VN Ren'Py Our Red String [Ch. 13.1 BETA] [Eva Kiss]

[Rickster82]

I feel like Ivy's influence has too much auto-pilot as it is,...

Well, I also fear that Ivy's influence could be too big for Lena and (if Eva Kiss planned so) that she could "ruin" or turn her into a "slut".
Fortunately, my mom always warned me about such women, and so far with success.

 

[slightchance]

Is Eva Kiss reliable, loyal, fair?

Eva Kiss is reliable like Ivy, loyal like Jeremy and fair like Minerva. It's all in the game, you only need to listen carefully and read between the lines.

 

[Rickster82]

Eva Kiss is reliable like Ivy, loyal like Jeremy and fair like Minerva. It's all in the game, you only need to listen carefully and read between the lines.

Well, not my favorite characters in the game rather the opposite. Whatever... Give me time I'm new here in this thread.
Except for a few small things and points of criticism, I cannot complain about this "masterpiece". And like I said I don't know anything about Eva Kiss.

 

[Tarmogo]

I feel like Ivy's influence has too much auto-pilot as it is, I'd like it if at least Lena could disagree, even if it's just dialogue. It feels a bit odd to play a Lena that deliberately doesn't listen to Ivy's advice herself and often speaks up against it for Holly, but this one time she doesn't have a voice.

This is exactly why I prefer the non-Ivy path at this point in the game after playing both the Ivy and non-Ivy paths. Since Lena has limited options as far as being able to speak up for Holly or protect her, I'd prefer to just not get Ivy involved at all since I personally would like to see Holly remain closer to what she is now. I think we've discussed it in the past, but I believe the holly_encourage variable on the non-Ivy path will still have similar effects of opening Holly up like the holly_change variable, but it won't involve the corruption aspects.

 

[slightchance]

Rickster82 It was a joke, mate.

The answer to all the questions is yes. She's here to stay and it shows. One of the few devs who seem to have an actual plan. She's only a human though, and we know those aren't really reliable. Eyewitness accounts, amirite?

 

[Rickster82]

Perry and Ivy had a "brief but good chemistry" with each other at the Lena concert in the cafe. Maybe something will happen in the future.

 

[Zedire]

Today I was playing the famous Cindy Scene at the End of Chapter 7 again and I keep thinking about it because yes, Cindy is definitely one of the hottest and most interesting Routes for future Updates but also kind of really difficult to handle. Actually I think ths easiest Way for the Game would be some sort of "forbidden affair" between Ian and Cindy behind Wades and other Peoples backs because this could work without changing too much of the Games Status Quo but if Eva is planning a real "Love" Route for Cindy this could be difficult and would change a lot because there should be many steps to reach this Point (Breakup with Wade and the Consequences for the whole Group - Ian maybe losing a lot of friends and the Situation with Wade because of this - Cindy running away from this for a certain time (like she did before) - Ian and Cindy then slowly somehow coming together again and falling in love?) I still don't know how and what to expect with this Route

How do you think the Cindy Route will develop in future Updates?

For interests sake (and because it'll be a fun dynamic to play with) I don't think Cindy and Wade's potential breakup will be that far along, but Cindy will definitely try to hold things together for a while longer. Btw, if you get their relationship to zero at Wade's birthday, when you look at their 'happy couple' social media post afterwards Perry (Emma? one of them) voices their thoughts that it already looks too broken for them to recover from.

Change, and growth or 'degeneration' is so much a part of EvaKiss' games, so something like a couple breaking up (which we already saw in GGGB) isn't new. True, here it seems like it would be a lot more work, but if that was Eva's plan from the start, she will have probably laid down a lot of the groundwork already.

I also feel like there's probably no expectation for Ian to remain with his group of friends, nor for that group of friends to remain together - in fact, if anything the game seems designed to cater for the fact that Ian may choose to move away from it. Fucking a bunch of different women isn't exactly helpful in your stable little group - one look at Jeremy already shows you how someone that follows that sort of lifestyle doesn't really belong among them. Even if that was his choice because Jeremy is a chad, we still see how Perry (for the most part, as he mentions it a few times) and Wade don't really feel comfortable around their old friend anymore.

