#tmae

[tmae3114]

So there's this theory I've had bouncing around in my head for *checks notes* about three years now and, well, it does not have nearly the level of evidence I tend to prefer before I make a theory post - it is, in fact, Predominantly Vibes Based - but it has, again, been bouncing around in my head for three years and I refuse to be alone with it any longer

(...also, if I'm right, I wanna be able to go "I KNEW IT" and have a timestamp to point to XD)

OKAY. So. Basically.

I think Alinua might be a twice-born.

Hear me out:

Firstly:

We know that Cloud Elves live pretty much exclusively on the Archipelago Nimbus and are isolationist (Extra Lore: The Three Elder Races - "The Islands have minimal contact or trade with the outside world, [...]" & "These Cloud Elves are unique in many ways, most notably their isolationism [...]" and Page 1.6.12 "I suppose a cloud elf outside of the Archipelago Nimbus is fairly unusual-") but Alinua has been down on the surface since before she can remember

That suggests unusual circumstances. Isolationist people who have minimal contact with the outside world don't just lose a baby in said outside world

Alinua's theory for this is that her birth parents "probably reasonably assumed [she] had the Chimeric Plague and dropped [her] over the edge" (Page 1.6.13) but, crucially, there is no actual evidence of this. It's what she assumes probably happened but she has no memory of the actual events (Page 1.6.23 "I don't even remember it. I've never met my birth parents […]")

Therefore, it is entirely possible that Alinua is wrong about how she ended up not on the Archipelago Nimbus. And I, personally, think it's pretty likely that she's wrong because we know that the Archipelago Nimbus can sometimes be even higher up than the peak of the Throne of the World (this post) and even with it usually being lower down than that, I find it... somewhat doubtful that an infant (toddler, at best) would survive that fall. Not impossible in a fantasy setting but... doubtful.

Secondly:

We know that the Chimeric Plague was Life attempting to connect with a vessel who could be her eyes and give her perspective (Pages 1.20.20 - 1.20.23)

Even before Life finally broke through, Alinua was incredibly unusual for a carrier of the Chimeric Plague. She didn't even find out she was one until she was about ten (Page 1.6.13 "I had a normal life and family for ten years- and then I learned I was a chimera bomb [...]") when most die before they turn five (Page 1.2.10 "I shouldn't have made it past five years old" and Extra Lore: The Chimeric Plague "[...] it is inevitable in every case that the child will lose total control of their magic within the first few years of their life [...]"). She was twice the expected age of a carrier when she found out.

We don't know why Alinua is the successful attempt that finally worked. Not only do we not know, Alinua herself brings it up while talking to Life (Page 1.20.23 "I… don't know if there's anything special about me that kept you from overwhelming me like the others, or if I'm just the lucky one you finally got right."). The question is open: is there something special/unique about Alinua that allowed her to survive where none of the other children did? And if so, what is it?

Thirdly:

So. Carrion crawlers.

We have not actually met any in the story itself yet, only heard Caliban bring them up in the context of an insult (Page 1.12.10 "Twice-born son of a carrion crawler! You had a plan this whole time?!") but fortunately! the Aurora tumblr exists! so we have additional information!

Carrion crawlers eat dead things and sometimes give birth to baby clones of one of their recent meals, which are called twice-born. A twice-born is a healthy infant, identical in every way to how the original would've been as an infant, and age normally for the species they were produced from. Additionally, they have no memories from their source material (so to speak) and develop their own, unique soul, though if they came from a mage, their soul will develop the same channels (this post and this post)

...now, I mentioned at the start that this theory does not have as much evidence as I would like and is mostly Vibes Based, and we have now hit the point where I run out of evidence and switch to vibes. I do not have any evidence which actually points to a connection between any of this.

