VN Ren'Py STWA: Unbroken [Pt. 7] [STWAdev]

[Quetzzz]

When I said relationships were a game I was talking about the bigger picture, namely the game of overall mate selection within the sexual marketplace. We started off talking about the Vi and Els interaction where they discuss competing for the MC, and the way Els enjoyed playing the simple game of who gets chosen as a partner, and why other potential mates must therefore be considered "less compelling options". So that's why I said the "game" description was obvious and not meaningful in describing how Els approached that talk. And just as an aside, I do find that particular subject quite fascinating. Applying the concept of game theory to mating at the level of populations can be quite fun and insightful at times.

Right, I get what you mean now. In that context I agree, the "dating game", testing boundaries, etc... That's part of it.
And yes, game theory can (somewhat) be applied to relationships. We all -in our own way- reward behavior we like, and discourage behavior we don't. We just don't always go about it in healthy or thought-out ways. At a very high level view, relationships are skinner boxes. It's also very easy learn some Pavlovian responses during long term relationships. In my experience, those are also the hardest to get rid of afterward.

But yeah, Els does also make a relationship itself a game, which can indeed be frustrating because that kind of intimacy should be an equal partnership. So far it hasn't gotten out of hand and so it feels fine for the most part, to me at least. But I've been through enough "bullshit tests" to abhor that kind of treatment from someone who is supposed to care about me, so I can understand why people don't want to put up with it even for a second. In that context, your criticism of her is indeed warranted. Els needs to grow up a bit and hopefully not turn everything in a close relationship into a "dick measuring" contest. Best case scenario?...this is just the up front "courtship dance", and she mellows a lot once the MC proves his viability. Worst case scenario?...kick her to the curb.

This is something I'm considering as well. It's possible that Els is looking for the guy that can dominate/tame her.

I'm glad I might have smoothed out a few things about her that you interpreted differently. I actually took your criticism in good faith and wondered myself if there was anything about her story and actions that I might have missed. And because of what you and others have revealed I do realize that building a relationship with Els is going to be a lot more complicated and volatile than I had previously imagined. She's still "best girl" for me by a country mile, but I'm definitely more cautious and wary now than I used to be about her intentions.

Wow, it sounds like we both became more moderate – and grew closer – in our attitudes/opinions after discussing things like reasonable people. Huh. Imagine that.

What a novel concept! I'm new here, but I'm really liking this forum. I probably would've posted on reddit otherwise, and I doubt I'd have gotten this quality of interaction there. So, thank you!

Her trust score did indeed change strangely – and significantly in opposing directions! – with the choice of bite or no bite, which is interesting to consider. You know, that reminds me: the way Elspeth's trust and friendship points are getting distributed so far in the game feels a bit bizarre. There was a scene in an earlier chapter where the player needed trust > friendship to get on Els's romance path I think. And since then a lot of the "good" choices for her have increased her trust, while weirdly decreasing her friendship at the same time. I think this might be the dev's way of simulating the idea of "not being friend-zoned" by her. Though why trust always seems to be gained at the expense of friendship is strange. And this is an Els-only thing, since none of the other LIs has a "trust" variable, while all of them except Vi have a "friend" variable. Perhaps the "trust" score exists because Els wants to find people who challenge her and who she can learn and grow from being around? And so that trusted person, whether they end up being a romantic interest or not, cannot be a friend who always tries to say the "nice, friendly thing" to her?

I haven't looked into the points in much detail, my general impression was that 'trust' was used when Els shared something personal. Decreasing friendship is the same as increasing love, though. Since for most other checks it's about love > friendship. Still, it's an interesting observation, and you might very well be right that this is a meta-message from the author.
I think Els' trust variable is directly related to how close she is to sharing her secrets with Valentine. And, piggybacking on your observation, maybe that secret is so big, that it would be impossible to just stay friends once shared.

Hmm. I just loaded up my Els-exclusive playthrough to take a peek at where her variables are right now, and I actually have her friendship score in the negative. It's strange to say it, but I don't think that's a bad thing in terms of building a relationship with her. It could be that it needs to be a minimum for some important future choice/path, but we'll see I guess.

Yeah, that might be the case. Still, very interesting!

