#aline forcing it to continue and creating the fake family is another example of simply ignoring the problem

[verite-writer]

I find it kind of astonishing people don’t understand this? The story is so overtly about how imperfect it is to be human and how selfish grief is. You don’t choose to be selfish when grieving; the position grief forces you into is inherently defensive. You’re hurt, you’re scared, you think you’re alone, and something so intrinsically a part of you is gone. You’re a wounded animal that’s been cornered by an oppressive force you cannot simply destroy and cornered animals often lash out against others or even themselves in their attempts to escape.

Sure, humans are an animal with the power to psychologically heal, but it’s not easy. In fact, it’s easier to simply sink into the selfish feelings of grief, to close yourself off or even die. You have to choose to heal and you have to do that over and over again forever and most of the time, the grim truth is that you cannot do it alone. You need someone in your corner with you, choosing to understand you even when you don’t have the strength to be selfless.

It just felt like to me, the game made it clear that it was saying this. No one is perfect, no one is fully emotionally intelligent about every single decision, because grief can make all of us into wounded animals. But it also makes it clear that choosing to ignore grief and choosing to refuse help isn’t the ideal solution. Ultimately, you can’t avoid that grief hurts you or that healing is difficult, but isn’t it better to choose to try letting it become a scar over simply letting yourself bleed out?

People (rightfully) keep bringing up how Maelle erased Painted Alicia because it was what she wanted, but in her ending selfishly refuses to erase Painted Verso even though it's what he wants...

But I've yet to see anyone mention how Painted Verso wants to die, and yet in his ending forces Maelle to live when she wants to die, too.

As Painted Verso himself puts it: they're all hypocrites.

I'm not saying this to villainize Painted Verso (I'm also not trying to villainize Maelle), but I'm bringing this up because I do feel like a portion of the fandom is throwing Maelle under the bus lately. And that was never Sandfall Interactive's intention: all of these characters are supposed to be multi-faceted and human: they have their good points as well as their, umm, awful points.

And to be honest, the entire Dessendre family is very selfish in their grief, and those in the canvas suffer because of it. Painted Verso himself brings this up, but doesn't seem to realize that even while being a creation of the Paintress/his mother (and a copy of the real Verso), he falls into this category himself.