#their lives so the answers are she's dead or a deadbeat. he doesn't mourn her which takes dead off the table. sooooooooooo)

[irregularbillcipher]

honestly something that is more annoying than "that character would not fucking say that" or "i'm assigning you to actually look at the source material again" type headcanons are when you come across a headcanon where there is nothing technically wrong with it and you can't sit there and say "well you just don't get this like i do" because there is no actual solid evidence that whatever they're saying can't be the case, but it still feels like mischaracterization because of your own way too intense headcanons. and you're aware of that so you just have to sit there silently telling yourself "that is just as valid a read of the character as my interpretation :)" and trying not to go ham because you know you have genuinely no justification for feeling like canon is being ignored

#sorry for me this is whenever someone is like 'birdie is a widower and had a healthy relationship with his boys' mom' #technically until the 18th this is as canon as any other interpretations as to why birdie is a single dad #like nobody is reading anything WRONG here it just feels so fundamentally wrong to ME #(in all honesty though my main reasoning is that his whole character is mourning people he's lost. if he lost a partner he loved deeply #who was the mother of his children who he CANONICALLY loves and misses... he would be a wreck about it. as it is he never mentions the boys #mom and neither does his bio. his entire bio is an explanation of his worst losses and why he feels the need to drink. a loving partner #would probably get a mention. the fact that he was a /widower/ and not just a 'single dad' would get a mention #also considering the fact that there is a HEAVY implication that he's the only one paying for his kids' medical bills it doesn't #seem like a coparenting situation where maybe he just calls himself a single dad because majority custody or w/e. idk not to keep giving #this poor man a bunch of L's but 'birdie with a loving relationship to the boys' mom' just feels incomprehensible. she's clearly not in #their lives so the answers are she's dead or a deadbeat. he doesn't mourn her which takes dead off the table. sooooooooooo) #(okay so i suppose i do have some reasonings but i am aware i'm insane about them) #(.... any thoughts i have about kryptos gravity falls definitely falls under this tho)

[daemonoferror]

Tbh the only thing I dislike about Scarlet Hollow is that it forces the mc to have a specific family. I can understand twisting it so your mom's family is different- you need that for the plot, but it really urges the mc to have specific relationships with family members. Like there's no option to tell Stella you didn't have a good relationship with your mom. (Even though you can say you were okay with it/felt nothing, it's explained by "her death dragged on/was a long time coming" instead of just not being attached to your mom.) And hanging out with Tabitha (and I think Kaneeka) will open up the option to say your dad's a deadbeat. And saying you'd go crazy if Miles was your brother prompts Tabitha to say "neither of us have siblings so we wouldn't know"

Here's 3 things about me:

1. I am in no way close to my mom. She's manipulative and honestly scares me. I'll probably go no contact when I start transitioning, or finish college. She's not dead, but I can't imagine I'll take long mourning her.

2. I love my dad. He's great and funny and caring. I'm living with him through my first 2 years of college.

3. I have 2 older sisters. And I think most people have siblings. Locking players from having siblings makes the game less relatable.

The MC is basically forced to have the same family dynamic as Tabitha, and it sucks? I think I can understand the reasoning like- "If you're not close to mom you wouldn't want to meet your cousin" "if you have your dad in your life you don't need to meet more family" "if you have siblings why are you the only one to come to the funeral?"

But like- not being close to my mom doesn't make me want to cut off the entire family. The thought of losing my cousins is actually horrifying to me.

And while the deadbeat dad dialouges is optional, it's incredibly persistent. Some of them are copies of the dead mom club jokes, but at least the dead mom is necessary for the story. Others are forced like "oh, idk if my dad's dad bc he's a deadbeat"- like leave it out at that point, it doesn't matter. Having a loving father wouldn't stop an adult from going to meet family on their mom's side. Maybe they'd say it's a bad idea, but you're a grown up who can make your own decisions.

And simple answer to why you're the only kid that wanted to come: the others weren't interested. Or were busy. It's not complicated.

Anyways this is the only negative rant I'll ever post about Scarlet Hollow. I adore the game (but y'all already know that) and I can understand the rabbit hole of why they can't make mc have a variety of family options, but it just feels like something that could've been left ambiguous.

#sean's soliloquy #scarlet hollow