Wow. Great writeup btw. I personally do like that you feel sympathetic to Reunion. It is very easy to write them off as terrorists which a lot of people do. I do hope you keep enjoying the story especially chapter 6.
Story wise, while episode 5 did humanize Ch'en a bit, I'd be hard-press to say that it made me like her more. Her character didn't really change and she still acts the same way that made me dislike her in the first place. That being said I like Swire a lot and feel like they have really good chemistry. I'd ship Ch'en more with her than Hoshi.
Talulah x Ch'en is the superior ship anyway :P and well Swire will have a certain rat for herself
I don't think I said it here, but after hearing opinions defending Reunion and understanding I should be looking at their actions from different perspective, I don't feel Skullshatter and Misha part was as bad as I initially thought. Sure, I still have some issues with it, but I can get behind it more now. That being said, I can't believe it, but game actually made me sympathize with Mephisto. The way he treats other Reunion members is of course atrocious, but it's also hard to entirely condemn him after learning how he got there in the first place. He's completely broken and a shell of a person he used to be. I don't want to say being a victim gives you a free pass on everything, but I at least think it's a bit more complicated than most people would like.
I get you and it is quite nice to see that perspective but I do find Faust more sympathetic and more of the victim here. The guilt of saying such words to Mephisto becoming the catalyst just because he never he really understood his situation. They were both children after all and nothing they could do about it, but the world is just fucked. Sadder still that he took this guilt with him to his death. I do wonder what they'll do with Mephisto now that he's broken.
Blaze is amazing. Also Blaze lifting Amiya is double amazing. Blaze x Amiya is canon and nobody can tell me otherwise.
Sorry. Blaze x Greythroat for me. That one artist is to blame XD
Speaking of which, of course finished ladder in Stories of Afternoon and beat all challenges. Unlocking episode 6 paid off. I think I managed to beat SA-5 without really lvling up anyone, but challenge version gave me a lot of trouble. It finally forced me to lvl up all my operators evenly. I currently try to get everyone I use to lvl 55 and I also started investing in skills, trying to get them to lvl 7. I think I'd still manage to beat normal stages with my underlvl'ed operators, but I don't think i could pull it off for challenge quests, so I'm lvling them now, so I can challenge them without worry. Also I think I'll finally start E2 everyone, but for now I think I'll keep them on lvl 1 and mostly focus on mastering skills.
Did you also read the stories from this event? I think they were heartwarming in contrast to the pretty dark main story.
So... today we finally get the fabled Contingency Contract. Anything I should know or pay attention about it?
Seconding Saria for this. You also have Hoshi so that's nice. It's all about choosing the difficulty appropriate for your team. But no sanity cost here (other than IRL sanity XD) so take your time and no need to rush in. Dailies will be open for the entirety of CC so level up if need be.