VN Ren'Py Our Red String [Ch.14.1.4 Beta] [Eva Kiss]

[BlandChili]

Someone help me, it was mentioned way earlier but what does the title “Our Red String” refer to or what’s it’s meaning?

Some people have already replied with some possibilities.

In Scandinavia especially, but also when you study literature in other European countries generally, you'll come across a concept simply called "the red thread" (or "string," I don't know if either of those terms are a more likely translation in Spanish). This refers to metaphorical bonds that connect people together into a greater whole, but doesn't imply anything fateful like the asian concept or the warding properties of the Kabbalah examples, given by others.

Of course it is equally possible that the title refers to all these concepts in some form.

I think you can make an argument for either of these ideas by analysing the narrative. Ian and Lena are perhaps always fated to be involved with each other, or their involvement represents the whole of the game as all the social contacts presented in the game revolves around them. Perhaps Lena and Ian have to work together (in representation of the Kabbalah) to ward off the worst of Seymour's machinations and the title is warning us that having Lena and Ian split on the issue will lead to their ruin!

 

[ffive]

Is there a bug in this path? I tried to do a variation for Ian,Lena,Holly throuple. Ian is dating Lena and always chooses the heart choices with her. Ian sleeps with Holly and automatically rejects her which I assumed is due to choosing the heart choices with Lena. Lena chooses to stay in Ivy's place and has a threesome with Holly. Lena always chooses heart options for Holly except for that scene (the heart option would have been to go to Lena's place and kiss Holly but Lena stops herself) and now Lena can't choose heart choices for Holly anymore in future choices.

You need to be a bit more specific. What exactly do you mean by "that scene" -- which scene, which chapter, what menu option. Similarly, when you say "now Lena can't choose heart choices" what choices do you mean, specifically?

If Ian chooses to sleep with Holly while he claims he's got feelings for Lena then Lena breaks with him in Ch.8 over it. How did you shape their relationship afterwards?

 

[DeemLeem12]

"That scene" refers to the context in which it is used. That being the threesome at Ivy's place. Pronouns such as 'that' refers to the closest previous noun or subject (e.g. "Ian is a cuck. He sucks Jeremy's cock." Even though 'Ian' and 'He' are not in the same sentence, you can figure out that the 'He' refers to Ian because of the context in which Ian is the previous noun used.) Another context clue is in the brackets, "(the heart option would have been...)". Since there were only two options and one of them is the scene where Lena almost kisses Holly, and the brackets negate that option, then the only option remaining is the threesome scene with Ivy. By "now Lena can't choose heart choices for Holly anymore in future choices", I mean all future choices where there is a heart option. But Lena can't select those choices.

I tried to make them as friendly as possible. Even after they stopped dating, they still have high relationship points.

 

[Bishop Robert]

The title is a reference to the Red String of Fate, an ancient Chinese belief that people who are destined to find love and marry each other are bound by an invisible red cord. The cord can become tangled and bind with other cords, but will never break, so these cords can create a great web of fate at times. Hence why all these characters lives are interconnected and they seemingly keep running into each other even when they don't plan too.

We're seeing a snapshot of Lena and Ian's lives. Perhaps they have a red cord that binds them, or perhaps their red cords just got tangled with each other the night they met in that ally. How we play them will likely determine that, but for now they are bound by fate to at least be near each other.

As the story has progressed, many of these cords have tangled further with each other; notably Ivy, Perry, and Holly are much more interconnected with both Lena and Ian now than they were at the start of the game. Cindy was loosely connected to Ian at the start of the game, but depending on how we play could be much tighter, and with her hiring to Wild Cats she may start finding herself more closely connected to Lena moving forward as well.

... but... what about Stan?

 

[ffive]

"That scene" refers to the context in which it is used. That being the threesome at Ivy's place. Pronouns such as 'that' refers to the closest previous noun or subject

Thank you for the grammar lesson but "that scene" (i.e. the one which potentially initiates the threesome) doesn't have heart option, hence my request for clarification:

    menu:
        "{image=icon_lust.webp}I'm willing to help" if (lena_lust > 5 and lena_go_holly > 0 and v8_holly_strip and ian_lena_dating == False) or (lena_lust > 5 and lena_go_holly > 0 and v8_holly_strip and ian_lena_over):
// ...
        "I won't take part":

For that matter there's also no heart option in the choices leading to it during the get-together that can end in the threesome (they're friend options, or neutral). I hope you can understand my confusion.

