Educating Him.

Educating him.

Had a mental breakdown over college algebra today. Now Shadow The Hedgehog is my math tutor.

The Best Possible Run of Until Dawn as Scientifically Calculated by Me

This is a sequel to my Worst Run(TM) guide which can be found here

Last time, we turned every character into the most awful version of themselves they could possibly be. Now, we’re gonna do the opposite. Not only is it an everybody lives run, but we’re gonna make it so every character finishes the game on as good of terms as possible. Here is what I consider to be a golden run of Until Dawn.

SPOILER WARNING: this guide assumes you have played through the game at least once

Unlike last time where we only interacted with/picked up clues that were mandatory or affected relationships, this time we are going to be collecting every clue in the game as to make the characters GIGA BRAIN and get all of that juicy clue dialogue.

Because I don’t want to painstakingly describe the location of every clue in the game, I’m going to link a video that does it for me. You can find it here

There are time stamps provided in the description so that you can hop around to specific items. Note that totems aren’t necessary for this play-through since they are never acknowledged by the characters. You are still free to do so for that sweet sweet 100% if you’re a completionist like I am. If there are still questions about the clues/totems, feel free to message me in the replies about them and I will do my best to help you.

Dr. Hill segments won’t be listed since they are mostly subjective. However, the absolute must is to make Josh feel guilt and take responsibility for his actions. We’re giving the lad a redemption arc, basically.

One last thing before we begin. Anything marked with a * is just additional information that I thought would be helpful to know.

PROLOGUE

- Let go/do nothing as Beth

CHAPTER ONE

- Close the bag as Sam so that Chris is happy to see her

- Do not shoot the squirrel as Chris as doing so lowers his relationship with Sam and guarantees she cannot escape the psycho later on

* It doesn’t matter what you do as Jessica, just note that explain raises her relationship with Chris and lowers it with Sam, while demand does the inverse

- Do not threaten Mike as Matt to raise their relationship

- Comply with Emily’s request to continue on as Matt to raise their relationship

- Encourage Matt to look through the telescope as Ashley because we wanna be an honest homie

- Snowball fight doesn’t matter, just don’t hit the bird

- Kiss Mike as Jess

CHAPTER 2

- Worry about Josh as Chris to raise their relationship

- Be confident with Ashley as Chris to raise their relationship

- Go down towards the camera (opposite of Ashley on the stairs) to talk with Matt

- Ask Matt how he’s doing as Chris to raise their relationship

- Agree with all of Josh’s statements about Ashley as Chris to raise him and Josh’s relationship

* Talking to Sam does not affect stats as there are no answer choices in the conversation

- When Matt confronts Mike about Emily, de-escalate the situation (challenge and then apologize)

- As Matt, make sure when Jess and Emily start fighting, that you side with Emily first, and then side with Jess at the second prompt

* Siding with Emily first makes her less pissy at you later, and siding with Jess afterwards minimizes losing too much relationship with either

- Take a selfie with the bae as Mike

- Agree with Jess about Emily being a bitch as Mike to raise their relationship

- Be respectful as Mike when him and Jess examine the police tape to raise their relationship

- Pick heroic as Mike when Jess falls in the mineshaft to raise their relationship

- Choose flirtatious as Mike about the bird to raise him and Jess’s relationship

- Select flattering as Sam when Josh mentions Chris and Ashley as being mocking lowers their relationship

- Reassure Josh as Sam to be a good friend :)

- When picking up the baseball bat as Sam, pick serious to raise her relationship with Josh

- High five Josh as Sam so you don’t leave the homie hanging (spam triangle)

* Choosing to prank Josh or not doesn’t effect anything

- Be heroic as Sam about the noise to raise her relationship with Josh

CHAPTER 3

- Take a seance seriously as Ashley as to not upset Josh (more than you’re going to anyway)

- Be apologetic about the prank as Ashley to raise her relationship with Chris

- Respond flirtatiously to Jessica’s prank as Mike to raise their relationship

- Instead of crossing the bridge, walk down towards the camera until you find a tree with E+M surrounded by a heart carved into it

