Hope for the best and prepare for the worst

If Logic is the highest stat, Fran will make a comment about how Phelan demeanor and overall attitude is very different from the usual servants when he makes his declaration of protection. She wonders what kind of guy Phelan is because she never saw a servant like him before.

Which in turn makes the heroine to distrust him if either Persuasion or Resilience are the highest stats: Persuasion because the heroine thinks that Phelan is hiding something and pursuing a secret agenda while with high resilience she feels uneasy because of how shady he has been.

With high logic it tracks why the heroine couldn't understand Phelan motivation: he saw the corpse in the chest, put 2 and 2 together and is driven to protect the heroine...despite being the responsible for her husband demise.

Intuition and the next reaction are my favorites because intuition and empathy being the most "emotional" stats means that the heroine can grasp Phelan motivation better...and still feel that something it's wrong about it.

And this stat is the one I was talking about when I said that a certain prompt wasn't lying because it feels like foreshadowing to what would happen in ep 7.

I think Phelan cares about the heroine to a degree if you pursue him, but that care means a certain harm to the heroine because when it comes to whatever agenda Phelan is pursuing vs the heroine...the agenda would be the thing Phelan would prioritize first because it seems this is the most important for him and when faced with that choice... Phelan will feel guilty and apologize profusely for it.

This in no way justifies what he did in this update, and if anything, it serves as a reminder of how you shouldn't trust everyone even if they have your best interests in mind. Everyone is hiding something, and no matter how many apologies Phelan gives and how guilty Phelan feels, you shouldn't be trusting him wholeheartedly because he will take your agency away if he thinks that is the right thing because he thinks he knows best.

I honestly feel bad for Nora in this update because she is forced to relive her trauma even if you can choose to forget Nibras and let his memory go, and this is without getting into how risky it is to leave the castle because of Dante and Xander making sure that proper security measures are put around her.

But this right here? This is when I started to give Phelan a good side-eye because how dare he! I hate when an LI takes the heroine's choice/agency away because they think that they know what is good for the MC, and it doesn't help that Phelan is not exactly giving good reasons to be trusted...just like almost every single LI in this story.

This moment it's something you can get if MC pass Josephine's check and when you start to see the differences between your choices because MC won't talk about the potion unless you fully trust him.

Also, don't think I didn't notice how you tried to change the subject so blatantly, Phelan 🙄.

This scene highlights something I like: trust. And why might you ask?

Because with how weird Phelan has been, you might start to doubt his words, moreso when it comes to Nora condition and how hard it is to get the potion.

But Josephine DID warned MC about how useless this potion is and while she is another shady character, this is the second time someone talks about what a bad idea it is to drink it.

To me the whole potion business reminds me of the poppy milk in Dragon Saga and how hard it screw you long-term even if you drank it once...but hey, like I said before, Phelan and Josephine are very shady so is up to you if you should trust them.

Back in the ranch castle, there is when I want to take a detour and point out Nora choice of words.

Notice how she says that she used to admire Phelan's cunning? I liked this because it goes to show that even if you choose to trust Phelan, Fran will start to doubt his words because he did a whole 180 when she met him again compared to the guy who hugged her and tried to comfort her when the whole truth was out.

This is a good moment to mention that I am following Dark!Persuasion, but the following scene only takes persuasion into account and not the light/dark side.

Oh honey...

I have my good share of cunning LIs I have romanced before and every single one always played my heroine and broke her heart one way or other.

I wanted to snark and scoff at Nora because this is the most naive thing I have read, but... I want to give her some leniency because this kind of mentality is no stranger to me and reminds me a lot of how often some people tend to be blind on purpose when it comes to certain red flag traits because they try to make the best out of a bad situation/try to see the good side in something bad, and it tracks with how MC is even if you play the dark route.

And to no one surprise, Phelan plan sucks badly and our poor heroine is endagered once again...hurray! I am thrilled and looking forward to Xander reaction once he sees Nora acting weird once again and with another man 🙄.

