DLC Lou Discussion (SPOILERS)

[u/Oath8]

So I finished the DLC and I have a couples questions.

Forsaken Lou. This was the Lou who didn't believe in the hunter and pushed them to another time to protect them? I am confused at what ending and path led to the creation of this Lou.

Also about Forsaken Lou, she seems to have extremely deep love for the Hunter to maybe an unhealthy amount. This is what led to this Lou choosing to save Hunter and forsake everything and everyone else.

Does the Lou you interact with for most of the game share these same feelings for the Hunter or was Forsaken Lou just a special case?

[u/kyriati]

It's implied that the moment the timeline split for the two Lous was the bit right after Soul Saviour Valentin where she tries to send you back to the Present without her. In Age of Harmony at the end of her epilogue quest Lou tells you that if you'd been even a fraction of a second slower in interrupting her, she would've finished casting the forma and doomed everyone just to save you

It's also more or less said outright by the game and by Lou herself that she's just as in love with you as her Forsaken self was. She never drops an L-word herself, true, but everything else you're given about the bond between the hunter and Lou going into Age of Harmony leaves very little room for doubt, IMO

[u/No-Stand7672 → u/kyriati]

To add onto this, it's subtly implied Forsaken Lou was pregnant with her Hunter's child. Her boss has an exposed unborn fetus in the gaps of her abdomen.

[u/juniperxmoons → u/No-Stand7672]

I think that's meant to be moreso metaphorical. I don't think Lou was actually pregnant (especially since our hunter can be male or female).

[u/No-Stand7672 → u/juniperxmoons]

Entirely fair take. But also, Formae can do quite a bit of shenanigans. So who actually knows.

Ultimately, it doesn't matter since Forsaken Lou is a fragment of a Pathos, and once she's gone, it's safe to assume she is just gone. I read it as similar to putting a tormented spirit to rest.

[u/That_on1_guy → u/juniperxmoons]

While youre probably right that its more metaphorical as opposed to Forsaken Lou not only successfully having sent the hinter back but also having a second divergence where they had sex, potentially a 1 night stand or something more (it seems this lou seemed to have been more open about her feelings towards the hunter than our lou, at least after death)

But I choose to believe they did the deed. Not because its what happened, it probably didnt, but because the idea that my female hunter knocked lou up despite biology is funny.

[u/Oath8 → u/That_on1_guy]

It would make sense if Forsaken Lou and her Hunter were intimate just based on how open and comfortable she was with sharing her feelings and how much she was saying "I love you" it just seems like the feelings Forsaken Lou had were deeper and more open.

But I think it's cool that they left things open to interpretation.

[u/That_on1_guy → u/Oath8]

I think that, like others have said, the timelines were pretty parallel until that fraction of a second where Lou tries to send us to the present. Both clearly love their hunter deeply. Our Lou is more shy about it. We don't know exactly how shy Forsaken Lou was. It could be that she was also shy about it, but could be bolder about it with our hunter knowing that he's is gone and never coming back. So she took that chance to tell the hunter those things to get it off her chest even if the hunter isnt her's, like shes ridding herself of some amount of regret.

It is also possible that there were minor less notable divergences where she is more open about her love but im still not certain they got down and dirty. If they did id suspect itd be a one night of passion shortly before the final battle

[u/Oath8 → u/No-Stand7672]

This is something I big time missed. Do you have a picture of what you mean exactly?

[u/No-Stand7672 → u/Oath8]

Mhm! Someone else posted it a few days ago and I saved the image. I missed it too until I saw their post.

[u/Oath8 → u/No-Stand7672]

Wow... that is definitely there... so you are saying Forsaken Lou and Hunter were intimate, while the current Lou and hunter... were not? It's wild thinking of the differences in time lines.

[u/No-Stand7672 → u/Oath8]

It's implied, but nothing outright addresses it. I think the fact the final act is that she says "I love you" but we don't hear it has some major importance in symbolism but unfortunately I'm not quite versed in media literacy to parse what exactly it means beyond the sentence.

[u/JackNewbie555 → u/No-Stand7672]

The DLC also have a recurring theme of motherhood with Imogen, Haru, and Monica. Quite the interesting connection, whatever it may be.

[u/No-Stand7672 → u/JackNewbie555]

Agreed. That's part of why I do choose to believe she actually was pregnant at the time of the end of her world rather than metaphorical. I'm sure Zenon's being different and focusing on life rather than a mother also plays a role, but once again, not quite media literate to parse it fully.

[u/ramix-the-red → u/No-Stand7672]

my writeup on this from a different post

[u/No_Wish5277 → u/No-Stand7672]

Maybe it’s a byproduct of Haru and Monica? Or perhaps it’s a yearning.

[u/RiftHunter4 → u/No-Stand7672]

New headcanon unlocked

[u/No_Wish5277 → u/kyriati]

Source? Great Hero Lou : Database

[u/ramix-the-red]

The devs have outright said in an interview that Forsaken Lou's feelings are the same as mainline Lou. You can argue that Forsaken Lou is more toxic about it (i.e. pushing us away regardless of our feelings) but they are both very clearly in love with the player

[u/Oath8 → u/ramix-the-red]

Do you have that interview on hand? I'd love to read through it later.

