@ Caveat Lector
Thanks for taking the time to write all of that! I completely understand how all of those things came across like they did and you were definitely not alone. Also, thanks for playing both games!
I'll try to explain what was rolling around in my head when I wrote these stories. I am not disagreeing with anyone when I write this, so I really hope people don't take it that way.
A lot of how you perceive the game is based on your personal experience, so the e-mails and the reviews that I got were all over the place. Some people with very different life experiences didn't relate at all, where others felt like it was the story of their own life (as impossible as that may seem).
A lot of parents aren't sure how to talk to their kids about gay couples, especially when the children are very young. This is quite common. As society's views continue to evolve on the subject, it is likely that the conversation will also change, especially now that the Supreme Court has ruled. Parents often do not expect children to bring it up so quickly. So, yes. Some parents are caught off guard when asked and don't feel prepared to answer.
You also have to consider that some areas of America are much more comfortable with the topic than others, but in Japan, it is still rather taboo, despite the dedicated media. Kimiko has also been socially stunted for about ten years, so I was taking that into consideration. She has TV and the Internet, but she hasn't been able to participate in an intelligent gay discussion because gay people are not a part of her universe. When I used to live in Japan (with three different Japanese host families), the topic made even young people feel very uncomfortable and was mostly avoided, but it could depend on the circle.
If your child asks what gay means, I wouldn't spend a lot of time talking about it because providing a short explanation indicates that it's not a big deal and I believe is the best solution. Talking about it for too long could make it seem like a much bigger deal than it should be.
I hope it didn't come off as homophobic! I was hoping that Kimiko could go through the story realizing that she didn't have to be uncomfortable around gay people, and although it seems alien, there are still a lot of people out there that don't know any gay people closely. I didn't want to act like everyone in the world is completely comfortable with gay people.
Obviously putting drugs in her drink was dangerous and not okay, but I was not advocating that. I hope it didn't come across that way! I only wrote it in because I wanted Kimiko to have a window in which she realized that drugs may actually help her. Also, I wanted a twist to show that she really was not capable of going outside without being medicated. It wasn't all in her head! No placebo affect either since she had no idea that she was on drugs.
If you felt angry because of what Kimiko did, that was kind of the intention. She lost control which is something you obviously shouldn't do because you will just teach that to your children. That's also why she went beyond slapping her. She wouldn't have shaken her and blurted out extra things had she been in control. She should have finished at the slap, but that would have been anti-climactic. I wanted Kimiko to reveal the truth about her father in more than one path. Also, I never intended for the game to be a guide for parents, rather a story about one irresponsible one that had no idea what she was doing. (She had good intentions though).
However, I do think that children need to see when you are angry. The main point was that Kimiko always took the high road, but it didn't work. Kazumi wasn't afraid of her and she was just getting worse, so she needed to stand up to her daughter once and for all. Some people were glad that they finally got to slap Kazumi, so it just depends on the person. However, it was very controversial depending on what country you're from and I worried that it would turn the game into a debate about spanking. It was brought up during testing.
I have thought about what I could do to improve the stories and I did consider having Kazumi actually do something bad, but I was trying to show that there is a build up with children of mental illness. They often start by thinking about doing bad things, fantasize about them, and gradually work their way up from hurting insects to animals to people. I didn't really want to push Kazumi to do anything because she was seven. I didn't really think it would be believable, and I wanted people to question what was going on.
Oh! And I explained the science behind homosexuality because I thought people would find it interesting, and I also worried that they wouldn't buy them being twins if I didn't have a valid explanation.
As for stereotypes... I really struggled with this. I could write a gay character having no stereotypical gay traits, but if I did that, I would be ignoring people that do have those traits. Most of my friends, that are gay, open their mouths and rainbows spill out. Only a few of them don't seem like what we would stereotypically think of as gay, so I want them and their personalities to be represented without pushing stereotypes, and this is obviously very difficult. Ultimately, I would not want to omit something out of fear that people would say it was a stereotype. I hope that makes sense! For example, one of my friends calls everyone girl which a straight man would likely never do. Is it stereotypical? Yes. Should I not include that because people would perceive it as a stereotype?
So, thank you! I am very grateful for the feedback. I would definitely like to try and make the stories more realistic and believable for EVERYONE. I'm worried that it could make them kind of boring, depending on what I did, but... I know other people will also feel the same way. With a game like this, I'm not sure I would ever be able to create something that everyone would believe, just because people have such different filters from which they see life.
I would love to hear any suggestions that you have because I have considered a rewrite several times, but I'm not sure exactly how I would go about it.
can't wait to play it later~ nice~
Just say the following out loud: "Naoki drugs up Kimiko without her consent." Doesn't sound right, does it?
Again, it's one of those things that, taken out of context, feels really unsettling, and I just can't justify it in context.