VN Ren'Py Our Red String [Ch. 12.3 Alpha] [Eva Kiss]

[dontcarewhateverno]

Don't turn this into GOT S8 where it's all about "subverting expectations". Mike fits Gillian's boyfriend so well from all the details in the game. It also make sense from a narrative point of view and is more interesting this way given the possible decisions we can do in the game. Changing this because "audience already knows the twist" just screams that the author just wants to feel smart by proving people wrong and inadvertently ruining the established hints and narrative potential for a cheap "plot twist".

Yeah. But that's like Eva's been making us all a shit sandwich all this time. We see her getting a few loaves together. Downing some Exlax. Cutting the bread subway style. Pulling her pants down. Then in the last second ruffling through her pockets for her cell-phone and ordering us up a fillet mignon via door dash. You can stay in line for the shit sandwich. I'll take the steak.

(Basically, Mike/Gillian was a bad set-up to begin with).

Also, off topic, but Game of Thrones ending wasn't bad BECAUSE of the twist in Season 8. It was bad because it didn't earn it. GRR meant for that ending to happen. The show-runners had just been screwing the pooch since veering off the books in Seasons 5-6 and didn't set it up properly. Quality drop and crowd-pleasing bullshit starting in Season 5, with occassional moments of good until the downhill tumble of Season 7.

 

[WatsonJohn]

Yeah. But that's like Eva's been making us all a shit sandwich all this time. We see her getting a few loaves together. Downing some Exlax. Cutting the bread subway style. Pulling her pants down. Then in the last second ruffling through her pockets for her cell-phone and ordering us up a fillet mignon via door dash. You can stay in line for the shit sandwich. I'll take the steak.

(Basically, Mike/Gillian was a bad set-up to begin with).

Also, off topic, but Game of Thrones ending wasn't bad BECAUSE of the twist in Season 8. It was bad because it didn't earn it. GRR meant for that ending to happen. The show-runners had just been screwing the pooch since veering off the books in Seasons 5-6 and didn't set it up properly. Quality drop and crowd-pleasing bullshit starting in Season 5, with occassional moments of good until the downhill tumble of Season 7.

GRRM never said he planned for Arya to kill the Night King. It was done by D&D to "subvert expectations" when people were expecting it to either be Dany or Jon in one way or another. When asked if the ending of ASOIAF would be the same, GRRM responded with 'yes and no and yes and no' and fans have speculated that Bran becoming king would still be an ending. Still, the whole "subverting expectations" that D&D pulled is still nonsense because of the story THEY made, not GRRM. People expected Dany or Jon to be king, based on the story that the showrunners created but instead, Bran was made king to "subvert expectations" even when it made no sense to the story.

Not sure what you're trying to say with your 'analogy' but Mike being Gillian's boyfriend is not a "shit sandwich". As I said before, it makes a lot sense both from a logical point of view based on the information in the game and the narrative point of view where his being the boyfriend adds more to the drama and the intricacies of the relationship that Ian, Lena, Mike, Gillian, and even Jeremy will have to weave through in future updates. If you consider what the author is doing is shit then I'd be curious why you're still sticking here, enjoying their story and game. I'm also not sure what your "FILET mignon" could be for Gillian's boyfriend. All other options would just suck and odd or out of place from the story so far. Billy? Spike? Are those supposed to be the steak?

 

[dontcarewhateverno]

GRRM never said he planned for Arya to kill the Night King. It was done by D&D to "subvert expectations" when people were expecting it to either be Dany or Jon in one way or another. When asked if the ending of ASOIAF would be the same, GRRM responded with 'yes and no and yes and no' and fans have speculated that Bran becoming king would still be an ending. Still, the whole "subverting expectations" that D&D pulled is still nonsense because of the story THEY made, not GRRM. People expected Dany or Jon to be king, based on the story that the showrunners created but instead, Bran was made king to "subvert expectations" even when it made no sense to the story.

The Arya part was pure shit, yeah. Crowd-pleasing yass-queen nonsense that pleased no-one at all and made little sense. Painfully contrived crap. You hadn't stated that specifically so I thought you meant the Dany flip-out at the end with the burning and the killing and the rest.

On the other point: You're putting words in my mouth. "If you consider what the author is doing is shit." Nope. Just certain far-too-coincidental-to-be-plausible plot-turns like this one, which I and others have already stated in previous posts. Judging on the basis of porn-game writers, Eva's actually one of the best. I keep playing/following because the game is still good and she's a good dev.

