Hey, wow! Thanks for the in-depth feedback, this is extremely helpful! And I also appreciate the comments about the heart and originality, I put a lot of myself into this and it was exhausting but really fun. It's also very kind of you to play it twice!
My friend and I discussed that the ending wasn't totally clear and I didn't have enough time to figure out a way to fix that but I think you're right, it's a bit hard to convey and we definitely could've done more.
And I'm pretty sure time resumes instantly after letting go of shift. The code is setup so it triggers that instantly. Lerping would've been cool for sure too, but it should be instantaneous and I think that feels tighter.
Thanks for the feedback, this is really helpful! I'll be sure to leave detailed feedback on your game later tonight!