lmfao game have billion hints and narrator keep straight up says nothing is real we created this world for u etc.
and u say it cant be a "dream/simulation/coma/afterlife" ?
yes aliens attack earth, a walled city full of horny women. there are no men, a dorm full of lolis for mc to pick,
memory modifications, people are not allowed to talk about world not being real.
yea that make more sense u are right. this is the real world. you are realllly smart
A dream / simulation created for a purpose. A world made to house / repair a broken man because real life wouldn't work. Where being frozen in the middle of the school year is merely set dressing, and the real important parts are when Akira remembers parts about his past. Maybe something went horribly wrong in setting up this dream simulation and Akira's memories were lost. Maybe certain characters were created to help him or whoever wished for the world in the first place. Maybe one of them had a chance to become something more or was given a job to replace the hole in his heart.
I don't think anyone will have a problem with the second one.
I think this is a better interpretation of a "simulation" plotline and could possibly work. Like you said, the overarching reasoning behind everything doesn't matter as much as what's actually happening to the characters.
I'm honestly leaning more towards the everything Akira experiencing just being symbolic manifestations of his delusions a la Monogatari series. The world is real and everything is happening, but the narrator(s) are unreliable. Whether supernatural or not, I still feel like the Gods are things he created in his own mind, as segments of his personality and trauma that he is splitting away from himself and giving sentience (either real or false.) Sana and the other characters might be experiencing this phenomenon as well, conjuring up their own "gods" because they can't face their problems and insecurities.
The "gods" are real, because they believe they are. They must be believed in, be feared, be dreaded, be avoided, be respected, be worshipped, be feared, be despised, be wished upon. For that is why they exist.
It's a common theme in Japanese story-telling and it stems from the eastern cultural belief system and how they viewed gods in the past. I wouldn't put it past Selebus, we've seen first-hand his familiarity with Japanese culture throughout the story.
As for the reason behind why everyone is manifesting these supernatural or delusional entities? Who knows, maybe there is something wrong with the town they live in, Silent Hill style. Maybe there's an evil advanced pharmeceutical company that is drugging the townspeople to keep them controlled/experimenting with them. Could go so many directions.
Again, what matters is not the explanation of the events but the meaning and narrative purpose behind them in my eyes.
After thinking about it and looking back at all the girls I think I have to say Futaba at this point, she started off fine and had a good story start, did make some progress during the first couple chapters and then it just felt like she stalled in the last few updates.
I agree that Futaba's story has gotten less attention in recent updates, but I think that is a natural result of a story with so many characters which, plot-wise, needs to focus at this time on those characters who are slowly figuring out that something weird is going on.
Someone up above said something about Futaba liking books too much and I don't even understand what that sentence means as it is impossible.
$ kaori_love += 1
$ pbj += 1
stop music fadeout 5.0
"{i}Kaori’s affection has increased to [kaori_love]!{/i}"
"{i}You have obtained a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and broccoli!{/i}"
Guess this is something I'm farming now.
[edit]While I'm at it, zoopledoop is a variable that's tracked if you aren't fucking Sara when she explains her hallucinations. It's red path so I'm not getting it but what even is this chapter at this rate.
lmfao game have billion hints and narrator keep straight up says nothing is real we created this world for u etc.
and u say it cant be a "dream/simulation/coma/afterlife" ?
I vaguely remember somebody (possibly a narrator) asking something like "what's with all the USER2 stuff?" so I think he has something planned with the simulation shenanigans. Also in your screenshot he says it's not a dream but no mention of a simulation(I still really hope it's not that).
As I said, dream and simulation are something similar so he wouldn't include it, and another thing, I think that right here on f95 Selly once mocked a theory involving simulation.
And yes, there is that too, the narrators/gods sometimes make fun of this involving dream and simulation, I believe this is more Selly making fun of people for believing this is a simulation/only dream.
I think this is a better interpretation of a "simulation" plotline and could possibly work. Like you said, the overarching reasoning behind everything doesn't matter as much as what's actually happening to the characters.
I'm honestly leaning more towards the everything Akira experiencing just being symbolic manifestations of his delusions a la Monogatari series. The world is real and everything is happening, but the narrator(s) are unreliable. Whether supernatural or not, I still feel like the Gods are things he created in his own mind, as segments of his personality and trauma that he is splitting away from himself and giving sentience (either real or false.) Sana and the other characters might be experiencing this phenomenon as well, conjuring up their own "gods" because they can't face their problems and insecurities.
The "gods" are real, because they believe they are. They must be believed in, be feared, be dreaded, be avoided, be respected, be worshipped, be feared, be despised, be wished upon. For that is why they exist.
Thinking more on this, the "gods" known as Wires, HOPE, and Pareidolia are probably so invested in Akira because they were BORN from him. They are deeply tied to him and if they are supernatural beings manifesting from within a person's psyche, of course they are going to be obsessed with Akira. He is deeply ashamed and traumatized from his past. He has indicated many times that he WANTS to be punished and doesn't understand why he keeps getting away with the stuff he does.
