#bc other than MC who stabbed her I imagine the party was more affected by Nia being taken and the uncertainty that followed

[the-unconquered-queen]

I agree completely (tangent risk)! For me, the issue is also that there seems to be a double standard wrt the game treats Aerin and Valax, because while there is every opportunity to hold a grudge against Aerin, there is no chance to do so with Valax, when it can be generally understood that Valax hurt MC more than Aerin did. And technically speaking, while the group should reasonably feel more betrayed by what Aerin did to them due to the fact that he played nice first (Valax's can hardly be called a betrayal bc she was telling them all along what she would do, it's just that MC was written as, quite frankly, a dumbass for not taking her at her word), based on what b2 showed us, they would have been more hurt by what Valax did than what Aerin did (save for Nia, obviously, who is justified if she hates him and never forgives him), bc as far as the rest of the party is concerned, while Aerin kidnapped Nia and they got her back within a few hours, MC's yearlong kidnapping was shown to have changed the rest of the group, such as by turning Imtura into an alcoholic and making Mal depressed and practically suicidal, so by all means, they shouldn't be all buddy-buddy so quickly with her either. Meanwhile, MC is quite understanding toward Valax, but outside of romance scenes, is not that kind to Aerin, which leads to an odd vibe switch when one is on his route if MC is so doting one-on-one but has a different energy in a group setting.

I've previously expressed issues with how MC in b2 has to be a bit of a pushover toward Aerin regarding his past actions if you want to maintain a good romance route (this is when their romantic relationship is being rebuilt, when there should be baggage that needs to be overcome before they're an established couple), but Valax is outright forced as a friend, not just as a group member, with no chance to have the friendship develop organically. And this isn't going into how I feel hers and (mainly) MC's development was stunted in b2 in order to make way for her route. But yeah, ultimately my issue is with that and not the fact that she's with the group; I'm all for having her integrate, except I don't like that it means sweeping what she did to MC under the rug.

I think ultimately, players' opinion is gonna come down to which character they romance/prefer. Obviously, someone who takes Valax's diamond scenes will have a better sense of her character and will be more likely to forgive her (I've heard she apologizes in those) than someone who doesn't, like I mostly don't, meaning that in my pt all the trauma she put MC through is glossed over and it feels like "yeah, I did that awful shit to you but I had thought I was doing the right thing so 🤷‍♀️" while everyone ignores it. And in comparison, someone who doesn't particularly care about Aerin and isn't on his route isn't seeing that he deeply regrets how he hurt the gang, that he resents that he was manipulated the Dreadlord as a nine-year-old and for the following decade, or stuff like how he regularly ingests poison because he feels he needs to prove his value and that he deserved his second chance. If you don't know that, he's mostly just the guy who hides all sincerity behind his sarcasm, and that can be understandably grating if you don't like him already and especially if he doesn't express regret in your pt.

I guess I feel that in both cases, if you're going to have a villain/antagonist redeemed and integrated into the group, you can't keep crucial development stuff, such as regret or apologies, etc., behind a paywall, or it works to the detriment of the overall player experience.

Aerin having a hard time still being a part of the group is understandable because he was friends with them, they trusted him and ultimately he betrayed them so it’s more reasonable for them to still be upset with him because he was lying from the start. Valax kidnapped and hurt mc but still the group knew she was evil because she was blunt about it, they didn’t expect her to be sorry from the get go but ig spending time with her they got to know her and she was able to adjust being in the group. I do think they shouldn’t have rushed this friendship with her. Sometimes i think about whether they just wanted to add a cool new badass character instead of actually developing her properly and address mc and valaxs complicated relationship. Like mc is all friendly towards her giving her hugs and I’m like this woman kidnapped you and took your blood?? The least they could have done is make mc flinch when Valax is near her sometimes and then slowly start being more comfortable around her. I see the treatment towards Aerin similarly to Reiner from Attack on Titan. Reiner was there guiding them, helping them, becoming their friend but he knew in the beginning that he was their enemy. It hurt them more when Reiner betrayed them bc he had become friends with them. (Plus the snarky remarks Aerin makes to cope can irritate anyone)

Ultimately what hurt Aerins development in book 2 is because they were just too focused on writing a new villain (who will be redeemed in the same book.) They had to dial it down on the torture to still make Valax redeemable for players. It’s like you have to play an mc who is forgiving and openly friendly/trusting nature and other players had a different idea to their MCs and again i completely understand why you wouldn’t want to be friends with Valax just as you don’t want to be friends with Aerin.