This is your sign to make a Blazer ramble I neeeeeeedddddddd your thoughts :-) need them
Hi. :] I actually jotted down some points and planned on dropping them in your askbox earlier! Fatigue overtook me, but since you asked, I gave it another try. Have some Blazer thoughts!
Obligatory disclaimer: I'm discussing canon here. Please do not mistake me talking about canon as me putting down headcanons. Headcanons can be anything. Canon is limited.
Blazer seems to really care about his appearance.
His head, screen type, vest, and gold chains are completely unique to him, and he's said to be a regular at Ozi's clothing shop—which tells us he's probably come across a lot of money, or is spending it like he's got it. If his body wasn't covered in rust, I'd assume he gets it replaced regularly.
Going further, his "Mind turning around?" comment before he changes into the Worker outfit is Weird. It could totally be a "Haha nude robots. How ironic," joke, but I'm not so sure. Absolutely nothing in-game suggests that Companions believe not wearing clothes is a form of nudity, so maybe it's just a Blazer thing. The only thing he'd expose is his back, so.. Shrugs.
Then comes the "A little snug around the waistline, but it'll do," comment. He may just be a whiner, or he might actually be insecure about his body. Perhaps Companions even adopted humans' insecurities, but that's open to interpretation. I'm not sure I even believe it.
Most Midtown residents know him.
Practically anyone you show the Contact Message to will say, "Yeah I know that creep. He's right there," and point at him. I'm not even exaggerating.
"I just saw him creeping out behind my shop."
"Weird fella."
"Questionable fella if you want my opinion."
"He's creeping near the factory right now."
Everyone in Midtown knows this guy and knows he's bad news.
Which goes into my next point:
This guy is not clever.
He's. He's kind of stupid.
"Oh, you're with the Outsi... My contact?" Slaps my hands over my face really hard.
He holds a newspaper upside down and peers over it to look at the Neco Corp entrance. He doesn't even bother to see if he's holding it right. Looney Tunes style scouting. He's not fooling anyone.
And yet..he still gets in. Even though..
He used to work at Neco Corp.
The Stylist, Garay, and Krooni (sort of) all confirm this. The Stylist mentions that Neco Corp doesn't usually fire people. What the heck did this guy do. How does he manage to sneak into Neco Corp when he literally worked there. What.
Bro took a hit right outside the room Clementine was held in.
If you talk to the Bartender, you'll trigger a little cutscene with Blazer and Raf talking from the VIP balcony. You can see Blazer's holding an E-cig, and he seems to be enjoying the conversation.
That's diabolical. You can try to say this was a way to cope with what he was doing, but things aren't looking good for him.
(Side note, it's really interesting that the use of drugs—and really substance abuse as a whole—is only introduced in Midtown, ignoring the random E-cig thrown in Zbaltazar's Slums apartment. Drug use is not only implied but depicted. Blazer's syringe tattoos imply the existence of robot injections, Jo and potentially Mo get high near the Residency, a Companion in the Midtown bar seems to be "snorting/huffing" compressed air while Memuth and Tonin discuss their favorite type of alcohol.. Alcoholism exists in the Slums as well, but we actually see and interact with drunk characters in Midtown. Think of Stuplachee, Fripp (who speaks clearly but is visibly inebriated with his spiral screen display) and the many Companions in the Nightclub. There's something about it.. Manufactured dependency.. The greater need to self-medicate in a place like this.. B-12's Party/Nightclub memory reenforcing this.. Gestures vaguely..)
He requested the song playing in the Nightclub.
Dj Matcee refers to him as "our very questionable friend." Everyone knows this guy and thinks he's a bit of a nut.
The whole gagging situation.
As ridiculous as it is, it tells us a lot about Companions. They've even adopted traits that don't benefit them at all. (Like the aforementioned body insecurity, if you believe it's more than a joke.)
The Scene.
This Horrible Scene.
Okay. I agree that Blazer's speech feels a bit scripted, and reads as oddly personal? If I only cared about the money, I wouldn't say a thing, and yet Blazer says All That—almost like he's trying to convince someone. Maybe even himself.
Continuing. Blazer putting his hand on Clementine's shoulder was so unnecessary. It feels very personal, especially when he says, "And I value money way more than friendship or camaraderie," right in her ear. Which is super confusing because Clementine didn't even know his name. How close could they have possibly been?
