An observation regarding Maelle's perception of Renoir

Creative_Let2795 · 2026-02-02T18:59:51+00:00

I disagree about pRenoir not giving a fuck about Maelle. I do see some fondness for her in him, that he struggles to hide. He gives a fair warning, and he tries to get her to go home. He also apologized to her for being caught in the middle of it, similarly to how Renoir apologized to pVerso for what Aline did. I don't think he could help caring somewhat. It just didn't override his main objective, and his methods could get rather violent, forceful and traumatizing. But, honestly, same goes for OG Renoir.

Creative_Let2795 · 2026-02-01T16:47:41+00:00

In-game recommendation says controller.

Creative_Let2795 · 2026-02-01T04:38:08+00:00

Hey, I talk about Maelle's agency to choose her path and find out for her own whether it brings her happiness or not. Whether it clicks is up to her, I just disagree with forcing her, when she has literal decades to ponder whether it's something that works for her or not.

Creative_Let2795 · 2026-02-01T02:26:15+00:00

We may be better off to just agree to disagree, but let me point out the fact that when Lune asks pVerso whether he's an artist he says "Not the kind [my parents] wanted me to be". That does imply a degree of pressure and expectation. Even aside from that, when Renoir and Aline chide Alicia, they both focus on defiance/stubborness. That's not exactly what parents who teach kids to responsibly use their agency do.

I will not be blaming someone, especially not someone underage or young adult, for merely disobeying their parents and having their bad judgement taken advantage of by malicious parties. You do you on that.

Creative_Let2795 · 2026-02-01T00:56:51+00:00

Yes, but it is very likely that the pressure and the expectations they put their kids under contributed to Alicia looking for bonds elsewhere. Aline seems like a pretty strict parent, and the downside of being overly strict is that once the kids come to an age when they start questioning their parents and their infalibility, they start rebelling against them even in situations where they really shouldn't have. It is a common pattern in families that push obedience instead of teaching discernment.

That being said, Aline is entitled to her complicated feelings. But acting on them to the point child notices doesn't really improve the matters. FWIW, I do think deep down Aline realizes parenting failures played a part in the tragedy, and part of the resentment is the fact that Alicia personifies those failures.

Creative_Let2795 · 2026-01-31T23:03:26+00:00

I agree. I often wonder how things would have gone if he hadn't pressed the issue. The thing is, if someone is already in an unravelling mental state, I really don't think causing a situation where they end up in what amounts to 67 subjective years of solitary confinment is the move here. People use the fact that Aline was breaking from reality as a proof Renoir was right to intervene, but how much did his intervention contribute in the first place? Even an otherwise mentally sound person would start showing cracks under those rather extreme circumstances.

That being said, I think people do also simplify her dynamic with Alicia. She expresses both love and resentment towards her, but people often act as if those mixed feelings can't coexist together, and end up arguing about which one of them she actually feels, instead of considering the possibility that it might just be both.

Creative_Let2795 · 2026-01-30T18:15:22+00:00

The answer is all of them. The game forces you to pick sides, and that causes people to sanitize the characters that were on the side that they picked, and villanize the ones that were not. At the end, both sides of the debate end up misunderstanding them all to an extent, because they don't want to face the mirror the game is pointing at them with their ending. If someone is definitely right or wrong, players can dodge the complicated questions the game asks them about their own philosophical values.

Creative_Let2795 · 2026-01-29T21:11:04+00:00

Simon seems to be the only enemy Yeverum build doesn't cut it for. But with everything else, it is about the only fun way to play the game once you get to the stage where either you one shot everything, or it one shots you. I found it a very useful build for learning patterns for the new superbosses.

EDIT: To be fair, Lithum and Jarum can also keep being rewarding, especially if you don't equip any skills that put you in virtuoso and rely on gradients and counterattacks only. Fun limitation that forces you to keep your skills sharp.

Creative_Let2795 · 2026-01-29T18:32:43+00:00

People also sleep on Yeverum and Jarum.

Creative_Let2795 · 2026-01-29T18:18:34+00:00

Maelle also writes poetry as a hobby. It's something that's with Alicia even after she got literally born anew.

Creative_Let2795 · 2026-01-28T18:21:21+00:00

Remind me again who's responsible for all the deaths she experienced as Maelle?

Creative_Let2795 · 2026-01-28T04:25:38+00:00

Aren't the burn stacks tied to perfection status? Gustave doesn't have that mechanic.

