thedogmanarchives

[thedogmanarchives]

i know i don't usually post stuff from the discord here but i wanted to make sure i have the silly little ghost!peter bit from a while back because i like it so much. text from dog except where otherwise noted

i feel like peter would come back as a ghost if he died during the route purely bc he knows the plant WILL go under if he passes into the afterlife

roger would see him like "woah peter, there you are! i'm so glad to see you, the others said you DIED, we had a whole funeral for you here!" and he's like "i know, bc i was there. also, i did die, i'm a ghost" "oh."

then roger keeps forgetting every time he leaves the room that peter's dead and keeps referring to him like he's alive, freaking the others out bc they think roger isn't coping with the loss well

(reply to: astro: ROGER BEING THE ONLY ONE SEEING HIM IS SO CRUEL)

peter would explain to roger that appearing to the others would 100% start the rumor that the plant is haunted (which it is) which might finally kill the company, so he'd only appear to him and at home, when they're off the clock bc him + caroline haven't finished watching suits yet (reply to: charlie: Roger keeps trying to hand Peter things and they just fall to the ground)

"how come you can make stuff in the room move but i can't hand you stuff. that seems unfair" "roger. i had a stroke bc i work here. THATS unfair" "okay. BOTH things seem unfair, can we agree on that at least?" "your tie's on fire by the way" "oh, it does that."

peter frantically trying to stop roger from dying while roger is oblivious to it

peter explaining to roger that if he dies, the plant will 100% go under and roger seeing it as the new owner would have TWO ghosts advising him instead of one and might actually fare out okay

[thedogmanarchives]

Hi dogman!

Would it be possible to get more information on the Dialtown Mob? Please and thank you :)

Most of the relative facts about the Mob in present day are mentioned in-game. They're shown to be a weak + incompetent underclass that operate as bottom-feeders who only get to exist because they're in the Mayor's pocket. Barely any members, no influence outside of their connection with the Mayor and live in constant fear of her. Of course, it wasn't always this way.

The history of the Dialtown Mob is quite a long + interesting one. It's probably best to think of it less as a singular organization that has always existed within DT and more a rotating group of people with overlapping interests, with a rough and ever-changing internal hierarchy. Its purpose changes as often as its members. This'll be quite a history lesson.

DT Pre-Crown basically only suffered from petty crime for the most part. Being a rural town with not much to offer, the most DT faced in terms of genuine activity were occasional members of the Chicago outfit stopping through on their way to Michigan from Ashland, who generally just passed through, staying for a night at most.

During Crown's tenure as Mayor, the mob as it exists now didn't exactly exist. But, Crown had a lot of passionate supporters in the town, and not all of them were strictly law abiding citizens. While Crown's own directives as Mayor generally involved him re-writing laws or bending the wording of laws to fit his will, rather than breaking them, a pseudo-legal presence did exist within DT at this time.

This loosely affiliated organization of people were not targeted by Dialtown's police force, but rather, worked alongside them. Crown's all-inclusive vision of Dialtown had many moving parts, you see. Due to Dialtown's relative wealth and prosperity during this time, Callum understood that the only way to keep Dialtown from being ran over by gangs in other Midwestern cities was to have reliable people with contacts (who could identify crooks from other cities + recognize trouble a mile away.) Crown had an understanding with these people, that non-violent and petty crimes, forgery, fencing and the like were okay... So long as the line was towed and they maintained standards for themselves AND anyone who wished to make trouble in town.

This was a marriage of convenience, an extra-legal wing of Dialtown's residents who ensured that nothing worse could form in town and provided usual intelligence to Crown's police force.

In truth, many members of this network had jobs working for Crown's subordinates and the crime rate in town was always relatively low for a city of its size and wealth. Due to their connections with Cal's industries, they knew who every important visitor in town was and they knew who to leave alone. Anyone who got too greedy or caused seriously trouble for the town (within and outside this network) were dealt with. Brutally. They had a good thing going and knew how to protect it.

