Hey there, my dear HillsideVN!
I really appreciate that you decided to make such a good game and do it with the whole bottom of your heart, not just wanna get some money from patrons. Perhaps the plot is quite banal, but still has a harmony and logical events. When I first played your game, I immediately thought about Bodyguard 1992 and 2018. To be honest, I obsess with relationships between the bodyguard and his/her client, even it’s so unethical and unprofessional, but we are all people. It’s really hard to take a step back, when you have unrealized sexual tension… Specifically I like relationship between a young man (not a teen) and an adult (not old) woman. There is something special in this, because not every woman can decide to be with this man for many years, even decades. And because of that author needs to fully uncover the nature of characters, write a logical chain of events and bring the two characters together.
As you could already understand from my hint of interests, I’m a fan of Charlotte, in my opinion, she has more internal, interpersonal conflicts (between sister and daughters) and an absolute loss of trust to all men. I agree with the comments of TheCrimsonRevenger and RoryTate, who wrote about Charlotte, Emma and Lucy - these women are completely different from each other, with their own problems and internal conflicts. It is really exciting to observe the course of events. A doff of the cap to you, HillsideVN! It’s difficult to find a suitable plot in games of this genre, and also with a romantic tag. Charlotte is not a misandrist to me, she has PTSD indications due to sexual harassment, blackmail and rape - she simply avoids men, in fact she is afraid of them like overwhelming fire and doesn’t expect anything good from them; she forgot how to trust men - she was abandoned alone with two children and little newborn Emma, and something tells me that ex-husband took all money he can get… A difficult situation, and it was necessary to solve it ... This incident made her independent from anyone, she is a really strong woman, a strong-willed person, she achieved all the riches by herself. She is guided by the life credo: "Why do I need men, I feel good even without them, and the pleasures of sex are just a compensated disadvantage". This is the principle followed by the majority of aspiring women around the world. Her distrust and almost contempt for the MC is understandable - as they say, a burnt child dreads the fire… But when night comes, her little princess falls asleep, Charlotte still feels deep melancholy and loneliness, perhaps she even cries… She drinks alcohol to forget about something bad or maybe just to relax, but it’s useless. She took her path and understand that it was a self-deception, and she realized that she couldn’t do anything at all… It’s a trap… Disappointment, depression…
Here is the best and most logical approach to Charlotte - as David did in relation to Julia in Bodyguard 2018: she learned that he is not only a handsome, but also a hero, she sincerely apologizes and reconsiders her attitude towards him, David mirrors the same thing - at first, he despises her, but then understand that she is not a sociopath, not a bitch or cold-blooded person as represented her media, workers of the Home Office and even his friend, Andy Apsted. Both characters reconsider their attitude towards each other and then fall in love (I highly recommend to watch this serial, if you haven’t seen it yet).
Charlotte's obsession with Emma's safety is also quite acceptable - Charlotte must have received threats of murder or physical harm to her younger daughter, which is why she is so afraid; therefore, she is overprotective of her daughter. She protects her from all the hardships of the outside world, but does not understand that she made a terrible mistake - leaving her bubble of peace and well-being, Emma will be horrified by those problems she did not know about, she will fall into depression, she will be disappointed in the world, in people, like her own mother in men. In fact, you can imagine Emma as a rose in Beauty and the Beast - if you remove the glass, the rose will die.
The relationship between sisters can be clearly seen in the example of the Bodyguard 1992 - the envy of the younger sister for the older, almost hatred, greed, hidden aggression, alienation, although outwardly Lucy radiates exceptional benevolence towards the older sister. The younger sister clearly harbored a very old grudge, it destroys her from the inside, incinerates her, but Lucy is not strong enough to rise again from the ashes, to be reborn like a Phoenix.
I suppose, behind all these SMS and threats, along with peeping and entering Charlotte's house, there are several people - the customer is an offended girl / woman, who didn’t like something in Emma / Charlotte / Suzi/ Lucy, the performer is a man or men... And it’s her plan for revenge… Anyway, I'm looking forward to the next update!
Stay safe!