However, I do still Have Thoughts

We know that Alinua was adopted had a happy (or, at least, "normal") childhood prior to figuring out she was a chimeric carrier (1.6.13, see above) and seemingly doesn't think about her birth family very often. It's entirely possible that she didn't ask questions about where she came from as a child. It's not been brought up yet how her adoptive family found her but, given that she assumes she was thrown off the edge of the Archipelago Nimbus, the possibility that they found a seemingly-abandoned baby just lying around doesn't seem too out there. And if Alinua is a twice-born, yet clearly doesn't know that herself, her family may also not have known that... or may have known and opted to keep it hidden, even from her, given that twice-born are generally considered "deeply unnerving and grotesque" (this post).

As for how Alinua came to be in this theorised scenario, there's two possibilities I've considered.

The first is that an adult life mage cloud elf was outside the Archipelago Nimbus for Some Reason, died somewhere where there are carrion crawlers, and things went from there.

The second, much sadder, possibility is that the "Chimeric Plague carrier baby thrown off the edge of the flying islands" possibility did happen... the baby in question just wasn't Alinua because the fall was, in fact, not a survivable one. And then, just as a twice-born will inherit being-a-mage, Alinua inherited having the Chimeric Plague.

And, in either of these cases, something about being twice-born subsequently protected Alinua from being overwhelmed by Life.

[wish-i-were-heather]

EUN HOW DO YOU MANAGE TO LIKE EVERY POST I MAKE TWO SECONDS AFTER I POST IT

ITS CALLED UH BEING CHRONICALLY ONLINE :D

[cipheramnesia]

I'm TMAE, the magnus archives exempt

[heyftinally]

Not only is Me! one of the worst songs ever written, it's straight as hell. Most of her actual fans don't even like it who in the gay community would adopt that as an anthem?? I'm embarrassed get this gross racist and her abusive sounding lyrics outta here.

This is another one of her songs that sounds stupid as hell. "Hey, kids! Spelling is fun! Girl, there ain't no I in "team" but you know there is a "me""

There's no "me" in team, either. It's not tame, or tme, or even tmae. T - E - A - M. E -> M. Em ≠ me.

I didn't realize I had to teach a 30-something year old woman how to spell a two letter word.

But that said.

The song itself is obnoxious. Yeah, okay, I get it, during a breakup it's nice to feel like you're awesome and you're the one that got away or whatever. Except she doesn't even list any of her supposed merits in the song, so I'm not sure how it's supposed to boost anyone's mood when the message is basically "I'm awesome because I'm me and I exist". That's a lot less self love and a lot more delusional self centered.

And it's not a gay anthem. It has nothing to do with being gay, and it's not by a queer artist, so it doesn't qualify on any level. That's why Born This Way *IS* a queer anthem - Lady Gaga is queer, the song is about being queer, AND she has CONSISTENTLY shown up for our community even when it was hard (again, telling RUSSIA to arrest her for publicly telling her Russian fans that being gay was good and okay and they deserved freedom.

Taylor Swift WISHES she could do 1/100000 of that. But she can't, won't, and never will.

[ffxvficrec]

by Tmae Tomix Danao throws himself into the Void Core, sacrificing himself to make sure Aspar can never hurt anyone again. Then, against all odds, he wakes up, very much alive, very far from home, and very, very confused. Words: 1419, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English Fandoms: DragonFable (Video Game) , Final Fantasy XV Rating: General Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Categories: Gen Characters: Tomix Danao , Ardyn Izunia , Verstael Besithia , various original characters Additional Tags: Fix-It , I am so so so excited for this one (she says posting an extremely niche crossover) , the ocs are largely just because we. do not have many named niflheim characters. , and I needed people for Tomix to talk to

[dumb-fuck27]

In the middle of nowhere at baator:

Me (tiefling): alright, there’s the guy who can take us back and give you your lives back

Cleric: well let’s go up to him

Me: uhh… I— okay…

Claric: hey we’re looking to get out of here and get our old lives back

Keeper: *looks at me* “Wmh va haf dyz hafr wdijy zidc wa oryydh?”

