VN Ren'Py Getting Intimate [Ch.2 Part B] [MangoWorks]

[Quetzzz]

His obsession with Lily seems odd thought. Ok so she was a friend some years ago and they lost contact...why is that such an huge thing. I get regretting past decisions and wanting contact again if she was important to him at some point, but this way over the top.

Yeah... And to be honest, the whole ghosting thing and deleting her social media almost seems like an afterthought. As if the dev felt the need to explain why the MC couldn't just pick up his phone. And, sure, these are valid questions to ask and answer... But the way this story goes about it makes it look as if it's written episode per episode without an outline. Ideally, this kind of information would be seeded throughout the story instead.

To your point, I agree with you that it's over the top. I can see the MC being obsessed with her as a way to get back something from his past after losing his mother... But we've not seen any sign of that so far. We've also not been told or shown how Lily impacted his life for him to put her on this pedestal... Most people would move on after an old friend ghosts them, regardless of promises made as a young teenager.

 

[Quetzzz]

I'm behind on updates but honestly I can understand his obsession because of the painting he saw was of his last moment he was with Lilly. Now if it turns out the painter wasn't Lilly well my bad im behind on updates.

That's a good point, but even then, his reaction to seeing the painting is over the top. He _only_ reacts that way because of his obsession with her.
A few spoilers about the painting:
The painting was submitted anonymously by a 3rd party, so his search led to a dead end. However, at the ending of the current content, the teacher contacts the MC about having the phone number of this 3rd party.

 

[Raziel_8]

I'm behind on updates but honestly I can understand his obsession because of the painting he saw was of his last moment he was with Lilly. Now if it turns out the painter wasn't Lilly well my bad im behind on updates. But to me that would justification to be a little obsessed. But yeah without that then id agree just move on nothing you can do but hold onto hope you will reconnect one day.

Yeah, as i said, i understand that wants to be back in contact, completely understandable.
But he is more than just a bit obsessed with her this ep and blames himself for it, his biggest regret etc.
Yet they just seem to have slowly lost contact over time, until it ended at one point, which seems pretty normal.
We also don't know why she is so important to him, she must have made a huge impact on him as a young girl.
Alltogether seems like a pretty over the top reaction considering he saw her last as he was a young kid.
(He is 23y old, the last time he saw Lilly was 9 years back, arround 5 years since they have no contact at all)

Then there is as Quetzzz said the ''ghosting'', she just changed her phone number, deleted all her social media arround 5 years ago and apparently didn't try to contact the MC.
Her only remaining massage being ''I'm tired...'' and the MC saying some things like ''I think my mind is trying to erase those memories as hard as it can'', has problems remembering her looks, how they met etc.

 

[balboa2151]

Yeah... And to be honest, the whole ghosting thing and deleting her social media almost seems like an afterthought. As if the dev felt the need to explain why the MC couldn't just pick up his phone. And, sure, these are valid questions to ask and answer... But the way this story goes about it makes it look as if it's written episode per episode without an outline. Ideally, this kind of information would be seeded throughout the story instead.

To your point, I agree with you that it's over the top. I can see the MC being obsessed with her as a way to get back something from his past after losing his mother... But we've not seen any sign of that so far. We've also not been told or shown how Lily impacted his life for him to put her on this pedestal... Most people would move on after an old friend ghosts them, regardless of promises made as a young teenager.

that's exactly what I meant as well...MC is soooo obsessed with Lily he's loosing opportunities to create relationships with all the beautiful women around him....and also you mentioned Val's roommate, it's obvious that she's infatuated with the MC but she has to beg him for intimacy...his character is kinda turning me off a little!!!

 

[Quetzzz]

it's obvious that she's infatuated with the MC but she has to beg him for intimacy...his character is kinda turning me off a little!!!

I only had the first encounter with her (on accident because I didn't understand the context of "play along"), then when the 3rd one came around, it didn't make a lot of sense for them to have this conversation. It was very clear that something else should have happened in between, which is how I discovered their 2nd encounter after checking the code.
As for this 3rd encounter, what I got from that is that she uses sex as a coping mechanism for stress, and that she doesn't think it's healthy. In a way, she was begging the MC to reject her because she was too horny to refuse him.

