Interesting! I like how it reminds me of Hell being a punishment of your own making. Like in Preacher and Lucifer, where punishments are dealt out individually, based on what the person did wrong. He'll be locked in his own mental version of Hell. A very fitting punishment for the AC to dole out.
Yes, I believe any punishment doled out should always be a personal punishment, rather than a blanket one.
It needs to be a hell that tortures the individual to the extreme... and William's is going to be the ultimate kind of hell most fitting to him.
I imagine any punishment that the "Antichrist" decides to dole out to people will be one that is personal and fitting to the crime perceived... players will of course, like with William, get to choose which one, but will also give the players a chance to go with their own personal taste of what they believe the individual should suffer.
This resonates so much with me. My own mother even said, "maybe just stay together; otherwise you'll be alone." I did consider it, to try and work things out, but I started digging in their personal messages and couldn't believe the lies she was telling. Then I knew that, in her mind, the relationship had been over for years, and she only stayed out of comfort and fear of change. I felt used.
Only much later did I understand that she was craving attention and validation. We ran a business together, and weren't doing well financially, I think she just couldn't handle the stress of that and looked for 'escapism'. For me, rock bottom came 2 years later when I finally had to close the business. I was lucky to have met my love, Tamara, to glue me back together. I don't think I would've survived the ordeal otherwise.
Yeah, it sounds that you, like myself, found what we needed in our lives. Our experiences, though quite unpleasant, also gave us the ability to better appreciate what we now have and not take it for granted.
Yeah, it is understandable, but not excusable. It's a bit like "having your cake and eating it".
How did the experience with your ex-wife change your attitude towards the relationship with your current wife? From context, I suspect this relationship was more 'open' from the start? Or did you pre-empt her /having/ to step out, by making peace with it and discussing it yourself, maybe?
I've only dealt with the theory of sharing through AVN, and even then, have a hard time keeping my ego in check, it makes me feel possessive of pixels on a screen. I can only imagine how much harder it is to let go of feeling possessive/jealous in real life.
Human minds are incredibly malleable, though. It appears that we can learn to like anything, as long as we have a drive for it, and can frame it in a pleasurable way.
For me, I went off the deep end, to be honest.
If there ever could be a factual Martin Riggs from Lethal Weapon, I was it. My serious disregard to my own sanity, life and my snarky sense of humor in pretending nothing was wrong with me... being all happy-go-lucky was my shield and wall that I used to push people away.
They were drawn to my openness, but frightened by my manical behavior.
When I met my wife, I flirted... as I did with most everyone, I mean, fuckit... I could honestly just say whatever came to mind and didn't give a fuck about the ramifications. I told people exactly what I thought, held nothing back, didn't care... no little white lies, no nothing... I was brutal in my honesty and my opinions.
The wife was engaged at the time to a masterwork of a control freak, using her as an arm-charm ornament that he could control... and I told her she was fucking stupid. But, hey, if he fucks good and it makes you happy, so be it... but in my eyes she was a dumb fuck.
She was pissed at my... honesty, but wanted to know what I thought she should do, since all of the family were happy they were together... so, I just said, go out with me instead of that douche' bag she'd been with since school... what did she have to lose? I mean, the guy was treating her like shit anyhow... how bad could I be?
I treated her like the woman she was, listened to her, told her what I thought open and honestly. It was not only a completely different relationship that she had... but it was for me as well. No lies to try and remember... I had nothing to lose, everything to gain, so fuckit... be the perverted, twisted, son-of-a-bitch that I am, no excuses, no hiding and no apologies.
We've now been together for 30 years and it is the best relationship that I could ever have. We talk constantly, we share with each other constantly. We talk shit out and share our thoughts and feelings without fear. No lies, no excuses, just straight up honesty... even if the other may not want to hear it, we do... and then we talk about it and why we feel that way.
Me... being broken as I am, disabled now and slowly heading for a wheelchair and unable to 'take care of her like a man', told her one day that maybe she should find someone that could 'please her' since I no longer could... and that is kind of the basis of the next game between Brent & Carley Chambers.
That suggestion to her came with fear... it was made honestly... but it came with fear on my part because 'what if she does and leaves me' because of it... can I live with the thought of someone else touching her, loving her, being with her? Could I handle it if I didn't permit her too... was it fair for me to leave her alone, not taken care of sexually? What if she decided to do it without my knowledge and I would end up back in a relationship of lies, deceit or being lied to my face, knowing it was going on behind my back? Was holding her back on having pleasure in her life fair to her?
All of those thought, all of those fears, all of those damn 'what ifs"... yeah, all of that, will be the start of the game... and how it all works out, will be up to the player, with various truths that I experienced, valuable lessons I learned... all of that, will be in the game.
This warms my heart. Having a strong and caring woman have our back, is such a luxury. I'm looking forward to meeting Carley!
I wouldn't be the man I am today if not for the woman that I have by my side. I am the luckiest man in the world. I wish I could be so much more for her than I am, but damn glad she is still with me every day of my life. I am truly blessed to have her!
(partially edited)