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

[TheAnonymousMouse]

I've tried to be cautious, tried not to jump the gun, be patient and wait for further developments but i just can't shake it, i can't see any path away from this one and back to the old one... i am deflated after this last update and i am pretty much convinced this is a repeat of SO fucking things up by changing characters too much to the point where all previous attachments felt hollow. I can't take a different Maya, i don't care how great a character she might turn out to be, the fact is she won't be the Maya i've formed an attachment to, she's dead, the game is expected to go on without her. Sure, she might be restored down the line, maybe, but for now, she's gone. Gone, and the game without her cannot at all be the game with her... i struggle to convince myself there's even a tiny chance i could give a shit about the story with her deleted from it.

Not going to try and talk you out of your thoughts on the matter, to be real the story has been a bit all over the place really. We got drama, we got wild stuff going on no doubt, and that kettle has been heating up, I feel.

But, here's my theory-thinking though, we have a level of trust with the majority of characters at this point. An unspoken rule between them all, known to them or not, which makes it hard for there to be a character that could cause much discourse between the dynamic without being diverted or ignored. Of course, not everyone is in the Sensei-Chaser club, but in terms of actual characters which could attempt to cause discourse that is a common character within the dorm-dynamic it'd be limited to both Tsuneyo and Otoha. But both of them have reasons to avoid that.

In terms of Tsuneyo,

Spoiler: Tsuneyo

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In terms of Otoha,

Spoiler: Otoha

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The reset character though?:

Spoiler: How this could change things

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To put it simply, my thinking is that the character we and all other characters would least expect, one which has been effectively on our side from the beginning and understands how the world works, how to avoid causing conflict, to be the catalyst for everything crumbling away, relationships becoming strained, would be rather unexpected. It'd be both a shock to us readers and when the true Maya eventually returns (Such an event is without a doubt inevitable, I feel.), other than freaking out at having been reset, there'd be an unseen level of despair at everything being so different and HER being the cause for it all would only add to it.

Possible discourse she may cause:

Spoiler: Discourse Caused

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The reaction we will see upon her return, she will undoubtedly enter a despair arc akin to Makoto if not far greater. And this game always gets interesting when the moments of despair become highest.

Could be wrong about all this, but I do feel things are going to become far more interesting come the next update. Who knows though, maybe it'll be a cop-out altogether and Maya fucking Sensei acted as a 'hug' to reset the world, school roof rules be damned. Sadly doubt it, but it'd definitely be unexpected..

TL;DR While the future is murky, a wildcard has entered the mix, and while I, too, am not a fan of (most likely) temporarily 'losing' such an interesting character, it will be a very interesting break in the current dynamic that may lead to massive shifts in everything from here out.

 

[Bingoogus]

Overall: I'd definitely give the next update a chance, before thinking it's going the way of SO. Nothing in SO came close to Sel's writing imo. It's also just one character whereas SO suddenly added an entire new cast, plus multiple future versions of past characters. I don't think Sel is dumb enough to do something like that. He rather us suffer than become numb imo.

This is basically the only thing i'm holding on to. It's why i am quite glum but not 100% bowing out, yet. My fear is that even if it's only a single character, it only takes one to wreck everything in the same way as SO did, not to the same degree, but enough to undermine the emotional attachments and foundational interest in the over all story. I feel there's little hope at this point, but there's not no hope, i just want/ed to vent.

I have a history of quickly losing all interest when a game/tv show/book or whatever breaks a character/story in some fundamental way, be it an actor change or retconning a season as 'all a dream' or changing them suddenly and too much to be believable for one of a hundred different reasons. There's a continuity i need or i just lose interest, i have no control over it, i can't make myself give a shit.

 

[DeSkel15]

Not going to try and talk you out of your thoughts on the matter, to be real the story has been a bit all over the place really. We got drama, we got wild stuff going on no doubt, and that kettle has been heating up, I feel.

But, here's my theory-thinking though, we have a level of trust with the majority of characters at this point. An unspoken rule between them all, known to them or not, which makes it hard for there to be a character that could cause much discourse between the dynamic without being diverted or ignored. Of course, not everyone is in the Sensei-Chaser club, but in terms of actual characters which could attempt to cause discourse that is a common character within the dorm-dynamic it'd be limited to both Tsuneyo and Otoha. But both of them have reasons to avoid that.

