#lemonadeif

[lemonade-if]

When Life Gives You Lemons...

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"Lemonade" is an upcoming interactive fiction inspired by slice-of-life manga and my personal experiences studying abroad in Tokyo. Play as the new transfer student at Morigaoka Public High School and navigate school life, friendships, young love, and the unrelenting highs and lows of growing up.

Synopsis:

Throughout MC’s life, they’ve had to move constantly due to their parents’ unstable jobs and turbulent marriage. Never have they been at the same school for more than two years, and never have they had any lasting identity beyond that of being “The New Student”, over and over again.

Now that MC’s parents have divorced, Morigaoka is anticipated to be the final transfer. The story follows MC as they traverse the unfamiliar terrain of stability and finally find that sense of belonging...along with something more.

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Description of Features:

A story-driven experience as opposed to a stat-based game. This is inspired by my favorite romance IF on Hosted Games, The Wayhaven Chronicles. My goal is for the reader to feel like the protagonist of an actual manga series, so while stats will have some influence (i.e. going for a bold response as a shy character will be met with surprise; attempting something physical if you are unathletic is likely to fail), your choices will be what dictates your narrative.

8 distinct romance routes. Click here to learn about the love interests! All ROs can be romanced by all MCs (no gender or personality lock). No interaction is copied and pasted between the different characters, and they will be responsive to your MC based on their own individual personalities and backstories. 

Of course, with love comes jealousy, and with jealousy comes enemies... 

Meaningful relationships beyond romance. Choose your desired friend group, with friendship scenes including SNS group chats, outings, and-- should MC not evade-- the topic of love interests. MC will discover that different friends and classmates have valuable insights (or misinformed biases) about the different love interests. Whether you ask for advice, heed the advice, or reject it entirely is up to you.

Family is also a relationship that MC can foster or ignore. MC comes from a predetermined background of divorced parents, but how that has affected MC, as well as what they think of each parent now, is the player’s decision. Click here to learn about your parents!

Different club activities, with unique club members and events (i.e. Music Club will have a live concert, Sports will have tournaments, etc.). In Year 1, the clubs available are: Cheer, Music, Art, Journalism, Basketball, Soccer, Track, and Volleyball. Joining a club is mandatory per school policy...but being diligent about it is not, so if you have better things in mind than 2 hours of practice...hm? Encouraging delinquency? I would never 🥴 Click here to learn a little about clubs!

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The story is planned to be a trilogy, with each book encompassing each year of high school + an epilogue. I am in the midst of writing the first draft of B1. A first demo containing Chapters 1 and 2 is aimed for release by mid 2022, and a second demo will be released after that, with Chapters 3 and 4.

If any of the above appeals to you, I would be deeply grateful for Lemonade to be on your radar. Until then, happy IF-ing! 

Click Here for FAQs

Click Here for B1 Chapter List and Teaser

Click Here for B3 Ramblings

Click Here for Update 2/16/22

Click Here for Update 2/22/22

Click Here for Update 2/26/22

Click Here for Update 3/1/22

Click Here for Update 3/9/22

Click Here for Update 3/21/22

Click Here for Update 3/24/22

Click Here for Update 4/11/22

[itsbluesaint]

Golden boy in gym class.

Is really dumb how much time I spend on the background, I really need to practice those more. This is just one of the (I hope a lot more) little illustrations to come of Demian. And a really funny thing is that I was just about to post this when I saw that @lemonade-if just drop the drawing of Yosuke so I made this little sketch of Demian admiring his best friend playing basketball.

[realmsbetween]

my mc for @lemonade-if with the template i’ve created for it! since the game is still in dev, i’ll most likely recreate it once the demo is out — for now i’ll share it for others to use for their mcs if they like (will upload separately)! more information about natsume under the cut;

natsume was a shy child and a crybaby, but grew with severe social anxiety after never quite adjusting to the constant moves. he copes by hiding under his hair, with a face mask, and — after hitting his growth spurt much sooner than his peers — hunching over and trying to appear as small as possible. he has a hard time controlling his expressions, which makes him seem like he’s glaring constantly. he fumbles over his words when speaking, so chooses to stay silent most of the time instead. due to sensory issues, he struggles to wear his uniforms properly. this all, unfortunately, has given him a reputation as a delinquent, and others tend to judge him before getting to know him.

natsume definitely keeps things to himself and isn’t much of an open book, but he really likes the company of others. it doesn’t take much to earn natsume’s friendship, but it can be difficult to get past his anxiety. he’s very sensitive, but incredibly loyal to people he cares about, to the point of impulsive defensiveness (or fighting...in case of befriending yuushin).

