VN Ren'Py Our Red String [Ch. 12 Full] [Eva Kiss]

[jack518]

I always thought this kind of characters like Stan are an exaggeration for comic relief. Even the most shy and socially awkward people I know are not at this level.

Definitely agree that it comes across as exaggerated comic relief.

I think a part of it isn't just relatability for people but rather seeing someone that is creepy/unattractive get laid. Same reason why there are ntr games like that as well.

 

[jduk]

The fedora thing was so funny... It was clearly meant as a joke...

 

[dontcarewhateverno]

Plotwise, it would make sense if Seymour was holding some sort of grudge against Lena's mother. That would explain his obsession with Lena (to a certain extent), and it would also fit in the "red string" aspect of the narrative.

Sure and it could be. But that is speculation upon speculation at this point. There have been zero hints or foreshadowing in the game so far that would lead anyone to that conclusion and most good writers would leave at least a puzzle-piece hint to prepare us mentally for what's coming as that piece clicks into place. It's not nearly as out-there as the great spaghetti monster in the sky that created the universe, but it is random at this point based on what we know so far.

 

[dontcarewhateverno]

Nope, it's about the feeling. In fact when you jack off you're not putting a lot of attention on what your hands feelings, and for the hardcore jerks there are also some techniques to make it even more of a weakened feeling about your hand (for example, sitting in your hand for at least 15 minutes before jerking off, doing it with the weaker hand etc.). When you jack off it's about 80% penis feelings and maybe 20% hands feeling, in self sucking is pretty much 80% like sucking a dick and 20% getting sucked. It could be a 50% 50% if you like both, but I don't.

Ok. Check. So to make sure I've got you right: When you've sucked yourself off, you were more focusing on the the taste and texture of all that dick but whenever you jack it's more of a reflex, like you've given a million and one handjobs and it's just part of the job at this point. Clock into work, get some mindless jacks in as the line forms down the block and collect your check on Friday. Read you loud and clear (I think)!

 

[dontcarewhateverno]

I mean I want a good and non-promiscuous ending too, but a part of the game are the sex scenes. After all, it is an erotic game.

For that matter I wouldn't want "good endings" to depend specifically on not having sex scenes, I like mixing music-aspiring Lena with a bit of sex now and then too. I also don't think the game should dictate "decency" to the player, lots of women who have been promiscuous in their life make perfectly loyal romantic partners too.

Corruption is a part of the game and while I agree that it does get overbearing at times I think ultimately part of the point of Lena's story is to choose to give in to temptation or not.

Still keeping a little candle of hoping burning for a route that ends with Lena as that gold-hearted nympho. With all the branching Eva's got to deal with, I don't think it's going to happen though. More likely that getting with certain characters will make her a bad person no matter how you've otherwise played her.

 

[BlandChili]

Still keeping a little candle of hoping burning for a route that ends with Lena as that gold-hearted nympho. With all the branching Eva's got to deal with, I don't think it's going to happen though. More likely that getting with certain characters will make her a bad person no matter how you've otherwise played her.

Perhaps, but keep in mind that this is a erotic game and Eva doesn't really gain anything if it starts to feel to her players like getting sex scenes is a punishment.

Sure, getting with certain characters will likely influence her development, but I think that will come down to more specific choices with those characters.
This'll be hard to say when will come up with Seymour or Axel, but with Mike and Jeremy there is a very distinct cheating element to their routes, with Mike Lena gets off of the idea of being a better sexual partner than some unknown character and with Jeremy she very specifically tells him not to tell Ian. Therefore any player that wants a good but promiscuous Lena knows to stay away from them. Hopefully some sex options will come up that doesn't contain this element by default, as much as a douche Robert is, she doesn't sleep with him for the sake of cheating, at least initially.

Here's hoping that we'll see some more options soon. Perhaps Billy will offer something different or if Lena gets an Ivy route or Emma.

 

[Ninja of Death]

How the fuck anyone suck their own dick?

 

[dontcarewhateverno]

Here's hoping that we'll see some more options soon. Perhaps Billy will offer something different or if Lena gets an Ivy route or Emma.

That's what I'm hoping for. Not at all interested in her going back to her ex or in anything to do with Robert, but the only option with Mike makes her a bad person, as does the only Jeremy route so far, regardless of if Lena is seeing Ian (betraying her friend/roommate). Just give me that ethical slut route with some appealing choices and I'll be happy. (Or at least ethical-ish. Like if she cheats in a purely physical manner due to extreme lust and poor impulse control, but actually feels bad about it and tries to set things right). In the end it's up to Eva though.

