The Path: Psychological Horror In The Woods

[@Thebdippy]

what the hell were people expecting with the full version of the graveyard? Powerups?

[@vehicularmanslaater8083]

the old woman rejects death itself and the final boss battle is vs death

[@Ezioisawesome]

@@vehicularmanslaater8083 she rejects her humanity and goes to fight her adoptive brother and his weird friends

[@vehicularmanslaater8083]

@@Ezioisawesome i bet thats a reference to something

[@Ezioisawesome]

@@vehicularmanslaater8083 yea sorry, I'm just being dumb

[@damienthonk1506]

A video game, perhaps?

[@zackkunkel3287]

I find it really interesting that Grandma has her own wolf, and it's a stuffed one. I think this has some interesting implications, like perhaps her own trauma is long dead and conquered, but she keeps it as a trophy. Perhaps it's even a reference to how some people always carry their trauma with them, almost regarding it like an old friend or companion in their old age, since it has always been with them, and always will be.

[@isthatawormwildbowreferenc4562]

this makes sense tbh. my grandma can casually say: "oh yeah, your grandfather used to abuse me and burned my books so i wouldn't learn anything" or my mom can be like "yea i watched my mom die via suicide right infront of me" and it's just..like you described, conquered and dead

[@AngelCaz7]

ooooh i love this

[@fshy_bat]

@@isthatawormwildbowreferenc4562 😳

[@isthatawormwildbowreferenc4562]

@@fshy_bat MY MOM LITERALLY WENT THROUGH THE CRAZIEST LIFE...my dad is kinda worth mentioning bc he gets delusions of grandeur

[@mxmissy]

I never thought about that but it makes sense. Tieing it with another commenter who said "pain is inevitable". Wow.

[@pudding1255]

idk... I never really viewed the game's message as "pain is necessary". To me it was more like "pain is inevitable". None of the girls can stop what happened to them. It acknowledges the pain and the fact that it's always going to be part of them (all of the final rooms being present in the house at then end) but they still keep their desire to keep going (the girl's dress is stained, but not completely red). The wolf doesn't make them learn and grow, it just happens. Wolves are a part of the forest. That's how I always saw it lol

[@thepinkestpigglet7529]

Tbh nothing that happened to the girls was either necessary nor inevitable They didn't fall down and scrape their knees or have a falling out with a friend or any regular gonna happen life stuff. They went through shit. Trauma is preventable.

[@degenerate2281]

@@thepinkestpigglet7529 I think trauma is preventable only in hindsight- or rather, the situations that can spark trauma. In the moment, none of us really go out seeking dangerous situations that can harm us (unless it's situations like Ruby's story involving mental health struggles) but they can be found regardless. Pain really is inevitable in life, especially long ones. It's how we react and take care of ourselves that can sponsor growth. It's not necessarily the specific situations of each sister that are inevitable, but the struggle and pain they face by being alive and growing up.

[@degenerate2281]

I like this interpretation more for both the message of the overall game, but also the girl in white/red. I never really saw her so much as a beacon of innocence or childishness (maybe for the younger sisters), but as a symbol of growth vs stagnation. While we, as people want to live enjoyable happy stress-free lives, there is ultimately some level of change to shape us into more knowledgeable people- and change can cause pain. I saw the girl in white as this inherent want to be struggle-free, and the splashes of red at the end to indicate that life has to have both to be fulfilling. Idk tho, I'm just spitballing.

[@pudding1255]

@@thepinkestpigglet7529 while trauma as severe as shown in the game isn't inevitable, everyone will go through some kind of struggle. My point was more that pain is a meaningless thing that happens to the vast majority of us. Plus with stuff like sa happening to the VAST majority of women, I kind of have to argue that it unfortunately is a common thing to happen to a young woman, even if it isn't as severe as r*pe. Again, almost everyone goes through something.

[@sophitiaofhyrule]

@@thepinkestpigglet7529 Trauma is preventable...? What?

[@voxelbee7018]

Something I just realized: players have previously pointed out the paradox of Ruby being the fastest runner out of the six girls despite her leg injury. But if travelling down the path represents life then it makes sense; Ruby is the most self-destructive/eager to die (compared to the rest) and doesn’t mind reaching the end sooner. Anyway, THANK YOU for making this video! The Path is such a gem and so worth a deep-dive analysis. It had such an impact on me as a teen when I first played it and has lived in my head rent-free ever since.

[@nosferat-ew]

wow great point, I can totally see that with Ruby!

[@Izzzyzzz]

THIS IS SO BRILLIANT wow!!! amazing catch!!!!!

[@rosvlinds]

After years of knowing this game I never thought of this... Makes so much sense though

[@fishypresent5908]

I think this might honestly back up The “The path represents life and grandmas house represents old age”. It shows that from a young age , Ruby has wanted for it to all end quicker then The others.

[@riuukover]

wtf you're literally einstein

[@atlas6864]

i think the fact that scarlett is not just playing the piano but being mentored may point to a feeling of wishing she had a parental figure to take her burdens and/or teach her how to properly raise her sisters while taking care of herself in the process

[@sackfu7952]

While i don't have to watch my younger brothers ever, i can agree with this interpretation as it is a feeling i often go through myself, of wishing i had more people in my life to help me out rather than all this weight being on my shoulders, so i really like this interpretation.

[@TONADRIEL]

I honestly was expecting a gay storyline, saying how lonely she is, the way she says she isn't showing who she truly is, i honestly saw it as showing she was struggling with her sexuality but specifically liking women & never being able to explore it. but that's honestly just me trying to see the gay agenda everywhere. and trans ginger is one of my favorite things about this video

[@atlas6864]

@@TONADRIEL that's an interesting point i see it

[@Liz-ew2wn]

@@TONADRIEL I genuinely love seeing comments like this about seeing LGBTQ themes in the different storylines, like tackling feelings with non-hetero attraction or coming to terms with gender identity. While I don't think the developers meant it to be that way considering it's from 2009(?) and LGBTQ was still pretty taboo and that would have been super progressive for it's time, it just goes to show how powerful art is and how people can use the different stories like a mirror and make so many different interpretations of them. Even if it's not what the devs intended, it's still a super valid viewing of it as an art piece and I just think that's so awesome and what makes it great.

[@justanautisticnerd8969]

​@@Liz-ew2wnto be fair thought. It is an obscure indie art game. Not something from a big gaming company. So yeah I dont think them tackling something as taboo as lgbtq+ at the time is out of the question. They dont have to worry as much about that as someone who works with big corporations

[@JaneDoe_123]

Rather than purity and innocence, the girl in white seems to represent more order and safety, what you're "supposed to do", so to speak. Her being dirtied with red, but her original white still visible could represent the triumph of safety or security, knowing the world isn't perfect, but that you can navigate it. Similarly, the girl in red could represet chaos and change, both in general and in the girl's story specifically.

[@groofay]

I think the "innocent" interpretation of the girl in white still applies; the idea we're taught, as innocent children, that as long as we do what we're told, i.e. keep to the path, life will safely and securely unfold as planned. She's just gradually stained red by life as we go through it and realize that nothing can go to plan. And I think the girl in red is the final realization that we have as early teenagers, that the adults can be flat-out wrong, destroying any sense of that security and innocence, leading into the unstable nightmare of puberty.

[@ez-ru3do]

i love this! im really into meanings behind colors and the girl in white could also represent life, leading the girls back to the path to continue on with their journey that leads them to the house as it was intended. if you choose to go on about the game to try and get each ending, your girl is met with a painful ‘end’ and the only one who is able to reach it in the end is the girl in white. the red, or blood, *could* represent the loss of purity, being aware of the fact of each separate girls demise and knowing you didn’t have a say in it, (but this part is a COMPLETE stretch)

[@emilycoleslaw]

i agree. i don't think her representing innocence really works with her role in the gameplay (directing the girls back to the path) as well as the idea that "the path" itself represents life.

[@JaneDoe_123]

@@groofay Could be, it's just that, personally, as a visual metaphor it doesn't work as well, but I interpret "loss of innocence" as a more drastic change in perspective. It definitely gains strenght tho, when we consider (I think, I haven't played the game lol) that the girl doesn't show up to help the characters once they meet their wolves, and only shows up (presumibly) bloody after all the characters encountered them. Could signify a big change in perspective for the girls, both because of the visual, and because in reality, getting rid of most stains in white fabric is near impossible without damaging it.

[@rljake2]

Subjective as it all is, the girl in white turned bloodied AFTER may just be the strongest symbolism of female puberty in this entire game.

[@lungwart]

I think something that resonated with me through Scarlet's story is guilt. To me the green represents guilt. Once she starts to feel happiness (with the wolf and the music) she immediately feels guilty and as though she has made a mistake. The fact that there is missing furniture from the house, in the end, could represent how Scarlet fears if she doesn't provide for her family and forgo her own happiness, that her family will lack the things they need.

[@goldendew5759]

I thought maybe the green represented jealousy/envy (basic, but classic) or her sisters, and the fact they got to be children when she didn’t. But I love the idea of guilt so much!!!!!

[@lungwart]

@@goldendew5759 oh I really love this idea! i definitely can see it being envy, it makes me think of the phrase "green with envy" lol!

[@goldendew5759]

@@lungwart exactly! That’s why I thought that

[@moonmun]

@@goldendew5759 Both can be combined and would be perf TBH!

[@emmyhellin]

I personally thought of the green for envy too I also noticed what could be colour language in Ruby’s wolf scene when she’s sitting on the bench we can see blue flowers all around her that could represent her depression as blue represents sadness like in the saying « feeling blue » I really like the idea of green for guilt tho

[@SaturdayXIII]

I don't usually comment before finishing a video, but I think there's something to be said how Rose seems to be a protector, trying to control the knives, needles, and really drive to help others. Her wolf, despite being white and fluffy, appears to be a literal storm, a chaotic entity that she just has no hope of controlling. Her lesson probably is that sometimes no matter how hard you try, things just go wrong for no real reason.

[@McGeeMcGeeMcGee-g7w]

Aw. i really like this interpretation it was really sweet in comparison to where my mind went XD

[@the_birthday_skeleton]

Haha I also commented before I’d watched more than a minute in - my voice must be heaaaaard

[@nerdychocobo]

I feel like that could be an important theme considering her sister has a presumably permanent disability possibly from a car crash

[@sthuvbot]

Exactly, like excepting the inevitablity that life is unfair and sometimes there’s not much you can do to stop it even if you do everything possible to prevent it.

[@OmqSparklez]

Rose made me think a lot about my struggle with OCD, especially as a child (though I still struggle with it very severely today), how so much of it came out of a desire to keep everyone else safe, a desire to control the things that hurt people, to the point where I endanger and harm myself, and believe it's my fault when others are hurt.

[@because-strudels]

That image of Scarlet at 53:30 is sad, even beyond the puppet idea. The fact that only her limbs are clear while the rest of her body is faded out is like only being seen for your "usefulness." Cooking, cleaning, stuff like that.

[@prohtniweolhc]

Another thing I noticed with this image, her legs are not seen. It's one pose in the front, and the back shows a sort of pleasing pose. Her front pose is maybe how she actually feels while the back is showing how she acts.

[@Adamant_Adam]

@@prohtniweolhc omfg thank you so much i thought those were her legs 😖

[@prohtniweolhc]

@@Adamant_Adam Try inverting the colors on the image. You'll notice her head is there twice. ^^

[@chiefpurrfect8389]

Also I noticed that when Scarlet wakes up in front of grandma's house she touches her arm like it's hurt. In that final image her limbs are the only part of her that isn't faded out but in one pair of them her right arm (the one she clutches in grandma's house) is also faded out. It's just a halfassed theory but- given that she's someone torn between two "selves"- one driven to pursue music and one who has to be responsible to her younger sisters- I think her filling in her mother's domestic duties might not be the only thing stopping her from pursuing her music career, but she may also have an injury. An injury that may not hinder her in performing basic functions (like cooking and cleaning, so both her hands are "good enough" for that in one version of herself in the image) but cause problems when delicate, controlled movements are required like when playing a musical instrument (which is why the other version of her has only one "good" hand). A disability that isn't as obvious as Ruby's, but one that is ironically as invisible as Scarlet herself. Granted, there isn't much else visually or textually to suggest an injury, but these two bits seem very intentional in a game that is very intentional with its imagery. As for the fey wolf, I see them as either a mentor figure or the promise of her musical career that she fully believed in but now perceives as a liar or lie, a malevolent trickster. And to add another reach: what if the fey wolf was a music instructor/mentor or otherwise trusted adult figure who caused the injury in the first place? After her encounter with her wolf the color green dominates the entire final section and can be seen on details on the fey wolf's otherwise black and white color scheme. Green is often used to symbolize envy or otherwise illness and bad health (like an injury). They begin to tutor her, but then the curtain falls and she wakes up in front of grandma's house with her arm seemingly hurt. Also they have long white hair with black peering beneath, like they are wearing a poorly-adjusted wig- a wolf in sheep's clothing, not who Scarlet thought they were + the mask on stage and her quote about everyone wearing masks. Idk, that's just a thought I had. Or maybe there's no physical injury at all. It could be that the fey wolf took the form of their mother, someone she trusted, who initially offered her encouragement in her musical skills but then placed the burden of raising the rest of the girls on her, rendering the pursuit of that career impossible.

[@AedanBlackheart]

At least that's more useful than most people nowadays, lol

[@gentriggerTTRPG]

I feel like its a missed opportunity to mention the overt imagery of general relationship abuse for the woodsman. Like, chairs being underwater showing a sense of drowning in a relationship. The red x being on Carmen's face marking a target for his violence, striking her like a tree. Carmen crawling on her knees like she's trying to escape something. It feels like this realization that a desire for fiery romance has turned into this uncontrollable situation that involves the overt sexual violence as well. The perpetrator being a middle-aged guy who's life obviously isn't together if he's getting involved with a minor feels like a good embodiment of that since it's guys like that who target and idealize minors who are trying to build up their sexual maturity, and who butter girls up with words about how they're so mature for their age. So I guess read that way, it's less the sexual violence that seems like a way of growing up, but rather perhaps the realization that what we feel is exciting may not be healthy, or may turn into a trap when it comes to intimate relationships. Not in a "Its her fault for wanting this" sort of way, but moreso playing off the naivity of not being able to see red flags in the first place, much like the others didn't see red flags in the things they were doing.

[@ionia2376]

Yeah, I feel like the storyline is about grooming specifically for her. Particularly in light of the comment about her wanting attention.

[@CrayonConoisseur]

Exactly! I couldn't have worded it better 👏

[@m00nrac00n]

Guys like that use your desire to be "mature for your age" against you...for sure.

[@danielasanchez6566]

This, just want to add that I’m totally disgusted at people even trying to say that it was consented. She was 17 and the wolf a fricking middle age man, there is no consent in that

[@mariawhite7337]

To be completely crude, 'on the knees' doesn't entirely have to be escaping something. If we go this angle and take the pool imagery. I would say it is still assault, while she is at a party with others. Since there is more than two chairs, I think that it could have been a party with older people. This guy singled her out, and hurt her as the others were there and basically ignored the situation. That's my theory. Still traumatic but I just thought, if this game is that meticulous, then the more than one chair has to have a meaning along with it. Along with of course the five mattresses with the chair on top. So there is my two cents.

[@ForestFawn]

I have theories about Rose. She's told she's mature for her age, so the birdcage above a desk could imply she feels trapped in peoples' expectations of her, particularly in regards to schooling. It could be symbolising the gifted & talented child struggling to keep up with the achievements of her childhood. I think the fog and floating could also represent daydreaming ("head in the clouds") or dissociation, as for some, dissociating feels hazy, like looking through a fog, or like you're suspended in air. The light hallway and fog/cloud man could also represent her youthful optimism within these struggles - "the light at the end of the tunnel" and "every cloud has a silver lining".

[@treadingwater86]

Great theory. The idea of her being a gifted kid struggling to keep up with the expectations other people place on her even ties back into the repeated theme of water, her literally drowning under the pressure. With this interpretation, the fogcreature and the light hallway could be connected to the freedom she desires but always remains out of her reach.

[@jeemy5382]

Kin moment.

[@aranura3476]

She Feeling Trapped could also explain the Doors ...she feels Like Everything repeats Itself.

