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

[Lady Lydia]

Nor I, the way the story is going is concerning... but... it is also possible the professor due to his style could pull something out of a rabbits hat so to speak and resolve it (likely much to our dismay).

My biggest issue is him sacrificing the MC, and I don't mean that I have a problem with a demoralized ending for him, rather... I just don't want him to be a scapegoat and doormat to proclaim victory by Lacey or the girls. In that, it would be no different than any other NTR garbage story where the FC gets everything she wants and somehow the story ultimately reasons why it was always the MCs fault.

That would be an insult. I don't care if the MC dies, if crap hits the fan and he is demoralized, but FFS... I won't accept the whole concept of the antagonist getting to play the victim AND the hero, it is a tired trope that has been poisoning various works throughout entertainment media. It makes no sense, it is... in itself completely narciscistic and wreaks of the cancer of "self insert" writing style.

Considering its said their will be 7 endings, I doubt anyone wishing the story ending only in a specific way are going to be satisfied, I assume various forms from good to bad are going to happen, but I doubt the more aggressively 'edgy' forms of ending are going to happen. I suspect a Romeo & Juliette scenario somewhat for one ending which is going to be a bad ending, but otherwise maybe either of them killed by a third party, but anyone that expect the MC to kill Lacey are very delusional, or those that expect the MC to become little more than a living sex toy for Lacey.

 

[NewGuy2022]

The real conundrum is, which "inconsistencies" are simply writer oversights, and which are intended character/story portrayals that have some longer meaning.

This probably is the most frustrating part of the story for me. I don't know which content really is content and which will be explained away later as "brain damage", etc. It's really hard to accept how an NPC can go from evil to good (or the opposite) so quickly within the story. It seems fake and makes me, the reader, question the NPC's motives, intent, and credibility.

I restarted the story and am noticing things either I missed before or didn't recognize as important on my first run-though. Even when Lacey isn't cheating on her husband, the way she behaves makes it appear she is; I didn't appreciate just how serious her gaslighting is on my first run. I find it hard to accept the assertion that she loves him when I see her treating him the way she does.

that somehow it will turn out that he is really at fault here because he didn't go get her

I'm assuming you mean while she was in college? Did he even know where she was in school? During the time when he texted her repeatedly (100 times in one day according to the narrator)--and she never replied or acknowledged him? Straight up, how could he be at fault then? Or do you mean when they were even younger, like little kids?

it would be no different than any other NTR garbage story where the FC gets everything she wants and somehow the story ultimately reasons why it was always the MCs fault.

Frankly, it's what I'm expecting (hoping against but expecting) and the MC would agree in that ending... since as you point out this is how Western NTR stories end.

I would absolutely LOVE for him to release a commentary scene by scene on his thoughts, what he was going for, various things, etc... I think it would be just as fascinating to see that once it is done.

I might enjoy that more than the story itself since I'm really not sure what to believe in the story so I'm not sure what really happened up to this point. I would hope that explanation could lay out a timeline of sorts to tell us what really happened in the story.

 

[funnythings3785]

Considering its said their will be 7 endings, I doubt anyone wishing the story ending only in a specific way are going to be satisfied, I assume various forms from good to bad are going to happen, but I doubt the more aggressively 'edgy' forms of ending are going to happen. I suspect a Romeo & Juliette scenario somewhat for one ending which is going to be a bad ending, but otherwise maybe either of them killed by a third party, but anyone that expect the MC to kill Lacey are very delusional, nor do those that expect the MC to become little more than a living sex toy for Lacey.

Hard to say to be honest, but at this point I don't know... Due to this writing style, I have no idea what will be, where we will go, or where we will end. His writing doesn't follow traditional setups, foreshadowing, and progressive character development. Honestly, it is all over the place, which is part of the issue here.

 

[funnythings3785]

This probably is the most frustrating part of the story for me. I don't know which content really is content and which will be explained away later as "brain damage", etc. It's really hard to accept how an NPC can go from evil to good (or the opposite) so quickly within the story. It seems fake and makes me, the reader, question the NPC's motives, intent, and credibility.

I restarted the story and am noticing things either I missed before or didn't recognize as important on my first run-though. Even when Lacey isn't cheating on her husband, the way she behaves makes it appear she is; I didn't appreciate just how serious her gaslighting is on my first run. I find it hard to accept the assertion that she loves him when I see her treating him the way she does.