(Clementine's body language in this scene makes me so sick. She looks away when Blazer touches her. She's clearly scared.)
It's like he's enjoying this. Think about it. He likely tied up Clementine himself. Then got high. Listened to some jams while chatting with Raf. Felt the need to tell us he betrayed us. Put his hand on Clementine like he owned her.
It all seems pretty evil. Like it's just a game to him.
Another little detail. You know how he always talks with his eyes closed? (Morusque does too.) The animation is called "happy talk." Do with that what you will.
We're given no reason to think he feels any remorse, especially since..
Blazer is never seen again.
Despite being obvious bad news from the start, he still manages to betray us. He never faces any consequences, and I believe that's not just for game progression purposes.
Notice how it contrasts the Control Room.
The rich did not survive the plague.
As I've said before, I believe Blazer is a satirical representation of the upper class. Up until this point, the only threats we faced were natural ones—the Zurks. We met Companions who didn't agree with us, but none posed as a threat.
Then we get to Midtown, and suddenly all our enemies are automated. Surveillance cameras. Attack drones. While the majority of the residents are still kind, the sense of an overarching community found in the Slums and Ant Village is gone. And some Companions, like Blazer, aren't friendly.
The Slums dwellers aren't without their flaws, but the love of money and the greed that follows it was cultivated in the higher areas and passed down to the Companions.
The inclusion of Raf is the icing on the cake. We have a character who is so privileged that he's either blind to the suffering the Sentinels have brought or apathetic to it. "I think the oppressive police force is actually good lol. I don't know what everyone's problem is."
By letting Blazer off the hook, I believe BlueTwelve is acknowledging that the rich will succeed for a time. Him being bad news from the start just adds to the sting. How many times have we seen people who are clearly up to no good get away with things because of their wealth and/or privilege? (Not that I think Blazer is the rich guy who gets everything. That seems to fit Raf a little more. But the point still stands. The wealthy and their dog-eat-dog mentality.)
The wealthy will lie, steal, and cheat, and enjoy doing so. But their riches will not save them when it matters most.
Could Blazer have been threatened into this? Yes. But we don't have any evidence to that in-game.
Adding implications of guilt or internal conflict would've added another layer of humanity to Blazer and Companions as a whole, but I don't know how BlueTwelve would've gone about that. We spend so little time with him—he would've had to have much more screentime or major exposition dumps just to scratch the surface. Him being so unapologetic adds to the social commentary Stray gives, and adding more nuance to his character could've weakened that.
Exploring his motivations outside of canon is fun and awesome. Character exploration is my jam! But when we're talking strictly within canon? Things don't look good for him.
The only thing good going for him is him not hurting the cat until That Scene. So he's not just going around kicking puppies. But he'd kick a puppy if you payed him to.
I think that concludes my thoughts for now. This was pretty tough to put together, and I'd like to say more, but I did my best. I hope you liked it.
Blows him up with my mind. But from a nuanced standpoint.
*points* You! You're the one who put the comment with the timestamps on the 6.5 hr Stray soundtrack video! I just wanna say thank you for taking all the time to do that, even going above and beyond by including where it's at in the game and the motifs, I appreciate it ENORMOUSLY, thank you friend!
You have no idea how happy this made me. Yes, that was me!! I'm so glad more people are finding the video and benefitting from the timestamps!
For those who don't know, someone extracted over six and a half hours worth of Stray audio and uploaded them on YouTube. This includes extended tracks and stuff that never made it into the OST. It's super awesome, and ad free!
Only problem is. The tracks are in a nonsensical order. Intros play after the actual track, and the locations are all mixed up. That's where I came in and categorized everything in the comments! :D
Thank you for telling me Jay—it means so much! There's still a few tracks I've yet to identify, so please don't hesitate to tell me if you find them! That goes for motifs too. Or. Anything, really. I would be delighted to talk about this beautiful soundtrack with anyone. ^^
[Image ID: Screenshot that reads, "greenteanchills asked a question: 🌻 Here, one for yew as well <3" End ID]
@greenteanchills So sorry about that. 💀
I've been using Ellipsus to write for roughly three months now, and I've grown to like it quite a bit! It has so many features that are incredibly helpful for me as a cluttered writer. Their folders and sub-folders have helped me actually get a long fic started, and I just heard that they're going to let you manually organize documents soon!! I'm super excited for that. Having a folder for the outline and first two chapters and a sub-folder for scenes I want to include helped enough, but it was still a little discouraging. I didn't really want to start writing another random chapter because I knew it would get mixed up with the first two. But soon I won't have to worry about that! Big win for me and my fic.
