A neat little detail about the Rorschach test

just a cool detail I wanted to talk about (has major spoilers btw)

Foreword

This is very not spoiler friendly. It literally revolves around the most important parts of the story. Sorry.

I just wrote up this guide because I like writing about things I like, and this was fun to write about. I had a blast writing it, and maybe you'll have some fun reading it.

This is about the inkblot papers (Rorschach tests) found alongside each patient's vinyl record.

Each inkblot represents each monster (which is obvious), which also, in turn, represents what that monster represents.
Each inkblot is also shown to all patients, with each of them having appropriate reactions based on the feeling the monster represents.

Here is what each one represents, as a basis for how each patient reacts.
The Watcher: Anxiety - Brings up images of public presentation and self-image.
The Shade: Fear - Brings up images of what makes the patient afraid, even if lightly.
The Bull: Anger - Brings up images that seem to upset the patient or make them sad.
The Flash: Trauma - Brings up images possibly related to prior trauma.

I won't spend that much time on the "Focus" monster of each patient, since they have an entire level revolving around it. I'll just mention what sticks out in their examinations.
Also, none of these descriptions are definitive and confirmed. I just liked sharing my own opinion and ideas, so all of these are based on that. If you have any other ideas, I'd love to hear them in the chat!

Virginia Ruhl

Honestly, it seems like beauty pageants are just all around evil and degrading to everyone's psyche. To the person reading this: beauty doesn't matter, you're still red on the inside :)
Has the least bangin' song on the soundtrack (excluding Desmond). Sorry... :\
I also kinda relate...

Inkblot 1 - The Bull: Anger
"A flower... but it's broken."
Veeery ambiguous. A broken flower has major connections to her own incident with the mirror; She could consider her own beauty (akin to a flower) being broken by the mirror. It could also symbolize the beauty of a routine being broken by Eden's Grove being shut down. No matter the connection you draw, it all has connections to anger in some way. When Virginia is asked to change her routine, she feels anger (towards Homa Mart); When Virginia mentions her mirror scars or the past stitches, she feels anger (towards her mother). Whatever the case, this will always be connected to anger.

Inkblot 2 - The Shade: Fear
"A crowded auditorium."
This one is simpler to explain than the others. Since her severe anxiety revolves around being judged in public spaces, it makes sense that she would be afraid of public spaces. The 'crowded' and 'auditorium' parts combine to make the sheer worst nightmare of anyone who isn't comfortable in public spaces (which I, myself, can heavily relate to). Made even worse if you're the one on stage.

Inkblot 3 - The Flash: Trauma
"Two people fighting..."
The ellipsis is telling. It could be a possible reference to domestic disturbance. However, this could be a reference to two people fighting during a pageant, not in a household (be it involving herself or not). It does say that she suffered verbal abuse from pageants, so it makes the latter scenario more likely

Inkblot 4 - The Watcher: Anxiety (Virginia's Focus)
"A monster... with 6 arms... like snakes... I'm sorry, I just sound incredibly stupid."
D: "Not at all. There are no wrong answers, Virginia. How does this last inkblot make you feel?"
"Powerful."
I'm not going to lecture you on everything you already know, since you already played the game (right?). All I'm going to say is that the 'Powerful' bit is referring to how she feels confronting her anxiety (which is Virginia's specialty, as Desmond says in the ending).

Allen Shore

His song has some of the best lyrics in my opinion.
No further comment.

Inkblot 1 - The Watcher: Anxiety
"(laugh) A trumpet player."
Clearly a reference to some sort of public performance, which shows the pattern of these inkblots. You can tell that Allen doesn't seem to have any problems with public speaking, even laughing to show his lack of tension. 'Trumpet player' could be an analogy for something, but I got nothing.

Inkblot 2 - The Flash: Trauma
"A tall tree? A tower maybe? Casting a long shadow."
This could represent Allen's time at the lighthouse, which encompasses many details, any of which could be considered traumatic. Focusing on the 'long shadow' part is more telling, though it still doesn't directly answer any questions.

Inkblot 3 - The Bull: Anger
"A small sailboat, out to sea... It's raining hard. Maybe... Maybe it's caught in a storm."
The boat is a clear reference to the USS THANATOS (even though that was a steamboat, it still applies). This could show his anger towards the boat, or even towards himself for not being able to keep the lighthouse going during that storm.

Inkblot 4 - The Shade: Fear (Allen's Focus)
"Whoa... trippy. I'm not sure what I'm looking at... It looks like... A black hole. Or... oor... Like, a sinkhole - Yeah that's it. A sinkhole, endless at the bottom, ya know?"
"That one made me feel something, Doc... It put a pit in my stomach. Does that mean it worked? The test?"
It's clear what this means, so I'm not going to get into it. Consumed by fear, etc, etc.

