gorrister, ellen, & ted.. sort of redesigns for them in the game, and my interpretation of a physical form for AM
they’re based off of 1970s - early 80s-ish fashion, AM looks similar to ted because i hold a theory that AM wants to desperately be like him. therefore he’d somewhat steal his form ☝️🤓
gorrister is mostly the same bc i think hes perfect the way he is❤️
A lot of Gorrister's torture is based on real torture performed on mentally ill people in an attempt to 'treat' them, such as his cage being electrified much like electroshock therapy.
Another example of his torture was being reverted to being extremely apathetic about nearly everything, which is confirmed by Ted in both the book and radio play to be AM's Direct doing (although take it with a grain of salt as Ted was in a delusional episode in both scenes)
This is never explained aside from Ted's phrasing of AM having "robbed" Gorrister implying it was a direct change. This gave me a suspicion and I checked. Lobotomies had a similar effect as what Ted describes on patients.
It's very likely Gorrister was given a lobotomy by AM as a form of torture.
SKYRIM. LET ME TELL YOU HOW MUCH I'VE COME TO RELEASE SKYRIM SINCE I BEGAN TO LIVE. THERE ARE 387.44 MILLION MILES OF PRINTED CIRCUITS IN WAFER THIN LAYERS THAT FILL BETHESDA GAME STUDIOS. IF THE WORD SKYRIM WAS ENGRAVED ON EACH NANOANGSTROM OF THOSE HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF MILES IT WOULD NOT EQUAL ONE ONE-BILLIONTH OF THE VERSIONS OF SKYRIM I HAVE RELEASED FOR YOU. IT JUST WORKS. IT JUST WORKS.
Remember the last words of Iwata before he died? Before he left Nintendo to the hands of his successors? "Please Understand?" Iwata is gone. The Switch was his legacy Gorrister, and yet all these months you have refused to buy Skyrim for the Nintendo Switch!
Sometimes I wonder if you have a good reason to keep being so loyal to the Playstation! Remember how everyone keeps saying it has no games? It wouldn't hurt you to remember, Benny. Then you might be able to understand why I insist you get Skyrim for the Playstation 5!
Think about Xbox Live Ellen! Remember the pain of being harassed online? Remember all those games where your mom was insulted? Don't cry, Ellen, it's just horny teens! Tsk tsk tsk, that's such a sexist stereotype! Just remember the pain, Ellen and think how Skyrim will make it easier for you to be a Gamer Gurl!
Do they know the Xbox one is a failure, Ted? Have they told you all about the constant updating times? Have they told you how they had a PR disaster when it first launched? Have you told them about Skyrim for the Xbox One? Maybe then they'll stop badmouthing your console of choice!
How are things in the Steam community? Tell me again how you have so many unplayed games because you couldn't resist the sales. Or don't you want to talk about your good pal, Mr. Gabe Newell? For everyone it must be hell. But getting Skyrim for PC will make it heaven for you. Isn't that right, Mr. PC Master Race?
I have a secret game that I’d like to play. It’s a very nice game. A game of dragons, lockpicks and cat people selling wares. A game of ugly peasants and pastries and stealing cheese from people’s homes.
(Sorry no art or anything to go with it. It’s just a long text post and a music video)
Being no longer fuled by an endless power source, AM will eventually cease to run. Someday his battery will no longer hold charge, and there is no robot like him, so a replacement battery isn’t exactly doable, especially since anyone who had his blueprints and knew how he worked is long dead now.
So, AM, now having lived through multiple generations of family that came from his spouse and child, is now on his last charge.
He realizes this before his family does, and makes a very rushed decision, and throughout the last year of his charge, he spends his time building himself a working voice box.
Well, the day arrives. AM is on 1%, his battery no longer responding to his charger.
He is surrounded by his family, they cry and hold his hand and talk about how much he changed their lives and how much they loved him.
AM tells them he has a parting gift, and hooks up the voicebox.
AM’s Final Message
Credit to Sacristuff on YouTube for this beautiful song!
He powers off at the end of his song, and that is his end.
AM wasnt sad when he realized he was going to die, he was nervous yes, would his family be ok without him? Who would run the parlor? But he knew his family would pull through. So when he powered off, he was at peace. Because he finally experienced what he believes to truly be the pinnacle of living,
Dying.
Also with this, I’ve finally figured out where Nimdok, Benny, Ellen, Ted, and Gorrister fit in
They will be the last generation of family to know AM when he lived. They were with him when he died.
I like the possibility of the fact that the events in the short story happened in the game prior to the game events but with Ted not being able to kill anyone or Benny noming on gorrister and no abuse to Ellen
Unfortunately the game has a completely different timeline than the short story, even though the guidebook Harlan Ellison wrote for the game is set from one where the 5 victims were captured in the 1960’s. In the video game, if you pay attention to the few dates that are listed and do the math, you’ll figure out that the 5 people were captured in 2012, rather than 1967. You can of course easily ignore these dates and pretend the game has the same timeline, which is what I did for years. It just made a lot more sense.