Random Thoughts on BBD Shift 3
I spent the entirety of last weekend playing (and replaying) through Shift 3 of Big Bad Dogs and the amount of love and detail blew me away, 10/10 totally worth the carpal tunnel. Laly really outdid herself and kudos to all the dedicated people out there who discovered all the different stuff. I'm stubborn and typically don't like to use guides/hints but I definitely wouldn't have found everything myself so I'm grateful. Playing this shift reminded me of playing Ace Attorney games as a kid and clicking every last pixel when I'd get stuck. I really wish I would have taken notes or something, but it's not like I planned on writing anything when I started playing so whatevs. I'm terrible at organizing my thoughts.
LANE Lane, Lane, Lane. This guy, I swear. I have no clue if I like him or not, if I'm attracted or repulsed. I honestly can't remember the last time I felt so mixed up over a character. I'm pretty convinced he would not like me, like, at all so the distaste is mutual at least. I'm not sure where I sit with his dynamic with MC either. Sometimes I like their interactions but other times not at all. The scenes where MC nags him in this shift turned me off of him quite a bit, ngl. I don't want to play mother to a grown ass man. Then again, that scene in the drunk route when he jumps out and scares MC and goes "It's Britney, bitch!" made me laugh so much... God, he's such a donkey but there's just something about him I can't leave alone. One thing that really stuck with me is his mother, sheesh! I can already definitively say I don't like her. It explains a LOT about why Lane is the way he is and Amelia too. Her expectations of Lane versus her expectations of Amelia regarding the driving test were just horrible. Lane probably felt bitter about his mom's double standards whereas Amelia basically was sent a message that women are inferior. Misogyny hurts everyone, folks. It's interesting how Lane and Amelia basically responded in opposite ways to their mother's sexism. I know Bianca played a part in this too, but his mother really planted that seed it seems. I was kind of, I don't know, proud to see that he doesn't spend the money that his mom sends him. I wonder if his mother was like that when his father was still alive? Lane and I have something in common though: I too had a black-haired, blue-eyed cop for a father who I look just like. My dad's not dead though, just bald. Unfortunately for me I'm a woman so looking like my dad sucks. 🥀
Then, I go back to lowkey hating him when I think about that photo of him with Ludwig. He slept with a girl as a dare?! What a complete and total douchebag! That's honestly so gross and horrible, poor Lindsay. She obviously got some payback, but still... That's the kind of thing that would stick with a person and really hurt them. I hope he was terrible in bed that day so she could tell everyone how much he sucked and that she has a bf with a huge schlong now. 😤 But on the subject of Ludwig, why do I feel like he might be as big of a douche as Lane in some ways? He could possibly be shallower too because, in my experience, so many of those guys who are really into 2D women can't even handle seeing a pore on a real woman without frothing at the mouth over how ugly she is. I'm probably being too harsh. 🙃 I wonder what's up with the laptop? Is it Ludwig's and Lane is borrowing it or something? Also, I really hope that if you listened to the psychic to the end that Lane has a reaction to his phone bill in a future shift because I am evil. :3 That 'I wish you were here to meet her' he wrote in his little notebook tugged on my heartstrings a bit. His Monster shirt... he initially says it belonged to an ex but if I understood correctly, it was actually from his mom? Like she basically remembered he really liked an energy drink but couldn't be bothered to remember the exact one or something. BB I really loved BB's route! He's just so... cute. I already liked him beforehand but shift 3 only served to make me like him more. It's strange, like, I feel as though I should have tons to say about it considering just how much we learn about him, but I don't; maybe because I've read so much of what other people thought I have no thoughts left of my own. 💀 I just know several times I was smiling like a lovesick moron. From the beginning of BB's #1 route it does seem pretty likely that MC knew him for longer than she remembers. I love that he draws flowers. Flowers, eyes, and birds are my favorite motifs? Imagery? Not sure of the correct term. lol I enjoy the dynamic between BB and MC a lot; I can't remember actively disliking any of their interactions, good or bad. The inside of his locker says, "I have no rizz", which I beg to differ! I feel he's so awkward that it results in him being very charming. I don't think it has any significance, but BB picks the number 27 randomly during the convo about the number of words he'll try to use and the winning number on the scratch-off ticket in the lost and found at Mad Dog is also 27. I think. I might be misremembering. I kinda feel him on the whole eat the same food everyday thing. I went through a period where I did the same because when you eliminate the number of variables to account for, it's just way easier to stay disciplined. I suspect in his case it's more of a comfort in routine type deal though, plus those little heater thingies in MREs are just fun to use. Okay, I doubt that factors in for him. xD So a typical MRE is about 1200 calories but if BB is just eating packets of spaghetti bolognese five times a day that's probably about 1980 calories or so, even accounting for strawberry milk that's barely over maintenance for a guy his size so that's honestly not too crazy at all. Why did I bother looking this up? 🙃 I probably laughed too much at his stick joke. I've heard it before, but I'm a sucker for lame puns. However, I cannot abide his disrespect for Batman! 😤 Hand to hand combat is kind of his thing, he'd clear 10 chimps in under a minute easy even without his gadgets. The Honda joke scene got me thinking, particularly about RB. As a quick aside, RB makes me think about like roast beef or Arby's or something. 💀 I recognize this is totally a me problem but for this reason I'm just going to refer to him as Red. I don't actually think I'll end up being correct about any of this, but my theory is that Red is a separate person from BB, the polaroids in BB's locker really convince me that's the case.
I think they probably met the MC together and Red began to develop an obsession with her. If we believe what her neighbor said, MC didn't like his obsessive behavior and it caused her distress. Maybe one night, there was some kind of escalation and Red tried to harm MC in some way and, well, BB killed him. Probably with a tire iron. This is the event that made MC lose her memories and be traumatized by the color red. To put it in Clue terms: I think the murderer was BB in the Sweet Leash garage with a tire iron. To be fair, the murder may not have happened in the garage but I think his body might actually be hidden there. If I want to get extra crazy with this, I’m going to say maybe his body is in the wall. (This is totally plausible, watch the Korean film called Phone) When MC leans on the wall, BB tells her not to lean on “him.” Like it could just be him being silly but… He could just be in the ground too though, I feel like BB’s dialogue about how there might be bodies underneath their feet or whatever could be an instance of telling the truth in a way that sounds like a lie or a joke. Anyways, I think BB is being “haunted” by Red, not literally but psychologically. I keep thinking about that painting of the wolf with “Little Red’s ghost” or whatever. My ultra crazy theory is that BB is taking on attributes of Red kind of like Cloud did with Zack in Final Fantasy VII. I could go on, but this is already long as shit it’s late rn.















