Games are difficult (and writing is hard)

So there I was, reading a (really excellent) article analyzing Hanako Games' Magical Diary. This game is a blatant and unapologetic piece of interactive Harry Potter fiction, where the player character goes to a school of magic despite coming from a totally human family. I played it a number of times a few years ago and haven't really touched it since.

Anyway, there I was. It got me thinking about game ideas that I had and discarded, whether at the idea phase or after starting work on them. It also got me thinking about ~problematic romances (a word which has itself, somewhat ironically, become problematic). On the whole I prefer romances that are structured from the get-go to be egalitarian, eye-level and on equal footing. Sometimes, though, something sneaks into my writing that I suspect lurks in the back of my mind, wallowing in the residue of every book, movie and game I've ever consumed.

( Cut because way too long and ultra-specific )