VN Ren'Py Love & Jealousy [Act 3] [Professor Amethyst Games]

[funnythings3785]

The two you mentioned were the only one i could think off of the top of my head as well

One is where Jeanette is overlooked for promotion because she is a black woman and MC obviously a white male. I get it has political undertones, but I didn’t think/feel the Prof was pushing an agenda. I just think he needed a justification to put MC in a position of authority with decent income, while not sugarcoating the blatant sexism and racism on display in that scenario.

The other, in Act 3, where he talks with Kelly in his office about abuse of power. How power always corrupts and is afraid of turning into a monster like Jared and Kelly alleviates his fears
Personally hope this was potentially foreshadowing a possible route, if the player continues loosing GG points

There are more, some are subtle one liners, others a bit more nuanced, but there are more... I keep kicking myself because when I see them I go "Woah, that's some political advertising there", but then I move on and forget about them.

At some point like I said, to fully establish an argument here I will need to go through the story, quote them and discuss them.

That said though, my over all point was that I really dislike this kind of stuff and it is front and center in most media these days, to nearly absurd levels that one could even suggest it is... intentional.

One other one came to mind. If you look back to the Veronica conversations and more specifically when he gets the job and asks her opinion, there is some strong feminist arguments being driven to it.

I think him getting the exec job as a very young person is a valid objection. Usually people have to put in a lot of time, show themselves, really prove they have consistent record to such before people are offered such (if we are reasonably speaking), so that alone should have been enough to show his "angst" in it being given to him, but the whole "you are a male, you are a white male" angle was a very tired political talking point and really didn't need to be in the story because it wasn't relevant to the story itself.

 

[Cold brew]

There are more, some are subtle one liners, others a bit more nuanced, but there are more... I keep kicking myself because when I see them I go "Woah, that's some political advertising there", but then I move on and forget about them.

At some point like I said, to fully establish an argument here I will need to go through the story, quote them and discuss them.

That said though, my over all point was that I really dislike this kind of stuff and it is front and center in most media these days, to nearly absurd levels that one could even suggest it is... intentional.

One other one came to mind. If you look back to the Veronica conversations and more specifically when he gets the job and asks her opinion, there is some strong feminist arguments being driven to it.

I think him getting the exec job as a very young person is a valid objection. Usually people have to put in a lot of time, show themselves, really prove they have consistent record to such before people are offered such (if we are reasonably speaking), so that alone should have been enough to show his "angst" in it being given to him, but the whole "you are a male, you are a white male" angle was a very tired political talking point and really didn't need to be in the story because it wasn't relevant to the story itself.

I look at this specifically to the context of his situation. I never saw it political at all.
Everyone can make anything political if they want, and sure this could be an easy target. but,

The context I saw was according to his internal viewpoint on himself.
1. He never viewed himself to be a manager or someone in the leadership spotlight. His whole focus was on his project.. and his intern... which he had to be persuaded about.
2. He is the newest and least experienced for that role compared to other managers already in the company. Yes he does his job to his high standards to which he was educated in, but his baby was that server room. He was happy.
3. His boss got him hired and does her job well... she should be the one over him. He is always looking to the flaws so he asks why not? This is an easy response. It is common and it has happened.
4. Everyone has some degree of imposter syndrome. He has it in spades. So he has to pop this little happy bubble called opportunity.
5. Veronica is excellent in counseling him towards taking the job. Her observations are true and coming from experience. This is critical for him to have the confidence to accept the job. Otherwise he would have self sabotaged himself to go back to into his hole and be out of everyone's way.

I wouldn't put anything radically political about this. This is just the situation and how he responded. He usually responds to things with thoughtfulness. It is part of who he is and that is his best qualification. He naturally takes care of others. Its not forced. He does not want to be fake. Most wouldn't put that much thought into it and just accept without worry to fallout or consequences. Cant wait to celebrate and such. That's not him.

 

[Lady Lydia]

I look at this specifically to the context of his situation. I never saw it political at all.
Everyone can make anything political if they want, and sure this could be an easy target. but,

The context I saw was according to his internal viewpoint on himself.
1. He never viewed himself to be a manager or someone in the leadership spotlight. His whole focus was on his project.. and his intern... which he had to be persuaded about.
2. He is the newest and least experienced for that role compared to other managers already in the company. Yes he does his job to his high standards to which he was educated in, but his baby was that server room. He was happy.
3. His boss got him hired and does her job well... she should be the one over him. He is always looking to the flaws so he asks why not? This is an easy response. It is common and it has happened.
4. Everyone has some degree of imposter syndrome. He has it in spades. So he has to pop this little happy bubble called opportunity.
5. Veronica is excellent in counseling him towards taking the job. Her observations are true and coming from experience. This is critical for him to have the confidence to accept the job. Otherwise he would have self sabotaged himself to go back to into his hole and be out of everyone's way.

I wouldn't put anything radically political about this. This is just the situation and how he responded. He usually responds to things with thoughtfulness. It is part of who he is and that is his best qualification. He naturally takes care of others. Its not forced. He does not want to be fake. Most wouldn't put that much thought into it and just accept without worry to fallout or consequences. Cant wait to celebrate and such. That's not him.

I agree completely which is why I attributed the comment made against that as being the thing that is politically motivated, to remove that from the story would require rewriting everything related to it too, would mean making the MC ignore how his promotion bypassed his boss to make him her boss as well as the boss of other bosses he also bypassed at the very same time, it would be an extraordinary deviation from his typical thoughtfulness.

