Replaying pokemon Y and picking apart dialogues to add to the fan version in my head is very fun, Especially now that I have a vision for Calem as the canon rival:

(This is written almost like a fanfic so yeah there's Kalosshipping inserted in this little thing)

He would be an Obsessed Are the Listmakers type person, he follows the rules by the book and has an scheduled itinerary as to when and how things will be done. While he did considered Shauna, Tierno and Trevor as friends, he mostly organized his free time into studying and learning about pokemon battles, and that made him into the most proficient soon-to-be trainer of their tiny town.

Serena's addition to the team wasn't something unexpected for him, he was actually asked by his parents to help Grace's daughter. And so he did!

He was prepared to explain about the type chart to Serena... only for her to already know the type chart by association. He was ready to teach her about how to catch a pokemon!.. only for her to already have new fletchling in her team. And he was ready to win against her every time!... only for her to be stronger than everyone else.

He couldn't even keep up with his schedule cause the rest would suggest trying to do something else. He would usually reject it and keep on his journey, but Serena had a different pull to him that made him say yes everytime and have fun together as a friendgroup.

Serena is a natural lider, an example and a fantastic trainer. She's in control of herself and of the world around her, and not as a tyranical ruler, but as a light of guidance as bright as the Lumiose tower that could never go out. What is Calem compared to her?

He was the son of two very strong trainers, being the very best was his plan, he had it all written down and ready as to when and how he would receive the champion title from Diantha. It was part of his order, but Serena came and took it all away in one elegant swift.

The worst part? He admired her, her ways of viewing the world and was happily goofing around with his friends. The order of his world was being shifted in a good but unfamiliar way.

And that was the one thing he hated: feeling out of control. And it was all because of that new girl in town.

Maybe that's what made him almost understand and simpathize with Lysandre. He understood the feeling of having all your expectations of the world broken and destroyed, only to want to redo the whole world and start from scratch. And Lysandre was indeed offering that to him.. he could help him in the mission of reactivating the ultimate weapon and start all over..

Thank Arceus, Serena was there to ground him back into reality. To show him that the solution cannot be control or erasure. It is the balance of life and death, of order and chaos, and believing that the future can be done right with a better path.

For a girl that talks so much about balance and letting go of control, she sure has the heart of the boy under her belt. And he would swear to protect her even in the face of a flower of death.

V3 Spoilers under cut. Just some stuff that has been on my mind since I played the game. 

Okay, so I haven’t played it as much as the first two, and I really do adore Shuichi as a character. Let me get those two things out first because I don’t want any angry people in my inbox. This isn’t to complain about Shuichi, or that V3 took things in a different direction than the first two games. The third installment in any franchise has a tough job, balancing fan expectations and keeping the spirit of the story alive enough to please people who have been there since the beginning; while also being new and exciting enough as to not feel stale, and maybe even draw in a whole new crowd. I get that. Changing up a series is not, by default, a bad thing, and I don’t want to imply that DR should have stuck with the same old formula. I’m just saying that there was one glaring misuse of the characters that lowkey sucked. And for the purposes of not writing a whole novel, I’ll probably gloss over some big, important stuff in the interests of streamlining. Please don’t be mad. This is just the impression that the game gave me.

(And yeah, I’m talking like UDG didn’t exist. I still haven’t finished that game to be honest. It’s enjoyable in it’s own merits, and I’m loving the familiar faces and all, but at times it just doesn’t feel like Danganronpa. Yeah, I said it. Maybe that’s my own problem, though - the third-person adventure/horror aspect isn’t my style usually, unless the game is something else. But I digress.)

 So, onto our main point, I’m gonna come out and say it: Shuichi was a poor choice for a protagonist. 

 Let’s rewind for a minute to the first two games, shall we? Each cast was likable in their own ways, the different environments gave each story it’s own atmosphere while still retaining that unmistakable Danganronpa feeling. There were things we could rely on as we transitioned from one game to the other, and things we could be surprised by. One thing about DR is that it has the same trio over and over, right up until this game, where the roles are inexplicably changed. (And again, changing things up: not automatically invalid. But this was a large part of the soul of Danganronpa: the ability to feel like your ordinary self has become a part of this world of Ultimates, and the battle between hope and despair. It’s designed to make you a part of the game so you really feel the highs and lows and every little consequence; and nowhere is it as blatant as in this game, see the final trial. That’s why this change was so bizarre.)

