Arc 5 Part 1 1/2 was certainly not disappointing to go through. I kinda forgot about the game for a few months, but it instantly recaptured me once I played through the new update.
SPOILERS BELOW
Kinda interesting to see Jerry's presence in the story. I'm assuming he's the main antagonist from OFW (which would explain why Genzou was so furious at him)? I presume the one-on-one interactions with him and the adoption of the nickname "kit" for Iggy was to make everyone feel attached to him and so they would distraught at the trio leaving him. Makes sense after all; he's really only a significant presence in OFW, and he's there to be more of a villain than anything. Kinda sad that there wasn't much for him after the trio entered the sewers though.
Honestly, I think I said all I needed to say about Genzou in my past comments. He generally stays very caring and protective of Iggy, as well as his respect of sexual boundaries. Though I like this emphasis on his issues; while we (the players) are made aware of how shit his treatment of Orlam was, we perceived him in the eyes of Iggy, and so he appears to be this very kind and heroic person. It brings awareness to the fact that despite not being as blatantly monstrous as Gidget and Orlam in the peak of their "worlds", he very much still has fundamental issues as a person (though that can be derived from his self-deprecating talk and lack of optimism anyway). Orlam basically says this when he's talking to Genzou, so yeah.
While I still love Genzou (cause he's sweet like that), I've started to take a liking to Gidget now that we've actually started seeing them in a positive light and without their forced hyperfemininity. They express their care and concern for Iggy differently from Genzou, seeing how there's a lack of physical affection and moreso small acts that indicate that they're thinking about Iggy. They also have a particularly serious side, and I always love that in characters (mostly because I have a serious nature myself). The surprisingly nuanced vocabulary makes them sound smart, and I am also loving that aspect of them. There still is the previous arcs, the entirety of Arc 4, and the beginning of Arc 5 to consider... Gidget has certainly done bad things. But I wouldn't say they could truly be written off as a bad person, considering their own motivations and fundamental issues (one of them being gender identity; very big mood).
Orlam certainly is interesting. His whole thing seemed to be centered around avoiding his emotions and seeking short-term gratification (though that's more emphasized in his arc). So much so, that he removed his whole heart and put it on a podium. Considering how much torment he faced, it's not unreasonable for him to want to reject his emotions entirely. After all, it's only brought him pain. Genzou was the main perpretrator, Gidget mostly cared about Iggy, Iggy didn't do much to interfere, and Bucks and Hunar were not as close to the group. The crush and temporary joy he had with Genzou was destroyed because of Genzou's own fear for himself. That does put things into perspective, and it makes sense why he would look towards dating apps and whatnot. They don't need as much commitment and they don't cause a person to feel pain, but they provide quick and easy satisfaction. The "game" scene... of course, it's the person that "hated" him the most that didn't say anything he hated about Orlam. And the apology he needed to hear from Genzou truly "touched" him. I interpreted him crying the black tears as the evil (representative of his hatred, resentment) sorta "draining" from him. That would make sense, since the heart started spewing out what seemed like blood, which shows that Genzou's words reached him and his humanity is returning to him. The hatred no longer remains.
Uhh. I didn't expect to write that much, though it isn't NEARLY as long as my previous comment (I probably won't write anything that long again anyway). But overall, I enjoyed this update as well! I'm looking forward to Arc 5 Part 2 (unless there's gonna be a Part 1 1/2 1/2 or something), and how the group deals with Bucks. ^^
HHHHHHHH THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR PLAYING AND FOR THIS VERY LONG COMMENT????? WEEPING SLIGHTLY... AHHHH....... I'm glad that even despite not thinking about the game in months you were able to still dive back in and enjoy it. That's part of the problem when it takes me a while between releases I suppose... 😅
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"I'm assuming he's the main antagonist from OFW" --> LOL YES. Yes, he is. He first shows up in game in Arc 2 as a random one-off joke. And then I rolled with that for OFW and made him the antagonist. And then I've fallen in love with him so much since and was already planning in my head even before this some type of resistance and so it all seemed to come together quite well somehow hahaha.
