#then animal jam lore before that

[mechanismslorearchive]

to the person who just sent the ask calling me a strange esoteric god of knowledge (i am keeping the ask as a pet): thanks its my uber autism powers

[dearcauti0n]

A Little Jamaalidays Special small piece! Snow Caverns - Peck and her interaction with the Phantom Queen!

Ngl there's literally no background to this besides just the idea of the alphas going on a snowy mission

And Peck goes off on her own to look for supplies of something useful

Fell off a cliff

Was saved by landing on a really decent rock

Oh y'know that's not a rock

That's a phantom

A huge one

Oh hey it's the queen <3

Okay anyways this is really late from what I usually post but I kind of forgot</3 hope you all enjoy it!

[sillysealfan]

so dash tag came back this month

[fairsweetlonging]

pixie!shen yuan au where he transmigrates into a cute little forest pixie, with pretty gossamer wings that sparkle like stars, a voice that tinkles like tiny silver bells, and long dark hair that he braids while wearing flowers as sunhats!!

he lives in a hollow tree on cang qiong, enjoying the rivers and groves and rocky cliff faces. his little house is filled with all kinds of trinkets, a lot of which he's stolen found from the sect, like buttons and beads and scraps of silk, needles as swords and fancy tea leaves from pots left out by kitchen windows. he quite likes his little life, the only downside is that he can't really read books this way, because even though he sneaks into the libraries at night and his wings are a source of light, most books are way too heavy and he's worried his (faint but present) spiritual energy will be detected.

he watches the disciples train on different peaks, soaking in all the new lore and details that airplane put way too little time and energy into. he's there before the plot, so binghe hasn't arrived yet and he can take his sweet time making a plan to ensure binghe won't destroy the mountain.

one day, though, the rare time he ventures out into qing jing peak, he gets distracted by an open window to the bamboo house. he knows it's stupid, but this might be the only chance he has to take a look inside the villain's lair, it's something he needs to know if he wants to help binghe in the future, and so he goes inside and takes a look around—

and promply gets trapped inside a mason jar.

oops.

shen qingqiu's face looks at him from the other side of the glass, still menacingly beautiful even with the slight distortion. worst-case scenarios flash through his head; crushed into pixie jam, experimentation, harvested for parts, stalled out like a fancy ornament on the shelf... but it's none of that.

"sneaking around my peak, entering my home, naughty little thing," shen qingqiu huffs, "were you not taught manners?"

he leaves the jar on the desk for a bit, chiding shen yuan but then—opens the jar? and lets him out? he tells shen yuan not to sneak into his house anymore and then just... continues with his paperwork. shen qingqiu's cruelty is limited to humans, it seems, and not animals or tiny fairies.

so of course shen yuan comes back.

he doesn't want to push it and risk shen qingqiu crushing him like a fly, but he enjoys hanging around the house and watching the qing jing disciples train and play music. ning yingying is already there, so it can't be much longer before binghe arrives. shen qingqiu is surprisingly kind to her compared to the other disciples, who he regularly drives to tears. the man notices him and tries to shoo him off, but ofc it doesn't work. after some time shen qingqiu keeps casually looking around to find him and shen yuan is proud to be getting on the man's nerves.

at some point liu qingge comes by, stomping hard enough to make the leaves shen yuan uses as a hammock shake. since it's the bai zhan war god shen yuan is excited to see him (liu qingge is often on missions, and shen yuan avoids bai zhan out of a healthy precaution of aggressive teens with swords), so he comes closer. the two peak lords hold the stupidest argument known to man that shen yuan only half listens to, fascinated by the sword liu qingge carries. but then liu qingge suddenly jerks his arm and shen yuan spooks, shooting up.

liu qingge sees something flying at his face and reacts like anyone would—he swats at it. hard.

when shen yuan hits the ground he can feel his wings get crushed under him; for a few seconds he's terrified liu qingge will stomp on him and scrambles to get away, only to get grabbed and scooped up into the air. he wildly kicks his legs and hits his tiny little fists on the hands that hold him, little voice jingling like crazy, but then shen qingqiu raises his voice and snarls at liu qingge.

"you idiot! watch where you wave those big paws of yours, brute! look what you did, you could have killed him!!"

then shen qingqiu turns around and goes into his bamboo house, kicking the door shut. he takes shen yuan to his bedroom, putting him on a soft handkerchief as he looks over his little wings and mutters vicious things to himself about "slaughter-happy idiots". shen yuan is too stunned to respond and just sits there as the scum villain fusses over him. his wings aren't really hurt, just a little squished, it's fine! shen qingqiu then lectures him for being reckless and coming so close to a brute like liu qingge.

after that they sort of become... friendly? shen yuan sets out to be the most mischievous little pixie he can be, but somehow it only works in his favor; he steals little things from shen qingqiu's home (not that he can carry much more than a button or brush), flutters in circles around the man's head, dips his little boots in ink and then walks on paperwork, etc. but shen qingqiu doesn't seem bothered by any of it. if anything, he leaves trinkets for shen yuan to take, offers his hand as a perch to sit on, and makes a tiny brush for shen yuan to use instead.

shen qingqiu gains a little friend and life gets a little calmer on qing jing peak. when binghe comes, shen yuan manages to distract shen qingqiu enough that the tea dumping never happens, and binghe is shooed off after the ceremony. binghe still isn't treated right and still has to sleep in the woodshed, but shen yuan secretly helps him and acts like a little night light in the dark, so binghe gets quite attached.

meanwhile liu qingge is regretful of having slammed a pixie out of midair and must prove his honor, thus begins the habit of dropping off gifts at shen qingqiu's doorstep (also because his sister freaked out a little, apparently hurting fairies is bad luck and he might have cursed himself for eternity? anyway).

this display causes yue qingyuan to show up too with the biggest wettest puppy eyes because he heard xiao jiu has a new friend who now lives in his house? shen qingqiu kicks them all out.

this has already gone on so long so the last thing i want to add is shen yuan eventually manages to cultivate a human form, and with a little effort he can even keep his wings! and of course this makes it worse, because that sweet little pixie is now a beautiful man who wife beams everyone in a three mile radius and doesn't even notice it.

shen qingqiu and luo binghe unexpectedly bond over beating suitors away.

[dungeon-strugglers]

✨New item!✨ Mister Shovel Wondrous item, rare

This magical shovel has an animated face carved into it. It works as a trusty tool and friendly digging companion. Mister Shovel can be wielded as a magic weapon, equivalent to a quarterstaff with a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls. 

Dig. As an action while holding this shovel, you can remove a 5-foot cube of dirt, sand, or clay from a space within your reach. As you dig, Mister Shovel instantly gobbles up the earth and stores it in a pocket dimension. Mister Shovel can store up to twenty 5-foot cubes of earth within itself before it’s full.

Expel Earth. If Mister Shovel has earth stored within itself, you can use your action to expel one 5-foot cube of earth onto a space within your reach. The expelled earth immediately falls to the ground and becomes a 5-foot mound of loose earth. Traversing over or through the mound is difficult terrain. A Large or smaller creature within the area must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw to see if it can successfully move into an unoccupied adjacent space, or a DC 15 Strength saving throw if it wishes to stay in its space. On a failed save, the creature is knocked prone and restrained by the weight of the earthen mound until it uses its action to free itself.

Sentience. Mister Shovel is a sentient, neutral good shovel with an Intelligence of 10, a Wisdom of 8, and a Charisma of 16. It can see and hear out to a range of 60 feet. The shovel can speak, read, and understand Common. Mister Shovel is a polite and helpful companion who is always hungry for dirt and happiest when digging. Mister Shovel doesn’t like being used as a weapon, and apologizes to anything it bonks. 

“Man! Thiths sthuffth iths good!-” Mister Shovel was blabbering excitedly through mouthfuls of dirt, barely intelligible as Jesse dug at the base of the wall.

“Shush! I’m not trying to alert the guards!” She hissed. If they were spotted, the whole fort would descend upon them. 

“Hey, itsth not MY faul-” Jesse was sweating profusely as she jammed Mister Shovel into the ground again, muffling its speech. This was a disaster. - 🖌🎨 Like our work? Consider supporting us on Patreon and gain access to the hi-resolution art for over 200 magic items, printable item cards and card packs, beautiful creature art and stat blocks, and setting pdfs with narrative hooks and unique lore!🧙‍♂️ Thank you so much for your support! 💖

📜 Credit. Art and design by us: the Dungeon Strugglers. Please credit us if you repost elsewhere.

