#Bioshock: Rapture

[fantasiummaximum]

I like Fontryan like anyone else but we are sleeping on how gay Ryan is for Bill McDonough.

In the game it’s mostly just Bill mentioning Ryan and Ryan never mentioning him at all, in the end he even kills Bill on his wall of traitors and assassins. Seeing that, I personally assumed Bill’s & Ryan’s friendship meant a lot more to Bill than it did Ryan.

But in the novel…you see a lot more of their relationship and how…fucking gay it is. If you haven’t read it, please PLEASE DO BECAUSE BIOSHOCK: RAPTURE BY JOHN SHIRLY THOUGH NOT ACCURATE AT TIMES IS STILL AMAZING! SPOILERS AHEAD!

Anyways, Ryan is head over heels in love with Bill lmao-

He sees Bill as he sees himself, a hardworking man trying to strive in this crazy unfair world, legit when they first met, Ryan is all up in Bill’s business and is immediately smitten by him, why? Because Bill is down to earth and is a sensible, honest, hardworking man, he legit had the choice to make Ryan pay a lot more then he did but Bill shared Ryan’s sentiment in a way as he wants to be paid fairly for the work he did and Ryan wants Bill around as I said, he sees Bill as the man we he wants and many others to be.

In the book, Ryan very much likes and even loves Bill’s company, at one point he’s at a party and describes how much of a boredom it is and how he wishes Bill was there, maybe even mentioning his laugh? Either way he says in the book he wants Bill’s presence.

THERE IS MORE EVEN IF ITS TINY! But that requires so much more context that the book provides so if you want more additional Bioshock content, please I recommend the book!

What I’m trying to say is that Bill is Ryan’s awakening if you will.

[irojewne]

i love a book thats essentially snapshots showing the rise and fall of rapture and they just go "ok but what if we cut to blindfold couch sex between the crazy scientist woman and her boss for one page" AND IT SIMPLY HAS NOT COME UP AGAIN. back to the rise and fall of rapture

[ur-fav-is-autistic]

Brigid Tenenbaum from Bioshock is Autistic!

[the-rapture-historian]

Welcome to Round 6 of The BioSurvey! This round focuses on the storylines and narratives of the series, staring with:

[fantasiummaximum]

I get what you mean.

I wish we could’ve gotten more content and context to Culpepper AND Jasmine’s Jolene’s relationship and just them as characters.

Culpepper had potential to be a very interesting character, they could’ve expanded on more on her character. How she was rebelling against Ryan through song and how that got her killed, it could’ve connected well with Grace Holloway’s reason why she had to stuck it out by singing “Rise Rapture Rise.” As she was afraid that Ryan was coming after anyone, ANYONE who spoke again Ryan and his inner circle.

It could’ve expanded on her as a character, as not a revolutionary leader like Atlas but someone who was still willing to speak out against Ryan and how her death frightened people.

And just in general I find her awesome even with the little we had, like she had the balls and common sense to call out Sander Cohen and actually try and contribute in the book.

Though I’m sad we don’t get more context to Culpepper it’s a downright sad that we get almost NOTHING on Jasmine Jolene. Like…NOTHING.

She is the mother of Jack and was with Ryan as his side chick but…that’s it?! Like expand more on it at least, like what were thoughts on having Jack? Being Ryan’s side chick, did she know that she wasn’t the apple to his eye all the time as Diane was involved? Or better yet, have her have her own arc of sorts, of not just being Jack’s mother but trying to be independent from Ryan. Maybe have her hardened from being in show business and wanting more, have her share her thoughts of Rapture just something! Culpepper at least had a character, with Jasmine she’s just a vessel and that’s sad. I would love to see more content of these girls just living their lives as singers and Rapture and tryna get by! That would be fun to read…

I don’t see ANYONE talk about another character that has been slept on and that’s “Big Kate” O’Malley from Bioshock 2. She had TWO Audio Logs and I was wondering why they didn’t expand on her more! She was an interesting character! We could’ve had what we had with Diane! Where you listen to entire story through audio logs, yes we had Mark Meltzer but it also would’ve been cool to hear another. Kate sounded like she was a working woman, an engineer like Bill McDonough who happens to be one of my favourite characters! She could’ve explained her background, how or why she came to Rapture, her connection with Bill and many other characters in Rapture, what was she doing or what happened to her or simply hell just have her talk more! She had potential too!