The "Steak" would be to avoid yet another implausibly coincidental connection of a character we already know and just have a well-crafted new character applied in an interesting way. Spike would be more eye-rolling than Mike. Billy nearly as much.

 

[muhabie]

Wish there was more games like this. Although I don't care much for the multiple protagonists, I'd much rather play one character with more content driven towards that one, rather than swapping between the two. Still very good game and I hope we see more games from Eva Kiss. Been fun playing them and making my own choices, I like to play as the pure innocent type, but most games don't know how to flavor that up a bit. A lot of games are corrupt person, then have gangbangs lol. Like a bit extreme for a saint to go from angel to little devil in a week or two. Be cool if Eva could make more of an open world with dialogue choices based on discovery of the options and also a plot, for our inevitable climax.

 

[| Vee |]

I think Lena is looking like in phase of the sixth pic from left

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[dontcarewhateverno]

Be cool if Eva could make more of an open world with dialogue choices based on discovery of the options and also a plot, for our inevitable climax.

There's already a few inevitable climaxes each chapter.

 

[WatsonJohn]

The Arya part was pure shit, yeah. Crowd-pleasing yass-queen nonsense that pleased no-one at all and made little sense. Painfully contrived crap. You hadn't stated that specifically so I thought you meant the Dany flip-out at the end with the burning and the killing and the rest.

On the other point: You're putting words in my mouth. "If you consider what the author is doing is shit." Nope. Just certain far-too-coincidental-to-be-plausible plot-turns like this one, which I and others have already stated in previous posts. Judging on the basis of porn-game writers, Eva's actually one of the best. I keep playing/following because the game is still good and she's a good dev.

The "Steak" would be to avoid the implausibly coincidental turn of yet another character we already know of to begin with and just have a well-crafted new character applied in an interesting way. Billy or Spike would be as eye-rolling as Mike.

I don't think having Mike as the boyfriend is that implausible. It was stated early on in the game that he's recent to the city and Lena meeting Mike isn't far fetched either. His work as a DJ is pretty "public" where he can meet and be acquainted with a lot of people so meeting Lena is a possibility especially if you consider that Ivy also works there. There are a lot more bizzare events that happened to real people in their everyday lives. This also ties to the title and theme of the game where it talks about the red threads of fate where these 'coincidences' may not be so, especially if you consider the Seymour-Lena theory. I'm also playing and reading a story crafted by an author, and if I just want a mundane and not out-of-the-ordinary story then I'd just live my life. If Mike isn't going to be the boyfriend, then the author would miss out on a lot of good drama and more gripping story. It would be a shame if the "hints" are all just a red herring and they amount to nothing in the end.

 

[ffive]

If Lena slept with Ivy after her birthday party, she can't refuse to have sex with her in the gym showers.

That's not quite accurate: Lena can refuse, but only if she has a will point to spare. Otherwise i agree, you could say Iva has corrupting influence on Lena (and potentially Holly) but then again, that's simply what she herself lives like. She enjoys it and thinks it's a lifestyle her friends would have fun with, too.

 

[BlandChili]

Yes, I remember learning somewhere along the way Robert was rewritten to be more tolerable, but when I did a new playthrough for ch10 he still seemed pretty icky if Lena sleeps with him. If she doesn't he can be a little more decent to her about job stuff, though of course Seymour will get her fired regardless.

Regardless of how tolerable he is on his route, the second he brought up Lena's job and how he could "help" I refuse to engage any further with him.

In ch11 I was totally surprised to see Ivy suggest Robert as a casual sex object for Holly, and Lena can choose to set that up or not. Not so much that Ivy would suggest it, that makes sense, just that I'd never have put Robert and Holly together in the first place. In terms of personality I can't see it going very well, but of course that doesn't necessarily have to be a factor ...

I assume you have to engage with him on some level to get that, Ivy didn't bring him up with me, no reason to I suppose since he's a non-factor for me.

I think Eva get too much shit than she deserves. Writing a story with two protagonists and infinite amount of choices would take a a lot of time to flesh out. Her best choice, for now, is to hire more writers to help her cause I think. Not sure about her patreon situation though.

I don't think it's fair to defend her entirely either. Eva is a big girl and she chose to do the double protagonist thing herself. It's not that difficult to write non-toxic characters.

For some reason though, all of Lena's options apart from Ian and Holly have major negative details to them that absolutely ruin any non-sexual interest you'd have in them, if you don't play Lena like either a wanton slut or a complete hypocrite. This isn't exclusive to the males either, Louise and Ivy both have components that makes them undesirable for anything other than the sex itself.

