After prayerful consideration I've decided to tentatively continue working on this VN.
In my Sex Addicts Anonymous program where today marks my 60th day of recovery, we have what are known as circles. In the inner circle are behaviors that we know we cannot participate in and it's different for every person.
My inner circle includes porn that includes "real" people of flesh and blood. I'm happy to say that SAA ruined this type of porn for me as when I experimented with it early in recovery, all I could think about was what horrible things must have happened to those girls to make them so desperate to join an industry that is largely toxic. I want to keep that attitude as it helps me to deepen my empathy and get in touch with repressed feelings that I've been stuffing all my life. Also in my inner circle is refraining from making up fantasies of "real" people as I don't feel like I have their permission to do so.
The middle circle includes iffy behaviors that are acceptable but could potentially lead to trouble if overindulged. Up until now I've been able to make up fantasies about people that I've made up in my mind without getting triggered into compulsive sexual behavior, and that would include the ones I made up for this VN. The one thing I will avoid is spending the 20-30 hours that I was putting into this VN every week, so the plan is to have micro updates without any deadlines. Having a set deadline would certainly lead to compulsion, so my response to any inquiry about the next update will be "I dunno" unless it's impending.
The outer circle includes healthy behaviors that enrich all of our lives... for me it's intimate moments and outings with my wife. Golfing with my AA buddies. Playing Valheim with my daughter. Shit like that.
Bottom line, I hate not finishing something I started and I have a story to tell. The second half of this VN will focus more on Bunni and her struggle to get her own sexual addiction under control. I can't leave her in that bubble dimension prison for all time, can I?!
One final note for those who are having issues with the art change in the middle of the game. You say that I betrayed you by changing the art?! Well then this VN isn't for you. Now there is a warning for newcomers to this VN who have a tendency to get attached to a certain art style. I feel the new art style fits the more serious nature of the second half of this VN perfectly. I actually discussed the art change in this thread (it begins
here) and nobody had an issue with it then, so I'm not sorry about it at all.
Okay, let's see where this goes...