VN Ren'Py Being a DIK [v0.10.1] [Dr PinkCake]

[moskyx]

Jill has not been established as a decisive, strong character. She's trying hard, but she has inner conflict and it's been displayed numerous times when we can see her inner thoughts:

When she see's the mc's cock in the mirror:

ji "(Wow...)"​

ji "(No! Not "wow"! Why did I do that?)"​

ji "Fuckface...?"​

mc "Yeah?"​

ji "I'm sorry...but the mirror...I peeked."​

mc "You did? Haha, why are you telling me that?"​

ji "It was an accident, but it still feels so wrong..."​

ji "It's so not me."​

When she starts making out with the MC on Bella's couch and then stops, saying it's going too fast:

ji "(I'm so stupid...right?)"​

ji "(No... That was smart.)"​

ji "(It's way too fast for me...and this isn't the place for it either...)"​

ji "(Bella's on the other side of that wall... That's so disrespectful...)"​

ji "(But... He just makes me feel...so...)"​

ji "(Gah! I can't think straight!)"​

ji "(My head is rushing.)"​

ji "(Breathe!)"​

When she's struggling to play the piano:

ji "(I'm not good enough to do this...)"​

ji "(I can't focus today.)"​

ji "(You know how to play this. You've done it hundreds of times by now.)"​

When she's not in a strong relationship with the mc and decides not to call him when she's struggling with the piano:

ji "(No... Don't call him.)"​

ji "(I'm not even gonna tell him....right?)"​

ji "(...)"​

ji "(Focus!)"​

ji "(Try it again. You know this!)"​

ji "(I suck!)"​

When she is in a relationship with the MC and he shows up when she's struggling with the piano:

ji "(Tybalt isn't right about him. I refuse to believe that.)"​

ji "..."​

ji "(Just tell him...)"​

When the mc turns her down when she comes over for the impromptu birthday picnic:

ji "(I can't blurt it out now... Crap...)"​

ji "(Maybe it's a sign?)"​

ji "(Maybe it's best to not even tell him...)"​

​

Even her actions show she is conflicted, like calling a meeting to discuss Chad bullying the MC (in spite of the mc's protests against her doing anything about it) and then running to Bella to cry when she realities she might have done the wrong thing.

​

And even when she's talking direct to the MC, she sometimes stumbles with her words and corrects herself.

All of this is deliberate characterization implemented into the story by DPC. If you don't pick up on these (not so?) subtle aspects of a character when other people do, you can't blame the author.

OK, I'll play.

Scenes 1 and 2 are just your average prudish girl caught in an unresolved sexual tension scene in which she thinks one thing and her body says something different. Not really a character issue that could be directly translated to other aspects of her life.

Scene 3 is hardly relevant, it doesn't say anything. She's just nervous by thousand things, from the actual concert to that Tybalt conversation and to her inner dilema (which is the real problem). But that has nothing to do with being strong or undecisive, just with how do you focus on a task while you're handling pressure, which is not the same. And having an inner dilema does not mean being undecisive by default, it's just normal.

Scene 4, now we are getting to something. It's a variation/continuation of scene 3 in which she has decided she's cutting ties with the MC, submitting to Tybalt 'advice' to not see MC again. She might think she's protecting him but in the end she's also just plainly accepting Tybalt version without any questioning: MC is guilty of a crime. So she thinks her friend is guilty and doesn't even intend to listen to him, maybe because we have treated her in a way she's inclined to believe Tybalt's version. It even could be kind of logic: we've been a cunt with her, we have even told her we're not good for her, now she listens a kindly advice from a person she trusts and decides to stop seeing us. Problem is that, so far, she has never listen to any advice, and now she's not just accepting that advice: she's doing it so because it's also a way to be sure that the other prep won't sue MC. And I find hard to believe that the 'suspected bullyied' girl who a week before was stubborn enough to accuse Chad even after listening to us is now willing to let a crime go unpunished because the perpetrator is a friend of hers. It's completely plausible, of course, but it's the first time in the game I see that face of hers. And I'm surprised.

Scene 5, she's again conflicted because she has promised Tybalt to not see MC again yet she has just called him for moral support. She's never thought about asking MC's version, she's struggling to say what she finally says in the picnic scene: we can't keep seeing each other.

Scene 6, nothing else to add. She has decided to cut ties and just reads MC's refusal as a sign she's doing the right thing.

