starryspindel

At one point, we were going to hear her call him a coward (instead of hearing about it in Verso's journal). And I just find that interesting in context, because as we know it was Julie's idea to abduct and 'interrogate' him.

Yet, the cut prologue implies she wasn't even present for it. We were supposed to start off the game running through the Forgotten Battlefield towards Verso's slaughter of the other participants, not actively present during the (heavily implied) torture, but it was her idea as her journal states.

She calls him a coward and yet she was supposedly too cowardly to actively participate in the abduction and 'interrogation' of a man she cared about. That would be understandable, of course, if it wasn't an idea that was hers to begin with.

Red poppies famously symbolise remembrance, but also sacrifice and honour while white orchids symbolise purity and elegance, even perfection, but more importantly new beginnings.

But here's two things about that:

Monoco being Painted Verso's best friend is stated during the events of the game which occurs 67 years after Julie's death.

When Monoco first met Painted Verso, he did not like him at first and it took a lot of time to warm up to him and become his best friend.

We don't know when the two of them met exactly, but it's most likely it was after Julie died. Monoco makes no mention of Julie at all in game, not like how Esquie does, implying the latter was present during the S&R while Monoco wasn't (which makes sense; he mentions he was separated and lost during the Fracture and was found then raised by Noco). They met sometime after, maybe during those 15 years before the Expeditions restarted or even later, we don't know for sure but I'm convinced it was after the S&R.

For example; by our societal norms of that time Renoir is the head of the Dessendre family and Verso is his heir as his son. As his only son and male heir, there would have been a lot of pressure - from his parents and/or society at large - on Verso to marry, even if 26 years old was young for a man at the time to tie the knot.

But the Belle Epoque Paris of Clair Obscur might be totally different and in that case do you think the same thing could apply, with Verso being the heir in regards to society's rules, but in the small world of Painters & Writers inside that society gender norms are non-existent, therefore allowing Aline to be Head of the Painter's Council at one point and Clea, as the eldest child, her heir?

So Verso is the heir to the family but Clea is the heir to the family's council seat?

Think about it, do you think Lumiere just had uniforms specifically adorned with symbols referencing the Crooked Tower and the Paintress laying about pre-Fracture?

It had to be custom made, meaning so was Verso's and the rest of Expedition Zero...and that implication is hilarious.

Imagine, the Fracture's just happened: no food, no shelter, no protection. People are missing. A call to arms is made; volunteers will head to the Continent to look for scattered survivors and investigate what led to the Fracture...

YET there's absolutely things about Verso that none of them (or at least Aline) knew about that didn't make it into painted Verso's memories and life in Lumiere, friendships and relationships that the real Verso kept to himself and so unknowingly protected from making it into Aline's replica of Paris she made for the memory of her son.

Painted Verso has to be missing so much about the real Verso that made him Verso. Friends he cherished, someone he loved - people Aline did not know about, because he was a grown man with his own life.

He's only a small slice of the pie that makes up Verso Dessendre.

That would not be odd if the family were the only Painters in Paris or even the world and they were fighting against another singular family, but they're clearly not. Aline was the Head of the Painter's Council, implying there's a lot more Painters out there for her to manage.

And yet: no mention of Clea receiving help outside of the family. They call her war 'solitary'.

Yes, you could argue she might not want anyone else getting involved other then her family, but when her goal is to end this war once and for all i.e eradicate the Writers then you can't go it alone, especially when said-family are too busy killing themselves or trying to stop other family members from killing themselves. You'll need allies, and yet...the game makes it clear to us she's doing this by herself.

The only son of the Head of the Painter's Council, a man who may not have wanted to be a Painter but was one by blood and birth and association, was just murdered. Her daughter, who may not have wanted to be a Painter but like her musician brother is technically still one, was maimed. A Painter's family, their leader's family, was targeted in an attack believed to be from a rival group.

They should all be up in arms, so why is no one helping Clea? Why is she going at this alone? Why does no one seemingly want to help?

Oof if that isn't true but THEN I got whiplash again when I did a double take.

Hold up...

Bff??

As in 'best friend forever'?? Not gf for 'girlfriend'?? If she's somehow joking, which I do actually think is unlikely because she is just stating facts for other characters on that story too, disengage but if not...

Were Verso and Julie never in a relationship and people just jumped to conclusions?

After all, it's not stated anywhere in game they were in a romantic relationship. That was interpretation and speculation, not canonically confirmed.

Were they just best friends and Julie felt massively betrayed by his lies? I mean, it kinda makes the whole 'capture and interrogate him' plan make a bit more sense to me, because I could never understand why - if she loved him romantically - she would do that? Even if pushed to irritational actions, it always felt a bit overboard that she jumped to that so quickly?

Or, was it a tragic 'they liked each other but then THAT happened before they could confess their feelings and now one of them is dead by the other's hand' angst situation?

Did Julie die thinking it was for the best she found out before she could confess, because then she can deny ever having loved him? Was she relieved?

Did she die never telling him she loved him? Hearing him say it to her?

Did she die thinking she was unloved?

Did Verso kill her not knowing she loved him? Damn, now I've made myself even sadder and their whole situation even angstier.

Renoir is dead, Aline is gone, Clea has been gone for years and Verso has completely replaced her.

Because that's essentially what he did, right?

We saw how he interacted with Maelle throughout the game, and we know from Alicia's letter that she has been watching the expedition and specifically watching Maelle and Verso's interactions.

Alicia most likely watched as Verso played the piano for Maelle. Played her song for her. And yeah, it is actually Maelle's song - not hers - but if Verso has the memory of creating and playing the song for Alicia, then Alicia must have the memory of him creating and playing the song for her. It is her song but also not her song.

And she watched him play it for another version of her. The real, unburdened version of her who doesn't walk around carrying the painful reminder of why he exists.

He interacts with Maelle as if she is his sister (she is, but isn't) while Alicia stands there and watches.

Then the final nail in the coffin?

The Gommage.

He doesn't read the letter, doesn't give it to Maelle. He puts it in his pocket and forgets about it until the last possible second, chooses the real family over her - as he does time and time again.

Even if she didn't know when he in fact read it, she knows he did. He gives her back the letter, tells her he read it, and yet - he chose to go ahead with his plan. That's just confirmation for her.

Yeah, no wonder she essentially disowns Verso in her final moments: Verso did it first.

What if Clea only started creating the Nevrons after Expedition Zero refused to help her get Aline out of the Canvas?

I was playing through the game last night and discovered Expedition 84's journal right before I went to bed. It makes it very clear that they tried to follow Zero's trail but there were no bodies or even pieces of clothing belonging to any of them, so the trail went cold.

Weird, right? It's especially weird for the game writers to want us to know that specifically.

Expedition 84 tried and failed to find evidence of Expedition Zero: no clothing, no bodies, nothing.

If Nevrons were around during the first half of Monolith Year 100, they would have definitely come across the first ones and died fighting them, turning into statues. They would have been discovered.

Except...what if they didn't encounter any Nevrons?