The Comprehensive Guide to Mouthwashing: Part 1

By: Alister Faraldo

Wrong Organ

What happens when a year-long shipment of mouthwash is crashed into an asteroid? A breakdown of this indie game’s plot, themes, fandom, and personal insight. TW: Sexual assault, suicide, alcoholism, cannibalism, overdosing, taking responsibility. Spoilers ahead.

Mouthwashing is a first-person psychological horror game by Wrong Organ and CRITICAL REFLEX. It is available on Steam, released on September 26, 2024, with an accompanying soundtrack released a month later. As of writing, over 500,000 copies have been sold. The story is told non-linearly, weaving around the truth. You play in both Jimmy’s and Curly’s points of view, inevitably discovering the cause of the asteroid crash and the surprises that come after. During Jimmy’s POV, the setting fluctuates between reality and his hallucinations. 

Plot

There are five characters in Mouthwashing: Anya the nurse, Curly the captain, Jimmy the co-pilot, Swansea the mechanic, and Daisuke, Swansea’s intern. 

The narrative revolves around the crew of the Tulpar, a space freighter owned by the company Pony Express (a nod to the Californian mail service active in 1860). The Pony Express is seen as the Amazon of the Mouthwashing universe. The crew is sent on a 382 day shipment to an undisclosed location, where about halfway through, the freighter crashes into an asteroid. The impact damages the ship enough to completely strip the crew of their flying capabilities. Now, all that’s left is to survive. 

Jimmy and Curly were friends prior to the crash. Curly, Swansea, and Anya have been crewmates for a few hauls prior. Curly puts in a recommendation that Jimmy be added to the company. Before the Tulpar departs with their shipment, they receive Daisuke as an intern under Swansea, an internship said to be attributed to Daisuke’s parents.

Upon the ship sometime before the crash, Jimmy assaults Anya. Even though it is not explicitly stated, it is heavily implied. Curly administers a psychological evaluation on Jimmy, yet it is unclear if this takes place prior to the assault.

Next, Daisuke gets trapped in anti-compression foam attempting to fix the broken vent. Curly chops him out and entrusts the axe to Swansea to finish the job. Curly is later told that Pony Express was going under. All workers would be terminated, but Curly would be receiving commendations. 

The next day, Curly is given a surprise birthday party where he tells the crew. Of course, they’re mad, especially Jimmy. After this, Anya informs Curly of the assault. She asks to hide the gun brought on board for emergencies, currently residing in the cockpit, to ensure no one would fire it. Curly offers to be a buffer between the two. Anya tells Jimmy about the pregnancy, who is not happy. Jimmy and Curly discuss the rape, Jimmy stating that the blame would be placed on Curly due to his role on the ship. He suggests that no one would be blamed if the ship crashed. Jimmy crashes the ship into an asteroid. In an attempt to stop it, Curly enters the cockpit and takes the brunt of the impact, disfiguring himself. 

Wrong Organ. “Mouthwashing.” Curly’s Surprise Birthday Party.

The ship is damaged beyond repair. So is Curly. His hands, feet, and half of his right leg are amputated, and his epidermis is burned off entirely. He is loosely wrapped in gauze. The ship didn’t have enough to cover him after a point, so he lies on the medbay bed in wet bandages. He cannot speak or move and requires pain medication every few hours to prevent his agonized moaning from echoing across the Tulpar. The cryopods, formerly four to six, are reduced to a singular one left functioning. Swansea, in charge of the utility room, decides to tell the crew, specifically Jimmy, that the room was entirely filled with foam. 

Because of the depleting resources and the ship going into survival mode, the crew goes to the cargo hold, where they find nothing but hundreds of crates of Dragonbreath X mouthwash. Swansea, fifteen years sober, takes a swig of it and returns to alcoholism.  The male crew members drink the mouthwash for sustenance. Swansea and Anya discuss their respective secrets before being found by Jimmy. Later, Anya locks herself in the medbay with Curly. Daisuke tells Jimmy that Anya is “stuck” in the medbay and Jimmy worries for Curly’s safety (the truthfulness of this statement is heavily debated).

Jimmy resolves that the only way to get to the two was through the broken vent. Daisuke and Jimmy use the only bottle of isopropyl alcohol to sedate Swansea and enter the utility room, discovering the lack of foam. Jimmy assumes the last cryopod was being saved for Swansea. Jimmy manipulates Daisuke into climbing into the shaft,  being horribly injured in the process. Before unlocking the door, he discovers that Anya had overdosed on Curly’s pain medication, and is now dead. 

