Guest House Alt-talia is a theoretical Dating Sim/H-Game based on the characterizations of WannabeHistorian604's Alt-talia versions of the Hetalia: Axis Powers cast, written basically as the Alt counterpart to Gakuen Hetalia.
However, in true Alt-talia fashion, its purpose is to be an edutainment game about foreign cultures as much as it is a dating sim, if not even more so, especially culture surrounding romance, dating, gender roles, and sexuality, which usually isn’t given much focus in Alt-talia due to the the nature of the characters; as well as, possibly even more so, being used to explore how characters might interact in romantic situations in general (as, again, the characters in Alt-talia tend to rarely be in such situations), the idea being a stray idea when thinking of concepts for Hetalia Emblem. It comes in two versions, the “main” version which stars male characters, and a female spinoff.
Deciding to go study abroad in (location not decided, probably somewhere in Europe, maybe in North America though), a young woman/man (depending on the version) starts a new life far from home. She/he rents the last room in a guest house known to attract foreigners from around the world; and it turns out that, to her/his surprise, that almost all of the foreigners staying with her/him are attractive men/women.
The routes are extremely numerous, though characters may leave to make room for others if you don’t interact much with them, some of them only available through free Downloadable Content, have often very extensive writing, and it comes in both vanilla and 18+ versions. There is also a DLC patch to change some of the character backstories and relationships in a new save file (and is also necessary when downloading Gilbert, Nikolai, and Hyun-Soo)The routes in the male version are (cast pending) :
- Alfred F. Jones, 22, an American backpacker and influencer
- Arthur Kirkland, 30, an English BBC correspondent
- François Bonnelfoy, 31, a French comic book writer on holiday
- Ludwig Beildshmidt, 21, a German engineering student
- Feliciano Balducci, 21, an aspiring Italian fashion designer
- Ivan Braginov, 23, a Russian student with a troubled past who won a scholarship
- Feliks Łukasiewicz, 23, a Polish economic migrant and plumber
- Tolvydas “Tolys” Laurinaitis, 22, a Lithuanian student
- Eiríkur Ingólfurson, 19, an Icelandic student
- Timo Väinämöinen, 22, A Finnish student
- Kiku Honda, 30, a Japanese businessman
- Yong-Soo Lee, 19, a Korean student
- Yao Wang, 28, a Chinese medical student
- Ali Khaled, 18, a Syrian refugee
- Juan De La Cruz, 19, a Filipino student
- David Kohen, 21, an Israeli backpacker
- Vuk Mišić, 25, a Serbian economic migrant
- Kumar Sharka, 19, an Indian student
Downloadable routes for the male version include:
- Nikolai Arlovsky, 20, Ivan's Belarusian relative, who moved with him (pending route)
- Hyun-Soo Lee, 19, former North Korean spy and Yong Soo's twin brother
- Gilbert Beildshmidt, 28, Ludwig's older brother visiting
The routes in the female spin-off are:
- Erzsébet Héderváry, 22, Hungarian student
- Anne Devos, 22, Belgian student
- Natalia “Natasha” Arlovskaya, 20, Belarusian tagalong to her relative Ivan Braginov
- Iryna “Irunya” Chernenko, 24, Ukrainian migrant worker with a mysterious past; not present in every playthrough
- Xiao-Mei Lin, 20, Taiwanese student
- Michelle Telemaque, 19, Seychellois student
- Václava Čermáková, 20, Czech tourist
- Hương Liên Trần, 23, Vietnamese student
- Mai An Trần, 21, Hương Liên‘s little sister
- Sunya Lao, 23, Laotian student, and Hương Liên‘s best friend
- Devota Casiraghi, 20, Monegasque student and millionaire heiress
- Erika Zwingli, 19, Swiss student
- Siobhon Beltau, 19, Palauan student
- Bêwîjan Ahmadi, 26, Kurdish former anti-ISIS fighter and refugee
- Mutoni Anbessa, 21, Rwandan student
- Ariam Haile, 19, Eritrean refugee
- Dechen Wangmo, 21, Bhutanese student
Guest House Alt-talia (male version) provides examples of:
- The Alcoholic: Ivan, Tolys, and Nikolai have it bad, despite their age. It really doesn’t help their mental states either. Timo’s case isn’t as debilitating, but it is also possible to convince him to try to get help for it. Yong-Soo is also implied to have alcohol issues, as he drinks whenever he’s stressed out, which is often.
