~MAGIC★BENCH~

-Indie who tries to make otome games in English and French-

[magicbench]

Hi, o was wondering if you are okay with people making fan made merchandise of your characters? (Examples: stickers, prints, etc) Completely understand if not! Hope you are doing well and have a lovely day/night <3

Hello ! It's totally okay to make merch, please go ahead and don't hesitate to share anywhere you want to promote it ✦ It would actually make me so happy to see it ♡

[magicbench]

hi! will the "future" fujib stories be in the main game or they will be like dlcs? like you mentioned about a 6 years timeskip, a marriage arc,..

Hello hello ~ After some thoughts on the matter, I'm planning on making a fandisc in the future ! The timeskip will be more than 6 years as the characters would be in their 20's and maybe older. The fandisc would follow their everyday life as adults, including mariage stories and parenthood (aaand a bit of spicy stuff too !). It's still an idea, but once I'm starting to work on it I'll make sure to make some update here on tumblr too O/

[magicbench]

how would the fujib love interests react to aya asking them that she wants to be the big spoon? >:3

I love this kind of questions ~ - Ikki : He's a tsundere, of course he would blush a lot at first. But we all know he would give up resisting the idea only a few seconds after Aya asked xD He isn't really good at this game... - Toshio : It's not a question nor an option. It's a fact. - Yuta : He likes to be the big spoon, but isn't against the idea of Aya being it. He would wholeheartedly embrace it. - Haru : Tsundere n°2 here, he would tell her to stop asking ridiculous questions like this while secretely wanting it badly. Would never admit it though. - Kenjki : "You want to be... a spoon ? What ?" then proceed to blush furiously and stutters once given the explanation (Aya wouldn't hesitate to add extra teasing on the matter, obviously) - Ryu : If Aya is the big spoon, then he is a bigger one. He does prefer giving the hug/giving in general rather than the other way around. He wouldn't be completely against it though ! So overall, everyone would be pretty accepting toward the idea, with some degrees of denial for some of them xD

[magicbench]

hello magic bench, how are you? i totally understand if you won't feel ok doing this, i don't want you to feel unconfortable with this theme so you can totaly ignore this ask! a loved one of mine passed away recently, and i was wondering if you have already though about how would the fujib LI help aya dealing with grief...

Hello ! Don't worry it's okay ✿ First of all, I'm so sorry for your lost and for answering you maybe too late. I hope you are doing okay and still seeing little hapiness in everyday life nonetheless even though it is not easy matter ♡ As for Aya... Oh she would be devastated. Imagining her grieving a family member or one of her good friends is so sad to think of. But I think each LI would have their own precious and loving way to support her until she feels better again. - Ikki would be here for her each second of his life, making sure she doesn't lack anything and feeding her everyday with delicious meals. - Toshio would probably feed her scrumptious meals as well, and "ironically", also take good care of himself to avoid making her worry even more than she already does. - Haru and Yuta would treat her like a princess and engage in fun activities as much as possible. - Kenji would go on travels with her. They would go on trips and he would make his upmost best to find anything beautiful or entertaining to show her and make her forget her worries. - Ryu...would do a lot of research because he doesn't necessarily know what to do at first, but once he figures out what makes her feel better he would go all out in that, until she can smile again. But each of them would for sure take extra good care of her during this tough time as all that she would want is her happiness ♡

[magicbench]

hey! how is the development of fujire going? do you have an idea of the release date? i cant wait aaaaaaaaaaaa

Hi hi ✿ Sorry for the late answer, it took me some times to notice your ask ;-; I'm still slowly but surely working on the project, making daily small progress. There is still no date unfortunately, but I hope to release it sometimes during 2027. Fingers crossed, but no promises though !

[magicbench]

Hello MagicBech! How are you? I don't know when you will see this but right now (may 2025) I can say in all words that I LOVE FUJIWARA BITTERSWEET SO MUCH OH MY GOD. All the stories are so cool, and it's impossible to like just one of the LI, since all of them are so precious! I have been playing FB in the past days, also played Fujiloween and the Demo of FujiRe, and all I have to say is thanks. Thx por this such awesome game series! I have been drawing all of them lately and im so happy aaaaaaa

Hello ~ Thank you so much for the kind words (and sorry for the very late answer !), it means so much to me ♡ And you are making fanarts too ? That's awesome, thank you ! Don't hesitate to post them on tumblr or bluesky/twitter if you feel like it, so I can save them in my Fujiwara treasure chest (aka the file where I save all the lovely fanworks made by the equally lovely people). I hope you'll continue to like anything Fujiwara related, I have so much more to share in the future ✿

[magicbench]

hi!!! do you plan to add more spicy content to fujire? i dont mean nudity or anything too explicit, idk if you get it xD

