VN Ren'Py Love & Jealousy [Act 2] [Professor Amethyst Games]

[AL.d]

You guys have gone at it for a while now and it is an interesting clash of opinions, I wanted to leave it because I feel like I am getting myself into every conversation but I want to add one or two things.



True, making her husband proud was only a part of it, she enjoyed Jared validation, he was an important person in the company taking an interest in her work (yeah I know).




True but be aware that Lacey has a way more warped way of thinking.
If you play the jealousy date until the last step (it sucks I know) she can't even come without MC telling her to.
In the damian part she is hyperfocused on MC looking at her (sucks even more i know).
So sex and love might be disassociated, but her trigger remains MC every time she cheats.
She would accept the train IF MC asked her to.

But I get it, she might not enjoy it but be willing to do it for her own goals is your point.
I think it is a bit stretched, else why she would think about suicide when Jared asks? She could have just agreed and kept it hidden.



No, please, it was a joke statement to show how much you can push the lines and create your own narrative.
I do NOT think Bella orchestrated the whole thing, we have NO indication in game that this is happening.

She did suspect Jared tho, I can't recall exactly but I think she was suspicious.

As for the why she didn't kick him out, Bella gives a small explanation, that it is hard to let go of him.
After so many years together it is not a stretch, I've seen worse, I have seen MC and Lacey.

+ narratively the author can use this as a power fantasy if he is kept around, like he already did.

The suicide thing was an instinctive reaction to her being threatened with prison time. Everything she's done that ends up hurting MC, was something she was in control of (essential for a narcissist). And she was doing those things, internally minimizing the possible impact they would have on him. Jared's blackmail is outside of her control. She's stuck between doing something she knows will destroy MC at this point (with everything that has happened prior), or having her own life destroyed. Hurting MC is never her direct intention. And she probably feels suicide is preferable to prison time away from him.

What I find a bit funny about the Jared arguments, is that Lacey in her textbook manipulative roundabout way, actually admits her interactions with him were infidelity.

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Anyone who has ever dealt with a narcissist, knows that those kind of half truths, are their bread and butter.

 

[Ragnar]

This game is like a car crash, you know things gonna be fucked up but you can't take your eyes off.
Lacey is a turboslut, there is no sane reason to stay with her if you're not a cuckold.

 

[DeviantFun]

The suicide thing was an instinctive reaction to her being threatened with prison time. Everything she's done that ends up hurting MC, was something she was in control of (essential for a narcissist). And she was doing those things, internally minimizing the possible impact they would have on him. Jared's blackmail is outside of her control. She's stuck between doing something she knows will destroy MC at this point (with everything that has happened prior), or having her own life destroyed. Hurting MC is never her direct intention. And she probably feels suicide is preferable to prison time away from him.

What I find a bit funny about the Jared arguments, is that Lacey in her textbook manipulative roundabout way, actually admits her interactions with him were infidelity.

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Anyone who has ever dealt with a narcissist, knows that those kind of half truths, are their bread and butter.

100% on Lacey manipulating the narrative there, like it is on the nose!
in my rewrite Mc interferes here and tells her she was being unfaithful and to stop spinning the narrative.

I often posted about how much Lacey's "heavy" cheating overshadows all the rest of emotional cheating she does, such as the clothes.
She surprises me sometimes in her ability to manipulate people, not only MC and getting away with it.

As for the prison time or MC not being her direct intention, I wouldn't be so sure:

L "[MCFirst]?!"
L "I've been waiting for your call."
L "I can't do this."
MC "Lacey..."
L "I can't become a plaything for that man."
MC "Lac..."
L "JUST LISTEN!"
L "(emotional) I can't hurt you again."
L "(emotional) I'm just going to..."
L "I'm going to just take all the K I have."
L "I won't let Jared have me."
MC "Lacey!"
MC "You're on speakerphone Sweetheart."

One could argue that she always does things that SHE thinks HE needs, which are often wrong.
Actually always wrong.
But in the slut path it is shown how much she is struggling to understand what he truly needs.

Then she comes out and invalidates his feelings with shitty takes such as this:
L "Maybe if this were only about the past, then maybe I'd feel a little differently."
L "I'd still understand, but I might feel like we should set a time limit for how long you punish me."

