So far I am very happy with the update that Dylan is making a progress however I think Sam is still ahead of him which shouldn't be. Hopefully Sam will be put to sideline...Sophia is Dylan's
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I don't think it's a race at all where you can say one has an advantage over the other. Actually, I recognize the writing style where you create all the story's plot climaxes and in the final chapters bring everything to a crisis point. What I am betting on is all the key characters will be brought to the point where anyone will be the first to get Sophie's cookie. So, the only real questions that remain is who they are next and just how far are going to get before the developer moves onto the next in line. And I so hope I am dead wrong.
Now if I was writing the story, I would build in hints at something then drop a plot twist. There are a lot of possibilities left to work on. But the best way is to introduce causal content, as if they were side stories that further the main dirrection of the overall story.
Let's say there is an Ellie/Dylan ending. I wouldn't be so blunt as making a scene where it's obvious. Think back when Dylan helped Ellie with her PC or when they were talking on the swings. Sure, those two events say "maybe" an Ellie/Dylan connection down the road at this stage, but that whole story arch isn't ready to have them two together.
How things could work to getting Ellie/Dylan closer would be another shower scene between Ellie and Sophia and they talk about men in general; Sophia could accidently mention just how good a boy Dylan is in such way that it gets Ellie to rethink how she sees Dylan. It'll take several small events to move Ellie/Dylan along. Those kind of plot twists work with any other combinations.
Still I hope there are just some out of the blue surprises along the way