-Mouthwashing Spoilers-

-Still Good Even If You Haven’t Played The Game-

A slacker from the start

Never good at anything

I’ve tried it all

Never good enough for

Mom.

Dad.

Jimmy.

Swansea.

Such a slacker she said

Sent me as far away as she could

Not even space was enough for

Mom.

Dad.

Jimmy.

Always shunned

Always silenced

Never acknowledged

Never seen as more than a joke

Never seen at all

I boarded this ship

Thinking of a new start

Thinking I will finally be enough for

Mom.

Dad.

Thinking I’ll make it home and be greeted with hugs and praise

Thinking I’ll make it home at all

Such a slacker

I finally found someone to look up to

I finally found someone who would be proud of me

Once the ship had crashed…

Once Curly was… hurt

And Jimmy was captain

The whole ship shifted

Anya was silenced like I was

She was strong until the end

What did her parents think?

Once the door was locked…

I was so dumb

So naive

Such a slacker

I wanted to save her

No

I wanted Swansea to be proud of me

Right when I heard Jimmy, I knew what I had to do

I could fix everything

Save everyone

Be accepted

Be seen as more than a slacker

Be seen at all

I was desperate

Swansea would understand

Swansea would be proud

I hoisted myself up the vent

It was

Hot

Dark

Sharp

I was desperate

I knew better

I trusted

Curly.

Anya.

Swansea.

Jimmy.

Why didn’t I listen

I was sliced

I was diced

I was cooked

I was electrocuted

I was…

Alive

If Curly could make it

So could I-

Swansea couldn’t take it

I could

I was strong

I was breathing

I was OKAY

SWANSEA PUT IT DOWN

I’M STRONG

I CAN TAKE IT

I CAN MAKE IT OUT

WE ALL CAN

Please.

I wanted to tell him everything

“Useless ray of goddamn sunshine”

I know you didn’t mean it

It still hurt

Hurt worse than

My burns

My cuts

My shocks

What I was telling myself already

Even though you said it

Even though you didn’t mean it

I know that’s what the others thought of me as

“Not an ace student

Career workhorse

Or force of ambition”

“Just a damn good kid trying his best”

That made me smile a bit

I smiled through even though at that point

I knew what was going to happen

“You coulda taught an old fool like me a lot”

I hope I did

In my 20 years of life

Even though I’ve only known you for the past year

Even though a year isn’t a lot to you

Even though you’ve got a lot of those under your belt

I hope I did

I hope you remember me

I hope I made you proud

“Close your eyes. Daisuke”

Okay

Swansea

It’s okay

Don’t feel bad

I understand

So I did

The world went black

I felt lighter

All my pain had left

I looked below to see what you had done

You took the axe

Straight to my face

Clean

No hard feelings Swansea

At least I have this gnarly scar

I understand Swansea

We were running out of supplies

We just had to make a few

Cuts.

Now you are here with me

Up above with Anya

I think you like it here

But it’s hard to tell

At least you guys don’t see me as a slacker

All the family I need

Bye Mom

Bye Dad

Your boys up above

See you sometime

I hope you think of me better

I hope you think of me