 

[Defenestrator.for.traitor]

Or she was either there when Anastasia was killed and then killed her murderer or she used her ressources to find out who it was and then took the murderer out herself. The blood pattern we see in her fantasies suggests that she didn't use a gun from long range either, so maybe close combat with a knife. Instead of feeling guilty or shocked to have taken a life, she loved every second of it, and now she can't get the memory out of her head.

I'm a sucker for bad endings, so I hope the developer has something really fucked up in store.

I wouldn't say no to darker turns tbh.

 

[Krytax123]

Intimidated isn't the right word. On his toes, maybe. My MC is very weary of Els' motivations because of all the reasons I've mentioned before. She's a master manipulator.
My issue with her isn't that she challenges Valentine, but that she doesn't follow through when Valentine challenges her.

When does shes manipulate anyone? She's confrontative and pushy (she did this with vi too at the pool) but thats because she wants to force a reaction. Even anger can be relieving. I dont see her manipulate anyone, she pushes people to conclusions but shes very upfront about that.

And that's the crux of my issues with her. Els should've made a choice. In the pool, either she should've kissed Valentine, or break his walls. Not both. She muddied the waters. My impression was that she got off on the confrontation, and her "afraid of a little domestic?" (paraphrasing) in Mallorca reinforces that feeling I have about her.

It both serves the same goal (to make a deeper connection) imo. Sometimes confrontation is nessecary to break walls and can create passion.

Devil's advocate... But is she really seeing through him, or is she seeing things in Valentine that aren't there? If we use some meta reasoning, and consider that Els is 100% right about Valentine... Then no other Love Interest would have a shot, Els would be the perfect partner. Obviously that isn't the case, which means Els is fallible. We don't have to take her on her word. She could be wrong about Valentine.

She at least knows about him having unresolved issues and him not having a single serious relationship since she knows him even tho there are lots of woman interrested. And its safe to assume that she could see at least that he's not really happy.

Considering how nosy she is and how close she and McNab are, its possible to imagine that he dropped some hints at some point too.
The first thing she tells valentine when she meets him for the first time is how McNab is talking about him all the time or something like that.

I don't think he's afraid of commitment. The Centre, training Amrit, becoming a champion... All of those are huge commitments. Valentine himself says it at a certain point, he discovered that women just threw them at him, and he lost himself and made bad choices. All things considered, he just wasn't over Zaida yet, not ready to actually love and be emotionally open with a partner. He's clearly working on that now, though.

I didnt said he's afraid of commitment, i said he's afraid of commitment to a woman and that was obviously true for quite some time before the AVN even started. How long do Valentine and Els do know each other? Something about three years (im not really sure anymore)?

So in short, afraid to love again or afraid to be hurt like that again like you said too.

It's funny, I'm thinking the same, but draw the opposite conclusion. Maybe I'm misunderstanding, but it sounds to me like you're saying "She wants the perfect partner in Valentine, so she's making sure to help him.". I think I'll like Els a lot more on the friendship path, where she'll help Valentine unconditionally, not because she stands to gain from it. ;-)

She tries to help him the same way no matter if you reject her or not so i dont really got where you get your conlcusion from?

And she stakes her claim in him in front of everyone without having his issues figured out. He told Vi for example way more compared to her and she knows more about is issues in general.

But as i said, she isnt like Vi or Amrit, shes the heir of a super wealthy old family and a prodigy while having at the same time a deep trauma and inferiority complexes. She's not looking for her next boyfriend, shes looking for a man to share her (rather complex) life with and of course she has expectations for the guy. Valentine probably wouldnt date some hobo-girl either.

 

[Quetzzz]

Also everyone missing an IMO important point. Davis' death. We know Davis was not for marrying, characters mentioned a few times that, suddenly getting married with a mysterious lady. Iirc, taking the ferry was her idea. Then someone, previous MC, mentioned sinking of the ferry was a sabotage not an accident. Someone snooping after MC and most likely they snooped after McNab because they knew his military involvements. They are getting in&out of MC's house too, so they are serious about what are they doing. I think what's going on that front will be huge but I can't even speculate what is going on.

Friendly reminder that Davis' body hasn't been found. If he was responsible for the boat sinking, he could've made sure he'd escape alive. Davis says that taking the ferry was her idea, but we have no proof that this is the truth or not.