 In the first game, it was Makoto, Kyoko and Byakuya. In the second, it was Hajime, Chiaki and Nagito. Respectively, their roles were such:

 Your protagonist and POV character. They were relatable in many ways: feeling out of place in the presence of all this talent to which they felt they couldn’t compare, somewhat naive, always wanting to believe the best of others, never particularly keen to put anyone to death. They weren’t unintelligent by any means, but their self-doubt and desire to keep the group as a group would hold them back from difficult deductions. This would show in different degrees and in different ways in the characters, but it was always very much there. Much like the player: we didn’t want to put our faves to death, but we didn’t have a choice. For the most part, it was the protagonist who kept that human element to an otherwise fantastical environment, full of people who were only borderline believable. They kept the story grounded, presenting it through their respective viewpoints. The game doesn’t have to justify why it has this almost fictional quality to it’s story and characters, because Makoto and Hajime have both observed that it’s almost not real. But then they get close to the other characters and form attachments, and truly become a part of events themselves, and it all feels very real. It’s through this character that our ordinary selves can truly experience a world like the one in Danganronpa. 

 Next, you have the two sidekicks, performing polarizing roles. All very intelligent, often figuring out the case before our protagonist. You have Kyoko and Chiaki: dropping hints, assisting us along the way, serving as a moral compass of sorts. When we feel lost or confused in the class trial, it’s this character who usually helps us find our way to the truth. And you have Byakuya and Nagito, who exist to misdirect us. Forcing us to strive to be better; rather than relying on the work others do. (And yeah, I know all these characters are deeper than that -- I’m just talking about their basic function in relation to the protagonist). This allows the POV character, and by extension us, to navigate the class trials and the moral dilemma they present, not by providing answers, but by providing growth. By the end, out protagonists have gone from feeling overwhelmed and uncertain, to being able to stand up against the mastermind, even if we’ve lost our sidekicks by that point. 

 Now, let’s look at V3′s golden trio. I’ve seen some debate around this but, in terms of this particular dynamic, we’ve got: Kaede, Shuichi and Kokichi. Or at least, that’s who we should have.

 Kokichi is the obvious choice for an antagonistic character who forces us to up our anti a little bit. He’s constantly throwing us for a loop, constantly making things harder, but never sabotaging us to the point where the trial becomes literally impossible. Love him or hate him, he is a very good, complex character with exceptional narrative utility. I don’t think I need to go into depth with this one, because I don’t think anyone would disagree that this is his role. So moving on. 

 As for Shuichi, he does very much fit the description I gave above of the general layout of a Danganronpa protag: that he’s somewhat self-doubting, overwhelmed at the scope of the people he’s been put amongst, gets along with the others for the most part, doesn’t want to doubt his friends, and goes through extraordinary character growth. However, there are a few issues he has that the others do not. For starters: most of his relevant character growth in terms of what Hajime and Makoto went through happens in the first chapter. He learns from Kaede’s death to trust his own deductions and believe in his talent. He still has a lot of self-doubt, and is still very relatable, but from there, most of his story revolves around trusting others and working as a team, rather than his internal conflicts. That seems more in line with Kyoko’s arc of opening up to Makoto and letting the others in on what she learns rather than flying solo all the time; and of Chiaki’s arc of finally being able to tell Hajime the truth of who she is, and wanting to bring everyone together. Again, I’m kind of strawmanning the character here; but even if I’m dead wrong about his motivations (it sucks not being able to screenshot, you forget so much), there’s one more major flaw. His talent. 

 Through the class trials, our POV character goes in with about as much certainty as we have. And we, alongside them, uncover the truth of the case. We’re essentially experiencing the class trial through their eyes, experiencing being the key word here. Shuichi, however, is the smartest and most capable detective in the room, what with being the Ultimate Detective and all. The feeling I got from him wasn’t that I was solving the mystery through him, but rather that he would have all the answers at least a split-second before me, then the game just kind of waits for me to catch up. There was a lot more “I knew it!” and “As I thought!” kind of going on there, rather than “Aha! The answer can only be __!”  

