VN Ren'Py Pale Carnations [Ch.4 Up.5] [Mutt & Jeff]

[Turret]

Kat is in the early stages of a powerplay for full leadership in the club. While it is likely her goal to become sole leader, her play is aimed mostly at August, since unlike the other "Elders" he is in the club for business alone and just tolerates the excesses of the other two (he and Chuck might be old friends, but it is clear from dialog he dislikes most of the "games" Chuck and Kat play).
Luckily for Kat August as he aged has become more self-reflective and recognised that he had done few and little good so far and tries to amend at least some of his deeds.
He tries to reconnect with his daughter (with dubious success so far) and wants to give her his share of the Club later on. Good for Kat it seems, but there is a problem. While Hana is not opposed to the brothel part of the Club (she said so in dialog), she is very much against the abuse and coercion happening. So Kat has to get Hana to sell her shares to herself by keeping Hana nad August from really reconnecting or influence Hana enough so she let´s Kat lead.

Edwin is the perfect tool for it if Kat can mold/influence him to help her. In addition to counter August´s mob connections at least a bit, she has secured influential backers of her own, Abel and Sophia. But here Kat made a mistake she does not know about. Abel and Sophia play their own game and detest the PC leadership deeply. Only because their goals align somewhat Abel and Sophia back Kat. If you develop a good relationship with Abel and Sophia as far it is possible in the game currently it becomes clear the the two might back Kat for now, but they want to get rid of her too.
TD and GiL made the interesting move to include another female influence on Edwin beside Kat and Viktoria, who are more the Angel/Devil part: Sophia Lundgren, who Edwin can click and connect with rather easily and this eccentric nerd represents what Edwin could also become in the future.
It is unknown currently what plans Abel and Sophia have with Edwin, since a meeting with Sophia showed she and Edwin can click well together, it was also partly a test of him, but they have plans for our MC.

As mentioned before I hope we get the chance to open up a path to Sophia´s heart, because she, a completely amoral eccentric nerd genius, would represent a rather unique pursuit route and Love interest compared to the more "standard" ones.

 

[Takkatakka]

Kinda weird how people assume Edwin staying with the club would be a good ending?! Isn't the point of the story so far that that would be a bad ending?

The good ending would be to help the women and then get out of the club and go to Medschool?!

 

[YuNobi1]

That's a fair opinion, how differently do you expect her to act while on stage if at all?

I would compare Felicity to the Flash in the Justice League animated series: sees everything as a game up until "things get serious" on a personal level. Felicity's last Exhibition performance and her rough treatment with the cattle prod, and thus the loss of her playmate, has pushed her past her naivete. To go forward now without quitting, she either has to double-down on her self-delusion that "it's all fun and games", or "alright, this is more than I bargained for, but momma didn't raise no quitter". Considering she feels betrayed by Edwin, I'm guessing the latter, but she might throw a "happy-go-lucky" facade to the club audience, even though everyone on-stage knows about her perspective change, thinking that's her best play to keep the patrons' interest in her come the final vote.

 

[SlowGoesSlow]

Kinda weird how people assume Edwin staying with the club would be a good ending?! Isn't the point of the story so far that that would be a bad ending?

The good ending would be to help the women and then get out of the club and go to Medschool?!

Not getting sucked into the club's depravity and ultimately leaving the club after his goals are completed does sound like the best ending for Edwin.

 

[Elduriel]

Kinda weird how people assume Edwin staying with the club would be a good ending?! Isn't the point of the story so far that that would be a bad ending?

The good ending would be to help the women and then get out of the club and go to Medschool?!

afaik he already does go to medschool, but the game takes place during the summer. During the rest of the year the club isn't that demanding on his time and is open during the weekends so it would be feasible for him to continue working there, it's just a regular brothel when the exhibition is not ongoing.

 

[Turret]

I would compare Felicity to the Flash in the Justice League animated series: sees everything as a game up until "things get serious" on a personal level. Felicity's last Exhibition performance and her rough treatment with the cattle prod, and thus the loss of her playmate, has pushed her past her naivete. To go forward now without quitting, she either has to double-down on her self-delusion that "it's all fun and games", or "alright, this is more than I bargained for, but momma didn't raise no quitter". Considering she feels betrayed by Edwin, I'm guessing the latter, but she might throw a "happy-go-lucky" facade to the club audience, even though everyone on-stage knows about her perspective change, thinking that's her best play to keep the patrons' interest in her come the final vote.