Of course! You know what is best for her, right? Yellow heart my ass; Phelan acts and behaves like a purple heart LI if you ask me.

Poor Nora...if only you knew what this kiss will cost you...

Oh Phelan! The only good thing I will say about this scene is that at least the prompt I saw in ep 6 about a certain stat with him wasn't lying (I will post it when I am free) and this made the blow a tad softer.

He will need more than a good apology to make it up for this! This scene made me so torn because the drama itself it's good, but I am too angry at Phelan because...

HE FUCKING DRUGGED NORA!

This scene made me even more annoyed because you get this with low resilience...which shouldn't happen because Nora resilience is high and I will show it to you later.

You better find a good way to fix this, Phelan...I am doing your route but it doesn't mean I am totally okay with all the stuff you are pilling and pulling towards Nora.

My poor Nora...you don't deserve this.

And now with the episode over a big question is...

Who is Phelan?

So many fans think that he is either the Nameless God, Nibras brother, or just another demon and honestly? All are valid theories since we barely know him.

But in this update, I want to propose another theory: he might be a human which is planning to revolt against demons and that is why he wants to know so badly how MC managed to kill one.

His familiarity and obsession with wanting to protect MC might be tied to him being someone which used to know her until that whatever happened to her made her forget everything...and made Phelan to hate the demons even more.

God knows what Phelan is but one thing is for sure: you can't trust anyone in this story and this is just the beginning and honestly? I won't blame Nora for this moment being the one which kickstart his dark journey because she has been put through a lot already.

I want to share this because I have seen some people asking for references when they ask for proof, so I hope this helps and everyone can draw their own conclusions.

Credit goes to:

@cordonia

Source:

https://www.reddit.com/r/RomanceClub/comments/1sbui4s/generative_ai/

Jester always condemn guys like Foehl and PSI is a good example of it considering what happened with Lou in her backstory+ what Hans did.

So imagine my shock when I saw the leak and not only this scene is quite explicit (which is surprising coming from Jester) but also for fucking Foehl? Really? The dude who acts like a creepo around Tiss?

What the hell?!

And keep in mind that this it's fucking weird considering how slow (more than usual I might add) the routes are going right now and not even a lock? In a Jester book? Him who loves to lock you early?

I must be dreaming or maybe Jester went crazy because I can't explain what the hell happened and how we went from Foehl acting like a creepo who we must avoid... to sex.

The only saving grace is the ability to avoid this scene and even so... the moment is still awful either way.

And yeeees! Rest assured I will talk about both because I love them even if they are different in some things (Casper is prickly like a cactus while Lais despite his bluntness can be kind).

This is not the only instance of Wincy using SA for plot-related purposes. HOT was filled with that, even worse, you must forgive a rapist if you want the good ending and that is the main reason I refuse to pursue Vallora (she is a LI and her brother is a rapist).

I thought Wincy would improve considering how many complained about it, but the way she ended S1 if you are doing Threxio/a route made me to side-eye her hard.

This update only confirmed my fears and I am surprised nobody is talking about it considering Agnia and Set fiasco and how (rightfully) fans called her out when HOT was getting updates because of Alaric.

I don't know why SA it's always a plot device/backstory fodder for women. I am not saying you shouldn't touch it but where is the variety? Why men can have multiple choices when it comes to backstory but women are often linked to SA?

I am not a fan of SA elements because this is fetishized, very few writers handle it with respect, it's added for the sake of being edgy, etc.

I am not saying it shouldn't be included, and that we should close our eyes and ears and pretend this doesn't happen and usually, while the proper trigger warnings are added, you can skip it or choose if you want to deal with this kind of content.

Buuuut...

I hate when the fandom is selectively oblivious to certain issues when different writers address the same thing.

You see it a lot with Jester fans who justify a lot of shit for what others writers are being dragged and it seems the same thing is happening with Wincy.

Nobody is perfect. Nobody can handle flawlessly the themes you want to address and it includes your favorite writer who is no way perfect even if you love the content they provide. It's okay to call things for who they are.