I’m guessing his divorce had an impact on his decision. It’s conceivable he needed an escape, which the MC and their band provided at the perfect time.
The scenes in which the MC’s relationship with their parents is highlighted. When we were with Sebastian and Maya, we had the option of making the MC want to cry. It also reminded me of a scene from the television show Girls.
A character named Jessa had a neglectful and absent father, and when they had a discussion about this, some of the conversation went like this: “And you act like you want me to come see you, but you don’t know how to have me here. You don’t know how to deal with it. You don’t know how to even have a conversation with me.” Her father’s response was, “You think I can rely on you?” and she responded, “You shouldn’t have to. I’m the child; I’m the child.”
It really stuck with me how the MC is dealing with a similar situation, but ultimately different in how severe the neglect is. I’m really invested in the conversations we’ll be able to have with the MC’s parents and if there’s room for improvement in their relationship, whether we’ll have to rely on Lucy as our pseudo-parent, or whether we’ll simply accept it and move on with some therapy thrown in.
That question does make it seem as if Seven brought up personal issues and threw them in the MC’s face instead of the other way around. The amount of ammunition they both have against one another is wild.
August is soooo lovely. They’re such a breath of fresh air in a sea of dramatic, intense personalities. They don’t get talked a lot because they’re quieter, but the hand holding, the photoshoot scene, the convo on the bus — all top tier, amazing, incredible. I was giggling, kicking my feet, tears of joy in my eyes. August is like a warm hug even on just the friend route, but out of all the ROs so far, their romantic scenes really shine. I love how understanding and gentle they are with MC, even though they were dropped into the eye of the storm.
I see it in-text, but YMMV. I’m sure we’ll get more when we get past chapter 2!
Blake’s a demon (affectionate or derogatory, depending on your point of view) and actively trying to ruin MC, and they say as much to your face. Seven told MC to stay away and are full of anger and vitriol. You’re stuck between a rock and a hard place, and that’s on reality TV producers poking the bear no matter how much they hurt their subjects in order to make a profit:sparkles:
All of my MCs are actually amazing and the show is lucky to have them <3
Yeah, but Orion is pragmatic and it’s still a completely bonkers choice to leave behind a sure thing to follow MC into the unknown, so I like to think MC ~moved him~ and in combination with everything else, that was that.
I understand the desire for a big blowout argument and to let Seven have it for their bullshit; the petty bitch in me craves it. But what I want more than anything is the ability just to ignore them so thoroughly that they doubt their existence. I was so satisfied with that portion of the photoshoot where Blake is needling Seven about the drama over the breakup, and the MC has the option to just totally ignore the both of them and look glam af for the camera.
It says a lot about our prowess as singer and also that the band isn’t doing so bad if it can financially support six people.
Oh definitely. I think the MC has never reached their true potential because they’ve always been stuck in their comfort zone, playing with the same band since high school and all (maybe Seven leaving was the only true challenge in that sense). I actually agree with what Blake said on the bus, it’s cute to be with the same band since high school but a bit stupid, considering they still haven’t made it. But this also is true for the other band members. Look at Seven for example, the mc was better on a vocal level, but Seven is more successful now in part, I think, because they had to get out of that sweet familiar spot and challenge themselves with a new band (which of course is also good, otherwise they wouldn’t have gotten that far).
The contest could be the catalyst for this, among other things. And if they take Orion more seriously too. I feel bad for the guy, because he knows what he is doing, but he always seems to be the butt of the band’s jokes. When you leave the party to spend time with him and you ask to see what he’s working on, his first reaction is to think you’ll make fun of him like Rowan always does. His bus scene is also very telling (when he says that he’s not a robot and he does feel things too).
I love the scene with Seb at the bar and especially this option “You are unfamiliar with the ways of The Bar, my good sir”. It’s a bit silly but it has stuck with me since the first demo. And the bus scene with August. Actually all the scenes with August, they just feel like a warm hug in all that chaos, but I love August in general, so every crumb I can get I will love and cherish.
He is ngl. I’m a sucker for secret crushes but couldn’t understand the Orion hype until I joined the Patreon, he’s not my fav ro but he’s up there.
An eye for an eye I’ll be cheering for her on the sidelines and shouting “you’re going amazing sweetie!”
Same, I would love more silent options. I loved when we could do it during the party, my mc wasn’t going to engage in an old fight with someone that is not ready to listen. And I would also love to walk away from Seven’s vitriol from time to time.
