Is the option to use the back pack strap to keep K from the room gone? I really liked that one 
!!
3 Likes
The flashback with Hope punched me in the gut. Oof. Someone already said it but the thatās my superpower choice was SO good at that part.
I actually picked K for the poll even tho I thought Iād be going for Glitch when I first played! (Surprised to see Glitch so low in the rankings tho 0: ) Thereās just something about K casually playing Minesweeper whilst Iām agonising over the assignment and them smiling at me like nothingās wrong even tho Iām supposed to be mad at them. Like why am I so into that? What about that made me think yes Iām gonna give u my whole heart now thank u.
The scene was Rosy was really fun! I loved all the variations of it as well as the "Weāve already established my lack of humorā line and all the flavour text for the books. The bit where you move her name bar thing!! Is it possible to love a scene this much?
Typos/Other Things
Should be a line break here maybe?
Pronoun change here.
Something I noticed when I gave up on the assignment without trying nd also did Kās route on the way to school is that when Sally texts u later, thereās no mention of her being mad at you, but instead she gives u the standard text if youāre hung up about K. I feel like even if she decided to put that behind her to be there for Button, it felt a bit off? Like she went from frustrated to Girlās Nightā¢ļø real fast.
6 Likes
Played the update and WOW, that hit hard. And thereās only one thing I can say: I absolutely love Nick, I just wanna hug him! Best big bro.
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@jigglypuff Thank you so much for catching the typos! Sally doesnāt have a version of the text should you give up, which is an oversight on my part.
@dielight No one had caught that typo yet, and it occured in several scenes! Thank you for pointing it out.
@bric Rosy is 30! (As if them being Buttonās teacher isnāt enough, theyāre also a decade older. Red flag alert?) Iāll add the RO ages to their descriptions.
@spiriter Iām glad you enjoyed the height jokes! I got a little carried away with the tall optionāthere ended up being three separate jokes depending on your personality stats. And emojis are fun 
@CorvusWitchcraft I suspect Sallyās low ranking may have to do with her being genderlocked? Glitch is also less popular than I anticipated, and and they default to female if MC is bi. It could be people are more interested in the male love interests, since otherwise my world view is shooketh by Rosy being more popular than both of them. Also, what did you mean exactly by being unsure how to feel about the flashback with Hope? If somethingās not hitting home right, Iād love to know how it could potentially be improved!
@Etwo Rosyās Affection -10 
@idonotlikeusernames Jensen Ackles is beautiful. I concur with @moonfungus. You have impeccable taste.
I love this phrase? I know the scene with Hope probably wasnāt what most people expected, but I hope (haha, dumb unintentional pun) that it still felt impactful. Explosions come later.
@Kutskyu Bookstrap option is still there! You need either measure the room or to have over 25 Insight. (I may lessen this requirement to 20 later, but weāll see).
@Cryptic_Cupcake Happy birthday!!
21 Likes
Hmmm, could be part of it, sureāI believe male ROs are traditionally more popular than female on the forums.
Could also be an attitude thing, though. The other common thread between Sally and Glitch is that both are fairly upbeat, supportive, and (at least superficially) confident, and while those arenāt necessarily unattractive traits for people in general, I think many readers areāas weāve well establishedādrawn to relationships that are a bit angstier or moodier in tone, when it comes to fiction. I believe that K and Rosy are both popular partially because their attitudes and romance arcs go against the grain a bit. I will say Iām not surprised at all by Rosyās popularity FWIWāthis is coming from someone who has written (and been surprised by the popularity of) a character who is a much bigger jerk than Rosy.
Gray doesnāt fit the bill as well, and I canāt necessarily speak to his appeal (heās not my typeā¦in a few ways), but I think the fact that heās so careful around the MC is drawing people ināthe desire to overcome that unspoken barrier between them and all. Also (on the flip side of the angst coin), the fact that he manages to be nice and thoughtful without being overbearing, which feels like it could potentially be a problem with both Sally and Glitch.
Hmm, I didnāt necessarily mean that thereās something narratively wrong with the scene. I guess itās just moreā¦real than Iād anticipated? I thought it would be dramatized in some way, and itās definitely not, itās very raw, mundane even. As the narration points outānothing was actually happening in that scene before The Incident, there was no reason why it happened, it just happened and then nobody knew how to deal with it. It was uncomfortably true-to-life and unembellished, in a way that nothing else in this story really has been so far.
Which is not a bad thing, to be clear. In fact, it might be goodāit certainly seems to be hitting people harder, and in a different way, than if it had been as dramatic and shocking as people had been predicting. Like I said, I donāt know how I feel about it yet, personally, but I donāt think itās a problem with the writing itselfājust a situation with no right answers thatās gonna take a bit to unpack.