- Alternate Character Interpretation: Already based on a heavily altered Hetalia cast, some changes are made to the Alt-talia characters to account for them being human now and the tone shift; characters aren’t bound by national instincts anymore, and as such they don’t have the sometimes mildly sociopathic/narcissistic traits which stem from them, are able to more easily fall in love, can afford to be more selfless, and are able to change their minds quicker. They also have lived nowhere near as long as their “canon” counterparts for obvious reasons, and as such are pretty simplified and some traits that came as a result of a certain event may be dropped, though there’s attempts at recreation of backstories, or at least to a point where their personalities are similar, when possible.
- The same goes for Nikolai, though he isn’t altered that much.
- Amazon Chaser: Some characters (especially ones from the Nordic region) find more assertive behavior attractive, and in fact kind of expect it; passive behavior in comparison to men confuses them and makes them think you lack confidence. Eiríkur even prefers it if you come up to him first.
- While it is possible for most characters to end up bottoming to you in the love scenes, with Kiku he grows to realize that he likes strong women like you if you play an assertive character willing to protect him from gropers and drunks.
- Author Appeal: The fact that almost all of the characters can end up being sexually submissive to the player, secretly or not, was... most likely intentional. There are a few exceptions, but for the vast majority of them? Yes, it’s fair game. You can even get Feliks, David, Yao, Vuk, or Ivan to this point if you know how to play your cards right. (Pending) The only characters where this is impossible are Ali, Kumar, Arthur, and Alfred; sort of. The latter twos’ “submissive” love scenes are just noticeably much less so than the others. And Ali and Kumar have very few routes which lead to sex due to how conservative they are.
- Berserk Button: Just like in normal Alt-talia, Yao hates being called a woman. Much like in Alt-talia proper though, this is a Trauma Button. As a result of his sexual assault, believing being the victim of sexual assault to be “feminine”, he sought to distance himself from anything he deemed to be “weak” or “feminine”, cutting his hair short.
- Bilingual Bonus: Characters may slip into their native language at times; mostly when they’re talking to themselves (especially when under stress) or caught off guard, and sometimes during love scenes. The dialogue, if it isn’t written in Latin script, is written out in such under it so the player can read it. Also, if you selected a non-Anglo country for your nationality and any language at the beginning, the respective characters will react accordingly and start talking in fluent English to you once you tell them (if you selected a non-Anglo nationality but no language, the game will assume you are merely of that ethnicity, not actually from that country, and the respective character will start talking to you in their language before disappointedly realizing you don’t speak it).
- Brains and Bondage: In the submissive route for Ludwig (which is, unlike the others, basically the default route), Ludwig starts to show interest in BDSM. You can choose to indulge him, though what happens is relatively mild by BDSM standards. He mostly seems to get off on the helplessness and apparently being outright berated is too much for him.
- Character Development: It’s possible for characters to gain a different perspective from interacting with you for a long time, on top of generally opening up to you more and other general character development, e.g. Ali gradually giving you more say over your decisions and starting to see women in general differently as well as finding himself, Yong-Soo becoming more willing to tell you about his anxieties and doubts, easing his perfectionism, and starting to seek psychological help about these issues, Ivan trying to learn how to be in a healthy relationship and also letting go of inner demons of his, Kiku learning that he likes feeling protected and taken care of, and so on. Certain DLC characters, even if their routes aren’t chosen, also can become a factor a lot, and often have extensive development as well.
