Shots and Such - Beautifully, Tragically Ironic

[Macrosis2020]

2 days after finishing Shots and Such, the first narratively conclusive ending to the game, and here I am, alone with my thoughts, reflecting on the state of our “heroes” at the end of this wild ride. After an hour of goosebumps and butterflies bickering through the wall that is my skin, I’ve decided that these contemplations are interesting enough to be put down to words for people to read.

So, here’s a detached, unorganized analysis of the Shots and Such ending, because I need an outlet to release these d*mned avians and insects. These are just my interpretations, don’t take them as facts, as only the author themselves really knows what goes on in these f*ckers’ head. However, I’d like to believe they’re a kind enough author to have put out enough information to semi-accurately analyze a complete ending.

I heavily recommend you first read through my previous post analyzing the Nina grave visit’s aftermath, because it gives some more context to my interpretation.
(https://steamcommunity.com/app/2378900/discussions/0/594019468387028797/)

——————

“You question wouldn’t the sex being transactional make her the very definition of a wh*re but decide not to ask.”
“There’s clearly something here she needs help unpacking.”
“Something she needs you to walk her through, like the good parental figure you’re a caricature of.”
“But to help her, you’d first have to deep-dive into your own psyche…”
“Because there’s no way in hell her issues aren’t all tangled up with yours.”
“Hell, hers are probably *caused* by yours.”
“Yeahhh, there is no universe where you’d peer into that abyss of your own accord…”
- Shots and Such route, interact with the bed after the “proposal”

Thanks, Lord Unknown, you’re a god-d*mned (heh) miracle.

——————

During the night Ashley realized her own romantic feelings for Andrew, he pushed her away and headed to the showers in disgust.

They stopped talking for over a year after that. Andrew thinks she’s repulsed by him and his lust. Ashley thinks he’s repulsed by her and her love. A misunderstanding of monstrous proportions that left both siblings on the brink of collapse.

The aftermath of this… is Leyley. Leyley, who thinks she was being too kind to Julia before. Leyley, who thinks constant manipulation and suicide-baiting is the only way a repulsive sister like her can ever keep him around. Only Leyley.

And now, he did it again. He kissed her, an awful first kiss by any means, reeking of cigarettes and alcohol, but it made her finally think she had a chance to be that for him… but he pushed her away again. Not only that, he *mocked* her for not being able to satisfy him.

The last time he did this, they drifted apart for over a year. What will happen now?

Suddenly, her storming off, before begging Andrew to show her that he will not leave her after that scene makes a whole lot of f*cking sense.

Suddenly, her desperately wanting to provide what she never could, even against his will, makes a whole lot of f*cking sense.

Why didn’t it ease her when she heard him confess his love and his lust in his drunken stupor? Why didn’t she feel wanted, why didn’t she find the courage to give herself to him when he asked for it?

For his nightmare is Leyley, and his beloved is Ashley. She knows she’s Leyley. He knows she’s Leyley.

Andy hates Leyley.
Leyley “loves” Andy.
Andrew hates Leyley.
Leyley “loves” Andrew.
Andrew loves Ashley.
Ashley loves Andrew.

Leyley can never give Andrew what he wants, especially now. Through all the mockery, all the rejections, and the brutal beating, here lies Leyley, battered and bruised, inside and out, mind and body. Here lies a Leyley who recognized the death of Andy. Here lies a Leyley who will never feel sufficient for Andrew. Here lies a Leyley in constant fear of that imminent rejection. Here lies a Leyley, still with that twisted definition of “love” built from mountains of obsession and insecurities. Here lies a Leyley who can never become Ashley again.

If he wasn’t dead drunk, he’d never choose her. He’d be repulsed by the idea of using her to satisfy his lust. He’d seek others to fill that place again, like he did Julia. She wasn’t sure if it would work, but it’s one last Hail Mary to keep him by her side.

But it didn’t work, of course it didn’t work.

——————

Why did Andrew want her dead back then?
He’d given up. He’d given up on burying Leyley. He’d given up on maintaining Ashley’s existence. He’d given up on knocking the insolence and insecurity out of the brat.

“There’s a disgusting lump sleeping next to you”
“It doesn’t care for you. It only cares for itself.”
“And it always gets what it wants in the end.”

His rational side despised the fact that Leyley forced him into doing something he didn’t want again, and he remains just as spineless as Andy once was against her.

”I wished I weren’t half-passed out.”
“I wished it weren’t for such a stupid reason.”
“I wish she gave a f*ck.”

His romantic side despised the fact that Ashley’s first time ended up being the way it did. His feelings weren’t reciprocated, he wasn’t able to put his mind into it, and it was ultimately started by Leyley forcing herself on him, instead of some kind of special moment.

