Post by CottonSheep in Straight!? comments

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I spent 6 hours straight playing this game yesterday and now I'm at chapter 3. I create this account just to give some comment.

This game hit me so hard on the story plot. So far, I love how all characters are portraited as unique but still relatable types of people when facing sexuality-related issues. I find parts of me in every character here: denial in Braden, confusion in Zach and confidence when solving others' problems in Mikhail. I am so surprised to see how character development is so well-built here unlike the majority of NSFW game filled with pornographic stuff. Can't wait to see how far this story goes. Great job.

Update: I have just finished the lastest chapter. I must say I taste my own tears this time. I love every single bonding moment here, not just the stuff between Zach and Braden. The hidden messages behind every twist are so relatable and meaningful to me as a teacher craving for inspirational stories. I used to be the golden child so I know the burden when being highly expected by my family. I used to be labelled, discriminated and made fun of at highschool. I used to be afraid of myself and hate myself for being who I was. I can all feel that just in a chapter itself. It's not that easy to overcome these but thanks to my priceless friends, I embrace my value and love myself in a more proper way. I am looking forward to observing how far these wholesome dudes will reach. I'm a big fan of you now.

mikerahl3 years ago

I know exactly how you feel. I grew up with a father who was homophobic due to having been sexually assaulted as a teenager, which made even talking about how I feel nearly impossible and a high school that, charitably wasn't the most socially progressive in the world. All the loneliness Zack feels is exactly how I've felt for much of my life. Reading/going through this story is very cathartic and helpful, fiction or not.

CottonSheep3 years ago (2 edits)

Wow. I feel so sorry for your experience. Is everything alright now?

For the family part, my parents made me think of suicide as they knew about my relationship in highschool. I struggled to discover myself and confront my family at the same time. I had no one to ask for help or talk to. I completely feel you bro.

I think, we don't have the right to choose where we are born but we do have the right to choose the way we live. Maybe it's not an easy path to walk through but we still survive and become who we are today. At least, we can be sympathetic to others and even our own children if one day they come out of the closet. (Trust me I really want to have kids around 👨‍👧‍👦 ) Now, being about to graduate from college as a teacher, I am trying my best to help my students having problem discovering their sexuality. We can't change the past but we can make an impact for a better future.

For all the things we have been through, we all deserve a Zach or Braden in our life.

mikerahl3 years ago

Things are better now. One of the biggest additional problems in the day is, that my first language is English and I live in Quebec, Canada. I grew up during the height of the nationalist era there where the English were absolutely hated on by a large chunk of the province (to the point that I was assaulted more than once). I could only really deal with 1 crisis at a time and that one went on for years. It's better now, and I have a good friend I can talk to about things, but I have an empathy for what others go through with discrimination and overthinking (as I do it all the time). I think that, more than anything is what I empathise most about the Zack character; what he does is something I've been doing for most of my life.

CottonSheep3 years ago (1 edit)

I'm just glad to hear that you are doing ok now. We all have the part of Zach inside where we collect all the thoughts and start digging around. Sometimes we make things even more complicated than they truly are. For me, having someone to talk to is a great way as they are your anchor whenever you are submerged in the train of thought. I'm trying to think simple and listen to my inner feelings more so I can help myself even when there's no one beside. By the way, I'm just 21 but I have to think twice more than others being at the same age. Thanks for sharing your story even you don't know me. That means a lot to me.

mikerahl3 years ago

Thanks for listening and responding. It's been nice to chat about these things.

Aaryn3 years ago

Good discussion too guys. I appreciate the support for each other here. I wanted to generate discussions like this :)

CottonSheep3 years ago

As long as you guys are still working on new chapters :)))) This game is a good self-help reference.

Aaryn3 years ago

It's somewhat designed that way. That's why Zack laments and works through so much logic in the game. For some it can be perceived as overthinking. For others, it shows several different reasons that could hold individuals back and then Zack's way to reason through those obstacles.

And yeah, there's more updates coming. Next update is gonna be a rough write so I'm doing heavy outlining right now

CottonSheep3 years ago

I agree. It takes time to gradually overcome those issues as he has been haunted by them for the whole time. Most of my logical friends seem to have the same problems of trying to explain everything. Love or sentiment in general is somehow more than that, which is hard to explain just by using logic.

Seriously, you can hold a fanclub and I would love to be a big fan of you guys and this story.

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CottonSheep3 years ago

Love this bonding moment here :)))

itch.io

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