Line #17 YMMV/HeartOfTheWoods


1	* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation:
2	** When Tara interviews [[NoNameGiven the "Coffee Girl" and the "Quiet Girl,"]] the former remarks that "Everyone knows (Morgan)" and "devilishly smiles at her embarrassed friend" before making a subtle reference to [[spoiler:Morgan sleeping around.]] Is the Quiet Girl's reaction because [[spoiler:she was the one who slept with Morgan (which may explain why she's a bit more sympathetic to Morgan than the other villagers)]] and she's embarrassed that her friend brought it up? Or is it because she's shocked at how brazenly her friend [[spoiler:is willing to hint at having slept with Morgan]]? Or perhaps both?
3	** When discussing how [[spoiler:Abigail's sister let her be sacrificed in her place]], Abigail says, "I don't think [[spoiler:she even thanked me]]." Given that note of uncertainty when recounting the event, is it possible that [[TheFogOfAges after 200 years]], [[UnreliableExpositor Abigail doesn't clearly remember what happened, in part due to her own bitterness]]?
4	** Why did Madison and Tara's experiment with a relationship fail? Was it due to their not being compatible, as Morgan suggests? Was it because neither of them took it seriously? Or was it because of fundamental communication issues in their friendship that came to the fore when Madison told Tara that she was quitting ''Taranormal'' without talking things through with her first?
5	** Speaking of the relationship, one can assume that either Madison or Tara still harbors an UnrequitedLove for the other, which they get over as they fall in love with Abigail and Morgan, respectively.
6	*** In Madison's case, she's initially jealous of Tara and Morgan's budding relationship, which could suggest she's actually jealous of Morgan, especially after Tara cuts Madison out of the investigation and works more closely with Morgan(around the time Madison becomes aware Tara and Morgan are an item). Her feelings for Tara may explain why she stuck with ''Taranormal'' as long as she had, even after losing her passion for it. In the good ending, [[spoiler:her agreeing to help train Morgan to be her replacement while still making guest appearances, combined with spending some of her newfound free time with Abigail]], can symbolize coming to terms with her feelings for Tara and accepting her place as Tara's BestFriend.
7	*** As for Tara, she values her friendship with Madison due to Madison being the only friend who stayed with her after she came out as UsefulNotes/{{Transgender}}. As a result, she takes Madison's decision to leave ''Taranormal'' rather personally, almost acting like a jilted lover, especially when she voices her doubts about how committed Madison is to the Eysenfeld project.
8	** In the unused "lady of the lake" ending, Abigail is the only one who [[spoiler:doesn't try to talk Morgan out of becoming Fairy Queen in Madison's place.]] Is this because she knows [[spoiler:Morgan]] has made up her mind and wants to respect her decision? Or is it because [[spoiler:she would rather see Morgan accept this fate if it means Madison's freedom]]? Is it even possible for Abigail, [[spoiler:a member of the Dalsing[=/=]Fischer bloodline]], to [[spoiler:take Morgan and Madison's place]]? Considering that this is cut content, Abigail's character may have been entirely different for this scene.
9	* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic:
10	** "[[https://youtu.be/2I4lTCPaEJs Communion]]," Abigail's theme. It's an appropriately melancholic theme for a ghost who's been lonely for two centuries.
11	** "[[https://youtu.be/j5UY0t0GamA Daggersmile]]," Evelyn's theme. A rather eerie theme for an intimidating woman.
12	** "[[https://youtu.be/h0BP1w02yt0 Episode One]]," Tara's theme. It captures Tara's peppy energy.
13	** "[[https://youtu.be/_Hg6mrtinLE Into Another World]]," a song that expresses the mystery of Eysenfeld.
14	** "[[https://youtu.be/9sisTnPLj_I Ritual Snow]]," which plays during the climax and captures the dark, ominous mood of the entire event.
15	* CatharsisFactor: [[spoiler:Seeing Evelyn get what she deserves in the end. In the good ending, this is accomplished by the protagonists, all people Evelyn has wronged, working together to restore Geladura to her status as Fairy Queen. In the "Freedom" ending, Geladura still has enough power to defeat Evelyn before expiring. In the "Sacrifice" ending, Morgan gives her life to defeat her hated "mother." Perhaps best of all, Evelyn doesn't get away with what she's done in ''any'' of the endings, not even the bad ones.]]
