#jim in curly's mind an everconsuming inescapable star and curly in jim's is like just. a guy. on fire. who will take the blame for him

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What is your interpretation of the blood and ladder thing? Like, did Curly really see that at the time? Is it a way to convey his anxiety? Is it how he remembers the moment?

As I see it, I'm treating it the same as Jimmy's, as their subconscious and state of mind depicted and visualized for players in a cool asf way. It's a creative and visually impactful way to tell the story, the characters' thoughts and what's going on in their mind. Therefore I'm willing to accept that it is actually something Curly 'felt' in the moment. Up to you to interpret how vivid or conscious he was of it happening, it is simply where his mind was at.

Same question can be asked about all of Jimmy's mindfuckery too, with no clear indication on whether or not, (for example) he actually thought he was being hunted by a long ass horse while searching for mouthwash for Daisuke. If we accept, that Jimmy's walk in the Polle corridor after crashing the ship was what he 'felt' while sitting on the floor head in hands, If we don't doubt, that the judgement and other encounters are something that's representing Jimmy's mind state, then I don't think there's reasons to doubt Curly's too (and vice versa). It does blur a line between in-game reality and metaphorical symbolism shenanigans tomfoolery to the player and I think that's the point. It's for the story.

The vision itself comes out as extremely foreshadowy but it's something that's been on his mind. It is Curly having an existential crisis about the career ladders that reach above the Ocean Of Blood, with him "reaching the top" and safe from drowning in it. It is Curly's subconscious screaming at him about the danger in the cockpit, how he keeps on walking "ignoring all warning signs". This sequence implies so much, especially if we assume or consider that Curly has been aware of what Anya told him for a gooood while. Anticipating the doom Jimmy will bring with him by walking into the giant star (that, by the way, locks your camera on it, unable to turn away) that is leading into the cockpit where Jimmy is seated. Because that's literally what happens, Curly walks into the cockpit and gets incinerated later, because of Jimmy and Curly's own negligence and compliance. Feeling helpless in the wake of an inescapable gravitational pull is how Curly felt (whether he actually was helpless is up to debate, but it is how he saw it). He may have know OF the dead pixel but ignored it, as the warning signs were there but kept on acting like it wasn't a big deal. Until the deadly star that grew out of it consumed him.