Definitely ahead of schedule - wish I was lazier

Another character reaches completion! I'm just THREE CHARACTERS to go so - yikes that's SO great time to celebra-oh no fuck I'm dead.

Now before you don me a brand new shirt with VEEERY long sleeves - allow me to first tell you - behold the wicked fate of a budget-free dev!

I think I said it already: working without a budget means working with infinite budget.

So, to all devs out there: have you ever found yourself thinking, like, "hey! This scene calls for a very specific, one-use-only, neutral-but-secretly-screaming expression"? The kind of face a real person makes when the girl they fancy spends the whole night in their bedroom - talking about the socio-economical risks of crypto-currency.
A normal developer - one that works on a budget - will be like, "great-I-love-it-but-no-thanks". 'Cause, they're backed by a professional guy making the art, asking, like, $40 for every weird idea they have - they just need those bucks elsewhere.
Me? I am the developer and the artist (kind of an overstatement, I know... just bear with it, 'kay?) so my case's about me looking at my own personal "guy-making-the-art" self in the mirror, who of course says "yeah-great-why-not!" Right! Why not! Just another bite at your soul and we're even!"
A couple nights ago, for instance, I was writing a scene and - there goes Pris (you know I love her), looking at me with her typical "no-it's-not-just-despire-trust-me-it's-worse" glare. I swear I could hear her gently whispering, "do you really expect me to hear this line and make that face?! Confess: you've got another girl in another game who looks exactly like me, who's a very relatable, silly girl who's all giggles, cotton candy and nonsense. Right?"
The worst part is: I actually answered her! I told her, "oh, sorry, you're right. Totally!"
And now I need her to look at me with a very specific, judgemental, plot-interrogating expression. It's not optional anymore.
Multiply this feeling for every clever line I come up with - and then multiply it for every single character.

At first you'll think, "hey, it's just a matter of finding a clever combination of  a body pose, a facial expression and whatever". Then you start making figures: 6 poses, 5 brows, 12 eyes, 6 mouths...
And all of a sudden my "oh-so-clever" approach to sprites design makes me cry emo rainbows.
I do NOT want to get into figures. I do NOT want to proof-check a gigazillion random combinations to find the one that fits that specific scene...
And I already know that I'll do that, of course.

No budget --> infinite budget, remember?

So do tell a prayer on my behalf next time you see a rainbow - it'll be coming out of my eyes.

And - should you ever find yourself in a similar situation—held hostage by your own creation, a full victim of a Stockholm-like syndrome that makes you sympathize with your wicked abductors—do share it with me. Might work like a therapy of sorts!
Like

me: "Hi, I'm JaN."
Developers Anonymous.: "Hi, JaN."
me: "I, uhm, like... I've not been thinking of my character for three days!"
D.A.: *hands clapping* "Oh, that's so great, JaN..."