Lurker > Llarian

I spaced out the last couple days, will post again Wednesday.

---

Whenever you are about to find fault with someone, ask yourself...: What fault of mine most nearly resembles the one I am about to criticize?
-Marcus Aurelius

Giselle considers going to be with Michel, even if he wanted her to live a long and happy life without him. Her musings are met by creepy red text! Someone says it's not a guarantee she'll get to see him again...the witch? Oh dang. The witch Morgana.

The witch promises that Giselle can meet with Michel again - not now, but in a future life...as a reconstruction. It won't be exactly the same, but then again, nothing is. Morgana promises to wish for his reconstruction as well... but not hers. Giselle must live on, care for the mansion, do all the corporeal things that Morgana is incapable of, and then, maybe - she'll be able to see a reconstruction of Michel once more.

This was the moment that Giselle became the Maid. All her basic human urges vanished - desire to eat, sleep, etc. She explores the mansion after she has experienced these changes, wondering what else about the place has changed. She explores her bedroom, finding that defaced painting that Michel was once so angry about. The painting smirks at her as she looks it over once more. Freaky.
She finds letters written by Michel, and it's as though someone has dumped ink on every page to prevent her from reading them. She blames this on the witch, as well as the creepy smirk on the painting.

The doors and windows won't open. All she can do is clean. If she cries, the witch laughs. There's no one to interact with. She reads the hundreds of tomes in the library in no time at all. She already had PTSD, y'all. This is NOT helping. The witch is taking the Portal/GLaDOS approach by reminding Giselle every day that Michel hasn't returned, and mocking her for still believing and praying that he will.

1099-1200... 100 years have passed. 1200-1300. Another hundred, the Maid starts to lose her sense of self. She focuses, not on the facts of her 21 years of life, but on the fact that Michel was real, and that he loved her. 1300-1400. The witch starts being a bit nicer now [better late than never??]. Morgana urges her to make maid's garments. 1400-1500. The Maid struggles to recall details about Michel, and hopes he will come quickly. 1500-1591. A guest arrives. Morgana urges the Maid to... be a maid, I guess.

She greets one Hayden Rhodes, who is the Rhodes' siblings grandfather. Wow, we've really gone back in time, eh? Giselle does not recognize the surrounding landscape at all. Hayden trains Giselle to speak and act in a certain way. He's a middle-aged man!! Where is my middle-aged man sprite! I need it!! Okay, I'm probably the only person playing this game that actually wanted a middle-aged man sprite here, but ... still. Gimme.

Hayden renovates the home, boards up the entrances to the chapel and observation tower, and plants the rose garden with lush varieties from around the world. He speaks of his grandchildren, and he almost mentions third but then settles on when the second was born in conversation. What does that mean, I wonder? Must be the first tale with White-Haired Girl!

See you Friday!

---

Whenever you are about to find fault with someone, ask yourself...: What fault of mine most nearly resembles the one I am about to criticize?
-Marcus Aurelius

Giselle falls asleep in his arms, after expressing a desire to be able to return affection without having trauma flashbacks. It'll take some work, but it'll be worth it. The next morning, she jokes about 'last night' but Michel urges her not to joke about that. She's very self aware, and says she was trying to lighten the mood. Giselle asks Michel to call her by her name. Dale Carnegie time.

Oh goodness... Michel trying out 'babe' as a nickname killed me. They want it to last. We return to the present.

Giselle, the Maid, wants to stop there and pretend that they lived happily ever after. Noooope. I've played this game for several hours now, and that ain't how it works. Michel agrees not to let go of her hand, even if he recognizes it for what it is now, a request from her personally. The door to the past opens once more.

A new delivery of supplies, along with a letter saying that Michel's father, Antonin, has died. This means Michel won't be banished for much longer, and one of his brothers will soon restore him to the family. Michel is determined to take Giselle with him wherever he goes. One evening, she offers herself up to him, but he can tell she's not ready and leaves her be.

Michel writes two letters, one to his brother, and the other to his mother. He must be seen as a human man who loves a human woman, not someone who bears a curse. There is a looming sense of dread.

The morning that they are waiting for the carriage to take them to the main house, villagers show up with torches, bows, and arrows. Arrows rain down on the house, and they attempt to break down the door. The two lovers run to the bell tower, a dead end, but there's no other choice. The villagers aren't villagers at all, but knights. Michel insists it's his fault, and Giselle demands an explanation for why he thinks that way, why he considers himself cursed.

Once more, he goes out into the hallway to face the assailants. Giselle begs him to come back, but he claims the witch will protect and watch over her. The knights announce that they are here to kill him, and do so, despite Giselle's cries and protests. She even confesses to being the witch, but nothing changes. Michel is stabbed several times over with spears and dies, his body dragged away by the knights, who do not respond to any of Giselle's pleas. Late at night, the door swings open, and Giselle smells the blood in the hallway. Clutching Michel's stained robe in her hands, she cries bitterly.

We return to the present. They both remember what happened, and Giselle offers to tell the rest - the Maid's Tale.

We begin The Sixth Door next. See you Wednesday!

---

Whenever you are about to find fault with someone, ask yourself...: What fault of mine most nearly resembles the one I am about to criticize?
-Marcus Aurelius

You have to go after him and tell him the truth. Yikes. The mortifying ordeal of being known. She wants a do-over. That's adorable. Is she super cute to everyone that plays this game, or is it just me? This is so awful, these little 'do or die' moments. I managed to recover from one, but it's so difficult in general. Ouch. This hurts. He rejects her outright. Not cruelly, or too personally... just says he doesn't feel the same way about her.

We get a brief flash of someone saying 'You're disgusting. I can't believe... you actually had the gall to fall for me.' Who? Is this the future that Michel was imagining with Giselle, where she would push him away eventually anyway?

Michel pushes past his own doubts and confesses his true feelings. Giselle collides with him in a big hug and cries, asking him to repeat himself over and over. To be honest, this is reminding me of depression? It makes it so difficult, almost impossible to express yourself properly. Even if you have the energy to do it, which you so rarely do. You're in a box, and even though your lover can see your face, you can't give them the feelings, the expressions, the loving words that they need. It's like you're locked away. But rather than seeing you as you are, they see who you truly are inside. Depression feels like a curse, sometimes.

Giselle asks Michel to look at her scars. He wasn't ready to face them before. She shows him, and they talk about her pain, and he promises not to hurt her. He asks her to stay by his side, and in exchange, he promises not to look away from her pain. This causes her to dissolve into weeping that lasts until the morning light.

See you Monday!

---

Whenever you are about to find fault with someone, ask yourself...: What fault of mine most nearly resembles the one I am about to criticize?
-Marcus Aurelius

We acknowledge that these scenes are our memories, not just a retelling of someone else's story. Michel urges us to return to them, to see what comes next. He's pretty sure it's going to be no worse than the present state of affairs. And if this game has taught me anything... he's about to be so, so wrong.

Giselle is so thoughtful. She feels pushy but, my heart... This kind of effort is what I try to do all the time. I try to make things better for my sweetheart. I don't often push outside of the comfort zone, instead I try my best to make life as easy as I can. Idk, it's not really sustainable, but it's where I feel most at home emotionally? I think the important thing is to communicate, instead of making up problems that you can solve in your own mind.

Goodness, when she calls him Hair Monster, I kinda lost it.

Love the sheer variety of facial expressions they've given Giselle. She expresses all these different emotions and it's so fun.

Oh gross, he boiled veggies. Noooope.

We get an accidental hand on chest, and then a dumb dismissal of the situation from Michel brings him some consequences XD

They play several rounds of chess [he beats her!], get into some arm wrestling [she beat him!], and get to know each other better. The year progresses, they grow closer as friends, they gather around the fireplace in the winter and read together. Michel offers to her the idea that if he were to return to his family, that they could live in the city as master and servant, away from the house with its horrible history. Giselle agrees.

