VN Ren'Py Our Red String [Ch.13.3.6] [Eva Kiss]

[Zara Scarlet]

Yes, my run is Ian/Lena, and is pure and stable.

You say it's stable. But even if Lena completely rejects Seymour and Axel, and Ian rejects Gillian. All of them are still firmly in their lives, stirring the hornet's nest. Ian is still irrationally jealous of Axel, and Seymour is still malevolently trying to ruin Lena's life, as well as their relationship. The way I see it, Seymour is the biggest threat to Ian and Lena on the faithful route, because he has the potential to destroy Ian's hopes of becoming an author. The guy totally covets Lena, and he doesn't accept being told 'no'. So we all know at some point, he's going to try to blackmail them. And Ian will be faced with a choice, sacrifice Lena or sacrifice his career. Or vice versa, he'll give Lena the same choice, give up Ian or Seymour will ruin him. The only way out of it, that I can see, is that Ian eventually gets his book published by the rival publishing group, currently being established, by the guy who wrote 'The Fall of Delbaeth', that Ian (or Holly) reviewed earlier in the game?

What I'm saying though, is that every relationship in this game, is faced by potentially catastrophic challenges, whatever choices you make. So saying it's currently stable is an illusion, because it's not supposed to be plain sailing. That only comes when the game ends, and the respective partners have resolved their personal issues and overcome all the obstacles thrown in their paths.

 

[Gicoo]

I don't get this discussion.

ORS plays in a fictive city resembling spanish big cities like Barcelona, possibly even american ones to consider the main target audience. Western countries and big cities tend to be sexual and culturally open-minded. EvaKiss allegedly traveled a bit and studied likely in big cities as well, so they have a open minded mindset if not plenty of experiences with a liberal view of sex.

That some non-western countries are noticable more conservative just doesn't factor in. In EvaKiss games, almost everyone had plenty of sexual experiences, even awkward people like Perry or Holly. Or a ugly caricature like Rosa, who goes out in clubs in ORS and GGGB and was seen with a potential partner. You need to be at the bottom and ugly AND shy to be a virgin, like Stan.

So this comment that spawned this discussion:

I don't know what country you live in, but where I come from a lot of girls won't even blow their boyfriends.

Doesn't apply to GGGB and ORS, which has (fictive) american college levels of sexual liberty.

 

[Markel100]

You say it's stable. But even if Lena completely rejects Seymour and Axel, and Ian rejects Gillian. All of them are still firmly in their lives, stirring the hornet's nest. Ian is still irrationally jealous of Axel, and Seymour is still malevolently trying to ruin Lena's life, as well as their relationship. The way I see it, Seymour is the biggest threat to Ian and Lena on the faithful route, because he has the potential to destroy Ian's hopes of becoming an author. The guy totally covets Lena, and he doesn't accept being told 'no'. So we all know at some point, he's going to try to blackmail them. And Ian will be faced with a choice, sacrifice Lena or sacrifice his career. Or vice versa, he'll give Lena the same choice, give up Ian or Seymour will ruin him. The only way out of it, that I can see, is that Ian eventually gets his book published by the rival publishing group, currently being established, by the guy who wrote 'The Fall of Delbaeth', that Ian (or Holly) reviewed earlier in the game?

What I'm saying though, is that every relationship in this game, is faced by potentially catastrophic challenges, whatever choices you make. So saying it's currently stable is an illusion, because it's not supposed to be plain sailing. That only comes when the game ends, and the respective partners have resolved their personal issues and overcome all the obstacles thrown in their paths.

Eh I doubt it unless u atongonize Seymour when playing as Ian I think if u reject Seymour as lena and keep it neutral as Ian u should be fine

 

[Eleanorduval]

You say it's stable. But even if Lena completely rejects Seymour and Axel, and Ian rejects Gillian. All of them are still firmly in their lives, stirring the hornet's nest. Ian is still irrationally jealous of Axel, and Seymour is still malevolently trying to ruin Lena's life, as well as their relationship. The way I see it, Seymour is the biggest threat to Ian and Lena on the faithful route, because he has the potential to destroy Ian's hopes of becoming an author. The guy totally covets Lena, and he doesn't accept being told 'no'. So we all know at some point, he's going to try to blackmail them. And Ian will be faced with a choice, sacrifice Lena or sacrifice his career. Or vice versa, he'll give Lena the same choice, give up Ian or Seymour will ruin him. The only way out of it, that I can see, is that Ian eventually gets his book published by the rival publishing group, currently being established, by the guy who wrote 'The Fall of Delbaeth', that Ian (or Holly) reviewed earlier in the game?

