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I lowkey teared up reading this, thank you so much for enjoying ITSLYI !!!  I think a couple players didn't realise that Than took his life before the beginning of the story either, which was kind of intentional, so no worries there <3  Now to unpack what happened:

1. The start of the game is MC, whose default name is Mara (if I remember correctly), going to Than's house. Mara and Than were best friends, and have hung around each other for the longest time to the point where they both felt like family to one another.
2. Mara is terminally ill with something, that is very open to interpretation. When we were writing ITSLYI, we were so sure that we didn't want to make Than and Mara love interests, and that we wanted someone to be dead (lowkey morbid).
3. Initially, we played with the idea of Than being dead and for their death to be open-ended and up to interpretation. However, as time went on, we also played with the idea of "what if they took their life instead."
4. EDIT: You can actually see visual but subtle hints of Than being dead at the start of the game, such as the cut rope hanging from the ceiling, the rope cord around their neck, and the boxes that are packed in their room, as if someone "used to" live there.
5. Mara didn't want to be hooked onto machines, constantly taking different types of medicine everyday, and having to go to doctor checkups very often. I interpreted it as her being tired of it all, and just wanting to rest.
6. Mara wanted their final stop to be Than's room, where they spent happy memories in. We wanted that chunk of the story to be Mara "imagining" or "hallucinating" Than to be there with them. Like that thing where you see a loved one that passed away when you're on the brink of death and they're "taking you with them" because it's your time to go.
7. The flashback idea was somewhat added last minute, and was written by me! The rest was written by sternlight. We added this to give more context as to how Than died, as well as to give emphasis on Than and Mara's relationship.
   

ITSLYI will always have a special place in my heart, and will always mean so much to me. This kind of resonated with me because I also had a family member (my baby cousin) pass away sometime ago who didn't suffer a terminal illness, but was sick enough to be monitored by the hospital often and silently passing away one day which I took as said family member being tired and wanting to rest. The game took several sensitivity readings (and reassuring me that the content isn't offensive to anybody) for it to make it as what we see in the game today, and I am so glad to have published this :D

Thank you again for playing the game, and sharing your experience !! I hope to make more games that resonate with other hearts <3