Something curious I found (speculation about Wayne)

[Rallania]

Decided to try running some trait combos I don't use often for funsies, and I came across some dialogue that I didn't see before (or at the very least forgot about). For reference, I decided to go for a Hardcore mode run with Street Smarts, Talk to Animals and Mystical, since I don't typically pick Street Smarts and thought it would be a nice change of pace.

So, I reach the point where I'm talking to Stella about the MC's background and at the interim point (after choosing your living status but not your job status) I get the Street Smarts dialogue that "A crisp breeze passes over you. You can't help but shake the feeling that you're being watched" . I was pretty sure this was the same dialogue you get with Keen Eye, but then Mystical suddenly popped up with "Whatever's watching you has been doing so for a long, long time"???

So naturally my reaction is h u h and I start thinking about if this is referring to our resident goop man or not, (bc who else would it be tbh), and so decide to go back with Street Smarts and Keen Eye to see if you get anything else (since Keen Eye picks up on details). And hey whaddya know, Keen Eye adds "You scan the treeline and something catches your attention. For the shortest moment in time, your eyes meet with the eyes of someone, or something else."

Now, obviously all this tells you in-game is that 'Wayne' is watching you as early as your Ditchling encounter with Stella, which is something you can discover naturally anyways, but it got me thinking about a comment I posted on a different discussion about 'Wayne'. Basically the gist of it was just some of my thoughts, and I mentioned how there wasn't much to suggest that 'Wayne' has been following you since before getting to Scarlet Hollow, but then I started thinking about what Sybil said about 'Wayne' being "just a drifter" and how she keeps reiterating that statement.
To be frank, I straight up don't trust Sybil since I believe she's actually lying about the Cat in chapter 3 and is deliberately leading us to the seals , but in combination with these little tidbits, I'm starting to think 'Wayne' may have actually followed us to Scarlet Hollow???

I'm aware that the traits influence your MC's background to an extent, and I don't doubt that Mystical is the same (i.e see the differing ways you can break into Dr Kelly's house), however any mystical dialogue in this game implies a level of awareness of supernatural shenanigans already present, which suggests that Wayne is watching you "for a long, long time" as a default . Case in point, a Street Smarts/Keen Eye MC would notice being watched by someone, a Street Smarts/Mystical MC knows that 'someone' has always been there.

As someone who agrees with the theory that 'Wayne' is the Entity , here's what I'm thinking:
What if the Entity had already escaped the forbidden wing, left Scarlet Hollow when Vivian dipped, and has already been observing us since the beginning? What if 'Wayne' is only in Scarlet Hollow because we are in Scarlet Hollow, and is telling us to leave because the Entity doesn't want us here? As much as it's possible, it's also possible that they're not actually confined to Wayne's body, meaning they could've been body-hopping in the background for a while now without our knowledge. I'm already aware this is a reach but, presuming we go along with this assumption, that leaves us with some interesting questions. Like, why possess Wayne, an already rotting corpse, if the Entity has already been watching us without much trouble? What would be the point of that?

(This is where I go into complete theorising mode, be warned: it's a tangent, and very much just my personal opinion lol)
First, we must go back to what the Mystical trait says about Pearlanne's body for crucial context: it's an empty shell, to paraphrase. Theoretically, Wayne would be easier to possess if he was already dead, as there would be 'no one' to even try and resist (plus a Mystical MC IMMEDIATELY recognises that 'Wayne' is not human, so do with that what you will). As for the reason behind possessing Wayne specifically, if Wayne was murdered by Pearlanne because of his connection to Tabitha, then he is a direct demonstration of the danger surrounding the Scarlet family. 'Wayne' doesn't hesitate to mock Tabitha's connection to Wayne in Oscar's house, and judging by the comment "this body knows her well" it's clear that Wayne must've known something that he shouldn't have which got him killed (if it was just about being with Tabitha, why is Stella still alive? Pearlanne clearly didn't care about whether people knew Wayne, so why is Stella any different?). Heck, even 'Wayne' just appearing is enough for the crew to start asking questions. Given that 'Wayne' is insistent on you NOT trusting Tabitha, this would be the perfect way to both place doubt in her AND put more trust in him. There are many theories online that suggest the Entity may have been tricked/forced into possessing 'Wayne' (and/or Theodore Scarlet via Enoch and the Witch) by Pearlanne's hand, and to be clear I have no doubt that these theories are probably a lot more accurate and have way more evidence that the thought experiment I'm cooking up here. However I think it's important to at the very least consider the possibility that the Entity wasn't even in Scarlet Hollow at the time of Wayne's death, and possessed Wayne later.

But then that begs another question: why confront us now? What's changed?

In my opinion? I believe 'Wayne' feels forced to reveal himself as a 'protector' to the MC after the Ditchling incident, as I think it's the first time that the MC's actions are out of 'Wayne's' control and present a risk to his own goals. The earliest you can meet 'Wayne' is without his veil outside Sybil's place, and I don't think that's out of choice on the Entity's part. Every other encounter with 'Wayne' has him wearing the veil as to purposefully cover his face. This isn't to disguise the fact he's a possessed corpse either, the Entity is pretty blunt about that via their actions. Even if you manage to take the veil off at the mines, 'Wayne' still covers his face so you can't see it. Why do I point this out? Because it implies not only that ideally 'Wayne' doesn't want you to see him even when put face to face and will go to lengths in order to remain 'anonymous', but also that the Entity possessed Wayne as SOON as they could in order to get to you in spite of that quirk (Sybil describes 'Wayne' as self-serving, so why not put on the veil prior if this is an issue?). It may seem far fetched to claim this with how cold/mysterious Wayne is as a character, but keep in mind that he displays this kind of behaviour again in chapter 4 when he kicks Reese's windows in to come get us, and that he isn't exactly immune to displaying extreme shows of emotion (see his reaction when choosing to sacrifice years of your life in chapter 3).