Ivy is kinda corrupting Lena, and I think it'll ramp up in the following chapters. It's Ivy who gives the idea to Lena to open up a stalkfap and who encourages her to fuck around. If Lena slept with Ivy after her birthday party, she can't refuse to have sex with her in the gym showers.

Also the drugs.

Rather than Ivy corrupting Lena, because Lena can be played to be somewhat open to her suggestions to begin with, I see Ivy as the harbiinger for potential things to come. Besides the drugs and the things you mentioned Ivy is also the standard-bearer for pole-dancing, tattoos, piercings etc. If Ivy is introducing some element to the story you can be fairly sure Lena will either have the option to do that thing right away or some time in the near future.

Robert was initially intended to be 1. An early sexual partner for Lena, much in the way that Cherry and Allison were for Ian, and 2. A deliberately sub-standard version of Ian, personality-wise. Ian starts out the game with more depth to him, with his writing focus, relationship woes, his aspirational struggles at work, and prior experience with art and music.

Robert as a character might have shifted over time, after those initial settings. Also, I'll speculate that it's probably easier and fun for Eva to write sexy scenes for Robert with Lena, because he's not very deep, whereas Ian brings more complexity to the table and writing Ian/Lena scenes might be comparatively more of an intellectual exercise.

It's a pity though because there is really no reason for Robert to be so shafted (teehee) in regards to his presentation and narrative role. Ian is an MC, any doubts about his intentions can be expelled by the players themselves, this is part of the reason why Ian/Lena doesn't interest me personally, because any dramatic potential in their relationship has to be manufactured by the player, which I think undermines any dynamism completely.

Robert could just have been a normal dude instead of a creep and a joke and I am fairly sure he wouldn't have been undermining Ian at all to begin with.

GRRM never said he planned for Arya to kill the Night King. It was done by D&D to "subvert expectations" when people were expecting it to either be Dany or Jon in one way or another. When asked if the ending of ASOIAF would be the same, GRRM responded with 'yes and no and yes and no' and fans have speculated that Bran becoming king would still be an ending.

Bran becoming king could work I guess. As long as it isn't this whole "Bran the Broken" shit Tyrion conjures up randomly, trying to make something ridiculous sound inspirational. The old guys laughed at Sam's democracy suggestion but not at the idea of making a crippled teenager into their ruler?

 

[WatsonJohn]

Bran becoming king could work I guess. As long as it isn't this whole "Bran the Broken" shit Tyrion conjures up randomly, trying to make something ridiculous sound inspirational. The old guys laughed at Sam's democracy suggestion but not at the idea of making a crippled teenager into their ruler?

Yeah, I theorize that this is the plan of the "old gods" or the neural network of Weirwoods where they can have someone have a more direct and overt impact on the history of Westeros and not the more hidden or scheming way that Bloodraven has been with influencing people and events.

 

[ffive]

BY the conversation Between Ian and Gillian, It is kind of leaning in direction that Ian knows that person. He may have just mention it for the context.

I feel when he talks about "that person" he means it as "that dude you cheated on me with (whoever he is)". In fact, if Ian knew the guy's identity then it makes little sense his name never comes up, in the dream in this chapter nor anywhere else -- it's always just "The Guy" or "he", even if it'd be natural for Gillian in Ian's dream to refer to him by name, or for Ian questioning Jeremy to simply ask "was she with X" than the roundabout way he goes about it. Lena, who is in similar situation, has no trouble with calling Cherry "Cherry", instead of only ever "that girl".

 

[SerHawkes]

If Ivy is introducing some element to the story you can be fairly sure Lena will either have the option to do that thing right away or some time in the near future.

Well considering I'm already tatting and piercing up Lena as is, anything else is out of the question though. Will poledance if it is a means to an end simple to keep out of Seymours thumb.

But going back to the tats and such, seem odd we haven't gotten any more, specially in Ian's case who has the option to get some according to the coding. I really want a nice sleave for Lena that works well with the other three current tattoos. Maybe even on both arms.

 

[BlandChili]

Well considering I'm already tatting and piercing up Lena as is, anything else is out of the question though. Will poledance if it is a means to an end simple to keep out of Seymours thumb.

But going back to the tats and such, seem odd we haven't gotten any more, specially in Ian's case who has the option to get some according to the coding. I really want a nice sleave for Lena that works well with the other three current tattoos. Maybe even on both arms.

