Hm that's an interesting take. Lacey's got an 8/10 from me too, but for very different reasons. I want to unleash the slut she created as a coping mechanism during college. But this time while I'm holding her hand. The fact that she could potentially be manipulated into enjoying slutty meaningless sex by twisting her trauma into a form of depraved lust makes my Sith senses tingle. The fact that she wants to tackle the issue only makes it more fun
MC has its strong moments, like the way he dealt with figures from Lacey's past but he's still a pussyboi who gets triggered by the mere mention of words like 'not the first' and 'big black cockatoo' which only makes him an easy target for cucking. But perhaps the developer will allow us to change MC's personality a bit with choices in the future, perhaps I can change him into me a bit more
EDIT: Only thing that irks me a bit is that Lacey's face looks like a 10 year old's while her tits look like an 18 year old and her pussy like... Know what, never mind
I said it before, the paths in act 2 suck ass, especially the no_fun one.
That is probably what you are looking for, I don't know how many good guy points you will need, but it was heavily hinted that this should be possible.
Lacey will not like it, I don't even want to get into the argument, if you played all the choices you would agree, there are also clear indications in some act 2 dialogues, but MC should be able to force and manipulate her into what you're suggesting.
I wanted to see this version of MC.
Those were probably the weakest moments from MC, I mean I understand you're a sith lord and all, but like many others fail to be empathic towards a victim or to understand obsessive love (which both Lacey and MC have).
There was a chain of abuse here Parents abused Lacey, Lacey abused MC.
She turned his "True compassion" into a twisted version full of servilism and self sacrifice.
As
redoubt27 said, you have to give some rope to Lacey when she was a kid, she was on full survival mode.
But after? When she had all the chances to be free?
There is one thing that is more of a creeping realization than anything else.
The more we go on the more we discover that Lacey wasn't always so desperate during junior year, she might have been like that SOMETIMES, but Junior year was actually fun:
Carnivals, raves, weekends with her BFs, doing silly and fun sex things not only the "omg they sucked and it hurt" stuff..
It is not only about being first, sure that is a component, it is the concept that the woman you love will never be yours truly, it is just your turn and you were last in line, not only physically but emotionally too.
But also, that the woman you love is not the woman you love but someone else wearing her face, using her voice but she's not her.
Living with the constant reminder that you were not enough then and you probably are not enough now.
A constant reminder that she could leave you again.
Granted, the last two points are not true, but this is how an abused and abandoned victim might feel.
There is much more to say here, and I don't like MC, I don't like passive men, I don't like people wallowing.
I've seen street kids prostituting themselves in areas destroyed by war, if they came to the shelter not smelling like dogshit it meant that someone gave them a bath before fucking them but the kids would still go on, would still play.
So my tolerance for weak ass attitude like MC's is LOW.
Yet if you have any compassion or empathy you cannot discard his feelings entirely with a "get over it man".
What MC went through is bad, more than many of us are willing to admit or accept.
I agree with most of what you're saying, but what I've said above kinda clashes with your depiction of MC.
You are now blaming MC, another victim of the situation, asking a prebubescent boy to act like a grown man with everything figured out.
He was a kid and did what a kid could.
"Making her his own project" is a VERY hot take, he lived for her and, if you didn't see it in the game, she made it thanks to him.
She latched and used every drop of his compassion and devotion towards her until there was nothing left of the kid that could have been.
And he willingly gave it all, because he had to help her in any way he could, no matter the consequences to himself.
This is the man that NOW is helping the person he hates the most because he sees him suffering, while swallowing his hate.
Edit: besides, an easy realization is how even Lacey knows how her path was fucked up and how every choice she made barred her from a normal life, normal and happy life that she had at the tip of her fingers.
That everything she went through was completely unneccessary, the harm she exposed herself to was useless and harming for her and for the man she loves.
All the while the man she loved was on the brink, deprived of every ounce of self worth, she took that away.
This is heavy, for both of them.
Edit2: not all her college flings were pieces of shit, Stephen and Lorenzo for example wanted to have a real relationship with her and were oblivious to the drug use.
The rest of the people that fucked her at parties where she was fucked up beyond recognition? scum. (including Isaac)
