Been to hell and back

[part 1] [part 2]

And you know what? She was fucking right.

Here's a list of fun cool things Alicia would not have been subjected to if she was sent home after Stone Wave Cliffs:

walking between mountains of tens of thousands of bodies

falling into a pit of blood

haha more bodies

committing intense violence

witnessing intense violence

being constantly attacked and injured

being made to feel responsible for getting "revenge" for Gustave's death

witnessing Noco's death

being charmed into attacking her own teammates

having HER FACE SET ON FIRE AGAIN

being used to interface with her mentally unstable mother in a way that puts her in active danger

being made into a child soldier by her own father

being used as a proxy in her parents' conflict and directed to do physical violence against her mother

getting betrayed by the man who looks like her dead brother she feels guilty over

seeing EVERYONE she knows aka ALL THAT REMAINS OF HUMANTIY get killed right in front of her

getting killed, erased, unmade down to petals BY HER OWN FATHER and having to repaint herself

going to that father seeking comfort and being shouted at, shut down, alienated

repeated severe emotional trauma and pain, with no parental figures to comfort or guide her

basically being subjected to everything that could possibly induce a person to form a toxic dependency on a Canvas

her dad confronting her with violence instead of compassion to address that dependency

Renoir is so "shocked" that Alicia would rather fight him than leave the painting well motherfucker this is your fault. You literally put weapons in her hands and pointed her like a gun.

In my opinion this take, and the variations of it, genuinely mischaracterize Renoir.

As polite as Renoir is, and as much as he seems to model certain mannerisms for his child, that is like being polite to someone while you hold a gun to their head.

His intent is to eradicate every single person there and even if he considers them real to some degree, he does not consider them real enough to be worth tempting his wife or daughter any further.

He's polite to painted Verso the way we might be polite to a dog, or to an Alexa device.

His first statement to Verso is dehumanizing and objectifying even though he follows it with an apology. After a couple rewatching that apology comes off more like Renoir having aristoctatic manners than having true empathy. He primarily acknowledges the people of the canvas in the context of what they mean to his daughter and her emotional state. He does acknowledge Sciel's grief as real, yes, but that acknowledgment should not be taken out of the context of his actions.

Maelle is correct that her father could find some alternative, such as possibly storing the canvas where Aline can't reach it, but he's not willing to consider more options at this point. Likely because he is so exhausted, so afraid of losing anyone else, and in deep with the sunk cost fallacy.

To Renoir the canvas is ultimately an artwork and that's it. It's a beautiful creation but still a creation.