What I'm saying though, is that every relationship in this game, is faced by potentially catastrophic challenges, whatever choices you make. So saying it's currently stable is an illusion, because it's not supposed to be plain sailing. That only comes when the game ends, and the respective partners have resolved their personal issues and overcome all the obstacles thrown in their paths.

Even in stable relationships there is a up and down.The most important it is they don’t cross the red line.In my opinion Ian/lena have stable relationships despite all people trying to corrupt them.

If u want a real unstable couple there is wade/cindy,no one put pressure on them.The real reason of breakup is wade have weak personality,all he do is playing games and he isn’t enough strong/smart to fight axel.

Louise/jeremy another example of unstable relationship.He isn’t too smart to fool with 2 girls who hate each other,was obvious ivy would take her revenge.Instead using his intelligence like Ian,Jeremy try to use relationships connection (with Billy to impress the girls) and flirting.

Lena/ian are less chaotic relationship.

 

[Zara Scarlet]

Eh I doubt it unless u atongonize Seymour when playing as Ian I think if u reject Seymour as lena and keep it neutral as Ian u should be fine

Are we talking about the same person here? The guy who blacklisted Lena with virtually every source of employment, that didn't involve him. That threatened to get her removed from Peoplegram. And suggested Ian's novel could either definitely win the competition and get published or disappear without a trace. All because she wouldn't agree to let him photograph her.

If Ian and Lena are in any form of faithful relationship, Lena HAS to reject Seymour. Because she cannot allow him to get his claws into her. He is an extremely clever and manipulative person, who cannot be trusted. And the best way for Lena and Ian, not to get trapped in his scheming, is to have as little to do with him, as possible. Lena especially cannot be involved with him. When she rejects him, he shows his true colours, and what a nasty piece of work, he really is. Everything Emma says about him is true. He's a parasite, who is sucking Baluart dry. And there is no depth he wont sink to, to achieve his goals.

 

[Zara Scarlet]

Even in stable relationships there is a up and down.The most important it is they don’t cross the red line.In my opinion Ian/lena have stable relationships despite all people trying to corrupt them.

If u want a real unstable couple there is wade/cindy,no one put pressure on them.The real reason of breakup is wade have weak personality,all he do is playing games and he isn’t enough strong/smart to fight axel.

Louise/jeremy another example of unstable relationship.He isn’t too smart to fool with 2 girls who hate each other,was obvious ivy would take her revenge.Instead using his intelligence like Ian,Jeremy try to use relationships connection (with Billy to impress the girls) and flirting.

Lena/ian are less chaotic relationship.

I think you're avoiding the obvious elephant in the room. You know, the megalomaniac property billionaire who has become utterly obsessed with Lena, and has told her in no uncertain terms, that he means to have her, and won't take no for an answer. The same guy who holds Ian's future in the palm of his hand and did his level best to sabotage her modelling career and force the cafe out of business, just so Lena would have to accept his proposal. Besides that, the problems that all the other couples have, pale into insignificance, because they involve mainly reasonable people, who can resolve their differences reasonably. But Seymour is not reasonable, he won't take no for an answer. And the only way I see Ian and Lena getting passed him, is either by leaving Baluart or finding some way to take this guy down. Because he's never going to see reason, and he'll keep coming at Lena until she gives way or he get's taken out of the equation.

I'm assuming there will be a way to take him out of the equation, before the end of the game. Probably with Emma's help, since she's heavily involved in the fight against him and others, who are gaming the system to artificially inflate rents and property values.

 

[SerHawkes]

In EvaKiss games, almost everyone had plenty of sexual experiences,

-Cough cough Ian and Ivy COUGH- You were saying?

 

[fatpussy123]

-Cough cough Ian and Ivy COUGH- You were saying?

Well both of em had plenty of sexual experiences. Just not with each other. And in Ivy's case, not on screen.

