wonderful work, beautifully visceral, and a delightful signal of heartful intent. the post-mortem in the design book is the spark for this torch i hope you and others (including myself!) carry forward. i hunger for wherever you find yourself next.
actually, not quite done; though i talk mild spoilers.
i adored bao's perspective. i have a personal soft spot for putting the reader/player in shoes that make the player feel awfully culpable, put the weight of their character's actions in their hands and let it be heavy. and not the wishy-washy "moral choices" shit of "oh no, all these nameless faceless characters will die!", talking real shit, awful shit, shit that makes you feel just a bit like a monster.
the presentation of bao's inner dialogue and how she builds up to her obsessive and terrible action really sells that feeling, how once she gives in to those impulses she's overwhelmed and loses control to them, how the clarity comes before the act is complete. she's awful, and i adore her. the way the tables are turned on her without her literal position and action changing is delicious; sort of an "eroguro domination loss" turning her into whatever the eroguro equivalent of a service top is. lovely.
a small note; i adored the time on the text boxes ticking up every few messages or so. it really helped draw in to the sense of inevitability and powerlessness-in-power; she knows what she's going to do, she's not going to stop it. all you can do is enable her.
rich with flavour. my compliments to the chef.
I wanted to try and make sure even if the player didn't directly relate to Bao (despite how much I tried to put them in her head), they at least understood her and were forced to stand next to her as everything happened.
I love her too, unsurprisingly. She has enough of me in her for me to relate to her, but is uniquely shitty enough in her own ways that it's not TOO close to looking in the mirror. A fun, uncomfortable middle ground. I'm glad people end up loving her too.
Also thank you for noticing the whole time thing! It's a minor touch but I figure a sense of place is at its stronger when there is a sense of time to go with it. 😌