"Undertale" by Toby Fox

One of the most moving songs I have ever heard in my entire life has to be what I consider to be the "main theme" of Undertale, which happens to have the name "Undertale." I first listened to this song before I encountered it in the course of the game's story line when a friend of mine played the first few seconds of the song on YouTube when looking through a playlist of music videos to listen to. The soft guitar at the beginning make me envision a campfire, shortly before another part of the melody begins. Upon that point, I can imagine myself talking a long walk, rain beginning to fall. This song easily became my favorite song in the soundtrack due to how moving it was to listen to all the way through, constantly building up to what seems to express a very difficult choice or burden on one's heart. This song became more prominent out of the pieces I listened to on my trips to class and back last year as I began to worry for the life of my former friend, as she kept mentioning suicide. I was scared for her. I could easily envision what it would be like without her there, having taken her own life. As her significant other, I felt responsible for her decision to remain living. This portion of my life is part of the reason why Undertale holds such a place in my heart. It became relevant to me in such a dark time. As of January, the relationship was broken off, and all ties were broken. I believe "Undertale" can clearly express, to me, at least, the emotion and distress that comes with feeling the burden of another person's life. I hope you all can appreciate this song for how moving it is.

"ASGORE" by Toby Fox

As I mentioned in my blog about Undertale, the soundtrack found within the game is rather moving and emotional. One of the most particularly moving songs in the soundtrack happens to be "ASGORE", a wonderfully made song, capturing the tension of the moment as well as the character behind Asgore, the king of the monsters. This song plays during the inevitable battle that the player has with him. Shortly before this point, the player was told the story of the monster's cause. After suffering from a traumatic experience, Asgore decides to declare war against the humans, ordering all humans that fall down to be killed, so that the barrier separating the monsters from the surface can be destroyed, and in turn, humanity. Feeling shameful of this, he hangs his head throughout the course of the entire fight. Asgore refuses to accept the mercy of the player, if the player decided that they would not want to fight Asgore, unfortunately forcing them to fight. The battle that ensues is very critical, because the outcome determines the fate of the world, underground and surface. While knowing that his acts of vengeance are wrong, he knows that all that stands between potential freedom of monsters and the potential destruction of humanity, he understands that he and the player must fight, regardless of the outcome.

Undertale -- Kill or Be Killed, or not?

Last year, a very wonderful game known as Undertale was released by Toby Fox. The game and it's outcome is purely determined on your choices in regards to the monsters you encounter. Let's begin with the game's premise and its beginning. The game opens with an introduction: both humans and monsters ruled the world. That is, until they raged war against one another, the humans victorious. The humans sealed the monsters underground with magic of some sort, creating a barrier between the underground and surface. However, legends say that those that climb the famed "Mt. Ebott" never return. The opening depicts a child climbing up the mountain and falling down into the underground. You name the fallen human and you find yourself, well, fallen down. You are greeted by a talking flower known as Flowey, who shows you how the game's combat system works, and attempts to kill you. If you fell for his trap, he mocks you, stating that "In this world, it's kill or BE killed." This was the first hint I had that this game was about to become deeper than most games I had played in my lifetime. My first thought was "If I am supposed to kill in order to not be killed, I would be considered weak if I did not kill at all," and was instantly reminded of my childhood, constantly conscious about my physical weakness. Flowey brings up a good point, though. If you leave yourself vulnerable, you get hurt. So close yourself off and distance yourself, it's the only way to avoid being pained in this world. He's not wrong. As the game constantly presents the choice to kill anyone in your path, it also stresses that sometimes it is worth being hurt, especially when it comes to the sacrifices one must make as a person and befriending others, trusting them. You have the choice to do what you can to prove Flowey wrong in his worldview: "Kill or be killed."
Overall, Undertale holds a special place in my heart as it helped me through quite a dark time about a year ago. The music is wonderful and moving, the characters make you laugh and even cry. Their humor and yet, their humanity is rather admirable. Undertale is definitely not a game that is easily forgotten, and I would highly recommend it.