In terms of Tsuneyo,

Spoiler: Tsuneyo

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In terms of Otoha,

Spoiler: Otoha

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The reset character though?:

Spoiler: How this could change things

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To put it simply, my thinking is that the character we and all other characters would least expect, one which has been effectively on our side from the beginning and understands how the world works, how to avoid causing conflict, to be the catalyst for everything crumbling away, relationships becoming strained, would be rather unexpected. It'd be both a shock to us readers and when the true Maya eventually returns (Such an event is without a doubt inevitable, I feel.), other than freaking out at having been reset, there'd be an unseen level of despair at everything being so different and HER being the cause for it all would only add to it.

Possible discourse she may cause:

Spoiler: Discourse Caused

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The reaction we will see upon her return, she will undoubtedly enter a despair arc akin to Makoto if not far greater. And this game always gets interesting when the moments of despair become highest.

Could be wrong about all this, but I do feel things are going to become far more interesting come the next update. Who knows though, maybe it'll be a cop-out altogether and Maya fucking Sensei acted as a 'hug' to reset the world, school roof rules be damned. Sadly doubt it, but it'd definitely be unexpected..

TL;DR While the future is murky, a wildcard has entered the mix, and while I, too, am not a fan of (most likely) temporarily 'losing' such an interesting character, it will be a very interesting break in the current dynamic that may lead to massive shifts in everything from here out.

I've definitely been thinking similar about New Maya. She is going to have one hell of a time because:

Spoiler

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[BlackDays]

There's also stuff like Sana visting to have sex with Sensei in the house, which doesnt really make me think Ami had any control of Sensei's blackout. Then again, it's not impossible that there is some Ami Prime out there pulling the strings.

I wrote that before. The girls, espacially the tiny, skinny ones look alot alike, which might be due to koikatsu.

But,

Spoiler: Ami or Sana?

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if i had to choose which one adult Sana looks more alike, i'd say Ami.

 

[DeSkel15]

I wrote that before. The girls, espacially the tiny, skinny ones look alot alike, which might be due to koikatsu.

But,

Spoiler: Ami or Sana?

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if i had to choose which one adult Sana looks more alike, i'd say Ami.

I mean, Sana already has bigger breasts than Ami:

Spoiler

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Apparently. Ami would probably be more comparable to a Wizard. Sana and Maya seem comparable. (At least older Sana)

 

[rianzz]

I've tried to be cautious, tried not to jump the gun, be patient and wait for further developments but i just can't shake it, i can't see any path away from this one and back to the old one... i am deflated after this last update and i am pretty much convinced this is a repeat of SO fucking things up by changing characters too much to the point where all previous attachments felt hollow. I can't take a different Maya, i don't care how great a character she might turn out to be, the fact is she won't be the Maya i've formed an attachment to, she's dead, the game is expected to go on without her. Sure, she might be restored down the line, maybe, but for now, she's gone. Gone, and the game without her cannot at all be the game with her... i struggle to convince myself there's even a tiny chance i could give a shit about the story with her deleted from it. It's not like i'm just going to drop the game, i have to at least give the next patch a go, but all my emotional attachments to this game, the excitement i feel when update day approaches... they're weak now, brittle, tangled up and loose. I really feared this outcome and i really hope things can turn around but i just can't see how, she can't just pop back into the game after an update or two or it'd be a cop out, so we're looking at a looooong time if not never and the more i imagine the story without her the less i find myself giving a shit. This game has gone from an A in my mind to like a C at this point.

To be clear, it's not like Maya was my no. 1 favorite character, i'd react this way if anyone was reset to a state at or before the start of the game, most of them are still getting soft resets here and there and every world reset but no one has been hard reset until now. It's the hard resetting that kills it for me.

Shit on me with facepalms if you think i'm just doomposting or whining cause my toy got taken away, i probably deserve it. I hope i look back on this post in the future and think "ha, you naive fool!", but i really doubt i will.

I feel exactly the same way

 

[BlackDays]

This is basically the only thing i'm holding on to. It's why i am quite glum but not 100% bowing out, yet. My fear is that even if it's only a single character, it only takes one to wreck everything in the same way as SO did, not to the same degree, but enough to undermine the emotional attachments and foundational interest in the over all story. I feel there's little hope at this point, but there's not no hope, i just want/ed to vent.

I have a history of quickly losing all interest when a game/tv show/book or whatever breaks a character/story in some fundamental way, be it an actor change or retconning a season as 'all a dream' or changing them suddenly and too much to be believable for one of a hundred different reasons. There's a continuity i need or i just lose interest, i have no control over it, i can't make myself give a shit.

You should never watch "To your eternity".

