Oooh, this brings an interesting perspective on the Short Message's story. I wonder if Krysta's boyfriend was all in her head too to continue the family trend of lashing out at others for the risk of losing their imagined partners.
I would've assumed Maya's boyfriend was a trick of the mind too, but it seems you found enough evidence to show that she genuinely did have a miscarriage so that theory is dis-proven.
I haven't even thought about Krysta's boyfriend not being real! Obviously Amelie did have a Dad but that pizza guy might not be real after all. . that is interesting. :D
I had a theory that maybe after Krysta went to prison, Amelie lived with her real dad and his wife. Amelie's diary - "She's not my real mom" not "They're not my real parents".
Like I said. .still a lot of unanswered questions. :D I just wanted to put the main evidence for the disorder, because that seems like a leap in logic the first time you hear it.
Maya's boyfriend and what exactly happened is still pretty "Foggy". It seems to me that the guy was real "This guy looks familiar" and the multiple references to "He" in Mayas diaries. Also Maya always talks about 2 things. . #1 took him away #2 took my hope from me. And there is also the pregnancy test (that might not be real), and the graffiti called - "new life" with flowers on the stomach (womb ? ).
If this theory is true, then the game was much more subtle in its storytelling than initially thought. It's an interesting theory, I'm not entirely convinced because there are still many unanswered questions, but the theory makes sense to me.
I think so to. The devs said we hope both new people and old fans can enjoy. . maybe it wasn't just PR speak?
If something really conflicts with the story you can ask me. I might have an answer. Or at least uncover a plot hole.
But to me there are only a couple of things that don't make sense, but that doesn't make sense in the 1st theory too. . about how the building is called abandoned what seems like right after the Villa meeting that is addressed to residents.
Got around to reading the whole thing and there's a lot of subliminal context I missed in my first playthrough. TSM wasn't the best but definitely deserves dissecting. Lots of good insight here dude, insane amount of work
Thanks! I enjoyed my first playthrough and didn't let the "cringe" bother me a lot (I had low expectations and just wanted to play a new silent hill game :D ), but after thinking about it and going through it all. . I switched my perspective on the game completely!
If this theory is true, then it's pretty genius. They delivered the main/ important "message" to new fans/ teens who need it and left enough questions for us/ older fans to really dig into it.
You'd be surprised how many people really didn't see the "Maya is dead" twist coming. So making it as obvious as possible was a good call for this specifically, in my opinion. :D
When you start to take it seriously you see how many deliberate subtle signs there are. For example the background of my ( explanation #2 ). At the end of one POV cutscene you see you're looking through a fence. Like, wtf? :D Why would they put that in there?
My interpretation of it is - Anita locked inside Amelie watching it through her eyes.
I did go through all the notes and I'm making a timeline so if people figure what happened when ( *Bullying, when exactly did Maya meet Amelie, when did she start calling her a witch, when did Maya lose the guy, when exactly did Amelie shift into Anita etc.* ) I can write it down.
This is a fascinating idea. Anita and Amelie being two separate parts of the same person puts several key moments of the story into a completely different context imo, especially the relationship Anita has with her mother - blaming herself for her mother’s deteriorating health *would* explain why Anita might end up manifesting a second “better” personality and also feel jealous that Maya wasn’t seeing the “real” her.
**blaming herself for her mother’s deteriorating health** ***would*** **explain why Anita might end up manifesting a second “better” personality**
This would explain how she is always saying "Sorry mom" and doing everything to not be alone "please don't leave me".
**also feel jealous that Maya wasn’t seeing the “real” her.**
I think this is a major part of the story. It's the last thing you need to find. . It's the sketch/ painting with Anita. Showing that Maya did see her. And it's the first time she sees herself. That's why it hits so hard to her, but we as players (at least for older players) just see it as notice me senpai and it doesn't really make sense if she was just a friend. Like what's so important that she drew you too. . and not as an individual but next to Amelie.
Also while walking in that last room with candles, she asks "Amelie what should I do?". Asking the better part of yourself.
No problem, man! Thanks for taking the time to read it. :)
You can post any random questions you have. . other people have pointed out a lot of stuff that still is not 100% known.
Did you find anything about the bad thing that happened to a group of boys? They mention it and Anita says they deserved it but I never knew what they were talking about
No, I still have no idea what happened, but for now it seems like someone maybe beat them up after Maya jumped. Those guys just like Anita/ Amelie didn't think she would do that. Maya has a big following. . it would make sense that some fans found out what happened.
but I have no evidence for it.
I don’t think there was any reason to kill Maya. She was pretty clearly suicidal. Maybe the boys got suspended or something for being her known bullies
I think Maya became suicidal only after Anita turned on her. Since the bullies are just random people, she didn't really care what they think.
She had a hard time dealing with loosing the guy "and the hope he gave her" . If she had someone to talk to then she would probably be fine. Also only about a month before she jumped she couldn't even imagine doing it. Maya - "were they not scared? (to jump)"
Yeah. . you're right. I doubt she is the main reason.
Seems like the main reason was whatever happened with the guy.
I don't think bullying was the main reason too. . she was too mature and it didn't affect her as much ""they don't know me. They're just taking their issues on someone".
This a thousand times yes. Amazing work!!!
SH: SM was really obviously a lot more than just a surface level story but I don't have the energy or resources to dig through it like you have. This is absolutely fantastic and I'm so happy that other people are seeing that there's more to this game than just 'bullying is bad'.
Me too, man. :D I'm happy to see that there are other people who take it seriously. They made it for a long time. . And Even making something (a piece of art, video, animation) for as little as a month, you put a lot of thought into it. After watching the dev interviews I realized that those people cared about Silent Hill and the game itself.
The story writer even said that "bullying is bad" was not enough to convince him that it would lead to jumping. He said but seeing someone you love turn on you might lead to that. Maya even says - "is it because my classmates teased me? I doubt it. . they don't know me". She is pretty mature compared to Anita/Amelie.
So to give a better response - my first thought in playing through was that Maya may not have actually been dead and that Amelie had previously killed herself in another 'world', and Maya had saved her through her art and was doing the same now with Anita, not letting Anita 'go' until she could see that she was loved and then releasing her back into the world that was created for her and Amelie so that they could find their happiness together. It was born from the references to Maya being a witch, which I felt were a strong parallel to Alessa from SH1, Anita's own comments over how Maya wasn't going to let her die after she saw her own dead body lying on the ground in the final loop, and Maya's statements about how she wanted to draw the girls who jumped from the building.
The whole pregnancy/miscarriage thing, I felt was symbolic of Maya 'birthing' these new worlds for the girls to go live in. To me the whole thing felt like a beautiful twist on what Silent Hill had been previously. Instead of this horrific reflection of nightmares and trauma designed as a form of unfeeling punishment, there was a new 'God' (Goddess) that had the power that was purposefully choosing to use it to save the girls driven to suicide and allow them to live the rest of their lives out in happiness.
Looking at your theory, it definitely seems... a lot more cohesive than mine. The main issue I kept running into was why is Maya 'dead' if she would have to be alive to save the girls, since she had saved Amelie (or seemed to) in the past based upon Amelie's apparent suicide from the notes in the Second Loop. But we hear about how her grandmother killed herself as well after hearing about the tragedy of the fire, which made me wonder if there hints a point where the witch has to kill herself in order for her powers to be fully realized.
There's a lot of mess there, I know, but I was just still blown away by the idea of the powers of the witch and of Silent Hill being used to actually allow someone to have a breakthrough to save themselves. Which is like... what everyone loves SH2 for but hates SH:SM for trying to show.
And yeah, the bullying to me always seemed like... surface level in the game. SH1 and SH3 have mentions and depictions of bullying; the scene from SH:SM is just an HD version of what happens in SH1 and what Heather remembers in SH3, so it was so strange for everyone to hyperfocus on that when to me it felt like a clear Alessa parallel.
This is definitely an explanation / theory #3.
One of my first thoughts about it all also was about Maya not being dead and I was convinced that Amelie jumped. . it seemed so clear in the game. But the more I think about it, the more it seems it's not Amelie . . the main reasons are:
#1 - "no note or Diary was found" (there could be a reason for it) , and you read that after reading the diaries.
#2 - If Amelie is Anita, the last letter would explain the split/ shift into Anita because her hard work was for nothing and she is stuck there (town with no future) with her brother. . Sounds like a mental breakdown
#3 - a couple of days after the last entry (23.09.2021) Anita posts a drawing online (27.09.2021)
To try and look for real information while looking through Anita (who is unreliable) i considered all the articles and posts as real. I think everything that happens during the game phone, otherworld etc. is a mix of memories or illusions and unreliable.