Giselle finds a rose blooming in the garden at night and brings Michel out to look at it. He impulsively picks it, tucking it behind her ear, then makes a weak excuse of wanting to draw the rose and that Giselle would make a better background for it than a simple vase.

ARTISTS ARE CREEPERS Y'ALL

...she said, as an art major who is well aware of what goes into drawing a PERSON and how it's WAY MORE DIFFICULT than drawing a flower. Goodness, Michel, you're so bad at this XD

Giselle lets it slip that she'd be happy with anything drawn by the man she loves. Didn't realize she said that. There's romantic tension, they grow closer and closer and lock eyes and then...

A throbbing heartbeat. Giselle's mind returns to that awful room with Michel's father, and being made to go against her will, again and again.

She shoves Michel out of the way, and when the dust settles, he bids her goodnight without any further discussion. She realizes what happened, but can't really do anything about it.

See you Friday!


---

Whenever you are about to find fault with someone, ask yourself...: What fault of mine most nearly resembles the one I am about to criticize?
-Marcus Aurelius

The two apologize to each other and consider it good. Michel feels uneasy because what he did is so much worse, comparatively, than what Giselle did. Plus he's related to his father - were he in Giselle's shoes, he would have trouble forgiving any member of that family for anything.

From Giselle's point of view - she wished she had gotten to know Michel earlier. She gently asks him to tell about himself, as she did. He vocalizes an opposition to his own thoughts, but Giselle takes it wrong.

He explains that his mother had trouble giving birth, she considered him possessed by a demon because of his appearance, and he had to be locked away for the last 10 years. It would cause a problem for the Bollinger family if others were to find they were harboring a demonic child.

Giselle says she thought he looked like an angel.

Michel confesses that he hears the witch's voice in his head, and that's what distracts him and makes him irritable during conversations. Giselle promises to be loud enough to drown out the sound of the witch's voice!

The piece that plays during this portion, prior to the vocalizing, is very reminiscent of Moonlight Sonata to me...

Michel asks Giselle to put any requests into words, he doubts his ability to pick up on hints or clues. They begin to open up the windows that are not boarded up to let a little light in.

Giselle has PTSD flashbacks at night when she's alone. Michel [?] leaves her a glass of wine one night. We return to the Maid.

See you Wednesday!


---

Whenever you are about to find fault with someone, ask yourself...: What fault of mine most nearly resembles the one I am about to criticize?
-Marcus Aurelius

Giselle stumbles out into the rain, has an extreme trauma response, and then lays down to die, as if giving up. We come back to the Maid and realize she is Giselle and we are Michel. But it's still too soon, they say. We must go through all of it in order to reclaim it.

A man saves her from the forest and gives her a place to sleep and some warm milk. She thanks him after resting there for the day, and tries to bid him farewell, but he invites her to stay in the village. His name is Amedee. He claims that the village will be welcoming of her. He studied with a priest, you say. Reminds me of Mell.

I'm concerned, because as they say, when it's free, the product is YOU.

Amedee explains the history of the now-ruined town to Giselle, explaining that tablets left over from that time explained that they had been cursed by the witch. He warns her about the mansion where Morgana, the witch, lives - little does he know, she's already been there. The villagers are nomads who have settled down in the area, and with no lord to exact taxes from them, they enjoy a peaceful, pastoral life.

Amedee proposes a life together, but says, 'no pressure'. Classic tactic. >_> He keeps bringing it up and all Giselle can do is apologize since she can't commit to it.

Then, a lord finds out about the people living there, and decides he will collect taxes, and 5 years' back taxes for the unauthorized time that they've been living there. I suspect it's Michel's daddio. Even if I'm wrong, this won't go well.

The tension between the villagers rises as they become increasingly aware of each other's business and personal property. Amedee sides with the villagers when Giselle is accused of stealing. They take her to Amedee's house and repeatedly dunk her head under gross mop water. Eugh. This is turning worse, they've decided she's 'village property'. That does not bode well.

In a last-ditch effort to save herself, Giselle sells out Michel by telling the villagers about the furniture and hand-copied books that are within the mansion's walls, that are worth a pretty penny and could be exchanged for the lord's exorbitant tax levy. Amedee insists that Giselle lead the way so she doesn't think of trying to escape.

They encounter Michel after breaking down the door, and he insists he has the witch's power and will curse anyone who enters. The villagers quickly surrender Giselle per Michel's request, and flee.
Michel completely misunderstands Giselle's situation and yells at her, saying she sickens him, etc. He tells her to flee.

Giselle calls his bluff by challenging him to kill her, if he wants her gone so terribly.

She explains that she was r*ped by Michel's father repeatedly. Michel falls silent. Giselle begs him to kill her, she doesn't want to live anymore if she can't make a difference at all through believing things will sort themselves out and keeping a smile on her face.

We learn through the retelling of Giselle's trauma and her subsequent conversation with Michel, that Michel has two brothers, Didier and Georges. Michel's father thinks Michel to be dead. Didier must have organized this. Michel wishes he would have heard the truth earlier, but Giselle explains that she would not have been able to explain the situation with Michel holding that knife. Ever since her traumatic abuse at the hands of his father, any time she sees a knife, she freezes and can't really think or talk.

Giselle expresses surprise at Michel's willingness to hear and absorb the trauma of her stories. She makes him apologize repeatedly, louder and louder, for his part in all of it. That, at least, makes her laugh.

See you Monday!


---

Whenever you are about to find fault with someone, ask yourself...: What fault of mine most nearly resembles the one I am about to criticize?
-Marcus Aurelius

Apparently Giselle was the daughter of a merchant, and this was a chance to do something different and possibly make ends meet. The Bollinger estate approached her to become an abigail, and they promised to take care of her family. She talks about this aloud in a prayer of sorts, Michel observes from the shadows.

Michel goes to see the manservant who delivers the supplies and spooks him a little bit. Michel says he doesn't have the power to kill by way of curse. Hmmmm... Michel gives the man a letter for Michel's mother.

Giselle makes up her mind to connect with Michel - his silent, constant rejection of her was growing to be a little too much to bear. Especially since the happiness of her family depended on her continued employment here at the mansion soaked in a dark aura. She seeks him out, but he's not in his room. Giselle unveils a painting of a beautiful woman with light hair and skin [WHG, perhaps?], but the canvas is cut repeatedly, obscuring her face. Michel reappears at that time, demanding to know why she was there when she was expressly told not to be in that room.

Michel reveals his suspicions - that someone hired Giselle to get close to the family and discover Michel's wellbeing and whereabouts to bring down the Bollinger family. He's threatening her with a knife and she's terrified, finding it difficult to speak. He suspects the worst. This art piece of his glowing red eyes is amazing. All the art is just unbelievably high quality.

Oh crap.

Ohhhh crap.

In her quest for money, Giselle slept with the Bollinger patriarch, Michel's father. Michel stabs her [metaphorically?] and she runs out into the bitter cold and rainy night. We receive an unsavory flashback of the deed- it was not consensual. Giselle had been coerced because of his status and his promise to care for her family. The old man made it a regular thing, painting himself as the victim because his sons didn't visit and his wife was unwell. Anyone that asks you to keep secrets like this does not have your best interests at heart.

He carved the word 'harlot' into her skin and bruised her in inconspicuous places. D: Horrible. The way she describes coping by perceiving her body as separate from her mind/heart is very similar to actual accounts I have heard and read of people who have been abused this way, such as wartime 'comfort women', etc.

The woman of the house confronts her about sleeping with the father. With this heavy accusation of adultery, Giselle would be sent to the one place that was a punishment in itself - with Michel. Instead of a sense of dread, Giselle feels relieved at being able to get away, physically, from her abuser.

See you Friday!

---

Whenever you are about to find fault with someone, ask yourself...: What fault of mine most nearly resembles the one I am about to criticize?
-Marcus Aurelius

Sorry about that, y'all - busy week. I'll resume this Wednesday, 3/10.

