Lol - I didn’t say it would be easy
Every single character has their own dark secret, hidden agenda or astounding discovery. Except Chad. Chad’s special
I love Chad. Chad gives us hope that MC isn't the dumbest person in the game's universe.
Sidebar: I love Hanzi too! It's so rare to see such a flamboyantly gay character be romanceable in an erotic game. Even gay erotic games are full of brooding men who are in denial of TEH GAY or men who are questioning their sexuality. GIVE ME FLAMERS.
Any G3 male would be fine - adaptations can always be made after
Gotcha, I just got my graphics card back from the shop, so I'll see what I can come up with this.
I had to give up my creative writing course because I didn’t have the time... so this sort of feedback is good!
You’re completely right that Anna-type characters are the toughest to pull off, but I think we all also have experience of the unrequited crush that’s seen as ‘out of our league’ - meaning that these sort of characters generally place more work on the consumer than the creator (i.e. a transfer of the normal burden of motivation/personality/values by presenting the consumer with a blank-canvas on which to write their own template). Anna is also the female counterpart of MC in many ways (more conservative and unsure of her place and sexuality than the others, and equally open to player-adaptation in a way that the more confident Fatima, or cheerfully open Sam can’t be). I actually seriously considered her as a possible alt-female protagonist (very unlikely to happen, but I’ve still structured the plot to allow for the facility).
Hmm. I think the problem is by the time we get to the rescue/relationship moment, we've already seen so many people go through absurd lengths to take a ride on the MC's sausage shuttle. So my suspension of disbelief fails when the story tells me that Anna is unattainable for MC. Sure, I can buy that he THINKS that, cause he's dumb and thinks poorly of himself, but the story doesn't feel true. I think the other issue is that unattainable blank slate waifus don't deal with increased interaction that well. The best ones that I've experienced had one or two lines of dialogue in the entire work. Having Anna this much dialogue and interaction exposes how minimal her personality is. I think she needs at least one more personality quirk to be able to qualify as "interesting" to me.
(Also, you can totally have her as alt-female personality through the magic of body-swapping.
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I’ve always rather liked the deconstruction of grotesques - the sudden realisation that under the buffoonery of a David Brent or the malevolence of a Wilson Fisk lie countless layers of vulnerability and damage... Personally I think it works best where we think we know what someone is and then get side-swiped - so I suppose that whether it’s worked or not will have to be judged further on down Sarge’s storyline. Mind you, lol - I thought I did go pretty extreme with Sarge’s creepiness there... and she did manage to rustle up a teddy-bear and some evening dresses for her weird daughter/lover/prisoner scenario! I get what you mean though - at the time I toyed with a Labrynth parody (the scene where the dumpster goblins try and weigh the girl down with toys to trap her) to ram that home... but I couldn’t justify delaying the update for it
Again, those sound like interesting goals, but I think that the cost of slowing down the story, and ruining the tone, is not quite worth it. The fix isn't going to be simple, either, but I don't have anything more concrete aside from "put more jokes in". Same issue I'm getting with the Pandemonium parts, I usually just fast forward on those.