Wow!!! I'm really floored by the kindness here :)
Monomyth is definitely less explicitly "plunder-y" with stolen models and such, but you're right to pick that every bat has some kind of reference in their dialogue (mostly to one piece lol). The final fantasy one is moreso a reference to a friend of mine with a very iconic laugh and a love of tifa hahahaha.
I think the dreamy vibes and use of recogniseable imagery, especially in city of piss, do a lot to help the player buy in and enter that sort of mildly suggestive state that you might get when you're very sleepy or high or something, and it definitely seems like the emotional core of these two games have hit folks way harder than anything else I've made as a result. It's not uncommon for people to find something in it that I can't find myself, especially in Monomyth (I got invited to talk about it for an indie games festival, and god was the impostor syndrome killing me at the time), which I find absolutely beautiful.
I appreciate your support so, so much, and I really hope you continue to enjoy my stuff! I've no intention of stopping.
PS: you're not projecting at all about the self acceptance thing! I mean, in case you didn't notice, my itch name isn't the same today as it was when you last commented :] I may be particularly interested in themes of the self at the moment for... reasons....