This are the two lines of dialogue that I probably hate the most, how invalidating and insulting they are.
What about MC past? What about being abandoned? What about having to come to terms with a relationship stripped of all value and special moments?
"Sure, you can be a victim MC, but on my time table".
Fuck You.

Anyway, Lacey is a very complex character in the end, filled to the brim with flaws but also qualities, like many people with bad traumas.
I don't know if you like reading manga or if you know the title "asper girl", it is a hard read, but it is well written for someone that wants to understand "damaged" people.

It also has the best take in terms of how we can try and understand (not excuse) Lacey.
I will paraphrase here:

She doesn't need empathy, she needs information and imagination.
We need information not on her brain damage but on herself, gathering that information is difficult and YOU need a lot of empathy for that.
The reason we need imagination is because we need to guess what someone's suffering is like.
In the end just supporting her with empathy will be a fruitless effort, you need to use that empathy to put a stop to her.

This is why Dianne is so effective, she doesn't leave any room to flee to Lacey, she is immune to her narcissistic manipulation and she manages to resonate with players, because she is putting labels and concepts to frame Lacey's behaviour.

We shouldn't forget that the author shock value style of writing really leaves a bad taste, so it is often very difficult to see if there was anything redeeamable under the layers of shit.
Aside from Mia, there is nothing redeeamable there, the author made sure of it.

 

[Diosvincenccio]

Okay this was meant for yesterday but i keep forgetting the huge ammount of content of Act 1. My list of talking topics and commentary is finally done.

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Im tempted to make an Act 2 just to include " X. DeviantFun worst trigger, The suit." but i learned my lesson.

 

[Dragonlight]

That's the first thing you wrote in this, that I fully agree with. She may be getting other things from whatever she's doing, but that was 100% the main motive. But we disagree on what she was willing to do to achieve it.



But my take on her actions comes precisely from understanding how Lacey thinks. Not from what I would do.

She's someone who has dissociated sex from intimacy to the extreme. She could have a train ran on her, then return home to say I love you to hubby and she would mean every word. Getting MC to accept her warped mindset when it comes to sex, was the reason behind the whole Damian fiasco after all. She doesn't hurt MC because she is evil. She hurts him because she is literally unable to understand how he feels. She can feel guilt from seeing his hurt but doesn't really get it.

Is it that much of a stretch to think someone that twisted would cross marital lines (we even know she does it later), to get what she thinks is best for them? When she doesn't even understand why they exist in the first place? In her fucked mind, there is nothing she could ever do sexually with another man, that would ever threaten her bond with MC.

Anyway, those events were left open on purpose, so any take is valid. With just her account available, you either believe her or you don't. I'm just saying that if you examine actions and personalities closer, you will maybe see how some things that look like the random thoughtless shit a "dum dum" does, start making some sense. Because she is the exact opposite of dumb and she has proven that to be a facade repeatedly.

We agree more than I realized. You even said some things that I said back in April. She is twisted, but don't want to go back to that life. And don't want to cheat, make MC jealous - yes. She wants his jealousy, so if he is not aware then its pointless. That's why I don't think she has or will go behind his back to cheat. That`s I think where we disagree.
I am thinking that Lacey is more cognizant than she seems too. But still not playing with full deck. Like she tried to introduce Jared to MC at home. She told her girlfriends, they told her she stupid. She still did it anyway, but she did not warn MC, cause she knew that there is no way he would agree. She told him that she forgot to send the message. So she has some capacity to understand MC. So what was her plan after that ? Her husband comes home, finds them in hot tub, then what ? Dumb. She is not as dumb as she seems, but come on, her critical thinking capabilities are impaired. I think she could have landed in real shit if MC didn`t caught and confront her, when she came home late from the last party.

And yeah, many events left open to interpretation, I'm not sure it is intentional or not.

 

[CrysusPariah2]

I need some quick help putting the finishing touches on the timeline.

Can someone place where in Act 1 Lacey found her red jumper that she wore leaving for college and disposed of it then?

 

[Diosvincenccio]

I need some quick help putting the finishing touches on the timeline.

Can someone place where in Act 1 Lacey found her red jumper that she wore leaving for college and disposed of it then?

After coming back from the weekaway when the Damian thing happens, the pimp brings the suitcase, a red jumper or hoodie, dont remember, is mentioned when Lacey opens it. Made an interesting remark on the suitcase on my list (point 83).

