Ren'Py Lessons in Love [v0.49.0] [Selebus]

[aramaug]

I think Rin's just a teenager. She seems to have clinical depression, so it won't be easy exactly - but a hell of a lot easier than Yasu. And out of having to keep an eye on her regarding her mood shift, she's just a little ball of hormones that still manages to keep a steady job despite her age and issues.

No disagreements here. To be clear, I have no issues with Rin personally, I'd enjoy having her as a friend. It's more a me issue in that I'd struggle to be around someone that high energy on a daily basis, especially if I'm responsible for raising them.

So... it has been a while since the Dorm Wars update. Has anyone come up with a solid theory as to who is the one other referenced here (besides something like her biological father simply being alive somewhere out there, which is a boring possibility):


"That perfect spring day was the last time Sana Sakakibara would ever open her eyes."
"As she collapsed to the ground, her friends rushed to her aid and circled her body. "
"They lifted her up in hopes that they’d be able to save her life..."
"But alas-"
"The school nurse is off on Fridays."
"She is survived by her mother, Sara Sakakibara, and one other."
"She will be buried next to her brother."


There was a slight discussion about this back then, but it got nowhere, I believe. My current theory is that Ami is Sana's half-sister, which would kind of suck, maybe? I mean... I'm split on wanting Ami to be Akira's real daughter or Nozomu's (playing Good Uncle). Sensei can't be Sana's father (perhaps the only way of him conceivably being is: during Sara's pure route, Sensei is sent to the past through godly shenanigans and becomes a teacher at her high school. They fall in love. And the rest is history.)

It could be as simple as Sana's father is still alive, but that would be boring.

It's very speculative, but also a definite possibility that Nozomu was Sana's dad, which would make her either Ami's half-sister or cousin. There's a bit of light foreshadowing early in the game that they're related - it's in a recent post I made rounding up various Chapter 1 stuff if you want to search for it. HOPE/Nozomu took a special interest in Sara for reasons that still haven't been explained, maybe it's because he had a relationship with her in life. I take "Good Boy" to show that Sara went to a school with some significance to Akira's past. Maybe Sekai taught there, though it's more likely she taught younger kids, so maybe Nozomu taught there. We don't know whether he was a teacher or not, but it could explain how he met Sekai. We do know Sana's father was married. Maybe teachers molesting their students is an Arakawa family tradition.

It's also possible that Akira went to the same school. At some point he thinks about what it would have been like to go to school with Sara, which seemed suggestive to me. The fact that they don't remember each other is explained nicely by Akira's missing memory and HOPE altering Sara's memories. If it's true, the Sara/Sana plot could develop by Sensei recovering memories of her.

I'm still wondering if Sara is pregnant, tbh. Her crying during 'Goodnight' back in Chapter 2:

Spoiler

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Could have been related to her being pregnant.

We still see her drink to excess after this, right? Mother of the year material if she does know she's pregnant.

Then there's how Sara's considered a "whore mother" and to have lay'd down for something:

Spoiler

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This line is actually one of the reasons I think that Sara could have had a sexual relationship with HOPE/Nozomu. I think HOPE (or more likely Pareidolia pretending to be HOPE) is implying that Sara lay down like a whore for him.

 

[Moonflare]

At this point, Nozomu could have been Sara's boyfriend (Akira doesn't seem to have been him because Sara doesn't recognize him when he meets her teenage self) - but I really wish he wasn't. I think it would cheapen the narrative.

If Nozomu was a piece of shit, like you guys said, it would make the Arakawa family this pit of cursed crap. Nozomu was a molester (for some reason), then he gets married to Sekai (which is also a molester), and then Akira becomes a molester, and and then their daughter becomes an incest/molestee spokesperson. It's just too much for me, and if Nozomu was indeed a piece of shit, why Saki hated Akira specifically?

That would be like, yes, Saki was a normal mom to Nozomu, so he got married and molested students. Saki was a piece of shit mom to Akira, so he got molested and learned to molest students. Well, that's a surefire way to inform Saki that her parenting was irrelevant lol

Granted, that one happy event "something everyone ignores" (?) mentions a background that could be from homossexuality and that would have to be either Akira's or Nozomu's. If it is that of course, because it could simply be from Akira being "overly" sexual from a young age as well, and Saki having him swallow soap for it. Nozomu being gay and turning that into abusing girls instead, marrying someone that didn't like him, abusing her too (Sekai says to Akira "you don't even know what you brother did to me last night" or something - which again, makes me really doubt that Sekai "loved" Akira at all from this kind of torment), would fit into him being abused by Saki as well, which would fit her MO.

