Ren'Py Lessons in Love [v0.42.0] [Selebus]

[Kitty Hawk]

Considering Ami is protagonist's niece/adopted daughter/overprotective mom, she tricks my brain into subconsciously thinking she's my family, and thus I always end up forgiving all her crazy actions to love her back again.

 

[ratmanirl]

I think Ami would have worked better if she was shown less angry and aggressive, but more sad and scared. We got little moments here and there, but they were usually always overshadowed by follow ups that did shine her just in a bad light. And Sel could have still get angry and aggressive scenes, but imo he should have done it after making it more clear how scared she is and how vulnerable. That way people could understand why she is angry, why she acts like that. I mean sure, we know she lost her parents and akira is all the family she still has left and loosing her parents left her scared. But all of that was true from the start of the game. While she totally lost it just recently.

You mentioned showing how scared and vulnerable she is, but don't the scenes where she visits her parents perfectly exemplify that? Where she actually allows herself to properly show her emotion and act as a kid again?

The reason why she normally doesn't do so is because she's looking after a 30+ year old manchild who can't even properly take care of himself, much less anyone else. She cooks, cleans, and babies him... almost like a real mother. Not to mention that this dude has the mental fortitude of newspaper, constantly has schizo episodes, turns into a vegetable for months at a time, and tried killing himself in the past. The phrase "stay strong for your children" pretty much describes Ami, with the child being Sensei.

Everyone is a threat because as she said, they don't really understand Sensei, and might end up mentally fucking him, which, as she knows from the past, is very bad. She acts so aggressive because she wants people to stay away, because even if the people don't mean to they will eventually hurt Sensei because they don't really know him. And again, Sensei is all that she has left. If he dies, she'll be alone - and you can see from the scenes with her visiting her mother/father how scared she is of that.

I think she has very consistent characterization. And this recent breakdown is her realizing she can't be the one for him: she can't protect him when she's so flawed herself, and that she might actually be the one inadvertently hurting him.

 

[Bingoogus]

So i'm playing this other VN and this image pops up:

And i had this visceral flash back, literally skipped a heartbeat and threw a shiver down my spine.

That mall event really left a mark on my psyche...

 

[Xiondingens]

You mentioned showing how scared and vulnerable she is, but don't the scenes where she visits her parents perfectly exemplify that? Where she actually allows herself to properly show her emotion and act as a kid again?

That event might for some over a year ago. So even if people still remember it, it clearly doesnt shines as bright as her "i will kill you all and take your organs" speech.

Fact is, Sel did spend much more time and effort on showing us that she did go crazy, and not even nearly enough on why she did go crazy. So what people have in their mind when they think of ami, it is a crazy and potentially dangerous psycho and not a poor young girl that just broke under the weight of her world.

And the fault is clearly not on the player side.

That mall event really left a mark on my psyche...

It really wasnt a fun event, that could have been done much shorter. I would even go so far that it was so long that hurt its effect, because i bet a lot of people were annoyed by long before the end.

 

[Fire Lord Zuko]

So i'm playing this other VN and this image pops up:
View attachment 3523199
And i had this visceral flash back, literally skipped a heartbeat and threw a shiver down my spine.

That mall event really left a mark on my psyche...

Man ikr… “Amy” is still my favorite Happy Event yet. Very eerie and unique. I felt genuinely lost while playing it in a good way.

Also what VN is that?

 

[Riolol]

Considering Ami is protagonist's niece/adopted daughter/overprotective mom, she tricks my brain into subconsciously thinking she's my family, and thus I always end up forgiving all her crazy actions to love her back again.

Always had a soft spot for Ami, I still don't fully believe in Psycho Ami.

 

[Bingoogus]

It really wasnt a fun event, that could have been done much shorter. I would even go so far that it was so long that hurt its effect, because i bet a lot of people were annoyed by long before the end.

Oh i actually loved it, but for reasons beyond just plain enjoyment, involving my own sanity, a severe experience with derealization and philosophical thoughts since that experience. I could go into detail but tbh, i can't be fucked, in short, believing reality is real is a choice for me, and experiences where i get to turn off that choice are intensely emotional for me, both good and bad emotions, like the thrill and joy one has when on a roller coaster. It can have unexpected long lasting effects though, like the flashback previously described.

Also what VN is that?

https://f95zone.to/threads/left-hand-magic-build-14-novus.110399/ I'm not giving it any recommendation though, only just started playing it and the jury is out... but you asked so there you go.

