History VisualNovel / ActingLessons

* ForWantOfANail: PlayedStraight with the natural flow of the story rather than your specific choices; if you had not gone to that run-down corner store to buy food that day:
** You would not have met Megan
** You would not have been [[spoiler:hospitalized by a robber for a week.]]
** You would not have met Melissa and potentially [[spoiler:saved her from her abusive step-father.]]
** You would not have met Rena and gone on the weekend trip with everyone.
** Leah wouldn't have [[spoiler:set your house on fire, killing either Megan or Melissa.]]
** You would not have had to [[spoiler:go to therapy in order to confront the trauma you endured in that experience]] as well as [[spoiler: what happened in the room that Leah locked you and your girlfriend in.]]
** There are also various other possibilities that could occur or not occur depending on the choices you make, but the idea is that everything that happens in the game began with the you going to that store.

** Leah wouldn't have [[spoiler:set your house on fire,]] [[spoiler: killing either Megan or Melissa.]]

* InnocentCohabitation: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted.]] Although you have some sort of feelings for Megan from the beginning of the story, whether it's just thinking that she's cute or actually wanting to be with her, her living with you starts out as this, with neither making any overt moves on the other. However, the situation soon turns intimate/romantic.
** Potentially played straight if you are not dating/sleeping with [[spoiler:Melissa]] when she starts living with you as well. [[AvertedTrope Averted]] if you are.

* HGame: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]]. While there are a number of sex scenes with full nudity throughout each episode, the game is not meant to be a pornographic film. Rather it is meant to be a deep, long-form story for adults. As such, even if the sex scenes are not dialed UpToEleven like some other [[VisualNovels VNs]], they are included as they make sense for the kind of story that is being told.

* AdultFear: With the game catering to older audiences in both story and sexual content, it contains several instances of troubles/fears of troubles that would commonly only be felt by adults, with character based examples being:
** You suffering the fallout of your breakup with your fiancée and also [[spoiler:having your house set on fire and getting kidnapped.]]
** Megan's eviction and career difficulties.
** Melissa having to stay with her toxic family despite being a grown adult herself.
** Liam [[spoiler:learning he has cancer]] and realizing he has so much left to do with his life.

[[folder:Tropes G-N]]

* MagneticGirlfriend: Rena does not make any advances towards you at all until she realizes that you and Megan are actually dating. [[spoiler:She initially only does so out of spite for Megan rather than any actual romantic interest, however.]]

* RomanticFalseLead: Rena to you in Episode 4 [[spoiler:out of spite for Megan.]]

* TheEndOfTheBeginning: Barring specific choices/chains of events that change the fine details of the game's ending, the final shot is always of you, Liam, Rena (if you [[spoiler:encouraged her and Liam to date or if you]] are with her), and whichever girl you [[spoiler:saved in Episode 6]] all coming back to the place where you had the camping trip. You [[spoiler:have a proper memorial for Megan/Melissa and]] spend time with each other as you reflect on life and the difficulty it can bring. The game ends with you realizing that you and your friends all still have their lives ahead of them, but the day that everything was set into motion was the very day described all the way back in Episode 1

* ThreeWaySex: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] if you choose to date both Megan and Melissa. With both girls being okay with you dating both of them, and even an (unintentional) kiss happening between them in Episode 5, it does seem like a real possibility with them. However, no matter your choices, it doesn't happen before [[spoiler:one or the other dies in the house fire.]]

* JigsawPuzzlePlot: Between Megan's developing acting career, deciding what to do about Melissa's abusive step-father, Liam [[spoiler:dealing with his cancer,]] and you [[spoiler:trying to come to terms with your fiancée cheating on you,]] there are points in the story where you have to remember the state of several subplots at once. Fortunately, it's usually not too much of a MindScrew.