 

[Ebonheart (FR)]

You say it's stable. But even if Lena completely rejects Seymour and Axel, and Ian rejects Gillian. All of them are still firmly in their lives, stirring the hornet's nest. Ian is still irrationally jealous of Axel, and Seymour is still malevolently trying to ruin Lena's life, as well as their relationship. The way I see it, Seymour is the biggest threat to Ian and Lena on the faithful route, because he has the potential to destroy Ian's hopes of becoming an author. The guy totally covets Lena, and he doesn't accept being told 'no'. So we all know at some point, he's going to try to blackmail them. And Ian will be faced with a choice, sacrifice Lena or sacrifice his career. Or vice versa, he'll give Lena the same choice, give up Ian or Seymour will ruin him. The only way out of it, that I can see, is that Ian eventually gets his book published by the rival publishing group, currently being established, by the guy who wrote 'The Fall of Delbaeth', that Ian (or Holly) reviewed earlier in the game?

What I'm saying though, is that every relationship in this game, is faced by potentially catastrophic challenges, whatever choices you make. So saying it's currently stable is an illusion, because it's not supposed to be plain sailing. That only comes when the game ends, and the respective partners have resolved their personal issues and overcome all the obstacles thrown in their paths.

I'm not sure Ian's jealousy toward Axel is entirely irrational, considering how Axel behaves around Cindy, Lena, or Cherry. He seems to enjoy stirring up drama, provoking jealousy, seducing girls, making them emotionally attached or even dependent on him, and then moving on to the next target. The only exception seems to be Lena, with whom he appears genuinely obsessed.

Axel and Seymour are clearly the two main antagonists in the story and have a negative influence, something that’s even reflected in-game through willpower loss in the stats, if I’m not mistaken. I think the latest developments in the update only reinforce that impression, both in Ian’s situation with Cindy and in Lena’s case when she’s under Seymour’s control.

Even if you avoid Cindy with Ian, or keep Axel and Seymour away from Lena, both men still have a lingering negative influence on the story. Whether it’s Axel and Seymour’s presence in Lena’s life, or Axel’s involvement with Cindy and how it poisons the dynamic within Ian’s friend group, their impact is still clearly felt.

 

[Maccabbee]

I'm not sure Ian's jealousy toward Axel is entirely irrational, considering how Axel behaves around Cindy, Lena, or Cherry. He seems to enjoy stirring up drama, provoking jealousy, seducing girls, making them emotionally attached or even dependent on him, and then moving on to the next target. The only exception seems to be Lena, with whom he appears genuinely obsessed.

Axel and Seymour are clearly the two main antagonists in the story and have a negative influence, something that’s even reflected in-game through willpower loss in the stats, if I’m not mistaken. I think the latest developments in the update only reinforce that impression, both in Ian’s situation with Cindy and in Lena’s case when she’s under Seymour’s control.

Even if you avoid Cindy with Ian, or keep Axel and Seymour away from Lena, both men still have a lingering negative influence on the story. Whether it’s Axel and Seymour’s presence in Lena’s life, or Axel’s involvement with Cindy and how it poisons the dynamic within Ian’s friend group, their impact is still clearly felt.

I would also include Ivy in the antogonists, though not directly. She definitely is a "bad influence" on everyone.

 

[Ebonheart (FR)]

I would also include Ivy in the antogonists, though not directly. She definitely is a "bad influence" on everyone.

I'm a bit torn when it comes to Ivy. If we're talking about negative influence, it's pretty clear on Holly's route, where Lena letting Ivy take the lead ends up hurting Holly. With Ian, though, it's less obvious. It often comes across as playful teasing or flirtation that Ian is free to resist or shut down. As for Lena, despite Ivy’s chaotic nature, she does seem to genuinely care about her best friend, even if she doesn’t always handle things the right way.


I wonder if there are routes where Ivy can be calmed down or become more "reasonable." I doubt Jeremy is a good match for her, even though he does seem to have a real soft spot for her. Then again, both of them tend to play around in relationships. I’m not sure if there will be future options for either Ian or Lena to actually get Ivy into something more stable that would have a positive impact on her.


So in the end, she’s definitely chaotic, but not really "evil." And she doesn’t quite come off as a true antagonist, even if she sometimes does things that are highly questionable.

 

[Maccabbee]

I'm a bit torn when it comes to Ivy. If we're talking about negative influence, it's pretty clear on Holly's route, where Lena letting Ivy take the lead ends up hurting Holly. With Ian, though, it's less obvious. It often comes across as playful teasing or flirtation that Ian is free to resist or shut down. As for Lena, despite Ivy’s chaotic nature, she does seem to genuinely care about her best friend, even if she doesn’t always handle things the right way.


