Well, obviously. That's why i said Cindy wouldn't resent it too much as opposed to not resenting it at all.
The same way it makes sense for Cindy to regret what she's done and attempt to pretend things never happened, if Cindy and Ian fuck on that day. People can act very differently when their emotions run high, and when they've had some time to cool down.
At the height of emotions Cindy is much more prone to give in to a wish to be close with someone she feels strong connection with, even if she knows this is morally wrong, than when she's got relatively cool head. Also, in the scenario where Ian isn't there when she's most vulnerable, then this extra bond between them doesn't get to form. He remains a good friend she may have some crush on, but he's (now) also someone who, like everyone else, wasn't there for her when she needed someone. It'd make it quite easier for Cindy to get over this crush, or at least not to act upon it in the future.
Some chances are literally once in a lifetime, and if you blow them, then that's it.
My point is not that it should have happened the exact same way but afterwards if Ian decides to go to the book fair. Kissing first time and inmediately start to passionately fuck in the middle of an alley it's not an everyday ocurrence to say the least. My point is that it doesn't happen out of nowhere, like sex with Emma, there was a buildup, an attraction, passions long denied. And of all of that suddenly dissapears, not only on Cindy but also on Ian's side. And he's not like everyone else that wasn't there for her, that's overdramatizing one event that wasn't even her birthday and erasing all past Ian's support. Look, just imagine a change in the story: Ian is hit by a car a few days before the party and obviously can't go because he's recovering from the injuries. Wouldn't you feel cheated as a player if that meant that Cindy path were closed forever?. I know it's not the same thing because that would be totally outside any player's choice, but not being able to go because of the book fair is also a perfectly fine reason. The game tells you that the party is dependant on Ian, but that's bullshit, without Ian it doesn't happen because of Wade and Perry that behave like they have told to go to the front lines of a war.
And you are right that some things can only happen once out of pure chance. But those are things like randomly meet a stranger because a set of circunstances and getting in love, it wouldn't have happened if you didn't meet them for whatever reason. Even sex with Emma you can reasonably say it wouldn't have happened if that day Ian or her don't go out and are left alone to dance together. Cindy and Ian path could have reasonably continued at a slower pace, similar to Ian and Lena path if you don't take early opportunities.
First of all, I'm not a professional novel critic so plz bear me If I come off as too strong as I maybe too invested in ORS and have certain expectations from Dev that I want character to reach their top potential and used wisely so that why I might be coming as too strong
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It's alright if you don't agree with me on some points that's totally cool as opinions are subjective and of course we are human, so we will definitely disagree with eachother on some things which is a good thing in order to learn and understand new things/people
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Moving on
It's not a problem, of course you are entitled to your expectations and opinions and we can argue some things or just agree to disagree. It's cool and I also like to read different opinions to mine, it's really useful specially with some kinks that I struggle to even understand their appeal. Doesn't mean that I dislike you or anybody for that, far from it
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Same can be said that it was a potential waste to spend that much time on Stan and Robert even when Dev herself was not in favor of reworking on Stan(still did it) and bringing them up to the par instead of putting that time to use and work on other important to story character which are more close to both MC's. They are not even close enough to MC's. The issue with Marcel is that dude appeared for only 1 time in polls and guess what he got a content in-game. You can clearly see in which direction the Dev is taking the game but the thing is not all characters are that lucky(Yeah I'm talking about Ivy here). Dev is biased.
In a way every author is biased towards their own vision and (likely) the vision of those giving them money. Again, I mostly agree with your tastes, so I would also be happier if some content didn't happen and more attention were given to other characters. But a lot of people disagree with us and it's hard for me to feel entitled to protest when I'm giving no money or even direct feedback to the author and I am just writing in a forum.