I feel like the different "gods" are each facets of his personality and acting on his true desires.
To punish himself, for the things he's done and the things that have been done unto him. He deserves suffering.
To wallow in his depravity and give in to his darkest desires, for he knows he is a monster.
And even deeper, a HOPE. A desire that through all this pain and suffering, he can still find a place that he feels like he can belong.
Once again I feel parallels to the Monogatari series. For those who aren't familiar:
Reading LiL I can't help but feel like this story is Akira's own personal hell for himself in some way. A constant struggle between what he truly desires against what he feels like he deserves.
He wants to feel whole, he wants to love and all the things that were denied and stolen from him in his childhood.
He also wants penance, he wants to be punished for taking advantage of others and continuing the cycle of trauma.
He wants to feel important, special. He wants to be a protagonist of a story.
He also feels like he is worthless, he doesn't deserve the spotlight in people's lives. He's a terrible person.
The struggle between them all I feel is where Wires, Pareidolia, and HOPE come in.
The gods aren't making him do these things, not directly. He WANTS them but he's so broken he doesn't understand and his mind is constantly making up excuses and blaming his "gods" on not being able to control the twisted part of him.
It's all Akira, he's talking to different parts of himself. It's an amazing representation of multiple personalities and disassociation.
As to the constant references to games and computer scripts, it's possible Akira had involvement in those in the past and is repressing it, his delusions coming and telling him that this is all a game, a bunch of simulations, etc. We already get him waxing philosophical and spouting poetry everytime he starts to slip because we know Sekai and tutoring were a large part of his childhood, who's to say that computers and games weren't either and we just havent uncovered it yet?
Each chapter, another "god" takes control. Which means a different part of Akira takes the driver's seat. That's why the chapters have different feelings and consequences.
I feel like the story could eventually culminate in Akira slowly becoming more aquainted with these different parts of his personality, learning more and more about them and in turn himself. To the point where they start to become characters themselves and he has to somehow learn to accept them and resolve their own respective arcs perhaps on his journey to ultimately fixing himself.
And this is why it's called Lessons in Love, because it's about learning to love YOURSELF and all of your flaws.
Boom. Bam. Theory over
I wonder how many times Sel has read people’s ending theories, and they ended up being right or close to it, and he was like “SHIT!” and changed it so as to avoid embarrassment…
I wonder how many times Sel has read people’s ending theories, and they ended up being right or close to it, and he was like “SHIT!” and changed it so as to avoid embarrassment…
I do not think the game is a simulation/dream/hell in the "positive" story structure version. Or at least if it is, I do I'm moving far away from the idea the idea that it's a "simulation/dream/hell" for Sensei. I'm starting to think that all the girls are as real and as trapped as he is. It just feels that way as (a?) Sensei is the person that we follow into this world.
The Nao door scene is definitely weird, and it isn't too far fetched to see why one would think they're all trapped in a simulation and Kumon-mi is just part of one big experiment. However, I still don't fully subscribe to this theory, for one key reason:
Personally, I’m still very much on the fence about the whole thing. The USER2 Secret Room from the Camping Trip is still the best evidence we have regarding everything being a simulation. The fact that different worlds are split into numbered terminals is also pretty weird.
With that in mind, though, as others have pointed out above… how much of this is an actual ‘simulation’ with outside influence, and how much of this is Akira continuing to suppress his memories, and he’s crafting a lot of this weirdness himself? I mean, he does have the power to do that.
Replay Yasu’s “Frankincense and Myrrh” and “Hand of God” events from Chapter 3. It goes into exactly what Akira can be capable of; how with a change of perception, he can manipulate the world around him, just like his father (Yuu).
Oh yes, and regarding the USER2 Room, once again… I will say this. Can we reallllly trust Wires? Like actually? Come on…
Wires might be more ‘Calm’ about things, and less ‘horrible’ than HOPE or Pareidolia (supposedly) was, but that doesn’t mean he’s our friend. Wires must have an ulterior motive. He’s just playing the long game.
To trust a god is a horrible idea, until they give us reason to trust them. And even then, it’s still a gamble. This is also assuming Wires and the other gods are ‘real’, and aren’t just manifestations of Akira’s broken subconscious.
Hope, he looked very real when he appeared to Ayane and Makoto, Wire has already possessed Tsuneyo, Sekai is inside Kaori and Kaori can talk to her, everything so far points to the gods being real since they interacted more with other people and not only with Akira, so denying their existence nowadays is meaningless.
About the whole ‘simulation’ thing, I also addressed my thoughts on it awhile back if anyone’s interested:
With that in mind, though, as others have pointed out above… how much of this is an actual ‘simulation’ with outside influence, and how much of this is Akira continuing to suppress his memories, and he’s crafting a lot of this weirdness himself? I mean, he does have the power to do that.
Hope, he looked very real when he appeared to Ayane and Makoto, Wire has already possessed Tsuneyo, Sekai is inside Kaori and Kaori can talk to her, everything so far points to the gods being real since they interacted more with other people and not only with Akira, so denying their existence nowadays is meaningless.