I've never been this excited about a writing program before, though the only other two I used were Google Docs and my Notes app. I migrated to my Notes app to get away from Google's intimidating white page (among other things) and Ellipsus feels just as approachable with so many more tools. I'm very pleased with it and excited to see it grow. :]
So many flowers.. Should I give a thought for each of them?
For over a year after discovering Stray, I was working on a massive Prequel fic I lovingly named All That Came Before. The fic featured the rise and fall of the Outsiders, starting with Momo joining the team, and ending with Clementine in Midtown. And everything in between. (Doc disappearing, the Sewers and Ant Village, ect, ect.)
I finally convinced myself to write an outline eight months in. Despite how passionate I was about it (and still am), it was really intimidating! I had never written one before, nor written something so big.
So I made it as goofy as possible. Between my lack of energy and lack of motivation, I'm a bit of an iPad baby when it comes to projects. I quit if I'm not constantly entertained. And, even with the constant entertainment, I..didn't finish it. Coughs.
At this point, I'm planning on cannibalizing the story and turning some chapters into one-shots. They may not be as impactful without the other chapters, but they're still special and deserve to see the light. I just don't have it in me to write the whole thing, and with a new project I've picked up, I'd have to write an entire area twice if I did both. I'm not doing that. Trying to write it once is ambitious enough. 💀
Here's a peek into that old outline.
[Image ID: Four excerpts of text with a blue document background.
1. "The night before the meeting, Momo has a magical girl moment (buys his coat)."
2. "Very special chapter. Doc banishes himself to the shadow realm just a few chapters later."
3. "They stumble across a Zurk and Seamus obliterates it with a TV. Everyone stares at him and then they collectively decide to leave."
4. "Chapter #: Wide-eyed Walker.
Did I really name this chapter after a song that's barely applicable in this scenario? Yes. Wide-eyed walkerr (walker). Do not wander. Do not wander through the daaaawwwn~ (dawn. Ended with a tilde to indicate a sing-song tone). /lyr (lyrics).
Translation: (In all caps) Doc don't do this. Doc turn back. Turn back Doc. This will not end well for you!!" (Ended with two exclamation points for emphasis.) End ID]
*smiles stupidly* I think I'm quite funny.
It's a bummer these don't include Zbaltazar and Clementine—they were very involved! But I never got around to outlining much of Ant Village, and the Midtown section was by far the least developed. I usually jumped straight into writing any scene I thought of instead of outlining it. Plus, there's a few things I jotted down that I'm planning on using, so I can't share them just yet. No spoilers. 🫵
*gestures at the dumbest joke you've ever heard* That's a surprise tool that will help us later.
Yeah. Things didn't turn out how I would've liked, but it was great practice, and not all of it is lost! Plenty old plans will still get a time to shine eventually. And, even if they don't, I don't consider the time wasted. I had so much fun. ATCB will always have a special place in my heart.
i heard you had ocs..? do you have any story stuff going on? :3
My OCs? You want to know about my OCs?
If you're talking about my latest reblogs, I was referring to my fandom OCs for Stray, but I do have some completely original ones! But they're hard to share because they're Old. I'm talking four to five years old. And between what I've forgotten of their story and what I'd like to rewrite..it's tough to present. I quite literally spent hours trying to explain it to a friend (hi Rowan), and still didn't cover everything. But..maybe I'll introduce them some other time. 🫵
As for Stray OCs, here's some intros for the three I have! :]
Chi-Chi is a photographer and film developer in the Slums. Known more for developing the film of photos taken by others (I like to think she developed the Outsiders and Doc & Seamus' photos. ^^), she's trying to make a name for herself with her slice-of-life photography. She hopes to capture authentic emotions and find beauty in the mundane. Chi-Chi's story is all about finding herself and learning to be comfortable in her own skin.