 

[dontcarewhateverno]

Feller, that's what happens when a game gets more content per chapter - it takes longer to make. I don't know why people who have actually played this game and are aware of relationship routes branching from the main storyline can't put two and two together. It ain't exactly rocket science.

'I'm not your "guy", buddy.'

Fella it was her words that she'll do a bi-monthly release i mean i think that her being the dev of this game knows what's what and how much time she needs so yeah not exactly rocket science plus this game doesn't seem to have more branching then her last game GGGB...

'I'm not your "buddy", guy.'

 

[dontcarewhateverno]

That's real life for pretty girls though... Everyone and his uncle wants to fuck them.

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[mehGusta]

Perhaps, but keep in mind that this is a erotic game and Eva doesn't really gain anything if it starts to feel to her players like getting sex scenes is a punishment.

Sure, getting with certain characters will likely influence her development, but I think that will come down to more specific choices with those characters.
This'll be hard to say when will come up with Seymour or Axel, but with Mike and Jeremy there is a very distinct cheating element to their routes, with Mike Lena gets off of the idea of being a better sexual partner than some unknown character and with Jeremy she very specifically tells him not to tell Ian. Therefore any player that wants a good but promiscuous Lena knows to stay away from them. Hopefully some sex options will come up that doesn't contain this element by default, as much as a douche Robert is, she doesn't sleep with him for the sake of cheating, at least initially.

Here's hoping that we'll see some more options soon. Perhaps Billy will offer something different or if Lena gets an Ivy route or Emma.

there is the problem with Lena's options so far. there doesn't seem to be any way to have a good but promiscuous Lena. Robert might not be the bad option at the start, but turns out to be one if you date Ian as well. at first i though Mike is maybe ok, but having bad Jess as a result, speaks for itself.
i mean on Ian's side we've got Alison and Holly for a budding love relationship and Cherry, Emma and even Minerva as casual flings.
for Lena we only have douchebags and wrong options (neither Axel nor Seymour will be casual flings nor a good romance option) and none of them are good romance options as well. only if we don't stricly look for male options we get Louise and Holly, both probably won't be satisfied with a casual relationship though.
i think so far ORS misses options like Doug and Kevin like in GGGB, the typical fuckboi options. i'm hoping Marcel the bouncer will be like that

 

[BlandChili]

there is the problem with Lena's options so far. there doesn't seem to be any way to have a good but promiscuous Lena.

There is certainly a lack at least. Like I said, to be promiscuous as Lena you have to ignore (or agree with) some major character flaws in the men she sleeps with, Ian being the only exception.

My point was merely that Lena can remain "good" in what I assume most people define as such, as long as she just sleeps with men without betrayal being a part of it (Mike and Jeremy having girlfriends on the routes where you can sleep with them).

Robert might not be the bad option at the start, but turns out to be one if you date Ian as well. at first i though Mike is maybe ok, but having bad Jess as a result, speaks for itself.

Robert is a prick but technically Lena hasn't promised herself to either him or Ian. Personally I question how absent-mindedly she seems to approach the situation, especially if she has real feelings for Ian, but I think the case can be made that Lena sleeps with Robert for the pleasure while still wanting a deeper emotional connection with someone who's not him, then Lena just has to stop toying with the man at that point. I've never committed to playing Robert's route fully so I don't recall how his route specifically interacts with Ian's.

i mean on Ian's side we've got Alison and Holly for a budding love relationship and Cherry, Emma and even Minerva as casual flings.

Keep in mind that most of those have alternate routes. For example Ian can be a voyeur to Alison and Jeremy's sheet-gymnastics without Alison's consent, he can also play with Holly's feelings and deny her the relationship she wants after sleeping with her. Minerva too is in a relationship and any Ian who sleeps with her after knowing this is certainly not a good person.

Not saying Ian doesn't have better options, because he certainly does, but what Lena really lacks are some alternatives to the more corrupt routes. For example one can hope for some Jeremy content on the route where he and Louise are not partners at some point too. I would probably still view it as iffy territory to fuck a friend's recent ex, but at least there are no explicit betrayals then.
As of now she practically only has Ian and Holly, like you say in the following:

for Lena we only have douchebags and wrong options (neither Axel nor Seymour will be casual flings nor a good romance option) and none of them are good romance options as well. only if we don't stricly look for male options we get Louise and Holly, both probably won't be satisfied with a casual relationship though.

We'll see with Louise. Holly also has her change variable but it is hard to tell if she will be having any relationship routes at all whenever that manifests.

