I don't understand your point about this event could take place at The Fortress.
There were a few times when I mentioned 6 - I was referring to the number of characters that will be present at the beach house: Ian, Perry, Wade, Emma, Holly & Lena. Actually no, without Lena in the first 2 days. So we have just Ian's gang and Holly (instead of Cindy or Allison). The point that I tried to make by mentioning The Fortress was that it doesn't feel like this will be a special event. Instead of them meeting at their usual place to talk, they will do that in a beach house. But no matter how you look at it, it is just another event in which only Ian's friends participate. Like you said, it will keep the scenery fresh, but only that.
We'll have several fresh pairings here, away from the influence of other cast members.
There are not that many: Wade & Lena/Holly, Emma & Holly. After 11 chapters, the interaction between groups is minimal. How many times did Ian talked with Louise or Stan? Ian could have bonded with them considering how many times he went to Lena's apartment. He barely talked with Ivy a few times. What if Lena is together with Mike or Robert, and just friends with Ian. I doubt that she will bring her bf to the beach house in order for them to interact with other people. The same way I doubt that Perry would have the courage to invite Cherry, if he likes her. I think there are a few missed opportunities regarding pairs and what bothers me is that it doesn't look like that will change anytime soon. For example:
- Lena & Cherry could be good friends if they get over the Axel fiasco - they are both models with artistic tendencies.
- Ian & Louise - Louise feels like a filler character, she's there only to be used in sex scenes. How many times did Lena spent time with her talking or shopping compared to Ivy? At the beginning I thought that Louise & Ivy will be a good angel & bad angle kind of duo. One pushing Lena on a more boring but safe path in life: finish the university, get a normal job and another one pushing her towards modeling, stalkfap, porn, stripping etc.
- Ian & Ivy
- Perry & Wade & Stan
- Good Holly & Stan
- Ivy & Cindy
- Ivy & Wade
- Ian & Mike & Jeremy going out - we could get a different perspective about Mike from Ian's POV and find out what type of guy he really is
I expect that this update will be: more of the same thing we got until now. Which is not bad. But I simply don't expect it to be that major set piece that will reset a lot of story lines. For Ian it could end badly only if he's on a very specific path (Lena knowing about Cindy). Unless he gets drunk or someone uses his phone, the fact that he cheats will stay hidden. Maybe there could be some drama regarding Holly, but I don't care about that.