Where the Girls of Paradise Lust Actually Came From

Flexible Media turned another year older on May 10. Happy Anniversary to us!!

To celebrate, we wanted to take a moment to look back at where it all started—specifically, with the girls of Paradise Lust. Every character came from somewhere. Some were inspired by people we've met, some by half-remembered ideas, and some just filled a gap we didn’t know was there until we started writing.

Every character starts somewhere. Sometimes it's a detail. Sometimes it's a person you barely remember but couldn’t forget. And sometimes it's just sitting in a room asking, “Alright, who else would show up to an international beauty pageant?”

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Maria:

“Maria was actually the first inspiration for the whole game. She was based on all of the sexy Mexican pageant contestants and telenovela actresses I used to lust after as a kid. And that's kinda where the whole idea of an ‘international pageant’ started for me... I was like... who would she compete with?” — Chase

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Karen:

“Karen is based on SO many women I know from growing up in the American Midwest...” — Chase

This is probably the closest we’ve got to the classic “asks for the manager” type in the cast. Blonde, sharp, a little judgmental, but somehow still likable. A walking Midwest memory.

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Mi-Sun:

“For Mi-sun, I took inspiration from an old friend I once knew back when Yahoo chat rooms were a thing. She was a pretty chill gamer girl who loved the Final Fantasy series. I haven't heard from her in a while, but I'd like to think she's out there, streaming games and being her chill self.” — Kimiru

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Reyna:

“A lot of her complaints, stories, weird facts, and food sharings about her home country came from personal experiences from me and the other Filipino members of the team.” — Kimiru

Reyna is basically a vessel for all our shared cultural trauma. Every time she brings up some obscure Filipino snack or vents about customer service in Manila, that’s not roleplaying—that’s just the Filipino team members exorcising something.

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Rachel:

“For Rachel... I kinda may have taken some inspiration from one of my characters from FFXIV. A bit of an airhead, silly, peppy, but often well-meaning.” — Kimiru

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Gabby

“Yes and no. I actively tried to move away from the kinds of stereotypes that I saw in other games. For instance, Gabby being a computer nerd... and also an ex-cheerleader. She is kinda based on an African-American girl I knew in college who paid her way through school on a cheerleading scholarship. The girl I knew was actually a business major... but I thought it was an interesting and less-done angle for the nerd archetype.” — Chase

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Cath:

“Cath is based on the cool chicks I could never get to go out with me when I was in college in Texas.” — Chase

She’s the type who’s cool, competent, and very not into your shit. And yeah… probably wouldn’t have gone out with any of us either.

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The Others

“The other girls of Paradise Lust don't have such clear, obvious inspirations. They started more as a ‘who else would a pageant need’ kind of feel. Contestants and people around it.” — Chase

Some characters come fully formed. Others show up, hang around, and slowly take shape. Sometimes they’re based on real people and experiences we've had. Sometimes they’re just a vibe.

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Do any of the girls from Paradise Lust feel oddly familiar to you? Let us know!