[@spongeson]

i like this theory !!!! it makes a lot of sense

[@zippityzoop1478]

I assumed the references to birds in Roses story were related to whatever happened to Robin

[@yeoldegeorgemac]

idea: the woodsman is opposite to the wolf in the fairy tale. if wolves are the things that are necessary to development, the woodsman is the thing which stops that development from happening and hinders moving forward.

[@-topic9506]

agreed. he's the one that kills the wolf so it only makes sense. I also disagree that Carmen was just assaulted, I think she was straight up murdered.

[@puppiesadie5958]

I really enjoy this theory as a recent victim of sa this is a really good interpretation about the woodsman. I’m literally seventeen right now so Carmen hits really close to home for me and I’m glad you brought this up

[@razminfox1787]

He’s not part of girlhood he’s what interrupts it

[@-topic9506]

@@razminfox1787 precisely!!!

[@puppiesadie5958]

@@razminfox1787 that’s what they said lol

[@clarakjelsberg4060]

Small notices “The man who would save us is our destroyer” is also fascinating because The Woodsman is often the “hero” of little red interpretations, but he’s also murdering a wolf and causing destruction. I wonder if that’s related to the interpretation Also I thought the carpet the Charming Wolf drags was in the shed when I looked at it??? Might be wrong, but very cool if it is

[@cosmina-asthro]

I had completely forgotten that the woodsman saved little red riding hood! Perhaps the wolf in Carmen's story claimed to want to take care of her and she felt he saved her from her loneliness but ultimately he was a wolf like any other, manipulating her for sex

[@johnturtle6649]

Watch the movie "the company of wolves" very similar theme, if not almost exactly the same.

[@KamillahM-q3v]

​@@johnturtle6649Definitely, it's free on youtube btw!

[@smallspidersad78]

I think Carmen’s story being “technically consensual” is part of the point; it’s so common for girls to “consent” to activity with much much older men (and it’s also common for this dynamic to happen with other genders too) and to only later, as they grow up and get a better perspective on just how young a teenager actually is when you’re an adult, that they have to go through the process of coming to terms with the fact they were gr*omed. She thinks of herself as worldly and is trying to embrace her young sexuality, and the woodsman represents men who take advantage of this.

[@monbub]

Yeah, she might've been drunk when it happened and she's a minor, so it couldn't have been consensual in any way. I also think that maybe she didn't know what she was getting into. She seems to romanticize love and sex, but doesn't actually know what it is.

[@pastelfurby2991]

I think this is the most accurate one I’ve seen. I think they framed it as “consensual” on purpose to show how she felt it was at the time, but then later in realizes it actually wasn’t and thus she’s so damaged about it…

[@PermianExtinction]

Did you censor the word "groomed" out of habit? Because I see this a lot where scary words about awful subjects get censored as if that will make them less difficult to read, or acknowledging they are taboo, or almost treating them as curse words. It certainly doesn't serve any practical purpose here. I'm not sure how I feel about this trend. I think you can say the word, it's not a swear, just has a painful meaning, and we know that what happened to Carmen was exactly that.

[@divinecervine]

@@PermianExtinction Actually, sometimes words as incendiary as that are censored to bypass any possible algorithms in place that flag such terms and mark them as spam, etc. While yes, some people censor words in a literal way, to censor them, in this case I think it's done to make sure that their post isn't flagged because it used what a potential algorithm would consider a "bad word".

[@Absitiam]

@@PermianExtinction The reason people have to f***ing censor words like this is because KZbin removes your comments, and sometime even go as far as to shadow ban your account. When shadow banned(usually temporary) you’ll notice any comment you make, no matter how polite and controversy-free, will suddenly get removed from most videos.

[@sydneyisjaded]

Carmen's quote of "the man who would save us is our destroyer" really struck a deep cord within me, because I was molested by my dad. It's WAY too often the exact men we trust to take care of us and protect us, who betray and hurt us in the worst way possible.

[@icravedeath.1200]

I could say the same for a lot of the women in my life.

[@siiri1964]

@@icravedeath.1200 way to make someone elses trauma about yourself

[@icravedeath.1200]

@@siiri1964 i wasn't trying to. (If you want to know, I was trying to show sympathy having experienced the same).

[@icravedeath.1200]

@@siiri1964 nothings about me, I'm completely pointless. Help me.

[@oppooopoookjgffghjookjjj4531]

Yeah, al S/abusers are usually men that are in a very close circles to victims. The stranger danger is rather rare

[@Treppy_Gecky]

Carmen and Ginger’s stories are the most troubling and relatable to me. Young girls are often overly sexual used and shamed for their experiences in puberty and I’m glad the game touched on that. It’s nice to see themes women go through in a game that are based in reality.

[@TehLB]

I agree. I didn't agree that the game was saying that Carmen's experience was necessary, but it is disturbingly common. Just like Ginger's story isn't necessarily universal; not all kids question their sexuality or gender identity. But I did relate to both of them.

[@theoneandonlymichaelmccormick]

@@TehLB I don’t like the “all of these experiences are necessary” theme. I’d rather not entertain it.

[@Yamismol]

@@TehLB I agree. And it also probably isn’t meant to be full SA, but just sexual harassment or having an idea of what you want sexually and what you actually get. She seems to romanticize sex (something I remember doing before having sexual experiences) and the idea of being desired, but finds that it actually if very uncomfortable and not at all what she was expecting. She unfortunately probably did get assaulted, but I think the idea is that on some way girls have to deal with realizing that being desired often really means harassment, uncomfortable comments, inappropriate touching and unwanted advancements, or even just a disappointing experience. It’s realizing what you thought you want isn’t what you thought.

[@chasingdaze]

when I got my first period, it was right before school and I sobbed. So yeah, sometimes your body changing and leaving behind who you once were is a tad traumatic

[@nathanielmandrake1500]

@@AimeeColeman”...necessary to come to terms with sexuality and being seen as an object of sexual desire” uh...what?

[@shawnjones9526]

I feel like it’s important to talk about Carmen’s name sake. Her name stood out to me, because in first glance it doesn’t seem like her name references anything red, unlike all the other girls we see in the game. However, I think she’s a reference to the play “Carmen”. In the play the titular Carmen is often seen dressed in a deep seductive red. In this play Carmen goes out of her way to seduce a young man which eventually leads to his downfall. I think this is really important to the Carmen from the game. Carmen sees herself as flirtatious and seductive just like Carmen from the play. I think this ties into a big problem for SA survivors, particularly with victim blaming. I think Carmen in game was probably told stuff like it was her fault for the SA, despite being innocent. In her final shots, she was marked by the woodsman. He is the one who chose to hurt her, but she got all the blame for it because she “did something wrong”. I think this also ties in to her quote about men who are saviors also being the one to hurt you. Carmen was traumatized by this woodsman, but to everyone else he appeared as a hard working man tending to the forest. Carmen could have told people who he really was, but they will always perceive it as her fault. Carmen was severely taken advantage of by a trusted member of society, but no matter what she tells others it’ll always be “her fault”.

[@SpaceMxshrooms]

I absolutely love this theory

[@nobelle4130]

I like the Carmen reference and is most likely intended, but Carmine is a shade of red first being used in 1523. Much like Rose being young and liking flowers while also being a shade of red, it is most likely a name with both meanings

[@polodetti6108]

Carmem comes from carmine

[@Pollicina_db]

@Astorgaia It is more likely that it references the opera, its quite famous y’know, its more likely that ART students would decide upon that name based on the operas theme rather than a colour.

[@FranNyan]

@@Pollicina_db Depends on what sort of art they studied. Anyone doing art with paints or dye would likely think of the pigment first, vs someone who did performance art thinking of the opera.

[@thesketchingson6677]

About Rose's wolf: I think she stumbled upon a corpse. That floating mist-man is someone wo drowned in the swamp, or maybe hanged himself. That's how she learned the immorality of the world.

[@mothiestman4995]

Perhaps he was even lynched? A lot of victims of that end up flayed or burnt like that, if my history teachers are correct. It would also fit in with the themes of discovering the evil of the world (in this case humanity), as this would be a victim of one of humanity's greatest evils.

[@humanbeeing4780]

@@mothiestman4995 lmao now clouds are racist "Cloud man must be the spirit of a black lynching victim!1!!" you on a foggy day be like:

[@giant_internet_nerd]

That seems like a likely theory.

[@thesketchingson6677]

@@mothiestman4995 Oh, good thinking. Then it makes much more sence why he looks like that and hangs in the air.

[@LonelyWolfTXR]

I thought this as well, lakes are a stereotypical dumping ground for murder victims and the wolf is clearly covered in blood and marks. It seems as if Rose was just unfortunate to stumble upon a disposed body and it was her harsh awakening to the evil of the world and mortality

[@sabibisu4118]

I see a lot of people talking about Grandma's wolf as a non healed trauma, but I genuinely believe it's the opposite: her trauma is in form of a stuffed animal, it's a healed trauma; it's there, but it can't hurt you anymore. Like many bad experiences in life! We can't forget them, but after healing them don't hurt us anymore. Great video btw!

[@missy2375]

Yeah, I think it means overcoming trauma. To be able to stuff something it must first be dead, then you have to go through the insides (root of the problem) and replace it with something else (this could mean therapy, generally help etc.), which shows she is over the trauma. Another interesting thing is that it is displayed by her bed, a place of comfort. Although she has healed from it she never tried to hide it, she is comfortable with the fact that it happened.

[@blakrar1206]

huh i always interpreted it as trauma that remained with her and haunts her to the end. but i kinda like your interpretation better its important to understand that trauma can heal and it doesnt have to control you

[@bubbles993]

This might get drowned in the comments, but here's my interpretation: I think maybe the traumatising things that happened to the girls is something that has already occurred before the game even starts. The 'path' represents their journey to heal from it. If they stay on the path and head straight to grandma's, they fail, because this represents them ignoring their trauma and bottling it up. Perhaps the grandma was like this, the stuffed wolf in her room represents how she couldn't let go of her trauma, like how a grieving person might taxidermy a beloved pet in order to keep them in some form (nothing against anyone who does this, this is just my interpretation). They can only win by going into the forest and encountering their wolf. This is because the only way to heal from their trauma, is to confront it, even if it's not pleasant. The girl in white keeps trying to drag the girls back on the path and sometimes distracts them (playing, hugging etc). She represents the girls desire to ignore and block out their trauma. She has good intentions but it's not what the girls need. We see at the end the sisters are fine, but the girl in white is bloodied. This shows that while they have healed from their trauma, it's never going to fully go away, they'll always be damaged by it, but they can move forward from it now. Sorry for the long comment.

[@Hatsune-Miku_Fan]

i like it!!

[@libitina27]

love this interpretation

[@octobernightss]

This thory is AMAZING! I absolutely love this interpretation, great work :) I sort of assumed the events were something that already took place but I think this is a good way to connect it back to the story and all.

[@erinm1373]

i LOVE this omg

[@رزيئة]

I'm glad you wrote a long enough comment to express your interpretation in detail so it would be easier to understand. 😊 also, great interpretation. I just recently started to deal with my trauma and try to process it. However, I can't really move on from it because it affected me physically and mentally and made life harder for me and I can't really do anything about it since its effects will always be there, it will be difficult to forget about what caused me to be in terrible health for the rest of my life. So I don't think moving on from trauma is that easy for everyone. It depends on the consequences of it. Or maybe I'm just a drama queen idk 🗿

[@rhinopoley]

I think the stories’ messages are less “it was *necessary* to grow/learn” and more “it caused her to grow and learn” No one *needs* trauma to grow and learn, but it happens anyway. For example, Carmen’s story SA is *not* necessary to grow or to learn, but it can cause someone to because it’s a very traumatizing experience. For Carmen, I think hers specifically relates to realizing the actual predatory nature of the men interested in her. She trusts the woodsman because she thinks she’s “mature for her age” and he appeals to this by treating her like an ‘adult’ (offering her beer, specifically). She thinks she’ll enjoy the experience of sex (“femme fatale” seems to imply this) until it’s in front of her and she realizes it’s not what she wants and that the woodsman doesn’t care if she does or not. He assaults her, forcing her to rethink her relationship with him, a man she trusted who was just preying on her. Her assault was not *necessary* for her to learn, but it causes her to anyway because it’s an experience that severely influences her view of herself and the world around her.

[@emmypersonal4033]

I can't believe someone commented and said so well what I wanted to say!!! I'm bad at explaining things but yeah. I think Carmen enjoyed the attention. She thought she was mature. Then the opportunity of s*x came into play, either his or her suggestion. I think maybe she went along with it for a while bc she enjoyed the attention HOWEVER she eventually realized she wasn't ready and that's not what she wanted AT ALL. I'm not sure whether the woodsman took advantage of her (through r*pe or coercion) or that she was willing but had a bad experience and i think her story applies both ways. But yeah, I don't think the trauma was "necessary"

[@emmypersonal4033]

A part of me sorta thinks for Ruby and Carmen that maybe they continue giving in to their self-destructive tendencies or at least it's left vague enough for someone to feel that way but that's just a small side note.

[@AngelicEra]

This! I didn't really like how Izzy criticised Carmen's route because she claims "the game frames all the [other] experiences these girls go through as painful but necessary," immediately after praising Ruby (because while almost all teenagers will go through unstable emotional/mental phases and peer pressure, not all deal with severe depression and extreme self-destructive behaviours) and right before discussing Scarlet (because parentification of the eldest, generally female eldest, child is not a 'necessary' trauma, it's just terrible parenting). A lot of the younger Reds are very ubiquitous experiences, because there are those fundamental truths of the world that no one is born knowing and every kid will eventually learn. However, as people grow up, our experiences and situations become more and more diversified. As a result of that, the older Reds have very different struggles to go through. Every girl will learn about death. Not every girl will be forced to raise her siblings. Every girl entering puberty will find her body changing in so many different and sometimes uncomfortable ways. Not every girl will deal with depression and intrusive self-destructive thoughts. Tl;dr: I agree with your interpretation more than Izzy's, very well put

[@gollygod]

this is exactly it i feel, i love this video and everything but izzy fell a little short on carmen’s story, and your interpretation i feel is the most accurate. when i watched this the first time and heard carmen’s story, this comment was what i thought they were gonna talk about and bring up, extremely well put :>

[@lauryn.online]

it’s still a problematic trope that should be criticized because you need therapy for severe trauma like that. it shouldn’t be presented as just another struggle that you grow and learn from. it gives you fucking ptsd and you don’t “learn” from ptsd without a LOT of time (years and years) and professional help, especially when it happens at such a young age.

[@alexcoffey8804]

Here's my theory: The girl in white *IS* the grandmother. The reason she can collect all the items and see every girl's room is because she's been through similar experiences before, and she wants to help the girls avoid mistakes, but clearly she's failed at that. The reason why she appears as a little girl has many reasons. Firstly, the girls likely find someone their own age more understanding and accepting. This can symbolize how younger people don't always go to older people for advice. It also represents that the Grandmother was also a little girl once. "No body is born old" can be a strange concept to children. The idea that their old and dying Grandmother was once like them and one day they'll be just like her can be hard to grasp at their age. It can also represent that while old, the grandmother still sees herself as youthful in her and with so much life to live but with a dying body. Grandma is literally the last girl you play as because she is the last stage of life. I just had a Grandmother die 2 months ago, so of course I'd focus on her.

[@InTheVoid180]

This is really interesting, thanks for sharing and sorry about your loss

[@dynamite_with_a_lazer_beam]

Oooh i like this theory but im so sorry for your loss =(

[@willowoodz]

hey, my grandma died 2 months ago, too. strange thing to be like, “hey, me too!” about but yeah. i interpret the girl in white the same way.

[@iCat4Ever]

My grandma died about a month ago and I also saw the same thing. Bc I felt like the grandma wasn’t that mentioned in the game yk. It makes sense

[@artistaro5335]

I am sorry for your lost, I lost my grandfather about two years ago and it was really hard.I would agree with all of your points and would add that in the end her white blanket like dress is covered in blood. At first kinda random but it could be used to hint even more in the direction that she is a girl that went through a traumatic experience as she is "tainted", maybe even representing the moment one might realize that their grandparents or parents all went through similiar struggles, they dont have a blank slate, their past is just as messy as our present.