After coming out of the medbay, Daisuke writhes in pain. Jimmy attempts to disinfect his wounds with mouthwash due to his prior misuse of the disinfectant. Swansea uses the axe to end Daisuke’s suffering much to the chagrin of Jimmy. The two men are now fully at war with each other. Swansea grabs the axe and Jimmy grabs the gun that was anxiously hidden by Anya. It so happened that the gun was hidden underneath Curly’s hospital bed. Swansea charges at Jimmy who hides away in the cockpit. Jimmy manages to subdue Swansea and ties him to a chair. Swansea proceeds to give what is considered by fans to be a passionate and eloquent account of his life. Swansea admonishes Jimmy for his recklessness, then is shot 3 times in the face. 

Jimmy drags the three corpses to the table and arranges them in the same order as Curly’s birthday party. He then brings out Curly and force-feeds him his own leg, slicing off a piece for each crewmate. They “feast,” then, due to the events of the past few hours, Jimmy has a breakdown. He has extreme hallucinations, then brings and places Curly into the last cryopod, making him watch as Jimmy shoots himself. 

Because Jimmy is the narrator during the majority of the game, we can’t be certain if the timeline or actions are entirely accurate. He is assumed to be an unreliable narrator. This erratic plot has the fans in a chokehold, feeding into their desire for something to dissect. 

Main Ideas

One of the common and widely accepted themes in Mouthwashing is taking responsibility. This pops up on the screen numerous times throughout gameplay, but what does this mean? Although taking responsibility can suggest many things, in this context it is typically applied to Jimmy’s inability to acknowledge his mistakes and failures, branching out to the crash’s outcome and the crew’s impactful deaths.  

Each member of the Tulpar spacecraft possesses a unique personality and a fitting demise. Daisuke and Swansea, being the only two not to die by their own volition, had opposing intentions behind their murders. 

Daisuke, the kind, fun-loving teen of the group, was put out of his misery by Swansea. They had a paternal bond. Swansea was told to take this boy under his wing, and he did so, albeit begrudgingly. No matter first impressions, they grew close. Close enough for Swansea to save the last cryopod for him and close enough to end his suffering once and for all, both choices being of pure altruistic intent. 

In contrast, Swansea’s life was taken by Jimmy. Why? Because Jimmy wanted to prove himself. He wished to “fix” everything. He believed that, instead of owning up to his downfalls, the only way to fix things would be a complete reset. This sequence of thinking may not be logical to most, but remember, only a few moments later Jimmy has a psychological break.

Anya’s suicide, which will be discussed in depth later in this article, is her forcing Jimmy to face his mistakes and their outcomes. While he may be able to dismiss the pregnancy for a while, a dead crew member is far more noticeable. This is her taking control of the situation and restoring her autonomy. Her powerplay of a death is the straw that breaks the camel’s back and sets off Jimmy’s second string of atrocities. 

Jimmy’s two greatest “mistakes” were the two made prior to the asteroid collision: sexually assaulting Anya and actively deciding to crash the ship. He fails to take responsibility for both of these actions by neglecting the first and blaming Curly for the second. He then “took responsibility” and led the crew, even though he fell short of the expectations that came with his new captain role. For a brief time, everything was calm. But, once Anya killed herself, Jimmy became frantic, desperate for a way to “fix everything.” He manipulates Daisuke into a vent then fails to realize that Daisuke’s death was his own fault. His anger blinds him, drives him into a psychotic rage where he then shoots Swansea for “the greater good.” His final actions come from a fit of hysteria, leaving Curly alone to suffer in a cryopod. Although the ship crumbled around Jimmy, even when his crewmates dropped like flies, he failed to see the detrimental impact his ignorance left on the Tulpar.  

Fandom Interpretations

Mouthwashing is a game with its storyline and implications left purposefully equivocal. This has led the fandom into all different directions with their theories and metaphors, some of which will be discussed in the coming paragraphs. Due to the nature of theories, different fans will have different things to say or add. Contrary to the title, this does not cover all of the fanbase’s concepts. The following are merely some common observations. For a truly comprehensive list, I recommend checking out Reddit or other forums. 