picking a club for him was really difficult, but music fit the most. i think natsume is most like himself when he’s alone and playing music, able to channel his thoughts and feelings through it instead of words. it’s really in his element! he probably has the worst stage fright though lol hopefully he can learn to overcome it and pursue something he truly enjoys...?

i imagine hikaru is someone natsume instantly finds himself comfortable with, since they just ‘click’ even after years apart. hikaru is probably his ‘safe’ person, someone natsume trails after and hides behind, even clinging to the back of his shirt if he gets too anxious. he feels more comfortable with his other childhood friends too, but hikaru is the person that really reached past natsume’s bubble first.

i can’t decide who he’ll romance! i’ll end up doing all the boy’s routes, but yuushin will probably be first. i actually don’t like love triangles despite being such a staple in manga, but i hope to explore poly relationships in fanworks in the future! ...if i can make myself draw or write lol [insert meme of ‘do not separate them’ with natsume and all the boys] route vibes:  natsume and yuushin: what can i say except for that i’m a sucker for ‘bad boy x sad shy boy’. if it stays in game that you can help yuushin out when fighting, his route will really bring out another side of natsume — that side being the Impulsive Fighting for yuushin’s honor if he ever hears someone threatening him. but natsume will also do his best to take care of him, even if the help isn’t accepted. praying for those soft moments for these two!! natsume and hikaru: this is where he loses all of his braincells. with the others, when he gets a crush he understands pretty much right away (hopeless romantic). but with hikaru, it takes him forever to realize he’s not just feeling ‘oh, this is my best friend, i missed him.’ from what i know about hikaru...he will not help that either LOL natsume and aleksei: he is NOT immune to aleksei’s charms, but doesn’t think he’s being serious. natsume’s self esteem issues have him struggle to believe anyone, let alone aleksei, would be interested in him. he’s just lucky his mask hides his blush. natsume and yosuke: i feel like these two are somewhat similar in ways that could either make them understand each other better...or make them butt heads completely. probably a lot of miscommunication and patience...but natsume cares for him a lot, so they’ll get there in the end!! thoughts from others, to keep with the mc trend: “He’s a bit...overwhelming, don’t you think? I don’t know what it is about him, but he just has this aura that makes you want to look away...”

“Did you know he has heterochromia? I saw after he fell asleep at his desk and woke back up when I walked in... I didn’t mean to look!! But, it sort of gives him his own charm, you know? He’s a bit cat-like.”

“I don’t think Hayashi is a bad guy, he can’t be if he’s hanging around Takeuchi, but...you don’t think he’s bullying him, do you? He’s always around him, just sorta lingering. He never makes small talk, just nods when Takeuchi tries to include him. Maybe he owes him money?”

“Hayashi is a bit misunderstood, I think. I let him borrow some hair clips since his bangs were bothering him, I didn’t see him use them, but when he returned them he looked a lot less stressed. Maybe he’s just not sleeping well? I haven’t seen his dark circles go away since he got here.”

[rkgk-art]

Ah...I'm always so super nervous posting other people's OCs...

Buuuut I wanted to join the super cute @lemonade-if 's wholesome MC gang bandwagon!

Sadly I'm not creative enough to create little scenarios like some of the others so I'm going with the good old bust up!

They're holding up their names like criminals because they're criminally awesome...haha, get it? I shut up now

I hope I did alright and you like it （ ; ; ）

MCs belong to:

@little-leech-boy (Tachibana Kaoru), @elliehasahoodieandaponytail (Lexis R. Marinos), @realmofgold (Shiratori Liangyu) and @sulkcubus (Kuronuma Kiyoko) for some reason I can't tag your blog lol

Um, enjoy?? (´°̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥ω°̥̥̥̥̥̥̥̥｀)

[dedaxe]

Lemonade IF MC

ok first of all check out @lemonade-if cause they deserve more attention Anewaysss for my post on this account presenting *drumroll pls* my mc NAKAMURA KOTA

Now for some mentions from his schoolmates~ "Nakamura-san? He's really nice I guess. Always saying hi to anyone he knows and helping anyone that needs helping. The poor guy's kindness is gonna get exploited at some point, either by the teachers or our classmates."

"Oh, the new kid! There was a rumour going around for a bit that he was Nakamura-sensei's long lost brother. Him hanging around sensei and joining in on the teasing didn't help either. Not to mention that he started contributing to the rumours! Poor sensei..."

"He's usually surrounded by people in school, so it's near impossible to get him on his own. The one time I did see him alone though, he was reading a romance manga. Had stars in his eyes and everything. Adds to the irony that he's really really really daft when it comes to anyone being interested in him. He was once given a love letter and was sad cause he wasn't told who to give it to. He refused to blieve us when we said it was for him. *sigh* Poor guy."

