distantattraction (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
distantattraction) wrote2022-11-07 07:41 pm
distantattraction) wrote2022-11-07 07:41 pm
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Until Blog - Mr. Michael Munroe
I recently finished the long Until Dawn fic I’ve been writing off and on (emphasis on the off) since 2018, and I think I may actually be done with writing Until Dawn fics now. I thought I was full of ideas, but it turns out that most of them were just ideas for that fic. I’m quite proud of how it turned out, so if you want to check it out, that would make me very happy. :)
Recovery | M | 18,453 words | 5 chapters
Since I’m no longer writing fic for this game (apparently), I thought I’d do a write-up of what I think about the game and the characters. It’s truly one of my favorites, right up there with L.A. Noire (a game I am truly obsessed with and also have another long fic planned for). Until Dawn is a great movie game with some really excellent writing, characterization, and acting choices. Let’s get into it!
We’ll start with my dearest Mike, who has a lot of charm despite being intensely unlikable for the first three chapters of the game or so. His introduction is doing a super shitty thing that gets two of his friends killed, and his first appearance after the prologue is him doing a shitty jump scare on Emily and Matt. How have these kids not learned to stop pranking each other?
I have a couple of very distinct memories of the first let’s play I watched of Until Dawn (played by Dodger dexbonus and Sam strippin), one of which is them seeing Mike scare his friends and immediately asking “Can Mike be the first one to die?” And I agreed! Mike sucks. But also, I love him.
I have figured out how to extract the maximum amount of charm from Mike, and it makes it really fun. That dude is goofy. He’s the action hero of the group for sure, but he also says things like “that scared the blue outta my jeans” and “fuck nuggets” and he gets scared by shower curtains. The number one recommendation I can make is to be sure not to open any gates when Mike and Jess are on the run right before they reach the cabin. That way, Jess asks him what he’s doing, Mike screams “I don’t know!!” a bunch of times, and it’s hilarious.
It really adds a lot to his character if he’s really panicky and scared of the forest and cabin at the start, because it makes it way more obvious that he’s really Having A Time once Jess gets taken. Mike really quickly becomes committed to maybe dying in pursuit of revenge for Jess, and if you get to see that he’s not always like that, it adds a lot of depth to his character. Yes, he is still the piece of shit who got Hannah and Beth killed, but he’s also the little baby who got scared by a bird in the woods. It’s a nice contrast.
I also think it’s good for Mike’s character to get his fingers caught in that bear trap. There’s this breed of white cishet male character who really benefits from a severe injury like this, and Mike is just one of them. It’s so obvious that he’s never had a hard time before in his life. He’s smart, he’s charismatic, he’s athletic, he’s popular. He’s had an easy time of things. Get Mike’s hand caught in that bear trap and the easy days are over for real. It’s something really good and tangible for him afterwards too, when Mike is inevitably destroyed by PTSD and no one believes there were Wendigos on the mountain. If there weren’t monsters, then explain this! [waves around a hand with three fingers] This also works if he saves his fingers and has a gnarly scar instead.
The one thing about Until Dawn that I will not forgive is that when Sam and Mike go into the water near the end, Sam says “It’s freezing! I can’t feel my fingers,” and if you cut off Mike’s fingers, he somehow doesn’t say “Neither can I”??? This is a crime.
I have recently become fascinated by the exchange you can have if Chris asks for the gun when they meet the Stranger:
Chris: Uh... let me have the pistol. 'Cos you can take whoever it is through sheer good looks. And muscle and all that... Just, I should have the pistol!
(If Chris had not hit Josh in the shed:)
Mike: Well. When you put it that way. Alright, here.
Is it more embarrassing that Chris tried to charm that pistol away from Mike by calling him hot, or that it actually worked?
One of my other favorite “easter egg” type of Mike moments is right before the final sequence, when the miner Wendigos come into the lodge and Sam has the choice to either lock the door on them or run after the group. If she does nothing, then Mike comes back for her. I think it’s a nice little touch. Mike is committed to having as many people survive as possible; he just doesn’t care so much if he is one of them.
Mike is potentially at his most interesting after the events of the game, when he has mad PTSD. This is kind of what the entirety of Recovery is about, but the short version is that men like Mike spiral into alcoholism when they have big time problems they don’t know how to handle. Wendigos, especially a Wendigo that used to be your friend until you were so mean to her that you killed her, are obvious nightmare fuel. Throw in my favorite bad coping mechanism of sleeping with random women because having another warm body in bed keeps the nightmares at bay and there you have it! The perfect broken fictional man, according to my own special recipe.