I'm assuming you mean while she was in college? Did he even know where she was in school? During the time when he texted her repeatedly (100 times in one day according to the narrator)--and she never replied or acknowledged him? Straight up, how could he be at fault then? Or do you mean when they were even younger, like little kids?



Frankly, it's what I'm expecting (hoping against but expecting) and the MC would agree in that ending... since as you point out this is how Western NTR stories end.



I might enjoy that more than the story itself since I'm really not sure what to believe in the story so I'm not sure what really happened up to this point. I would hope that explanation could lay out a timeline of sorts to tell us what really happened in the story.

Yes, I am speaking of college and his responses during that time. His childhood actions are fairly well established in the intro and various comments over the course of the acts that he was attentive to her needs, served whatever solution she needed to find comfort or at the least some form of peace in her suffering from her situation.

 

[Lady Lydia]

Hard to say to be honest, but at this point I don't know... Due to this writing style, I have no idea what will be, where we will go, or where we will end. His writing doesn't follow traditional setups, foreshadowing, and progressive character development. Honestly, it is all over the place, which is part of the issue here.

The problem is the Prof would be crucified if they go for any 'edgy' ending that end up remotely like the typical Western NTR games. Considering they have two other games currently in the making if they were to shit so hard on their proclamation that this wouldn't be a cliche NTR game it will kill their player base instantly.

So the MC becoming Lacey's pet would be cliche NTR, the MC killing Lacey would also be somewhat cliche NTR, even the MC leaving Lacey would be effectively cliche NTR, plus their is the double bind issue, if the MC leave Lacey without replacement he dies and she dies afterward, if the MC leave Lacey while he has a replacement, she dies and he might make it out alive but he'll be miserable because he caused Lacey to die, whoever replace Lacey would be able to keep him alive, but it wouldn't be great for him. Either of those would be bad endings.

If the Prof wants to be an overdramatic ass about it could end like the antagonists of Suikoden I, the MC is at the cliff, Lacey join him and they just jump off together, if this happen to be an ending I might end up fucking my eyes up due to the depth of the eye roll I'd go thru.

 

[NewGuy2022]

Yes, I am speaking of college and his responses during that time. His childhood actions are fairly well established in the intro and various comments over the course of the acts that he was attentive to her needs, served whatever solution she needed to find comfort or at the least some form of peace in her suffering from her situation.

Ok. Unless I missed something on my run, MC does not know where she is attending college, she won't reply to his messages, and he doesn't know about any other friends she had at home to ask... ...how on earth could anyone be expected to go "save" her from an unknown place--a place that she went to so she could learn to stand on her own two feet (a reason not to interfere)?

 

[funnythings3785]

Ok, here is something to consider that I noticed about the professors writing style and why this may be an issue in what we are seeing.

The professor seems to "self insert" in some of his writing of the characters (he suggests this in his comments about how much he loves Lacey's character).

Self inserting has benefits, but many pit falls and it is one a lot of amateur writers have issues with. Basically it is when a writer finds some connection or relation to the character they are writing. It doesn't have to be a literal "self insert", it can simply be an empathy, or some means to where the writer finds some connection to the character.

Normally, this isn't a big issue, but it does become a problem if the writer hasn't solidified their story progression on the characters and their states. The problems evolve with how the writer begins to favor that specific character and then that character is allowed to circumvent the story structure through various inconsistent or "miraculous" means.

The professor loves Lacey, he has stated it as such, and I would wager he has connections with various characters that have all of a sudden shown drastic change in their progression in the story. Combine the fact that the professor writes in a manner that is more "in the moment" and you can see how this can have an effect on story and character structure to which it flows where the professor is focusing, and not entirely with respect to the story he has presented.

So what does this mean? It means that the story can go anywhere. Currently Lacey is the favorite, but do not discount that other characters, at specific times, could also find favor and have adjustments that conflict with their current direction in the writing.

I honestly don't know if this is the issue, it seems like it, the story seems flow like this when you pay attention to specific character changes, but for whatever the reason is, they do and this "may" be some ultimate progression the professor has planned, so I have no clue to be honest, but I do notice "favoring" at times in the writing that "forces" extreme changes in character progression and this makes it "extremely" difficult to figure out what is going on and what "may" be happening next.

