#she was so mad at the nome too rk would be so disappointed

[grim-faux]

a massive headache of an analysis of two very terrible people in my projected ideas and observations

I mentioned this on the discord that I think that the fandom is coddling Noone a bit too much. but hear me out before you "she's just a child, you monster. She was subjected to emotional abuse and Otto is a terrible guy for being a doctor and a trusted adult in her life."

That's all valid. but one thing we should ALL REMEMBER is that the children who are approached or ensnared by the Ferry/Candleman, are not targeted because of the "sordid and sympathetic story of bullying and internalized trauma". Under my observations, I would say the Ferry/Candleman pursues children that are vulnerable and easily manipulated. And of course he's not monitoring these children for any specifics or potential, his role is to catch kids and drag them to the Maw. For profit.

And I wanna sympathize with Otto - very carefully - cause this man is a mess. He's terrible, he's a jerk, he loses control over himself over a >10 child call out on his toxicity. AND HE SHOULD HAVE APPROACHED THE SITUATION DIFFERENTLY, WHICH WOULD HAVE MAYBE SAVED NOONE FROM THE FERRY/CANDLEMAN AND THE NOWHERE.

And I would wager that this last betrayal and abandonment by Cece2.0 tossed Otto the edge of all moral practice. Otto was a horrible guy, he betrayed his patient and Noone's trust - but all of that was not done for himself per say; he didn't throw Noone to the Candle/Ferryman for glory, for discovery, for personal promotion. He was doing this out of his childish desperation to find or at the very least see his sister. Yes, that is absolutely selfish, yes he hurt someone along the way, and he will continue to hurt other kids on his journey to finding Cece.

But Noone also isn't completely blameless. She is of course a child, she is a flawed, sad, and a broken child. Of course when someone said to her, "escape the pain and awful world you live," she leapt at this opportunity, no questions. No thoughts, head empty. But Noone is far from innocent, and she will not stay that way when she goes native to the Nowhere-ville.

Over the course of the podcasts, we see evidence that Noone- among the children she encounters - adapt to this hostile world. Children actively ignore Noone when she calls to them (see Ref noisy children die), others are swift to abandon her when the terrors find them kiddies. And Noone herself begins to react and fight at the hostilities in her environment - this proven in Chapter 5, when a girl tried to take the nome (see Ref mushroom fairy), she threw A FUCKING BRICK AT HER ARM. And especially in Chapter 6, she slammed a bottle over the marionette pinned to the table, killing it probably. Subjected to the Nowhere and the violence there, children either adapt and defend themselves, abandon others - or they die.

And my Discord did have a big analytical study and discussion over Rusty - the trapeze boy from the circus. Rusty was an interesting character, not only because he was a teen - probably inhabited Nowhere for a long time - but he was hinted to knowing a way out of Nowhere. This latter factor, I doubt - I do not think Rusty had any real knowledge of how to escape Nowhere, and all he wanted at the end of the day was escape the circus. We choose to ignore the giant pillars stretching to the ceiling not important no siree. That's the best case scenario. But Rusty and his group suggested one of two things (or all of these things). Kids left to Nowhere REALLY REGRET THAT DECISION EVENTUALLY (maybe you get older and realize how much of a dumb brat younger you was). Or, and also, Rusty was not there because of the Candle/Ferryman guiding him to Nowhere. Otherwise, Rusty would be property of the Maw, since Ferry/Candleman gives not two ceramic dolls who has a kid or what entity wants a kid - Ferry/Candleman will escort that child to MawcDonalds.

So Rusty and his trope came to the Nowhere on their own accord - either through a liminal space or other mysterious and obscure portal people should really avoid in the normal world. And they did not know really how to find their way back to the world they lost.

The last problematic matter of Rusty, is he is sus, like a lot of characters of the Little Nightmares world. He's invested in his survival and happiness and safety. So when he and the group are presented with Noone, they jump at this opportunity. It's not crazy to think Rusty was very invested in getting himself away, and ditch anyone else along the way. Case in point when he suggested Noone to be the lookout (wink-wink, nudge-nudge, teehee), "for the man in the purple suit." Noone later realizes she has no idea what the real plan for escape is, aside from alert Rusty that the man in the purple suit is there. She's told only to signal Rusty nonverbally, but she decided to scream at the teen "big top", which he thinks is a good idea. Yes, of course he would. And apparently whatever happened to Rusty was so horrific, it locked Noone in a panic attack. Which is terrible, since it is most probable Rusty and his group only needed Noone there to draw the attention of the man in the purple suit, use her as bait - but that didn't work out. F for Rusty, you big L.

These incidents with the children - of being exploited and bullied, not just in the Nowhere but from her world, drives Noone closer to the edge of the metaphorical doorway. And Otto exasperated the condition by pushing her closer to the threshold of commitment, all to seek a hint that Cece was still there and he might find her. But it was also Noone who took the plunge, despite Otto beseeching her to wait for him - this is the moth to the light, flying closer to that which is enticing and promises comfort, only to be snuffed out when the moth reached the flame.

One of the running themes of Little Nightmares is that of children succumbing to a fate or falling into the same cycle of torment, they are fighting to avoid. For Six, she becomes the next proprietor of the Maw, unable to leave - only so she can survive. With Mono, we follow him through his struggle to find and free his friend from the Tower, only to get thrown aside and abandoned; then he becomes the thing that he fled from, and eventually destroyed - the Broadcaster of the Tower. The children of Nowhere are not escaping a terrible world for another terrible world, they are accepting of the violence and malice that shaped who they are, and turn that back onto the world that inflicted it - perpetuating the trauma which forged them. There are no happy endings of Little Nightmares, only acceptance.

Otto succumbs to that fate as well. He doesn't seek to help Noone so much as he sought to fulfil his own selfish needs. Noone did not wait for Otto to confront the Ferry/Candleman, or wait for him to turn the Candle/Ferryman away - she took the hand offered and abandoned Otto. Which, in turn, leads to Otto's descent into his tragic villain arch. To be clear, Noone isn't responsible for this adult man who should know better, Otto is far from her responsibility. But this mindset may have been what drove Cece from her lil brother Otto - a clingy child she wanted nothing to do with. And ill reiterate, Noone was not responsible for Otto or his actions, as he was the one who swore to help her, he was the doctor and the figure of authority in her life - Otto was supposed to come to her aid.

But when Otto was at his most vulnerable and had no power over Noone any longer, and he begged her to wait. She did not. As with all monsters of the Nowhere, when the child has the upper-hand or has discovered a clever trap, the child dispatches their tormentor.

As equally as she despises Otto, she favored the Ferry/Candleman for the lies he gave her. For the truth he wove amongst the promises.

Though we can dissect Noone's character and grasp what led to her actions, her story is not one of triumph or escape - it is of acceptance and defeat. She does not overcome a great adversary, she submited to the conditions of the world that created the monsters she hated. Her story has only begun in terms of the Nowhere, and it is far from over. She is not journeying through the Nowhere to reach some enlightenment or to become stronger than the shadows that will chase her, or overcome the hazards that await her. Noone becomes another cog in the machine which keeps the Nowhere and its inhabitants gleeful and fulfilled.

It is fair and fine to sympathize with Noone and her fate, she is a child and a victim to all that was set upon her - left with no protectors or sympathizers. And she fell prey to a master manipulator, as did Otto. in this story, the only one who claims success is the Candle/Ferryman, who orchestrated the whole thing.