Creator Interview with BunniBambii: Making Two Straws

Two Straws is a colourful romantic comedy visual novel written and illustrated by BunniBambii. It follows an overworked office worker whose lunch break turns into an unexpected connection at a retro diner.

We spoke with BunniBambii about challenging herself creatively, building backgrounds in Blender, and what she learnt from making Two Straws with RouteVN Creator.

RouteVN provided partial sponsorship for Two Straws' development.

Yay, thank you! Hi, my name is Bambii. I am a full-time illustrator and part-time streamer and VTuber, though it really depends on who you ask. I believe I have been working on visual novels since 2024, but I have been drawing for as long as I can remember.

I mostly draw my original characters these days, do a bit of world-building and writing here and there, or consume romance novels like they are my life force.

Before Two Straws, I worked on Swiped!: Double Shots of Love. The condensed version is that I wanted to make a visual novel with older male love interests because there is a market and demand for them.

It was a super ambitious project for a first-time visual novel creator. Five love interests meant that I could not reuse the same trope, and they somehow had to know each other. It became complicated, and I was making it as a final-year college project.

It is my favourite project that I have worked on, and people still ask whether I am continuing it. For now, no. Eventually? Sure. I am still setting up a production schedule, but the problem is entirely on the coding side of the game.

I would describe it as allowing yourself to have fun again. It is also colourful. We need some whimsy in our lives, no matter how old we are.

Before I start working on anything, I need a muse. My muse for this project was Robert Robertson from Dispatch. Second, I just love diners, or at least their retro aesthetic. Third, I needed to make something different from Swiped!. I did not want to create a full cast of men again, although the market is bigger. I wanted to do something beyond my comfort zone, and the market is still lacking in female love interests too.

For the story, I wanted to make it relatable. I do not know anything about office politics or working in an office, so I based it on movies and experiences that people around me have talked about.

For the art, I experimented with something different. My usual style would have taken much more time, and it would not have been as polished as I wanted. I sat down and used more line art with simple shading instead. It actually became very helpful for my other personal work.

The general idea of Two Straws was that I wanted something different, found a muse, expanded on it, and wanted to see how much I could do with RouteVN. I also wanted the story to be relatable: overworking and barely having time to catch a break.

It did not feel like it was meant to be a full-length novel, but it did not feel like it was meant to be a graphic novel either. I like doing something in between. I like it when choices matter to players, so they become immersed in the story.

It feels more personal in a visual novel format, and the experience stays with you for longer, especially when it is a one-shot story.

Anyone who knows me knows that I despise doing backgrounds. I never understood perspective or how to sketch a background from references on a board. It is difficult. Making it in Blender helps me a lot. I actually planned the whole interior in The Sims before building the rest from scratch. I needed to see it in front of me and think about what did and did not make sense before committing to the floor plan.

I have used Blender for my background work, and even though it took up a chunk of production time, I do not regret it. It made the process easier because I could move things around without erasing line art or restarting the whole background. I could move the camera, take a screenshot, and see how it looked. If I did not like it, I could change the angle or lighting before rendering it.

I also prefer a more polished look for backgrounds. Since my sprites are polished too, it would genuinely bug me if the background were messy or simple while the sprites were detailed. I need cohesion.

It took the coding part out of the process and made it significantly easier for me. I did not have to spend another portion of my time figuring out how everything worked. I like that it is more intuitive, especially for a creative person who sometimes struggles with technical work.

@bunni_bambii

I learnt about deadlines, making more backgrounds, scripting, and asking for help. I am thankful to the people who read through my script and provided feedback that helped tighten parts of it. Improving in another art style was a bonus too.

The most difficult parts were probably the lack of an undo button when I messed up a scene in RouteVN, and my RAM usage hitting an all-time high. It sometimes took a long time to work on something, but that did not put me off entirely. It was just a nuisance to deal with.

I mostly enjoyed the whole design process and finding something new and fresh to do on a slightly smaller scale.

I like to expand beyond my comfort zone, but I did not have a reason to before. I am grateful for this opportunity to tell stories again.

RouteVN: Thank you for the feedback. We believe we have fixed the RAM issue. We have also received many requests for an undo button, and we plan to add one as soon as we can make sure it works reliably without introducing bugs.

Do not be overly ambitious. I am so serious. If you can do it, good for you, but making a visual novel is not easy when you are doing it alone.

I do have to say that aesthetics matter, especially the visuals. I think many people see the art before the writing. But do not be discouraged if what you release does not reach the exact numbers you expected. You worked hard, made it, released it, and had fun. That is what makes it worth it.

Do not add variety if you cannot support it. Four or five love interests are a lot, and you have to think about all the different branches. Stick to one first before going for more. Make it reasonable for yourself. It is okay to be ambitious during the ideation stage, but cut what you do not need.

If you plan to work on a visual novel with a small team, especially a voluntary one, make sure their work style aligns with yours. It can be demotivating when a team member ghosts the project, and it will disrupt your intended production schedule. I had a bad experience, which is why I work solo now.

Oh yeah, I have two planned. Well, mostly one now. It has one male love interest and is still in the planning stage. I found a new muse, and if more features are added to RouteVN, I will definitely use RouteVN again to work on it.

For now, that is what I am planning, and I am excited.

Thank you for sharing your experiences with us, Bambii. Working with you and seeing Two Straws come to life was inspiring for the RouteVN team as well. We will make sure the missing features you need are delivered, and we look forward to seeing where your next story takes you!