A friend of mine has a favorite good-luck phrase that he delivers for each of our birthdays: "a year more, a year less..."
This game is so good that the wait for each new chapter is even more of a sweet torture than usual... However, I'm confident that the final product will not disappoint. Even if I like a single part of the story less than others, strictly for personal taste, the overall quality is so high I can't fault TD and GIL in any way for taking their time and crafting the best story and art they can. Moreover, we have the whole Internet at our disposal, for better or worse, and it's not that we have no other stimuli to keep us busy during the wait. So, carpe diem!
Thank you for the Gallery Unlocker bububananas2099: Link
Another Gallery Unlocker by jodike : Link
Thank you seigram for the base mod till ch3up3 If anyone has any Problems with the Mod feel free to Message Me
Download: PIXELDRAIN
Redoing the entire mod from scratch due to the Post here.
Mod with the original dialogue merged by ipaqi : Link
Played this game for the first time today - it is so good. I normally dont enjoy games like this (based in a brothel) because they often feel cheap to me - they focus too much on the fetishes and not enough on how fucked things can be for the girls. But here the character development and writing are excellent. I even thought the random assholes in the club were nicely written.
So here we go.
My purported damage to Edwin which was -by my allegation at least partially- caused by Victorias shortcomings in her motherhood, will require me to touch upon this complex too, but i plan to expand on that in another post (probably my interpretation of her 3rd video), so this will be likely not exhaustive.
For now let's concentrate on that "damage". Leaving beside those troubling incidents involving either arson, embezzlement or taking creep shots, which on their own are doings of a child, who was somehow thrown off its 'normal' path, i'd like to talk especially about this following incident, which -in my opinion- would be underexplained by a fallback on Edwin's status as an half-orphan.
The Dylan Twins incident View attachment 2314464View attachment 2314466View attachment 2314467View attachment 2314469View attachment 2314470
Apparently the 13 to 16 year old twins tried to bully Killian after school (again), as luck would have it, this time his 11 to 13 year old friend Edwin was around, who, without much prelude, took the matter into his own hands by smashing (not throwing) a rock into one of the perpetrators face. Which led to a bleeding injury and the twin's mother informed their mutual school.
Yes, we may cheer Edwin on for his honourable defence of his childhood friend and the upbeat music in this scene suggests it was a good thing to do, but i believe there are some serious issues omitted by Ian in his fond memory. Which issues? This will become clearer after my first spoiler.
Not every (half-)orphan acts like this; i personally know someone who lost her mother to cancer around the same age as Edwin lost his father, and she is the cutest, kindest little button you can imagine, although understandably sometimes sad, she shows no signs of irrational anger and aggression. But, like always, anecdotal evidence is no evidence at all, at best a clue, and different people behave different in the same circumstances. Edwin's fathers death may still serve as a viable explanation.
As there was also a barely veiled reproval towards a possible bias regarding these issues of his damage and her lacking motherhood, i'd like to preface my findings with some personal disclosures, which you may -depending on your point of view- find interesting, hilarious, disturbing or even disgusting.
Working on this topic i remembered them and -in hindsight- i think of them as rather amusing and -in the grand scheme of things- harmless. Perceptions may vary, though.
One last remark before this: my personal view on Victoria is a quite favourable one, i think she is one of, if not the most likeable character(s) in PaleCarnation. My statement done in my tier list still holds true. However, a more objective view must not ignore her possible aberrations or misconducts.
If you're not interested in going down the memory lane with me you can safely skip the next spoiler.
Well, lets go.
So in case you read my spoiler it should be clear, that i take a bit an 'oldschool' stance on the use of physical force applied between fighting boys as far it's reasonable and 'justified' and in this case -in my opinion- getting physical was definitely justified, but not proportionate at all. "We" would have deemed Edwin as "crazy" back then.
Even my parents, which may have been even more lenient towards the use of 'violence', would absolutely have opposed this 'show of force'. Like they did with my broken nose.
