Anecdotes / Project B[i]rdcage

Tower I

See the buffoon in black. See him well.
He who allows no rift. No tear.
He who works to achieve his own task.
Under the burden of duty and contract,
he leads countless travelers through
the wonder that is The Cage.
Our next stop is a tragic world filled
with casualty; a miserable world tinged
with the bitter flavor of regret.

Tower II

There is a shade of consciousness.
A cloud of desire and emotion who
speaks without knowing his meaning.
His wings are things to hinder him;
he entices the powerful to dispel them.
Now let us begin. Let memory reign.
Farcical memories filled with japes.
Farcical memories dripping with irony.

Empress I

They are happy memories of the past.
She knows the joy of a normal "family."
As a wife. As a mother. As a neighbor.
Her boy hugs her with all his might.
Her husband smiles and sips his coffee.
She wants no luxury. No excess.
There is no better life than this.
So long as she has her family,
she needs nothing else.

Empress II

In the sad reality of a distant future,
she suffers a neverending cycle of war.
She is a warrior. A pawn. A prisoner.
Her heart burns with flames of revenge.
How many had she lost in search of hope?
How many of her selves had broken down
in tears in utter despair?
She seeks no luxury. No past.
All she wants is death for the Flowers.

The Moon I

Explosions. Bombardments. Hues of death.
Each night, a fearful past pays a visit.
Remorse and shame become raging fire,
burning his heart and soul for eternity.
Compared to this pain, the verbal abuse
he endures is but a summer breeze.
He will never change his way of life.
Instead, he continues to inspire himself
so past tragedies will never repeat.

The Moon II

It is a tale of conflict and friendship.
A tale of an unremarkable squadron
that remains on the front lines.
A tale of a mocked captain—a leader
caught between the past and the future.
He fears mistakes, yet prays for peace.
He will never change his way of life.
It is the very flames that eat away at him
that allow him to maintain his ideals.

The World I

This is the keeper of the ■■■■■■.
She keeps away the tears and the rips,
the black birds and the distortions.
She stands watch so the stories are kept
exactly the way they are meant to be.
The stories are hers. The Cage is hers.
Ah, but will the next tale have a delightful
grand finale brimming with joy?
Or will the curtains fall on a tragedy?

The World II

That is the destroyer of the ■■■■■■.
In a cluster of desire and emotion,
she shatters both plot and rules.
How she detests those black wings!
She keeps fighting to fix the stories—
to make them as they are supposed to be.
Ah, however...
Who was it that decided?
Who said all stories must be happy?

Emperor I

The man conquers the mountain.
He alone bests the vastness of nature.
Hardships become like friendships.
He basks in otherworldly exaltation.
There is no peak he cannot reach,
no ridge he cannot traverse.
He is the king.
The first to see the sunrise.
For he sits astride the highest point.

Emperor II

The man conquers the mountain alone
with no thought for his wife or child.
He is criticized for being selfish.
Blamed for being vain.
Mocked for being savage.
Unable to resist the mountain's pull,
he journeys for his own impulses.
He is king, and kings are ever arrogant.
For they never see the truth in time.

Judgement I

Is this fulfillment of ambition,
or an atonement of sins?
Was he given a rare moment of joy,
or subjected to a cruel trick?
What does he see along his path?
But a single soul exists in the gloom.
It glimmers dim. No form. No clarity.
Yet it guides the monster as he wanders
the cold stone towers in the void.

Judgement II

Is this redemption for failure,
or for successful aspirations?
Had he taken the girl's small hands,
or the talons of a vile demon?
How does he feel about this outcome
that he has so long wished for?
But a single soul exists in the world.
It is his armor. His blade. His might.
One found amidst towers of the void.

Doll I

She fights.
She channels quiet will into her blade,
destroying endless nightmares.
It is her task, done for humanity
so that they may walk the earth anew.
It is the never-ending cycle
of death for the lifeless.
It is the never-ending tale
of the dolls' fight.

Doll II

She fights.
She keeps her doubts in her heart.
To whom does she point her blade?
To what does she direct this will?
There is no end to the nightmares
that sharpen her sense of self.
It is a display of life by the lifeless.
An endless tale of the dolls' trials.

Themed after tarot cards, you could get them during some limited-time events. There were not too many of them, they were available to view and gave rewards if you did various tasks and missions associated with them. There was also one given during the NieR: Automata crossover, so there's some extra ones for 2B. They did not provide a gameplay bonus for getting them in the same way memoirs did, but completing missions for them did give weapons or gems, so they were worth completing for both the art and the rewards.

Anecdotes

Stars I

Stars II