Cannot stop thinking about how it must theoretically feel for PC if they were to get married to Eden.
Like, going with the scenario Eden kidnapped them in the forest, (rather than Bailey selling them to Eden) and that then led to the stockholm syndrome, and ultimately ending up happily settling into life with Eden in the cabin.
It's better than town after all, no working tirelessly every day to make money, no creeps to avoid, no Bailey looming over their shoulder and extorting them in threat of being sold off, sure they might miss their friends, but overall, life with Eden is wonderful. Freeing.
And as they get more and more settled, romantic talks, convincing Eden that a little wedding would be a great idea, and PC being so excited for it,, except on the actual wedding date, just imagine the pure dread at seeing Bailey of all people show up as the best man.
Maybe Eden had mentioned he'd be inviting his friend, and maybe PC had even been excited to meet whoever that friend is, but the pure horror, dread, and shock at it not being just some guy, but Bailey.
The caretaker who they'd finally found comfort in getting away from, being safe from, not only the horror of him being Eden's friend, but frankly I imagine the feeling of a strange betrayal??
Eden was supposed to be better, better than the people in town and supposed to be safe, but he's friends with the man who made PC's life absolute hell?
Imagine how fast PC's mind would be moving in this situation, dread and paranoia slowly bubbling up of what ifs and questions without answers.
Would PC try to run? Barely a chance they could, and where'd they even go? But could they ever realistically look at Eden the same? It's.. 👀
Absolute crackpot theory that I don't actually believe myself but
We know from Vrel on the blog that Bailey and Eden had a friend with green eyes that Bailey was genuinely in love with and still not fully over??
But my brain was thinking,,, out from Bailey's dialogue about the PC always being the best looking little shit (or whatever the wording was precisely) low key suggesting the PC to be Bailey's type,,
And then.. The PC looking similar to one of Kylar's parents, which was a thing I always found odd to specify, but that also combined with the icon for Kylar's jealousy being a green eye?? Odd coincidences one might say 👀👀👀
It would be so funny if there was an event based on how both Kylar and Robin come into your room at night to cuddle
But imagine it's a special scenario of like the PC has to go the bathroom or something, and the timing adds up just right in that it ends up with Robin going into the PC's room to cuddle for the night and just deciding to cuddle into bed while waiting for them, but at the very same time Kylar is sneaking into the Orphanage, and they unbeknownst to each other end up cuddling up in the dark room both under the belief that they're cuddling up to the PC
Only for the PC to walk in literal seconds later and just blinking slowly, before being like "lol uh guys where am I supposed to sleep then??" while both Robin and Kylar scramble apart in horror
Forever thinking about Winter being in love with the PC…
Winter slowly realizing he’s falling for the PC, not only someone so much younger than him, but one of his own students no less.
The probable months of denial, of forcing his gaze away, of suppressing the fond smiles, but for every new interaction, every time the PC shows up with a smile and some new mysteriously procured artifact, nodding along in interest when he explains its origin… for every time the PC helps promote the museum, every time he hears them play along in the historic role play so fervently, goodness especially if the PC helped Winter not only restore the museum but helped him get his dreamed of field office too?
Regardless of how wrong it is, Winter feeling his heart stir for the first time in probably so long.. But he knows he’s too old for the PC, the dynamic would be beyond improper, and he knows he can’t let those emotions actually take root. All rationality in his mind probably berating him, of how he has children older than the PC, he’s past the years of his prime, not to mention again the severe taboo such a relation would have.
.. but I can’t help but imagine him sometimes wistfully thinking about if he was young again, letting his mind indulge in thoughts of what could be in another lifetime. Something he wouldn’t dare fully allow himself in this one. How he’d probably love to turn into a full on little archeological duo, exploring all the unturned nooks and crannies of the town, and even beyond.. but he’s not young and spry anymore, and him indulging, would almost feel like robbing the PC of that youth for themselves.
Maybe him going to the temple is half an attempt at also getting someone else to tell him that his actions are right, that he’s right to shut those emotions down, shouldn’t indulge. But even if encouraged to pursue, he knows deep down he can’t, no matter how much his mind and heart might disagree, he’s holding his morals tight, because what else can you really do in a situation so doomed to fall empty?
Okay Whitney character dive, I'm just gonna use he/him pronouns for all of this except for PC ✨
I don't know how much of this makes sense but I'm going to ramble and I can already tell this is gonna get quite long
And once again small disclaimer I'm just rambling my personal speculation and thoughts and have no ways of knowing what the creators actually planned/intend for a character!
