It seems that Obli has turned from somebody who saved the world to someone who is willing to have the world destroy just to be with Nerus. He seems to be pretty villianous now, unless I'm missing something in the story. I really like Shax more than Obli.

There's a bug in chapter 1, it says that there is an invalid syntax on line 8554, I can click ignore and it goes to the next line, but just felt like letting you know,

(this is a bit after bernardo talks to his boss and we went to the infirmary, and Alessia goes to sleep, and the unformed spine-looking-thing starts talking to her)

I cant post a picture of it because itch decides that its "not within the 1 and 20480 character limit"

These are some of my notes when rereading Nerus again. I’ve also compared my previous post to what I have right now, and some things I will like to highlight.

The Prologue

When rereading Nerus, I was surprised at how most of my thoughts on the Prologue still are valid, although, there is one point that I didn’t like as much.

-I don’t disagree with some of my points in A10, but the conclusion I have with Neru is a bit off. It could be true, yes, but the easier explanation is that it was from the burned man. Assuming that Neru is the burned man, this could be easily explained by the burned man interjecting while he still has his memory as Neru.

There are still maybe mysteries in regard to the Prologue, but there are four significant mysteries that stand out to me.

The Redd Manor

-There is little information we have gotten when it comes to the Redd Manor. The only thing we know about it is that is red, duh, in a world where there is a blue sky in the past. Although not stated, we can guess that Obli, Nomino, the burned man, and Pyr had some connection to it. (Obli and Nomino since their conversation imply that Obli has been to the manor while Nomino knowing about the manor implies some sort of connection with it. Although more finicky, the story also implies that the burned man, which at this point I’m convinced is Neru, has some connection with it because of the weird static when Neru in the story picks up the Redd Manor folder. And by proxy, Pyr knowing the burned man could mean that he also might have the connection. I’ve put the names in the order of confidence, where Obli is the most while Pyr is the least.)

The yellow letter
-This still surprises me how little resolution there is to it. It does seem to be important, but the further the story goes, the more it seems to be irrelevant. Yet… I can’t help but think it is important. (The only explanation that might resolve the yellow letter is that it might be a trigger for Obli’s old memory when he is Shax, having Shax slowly remember who he once was before the recall. This could be a cool theory since it would give Shax a bigger timeframe to gather information about Nomino’s whereabouts, but once he heard that there is a war going to happen he become more concerned which leads him to speed up the processes. Yet, it’s hard to believe because Shax doesn’t seem to indicate any of this fact. Although I did recall him showing some past knowledge when grooming Neru, when revisiting I didn’t see any of the sort.)

Neru’s past and actions
-Every time I read the Prologue, I always switch back and forth on the idea of Neru’s actions and past. I go from ‘Neru seems very suspicious’ to ‘it can be explained with…’ The words he uses and his action during the early parts of the prologue always seems a bit… off. And what makes it weirder is the fact that it keeps bringing up the fact he doesn’t remember much of his past! Again, there are explanations for them that make me fall in love with his character, but what makes me think that they are somewhat validated are those white flowers. Flower that dies from overexposure to light makes which makes me think that they are from the void, devoid of any light but from the Aeons. Although he might not know it, Neru is clearly hiding something! 

The Monologue
-I always find the monologue so strange. It is as if Shax and Neru are recounting the events that happen in the Prologue, with their current thoughts and feeling on the events that will unfold. What makes me sure that this is the case is the fact that Shax refers to Neru as ‘Nerus’ even since the beginning of the story. But… why? And how? The burned man is watching the story unfold with the help of the egg, and since the egg only watches the memories of others, it is strange that he has commentary on the events that had happened. None of my theories really addresses this fact since, well, it is hard to even think of one that can sustain with the other events of the story. (My only attempt to explain this is that Obli and Neru are on a trail describing the events to people. This can explain why they go so in-depth with some of the information, l

Chapter 1

When going through Chapter 1 material, I was a bit surprised at how well my analysis was on it. I thought that I might have rushed it a bit, but after reading over it I even surprised myself with some of the logic it has. But there are some things about my theory that I thought were not great.