 Furthermore, Shuichi isn’t terribly proactive. Which is fine, to an extent. The previous POV characters would kind of get thrust into situations too; but once they were there, they were an active part of events. Hajime didn’t want to go feed Nagito, but in doing so, became an active part of what was going on with his story, and learned early on about his manipulation of Mahiru. Makoto didn’t go out investigating Mukuro on his own, but once Kyoko told him about her, he used that information to his advantage, particularly in the Trials. And there were events for which they were active catalysts, too. Not too boring, but not pulling a lot of major strings, either: giving the player a front row seat to the action, letting something amazing play out for their ordinary selves to enjoy, but also making them feel like their actions matter. For Shuichi, he’s dragged into everything he’s involved in, and even then, he’s either just kind of there, present and accounted for while stuff happens; or he’s off on his own, even if someone else is physically present. For instance, when he and Kaito are investigating, Kaito might be there, but Shuichi is doing all the leg work, really. Not saying Kaito is useless, just...saying. And this is totally fine, and consistent with his character. He’s not very social until he gets to know someone well, and he’s definitely more intellectual and emotional than he is a physical being. But again, your protagonist needs to toe that line between being passive enough that stuff can still happen around them, and active enough that the player can engage with that stuff. And again: Shuichi more fits the mold of someone like Chiaki, who is often off on her own, and only intervenes in situations when she absolutely must; or Kyoko, who is also off on her own a lot, and isn’t sociable at all. In terms of free time events and stuff, I have no trouble believing Makoto or Hajime would make an effort to, out-of-the-blue, find and learn more about a fellow classmate; but Shuichi? Not so much. Again: he’s just not a person who is comfortable with other people. Which is all fine and relatable and good for him as a character. But as a POV? Sure he gets close with his little workout gang, but only because Kaito drags him along. Even Kaede spends most of the first chapter just pulling him around everywhere. After a while, all this adds up and makes you feel detached from events: less like you’re playing a game, and more like you’re watching a movie. 

 So we’ve established that, as far as the game goes, Shuichi is a good character but makes a better sidekick archetype than a POV protagonist. So what’s the difference between him and Kaede that makes her a great, Danganronpa-esque protag?

 Well...the opposite of everything I’ve said. 

 For starters, her talent. Thus far, our protagonists’ talents have been generally the least impressive of the group. (Okay, yeah, Hajime was eventually the Ultimate Everything, but we only find that out at the end. He spent all game being the Ultimate Nothing, and therefore had all his relevant character growth before that. By this point, we already experienced the events of the game through him, and have already grown accustomed to the very human, very fallible, Hajime. Tell me he’s Izuru, I’m just as easily gonna see the guy who passed out on the beach but over time became a badass.) Ultimate Pianist is kind of a niche talent, but I don’t think that makes it isolating. For one, like her predecessors, her talent is utterly useless in a trial setting. Unless there were some specific circumstances, knowing how to play piano will not help her find a killer. (Technically Makoto’s luck could have been useful, but I think it’s made pretty clear he and his class passed those trials through hard work, not luck). The most important thing for a protagonist has to be their ability to be relatable by being brave and true and all that Good Stuff, not to be born exceptional. How are you going to pander to a market who is trying to escape their dull lives if all they have to escape to are people who are fundamentally better than them in ways they could never relate to? Anyway can be brave, not anyone can be Sherlock. 

 Because Kaede’s character was built mostly around her traits and not her talent, she’s still easily relatable. She, like us, wants the best for her fellow characters. She’s moralistic, kind, and defiant of the circumstance she’s been thrust into, all things we can aspire to. She’s likeable, but not infallible or unbelievable. She can be bossy at times, her own personal sense of justice perhaps her biggest downfall. This idea of “good/hope MUST triumph over evil/despair” which has been pushed by the game itself, is used as it’s newest protagonist’s flaw, and is a viewpoint that will ultimately be subverted in the final trial.

 Kaede is, overall, more sociable and active. I buy that she spends her free time getting to know other people. She doesn’t always think with her head, and she is the type to stumble into situations by accident, meaning she’s a much more viable candidate to be just lucky enough to wind up in wacky hijinks, and just active enough to really become a part of them. Also, I’m gonna just mention the elephant in the room real quick: it sucks that the only female protagonist out of the main games had to be killed off. I liked the idea of a female protag.

 Okay, I know I said it was a bummer that Shuichi so quickly moved past doubting himself and his own talent much too quickly, especially when the protags we’re used to take most of the game to do that sort of thing. Kaede doesn’t really have much self-doubt, to be honest. She doesn’t struggle with the morality of the situation she’s in: instead, her solution is simplistic and naive: “We just won’t kill. Easy.” This is a polar opposite of our protagonists, but not invalid. Remember: not all changes are bad, and this is the third installment. We expect some shakeups to the formula. 

