#reader thoughts

I like the term SoulSeeker for Tomarry/Harrymort because, to me, it applies to both and neither at the same time. It feels broad enough to encompass the whole spectrum of the ship, which is also very convenient whenever someone asks me what exactly I'm talking about.

One of the reasons I love Tomarry/Harrymort so much is the sheer number of possibilities their dynamic offers. It's one of the ships that made me realize stories can be anything. Tragedy, obsession, redemption, horror, romance, destiny, choice, time travel, soulmates, enemies, identity crises, you can take them in almost any direction and somehow it still works.

The process of how they‘re truly falling in love - because to be loved is to be known, and there are certain things one can only see when you’re in a committed relationship.

Don‘t get me wrong, I love me some good miscommunication, the insecure thoughts about „do they like me?“ and the easily flustered characters.

But witnessing two people becoming utterly selfless because of their love for one another is just next level beautiful to me.

I am so done with Gray and Jamie constantly being in fights. JLB, you already had this plot line in the previous series. Make like Elsa and let it go. You literally wrote a short story about it. Maybe it's time you take your own advice.

Also, I don't understand why these brothers continue to be dumbasses and keep secrets that always affect who they love at large which end up evolving into bigger problems when they don't. It's literally happened time and time again which just shows they never learn. This is a big problem on JLB's part as an author because if she is constantly regressing these characters, it makes you wonder why the current series exists.

And be honest with yourselves, there are so many repeated plot lines that I already saw coming back from a mile away from the start. There is literally NOTHING NEW to read here. The only mildly worthy plot line is the one with the truth behind Sheffield Grayson's death being kept from Savannah and Eve's involvement in their lives being a big threat again. If nothing new can be written here without constantly calling back the old stuff and even going so far as to repeating plot points with the SAME characters, you don't have a new story to tell. There is no reason for The Grandest Game to exist as a continuation and for those who continue to defend it, you're lying to yourself. Period.

Maybe the series could have been continued but having had a good few years gap between the publication of The Final Gambit and The Brothers Hawthorne. Right now, this version that exists is so forced and acting the major cash cow because the og series continues to be hyped. I want new content, believe me, but I can't justify it if the new content I am being given is the same stuff I previously read but repackaged with a new cover and a pretty bow.

Except, the blame can't just be placed on JLB. This is unfortunately part of a bigger problem in entertainment media right now. Be that movies, tv shows, books, whatever, if the original is successful, that is seen as justification for a sequel. But what happens when you are excited and go to pick up that media which you loved up until that point, hoping to see something new and interesting but instead you're given the same thing repackaged? And then it goes on and on, with another installment, and maybe we go at it again because we still desperately hope that it will do justice but no. Again and again we get disappointed because originality and creativity are frowned upon now and because repeating a good story is apparently going to work every time. Well we need to put our foot down and say enough is enough. When that happens, a mountain will move and the sea will divide its waves. But until then we will be stuck in a loop and unless we're willing to break out of the cycle, we're going to continue spiraling.

The fluff.

The fluff is dangerous.

I can't never not make a face when I read fluff.

I liked the fawning inclusion and I think it makes sense, but what threw me off was that in previous chapters Crowny expresses clear dissatisfaction with Sally's babying— in the choices the player makes and outside of it*— whereas in Ch. 7 Crowny's frustrations are erased by a sudden earnest belief that Sally is above criticism. In my understanding of the low worth choices, they're willing to endure the degradation because of their insecurity and the inability to imagine something better for themselves. Their evaluation of their worth doesn't necessarily put everyone else on an unreachable pedestal, if that makes sense.

I played a Crowny with high detective points who also witnessed Arthur spying on the gang twice, so in my mind this would be a good explanation for Crowny's fawning. They're confronting that their older brother, whom they love deeply, their caretaker, is potentially someone very dangerous and they have nowhere else to go, on whatever level they're able to recognize that. And it's possible that it isn't the first time they've placated Sally with conflicting levels of sincerity, like after his call with Lorcan.

As for a Crowny that is a bit less critical of their relationship with Sally... well given the stress of the situation they're in (High morals Crowny killing by accident <3), and how they were just demonstrated how much everyone hates them, clinging to a safety net makes sense.

I really enjoyed the parts in the route where Crowny is actively suppressing their doubts in favor of affection and peace of mind. Like when sleeping with a romanced Imre (Although I'm debating whether to choose this ultimately. I have to believe that on some level my Crowny is able to reckon with the harm done to him + the conversations w/ Nia and Lorcan were just as good) and when Sally is yelling at their mother; Crowny can enter the room, decide not to confront Sally, and you can see them very deliberately silencing their doubts. Whereas "And something within you tells you he's asking too much. A small little voice where the X that did go against his wishes lives. Its voice losing power each second as each second ticks by" in conjunction with Crowny's sudden blindness to Sally's flaws feels more passive than what was previously established in Crowny's character, like they've lost all of their agency.

I adore the family dynamics in the game (I haven't mentioned Percy or Orla, but I love them too), and ultimately my interpretation may not have been what you intended for the direction of the route, so however it looks like in the end I'll be happy with.

Unrelated, but I also played through an apathetic high worth Crowny romancing Nia and it was such a delight. I don't think I've seen that scene where Crowny and Sally leave the town before, and at that point in the story she's still pretty content with the pampering and ease of their relationship. Eating the escargot together and both being unsettling to the people around them was cute lol. I wasn't able to reach Ch. 7 with her because of a missing link (I already submitted a bug report), but I'm eager to go back and play another high worth Crowny that's a lot more proactive/aggressive. Just need to find the time.

*(Non-choice: Crowny angered by Sally interfering w/ the police because they're not being taken seriously as an adult, even if Sally doing otherwise would leave them in deep water. C telling Percy that they aren't blind to Sally's behavior on the first day of school. C placating Sally the night he first berates them. C tells Sally that he needs to support Percy more) (Choice: The polite option with the play dates. C being able to snap at Sally for his apologies following the movie theater)

Something to keep in mind is that Crowny is not in stasis, they go through a character arc. A high worth Crowny doesn't start off that confident in themself in episode 1. The more choices made for that the more flavour text acknowledging this appears.

A character arc is, by its definition, not meant to be always positive. It can be negative. Take also into consideration that Sally wasn't always this controlling. He was somewhat but it was never to this point because Crowny was so passive which is why his relationship with them is directly tied to their self worth. A person who is abused in a moment of true fear that they will lose the only source of enduring love they've ever had can lie to themself so deeply that they believe it even if before they were actively trying to deny these doubts. That does not mean Crowny's doubts on a worthless path will disappear. They just managed to silence that voice that's telling them this isn't right temporarily because never before have they gotten treated like this by the only person who they believe loves them for what they are.

On a worthless path their mental health is very bad. Its getting actively worse. As for the choices, well that's not really my business, if you choose choices that go against a worth path you've taken you have to then explain it to yourself as to how this fits this character. If you're on the worthless path you can explain snapping at him because a) stress b) a moment of true honesty.

I cannot account for all choices made against a stat if that is the domain of the player, especially when episodes 1-7 are stat collecting episodes, they don't hold a lock in as episode 8 does so I would basically need to lock it in earlier to remove any chance of interpretation and head canon and I don't wanna do that since it allows players to play around with which path they wanna take instead of forcing them without them having played to pick one.