16	* CompleteMonster: [[spoiler:"[[TheFairFolk The Moonsick One]]", currently known as [[MayorPain Mayor Evelyn Fischer]], is a fairy who prolongs her life by [[BodySurf stealing people's bodies]]. Having ruled over the village of Eysenfeld for centuries through fairy glamour and by demanding bodies as sacrifices to the forest spirit--with Abigail Dalsing among her victims--Evelyn [[AbusiveParents grooms and abuses]] her daughter Morgan to be her next vessel, having killed her friend Hannah and Hannah's dog to keep her alone. When Madison Raines and Tara Bryck befriend Morgan, Evelyn lures the former to death by hypothermia. She also curses the fairy Queen Geladura into cat form and forces Morgan to destroy the ancestral tree of the woods in order to [[GenocideFromTheInside eradicate the fairies and forest creatures]]. Finally, Evelyn abducts Tara to use her body instead and tries to kill her friends when they arrive to thwart her plans.]]
17	* HarsherInHindsight: Early on, Madison briefly wonders whether Morgan invited her and Tara out to Eysenfeld to kill them, which isn't played very seriously. Later on in the story, as the two of them end up in danger [[spoiler:and Madison actually dies]], Morgan blames herself for inviting them to come and endangering them.
18	** The same applies to Madison's comments early in Chapter 1 that she "definitely wouldn't last out here" given her difficulty finding anything even with a flashlight.
19	* MoralEventHorizon: [[spoiler:Evelyn]] was probably past this by the start of the story, but in-story, she crosses it by [[spoiler:using her illusion magic to deceive Madison into going after an illusionary Tara and cause her to freeze to death]].
20	* ObviousJudas: [[spoiler:Evelyn Fischer]] is the BigBad behind the curse. She's rather cold toward not just Tara and Madison, but also her own daughter, Morgan. A lot of her lines contain thinly veiled death threats against Madison. As a result, if there's any character among the human cast who comes off as a candidate for the villain, it's her. The game doesn't even treat this as much of a surprise, since Madison is unsurprised after Abigail tells her that Evelyn tricked her. Effectively, the real twist is [[spoiler:''[[TheFairFolk what]]'' she actually is]].
21	* SlowPacedBeginning: Like other visual novels, it takes a while to get going, with most of the first chapter involving Maddie and Tara getting acclimated to Eysenfeld and searching for supernatural phenomena. Abigail doesn't show up until Chapter 2.
22	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot:
23	** A minor case, but the fact that Morgan [[spoiler:is part fairy as a result of Evelyn possessing various members of her bloodline]] never plays much of a role in the story, save for when [[spoiler:Evelyn uses Morgan's blood to destroy the ancestral tree.]] It was likely intended to be more of a plot point, since [[spoiler:Morgan uses the fact that she's related by blood to "The Moonsick One" but is not moonsick herself, to take Madison's place as Fairy Queen]] in an unused ending.
24	** Tara's background as a UsefulNotes/{{Transgender}} woman doesn't play all that much of a role in the story, save for explaining why many of her old friends parted ways for her, and why she's so grateful to Maddie (albeit a bit possessive of her) for staying friends with her.
25	* TheWoobie: All four of the main characters.
26	** Abigail has spent two hundred years as a ghost, unable to interact with any other humans until Madison came along. Later in the game, it turns out that she died because [[spoiler:she took her sister's place as the sacrifice, and her sister let her do it without thanking her or trying to stop her.]]
27	** Tara is a UsefulNotes/{{Transgender}} woman who lost most of her friends besides Madison when she came out and transitioned. Not only does she end up having to deal with [[spoiler:Madison's death]] in the main story, but she gets hit especially hard in the bad endings, [[spoiler:despite being the only character who survives in every ending.]] [[spoiler:In the "Sacrifice" ending, she loses her girlfriend, and in the "Freedom" ending, she loses her best friend.]]
28	** Madison [[spoiler:dies in Chapter 2, and while she has Abigail to keep her company, it's clear that she never fully accepts her state. In the "Freedom" ending, she ends up permanently disappearing from the sight of the living, without even getting to say goodbye to Tara.]]

Context YMMV / HeartOfTheWoods