This post (and others) got me thinking about Aiden's ability to get Sophia to go further with his tasks. While we do have the comfortable "out" coming up, if Sophia chooses to go along with the blackmail I think it speaks to something:
She's beginning to enjoy it.
For all of the discussion about the last update, I think one conclusion that I've come to is that Day 12 may be remembered as the day that Sophia took a big step forward in her corruption. She's going from a purely passive role to a more active role in her corruption. If you choose for Sophia to continue with Aiden's blackmail, I think we'll gradually see her become more willing. As
hzjujk said, Aiden is just a kid, it doesn't seem possible that he has the abilities to blackmail a grown woman into 12 tasks. But, if Sophia's corruption takes hold like I think it's taking hold, she may become an active participant Aiden's tasks.
Now, that will throw the idea of "blackmail" into doubt, (can you really blackmail a person who's enjoying it?) but it does open up more avenues for the story to continue. If Morello is the #1 driving force behind Sophia's corruption like I think he is, then Aiden could unknowingly become the benefactor as Sophia quickly becomes more compliant.
It could be that for Aiden's next task (or maybe task #4), Sophia actually takes it a little extra step further than he planned. Just as an example, maybe Aiden asks for her to take a picture of her butt for task #3. He thinks that this will be a big step for her, but not one that she's likely to refuse. But Sophia, now more corrupted than Aiden realizes, decides that she'll bend over her desk and take the picture. It's a slight escalation from what Aiden asked for, but it's a significant development that she did it on her own.
My whole point is that, if the tasks are going to continue they're going to continue because she's enjoying it.
It's a fact that you can't blackmail a person who's enjoying it but that Sophia is going to enjoy the tasks, where they carry on, was telegraphed even during the first task. It is true that many women don't wear a bra sometimes, or never wear one. So, this task was indeed mild but I thought it quite realistic for starters & for something which had to occur in class. IMO the writing & renders were very well done. Sophia enjoyed the freedom & coolness BUT with a bust the size she has now she should wear a bra most of the time. Age & gravity will take a toll & in a very short space of time she could be in for back problems with the airbags becoming a liability. L&P is obviously not middle-aged! [nb Health can be a massive concern for anyone but for those over 40....more so, believe me young'uns].
So, Sophia finished task one a little less like a 17th century Puritan & perhaps a bit more daring. So far, so good.
When it came to the second task, again I thought it was a fair next step & the 'accidental' display to the class was very well handled. After all, most of us saw this & more at skool in RL. Where I completely parted company with the writer was in the scene of Sophia discussing the task & carrying out the first part in the classroom. It was as though we'd become isolated in the corner in a parallel dimension. This scene for me, would be the most unrealistic in the game so far, if it wasn't for driving across town to take a shower after you've already had a bath, to wash your hair, which already looks perfect. I've said more elsewhere on this.
There was a positive result with the second task, however, when Sophia decided to accept the floaty sundress as a gift from Alyssa, reasoning that it wasn't much more revealing than the item she'd worn in class AND she wore it correctly, (this time), without a bra. Alyssa's comment about Sophia teaching braless & the reaction to it were also entertaining.
I wasn't really thinking that these mild tasks were childish at this point, (they were but not TOO much) but then things began to get awkward. All the questions & doubts catalogued in previous posts came to the fore. Incidentally, there's no rule that says the tasks all have to be carried out in front of the class, so a career ending discovery or report doesn't have to happen, unless the writer wills it. I suppose it becomes more sinister if anything happens which is not in public. So what, this is a game & we already know there'll be no rape.
Now for potentially controversial personal opinions. I don't like lazy facepalms from immature non-verbal types but if I get some, so be it. Firstly, there's no such thing as enjoyable blackmail from the victim's perspective, unless it has been pre-arranged to a set of rules, which is more like extreme cosplay. Sophia enjoying Aiden's power over her or even becoming an instigator is a huge turn-off for me but I think I see it coming a mile away, no doubt in the interests of some intangible "corruption." When & if it happens, AWAM will take yet another step to becoming just another run-of-the-mill porn game.
Next there's the issue of photographs. Why anyone with even a small amount of control over a beautiful, sophisticated woman, would ask her for the kind of selfies anyone with a computer can find in under 30 seconds, is beyond me. Childish is the nicest description of such unimaginative & frankly boring behaviour. OK, so this is the selfie generation we're talking about but that would be such a waste of the tasks. Again, this has been telegraphed in more than one way, over time. Yes, a picture is worth a thousand words but a real-live woman is something else.
As I've never, at any time, suggested that the task-based corruption could or should be rushed, I was hoping for better. There could have been a continuation of the gradual escalation of what was being demanded. Aiden has a brain, so I'm sure he must have considered the obvious no panties option. Surprising Sophia by not asking for this as a third task but saving it for later sounds like a plan. None of the difficulties to be negotiated by the cast & writer need now be of concern, however, because the Morello brothers are here. It could even turn out that Aiden's hot-shot lawyer Uncle, works a good deal of the time for the Morellos, so a word in the ear would be enough, saving time & renders.
That the tasks are doomed one way or another is a plausible, reasonable conclusion. Enjoyable blackmail, initiative taking MILFs, Mafia threats, photos, compression of events, retro-fitting flashbacks, parallel dimensions......& to think I was enjoying this story-line! Well, at least there's always Alyssa.....several years in the future.