- Confess to Jess about being a sap as Mike when she inquires about the tree to raise their relationship

- Show the mask to Jess as Mike since picking scare lowers their relationship

- Comfort the deer as Mike because we love animals in this house

* PSA: do not approach wild animals IRL even if injured unless you are a professional or are fairly certain you won’t get mauled

- Choose whatever route you want in the chase scene, just make sure you actually pick options as indecision will annoy Jessica

- Help up Jess as Mike instead of unlocking the door to raise their relationship

- The rifle is not a clue, but if you decide to pick it up make sure not to pick scare as that lowers Mike and Jess’s relationship

- By this point, your relationship with Jess should be maxed and she will strip down to her underwear since she’s super downbad

- Show Ashley the letter as Chris since lying is bad

CHAPTER 4

- To save Jessica, make sure to pick all of the risky, unsafe paths as Mike and jump instead of shimmy

* You can not fail more than 4 times with each missed QTE being 1 fail, picking a safe path accumulates 3 fails so be extra careful

* If Jessica’s jaw is still intact when you find her then she is still alive for now

- Choose to save Josh as Chris to raise their relationship

* Ashley’s relationship with Chris is not affected either way oddly enough, but Josh’s relationship with Chris lowers if you choose to save Ashley

CHAPTER 5

- Do not punch doggy

- Feed doggy bone :)

- Pet doggy :)

- Do not touch the waving hand. Seriously. It’s not a clue. You can walk right past it and lose nothing. Do not let the intrusive thoughts win.

- Agree to smash the door for Emily as Matt to raise their relationship

- Make sure to catch Emily when she almost falls off the ledge you’re shimmying on to earn her appreciation

- Agree with Emily about the fire tower as Matt to raise their relationship

- Escape the psycho as Sam, I’ve seen variations on how to successfully do this, but here’s what I’ve found works

1. Run

2. Jump over the bed

3. Run

4. Pull down the cabinet

5. You HAVE to hide once closing the door behind you (be sure to turn your flashlight off when prompted with triangle and succeed in the short don’t move)

CHAPTER 6

- Calm down Emily as Matt to increase their relationship

- Do not attack the deer or Matt will be knocked off a cliff, plus we love animals here

- Keep the flare gun as Emily and do not fire it

*This slightly lowers her relationship with Matt, but allows us to avoid being bitten by the wendigo. Plus the relationship loss is so minor that it doesn’t affect anything.

- Comply with the park ranger over the radio as Emily

- Be supportive of Emily as Matt to raise their relationship

- Show concern towards Emily as Matt to raise their relationship

- During the first prompt, try to save Emily as Matt to raise their relationship

- During the second prompt, jump to safety as Matt so that he avoids death

- Do not insist upon seeing a ghost to Chris as Ashley since doing so lowers their relationship

- When discussing the prank with Chris, choose to be sympathetic as Ashley to raise their relationship

-Be courageous when Ashley expresses hesitation at going to find Sam because we are bad bitches in this household

- In the room with the hitlist, enter the closed door to find a projector and watch the video

- Choose apologetic as Ashley when prompted to raise her relationship with Chris

- Don’t split off from Chris as Ashley since splitting up is dumb

- Do not stab the psycho as Ashley to spare her a black eye, and so that Chris won’t punch Josh in retaliation later

- As Chris, aim the gun at yourself first as to not scare Ashley

- Shoot either yourself, or do nothing to maximize your relationship with Ashley

* Do not shoot Ashley as this will guarantee Chris’s death later

CHAPTER 7

* Be sure to turn around immediately when given control of Sam as to not miss the clue since it’s very sneaky

- Show concern towards Mike and inquire about Jessica as Sam to raise her relationship with both of them

* Emily’s section here doesn’t matter, just continue getting all the clues since there are a lot of them

- Scold Josh as Chris, and then be skeptical to raise their relationship

- Be defensive towards Josh as Chris since being aggressive lowers their relationship

- Do nothing when prompted to disarm Mike or hit Josh as both choices have negative consequences on relationships

CHAPTER 8

- During the chase as Emily, succeed in QTE’s to guarantee Emily’s survival, and make sure to hop of the conveyor belt when prompted. Because we have a useable flare gun, you will be prompted to shoot the wendigo. It’s crucial to hit this shot so Emily avoids being bitten.