Hello hello and sorry for the late answer ! At first I planned to add it as a timeskip extra with the charas in their 20's, but...then I thought maybe it would be more accurate to add it in a sequel when the characters are grown ups and that you follow their everyday life through the years, so it's something that I have in the corner of my mind for a potential fandisk. I won't necessarily add nudity or very kinky things (well...except maybe in Toshio's, Yuta's and Kenji's routes as those three do have their special preferences on the matter growing up...), but nothing too explicit either. So yes for more spicy stuff, but not in Fuji:RE. It's something you'll rather see in a timeskip fandisk O/

[magicbench]

Hello! Is there an official discord server for fans of Fujiwara Bittersweet? If not, would you be okay with a fan making one? Happy Easter btw

Hello hello ! Sorry I'm seeing your ask only now, so...you probably already had your answer by now xD There is indeed a discord fan server for Fujiwara ! Here is the link in case if you aren't already aware of it : https://discord.gg/VKkFghGEfS Hope it helped and thank you for asking ~

[magicbench]

✦Booh ! Magic Bench update jumpscare !✦

Did I surprise you ? I bet I did, haha ! I mean, who would blame you...I didn't give any news here since years (and only just a few here and there on the blue butterfly app). My bad. Life happened in more ways than one and I was very distracted for a long time because of a good amount of personal matters ^^" But I'm all good now and once again ready to work and focus on all the on hold projects ~

✦First, some news about Colors of Fate. Unfortunately, negative life experiences didn't happen only for me, and our writer, Cirro, had and still has her good amount of things to deal with to this day. Without going too much into details, it's really difficult for her to juggle between events in her personal life and the project. We're discussing how to handle all of it, I might have to take care of the writing as well. I still can't tell you a lot on the matter for now, but once all is done discussing and stable, I'll make sure to tell you what's happening here.

✦Then for Fuji:RE ! The first step was to copy/paste the base routes (except for Haru that I'm rewriting entirely) from the OG to the new game. Technically nothing hard, no code nor learning new things. Only copy/paste. I was very optimistic on finishing this task quickly, but I didn't took into account my mentally and physical health decline after a wave of said unfortunate events. It took me waaaay more time than needed just for Ikki's route. But now that the gears are working correctly again, I'm making good progress each day and I'm done with the base writing for Ikki and Toshio, will soon start Yuta's. As for Haru I'll take care of it last since it will be rewriting from scratch and taking longer than just copy/paste. My goal is to be done with everyone base route this Autumn, so I can go on drawing and adding all the new art -hopefully- before the end of this year. Aaaand after that, adding more details like a CG gallery, some extras, nice additional little things and the digital artbook before the release. I might lower my scope on the "point and click" aspect of it too, because once again I overestimated my capacities and skills. I know, I know...that's the running gag with me, but I'm slowly learning to understand what I'm capable of and what I'm not, I promise x)

I think that's all for now. I still have a billion projects I want to make (a Fuji fandisk with the characters as adults, the childhood arc and the one project with Ikki's sister as the MC in her mid-20's. And more !), but let's do thing one time at a time. For now I'll start by answering all the asks I didn't see until now (I'm sorry it took so long for me to notice it) and start working on Yuta's route O/ So until then, take care ♡ P.S : you can find me on the blue butterfly app with the handle @mbvn

[magicbench]

i love fujiwara bittersweet and CoF. idk, i just wanted to show some appreciation because you guys are so underrated 🥹🥹🥹 your characters really just have me in this chokehold in a way i can’t explain, my all time fave is RYU I ACTUALLY LOVE HIM AN UNHEALTHY AMOUNT?? but i love them all really <33 and i can’t wait to play all your future games as well, thank you for being such a major dose of serotonin for me 🫶

No, thanks to you for all your kind words ! Comments like yours really makes my day -and the day of the others team members working on CoF as well- it means a lot ! Your support really matters and motivates me/us♡

[magicbench]

hello, first of all I'd like to say I loved Fujiwara and I'm really looking forward to the remake, although I love the original art!! it was really cute. this may be a silly question but I'm studying French and I wanted to play the demo of CoF in French, since it said in itchio it was available, but I can't seem to find it? is it not published yet or am i just blind to some url?? thank you for your time and keep on doing your best, your games are so fun!!

Hello ~ Don't worry it's not a silly question at all, in fact I should thank you for reminding me that I forgot to modify this information on the itchio page x) There was some change in game through the years since the first demo and the french version (of the demo) is not available for now, as some of the game's aspect changed through the years since the first demo released. I'll try my best to release the french demo again separately from the english version as soon as possible. Thank you again for all the kind words, your love for Fujiwara Bittersweet and your interest for CoF, it means a lot for me!✿

[magicbench]

Different anon from before; Would you consider making a digital art book for the og fujiwara bittersweet with the CGs and sprites? :]

Also, I’ll definitely be buying the art books you already have planned ^^

Thank you so much for considering to support me this way, it means a lot to me ♡ As for the og Fujiwara, I'm unfortunately not planning on doing any digital artbook, as the Remake will be more accurate than the og. But the good news is that the Remake artbook will be more complete and have some extras compared to if the og artbook was a thing ~ Short stories, side characters backgrounds (in addition to the main ones), sketches and little bonuses. It might take some time to be made, but please keep looking forward to it (^ w^)/✦

