Major spoilers for Shirley - I have questions

[Hibuki]

Ok, we know that Shirley was born to a Blader who was able to mimic human biology but I have the following questions:
1 - Do we know who is Shirley's mother? Is she alive or did she not survive Addramelech's experiments?
2 - In terms of biology, I do not think Shirley has a human father - I think it is more likely that her Blader mother was able to somehow mimic a pregnant human without actually having a relationship with a human male. I think that, because Bladers are essentially only Mud below the surface so a relationshitp with a human male should not be able to automatically lead to Shirley. Therefore, I think it is more likely that the Blader mother mimic-ed an already pregnant human mother.
This leads me to further speculate that maybe Shirley was originally a normal human baby to a normal pair of humans, however, her parents were killed during pregnancy. A wandering Blader who happened to be travelling with her pregnant mother saw that the infant actually survived and then mimic-ed Shirley's mother's body in order to create an environment within herself that would allow for an infant in pregnancy to survive and grow.
In the end of the day, Shirley is a human baby that was grown inside an artificial womb created by a Blader and therefore developed a connection to the Mud and that is how she is able to see what she sees.
3 - What happened to Kastina? - She said she was going North and that we will likely not see each other again (same as Delpha). I think both of them end up going to the same camp and might show up in the DLC.

I went on a bit of a tangent, apologies but I am genuinely curious - I really enjoyed the last interaction with Shirley at the Gate of Epitome and thought it was really precious. Shirley basically ends up becoming an equivalent to a prophet/messiah to the people.

P.S. I do not believe Ursula is the Blader that allowed Shirley to survive - if she was, she would have mentioned something during/after her encounter with Arrisa but she only spoke about Delpha at the time.

Let me know what you think - am I completely off, or am I onto something?

[TiamatNM]

Shirley's parents are Ursula and Delpha. Addramalech was surprised that a blader x human pairing resulted in a human offspring.

[Hibuki]

Originally posted by TiamatNM:

Shirley's parents are Ursula and Delpha. Addramalech was surprised that a blader x human pairing resulted in a human offspring.

If that is the case, why did neither of them not mention the infant?
Delpha probably didn't know but Ursula should have been aware that there was a baby inside of her. Therefore, she should have displayed some form of regret towards the end of her life.

[UnlimitedNC]

Originally posted by Hibuki:

If that is the case, why did neither of them not mention the infant?
Delpha probably didn't know but Ursula should have been aware that there was a baby inside of her. Therefore, she should have displayed some form of regret towards the end of her life.

Addramalech could have told her that she lost the baby in a fall or simply brainwashed her.

[TiamatNM]

Your topic says major spoilers in the title so I don't think they need to be marked.

Yeah, she doesn't mention Shirley when dying for whatever reason. Her memories were probably messed with by addremelech so maybe she just couldn't recover that memory. From how addramalech and assis were talking in a memory it sounds like Stone brought ursula to addramalech without realizing ursula was pregnant.

[Hibuki]

Originally posted by UnlimitedNC:

Originally posted by Hibuki:

If that is the case, why did neither of them not mention the infant?
Delpha probably didn't know but Ursula should have been aware that there was a baby inside of her. Therefore, she should have displayed some form of regret towards the end of her life.

Addramalech could have told her that she lost the baby in a fall or simply brainwashed her.

I guess that is a valid explanation. Kind of sad that Delpha doesn't realize who Shirley really is to him. But deep down he does feel a connection to her - that is why he was wondering about how she was doing and gave her the flower.
And, man, do I despise Addramelech even more for what he has done...

[Hibuki]

Originally posted by TiamatNM:

Your topic says major spoilers in the title so I don't think they need to be marked.

Yeah, she doesn't mention Shirley when dying for whatever reason. Her memories were probably messed with by addremelech so maybe she just couldn't recover that memory. From how addramalech and assis were talking in a memory it sounds like Stone brought ursula to addramalech without realizing ursula was pregnant.

Indeed, if it was early pregnancy, neither Delpha, nor Ursula would be aware of the infant... This is so hearbreaking...

[TiamatNM]

I didn't expect him to be a villain tbh he just seemed like kinda a goofy scientist at first, but he's prettymuch the worst person in the game.