31 Likes
I think the fact that Sally can get into a relationship with Nick has led to her low ranking in the poll. As weāve seen in the past, most people here doesnāt exactly take it well when it comes to NPC relationship dynamics.
26 Likes
Firstly, shame on me that Iām only just noticing the Spice Girls reference on the stats page.
Random thoughts about the update:
The pages with images (the chapter titles & K/Sallyās profiles) take a while to load, I donāt know if itās my internet or dashingdon being slow though because the same thing happens when Iām trying to access the stats page.
I love all the little variations/flavour text, like the different books you can pick on Rosyās bookshelf (my favourite was his response to The Art of War), the different responses you get depending on what you choose to text, the height jokes, Gray crush flavour text (āGod, how you adore that dimple.ā), etc. Itās so much fun trying them all out, although it must be a lot of work to put these all in! Iām guessing thereās no way to actually add the emojis in the game itself, but somehow hearing them described is funnier.
Grayās desk is actually ON one of those ledges with the transparent floor??? 
I visited that building a few years ago and it freaked me out so much just to stand on it, so I actually did shudder at that part, lol.
All the silly options you could pick about Gray were so cute! I donāt know if itās the same as Arizona iced tea, but we do actually have iced tea over here! I think the most popular brand is Liptonās. For me, the most annoying thing about American measurements is when you find a recipe online and the measurements are in ācupsā, like how big is this ācupā???
Ok the reveal about Hope, I might have cried because Iām a baby too, but it was really heartbreaking (especially Hopeās reaction and her not being able to stop it) and creepy at the same time. Like Iām pretty freaked out at how vulnerable Button is, taking into account the humming/bathroom trip from earlier too. Not only they couldnāt control what they said, but they couldnāt move or even blink, whilst being fully aware of what was happening the whole time. But knowing that it was an accident, as messed up as it was, I think it changes my view of how I think my Button would feel. Before they were on the more resentful side, but like a few others said the āSo yeah. Thatās my super power. Driving the people I love insane.ā option was SO perfect, I really think theyād internalise the guilt of how they affected their mother & broke apart their family (in their view).
Also I couldnāt choose the āI love you Nicky Mouseā option fast enough, but I would have also liked the opportunity to give him a hug at that point, just from the relief of being freed but also the need to be comforted (and comfort him too because he was struggling not to cry 
)
22 Likes
I personally love playing matchmakerā¦ as long as itās not between ROs Iām interested in (in that route).
Since Sally is not an RO I will pursue in any way and Nick is so lovable you can bet Iāll be the best wing(wo)man there will ever be.
Tho I do understand why people donāt like relationships between ROs/NPCs.
I canāt speak for Sallyās āromance-abilityā since, like I said, I donāt intend to romance her, but I love her personality
9 Likes
Iām not against matchmaking either but do I really want my best friend dating my brother so I can end up in the middle of all their conflict and feel awkward?!
Me thinks not. lol.
7 Likes
Something, something, parental abandonment. Something, something, predisposed to seeking approval and affection from older persons? 
(not a complaint - btw, as previously established, I really like this character)
I think the genderlocked thing could absolutely be a contributing factor, but at least one reader (*waves * Hi!) adores her in the bff sense, but wonāt romance her because of her crush on Nick. Both because the reader is intrigued by the idea of getting to matchmake (really unique touch and I dig it a lot), and because the MC already gets the option to take the attitude that theyāre guilty about how much theyāre interfering with Nickās personal life and how thankful they are that he made a friend in Gray. If Sallyās crush isnāt 100% one-sided, then the MC getting in the way of that would be unkind.
Tl;dr - Sally feels slightly off limits because sheās already interested in someone else when the story begins. Again, not a complaint. I donāt feel Iām missing out on an RO so much as Iām gaining RP opportunities.
12 Likes
Sally wasnāt originally intended as a romance option, but sheās so much fun and, hey, itās IF! It seemed ridiculous to me to not let players have their MCs develop feelings for her if they so chose, especially when I think their dynamic has so much potential.
Although like @rkgk and @moonfungus pointed out, a lot of people strongly dislike RO/NPC relationships. Which I understand even if I donāt share the sentiment (there was a COG thread a while back that I lurked on that had me seriously concerned).
@Bobcat Thank you so much! The reason hugging Nick isnāt an option is because Button can still barely move at that point.
@CorvusWitchcraft Itās funny, because I assumed Sally and Glitch would be popular because they were upbeat. I underestimated the allure of angst.