- The Chikan: Despite the game not taking place in Japan, this happens in Kiku’s route, where, in a rarity for this trope, Kiku gets groped, not you, and the perpetrator is a woman. You have the option to tell her to fuck off and shove her off, or stand there confused as another passenger does that for you. In the latter route, you can apologize to him after getting off the train but he himself says it was no big deal, because he’s a man and he could take it, and jokes poignantly “It seem I was too good look to resist”. The former route is where it gets interesting; after getting off the train, he tells you that that was a bit much because he is a man and can take it, but is also thankful for you. As the player keeps showing concern for him, telling him that what happened was not okay, he says that it feels like you are protecting him, blushing slightly as he says this, but dismisses the feeling, saying that it should be the other way around. This is the entry point to the submissive route, one of the easier ones to get in the game aside from Ludwig’s, Eiríkur’s, and those who allow it after asking about it enough, and if you save him from the drunk in a bar scene later, he comes to the realization that he indeed likes being protected and cared for.
- Chronic Hero Syndrome: Early in the game, a random event might trigger where you walk into the road and a car speeds towards you. Alfred immediately grabs and pulls you away just in time, not caring whether he might get hurt. He notes the number plate and immediately calls the police to report reckless driving. After the fact, he declares he did it because it’s the “heroic” thing to do. This is the other possible entry point to start dating him aside from just talking to him. Alfred in general loves anything to do with heroism, just like his canon and Alt-talia counterparts. Also deconstructed. It’s shown that as an influencer, he has quite a few younger fans who DM him about their problems and confide in him about rather heavy things due to his heroic persona. He apparently started doing this ever since early in his career, when his fanbase was small (so about 15), with him sometimes initiating the help. He feels an obligation to help them, but he confesses to you that he was not expecting to get entangled in people’s lives this much, and that he doesn’t like doing it. He’s apparently had to talk down one person in particular from suicide several times, and it’s implied he may be unwittingly making some people’s conditions worse. He doesn’t want you be be dependent on him not just because that’s unhealthy, but because he doesn’t want to end up in another relationship like this. Half of his potential arc is about you convincing him that this parasocial relationship indeed isn’t healthy, that he isn’t a professional and that he doesn’t have to be a hero all the time, and learning to make the hard decision of stopping this.
- Cigarette of Anxiety: Apparently Yao picked up smoking really bad after he was raped, and many other characters like Ivan use cigarettes to help cope with stress or past trauma. Ivan especially can be seen smoking after stressful or emotional moments, and after Yao tells you his backstory he tells you “Let me go in hall, I need tobacco”, though you tell him to stay with you.
- Clingy Jealous Girl: It’s possible to play a character like this; for example, getting jealous about Feliks and Erzsébet’s friendship, accusing him of emotional cheating when he talks fondly about her, and attempting to convince him to stay away from her. Or caring more about the possibility that Kiku might have enjoyed being groped by another woman than the fact that he was just assaulted. This can result in the love interest breaking it off, such as in the above Feliks example.Feliks, in his breakup speech: Yes, I am choose her over you! She is friend! Longtime friend! If you do not like it, sorry to you!
- Coordinated Clothes: Yong-Soo, after reaching 100 days of in-game time together, gives you a “couple ring” to wear, with him also wearing one. If you don’t wear it, he will be openly unhappy and insecure about it. From this point onward, he will give you other matching items, such as phone cases and clothing; he will also be rather unhappy if you don’t use these, while not as much as with the ring, and will be adorably happy to see you using the items. Hyun-Soo, being influenced by K-Dramas, also gives you a couple ring after 100 days, and has an even worse reaction if you choose not to wear it.Yong-Soo: No, no! Sorry! This couple-tem. To show our love. Not marriage. Put it on!
- Dark and Troubled Past: Despite the lighter tone, some backstories can still be extremely dark, especially for those whose personalities and relationships are particularly affected by their pasts in Alt-talia. Some even point out how their story weirdly parallels what their country has gone through. The difference is that unlike Alt-talia proper, everyone doesn’t have the mild sociopathy that is standard for nations, and the characters can actually hope to get help with their issues.
- Ivan, predictably. He was heavily abused as a child in an extremely religious household, in a poor neighborhood of Moscow with everyone around him being extremely controlling, was introduced to alcohol and tobacco early in life, and after he finally “befriended” a group of gopniks for protection, they betray him in a little over a year as they frame him for a robbery, shattering any trust he had left in people. Also one of his sisters left his family and ran to Ukraine, citing him as one of the reasons. It’s a bit of a miracle he is where he is now. As his route progresses, he can open up more to the player, and after the turning point scene where he finally admits the entire extent of his past, the player can finally assure him enough to get professional help.