---

Whenever you are about to find fault with someone, ask yourself...: What fault of mine most nearly resembles the one I am about to criticize?
-Marcus Aurelius

It proceeds more or less like Fourth Door had, except White-Haired Girl is swapped out for Giselle, who looks more or less like The Maid in a different outfit, and more lively with an actual skin color instead of a deathly pallor.

Giselle was an abigail sent by the main house to Michel, but since he deeply distrusts the main house and his family, he tries to ignore her and becomes increasingly irritated at being called 'Master'.

It's told from Giselle's point of view, and then changes to Michel's once she gets buried in the books while cleaning. He is obviously distant, and makes no bones about it. Giselle, however, keeps pushing at the edges of his icy demeanor. She wants to share life with him, and he's not having any of it. 10 years in this place, people coming...and going... There's no reason to stay attached.

This is a fascinating part of the story to play after 2020, with so much inside isolation. It sure takes on a different feeling when Giselle talks about how staying inside all the time can't be healthy, and that you have to clean, and you should have fresh air and light.

On Michel's sprite sometimes, it looks like one of his eyes is lighter than the other. Only when he's moody and thoughtful - when he's angry or neutral, they're the same color.

I do love Giselle's outfit in these scenes.

Michel does the old 'yell at Giselle because she tried to look at the weird painting your family sent you'. Michel reminds her that they are not equals, and even if she is upset by his actions, she can just leave and find her path in the surrounding woods. At this point he demands that Giselle tell him what happened at the Bollinger estate and what she messed up. Must have been pretty significant to be sent out here to the young man in exile.

He becomes angry with her after seeing emotions on her face that remind him of his family and how much they hurt him. He shakes her by the shoulders and she screams and runs away from him. They reach a tacit understanding, and Giselle sets about unpacking the delivery, shocked that Michel didn't kick her out, and disturbed by their exchange. This isn't exactly the same, because otherwise his touch would have poisoned her. But it did so anyway - emotionally.

See you Wednesday!

---

Whenever you are about to find fault with someone, ask yourself...: What fault of mine most nearly resembles the one I am about to criticize?
-Marcus Aurelius

Giselle leaves the room at the top of the steps and sees the horrible scene - Michel, brutally slaughtered, and the empty husks of the angry mob that had come to kill the witch. At this point, Giselle receives an offer from The Witch, Morgana:

"Would you like to see him once more?"

[Admiral Ackbar voice:] IT'S A TRAP

Morgana proceeds to promise Giselle 'eternal reconstruction' and that she will find Michel again and again, in different times and circumstances. She agrees. Shortly thereafter, Giselle takes her own life, wanting to speed the connection to her next life to reunite with Michel.

Apparently we are White-Haired Girl/Giselle. We were forced through tragedy in our past lives because we could not reunite with Michel in those times. The Maid presents herself as the cursed witch Morgana.

We now have 3 options. I chose 'there's more to be done'

We wonder if what Morgana told us is true.

I encounter red text: 'You mustn't reclaim your old self.' I instead chose the only option available to me, 'Reclaim yourself'.

Once again, 'Reclaim yourself'. You have to keep insisting on it, even though the red text tries to talk you out of it. Even though it threatens to place a curse on your soul.

The White-Haired Girl was never at the mansion. The image we saw of her in the light transforms into a dark-haired girl with a red rose in her hair. You insist to the Maid that the fourth door was bogus.

There was never a White-Haired Girl. There was only Giselle, the Maid. She insists on staying apart, on avoiding pain. We have the option to avoid forcing her. This was Ending 3, Bonjour poupe.

Now for Not remembering isn't an option. We fall down into an abyss. The Fifth Door - 1099.

We start up the Fourth Door story againnnn. I'll also go back and choose differently to try and trace through different endings.

See you Monday!

---

Whenever you are about to find fault with someone, ask yourself...: What fault of mine most nearly resembles the one I am about to criticize?
-Marcus Aurelius

Michel tells Giselle that anything he touches, loses its life. He demonstrates with a butterfly.

She refuses to be repulsed by this, and insists that she stay there with him. She fears loneliness most of all, and since they have similar problems with being rejected by society, they can remain together where no one will bother them.

To not be able to touch anyone, for any reason... I can't fathom it.

Giselle confesses to Michel that she loves him, and he adioses for a few days, holed up in his room. She apologizes and says she'll take her leave if he wants, but he encourages her to do what SHE wants - to stay or go.

There's weird text, not in red that reads 'aaaaah ah ah ah aaaaaaaaaah' in the backlog when Giselle is invited to enter Michel's room. I've been checking it frequently but aside from the typical dialogue redactions, nothing's come up. Michel gives Giselle a bell necklace that she can wear, signaling her location throughout the mansion and keeping them safely apart so he doesn't accidentally take her life with a single touch.

Repeating letters/oddly spaced white text reads,'Images are slithering into my head replacing memories before they can surface aaah ah ah ah stop'

Michel talks about how the windows are rusted shut and have been ever since he can remember. Giselle confesses that she is sensitive to light, so it is better for her in the dark.

Red text: "Ahahahaha... What a beautiful story. Much better than the real thing, is it not, my dear?"

And squishy background sounds. Ugh. There are red streaky distortions that flash across the image of the game now. Eugh. I don't like where this is going. It kinda freaks me out, like there's something wrong with my computer.
Michel teaches her to read, and eventually they are reading together, at a safe distance, of course. Giselle, hearing that Michel is not that into fiction, picks up an adventure storybook called 'The Witch'. Apparently, you can seek out a witch's assistance in solving a problem, but it may come at a terrible price. This old legend, Giselle supposes, is why she is treated with fear and scorn, as a witch. They recognize a phrase in the legend about finding the witch by 'ascending to the heavens' or something. The story goes that the mansion Michel lives in is the one the witch was born in, so it would stand to reason that the observation tower might lead to the 'heavens' being mentioned.

Oh, no, is this the freaking PLACE? I don't even know what to say, but the weird background window when they reach the top of the tower looks like the background for one of Mell's creepy visions where he wanted to help a girl but couldn't or something, I'm not remembering it clearly. Nope. Nope nope nope.

Looks like there has been some construction, covering a window perhaps? But Michel doesn't know why they would do that. The thin ray of light coming from the existing window falls on Giselle and she's lovely!
Now ALL of their dialogue is redacted. Oh geez.

I'll talk about what happens between Michel and Giselle here, since there's a whole 'nother thing going on in the backlog. Giselle talks to Michel about being able to touch, but she says she doesn't mind not touching. They pretend an exercise where Michel holds out his hand and Giselle imagines him touching her face, her hair.
The narration indicates that sorrow is not far off, but it's House in Fata Morgana, is sorrow ever lagging behind?
White text: 'My dear friend... the two of us have MUCH more in common with each other than anyone else. We both sufered at others' hands- and we both deserve to have our vengeance.'

'Go on, what's the matter? Make this tale into your reality. Surrender yourself, in this moment, to this beautiful story and remain here in the mansion with Giselle. Watch, in this moment, this dream.'

'............ Who are you...?'

'Well, THAT'S a surprise. You actually have a conscious mind? And are you aware of who you are?'

'............'

'Ahaha... You know nothing.'

'Who... are you...?'

'Someone you once spent a great deal of time with.'

'............'

'I must say, I am impressed you made it back here, my dear... Your soul WAS ground into dust.'

'............'

'It will all come back to you eventually. And then I'll be there with you again, my dear... whispering into your ear for centuries to come. And this time, I will NOT fail... I'll mold your soul into the same shape as mine.'

'Ahaha... What a wonderful little show these puppets are putting on for us, wouldn't you say?'

'...Giselle... Giselle...?'

'Indeed, that is Giselle. The White-Haired Girl standing there is Giselle.'

'We once...read a book together... It was... by the fireplace...'