 

[DeSkel15]

What you say is true, but hey. Better late than never, right? Ami is probably at her lowest point right now. She hit rock bottom and stabbed the one person she cares about most with the pair of scissors she cut her hair with in a panic attack when he tried taking them away. If there’s any better time in story to show a vulnerable, emotional and scared side of Ami in story, I think now would be the perfect time for Sel to do it.

I fumbled the image preview (that was definitely Sara, not Niki), but there’s still a point to be made there. Does Ami truly yearn for a mother figure or guardian? Is a part of her actually vulnerable deep down, after all the trauma she’s endured? She’s a teenage girl and, like Maya, it’s not as if she’s invincible.

I have to wonder about that, myself.

I think Ami, at least subconsciously, surely wants a mother figure.

It's likely why Sara was able to tame her so well, and her special bonus Ami event (Lamb Legs Happy Event) has her inviting Sara (Sana and her bro) over almost every week, with Ami saying this:

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We've also seen Ami black out after her mom comes up:

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Which is something apparently normal for her:

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Even how Ami can't help but obey being sent to her room, dreams of her mother, talks at her grave, wears her clothes, reads her poetry, etc, seems to hint at Ami wanting a mother.

She's just usually too busy raising Sensei, and trying to keep him from making mistakes, to think of what she wants, beyond his happiness:

Spoiler

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She's also the Caretaker, and basically acts as Ayane's and Maya's caretaker on top of Sensei's and whoever else feels sad:

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In the end though, I don't think anything can replace her actual mother in her eyes, and she probably doesn't trust anyone to do so for good reason. They'd just use her to get to Sensei.

 

[lolbob3]

Ugh, there's no background music during some scene replays, when I replay the game eventually i'll have saves across each chapters and name them too so i can go back to different timepoints more easily.

 

[somepersonoutofnowhere]

Ugh, there's no background music during some scene replays, when I replay the game eventually i'll have saves across each chapters and name them too so i can go back to different timepoints more easily.

This reminds me of my 12.5gb worth of saves that I had to get rid of because of how it lagged the game.

 

[hernestojavier621]

This reminds me of my 12.5gb worth of saves that I had to get rid of because of how it lagged the game.

...how in the world do you accumulate a whole 12.5gbs on LiL saves?

 

[Riolol]

...how in the world do you accumulate a whole 12.5gbs on LiL saves?

Passion and determination

 

[Eromo]

Okay, I'm having a problem understanding something in, 'The Legacy of Thaum Pt. I' when everyone is playing DnD. Rin is a Warlock with a d8 and has been failing all her checks for perception and attack by rolling a 5, I'm assuming 5 is below the threshold to land a hit. Later she finally rolls a 6 and tries to use the ranged attack Eldritch Blast, but Molly says the attack modifier for that spell is +5 and so she actually rolled a natural-1. WHAT THE HECK DOES THAT MEAN. I don't know much about DnD, but I'm pretty sure you can't roll negatives. Even if it was a typo or something and she said natural 1, how does that make sense? Shouldn't positive attack modifiers add to the damage not take it away? And she only rolled once to see if it would hit she didn't roll again for the attack damage So what does the attack modifier do here? This is driving me insane.

I need a DnD expert to tell me what's going on here. Here is the chatlog.

 

[Bingoogus]

Okay, I'm having a problem understanding something in, 'The Legacy of Thaum Pt. I' when everyone is playing DnD. Rin is a Warlock with a d8 and has been failing all her checks for perception and attack by rolling a 5, I'm assuming 5 is below the threshold to land a hit. Later she finally rolls a 6 and tries to use the ranged attack Eldritch Blast, but Molly says the attack modifier for that spell is +5 and so she actually rolled a natural-1. WHAT THE HECK DOES THAT MEAN. I don't know much about DnD, but I'm pretty sure you can't roll negatives. Even if it was a typo or something and she said natural 1, how does that make sense? Shouldn't positive attack modifiers add to the damage not take it away? And she only rolled once to see if it would hit she didn't roll again for the attack damage So what does the attack modifier do here? This is driving me insane.

I need a DnD expert to tell me what's going on here. Here is the chatlog.

Ok, so first thing you'll want to do is open up the threads for Countryside and Another Chance, you'll one to copy one of those links to begin with. Next you'll want to click your username and open up the signature editor. Next, highlight one of the images in your signature and click the chainlink icon, you'll want to paste in the link to the game thread for the right image so double check that, repeat for the second image. Once that's done your signature images should now link directly to the relevant threads making your advertisement of those games much more effective for the folks who stumble across one of your posts.

As for the DnD nonsense, i really don't think Selly put much work into making sure it all reflected proper DnD to the single digit, just ignore it and focus on what's actually important about the scene, the girls interacting.