- Nikolai gives Ivan a run for his money. Before the age of 10, Nikolai had a somewhat crappy, but still alright life, and in fact he and Tolys had a brief friendship. But then... He actually knows Ivan as his parents moved to Russia when he was 10, but ended up not finding much opportunity there was squeezed into the same apartment as Ivan, a relative of his. Nikolai basically found himself in the crossfire of everything from bullies to gopniks to actual members of the mob trying to collect debts from Ivan’s family, and Ivan’s parents also abuse him as much as they do their son when Nikolai’s parents are absent working their 10-hour jobs. No one is willing to listen to or even acknowledge his problems, or even how anything would affect him. While Ivan tried to protect him, as they only really had each other, he was still a very controlling, possessive friend. He was deported along with his parents when he was 16 back to Belarus, by which time his mother has left and his father became an even worse alcoholic, and his toxic friendship with Ivan is kept strong via phone. There’s a bit of Stockholm Syndrome here clearly, as when his sister tried to get him to leave with her he apparently refused. By the time of the game’s events, he’s an emotionless and timid alcoholic; this had been the case for a while too, if the fact that he says that “I use be afraid of be call sissy because of how I am. Now I do not even care about.” is any indication. Due to this, Nikolai’s route heavily involves Ivan as well, and in the best case scenario you can help Ivan become a better friend and go through similar character development as he would in his route as part of the process of helping Nikolai out of his shell.
- Yao. It’s hinted if you suggest topping him in your first love scene - which he’s a bit reluctant to engage in already - which he refuses vehemently, and he even seems angry. When the player asks if something is wrong, he snaps at you, saying “None of your business”, and gets up, saying that he doesn’t feel like doing this anymore. It’s also hinted with how he refuses to let you sleep in the same bed with him, even when you’re both tired after sex. One night, he falls asleep in your lap after a long day… And after a while you are woken up as he starts thrashing and crying out in Chinese (“Bié… Bié…!” meaning something along the lines of “Stop… Stop…!”). When you wake him up and comfort him, and prod him about it, he finally confesses his backstory to you. Yao was a perfect student, good at everything, popular with everyone. Until his second year of university… When he was drugged and sexually assaulted by a female professor. And this happened repeatedly as she blackmailed him with his grades. His grades started to slip anyway, earning him sharp criticism from his family, and he hated himself for it, but his mind kept being haunted by the trauma, even though he initially tried to gaslight himself into believing it wasn’t that traumatic, and worst of all no one believes him even after he admits to himself he was raped; he then drops out of school entirely. Ashamed of having being assaulted by a woman and how much he had fallen, he climbed himself out of his funk, re-applied for University, international this time, and vowed to be tough and as successful as possible. He refused to let you top because he associates that with his rapist, and refused to sleep in the same bed because he still has nightmares about the rape. You can tell him that you believe him, and offer to sleep next to him. He hates the idea that he looked so vulnerable in front of you, but you can convince him that it’s alright, and that he doesn’t have to be alone in his pain. It’s possible for a few scenes later the next day, for him to say he loves you so much that, remembering when you said you were a top if you did so, he’s willing to face his fears for you.
- Hyun-Soo. And how. He was basically kidnapped into North Korea at the age of 5 and raised as a Tyke Bomb spy, with all that entails, never knowing what happened to his father or brother or whether they were even alive, though they remain a faint memory as the North Korean authorities told him that they were being held hostage by the South Korean government and that he would be able to save them. He spent the next 12 years being thoroughly brainwashed, sent on his first mission at the age of 18; his appearance in-game is after he was busted on this mission and spent a little under a year being only partially deprogrammed by the South Korean government and put into Yong’s care, with when Yong is being told about this depending on whether he is downloaded from the beginning or after starting the game. Even after he becomes available in-game, he’s a mix between North Korea as he is in Alt-talia and a possible way he would be post-unification, the brainwashing still having some hold on him, but with his bombastic demeanor being more subdued, and his massive ego is a much more transparent facade revealing the massive beating it has taken. He has a hard time holding a job due to not knowing how to compete, can only work in blue-collar jobs as a result which often happen to be exploitative, and his upbringing has clearly given him mental health issues, and as well as issues with both building relationships as well as dependence, being very emotionally and monetarily dependent on Yong and Yong alone; though as your relationship with him goes on an issue becomes that he becomes a bit too dependent on you, and he can be very very possessive. And speaking of, his relationship with Yong is still anything but ideal, due to how much of a bombshell the entire thing was on the poor guy and how stressed out Yong already was before finding out his possibly mentally ill twin brother is still alive and he’s going to have to take care of him. At one point Yong lashes out at him, leaving Hyun in tears. Even if you don’t go through Hyun’s route and go with Yong, or have already befriended/started dating Yong, you can still indirectly improve his situation as you help Yong through his issues.
