VN Ren'Py Abandoned Bitch Squad [v0.4.7] [IcarusLabs]

[Crowangel]

I'm actually on the fence with Annie, at first I was like hell no fuck her, but if she was being basically peer-pressured and gaslighted by her "friends" to separate from the MC, then she is as much as victim as the MC is, and the better "vengeance" for her would be for Annie to realize by herself how shitty the bitch squad is. I'm giving her the benefit of the doubt for now, and depending on how she carries herself in the next episodes will depend on if I carry on with my initial decision of forgiving her. But if she is an unrepentant bitch, then "load save" and kick her out basically.

Its fair to say that NOBODY should be considered 100% outlawed as the true enemy.. if the writing is done correctly and i'm confident it will be.. he has established already the settings that make you hate the characters in the bitch squad on purpose.. that way when anything that actually goes against that given emotion occurs it will 'mess with your mind' deliberatly.. making you doubt what the truth actually is.. are they pure evil.. is something greater really going on.. Its way to early to be saying.. oh they are this.. they are that.. clever storytelling is about decieving the audience.. then again.. i could be wrong.. who knows

 

[BTLD]

Its fair to say that NOBODY should be considered 100% outlawed as the true enemy.. if the writing is done correctly and i'm confident it will be.. he has established already the settings that make you hate the characters in the bitch squad on purpose.. that way when anything that actually goes against that given emotion occurs it will 'mess with your mind' deliberatly.. making you doubt what the truth actually is.. are they pure evil.. is something greater really going on.. Its way to early to be saying.. oh they are this.. they are that.. clever storytelling is about decieving the audience.. then again.. i could be wrong.. who knows

is it clever story telling when you have the MC act differently in a short amount of time?
I don't really see it like that, but then again, maybe that's just me.

 

[keimag]

and here we come back to what I said earlier, portrayal of the MC is usual done in such a way that ... doesn't reflect a human being.

Yeah, that's my issue with the situation... he acts so outside the range of a human being sometimes, it just gives me whiplash and pulls me out of the story.

 

[Deleted member 3208170]

is it clever story telling when you have the MC act differently in a short amount of time?
I don't really see it like that, but then again, maybe that's just me.

People can change pretty fast. Especially after a fresh start.
Experienced it myself. New school, new start. And the mindset that I have to change things.
Not fundamental of course, but for the sake of the story yes I think it is believable.

As an Example: How would you act to Sophia offer? In real life and in a VN.

 

[Simulacrum29]

I'm actually on the fence with Annie, at first I was like hell no fuck her, but if she was being basically peer-pressured and gaslighted by her "friends" to separate from the MC, then she is as much as victim as the MC is, and the better "vengeance" for her would be for Annie to realize by herself how shitty the bitch squad is. I'm giving her the benefit of the doubt for now, and depending on how she carries herself in the next episodes will depend on if I carry on with my initial decision of forgiving her. But if she is an unrepentant bitch, then "load save" and kick her out basically.

But earlier in the cafe she said it was not that bad and MC should get over it. In an earlier Scene, Mc told his friend and/or Amber that he was in the Hospital after one attack of the Jocks because of broken ribs and his "sister" didn't notice a thing, I fucking doubt it.

that way when anything that actually goes against that given emotion occurs it will 'mess with your mind' deliberatly.. making you doubt what the truth actually is.. are they pure evil.. is something greater really going on.

Even if Charlotte's Mother died of cancer and the rest of her family commits suicide because of their broken hearts. She deserves not a single shred of Sympathie. And the others are equally unworthy the story just didn't give me enough ammunition to see how we can hurt them the most.
As the saying goes: "if they were on fire, I wouldn't bother pissing on them."

 

[HentaiKami]

I just finished with the content so far and god damn, am I thankful there was no bullying in high school, my high school at least... the amount of trauma and emotional damage kids can dish out on others is insane.

Anyway, what happened to the MC and the video presentation should have been a boon for him, as far as I'm concerned. He could have used that situation to draw sympathy from the crowd and showcase the bitches in a very bad light, considering the renders show Emma laughing out loud when his pictures show up on screen. That attitude contrasts heavily with Kate's whole speech beforehand so it would have been a figurative slap to the face for them if MC had pointed it out instead of running away like a retard.

An unfortunate fact of life is that bullying appears in some degree in any situation where there is more than handful of humans involved, lots of it just goes below the surface that many notice or want to notice. Even just socially isolating someone is bullying and that happens pretty much everywhere.

 

[hysepReC]

Kate, Charlotte and Emma are 100% beyond redemption in my eyes. Kate is the ringleader and the other two just seem to want to pick up from where they left off in high school (bullying the MC and his friends). They haven't changed one bit.

Now, Sarah and Annie. They are just as guilty as the others but they have at least shown that they want to put the past behind them. Redemption is possible but not before they suffer a similar humiliation to the MC. If they are truly sorry and still want to move on after the MC has put them in their place then i can consider forgiving them.

 

[HentaiKami]

Kate, Charlotte and Emma are 100% beyond redemption in my eyes. Kate is the ringleader and the other two just seem to want to pick up from where they left off in high school (bullying the MC and his friends). They haven't changed one bit.

Now, Sarah and Annie. They are just as guilty as the others but they have at least shown that they want to put the past behind them. Redemption is possible but not before they suffer a similar humiliation to the MC. If they are truly sorry and still want to move on after the MC has put them in their place then i can consider forgiving them.

Putting the past behind them would really require active attempt at making peace and apologising, so far they feel more like they just want to forget it happened and hope that MC and rest of the bullied people will just forget it and be their friend. Honestly i'm actually quite suspicious of Sarah personally, i just get the feeling that she might be one of those people that give the public face of wanting to be everyones friend, but then stab them on their back once they have turned away, never being guilty directly of anything.

 

[Ragnar]

I don't know what plans the dev has but judging by the tags

blackmail, dominance, submission, revenge, public humiliation

the game can be dark.
If the plans are to go full vanilla idk how those tags will work.

 

[hysepReC]

Putting the past behind them would really require active attempt at making peace and apologising, so far they feel more like they just want to forget it happened and hope that MC and rest of the bullied people will just forget it and be their friend. Honestly i'm actually quite suspicious of Sarah personally, i just get the feeling that she might be one of those people that give the public face of wanting to be everyones friend, but then stab them on their back once they have turned away, never being guilty directly of anything.

Agreed, that's why i said they need to show that they are sorry for what happened. Forgiveness is off the table until they separate themselves from the other three and they give the MC a proper apology. They still deserve some payback no matter what, though. If Sarah had any knowledge about the pictures being leaked the second time then she moves into the "100% irredeemable" category.

 

[TejGetLix]

Kate, Charlotte and Emma are 100% beyond redemption in my eyes. Kate is the ringleader and the other two just seem to want to pick up from where they left off in high school (bullying the MC and his friends). They haven't changed one bit.

Now, Sarah and Annie. They are just as guilty as the others but they have at least shown that they want to put the past behind them. Redemption is possible but not before they suffer a similar humiliation to the MC. If they are truly sorry and still want to move on after the MC has put them in their place then i can consider forgiving them.

100% agree

Also dev, just a thought on branching paths. I know the story is about to get a lot more complicated considering the 'bigger things at play' if that's an actual thing that's gonna happen and not just another trick.

But for now maybe have 3 routes

Forgive - no revenge just straight up forgive and forget (pfft please xD)

Revenge - go full scorched earth on the girls, take no names, show no mercy, and most importantly no remorse

Atonement - put them through the ringer, humiliate and manipulate them before making them see the error of their ways and then forgive them... or not

 

[HansDampf788]

and hope the MC will not become a ... retard for the lack of a better word.

Not done yet with the content available but so far he is already a retard.

 

[hysepReC]

Not done yet with the content available but so far he is already a retard.

It's true that (so far) he is a loser that keeps getting humiliated but there are few interactions in the latest update (with Emma and Annie) that show he is capable of growing a spine. I will give the MC a chance to show if he can really step up when it comes to the revenge before i judge him too harshly.

 

[MisterNephilim]

But earlier in the cafe she said it was not that bad and MC should get over it. In an earlier Scene, Mc told his friend and/or Amber that he was in the Hospital after one attack of the Jocks because of broken ribs and his "sister" didn't notice a thing, I fucking doubt it.

If Annie was willfully oblivious, then yes, fuck her, no redemption. If she was gaslighted like a champ by the other girls, then she is a victim too.

 

[Simulacrum29]

If Annie was willfully oblivious, then yes, fuck her, no redemption. If she was gaslighted like a champ by the other girls, then she is a victim too.

I get where you are coming from, but how can you "explain away" broken ribs? The MC was in the hospital and was probably in pain for weeks. How can you make the Sister believe that that didn't happen? Why would the MC lie about that? Willfully obtuse seems like an understatement.

Edit:
I would like to forgive her, but right now her only argument is "she is family" and that doesn't work in her favor.
It makes the whole damn thing worse.

 

[HentaiKami]

Edit:
I would like to forgive her, but right now her only argument is "she is family" and that doesn't work in her favor.
It makes the whole damn thing worse.

Especially considering she is still saying that MC is just playing victim and her friends weren't that bad, then the argument of her being family actually makes it worse.

 

[MisterNephilim]

I get where you are coming from, but how can you "explain away" broken ribs? The MC was in the hospital and was probably in pain for weeks. How can you make the Sister believe that that didn't happen? Why would the MC lie about that? Willfully obtuse seems like an understatement.

Edit:
I would like to forgive her, but right now her only argument is "she is family" and that doesn't work in her favor.
It makes the whole damn thing worse.

IIRC Annie was already separated from MC because their parents separated, and they lost almost all contact during last year of High School, so she might as well didn't know. (I doubt the other bitches would have informed her willingly)

I agree with you that I'm grasping at straws, but I give her the benefit of the doubt more than Sarah and the rest because if you reject her, her reactions of crying and running off seems genuine. So it will all depend on the next episodes, like her realizing how much they did to MC and be actually sorry.

Also, she is the best candidate to have an inside source, as is the only one I can have a sliver of trust due to their previous history as step siblings.

 

[HentaiKami]

IIRC Annie was already separated from MC because their parents separated, and they lost almost all contact during last year of High School, so she might as well didn't know. (I doubt the other bitches would have informed her willingly)

I agree with you that I'm grasping at straws, but I give her the benefit of the doubt more than Sarah and the rest because if you reject her, her reactions of crying and running off seems genuine. So it will all depend on the next episodes, like her realizing how much they did to MC and be actually sorry.

Also, she is the best candidate to have an inside source, as is the only one I can have a sliver of trust due to their previous history as step siblings.

When i was in high school, if someone had to go to hospital and had cracked ribs, that story would have spread around the school really fast. Especially in a school where there is obvious rumour mills at work. And if she really cared about MC, she would have tried to pay attention to any "news" regarding him in school, even during the separation. So yes, she might still care somewhat about him, but until she really proves otherwise, it's obvious that she cares members of the bitch squad way more and is willing to take their side over his, considering the offer she gave to MC was to prove that her friends weren't that bad and MC just perceives them as evil bitches.

Also the fact that she was stepsister of MC for 5 years and they were supposedly close and friendly, it makes her behaviour way more worse. The betrayal of trust is always worst when it comes from those that are your closest people and regaining any trust after that is lot harder than to those that are not so close to you.

So while i accept that there can be redemption story for the members of bitch squad, they will have to do serious work to gain it, including public admission of their wrong doings and apology. No way would i personally accept any private apology, since that could very well be just their way of burying the whole bullying issue under the rug.

 

[MisterNephilim]

When i was in high school, if someone had to go to hospital and had cracked ribs, that story would have spread around the school really fast. Especially in a school where there is obvious rumour mills at work. And if she really cared about MC, she would have tried to pay attention to any "news" regarding him in school, even during the separation. So yes, she might still care somewhat about him, but until she really proves otherwise, it's obvious that she cares members of the bitch squad way more and is willing to take their side over his, considering the offer she gave to MC was to prove that her friends weren't that bad and MC just perceives them as evil bitches.

So while i accept that there can be redemption story for the members of bitch squad, they will have to do serious work to gain it, including public admission of their wrong doings and apology. No way would i personally accept any private apology, since that could very well be just their way of burying the whole bullying issue under the rug.

They way they portray the bitch squad they have comically powerful political powers, and they seem capable of basically gaslight everyone around them. So we can't apply real life logic here, hell, in real life Emma would have been legally fucked by publishing the naked pictures of an underage boy. (or in the case that everyone is at least 18, Revenge porn charges)

And all my, uh, "straw grasping" to somewhat "trust" Annie, relies on the sole hypothetical that she can prove herself to be relievable, and that she was being manipulated in believing that the girls (specially Emma and Charlotte) were good gals. At the first sign of her being a bitch to the MC, I'm loading the save and leave her behind.

 

[IcarusLabs]

They way they portray the bitch squad they have comically powerful political powers, and they seem capable of basically gaslight everyone around them. So we can't apply real life logic here, hell, in real life Emma would have been legally fucked by publishing the naked pictures of an underage boy.

And all my, uh, "straw grasping" to somewhat "trust" Annie, relies on the sole hypothetical that she can prove herself to be relievable, and that she was being manipulated in believing that the girls (specially Emma and Charlotte) were good gals. At the first sign of her being a bitch to the MC, I'm loading the save and leave her behind.

Everyone in the game is 18 years or older. The high school events all happen in their senior year when they are all already 18.