And thanks for your feedback about the flashback (which is the last major one, thank heavens, now that Buttonās backstory is fully laid out). I consider āuncomfortably true-to-life and unembellishedā to be a compliment since it was what I was aiming for (the fact that you applied those adjectives to a scene where someone is being brain controlled by their psychic mother brings me joy). The tonal dissonance is something Iāll take into consideration, though. I donāt want to give readers emotional whiplash.
28 Likes
Ahh, yeah the whole matchmaking angleātotally slipped my mind that that was even a thing TBH. But yeah, it does make sense that that would have an effect on Sallyās popularity as an RO.
Not for me, obviously, but I see why it would be relevant to others.
@wildelight Hey, something else Iāve been curious about. Thereās been much talk about how the MC can feel about the parents, whether or not to forgive them (if they even blamed them in the first place), etc., but will it be possible for the MC to actually blame themself for the incident? Like, extrapolating from the āI drive the people I love insaneā option, will it be possible for the MC to fundamentally believe that theyāre the problem, not Hope, and feel guilty about the fact that the parents more or less uprooted their entire lives because of them? Because in my mind, thatās how my (non-Sally-romancing, non-misanthropic) MC would likely feel about the issue.
37 Likes
Yes. Oh yes. Button can definitely feel that way.
33 Likes
Donāt really see the problem Gray is still a good six years older and Nickās second in command which means he outranks us even more. So in terms of office relationships it is still comparable to the mailroom clerk dating the executive vice president. Particularly since this company is an intelligence agency and the mc is genetically unable to keep anything secret for long it would be a situation with even more red flags than the recruit dating the drill-sergeant.
Well one more thing to like about the Gray romance is that in my case the brothers would be trying to pursue the otherās best friend (and in my mcās case also more like only friend) romantically. Truly a situation worthy of a sitcom. 
It also means that in Nickās case he isnāt only dating someone younger but heās also dating a fresh recruit when heās the big boss, which is also a situation of unequal power that tends to raise red flags these days. Basically, at least in my playthrough, both his own (but letās see how to get the mc over his denial first) and Nickās potential amorous entanglement would be the stuff red flags are made of in the real world.
It differs depending on the WIP. Astrid and Sera in the Keeper series are way more popular than any of the male ROās with even Leon usually coming in third to them whenever there has been a poll on that.
Of course I do indeed only really care about male roās since being able to be a gay male protagonist without (m)any of the stupid Hollywood tropes is what got me here in the first place.
If Rosie being 30 and billed at being a decade older than the mc, that means the mc is 20 and I think it was stated somewhere that Gray and Nick are both around 26-27.
12 Likes
Wait. 6? Idk why but I thought it was likeā¦ 4?
Ah, nvm youāre right! I knew where to find the ages in the game so I did a quick playthrough. I just misremembered. I thought MC was 16 & Gray was 20 when they met. But he was 22.
3 Likes
Dude this update man o: Iām still recovering :ā D That was just really emotionally charged, and as someone mentioned before, really grounded and that made it hurt worse (but not in a writing bad way)!
I also enjoyed the scenes with Rosy and Lev 
Family feels are my weakness /o/
3 Likes
Looking forward to when we get to talk to K about the whole being an empath thing kinda suspecting it would be dramatic.
Also how dare you our mighty author give us Kenna, Sally, and Rosy how do you expect us to choose. Seriously tho these three ROs are really great and Iām so not looking forward to having to choose one
4 Likes
while i do get how hearing button in her head 24/7 could be super stressful, her snapping at button for having a condition that causes them more suffering than anyone else is a bit harsh even before she takes over their mind. (āwhy are you never quiet? why are you always there?ā, yeesh, itās not like morbid button wants to be there anyway. and by there i mean alive.)
i do still plan on forgiving mommy dearest, but sheās gonna have to earn back buttonās love. that is, if sheās still willing to try.
great update btw, rosyās deadpan humor is just awesome. goes to show theyāre not nearly as much of a jerk as some claimed, especially when satan exists for comparison.
also, about roās, could we potentially pick nobody, but have buttonās reasoning be something like āiām not worthy or loveā, or āiād just get in the wayā in the case of sally and her getting with nick in particular? like not even being edgy, but genuinely believing theyāre unworthy?
oh, on the topic of sally and nick, you say theyād not get together if button has feelings for sally and/or doesnāt actively matchmake them, but what if that makes a resentful button feel even worse, like theyāre an obstacle between their happiness?
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Then donāt choose. And then see what happens, could be funā¦if not potentially lethal.
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So like why choose one when you can have them all???
3 Likes