[@vicc5176]

I don't know if this is a coincidence, but the green hue in Scarlet's run combined with the theater reminds me of how you aren't supposed to wear green during a play because it brings bad luck to the performance (at least in my country).

[@Blondie892000]

@@rubymerry i am not sure what country op comes from. but in england we have it, it comes from the shakespearean tradition. at the end of plays people would throw clothes onto the stage rather thank flowers. an actor suffocated under tgem, the coat he wore was green

[@mara7282]

omg is that true? in my last musical we all wore green and we were all violently ill lmaooooo

[@mara7282]

it was in january 2020, so we could all still easily catch colds from others

[@vicc5176]

​@@rubymerry France

[@vicc5176]

@@Blondie892000 I had never heard that one! A teacher from college told us it allegedly came from a king (maybe Louis XIV but don't quote me on that) who wore green gloves at plays, and if he didn't remove them before he clapped at the end that meant he didn't like what he saw

[@anti_fragile]

Ginger's picture of her knees with barbed wire covering them makes me think of discomfort with attraction/arousal. I interpret her path to be a realization of sexuality, if that makes sense. Realizing that you like someone a lot more than you're "supposed to". In her case, the girl in red. Barbed wire typically shows that something is not meant to be accessed, that it's forbidden. I saw her path as her realizing that she liked another girl and the internal conflict that comes with realizing you're not ""normal"". I really hope this is coming off correctly because I'm not the best writer

[@sabrinamioch2683]

oml wait youre so right :O

[@Hydedearest]

IVE BEEN LOOKING FOR SOMEBODY SAYING THIS BECAUSE YOU ARE SO RIGHT

[@mo6305]

Thank you!! I feel like this interpretation captures the feeling of it way better than the femininity/period stuff does. I'm definitely biased (as a masc adult woman) against reading it as "embracing femininity as a part of growing up", but also I just feel like it doesn't fit tonally. I don't think if you asked anybody to make art about their first period or embracing femininity that they would pick lying down in a sunny field w your girl friend, something about it just doesn't hit right. but that absolutely is how I would represent the experience of falling in love with your childhood best friend, contrasted with the later horror (realization) and the barbed wire (repression) is super emotionally resonant to me too. I think if you're just measuring on ability to communicate what the art is, what it felt like (presumably the goal of all this explanation and 'theorizing'), this is it for me.

[@Dusky-Bunn1e]

I think it represents sexuality like you said or Periods. Maybe it’s both?

[@winterwitch8914]

I absolutely agree with you. It does feel like she's conflicted by her "forbidden" feelings for the girl in red. I read it as being that too as well as a physical change thing too (and potentially a gender thing but I'm also NB so I could just be projecting lol)

[@ShinySpinarak]

In my personal opinion, Carmen's story is more important than a lot of people give it credit for. I believe just saying she was assaulted and leaving it at that is leaving out important parts of her story, missing the lesson and the point. In her dialogue and her blurb, she seems eager, almost desperate to experience physical intimacy and the attention that comes along with it. It very much reads like Robin's story: toying with things you don't understand. Even though I'm a male, I personally identify with Carmen a lot. I was like that as a teenager. It's an important life lesson to learn that even if you think you know better and you're ready to handle something, you may not be, and you may end up scarring yourself in pursuit of these things.

[@Giruga905]

I like your idea and interpretation of it the most from what I've seen in these comments. And I've unfortunately seen it in real life as well. I had a friend who was at one point very eager, like you said to experience something she just wasn't really ready for. It ended up with her having a really painful first sexual experience. It wasn't assult luckily but it was still very unpleasant for her, and it carried over into the relationship she later felt the need to maintain with the guy.

[@UnironicallyToast]

What a typical male opinion

[@mchjsosde]

Well said

[@winterwitch8914]

You're so right. It's honestly so important to make sure you're ready before doing these kinds of things and that you're comfortable with who you're doing it with. I hope your experiences are all good and everyone's experience are good. I had a friend that also had a bad first experience too and it can honestly fuck you up. But yeah, I love the way you put it. It really is an important part of growing up to know when you're ready and comfortable to do those kinds of things instead of rushing into it

[@tartra]

Yeah - Carmen seems like someone who was flattered by the idea of being mature enough to be with an 'adult'. And then very horrifically learned about this type of adult who'd *want* to be with someone so much younger and easy to flatter. The only 'necessary evil' I see here is every girl's understanding that sometimes they'll be praised for being mature purely to have that used against them. There's still a lot for them to learn, and just because someone says you're "old enough" or equal to them in some way, they'll have to assess whether it's just manipulative flattery. I think you're *supposed* to shy away from calling het "Sexy Red". She's only 17. That should feel uncomfortable. But that's what's been put onto her, what she's been told to embrace, what she's been safely enjoying... and now we see what can happen to those who don't realize there's still a level of caution that has to be involved. It's not just "too young" - it's also "too immature". 17 may seem like adult age to her, but there was a reason she was very purposely *not* made to be 18: it further emphasizes that age does not instantly bestow readiness for *every* level of adulthood.

[@bre9538]

carmen’s story resonates a lot to me. i think this game doesn’t represent how people SHOULD grow but rather in carmen’s story it critiques the world around us and how this is how many women “learn” the dangers of expressing sexuality as a young woman. teenage sexuality is healthy and normal, what’s not is the worlds reaction.

[@MINGUS-g6i]

[SHORTENED VER: Kids and teens and even some adults need someone to hand hold them through adolescent and growing up] Like childern yes, should learn about death, but they need some hand holding, they need someone to help them but as the oldest has said, their mother has left and I'm pretty sure the father is out of the picture, and with five younger sisters she's forced to work so they live, and even if she's the responsible one she's still running around in a forest and isn't worrying as much as the others even when (then again it's the point of the game so take that with a grain of salt) she is longing for someone else with makes her seem broken and can't be a healthy mother figure for her five sisters all of varying ages, so the childern have an absence of a parent figure who can't hold their hands and explain them what is going on, the youngest can't understand death in a healthy way, sure she knows its natural and it will happen to everyone including her but that's only AFTER her wolf attacks, Carmen gets r3ped and she doesn't seem like she can understand that even if she was suggestive even as a minor it doesn't equal consent, I forgot which one but one is struggling with their body and doesn't have someone to explain why it's happening and how to deal with it,

[@psychoklarise]

Agreed! Women have to “learn” the hard way not to express their sexuality too young, yet if they do not it is also an issue. And I find it so odd since it’s something that extends beyond Carmen’s age as well. Teenage to early 20s sexuality is a REALLY strange and potentially dangerous time for a lot of women.

[@tryingnot2bdumb]

YUP!

[@biancapagliucabenetti5598]

The little red riding hood original tale was supposed to be about how girls have to face the dangers of sexual assault once they had their first period (because thats when "you turn into a woman" which means you will be seen as a sexual object by the rest of the world) i think the tale ended with the wolf eating the kid (which could mean the girl was assaulted and lost her "purity"/virginity) and the woodsman was later added to make the tale more kid friendly. So is really interesting how in The Path the figure of the woodsman appears as a sexual predator, not a saviour. Also jesus fucking christ that fycking analysis of carmen's character...the dude who wrote it was like in his forties and had the stupid misogynistic rethoric of a 14 yo. Extremely frustrating to read.

[@porcirain9143]

@Ahmed Malaki a lot of young people are highly interested in the thought of love often a romanticized version of romance if you see social media accounts of people ranging from teenagers to young adults you will find alot of posts about wanting to be in a real or wanting to find the right person.

[@majito-6176]

Your quote about Ruby really hits home “not young enough to be blissfully ignorant about the dark aspects of life, but not old enough to cope with them”. I’ve been feeling like that lately, it makes me anxious

[@AntilifeShell]

i'm 32 and still feel that way, it's like being forever stuck at the age of 15

[@sodakuwun0707]

im right there with you. you can get through it, i believe in you!

[@cocogoat1111]

lol

[@Pollicina_db]

Whenever you feel anxious don’t think about the bad things, focus on things you like to do, people and animals you love. Drawing is one of the things that helped me and it still does. Its important to know that evil thing and beings exist, but getting deeper and deeper into that stuff will mess your head.

[@KOTEBANAROT]

Being an autistic teenager was the most chaotic and unstable part of my life. Adulthood has its own bad things but in a different way - if teenagehood feels like getting caught up in a storm and not knowing up from down, adulthood is swimming against a current. You'll get thru it! Seconding the comment about finding something to ground you, a hobby perhaps. It will last you forever even if you drop it at some point. Try to create something yourself and you'll find much more peace and understanding of the world and yourself, much more than you expect. It doesnt matter what it is but id advise a hobby of creating somethign rather than consuming. At least for me, drawing was the one grounding thing for me, tho id advise against getting into internet circles, they can be extremely toxic

[@effiloveappl3]

will never understand how ppl can hate on "bad" graphics in games like this. i think its so charming

[@Liz-ew2wn]

These kinds of graphics make me feel nostalgic and remind me of my childhood - which is kind of ironic and maybe intentional since the game is literally about childhood?

[@busebuse8968]

​@@Liz-ew2wnbdnd

[@tivaspotato]

bc those are the same people that think hyperrealism should be the be all end all in video game graphics and fail to see anything else as good. once i saw a prick dismissing hades' art direction as "just drawings" under someone praising that game's beautiful graphics and artwork. sad for those people, really, only being able to see beauty in such a confined way, if they actually are able to at all.

[@jacyaug]

Yeah but it still objectively looks like shit, yes it has charm but not everyone cares about that

[@effiloveappl3]

@@jacyaug ok

[@CaptainMera]

I thought the girl in white was also The Huntsman, from the original fairytale. That she gets to the house in the end, and goes through all wolf/nightmares, and ends up with blood on her - is the huntsman slaying the wolf. So metaphorically, she can also be referencing healing from trauma: as the six girls all comes out of grandma's door afterwards.

[@ez-ru3do]

this is such an amazing theory omg

[@LunaWitcher]

We could even take it one step further! The house they wake up in front of after meeting their wolves could actually be the belly of the wolf; Grandma is too far gone to be rescued, so The Huntsman only rescues Little Red Riding Hood. So, the girl in white is bloodied, and the girls all come back from the woods.

[@richalvarezfan101]

I like this theory a lot actually because The Hunstman is who saves everyone in the original story, much like the little girl in white trying to "save" all the girls by bringing them back on the path and repeatedly approaching them in the forest. It would make sense too as to why all the girls come back in the end. It also contrasts with the woodsman who is encountered because the woodsman appears to be safe but he takes advantage of Carmen. He isn't the strong Huntsman to save everyone, he is just someone who appears to be safe but isn't. I think the story did well to make the savior of the story a little girl as well because women don't need to be saved by men (and a lot of the girls encounter a bad fate by interacting with bad men in the story)

[@suecharles6688]

i love this!!! this is really clever!!

[@kurapikakurta1997]

That actually sounds similar to what most people were saying about the grandma and her wolf, so maybe this could mean she was the grandma when she was younger?

[@tiredplaid]

I love this emo-early 2000s aesthetic this game has. For Rose, based on her room my first initial thought was puberty, the long line of bathrooms the.. bloody cloth weirdly shown at one point. She’s barely a teenager and sees the world with rose colored glasses but her perspective will change, just like her body as she grows up. The creepy fog man looking like an anatomy diagram also weirdly helps with this theory.

[@user-jn1wm3tb8v]

Also the bird cage can say a lot about how in Robin we had eggs, now a bird.

[@CastorCas]

Oh wow i really like that idea. It makes a lot of sense. It also goes about the topic in a different way than Ginger's. Maybe Edit: Grammer :/

[@dweight7891]

if this is true, gingers theme could be about friendship and learning that people and especially friends can turn on you and not everyone will stay in your life forever.

[@minichou]

One thing I really love about this game is how the girl in the white dress is black. A lot of times black girls are sexualized or given a mature look in both media and fiction. A common example of this is the news referring to black girls as black women, devoiding the fact that they're still children. It's really dehumanizing in a way where the media portrays us as a sexual object even when we're children. I like how the girl in the white dress is allowed to be child and that she portrays innocence. It's a nice unique look compared to how society treats us

[@aliciaguajardo7423]

i noticed that too, its very heart-warming! not to mention, this context gives a lot of character TO the girl in white. if she were a white girl, who we see being portrayed as innocence most often, thats just what she would be: innocence personified. But since she's black, that immediately adds a model of a situation specific to girls of color that is rarely talked about in media. it makes her relatable and invites the experiences of black women to contribute to the message from a genre theyre often left out of, especially at the time this game was released. it was SUCH a good move on TOT's part

[@theimplications635]

Yes, the fact they chose a Black girl to represent kindness and childhood when Black girls are so adultified by society makes my heart flutter, I don't know if they did that on purpose or not but still.

[@venusinpearls]

@@theimplications635 I believe on of the developers is a black Belgian woman? Idk for sure

[@theimplications635]

@@venusinpearls That would make sense than

[@Icecreamandradness]

Interesting fact: The design of the Girl In White is actually based on a photo of one of the devs when she was eight 💕

[@pearhouse6350]

Something really interesting about this game that you might not know; if you find all the specific items for the girls but ignore their wolves and keep them on the path as usual, there are unique versions of their grandmother house visits. For example, in Carmen's Wolf ending, there's a room with a pool and a green, cut-down tree in it. In the no-wolf version, the tree is huge and fills up the room. It adds a lot to exploring the metaphors in each of the girl's stories.

[@indeed8211]

its still a bad artsy fartsy obnoxious game though

[@logainamohamed5182]

It’s fine mate, your opinion but not everything is gonna be dedicated to your liking, bud.

[@ebonydarknessdementiaraven4610]

@@indeed8211 then why watch an hour long analysis of it lmfao

[@tobyandahalf]

@@indeed8211i'm willing to bet my left asscheek that you weren't afab and therefore can't relate to a lot of this gsme

[@siilverREAL]

@@indeed8211 tell me u failed english literature without telling me u failed english literature

[@phantomchain3020]

I see the events that happen to the girls being less “necessary” and more of “things that can happen”. Going off the beaten path in life comes with it’s ricks and rewards. And sometimes bad things happen, even the worst of the worst. This makes Carmen’s event, with it being a possible sexual assault and at worse rape, being seen as something that can happen and not something she needed to go through to mature. The younger girls get events that every child goes through, while the older girls get events that can possibly happen to everyone. Not every eldest child is trapped in domesticity, not every edgy teenager falls into self-destructive behavior, but young AFAB people will always get their period, and every child will eventually learn about death. I hope that made sense.

[@bobbieproductions4491]

You said exactly what I was thinking!

[@sarahpatterson5979]

Okay, so my Ruby theory is this: she's bullied at school and thinks herself #deep and mature. She meets an older creep who offers her a cigarette, which sastisfies two of her self-perceptions: that she is mature and nihilistic. But she still coughs, because as much as she wants to be these things she still just a child who values her life on at least some level. From there, she and the Wolf keep hanging out and he introduces her to alcohol and sex, even though she's too young to be drinking or having sex with someone his age. This eventually culminates in them getting into a horrible car accident because he was driving them while he was drunk since he doesn't actually care about her wellbeing. She is injured (whether this causes the leg brace or is a new injury, idk), which "shatters" her prior self-perception: she does not want to die because she's still just a 15 year old girl. Some other clues: upside down bouquets in the first room (bouquets representing romance, but in the reverse position indicating romance gone wrong,) the beer cans, car, and school imagery (obviously), the bed with sheet metal impaling it (possibly representing the violating nature of any sex she had with this man would have been statutory rape), and him dragging the body into the woods right before meeting her. I don't think it means he literally killed someone, but more as a representation of the fact that he has done this before: he has preyed on underage girls, used them up, and left them broken before moving on to the next many time before, and for creeps like this IRL, it's always a pattern.

[@رزيئة]

That's what I thought, too!

