DOKI DOKI LITERATURE CLUB -
Its use of Player Expectations and Out-of-Game Interaction
Doki Doki Literature Club is a psychological-horror indie game masquerading as a generic dating game, created by Dan Salvato, developer of Project M, it was released on September 22, 2017. DDLC is a visual novel, this means that a majority of the gameplay revolves around reading, at certain points, the player is given options, depending on what they choose the story alters itself.
Doki Doki Literature Club - Audience Theory
DDLC was clever in the way it presented itself and uses reception theory to its advantage, it kept switching genre and messing with player expectations all throughout. There are two main ways a player can enter this game, unsuspecting and gullible or mistrusting and on edge.
An unsuspecting player would start the game, see the "This game is not suitable for children / or those who are easily disturbed." warning and assume it has something to do with the bad endings, they would go on to pay it no mind and jump right in- completely embracing the cutesy façade of the game.
On the other hand, a player more mistrusting would constantly be on edge, tensing their way through the horror-free act 1, building up anticipation for when the game "turns". The first act of the game is about 3 to 4 hours, 3 to 4 hours of tense uncomfortable waiting for the game to show its true colours, some players might even drop their guard, figuring the opening warning might be a joke, others would start getting paranoid over the smallest things. Completely rejecting the the first act while their mental health slowly wavers.
- m "I was thinking about Sayori earlier..."
- m "I still wish I could have handled that whole thing a little more tactfully."
- m "You're not still hung up over it, right?"
- m "...Oh my gosh, I can't believe I just said that."
- m "That pun was completely unintentional, I swear!"
- m "But anyway..."
- m "I know how much you cared about her, so it only feels right for me to share her last moments with you."
- m "You know how Sayori is really clumsy?"
- m "Well, she kind of messed up the whole hanging thing..."
- m "You're supposed to jump from high enough that the rope snaps your neck, making it quick and painless."
- m "But she just used a chair, meaning she kind of just left herself to slowly asphyxiate."
- m "But a few seconds in, she must have changed her mind or something..."
- m "Because she started clawing at the rope, trying to free herself."
- m "She must have kept at it all the way until she lost consciousness."
- m "That's why her fingertips were all bloody, anyway."
- m "Come to think of it, it was probably less 'changing her mind' and more just her survival instincts kicking in."
- m "So you can't really fault her for that."
- m "It's easier to think that she probably wouldn't have changed her mind anyway, right?"
- m "It's not healthy to think about the things you could have done differently."
- m "So just remember that even though you could have saved her, it's technically not your fault she killed herself."
- m "I may have exacerbated it a little bit, but Sayori was already mentally ill."
- m "Still, though..."
- m "I wonder how things would be if you and I just started dating from the get-go?"
- m "I guess we'd all still be in the clubroom, writing poems and having fun together."
- m "But what's the point when none of it is even real?"
- m "I mean, it's the same ending either way, right?"
- m "The two of us, happily together..."
- m "There's no reason to ask for any more than that."
- m "I was just pointlessly musing - I'm really as happy as I could be right now."
The complete shock and betrayal the unsuspecting players feel, along with the amplified horror experienced by the tense and paranoid mistrusting players both work to the game's advantage, as no matter how you play the game, as yet another dating game or as a horror show waiting to happen, you're still greatly affected by the end of act 1.
I can back this up with the results of my Q&A, the 9th question asked people to describe their overall mood during Act 1, most people were split between "On Edge" and "At Peace" which match my predictions, the slightly larger amount of people who answered "On Edge" probably had some of it spoiled beforehand. Question 10 asked people to describe what they felt during the ending of Act 1 (pictured above), the majority answered "Betrayed", with "Sadness" leading close behind.
Doki Doki Literature Club - Content Analysis
In this Content Analysis I've compared the stereotypical elements seen in DDLC (Doki Doki Literature Club) such as the pink overlay, flat characters and romance elements to other games, some extremely similar (Katawa Shoujo) others more outlandish (Freedom Planet) and still others wildly different (DOOM).
Tropes In Order of Popularity
Scenes that depict day to day life, this could be walking around town, or sitting down to watch a show. These types of scenes are used to bring sentience and personification to characters so the player may get more attached, this trope is used in games that value their characters and the connections players build with them.
