it has been so long since i have posted anything on here, but whatever. i've had something on my mind for a while now and i have finally decided to write about it.
said something on my mind is Walpurga, because her story is something which i find to be so important to what LGTS has to say about the condition and the lives of women in that kind of society, yet something which i think has been overlooked or, at the very least, underdiscussed by most players/fans of the game.
as a warning: this post will discuss/mention things such as forced pregnancy, rape and toxic/abusive parent-child relationships under the line. also Little Goody Two Shoes spoilers, which have already been mentioned in the tags, and disturbing imagery, which is already present in the game. if you really don't want to see any of these, just skip past this post. otherwise, you can keep reading.
now, there are very few things we even know about Walpurga. we know that she is a supernatural entity represented by the woods of Kieferberg, who was once revered as a sort of protective entity and later as St. Walpurga, patroness of Kieferberg.
however, i want to particularly focus on what's going on between her and Ozzy, because one of the few things we know about her is that she does not like Him. the reason is evident: she, the woodland, was used as the grounds of exchange between Him and a human woman, who wished for a baby, something which Walpurga could not provide on her own.
it is made quite evident that she did not agree with this deal. it's also likely many other deals were made with Him in Kieferberg's woods without Walpurga's consent or input, but we know for a fact that she really disliked this one in particular.
that seems quite messed up in its own right. but it becomes clear just how messed up it is when you try to understand it in a more realistic or human way: Walpurga was forcefully impregnated and used a surrogate for an infertile woman against her wishes, receiving nothing in exchange, having her baby then taken away from her to be cared for by the woman who used her. that is fucked up. that is objectively fucked up. and it very much messed up Walpurga too. the language that she uses to describe this deal doesn't shy away from linking it to a form of rape/non-consensual impregnation either:
the image of the doe (which we know is one of the forms Walpurga can take) with its insides carved out is also disturbingly suggestive.
her physical form was literally used by Ozzy and Holle in order to create a baby, something which she could never do on her own, and then even that was taken away from her.
(the fact that Ozzy is/takes the form of a male entity is also quite important, despite being a minor detail, given how that puts into context the way He treats Walpurga, women and girls. the subjugation of women by men, their expected subservience to them, the distrust of women who "do not belong", these are all very important aspects of LGTS.)
again, this very obviously messed up Walpurga to some extent. how did it mess her up? besides her hatred for Ozzy and Holle, she also became... incredibly possessive of what she considered the one good thing to come out of this: Elise, her progeny.
now, Walpurga could not create life on her own. she could only nurture life that was placed inside of her. Elise's body was made from Walpurga's, though. a parallel could be made to how it technically takes two to make a baby, how eggs need to fertilised and all that stuff (explaining it in human, literal terms just drives home the point of how fucked up this whole thing is). therefore, when she finally created a child, she became obsessed with that fact, obsessed with the idea that she could create life. and she also became obsessed with the fact that the child was hers. she has a twisted sort of affection for Elise, but the way she loves her is... very much not a good thing.
she wants to be alive. she wants to live out the life of a human woman after she has been denied the sanctity of life or its creation. and so, she tries to live out those wishes through Elise, her child.
this can be compared to the very real situation of parents living their dreams out through their children, having a possessiveness over them with the excuse that they made them. the game takes this idea to its literal extreme, presenting it in a much more graphic and physical way: Walpurga straight up kills Elise and possesses her body to take what she never had, to live as a young woman and to be able to bear life in her womb.
now, most parents aren't this horrible to their children, but that doesn't mean there's nothing real in this representation. many parents feel entitled to their children's lives, their children's bodies, because "they made them". is what Walpurga does not similar, in a sense, to parents demanding their children have babies, demanding grandchildren, acting like having kids should always be the ultimate happiness for a woman? and sometimes, physical control or harm is not a hard limit for parents if they truly feel like what they want is so much more important. there are parents who will hurt their children and claim it to be for the greater good, who feel that this entitlement is simply proof of the close bonds parents and their children share.
the reason why Walpurga is important is because she represents a kind of mother. a mother that, for the longest time, had not been able to bear children. a mother that only finally had kids as a result of rape, purely for the wishes of another, being unable to even properly care for the child which she did not ask for, but still wanted. a mother which then desperately tried to create another, since the first was ripped from her. a mother which then tried to live out her life through her child, which she became obsessed with, but never truly cared for. she was used by others and then made her daughter suffer for her regrets. she is a character whose experiences, relationships and effects on other characters might resonate with people, who represents things which are very real and important in discussing the condition of women. that's why i wrote this incredibly long post, why i feel that, despite the simplicity of her construction, she is a very underrated character.
as a last note, it is also very interesting how Elise, if spared from the fate of being Walpurga's vessel and able to complete the exchange, would end up sacrificing her daughter for her wishes. the cycle continues. the only thing that can break it is the decision to not sacrifice the lives of others in the first place.
okay, that's it. i've spent a lot of time writing this. feel free to add whatever. bye.
