VN Ren'Py Onhold Hillside [v0.15 First Half] [DarkBlue]

[WCKD_FOX]

Even if Carter is a complete idiot, why would he give up his hostage to fight one on one without a gun, to a bodyguard 10 years his junior, and in much better shape.

The simplest answer, however unsatisfactory it may be, is that:

1. The confrontation was deeply personal.
2. If Carter fails, his life is forfeit.
3. Carter may be unhinged, psychotic as alluded to by other members of the Hillside Cartel.
4. His ire is focused only on MC, Emma never mattered.

I agree, it's personal. When he still held Emma, he said (well shout) that MC and "mommy" will have to see her die, like he did. He's obviously speaking about first Emma. He did everything he could to bring back MC to Hillside, make him protect a young girl named Emma and see him fall.
It's personal, and because of that, he's loosing it. He has been patient during the last couple of months, put a mask on his face and play the perfect cop. Now, he's in some king of madness. He's angry. And like everyone in that state, he took the bad decision.

 

[TheCrimsonRevenger]

The simplest answer, however unsatisfactory it may be, is that:

1. The confrontation was deeply personal.
2. If Carter fails, his life is forfeit.
3. Carter may be unhinged, psychotic as alluded to by other members of the Hillside Cartel.
4. His ire is focused only on MC, Emma never mattered.

Pretty much this. But there is still one big flaw in Carter's plan.

Carter was basically cray-cray. Probably a high-functioning Psychopath or Sociopath(the 'high functioning' part being why he could pass as a normie for most of his life) who obsessively fixated on Original Emma...and when she died he fixated on the MC as the cause.

That fixation and blame slowly ate the high functionality right the eff out of his 'path'. lol

Alot of people think "Ex Military" is some sort of epic Trump. I know several Ex-Military guys who can't fist fight for shit. Some who even saw combat.

In fact, take a random cop and a random soldier and I think you have better odds of the cop being the superior hand-to-hand fighter for the simple fact Cops are generally trained to subdue targets with minimal needed force and soldiers are generally trained to turn the spouses and children of their targets into widows and orphans with more dakka.

Okay, i'm over-simplifying. But I never pass up any excuse, no matter how flimsy, to drop a 'more dakka'.

Carter was trained and armed. And Socio/psychopaths tend to be arrogant and narcissistic. And he pretty much had tunnel vision for the MC. So I can accept the notion of Carter deciding to end things up close and personal and thinking he could win despite the MC's special forces background

What I CAN'T see is why he did not force MC to watch him slit Emma's throat first before moving in to engage. His whole plan was meant to inflict maximum possible emotional pain on MC. Well, that would have done it. And he has to kill both ladies anyway since they are witnesses.

Maybe his psychosis was so far gone that once he actually had the MC in his sights and no longer had to maintain appearances, he truly stopped caring about anything and anyone else. It's a stretch, but it's all I got.

 

[Derpyshanks]

What I CAN'T see is why he did not force MC to watch him slit Emma's throat first before moving in to engage. His whole plan was meant to inflict maximum possible emotional pain on MC. Well, that would have done it. And he has to kill both ladies anyway since they are witnesses.

Maybe his psychosis was so far gone that once he actually had the MC in his sights and no longer had to maintain appearances, he truly stopped caring about anything and anyone else. It's a stretch, but it's all I got.

MC said the only thing preventing him from shooting Carter was Emma's life. Kill her, MC immediately shoots Carter in the Head. Not quite the revenge he was after if Carter went this route.

He lets her go in exchange to have a go at MC w/o the gun(At least in my eyes)

 

[NewTricks]

As always, anytime there is an update to Hillside it is a great day.

It seems like things are speeding up. I am getting the sense that the dev is trying to wrap things up quickly, unfortunately, though I would love things to go on another year in real time!

Charlotte seems to be heating up fast for the MC which is a bit of a surprise. She seemed the slowest of slow burns.

Is Emma even an option, do you all think? It seems she thinks of the MC solely as a father figure, not as a romantic interest for herself. Plus, not sure the MC would even go with it if she changed her mind.

Poor Zac. He is reprehensible for sure, but I would have preferred an end where he was kicked to the curb by Emma, but he was still alive. But I'll take it.

