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Oftentimes, the more I try to explain anything at all about who I am, the less understood I feel afterward, with the replies I receive merely leaving me even more alienated than I was before.  I eventually just stopped volunteering information about myself 99% of the time; and do you know what I've found?

Ambiguity is not only far less painful, but fits me like a glove.

I deeply hate it, the way it feels like any meaningful part of your identity or lived experience that you choose to reveal to others is invariably turned against you, reduced to the butt of a joke, a talking point for whatever flavor of politicking, or a weapon with which to shame or invalidate you, whether intentionally or otherwise.

In the end, I'd much rather be ambiguous, inscrutable, and unknowable than subject myself to that noxious farce, no matter how isolating that choice may be.

---

Your letter is visceral, tremendously potent, and overall marvelous.  Thank you very much for writing and sharing this~

No no, thank YOU for reading and commenting!  I want to make the girls fight even more, and I'm itching to write a whole lot more in this setting just as soon as I have the breathing room for it, heheheh~

I cannot get over how absolutely adorable all of the art in this VN is!  Yablochka in particular is a bombshell; I'll be very interested to see how things play out with her in the full version, as well as hearing what music tracks of mine you use and how, heheheheh~

I'm greatly pleased to hear that my work has had such an impact on you~  Thank YOU for taking the time to read and engage with it!  I'll be continuing to build things out, don't you worry

Thank youuuuu!!  This comment is making me glow, heheheheheh~  

I've gotten so used to writing in a minimalist, screenplay-esque style for my games and VNs; this story is one of the first times I've written longer stretches of more traditional prose in a while, so I wasn't entirely sure how well it'd turn out.  Needless to say, I'm very happy to hear you think so highly of it (and the music, too!)~

P.S.: LISTEN.  Listen.  It's really not that bad, as long as you've got a pointy stick handy~

Thank you so much, both for reading and for the kind words~!  If all goes well, I'll have an update published for it very soon, heh heh heh

63k words of absolutely radioactive toxic yuri, born from horribly painful and horribly realistic psychosexual trauma~  The visual presentation is incredible, the art is phenomenal, the music and sound design are airtight, and the writing is a Deleuzian rollercoaster of broken girls struggling to survive amidst the intense grief of an immense loss in a world of boundless, senseless cruelty~

Monumental work on this VN, well and truly.  I eagerly await the full release, heheheheh~

Thank you so much~!  The next THERA release is under active development, so there'll be plenty more THERA to let subsume you before too much longer, heheheh

Thank you so much!  I've got at least another two chapters drafted out already, so check back soon~

Malevolence me, you were that excited to read my work, and it really moved you that deeply~?  You're making me blush, heheheheh~  I'm curious now to hear this interpretation of yours that resounded so deeply within you...

Thank you very much for playing and commenting!

That's an interesting interpretation of Nicole~  Certainly, you can make a solid argument for her being a subby girl deep down, one simply acting as a service top to win over her crush, heheh.

When writing Nicole, however, I envisioned her as the type of person who'll act shy, cutesy, and girlish to lower people's defenses and to endear herself to others; but when she smells an opening, she'll charge forward like a shark in a feeding frenzy, a domineering girl who'll take a mile when given an inch~

Nicole does hold genuine affection and attraction towards Ann, and wants to make Ann happy in her own twisted way—but in my vision of her, her possessive streak and her utter disregard for Ann's boundaries are far from being merely performative, heheheh~

That's so kind of you to say!  Thank you very much, heheheh~

And for what it's worth, for however shocked you felt while reading it, imagine how shocked I was when I awoke from my creative fervor, re-read over the draft for this story, and realized just how potent a horny nightmare I'd dredged up out of myself, lol

(Sorry for the delayed reply here; Itch buried this comment where I couldn't find it.)

Thank you so much, Izzyyyyy~!  

Ann truly is a pitiable girl.  Even when she gets exactly what she's been fantasizing about for so long, it arrives in the worst possible way...

