Ren'Py Lessons in Love [v0.48.0] [Selebus]

[Apollo259]

The Are You Happy Here Twitter page has been updated

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For some reason I think "computer man" looks vaguely like this guy from "ELATION PROTOCOL: NOODLEFOOT DISCO"

Spoiler: This Guy

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Also the only thing that I remember as being referred to as "halftone" is this image from "Imaginary Veins" ("halftone" is its name in the game files). Or at least that's what my notes say, I think there are more images in this style in the game but don't remember where they are off the top of my head. Maybe its not connected at all though.

Spoiler: halftone

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I suppose it would be simpler just to assume it means Wires is coming back. And maybe Wires will be messing with everyone that's been separated into various points in the time line. This halftone image shows up just after Yumi and Akira have been skipped forward a few months in time. Did we think it was Wires that skipped Yumi and Akira forward, I don't really remember?

Edit: I should also add that halftone is specifically this style of doted image. Its mainly a printing technique, usually you cant see the dots unless you stick your eye right up to it though. I guess It might have had some uses in early computer graphics, but I don't really know much about that so I'm not sure.

 

[Antosha]

Not sure how it played out in Asia, but in much of Europe, the lineages of the royalty and noble classes starts to look extremely sus if you look closely.

Turns out when you prioritize keeping the blood blue, you don't have many options that AREN'T incest.

Not just royals.

Funny enough, Charles Darwin is

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. His was one of two “gentle” families in that particular corner of Shropshire. The Darwins and the Wedgewoods intermarried many times over four or five generations — Darwin married his own cousin. Their children show many signs of inbreeding: high infant mortality, infertility, etc.

 

[gronk420]

is sex scene from shop in sensei quest actually a thing or na

 

[LoveRedHairedGirl]

is sex scene from shop in sensei quest actually a thing or na

No, it is not. You will be cockblocked twice

 

[Pedro4545454]

Was I the only one who really at least wanted to see these sex scenes, even though they weren't canon? just me? ok...

 

[Moonflare]

some random theorizing about sensei-quest (nothing major here tbh). So, apparently, if you lose to the orb you get this (you can skip ahead if not interested in the full script, as I'll highlight what matters):

Spoiler: orb script fail

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I'd like to point out some relevant parts:

Spoiler: 4 fragments

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I think the most relevant out of all these things is the use of the word "hero", as I have pointed out, it's also used by the narrator of the auto-pilot disengage sequence. If that's an actual clue I don't know.

Edit: Mentions of hero:

Spoiler: Pareidolia says he's not a hero

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Spoiler: narrator for christmas at home

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Spoiler: disengage of the auto-pilot

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[shmurfer]

No, it is not. You will be cockblocked twice

Just wait until the true route is shampoo + stick based.

 

[Apollo259]

More stuff the scratch your head about. I was replaying Io's talk with Akira again, in the background this is definitely not Io's reflection. I also don't think its one of the girls outside the room or anything like that. So I have no idea who it is. Did Io dress like that in a past Halloween event? They almost seem to be in a cage? Past/kid Io maybe?

Spoiler: who's this?

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[Pedro4545454]

More stuff the scratch your head about. I was replaying Io's talk with Akira again, in the background this is definitely not Io's reflection. I also don't think its one of the girls outside the room or anything like that. So I have no idea who it is. Did Io dress like that in a past Halloween event? They almost seem to be in a cage? Past/kid Io maybe?

Spoiler: who's this?

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It's the wizard Io, someone from what I remember had already pointed this out, this usually happens in some events. Remember the event with Niki reminding Akira of his name where several versions of them appeared in different stages of their lives?

 

[Martogor]

I just had a thought about these three different timelines coming in the next update. In Ayane's part we're going to see pre-loop adult Akira for the first time, the one that Yumi called creepy and the one that "tutored" wizard Maya. With how confrontational Ayane's been, how is that going to go?

Which one of the three does everyone think will be the best/wildest/worst?

Spoiler

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[TBone9]

Presumably, RCLLJR. Which might translate to Recall Journal or something akin to that.

Or, perhaps an anagram of "LL Cool J, Rah! Rah!" Maybe she is a big fan.