Unlike with Julia, sex with Ashley clearly meant a lot more to Andrew. He wanted it to be romantic, because unlike with Julia, he loves her. That’s why he offered to do it again when they arrived at the door, but she only said “You can if you want.” It clearly doesn’t mean anything special to her. She still doesn’t understand love.

(“I wish she gave a f*ck.”)
“I wish I didn’t.”
“I wish, I wish, I wish, I wish I weren’t born at all.”

His moral side despised the fact that he did this to his little sister, and now, he’s completely ran out of excuses to convince himself that he deserved something in life, or to stay alive for that matter.

Every facet of his being despised what happened last night, and he’s ready to end it all.

Andrew contemplates leaving Leyley behind once and for all, as he had done many times the past few days, but with more resolve now than ever. However, picking up the engagement ring from the floor, his thoughts shifted for a brief moment. She kept it all along, is Ashley still somewhere in there?

Surely not, he decided. But once again, like a f*cking addict, his romantic tendencies caved his rationality’s head in, and pulled him back one final time to at least consider that possibility. His finger landed on the engagement ring, and the pair narrowly escaped the consequences of her actions by pure chance.

He makes a compromise, as he’s done so many times before, and decided that Leyley will have to do.

——————

In that apartment, lives a married couple. Andrew, violent alcoholic, husk of his former self, deadbeat husband. Leyley, still a brat, still knows not of love, and living as a sexual stand-in for a long-lost version of herself. They started out their journey as Andrew and Leyley, and ended it as such.

Within their daily struggle and strife lies an interesting implication: She seems to be able to enjoy sex with him while inebriated. Disregarding the dubious consensual status… why is that?

Alcohol stops you from being able to care about what you think. Deep down, underneath all that fear of rejection, underneath her hatred of sex, underneath her insecurities, the part of her who truly loved him still exists.

Not her f*cked up idea of “love”, where chaining him up in an apartment is a display of it. Actual, true love. If she doesn’t think, if she doesn’t fear, and let her deepest desires take control, she loves him. It’s Ashley, the one part of her that imagined being married with Andrew and wavered way back when.

After they got married, Andrew had a glimpse of this part of her that he didn’t understand back then, and desperately tried to find it again. He desperately wanted to feel once more that she felt the same way as him.

But standing by his side is the Leyley he’s thoroughly beaten down with his words and with his fists, and as long as her thoughts are with her, he will never get to see Ashley again.

The damage they’ve done to each other remains irreversible, but at least they’re together, surviving day by day. Shots and Such ends with two people who love each other more than anything else in the world, both stuck in an abusive, loveless marriage… with each other.

A tragically, beautifully ironic ending.



Unrelated Note:
(I honestly want to encourage more actual lore discussions in this fandom than all the messy p*rn, OCs, and most of all, culture war bullsh*t. If you came here from my Twitter post and enjoyed my analysis, please give it a RT or something, I’d really appreciate if we can fix this fandom somewhat.)

[WingsOfTaxEvasion]

absolute cinema

[castorate]

peak alarm

[castorate]

"During the night Ashley realized her own romantic feelings for Andrew, he pushed her away and headed to the showers in disgust."
that flashback made me so sad

[Macrosis2020]

Originally posted by castorate:

"During the night Ashley realized her own romantic feelings for Andrew, he pushed her away and headed to the showers in disgust."
that flashback made me so sad

There’s a subtle line telling you that the parents were pissed at him for taking a shower in the middle of the night, so she must’ve heard it too, and knew that’s what he was doing.

[Irrelevare Objectum]

The Graves siblings mean so much to me, because I feel like I'm a mix of their personalities and traits. I have lived my life as a Leyley with the feigned desires of an Andrew, and it hasn't worked out great. I've had two major relationships in my life, both long distance.

The first girl we'll call Sarah. Sarah and I were close, for the most part. We could talk, get along, have fun, and all that, but there were just some connections missing that made it feel like we weren't close enough. She ended up breaking up with me and got a new partner, yet she continued to talk to me and even sort of led me on at times with the things she would do, while she said she wasn't attracted to me anymore. It was a headache to understand, and even harder for my need for attachment to let go, because when she did give me attention it was heavenly. I no longer talk to her, but I did find out she got married so that's funny.

The next girl we'll call Amy, and she's where things get interesting. We were way closer than I could've ever gotten with Sarah, and I fell in head over heels. I needed her affection and love more than oxygen or safety, and I held onto her so tight my knuckles turned white. I knew I was clingy, messed up with how badly I needed her, but I didn't want to change, so I didn't. Due to my own mistakes that I'd rather not say, Amy had to let me go. We're no longer together, but we still talk and laugh sometimes. It's bittersweet, but I'm overjoyed to be in her presence.