And yes, the emotions are the most important part of it all!  Sex is just another form of communication and expression, after all—a sharing of feelings and desire, a commingling of needs and vulnerabilities, and a demonstration of mutual trust and respect (or the utter lack thereof)~  That's no less true for toxic evil sex than it is for "normal" """good""" sex, heheheh.

(Sorry for the delayed reply here; Itch buried this comment where I couldn't find it.)

Thank you so much!  And you're correct: Nicole, despite being domineering, manipulative, and very, very predatory, is ultimately a human being, not a monster.  She has her darker and lighter sides, just as Ann does~

Thank you so very much!!  Rom, Guts, and Mala really did such a fantastic job with everything, didn't they~?

And I'm beyond pleased that the music and writing resonated with you!  There's something about the intermingling of fear and arousal, of self-destruction and desire, and of shame and deep gratification that endlessly captivates me, heh heh heh heh~

Thank youuuuu~

10/10, just like all of your contributions to the project~

And don't you worry, Nicole will be kind and re-wine Ann any day of the week, heh heh heh...

Thank you so much~!  I'm happy to hear the title drop and music effects alike landed for you, heheheh~

Poor Alex.  All he wanted to do was play some video games, but it all went wrong...

The writing is raw, intense, and unflinching, and the art is simply stellar—especially the CGs in the latter half of the story~  Great work on this VN!

My malevolence, it really had that strong of an impact on you~?  I'm nothing if not deeply pleased, heheheheheh~

Exaaaaactly~

Thank youuuuu~  And don't you worry, they're going to have an absolutely horrid time with each other—though Nicole will be enjoying herself very much!

And thank YOU so very much for the kind words, heheheheh~  I'm delighted to hear that the suffocating inexorability of it all came through properly!

By the time you see where everything is heading, and realize just how truly bad things have gotten, it becomes painfully clear:

You. Can't. Do. Anything.

Only a small scattering of options remain, and even the best among them leaves you terribly uncertain and horribly anxious...

Sooooo true...

I'm delighted to hear you enjoyed it, heheheheh~

Thank you very much~!  I admit, this scenario isn't quite what I had in mind when I originally composed everything for As Above So Below (which I'm happy to hear you've been enjoying!), but hey, if it works, it works, lol

Also, that script file being included in the releases was an accident, I admit, but like you've discovered, there's some extra little tidbits to be found within, heheheh~

I'm very happy you enjoyed it, heheheheh~  And YES, Guts really did such an incredible job with the art—I am indeed partial to the monochromaticity, lol—and Rom likewise with the sound effects!  They truly brought my wretched little girls to life far better than I could've ever hoped for~

As for Nicole's perfume, I must confess I know little about high-end fragrances, but you can imagine her wearing some very expensive brand that people know chiefly because of some celebrity, influencer, or social media trend, heh.

Hello hello~

I genuinely cannot overstate how phenomenal a job you did with the art, and how huge of an impact it has on the overall quality of the experience, heheheh~ 🖤🤍

Don't you worry, Pilot: I'll make a custom Io-class FAERIE who looks exactly like Citron, just for you~  You can play as roughly with her as you like, and she'll never, ever complain.  In fact, you'll even be able to send her off to war if you want!

Thank you so much for your kind words, and for taking the time to read through this demo!!  This is a setting and cast of characters that I've had ricocheting around in my mind for years and years now, and I'm very happy that the Doll & Kigu Jam (as well as the RoRo Jam) provided such a perfect opportunity and inspiration to start sharing it in earnest!

There's so much more yet to be revealed beyond what's shown in this demo, and it makes me glow to see you so hyped up for it~  I'll certainly keep working on it, you can be sure of that, heheheh~ 🖤🤍🖤🤍

Lovely work on this piece~  The composition and all of the details with the visual presentation are spectacular, and I adore the tactile clicks when interacting with it, heheheh.  I also quite like how the tone of your writing and visuals harmonize with that of my song; they work very well together, I'd say~

This comment is so sweet!!  Thank you so much, Mala; you've made my day~  🖤🤍🖤🤍

I've been working hard recently on improving my art!  Spending more time with detailing, learning how to draw backgrounds and landscapes, experimenting with shading, doing lots of anatomy studies—the works.  I'm very pleased thus that it left such a good impression on you, heheheh~  And there'll be plenty more CGs in the full release!