 

[CrysusPariah2]

After coming back from the weekaway when the Damian thing happens, the pimp brings the suitcase, a red jumper or hoodie, dont remember, is mentioned when Lacey opens it. Made an interesting remark on the suitcase on my list (point 83).

Yes, note 83 was also the exact reason i had myself why i thought it might be relevant for the timeline

 

[AL.d]

100% on Lacey manipulating the narrative there, like it is on the nose!
in my rewrite Mc interferes here and tells her she was being unfaithful and to stop spinning the narrative.

I often posted about how much Lacey's "heavy" cheating overshadows all the rest of emotional cheating she does, such as the clothes.
She surprises me sometimes in her ability to manipulate people, not only MC and getting away with it.

As for the prison time or MC not being her direct intention, I wouldn't be so sure:

L "[MCFirst]?!"
L "I've been waiting for your call."
L "I can't do this."
MC "Lacey..."
L "I can't become a plaything for that man."
MC "Lac..."
L "JUST LISTEN!"
L "(emotional) I can't hurt you again."
L "(emotional) I'm just going to..."
L "I'm going to just take all the K I have."
L "I won't let Jared have me."
MC "Lacey!"
MC "You're on speakerphone Sweetheart."

One could argue that she always does things that SHE thinks HE needs, which are often wrong.
Actually always wrong.
But in the slut path it is shown how much she is struggling to understand what he truly needs.

Then she comes out and invalidates his feelings with shitty takes such as this:
L "Maybe if this were only about the past, then maybe I'd feel a little differently."
L "I'd still understand, but I might feel like we should set a time limit for how long you punish me."

This are the two lines of dialogue that I probably hate the most, how invalidating and insulting they are.
What about MC past? What about being abandoned? What about having to come to terms with a relationship stripped of all value and special moments?
"Sure, you can be a victim MC, but on my time table".
Fuck You.

Anyway, Lacey is a very complex character in the end, filled to the brim with flaws but also qualities, like many people with bad traumas.
I don't know if you like reading manga or if you know the title "asper girl", it is a hard read, but it is well written for someone that wants to understand "damaged" people.

It also has the best take in terms of how we can try and understand (not excuse) Lacey.
I will paraphrase here:

She doesn't need empathy, she needs information and imagination.
We need information not on her brain damage but on herself, gathering that information is difficult and YOU need a lot of empathy for that.
The reason we need imagination is because we need to guess what someone's suffering is like.
In the end just supporting her with empathy will be a fruitless effort, you need to use that empathy to put a stop to her.

This is why Dianne is so effective, she doesn't leave any room to flee to Lacey, she is immune to her narcissistic manipulation and she manages to resonate with players, because she is putting labels and concepts to frame Lacey's behaviour.

We shouldn't forget that the author shock value style of writing really leaves a bad taste, so it is often very difficult to see if there was anything redeeamable under the layers of shit.
Aside from Mia, there is nothing redeeamable there, the author made sure of it.

As long as what she does is in her control and she can rationalize it as beneficial to their relationship, she will go for it. And she will arrogantly ignore everyone's warning not to. The blackmail can never be rationalized, it's a direct threat to her and MC, can't be seen any other way even from her.

I had her nailed as narcissist before Diane, I think I even posted it on here before reaching the point she appears. If you have any experience (and sadly I do) with the type, she ticks almost every box. Dev either had his own experiences or really did his homework on the subject. It's surprisingly accurate for a game on here.

Last time I read a manga with relationship drama was like a decade ago (homestay girlfriend or something like that). I will check this out.

We agree more than I realized. You even said some things that I said back in April. She is twisted, but don't want to go back to that life. And don't want to cheat, make MC jealous - yes. She wants his jealousy, so if he is not aware then its pointless. That's why I don't think she has or will go behind his back to cheat. That`s I think where we disagree.
I am thinking that Lacey is more cognizant than she seems too. But still not playing with full deck. Like she tried to introduce Jared to MC at home. She told her girlfriends, they told her she stupid. She still did it anyway, but she did not warn MC, cause she knew that there is no way he would agree. She told him that she forgot to send the message. So she has some capacity to understand MC. So what was her plan after that ? Her husband comes home, finds them in hot tub, then what ? Dumb. She is not as dumb as she seems, but come on, her critical thinking capabilities are impaired. I think she could have landed in real shit if MC didn`t caught and confront her, when she came home late from the last party.

