Hey ebi, thanks for sharing your thoughts about the game!! (for anyone else reading this, the reply will involve spoilers so beware unless you want them lol)
I'm glad you appreciated the variety of the narration!! I was very confused writing the game actually, as I didn't have a very detailed outline, just the broad strokes of the story, so I was quite surprised to find myself writing fanfiction, forum posts etc. but yes, I thought it would be a great way to narrate the story in a less straight-forward way (similarly with things like a phone ringtone to suggest what happens between Lewis and his gr**mer, or the shirtless Gabriel with the most embarrassing sounds I've ever put in a game to suggest, beyond the jacking off, Lewis' growing obsession for Gabriel lol)! I guess it was a good way to exploit VN as a medium, but also I thought it would offer a good contrast to The Beauty Marks of Aquarius, which also had a lot of things going on in terms of visuals/sounds, but which also relied heavily on its prose (and I thought a college sopohomore in this day and age wouldn't express himself the same way as a PhD candidate in 1972 lol)
And yeah, I gave very detailed warnings about everything lol, but I'm actually glad people seem not to read them, as I think the game is best experience blind, as it really is a descent into madness loool! But yeah, somehow, the game ended up having a lot of humour, which is quite unexpected (I've been having this game idea in my mind for years, and jokes only bloomed when I started writing it lol), but I guess the jokes somehow added to the unhinged vibe and to Lewis getting crazy (and yes, the post in question was indeed very ironic, especially with lewis writing that people feel "too comfortable being parasocial" which isn't very subtle irony but i guess it's not a game like that lol)
For Joshua, absolutely!! He was meant to show the biases in Lewis' judgement (tbf, the friend group isn't that great, but Joshua is my baby boy), and that's why it was important, if you choose to go upstairs with him at the party, to have Lewis be the one being more insistent etc. and overall, Joshua was meant to evoke a more standard love interest — like, who Lewis could end up dating if he weren't so convinced he was so deeply broken that he needed someone miraculous as Gabriel Howell to fix him (hence why Joshua ends up dating a guy named Narcisse, it was funny lol)
And you're right, for Seiji!!! He and Gabriel are characters from my first solo VN (which isn't accessible anymore for reasons lol), but to give broad strokes, the protag of the game was in fact Gabriel, an idol who wanted to put a stop to his career as he felt more and more uncomfortable with his fanbase and who was worried to tell Seiji (who of course encouraged Gabriel to pursue his own dreams etc.), so the contrast is indeed on purpose: Lewis just makes Gabriel uncomfortable, and Gabriel isn't as social as Seiji, who ends up being the one caring the most about Lewis (Gabriel is far from being heartless actually, he's quite empathetic too, but not to the point of piyting someone who assaulted him lol)
Regarding the emotions, you are right, the inspiration was Inside Out loool (when I started conceptualising them a few years ago, there were overall all black and white expecting for Desire, but I thought it would be a more interesting contrast to have them be colourful); and for the name "Narcisse", that's indeed because, despite everything, self-contemplation is a very big theme in the game (the whole camera set up is meant to mirror Narcissus looking at his own reflection), and yes! He does have some ego (for example, the way he despises Weasley's appearance, the way he sees his friends as "tropes", even his misogynistic view of Cindy), and somehow still despises himself (I did meet people like that, who despised others a lot and still hated themselves: for example, they didn't feel particularly clever, but believed they were more clever than most)
Thank you for sharing your thoughts in such a detailed manner and for the kind words!! I really hope my future pathetic men will still be as interesting (and honestly fun lol) to write and to read!!