Max Nygaard

This one is a tough nut to crack. Only 3 images, and with little description. Fitting for Nygaard though, given that he seems to have an issue with opening up (and less imagination than the others, no offense meant). These few descriptions are very loose-ended, since these are very ambiguous, but this is what I think, based on the patterns I've spotted.
Has the least lyrical flow in his song :\

Inkblot 1 - The Watcher?: Anxiety?
"Uhh... nothing. No, really, I see nothing that makes sense..."
D: "Try"
"Uh... a baby. A crying baby."
I think this one is the Watcher, given the image of the crying baby and its message. However, I do see some logical loopholes you could jump through to say that this has to do with Shade or Flash (Fear or Trauma). There really isn't much I can say about the crying baby, other than that it may relate to his own child or himself as a child. The best connection I can make is that he may have anxieties deep inside about scarring his own child, which also makes sense why he doesn't recognize it at first, though any conclusion I can draw is very speculative.

Inkblot 2 - The Flash?: Trauma?
"An animal... Some sort of beast."
Extremely ambiguous and non-descriptive. Though, I think this could have very loose connections to his father (and step-father, perhaps), who were both abusive (comparable to a 'sort of beast'), though I'm really stretching for that one. Either way, it helps show Max' stubborn cooperation with this exercise. Not wanting to talk about the issue does line up with how he doesn't talk about his father or step-father's tendencies. I also think this could be the Flash since the others don't exactly fit the description of an animal (though, I could see this being Watcher instead).

Inkblot 3 - The Bull: Anger (Max' Focus)
"A bull, that's what it is. Big ol' bull comin' to get ya."
Do note his assertiveness on this inkblot in comparison to the others. No further comment.

Lucas Cole

Another one with 3 inkblots sucks. I'm just saying, it would've been cooler to have more insight, given just how important Lucas is to the story, especially in comparison to others. I'm not that upset about it though, just saying it would've been cool.
Also, has the most bangin' song on the soundtrack, without question.

Inkblot 1 - The Shade: Fear
"Looks like a house on a lake."
Refers to his own cabin. He feels consumed by the fear of others not believing him and chooses to stay inside his cabin instead, hence this.

Inkblot 2 - The Watcher: Anxiety
"Some sort of mushroom cloud."
Represents the anxiety of danger, whereas a nuke could symbolize an inescapable danger. He feels anxious that the government is going to get him because of his knowledge on Agent Rainbow.

Inkblot 3 - The Flash: Trauma (Lucas' Focus)
"Oh, uh... Kind of looks like a, uh... Hey, can I get a drink of water? I'm not feeling too hot all of a sudden."
Looking at it might've given him a flashback from the war. No further comment.

Afterword

Thanks for listening.
It means a lot to me.
I'm not gonna ask you to like the guide or give it a reward or a favorite or anything.
You do what you want to.
Take care.

~ Luvv, Lucy







Addendum: since I felt like telling you about my opinion on the songs, I figured I'd leave a little list here that fully explains my thoughts on them (along with ranking them, best to worst, in my opinion), just in case you were a little confused. Cheers <3
1 - Me and the Boys: No critique. This ♥♥♥♥ cool. B)
2 - Bottom of the Pit: The low start makes the lead guitar a little shocking when it comes in, but it's honestly a good one. This is what 'A Doll's House' would be if it was awesome. B)
3 - Whatever It Takes: I love slow instruments and playing with stereo. No further comment.
4 - Is It Me?: I have a odd feeling that this song "just isn't it, pal." Just a gut feeling. It has nothing to do with the genre, just that this song feels off.
5 - A Doll's House: good rhythm, but I'm not a huge fan of laments. It's only here by process of elimination, since the others are just better than it (which doesn't make this bad, but still). Shorter than the others (I think).
6 - Here Comes a Savior: sounds more like a credits song than an actual song. Whenever I mention the 'worst' of something, I exclude this song, because it stays at the bottom of the list. Still not too bad though: it reminds of the ending song from 'Cry of Fear' ("One Way or Another" by muddasheep ; Those drums are SO familiar!)
I would like to clarify: I do think that Living Tombstone has a damn Midas touch when it comes to music, so none of these songs are bad by any capacity, just that this is how I rank them.

[mo dragon]

I like this analysis, if you don't mind though I think I could slightly change it for Max Nygaard, I just think it would be more fitting but hear me out, the baby crying is probably the shade inkblot, if that is meant to be his fear then you can definitely tell that he might have almost seen Maddy, and as for the second one, I think it would be the watcher inkblot, it just makes a little more sense to me if that was the visual, and as for the emotion of anxiety, perhaps he thought it could attack Maddy or worse, but i'm not to confidant on that one. and that's it, the rest are perfect for my understanding, great theory over all.

[hillbillyal]

One detail I noticed about the Rorschach tests is that they all look kinda like my parents fighting. I was always curious why the developers included that.

[Miankot]

Great observation.
This just shows how much thought went into this game. I love it.