 This actually could’ve been used really well, if Kaede was given more time. After her idea of “we just won’t play!!1!” is crushed and she’s forced to endure an entire class trial and vote for someone to be executed, this would’ve shattered (or at least, damaged) her pure and perfect world view. She would be forced to look inward, and question her frankly childish sense of right and wrong, which ties in so much better with the eventual themes of the final trial. Rather than seeing only good and evil, she would be forced to confront the moral grey that exists within her, and within all situations. And she would have to do so without losing what makes her fundamentally Kaede - her optimism, her strength, and her trust in others. I’ve seen this done well rarely, but most notably in characters like Penelope Garcia. I truly feel like Danganronpa could’ve pulled this off. 

 “But Jenny! There’s a problem!! You said that it was after the first trial that Shuichi had the development to grow into a great Chiaki/Kyoko archetype, but that only happens through the death of Kaede!!! If she survived, he would still be hiding in her shadow!!”

 I’ve thought of that too. So say, instead, Kaede just comes really close to being killed in the trial. Say, the vote is split 50-50 between her and the real killer. Shuichi is the only one with the key information to sway the final voter/s, but he knows in doing so, he will condemn someone to death. He can do so and save Kaede, or close his eyes and leave it up to chance. In the end, he trusts his talent and uses what he knows to shed light on the truth. He has to come to terms with condemning someone, but he knows that he also saved an innocent person. Once again tying in so well with the final theme of how good and evil and right and wrong aren’t always distinguishable; and giving Shuichi a great character development moment that’s more than just “my girlfriend is dead so now I can grow, I’m so glad the franchise has never played this angle before or it would feel tired and kind of sexist :(”; and giving Kaede a chance to view first-hand that you can be a good person, and walk a grey line. I thought of that in two seconds. Just saying. 

 But anyway, that’s just one long-ass thought from someone who has played this game one and a half times. I want to play it again, and maybe I’ll change my own mind, who knows. But while I’m still of this mindset, I wanted it out there. 

What novels or book series would you recommend?

oh fuckin boy dude so many. 90% of what i read is either gay or scifi/fantasy or both, and some are technically for a younger audience but still great, so thats what most of this is which hopefully you’re cool with here goes

this got super long so i’m putting it under a cut. bolded titles are the ones that i’m super recommending, though i love them all

novels

the coldest girl in coldtown by holly black - vampires! a trans character! a bi character! one of the most novel approaches to vampires in fiction that i’ve seen! 10/10 would recommend

the darkest part of the forest by holly black - again, holly black is one of my favorite authors. this one’s got faeries (the proper vaguely unsettling kind that i’m all about) magical music, girls embracing their sexuality, girls being knights, interesting sibling dynamics, and a super cute m/m pairing

les miserables by victor hugo - ok yeah, it’s like 1400 pages long and historical fiction, but i love les mis a lot ok. it’s gotta be on this list just because it owns my ass. it’s like a old drunk french man trying to tell you about the june rebellion but he keeps getting distracted by things like people’s personal lives, the intricacies of the parisian underworld, and how much he wants to fuck the sewers. it’s wonderful

the night circus by erin morgenstern - magical circus that mysteriously appears for days at a time and then vanishes? a competition between young magicians drawn out for years? a wide variety of fascinating side characters? (i will say that the synopsis available for the book is somewhat misleading, as it’s actually less about our two protags and more about the circus itself. but that’s what makes it so enchanting)

the song of achilles by madeleine miller - retelling of patroclus and achilles story to be explicitly romantic. will make you feel like you’re floating on clouds and then rapidly crush your soul. sort of a happy ending? but it’s still a tragedy. their ending is the same as it was in the illiad so if you’re not prepared for that then maybe don’t read

good omens by neil gaiman and terry pratchett - a demon who’s not very good at being a demon and an angel who just wants to collect his books in peace thank you very much try to sabotage the end of times. absolutely hilarious

fairy and folktales of the irish peasantry by w.b. yeats - the best collection of irish faerie stories by one of my favorite poets. if you like creepy and tricky faeries i would def recommend checking these out

rootabaga stories by carl sandburg - another collection of folktales, this time inspired by the american midwest. kinda weird, kinda zany, very neat