 

[Eromo]

Ok, so first thing you'll want to do is open up the threads for Countryside and Another Chance, you'll one to copy one of those links to begin with. Next you'll want to click your username and open up the signature editor. Next, highlight one of the images in your signature and click the chainlink icon, you'll want to paste in the link to the game thread for the right image so double check that, repeat for the second image. Once that's done your signature images should now link directly to the relevant threads making your advertisement of those games much more effective for the folks who stumble across one of your posts.

As for the DnD nonsense, i really don't think Selly put much work into making sure it all reflected proper DnD to the single digit, just ignore it and focus on what's actually important about the scene, the girls interacting.

Thanks for the advice on the signatures, that was helpful. As for the DnD thing, everything else made sense except for that last part which is strange. I get it was set up for the bit about Rin's terrible luck, which is hilarious, but the punchline doesn't really work well if the logic behind the setup is flawed. And I'm sure people who know a little about DnD would be too confused to fully enjoy the joke. The character interactions were great as always though, nice to see everyone get together and do something. But that last bit might need some reworking.

Also, notice how we're almost exactly a year apart in date joined, neat.

 

[DeSkel15]

Okay, I'm having a problem understanding something in, 'The Legacy of Thaum Pt. I' when everyone is playing DnD. Rin is a Warlock with a d8 and has been failing all her checks for perception and attack by rolling a 5, I'm assuming 5 is below the threshold to land a hit. Later she finally rolls a 6 and tries to use the ranged attack Eldritch Blast, but Molly says the attack modifier for that spell is +5 and so she actually rolled a natural-1. WHAT THE HECK DOES THAT MEAN. I don't know much about DnD, but I'm pretty sure you can't roll negatives. Even if it was a typo or something and she said natural 1, how does that make sense? Shouldn't positive attack modifiers add to the damage not take it away? And she only rolled once to see if it would hit she didn't roll again for the attack damage So what does the attack modifier do here? This is driving me insane.

I need a DnD expert to tell me what's going on here. Here is the chatlog. View attachment 3523950

Not a DnD expert but supposedly a natural 1 is an instant miss.

Molly logic is saying Rin rolled that, instead of a 6, because Eldritch Blast would give her an extra 5. Instead of adding 5 to 6, she's adding 5 to 1 to get 6 and saying Rin actually rolled a 1, retroactively, which is an instant miss, nullifying her hit.

No clue if that's "legal", but Molly is the DM, and no one argued, so it probably doesn't matter.

Edit: At least that's what I think. Never actually played DnD, though.

 

[derekthered56]

Okay, I'm having a problem understanding something in, 'The Legacy of Thaum Pt. I' when everyone is playing DnD. Rin is a Warlock with a d8 and has been failing all her checks for perception and attack by rolling a 5, I'm assuming 5 is below the threshold to land a hit. Later she finally rolls a 6 and tries to use the ranged attack Eldritch Blast, but Molly says the attack modifier for that spell is +5 and so she actually rolled a natural-1. WHAT THE HECK DOES THAT MEAN. I don't know much about DnD, but I'm pretty sure you can't roll negatives. Even if it was a typo or something and she said natural 1, how does that make sense? Shouldn't positive attack modifiers add to the damage not take it away? And she only rolled once to see if it would hit she didn't roll again for the attack damage So what does the attack modifier do here? This is driving me insane.

I need a DnD expert to tell me what's going on here. Here is the chatlog. View attachment 3523950

For attack rolls you roll a d20 and then add modifiers. Dnd players will say "I rolled an x"(the die result) or "I got an x"(the die plus modifiers) and understand which is being talked about from context. As Deskel said if you roll a 1 on the die you automatically miss no matter what modifiers you have. You also automatically hit on a natural 20.
The attack roll is just to see if the attack hits or misses; damage is rolled after using a separate die. Warlock being a d8 class is referring to how much health her character has.
There are different dice and modifiers for everything in DnD but it all makes sense in the end. Really.

 

[jexyheir]

Finally finished this story from start. Spent months on it.

I'm gonna say that it really sucks that almost all of it is fluff writing with non-existent pacing and constant 4th wall breakage. Also all characters (including grown-ups) think and do as one would at age of 13.

I'm regretful of all the time I spent on this, but want the core of the story to exist in it's best possible way. Luckily, there's this thread with Deskel who remembers everything and is not afraid to use it.

 

[Xiondingens]

just ignore it and focus on what's actually important about the scene, the girls interacting.

I thought what is important about that scene was how unlucky Rin in.

 

[Riolol]

I thought what is important about that scene was how unlucky Rin in.

Maya: "I'm the unluckiest girl in the world"
Rin "At least you can roll higher than a 5"