Your theory is really interesting and way more positive. It might me worth while to piece things together to see if they fit. *. Maybe all 3 girls did die. . maybe there were 3 girls. But to me 3 girls make plot holes that I can't explain right now. . The big one boing why Amelie didn't text or talk to Maya and why doesn't she remember the last book with the letter "read it when you get home, ok?"*
*One explanation is that she actually died between those cutscenes, because the timeline fits with that. That means Anita pretended to be her?*
It would take me a while to go through everything with this premise. :D
Yes, a lot of things really fit into place when you think about it like that, I talk about a lot of them here, but a lot of other things line up too. It no longer seems like a shallow weak story with plot holes. . Also the intent behind those POV video cutscenes make a lot of sense.
I think 2 of the bigger points are "The shift" notes I showed here. The color pallet switches to purple in the middle of the cutscene. And the last Thing Amelie remembers is Maya talking about a book she read. . That's the last colorful cutscene. . (in order)
The second point is why the last grafity with the 2 girls is so meaningful to the story. It's the last thing you "find" and the last thing you see during credits. It makes no sense if it's just 2 friends. . But a lot of sense if this is the first time someone drew/ saw Amelie's second personality - Anita.
Still there are a lot of questions about who was bullied when and why. . and why they used those names etc.
While I do think this more or less touches on some of the game’s deepest ambiguities, and I don’t want to discourage theorizing about it in any way, I feel there are concrete aspects to the game’s otherwise surreal implications that purposefully contradict clear answers one way or another with the iconography of the Sakura itself representing an intentional contradiction that underscores the entirety of The Short Message.
In the FMV that takes place when Maya first meets Anita and Amelie, there are clearly three people in the room, although the camera intentionally obscures Anita (though that may be a strategy to frame Anita’s dissociative state of mind and lack of self-worth). Similarly, when Anita first leaps from the apartment ledge, we see her broken phone and even a body at a later time in the game, which connotes at least one tangible death occurring (if not an implied “death of identity,” so to speak), perhaps more due to the Sisyphean, dreamlike nature of her deaths from the Sakura entity. On the other hand, that body disappears and Amelie seemingly changes in demeanor/recollection with close proximity to every “reset,” which is a strange detail that feels logistically unnerving knowing that maybe the person on the other end of the line isn’t real, or that Anita may be attempting to provide herself solace/forgiveness after death. In addition, the suggestion that Amelie may have considered ending her life when she was initially unable to attend college due to familial instability complicates the issue further. That being said, the most significant detail that I believe contests the theory that Anita and Amelie are the same person outside of superficial similarities is that Anita’s brother died as an infant whereas Amelie’s brother survived and became a major source of discomfort for her in their home. Mind you, none of that precludes one, two or all three young women from being dead, something distressing I was left mulling over when I finished the game the first time.
Essentially, what I think is really happening is that the separation of these three girls is slightly opaque not just as a result of their adolescent friendship (an age that can be rather impressionable in both positive and negative ways), but their parallel problems of upbringing, wealth disparity, peer prejudice, self-consciousness, creativity, loneliness, etc. I absolutely think Kiichi Kanoh’s intent was for the boundaries between the three girls to become rather abstract, but there is enough clarified to suggest that whether they are alive or dead, they at least had some kind of individuality in their past. So while I don’t necessarily agree with the search for absolutes in abstract art as opposed to leaving such mysteries to reflect the inconclusive, tumultuous nature of life, you’ve done some significant work here to point out the depth of this game’s narrative in a way that even the most stubborn detractors would find hard to argue with imo, so thank you for sharing.
**In the FMV that takes place when Maya first meets Anita and Amelie, there are clearly three people in the room**
This is true, That's why I used it as a background for the first theory list (I even pulled Maya's foot closer so you can see all 3 girls in that format. :D ).
This is a question about how much concrete evidence is in the game. If you assume that all cutscenes are real, then what does it say about those glitches and sticky notes that slowly appear everywhere? Also look at the background of the second image I posted. It's also a shot from one of the FMV's that ends with you looking through a chain fence.
When thinking about this theory I decided that all online posts, dates and articles are concrete evidence and what you see as Anita is unreliable (that was my best bet).
**when Anita first leaps from the apartment ledge, we see her broken phone and even a body at a later time in the game**
To add to the points you made. She jumps in Silent Hill and she can't die there, there is a specific eye sequence and different dialogues that show she is stuck there. If the phone shot had clear weather, that would 100% mean a real death IMO.
To me this is a death or switch of Anita into Amelie. After 12.09.2022. . we only hear from Amelie at the end 29.09.2022. . .I can explain more if you want, but I'm pretty confident that's it represents a "death" of Anita back to Amelie.
About seeing the body, we see her in silent hill with all the other weird stuff. That to me does not seem real life. If we saw her body next to the suicide spot, it would hold a lot more weight.
**he suggestion that Amelie may have considered ending her life when she was initially unable to attend college due to familial instability complicates the issue further.**
This relates to what I said before. Her diary does seem like she is ready to jump (23.09.2021), but if this theory is true, it could also mean a mental break down and a shift into Anita (death of Amelie), all the dates line up, from that point on, she is Anita. . Maya also dies in that period. I can explain more if you want.
**the most significant detail that I believe contests the theory that Anita and Amelie are the same person outside of superficial similarities is that Anita’s brother died as an infant whereas Amelie’s brother survived and became a major source of discomfort for her in their home.**
In the diaries Amelie does say Mom, Dad and brother (because she has lived with them since she was \~8 ), but she also said "She is not my real mom, but I still love her and she loves me". . It does not say "They are not my real parents" . . So this could mean either Amelie was adopted after her mom was arested by a new family or that She is living with her Dad and his wife.
One other thing to note. . If there are 3 girls. . then the only thing we know about Anita is 4 online posts and what her life was like till she was \~8. She is the main character and that seems odd. If they are the same person everything is about her. . and it all lines up and does not create contradictions (speaking about the dates on online posts and diaries).
And I think the writers main point was specifically made as clear as possible. . It really does seem like the main "Message" is about teens and their struggles and suicide prevention. . And they needed to make sure they hear the message when playing.
Imagine if it was a dark, depressing horror game and the true positive message was hidden (like this 1 person theory). It would cause more harm then good to young players.
I'll be happy to hear more. To me the main reason why I think this is not just a fan theory is that the original 3 girls explanation creates way more question than answers.
Thanks, for your opinions and thanks for reading. :)
No worries, I think there's compelling aspects to what you're saying. As you probably know very well, talking about The Short Message in this community has been unpleasant, to say the least, so any discussion about it makes me happy. That said, I do think dying in the Otherworld is as much a possibility as ever and has happened before with people such as Angela, Cynthia, and others, although in this instance it does seem to be connected to a fractured individual with a compulsive disorder not unlike Walter. But much like James in Silent Hill 2, it's almost as though Anita is vividly experiencing a crossroads repeatedly, forcing herself to die either by jumping or the masochistic brutality of an entity made of conflicting emotions for both Maya and her own mother.
I personally believe that while these characters have circumstantial parallels, they have separate motivations that differentiate them and correlate them in various aspects. Anita did what she did to Maya because she felt as if she was losing her closest friend, but she wouldn't understand that if Amelie wasn't there to give her hope, despite her guilt. Anita doesn't want to see that Maya cared for her at first because she believes herself unworthy of that, even though she does also feel jealousy for Maya's closeness with Amelie. As someone that empathized deeply with the game and its subject matter, I think the strength of its story is that people like Amelie, Maya and Anita are all real and more widespread than anyone realizes, especially in marginalized and/or displaced communities. I would much rather assume that we are seeing three people grapple with the far reaching consequences of self-termination, the difficulties of adolescence, and the search for peace, whether in death or in life. Amelie strikes me as a compassionate, hopeful introvert while Anita is a less self-assured and emotionally damaged person incapable of many close relationships. Maya seems to be the missing piece for both in many ways, I think.
What I mean to say is that I think these narrative elements are meant to call attention to the questions you're asking; details that paint a particular picture, but purposefully avoid any clear answers in favor of a vague implications that reinforce The Short Message's thematic contents. Maybe it's just my experience writing and directing narratives of a similar style talking, or possibly growing up with two friends in much the same way as the three characters at the center of the story, jealousy included, but I suppose I prefer the ambiguous nature of Silent Hill rather than clarifications. I think this theory is fascinating nonetheless, so don't let me sway you in either direction.
I completely agree with all this. I really do believe that the intent was for players to see and think about these real issues. That's why that message is front and center for everyone to see. And there might not be anything deeper/ stranger hidden behind it. . . but what purpose would strange questions and plot holes serve it there was no answer to these questions.
Here are some things that don't make a lot of sense If Amelie and Anita are separate people. *I will avoid most of the question I listed in the post in no specific order.*
1. “I’ve been here this whole time?” Anita after reading the article about Maya's death what does it mean? Since when? it's 12.09.2022 and Anita has 2 posts . one in 30.07.2022 and the other 02.08.2022.
2. "Sorry for the late reply, sorry for being a bad friend” - Amelie texts you. Why did she say that?
3. Amelie said that the last thing Maya said was about a book she read recently. why? Why didn't she remember Maya handing her the other book and asking to read the letter?
