I figured I'd reblog + share my own thoughts because this was a fun read and there's some really solid character analysis here that deserves to be seen by more people and shows someone who clearly pays a lot of attention to DT's narrative. It mainly focuses on the route content itself, where Gingi only knows each datable for a few days, so I figured I'd mention how both interpretations are actually correct, but specifically when you account for time.
The point about Randy is eternally solid. His newest scene in Roger's route shows him agreeing to take part in a predatory business to scrape his way out of poverty and while he's very submissive to Gingi, he intends to profit from something he knows is evil. Randy is NOT pure. I wouldn't call him malicious or unkind, but a lot of his words come from what he sees as self-preservation.
His attitude in his Roger's route cameo is 'fuck the system, what do I have to lose?', which introduces the dynamic for how the rest of Roger's employees react to the scam later on. And need we forget the bad endings of his route where he brandishes his iconic hammer? Randy is, on the surface, someone who will take anything that life throws his way with complete submission. However, Randy does have a breaking point and if he reaches it... All hell breaks loose. And yes, the point about the route centering around Randy's own agency is very important.
Oliver IS very confident but as pointed out, we do see some scenes of him second-guessing himself in the route. It's important to note that during the route, he doesn't know Gingi very well and is concerned about making a good impression and not scaring Gingi off by being too weird for Gingi, a fun inversion of the usual dynamic (not that Gingi cares if ITS weird ofc.)
The key thing to understand is that Oliver is kind of a pack animal in a sense. He derives confidence from those around him. I think it's fair to say that with more time in the group, Oliver WOULD be less self-conscious with strangers, knowing his friends would back him no matter what. I could still picture him acting confident when speaking to strangers with his friends around, but showing the same aforementioned insecurity on occasion when speaking to group members 1:1, desperate not to lose the favour of the group. In that way, late-game Oliver isn't that much unlike Callum Crown. The group would change everyone in subtle ways over time, as the DT characters are still evolving as people :)
The point about Karen is interesting. The emphasis on her rashness/jealousy is definitely very much valid and a great point to make. She is very much protective of what she sees as hers, but I do feel this could lead to situations where she automatically becomes the voice of reason in the group. The group is made up of Randy, Oliver, Gingi, Bigfoot, Norm + Karen. Because Oliver and Gingi are both fairly reckless, Randy has a tendency to panic/screw things up and she already has a dynamic of feeding Bigfoot (a dynamic of care) and he startles easily, this kind of has her + Norm having to think responsibly for the group, with Norm's father instincts and Karen's older sister instincts kicking in.
That being said, Karen's base personality is very much still there and in certain situations, like if the group was threatened or critically disrespected by something, I feel Norm would probably have to hold her back to avoid her clawing someone's head open. I should also note that DT's narrative (eg, Dietown) implies that Karen is as close as Randy (if not CLOSER) to completely snapping and having a psychological breakdown before Gingi intervenes and she quits her job. That's probably important to note.
I also completely agree about wanting to see more Norm + Mingus stuff as they're great characters! Norm's a little tricky because he only appears at the end of the game, and I've been a bit squeamish about doing ANYTHING after the ending of the game since I already have fairly detailed plans for what happen NEXT that continue very shortly from where DT leaves off (which would be prime sequel real estate!) But, I'm sure I'll think of something.
I'm currently writing a little Mingus fanfic to explain some of how she ended up where she has (first part is here), but yeah, Mingus is critically underrated and a very fun/complex character. She's actually in my top 3 favourite DT characters (with Gingi + Crown), which is saying something, given how much I like the other datables! It's a bare lead, but worth noting all the same.
Great analysis though! Made me smile seeing how much thought someone put into the characters :)