- Show concern towards Emily and Matt as Chris when she returns to the lodge to be a good friend

- Survive the chase as Chris, there’s no choices just don’t miss the QTEs

* There will be no choices in the basement since Emily did not get bitten

CHAPTER 9

- Survive the chase as Mike by succeeding in the QTEs and don’t moves. To save the dog, barricade the door with a locker when prompted.

* If you miss to many QTEs Mike will live, but the puppy will die :(

- Reassure Chris as Ashley to raise their relationship

- If you are collecting all the totems, choose follow voice to collect the totem down the path but DO NOT open the trap door as this will kill Ashley

- Otherwise, ignore the voice and continue on

CHAPTER 10

* Since we’re getting all the clues, Josh will be guaranteed to live since we need to pick up Hannah’s journal

- Show concern for Jessica as Matt to be a good friend

- Survive the encounter with Jess as Matt by following these steps

1. Hide (you will be prompted with a don’t move, do not let Jessica fall over)

2. Break through wall (or whatever the opposite of abandon Jessica is I don’t remember)

3. Hide together (don’t move)

- Survive the final battle as Sam by

1. Locking door or running doesn’t matter

2. Succeed the don’t move

3. Save Mike

4. Succeed the don’t move

5. Keep picking hide and succeeding the don’t moves so that all the other have time to leave the house

Eventually Sam will run to the switch automatically once everyone has made it out of the house.

Congratulations! You did it! You’ve gotten the scientifically best run of Until Dawn. Pat yourself on the back you’ve earned it.

My friends and I were watching the episode Air Turtle (the one where they all play basketball) and one of them said that this was Donnie and I-

Mayday, an empath, sensing something is wrong.

Ashley Brown Callout Post

Let me start this off by saying you are completely valid if you like Ashley. Most people do. And I used to like her to until I really thought about her actions. Not that I’m trying to change any opinions. It’s not unreasonable to like or even love Ashley. Which is why it makes me mad that people think it’s unreasonable to dislike or hate her.

I would also like to emphasize that I think seeing her as a kind of shitty person makes her more interesting in my eyes. And the characters having layers of darkness brought out of them over the course of the night is one of my favorite things about the game.

I swear I love this game but I’m about to hate on like every character.

First, I wanna talk about Ashley’s most divisive scene. Her killing Chris. Not “freezing” or whatever. Murder by inaction. Because a lot of people for some reason always act like Ashley’s disdain for Chris doesn’t play a factor in this decision. If they wanted to convey her freezing up, then this was a big fumble on the writers part because they absolutely did not.

Like, look at the scene. Shawty walks up to the door, reaches out an arm like she’s about to open it, then flashbacks to him shooting her implying that’s what she was remembering, as every other time a flashback happens it’s a characters thought. So she certainly didn’t blank. And then while staring him dead in the eyes, backs away from the door and watches him die.

To me, that is calculated. That is vengeance. TOO LATE?! Girl WHAT? And I have seen people legitimately claim that it was all because she was just scared. Don’t get me wrong, I think fear and desperation definitely played a part of it. She had that primal monkey brain going on taking control of her. But you gotta be a different breed of stone cold to stare him in the eyes as he gets decapitated in front of you. Even if you are hella dissociating, she’s perfectly fine in the alt timeline. And the breath she takes it makes it seems like she’s relieved and accepting of what just happened.

Side tangent: I’ve heard people say this was a deliberate change of character to punish people for choosing a choice Chris would never choose. That makes me have an aneurysm. If he would supposedly NEVER do it, then why does he?! Why does he have the option??? Until Dawn to me has always felt like a game where no choice is inherently out of character. Differing choices simply play up different aspects of their personality or show a different side to them. So if this is somehow true, then that is the dumbest shit I’ve ever heard. And this builds upon the hidden darkness thing I mentioned earlier.