"Kota-kun is friendly, but he usually hangs around Aleksi, Hikaru and Yosuke if he can. I think he has a thing for Yosuke if the heart eyes he gives him are anything to go off, W-WAIT DONT INCLUDE THAT"

"He joined the basketball club recently right? I wish him luck. If anyone's going to get them to work together I would be surprised if it's Nakamura."

"One time I caught him doodling in his textbook, and let me tell you, they were GOOD. When I brought it up though, he got this pained look on his face before changing the subject. Another time I caught him daydreaming, and he looked sad, a complete 180 from his usual sunshine self. Wonder what happened."

"I'm not sure if this is true, but one of my friends saw him outside of school and turns out he has tattoos!! She tried to get a picture but he had already left by then. Such a shame..."

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Name: Nakamura Kota Eye colour: Blue Hair color: Black Skin tone: Light brown Etnicity: Japanese & Indian

Height: 5'4 (was shocked to learn people grow above that) Hobbies: Sports, Singing (badly), Drawing Club: Basketball Romance: Yosuke (Yuushin on second playthrough though cause grumpy x sunshine)

A ball of sunshine usually, he tries his best to get to know his school mates and make friends. Looking at him and Hikaru standing next to each other could blind a person.

Helps whenever and whoever he can, not wanting to struggle on their own with anything. (Poor boy is projecting) Unfortunately, this leads to him taking on more than he can handle himself, which sometimes ends... poorly. Tends to take care of things himself, feeling unwilling to burden others with his problems.

Blames himself for his parents divorce on some level, despite knowing it was out of his control.

Has a love for romance stories and wishes to have one himself. Easily flustered, though not well-known as he tends to be unaware of any attraction directed towards him.

Very expressive. He's like an open book in any situation. (Which also means he's a terrible liar. Hence his specialty in changing the subject.) Also an idiot in terms of common sense.

Has a very loud, pleasant laugh, which is usually suppressed into a snort. Currently has a massive crush on Yosuke, an is not being as subtle about it as he thinks (anyone who knows him knows).

[elliehasalotofthings]

Decided to draw the current @lemonade-if MCs that have references (Picrew or actual drawings) hanging out/walking to school! Cus the MCs for this are so cool and wholesome and I wanna hug all of them ;w;

The MCs from left to right and what they’re doing

(@rkgk-arts) Kotone Hisakawa rambling to Lexis R. Marinos (Mine) about cats

(@nissarose3) Rei Yamada and (@little-leech-boy) Kaoru Tachibana exchanging insults

and finally, (@lorelaibeckons) Sonya Paige and Francesca D’Amore talking about pastries and sweet stuff

[kalorphic]

I saw you reblog about a brooding male hero who is fueled by his love for his wife-- there's a manga (upcoming anime) called Jigokuraku where the main character is exactly like that, if you're interested!

Oh? 👀

Well I am 100% going to add this to both my reading list and (when it comes out) my watch list, because that concept was mwah *chefs kiss*

Thank you so much for the rec Aki!! I was actually looking for more manga to read so this is much appreciated 🤍

[chameleontea]

Lemonade MCs

@lemonade-if​ 

I’ve really loved seeing everyone’s MCs for Lemonade, and it gave me the courage to talk about my own MCs for Lemonade as well! The only thing is that I get a bit too excited about making MCs, and I like to have different MCs to romance all of the different ROs, so I kind of ended up making 8 different characters…

So, I apologize for showing up with a small army of MCs. I’ll split their introductions into two parts with 4 characters each so that this doesn’t get too long. I also sort of already thought of ROs, best friends, and clubs that I think could fit them well, but those could end up changing in the future.

Without further ado, here are the girls and one of my nonbinary MCs. Next time I’ll introduce the boys and my other nonbinary MC.

(Picrew used: link)

Chiyo Fujihara [F She/Her]

Ethnicity: Japanese

Club: Cheer

Personality: Chiyo is a very outgoing and talkative person. She’s always been very in-tune with her emotions and allows them to show themselves whenever they want. So, while this means that she’s usually bubbly and happy, you’ll definitely know when she’s feeling negative emotions. It’s not uncommon for her to burst into tears without any warning or get angry and chew out a bully in defense of another student. The hardest part of her parents’ divorce was the fact that she had so many conflicting emotions about it, so it was sort of the first major time in her life when she really didn’t know what to feel or how to act. It’s just confusing and frustrating, so she tries not to think about it anymore than she has to.

