VN Ren'Py Cosy Cafe [v0.13.1 EA] [Cosy Creator]

[smuk]

Hey! When did you change toilet paper here?!

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I just hope next time it won't be replace with 3 seashells!

 

[DroneZone]

What do people think our 'In' with Rachel is going to be?

Maybe something like: Fletcher goes to her house because he notices shes not going to school and feels guilty about that whole thing, meets her parents, who turn out to be quite normal and concerned for their daughter, the topic of Fletcher owning a cafe comes up, Rachel's parents try and hook her up with the waitressing job there because they think some 'real world' experience would be good for her, Rachel agrees because she wants brutal unhinged sex ~Mysterious Reasons~

 

[Mark Loring]

I personally think it's going to be Rachel who stops some sort of abuse to Hannah from Brian.

 

[hameleona]

I personally think it's going to be Rachel who stops some sort of abuse to Hannah from Brian.

Rachel can't spot abuse if it bites her. More likely Alison would nag the MC to death to check on her, because he ain't an idiot and knows there is nothing of value lost if Rachel dies in a ditch.

 

[Mark Loring]

Rachel can't spot abuse if it bites her. More likely Alison would nag the MC to death to check on her, because he ain't an idiot and knows there is nothing of value lost if Rachel dies in a ditch.

She might spot it if it was painfully obvious, like a bruise, but yeah, you're probably right.

 

[hameleona]

She might spot it if it was painfully obvious, like a bruise, but yeah, you're probably right.

I don't think anyone has the power to save Brain from the MC if Hannah shows up bruised. Hell, the only way Brain gets away with it is if the MC and her dad get in each-other's way.

 

[HiHaHo]

about the upcoming FF meeting at the cafe,do you guys think Brian might tag along this time?

 

[Meiri]

What do people think our 'In' with Rachel is going to be?

Maybe something like: Fletcher goes to her house because he notices shes not going to school and feels guilty about that whole thing, meets her parents, who turn out to be quite normal and concerned for their daughter, the topic of Fletcher owning a cafe comes up, Rachel's parents try and hook her up with the waitressing job there because they think some 'real world' experience would be good for her, Rachel agrees because she wants brutal unhinged sex ~Mysterious Reasons~

I don't see Rachel working at the cafe unless she changes a lot, and even then she would need to be forgiven and get along with the rest of the girls, which is something she's not even close right now.

I don't see us going after her either, I think the first step has to come from Rachel, her trying to stop Brian from hurting Rachel or doing something against one of us could be an option since that would give us some sympathy with her and could maybe start something like with Catherine where we start to see that she isn't that bad.

 

[maxthruster]

To be fair it doesn't entirely have to be direct abuse for Rachel to take issue with Brian. She's previously taken issues with possessiveness/claiming gestures from the MC, she could very well do the same with Brian.

Think back to how he first acted way back in like, week 1 of the game, when Vicky first joined the cafe. He came up to the MC, demanded her back like she was an item, and said "stay away from her, she's MINE." If he does the same thing with Hannah, and Rachel is present or hears about it, there's no way she would ignore it. It wouldn't make her inherently Team Fletcher, but it would make her very anti-Brian.

It could be a case of the enemy of my enemy being my friend, where they agree temporarily to work together to free Hannah from Brian; I'm not sure whether it's more likely that Rachel ends up having some crucial piece of information that makes us begrudgingly accept her as part of the plan, or if she just bothers her way in to the point that it's easier to roll our eyes and let her stay than to chase her off.

Either way, I doubt Brian's relationship with Hannah will go the physical abuse route, because she's the daughter of a family head. Brian is pretty stupid, but he's not so moronic as to not realize striking her would earn the undying enmity of the Gilberts. It's possible he'd lash out at someone else in his rage - Mika seems next most likely, but I don't expect it to be her because the game seems utterly unsympathetic to her, and making her an abuse victim rather than just a gold-digging simp would change that. More likely, any rage he feels about his "relationship" with Hannah crumbling would be directed back at us, leading to a fight or to him trying something else stupid. Would be interesting if he tries to trash the cafe as an act of revenge, see how we deal with that.