After Crown became a senator, he appointed a replacement Mayor, who kept the deal going. When Crown needed muscle at rallies, he made a phone call and soon, men dressed in suits with tire irons were watching the back of the crowd. As Crown's company moved around the country and installed itself in more big cities, more and more of his supporters became affiliated with this network nation-wide, rapidly growing in numbers.

Quickly, a more radical element formed within this network. A political element, prepared to intimidate and threaten politicians who opposed Crown's revolution. This wasn't just a case of looking after their own interests. They were fiercely loyal to Crown and believed in his movement as much as he did. During Crown's run for president, the Kennedy campaign became quite concerned about this development, realizing they now had no viable way to get rid of Crown, as he was the only thing barely reining in his fanatical supporters, and if he were to suddenly disappear, no one would be protecting their own associates' businesses (or themselves) from their rage, guaranteeing Nixon a win and badly crippling their support come the next election.

When Callum became president, his scope widened and his focus on his home state waned. This caused his followers to realign themselves further and new hierarchies formed within the network that Crown wasn't aware of. With general autonomy (but occasional direction from Crown), Dialtown continued to flourish. Of course, then Crown's memory went.

What followed in Dialtown was political chaos. So much of Crown's movement had become synonymous with himself and no one on the ground in DT knew what should happen next. Many of Crown's associates tried to get Marla to run the town and try to revive his movement, which she staunchly refused to do, instead returning to private life to raise her son in solitude.

Infighting became the norm and many of leaders of Dialtown's industries, all still officially ran by the city, vied for power to gain control of the town. Violence was common during this interregnum. Ironically, the network dividing themselves along political/systematic lines wound up not only weakening each composite industry's grip on the town, but also reduced the sum power of the network's members. Many leading officials were charged with RICO predicates, constantly leaving the town in political turmoil as each last remaining leader of the Town was swept away + many subordinates arrested.

Eventually, nothing was left but petty crime, ran by the few within this network who weren't affiliated with the town's unions/industries and thus, didn't have enough influence to draw Federal attention. Most of Dialtown's industries were privatized and ran by companies led by citizens who kept their distance from criminal elements as a means of self preservation. Even the unions wound up getting cleaned out and lost much of their political power.

THIS is when this network began truly resembling DT's mob. A conglomerate of criminals who hadn't picked a side, led by middlemen who were deposed when DT's core industries were picked apart. Many shod their previous identities as they no longer amounted to anything. The only remnant of their former connections now being that they headquartered in the Lock and Whiskey, a bar frequented by members of Dialtown's largest service trade-union (though the two entities kept their distance from each other outside of their lower-tier members intermingling.) As time went on, the Lock and Whiskey became the sole thing keeping the Mob afloat.

Dialtown became a place for punks from other Midwestern cities to occasionally filter into. With a lack of good work going around town, a relatively small number of these guys became affiliated with DT's mob, which couldn't afford to turn recruits away, due to how many of their own kept getting shot or arrested. Soon, the new outnumbered the old. This is where you get guys like Stabby/Shooty, who have little clue just how powerful their predecessors truly were.

Mingus predecessor, Chett Alderman, kept the town relatively safe by increasing police funding, but this came with a greater tax burden on DT's struggling middle class. Amidst Dialtown's stagnant economy and relative poverty, the Mob maintained a consistent power structure but struggled to financially support themselves outside of maintaining their working class bar. This made them easy prey for Mayor Mingus, who gutted their power structure and attempted to use what was left for her own benefit, providing lackluster muscle on occasion and kicking up a meager amount of cash just to avoid being wiped out by her entirely.

Hope this helps!

[thedogmanarchives]

Would Karen watch Bojack Horseman? Or well, the Dial Town version of it?

I think she would! horse show with good writing, existential themes? she'd be all over that. She'd adore Hollyhock.

[thedogmanarchives]

can we have some negative traits of the main cast? :3 (including roger)

I was thinking about that the other day

Okay, here goes nothing...