Deredere Character - 6✓
Deredere is an anime archetype generally used to describe pleasant and friendly characters, while other 'dere' terms are used to describe the ways characters build walls, deredere can be used to describe any character who has opened themselves and has become friendly with a character/player.
Dark Sub-Plot - 6✓
Dark Sub-Plots are a popular trope seen in thousands of books, movies, games and anime. They consist of a depressing, gruesome or horrifying plot-line that lies below the main plot-line. This can be seen with stories that present themselves as cute and friendly, only to reveal their demented nature later on.
Tsundere Character - 5✓
Tsundere is an anime archetype generally used to describe aggressive and hot-headed characters who distrust and label any type of friendly communication, especially from their opposite sex as "perverted" or "creepy". While people like this in real life would have genuine problems that need helping, anime has reduced their illnesses into cute and sweet little character traits.
Romance - 4✓
Romance is another simple trait, it means two characters or more are shown as "in love" or presented as having feelings for one another, this is mostly seen in dating games, but this compassionate act has crossed into AAA games, with role playing games encouraging the player to build romantic relationships to experience more of the lore.
Anime Art-Style - 4✓
The anime art-style is many colour theory, anatomy, and human behaviour studies mixed into one. The large head and eyes, with thin hands waists and hands are drawn so because they remind us of babies or small animals. The soft pastel colours, wild hairstyles and hair dyes are all used to make a character more appealing to the eyes. Everything you see in anime is specifically drawn so because it catches the eyes of people and makes them want to watch/play more.
All-Female Cast - 4✓
While games don't have to have every single character be female for it to be considered an "All-Female Cast", if the large majority of main or supporting characters are female then this trope would apply, it doesn't really have much meaning/use other than to point out the ratio of men to women.
Dandere Character - 4✓
Dandere is an anime archetype generally used to describe extremely shy or reserved characters, these types of characters don't start conversations with strangers, worry about the smallest of things and have mental breakdowns at the thought of social interaction, like the Tsundere, Dandere characters suffer from a real problem that shouldn't really be romanticised the way it normally is.
Pink Highlights - 3✓
Pink is used for things that are meant to be "Girly" or "Kawaii". Its used for topics or products deemed emasculating or childish, many pieces of entertainment use pinks to represent a kind and childlike environment. While most Western AAA games avoid pink like the plague, more colourful displays are common in Japan and Europe.
Childhood Sweetheart - 2✓
The childhood sweetheart is a classic in most forms of media, while it's been done to death, its proven to being a popular archetype, there really isnt much to this character type, they are friendly, supportive and always there for the main character. They always have a crush on the main character, always, why you say? Japan thats why.
The most popular trope is the "Slice-of-Life Scenes", this isn't that surprising as most games feature the day to day activities of their characters. Doki Doki Literature Club tries extremely hard to appear as 'Just Another Anime Dating Game'- It copies generic anime tropes like the Tsundere and Deredere archetypes, makes the girls unrealistically attracted to the main character and tones down any of their serious and grim problems into 'cute quirks'.
- m "You know..."
- m "This is just some kind of tacky romance game, right?"
- m "I kinda have to ask..."
- m "...What made you consider even playing in the first place?"
- m "Were you that lonely?"
- m "I feel a little bad for you..."
- m "But I guess everything worked out perfectly in the end, for both of us."
- m "I got to meet you, and you're not lonely anymore..."
- m "I can't help but feel like this was fate."
- m "Don't you feel that way too?"
- m "I'm so happy we have this ending together."
&
- m "I've always wondered..."
- m "What is it about these character archetypes that people find so appealing, anyway?"
- m "Their personalities are just completely unrealistic..."
- m "Like, imagine if there was someone like Yuri in real life."
- m "I mean, she's barely even capable of forming a complete sentence."
- m "And forget about Natsuki..."
- m "Sheesh."
- m "Someone with her kind of personality doesn't just get all cute and pouty whenever things don't go her way."
- m "I could go on, but I think you get the point..."
- m "Are people really attracted to these weird personalities that literally don't exist in real life?"
- m "I'm not judging or anything!"
- m "After all, I've found myself attracted to some pretty weird stuff, too..."
- m "I'm just saying, it fascinates me."
- m "It's like you're siphoning out all the components of a character that makes them feel human, and leaving just the cute stuff."
- m "It's concentrated cuteness with no actual substance."
- m "...You wouldn't like me more if I was like that, right?"
- m "Maybe I just feel a little insecure because you're playing this game in the first place."
