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I believe when Anya said, "I told you," it wasn't the dead pixel scene she was referring to. I agree that she didn't outright tell Curly about the SA but probably mentioned Jimmy's inappropriate behavior. Jimmy's first eval with Anya can be seen as SA, too (with him saying he's attracted to cartoon horses). Since the game doesn't tell us a lot about the other characters, i think we will never know. If Anya did mean the dead pixel scene was the moment, then i doubt anyone would consider that "being told."

Some time near the end of last month my friend group on discord had a little bit of an issue with someone in it. They did and said stuff that was often hurtful, disgusting, or uncomfortable to everyone (including myself) yet I simply saw them as flawed, despite the fact that I didn’t like them for it. I tried to give them a chance after they were banned to see through their side of things, to try to mend things because they weren’t all bad or it wasn’t just their fault or something like that. Regardless of if they were flawed or not they, like Jimmy, would never own up to anything as their fault, no matter what it wouldn’t get through to them. I’m glad I played Mouthwashing and I thank you for making this video because otherwise I probably would’ve continued to simply see them in the same manner and probably made the situation between the group bigger than it needed to be.

we will watch your career with great interest

Thank you!! You’re the first person I’ve seen who acknowledges that Curly is most likely gaslit as heck. I’ve seen this sort of relationship irl and it really breaks you down as a person.

This game is the dead pixel. BTW FYI you can see the dead pixel in the upper right corner if you look. It's not just a dialogue detail, it is visually there too if you look

This is a very interesting video and you put very well in words some thoughts i still had to elaborate after playing this game (it was just three days ago). Thank you!

This video is awesome! I am someone who personally can relate to both Anya and Curly. People defending or being lenient with someone who has done terrible things isn’t comforting but I completely understand there isn’t much that can be done. While in Curly’s case I just know I wouldn’t really understand until it was too late and I have unfortunately had really bad people in my life like Jimmy. I hate watching people rag on Curly or acting like he was just as bad as Jimmy. He is flawed and even though my experience went similar to Anya’s. I relate with Curly a lot more. Definitely a great analyst!

this actually broke me this is amazing

"They've all known each other for years" ... No, actually. Daisuke is entirely new, and Curly and Jimmy are the only long-term companions, and Curly's thoughts on Jimmy in the team's other game suggests he knew hiring Jimmy on was a bad idea, but did it anyway, out of loyalty, and he expresses regret over it, too late. This game is commentary on r*pe culture, and yes, you're meant to feel bad for Curly--but it's so you can identify the same potential flaw in YOU. If you found out your friend was sexually harassing a woman in your life, routinely making comments that made her uncomfortable, would you try to stop them? And the answer, in Curly's case, was apparently "No." Yes, he did a psyche eval for Anya's sake, but literally tells him about the sketchy behavior way beforehand, and Curly just... brushes it off. "We're buddies, I'll handle him." That's the attitude he takes every time in regards to Jimmy, you see that throughout his scenes, and it's a MISTAKE every time. He doesn't hold Jimmy accountable, he doesn't act like his boss... Anya makes it even clearer that Curly WON'T hold Jimmy accountable or protect her from him by the conversation about the gun, and TELLINGLY, Curly does not deny that statement. He tries to placate her with words, and then resorts to inaction, and it doesn't help. It lets the situation keep going until it all boils over, and Jimmy, being the psycho that he is, lashes out and gets everyone killed accept Curly... his enabler.

Great video. These are pretty much my identical thoughts. As a feminist woman I find Curly’s lack of insight and action very infuriating, however, at times it feels like Jimmy also manipulated the audience. In real life, abusive and toxic people can and will be empathetic and charismatic, you can’t be a manipulator without those traits. Curly’s toxic friendship and the weird dynamic he had with Jimmy not being a consensus plot point made me realize that majority of the people would never recognize someone being stuck in an abusive relationship and reach out the victim. I think, as a coping mechanism, people want Curly to be as bad as Jimmy and this is why they come up with theories such as he knew the assault way before, or he was threatening Anya, or he stole and hid Anya’s ID to his locker so that she wouldn’t be able to file an HR report. I think Curly’s already very present flaws and failures are enough to dislike and even hate him, and demonizing him ruins the message of his character. At the end of the day, the pain he had to endure post-crash is not just some karmic punishment or justice. It is his very own pain. It is something horrifying and traumatizing to witness and I feel bad for him. He didn’t only fail everyone around him, he failed himself too, and involuntarily was a catalyst of his doomed fate. You are like the first person I’ve seen who stated this very vividly in an essay, so thank you. As a woman who is always having a hard time when telling creepy men off and had to endure predatory and manipulative relationships or situations mostly because of my empathetic nature, despite his incompetence to help a woman in a very similar situation, I still found Curly insanely relatable (definitely my favorite character too) and that’s why what happened to him on the screen felt extra personal and terrifying. After watching the game, I wanted to turn this terror I felt into a force that would help me change my life and tendencies, even just for a bit. I think anyone can feel this with any character from Mouthwashing, so I hope this game helps everyone to break some patterns.