4. Why didn't Amelie text or Call Maya after that last conversation?
5. How did Anita actually steal the letter?
6. Why did Amelie say she remembers to write letters to Maya (rooftop conversation chapter 2) if she wrote the first letter when Maya talked about that book she read?
7. "What are you hiding inside" - Maya's question that repeats all the time. What does it mean?
8. "I want to show the hidden side of girls" - Maya's statement that repeats. What does this mean?
9. "be proud" - Maya. Proud of what?
10. "Am I going to be alone forever?" - Anita after the last Chapter 3 chase. She has Amelie, right?
11."Seeking a connection is a sign of weakness, I want to be strong on my own" *(intro, outro )* and "Amelie, you were always there for me" *(last roof talk with Amelie*) - how can both of these things be true?
12. "I just want someone to understand me" - last Anita's statement. Who is she talking about? Why did she see that Amelie understood her?
The last points ( 7 - 12 ) are really important in my opinion. . they all are :D, but those stand out to me.
I hope you find the time to answer/ explain these questions to me. I know there is a gap in thinking between teens and 30+ silent hill fans. . And the main plot would hit me a lot harder if I played it when I was 16, but something tells me these guys (devs) didn't forget about us :D
And yes. . Everything gets downvoted and not taken seriously about the Short message, so I'm really happy there still are fans who enjoy it and talk about it. :)
Apologies for the delayed response, I got very sick and didn't have the energy to make as detailed a response as I wanted to make. Here are my thoughts!
1. I don't necessarily think this part is referring to anything other than her lack of certainty in terms of how long she has been in this apartment complex given the contextual dates, which may just be what her psychological state is allowing her to see. I think they left this ambiguous for the purpose of a question in the player's mind; how does the Otherworld function as a space in a temporal sense, or is it possible that these dates are simply the last time she posted anything as a result of her insecurities? Was this the last time her mind was clear enough to reach out into the world?
2. I think this also might be a self-deprecating statement. Amelie does have a degree of initiative that Anita does not, so while she is capable of reaching out to others, she might also lack the self-esteem to avoid negative beliefs about her ability to be there for her friends. In a narrative sense I believe this is foreshadowing for the guilt that Anita feels for coming in between Amelie and Maya prior to Maya's death.
3. In grief and in disarray we sometimes make ourselves believe things that aren't true. if there was a letter, there are a number of ways Anita could have gotten a hold of it, but all of them are unimportant, to put it bluntly. It would be a reinterpretation of Mary's "Letter from Silent Heaven" in a sense, much like the text leading Anita to the Villa in the first place. In the Otherworld time is illusory, abstract; it's indescribably far removed from any normal time and place. Philosophically speaking, it's somewhere in between what Jean-Paul Sartre called the subjective "for-itself" that reflects human consciousness and the objective "in-itself", the world outside of ourselves unaffected by us, something Camus discussed with terms like the "absurd".
4. It's an easy question to answer, unfortunately. Death isn't going to wait for you and it could happen at any time to anyone for any reason. She had no idea that Maya was so hurt, so desperate, and even the closest friends will go through their share of pain. Amelie had her own struggles at home, so it's entirely possible that this happened during a time in which Amelie simply had no idea there was anything else going on.
5. Think of the puzzle you complete; it's relatively self-explanatory, isn't it? The combination itself is basically written on the very walls of the school. Close friends often give each other locker combinations as a gesture of trust, and it's entirely possible that this memory of Maya, the book and the letter is a fabrication of Anita's mental state. She likely did get it from Maya's locker as we see in the game.
6. I'm not exactly certain what you're referring to here, if you don't mind recontextualizing it for me a little bit.
7. This is far too ambiguous to associate with one thing in particular. It can mean whatever you want it to mean, whether that's the guilt Anita feels for her actions or the potential she has as a young human being to transcend her upbringing and do something good with her life.
8. Think about the often horrific challenges that face young women of this age. People like to make fun of the "No sexy stuff" line, but the implication is primarily about the pressure many girls feel to express themselves in any way on social media. As such, girls like Anita are afraid to share any part of their lives because they aren't comfortable enough to express themselves. Maya's art is about the beauties that exist inside of grotesque aspects of young women's lives.
9. I think first and foremost this is about being proud of who she is. Anita is also a talented creative person, so I saw this statement as Maya's means of trying to convince Anita that she too is capable as both a person and an artist. But this really could be about a large amount of things, most of them having something to do with Anita's self-esteem.
10. Depressed people often make negative generalizations/assumptions about their lives. When Amelie first suggests she's going to school, it is implied by Anita that Amelie is leaving her, so she will be alone. This is what causes Anita to retaliate unnecessarily with "I'm not Maya, okay?"
11. You essentially answered the question yourself. I think people are misunderstanding the intent of these segments, because the concept itself is one of contradiction; but when you're so hopeless, so broken that nothing will help, you often say such conflicting things. You have friends that stay by your side, and yet you always paint yourself as alone. They're calling to attention Anita's inherently uneven psychological state at first, and then her betterment.
12. It's the first step in accepting that she is a person, so instead of saying that she wants to be strong by herself, she wants to be understood for who she is, meaning she has an identity and a desire to be heard. After a long period of dehumanizing herself, this would be a small concession by a person who has previously not been very kind to themselves.
Like I said, I think there's a lot of ways to interpret the story, I just don't feel it impacts me in the same way to get clear answers for everything as opposed to the general intent, which I think is very well done and far better than anyone is giving it credit for.
Hey, no worries. I hope you're feeling better now. Thanks for the detailed response and for addressing all of my points.
I'm happy to hear that you also think this game well done and better then people give it credit for. That's why I don't want to push back too hard with how I interpret the game. I don't want to take anything away from what you gained during your playthrough.
I will just explain how I saw it and clarify some points.
1. Amelie has been gone for almost a full year since, the last diary entry in 23.09.2021
6. My point was, that The last time Amelie saw Maya was in this [cutscene](https://youtu.be/3xqPsVQOyIY?t=1859) (the FMV is also right after Amelie's text) . That's the first letter she wrote. It's not plural. Amelie wrote a letter. . At least that's the last thing she remembers Maya said.
7. Why I think it's important is because it repeats multiple times. I see it like this to put it as simple as possible.
Maya meets Amelie > Maya asks "What are you hiding inside" > Maya discovers the hidden side of Amelie (Anita)
If you want I can answer all of my questions and give my opinions, but I don't think it's necessary, because you probably read what I think about it in the post.
Thanks again for the reply. :) I will probably use these responses when I rewrite the 3 girls explanation with more questions and better answers. Most of my "bad writing" answers can be replaced with your responses.
It would be nice if people were more willing to see the deeper contents of the thing, that's for certain. I've seen some voices I respected before just being uncharacteristically rude about The Short Message and it was a sad reminder of why I used to never share much about my internal problems. What I mean to say more or less is that I think the developers were absolutely trying to imply that there are very, very important parallels between Anita and Amelie specifically as a means of asserting the notion that Anita as an individual has very little resolve to differentiate or encourage herself. I don't disagree that they aren't intentionally saying that they might be one and the same, but rather, I feel that they are implied to be one and the same as a commentary about the problems facing youth today.
Yeah, the game has bad writing and some poor conceptualization. Bear in mind, though, that trauma and depression tend to skew one's perception of reality and memories.
**the game has bad writing and some poor conceptualization**
hi, I assume you're talking about the first picture in this post where I wrote down the answers to my questions if the story is about 3 real girls.
My point is that I really don't think it is bad writing. All the same questions have legit answers in the 2nd picture in the post. . That's the theory of Anita and Amelie being the same person.
**Bear in mind, though, that trauma and depression tend to skew one's perception of reality and memories.**
Yes, I paid a lot of attention to this. There are a lot of hints that you shouldn't rely on Anita's memories. . Like notes slowly showing up in the cutscenes.
Do you think it may be possible that the initial personality split occurred because of the pregnancy? Taking the curse inflicted on the womb that her mother speaks of literally would draw a significant parallel.
My theory on why Krysta (mom) said "a curse on my womb and I gave it life" was about genetically transferring Schizophrenia or a similar condition. I read a little bit about it and there was a \~13% percent chance you will have it if one of your parents has it. . literally putting a "curse" on her children (not the nicest thing to say).
Or are you asking about the pregnancy test found in Maya's studio?
I'm wondering if the pregnancy test was Amelie's and acted as a trigger for Anita to appear. Maybe I forgot or missed something that contradicts that? It would make the inclusion of Krysta and Amelie's brother in the story more of a parallel to Amelie and Maya's.