Randy: where to begin. insecurity, anxiety, poor motor skills, abysmal standards for how others treat him, cowardice, neurotic (very close to snapping during his route), easily embarrassed, tendency to apologize too much/over-explain.

Oliver: bad at reading the room, awful at boundaries, lack of depth perception, tendency to over-talk in general, overly trusting, his enthusiasm can be grating at times, over-caffeinated, finds it impossible to really let go.

karen: bad at reading sarcasm, comes off as cold unless you really get to really know her, prone to possessiveness/jealousy, also self-conscious. oh, and roughly as close to snapping as Randy is (though it's less obvious.)

bigfoot: bigfoot is without flaws.

norm: rigid/set in his ways, prideful, somewhat aggressive, stews/broods, is 100% willing to kill someone (bad) or help you bury a body (good...?), carries a gun around at all times + wears a cowboy hat. ALSO self-conscious.

gingi: all of the 7 deadly sins apply to gingi in spades. often ignores its own conscience, like a twisted pinocchio that wants to drink cough nectar instead of learning how to be a real boy.

mingus: hyper-aggressive, fanatical, corrupt, delusional, laundered a sizeable chunk of the town's money into vanity projects and trying to right a lost cause. oh and she commits tax fraud regularly.

Hope this helps!

[thedogmanarchives]

Heyy DirectDoggo! I've got a question to shoot ya with!

Which rank of Sergeant is Norm exactly? Like within the Air Force? Or have you thought about which one he could be?

I know the term "Sergeant" is sometimes used as a general descriptor term of a ranking, Especially in the Air Force. So my brain has been scratching at which one Norm would be (Eg. Staff, Technical, Master, etc).

Good question. I'm not sure if I ever decided on an exact rank. I'm gonna say Staff-Sgt bc most of Norm's biggest points of pride are sadly kinda pyrrhic (like being chosen for the wormhole mission) and it kinda feels right that his version of the rank he keeps pulling was the lowest tier and also shared by a literal horse in the same war he fought in.

[thedogmanarchives]

If any of the Dialtown main characters was a theater kid and/or is currently interested in theater but doesn't do it per se, who do you think would be/have been?

Oliver for sure. Next would be Karen, if she could get over her stage-fright. Another good contender is Shooty/Stabby I could picture them trying it and getting expelled from the troupe in more or less the same way Christopher Moltisanti from the Sopranos was from his acting classes (accidentally channeling the wrong type of emotion and one of them randomly beating the shit out of someone.)

[thedogmanarchives]

hi! is there any specific reason why mingus has her cane? does she have any problems that might require her to use it sometimes or is it merely so she can hit people with it ? :-)

A little from column A, a little from column B.

[thedogmanarchives]

Post good route, what exactly does Roger do at the factory? It's stated he has a job similar to the intended job of the Therapy Emus, but what does that entail?

Officially, he has a rank that's more or less like assistant-assistant manager and is given really stupid/inconsequential tasks to do (which he never finishes.) That's basically the whole point. In 'organizing' these activities, he goes around the plant chatting to the various workers, which is what he's actually there for. It gives the other workers a break from their work.

[thedogmanarchives]

if god isn’t god how do you explain that one scene in the norm route

Okay... Say you met, say, a cryptid that was able to bend light to create illusions, make people see anything it wants to see. It drifts from timeline to timeline, gaining knowledge. Do you think that constitutes the creature being God, if it didn't actually create the universe?

[thedogmanarchives]

Hello directdogdiaper asking for a friend (I’m the friend) what if for the next thing you make about dialtown is Roger route part 2 where the evil red gnomes go into the building Roger and Peter work at and fight the blue gnomes the blue gnomes are the good ones btw

The two varities of gnomes that you've seen are roughly as evil as each other. The main ideological difference between the red and green gnomes is that the red ones favour higher tariffs, industrialization and want the gold standard to return (while the other kind want lots of silver coins to be minted to intentionally cause rapid hyperinflation and devalue the dollar.)

