The Grim and I by Thom Baylay

@ThomB, I had a chance to read this over the weekend and I’m so glad I did. In my mind, this is one of the strongest mixes of prose, storytelling and tough choices that I have ever experienced from a CoG or HG story.

I was really blown away by how you kept slowly but steadily upping the tension. And dammit, I was so terribly conflicted with my choices, so I commend you for crafting them as you did. It was very smart, IMO, to limit the cast of characters and to start with an established relationship, as I feel it let you dive deeper into the material.

I don’t read many stories a second time, but this one will get a second read. I’ll give you a shout out on FB and Twitter. I can’t imagine many people not liking this.

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I haven’t had the rumor ending, but if the police are assuming it’s supernatural Would it be possible that death had something to do with your death because death was in love with you?. I mean I just thought about it now because you pointed it out, but it’d make so much sense if that were the case!

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Same in my first playthrough hahaha! I wanted to do so much!

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Death isn’t in love with you though.

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Weren’t they? What was the confession for though? Unless I read wrong hahaha or that was part of their tests then I failed awfully hahaha!

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They meant they love all the souls that come through and they want to save us all.

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My heart (and literally) my soul!!! It would have been so, so dramatic if it were the case.

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You can get then to change their stance on human, where they no longer hate our kind because of you.

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yeeep! That was my first ending. Then I was just awww they miss me awww!

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I got it once in the old demo, forgot how though. What did you do to get it?

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I always chose the I want to be with you choices they when They saved me I chose the “take their hand” choice and it brought me to their space then they confessed Then I took their hand with more than 80 acceptance (because I can’t remember the exact number) then when I crossed over tah-dah!

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Ok I’ll try this now thanks.

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Great game, though a romance with the Reaper would have been nice.

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I actually appreciated that you couldn’t get romantically involved with your grim. It seems totally devoted to doing what it sees as best for you and getting it’s job done, which is getting you to let go and pass over rather that becoming stuck. Romantic attachments would have had a very negative effect on that as this you’d have to leave it behind as well, or end up as a lost shade if you couldn’t. It made a lot of sense from a story standpoint to me.

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I agree, and when/if the reaper tells you they love you it’s nothing like romantic love anyway but some people couldn’t help but want to see it like that.

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I think that was honestly one of my favorite things about the story, since I related a ton to them in that moment. It’s great that people aren’t opposed to that interpretation too, since it was very casual, gave great depth to their character and motivations, and it sure meant a lot to me. :smiley:

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Nope, that ending is a bad ending.

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So I replayed again & I have to ask, is the love rival an actual love rival or is it just the MC’s jealousy that makes it seem that way? It really seems more like friendship to me, where the rival is largely trying to keep the devastated spouse/widow from falling into a lonely depression, they don’t hit on the spouse or act inappropriate, the spouse doesn’t show romantic interest & I haven’t seen any ending so far where they become a couple if their relationship isn’t sabotaged, I actually don’t see much point in their existence in the story tbh besides potentially sacrificing themselves to protect the spouse at the end if the sibling gets the opportunity to open fire at them

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If you get the ambition ending and Robin helps to get your work out for the world to know the narrative makes clear that they only did it bc of their feelings for the spouse.

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Yeah, I saw that ending, still feels weird to call them a love rival tho, the spouse never shows interest even if physically comforted or during the potential dinner they have alone together, can even tell the spouse that he/she should move on & be happy at the end only to get an annoyed “nobody will ever measure up” response.

Kinda feels like wasted potential, I would have liked a time jump where its 1-2 years after the funereal & have a situation where they’re both more obviously attracted to each other with the MC being able to be selfless by not getting in the way or even help by pushing them together, or be jealous & vindictive by deliberately sabotaging the relationship out of spite.

Is just a big one-sided crush as it is.

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