What Birds Know

What Birds Know is a fantasy webcomic written by Emelie Friberg and Mattias Thorelli, launched in November 2005 and updating weekly (in multiple pages). It follows three teenage girls from the town of Ev-la Nin who become caught in a mysterious and surrealistic adventure in the forest.

Vandi is the serious and reliable one, forced at an early age to take responsibility for her twin brothers due to her mother's near-death from childbirth. Dores is the artist and dreamer, disillusioned by the greater popularity of her brother, Ian. Elia is the kind, carefree girl, who has a crush on Ian and whose single mother is secretly a prostitute.

On a school outing to gather mushrooms in the forest, the three friends encounter a mysterious tower at the edge of a mountain. Passing through it, they encounter a world subtly altered from what they know. Bizarre trees and rocks dot the landscape. There's a town in the distance that looks like a mirror of their own, yet crumbling and overgrown. Their own behavior seems to be affected by this world: Vandi becomes obsessed with safety and has bizarre hallucinations, Dores becomes extremely standoffish and rude, and Elia goes into fits of hysterical laughter. Strangest of all, the girls begin to lay... eggs.

Overwhelmed by the strangeness, they flee back through the tower, to find that all the changes are undone, except that the egg Elia carried back has turned to gold. Greed overcomes them and they turn back to lay as many eggs as possible before returning to town. As the townsfolk begin to wonder what has happened to them, their interpersonal conflicts grow. But then the adventure takes a turn more serious than anyone could have imagined.

In addition to the surreal elements, What Birds Know features strong themes of growing up: the loss of innocence and disillusionment with childhood dreams. In particular, once the core conflict develops, a major portion of the story is told via flashbacks.

Tropes used in What Birds Know include:
  • Abusive Parents: Dores' 'mother' makes it clear that Dores is her unfavorite, blaming her for her grandfather's injury and eventual death and arguing against sending anyone to search for them.
  • Alternate Universe: The other side of the tower.
  • Berserk Button: All of the girls have certain issues that you'd best steer clear of.
  • The Blank: All of the various figures/hallucinations Vandi encounters.
  • Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: Elia, Dores, and Vandi.
  • The Casanova: Ian
  • Dark and Troubled Past: For all the girls, life is not as happy and carefree as it may seem on the outside.
  • Despair Event Horizon: Vandi teeters on the edge of this after Elia and Dores' deaths.
  • Devil in Plain Sight: Ian, to a certain extent. Doted on by his family despite clear Jerkass traits...although there's a bit of a chicken-and-egg situation here - is he a charming creep because he was spoiled, or is being a charming creep the reason he was spoiled in the first place?
  • Dumb Blonde: Elia, by contrast with her friends.
  • The Ditz/Cloudcuckoolander: Elia. Though she's more perceptive than she appears...
  • Flash Back: Used extensively to tell the girls' backstories.
  • Gossipy Hens: The village women don't think much of Dores' mom.
  • Genki Girl: Elia transforms into this on the other side of the tower.
  • The Hyena: Elia, in the Alternate Universe the girls find themselves in.
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold:
  • Kids Are Cruel
  • Killed Off for Real: Elia and Dores. Probably.
  • Kuudere: All three of our main trio show some shades of this, but rather than their dere sides being brought out through Character Development like usual, their Kuu sides are.
  • Les Yay: Vandi and Dores have all the hallmarks of a Romantic Two-Girl Friendship and have been seen comforting each other naked. No, not that kind of comfort, actual emotional support for one another...while naked. Circumstances make it much less sexual than it sounds, but pretty much the only thing keeping this thing still under the "Yay" label is that the audience has yet to see an onscreen kiss or declaration of love.
  • Maintain the Lie: Elia's mom tells everyone that her husband is away on important business. In reality, he left her, and she keeps up their standard of living by being a prostitute. She thinks Elia doesn't know. She's wrong.
  • Mind Screw: Everything since they went to the other side of the tower. Made even worse by the fact that we don't know if it's real or just a Mushroom Samba. Although Elia and Dores are definitely dead.
  • Modesty Bedsheet: Used without parody, interestingly enough.
  • Mushroom Samba: Maybe.
  • No Sympathy:
    • Vandi's dad, while being one of the better parents, is seen guilt-tripping/berating/arguing with his young daughter (there's no speech, so we can't tell) when she wants to go outside and play, clearly browbeating her into doing chores and looking after her brothers instead. Seriously, her playground becomes totally disused and her entire childhood passes her by as she spends all her time as a parental substitute/ The Caretaker -- he couldn't let her have one afternoon off?
    • Dores' parents exhibit this towards her as a matter of course -- her grandpa is injured in an accident while returning a hammer dropped by Ian, and yet the whole incident is her fault in her parents' eyes. Ian is treated like a hero while a distressed Dores gets ignored by her father and brother, and is treated as The Unfavorite by her mother.
    • Ian takes after his folks and shows absolutely no empathy after learning that Elia and Dores are dead.
  • Oh Crap: Page 556: Dores' expression after landing in/breaking her eggs and getting covered in egg creatures.
  • Only Sane Woman: Vandi.
  • Painting the Fourth Wall: Dores' backwards speech bubbles.
  • Parental Abandonment: A theme for both Elia and Vandi, though from different causes.
  • Parents as People: Elia's mother is sympathetic, but clearly has issues. Dores' parents are jerks in their own right in addition to being pretty rubbish as parents to her. Vandi's dad is sweet and eccentric, but seems to have little grasp on the seriousness of situations... and he's probably a big part of why Vandi was denied a real childhood.
  • Promotion to Parent: Vandi
  • Toxic Friend Influence: While Ian is hardly a saint, it seems clear his two friends are pushing him to lower his standards even further than they already are.
  • Team Mom: Vandi
  • Tsundere: Dores. Her "Tsun" side comes out more on the other side of the tower.
  • The Unfavorite: Dores - she's a really talented artist but her brother Ian is beloved by all, and she feels ignored in his shadow. Also, her parents are Jerkasses; see No Sympathy.
  • Wham! Episode: Elia's eggs hatch, and the creatures inside eat her alive. When the same later happens to Dores, it's almost predictable by comparison.
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