 

[crustlord12]

I meant an Akira that hasn't been looping, the one we see as a main character

I understand, but it depends, If this is the original timeline, this Akira from this timeline that Ayane is in is still working with the Reset and he is the same Akira that we controlled and saw in chapter 3, now if it is a line of totally new time with different events many things can happen.

I'm actually pretty interested in this now that it's been brought up. Interacting as? with? an Akira that is unaware of the loops would be pretty intriguing. But we've also spent the entire story as a witness to that character, playing as him, so it would feel a bit dissonant to have information "as" Akira that the one we see doesn't have.

The Are You Happy Here Twitter page has been updated

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Can you/anyone post screenshots of the account's posts for those of us without Twitter? Elon Musk can suck my nuts

 

[Pedro4545454]

Can you/anyone post screenshots of the account's posts for those of us without Twitter? Elon Musk can suck my nuts

Wait, are you Brazilian too or did the same thing happen in other countries and I don't know?

 

[barglenarglezous]

1. "What is that thing?" "A new beginning.". Akira collected four different orbs to spawn a whole being to create a new beginning, could this have to do with Himawari's plan? You'll soon see why I mention this.

Making one new thing from four things to start a new beginning? This seems like a direct reference to Nao-chan, which could be seen as a fusion of Maya, Ami (or Sekai), Tsuneyo, and Kaori.

 

[crustlord12]

Wait, are you Brazilian too or did the same thing happen in other countries and I don't know?

Neither, I just refuse to make a Twitter account and it won't let you view posts without one (or at least I'm unable to)

 

[BlackDays]

Right now i'm still on page 2216 due to circumstances, but some might have realised because of likes for a week old post.

I've already seen enough posts where i'd like to add but might not, because i'll have forgotten by reaching 2239 while writing this.

What i do want to write about is something that became way more apparent with the last update, and that is how we perceive certain characters after a certain update. And this time it was Sekai, and i saw that other people already mentioned it.

Together with Lil, i want to break this down into three sections, because i also want to mention other media that fit into that topic.
Hopefully i can make those as short as possible.

Spoiler: LiL

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Spoiler: Redo Of Healer

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Spoiler: The MAXX

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So, where do i want to get with these?
In short i think Sel wants to get his audience to think about morals and ethics about certain, yet obvious topics.

Is a villain still a villain if they get a sad background that explains their wrongdoings, because they lived through the same or similar experience?

What bugs me though is the 4th wall breaking, and a lingerering felling of Sel trying to shove his audience opinions into whatever direction.

 

[Fire Lord Zuko]

Something I wonder about more and more: What allows one to be able to understand Nao-chan's mysterious silent language?

Because using Chika as a recent example, she seemed unable to understand it at first, but more recently after going 'rabid', can apparently understand her perfectly:

Spoiler: Chika Nao Language

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[Detective Dc345]

I'm actually pretty interested in this now that it's been brought up. Interacting as? with? an Akira that is unaware of the loops would be pretty intriguing. But we've also spent the entire story as a witness to that character, playing as him, so it would feel a bit dissonant to have information "as" Akira that the one we see doesn't have.


Can you/anyone post screenshots of the account's posts for those of us without Twitter? Elon Musk can suck my nuts

 

[Moonflare]

Right now i'm still on page 2216 due to circumstances, but some might have realised because of likes for a week old post.

I've already seen enough posts where i'd like to add but might not, because i'll have forgotten by reaching 2239 while writing this.

What i do want to write about is something that became way more apparent with the last update, and that is how we perceive certain characters after a certain update. And this time it was Sekai, and i saw that other people already mentioned it.

Together with Lil, i want to break this down into three sections, because i also want to mention other media that fit into that topic.
Hopefully i can make those as short as possible.

Spoiler: LiL

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Spoiler: Redo Of Healer

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Spoiler: The MAXX

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So, where do i want to get with these?
In short i think Sel wants to get his audience to think about morals and ethics about certain, yet obvious topics.

Is a villain still a villain if they get a sad background that explains their wrongdoings, because they lived through the same or similar experience?

What bugs me though is the 4th wall breaking, and a lingerering felling of Sel trying to shove his audience opinions into whatever direction.

This is an interesting discussion, but I don't feel the same way about it as it relates to LiL.