The Dead Pixel

In the scene where Curly discovers Anya has been raped, they stare at the large screen in the commonroom, projecting a fake sky. She mentions a dead pixel in the upper right corner of the fake sky on the ship, “In the back of my mind, it’s always there.” The screen is meant to give the crew a sense of normality, but when she discovers the flat pixel, it ruins Anya’s chance of feeling at-home on the Tulpar. After mentioning the pixel, Curly says that he never noticed it before, and still can’t see it. 

Wrong Organ. “Mouthwashing.”

The popular theory is that the pixel represents Jimmy and his arrogant, erratic personality. Aside from the ability to justify his raping of Anya, he possesses many negative traits. He refuses to take responsibility, both for raping Anya, stranding the crew in space, and being the cause of Daisuke’s mercy killing. He has been reported to have often explosive mood swings. Because of this, it is nearly impossible to avoid his negative attributes, especially Anya, who had suffered the extreme consequences of Jimmy’s impulsiveness. Every day on that ship, she was reminded of Jimmy’s awful actions, much like how when she looks at the “sky,” she is hyper-aware of the pixel.

Curly, on the other hand, finds it hard to notice his friend’s downfalls. He had gotten Jimmy the job, as stated previously. This implies that Curly trusts him enough to stake his job on it. His inability to see the dead pixel is correlated to his overwhelming trust in Jimmy. He wants to see a perfect sky, so he does. He wants to find a good friend in Jimmy, so he does. 

In the same conversation, she asks Curly why there are locks on the medbay and not the sleeping quarters. Ironically, he responds with “safety.”

Anya’s Suicide

When Anya locks the door in the medbay, she is taking a stand. It ties back to the conversation she had earlier with Curly, the helplessness Jimmy had subjected her to, her dreams for the future, and one final punishment for Curly. She uses his painkillers in front of his bed. He is made to watch as she protects herself —and the others— from Jimmy by taking her own life and hiding with the gun. 

In her final moments, she is sure of herself, contrasting with her typical timidness. A common self-defense technique is to make yourself look small physically. Anya does this mentally. She has proven that she’s a capable person by how well she preserved Curly with the little supplies they had on the Tulpar. Around Jimmy, she turns into a cheerleader, constantly encouraging him and consoling him. Because of the unique circumstances she is faced with, fighting back against Jimmy or doing nothing wouldn’t keep her alive. To survive is to make herself look as unthreatening as possible. As Curly had gotten himself burned by his inaction, Anya was willing to take on the role as the savior, both for herself and her crew members.

In contrast, other fandom members have theorized that the reason she locks the door is to also protect Curly. She assumed that once Jimmy loses control, he’ll let go of all composure, possibly turning to abuse Curly. Jimmy may blame him for the crash and felt the need to take it out. In spite of what little Curly had done for Anya, she still took care of him. She was the one to shove painkillers down his throat and keep his vitals steady. Since she aspires to be a nurse, caretaking is ostensibly one of her passions. Since she cares for Curly through all of this, there is reason to believe that she wanted to protect him.

No matter the intent behind it, her death was a grand final move. At that point in the story, she had been through so much trauma, it was impressive she had the will to keep going. One bottle of painkillers to represent freedom, revenge, and control. One swift move to force Jimmy to look at the outcome of his actions and take responsibility.

Mouthwash

The game’s namesake. How does it reflect the content of the game? Well, it’s a banal household item and an optional step in oral hygiene. Dragonbreath X, the brand, is labeled to kill 99.9% of all germs. However, as Anya points out, the sugar content is too high for its disinfecting properties to take effect. Canonically, the mouthwash contains 14% ethanol. In an advertisement, the fine print reads”Consult with your local dental hygiene specialist before, during, and after use of Dragonbreath X mouthwash. Dragonbreath Ꝏ will not accept any responsibility for any harm caused by use of this product.” Because of the lack of bottles in the medbay, it is assumed that Anya is the only one who did not partake in recreational mouthwashing, making sense for her occupation

Wrong Organ. Dragonbreath X Mouthwash. “Kills 99.9% of all germs.”

Mouthwash is the front for many allegories. During Curly’s Pov, we learn that Jimmy assaulted Anya. Upon saying “We’ll figure something out,” the words “Kills 99.9%” flash. This indicates that Curly, instead of wanting to turn Jimmy in, wants to protect him from the consequences. This is an unfortunately common occurrence when one learns their friend is an abuser. Because of their already positive view of the friend, they want to either protect or do nothing about it. Another factor to consider is that Curly actually got Jimmy his job. Not only is this a surreal discovery to Curly, but it reflects his poor judgement of character. Killing 99.9% refers to an abortion, the ‘easy way out’ for Jimmy. Although Anya will have to deal with the guilt, he will be fine. 