In all cases, she has decided this because someone has told her to do so, which goes against all her other decisions so far in the game: she keeps dating us even when Bella says we're trouble, she grants us access to the preps mansion even though Tybalt suggests her we shouldn't come in, she reports Chad even though we tell her to forget about the incident, she's probably still considering Tybalt as a husband material even though Bella is telling her he's the worst choice. But, somehow, now she plainly accepts we are guilty and she can't see us again for our own good. I don't know, but if she really wants to defend and protect us, the very first step should be, at least, listen to our version, then decide by herself. Which she only does AFTER telling us she has decided to give up on us.

She could be whatever DPC wants her to be, but this is actually the first time we've seen her to act that way. Which is why I say it's inconsistent with her characterization so far.

 

[Holy Bacchus]

why refer DPC as 'they' when its hinted in the thread often that he is a solo artist/creator?

Because it's a common thing in English to refer to a singular person as "they", like if someone were ask, "Where's X?" and the answer was, "They're in the kitchen"; it's only one person, but you can refer to them as "they".

no, it doesn't work like that

apart from that I don't understand what would be the legitimate reasons that should convince me that I'm wrong not to be satisfied with a scene ....

I have already explained why Jill's behavior FOR ME is not consistent.

for a person with Jill's strong morality, willing to go against what MC had explicitly told him in order to report Chad's attack, it is not coherent to hide a crime without first understanding the situation. she theoretically believes that MC started a fire in a house full of people ....

Does Jill blindly believe in Tybalt? possible, then it should be she who does not want to have anything to do with MC (who with her gesture put at risk the piano she cares so much about)

and love and age have nothing to do with it, she covers up Mc's "crime" even if they're just friends (because of MC's bad behavior)

here too, what would the legitimate reasons be?

that I didn't understand the scene, and I didn't understand the character

perfect and reasonable

I agree, what Jill does with this situaion is indeed inconsistent.

In Ep 3, the MC flat-out tells Jill that he's not being bullied by Chad and the Jocks and to not do anything about what just happened, but she does anyway because she believes it's the right thing to do. But here we have her blindly accept Tybalt's account of what happened that night and agrees to sit back and let him talk to the other Preps about not filing charges (yeah, right ). The Jill from Ep 3 doesn't seem like someone who would just sit back and do nothing, she'd either not do as Tybalt says and would go talk to some of the Preps herself because she wants to know the full story, or she would ask the MC outright if what Tybalt says is true.

Considering she wanted to resolve that issue of the "bullying", I see no reason why she wouldn't also want to resolve the issue with Tybalt. What seems more Jill is if she went and spoke to some of the other Preps to get an idea of what happened, they all gave her conflicting accounts with several of them not even naming the MC, and so Jill then resolves to get the MC and Tybalt in a room together to hash out what really happened.

It does seem as though, once again, the forced drama of the story is making characters behave in a way that doesn't seem to line up with what we've seen of them so far.

 

[felicemastronzo]

Because it's a common thing in English to refer to a singular person as "they", like if someone were ask, "Where's X?" and the answer was, "They're in the kitchen"; it's only one person, but you can refer to them as "they".



I agree, what Jill does with this situaion is indeed inconsistent.

In Ep 3, the MC flat-out tells Jill that he's not being bullied by Chad and the Jocks and to not do anything about what just happened, but she does anyway because she believes it's the right thing to do. But here we have her blindly accept Tybalt's account of what happened that night and agrees to sit back and let him talk to the other Preps about not filing charges (yeah, right ). The Jill from Ep 3 doesn't seem like someone who would just sit back and do nothing, she'd either not do as Tybalt says and would go talk to some of the Preps herself because she wants to know the full story, or she would ask the MC outright if what Tybalt says is true.

Considering she wanted to resolve that issue of the "bullying", I see no reason why she wouldn't also want to resolve the issue with Tybalt. What seems more Jill is if she went and spoke to some of the other Preps to get an idea of what happened, they all gave her conflicting accounts with several of them not even naming the MC, and so Jill then resolves to get the MC and Tybalt in a room together to hash out what really happened.