 

[Mark Loring]

To be fair it doesn't entirely have to be direct abuse for Rachel to take issue with Brian. She's previously taken issues with possessiveness/claiming gestures from the MC, she could very well do the same with Brian.

Think back to how he first acted way back in like, week 1 of the game, when Vicky first joined the cafe. He came up to the MC, demanded her back like she was an item, and said "stay away from her, she's MINE." If he does the same thing with Hannah, and Rachel is present or hears about it, there's no way she would ignore it. It wouldn't make her inherently Team Fletcher, but it would make her very anti-Brian.

It could be a case of the enemy of my enemy being my friend, where they agree temporarily to work together to free Hannah from Brian; I'm not sure whether it's more likely that Rachel ends up having some crucial piece of information that makes us begrudgingly accept her as part of the plan, or if she just bothers her way in to the point that it's easier to roll our eyes and let her stay than to chase her off.

Either way, I doubt Brian's relationship with Hannah will go the physical abuse route, because she's the daughter of a family head. Brian is pretty stupid, but he's not so moronic as to not realize striking her would earn the undying enmity of the Gilberts. It's possible he'd lash out at someone else in his rage - Mika seems next most likely, but I don't expect it to be her because the game seems utterly unsympathetic to her, and making her an abuse victim rather than just a gold-digging simp would change that. More likely, any rage he feels about his "relationship" with Hannah crumbling would be directed back at us, leading to a fight or to him trying something else stupid. Would be interesting if he tries to trash the cafe as an act of revenge, see how we deal with that.

He could also lash out at Chloe as well (but unlikely since she's from a side-branch of one of the FFs), which also pushes her away and more towards the MC and his crew. She could just be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

 

[TBone9]

Hey! When did you change toilet paper here?!

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I just hope next time it won't be replace with 3 seashells!

Well, you're sharing a house/workplace with about a zillion women, so of course you're gonna go through some TP.

 

[hameleona]

I don't expect Brain to get physical with anyone - for one, he is a coward. And he hasn't really shown any indications of being anything but a simple shithead with a loud mouth. Like, everyone is acting like he is torturing puppies in his free time, but atm Cosy hasn't shown him as anything but a spoiled brat. Hell, when the MC assaulted him he froze. He obsesses over Victoria, but the only thing he has the balls to do abut it is ask her out (per her own words) and later boasting to the MC about him owning her. Granted, with his position such a boast might be enough with most people. But still... honestly we have seen more on-screen shitty behavior from Chloe, then Brain.

Overall if I have one major criticism about this game is that we are repeatedly told how "bad" the bad guys are, yet we have seen essentially nothing about it and in the last update we even kinda got a hint even the "big bad" Gloria, might have had a solid reason to crush the MC's granddad.
Like, idk, show us something - show us someone who Gloria destroyed for the lulz or for a pointless power-grab, show us Brain gloating how he is gonna enjoy bending Hannah over, when they are finally married. Or how he is gonna make her watch him using his power to bend Alison. Or let us know how he killed someone's puppy. Or him actively bullying someone at the very lest.
IDK, it feels very much as we are pointed at Brain and his mom and told to hate them and never really shown why. Brain is an idiotic shithead, but (important thing here, that people forget) so was the MC. Actually, the MC might have been a lot worse - he was actively searching for fights and people to lash out at. And Gloria's biggest sin we have seen is being a ruthless businesswoman..

 

[maxthruster]

I don't expect Brain to get physical with anyone - for one, he is a coward. And he hasn't really shown any indications of being anything but a simple shithead with a loud mouth. Like, everyone is acting like he is torturing puppies in his free time, but atm Cosy hasn't shown him as anything but a spoiled brat. Hell, when the MC assaulted him he froze. He obsesses over Victoria, but the only thing he has the balls to do abut it is ask her out (per her own words) and later boasting to the MC about him owning her. Granted, with his position such a boast might be enough with most people. But still... honestly we have seen more on-screen shitty behavior from Chloe, then Brain.

