Thoughts on Be My Princess

[Penguiduck]

If you're here, it's likely because you're curious about my thoughts and opinions on Be My Princess (BMP) and what I'm planning to do with my newest WWYFF, Shattered Symphony.

Before continuing, I'd like to make a comment. You DO NOT necessarily need to be familiar with BMP to read this WWYFF. To be honest, there's not much plot going on in the games (I'm creating my own, anyway) and the background information is incredibly minimal. As for the characters, I will introduce them as I usually do in my WWYFFs because the reader is just meeting them, so you don't need to know anything at all about them prior to starting Shattered Symphony.

Be My Princess is an Otome game created by Voltage and/or GREE. If you enjoy reader-inserts, WWYFFs, or CYOAs, I think you might like Otome games.

I am making this a WWYFF. If you have questions about WWYFFs, please refer to this guide, written by perfect-to-stay and myself. It is a guide on how to write WWYFFs, but it may address some of your immediate curiosities.

With that said, if you are unfamiliar with BMP and would like to familiarize yourself with the fandom, all of the routes can be found on Youtube (so you don't have to purchase them). You will want to watch the prologue here first if you want anything to make sense. Seii has uploaded Joshua's, Wilfred's, and is currently updating Roberto's route. RoNi has uploaded Keith's and Wilfred's. Watari has uploaded Edward's. And Ciel has uploaded Glenn's. These people are wonderful and gracious -- please thank them accordingly if you watch their videos.

First, I think this will be a lot of fun. I'm eager to make this WWYFF, mostly because I find jealousy and miscommunication highly entertaining, and the only way to do that is through a WWYFF. BMP is more of a CYOA, and once you choose a prince, you're kind of stuck with him. I want my readers to be able to learn more about all of them, and after spending some time with all six of them, to choose her favorite (or most compatible) prince.

Second, I'd like to let you all know that while I really enjoy the six princes and think that they have a lot of potential as bachelors, I do not think the plots of BMP are anything to rave about -- they're simplistic, predictable, and contrived. Albeit, they are generally enjoyable. The writing is horrendous. In fact, after sitting through all of the routes, I almost feel like they were written by different people, some of them better versed in grammar and writing than others.

I am also of the opinion that the characters can be kind of inconsistent sometimes -- I especially think this about Prince Edward because his route really confused me. I'd like to think that I'm usually very good at grasping characters, but I felt like he was all over the place. With that said, I will try my best to keep consistent with the personality that I think best suits Edward. The same goes for any other characters I might be confused about, but I can't think of any off the top of my head.

Third, I think the portrayal of the main character in BMP is awful. AWFUL. She's a naive idiot with no backbone who reminds me of Bella from Twilight. I promise I will change this. The reader in my WWYFF will be significantly more intelligent. She will be sassy -- and I'm okay with doing this because sass is hilarious when well-applied, and even if readers are a little shy, I think they're all a little plucky on the inside.

Fourth, I will keep some themes the same, while doing away with others. Those that I will keep, I will try to improve. For example, I think Alan's relationship with the MC in Glenn's quest is super cute, so I'm keeping that one. I hope none of you have any complaints.

And that's pretty much all that I have to say right now. If you have any questions at all, please ask because I am bound to have forgotten to address something.

[Deuxcis]

I laughed and cringed as soon as you mentioned Bella. Then I was relieved to read that you were not planning to make the reader-character after her image. Good. I despise those sorts of characters. Sassy? Bring it on!

The Youtube links are helpful! I don't have the time to watch all of the videos at the moment, but if I ever get the time, I'd like to. Should be an adventure.

[Penguiduck]

Oh, yes~! Let me know what you think of them. They are rather addicting.

[Komori]

Okay, they are fairly addicting to watch...

I've gotten through Wilfred and Edward and am in the middle of Joshua's.. I feel kind of bad though, since I got bored of Edward's near the end and completely skimmed through his epilogue, so I think I'll have to go back and watch that..