Chi-Chi's late sister, Kori, collected and restored old vinyl records. She often struggled to feel fulfilled and dreamed of finding a way to Midtown and opening a record shop there—convinced life would be better there. She and Chi-Chi had a very complicated relationship, rarely seeing eye to eye while still looking out for each other.
Both siblings share the same struggle, wanting to be wanted, but go about it different ways. Chi-Chi is the mirrorball, making herself whatever anyone wants her to be, while Kori presents herself as completely in control and larger than life. Neither are true to themselves.
Disillusioned and unwilling to admit it, Zuri is a mini celebrity in Midtown, regularly DJ-ing and singing at the Nightclub. She's sponsored by Neco Corp and has become a bit of a figurehead for them. She also regularly works with the Peacemakers and informs them of any criminal activity within the Nightclub (she's a SNITCH). All to secure a life she no longer wants.
There's more to their stories, but that's all I'll give for now. Thanks for the ask!
For the tea ask game; Green for Zuri and Oolong for Chi-chi :)
Green: What is your OC’s favorite piece of clothing?
Zuri has a very extensive wardrobe thanks to all the clothing sponsorships she's accepted, but her favorite piece would probably be one of her jackets. She loves a big jacket and short skirt combo.
Either that or one of her sparkly mesh tops! It's her go-to when she's not feeling the jacket and wants to add a layer of shine to her outfit.
Next question/answer ended up being really long, so it's under the cut.
Oolong: How does your OC decorate their space?
This is a really hard question because Chi-Chi..doesn't decorate her space. Well, she didn't.
She and Kori shared a flat in the Slums (I like to think it was one of the flats right at the entrance), and Kori did all the decorating. She had a better eye for all things fashion and decor, and Chi-Chi's sense of style (and overall identity) wasn't nearly as developed, so Kori always took the lead.
Which meant their flat was almost all Kori's! The walls were covered in vinyl records and bright paintings, while glow-in-the-dark stars littered the ceiling.. A few of Chi-Chi's photos earned a place on the wall, but most of them remained in her photo album.
When Kori disappeared, Chi-Chi didn't have the heart to take anything down, so the space never became her own. If she were given the opportunity to move out and decorate her own place, she'd freeze. Where would she even start? What does she even like?
Just got hit with some dialogue. Chi-Chi blast.
"I think I'd really like one of those iron baskets that hang on the outside of your window. Or.. That doesn't sound right. But it's something like that. Those really big baskets you fill with flowers—planters, maybe? And long, flowy curtains, so I could stand inside with the window open and water my plants while the curtains sway in the breeze and-and I could watch the sunset from there. Yeah.. That'd be nice."
Apparently they're called Window Planter Boxes.
Get her one of these pronto.
It's hard to say what the rest of her place would look like—she doesn't know herself! She'd really enjoy florals, and pick out things with warm colors (or maybe pale colors.. Her body is green and pink. Would she want that for her place? That's for her to find out). She'd hang up more photos, throw in some string lights, maybe take a liking to patchwork quilts..
The decorations/aesthetic wouldn't be very consistent, but it would be hers.
[ 🪦 ] What would they want on their gravestone but never admit aloud?
Getting second-hand embarrassment from this, but, uh. Probably "Beloved Son." He would never ask for it because it seems stupid and pretentious, and it's less about actually having the epitaph and more about being loved enough to have it. He hopes his Papa loves him enough to tell others even when he's gone.
[ 🗡️ ] What is a scar that they have but never talk about?
I'm not sure what qualifies as a scar for Companions, but Zuri had a nasty injury in her pre-fame days. The damage was so severe that she had her entire head replaced. In a Gijinka/Human AU, she would've needed extensive plastic surgery.
..Wait, is this question about a physical or emotional scar? If it's an emotional one.. That's a conversation for another day.
I think I would like to Blorbo tag more. And Blorbo post in general. And just post. I know I'm the tag yapper, but I'd like to share things of my own too. I grew up believing I'd be shot and killed for leaving a YouTube comment, so coming out of my shell like this is good exposure for me.
Also I've invented the opposite of the "so cutes" phrase you see all over Tumblr. It's "so poops." You can use it for anything inconvenient or annoying. I have already infected my family with it. I hope it spreads further.