Honestly, I think Chris shooting Ashley to save himself is his hidden darkness. Possibly nearly killing the girl TWICE in one night via saw trap and by shooting her in the face as she’s begging for her life, all to serve his own interests. I don’t blame Chris for this. Man has been put through the wringer. And honestly, I wouldn’t blame Ashley for letting that subtle disdain and fear take hold of her when she allows Chris to perish. It would be hypocritical of me not to. Here’s the thing though, that’s a POSSIBLE reality.

What really bothers me is should Chris aim the gun at himself first, Ashley goes all “wait no babe shoot me instead.” And DO NOT try to say she wasn’t really saying Chris shoot her, because I don’t know how anyone could see that dialogue and think otherwise. Even when people try to justify it, it still makes no sense to me. To me, this comes off as Ashley just saying things since she doesn’t expect Chris to follow through and wants to seem like a good person. Ashley in general comes off to me as someone who tries to gaslight themselves into thinking they’re a better person than they really are. Which, yeah, everyone has done at some point in their lives. But for Ashley this is a trait that kind of looms over her head to me.

And even if she pulled that self-sacrifice BS, her relationship with Chris STILL drops to zero afterwards. Saying something you don’t mean is one thing. Killing someone over them believing your BS is a whole different ballpark. Say what you want about Emily, but at least with Emily you know where you stand. Then, she acts all dismissive of his death and LIES about what happened to the police. At least factually. Maybe she’d like to believe that she really had just froze. But actions speak louder.

Speaking of Emily though, let’s talk about the scene in the basement. Now, straight out the gate I wanna say I don’t hold Ashley responsible should Emily get shot. That is all Mike, who is such a fucking ape in this scene. All of them are (safe for Sam). But this ain’t about that dumbass right now. And no, I don’t think Ashley was advocating for Emily’s death. But I also don’t think she wasn’t NOT advocating for Emily’s death. She certainly didn’t object in the moment. Neither did Chris because, again, ape, but Ashley was way more vocal than he was about making her leave over NO EVIDENCE. ZILCH. NADA. Don’t even pretend like she didn’t know Emily was gonna die out there because she most definitely would have. And it’s this high impulsivity that Ashley displays that I honestly find annoying af.

And before you start with the “well if you were in her shoes-“ I’m gonna stop you right there. I am one year off Ashley’s age, and I am staking my life on no the fuck I wouldn’t. Because if I thought my friend, even if that friend was Emily, was possibly turning into a monster, I would still stall and find any excuse not to kill them. Especially because I would never forgive myself if we got someone killed someone who I still considered a friend. Even if indirectly. My people pleasing ass could never. Though I sincerely hope I never have to find out.

If my friend almost got me killed whether it be by forcing me to waltz to my death or by riling up the gorilla that is Mike by screaming bloody murder. Again, I don’t care if it’s realistic because ain’t no one else in that room except the aforementioned ooga booga man were in hysterics like those two doofuses were. Based on nothing except assumptions, might I add. The thought of pushing her out of the way to save myself would have at the very least crossed my mind. Say what you want but Ashley is the last person I would want on my team because she is NOT a team player. Shes only a team player when it’s convenient and that is not conducive.

Also her screaming gets on my nerves sometimes. This isn’t related to anything it’s just the truth. Granted all of her freakouts are VERY well acted. I actually love the way she is played. Though, that’s not saying much because every performance in UD is fire 🔥🔥🔥🔥

Ironically, it was while making this rant that I realized I don’t hate Ashley as much as I thought I did. Honestly, I wouldn’t even say I really dislike her. (Hard to tell with everything I just said, I know.) Is she still the least baddest bitch in the game? Without question. (Except for when she stabs the psycho that was pretty sick) But a lot of her flaws make her interesting, and she stands out amongst the cast for both better and worse. I think people tend to fail to recognize the bad parts of her and try justifying her actions in moments where they really aren’t justifiable.

You fic writers though… lemme tell you. You guys are cracked at writing her. Keep doing the lords work.

Meeting adjured. *law and order sound effect.*