I'm kind of dreading Keith and Glenn since they're both fairly rude... but I thought Joshua was a total asshole until I watched his, so I guess it won't be too bad... I still think Joshua needs lessons on how to talk to girls, or at least needs his butler to sit him down and have a "girls don't really think it's hot when you force them to stay in your kingdom and tell them it's because you want them to make you rice balls" talk.

Wilfred's was cute, Edward's was cute until it got really boring. Also, I feel really bad for Roberto! He's like the wingman/friend zoned/nice guy... he helps further plot in like all of the ones I've seen so far, so I think I have to watch his next because I feel bad for him..

[Penguiduck]

Edward's was the worst one, in my opinion, so I share your thoughts on that. xD;;; It really was boring, and I feel like the GREE version does a better job of portraying Edward.

I wanted to wring Keith's neck while playing his route. Not going to lie. And Glenn's isn't bad at all. xD He's just super insecure.

Joshua is adorable! My favorite is still Wilfred, but Joshua is a close second. xD

Aw! I love Roberto. <3 He's definitely someone whom I would date, though he is kind of that medium that the other guys work with in every route. Seii isn't done with his route yet, which kind of frustrates me, but I'm eager to finish it~! I think it's one of the better routes...

[Deuxcis]

I haven't finished any of the routes, but I started Glenn's last night and got to chapter 7 before I decided I needed to sleep. This is what was going through my head the whole time I was watching the videos: Tsundere tsundere tsundere tsundere tsundere. xD Because you know, he totally is. Love him though! He's my favorite so far, which is a really biased thing to say. Oh well. I'm really excited to finish his route, yet now I worry that my expectations will be too high for the rest of them. Haha.

[Penguiduck]

Glenn's route is fairly good, I think, albeit very contrived. I would definitely consider Glenn a tsundere. xD Both Glenn and Keith. A lot of people think that Joshua is a tsundere too, but I actually disagree with that. Joshua's just focused, guarded, serious, and really bad at women. xD He's actually quite sweet.

Let me know what you think of Glenn's~!

[Deuxcis]

Well, different people have different interpretations of the word, I suppose. Even so, some rush to label a character with their favorite archetype without considering if it really applies to him/her. What does it say about me that I'm attracted to the tsundere ones? owo

Pfft. (At the "really bad with women" part.) I'll have to give Joshua a chance, then.

I will! It might take me a while to watch, but I'll be sure when I'm done to let you know my opinion on Glenn's route and whoever else's that I may choose to watch. It'll give me something to do while waiting for the next Shattered Symphony update.

By the way, I glimpsed the thumbnails of some of the sequels and wondered if they would be worth watching. Have you watched them? If so, do you recommend them?

[Penguiduck]

^_^ I'll be updating SS soon -- working on it right now!

I've only seen one sequel (Wilfred's), and I grew a bit bored with it, to be honest. From what I've heard from those who are commenting on and updating the sequels, though, they're all kind of the same. They basically revolve around the fact that the reader-commoner needs to settle into "princess training" and palace life and stuff. There's not much else to write about, I suppose, because there has to be some conflict that can be easily resolved in six chapters.

Your choice if you want to watch them, but I probably won't unless I'm super bored. xD

[Deuxcis]

I'm excited to hear it. =D

That stuff does sound boring. I'll take your word for it. Where's the drama? The intrigue? The variety? Probably absent, since such a story wouldn't be able to be told in six chapters. Oh well. Thanks for your opinion!

Edit: I changed my mind. You're right--the BMP videos are too addicting. I think I'll watch one of the sequels - i.e. Glenn's - myself and see how it goes. There are only six episodes, after all, which I can get through fairly quickly. The princes are just such irresistible eye candy. *_*

And in answer to your response to my review on Chapter 2 of SS (that was long-winded), now I do understand why the RC is the way she is. I've completed watching Glenn's route, and what I know so far is this: The MC of the game is...wishy-washy, isn't she? So easily swayed and led along. The few attempts she makes to defend anyone are wimpy. I can't say I like her much. So, thank you for giving our dear reader some chutzpah!