Homestuck -- It's Hard Growing Up and Nobody Understands

After referencing the webcomic, Homestuck, fairly often, I decided I would do what I could to explain the strange, interesting, funny, and emotional narrative. Homestuck is a story about a young boy named John Egbert and his friends who try to play the beta of a new game known as "SBURB." However, due to the timing of their playing of the game, the arrival of immense meteors give them the idea that playing the game had caused the end of the world with the appearance of meteors bound for impact. However, through the games mechanics, playing the game transports the kids to this dimension known as The Medium. While there, the kids play the game and began to realize how their decisions in the future ultimately cause problems in the past, leading them to eventually make the action in the first place. This is notably so when a species of aliens comes into the contact with the kids, enraged with them due to their meddling (that they do not end up doing until long after their first contact) with their session of the game, which caused the aliens to lose the game right at the end. Through various mishaps, the kids (and one of the aliens) end up creating an unbeatable boss that travels into the alien session and ruins their game. This form of causality occurs often throughout the webcomic, making the readers go "a-ha" either when reading through it or by re-reading it and finding all of the actions that caused something to happen in another point in time. The characters are fairly unique, all communicating to each other through texts (each character having a specific typing quirk). Through the creation of this unbeatable boss, the kids and the aliens both decide to embark on the reset of the game, which destroys their universes to create a new game session that is beatable, and try to preserve themselves during that time. However, doing so ends up playing into the hands of the underlying villain and allows for their eventual creation to occur.

Despite all the strange shenanigans and the confusing narratives in Homestuck, the webcomic has been compared to James Joyce's Ulysses which is also known for its confusing narrative and intense vocabulary. Overall, Homestuck describes the idea of teenagers coming to terms with responsibility (creating and being the stewards of an entire universe) and how they overcome their shortcomings over time.

"Heir of Grief" by Joren "Tensei" De Bruin

I was introduced to a very interesting, intense, and emotional piece known as Heir of Grief this spring through the song's use in a flash animation. Prior to this song's use in the flash, a very intense battle was ongoing, and the transition to this song made me very concerned for the characters in this story. The intro's soft guitar clearly expresses the tension and the fear of potential grief, clearly fitting the song's title. As the song picks up, the intensity of the situation depicted in the flash skyrocketed as did the song's intensity. The song was used for the finale of a final battle in a story and Heir of Grief's use was executed wonderfully, fully expressing the worry of the characters and those watching the events of the battle unfold. It definitely makes one believe that they inherit the grief of the characters who are battling against one another. Outside of the song's use in the aforementioned flash animation, knowing the title makes it easy to listen to the intense song when in grief, such as feeling the anger and pain through the envy of a budding relationship or the death of a loved one through a wrongful death. The title "Heir of Grief" is fitting for a song expressing such anguish, and those who listen to the songs become Heirs of Grief themselves, inheriting the pain found within the notes of the song. De Bruin does a wonderful job creating a mood that constantly intensifies until the very end of the song.

Sarabande (Symphony Version) - A Dance of Life

This song, a remastered version of a song by Erik "Jit" Scheele, was a very emotional and inspirational piece of music for me this past spring. As I was browsing Homestuck's mostly unused music library, I came across this song and a huge host of emotions flowed through me. I thought of how far I had come in the nineteen(at the time) years I have been living. It was strange to me, how it all went so fast, and yet the intensity of emotions I felt through the overflow of memories into my consciousness made me proud of being alive. The friends I met, the stories I have thought through, the trials I have endured, they all came to mind as I listened to this song. I cried, I cried both tears of joy and tears of sadness. Tears of thankful joy I cried for the friends I had met in the course of my life, how awesome it was that we all managed to come this far. I shed tears of sadness for the fact that I am not ready for this era of my life to end. I am not ready for my friends to go off on their own, building their own future as I build my own. It seems like a roller coaster of joy and sadness, reflecting on everything that has ever happened in my life. I found that a sarabande was a slow dance, one that was often viewed as controversial, and I found it easy to relate life to this. Because of this song and a project in my Creative Writing course, I began composing a story I called Sarabande of Life. I called it this not only as a reference to this song, but because life really is a dance, one filled with controversy, with struggle and pain, but also joy and fulfillment.

Ryan -- An Animated Documentary

In class the other day, we watched the animated short film and documentary, Ryan. As the film goes on, the characters (who are based off of real people) are depicted with their flaws in all of their entirety. Both Ryan and Chris experience this strange phenomenon of color that "chokes" them, holds them back. Most of Ryan's face is missing, even! As Chris interviews Ryan, Chris ends up bringing up so many harsh memories for Ryan, causing more strange effects to occur around him. As we begin to deeply know Ryan, it becomes more and more obvious how screwed up he is and how hurt he has been through the use of such effects that we cannot begin to describe in real life, in just pictures, in words. The fact that this documentary was done in an animated medium can clearly depict the struggle, the suffering, and the pain that the characters, or if done for an interview people in our daily lives, the pain and suffering that we go through, even. It is nearly impossible to express the entirety of a person's struggle simply through the use of camera and spoken language. This is the reason why Ryan needed to be done in an animated medium, Chris wanted to capture Ryan's pain, the struggle he faces, the struggle that artists endure, and the suffering that Ryan's loved ones endured. The animated medium of this film really spoke to me because of this and, in a way, created a vulnerability only an animator can create.