'You did not. Those memories are false. Books belong in the library. Why would they be by the fireplace?'

'Curse them. Slaughter them. Revile them. Inflict eternal suffering on all their souls. Take revenge on the fools who laughed as we agonized.'

A creepy man shows up in the night asking around about the legend of the witch. Giselle tries to appease him to no effect. Just as he's about to hurt her in a variety of ways, Michel emerges and springs into action, injuring the man and forcing him to take off into the night. The man cuts Michel's arm and in the darkness, some of his blood splashes on Giselle. That ain't good.

Giselle's life slowly ebbs away from her due to the effect of Michel's blood. She asks him to hold her hand now, and he refuses.

White text: 'Dark. Dark. Dark. It's dark. How long has it been dark here? How long have I been in the darkness? It's so cold here... Freezing... Where... Where could she have gone? Where could she... she... Giselle, yes... Her smile shines so bright it can cast away the darkness. I must take her hand... She's been calling for me... for so long... ...Take her hand? But I'm cursed... That would kill her... ............ ...No... ...no, nO, nO... ...thIS... tHiS IS aLL a LIE'

An angry mob comes back to kill the witch, Michel is distraught realizing that there's no way out of this one. Giselle urges him to hand her over to the mob, but he refuses. They agree to die together, to not abandon each other, no matter what happens. She tenderly asks for a final embrace, and he obliges. She dies there in his arms, and he lays her gently to one side, knowing that the mob who have already broken in will begin searching. He will not allow anyone to disturb her body. He goes out and closes the door behind him, offering himself up as the witch the mob seeks.

BRO. SHE'S NOT DEAD. AUGH. NO.

---

Whenever you are about to find fault with someone, ask yourself...: What fault of mine most nearly resembles the one I am about to criticize?
-Marcus Aurelius

We return to the mansion, but we've lost track of the Maid, the one we're supposed to always hold the hand of and never let go. A pitch-black painting starts talking to us. Creepy.

We were able to ask the painting several successive questions, including Who are you? Who am I? What is this place? Who is the Maid? Under your identity, the man in the painting realizes that none of the previous stories has jogged your memory. Maybe you're a different master than those. He mentions, "You were able to bear 'em because they weren't YOUR tragedies..." Wow, what an amazing quote.

You explore various areas of the mansion along with their associated memories that you can't interact with. There's a Bestia-related jumpscare of sorts in the cellar, and you return to the stained glass window after having seen it before. You call for the Maid. She claims that instead of her disappearing, you were the one who disappeared. She doesn't know anything about the master bedroom key you received from the painting and used to see memories in the master bedroom. You climb with her up into the observation tower.

The Fourth Door, the year is 1099. We quote Ezekiel 24:5. In the Backlog only, a creepy message appears in red: Erase everything - all your sorrows. Wipe them away for a fistful of happiness. Allow me to show you...that you have no need of the past.

Here we go! A group of people are pursuing White-Haired Girl [WHG]. We're on to Ezekiel 32. WHG prays, but if you go back to the Backlog, it's redacting parts of her prayer. Is this what it meant? WHG is cornered and must enter the mansion, it appears abandoned. We're experiencing this through the eyes of WHG. She scrambles for a light and eventually uncovers the stained glass window. The man approaches and requests that we not open the drapes. This reminds me of the Giselle and Michel moment from earlier. The image of the man with the candle distorts.

All the dialogue is slightly redacted in the Backlog with no real rhyme or reason. This feels like having memory problems. o_o;;; The man is now called Michel. We must be Giselle? Maybe? In any event, I'll have to play this in fairly quick succession. WHG is being hunted by people who believe her to be a witch.

More secret text in the Backlog: My lifeblood was your sustenance - your prosperity. Upon my blood did you build your lives - a sin so great it shall never be forgiven - and by my blood were your lives extinguished. This- This is the power granted unto me by God. My blood shall become a curse- blotting out the stars. I am the witch, Morgana. Now let us begin a tale... The beautiful finale to this world.

Yeah. There's more: You, having been trapped in perpetual darkness, found light in the same house where I withered away. That light was bestowed upon you by a certain woman... was it not? Leave everything to me, my dear. I promise, I shall make this into a most beautiful tale. Yes, I am giving you special treatment- a rare act of kindness from me. Of warmth. You do not wish her to know the truth... and I can make better use of her like this... so it is to both of our benefits... to rewrite the woman you loved.

So Michel reluctantly allows WHG to stay in the mansion, provided she promises not to enter his room. WHG can't stay still for long, and she begins to clean in the library, knocking over a multitude of books. In 1099, the printing press was not yet invented, and books needed to be painstakingly constructed and copied by hand. Michel offers the books to her to borrow, saying he receives one per month from family. WHG introduces herself as Giselle and Michel introduces himself, deflecting compliments as he does so. Michel warns of the effects of the curse, but Giselle is unfazed. Giselle asks him to teach her to read.

Giselle notices they're running low on food, but when she asks Michel, he's deliberately evasive. Someone comes to the door with a delivery. Michel urges Giselle to take the book, and says he'll show her his curse.

More to come Friday!

---

Whenever you are about to find fault with someone, ask yourself...: What fault of mine most nearly resembles the one I am about to criticize?
-Marcus Aurelius

Maria presents the letter and tells Jacopo that WHG is having an affair. Wat. Turns out Maria is playing both sides like a fiddle, and laughing all the while. Now that I can see her sprite in profile, it appears that Maria truly does have short hair - which with a little research means she likely experienced poverty and had to cut and sell her hair. Wigs were in fashion for the rich to add to their natural hair, or to convincingly cover baldness or thinning hair.

So every single 'nice' thing Maria's done has also been undone by her on the other side, fanning the flames of Jacopo's insecure suspicions. She's exactly right - this would all fall apart if they would only talk to and listen to each other, but they won't, and that's what makes it so easy.

According to Maria's convo with Tommaso during his visit, apparently Jacopo and Maria's families have very good reason for not getting along, but she claims not to care about that. This is elaborate for revenge - but truly, don't come between a woman and her family. It's like getting the business end of a grizzly bear mama.

The art in this game is incredible. Stunning. I can't believe it. The different emotions, textures, materials. This image of Jacopo clutching a letter in his hand, gritting his teeth with seething anger. Apparently, his father demanded that Jacopo command respect, and that if his wife were to ever be unfaithful - the response should be to kill her before anyone discovered and had the chance to disrespect or betray the family further.

Jacopo can't find it in himself to kill her, though - he considers this to be a last resort.

<He goes out to a prepared carriage, but the coachman looks unfamiliar - it's the owner of a manufacturing plant that Jacopo put out of business, and he holds a grudge. He stabs Jacopo in the stomach and rides off. Jacopo wakes up in his own room, White-Haired Girl [WHG] tending to him and his wounds. This is the most scandalous part of the game - he asks her to hold his hand. And she does - ah! I can't believe they would do something so promiscuous in this game. XD> Turns out during <this part> he was having a weird dream and it is in fact the Maid he is talking to.

Maria offers many other letters from WHG, along with tales to make Jacopo unhappy. She does the same with WHG. She tells them both to get a divorce and they both refuse to, she applauds their stalwart dedication to unhappiness while pointing out that they're both clearly miserable.

Jacopo plans to speak with WHG directly, no matter what. Maria is in the midst of plotting how to turn this around on him, when a maid tells her the Head Maid was unhappy with her once-over of the cellar, telling her to clean it again. She finds a creepy inscription on the floor in what looks similar to her own handwriting, in her own native tongue. Maria comes across a painting that looks like it's of WHG, but it's cut and torn. Maria takes it and leaves it outside the little shack where WHG lives, and it convinces her to give up on the day of Jacopo's railroad opening. Wow, I've heard of the Poor Communication Kills trope, but this is devastating.

