A Cat in a Trenchcoat

We see in the 'Epilogue' that Renoir and Aline stand and sit before the canvas respectively. They're perfectly still, not even a noise escaping their lips. So how come Aline is stumbling like that in the 'view' Renoir shows them?

It can't be the present for at least two reasons, namely time dilation, aline having left again, and the fact the canvas was moved from the atelier. The only way for that to work out is that opening the view syncs time within and without the canvas, Aline took the time to move it back in place before returning, and that the aftereffects of being in the canvas have her reeling like that several minutes (fact check me there if necessary, I'm working from memory) after leaving it.

Another option is that it is a memory of the past but this has its own complications. Renoir isn't in view, so that implies this is before he joined. More than 67 in-canvas years ago. If by that time she was already that wobbly and unwell, then I honestly don't think her having a chair put under her would stabilise her to the point she doesn't fall off it or stop moving and coughing 51 in-canvas years later.

So I did both endings, both of which were a fascinating study of selfish assholes. I loved it.

Oh lordy did this get long.

Now personally, I love both endings, and they both have moments that make you question whether you did the right thing, with Verso's ending making you question whether burning Verso's childhood canvas including Verso, Clea & Aline's sentient works in there is worth it in the end or if Maelle staying indefinitely and basically dying in the real world to stay in that Canvas to preserve Verso's memory and Lumière as she wants it to be is worth it

In a sense, both are suicidal af : Verso because he wants to destroy the piece of his soul that is the main reason for Aline numbing herself in the Canvas, and Alicia because a life of burnt scars and a voice that brings suffering to herself is not worth living. Again, both of them need fucking Therapy.

On a diegetic point of view, they're both shitty endings, as both of their trauma ( Verso being the equivalent of an emotional support doll to Aline for his entire life and Alicia having to deal with the death of her brother and her entire civilization as Maelle ) blind them to make reality stupid decisions, and they both kinda are taking the mantle of their parent's decision : Renoir & Verso to erase the Canvas and Alicia & Aline to keep it forever to honor Verso

There could be a point made that Verso didn't want this as his real interest was in Music, reflected in the fact that he apparently only has one living canvas he made as a child, Verso's room, the faded boy playing the piano in the opera and liking trains, painted Verso saying he preferred piano to painting ( if we can trust him ), which would be weird cause like

If Aline painted her son, she obviously would've made him into painting rather than music, and keep the music part to a low, so how would Verso know that his real life counterpart is into Music ? Even if Renoir told him, it wouldn't make sense, why would Renoir tell Verso that painting bad, music good ???

But also, Verso & Alicia both like, really suck, on one hand you have a manipulative lying fuck that wants to die to save his family from staying in the Canvas at the cost of multiple civilizations of sentient beings, and on the other you have a teenager that wants to die by living her perfect life in her brother's world. And mind you, she wouldn't have that internal debate if Aline straight up didn't repaint her and make her reborn in the world with her chroma. Or if Verso didn't let Gustave die, which was Maelle's main emotional attachment to Lumière and the world of the Canvas that she has, because she never was attached to Lumière before the expedition, she even joined at 16 because she wanted to gtfo. She only cared about Gustave, and that ultimately affected her decision ( I still belive Gustave's death is Verso's biggest fuck up as his bond with Maelle is the one thing that could've kept her from being trigger-happy with her newly found God powers )

There's also the argument that in Maelle's ending, Renoir will have to come back to get her out of the Canvas, but same could apply to Verso's ending and Alicia/Aline jumping back in a canvas. Its so fucking ambiguous and we know so little about what happens after the ending, it's impossible to say which one is better.

So what I'm seeing is the Clea and Verso painted a whole bunch of cool stuff in the world when they were kids, like Esquie and Francois. But then after IRL Verso died and their parents started screwing up the painting Clea came in and created the nevrons for the chroma and now Little Verso here is confused as to why his sister made a bunch of bullshit.

In typical side quest back and forth fashion, we then find the Lady of Sap (aka Clea) and ask her what's up with the shitty murder monsters in her little brother's painting and she's like "I did it for you bro, look at what our parents have done!"

