The Wayhaven Chronicles: Book Three (WIP -FINAL DEMO)

[JBento]

@Requiem

It didn’t seem to me that M knew exactly why the MC was clutching their head in Book 1 after the flirtation

The one that passes by unnoticed is if you take M with you to talk to the kid’s mum, possibly because that’s a much lighter phermone dump. If you pick them for the patrol, they know it’s their pheromones, and they have a two-fold reaction:
1 - Shit, they were supposed to be immune!, and
2 - Shitshitshitshit, if Rebecca finds out I hurt her kid I am SO fucked!

@Requiem

I’ll have to find that dialogue in book 3. Thanks for the heads up!

My pleasure.

@Requiem

This time around, the MC isn’t affected by M’s pheromones at all, even when they are at their most unstable.

I think the pheromones aren’t really involved in the almost-breakdown; I’m reasonably certain that’s M’s mental blocks starting to crumble and their memories (and associated trauma) threatening to come back. You certainly take it all to the face if they pheromone during the ambush, to the point that you stop registering what’s happenign around you.

@Requiem

It could be stated that, “Even though I feel like these sessions are helping me cope, nothing compares to the amount of cope I feel when I’m around my vampire!” Only, less cheesy, of course.

No, no, exactly this cheesy! Gods, if “sunshine” wasn’t already great for M, I’d start calling them “my copium”.

@Mosie

Indulge the trope or burn it with fire?

Burn it with all the fire, and then dunk it in napalm. I played the first two books of it, and the second book made me fell like a shitty person. If I wanted to be a shitty person, I could do that in real life, where it turns a profit.

@EvilChani

I think it got summed up in this book twice that the Agency cares about numbers. Oh, we saved X number of people, that’s great. Too bad we lost Y number. Oh well, we followed protocols! A runs into that problem, too, because all they know is following the rules.

This is pretty much highlighted in B3. The protocols apparently state you go all in on one location to maximise the chances of saving one, and if that means having no chance ot save the other two, that’s how the numbers go. It’s not an entirely bad stance, considering that I’m pretty sure the Agency doesn’t expect its field agents to improvise succeessfully, on account of them not being out enough to understand the world sufficiently for regularly successful improvisation*, which in turn is a consequence of them wanting their supernaturals to keep literally and metaphorically underground to minimise the risk of discovery.

@E_RedMark

the M-King-of-selfishness-mancer?

Them’s fighting words!

*shit, it takes N five minutes to figure out how to answer a phonecall! Though them unwittingly linking the phone to the Bluetooth speakers is hilarious

[E_RedMark]

Me and Chani in a ring?

Only if I get a megaphone!

[EvilChani]

@JBento

I’m reasonably certain that’s M’s mental blocks starting to crumble and their memories (and associated trauma) threatening to come back

Hmm. I think you’re right. The mention of the effects of M’s uncontrolled pheromones wasn’t so much that M can’t control them, but if the memories flood back and all that pain pulls them under, then they can’t control them. So if the crystal went, back come their memories. Pain, massive pain that’s nearly killing them, and they lose control and go nuclear on everyone.

So maybe b5 really is about the crystal being damaged and the MC having to help them through it so they don’t lose their shit and nuke everyone.

But so help me God, if they put M in a goddammed cage to “protect” people, Dezh will kill every last fucking one of them to save him. And if any of UB stands in her way, she’d take them down, too. Without a single thought.

@E_RedMark

Only if I get a megaphone!

Why do you want to deafen me? Rude! You take your megaphone. All I need is my two hands and the ability to insult A. I wouldn’t turn down a knife, though.

[ThePixarLamp1]

I really enjoy it. I like N’s route, although I’m not too big on A’s route, but I’ve found the LT to be a lot more interesting than both (although it’s a lot more painful as well lmfao). I play it in a similar way to what someone said above, a Detective who’s in a relationship with N and clearly falling for them, but also struggling with their confusing feelings for A and finding a deep connection with them that is different to N’s. It’s a painful, but interesting dynamic, and I’m excited to see what the payoff will be in B4/5.

It’s either that or I’m a masochist.

