Stop Quoting Papa

Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/89989486/chapters/239158121#workskin

Plot summary: The expedition is over, but for the Dessendre family, the war has just begun. Haunted by the tragic echo of Expedition 33, Alicia Dessendre returns to a bleak 1905 Paris. Physically scarred and plagued by the memory of her brother Verso, who perished in the flames to save her, Alicia is a shell of who she once was. Her complex care weighs heavily on Aline and Renoir, pushing the traumatized parents to their absolute limits and straining the family to its breaking point. But where Alicia finds despair, Clea finds purpose. Fueled by a fierce, unyielding thirst to avenge Verso's death, Clea embarks on a treacherous crusade against the Writers. As blood ties are tested and old wounds are reopened, a breathtaking bond forms between the two sisters—a light in the suffocating darkness. With the Writers still watching and danger closing in, the Dessendres must overcome their shared grief and terrifying trauma. Together, Clea and Alicia must prove that love and revenge can outlast even the cruelest storytellers. Link for chapter 1: The Scars We Carry https://archiveofourown.org/works/89989486/chapters/239120946 .

List of who is most important to Verso: 1. Alicia/Maelle - His little sister figure, his love for her is as strong as real Verso's love for her because of the memories, he sacrifices the entire canvas mainly for saving her in the end. 2. Aline - His mother, his goal is to save her in Act 2. 3. Renoir/Clea - He loves them like real Verso loves them, even though there isn't much interaction. He would save them too if they were in danger. 4. Real Verso/himself - They both want peace for the real family, and Verso understands the desire of the piece of the real Verso's soul - they want to stop the cycle of grief for saving the real family and die. 5. Painted Alicia - Verso's little sister, he loves her but doesn't think about her feelings the entire game, ignores them and in the end she could dies in a side quest or he killed her to save Maelle (the destruction of the canvas). 6. Painted Clea - His older sister, he thought she was dead but discovers she wasn't, only to see her kill herself. 7. Painted Renoir - His father, he lets him die by Maelle/Alicia and Renoir. 8. Monoco/Esquie - His best friends agree to sacrifice themselves for Verso's will (to save Maelle and the rest of the real family). 9. Sciel - There was a good friendship between them (and even something romantic if you choose that), he sacrifices her too in the end to save Maelle and the real family. 10. Lune - There was a good friendship between them (and even something romantic if you choose that), he sacrifices her too in the end to save Maelle and the real family.

What approach would you choose towards Maelle?

Thanks for reading.

What really happened to Maelle in the end and what was her wish? how did Verso feel about it? *It's more about Maelle's ending* So today I will focus a little more on Maelle after I have already written a lot about Verso's side and yet I will add something about him later because it has to do with what Maelle decided to do. What really happened to Maelle at the end of the game? We saw that at the beginning of Act 3 she clearly tells Verso that she knows that he is not the real Verso and that she sees him as himself (still as a big brother figure, but not the real Verso), but at the end something happens to her and reality becomes blurry for her. The reason is that she experiences in the final two scenes an attack of PTSD because she is so afraid that her brother will leave her again, she experienced the same traumatic experience, she is not sane anymore, she has lost herself and it is so sad and painful that a 16 year old girl has to experience the same horrific experience again. Up until this moments, she did see Verso as himself, but there something went wrong, she is very mentally ill. What was Maelle's wish? Maelle wanted to live inside the painting, where she wouldn't be a cripple with a burned face, with the people she loved, she felt like she was really living inside the painting. Eventually, during the PTSD attack, her greatest desire became simply to live with Verso as her real brother. Her mind was completely messed up and she wasn't doing well, she was very sick. However, she knew that Verso wanted to grow old and that he loved to play the piano, from her perspective that's what would make him happy, right? So she removed his immortality and thought that's what would make him smile... and here we come to the answer to the next question. How did Verso feel about it? It's clear to all of us that getting old is not what will make Verso happy in this situation, yes, he wanted to die and Maelle gives it to him, not right away, but it will happen eventually, that means he could have killed himself in Maelle's ending... Why didn't he do it? Why isn't he happy? This is more proof than all the proofs I've already given in previous posts that dying wasn't his selfish desire, but more to free Maelle from her mental illness. He's not happy because he still has to watch her die slowly, knowing that in the real world Alicia is dying, she's not as strong as her mother; Aline: "She's too weak!" Renoir: "You'll die, you've been here too long." We are told that because Alicia's body is very weak in the real world - her death will be very quick in the painting, Verso knows this. So he is really not happy, even if he could die his little sister died in front of his eyes + she is very mentally ill. Why doesn't he kill himself? Verso loves Maelle too much, and she doesn't control him physically, but emotionally, he saw her tears, he saw her condition, he couldn't refuse her request and started playing the piano for her. It's tragic, because she lost herself and is about to die and he is emotionally controlled by her, for how long? Not for as long as you think, Maelle will die much faster. It's important for me to clarify that Maelle doesn't physically control him with her powers, she can't do it, Aline didn't do it, otherwise she would have controlled Expedition 33 so they wouldn't defeat her - Maelle's control him emotionaly, she knows how much he loves her and she's sure she's only doing him good, she doesn't see beyond brcause her sickness. Anyway, I tried to tell you that Maelle is very sick at the end, and she's only 16, and Verso is also suffering, but more than the fact that he has to see his sister die because of the fact that he's alive, from the beginning he blamed his existence for causing the people around him, especially his real family - to suffer.

