Ren'Py Lessons in Love [v0.53.0] [Selebus]

[fdsasdf_p]

On the topic of gods, users, time and shit, I've been keeping some notes for a while and I guess I could formulate 1 main theory and somewhat the start of a second one:

1- There is 3 gods, or maybe 4?

Spoiler: Gods do exist, somewhat

You don't have permission to view the spoiler content. Log in or register now.

2- There are no Gods

Spoiler: Gods and its connections with the Season/Sensei's feelings?

You don't have permission to view the spoiler content. Log in or register now.

My take on USER3 identity is the Concerned. My sole evidence is from Trinity Pt. III where towards the end Sensei seemed to be pulled out of USER1/HOPE's grip from "the bottom of everything" by USER3. USER3 also left a message "i was very concerned" (which is also written fully in lowercase, one of the assumed features of the Concerned).

As for USER4, this address is "reserved" according to There is Nothing, something I perceived as "this USER has not been created but will be created in the future". Since typing USER5 gives no special response, I also assume we would have a maximum amount of 4 divine beings in the end.
And who just recently transcended its own presence to something supernatural and unexplainable? Sekai
(Also, if associating all four seasons with all four gods is true, then the Concerned can be fall (need verification) and Sekai can undefeatedly be spring)

 

[fdsasdf_p]

I'm missing a scene with Maki apparently and was wondering if I missed something, screwed up somewhere, or what. I use the progress mod because things can get annoying to find all the events, so I don't know if that matters. Any help would be appreciated.

That one is from her 2nd invite over event if you agree to bone her (Special Occasions). Yours is shown completed so maybe you decided to be a respectable man and not had sex with your student's mom?

 

[Dragon59]

You're not the only Ace playing this game. Trust me.

I may not be Ace (more of a sapio or demi), but an ex-partner of mine is identifying as somewhere in the Ace category. I, for one, will be putting Ace characters in some of my future stories.

 

[barglenarglezous]

What is a god? It is a thing we put our faith in. It is a thing that inspires us to move forward, to be better than ourselves, to become part of something larger than ourselves. We all have gods. They may not be Gods, but they are gods nonetheless.
(this may not translate well for non-native English speakers, and for that, I apologize).

In American Gods, Neil Gaiman describes how just about anything can become a god. That the modern gods of American culture are Television and The Allmighty Dollar (that last one might have been White Wolf Game Studios, as they had a similar device in Werewolf: The Apocalypse). That if enough people believe in it, it becomes a god, even if it was never one to begin with.

Who is our first god? Our family. Our mothers, fathers, and siblings. So it makes sense that Akira's first god is his brother -- the person who was his equal in status, but his superior in every way. Our parents are authorities, but our brothers and sisters, even the ones with significant age gaps, are our peers. And so he came to view his brother as his first god, the person to look up to, to aspire to become. And how did he see his brother? Well, his brother fucked everything that moved.

Note, however, that his brother's wife isn't a god. She is, quite literally, his World. That which he came to live for, that which he came to desire beyond anything else. I don't think pre-loop Akira ever actually loved Niki. I think he was with Niki because Sekai got off on watching him corrupt her, and when Sekai died, he no longer had a reason to spend time with her.

If you're a young, awkward kid growing up in any era after the proliferation of American On-Line, your second god was the Internet. Social media has ruined the internet in many ways. The game is set in 2020, so Akira was born in 1989. A young, awkward Akira would be discovering the internet in late 90s. When it was still the glorious refuge from the bullies outside. Thus, it makes sense that the God of Wires is his second god. And the Akira of the time loop never spends time on the internet, so it makes sense that the God of Wires is dying -- gods need attention from the faithful to survive, after all.

This makes me wonder why Pareidolia is the third god. The first two make sense. But how would the tendency to see a defined image in a random pattern become a god?

Until I saw this while I was googling Paeidolia:

 

[Toram Eldin]

That one is from her 2nd invite over event if you agree to bone her (Special Occasions). Yours is shown completed so maybe you decided to be a respectable man and not had sex with your student's mom?

Could be. That might be the save I have labeled as important decision

 

[derekthered56]

What is a god? It is a thing we put our faith in. It is a thing that inspires us to move forward, to be better than ourselves, to become part of something larger than ourselves. We all have gods. They may not be Gods, but they are gods nonetheless.
(this may not translate well for non-native English speakers, and for that, I apologize).

In American Gods, Neil Gaiman describes how just about anything can become a god. That the modern gods of American culture are Television and The Allmighty Dollar (that last one might have been White Wolf Game Studios, as they had a similar device in Werewolf: The Apocalypse). That if enough people believe in it, it becomes a god, even if it was never one to begin with.

Who is our first god? Our family. Our mothers, fathers, and siblings. So it makes sense that Akira's first god is his brother -- the person who was his equal in status, but his superior in every way. Our parents are authorities, but our brothers and sisters, even the ones with significant age gaps, are our peers. And so he came to view his brother as his first god, the person to look up to, to aspire to become. And how did he see his brother? Well, his brother fucked everything that moved.