... Okay I have to add a cut I think it'll clutter the tag too much 👉👈
I actually kind of want to start out with making a comparison of Whitney vs Avery. Because I adore both, yet have actually seen some people interpret them in almost a switcharoo to what I do? Which is super interesting to me, but their character archetypes are definitely similar in several senses, and I find it fun to think about so-
From my point of view, what they have in common, in my opinion, is the "Control and status" mindset.
So when we first meet Whitney, he's obviously not introduced as a good guy, he's a bully, an utter asshole, and for a long time he is just that, he doesn't treat PC nicely until you get pretty high up in love, and still there he's still sometimes an absolute ass. (Just.. A more controlled one that will sometimes semi-respect your boundaries if you enforce them)
Whereas Avery, we meet as this charming, slightly mysterious yet chivalrous older man, helps us out, takes us out for a nice meal and in turn afterwards keeps being quite charmingly chivalrous as long-- as you act the proper way.
But the kind of funny thing it me is, with both of them, once you're in a relationship with you start to see the facade slip sometimes.
With Whitney, you start to see softer moments, it's small things that could be missed or brushed over perhaps, but you start to see moments where he shows he actually cares about the PC, and can actually be sort of sweet if you're in private with him.
Where as with Avery, you see the facade slip too-- but in the opposite way in my opinion? You start to see a colder side of him, start to see that what he cares about is appearance, and see that if you don't act the way he wanted you to, the anger comes through. (I'll definitely go more in depth of Avery if I make a post for him too)
Which again, feels like opposites, yet so similar?
And to touch back on their "control" mindset, there the thing is Whitney seems to be almost desperate for control, and will fight to have it, desperate for something he can actually have his own control over, likely stemming from a home life where he feels stuck and like he has no say in anything (Will touch more on this in just a second)
Where as Avery... Isn't desperate for control, rather he seems to simply expect it. He expects that PC will fall into line and be good, let him make the decisions that make them both look best. Especially at first of you chose the options that provoke him a bit, you can sense he almost starts to consider PC something to be tamed at that point.
Where both of them, highly value their status and other people looking upon them the way they've worked hard to obtain.
And to further explain what I meant with Whitney's home life, let's just say I think there's a reason that Whitney seems to be away from his home for as long as he can, why he prefers to loiter in alleyways and get drunk and cause trouble..
If we, once again, look at psychology, delinquent behaviors USUALLY stem from not feeling seen or heard by your parents, stem from an anger and frustration of either too strict rules or otherwise things like neglect. Same with bullying, usually also stemming from issues in the home life leaving the bully feeling weak and worthless, where bringing others down gives them a high of somewhat power. Especially to people they have a sense of envy toward.
We can also somewhat guess out from certain dialogue that Whitney's family probably isn't the wealthiest, as he describes his own room as a dump and also admits to Bailey that he indeed doesn't have near enough money to afford the PC. Plus if his parents were rich I don't think it'd make as much sense for him to be stealing, other than I guess pure provocation?
So those things combined I feel like I can definitely start to guess why Whitney might feel that lack of control in his life. I'm like... 90% sure I have seen Vrel say that the only thing feels like he has control over is his appearance? (And then the PC)
And while Whitney's relationship with the PC may start as a control thing for him, a simple way to get that itch satisfied and have some humiliation fun as well, well... He does genuinely start to care for the PC. Not that you'd get him to fully admit just how much he does.
Some of my favorite moments is when his brain almost short-wires when the PC not just reciprocates but initiates, especially outside the sexual context. Instantly blushing and trying to play it smooth but often ending up stuttering a bit. Or if you're gone too long and you can see faint tears in his eyes? Yeah good shit.
But also I absolutely have to mention how he is also so oddly soft in encounters, like often saying PC is like an angel, kissing PC'S forehead, praising... Like even in the "embarrassing" scenarios he often has this softness to him.
And to just softly go back to the whole bully psychology thing, a really interesting part of Whitney's character in my opinion is his target on Kylar, especially once he's with the PC.
Whitney in general is quite jealous / possessive, the only way he's sharing the PC is on his own volition, when he's the one controlling the scenario and who touches who. We can see he gets confrontational even in class of people just looking at the PC, or how he gets so frustrated if one of his friends try to help themselves to the PC.
So, to see the PC give someone like Kylar attention? Of course his brain will spiral.