Maelle is not just Alicia in Act 3 So there are some E33 fans who claim that Maelle completely 'died' at the end of Act 2, and that in Act 3 it's just Alicia. It's important for me to clarify that this claim is incorrect, Maelle never died. What happened at the end of Act 2 was that her body was gommaged but her consciousness remained (memories, emotions, traumas…) and all of these simply merged with Alicia's consciousness. Why does Alicia look the same as Maelle? Well, it's the same model (same height, same face) and also the same voice, the reason for this is simple: Alicia/Maelle is not a regular painting like the rest, she's a real person so when Aline paint on her with her chroma it was very similar to what she is in the real world. It's the same soul. Some people simply see the situation as amnesia - she's the same person, she just forgot who she originally was, but it's the same one. It's also true to see it, any way you think of seeing it is correct except to say that she's not Maelle anymore or that Maelle is dead. Now, Maelle chose to still be called Maelle, completely denying the existence of Alicia, which is also not true. She is no longer just Maelle and she is no longer just Alicia - she is both. Verso was angry at Maelle's denial that she completely ignores being Alicia too, his goal was for her to return to the real world eventually and that angered him, he knows that she is also Maelle (he even told Lune: she is our Maelle), but he just wanted to check if she completely denies being Alicia too, unfortunately for him she is. For him, it was an answer of "I decide to live in painting and not leave" Maelle feels strange, she has two childhood memories from her two life incarnations, and this is further proof that she is still Maelle as she is still Alicia. She still loves the same people as she was when she was just Maelle, she has the same memories, traumas and yes, her personality and traits have also mixed from Alicia and Maelle. There are moments when she acts more like Maelle and there are moments when she acts more like Alicia, it really depends on the situation. This is not a split personality, it is a mixing of personalities that creates like a "new person" that is made up of two life incarnations. This can be tricky to understand for some people who just decide to "kill" Maelle without any basis. Their biggest argument is: Maelle doesn't act like she did in Act 1 and Act 2 so this isn't Maelle… So let me answer them: A person changes when you add more traumas to their mind that mix together and create a tragic character. This poor girl is actually made of her traumas and scars as Maelle and Alicia so a lot of the traumas influence her actions, even if you don't agree with them, she acts from pure traumas, a lot of them from her life as Maelle (Gustave's death and so many people she lost) she has PTSD, and that's the change you see, not because she's just Alicia, but because the traumas are also from herself as Maelle. And by the way, anyone who doesn't like her in Act 3 because she's just more scarred and traumatized, I don't want you near me. Besides the traumatic behavior, there is a personality of Maelle that stands out like self-confidence, which Alicia did not have, even Renoir said: "When did you become so stubborn?!" Because Alicia was more timid, Maelle is the opposite and I see that her personality is often much more prominent and helps her say more with confidence about what she feels, even to her father. Alicia has a fear of heights, and that remains in Act 3, a trait that she retained as Alicia. I have many more examples of moments where she's more Maelle than Alicia and vice versa, like in the DLC when Maelle was still cynical about the door wanting to eat cake, or it was more Maelle's idea to write "papa, go home." And you can really see the mix of personalities - MAELLE IS ALIVE AND THERE. Anyway, it's the same character, the same person, but with a change caused by the impact of trauma and personality mixing, but the point is that she's still Maelle and I've brought you proof.

If you see someone writing this, clarify to them what I wrote in my previous post (in all of them actually) because there is much evidence that they are wrong.

Amazing story.

