literally just read the comment directly above yours lol
Static Yeen
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I thought Dallan would just be another dumb himbo wolf (although I do enjoy those) but he actually has surprising depth. I grew from thinking he was just cute and funny to actually caring about him as a character. And the twist caught me off-guard! Considering Aiden had a similar "mind-blowing but also makes total sense" twist, I'm starting to wonder what's up with Tate now...
I appreciate the edition of the neutral route, I just wish it had been implemented in a way that you can skip the text you've read on other routes. It'd be nice to skip through and only see portions that are exclusive to the neutral route. I know you can "skip unseen text" but I didn't want to do that either because I wouldn't know which parts were new/tweaked at a glance.
"Yes I'm Asian! So you're in BIG trouble!" 💀
Glad you're feeling motivated again. Motivation comes and goes. You shouldn't feel obligated to force yourself to work on a project that doesn't even bring you income at this point. People should understand you have a life as well. If you ever feel like taking a hiatus again, that should be valid. Anyway, I digress. Glad you're back!
As far as I can tell, only a handful of lines were actually added/changed. There are only very, very vague inklings that things are weird (aside from Selma's eyes glowing near the end of Day 6). Most of the "hints" are so subtle to the point of being negligible. If it wasn't specifically pointed out that we were supposed to be looking for odd things, I probably wouldn't have noticed anything.
Follow the guide at the bottom of their website: https://stormsingerstudios.com/homecoming
Forgive the soapbox here... Yeah, there's a subset of people in the FVN community who seem to think that having a single female character in a gay story, even in completely nonsexual scenarios, is some sort of cardinal sin. I'm not exactly going to lose sleep over the lack of inclusion; a gay FVN is a very niche genre to begin with. It's not like they're meant to appeal to a general audience. But it's still kinda disappointing that some people in this community feel that way. Then again, sometimes works that do feature female characters (especially when there's literally only one woman) make their personalities feel half-baked and don't give them anything important to do in the plot. I guess if you know you don't actually have anything for them to do, it's better to leave them out entirely? I don't know.
"I can't exactly tell you why he's so popular, but I have a feeling he'll get less popular as more builds come out and we learn more about the characters."
...What an ominous statement. 😳 Are you saying you think we'll like the other characters more, or that we'll start to like Brendan less? Or maybe both? I'm starting to side-eye my favorite husbando.
I'm pretty sure some of the dogs have mentioned having mothers, we just don't see any females in this game because... fan-service? For some reason, every single dog in Shelter seems to be unabashedly homosexual and have rampant sexual tension with each other, with not a female in sight. After all, for all the great worldbuilding and story-telling Raus has done, a large part of this game's purpose is to have horny dogs talk about (and do) gay sex.
As part of the target demographic, I'm not exactly complaining... but it's very odd from a worldbuilding perspective. There are women in this universe, I guess they're just... banned from Shelter? Maybe it's a population control thing so Shelter doesn't become too crowded? Maybe all dogs are misogynists. I'm not sure Raus expected us to think about it or really care. Maybe he himself didn't even notice.
Shin used to be my least favorite husbando (by a wide margin) but whatever issues I had with him before seem to have been ironed out. I actually really enjoyed reading through his route this time around, and Juuichi's route was also improved. The parts of Ten's bonus route integrated throughout lets us get to know Ten a little better, and it strengthened the emotional core of Juuichi's route so it didn't feel as half-baked. I like how each route has a clear theme that it sticks to and reinforces. The writing in Homecoming is much tighter, and has more depth than the original by far.
The only complaints I have at this point is that Shun... doesn't look quite right? I think it's something about his jaw, or maybe the overall shape of his head. His mouth just isn't sitting quite right on his face for me. Maybe I'll get used to it in time. (Shin looks incredible, though. His new sprites are perfect~)
Warning: Unsolicited advice and possibly bad opinions, feel free to ignore.
Having read the latest update, the events of the first build make a little more sense now. I think it would be beneficial to make it much clearer, much sooner, that the characters have many feral instincts. When first reading a new furry work, you never know where the world lies on the people-animal spectrum, so knowing that upfront can contextualize a lot of the story.