There's no real conclusion here, I can see it happening, I just wish it doesn't. Have Nozomu be a normal dude from a religious family that considers mental issues being demonic. Have Saki "abusing" Akira by alternating between having traumatic flashbacks from Akira having inherited Yuu's mental issues, and jumping into his bed sometimes to cry while holding him. Have that be the way a "harmless" person creeped in and tainted her son without them noticing. Have the accident happen because Nozomu finally confronts Sekai about it "why did it have to be him?". I feel that's already a lot. I'd rather it not become more convoluted.

Edit: This entire post is a supposition.

 

[Pedro4545454]

I remember that the pure routes will focus on the girls, but one doubt, will they focus on Akira getting with those girls or will they just focus on the girls ???? because there is a big difference if it is option two

I don't know if I'm thinking too much because of the large amount of Yuri content there is, but I'm really fucking fear of the pure routes being without Akira in them.

 

[DeSkel15]

At this point, Nozomu could have been Sara's boyfriend (Akira doesn't seem to have been him because Sara doesn't recognize him when he meets her teenage self) - but I really wish he wasn't. I think it would cheapen the narrative.

If Nozomu was a piece of shit, like you guys said, it would make the Arakawa family this pit of cursed crap. Nozomu was a molester (for some reason), then he gets married to Sekai (which is also a molester), and then Akira becomes a molester, and and then their daughter becomes an incest/molestee spokesperson. It's just too much for me, and if Nozomu was indeed a piece of shit, why Saki hated Akira specifically?

That would be like, yes, Saki was a normal mom to Nozomu, so he got married and molested students. Saki was a piece of shit mom to Akira, so he got molested and learned to molest students. Well, that's a surefire way to inform Saki that her parenting was irrelevant lol

Granted, that one happy event "something everyone ignores" (?) mentions a background that could be from homossexuality and that would have to be either Akira's or Nozomu's. If it is that of course, because it could simply be from Akira being "overly" sexual from a young age as well, and Saki having him swallow soap for it. Nozomu being gay and turning that into abusing girls instead, marrying someone that didn't like him, abusing her too (Sekai says to Akira "you don't even know what you brother did to me last night" or something - which again, makes me really doubt that Sekai "loved" Akira at all from this kind of torment), would fit into him being abused by Saki as well, which would fit her MO.

There's no real conclusion here, I can see it happening, I just wish it doesn't. Have Nozomu be a normal dude from a religious family that considers mental issues being demonic. Have Saki "abusing" Akira by alternating between having traumatic flashbacks from Akira having inherited Yuu's mental issues, and jumping into his bed sometimes to cry while holding him. Have that be the way a "harmless" person creeped in and tainted her son without them noticing. Have the accident happen because Nozomu finally confronts Sekai about it "why did it have to be him?". I feel that's already a lot. I'd rather it not become more convoluted.

Edit: This entire post is a supposition.

I do prefer Nozomu just being normal. This is how Ami described him:

Spoiler

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Him being a cultist or a molester like Sekai and Sensei seems a little unnecessary. Then again he shares his name with a god according to a Narrator, which they also claim was said to be callous, so who knows.

And yeah, it was the 'Something Everyone Knows And Ignores' (S.E.K.A.I.) Happy Event, that mentioned someone not being allowed to embrace their sexuality, and them taking it out on flowers, etc.

 

[Moonflare]

I'm still wondering if Sara is pregnant, tbh. Her crying during 'Goodnight' back in Chapter 2:

Spoiler

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Could have been related to her being pregnant.

Sana finding Condoms which Sara has never even tried using with Sensei, implies she at least tried to be active:

Spoiler

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Then there's how Sara's considered a "whore mother" and to have lay'd down for something:

Spoiler

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And how Sara has joked about being pregnant before 'Goodnight':

Spoiler

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Or it's really just implying that Sana's dad is alive. If Ami or Sensei were related through this, there'd be two others instead of one, I'd think.

Could be Rin, I suppose. Same father different mother. Rin is younger than Sana, so she could be her younger sister maybe. Might even be Maya or some other girl who's parentage isn't clear.

Sara admits to Akira that she lied about going a long time without sex, and that she was afraid he'd judge her for it. Which begs the question as to with whom she was having sex when no one came to the bar in the first place. The condoms though were all way past their expiration dates, if I recall correctly that's why Sana apologises later.