Yeah, I’m curious to see where that goes, too. The MC is on their own with all their pain and trauma, so I’m guessing the best option would be to move on and forget it. Be cordial with the parents and leave it at that. And I don’t think relying on Lucy is really an option, given Seven’s eternal hatred of the MC. It would just give them more ammo to shoot at the MC. Besides, my MC isn’t about to compete with Seven’s secret love or Avina, who Lucy almost certainly knows and loves, too.
Yep, and the MC still gets to chase Seven and beg for forgiveness… for being shit on. Yay…
Does anyone know if there will be more than a single road to victory for this competition? Since all the romances are endless pain and misery, with the MC being forced to chase them down and yandere them till they (maybe, if you play your cards right) give in sometime near the end, I’m wondering the only halfway non-depressing way to play this is to just go for the win and say fuck it to all these “LIs” who want to do nothing but play round after round of ‘kick the MC’.
If there is only a single road to winning this thing, I’m hoping someone puts out a guide for it. Hell, I hope someone puts out a guide, anyway. This game promises far too much agony and shitty endings for the MC to play without one.
I tried the flirt option with August in the photo shoot and kinda loved it. It’s really the only time and only RO who isn’t just using the MC for whatever reason or repeatedly kicking them in the face. I just wish they were a dude…
Yeah, that’s why I’m wondering if the best path is just refusing to engage with any of them as much as possible. Last run, my MC had the interviewer tell her she was every publicist’s dream, which was clearly not a compliment! It was kind of funny, because she was behaving exactly like she thought Orion would want her to. Then again, you wonder if your MC can win if they don’t really play the game.
Ah, “arrogance +10 million”. i just can’t play the MC as that arrogant, given that, despite her immense talent (she does know she has an awesome voice, and that she is good at songwriting), her life fucking sucks, her career fucking sucks, and everyone hates her. Not really seeing how to play that as arrogant without adding in delusion as well, so I’m stuck with a more humble MC. Until she gets on the stage, then she just rocks it. And she’s a fan pleaser, so she’ll always eat that shit up from what few fans she has.
I liked that, too. Mine just went totally pro and ignored the two assholes.
They have other jobs, though, don’t they? I mean, all they do is play in shitty bars (per what I read on tumblr). They are, at best, a niche Indie band (while Seven and their band is way more recognizable and popular). My understanding from Amy’s tumblr was that they all have jobs in addition to the band, because they aren’t popular enough to support themselves. Orion, on the other hand, already has all the money he needs–and just quit to help the band because he has a soft spot for them.
For my MC, Orion appears to be stable, which is something that draws her in because her life is anything but stable. So Orion is like a big rock in a rushing river that she wants to grab on to so she won’t be drowned in a river of pain and misery. But it’s a secret crush so she can’t even try to grab onto him.
Never mind then. I don’t visit the blog often and wasn’t aware of the side jobs and Orion working for free.
Yeah, he does have that calm and stable presence about him. I liked the hidden crush route at first but then decide to go the “blossoming feelings” as the story unfolds.
That’s a great point! MC clearly has talent and charisma in spades, but they’ve almost… stagnated? Blake’s an asshole, but he’s also right — most bands are co-workers and it works better that way. The friendship is great for their chemistry as a group, but it also runs the risk of making them complacent; they’ve been together forever, things are great so why change anything, etc. It also makes it more difficult to make objective business decisions because everyone is too emotionally involved.
And I think it’s canon that they didn’t really start to get serious until after high school and not really professional until Orion started managing them, so for most of the band’s existence, they were just silly little kids making music for fun. For the amount of time they’ve been seriously playing, they’ve actually gone admirably far, which is a testament to their hard work and talent. An overnight success is ten years in the making and all that.
This is pretty much the timeline, from the writers blog.
Middle school (7th grade)(11 - 12 years old)
Seven and MC meet as they are in the same class and have assigned seats together. Somehow they missed each other last year but they get close very quickly!
Middle school (8th grade)(13 - 14 years old)
They graduate from middle school and are best friends at this point. They go to each other’s houses and hang out often. Spent all summer together. MC’s parents are beginning to get busier and Seven’s dad’s presence is growing more sporadic again.
High School ( 14 - 18 years old)
They enter high school and end up in the same class as Rowan, Devyn, Jazzy, and Iris who enters about a month later as she moved homes.
Seven and MC start getting into music as most youth™ do. Seven and MC run around their own circles but remain close. Talks of music grow and jokes about starting a band become less jokes and more planning. Somehow they all end up in a band and are actually practicing in Devyn’s garage.
As they get serious they start doing gigs. Small ones like school dances and birthday parties for the kids around town. They work part-time jobs and Rowan commissions art to scrounge up money for actual instruments they own instead of renting them out from the school’s band club. They start making their own original music.