It took a while for Ian to get clothing options, he seems to trail behind generally when it comes to using his money. Given how Alison is developing and given Cindy's general vibe I wonder if he'll get the option to splurge on his dates in the future. Perhaps that's how he'll finally bag Ivy huh?

Personally I hope that wouldn't be the case. I kinda like the current vibe that Ivy is coming around to find Ian desirable without there being any apparent advantage to pursuing him like the case has been for her with Jeremy and Axel.

 

[Mfka5]

What im wondering is if Cindy really is on pill.
2nd time they had sex she was panicking to cum outside and then 3rd time they had sex she was very eager for him to cum in her and even guided him. Could she have started taking it after 2nd time they done it or sometimes she is just unprepared?

Also when Jeremy came in Lena she just shrug it off as if nothing happened, meanwhile when Mike? I think came in her she was panicking, saying she will visit the pharmacy, kinda confused here

 

[SerHawkes]

Personally I hope that wouldn't be the case. I kinda like the current vibe that Ivy is coming around to find Ian desirable without there being any apparent advantage to pursuing him like the case has been for her with Jeremy and Axel.

I think it really stems from Ian, whether in a relationship with Lena or Not (mine simply being friends with Lena) is that Ian isn't dogging her for attention like Jeremy is. And I think she see more of an appeal there than some desperate guy that just want a notch on the bed post.

Saying that, the slow growing friendship/potential interest there could lead to something. Though I think in term of appearences on whether or not Ian does get a tattoo (if ever) or grows a beard (confirmed in the coding), it will more so be something that she would comment on and likely approve of, depend on what though.

 

[ffive]

Personally I hope that wouldn't be the case. I kinda like the current vibe that Ivy is coming around to find Ian desirable without there being any apparent advantage to pursuing him like the case has been for her with Jeremy and Axel.

I have to wonder how much of Ivy's behavior concerning Ian is driven by (mild) jealousy over Lena: Ivy gives me a vibe she's had some feelings for Lena for a long time (they were each other's first lesbian experience, and all) and seeing Lena get serious about someone makes her both to want to be that person instead, or at least a part of the picture. Similar to how Ivy acts when Lena and Holly become a pair.

Although i guess Ivy acts this way towards Ian even when he isn't close with Lena, so on second thought, scratch most of that.

 

[godoff95]

What im wondering is if Cindy really is on pill.
2nd time they had sex she was panicking to cum outside and then 3rd time they had sex she was very eager for him to cum in her and even guided him. Could she have started taking it after 2nd time they done it or sometimes she is just unprepared?

Also when Jeremy came in Lena she just shrug it off as if nothing happened, meanwhile when Mike? I think came in her she was panicking, saying she will visit the pharmacy, kinda confused here

I think it will be fixed during revision.

have errors on cindycry (last Axel photoshoot)
I'm sorry, but an uncaught exception occurred.