[@RadLad69]

that’s what i was thinking i definitely thought of sexual assault and a possible toxic relationship like the imagery where her face is shattered could imply he was hitting her in the face and it was “shattering her” or something along those lines

[@aliberry5922]

Omg that what I thought too

[@auroraferguson8859]

That's just what I was thinking but I think Izzy's interpretation does make some since! I guess it's all point of view

[@iwakeupandboomimarat]

good catch w the upside down bouquets!! i thought it was a glitch at first lmao

[@eloisenewman3814]

For me, the desk and birdcage were the most obvious symbol for Rose. She's about to go through that phase of her education where suddenly it goes from "having fun, being a kid, and learning the basics" to "your education is very serious and your life is now all about study and grades and textbooks and don't you dare have an independent thought we're not teaching you from this biased source" where you feel chained to a desk for hours. The difference in tone between primary school and high school is a huge shift and can often feel like you're trapped and that school will never end because it's all you know at that point.

[@monicaleonte8913]

This. It symbolizes the point when your natural curiosity essentially gets beaten out of you by the rigidity of the school system.

[@TheeAngelBunny]

The birdcage is where a clock would usually be and it might be that in the future of Rose's education, her thoughts are stuck to sitting at a desk with subjects she thinks will be unimportant in the future. Or like she has to be an overachiever because of how "mature" Rose is.

[@Murhuedur]

A lot of people feel this way, but I actually had the opposite experience. I hated elementary school, it was soooooooo boring, but I absolutely loved middle school, high school, and college

[@pastellified6040]

that is such a good way to analyze this! 11 years old is the age a lot of kids start 6th grade after all, and it's definitely really hard to get used to the sudden increase of your workload, going from elementary to middle school. i remember having to reduce the number of school activities i did just to keep up with all my work, and my grades still went down even with all my efforts...

[@cyberneticsquid-godofmassd3759]

I feel like that's also shown in the washroom. It looks like a school washroom, and I think that it might represent how social environments change in school as you get older, a-la "gossip in the washroom". Maybe its about bullying and that realization that people are more complicated than just good, that people will hurt you and that through things like bullying and friendship drama rose starts seeing how people can be cruel and two sided. It might be a reach but that's how I interpreted it as someone who clearly remembers the distinction in their life between "harmless interaction with other kids" to "now I feel self conscious because I'm afraid of people thinking of me badly". Maybe the washroom is long because the drama (and in turn the washroom) feels tiring and tedious and scary and inescapable

[@whatthehelliot]

I think the bathroom in grandma's house for Rose symbolises a flashback, specifically because of the sound of running water from the taps. if she did almost drown, this sound could be very triggering for her, and the impossibly long bathroom as she tries to leave seems very similar to that feeling of trying to escape a trauma trigger but not being able to.

[@lunatykica5636]

1:05:15 it's interesting Ruby's disability/trauma prevents her from interacting w the innocent childrens playset. seems like the only thing she can interact with in that scene is the charming wolf

[@minutehourdayweek]

I have a feeling that Scarlet’s wolf may represent a parent figure. Long and white hair can represent wisdom and being older and more experienced in life than scarlet so they can always help her and give her an advice. They also look androgynous so it can be the fact that she wishes not just for a man or mother that can care for her but anyone Also the wolf kinda looks like grandma so maybe it may mean that scarlet already accepted herself as an old lady who’s only duty is her (grand)children

[@cinnastag]

I interpreted it as being her mother who always tries to tell her that she can do what she wants and that she can take care of her sisters despite being incompetent and never being there. Her mother could also be a musician and that could explain the constant alcohol references in the game, and faeries are known to steal children so maybe she blames her mother for her loss of childhood.

[@notlloy3572]

i was thinking that too! especially with the picture of the fae wolf with claws since to me it could represent how Scarlet wanted a parental figure who would support her with piano and other things but her dreams of that were slashed away or something like that

[@LunaWitcher]

I interpreted Scarlett's wolf as a mentor who took advantage of her passion for music and longing for connection. The same fingers that taught her music and caressed her skin were the ones that violated her, hurting her ability to trust, therefore hand with claws.

[@Bunni89]

I also misinterpreted the "Charming Wolf" as being an abusive older man who sexually assaulted and physically abused Ruby, so I'm honestly hugely relieved to see all the evidence pointed out in this video about how it was a car crash instead, and he just represents peer pressure to do dangerous self-harming stuff. Obviously, both things are still absolutely horrible things to happen to a young teenager, but sexual assault is the more viscerally terrifying one to see represented in a game. I feel like I was probably a bit too dumb to catch all these metaphors, for some reason I assumed all the wolves represented a literal person in each character's life except the one that was obviously a tornado...

[@user-jn1wm3tb8v]

At the end of the day you can interpret it however you like.

[@ourkarolina]

I feel like it can be a toxic realitonship

[@averagechannelname9969]

Honestly for some reason that last line is so funny to me. Like imagine going to the park and meeting someone who's just spinning at Mach 5 speeds

[@sleepyqueer]

you’re not dumb! an interpretation of this game that is that the wolves were people that interrupted or influenced the girl’s lives i think is also a valid interpretation. i also originally feared the “charming man” was some kind of abuser, and really i think he can still be looked at that way. whether he’s a boyfriend or a friend it’s heavily implied that he’s much older than her, being called a man and his character model being so much larger than hers. he could definitely be seen as someone who takes advantage of her depression and self-destruction, so he can feel less alone in his, and then ends up putting her in a life-threatening situation.

[@cybersucia]

Honestly, you might be partially right. I was definitely getting like “groomer” vibes from him

[@ireallylikenuggets9490]

Can we just have a moment of silence for the madlad that played "the Graveyard" for 313 hours on record?

[@carrotsstick]

For 6 dollars you might see her die🥺🥺🥺

[@literallyafishhook]

@@hazelthebiscuit don't ruin this for us lol

[@beckettericsson2554]

we match

[@DartGS]

My guy probably got so good at walking

[@ireallylikenuggets9490]

@@DartGS ..he's been granted the rare occasion of skipping leg day

[@_mediogre_]

Okay so here's a thought. In the original little red riding hood story the woodsman kills the wolf. Let's assume that every wolf in the game represents an experience necessary for growth, but the woodsman isn't a wolf. The woodsman is the enemy of the wolf. He's the opposite. So maybe in Carmen's story the woodsman represents an experience that isn't necessary for growth and in fact represents a slight regression. Carmen's confidence was likely heavily diminished by a traumatic experience like this so maybe that's how her story fits in. Edit to clarify: I was kind of only calling them "necessary" because that's the way Izzy worded it. I don't actually think those are necessary to the growing process. I kind of meant it more like the wolves are experiencess that the girls went through and grew from, but perhaps Carmen's was the opposite of a growing experience.

[@giannamelendez5747]

This is probably the best interpretation I’ve seen. I agree 100%.

[@theoneandonlymichaelmccormick]

I would argue that NONE OF the experiences that each girl goes through are necessary for growth.

[@guy-sl3kr]

Makes sense that the woodsman is the opposite of the wolf but I wonder who the wolf is in that instance then. And if there are symbolic woodsmen for all the other girls.

[@theoneandonlymichaelmccormick]

@@guy-sl3kr I don’t believe the woodsman is the opposite of the wolf, I believe the woodsman IS the wolf. The idea that because he is a metaphorical “woodsman” means that he cannot be a metaphorical “wolf” is, if anything, indicative of when children are abused by those authority figured who they have been led to trust. How many teachers, relatives, priests, doctors, artists, lawyers, celebrities, police officers, musicians, politicians or online influencers have portrayed themselves as “woodsman”, only to eventually show themselves to be “wolves”?

[@ohhadivist]

@@theoneandonlymichaelmccormick To me a young woman could surely skip out on some of these experiences and still grow and mature but I wouldn't say none of these are necessary. Robin learning about death and mortality has to happen to everyone through something, just not necessarily an animal attack, and Ginger struggling with puberty is even more unavoidable.

[@taylerleigh]

ginger lying down in a bed of flowers with the girl in red immediately struck me as the feeling of security and euphoria i felt when coming to terms with my identity as a lesbian. the use of barbed wire imagery by extension is the concept of being closeted and/or ashamed of your changing body (particularly if you are a girl, and your sexuality is demonized), while the blood stained mattresses and clenched knees are pretty plainly symbols for puberty itself. the end sequence of her story was like a punch to the gut when i first viewed it.

[@rosvlinds]

Wait... Girl in red......... isn't that the lesbian icon???????

[@trashking471]

@@rosvlinds Yeah, she's a saphic singer who is known for her many songs about her romantic and sexual relationships with women

[@humanbeeing4780]

Demonized...? Far from it LMAO We celebrate LGBTQ people, lesbians included They have a whole month and then two dozen other holidays along with it They hold literal parades screaming about how great it is to fuck the same sex, or pretend to be the opposite sex

[@Ssup3rst4rr]

Yes but for me it’s trans :))

[@ArcherFudge]

@@rosvlinds yep! She's a lesbian singer and her songs are mainly about mental health/struggles and relationships with women. Asking if someone listens to girl in red is literally asking them if they are Sapphic.

[@monitaroy7462]

Ohhh, the thing about Rose being told she's mature because she's responsible and well-spoken hit home. I interpreted the images at the end of her route as like, representations of Rose falling, or perhaps plunging into something. Maybe the hallway and bathroom represent like, a hospital? Which is associated with unnatural sterility, so like, right after her almost drowning, she was immediately taken away from the natural environments she loved into a place that's basically the opposite, where she could stew on how dangerous nature could be.

[@greenergrass4060]

Ive always interpreted her journey as a young child being forced to view through its harsh reality, rather than being a dreamy fantasy all her life.

[@wildlylucky]

"the man who would save us is the destroyer" is an interesting line considering Carmen's wolf is the woodsman, because in red riding hood (or at least the version I was told) the woodsman saves both riding hood and the grandmother who were eaten by the wolf by chopping open the wolf's stomach, freeing them- but for Carmen, he harms her. there's obviously a deeper meaning to that line, but I think it could also be a little nod to this version of the story as well.

[@lucaix00]

Omg yeah nicely pointed out

[@shinydecidueye9593]

I think this can be interpreted as somebody who was supposed to protect her, harmed her instead.

[@TheAbigailDee]

Ginger's story being about puberty, gender, AND sexuality is just *chef's kiss* to me. Just love it. The blood, seeing the barbed wire as what's trapping her in that situation and maybe this image of the legs with barbed wire drawing on the idea of menstruation related dysphoria?? Or the barbed wire around the knees symbolizing pain in regards to physiological responses she doesn't want to have (i.e., feeling attraction to women or someone she is scared to). So so so so many possibilities o love!!!!

[@pAst4]

yeah gingers story felt very relatable

[@moth9117]

This may sound nasty but I think the black hair in the first room represents pubic hair 🥶

[@youmuplush]

as a trans guy i can see gingers story being about gender identity extremely well, i myself have dysphoria related to menstruation and it feels like a painful reminder of the body youre stuck in. the barbed wires represent this feeling very well, and the imegary of specifically gingers legs and lower side of their body could also represent bottom dysphoria in general. aside from that, teenage years are most of the time the stage where you start finding out your gender identity, since your body has the most prominent changes in this phase, so gingers age also lines up with that

[@ViktorErikFade]

Watching this video I think I relate to ginger the most, Ironically I too was a tom boy growing up and loved wolves, I even have and had intense dreams of transforming into a white wolf always seeing girls interact in a loving way from a far, wondering if I could be a part of their group . It was such a curious dream as I was my own world and saw a white wolf in the distance as well. I would go into more detail but the dream was semi long, But I TOTALLY agree with the feeling of being insure of oneself like her route right now and I'm a young adult never allowed to explore jack squat now I'm questioning more than ever (I know I'm pansexual but gender wise )

[@monbub]

it's perfect! and very relatable to me. I had my first period when I was 13, it was chaotic and I cried that day. I also realized I was bi at that age. however I denied it until I was 14 bc I just couldn't accept having feelings for people.

[@breew7300]

The girl in white can be interpreted in so many ways. Innocence, our inner child, but I like to think she's also hope. The hope that always exists, somewhere off screen waiting to sprint into view, to guide us back to the path when we're stuck in the dark.

[@roseappleberry]

That's exactly what I was thinking, specially with how caring/comforting she is, and contrasting with the dark themes around

[@guy-sl3kr]

But she's guiding you to the bad ending. You fail the game when you stick to the main path & succeed when you meet the wolves. I see the girl in white as the player character's self-preservation instinct. They don't want to think about the negative experiences they've had and are trying to avoid confronting their trauma. Following the path represents bottling up that trauma & taking it to the grave.

[@cabbagecart-u3x]

@@guy-sl3kr Following the path represents bottling up that trauma & taking it to the grave. :O just like how the grandma has a stuffed wolf!!! staying on the path is what she did (why it leads to her house) and why all the girls photos are seen in her room. because she is eventually what they will turn into if they stay on the path.

[@AleksandarBell]

@@guy-sl3kr she could be a coping mechanism. Leading you away from the trauma and the bad, taking your hand and taking you away from all the danger in the woods. While a coping mechanism can help, it eventually cant help you anymore, you need to deal with your trauma, which is why if you follow her, you get the bad ending, because you’ve kept your feelings all bottled up.

[@awitelin]

Ruby's car imagery speaks to me about cars being a symbol of freedom. 15 year olds dream of having their own wheels, to go where they want where they want, but it's also a very dangerous mode of transportation. Freedom can also be dangerous in that it allows one to make bad choices, and to live with the consequences. The leg brace as an physical injury is one thing, but the leg brace as a symbol of consequences is bigger than that. The fact that she can run faster than the other girls to me says that the injury is more psychological than physical.

[@KOTEBANAROT]

Fully agree! Cars are also a sign of maturity/adulthood and Ruby seems to want to grow up faster, saying she'd pick the path of needles. But she can only long for it, and she only seems to be on a passenger's seat.

[@lilybeck3285]

From the way Scarlets blurb says "she'll take her secrets to her grave, sooner than she may expect" (or something to that effect), as well as the sickly green colors in the forest at the theater and in Grandmother's house during her playthrough, it makes me think she could be suffering from some kind of terminal illness, which could explain her obsession with cleanliness. Idk though maybe I'm just reaching lol

[@jovanaavramovic2485]

that line could also mean that life is literally passing her by, and by the time that all her sisters grow independent, her own life is basically over

[@Katiethewizard]

I think Carmen's story is more about the time in a girl's life when they are able to have a good amount of adult freedom but is still open to manipulation by those around her. It reminds me of when I was younger and my friends would brag about dating men WAY older than they were and we all thought it was cool and mature. But as we know, power dynamics exist and the woodsman knew exactly what he was doing when he manipulated and sexually abused Carmen. I didn't think it was portrayed as a "necessary experience for growth", just like how ruby's experience wasn't necessary to grow up but it's just a very common occurrence that happens to a majority of young women.

[@panonymousbloom5405]

Yup. I also think of it as SA but not the violent kind - the kind of encounter just made it impossible for her to consent: 1. She was a minor but even if she was a year older, the guy is VERY obviously way older, so as you mentioned, there's power imbalance. 2. He explicitly got her drunk beforehand. 3. It's mentioned in her description that her "teasing" never goes past the flirty gestures. She approached the man, yes. She "consented" to flirtations but he was probably twice her age, and we can assume she has never done it before. Again, huge power imbalance. Also, I think it's a mistake to describe all those instances are necessary to grow. All of them are very traumatic and sudden - all could have learnt about dangers naturally, their understanding could evolve with age. They didn't have to get hurt. So I see is more like another commenter mentioned - it's not necessary but unavoidable.

[@elizabethdevido2081]

Part of me wonders if there’s a connection between Robin’s distorted legs in that one image and Ruby’s leg brace. Robin’s story is about learning about death as a child, and Ruby’s story is about self-destructively running towards death as a young adult. Both girls throw themselves towards danger but for different reasons and both have their legs injured. I don’t know whether that connection is intentional, but it’s a neat parallel. Lovely video as always!

[@lekswig3316]

I thought this too, it made me wonder if Robin's wolf was partially coping with Ruby going through a traumatic experience near her, and how her riding the wolf may symbolize what she imagines being in an out of control vehicle may be like, or 'riding out' the process of her sister recovering from her injury and trauma and the damage to their relationship that may have occurred as Ruby speeds towards self harm and danger.

[@elimidd6626]

Ooh I think that's a very interesting interpretation! It does make a lot of sense, especially since Ruby's experience could have very well been a near-death experience too that could've sparked Robin's association of death being something that can and will affect her personal life. Ruby's accident may have been the first time she had to cope with thoughts of death.

