SPOILERS:
I decided to come back to this almost a year later, and good god, that writing is still amazing. Cedric route just has hit after hit. Relatable struggles fill the whole game, but I wanted to cry at the Cedric leaves ending. It's such a complicated but sweet relationship, it feels like the true end, but there's just such high quality across the board, you can say that about almost any of the endings. (They're all great! Just that some spoiler-y ones like staying with Remus are fairly unlikely. But at the same time, when you go through the route leading up to it, it makes sense y'know? So like from Kieran as a general character/concept, probably not, but for Kieran and co. from that timeline it makes sense?) Idk. I just knew that there was a good reason I kept this downloaded instead of deleted once I finished the main route(s) of the characters I was most interested in. Cedric, as he develops, just feels so real, vulnerable, and just indescribable. I feel their dynamic as best friends who grew up together, the awkwardness of trying to make things work, and how in some routes that awkwardness and tension ultimately remains. It's unfortunate but realistic that Kieran and the whole rest of the gang don't really stay in touch in any of the routes.
I like how the end of Cedric's route even goes into interesting details like how they had lasting trauma after y'know almost dying, something many VNs don't really acknowledge.
Cedric and Kieran's final scene on his route also just hurts. It's sweet and there's some hope, there's some stuff there, but there's also pieces that let the reader decide for themselves if they think anything will come out of all of this. Thematically, perhaps not. But there's that flare of hope, that beacon I simply must reach out towards. Maybe that's just my own remnants of hope for a clean future that saves us. One that Cedric denies exists.
That's one of the interesting things about him, he's constantly changing and you see that especially on his route. He struggles with his own self worth and personhood to an extent and there's just so much there to dig into, it's absolutely amazing.
Almost a year later, and this still holds up fantastically. Hope you're doing well out there wherever you are, despite the not very active Twitter.