second

"Our family is me and them. It always has been."

Because I've made ask games before on previous accounts but I don't think I've ever made one for this series and I thought it would be cute and generate some positivity! Send an ask or two or three (UwU or a dozen) to the person you reblog this from \^o^/!

Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter—what's your favorite season?

Do you use a self insert or create an OC for your MC? Both?

Favorite moment you've played from each game?

If you could make a moment for either game, what would it focus on?

Something you wish could have been added to OLBA?

Something you wish will be added to OLNF?

Who is your all-time favorite LI across both games?

Who are your favorite OLBA and OLNF NPCs?

Which NPC(s) do you think deserve more love?

Which family is your favorite?

Which character from the GB Patch catalogue would you want to have make a cameo in Our Life?

Which Our Life character(s) would you want to have make cameos in another GB Patch Game?

Which characters across both games do you think would get along well?

Each LI has a special hair quirk from Cove's wavy eyebrows to Tamarack's naturally occurring sparkles—which one is your favorite?

If you were tasked with making an OL3 and OL4 (spring and winter), what would you do for the setting, LIs and the plot/inciting incident?

Sunset Bird or Golden Grove? Or, are you a Prism Vista dark horse?

If your MCs across both games met each other, would they get along?

Your OLBA MC and OLNF MC switch lives for a day, how do you think things will play out?

If your MC was an animal, what would they be?

If your MC was a mythological creature, what would they be?

Does your MC have a special hair quirk and if so, what is it?

Does your MC have a natural unnatural hair and/or eye color?

What is a headcanon/special fact that is unique to your OL story/gameplay?

Outside of moments in the game, what is a cute moment you imagine your MC has with their LI in OLBA/OLNF [Step of your choice]?

Does your MCs relationship with the LIs lean toward romantic or queerplatonic or completely familial?

For romantically-inclined MCs, do they have crushes on other characters that aren't a LI?

For romantically-inclined MCs, do you think your MC dated around before dating their LI or is that LI their one and only?

For aromantic MCs, do they know they're loved and appreciated in the fandom space even if they might be overlooked, unseen or unposted in a space that does admittedly attract fans of romantic visual novels and dating games? I see you and I want you to know you and your MCs are appreciated

For aromantic MCs, do you think your MC dated around before before realizing their orientation or have they always known?

Does your MC do the proposing or receive the proposal in question?

For characters that don't gave Wedding DLCs, Derek and Baxter, where would you want the proposal to take place? (Feel free to add Renee as an honorable mention!)

What is an inside joke your MC has with a LI? (Receiver's Choice)

What is an inside joke your MC has with an NPC? (Receiver's Choice)

What jobs do your OLBA/OLNF MCs have?

For a little context, most of what I'm discussing comes from my own playthroughs with Nene, which means your experience may be different.

I find the way Opal talks with the MC so interesting. As I've mentioned before, language is an important aspect of interacting with children. It's typical for a child to reflect the language of their families, which I can personally see when playing.

From what I can tell, the MC, despite the fact that my MC avoids speaking, is quite 'well-spoken'. While keeping that 'childish' tone, their manner of speaking/thinking is reminiscent of their mother. I think this is because Opal never dumbs down her words or attempts to baby-talk the MC. She tells it how it is, maybe cracks a joke ever so often, but she never makes her child feel like they aren't smart enough to understand what she's saying.

I also want to mention Opal and her willingness to give the MC autonomy. Autonomy is "the capacity of individuals or groups to make informed decisions and act independently, free from external influence or coercion." Essentially: a person's ability to make decisions or act based on their own thoughts and feelings.

I noticed that Opal actually doesn't tell the MC 'no.' 'No' is such a powerful word, and as someone who wants to work with children, I've been told that we've started leaning away from telling children 'no'. It becomes more about letting children explore and make mistakes rather than protecting them from the consequences. Children learn from doing, and that's why it's important that they are given opportunities to make what we consider 'bad' decisions.

Also, Opal never downplays the MC's emotions but rather acknowledges them. If the MC is scared to go out to the woods, she acknowledges their fear and tells them that that emotion is okay while encouraging them to continue their adventure.

This is a little side tangent, but there's such an importance in acknowledging children's emotions while not labeling them as good or bad. WE label emotions as good or bad. However, we must remember that emotions are just reactions to situations. Anger is not a bad emotion. Sadness is not a bad emotion. They are REACTIONS. When we label them, children start to believe that these emotions are bad and if they feel them, they are a bad person. They learn to suppress these emotions rather than express them in a healthy manner.

I wanted to sketch him real quick, I LOVE THIS MAN.

something im glad about in olnf is that it leaves so much room for inserting your characters life into the canon while also keeping characters intact, which can be a really tricky thing to pull off! i think opal is really an excellent example of how strong gb patch's writing is in that aspect.