There’s a lot of female characters that have potential but we’re just gone to the wayside or barely expanded upon unlike Tenenbaum, Grace Holloway and Sofia Lamb who I think have the most spotlight when it comes to their individual character not linked to a man. (Maybe Eleanor Lamb and Elizabeth but that’s debatable.) We have Diane McClintock and Julia Langford, but Julia died quickly, she was a fun character and just generally her voice actress popped off voicing her. Diane though interesting as a character I wish we had at least one audio log where she at least explained why she personally came to Rapture or if it was even worth coming down to Rapture at all! Just gimme more Diane man.

I love Bioshock and Bioshock 2 but they squandered their female characters a bit…or lot.

Side Note on Culpepper.

I WISH WE COULD’VE HEARD THE SONG. LIKE WHAT MADE SANDER SO PISSED. They made Rise Rapture Rise why not hear a snippet of Culpepper’s song that made him so PISSED that he put a hit on her! At least let me hear the song that got her killed, like MAN. I’M CURIOUS.

It legitimately makes feel crazy how Culpepper exists only to prop up the male characters. She has one speaking line, and then every other comment on her existence is men insulting and killing her. Her death isn't about herself--it's to highlight Ryan's hypocrisy, Cohen's thin skin, and Sullivan's, her murder's, grief.

Maddening that we're supposed to feel bad for the cop who killed Culpepper, and then stole from his victim's home, and sympathize with his sadness instead of focusing on Culpepper's actual death. Her death isn't hers, more focus is given to the men in her story than her own thoughts and feelings. She doesn't exist outside of men, she doesn't even exist for herself. Her relationship with Jasmine isn't even in the game, it's something added in the book and even there, their relationship is only explored in male characters talking about them behind their backs. Never on screen interactions.

She's not a character in the story, she's a prop for the rest of the male cast, and this can be said for a majority of the female characters in BioShock.

[franklyfontaine]

video game scenery ≡ rapture credit: other places

[lulusoblue]

I need to make some actual BioShock timelines for this niche corner of my lore exploration so I can lay out and piece together all the events leading up to each game, particularly with the Rapture novel and its connections to BioShock 1 & 2

The question is do I do big ones where I line up events leading to each game or separate ones relating to certain characters... decisions...

[letmeinimafairy]

Took me a long time, but here it is - Rapture from Bioshock on a slice of jade for @xxkyuubimonxx . It was a painstaking work, but it helped taking my mind off the war's "anniversary"

[taco-pal]

Andrew Ryan could make Rapture but only Frank Fontaine could make Bioshock McDonald’s

[rapturesbest]

Unreal game honestly

[santanahoffman]

I quietly continue to do some fanart, again my favorite Bioshock. This time I wanted something a bit more detailed!

I really love Jack, but to be honest my super fav is another character... but you probably won't be surprised. :"D

Also thank you all for your support in my previous fanarts <3

[paradoxicwashere]

I think I summarized Rapture pretty well

[arsont-t]

[katabay]

”—ah. seems like mother goose has been playing around in your egg salad. if you won’t dance to that tune, I got others.”

honestly, the would you kindly scene is whatever to me*, code yellow is the more interesting violation/betrayal of the body because of how beautifully it escalates the Fontaine reveal/betrayal and shows how ugly some of those ‘locks and keys’ that Tenenbaum mentions are. not only have you been a tool in another man’s hand this entire time, it goes deeper. your body is not your own.

*there used to be a meandering thought here about the would you kindly scene, but it was really just talking around the fact that I spent way too many years seeing people discuss it in the most insufferable and reductive ways possible when it’s a combination of three or four other things that make that moment compelling lmao

collage credits: heart one/heart two

⭐ places I’m at! bsky / pixiv / pillowfort /cohost / cara.app / tip jar!

[the-rapture-historian]

Welcome to Poll #3 of the BioSurvey! This one also connects to Poll #3.1 and #3.2 as follow-up questions:

[sweatytyrantobservation]

I'm genuinely going insane why does this fish from a Barbie movie look like Andrew Ryan