[@jesserogalski1402]

Tale of Tales were cool people to me. I used to cover games, and was writing an article on the company and their titles. I reached out to them, and they provided me codes for their entire back catalogue, along with files on a bunch of unreleased projects and demos used just as little projects for them. Some they were happy to let me speak on, others more as a gift they just wanted to show me. They even said if I hated pretty much everything they made, please say as much in the article. They were all about the art of it all, and they realize art is subjective and certain pieces are not for everyone. They've acted out a lot, but were genuinely really cool and down to earth with me.

[@twindrill2852]

I think they started to cool down and become more humble after they realized their breakdown on Twitter would practically destroy their reputation.

[@cottonpop8834]

@@twindrill2852 “their breakdown on Twitter”? What happened?

[@cottonpop8834]

@@twindrill2852 never mind, I rewatched the video and there it is. My silly mind did not make the association because of the name of the Twitter account lol

[@AnimeLoveLover123]

A theory I have for Carmen is that all the X's in grandma's house and the fact that her wolf chops down trees symbolize the older man continually cutting her down. Whether it be physically or verbal, the older man continues to hack at Carmen, chipping away at her until she falls. This idea is also aided by one of the final images being Carmen with an X on her face. The deer head in grandma's house is perhaps how the older man sees/treats Carmen, like a trophy to show off. I'm not sure about the fire stuff though. Perhaps it's supposed to represent a relationship or Carmen herself going down in flames?

[@elephorofonius]

that trophy line is so so amazing and an awesome interpretation

[@kylejohnson423]

With this game's focus being on duality, I like the interpretation of the duality of fire. Fire can be warm. "The flames of passion" is a common expression. Many people also call their old loves "old flames". But fire can burn. Fire can hurt. Fire destroys what was once beautiful.

[@AnimeLoveLover123]

@@kylejohnson423 ooooooo, I really like that. It fits so well.

[@sackfu7952]

This interpretation made me feel sick to my stomach, but in a "That is depressingly good symbolism and something that is pretty accurate to real life" sort of way, good job on that catch.

[@Potato2mato]

Well, in forests, fire can represent destruction and death, but after the fire is over, new growth sprouts from the ashes of all the trees. I think it could mean two things: destruction and growth, or a comeback from the destruction.

[@recrie5380]

I've haven't seen people talk about how Rose's imagery depicted tornados and flooding. The cloudy wolf guy spinning like a tornado, bad weather etc. The fact that Rose thinks that nature is a beautiful thing contras the danger of natural disasters. The tornado are like a good breaking point to show how the world isn't as black and white as she thinks, nature ain't as pretty. Now this isn't really that much as a concrete theory but the imagery is there. I think its not a one side thing either so hey it could be something else..

[@lindseylindsey9200]

I agree, especially because a bathroom is one of the safer places to hide in a tornado

[@MIAM_MIAM_CUISINE]

that was honestly my immediately first thought as well, considering how often the character is portrayed as an innocent nature-lover her "wolf" being a natural disaster made sense to me

[@3daniku]

@@lindseylindsey9200 waiitt that makes so much sense

[@thebingus7243]

this!! plus the flooding greenhouse in rose's room can show that nature can be self destructive and hurt itself and everything in nature isnt necessary a force of good

[@bananabrain364]

I didn't get the idea that the wolf was symbolic of some necessary negative experience for women/girls to go through to grow as a person, but an idea of a common adversary of women/girls of certain ages to watch out for. I doubt the message was "you need to be sexually assaulted to grow" it was more like "as you're growing, you may be more vulnerable to sexual assault when you feel like Carmen does."

[@almondwaet7966]

the same goes for ruby, she didnt need to end up that way in order to learn something, so that makes more sense

[@siegwardinspirit]

I think this was more about overcoming trauma that had already long happened. It's why staying on the path is failure and why the girl in white (perhaps representing denial and the innocence that was taken) drags you back on it, because it's denying the awful experience and failing to deal with it. Because otherwise, as mere warnings about the dangers of the world, staying on the path would be ideal as you'd be avoiding the danger.

[@vhs3760]

I don't know if the carmen story is saying that sexual assault is 'necessary' in a young woman's life, i think it's suggesting that an understanding of these dangers is an unfortunate - but I believe, necessary - part of growing up. even if you yourself are not a victim, you will hear stories from your friends, your sisters or cousins, and learn to take care of yourself and look out for other girls. i wonder what a version of this game would look like if it was about brothers?

[@cabbagecart-u3x]

OHH MY GOD. MALE SEQUEL WHEN?!?!

[@kikiscribbles]

Possibly about the everyday toxic manhood present in their life, how they've been raised and how that affects them as people. Like the six sisters, puberty has its effects on men too, and both stories would equally be interesting. Also it'd be hilarious if a tampon was used as a silly nod to most boys not really understanding the difference between their puberty and the puberty girls go through

[@worstusernameintheworld9871]

someone pLEASE make a male version of this, I'd love to see how it plays out for teenage boys, maybe it could be linked to toxic masculinity like the comment above has mentioned?

[@seashanthis]

if it was about brothers, i'd like to think (even though these are definitely not entirely unique to men): - being raised to be heavily masculine and to shut out emotions when that's not what you'd want to do - abuse or sexual abuse by a figure you're supposed to look up to such as a priest or father figure and feeling lost and confused - confusion about sexuality, gender, or expression and facing bullying or self loathing about it - types of mental illness, depression, and suicide that are often more present in men, especially because of a lack of knowing what to do to in this situation - alcohol or drug abuse even just watching this video i was able to relate to the sisters, especially ginger because of my similar worldview and philosophy and my personal struggles with sexuality and gender identity. it's interesting, and kind of unfortunate, how there is so much more media about the male experience with growing up compared to the female experience, yet so much of this media doesn't really touch on a lot of the stuff i mentioned.

[@dddmn]

It's kind of odd when you think of it. When girls go through something traumatic, they are forced to shut up and repress it all, to act submissive, not say a thing and "behave like a lady". When boys go through the same, they are also forced to repress it, but rather than being told to stay silent in a "submissive way", boys are raised to be silent in a violent, aggressive one. a lot of them grow to believe showing a bit of emotion, aka "submission", will make them be seen as weak or overly sensitive, which for them is the scariest and most humiliating thing probably. This is not a generalization as i know not everyone raises their child the same, but its sadly something very common due to toxic gender roles, specially toxic masculinity. i've seen it myself so i talk from my own experience at least.

[@CrossKnights]

I've always thought that the girl in white was The Woodcutter. I think in a more abstract sense she really does just represent a friend or even a stranger, just trying to look out for these girls. But, that is exactly the role of The Woodcutter takes in the Little Red Riding Hood story. She is trying to protect the girls from the wolf, just like The Woodcutter did. And in the end, she's covered in blood and this is exactly what happens to The Woodcutter when he cuts the wolf open. In the original story, The Wolf had eaten Red and her grandmother, who pop out of the Wolf's stomach after being cut open. In the game, this is shown by all of the girls coming back into the room. I would like to think that this shows that all these girls had someone there, helping them through their difficulties, helping them resume their lives after what they go through.

[@forrestpatterson6053]

Brilliant!

[@victorlolxd7347]

But what about the girl in red?

[@CrossKnights]

@@victorlolxd7347 It's been a long time since I played or watched this video so I'm not 100% sure if you mean who I think you do but wasn't she just one of the wolves?

[@victorlolxd7347]

@@CrossKnightsYeah but why does she look exactly like the girl in White but with upwards pigtails and a red dress…

[@CrossKnights]

@@victorlolxd7347 I figured just because they modified the same character model. Indie game stuff time / cost saving. There could be greater significance but nothing I ever figured out.

[@Eo-Io]

i think sexual assault is sadly a common experience shared between young women. whether it’s cat calling, an uncomfortable situation or a physical altercation. i personally appreciate that they included carmen’s story though i can definitely see why people could see it as problematic.

[@elephorofonius]

one in four

[@waiting4u2saveme27]

i relate to carmen the most and i’m glad they included it.

[@redrainer]

I wouldn't call cat calling sexual assault, harrassment yes but not actual assault. Still it is such a disgusting world that 1 in 6 women experience sexual assault. Genuinely it's fucked, I know I'm a guy commenting on it but as someone who's been sexually abused I do understand just how horrible it is

[@whatisthis1958]

@@redrainer Yeah, catcalling would be considered s3xual harrassment, so not s3xual assault but still falls under s3xual violence. Some studies show 97% of women will experience s3xual violence throughout their lives, another finding on average a woman will experience it 26 times, half of which before they even turn 18.

[@redrainer]

@@whatisthis1958 ehhhH I wouldn't call it violence but that's a me thing. But yeah it is disgusting that this stuff happens especially to people who are under 18.

[@mykal4779]

I'm 30 and Scarlet's story legit made me tear up. Trading in the things you're passionate about for the things you need to do to survive (e.g. work 40 hours a week), to the point that you have neither time nor energy for what you're still incredibly passionate about, is definitely a part of growing up for most people. It makes it feel childish to even have a passion for art and self-expression, and adult to be jaded and cynical, just waiting to die. This is my favorite video of yours and Scarlet's story being such a succint narrativization of my whole post early 20s life definitely helped.

[@secnarfo]

I think it's interesting looking at how each respective girl behaves when they finally go see grandmother. Carmen just sorta nonchalantly lies next to her in a relaxed pose with her hands behind her head. Ruby lies down next to her as if she were sleeping next to her. Scarlet, instead of lying down, sits down on the side of the bed in a pose that reminds me of how a mom sits on the side of their kid's bed. While you didn't show it here, Ginger sits next to her with her legs crossed and quietly places a hand on her. I just think it's a neat little way of showing more of their personalities through their actions and how they behave around this person that more than likely means a lot to them.

[@carelesswhisper2119]

I think another take away was that grandma is dying. All the girls go to see her for the last time and this is the moment the littlest sister must face the death of a loved one. The missing and covered furniture for scarlet and her having to cleanup the grandmothers possessions after her passing since she is made to take care of everyone. The whole premise is about getting older and grandma represents the end of life stage each girl may not be able to cope with. Maybe grandma was a confidant for all the girls and without her they feel alone in their individualized pain.

[@arc7200]

I like this interpretration!

[@jestersudz6085]

42:44 that looks like the rug Charming Wolf was dragging. Maybe Carmen being unable to open the shed means she can't see the red flags this man has? If Ruby's wolf represents self-destructive behavior then she would still be aware of the rug (which just represents danger), but if Carmen can't see the rug then she is unaware of the danger that might happen if she interacts with her wolf? i havent played the game so im defiently missing some pieces, though.

[@jestersudz6085]

@@flimflam8736 yea totally!! you worded this so well

[@TheTestoyer]

It would make sense, especially since ruby is looking for danger she would know red flags, carmen not really knowing what to watch out for, she wouldn't really spot them

[@brookesalsman8819]

YES

[@colorfulchameleon9891]

My very simple interpretations of each girl: *Robin:* Learning about death by getting too close to it *Rose:* The struggles of a "gifted" child who goes on to struggle to meet expectations *Ginger:* Struggles with gender identity and sexuality and how physical and mental development affects these aspects of your life *Ruby:* Trying to be cool and grown-up when your really still just a child leading you to getting hurt by older people *Carmen:* A young woman simply trying to express herself and her femininity being assaulted by some man in a position of power over her that she trusted (a father, for example) *Scarlet:* Giving up your own personal dreams in favor of responsibility I don't think the events that happen to these girls are _necessary_ evils, but rather straight-up evils that are unfortunately common. Sure, Robin needs to learn about death, but she doesn't need to be seriously hurt to learn that. Rose needs to work hard, but not drown in it. Ginger needs to grow up, but she shouldn't have to do it alone. Ruby needs to learn not to fall in with awful people, but she doesn't need to be mistreated and use substances to do so. Carmen needs to explore herself but doesn't need to be raped. Scarlet needs to embrace responsibility, but she shouldn't _have_ to give up her dreams. Bad things happened to these girls, but the world frames them as normal. I think the girl in white is _trying_ to help by keeping the girls away from their trauma, but ultimately harms them since they are then unable to face what happened to them. They don't get closure. That's why not exploring the horrors that meet these girls is a failure.

[@0nullnil]

This is an underrated comment, and it speaks facts.

[@wetsocks7619]

The forest isn't where the trauma occurred but rather a place to rediscover it

[@gokuxsephiroth4505]

I like this interpretation of it all

[@alexp6757]

i love this interpretation, i agree with everything said . Its interesting and sad at the same time

[@lazer_kat_4673]

I absolutely love the idea of Ruby being a struggling gt kid as I am one myself, and very close to her age at that. A lot of her dialog and parts shown in her playthrough line up with a lot of the thoughts and feelings of someone who is praised for their intelligence/maturity but is not doing well living up to the standards of their peers

[@adoniston]

I believe that Carmen's wolf, as well as representing a negative sexual experience, may represent not being able to set personal boundaries. The blurb on the website stated she was looking for attention and never went past "harmless flirting", but I think she believed it was harmless even though other people around her might mistake it as something more and take advantage of her being naive, as that is a common theme in this game

[@mimbear_art6213]

I think Ruby may partly represent Disabled youth. School being hell for most of us and an early death being seen as an inevitability.

[@plorl6528]

The Fae Wolf, to me, represents more Scarlet's wishes and idealised self rather than a potential teacher. The long white hair contrasts with Scarlet's black, tied hair. Instead of being for a domestic purpose, it's free and dyed. She plays music in the forest, which lines up with a dream of being free to pursue her artistic passions. Calling her the Fae Wolf specifically is interesting too. I think that this reinforces the idea of her being an idealised representation of her wishes - the ability to be mischievous and play pranks is a freedom that Scarlet is not afforded due to having to look after the other children. It's child-like activities that she's never been able to pursue, or she feels were taken away from her at too young an age, so she romanticises the freedom to pull pranks. Additionally, fae are heavily associated with the abduction of children, and with the white hair she very much evokes Labyrinth to me. She dreams of having the obligation that is the children being taken away from her, here represented by a force that was blamed for children disappearing in the past.