Chrono Trigger - A Timeless Story

Being one of the very first RPGs I truly enjoyed, Chrono Trigger has a wonderful place in my heart. The 1995 classic from Squarsoft (now known as Square Enix) has attracted the attention of many throughout the twenty one years it has been around, for many reasons too. The title screen with its song,  A Premonition, captures the mystery and the wonder behind the game's story. The cutscene following the title gives the player a glimpse into just what kind of an adventure Chrono Trigger is. The game begins with a festival in the present day, where mute protagonist Crono meets a girl named Marle. When testing Crono's childhood friend Lucca's teleportation machine, Marle opens a space-time rift, sending her to the past. Determined to find her, Crono chases after her. This leads to a significant series of events leading the three of them to their world's future, which is covered in a cold ice age, society barely clinging to life in their barely functioning housing domes. Upon uncovering a video clip of the Apocalypse happening, the three of them reason to stop the end of the world from happening. Luckily, they come across the End of Time, where a mysterious old man decides to help them, giving them the chance to obtain magic (which was lost long ago due to misuse and a tragic accident). This and the appearance of space-time rifts allow the trio to accumulate lifelong friends from various time periods in their travels. Following the final battle, the trio must bid farewell to their friends, a theme I have mentioned before and continue to put emphasis on through my emotions for such an occasion. Chrono Trigger is a beautiful game that expresses to us how beautiful our world is, as well as the human connection we share with our friends and family, even ones we do not know. This intensely wonderful game helped me realize how important my friends were to me.

"Crono must be proud... to have friends like you..."

Terranigma - Mystery of Light and Dark

Throughout our time in Intro to DMA, we have discussed a few different Creation stories, or at least pieces of art that can be interpreted as a Creation story, it has reminded me of an action RPG I finally played all the way through in the summer before attending Huntington University known as Terranigma. The music played throughout the game is fantastic, the emotions it evokes preceding it. The references in the game are not all biblical, and in fact most of them are not biblical but rather remind me of Hinduism. The game has heavy themes relating to cycles such as the Hindu samsara, a cycle of eternal birth, life, and death.

 The game follows a young man named Ark in the village of Crysta, in what is later known as the "Underworld", a world within Earth. Terranigma's intro cutscene describes the cycle of Light and Dark that Earth goes through based on the two polar entities that live in the world's essence, Light Gaia and Dark Gaia. Each entity tries to gain control of the whole of the world through various means. Ark, must travel out of Crysta, which used to not have an exit to begin restoring, or resurrection the "Overworld" after opening "Pandora's Box." Upon resurrecting the land of the "Overworld", he must abandon his home of Crysta to travel up to the "Overworld."

There, he is to resurrect all forms of life, plants, animals, and eventually the human race. He experiences the beauty of the world he is returning to life as opposed to the crystalline wasteland that is the "Underworld." In his travels, he finds that the two worlds mirror one another, each carrying a mirror of every person, namely through meeting the mirror of his childhood friend, Elle, who ironically bore the same name. The game draws heavily on the beauty of creation, resurrection, and reincarnation. Terranigma is a beautiful classic known as one of the Super Nintendo RPGs. It is to this day one of my favorites.     

Departure at Sunrise - Ys III

As an addition to my previous post about the inspiration found within the game Ys III: Wanderers from Ys, the theme that was used during the morning of Adol and Dogi's departure at the end of the game was such an addition to the emotional experience that went with the ending. The song is known as Departure at Sunrise. The song starts with the hopeful feeling that comes after the Galbalan resolution and the sinking of his island, despite a character's noble sacrifice. The people of Redmont and in the region of Felghana are safe now. Though the more emotional part comes with the feeling of sadness and longing, knowing that Adol is determined to leave the town and everyone in it. Listening to Departure at Sunrise outside of the context of Ys III, it often reminds me of the eventual moments in time where good friends and acquaintances must depart. The song came to mind on the last day of school my senior year of high school, knowing I would not see many if not most of those people ever again, despite not knowing most of them. The song evokes my feelings and continues to remind me that the people I have come to know here at Huntington University will not always be around, as they have their own lives to live, and their own future to carve. I have no right to keep them here in this small town with me or anywhere else I go. While listening to the song again, I am growing scared that the time I mentioned, the time where we all part, is not too far from now. The reality of this is frightening to me. Even so, this song still brings me hope for my future, along with everyone else's future after our times here at Huntington University come to an end. Give Departure at Sunrise a listen, see what emotions it evokes in you.