[allfortheslay25]

In an au where milo has siblings that aren't Maya and Ollie, what would they be like and how would it affect the canon lore in miloverse?

Finally, I can answer this ask✨

Sorry for the long wait, I ended up pretty busy with my job and was backed up with loads of asks (I don’t like mixing my doodles unless it’s just one or two but I had HUNDREDS of asks about All for the fish and decided to just pick through and answer as many as I dared)

Anyways! For Other Kids AU (aka separate ‘what if’ AUs where the Foxes have other or more kids)

Ofc I thought of more andreil kids. What do you take me for? The aftg brainrot is my disease✋😔

⚠️ this is not canon to We’ll Both Be Fine or Milo’s main story in general. This is a what if situation ⚠️

Admittedly, they could have been canon but andreil didn’t care about having more children. Milo was enough for them.

The first kid is Connie (Conner David) born 2011. Andrew and Neil decide not to deletus the fetus and so Connie is born. It is actually Nicky who gets to name him :)

Milo is very happy and emotional about having a little brother and tries to involve himself in every second of his life. They grow up very close, Connie looking up to Milo a bit.

Connie likes writing, cookies with jam, and spring

Dislikes conflict, chewing gum, and his freckled eyes (has eye nevus)

Second are the twins, Honey (Miela Marie) and Niko (Nicholas Nolan) both born 2014. Very simple decision from andreil that since Connie went well, why not test fate? And then they had twins who tried to make their lives hell. Andreil let the Foxes brainstorm names and send their best picks for andreil to choose through before narrowing it down to six (three if it’s a girl and three if it’s a boy) (they didn’t know it’d be twins) and let the foxes make a unanimous decision. The foxes decided on Nolan for a boy and Miela for a girl. Andrew and Neil ended up naming the boy Nicholas (Nicky cried about it for days) and gave Miela the middle name Marie after Abby.

Although Milo loves his new siblings, the twins are very hard to deal with and whine to him about every thing instead of andreil. The kids are also a bit air headed and tend to be hurtful without meaning to. When Milo goes to college, he finds out that they replace him with Connie who takes care of them as if they were his kids. (Admittedly, they love Connie more and it hurts Milo’s feelings)

Honey likes apiculture, traveling, food

Dislikes sitting still, sharing her things, being told what to do

Niko likes sports, napping, living life to the fullest

Dislikes being active (when it’s not sports), alcohol, explaining himself (he can’t)

Old concept designs when I was first making them

Some facts:

- Honey and Niko don’t consider Milo their brother but not in a malicious way. In their weird minds, he’s too old and different (however, they consider him family the same way Nicky, Aaron, Kevin, and Robin are)

- Honey lives with Nicky and Erik in Germany. She goes to school there

- Connie briefly lived with Stuart in the UK for two years, studying literature and journalism

- Niko doesn’t like playing exy but he goes pro as a hockey player since it’s similar

- they all call Milo something different. Connie calls him Brother or Milo, Honey calls him Mywo (Me - Woah), Niko calls him Lio or Em

- Milo used to take the kids to school (either walking or driving) since the twins were in daycare

- each kid is represented by one of the many animals that represent Milo. The rabbit (Connie), the bird (Honey) and the cat (Niko). With them, Milo is the dog. (Each animal makes up a part of Milo’s personality)

-⬆️ specific animals: White bunny (Connie) summer tanager (Honey) orange tabby (Niko) Wolf or Fox (Milo). However if they were Milo; New Zealand rabbit, Crow, and Red Siberian cat

- Maya would not be born in this au because at that point, they’d have their hands full with the twins and there’s no reason to have another. Ollie would have not been adopted either

[e-vay]

My In-Depth Review of Sonic X Shadow Generations (Spoilers!)

I completed Sonic X Shadow Generations so I'm ready to talk about it! Remember, these are just my personal opinions about the game, so don't take this review as me saying that my opinion is "right." I'd hate to accidentally spoil the game for you, so all my thoughts are below the cut:

Did you mean to click "Keep Reading"? I warned you, there's gonna be spoilers here! One last chance to back out...

🖤

❤️

🖤

❤️

Okay here we go!

THE SHADOW PORTION

Let's start with what we've all been hyped about: the Shadow portion of Sonic X Shadow Generations. If you single out the Shadow story of this game, I think it is an absolute masterpiece! Everyone who worked on it gave it their all, and it clearly shows. I'd give it a 9.75/10.

THE GRAPHICS

The visuals of this game are STUNNING. These new models for Maria and Gerald Robotnik are perfection! I am so glad they went with the more 'cartoon' style for the human models, similar to what we saw in Sonic Unleashed. They feel like they belong in this world among these peculiar looking anthropomorphic animals, but they aren't so odd looking that they feel goofy. They found a perfect balance and I couldn't be happier with them. Speaking of character models, to see all the bosses throughout the years in this new high definition was a sight to behold! Though I do feel nostalgia for the lower-poly version of the Biolizard, it was great to see it as the creators originally envisioned. It went from this loveable (and admittedly silly-looking) salamander to a truly intimidating and disturbing looking beast. The animation is superb. The characters move so fluidly and the poses are dynamic and striking! The frame rate makes everything look and feel fast and smooth which is exactly what you'd hope for in a Sonic game. I also appreciated the variety of poses/animations even just for the different stage ranks. I found myself purposely replaying stages to get different ranks just so I could see the different animations Shadow had regarding his "performance" evaluation. That really adds to the replay value! I am a graphic designer for a living, so of course I have to gush about the design, too! The graphic elements that appear before, during, and after each stage are straight up BADASS! I love the 2D animated flame that appears along the stage name and the color scheme and sharp lines are so appropriate to Shadow, and are a very strong contrast to Sonic's graphic elements that are colorful and round in shape. These are small details that most people might not outright notice, but it really enhances the overall aesthetic of the game.

THE STORY

LOOOOORE! Sweet nectar of the gods, we were given so much more lore with this game! Even though the Shadow portion of this game was fairly short, they jam-packed a ton of information and I am forever thankful for it! If you didn't do so while playing, I highly recommend playing again and talking to the NPCs regularly for little nuggets of lore. I was initially worried that this was going to be a rehash of the same 'origin' story we've heard a dozen times already, but that was not the case! Instead of focusing entirely on the tragedy that happened on the ARK, we got to learn what life was like on the ARK while times were still good! Learning that Shadow didn't used to be confident at all, to the point where Maria basically doesn't recognize this confident version of him that we've all known him as. And that Shadow never did his homework??? HA! I loved the confirmation that yes, Maria WAS INDEED the person who gave Shadow his name, and the meaning behind it was EVERYTHING TO ME! (Also works so well for my my AU. IYKYK hehehe) Plus all the Robotnik family history?! MARIA HAD A LITTLE SISTER?!?! She'd be old now, if she's even alive, but will we ever meet her? Will Shadow ever meet her (and would he even want to, or does he feel like that chapter of his life is closed now)? What was she like, and how did Maria's death impact her and her parents??? I hope we'll find out some day! Plus getting to learn a little bit more about Gerald's sons was exciting too. Will more Robotnik family members make appearances down the line? What do they think of Eggman's misdeeds? I'm so curious for more! It was heartbreaking in the best way for Shadow to get to interact with Maria and Gerald again, especially knowing he can't do anything to change what will inevitably happen to them. His sense of desperation paired with the growing affects that Doom's powers were having on him really had me worried about what was going to happen to Shadow's state of mind and overall well-being. It was amazing to see the toll it was taking on his body and his mind. In particular, I'm thinking of the scene where Shadow goes to fight Sonic and you see him having to actually restrain himself and go easy on Sonic. I thought it a great scene to demonstrate how easy it would have been for Shadow to just give in to the rage and take Sonic out without hesitation, but his willpower was able to win in the end. I have heard some people saying they're disappointed that Shadow lost his Doom abilities by the end of the story, but I think it made complete sense for the story. Black Doom is insistent that Shadow isn't 'complete' yet and he has to be more like him in order to be 'perfect.' But that isn't true! Shadow is already the ultimate life form, especially because there's more to him than his Black Doom DNA. By rejecting Doom's influence in the end, that was Shadow's true evolution. He's perfect as he is. Obviously I could gush forever and ever about all the Shadow and Maria scenes, but words aren't going to do it justice. It was just so moving to see how different he is when he's with her. In fact, at the end of this game I believe this is the first instance we ever see a true, genuine, heartwarming smile from Shadow and it DEVASTATED ME! We are used to his smirks, but when he's trying to reassure Maria that everything's going to be okay, we get to see him truly smile and we aren't seeing Shadow the Ultimate Lifeform or Shadow the Destroyer/Weapon, we are seeing Shadow the Brother and it felt like the warm embrace of a security blanket. God bless the writing in this game.