And yeah, many events left open to interpretation, I'm not sure it is intentional or not.

I think that scene was her first iteration of what eventually became the Damian "lesson". She didn't want to keep lying to him. She was hoping she could ease him into accepting her willingness to at least cross some lines with Jared, because it really meant nothing to her and shouldn't threaten him. It's the same twisted logic as with Damian. But of course MC wasn't a cuck and Jared, being the pushy asshole he is, was the least suitable candidate for that "easing" she wanted. She even mentions that exact word in her convo with the girls. And the girls are both on her ass saying what she is planning will destroy their marriage.

That scene wasn't a formal invite to introduce co worker to hubby for an innocent cup of coffee in the living room. It literally plays like an intro into a cuck scene. Cozy with the sex pest harassing her in the tub, micro bikini on and bro about to dig for treasure. Think of how many deliberate choices, one after another, she has to make to find herself in that position. Notice how she responds when MC addresses the state he found them in. "Didn't notice he was touching me like that". That's obviously a lie, I think dev even adds a little silent line before it to show that. That whole setup he found just feels purposeful.

 

[Elduriel]

This game is like a car crash, you know things gonna be fucked up but you can't take your eyes off.
Lacey is a turboslut, there is no sane reason to stay with her if you're not a cuckold.

the dev will never let the MC off the hook like that

 

[Maviarab]

As long as what she does is in her control and she can rationalize it as beneficial to their relationship, she will go for it. And she will arrogantly ignore everyone's warning not to. The blackmail can never be rationalized, it's a direct threat to her and MC, can't be seen any other way even from her.

I had her nailed as narcissist before Diane, I think I even posted it on here before reaching the point she appears. If you have any experience (and sadly I do) with the type, she ticks almost every box. Dev either had his own experiences or really did his homework on the subject. It's surprisingly accurate for a game on here.

Last time I read a manga with relationship drama was like a decade ago (homestay girlfriend or something like that). I will check this out.


I think that scene was her first iteration of what eventually became the Damian "lesson". She didn't want to keep lying to him. She was hoping she could ease him into accepting her willingness to at least cross some lines with Jared, because it really meant nothing to her and shouldn't threaten him. It's the same twisted logic as with Damian. But of course MC wasn't a cuck and Jared, being the pushy asshole he is, was the least suitable candidate for that "easing" she wanted. She even mentions that exact word in her convo with the girls. And the girls are both on her ass saying what she is planning will destroy their marriage.

That scene wasn't a formal invite to introduce co worker to hubby for an innocent cup of coffee in the living room. It literally plays like an intro into a cuck scene. Cozy with the sex pest harassing her in the tub, micro bikini on and bro about to dig for treasure. Think of how many deliberate choices, one after another, she has to make to find herself in that position. Notice how she responds when MC addresses the state he found them in. "Didn't notice he was touching me like that". That's obviously a lie, I think dev even adds a little silent line before it to show that. That whole setup he found just feels purposeful.

And people here still refuse to believe that Lacey would not have gone further if required to land the job (if it actually existed).

Every, single, piece of evidence points to it. As you have said before, take away her dialogue and ask twenty thousand people what her actions indicate, every single one will come to the same conclusion.

As for the Lacey dumb comments being spread around today, I'll say this. She is dumb as rocks (which is why I cannot wait for the Bimbo path to actually start). But she is very far from being stupid. The two are not the same. To add to this, I think we all agree Lacey is highly manipulative. One cannot be like that without being calculating and clever. This itself proves she is far from stupid. Eveything she does is calculated, thought out (exception being on K perhaps) and has had the pro's and con's evaluated in her head. Nothing she does is random, it's thought out and planned.

So yes, not painting her in a good light here, dumb? Definitely. Stupid? Nahh. As you say Ald, every decision that l;ed to the hot tub, led to the toilet at the party with Jared, was not random bad luck or decision making. She proves this herself when talking to the MC.