A condom is valid for a long time though, and it wouldn't make sense for it to be resets interfering with it (otherwise it would interfere with expiration dates for everything). So either Sara was so poor that she was using old condoms to have sex with another man just before the resets started (and in her mind that's recent), or she's having a dude on the side (which would be even more unlikely, actually impossible from a narrative cohesion angle).

The thing about goodnight is that Sara's scene doesn't have a check to see if she's having sex with Akira, which would make it possible to not be his child. Which would make it possible for one of the "Akira's girls" to be carrying a child from another man, which I very much doubt would happen in LiL.

What "The dark. The light" says to her is "why does it have to hurt so much", which if I recall correctly is mostly a chapter 1 thing. Maybe aramaug is able to take a look at what it references exactly, since he's just done replaying through it. I don't recall if it was ever revealed what it means, or to whom it refers.

 

[DeSkel15]

I remember that the pure routes will focus on the girls, but one doubt, will they focus on Akira getting with those girls or will they just focus on the girls ???? because there is a big difference if it is option two

I don't know if I'm thinking too much because of the large amount of Yuri content there is, but I'm really fucking fear of the pure routes being without Akira in them.

It turns out the Purity Routes will actually be about Prince Ami building her harem.
Jk.

They are supposed to be a reward for the players, so I doubt Sensei, who some see themselves as, will be getting cucked.

 

[Moonflare]

I remember that the pure routes will focus on the girls, but one doubt, will they focus on Akira getting with those girls or will they just focus on the girls ???? because there is a big difference if it is option two

I don't know if I'm thinking too much because of the large amount of Yuri content there is, but I'm really fucking fear of the pure routes being without Akira in them.

I think from a narrative angle, it would make a lot of sense for some of the purity routes to not have girls ending with Akira (if the purity route is going to be their perfect world). From a logical angle, I'm with DeSkel - to not have a purity route being about Akira having a pure romance with one's favorite waifu would not be well received.

Also, can you imagine the uproar there would be if say "purity route with Chika ends up in a happy family", but "purity route with Rin ends up with her together with Chika and Akira's not part of it"? I'd bet that either all purity routes will end up with him as the main soulmate, or none of them will. Selebus would be risking too much by granting one waifu's romance fantasy and not the other.

It turns out the Purity Routes will actually be about Prince Ami building her harem.

I want to see that, where do I sign? Flashback to Maya saying that none of the girls had escaped being maimed, sodomized, and stuff- and then we see what actually happened, and it's all Ami with a rose in her mouth, seducing everyone, and taking them all on the most wholesome dates, while Maya goes "disgusting".

 

[Algorist]

I'm still wondering if Sara is pregnant, tbh. Her crying during 'Goodnight' back in Chapter 2:

Spoiler

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Could have been related to her being pregnant.

Sana finding Condoms which Sara has never even tried using with Sensei, implies she at least tried to be active:

Spoiler

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Then there's how Sara's considered a "whore mother" and to have lay'd down for something:

Spoiler

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And how Sara has joked about being pregnant before 'Goodnight':

Spoiler

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Or it's really just implying that Sana's dad is alive. If Ami or Sensei were related through this, there'd be two others instead of one, I'd think.

Could be Rin, I suppose. Same father different mother. Rin is younger than Sana, so she could be her younger sister maybe. Might even be Maya or some other girl who's parentage isn't clear.

These are all good points. Although, from a meta-perspective, I can't see Selebus making that move. I don't think it would sit well with many readers, Sara fans, etc. I don't know, just a hunch.

I also reckon Sara would be honest with Sensei if she were pregnant by some guy. She doesn't strike me as someone manipulative to hide something like that. Especially now since she wants to marry him.

Sara admits to Akira that she lied about going a long time without sex, and that she was afraid he'd judge her for it.

Pardon my poor memory; would you mind telling me in which event she said that?

It could be as simple as Sana's father is still alive, but that would be boring.

It's very speculative, but also a definite possibility that Nozomu was Sana's dad, which would make her either Ami's half-sister or cousin. There's a bit of light foreshadowing early in the game that they're related - it's in a recent post I made rounding up various Chapter 1 stuff if you want to search for it. HOPE/Nozomu took a special interest in Sara for reasons that still haven't been explained, maybe it's because he had a relationship with her in life. I take "Good Boy" to show that Sara went to a school with some significance to Akira's past. Maybe Sekai taught there, though it's more likely she taught younger kids, so maybe Nozomu taught there. We don't know whether he was a teacher or not, but it could explain how he met Sekai. We do know Sana's father was married. Maybe teachers molesting their students is an Arakawa family tradition.

