Boba! Boba! Devlog: Inside the Development of Isla and Mimi's Horror Story
Hey everyone, this is a devlog where I want to break down the thought process, motivations, and themes behind the game I'm building. This devlog serves two main purposes: one, to explain the characters and their personalities; and two, to protect me as a creator—because let’s be real, whenever a main character isn’t morally upright, people start projecting onto the writer.
When a protagonist isn't a cookie-cutter hero, people assume it must be a self-insert. They forget that characters are written to reflect a spectrum of humanity—not just what’s aspirational. In cartoons, we’re trained to believe the main character is the moral center. But in adult media, that’s often not the case. There’s value in exploring characters who are deeply flawed or even outright awful.
You start the game as Mimi Kaylee, an autistic, bubbly, and sheltered girl. Her mother smothers her with overprotection, convinced Mimi can’t do anything on her own. Despite this, Mimi is cheerful and kind-hearted—one of those rare people who doesn’t see others’ cheerfulness as creepy or fake. She finds joy in positivity, and it rubs off on those around her.
Then we meet Isla, Mimi’s polar opposite. Isla is loud, mentally unstable, and struggles with borderline personality disorder and bipolar disorder. She is not a good person, and that’s intentional. Isla isn’t written as someone you should idolize—she’s a reflection of chaos, trauma, and unchecked emotion.
She can be cruel, condescending, and dangerous. Her story includes horrific acts, including attempting to murder her husband and killing her own son. She’s not a hero. She’s not even an anti-hero. She is a narrative tool designed to explore the darker sides of humanity. And no—she is not a self-insert.
I didn’t want perfect victims or perfect spouses. That’s too common in horror fiction: a villain paired with a saint. In this game, both Isla and her husband George are flawed. Isla has a warped sense of justice and low accountability. George is far from innocent—he’s sexist and watches... Um... "Dirty Videos" while married to her, listing them as his favorite films... She hates him quite a lot for this. Neither is portrayed as “the good one.”
A pivotal scene in the game is when Isla accuses George of forgetting to pay the light bill. She goes to the bill office determined to prove him wrong—only to find out she was the one who paid it and forgot. Her response? Still blaming him for not reminding her. This moment reflects her hypocrisy and refusal to admit fault. The entire event critiques how some people avoid accountability and lash out when corrected, even over minor things.
Isla’s personality traits come through in her dialogue. I’ve added a system where random, hateful thoughts she has about George appear as internal monologues. They may appear to escalate over time, from passive-aggressive jabs to full-on threats. This serves as narrative foreshadowing for her eventual violent breakdown.
She misinterprets his actions, such as thinking he’s faking sickness to manipulate her. In reality, he’s just sick. But in her mind, everything is twisted. This reflects how hating someone and mental illness can distort perception. It is based on how spouses will make up ideas of conspiracy about their spouse when they don't like them nor trust them.
Isla’s treatment of her son, Zen, is also layered. She originally intended for him to grow into a responsible man—hence the chores and discipline. Her motivation was rooted in not wanting him to become like his father. But eventually, her instability takes over, and she kills him. Zen’s symbolic color is dark orchid—dark for the trauma he endured, orchid for the innocence he has.
A large part of Isla’s behavior stems from her childhood. Her parents ignored or downplayed the sexual abuse she and her siblings endured at the hands of their Aunt Judy. This wasn’t a one-time event. Aunt Judy was a serial abuser, and the family enabled her. Isla’s cries for help were met with dismissal. Her siblings abuse,due to them being male, were met with ridicule.
These backstory elements aren’t included for shock value—they reflect real-world issues like victim-blaming, the minimization of male sexual abuse, and the way generational trauma passes down. The reactions Isla’s parents had are inspired by actual cases, where families defended abusers or accused victims of lying.
The game also critiques how conflict is modeled in families. Isla’s toxic marriage mirrors the one she grew up witnessing. She believes that women are always right and that the husband is always wrong and that George is at fault for everything. This reflects the sad truth that children often repeat what they see at home.
There’s a bigger message here: lack of forgiveness, unchecked pride, emotional immaturity, and failure to resolve conflict destroy relationships. Isla is a cautionary tale about what happens when people internalize toxic norms without question. It’s supposed to make you think.
This devlog is meant to clarify the narrative goals behind the story and to emphasize: just because a character is terrible, doesn’t mean the writer condones their behavior. This is horror.
—End of Devlog Entry #1
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