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I'm not really a savior-complex fan, either, but that is so cute! I especially like the second one, as I almost imagine him saying, "Yeah, yeah, thanks for helping me in that fight. You can... stop petting me anytime."

Fun little thing, I absentmindedly read "Lachrimae" out loud when playing Gutter Trash, and did it with some vibrato. It wasn't too loud, but I was pretty embarrassed at the idea of someone potentially hearing me. Despite my voice being kind of hammered now, more so from not singing for many years and less to do with smoking, I still occasionally read things in very sing-song ways.

Is that piercing significant? Because I notice Scratch also has one. Granted, I imagine in a world where lots of people have exceedingly large ears, some piercings would simply be more popular than others. Then again, if it is significant, I'm sure it will also be a spoiler.

On another note, I already imagined Mahir having a sort of rough (smoker), yet musical voice, especially when speaking his hypnotic phrases. I'm kind of curious what voice I'll imagine for this panther guy, as I typically base it off the first few lines of dialogue.

Perhaps Mezz sucked a customer off so damn hard that it rewrote chemistry.

Fairly minor bug I found (doesn't seem game-breaking):
When picking the tunnel scene from the gallery, backing out by either using the locker or exiting to main menu, then going back into the same scene through the gallery, I spawned as a hyena with Mezz following. Going to one of the stairs makes another hyena spawn, and aside from colliding with the already present hyena, the rest plays as normal; the hyena I spawned as vanished by this point, so it really doesn't seem game-breaking.

I heard about people with ADHD being more resistant to stimulants, which is also something I experience as an ADHD patient. Caffeine and nicotine only make me feel focused, not buzzed, which I heard is a common trait we have; I quit smoking and vaping, to clarify. I'm not saying you intend for Mezz to have ADHD, it just reminded me of that.

Funny enough, depressants are the exact opposite for me, making me feel absolutely terrified. The only depressant I could handle was alcohol, although I quit that, too. Don't quote me on the pharmacological aspects relating to any of this, I'm not an expert. I also have autism, which may or may not affect how I react to some drugs, I really have no clue.

This talk of stimulants made me think of something interesting, though I'll share it privately, for whenever you have the time to read it.

Not gonna lie, Red Bull was my occasional guilty pleasure, but now I stick to black coffee. I'm also now imagining Mezz, being a 4'0 rabbit, vibrating from excessive Dazzle intake; in the words of an intellectual, "Bunny go 'brrrr.'" ~ I just... made that up, actually.

I came into this late, but this was definitely a case of "better late than never" for me. I look forward to seeing what happens next to the cute rabbit, whether it's something cruel or perhaps even sweet.

Another weird question regarding the future of the series, and I wouldn't be surprised if this got asked already, but do you possibly intend for their to be tangible currency in the third game? Not like cash versus credit, I mean like the ability to purchase items and such.

As a side-question, what actually is Dazzle supposed to be? Is it a carbonated energy drink in the same light as Red Bull? Or more of a sports drink, like Gatorade?

Yeah, I wasn't trying to assume, but he kind of struck me as favoring asymmetry for his piercings; that, or he didn't have enough piercings. Personally, I don't like having piercings, but I appreciate interesting placement and design on other people or on fictional characters.

Got some more practice in, although this one took me a while due to various factors of life. I still haven't graduated beyond headshots, really, but I'm working my way up the comfort ladder. Also, I didn't know if he had piercings on both ears, so I apologize if this is inaccurate.

PS: He's supposed to look uneasy/tense.

EDIT: Damn it, I forgot his freckles; also, I like adding whiskers.

I recently got my tablet, and I attempted some more fanart, specifically of Mahir in a specific scene. As you can see, my lines are still incredibly unstable. Also, yes, Mahir is merely a floating head in this one, as I find bodies and clothing still somewhat difficult to draw.

I know I could not even write shitty flash-fiction stories when I was struggling with either mental or physical health, so I very much understand delays in projected completion dates; a few months ago, I had to get an authorized late submission date from my teacher, because I developed pneumonia in the week leading to finals.

I am looking forward to the final content pack, as well as whatever future work you plan on doing, but I am very pleased you took the time to focus on your real life affairs.

So, Scratch really is tiny, then. I know by realistic standards, he would be colossal for a mouse, but I imagine keeping the height 100% realistic would make some really odd visuals. If you were trying to go for a micro/macro kink, I wouldn't be judging for it, but I have a distinct feeling that's not your goal. In general, furry characters tend to be rather unrealistic, but that usually comes with the territory of being... you know... humanoid animals (not real); rabbits don't have paw pads, but there are far worse inaccuracies out there, not to mention people should do what they want when it comes to fantasy.

So, I imagine the antagonists aren't really that big, just bigger than the protagonist?

On a note related to Mezz and Scratch, the idea of them getting romantic is particularly sweet, as I have a soft spot for cute characters kissing and snuggling. I know that sounds absolutely vanilla, but that is the way I am. I am looking forward to what you do with them, but I do understand that some fucked up stuff will happen first; it is "Cruel," after all.

