Post by myovirae in Game Discussion (Full Spoilers)

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I love both of the horrid royal siblings to death but something that's been nagging me really hard is, why can we get a good romance ending with Gisette, but not with Jarrod? There's a route where we try to befriend and deprogram him but it doesn't really go anywhere unless you aim for the Absolute Golden Ending and not get with him in any shape or form, even politically.

I kind of get that his route is supposed to be a twist on the 'taming the bad guy' romance trope, but it feels like a bit of a 'fuck you' given we can play it straight with his sister who's arguably much, much more dangerous. Jarrod is one of the youngest delegates on the island, not particularly smart and indoctrinated to hell and back, but still seems receptive to change if you know how to play him. It's hard for me to see someone like him as irredeemable the way he ends up portrayed in the game. Gisette meanwhile is a cunning and unapologetic plotter who didn't think twice about trying to get us killed, and yet we can get her to soften up and defrost. Isn't she just as big of a risk relationship-wise? Why do we only get punished if we try to get in with her brother?

~~also ftr I know the poly ending exists but poly's an acquired taste esp given the mild incest vibes in that route~~

SeriTheButterfly1 year ago(+2)(-2)

Jarrod isn't irredeemable, just not when he is still in power and still gets what he wants. And you can't romance him if he loses power because he resents you for it, which makes sense as what he feels about an MC that romances him is closer to infatuation than true love.

What I think is the problem here is that the game doesn't indicate you are maintaining a relationship with Jarrod after you get the golden ending for him and Revaire. After all the effort to redeem him, he isn't mentioned as your friend during the friendship section, which is unrewarding and gives players less space for a post-Summit romancing Jarrod headcanon.

I'd love to see Aly add a friendship section in the epilogue for Jarrod, but the game is already so massive and took so long to make, requests should be made in moderation.

Sumanguru1 year ago

To be fair, even in his best ending, Jarrod strikes me as kind of an “out of sight, out of mind” kind of guy. I can’t really see him putting in the effort to write letters and keep up correspondence with anyone who isn’t directly relevant to him - so maybe it would only be viable to stay friends if the MC ends up in Revaire at the end of the game? Not sure if he gets any extra epilogue content on those routes or not.

SeriTheButterfly1 year ago (1 edit)

I mean, sure, he's probably not the type to bother contacting the MC if she isn't around, but there's no reason we couldn't have been the one to be curious about what he's doing and contact him. I fought tooth and nail to reform him, gotta see the whole project through :P

aza1 year ago(+4)

Agree with everything in this thread, but also bc I thought taming and romancing him would let me be able to be a horrible evil queen of Revaire perfectly self-aware and actually in charge...

lackslyricism1 year ago (1 edit) (-2)

Jarrod exists, first and foremost, as commentary on misogyny and romanticization of abuse in the genre, which means that any indication that your love for him is capable of changing him undermines the character's reason for existing in the first place. (I specify "your love for him" because outside of physical attraction or the thrill of the chase, I just don't get the feeling he actually likes MC all that much?) He also, frankly, lacks the self-awareness to reflect on the possibility of change as necessary; why would he, if he already gets everything he wants? (Gisette, whatever her other flaws, does not have this problem.)

Edited for formatting/minor rewording.

eliseofnohr6 days ago

Popping in a year late to say that I do agree with you on this honestly. I also feel like-while Woodly's romance is consensual and I like it very much, it's kind of weird that the shitty 19 year old gets the Not A Romance But A Commentary On Genre Staples(and to air a personal bugbear of mine, enjoying a shitty man who you can fix in fiction is absolutely not linked to endorsing that in reality and a lot of the criticism of it is both silly and somewhat sexist) and the married guy with children nearing 40 gets a romantic ending(and yes, the relationship is relatively healthy and my Pirate MC. Not to mention the incest subtext in the 3P ending.

It's just a weird bit of picking and choosing. To be clear Aly is an incredible person and an incredible writer, I could NEVER do what she did and I admire her so much, but the context of Woodly, Gisette, and the 3P ending makes me confused enough that I startd thinking about this again and went onto the forums a year later to see if anyone else shared my thoughts.

Azalyne Studios (Aly)6 days ago

The 3P ending wasn’t originally planned, it was one of the Kickstarter backer reward requests, so any weirdness there is my failing to adapt a requested route sufficiently well <3 but in my mind and intentions there isn’t any romantic/sexual cross over between Jarrod and Gisette, just a shared understanding and shared MC. This isn’t game of thrones :O

As for Woodly, he was named Stranger Danger early on by the adorable army, a name I immediately adopted and still find hilarious. I agree that he could easily be one of those older guys who hits on young girls while married with an ‘open’ relationship in real life. His role in the game isn’t to be a romantically aspirational route, but rather to present different options for a manipulative character who wants to work situations and people to their advantage. Unlike the real world counterparts, Woodly is only attracted to those MCs who prove socially intelligent and capable. Naive, manipulatable young girls who would be victim to the difference in experience, age and power dynamics are the kind of MC he has no interest in getting close to

Just my 2 cents, as always once a work is out in the world how people see it and react to it are valid despite creator intentions <3

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