It does seem as though, once again, the forced drama of the story is making characters behave in a way that doesn't seem to line up with what we've seen of them so far.

but the drama is fine, it is necessary otherwise the game would have ended with MC happily accompanied by Maya and Josy, or by Jill (who are the LIs at the moment without any impediment)

the problem is always excess. because it is not enough to put an obstacle between the two (legitimate I repeat) but it takes the mother scene, the farewell / declaration, which however has no pathos in the end, at least for me, because Tybalt is not a credible antagonist who has lost Jill's trust by lying to her right away, failing before starting with her plan.

if Jill had decided not to deal with MC anymore after knowing what he actually did, it would have been simpler, more realistic and a lot more dramatic.
naturally with the possibility for Mc to regain Jill's trust, for example with an official apology to the Preps (which is what Jill chapter 1-5 would have arranged)

 

[rj677]

I think some of us are losing perspective over this issue of Tybalt and the blackmail.

I actually "liked" that Tybalt actually did something to get "his" Jill... Of course I, as the MC, didnt like it but lets be honest, how is Tybalt competing with the MC in any way shape or form if not with his money and "power" with a little bit of blackmail?

I didnt care much about the legality or the blackmail itself because, in my opinion, thats not why the blackmail is in the game. My attention was on Jill and in what she would do when facing this situation

Jill agreeing with Tybalt when he surprises her with the blackmail was fair and probably what most people would have done. She responded emotionally and "accepted" the blackmail. What ruined Jill for me was the fact that she appears to not think things through, objectively and rationally, after that.

And then she takes the MC in a wonderful date where they shared so many intimate things about their families, they bonded and were closer than ever and then........ She just drops a Nuclear Bomb like that and ruins everything... She waited almost a week to know our side of the story (and it comes into question DPCs wishes to always heighten the drama, but thats another issue as well). I dont care about legal issues and what not, I just care about Jills opinion on the matter and she lets herself be blackmailed instead of being in the MCs side. She showed no backbone and that she is REALLY REALLY REALLY easily manipulated.

Im sorry to all Jill fans in the thread for my words, but it was my opinion on the matter and made me delete my Chick Save that was fully dedicated to her... All that blue-balling time wasted

 

[felicemastronzo]

I actually "liked" that Tybalt actually did something to get "his" Jill... Of course I, as the MC, didnt like it but lets be honest, how is Tybalt competing with the MC in any way shape or form if not with his money and "power" with a little bit of blackmail?

I didnt care much about the legality or the blackmail itself because, in my opinion, thats not why the blackmail is in the game. My attention was on Jill and in what she would do when facing this situation

Jill agreeing with Tybalt when he surprises her with the blackmail was fair and probably what most people would have done. She responded emotionally and "accepted" the blackmail. What ruined Jill for me was the fact that she appears to not think things through, objectively and rationally, after that.

And then she takes the MC in a wonderful date where they shared so many intimate things about their families, they bonded and were closer than ever and then........ She just drops a Nuclear Bomb like that and ruins everything... She waited almost a week to know our side of the story (and it comes into question DPCs wishes to always heighten the drama, but thats another issue as well). I dont care about legal issues and what not, I just care about Jills opinion on the matter and she lets herself be blackmailed instead of being in the MCs side. She showed no backbone and that she is REALLY REALLY REALLY easily manipulated.

Im sorry to all Jill fans in the thread for my words, but it was my opinion on the matter and made me delete my Chick Save that was fully dedicated to her... All that blue-balling time wasted

a nuclear bomb without a detonator though.

more a firework than a bomb.

Tybalt lied about the fire, to no avail, and Jill knows it, so she can't trust him for the rest either. and it is unthinkable (it was even before) that anything could arise between Jill and Tybalt.

MC and Jill have declared their love for which they will see each other. they will see each other secretly so, as players, better that way, more likely to do something sexy than in a tennis court or in the library in front of Bella.

the only real damage of blackmail is having to give up Sage, for those who did it, otherwise absolute calm in BR

 

[AereGo]

These buttons in the library! What the heck is this, I can't even find a single one. What is even a 'button', and why are supposed to be buttons of the shelves? Why do you need to find some buttons just to sort books anyway?!
Is there even an actual reward for it, or is it just for another render?

 

[Holy Bacchus]

but the drama is fine, it is necessary otherwise the game would have ended with MC happily accompanied by Maya and Josy, or by Jill (who are the LIs at the moment without any impediment)

the problem is always excess. because it is not enough to put an obstacle between the two (legitimate I repeat) but it takes the mother scene, the farewell / declaration, which however has no pathos in the end, at least for me, because Tybalt is not a credible antagonist who has lost Jill's trust by lying to her right away, failing before starting with her plan.

if Jill had decided not to deal with MC anymore after knowing what he actually did, it would have been simpler, more realistic and a lot more dramatic.
naturally with the possibility for Mc to regain Jill's trust, for example with an official apology to the Preps (which is what Jill chapter 1-5 would have arranged)

Yeah, drama is fine but DPC has a tendency to be too heavy-handed and blatant with it rather than building it in more subtle, gradual, and legitimate ways. They don't have any "proper" villains either because Tybalt's a joke, Chad was nothing, Dawe and the other Jocks are just more of a nuisance, Burke hasn't done anything (yet), Tommy seems like he's back on-side, and even Quinn isn't that problematic for the MC.

