Re: "top 3 out of the submissions I've gotten to play so far" Thank you so much! You're very kind!
Re that unintentional "lover's loop": Yes, unfortunately. I *believe* the only potential softlock that would actually reflect in save files is programmatically prevented, so (as you might have discovered, but noting for the benefit of anyone else reading so they don't despair and restart the game) you should be able to quit and reload from the last save and will probably be fine.