All I know is that this is an issue in a lot of modern writing and it does cause serious issues with story flow, consistency, and respect to resolution in many works out there.

 

[funnythings3785]

The problem is the Prof would be crucified if they go for any 'edgy' ending that end up remotely like the typical Western NTR games. Considering they have two other games currently in the making if they were to shit so hard on their proclamation that this wouldn't be a cliche NTR game it will kill their player base instantly.

So the MC becoming Lacey's pet would be cliche NTR, the MC killing Lacey would also be somewhat cliche NTR, even the MC leaving Lacey would be effectively cliche NTR, plus their is the double bind issue, if the MC leave Lacey without replacement he dies and she dies afterward, if the MC leave Lacey while he has a replacement, she dies and he might make it out alive but he'll be miserable because he caused Lacey to die, whoever replace Lacey would be able to keep him alive, but it wouldn't be great for him. Either of those would be bad endings.

If the Prof wants to be an overdramatic ass about it could end like the antagonists of Suikoden I, the MC is at the cliff, Lacey join him and they just jump off together, if this happen to be an ending I might end up fucking my eyes up due to the depth of the eye roll I'd go thru.

Well, I wouldn't call any retaliation by the MC to be "cliche" to be honest. Most (not all) NTR favors the FC as the Heroine, however shady like it is reasoned, the MC "rarely" ends with a revenge ending. So if he were to do something like that, honestly... I would be surprised.

Outside of that, yes... if he follows the "Traditional" obvious angles where the MC becomes a cuck, where Lacey gets her happy ending without the MC, or the MC becomes converted into a sex starved guy who shares her (still a cuck ending IMO) that would be a "traditional" NTR ending.

So he has to operate outside of those means which is as you say, he dies, she dies... or... non-traditional result where he gets a happy ending and maybe she doesn't get him, but gets to "view from the outside".

The reality is, to have an ending in this that doesn't result in a traditional NTR, Lacey has to have a negative (outside of her changing and becoming a better person), which I don't see happening because the professor is attached so much to her. At best, we can find some ending where the MC and Lacey are together, but likely due to him being at fault and coming to terms... with maybe Lacey not wanting to partake in the "experiments" or other behavior, but honestly... I think the MC is going to be the one who loses out here in some way... that is.... unless the professor magically absolves her of her behavior and issues near the end, but since they are not seen as the "problem", I am not sure that is what we will get.

 

[funnythings3785]

Ok. Unless I missed something on my run, MC does not know where she is attending college, she won't reply to his messages, and he doesn't know about any other friends she had at home to ask... ...how on earth could anyone be expected to go "save" her from an unknown place--a place that she went to so she could learn to stand on her own two feet (a reason not to interfere)?

That is my understanding as well... but even if he did know, keep in mind his character, how he has "learned" to respect her boundaries to the point of extremism. He knows that Lacey already said "I am going to do this... I will return when I have completed this that I am doing" and... he has "reached out" to verify her intent and with the messages, he sees she has read them and so he may have understood that as "allow her to do what she wanted to do, give her space... she asked for this and she knows because she read my responses".

This is my point, there is a very "narrow" argument to be made that "well, duh... he should have gone anyway!", but then.. the MC doesn't think like this, he adjusts to Lacey as she requires... and by reading his responses, not responding, it is reasonable for him to assume... this is what she wants... for him to... keep waiting... to be on hold as she does what she claimed she set out to do.

Is it rational to the normal person? No. Is it for him? I would say yes. He is merely doing what he was instructed to do in order to keep her in a state she is comfortable with. I mean, if she were in pain, if she were having issues, would she not respond in any way? He sent her a 100 messages, certainly if she needed something, she could respond in ANY way? I mean... if she simply responded with "iowqueoinfqo" I can guarantee he would have set out to find her and help her. She responded with nothing, but he knew she read it... she must not want him to come... she must not want him to do anything, he should just wait until she does need something.

That is what I got from the situation, but maybe I am wrong.

 

[Lady Lydia]

Well, I wouldn't call any retaliation by the MC to be "cliche" to be honest. Most (not all) NTR favors the FC as the Heroine, however shady like it is reasoned, the MC "rarely" ends with a revenge ending. So if he were to do something like that, honestly... I would be surprised.