Jacopo visits the shack on the day before the railroad joining ceremony and reminisces outside her door as he's trying to be respectful. He notes that he was unkind during their honeymoon, and all the other ways he's messed up over time. He's talking for a long time and there's silence. Did she kill herself? I know she's present in every story, but as evidenced by Bestia, it doesn't serve as plot armor in the slightest.

He realizes the door is unlocked and enters, but WHG is nowhere to be found. Only a letter on her desk and a worn phenakistascope, clearly well-used over the last year. Jacopo can't believe it - the item was made of paper, and if she was seeing other men, why would she keep it? Or use it as much as she clearly had over the last year or so? He reads the letter.

I was correct, it seems. I'm impressed with how they've written the letter, which reads very similarly to real ones I have read. The letter was dated two days before, the original date set for the joining ceremony. Due to weather, it had been postponed. Jacopo realized that all the letters written were to him. He realized WHG had waited. He stormed off to the one person who could have manipulated this terrible misunderstanding.

He finds her all dressed up in his own bedroom, looking down on him. The truth comes out - Jacopo's father took power by killing Maria's dad and grandpa in a "carriage accident" rigged to explode. Wow, how sick. Maria says the only thing left is to kill Jacopo. She would have taken over the position if she had been a man. She fires a gun at him but misses anything critical. Jacopo lets a bullet fly and hits Maria between the eyes, killing her.

He urges the Maid to find a doctor who can keep his care quiet. She asks him if he expects his own riches to comfort him. This is a great line: "For unlike money, humans are not measurable by their appearance". YES. THIS.

Wait, so Jacopo searches everywhere for the WHG? ...Why? Or why wasn't he searching for a body? That letter so obviously reads like a suicide note to me...?


---

Whenever you are about to find fault with someone, ask yourself...: What fault of mine most nearly resembles the one I am about to criticize?
-Marcus Aurelius

You find yourself back in the corridor with the Maid. She distorts for a few moments, then returns to normal. She invites you to the Third Door, 1869. I went back, and the other option merely skips the Giselle and Michel clip.
In 1869, greedy investor Jacopo is the master of the house, and the Maid admits that she doesn't like him as master. White-Haired Girl [WHG] shows up as Jacopo's wife, but he's verbally abusive when she brings tea and tries to be a good hostess to his business acquaintances.

He takes her by the arm and snaps at her, telling her to seclude herself in her bedroom, calling her all kinds of names and insults. The Maid notes that she "has little fondness for men who do not treat their spouses with respect", and to this I say PREACH.

Apparently, since Jacopo mistreats her, many of the maids feel that they can treat her terribly in secret as well. One bumps into her, and WHG drops the tray of tea, breaking the porcelain. She tries to collect the pieces, slicing a finger in the process. But not all maids are heartless, one named Maria comes to her aid.

This jazzy 'sing out' musical number is throwing me off a little bit, but I like it. Turns out Maria the maid and WHG the lady of the house are good friends behind the scenes, and Maria bandages WHG's finger as they chat privately. The maids mentioned something about Maria being a favorite of the master, so hmmm... I wonder what will come of that little tidbit.

UH. Maria says she likes WHG's hands. As in, REALLY likes them. Ngl, Maria did give me a certain vibe. She claims to be teasing or joking, but uh, who hasn't been there, right? Where you have to pass off flirting as a joke?

...Right?

WHG tells the tale of when Jacopo was kind, but he sounds 'reluctantly terrible' rather than kind. Like, he isn't as freely terrible as he was when he was introduced at the beginning, but he does have some choice insults and put-downs. Not what I'd like to experience on my honeymoon.

They go to a shop that has cameras and other devices, and WHG wonders aloud if they will take a photo portrait together. He dismisses the idea as she mentions she has had a portrait painted, but not a photo taken. He urges the shopkeep to fetch the item he ordered. It's a phenakistoscope, and when it spins it creates an optical illusion of a couple dancing. WHG is amazed. Even at this sweet little time of enjoyment, Jacopo is insisting she say that it's better than her painted portrait. They're two different things, and she's allowed to like both. Ugh. Controlling, insecure guys are awful.

"He's not a bad man, he just has trouble expressing himself." Dude. If you let the universe be heliocentric for two seconds instead of Jacopo-centric, it would be extremely easy to express yourself in a way that is kinder and gentler to other people.

...and he's Italian. Adorable, game. Real cute. I'm half-tempted to quit the game right now. This is such crap.
WHG notes she wasn't put off by his behavior, even though he loudly complained all through dinner. Noooope, that's Stockholm syndrome right there. You were very put off by it, you were just terrified at the time of drawing his ire if you insisted he behave properly.

He's not Italian. Of course. He's SICILIAN. And a sincere screw you to this. I'll keep playing. But I'm not happy. You know what would have been different, game? What would have been truly revolutionary? Showing a Sicilian who was a trustworthy family man like the men in my family. Showing a Sicilian who, although passionate, wasn't a total jerk. That would have been welcome, refreshing even.

We return to Maria telling Jacopo a ghost story, making him yelp.

"Dealing with other women is like walkin' on glass," Maria says. Yeah, not all the time, but sometimes - this is a fair assessment of how it feels.

It seems Maria knows about the situation Jacopo came up from, and that's part of their bond. He points out that they could trade something other than ghost stories, and Maria says she'll consider it. Hmmm...

The Maid tries to push White-Haired Girl [WHG] to recall some of the previous times where she lived in this mansion, to no avail.

WHG gives Jacopo a rose, thinking its fragrance will calm him - but he sees it, and indeed the entire rose garden, as a sign of weakness. He has workmen chop down the roses, despite WHG and Maria's protests. This guy is really the worst.

Maria visits WHG late at night and expresses sympathy at the removal of her rose garden sanctuary. Maria then mischievously suggests that they dance, as Jacopo is out inspecting a factory. Maria splashes a little perfume on WHG and drags her off to the great hall. They dance, they laugh and giggle together. WHG isn't very active, so she tires easily and they move to leave the great hall and chat in WHG's bedroom for a bit longer. Before they reach the door, it opens - Jacopo.

He loudly accuses her of planning to leave the mansion in his absence, complains about the perfume, and rants and raves that he'll never let her disgrace him. She did nothing wrong. She was just having fun in her own home. If you're ever in this sort of situation - you didn't do anything wrong. The person who's abusing you is insecure and full of the fear of losing control over the situation. You are a human being and you deserve to be treated with respect.

Maria offers to talk to Jacopo and make him understand the truth, which is a sweet idea, but I'm afraid for her. Jacopo is the type of guy to lash out at anyone and everyone. I'm afraid he'll do something really stupid.

The next day, an emaciated man named Tommaso comes by, demanding money from Jacopo because they're part of the same cosca, or mafia clan. Hrgh. Jacopo urges the Maid to give him some money as she escorts him out the door, and she complies. Tommaso gives Jacopo some vanilla-scented perfume and tells him to give it to White-Haired Girl [WHG]. He also recommends that Jacopo treat his wife a little better. Uh, YEAH. I'm with the drifter on this one. Jacopo is furious because Tommaso claims WHG asked him for advice.

Jacopo barges into WHG's room, grabs her by her hair and starts SCREAMING at her, accusing her of disobeying him, of looking down on him because she's from nobility, of being unfaithful. He threatens to further restrict her, placing her in a shack in the remains of the rose garden and locking the door, forbidding her from speaking to anyone including the servants. Bro. This ain't love. This is criminal.

Maria ends up taking over for bringing WHG her meals 3x a day, and sometimes she is able to stay and chat. WHG describes a trauma response - freezing when Jacopo is angry with her, instead of as Maria suggests, getting angry right back at him. WHG mentions that she will write a letter to Jacopo, if Maria can hand-deliver it, and Maria agrees readily.

Jacopo's getting moody because he sees himself as dirty compared to WHG, because he's worried about protecting her from his dark mafia world. I'm suppressing an eye roll. Maria arrives, presumably with the letter.

