waves Hello. I had my first read-through of this WIP over the past couple days. It’s currently stuck trying to load into chapter 4 from the end of chapter 3- not sure if that content is supposed to be available currently or not, but wanted to mention it, I can’t get farther.
This WIP is … fascinating. In a certain way, I’m reminded of ‘What Dreams May Come’, which is possibly my favorite movie out there or mighty close. But with a more concerning tone. I haven’t read any of the other replies or discussion, so maybe I’ll say things already said, I’m just wanting to offer thoughts. As a start, the way I think tries to actively and passively break down any cognitive dissonance I come across, and I believe that much of that which is in the story is intentional. I’m not certain if occasional leaks of gender dimorphism even not selecting the ‘know somehow that’s not true’ options near the beginning are intentional or not. There are some instances where it happens, so the effect is simply reinforcing things not being as they seem on a much wider scale. I don’t know if the intention is for the reader to not trust MC’s mind and self-identity, or not trust anything of where the MC is in a grand scale (ala dream, afterlife, lense of non-sanity), but the effect for me is more the latter, even as I’m certain the former is quite confused and mis-reinforced. As I haven’t yet tried other choices on this, I’m not presently certain if the instances in-game flip or remain the same regardless of reader’s choice of gender for MC. I’ll be curious to find out if they do or don’t. Other forms of cognitive dissonance are intriguing.
I have some theories about what is going on- but not all of the answers. To me, it seems as though MC is literally in purgatory, though I’m not certain if it is ‘sin by approximation’ (mad love for a spouse that has done horrible things without ~direct~ participation), or ‘sin in fact’ and that the MC joined in with some form of past atrocities. MC’s spouse seems very much to be either a serial killer or terrorist or secret agent. Both the MC and spouse are frightfully intelligent. I myself being 39 currently, realize the lives lived by these individuals must be crammed with uniquenesses in learning opportunities beyond the norm with an acuity to back it. We’re dealing with two genius level individuals, IQs likely above 150, with a ~variety~ and depth in knowledges acquired. One thing that I love about the writing is how the MC is given agency of accepting the deep peculiarities of their situation as ‘normal’ or recognize them as something ‘off’. And the intelligence written into the characters can’t be faked; we have a very intelligent/researched author on our hands here. XD The references of water make me think perhaps the MC really is in purgatory with their spouse who, though very likely psychopathic/sociopathic (or criminally insane in some manner or other) really does seem to love MC with that same mad depth. The reader and MC need to work in tandem to either overlook/blank out this or become concerned. It seems the MC may be stuck in a ‘forever’ afterlife with the spouse, not simply in the spouse not letting them leave but them not wanting to leave their spouse, and perhaps the manner of moving on being to go back to the water- terrifying. Probably, doing so just ends up with another round of amnesia and spouse pulling MC back. But clearly, not all is right in the psyche of the two. Two mad/insane?, broken, lovers in the afterlife- and/or some deeply engrained hypnotic suggestion. There’s cognitive dissonance in the amount of time the spouse has known MC, so I wonder if there are more dark tabboos implied there. I ended up asking the siren all of the possible questions. So the ‘How did I get to Finland?’ answer of ‘I don’t know. I’m only you, after all.’ struck me- if there was a crash into water it was either in Finland (not likely, unless amnesia wiped the arrival more completely than other things) or before; perhaps MC died in the crash with spouse and the setting has some collaboration of personal meanings between the two characters. How they speak multiple languages, seems to make their past more mysterious. I cannot quite say which of the two is likely to be more criminally insane, but I have a feeling if I lit a torch in the forest half of it would burn down with the gas waiting to be lit there. It may be spouse’s afterlife you’re trapped in, which is all about you as much as that mentality can be. I noticed that heading down seems to be… mentally blocked. A portion of MC’s mind unable to be accessed through what seems to be external influence (though heck, internal isn’t to be ruled out). The written romance is … like, seriously, bravo. It manages to be simultaneously sweet, disturbing, heartwarming, ominous, and possessed of brilliant banter. Though I don’t know how the story would literally change through the gender dimorphism option, the whole context does shift. Like, not having that myself, I feel as though this is a great study (ala character studies) as to how that perception affects reality- the perception of the reality, rather. Because you are doing wonderful things with cognitive dissonance in this story, and the story itself being as it is allows that dissonance in a convincing way. The ‘feeling’ that the story gives off ends up being remarkably similar to a movie called ‘Tidelands’, despite the stories being completely different. All said, I’m saying, I absolutely love this WIP, though I think its ultimate success or failure will be in the tying up of loose ends- what questions -do- get answered and which don’t. The character work is on par with Fallen Hero, imo, albeit a different sort of work, and the tone is as sharply honed as the wit of the characters. This could be something special, if the threads are woven right in the rest of the tapestry. I look forward to its future (groundhog day or not).