From the start of the game, regardless if you play Ian as a nerd or go the chad route (though especially so there), there are already several examples that their friends group could be on borrowed time, with Ian seeming to be the deciding factor. It puts emphasis on showing Perry and Wade stuck in their ways and unwilling to try new things (which is cause for criticism by others), while Jeremy and Allison have pulled or are pulling away, and Cindy and Wade increasingly pulling away from each other. In the storytelling there's a conscious effort put on subjects like being stuck in the past, lamenting over change, and change happening regardless. Perry is one of the most vocal about this, as he sees it happen, hates it, and tries to fight against it.

By the end of the game, it may even be harder to keep your little group of friends together rather then letting it just naturally dissolve.

But who knows. It'll be interesting to find out!

I just can't think of any way where Ian and his inner Circle could survive an IanxCindy Path where they actually get together and fall in Love (unless it is at the very end of the Game). So I think IanxCindy is like LenaxJeremy on the other Side the one Route where I can see soo much drama and destruction for Ian and Lena if everybody get's to know what happened.

You say that like it's a bad thing... lol jk. But seriously, I think it's inevitable that CindyxIan = group breaking up. I was thinking about this a few days ago, and no matter how you look at it, it can't end well for the group. It could even end up badly for the group and CindyxIan if their potential love or sexual bond isn't strong enough to weather the storm when it gets out. I mean, considering the bro code (probably same with girls but IDK), or whatever guys call it, it's a pretty big no-no to date your friend's ex after they're broken up, right? I mean, unless it's years later or something. At the very least it would be supremely uncomfortable, and whereas Perry might bear with it if his relationship with Ian is really high (otherwise I'm pretty sure he'd ditch Ian and side with Wade because of how he feels about cheating/keeping secrets among friends), I highly highly doubt Wade would.

 

[BlandChili]

Well, I also fear that Ivy's influence could be too big for Lena and (if Eva Kiss planned so) that she could "ruin" or turn her into a "slut".

That is true, my issue is not so much the narrative design, I think it could very much make sense that the "holly change" runs amok in a way. My issue is more that the game doesn't consistently give Lena influence. One moment you can make an artistic protest at dildo shapes the next, when the topic at hand are Holly's glasses, you don't get to protest.
When you then learn that Eva dislikes drawing glasses you feel like the topic is just done away with for the sake of artistic ease.

Holly is the first character in a game like this where I actually like her look with glasses (she's cute without too of course) so it would be a pity to lose them just because. It would be neat if you could have explored alternate glasses options on the shopping trip! Perhaps a pair with more rounded shapes would look cute on her. That way you could recommend contacts too!

Well, not my favorite characters in the game rather the opposite. Whatever... Give me time I'm new here in this thread.
Except for a few small things and points of criticism, I cannot complain about this "masterpiece". And like I said I don't know anything about Eva Kiss.

If you want to, you could always visit the official discord channel and lurk on the discussions there, sniff out how you like it.
I'm a patreon, but I don't engage actively with the community for a few different reasons, you should form your own opinion.

This is exactly why I prefer the non-Ivy path at this point in the game after playing both the Ivy and non-Ivy paths. Since Lena has limited options as far as being able to speak up for Holly or protect her, I'd prefer to just not get Ivy involved at all since I personally would like to see Holly remain closer to what she is now. I think we've discussed it in the past, but I believe the holly_encourage variable on the non-Ivy path will still have similar effects of opening Holly up like the holly_change variable, but it won't involve the corruption aspects.

I'm being swayed that way also.

Which is a pity because I actually think Ivy/Holly scenes on occasion are kinda neat, like contrasting forces bumping into each other, but Ivy's dominance does seem to be winning out.

Also a tiny selfish piece of me like when Lena is the sole blessing in her life. In the dialogue leading up to their sex scene, Holly will mention Lena by herself if she isn't friends with Ivy too when talking about gratitude towards recent developments.

Going that way can lead to a low encourage_holly variable though, if you don't want Ian/Holly scenes like me, which might have repercussions too.

You say that like it's a bad thing... lol jk. But seriously, I think it's inevitable that CindyxIan = group breaking up. I was thinking about this a few days ago, and no matter how you look at it, it can't end well for the group. It could even end up badly for the group and CindyxIan if their potential love or sexual bond isn't strong enough to weather the storm when it gets out. I mean, considering the bro code (probably same with girls but IDK), or whatever guys call it, it's a pretty big no-no to date your friend's ex after they're broken up, right? I mean, unless it's years later or something. At the very least it would be supremely uncomfortable, and whereas Perry might bear with it if his relationship with Ian is really high (otherwise I'm pretty sure he'd ditch Ian and side with Wade because of how he feels about cheating/keeping secrets among friends), I highly highly doubt Wade would.