I tried to make them as friendly as possible. Even after they stopped dating, they still have high relationship points.

Relationship points don't really matter for the most part. By "they stopped dating" do you mean ian_lena_dating variable is set to False in your game? I.e. they didn't reconcile to the point of having sex (other than Lena potentially sucking on a dick while stoned)

It'd really help if you've bothered to cite options you can't select -- as some of these choices are automatically bypassed if Lena and Holly had sex. Or, if it's not too much of a problem, include a save from a point where you encountered such option.

Generally speaking, your decision to have a threesome with Ivy is most likely the culprit -- this effectively puts Holly under Ivy's spell (holly_ivy variable) which in turn has impact on whether Lena and Holly can form a romantic, exclusive relationship. So not really a bug but more of a consequence of fucking around. But it is possible there's a bug there in the mix. It could also be a side-effect of situation where you picked up a save from Ch.11 Prologue, which could result in some variables not getting set correctly for the chapter proper. Without a save or more details it's hard to say.

 

[Deleted member 6118633]

Someone help me, it was mentioned way earlier but what does the title “Our Red String” refer to or what’s it’s meaning?

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.

The title is a reference to the Red String of Fate, an ancient Chinese belief that people who are destined to find love and marry each other are bound by an invisible red cord. The cord can become tangled and bind with other cords, but will never break, so these cords can create a great web of fate at times. Hence why all these characters lives are interconnected and they seemingly keep running into each other even when they don't plan too.

We're seeing a snapshot of Lena and Ian's lives. Perhaps they have a red cord that binds them, or perhaps their red cords just got tangled with each other the night they met in that ally. How we play them will likely determine that, but for now they are bound by fate to at least be near each other.

As the story has progressed, many of these cords have tangled further with each other; notably Ivy, Perry, and Holly are much more interconnected with both Lena and Ian now than they were at the start of the game. Cindy was loosely connected to Ian at the start of the game, but depending on how we play could be much tighter, and with her hiring to Wild Cats she may start finding herself more closely connected to Lena moving forward as well.

Some people have already replied with some possibilities.

In Scandinavia especially, but also when you study literature in other European countries generally, you'll come across a concept simply called "the red thread" (or "string," I don't know if either of those terms are a more likely translation in Spanish). This refers to metaphorical bonds that connect people together into a greater whole, but doesn't imply anything fateful like the asian concept or the warding properties of the Kabbalah examples, given by others.

Of course it is equally possible that the title refers to all these concepts in some form.

I think you can make an argument for either of these ideas by analysing the narrative. Ian and Lena are perhaps always fated to be involved with each other, or their involvement represents the whole of the game as all the social contacts presented in the game revolves around them. Perhaps Lena and Ian have to work together (in representation of the Kabbalah) to ward off the worst of Seymour's machinations and the title is warning us that having Lena and Ian split on the issue will lead to their ruin!

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The title "Our Red String" obviously refers to the string of a tampon in regards to women with exceptionally "heavy flow", and as such is also a comment on the irrationality of women during their period, though it does not only refer to specifically when women menstruate, but it also refers to women in general, meaning that in fact the title is an assertion that women never have self control and are permanently in a state where their actions are completely and utterly governed by nothing but their base instincts and emotions, and that they are not to be considered whole people, but that they are a rather disgusting and messy thing that you just have to deal with as a fact of life, and that the only thing a woman has that is of value is the very hole where the red string protrudes from; the bangina.

 

[| Vee |]

they are not to be considered whole people, but that they are a rather disgusting and messy thing that you just have to deal with as a fact of life

When you are done pass me those cheap ones that you inhale. (I wanna feel what pleasure they deliver when speaking like this)

 

[MF_DOOM]

You must be registered to see the links

The title "Our Red String" obviously refers to the string of a tampon in regards to women with exceptionally "heavy flow", and as such is also a comment on the irrationality of women during their period, though it does not only refer to specifically when women menstruate, but it also refers to women in general, meaning that in fact the title is an assertion that women never have self control and are permanently in a state where their actions are completely and utterly governed by nothing but their base instincts and emotions, and that they are not to be considered whole people, but that they are a rather disgusting and messy thing that you just have to deal with as a fact of life, and that the only thing a woman has that is of value is the very hole where the red string protrudes from; the bangina.