 

[Quetzzz]

When does shes manipulate anyone? She's confrontative and pushy (she did this with vi too at the pool) but thats because she wants to force a reaction. Even anger can be relieving. I dont see her manipulate anyone, she pushes people to conclusions but shes very upfront about that.

Pushing people's buttons to elicit the reaction you want, is manipulation.

It both serves the same goal (to make a deeper connection) imo. Sometimes confrontation is nessecary to break walls and can create passion.

And that would be self-serving on her part, implying she didn't want to break through Valentine's walls out of the goodness of her heart.

She at least knows about him having unresolved issues and him not having a single serious relationship since she knows him even tho there are lots of woman interrested. And its safe to assume that she could see at least that he's not really happy.

Considering how nosy she is and how close she and McNab are, its possible to imagine that he dropped some hints at some point too.
The first thing she tells valentine when she meets him for the first time is how McNab is talking about him all the time or something like that.

Yep, I agree, that's possible. And she's smart, there's that too. But the questions she asked Vi in Mallorca prove that she has no real clue who the real Valentine is, underneath the trauma. So she might see that he's hiding the trauma, but she can't know if the person underneath is actually the one she imagines as her perfect partner. She thinks she sees the real Valentine when he's fighting, I don't think we can take her word on that.

I didnt said he's afraid of commitment, i said he's afraid of commitment to a woman and that was obviously true for quite some time before the AVN even started. How long do Valentine and Els do know each other? Something about three years (im not really sure anymore)?

"He (very) obviously has comittment issues", but that aside, yeah, we agree here.
12 to 18 months, I think. Though in Chapter 1 (at the bar after the fight) it doesn't seem like Els and Valentine have anything more than a friendly working relationship. They met a few months before the Centre opened its doors.

 

[RoryTate]

Pushing people's buttons to elicit the reaction you want, is manipulation.

I would argue that the word "manipulation" contains a lot of pejorative associations and therefore it requires a much higher threshold to be applied to someone's behaviour. For example, I wouldn't ask someone for the time of day, and then suggest that I had just manipulated them into replying by telling me it was half past noon. That's obviously a huge stretch. An interaction requires much more dishonesty and higher stakes than a simple question, even if it's an emotionally charged one, to be termed "manipulative". And at the mundane level that Els is operating so far, I would call what she is doing more at the stage of simply influencing matters (such as how she kissed the MC in front of the group after they spent the night together). In some cases her behaviour is indeed suspicious while in others it appears to be the opposite and almost openly helpful. But it's all been relatively mundane up to this point. I mean, it's not like Els has been using the Centre as an illegal international kitten-smuggling operation, and Sir Pounce-a-Bunch will turn out to be the key piece of evidence that eventually reveals her dastardly schemes. Now that would definitely meet the standard for manipulation. But all the other stuff she's being doing? I don't see it being that serious yet.

The grey areas right now are the "lies by omission" that she has committed (recording conversations, secretly investigating the MC's past), but without knowing what's at stake there or the full purpose behind these hidden actions, I won't presume to judge them just yet. Her intelligence gathering on the MC might turn out to be a red herring for all we know, and be revealed as just her doing a simple background check on a business partner. We require more accurate and verified information to decide.

 

[MF_DOOM]

Check In 10/04/2023
4 hours ago
Hello lovely people, just throwing a little render your way to thank you for all the support last month. Hit some major milestones and I just wanted to send a little thank you. Yes I can hear the jokes about a wet girl coming out of water.
Another productive week. Added around 8,000 words of script. That puts me a little under 25,000 words. I'm happy with that, puts me slightly ahead of schedule.
I'll be starting posing tomorrow so huzzah. All prep work is now complete, got my custom assets taken care of and all new characters and sets are built and lit.
Nothing majorly exciting beyond that, just going to be getting down into the update muck. I did miss a sneak peak this past weekend so I'll be posting a double dose this upcoming weekend.
Thanks as always for the support and I hope you have a lovely rest of your week.
Sláinte!

 

[cxx]

25k words? that's a lot chit chat.

 

[KhamulTG81]

I WANT MORE INES CONTENT... seriously

 

[Defenestrator.for.traitor]

I WANT MORE INES CONTENT... seriously

 

[seden]

Same here, will need to see what the protect is about.
This said more content fitting the story is welcome anyway.
Tbs.