Also, just to add to this, even if you play it such that you support Cindy/Wade, their pairing could also mean a break-up of the friend group. If Wade and Cindy decide to emphasise their relationship more, and set aside more time to nurture their romance, it could mean a bye-bye to hanging out with old pals.

Of course, perhaps there would just be an evolution of the friendship dynamic, say if all of them become couples they could just start becoming terribly domestic.

"Honey, don't forget our bi-weekly dinner on Sunday at Ian and Alison's place. Perry and Emma are bringing a salad!"
And now I'm imagining "Desperate Housewives of ORS"

 

[Zedire]

Is there a way Holly will not be corrupted by Ivy & Lena?

I think the main way to ensure Holly isn't corrupted is to have Lena protect her from Ivy's advice, and not encourage her to do anything that deviates from her personality too much. However, it'll probably be helpful to encourage her to work on things that build her self-esteem.

(Actually, on that point, I'm kinda interested to see the versions of Holly we may get. Example: Holly without encouragement (shy/self-conscious), Holly with wholesome encouragement (more confidence and less self-conscious), and Holly with corrupting encouragement (slutty toy).)

At this stage I think it's too early to show the repercussions of encouraging Holly to become more daring when it comes to sex, or what is truly 'corrupting' versus what is 'helpful'. For example, if there's a scene where Lena teaches Holly how to give a guy a blowjob using the dildo that Holly bought, that could be seen as helpful for Holly, seeing as she struggles giving Ian blowjobs in their scenes. I haven't checked, but I'm not sure if there's any differentiation between wholesome sex help and corrupting sex help when it comes to the script (probably not).

If in future there's an option for Ian to teach her instead - which I'm really hoping for after his advice during that second blowjob - then that would certainly be a way to avoid any potential corruption from the outside. Of course, that opens up the potential for corruption by Ian himself, but hey, at least then it's fully in the player's hands.

 

[MattShizzle]

Eva is definitely reliable. She already finished one really good game (Good Girl Gone Bad.)

 

[Reasoon]

Perry and Ivy had a "brief but good chemistry" with each other at the Lena concert in the cafe. Maybe something will happen in the future.

True that was funny But I actually want some Action for Ian with Ivy first! This is the one Route I'm still missing in the Game.

For interests sake (and because it'll be a fun dynamic to play with) I don't think Cindy and Wade's potential breakup will be that far along, but Cindy will definitely try to hold things together for a while longer. Btw, if you get their relationship to zero at Wade's birthday, when you look at their 'happy couple' social media post afterwards Perry (Emma? one of them) voices their thoughts that it already looks too broken for them to recover from.

Change, and growth or 'degeneration' is so much a part of EvaKiss' games, so something like a couple breaking up (which we already saw in GGGB) isn't new. True, here it seems like it would be a lot more work, but if that was Eva's plan from the start, she will have probably laid down a lot of the groundwork already.

I also feel like there's probably no expectation for Ian to remain with his group of friends, nor for that group of friends to remain together - in fact, if anything the game seems designed to cater for the fact that Ian may choose to move away from it. Fucking a bunch of different women isn't exactly helpful in your stable little group - one look at Jeremy already shows you how someone that follows that sort of lifestyle doesn't really belong among them. Even if that was his choice because Jeremy is a chad, we still see how Perry (for the most part, as he mentions it a few times) and Wade don't really feel comfortable around their old friends anymore.

From the start of the game, regardless if you play Ian as a nerd or go the chad route (though especially so there), there are already several examples that their friends group could be on borrowed time, with Ian seeming to be the deciding factor. It puts emphasis on showing Perry and Wade stuck in their ways and unwilling to try new things (which is cause for criticism by others), while Jeremy and Allison have pulled or are pulling away, and Cindy and Wade increasingly pulling away from each other. In the storytelling there's a conscious effort put on subjects like being stuck in the past, lamenting over change, and change happening regardless. Perry is one of the most vocal about this, as he sees it happen, hates it, and tries to fight against it.

By the end of the game, it may even be harder to keep your little group of friends together rather then letting it just naturally dissolve.