- Yong-Soo didn’t have it easy either. While his father didn’t die when he was 6 like in Alt-talia proper, losing his father, his only family left, at 14 was still obviously traumatic for him. Also he was abused as a little boy by a teacher, who constantly tormented him and called him a good-for-nothing. His father, while caring and well-meaning, was already strict on education, but these things caused him to double down and value success even more than the high bar his culture set, explaining his extreme perfectionism, and made him very prideful to protect himself. Taking care of Hyun doesn’t do any favors for his mental health, as he worked so hard, pretty much throwing his childhood away, only to have to take care of a struggling brother.
- Ludwig used to be a Neo-Nazi as a teenager. In fact, with the urging of the older Neo-Nazi who “recruited” him and got him into Neo-Nazism by talking to him online, he soon found himself the leader of his teenage Neo-Nazi sub-gang when he was 16, and did things like robbing and vandalizing Jewish-owned businesses, breaking their windows Kristallnacht style, as well as ganging up on and beating up Jewish and Polish classmates. Much like Alt-talia, his parents were very old-fashioned, strict, and militaristic, and as a result of that and being alienated from his peers due to being a prodigy, obsessed at being the best, and a target of jealousy, he started seeing the culture around him as weak. Obviously, by the time the game starts he’s grown out of it; when he was 18 a friend from school found out and beat him up, and he was sent to jail, where after doing community service for Jewish and disabled folks he saw the error of his ways. By the time you meet him, it’s been a little less than a year since he’s gotten out of jail (he received a relatively short sentence due to being tried as a young adult). He absolutely hates that he ever thought it was a good idea, and is quite possibly the sweetest character in the game.
- Feli still grew up with unreasonable expectations on his shoulders, and may or may not have an Ambiguous Disorder. As a result, he had massive confidence issues growing up. He still has some of them, and his arc is about growing his confidence.
- Ali’s entire adolescence consisted of him living through a brutal civil war, so as a result he’s still rather traumatized by it. Note, he’s merely 18, so all of this is very recent memory.
- Declaration of Protection: You can give one to Kiku the day after you save him from a drunk about to assault him, and he confesses to you that he likes feeling protected by you. He really appreciates it, though, blushes, saying “I am count on you, [Player]. Protect me always.”, and kisses you. You have the choice to escalate this into a full-on make-out session, and trigger the first submissive sex scene after this.
- Alfred, of course, declares that he'll be your hero and there for you in your time of need not long after you start dating him. Though he apparently wants to stand alongside you, not have you be completely dependent on him.
- Deliberate Values Dissonance: Could be said to be the whole point of the game, or at least a lot of it. The characters are all over the spectrum in terms of so many things. Kiku would find you acting cutesy, vulnerable, dependent, and stereotypically moe charming, while Timo would find it clingy, weird, and even annoying and tell you to be genuine around him instead of putting on what he’s assuming is a show, and Alfred would find said behavior childlike and off-putting, Ali would gawk in horror at you wearing a mini-skirt while even the most Stripperiffic outfits barely phase Eiríkur, Yong Soo would find an very assertive protagonist stressful (though it is possible to get him to stay and make him go through Character Development) while Juan or David wouldn’t think much about it and in the case of the latter even find that even more of a reason to like you, etc. Though the views of characters such as Ivan and Feliks can be a bit old-fashioned for their age even in their country, explained by them being raised in pretty traditional households.