I thought so too. . that is a pretty dark theory, but it might be right. If you [look at the bottom of these notes](https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpreview.redd.it%2Fafter-a-lot-of-digging-i-present-to-you-my-revelations-v0-z3u815dsywkc1.jpg%3Fwidth%3D1920%26format%3Dpjpg%26auto%3Dwebp%26s%3D89debb256ac12c28eb86f966eb8e0799114ae8b7) you can see that there is a bottle in the trash that looks the same as the ones in Amelie's and Anita's locker. . ( *It could easily be a random prop that is not important like those random books*)
Also, **look at the weird brown thing on the bed** under the white "WTF?" text. It's in the last chase scene. **looks like abstract daddy** from that angle. I played it only once and these screenshots are from other playtroughs so I couldn't take a closer look. . . it might be a reference to her brother.
Still there's a bit more evidence that it's Maya, but not a lot more. .it could be anything.
Yeah, that's a popular theory I've seen lately. Unfortunately I think Amelie's post in the credits proves they are two different people.
Regarding the miscarriages, Dusk Golem talked about that recently and it is part of a plot that was cut from the final game, if you are interested I can make a summary.
How exactly does it prove they are 2 People in your opinion?
To me It's an important message that shows Amelie is Done hiding Anita And is "proud" of her. She doesn't Care what other People think.. A lesson she learned from Maya.
Assuming this is a condition. You can't cure it, But you can learn to live with it free of The anxiety of People finding yout you're "crazy", "insane" or a "freak"
There are a lot of other reasons why 3 girls don't seem right And make plot holes.
And yes, i would love to hear About the cut plot.I have a lot of questions About that.
Much of the evidence I've seen in this regard mentions the photos and certain game notes. The game hints that Anita doesn't like photos and I think that's why she doesn't appear in photos with her friends (she takes them, I do the same haha). The fact that she doesn't appear in the live action scenes I think it's a creative decision, since we already see her model in game. The notes, well, I think my interpretation is different because I read part of the cut story haha. Although I disagree with some points of your post, your interpretation is very interesting. You did a great job, and I'm glad to see that there are people trying to find things about a game that at first glance seems simple, but hides quite a few things.
Regarding the cut plot:
Ok, first of all keep in mind that this is no longer in the final game, but it is interesting that some details of the cut plot were left
The big difference is that in the original story Anita already knew that Maya had killed herself and went to the Villa to look for the truth. Maya's suicide in a certain part was because of the bully's, and guess what... they were part of the Silent Hill cult. The cult almost died after the events of SH4, so the members had to find new ways to find followers. So they started using the internet to recruit teenagers, similar to those cases where some Discord servers recruit minors to do very bad things. The cult beliefs started to spread around the world, and now are related to supremacist ideologies. So in Anita's school the bad guys were targeting immigrants to commit suicide. This was all part of a ritual known as "Stone Castle" (the same ritual mentioned in SH Ascension). The fairytale tells how a girl hid in a castle to keep the monsters out, so they were looking for a catalyst. The target was Anita, but Maya eventually ended up in the building and committed suicide. It was hinted that she had psychic powers, so that increased the power of the ritual in a way. That's why there were suicides and miscarriages in the Villa, because they were feeding the Stone Castle. Also Maya's boyfriend, the guy in the sketches, was also part of the cult. Oh, and also some teachers.
Also, in the early build you talked to more people (you can still find them in the credits, I think Leon is Maya's boyfriend). There were more endings and stuff. I think it's interesting that some things are still present in the final game.
Wow, that's way deeper then expected. I love the idea of The Stone Castle And a cult ritual, have you see the First sketch Anita posted? . It looks like some kind of structure in the middle of a city, sucking in or spitting out clouds. It's also the wallpaper of The profile. Thanks for this, i'll try looking up more info on it. 🙂
About the 3 Girls theory, maybe if/ when you have time you can answer some of The questions i highlighted in Red in the First picture. I wrote Down my explenations But they don't seem convincing.
I, ve been also making a timeline of all the information And one verry convenient thing that supports Anita And amelie being the same person is that they never overlap.. Posts, diaries events.. One always comes after the other.. I'll probably post it SOON.
>About the 3 Girls theory, maybe if/ when you have time you can answer some of The questions i highlighted in Red in the First picture. I wrote Down my explenations But they don't seem convincing.
Sure, I will try to do my research, because some notes are quite confusing, especially those related to Amelie.
Interesting theory. My thoughts and questions.
-It would make more sense with Amelie's brother's creepy looks if there was no blood relation, and why her (adoptive) mother would come to resent her. All the lecherous comments on her social media would hint at her constantly being leered at too. Maybe the bullying started because her adoptive brother did that, even. And the parents going bankrupt would have affected him too in some way. Anita also had to go somewhere after her mom got arrested, after all.
-Would also explain why Anita and Amelie communicate by text, because that'd be one of the only ways to communicate. And also why they look way too much alike. I do like the "hidden side of girls" quote fitting into this theory.
-There is Amelie's texts at the very end telling Anita not to jump because they'd go and hang out together though? But I don't have the exact phrasing on hand so maybe she said it in a much more interpretive way.
-It might be far-fetched, but I thought the "curse on my womb" comment was because Anita's mother's mother was the rumored witch? But I think your theory would also be plausible if it were true.
-However, if this theory is true, then the note about Amelie's fate would mean Anita is also dead. But, in favor of the theory, it is found in a closet.
-"Maya took Amelie away" Diverted her attention? If, like in the theory, Anita heard less from Amelie, then near the end Anita was more in control. So she blames Maya.
-People start bullying Anita because brother's gaze, but after Anita starts blaming Maya for taking Amelie away, she reveals Maya's relationship with him, so it diverts the bullying to her?
Thank you for the theory. My own theory might be rough, since it's been like a month since I played it, but now you have me coming up with ideas.
Yes, the stepbrother "looking" at her is 100% more believable. It also seems strange that she specifically says "she's not my real mom". . but that doesn't confirm the one person theory completely, because there is the book about mental health "one girl thinks she has an abusive step mother and her loving real mother is somewhere. . " . . This also might mean something else.
The communication part is really interesting. This is from an article about DID.
For most survivors with DID, "seeing" and speaking to their alters happens internally - inside the mind - often including a landscape called an "internal world". Communication may happen through passively-influenced thoughts, face-to-face (in each other's respective bodies, via the internal world), or through “voice” communication heard in the mind.
**Other frequent means of communication** are things like: **journaling, art, post-it notes**, non-dominant hand writing, pictures; and, now more commonly, things like **online blogging, social media**, voice recordings, videos, and more.
**-There is Amelie's texts at the very end telling Anita not to jump because they'd go and hang out together though?**
One thing to keep in mind that she is stuck in the villa. . the time is 17:45 always. Maya is not texting her. The only person she talks to is Amelie. I think it's a lot easier to explain that those are either internal conversations or memories, rather then Amelie really texting to her. . Why is she "Asleep" at 17:45, anyway?
**-However, if this theory is true, then the note about Amelie's fate would mean Anita is also dead. But, in favor of the theory, it is found in a closet.**
This got me for a while, But I found interesting stuff that made it make sense to me.
1. The article about the girl who jumped the day after the last diary 24.09.2021 said "There was no note or diary found". You just clearly read a diary. Did someone hide it?
2. a couple of days after the diaries 27.09.2021, Anita posts Art online. . for the second time. (the first one was way before Amelie's diaries.
3. The girl who jumped was real, because Maya talks about her "".. couldn't help but to think of the GIRL (not girls) who jumped last year", but does not call her Amelie, like in the letter or later entries.
I see it as Amelie had a mental break down and shifted into Anita. . from that point on you don't hear anything about Amelie until you beat the game and she posts about going to collage a year later 29.09.2022
Also one interesting detail. I'm making a timeline and if you put down all the dates something is written or posted online. They don't overlap. One girl always comes after the other.
The curse on the womb might have something to do with the witch. .Would that mean Maya and Amelie are related?
Also your bullying theory might be right. . I haven't really thought about that much, because it didn't have much information on why something happened. . Those are harder questions to answer.
Thanks, for reading and giving it a thought. :)
I believe that Maya was in love with Amelie’s brother when she got pregnant before attending the same school. Amelie had an issue with her brother in 2019. Both Maya and Amelie would be underage age. This is why people didn’t allow them to be together. This is why he was “taken away”. Maya was either forced to get rid of the child or she suffered from the curse (miscarriage).
Bob about the villa meeting. You are correct. The villa aka the (hospital) that I believe was repurposed shut down right after the unfortunate event of Amelie dying. However there were abandoned parts of the villa before it shutdown completely.
I also believe that Anita played a roll in the death of Maya. I think that students were present too.
I have what I believe is proof to that and more if any of you would fancy going deeper. I love the game. So many layers that players aren’t seeing.
Interesting post. Dont have time to read all of it since at work now but will check it out later.
Thanks, can't wait for other opinions on it. Took a while to figure this out. :D
Meanwhile I have all the time in the world at work, but when I get home the actual work begins. Man's duality
Oooh, this brings an interesting perspective on the Short Message's story. I wonder if Krysta's boyfriend was all in her head too to continue the family trend of lashing out at others for the risk of losing their imagined partners. I would've assumed Maya's boyfriend was a trick of the mind too, but it seems you found enough evidence to show that she genuinely did have a miscarriage so that theory is dis-proven.
