The night is darkest before the dawn. Although I am not personally trapped by the natural human proclivity to start to believe a thesis can only exist with its antithesis (e.g. tripe like 'there can be no peace without war,' 'there can be no happiness without suffering,' etc) it is undeniable that this manner of synergetic thinking has immense power over our psyches, and so when they can be used as tools it is beneficial to do so. Selebus is (unfortunately) imprisoned with the demons of his mind and has no choice but to fight a noble battle to see beauty within the darkness, to make the silver lining of clouds shine brighter than any stormy sky, and so on, with Lessons in Love being allegorical to these struggles. It is my opinion that being exposed to this darkness and being taught to find the light (in this case 'love') is likely a rather valuable life tool. A thought-provoking line from early in LiL is the narrator interrupting a happy scene to mockingly ask, "Why does this scare you? It's a game. You should be more scared about a real loved one dying." (or something to that effect). Although it is easy to interpret this merely as a flippant breaking of the fourth wall, careful analysis reveals a surprising amount of depth. Why /do/ people get so affected by fiction when real life is horrible enough? Why /do/ we fear the deaths of fictional characters sometimes more than we do the deaths of those in real life? Why /does/ everyone know death is inevitable yet ignore it? The sad, painful reality is that everything horrible in LiL reflects horrible things in real life that could happen to you or anyone at any point (abstractly - not referring to the so-called time loop here.) In many cases it will be beneficial to be equipped to face these demons. The worthlessness you feel after scenes, and the process of regaining strength afterwards, may be strengthening some part of your spirit such that over time you will be Stronger. You will have Grown. And thanks to that, you may be able to Survive.
So it's probably a good idea to play Lessons in Love and I wouldn't stop myself or most people even if I could. That said, most of the above doesn't apply to me since I am blessed with a spotless mind free of any demons or torment. The warm blanket of alexithymia keeps me safe even during the darkest and coldest nights. For me, and perhaps many of the more flippant users of this forum, Lessons in Love serves as fine entertainment and literature above all else. Some of the comments about it being an "addiction" that we "can't help ourselves but to play" feels a bit like an exaggeration, or an abstraction away from the more simple truth that it's just fun to read so like why not do fun things? Selebus's perfectionism is likely directed more at attempts to pre-emptively slay critics and shore up his self-confidence more than anything (and I so freely make guesses like this since the work invites it), but an undeniable side effect is pristine prose and thoughtful writing which is a pleasure to partake in. Good writing (and through it good character) is just way under-valued despite the enormous effect it has on enjoyment. I saw a completely ridiculous review from someone who said to play the original version of chapter 1 rather than the remade version because it introduced the horror better; this is STAGGERINGLY bad advice because, if for no other reason, the remade version has immensely better writing which improves the experience every single step of the way. So all other things equal I would encourage my past self to start Lessons in Love faster, if anything, to begin partaking in this fruit earlier rather than later.
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