It's also possible that Akira went to the same school. At some point he thinks about what it would have been like to go to school with Sara, which seemed suggestive to me. The fact that they don't remember each other is explained nicely by Akira's missing memory and HOPE altering Sara's memories. If it's true, the Sara/Sana plot could develop by Sensei recovering memories of her.


We still see her drink to excess after this, right? Mother of the year material if she does know she's pregnant.
This line is actually one of the reasons I think that Sara could have had a sexual relationship with HOPE/Nozomu. I think HOPE (or more likely Pareidolia pretending to be HOPE) is implying that Sara lay down like a whore for him.

Oh, quite interesting. Your ideas are very similar to mine. I also faintly remember that part about Sensei wanting to be Sara's underclassman, which event was that again? Was it Good Boy still?

 

[DeSkel15]

Sara admits to Akira that she lied about going a long time without sex, and that she was afraid he'd judge her for it. Which begs the question as to with whom she was having sex when no one came to the bar in the first place. The condoms though were all way past their expiration dates, if I recall correctly that's why Sana apologises later.

A condom is valid for a long time though, and it wouldn't make sense for it to be resets interfering with it (otherwise it would interfere with expiration dates for everything). So either Sara was so poor that she was using old condoms to have sex with another man just before the resets started (and in her mind that's recent), or she's having a dude on the side (which would be even more unlikely, actually impossible from a narrative cohesion angle).

The thing about goodnight is that Sara's scene doesn't have a check to see if she's having sex with Akira, which would make it possible to not be his child. Which would make it possible for one of the "Akira's girls" to be carrying a child from another man, which I very much doubt would happen in LiL.

What "The dark. The light" says to her is "why does it have to hurt so much", which if I recall correctly is mostly a chapter 1 thing. Maybe aramaug is able to take a look at what it references exactly, since he's just done replaying through it. I don't recall if it was ever revealed what it means, or to whom it refers.

Sara may have actually lied about the condoms. She threw them away and said they were old, but never actually proved it:

Spoiler

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Also, something interesting about the 'Tell Me When' Sara event is that Sara and Sana were watching 'Star Wars: A New Hope.'

Of course, this could be nothing, but "A New Hope" sounds interesting. We also had AmIOkay Maya suggesting that Sensei and her could create a new HOPE back in the 'Tick Tock Tick Tock Tick Tock' Happy Event. Could be a hint at why the gods want Sensei to fuck the girls. May lead to them being reborn or something.

In other words: Sara may be supernaturally pregnant. Sara also seems to have experience with Happy Events, Shadow figures, and the Untitled Show.

Or it's just nothing.

 

[aramaug]

What "The dark. The light" says to her is "why does it have to hurt so much", which if I recall correctly is mostly a chapter 1 thing. Maybe aramaug is able to take a look at what it references exactly, since he's just done replaying through it. I don't recall if it was ever revealed what it means, or to whom it refers.

I don't remember that specific phrase being used in Chapter 1 except, funnily enough, by Rin when Sensei is consoling her. I think it might be a Chapter 2 thing. The idea of things hurting in general is often connected to memories, though. I've always assumed that Sara crying is related to her son in some way (though the narrator does imply it's for reasons more complicated than just memories of him).

These are all good points. Although, from a meta-perspective, I can't see Selebus making that move. I don't think it would sit well with many readers, Sara fans, etc. I don't know, just a hunch.

I also reckon Sara would be honest with Sensei if she were pregnant by some guy. She doesn't strike me as someone manipulative to hide something like that. Especially now since she wants to marry him.

Pardon my poor memory; would you mind telling me in which event she said that?

Oh, quite interesting. Your ideas are very similar to mine. I also faintly remember that part about Sensei wanting to be Sara's underclassman, which event was that again? Was it Good Boy still?

Unfortunately I don't remember. I'm pretty sure it was in the bar, though, and not in Chapter 1. Maybe Haru was also involved since she went to school with Sara? (Haru is enough older than Akira that they wouldn't have overlapped)

 

[XHunterz]

I see some people hate those God's in this game why they mad about them?

 

[Moonflare]

Pardon my poor memory; would you mind telling me in which event she said that?

