#It's like something that at first warrants an 'oh they're the opposite so they're reversed!'

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noelashe foilism mirrorism ramble

Sorry for this getting into semantics type of post but. People always call noelashe narrative foils but i think that saying they mirror eachother (the opposite of foil) is way more fitting... I always thoughtttt i was the one that wasn't getting the definition of "narrative foil" but if you think that you probably interpreted their arc as the few moments in which they highlight Noel as "good" (only willing to attain his wish through dream-like means) and Ashe as "bad" (able to do demonic things to attain his wish). That's what narrative foils are, an apparent contrast between 2 characters who are completely different, but share some core value that somewhat unfortunately brings them together, usually between protagonist and antagonist who couldn't be any more different. But the point of the entire explanation imo is that their wishes are the same, even the fact that their methods make their wishes unattainable are the same, It's a wake-up call as to how pointless the preaching of morals on Noel's part of these actions is in order to alienate himself from Ashe (and painfully enough in turn his father), because both are rooted in something that is basically wrong/twisted since they are trying to bring a reality that is impossible into fruition out of their own selfish (selfless) desires. The definition of this is a mirror, 2 people who share many similarities which highlight the oppositional core value that sets them apart. So albeit it was disguised as a foil, the entire POINT of the revelation in Sirius conclusion is that Noel thought they were foils, but they were mirrors all along! See the literal CG in the game where Noel is looking in the mirror and sees Ashe. And while it is possible to have mirror-characters also be foils, while they are in some cases synonyms, i feel like with my own interpretation of the characters -- Noel as capable of more than he wants to think, the effect of survivor's guilt making him hold himself back, and Ashe as barely attached to reality & using the mask of evil to obscure the guilt he feels about the rational but unfulfilling reality of what happened, the survivor's guilt spurring him on to hide its existence -- I feel like they truly don't oppose eachother enough to be called foils, only opposing eachother in ways that comes down to ONE crucial instance: whether they are able to kill Claire or not. & that's what makes them interesting, since they have almost the same values, but the response to the guilt makes them seem like opposites at first glance. But they are not <3