I think so far ORS misses options like Doug and Kevin like in GGGB, the typical fuckboi options. i'm hoping Marcel the bouncer will be like that

At least fuckbois who aren't in relationships already. I could totally go for Mike if he was single or if Robert was less of a creep initially.

It would also have been nice with an option that wasn't necessarily the typical fuckboi, but someone Lena could have casual fun with regardless of what his type was. Think of a mix between Mike and Emma without the off-screen girlfriend. Someone fun that could mix into various routes more seamlessly.

 

[kartolas]

There's no point discussing, Lenas paths, UNTIL NOW, are of corruption, cheating and blackmail. Her only less radical option is probably do what Ivy does WHICH she doesn't like and I won't explore. Why doesn't she look for another restaurant or any other job? At least try to?... Now it's her mother...
I don't know what will happen on the next chapters, but until now the dev gave her a bad hand.

 

[lcvargas]

How about this idea: We all know Seymour owns a lot of the businesses and establishments in their town. What if he owns or is a major stakeholder in the hospital Lena's mum is in and the same hospital that treated her father's cancer? And the only way for Lena to pay or keep her parents getting treatment is through Seymour? This is where Seymour has power over her.

Thoughts?

 

[kartolas]

How about this idea: We all know Seymour owns a lot of the businesses and establishments in their town. What if he owns or is a major stakeholder in the hospital Lena's mum is in and the same hospital that treated her father's cancer? And the only way for Lena to pay or keep her parents getting treatment is through Seymour? This is where Seymour has power over her.

Thoughts?

I wouldn't be surprised if the dev went there, I simply wouldn't play it. There's a limit to the torture I subject myself when I play these.
Lives alone since she was 18, had to leave school and get two jobs to help her cancer sick father, a brother that is a POS, a cheater BF, 2 girl froends one is a idiot the other a degenerate, beautiful model like that only has perverts, blackmailers and cheaters as suposedely LIs, Holly that apparently is a big writer but lives with her parents is and intern... mother now sick and it's not enough?

 

[BlandChili]

How about this idea: We all know Seymour owns a lot of the businesses and establishments in their town. What if he owns or is a major stakeholder in the hospital Lena's mum is in and the same hospital that treated her father's cancer? And the only way for Lena to pay or keep her parents getting treatment is through Seymour? This is where Seymour has power over her.

Thoughts?

At least the "Lenas moms illness leads to Seymour getting an edge" concept is an old idea.
As for the specifics, whether he owns the hospital or has some other means of getting a financial stake in Lena's life (for example simply loaning the money to pay her mothers treatment, maybe even her dads), it's hard to predict what form it might take and how the tone will be set (for example Lena could approach him rather than it being the other way around).

One thing's for sure, the way Lena's mom suddenly falls ill and Seymour shows up at Lena's gig regardless of her working with him, makes one suspect that events in Lena's life will somehow concentrate and merge in some fashion or other (hence the red string).

 

[dundun]

This was my immediate thought after what gisgus said. The fact that she hasn't shown his card still makes me think that something on that would be revealing about chapter 9, or is now redundant so there's no point in sharing it. We know it's not Stan's name (unless she's decided to change his family name and he's now related to another character), and if it's not something weird about his stats, that only leaves his looks. Realistically, what else could it be? So if that's the case, the question is, what has changed about him? Is he better or worse looking, and is he gonna be more of a loser, or less of one? Or is he going to be a completely different person, or replaced - that would seem like a lot more work to change, so perhaps going back to revise old chapters with this 'new' character (or to write him out altogether) is the reason why she's not sharing him? There would be no point in sharing the card of a character who no longer has any relevance to the story (from Eva's pov).

Ok, I agree a complete redesign of Stan would explain his missing card, too.
But why? Yes, changing his appearance is still easy, besides the sprites Stan is only in 2 pictures. Rewriting his character on the other hand would be a lot more work. It would be much easier (and more interesting) to let Stan develop into a new person. And Stan is fine right now. In the poll for favorite male NPC on patreon he scored third (of 8). We have lots of good looking guys, lots of assholes but only one 'relatable nerd outcast that a lot of us can easily identify with' (as EvaKiss put it).
The graphical redesigns until now were miniscule. Alison is barely noticeable, Wade got a bit more pouchy, but his original sprite wasn't changed and is in fact used on his card.
Also we have to consider the timeline. Stan's card already exists, it is #14 of 25. So when EvaKiss made the cards, she was still fine with Stan. She posted the first cards on Aug 19 so the cards were likely done shortly before. Stan's card should have been posted at Aug 31, after Ivy (#13) and before Axel (#15). Till then EvaKiss had posted the cards in order. So something changed in this maybe 2 weeks.
She already is way over time (she is still at best halfway done with the writing), why would she choose to redo him for this update?