Overall if I have one major criticism about this game is that we are repeatedly told how "bad" the bad guys are, yet we have seen essentially nothing about it and in the last update we even kinda got a hint even the "big bad" Gloria, might have had a solid reason to crush the MC's granddad.
Like, idk, show us something - show us someone who Gloria destroyed for the lulz or for a pointless power-grab, show us Brain gloating how he is gonna enjoy bending Hannah over, when they are finally married. Or how he is gonna make her watch him using his power to bend Alison. Or let us know how he killed someone's puppy. Or him actively bullying someone at the very lest.
IDK, it feels very much as we are pointed at Brain and his mom and told to hate them and never really shown why. Brain is an idiotic shithead, but (important thing here, that people forget) so was the MC. Actually, the MC might have been a lot worse - he was actively searching for fights and people to lash out at. And Gloria's biggest sin we have seen is being a ruthless businesswoman..

Yeah, probably my biggest issue with the game from a writing perspective is that it does a lot more telling than showing. Moments like seeing Catherine's living situation are so much more powerful because we're actively experiencing it; it makes us feel for her so much more than when she first told us she's broke. Same thing with the families: we're constantly being told how powerful they are, and most of them obviously have a ton of money, but what do they actually do? They gather every week to give arbitrary assent or dissent to things and leave someone else to work out the details, and we don't really see any of the results. We don't see why their opinions on these things actually matter. And we likely won't until they make a decision that actively hurts someone we know.

One thing I've been considering as a possibility for that, since the whole thing about permits and inspections got acknowledged in game, was that while the MC is largely off limits because none of the families want to be tied to a direct move against him right now, we could see the girls themselves being targeted in other ways. And which girl happens to come from a different restauranteering family, with another main girl attached to it that needs an excuse to get more involved with the cafe crew? I see it as very likely that one of the families will attempt to leverage Wong's against the MC, making up some reason to close it down for a couple months and offering to make the whole thing go away if he votes with them on a certain issue.

I'm not certain which family would push for that - it certainly seems most like a Gloria thing, but then again who knows - but it would be a decent bit of drama, would demonstrate some of the actual power of the families if they can just shut down any business they choose, and probably give us a reason to get closer to Akari in the meantime; if she temporarily comes to the kitchen at the cafe to pick up some work until Wong's opens again, that could be a good way for us to bond with her, for her to get used to the idea of working there in the future, and for us to observe her cooking techniques more for the inevitable rematch. Also, letting her spend a bit of time with Akatsuki and seeing how they interact over a longer period of time would be nice.

 

[danb35]

so was the MC

Was. Past tense.

But you're right that we're left to infer a lot about Brian.

hasn't shown him as anything but a spoiled brat.

True, but a spoiled brat who (at least potentially) swings a pretty big stick.

 

[danb35]

Moments like seeing Catherine's living situation are so much more powerful because we're actively experiencing it; it makes us feel for her so much more than when she first told us she's broke.

Very much so. She's still not my favorite (as of the end of 0.12; I haven't played through the latest update yet), but she earned several points here. And her little sisters are just too cute, especially the smart one. Her pride is frustrating (because we know MC just doesn't care*), but increasingly understandable.

*i.e., he isn't going to think less of her because of either of her parents. Speaking of which...

First, some background. The first AVN I played was Harem Hotel, where all the main LIs (and some of the side ones) have some pretty serious family-of-origin drama. It was refreshing to play Eternum, where all but one of them have loving, supportive families--there's plenty of drama in the game, but it isn't family drama.

So it's interesting that in this (mostly) wholesome, Cosy VN, all the parents (including MC's) are somewhere between "meh" and downright awful, with most leaning toward the latter. This is, of course, extremely common in children's fiction--in order for the protagonists to, well, protagonize, the parents need to be missing, awful, or some combination. But this is most definitely not a children's story, and everyone (except Catherine's sisters, who are side characters at most) is an adult. It doesn't disrupt the overall wholesomeness of the vibe, but it feels like it could, and maybe even should.

 

[briansanders]

Just played the update, an awesome one as always! My favorite parts from this update were the morning solo scene with Catherine where you peel back another layer of the Princess and the emotional scene with Hannah. Hopefully, Annabelle’s arc stays the way it is: where she’s genuinely looking for a friend and likes the MC and not hiding some secret agenda.