#spider's web

[jacobgraphy]

[thinkingimages]

A page of antique glassine - Spider's Web interleaving material 

[nailsandinspo]

[kohakurin8]

~ A Sticky Spider's Web ~

An Explained Post that Untangles Arachne's Web in My Own Words

⚠️ WARNING ⚠️

This post contains spoilers beyond this point!

Although I do not personally believe that these spoilers will inhibit the gameplay experience, if you would like to play this short game before reading my post, please scroll to the bottom for a link to where it can be downloaded!

Bold of you to assume I'd stop playing spooky horror games just because it's November. After all, they're one of my favorite genres! And last night I had the pleasure of experiencing another one of @starwarspurgefan 's suggestions -- Spider's Web by Teamsin3

Full Disclosure -- Although I wasn't as completely impressed with this game as I was with Birthday Kid, I still found it adorable, intriguing, and charming. There isn't a lot of lore to unpack with this lil one, but I still want to share my thoughts about what the true story behind it all really is~

Yes, I will be loading this post with official Arachne art. Leave me alone, she's adorable!

So, a little synopsis to start. Spider's Web is less of a... horror game and more of a spooky mystery with horror elements. Which is fine too, I love those just as much! Throughout the game you play as Arachne, exploring your house and learning bits of information about your mother. Arachne is obviously very aware of all the lore you discover while exploring, but it's presented in a very mysterious way for you as a player, which helps make the game more intriguing.

Additionally, the game very subtly hints you in the right direction to discover everything necessary in the game. It even pushes you to experience all of the bad endings before unlocking the True Ending, which is a mechanic I really enjoyed.

Although you aren't aware of it when starting the game it becomes very quickly apparent, regardless of what ending you unlock first, that Arachne is a young Jorogumo (spider-woman yokai) living with her mother. Not only is her mother a widow, but it's heavily implied that their species of Jorogumo is specifically belonging to the "true widow" genus of spiders. More on that later.

Each ending divulges a little more detail about Arachne's situation with her mother as she struggles to find a way to leave the house. Unlocking these endings all involve an interesting series of puzzles revolving around blood splatters, hidden rooms, and thirsty spiderplants. However, those aren't the only important things about these endings; seeing as there are several bad endings and only one good ending, which is also the True Ending, it stands to reason that most of these endings are representative of poor decisions that Arachne could have made.

Because of this, I think the best way for me to explain my thoughts would be to elaborate on the symbolism of the bad endings first. Buckle up, kiddos!

The easiest ending to unlock is the Bloodlust Ending. Why? Because all you need to do is interact with all of the blood splatters in the house.

Relatively straightforward, this ending is what would happen if Arachne were to give in to her instinctual bloodlust and devour her first human. Of course, this would be a mistake on her part because she gives in to becoming a monster, which is a fate Arachne has the ability to change for the better.

The next easiest endings to achieve are the two where you use Special Scissors to cut the web covering the front door. At that point, Mother appears and chases you, prompting you to get a different ending depending on whether she catches you or not. If she does catch you, it's pretty likely that Mother kills Arachne out of anger and betrayal, and if you happen to escape then Arachne abandons her Mother on bad terms.

Both of these endings clearly represent Arachne's potential mistake of trying to run away without settling things at home, which could come with major consequences. For real, guys, you can't run away from your problems and expect them to disappear.

Another bad ending, Like Mother Like Daughter, is the only ending achieved by unlocking the Cellar. There you meet Mother and witness her several cocooned victims hanging from the ceiling. It's implied that Arachne gives in to her bloodlust in this ending as well, devouring the victims alongside hr Mother.

Moral of the story?

My best insinuation is Willpower. Arachne makes the mistake of giving up what she believes in (not eating men whom she doesn't love) and becomes exactly like her Mother. Which is something that we later on come to understand that Arachne really doesn't want to do.

The last bad ending is also particularly alarming. You achieve it if you do everything necessary for the True Ending but make the mistake of interacting with any of the blood splatters. Here, Arachne finds her mother's bedroom, looks in the mirror and has a massive panic attack as she realizes that she's all alone and will seemingly never find love. Arachne then cuts at herself several times with the Special Scissors until she dies...

This ending explains to us a few different things:

• Arachne apparently suffers from severe depression stemmed from a deep loneliness.

• Jorogumo instinct is so powerful that the only way for Arachne to retain her innocence is to avoid temptation altogether. Pretty insightful considering spiders represent temptation itself.

• This ending would most likely happen eventually if Arachne never manages to leave the house, even after the endings where she becomes a monster.

• This is actually a callback to the intro of the game, where Arachne muses that she's essentially suffocating. That is very clearly the beginnings of a panic attack (triggered by feeling trapped in some way) which implies that throughout the entire game Arachne is fighting off this growing sense of anxiety and pressure.

Now for the True Love Ending -- the good and canonical ending with the most details of the story.

