One thing I think about is how Verso admits he let Gustave die because he was afraid that it make it harder for Maelle to help when she found out the truth. But I feel like if Gustave was still around and learned the truth, at the end, he would 100% betray Lumiere and sacrifice his own existence to save his Maelle's real life. Back to the campfire scene with Lune, "You always said that the future of Lumiere is more important than any one life. Do you still believe that?" And Gustave replies with "I hope so." And I believe by the end, it would be no. He would value Maelle's life above all else.
Also brings about thoughts about the way Verso handled things. Lune called it. "You didn't even try" Well, he probably did, but he's been at it for so long, he gave up trying to reason and work with others, and honestly at this point, its the closest he ever got. Its his last chance. I don't blame him, but godamn, from the start, almost every line he sprouts is a lie of some sort. And first time players pretty much trusted him, even if a bit sus at times. (I found that gamers still aren't used to games lying to them) He instantly called out Maelle's lie to her father because the master of lies can stop an amateur at it. (the father knew too lol)
Like there might be a .5% chance of a happy ending, where the family moves on, and the painting survives and everyone lives happily ever after, but the character flaws of everyone involved makes that impossible. Regular anime jrpgs go for the final .5% chance in the end and it works out cause anime.
The family members also interesting when trying to dig a bit deeper. Like Alicia felt she was hated or ostracized even before the fire. But have to think of who she is. She's the youngest, and after the fire, she's "not a child, but not grown either" Age-wise, she may be an adult, but she hasn't gained the experience to properly call herself an adult. So to me, mentally, she is a bit of a child. She remarks how they only ever hung one picture of her on the wall, but this is a family of painters. She isn't good enough to hang more pictures, but doesn't mean they hate her for that or anything. She has room to grow. The father painted The Reacher to represent her, that her potential is as high as the sky.
The elder sister Clea is the GOAT. Like her intial introduction, it's like damn, this bitch is so cold. But she has to be strong when the whole family is crumbling. And we do learn that after Aliciia first jumps in and gets overtaken by the chroma and reborn. After a long period of no contact since the fracture. She specifically goes to contact Verso in person to look after Maelle. She wouldn't do that if she didn't care. Also, the way I took her line, "Verso traded his life for yours, for that, I love and hate him for it" Like knee-jerk reaction would be like, 'oh she hates me for living' But at the end, I read it as "I love him for saving you. But hate him for dying." And honestly, that's a common way some people handle loss. They want to blame someone, even the person that died. Like "why did you have to do leave. look at the mess you left us with." Anger and blame is a common stage of grief.
Not sure about Aline, she probably does blame Alicia outright. Maybe not blame, but just a constant remainder of what happened. She was definitely the most broke.
Looks to me like Verso was Aline's favorite, Alicia was Renoir's and Clea was the middleground for both.
the whole scene. As an expert in facial micro expressions, sandfall did an impressive work on this area that exceeded most studios that came before