** The trope is played with slightly. While there is no complete DownerEnding, there is also no GoldenEnding; every possible chain of events that can occur in a playthrough concludes with some level of a BittersweetEnding

* AnyoneCanDie: [[spoiler:PlayedWith. There are a handful of characters that you can explicitly choose to kill or save from death, but most of the characters cannot die no matter what.]]

** ''[[spoiler:"Life for us isn't over yet. But one thing's for certain... The biggest story of my life began the day I met a girl named Megan."]]''

*** ''[[spoiler:"Life for us isn't over yet. But one thing's for certain... The biggest story of my life began the day I met a girl named Megan."]]''

* AnyoneCanDie: [[spoiler:PlayedWith. There are a handful of characters that you can explicitly choose to kill or save from death, but most of the characters cannot die no matter what.]]

* CuttingOffTheBranches: [[AvertedTrope Averted]] in the sense that there is not/will not be a direct sequel to the game, and as such, it does not need a canonical ending (with there being over 20 endings to choose from). However, the trope is [[InvertedTrope inverted]] within the game itself, as although you cannot explicitly reject Megan until [[spoiler:she dies]] or you choose to be with [[spoiler:Rena]], the game does not encourage you to choose Megan over any other girl; that is, it leaves the branches intact.

''Acting Lessons'' is an episodic adult visual novel developed by solo developer DrPinkCake.

'''''The game follows you, a young man who lives alone in an unspecified town in the United States who has made enough of a living trading cryptocurrencies to essentially retire. You often spend time with your best friend Liam, and just enjoy all of the spare time and freedom you have due to not being pinned down by a normal day job.'''''

'''''However, not everything is sunshine and roses. It has been some time since you broke up with your fiancée, Ana, with whom your relationship and life together could have been beautiful, had she not cheated on you and blamed it on you not having enough passion and not keeping the spark alive.'''''

'''''Although some time has passed since that day, it is still in the back of your mind, and even now you don't quite know what to make of love in general. In any case, you go about your life, until one day, you decide to go to a different store than you usually do to buy food. There, you meet a young clerk named Megan, and from there, your life begins to change in ways that you couldn't have anticipated.'''''

''Acting Lessons'' takes a different approach to Visual Novel storytelling than most, even for a Western VN. The game does not exist solely for sexual gratification, shock value, or in parody of other works. Although it does contain familiar elements such as several girls that you can choose to date or sleep with, a visible system to keep track of how each feels about you, and the occasional necessity to make choices in favor of one character at the expense of another, there isn't an extreme emphasis on the girls and the fact that you can have sex with many of them; that is, the story doesn't take a backseat for the sake of nudity and sex. It is, however, included in an uncensored manner, as it would be detrimental to the type of story the game is trying to tell to not include the sex when there are so many other adult topics being explored.

** You [[spoiler:suffering the fallout of your breakup with your fiancée]] and also [[spoiler:having your house set on fire and getting kidnapped.]]
** Megan's [[spoiler:eviction and career difficulties.]]
** Melissa [[spoiler:having to stay with her toxic family]] despite being a grown adult herself.

* BabiesEverAfter: Explicitly part of the [[spoiler:marriage]] ending with [[spoiler:Megan]] or the relationship ending with [[spoiler:Rena.]] [[ImpliedTrope Implied]] if you end up [[spoiler:marrying Melissa,]] due to the ending of her final scene.

* CuttingOffTheBranches: [[AvertedTrope Averted]] in the sense that there is not/will not be a direct sequel to the game, and as such, it does not need a canonical ending (with there being over 20 endings to choose from). However, the trope is [[InvertedTrope inverted]] within the game itself, as although you cannot explicitly reject Megan until [[spoiler:she dies]] or [[spoiler:you choose to be with Rena]], the game does not encourage you to choose Megan over any other girl; that is, it leaves the branches intact.