They release their first EP to, like, 20 sales hahaha but it’s enough for them to stop doing covers and start getting serious about original music.
They graduate and keep playing.
After High School
They start releasing more music and start growing a steady following. Their music grows in popularity and with their gigs, they can start quitting their jobs and doing it full time, though the money is still tight. They’re on a steady incline that only escalates once they hit 21 years old and have full freedom to gig wherever they want.
This is up to headcanon but I like to think that Seven and MC began dating at 21 years old (for those romancing seven.)
22 years old
Seven and MC get matching tattoos (once again, I leave this to headcanon). The band grows in popularity.
23 years old.
The vote happens + things start to break down. The fight and Seven officially leaves the band.
24 years old
Orion comes into the picture. Seven spends their bday alone but eventually joins Soft Violence.
25 years old
All of them trying to make a name for themself. Soft Violence blows up with Seven as lead singer.
I didn’t get the impression that they do. Their job is the band. They play gigs for money. They get royalties from streaming. They’re popular enough to have a named fandom, which is a level of fame most bands never get to, so they’ve gotta be doing fairly well. They’re not rich, but their music is their bread and butter. Orion probably is subsisting mostly on his savings, though.
August is really, really great. Truly. I’m of the opinion that everyone should do their route, but I understand why some people wouldn’t
Listen, you’ve got to have a healthy dose of delusional confidence (and a great PR team) to survive in the entertainment industry, I’ll tell you that much. All of my MCs are Suffering, but they also know they’re hot shit. I appreciate that ambition and arrogance aren’t being treated like a negative here and aren’t necessarily tied into the mean personality traits. You can play a nice, friendly, outgoing MC that’s also a fame-hungry social climber.
Thanks! I’d seen the timeline, but a refresher is always nice. So they’ve really only been playing truly professionally for about five years, post-high school, and only really polished up post-Orion, so ~3 years. That’s actually pretty impressive.
She’s an icon. She’s a legend. She IS the moment. (gn)
That’s also the impression I got from what it’s said in game and as you said if they have been playing professionally for only 3 years they’re doing pretty well. I can’t wait to see the mc growth as a singer and the band reaching stardom (idc what anyone says my mcs are winning that contest ).
The band Paramore is a great example of this; they’ve had trouble working together due to their emotional commitment and connections. Some believe that the band isn’t the major emphasis, but simply the lead singer; others want more money; or they have personal sentiments stemming from failed romances. Paramore has also been a fantastic example of not becoming complacent over the years, altering their sound virtually every album, researching and attempting other genres, and putting effort into these different sounds they haven’t branched into while preserving some residual rock sound. Anyway, all of this is to say that you have made an excellent point. Although I don’t believe it should be difficult to avoid being complacent if you care about the music you produce and are willing to try new things after a certain level of fame has been reached.
Honestly, I don’t think Lucy gives a flying fuck about Seven’s attitude or mood swings to the extent that everyone else around them does. Her even asking our mother about us is an indication that she’ll more than likely become involved in our lives again, if we’re willing, whether Seven has an issue with that or not.
To my knowledge, there hasn’t been any discussion about this on Amy’s Tumblr, but I might be wrong. I think a great alternative “win” would be for us to achieve second or third place, but we’ve gained an immense amount of notoriety and fans that labels offer us contractual deals anyway. That’s still a win.
I’m going to have an MC that completely criticizes everyone, including Seven, for even putting them in that circumstance, let alone abandoning and neglecting them. Perhaps you could make a character that shits on people because they’re sick of everyone around them, excluding Orion and August?
That’s exactly who I was thinking of! Yes, major decisions are exponentially more stressful when you know the reaction to a suggestion might be, “fuck you, Kevin, you greedy bitch!” rather than, “I don’t agree, but we can sleep on it and come to a compromise later.”
I agree with the complacency aspect. Bands are completely capable of innovation while preserving the integrity of their brand image and maintaining audience loyalty — it’s just hard, lol. If a certain sound is popular with your fans, it seems silly to pivot to a totally new style that you don’t know is going to jibe with them. People hate change, and while the move might gain fans, it can also mean you lose your core audience. It’s a complicated process, but totally doable, especially if you’re talented.
I actually love hearing people’s headcanons! Because they’re ultimately unimportant in the actual story, but it still makes the story fun and unique for each person (as long as no one tries to force it into actual canon, but that isn’t a super big problem here).
Personally, I think the MC and Seven are high school sweethearts. And I think they got the tattoos for Sevens 18th birthday or graduation or something, as a symbol of their new found adulthood
make a profit:sparkles:
I’ll be cheering for her on the sidelines and shouting “you’re going amazing sweetie!”
).