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[DeemLeem12]

Thank you for the grammar lesson but "that scene" (i.e. the one which potentially initiates the threesome) doesn't have heart option, hence my request for clarification:

    menu:
        "{image=icon_lust.webp}I'm willing to help" if (lena_lust > 5 and lena_go_holly > 0 and v8_holly_strip and ian_lena_dating == False) or (lena_lust > 5 and lena_go_holly > 0 and v8_holly_strip and ian_lena_over):
// ...
        "I won't take part":

For that matter there's also no heart option in the choices leading to it during the get-together that can end in the threesome (they're friend options, or neutral). I hope you can understand my confusion.


Relationship points don't really matter for the most part. By "they stopped dating" do you mean ian_lena_dating variable is set to False in your game?

It'd really help if you've bothered to cite options you can't select -- as some of these choices are automatically bypassed if Lena and Holly had sex. Or, if it's not too much of a problem, include a save from a point where you encountered such option.

Generally speaking, your decision to have a threesome with Ivy is most likely the culprit -- this effectively puts Holly under Ivy's spell (holly_ivy variable) which in turn has impact on whether Lena and Holly can form a romantic, exclusive relationship. So not really a bug but more of a consequence of fucking around. But it is possible there's a bug there in the mix. It could also be a side-effect of situation where you picked up a save from Ch.11 Prologue, which could result in some variables not getting set correctly for the chapter proper. Without a save or more details it's hard to say.

I specified that I chose heart options except for that scene. I then specified that the heart option would have been the kiss, which I didn't choose. By choosing heart options, I meant all the previous dialogues where Lena can have a heart choice in regards to Holly and not just in the scene with Ivy. I hope this clears up the confusion. I don't know what variables are present.

I also thought that maybe the threesome with Ivy is the cause of this. But I found out that it's the same case even if Lena decides to go to her place instead.

It's the same deal. Even if I choose to go to Lena's place and Lena stopping herself before kissing Holly, they can still have sex in future scenes. There was no reflection of the Ian situation.

The reason I suspect it's a bug is that there are no monologues acknowledging the situation. Usually, when there is sexual tension between Lena and Holly, Lena would later reflect on this while also addressing Ian in the situation. But after having the threesome, Lena doesn't acknowledge her hypocrisy and how she chastised Ian for having sex with Holly. It's also odd how Lena can't kiss Holly but she can have sex with her. I think the game just assumes that Ian and Lena never dated. In my "regular" throuple run, Lena can't kiss Holly. Lena also can't join the threesome with Ivy. I believe this is because there is a variable when Ian and Lena are dating that blocks Lena's choice of joining said threesome. I also started from the beginning.

 

[ffive]

The reason I suspect it's a bug is that there are no monologues acknowledging the situation. Usually, when there is sexual tension between Lena and Holly, Lena would later reflect on this while also addressing Ian in the situation. But after having the threesome, Lena doesn't acknowledge her hypocrisy and how she chastised Ian for having sex with Holly.

Ah, but there's nothing really to acknowledge here -- Lena normally acknowledges complication which arises from pursuing Holly while either Holly or Lena herself is in relationship with Ian. But at the point where the threesome happens (and afterwards) there's no such thing -- because Lena broke up with Ian, and Holly isn't in relationship with Ian, either (Ian has explicitly rejected Holly) So there's no hypocrisy to speak of, and Lena can freely pursue her attraction with Holly: if Holly actually minded it and preferred Ian instead she has freedom to express this and turn Lena down (but she obv. doesn't)

edit: that save file is from the scene where threesome can potentially happen, but i meant more a save from a point where there's a "heart option you can't select". Because i don't know what choices you made afterwards to arrive to such option.

