I wrote this on my Patreon, as the Stephanie discussion seems to be going everywhere, and it has been for roughly 4 months now. I thought I'd share it here.
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I think I'll expand a bit on the Stephanie situation.
She's ment to be a refreshing alternative to the same old, same old "the ex" in many VNs, where the writer introduces a 'flashback bad girlfriend' and has to write a new ending because 4 people really liked the look of the ex.
As a reader, it's completely up to you if want to include her in the story or not. I'm not picking sides or forcing you to do anything. I respect the opinions of both sides - and I suspect that most have their own opinion based on real life experience. But I want those who choose to end up with her to have an equally powerful emotional moment as those who ea. picked Cece from the start and eventually ends up with her - when they do. Or on the alternative side, you can reject her completely and she's gone from the story - except for a small moment very late in it.
The discussions about her being a manipulative bitch, that she somehow fooled him from the start, fucked 43 different men while being in a relationship with the mc, and probably killed cute squirrels on the way to school every day as a side hobby is all on me. I gave you the worst first impression of her that I possibly could have. If I didn't convince you that they had a good time together in ch3, then I never will.
She's a big part of the story - if you let her. But the game is yours to play as you like it. It wouldn't be a real choice based game if you didnt.