I am, on a fundamental level, sympathetic with Edwin, he has -in my opinion- some leeway in getting physical, but took an approach which would be, friendly said, 'unusual' for a 'normal' kid.
Yet, again, my personal and familial views don't matter, so let's look, like promised, on the real issues of this incident:
Let's remember, this is a attempt to 'simply' bully Ian, they are not planning to kill him.
They weren't looking for a fight per se, because bullies pick their victims for cheap laughs on their expense plus the gain of social standing among their peers. It's about to quickly assert dominance and polish their ego without risking much.
Despicable, that's true, but there isn't much more to it.
Like i already alluded to in my spoiler, most "normal" quarrels between boys or teenagers, which lead into a physical confrontation go through a few steps of escalation, and during each step is one party usually allowed to take the L and suffer the consequences of defeat, which are -again- "normally" painful and humiliating, but not followed by irreversible or life-threatening injuries.
Those steps would be:
throwing insults and threats
pushing and shoving
wrestling and punching and kicking
until one side has to flee or to tap out and admit defeat, usually after they are incapable to fight back further
in rare or more serious incidents there may be the threat of showing weapons like knives or -in case of the USA- guns or other objects which could be weaponized, and this often leads into one side backing down or away
in very rare or even more serious cases: the actual use of those weapons.
You may want to skip one of this steps, but going from zero to ballistic is not normal.
Kids don't stab each other with knives or shoot themselves with guns or crack their skulls open with rocks, that's not normal, and if it happens, something went seriouslywrong with those kids.
Edwin by this definition is not normal, he is a disturbed kid with issues and some people may call that 'damaged'.
If you consider this as "normal" you should ask yourself in which hell you are living. And if there urgently needs to be done something about it.
Now you may ask: "Hey, who cares for your feeble, outdated views on how real males have to fight nowadays?"
Well, that's simple. The jurisdiction of the state Edwin is living in: Maryland, USA.
Edwin's action would fall under "Aggravated Battery with a deadly Weapon" or "Assault with a deadly Weapon", because
hitting someones head
with a rock,
causing a bleeding injury,
risking permanent damage to teeth, eyes or brain,
without any warning and
without being in imminent danger,
prettily ticks all the boxes.
Source:
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This would be an easy case for any prosecutor and a hard one for the defending lawyer, although a good (expensive) one probably could have kept Edwin out of juvenile prison.
Victorias financial situation doesn't look like she is able to pay an expensive lawyer, though.
Now, as far as we know Edwin wasn't subjected to the Juvenile Justice System for this, which raises the question how the matter was stopped in its tracks, when it was brought up to the school officials attention.
If i read above 13A.08.01.15 correct, they aren't required, but more like strongly encouraged to involve law enforcement? There seems to be some leeway?
Either way, Victoria had very likely to pull some strings to prevent that from happening, and this raises the further question what instruments she had at her disposal to do it.
Cashing in some favours with the school officials? I doubt it.
Handing out some cash to bribe them? No way.
Successfully convincing the involved parties this was a pure act of self-defense against bullying?
While i could see that happened, in this case the officials would have to report the bullies instead, which, given her son's injuries, the opposite mother perhaps would have a hard time to accept. And in turn probably brought the case again to a juvenile court.
Begging for forgiveness to let it slide? Not entirely impossible, but probably hard to pull off.
"Convincing" those officials and the father of those twins in another way? hmmm...
Seeking help from someone who may have been present at that school and was already well-aquainted with Edwin and herself? hmmmm...
Since all of this is speculative i'll leave the exact proceedings to your imagination.
This incident, by the way, already casts the first shadow on Victoria's motherhood.
We may like it or not, it may be unfair or not, but parents are held responsible for the misbehaviour of their children; by law as well as by society.
Victoria could have been fined with up to 10.000$ for Edwins action to restitute potential medical bills, and they tend to be huge in the USA.
Juvenile deliquency is often judged to be the outcome of bad parenting.
So furthermore Victoria could actually loose the right of her child's custody, if this went to juvenile court.
