that was always my greatest fear: scams, STDs, and teen pregnancy. I didn't take any chances. No parties, no drinking all the time and making bad calls. So people said I was boring. I always like games and shows and biking. And in the hood most people are not gonna be understanding when you tell them your fav game is Eternum or OIAL. They're not gonna get it. Loving lore and character development? That's not cool. That's not badass. So I gave up and for 15 years, I didn't even try to date or flirt. Just accepted that life is not a romantic comedy or ero VN or soap opera. Life is just a 9 to 5 and some fun games when you get home.
Yeah, the one good thing about OIAL and Eternum and a few other games is that you can still feel something. When I go thru the content I'm not just mindless skipping dialogue till I find a choice for a sex scenes. I remember character names. Try to guess plot twists. Try to find secrets without pissing out the ladies. Bittersweet it may be, but I'm glad I got into his games. Because before I played OIAL didn't think any VN could make me laugh. I didn't think any erotica could make me care about a character who wasn't a love interest. Like how I wanna see Chang happy and dating someone. Or how, even if she wasn't dating Orion, I'd want to see Luna happy. That's why I messed up my play thru with OIAL, I tried to fix Judie and The Teacher up with good relationships that weren't always the MC because I felt selfish and greedy. I thought "what am I a monster? I don't need to fuck every woman." But the joke was on me because, yeah, things go better for them if you do in that game. Fuck every woman and romance them and cockblock all dudes. Not my style but I'm trying to take the good with the bad. Live and learn. Sometimes you gotta be a little selfish in Caribdis games. And maybe I gotta be a little more confident and selfish IRL too. And tell women I like them instead of just being supportive to them and hoping they understand my feelings .
Thanks for hearing me out.