Scarlet Hollow theory posting and thoughts (SPOILERS FOR PART 1 OF CHAPTER 5 (and all of it before that, if you haven't played at all)):
- ok, I have long said thought this in private, but Scarlet Hollow will almost definitely end in a "The Fall of the House of Usher" scenario, right?
- why do I think this? Uhhhhh...
- okay, sort of similar circumstances. Two relatives, the last of their name, in a big ol' rotting mansion on the precipice of collapsing... Frankly, it's the cliffside that makes me think this. The house is dilapidated and old, built on shaky foundations (much like the Scarlets themselves, awesome imagery)... it's GONNA fall. It has to. Maybe not in every route, but if you are to escape, I think it has to... You'll run screaming from that place as it's struck by lightning, splinters right in two, and falls off that cliff. Just like Enoch. I can see it so clearly, I'd be surprised if it didn't happen.
- I haven't seen every different route that part 1 can go down, I don't think, but I trust the information Wayne gives you at the beginning. I firmly believe a Scarlet MUST stay in town... That's been my leading theory for a while due to some of Tabitha's dialogue about never being able to go on vacation and the fancifulness of her imagining getting to go somewhere with her cousin someday... but that's just not possible. Tabitha lured you there for that purpose. Beware the cat and all that. She has bad intentions.
- Now, if you include her in things and bond with her, I doubt that she'll stick with this plan. Or, if she does, maybe she'll just feel tremendously guilty. But to answer Wayne's question, I WOULD bet my character's freedom on love...
- ohh black tabby games we are really in it now...
- do the sins of the father fall upon the child? I wonder if your personal answer to that question in the game affects your ending. My sister and I both play it, and we argue about the logic of leaving the ghost in Oscar's house a lot.
- In my playthrough, Tabitha got old for the ghost. In my sister's, she refused to engage, so it's still there. "It's just a house," she reasons. And she's right! But it's more than the house, too, isn't it? The ghost is suffering. Is it your responsibility to help the ghost? No, maybe not. But it's the only way. Someone has to sacrifice. Why not have it be you? Or Tabitha, if that choice gets taken from you. And then all that about Oscar and Rosalina being displaced if you don't help comes somewhat secondary.
- in the thought of chapter 5, what are the possible implications for the ultimate ending of the game based on your decision? Is it possible to get out of Scarlet Hollow WITH Tabitha? At what expense? We know that there is a cost to leaving. The Scarlets are the rotten foundation of the whole town. Can the place survive without them? What happens to everyone there? Is that selfish?
- does somebody have to stay, otherwise? If someone has to stay, it should be Tabitha. It's selfish of her to have brought you here under false pretenses (if that's Truly the case)... but then, wasn't it selfish for her to be brought into the world at all? Why has she been the subject of suffering and ridicule all her life, separated from a father who clearly loves her for the sake of a family legacy she clearly doesn't want to claim.
- But then, Tabitha does claim that legacy. Wayne says it, that she'll always be a Scarlet. And Scarlets are bad, selfish people, right? Tabitha tries her best, but she's set in her ways. She doesn't reject the legacy of her family. She feels like she can't. In THAT way, I feel your actions will be important. The fate of the ghost, the size of the strike, all of it. Prove that your past doesn't define you, reject the sins of the father by acknowledging them and atoning, don't just let them fester and push them onto someone else. That, maybe, is what the game will be all about.
- at least, that's where I see it going in my mind. Either way, that house is splitting in half and careening into the ravine beneath it. Just look at the thing.
- No way is it staying in one piece by the end of the game. I will be so shocked if it does.
- The price of rejecting a legacy, maybe. Starting fresh, with a new foundation, might be good for Tabitha.
- ummm what else. Oh. Where is Kaneeka. My beloved baddie, where IS SHE... the answer is somewhere, but where? Why is she a shadow figure? Did Sybil do this? I don't trust her at all. Like other parents in the game, I sense that she is... misguided, at the very least. Holding her daughter back because she can't let go and because she relies on her. Abusing her magic, so on and so forth. But why did that make Kaneeka a shadow to everyone, even her own brother? Much to consider...
- will this be resolved in part 2? I hope so... but I sense things are ramping up.
- anyway, I love love love scarlet hollow. Black Tabby Games the geniuses that u are... I can't wait for next week 👼