Ys III: Wanderers from Ys -- Adventure Calls!

One of the most inspirational games I've played all the way through is a side scrolling RPG known as Ys III: Wanderers from Ys. As the third game in the series, the game follows the adventurer, Adol Christin and his companion, Dogi. As the two of them travel, they encounter a fortuneteller who informs Dogi that his hometown of Redmont is in danger, as she screams the name "Galbalan!", her crystal ball shattering. To ease Dogi's worries, Adol decides that the two of them will travel to Redmont and investigate. Upon finding out that ominous things have been happening in the region of Felghana, Adol takes the burden upon himself to help out the people of the town. A terrible monster known as Galbalan was unsealed with the attempt to use Galbalan's power to control the world. However, that isn't the reason why the game was inspirational. The inspiration mainly lies in Adol's words at the end of the game.
 After resolving the conflict about Galbalan, Adol decides to leave Redmont in his travels to see the world, and the people of Redmont beg him to stay, when he tells them, "If you take the word 'adventure' from my life, I will have nothing." To this, the town guard asks him what he plans to do in his travels and in his life, and Adol responds with one of the most inspirational quotes I've noted: "If my life could be an inspiration to others, I would be happy." 
To this, I've looked at life differently, as that has been my hope in my meeting people. I have the very strong desire to leave some sort of inspiration in the lives of the people I meet. The idea of simply going to school to learn how to get a job and work that job, whether you enjoy it or not, for the rest of your life seems very pathetic and even depressing. So this is why I decided to try leaving an inspirational mark on people, no matter how small. For an inspirational and heroic tale, Ys III: Wanderers from Ys accurately depicts the desire to inspire others.

Moonsetter - Toby Fox

Toby Fox, developer of the game Undertale, has also been known for his prominent musical works in Undertale and in the webcomic Homestuck's music collection.

The song here, Moonsetter, with its piano and violin combination creates a joyful mood while letting on to some longing towards the end of the song. This song brings to my mind images of snowy days and evenings, joyous time with friends and family, as well as Christmas festivities. The lively and well admired characters in Homestuck come to mind, images of the good memories they have had together throughout the course of the webcomic's duration. While being away from my friends for Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks, this song makes me long for them as well as my family up in Michigan. Overall, Moonsetter is a very calming and happy song that would fit as an relaxing tune during Christmas festivities such as tree decorating. Hope all of you who read this find this song enjoyable!

Der Langrisser - The Right to Power

A friend introduced me to a neat strategy RPG over the summer known as Der Langrisser. The story involves three opposing factions (potentially four) who wish to obtain or prevent someone from obtaining the Dark Blade known as Alhazard, which has the power to destroy the surface of the world and more. Your character, playing a very crucial and decisive role, can wield the legendary Light Blade, Langrisser, the only known counter for Alhazard's power. Your decisiveness, however, lies in the choice to pursue a faction and their ambitions. Your choices will affect the whole continent of El Sallia, as you wage war against one another to promote your own peace. The characters are extremely likable and most of them are dynamic and are full of life. The music is fantastic as well, setting the mood of decisiveness and the weight of such decision on your shoulders. An empire seeks to create peace through unbreakable rule, a dark master seeks to rid the world of disgusting humans and promote the life of dark beings whom were once discriminated against, a group of young leaders seek to promote peace by stopping the Rayguard Empire from obtaining and awakening Alhazard's full potential. The fate of the world and its consequences lie within your decisions in Der Langrisser.