** [[spoiler:Not being as good of a friend to Liam as you could have been, although the results are not as drastic as the other possibilities.]]
** [[spoiler:Committing to either Megan or Melissa but having sex with a different girl afterwards.]]
*** [[spoiler:You can really KickTheDog by having sex with ''every girl possible'', just to show how much of a scumbag you are.]]
*** [[spoiler:Can be made even worse in hindsight if you take every opportunity to have sex with Leah. You know, the one who '''''burned your house down, killed someone you loved, and kidnapped you and your girlfriend in an attempt to torture and kill you both.''''']]
** [[spoiler:If you have sex with Ana in Episode 5 and make certain other choices, you could end up leaving the girl you love in an effort to "try again" with ''your ex-fiancée who cheated on you.'']]

** Your [[spoiler:fiancée cheated on you and left you a former shell of yourself]]

** Megan [[spoiler:gets evicted by the end of the first episode,]] [[spoiler:doesn't even have her parents' support for her acting career,]] [[spoiler:and can even die in a house fire]]
** Melissa's [[spoiler:dad died,]] [[spoiler:she has to live with her abusive step-father for the first few episodes,]] [[spoiler:and she can also die in a house fire]]
** Rena's [[spoiler:dad left her mom a while back, and she has to deal with having Dick as a boyfriend for most of the story,]] [[spoiler:or even the entirety of it if you or Liam don't end up dating her.]]

* FeaturelessProtagonist: [[InvertedTrope Inverted.]] While it is very seldom done, you do see the your character's face at certain points. While it is usually just parts of their face, there is one point where you see their whole face [[spoiler:in a photo of them and all of their friends.]]

** [[spoiler:You would not have been hospitalized by a robber for a week.]]
** You would not have met Melissa [[spoiler:and potentially saved her from her abusive step-father.]]

** Leah [[spoiler:wouldn't have set your house on fire,]] [[spoiler: killing either Megan or Melissa.]]
** [[spoiler:You would not have had to go to therapy in order to confront the demons you obtained from that experience]] as well as [[spoiler: what happened in the room that Leah locked you and your girlfriend in.]]

* FullMotionVideo: This is done only for the sex scenes. [[spoiler:There's even a button to set the speed of the act.]]

* GuideDangIt: Unless you are using the official walkthrough document in order to maximize relationship point gain with your preferred girl/ensure that certain events/endings occur, it can be difficult to deduce which choices will get you the exact ending/chain of events/sex scene you want, as many dialogue options/choices are similar, but have different consequences/relationship point effects.
* HaremGenre: PlayedWith throughout the game. While you have the freedom to have sex with or pursue almost any girl in the game, only two, [[spoiler:Megan and Melissa,]] can be romantically interested in you from the very beginning. The other encounters in the game are largely one-or-two time things, and although other potential relationships exist, they don't become apparent until the end of the game or in subsequent playthroughs.

* InnocentCohabitation: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted.]] Although you have some sort of feelings for Megan from the beginning of the story (whether it's just thinking that she's cute or actually wanting to be with her), her living with you starts out as this, with neither making any overt moves on the other. However, the situation soon turns intimate/romantic.
** Potentially played straight if you are not dating/sleeping with Melissa when she starts living with you as well. [[AvertedTrope Averted]] if you are.
* JigsawPuzzlePlot: PlayedStraight. Between Megan's developing acting career, deciding what to do about [[spoiler:Melissa's abusive step-father,]] [[spoiler:Liam dealing with his cancer,]] and you [[spoiler:trying to come to terms with your fiancée cheating on you,]] there are points where you have to remember the state of several subplots at once. Fortunately, it's usually not too much of a MindScrew.

* MarryForLove: [[spoiler:You can potentially do this with Megan or Melissa. In order to do so with either, you must have not had sex with any other girls after you started dating them.]]
* OptionalSexualEncounter: Excluding dreams and flashbacks, the vast majority of the sex scenes are optional, only occurring if you choose to pursue that girl. You can go through the whole game having the only real, presently happening sex scenes occur with [[spoiler:Megan.]]