But who knows. It'll be interesting to find out!


You say that like it's a bad thing... lol jk. But seriously, I think it's inevitable that CindyxIan = group breaking up. I was thinking about this a few days ago, and no matter how you look at it, it can't end well for the group. It could even end up badly for the group and CindyxIan if their potential love or sexual bond isn't strong enough to weather the storm when it gets out. I mean, considering the bro code (probably same with girls but IDK), or whatever guys call it, it's a pretty big no-no to date your friend's ex after they're broken up, right? I mean, unless it's years later or something. At the very least it would be supremely uncomfortable, and whereas Perry might bear with it if his relationship with Ian is really high (otherwise I'm pretty sure he'd ditch Ian and side with Wade because of how he feels about cheating/keeping secrets among friends), I highly highly doubt Wade would.

Very good Breakdown and I really don't have much to add because I agree! The one Thing I want to point out is when I was thinking about the Groups reaction and future to the Potential of IanxCindy and how it could damage or destroy them I don't think this is bad at all (well bad for the group of course ) but not bad for the Game itself because it gives more drama we all want and need when playing this. And as you said the Group is already drifting in different directions and since Perry and Wade are very close and have similar Points of Views I do believe the Cindy Thing could also destroy the IanxPerry Friendship since he will definitely stand with Wade. Since Alison is right now my favorite Choice for Ian I really want him to go in the same direction as her with his Life because I just think they fit very well together. Then you have Jeremy who seems to have changed completely from the past and just wants to live his "chad" liefestyle but he not really gives me anything interesting and I think Ian would waste his time with him even more and then Emma who is somehow kind of in the middle of them all I think but she seems happy with her Life. If the group survives this Game without dissolving I would be really suprised actually.

Since the breakup from Cindy and Wade will definitely happen some time in the future it will be really interesting where both of them go after that with their Lifes. With Cindy we have discussed a few Options (espescially when Ian is involved) but Wade is kind of a Wildcard at this Point because I totally can see him sort of wanting Revenge on Ian or some shit.

 

[Tarmogo]

That is true, my issue is not so much the narrative design, I think it could very much make sense that the "holly change" runs amok in a way. My issue is more that the game doesn't consistently give Lena influence. One moment you can make an artistic protest at dildo shapes the next, when the topic at hand are Holly's glasses, you don't get to protest.
When you then learn that Eva dislikes drawing glasses you feel like the topic is just done away with for the sake of artistic ease.

The lack of agency in regards to some of Holly's story is definitely a contentious point as we've discussed in the past. Eva has said previously that Holly is the most difficult character for her to write though, so it isn't all that surprising unfortunately.

Which is a pity because I actually think Ivy/Holly scenes on occasion are kinda neat, like contrasting forces bumping into each other, but Ivy's dominance does seem to be winning out.

Agreed. Some of the scenes are quite good, but it seems for each good one there is another where Ivy shits on Holly and Lena isn't able to comment or do anything about it.

Going that way can lead to a low encourage_holly variable though, if you don't want Ian/Holly scenes like me, which might have repercussions too.

Yeah the majority of the encourage_holly chances are in Ian scenes, which is unfortunate if you are intentionally avoiding them. Lena does have some opportunities to increase it, with the biggest being encouraging Holly to keep going to the gym, but that opens up the stuff with Ivy which sucks if you are trying to avoid that too. I'm sure there will be future opportunities with just Lena and Holly, but we'll have to wait for that in the future.

 

[Rickster82]

True that was funny But I actually want some Action for Ian with Ivy first! This is the one Route I'm still missing in the Game.

But in my opinion Ivy is out of Ians league or otherwise.
Somehow I don't know how to do that in a credible way.
Even Lena seems somehow in a completely different league than Ian.
Ivy & Lena are more for unicellular organisms like Jeremy, Mike, Axel ...

I am really curious which storylines and intermezzo await us in the next updates.

 

[Zedire]

But in my opinion Ivy is out of Ians league or otherwise.
Somehow I don't know how to do that in a credible way.
Even Lena seems somehow in a completely different league than Ian.
Ivy & Lena are more for unicellular organisms like Jeremy, Mike, Axel ...

I am really curious which storylines and intermezzo await us in the next updates.

