I wasn't going to reply to you but there's so many points I want to debate. Anyway, your post could use some paragraphs and a spoiler alert but:
I was very disappointed with Jack's ending. All the previous scenes with Ayame and Jack seemed to be building towards a romantic ending, and they totally botched it. The writer claims that he just couldn't see Ayame and Jack together. Well I could.
Then make a fanfic. Starke stated he couldn't see Jack and Ayame be a thing
now. If there's a Fleeting Iris 2 which I hope there will be, then I'm pretty sure Jack will become an even more important character with some happy endings.
They could have both gone to college together. Jack was headed there anyway. And Ayame could have a chance to pursue something she couldn't do when she was a kid. I could totally see them as a college couple.
So you expected them to keep writing the story for at least three more in game years, create new sprites for a 3 year older Jack and probably a 3 year older Ayame, etc. just to have an happy ending? A 4th potential Jack ending.
That sounds more like DLC stuff, send them a message in Discord and suggest it.
I agree that the way Jack and Ayame originally came together was dirty. Jack blackmailed her into sex initially. Still Ayame wasn't clean either. She was already starting sex with Arthur. So really who is the bigger heel in that situation? Jack exploited Ayame's infidelity to his advantage. So it was a dirty start for both of them.
What?
Jack is.
Two wrongs don't make a right. Right or wrong is an absolute state. He's not "less wrong", he's wrong. Her "moral debt" if any is to Robert. Doesn't make it right for your stepson to blackmail you just because you got a thing for your grandfather's ding dong. Jack "technically" raped her. I'm not saying Ayame didn't have feelings for him but they would have to be developed further because not only she would be breaking up with Robert, she would be breaking up with Robert to date his son and in Family Route other than "he's a shitty shagger" she has nothing against Robert.
But as the relationship progressed, they developed genuine feelings for each other. Ayame even began to fear that Jack was stealing her heart, and was making her fall in love with him. And for a teenager to be doing this is very impressive. Imagine how much better he'd get in the future. In the same way he matured sexually, he could mature emotionally. You can tell that with Jack, it was more than just sex. It was about forming a bond with Ayame. Its revealed if Ayame loses her virginity to him.
It was, until he screwed her over like an immature child over and over again. Jack couldn't do any better, it was his personality and completely in character to do those mistakes.
Mate, who the fuck invites friends over to hide in the closet so you can prove you're shagging some girl? That's typical teenager shit and those attitudes are what made a gap between Ayame and Jack.
I think they ruined what could have been a beautiful love story of a boy becoming a man, and a woman rediscovering a portion of her lost youth.
She's 23~24, what lost youth? And what would she rediscover? Dating little boys?
She can still date and have passionate full balls to the wall relationships typical from someone who never had her heart broken right now. She's a child
now, experiencing a lot of these things for the first time. That's part of what makes her naive and immature.
I think Jack's story can still be salvaged through dlc. Have Fujiko babysit Arthur (and have sex with him if she wants). Have Ayame and Jack have a relationship untouched by either Robert or Arthur. You can use all the same pictures and graphics, just with different writing and dialogue. Let it be Fujiko with Arthur instead of Ayame. I think for all that the writer did to build up the romance, he could have at least tried to follow through.
I don't agree with the details but I do agree that a DLC would be fun. Worth it? Dunno mate. Maybe they didn't explore their relationship more on purpose, so it's a thing in Fleeting Iris 2 when he's actually older, matured and possibly can provide for her.
I know i've ranted quite a bit. I was just so emotionally invested in their relationship and sexual chemistry, that it was heartbreaking what the writer did with it. I hope he tries to correct that in future dlc.
The fact that the game touched you in such a way is a win in my books and why I like it so much. Just start a #TeamJack thing and make sure he's a major character in a potential second game.
I just find it mildly disturbing you'd rather vent off here than in their
official section of their
official discord dedicated to posts
just like that where they can be read and debated by
literally the only few people that can do anything about it, and trust me when I say that they listen and cater to their community's wishes more than any company I've ever seen. I can tell you a dozen scenes that I remember being in the game just because people got together and voted for it to be a thing.