THE ACTING

The acting in this game is incredible from a visual and auditory performance. The animators really pushed the acting of the character models and you can feel Shadow's transformations throughout the game and the toll it's taking on his body. The emotions are cranked up to the max and they didn't pull any punches. In the past, Shadow was often limited in his portrayal of emotions, but that wasn't the case in this game at all. We saw anger, we saw resentment, we saw panic and sadness, and affection. There was so much thought put into the shaking of his hands, the gritting of his teeth, the shrinking and dilating of his pupils, all to show what's going on in his head without even resorting to words. SO MUCH ATTENTION was put into how these characters moved and interacted with each other and it truly tugged at my heart strings. There were too many wonderful moments for me to break down, so I will just single out one for now and applaud the creative direction and the animators for these scenes as a whole. There's this moment right near the end of the story, when Shadow is trying to stop Gerald and Maria from disappearing for good. His gestures are wild and panicked, his pupils and irises are small due to fear, but then Maria simply frames his face and rests her forehead against his. It's subtle, but Shadow's eyes widen and then return to their regular size and everything from his stance to how his shoulders fall show what a calming presence Maria has and how she helped (and will continue to help) him find his inner piece. Those performances are going to stick with me forever! Mike Pollock as Gerald Robotnik was truly *chef's kiss* MP is such a fantastic actor with great range. Though his voice is easily recognizable, the manner in which he speaks as Gerald is so different compared to Eggman, that you couldn't mistake the two characters even just by listening. We have been so used to only hearing from the angry, driven-insane-by-grief Gerald that it was so refreshing to get to see and hear the calm, brilliant, caring genius that created The Ultimate Life Form. P.S. I'm going to be crying over hearing Gerald call Shadow "son" for the rest of my life, thank you very much. I don't care about the future crimes he commits, we got to witness Shadow's father in this game and I'm weeping. Kirk Thornton is not my favorite Shadow. That being said, he really gave it his all and I was pleasantly surprised by what he accomplished. One of the performances that surprised me the most was Mephiles! This is a credit to the writers as well as the voice actor. The sense of wild desperation in his voice as he fights to even 'exist' in this timeline was so visceral and terrifying. Sure the other villains had their "I'm the best, this world belongs to me" lines, but Mephiles' voice lines were on a completely different level to me. What a treat! Lastly, if you can, please replay the game in Japanese! Kōji Yusa's performance is STUNNING. Ooh I'm getting shivers just recalling his voice lines while you're playing through the stages. I don't mean to discredit the English voice actors, but I think this game is even better when listening in Japanese. Give it a try yourself!

THE MUSIC

This is a Sonic game we're talking about, of course the music is going to be fantastic! The score did not disappoint one bit. It was great to hear all the callbacks to songs in the past as well as new tracks that were catchy and enjoyable even after playing the stages several times. "All Hail Shadow" has always been one of my favorites, but the new instrumental version used for majority of this game was so haunting and eerie. It was a delight to my ears as well as my emotions.

THE BOSSES

I loved the chosen bosses for Shadow's story. It was great fun to revisit some of the more iconic baddies throughout Shadow's history, and even though some of the gameplay was the same, the battle would then shift and offer the player something new. However, it's actually the boss fights where I dock the game a few fractions of a point. The boss battles were far too easy to defeat, and I actually found them easier and easier as the game progressed. I beat Mephiles and Devil Doom so quickly that I didn't realize their fights were over already. One could argue this was intentional by design. After all, throughout the story Shadow is evolving more and more into the 'perfect' killing machine. It would make sense that the more Doom Abilities he acquires, the weaker these bosses would seem. Still, as a life-long gamer, I appreciate when I have to actually work to achieve the ending of a game. I would have liked more of a challenge.

OVERALL GAMEPLAY

Whether you're roaming about White Space or you're actually playing through stages, the Shadow portion of this game is an absolute blast. Even having played the Shadow the Hedgehog game (which I'm a fan of, btw), I feel like this game really gave you a better feeling of what it's like to be Shadow. I LOVED that I got to use Chaos Control way more than ever before in previous games. If you had the ability to stop time, wouldn't you take advantage of it every chance you could??? The opportunity to use Chaos (and Doom) Spear as frequently as you wanted and Chaos Control almost constantly really shows how formidable of a character Shadow is and just how different it is to play as him compared to playing as Sonic. I loved the 'free-roam' aspect of White Space compared to the 2D version in Sonic's story. Hunting for rocket parts or figuring out how to unlock collectibles was a lot of fun and let the player really explore these new Doom abilities to the fullest. I'll admit that I struggled with navigating some of the Doom abilities, but even so I still had a ton of fun. I already mentioned replay value, but before you even have to go about replaying the game, there is SO MUCH to this portion of the game! The amount of stages, challenges, collectibles within stages, FINDING the unlockables USING the collectibles you obtained from stages, even the mini challenges available AFTER you've completed the key challenges (I'm talking about the bell that's located above the challenge portal), all of it made for a ton of opportunities for play. I found myself wanting to take on every quest instead of begrudgingly going through it just because I'm a completionist.

My biggest gripe is that the game was too short. Am I greedy for wanting more? Probably, but I can't help it. The developers gave us a ton of content in the Shadow story, but I still would have loved to have a full length game of just this gameplay. I managed to complete the Shadow portion in a few hours, and that was even with me leisurely taking my time to get collectibles and get S ranks for stages before progressing through the story. I miss the days where games took much longer to complete. But hey, I'm a nostalgia-prone 33 year old, so I guess that's to be expected of me haha.

THE SONIC PORTION

Here is where Sonic X Shadow Generations loses more points for me, which is a shame because I think it's a great game overall. Admittedly, I was disappointed when I first learned that the Sonic portion of the game was just a remaster of Generations. I had really hoped we were going to receive something new to help elevate SXS Gens as an entirely new game, instead of just "Sonic Gens + Shadow DLC".

Don't get me wrong, the stages in Sonic Generations are fun to play. However, when you go from playing Shadow's story to Sonic's story, Sonic's side drastically pales in comparison in my opinion.

My other complaint is that for a remaster, they really didn't improve Sonic's portion of the game significantly (at least from what I can recall, as I haven't played the original Sonic Generations since it first came out in 2011). This was a missed opportunity to correct more of the drawbacks of the original game. However, I will admit there are some minor changes that were made that I was thankful for. Let's start with the positive before I point out some of the negatives.

THE STORY

As mentioned earlier, I acknowledge that Sonic Generations is just a remaster so it makes sense that the story didn't change much. That being said, there were some small changes that I did really appreciate and helped improve the story. One of the things that always bothered me about the original Sonic Generations was how indifferent/annoyed Sonic was regarding his friends. I mean, the story is about time being erased! His friends and home are literally getting removed from the fabric of time and Sonic seemed more inconvenienced than concerned. In more recent games, the writing has really focused on the value Sonic finds in his friendships and found family. He always has his signature cool, aloof attitude, but I think the writers in recent years have successfully showed just how much he cares about his group, whether the games were serious (Sonic Frontiers) or silly (The Murder of Sonic the Hedgehog). The story wasn't drastically changed for Sonic X Shadow Generations, but some altered dialogue and blink-and-you-miss-it edits helped to cut that jackass attitude from the original and gave him more realistic reactions. Especially by having him respond when he rescues everybody this time! It never seemed right when Tails was first rescued and he's trauma dumping on Sonic about how awful the experience was and Sonic just sits there in silence haha. At least in the new version, Sonic reassures Tails that he's safe now. Also, huge kudos to whoever decided to alter that scene where Sonic is shoving Amy away by the face. I always hated that. Ship or not, you don't treat your friends like that when they're throwing you a bday party!