The Sand Castle

After watching the Sand Castle, I was convinced that I was watching a different kind of creation story. While the main character seems to play a role like God, they also remind me of Adam, intended to become a steward of the land. As the main character was bringing the sand creatures to life, I kept hoping that another creature like him would be brought to life, his "Eve" counterpart. However, now that I think about it, this film seems to depict an ideal creation. In this creation, the only "problem" that occurs is the sandstorm and the occasional misbehaving creature. There was no sin in this creation, for there was no anger, no hatred; there was only teamwork and communion.
But I suppose the question must be raised, if there were no "humans" (like there are in our creation today) in the Sand Castle, was that the reason that nothing really went wrong? Did this "God" make the animals sentient, or did they just choose to be obedient over the allure of autonomy? Overall, the Sand Castle was a very interesting short film depicting something for everyone.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles -- Eternal Memories

The world is covered in miasma, a thick air poisonous to all sentient species and most creatures. The only thing that keeps people alive are giant crystals, which ward away the miasma. However, the crystals must be rejuvenated with myrrh, mystic water from large trees, every year. It is your job, along with your friends, to brave the unknown in search of myrrh for your town's crystal (as every town has a crystal). You collect myrrh in a crystal chalice, which keeps you safe from the miasma, which you must return to your town with. As you go on, you encounter other crystal caravans such as yourselves, and you keep a journal of your adventures. As you spin and record memories, you travel the world, in search of answers and myrrh. As you unravel the mystery of the miasma, it dawns on you that you are beginning to forget your memories, just like the tale was told; a great demon that consumes memories, that's how people forget the most fond memories.

Gurren Lagann -- Ever-Changing Humanity

In the distant future, humanity lives underground, the idea of the surface being a myth. People dig to expand the villages underground. It isn't until a young boy named Simon comes across a glowing drill  and a giant robot, that he and his best friend, Kamina, break out of the underground and onto the surface. The surface, however, is a war-torn world between humans who've escaped the underground and a species of humanoid beasts known as Beastmen, who pilot giant robot mechas.
As the humans fight against the Beastmen, they find that humans can use their "fighting spirit", literally their willpower, to pilot mechas just like the Beastmen can. The more confident they are, the more power they have. As the series go on, they find that their "fighting spirit" is more than just confidence, its a power that everyone wields within them that can be used to do basically anything. Over and over again in the series, drills and spirals are mentioned, constantly reminding us that humanity continues to change "with each turn." While crammed to the top with intense mecha battles, Gurren Lagann also addresses the worth of humanity and the responsibilities that go along with that.

Live-A-Live -- Innocence and Sin

In 1994, the game company Square (now known as Square Enix) brought to life a masterpiece of a video game. Live-A-Live is an obscure RPG that unfortunately wasn't released in the United States for some reason or another. However, the game addresses many human questions.

The game starts you off by selecting one of seven scenarios for a moderate length chapter of a story: Ninja, Mecha, Caveman, Kung Fu, Sci-Fi, Cowboy, and Wrestler. Each of the chapters take place in varying timelines. As you play through the chapters, none of them seem to be related to one another in any way at all, which may seem like quite a bit of a turn off. However, after completing all seven of the stories, a final scenario is unlocked and the story is tied together dramatically. So what makes Live-A-Live different from any other RPG with different playable stories? That answer lies within the heart of each chapter, a message on the worth of humanity and life itself.

In the Cowboy chapter, the protagonist is pushed to protect Success Town from the gang, the Crazy Bunch; to the point where the man who is after the bounty on the protagonist's head and the protagonist team up. You witness the dreadfully mistrusting human interaction in the Sci-Fi chapter as a robot, forced to feel emotions as a hiding menace pits friend against friend; watching everything go wrong as the crew members distrust one another. The worth of human life is questioned when a clan of cavemen attempt to sacrifice a young woman to appease a lingering doom to retain survival. The government of the near future team up with a crime organization to attempt to achieve world peace at the cost of human life and the destruction of nature. An old Kung Fu master longs to pass down his technique to a worthy pupil, while a rival dojo attacks in pride, neglecting honor. A wrestler strives to become the strongest fighter in the world, challenging the strongest fighters to learn from them as he respects them. Somewhere between the lines, a knight learns of the cruelty of humanity and upon losing everything, lashes out in disgusted rage, his suffering stretching to the ends of space-time.
The themes of human worth shine through the characters and story of each chapter in the game. Live-A-Live accurately depicts both the sin and innocence of humanity through the characters' interactions and the choices each one makes.

"Animals may be ruled by instinct, but they do not take the life unless they need the food. You maggots however, you are different! You never tire of senseless destruction! I must teach you, I must teach you what it is like to be the vanquished!"