Outside of that, yes... if he follows the "Traditional" obvious angles where the MC becomes a cuck, where Lacey gets her happy ending without the MC, or the MC becomes converted into a sex starved guy who shares her (still a cuck ending IMO) that would be a "traditional" NTR ending.

So he has to operate outside of those means which is as you say, he dies, she dies... or... non-traditional result where he gets a happy ending and maybe she doesn't get him, but gets to "view from the outside".

The reality is, to have an ending in this that doesn't result in a traditional NTR, Lacey has to have a negative (outside of her changing and becoming a better person), which I don't see happening because the professor is attached so much to her. At best, we can find some ending where the MC and Lacey are together, but likely due to him being at fault and coming to terms... with maybe Lacey not wanting to partake in the "experiments" or other behavior, but honestly... I think the MC is going to be the one who loses out here in some way... that is.... unless the professor magically absolves her of her behavior and issues near the end, but since they are not seen as the "problem", I am not sure that is what we will get.

The MC sharing Lacey isn't NTR, its NTS, which is different enough for the Dev to be able to justify going for it. If the MC ends up having his mind changed to a state where he isn't jealous anymore and accept her earlier notion that 'it doesn't matter' he might accept her fucking around, and even that I am not sure I'd called 'sharing' since its not so much like he'd offer her to another man so much as he'd let her just go for it of her own free will as she see fit.

Hell the story has already strong indications NTS is planned for the future, with Yue quite possibly, like I said previously the way I see the scene in Act 3 with her at the restaurant is he is telling her to take Bradley as a boyfriend and if he doesn't do it for her the MC will 'figure it out' which as I said sounds very much like it mean he would Netori her, or possibly arrange some swinging with Yue & Bradley.

NTR is typically the MC losing his LI, either she leave, either he leave, either he kills her corrupter and still lose her because they end up in prison or something of the sort, or he kill both the corrupter and LI, the point I am making is loss is the very most cliche aspect of NTR. So any ending where Lacey is promiscuous but the MC allow it wouldn't be considered NTR, buts NTS.

 

[NewGuy2022]

That is my understanding as well... but even if he did know, keep in mind his character, how he has "learned" to respect her boundaries to the point of extremism. He knows that Lacey already said "I am going to do this... I will return when I have completed this that I am doing" and... he has "reached out" to verify her intent and with the messages, he sees she has read them and so he may have understood that as "allow her to do what she wanted to do, give her space... she asked for this and she knows because she read my responses".

This is my point, there is a very "narrow" argument to be made that "well, duh... he should have gone anyway!", but then.. the MC doesn't think like this, he adjusts to Lacey as she requires... and by reading his responses, not responding, it is reasonable for him to assume... this is what she wants... for him to... keep waiting... to be on hold as she does what she claimed she set out to do.

Is it rational to the normal person? No. Is it for him? I would say yes. He is merely doing what he was instructed to do in order to keep her in a state she is comfortable with. I mean, if she were in pain, if she were having issues, would she not respond in any way? He sent her a 100 messages, certainly if she needed something, she could respond in ANY way? I mean... if she simply responded with "iowqueoinfqo" I can guarantee he would have set out to find her and help her. She responded with nothing, but he knew she read it... she must not want him to come... she must not want him to do anything, he should just wait until she does need something.

That is what I got from the situation, but maybe I am wrong.

Well, I got that too, so I don't see how he was supposed to save her. Which likely is exactly what she wanted him to do and is holding against him since he didn't (wife logic). I assumed she was ghosting him and I became upset with him for not going the Anna route at that point. He could've had such a good life with her and just moved on... ...what a waste.

 

[monkeyqueen]

This probably is the most frustrating part of the story for me. I don't know which content really is content and which will be explained away later as "brain damage", etc. It's really hard to accept how an NPC can go from evil to good (or the opposite) so quickly within the story. It seems fake and makes me, the reader, question the NPC's motives, intent, and credibility.

I restarted the story and am noticing things either I missed before or didn't recognize as important on my first run-though. Even when Lacey isn't cheating on her husband, the way she behaves makes it appear she is; I didn't appreciate just how serious her gaslighting is on my first run. I find it hard to accept the assertion that she loves him when I see her treating him the way she does.