This is me getting nitpicky, but there were a few things I had really hoped they were going to improve, but remained untouched:

THE GRAPHICS

I was never happy with the visuals of this game outside of the stages (the visuals within the stages are great!). The colors are extremely oversaturated and the characters are way too intense and some are even off model (ex: Amy is so blindingly vivid magenta in this game instead of her signature blush pink. What the heck?!). What's worse, the cutscenes during the birthday party scenes are SO GREEN. The light bounces off the neon green landscape and reflects onto the already oversaturated characters, giving them an unappealing green glow. I get that the Sonic world is not realistic, but it felt like the scenery in these cutscenes made it look like we were watching a bunch of toys interacting on a playset instead of characters living in their world. Sure the visuals during the levels are great, but it's a real disappointment when I'm specifically not looking forward to the cutscenes in a game. I wish they would have tweaked that.

THE ANIMATION/GAMEPLAY

I have zero complaints when it comes to Act 1 (the "Classic" version) of the different stages. These look great, play great, and if you've played classic Sonic games then you can appreciate how identical the map of the level is compared to the originals. The issue for me lies in Act 2, aka Modern Sonic's gameplay. For the most part these levels are good, but there were a couple of small things that always bothered me that I was sincerely hoping they'd fix (and they did not). There are portions of Modern Sonic's gameplay that is SO. SLOW. I'm referring to when you are jumping from one Grind Rail to another, or when you are sliding under an obstacle. These animations are so bizarrely slow and make absolutely no sense when your character is running blindingly fast. I don't understand why they didn't use this opportunity to fix those animations. When you're playing the Shadow side of the story, his animations are constantly fast moving and appropriately paced. Why wouldn't they apply these physics to the Sonic side?

As a whole, the Sonic portion of Sonic X Shadow Generations is still a fun game, but I think it could have used a little more attention to help it feel more balanced compared to the Shadow portion.

-

This game also has some notably fun DLC and the promise of more DLC in the future! I have my Sonic side of the story set to the Sonic Adventure Legacy skin and Sonic Jam Legacy skin and they are so CUTE! They win all the nostalgia points! I'll be honest with you, I have never been a fan of Terios' design hahaha. BUT! I love that they made a Terios skin for this game so players have the chance to play as him if you choose and we get to see how he was intended outside of the initial sketches we've all seen. (Still, y'all can keep your Terios skin. I won't touch it LOL!). And I am OVER THE MOON ECSTATIC for the upcoming Movie Shadow addition to the game! I still can't believe they got Keanu Reeves to voice lines for it! I'm sure it will be a small thing, but I am on the edge of my seat to see what that will be like.

-

Overall, I'm super happy with the game as a whole and I enjoyed every minute I played of it!

If you read all of this, thank you for reading! Again, my opinion isn't fact and if you disagree with what I had to say, that's totally fair. And if you haven't played the game yourself, please go play it and see what you think for yourself!

[animal-jam-shitposting]

COMPILATION OF EVERY ANIMAL JAM CLASSIC INTRO

(thank you to @toneinaflat for finding the first two videos!)

0. Beta Testing

i don't know what introduction (if any) was used during beta testing! (beta testing happened from ~march 2010 (closed beta) to september 8, 2010). i think it's probably the introduction shown in #1, but if you have any more info, please let me know!

1. Liza in Jamaa Township (original)

video posted october 1, 2011

started: either beta testing (march 2010-early september 2010) or the official release of the game on september 9, 2010

ended: some time between october 18, 2012 and december 14, 2012 (likely closer to december 14)

this is the original intro to animal jam! it shows liza around the mira statue in jamaa township, where she explains some background lore of jamaa (about mira especially), and some in game functions: moving, changing animal colors, getting achievements, and checking your gems. it's the earliest version of the lore, where "alphas" are called "shamans".

2. 3d Liza in Jamaa Township (update)

video posted december 14, 2012

started: some time between october 18, 2012 and december 14, 2012 (likely closer to december 14)

ended: february 6, 2014

this is an edited version of the original intro. it uses a new, jarringly 3d looking, model for liza, and has an updated introduction to the lore. liza's beginning explanation of mira is replaced with the "return of the alphas" cutscene also shown in the blue heron intro, and the "shamans" were renamed to "alphas". otherwise, this intro is identical to the previous

3. The Blue Heron

video posted february 6, 2014

started: february 6, 2014 (jamaa journal announcing it released on this date)

ended: january 23, 2015

this is the first major change in introduction! the player spawns in on a ship named the blue heron, that is modeled after mira. liza is piloting the ship, and gives you an introduction to jamaa. she introduces you to some in game functions: moving, changing color, checking your gems, and buying from shops. she also gives the option to "Learn about Jamaa's history", via watching the "return of the alphas" cutscene. at the end, the boat pulls in front of jamaa township.

fun fact: this was the only introduction that you could access without making a new account! when this introduction was released, they added an option in the settings to do this tutorial! (shown in the video, i actually couldn't find a video of this tutorial that started from the create an account screen). this option was removed an unknown amount of time later

4. Peck Intro

video posted january 23, 2015

started: january 23, 2015

ended: never 👍 (this is the current intro)

this intro changes the alpha greeting you from liza to peck. the player spawns into a long, forest-y room, and is greeted by peck. she takes you over a bridge to see a bunch of randomly generated animals that are spamming emotes and bubble chat phrases. she introduces you to some in game features: moving, changing color, using emotes, and checking your gems.

fun fact: from november 2016 to march 30, 2017, completing this tutorial would send you to the welcome party, an edited version of the jam session party that has other new jammers whose accounts were just created (if there were any online then....). this party had a singular clothing shop, the same "Clothing Shop" (literally its name) as the one on the blue heron. the end of peck's dialog in the main room is slightly changed to reference this party

BONUS: WHAT HAPPENS AFTER THE TUTORIAL?:

after almost all of these intros, you spawn in jamaa township.

at first, completing the original intro would just spawn you in the middle of jamaa township and open up the jamaa journal and daily spin

but then, sometime before october 18, 2012*, the ending was somewhat changed. now it showed the avatar walking from the mira statue area to the middle of the town, and then the player was given this screen:

* why this date specifically? because this video of someone being mean to liza during the intro shows this new ending, and was posted on that date

however, i am almost certain that this was actually implemented on march 1, 2012; because that was the date that the loading screens were changed to their new (and current) format (date gotten from the animal jam wiki)

this end screen stayed for a while, but was minorly changed for the blue heron intro, and stayed that way for the first few years of the peck intro— "explore jamaa" was changed to "go on an adventure":

also, in the blue heron intro you're seen running up from the bottom of jamaa township (from the body of water where the boat dropped you off!). this is kept for the peck intro, although that direction doesn't make as much sense from that one.

when the welcome party existed from november 2016 to march 2017, the peck intro would lead to that party, but then the party had a path leading to jamaa township, in this same fashion. (video of this)

however, once the welcome party left on march 30, 2017, it seems this screen did too. because now, after the tutorial, the player automatically spawns in their den, where peck's den tutorial starts... guess our choice is made for us! (video of this). this date also marked the change in the items that a new jammer has from the get-go: originally new jammers got a sturdy table and a blue rug, but past 3/30/2017, new jammers get a rug, table, small window, chair, couch, lamp, and houseplant

speaking of den tutorials, a brief note:

ever since the peck intro, peck has always done the den tutorial. but i did read somewhere in my research that liza did the den tutorial beforehand— but i haven't found any pictures or videos on it, so you'll just have to take my word on that (if any of you have any pictures or videos of the liza den tutorial, or even a post talking about it, please send it to me!)

this has been information on every animal jam intro, thanks for reading 👍

[outsidersheadcanons]

Could you pls do the gangs fav modern AU movies/shows?

Darry: Young Sheldon (and before u say anything hear me out. Young Sheldon is unironically a good show. And when it was on the Curtises would always watch the new episodes together. They were VERY invested in the Young Sheldon lore).

Sodapop: He watches whatever's trending tbh 😭 (bro probably watched Wednesday) but he would looveeee 80's romcoms. Think Pretty in Pink, Can't Buy Me Love, Dirty Dancing, the goofier the better ❤️ (he had an insane fixation on Footloose for like. a week)

Ponyboy: Anything Darry tells him not to watch tbh 😒 once he watched Paranormal Caught on Camera and couldn't sleep for a whole week (he won't admit it but he likes watching animated movies too. Esp the lego movies because those are good asf)

Two-bit: Bro literally anything on Disney+. Idk why but I feel like he'd fw Space Jam heavily (or any of those movies where it's live action AND cartoon). He'd also like the Family Vacation movies.