I loved, loved, the scene with Lucy. Whew, she is hot as hell, and I like her personality a lot better than Charlotte. Sure, she doesn't have quite the supermodel look, but she is quite beautiful. And that outfit. Yum.

The scene with Carter was a shit-show, in my opinion. Even if Carter is a complete idiot, why would he give up his hostage to fight one on one without a gun, to a bodyguard 10 years his junior, and in much better shape. I can only assume he was massively drugged, though it wasn't hinted in the game. This was the weakest part of the update in my opinion, and seemed extremely rushed. I hope the dev has a solid plan for gracefully finishing the story, without shortchanging the characters.

If you are reading Darkblue, don't pull a Freeloading Family and just end it quickly. Don't feel pressure to update at any interval other than what works for you. Take your time, let's enjoy ourselves with the characters, no need to end it in a few more updates, unless you just hate working on it. The fans want Hillside to continue!

Carter's decision to have a knife vs fistfight with the MC is never going to make sense to us because he was an irrational man doing irrational things for irrational reasons in an irrational manner. The leaps of logic and flights of fancy inherent in his ridiculous plan of "revenge" managed to be both juvenile in their simplicity and Byzantine in their complexity. He probably didn't care about his own life any more than he cared about the lives he was trying to ruin. What remains to be seen is if this absurd ending to an absurd plan will serve the story in a meaningful way going forward.

 

[Derpyshanks]

Carter's decision to have a knife vs fistfight with the MC is never going to make sense to us because he was an irrational man doing irrational things for irrational reasons in an irrational manner. The leaps of logic and flights of fancy inherent in his ridiculous plan of "revenge" managed to be both juvenile in their simplicity and Byzantine in their complexity. He probably didn't care about his own life any more than he cared about the lives he was trying to ruin. What remains to be seen is if this absurd ending to an absurd plan will serve the story in a meaningful way going forward.

Honestly, Carter purpose at the moment to me was to serve as a McGuffin to convert Emma into a love interest for MC in future chapters.

 

[Havik79]

Not to mention an excuse, now Emma is safe, we can finely get to work on making Kaylah a yummy mummy.

 

[Ottoeight]

Carter's decision to have a knife vs fistfight with the MC is never going to make sense to us because he was an irrational man doing irrational things for irrational reasons in an irrational manner. The leaps of logic and flights of fancy inherent in his ridiculous plan of "revenge" managed to be both juvenile in their simplicity and Byzantine in their complexity. He probably didn't care about his own life any more than he cared about the lives he was trying to ruin. What remains to be seen is if this absurd ending to an absurd plan will serve the story in a meaningful way going forward.

We might think that Carter didn't use a gun because his only weapon was his registered police's gun. Disposing of a knife might be an easier matter.

Anyway, the real reason is: the Author decided that butchering Zak with a knife - instead of shooting him - was better. We agree with him.

Yeah, he gutted him.

 

[Ottoeight]

Not to mention an excuse, now Emma is safe, we can finely get to work on making Kaylah a yummy mummy.

Please, don't forget Charlotte's fine ass.

 

[NewTricks]

We might think that Carter didn't use a gun because his only weapon was his registered police's gun. Disposing of a knife might be an easier matter.

Anyway, the real reason is: the Author decided that butchering Zak with a knife - instead of shooting him - was better. We agree with him.

Yeah, he gutted him.

Ah, it is admittedly a possibility but I am hesitant to give Carter that much credit or make any such assumptions regarding his lucidity. Plus, I'm sure that every cop as fucking dirty as him has a throwaway gun on him at all times. Then again, maybe not because he's a fucking nutcase. The stabbing of Zac was two thumbs up, though.

 

[TheCrimsonRevenger]

MC said the only thing preventing him from shooting Carter was Emma's life. Kill her, MC immediately shoots Carter in the Head. Not quite the revenge he was after if Carter went this route.

He lets her go in exchange to have a go at MC w/o the gun(At least in my eyes)

Must have missed that. That explains it. Carter wanted to live to enjoy his victory and figured he had a better chance of winning Knife Vs Fist than he had of winning Gun Vs Gun. Not an unreasonable assumption.