She's not gaslighting. If you are seeing that it's because you want to. She does keep things from him - like failing to tell him what she is doing to encourage harem members to boost his ego - but she really hasn't lied while the MC lies time and time again.

The MC did know where she went to college.

Also NTR strories DO NOT end with the MC at fault. It would fantastic is this one ended this way. NTRS stories often end that way but in the classic NTR story the bull and the wife at fault - the bull for being a sociopath and the wife for being cheating slut seduced by a big dick and rough sex. The NTR cuck is a good guy - which is why I love this story. In it the "nice guy" is actually a revolting cock.

 

[funnythings3785]

The MC sharing Lacey isn't NTR, its NTS, which is different enough for the Dev to be able to justify going for it. If the MC ends up having his mind changed to a state where he isn't jealous anymore and accept her earlier notion that 'it doesn't matter' he might accept her fucking around, and even that I am not sure I'd called 'sharing' since its not so much like he'd offer her to another man so much as he let her just goes for it of her own free will as she see fit.

Hell the story has already strong indications NTS is planned for the future, with Yue quite possibly, like I said previously the way I see the scene in Act 3 with her at the restaurant is he is telling her to take Bradley as a boyfriend and if he doesn't do it for her the MC will 'figure it out' which as I said sounds very much like it mean he would Netori her, or possibly arrange some swinging with Yue & Bradley.

NTR is typically the MC losing his LI, either she leave, either he leave, either he kills her corrupter and still lose her because they end up in prison or something of the sort, or he kill both the corrupter and LI, the point I am making is loss if a the very cliche aspect of NTR. So any ending where Lacey is promiscuous but the MC allow it wouldn't be considered NTR, buts NTS.

Sharing (NTS) is still cuckolding, it is just approved cuckolding under "specific" conditions. I won't argue over the "rationalizing" of it, lets just say... approving your wife being screwed by another or not doesn't change anything other than the approval, the action is still the same whether the person feels betrayed by the action or not. For the MC to end up where he watches his wife get gang banged "approvingly" would be a simple formality, especially when the entire concept of getting him to that "approval" was to "condition" him to accept it. The reality is the same whether is watched or known.

All the NTS is "player driven" (as per the professors * conditions in the "genre" selection. There are specific means to which it is forced, for story purposes, but this is not an NTR game in that respect, nor an NTS game either and some have pointed out, you can easily play the game without interacting with most of the women, AND you actually retain higher GG points by doing so... I wonder why?

I am familiar with NTR, more specifically Netorare. I would say a story where the MC is "brainwashed" and make no mistake, "conditioning" the MC to be accepting to such things when he is adamantly opposed to them is "brainwashing" him to an eventual result and if that result is to get him to accept his wife fucking around, I would call that... a Netorare ending, just a bunch of "legalese" in the process to getting him to accept it. Add in the fact that the MC has mental issues concerning all of this, I would call that a "Severely Demoralized Abuse" ending where the FC has broken the MC for her own individual pleasures.

 

[monkeyqueen]

The code has lines for both NTS and NTRS - the later being a situation where the cuck encourages cheating but the cheating is hidden from view or only revealed by a third party

 

[funnythings3785]

Here is another thing to think about...

Considering everything up to Act 3.

How does Lacey view being shared? (Act 1 or 2, I cant remember the specific dialogue)

How does she view a man who would allow his woman to be shared. (Act 3)

How does Lacey view the MC being shared with other women? (Act 1,2,3 reactions to MC with other women)

hmm...

 

[krailor]

Props to Professor Amethyst, this is certainly the most interesting game on the site. After finishing Act 3 I went back and replayed from the start and took notes as I went thinking about the characters and their motivations. That's an insane amount of analysis for a porn game; every other game on this site I'll play it, jerk it, and then forget about it until the next update. Honestly after replaying it I'm not even sure if I like it...but I am obsessed with it.

I think my biggest gripe with the game is that the Dev wants to portray something similar to real life where people make progress and then regress over and over again. In real life this process might happen over the span of a decade plus so the struggle makes sense and is justified. However, doing this in a game where the player is watching characters make progress and then almost immediately regress again and again over the span of a few hours becomes incredibly frustrating and really starts to impact their enjoyment of the game.