 

[DeemLeem12]

Ah, but there's nothing really to acknowledge here -- Lena normally acknowledges complication which arises from pursuing Holly while either Holly or Lena herself is in relationship with Ian. But at the point where the threesome happens (and afterwards) there's no such thing -- because Lena broke up with Ian, and Holly isn't in relationship with Ian, either (Ian has explicitly rejected Holly) So there's no hypocrisy to speak of, and Lena can freely pursue her attraction with Holly: if Holly actually minded it and preferred Ian instead she has freedom to express this and turn Lena down (but she obv. doesn't)

Then in that case why would Lena hesitate on kissing Holly while she goes hogwild on the threesome? I also find it hard to believe that Lena wouldn't acknowledge the situation. You broke up with a person you are dating because this person fucked a close friend you know had feelings with your date. And now you're fucking that close friend yourself. Ian also doesn't acknowledge how odd the situation is. At the gallery in chapter 11, he asked Holly if she and Lena are dating with no thoughts of how he literally fucked both of them at some point, and are now fucking themselves. It's as if Ian forgot he dated Lena and fucked Holly too.

You can arrive at those situations with the same file.

 

[ffive]

Then in that case why would Lena hesitate on kissing Holly while she goes hogwild on the threesome?

Again, which exact scene are you talking about? There's two (or three, i can't remember) instances where Lena has option to kiss Holly (one before the threesome and 1-2 after)

I also find it hard to believe that Lena wouldn't acknowledge the situation. You broke up with a person you are dating because this person fucked a close friend you know had feelings with your date. And now you're fucking that close friend yourself.

There's fundamental difference between fucking someone while you are in relationship with someone else, and fucking someone while you aren't in relationship with anyone. Ian did the former. Lena does the latter. She might simply not care enough about the piece of shit Ian turned out to be (something she'll explicitly say about him in this scenario) at that point, to pay him any mind. Holly also appears to have gotten over her crush for Ian if she's happily fucking Lena instead.

Also, for what little it's worth, Ian does have some thoughts about his role during the discussion with Holly, but that's only if Holly didn't have threesome with Ivy. If the threesome happened then Ian focuses on this instead of whether he had something with Lena in the past. And if he got entangled with Holly he acknowledges it too, but it's quite subtle:

            i "Anyway... If you ever feel like getting something off your chest or just want to talk about something that worries you..."
            if v7_holly_kiss:
                i "I know I'm probably not the most suited but know you have my ear."
            else:
                i "I might not be the most suited but know you have my ear."

Ian knows he's a poor suited if he took advantage of Holly, versus just being modest otherwise.

 

[DeemLeem12]

Again, which exact scene are you talking about? There's two (or three, i can't remember) instances where Lena has option to kiss Holly (one before the threesome and 1-2 after)


There's fundamental difference between fucking someone while you are in relationship with someone else, and fucking someone while you aren't in relationship with anyone. Ian did the former. Lena does the latter. She might simply not care enough about the piece of shit Ian turned out to be (something she'll explicitly say about him in this scenario) at that point, to pay him any mind. Holly also appears to have gotten over her crush for Ian if she's happily fucking Lena instead.

Also, for what little it's worth, Ian does have some thoughts about his role during the discussion with Holly, but that's only if Holly didn't have threesome with Ivy. If the threesome happened then Ian focuses on this instead of whether he had something with Lena in the past. And if he got entangled with Holly he acknowledges it too, but it's quite subtle:

            i "Anyway... If you ever feel like getting something off your chest or just want to talk about something that worries you..."
            if v7_holly_kiss:
                i "I know I'm probably not the most suited but know you have my ear."
            else:
                i "I might not be the most suited but know you have my ear."

I'm talking about the scene where they are in Lena's place which I have specified before.

Lena does still care about Ian. She still thinks he's a good friend despite what happened and can confide in him. Lena can also give Ian a blowjob but still no monologues with that. Lena can have a monologue if she's dating Ian and gives Mike or Mark a blowjob. She feels guilty and all that. But here, the guy who you dated, the guy you even broke up with because he fucked a friend, the same friend you are now fucking, and the guy whom you told you'd only be friends with at that point, had just blown a load into your mouth. And yet no monologues with that blowjob? Lena didn't even acknowledge how she told Ian they're only going to be friends, not even friends with benefits, and didn't even think how bizarre the situation has become with her, Ian and Holly?

            i "Anyway... If you ever feel like getting something off your chest or just want to talk about something that worries you..."
            if v7_holly_kiss:
                i "I know I'm probably not the most suited but know you have my ear."
            else:
                i "I might not be the most suited but know you have my ear."