* SimpleScoreOfSadness: At the end of Episode 6, [[spoiler: you arrive at your house to find it set on fire, with Megan and Melissa trapped inside. From the beginning of that scene to the end of the episode. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcdUzRRpu84 a somber, emotional piece,]] complete with piano, strings, and [[OneWomanWail an impassioned woman's voice]] plays, setting the mood for the remainder of the story in the most emotional way possible.]]
* TheEndOfTheBeginning: Barring specific choices/chains of events that change the fine details of the game's ending, the final shot is always [[spoiler:of you, Liam, Rena (if you encouraged her and Liam to date or if you are with her yourself), and whichever girl you saved in Episode 6 all coming back to the place where you had the camping trip.]] [[spoiler:You have a proper memorial for Megan/Melissa and spend time with each other as you reflect on life and the difficulty it can bring.]] [[spoiler:The game ends with you realizing that you and your friends/wife all still have their lives ahead of them, but the day that everything changed/was set into motion was the very day described all the way back in Episode 1:]]

* ThreeWaySex: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]] if you choose to date both Megan and Melissa. With both girls being okay with you dating both of them, and even an (unintentional) kiss happening between them in Episode 5, it does seem like a real possibility with them. However, no matter your choices, it doesn't happen before [[spoiler:one or the other dies in the house fire.]] [[PlayedStraight Played straight]] if you take both opportunities in the early episodes to hang out with Liam, allowing you to go home with both Angela and Hedwig after your night out at Inferno.
* WhamEpisode: The end of Episode 6, as well as Episode 7 and some parts of Episode 8. [[spoiler:Even though there had already been some tension in the story up until this point, it really hits you here. Episode 6 ends with your house being set on fire, trapping Megan and Melissa inside. You are only able to save one, with the other dying from their wounds.]]
** [[spoiler:The remainder of the story is wham after wham after wham. It starts with you going back to your burned house to find out how it got set on fire, with Peter being the prime suspect due to him being there earlier.]] [[spoiler:After coming to the conclusion that he did it, you get overcome with rage and emotion, taking Peter's gun from your house to his. You find him collapsed on his couch, not moving, where you have the option of leaving him alone, giving him a lethal overdose of heroin, or '''''shooting him in the head and leaving the gun to frame it as a suicide.''''']]
** [[spoiler:Then, after spending some quiet, emotional time with the girl you chose in Episode 6, you walk around the city, only to run into Leah, the nurse who took care of you in the robbery. She invites you to her place, and you talk about everything that happened. No matter your previous choices with her, she will offer to try again with you, which in that moment means having sex. If you completely rejected her before, you will automatically do so here.]] [[spoiler:However, no matter your choices, before leaving her place to go back to Liam and Megan/Melissa or Rena, you find a side room in her apartment that contains photos of ''every sexual encounter you've had in the game.'']]
** [[spoiler:After this, she ''drugs you, ties you to a chair, kidnaps your girlfriend by tying her up as well, reveals that '''''she''''' set the fire in order to kill both girls, and threatens to kill both of you, all because you wouldn't be/stay with Leah.'']] [[spoiler:Luckily, you or Megan (if she is the one who got kidnapped with you) remember about improv and (re)acting, and try to fool Leah into letting you go; it doesn't work.]]
** [[spoiler: You get out anyway by stabbing a light fixture and running out of the room, or, if you didn't leave the gun at Peter's "suicide", '''''shooting Leah dead.''''']] [[spoiler: Rena takes it UpToEleven if she is in the room with you, '''clawing at Leah's face and strangling her''' '''''even though she's already dead from the gunshots.''''']]
** [[spoiler:You and your girlfriend eventually recover from the trauma, with everything else in the story being resolved in different ways depending on your choices/girls you slept with, but it doesn't change how crazy and emotional everything gets towards the end of the story.]]