- Domestic Abuse:
- Depending on your choices, it’s entirely possible for, say, Ivan for example to descend into this... however it’s deconstructed, as your route will be cut off by one of the other housemates, and they will promptly force you two apart, telling you that this isn’t healthy. Note, being more submissive and agreeing to follow their cultural norms with full consent won’t get you this scene; it’s only when abuse continues. (Pending)
- However, that doesn’t mean that it’s tolerated from your end either. If you start henpecking or emotionally toying with your love interest too much, you may be pulled aside for a What the Hell, Hero? scene instead. Especially if the character already has some sort of psychological issue like Ivan or the Korea twins and you’re clearly only making their problems worse. (Pending)
- Double Standard Rape: Female on Male: Averted. Hard. Also deconstructed.
- As described under The Chikan, in one scene in Kiku’s route, he gets groped on the train. While it is possible for the player to do nothing, two of three of her responses after the fact treat the situation seriously, telling him that it was not okay. Meanwhile, Kiku doesn’t treat his own victimization too seriously, saying that he’s a man and therefore can take it. In the route where you do nothing, he even jokes about it. But it clearly does bother him, as shown in the route where you do save him, he thanks you for doing so, even if he thinks you overreacted. However, you can choose a response where you fall in line with this double standard, asking if he enjoyed it, he says no, and he moves on, saying it was uncomfortable but also the above joke.
- Then… There’s Yao’s backstory. See Dark and Troubled Past. It is taken very seriously, as is his trauma, and the deconstruction is especially visible here as he was not believed due to this double standard. Apparently he himself also refused to acknowledge the fact that he was raped partially due to this and "Not If They Enjoyed It" Rationalization for a while (the other reason being his pride).
- Expository Hairstyle Change: In a later scene in Yao’s route if you get him to confess his trauma, Yao shows you pictures from when he was younger. He has long hair in them, in the same style canon China has, and you can compliment him on it, asking why he changed it. His expression darkens. He says that he looked like a girl, and that he isn’t a woman. You can either just tell him again that he looked good with long hair, or trigger a dialogue tree where you get offended for him thinking women are weak; he says “Yes… I guess women can be strong.”, and grimaces, appearing to connect the concept of “strong” women with his rapist… Until he corrects himself, connecting the concept to you instead. Either way, he considers it. In scenes after, his hair starts to progressively grow. By the end when he proposes to you, his hair looks like how it did when he was younger, symbolizing his growing past his trauma.
- Fanservice: Even in the all-ages version there can be quite a bit (e.g. suggestive blushing, Double Entendre, topless nudity, the one suggestively posed portrait that almost all but the most prudish characters seem to have, plus bedroom conversations before sex aren’t censored due to containing very character-relevant choices for some routes like Yao’s), as expected for the genre. But it’s especially noticeable as Alt-talia is the type of series that is usually much less prone to fanservice than Hetalia proper.
- Foreign Cuss Word: Can pop up often, the cast being mostly a bunch of non-Anglo foreigners. Sometimes, a character may slip into their native language, which can often include these as well, especially because this usually happens when they’re under stress. Also happens with some regularity in love scenes.
- Gold Digger: Yao sort of assumes that you’re this, being from a upper middle class family and being a med student, but doesn’t seem to care. After you tell him that you love him for him and not just his wallet or looks, he’s actually rather touched.
- Got Over Rape Instantly: Kiku, if you save him after he’s groped, doesn’t seem to be traumatized on the surface, and he says how it feels like you’re protecting him while blushing, more focused on the fact that you protected him than his assault. Though this is probably because he doesn’t see being the victim of groping as a man as that big a deal.
- Groin Attack: How you save Kiku from the drunk who tries to attack him in a later bar scene.
- H-Game: Hoo boy. The 18+ version can feature a lot of sex scenes, which depending on the route (e.g. Kiku and especially Yao) can be character arc relevant.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Most of the characters, unlike their Alt-talia counterparts, aren’t malicious and act the way they are because that’s their culture/just how they are.
