Neat to see these thoughts on the genesis of the game, Victor – I’d totally forgotten that thread about titles, though I clearly read it since I liked the post. So I was floored when you mentioned it and I realized that was the germ of the idea; definitely a triumph of intuition leading you to the nut of why this was actually a great premise, not a throwaway gag. And thanks too for the kind words on my bit of feedback.
…though, speaking of criticism, I have to say that while I really enjoyed your discursive introduction – I’m often self-conscious about whether I’m banging on too long in solipsistic navel-gazing, but now that I’ve seen someone else do it and found that actually I really like it when other people do it too, I feel emboldened to write even longer, even meandering-er intros! – per @rovarsson, the correct term is Russovian, not Russoian.
EDIT:
Will let Victor confirm, of course, but for what it’s worth my reading of the above is that the differences are cosmetic – like, all they change is the names the two characters use for each other later on, not the actual details of the plot – but that a) there are few other choices that even have that level of gameplay consequence (even as the choices you pick might significantly shift your understanding of the narrative!) and b) this responsivity helps play out the love-language element of the piece.