Writing sexual abuse is always difficult, as you don't want to shy away from the reality of the situation, but going into too much detail (or the wrong detail) can make it come across as erotica. The second instance of the bullying (where they took the pictures) is written in a way that it's clear we're meant to sympathize with Gwin and be disgusted by the bullies. Even though there were sexual undertones to the abuse, the writing itself did not feel sexualized. But the first instance of the bullying just... really misses the mark, tonally.
The nature of Gwin's bullying could very easily be seen as pornographic and sort of exploitative, especially considering all the detail the narration went into about the sensations Gwin felt during it. It's a very polarizing scene to have barely 5 minutes into a story, and it made me highly question the author's intentions. If it were made clearer that it was a feral, domination thing as opposed to a purely sexual act, I think readers would be much less likely to view it as fetishizing abuse. But as it's currently written, I think it comes dangerously close.
To recap: toning down the descriptions of the physical sensations and focusing more on Gwin's feelings in the moment would make that scene feel less questionable, and making the characters' feral nature evident sooner would help contextualize both the bullying and the rest of the story going forward. This build was much better than the first, and I'm curious to see where the story will go moving forward. It's just a shame the game opens on such an off-putting note.
Even though I can't respond to every point, I want to thank you for writing all of this! I love reading the author's thoughts on projects, especially when they're written out as thoroughly as this.
I did notice on my first read that the more popular/typical species were thrust into the background and were generally made more unlikeable, but I don't think the execution came off as pretentious at all. It's more interesting from an aesthetic standpoint for diversity's sake, and it's more interesting from a worldbuilding standpoint considering the social hierarchies you're setting up in this universe. It's more interesting and enlightening to hear from the "lesser" members of the food chain.
I also think it was a good narrative move to kill Tucker. In murder mysteries, writers do often kill side characters or characters that they think won't be missed because they don't want to upset readers. But why even write a story centered around murders if you want to spare people's feelings? It's an inherently upsetting topic. Killing a character like Tucker right off the bat was shocking. It lets the reader know that no one's safety in this story is guaranteed, and it makes the murderer feel more like a present threat than if they were just bumping off nameless characters we don't really know. (Also, I know this is 100% wrong, but I hope the murderer is the bunny girl from Tucker's party. I wouldn't even blame her 💅)
Even one build in, this FVN already has a distinct flavor, so you should keep up what you're doing regardless of its future reception or popularity. I appreciate you branching out beyond the typical tropes so BYH doesn't get lost in the sea of FVN content. I'm excited to see how the plot unfolds in future updates. Whatever happens next, I'm almost certain it'll be completely unpredictable.
Well then honestly, that's down to both of their personal preferences. Dave could decide to allow or not allow Eddy to hook up with Chester, and he could have any number of reasons for this decision.
And Chester himself may not even want to hook up with Eddy. He doesn't seem thrilled about relationships in the workplace (although it's unclear if he meant in general or specifically with Pat).
Take that!
Chester's profile on the app has nearly no pictures and says "Inquire Within." You can only contact him if he decides to accept your friend request. This is likely to divert randos looking for a quick, easy hookup and to discuss the terms of his relationship status beforehand. Also, it shouldn't be considered inviting "strange men" into his house if his husband is aware, allows it, and approves his partners.
Yeah, it's complicated. On one hand I feel better about him knowing that he, like, has an actual heart and can be kind to Felix at least. But on the other hand, it almost makes it worse that he mistreats Gabe largely just for liking men when he's the exact same. I get that feelings are hard, internalized homophobia is rough, they're living through a bad era for those who like men, etc. I understand why Cesar is acting how he is. The situation just sucks for everyone involved.
I'm just speculating, but I'm 99% certain Dave and Chester have an open relationship/agreement of some kind. I present my evidence below.🕵🏽
Point 1: Chester asks for an extra hour off of work one day. Dave asks if this is because it's full-body day at the gym and Chester replies, "Something like that." Then they wink-wink, nudge-nudge each other and Eddy's confused on why. I believe Chester did, indeed, have a "full-body day" that afternoon.
Point 2: Dave is very openly affectionate, dare I say flirty to Eddy. It's one thing to simply be a hugger, but it's another thing to press yourself against your new, cute employee when the job didn't even really call for it. 🧐
Point 3: ...Meta reasons lmao. The author's already confirmed Chester and Dave will get routes eventually. Unless a tragic divorce is in the cards, there has to be a logical explanation for them having routes.