The two of them experience a flashback to their younger days, when one was 12 and the other 14. Maria had to leave town and Jacopo was wishing her goodbye. They were childhood friends, and they hung out in an abandoned farmhouse that they named Casa Nostra, Our House. You know, after Cosa Nostra, Our Thing - the Mafia. He gives her a cartridge from a Colt Navy as a symbol of their friendship, making her promise to give it back upon her return. Their families didn't get along.


---

Whenever you are about to find fault with someone, ask yourself...: What fault of mine most nearly resembles the one I am about to criticize?
-Marcus Aurelius

The Maid explains that perhaps Yukimasa, seeing the half-Japanese Pauline, was afraid it was another beast. The truth of the tragedy is only revealed because we saw it again through her eyes. White-Haired Girl [WHG] speaks to Yukimasa of the village's xenophobia, which led them to ostracize him. I guess a couple generations of his family had lived in Europe, banned from returning to Japan for some reason. His grandfather left him a katana.

As Yukimasa travelled with Pauline's father, there was a smuggler on board their ship. The associated Japanese official who received the smuggled goods was forced to die by seppuku. Yukimasa suggests the same for the smuggler, as to minimize damage to the ship's overall reputation, and offers himself as the man's second [to cut off his head]. I suspect this will go poorly and perhaps something will happen to Pauline's father. Either way, I think we got serious fantasy-enhanced PTSD fun times ahead. Yukimasa kills the man as he pleads that he's been set up - and Pauline's father detects a smile from Yukimasa as he does it, which Yukimasa immediately denies.

After the possibility arises that another seafarer may have been tied up in the smuggling, Yukimasa promises Captain Asama [Pauline's father] that he will handle it. He tortures the man to death, showing him no mercy. He tosses the man's body in the ocean and plans to lie about it.

Yukimasa also lied when Pauline asked him about trouble at sea, if anything happened or went wrong - he said it was 'without incident'. I find his character design very compelling. We are not monsters, no matter what we have done. We are human. That is possibly the most terrifying fact, and the most difficult to accept.

White-Haired Girl [WHG] falls ill, and Yukimasa promises to go back to the village to try and find her some medicine, or her special request - oranges. The doctor's out, but the fruit vendor mentions that a small boy [likely Javi?] has rounded up the men of the village to go hunt the beast. Yukimasa realizes that WHG is in the mansion all alone, ill, and defenseless. He runs off without the oranges to defend her.

He arrives far too late, he slips on the blood in her bedchamber and follows the red trail all the way down to the cellar where the villagers have already killed her. His last cover of peace ripped away, he promises to slay all of them. There's no beast more fearsome than a human with nothing left to lose.

We walk away with the Maid as she tells the tale of how the village was utterly destroyed by Bestia, how his expert swordsmanship cut down every person. As you walk away from the cellar, you catch a glimpse of white hair in the window. I chose to reach out my hand, but you can also choose to avert your eyes. Strategic saves may come in handy here.

You see a vision, a woman named Giselle approaches the mansion and goes inside, thinking it abandoned. A beautiful man named Michel with long, light-colored hair greets her. He urges her to take some furniture if she needs money, but suspects she won't stay long if she knows the curse of the mansion - a very real witch, he tells her.

---

Whenever you are about to find fault with someone, ask yourself...: What fault of mine most nearly resembles the one I am about to criticize?
-Marcus Aurelius

Door 2 - 1707
We open it to find a terrifying beast within. It's slaughtered many and the stench of blood and carnage is almost overwhelming. There is wine and foodstuffs, but mostly it just smells like death as this terrifying creature rips into its latest kill.

A war has just ended, and bodies litter the open areas. I have noticed that the transitions have changed, a growing dark and inky blot rather than the tidy growing and shrinking circle from Door 1. The creature is asked by the Maid what its name is, and it introduces itself reluctantly as Bestia.

This is bringing 2015 into sharp focus. Bestia is Bestia. Anyway...

The Maid hands it something very much like the gift given to White-Haired Girl during Mell's highly-orchestrated walking-out with her... Bestia holds it gently. If this connects to the previous door, I wouldn't be surprised at the unsettling feeling that this is what Mell's spirit has become.

All righty. Bestia learns to dress, speak, and act as a master of the house. A merchant stumbles in, quite lost, and we host him for a meal - but as soon as he mentions a terrifying beast on the loose killing people and that he has a knife to protect himself against said beast... Bestia jumps into action, murderating the merchant on the spot, even as he begs for his life, begs to be allowed to return to his beloved.

We see a scene of his beloved, Pauline, receiving the news of his sudden death...

Bestia's bloodlust was unrelenting. The mansion, which fulfills desires, kept giving him villagers, and he kept murdering and devouring them in increasingly creative ways.

I definitely played much of this part not in fullscreen o_o;;;

Then, WHG visits!! And it seems like all the madness drains from Bestia for a moment! Hmmm... He invites her into the same song and dance that the rest of the weary travelers fell for, only to beg and plead for their lives as he gleefully tortured and slaughtered them. But WHG doesn't do that. Instead, she looks at him with a sort of sympathy in her eyes. We find out she's blind, and therefore can't perceive the terrifying nature of Bestia.

Mell once said to WHG that no darkness is deep enough to not be removed or something like that. Maybe this is playing out with Bestia and WHG, his bloodthirst has certainly waned. Bestia and WHG settle down into something of domestic bliss, less a couple and more family. Bestia mentions losing his mother, father and brothers. This particular WHG cannot remember her father, but instead describes being raised by a single mother. The mother eventually died on the job and WHG was given the money her mother had earned. When WHG was travelling, bandits stole all the money WHG was given from her mother's earnings.

Bestia fears his madness returning - if he were to murder another visitor, then WHG might leave him, and he couldn't bear the thought! Instead of a typical visitor, another beast shows up! Bestia tries desperately to protect WHG, urging her back in her room as he does deadly battle with his beastly doppleganger.

We get a flashback to the Merchant's departure from Pauline. She's momming him before he goes off on his trip, and reminding him to drink plenty of water. There are certainly moments in this soundtrack's vocals that take on a Bjork vibe. I dig it.

Pauline is hunting down her sweetie, the Merchant. She runs into Javi, a kid with a bad attitude, and tries to befriend him with very little success.

Bestia is embarrassed at having attacked the intruder beast, trying to cover it up around WHG.

WHG and Bestia discuss the nature of what it means to be human. WHG insists that she has a similar experience with being called a witch and ostracized because of her white hair and blood-red eyes [which I'm now wondering ... albinism?]. They accept each other.

Pauline recalls a lovely memory of the Merchant returning from an 18-month trip and saying how much he missed her. Ngl, the Merchant is my type - that sort of elegant face and hair, in stark contrast, always gets me.
Pauline wanders around a town near the seaside where the Merchant's ship is rumored to have foundered. She runs into a jerk kid named Javi who is also an outsider of sorts, and they have a teasing sibling type relationship. He gives her an orange to try to get her to leave, haha. He makes a pitfall in the beach and she falls in, twisting her ankle. The two take a little rowboat out and have a chat. Pauline tells of her missing Merchant and how she's searching for him, and Javi talks about being orphaned, his parents both murdered... by Bestia.

We experience a flashback - lunch with Pauline, her parents, and the Merchant. Her father returns to work after lunch and urges Pauline to take the Merchant for a walk around the town. "Perpetually stern look on his face" yessss. I'm all in. They end up having a pleasant conversation as they walk, and she finds out the dress that her father brought home for her had been picked out by the Merchant in the style of his home country. She already said she liked the dress, so there's no going back now. Cute.

Back to the current time - Javi confesses to Pauline that he does know where the beast lives, but he can't go there and no one else should either unless they want to die. He obviously feels so much fear and regret, not being able to take revenge immediately for his family and then being the scapegoat of the entire village, who are all cowardly in the first place.