I don't think Ian is really out of their league - he's intelligent without being a nerd, is well-spoken, and is confident in himself, and that only increases if he follows the Path Of The Chad. After all, Jeremy used to be a nerd too, and by this stage he's managed to get Ivy to give him a blowjob. Also, Ian has the 'gift' of having a nice cock and really knowing how to use it - that goes a really long way. IMO it's no stretch at all for Ian and Ivy to eventually get together (if only sexually), providing there was the proper build to it.

Also, considering there's still a lot more of the story to go, there's plenty of time for Ian to continue his transformation - Lena isn't the only one who can completely change. He'll look even more the part if Eva decides to give him some similar options to Lena when it comes to changing his clothing style, getting a tatt, etc.

 

[Deleted member 216027]

But in my opinion Ivy is out of Ians league or otherwise.
Somehow I don't know how to do that in a credible way.
Even Lena seems somehow in a completely different league than Ian.
Ivy & Lena are more for unicellular organisms like Jeremy, Mike, Axel ...

I am really curious which storylines and intermezzo await us in the next updates.

Ian can have sex with Cherry, Alison, Lena, Emma, Cindy in one single playthrough and you're telling me he's out of Ivy's league? LOL

 

[Rickster82]

Ian can have sex with Cherry, Alison, Lena, Emma, Cindy in one single playthrough and you're telling me he's out of Ivy's league? LOL

Apart from the fact that it is a fictional work with fictional characters, I would say that a money-hungry and superficial person like Ivy would be less likely to start with an intelligent and artistically gifted man like Ian. But I'm probably referring to the RL too much. It's just a porn game, nothing more.
The discussion is not about sex.
If you really go the Ivy path, there should be a lot of preparatory work and a longer story behind it.

 

[BlandChili]

Ivy isn't someone who overthinks sex. I think the only thing that's really keeping her disinterested is his connection to Lena, which at this point is either set or ignored by the player. I see no reason why they couldn't fuck.

If we do get Ivy/Ian I think it could possibly come about in a few different ways. CindyfuckerIan is clearly more promiscuous than Ivy might have assumed. And if him and Lena are either uninvolved or casual, I see no reason why she couldn't tap that. It could even come about as a threesome between Lena, him and her.

Romance is another thing altogether. I'd be a bit surprised if it came about at this point of the story, but I'd welcome any pairing combinations.

 

[Deleted member 216027]

Ivy isn't someone who overthinks sex. I think the only thing that's really keeping her disinterested is his connection to Lena, which at this point is either set or ignored by the player. I see no reason why they couldn't fuck.

If we do get Ivy/Ian I think it could possibly come about in a few different ways. CindyfuckerIan is clearly more promiscuous than Ivy might have assumed. And if him and Lena are either uninvolved or casual, I see no reason why she couldn't tap that. It could even come about as a threesome between Lena, him and her.

Romance is another thing altogether. I'd be a bit surprised if it came about at this point of the story, but I'd welcome any pairing combinations.

Exactly. And she already show some interest in Ian when he uses her to avoid a fight with Axel when he finds out about Lena, she likes his attitude and even give him a kiss on the cheek

 

[NukaCola]

Guess I'm a CindyfuckerIan then . It's a very difficult decision to decline Holly invitation since she is my fav but I has been lusting after Cindy since Chapter 1 at the pool table. I can't just give up now. I go with her to the bar, photoshoot, masturbated to her pics. Do everything possible to pleased her. If I don't go to Wade birthday party everything will be in vain.

 

[BlandChili]

Guess I'm a CindyfuckerIan then . It's a very difficult decision to decline Holly invitation since she is my fav but I has been lusting after Cindy since Chapter 1 at the pool table. I can't just give up now. I go with her to the bar, photoshoot, masturbated to her pics. Do everything possible to pleased her. If I don't go to Wade birthday party everything will be in vain.

It wasn't meant as a derogatory term.

The game just sets different variables depending on how far Ian goes with Cindy, which means it will in turn eventually reference the specific events again, therefore cindyfuckerIan is different from cindykisserIan

No need to explain, Cindy is visually my favourite character too. No obvious paths for her and Lena to have a thing has been opened so far, so I remain painfully neutral about her and Ian (even though their scenes are hot as fuck).
I don't think I'd abandon Lena/Holly if she were to become available to Lena, but it'd be the fastest alt. replay I ever did if it does happen.