I think merula has the most replayability if that makes any sense? like, you could have so many different kinds of relationships between merula and mc. much more so than anyone else. everyone else in the game is either supposed to be likable and supposed to be your friend—or they aren’t. merula isn’t one or the other so it leaves more room to have more dimension and variability with mc’s relationship with her, be it platonic or romantic.
she’s never been one of my personal favorites but i think my liking of her has grown over the years that the game has been out.
she’s kinda hard to write for me :/ there’s just this specific mix of abrasive and desperate for real connections within her personality that i really feel i don’t always do justice.
i think that if you were to look at the game through purely narrative lenses, a romance between the mc and merula is not only most obvious, but it has the most effect on the plot and provides the most to the story.
i know everyone is going around sharing their opinions on the way merula has been written lately so i’m gonna go ahead and say that i don’t like the storyline with her aunt being in R. i certainly think it’s interesting and all but i really want my mc to be friends with merula when everything is said and done and at this point i’m not sure if she’d forgive her so it’s really screwing things up for me narratively speaking