Javi promises to take her along if Pauline will not enter the den, and if she makes good on her idea to take Javi back to her hometown when she leaves. Welp. That little scrap of hope is pretty much a death sentence right there, kiddo.

Bestia and WHG have a conversation where Bestia is pretty convinced that he is only beastly, and there's nothing he can do about it. He's smashed everything reflective in the whole mansion. WHG undresses and when they embrace, Bestia sobs.

We have a flashback to the beginning of the Merchant and Pauline's relationship - their love confession before he leaves again to trade via the sea.

Back in the current time - Javi takes Pauline towards the den of Bestia. He nicknames her Polly, and she accepts it. I feel a little unsure about Javi, but this whole door's storyline has made me feel uneasy from the beginning. The den is an enormous mansion against the sea, and terribly overgrown.

I'm contractually obligated to let you know that if ivy is growing on the walls of a structure and the owners refuse to have it removed, State Farm will not insure it. The reason is that ivy keeps water close to the walls, which can be a big problem for the eventual breakdown of brick structures. It's a big risk.

Anyway.

Whoa. Pauline sees movement inside the mansion, knocks on the door, throws it open and greets 'Yukimasa', who must be the Merchant. But Javi cries out - stay away! it's the BEAST! We see a reply of some of the beast's slayings, replaced by a crazed-looking Merchant, Yukimasa.

Yukimasa, in his madness, brutally kills Pauline. This is the scene we saw earlier, where Bestia saw another beast approach and killed it instantly. With reference to a katana, and a closer look at Pauline's outfit, Yukimasa was from Japan, and had a kimono made for her, which she wore in a keyhole fashion [her sprite always had arms clasped to her chest, so it was mostly covered].

---

Whenever you are about to find fault with someone, ask yourself...: What fault of mine most nearly resembles the one I am about to criticize?
-Marcus Aurelius

Nellie and Arthur and Mell and White-Haired Girl [WHG] attend Romeo and Juliet at the 'commoner theatre'. You know, as much as Mell makes me concerned, at least he's not an outright controlling, abusive, annoying person like Arthur. Goodness. With lines like "I'll call you Lady when you start acting like it" and "you could at least try to like me because you're not getting out of this marriage of convenience" [paraphased], who needs enemies?
Nellie makes a break for it once she sees Mell and ends up just misdirecting all her unhappiness on the presence of WHG. This conversation escalates, and Mell slaps her! I'm disappointed in him. She's kinda in la-la-land, but hitting her is not going to make anything better for her. Nellie ends up running away from the theatre and catching a ride back home.

Nellie throws a fit in her room, breaking and throwing everything in sight. The painting of herself and Mell falls off the wall, the frame breaking. She starts scratching at it because the children in the painting look so happy, and it's all a lie! She uncovers a creepy message from 16 years ago about a son and an as-yet-unborn daughter, but it couldn't be referring to Nellie, since she's only 14! Yeesh.

WHG comes back and changes out of her fancy outfit. She speaks to Nellie, who immediately quizzes WHG on her father's hair color. WHG responds that her father's hair color was white. Then Nellie cackles, saying she's figured it all out. We hear an unsettling sound of blades - scissors?

Oh no. So Nellie, wearing a wig of WHG's hair, sneaks into Mell's bedchamber and kisses him. He doesn't realize it's his sister at first, but once he does, he pushes her away and calls her a madwoman. Apparently, she's always felt this way. No telling what she did with WHG, but she said she sent her away because she doesn't fit with this household. Nellie says that Mell must only love blood-related women.

So, here's the story as told by Nellie - the painter with white hair, WHG's father, lay with Mell's mother and the resulting daughter was WHG. Since the baby had white hair, it had to be sent away with the painter. A couple years later, Nellie was born, having flaxen hair that was more in line with what was expected from the Rhodes bloodline. Their mother had been so 'kind' by taking in WHG as a servant a few nights ago not because of an innate sense of graciousness, but because she likely recognized her illegitimate daughter.
The 'Dearest Mell' part is reading quite a bit like a suicide note...

Mell runs off in the rain, searching for something, anything, to tell him this is all a lie. That he didn't fall for his half-sister. That his little sister doesn't love him in that way. He bangs on the door of the church, searching for answers from the priest. The beggar who came by and often received coins from Mell begs from him once more in the rain, and Mell pushes him away, finally acting like a rich brat under pressure.

Except it is WHG, head shorn, who's rejected by Mell just now. She runs away, he catches up with her. He begs her to come back with him, he promises that Nellie will be married off soon, he promises that none of it matters and that her hair will grow back. WHG doesn't seem to know the whole story, and runs away instead of taking Mell's hand. Mell sobs and the Maid speaks to him. He wanted to be treated kindly, and so he treated others with kindness. Was the loss of all the happiness of everyone he loved a just repayment for his deeds? At some point, we must outgrow our childhoods. As I've wondered recently - is it only to be sad repeatedly, for the rest of our days?

We return to the present time with the Maid. This still hasn't jogged our memory, so the Maid's concerned, but she has other plans. I have to say, the Maid's sprite has very sunken eyes that are only obvious when she closes her eyes and smiles. It reminds me of...Rosalia Lombardo, a 2 year old who died in 1920 and was near-perfectly preserved. Anyway, this gives the Maid a deathly feeling.

You ask her for her name, and she refuses to give it. You are welcome to call her 'the Maid' until you regain your memory - it is then, she says, that she will welcome hearing her own name again.

You both pass a mirror and neither of you show a reflection in it. Hmmm...

---

Whenever you are about to find fault with someone, ask yourself...: What fault of mine most nearly resembles the one I am about to criticize?
-Marcus Aurelius

KamikazePotato posted...

Tough for me to comment on your comments with spoiling

So I'll just say 'good writeups'

Don't worry, I definitely played the first 3 doors all on Saturday in one fell swoop, so we'll fast forward pretty hardcore tonight...especially since I forgot to post yesterday.

---

Whenever you are about to find fault with someone, ask yourself...: What fault of mine most nearly resembles the one I am about to criticize?
-Marcus Aurelius

So Mell and Nellie have a little spat where he's backing out of some concert that he promised he would attend with her, and she's throwing a fit because it's lame that he doesn't want to go. She doesn't want to go without him, and she doesn't understand why he has to be so difficult all the time. I never had siblings, I assume it's more conflict than what's being shown here... This seems a little precocious. But that being said, the painful coming-of-age feelings the game evokes of growing up and being 'too old' for certain things or outgrowing what was once a close relationship... all of those are right on target.

Mell...heads down a path. He gets the Maid to send White-Haired Girl [WHG] on a fake 'errand', and meets up with her while she's out. This is all a thin excuse to go on a walk with the girl he has a crush on, but WHG is employed by your family, dude. I love this trope and it's still making me nervous. Then Mell really hecks it up by trying to give her an item made by the same craftsman that made Nellie's birthday present. You know, the craftsman who makes pieces for the royal family?? "Don't worry about how much I spent on it". Dude. Nooo. She feels super uncomfortable about this.

The priest encounters Mell after WHG has taken off running from the unfortunate exchange. Mell is crying, which is very sweet and vulnerable. The priest makes a spooky observation about how a girl who looked just like WHG and a man who we can only assume was her father came in to the church one night, totally emaciated like they hadn't eaten in a long time. But he cannot confirm that it was the same girl, despite Mell's protests that she looks very unique [and she sure does]. The priest urges Mell to figure out where she came from, her family line, her origins. Mell knows he will still feel attached but he reluctantly agrees to seek out this info.

In the meantime, Father has returned and put the kibosh on any marital delays for Nellie. She's distraught because she doesn't want to get married [and her rather youthful appearance/attitude/interests makes it kinda heartbreaking].

I have to admit, I keep feeling suspicious about 1] Mell and 2] the priest. Mell, because he seems a little too set on WHG and he might make some more dumb decisions. The priest, Idk, he's a little too easygoing for my taste. Maybe this whole game is 'wait for the other shoe to drop: the game'. We shall see!