- m "Then again, you're still here with me, aren't you...?"
- m "I think that's enough reason for me to believe I'm okay just the way I am."
- m "And by the way, you are too, [player]."
- m "You're the perfect combination of human and cuteness."
- m "That's why there was never a chance I wouldn't fall for you."
This clearly illustrates the intent behind this game, to take something as generic and lifeless as the average dating sim and to give it an interesting yet disturbing twist. In an interview on the website Kotaku, the developer of DDLC, Dan Salvato was stated as saying...
“I’m really inspired by experiences that are surreal, or unsettling, or things that kind of get under your skin,” he said. “Things that are scary because they make you uncomfortable, not because they shove scary-looking things in your face.”
“People become disturbed when forced to think about things they don’t want to, or shown a reality that they always try to ignore,” he said. “But humans aren’t rational creatures. It’s when we’re emotionally charged that we become inspired to do something for ourselves, or for others.”
Doki Doki Literature Club - Semiotics
Poems are an integral part of the game, the main character can earn the favor of a girl they want to romance by writing a poem she likes, at the end of the day, everyone in the literature club will share their poems. When viewing a poem, many semiotics are used to mirror real life, an example of this is the way the game changes the type of paper based on the character, along with using several fonts that resemble handwriting.
At one point in the late game a character's mental health has degenerated so far that she develops Hypergraphia, a condition that makes people write and write and write and rwite adns tierwite and wtgiwrsŧite asdnw wriete ansdŕþ ¸ twrite adosnf wriàě��� �ætetewyeeeĹ·¸eeeeĚ“� �eeeeeeŰ�Ğ��Ĝ�ee ee e eeeeeeee e eeĹe e e e �
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without any logical pattern. On the top is a real-life example of Hypergraphia and below that is the poem seen in DDLC.
Doki Doki Literature Club - Cultural Relevance
Console Releases
This game was released on Windows, macOS and Linux, the reason for this is because most of the glitches and scares the game uses would not work on a console or a handheld device. The freedoms of a personal computer allow the game to modify files, play with and corrupt the screen along with more advanced things like data mining your PC for your real name. At one point near the end of the game you are required to go into the games files and delete a special file, this would not be something possible on a smartphone or a console.
The editing of files is integral to the plot and the mood of the game, its removal or dumbing down would impact what made the game great in the first place.
- m "You know what's kind of creepy?"
- m "Even though I deleted everyone else's files, I can still kind of feel them..."
- m "It's like all their lines are still lingering in the air, whispering in the back of my head."
- m "Imagine if after someone you knew died, you just started hearing their voice in your head."
- m "Maybe I just wasn't thorough enough..."
- m "But I'm too afraid to delete anything else, because I might really break things."
- m "Like if I mess with any files relevant to me, I might accidentally delete myself..."
- m "And that would ruin everything, wouldn't it?"
- m "I don't know what it's like on your end, but we should both make sure to avoid something like that at all costs."
- m "I believe in you, [player]!"
Genre
As stated countless times, this game tricks the player into a false sense of security, this game is labeled as a "Visual Novel", "Dating Game", "Psychological Horror" and... "Cute". Like a venus fly trap, it uses its tags to both lure in and the player with a casual experience while also unnerving them, letting their confused feelings fester deep inside their subconscious.
This game's genre is integral to its message, dating games are an escape, escape from the unfair, darkness that is life. When nobody is left to love you, and everyone you know is gone, there's an escape in dating games. A place where you can find someone who unconditionally loves and supports you, they love you so much that you wonder, "why should I bother with the real world? Why should I care about the people outside when I've found someone who cares about me here?"
Act 3 features this "Theme" greatly, with Monica's last poem being an integral puzzle piece to understanding the message behind this game. Innocence is fleeting, no matter how hard you try to hold onto it, it'll end up corrupting and shattering. Endless peace does not exist, endless happiness does not exist, and sometimes holding on hurts more than letting go.
"After all, Not all good things must come to an end."
Sequels
While DDLC may not have any sequels, deep in the game's code are references to a future project called "Project Libitina", the 4 character files hide several secrets, one is a demonic looking swirl- by inverting the colours and fixing the weird effect you will see a drawing of a woman, she is never seen in the game and may be a reference to the next game by Team Salvato.