Whitney has probably done so much to build up his position, to be popular, attractive, feared, to be in control, so to see /Kylar/, the freak, the weird little creep everyone actively avoids, who's such an easy target for bullying because of it-- /that's/ someone PC is interested in? Infuriating. A confidence hit probably. From his point of view he has so much more to offer than that pathetic little freak, doesn't he?
And that's where one of Whitney's big flaws come in, because when he feels upset, or even betrayed by the PC, he acts out. He starts to threaten, he starts to humiliate, he forces the PC into dangerous situations. A way to try and snatch that control back.
If pushed far enough, (spoiler warning here!!) we know he's even willing to sell the PC off to the underground brothel because of that loss of respect from everyone else. Because of that loss of control that he so desperately clutches onto.
But I'm gonna try and round it off a bit here--
Whitney seems to have a rather poor handle on emotions, on vulnerability. It's easier to be someone people fear and be having fun with it than it is letting someone even catch a glimpse at the vulnerable parts inside.
... Which is exactly why the moments that he has alone with the PC is something I absolutely melt over, those cracks beginning to show the softness.
So to sum up!
I find Whitney a really interesting character, as much as I roll my eyes at him and think he's a stupid ass, I really hope we in the future keep seeing him develop more and more 🤧
It does have a healthy amount of denial I am not shy or ashamed about that 👀
But at the same time, I do not base my thoughts on nothing, I base it his dialogue and scenes partnered with a bit of psychology! And you know what I'll take this chance to ramble even more because I always have thoughts on DOL characters and their complexity
I am in no way shape or form saying that Bailey is thinking sunshine and rainbows and the stereotypical loving sighs everytime he thinks of PC-- quite the opposite 👀
I think, no matter what situation, you're literally not getting any cute loving relationship with Bailey, I think that man is too far broken, too guarded, too self-isolated. He'd not really allow it for himself, and if he did... It'd probably be deeply toxic and controlling. Because that's... What he knows.
I think the whole thing is, Bailey doesn't want a weakness. He doesn't want to have any of that kind of feelings (frankly he seems to try to be detached from feelings in general), and I think even /realizing/ having any sort of feelings like that would infuriate him to no end, he'd internalize it and it'd eat him up inside.
And with that being said, I do genuinely think he does have a soft spot for the PC. Again, not a cutesy "Oh I love PC so much!!" absolutely fucking not. And sure, you could say it's only because PC brings in the most money,,, but I think it's more than that.
I've already listed a few of my reasons in my previous Bailey post, but honestly even if we just look at personality...
I think the two big archetypes of PC-personality is the Defiant who looks Bailey in the eyes without fear, isn't scared of him, fights back, refuses to conform, and protects the others. A pain in his ass, a thorn that won't be pricked.
Or, the neutral-to-submissive type, who does as asked, helps everyone around the Orphanage, helps everyone around town, tries to keep hope and stay strong especially for the younger orphans. Someone i could see make him almost even more bitter.
And honestly... this is PURE speculation, because we don't know canonically Bailey's past yet... But I could straight up see that some of Bailey's speculated soft spot could come from seeing some of his younger self in the PC, maybe before the bitterness overtook him, before he became this hard shell that knew that the only way to ignore his own misery was at least captilazing on others, that the world would remain broken regardless of what he did.
Or maybe the version of himself he wished he could have been.
I am however simply speculating it could be something like that!! because genuinely psychologically pretty much no one turns out like him, without being deeply broken themselves.
But no to get back on the Bailey x PC dynamic
We know that everytime Bailey has shown these moments I've called attention to, they're almost immediately followed up by coldness.
Oh he came running because you screamed in the bathroom? Congrats you got slapped for wasting his time when there's nothing there. You managed to seduce him and make him admit he doesn't want you to leave? Yeah no you got shoved off him and kicked out of his office as soon as he was thinking rationally again.
-- and it's like that with everything when it comes to Bailey. Which is exact why I'll say again, Bailey is in no shape or form a lovesick puppy, and I don't think he realistically ever would be even if my speculated soft spot ever turned into something more. That man has stunted his emotions as what I would assume to be a survival instinct, recognized that emotions = weakness. Having people close = weakness.
But instead of continuously rambling on,, I'll sum it up and say that my conclusion is, that Bailey is a complex character there isn't a simple "Oh he's in love with the PC" or "Oh he doesn't care about anyone ever at all", it's much more complex than that. Just like I think a LOT of DOL characters are complex, which is part of why I love the game so much.
People definitely don't have to agree with me, and can absolutely say I'm in denial I'll accept that because even if it's denial I still love him 🤧