Of course the little kid is like "wait what? I don't want murder monsters either!" And at this point I really feel bad for this kid. He created a fun playground world to play in and ALL of his family is ruining it, his older backup version included. How scary and confusing is this for this little kid? I'm pretty sure this fading version is supposed to represent the original child Verso, the IRL one who created the canvas. And he's had to deal with his insane family creating monsters like this:

Clair obscur is really fun in terms of lore though, like ACT 3's dungeons are mostly filler, but they provide some really good lore and worldbuilding, and I've been absolutely loving seeing your posts about it. Looking forward to the next one !

It would be a little annoying, if they weren’t so nice about it. You don’t know what you expected demons to be like, but you certainly didn’t expect them to be nice about it. There’s no demands, no voices like wailing babies, no blood on the walls (well, there was that one time, but Balthazak was very apologetic about the whole thing and cleaned it up right quick). Just the occasional demon stopping by for lunch. In fact, you could almost forget that they weren’t just ordinary people, the way they act. Nice people, too. 

You start talking with them, as time goes on. In the beginning you carefully pick your words so they couldn’t be spun to even imply a contract or reference a soul, but when they seem politely eager to have a normal chat, your words become a bit looser. You even begin gossiping with them - turns out, demons have breakroom gossip just like anyone else. You listened to Rek’ththththtyr’s account of Drokyarix’s torrid affair with Irkilliz, and Ferkiyan didn’t even know what Drory was doing behind his back, poor dear, and you kept quiet and let Ferkiyan cry on your shoulder after Drokyarix finally broke up with him (the shirt was a bit of a loss, demon tears are ruinous to cloth, but Ferkiyan’s a good sort and you couldn’t just turn him away). You even managed to talk him down from going and starting a fight with Irkiliz, who didn’t even know that Drokyarix was in a relationship, and who was almost as horrified as Rek’ththththtyr. 

After that event in particular, you start to get a sort of a reputation as a place where a demon can come to relax, talk, and - of course - get a sandwich. Your sandwich-making skills have really improved since this whole thing began. Your luck seems to have improved too - you’re not sure if you can attribute the whole thing to the sandwiches and the reputation, but you don’t really want to know anyway. 

One day, there’s a bright flash of light from your living room. Nothing unusual in itself - most of the younger demons haven’t quite got the style of their elders, and usually just go for a materialization in a flash of hellfire over your fireplace - except that it’s white instead of the usual red. You look up, and who do you see but an angel looking at you with a spear in his hand. Shrugging, you tell him to sit down and you’ll have a sandwich for him shortly, and meanwhile he can just tell you all about what’s on his mind. This clearly is not at all what he was expecting, but after a moment’s thought, he decides to take you up on your offer and starts talking. Apparently, he’d been dispatched to take care of some demon summoner in the neighborhood, and while he’d evidently got the wrong house the right one shouldn’t be hard to find - have you seen anyone practicing satanic rituals nearby? You laugh, a little, and tell him that you don’t really summon them, they just come on their own. They do like their sandwiches, and they’re quite nice folk. 

It took a bit of explaining with the first angel to arrive. Telling him about the first accidental summoning and then how the demons just started stopping by around lunch time on your days off. But once he understood what’s been going on (and finished his sandwich) he nodded solemnly and said he would get this all straightened out “upstairs.”

You eventually start getting more angels coming around for lunch. Sometimes they bring a small dessert for you to share after the sandwiches, and the dishes are always magically clean and back in the cupboard when they leave.

You lean that angels don’t have much of their own drama, but they do know all the truths about human tabloid drama and they’re more than willing to dish on what the Kardashians have been up to.

The first time an angel and a demon show up for lunch on the same day is a little tense. You tell them that ALL are welcome for lunch in your house and that you would prefer it to be a no-conflict zone. It takes a while for them to settle, but eventually they grow comfortable enough to start chatting. Which is when you learn that because demons are technically fallen angels, you’ve been having two sides of an estranged family over for lunch regularly.

Soon, you have an angel and a demon at every lunch. Old friends and estranged siblings meeting up to reconnect over a sandwich at your dinning room table. You help the ones who had a falling out reach an understanding, and you get to hear wild stories of what the “old realm” was like.

