#If I continue to make these (which depends on the upload scheledule of the series)

[anonymous12846271]

My thoughts on Alux Rising Ep 1 ✨

CW: A teeny bit of swearing along with major spoilers for the first episode of Alux Rising (ofc), moderate spoilers for the reboot of Sabre’s Assassin’s Creed series and Rainbow Quest and slight spoilers for Sabre’s original Assassin’s Creed series

-Is that a cHILD?  • It’s not a child, just a man in a very large bed.

- Wait, is he wearing a T-shirt and flannel pants? WHAT? Isn’t this supposed to be, like, in the style of medieval time? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not an expert on medieval fashion nor am I holding this fantasy minecraft world to be completely accurate to real life historical fashion trends, but flannel pants huh? 

- Also, he’s wearing what looks to be a prized necklace while he’s sleeping. That’s a terrible idea. Don’t wear important jewelry while you sleep, put it somewhere safe and put it back on when you wake up.

- WANNA BET? *Proceeds kick the door so hard that the lock freaking breaks*  

 • Also, is a lock supposed to break that easily? Can you just kick a door and break the lock like that? Something doesn’t feel right there.

- Okay, but I love that this is how they chose to introduce Petro. What an entrance.

- There’s a big ass green powerful looking sword in the background. Wanna bet that that thing is gonna end up being important later on? 

- WaIT, is the little man royalty?

- Omg, this man’s attitude is so wild. I like him. “Sadly I cannot, for you see I am not an uptight snob” Sksksksks kudos to the people who wrote this script I’m having a lot of fun

- I love how this is one of the very few roleplays where Sabre is choosing to not play as a self-insert yet he’s still playing a pale young man with brown hair and green eyes- 

- Ooh the little man IS royalty! Knowing Sabre, this can only mean bad things for Alux lol.

- This animation is in many ways rough but the way they animated Petro’s chuckle at 1:47 is simply perfect thank you.

- Is that a reference to the original Assassin’s Creed roleplay?? He didn’t steal anything from Alux so it’s not a one to one callback, but still, not the first time a FMS roleplay has started with the protagonist getting bumped into by someone passing by. 

- Our boy just face planted into a stone path?? It’s a miracle that he didn’t break his nose, good grief.

- Someone please protect the little man from getting bullied thank you   - Little man’s got daddy issues, we’ve got another sad boy with a sad boy backstory, let’s go.

- How did he not know about Alux’s mom HOW LONG HAVE THESE TWO KNOWN EACH OTHER

- I feel like I’ve heard these women before but I couldn’t possibly tell you where. They might just have one of those voices, bear in mind that they’re both voiced by the same person.

- WOW, throwing a hardback book at someone’s head from another floor? Ik he insulted her, but that’s still practically attempted murder.

- Alux laughing about his potentially concussed friend with the person who would’ve been responsible if he was concussed. I see nothing wrong with this. /sar 

- Random but I love the shiny gold texture on Alux’s suit

- Also random but what’s with the blue glowing stuff on Petro’s belt? Is is magic? Will it end up being plot relevant later? What’s going on Sabre, why did you want that stuff to glow??

- Does the Dark Angel use she/her and they/them pronouns? Assuming that this recollection of the story uses their correct pronouns, I think they use she/her and they/them pronouns. They might be an evil enby queen and I’ll drink to that.   • On another note, them being a demi-girl is only one explanation for the multiple pronouns, although it is definitely an intentional choice. I can think of atleast a couple other reasons for why this would be.

- Also, assuming that she’s gonna stay a villain, the Dark Angel is one of the first non-male villains in a FMS roleplay a long time and if I remember correctly one of the first female-leaning villains since 2017. That’s pretty hype!!

- A ruler, a guardian of light. I wonder who that is. Feels like something that’ll be important later~ :] • Mmm he sacrificed himself? Interesting, still have a feeling he’s gonna be important later tho. 

- So who are the magic users specifically? Are they those under the command of the Guardian of Light, or are they a broader group? I don’t think it’s really explained.

- “Her great army was released from their grasp” *Multiple pronoun sets intensify* 

- The fact that Sabre is choosing to make another series with themes of dark/light based magic and an ancient evil sealed away eons ago when the SCU is still literally just right there is an interesting decision. I get wanting to rehash old ideas but usually people only do that after they’re FINISHED with the old story. I don’t think the SCU is dead?? As far as I know, Sabre hasn’t said anything about it and TR would be a weird end lol.

- Also, can I just say that I am so happy to see Sabre making a series that takes place in a universe of his own creation after all these years? I mean, yes, all of his stories have taken place in worlds that he created, but they were all directly inspired by settings created by other people (Assassin’s Creed, Minecraft, FnaF, The Crafting Dead, etc, etc, etc) and to see something unique to him is just- it makes me really glad, I’ve been wanting Sabre to do something like this for a really really long time. Plus, The Steve Cinematic Universe, although I like it and I’m really hoping Sabre is still gonna make another series for it in the future, was starting to go in a direction with it’s lore that isn’t exactly to my taste and we were getting so much of it that I was starting to get a bit sick of it. It’s nice to have a big project like this between the SCU projects to break things up, and it’s really refreshing to just have some good ol’ fantasy after whatever Twisted Rainbow was.