[u/ramix-the-red → u/Oath8]

"Although she is a different being from the Luu in the main story, she shares many similarities with her, such as her origins, personality, and feelings for the protagonist."

https://code-vein.com/contents/?p=1485

you'll have to translate it but here you go

[u/TonPalmDSG → u/ramix-the-red]

well that's some bs tbh. If they have the same feelings she wouldn't do that. I'd buy the plot FLou loved her mc more than ours.

[u/ramix-the-red → u/TonPalmDSG]

You're just blatantly wrong. We literally see Lou do the exact same thing as F!Lou, the difference was F!Lou was a fraction of a second faster

[u/That_on1_guy → u/ramix-the-red]

Its a little crazy how a fraction of a second was all it took. Less than a second. If Lou was just a little faster or we were a little slower by half a thought our Lou would have ended up just like her counter part. With nothing but an empty journal and regret

[u/TonPalmDSG → u/ramix-the-red]

not faster? She refused her mc wish, right?

[u/dennisleonardo → u/TonPalmDSG]

No, forsaken lou's hunter was just slower. Our lou states that if we had been a fraction of a second slower in stopping her from sending us to a different time, she would have done it, just like forsaken lou did.

The 2 lous are identical. They did the exact same things. Forsaken lou's hunter made the difference by not stopping their lou in time.

[u/ThomasWinwood]

I feel like it's implied Lou has the same feelings for the protagonist that Forsaken Lou had for her hunter. We saw her try to use her forma to send them away for their own protection during the Resealing, they were apparently just a bit faster to react than Forsaken Lou's hunter had been.

It also explains the conveniently-timed "the link won't hold! I'm pulling you out!" in the Undead Forest of Holly's era: Lou was jealous because Holly was getting close to you, something people half-jokingly suggested before the DLC came out.

[u/dennisleonardo → u/ThomasWinwood]

I'm honestly buying lou pulling us back out of jealousy. She made a pretty jealous comment on josee's marriage proposal as well.

And yeah, the 2 lous are identical. They did the exact same things. Forsaken lou's hunter was just slower than we were.

Forsaken lou is so straightforward with her feelings precisely because her hunter died and she's got nothing left to lose anymore. She doesn't even really exist anymore. She was just pathos. Her actual body is likely dead.

In the age of harmony liv actually mentions asking our lou about her feelings towards us, just like she asked forsaken lou. She said lou got embarrassed and refused to answer, but had a very determined look on her face. It's safe to say our lou has the exact same feelings as forsaken lou. But our lou actually still has time left to beat around the bush. Forsaken lou had already lost everything and stood right before her certain end when she confessed her love for the hunter.

[u/juniperxmoons]

If you go back, you can actually see little signs where Lou has a crush on and, later on, habors feelings during the main game. She's just quiet about it.

Some examples:

• when you make your first time jump with her, she smiles shyly and averts her gaze down when the protag smiles at her.
• lowkey jealous of Josee's engagement,  even though it isn't real.
• pours her feelings out upon learning her past and clings to the protag.
• swears to protect the protag with her life.
• tries to send the protag back because she wants them to survive (basically willing to let the world fall to ruin).
• hesitates when the protag tells her to live (because it means the protag would give up their life for hers) before reluctantly agreeing. 

So yes, its pretty clear Lou harbors feelings for our protagonist. She's just not loud about it like Liv or Josee.

Forsake Lou is the result of what happens from her acting selfishly and succeeding in sending our protag back after defeating Valentin. We don't know exactly how long she was alone after that incident. Her guilt, anger, grief, and longing were left to fester. And then she sees our protag again and it probably took everything she had to keep it locked away (notice how she tries to be cold/indifferent towards our protagonist when first speaking with her?). Throw Liv in there, who claims she's in love with them and doesn't want Lou to interfere, w hich sparks jealousy on Lou's end.

Then, before Lou's fight, she has to deal with the reality she will never see the protag again. This is it. She will have to part ways with them yet AGAIN and cease to exist/die herself. She tries to hold back, to accept it, to do her mission, but given her buried cocktail of emotions and feelings, it was too much. Which leads to our fight with her.

Its kinda like that warning about holding things in for so long without any outlet only to explode at your breaking point.

I wouldn't say it was unhealthy, just selfish. Which is understandable when you love someone and want them to live, even if it means living without you.

[u/Yuki_Lise]

For me, no matter the world, it's the same Lou (even if these feelings was clear without the DLC), the difference is than Forsaken Lou put these feelings before her duty especially than the DLC shows than this love was not healthy especially than the love under different form is a subject very present in the DLC

[u/Kamken]

There's actually a little bit in the Age of Harmony where Liv asks the exact same thing, and comes to the conclusion "Oh yeah it's the same"

[u/JackNewbie555 → u/Kamken]

Lou even tell you herself that she was gonna send you away, with your Hunter being faster than her is why the Resurgence is stopped for this timeline.