[E_RedMark]

@EvilChani

Why do you want to deafen me? Rude! You take your megaphone. All I need is my two hands and the ability to insult A. I wouldn’t turn down a knife, though.

you got 1 inch above me…

I wanna make that whole ‘Went over my head’ a reality

[ZealousImagination]

Very surprised by M basically admitting to everyone they’ve fallen in love. Pretty frustrating that there’s no option to react to that, maybe by downing a shot yourself
Also I haven’t seen a version of ‘Never have I Ever’ where you say something you’ve done then take a shot yourself, doesn’t that kind of defeat the point of the game?

[Shaenzi-Ra]

Incoming wall of text no one cares about now that I’ve finally completed all four routes:

M’s route stood out as the most solid one. Well paced and satisfying. It was always one of my two favorites but I had some issues in the past with some of their lines occasionally coming off as cringey rather than sexy. Luckily, past the demo, these kind of lines decreased in frequency, as the relationship deepened, while still not sacrificing the sensual side of the romance.
Also all ROs have their own ongoing subplots but the mystery surrounding the crystal is the one that has me the most curious and it’s interesting to see that the detective gets headaches from their pheromones even when not on M’s route, while being able to alleviate M’s painful sensory issues, on the other hand, is romance exclusive

A’s progressed further than I expected going in. I did imagine there would be a kiss but I thought that, emotionally, the relationship would still be stuck in the same place. Glad to see I was wrong and that the kiss wasn’t followed by the usual moment of denial and excuses. Looks like the loop their romantic scenes have been trapped in has finally been broken!
Short of actually getting together (which was obviously not gonna happen in this book), this is the biggest turning point that could’ve happened. Now everything’s out in the open and I’m excited to see what shape their future interactions will take. Already in this book A was much more relaxed and confident around the MC and I enjoyed seeing more of their character’s quiet, well dosed, sense of humor.
I was, however, left unconvinced by their backstory and expected more. We don’t know yet how they came to be a vampire so I hope that’s not all there is to it and that future revelations about their past will do more to justify their present day beliefs and attitudes towards humans and relationships.

As for N, I’m pleased to say I didn’t find their romance a complete snoozefest this time around. It’s still not the most exciting route imo but I can kind of see some allure in the character now and while we’re still far away from getting a full picture of their background, I do love sea mysteries.

Then there’s F who still leaves me feeling like there’s absolutely nothing going on in their route, just as I did in the previous two books.
Not an issue though. Enjoying two and half romances in a game of four is enough.

As for the plot stuff:
I had two theories based on the demo and both were wrong lol

One being that the villain would be someone relevant to the detective’s life (not a character that had already appeared but at least someone whose existence was suggested). I thought this could be the case due to there being an intermediary villain, Sin, and the fact that in the demo we saw the real villain only through his eyes and their name wasn’t mentioned. This made me suspicious in regards to their identity but it was just some rando oh well lol

I also overstimated the drama that would ensue from the antagonists deciding to kidnap someone close to the MC. I thought it’d be the RO (causing a role reversal of having the detective being the one coming to the rescue) or perhaps Rebecca. Vieno/Tapeesa didn’t even cross my mind cause they only had one scene with the detective prior to the demo… two before the kidnapping. And indeed them being among the hostages didn’t seem to make much of a difference. UB+Rebecca and MC would’ve intervened regardless and it’s not like emotionally the detective was hit particularly hard by Vieno/Taapesa being one of the many victims.

One thing I appreciated was having more freedom in regards on how to navigate missions, even if at times the way things were handled was a bit simplistic. I’m guessing this is something we’ll see more of in the future.

Lastly, as others in this thread have already pointed out, there should’ve been a million ways to avoid the blood drive and while I could’ve, maybe, sort of, understood forcibly making it a big issue for story purposes, I also felt like narratively it added nothing of value.

Oh and one little sidenote: the topic of the ROs finding it difficult to handle the MC’s blood was finally brought up. We’re one step closer to the best scene of every vampire romance y’all: sexy biting.
That’s really what I’m mainly here for, not gonna lie.

[Zanite]

First of all: I loved this game.

Second, as an A romancer, how DARE you-

[Tarlonniel]

@Shaenzi-Ra

We’re one step closer to the best scene of every vampire romance y’all: sexy biting.

Oh boy. That is…going to be quite interesting. Because at the moment, at least two of my MCs wouldn’t find it in the least sexy.

[Shaenzi-Ra]

I believe Sera said there would be a choice.

[EvilChani]

My F-mancer is squeamish and wouldn’t be into that, either. Z (A) and Triss (N) would be fine with it. Dezh (M) would get off on it, lol.