As a narrative, I don't dislike this... As long as it leads to something interesting. In this case, I don't know what that's going to be, since she's set to leave the city.
What would be interesting if this ended up being a decision that determines how she relates to the MC. Maybe the MC forgoing sexual gratification now could lead into a more romantic relationship later. And the reverse, with a future relationship that's more casual, physical and lust-driven if he doesn't refuse her.

 

[Raziel_8]

I only had the first encounter with her (on accident because I didn't understand the context of "play along"), then when the 3rd one came around, it didn't make a lot of sense for them to have this conversation. It was very clear that something else should have happened in between, which is how I discovered their 2nd encounter after checking the code.
As for this 3rd encounter, what I got from that is that she uses sex as a coping mechanism for stress, and that she doesn't think it's healthy. In a way, she was begging the MC to reject her because she was too horny to refuse him.

As a narrative, I don't dislike this... As long as it leads to something interesting. In this case, I don't know what that's going to be, since she's set to leave the city.
What would be interesting if this ended up being a decision that determines how she relates to the MC. Maybe the MC forgoing sexual gratification now could lead into a more romantic relationship later. And the reverse, with a future relationship that's more casual, physical and lust-driven if he doesn't refuse her.

What didn't make much sense was MC's reaction to her thought. Like girl you just want sex, did you call just for that etc.
Yet the MC had zero problems the previous 2 times.
It feels scene/MC's reaction is written like he rejected her several times already and is getting feed up, his reaction didn't really fit a MC which had already fun with her 2 times, without any complains.

But yeah, it feels odd that she sees her dealing with sex is not healthy and having this whole conversation, which is a large step for her. Only to end up with ''Hey, how about a good fuck for the road?''.

 

[JenMistress]

Are you trying to seduce me, Mrs. Robinson, I mean Ms. Oliveira? Sorry, couldn't resist The Graduate reference there.

 

[Aurelius Ambrosius]

I think he meant, "Why are you ONLY partially naked?"

 

[Quetzzz]

What didn't make much sense was MC's reaction to her thought. Like girl you just want sex, did you call just for that etc.
Yet the MC had zero problems the previous 2 times.

Yeah, exactly. And if you missed the 2nd time, then this reaction really comes out of nowhere. These are signs that the MC is written for the scene, instead of the MC's personality guiding how the scene gets written and plays out. And why we have an inconsistent MC.
Though, I want to nuance this a bit... From context it looks like she called the MC over with the excuse that Val needed to speak with him. But... we never saw that text or call, so it's anyone's guess what was actually said. But, unless she made it sound like a real emergency, his reaction is still over the top.

The difference between:
"What the hell... You said it was an emergency, but now she's not even home? Did you just lure me here to fuck?"
And:
"Sweety, if you wanted to fuck, you could've just said so... You don't need excuses for me wanting to see you."

 

[LinkBox88]

This game keeps re-using the same dynamic of having a character make a bad first impression followed by the MC having to look or get past that in order to build up a relationship. It's A LOT of the first interactions with a character:

1. The landlady that missed your mom's funeral
2. Beth stealing your phone and acting self-important
3. Stella being a spoiled whiner
4. Satoshi selling his sister's panties
5. Sex addict jumping you immediately when you meet.
6. The principal making you jump through hoops just for her to be of no help.

My problem with this dynamic is that in most cases we don't have any goodwill built up with those characters, so there's really no good reason to salvage a relationship that doesn't really exist yet. If a stranger comes into my life acting like an asshole, it isn't even a matter of whether I forgive them or not. I would just avoid them going forward, whether I keep resenting them or not. You don't make the effort to work things out with people that don't mean anything to you yet.

Also, when so many characters act the same like that. It starts feeling like it isn't really their own personal characteristics as much as it's just a pattern/tendency that the writer keeps abusing.

 

[-CookieMonster666-]

I'm a little confused. Does Satoshi's room smell like a goblin toilet or a unicorn orgy? Maybe it smells like unicorns had an orgy right next to a goblin toilet?

 

[-CookieMonster666-]

I am getting the same error several times in the same scene.

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Until this gets fixed in a patch or later release, you have a few options to fix it. I'll mention a few of them below.

