the cringe police don’t want you to know that the bird dating sim hatoful boyfriend is actually a fantastically written bait and switch slow burn horror comedy that is not only genuinely entertaining, not only a genre defining piece of parody work, but also back in 2011, accurately depicted a post-pandemic rise in ethnonationalism. it’s the best game in the world and reading this back maybe the cringe police should come for me actually but it’s fine just carry on my legacy and play hatoful boyfriend
the witch told me she keeps having to absorb her daughters to prevent calamities so I asked how many daughters she has and she said she just always has a new daughter afterwards so I said it sounds like she's feeding daughters to the calamities and she started crying
Someone faster or smarter than me has probably already done this, but I gotta talk about the second trait safe in episode five. Spoilers, obviously! And sorry if anything sounds disjointed, this is mostly based on me rambling about it to a friend of mine for half an hour right after part two of episode five released.
Why the Mystical Trait Safe is capital P Perfect
The Very Basics
Mystical is weird.
It‘s the weirdness trait. You are strange and unusual. You can break the fourth wall repeatedly and you can even hear parts of the script at times. You know when you are being manipulated by otherworldly forces.
But, first and foremost. You simply say the weirdest shit ever and unsettle everyone with your scary predictions. It is essential to the trait. Like, you go after a group of bickering teenagers?
“POTENTS OF DOOM AWAIT US WE WERE ALWAYS GOING TO FIND OUR WAY DOWN THERE RAHHHHH“
While everyone looks as you like "what are you ranting again" or tries to awkwardly ignore you.
This happens multiple times.
I cannot stress this enough, as a mystical player, it is normal to say this socially off putting and somewhat unfitting stuff. It is normal to see the mystical trait option pop up and immediately trust your senses despite having no clue what the heck your trait is talking about.
So. Let me tell you. When you are in the midst of a tragic, somewhat touching self-sacrifice scene. You would not. AND I MEAN YOU WOULD NOT. say "You know, I don't think I’ve ever seen you without your glasses before."
And, as always. There is the "Huh?".
The same "What are you even talking about cuz" thing that comes up EVERY TIME you use a mystical dialogue option.
It fits so well because it reflects how characters have treated you during the entire run - which makes it all the more rewarding when your gut feeling is immediately proven right.
But this isn’t everything there is about the trait safe.
The Tea Parallel
This will need some explaining of what might very well be my favorite - or at least the scariest - scene in the game… the tea reading in episode four, with a mystical character who drank the tea on Tuesday.
When you are with Sybil in the tearoom, you are told to drink the tea to get a tea reading. Naturally, on my first run (where the described scenario just so happened to be true), the first thing I did was scroll down to check for the option to refuse the tea.
There was no option.
It gave me chills immediately because I know about BTG‘s choice philosophy and this kind of railroading isn’t normal.
Soooo I decided to do the next best thing and stalled the conversation as much as possible. Didn‘t so much as sip the tea because I knew something was up.
And, reading my mind like a book, the game has Mystical popping up and after I exhausted all the non-tea-drinking-options. It said: "Sybil, why am I forced to drink the tea? I should be able to decide to not drink it. What's wrong with me?"
And you can repeat it. Over and over again.
But to get that line, you have to fight! You have to push against Sybil and show that you don’t want to be influenced! The option is only revealed when you actually put in the effort, when it actually fits to what your character is going for.
DO YOU SEE MY POINT?? (Sorry for yelling I just love this game.)
Back to our dearest trait safe
The mystical trait safe option only pops up after you have exhausted every single other explore option, just like in the tea scene.
If you would merely notice that the glasses are gone, you would just mention it right away. But Mystical ain‘t Keen Eye (even though there is a combination for that). Mystical doesn’t notice, it senses that something is wrong. And this wrongness manifests as missing glasses.
This suspicion can only be built up if you take the time to investigate it all.
To unlock the Mystical safe, you have to fight for Kaneeka. You have to question what Sybil showed you and you have to believe that there could be a different solution.
You have to take your time and think it all through, exhausting the explore option. Showing to the game that you are looking for a secret third way.
And then it reveals itself.
+ Mystical is a lore heavy trait, so it only makes sense that Mystical players would pick all the options before continuing.
I already gushed about the set up of that moment enough haha. Let‘s get to the more interesting half of the trait safe.
(Just kidding. You thought I was already done gushing about the set up?? YOU THOUGHT???)
Pulling the thread
Okay, actually, I don‘t have much to say about this. It’s just. Just.
"You see the threads of reality in ways others cannot."
It‘s so perfect.
Right from the start. It was set up right from the start.
You don’t even hold some grand speeches, or say anything at all.
Even your inner thoughts are not narrated.
You simply pull the thread.
Because you‘re the only one who can see it.
An illusion.
All held together by a single thread.
Man. This game is awesome. I‘m not even talking about the bargain route. Maybe I will make another post about that specifically.
But for now, I just had to get all of this out.
Funnily enough, when I first played the first four episodes, I wanted to make a longer post dissecting the episode three climax with the Book Smart safe… never got around it, sooo at least I finally did it with my main cousin‘s other trait :D.
i dont think its a "sin" to "destroy and betray yourself for nothing" because there's no such thing as sin, there's no such thing as yourself and there's no such thing as nothing. and destruction and betrayal are subjective. you're most likely totally fine.