Removing said promotion would remove the wage hike that permit so much to happen from buying Isaac's house to financing everything in Vegas, at the same time his promotion is meant as a bit of a metaphorical slap to Lacey that did all those things for Jared for the promise of a job she never would have gotten, while her husband got a promotion the 'legitimate' way and thus was able to achieve the same without hurting their marriage in the process.

So at this point their is no way to remove this from happening without rewriting a significant portion of Act 2 and 3 to compensate, which their is a snowfall chance in Hell from happening. Also making a fuss over 2 or 3 discussions in a game at this point maybe a dozen hours in length if you read everything is pretty ridiculous, its next to nothing in the greater scheme of the entire game.

 

[DeviantFun]

I agree completely which is why I attributed the comment made against that as being the thing that is politically motivated, to remove that from the story would require rewriting everything related to it too, would mean making the MC ignore how his promotion bypassed his boss to make him her boss as well as the boss of other bosses he also bypassed at the very same time, it would be an extraordinary deviation from his typical thoughtfulness.

Removing said promotion would remove the wage hike that permit so much to happen from buying Isaac's house to financing everything in Vegas, at the same time his promotion is meant as a bit of a metaphorical slap to Lacey that did all those things for Jared for the promise of a job she never would have gotten, while her husband got a promotion the 'legitimate' way and thus was able to achieve the same without hurting their marriage in the process.

So at this point their is no way to remove this from happening without rewriting a significant portion of Act 2 and 3 to compensate, which their is a snowfall chance in Hell from happening. Also making a fuss over 2 or 3 discussions in a game at this point maybe a dozen hours in length if you read everything is pretty ridiculous, its next to nothing in the greater scheme of the entire game.

Considering none of the other managers was even able to get a something like a very simple corporate licensing agreement (in the absence of a procurement office), I do not see how any of them could be even cconsidered management material.

Half of the things MC implements in the first weeks are basic stuff, and shows how the other managers are incompetent, they don't even manage their own budget, they just make requests.

So yeah, MC seems to be way more qualified than them.

MC being able to afford the house plus Vegas is already a severe retcon (which comes from this thread 99%), since after Lacey buys some clothing he affirms that they might not be able to afford it in act 1.

I hope I understood you incorrectly but are you implying that the attempt to seduce Jared by Lacey has to be seen as a good thing and this is how she should have been awarded a promotion?

Go and re read the script, MC smashes it in his area (does not mean he might be a good exec) and receives multiple monetary bonuses just because he is extremely competent.

I also do not want to dwelve in the horrible topic any longer, I will just leave this here.

https://f95zone.to/threads/love-jealousy-act-3-professor-amethyst-games.252651/post-17216506

 

[funnythings3785]

I look at this specifically to the context of his situation. I never saw it political at all.
Everyone can make anything political if they want, and sure this could be an easy target. but,

The context I saw was according to his internal viewpoint on himself.
1. He never viewed himself to be a manager or someone in the leadership spotlight. His whole focus was on his project.. and his intern... which he had to be persuaded about.
2. He is the newest and least experienced for that role compared to other managers already in the company. Yes he does his job to his high standards to which he was educated in, but his baby was that server room. He was happy.
3. His boss got him hired and does her job well... she should be the one over him. He is always looking to the flaws so he asks why not? This is an easy response. It is common and it has happened.
4. Everyone has some degree of imposter syndrome. He has it in spades. So he has to pop this little happy bubble called opportunity.
5. Veronica is excellent in counseling him towards taking the job. Her observations are true and coming from experience. This is critical for him to have the confidence to accept the job. Otherwise he would have self sabotaged himself to go back to into his hole and be out of everyone's way.

I wouldn't put anything radically political about this. This is just the situation and how he responded. He usually responds to things with thoughtfulness. It is part of who he is and that is his best qualification. He naturally takes care of others. Its not forced. He does not want to be fake. Most wouldn't put that much thought into it and just accept without worry to fallout or consequences. Cant wait to celebrate and such. That's not him.

I understand why he attacked himself, I just thought the racial/sex injections (she is a woman, she is a black woman, you know... this is wrong... etc..) which is a tired argument in this concept of evaluation. The Veronica discussion, where she specifically validates his point after he goes on about being a man (to imply that the entire system is sexist), etc... and she says "nope, it isn't fair". That is more typical political position argument there, but "understandable" all things considered as it is built into her characters back story and that specific issue is one of my minor complaints not in her specifically, but the over reaction of the MC.

Outside of that, yes... I agree why he was shocked, he was young, new to the company and all of a sudden thrust into the position. As was already mentioned above, this makes sense when you look to the details and could easily be reasoned to that (ie upper management began looking into his work due to his exceptional success in his role to which it is noted he received numerous bonuses and awards outside of what has normally occurred in the past. we know why, because he actually did work that warranted it to which all acknowledge).

I guess that is part of my point though. I don't mind if a character is developed to it, the Veronica character is a good example. Her entire backstory explained is that she fought the persona of being some "bimbo" who got promoted due to her looks, but she achieved her position through lots of hours, lots of hard work. So her "attitude" in such makes sense, is reasoned and works... but the MCs over reaction to race and sex in many areas of the dialogue seems... out of place, programmed, more of narrative response from outside perspectives that exists outside of the characters experience to establish this perception.

There are more, DeviantFun even pointed out a few (apparently that got deleted) that are even more serious, but I think you get the point. I am not trying to read too much into it, but I do think there are some legitimate complaints concerning the framing of things, but we also have to consider the current state of a lot of media out there that overly promotes such messaging to levels far beyond what we see in this story and are accepted as normal and even encouraged.