Not to nitpick, but it is Felicia, not Felicity. Beside that, Edwin does not have to betray Feli during the cattle prod episode! He can actually also play a role together with Felicia where they act out a prodding but it is an act with a minimum of prodding done. So Edwin and Felicia can even become more trusting with each other during the cattle prod episode, it hinges on what you play and decide.

 

[TheresiaW]

I finally finished "Chapter 4 Update 3" and what should I say...

The beginning of the game was boring and I didn't know if I really want will finish this game.
But then came the first encounter with Rosalind and I got curious. Scene after scene, encounter after encounter, the game got better and better and more interesting. I tried all (most?) routes to experience all paths. I like the different dynamics of the women and the freedom to (partially) influence the game with your own decisions.

Now, after several hours of fun, I must say that this game climbed up in my Top 5 games of all games I´ve ever played.

Many thanks to the developers. I can't wait to play the next update

 

[Ottoeight]

afaik he already does go to medschool, but the game takes place during the summer. During the rest of the year the club isn't that demanding on his time and is open during the weekends so it would be feasible for him to continue working there, it's just a regular brothel when the exhibition is not ongoing.

No. US medical degrees are different. You get a bachelor's degree in science, then you enter med school.

As Edwin tells Abel when he first meet him, he has just become a bachelor in science: he will enter the med school at the end of summer.

The game is set in the USA, I guess.

 

[Elduriel]

No. US medical degrees are different. You get a bachelor's degree in science, then you enter med school.

As Edwin tells Abel when he first meet him, he has just become a bachelor in science: he will enter the med school at the end of summer.

The game is set in the USA, I guess.

right, been a while since I played from the beginning, thanks for the correction

 

[YuNobi1]

The game is set in the USA, I guess.

Well it's certainly not UK or Japan, considering which side Felicia's steering wheel is on.

 

[Ottoeight]

Well it's certainly not UK or Japan, considering which side Felicia's steering wheel is on.

Her right hand might slip and land you know where...

 

[YuNobi1]

Her right hand might slip and land you know where...

Well... THAT'S a new way to switch gears. Hehe.

 

[Simpgor]

To go forward now without quitting, she either has to double-down on her self-delusion that "it's all fun and games", or "alright, this is more than I bargained for, but momma didn't raise no quitter". Considering she feels betrayed by Edwin, I'm guessing the latter, but she might throw a "happy-go-lucky" facade to the club audience, even though everyone on-stage knows about her perspective change, thinking that's her best play to keep the patrons' interest in her come the final vote.

Like someone else has said you can make a few choices to (possibly) alleviate most of the betrayal she would feel from Edwin, I think (in the case of you not shocking her etc) that she is more angry about the situation in general than Edwin in particular and you could even argue that it could be used as a reason for her to trust him more especially if they are just fuck buddies vs sugar momma/baby. Either way I think that her "performances" will probably be the most interesting from a narrative perspective going forward

Well it's certainly not UK or Japan, considering which side Felicia's steering wheel is on.

Felicia's car has a maryland plate on the front iirc

 

[YuNobi1]

Like someone else has said you can make a few choices to (possibly) alleviate most of the betrayal she would feel from Edwin, I think (in the case of you not shocking her etc) that she is more angry about the situation in general than Edwin in particular and you could even argue that it could be used as a reason for her to trust him more especially if they are just fuck buddies vs sugar momma/baby. Either way I think that her "performances" will probably be the most interesting from a narrative perspective going forward



Felicia's car has a maryland plate on the front iirc

I shocked her, and we're just fuck buddies, and she is PISSED at me during the call. Although I calmed her down, she definitely doesn't look at me in the same [trusting] way.

 

[Simpgor]

I shocked her, and we're just fuck buddies, and she is PISSED at me during the call. Although I calmed her down, she definitely doesn't look at me in the same [trusting] way.

and on mine I did not shock her we are fuck buddies and i for sure read the scene with her on the phone as more annoyed/"angry" than pissed. Both people are talking is a normal tone (lack of capitalization and exclamation) and by the end there was even a casual joke or two.

I dont know if there is a path split there or if its just a difference in thinking what pissed/annoyed is

 

[ename144]

I would compare Felicity to the Flash in the Justice League animated series: sees everything as a game up until "things get serious" on a personal level. Felicity's last Exhibition performance and her rough treatment with the cattle prod, and thus the loss of her playmate, has pushed her past her naivete. To go forward now without quitting, she either has to double-down on her self-delusion that "it's all fun and games", or "alright, this is more than I bargained for, but momma didn't raise no quitter". Considering she feels betrayed by Edwin, I'm guessing the latter, but she might throw a "happy-go-lucky" facade to the club audience, even though everyone on-stage knows about her perspective change, thinking that's her best play to keep the patrons' interest in her come the final vote.