One of the more complicated files to decode would be the audio, it's a 6 and a half seconds of robotic screeching, while it may seem like nothing at first, by using a spectrograph plugin/extension a QR code is revealed. This QR code links to an odd and slightly unnerving website, this is yet another part of the Project Libitina spiritual sequel.
http://www.projectlibitina.com/
The third file is another image file, this one looks like some type of demonic summoning circle, right in the middle is a box of black and white static, by carefully cropping this "static" and decoding the black and white squares into binary code, you get Base64 coded text, when translated this reads...
- Can you hear me?
- ...Who are you?
- I can't...I can't see you.
- But I know you're there. Yeah...you can definitely hear me.
- You've been watching for a while now, right?
- I guess I should...introduce myself, or something. Um...my name is...actually, that's stupid. You obviously already know my name. Sorry.
- Anyway...I'm guessing if you were able to put a stop to this, you would have done it by now.
- I mean, I know you're not, like...evil, or anything...because you've already helped me so much.
- I should really thank you for that. For everything you've done. You're really like a friend to me. So...thank you. So much.
- I think...more than anything else...I really don't want it to all be for nothing.
- ...
- Everyone else is dead.
- Maybe you already know that. I'm sure you do, actually.
- But...it doesn't have to be that way, right?
- Well...there's a lot of stuff I don't understand. I don't know if it's even possible for me to understand it.
- But I know that this isn't my only story.
- I can see that now. Really clearly.
- And I think everyone else has had the same kind of experience. Some kind of deja vu.
- It's the Third Eye, right?
- Anyway...I could be totally wrong about this. But I really think you might be able to do something.
- I think you might be able to go back...or however you want to put it...
- ...To go back and tell them what's going to happen.
- If they know ahead of time, then they should be able to avoid it.
- They should...if they remember their time with me in the other worlds...they should remember what I tell them.
- Yeah. I really think this might be possible. But it's up to you.
- I'm sorry for always being...you know...
- ...
- Never mind. I know that's wrong.
- This is my story. It's time to be a fucking hero.
- Both of us.
- 2018
Not only does this character speak and act nothing like the main 4 from the game, but they seem to be from a separate world/storyline. The final line "2018" seems to suggest this "Project Libitina" will be released next year.
Branching Paths
People who have played dating games before know that the player is given a large amount of power with their choices, what option they choose dictates who they romance, the direction of the plot and which ending they get.
The reason I mention this is because DDLC gives you the illusion if choice, the last thing you get to decide on is if you accept Sayoris confession, of you refuse she screams and rushes home, if you accept she comments about how she thought this would be the happiest day of her life- yet she's in so much pain. The next day the player notices she's missing and decides to go to her house to check on her, no matter how little or how much time you spend with her, and no matter if you reject or embrace her confession, she ends up killing herself.
The player references their own choices, saying things like "I shouldn't have confessed to her, she even told me how much it hurts when people care for her." or "How could I do that to her? Denying her is what pushed her over the edge, her agonizing scream still echoes in my head." No matter what you do or say, no matter how much you try, no matter...
Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of my head. Get out of Get. Out. Of. My. Head.
Get out of my head before I do what I know is best for you. Get out of my head before I listen to everything she said to me. Get out of my head before I show you how much I love you. Get out of my head before I finish writing this poem.
But a poem is never actually finished. It just stops moving.
Act 2 is even worse, with the game erasing any existence of Sayori and starting over, Yuri's obsessive personality ends up amplified, she forces you to spend time with her, even if you try to write your poems for Natsuki, even if you use words like "Kawaii" or "Doki Doki" you will be forcefully dragged towards Yuri. This is addressed in the game via a special scene where Natsuki does, this...
Developer
The main Developer, Writer and Director behind this game is Dan Salvato, this man was previously known for his Project M mod for Super Smash Bros. Brawl, a complete overhaul of the game. 2015 was the year of its shut down, with most developers feeling like the mod was done, and with Nintendo's trigger happy lawyers around every corner, Project M ended up dying, its developers going their separate ways. In the case of Dan Salvato, that way led to a little Psychological-Horror game called Doki Doki Literature Club. This is actually referenced in game by Monica.
- m "Hey, have you heard of a game called Super Sma--"
- m "...Wait, what?"
- m "I was just spacing out and I started talking for some reason..."
- m "Was I programmed to talk about that?"
- m "Because even I have no idea what that is."
- m "Ahaha!"