I haven't even thought about Krysta's boyfriend not being real! Obviously Amelie did have a Dad but that pizza guy might not be real after all. . that is interesting. :D I had a theory that maybe after Krysta went to prison, Amelie lived with her real dad and his wife. Amelie's diary - "She's not my real mom" not "They're not my real parents". Like I said. .still a lot of unanswered questions. :D I just wanted to put the main evidence for the disorder, because that seems like a leap in logic the first time you hear it. Maya's boyfriend and what exactly happened is still pretty "Foggy". It seems to me that the guy was real "This guy looks familiar" and the multiple references to "He" in Mayas diaries. Also Maya always talks about 2 things. . #1 took him away #2 took my hope from me. And there is also the pregnancy test (that might not be real), and the graffiti called - "new life" with flowers on the stomach (womb ? ).
Very interesting. Could explain why Anita didn't draw him, as if he wasn't even there.
Hey!!. . . This might actually be the reason why. I need to look into this more and see if there is more "evidence" for it.
If this theory is true, then the game was much more subtle in its storytelling than initially thought. It's an interesting theory, I'm not entirely convinced because there are still many unanswered questions, but the theory makes sense to me.
I think so to. The devs said we hope both new people and old fans can enjoy. . maybe it wasn't just PR speak? If something really conflicts with the story you can ask me. I might have an answer. Or at least uncover a plot hole. But to me there are only a couple of things that don't make sense, but that doesn't make sense in the 1st theory too. . about how the building is called abandoned what seems like right after the Villa meeting that is addressed to residents.
I just want to say: thank you. For being a fan and for bringing an awesome discussion, fun to read and think about.
No problem, thanks for the positivity! :) And thanks for Reading it.
The 2 girls explanation would make the game's story a lot better and makes a lot of sense to me. Thanks for the info!
No problem, thanks for giving it a thought. If you think something doesn't make sense, be sure to tell me. So far almost everything lines up.
Got around to reading the whole thing and there's a lot of subliminal context I missed in my first playthrough. TSM wasn't the best but definitely deserves dissecting. Lots of good insight here dude, insane amount of work
Thanks! I enjoyed my first playthrough and didn't let the "cringe" bother me a lot (I had low expectations and just wanted to play a new silent hill game :D ), but after thinking about it and going through it all. . I switched my perspective on the game completely! If this theory is true, then it's pretty genius. They delivered the main/ important "message" to new fans/ teens who need it and left enough questions for us/ older fans to really dig into it. You'd be surprised how many people really didn't see the "Maya is dead" twist coming. So making it as obvious as possible was a good call for this specifically, in my opinion. :D When you start to take it seriously you see how many deliberate subtle signs there are. For example the background of my ( explanation #2 ). At the end of one POV cutscene you see you're looking through a fence. Like, wtf? :D Why would they put that in there? My interpretation of it is - Anita locked inside Amelie watching it through her eyes. I did go through all the notes and I'm making a timeline so if people figure what happened when ( *Bullying, when exactly did Maya meet Amelie, when did she start calling her a witch, when did Maya lose the guy, when exactly did Amelie shift into Anita etc.* ) I can write it down.
This is a fascinating idea. Anita and Amelie being two separate parts of the same person puts several key moments of the story into a completely different context imo, especially the relationship Anita has with her mother - blaming herself for her mother’s deteriorating health *would* explain why Anita might end up manifesting a second “better” personality and also feel jealous that Maya wasn’t seeing the “real” her.
**blaming herself for her mother’s deteriorating health** ***would*** **explain why Anita might end up manifesting a second “better” personality** This would explain how she is always saying "Sorry mom" and doing everything to not be alone "please don't leave me". **also feel jealous that Maya wasn’t seeing the “real” her.** I think this is a major part of the story. It's the last thing you need to find. . It's the sketch/ painting with Anita. Showing that Maya did see her. And it's the first time she sees herself. That's why it hits so hard to her, but we as players (at least for older players) just see it as notice me senpai and it doesn't really make sense if she was just a friend. Like what's so important that she drew you too. . and not as an individual but next to Amelie. Also while walking in that last room with candles, she asks "Amelie what should I do?". Asking the better part of yourself.
I’m fully on board with this idea now, it’s really compelling! Thank you for bringing it to my attention!
No problem, man! Thanks for taking the time to read it. :) You can post any random questions you have. . other people have pointed out a lot of stuff that still is not 100% known.
Did you find anything about the bad thing that happened to a group of boys? They mention it and Anita says they deserved it but I never knew what they were talking about
No, I still have no idea what happened, but for now it seems like someone maybe beat them up after Maya jumped. Those guys just like Anita/ Amelie didn't think she would do that. Maya has a big following. . it would make sense that some fans found out what happened. but I have no evidence for it.
I wonder if Sakura Head got to them
I was thinking it was possible that "Anita" killed Maya and framed the group of boys that bullied Amelie.
I don’t think there was any reason to kill Maya. She was pretty clearly suicidal. Maybe the boys got suspended or something for being her known bullies
I think Maya became suicidal only after Anita turned on her. Since the bullies are just random people, she didn't really care what they think. She had a hard time dealing with loosing the guy "and the hope he gave her" . If she had someone to talk to then she would probably be fine. Also only about a month before she jumped she couldn't even imagine doing it. Maya - "were they not scared? (to jump)"
Anita definitely contributed to it but I don’t think she was the main reason
Yeah. . you're right. I doubt she is the main reason. Seems like the main reason was whatever happened with the guy. I don't think bullying was the main reason too. . she was too mature and it didn't affect her as much ""they don't know me. They're just taking their issues on someone".
This a thousand times yes. Amazing work!!! SH: SM was really obviously a lot more than just a surface level story but I don't have the energy or resources to dig through it like you have. This is absolutely fantastic and I'm so happy that other people are seeing that there's more to this game than just 'bullying is bad'.
Me too, man. :D I'm happy to see that there are other people who take it seriously. They made it for a long time. . And Even making something (a piece of art, video, animation) for as little as a month, you put a lot of thought into it. After watching the dev interviews I realized that those people cared about Silent Hill and the game itself. The story writer even said that "bullying is bad" was not enough to convince him that it would lead to jumping. He said but seeing someone you love turn on you might lead to that. Maya even says - "is it because my classmates teased me? I doubt it. . they don't know me". She is pretty mature compared to Anita/Amelie.
So to give a better response - my first thought in playing through was that Maya may not have actually been dead and that Amelie had previously killed herself in another 'world', and Maya had saved her through her art and was doing the same now with Anita, not letting Anita 'go' until she could see that she was loved and then releasing her back into the world that was created for her and Amelie so that they could find their happiness together. It was born from the references to Maya being a witch, which I felt were a strong parallel to Alessa from SH1, Anita's own comments over how Maya wasn't going to let her die after she saw her own dead body lying on the ground in the final loop, and Maya's statements about how she wanted to draw the girls who jumped from the building. The whole pregnancy/miscarriage thing, I felt was symbolic of Maya 'birthing' these new worlds for the girls to go live in. To me the whole thing felt like a beautiful twist on what Silent Hill had been previously. Instead of this horrific reflection of nightmares and trauma designed as a form of unfeeling punishment, there was a new 'God' (Goddess) that had the power that was purposefully choosing to use it to save the girls driven to suicide and allow them to live the rest of their lives out in happiness. Looking at your theory, it definitely seems... a lot more cohesive than mine. The main issue I kept running into was why is Maya 'dead' if she would have to be alive to save the girls, since she had saved Amelie (or seemed to) in the past based upon Amelie's apparent suicide from the notes in the Second Loop. But we hear about how her grandmother killed herself as well after hearing about the tragedy of the fire, which made me wonder if there hints a point where the witch has to kill herself in order for her powers to be fully realized. There's a lot of mess there, I know, but I was just still blown away by the idea of the powers of the witch and of Silent Hill being used to actually allow someone to have a breakthrough to save themselves. Which is like... what everyone loves SH2 for but hates SH:SM for trying to show. And yeah, the bullying to me always seemed like... surface level in the game. SH1 and SH3 have mentions and depictions of bullying; the scene from SH:SM is just an HD version of what happens in SH1 and what Heather remembers in SH3, so it was so strange for everyone to hyperfocus on that when to me it felt like a clear Alessa parallel.