-The Cataclysm is the Second Battle of the Aeons. I did give the idea that the Cataclysm and the Second Battle of the Aeons were the same, but reading it makes it seem that they are the same thing. It could be possible that they are different but as thing stands they are most likely the same event.

-Although Bernardo is still strange, I don’t find him much as ‘sus’ anymore. The interaction between Bernardo and Bitey during their first encounter seems more like Bitey trying to act tough while Bernardo ignores it. 

-I never gave an alternative possibility to B30. Although it is quite strange for Frank/Obli to do this, it might just be that he cares for Alessia. It doesn’t have to have any connections with Neru, and the embarrassment could be because Frank/Obli also didn’t finish eating his vegetables. But if I have to choose either one, I still prefer my original thoughts on it, but I’m a bit surprised that I never came up with this idea before.

-The more I think about it, the more I realize something about Alessia. When touching the smudge that was left behind by Giorgio’s soul, what Alessia really touching is his ‘accident’ which allows her to see his memories before he was killed. So… this might be a stretch, but is it possible that the way she is dreaming of people’s memories was by interacting with these ‘accidents’? This could be possible if the ‘Chimera’ was the one that carries those ‘accidents’ and lets her dream those memories. And by extension, is that how the egg works? Does the egg allow the burned man to explore people’s memories because it stores the ‘accidents’? This could explain how memory could be destroyed; by destroying the ‘accident’ that pertains to those memories.

-What I find strange is that Remigio blames Diego for William’s death. It’s quite strange since he assisted Aloys in the murder of William, so what does Remigio mean by this? This can mean either Remigio didn’t assist in the killing of Williams, which is quite strange since Aloys says that he was involved with it, or Deigo was to blame to set this chain reaction by having some involvement with killing Aloys parents which will eventually lead to the death of the abbots.

Like previously, there are many mysteries in Chapter 1. (This does not include the burned man.)

Oscar’s Murder
-I’ve never really pushed this as much as I should have in my original post since my understanding of the murder case isn’t good enough for me to pursue it. But now, after I think I fully understand the situation and how the murder takes place, I still think that there is something wrong with Oscar’s murder. Yes, it makes sense for Brandeis or one of the other Abbots to kill Oscar. The timing of it all makes sense… But there are a few things that didn’t sit well with me. The gloves, the window, the voice, and the letter.

   1. The Gloves

Brandeis had a piece of glove that he found after the murder of Giorgio. Although we don’t know where it is possible for him to snoop around the study room after the murder of Giorgio. If this is the case, I will think that Brandeis would consider other people as the killer instead of the abbots. (Yes, I know. The reason why he only thought about the other abbots was that he thought the killer was trying to get the files. But considering that most of the abbots are old, it doesn’t make sense why he would think that they are one of the killers since the hair inside the glove is black…Diego doesn’t count!)

   2. The Window

According to Bernardo, the killer most likely came into the room through the window. If this is the case, then why would Oscar be so okay with something entering his window instead of the door? Even if he doesn’t know that he has the letters, why would he be so okay with someone entering his room through the window? I will be confident to say that Oscar would NOT be okay with anyone entering his window in any circumstance, especially an abbot since they all lived on the same floor. Traveling to him through the hallway will make more sense than entering his room. (Assuming that this isn’t a red herring.)

   3. The Voice

When Alessia is with Bitey, Bernardo, and Aloys in Aloys’ room, she was able to hear someone talking. Although we don’t know who said it, the fact that someone supernatural has said it makes me think that the murder of Oscar was to help Aloys from his situation. If this is the case, the killer who killed Oscar was working with the person who talked or that they are getting manipulated by them.

   4. The Letter

Assuming that Brandeis or the other abbots were the ones who killed Oscar because he has the letters, why would you leave the letter? According to Bernardo, the letter was covered in blood, but because of the magic that Lucusti has placed on it, it just slipped right off. What’s weird is that the letter was covered in blood in the first place, meaning that Oscar was near the letter when he died. Assuming this is the case, the abbots will be able to see it and take it before running out the window. Yet… the letter still is there! Weren’t they trying to steal the letters from Oscar? 