Note, however, that his brother's wife isn't a god. She is, quite literally, his World. That which he came to live for, that which he came to desire beyond anything else. I don't think pre-loop Akira ever actually loved Niki. I think he was with Niki because Sekai got off on watching him corrupt her, and when Sekai died, he no longer had a reason to spend time with her.

If you're a young, awkward kid growing up in any era after the proliferation of American On-Line, your second god was the Internet. Social media has ruined the internet in many ways. The game is set in 2020, so Akira was born in 1989. A young, awkward Akira would be discovering the internet in late 90s. When it was still the glorious refuge from the bullies outside. Thus, it makes sense that the God of Wires is his second god. And the Akira of the time loop never spends time on the internet, so it makes sense that the God of Wires is dying -- gods need attention from the faithful to survive, after all.

This makes me wonder why Pareidolia is the third god. The first two make sense. But how would the tendency to see a defined image in a random pattern become a god?

Until I saw this while I was googling Paeidolia:

View attachment 2629761

Good theorizing, but why assume all three gods stem from Akira? Sure Hope says everything is about him and Akira believes it to justify his apathy, but other characters disagree and the latest Sara events seem to belie that notion entirely.

 

[barglenarglezous]

Good theorizing, but why assume all three gods stem from Akira? Sure Hope says everything is about him and Akira believes it to justify his apathy, but other characters disagree and the latest Sara events seem to belie that notion entirely.

Because they're HIS gods. Not the gods of Kumon-mi.

Sara has her own gods. Nozomu is one of them because, like Akira, she has unresolved trauma regarding him. That's a common thread throughout many of the characters, though. That's why Nozomu, specifically, has power over them. It makes me genuinely wonder what role Nozomu had in Yasu's life prior to his death for her to turn out the way she did.

But that doesn't mean the God of Wires exists for Sara in any way. He only seems to exist for Yuki, Tsuneyo, and Akira in any direct sense, and Pareidolia only seems to exist for Akira at this point.

 

[Kawaiikaze]

My take on USER3 identity is the Concerned. My sole evidence is from Trinity Pt. III where towards the end Sensei seemed to be pulled out of USER1/HOPE's grip from "the bottom of everything" by USER3. USER3 also left a message "i was very concerned" (which is also written fully in lowercase, one of the assumed features of the Concerned).

As for USER4, this address is "reserved" according to There is Nothing, something I perceived as "this USER has not been created but will be created in the future". Since typing USER5 gives no special response, I also assume we would have a maximum amount of 4 divine beings in the end.
And who just recently transcended its own presence to something supernatural and unexplainable? Sekai
(Also, if associating all four seasons with all four gods is true, then the Concerned can be fall (need verification) and Sekai can undefeatedly be spring)

Makes sense, I've been stuck in early game hell for a while since I mostly play with my buddies nowadays, so pareidolia/Concerned became sort of weird blob of things I ocasionaly remembers.
I'm mostly on the idea that Sekai became an angel though, if there'll really be a 4th god associated with spring/love I would put my bet on Nao (the ami with weird eyes from the lottery event if I remember correctly).
Also, not gonna lie, the idea of having to sacrifice or confront ami or some shit kind of entices me, sorry for all the loving uncles out there

 

[k1n5l4y3r]

Nao being love kinda makes sense since Akira is probably afraid to love again, and Nao is fear.

 

[DeSkel15]

This makes me wonder why Pareidolia is the third god. The first two make sense. But how would the tendency to see a defined image in a random pattern become a god?

Until I saw this while I was googling Paeidolia:

View attachment 2629761

"Pareidolia is the tendency for perception to impose a meaningful interpretation on a nebulous stimulus, usually visual, so that one sees an object, pattern, or meaning where there is none."

I think Pareidolia is intended to be the god of perception, or meaning. The one who's helping Sensei actually survive the resets, and using him for some reason that it considers "good". The longer Sensei "lives" and finds reasons not to die, the more powerful it gets, and I think it is concerned because it needs others to perceive and find meaning or it has none.

 

[DeSkel15]

Spoiler

You don't have permission to view the spoiler content. Log in or register now.

Let's not forget that Sensei is technically a god as well. Ayane's god. (Probably Maya's, and Noriko's as well, tbh, and maybe Ami's?)

 

[barglenarglezous]

I think Pareidolia is intended to be the god of perception, or meaning. The one who's helping Sensei actually survive the resets, and using him for some reason that it considers "good". The longer Sensei "lives" and finds reasons not to die, the more powerful it gets, and I think it is concerned because it needs others to perceive and find meaning or it has none.

I think a young Akira, trying to cope with the fact that the woman he'd come to love was in the next room having sex with his brother, anthromorphised the power outlet he was staring at. He'd have conversations with it as a coping mechanism, and now, there's a god called Paredolia -- the word for finding images of things that aren't there -- an example being "seeing a face in a power outlet" checking in on him from time to time.