Sorry for randomly jumping back in here, but I didn't want to make a new post when I can keep it relatively consolidated here.

I was finishing my assignment, when a perfectly normal thought for any college student entered my mind. "Does a cartoon fuckbunny have romantic relations with a hacker mouse?" I know you hinted at Mezz and Scratch getting up to some stuff, but I am curious if it will be strictly sexual, or if there will be a romantic element to it. I honestly wondered if it was already romantic, as Scratch's disappointment when Mezz left the safehouse seemed less like he couldn't work up the courage, and more, "He never makes time for me." Or I could be completely wrong, I never was good at understanding social context. On a similar note, which one of them is larger? In stature, I mean... Yeah, let's go with that.

Will the mini-game be about memorizing inputs to make Mezz dance or otherwise do something that arouses customers? Or is it a spoiler?

I concur that the art has improved, as it seems not only smoother and more consistent, but there's also more to each image. I think the tears were a nice addition to the second content pack, by the way, especially when one contemplates whether the tears are ecstasy, agony, or both. I also like how his fur distorts as they grab him, reminding us that he's fluffy and not the typical "rubber skin" cartoon character we see in other works.

Whatever is going on with your personal life, I hope you remember to take care of yourself, and to not get overtly stressed over timelines for your projects.

Oh yeah, and I think that applies even to edgy media that doesn't pertain to pornography. It feels similar to poorly written character archetypes, especially villains, where they're made either evil to the point of stupidity, or they're made overtly goofy. If I had to guess, I'd say one of many reasons this is done is to say, "Hey! I don't support this! Please don't cancel me!"

I like what you said about making things only a bit lighthearted, as it really does seem that a balance between lighthearted and dreary is what allows players to invest into the emotional aspects of a game.

While there are certainly terrible indie games, whether they're pornographic or not, I still find myself enjoying the emotional aspects of indie games more than I do for AAA games.

PS: When you said "Goldilocks slamming shots," my dumb mind went to a really buff Goldilocks shooting hoops with the bears, before I realized "Oh! Alcohol!" I don't drink anymore, so that could be why I didn't associate "slamming shots" with drinking.

I think my favourite part of this pack is how a part of it (spoiler) genuinely seems sad to me, something that a lot of non-risque games are unable to do. Most AAA games make me think, "I don't care what happens to these people!" whether they're the protagonists or antagonists, because they're so disgustingly unlikable, or the medium is so wrought with depressing events that it becomes exhausting to feel connected to the characters; a cartoon rabbit from a furry porn game managed to dredge feelings of sympathy, especially because he's equal parts cocky, cute, and genuinely good. 

Part of the formula, in my opinion, is that Mezz is quite fast and strong, yet the hypnosis makes him believably vulnerable in relation to the story's logic. One of the new parts of this content pack really highlighted that, and in my opinion, was probably the saddest example.

This is going to be anecdotal on my part, and I am not an expert (yet), but I learned that there are many instances of exploitation that happen on "normal" websites, especially social media. While exploitation certainly happens on pornographic websites, it is not the sole area in which it happens. 

Another anecdotal experience is that I was groomed on Steam, a gaming service; will we require identification to play video games, someday? Some already want social media to require identification, so it's not a stretch. And don't get me started about exploitative material found completely away from surface pornography websites, as seriously heinous stuff exists on the Dark Web, and inside of evil people's offline "collections."

I know there's many factors at play, but I ultimately feel that parents should be more involved and try to prevent such content from being accessed by their kids, without government involvement. However, I do feel this is partly by design, allowing the government more control, disguised by good intentions.

There's a few more points I wanted to make, but I don't want to create a wall of text. I really hope things work out for freedom, but I am fearful.

That means a lot, thank you.

I still think my attempt was pretty low quality, but you're right, the fact it is distinguishable as a specific character and not a random furry rabbit does show I improved in some capacity.

I'm in school for digital forensics, and I learned that while there are sometimes technicians who will collect digital media for the examiner, there will also be times where I am required to actually come out and collect the items from a scene. From what I'm learning so far, a lot of agencies and departments require a sketch to be made for each evidence item, alongside photographs, videos, and written documentation. Of course, I haven't even interned, yet, so all my understanding is strictly academic and not necessarily based on how it's actually done.

Oh yeah, practice definitely makes a difference, as I could sketch some decently complex characters back when I did it every week; still not top notch, but I could reasonably sketch characters like Aang, Pain (Deva Path), Cosmo, so on. I definitely did feel proud when I made anything recognizable, and not fevered drawings.

The truth is that a neurological condition, bad eyesight and lack of extensive practice since I was a young boy have all caused my already non-existent artistic capabilities to atrophy even further. However, since part of my training requires me to learn how to sketch various objects, I very recently started practicing, and I decided to try sketching Mezz. Again, I am fully aware that this is sub-novice level, but I still wanted to share it. Also, I don't have any colouring utensils at this moment, not that it would help.