I wonder if there are routes where Ivy can be calmed down or become more "reasonable." I doubt Jeremy is a good match for her, even though he does seem to have a real soft spot for her. Then again, both of them tend to play around in relationships. I’m not sure if there will be future options for either Ian or Lena to actually get Ivy into something more stable that would have a positive impact on her.


So in the end, she’s definitely chaotic, but not really "evil." And she doesn’t quite come off as a true antagonist, even if she sometimes does things that are highly questionable.

I can see her becoming very resentful if you're running an uncorrupted Lena/Ian route, stealing her fun best friend, etc., sort of like Louise can get with Lena on the same route (or with anyone on any route).

 

[calculateplus00]

nice game

 

[Ebonheart (FR)]

I can see her becoming very resentful if you're running an uncorrupted Lena/Ian route, stealing her fun best friend, etc., sort of like Louise can get with Lena on the same route (or with anyone on any route).

I don’t think what applies to Louise really fits Ivy. Louise seems to struggle with self-confidence issues and emotional needs, which is clear in her interactions with Lena, Jeremy or Ivy. She wants to be the center of attention, gets very jealous, can be possessive and at times somewhat clingy and invasive. Even with Ian in the latest update, Louise quickly wants to put a label on their relationship and seems to seek reassurance about her self-esteem while craving affection.


Ivy on the other hand is a free spirit. She changes partners as easily as changing shirts, doesn’t want labels or serious relationships and is easygoing and playful. She doesn’t suffer from low self-esteem or a poor self-image nor is she jealous or possessive of others. Sure she’d like her best friend Lena to share her vibe and mindset a bit more but not much more than that. She doesn’t seem to hold it against Lena if she settles down with Ian or Holly at least not for now.


She just wants to be able to count on her best friend and have her around at least somewhat from what I can tell. Ivy seems a bit disconnected from the main storyline so far; she’s not really integrated into Ian’s group, doesn’t seem involved in what’s going on with Seymour, and isn’t too interested in the Axel-Lena drama. At least, that’s how it seems.

We’ll have to see how her personality develops, but for now Ivy isn’t very involved in what’s happening in the story; she’s still a fairly secondary character. It’s possible that in the future there might be some kind of rift between Ivy and Lena, but I doubt she’ll become very resentful, vengeful, or jealous, at least not like Louise.

I think it’s more likely that they’ll drift apart rather than have an open conflict, in my opinion. Of course, that will depend on certain things between them. It’s also possible that Ivy could develop in various ways, either negatively or positively, it’s still a mystery.

 

[BlandChili]

I don’t think what applies to Louise really fits Ivy. Louise seems to struggle with self-confidence issues and emotional needs, which is clear in her interactions with Lena, Jeremy or Ivy. She wants to be the center of attention, gets very jealous, can be possessive and at times somewhat clingy and invasive. Even with Ian in the latest update, Louise quickly wants to put a label on their relationship and seems to seek reassurance about her self-esteem while craving affection.


Ivy on the other hand is a free spirit. She changes partners as easily as changing shirts, doesn’t want labels or serious relationships and is easygoing and playful. She doesn’t suffer from low self-esteem or a poor self-image nor is she jealous or possessive of others. Sure she’d like her best friend Lena to share her vibe and mindset a bit more but not much more than that. She doesn’t seem to hold it against Lena if she settles down with Ian or Holly at least not for now.


She just wants to be able to count on her best friend and have her around at least somewhat from what I can tell. Ivy seems a bit disconnected from the main storyline so far; she’s not really integrated into Ian’s group, doesn’t seem involved in what’s going on with Seymour, and isn’t too interested in the Axel-Lena drama. At least, that’s how it seems.

We’ll have to see how her personality develops, but for now Ivy isn’t very involved in what’s happening in the story; she’s still a fairly secondary character. It’s possible that in the future there might be some kind of rift between Ivy and Lena, but I doubt she’ll become very resentful, vengeful, or jealous, at least not like Louise.

I think it’s more likely that they’ll drift apart rather than have an open conflict, in my opinion. Of course, that will depend on certain things between them. It’s also possible that Ivy could develop in various ways, either negatively or positively, it’s still a mystery.

I think that's a bit of a superficial analysis of Ivy, you base too much of your impression of her on how she presents herself without considering her behaviour fully.

I think she does suffer from self-confidence issues like Louise, the way she expresses it is just different. We see her constantly promoting her lifestyle and trying to get Lena interested in aligning to a similar mindset, when Lena starts befriending Holly this effort is extended to Holly too if they encounter each other enough.