 

[Dragonlight]

I think that scene was her first iteration of what eventually became the Damian "lesson". She didn't want to keep lying to him. She was hoping she could ease him into accepting her willingness to at least cross some lines with Jared, because it really meant nothing to her and shouldn't threaten him. It's the same twisted logic as with Damian. But of course MC wasn't a cuck and Jared, being the pushy asshole he is, was the least suitable candidate for that "easing" she wanted. She even mentions that exact word in her convo with the girls. And the girls are both on her ass saying what she is planning will destroy their marriage.

That scene wasn't a formal invite to introduce co worker to hubby for an innocent cup of coffee in the living room. It literally plays like an intro into a cuck scene. Cozy with the sex pest harassing her in the tub, micro bikini on and bro about to dig for treasure. Think of how many deliberate choices, one after another, she has to make to find herself in that position. Notice how she responds when MC addresses the state he found them in. "Didn't notice he was touching me like that". That's obviously a lie, I think dev even adds a little silent line before it to show that. That whole setup he found just feels purposeful.

That is sounds really plausible. At the same time its kinda proving my point, that she wanted MC`s approval, and didn't went behind his back. She handled it with the grace of an elephant as usual of course.

 

[boboqwe]

No he didn't, because like 99% of normal sane men, if he knew before the marriage, he wouldn't have married her. Very much she did yes. Any court would allow an anullment when he found out. He asked, she lied, intentionally, knowing exactly what he was asking.

Your words that he wouldn't have married her if he had known are spot on. That's why she didn't tell him. She was afraid that the main character would leave her. And if it weren't for Mie, they would have lived happily ever after.

We can say that love built on lies is bad, but what if this lie is for the good?

Yes, the main character wrote her 100 messages every day. I think that she read them at first, and then gave up because she found other hobbies. Perhaps she thought that the main character shouldn't connect his life with her, perhaps she simply fell out of love with the main character, it's not a fact that there was love. But at the same time, it wasn't easy for her to tell him about it. This is bad, it doesn't justify her. But everyone makes mistakes.
And when she found out that the main character wanted to die because of her, she probably realized how much he loved her, or maybe she felt sorry for him, because she felt like she owed the main character. And if she confessed before the wedding, she would have harmed the main character and the wedding would most likely have been canceled.
But when the main character finds out about her past, he doesn't leave. He accepts her as she has become. Stop it. There is no more past, there is present and future. He didn't let her go to Isaac or Lorenza.
Isaac doesn't have complexes about her past, and is ready to accept her as she is, but the main character holds her and drives her crazy. He shows her photos, humiliating her. Perhaps he is taking revenge on her, hurting her the way she did to him, this should be shameful for a man.

 

[Chaoticjustice]

And people here still refuse to believe that Lacey would not have gone further if required to land the job (if it actually existed).

Every, single, piece of evidence points to it. As you have said before, take away her dialogue and ask twenty thousand people what her actions indicate, every single one will come to the same conclusion.

As for the Lacey dumb comments being spread around today, I'll say this. She is dumb as rocks (which is why I cannot wait for the Bimbo path to actually start). But she is very far from being stupid. The two are not the same. To add to this, I think we all agree Lacey is highly manipulative. One cannot be like that without being calculating and clever. This itself proves she is far from stupid. Eveything she does is calculated, thought out (exception being on K perhaps) and has had the pro's and con's evaluated in her head. Nothing she does is random, it's thought out and planned.

So yes, not painting her in a good light here, dumb? Definitely. Stupid? Nahh. As you say Ald, every decision that l;ed to the hot tub, led to the toilet at the party with Jared, was not random bad luck or decision making. She proves this herself when talking to the MC.

The issue with Lacey is she has done so many stupid things and lied almost constantly in act 1 and now with act 2 because of how she was in act 1 we all struggle to believe her when she is being "truthful"

Personally when it comes to Lacey being "truthful" across the two acts and potentially over the rest of the game , I'm not convinced just how "truthful" she is being if I'm honest.... I genuinely believe that anytime she is "truthful" we are only getting half-truths from her,Now this could come down to one of two things or maybe even both but I think she either doesn't fully remember the complete series of events on the truths she is telling so things are being missed or she is purposely omitting parts of it as she knows it will hurt the MC

Personally I could go either way on this as I'm not fully convinced around the brain damage being there it almost feels like she's just made herself this get out of jail free card through it

 

[Maviarab]

We can say that love built on lies is bad, but what if this lie is for the good?

