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(3 edits) (+2)

This was such a sweet and charming VN! I played all the routes and loved them all. Though I gotta say, I'm especially fond of Leigh's route, especially ending 1.

I also have a soft spot for Cyril's ending 2 because I was a bit skeptical of his sincerity at first. It's nice that I don't have to "fall" for him immediately to get a good ending. I appreciate that Cyril is locked with a male MC because the nuance won't hit the same if it's a het pairing. As such, the route was able to delve a bit into the risks involved of being gay in that era and its underground culture (it was mostly implied but you get a feel for it!).

Anyway, the art, the character designs, the music, everything was so good!! But what I appreciated the most was how the route plays out depending on the MC's gender. I really liked the minor variations with Heron having a gay awakening with a male MC (and having both class issues and homophobia to deal with). Meanwhile, with a female MC, you also have Georgette wondering if you're even interested in woman at all (and the MC questioning what she is if she's not a lesbian after falling for Heron). And the casual mentions that a female MC can't inherit a title or that she didn't receive a formal education unlike male MC who went to a boarding school.


Another example is Heron's ending 1 (SPOILERS ALERT): 

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With a female MC, Heron ending 1 is a public wedding! However, with a male MC, it's just publicly a home warming party with only a few loved ones being in the know. Heron living in with male MC was explained in public as male MC being a generous rich friend renting out a room for Heron (who is a commoner). In this ending you have a scene of Heron being insecure because of class differences, their age gap, and feeling that MC deserves someone better than him. With a male MC, there's an added dimension to these worries as Heron fret being insecure because they're not technically legally married as well. But the differences doesn't end there, a female MC got to dance with her father during the wedding and meet Heron's parents as their daughter-in-law, which the male MC version of the ending didn't have. Heartbreaking ngl (so glad male MC still have his brother Taylor who is supportive and willing to pull strings if ever they got revealed) but I really applaud the extra effort to write in those differences!

(+1)

I'm so glad you enjoyed it! A few fun facts about Leigh: they're twenty-nine years old (three years older than the protagonist), their sun sign is Taurus, and they enjoy doing embroidery on their days off (hence why they're so good at mending clothes!). Post-ending one, a certain competitive servant gets very invested in getting better than Leigh at embroidery, though Leigh remains oblivious to the one-sided rivalry. 😂

There's actually a funny story regarding Cyril's orientation. When he was still just a side character, before I made him a love interest, I'd decided he was gay. So when I decided to turn him into a love interest, I briefly had a crisis over whether or not to make him bisexual (for broader appeal), or let him stay gay as intended. I nearly caved and had gotten through writing most of chapter one of his route writing him as bisexual until my dear editor said he should stay gay because it suited him better in general. And I'm glad we went with that, because as you said, the nuance hits better. 🙂‍↕️

But as for the rest of your comment, generally speaking, I consider the player character's gender to be as much of a choice that effects the story as any other choice, especially in a setting based on the real world. I wanted to put in the effort to make sure that the consequences of all of the player's choices are noticeable and present, and that included the protagonist's gender! So it's very gratifying to hear that it all hit in a satisfying way! 😭 Thank you so much! 💕