Ivy pretends to be disinterested in the Lena/Axel drama but she is the only one in Lena's ear who promotes a conciliatory approach to him and there are obvious questions to be asked about where her interests lie when we see that she's cordial with him herself and has an interest in keeping him as a professional contact, at least up until Cindy gets the Wildcats contract.

I don't know if this will all lead to open conflict, but I don't think it's entirely unlikely that Ivy might become more desperate if Lena steals all the thunder with Billy. We've seen her act possessive of him before when she stops Lena from flirting with Billy at her party.

 

[ffive]

Well both of em had plenty of sexual experiences. Just not with each other. And in Ivy's case, not on screen.

I'm doing a Greta face at this. How dare you slander Virgin Ivy like that.

 

[fatpussy123]

I'm doing a Greta face at this. How dare you slander Virgin Ivy like that.

I'm sorry. Let's just say everything that happens off screen or before the game starts are lies made by Ivy to sell the idea of a slut, maybe to generate her stalkfap revenue. Ivy is a virgin, but a filthy liar. And liars go to hell!

 

[JM24]

That some non-western countries are noticable more conservative just doesn't factor in. In EvaKiss games, almost everyone had plenty of sexual experiences, even awkward people like Perry or Holly. Or a ugly caricature like Rosa, who goes out in clubs in ORS and GGGB and was seen with a potential partner. You need to be at the bottom and ugly AND shy to be a virgin, like Stan.

So this comment that spawned this discussion:

Doesn't apply to GGGB and ORS, which has (fictive) american college levels of sexual liberty.

Fair enough but the original comment I was replying to go something along the lines of "if you consider having anything other than missionary sex "pretty freaky" then ok, but by that metric it'll be hard to find anyone in their mid-twenties to have nothing but missionary sex". First of all it's putting words in my mouth and twisting my argument as I never said having any sexual act other than missionary sex should be considered "freaky". It also doesn't specify which city or country so it is simply wrong. But I do concede that perhaps in a "liberal Western city" all of Lena's escapades with Axel won't be considered "freaky".

 

[ffive]

Fair enough but the original comment I was replying to go something along the lines of "if you consider having anything other than missionary sex "pretty freaky" then ok, but by that metric it'll be hard to find anyone in their mid-twenties to have nothing but missionary sex". First of all it's putting words in my mouth and twisting my argument as I never said having any sexual act other than missionary sex should be considered "freaky". It also doesn't specify which city or country so it is simply wrong. But I do concede that perhaps in a "liberal Western city" all of Lena's escapades with Axel won't be considered "freaky".

To clarify, in my post i didn't mention i was talking about Western countries and practices specifically because i thought it's self-evident given the context. Lena and her friends live in that cultural sphere, so i naturally presumed the discussion of her being a freak was framed in that perspective and not a "she's a freak when viewed from some completely different place in the world with very different standards".

 

[StrawberryCheese83]

I play Lena/ian path,cindy/ian affaire and ian/minerva.How about u?

There is just ONE Path for me, Bro : Ian x Lena (and Lola...her Cat)...without any kind of distractions....and with as much love as possible.

That means : Ian gives a shit about other girls....Lena doesn t care about other men (not at all).

Lenas Character traits : more into Music than into modeling; very loyal; very sexual..only around Ian; thoughtful; caring (Mom and Dad); Ian is her Bae; NO onlyfaps, no spicy modeling Pics, no Seymore, no Hotel work, no Drugs, no smoking, Lenas best friends are Holly and Emma (NO lesbian); normal dressed..and not looking like a cheap hooker; doesn t like clubbing; not a posh Girl;

There are only pretty normal friendships (like irl) with : Perry, Emma, Molly, Allison, Wade, Holly (these people are nice and normal)

Lowest Friendship Points for : Jeremy, Cindy, Ivy, Stan, Louise, Jessica, Ed

NON-existent and therefore disposable Character : Axel, Seymor, Minerva, Cherry, Robert, Mike, Billy

Well..thats pretty much my Gamepath....I didn t care about other paths and i don t want to see them. I like the chemistry between Ian and Lena too much. EK did a really good. If you play it like this way...it feels (almost) like a regular rel. with the ups and downs of live. I like that.

All the other wankers are getting an advice from Ian (if they want to hit on Lena) :