Both the sugar content and Dragonbreath’s statement relate to Jimmy’s ability to take responsibility. He tries to be helpful and to prove himself to everyone, but his actions only drag the team down further and further, as shown with his attempt at being captain. “Dragonbreath Ꝏ will not accept any responsibility…” Well, that sounds familiar. It isn’t that Jimmy doesn’t accept responsibility. In fact, he tries to put himself in a position of power with more responsibility that he inevitably fails at. He refuses to acknowledge he can do wrong. He has an ego bigger than the crash. When Jimmy assaults Anya, almost kills Daisuke, crashes the ship, or puts his friend in a constant state of pain, he never apologizes or admits fault. He feigns taking responsibility by asserting himself as captain and promising to fix everything. In actuality, he is using these empty words and actions to avoid penance. 

Anya not drinking the mouthwash can be something or nothing at all. It may just be a slight detail, but that’s boring. She is the first person to be maimed by Jimmy. She is the first to escape. She knew what she had to do to survive: pretend to be submissive. Her not using their product as a vice is akin to how she eluded Jimmy, in the sense that she knew better. She was also the only one to die with both eyes intact, symbolizing she was the only one to see Jimmy’s true horrors.

Polle, Jimmy’s Hallucinations

Throughout the game, Jimmy expresses moral remorse for his actions only once in a dream. After raping Anya, his only concern was being sent to jail. When he crashes the ship and his sole friend—Curly—gets crippled trying to stop it, Jimmy decides to blame him. Curly can’t talk back to deny it, but ostensibly has the hearing to be shamed by his subordinates. Upon lethally harming Daisuke to get to Anya and the gun, his only words were “I can fix this.” Swansea’s mercy killing solely brought upon rage and the urge to “fix everything.” Was this a statement out of conscience? Probably not. He lets Curly rot in the cryopod to take the blame while he kills himself, taking the easy way out (more on that next issue). 

The writers of Mouthwashing are clever and thoughtful. Each character is given a distinct and realistic personality. Every human being possesses their own ethics and inner sense of right and wrong. Objectively, what Jimmy does is immoral. He is aware of this. During Jimmy’s psychological evaluation, he mentions “climbing the corporate ladder” to Curly. He is the one performing the evaluation due to the fact he makes Anya uncomfortable. During a previous check-up, he tells her that he has a sexual attraction to cartoon horses. During a dream sequence earlier in the game, we walk in a never ending lake filled with broken ladders and flashing emergency screens, the ones he saw when crashing the ship. This may represent his guilt caused by throwing Curly under the bus and in the way of an asteroid.

The Pony Express mascot Polle is an additional character in the game, serving as a representation of Jimmy’s guilt, specifically guilt towards Anya. On the Tulpar, there are various “encouraging” posters of Polle with a cheesy phrase. In the first scene of the game, you are greeted with a regular Polle statue. You turn the corner and see a slightly more distorted version with two heads. Finally, you are jumpscared with an even more mutated Polle. This sequence all happens with the sound of a crying baby, getting louder with each Polle you encounter. In some interpretations, the Polle figure represents the situation he has put the Tulpar crew in; No statue signifies a normal crew, one statue for when he assaults Anya, a two headed one for when she gets pregnant, and a jumpscare inducing malformed statue with a cluster of heads for when he ruins the ship entirely. Anya and Polle share the same color scheme. When considering Jimmy’s previous lewd comments on cartoon horses, this points to the fact that he was sexually attracted to her, as well. 

Wrong Organ. “Mouthwashing,”

Polle appears as a manifestation of Jimmy’s wrongdoings three times after this. Once as a ‘Blind Beast,’ killing you every time you make a sound. Second as an odd infant centipede. It first appears as an embryo, then is “birthed.” This is another manifestation, appearing as an amalgamation of his sexual desires (both rape and hippophilia) and its consequences, or rather taking responsibility. Centipedes often refer to a secret desire or trait. In this case, the repressed trait is guilt, chasing him through the halls of the Tulpar. The final form of Polle symbolism is upon a stack of empty mouthwash bottles. 

Polle is the only character with voice lines. Originally, they’re generic workplace phrases, same as on the posters. In this closing manifestation, he addresses Jimmy (the player) directly. Polle uses words that a child would typically call their father (e.g. “Old man”). Jimmy is being forced to face his problems head-on.