Osako was never really a villain and neither was Otoha, for all that I dislike her. Osako was just an adult behaving as, well, her age - she's a young adult amd clearly hasn't found herself, as most her age haven't. She was dick to Akira but that was hardly done out of malice, and more that she was a dumbass.

Nodoka was a villain and it certainly makes her a sort of extreme reverse Makoto in retrospect. She's trying to save everyone and honestly, if I was in her shoes I would care less about people's feelings as well. Let's care about that after they're free. However, Nodoka's situation is so unique in its fiction that it's hard to compare to real life in any way.

The real actual villain of the story would be Sekai, if anything, and the easiest to apply your pov, however, all Kyoto did was reveal a possible real Sekai for which we had no context so far. I don't feel like it's trying to justify her actions so much as presenting the reader with the realisation that real life is complex.

NAO (the xeonon) had said previously that both Akira and Sekai loved eachother for real. However twisted that might have been to others, it was real for them. Is that so far from Maya and Akira's relationship that most of us came to love? yes. Yes, it is. But both relationships have similarities, and I think what's Selebus is trying to portray here is that more often than not things can be uncomfortably complicated.

An avatar of corruption that toys with her underage prey and calls that love is certainly easier to stomach (as a villain) than a miserable girl tormented by voices, abused since childhood, that goes on to be abused by her husband, and finally finds solace in providing her version of "pure" love to a child, giving Akira what perhaps she wished someone would have given unto her, and truly wishing and willing to start over by his side.

That's just one possible reading. And I think that if there is one thing Selebus has been hammering on since the start was that things are complicated. Isn't that the whole point of Akira as a character in the first place? Therefore all characters should eventually be shown as complicated. Does that complication redeem them? I think, if anything, Selebus has been strongly positioned on the camp of "no, it does not". After all, he's constantly calling Akira out on it.

 

[DeanNoriko]

This fits very well with the theory that the entire reset is taking place in his final moments of life, either mid-flight from jumping, or just generally dying. There is also an interesting notion that Akira is able to grasp the truth of the resets by dying, well, what does that mean? Could it be a sort of bluejay revelation, or is it something deeper? That by dying he's about to be placed back in the room of the clocks and given all his authority back until resetting everything again?

Very good post, as per usual, and an excellent point.

I always felt that the theory that everything that is happening in this game is just Akira's brain trying to process various jumbled up memories, what-if scenarios, dreams and traumas within basically milliseconds, is almost too obvious or convenient, given a lot of the scenes from just the beginning of the game. But you're right that this whole scene fits that a lot.

The vibe I personally got from the "whispers" was that they could be of his loved ones that stand at his hospital bed as he is fighting for his life after his suicide attempt - it's a commonly used trope at least. "Believe in God", or something along that line (Akira is in a coma and would only hear very faint voices, if anything, after all), could easily be said by a relative (to someone else) who has HOPE that he will still make it, as faith is often the last resort for many people in such scenarios.
Akira, becoming "a better man" in his mind, trying to come to terms with the fact that he was a twisted man and feels immense regret, right as the great darkness is enveloping him (i.e. he loses his fight and dies in real life -> game over screen).

It would still leave a bitter taste in my mouth though, if a majority of the plot and the mysteries could be explained simply by "LEL Akira was just a suicidal pedo and he just imagined all the girls to fit his tastes and make him love him, but still made them flawed so that he wouldn't feel bad about abusing them (Harem route), but eventually feels guilty about being a bad man (he punishes himself = dark route) before he eventually "becomes a better man" by helping "them" overcome "their" traumas (that he was mostly projecting onto them) so that he has some closure in the end (purity routes), right before he dies ".

It would feel kind of lazy if it were to go this general direction, there's too many nuances and seemingly real and meaningful developments and relationships for it to all just be fabricated within a dying brain in essentially nanoseconds.

Then again, this is pretty much what happened to LOST (the TV series about the stranded people on the island), the end was very anti-climactic and felt like it destroyed a lot of the mystery and worldbuilding that has been established in previous seasons, for it to just end up being

Spoiler: Spoiler in case you haven't watched it and somehow still want to

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So anyway, Selly is a twisted and mean little fucker, but I have faith in him being able to write a good enough plot for it to be more meaningful and substantial than that. In fact, I would be bitterly disappointed if my wrinkle-free lizard brain would be able to come up with theories that come anywhere close to what is going on in the end.