- Ivan is aloof, a pretty huge hardass, a sexist, and a homophobe. He has engaged in criminal activity in the past and doesn’t regret it to boot. While upon his introduction it isn’t too blatant, if you play a more tomboyish character and try to befriend him, or even go against his demands without being careful, he can be downright unpleasant for a while if he doesn’t straight-up tell you to buzz off, calling you demeaning names like “woman”. But he’s also exceptionally loyal to his friends shown, even if they aren’t that numerous, and it’s shown that at least a good chunk of his macho tough personality was a result of paranoia born from his awful past, which he can very much work to get over. The more safe he feels around you, he will try harder to listen to you and even starts to look into how to be in a healthy relationship. And if you really manage to win him over, he’ll be exceptionally loyal and affectionate.
- Ali comes across as rather misogynistic, and indeed kind of is. He seemingly doesn’t trust you to do anything on your own. But when the player befriends him more, he may explain his logic that in his view it’s a man’s job to protect women, and as such they weren’t intending to be condescending as much as that’s what he thought was what being respectful to women was. It’s entirely possible to get him to see a different perspective as well.
- David (Israel) is an unabashed douche. In fact, he proudly boasts that a restaurant in Thailand banned him. However, he acts relatively friendly to you, albeit with a lot of snark and brutal honesty, and if you choose him he’s very respectful of you and your autonomy. If you keep going his route, he also starts acting more like a Nice Jewish Boy, if never completely.
- Yao. While he can still be rather rude and pushy, as a boyfriend he’s very caring and attentive, doing chores and cooking for you, insisting on doing things for you, even if he’s a bit awkward in showing his affection. It’s also apparent that at least some of his jerk behavior is the result of his trauma.
- Yong-Soo can come across as impatient and even arrogant. And if you download Hyun, he can seem like a downright asshole. But a lot of this is due to him being almost constantly under stress and the absurdly high standards he sets for himself, and he’s also shown to be a romantic at heart (he even actually tries to act out K-Dramas to impress you, and he easily gets emotional when watching them) and has a low tolerance for injustice if he’s given a reason to care. As he mellows out he can even start helping Hyun heal as well.
- Just Friends: It’s possible to just end up just friends in this game in the end if you see fit, and pursue another route.
- No Man Wants an Amazon: Many characters from more conservative countries will find a more assertive protagonist off-putting to say the least, especially right out of the gate. Some like Ivan or Feliks might tolerate some assertiveness, but if you go full tomboy immediately it will be likely to turn them off. Yao straight-up breaks it off if you’re too assertive to his liking. It is possible for them to develop and even start to find it attractive (e.g. Kiku, Yong-Soo), but for Ali this will be incredibly difficult.
- "Not If They Enjoyed It" Rationalization: Deconstructed. Yao states that after he was initially raped, one of the ways he tried to cope with it was by telling himself that he must have enjoyed it because he got an erection and even came during the ordeal. His rapist used it to justify her actions as well, calling him a slut for this.
- Porn Stash: Before you enter Kiku’s room for the first time, he tells you to wait and there’s a lot of rustling before he opens the door. If you’re a bit snoopy, you can find a hentai doujin hidden poorly in it, which he is promptly very embarrassed by and pretends to pass off as “not mine”, and when you obviously don’t buy it he swears that it’s the only one. Though it’s possible to be very accepting about it and even respond “Oh, so that’s what you’re into? I see…”. You can later bring it up again and ask if it really was the only one, and he, embarrassed but trusting you enough to tell you, reveals that he has like 20 of them and a Hatsune Miku bodypillow. It’s made clear at the start that this is his first relationship, and that “2D” girls were all he had before you came into the picture.
- Powerful People Are Subs: Ludwig often finds himself leading projects due to his personality. Ludwig also hates being made leader because of his past as the teenage leader of a Neo-Nazi gang and his former obsession with power and being the best. As a result, he is one of the easiest characters to get a submissive route with, it being basically the default route, and you have to opt out of it to keep him as a top. Even in the initial love scene where he does top and even if you choose the top route though, Ludwig is possibly the most gentle and delicate with you out of all the options, being afraid to hurt you. If you urge him to go harder and convince him, he still feels awful afterwards, and he starts to dread having sex with you.
