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[Derpy Dev]

I mean't emotionally speaking. There are people out there who literally cannot complete the game because it's too devastating for them. I'm not one of them, but I do feel sorry for those who can't experience it in its fullest.

Stay calm Derpy. I also had to take a break after Sayori died.

I bet Team Salvato feels proud of the fact that they could hit the player with such a shotgun of sadness like this game. It is quite the accomplishment.

[Scripten]

I mean't emotionally speaking. There are people out there who literally cannot complete the game because it's too devastating for them. I'm not one of them, but I do feel sorry for those who can't experience it in its fullest.

Stay calm Derpy. I also had to take a break after Sayori died.

I bet Team Salvato feels proud of the fact that they could hit the player with such a shotgun of sadness like this game. It is quite the accomplishment.

I was actually very impressed by what it managed to do to me, even when I made sure not to let myself get too attached to the characters. I knew (vaguely, through tropes and such) what was coming and it still hit me more than I expected.

[Derpy Dev]

Holy hell the recent session terrified me :O

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

First, I wanna say this is the first time I was struck with legitimate fear while playing this game. The other times I was nervous and worried for Sayori's sake, and that counts too, but today? That was just freaky.

That should give you an idea of what happened xD
I basically had my finger on the printscreen button and waited for an opportunity... that's the best one I could get though. But holy hell!
So thank you Monika so much. Never thought I would say that, but I did. Thank you so much for saving me from that situation. Just... thank you.
Where I left off? Natsuki cried and ran off, Monika came in and started to reassure Yuri, but then the game glitched out again and suddenly switched to the poem writing part.
So Yuri! I caught the line about her cutting herself, and she seems to be a little off in general right now. I think I'm starting to understand her poem a bit more now, about how the light flickered and she flickered back. I know this game well enough at this point that I believe that Yuri's going to die next for sure, but I now need to think of how she might die. I think she'll either end up following in Sayori's footsteps, or that she'll have a full freak out at some point and threaten the life of someone else who ends up killing her.
...this game is freaking morbid, why does it make me want to predict how people die? I think... I'm just gonna lie down...

[MCreeper]

Managed to not spoiler it for yourself, eh?
Ok, question. Probably a bit spoilerish, but i'm not sure.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Because i heard that you can have some shenanigans with "character files" in game, i of course deleted them all immediately after downloading. Then they reappeared when i started new game, and i deleted them again. Question is, will i get more fun with it, or only specific "files" work on specific plot points?

[heydude6]

Spoiler: Here's your answer (click to show/hide)

If you delete files, you will have certain plot points spoiled prematurely. The extra content you get after deleting files is only meant for those who have already beaten the game. Please re-install the game as soon as you can before you ruin it for yourself.

The functionality is unfortunately very limited, which sucks. I wish Dan did more with it.

[Derpy Dev]

You know what time it is? Backpedaling time. I think a theory I made a bit back might have been inaccurate. So I'm gonna think it over again.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

"There's a little devil inside all of us."

Beneath their manufactured perception - their artificial reality - is a
writhing, twisted mess of dread. Loathing. Judgment. Elitism. Self-doubt.
All thrashing to escape the feeble hold of their host, seeping through every
little crevice they can find. Into their willpower, starving them of all
motivation and desire. Into their stomach, forcing them to drown their guilt in
comfort food. Or into a newly-opened gash in their skin, hidden only by the
sleeves of a cute new shirt.
Such a deplorable, tangled mass is already present in every single one of them.
That's why I choose not to blame myself for their actions.

All I did was untie the knot.

O.o
I want to draw attention to one specific line thought:

Or into a newly-opened gash in their skin, hidden only by the
sleeves of a cute new shirt.

I called it didn't I? Natsuki really is being abused isn't she?

I assumed at the time that that line was talking about Natsuki because it fit my already budding theory that she has an abusive father. Which I haven't abandoned by the way. But I'm starting to think that line meant Yuri. I don't remember what the exact quote was, but to paraphrase,
 here's a section from their argument.

Natsuki: Careful not to cut yourself on that edge there. But by the look of things, you already have.
Yuri: Are you saying I cut myself?

