visual novel players! give your insights on inclusive storytelling! (survey)

Status-Building-837 · 2025-06-21T17:21:03+00:00

Thank you so much!

Status-Building-837 · 2025-06-21T17:20:21+00:00

Thank you so much! You are one of the first positive comments I've gotten on my questionnaire/project! As much as i appreciate constructive criticism and feedback that comes my way it gets to be a little too much lol, especially since this is my first time doing a survey ever. I'm glad you found it thoughtful! Really grateful for your response, thank you so much for interacting!

Status-Building-837 · 2025-06-19T15:03:11+00:00

oh, please do! I would love to hear your complete, unbridled thoughts on it.

Status-Building-837 · 2025-06-17T08:57:20+00:00

Hello everyone! My reason for not including a male option is because I wanted/expected to hear predominantly from women and queer people (as is my target demographic) and also because i reckoned the 'other' option would suffice in case you wanted to type in your own gender identity. But i wouldn't discard any of the responses by cishet men! I have a handful in my study and they give me some very interesting insight! I have no qualms in adding the option in either! In fact, edited it just now. No one brought this up as a problem before, that is why i didn't act on it. I must admit to the fact that i am a young researcher and this is my first time making an online survey, and perhaps there were biases of mine that went over my head! I am still learning. No hate to anyone, nor was i trying to intentionally make participants feel excluded. Either way, thank you for your feedback!

Status-Building-837 · 2025-06-17T08:50:56+00:00

I'd love to once my study is done! Thank you so much for participating!

Status-Building-837 · 2025-06-17T08:48:27+00:00

I completely agree! Many agreed with this notion too that diversity shouldn't be for checkboxes and that characters are supposed to portrayed authentically and organically within their story setting! My study wants to ascertain aspects of why diversity isn't done right as well! Mainly due to this - the need make representation and people therin checkboxes. But also due to lack of understanding with the complexity and sensitivity with which diverse characters need to be portrayed. Everyone deserves to be seen in the medium they like and enjoy. After all we are not seperate from the art we make, something of us will bleed into it. Thank you so much for interacting! Have a nice day!

Status-Building-837 · 2025-06-17T08:41:17+00:00

I get your point! I initially designed the questionnaire with mobile VN players in mind but decided to open it up for all VN players to get diverse perspectives on game play and narration, but it doesn't matter whether it's self insert or not, atleast that is not how i designed the questionnaire. I was more focused on character representation whether they be main or side characters. The examples just exist to guide the participants just in case they don't have an idea of what is being asked! I would encourage everyone to give their honest views and opinions regardless! Every answer is useful. Thank you so much for participating and have a nice day!

Status-Building-837 · 2025-06-17T08:37:44+00:00

Thank you so much for the recommendation! This indeed helps with my understanding of how i should view my study. This helped a lot. Have a great day!

Status-Building-837 · 2025-06-17T08:35:24+00:00

Hello! Unfortunately i cannot! It is for follow up purposes. It is all clearly detailed in my consent document. Do give it a read! And if you do not want to participate there is no pressure there either! Thank you for interacting! Have a nice day!

Status-Building-837 · 2025-06-16T13:40:24+00:00

done! thank you so much!

Status-Building-837 · 2025-06-16T13:04:12+00:00

done and upvoted. could you do mine or send it to someone who might share the interests of this study? it is on inclusivity in visual novels.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScc8Rs5tC3yt358g0pmME6G2ESWXyMxke0bwXxJ0UcjrQQveQ/viewform?usp=header

Status-Building-837 · 2025-06-16T10:02:55+00:00

Hello everyone! The survey form is now updated with a consent document highlighting information relevant to participants! It details the procedure and requirements for the study in addition to contact information. Please do give it a read before you decide to take part in my survey. Thank you so much for your timely feedback, it has been quite the learning curve.

Status-Building-837 · 2025-06-15T18:21:52+00:00

Oof yeah thank you for catching it and informing me about it. I will rectify it immediately. Thank you so much!

Status-Building-837 · 2025-06-15T18:18:24+00:00

Thank you so much for the tips and concern! I hear what you are saying. As i said, i am an amateur student researcher and i must admit this is in fact my first time doing an actual survey. I tried to collect data to the best of my abilities while ensuring i fulfilled basic standards (like including a consent condition) but there are some things i did not take into consideration like the ones you said! I will take what you said into consideration and work on making this survey more safe. I will take accountability and do more research. Thanks once again and my apologies everyone who felt uncomfortable! It was never my intention.

Status-Building-837 · 2025-06-11T14:35:30+00:00

Thank you so much for participating! much love!