I think it's simpler than that: Felicia just likes sex. As long as the challenges involve sex or sexuality, Felicia can roll with the punches like a champ; as soon as the activities move to something more mundane, she loses interest and becomes far more fragile. Unfortunately for her, Kathleen's the one running the show and Kathleen cares about suffering far more than she cares about sex. You can see this most clearly in the cattleprod game in Chapter 4 Update 2. Without the MC's help, all Felicia can focus on is the discomfort.

It's only if the MC ignores Kat's order and reminds Felicia that there's still an audience who could be aroused by her performance that she manages to get her head back in the game.

In some ways I think it mirrors her reasons for becoming a Carnation in the first place. There are lots of ways a smart, attractive woman like Felicia could go about building a powerbase separate from her husband, but she chose to join an exclusive underground sex club because wholesale debauchery is what she sees as the perfect intersection of her skills and interests. She thought it would be right in her wheelhouse - and she might well have been right if August or Hana was calling the shots. With Kathleen at the helm, however, it's going to be a constant struggle not to lose her groove.

 

[Turret]

I shocked her, and we're just fuck buddies, and she is PISSED at me during the call. Although I calmed her down, she definitely doesn't look at me in the same [trusting] way.

That is hardly surprising that she starts to dislike you if you cattleprod her just so! Especially since you also can "playacting" with her the prodding, so it just looks like she was fully hit. Afterwards in the phone call she is pissed at Kat´s "ideas", not Edwin. In my main playthrough the MC and Felicia have a good and trusting relationship, I also go with her to the art exhibition without taking anything from her.

and on mine I did not shock her we are fuck buddies and i for sure read the scene with her on the phone as more annoyed/"angry" than pissed. Both people are talking is a normal tone (lack of capitalization and exclamation) and by the end there was even a casual joke or two.
I dont know if there is a path split there or if its just a difference in thinking what pissed/annoyed is

That is a path split IMHO, depending on what you did during the cattle prod scene. It is obvious from the story so far that Feli is a hedonist, one of Epikur´s children, so she sucks big time with dishing out and receiving pain and hurt. You have a choice there, if you help Feli coming through this scene with the least hurt you definitely gain a lot of trust with her.

 

[se20299]

I feel like the cattleprod scene hits home to Felicia that the exibition isn't fun and games like she's thinking. As a hedonistic party slut, she probably did a lot of similar things to some games in the exibition, and her flippant approach to the game has probably rubbed Kat the wrong way, and we can expect Felicia's resolve to crumble as she realizes that the Competition isn't a sex vacation she expected. Hell, during her photoshoot, Edwin can get angry at her too for her dismisiveness towards the games, because in his eyes Felicia is taking everything his mother went through with glee and is asking for more, because the club is just a game to her. Until it isn't.

We're probably gona see Felicia get pushed more and more out of her comfort zone, and her prissy bitch exterior is going to crumble more and more as she gets progressively more humiliated, and not in a sexy was like she has come to expect.

 

[Ottoeight]

We're probably gona see Felicia get pushed more and more out of her comfort zone, and her prissy bitch exterior is going to crumble more and more as she gets progressively more humiliated, and not in a sexy was like she has come to expect.

I don't think so. I think it's going to be the opposite, mostly if you raise her "special" confidence points. Her "special points" score is: SELF-CONFIDENCE.

I think you/we might ponder over the special score each main girl has and its impact on the story:

Mina: bi-curious (damn yes!) and Killian romance - yes, our kitty has 2 special scores
Hana: anger
Rosalind: libido (oh yeah!)
Veronica: horniness (yuppie!)
Felicia: self-confidence
Kat: trust

 

[Simpgor]

We're probably gona see Felicia get pushed more and more out of her comfort zone, and her prissy bitch exterior is going to crumble more and more as she gets progressively more humiliated, and not in a sexy was like she has come to expect.

I think that (with this game in particular) characters are heavily influenced by your choices especially when it comes to dialogs/how characters react

Like the post above me says her her extra variable will very likely play a role like how Ian's and Mina both have.

I kind of take issue with the whole idea that she will "get pushed more out of her comfort zone". Even if you just straight up shock her (and she doesn't have the idea that people are still getting off which can help her) the band-aid has already been ripped off she is aware that the competition can involve 0 pleasure for them. Sure Kath could make her do worse stuff but that will fuck up all the Carnations not just Felica in particular.

Also this made me wonder when exactly the "ending split (stay or go)" will happen since it will have such huge implications (for character stories)