Ian knows he's a poor suited if he took advantage of Holly, versus just being modest otherwise.

In this dialogue, does Ian acknowledge how Holly and Lena might be fucking when he dated one of them in the past and fucked the other too? Or does this dialogue come up by simply rejecting Holly? If so, then it's not really an acknowledgment of the situation the three of them are in, and just a reply to his rejection of Holly even if he's not in the aforementioned situation.

 

[ffive]

I'm talking about the scene where they are in Lena's place which I have specified before.

Hmm, okay, but then i think what we have here is, effectively, two different branches: one of these branches is Lena who "protects Holly" from Ivy by taking her home, and who is then afraid to act on her impulse to kiss Holly, on account of the mess with Ian. The other branch is one where Lena gives in to her lust and fucks Holly together with Ivy, overriding any concerns for Ian situation.

If am not mistaken, then going with this second "lust" route doesn't create any situations afterward where Lena can't take heart options with Holly on account of Ian. E.g. during their private photoshoot (where "lust" Lena will automatically jump to sex) Is that correct?

 

[Hungover00]

The title is a reference to the Red String of Fate, an ancient Chinese belief that people who are destined to find love and marry each other are bound by an invisible red cord. The cord can become tangled and bind with other cords, but will never break, so these cords can create a great web of fate at times. Hence why all these characters lives are interconnected and they seemingly keep running into each other even when they don't plan too.

Also the colour red in the game is associated with lust. Jeremy's shirt, Ian's going out shirt in the early game and the bad boy outfit jacket you can buy later, as well as just the lust icon. So it turns into strings of lust, not just fate.

Redheads count too, in this game.

 

[Hungover00]

First playthrough I was extremely sus' of Ivy, then started to give her more leeway (still a lot of lies, especially of omission), for the first time I did a path that has Axel take photos of Lena for that modelling agency, and holy hell is Ivy so extremely sus' it's crazy. That interrogation of Ian by her is also very interesting. She obviously has her own side games going on (and is a pretty good player, considering how the drinking dare game goes, swooping in to force a final challenge that blocks Lena from any chance of winning the whole pot, setting up the house advantage, and also probably not drinking her shot every turn), but doesn't seem at the level of Seymour.

Curious what happens if you try and ruin Lena and Ivy's friendship, haven't tried that route.

 

[Blurpee69]

Also the colour red in the game is associated with lust. Jeremy's shirt, Ian's going out shirt in the early game and the bad boy outfit jacket you can buy later, as well as just the lust icon. So it turns into strings of lust, not just fate.

Redheads count too, in this game.

Well that's more just color theory than what the titular Red String is about. But you're not wrong in your assessment of what the color red represents in the game.

 

[DeemLeem12]

Hmm, okay, but then i think what we have here is, effectively, two different branches: one of these branches is Lena who "protects Holly" from Ivy by taking her home, and who is then afraid to act on her impulse to kiss Holly, on account of the mess with Ian. The other branch is one where Lena gives in to her lust and fucks Holly together with Ivy, overriding any concerns for Ian situation.

If am not mistaken, then going with this second "lust" route doesn't create any situations afterward where Lena can't take heart options with Holly on account of Ian. E.g. during their private photoshoot (where "lust" Lena will automatically jump to sex) Is that correct?

If this first branch you are talking about "protects" Holly then why does Lena hesitate on kissing Holly then proceed to have sex with her in future scenes with no qualms at all? Lena makes no thoughts of Ian in future scenes with regard to her fucking Holly. Does the monologue Lena gives when she stops herself from kissing Holly unique to the situation or does it apply to all paths where Lena is angry at Ian for his action?

Yep, if Lena has a threesome with Holly then she can no longer pick heart options with Holly, which in itself is odd since I don't see how Lena would not be motivated to romance Holly after a threesome especially if Lena previously chose heart options with Holly.

 

[FelixCreep]

Alison is getting desperate to snare Ian and has moved on from not so subtle hints to full on baby entrapment.

That's kinda hot if you're into being submissive...

 

[Palash69]

Not interesting anymore