Missionary sex at the bar

Spoiler: sara sex

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also, what the fuck Ayane

Spoiler: she's always a woman

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[Algorist]

Unfortunately I don't remember. I'm pretty sure it was in the bar, though, and not in Chapter 1. Maybe Haru was also involved since she went to school with Sara? (Haru is enough older than Akira that they wouldn't have overlapped)

I've just remembered it. CH3 generic bar event.

"Another night means another chance to drink cheap beer and flirt with an attractive bartender while her daughter cleans glasses in the next room over."
"Thankfully, Sara is social enough that I don’t have to spend the majority of the night teaching her how to talk to people and, instead, am free to interact the way a normal human being does."
"One of the things I like most about Sara is how naturally our conversations are able to form and how, despite having not known each other for very long, it feels like we’ve been together forever."
"I think for a moment about how things would be if I could go back in time and meet her there."
"About having an upperclassman two grades ahead of me who would pop into my classroom and steal me away from my friends."
"And about what the rooftop would look like if we were to sit down and eat lunch there."
"Throughout the night, a stream of customers come into the bar."
"It isn’t many, but it’s more than before. And it goes to show that Sara is trying her best, even if I don’t always see it."
"Either that or Yuki is going out and intimidating people into coming here but, at this point, business is business."
"I accept the moments in which I need to be ignored in favor of furthering Sara’s return to the successful business-owner world and down several more drinks while she tends to other guests."
"But she always comes back to me once she’s done with them."
"And that’s far more than I deserve from her."

Missionary sex at the bar

Spoiler: sara sex

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also, what the fuck Ayane

Spoiler: she's always a woman

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Huh, I guess I didn't catch that subtext, then. No wonder I didn't remember that.

 

[Yarazin]

assuming this one takes around 5-6 more

Didn't Sel say 40 events for each girl just for Purity? I'm thinking 7 years after we get to that phase. But please someone smart do maths.

 

[Moonflare]

Didn't Sel say 40 events for each girl just for Purity? I'm thinking 7 years after we get to that phase. But please someone smart do maths.

We should see the end to LiL by 2030 - and then I entrust my nephew or something with the duty to look after his next project I'm walking out right after Akira.

 

[Pedro4545454]

We should see the end to LiL by 2030 - and then I entrust my nephew or something with the duty to look after his next project I'm walking out right after Akira.

If chapter 4 doesn't end this year (which is very likely) and it lasts until the end of 2025, it will take two years for a chapter to be ready, now imagine if LIL has 6 to 8 more chapters left to be ready and that each of them takes 2 years to finish.......it could get even worse if the story doesn't end in chapter 10.

 

[Yarazin]

Missionary sex at the bar

Spoiler: sara sex

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I kind of interpret that as she just wants the reassurance that he believes her. Not that she is saying different. Maybe I misunderstand.

 

[Fire Lord Zuko]

The truly frightening part is apparently we aren’t even in the Dark Route yet. We’re still in the Harem Route technically speaking if this is anything to go by:

Spoiler: Dark Route Discord

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Legitimately can’t remember if this has been posted before, but I was under the impression the Dark Route had begun. Guess not though.

Edit: As far as purity routes go… it’s projected to take 1-2 months per character. There are 35 of them. With that said, the math would come out to an estimated 35-70 months or 2 years 11 months minimum / 5 years 10 months maximum.

AKA a long ass time.

Spoiler: Purity Route Discord

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[Moonflare]

I kind of interpret that as she just wants the reassurance that he believes her. Not that she is saying different. Maybe I misunderstand.

I agree, when I took the screenshot I thought of this. But the issue is that while one thing could be a misunderstanding, there are a lot of them. There are the condoms and there's Sara's overall attitude. We know Haruka and Maki had sex, so there's an out there for both of them. But what about Sara? She's just been using dildos since her boyfriend left her? With her sexual energy and the need to drown out the trauma of her son's death? I find that very unlikely.

But, hey, If I'm wrong and Sara's been saving herself for Akira all these years, I'd prefer that tbh. It would not be weird for someone with mental issues, her history both with "unnamed male" and her dead son, and having to deal with the bar and Sana - to abstain from inviting random people into her life, even for casual sex. Who knows.

 

[LessonsInDissonance]

I see some people hate those God's in this game why they mad about them?

Because HOPE is a lying asshole, Sekai is a stupid bitch and PAREIDOLIA is a shitstain.
The only good deity is WIRES, he always helps Akira and is the one who should win in the end