the poison eaters by holly black - a short story collection of faery stories that are sometimes creepy, sometimes touching, sometimes gay. my personal favorite is about a library science student who finds a book collection where the characters come out at night and interact, but they’re all really great

series:

alex rider adventures by anthony horowitz - teenager gets recruited by MI6 as a spy, has incredibly high success rate, gets pretty fucked up along the way but damn those one liners tho, maybe have some self preservation alex? just a thought

all for the game by nora sakavic - about a fake sport called exy that’s kind of like indoor lacrosse but more violent. contains: crime families, found families, an aspec protag, girls kicking ass, unhealthy levels of sass, wonderful slowburn m/m that you can’t even see coming for a long while, and a happy ending for everyone!! i came for the gays and ended up reading all three books in two days. also you can get the whole series for less than five bucks on kindle! (note: tw for rape, physical abuse, torture, ptsd, child abuse, drug use, alcoholism, some use of slurs, mentions of past self harm, mental illness)

artemis fowl by eoin colfer - more faeries, but this time they live underground and are way more technologically advanced than humans. the first book focuses on our anti-hero trying to catch one and steal their gold, and they quickly become allies and solve faerie related cases together!! one of my favorite series growing up, and i cried in the middle of the hallway at school when i finished the last book

camp half-blood series by rick riordan - does rick riordan write a lot of mythology books? yes. do i love them all? yes. neurodivergent kids! kids from a huge range of racial and ethnic backgrounds! queer kids! collect them all! ft. greco-roman mythology and a lot of stupid jokes

emelan series by tamora pierce - ok this is easily one of my favorite series of all time. non-western high fantasy setting (picture greece/turkey, china, tibet, mongolia, scandinavia, etc type settings), following four young mages who have unique kinds of magic as they train and grow their skills and become powerful in their own right. only one of the kids is definitely white (jury’s still out on sandry), one is a lesbian, one is ace, one is pan, all four are raised by a loving f/f couple, body diversity, one of the best found families i’ve ever read, feminism, discussion of racism, classism, cultural identity, war, and so much more. it’s so so good and so under-appreciated please read all of the emelan books 

the dark is rising sequence by susan cooper - full disclosure i have not finished this series yet but i’ve re-read the first book a million times. it’s a neat take on arthurian mythology, with dark forces trying to take over and kids getting shit done

diviners by libba bray - psychic teenagers in 1920s new york! i’m a slut for prohibition, but these are also super fun and have likable and real characters, and doesn’t only focus on wealthy white people having parties which is nice. the occult! government conspiracies! historical references! genuinely scary situations! it’s rad!

the enchanted forest chronicles by patricia c. wrede - i adore this series so so much. it’s about a princess who’s father keeps telling her that she can’t have hobbies like fencing or cooking or conjugating latin verbs because they’re unladylike and insists that she marry this doofus prince that she couldn’t care less about. so she runs away and volunteers to work for a dragon and proceeds to send away all the princes that try to rescue her. it’s genuinely funny, has a really neat magic system in the later books, great female friendships, cats, dragons who have no time for your gender roles, and wizards who are the most ridiculous group of antagonists you will ever see

the infernal devices by cassandra clare - i really really do not like the author of this series but it also broke me so it must go on the list. if you’re familiar with the mortal instruments or shadowhunters on freeform, it’s set in that universe in the 1870s in london and it’s very steampunk and very angsty and it made me cry a lot

the kane chronicles by rick riordan - see: camp half-blood series but egyptian

fablehaven by brandon mull - oooooh fuck me up i love this series. this is another one meant for slightly younger readers but all of brandon mull’s series are so wildly imaginative and i’m a slut for world building so. the premise is basically that there are secret preserves all over the world that house magical creatures, and five of these preserves have vaults with artifacts that when brought together make a key to this massive demon prison. an evil society called the society of the evening star is trying to get the artifacts to open the prison, and a different group who is allied with the preserves called the knights of the dawn is trying to get to them first to prevent this from happening. there are dragons, light and dark powers, crazy convoluted vaults to get through, and some really cool creatures and characters

beyonders by brandon mull - this guy again! this one’s about a parallel world called lyrian that people on earth can only get to through small liminal windows, and usually can’t get back through. the story follows two kids, jason and rachel, who get stuck in lyrian and end up becoming major members of the resistance against the evil emperor maldor. just like fablehaven, the world building is insane and you’ll fall in love with all the characters. this is yet another series that made me cry in the middle of class when i finished it