DPC has said before that their inspiration came from teen/college comedy movies, but in those there is typically that one character who's a constant thorn in the protagonist's side, someone who is a few notches above the protag on the pecking order and always lets them know it, particularly by besting the protag a few times before eventually getting their comeuppance. None of the apparent antagonist characters match that and I think that's what the game is missing, to actually have someone to pit against the MC and who is a force to be reckoned with that could cause problems for them and their various budding relationships.

 

[KoolMe]

The influence wouldn't really matter in this case, as far as the Police are concerned. It can also go both ways, to prove that Derek has the items the Police would have to carry out a search warrant on a mansion owned by a Burgmeister, so there's influence either way. And no Judge is going to risk a quid pro quo, contribution for trial over such a minor incident. Even so, all you would manage to find is evidence against Derek, the MC has nothing to do with it.

The problem with these theories that all of you brilliant legal minds are throwing at me is it's just a series of minor crimes, it's nothing that anyone would want to waste their time with. I also seriously doubt that the Preps families, or their lawyers, would let the situation go that far. Moneyed families tend to shy away from the court's because they realize all the ways that it could backfire. News stories about millionaires prosecuting a penniless college student can be very embarrassing, and I've already pointed out how easily such a situation could reverse on the Preps, and how they have much more to loose.

So rich people shy away from pressing charges against penniless people even when they have a room full of people as eye witness , in fear of bad publicity ,haa
someone should tell that to walmart, one of the most hated companies in the world who successfully imprisons people for shoplifting cheap cloths made from child labour in sweatshops

You must be registered to see the links

not a brilliant legal mind like 2face Harvy Dent
but when someone(rich or not) with a lot of credible eye witness , and a list of missing or damaged property presses charges police is bound to investigate .

And a disciplinary committee in college, headed by burke does not need a whole lot of evidence rather a few testimonies to kick out MC or Derek

The threat is quite serious

 

[CyberPsycho]

"Tybalt might not be able to put MC in prison but he can sure fuck up the guy's life, poor people don't get to fail multiple times."

Maybe! But the MC knows his secret and could hurt him more, cos with this prick its always about status/money, he looks down on people with poor financial situation like they're nothing, but hes nothing becouse he dosen't have money, his parents have but he will not know the difference even if I smack him in the face with it!
So you see the MC could stain his and his family image by exposing Tybalt with his secret.

Now imagine the MC catching Tybbie in the act and stars to record the whole ordeal, clearly showing the watermelon that has Jill's photo and pantyes on it while it gets abused by Tybbie... Only thing remains to be done in this situation is to send the video to a group of people on campus, this people will send to other people, and this shit will spread faster than crorona will ever spread, till the whole campus will know Tybalt's naughty secret!
The aftermath of this exposure will burn Tybalt to a crisp, that he will not need a fake tan anymore, if you catch my drift He'll be for sure on suicide watch!


The thing is that I for one, don't think that what I say'ed above will happen ingame, like at all, why, becouse it feels too easy, too convenient.
So... we will see how MC will resolve this situation with the "Watermelon molestor of B&R"!


That crazy vegan chick from rooster (Paula is her name if I'm not mistaken) needs to come and protect the poor watermelon from further beeing a sexual object, and kick Tybbie in zhe balls!

 

[Dashxp4k]

"Tybalt might not be able to put MC in prison but he can sure fuck up the guy's life, poor people don't get to fail multiple times."

Maybe! But the MC knows his secret and could hurt him more, cos with this prick its always about status/money, he looks down on people with poor financial situation like they're nothing, but hes nothing becouse he dosen't have money, his parents have but he will not know the difference even if I smack him in the face with it!
So you see the MC could stain his and his family image by exposing Tybalt with his secret.