- Petro is acting like there’s more to this story than it seems and that it’s less black and white than it appears, but the version of it he just read from the book makes it seem like the Dark Angel is clearly evil and that the light folk are the heroes. I want more details. 

- “You can’t pick roses without shedding a little blood. Nothing’s perfect, but the result is beautiful.” Petro are you gonna become a villain later? Tell me the truth now because that’s some sussy dialog. 

- Alux, son, what are you doing??? What are you doing that could get you executed???.?  • Edit: I think that he was exaggerating, e.g. “My Dad’s gonna kill me”.  

- Okay but people just calling their father ‘Father’ like a name instead of ‘Dad’ or ‘Papa’ has so much power thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.  • Father, it’s me, Michael- 

- Hamatria? Is that how that’s spelled?? There are no human-written subtitles, so I can’t tell. But besides that, I’m also intrigued by this other kingdom and their potential history with this kingdom.

- What is the name of this kingdom? Has it been stated yet? I’m not sure..  • Oh good grief in the title of the video it says that it’s called the Cozen kingdom I’m an idiot. Also, interestingly enough, ‘cozen’ is actually a word and it means to trick or deceive. Was that intentional?

- I know that this is most likely just because the people who made the skins are the same, but it’s interesting how the armor on the guards looks almost exactly the same as my beloved Francis’ armor. Good grief I miss MC Trapped. :’[

- Omg, how old is Alux? Is he an adult or a minor?? Because bro, his dad is OLLD. ANCIENT. HOW OLD WAS ALUX’S MOM???

- So Cozen and Hamatria have conflicting views about magic users? What are those views? Why do they hold them? Who are the magic users specifically and why are they controversial? What was the origin of the book that Petro read? Why did Elric not want Alux to know about that story? Where is Petro from?? So many questions so little answers... 

- “How am I supposed to lead this kingdom when I don’t even know anything about it” Implying that Alux has been trapped within the walls of the castle rather than just within the kingdom.

- “To keep all of us safe”??? What does THAT mean?? I gotta ask what the exact motive behind keeping Alux here is. It could simply be a parenting strategy, but I wonder if there’s some other reason? I know how Sabre loves his chosen one prophesies.  - There’s a lot of green around in both the kingdom and the throne room which implies that green is the insignia color of the kingdom yet the king himself isn’t wearing it, only his son? Interesting.  

- Also, it only just occurred to me, but it’s really funny how green seems to be an important color in this series while it’s coming out on Saint Patrick’s Day. 

- BRITISH! THE KING’S ASSISTANT IS /BRITISH/! Asdfghjk- in all seriousness, although it might be unintentional and just a quirk of the casting, him being british implies that he’s from another region which is really interesting.  - Also, according to the credits, I think the assistant’s name is Azrael which is really foreboding because that’s the name OF THE ANGEL OF DEATH-   • He’s wearing all black too XD

- Omg, it’s Jerome! The man who refused to play Rainbow Steve even though he wanted the role because he misunderstood the production process of the series. Good to see him! X’) 

- BiSH, please, this is the heir of the kingdom?? This is the only son of your boss, have some respect???? Actually, who hired this guy? Why is this the guy who’s supposed to train Alux?

- “HoW dArE yOu, YoU LiTtLe BrAt” 

- Oh wow he kicked him in the delicates! Wait a minute, shouldn’t the armor guard agaisnt that?? Am I wrong here?? You’d think that would be a weak spot they’d want to protect when designing armor, but atst I don’t really know anything about armor design- 

- I’m already in love with these characters. They’re all so endearing. I’m having the time of my life, big claps all around.

- “Tired of being treated this way, like I’m something to be ashamed of.” ???

- Just hit me like a freight train, but just like Azrael, Petro has a foreign accent which implies that he’s a foreigner to this land. 

- So, Alux and Petro are the same age? That’s interesting..? How long have they known each other? Why is Petro teaching Alux when they’re the same age?? Who even IS Petro, who are his parents, what does he do in this kingdom???  • Edit: I think that the reason Petro is in a role where he can teach Alux about things is because Alux has been isolated from those outside of the castle. Also, sometimes more advanced students can tutor less experienced students and I think it’s implied that Petro is a scholar.  - “Think of it this way: atleast you don’t have to see him for a week.” AGED LIKE MILK

- When I laid eyes on this art style, y’know, I didn’t like it very much, but now that I’m more immersed into the episode it’s kind of grown on me?? It’s honestly kind of cool-

- Why are all of the people in the guard, like, all of these garbage douche people? Who’s hiring these guys???

- I can see in the pages of the book that they’re using a different writing system. It’s probably an alphabet but honestly, who knows. Either way, it’s an important thing to note down.

- HEY, I JUST REALIZED. ARE THEY USING MODS AGAIN?? I think I recognize the texture for that shield!! Cool bro! I love Minecraft mods and seeing youtubers actually use them makes me really happy.

- It probably helps that the series is so cinematic, but I’m appreciating  how the world feels like it’s actually to scale. Rainbow Quest was a bit wonky in that regard, with what was meant to be massive cities looking more like moderately sized towns, so this is a lot more immersive.  