the kingkiller chronicle by patrick rothfuss - this is series is long as all fuck and the last book isn’t out yet but it’s my #1 favorite series of all time. i found out about it bc a cashier at a local grocery store held up the line to write it down for me and i never went back. parts of it are achingly, hauntingly beautiful, other parts are hilarious enough to leave you in stitches, others make you want to pull your hair out. there’s sass, recklessness, beautiful and deadly girls, an overwhelming love and emphasis on the importance of music and storytelling, magic that’s more like science, ethnic adversity, student loans, a thing that might be a cow or might be a dragon depending on who you ask, and more quotable lines than you could dream of. the audiobook by nick podehl is also fabulous, and lin manuel miranda is producing and adapting it for the screen and maybe stage at some point in the future!

a modern faerie tale by holly black - guys. i love holly black. almost everything she’s ever written is on this list. this one is fairly self explanatory by the title, but it’s gritty and dark and has those lovely creepy faeries that she’s so great at writing. also a surprising m/m couple in the last book, both of whom are characters in the other two installments. (tw for drug use/addiction, brief sexual assault, and probably other things that i can’t remember right now)

the raven cycle by maggie stiefvater - also in my top 3 favorite series of all time, i cannot begin to describe this series. i first read it while up in the nc mountains which improved the experience to a surprising degree, but it’s stuck with me for the last several years. basically 5 teenagers go in search of a dead welsh king, but along the way there is magic, psychics, ghosts, a sentient forest, dreams becoming reality, curses, teenage shenanigans, classic cars, swearing, church, kisses and not kisses, illict hand holding, a baby crow, bisexuality, a death list, hitmen, and nicknames and it will consume your heart before you know what’s happening to you (tw child abuse, implied sexual assault, substance abuse, dissociation, mentions of past suicide attempts, body horror, gore, and disturbing scenes esp. in the last book)

six of crows by leigh bardugo - a team of criminals band together to break into an impossible fortress, fall in love, con an entire city, and get rich. set in the same universe as the grisha trilogy (which is also good but not as good as soc), this is basically a heist followed by a con, but pulled off by ruthless teenagers and with the help of magic

curseworker trilogy by holly black - crime families, magic that can only done through touch so everyone wears gloves, moral ambiguity, and a twisted romance. one of holly black’s best and most underrated series

baccano! by ryohgo narita - this is a japanese light novel series which has been adapted into an anime, but is much more extensive in print. the plot is extremely convoluted, but an absolute ride spanning several centuries, although the bulk of it is in the 1930s in nyc and chicago. there’s an elixir of immortality, crime families, trains, a solipsistic assassin and his mute assassin gf, serial killers, a demon with a catch phrase, murder, explosions, adorable couples, gambling, a gang leader named jacuzzi who is always terrified, killer corporations, and much much more

no.6 by asuka asano - another japanse series, this time focusing on two boys, one who grew up in a utopian city, the other who grew up outside the walls after the city destroyed his life. they meet when they’re 12 years old, and several years later, they’re reunited when the outsider rescues the city boy from arrest. they, along with a pimp and a nonbinary dog hotel owner, try to expose and overthrow the government. also ft. drag performances, mice who like shakespeare, killer bees, and boys falling in love.

the merlin saga by t.a. barron - my favorite take on arthurian mythology, chronicling merlin as he comes into his power. there’s a vividly magical island, giants, amulets, talking trees, stones that will try to swallow you, a swamp witch, celtic deities, huge wicker hats, poetry, new kinds of fruit, people that are also deer, and human’s long lost wings.