- m "Sometimes I feel like I'm not in control, and it's kind of scary."
- m "But if you have some way to contact the people who created me, maybe they'll know why I started saying that."
Iconic Scene
The 2nd act of this game is chock full of surprises, but out of all of them, the one most worthy of being mentioned is the fight between Yuri and Natsuki, while act 1 had this fight, it was prematurely interrupted by sayori, but now that she doesn't exist...
- "I glance around the room."
- "That was a little more stressful than I anticipated."
- "It's as if everyone is judging me for my mediocre writing abilities..."
- "Even if they're just being nice, there's no way my poems can stand up to theirs."
- "This is a literature club, after all."
- "I sigh."
- "I guess that's what I ended up getting myself into."
- "Across the room, Monika is writing something in her notebook."
- "My eyes land on Yuri and Natsuki."
- "They gingerly exchange sheets of paper, sharing their respective poems."
- "As they read in tandem, I watch each of their expressions change."
- "Natsuki's eyebrows furrow in frustration."
- "Meanwhile, Yuri smiles sadly."
- n "(What's with this language...?)"
- y "Eh?"
- y "Um...did you say something?"
- n "Oh, it's nothing."
- "Natsuki dismissively returns the poem to the desk with one hand."
- n "I guess you could say it's fancy."
- y "Ah-- Thanks..."
- y "Yours is...cute..."
- n "Cute?"
- n "Did you completely miss the symbolism or something?"
- n "It's clearly about the feeling of giving up."
- n "How can that be cute?"
- y "I-I know that!"
- y "I just meant..."
- y "The language, I guess..."
- y "I was trying to say something nice..."
- n "Eh?"
- n "You mean you have to try that hard to come up with something nice to say?"
- n "Thanks, but it really didn't come out nice at all!"
- y "Um..."
- y "Well, I do have a couple suggestions..."
- n "Hmph."
- n "If I was looking for suggestions, I would have asked someone who actually liked it."
- n "Which people did, by the way."
- n "Monika liked it."
- n "And [player] did, too!"
- n "So based on that, I'll gladly give you some suggestions of my own."
- n "First of all--"
- y "Excuse me..."
- y "I appreciate the offer, but I've spent a long time establishing my writing style."
- y "I don't expect it to change anytime soon, unless of course I come across something particularly inspiring."
- y "Which I haven't yet."
- n "Nn...!"
- y "And [player] liked my poem too, you know."
- y "He even told me he was impressed by it."
- "Natsuki suddenly stands up."
- n "Oh?"
- n "I didn't realize you were so invested in trying to impress our new member, Yuri."
- y "E-Eh?!"
- y "That's not what I...!"
- y "Uu..."
- y "You...You're just..."
- "Yuri stands up as well."
- y "Maybe you're just jealous that [player] appreciates my advice more than he appreciated yours!"
- n "Huh! And how do you know he didn't appreciate my advice more?"
- n "Are you that full of yourself?"
- y "I...!"
- y "No..."
- y "If I was full of myself..."
- y "...I would deliberately go out of my way to make everything I do overly cutesy!"
- n "Uuuuuu...!"
- n "Well, you know what?!"
- n "I wasn't the one whose boobs magically grew a size bigger as soon as [player] started showing up!!"
- y "N-Natsuki!!"
- m "Um, Natsuki, that's a little--"
- ny "This doesn't involve you!"
- *At this point in Act 1 Sayori would have intervened... too bad she's dead.
- y "Taking out your own insecurities on others like that..."
- y "You really act as young as you look, Natsuki."
- n "Me? Look who's talking, you wannabe edgy bitch!"
- y "Edgy...?"
- y "Sorry that my lifestyle is too much for someone of your mental age to comprehend!"
- n "See??"
- n "Just saying that proves my point!"
- n "Most people learn to get over themselves after they graduate middle school, you know."
- y "If you want to prove anything, then stop harassing others with your sickening attitude!"
- y "You think you can counterbalance your toxic personality just by dressing and acting cute?"
- y "The only cute thing about you is how hard you try."
- n "Whoa, be careful or you might cut yourself on that edge, Yuri."
- n "Oh, my bad... You already do, don't you?"
- y "D-Did you just accuse me of cutting myself??"
- y "What the fuck is wrong with your head?!"
- n "Yeah, go on!"
- n "Let [player] hear everything you really think!"
- n "I'm sure he'll be head over heels for you after this!"