Double that if, like i believe, one his three other potential incidents already happened before this one, because those went official.
So Edwin would be a repeated offender.
Source:
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Ever wondered why Edwin cleaned up his act in highschool?
I believe Victoria made it unmistakeably clear to Edwin, if there is another mishap, she will loose him for good to the Juvenile Justice System of Maryland. And he wasn't ready to take this risk.
We may be so jaded by the constant and over-the-top violence in movies and and news, that we glance over this fact in that scene, but Edwin has a serious issue in this situation.
Legally and mentally. The legal aspect was discussed above, let's look at that mental side and how Victoria could have been involved in that.
(to be continued in another post)
part 1 of 2
Hey, selberdreher. I've been trying to come up with a proper response to this for a while, but I think there's just too much to cover. So I'll just stick with a shamefully abbreviated response.
I appreciate the dive into Maryland's penal code, but I'm not sure it's as cut and dry as you make out. The MC definitely escalated things by using a rock, but from what we've heard he didn't instigate the fight himself, nor is it clear he was deliberately trying to hurt the other boys (rather than merely trying to apply the minimum force needed to make them back off and erring on the side of overkill). We know the MC has a sadistic streak in him, but it seems to be far more psychological than physical. So I'm inclined to believe his escalation was at least somewhat warranted (though he obviously didn't feel much remorse after the fact).
It's all well and good to quote the technical definitions of aggravated assault or note that age isn't a legal defense, but in the end you'd still need to convince a jury to find a boy guilty of defending his friend from long-time bullies. That's not a case most prosecutors would be eager to make, nor would most parents be eager to press charges when it would make the blatant misbehavior of their own children so public - especially if Killian's parents, who have plenty of money, decide to make an issue of it.
Far from suggesting Victoria must have taken questionable steps to manipulate the right people, this scenario seems perfectly designed for all involved parties to want to dispose of it as quickly and quietly as possible. The school doesn't want their handling of the ongoing bully situation dissected and second-guessed. The parents of the bullies don't want their kids' dirty laundry aired in public (particularly when their nominal abuser could easily become a folk hero). The prosecutors don't want to throw the book at a minor on behalf of asshole victims. The only real obstacle is the risk that the MC might do this again, and that's where Victoria's desperate pleas for the MC to apologize (seen in the flashback at the start of Week 2) fit in nicely.
Yes, the incident needs to be reported, but that doesn't mean it can't be resolved by a backroom deal afterwards. To me, that apparent resolution tells us very little about Victoria's qualities as a single mother. YMMV of course, but I put far more stock in the fact that she seems to have instilled a rather effective moral compass in the MC despite his apparent disinclination towards empathy.
So I know Hana ain't a virgin that's explained in the game but what about Mina. She seems like she's got these massive sexual urges but at the same time isn't very experienced sexually and is hesitant about it.
Maybe that's why Ian cheated she wouldn't give it up so easily. Kinda fucked of him though Bro gets us this girl then goes out with her and ends up cheating on her anyway when we say we can't make it haha.
So yeah anyone know if Mina is a Virgin or Nah? That'll make her the only one in it too which is crazy considering what the game is all about haha but it'd be cool to have a Virgin in all that craziness.
If she's not the developers are gonna have to keep an eye out for the Psycho NTR Haters. I agree it's unlikely though but only time will tell I guess possibly when we get our first proper sex scene with her we'll know as I don't think there's a penetration one with her yet or is there? Anyway I am personally hoping she is one but in a game like this I doubt it LOL.
It was a joke bro which you mustn't have picked up on surely you've seen how crazy some of the NTR Haters are like some people consider it NTR simply Because Erynn didn't save herself for the Main Character in Intertwined even though the sex was off screen and before the events of the game. I guess we'll see in time whether Mina's a Virgin or not.
So there is confirmation in game okay thanks thats what i was wondering. Bro really is a real asshole gets you an awesome girl then fucks her and dates her when you don't show up homie ain't a very good friend or wingman LMAO