 

[Quetzzz]

Same here, will need to see what the protect is about.

My theory is, it's about how self-reliant Vi is, or how protective the MC feels about her. I suspect there will be a big event for Vi where this variable determines the outcome, and Vi either becoming reliant on the MC or able to conquer her demons.

 

[RoryTate]

Same here, will need to see what the protect is about.

The protect variable could have to do with how far Ines is willing to go to keep Vi safe from what she perceives as an MC who is trying to advantage of innocent girls like Vi. With the addition of the inessubmission and inesselfreliance variables in Mallorca, I can potentially see a path where high inessubmission + high inesdesiretoprotect + low inesselfreliance scores could let the MC (literally) fuck with Ines in a very domineering manner.

It's funny how part 6 made Ines seem almost more vulnerable than Vi, both in terms of relationships and even just overall life experiences. Unlike Vi who has been through many difficult events in her life, Ines really has no defenses to save her from the consequences of her own overblown bravado, especially when it comes to her aggressive flirting with the MC.

 

[RoryTate]

I just did a replay of the entire VN to try and refresh my memory about everything that has happened so far. As is the case with these stories that get updates only a few times per year because of the incredible effort required to produce them, it's been a while since I read some of the earlier chapters. Plus, it's often a good idea to recontextualize previous events based on what what we now know. So here's a few thoughts that stood out to me (I don't think there was anything too important...just a few little things that might be hints at stuff to come, or things that were hinted at about stuff we now know):

• Amrit says that the MC is "barking up the wrong tree" (her exact words) when he expresses an interest in Kana, which really solidifies the idea that Kana and Trinity were lovers, and that Amrit thinks Kana is likely "batting for the other team" in some way.
• Els' Dad is confused when the MC calls Els a "pacifist", and was likely about to expose that as a lie if Els didn't immediately interrupt him and direct the conversation elsewhere. Of course we now know that violence is something Els enjoys a bit too much, so telling others she is a "pacifist" is likely just her way of hiding this (in her mind) embarrassing and discomfiting side of herself from the world. (Note: I say "discomfiting" only because it's uncomfortable for her in the sense that this part of her personality is related to things she doesn't want to talk about, but violence is obviously something that she still enjoys an awful lot.)
• The stuff about Els' close friendship with Anastasia while serving together in the military is only mentioned during a single interaction with the MC, so it's a facet of her life that is really easy to overlook and perhaps dismiss as unimportant. Not much about this relationship is really established, except that Anastasia "never made it home" (and so she can be presumed to have died during the war, though that is not confirmed), and that Els thinks enough of her to name the motorbike after her.
• When comforting Vi about her loss, Els says that her own brother is: "presumably in the same place as yours", which is a bizarre choice of words. This could be a very strong hint that Els suspects that Davis is still alive.
• What I'm seeing upon re-read is a pattern wherein Els answers almost every question she gets related to her friends/family – or that pertain to sensitive information – like a lawyer who cannot lie. She lets you believe what she wants you to believe, without ever giving a simple "yes" or "no" response that could later be used against her. Her Father confirms Els' brother is dead with the line: "And he paid for it with his life.". But Els in an earlier conversation can only say: "You already know." when asked about whether her brother is alive or not. She's slipperier than a wet breast covered in lube.
• There's a lot of stuff in the story that the reader assumes has happened, but when you look closely it's not explicitly made clear what really occurred. A lot of this happens with Els (as I mentioned), but the best example of this kind of misdirect is Davis' supposed death when the ferry sinks. Initially it seems certain that he's dead, and all that remains is for Vi to identify his body. However, we are later told that the authorities made a mistake and it wasn't him, but this fact is downplayed and barely mentioned in a quick cutaway scene. Meanwhile everyone in the story just goes on to assume that he is dead (which does make sense narratively "in universe", since no one has much reason to find his body being missing as suspicious...well, I do suspect Els may be wary of this turn of events, but we can only speculate as to why she might be suspicious).
• So much about how and why Zaina died still remains unclear to the reader. We know a lot about the preamble now, but we still haven't seen the event itself or the immediate aftermath. Did the MC witness her getting killed by Davis? Or did he find her dead and figure out that Davis killed her? Or did the MC suspect Davis, and get a confession from him? And if Davis confessed, was he telling the truth? Or did he lie about Zaina's murder to hide some other secret? The MC says that McNab stopped him from killing Davis, but that's the only reliable piece of information we've gotten so far about how it all went down. I suspect there's a lot more to this event that will later get revealed as the story progresses.
• It's a bit hard to read his expression, but McNab appears to smile for a moment when Els kisses the MC in Mallorca, which feels kind of nice I must admit...it looks like he's happy to see his two best friends finally get together. It does feel a little wholesome to think that their relationship has his support, considering how close he is to both Els and the MC.
• Holy perfect girlfriend of your dreams, but does Els ever lay it on thick the morning after she and the MC hook up. I remarked in a previous comment about how Els kissing the MC in front of the group was her throwing down the gauntlet to the rest of the girls in the battle to win the MC's heart, but I didn't really notice that she also makes sure to bring the MC a cup of coffee before drinking some herself (demonstrating what a supportive and considerate partner she'll be), and then she even makes a point of remarking that she is famished because of the previous evening's exertions (complimenting the MC's performance in bed). Maybe I just overlooked how dramatic everything was initially because of the understated and nonchalant way the entire scene plays out, but holy hell Batman! This is taking her naturally competitive nature a bit far. It honestly feels a bit like overkill. So much so that it's beginning to enter a level of over-the-top praise that worries me a little bit.
• The dev says in the game script that they have coded boolean variables as 1 for true and 2 for false (instead of using 0 for false which is the common standard). This is kind of weird for my programming brain to comprehend, though in the actual game code everything appears to have text saying "False" or "True" rather than numbers anyways, so I don't really get this distinction I guess. But that's not the important part. The real problem here is that there is a comment clearly indicating this convention in the game code! That is completely unacceptable. Real programmers don't comment their code. It was hard to write; it should be hard to read as well!