[@Toxpao07]

Fun facts about the path! (i have not watched the video yet i am just excited to share my general knowledge with this game) -The game was originally supposed to be called 144 because you collect 144 flowers in the game -All the girls were molded after manikins and dolls -Robin's outfit was taken from inspiration by one of the creator's friend's daughter who came into the studio one day wearing the same outfit that robin wears but just blue -Ruby was originally supposed to have tattoos -Ginger and Rose were originally supposed to be twins -Ginger is jealous of rose because shes taller than her -Rose's dress was originally supposed to be shorter -The game creator's was mostly thinking about Lydia from the movie Beetlejuice while they were making Ruby -Ginger's character was taken interpretation by the character Mathtilda from the movie Leon the Professional -The woodsman wolf (carmen's wolf) was the first wolf made in the game -The charming wolf (Ruby's wolf) and ruby knew each other prior (thats why she was comfortable with him) -Rose's hair was taken interpretation from Lain Iwakura from the anime Serial Experiments Lain because the creator fell in the love with the anime -Ginger's original character model was supposed to be more boyish -The creators' favorite character is Ginger because they feel like she was the only one programmed right -The creators' states that Ginger doesn't realize her own beauty -Carmen and Ruby actually shares a relationship -Carmen thinks that Ruby could get all the boys if she wasn't so emo -Ginger hates wubby dubby love stuff -Ginger thinks carmen is pretty (she guesses, she says, in her bio) -Robin states her favorite sister is Ginger -Ginger is the one that actually tells Scarlet that theres a theater in the woods -All the girls have livejorunals, the one that doesnt speak the most in hers is Ginger (shocker) -Ruby was originally supposed to be 13 while Ginger 15 -Ruby states her original hair color is green -The one thats signing all the songs in the game is the grandmother -Funnily, the song that Ginger hates the most that grandmother sings is supposedly her theme song -Robin was the easiest character to make in the game -Its supposedly said Carmen was one of the hardest characters to make in the game -The making of the game was first started in a hotel in San Francisco -The girls live in a apartment -There was a weird sub plot in their live journals that people kept coming into their house to look at the girls and Robin thought that Mother was giving them away -Rose is the only character weirded out by that every time she goes into grandmother's house, no matter how early she arrives, its always night time when she gets there. -The girls think its weird that mother always send them to go to grandmother's house one by one -There was actually a time where Ginger and Robin was supposed to go together to grandmother's house, but Ginger ditched robin to play in the woods -Robin was apparently the first girl to meet the girl in white as said in her live journal, stating that "she made a new friend on the path but she doesn't talk much" -The girl in white hides behind a tree when she sees ruby sometimes, scared of her -All the live journals events happens prior to the actual game -The girl in white was a originally a unused model for a game that the creator's were making called "The deaf mute girl in the pretty white dress" -The girl in white's original character model was suppose to have longer hair -The girl in white's character was modeled after young Ruby Bridges -Ruby had said that Carmen has a good body -Carmen wishes her family were richer -Rose actually takes music classes, so it seems Scarlet is probably kinda envious of that -It is a possibility that the girls' their last name COULD be red, because contrast from her other sister's using usernames, she could have possibility used her full name, "Rose Red" -Scarlet mentioned that her sisters are funny, because when she had said she was using livejournal they all started doing it too. -Scarlet is trying to make grandmother move into the city with them -Scarlet is actually the one that brought the toy car for Robin, (the toy you see her playing with in the character selection screen) -Ginger doesn't like celebrating her birthday, while Ruby agrees with that she thinks it'll be cool to celebrate a death day when people die, as Rose responds with "You're just looking for attention Ruby." as said in the livejournal -Ginger's profile picture for live journal is actually the main character from a game called Ico -When it had hit Carmen's birthday, she had said "the cake is a lie. The cake is a lie" in her livejournal, reference to the game Portal, which scarlet got mad at her saying "No, we're having cake!" -In carmen's live journal she had said when she goes out for a walk in the woods it feels like someone is watching her all the time -Ginger's main interests is playing video games -The characters, had asked questions to a Japanese artist called Fuco Ueda, one of the main artistic inspirations for the creators' games -one of the creator's friend's daughter (the one that was inspiration for robin's character) got a free hands made remade barbie doll to look more like ruby, and a ruby poster for being such a inspiration for the game -There was a meetup where a person cosplayed as robin and the creator's took pictures of the cosplayer -Ruby is interestingly the one that talks the most in her livejorunals -Ruby is not a christian, but only on sundays she is one -Ginger is most likely the one that made robin intrigued to go off the path because she said she heard howlings of a wolf in the woods -Ruby's style is modeled by early 2000's Japanese goth girls -All of the sister's names means something red and thats all i have! Just some fun facts! :)

[@nutellie_was_here]

Fun fact: that was 58 facts I think

[@foolofhearts9586]

I enjoyed reading that, thank you

[@cowboylkme]

what do you mean by ‘carmen and ruby shares a relationship’? without context it sounds concerning

[@tivaspotato]

@@cowboylkme i think what they meant by that is carmen and ruby are closer with eachother than they are with their other sisters

[@cowboylkme]

@@tivaspotato ooh ok

[@veryvivid]

I think Ginger's wolf might represent a realisation that she is attracted to women. Ginger's story is heavily tied to puberty - lots of body hair, gender and period imagery - and a big part of puberty is sexuality. I think Ginger's wolf being the only encounter framed as a pretty positive experience lines up pretty well with how having your first real love/crush is a pretty euphoric experience, feeling those more mature feelings of romantic love and lust for the very first time is an intense experience for a young teenager, and even if the situation isn't perfect, the feeling is still inherently positive what with the chemicals that they produce in the brain. The wolf being identical to the girl in white, just now in a red dress makes me think this was actually a close childhood friend of Ginger's who has been growing up alongside her, and who has already gone through a lot of the changes that come with puberty, and Ginger has started to perceive her friend as a more physically mature girl who has become attractive to her. However, after the fade to black, even though all we saw was a positive experience, Ginger still wakes up injured, which I think may represent how this event marked a turn in their relationship that then ended badly. The girl in red falls into the grass at the end of their game, and then pulls Ginger down with her, which I think represents how she commits to following these feelings and confessing her attraction, which then leads to a whole lot of troubles. The imagery at the end of Ginger's story that caught my eye was actually the image of her wolf with her hands and barbed wire over her mouth. I think that may actually show that Ginger's feelings were reciprocated, but the girl wanted to keep their relationship a secret (hands over her mouth), because she was scared of them being discriminated against or hurt (barbed wired over the hands). I think Ginger was also trying to keep a lot of the changes she was going through a secret as well - the barbed wire over her clenched knees for example - because she was scared and ashamed of them, possibly because she was dealing with gender dysphoria, something that puberty and periods can bring to light for the first time. Personally, I was absolutely terrified to tell anyone I had my first period for a reason I didn't really know at the time, but I now know was because I hated the idea of anyone thinking of me as "female". I know a lot of trans people tend to go into intense denial and secrecy when puberty starts to really hit hard. Unfortunately though, I think the stress of dealing with all of these internal changes by herself, in addition to her wolf not wanting anyone to know about them being together, eventually led to their relationship breaking down and the girl in red either physically assaulting her, or psychologically abusing her. The reason I think the girl in red hurt her and not a third party who maybe discovered them is that I think the rest of the game tries to imply that the wolves specifically are the ones responsible for the girls getting hurt, and I think that even if the girl in red was well intentioned and kind at the beginning, she's still young and struggling with her own changes after all, and she doesn't seem to be taking Ginger's comfort levels seriously into account (she did physically pull Ginger down into the grass after all, maybe before she was ready to handle it). Anyways, that's my in-depth queer analysis of a character's storyline in a game I've never played!!! hope you liked it Izzy lmao (Oh and a bonus thought: I think it's definitely possible that the barbed wire over her knees represents a discomfort with periods, but something I haven't really seen mentioned much is that it could also represent a discomfort with masturbation/sexual arousal. masturbation is another key part of puberty that is EXTREMELY uncomfortable to talk about, especially for kids, and can also be extremely difficult for non-cis kids to deal with as it can trigger some serious genital dysphoria, and it might be your first time ever experiencing that)

[@m.j.wilkes3001]

I read all of this and let me just say I 100% agree. I had never heard of this game prior to this video but the first thing I thought of when I saw Ginger wolf and her story I felt that I related to it in many ways as someone who just recently came to terms with my sexuality and relationship with myself. As someone who deconstructed from religion it often felt like my feelings were locked up with barb wire and such because being myself felt evil. So her story seemed both beautiful and painful because I’ve had those personal guilty feelings that she did. Beside that you seem VERY intelligent and this insight was very interesting to read. Thank you for enlightening me friend :))

[@veryvivid]

@@m.j.wilkes3001 aw thanks!! i saw a touch too much of myself in ginger too lmao, so i went on a bit of a deep dive thinking about her story :')

[@greysonholtz]

agreed !!!

[@doccanigetsomecandy7809]

Yeah, I was thinking this too. Often, it around puberty when people realize something is up, when they realize they ain't "normal". Ginger to me is a child who doesn't want to grow up because it means they have have to be a adult, they have to be a woman.

[@chrissy3875]

yess

[@chibimaster7819]

I have to say the details in the girls animation for such janky graphics is impressive. They even have different animations of opening and closing the door to their apartment, showing their different personalities. Pretty lingers at the door, tomboy slams it shut behind her, strict rushes to take the phone, etc. I think it's also interesting how each interact with grandma when they get there, like how goth will lay next to her, while tomboy will lounge with her hands behind her back, one of them just sits, the youngest throws herself happily and looks up to grandma with a smile. Aside from the obvious way they interact with the same items and objects in different ways, its little details like this that make it apparent they put thought into these characters to make them more believable

[@MamaWheelz]

I'm pretty sure part of Rose's story is about getting her first attraction and experiencing her first period. Basically, she's "blossoming" into a young woman. It makes the flooding, pond turning to blood, and bathrooms imagery make a lot more sense. Edit: I'm thinking Ginger's, the girl Izzy identified as having a menstruation based story arch, was more about the first sexual encounter, and the bloody imagery in her tale symbolizes the "hymnal blood" being spilled for the first time. Without this explanation, we go straight from virgin getting their first period to hypersexual permiscuity with no in-between. This explanation gives a much clearer line of "normal" progression and makes a lot more sense to me.

[@everest5718]

That’s what I was thinking too

[@evarose2999]

I thought she was being groomed by an older man, he kept telling her she was “so mature” despite she’s just a little girl

[@sharkazoo]

yes !! I was scrolling through the comments to see if anyone was thinking the same the plants scene somewhat made me think about fertility as well (because, well, periods)

[@everest5718]

@@evarose2999 I feel like that’s valid, but children are told by parents they are mature for the age too. Teachers like to compliment children on being “mature” too, so Rose was probably just smart for her age while being naive to the world at large. But that’s my interpretation.

[@jonathanlgill]

But that seems like it's more overtly the experience and symoblism of the next girl?

[@pungetello]

I don't think the moral of Carmen's is that abuse is needed for development, just that it is one extreme way to get it. You don't need to be nearly killed to learn that the world is dangerous, or fall into self-destructive habits to learn that they're not helpful. These are just extreme, traumatic, horror-game examples of how someone *could* learn and grow.

[@meiyoou]

I agree with this, it makes much more sense to interpret the game as 6 exaggerated ways a girl can develop/learn about the world and its problems

[@mauriciomeireles1210]

Maybe the whole idea is to make them fable like: a bad or evil ending for the protagonist so that a moral can be learned. Something like "carmen wasn't carefull and was used by someone older, because she thought that was what it meant to be an adult", with a moral of "be carefull about yourself, otherwise you going to regret it"

[@glitchygutz]

@@mauriciomeireles1210 i don't see how the wording you're using here is any better/different than the idea the original comment is disagreeing with? if you're saying her story is more of a general warning about being careful with how you present yourself, then using rape as an example seems extremely insensitive. that would imply that she was at fault for what happened to her and that it was on her to prevent it, or that her behaviour warrented it in some way/it needed for her to learn, which is cruel and victim-blaming. i think it's really harmful to suggest that it's a traumatized person's responsibility to prevent their trauma (and as a csa survivor, that sentiment pisses me off). worth mentioning that i don't think that this is the way the game is presenting it. also sorry if this is phrased weirdly at all, i'm tired.

[@laurellee1435]

True. Girls all learn the lesson that regardless of how they wield their sexuality it will be a danger, that you'll be viewed sexually and treated as an object and that you have to spend time gatekeeping who you talk to or spend time with, regardless of how this happens. I think perhaps because Carmen is a sexual being who flies too close to the sun, as opposed to someone resisting her sexuality (as with resisting puberty) it can muddy it up a little but as the focus ends up being more about someone taking advantage of a sexualised teen rather than seeing a teen like that is sexualised by others regardless of themselves, if that makes sense. Because it could end up feeling more like she would learn to change how she presents her specific outgoing display of her sexuality as opposed to as all girls tend to have to pay attention to whatever signals any man might project on to her

[@mauriciomeireles1210]

@@glitchygutz I agree that AT LEAST they could have done it in a better way, in the way they interpret it pain is necessary and that is imo bullshit

[@yas-per]

I imagined Ginger’s story as maybe being that she meets someone who’s a bad influence (the girl in red) and their shared love for rebellion leads them to getting hurt (maybe the feathers and dead bird represent her having killed a bird and the barbed wire being that she jumped fences) them lying on the ground happily shows that her view of their friendship is with rose tinted glasses. This is probably wrong, but that’s what I thought of initially.

[@a.u.r.i.a.i]

This is kind of how I saw it too. The barbed wire and chain link fences along with some of the other imagery remind me of a correctional facility like maybe juvy. After all Ginger is described as not having an interest in growing up so I could imagine her not wanting to take responsibility for her actions and being led into reckless behavior by a bad influence who she may have had a genuine bond with but ultimately dragged Ginger down (literally as well as metaphorically) by getting her into trouble.

[@yas-per]

@@a.u.r.i.a.i thanks for the addition, that makes a lot of sense!

[@kalonacre]

i saw it as a harmful friendship too. i thought that the blood might have been representing behaviors that can lead to ginger being harmed, i didnt really think of puberty. but i do also like the other interpretations

[@alisonmcalistair]

I think Rose’s arc is simply about the realization that there is no deeper meaning or order to life. When people realize this, they either turn to spirituality to assign the randomness meaning, or they embrace the unpredictable and unexplainable nature of the world

[@wrenascence]

that would fit the imagery given to us for her path. how the wolf is far from solidified and how uninterpretable they are. that correlates to life quite well, no matter your religious or ethical background. there are repercussions for being set on one way of thinking in life, and rose is a wonderful example of that.

[@hannahdawg6829]

Ruby's arc is also pretty fascinating for me because she seems to have a love/hate relationship with cars. We tend to forget today that a car is a big, powerful machine with a ton of moving parts that can hurt you if you're not careful. They're even more dangerous with someone behind the wheel, being careless with a car is the literal definition of the phrase "fuck around and find out." But a car is also a symbol of freedom as well, and it still seems that while Ruby is traumatized by her car crash, cars still hold a fascination with her.

[@wandermel]

hello these are brain noodles (in response to a 6 month old comment on a 9 month old video, apologies) that I stopped bothering to edit into comprehensive sentences, but maybe these phrases will make sense to somebody and will be enough to get the vibes across, that this comment sort of sparked some thoughts about so thanks for the thought sparks and the apologies if this is out of turn. I hadn’t seen anyone say it yet (tbf I haven’t scrolled very far) but maybe the reason why the car is so important in Ruby’s story: A car is also something a lot of people get around 16, or at least they learn to drive and Ruby is 15 -- something about how getting your first car, turning 16 and being old enough to drive, and that sort of cool factor and independence/freedom/autonomy that comes with having your own car that a lot of kids end up dreaming about as a part of their future, and is almost seen as a rite of passage for becoming an “adult,” for finally being taken seriously, and you can “prove” that you should be taken seriously because you can engage in adult behavior like anybody else. Feeling grown and like you know exactly how bad the world is, and you are hopeless and cynical (“realistic”) enough about the future that you think you can take it on cause it can’t hurt you much more, and you want to show that you can, using cynicism as a shield against hardship/pain. feeling like you know what you’re doing. I feel like all that is mixed up in the way cars and teens’ relationships with them are sometimes treated in western or at least USAmerican culture. The charming wolf is into fast cars and that sort of "cool," that ruby wants in on. but in rubys case that fantasy surrounding fast cars/cool boys/cynicism and drugs, wanting to be grown up, etc, is incongruous with the dangerous reality that is uncovered after indulging in that fantasy and it resulting in a car wreck. The fantasy is replaced by trauma instead. She might have seen it coming, she knows her activities are self destructive and she is cynical, but she still has a foot in childhood and naiveté, that she wishes to leave behind. but like she mentioned in the video, she is too young to be ready for the "adult" situations she finds herself in, even if she sought them out herself. So the car’s imagery its a confusing and juxtaposed picture in her mind, both that fantasy/desire and trauma mixed together. And ruby looks like she is trying so hard to be grown, even thinking that she is because in her mind being cynical = being realistic, which means she’s mature and old enough. straddling that edge, and the car means that she can hold her own and hurt like adults do. The boy/charming man, his car, and his drugs represent everything she wants in on and will pursue it even if it is self destructive, scary, and dangerous, and in the end pursuing it too hard ends up with her getting hurt. (because she gets in with the wrong people who are too old who will take advantage of her eagerness/vulnerability/naivete and cynicism and rope her in with their messed up behavior that someone young, or anyone, should not be pushed to engage in. There’s that factor of peer pressure). That’s another theme, that feeling of wanting to belong, and ruby is an outsider, so she wants to be included with people who are older and seemingly more understanding and also more “mature” (similarly cynical and reckless/careless about danger). It sort of bleeds into carmen’s theme as well I think, which makes sense because they’re obviously next to each other in age, and carmen’s experience is something that could also happen at a later stage in ruby’s life, if that desire for belonging of carmens was mixed in with that edginess/depression and cynical outlook on the world. there's definitely some repetitiveness in there... apologies tldr ruby = almost 16 which is driving age, charming boy has fast cars, insert thoughts about the car symbolizing a desire for autonomy and being grown up, that excitement/desire for the autonomy of driving and fantasy of escaping and growing into being your own person juxtaposed/shattered by a traumatic event instead involving the subject of the what was previously a fantasy I didn't mean to write that much

[@HopePapernacky]

This game feels so surreal. It’s like a recreation of a creepypasta, it feels really otherworldly. It is incredibly gorgeous

[@invictus987]

So glad to see someone talking about this gem. Never saw it as horror though. Just as a methaphor for womanhood. (Which I suppose is a all-too-real horror in its own way.)

