#I have to force myself thought the unplayable console set up

[ennard-is-near]

“Henry’s monologue this” “Michael’s monologue that” okay?? Have you considered??

Circus Baby’s night 4 monologue

Don’t get me wrong, night four is a pain in the ass (especially on console), but even after days of trying I still found myself enjoying listening to her speech to Michael about her thoughts on The Scooper. The way it portrays her thoughts on what she’s about to do, while keeping the idea in the player’s head that Circus Baby is just a kid, is excellent. It’s just a few sentences, but it sets up Circus Baby and The Scooper very well and expertly foreshadows for night 5. (There will be a transcript of her speech in the reblogs, incase you want to read it first, I started it at when she first mentions The Scooper.)

First: She’s obviously just a kid

One of my favorite moments in the whole game is when Circus Baby says “Do you know why it’s called The Scooping Room? Because, dummy, this is the room where they use the scooper.” Hilarious. Like yeah, dummy, obviously. But her soft, mature sounding voice can make you forget that Elizabeth was a kid, and Circus Baby is just a little girl. Her calling the player (Michael, her brother) “Dummy” is really cute and actually serves her character well. Her comparisons of The Scooper to something you’d want at your birthday, something for ice cream and sprinkles, serves as a good reminder of who Circus Baby really is, she’s Elizabeth. For her, birthdays are the best thing in the world. Which leads me to my next point…

Second, Circus Baby loves The Scooper

During night four, a first time player won’t know why Baby would like The Scooper. When we first hear it, it’s loud and scary and kicks Ballora’s ass, it’s not friendly at all. But Circus Baby speaks so fondly of it, it does a great job establishing that the scooper will be important later. It’s also intresting on replay of the game (more on this later) because you know what it is to her, freedom. She’s been in a dark basement for a while and for her, the Scooper is the best thing in the world, her way out.

Third, Circus Baby briefly empathizes with her brother

Michael is clearly the “Freshly opened pint of ice cream”. He wouldn’t like the scooper, to him it would be scary, that is, if a freshly opened pint of ice cream felt anything at all. Because the way she momentarily considers her brother, and how he might feel about all this, is important too. She knows that what she is doing to Michael is bad for him, but I read her delivery of the last line “Thankfully, I don’t think a freshly opened pint of ice cream feels anything at all” as her trying to convince herself that it won’t affect him. She’s telling herself that “The Scooper only hurts for a moment” and that he won’t feel what’s she’s going to happen. Circus Baby isn’t a monster, she’s a kid who’s been in hell for a while and needs to get out. But she doesn’t want to hurt anyone, so it’s a good thing he won’t even feel it…

Finally, none of this is clear on a first play through

You have to know what Circus Baby is going to do to Michael on night five to truly get the full experience of listening to this speech. On a first listen, all it does is set up an uneasy atmosphere and a little bit of mystery for the player. It doesn’t seem weird, but it manages to convey (and foreshadow) all of the emotions felt by Baby during an event that hasn’t even happened yet in game. It’s something that has an impact on first listen, but doesn’t mean much to the player unless they know what The Scooper truly means to Baby, and what she plans on doing with it.

Bonus: The voice actor is incredible. She really eats, no crumbs.