Now imagine the MC catching Tybbie in the act and stars to record the whole ordeal, clearly showing the watermelon that has Jill's photo and pantyes on it while it gets abused by Tybbie... Only thing remains to be done in this situation is to send the video to a group of people on campus, this people will send to other people, and this shit will spread faster than crorona will ever spread, till the whole campus will know Tybalt's naughty secret!
The aftermath of this exposure will burn Tybalt to a crisp, that he will not need a fake tan anymore, if you catch my drift He'll be for sure on suicide watch!


The thing is that I for one, don't think that what I say'ed above will happen ingame, like at all, why, becouse it feels too easy, too convenient.
So... we will see how MC will resolve this situation with the "Watermelon molestor of B&R"!


That crazy vegan chick from rooster (Paula is her name if I'm not mistaken) needs to come and protect the poor watermelon from further beeing a sexual object, and kick Tybbie in zhe balls!

 

[ename144]

The sorority in this game, HOTs, reminds me of a movie from the 80's because it is the same name. It was a funny college movie about a sorority who hase sexcapades. Tho, their meaning behind the name was Help Out The Seals. LoL

Good grief, I think I saw that movie. As I recall, the name was actually an acronym for the names of the four girls who founded HOTS after getting rejected by the snooty sorority.

I will now quietly weep for all the useful things I could have remembered with those brain cells.

I agree, what Jill does with this situaion is indeed inconsistent.

In Ep 3, the MC flat-out tells Jill that he's not being bullied by Chad and the Jocks and to not do anything about what just happened, but she does anyway because she believes it's the right thing to do. But here we have her blindly accept Tybalt's account of what happened that night and agrees to sit back and let him talk to the other Preps about not filing charges (yeah, right ). The Jill from Ep 3 doesn't seem like someone who would just sit back and do nothing, she'd either not do as Tybalt says and would go talk to some of the Preps herself because she wants to know the full story, or she would ask the MC outright if what Tybalt says is true.

Considering she wanted to resolve that issue of the "bullying", I see no reason why she wouldn't also want to resolve the issue with Tybalt. What seems more Jill is if she went and spoke to some of the other Preps to get an idea of what happened, they all gave her conflicting accounts with several of them not even naming the MC, and so Jill then resolves to get the MC and Tybalt in a room together to hash out what really happened.

What really gets me is that Jill clearly recognizes Tybalt's scheme for what it is:


Which is why it feels so un-Jill like for her to not bother looking into the matter further. I can believe she'd be (rightly) worried about what Tybalt could do to the MC and thus feel she needs to go along with him for now. But I cannot understand why she would just accept those terms indefinitely. Yet that was apparently her plan based on the way she handles things when the MC forces her to explain herself.

It's a real low point for Jill and makes her a much less interesting character. Hopefully it is fixed soon.

 

[Holy Bacchus]

What really gets me is that Jill clearly recognizes Tybalt's scheme for what it is:
View attachment 954720

Which is why it feels so un-Jill like for her to not bother looking into the matter further. I can believe she'd be (rightly) worried about what Tybalt could do to the MC and thus feel she needs to go along with him for now. But I cannot understand why she would just accept those terms indefinitely. Yet that was apparently her plan based on the way she handles things when the MC forces her to explain herself.

It's a real low point for Jill and makes her a much less interesting character. Hopefully it is fixed soon.

It won't be fixed, at least not in terms of making more sense. DPC's heavy-handed drama is here to stay and once something is done, it regretably stays that way and just digs itself a deeper and deeper logical hole.

 

[felicemastronzo]

Good grief, I think I saw that movie. As I recall, the name was actually an acronym for the names of the four girls who founded HOTS after getting rejected by the snooty sorority.

I will now quietly weep for all the useful things I could have remembered with those brain cells.



What really gets me is that Jill clearly recognizes Tybalt's scheme for what it is:
View attachment 954720

Which is why it feels so un-Jill like for her to not bother looking into the matter further. I can believe she'd be (rightly) worried about what Tybalt could do to the MC and thus feel she needs to go along with him for now. But I cannot understand why she would just accept those terms indefinitely. Yet that was apparently her plan based on the way she handles things when the MC forces her to explain herself.

It's a real low point for Jill and makes her a much less interesting character. Hopefully it is fixed soon.

when I grow up I want to be ename144 ...

I don't think there is time to correct anything (for chapter 4 there was none), then this particular episode is not a central episode to the plot, but a subplot entirely dedicated to Jill, which I think will also resolve itself quickly.

the only aftermath it could leave is that of Derek, if we dumped the blame on him

 

[gamingdevil800]

Would just like to point out that if you're on good terms with Jade, Cathy and Bella (also if you weren't a dumbass who revealed your fling with Jade to the DIK's) then I'd say your chances of being sued by Tybalt are really low. May even help if you're getting 100% on every exam they wouldn't want to kick out an ace student.

