Throwback Thursday: Lola Glidden (Patreon)

Our 8th week of Throwback Thursday! In case you missed one of the previous ones, you can always take a look at them with the links below! Have a look and enjoy learning a little extra about your favorite character's growth during development! ^^

~Tiny bit late on this post, the days are already blending together. >.<~

[Miki]
https://www.patreon.com/posts/throwback-miki-57980399

[Nova]
https://www.patreon.com/posts/throwback-nova-58304733

[Rachel]
https://www.patreon.com/posts/throwback-rachel-58563348

[Juliet]
https://www.patreon.com/posts/throwback-juliet-58841266

[Heather]
https://www.patreon.com/posts/throwback-59122755

[Erika]
https://www.patreon.com/posts/throwback-erika-59417182

[Zoey]
https://www.patreon.com/posts/throwback-zoey-59691821


When the project first started, it began with placeholder 3d assets. Something that we can see within the first image above and it goes without saying there's some difference between our very early look at Lola compared to now!

Fun fact #1: Did you know? Originally Lola was supposed to have purple hair? MA was going to make it so that instead of black hair being seen within it's world setting. Purple would actually be considered black hair in this sense, but it seemed kind of odd to me and so we went with just transitioning Lola's original purple hair into black hair as it would've been.

Taking a look at the 2nd image, we can see the progress of changes made to Lola during the 2d process. From left to right: The very first early sketch preview, followed by clean lines, colored and finished versions! Some changes mainly seen with the first two examples here, but not too majorly different besides the arm pose.

Fun fact #2: Did you know? Lola wasn't originally planned for having a route? Early in the development for the game, based on some of her concept background from the comic. Lola was actually going to be seen as a side/supporting role character, but being able to date her wouldn't be possible! This was because we'd learn that she was secretly dating one of the teachers at the academy named John. Of course this concept evolved during development and so these days, she isn't dating anyone else and she does have a route!

[Design concept]

The concept for Lola, along with some mentions above. Originally my thoughts about her character date back to the comic, with the main focus being set around the concept that she and John were secretly dating, with maybe some very light hinting of her having cosplay interests. There wasn't much going on for her character at that time sadly, it wouldn't be until early game development happened when some thought went into her character.

One of the first things being to figure out what the mystery is behind her, as there is some mystery to her character in a different kind of way. I wanted to make sure that little by little through the story, you'd more or less feel like you have a 50% idea of who Lola is and as you go further along. You'd uncover another 25%, followed by filling in the final gaps and having everything make complete sense of what's going on. (No spoilers of course)

With this in mind, I started much like other characters by looking at how their background/history should be setup and figure out how Lola came to the academy, for what purpose or if she was in the same boat as some other characters that were more or less surprised.

Once I had figured out that, it was time to get into building her character up without giving away too much about her. I had two things clash together for her at once when coming up with her character interests/hobbies, what would set her apart. That being interested in cosplay, but more so the creation process of making outfits and a bit of dressing up naturally because of it.

Besides her interests being part of her character, I looked back at the comic to get a good sense of what her personality I was trying to go with. Of course the comic didn't have any time to focus on character building or much interaction, but I always envisioned her as being very open when it comes to speaking her mind for one. She isn't shy to say the least when teasing and putting down pretty clear intentions of what she wants, at times being a bit overwhelming and comes off in a awkward sense or uncomfortable to Brandon.

In a way, she's down to earth in a forward way. There's some other little bits of her personality that shine very rarely, like her being just a tad bit aloof, but often times it aligns so well with moments where she plays it off as part of her openness, forward nature. A example being in the middle of class, she'd drop her pencil and not even think twice about if her skirt is keeping her diaper covered or not. But once she realizes her "mistake" in this case, realizing that Brandon can see her diaper. She will pass it off as if she was doing it on purpose just for him, trying to get a reaction from him, etc.

One thing about Lola that I knew pretty early on in development was that since every character had some sort of "secret" kink to learn about. With some easier examples that aren't major spoilers.. Miki's being simply liking diapers overall, plain and simple. While Nova has a bit of a humiliation kink. Lola's I think fits her character very well considering her whole involvement with creating outfits, cosplay and dressing up aspects. I wanted to put focus on the idea that Lola has this sort of femboy, trap interest and finds that having a guy dress up like that is a huge draw for her.

That's where Brandon comes in! :P As some of you might know already from earlier builds, there's a moment that happens where it really begins to show just how far this idea goes for Lola. Either you'll like it or hate it, but there is more going on besides those aspects too for her story.

Without giving away too much, she has some mystery elements behind her character that like I mentioned earlier. We might think that we know how she really is, but the reality of the situation is that we only really know about 50% of her character for a while through the game as you'll unfold and fill the gaps missing to connect the dots for her. It'll be interesting to see everything come together for her, more so since her route will offer some more insight behind the academy story being told.

I think that will do for what I can say, but I hope you enjoyed this throwback! Those of you looking forward to Lola's route, I can only say that I hope it'll deliver on both fronts! Her personal story and mystery behind her character, along with her naughty interest in getting Brandon into a dress. :P