Once upon a time, in the castle of the most beautiful fairy queen, Titania, lived a little cat. The queen loved the kitty so much that she turned it into a cat fairy. Every day, she was surrounded by the most beautiful red roses, her long, long tail brushed with the first drop of morning dew, and all the fairies danced endlessly just for her.
Yet deep inside, she knew, she was only a little cat, and her heart longed to be free.
Can she outsmart the queen’s naughtiest servants, leave the forest, and claim the freedom that is rightfully her?
After conducting research and receiving feedback from the previous phases, I decided to maintain the homage to A Midsummer Night’s Dream while substantially revising the game’s narrative.
First, I decided to retain Titania’s original name and remove all references to Cateron (Oberon) from the game’s storyline. Since I chose to eliminate all romantic elements, and Oberon’s jealousy caused their quarrel, removing this conflict makes the story’s logic more consistent.
Second, I made the main character a determined little cat fairy. Though loved by the queen, she knows what she truly wants and never wavers in her convictions. Rather than having players discover this themselves, the story directly presents a protagonist with admirable qualities, in line with the fairy tale tradition. At the end of the story, Titania appreciates her determination and lets her go, allowing her to become a free little cat again.
Furthermore, Peaseblossom, Mustardseed, and Cobweb were originally Titania’s servants and have been restored to their original roles. The newly created characters, Chestnutleaf, Crowfeather, and Pumpkinseed, remain in the game, serving as replacements for the original three.
The game’s story will mostly be told through narration, giving players the feeling of reading a storybook. As the plot progresses, these recurring dialogue patterns will emerge, helping to establish the gentle rhythm of a fairy tale:
“Why leave?” Asked by Chestnutleaf, “Our queen will crown you with the loveliest red roses of the forest. What more could you ask for?”
Nyanita answered, “I need no roses to show my beauty, because I am a lovely cat myself.”
“Why leave?” Asked by Crowfeather, “Our queen will let the first morning dew clean your fur. What more could you ask for?”
Nyanita answered, “I can clean my tail without morning dew, because I am a capable cat myself.”
“Why leave?” Asked by Pumpkinseed,”Our queen will have fairies dance for you until the end of life. What more could you ask for?”
Nyanita answered, “If I wish to dance, I will dance myself.”
Inspiration
The transformation of Nyanita’s character was initially inspired by the story of Princess Tutu, in which the protagonist only comes to understand her true self after enduring numerous trials and adventures.
Another important influence was my rereading of The Little Mermaid. While Andersen’s original tale is commonly perceived as a tragedy, especially in contrast to Disney’s adaptation, I found that the Little Mermaid’s desire was consistently clear. Rather than being passive, she actively chose to give everything she had for what she truly wanted.
- “Why weren’t we given an immortal soul?” the little mermaid sadly asked. “I would gladly give up my three hundred years if I could be a human being only for a day, and later share in that heavenly realm.”
- “Then I must also die and float as foam upon the sea, not hearing the music of the waves, and seeing neither the beautiful flowers nor the red sun! Can’t I do anything at all to win an immortal soul?”
- Then she heard a bugle call through the water, and she thought, “That must mean he is sailing up there, he whom I love more than my father or mother, he of whom I am always thinking, and in whose hands I would so willingly trust my lifelong happiness. I dare do anything to win him and to gain an immortal soul.
- “Yes,” the little mermaid said in a trembling voice, as she thought of the Prince and of gaining a human soul.
- ‘Who are you, toward whom I rise?” she asked, and her voice sounded like those above her, so spiritual that no music on earth could match it.
- “…You, poor little mermaid, have tried with your whole heart to do this too. Your suffering and your loyalty have raised you up into the realm of airy spirits, and now in the course of three hundred years you may earn by your good deeds a soul that will never die.”
An immortal soul is the true salvation the Little Mermaid longs for, even as she loves the prince.
This revelation deeply moved me. As a result, I chose to reshape my original, relatively simple character concept into one who clearly understands what she desires and remains steadfast in pursuing it.
From the perspective of player-powered, a character’s self-motivated desire to leave somewhere is more immersive than simply completing tasks assigned by NPCs, and provides stronger motivation for players to engage with and progress through the game.
References:
AmericanLiterature.com (n.d.) The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen. Available at: https://americanliterature.com/author/hans-christian-andersen/short-story/the-little-mermaid
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