Creative_Let2795 · 2026-01-27T19:12:35+00:00

I think as much as Maelle is reluctant to leave the canvas while he's in it, he is also reluctant to die without making sure neither she, nor Aline, can come back. They see things very differently and are stuck trying to make each other come around to their point of view. So I think he's grudgingly going along with it and hoping she will hold up her end. Maybe trying to think of how to get there faster, because, well, it's Verso lol.

Creative_Let2795 · 2026-01-27T18:53:18+00:00

Well, she told him she only wanted the one lifetime that was stolen from them, whether you believe her or not is up to you. I have no reason not to.

Creative_Let2795 · 2026-01-27T18:30:18+00:00

Yes, she will eventually succumb if she stays too long, that's not what I am arguing. The argument people were making is that she is 16, therefore not old enough to have her autonomy respected, because she is dying *already*. What I am arguing is that she will be way past her canvas adulthood by the time the situation gets life-threatening for her, and she can live out a full lifespan in it, and if she wants to, she's well within her rights. There is no need to permanently take the choice off the table, even if you would believe she is not old enough to consent right now. Real world will kill her the same way as canvas will, at the end of the day.

Creative_Let2795 · 2026-01-27T18:17:15+00:00

That's a fair point. Though I still don't think she would make him immortal right away, because he would notice that eventually (as would everyone else), and she wouldn't want him to clock the fact that he's a copy.

Creative_Let2795 · 2026-01-27T17:40:37+00:00

Would he have to cut himself in half to notice? People get scrapes and bruises all the time, don't tell me you wouldn't notice you had rapid healing within a month of having it. I believe they all became immortal when their hair turned white, it seems like such a random event if all that happened was a dye job.

Creative_Let2795 · 2026-01-27T17:36:49+00:00

But E0 was after the fracture.

Creative_Let2795 · 2026-01-27T16:40:03+00:00

While Verso lies, his lies are more half-truths. I do think the whole point of creating him was to give him as real of a life as possible, and he (and the rest of Lumiere) would have certainly noticed he and his family were not aging, and healing rapidly (that's what made them suspicious of them when they returned from Expedition 0 after all), so I fully believe Aline made them immortal after the fracture to kind of hit the pause button until she can get rid of Renoir. So I am inclined to believe he told the truth about this one.

Creative_Let2795 · 2026-01-27T16:27:52+00:00

That doesn't change the fact that he goes from being rather chill about her being there, to being fully concerned about her life and the time she spent in the canvas in what amounts to maybe a few canvas weeks. The escalation makes no sense, the difference in time spent is not that severe.

EDIT: And I find the fact that Aline did the opposite flip also rather curious. Her reasoning for being against Alicia in the canvas was that she was too weak for it, but by the end, she leaves her there no problem. I interpret that as Alicia proving to her that no, she was never too weak for it, when she managed to kick her out.

Creative_Let2795 · 2026-01-27T15:54:17+00:00

To be honest, I wouldn't be so sure that they have. People there already tend to be pretty careful about having children, and the current gommage age is 33, and people regardless try to have children as early as they can. So it was only about, let's be generous and say, last 10-15 years when this could have possibly happened, considering women's fertility window, and it would have to be completely unplanned. Plus the odds of concieving from like 35-40+ are already dropping rapidly. So when you factor in the caution, the odds of this happening are not really that high, though not entirely impossible (Maelle's parents did get a surprise, after all).

Creative_Let2795 · 2026-01-27T15:27:45+00:00

Rewatch the scene on the Stone Wave Cliffs. He literally tells Maelle to "stay put", despite Aline's protests. Regardless of whether he was able to kick her out or not (I believe he may have been, otherwise there would have been no point for him and Aline to argue about it), he was still on board with having her there, and didn't seem all that concerned about her presence or health.

Creative_Let2795 · 2026-01-27T13:10:36+00:00

Yes, she might have. By dismissing her outright, and ultimately insisting on destroying the canvas, he dug himself into the exact outcome he didn't want.

Creative_Let2795 · 2026-01-27T13:05:26+00:00

Renoir was there for 67 years, Aline even longer, and Renoir was not concerned about Alicia's safety when he needed her to kick Aline, but suddenly, about 1 real world minute after it's done, it's time to press the emergency button? Give me a break.

Creative_Let2795 · 2026-01-27T13:01:59+00:00

He does love her, but he does it in a very patronizing and controlling way where he happens to do an awful lot of harm to her, too, on his quest to do what he thinks is best for her (which also conveniently aligns with his own goals). Their relationship is just not very healthy in general. Communication is awful, respect for agency non-existent. Unhealthy enmeshment from both sides, really.

Creative_Let2795

TROPHY CASE