Dally: Skibidi Toilet He likes crime dramas, esp Sopranos and Breaking bad + Better call Saul. He'd be into those true crime special documentaries they have on Netflix and Amazon sometimes too. Has a soft spot for trash TV on TLC too

Johnny: He doesn't really watch TV except for when the Curtises have it on (but he does like animated shows and cartoons a lot even if they're "childish")

Steve: Top Gun and literally anything on Motor Trend

[st-va]

The latest Hunter: the parenting ep was so fucking cool, i think I was watching it for 2/2.5 hours with a friend cause we were analysing it so much. Forgetting the plot and all the amazing lore jam-packed into that ep, the ANIMATION? Holy shit! I didn't know that it could get better AND keep its quirkiness!

Who is the Ghoul analysis after the cut!

Okay so there are two forces at play in that house, throughout the whole episode there are hints of a werewolf - in the first room, that is the dinning room, there is a wardrobe that has scratch marks and the door underneath the first floor stairs(the one that big D came through) ALSO has them. Oh, it's also a FULL MOON.

Now, the ghoul and the warewolf could be working independently, completely unaware of eachother, but it is my theory that the warewolf is Matilda and the ghoul is Amanda.

There is a little time jump that skipped some interactions. After Elise stole the smokes and keys (staff access) from Giles, she must have given them to Grim. She, in turn, went to the Security room through the vents (she was said to be good at going through them and they said that the security room is the most ventilated room). In the map it is said that Matilda came to the kitchen from the security room and she has acquired Giles' smokes, meaning that she prob caught Grim sneaking and Grim gave her his smokes in exchange for silence.

Why was Matilda going to the Security Room? And moreover, when Kitten came to the kitchen Amanda said that they could let him in to the Security room (Matilda being against the idea). When the topic of the Hunting came around, neither of them really looked scared. Amanda was just standing there, looking a bit sad or maybe disapprovingly at Matilda, and Matilda was a bit disgruntled, but nothing more really.

Matilda also brought out the subject of "Is the Ghoul really that bad?", which is honestly sending red flags all around for me, to be honest. Sure, she might genuinely be afraid and is trying to be strong, but, honestly? She looked sad.

I honestly do not know how Matilda would have gotten access to the Archives. She couldn't have stolen Remoud's keys cause D stole them seconds before unlocking the door, sure as hell couldn't have stolen Occam's so that leaves Lord Fatigue and the doctor.

Lord Fatigue was with the boys and there was such a small window of opportunity to yoink the keys that it seems impossible, but the doctor is the other option and she hasn't gotten that much screen time, plus it would make sense to get rid of the Lord later. So I'm sticking with Lord Fatigue being the one who got mugged. Again, this part of my theory is very loose, I couldn't find any evidence.

I want to call attention to how fucking furious Matilda looked after they found Occam incapacitated.

I don't think that is the face someone being sad that her employer is knocked down a peg and won't be able to pay her on time hhh. Amanda's expression is on point, she looks terrified but I will choose to believe that she is seeing the consequences of her friend's actions, in order to help her. Remember, Amanda is the Ghoul and Matilda the Warewolf.

Matilda's expression could also be a symptom of a withdrawal. Now, I will be honest. I know the bare minimum of the lore surrounding Vampire: The Masquerade and my friend couldn't find the exact thing that happens to warewolves during a full moon in this setting, so I'm basing this on pure speculation, but she could be trying to refrain from transmutating and, without her smokes, that could be more of a mental feat.

Moving on, the most damning information that we got out of the episode was after Amanda was fried, she said Baba Yaga. Holy fuck. With how the Arcanum is, there is no way in hell they would let the "Help" know of such a powerful vampire. I really couldn't think of another way she would acquire this knowledge if she isnt connected to the Masquerade in any way.

When the gang went to the pub, Matilda looked tilted as all hell.

The Ghoul is currently incapacitated, there's no way in hell that Amanda did this. This kill was the work of the Warewolf, with how fucking violent it was. Connecting this with my previous conjecture that Lord Fatigue was the one that got his keys stolen, he is a fucking Lycanthropy professor! I think, in Matilda's eyes, he was a threat and she wanted to get rid of him because it was only a matter of time before he found out. Plus, she had to turn at some point and she would have already been furious that they have been torturing her friend.

It was a golden opportunity as well. From the beginning of the episode, we know that Spit has been experiencing Delirium, the fear that comes with seeing the supernatural and that fear is accompanied with memory loss of the actual event. Git was locked in the bathroom and so Matilda could go ham on taking her rage out on Lord Fatigue.

Whoo! This has been a long one, lastly I want to point out some small things that I appreciated.

Big D going into the Harry Potter room in order to investigate the claw marks.

Marcus and Harry being complete bros and going to lift instead of dealing with an emotion situation.

Boy

Brock not sitting down when they were all gathered in the Dining room at the beginning and later saying that his kneecaps were flattened.

D's booty shorts

Honestly, this series is amazing, I don't think I've ever watched something this high quality with this much love, thought and humanity being put behind it. The work that Alfabusa and the gang are putting into making every single frame a banger is phenomenal! I really do not understand how they keep on improving.

What did you guys think? Am I mentally deranged, or am I and my friend onto something? Please tell me what you think of my lil Game Theory and if I missed anything!

[remturtle]

Art WIP dump :3

Some info about the pieces for those interested:

Image 1:

A WIP of a Kuroshitsuji/Black Butler OC inspired by Lucifer Morningstar from The Sandman (very good show btw, highly recommend.) a few twists and tweaks have been added, and lore from the manga regarding demons had been taken into account as well (not much mind you, mainly Sebastian’s first appearance in the cult and his shape-shift-iness)

The relationship they share with Sebastian was going to be a metaphor for harmful drug addiction and toxic codependent relationships- but I never got around to fleshing out info and their dynamics (or finalising a design for that matter)

Image 2:

had an idea for yuu/Vil angst that was literally just yuu dying mid-overblot, never got around for finishing it but I had the idea to have their blot-infected corpse start to fuse with vil’s overblot form to create a nasty-looking abomination thing. (Twisted Wonderland)

Image 3:

A riff on the phantom of the opera - I had an idea for a world filled with old thriller/mystery/classics characters like victor frankenstien, Jekyll and Hyde, Dracula, Carmilla, Sherlock Holmes and the likes. Tbh the whole idea is a bit gimmicky but I’m having fun with it :3

Image 4:

originally created as a twst OC based on madame mim: Memphis/mimzy/mim. I came up with some twst universe lore related to malleus and his house (because I love fueding noble houses and the chaos it creates narratively). He is a type of draconic-fae but I never dug too deep into that for the twst lore. I initially struggled through several design before settling (for the moment) on this design- and thought it would be hilarious to making him the fruitiest straight man alive. And I think we all appreciate a guy whose in touch with both his masculinity and his femininity :D

Image 5:

I cannot stress enough how much I’m low-key embarassed by this but… I started playing my favourite childhood game again and was struck with the urge for fanart so I came up with a cool, slightly darker au for it. The art is of Greely and Peck, who act as the demigods/deities. Haven’t yet decided what I want them to reside over but I liked the idea of them acting as a duo because of how often they’re paired together in lore. (Yes. This is Animal Jam. The national geographic kids game.)