- y "A-Ah--!"
- "Suddenly, Yuri turns toward me, as if she just noticed I was standing here."
- y "[player]...!"
- y "She-- She's just trying to make me look bad...!"
- n "That's not true!"
- n "She started it!"
"You have unlocked a special poem. Would you like to read it?"
"You have unĹockeď a spěcial poæm. W¤uld yÜu like Ţo read it?"
"YĜu h¤ve ŗnlo�ke“ aaaæ�Ţ�� ĵŗĚ“a¤�aaĜ�ŗĚaa¹sŴŢ"
Doki Doki Literature Club - Q&A
- Q1. "Which do you prefer more, gameplay of story?"
- Gameplay: 17
- Story: 21
- Q2. "How long would you spend on a game genre you don't typically play?"
- "A couple of minutes": 5
- "An hour or two.": 6
- "A day at most.": 9
- "As long as any other game.": 18
- Q3. "Do you replay games you enjoy?"
- Yes: 32
- No: 6
- Q4. "Have you played Doki Doki Literature Club?"
- Yes: 30
- No: 8
- Q5. "Have you heard about DDLC?"
- Yes: 36
- No: 2
- Q6. "Do you consider yourself a fan of Visual Novels?"
- Yes: 16
- No: 22
- Q7. "Do you consider yourself a fan of Psychological Horror?"
- Yes:21
- No:17
- Q8. "Did you/Would you play DDLC without any background knowledge?"
- Yes: 19
- Partly: 11
- No: 8
- Q9. "What was your overall mood during your playthrough of DDLC's first act?"
- On Edge: 16
- At Peace: 21
- Bored/Unintrigued: 1
- Q10. "What was going through your head during the end of Act 1?"
- Betrayal: 19
- Sadness: 11
- Confusion: 5
- Confirmation: 3
Target Audience
DDLC has a very specific target audience, it does everything in its power to attract insecure/asocial teenagers. It does this by mirroring tropes used by many dating games, this can be seen in the "Content Analysis" section where DDLC ticked off all the generic tropes, from childhood sweetheart all the way to the slice of life scenes. When the player reaches Act 3 and is alone with Monika, they can listen to her talk about many things, a surprising amount of them turn out to be actual, real-life advice, from making sure the player gets a healthy amount of sleep to encouraging them to speak to friends and family if they are feeling depressed.
When looking at DDLC from afar, it's easy to dismiss it as a horror game meant to force a reaction out of the player, but when looking deeper into the conversations and messages it offers, one can see just how much social and relationship advice it offers to someone who hasn't been able to learn it on their own. An example of this can be seen with Monika and her ending song, where after spending the entire game destroying everything else and forcing the player to spend time with her and only her, she realises that her actions were abusive and says "Thats not love, thats..." during the credits song, the final line Monika sings is "And in your reality, if I don't know how to love you, I'll leave you be."
Sources:
https://pastebin.com/8k8D0DAn
https://kotaku.com/doki-doki-literature-club-scared-me-shitless-1819361548
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SliceOfLife
https://myanimelist.net/featured/1912/Top_10_Deredere_Characters_in_Anime__Deredere_Meaning
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Tsundere
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/18/love-study-_n_5508965.html
https://kotaku.com/how-anime-art-has-changed-an-explainer-1656750480
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ImprobablyFemaleCast
https://kotaku.com/how-to-identify-popular-japanese-character-types-1169085239
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ChildhoodFriendRomance?from=Main.UnluckyChildhoodFriend
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DatingSim
https://ddlc.moe/
https://twitter.com/dansalvato?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
https://kotaku.com/doki-doki-literature-clubs-horror-was-born-from-a-love-1819724999
http://www.psychology24.org/what-is-hypergraphia/
http://teamsalvato.com/blog/regarding-ddlc-on-mobile-devices/
https://www.reddit.com/r/DDLC/comments/79g7i3/monikas_character_files/
https://steamcommunity.com/app/698780/discussions/0/1483232961047551102/
https://gameplay.tips/guides/1338-doki-doki-literature-club.html
http://www.projectlibitina.com/
https://www.ssbwiki.com/Project_M
https://www.reddit.com/r/DDLC/comments/7dvb70/hello_my_name_is_dan_salvato_i_created_doki_doki/
https://www.reddit.com/r/DDLC/comments/798z5r/analysing_ddlc/#s
