Thank you so much for playing, and for leaving such incredible, thoughtful feedback.
I did make a concentrated effort to write with consideration for a male perspective as well as others, so I’m really glad that (mostly) paid off for you. I’ll have to look into the slip with the outfits because that might be a coding issue. Thanks for the heads-up!
And, you know, you have a good point about Ted not being very curious about the detective’s knowledge of Flea’s true nature. Maybe if I wrote it again, I’d find a way to fit it in. At the time, I think I was just impatient to get them into the dream already!
I try to make either route with Ted feel just as significant but it might be the case I have too much fun writing a doomed car crash of an unrequited love subplot sometimes and maybe that comes across a little too nakedly! I’m not sure if this will improve your view of the dynamic in Chapter 6 or not, but I will say that Flea’s jealousy there has very little to do with whether the detective’s feelings for Ted are romantic or not, it’s just the flavour and how he expresses it that’s different. The detective is Flea’s only person and the fact that he isn’t the detective’s only person sets off an explosive insecurity and terror in him. And, because he’s Flea, and sex is all he thinks he knows and has to offer, that’s what he uses to fight his corner. Honestly, he knows a romantic relationship between those two is never going to happen. In either case, it’s the fact a bond exists between the detective and Ted at all that makes him feel sick with worry and hot with jealousy.
Oh! And I don’t know if you know this, but there IS a difference in Chapter 3 depending on how you handle the undercover stuff with Flea. If you try to support him where you can, submit to humiliation to save him having to come up with a plan on the fly, help cover for him when he’s struggling to run the show, etc. he will later express how grateful he was that you had his back. If you don’t do enough of those things and basically leave most of it up to him he expresses how he felt like he was alone out there. So… those choices did matter, at least a little.
I’m so glad you’re finding both Flea and the detective so compelling! That’s honestly so amazing to hear. Thank you again for taking the time and effort to write out such a detailed comment. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate not just the kindness of it, but the critique too.