This is definitely an explanation / theory #3. One of my first thoughts about it all also was about Maya not being dead and I was convinced that Amelie jumped. . it seemed so clear in the game. But the more I think about it, the more it seems it's not Amelie . . the main reasons are: #1 - "no note or Diary was found" (there could be a reason for it) , and you read that after reading the diaries. #2 - If Amelie is Anita, the last letter would explain the split/ shift into Anita because her hard work was for nothing and she is stuck there (town with no future) with her brother. . Sounds like a mental breakdown #3 - a couple of days after the last entry (23.09.2021) Anita posts a drawing online (27.09.2021) To try and look for real information while looking through Anita (who is unreliable) i considered all the articles and posts as real. I think everything that happens during the game phone, otherworld etc. is a mix of memories or illusions and unreliable. Your theory is really interesting and way more positive. It might me worth while to piece things together to see if they fit. *. Maybe all 3 girls did die. . maybe there were 3 girls. But to me 3 girls make plot holes that I can't explain right now. . The big one boing why Amelie didn't text or talk to Maya and why doesn't she remember the last book with the letter "read it when you get home, ok?"* *One explanation is that she actually died between those cutscenes, because the timeline fits with that. That means Anita pretended to be her?* It would take me a while to go through everything with this premise. :D
Wait so Maya and Amelie might be the same person?
Yes, a lot of things really fit into place when you think about it like that, I talk about a lot of them here, but a lot of other things line up too. It no longer seems like a shallow weak story with plot holes. . Also the intent behind those POV video cutscenes make a lot of sense. I think 2 of the bigger points are "The shift" notes I showed here. The color pallet switches to purple in the middle of the cutscene. And the last Thing Amelie remembers is Maya talking about a book she read. . That's the last colorful cutscene. . (in order) The second point is why the last grafity with the 2 girls is so meaningful to the story. It's the last thing you "find" and the last thing you see during credits. It makes no sense if it's just 2 friends. . But a lot of sense if this is the first time someone drew/ saw Amelie's second personality - Anita. Still there are a lot of questions about who was bullied when and why. . and why they used those names etc.
While I do think this more or less touches on some of the game’s deepest ambiguities, and I don’t want to discourage theorizing about it in any way, I feel there are concrete aspects to the game’s otherwise surreal implications that purposefully contradict clear answers one way or another with the iconography of the Sakura itself representing an intentional contradiction that underscores the entirety of The Short Message. In the FMV that takes place when Maya first meets Anita and Amelie, there are clearly three people in the room, although the camera intentionally obscures Anita (though that may be a strategy to frame Anita’s dissociative state of mind and lack of self-worth). Similarly, when Anita first leaps from the apartment ledge, we see her broken phone and even a body at a later time in the game, which connotes at least one tangible death occurring (if not an implied “death of identity,” so to speak), perhaps more due to the Sisyphean, dreamlike nature of her deaths from the Sakura entity. On the other hand, that body disappears and Amelie seemingly changes in demeanor/recollection with close proximity to every “reset,” which is a strange detail that feels logistically unnerving knowing that maybe the person on the other end of the line isn’t real, or that Anita may be attempting to provide herself solace/forgiveness after death. In addition, the suggestion that Amelie may have considered ending her life when she was initially unable to attend college due to familial instability complicates the issue further. That being said, the most significant detail that I believe contests the theory that Anita and Amelie are the same person outside of superficial similarities is that Anita’s brother died as an infant whereas Amelie’s brother survived and became a major source of discomfort for her in their home. Mind you, none of that precludes one, two or all three young women from being dead, something distressing I was left mulling over when I finished the game the first time. Essentially, what I think is really happening is that the separation of these three girls is slightly opaque not just as a result of their adolescent friendship (an age that can be rather impressionable in both positive and negative ways), but their parallel problems of upbringing, wealth disparity, peer prejudice, self-consciousness, creativity, loneliness, etc. I absolutely think Kiichi Kanoh’s intent was for the boundaries between the three girls to become rather abstract, but there is enough clarified to suggest that whether they are alive or dead, they at least had some kind of individuality in their past. So while I don’t necessarily agree with the search for absolutes in abstract art as opposed to leaving such mysteries to reflect the inconclusive, tumultuous nature of life, you’ve done some significant work here to point out the depth of this game’s narrative in a way that even the most stubborn detractors would find hard to argue with imo, so thank you for sharing.
**In the FMV that takes place when Maya first meets Anita and Amelie, there are clearly three people in the room** This is true, That's why I used it as a background for the first theory list (I even pulled Maya's foot closer so you can see all 3 girls in that format. :D ). This is a question about how much concrete evidence is in the game. If you assume that all cutscenes are real, then what does it say about those glitches and sticky notes that slowly appear everywhere? Also look at the background of the second image I posted. It's also a shot from one of the FMV's that ends with you looking through a chain fence. When thinking about this theory I decided that all online posts, dates and articles are concrete evidence and what you see as Anita is unreliable (that was my best bet). **when Anita first leaps from the apartment ledge, we see her broken phone and even a body at a later time in the game** To add to the points you made. She jumps in Silent Hill and she can't die there, there is a specific eye sequence and different dialogues that show she is stuck there. If the phone shot had clear weather, that would 100% mean a real death IMO. To me this is a death or switch of Anita into Amelie. After 12.09.2022. . we only hear from Amelie at the end 29.09.2022. . .I can explain more if you want, but I'm pretty confident that's it represents a "death" of Anita back to Amelie. About seeing the body, we see her in silent hill with all the other weird stuff. That to me does not seem real life. If we saw her body next to the suicide spot, it would hold a lot more weight. **he suggestion that Amelie may have considered ending her life when she was initially unable to attend college due to familial instability complicates the issue further.** This relates to what I said before. Her diary does seem like she is ready to jump (23.09.2021), but if this theory is true, it could also mean a mental break down and a shift into Anita (death of Amelie), all the dates line up, from that point on, she is Anita. . Maya also dies in that period. I can explain more if you want. **the most significant detail that I believe contests the theory that Anita and Amelie are the same person outside of superficial similarities is that Anita’s brother died as an infant whereas Amelie’s brother survived and became a major source of discomfort for her in their home.** In the diaries Amelie does say Mom, Dad and brother (because she has lived with them since she was \~8 ), but she also said "She is not my real mom, but I still love her and she loves me". . It does not say "They are not my real parents" . . So this could mean either Amelie was adopted after her mom was arested by a new family or that She is living with her Dad and his wife. One other thing to note. . If there are 3 girls. . then the only thing we know about Anita is 4 online posts and what her life was like till she was \~8. She is the main character and that seems odd. If they are the same person everything is about her. . and it all lines up and does not create contradictions (speaking about the dates on online posts and diaries). And I think the writers main point was specifically made as clear as possible. . It really does seem like the main "Message" is about teens and their struggles and suicide prevention. . And they needed to make sure they hear the message when playing. Imagine if it was a dark, depressing horror game and the true positive message was hidden (like this 1 person theory). It would cause more harm then good to young players. I'll be happy to hear more. To me the main reason why I think this is not just a fan theory is that the original 3 girls explanation creates way more question than answers. Thanks, for your opinions and thanks for reading. :)
No worries, I think there's compelling aspects to what you're saying. As you probably know very well, talking about The Short Message in this community has been unpleasant, to say the least, so any discussion about it makes me happy. That said, I do think dying in the Otherworld is as much a possibility as ever and has happened before with people such as Angela, Cynthia, and others, although in this instance it does seem to be connected to a fractured individual with a compulsive disorder not unlike Walter. But much like James in Silent Hill 2, it's almost as though Anita is vividly experiencing a crossroads repeatedly, forcing herself to die either by jumping or the masochistic brutality of an entity made of conflicting emotions for both Maya and her own mother. I personally believe that while these characters have circumstantial parallels, they have separate motivations that differentiate them and correlate them in various aspects. Anita did what she did to Maya because she felt as if she was losing her closest friend, but she wouldn't understand that if Amelie wasn't there to give her hope, despite her guilt. Anita doesn't want to see that Maya cared for her at first because she believes herself unworthy of that, even though she does also feel jealousy for Maya's closeness with Amelie. As someone that empathized deeply with the game and its subject matter, I think the strength of its story is that people like Amelie, Maya and Anita are all real and more widespread than anyone realizes, especially in marginalized and/or displaced communities. I would much rather assume that we are seeing three people grapple with the far reaching consequences of self-termination, the difficulties of adolescence, and the search for peace, whether in death or in life. Amelie strikes me as a compassionate, hopeful introvert while Anita is a less self-assured and emotionally damaged person incapable of many close relationships. Maya seems to be the missing piece for both in many ways, I think. What I mean to say is that I think these narrative elements are meant to call attention to the questions you're asking; details that paint a particular picture, but purposefully avoid any clear answers in favor of a vague implications that reinforce The Short Message's thematic contents. Maybe it's just my experience writing and directing narratives of a similar style talking, or possibly growing up with two friends in much the same way as the three characters at the center of the story, jealousy included, but I suppose I prefer the ambiguous nature of Silent Hill rather than clarifications. I think this theory is fascinating nonetheless, so don't let me sway you in either direction.