[magicbench]

Would you consider making a digital art book containing all the official art from your games? I’ve noticed a lot of my favorite indie game devs making things like this and I kinda fell in love with them! I’m sorry if this is a weird question,

It's not a weird question at all, in the contrary it makes me really happy that you are wondering about it ~ I'm planning on releasing paid digital artbooks for future games (I'm still not sure about the price, I'll need to take a better look at it). So far I'm planning on doing a digital artbook for Fujiwara:REmake and Fujiwara 2 when the games will be released/not too long after their release, and possibly one for the childhood arc too. After that, I'm either planning on working on a longer game of "The Witch and her assistant" or two mature nsfw otome games and release digital artbooks for them as well (^ w^)/ Thank you again for your ask and don't hesitate if ever you have more questions, I'll gladly answer them ♡

[magicbench]

Heyyy soo.. I can't seem to access the final version of the demo somehow? The name of the file is still "CoF Final Demo Windows," the itch page says it was updated 13 days ago, and the kickstarter says I should be able to play up until the early adult stage for the maid path.. but I can't get past the first choice option in the teen phase for both paths. Am I doing something wrong?

Hello ~ The early adult phase for the maid path is for Kickstarters backers only, while the version on itch is public with less progress in the story. Sorry if it was unclear in the itch update (> o <) If you are a KS backer though, you should have received a notification and/or a mail either on your KS page or in your e-mailbox with the extended demo version ✿ Don't hesitate to ask if ever you have more questions ✦

[magicbench]

hey there!!! i loved fujiwara so much and can’t wait to see what comes next for it!! i wanted to as about aya if thats okay!!

when i first played, my understanding of aya was that she was meant to be like a player stand in, just not a blank slate (which is something i’ve seen in other games i’ve enjoyed before), but when i found your tumblr i remember seeing you mention somewhere that aya is less of a player stand in and more like her own character/an oc now

i just wanted to what your thoughts on players having their own versions of aya? like, an aya with a different design, name, personality and/or backstory? or even an aya that stays mostly the same with little design tweaks to fit what that player wants to envision for the story?

i guess the best way to describe it is a canon divergent aya?

thank you!!

Hello hello ~ You aren't the first person to ask me this question and I've thought long about it, but in the end it felt a bit "off" for me to be able to have a customizable MC, at least for the current Fujiwara (and the remake in progress as well) since I wrote the whole story with my own OCs in mind. BUT ! I actually plan to let the players customize Akane for Fujiwara 2, though it will just be her hair style and clothing since she, too, has her own personality and back story in current Fujiwara. And as for future non-Fujiwara projects, I planning to entirely let the players customize there MCs appearence. I also want the player to have the choices of body shapes, but...it might be a bit complicated with my still not so strong coding skills when it comes to representing the custmizations during CGs. I thought of an alternative for that and it would be to not show the player's on the CGs when it comes to it...I'll try to find the best solutions with the competences I will have at the time ✦ Until then, I'll try my best to learn new skills and who knows, maybe someday customization won't be as complicated as it is for me right now and will be able to deliver more options for the players ~ Thank you for asking me ! I hope it answered your question and dont hesitate to ask anytime ! Take care ✿

[magicbench]

I never know what to write for the title, but...

Cirro reached a big milestone in CoF's writing and I had fun adding the resources together in Ren'Py for the update ~ We are slowly but surely getting there and if you have some time to spare, please don't hesitate to go read the update on the ✦KS page✦ In the meanwhile, here a few screnshots (3 from the Teen Phase and 1 from the Adult Phase) that we wanted to share with you ! ✿Thank you again all for your patience and support✿

[magicbench]

~ Fuji:RE update ~

Hello hello everyone !

Woah it's been a while that I haven't wrote anything there, since I generally use tumblr rather than twitter for longer posts. So, yup…today is one of those days where I need to share a wall of text xD

As some of you surely already know, I attempted to dev Fujiwara:REmake with RPGmaker because of the aspect of walking around and the system of shop/items which was really appealing to me. This was two of the main reasons I switched from Ren'Py to RPGmaker and it was very fun and fullfilling at first as I learned a good amount of new things, but…unfortunately, the more I worked on it, the more I started to struggle and get frustrated with things that my current skills can't cover.

I thought of going on hiatus for the time I'd learn a bunch of advanced features to make the game visually more enjoyable, but I realized it would take an awfully long time to do so until I can present something decent and in sync with what I have in mind. I'm sure most of you don't want to wait who knows more time for this project to be released. So it's a bit reluctantly and disappointed that I decided to go back to Ren'Py, as I'm more familiar with it and that it would also means I'll work faster. I'm really sincerely sorry for all of you who were excited to play a RPGmaker version of Fujiwara (you'll still be able to interact with your surrounding though !), but I really need to go back on a more visual novel type of game for the sake of the project. I hope you'll understand and continue looking forward for Fuji:RE when it's finally completed !

Thank you again all for your support and your patience, you are the bests, always ✦✿