THE ANATOMY OF GORETOBER 2023 | Johnny.
I was actually kind of fond of that girl, I- I didn't really wanna hurt her. But, as they say, family first, you know?
A bit late but here's a Texas Chain Saw Massacre themed prompt list for October!
No limits on what it's for, art, drabbles, fics, screenshots, clips, doodles, headcanons, text posts, just whatever you would like to do if you want to participate.
Just be sure to tag it with #TCMtober so I can see if anyone does anything!
It has prompts from both movies, but is mostly for the game, can be posted late, out of order, and even if you just wanna do a few of the prompts.
I hate the whole "Maria is alive cause of Virginia's description" debate right now...so let me throw out my wild take on how she isn't alive, →in the game's current time← cause I want to poke the fire and see how it goes :D
CW below cut for implications of Johnny committing immoral acts - I know that's a line drawn/debate in itself but idc
Also look at this man, he's done the worst shit imaginable but I still love his stupid ass♡
So... firstly...many are clinging to the line in Virginia's description that reads "But instead of finding Jesse, what she discovered was Maria, beaten and tortured, barely clinging to life." Now that's all solid and concrete, until you listen again to voice lines we have in the game already. This line in her description is adding ontop of the existing lore (in my opinion)
Starting the dot to dot puzzle back at Nancy; Nancy's line "Johnny really liked that girl-". Others online are saying 'Johnny is keeping her around the house somewhere' or 'Johnny actually liked Maria'. I agree with the first idea, to a point. For me, I've loved seeing Johnny's cold room, the items in his shack, how he's described by the family, ect. Starting at the women's clothing on his shelves, the magically clean fabric on his counter too many fridges and freezers and his own line "you're going to look real nice, next to that friend of yours" and everyone's favourite, "you ain't getting away, I'm keepin' you!" , very much implying he keeps victims of his fancy/liking in said cold storage units. Maybe Johnny thought Maria was a pretty girl, pretty enough to add to his collection of stolen victims, however-
This fabric is this ↙ Along with the amount of clothes he has stored; for what purposes, I have my own headcanons but I'll leave them to their own post
Moving on to the Cook's line "We couldn't have Johnny springing no love child round here-" and Nancy's "I'd stay out of my secret room if I was you" to me, implies Johnny wanted her 'beaten, tortured and barely clinging to life' body for certain immoral purposes. I could even say it suggests he knew she was alive at some point into hiding her away, but her being in such a state-not enough to fight him, she's on borrowed time anyways. Cook, with the "We-" in the line above, implies more of the family (maybe Hitch or Leatherface to finish what he started in Petals) to kill her and have her now confirmed dead body hidden away from Johnny in Nancy's 'secret' room.
(Adding a sprinkle extra and suggest Johnny's line "I didn't really want to hurt her-" being a lie, however "-but...as they say...family first ya know" I feel is partly true. I feel it adds to the above that maybe he saw them kill Maria when she was found out trying to escape with Virginia. I'm not saying he's remorseful of her death or 'he misses her', I feel he's disappointed in himself, blaming himself that he's been caught; yet another mistake/misfortune he has to live with; also more ammunition for the family to throw at him.)
Virginia may have found Maria alive before she herself was captured, but- just a small but, they were said to have both been re-captured and by that point, wherever Johnny was hiding her before Virginia found her, was out of the bag and known about by the family; no longer his little secret.
End of Take
I could just be hollering nonsense or overthinking these lines more than I should be, but I love the lore for this game and this is the story I'm reconnecting together with the new info; also with this debate being the only thing I see in the TCM fandom right now, it's hard not to think about and have your own opinions on, thanks for reading my word vomit
the fact that maria's disappearance has remained a cold case for decades... once ana & her friends died looking for her, they became cold cases too... ana & maria's mom alone after losing both of her daughters, not knowing (for the better, maybe) what cruelty took them from her.
hurts thinking how the victims go looking for maria, what they end up enduring, just to find her long gone (presumably) at black nancy's... the guilt ana would feel for bringing them there, knowing they're going to meet the same fate, that their families won't know what happened.
and of course, how could ana have known? who could have ever thought such horrors awaited them as they set up their camp site in the thicket? as they put up their tent, lit a fire and sat around together, sharing stories about maria and thinking they're close to finding her alive.