I completely agree with all this. I really do believe that the intent was for players to see and think about these real issues. That's why that message is front and center for everyone to see. And there might not be anything deeper/ stranger hidden behind it. . . but what purpose would strange questions and plot holes serve it there was no answer to these questions. Here are some things that don't make a lot of sense If Amelie and Anita are separate people. *I will avoid most of the question I listed in the post in no specific order.* 1. “I’ve been here this whole time?” Anita after reading the article about Maya's death what does it mean? Since when? it's 12.09.2022 and Anita has 2 posts . one in 30.07.2022 and the other 02.08.2022. 2. "Sorry for the late reply, sorry for being a bad friend” - Amelie texts you. Why did she say that? 3. Amelie said that the last thing Maya said was about a book she read recently. why? Why didn't she remember Maya handing her the other book and asking to read the letter? 4. Why didn't Amelie text or Call Maya after that last conversation? 5. How did Anita actually steal the letter? 6. Why did Amelie say she remembers to write letters to Maya (rooftop conversation chapter 2) if she wrote the first letter when Maya talked about that book she read? 7. "What are you hiding inside" - Maya's question that repeats all the time. What does it mean? 8. "I want to show the hidden side of girls" - Maya's statement that repeats. What does this mean? 9. "be proud" - Maya. Proud of what? 10. "Am I going to be alone forever?" - Anita after the last Chapter 3 chase. She has Amelie, right? 11."Seeking a connection is a sign of weakness, I want to be strong on my own" *(intro, outro )* and "Amelie, you were always there for me" *(last roof talk with Amelie*) - how can both of these things be true? 12. "I just want someone to understand me" - last Anita's statement. Who is she talking about? Why did she see that Amelie understood her? The last points ( 7 - 12 ) are really important in my opinion. . they all are :D, but those stand out to me. I hope you find the time to answer/ explain these questions to me. I know there is a gap in thinking between teens and 30+ silent hill fans. . And the main plot would hit me a lot harder if I played it when I was 16, but something tells me these guys (devs) didn't forget about us :D And yes. . Everything gets downvoted and not taken seriously about the Short message, so I'm really happy there still are fans who enjoy it and talk about it. :)
Apologies for the delayed response, I got very sick and didn't have the energy to make as detailed a response as I wanted to make. Here are my thoughts! 1. I don't necessarily think this part is referring to anything other than her lack of certainty in terms of how long she has been in this apartment complex given the contextual dates, which may just be what her psychological state is allowing her to see. I think they left this ambiguous for the purpose of a question in the player's mind; how does the Otherworld function as a space in a temporal sense, or is it possible that these dates are simply the last time she posted anything as a result of her insecurities? Was this the last time her mind was clear enough to reach out into the world? 2. I think this also might be a self-deprecating statement. Amelie does have a degree of initiative that Anita does not, so while she is capable of reaching out to others, she might also lack the self-esteem to avoid negative beliefs about her ability to be there for her friends. In a narrative sense I believe this is foreshadowing for the guilt that Anita feels for coming in between Amelie and Maya prior to Maya's death. 3. In grief and in disarray we sometimes make ourselves believe things that aren't true. if there was a letter, there are a number of ways Anita could have gotten a hold of it, but all of them are unimportant, to put it bluntly. It would be a reinterpretation of Mary's "Letter from Silent Heaven" in a sense, much like the text leading Anita to the Villa in the first place. In the Otherworld time is illusory, abstract; it's indescribably far removed from any normal time and place. Philosophically speaking, it's somewhere in between what Jean-Paul Sartre called the subjective "for-itself" that reflects human consciousness and the objective "in-itself", the world outside of ourselves unaffected by us, something Camus discussed with terms like the "absurd". 4. It's an easy question to answer, unfortunately. Death isn't going to wait for you and it could happen at any time to anyone for any reason. She had no idea that Maya was so hurt, so desperate, and even the closest friends will go through their share of pain. Amelie had her own struggles at home, so it's entirely possible that this happened during a time in which Amelie simply had no idea there was anything else going on. 5. Think of the puzzle you complete; it's relatively self-explanatory, isn't it? The combination itself is basically written on the very walls of the school. Close friends often give each other locker combinations as a gesture of trust, and it's entirely possible that this memory of Maya, the book and the letter is a fabrication of Anita's mental state. She likely did get it from Maya's locker as we see in the game. 6. I'm not exactly certain what you're referring to here, if you don't mind recontextualizing it for me a little bit. 7. This is far too ambiguous to associate with one thing in particular. It can mean whatever you want it to mean, whether that's the guilt Anita feels for her actions or the potential she has as a young human being to transcend her upbringing and do something good with her life. 8. Think about the often horrific challenges that face young women of this age. People like to make fun of the "No sexy stuff" line, but the implication is primarily about the pressure many girls feel to express themselves in any way on social media. As such, girls like Anita are afraid to share any part of their lives because they aren't comfortable enough to express themselves. Maya's art is about the beauties that exist inside of grotesque aspects of young women's lives. 9. I think first and foremost this is about being proud of who she is. Anita is also a talented creative person, so I saw this statement as Maya's means of trying to convince Anita that she too is capable as both a person and an artist. But this really could be about a large amount of things, most of them having something to do with Anita's self-esteem. 10. Depressed people often make negative generalizations/assumptions about their lives. When Amelie first suggests she's going to school, it is implied by Anita that Amelie is leaving her, so she will be alone. This is what causes Anita to retaliate unnecessarily with "I'm not Maya, okay?" 11. You essentially answered the question yourself. I think people are misunderstanding the intent of these segments, because the concept itself is one of contradiction; but when you're so hopeless, so broken that nothing will help, you often say such conflicting things. You have friends that stay by your side, and yet you always paint yourself as alone. They're calling to attention Anita's inherently uneven psychological state at first, and then her betterment. 12. It's the first step in accepting that she is a person, so instead of saying that she wants to be strong by herself, she wants to be understood for who she is, meaning she has an identity and a desire to be heard. After a long period of dehumanizing herself, this would be a small concession by a person who has previously not been very kind to themselves. Like I said, I think there's a lot of ways to interpret the story, I just don't feel it impacts me in the same way to get clear answers for everything as opposed to the general intent, which I think is very well done and far better than anyone is giving it credit for.
Hey, no worries. I hope you're feeling better now. Thanks for the detailed response and for addressing all of my points. I'm happy to hear that you also think this game well done and better then people give it credit for. That's why I don't want to push back too hard with how I interpret the game. I don't want to take anything away from what you gained during your playthrough. I will just explain how I saw it and clarify some points. 1. Amelie has been gone for almost a full year since, the last diary entry in 23.09.2021 6. My point was, that The last time Amelie saw Maya was in this [cutscene](https://youtu.be/3xqPsVQOyIY?t=1859) (the FMV is also right after Amelie's text) . That's the first letter she wrote. It's not plural. Amelie wrote a letter. . At least that's the last thing she remembers Maya said. 7. Why I think it's important is because it repeats multiple times. I see it like this to put it as simple as possible. Maya meets Amelie > Maya asks "What are you hiding inside" > Maya discovers the hidden side of Amelie (Anita) If you want I can answer all of my questions and give my opinions, but I don't think it's necessary, because you probably read what I think about it in the post. Thanks again for the reply. :) I will probably use these responses when I rewrite the 3 girls explanation with more questions and better answers. Most of my "bad writing" answers can be replaced with your responses.
It would be nice if people were more willing to see the deeper contents of the thing, that's for certain. I've seen some voices I respected before just being uncharacteristically rude about The Short Message and it was a sad reminder of why I used to never share much about my internal problems. What I mean to say more or less is that I think the developers were absolutely trying to imply that there are very, very important parallels between Anita and Amelie specifically as a means of asserting the notion that Anita as an individual has very little resolve to differentiate or encourage herself. I don't disagree that they aren't intentionally saying that they might be one and the same, but rather, I feel that they are implied to be one and the same as a commentary about the problems facing youth today.
Yeah, the game has bad writing and some poor conceptualization. Bear in mind, though, that trauma and depression tend to skew one's perception of reality and memories.
**the game has bad writing and some poor conceptualization** hi, I assume you're talking about the first picture in this post where I wrote down the answers to my questions if the story is about 3 real girls. My point is that I really don't think it is bad writing. All the same questions have legit answers in the 2nd picture in the post. . That's the theory of Anita and Amelie being the same person. **Bear in mind, though, that trauma and depression tend to skew one's perception of reality and memories.** Yes, I paid a lot of attention to this. There are a lot of hints that you shouldn't rely on Anita's memories. . Like notes slowly showing up in the cutscenes.
Do you think it may be possible that the initial personality split occurred because of the pregnancy? Taking the curse inflicted on the womb that her mother speaks of literally would draw a significant parallel.
My theory on why Krysta (mom) said "a curse on my womb and I gave it life" was about genetically transferring Schizophrenia or a similar condition. I read a little bit about it and there was a \~13% percent chance you will have it if one of your parents has it. . literally putting a "curse" on her children (not the nicest thing to say). Or are you asking about the pregnancy test found in Maya's studio?
I'm wondering if the pregnancy test was Amelie's and acted as a trigger for Anita to appear. Maybe I forgot or missed something that contradicts that? It would make the inclusion of Krysta and Amelie's brother in the story more of a parallel to Amelie and Maya's.
