Changing the MC wouldn't solve the issue that this story is supposed to make us care about Lacey and not hate her, and right now it utterly fail at it. You say as if Lacey being held accountable would solve all issues but not at all, if the optic of the Dev is giving them a happy ending, changing the MC to be more assertive isn't going to undo all the shit Lacey did, it would just make it even less believable for them to still be together at the end. While yes what I said would change Lacey's personality, yea I agree but the problem is her current personality is thoroughly unlikable, if the Dev doesn't fix that how is this supposed to end in anything but drama and angst? Ironically the only way would be to leave the MC to be a wet noodle, so he would just go along with everything at the end. Also ironically you suggest the MC should change, but why shouldn't Lacey? What is good for one should be good for the other shouldn't it? Again it all depend on what the Dev intend at the end? Kill her off? Than its going fine, everybody is going to be relieved that she died, sure the MC is going to grief, but every players and all the girls in the MC's entourage are going to be relieved. But if its meant to be anything remotely positive else, its impossible.
Being held accountable and having a redemption arc is actually better than simply writing her to be likeable from the start.
You are discounting everything that happened in the story to: "I don't like Lacey".
Complex characters are as the word implies, complex, and require effort in understanding them, you might still not like the character and that is fine.
Lacey could change, but implementing your changes would make this story way less interesting, not because "Lacey bad!" but because it will not have to explore several emotional aspects.
I underlined which changes I think would keep the story in the same wavelength but would actually remove some of the "silliness" added for fetish appeasement.
I do not see the irony in actually chenging the MC into a character instead of a cardboard witness which has no agency whatsoever in any of the aspects of his life and story, he simply goes along, else the next shock value event might not happen or would have consequences that would shape the story, this is not a novel concept, Mc seems to have brain damage himself and cannot remember what happened the a week or even a day before.
Also about Lacey not being a 'victim' she is still a victim, she is the victim of the plot trying to turn her into a whore, added to the fact she systematically play the 'brain issue' card, guess what, that is playing victim, beyond that she isn't merely a victim anymore, she is an abuser, not something viable in any protagonists of a story. She went thru the typical victim cycle of turning to abuse to try to escape her victimhood, its not something to be happy about, and as I said ultimately she fails, she still play the victim card all the time, is still the actual victim of her stupidity and the actions of others.
Lacey was a whore, simple as that (with the added complexity of her choices and external influences), and she does play the victim, in fact she is called out on it in within the story, see? you do get the character!
And yes she is abusive towards MC, this is one of the points of the story, and she was somewhat narcissistic and abusive towards him even before she left, all somewhat detailed in act 2.
In act 2 (actually from the act 1 I KNEW convo in the bathroom) we see some growth from her, some willingness to break the cycle and improve herself, you might not still like her, but the Prof started her redemption arc.
Damaged characters might not be likeable, but you can emphatize with the journey of trying to be better.
I would take a well written redemption arc that doesn't end in forgiveness than a mary sued version that points there without a challenge.
Lacey cannot be forgiven unless MC is written even more as a doormat without self respect, but as I often say, acceptance and understanding are still on the table.
Mia on the other hand has zero redeeming qualities sadly, and there I do the a huge fail in the character design/creation process, she needed to be the "corrupting friend" so she was written like a POS that cheers for SA.
The only character the story has tried to change up to now is the MC, Lacey is the same stupidly selfish idiot at the beginning as she is now, hiding behind her damaged brain to justify everything. While the MC has been brow beaten by Lacey & everyone else into just accepting whatever fucked up logic Lacey come up with, sure he is forced into it kicking and screaming but the story gives her continually reason in the worst ways. 'Oh she fucked another man to show it didn't matter to her', the MC ends up accepting that idea down the line, like a good little Stockholme Syndrome victim. The only character development he is going thru is molding him to Lacey's ideas, sure Lacey is seeing a psychologist and its helping her... except we aren't seeing how any of that help actually work since she is still a fucking brain dead idiot.
You have not read act 2 it seems if you say that about Lacey, maybe act 3 will be as you say, since the prof mentioned she will fuck up again.
But I am happy you realized the main issue of the story, which is lack of consequences and a witness MC.
Look, even if we exert a strong grip on our supension of disbelief and accept that MC is weak to Lacey because he fear she will leave him again, how he accepts whatever bad thing that happens from the rest of the cast is laughable.
Anna and Mia hide that Lacey was trying to seduce Jared? all good.
Veronica hides even with Lacey threatening to commit suicide? all good, there is actually a choice to say that MC is very happy with her behaviour in the KW.
Anna doesn't say shit to MC about the tennis dates? all good.
Mia brings drugs to your drug addicted wife? all good.
Isaac tries to take her away and leaves a lingering promise to Lacey? all good, we need him for plot reasons. Oh also, he's Bi now.
Christine despises Mia and Lacey? nah, we need the crew now, so Mia is a cool gal.
So as you can see, the main issue is MC agency, things can be fucked up, but without a response from MC or these things shaping the story, you have a series of events which seem almost disconneted from each other, simply because everyone acts like they didn't happen and that is detrimental to the characters interaction and growth.
Oh and for the person that said 'not every characters should be likeable', yea sure... in theory, in practice not making the main LI likeable at all is idiotic, not making the core protagonists likeable isn't a recipe for success. You can have despicable antagonists and problematic side characters, while some flaws in the protagonists are understandable and even desirable, Lacey doesn't have merely 'some flaws' she is flawed pretty much in her entire character, its too much.
I am "the person", and I still do not see it as idiotic, you and some others might not like her, others are interested in seeing how much she will fuck up and another group might be interested in her growth and atonement.
Not every novel is for everyone, you talk about this novel not having success because the main LI is not likeable (again, to you, since there are people that even like Mia, which is a shitbag), yet this is a pretty successful novel, if I understood correctly the biggest hit the professor had so...
If I had to take a guess based on people posts, MC and Mia are less liked than Lacey overall.
And I agree that Lacey did too much, forgiveness is off the table and all that, but her being extremely flawed is actually an endearing point of the story.
I also agree that some scenes, such as Bastion, were put merely for shock value and ruined even more of her chances.
I mean at this rate I expect she is going to die by the end of this game and end up in the Augusta game, to give grief to the MC in that game for his involvement in screwing her over. Basically she'll be the last girl of that story to come to the house, and if the Dev want to be extra dramatic about it this MC is going to visit and follow her thru the tunnel. After having reached a sorta harem ending in this one, just to make this story pretty much irrelevant except as a source of drama in the new one. If that is the goal I really wish the Dev to tell me in private so it can be the final nail to this story's coffin and force me to completely turn my back on it.
Ah so some sort of backwards Orpheus and Eurydice, interesting take, and I say this genuinely.
I would not want to see supernatural elements in L&J, but it would be interesting.
I understand the frustration, I do, and I am 100% sure that it comes from the lack of consequences in the game, because that leads to a simple string of shock moments and that is it.
But I will hold firm in the hope that we will get consequences, redemptions and growth from our main characters.
Oh and a full and clear picture of the past, else there cannot be neither acceptance nor understanding, because how can someone accept and understand something he is not aware about?
Anyway, good discussion.