That’s about it, hope you enjoyed the ramble :3

[stairset]

Alright now that it's the next day. I have to stress how fucking funny it is for me that Starset as a band has existed for 11 years and I've been a fan for practically that whole time and they had not a single song with any swear words to the point that it made them stick out because most of my other favorite bands DO swear. Which is not to say the concept of swearing was foreign to them, as Dustin's old band has several songs with swearing, the book has swearing, for the latest tour they played a whole ass short film that basically turned "Fuck the New East" into a fandom catchphrase which makes zero sense to anyone not familiar with the band and its Lore. But none of that is the actual Starset music. So you just kinda take for granted that they don't say naughty words in their songs and that's just how it is. Then comes the night of May 2, 2024. I'm at work cause I work the evening shift. My shift ends at 11:30 and it's 11 so I'm wrapping things up and getting ready to leave soon and needlesss to say I'm tired as hell and ready to go to sleep. The new Starset song just dropped so I listen to that as I finish up my work for the day. It's an absolutely epic banger which is no less than I expect from these guys at this point. And then. He says. FUCK. After over a decade of not a single no-no word these guys just suddenly drop The First Official Starset Fuck Song out of nowhere. They said what's so brave and new about this world you ask? It's a world where we say FUCK now, that's what. And I'm so surprised that I actually start to laugh out loud for a second before remembering I'm still at work so I end up just making a weird awkward half-laugh sound before stopping myself because if having a new song at all didn't wake me up then THAT sure as hell did. And then I jam to the song in the car on the drive home because a song like that can only be done justice by listening to it on a car stereo that's turned up way too loud. And I'm so into it I almost don't see a possum crossing the road in front of me and I barely slow down in time to not run it over. Which kinda freaked me out at the time cause I've never come that close to hitting an animal before but now that it's in the past it's hilarious because I can honestly say I found a song so good that it almost made me kill something. Truly a moment in Starset history for me.

[snow-burrow]

Intro!

Lets give this Tumblr thing one more try.

Hey, my name is Snow, or you can call me Kyu if you're a close friend of mine.

I'm gonna be using this blog to post about Animal Jam, and my OCs and my project that I've just code-named Project Reboot. I might make it a cartoon or visual novel some day. Probably visua- nobody cares lol

Heres my main AJ character, if you see me walking around say hi!!

More info below

Uh if you found me from my past community I ask that you avoid talking to me about it/reblogging my art. There are some VERY unsavoury folk in that community and I wish to avoid it at all costs unless you're someone I knew from before.

Here's a little about me!

I am 18 years old, I may post art that has violence or innuendo but I'll never post anything fully 18+. Recommended age for this blog is 15+ due to the dark nature of some of my oc lore.

• I am apothisexual which means; sexrepulsed!

• I may make jokes and innuendo but I won't ever talk or post about it in detail.

• Remember though; apothisexual does NOT mean antikink. Have your fun, but leave me out of it.

• I am panromantic and taken by @Nemyzilla my one and only ♡ if you flirt with me you WILL get blocked.

• I am a victim of grooming. Expect me to be cautious and untrusting of new people.

And last but not least, the boring DNI that nobody really reads;

• Proship/comship/noncon/dead dove whatever you weirdos call yourselves

• LGBTQIA+ phobic

• Apothiaroace-phobic (since apparently this has to be a seperate category)

• "You can't be sexrepulsed everyone was born with a sexdrive" first of all fuck you-

• Hazbin Hotel fans

• Fully 18+ accounts. If you post one or two suggestive images now and then that's fine but if your entire blog is just 18+ content you will be blocked no hard feelings I just don't wanna risk it showing up on my dashboard gjgjrkgk

[blueberry-lemon]

I hesitate to post this because I know it reads like an ungrateful humblebrag, but...it's funny how when I work on creative projects, I always want a little bit more creative control.

And yet on A Dance of Fire and Ice, a game in which I've been given nearly limitless creative control on the art, characters, lore, story, and presentation (AND has an audience of players who like it)... I don't know what to do and haven't been able to make firm decisions.

There's a few reasons for this I think:

1. I started work on it as a month-long game jam way back in 2015, with limited skills and scrambling to pick what the art direction and theme should be before the deadline.

2. I didn't really understand until now what the structure, format, expectations, and constraints were. I envisioned the game more as an experimental, off-kilter artsy thing. I had intended to give every level a "surreal punchline" kind of like WarioWare. But over time we gave up on that.

I also originally intended the game to not have characters, not have anything resembling character animation or life in it, essentially being a dead and static world. But now I'm trying to undo those old decisions bc it is boring and stale.

If I were working on a visual novel, or card game, or 2D platformer, or TV episode storyboard, I would understand easily what the format and expectations are. There's already an established structure for what those things are. Rhythm game about 2 orbiting circles? A little more open.

If I had known how many years we were going to keep working on the game, I would've set up a guiding pattern for how to create more levels and characters for it. Instead, I only thought of something a few years into the game being out (using Chinese Zodiac animals as the theme.)

3. Because development on the game has been out in the public for about 10 years now, we've changed our mind about a lot of old decisions and now it will take a considerable amount of effort for me to go back and re-do, re-draw, re-establish the art direction and lore.

If you’re unfamiliar with the game, compare this video of a level I worked on in 2015 versus this video of a level I worked on in 2023. 

In the first video, the appearance of a memorial statue of a pig sitting on the throne at the end was supposed to be the “surreal punchline.” The level looks like the ruins of some sort of Jack and the Beanstalk sky kingdom, you’re expected to see maybe a Giant or a human at the end, instead the king was literally a pig.

In the second video you can see that by this time we’ve changed course and decided that all the characters in the game will be animals and robot animals anyway. Now the cast of animals is literally “on the game’s box art.” So there’s no reason for the reveal of a pig statue to be a punchline in the old level.

Also, as you can see, there are now characters that move around the screen, which was something I didn’t intend to do when making the old levels and establishing the “lore” of the worlds all being dead and static.

4. I'm envious of (but happy to see) fan work. Ordinarily this would just be fanart and fan speculation, but because our games have Custom Level Editors, fans can literally "do the job better than I can" and show how they would do it, which have been impressive. I regret the old choices I made.

Maybe it's just a "grass is greener" kind of mentality. It's easy to want more creative control on projects where you don't have it. When you are given a big project and you DO have to make it all up from scratch, you kind of find yourself wishing there was a template or a directive or the path could be laid out for you.

[jammin-animal]

A Long Study of Greely's Character

(This Post contains HEAVY Spoilers for Animal Jam Classic's Adventures, and spoilers for current AJPW events. Read at your own risk.

For those of you who don't know, in Animal Jam - Play Wild (AJPW), Greely done something drastic after the Lines of Power Event. The action he's taken has led to people assuming that he's gone evil.

In this post, I attempt to debunk and defend the often mischaracterized Greely, using a lengthy review of his appearances in-lore to help you, the reader, understand his character, and why he would do something like this.

This may not be the only time I analyze him, but it will certainly be the longest!

Before I get into it, I need to clarify what the LoP event is.

Part 1: The Lines of Power Event

In Jamaa, a duality based leyline of magic appeared, with lines running underground, with one under the Alpha Headquarters. These lines had two distinct types of energy; Darkside, and Lightside, both of which are derived from certain traits.

Lightside is derived from Peace, Imagination, and Clarity.

Darkside is derived from Power, Emotion, and Initiative.

Notice that these are Amoral traits (except Peace, which is undoubtedly Good), as one can use Clarity and Imagination to devise an evil scheme, and use Power and Initiative to defend someone.

Despite neither Lightside or Darkside having any inherently "evil" traits, many Jammers took the usual approach, and assumed that Light = Good and Dark = Bad. Heck, even the Alphas (save for Greely and Liza) took this view.

Due to the discovery of the lines, in order to seperate and potentially prevent the Phantoms from harnessing these powers, Graham built a machine that could channel either energy, but only use one.

In the LoP event, Jammers could use the machine to channel either Lightside or Darkside energy. Darkside energy, could be used to discover the intentions of the Phantoms, but was more unstable, and would risk destroying the Alpha HQ building. Lightside was more stable, as it was frequently used in attempts to keep Phantoms at bay, but would only do that, keep them at bay temporarily.

Alphas Peck, Cosmo, and Sir Gilbert, all advocated for the exclusive use of Lightside Energy, with only Greely advocating for Darkside, as it was not a tactic utilized at that time. Graham and Liza's viewpoints are largely unknown, but Graham says he was already planning out a new HQ during the event, implying that he didn't really care which side won. ("It's silly, but I'd been drafting scematics for a new Headquarters. No need for them now!" -Graham, Post-LoP)

Speaking of Post-Lines of Power, Lightside Won. Prior to this, the Alpha HQ was visibly under threat of sinking into the leylines. This was attributed to be caused by the utilization of Darkside Energy; this visual of the HQ sinking led to Jammers switching and using Lightside, under the assumption that Darkside really was bad.

So, Lightside won. Directly after this? Greely, the longtime Representative of Wolves, the stoic Alpha of Jamaa, resigned.