Both varieties would still both do equal amounts of harm if given the opportunity.

[thedogmanarchives]

are their cults in dialtown? like hidden away cults of people who still have flesh heads denouncing technology to keep them pure? or something like that

Yeah, there's a lot of strange undercurrents in DT's world and DT, being such a weird town, is home to many of them. Weird minor political movements, religions. Crown destabilizing the two party system has also led to a lot of stranger movements gaining across the country.

Gingi mentions that DT also hosts other minor cryptids (which Gingi is eager not to lose any more standing with.) One of them was gonna appear in Karen's route, a weird guy who lives under a bridge. None of them are as strange or supernatural as Gingi though, save for specific non-human ones like Bigfoot, Nessie, Mothman, etc.

I might explain some of this in Olandy's route. Gingi has a rant about how much it hates stonehenge that I haven't figured out a place for yet and I think I have a good place to use it :)

[thedogmanarchives]

Hey hello Hound!!

New fan for DT here and just finished the entire game in a week,, lotta questions..sorry if they're already answered! (/O＼)

- will Roger's route include the interactions of Rebecca and Harry?

- will Roger's route also be the one including him and Randy interacting?

- Did Callum do another right hand for himself after giving the original to Milt?

- will olandy's route contain a bad ending? (I feel like I know the answer but........)

- are there beauty standards in dialtown that revolve around specific types of typewriters/phone heads?

- does everyone in dialtown know hobo is GOD?

- Would it be illegal/controversial to use pet heads after they are deceased as items?

That's all!! Got some out of a video but I think this is enough,, I hope you are taking breaks doggo!!good luck with future projects🗣️🗣️

will Roger's route include the interactions of Rebecca and Harry?

The Rebecca scene has a few subtle nods to the Harry scene in DSaF and in something else I haven't written yet, there's an implication they might know each other. But, nothing too explicit. Roger has no clue that two of the closest people in his life have met.

will Roger's route also be the one including him and Randy interacting?

I have an scene in mind for Randy + Roger interacting, it's not in Roger's route though.

Did Callum do another right hand for himself after giving the original to Milt?

Crown had multiple spare limbs, so he just switched to one of the others until just before the Dialup, when he decided to switch back to using it after getting it back from Milt after they fell out.

will olandy's route contain a bad ending? (I feel like I know the answer but........)

Yes. It's not Roger's route-bad, but there are consequences if you're too much of a shitstain to Randy and Oliver. Except Gingi to die shitting.

are there beauty standards in dialtown that revolve around specific types of typewriters/phone heads?

Of course. All heads tell a story and form a part of someone's identity. Someone's head can tell you as much about them as the clothes they wear.

does everyone in dialtown know hobo is GOD?

Most of the people who've met him 'knows' it as he mentions it to just about everyone he meets. What many of them don't know is that he actually isn't.

Would it be illegal/controversial to use pet heads after they are deceased as items?

It's akin to having your pet taxidermied after death for us. Definitely weird for the same reasons, but you wouldn't be the first person to do it.

[thedogmanarchives]

that was the wrong . blog

[thedogmanarchives]

who did mingus get to build her very unique head? was it someone in dialtown or just "unamed engineer"

She got some genetic engineers from out of state, which is part of why the process was so expensive. She mentions getting tons of people in from out of town to examine Crown and the cat head was a last-ditch effort, essentially.

[thedogmanarchives]

could i ever convince norm to say hawk tuah

I think you could trick him into doing it. But, he wouldn't be happy once he found out what it meant.

[thedogmanarchives]

Is peter the middle child?

Oldest. Jack's the middle child.

[thedogmanarchives]

Is there a reason Karen originally chose to move to Dialtown?

DT specifically: only one state over and the real estate was pretty cheap when she moved there. Same reason as Fusco and many others who moved there in the last 10 years, though rent has shot up since then, which explains why Randy rents a dumpster.

Specifically, she wanted to get away from her family but not too far away that she wouldn't get to still see her sister sometimes, but that's a story for another day.