HEY that's MY emotional support morally ambiguous misunderstood full of trauma touch starved yearning for love drenched in blood responsible for numerous atrocities comfort character who is TRYING & u will TREAT them with RESPECT
"everyone should get more aromantic" can appeal to tumblr's sensibilities but I genuinely think everyone should also get more asexual. I don't mean everyone stop having sex, what I mean is
Sex is not essential. You can live without it. Full stop.
Not having sex isn't shameful or a sign of failure. It also doesn't make anyone boring.
You are not entitled to having sex with anybody and nobody is entitled to having sex with you.
Sex is not what makes someone an adult.
Nobody's worth is defined by how much sex they have or don't have.
Sex is not equally important to everyone.
You can have fulfilling and happy relationships without sex.
You should only have sex on your own terms, not because you feel like you owe it to someone, or because you feel like you'd be incomplete without it.
Know your boundaries around sex and be firm about them. Know how to respect other people's boundaries.
The previous point also applies when it comes to discussing sex. If someone doesn't wanna talk about it or hear about it you have to back down.
Anything can be sexual but not everything has to be sexual.
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.
for me the standout dilemmas of scarlet hollow are the ones that ask: would you enable abuse? look the other way just this once? what if it's for the benefit of the community? what if it gives you some personal benefit? would you go along with it because the abuser is respected and provides some valuable service? because the victim is scary? because the victim believes she deserves it?
blakekathryn
kianamaiart
titsay
germansingergirl
pixelskylines
turnnoffyourmind
prguitarman
stormborns