One other nitpicky thing that stuck out to me is when you're choosing a name for Lacey to call you during the punish/slut events you're able to choose Daddy as an option. From a standard porn game perspective that makes perfect sense; it's a pretty common term to use for a male partner. But in this game....with this story....you should take a pretty big Good Guy hit for making Lacey call you that.

 

[Diosvincenccio]

How does Lacey view being shared? (Act 1 or 2, I cant remember the specific dialogue)

She tells she doesnt wanna be, and that she would only do it at the insistence of MC...(even has one part that mentions, that only would do it if it wont cause harm to him) Now... what she says and what she does are very different things... Like she admits she would say anything...

How does she view a man who would allow his woman to be shared. (Act 3)

From the convo with Lorenzo at the library... She advices him to never do that (the being cucked) in a relationship that he is not willing to loose or end... that its not healthy for his mental sanity, etc... Please Please Please notice the fucking irony of her advice in that conversation after what she has done to MC and what she had him accept.

How does Lacey view the MC being shared with other women?

She separates sex and love... only for herself. Or at least she says she does, or thats what she wants to convice herself she does. Who knows after Act 3?

What she has showed in reaction to MC with others is jealosy (the very same reactions that MC has). From the attitude after the sex with Kelly during the free pass week... to the recent 3 girls before the talk with Isaac... This last one showing to her what is like to be on the other side of the fence (in a very minor, very tame, way) for a while.

Again, she does not separate sex and love when it comes to MC, only on her actions, making MC view her version(probably self delusion) of the world but not seeing his side or even allowing to apply her version to him... Only thing on that as a defense is that she prepared herself to take a few hits due her actions, Anna for example during the free pass... She has accepted some "losses" due her behaviour, and even then, those are heavily policed, so she has some control on the situation... (Kelly for example was outside her control and caused the conflict)



funnythings3785 Seriously dude, join the discord, we want to see you there.

 

[monkeyqueen]

But in this game....with this story....you should take a pretty big Good Guy hit for making Lacey call you that.

Really, really good point. I think the prof has written the MC to be a "nice guy", never a good guy and it really comes out in the sex scenes.

 

[Arithil]

I mean it's supposed to be a punishment

 

[NewGuy2022]

There will be more bad endings than good ones, the story has outlined, in my opinion, only 2 truly positive scenarios for MC, and 5 disastrous ones, one would be the separation, the death of the characters due to the landowners, FMC becoming the slut again and ending up not NTR of the heavy ones, or MC being locked up because he's crazy, there are more indications of bad endings, than bad endings, good ones, a Harem ending for MC, and the love ending of the couple, the rest just bad endings.

Interesting perspective. I view separation as positive for the MC but negative for Lacey; yes, it will be painful for the MC until he learns to cope but if he separates *and* gets extensive therapy he'll be better off as a "person" long term.

I would view all of the other endings you list as negative for the MC. The harem, orchestrated by Lacey, is just another way for her to manipulate him (since she would control the girls and his access to them) and I have a lot of trouble viewing the couple remaining together as a loving ending for the MC. Lacey gets a lot out of that because she continues to keep him as her crutch while enjoying herself as she torments him... ...unless the dev is going to pull another Crazy Ivan in Act 4 or later where suddenly Lacey suddenly turns good and we learn the whole thing was just in the MC's head...

I'm not saying that I see her deliberately scheming ways to torture him but I do see her turning a blind eye toward how much what she does hurts him. The lies, the gaslighting, these things just show a total lack of care or respect for her partner.

The only way I can see the MC remaining in the relationship is if she wears him down into being submissive to her and, yes, cuckolding him either literally or at least figuratively. I don't view this as a positive loving relationship. Their views on honesty, respect, intimacy, etc., are just too far apart for them to remain a good couple. Notice how she works so hard to change his ethics on intimacy and its relationship to love within a marriage?

I can see the 2 of them learning to get along somewhat but I can't see how the MC could trust her after all she has done (and continues to do) to him. Admittedly, I loathe her character as dev has written her up to this point and I freely admit bias in my assessment. I'm not exactly fond of the MC, either, for his willful refusal to step up for himself and improve.