History VisualNovel / TheLastBirdling

'''The Last Birdling''' is a visual novel developed and published by [=InvertMouse=] (''{{VideoGame/Unhack}}'', ''{{VisualNovel/Bermuda}}'', ''VisualNovel/WithoutWithin'', ''VisualNovel/CursedSight''), and released on August 31, 2017.

* RealityEnsues: Two kids whose races have hated each other for centuries meet, see past their ancestors' differences, and become friends. Surely everything will be fine. [[spoiler: Except as Lulululu foreshadows early on, history can't be changed by a couple of kids. Bimonia and Tayo's stubborn devotion to their friendship ends up leading to the destruction of the forest, the death of Lulululu, and the mutilation and subsequent rape of Airin. None of the endings are particularly happy, either; only one of them ends with both Bimonia and Tayo surviving, and it's probably the darkest ending of them all.]]

* YourApprovalFillsMeWithShame: If, as Tayo, you choose to [[spoiler: kill the man raping Airin, she will congratulate you, and Tayo feels extremely unnerved by the compliment.]]
* YourCheatingHeart: Possibly. [[spoiler: Later in the story, Airin reveals that she murdered Tayo's father after catching him cheating. However, Airin's mental health has degraded so much by this point that Tayo isn't sure whether or not to believe her.]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/last_birdling.jpg]]
%%[[caption-width-right:350:some caption text]]

* HorrorHunger: [[spoiler: Once Bimonia realizes that adult Birdlings feed on humans. By this time, she is nearly dead from starvation and the only human in the near vicinity is Tayo...]]

* ChekhovsGun: When Bimonia and Tayo are approaching a cave after running away, Bimonia mentions smelling something strange, though she can't tell what it is because of the rain. [[spoiler: In two of the endings, Bimonia enters the cave to find it is full of human skeletons that her mother ate the meat from.]]

* LanguageBarrier: Bimonia and Vi have a hard time communicating at first since Vi doesn't seem to know how to say anything besides her own name. [[WordOfGod Reading the glossary reveals]] that Snow Birdlings actually speak a completely different language that they invented themselves, but they are forbidden from using it around other species.

** Tayo's father died when she was young. [[spoiler: Later, Airin confesses to Tayo that she had him killed because she caught him cheating on her, but by the time she mentions this, her mental state has deteriorated to the point that Tayo seems to doubt it a bit.]]

* PokemonSpeak: The reason Bimonia ends up referring to Vi as "Vi" is because that's all she can say when they first meet; it's a bit unclear if this actually is her name, but she never seems to object to being called that. As they spend more time together, Vi gradually learns to speak more words in English. According to WordOfGod, Snow Birdlings like Vi have their own unique language, but they are forbidden to use it around other species.

* TakeAThirdOption: Used very darkly in one of the endings. [[spoiler: Bimonia and Tayo make it out of the village together and subsequently uncover the AwfulTruth: Adult Birdlings like Bimonia feed on humans like Tayo. Bimonia is starving and near death by this point, and she asks Tayo to kill her, as she doesn't want to take the only other option of eating her best friend. It's Tayo who proposes the solution of her hunting villagers instead.]]

* RapeAsDrama: [[spoiler: After losing her arms in the confrontation with Lulululu, Airin is later raped by a man who had earlier tried to rob her. As Tayo, you have the choice of killing the man or scaring him off.]]

* YourApprovalFillsMeWithShame: If, as Tayo, you choose to [[spoiler: kill the man raping Airin, she will congratulate you, and Tayo feels extremely unnerved by the compliment.]]

** There's also another one revealed in all the routes: [[spoiler: the King was lying to Tayo about wanting humans and Birdlings to be at peace, and Tayo led a Birdling that trusted her to a horrible death.]]

* PokemonSpeak: The reason Bimonia ends up referring to Vi as "Vi" is because that's all she can say when they first meet; it's a bit unclear if this actually is her name, but she never seems to object to being called that. As they spend more time together, Vi gradually learns to speak more words in English.

* InterspeciesFriendship: The core of the story is the friendship between Bimonia and Tayo. According to the game's glossary, this actually used to be common between humans and Birdlings, and no one is sure anymore why the peaceful relations between the races ended.

* PokemonSpeak: The reason Bimonia ends up referring to Vi as "Vi" is because that's all she can say when they first meet. As they spend more time together, Vi gradually learns to speak more words in English.

* RealityEnsues: Two kids whose races have hated each other for centuries meet, see past their ancestors' differences, and become friends. Surely everything will be fine. [[spoiler: Except as Lulululu foreshadows early on, history can't be changed by a couple of kids. Bimonia and Tayo's stubborn devotion to their friendship ends up leading to the destruction of the forest, the death of Lulululu, and the mutilation and subsequent rape of Airin.]]

* ChekhovsGun: When Bimonia and Tayo are approaching a cave after running away, Bimonia mentions smelling something strange, though she can't tell what it is because of the rain. [[spoiler: In two of the endings, Bimonia enters the cave to find it is full of human corpses.]]

** Vi's parents also died when she was young.

* SoapOperaDisease: A rare justified case in the latter half of the story. [[spoiler: When Vi and then Bimonia begin falling violently ill, there are no adult Birdlings left to tell them why they're sick. Their sickness does in fact have a specific cause, though it isn't revealed in every ending.]]

** WordOfGod states that Vi's parents died when she was young.