Work Text:
On the main update content
First of all, the part that absolutely deserves lavish praise: Avery’s after-work date invitations. There are so many of them, and the branches are so detailed—badminton, walks, car rides, oil massages, daily mood drinks, kissing on the couch after watching the news.
What shocked me the most was during a nighttime walk with Avery, when they brushed off someone they didn’t want to talk to by saying: *“I’m with my boyfriend/girlfriend enjoying the view.”* Avery has always been proud, even arrogant. They might treat the PC as a companion, but to call them boyfriend/girlfriend was beyond expectation. Even if it was just an excuse to get away, they still inadvertently acknowledged the legitimacy of their relationship with the PC.
If Avery places the PC in a “special” (but not equal) position, it also explains why at the party they delegate so much to the PC—socializing, persuading, toasting, ordering servants. The PC is essentially acting as the host, only without the title. Just like Avery didn’t quite recognize their own body after the ritual, the relationship with the PC has reached a new stage.
Speaking of the party: among the gatherings with Bailey, Quinn, Jordan, Remy, Blair, Harper, and others, Blair’s was especially memorable. Panderers are always flamboyant, dramatic, passionate yet calculating. Some think they’re vulgar, but such people will always find an audience. They seem self-aware in a “street smart” way. If they had Avery’s background, perhaps they’d be a socialite now. A fascinating character.
Avery’s different attitudes toward these guests were also striking. Their silent understanding with Bailey was funny, but they seemed most nervous with Remy, though Remy was clearly on their side. Wanting to stand as an equal with Remy must be one reason Avery longs for ascension—seeking a higher realm and the possibility of being acknowledged.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony was also a delightful surprise.
In the ascension ritual, the PC can actually choose to *smile*. That option felt uncanny and precise, as if it had been tailored for certain playstyles.
The montage of Avery’s childhood was also fascinating. This kind of exclusionary, one-on-one, almost surreal shared/re-lived trauma connects the PC and Avery at a soul-deep level (likely beyond Avery’s own expectation). Such revelations are rare even in ordinary relationships, let alone with someone like Avery—arrogant, aloof, without a true confidant. The impossibility of voluntary disclosure makes this accidental exposure even more raw, forging an unusually tight bond.
Like Harper and Remy’s fox-and-elk bond, the PC and Avery can be read as becoming such a tightly bound, secretive pair. The ritual’s chosen partner seems meaningful—not just because “the PC is the PC.” One could even interpret the ascension ritual as a kind of blood-moon wedding: formal dress, a kiss before witnesses, blessings, and a uniquely significant union.
Finally, about Avery’s home: their domestic state is surprisingly endearing. There are several variations of their sleeping descriptions. The mansion is so large it’s easy to get lost, and Avery consistently appears in the lounge, pool, or garden at night, but never in the display room or kitchen. The mornings have a separate routine. Why never the display room? Perhaps a narrative necessity, so the PC’s theft isn’t exposed too quickly.
It is also notable that the PC’s piano playing is only appreciated when Avery is watching sports in the lounge.
It would be wonderful to have more dialogue options with Avery later. Even if they don’t always respond, additional options for conversation and affection would enrich the domestic phase. Unlike other Lis, Avery is more likely to reject the PC’s affection. Their love is conditional, finite, scarce—that’s what makes it special.
### On the title’s meaning
This update is called *Pride Cometh*, and the achievement for completing Avery’s storyline is also called *Pride Cometh*. This seems to play on the Bible verse: *“Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”* Pride links to destruction, and Avery certainly has a haughty spirit. In one branch, they literally fall.
But when Avery successfully ascends, the popped-up achievement is *Pride Cometh*. This could hint that Avery may still fall later, even as an ascended being. Such fated, inescapable doom feels particularly cruel for a character of this kind.
There is also the question of how the two surviving branches may eventually interact.
### On Avery’s instrumentalization in *Pride Cometh*
Avery does show instrumentalization tendencies in *Pride Cometh*, but the update is far too grand to dismiss for that reason. The ascension route feels like Avery’s personal storyline, while the “saving Avery” route is the PC’s storyline. In the ascension route, Avery fulfills their own ambition—no instrumentalization problem there.
The failed ascension route has drawn the most attention. Some read it as Avery being “killed” or forced to kill, but the text does not depict blood or explicit death. In this game, disappearances often function as narrative exits rather than definitive deaths.
In contrast, the *saving Avery* route could be seen as the one that truly instrumentalizes them. DoL doesn’t require players to self-insert. Players often use the PC as a tool for mischief, and forcing Avery into a “saved” role seems more like purification: Avery misbehaved without punishment, so the player punishes them, then magnanimously grants them life again.