I won't get into my thoughts surrounding 'Wayne's' motivations bc this will genuinely end up being waaaay too long and I honestly have NO idea (the goop man alludes me). This is less a theory and more of an open speculation, bc I genuinely want to know what other people's thoughts on this perspective are and whether I'm actually going insane or not lmao. Personally, I think it has something to do with the bond that he mentions ("the binds that tie us" normally, "the bond we could have" if you flirt) , and I have a gut feeling that a way of possibly messing with that is through Reese (the fact that Wayne talks about bonds and you get the internal dialogue of "You're bonded for life" if you decide to stay in the basement and romance Reese FASCINATES me) (and that's especially considering that 'Wayne' HATES him and straight up said he's going to kill him).

[stone.fire.smoke]

well its puts into question your ultimate role and the compulsion to return and regarding the curse:

Is your character the "chosen one", returning to save the Scarlet legacy and town?

Or are you the latest "sacrificial goat" intended to continue things for a time until the next one is needed?

Wayne puts a priority on your safety (not necessarily anyone else's). He wants to keep you alive for a reason, which is why he has been keeping tabs on you. Since we don't exactly know his motive for doing so, maybe he wanted to keep your character "pure", and didn't want you bonding with reese? I am eagerly awaiting the next episode to see.

[dalethfc]

Wayne was a Person who worked in the Mines,, the Miners say so and Tabby says so, she even says My Ex stalking my Cousin. So, he cant have been OUT of the Holler as Perllance Punished Him not long before she died and you arrived. I cant remember What Traits got Tabby to fess up that info after the Haunting. But, I dont trust Sybil she seems to be the Grand Daughter of the Witch and I trust Wayne,, I think Tabby acts like she does to Wayne because her mum made her like it.

[Rallania]

Originally posted by dalethfc:

Wayne was a Person who worked in the Mines,, the Miners say so and Tabby says so, she even says My Ex stalking my Cousin. So, he cant have been OUT of the Holler as Perllance Punished Him not long before she died and you arrived. I cant remember What Traits got Tabby to fess up that info after the Haunting. But, I dont trust Sybil she seems to be the Grand Daughter of the Witch and I trust Wayne,, I think Tabby acts like she does to Wayne because her mum made her like it.

It's less that I think (or rather just suggest, it is blatant speculation after all) Wayne has been following us (aka the actual dude who's body is being piloted like a mech by the horrors) and more that I think that the Entity has already escaped the Scarlet Estate long ago, perhaps due to something Vivian did, and returned to Scarlet Hollow WITH us, rather than being let out upon arrival or having possessed Wayne via whatever Pearlanne did to him/her influcence . After all, we don't actually know when Wayne's body was possessed nor how long og Wayne was dead for before the possession took place. For all we know og Wayne's body happened to be the most conveniently available.

As mentioned above, using Mystical in combo with Street Smarts/Keen Eye gets you the info that whatever is watching you during that scene has been watching you for a long time --I assumed this to be referring to whatever is possessing og Wayne's body (I apologise for any confusion my wording may have caused) as the Wayne WE know has only been supposedly following us for less than half a day, which isn't all that long in the grand scheme of things.

I also don't trust Sybil, but I don't think she's lying about 'Wayne' (the Entity) being self-centred. It's pretty obvious that all the goop man cares about is watching over the MC and he actively tries to discourage you from thinking of the main group as your friends (i.e see his dissing of Stella, Tabitha and disregard for everyone else during Chapter 3) (he ESPECIALLY doesn't want you to care about Reese).

As for how Tabby acts, I mean yeah?? Street Smarts also lets you know that she had nothing to do with what happened to og Wayne, so it would be natural for her to refer to him as 'my ex' initially. I would also like to point out though that later on she goes on to recognise that whatever is possessing og Wayne is not him.

Again, I apologise for my original wording, I can see where I may have accidentally worded things weirdly. I hope this clarifies more clearly!

[dalethfc]

lol No worries.. Working on Working Things Out does get confusing at times..
I am more looking at Tabby/Sybil and even kanika as the cat.. Lately I have started to suspect Tabby as she keeps to many secrets and Keeps wanting you to Stay put, where as Sybil wants you and Stella to uncover what ever is going on.. Sybil may not know what her Grandmother did or was involved with, BUT I feel the Witch did not place those stones. I feel Enoch or his father did with another witch.
I Think Wayne may be a past Scarlet who suffered because of Enoch or even Edwardine. But Who that spirit in the Forbidden area is I have no clue, maybe your Grandmother lol Though wouldn't she want to meet her grand child ?

The Thing about Hardcore is that Not All the actions of the Traits work.
ie; Strength Booksmart and Streetwise.
Yes you get into the Forbidden area and see the ghost.
But,, You dont get "Tuck Getchen under Your arm and dive for the torch.
Also the last time I did the 3 Booksmart di not get me out of sacrificing life.
I wonder if those cheats have that issue or is it in built ?