'''''However, not everything is sunshine and roses. It has been some time since you broke up with your fiancée Ana, with whom your relationship and life together could have been beautiful, had she not cheated on you and blamed it on you not having enough passion and not keeping the spark alive.'''''

''Acting Lessons'' is an episodic adult visual novel developed by solo developer [[DrPinkCake.]]

''Acting Lessons'' is an episodic adult visual novel developed by solo developer DrPinkCake.

'''Acting Lessons''' takes a different approach to Visual Novel storytelling than most, even for a Western VN. The game does not exist solely for sexual gratification, shock value, or in parody of other works. Although it does contain familiar elements such as several girls that you can choose to date or sleep with, a visible system to keep track of how each feels about you, and the occasional necessity to make choices in favor of one character at the expense of another, there isn't an extreme emphasis on the girls and the fact that you can have sex with many of them; that is, the story doesn't take a backseat for the sake of nudity and sex. It is, however, included in an uncensored manner, as it would be detrimental to the type of story the game is trying to tell to not include the sex when there are so many other adult topics being explored.

'''''Although some time has passed since that day, it is still in the back of your mind, and even now you don't quite know what to make of love in general. In any case, you go about your life, until one day, you decide to go to a different store than you usually do to buy food. There, you meet a young clerk named Megan, and from there, your life begins to change in ways that you couldn't have anticipated.''''

The game does not blatantly list a specific city as its setting, though it can be inferred from the story and environments that the game takes place somewhere on the west coast of the United States, as there are mentions of Los Angeles not being incredibly far from where the characters live.

The game opens with a shot on you, Jonas Redfield (whose name can be changed), a young man who lives alone in the city and has made a living trading cryptocurrencies. Since he has made enough money to retire and live comfortably for the rest of his life, he is able to spend his time however he pleases, oftentimes with his best friend Liam.

Jonas, with the exception of Liam, has been alone for a while. After a failed engagement to a woman named Ana, he has lost most of his spirit and fight. Shortly after the game begins, he goes to a corner store to buy food for his house and meets a store clerk named Megan. From there, his life changes immensely, though it's not necessarily sunshine and roses the whole way through.

** [[spoiler:The remainder of the story is wham after wham after wham. It starts with you going back to your burned house to find out how it got set on fire, with Peter being the main suspect due to him being there earlier.]] [[spoiler:After coming to the conclusion that he did it, you get overcome with rage and emotion, taking Peter's gun from your house to his. You find him collapsed on the couch, not moving, where you have the option of leaving him alone, giving him a lethal overdose, or '''''shooting him in the head and leaving the gun to frame it as a suicide.''''']]
** [[spoiler:Then, after spending some quiet, emotional time with the girl you chose in Episode 6, you walk around the city, only to run into Leah, the nurse who took care of you in the robbery. She invites you to her place, and you talk about everything that happened. No matter your previous choices with her, she will offer to try again with you, which in that moment means having sex. If you completely rejected her before, you will automatically do so here.]] [[spoiler:However, no matter your choices, before leaving her place to go back to Liam and Megan/Melissa, or Rena, you find a side room in her apartment that contains photos of ''every sexual encounter you've had in the game.'']]
** [[spoiler:After this, she ''drugs you, ties you to a chair, kidnaps your girlfriend by tying her up as well, reveals that '''''she''''' set the fire in order to kill both girls, and threatens to kill both of you, all because you wouldn't be/stay with Leah.'']]. [[spoiler:Luckily, you or Megan remember about improv and (re)acting, and try to fool Leah into letting you go; it doesn't work.]]
** [[spoiler: You do get out though by stabbing a light fixture and running out of the room, or, if you didn't leave the gun at Peter's "suicide", '''''shooting Leah dead.''''']] [[spoiler: Rena takes it UpToEleven if she is in the room with you, '''clawing at Leah's face and strangling her''' '''''even though she's already dead from the gunshots.''''']]