Edit: whelp there it goes. Worth a try at least. Here's the playlist by itself. It's set up so that you can follow along on here and see the art that goes with each song (both music and art are arranged in the same order for convenience)
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HOOOOOOO BOY this was a lot of work lmao, so i got into LGTS this past christmas and after making a playlist inspired by it for myself, i figured i'd make a video of it paired with original fanart!
I'm aware there's a high risk of the video getting taken down for copyright (what i'm doing mostly is just seeing what i can get away with under yt's Ceaselessly Watching Eye and maybe if it goes well i can make more playlist/art videos?? no biggie if it doesn't work out, just testing the waters ig) SO! i'm putting the art on its own on tumblr jic i can't keep the video up. the art is the most important part to share anyways right?
I have a bit of an evil idea concerning Elise and also technically Walpurga
Also slight Lgts spoiler warning, and I also somehow turned the whole idea into a minifanfic, so have fun reading it I guess? I’ll probably do a longer and more heavy fanfic later based off of this, I can’t keep coming up with these ideas I swear
But you know how technically both of them can be considered deer? (With Walpurga being said to take the form of a deer, and Elise technically being born from one)
Well with that in mind, do you also know CWD or Chronic Wasting Disease, and how it pretty much only affects deer and the like(in non-experimental studies)
I think you see where I’m going with this. The amount of angst I can see coming from this is astronomical, and it is kinda fitting for the setting they’re in.
Just imagine the townsfolk noticing how off the deer have been, their glossed over eyes, the way they no longer fear anything, the way they move without purpose, and how there’s been less and less deer going around. Then they find the rotting remains of all of them, skewed about in every direction of the forest, some in the lake, and some in the town itself. They also notice how the woodland itself isn’t doing so good, the leaves falling off the trees, how the dry bark seems to just fall off, how underneath that bark lays a blood red, clay-like substance just leaking out.
And then, they see how Elise seems to grow a bit more aggressive than usual, how she seems more distant, how she seems to forgot things more often, how she seems to just stand there and stare of into the distance. Their concern and fear grows as the bodies keep appearing, the clay-like substance now spreads farther, and how their deer maid-of-all-work gets progressively worse as time goes on, they try to figure out what’s going on, and why this is happening, some blame the witch of course, but now their usual scapegoat is being affected by this to.
But, they notice how it only seems to be affecting the deer, the woodland, and also Elise, and while their fear doesn’t die down, their concern also grows, especially for Lebkuchen, Freya, and maybe Rozenmarine if she’s included in this, as their deer friend and love-interest is slowly being lost to this unknown thing that’s affecting the area, they watch as she just gets worse and worse, they see how she’s lost her appetite, how she seems to consume way more water than usual, how she is becoming someone they no longer know.
Then, the fire happens, the townsfolk were trying to sleep, most of them failed to, then they see it, a bright light along with smoke coming from the crossroads, they go out and investigate what’s happening, and see the woodland engulfed in flames, the fires to big to deal with so they tried their best to make sure it doesn’t spread into town. When the sun rises and the fire has finally stopped, they see the remains of the woodland and the deer that resided in it, as the some go further in they see Elise, laying down in an unburnt plot of grass, just rotting away, but she still seems to be slightly conscious, and right next to her was a doe with all its organs ripped out and a gaping hole in her stomach, moths where also seen covering her eyes.
Leb, Freya, and maybe Rozen, also appear to see Elise in her state, they arrive just in time to hear her final words, as she finally succumbs to the rot, and becomes part of this rotten and burnt woodland once more, she says “I…love you guys” for the first and final time, a funeral is held that day in honor of the maid-of-all-work who was found in the woods the day she was born and was found in the woods the day she had died.
Years later, the woodland has grown back into its beautiful, and peaceful self again, as it’s now whole again, and is no longer affected by the disease it was afflicted with. And then the girls appear again in that woodland, that very same woodland they saw their first love die, and leave flowers at a particular tall and sturdy tree with branches that kind of look like antlers, they set up a blanket and have a little picnic at that tree, with some food notably being left with the flowers.
Ya know somehow Ozzy’s the better parent when compared to to Walpurga
LGTS spoilers so I can make my point
1. Ozzy was literally willing to grant Elise’s wish without the gifts, so she wouldn’t have needed to gather them and lose her gf if it weren’t for Walpurga telling her she needed to gather said gifts
2. While Ozzy does have scenarios where he kills Elise, it was never his first intention to do so, meanwhile Walpurga had that intention, and wanted to inhabit her body, while I understand why, it’s still extremely messed up
3. Ozzy gave Elise the potential girlfriend of Rozenmarine, who in all intensive purposes is the perfect sacrifice which is sorta nice in a messed up way, and even if she isn’t sacrificed she’s still a supportive girlfriend who understands her pain, offers comfort, company, and good soup
Random headcanon: Ozzy just rubs it in Walpurga’s face that he’s somehow the better parent between the two
Also Elise is so obviously Ozzy’s favorite child, I’m sorry Enjel but it’s true
Au idea where Ozzy just decides to raise Elise in another timeline just to spite Walpurga, and Elise still lives in kieferberg she just has her demon dad by her side now
A very specific headcanon I have for Walpurga is that she’s just straight up rotting from having a part of being taken away and having to hold herself together with vines