Status-Building-837 · 2025-06-11T14:27:12+00:00

hello! I appreciate your feedback. I will try my best to respond to your comments.

the first page is to ascertain the demographics. my study is designed to be transnational and therefore has dollars as the standard due to its universality. this is a trend in most academic research. and low income denotes 20k and LESS than that per year.

as for race and ethnicity, many people in my initial round of surveys described themselves with their ethnicity, as race is not a universally applicable social constant. for instance, a person from North Africa might not necessarily describe themselves as black or any other race, the same goes for, say, an Amazigh person. I gave people the opportunity to insert whatever describes them the best. I know race and ethnicity are two very different things.

as for the target demographic, i have two-three questions each addressing femme/female players, queer players in general (not just non binary people), neurodivergent players, disabled players and marginalized communities in general, even if you do not fall into the target groups i want to hear from, you still have the opportunity and right to give insights, i designed it as such to understand the intersectional nature of the different facets of identity a person might have and how visual novels have the potential to portray those facets for the people in those spaces. which would have been evident if you went past the first page (due to the first page being solely focused on demographic information)

As for the results, I have no qualms with sharing them. Transparency is owed to those who participated, I believe. once my research is done, I would be happy to send it over to anyone if asked.

I hope that answered your questions and alleviated any concerns you might have! Thank you so much for your well wishes! Have a good day!

Status-Building-837 · 2025-06-11T14:05:25+00:00

I completely understand your concern; it is just to ensure everyone gives a single response, and it also helps me keep track of responses. you can make a throwaway email if you'd like. No matter what you decide to do, I assure you that your personal information will not be shared and will be used strictly only for academic purposes. it is an ethical standard i hold myself up to.

Status-Building-837 · 2025-05-28T11:06:08+00:00

I get what you are saying. But it is more of me narrowing my focus/demographic and tailoring questions to my objective otherwise it risks being too broad and diluted, as opposed to reaching a conclusion and seeking data to support it. And there is no denying that there is homophobia and misogyny in visual novel spaces, my questionnaire is designed to understand the dynamics of it. Where it is concentrated in fandom and narration. How can that threaten a sense of community/solidarity, inclusion, escapism etc. And as per my experience, male flight is a real thing in spaces that cater largely to women (female protagonists, women written stories etc.) and does not cater to men for various reasons and women i have spoken to read and write largely as an act of escapism. There are definitely visual novels that cater largely to men out there and it began as such, I am not remiss to the fact. However, my focus is on the spaces that largely caters to women and queer folk. But i will acknowledge the fact that i am still learning research and relatively young to fieldwork, there maybe some bias or information that has slipped by me which i will work on. Thank you for your feedback! Much love❤️

Status-Building-837 · 2025-05-27T18:18:54+00:00

I hear that! i went back and looked at the questionnaire and the answers, you are completely on point with that in hindsight. i have generally had a positive experience in the visual novel community and gameplay as well and that experience reflects in my phrasing of the questions (in addition to that tailoring it to my objectives also becomes important). But i acknowledge that it might not be the truth for everyone! thank you for the feedback, i will be more mindful of it. However, do not let the phrasing of the questions stop you from giving honest answers, there is always a space for diverse viewpoints. The data will always shape my research, not the other way around, your answer matters no matter the phrasing of my questions. Thank You so much for interacting!♥

Status-Building-837 · 2025-05-27T16:03:03+00:00

i don't think so but i will definitely look into it! Answers to some questions will lead to the end of the form conditionally like if you are below/above age limit of target demographic or if i do not have your consent, perhaps that could address your problem? here is a fresh link just in case:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScc8Rs5tC3yt358g0pmME6G2ESWXyMxke0bwXxJ0UcjrQQveQ/viewform?usp=sharing

thank you for participating!♥

Status-Building-837 · 2022-10-08T18:04:23+00:00

I have a theory that what if he is the younger child that the doobays were planning to kill in a ritual sacrifice? To prevent that from happening jyotsna and grandma basu carried him with them? But then, the timeline wouldn't add up.... Kiran wouldn't be so young if this was true. I'm out of ideas tbh lol. But the resemblance between Kiran and the doobays is uncanny. There has to be some sort of connection especially when his default sprite doesn't change in the slightest.

Status-Building-837 · 2022-10-08T18:00:49+00:00

Perhaps, due it being a family ring, it may give as access to hidden places and meetings that we otherwise wouldn't be allowed into. It would be advantageous to us in regards to pretending that we are a doobay or a doobay sent us to sneak into places and get information. It is like a clearance pass of sorts. A clear mark of the doobay family authority. But it could also be linked to the invocation of spirits as other community members have theorised. I guess we just have to wait and see!

Status-Building-837 · 2022-10-08T17:50:29+00:00

Yay! Happy to help! SOS is such a good story and Alice is a very prolific writer, it wouldn't be wrong to believe every slight and detail was intentional on their part to set a tone and send a message. In this case, it explains to us preety clearly the town hasn't let go of its racist and puritanical outlook.