 

[jish55]

1. lucy tries to tempt mc

Won't be much trying anymore for those of us on the Lucy path, especially since it's essentially a guarantee mc and Lucy will be hooking up in the next update.

 

[Smarmint]

Thanks all for the explanations. I guess the consensus is Carter was crazed out of his mind, and acting irrationally, and B it is needed by the script to wrap up all the impediments to the MC getting what he really wants, all in a single fast-moving scene.

Here's a great big FUCK YOU, for the cliff hanger.

It could have been a lot worse. Imagine the rage if the update ended with Emma and Zac holding hands and/or kissing in the movie theater, haha.

 

[JGoat]

Didn't see any harem tags, so I'm assuming I have to choose a LI path in the dialogue choices. Can any1 confirm?

 

[UncleFredo]

Didn't see any harem tags, so I'm assuming I have to choose a LI path in the dialogue choices. Can any1 confirm?

No harem. Exactly when you have to choose may not be apparent, but at some point your choice will be required.

 

[BeingADikDik]

No harem. Exactly when you have to choose may not be apparent, but at some point your choice will be required.

It seems like the only choices will be Charlotte, Lucy, Kaylah, or no one. Emma thinks of MC as 'daddy' and Suzi is a lesbian.

 

[D9074]

Here's a great big FUCK YOU, for the cliff hanger.

at least he didnt end up with either emma getting chased or being held up by a knife once they pulled up

 

[UncleFredo]

It seems like the only choices will be Charlotte, Lucy, Kaylah, or no one. Emma thinks of MC as 'daddy' and Suzi is a lesbian.

You may be right about Susi, but the jury is far from in. As for Emma, she may have thought of the MC as daddy yesterday, but with Zak dead and the MC as her savior who knows how she'll think of him tomorrow? DB has maintained that Emma and Susi are LIs, so we just get to wait and see what develops.

 

[Raminita]

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Pinup set for May.

 

[NewTricks]

I've been giving some thought to Suzi as a love interest. I'm not sure how I feel about it. There is something to be said for winning the heart of a disdainful lady. There is something like an Arthurian romance aspect to it. The protagonist, after all, fits that knight in shining armor model. But this story is already Charlie's story, and that has actually made significant progress. It is a better fit. So what would Suzi's story be? Why would Suzi fall for MC, and other than his admiration of her body what would MC see in her that would induce him to forgo potential happiness with Charlie, Lucy, Kayla... heck, it would probably even break the heart of Emma if her sister did it with her father figure. Unless the story and both of their attitudes change dramatically over the next couple of chapters and they are given some kind of bonding activity other than yelling at each other over the phone I just don't see that love story going anywhere.

Maybe it is just that at this point the relationship is stuck in a perpetual hamster wheel that I don't see it going anywhere. Even if the gods intervene so that they both slip on a banana peel and his dick accidentally goes into her vagina I just don't see anything other than perhaps temporary physical gratification ensuing. Some others have indicated that there is some evidence that Suzi may be a lesbian, which makes a potential love match even more unpalatable. It is a VN trope that the MC's dick is so magical that it can change a girl's sexual orientation, but I've never been a fan of that one and I think that the writer can do better. The scene with the roommate sending the nude to MC is a typical example of what is frustrating about the story so far. The roommate's motivation makes no sense other than her being a total agent of anarchy. Suzi is angry at the wrong person about the wrong thing as usual, and the MC is simply bemused instead of authentically interested.

So where the fuck is all this going? Nowhere, apparently. Maybe Suzi will be the only one to visit MC in jail because she is the only one who appreciates MC giving Carter the General Zod chiropractic adjustment treatment. Stranger things have happened, but more likely she would spend the entire visit pecking away at him like a chicken with pellagra. So as a reader, why are we to root for a relationship between MC and Princess Vespa? Something in the story needs to change, and change fast, because she is supposed to be a main love interest and she comes off like human sandpaper while the MC just kind of looks at her like a graphical representation of everything he doesn't want in a woman.

 

[Bendover885]

the General Zod chiropractic adjustment treatment

I thought of that exact scene too. Not sure MC will regret it like Supes did, but it was the right call in the moment all things considered.