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queen0fm0nsterz · 11 months

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I said this many times before but I will say it again:

I find the conflict between Six and the Lady to be so much more interesting when viewed through the lens of them not being the same person, but rather being a metaphor for each other -- someone who is like the person you used to be vs the threat of the person you could become.

Them having a similar past and reacting to it in completely different ways makes the dynamic incredibly interesting. The reason why I am so deeply attached to the theory that the Lady is the girl in the paintings who wears a yellow raincoat is because, narratively, it would make her the perfect foe to Six.

The coat itself is not really important: what matters is what it signifies. It means freedom, hope, light, but most importantly it means not losing yourself. When Six finds the coat, she finds herself. She finds her True Colors, as the OST itself will tell you.

And Six sticks to it.

In spite of everything pointing her to the Maw, Six categorically refuses to go there. Shadow Six points her to it, but the comics let us know that Six did not go to the Maw as she was pushed to do: the Ferryman had to drag her on it. He had to tie her up to take her there -- which, when considering the Ferryman's usual methods, really points just how hard Six fought to avoid the Maw.

Six does not want to be on the Maw. She rebukes it. Exactly the opposite of the Lady, who instead sticks in it for dear life.

The Lady is a deeply fascinating villain through many lens, but what makes her the most interesting to me is the fact that, when picking her arguments apart barebones, she reasons exactly like the children of the Maw do. In the Refugee Boy's story, it is explained why he prefers being on the Maw rather than being left to the outside world.

Safety.

With this in mind, here is an extract from the Lady's official character description:

"Amidst the chaos of the world outside, The Maw is the only place that makes sense. (...) The guests must eat. The Maw must survive."

The Lady sticks to the Maw because it's beneficial to her. Because it is the only place whose (horrific) structure she can comprehend. The world outside is chaos, we have seen it ourselves. The Maw, as terrible as it is, has a clear routine that repeats every year. It has dangers that can be avoided as they become more and more known.

The children would rather stay here, rather than face the unknown outside. And the Lady would rather uphold a system that kills and takes advantage of innocents if it means she can live in peace and safely just one more day.

The Maw is the lesser evil. And the Lady lost herself to it. Or rather, it would be more correct to say that whoever she used to be when she got on the Maw is gone... and all the Lady is, is nothing if not the Lady of the Maw.

((Which is why she can't bear to look in the mirror. Would you stare in it, knowing that the person starring back is someone you don't know?))

But Six is not like the Lady. Six is Six.

She does not want to be safe, she wants to leave. The institution of the Maw means nothing to her, no matter how many outside factors push her towards it. Even if strategically speaking staying the Maw would be the safe option, by leaving, Six chooses her true self. It's an act of defiance to a generational cycle that has been upheld for who knows how long by simply taking a leap of faith.

One stayed. The other left.

Ironically, the two of them are not a mirror of each other, like the Thin Man and Mono are. They instead walk on two parallel lines.

The Lady turns right, and Six turns left. The Lady turns down the stairs that lead back inside the Maw. She lets the raincoat fall off her shoulders. Six turns up the stairs, outside of the submarine. She clings to her raincoat as hard as she can.

They are two strangers who happen to be just a little similar, but so incredibly different that they end up going different places. And that's what gives them nuance.

#little nightmares #six #the lady #ln meta #six ln #the lady ln #ln the lady #ln six #{honestly this is literally jusf a brain fart. it goes deeper than this methinks #but i dont have the strenght to go in as deep as i'd like so i hope this suffices for now}

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