If spoilers are alright here, then I also was able to do this with the door greeter in the host club (the mouse), although it is a lot more difficult to pull off due to him being right next to Mezz when first entering. On that note, I was able to get to the intended guest and initiate the game with him without wearing the costume, and after beating him, the mouse seemingly goes back to his original position and everything proceeds fine as if this segment was done legitimately. So while it is obviously unintended, it does not seem to be game-breaking for this particular part of the game.

This is a fairly minor one, and I tried to read through here to make sure nobody already mentioned it, but my dyslexia could have caused me to miss if someone did mention it. I apologize in advance, and I fully understand if you want to just delete my post.

Anyway, there are some segments where a character approaches you to initiate dialogue outside of a cutscene, such as on a large street toward the end (trying to not spoil stuff), where you can hold down or mash a movement key to continue walking; I was able to lead a certain someone to the location of an actual cutscene, where he appeared to duplicate himself for said cutscene, since he has dialogue in it. I am aware of the possibility that this could be an engine issue itself, and not something a game developer can fix. Since I have never used this engine in my life (the only version I used was XP), I have no way of confidently saying whether I believe this to be an engine issue or not, but based on my experiences with other engines, I can certainly see it being a possibility.

I can see your point, although I imagine there would be cases of simply scrounging up pre-bottled booze from old buildings and such, which feels like the purview of Junkers mentioned in Scratch's computer. I bet this would also apply to other commodities, like pre-rolled tobacco products, canned or sealed foods, soda, even bottled water.

Again, Bitshift obviously decides what is canon. I'm simply speculating based on my own understanding of how these types of worlds tend to work in relation to resources.

My headcanon is that despite plant life being hard to come by, Mezz keeps a secret garden of carrots just in case he needs to go full Looney Tunes on whatever villain he's facing. 

I actually was kind of curious if there were more music references hidden around, as there was the Dowland graffiti, not to mention the title "Serenade." I completely missed the name references for the characters, since I don't really know much about music at all, let alone brands or types of instruments.

I get what you mean about ambiguity on enemies' fates, and I appreciate that it's not just a concrete "kills everybody or nobody" dynamic. Aaaand because I'm deranged, when you said "more cartoony killing," I envisioned Mezz replacing one of Mahir's cigarettes with a stick of dynamite.

I'm sorry for suddenly jumping back into our conversation, but I had another weird and sort of morbid question. 

I won't specify where it's said, as I don't want to accidentally spoil too much for other players, but there's a piece of dialogue that says Mezz "trimmed down the ranks" of the gangsters. Is Mezz a no-kill kind of hero, and this dialogue implies he simply hurts enemies to the point of being out of commission? Or does he sometimes hit hard enough to kill? Even what amounts to a well-crafted stick can cause catastrophic damage if swung with enough velocity and into the right areas of the body.

I know this sounds extremely morbid, but I always am curious if combatant (especially armed) heroes follow a no-kill rule or not. 

Side note, does Dragon's Breath cause physical damage to hyenas after long-term abuse? I know it's already shown to cause mental disturbance (not even counting suggestibility in other species), but I can't stop thinking about how a drug like that would ruin a person's body over time.

I found an OpenForum thread from 2002 that was, from what I can tell, a guessing game about video game quotes. The text is slightly hard to read, coupled with me being dyslexic, but I was still able to find a reference to the quote. I searched up Jazz Jackrabbit screenshots and videos, and one stream recording of the game made the same claim about this quote. I couldn't see it in the credits, but again, that could be due to my dyslexia acting up; I can sometimes skip entire paragraphs, which is why I try to remember to double-check everything I read.

I came across some graffiti outside Mahir's place, which appears to reference to John Dowland. I was able to understand the rough gist of the Latin phrase, but I do not know much about music history, so I had to do some research on that.
If that is not the reference you were referring to, then is it the graffiti that says, "It's hard to draw a sexy rabbit" or however it's worded? I could not find the definitive answer, but some research has lead to claims that it originated from Jazz Jackrabbit, although I am unsure in what way; one source claims it was a weird easter egg in one of the games' credits.

On the note of backstory and personality, I really appreciated the dialogue in the garden. The fact Mezz seems so surprised by real trees and grass shows how physically scarred their world is, and also shows a subtle emotional side to the normally cocky Mezz, even if he immediately goes back to being cocky afterward.

If it's not a bother, I was hoping to posit a few questions to you.

First, will there be any backstory about Mezz revealed in later developments? Even with NSFW games, I still appreciate learning about each character.

Second, is "Mezz" a pun on "mesmerize," or merely a coincidental name choice?

Finally, will there be any moments where Mezz wants to do something sexual without being hypnotized first? I know the main selling point is hypnosis, I'm not judging; I'm simply curious due to wanting to know more about his original personality.

Overall, the game looks interesting, and I look forward to seeing what you do in the future. Also, Mezz is adorable.