While running game code:
NameError: name 'cindycry' is not defined

-- Full Traceback ------------------------------------------------------------

Full traceback:
File "scripts/story/chapter_9_cindy.rpyc", line 906, in script
File "C:\Users\User\Downloads\OurRedString-v11_Alpha-pc\OurRedString-v11_Alpha-pc\renpy\ast.py", line 921, in execute
renpy.exports.say(who, what, *args, **kwargs)
File "C:\Users\User\Downloads\OurRedString-v11_Alpha-pc\OurRedString-v11_Alpha-pc\renpy\exports.py", line 1373, in say
who(what, *args, **kwargs)
File "C:\Users\User\Downloads\OurRedString-v11_Alpha-pc\OurRedString-v11_Alpha-pc\renpy\character.py", line 1266, in __call__
self.do_display(who, what, cb_args=self.cb_args, dtt=dtt, **display_args)
File "C:\Users\User\Downloads\OurRedString-v11_Alpha-pc\OurRedString-v11_Alpha-pc\renpy\character.py", line 927, in do_display
display_say(who,
File "C:\Users\User\Downloads\OurRedString-v11_Alpha-pc\OurRedString-v11_Alpha-pc\renpy\character.py", line 666, in display_say
rv = renpy.ui.interact(mouse='say', type=type, roll_forward=roll_forward)
File "C:\Users\User\Downloads\OurRedString-v11_Alpha-pc\OurRedString-v11_Alpha-pc\renpy\ui.py", line 299, in interact
rv = renpy.game.interface.interact(roll_forward=roll_forward, **kwargs)
File "C:\Users\User\Downloads\OurRedString-v11_Alpha-pc\OurRedString-v11_Alpha-pc\renpy\display\core.py", line 3377, in interact
repeat, rv = self.interact_core(preloads=preloads, trans_pause=trans_pause, pause=pause, pause_start=pause_start, pause_modal=pause_modal, **kwargs) # type: ignore
File "C:\Users\User\Downloads\OurRedString-v11_Alpha-pc\OurRedString-v11_Alpha-pc\renpy\display\core.py", line 3810, in interact_core
root_widget.visit_all(lambda i : i.per_interact())
File "C:\Users\User\Downloads\OurRedString-v11_Alpha-pc\OurRedString-v11_Alpha-pc\renpy\display\core.py", line 582, in visit_all
d.visit_all(callback, seen)
File "C:\Users\User\Downloads\OurRedString-v11_Alpha-pc\OurRedString-v11_Alpha-pc\renpy\display\core.py", line 582, in visit_all
d.visit_all(callback, seen)
File "C:\Users\User\Downloads\OurRedString-v11_Alpha-pc\OurRedString-v11_Alpha-pc\renpy\display\core.py", line 582, in visit_all
d.visit_all(callback, seen)
[Previous line repeated 5 more times]
File "C:\Users\User\Downloads\OurRedString-v11_Alpha-pc\OurRedString-v11_Alpha-pc\renpy\display\core.py", line 572, in visit_all
for d in self.visit():
File "C:\Users\User\Downloads\OurRedString-v11_Alpha-pc\OurRedString-v11_Alpha-pc\renpy\display\layout.py", line 1494, in visit
self.update(self.last_st, self.last_at)
File "C:\Users\User\Downloads\OurRedString-v11_Alpha-pc\OurRedString-v11_Alpha-pc\renpy\display\layout.py", line 1505, in update
raw_child, redraw = self.function(st, at, *self.args, **self.kwargs)
File "C:\Users\User\Downloads\OurRedString-v11_Alpha-pc\OurRedString-v11_Alpha-pc\renpy\display\layout.py", line 1596, in condition_switch_show
return condition_switch_pick(switch), None
File "C:\Users\User\Downloads\OurRedString-v11_Alpha-pc\OurRedString-v11_Alpha-pc\renpy\display\layout.py", line 1587, in condition_switch_pick
if renpy.python.py_eval_bytecode(code):
File "C:\Users\User\Downloads\OurRedString-v11_Alpha-pc\OurRedString-v11_Alpha-pc\renpy\python.py", line 1085, in py_eval_bytecode
return eval(bytecode, globals, locals)
File "<none>", line 1, in <module>
NameError: name 'cindycry' is not defined

Windows-10-10.0.19045 AMD64
Ren'Py 8.0.3.22090809
Our Red String v11_Alpha
Fri Jul 7 11:47:11 2023

 

[BlandChili]

I have to wonder how much of Ivy's behavior concerning Ian is driven by (mild) jealousy over Lena: Ivy gives me a vibe she's had some feelings for Lena for a long time (they were each other's first lesbian experience, and all) and seeing Lena get serious about someone makes her both to want to be that person instead, or at least a part of the picture. Similar to how Ivy acts when Lena and Holly become a pair.

Although i guess Ivy acts this way towards Ian even when he isn't close with Lena, so on second thought, scratch most of that.

There's at least the possibility. It's an old thought of mine that there could be something deeper to Ivy's feelings for Lena. When it comes down to it, Lena is her only social contact that doesn't depend on sex or materialism.

If anything though I think it might be subconscious, maybe Ivy doesn't realise she feels lonely? She does sometimes come off as having a bit of tunnel-vision when it comes to her desires, evidenced how Axel made a fool of her in regards to Wildcats despite her knowing very well that he isn't a dude that keeps his promises.

 

[SerHawkes]

I have to wonder how much of Ivy's behavior concerning Ian is driven by (mild) jealousy over Lena: Ivy gives me a vibe she's had some feelings for Lena for a long time (they were each other's first lesbian experience, and all) and seeing Lena get serious about someone makes her both to want to be that person instead, or at least a part of the picture. Similar to how Ivy acts when Lena and Holly become a pair.

Although i guess Ivy acts this way towards Ian even when he isn't close with Lena, so on second thought, scratch most of that.

I think it's two fold. One hand, they've had hardships and have done things in the past, and present. So naturally I think there is some bit of feelings already there. That said, I also think she also may, despite what she says, is perhaps a bit lonier than she willingly admits, and it's hard to find someone who is interested in her more than just sex.

 

[Rae Bae]

especially if you consider the Seymour-Lena theory.

What is this theory?


......is there a theory that Seymour is her dad?