 

[Quetzzz]

Amrit says that the MC is "barking up the wrong tree" (her exact words) when he expresses an interest in Kana, which really solidifies the idea that Kana and Trinity were lovers, and that Amrit thinks Kana is likely "batting for the other team" in some way.

I believe Kana herself more or less confirms this. Trin-trin was her trainer, in a more sensual form of wrestling.

Els' Dad is confused when the MC calls Els a "pacifist", and was likely about to expose that as a lie if Els didn't immediately interrupt him and direct the conversation elsewhere. Of course we now know that violence is something Els enjoys a bit too much, so telling others she is a "pacifist" is likely just her way of hiding this (in her mind) embarrassing and discomfiting side of herself from the world. (Note: I say "discomfiting" only because it's uncomfortable for her in the sense that this part of her personality is related to things she doesn't want to talk about, but violence is obviously something that she still enjoys an awful lot.)

Could be true, maybe he revised his opinion of that after she enlisted. In Els' flashback her parents talk about her pacifism before she enlisted.

When comforting Vi about her loss, Els says that her own brother is: "presumably in the same place as yours", which is a bizarre choice of words. This could be a very strong hint that Els suspects that Davis is still alive.

Or that they're both in hell

What I'm seeing upon re-read is a pattern wherein Els answers almost every question she gets related to her friends/family – or that pertain to sensitive information – like a lawyer who cannot lie. She lets you believe what she wants you to believe, without ever giving a simple "yes" or "no" response that could later be used against her. Her Father confirms Els' brother is dead with the line: "And he paid for it with his life.". But Els in an earlier conversation can only say: "You already know." when asked about whether her brother is alive or not. She's slipperier than a wet breast covered in lube.

Yeah, noticed that as well. It was one of the things that initially made me weary of her. At the garage with the motorcycle, she's also very coy with how she describes the "heir" thing.

I do suspect Els may be wary of this turn of events, but we can only speculate as to why she might be suspicious).

I also suspect Davis' supposed death is a red herring. But what gave you the impression that Els is suspicious?

I suspect there's a lot more to this event that will later get revealed as the story progresses.

Yeah, this gets brought up a few times. How the MC had a chance to kill Davis for what he did, and both McNab and the MC had their weapons trained on him. And you're right, there's still a lot of nuance. I do suspect that Valentine was too late to save her, and caught up with Davis after the fact.