Still bad.

But everyone makes mistakes.

Ignoring someone for over 4 years is not a mistake. Mispelling rouge isntead of rogue..is a mistake. Opps...sorry love, I tripped and fell onto his cock. Such a mistake...

And if she confessed before the wedding, she would have harmed the main character and the wedding would most likely have been canceled.

So you admit she deceived and tricked him into marriage then? Good. Finally.

He accepts her as she has become

What dafuq bent spanner are you actually on about?

the main character holds her and drives her crazy. He shows her photos, humiliating her. Perhaps he is taking revenge on her, hurting her the way she did to him, this should be shameful for a man.

Again...dafuq shit are you actually playing?

In fact...fuck it...done with this nonsense bollocks. Like some others around here, would love to know which story you're actually reading.

Personally when it comes to Lacey being "truthful" across the two acts and potentially over the rest of the game , I'm not convinced just how "truthful" she is being if I'm honest.... I genuinely believe that anytime she is "truthful" we are only getting half-truths from her

or being missed or she is purposely omitting parts of it as she knows it will hurt the MC

Chaotic...can we ummm....revisit this later....I umm...need to get my thoughts in order before answering....

 

[boboqwe]

As for Lacey's passion for self-destruction and destruction of everything around her. It's like a tigress, when hungry she's dangerous, when full she purrs and cuddles. Not everyone can handle her. She needs a good trainer who can curb her impulses to destroy. And this is definitely not the character of the main character. This is, of course, an interesting idea of the author to combine ice and fire and see what comes of it. Well, pour water into a burning flame and see whether the fire goes out or the water evaporates. Lacey is uncomfortable with the main character, he does not understand her. I doubt that she understands herself. Most likely, she finds satisfaction in stepping on the main character's sick ego. She hurt him, apologized, did it again, apologized again. The main character just needs to stop reacting to this, the way he does it. Put Isaac in the main character's place. He also has a sick ego, when he is rejected he posts on the Internet, which he should not. Perhaps the ideal option for Lacey is Lorenzo. He seems to be in love with her, he does not care about her past. But most likely she will twist Lorenzo around her finger. Therefore, I think Isaac is her option. And the fact that he does not know her favorite color is because they spent little time together and spent it on sex.

 

[anongamer1983]

And people here still refuse to believe that Lacey would not have gone further if required to land the job (if it actually existed).

I don't think we refuse to believe it. I just don't think it's likely. I wouldn't consider it a plot hole if a future act showed that it happened, but I don't think that every single piece of evidence points to it. Things like the year of Storage Room closet film, which Jared openly claims is where he would do the things, shows that Lacey never fucked Jared there (unless Veronica made the guy hide those bits of film). The hot tub film shows that Jared's hand was on her knee, then moved up to her thigh, then MC appeared at just the right/worst moment. The storage room film shows that Jared touched her, she didn't invite it. Further, it's stated that she was uncomfortable to a point that Mia was surprised when Jared touched her breast in the storage room closet (Yes, you can argue she lied to Mia, but she told Mia about everything else like what happened with Barty, so why would she lie to her here?). Her words match what we get later in the game through security footage. Jared's comments, outside of what he says to MC at the hottub which we 100% know contains lies, also seem to support it. Lacey is shown (not just from her comments to MC) to hate the idea of being shared. It's why she had to get drunk and high on ketamine for the Damian thing

Remember, everyone has a line that they won't cross. Someone might think it's acceptable to post nude pictures online to make money. Someone else might consider it bad. Someone might consider it cheating to do that and someone else might not. Lacey's line is all but confirmed to be more relaxed than MC's. The sunk cost fallacy seems to push the Lacey's line (like, she gets extremely uncomfortable by the touching, if we are to believe her conversation with Mia). Mia and Anna tell her that she's playing with fire (testing the line when she's still not recovered from her relapse and able to make good judgements), not that she's actually crossing it after Lacey tells them about everything.

To me, because a lot of people seem absolute in their belief that Lacey fucked Jared or whatever, it just makes it difficult to argue some of the points. Like, they are determined that if it's possible that Lacey did something to hurt MC, then they want to believe it is true. That would make a fine NTR story I suppose, but this isn't supposed to be an NTR story. It's supposed to be a love story with NTR elements (which yeah, the author can change their mind, but I'll believe that when I see it).

