Post by DeanDLean in Void Dreaming comments

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Still fuming about Mizz cucking you.

The rest of the game is great, but that one part is so dumb and annoying.

"Oh, we won't have sex yet because you're something special" he says before running off to blow Bromm. And if you try to confront him - you get repeatedly told off for not being a good little cuck, and even receive a death threat to your face from the sociopathic captain.

And you don't even get to push back on any of this, you just sit and watch Rael suddenly act like a doormat with no agency, sending a message that it's you, the player, who is wrong for not wanting to be cucked.

Cool, thanks, writer.

Faora1 day ago(+2)

When you commented about this a year ago, I explained how you'd misinterpreted things. I also suggested that I wouldn't engage any further, and yet you've returned with your same grievance. You're also presenting your read on the situation as authoritative, when you've framed the circumstance in question falsely. It makes it very difficult on my end to be measured and diplomatically since, as has been done in another comment here, you're essentially twisting my characters and the circumstances in a public forum.

I recommend again that if you're this upset with Void Dreaming to channel that energy toward any number of other, wonderful FVN projects that you might actually enjoy. If you want only to revisit your frustration here on a regular basis I sure can't stop you, but I'll only have so much patience for it. No one is going to force you to read something you abhor, and I'm sure your time would be better spent praising work you enjoy than to come back here and revisit something you do not and vent your frustrations in public.

As my (hopefully) final word on the matter, as the writer in question and in response to your last line: you're welcome. I hope you can find enjoyment elsewhere.

Valisie1 day ago(+1)(-1)

I respect that you find the time to respond to even your critics.

I would also like to inform you that someone with 88 in their name is declaring their affiliation with that big villain of WW2.

For me anyone with 88 in their name is persona non grata.

Faora1 day ago(+2)

People who disagree with me, or have criticism of my work, are completely valid! We don't learn and grow if we're not willing to entertain the thoughts and feelings of those who disagree with us. The difference is only in the method of critique and the validity that it implies.

As for the numerical matter, I'm aware of that but appreciate the warning nonetheless! As an 80's baby who's seen plenty of usernames with a date of birth in them however, I'm not the sort to immediately castigate someone like that until I can be certain it's anything more than innocent coincidence. I try not to assume malice if I can help it! Something that, admittedly, is growing harder in this day and age.

DeanDLean1 day ago

It wasn't related to my age, though it wasn't far off. The number was added absent-mindedly, just to avoid having to check for available names on an already popular site.

I had no idea it had any special meaning for someone. I'm going to assume it's some sort of americanism, since I have never ran into it before. I removed it just to avoid provoking anyone in the future.

I'd love to add that I'm not this and that, just to put the issue to bed, but itch will literally block me from responding to this if it detects those words. So lets just say I'm not subscribed to any hate-fueled ideas.

I'm obviously an annoying stubborn jackass, but I'm all for equality.

DeanDLean1 day ago(-1)

Back then you didn't give me a good answer, I just grew exasperated with your unwillingness to even entertain the thought that you might be wrong. Pushing further would have been rude. I still don't want to be rude, but this feels important for me to try and get through to you anyway.

No, I get it, you can't be held accountable for every possible reading of your text.

What I'm saying is your intended meaning for this situation is simply NOT in your text. I have genuinely tried to look at it from your angle and I do not see it. Nothing points to it. Your replies are the only thing that points to that reading at all. I am clearly missing something and I think it's your perspective. So the way I see it, you just didn't convey it properly in the game, thinking that your perspective is universal and would fill in the blanks. Me stumbling over this at all says it's not.

This needs addressing. Please.

You said:

Mizz at every point where sexual matters come up with Rael before this expresses his interest, but also his restraint. There's no notion of romantic interest discussed, and certainly after two days of knowing him that's a bit much to ask from anyone. Mizz doesn't propose any exceptional arrangements, and neither does Rael. There's interest stated, and borders posted.

"There's no notion of romantic interest discussed" is such a wild thing to say about two adults aggressively flirting for two days straight. No, people in that situation do not need to beat each other over the head with "I like you and want to be involved romantically, lets be a thing!",

because it's implied. Big part of flirting is implying things without saying them out loud.