In a way, I feel like I'm currently living a mix of the prophecy fulfiller ending and the shots and such ending. I caused Amy to break up with me because of my own mistakes, but we interact in ways that feel normal and like the good old days. We're too wrapped up to leave completely, but we also can't be completely together anymore. Neither dead nor alive. It's a strange situation, yeah, but it's my situation, and I wouldn't leave it if I had the choice.

I wouldn't call my situation a happier shots and such, just maybe a more muted version. I feel like I'm either the shots and such ending, or maybe ____ in the box, I don't know.

Wow, I rambled and ended up saying a whole lot of nothing. I am so sorry.

[Fimbulvetr]

These topics are why we love video games' narrative...

[specty]

a well written analysis of Shots and Such, I always welcome seeing more analysis of the game's writing and narratives from the community.

while I do have my own thoughts on the interpretation of the ending it's tough for me to put it out with words, but you have done a stellar job at explaining your own interpretation of it. Well done.

[Macrosis2020]

Originally posted by specty:

a well written analysis of Shots and Such, I always welcome seeing more analysis of the game's writing and narratives from the community.

while I do have my own thoughts on the interpretation of the ending it's tough for me to put it out with words, but you have done a stellar job at explaining your own interpretation of it. Well done.

I’d love to see different writings about this game other than baseless headcanons or dumb culture war bs, so I’d say go ahead, write your stuff. This fandom bloody needs it.

[Mr.Internett]

During the night Ashley realized her own romantic feelings for Andrew, he pushed her away and headed to the showers in disgust.

They stopped talking for over a year after that. Andrew thinks she’s repulsed by him and his lust.

*in my head, i dont think that Andrew thought that Ashley was disgusted by him, since she started it in the bed after his "wet dream confession". I think he was truly disgusted by himself and his feelings for her. He basicaly raised her as parent, friend, and brother. and he was so close to reach his dream of moving, studying and getting a GF and be "normal". but he became the rumors that he was bullied for and what he tried protecting his sister from.

im guessing but in his mind the last and final barrier/savety net Andrew had for himself was that the "fantasy" of loving Ashley and it would never work, was infact that she would be truly disgusted by it and him. but was not.
she only got a sliver of his love/confession/wet dream but she wanted more without a second thought.

i think that terrfied him to his very core,

[Macrosis2020]

Originally posted by Mr.Internett:

*in my head, i dont think that Andrew thought that Ashley was disgusted by him, since she started it in the bed after his "wet dream confession". I think he was truly disgusted by himself and his feelings for her.

It’s true that Andrew is disgusted about his own feelings, that much we know already. The reason why I wrote that he thinks Ashley is disgusted by him is because of one line in the Shots and Such route where Andrew said that he thought Ashley didn’t want to be near him back then (to which Ashley replied that there has NEVER been a time when she didn’t want him near). Combine that with her reaction the morning after the wet dream (scooting away from him when he sits down on the couch), it’s pretty clear why he thought that she’s disgusted, when in reality, she was just angry and hurt over the rejection.

[Del Zhong He]

It really is that depressing, exactly what was bound to happen, but still tragic

[Dark Star]

You've so succinctly put into words the thoughts i've been rolling over in my head for days. Thank you for this excellent write-up of this phenomenal bittersweet, pyrrhic victory, monkey's paw wish of an ending. They finally got what they wanted but were too damaged, mistrustful, and absorbed by their own neuroses to work on any of their issues and now have to spend the rest of their miserable lives with the halves of each other that they despise.

It's a masterclass of tragic poetic irony and I'd honestly be satisfied with the overall work even if this were the only ending, but I'm thrilled there are so many more on the way. Presumably we'll get our route where our beloved children work out their issues and... probably have literal blood orgies once they've thrown away whatever last moral scruples they had, on their quest to accept the purely depraved nature of their existences lol
Praise Be to Lord Unknown and his affordable psychological healthcare services! Go Satan!!!!

[Sovereign Dark]

Shots was quite the dramatic piece. True. I preferred Splat, though. I won't lie.

[Macrosis2020]

Originally posted by Dark Star:

Praise Be to Lord Unknown and his affordable psychological healthcare services! Go Satan!!!!

He sat down and worked through the personal problems of a random follower he met 10 years ago who didn’t even remember him. Lord Unknown 100% deserves his cult.

[Macrosis2020]

Originally posted by Sovereign Dark:

Shots was quite the dramatic piece. True. I preferred Splat, though. I won't lie.

Think of the children, man!