Comical that I type that right before WHG comes in his room in the middle of the night and tries to choke Mell to death. All righty. Mell points out that she doesn't seem convinced by what she's doing, and sure enough, she gives up. Someone else is pulling the strings - but who? Mell inquires as to her background and swears himself to secrecy. WHG calls him on sounding like a 'man of means', and he sure does. She'll agree to tell her story if he agrees to punish her.

Apparently WHG's father was an itinerant portrait painter, which, along with WHG's unsettling appearance, led them to travel from town to town. Whenever business would wane, or people were too disturbed by her white hair and ruby eyes, they would leave and go somewhere else. Apparently, her father came to Rose Manor and painted something the Rhodes family didn't like. They threw him out and having the reputation of disappointing the Rhodes family, no one would use his portrait services. So WHG settled on taking revenge on this cold Rhodes family who had ruined her father's life.

But when it turned out that each member of the family was so kind, when Mell kept making overtures and talking to her and wanting to see her laugh and smile...She faltered. She wanted to kill Father, but he is so rarely at the Manor. The next best target was the son and heir, Mell. But she couldn't do it.

Mell says something really codependent-sounding like "a smile on your face is a smile on mine". Oh no. He invites her to their private box in the theatre, then works together with the Maid to make sure WHG is able to dress the part.

A Slow-Killing Poison is next. See y'all on Monday!

---

Whenever you are about to find fault with someone, ask yourself...: What fault of mine most nearly resembles the one I am about to criticize?
-Marcus Aurelius

Today, Mell has a super awkward conversation with the White-Haired Girl who just showed up last night, and is now one of our maids aka abigails. Mell saw her briefly through an ajar door and she looked fresh off the street, and in need of a bath and food. White-Haired Girl cleans up well, however.

She's a ghostly pale creature with red eyes who can't go out in the sunlight. Hmmm... Mell's laying it on a little thick and probably has no idea how his overtures will be viewed by other people, but he's interested, or at the very least, intrigued by White-Haired Girl [hereafter referred to as WHG].

Nellie is also intrigued, but wants to make sure that WHG knows Mell is hers and hers alone, that she's very protective of her brother and always has been. Nellie is demanding the abigails help redecorate her room as a surprise for Mell to react to.

Love has the power to change those who experience it... and paintings are alive... I do find that this game has a variety of quotable moments that I agree with. The music is very excellent, I like the harmonies and vocals.

Mell's fervent attempts to get WHG to notice, like, and spend time with him are hitting a little too hard. I'm the type of person who's just now, 3 decades in, trying to pay attention to my own feelings/likes/dislikes instead of constantly chasing after the glowing approval of others. So this reminds me a lot of myself 5-10 years ago.

WHG mentioned something about targeting Mell since the father is at the other home generally. Spooky, but I'm not sure what it means.

WHG tells Mell a tale of an imprisoned girl. The girl in the tale is eventually released to the waiting arms of a loving prince charming. Nellie interrupts them before Mell can really confess his feelings.

Mell has a spooky dream that he was holding a dead woman. The Maid appears to WHG at night in the rose garden and they talk, the Maid assuring WHG that she will be safe, and WHG expressing some concern since her appearance has led some to accuse her of being a witch. Then the eyes glow and the white rose in WHG's hands turns red. Love it.

See y'all on Friday!


---

Whenever you are about to find fault with someone, ask yourself...: What fault of mine most nearly resembles the one I am about to criticize?
-Marcus Aurelius

All righty, hold on to your hats, I am about to embark on a VN experience: The House in Fata Morgana by Novectacle. Bought it on Steam after seeing it recommended on here [iirc someone was moved emotionally by the OST?]

I'll be updating 3x a week, expecting MWF but I will post if the schedule deviates from this.

Started playing this and it's beautiful - the artwork, the music, everything is stunning. Playing as an amnesiac master returning to his mansion, we are led around by a ghostly maid and encouraged not to let go of her hand.

We go back to the 17th century and see Rhodes siblings Mell and Nellie as young children, playing in the rose garden. We see them again 7 years later when they grow older. Nellie is very attached to her older brother Mell even as suitors vie for her hand [not very unusual for a Japanese IP].

The character design is very elegant, and the different emotions for the sprites are believable and detailled. Maybe it's Maybelline, but everyone looks to have an expertly-applied face of makeup. Love this as a universal style. Reminds me of Kojima Ayami's work on Castlevania.

More to come tomorrow!

---

Whenever you are about to find fault with someone, ask yourself...: What fault of mine most nearly resembles the one I am about to criticize?
-Marcus Aurelius

I had a anthropomorphic rabbit wearing clothes, and a construction neon yellow lobster. The rabbit was named Tiny and the lobster was...Lobby, of course.

---

Whenever you are about to find fault with someone, ask yourself...: What fault of mine most nearly resembles the one I am about to criticize?
-Marcus Aurelius

Met Tom at an improv theatre workshop in college! We were friends for 4 years, dated for 5 and got married 5 years ago. It's been very fun!

Unsolicited advice: develop your hobbies and interests, learn as much as you can about a variety of topics, and ask people what interests them. You can get away from boilerplate conversations ASAP this way, and really get to know what that person is passionate about.

When a person is excited about something, that's their most beautiful self, and you got to see it, all because you decided to listen. Congrats.

---

The best revenge is to be unlike him who performed the injury.
-Marcus Aurelius

I'm driving, I hand the bag to @Tom_Bombadil and announce, "Count the medals!" in my best Jouji Nakata impression. Neither of us watch Kamen Rider. I can't explain why we do this.

---

The best revenge is to be unlike him who performed the injury.
-Marcus Aurelius

"Are you anorexic?" 5th grade girls thought this would be a fun one to ask, while pinching my skin and pulling it away from my arm. I had no idea what anorexia was. Real awkward one Google search later, to find out that people who watch me eat every day at lunch thought I didn't eat.

---

The best revenge is to be unlike him who performed the injury.
-Marcus Aurelius

Tom Bombadil posted...

Old Dude Movie Stars: Charlie Chaplin
That prompt is way more up @Llarian 's alley than mine so I will tag her in for a second opinion. In the meantime, Chaplin kinda strikes me as a nice dude.

I think you'd get along well with Buster Keaton or Sidney Poitier too, of the options presented.

---

How much time he saves who does not look to see what his neighbor says or does or thinks. -Marcus Aurelius

1. Samurai Champloo [and it's not even close]
2. Cowboy Bebop [this is a classic, and so fun]
3. Gurren Lagann [this always makes me feel better when I watch it]
4. Death Note [2006 throwback, soft spot in my heart for this one always]
5. Trigun [Kenshin with guns!]
6. Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood [haven't seen this one, but read the whole manga, so this ranks up there]
7. Puella Magi Madoka Magica [have seen this one but I prefer my magical girls to be inspiring and not depressing]
8. Steins;Gate [haven't seen it but it's on the list]
9. My Hero Academia [haven't seen it and it's too popular so I am suspicious]
10. Hunter X Hunter [haven't seen it but shounen series are too many episodes anyway]

---

How much time he saves who does not look to see what his neighbor says or does or thinks. -Marcus Aurelius

Esuriat posted...

Spooky Scary Skeletons

---

How much time he saves who does not look to see what his neighbor says or does or thinks. -Marcus Aurelius

Tom Bombadil posted...

I'd ask my ambivert wife but she doesn't like coffee

Honestly, it's nice to talk to people briefly while they're on shift without interfering with their job. Having worked in food service, I'd rather have someone be friendly, polite, and acknowledge my existence than just grunt, get their food, and leave. Plenty of people enjoy making small talk, plus you're paying for a service anyway, no matter what the employees are wearing - it's automatically more talking and more expensive than making coffee for yourself at home.

---

Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present. -Marcus Aurelius