@Shaenzi-Ra

I believe Sera said there would be a choice.

Yeah, she said if this came up, that there’d be a choice.

[Requiem]

@EvilChani

I hate this advice. It’s boring. I like adverbs. I like to read adverbs. I’m sick of people saying how things should “always” be.

Hehe, I don’t disagree with you. I just keep seeing that advice pretty much everywhere right now. It must be the newest trend for writers atm. If you try to write using the Hemingway Editor, it will throw every single adverb in your face like they are ticking time bombs while asking you to use as few of them as possible.

I wrote a fairly recent story with the purpose of not using a single adverb just to see if I could do it and it was…interesting. It worked out but I’m not sure how the overall feel of the story works for the reader.

@EvilChani

When you settle on that, please share with me. My A-mancer is so over it at this point. She figures if this is what having a soulmate brings you, the world can keep it.

For me what is going to work with A is, the very next personal conversation they get to have outside of a professional setting is going to have to be one where the MC tells A that whatever it is he’s afraid of, he is doing that exact thing to the MC. That it hurts and that it is not nice and that it is not OK. That they won’t put up with it anymore. He needs to shit or get off the pot, basically.

Absolutely none of this, “if you cared for me you wouldn’t do this” kind of insecurity thing, just state how it makes the MC feel, that the MC does care about him and because they care, a decision needs to be made now or they seriously need to stay away from each other outside of work so they can work out their personal feelings on their own. Maybe, a big maybe, try again at a later date, but without all the push and pull-back because they both already know that is just going to end in more tears. This is why dating coworkers is usually never a good idea.

A can then choose to cuddle with/embrace the MC (with no funny business) as a way to prove they are willing to try, or not. It would be sweet if they just nestled together in bed (again, with no funny business) and it helped both of them to just get some much needed super restful sleep for the first time in ages.

[notapretzel]

@Mosie

I’ve seen people meme the scene with A and their car, but honestly I found it to be a delight.

That’s one of my favourite scenes and so fitting for A and them asking the detective to stay a little longer with them

@JBento

The protocols apparently state you go all in on one location to maximise the chances of saving one

Further proof of the agency incompetency, why have so many units then?

@JBento

N five minutes to figure out how to answer a phonecall

N lack of digital literacy is borderline annoying at times, he’s a field agent of a top 3 team and can’t use a phone or type a message, like seriously?! But the Bluetooth bit was hilarious.

@Shaenzi-Ra

it’s not like emotionally the detective was hit particularly hard by Vieno/Taapesa

Exactly this! Before the release I bet my money on Tina/Verda/Douglas or even Bobby but a supernatural we meet once didn’t cross my mind and the MC made a bigger deal out of it than needed. The only relevant thing is that there’s a not very bright mole in the agency since they saw the MC talking with Vieno/Taapesa and went “oh they seem super close…activate kidnapping”.

[Tarlonniel]

Most of my MCs were much closer to Elador. I don’t know why he wasn’t the default choice.

[EvilChani]

@notapretzel

Further proof of the agency incompetency, why have so many units then?

This is another thing that bugged me. Once they had the location of the MC, they should’ve ganked the Trappers. No escape for anyone, because they would’ve had a lot of teams there.

The Agency is just ridiculously incompetent. Maybe that’s why they never turned bad. They suck too bad to be power mongers.

[E_RedMark]

if the agency cover the whole world, then the issue is that they are understaffed.

[JBento]

@notapretzel

Further proof of the agency incompetency, why have so many units then?

If you think that’s bad, this is when I remind you that Unit Victor are specifically described as “underwater specialists” and yet they’re the ones assigned to back Bravo up in the auction raid. I don’t know about you, but I don’t remember seeing any water, let alone enough that you could be under it.

[EvilChani]

There are a lot of facilities around the world, though. And all of them have staff there, including the A-Z teams. So they are far from understaffed.

[JBento]

More of an aside than actually related, but I actually did an estimation the other day off the top of my head, and each facility should house about 200-250 people.

[E_RedMark]

they can still be understaffed.

The world is big. And missions take time and resources. You have recons, you have ‘gotta heal back up’, you have ‘Write your report’ which take time…etc etc.

I mean just look at our own world. We have what? Billions of peoples, and we are understaffed when it come to Health Workers…Alone!

What make you think the agency would have an easy pick with the Supernatural and how much they can hire?