[Komori]

I don't know, I seem to be the only one who doesn't really have any problems with the MC... Maybe because I tend to notice when she does things like I would have instead of when she does stupid things or such. Like feeling "I would totally have done/said that too!" and ignoring things such as "why would she let herself get dragged to another kingdom for so and so reason.." (which is probably where I will admit I do find a bit of reluctance on my part)

I have now finished all of them! I actually really liked Keith's, so I guess the jerky ones are worth watching because it's a more dramatic change for them.

That being said, sorry Glenn, I didn't really like your route that much... I think a big part of that was Yu. I felt really bad for him to the point where I was just like 'can I pick him instead of Glenn?' Also, all that flashback crap was confusing and actually really annoying and boring to me, so that's another strike I had against him.

Roberto's so far is really interesting, seeing the vulnerable side of him compared to how he is in the other routes... I also really like Cynthia, so I'm hoping she doesn't turn out to be evil or something!

[Penguiduck]

Deuxis: Let me know how you like Glenn's sequel. xD I would think it'd be super cheesy, but cheesy can be good sometimes, right? And yeeees. That's exactly why I made our reader the way she is. She's got some spunk so she can tackle problems as they come and not let them lead her around.

Komori: I think you might be the only one because everyone else I've talked to highly dislikes the MC. xD And perhaps I'd share the same sentiment if the MC ever did anything that I would do. I think the problem is that she's so stupid that she lets problems escalate and doesn't address them before they get out of hand. She's not at all perceptive, and goes around with a herpaderp expression on her face. Passivity is one thing, and I don't mind if the reader is a little timid; however, the MC for the BMP series is just stupid. She doesn't seem to know when enough is enough and can't put two and two together, which leaves me glaring at the screen, wondering where half of her brain went.

Ugh. Keeeeeith. His route wasn't too bad, though as I mentioned before, I think I disliked it because the MC was an absolute idiot. That man has some emotionally abusive tendencies. I would never go into a relationship with someone like him unless we sat down and had a very serious conversation about his attitude.

I actually thought Glenn's was really cute. :'D I'm not too much of a Glenn fan, likely only because he's eighteen -- I'm five years older than him and I don't want to feel like a cougar. xD I do agree that the flashbacks were annoying, but there were flashbacks in Edward's as well -- I guess flashbacks just kind of destroy the quality of the adventure. And I did feel bad for Yu, but the MC could have easily fixed that problem early on if she weren't a cardboard box, so I attributed that drama to the MC's lack of brain cells and motivation.

Roberto's is suuuuuuper cute. :'D I actually think that the writing for his is one of better ones. And I don't think Cynthia will turn out evil. Voltage is really bad at script writing, so they probably would have given it away by now.

[Komori]

...okay that could be it. I'm pretty unobservant, and don't really like addressing or acknowledging problems, so that could be part of why I like the MC? Also I just seem to cling more to the things I like that she does, like "aw, that was a nice thing to do/say" like when she made Glenn a cake or bought a flower from that girl in Keith's.. that and maybe a few moments of (embarrassingly enough) thinking what I would say in response to something and then the MC says basically what I was thinking, in some cases word for word, and then I'd think 'oh wow, cool' or such... Maybe I'm a bit too easy to please when I go into something with a positive additude?

Also, the conflict in Glenn's was kind of not all there... So there was the King saying to keep MC away from Glenn, but that never really escalated from there, so it just kind of gave me a "that's it?" feeling.. And yeah, the older woman thing weirded me out too.. I'm the same age as Glenn is, but being the "older woman" was weird.. I just don't like the idea of dating a guy younger than me >.<

I think my favorite might be Joshua, if I think about it enough. I'm not totally sure beyond that, other than I didn't totally care for Edward's (sorry Edward, you're still boring D:) or Glenn's too much, though Glenn's I could at least finsh without wanting to fall asleep or hit my head against the wall. Roberto is fairly up there too, though I'll wait till his is finished to be sure, but I don't think he'll disappoint. Wilfred is cute too, though holy heck is he a horndog! (At least, that's the impression I got from all those insinuations..) Keith's I also liked because of his whole personality transformation and especially when he did stuff like admitting that he actually did know it was the MC when he first approached her and such..