But if that's not enough to answer people, here begins Act 3. Verso's plan failed - the real Alicia is still inside the painting. Letting Gustave die or destroying Lumiere didn't really make her come out of the painting, quite the opposite. She wanted to fix everything as the god of this world, thinking her father would help her. You can see how angry and disappointed he is, especially when she says she's still Maelle - from Verso's perspective, her denial of being Alicia shows that she doesn't want to leave Canvas, everything he did was for nothing. And despite his anger, she manages to soften him up; he loves her too much to betray her and not fight by her side. Verso is in a conflict between his intense love for the real Alicia (Maelle) or continuing his goal of removing her from the painting. Finally, he decides to help her defeat Renoir, and here comes the greatest proof that his love for Maelle is stronger than his desire to die for himself: Verso could have asked Renoir to kill him at any moment, Renoir would have done it, and no matter how much Maelle tried to resist, he is stronger than her, and killing Verso is easy for him. He continued to help her, he even wanted for a moment to continue living and keep the painting, he wanted his friends to trust him again, he tried to believe Maelle that she wasn't putting herself in danger like Aline… but in the last fight with Renoir he changed his mind again because in fact she was on her way to becoming Aline 2 and he wouldn't let that happen. So Verso didn't want to die throughout the third act until he changed his mind again and that the painting must be destroyed or the real family will continue to suffer. So he first tries to save Maelle, his first priority, and he succeeds in his ending, then he can die in peace, if he doesn't succeed he begs her to kill him as a last chance to save her and free her from him. Many people state that he just wants to die because when he is dying that is what he asks for, and they still don't understand that his desire to die is right but it is also a solution for everything else. He adds that he doesn't want this life - a life in which he sees his sister killing herself along with him as a substitute for the real Verso. Because she is his first priority, he has already tried to convince her first to leave the painting. When he fails, he tries different options that will be good for everyone, including himself.

Verso's main goal was to save Maelle/Alicia at the end So even though there are all kinds of people who think that Verso's goal in the end is at most to die or just save Aline, I'm here to prove them wrong - again, by presenting facts and evidence because I base what I think on facts from the game. Verso focused on saving Maelle more than saving Aline in Act 3: It is true that for a hundred years and throughout Act 2, Verso focused mainly on saving Aline, she was the one who was dying in the real world and no one else, it was the most urgent to save her. It is true that by saving her, the rest of the real family would finally be able to move on, including the real Alicia (so Verso thought), in my opinion, letting Gustave die and destroying Lumière was also an act of allowing the real Alicia to leave the painting because she would have nothing to look for in the painting anymore emotionally… and he was wrong. In Act 3, after Verso had already managed to save Aline, a new problem emerged, and that was Maelle's desire (I'll call her Maelle, but she's also the real Alicia) to stay inside the painting. Verso didn't like it and saw it as dangerous for her. He continues to tell her throughout Act 3 that she should go home, but she always says that she will be fine, that she is not in danger like her mom, and he is convinced, but still worried about her. Renoir tells her that Aline can still find the painting (this means Aline is still in danger), Maelle says that she won't be like her mother - and Verso still decides to listen to Maelle even though he hears that Aline is still in danger. Verso loves Maelle so much that he still helps her even after Aline came to the canvas again and he was in shock - he still help Maelle. Then at the end of the game in the final battle with Renoir he begins to realize that the cycle of grief he tried to stop is still continuing, Aline's return to the painting + the sight of her dying did influence Verso's decision to destroy the painting, but the strongest push was Maelle's lie. Verso did not enter the portal until he realized that she was lying, he realized that she was about to become Aline, will he let his little sister end up like her? No. Inside the core of the painting, when he talks to Maelle, the only thing he cares about is her getting out of the painting. He tells her, "It's not worth your life." And the biggest proof that he's focused on saving only her is when he offers her to get out of the painting and come back whenever she wants - meaning that if she did that, he wouldn't destroy the painting and take the risk that even Aline would come back in, but the main thing is that matter to him is Maelle stays healthy. This is actually the biggest proof that his first priority right now is Maelle and her well-being. I'm talking about existing evidence here, but if we're talking about hints that everything was for the real Alicia, it's also the song "Alicia" that plays when he says goodbye to his friends. The fact that he says the same words as the real Verso "You're okay, you're okay…" it all ties together. Verso wanted to save Maelle the most at arc 3. In Act 2 his main goal was to save Aline, in Act 3 his main goal was to save Maelle. In the next post I will write about why he wanted to save Maelle more than die.

I just saw these very contradictory comments about E33 story, people liking comments that are not true from a narrative perspective and it drives me crazy. "I always thought that what Verso felt toward Alicia was more the responsibility Clea had entrusted to him – he had promised her he would watch over her – rather than family love." The truth: pVerso developed big brotherly feelings for the real Alicia when he realized that those memories were actually with her, at first he may have just wanted to protect her from a distance at Clea's request, but it didn't stay that way, he doesn't just protect her because he "has to" but because he truly cares about her. She's actually his little sister emotionally. "And in Act 3 there’s even occasional irritation toward her, like when she gommaged pAlicia." The truth: Is this proof that he loves pAlicia more? Can't a big brother be mad at his little sister? In Act 3 (excluding the DLC) he is more angry at Maellicia because she denies reality and wants to be just Maelle, his goal in the end is to save her and return her to the real world. He was angry at her when she killed pAlicia, but he quickly forgave her and moved on, this does not contradict his immense love for Maellicia. "Of course. I honestly don’t know who in their right mind would think he loves rAlicia more than pAlicia." The truth: You ask how? Well, let's think… From the beginning, he planned to kill her to save the real family, he disregarded her feelings and in the end sacrificed her to save Maelle, really… How?! "To me it doesn’t even seem like Verso would’ve known about Alicia if Clea hadn’t told him. He also seems too depressed to really care for her, and he was always acting in his own interests. And I think he only joined Expedition 33 because of his plan." The truth: Omg... Yes, he wouldn't know, but he does know now, what's the point? "He seems too depressed to care about her"… What?! The reason he's depressed is because Maellicia, whom he loves so much, ruined his plan - to save her, she decided to stay inside the painting contrary to what he wanted for her! And what are his interests? Did you listen to the story? He wants to save the real family so they can move on! And that includes saving the real Alicia. Every time I see people contradicting the story and getting likes, I ask myself what kind of community the game has. I really hope most of you know that.