((WARNING! BELOW THIS CUT IS AN ABSOLUTELY MASSIVE WALL OF TEXT))

Part 2: Greely's Reputation

Due to Greely's Resignation, many Jammers developed a theory that Greely had betrayed Jamaa and the other Alphas, as a result of his advocation for Darkside energy. They considered his resignation an "admission of guilt", a sign that he really did become traitorous in favor of joining the Phantoms.

That said, I don't fault anyone for believing him to be secretly evil, considering his personality.

Greely is incredibly secretive, he's stoic, quiet, and often behaves rudely to others, commanding instead of asking. He has a deep fascination with Phantoms, coming off as questionable. It's no wonder he's considered to be both super cool, but also super sketchy.

However, if you consider the chronological order of the following events, you'll notice that the timing of his resignation debunks this "He joined the Phantoms" theory entirely.

The timeline is as follows:

Night of Phantoms Event begins, Lines of Power Event Begins

Phantoms become Playable

Lightside Wins

Greely Resigns and disappears

Phantoms were already able to become Jamaaian Citizens by the time Greely Resigned. If he wanted to study or be near Phantoms, he wouldn't have had to leave, only communicate with the Phantoms that moved to Jamaa.

That, however, doesn't explain why he left, why he took his belongings from the HQ, or why he resigned.

I cannot explain exactly why he left, or what he's doing.

But I KNOW that whatever the reason is, it is not to betray or hurt Jamaa in any way.

Part 3: Greely in Adventures

(SPOILERS FOR LEGACY ADVENTURES)

To better understand Greely, we need to take a look at his appearances in the Mainline Legacy Adventures.

The Hive: His first appearance. Greely tells the Player to stay out of the conflict between Jamaa and the Phantoms.

The Great Escape: Greely is at the top of the Phantom Prisons, and he berates the player for even being there, and sends you on your way out of there. Note: The Alpha that sends you, some rando, in to be captured on purpose, is COSMO.

Greely's Inferno: Cosmo sends the Player up the volcano, Graham sends you IN the Volcano to get his stuff back for him. Inside, there's a secret entrance to Greely's little hideout, full of Phantom related items and his research. The player encounters Greely at the heart of the volcano, where he, as usual, berates the player for being there. It's also revealed that the Phantoms were going to use the volcano to destroy Jamaa, a plot that Greely stops with his magic, even though doing so would A) Make him unable to leave an active volcano while it erupts, and B) go against the Phantom's perfect little plot, which would mean he's absolutely not in the kahoots with them. Greely asks the player to please evacuate the volcano, and he is then able to halt the eruption of the volcano while it's mid-eruption, where it is presumed that he's died. The first request Greely asks of the player is to get themselves to safety.

The Search for Greely: Despite Greely sacrificing himself to save Jamaa, his innocence proven by his actions, Graham still considers Greely suspicious due to his personal notes saying things like "The other Alphas don't suspect a thing" and for having a fixation on Phantoms. In this adventure, the Player finds a machine Greely uses to temporarily become a Phantom as a means to use a portal into their dimension, which is considered extremely sketchy of him. When you find him though, he's been caged by the Phantoms, further proving his innocence, as the Phantoms wouldn't be so keen to lock up Greely if he were working with them, after all, Greely proves himself to be really intelligent. When he's freed, he breaks from pattern, and compliments you for your skills, remarking how the player is full of surprises. For a brief moment, he worries that you're both trapped since you need to be a phantom to use the portal. Plot says Cosmo overrides the portal and Alphas Liza, Graham, and Cosmo appear, with Graham questioning Greely's intent, with Cosmo DEMANDING Greely explains himself. Greely states that he infiltrated the Phantom Dimension as a means to obtain the Phantom Beacon, which would lead them to the Phantom's fortress, said to be where Phantoms replicate and make more Phantoms. Note that none of the Alphas present believe him until he shows proof, showing the Phantom Beacon. Greely thanks you for the help, but still dislikes your presence, since it means you put yourself in danger.

The Phantom Fortress: Greely is shown to be disguised as a sheep to get himself captured as a means to set other captured sheep free. Apparently he's been doing this for months, disguising himself as different animals to set them free. He states that he's been planning this for months, and, as usual, scolds the player for so nonchalantly ruining his careful planning, though not as harshly as before.

Storming the Fortress: Sir Gilbert calls you ordinary, then takes it back, and then sends you into the Phantom Fortress, by yourself. Granted, he does so because he can't be in two places at once, and needs to defend Jamaa from an ongoing attack, but still, consider that he's the head of Jamaa's Military forces, and has a tiger army. Also that there's more than one Alpha. By the way, Peck is missing. When the player encounters Greely in the heart of the Fortress, he just sighs in defeat, asking himself why he bothers planning at all anymore. He then, for the first time, asks the Player for help. Greely assigns himself to keep the Phantoms at bay, while the Player destroys the engine responsible for powering the Phantom Fortress. After this task is completed, Peck shows up, and Greely says that moment she disappeared, he went looking for her (yet when Greely disappears, it's assumed he's up to no good). Greely knew for certain where Peck would be, he knows that she's the brave, rambunctious type to go off and storm the fortress. This proves that he does know about the other Alphas well enough to guess what they'll do. He's ready to put himself in danger, but not willing to let the other's sacrifice themselves, not when he could do so in their stead. Peck caused enough damage to the Fortress by herself that it begins to break down, leading to an (offscreen) escape. Afterward? Peck is the one to get the credit, with Graham stating that it was all thanks to her. Peck denies it, and says it was thanks to all of their hard work, saying that she believes that the other Alphas would have done the same if they were present. She especially thanks Greely, saying he deserves credit and a giant hug. Greely seems a little surprised and even uncomfortable about being praised, and it seems he isn't used to being appreciated. He then deflects and gives credit to the player, leading Peck to chime in and tell the player that they saved Jamaa.

The River's Heart: Greely is trying to return a magic stone to where it belongs. He also, for the second time, asks for the Player to help, however, the task at hand is far, far less dangerous. He only asks that you accompany the Stone as it floats on a boat down a river, to where it belongs. Here, he says that the Player has proven themselves to be trustworthy. Greely has begun trusting the Player enough to handle themselves, and only after having proved themself to be capable, does he feel comfortable giving them tasks, and even then, the tasks are extremely simple in comparison to what the other Alphas ask of you. Peck appears, and expresses worry that the Phantoms are going to ambush Greely and the Stone. ("I'll bet you anything the Phantoms are on their way to ambush us, now that Greely isn't with us. He tried to stop me from following him, but I just knew something like this would happen!" -Peck) She's right, there's an ambush. After they're stopped, Greely appears, remarking that he was attacked by FOUR PHANTOM KINGS. He is then surprised that Peck is here, and assumes she's here because the other Alphas sent her here to stop him from returning the Stone to it's rightful place. Greely doesn't trust the other Alphas to allow him to give the Stone back to nature. Peck instantly denies this, saying she agrees with him, leading him to question why she sounds so upset. Peck reveals that she's upset with Greely for always trying to handle things by himself, and berates him for never asking her or the others for help. He then apologizes for his, admitting one of his biggest faults, and promising to be less secretive, and to be more open about his plans. Peck is happy and in turn, promises to hold him responsible to this promise. The two return the Stone to it's place in nature, and head on back, where they're greeted with,,, hostility by the other Alphas. Sir Gilbert, right away, berates Greely for taking the Stone, Liza scolds Greely for not being a team player and says "Don't you trust anyone?", Graham doesn't say anything of substance. Greely then scolds the other Alphas for not realizing that the Stone doesn't belong to them, it belongs to nature. Sir Gilbert says, "Why would we [realize that], there's nothing here but rocks!", he then yells at Peck for going along with Greely's "nonsense". Her reply is to defend Greely, but still reprimand him for not being clear about his intent, reprimanding for stealing the Stone, which, now in it's place, activates, revealing it to be a Heartstone, one of the biggest, most ancient they've seen. Greely says that it can only activate when it's in its proper place. AGAIN, Greely has to prove his innocence with an outside force, and only then is he forgiven and treated with respect.

Part 4: Greely's Character

So now let's unpack All That!

Do you notice the patterns?

The game, in the beginning, continually points at Greely and tries to convince the player he's evil, yet in the face of danger, Greely, time and time again, proves that he isn't.

Greely is the only Alpha to consistently scold the player for following the Alphas into danger. Heck, he dislikes when the other Alphas follow him into the literal inferno that is the volcano. Greely is the only one to express remorse for putting the player into a position of action, and only begins to trust you after you continually prove yourself to be able to handle fighting Phantoms.