[@lilithium3940]

When the thing you're referencing through allegory is so bad that even the allegory is catagorized 'horror'

[@invictus987]

@@lilithium3940 exactly!

[@gorilla-grip-pussy-support7976]

Speak for yourself, womanhood is traumatising if your a brainwashed radfem.

[@doubleh333lix]

i relate so hard to this comment.

[@doubleh333lix]

@@gorilla-grip-pussy-support7976 some of us were sexually objectified and abused since they began going through womanhood, dude. have a little empathy

[@emokitten4ever]

Carmen's story is not just about SA in my opinion but the idea of being groomed by an older man to that scary point. So many girls get manipulated by older men because being seen as grown up by adults seems to be an ideal when you're young.

[@ajxx9987]

I'd say it represents her being easily influenced by him, she gave in thinking the woodsman was someone who'd love her and protect her but ended up dumping her after the deed was done, therefore she felt used and discarded by someone who clearly knew what he was doing or intending to do. That's my take

[@AyakoHideko]

This! Carmen's storyline in general for me seems to be centered around a girl's relationship with lust and exploring sexual expression. Imo, there is... A lot to unpack for Carmen since as a girl, our relationship with sex and being sexual is extremely complicated since it's a taboo topic of discussion (how taboo it is varies from region to region around the world I suppose), and that leads to girls having to venture out and explore that territory on their own blindly sometimes. This is why I think interpretations for Carmen's story is quite interesting as the source material implies various things that can happen in relation to a women's journey in exploring sexuality. Carmen's story suggests to me themes of grooming, romanticizing abuse, sexual assault, as well as the... Naively daring mindset of a teenager boldly expressing their sexuality, but their inexperience for being so young and their still-developing brains not quite fully understanding what consent SHOULD look like puts them at risk to those who take advantage of that openness, eagerness and naivety. That last part was a bit overly specific but I genuinely dont know any better way to explain how vulnerable you are as a teen girl wanting to explore sexuality, but having no one to safely guide you through the process 🥲 Well, point is, there's a lot of nuance that can be drawn from Carmen's story simply because of how complex girls' relationship with sex are. Taking into consideration how grooming can be portrayed here explains why Carmen was so willing to approach a random man in the woods in the first place, and how the man knew that she would accept a beer if given one, since this probably wasn't their first encounter together: he was a "trusted" figure in her life. While I understand where Izzy was coming from when she pointed out that this part can be "problematic", I do want to state that I dont think the devs are endorsing this either since they are portraying this as a negative and horrifying experience for Carmen as well. In addition to that, while it is uncomfortable to see on-screen, the fact that this game doesn't shy away from talking about how easily young girls can fall prey to pedophiles who groomed them to trust them... all for it to lead up to this point only serves to shed light on how these predators are capable of taking advantage of them in the first place. The theming of "saving is destroying" also evoked heavy implications of romanticizing abusive relationships for me too. It's that naive teenage notion of wanting a spicy back-and-forth dynamic in your relationship to make things wild and exciting, except if there's a power dynamic at play, it just devolves into an abusive relationship instead with the party being taken advantage of at the receiving end. And the fact that this normally ends up warping the way the person being abused views romance and how relationships "should function" often leads to them being trapped in more abusive relationships down the line. Both of these themes and how so much of Carmen's story also plays into how sexual assault unfolds was very interesting to me considering how a lot of it demystifies how victims handle sexual trauma as well. To me, Carmen's story is an amalgamation of all of these things at once. However, being able to read other's interpretation of Carmen's story was REALLY interesting too! :) Just thought I should share my way of seeing things as to introduce more nuance to the conversation since in my experience... So many of these things are not independent to one another haha.

[@nyxie2877]

@@AyakoHideko Jesus Christ I need to save this for later

[@AyakoHideko]

@@nyxie2877 haha xD sorry, got carried away. But it was just... Really fascinating, especially when everyone else also has really different interpretations, yet we all seem to agree on one thing :)

[@busebuse8968]

Lfölü

[@Witch_Mandy]

When I think of a birdcage I think of the idea of being sheltered. It could make sense in Rose's story since she didn't see the evil in the world. Being in a cage can protect you from the dangers of the outside world. However, only knowing what's inside the cage can make you vulnerable as well. I don't know if I worded this very well, but this is what I think the cage meant.

[@TheSinisterProdigy]

I took it as you can't escape puberty and the specifically the implications hence bird eggs etc. All the period imagery I got.

[@swimmyswim417]

46:17 I think a more symbolic interpretation of Carmen’s story could be realizing that the kind of attention she’s getting from men for being promiscuous is objective in nature. They only care about Carmen in terms of what they can get from her, without taking into consideration her thoughts, feelings, and needs. She’s a living entity, but so is a tree, and a woodcutter doesn’t ask a tree how it feels before chopping it down. In that context, the realization that lust isn’t love is an important lesson to learn while growing up, and one that’s most likely to be learned in late teens after you’ve had a little more experience in relationships. It certainly seems that before her wolf encounter, Carmen seems to have a very romantic view of sex and relationships, when it’s clear from the context and imagery that the woodcutter just sees her as another pretty figure.

[@salamirat8074]

As someone with chronic pain, I think Ruby's story shoes the vicious cycle of depression and chronic pain/disability. She mourns the loss of her physical ability, she looks at the school gym from the sideline because she can't take part in sports anymore. Emotional stress is often a trigger for flare ups in chronic pain, Ruby's disability and depression are constantly at odds with each other, making the other worse. I think she met her wolf before the injury, was in a car crash due to him getting her high but continues to meet him and take drugs as a way to numb both her emotional and physical pain. She knows she can't break the cycle but drugs give her a temporary out, one that isn't as drastic as death. She thinks about death a lot, it would end her pain forever and that tempts her. But she doesn't really want to die, it's more of an ideation. Perhaps she thinks she's suffered too much to give up.

[@RedSpade37]

I agree 100%. Very similar to my own experience and the experience of many others.

[@KOTEBANAROT]

"She doestn say where it hurts" ar first i took her brace as just a part of her image as a goth and her externalizing her internal pain as physical disability. But on a rewatch, i think its both that her body hurts AND the awareness that she hurts and will probably continue to hurt for the rest of her life. Like when terry pratchett said that he had two illnesses: alzheimer and the awareness that he has alzheimer

[@Pinkstarclan]

My interpretation of Carmen is not so much saying that sexual assault is necessary for growth, but rather, getting past the Youth Stage where romance means a superman shows up and makes your life better forever. A lot of her dialogue seems to be that she'll marry a rich man who'll make her happy forever, she'll never be lonely again, etc...which is a very childish view of relationships, and it's a mindset that can get people into some very toxic and dangerous relationships. "The man who would save us is our destroyer." In the same way that the game isn't saying "falling off a boat and almost drowning is necessary to growth" or "trying to hug a wolf and getting mauled is necessary to growth," but rather using those experiences as representations of/possible, realistic, but not necessarily certain means of losing innocence, I think Carmen is realizing that romance is not as simple as flirting until one perfect man shows up and makes you happy forever. It's more complex and messy and not always happy, and you have to be aware of this to keep yourself safe.

[@profileuser5845]

this was my interpretation as well!

[@Rasqustherat]

I think the "weird pole" in Scarlet's location is a stage light stand meant to evoke the imagery of a may-pole, furthering both a connection to faeries and fae as well as hinting on our loneliness with lack of a of communal belonging (the may pole dance.)

[@lucchi018]

Now that i know the devs quit gaming creation made me quite sad. They had a "cancelled" game that i was really intrigued, was only known as "The book of 8". This one had the girl in white as the protagonist, in a Castle surounded by huge thorns and roots. It was based on sleeping beauty, where the girl had to make tasks trying to protect and save the sleeping princess at the center of the castle. The book of 8 was an scrapped idea that helped creating The Path. There's even some footage If you look good enough. For last, a Fun fact. Even tho the game has no voice acting. The devs told that the girl in white is mute.

[@fugitivebride]

oooh, lemme add the conclusions i got from each sister: Robin represents the realization that death takes indiscriminately, robin's wolf represents how fragile mortality is and her path is about her acknowledging to not be careless when exploring/doing risky things. Rose is about a selfless person who stretches herself too thin when most of the time they take her help for granted (telling rose that she's so mature, yet leaving her alone in the path), her wolf represents an accident where no one came to aid rose, her path represents her learning not to sacrifice her wellbeing for people that would not return the favor (her rose-tinted personality symbolizing her sacrificial selflessness being enabled due to thinking someone would reward her and ignoring carefulness.) Ginger I think can be various things, but the conclusion I got is that she represents a girl that was neither prepared nor told about puberty in a good and informed way, her wolf is a way of her coping with this, thinking of puberty as something that against all odds can be enjoyed, her path deals with growing pains and ginger having to endure it in a society that treats stuff like menstruation as shameful and cramps as nonexistent. Ruby is the clearest one imo, she represents self-destructive behaviors caused by peer pressure, her wolf is one of the "cooler" older guys in her school that coerces her into drinking and smoking because he knows she doesn't value her well being that much, even when she got a leg brace from a car crash, her path is acknowledging how these activities are slowly killing her, and the regrets that come after this. Carmen talks about how even when someone feels secure in something, it doesn't mean that a) bad people won't take advantage of that and b) the person cannot get trauma for it, while carmen feels good in her body and sees sex as something empowering, she's still a minor, she did not know that men would objectify her and she sure wasn't ready for sexual relations, her path is the darkest because the wolf did not harm her, it was the woodsman, someone who should have protected her but didn't, her path talks about how trauma can happen even in the places one feels the safest. Scarlet has already dealt with the burdens growing up brings mostly because she had to, what she didn't resolve was her unfulfilled passion and how this keeps her stagnated, Scarlet represents how a young adult would think that they wasted their youth away because they had no choice, her wolf being classified as a fae means that growing up too early took something from her that she cannot ever bring back, a fae (the adults in her life) distracted her (taking care of the household) and took something valuable (her passion to play as a musician) Finally, I think the path symbolizes not uncovering or realizing you had these traumas, you fail in the "safe" option not because it's safe, but because the sisters are still struggling and still thinking the things that happened to them are normal and shouldn't be talked about, while the forest is for the lack of a better word, them unearthing and analyzing these events, the grandmother represents an older generation that couldn't talk about what happened, and thus, the wolf is still in her presence in one way or another, the girl in red symbolized conscience, or rather, their mental state, when they stand still and do not make any progress in the forest the girl in white will try to take them to the path just as the brain will block some memories or shut down when it notices you cannot understand or cope after something happens, the epilogue is, in a sense, a happy ending, where the girl in white acknowledges each trauma and doesn't let it take over her life, yes, she changed, she cannot get the dress back to its original state, but it seeing the rooms was something necessary in order to start the process for moving on. (srry if this is too long lol i really like the aesthetic of the game and the way it handles each sister's story)

[@GetBaked2421]

Couldn’t agree more. I don’t think it’s about how the events were necessary to their growth (for example in Carmen and Ruby’s case they definitely aren’t) but about how unpacking the trauma from the events was important to heal.

[@doityourselfbombs]

I love this interpretation, especially what you said abt the grandmother having the wolf and how that represents how her generation didn't talk abt or think about trauma and it continued to haunt them but we see the red girls moving on and together again at the end, signifying that they're handling their traumas in a healthier way.

[@bubbles993]

I had a similar idea, but I think you said it better. The fact that the wolf in grandma's room is a taxidermy shows that she can't let go. While the girl in white stained in red at the ends shows that the girls are able to move on from these experiences, the taxidermy wolf is a sort of mockery of this idea. Perhaps grandma believes the trauma has made her stronger and refuses to fully admit what happened to her was wrong and shouldn't have happened. As a result of refusing to acknowledge the problem, she is unable to move on and be happy, stuck in the same cycle.

[@fugitivebride]

Just saw all the responses to my original comment!! I feel very thankful for all of the kind comments that enjoyed reading my analysis, esp when my writing isn't that great per se ^_^ !! once again tyyyy !!!

[@vi0let831]

HOLY SHIT THIS MAKES SO MUCH SENSE

[@perfectpomegranate8193]

My theory for Robin's story is this: She was given a dog for her birthday since she's always wanted one, explained the presents and candles in Grandma's house. However, in caring for it she failed to remember that it was a living creature with its own feelings, treating it poorly for her own amusement. (Scratch marks on walls, etc, signs of a neglected or disgruntled pet), finally one day as she was trying to play with it, it retaliated, injuring her and putting it her in the hospital and resulting in the dog being put down (bullets).

[@perfectpomegranate8193]

I believe it's about learning empathy, rather than learning about death. To quote Catherynne M. Valente in The Girl who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making"One ought not to judge her: all children are Heartless. They have not grown a heart yet"

[@ghostestwiththemostest]

I know it’s been a month but I’d love to hear more.

[@norality4029]

This actually makes a lot of sense!! I was quite confused about the bullets being mentioned but not having any real play into Robin's story!

[@victorlolxd7347]

@@perfectpomegranate8193I imagined the Birthday stuff was about getting older (But your theory explains the part where she finds the Robin and is just glad its not her)

[@shinkurasha8061]

I had a more literal interpretation for Rose's wolf. Maybe perhaps the spinning buff man represented a natural disaster. Since she is entranced with nature being a beautiful concept to protect there's a possibility that not once she thought of earthquakes, tornadoes, etc. Perhaps she experienced one, a few of these can cause flooding, which can explain a flooded greenhouse and constant raining inside the house. Natural disasters does tie in to losses a lot whether it be family, possessions or your own body. The last images could explain. The elongated arm could be an injury alongside her copy and pasted images in unusual positions could be her being tangled onto it. The odd image at the end could be just a simple imagery for an out of control hurricane or the whole 'it all happened in a blur' kind of idea. The rows of bathrooms could possibly be an idea for lockdowns (hiding in washrooms), though I don't know myself how a natural disaster lockdown goes so I'm not too sure on this. The bird cage with the chair could possibly represent the fact Rose had been sheltered from the harsher realities of the world stuck in it creating a perfect version of nature without experiencing it. Viewing it from the bars of the cage. Protected yet ignorant to the truth. The open door and the constant raining might have been like some sort of a wake up call. The cage still being locked as the rain happens inside could represent she wasn't ready for to see nature could be this dangerous at all. This is all I can come up with for that section. It's super hard to come up with anything for her.

[@degenerate2281]

This is what I think as well. It also makes sense to me that the younger the sister, the simpler the wolf. Since most children's problems are considered pretty on-the-nose, with strife getting complicated the more we grow up. So with her being the second youngest, it would make sense her wolf is a more literal depiction of natural disaster, and how nature has no sense of morality and can take as much as it can give- proving she isn't as mature as she thinks.

[@Broeckchen]

This actually made me research tornado lockdowns and yeah, it mentions that occasionally bathrooms are used for that. I think the mist wolf is fairly straightforward as a tornado sweeping Rose up from a lake. Being tossed around like a ragdoll, half drowning while pelted with water. I could also imagine the bathroom stalls as some other symbols. - perhaps she was so injured that even going to the toilet was difficult for her alone - perhaps she developed a fear of water in general, sparking anxiety in places like bathrooms - it might be about confinement, with her panicking when she can't see an exit route

[@mindoshinder3077]

Ahhh quick note on Ginger's story!! I feel like a lot of (queer) girls have had at least one super intense girl-on-girl friendship in their youth. I remember spending every single day texting that friend, thinking about her all the time and at some point realizing that shit, maybe I liked her more than as a friend? I feel like the scene with the girl surprising Ginger could be interpretative as being surprised by a sudden but very deep maybe-not-so-platonic relationship. The red flowers and soft lightning as they lay down in the grass, for me, feels almost romantic.For me personally it was a really rough experience, because the 'friend' in question was never clear about her intentions and even though we sort of tried being more than friends, for both of us it just turned sour. Two young teens feeling more than they should and not knowing what to properly do with these feelings. I do feel like you're more 'right' abt Ginger representing having bodily changes as a teen, the red stained mattresses are very in your face hahah. Just thought this might be a neat interpretation to add

[@Murhuedur]

Are you me?? Or is that really just the universal wlw experience vgsdbjhc

[@kitchensinkchronicles3272]

it could be both! puberty often leads to feeling attraction for the first time, so for a lot of people going through puberty and realizing you might not exactly be straight can go hand in hand since they’re happening around the same time. not to mention as you get older friendships start to become more meaningful. less “playing together at recess” and more “supporting and depending on each other” which can become intense or romantically charged if you find yourself being attracted to them. i totally think they can coincide and i like this interpretation of it being a story of discovering queerness :)

[@Bellyofthebeast6]

We literally learned about this game in one of my college classes. That's how impactful this game is. Playing it was optional, so I didn't because it was a busy semester and my other class required games to be played, but maybe I should go back and experience it for myself! (The class was called "Interactive Fiction", one of the required classes for my school's game design minor. It was about more unique ways to present stories digitally, and we covered more abstract games like this and things like visual novels.) Of course, we did learn a bit about the developer's controversy, but we didn't see that Twitter meltdown, lol.