I like the idea of Mike being this absolute mess of a man after having coasted through life with such ease until he was 18 or 19 (depending on when you think his conscience got him). That’s good character growth. It’ll make him a better person once he gets into therapy.
Recovery | M | 18,453 words | 5 chapters
Since I’m no longer writing fic for this game (apparently), I thought I’d do a write-up of what I think about the game and the characters. It’s truly one of my favorites, right up there with L.A. Noire (a game I am truly obsessed with and also have another long fic planned for). Until Dawn is a great movie game with some really excellent writing, characterization, and acting choices. Let’s get into it!
We’ll start with my dearest Mike, who has a lot of charm despite being intensely unlikable for the first three chapters of the game or so. His introduction is doing a super shitty thing that gets two of his friends killed, and his first appearance after the prologue is him doing a shitty jump scare on Emily and Matt. How have these kids not learned to stop pranking each other?
I have a couple of very distinct memories of the first let’s play I watched of Until Dawn (played by Dodger dexbonus and Sam strippin), one of which is them seeing Mike scare his friends and immediately asking “Can Mike be the first one to die?” And I agreed! Mike sucks. But also, I love him.
I have figured out how to extract the maximum amount of charm from Mike, and it makes it really fun. That dude is goofy. He’s the action hero of the group for sure, but he also says things like “that scared the blue outta my jeans” and “fuck nuggets” and he gets scared by shower curtains. The number one recommendation I can make is to be sure not to open any gates when Mike and Jess are on the run right before they reach the cabin. That way, Jess asks him what he’s doing, Mike screams “I don’t know!!” a bunch of times, and it’s hilarious.
It really adds a lot to his character if he’s really panicky and scared of the forest and cabin at the start, because it makes it way more obvious that he’s really Having A Time once Jess gets taken. Mike really quickly becomes committed to maybe dying in pursuit of revenge for Jess, and if you get to see that he’s not always like that, it adds a lot of depth to his character. Yes, he is still the piece of shit who got Hannah and Beth killed, but he’s also the little baby who got scared by a bird in the woods. It’s a nice contrast.
I also think it’s good for Mike’s character to get his fingers caught in that bear trap. There’s this breed of white cishet male character who really benefits from a severe injury like this, and Mike is just one of them. It’s so obvious that he’s never had a hard time before in his life. He’s smart, he’s charismatic, he’s athletic, he’s popular. He’s had an easy time of things. Get Mike’s hand caught in that bear trap and the easy days are over for real. It’s something really good and tangible for him afterwards too, when Mike is inevitably destroyed by PTSD and no one believes there were Wendigos on the mountain. If there weren’t monsters, then explain this! [waves around a hand with three fingers] This also works if he saves his fingers and has a gnarly scar instead.
The one thing about Until Dawn that I will not forgive is that when Sam and Mike go into the water near the end, Sam says “It’s freezing! I can’t feel my fingers,” and if you cut off Mike’s fingers, he somehow doesn’t say “Neither can I”??? This is a crime.
I have recently become fascinated by the exchange you can have if Chris asks for the gun when they meet the Stranger:
Chris: Uh... let me have the pistol. 'Cos you can take whoever it is through sheer good looks. And muscle and all that... Just, I should have the pistol!
(If Chris had not hit Josh in the shed:)
Mike: Well. When you put it that way. Alright, here.
Is it more embarrassing that Chris tried to charm that pistol away from Mike by calling him hot, or that it actually worked?
One of my other favorite “easter egg” type of Mike moments is right before the final sequence, when the miner Wendigos come into the lodge and Sam has the choice to either lock the door on them or run after the group. If she does nothing, then Mike comes back for her. I think it’s a nice little touch. Mike is committed to having as many people survive as possible; he just doesn’t care so much if he is one of them.
Mike is potentially at his most interesting after the events of the game, when he has mad PTSD. This is kind of what the entirety of Recovery is about, but the short version is that men like Mike spiral into alcoholism when they have big time problems they don’t know how to handle. Wendigos, especially a Wendigo that used to be your friend until you were so mean to her that you killed her, are obvious nightmare fuel. Throw in my favorite bad coping mechanism of sleeping with random women because having another warm body in bed keeps the nightmares at bay and there you have it! The perfect broken fictional man, according to my own special recipe.