I mentioned this already, but I think the quote bears repeating for this context. If I'm correct, that poem quote did not mean Natsuki, but Yuri,
 or more specifically her self harm. In fact, I'm certain that that entire poem was talking about Yuri now that I look at it.

Oh well. Just spewing out the theory material I've been thinking about. I'm certain you guys already know the answer to what's going on with this poem, but... it's still fun to chat about. So yeah.

[Egan_BW]

Hehe, that was what this post was about:

ACTUALLY

[Jimmy]

Hehe, found a description of what your choice of character says about you, and turns out it was dead on the money for my choice of Yuri.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

[Egan_BW]

Yup, that's who I chose too, and that about sums it up.

[heydude6]

Damn that's an old one. It was one of the first ddlc memes I ever saw and that was literally a month ago. Kind of wish I knew the psychology of the person who wrote it though. It seems like it's just a fan being ironic, but the stuff on the Monika panel contains a common criticism of the game by its detractors. My searches for the original have been unsuccessful so far...

EDIT: Found what I think is the original. Have to say, the person who made this is very interesting. He seems to be an IRL Monika fan, but could just be being ironic. Then again, irony is accounted for in the description. He fits it to a tee. Most interesting thing is that he disappeared for a few months, but then DDLC seemed to have brought him back. I see a lot of high quality fanart in his post history, but based on the differing styles, I assume a lot of it is reposts (some of them I've confirmed to be reposts btw). I still think he was the original author of this one though. It's just too good a fit.

It would be nice to hear in detail what his opinion on the game is (does he agree with the criticism mentioned above? Or does he fit the description even better?), but I don't think that will ever happen.

[Derpy Dev]

So I've made a habit of sharing my thoughts after opening the game and playing for a bit. My thoughts today: WTF.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

So I didn't catch any screenshots this time. Usually I try to, but... meh, I guess I just did a dumb. Sorry!

So what happened? Well, I wrote the next poem for Yuri as I did last time, and the first thing she did was drag me aside and say sorry, then apologize to Natsuki. Who had no idea what Yuri was talking about. I'll give my default response for what probably happened: Blame Monika. I don't know for certain, but as a general rule, blame Monika. Next Monika apologized for being late, because she was playing piano. And this is what I immediately realized: the ost for this game is played with piano. Coincidence? I think not.

Next memorable thing that happened was Yuri going to get water for tea. Which wouldn't be freaky on its own if it weren't for the fact that she took ten minutes. And then I saw things that couldn't exactly be unseen... yeah Yuri is definitely the one with the self harm problem. Like I was ready to hug her until the game started to reverse. Which was awesome yet scary at the same time, especially because Hatter didn't even remember and Yuri had just gotten the water. Blame Monika, I'm certain she did that. Not sure why, I still don't get her motives.

So things were cute and happy for a bit while Hatter was reading with Yuri... until she lost it that was. Yet again she terrified me because good lord those eyes. Now that's something I wish I took a screenshot of. And again, never thought I'd say this, but thank you Monika so much.

So then came poem sharing. I have made a habit of sharing poems with Monika first, but she got straight to business. She told me I had seen something I wasn't supposed to, and explained how Yuri tends to get... excited, and then cut herself. Two things worried me about this. First, Monika knew a strange amount of details about this, about how she brings a different knife to school for this each day. But her knowing such an odd detail shouldn't have surprised me. Second, the more meta fact that Hatter didn't remember this. She wasn't talking to our protagonist, she was talking to me. And then her poem ended with the three words "Please delete her." Monika's writing tip telling me to save was already kind of surprising because then she dropped the act and just begged me to give her a sign. Then just a little prompt opened that begged for help, with a little button that said okay. I pressed it, and she was back to smiling. If I told her that I was there, I won't know for a long time.

But that's where I stopped. Next time I'll share my poem with Natsuki and Yuri. But then next time I need to write a poem, I have a big decision. The game has given me three options.

1. Write the poem for Yuri.
2. Write the poem for Natsuki.
3. Delete Yuri.

Let's analyze these three options.

1. Why write for Yuri?
Bonuses:
Keeps me on the same path.
Lowest chance of driving her crazy.
Maluses:
Will piss of Monika.
Will keep enabling Yuri's... habits.