Super Metroid -- Immersive Exploration

I'd have to say that one of my absolute favorite video games of all time would have to be the Super Nintendo classic, Super Metroid, seeing as it was the first glimpse I ever had of gaming when I was no older than three.
The game has you play as galactic bounty hunter, Samus Aran, a woman who was raised by a species of aliens known as the Chozo after her colony was brutally massacred (save for her) by one of the space pirate leaders, Ridley.  Samus gives you a bit of exposition, as a species of creatures known as metroids were used by the space pirates to attack civilization. After she eradicated all but the last one, she left it in the care of scientists who (after she leaves) are promptly attacked. Upon receiving their distress signal, Samus (you) rush to the scene to find that Ridley has stolen the last metroid!

Ridley escapes to the planet Zebes, where you follow him to retrieve the last metroid. That's all the direction you have in your objective for the game. While the game gives subtle hints on if you're to go one way or another at a certain point, the game just lets you explore in however way you see fit. There are no fast travel screens to help you get from point A to point B, but you do have a lot of cool powers as you acquire them on Zebes' surface. One such power is the Speed Booster, shown here!

The game does a wonderful job of immersing you in the world that the creators designed for you, the player, to explore. The music used for every area is very atmospheric, adding more to the immersion the game brings. Zebes is filled with all sorts of creatures and odd monsters, even a bunch of bear-looking creatures that teach you a helpful technique.

The game challenges you to learn from the environment (as seen above), while giving you the exhilarating feeling of exploring unknown territory. With the free roam feel that Super Metroid gives its players, the game can be played in plenty of different ways and even encourages you to challenge yourself by giving you a hint at the back of the instruction booklet saying the ending of the game changes with the time you spent clearing the game. So, if you're interested in exploring a strange and beautiful world with next to no guidelines, try your luck at finding the last metroid!

Emergence/Ascension

I apologize in advance for not being able to place a picture from the actual film here, though I found something that would work well as a replacement picture. While it's obvious that the short film was about the ascension of Jesus (now that we discussed it), as I watched the film, I was very confused. Looking back, it all makes sense. The reflective surface near the top of the water looks more like the sky, opening to allow the ascending Jesus into heaven. More bubbles become present as the man slowly rises up, creating a "pillar of light" image, illuminating him as he rises toward the surface. The deep blue of the water, and the emptiness of the film just as the man begins to float towards the surface makes us think that someone is dead, or dying; however, we know its just the opposite. Someone is returning not from death but from life, to something greater than our comprehension; to the "surface" in which we all belong. The film perfectly illuminates the ascension in a way that most people can comprehend, without much use of special effects, no less. This ties in with how extraordinary the ordinary is, while something viewed as extraordinary can be viewed with ordinary means.

Storks -- The Gift of Life

While everyone knows that storks deliver babies, at least according to the myths and tales, what people don't know about storks is that stopped delivering babies. In the recent animated film, Storks manages to depict a few general themes about life that are really neat. At the beginning of the film, the main character, Junior, explains that storks no longer deliver babies but now pursue business through the company known as Cornerstore.com. While this just seems like the producers are taking a twist to the general mythos on storks, it actually is part of a theme that is rather enforced later on when we meet another character, known as Nate Gardner. His family hardly has time to spend with them because they're always working, not even able to have more than five minutes to spend with their son. Because of the fact that his parents don't have any time to spend with him, he obviously feels quite lonely and longs for any form of companion, so he comes across a book on storks, the ones who did deliver babies. He writes and sends a letter to Stork Mountain, where all the storks in the movie reside, and requests a baby brother be delivered to him so he can have someone to spend time with.

 This goes bad for Junior and an orphan human named Tulip, as she accidentally turns on the baby factory that's been offline for years. Hoping to avoid being seen with the baby that was made, the two of them set off to deliver the baby without being caught. While we see the two respective points of view of the Gardners and Junior and Tulip, we find a general theme coming to light as Nate's parents finally decide to spend time with him, saying "Well, if we put the headphones back in, who knows how much time we'll lose with him? Maybe by the time we take them off again, he'll be ready to leave the house." Further bringing the theme to light, Junior and Tulip (Junior, mainly) start warming up to the baby and Junior starts to realize that he likes this child and being a family (albeit a weird one) with Tulip and the baby. The theme of life meaning more than just a company, and the experiences of life meaning more than money rang deeply with me. It was a movie I didn't expect, but I loved it as well as the point it made.