I like the idea of Mike being this absolute mess of a man after having coasted through life with such ease until he was 18 or 19 (depending on when you think his conscience got him). That’s good character growth. It’ll make him a better person once he gets into therapy.
no subject
seeing Mike scare his friends and immediately asking “Can Mike be the first one to die?”
One of my favourite things about Until Dawn Let's Plays is watching players take against Mike at the beginning and then slowly get attached to him.
Jess asks him what he’s doing, Mike screams “I don’t know!!” a bunch of times, and it’s hilarious.
I hadn't seen this before, and I just looked up a video and enjoyed it hugely. Thank you for bringing it to my attention!
I also think it’s good for Mike’s character to get his fingers caught in that bear trap.
Pfft, you're so right. I first played Until Dawn myself after watching it played, so I knew very well what would happen if I touched that bear trap, and I shoved Mike's hand into it anyway. I sometimes see people saying they always touch the bear trap because they hate Mike, which isn't my attitude at all. I want to see Mike's hand caught in a bear trap because I love him. I really like your thoughts about what it means for his character!
Sam says “It’s freezing! I can’t feel my fingers,” and if you cut off Mike’s fingers, he somehow doesn’t say “Neither can I”??? This is a crime.
This never occurred to me, and now I'm so sad it doesn't happen.
Mike is committed to having as many people survive as possible; he just doesn’t care so much if he is one of them.
This reminds me of one of my other favourite missable Mike moments: when Sam fails the first Don't Move in the final showdown, and Mike runs in front of her so the wendigo will attack him instead. There are GIFs on Tumblr here. I love Mike standing there, terrified, but constantly moving to make sure the wendigo can see him. He knows full well it's going to kill him, but it'll kill Sam if he doesn't do anything, and he can't let that happen.
I really enjoyed reading all your Mike thoughts! Thank you for sharing them.
no subject
I'm glad you enjoyed reading it! I had a fun time writing about our boy Mike. :)
I felt so betrayed by myself when I grew to like Mike initially. I remember approaching the end of the game and being like "I like this guy now? This guy sucks!" He still sucks, but I've accepted it now. It's why it's okay to make him suffer so much.
I'm really surprised that you hadn't seen Mike fucking up the gates before! I don't even know how I stumbled onto it the first time, but it is my very favorite Mike moment. It's just so charming to see mister action hero really badly fuck it up out of panic. It's also nice to see Jess taking control of the situation herself when she has to. That girl's feisty.
It's really funny how you shove his hand into the bear trap out of love. I feel more like it just needs to be done--like, sorry Mike, but the trauma will change you for the better! Eventually!!
I do think Mike gets hotter the more fucked up he looks though. That boy wears a black eye pretty well. Also, the more injuries he collects, the more that breaking the light bulb with his hand makes sense. That shit seems like it would hurt a lot, but for Mike on this night, it's truly just a drop in the bucket.
It's really sweet how much Mike cares about Sam, even if it only ever comes up in really fucked up ways like sacrificing himself so she can live. I think it would take Mike a very, very long time to acknowledge that his bravery leaned pretty far into suicidal (if he lives, he can deny it! How can he be suicidal if he survived Wendigos, hm? Take that, therapists), but he would immediately acknowledge that Sam is a way better person than he is and that she deserves to live more than he does.
I forgot to mention it in the original post, but I also really like how badly Mike has always been in denial about Hannah and Beth. It shows mostly when they find Hannah's last journal and he refuses to believe it when Sam tells him what happened, but it also says a lot about how Mike made it through the year after Hannah and Beth disappeared: full denial about his role in their disappearance. I'm sure an outsider would think he just didn't have a conscience, which is fair considering how little the group talks about the fact that they definitely killed two of their friends, but it's a lot more fitting if you look at Mike like he's so completely incompetent at handling his feelings that he just pretended it wasn't as bad as he knows it was.
I'm happy to talk about Mike Munroe any time! Love that boy. He's so stupid, bless his heart.
Edit: Oh, I also edited the post to add a couple of links to videos, so you can now watch Mike get scared by a shower curtain or fail to open gates at any time (lmao).