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Hello Patrons! Thanks for supporting us during our biggest month in terms of support! We're always amazed by how much people support our game even in its unfinished state. It's humbling to know that players trust us to create a finished project that lives up to their expectations. We hope we can live up to that trust.  

This month was a make-up session where we filled in some gaps we've had sitting around waiting to be filled in. It also happened to be a month where we ran into a number of technical difficulties. Both Heart, our BG artist, and UBF, our CG artist, had fatal hard drive issues this month that halted and even erased some of their work. Heart in particular made a great deal of progress on the Bookstore background that was totally wiped out. As a result, we don't have as much new material to show you as we'd like, but we think you'll still be impressed by how much both were able to get done.  

With that in mind, we'd like to show you what they and the rest of the team have created for you this update.  

New Art - Two new CGs

By far the most popular choice in this month's CG poll was a scene featuring Margaret and Felicia that was missing from Day 3 of that route. UBF worked on this CG from initial layout to finished product, so it'll be totally new for all players. It's a very sexy and tender scene that's some of the best UBF has drawn.  

In addition, she completed a CG that wasn't quite finished in time for last month's Sylvia update. It occurs during Day 4 of her path and includes some impressive reflections as Margaret and Sylvia both stand in front of a trifold mirror. It's  basically features six figures in the same CG, which is something of a record for us. We hope you enjoy it!

New Backgrounds - Tea Friends and Felicia Apartment Night Alt 

Even with the difficulties Heart dealt with, she still managed to get some more background art to us. The first is a whole new background for Gavin's Tea Shop. It's got a very cozy atmosphere that we think fits the vibe of the shop, and also includes an alternate form for Tiny Margaret. One of the most fun aspects of this new version is a glass display case that characters are visible behind. It adds a fun sense of depth that we think is a great addition.  

Also included is a new night alternate for Felicia's apartment. Now she and Margaret are in an appropriate setting when they arrive there at night!  

New Music - New Second Theme for Sylvia 

We try to sell the transformation for our characters through a lot of elements from art, to voice, to even UI elements, but one of the most subtly effective is the use of alternate themes for some characters. In the Sylvia Path, Margaret has a Sylvia-tinged theme for when she's in her alternate persona of Peggy. In a similar manner, we've added a theme for Sylvia when she's in her Margaret-influenced persona. In the same way Margaret's theme got a big, brassy version, Sylvia now has a more gentle, easygoing version of her own theme.  

If you'd like to listen to all four themes and hear how they all influence and inform each other, head to the music player in the Extras menu and flip back and forth between "Theme For A Mousy Girl," "Dangerous Coils," "The Hips Know Sis," and "More Like You." There's a lot of good parallels to find through multiple listens, and Will's compositions are always a joy to listen to.

New Story Content - Two New Short Ends and an Adjusted Julie Path 

Mice Tea has never been one of those visual novels with a single big interwoven, narrative with lots of variables. It's a little hard to reconcile storylines where Margaret's a tiny mouse with one where she's engaged in art heists, for example. It's always been several short stories you can choose between, but part of the fun of interactive narratives is diverging paths. With that in mind, we've picked out a few instances where Margaret makes a big decision and allowed players to have a say in the outcome. Currently the new short ends are just that; small diversions that show how things might have turned out if Margaret chose to take a different path. Right now we've added one to Day 3 of the Sylvia path and Day 6 of the Julie path.  

Speaking of Julie's path, we've made some adjustments to her storyline. A big part of the plot is Margaret dealing with Julie's domineering personality and thoughtlessness. However, after getting some feedback from players, we've decided to alter a few moments so that she doesn't overstep from insensitive to cruel. The changes are small and might not be noticed by some players, but hopefully those who are sensitive to such things won't find some aspects as disconcerting.  

That's it for this month! We'll be putting up a poll on the 1st deciding if we're going to work on Gavin or Julie's path next update. Both routes are nearing their end, so we know players are eager to see how each route wraps up. We'll be awaiting your votes then, and hope you enjoy this new update in the meantime!

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