 

[anongamer1983]

Ignoring someone for over 4 years is not a mistake

This is what I'm most interested in as far as the story goes at the moment. It's a thing that I feel will be revealed with therapy towards the end of the game. There are so many reasons that Lacey could potentially do this. To me, it'd also need to be consistent for why she didn't contact MC for a 3-6 months after she graduated and got a job too. What was her motivation to keep MC completely out of contact until he graduated? Then she's ready for marriage the minute she comes back.

 

[Maviarab]

I don't think we refuse to believe it. I just don't think it's likely. I wouldn't consider it a plot hole if a future act showed that it happened, but I don't think that every single piece of evidence points to it. Things like the year of Storage Room closet film, which Jared openly claims is where he would do the things, shows that Lacey never fucked Jared there (unless Veronica made the guy hide those bits of film). The hot tub film shows that Jared's hand was on her knee, then moved up to her thigh, then MC appeared at just the right/worst moment. The storage room film shows that Jared touched her, she didn't invite it. Further, it's stated that she was uncomfortable to a point that Mia was surprised when Jared touched her breast in the storage room closet (Yes, you can argue she lied to Mia, but she told Mia about everything else like what happened with Barty, so why would she lie to her here?). Her words match what we get later in the game through security footage. Jared's comments, outside of what he says to MC at the hottub which we 100% know contains lies, also seem to support it. Lacey is shown (not just from her comments to MC) to hate the idea of being shared. It's why she had to get drunk and high on ketamine for the Damian thing

Remember, everyone has a line that they won't cross. Someone might think it's acceptable to post nude pictures online to make money. Someone else might consider it bad. Someone might consider it cheating to do that and someone else might not. Lacey's line is all but confirmed to be more relaxed than MC's. The sunk cost fallacy seems to push the Lacey's line (like, she gets extremely uncomfortable by the touching, if we are to believe her conversation with Mia). Mia and Anna tell her that she's playing with fire (testing the line when she's still not recovered from her relapse and able to make good judgements), not that she's actually crossing it after Lacey tells them about everything.

To me, because a lot of people seem absolute in their belief that Lacey fucked Jared or whatever, it just makes it difficult to argue some of the points. Like, they are determined that if it's possible that Lacey did something to hurt MC, then they want to believe it is true. That would make a fine NTR story I suppose, but this isn't supposed to be an NTR story. It's supposed to be a love story with NTR elements (which yeah, the author can change their mind, but I'll believe that when I see it).

All fair points anon I agree.

Regarding her discomfort, she has discomfort with many things, but has still done them. This is what I am getting at (and remember, I do not believe anything happened with Jared). She may not have liked it, but she still put up with it, no one can argue that, clearly proven in the story. That's my line, if the job really existed, I do truly believe she would have gone further, even if she didn't like it.

What was her motivation to keep MC completely out of contact until he graduated?

100% on your post. Re the college years, every day, she made a choice. Again, no mistakes, only intentional decisions. And I will never buy, she was drunk/high/drugged up as an excuse, that seemingly never stopped her doing her college work.

The quoted part is one of my biggest issues. We know the Professor is vague and ambigious for a reason (could be intentional, could be he losing himself in his own story and creating his own inconsistencies due to his skill), however, this whole period...is being kept empty for some reason. Remember back from my post yesterday, Anna graduated (on time) and immediately got a job. Lacey got a job there...two weeks later. The MC had a whole semester to complete (still no one told me how long that is in the States) and he had radio silence from both Anna and Lacey.

Why?

Now, as fun as all this discuission is with everyone, if everything we're discussing is solely down to the devs lack of skill, his own inconsistencies and mistakes, then it makes a lot of this completely moot. If anyone played ODS....let's not forget how much of a cluster fuck it ended up being half way through and to the end.

 

[Fitharia]

And people here still refuse to believe that Lacey would not have gone further if required to land the job (if it actually existed).

I think she would gone further, but the minute Jared dropped his pants she would started laughing hysterical and just left to go home for a real fuck with her husband. Jared just doesn't have it to be the real deal. If it was Evan who was giving her the job, then i'm sure she would gone town with him.