Interesting take.
Is Autumn broken? Serious question as besides her stand offish father who we are not actively focusing on in her story what is she broken about? Her internal religious conflict, that crisis of faith seems the main theme of the day there im sure you will agree yes? That does not constitute she is broke - being repressed sexually does not constitute broken either yet the story, the canon story had us deceiving the woman and conspiring others to achieve this into performing sexual acts on us the MC. If the message is the MC and his friends are pieces of shits to represent how broken and horrible the world is then you have a point but i dont think that is what your trying to convey as a person here but the story contradicts you in some aspects just like it does my takes. She has a supportive family on all other counts, was not in a horrible place when she entered the story and any conflict of said introduction stances on things like morality and faith only occured because of direct influence of her arriving at the hotel not prior. It does concur in some aspects such as make her open up and judge people less on first impression such as how she sees people who are "hussy" in nature like Maria and thats certainly not the way to be but then is she completely wrong about Maria for having negative first impressions?
Why say that? Maria is someone i like and i like a lot but think about it. As above is Ellen broken? Being lonely or sexually repressed does not equate broken or a message of a shitty world and the hope to pierce the gloomy clouds of it? Yet she alongside our benevolent MC think nothing of conspiring to amongst other things hide her clothes so Maria can grope her for sexual kicks not hijinks (even she doesnt dispute either being Bi nor attracted to Ellen) as well as try to tease her urges to the degree where the MC can and DOES fuck her in the spa. She was not the one pushing it, far from it really. Did i mind? Nope, didnt give a fuck as its a PORN GAME so you overlook the flaws in this message. She was also the one who literally took advantage of a girl she knew was emotionally vulnerable by coaxing her into literally raping her love interest in his sleep or getting her old cheerleading squad naked enough for her BF to peek and letch over them despite knowing they would be 100% against the very idea of it at the time. She is a beacon for broken but i dont see where this fundamental message was you talk about during any of that.
Likewise this message of hope your referencing is contradicted by allowing us the option in some of the Sanctuary girls to go a slave route, to control and corrupt them for your sexual desires to be fulfilled. Were talking about a game which is in the canon story of several main characters fighting against slavery of elves and the power humans hold over them allowing us the option to dominate and retain said control over some of them in the face of it. Is that a bad thing? Nope. Its a porn game and an option you can if you are you ignore and go for a sweet love story or be like me and live the Dom Harem dream so does Jin contradict the very fundamental message of the game in your eyes retaining her old persona? Yes but not in mine because if thats the case the few above example alone means thats just BS as the same self rightous chracters defy said fundamental message of their own volition half the time (not player choice) but there is no harm in wanting and seeing that message in your game nor is it wrong to like what i like in my game as its whats been offered by Runey.
So ask yourself again - is the MC really a GOOD man? There are loads of examples to show YES of course he is but there also is plenty of others to show nah, he fucking well aint so lets not present the argument he is defacto one or the other as the story sure aint so its pure head canon to deem him so. None of the above presented the "healing" of said characters (i could be wrong but fucking your clearly mentally perturbed bullied damsel in distress publicly in a classroom and spunking on her bullies face leading them to eventually getting expelled may indeed a message of hope and light in an unfair world but i have to beg to differ im afraid), instead they presented corrupting sexy chicks into having lust driven sex with the MC who knows damn fine well what he is doing (again its a porn game, a well written by the majority and a positive one yes, no question but its still a porn game and Runey knows what the fans want from a porn game).
Never the less i appreciate the opposite take as its always nice to try and debate where the other is coming from in an adult conversation as we often dont see what the shoe looks like on the other foot. Still before i press post reply can we please not assume i dont get the "message or understand it" as i do and it comes across as sanctimonious a bit but youve already clearly said this is not an attack and im not taking it as one hence the civil response so the feeling is mutual in this response. The Premise of the game is one thing and i do understand its message and have great praise for it in (its been key in us investing in a lot of these character and their fates going forward) but its a morally fucking grey game which presents warts and all flawed characters who are just as likely to break as they are to heal but we overlook that because the sex is good (how very human of us lol).
As for the game itself it doesnt need to change, none of us detractors are haters who want that. It was fine as it is - there is plenty of content for the wholesome beats to pang our heart strings, some fury enducing events which happen to the characters to lose sleep over and indeed some depraved shit to jack off as its a fantasy game and Runey openly acknowledges by simply having it he is aware that its stuff people like and does not clearly feel it detracts from his core message in his game or he would not have created said scenes or majority of the optional content in the first place otherwise.
All we wanted was the choice to have more content for the characters we enjoy the most without sacrificing everything we love about them - that would go for all HH fans of any of them. Anyone pretending otherwise is a liar - would Lin stans really embrace a new Lin who if say hypothetically if it mean distance herself from humanity and disown them so break up with the MC? Of course not, even if the end result would be a massively positive one for this grimly unfair world - of course not as that is anything but the Lin they know and love, complete opposite... well Jin is nothing like how she used to be now either. If you think that Lin hypothetical is narrative BS then you would be right as im no Runey, so replace that with a recently concocted macguffin like the drugs storyline on a character like her introduced to us so long ago which even changed her physical body shape for good measure as well as her personality and you can see our shoe on our foot and why were so disappointed (as he literally IS a Runey haha). If it was on option i wouldnt a fuck either way regardless... funny you dont see arguments or these long debates over say Nia because if you wanna save her then you can and likewise if you wanna corrupt. I dont think thats a coincidence...