Why does pVerso love REAL Alicia more than pAlicia? pVerso loves his two little sisters: one is a blood sister, painted like him and the other is a sister in terms of strong feelings from memories implanted in him by Aline. These are not fake feelings, the memories of the real Verso made him develop very real feelings towards the real family including the real Alicia (Maelle) for whom the real Verso died. Verso can't escape his feelings and this creates a conflict for him: on the one hand, he doesn't want to be like the real Verso, he wants to be an independent person, but on the other hand, he can't really because that's how he was created, and although it doesn't seem like it at the end of Act 3, he slowly starts to let his feelings come out towards the real Alicia (the DLC and Verso's ending), where he simply acts like the real Verso, proving that he's his copy of him no matter what. So pVerso feels closest to the real Alicia/Maelle from the beginning of the game because he knows who she is and has childhood memories with her. At first he probably thinks the childhood memories he has in his head are his and pAlicia's, but when he discovers the truth from Clea he realizes that these are not really his memories as an independent person, but memories of a dead person he was created to replace. I'm sure this broke him and confused him - in fact he doesn't really have childhood memories with pAlicia and this is where he starts to emotionally understand the importance of the real family outside of the painting. pVerso has always seen Aline as his mother so it wasn't anything new to him about her (she's his mother and Clea and real Alicia's mother in the real world), but it was new to him to realize that his memories were with another girl, the real Verso's sister. And slowly over time as he keeps Maelle safe from a distance, watching over her for 16 years, his feelings for her grow stronger because he realizes who his memories are really with, he always loved her as his little sister, he feels like he knows her. But no, he prefers to deny his feelings for her, because he wants to be an independent person and not a copy. For him, there is only one little sister (pAlicia) and he decides not to treat the real Alicia as his little sister… but his feelings… he can't escape it. Even though he has lived with pAlicia for so many years, his memories which are actually childhood memories with real Alicia make the difference. pVerso did not know at first that the real Verso gave his life to save real Alicia, Aline removed this from his memories and made him think that Alicia was simply saved and left with burns. But we know she didn't erase this memory from pAlicia. pVerso's goal was to save his mother Aline, but then he decided that he wanted to save the entire real family that he had developed real feelings for after realizing that his memories were actually with them. To do this, he did cruel things like killing Gustave, for whom he was an obstacle in saving the real family, he was sure that if he left Gustave alive Maelle would never agree to leave the painting and his goal was for her to return to reality and move on. pVerso prioritizes his real family, especially the real Alicia (Maelle): - He had been planning to kill pAlicia for a long time, pRenoir tells him that he hugs her and still condemns her to death [for the real family]. - pVerso allows Maelle to kill his father, pRenoir, he knows how much pAlicia loves their father, he still let it happen to save the real family, real Alicia. - pVerso completely ignored the letter that pAlicia gave him, he didn't believe in a middle ground, he was determined to take the whole real family out of the canvas. - After Maelle killed pAlicia he was very angry with her, it's natural because he did love pAlicia, but not enough to not forgive Maelle after one conversation. - pVerso sacrificed the entire painting including pAlicia to save Maelle and bring her home.

Verso was so angry at Aline for doing this to his innocent little 16 year old sister, knowing that in the real world her face would have been burned. His love for Maelle/Real Alicia is immense.

So when someone tells me they love "Maelle" and not "Alicia/Maellicia" it annoys me so much… First of all because she's still Maelle just mixed with Alicia, and if you don't love Maelle/Alicia in Act 3, as far as I'm concerned you've never really loved her character at ALL - because it's the same one, but you know what the difference is? That this poor kid became more tragic, Maellicia is made up of 16-year-old Maelle who experienced traumatic experiences + 16-year-old Alicia who also experienced traumatic experiences and that affects her behavior in Act 3, why would I abandon my love for the character when she's in a more difficult mental state? On the contrary, I feel much more sorry for her. So if you hate Maellicia, don't come near me. She's my baby from Act 1 until the end of the game.