This is taking her naturally competitive nature a bit far. It honestly feels a bit like overkill. So much so that it's beginning to enter a level of over-the-top praise that worries me a little bit.

I didn't see that scene, but what you're describing sounds more like a victory lap than throwing down the gauntlet. After all, she plays for keeps, and now owns Valentine.

 

[Alfred the Fallen]

When does shes manipulate anyone?

Elspeth convinces Viridiana to tell her about he main characters past, and learns that he used to enjoy getting into fights for fun. She also learns that those fights were what caused the main character and Viridiana's brother to become close friends. A short while later, Elspeth sees the main character trying to avoid a fight with two drunks at the beach.

Elspeth is supposed to be a pacifist, so she should be wanting to avoid a fight. Elspeth is supposed to be highly intelligent, so she should be able to avoid the fight. Elpseth has extensive military training and experience, so should be able to easily handle a small drunk. And yet... what happens? Elspeth interjects herself into the confrontation and gets a bloody nose.

There are two possibilities here. One is that Elspeth is the worst written character in the game, one whose actions contradict everything about her established character. The other is that she started the fight intentionally and let herself get hit to garner sympathy with the main character and get closer to him.

When the main character takes Elspeth aside to check her nose and tend to her wounds, she takes her pants off in an obvious attempt to seduce him. It should also be noted that Elspeth had tried to get the main character drunk during during a drinking game earlier that night in which she was only drinking tonic water. So trying to seduce him here and now is not only manipulative, but super skeezy. When you avoid the kiss, she puts her pants back on and leaves (without losing her legs).

You can reasonably conclude that Elspeth intentionally provoked that guy into attacking her, and let him hit her to get closer to the main character. The game has constantly insisted that Elspeth is a super genius and skilled at manipulating people. So surely she could think of a way to talk two drunk guys out of attacking a world famous professional fighter. Or at the very least, not be stupid enough to think that turning into a live action version of the navy seals copypasta would do anything other than get an angry drunk guy to swing at her for insulting him.

She is also portrayed to be a well trained fighter with military experience. So avoiding a predictable punch from a drunk should be reasonably easy for her. And yet she fails to do that. However, she doesn't get her nose broken, just bloody. So she's either lucky, or she rolled with the punch just enough to get a minor injury that would require attention and garner sympathy from the main character.

Elspeth is also supposed to be a pacifist. So her getting into a fight should be seen as unusual. Which it is by the main character. He asks her why she did it, and she says "My friend was in danger, I did what I had to do. My personal view are irrelevant." He thanks her for her help, and she says "we're officially brothers in arms now." And then she leans in for a kiss. While pantsless. Knowing that he's been drinking that evening.

All of that fits perfectly with the idea that she has been trying to create a scenario where she can get closer to the main character by using what she's learned about him from those who truly know and care about him. If this seems like a stretch, you just have to remember that we've already seen her be manipulative on other occasions.

If you try to avoid eavesdropping on Elspeth's first conversation with Viridiana, she will motion you back because she wants you to see how smart and helpful she is. And she gets visibly angry with you if you ruin her plans by interrupting her. She also tries to keep you from getting together with Katie by saying that it would be unprofessional, but it would seem that her rule doesn't apply to Elspeth herself as she constantly throws herself at you. We've seen her "accidentally" leave her purse behind on her trip to the bathroom while we are meeting her father, only to see that she did it on purpose in order to secretly record our private conversation.

Elspeth is manipulative. It's been well established on several occasions.

 

[Alfred the Fallen]

Els' Dad is confused when the MC calls Els a "pacifist", and was likely about to expose that as a lie if Els didn't immediately interrupt him and direct the conversation elsewhere.

He also says that Elspeth was always his favourite, that his son was not a good person, and that Elspeth always idolized her brother. All three of those things contradict what Elspeth was telling Viridiana during their first conversation. The same conversation where she motions you to eavesdrop on them and then tells Viridiana "I'll tell you a secret just between us girls."

So at least one of them is lying. Most likely Elspeth, since she's got an established history of it.