[M.T. Fish]

Ursula might not have known she was pregnant and might have been comatose or already brainwashed when she gave birth.

[❤Toxic❤]

there are several notes in the game that he wanted to blackmail Ursula by Shirley, but Lilit (no info who is she) dissuaded him, and he simply decided to get the seeds and then use necro spells

[TheeLZ]

I am late but here is what I have inferred in accordance to the story.
Ursula left the Trailblazers to travel with Delpha.
They fell in love and of course played twister.
During their adventure, they were attacked by powerful Necros and were separated.
Delpha fell and hit his head and Ursula could not confirm or deny his death and went to search for him. The fall caused Delpha to lose all memories.
Ursula while tracking down Delpha, met Stone and another member of the Hubert School. Addramalech fooled Ursula into "helping him" while they "Searched for Delpha". During this time, he began to brainwash Ursula and conduct research on her. During this time, Ursula was not aware that she was in very early stages of pregnancy. Addramalech used this to his advantage as he could now study not only a Blader, but a being born from a blader and a human. He wanted to use Shirley as a bargaining chip but was dissuaded by Lilith (DLC character or Sequel Character/ I haven't seen her) Instead the truth of Shirley's birth was kept a secret from Ursula who was manipulated to the point she didn't even realize the changes to her body or the birth itself. She just had lapses in her memory. She might have regained this knowledge in time like Delpha did in the Arboretum, but Arissa unfortunately must end Ursula before she fully turns into a Necro. Preventing Ursula from learning about her own daughter. Delpha, never knowing that Ursula was pregnant, doesn't even have a reason to see Shirley as his daughter, yet... Something allows him to just know she is important to him. He asks Arissa to watch over her, even though he doesn't know her. He worries for her safety and wants the best for her. Like an innate fatherly instinct. If there is a continuation to the story, Arissa surely has pieced together the truth through the research documents. How can I infer this? She uses Research Documents to relay information to other characters like Assis. So Arissa most likely knows the truth but didn't tell Ursula as she knew her end was near and didn't want to cause distress to her. She wanted to tell Delpha but the shock of Ursula's death was profound that Arissa, being socially inept at the moment, thinks telling him about his daughter can wait. That or, OR!, since there is no concrete documentation, Arissa has not pieced together herself that Delpha is Shirley's father. Proof of Ursula being the mother is:
-Stone says Shirley is the girl from 12 years ago.
-Addramalech mentions stone brought Ursula to him.
-Addramalech memory shows Ursula was pregnant.
-Arissa acknowledged her powers as a Blader ability.
Now! The last "Plot hole". Shirley mentiions that she feels her "parents" in elysium. This is not her real parents, These are likely connections to the lost parts of Ursula and Delpha that Shirley is mistaking. Her powers have only just awakened at this point and she is trying to make sense of it all. So there is a real possibility she is just trying to make sense of something with little to no knowledge.
The story of these characters make a great side plot to the game. It's messed up and heart wrenching and is definitely worth exploring. Although it would be difficult to explore a story like this as a pregnant Ursula in a souls like game.

[Renn]

To add to what TheeLZ said in terms of the "Plot Hole", I'm pretty sure Shirley didn't have any special connections to anywhere in Elysium. She mentions her parents "must be there" because at this point, she still wants to believe that even though she doesn't have any evidence for it. She just hopes that once she's there, she will recognize them through those special threads she mentions. Deep down, she already knows they aren't there but she wanted to cling to that hope to the end.

[Tsaalyo]

Shirley's parents are Ursula and Delpha, this is known.

Adding on to what everyone else has said... ultimately, in the True ending, we know that Arissa will be Shirley's adopted mother. That's what will really matter.

As for Kastina, we'll no doubt see her in the next DLC.

[Veriti]

Originally posted by Tsaalyo:

Adding on to what everyone else has said... ultimately, in the True ending, we know that Arissa will be Shirley's adopted mother. That's what will really matter.

Arrisa does not seem like the type to be a mom. She feels more like a big sis or maybe even a little sister. Honestly if you want to joke around, you could say Shirley proposed to Arrisa with her "let's make a home" line and Arrisa accepted so now they're married. And Loskid and Millaire can be the weird aunts.