 

[ename144]

Keep in mind that most of those have alternate routes. For example Ian can be a voyeur to Alison and Jeremy's sheet-gymnastics without Alison's consent, he can also play with Holly's feelings and deny her the relationship she wants after sleeping with her. Minerva too is in a relationship and any Ian who sleeps with her after knowing this is certainly not a good person.

Not saying Ian doesn't have better options, because he certainly does, but what Lena really lacks are some alternatives to the more corrupt routes. For example one can hope for some Jeremy content on the route where he and Louise are not partners at some point too. I would probably still view it as iffy territory to fuck a friend's recent ex, but at least there are no explicit betrayals then.
As of now she practically only has Ian and Holly, like you say in the following:

I think that's the crux of the problems. Lena can choose to fool around with a bunch of characters, but they each come with a specific schtick baked in: Ian is the good guy; Robert is the fuckbuddy; Axel is the evil ex; Seymore is the svengali; etc, etc. As you say, with the possible exceptions of Ian and Holly (depending on how you play), all of those schticks have some serious negative attributes to them.

Even worse, when Lena turns down the option for sex it usually results in getting less content rather than alternative content. Turn down Robert and he nearly disappears from the game. Turn down Ian and he's just a guy Lena keeps spending time with for no clear reason. Sure, something is clearly going to happen with Seymore eventually if you turn him down, but for now he's mostly out of sight/out of mind - and there's no guarantee that his eventual return will be all that different from what happens to those who worked for him. Louise is the only character that can give Lena alternative content depending on how Lena chooses to handle her.

Ian, by contrast, gets a lot more alternatives. If he turns down Allison he gets the option to be a creepy voyeur via Jeremy. If he turns down Cherry or Emma he can try to hook Perry up with one of them instead. With Cindy he has the option of trying to keep her and Wade together (though that is unreasonably convoluted, IMHO). Even with Minerva, Ian at least has the option to force her to restore his job if he doesn't have sex with her.

The end result is that Lena's content feels rather repetitive to me. She can be a simple, pure hearted girl who only has eyes for her true love (or maybe combine them into a throuple if it ever gets that far), but there's not much to do that way (especially since she'll be hard up for money). Alternatively she can be more promiscuous, but very hard to construct a coherent narrative where Lena isn't stringing people along for sex (or is just extremely shallow).

This is a particularly pronounced problem because Ian/Holly is a pretty natural pairing, but it leaves an 'honest' Lena with literally nothing to do in the game. It feels like a glaring omission, and it's really killed my enthusiasm for trying an Ian/Holly playthrough.

 

[John Doe Jr.]

Ok, I agree a complete redesign of Stan would explain his missing card, too.
But why? Yes, changing his appearance is still easy, besides the sprites Stan is only in 2 pictures. Rewriting his character on the other hand would be a lot more work. It would be much easier (and more interesting) to let Stan develop into a new person. And Stan is fine right now. In the poll for favorite male NPC on patreon he scored third (of 8). We have lots of good looking guys, lots of assholes but only one 'relatable nerd outcast that a lot of us can easily identify with' (as EvaKiss put it).
The graphical redesigns until now were miniscule. Alison is barely noticeable, Wade got a bit more pouchy, but his original sprite wasn't changed and is in fact used on his card.
Also we have to consider the timeline. Stan's card already exists, it is #14 of 25. So when EvaKiss made the cards, she was still fine with Stan. She posted the first cards on Aug 19 so the cards were likely done shortly before. Stan's card should have been posted at Aug 31, after Ivy (#13) and before Axel (#15). Till then EvaKiss had posted the cards in order. So something changed in this maybe 2 weeks.
She already is way over time (she is still at best halfway done with the writing), why would she choose to redo him for this update?

Good points. A redesign of Stan wouldn't make much sense to me because what's the point of it?

 

[Deleted member 3777463]

I think part of the problem for Lena's side of the story is how male characters are integrated within it. While Ian's options are all characters that are all relevant in the story even if Ian choses not to pursue a sexual relationship with them, Lena's choices (except for Jeremy) are, for now, sideshows; furthermore, since Lena has homosexual paths and Ian doesn't, there is less writing space for her male partners. I think I agree with Blandchill that the problem with Stan as he is now is that he is just a run of the mill creep: it would've been nice if instead of developing his relationship with Lena in a purely masturbatory way, he instead opened up to her and then Lena could help him become more confident and better himself.

It's 6 am in the morning, my thoughts are disconnected. Have a good day fellow degenerates!