From a universal perspective, Avery’s cult involvement is dangerous, and they’re not a “good person.” But do they really need saving? For the player, changing someone’s fate and making them “better” is enough to feel valuable. Avery’s own struggles, motives, or origins may be overlooked.
Avery left their family at 18, endured harsh college years, built themselves up, moved to Rapechester a decade ago, fought to network with high society, and built a skyscraper like Babel. All those astonishing efforts can vanish at the whim of a player. They don’t even know who sabotaged them, yet they must thank the player—their supposed savior.
If Avery *must* be saved, it might be more fitting to acknowledge their princess-and-dragon duality: both the princess needing rescue and the dragon blocking the path. Reducing them to only one role seems insufficient.
**Bouquet, Frustration, Anger: On Avery’s Suspended Identity**
In the *Pride Cometh* update, Avery seems to feel guilty for venting their frustration and anger on the PC. They try to express this guilt by buying a bouquet of roses and apologizing. From Avery’s reaction after the PC refuses the bouquet, it might be read that their apology is not entirely sincere. It could be more of a performance, or perhaps a way of soothing themself. If someone truly felt sorry for hurting another person, then—even though rejection might cause temporary humiliation or feelings of not being accepted—they would likely return to trying to maintain the relationship or adjust their self-concept. Avery’s frustration–venting cycle does not appear to change: they are repeatedly provoked by the PC, lash out violently, and then feel frustrated again at their own loss of control.
I think Avery’s frustrations may be connected to their uncertainty about their own social position. The montage-like description of Avery’s memories after the ritual suggests that, in childhood, Avery did not yet have a sense of “social class difference.” They played with strangers, shared their collections, and their tearful reaction when another child fell seems to indicate Avery felt a strong personal connection to that fall.
> "I-is," child Avery says. "Is he okay?"
> "Don't you dare spare a thought for that vermin," Avery's father says. "You can't invite scum like that here as if they're your equal."
When Avery asked their father this question, the harsh reply could have reinforced Avery’s insecurity and instilled certain beliefs: *“you are above some people”* and *“some people are not worthy of being treated as human or as equals.”* It seems that young Avery internalized these ideas; otherwise, they might have had to bear the psychological weight of having caused another person’s fall.
> "What the fuck do you mean?" Young Avery says. "You always said I was better than them. Why can't I take what I want?"
> His father takes a step closer. "That's your excuse? You bring such awful attention to our family, and that's what you have to say for yourself?"
> "You always take what you want. From servants. From me."
> "You think I take from you? Fine. I'm done protecting you. I disown you. Get the fuck off my property."
> "I'll rise higher than you ever could."
> "Out!"
In this confrontation, Avery already seems to have absorbed their father’s rules. Based on the QA, Avery’s scandal may have stemmed from sexually assaulting someone of roughly their own class, which brought shame to the family. Here, Avery’s use of *better* could already extend beyond “birth” to include looks, abilities, and broader qualities. They may have believed their victim was inferior, and therefore subject to their will. Because the two were not equals, Avery could see themself as superior, holding the power to dispose of the other. As the QA also notes, Avery’s parents did not necessarily condemn the assault itself; their concern was more about the scandal and disgrace. What disappointed them most may have been Avery’s inability to suppress the scandal, rather than the act itself.
From Avery’s responses, it seems that in front of their father, they are small, controlled. The father is the taker, and Avery is the one taken from. Avery even places themself on the same level as the servants, all subject to the father’s predation. Their words—“Why can’t I take what I want” versus “You always take what you want. From servants.”—might suggest the father also exploited servants, perhaps something whispered in the household. The phrase *From me* could echo Avery’s sense of being a target as well, rather than implying incest—it may be more of an emotional resonance.
The father’s words about “protection” and disapproval of taking seem to indicate that, in his view, what Avery did was simply their duty; he may have framed himself as protector rather than exploiter. Looking again at the absence of the “mother” in Avery’s account and the way their father’ s position, it seems Avery perceives themself as lower than both parents, closer to a servant, isolated. The father’s contempt may have fueled Avery’s defiance, but still within the father’s logic: *my revenge must be to rise higher than you.*
Perhaps this is why Avery turned toward the cult—it displayed dazzling privileges, aligning with their imagination of the “higher.” In Avery’s mind, civil society is inseparable from their parents; any success there would inevitably be tied to them (for example, birth affording greater opportunities). Thus Avery may have felt they needed to seek a new domain, one with its own hierarchy, to exercise their ambition. This reminds me of Kafka’s *Letter to His Father*: *“You are the measure of all things to me. What was not covered by your presence, or lay beyond your reach, seemed to me to be outside existence… But in line with your gigantic figure, such domains were few and far between.”* Although Avery’s stance is very different from Kafka’s (defiance versus submission), both seem to be driven to a similar result: escape and reconstruction in a new realm, even one their parents disapprove of.