- Another dead father in a FMS roleplay??  - What do they want exactly? Is it an abstract thing like power, control or pride or rather something real like an object or a person? I’ll guess we’ll see....

- Oh Jerome guard bless your soul, I love him so much. Honestly this is making me really regret the fact that he wasn’t willing to take on Rainbow Steve’s role in Rainbow Quest, like, more so than I already regretted it.

- It isn’t an object but it COULD be a person. If it is a person, the Dark Angel and Alux are both HIGH on the list. 

- NOO JEROME GUARD!! 😫😫 Tbf I kinda knew that he was gonna die but stilll

- Is Elric’s sword made out of gold? Because if it is that’s not a very good material for weapons.

- Yup, another dead father in a FMS roleplay.

- So are these men the worshippers of the Dark Angel? Interesting, interesting. Does that mean that she’s regained enough power to begin taking over the minds of men again??

- Man, I remember that blood texture from Sabre’s old roleplays from 2016. It’s good to see the classic mods making a comeback.

- Hello James, the writers have declared that you’re gonna survive, which makes sense considering your previous appearance.

- I’m honestly intrigued by James’ characterization. It’s kinda interesting how he seems to look down on Alux but is so dedicated to Elric. I wonder if that’ll be elaborated on in the future.

- They!! They didn’t let us hear what the promise was!! What was it!? This is gonna be important later on, I can just feel it in my bones.

- Every time I write a new character or place name in this document I have to tell Pages to learn the word so that it won’t underline it- curse you cool fantasy names.

- Okay, but real talk, they should’ve brought more guards as an escort. Even though they couldn’t have predicted the Dark Angel worshippers or whatever, this was still during a time of conflict, and they literally mentioned that people from Hamatria were coming over and causing issues and that there was talk of war. They were literally bringing their king to a potentially hostile nation and they only brought, like, 10 guards TOPS. Not a great decision.

- Time for the little man to undergo L O S S

- His last conversation with his father was an argument. F in the chat please.

- Y’know, this series is reminding me a lot of the Assassin’s Creed reboot in certain aspects (Which is definitely a good thing), but it’s making me wonder what a meeting between Alux and ACT!Sabre would look like? They have basically polar opposite backstories, what with Sabre being orphaned when he was 11 and living the rest of his childhood and the entirety of his teens on the run whereas Alux looks like he’s been completely isolated and sheltered up to this point, so how would they get along?? 👀

- CREDITS, THERE ARE CREDTIS!!! OMG, I HAD JUST BEEN COMPLAINING ABOUT HOW HARD IT HAD BEEN TO UNDERSTAND THE PROCESS BEHIND SABRE’S ROLEPLAYS WITHOUT KNOWING WHO WAS WORKING ON WHAT ASPECTS OF THEM OVER THE YEARS!! YAY! :D    • Actually, wait, were there credits in The Crafting Dead? I just checked the end of the final episode and there don’t seem to be any so I don’t think there are.

- I had been assuming that Sabre had always served as the producer and director in all of his roleplays over the years, but interestingly, this episode wasn’t directed by him, only produced by him. Has that been the case for most of his roleplays..?

- Phoenix Flare seems to be a really really key person who worked on this episode. They directed which is one of the most important roles in the production of a series and also worked on the skins, the builds, the music and the voice acting. Interesting.

- A really glaring omission here is the writers, which is really important especially when you realize that this was animated rather than acted out in game, so there isn’t really any room for improv. Maybe they just decided to group that in with either production or direction and either Sabre or Phoenix Flare wrote this, but there’s just absolutely no indication of anything regarding the writing really? The writing is always the most important aspect of a story so it concerns me that the writers aren’t being credited.

- Also, the animators. Where is the credit for the animators?? Who  animated this???? Was it just Sabre???

- Now, my thoughts: So far, it’s quite good! This episode was really solid all things considered. I do have some slight concerns with certain aspects of the episode and it does feel a bit rough at times, but this is really promising and so far it feels like an improvement over Sabre’s other recent stories, atleast in regards to the flaws that have been personally bothering me. The pacing actually feels solid which is really really major for me, granted that it’s a bit faster than what I normally enjoy and it took a bit of adjusting before I could really get into it. Now of course, I can’t really judge this story right now since we only have one episode. I had similar feelings about Steve Legends at first and that series ended up really disappointing me, but it’s been a strong start so far. I really enjoyed this episode and once again, I’m feeling cautiously optimistic about this series, even more so than before! :]

- Also, for anyone who struggled to enjoy the episode, I just wanna add that this story is very very different from anything that Sabre has worked on before and if you’re in love with that classic roleplaying style that Sabre was more well known for, I can see how you would prefer something like Rainbow Quest over this. Although I love the cinematics, I personally prefer the filmed in Minecraft style more than the animation but I get that this makes it a lot easier for the actors and allows them to do more with the visuals. At the end of the day, this is all down to subjective taste and I’ll gladly watch any of Sabre’s older serialized roleplays (aside from Twisted Rainbow /hj) with you guys any day. ❤️❤️❤️