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With any of the above, you shouldn't have the error anymore. I think that variable probably didn't exist in an older version of the game, so it's probable starting over would have avoided it. Still, it's often much easier just to add / modify a variable than to begin all over again.

 

[Quetzzz]

so it's probable starting over would have avoided it

In my case, I started from scratch and got that error. The variable never gets defaulted and only gets set if you're patient with her at the store. (which I wasn't)

 

[-CookieMonster666-]

In my case, I started from scratch and got that error. The variable never gets defaulted and only gets set if you're patient with her at the store. (which I wasn't)

Interesting. I wonder if it used to be in the game, then, and got removed. If that's the case, either it was accidentally removed, or the references to it were missed and ofc should've been yanked.

Thank you for your reply. I was just reporting the error, it's a freshly started game. I use URM so I could continue, but I didn't want to change the variable, because I don't want anything with Stella.

Well, that's why I had mentioned True or False in the steps. If the variable had not existed, you would add it and then choose whichever value you want. Glad URM worked for you.

 

[Crimsonfiend76]

This game keeps re-using the same dynamic of having a character make a bad first impression followed by the MC having to look or get past that in order to build up a relationship. It's A LOT of the first interactions with a character:

1. The landlady that missed your mom's funeral
2. Beth stealing your phone and acting self-important
3. Stella being a spoiled whiner
4. Satoshi selling his sister's panties
5. Sex addict jumping you immediately when you meet.
6. The principal making you jump through hoops just for her to be of no help.

My problem with this dynamic is that in most cases we don't have any goodwill built up with those characters, so there's really no good reason to salvage a relationship that doesn't really exist yet. If a stranger comes into my life acting like an asshole, it isn't even a matter of whether I forgive them or not. I would just avoid them going forward, whether I keep resenting them or not. You don't make the effort to work things out with people that don't mean anything to you yet.

Also, when so many characters act the same like that. It starts feeling like it isn't really their own personal characteristics as much as it's just a pattern/tendency that the writer keeps abusing.

I00% agree, and it's tiring, my gut reaction is to ignore them... well maybe not our landlady, but everyone else literally made me reject them when first introduced. I had to remind myself it's just an AVN and change my mind later since I'm sure it will all payoff in the future... I just don't like this constant cycle of meeting people with shitty first impressions.

 

[Quetzzz]

well maybe not our landlady

Right, but at least there is a show of goodwill from the landlady. She invited us to stay at her place, something the MC says he desperately needed for his mental health. That she couldn't avail herself for the funeral probably hurt her more than the MC, since she was such good friends with his mom.

 

[Crimsonfiend76]

Right, but at least there is a show of goodwill from the landlady. She invited us to stay at her place, something the MC says he desperately needed for his mental health. That she couldn't avail herself for the funeral probably hurt her more than the MC, since she was such good friends with his mom.

Yeah she was sincere enough, and I bought that she not only lived far away, but she couldn't get the time off from work no matter how much it hurt her and she wanted to be there. She was the only one who started off a little questionable, but was willing to overlook it, everyone else though always starts off on the wrong foot with the MC.

 

[Quetzzz]

everyone else though always starts off on the wrong foot with the MC.

Yeah, couldn't agree more.
Just like the "mystery boxes", the dev has taken inspiration on how to create hooks and build suspense... But used these elements in the wrong ways.

Like you said, it's WAY more interesting to have a good first impression, to then discover some red flags and work them out, than to be hit in the face with the red flags. I think I said this a while back as well; when the only reason to continue a conversation with an LI is "for the lewd", then the story and narrative failed.

 

[DevinHesi]

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[JenMistress]

Well, before, I ran into the Free Roam during the time when I had a bunch of games on the Games to Play List, and kinda went into panic mood, and set it aside. Guess kinda like Stella, I jumped to conclusions, because turned out, the Free Roam, though I still prefer without it, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. This time, luckily, the long line of games came after I had started to play upon it, and made it more feeling like may as well continue until I got caught up with the Dev. And the Dev I felt found that spot to end the update at where leaving me wanting to see what happens next. Kinda a tricky thing to do at times, so hats off to the Dev for that one. Anyways, enjoyed the game and looking forward for more. Thank you so very much for this!!!