Mizz saying "There's something special about you", ESPECIALLY as it follows "I want to fuck you, but I don't want to rush to fuck you" is an admission of romantic interest over plain carnal interest, and without him mentioning anything else about his other arrangements, it is an unvoiced promise of an exclusive arrangement. Both in our world and the one you describe in the lore so far. The world of Void Dreaming is not so overwhelmingly polyamorous that it would be completely alien to the reader. People get into exclusive arrangements, people have expectations of exclusive arrangements. And they flirt normally, without taking a break to explain their hints and body language in plain words.

So no, this it not some wild reading of mine that Mizz leads Rael on, it's on the surface, right there in the text.

With all due respect, if you intended something else - you have failed. I beg you to see it.

sparxthehero1 day ago(-1)

I'm sorry, but you speak of a lack intentional writing for what the writer implies, and later in the post claim that there was an unspoken promise between you and Mizz. You cannot have your cake and eat it, too. Mizz and Bromm have had time to develop a relationship like that since before you joined the crew, and you cannot expect him to suddenly go monogamous with someone who just showed up and is *starting* to develop feelings for. That is a selfish and short-sighted reading.

DeanDLean1 day ago

Sorry, we're here continuing a discussion that was started a year ago, you're out of the loop and just haven't seen that I've addressed this before.

I'm not asking to change anything, just add a couple of lines - Mizz acknowledging that he is not offering an exclusive relationship to Rael and he's messing around with someone else would be fine(other characters give you a fair warning, there's no reason why Mizz shouldn't).

The problem isn't that Mizz is polyamorous/polygamous/whatever, the problem is that not mentioning that little fact while coming on to Rael comes off as manipulative and insincere, which was not author's intent, as far as I can tell.

They are just being intentionally dense about how poorly that part had turned out, readily accepting praise, but ignoring criticism. I like their writing, but I'm massively disappointed in them as a person.

Faora1 day ago(-1)

TL;DR: No.

Let's drop the passive-aggressive, shall we? It's exhausting, and there's only so long I can respond politely to someone behaving in a rude manner (as you'll see momentarily), and I intend to drop this matter after this response.

I am not responsible for how satisfying you find my answers, only for the provision of those answers. You raised a concern, I explained how you'd misread the text and admitted it could be my fault as the author, and polled other readers to see more opinions. I determined the fault was in your reading, not my text, based on that polling. You have clearly held on to this discontent for an entire year, which is unhealthy at best.

What you seem incapable of realizing is that no one else in the community is reading this the way you are. The implication that not only the author is wrong, but also the entire rest of the readership save for you and you alone, is arrogant and self-entitled. The irony that your tone implies that I'm the arrogant one for failing to recognize your superior literary analysis is not lost on me.

I am not going to address the problem because there is no problem here to address. I have made many mistakes and cocked up many things, both in this project and in many others over the decades, but casting my net for a wider source of critique of the scene in question sees you standing alone. The problem is not the text. The problem is your reading, and that is not something I have the power to fix.

You are not my editor and you are not my co-writer. You are a reader, immensely valued and very appreciated, but a reader nonetheless. You can like my work, or you can leave it. I know I can't please everyone and I don't even try. Some people will enjoy what I do. Some won't. I'm going to do everything in my power to create something wonderful that means the former outnumbers the latter by orders of magnitude, but I will not compromise my characters or my creative and narrative vision for any single reader, especially not one with such a jumped-up sense of self-importance that he feels the need to hold a grudge against a single scene for a year and vent that grudge in this public space.

I appreciate and respect that you care enough to be this up in arms about one scene in a VN that you otherwise seem to enjoy. You have not, however, presented an attitude worthy of consideration, a critique backed by common opinion, or any special insight or discovery that requires me to alter my approach to my work. Certainly the implication that you and you alone have the narrative literacy and literary wisdom to fix what's broken in my work is a feat of ego worthy of legend.

So to your issues with the scene in question, as I said at the top: No.

This matter, from my perspective, is closed. I've spent far too much time that I could have used to work on the project on this instead, and I am very glad to put it behind me. I suggest that you do the same.

DeanDLean22 hours ago

>Let's drop the passive-aggressive, shall we?

They said, before writing a character assassination essay on me.

I read the entire thing several times and I have just one question.

Was it really easier for you to write all that, rather than rubber-ducking that scene just once to check if it actually leads the reader to the conclusions you want it to lead them to?

itch.io

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