Essentially the moral of the story here is that if Arachne can manage to resist her Jorogumo instincts, then she can achieve happiness by becoming a better person than her mother. But, this can only be achieved by remembering the True Love that Arachne's father taught the two of them.

Here, we learn that Arachne's Mother would date (and possibly marry) men time and again before devouring them. That is, until meeting a man who embraced her spider-side and appreciated her for it, rather than treating her like a monster.

That man became Arachne's father, and the two were very happy together. However, unfortunately when he began to shift his love from his wife to Arachne, Mother became so jealous that.... Well, it's implied that Mother devoured him out of jealousy, and then immediately regretted the action so badly that she refused to ever marry again.

Arachne grew up, but has been struggling and struggling to find a suitor for herself, and whenever she disapproves of one Mother will devour them instead of Arachne.

In the end, Arachne has come to the realization that she wants to go out into the world and find someone who loves her the way that her Father loved Mother. This is the only way that she'll be satisfied, but for pretty obvious reasons she's unsure how to break the news to Mother.

Still, Arachne succeeds because she finally understands that everything her mother has done...has been a show of her love. Despite possessing the Special Scissors, Arachne refuses to cut Mother's Web. Instead, when Mother appears Arachne tells her that she loves her, but it's time for her to find the True Love that her Father taught them both about. And finally... Mother understands Arachne's desires, and allows her to go out into the world.

Arachne untangles the web instead of cutting it, symbolic of preserving her connection to her mother instead of severing it as she had on all of the previous endings.

This ending was.... really sweet and beautiful. Definitely worth all of the tedious puzzles to unlock.

Although this game is very mature and leaves some to be desired, it's definitely a fun game worth experiencing!

I'm especially intrigued with the amount of research the creators seem to have done on widow spiders, since Mother only shows up when you touch her web, and in my own research I turned up...

It stands to reason that Mother shows up only when you touch her web because she can feel the vibrations through the silk!

Such a cool little detail...

Well, that's it for my analysis! If you have opinions or theories to add, please throw em in the comments!

‼️ DOWNLOAD LINK‼️

Please experience the game for yourself here!

[doyouknowthistmntau]

Do you know Spider's Web AU by @blue-star-doodles??

Learn more about the AU by clicking here!!

Reminder!! Submissions are open!! You can use the submission form or the asks!! ^^

Submission Note: Hello!!

Hi!! ^^-☆

[amatesura]

photo: Hannu Ahonen

[spider-shoes]

THIS IS SO FUNNY

[chasingrainbowsforever]

~ Sage and Olive Green ~

[besidethepath]

Today I woke up early

[lightweaving]

Spider's Web Deleted Scene

I really loved this interaction but it just had to go 😭 so here it is on tumblr so I can at least share it:

Naruto looked between them, his expression troubled. He took Sakura’s hand in his, squeezing gently. “Was there a reason that required you to rush?” he asked. Sakura hesitated. Naruto was not the sort who would let go until he was entirely satisfied with the explanation he received. "Only the usual reasons that require a hasty wedding,” she said finally. It was true enough, she supposed. Naruto blanched. “Are you –” he began. Sakura flushed as she realised what conclusion he must have jumped to. “Saint, no!” she squeaked. “No. Lord Uchiha would never. We were caught in a compromising position. That was all.” “Oh, thank goodness. I would have hated to have to duel him. Though I suppose I can’t really duel him for your honour if he’s already marrying you,” Naruto mused.

[thespidersweb]

🕷️🎁❄️Spider's Web Holiday Gift Exchange❄️🎁🕷️

Hello to all spidersona creators!

We on the Spider's Web discord server are pleased to announce our third annual gift exchange, open to all!

Signing up to participate is simple. All you need to do is join the server, and fill out the form pinned in the general chat channel! It doesn't matter if you're not particularly active in the server; it doesn't even matter if you haven't developed your spidersona beyond the most basic appearance. If you care enough about spidersonas to have found this post, you belong on our server, and you deserve a gift!🎁

Sign-ups close on December 1, which is also when one of our mods will shuffle the applications and hand out your assigned giftee. On December 20th, each of us will post our gifts in to the relevant channel, or DM them to the recipient if you're shy.

Join the Spider's Web server today! And have a happy holiday season!

[jacobgraphy]

Jeziorno ,Poland

[latrodctus]

I’ll trade ya some mind fuckers if you can get me somthing that can knock me out for maybe a day or two..

none of that melatonin though.. too vanilla

hm. yeah. i can do that. i have the contacts. it all depends on how good the stuff is that you get me though. none of that cheap shit. it better be fucking pure.

[icardamome]

[lihiominaa]

Close Up Shot of a Spider

[ayanos-pl]

ジョロウグモの巣に引っかかっていた落ち葉（11月3日）

Opadłe liście schwytane w pajęczynę

Fallen leaves caught in a spider's web