There may also be some drama thrown into the mix though like let Derek take the full blame etc

 

[moskyx]

Would just like to point out that if you're on good terms with Jade, Cathy and Bella (also if you weren't a dumbass who revealed your fling with Jade to the DIK's) then I'd say your chances of being sued by Tybalt are really low. May even help if you're getting 100% on every exam they wouldn't want to kick out an ace student.

There may also be some drama thrown into the mix though like let Derek take the full blame etc

He's not going to sue anybody. No one is sueing anybody, actually. It's been more than a week after the incident, you can call the police that same night if you feel you've been victim of a crime and you might be lucky to get that process going, but reporting a case like this so many days after it happened really lowers your chances of success (not only of final success, but even of initial success in terms of building an actual case that could hassle the MC). It's just what it seems: a dirty way to manipulate Jill.

A quick thing I didn't realize before, although it could be the one thing that has been itching me from the start. By accepting Tybalt's advice to not see the MC anymore, Jill is kind of letting her rich peers to keep bullying the MC: a group of powerful and resourceful people that are threatening to mess with MC's life just because he is poorer and they "can". It's not that he's innocent of all the charges, but he's still on the weak side of the story. She might feel like she's avoiding him the harm but she's just reinforcing preps power over him, sacrificing herself and her feelings on the way. But, what would be next? What are Jill's limits now? What else is she willing to do to 'protect' the MC from a potential legal beat up? I thought Jill would be willing to do the right thing instead: to stand against the bullies following the legal, official ways. And again, that first means hearing out what MC has to say in his defense. Which she never intends, even when MC is a much more important person to her than Tybalt. She just accepts preps can 'bully' the MC threatening him with legal actions and there's nothing that can be done against it.

So now that the MC has confessed her what really happened, I honestly expect they don't even care about those furtive meetings they've implied. They should act absolutely free, maybe after getting profesional advice (of course, this won't happen)

 

[DavDR]

So rich people shy away from pressing charges against penniless people even when they have a room full of people as eye witness , in fear of bad publicity ,haa
someone should tell that to walmart, one of the most hated companies in the world who successfully imprisons people for shoplifting cheap cloths made from child labour in sweatshops

You must be registered to see the links

not a brilliant legal mind like 2face Harvy Dent
but when someone(rich or not) with a lot of credible eye witness , and a list of missing or damaged property presses charges police is bound to investigate .

And a disciplinary committee in college, headed by burke does not need a whole lot of evidence rather a few testimonies to kick out MC or Derek

The threat is quite serious

Disciplinary committee's, security camera's, you keep pulling all of this extraneous shit out of your ass when the original debate was over a civil action pressed by the Preps against the MC. And yes, most eyewitness statements won't stand up in court. Knocking down witness statements is any trial lawyers bread and butter, even an under paid public defender can do it.

But, if in all your vast legal experience you can enlighten us all on how to bring a suit in court based on nothing but your buddies word and a long list of grievances, I'm all ears.

 

[Proggressive]

Em and tell me, the end is always the same? Which girls don't you choose?

 

[Proggressive]

Тhe main character, in a sense, is the solver of all problems

 

[felicemastronzo]

Em and tell me, the end is always the same? Which girls don't you choose?

what do you mean?

no fire for now ...

the only LI "in danger" for the finale right now is Bella

 

[DavDR]

Yeah, drama is fine but DPC has a tendency to be too heavy-handed and blatant with it rather than building it in more subtle, gradual, and legitimate ways. They don't have any "proper" villains either because Tybalt's a joke, Chad was nothing, Dawe and the other Jocks are just more of a nuisance, Burke hasn't done anything (yet), Tommy seems like he's back on-side, and even Quinn isn't that problematic for the MC.

DPC has said before that their inspiration came from teen/college comedy movies, but in those there is typically that one character who's a constant thorn in the protagonist's side, someone who is a few notches above the protag on the pecking order and always lets them know it, particularly by besting the protag a few times before eventually getting their comeuppance. None of the apparent antagonist characters match that and I think that's what the game is missing, to actually have someone to pit against the MC and who is a force to be reckoned with that could cause problems for them and their various budding relationships.

Exactly. A story where the MC had to deal with his own 'Hans Gruber' would have made for a much better story, and an even more satisfying ending.