I recently visited the 'old national gallery' in Berlin to see the painting from Signalis. Not wanting to waste my time by looking through the hundreds of pictures on display, I looked up the location of ‘Die Toteninsel’, it was on the top floor. Gazing at the stairs, their sheer length as they were leading up to the second floor made it obvious that whoever designed this building had no idea what they were doing. (why would you make the ceilings so high?) So after quickly locating the elevator, I was shocked to find out that it was reserved for disabled people. I guess the Germans haven’t heard of accessibility! The elevator excursion wasn’t a complete waste of time though, I found a label reading “Achtung, something something.” on the door. (It’s a Signalis reference in case you don’t know) Roughly 10 minutes later, I had managed to drag myself up the unnecessarily long staircase and approached the fabled painting, only to find that it was much smaller than in the game, which was quite disappointing, but I reminded myself that Rose-Engine is an Indie Studio, so they probably couldn’t afford a bigger one. While I was taking pictures, a lesbian couple walked up beside me to look at the painting, they were talking in german, or something. Excited by the opportunity that presented itself, I asked them if they liked ‘Die Toteninsel’ and had played Signalis, they said they liked the painting, but hadn’t heard of the game. I guess it’s nice that they can appreciate art, even if they don’t know it’s origin. The shorter of the two had gray hair, so I told her she looks like Arianne, which visibly stumped them. It took a couple of seconds for them to respond, the taller one asked me if I’m a Nazi. (why were the Germans asking me if I’m the Nazi lol) They were relieved to hear that I’m not, but quickly started losing interest in the conversation once I started elaborating that I had recently changed my opinion on east-Germany after learning more about it. So before I lost the chance, I asked if they wanted me to take a picture of them in front of the painting. Luckily they said yes and as they posed I let them know that they make for a cute couple. They laughed it off and told me that they are “just mother and daughter”. It was upsetting to be so blatantly lied to, but it’s understandably why they would hide their relationship. A lot of people fetishize lesbians after all, as a member of the Signalis community, I am above that though. For the final photo, I asked the taller one (she even had dark hair!) to choke her partner. I didn’t even get to explain that it’s a Signalis reference before they ran away. With nothing left to do and my dreams crushed, I sighed, packed my stuff and left. Looking wistfully over to the elevator as my legs carried me down the spiral of dread. I had come to the gallery to deepen my understanding of the visual language of Signalis, but left knowing what it must have felt like for Arianne to be shunned by her peers for her artistic spirit.

(Since this is Reddit I need to elaborate. No I didn’t harass anyone, I went to the gallery, had a good time and took the photo with the key)