Greely keeps his most dangerous missions to himself, even away from the other Alphas. He even gets a little upset at them for trying to help.

The other Alphas, excluding Peck, are constantly mistrusting him, even after he continually proves himself to be on the side of good. They only listen to him AFTER he displays physical evidence of his innocence. He's surprised when Peck compliments him, displaying that he is rarely appreciated by his colleagues, let alone trusted by them.

Greely has a tendency to isolate from the Alphas, as he doesn't fully believe in their capacity to understand him, which is completely justified due to their treatment of him. He doesn't trust them to handle situations with the appropriate level of caution, so whenever he goes on a particularly important mission, he keeps it from them.

Greely's secrecy is a means to ensure the safety of Jamaa, to ensure that the other Alphas don't get caught up in danger. Greely continually goes off on easily the most dangerous missions to protect Jamaa. Yet even his own colleagues distrust him, unaware that he hides his work to keep them from doing anything rash, and potentially dangerous. He doesn't want anyone doing something reckless and accidentally harming Jamaa.

This is why I find it utterly impossible for his resignation in the Play Wild edition to be a sign of villainy. Every appearance he makes, every action he does, all of it points to him being the most caring of the Alphas.

Bringing the conversation back to Play Wild's Lines of Power Event.

Greely advocates for the utilization of Darkside energy. which, by all means, encapsulates Greely perfectly!

Emotion, Greely cares deeply for Jamaa and all it's creatures, his actions display this emotion clearly.

Power, the magic he uses to defend Jamaa, even stopping a volcano, nearly dying in the process.

Initiative, Greely does the jobs nobody else even considers, he carefully plans, then walks directly into the heart of danger, which even Sir Gilbert doesn't do, as he primarily tends to borders and takes the defensive. Greely takes the offensive, delving into the inferno of the Phantom's lands.

His resignation in Play Wild is not a sign of villainy, it's a sign that Jamaa is in danger, and he is going to try and fix it the way he usually does. By himself. Alone.

This is not the first time he's gone on his own to try and solve a problem, to try and delve into danger all alone for the sake of Jamaa, but it's certainly the first time he's done something so drastic as resign from his position. He didn't even tell Peck, who he made a promise to, meaning he cannot risk anyone, not even her, who he trusts, following him.

Now remember points 3 and 5?

Greely isolates himself from the Alphas whenever he begins a dangerous task.

Yet again, Greely is going to try and sacrifice himself for the sake of all Jamaa, for the sake of the colleagues who do not trust him, for the sake of his friend, Peck...

I wholeheartedly believe that Greely's resignation is a push to the Alphas to appoint a new Alpha in his stead, as he considers his latest mission so dangerous, that he thinks that he will either never be able to return to Jamaa, or that he will die.

[mapping-elysium]

Let's start this off right with one of the most notable lore-dumps in the game, the Plaza Rain Shivers check.

In the west

Stairs to the water

Sea Fortress > Bay of Revachol > Sky scrapers of La Delta

What’s down the shore?

Defunct R+E building > Abandoned Church > Coal City

In the east

Industrial Harbor (Locked) > La Drisienne - King Dris’ Passengers Harbour > River Distributary > Couron > “The Class Divide”

In the north

Whirling Yard > Capeside apartments

“Standing in the rain, looking north, where jamrock rock city stretches inland”

In the south

Traffic jam, roundabout, statue > Road ascends to 8/81 (ghetto beneath) > Jamrock

OTHER NOTES

Where do i live?

On a street there that flows like a muddy river in the snow, with fire traps rising on either side. A film rental opens its doors to the rain, an armoured motor carriage rushes past the corner where you used to walk together... Suddenly, the hair on your back rises.

“YOU CANNOT RETURN”

SOURCE MATERIAL BENEATH THE CUT

Shivers - All around you, rain falls on the great city of Revachol. Rain drips from the eaves and floods the gutters, washing the filth away.

Shivers - The spring thaw must be here. The snow is melting...

You - What am I doing?

Shivers - Looking up at the sky, cold water dripping from your hair.

You - What do I see?

Shivers - Grey sky like great battleships, clouds colliding with one another. Rain falls down on the world.

You - How does it feel?

Shivers - Your shirt sticks to your chest. The shoulders of your disco blazer grow heavy. The cold finds its way in under your skin. You shiver, and the city shivers with you.

Composure - You're not dressed for this weather. You should get an overcoat, or a patrol cloak.

You - What is in the west?

Shivers - Sheets of rain over the water. A flight of stairs leading into the ocean. Wave after wave washing the coast of Martinaise, with its motorboats and gently swaying reeds.

Shivers - The ruins of a half-sunken seafort crumble on an inlet. Beyond the Bay of Revachol, ghosts rise into the sky.

You - Who are you, ghosts?

Shivers - The skyscrapers of La Delta, the financial district. Faint golden light seeps from the office windows.

Inland Empire - Will you ever go there?

You - Will I?

Shivers - No. You are just one of the hundreds of thousands who watch them rise across the bay from Martinaise every day.

You - What is down the shore?

Shivers - Urban coastline, rain dripping off eternite-covered roofs. Cinder blocks left over from half-finished construction. A defunct research and development building once seized by revolutionaries. An old wooden church stands on stilts above the water.

You - And beyond that?

Shivers - Coal City, end of all lines.

You - Run your fingers through your dampened hair.

Shivers - Your hair is an oily mess flecked with ash from neighbouring coal plants. Smoke stacks rise somewhere in the distance.

You - What's in the east?

Shivers - The great gates of the industrial harbour are locked. A chill runs down your back. You shudder like an animal trying to shake water from its hide.

You - Clench your teeth to stop shuddering.

Shivers - Behind the gates -- heaps of supply crates. Red and blue metal shipping containers slick with rain. The Greater Revachol Industrial Harbour is an artificial mountain range. Immense wealth resides within, and immeasurable poverty in its shadow.

You - And before that?

Shivers - You -- on the Martinaise plaza. A small dot looking up at the sky. Droplets form on your eyelashes.

You - And beyond that?

Shivers - La Drisienne, King Dris's Passenger Harbour. Cruise ships flanked by dock arms. Cranes watching over the mouth of the river distributary.

You - What is across the distributary?

Shivers - Couron, the lower middle class. Distributary after distributary cuts the city blocks in half. Seven-story buildings trail off into the rain.

You - What is beyond the Couron?

Shivers - A silvery curtain of rain over the houses. The class divide.

Rhetoric - You have never been there. They don't need the law east of the river.

You - What's in the north?

Shivers - Capeside apartments -- tower blocks crowd one another, 4.46 mm bullets still lodged in their war-torn stone walls.

Shivers - Hallways collapsed from the mortar hits of a war that was lost long ago. Clotheslines go to waste in the rain. Radios play.

Rhetoric - The morning news.

You - And closer to here?

Shivers - A yard. Rain falls onto the roof of a woodshed. Filthy water pools around a body. Droplets of rain slip from the dead man's cold cheeks.

You - What's in the south?

Shivers - A traffic jam. Rain thrumming on the roofs of motor vehicles. Inside, drivers watch water streaming down their windshields. The statue of a king shudders, he too is cold. The canal bridge has been raised.

You - What's on the other side?

Shivers - The road ascends; a raised motorway loops above the ghetto. Beneath its concrete columns -- a sea of rooftops, woodwork, and tar stretches northward. Four-story buildings as far as the rain can fall. The snows melt in Jamrock.

You - What is Jamrock?

Shivers - Revachol is the capital of the world. Jamrock is the capital of Revachol. Droplets form on your eyelashes.

Inland Empire - It's home.

You - Why am I not there?

Shivers - To be in Martinaise, where no one goes. At the run-off point of a long-forgotten canal, in the whitest part of town. In the shadow of the day the Revolution failed.

You - What am I doing here?

Shivers - Standing in the rain, looking north, where Jamrock Rock City stretches inland.

You - Where do I live?

Shivers - On a street there that flows like a muddy river in the snow, with fire traps rising on either side. A film rental opens its doors to the rain, an armoured motor carriage rushes past the corner where you used to walk together... Suddenly, the hair on your back rises.

Shivers - YOU CANNOT RETURN.

You - "Motherfucker." [Finish thought.]