Thank you for your submission, here is your trophy 🏆
More seriously, WOW, you wrote a lot (surely powered by your love for your new husbando...) Thank you for the comments on the writing and the art dfgdfgfd I honestly feel like it wasn't nearly as good as previous projects (I feel like my writing/art both peaked with TDW), but alas, time constraints! It was a big help being able to use edited photos for the backgrounds!
I agree with you that the voice acting was absolutely top notch, and I do like how you touched on the different types of "warmth" that both actors have (and indeed, in certain parts I actually gave them similar/identical lines - to highlight this difference in delivery!)
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I honestly don't have much to say, you touched on basically everything that I wanted to communicate with the game quite comprehensively LOL Indeed, as you know, I originally imagined Geist to be quite a gloomy, creepy individual. But such an individual would be easy to dismiss and ignore - no, instead Geist had to be VERY charming and convincing, hence why he dresses like an academic/university professor (and also why I was pretty much dead set on voice acting for this project in particular, as I knew that Geist's dialogue was quite key to creating a full experience).
I think that, when suffering from anxiety (or a variety of other "life problems," I suppose) - it is easy to make up excuses for yourself so that you feel better about your inability to do something. "I can't make friends, so I don't really want any." "I can't find anyone to date, so I don't really want to date." "I'm bad at cooking, so I'm just not a cook." And this is actually the most frightening thing of all. Because if you languish in discomfort, then perhaps that discomfort will eventually push you to change yourself - but if you start becoming comfortable in your inadequacies, then you will never change. However, at the same time Geist is not an "evil" entity to me (and why I feel comfortable giving him a "sympathetic" backstory, despite his egregious behavior) - because that desire to be comfortable as who you are, to be accepted without needing to change - is completely natural. And, arguably, it's something that should be EMBRACED. But I think that it's quite a fine line between being "comfortable" and being "complacent." I'm glad that you thought that I navigated that ambiguity well, since I do know it's quite a blurry line LOL and I was a bit worried about the clarity of the point!
I'm glad that you noted the parallels between Kalei and the MC as well! I did intend Kalei to be the MC's "opposite" in many ways, but actually more similar to them than he first appears. After all, everyone has social difficulties, not just people suffering from noticeable anxiety. And I think that as the MC grows to realize this, then they realize that their own problems are not as catastrophic as they first appear.
Of course, how could it be a yandere game without a CAGE ending? But indeed, this cage ending is special - one crafted from the MC's own mind, in which they freely lock themselves. I'm glad to read your comments on Kalei's ending, your compliments are too kind dfgdfgdf When writing the story, it was important to me that the various "outings" the MC has with Kalei didn't go perfectly well. When they meet up for lunch, the conversation peters out and becomes awkward. The MC (though through no fault of their own) does end up "embarrassing" themself in front of Kalei at the Halloween party. And when they get together with Kalei's friends, it goes catastrophically (at least from the MC's perspective). And yet, the MC lives, and the friendship continues on in spite of the hiccups. And, after facing these (admittedly minor) difficulties, the MC finally gains the courage to initiate the friendship on their own.
I'm glad that you commented on the "reciprocity" of Kalei's end! I did want that kind of mutual understanding between Geist and the MC - the MC does not banish Geist, they do not attack him. They have an open dialogue and come to an understanding - because that's what dealing with anxiety is, it's coming to an understanding with yourself. It's accepting yourself for who you are AND vowing to better your life in spite of that. You summarized it all quite beautifully!
Thank you for playing and reading and leaving such a wonderful comment! I'm very lucky to have you :)