I'd like to preface this post with the fact that I actually like all the characters, warts and all. I enjoy all the drama and don't have a problem with how any of the game is going so far. When I'm bashing the characters, I'm not complaining about how the game has been written, I'm just enjoying dissecting the characters and their choices. None of it's important, it's all just a bit of fun.
Have you *actually played* this game?
Jill's decided she has to go along with Tybalt and never see you again. If you don't go with her to hear this in person, you miss the chance to change her mind. Stop spinning a pile of rubbish about her being vindictive.
The mc meets up with her a number of times after the Sage/Jill decision:
- The very next day (it seems, but it could be a few days later), he meets up with her at college and has almost the same discussion with her that would have taken place at the picnic (regarding the blackmail), she tells him about the blackmail, he tells her Tybalt is lying, she says they should stay apart, he says he wants to see her. The only thing missing is the picnic and the rain groping.
- Then they get together for a fun game of tennis (balling Tybalt's balls and knocking his teeth our have no impact on Jill's feelings for the mc).
- The he super romantically climbs her balcony, to romance her some more. She admits that she's happy he snuck in. She laughs and gets butterflies and then shits herself over her own sexual insecurities. She definitely likes him, just to what degree.
- Later they chat over the phone when she invites the mc to her recital. She's still nervous and the mc tells her she'll be great.
- Then she catches up with mc and the Scooby Gang to invite everyone to the recital.
At this point it's already clear that Jill is no longer interested in the mc. When Derek mentions she "dated" the mc, she just says, "Um... Yes, well, anyway... Uh." Like it was some mistake she made in the past. And she has no intention at that point to invite him to meet her friends.
Anyway, back to the sequence of events:
- So mc misses out on another date with Jill, when she goes to see her friends.
- Then it's the recital, and she has her meltdown, and then, like a total superhero boyfriend, the mc goes up on stage and saves her bacon. I mean who the fuck in real life would do such a thing. It's the kind of romantic insanity that only happens in movies and AVNs. When a guy does that kind of amazing shit for you, it has to count for something, right?
The next time they see each other, the mc has just literally run across town to save her ass from Tybalt (OK, she handled this one entirely on her own), and he tells her such, "I ran across the city to find you."
But her response to everything that has happened, is to turn to him, after absolutely destroying Tybalt:
Jill: "And you..."
And then she goes on to say how she can't handle bailing him out all the time, even though he literally told her not to.
He says he wants to keep dating, she says no, he asks for a second chance, she says no. And she did all of this in a very public place where all eyes were on her after yelling a Tybalt moments earlier.
So the mc got to explain himself, and numerous times they definitely enjoyed each other's company (there are plenty of scenes that unquestionably show how Jill is totally into the mc), and then all because the mc chooses to see Sage over Jill, she cuts him off.
He still explains his side to her, he still risks getting caught for her, he still practices her music and helps her through what could have been a very upsetting recital. It's just not enough for Jill. And that's OK, but she still didn't have to dump him in the restaurant in such a scene...
Re: Jill/Sage date vs. caring for sick friend
DPC made a mistake with this setup, IMO. Caring for sick Sage shouldn't negatively impact the Jill route unless there is a strong narrative reason in future seasons. (That seems unlikely, as both Sage and Jill are LI's.)
Instead, there should have been a pre-emptive major choice: accept Tommy's olive branch to go out to the bar with fake ID or turn him down to go on the picnic date with Jill. Then, if MC finds out that Sage is sick, there could be a second choice to turn down Tommy (Sage path or others path) or to reschedule the picnic date to the next day (Jill path but keeps Sage path open).
edit to add: In fact, by rescheduling the Jill picnic to the following day for such a selfless reason, this should HELP convince Jill that MC is worth fighting for - unless MC is fuck buddies with Sage ... then, Jill might be suspicious.
Although I like to hang shit on Jill for this turn of events, it's actually realistic that a relationship can be fucked up by such a thing.
People who have argued that caring for Sage is a "Chick" thing to do, and therefore Jill should reward you for such a thing rather than it be the catalyst for the end of the relationship, are taking the Chick/DIK concept too far.
While this is indeed a computer program, if done right, it shouldn't feel like a computer program. There shouldn't be a formula to follow that is always right, because life isn't like that, and the game endeavours to emulate life (to an entertaining degree, we don't actually need to see every time the mc needs to take a dump).
So even though we know that Jill goes for "Chick" guys, that doesn't mean all "Chick" actions will get her juices flowing.
So when a potential girlfriend wants to go out and you've made plans with a different girl, don't say, "Sorry, I'm actually off to see another girl, she's sick and needs me to massage her tits". My advice, tell her you need to help your father deal with the bittersweet emotions of it being your birthday but your mom died giving you birth. That shit is gold.
I really hope Pink somehow explains this strange choice. The only thing that comes to my mind is that Sage and Jill, if not enemies, then clearly treat each other badly. Jill could somehow find out that this sick friend is Sage and be offended by MC. Maybe if we reject Jill for Sage, it will somehow explain it.
I don't think there will be a further explanation for Jill's choices. She's already explained herself. Do you really want an in depth explanation to the workings of the female mind?
The birthday date was what made her realize she had strong feelings towards the MC as well as realize that he had strong feelings for her. It was an important moment. The problem is that the game doesn't show us that the date is that important and sort of tricks many into choosing to go to Sage because of that.
The thing is, she already very much enjoys the mc's company. She already likes him a lot. There are, however, red flags in the relationship (him getting into fights, pranking the preps, fucking heaps of other women).
There easily could have been other dates, but she decided to end it all because he turned her down once. The mc wasn't asking her to marry him...
This wounds me.
I am, however, starting to agree with those who have surmised that DPC wants to go more mainstream with his next game. Something less porn and more adult (like Mass Effect levels of lewdness). More story and adventure than sexy time is what I mean. With his comments on Interlude and AL, it seems he enjoys serious things (drama) more than fun things.
I was thinking more like The Witcher 4: Dandelion and Geralt.
Also known as The Witcher 4: DnG.
She comes with a birthday surprise, not some major request. And she doesn't take it as a personal affront. She's a bit disappointed. It's just that without that special moment together they would have at that picnic the spark isn't lit for her. So when he tries to have sex with her, she feels like they aren't as close as she wishes they were because they never had that special moment together that made her feel like it was right, the moment he convinced her to give him a chance. Without that key moment she kept feeling insecure about the whole thing.
Should she ignore her own feelings and just go with it so not to hurt MC's feelings, because that's basically what you're saying. That she was out of line to feel the way she did and to tell him how she felt. So, she should have just pretended everything was OK and ignored her gut feeling and not been honest with him?
Also, she doesn't know he was with a sick friend (and you make it sound like Sage was terminally ill or something, she had a cold). She's not upset about him helping a friend who got a cold, she just feels like they aren't connecting the way she expected them to because they never had that key moment together.
She actually does know he was with a sick friend:
mc: "I'm so sorry. You caught me at a bad time."
mc: "I made a promise to a friend to come help her."
mc: "She's sick and needs someone to take care of her."
Jill: "Oh... Yeah, of course. I understand." (Seriously, you're choosing another girl over me!?)
Jill: "I didn't plan anything big. It was spontaneous." (I went to all this trouble, for nothing!?)
Jill: "You're allowed to have other plans. Haha..." (Well, that's the last time I do anything nice for you!)
Jill: "So, uh. Happy birthday." (Fuck you!)
But just look at Jill response. It's dripping with spite!