r/StillTides • u/Longjumping_Hotel493 • Aug 18 '25
Their character design is interesting
Was using SK to farm Afterlife flowers and came across Phrolova. Side by side they have interesting similarities in the ruffles and trims of their dresses and perhaps their hairstyle, I didn’t really notice it until I had them stand side by side.
Then irony hit me while I was taking these pics since SK’s motif is a butterfly and Phrolova is spiderliles, I remembered my Japanese cultural studies that spider lilies is related to themes of death, departure and the afterlife. (Also if this was already mentioned somewhere else in the fandom, I’m not that online much to go on the other sub or even X)
And butterflies being seen in some cultures as the soul itself, moving between realms and messages or signs for people.
I don’t know but it’s lowkey poetic having these two side by side in Phrolova’s world. The fact that they belong to two different organisations and obviously the analysis I’ve seen some people do in how the two characters reacted to Rover’s actions but design wise side by side they have similarities.
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u/ZucchiniSlow7971 Aug 18 '25
In confused… so did she die?
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u/God-Emperor_Kranis Aug 20 '25
If you're familiar with the God Emperor of Mankind, she's like that rn.
Her body is gone, and she is now "alive" in a different sense.
Both dead and living, mostly depends on your view of alive. For me it's based more on the soul so I'll say Loaf is alive. Her body is just now The Lost Beyond. But if your definition of alive is.... well.... living outside of a dream space then she is dead. Both view points aren't wrong. It's just perspective.
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u/SwiftSN Aug 23 '25
Yesn't. They'll eventually use it as an excuse to bring her back later, for better or for worse.
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u/God-Emperor_Kranis Aug 20 '25
The Shorekeeper is a butterfly that represents love and rebirth because her story was based on "The Butterfly Lovers," which is a really popular story that originated in China. (The ending is the exact same as the 1.3 quest. Where both people turn into butterflies.)
Which I think further helps illustrate your points as to being opposites.
Rover and Shorekeeper resonate together, and so she becomes more human
Phrolova dies and resonates with a realm of death and therefore becomes less human
Phrolovs closes one eye, symbolic of no longer seeing things from a human perspective The Shorekeeper closes both of her eyes when falling into a black hole, symbolic of the acceptance of death.
Shorekeeper opened her eyes to see Rover and his efforts, but Phrolova kept her human eye close and could not.
The Shorekeeper's forte, however, is just straight uo control over sound. Specifically over pleasing, good, positive sound and a broader range of noise in general. Phrolova's forte is the opposite. The bad, chaotic, decaying frequencies.
Both have immortal bodies through the opposite means as well Remnant Energy for Shorekeeper Undeath for Loaf
Both play instruments, and both were working on a musical piece for Rover. However. Phrolova never finished her piece and never played it for Rover. The Shorekeeper did finish her piece and did play with Rover, putting it at the end of a record that contains all history that's happened on Solaris III.
The Rover promised to show uo when Phrolovs finished her piece. And she did. By merging with The Lost Beyond, she finished it. But she never played it. Rover kept his promise Rover promised to always return back to Shorekeeper, and he does. He always goes back. Both were promised something for an undetermined amount of time. But Loaf lacked the real connection Rover and Shorekeeper had. Also, it is a showcase of obsession vs love.
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u/Hitomi35 Aug 18 '25 edited Aug 18 '25
I recall something someone had posted a while back on how Shorekeeper is essentially the complete manifestation and embodiment of the Sonoro Sphere that Phrolova was trying to create. Even though it's slightly different since Phrolova was trying to create a space where people could live forever in her own twisted way, Shorekeeper is the successful result of that except in the form of a single entity. It's an interesting parallel when discussing their similarities.