"Kinda sad that there wasn't much for him after the trio entered the sewers though." --> HE'S DEAD NOW???? LKDJFALDSKFA I-I perhaps didn't make this clear enough 💦
"It brings awareness to the fact that despite not being as blatantly monstrous as Gidget and Orlam in the peak of their "worlds", he very much still has fundamental issues as a person" --> Yeah, Genzou has always been a bit of a interesting role for me to write as he doesn't have the same "Wonderland Treatment" that the others get (even Iggy, to an extent) so instead it was more of a long-game introducing all his flaws and the crap he's got going on and needs to work through. And I've noticed he gets some of the most vastly different opinions between people who play the game -- either loving him or hating him LOL And I kinda like that about him because I like making characters with many different sides and major flaws lkdsajfasld I feel like with each arc he's gotten closer and closer to finally taking that deep inner look into himself that he needs to and verbally owning up to and acknowledging things. With all of it culminating here. So it was one of the aspects I really wanted to like, make sure I tried to do as well as I could so it could have the impact and weight it needed to have 💦💦💦
Ahhhh I'm really happy to hear your thoughts on Gidget!! I feel like mine are somewhat the same tbh lakdjfa As someone being in Iggy's shoes in a lot of ways, I feel like I would have a hard time forgiving them for a lot of what happened, but then another part of it is very much in Gidget's shoes because of how much I relate to their issues, as well, so I also feel bad for and want them to grow and figure themself out more and be able to achieve some manner of restored trust and comfort with the others, too. IT'S VERY CONFLICTING THOUGHTS AT TIMES. So I wanted to hopefully try and ease things back in a little with this part. Just planting a seed and showing them also start to be more comfortable with themself in general. I hoped that others would also be able to accept them into their hearts, as well. So I'm find myself quite happy at hearing you say those kinds of things about them 💕
dfakjldsf yes, your thoughts on Orlam also resonate quite closely with my own, too, along with pretty much what I was aiming for. I quite liked the imagery of not only him removing his heart, but the fact that his heart now exudes this slowly spreading poison that's overtaking all of Wonderland and part of what caused many of the predicaments in Arc 5 Part 1. Something something Genzou needing to wade through the poison and push through the pain he was partly responsible for in Orlam in order to save Iggy during the Kiddie Kruise scene LOL Even though at that point you don't know where the poison/acid is coming from yet.
" it's the person that "hated" him the most that didn't say anything he hated about Orlam" --> alkdjfalkds yes... the one person he wanted to hear it from the most. But it's the first time Genzou is actually finally able to stop his mouth from running away from him, even despite the pain (and threat of even worse pain 💦). Ahhhh........ somehow this scene ended up working so well when I finally wrote it even though I only had a vague mental image of what I wanted before diving in. I'm really happy with how so many of the character arc threads ended up coming together ladkjfasd (and maybe lucky tbh...... LOL)
"(unless there's gonna be a Part 1 1/2 1/2 or something)" --> OH GODDDDDD I HOPE NOT. THERE BETTER NOT BE LMAOOOO I-I truly in my heart of hearts don't know how I could possibly make the finale so long I'd need to split it again. So. If that happened there would be something very wrong with me maybe HAHA
HHHHHHHH AT ANY RATE I REALLY LOVED READING THIS AND ALL YOUR THOUGHTS AND INTEPRETATIONS AHHHHHHHHH. I love hearing these from people so much lakdjfad especially their thoughts on the characters. My heart is so full 🥺 SO THANK YOU??? And thank you just in general for playing the new update and for all your wonderful thoughts in the past too. I'm really happy you ended up enjoying this new part!! I hope you'll enjoy the finale once I get that finished up!! Thanks again for all your kind support, it means so much!! 😭💕
To clarify something, I knew that Jerry did die during the fight scene 💀 But I guess I should've phrased it better. I meant like... it's sad how the trio didn't talk much about him after he died, but I guess there was silent acknowledgement from Iggy crying after they all got into the sewers. I kinda get why Genzou and Gidget didn't say much since they didn't interact as much with Jerry, but I think he was important enough for Iggy: I guess Iggy was still kinda detached from the fact that OFW was indeed something that happened, and so Jerry's apology didn't really strike him in any way. There were still these occasional moments that brought them a little closer though. I found myself wanting the trio to say a little bit more about Jerry, but it's understandable why they didn't: they're more focused on getting to Orlam at that moment and Jerry was a minor part of their lives, even if he served a pretty significant role in this arc.
OHHHHHHHHHHHH HAHAHAHA. Got it 👍
That's a very fair point though LOL My main goal in that next scene was just to get them into the castle fairly quickly. I often worry about "down-time" scenes stretching too much and losing some of that sense of urgency/impending dread or that people could get bored LOL So I probably went through it a bit too quickly when I could have spent a bit more time on the aftermath of the whole castle assault scene 💦💦