LETS THINK ABOUT BREAKFAST RPG Protagonist: a cute lil girl of some sort. Maybe named Cherry or Gateau or something adorable. Maybe a cherry shaped hat? Maybe shes like a chef magical girl. Or maybe just use default assets from rpgmaker cos the point is to get the game done and not over think it. And then like a tutorial character/rival who's like THE BRUNCH DEMON or something! Some really inexplicable reaper-lookin monster who has a goofy cute personality and is protag's friend/enemy/Robbie rotten. She runs a rival restaurant, comes in like plankton to steal le secret formula but also inexplicably constantly pops up in the tutorials, having a tea party with protag on the loading screen, etc. Self-sabotaging helping the poor kid out because deep at heart she's a nice ol monster! And then the third character is just The Office Guy. Some completely ordinary working Joe who has a breakfast magical girl pop into his life for no rational reason. *toast keeps appearing* *screams* First level is just you making him breakfast (and him freaking out), then you progress through stuff like impressing his boss with a birthday cake or whatever, to improve the poor sod's life. (While he continues screaming at all this magically appearing food, probably starts seeing a psychiatrist) And then eventually he just accepts it and you open a restaurant together. ...and then he has to compete against this giant monster brunch chef, and starts screaming all over again. STATS AND ELEMENTS! Maybe just keep stats exactly the same but give them funny renames? Or rename em to what they symbolise within this particular game. So like... Maybe speed = overall cooking skill? Cos it means you can attack faster and use more actions before the end of the time limit, its basically the most important skill for making complex foods. And I dunno, attack and magic attack could be... Cut and whisk? Savoury and sweet? Food and drink? If you had to divide all breakfast items into only two categories, how would you do it? I'm not sure what to do about the two kinds of defense. I mean.. I know what I want them to be but its hard to summarise it in one word. Could just be like defense against food based injuries (burning, etc) and defense against food-spoiling moments (getting eggshell in the bowl, overcooking, etc). Like one is actual defense and one lowers the odds of random events that harm you. So you get less penalties for failing. Oh, or maybe just have it as savoury defense and sweet defense and then luck affects your failure penalties/success bonuses? But I wanted to rename luck as ~love~ and say its the most important ingredient! XD "Elements" would be where the cooking styles come into play! Enemies would have a lot of tags, like tomato is savoury, fruit AND vegetable, and classed as an entree rather than a main dish component. Can only be used as ingredients, toppings and side orders. And most food would have a flavour but I dunno really what to define tomato as? Or potato. So there should be a sort of neutral flavour element that's just as important as the others. Like.. Calm flavour. Balance flavour. Foundation flavour. That's what potatoes and breads and carbs are, they lower down other flavours and act as a base to absorb those flavours, yknow?? They're important! But tomatoes aren't the same even though its hard to categorise them into a flavour. Maybe flavours can combine to make flavours? Tomato could be like... Salty + sweet? Maybe everything has a particular amount of each flavour that they contribute to the dish. So tomato would give +2 salt and +1 sweet. And +1 moist or something. And then your attacks are divided into multiple elements separate from the food elements. Your elements are all cooking techniques, like boil, chop, etc. And levelling up elements unlocks more skills for each one, like triangle cut or finely chopped or minced, or a passive skill that let's you cut tougher stuff like steak! And maybe it'd be clear cut weaknesses like sweet items are weak to mixing, or maybe its just individualized for each ingredient enemy and acts like the real ingredient in real life. I mean it'd be weird if tomatos were weak against going in a fruit pie or whatever... And then like... Combatttt!! I could just go with really basic default battle system but I wanna do elemental madness! And I wanna make it so you have a limited amount of turns, cos that means certain skills wouldn't be viable early on if they take too long, ensuring a good learning curve without having to limit the options too much. Like maybe complex chopping deals less damage but gives better results, so you have to fight harder to achieve that sandwich! Whereas you can just smash the tomato for a one hit kill and have a terrible sandwich. Triple weak to kneading, but logic dictates you ain't wanna do that :P (...maybe get an achievement called Undyne for seeing all the critical fail cut scenes? XD) And I dunno, maybe if you can't defeat the enemy before the time limit you just get an undercooked food that loses some points. And maybe if the enemy defeats you its like "somehow you slipped on a tomato and broke your back" Office dude better appreciate what we do for him! This kitchen is a deathtrap! And maybe early on you just have to complete the recipes the computer gives you, only being able to get bonuses/penalties depending on time taken and etc. Then you can start deciding how you wanna behave during battle- like triangle cut sandwiches or swapping the salad dressing! Then you can actually start selecting from multiple recipes, and multiple ingredients. It just says 'sandwich' and a vague description of what the person likes ('spicy' and 'traditional' and 'vegetarian') and its your job to figure out what to pick to satisfy that. Like maybe they don't want a hoagie or a toastie, and maybe they'd