 

[Bombmaster]

I just did a replay of the entire VN to try and refresh my memory about everything that has happened so far. As is the case with these stories that get updates only a few times per year because of the incredible effort required to produce them, it's been a while since I read some of the earlier chapters. Plus, it's often a good idea to recontextualize previous events based on what what we now know. So here's a few thoughts that stood out to me (I don't think there was anything too important...just a few little things that might be hints at stuff to come, or things that were hinted at about stuff we now know):

• Amrit says that the MC is "barking up the wrong tree" (her exact words) when he expresses an interest in Kana, which really solidifies the idea that Kana and Trinity were lovers, and that Amrit thinks Kana is likely "batting for the other team" in some way.
• Els' Dad is confused when the MC calls Els a "pacifist", and was likely about to expose that as a lie if Els didn't immediately interrupt him and direct the conversation elsewhere. Of course we now know that violence is something Els enjoys a bit too much, so telling others she is a "pacifist" is likely just her way of hiding this (in her mind) embarrassing and discomfiting side of herself from the world. (Note: I say "discomfiting" only because it's uncomfortable for her in the sense that this part of her personality is related to things she doesn't want to talk about, but violence is obviously something that she still enjoys an awful lot.)
• The stuff about Els' close friendship with Anastasia while serving together in the military is only mentioned during a single interaction with the MC, so it's a facet of her life that is really easy to overlook and perhaps dismiss as unimportant. Not much about this relationship is really established, except that Anastasia "never made it home" (and so she can be presumed to have died during the war, though that is not confirmed), and that Els thinks enough of her to name the motorbike after her.
• When comforting Vi about her loss, Els says that her own brother is: "presumably in the same place as yours", which is a bizarre choice of words. This could be a very strong hint that Els suspects that Davis is still alive.
• What I'm seeing upon re-read is a pattern wherein Els answers almost every question she gets related to her friends/family – or that pertain to sensitive information – like a lawyer who cannot lie. She lets you believe what she wants you to believe, without ever giving a simple "yes" or "no" response that could later be used against her. Her Father confirms Els' brother is dead with the line: "And he paid for it with his life.". But Els in an earlier conversation can only say: "You already know." when asked about whether her brother is alive or not. She's slipperier than a wet breast covered in lube.
• There's a lot of stuff in the story that the reader assumes has happened, but when you look closely it's not explicitly made clear what really occurred. A lot of this happens with Els (as I mentioned), but the best example of this kind of misdirect is Davis' supposed death when the ferry sinks. Initially it seems certain that he's dead, and all that remains is for Vi to identify his body. However, we are later told that the authorities made a mistake and it wasn't him, but this fact is downplayed and barely mentioned in a quick cutaway scene. Meanwhile everyone in the story just goes on to assume that he is dead (which does make sense narratively "in universe", since no one has much reason to find his body being missing as suspicious...well, I do suspect Els may be wary of this turn of events, but we can only speculate as to why she might be suspicious).
• So much about how and why Zaina died still remains unclear to the reader. We know a lot about the preamble now, but we still haven't seen the event itself or the immediate aftermath. Did the MC witness her getting killed by Davis? Or did he find her dead and figure out that Davis killed her? Or did the MC suspect Davis, and get a confession from him? And if Davis confessed, was he telling the truth? Or did he lie about Zaina's murder to hide some other secret? The MC says that McNab stopped him from killing Davis, but that's the only reliable piece of information we've gotten so far about how it all went down. I suspect there's a lot more to this event that will later get revealed as the story progresses.
• It's a bit hard to read his expression, but McNab appears to smile for a moment when Els kisses the MC in Mallorca, which feels kind of nice I must admit...it looks like he's happy to see his two best friends finally get together. It does feel a little wholesome to think that their relationship has his support, considering how close he is to both Els and the MC.
• Holy perfect girlfriend of your dreams, but does Els ever lay it on thick the morning after she and the MC hook up. I remarked in a previous comment about how Els kissing the MC in front of the group was her throwing down the gauntlet to the rest of the girls in the battle to win the MC's heart, but I didn't really notice that she also makes sure to bring the MC a cup of coffee before drinking some herself (demonstrating what a supportive and considerate partner she'll be), and then she even makes a point of remarking that she is famished because of the previous evening's exertions (complimenting the MC's performance in bed). Maybe I just overlooked how dramatic everything was initially because of the understated and nonchalant way the entire scene plays out, but holy hell Batman! This is taking her naturally competitive nature a bit far. It honestly feels a bit like overkill. So much so that it's beginning to enter a level of over-the-top praise that worries me a little bit.
• The dev says in the game script that they have coded boolean variables as 1 for true and 2 for false (instead of using 0 for false which is the common standard). This is kind of weird for my programming brain to comprehend, though in the actual game code everything appears to have text saying "False" or "True" rather than numbers anyways, so I don't really get this distinction I guess. But that's not the important part. The real problem here is that there is a comment clearly indicating this convention in the game code! That is completely unacceptable. Real programmers don't comment their code. It was hard to write; it should be hard to read as well!