I think the most interesting thing about Mouthwashing is how impactful Jimmy’s actions are. Even if you remove him from every chapter proceeding the crash Jimmy doomed the entire crew. I don’t see it talked about a lot but Jimmy especially killed everyone just to avoid responsibility for his actions. It’s not even certain that the cryopod would save anyone put into it. Jimmy gets exactly what he wants and it destroys everyone around him including himself. The funny thing is there isn’t a plan of Jimmy’s that gets stopped but he is so blind to his incompetence he blames others like Anya when she has a reasonable breakdown. His control is so meaningless it only is there to serve his own ego. You could call it narcissistic but I think at its core Jimmy is heavily insecure about his importance and that’s why he forces hisself into positions of power.

Adding that blooper at the end was great. Subbed just for that and looking forward to more videos 😂

THANK YOU!! Seriously, I've seen too many analysis videos saying the only reason Curly didn't act in Anya's defense was because he's buddies with Jimmy... The characters and the game have so much more depth than that!! Especially thank you for mentioning the predatory capitalism that Pony Express utilizes to punish and control their employees. It's such a huge part of the story, but so many people don't even look past the surface level of the story to notice. Wonderful video, chef's kiss, 10/10, loved the silly blooper at the end!

13:24 bro that line and that scene from the game? Knocked me down

Honestly that wierd metallic sound that plays in the back ground during Jimmy's "I'll take care of it" scene makes so much more sense through the lens of dissociation, like the information was such a shock to his system that the world faded away for that moment.

Curly always having to step in and be the hero for jimmy, could also be why he constantly neglects his own mental health. The only think jimmy valued in their "friendship" was Curly's support, and so that's the only thing Curly cared about.

I don't really agree that she didn't directly tell Curly. If she didn't directly tell him, how did Curly know it was Jimmy? Why would he assume it was his bestfriend of years and not someone else? The only evidence he would have that Jimmy did it would be his comments on the psych evaluations, comments that he took as jokes. Like, it makes more sense that she told him directly.

I noticed you said "Captain" in how you said that

Honestly I like curly as a character, but because I was like Anya and I have family like curly I can’t help but hate / love him. It’s conflicting in every way. The person who was Jimmy in my life got no repercussions and the Curly’s of my life rather keep peace than protect me even now. This game hurts me to my very core but I can’t help but love this game for that.

Curly: Don't let kindness be blindness to wrongdoing. Jimmy: Don't use 'responsibility' as a shield for accountability. 'Fixing' your wrongs doesn't make them right.

I want to marry this video

While Anya is my favorite character Curly is unfortunately relatable to me. I had some not great friends as well. I justified their actions towards myself, others, and themselves with their not great circumstances. My life wasn't as bad I should help and understand them. I found myself and my feelings being downplayed and eventually I had to distance myself for my own mental health. I hold a lot of rage for Curly because I see my younger self. Too afraid to be alone to say anything, to action and often frozen. This video does a great job of expressing my conflicting feelings towards the character perfectly. And the game does something I have very seldom seen in others- show a deeply toxic friendship and how it can be just as affecting as other toxic relationships

I relate to curly a lil to much. You cant process the shock until its WAY to late. Ive been in toxic friendships before. And ALL THE TIME. They act like jimmy. (Not referring to what he did to anya) they shift the blame by saying things like "if you don't "_____" iwont insult you. " and they also shift the blame to me making look like i did it.

Superb video. Thank you so much for making it! Curly is a fascinating character and it makes me a bit sad to see people reduce him to "just as bad" - "just as responsible" I'll take, but c'mon. Yes, on the face of it he does have the means to get rid of him, but the power dynamics of their friendship aren't the same as the power dynamics of the ship. He might be captain to Jimmy's co-pilot, but he is also victim and host to Jimmy's abuser and parasite. Not to absolve him or anything, like I do wish Anya telling him would've triggered his fight instinct rather than fawn or freeze, but yeah.

05:15 Also, if you cut a cake like that you can't devide it to 5 parts. And cuting a ccake like this into 10 equal parts would be really difficult.

You’re an amazing artist btw, I love the thumbnail

Someone put my thoughts into words! i actually really love Jimmy as a character because he's so well written, and I love Curly as well. I found a really interesting analysis about Curly too, how his method of dealing with things, regarding Jimmy, isn't fight or flight. It's fawn, Him taking in the little rant before the ship is crashed with just... a relieved sigh. That stuck with me. Really great analysis! It's good to see people actually thinking about the game. I also wanna add that as per Pony Express being the worst, any way of dealing with Jimmy would probably have given them pay cuts. Unauthorized used of the cryo pods (that they could have needed themselves) is probably against company policy, killing him too, and of course, there was no way of locking him up. And of course, even speaking out against something like that happening leads to collective pay cuts. I think that's an interesting part too, especially since Anya particularly needs this job because she's broke.