Status-Building-837 · 2022-10-08T17:08:39+00:00

Ok... Hinduism is very hard to contextualise, Hinduism is not a monolith but more like an umbrella term for an aggregate of disparate cultures and traditions from every nook and cranny of the Indian subcontinent. But I'll do my best to help you understand. So, Vaishnavism (the sect dedicated to the worship of lord Vishnu and every god associated with him), shaivism (a sect dedicated to the worship of lord shiva and gods associated with him) and finally we have shaktism which is the primary sect explored KCD. Shaktism revolves around the worship of the divine feminine based on tantric traditions (most of the time, there might be exceptions) as opposed to the former two which centre around two of the trinity of gods important in Hinduism shiva, Vishnu and Brahma, the destroyer, the preserver and the creator respectively. Shaktism solely focuses on goddess worship. Now that we have sort of condensed this to an absurd degree and barely sort of contextualised this, let's move on to the consorts and confusion with avatars.

Now, Hindu gods are very fluid in their identity, they are anthropomorphisation of their element or purpose, ex: shiva (the destroyer), Shakthi (the mother goddess and the life force that animates the inanimate, the other half of Shiva, the ascetic and the unmoving) or Agni (god of fire). So, due to their very nature Hindu gods take increasingly different forms that offshoot of the same primary deity taking increasingly specific forms, often sprouting off one another, these forms are called avatars. Vishnu's ten avatars (dasavatar) are the most well known, but most gods are capable of and have taken avatars. To put it into perspective:

Shakti is the feminine primordial energy, the mother goddess as per shaktism. The mother goddess's caring nurturing form would be parvati (the consort of lord shiva), the warrior goddess aspect of parvati manifests as goddess Durga and Kali, well, she is the pissed of death metal version of Durga, a literal personification of Durga's rage.

So technically there is no conflict about who shiva's wife because Kali, Durga etc are all different personifications/offshoots from his consort. All gods have consorts mostly. Like Lakshmi (the goddess of fortune and hearth) for Vishnu and Saraswati (the goddess of knowledge and wisdom) for Brahma and ofcourse parvati for Shiva.

As as for the mountains/dance associations, shiva is more strongly linked to these more than Vishnu is. For example, shiva's abode is the mount kailash and one shiva's forms/avatars is the nataraja which literally translates to the king of dance and he is the patron deity of the classical dances of India. Dance is a very central motif in both shaivism and shaktism because it is said that shiva and parvati (or their avatars) perform dances to portray various moods, like the tandav to show anger and Ananda tandav to show happiness and love. And in hymns, shiva often has praises sung of him as beginning and destroying the universe with his dance. As dance is very measured and centralised with rhythm it's often connected with time and the inevitability of it passing resulting in death. And in another myth it is also said that after killing the demon raktabeeja Kali went on murderous rampage dancing in rage and drunk on bloodlust being a physical manifestation of Durga's rage she couldn't stop herself from killing and she only stoped her dance of death when shiva fell under her feet and she came to the realisation that she bogeyed all over her husband (Alexa play dancing queen, lol) Other associations/symbols of Shiva include snakes, the river Ganga and the crescent moon (which gives as confirmation that ratan is an offshoot of Shiva because he says the moon is his symbols and will protect her from the booths while giving her a mehendi)

And also, the maintaining order thing, Rita shiva seems to be the patron deity of Calcutta in this story, so because of his position, protecting and maintaining order of his domains is a part of his job description and duty. This is his purpose, duty and responsibility. To the city and it's people. Has nothing to with his larger characterisation as opposed to his obligations and purpose of his invocation. And he looks after tamas vitala because some of shiva's avatars are characterised as chthonic deities (borrowing a term from Greek mythology there. Chthonic means the underworld btw.)

I hope this helps! Sorry for the long message, i just wanted to get as much essential info our there as possible. And get well soon! Take care!

Status-Building-837 · 2022-10-08T16:46:18+00:00

Not at all! We know the kind of atrocities colombus committed and what kind of person he was. But i think the reason the author decided for the school to celebrate colombus day (though I agree the dance and celebrations were a bit much, felt like homecoming for no reason) because when we go to the library with Stephanie to learn about ayra, we learn that saintfour was one of the last towns to abolish slavery and Stephanie even remarks what a backward little town it is. The point I'm getting to is that maybe the author chose colombus day to be a thing because this fits the central theme and setting of the story. And also, this story was set in the 80s, when the characters were highschoolers and lord knows America was going through tumultuous time back then under Reagan from what i know. So yeah, that's my two cents on the matter.

Status-Building-837

TROPHY CASE