As the song goes, Els is playing a dangerous game. A true mommy spider.

You can't escape her Web. Or better yet don't even wanna try.

This was satisfying to read bro.

 

[Defenestrator.for.traitor]

Elspeth convinces Viridiana to tell her about he main characters past, and learns that he used to enjoy getting into fights for fun. She also learns that those fights were what caused the main character and Viridiana's brother to become close friends. A short while later, Elspeth sees the main character trying to avoid a fight with two drunks at the beach.

Elspeth is supposed to be a pacifist, so she should be wanting to avoid a fight. Elspeth is supposed to be highly intelligent, so she should be able to avoid the fight. Elpseth has extensive military training and experience, so should be able to easily handle a small drunk. And yet... what happens? Elspeth interjects herself into the confrontation and gets a bloody nose.

There are two possibilities here. One is that Elspeth is the worst written character in the game, one whose actions contradict everything about her established character. The other is that she started the fight intentionally and let herself get hit to garner sympathy with the main character and get closer to him.

When the main character takes Elspeth aside to check her nose and tend to her wounds, she takes her pants off in an obvious attempt to seduce him. It should also be noted that Elspeth had tried to get the main character drunk during during a drinking game earlier that night in which she was only drinking tonic water. So trying to seduce him here and now is not only manipulative, but super skeezy. When you avoid the kiss, she puts her pants back on and leaves (without losing her legs).

You can reasonably conclude that Elspeth intentionally provoked that guy into attacking her, and let him hit her to get closer to the main character. The game has constantly insisted that Elspeth is a super genius and skilled at manipulating people. So surely she could think of a way to talk two drunk guys out of attacking a world famous professional fighter. Or at the very least, not be stupid enough to think that turning into a live action version of the navy seals copypasta would do anything other than get an angry drunk guy to swing at her for insulting him.

She is also portrayed to be a well trained fighter with military experience. So avoiding a predictable punch from a drunk should be reasonably easy for her. And yet she fails to do that. However, she doesn't get her nose broken, just bloody. So she's either lucky, or she rolled with the punch just enough to get a minor injury that would require attention and garner sympathy from the main character.

Elspeth is also supposed to be a pacifist. So her getting into a fight should be seen as unusual. Which it is by the main character. He asks her why she did it, and she says "My friend was in danger, I did what I had to do. My personal view are irrelevant." He thanks her for her help, and she says "we're officially brothers in arms now." And then she leans in for a kiss. While pantsless. Knowing that he's been drinking that evening.

All of that fits perfectly with the idea that she has been trying to create a scenario where she can get closer to the main character by using what she's learned about him from those who truly know and care about him. If this seems like a stretch, you just have to remember that we've already seen her be manipulative on other occasions.

If you try to avoid eavesdropping on Elspeth's first conversation with Viridiana, she will motion you back because she wants you to see how smart and helpful she is. And she gets visibly angry with you if you ruin her plans by interrupting her. She also tries to keep you from getting together with Katie by saying that it would be unprofessional, but it would seem that her rule doesn't apply to Elspeth herself as she constantly throws herself at you. We've seen her "accidentally" leave her purse behind on her trip to the bathroom while we are meeting her father, only to see that she did it on purpose in order to secretly record our private conversation.

Elspeth is manipulative. It's been well established on several occasions.

We talked about this a few pages back but when she leaves MC and her father alone, she accidently forgets her handbag which conveniently had her phone recording the conversation.

 

[KhamulTG81]

The real problem here is that there is a comment clearly indicating this convention in the game code! That is completely unacceptable. Real programmers don't comment their code. It was hard to write; it should be hard to read as well!

I FUCKING AGREE!