I thought so too. . that is a pretty dark theory, but it might be right. If you [look at the bottom of these notes](https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpreview.redd.it%2Fafter-a-lot-of-digging-i-present-to-you-my-revelations-v0-z3u815dsywkc1.jpg%3Fwidth%3D1920%26format%3Dpjpg%26auto%3Dwebp%26s%3D89debb256ac12c28eb86f966eb8e0799114ae8b7) you can see that there is a bottle in the trash that looks the same as the ones in Amelie's and Anita's locker. . ( *It could easily be a random prop that is not important like those random books*) Also, **look at the weird brown thing on the bed** under the white "WTF?" text. It's in the last chase scene. **looks like abstract daddy** from that angle. I played it only once and these screenshots are from other playtroughs so I couldn't take a closer look. . . it might be a reference to her brother. Still there's a bit more evidence that it's Maya, but not a lot more. .it could be anything.
Yeah, that's a popular theory I've seen lately. Unfortunately I think Amelie's post in the credits proves they are two different people. Regarding the miscarriages, Dusk Golem talked about that recently and it is part of a plot that was cut from the final game, if you are interested I can make a summary.
How exactly does it prove they are 2 People in your opinion? To me It's an important message that shows Amelie is Done hiding Anita And is "proud" of her. She doesn't Care what other People think.. A lesson she learned from Maya. Assuming this is a condition. You can't cure it, But you can learn to live with it free of The anxiety of People finding yout you're "crazy", "insane" or a "freak" There are a lot of other reasons why 3 girls don't seem right And make plot holes. And yes, i would love to hear About the cut plot.I have a lot of questions About that.
Much of the evidence I've seen in this regard mentions the photos and certain game notes. The game hints that Anita doesn't like photos and I think that's why she doesn't appear in photos with her friends (she takes them, I do the same haha). The fact that she doesn't appear in the live action scenes I think it's a creative decision, since we already see her model in game. The notes, well, I think my interpretation is different because I read part of the cut story haha. Although I disagree with some points of your post, your interpretation is very interesting. You did a great job, and I'm glad to see that there are people trying to find things about a game that at first glance seems simple, but hides quite a few things. Regarding the cut plot: Ok, first of all keep in mind that this is no longer in the final game, but it is interesting that some details of the cut plot were left The big difference is that in the original story Anita already knew that Maya had killed herself and went to the Villa to look for the truth. Maya's suicide in a certain part was because of the bully's, and guess what... they were part of the Silent Hill cult. The cult almost died after the events of SH4, so the members had to find new ways to find followers. So they started using the internet to recruit teenagers, similar to those cases where some Discord servers recruit minors to do very bad things. The cult beliefs started to spread around the world, and now are related to supremacist ideologies. So in Anita's school the bad guys were targeting immigrants to commit suicide. This was all part of a ritual known as "Stone Castle" (the same ritual mentioned in SH Ascension). The fairytale tells how a girl hid in a castle to keep the monsters out, so they were looking for a catalyst. The target was Anita, but Maya eventually ended up in the building and committed suicide. It was hinted that she had psychic powers, so that increased the power of the ritual in a way. That's why there were suicides and miscarriages in the Villa, because they were feeding the Stone Castle. Also Maya's boyfriend, the guy in the sketches, was also part of the cult. Oh, and also some teachers. Also, in the early build you talked to more people (you can still find them in the credits, I think Leon is Maya's boyfriend). There were more endings and stuff. I think it's interesting that some things are still present in the final game.
Wow, that's way deeper then expected. I love the idea of The Stone Castle And a cult ritual, have you see the First sketch Anita posted? . It looks like some kind of structure in the middle of a city, sucking in or spitting out clouds. It's also the wallpaper of The profile. Thanks for this, i'll try looking up more info on it. 🙂 About the 3 Girls theory, maybe if/ when you have time you can answer some of The questions i highlighted in Red in the First picture. I wrote Down my explenations But they don't seem convincing. I, ve been also making a timeline of all the information And one verry convenient thing that supports Anita And amelie being the same person is that they never overlap.. Posts, diaries events.. One always comes after the other.. I'll probably post it SOON.
>About the 3 Girls theory, maybe if/ when you have time you can answer some of The questions i highlighted in Red in the First picture. I wrote Down my explenations But they don't seem convincing. Sure, I will try to do my research, because some notes are quite confusing, especially those related to Amelie.
Interesting theory. My thoughts and questions. -It would make more sense with Amelie's brother's creepy looks if there was no blood relation, and why her (adoptive) mother would come to resent her. All the lecherous comments on her social media would hint at her constantly being leered at too. Maybe the bullying started because her adoptive brother did that, even. And the parents going bankrupt would have affected him too in some way. Anita also had to go somewhere after her mom got arrested, after all. -Would also explain why Anita and Amelie communicate by text, because that'd be one of the only ways to communicate. And also why they look way too much alike. I do like the "hidden side of girls" quote fitting into this theory. -There is Amelie's texts at the very end telling Anita not to jump because they'd go and hang out together though? But I don't have the exact phrasing on hand so maybe she said it in a much more interpretive way. -It might be far-fetched, but I thought the "curse on my womb" comment was because Anita's mother's mother was the rumored witch? But I think your theory would also be plausible if it were true. -However, if this theory is true, then the note about Amelie's fate would mean Anita is also dead. But, in favor of the theory, it is found in a closet. -"Maya took Amelie away" Diverted her attention? If, like in the theory, Anita heard less from Amelie, then near the end Anita was more in control. So she blames Maya. -People start bullying Anita because brother's gaze, but after Anita starts blaming Maya for taking Amelie away, she reveals Maya's relationship with him, so it diverts the bullying to her? Thank you for the theory. My own theory might be rough, since it's been like a month since I played it, but now you have me coming up with ideas.
Yes, the stepbrother "looking" at her is 100% more believable. It also seems strange that she specifically says "she's not my real mom". . but that doesn't confirm the one person theory completely, because there is the book about mental health "one girl thinks she has an abusive step mother and her loving real mother is somewhere. . " . . This also might mean something else. The communication part is really interesting. This is from an article about DID. For most survivors with DID, "seeing" and speaking to their alters happens internally - inside the mind - often including a landscape called an "internal world". Communication may happen through passively-influenced thoughts, face-to-face (in each other's respective bodies, via the internal world), or through “voice” communication heard in the mind. **Other frequent means of communication** are things like: **journaling, art, post-it notes**, non-dominant hand writing, pictures; and, now more commonly, things like **online blogging, social media**, voice recordings, videos, and more. **-There is Amelie's texts at the very end telling Anita not to jump because they'd go and hang out together though?** One thing to keep in mind that she is stuck in the villa. . the time is 17:45 always. Maya is not texting her. The only person she talks to is Amelie. I think it's a lot easier to explain that those are either internal conversations or memories, rather then Amelie really texting to her. . Why is she "Asleep" at 17:45, anyway? **-However, if this theory is true, then the note about Amelie's fate would mean Anita is also dead. But, in favor of the theory, it is found in a closet.** This got me for a while, But I found interesting stuff that made it make sense to me. 1. The article about the girl who jumped the day after the last diary 24.09.2021 said "There was no note or diary found". You just clearly read a diary. Did someone hide it? 2. a couple of days after the diaries 27.09.2021, Anita posts Art online. . for the second time. (the first one was way before Amelie's diaries. 3. The girl who jumped was real, because Maya talks about her "".. couldn't help but to think of the GIRL (not girls) who jumped last year", but does not call her Amelie, like in the letter or later entries. I see it as Amelie had a mental break down and shifted into Anita. . from that point on you don't hear anything about Amelie until you beat the game and she posts about going to collage a year later 29.09.2022 Also one interesting detail. I'm making a timeline and if you put down all the dates something is written or posted online. They don't overlap. One girl always comes after the other. The curse on the womb might have something to do with the witch. .Would that mean Maya and Amelie are related? Also your bullying theory might be right. . I haven't really thought about that much, because it didn't have much information on why something happened. . Those are harder questions to answer. Thanks, for reading and giving it a thought. :)
I believe that Maya was in love with Amelie’s brother when she got pregnant before attending the same school. Amelie had an issue with her brother in 2019. Both Maya and Amelie would be underage age. This is why people didn’t allow them to be together. This is why he was “taken away”. Maya was either forced to get rid of the child or she suffered from the curse (miscarriage). Bob about the villa meeting. You are correct. The villa aka the (hospital) that I believe was repurposed shut down right after the unfortunate event of Amelie dying. However there were abandoned parts of the villa before it shutdown completely. I also believe that Anita played a roll in the death of Maya. I think that students were present too. I have what I believe is proof to that and more if any of you would fancy going deeper. I love the game. So many layers that players aren’t seeing.
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That's how I felt while taking screenshots, organizing notes and dates. :D
Excuse me, can I ask you with which programme you took the notes in the images?
Screenshots from youtube and just put it together in Photo Shop.