I'm truly delighted you enjoy my music and writing so much~  Honestly, before this demo, it genuinely felt like it'd been forever since I'd last been able to release anything, what with all of the chaos going on in my personal life over the past couple years.  With the dust at last starting to settle, and me having more free time and energy than ever, I'm hoping to ramp up production to make up for the lost time, heheheh.

Also, that's one of the biggest reasons why I wanted to make MDCM: I wanted to show a different, broader side of the larger universe all of my games are set in, you know?  I've had the whole thing plotted out in my head for ages now, but my previous projects are so narrow in focus that you only end up seeing small, isolated slices of it—until now~

I do have ideas for a brand new setting I want to explore in the not-so-distant future, but for now, I hope you look forward to seeing yet more of this one in the full release of MDCM soon to come, heh heh heh...

Thank you so muuuuuuch~!

And believe me, the best is yet to come, heh heh heh heh...

This is simply beautiful, Pilot.  Excellent work, well and truly~

This is the first VN I've ever seen that came with a built-in Catalan translation!  That's pretty slick; kudos to you for putting in the extra work effort there~

As for the story, it looks like you've got an interesting setting with plenty of potential here, between the cybernetic enhancements we see on some of the girls and the way it affects how others see them (an allegory for queerness, perhaps?).  And that's saying nothing of the main girls themselves, who clearly have a long, complex history with each other!

I would've loved to spend more time immersed in it all, slowing down to see, for instance, what led Marta to get her modifications in the first place; or to explore the specifics of how Marta and Daisy met, to see in detail the discrepancy between what Marta was expecting compared to their actual interactions later on, not to mention the motivation behind what got Marta so violently worked up; and most of all, to delve into the central relationship between Marta and Blanca, to flesh out the particulars of their past, present, and future~

But yes, nice work!

So, full disclosure: My exposure going into this VN to the various ideas, tropes, and images associated with the Empty Spaces genre was minimal at best.  My takeaway after reading it, however, is that it's not strictly necessary to be familiar with ES to follow along with the tale of our ill-starred dolls~  Likewise, you don't have to know anything about the genre to be able to appreciate the charming art this VN has to offer, either, heheh.

That being said, there were a few things that didn't quite add up for me.  As I understand it, the concept of a "doll" in ES involves someone effectively relinquishing their autonomy and personhood to someone else, yeah?  And the person to whom they relinquish it is typically a "witch," with the idea being that the witch can offer some manner of insight or protection to their doll(s), or is perhaps enchanting them and bringing life to the otherwise-inert doll through their "magic"?  That's all well and good in a mundane setting, but things got a bit muddy for me once it was revealed that there was Actual Magic at play in this universe.

After all, if the witches here have literal magic wands (which they can order online?) that they can use to hypnotize or brainwash people forcibly into being their dolls, wouldn't that undermine the huge gesture of trust and vulnerability of a doll giving themselves up to their witch of their own volition?  Granted, I understand there are metaphors at play here—like I mentioned before, there's the idea of the witch having a sort of charisma or natural magnetism (or skill at manipulation, perhaps) that draws dolls in, in a way that might border on magical—but the implication here seemed to be that there was no choice involved whatsoever, especially once wands started getting waved and sleep & transfiguration spells started getting thrown around, and doubly so once the dog was turned into a doll that way, heh.  I also found myself wondering why Garbage felt the need to endanger herself by trying to steal and use the witch's mundane scissors specifically, rather than using the leftover money after the bus fare to buy some cheap ones from a dollar store, as well as the logistics of how, exactly, Garbage spied on the witch for multiple months...