How Fish is Made

How Fish is Made is another Wrong Organ game published by CRITICAL REFLEX. In the story, you choose Up or Down. This is considered to be an allegory to faith and choice in the form of a Tamagotchi-like gameplay. The free expansion to this was “The Last One and Then Another,” released September 2, 2023 as a teaser to Mouthwashing. Although I have no prior knowledge of this game, there is information there that is worth dissecting. This interpretation is a paraphrased version of the theory from Redditors HONKAyippeee and gloompeaches.

In The Last One and Then Another, it is more focused on consumption rather than choice. “Consuming other fish for power.,” reasons HONKAyippeee. In the end, you are forced to consume Curly, especially his eye. This, they state, is a connection to Jimmy. He consumes and indulges. He is impulsive, as seen in his actions towards Anya and crashing the ship. He is seen envying Curly for his position as captain and eagerly inherits it after he is no longer able to lead. 

Gloompeaches provides a different analysis, writing, “you could also see it as a metaphor for how the system they are trapped in consumes them all in the end.” They present that Jimmy’s pursuit of importance is driven by the power-based hierarchy, that in a different society, he may behave differently. They interpreted the expansion more as “consuming is linked to assimilation/filling the void” as well as the cannibalism metaphor found in HFIM.

Another theory by an unknown author is that the fish in TLOATA represent the Tulpar’s crew. This is highlighted by a tiny fish hooked to a larger one, which portrays Anya and her unborn child—the fishing line used as a “makeshift umbilical cord.” Gloompeaches finds that if it weren’t for this fish, they would consider the fish to be more portrayals of Jimmy than the rest of the crew. 

Fandom Opinions 

The fandom as a whole is respectful and filled with analysts, artists, and controversy, often sharing and debating their views. Most things are welcome to debate, expected even. But certain things, such as “shipping” (pairing characters in a romantic way) or advocating for Jimmy, are highly irregular and widely frowned upon. The arguments against each are as follows:

Romantic relationships between characters are not mentioned in-game. Many argue that shipping any characters, particularly Anya and Jimmy, goes against what the game’s plot and underlying themes were about. Many fans see ships as a marginalization of the game, throwing out all of the key elements to focus on the characters’ relationship. Others argue that no matter the ship, the dynamic would not be healthy. Some state that a ship is merely exploring the characters’ relationship dynamic, stating that it does not need to be healthy to be considered a “valid” ship. It is acknowledged by the majority of both sides that there is a line at which it becomes disrespectful and or inappropriate. 

The majority of the community despises Jimmy, going as far as to avoid using his name, replacing it with things like “Jimbalaya,” “Jingle bells,” or “Jimeapple.” A minuscule portion of the community, however, are known as “Jimmy Apologizers.” Because of the ambiguous storyline, some people interpret Jimmy as a hero or simply misunderstood. These members tend to be shunned by the rest of the community. 

In addition to these controversies, there are many debates on whether or not Anya would have kept her unborn child. In the early days of the fandom, this topic was more openly discussed, appearing to have reasonable arguments for both sides. Due to the recent discourse of pro-life vs pro-choice, the debate had died down and morphed to the point where not verbally condoning it may be seen as “pro-life.” Of course, this is still massively up for discussion. 

Many members of the community discovered Mouthwashing through streamers, while others found and researched the game after viewing fanart or discussions of the game’s contents. Overall, the fandom is a relatively sane group compared to others. From my experience, they are helpful, friendly, and have a surprising abundance of bunny pictures. 

Personal Opinion

Upon first discovering Mouthwashing through a particularly enticing fanart, I was instantly in love. The graphics, the storyline, the characters, every aspect of the game captured my heart. Naturally, I dug deeper and discovered the plethora of theories, interpretations, and opinions surrounding the game. The more I looked into it, the more enamoured I became. “The message is in the eyes of the interpreter,” states Schnuckiputzi, a community manager in the Wrong Organ Discord server. The community behind this game (i.e Reddit, Discord, Twitter) is a treasure trove of insight and understanding, developing new views on the game 6 months after its initial release. 

There are too many perceptions and details to neatly cover in a single article, meaning that the topics discussed are only a sample of the fandom’s vision, completely ignoring the character development and parallels. These topics will be examined in part two. Despite the theories covered, there are many other connections to be made. This is merely a consolidation of some popular stances.  I highly recommend going out and gathering your own information, making your own observations, and forming your own opinions.