Another thing… where were the other files after Oscar's death? It couldn’t be in the abbots' rooms while this happen since Bernardo has checked them, so who currently has them at this point? 

The Seven Archon’s Motives
-I find it surprising how I didn’t even consider this to begin with, but the more I think about it the more curious I become about it. The question: what is the purpose of the seven Archons? We are given the idea that they are here to help humanity, but the quote Tom made in B40 says otherwise. Although they did help humanity, it is most likely that they did it for something in return that humanity can only provide. And if Archons are only there to help humanity, why would they have corrupted people in strong positions like being an abbot? If anyone finds out about their past, like how Chapter 1 did it, then the trust between humanity and the church will waver. Even the Archons, who have Noch working with the Shapeshifters to rebuild the portal to cause another disaster to humanity, might also be not as pious as they are made out to be.

The Countdown
-This is still quite a mystery, and I still think that my thoughts on it are still valid about it. Rereading Chapter 1 doesn’t seem to confirm any thoughts on it.

The Monologue
-Compared to the Prologue, this chapter uses the third person for whatever reason. It’s quite strange, instead of us really looking at people’s thought processes, is more like someone else is explaining the situation to us. Like in the trial, we see someone’s explanation of the event instead of reading anyone's thoughts on it.

I want to say that the murder case was quite well thought out. Didn’t really appreciate it as much since I didn’t fully understand it, but now thinking about it everything in the case makes sense. I wouldn’t think that I will figure out all of it even with the pieces present.

Also encountered a bug when it tries to give me the different Hidden Secret that happens in Alessia’s third dream. [If persistent.ch1_randomizer = False:]

Either I'm just imperceptive as hell or this is a weird thing to say, but was Rel ever mentioned in some capacity to be related to the countdown or be a plot to free Samuel before Alessia had the milkshakes with Bitey and Bernardo? Honestly I didn't even think he was a part of any of this so far, and when one of the theories of the burned man was that Rel was going to help with freeing Samuel it kinda threw me off a bit.

Hi, I was wondering if the Android version was updated yet? I can't tell if it was. 😅😂

so heres some of my thoughts, spoilers obviously

ive reread the prologue quite a few times (cause i like making myself cry ha ha) so these theories will pertain to that, and what im currently rereading

for some dumb reason i never checked it when i literally knew it was a thing during my last playthrough which im kicking myself for but the burning sound effects that happen at certain points in the prologue means that lines of text are added to the backlog, and the static is either lines being erased or not recorded at all in the backlog.

the first line occurs when nerus is talking about how monotonous his life is and mentions how a clock just kinda does its thing on repeat, and in the backlog this line appears: "Perpetual... So boring..."

the second line comes when nerus thinks theres an intruder, which we know later to be lucusti checking in on obli, when nerus goes into shax's room and lights a fire, this line appears: "Sleeping like a little angel..."

theres more but i need to go through and find them all again so ill prob update this once i find them. theres one after nerus confesses to shax his feelings and they return home and mention having to bathe to get all the sand off that reads: 

"Well, isn't this cute? Too bad you have already failed him, though. And you know what the best part is? You didn't even notice, despite him acting up in front of you.

Bravo, four eyes and for nothing. Let us see how much longer you manage to retain this tiny bit of "peace" before it all falls apart. I can hardly wait."

now for a theory. the redd manor is nerus's house, im like 99% sure it is. my idea is that theres some time shenanigans going on

im assuming obli is maybe trying to change how things played out but is either being stopped by someone or is just unable to

also, and this is just highly speculating cause my brain likes to associate things a lot, the whole redd manor thing makes me think of a song by Blackbriar called "Crimson Faces" which is about the novel "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier, in which the narrorator marries a man whos manor is haunted by the ghost of his dead wife. "Nerus" definitely reads to me like a classic gothic horror romance novel. 

just some thoughts i wanted to get down. Nerus is easily one of my absolute favorite VNs. the unique story and characters, and excellent writing, i cant wait to see how it all concludes.

i just hope that nerus and obli/shax end up happy together