Buuuuut I don't want to nitpick at the metaphors and minor details too much.  It's clear in any case that a lot of heart and deeply felt emotion was poured into this VN, after all~  Nicely done!

Yo, listen up, here's a story
About a little girl that lives in a blue world
And all day and all night and everything she sees is just blue, like her, inside and outside...

The art in the VN is quite charming!  You succeeded in making a rotting girl and her sloppily-constructed plushie companion both look cute while also clearly communicating their wretched states, which is impressive~  Kudos to you as well for having everything stand out nicely and in great detail despite it all being blue!

I also like the idea behind the branching routes and multiple endings here, showing different angles and glimpses of the story of what happened with Bobby and Pearl, based on how well or poorly the player helps to motivate her; but honestly, after having gotten all of the endings, I think there's an interesting enough central idea here that you might not need to bother with multiple endings~

That is, I believe that, rather than presenting the player with a labyrinth of choices and routes, you could tell a very compelling linear story at a slower pace: Showing more flashbacks as Bobby slowly begins to gain (or lose!) momentum in self-care thanks to her newly-made companion, and tying together events that are currently route-locked into that same timeline to emphasize Bobby's mindset as she improves (or backslides), you know?  The flashbacks would also be a great opportunity to develop both Pearl via additional screentime AND Bobby e.g. by showing how warped her interpretation of events is relative to what actually happened between them, etc~

Nevertheless, great work!

What a cute little game this is!  I had fun with it—and I love the art style, heheheh~

Boy oh boy, watching the relationship between Kaitlyn and Marianne unfold was like watching a train wreck in slow motion: Even as you look ahead mentally and know that it's only going to be a nightmare for everyone involved, you can't tear your eyes away from it, heheheh~

This VN does an excellent job of showing how this toxic mess was ultimately the product of both of our girls' mistakes, failures, and weaknesses; that is, the character writing is quite solid, and the subsequent tragedy both hurts worse and is all the more believable for it.  In fact, with how strong the characters are—and how their struggles and interactions constitute the heart of the narrative—I can't help but think that the story would be even stronger if some of the drier descriptive sequences were trimmed down a bit, or perhaps integrated the girls into them / were colored by their moods, rather than them being mere passive observers to some scenery that's gone in a moment, you know?

That being said, great work on this VN, doubly so considering that this is your first finished game~!

This one stung a bit, heh.  I could definitely feel the pain written into it, and I've struggled with feelings in a similar vein many times in the past—the particular phrasing that would haunt me was "We'll get through this! Just one more year!", for year after year after year.  And for as hard as you might be working yourself in your pursuit of something better, in the moment it feels like you may as well be stuck running in place while everything else passes you by...

With that in mind, I would've loved to see more, you know?  I want to spend more time with Anna, to see in detail all of the sacrifices she's made (and the parts of herself she's abraded away) in making the "right" choices rather than following her heart, to get all the more deeply invested in her pain as her guts twist at the sight of Tomyris succeeding where she herself wished she could; I want to simmer alongside her in her misery rather than seeing it in passing, you know?

But yes, very nice work~

¡Este VN es tan lindo~!  All of the portrait art is tremendously endearing, not to mention the custom UI!  The background art (and the visual effects applied thereto) is delightful as well, lending a certain distinct texture and atmosphere to the experience—especially during the tail end of the story, heheheh~

Though, honestly, I found myself wanting to see more of the story and the characters.  In particular, I was itching to learn more about Ivy, since in the narrative as-is we see and learn very little of her personality, history, or motivations.  What is it about her that endeared her to Clover, despite Clover's long history with Cia?  What drove her to do what she did, and will genuine toxic yuri unfold with her after where the story leaves off?

I'm also still curious about Cia!  I want to know more of her backstory, regarding both her history with Clover and the nasty details of her menhera episode~  How will she fare in the terrible situation she's found herself at the story's conclusion?

All of that is to say, you've got a cute gaggle of girls here, and I'd love to see you not merely put them into more Situations, but also peel back their layers to show us how they ended up in this mire of misfortune in the first place, heheheh~