 

[TheAnonymousMouse]

I've definitely been thinking similar about New Maya. She is going to have one hell of a time because:

Spoiler

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Oh damn, I didn't even think about the Noriko and Niki situation!

It may not even take the true her coming back for her to enter a crazed state, unless the reset version just has fake memories of events to make up for everything... Even then though...

 

[Wayne193]

Anyone has a save before this update or a bit earlier is fine aswell?

 

[DSasha]

What I'm wondering is.

At first everything seemed like a game, if Sensei breaks, die or even if he's not doing what he's meant to, everything goes back to the first reset, the summer one, with him waking up in class with Ami, having been reset like the rest of the characters except Maya.

Maya then was the only one who was aware of the world and in her own words she was the unluckiest person in the world, (something she repeated several times later) so everything seemed like a kind of punishment for her who had to live for so many years in that infinite loop.
From the beginning the game has always revolved around Sensei, but it seemed to me that it revolved around Maya too.

So now, if Maya has been reset, isn't that in some way a liberation for her? It is true that the personality forged over hundreds of years will no longer be there, but it is still her, and given the choice, it would have been worse if she had to face another reset being alone again, after having advanced so much.

And also, what would happen now if Sensei breaks for some reason?
Ayane could be the one to replace Maya, but it wouldn't make much sense because she doesn't have the keys to Akira's past, it would be impossible for her to keep him safe.
It could be Akira just trying to get Maya back, but he doesn't seem like the person with the most will in the world to carry out such a mission through hundreds of years of resets.
Could be Maya again, but it also took her too many years to learn everything necessary about this world to be able to moderately guide Sensei, having reset her before would seem rather reckless then, unless her memories are not lost forever.

 

[DeSkel15]

What I'm wondering is.

At first everything seemed like a game, if Sensei breaks, die or even if he's not doing what he's meant to, everything goes back to the first reset, the summer one, with him waking up in class with Ami, having been reset like the rest of the characters except Maya.

Maya then was the only one who was aware of the world and in her own words she was the unluckiest person in the world, (something she repeated several times later) so everything seemed like a kind of punishment for her who had to live for so many years in that infinite loop.
From the beginning the game has always revolved around Sensei, but it seemed to me that it revolved around Maya too.

So now, if Maya has been reset, isn't that in some way a liberation for her? It is true that the personality forged over hundreds of years will no longer be there, but it is still her, and given the choice, it would have been worse if she had to face another reset being alone again, after having advanced so much.

And also, what would happen now if Sensei breaks for some reason?
Ayane could be the one to replace Maya, but it wouldn't make much sense because she doesn't have the keys to Akira's past, it would be impossible for her to keep him safe.
It could be Akira just trying to get Maya back, but he doesn't seem like the person with the most will in the world to carry out such a mission through hundreds of years of resets.
Could be Maya again, but it also took her too many years to learn everything necessary about this world to be able to moderately guide Sensei, having reset her before would seem rather reckless then, unless her memories are not lost forever.

I definitely think it's been implied that the world revolved around Maya and Sensei. Maya even noted that it was their world:

Spoiler

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During the first Reset. Whether or not that's actually true, remains to be seen though.

As for who might be the new "Maya", well, the only real option seems to be Sekai.. Not only has it been implied that she helped Sensei survive the 5th Reset:

Spoiler

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Sekai also seems to be trying to guide Sensei:

Spoiler

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Implying she knows how things work.

Of course, Ayane with help from The Shapeshifter may prove useful, but I dont think she's cut out for the scary parts of the world. Not even sure if she's aware of Sensei's "Happy Events" outside of Resets.

Then there's Nodoka. Nodoka seems to love Sensei:

Spoiler

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She's also one of the only characters that seems to know things, and be capable of handling this world's insanity. She's also seemed to have been preparing herself for the role of serving Sensei, if her recent Nun uniform is any indication.

Assuming there is some connection between Sekai and Nodoka, we might be looking at who Sensei will be relying on in Maya's absence. There's also Ami, but who really knows what's going on there. The Ami we know might be as gone as Maya.

Also, although Yasu seems to know things, after how she acted last update, it's rather clear she'll never be on Sensei's side. He's simply a means to an end for her god in her eyes.

 

[DeSkel15]

Random, but I think this may have been the first time Yasu managed to piss me off the entire game:

Spoiler

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I mean, I'm not surprised, but something about her saying this while Sensei is asking for help...