[@acethepacifist1041]

My theory for rose: Rose is 11, presumably starting middle/secondary school. She is experiencing the fact that people, and nature, aren't nice. The bathroom could represent self realization of the fact that she is experiencing something negative, looking at her body and criticizing it.(i speak from experience there) Now, the bird cage & desk could represent how school feels entrapping, and how it feels like your in a cage, stuck. Thoughts? editing for my full theory, officially re-watching this all: my theory on how she gets to the house: the boat is representing her traveling from her picture perfect world to the true, dark world. her wolf represents the true and dark world Now, for the house: - the bathroom hallway: Due to it being red, this could represent how having your first period feels unnatural, uncomfortable, downright wrong. It could also represent how you gain heavier body image issues then - the desk and bird cage: School feels entrapping, and she’s rather be in nature and free. she feels like a caged bird - the greenhouse: nature, finding that peace within wherever she can, gripping to those last drips of the old world, but her old views are drowning - the hallway: how life feels like there are to many options, overwhelmingly so - the spinning bedroom: her finally learning how nature is chaotic, constantly changing, spinning always

[@SpaceMxshrooms]

I never considered that but holy moldy mac n cheese that's an amazing theory

[@acethepacifist1041]

@@cateatpasta5990 we love to see it/g

[@alphabetiris4094]

That makes a LOT of sense now that I think about it. What's your interpretation of the boat and wolf though?

[@acethepacifist1041]

@@alphabetiris4094 Hm… the wolf could be representation of the scary “real world” and the boat is leaving her “picture perfect” world she knew-

[@alphabetiris4094]

@@acethepacifist1041 that would make sense

[@DarkArt888]

About the bathrooms/desk in Rose's story: this is just a guess like any other but as bathrooms are supposed to be a place of rest ("restroom") to clean up and take care of your buisness. They're considered kind of sacred in their own way, as one expects they're places where certain rules apply: you'll have privacy in the bathroom, you'll be safe in there. There's kind of an inherent subconscious contract to it-- how many times do you see people hide in bathrooms in movies and in real life (even though they're usually concrete rooms with a single exit and honestly kind of one of the worst places to hide if you're I actual danger since it's easy to corner someone in one.) The long red bathroom could be a metaphor to being trapped in a mindset of a false sense of security. There's kind of a social contract that you leave people to their buisness in bathrooms, but there's nothing inherent about the room itself that makes it safe. As mentioned before, it's actually a painfully easy place to corner and harass someone (an issue that's painfully real to any trans person, for example) and it's so long to represent her being trapped in this mindset. The desk + the cage could also be a symbol of her ridged black-and-white thinking-- desks being a place to "think" and the cage being a representation of her trapped thought process. That both these rooms are the same red and her Grandma's house only losing this colour as the chaos of nature takes hold could support this.

[@fraumd]

Hi! Can you tell me more about the bathroom and trans relation? I've never thought about it and I want to empathize Btw this comment was brilliant!

[@selegnaisonline]

i absolutely thought the same when i saw the bathrooms were a key part of her vision - safety, or an attempt to achieve it, given that is in red. I love this comment ❤️❤️

[@susu0301]

Scarlet's story was a bit too real for me, not going to lie. Especially with her wolf being called the "Fey Wolf". I'm sure that this wasn't intended by the developers, but for me, the oldest daughter of 3 siblings who needed to grow up early and help take care of the younger ones and the house, who lost her passions and dreams and now, at 20, is slowly re-descovering, Fey stand for Fantasy, books and movies and stories alike, which I use to cope with what's going on.

[@unfinishedzizzy7582]

I honestly like how each of the Red's signatures are the kind you might use on like a Jornal or something, like they're simply writing about a traumatizing experience. Robin's is very messy, Rose's is neat cursive and ended with a heart, Ginger's is full on bubble letters, Ruby's looks like a rock cover, Carmen has hers underlined and surrounded by stars, and even Scarlet has a flower on hers. It feels like they're writing about the experience using metaphors as the first step of their paths to recovery, which gives me the theory that the forest is them recalling the events, the wolves were more or less the incitors (Scary dog, Tornado, Girl that you hated that you loved, Guy who started your downward spiral, Creep/R*pist, Forgotten and ignored dreams) and their special rooms are how they simply describe it. The girl in white is the urge to repress and ignore these things, but ultimately, time and time again, they go through it. The bloodied Girl in White could represent how they can't ignore this anymore, and they're finally on the right path, not the one where they refuse to remember. This also explain how you can't get an A, because there's no way to Ace dealing with trauma. It's gonna sting, and you're gonna fumble. Also how not going in the forest gives you a failing grade Also, the girls being "Lured" or told to never go off the path could be people's views that you shouldn't talk about trauma. They're making the choice to come clean, but people just can't understand why, so they make up this BS excuse they were forced so that they don't have to think about it, Most prominent in Rose's. Her blurb reinforcing that she's just a little girl could also mean that people don't think kids her age can be traumatized.

[@clover2569]

(WARNING: theories regarding heinous acts towards children, pls don't read if that sounds distressing) The minute Rose was describes as charming and mature for her age and yet still innocent, paired with the fact that she appears to be a hopeless romantic my heart dropped a little because my interpretation of her story is one that genuinely breaks my heart. The developers said they were specifically fascinated with the growing up process of young girls, so immediately when Rose's story began unfolding, and ESPECIALLY when her wolf was revealed to be a chaotically moving naked man, my mind immediately thought "sexual abuse victim". It might be a reach, but the language used to describe Rose has extremely concerning parralelles with language often used by groomers, especially towards young girls. Praising them for acting older than they are and convincing them that they are mature, when in actuality they are completely naive to the situation they are actually in. The fact that she's chased down by this man and then is seen left very hurt, is significant. I also think that possibly, the bathroom imagery is to depict the stress of possibly getting your first period and knowing that after that you can in fact fall pregnant and may become very dependent on the older man grooming you. It's dark and it could be a reach, but it's immediately where my head went and it's tragic.

[@snowyetie8799]

I totally agree the way that she is pored to be “mature” is deeply unsettling. But not for the reasons you associate it with. The way I saw it was like girls her age that try to be older (wich has always existed, but aggravated because of scocial media) they care about their apperince a lot and act mature. And I know that the game was made when it wasn’t the biggest problem, but the reason I find it unsettling I link it with the way kids are sexualizing them self’s with out realizing it, just because they don’t understand the concept and see “pretty” girls getting lots of attention and trying to imitate that. I’m not trying to blaming them I’m blaming our society that has portrayed beauty and the ideal life as an adult one. And of course this leads to the normalization of pedofilia. I’m just terrified when my little sister ware’s a crock top and ask if she’s sexy. (I’m sorry for the mistakes English isn’t my first language)

[@clover2569]

@@snowyetie8799 One thousand percent, whether her story centers around grooming or just societal pressure to be desirable no matter what age I think the way they describe her as mature for her age is very intentional. The world is so scary and culture puts such an emphasis on little girls being "sexy", you're so right. I think the subtle horror of it in her story is so well done and for that reason it's one of the eeriest to me.

[@idkwhat2nameheheh]

also, the bird cage over a desk could re-enforce that idea. maybe she was being manipulated by one of her teachers, who are very important role models for children and a source of trust and wisdom

[@clover2569]

@@idkwhat2nameheheh That makes sm sense, that's a great analysis

[@hkazu63]

While it’s obviously hard to clearly relate it to that, I think it has a strong argument based on the complex nature of her wolf. The scenario emphasises a sense of isolation by getting her out on the lake, and it seems like an “unknowable wondrous thing” which could reflect the idea of someone she trusted and admired committing an act like that, and becoming this strange, irreconcilable concept based on what she knew then versus now. Her own floating in the scenario could also reflect the idea of dissociation in order to deal with the trauma, since she’s detaching from gravity, which historically has been used allegorically for reality itself.

[@lilithium3940]

Oh wow I've never heard of this and cant get enough of lore-filled creepy/vibey horror games so I'm very excited for this video

[@jellyjilli1004]

"I was angry at them at seventeen. I feel sorry for them at thirty-seven." He said after writing an angry "review" devoid of any self awareness or empathy. Sad to see that throughout all of these years he still resent teenagers.

[@friendlyghosthost1830]

That whole rant BELONGED on r/niceguys lol

[@jovanaavramovic2485]

dude was too busy saying "why dont girls like nice guys like me waah" he avoided clear imagery of sexual assault

[@user-ut5lu9nb4t]

wait...who said that? was it in the video? I feel like I just missed a chunk of the video....

[@jellyjilli1004]

@@user-ut5lu9nb4t she didn't read the review out loud (thank god). You have to pause and read it. I'll get the min for you in a sec. EDIT: it's at 45:51

[@user-ut5lu9nb4t]

@@jellyjilli1004 thanks. What an horrible review ideed, it makes me sad

[@foxietears_2305]

I think personally for Rose, her whole theme for me is growing up too early. When adults looks at you from a “adult” perspective literally slows down your development, as going into adulthood is literally **growing** into it! Skipping that part and taking upon adult’s business puts your actual development on hold thus halt you become a mentally ill adolescent lol. Not only is it shown her story but also the signs, she’s floating on unstable water in a territory that is not meant for her yet. The wolf is the idea of how easy and relieving it will truly be to be an adult, as earning that respect and being seen as mature from elders is valuable. As in reality.. It’s etched, reddot. Just like the room description, the birdcage of never experiencing growth or the storm in the end based off the emotions that might come when you actually need an adult. Being seen as mature at such a young age is not alright, children need to rely on adults and Rose in this matter is not allowed to rely upon adults as she can “deal with it” herself. The different rooms can also be used as a reference to adulthood not being as easy as she might’ve thought it could’ve been!

[@highfructosetoaster]

I strongly believe the jar segment of Scarlet's house..tour thingy represents the meaning of "walking on eggshells". She felt pressured to take care of her sisters.

[@celebismyspace]

Content Warning: Sexual Assault, Rape of a minor My thoughts when I saw that Rose’s wolf was a very Vague and Blurry man, and that she had a Bathroom and doors, my mind first went to the idea that Rose wandered off to somewhere in a building away from her family. Then a man she can’t Quite remember took sexual advantage of her, and she was forced to run. The endless confusing rooms could represent the way she was lost and running. The water could be Part of that, where the rain is her sudden fear, and the flooding is her learning that the world is not inherently Good, filling her beautiful garden-like greenhouse with despair. As for the tornado, that could be from the Blurry-speed the events took place. The birdhouse could represent how, like with Robin being a baby bird who has learned danger, Rose was a baby bird who lost her innocence. Hence, the cage being empty.

[@69slutbabyangel]

I interpreted this the same way, this was very well articulated.

[@lienbrink3256]

That was my thought as well. Them calling her mature for her age also touches on how young children are talked to when being groomed.

[@pibblecaten183]

As a victim the i feel like the empty cage is the biggest representation of innocence lost, I remember having dreams as a child of running through endless hallways from my assaulter, the exits would warp into longer hallways. When watching game footage, its looks very much like an abuse victim made it

[@emmypersonal4033]

@@pibblecaten183 You had dreams like this too? Mine wouldn't warp into long hallways but they were recurring or I'd run but go no where

[@paradoxical7782]

i think the blurb also adds to this theory! the fact it refers to her as “mature for her age”, but also as a “fragile little girl” and has strange wording makes me think its a reflection on how men who take advantage of younger girls speak to/about them

[@richalvarezfan101]

I think the most interesting and heartbreaking part about Ruby's storyline is that it's implied she already was in a car accident because of her already broken leg. Her wolf dragging the rug could represent how he dragged Ruby out of the car previously and or could represent how he targets emotionally vulnerable people to take on the road to self destruction. I think the school imagery also represents how she should have been in school but instead she was skipping to be with this guy and to do dangerous things. She approached the wolf knowing what could happen to her again, but she didn't care

[@liohawkes5123]

imo Carmen's story is not specifically about a traumatic sexual experience per se, but a dawning realization that the world the girl is about to enter is full of predatory men. She is 17, which is only one year from being a legal adult. She has delusions of her being a 'femme fatale' - empowerment of a woman but only through sexual means; and this empowerment cannot stand on its own, as it still objectifies women. And when I say delusions I really do mean delusions, as a young girl such as herself has no clue on what horrors r*pe culture upholds and what nasty things men can really do, and she has really no chance of fighting back against it. In my eyes, it really goes back to the oversexualization of women in media and how Carmen absorbed it, thinking how 'acting sexy' is the thing that is expected of her if she is to be perceived as 'fun' by men around her, only for them to take advantage of it to say that she came onto them first. Everything stated above with the sexualization of a 17 year old obviously is wrong, but as a young adult myself I notice it in so many young women and teens (especially because I live in a country where it's common to find teens smoking, drinking and having sex) to seek affirmation through sex with a guy that does not care for her wellbeing... How else can I end it other than 'we live in a society'...

[@skylard5038]

this is a fantastic take, sounds identical to all of my insane ramblings about the male gaze to my younger female friends. i just turned twenty and i feel more dreadful about the world and the men in it every day. carmen's story was the most in-your-face and i think that was the point, that sexual experiences (whether consensual or not), and suddenly becoming so aware of your womanhood is STARTLING.

[@icravedeath.1200]

@@skylard5038 And what do you mean by 'i feel more dreadful about the world and men in it every day'?

[@wordswarsandsymphonies]

@@icravedeath.1200 why are you coming out swinging whenever a woman on this video comments about the violence women and girls face?

[@icravedeath.1200]

@@wordswarsandsymphonies why does nobody ever talk about the good men.

[@icravedeath.1200]

@@wordswarsandsymphonies why is my comment missing?

[@salamirat8074]

This is probably a stretch, but revisiting this video, I see Rose's story as a representation of growing up autistic. She has a strong sense of justice and cares more for animals than people. She is considered mature for her age because she dresses and speaks strangely for an 11 yr old. I see her rooms in grandma's house as representations of sensory overload and Rose realizing that situations that are perfectly normal for most people are always going to be overwhelming and scary for her. The bathroom specifically connected with me as toilets are loud and the harsh lighting of public bathrooms are often a struggle for me. The desk with the bird cage shows the struggle of being autistic in a school setting. While autistic kids are often considered "gifted" and do well grade wise, school feels like a cage. Rose doesn't fit in at school and often feels trapped because she can't be herself around other people. Her wolf appears quite friendly, and I sort of see her encounter with it as Rose being told that the way she acts is unnatural and potentially even dangerous, despite the fact that to her its prurely who she is. I don't know how much of that made sense, but I wanted to share even if I didn't quite have the words to describe how I connected to Rose's story

[@ComradeMercy]

I really love this interpretation, I'm autistic and I relate to most of the feelings you explained in your comment

[@victoriangm7774]

I love this interpretation, I'm autistic and honestly, when Izzy started describing Rose's character, I immediately saw myself in her.

[@winterwitch8914]

I LOVE this interpretation so much! You are so right!!

[@sodaboi2154]

Honestly thinking of it now maybe this is why I relate to Rose a bit, love this interpretation

[@MeliMiyoko]

I love your interpretation! Definitely makes me feel more connected to Rose as a character 😲