[Penguiduck]

I mean, whatever floats your boat. xD If you like the MC, then more power to you because you can play the rest of the Voltage games without being annoyed. Right now, I refuse to play the rest of them because I know the MC is just as ditzy.

I attributed the conflict in Glenn's route to be more about his insecurity and "competition" with Yu and less about any sort of third-person conflict. Could just be me, but that's how I saw it, and I thought it was cute. xD I've always thought that inner turmoil is much more interesting than any issues an outside source could present. My boyfriend is actually almost three years younger than me, so I'm not too bothered by being the older one in the relationship, though the five year difference is a problem. As someone who works with college freshmen, 18 year old boys are still children, imo.

I will be the first to admit that Edward's route was uneventful and uninteresting. However, I think it would be rather unfair to make the assumption that he is a "boring" person just because his route was a bit dull; for me, the fault did not lie so much with his character as it did with the portrayal of his character. I attributed the dullness of his route to the horrendous writing of the Voltage people and the utter stupidity of the MC. She never brought out anything exciting in him, and she just kind of followed him around like a lost puppy (even and especially when he made poor decisions on her behalf) -- of course, he's not going to be interesting if he doesn't have anyone interesting to interact with!

Edward actually reminds me a lot of Yuki from Fruits Basket, and I think that GREE does a much better job of portraying him. To be honest, if I met him in real life, I'd be quite taken with him. Anyone who sincerely thinks that I look like a beautiful moon fairy gets brownie points in my book. xD Granted, he might be my least favorite of the princes (or maybe not -- I'm not a huge fan of Keith, as things stand), but I still like him as a character quite a bit.

[Deuxcis]

So. I finished Glenn's sequel, but not before watching Joshua's route. I really didn't like the MC in the first episode of the sequel (due to her utter spinelessness), and I think that put me off watching the rest for a while. Then I decided that since I had started it, I might as well see it through. So I did. And you're right, it was cheesy. xD As was Joshua's. They were also kind of predictable. In Glenn's sequel, for example, you could draw a direct parallel to something that had been part of the main story.

Without giving away too much in case you ever do decide on a whim to watch the other sequels, Penguiduck, I'll say that they weren't as boring as I expected, from what I've seen so far. Princess training isn't the entire focus of the sequels. There's a "royal legend" aspect as well. (Though I suppose you know this if you've already seen Wilfred's.) If you can get past the MC's lack of a backbone and brain, the sequels are still pretty cute to watch, in my humble opinion. It's nice to see how protective and lovey-dovey the princes can be. xD

In related news, I'm now watching Keith's route. After that I plan to watch his sequel, and then Wilfred's videos. I'll save Roberto for when all his videos are uploaded (his sequel's fully up, but not his main route, hmm). Honestly, I'm scared to watch Edward's. ._. He's just not my type at all. This might be weird, but compliments make me uncomfortable, no matter how sincerely meant.

As for my personal reactions, I found myself agreeing with the MC at some points during Joshua's route (and Keith's, for that matter). I don't know whether my perspective is currently skewed due to personal issues, but I feel a little ashamed of myself. v_v I don't have a problem with Glenn's age, since I'm only about a year older than him currently. (It's sad to think that fictional characters like him will never age while we slowly approach our primes; however, such is life. x3 Glad I'm discovering WWYFFs now and not 10 years down the road.) Edward is sadly my least favorite prince. I do feel bad, but I know my own personality is too harsh for him. We probably wouldn't get along very well in real life. ^^'