Yasu showed absolutely no compassion, and Sensei has never given her a reason to be so cold as far as I can tell. He even seemed to have been placing his trust in her by this point:

Spoiler

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For all the good it did.

No wonder she seems to serve the Callous god.

 

[Bingoogus]

Random, but I think this may have been the first time Yasu managed to piss me off the entire game:

Spoiler

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I mean, I'm not surprised, but something about her saying this while Sensei is asking for help...

Yasu showed absolutely no compassion, and Sensei has never given her a reason to be so cold as far as I can tell. He even seemed to have been placing his trust in her by this point:

Spoiler

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For all the good it did.

No wonder she seems to serve the Callous god.

Don't forget that Yasu tends to be little more than a parrot for Hope, she just repeats what she's told to say and seemingly has no thoughts whilst repeating the words as she usually snaps out of it and acts confused, so i'd be inclined... actually, very inclined to assume that flippant dismissal was Hope, not Yasu speaking.

 

[DeSkel15]

Don't forget that Yasu tends to be little more than a parrot for Hope, she just repeats what she's told to say and seemingly has no thoughts whilst repeating the words as she usually snaps out of it and acts confused, so i'd be inclined... actually, very inclined to assume that flippant dismissal was Hope, not Yasu speaking.

Yasu wasn't confused this time though. She didn't even seem to act surprised.

This seems to simply be Yasu speaking.

 

[DeSkel15]

Usually it's rather clear when Yasu isn't in control:

Spoiler

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This time however, she seemed to even refer to Sensei by a nickname:

Spoiler

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Even noting she's made happy memories:

Spoiler

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As much as I don't like it, this really did seem to simply be Yasu speaking.

 

[DeSkel15]

This does make me wonder though.. considering how casually Yasu tossed Sensei away, even if he survives the reset, is Sensei the "chosen" one still? Or has he lost that privilege?

Yasu seemed to make it clear that he had nothing left to offer her. His light had burnt out:

Spoiler

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Although the "light could come back" apparently.

Still, what exactly is Sensei without the "light"?...

 

[Warmage40]

I haven't played the update yet, but from the pictures you've posted, Selebus has a liking for Honkai Star Rails.

Molly as Silver Wolf
Yasu as Clara and there was a mention of March 7th

 

[Bingoogus]

This does make me wonder though.. considering how casually Yasu tossed Sensei away, even if he survives the reset, is Sensei the "chosen" one still? Or has he lost that privilege?

Yasu seemed to make it clear that he had nothing left to offer her. His light had burnt out:

Spoiler

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Although the "light could come back" apparently.

Still, what exactly is Sensei without the "light"?...

I dunno man, you could be right, you could be wrong, i'm very public about how crap i am at this stuff, my stance is just that Yasu is a total head case and a lot of people were acting out of sorts at that party, Yasu hears whispers/voices and is extremely weak willed, she's Leto II without the ego-memory council, at the mercy of either her hallucinations or the influence of otherworldly beings, i just don't think we can ever be sure wtf is Yasu herself and what is the mental illness and what is the god bullshit so i just never really take anything she says seriously, certainly not enough to be pissed at her, girl 100% belongs in a psychiatric hospital so i don't ever judge anything she says or does, for me she's just a pity sponge who's occasionally funny, usually unintentionally.

 

[fdsasdf_p]

Hopefully this is somewhat helpful to anyone stuck their hot pots

The first 7 ingredients are the one needed; you have to keep a mental record yourself of what you've added.
1-Call FoodCo and wait for delivery
2-freezer
3-lower left cabin
4-lower right cabin
5-fridge
6-vent
7-on the floor among rest of the red herring fish (LOL literally)

After adding all 7 the finishing the pot option will appear. Still use puzzle guide provided here as the paths to get all of them are convoluted.

 

[Angra Shadow]

I finally finished the update yesterday.

Honestly, I've been dreading this update for a while. Not because I was scared of what horrible things will happen in the story, but because I was worried that Sel wouldn't deliver after all this build up and it would just be another bark and no bite, which would have killed all my remaining investment in this story.

For most of the update, my worries were being more and more confirmed, even the Happy Event wasn't anything to write home about, and the reset was about what you would expect from one. But then in the literal last minute he actually managed to save it with that recontextualization and payoff, it has to be my favorite scene in LiL because of the way it was done. It restored my faith in the story, and even fixed some of my issues with Ch2's ending as it's much more powerful for Maya to have agency and make the choice herself, even if I still think the fake-out as a whole was unnecessary.

All in all, Sel cooked.