In this sense, Avery’s understanding of identity may carry two traumas. The first is the fall of a friend; the second, being disowned (which also led to conflict with the father and later the cult). Because of this, Avery may see the PC’s identity in multiple ways, just as they hold multiple perspectives on their own. When Avery asks the PC to wear formal attire, the PC could resemble “child”; when asked to wear servant’s clothes, the PC takes on the role of “servant,” while Avery casts themself in the father’s position. Before the chase begins, Avery’s line is striking: *“I work hard for you outside, and this is what I get?”* This clearly echoes the father’s words: *“You think I take from you? Fine. I’m done protecting you.”* In the rage chase, Avery seems to reenact the trauma of themself and their father, only with roles reversed. Because they are at once perpetrator and victim, their apology feels suspended—they know they are wrong, guilty for their anger and displacement, yet they cannot deny their father’s logic. To do so would mean undermining their effort to surpass him, and admitting to the many harms they have caused. Thus they can only accept the PC’s forgiveness (*I am different*), but cannot accept the PC’s rejection (*you are beneath me, yet you treat me so—this is your fault*).
To me, Avery’s repeated cycle of frustration–outburst–guilt–frustration seems tied to the disciplinary imprint of the father and the scars of class trauma. Their apologies, bouquets, and anger don’t read as simple emotional expressions, but rather as gestures of suspended identity. It appears difficult for Avery to act solely as perpetrator or victim, superior or inferior; instead, they oscillate between these poles. They are always performing “transcendence,” while at the same time revealing the limits of their inability to truly transcend. Of course, this is just one way of reading the text, and I may be over-interpreting. But I really enjoy how *Pride Cometh* leaves space for multiple interpretations, and I’d love to hear how others see Avery’s struggles.
Vrelnir:
It's no problem at all.
I've had people comment that Avery "warms up" to the PC more readily than expected. There's referring to the PC as their "boyfriend/girlfriend," as well as sleeping in the same bed. Beneath it all, Avery has a longing for companionship, as twisted as it is.
They indeed also delegate the role of host. Giving it to the PC is socially acceptable, and allows them to focus on the tasks they consider more important.
Avery was most nervous with Remy, and their desire to be Remy’s equal is clear. Though if they were to achieve this, they would then desire to be their superior.
The option for the PC to smile during the ascension ritual just felt natural.
Avery’s chosen partner for the ritual is meaningful. It’s not the usual ritual for the hound’s ascension, but Harper interfered with the process before the game’s start. That aspect belongs more to Harper’s story and may be explored in the future.
The blood moon ritual was at one point considered as an explicit wedding, but it was left unstated to avoid overloading the event.
The mansion’s emptiness only became apparent during testing and bugfixing. The focus had been on Avery's returning-home events and the parties. The unused rooms give the wrong impression, and an alternative UI was considered, but the update had already taken a record-breaking length of time. These spaces may be fleshed out in the future.
Avery has no events in the display room because they rarely spend time there. It exists to impress guests, mostly, and as a distraction to thieves.
The PC needs more topics of conversation with Avery. One idea is letting the PC ask for advice on other questlines, which would also fit the mansion being an alternative main home to the orphanage.
The name *Pride Cometh* relates directly to the Bible verse. When Avery’s fate in the tower was first shared with PurityGuy, they said “Pride cometh before a fall,” and that stuck. There was consideration of an alternative Feat for the ascension ending, but the decision was to keep one across all branches.
If there is a fall after the ascension ending, it will not belong to Avery specifically. The two surviving branches will tie in with different endings of the main story, rather than merge.
The “saving Avery” route belongs to the PC, and letting them fall (including the option to kick them) belongs to Avery. Saving Avery is interfering, violating them in a way. It can read as a power fantasy for those who identify with their PC. The “kick” option is more of a misdirection or trick.
Avery is not considered “killed,” any more than Whitney is in their dismissal event. Avery’s fall is treated in a similar way: ambiguous, missing, with no body found. Avery is master of their fate. Their striving is impressive, but the forces hostile to them remain veiled, making the fall feel empty. Landry and the brown fox have much greater influence.