- The Runaway: Alfred ran away from home when he was 14, finding his parents to be stifling. He used his saved-up money to fly himself to Europe (pending), started backpacking across it, and really hit it off as a traveling influencer. All things considered, he’s doing well for himself. He at first dislikes Arthur because he reminds him of his father, but soon befriends him. Through talking to Arthur and you about them, he starts to understand his parents, and the emotional climax of the route is you and Arthur convincing him to call his parents for the first time in years.
- Salaryman: Kiku, despite not being in Japan anymore, basically is one. He was transferred to an international branch of his Japanese company, and while the work culture seems more European, the Japanese workers apparently still go and have the classic drinking parties (which he comes home from drunk with the classic necktie headband at least once) and his superiors are apparently strict on him. His biggest goal is to get the next promotion. He can be described as a slave to his job.
- Shameless Fanservice Boy: Eiríkur is somewhere between this and Innocent Fanservice Boy. For one, he offers to sleep with you the first time you meet and flirt with him. The writer has jokingly called his route the “Instant Smut Route”. This is because this is normal in his culture, and if you act offended he acts confused, then realizes his error, apologizes, and explains so. He also walks around his room naked even when you’re in it (with censor bars), initially finding your flustered or Eating the Eye Candy reaction odd, though as soon as he realizes it’s sexual for you he asks if it made you want to sleep with him (if you didn’t act offended the first time, if you did he puts some clothes on). He’s generally very sexually open and liberal and isn’t ashamed of it. He isn’t particularly hornier than other characters all things considered, he just treats the subject rather casually.
- Slut-Shaming: Yao, Yong-Soo, and Kumar will make a face if you tell them that you’ve slept around before, and their likelihood of breaking up with you goes up (in the descending order of the ones listed). Ali outright looks disgusted if you tell him this.
- Smoking Is Not Cool: Several characters smoke; Francis, Ivan, Yao (despite being a med student), Nikolai, Ali, Vuk, and Tolys. While this isn’t used to vilify the characters, it’s possible to convince some of them to stop, though they’ll go through symptoms of withdrawal and you’ll have to help them through it.
- Wingman: It’s possible to befriend the female characters (Anne, Michelle, Erzsébet, and Xiao-Mei), and they’ll often support you in your endeavors (though if you act too much like a Jerkass they’ll start to grow distant from you). It’s also possible to have short “Friendship Routes” with them.
- The Workaholic:
- Yong-Soo intentionally chooses to take many classes because he feels he needs to be constantly studying, not to mention work his job. More than once you find him collapsed from exhaustion. At first your time with him may be a bit limited because of this, but you can convince him to relax a bit, if just for your sake.
- Kiku says that it feels “strange” not having overtime, and apparently intentionally takes on other peoples’ work, feeling that that would make him better in the eyes of his superiors. He also apparently faces regular abuse and harassment from his coworkers and boss, but puts up with it anyway. This especially isn’t helped when he starts dating you, as he wants to support you as his partner. You have to convince him not to push himself too hard. Eventually, you can even convince him to quit and find another job that makes him happier.
- Yandere: Hyun-Soo has shades of this. If you download him, after a while he starts asking you out. If you say no, he’ll assume you’re trying to be polite and ask you out multiple times. At the fifth time this happens, he’ll punch a wall, a dark expression on his face, and demand you get with him and that you can “stop playing this game, admit how you really feel”. The sixth time, he becomes enraged and looks ready to attack you, before Yong swoops in and drags him away, closing the route. Even after getting with him, he’s shown to be rather possessive. E.g. if you pursue friendship routes with other male characters, a scene plays where he, with that dark expression on his face, asks you why you need any other man but him; if you continue on the friendship routes, he starts trying to come between you and the other character, driving them off, and if you still try to pursue other friendships, he starts hitting you. It is possible to get him to understand, but it takes a lot of time. Plus, if you break up with him, he starts crying and lunges at you, screaming at and attacking you, until Yong and Al finally save you, pulling him off and restraining him while you run away. On the flip side though, this means he is very passionate and serious about the relationship, especially after the 100 day mark when he gives you your couple ring.