prefer brown bread? And definately can't rely on the easy +5 spicy sausage, we have to battle the far stronger peppers this time! And all the time we'll be seeing new recipes with longer steps and stronger ingredients!! And maybe move on to satisfying multiple customers at once? Have to make a food that contains all their fave things without getting so complicated that it defeats you. Or have no information about what they like and you have to just make multiple dishes that try and cover the full spread of logical possibilities so everyone is happy. At least one vegetarian option, and take care to make sure there's no nuts or gluten on ANYTHING cos we dunno which one the allergic coworker will eat! And then you can move on to outright alchemizing your own recipes by combining different ingredients in a practise mode. You don't get any penalty if you're wrong, and you can help out later missions by unlocking more recipe options, but you still have to pay for ingredients in order to practise. And I'm gonna make sure it is actually possible to win with just the default story unlock recipes, even if it might not be as easy or be able to get five star results. Oh, and probably a mission replay practise mode and/or sidequests, where you can make more money and grind for experience! Maybe even be able to get relationship points with different characters? Like, every day there's a repeatable side quest to keep making breakfast for office guy, like you did in the first level. And it gets more complex as you go on, so you could be making the world's best sandwich by the end! I think maybe also have some kind of morals meter for the [plot thing] that decides what ending you get. Like its not actually good and evil, but its a positive ending and a negative one. Like the best ending requires friendship with both office guy and rival demon, and higher [certain stat]. But you could also get like... Low stat rival demon ending has you selling out to her and the restaurant becomes awful and office guy lives in a cardboard box but at least you're rich. And positive ending might be that you still ditch office guy and fly off together, but you decide to travel the world finding other people in need of cheering up via magic breakfast and bring much happiness to the world~ Its lonely cos you always have to say goodbye to your human friends but at least you have demon rival buddy along for the ride in your immortal brekkie quest~! So yeah! A lot of ideas! I most definitely won't get them all done during the timeframe but I could at least hopefully make a playable demo. So like... Try and get as far as possible using default rpgmaker assets and basic framework, then release it as a teaser for people to see. If it does well then I have a whole bunch of ideas already on how to expand it into a full game, and I could draw fully original art assets and cutscenes to enhance the fun~! I just need to try and decide what the time limit is gonna be and when I'm gonna do it. And raise a lil hype from my friends cos seriously seeing comments and crits on my work is what motivates me beyond all else! Oh, actually, maybe I could do like... Multiple challenges?? "Hey bunni see how much you can make in one weekend" Then release that demo, and see people's comments and crits. Then if people are interested I could try working on it for a week next time and see how much I can improve it! And so on! That'd be good, with feedback and breaks in-between and stuff. And if one idea fails then I can just go back to the three day challenge with a different idea next time ^-^ Making a game out of making a game is a good way to get used to becoming more confident~! Maybe when it gets going then people could even add bonus challenges or something? I'd keep a tally of how many of these challenges I've done, and pretend its 'points', so I have a clear perspective on how productive I'm being. And then bonus points for how much positive response I got from the project, or how many downloads, or something. And then people can start throwing in requests like genre or how many words of dialogue or 'hey, include a shape shifting skill' or 'it has to be only black and white'. That'd help inspire me on what to do AND be challenging fun! And bonus productivity points for learning a new thing!! THIS IS A GOOD CONCEPT YES I could make like a points counter page or sideblog or something. Maybe have a lil doodle of me as a cliche RPG fighter character and when I hit point milestones I level up and draw a new outfit! And switch to magician or whatever when I run out of ideas. Need to find fun ways to motivate myself!!! I have dumb anxiety compulsions to count the tiles on the floor like that'll somehow make my luck better, counting nonexistent points is a nice way to make it less dumb. And making the reward be just the right to draw myself in a cute outfit means I'm guaranteeing I'll draw at least one thing that month, and drawing is a reward and not a job. And k dunno, maybe later on make the rewards stuff like 'you get to work on the big idea you actually wanted to do', so games are a reward not a job. Or 'you get to go to the cinema', so going out alone in scary crowds is a reward not a job. Or just even earn the right to buy a caffeine drink once a month and then that's a better way of beating my addiction! I've been trying to go cold turkey but I've never made it past 15 days cos there's really no reward or incentive or way to tell if I'm doing good. And sometimes I feel like having a lil energy boost would actually help me with finishing a project or something, versus when I'm just drinking it every day for no reason except yum. So if I can have one drink a month I might not even necessarily drink it right away, I'd save it for the last day of a challenge when I'm racing the deadline~! Lotsa ideas!!!