You have a keen eye. Jimmy's emotionally intelligent, in spite of his apparent intellectual short-sightedness. Jimmy is capable of discerning right from wrong, but he falls victim to his own wounded pride.

Im glad you felt like curly and grew out of it as im 20 and feel the same.

Thank you for this video Finally someone who understands this art❤

Really grounded take. I am still a big curly hater, but I can totally understand your points. I just don't think I could ever be that relaxed about things.

I always figured she DID directly tell Curly, and Curly didn't believe her until she had the pregnancy to prove it.

Thank you for making this, i just discovered this game and i didn't understand how people were so quick to see curly as either only good or bad, for me he did the best that he could seeing the best in everyone and the situation they were stuck in dealing with his mental struggles and i think the complexity in that is what makes him such a likeable character for me even when his inactions led to so much. I do somewhat see myself in him too so i can sympathize.

I noticed their "friendship" dynamic early on when I watched people play. It reminded me a lot of what I went through with friends, with behavior that hurt me and that I now recognize. And that it's difficult to stand up to these people, break off your friendship and realize what they've done to you. Not everyone does. So many people immediately blame themselves and believe their abusers are right, their mental health declining until they can't get out. Or they start normalizing it - that it's only sometimes this way, not noticing that it shifted to often or always. "They are usually good people, it was difficult for them." Excuses, pity and the Fixer attitude. Thinking that this is normal. And paying dearly for it.

People out there trying to make Curly's lack of 4D chess level of decyphering skills into a gendered issue. Like his maleness is the reason why he couldn't get a clue from Anya (she's not at fault for not telling him the truth bluntly either). As a woman, I found fans accusing Curly of ignorance very offensive. *I* didn't get the clue during my first playthrough and didn't grasp who Jimmy really was until Anya almost plainly stated it. What, am *I* an "enabler" (like these fans love to say) now?

Thank you for holding Jimmy accountable, instead of dumping all blame on Curly like most of the fandom does. Those guys just parrot this one take to each other in order to virtue signal.

Despite what people may say about Curly and his mistakes, Curly is the one burnt up on a hospital bed, after sacrificing himself to save his crew. He cared despite his flaws.

What did we learn? "bros before hoes gets everybody killed"

underrated youtuber?

FINALLY. someone who understood the dialogue the same way I did 😭🙏

This is great! Thanks so much for this analysis. Curly really doesn’t get covered well by other folks.

this video is actually peak thank you so much you basically found the words to my opinion on curly character

Honestly, you have the best explanation for this. People just get so quick to criticism and hating. IT'S PURE MANIPULATION. (Not justifying his actions.)

Messages of the game: Don't be clueless. Take responsibility for your mistakes. Listen to your friends, they might need your help. Don't act too late.

Spoilers for a different game by the same developers that references mouthwashing. “How fish is made” If you play “How fish is made” there’s a fish and a parasite duo that mirror curly and jimmy perfectly. The parasite speaks for itself and the fish. One line encompassed their entire relationship: “I ate his tongue and now we’re the best coworkers”

Thank you for making this video This game really hits close to home for A few months back i had my own situation with my own "Jimmy" and "Anya" although, thankfully, she fended him off. It terrified me on how much Jimmy and Anya from the game reminded me of my "Jimmy" and "Anya", relationships and all, even similar personalities. I felt so shocked and aimless on what to do like Curly. Thankfully, i threw my "Jimmy" away from my life, and most of my friends have as well. I'm ashamed to admit this but it took me a while to see how to approach the situation because i was too worried of how my choice of action would shape every other relationship i have with my other friends. It took me breaking down my relationship with him in my head and seeing that its best that i shouldn't even associate myself someone like him. I empathize with Curly in a lot of ways and i can't say I feel sorry about what happened to him since i wouldn't deny such consequences falling onto me if i had made the wrong choice. Thank you for being able to dissect these two characters and the lessons that can be learned from them and sorry for dumping all of this in here.

Thank you for making this video, people were quick to blame Curly for not stepping up but when it's your closet friend being accused of heinous crime can't forget to mention dealing with a bad job and personal issues all at the same time. Curly was doomed from the start and in my opinion got the worst punishment out of all the Tulpar crew members.

waiitt.. youre goated the thumbnail really piqued my interest i love the art AND the video

Incredible analysis

Wow that was an amazingly well put together video, I didn't know this game existed before but now I believe I will be looking into it more.