Best Friend: Ren. I just feel like they could really get along!

RO: Aleksei. Listen… I think there would be a lot of chaos with these two, but it would be fun. Plus, Chiyo is the type of person to call people out, and Aleksei probably needs to be humbled sometimes.

Bonus facts: She definitely the type to wear gyaru fashion. Is always trying out new hairstyles. She’s 5’6. She has a phone addiction for sure. She is a terrible student lol. She does not try at all in school.

Junko Hirano [F She/Her]

Ethnicity: Half Japanese/Half Taiwanese

Club: Art

Personality: Junko is… often seen as strange to say the least. She’s generally cheerful, but she always seems to be in a sleepy, dream-like state. Her head is always in the clouds, and she could fall asleep within seconds no matter where she is. Junko has an interesting way of seeing the world and tends to just say whatever comes to her mind, so other students often label her as weird. It probably doesn’t help that her drawings tend to be about creepy things, which also tends to have people distance themselves. Despite her carefree demeanor, her parents’ fighting, and divorce did have a big impact on her. She’s always blamed herself for it, maybe if she wasn’t so weird then they could have been a happy family.

Best friend: Hikaru. He’s so nice and cheerful and I think that Junko could use more of that in her life.

RO: Shion. I just have the image of listless little Junko just attaching herself to Shion on day one and never letting go lol.

Bonus facts: Tends to wear really cute, frilly outfits outside of school. Always wear eccentric hair clips, she collects them. Junko is 4’11 (She may be a gremlin, don’t feed her after midnight). Also, her skin tone is tanner than shown in the Picrew, sadly it didn’t have the option that I wanted for her. An average student, doesn’t necessarily try that hard to get good grades.

Alice Campbell [F She/Her]

Ethnicity: White (Australian)

Club: Track

Personality: Alice has always been a very shy and quiet person. She has a lot of anxiety, and it can cause things like making friends to be really difficult for her. Seeing as she moved schools so frequently as a kid, she never really managed to make many friends. It made for a lonely time growing up, but she’s grown used to that feeling by now. One of the only times that she doesn’t feel self-conscious is when she’s participating in track. It just allows her stop overthinking and feel confident in herself for at least a short amount of time. When it comes to her parents’ divorce, she honestly can’t help but feel a little bit relieved by it. The constant tension and fighting just made her anxiety even worse, and she would always wish that she didn’t have to go home after school. Now that they’ve separated at least she doesn’t have to feel like that anymore, although she does feel a bit guilty for feeling that way.

Best friend: Yosuke. I feel like this is a bit of an unexpected friendship, but from what we’ve seen so far it seems like Yosuke reacts kindly to shy MCs, so I think it would be a sweet friendship.

RO: Leila. I think that Alice would be totally drawn towards Leila. She just seems so confident and chill and I think that Alice would be falling for her before she even realized what was happening.

Bonus facts: Usually likes to wear hairbows or headbands. Loves to read in her spare time. She’s 5’3, so another shorty. She’s fine with being called Arisu. School doesn’t come as naturally for her as some people, but she works really hard to get good grades still.

Setsuna Ogawa [NB They/Them]

Ethnicity: Japanese

Club: Volleyball

Personality: Setsuna’s persona is a bit complex. They’ve always taken it upon themself to be the perfect child for their parents, I guess they thought in a way that if they were perfect then they might be able to keep their family together. They’ve always tried to get prefect grades and to be the best at everything they tried. They crafted a personality where they are really charismatic and flirty, and its always succeeded in helping to make them popular among their peers. It obviously didn’t work in getting their parents to stay together though, and now they don’t really know what to do anymore. They don’t know how much of their personality is real and how much was constructed. But they don’t know how to be any other way, so for now they’re ready to charm the hell out of a whole new student body. Hopefully they can learn more about themself along the way as well, because trying to constantly be perfect at everything is starting to really exhaust them.

Best friend: Aleksei. I mean come on; it only makes sense.

RO: Ren. They would be a true power couple. I think that a romance between them would just be a lot of fun as well. Also, the idea of Setsuna, Ren, and Aleksei all hanging out together… they could cause some serious havoc at Mori High.

Bonus facts: Wears very sleek and stylish clothing outside of school. They are 6’0. They totally have a secret tattoo. Similar to Alice, getting good grades doesn’t come naturally to Setsuna, but they do work hard to get them.

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Thanks for reading! I didn’t go back to edit any of this so sorry if there are mistakes. I’m nervous to put this out there but hopefully people enjoy reading about the unnecessary amount of thought that I put into these characters. I’m just super excited for this IF as you can tell! c: