VN Ren'Py Eruption Imminent [v0.5.0] [MorriganRae]

[RC-1138 Boss]

Morrigan Rae
Apr 12, 2024 05:03 pm
Public post

Episode 4 - Progress Report #14
Hey everyone!
I'll make it quick this week since there's not much to report. I've been working on renders... that's it .
Here's the progress:

• Writing: 99%
• Character models: 100%
• Environments: 100%
• Renders: 78%
  • Day 10: 353/353
  • Day 11: 460/460
  • Day 12: 335/335
  • Day 13: 210/600
• Music/Sound: 0%

Estimated release date: May
We're slowwwwly inching closer to the finish line...

❤ Have a nice weekend! ❤

We are close-ish.

 

[MorriganRae]

I can't recall if I have posted my thoughts in here or not, but I figured I'd sit down and type shit out.

Overall, it's a fucking phenomenal game with amazing renders and models, general premise is pretty interesting and makes me want to learn even more about the general world and how things came to be how they are. Ashe is a good MC and followed a fairly realistic trajectory and mindset given the circumstances she's in and what she's been through but she's also not without her flaws (and some parts that I find a bit annoying but I'll dig into that a bit later). Overall I can't wait to see where the story goes and what ends up happening as the start thus far has been fantastic.

Now on to some of the characters and developments that I just didn't really vibe with;
Rachel - There's a lot to say about this one. Supposedly she's grown up with Ashe and they spent basically every single hour together, joint at the hip type deal. Despite all of this, one misstep involving alcohol and all of the fucking sudden dear Rachel is dead set on believing that Ashe basically took advantage of her and refuse to believe otherwise. I find this absolutely fucking insane given their relationship prior to all of that happening, and then she decides to basically throw everything away. The fact that she then comes back and tries to act like nothing happened at all and it took Ashe having a literal fucking meltdown and then more time between them before she agreed to even discuss it. Despite all this, Ashe was the one basically having to bend over backwards in order to get anything moderately solved (which is someone I am annoyed with as Ashe just continually takes fat L's yet has to be the one to initiate an apology/action despite that) and even then it doesn't feel like that conversation actually had any substance. I know that this is complete wishful thinking, but if there's ever going to be even a semblance of relationship again between them of any kind, I fucking hope that Rachel is actually the one taking initiative and giving Ashe the option of following through or not.

Zoey - Just absolutely dislike her as a person. She comes off and feels like a manipulative shit-stirrer who seems like a chekov's gun in plain sight that will explode into absolutely idiotic drama later on. I also don't like how Ashe got roped into fucking that creature, but I know that it's been gone over EXTENSIVELY in the thread and I won't really say any more regarding that.

Isabella - It genuinely takes a lot for me to get annoyed unless specific triggers are met, but Isabella is just so INSUFFERABLY annoying that I want to punch her in the fucking face. I've been around enough people in my life that have zero idea about social clues and behaviour and for some reason still maintains an absurd entitlement and tends to bitch if they get called out. That is what I am getting from her and hoo-boy do I want to yeet her through a window.

There are some characters that I really enjoy thus far and find them coming to the forefront of my mind whenever I think about good characters and interactions in VN's.

Fiona - Just an absolute fucking sweetheart of a human. Supportive of Ashe regardless of what happens and just seems like a rock you can depend on through whatever storms that life may throw at you. She might be a filthy MMORPG raider but she's overall just grounded and has a very laidback look on things which is the perfect foil for Ashe's absolute fucking panic most of the time.

Evelyn - Just a really good mother figure in general, she tries her best and goes above and beyond when she thinks it might help and she's always there for a chat whenever Ashe is all fucked up.

Delilah - An endearing little dork who's got a long way before she starts coming out of her shell properly, but she's getting there and taking her chances to do so, despite it being far outside of her comfort zone at times. Her having a crush on Ashe is pretty cute and she comes off as a very realistically naive girl. Looking forward to seeing her grow.


Now for a bit of an annoyance regarding Ashe; I do realize that this game is primarily gauged towards character growth and that we have to start out somewhere for the mess that is Ashe to unravel a bit, and even though we're "only" at 3 or so updates in, it feels like Ashe still has literally negative agency over her life. Most of the time she doesn't even do something herself but she still ends up in a shit situation, taking an L and having to be the bigger woman and somehow try to fix things without the other party even attempting to take any form of accountability. It's a bit exhausting to have a lot of things happening to Ashe during the last updates yet the only small victory that we had in regards to her growth and potentially finding SOME form of self-value is her being able to tell Vanessa that she was an absolute piece of shit for involving Ashe with that joke of a dinner date.

It's like whatever she does, she just gets hammered and she always has to pick up the pieces regardless. I'm sure it'll change with upcoming updates, but I figured I'd just air my grievances a bit. I have nothing against a character who needs development, in fact it's something I love, but there has to be some wins in between losses, even if it's extremely minor ones (i.e calling out Vanessa) as otherwise it just piles up.

Thanks for the feedback. There are a bunch of valid points here, but I do feel the need to come to Rachel's defense a bit.

I put it in spoilers even though I don't think it's anything new that wasn't revealed in the story yet.

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I won't tell you what to think of Rachel's behavior of course, but I figured I'd put it in a bit of a different light .

 

[Ciaran8023]

Thanks for the feedback. There are a bunch of valid points here, but I do feel the need to come to Rachel's defense a bit.

I put it in spoilers even though I don't think it's anything new that wasn't revealed in the story yet.

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I won't tell you what to think of Rachel's behavior of course, but I figured I'd put it in a bit of a different light .

That's entirely fair, it was a little while ago and I don't have a save at that specific point so I was a bit hesitant at first if I had recalled correctly or if Ashe was playing the unreliable narrator, going back to the scene in question I did forget about the latter part that outlines what you said, but she still reacted in a way where the event in question seemed equally absurd to her (i.e the "what even happened last night?!") and while that might have been entirely focused on the relationship rather than the event, the way it was framed came off as her being mainly fucked up about the event which tapers into the relationship talk.
I really should have taken a bit of time and just speedran the shit out of a new game to get to that scene to refresh my memory.

Regardless though, I still just do not like her, I mean Ashe had to basically have a meltdown for her to actually realize that she probably shouldn't just pretend as if nothing happened in their relationship. This is of coursed biased by my own experiences, but man a relationship without functioning communication just isn't one that can work out, regardless of what kind of relationship it might be.

Thanks for calling me out on that though, just goes to show how unreliable memory can be.

 

[TheLecher]

Regardless though, I still just do not like her, I mean Ashe had to basically have a meltdown for her to actually realize that she probably shouldn't just pretend as if nothing happened in their relationship. This is of coursed biased by my own experiences, but man a relationship without functioning communication just isn't one that can work out, regardless of what kind of relationship it might be.

I was in the middle of writing a multiple paragraph response to your criticism of Rachel, but then Morrigan posted her reply, so I deleted mine. I'll confine myself to just responding to this one point.

It's easy to blame Rachel for not talking to Ashe about things until she melted down, but only if you fail to try to see into Rachel's point of view. You need to remember that the story is told from Ashe's point of view, so you've already been invited by the narrative to feel sympathetic toward her and her feelings of despair about her broken relationship with her twin. But the narrative never invites you to feel sorry for Rachel, and all that she's been suffering for the past year (at least not until the two of them actually talk it out).

Do you really think that Ashe is the only one who has been miserable for a year? Do you think that Ashe is the only one who hasn't known what to do, or how to move forward?

Rachel is just as full of doubts and fears as Ashe is, and you need to remember that Ashe is just as responsible for Rachel's suffering as Rachel is for Ashe's.

It's clear from the narrative that Rachel has not been avoiding a serious talk with Ashe out of carelessness. Her redirecting of the conversation, every time the subject comes up, has clearly been deliberate. But why would you assume that this intentional avoidance of the problem is from a malicious desire to cut Ashe out of her life? Why wouldn't you consider the possibility that Rachel is acting defensively, trying to avoid "the talk" because she's afraid of what it will mean for their relationship.

Remember three things.

1. Rachel has suffered just as much as Ashe.
2. Ashe is just as much to blame as Rachel.
3. Neither one of them has handled the situation well, prior to the big talk.

 

[SerHawkes]

Honestly, both are certainly at fault. Sure, Rachel overracted a bit, and certainly kept trying to push things away rather address it. But similarly Ashe very much didn't both to maybe try and take into some consideration as to Rachels own feelings. She kinda maybe expected Rachel, given their closeness, to be equally feel the same maybe.

For me though, I don't hate really any of the characters, with the naturally exception to Officer Small Dick. Everyone has their flaws and fuck ups and drama. And honestly I would say you can't really put all the blame just all on one character when there is some degree where both parties are kinda a fault.

 

[Ciaran8023]

Honestly, both are certainly at fault. Sure, Rachel overracted a bit, and certainly kept trying to push things away rather address it. But similarly Ashe very much didn't both to maybe try and take into some consideration as to Rachels own feelings. She kinda maybe expected Rachel, given their closeness, to be equally feel the same maybe.

For me though, I don't hate really any of the characters, with the naturally exception to Officer Small Dick. Everyone has their flaws and fuck ups and drama. And honestly I would say you can't really put all the blame just all on one character when there is some degree where both parties are kinda a fault.

I don't think anyone is saying that any one character has all the blame, we're arguing about how much blame/accountability lies within each character. I'm fairly firmly in the Ashe 30/70 Rachel camp but I digress.

Also, Officer Small Dick? I'm guessing it's that officer that got handsy with Ashe right?
I almost forgot she was a character actually.

 

[SerHawkes]

Also, Officer Small Dick? I'm guessing it's that officer that got handsy with Ashe right?

The one and only.

 

[smut]

I'm still a bit on the fence on Rachel, but that's probably just because the plot hasn't played out yet. She's family and (formerly) the closest person to Ashe, so I'm pretty much counting on it working out in one way or another. I'm more excited for other characters right now, but that's because we've gotten closer to them, like Fiona.

As for people disliking Isabella, I'm quite convinced this is on purpose. Rachel already dropped a big hint about Isabella being a better person that Ashe's impression of her. I'm not sure quite how, because I've taken a strong dislike to her as well, but that could be quite intentional from MR. My main theories is that either she was supportive and a good friend of Rachel earlier, or that she had a genuine crush on Ashe and only Rachel knew.

 

[Izakiya]

I hope there will be a path for Ashe to get over Rachel, so that Ashe can move on with someone else. I'd much rather have Ashe with her Mom or Fiona.

 

[Dessolos]

I hope there will be a path for Ashe to get over Rachel, so that Ashe can move on with someone else. I'd much rather have Ashe with her Mom or Fiona.

Vanessa for me tho I will say I do like Rachael a bit more than Vanessa atm but still rather Ashe just have a wholesome relationship with her sister and not a sexual one, at least for my main save.

 

[Birdnman993]

I hope there will be a path for Ashe to get over Rachel, so that Ashe can move on with someone else. I'd much rather have Ashe with her Mom or Fiona.

All the talk about Rachel has left me even more eager for the episode to come out, I'm with you Ashe should get over that crush on her sister now, she spent a whole year eating her brain instead of establishing a relationship with someone else, be it Fiona or Delilah.

Ashe still needs to develop as a person and I can't wait to see how she gains confidence in herself and can realize her crazy fantasies.

 

[SerHawkes]

or Delilah....

 

[TheLecher]

As for people disliking Isabella, I'm quite convinced this is on purpose. Rachel already dropped a big hint about Isabella being a better person that Ashe's impression of her. I'm not sure quite how, because I've taken a strong dislike to her as well, but that could be quite intentional from MR. My main theories is that either she was supportive and a good friend of Rachel earlier, or that she had a genuine crush on Ashe and only Rachel knew.

I've said it in this thread before, but I'll say it again. I trust Rachel's judgement of Isabella's character.

I agree with you that Morrigan has intentionally only shown us Ashe's perspective on Isabella's behavior, and so we've gotten a slanted view, thus far. But even given the one-sided picture we've been shown, I rather like the character. She's not one of my five favorites, but she's not my least favorite, either.

I hope there will be a path for Ashe to get over Rachel, so that Ashe can move on with someone else. I'd much rather have Ashe with her Mom or Fiona.

Given that "harem" is one of the planned tags for the game, I don't think that it will be necessary for Ashe to move on from Rachel in order to be with someone else. I think that she'll be able to do both at once.

 

[Izakiya]

Given that "harem" is one of the planned tags for the game, I don't think that it will be necessary for Ashe to move on from Rachel in order to be with someone else. I think that she'll be able to do both at once.

I don't want to do both at once. I want the chance to reject Rachel and have something platonic instead. I dislike Rachel for a multitude of reason, far too much to want anything sexual with her.

I'm with you Ashe should get over that crush on her sister now, she spent a whole year eating her brain instead of establishing a relationship with someone else, be it Fiona or Delilah.

Yeah, it'd be nice to be able to choose if Ashe is ready to move on or wants to confirm her feelings for Rachel. The way the dev writes gives me confidence that he could make both options fulfilling.

 

[Mihawkgod]

Lol i will chip in and say y'all gotta remember that Ashe and Rachel are young as fuck(i don't remember their age). Dealing with this kind insane stuff with dismissive or breakdown behavior is normal for young folk as they still are learning. While both of them are at fault for that night, we gotta give the story time to develop and i have faith morrigan will bring it full circle in a satisfactory way.

also, to Lecher; Rachel will always come off as the 'wrong' one cause this story is ashe's. While i am sympathetic of Rachel, i have 0 investment/want for that character. For me she and ashe have had their peace, if she becomes a non character i wouldn't care. Ashe is the mc and i will care for her far more lol. This is applicable to most players i think.

 

[Dessolos]

While i am sympathetic of Rachel, i have 0 investment/want for that character. For me she and ashe have had their peace, if she becomes a non character i wouldn't care. Ashe is the mc and i will care for her far more lol. This is applicable to most players i think.

Rachel is a weird case for me she is my favorite yet i much rather them get over their issues and have a wholesome relationship. As I really like Rachael as a character and her story but not sure how I would like her as a LI. My pick would be Vanessa for a romantic relationship.

 

[RC-1138 Boss]

Thanks for the feedback. There are a bunch of valid points here, but I do feel the need to come to Rachel's defense a bit.

I put it in spoilers even though I don't think it's anything new that wasn't revealed in the story yet.

Spoiler

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I won't tell you what to think of Rachel's behavior of course, but I figured I'd put it in a bit of a different light .

That is more or less what i had imagined. Both are immature and reacted badly to their "break up".

 

[isekaitree]

I personally really like Fiona but that's a given since I am biased to futa on futa action but I enjoy almost all of the characters in this one I think the only one I dislike is the dumb muscle futa that is the gf of the sisters friend she's so douchy can't stand her.

 

[MadfireMonkey]

I personally really like Fiona but that's a given since I am biased to futa on futa action but I enjoy almost all of the characters in this one I think the only one I dislike is the dumb muscle futa that is the gf of the sisters friend she's so douchy can't stand her.

Gotta stay ALPHA bro

 

[DarkLurker12]

I honestly felt Rachel was pretty justified for freaking out about waking up to the realisation that their own sibling is not only willing to take sexual advantage of their drunken state, but that she shows little remorse for it (as Ashe says that thou it's wrong, it's ok because of her one-sided love).

Especially compounded with the fact they were going to be spending a year alone together in foreign lands. I'm not a woman but I'm pretty sure nobody can stomach the idea of being that issolated with your potencial assailant, let alone for that long. A freak-out after such a breach of trust is a normal response last I checked. To dismiss Ashe's notions of love rather then calmly try to reason with your percieved attacker that "incest is wrong 'mkay" is in this case a valid if volatile response. Can't go giving her hope by letting her down gently.