And HOPE -- which I suspect is his internalization of all of this trauma -- is perverting the smiiley face, in the way that unresolved trauma corrupts even the good memories.

 

[barglenarglezous]

Spoiler

You don't have permission to view the spoiler content. Log in or register now.

Let's not forget that Sensei is technically a god as well. Ayane's god. (Probably Maya's, and Noriko's as well, tbh, and maybe Ami's?)

Is he becoming their god or their world? And how thin is the line between the two?

And I think a major component of the narrative is that he's approaching the line with nearly all the other characters, though some (Chika, Ayane, Ami) are far more progressed than others.

 

[DeSkel15]

Is he becoming their god or their world? And how thin is the line between the two?

And I think a major component of the narrative is that he's approaching the line with nearly all the other characters, though some (Chika, Ayane, Ami) are far more progressed than others.

I think they all consider him their world, or simply very important to them, but only Noriko, Maya, and Ayane seem to see Sensei as their god, meaning he can do virtually whatever he wants, and they'd still worship him. Hence why Noriko, Maya, and Ayane accept that they aren't the only one for him. Something I can't see Ami simply accepting, at least not yet.

In other words: gods tend to do a bunch of horrible things in their mythology, but their believers still believe in them anyway. How many of the characters would accept Sensei as he actually is and still dedicate themselves to him?

 

[derekthered56]

I think they all consider him their world, or simply very important to them, but only Noriko, Maya, and Ayane seem to see Sensei as their god, meaning he can do virtually whatever he wants, and they'd still worship him. Hence why Noriko, Maya, and Ayane accept that they aren't the only one for him. Something I can't see Ami simply accepting, at least not yet.

In other words: gods tend to do a bunch of horrible things in their mythology, but their believers still believe in them anyway. How many of the characters would accept Sensei as he actually is and still dedicate themselves to him?

While Nodoka doesn't seem to actually see him that way, she did literally suggest Sensei become her god way back in The Man Who Would Be King. Maybe that was her hinting a bit at how gods work, and not just an attempt to get under his skin.

 

[Deleted member 2223621]

I think they all consider him their world, or simply very important to them, but only Noriko, Maya, and Ayane seem to see Sensei as their god, meaning he can do virtually whatever he wants, and they'd still worship him. Hence why Noriko, Maya, and Ayane accept that they aren't the only one for him. Something I can't see Ami simply accepting, at least not yet.

In other words: gods tend to do a bunch of horrible things in their mythology, but their believers still believe in them anyway. How many of the characters would accept Sensei as he actually is and still dedicate themselves to him?

what about ami... does she see sensei as her and her alone personal god, or does she see herself as his

 

[DeSkel15]

While Nodoka doesn't seem to actually see him that way, she did literally suggest Sensei become her god way back in The Man Who Would Be King. Maybe that was her hinting a bit at how gods work, and not just an attempt to get under his skin.

Spoiler

You don't have permission to view the spoiler content. Log in or register now.

I'm not sure she was suggesting he become her god. It was more like she was saying that if he does become one, it'd be beneficial for both of them if they were on each other's side. She did seem to imply she knows about Nozomu and the whole Fleshlight creation story, though, so I wouldn't be surprised if she does know far more than she lets on, and I highly doubt that it was all just to get under his skin, if that was the goal at all.

Honestly, it seemed more like Nodoka was trying to make a deal with Sensei, that would benefit/protect her and her friends in the long run. She just got ahead of herself and botched it.

 

[DeSkel15]

what about ami... does she see sensei as her and her alone personal god, or does she see herself as his

I definitely think it's more of a reversal. Ami takes care of Sensei 24/7, and sees herself as his personal guardian. However she's also playing the role of his niece, maid, student, and more or less mother, while trying to be like her mother, and wanting to be his lover. So, seeing herself as his goddess and wanting him to see her that way too, wouldn't surprise me. Also, Ami doesn't seem to put her faith in Sensei much, needing him to call her to check in and stuff. On the other hand, she seems to expect him to put his faith in her without question, which he usually does.

Mega Ami even seems to be what she'd call her goddess persona.

 

[Bingoogus]

The game is set in 2020, so Akira was born in 1989.

Why you gotta go and slap me with that bro? That was the year i was born...

 

[DeSkel15]

Just realized that if the game is set in 2020, that means most of the students were born in 2005, if not 2004 (since Chika is 16, and the oldest in class if I recall correctly.) Meaning 6 year old Noriko had a "crush" on 22 year old Sensei around 2011, and the car accident likely occured in 2012.

Which also made me just realize that the Maya would predict when the world would end, (which it was supposed to in 2012, etc). In other words, the world (Sekai) did end in 2012.

Maya may have even been inspired by the Mayans that are said to predict when the world will end, which is why Maya in this game can feel when the world is about to end, and has a fascination with stars, astrology being something the Mayans are known for. Not to mention her name is Maya.. Not sure why this hasn't crossed my mind before.