2. Why write for Natsuki?
Bonuses:
Will no longer make Hatter an enabler.
Will keep that smile on Monika's face.
Natsuki is bae.
Maluses:
This is a big one, but the chance of Yuri turning into a yandere and killing Natsuki is high. And then Hatter's next, or maybe Monika for suggesting this option. Either way, not good for anyone.

3. Why delete her?
Bonuses:
Has a chance of giving me more info on Monika.
Chance of Yuri doing anything crazy is phenomenally lower if she's dead.
Maluses:
Another big one, but I for one still like Yuri. She's sweet most of the time, and of course I say that knowing full well how crazy she is. But I don't like the idea of actually killing someone, even for a legitimate reason. So that comes with a moral dilemma.
I have no idea how this would effect the story. At all. This brings me right into the unpredictable land.
Of course, the biggest one is that it means following any of Monika's suggestions.

So I'll make a decision on this next time I play, which is probably tomorrow, but for now, do you have any suggestions? Which option did you take? Tell me what you think I should do. Just, you know, without spoilers.

[Egan_BW]

I don't want to shatter your illusion of free will too much, but do keep in mind that probably none of those options will change the underlying problem. You know who I'm talking about. The other two might get creepy sometimes, but they're not really crazy or bad until she makes them so.

Hmm, yes. I won't allow myself to reinstall and simply tread the same miserable path again in the hopes of finding something new. But instead, this will be my "second playthrough". By influencing you, just like she influences them. For science. You monster.

[Derpy Dev]

I don't want to shatter your illusion of free will too much, but do keep in mind that probably none of those options will change the underlying problem. You know who I'm talking about. The other two might get creepy sometimes, but they're not really crazy or bad until she makes them so.

Hmm, yes. I won't allow myself to reinstall and simply tread the same miserable path again in the hopes of finding something new. But instead, this will be my "second playthrough". By influencing you, just like she influences them. For science. You monster.

Don't think I didn't see that.
Yeah. I had a feeling that was true. Oh well. Guess I'll keep playing this game of wits with them.

[heydude6]

I'll be honest, I can't really help you there. When I played the game, I chose (I say this now that I'm looking back) the "best" choice, but I can't really tell you what that is or else I'll ruin it. The only thing I can do is hope that you choose the choice that gets you the most out of the game.

Spoiler: Only read this after you've seen the credits (click to show/hide)

I honestly think Dan dropped the ball at this point. If you decide to delete Yuri, LITERALLY NOTHING HAPPENS!!! It's like you didn't do anything at all! I'm happy that I chose option 1 in my first play through (albeit accidentally), because I don't know if I would have enjoyed the game as much if it was obvious that my choices didn't matter.

I'm assuming Dan simply realized he was running out of time and decided to cut that portion (though I guess he didn't do it cleanly). As a whole, I wish the game was more meta-aware. Dan added a secret ending that activates if you delete Monika's file at the beginning of the game, but that is the only time the game acknowledges your out-of-game actions. There was just so much more potential with this idea, and to see it not fully realized makes me die a little on the inside. The game as a whole makes me die on the inside, usually in a good way, but moments like these are the wrong kind of sad. 

[Egan_BW]

Spoiler: spoiler convo, I guess (click to show/hide)

I honestly disagree with most of those endings in that reddit thread, but I really agree that there should be more. Mostly I really want the "delete everyone!" ending, but I feel like it wouldn't go the way described in that thread because the protagonist (or, as I named him, AYLMAO) isn't a character. He can't ever feel alone, or scared, or figure out the constraints of the game because he's not a thinking being, just part of the script and a name that the real characters can use to refer to you.
As such, I think it would be a funny easter egg if you delete everyone and he ends up joining the anime club, complete with new characters. Probably briefly, so as to not program a whole new game, but I think it would be funniest if everything actually goes fine in this strange alternative universe.

Hmm. Keeping in mind my view that the main character is just part of the script (because he never has a way of responding to things that are outside said script. He never says anything to Monika when she's talking to you, for example), and he DOES have a response to Sayori dying... which means that's a possible outcome of the game without Monika changing anything. Which means this game would still be pretty fucked up even without the whole meta layer.