One day, as you’re pulling out the bread and cheese, a messenger demon appears. You greet him and tell him a sandwich will be ready soon, but he declines. He is here on behalf of Lucifer to ask if it’s alright by you for him to “enter your dwelling so as to meet with his brother Michael over sandwiches.”

A little stunned, you agree. The demon disappears and you prepare three sandwiches, setting them at the table.

When Lucifer (the actual devil!) appears in small puff of smoke, you welcome him and ask what he’d like to drink. As you’re fetching the apple juice, a blinding flash of light comes from the dinning room indicating Michael’s arrival. You grab a second cup and walk back in to find a tense stand off between the brothers. You set down the cups and juice while calmly reminding them that this is a conflict-free zone, and if they are going to fight, please take it to an alternate plane of existence.

They don’t fight. They sit and enjoy the sandwiches and talk about what happened. You learn a lot about why creation started, what the purpose of humanity was and what it’s grown to be. You only have to diffuse two arguments. And at the end when it’s time for them to leave, they hug each other, agreeing to meet up again somewhere else.

Everyone had a lot of fun at the barbecue. There wasn’t much fighting, but some sparks and noises made you grateful your neighbors were either out of town or older/deaf. There was a great three-legged race and a small football game with parties on all sides involved, you’d never fixed so much food before.

Then, two latecomers. Angels and demons alike gasped in shock and parted like the Red Sea (Which, apparently, is a VERY exaggerated story) to let them pass.

You smile warmly and ask what they’d like. Both decline to answer that, looking at each other awkwardly. The demon bows its head to let the angel speak first.

God Himself heard the fun and wanted to come join the barbecue.

You look at the messenger demon, the same one as before, and as you insist that “Oh, you really should stay this time!”, you’re told that Lucifer ALSO wants to come to your barbecue.

You look between the two. You tell them you won’t deny one or the other, but that they must keep in mind that this is a neutral zone and you won’t have their conflicts interfere with the atmosphere.

Both vanish momentarily (after each taking a plate of food). There’s a long, awkward silence.

Lucifer arrives first, flash of fire in the firepit, coming over to get a burger. He doesn’t look… displeased. But he’s not necessarily happy.

There’s a beautiful flash of white light and a rainbow, and then God descends onto your back porch. Your long-dead flowers spring back to life in His presence. Shit, now you actually have to go back to taking care of them.

The two regard each other from across the backyard. There’s still complete silence from the crowd of angels and demons.

You clear your throat. “What do you two want to eat? I have burgers, hot dogs, chicken, and some vegetarian alternatives.”

They slowly look at you. You return each of their gazes. “This is a no-conflict zone. We’re all here to have a good time at a good barbecue.”

More silence. Then, Lucifer dishes himself a burger and goes to prepare it the way he wants. God approaches calmly and looks over your vegetarian palette (Not the best, but it would do in a quick pinch, you found out just yesterday that some of the attendees would be vegetarian), fixing Himself some food as well.

As this goes on, the others begin to relax, and soon, everyone goes back to having a good time. The food is great, desserts brought by your angelic guests really compliment the meals you cooked, nobody starts sacrificing anybody or arguements (except later there’s a massive water gun/water balloon fight that knocked Michael into the fire pit and got ashes all over his bRAND NEW ROBES, DROKYARIX! but everyone laughed it off and carried on), and as you sit on your porch, taking in the sights, you wonder to yourself if you should do this kind of thing more often, and if you would have had this situation any other way.

Do they like her more than me? you wonder.

At one point, she runs out and comes back 20 minutes later with a landslide of desserts from a local bakery.

They definitely might like her more than you.

Everyone is delighted by the sugar, and the games get more energetic. Your backyard is full of light and laughter, both from the attendees.

As the barbeque draws to a close, your sister stands and gets everyone’s attention. She looks solemn.

“I just want to say…” she starts. She trails off, embarrassed in the silence. Demons and angels whoop encouragement.

Guys

We're literally doing what the Ancient Greeks have been doing for centuries