Me: “Tmyh sal xe talzritzfid vyid vorv zmuw uw zmyur rysirv”

Keeper: “Il smiz dyjyd ao zmy luly vory quwo kryyvw ducy haf iddasyv za picy talzritzfid vyidw?”

Me: “Tmy wipy dyjyd ph vuwieeaulzpylz ao xe oizmyr sudd efz haf uo haf val’z aeyl zmy oftculq qizy”

Keeper: *grabs me by the horn* “Wydd smyl haf qyz za hafr oizmyr marldyww, haf wylv mup ph sih”

The rest of the party: *freaking out due to not knowing what’s going on*

Me: “Xe val’z mijy za zydd ph oizmyr wmuz kyulq zmiz mot miw yhyw vorv yirw yjyrhsmyry al yjyrh wulqdy dyjyd”

Keeper: *in a cold sweat* “Fftc py, haf’ry zmy quwo kryyv ao awpavyfw. Xe siw ikafz za tmae zmy marlw aoo zmy erulty’ ao zmy luly”

Keeper: *let’s go and backs up slowly to open the gate*

Me: “Yaf’ry dftch uo mot picyw uz nfutc”

The party: *walks through the gate*

Necromancer: “the fuck was that”

Me: “don’t worry about it”

[medusamagic]

@unerringcaprition forgive my emboldening of text, I'm used to being misinterpreted and having my words misconstrued, and I want to make my stances absolutely clear.

Ultimately, it's important to acknowledge that certain forms of transmisogyny simply don't affect trans men and certain nonbinary people. The long-term psychological harm of being a trans woman growing up at the peak of "chick's got a dick" jokes in media isn't doesn't really apply to trans men. As such, we can say that they're exempt from these forms of transmisogyny.

As for the terms "TME/TMA", the lack of a transmasc equivalent is simply the result of none really catching on. TME/TMA are fairly old terms, originating I believe in the early 2010s (I may be wrong about this, don't quote me) and have had plenty of time to pick up steam.

Personally, I like using "TMAE/TMAA" for Transmisandry Exempt/Affected, but I don't really consider myself an authority on transmisandry and transmasc issues, so if an alternative becomes more popular, I'll be happy to switch.

Anyway, I once again apologize for coming off a bit strong. I tend to get frustrated because I'm also an active twitter user, and over there I'm basically always playing on defense.

>looking for a new anthology of stories written by trans authors

>ask the editor if their anthology is by all trans authors or just tme trans authors

>he doesnt understand

>pull out illustrated diagram explaing how trans women are often excluded from and underrepresented in publishing, even in publishing supposedly for trans people

>he laughs and says “it’s a good anthology ma'am”

>read it

>its just tme authors

[memryse]

this is my tma diagram so far btw it is obviously very much a work in progress (i only started it earlier today) but i’m interested to see how complicated it can get before it becomes unreadable

[tmae3114]

*skids into the room and slams a folder down on the table*

SINCE I AM HAVING TIMELINE THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS AGAIN, I WANNA ELABORATE ON A THING FROM MY DIAGRAM OF THE MQ/DF/RESET SITUATION BECAUSE IT IS BOUNCING AROUND MY HEAD AND I WANNA INFODUMP ABOUT THIS SPECIFIC ELEMENT OF THIS ABSOLUTE MESS OF A TIMELINE SITUATION (AFFECTIONATE)

SO

I specified in my diagram that “before the Reset is inaccessible by standard means of time travel”. I wanna elaborate on that because I have EXAMPLES. I hope you’re ready to learn precisely how we know that for certain.

1. Clarification of Terms

Okay, so, to be entirely and fully clear here, when I say “before the Reset is inaccessible”, I am referring to intra-timeline time travel. Meaning, from within a Dragonfable timeline, it is impossible to access the Mechquest timeline which became that Dragonfable.

I say “a” because the Artix Entertainment multiverse is A Mess and we know that there are a ton of different versions of all of these timelines. Not only does The Inn At The Edge Of Time tell as much in-game in Dragonfable but AdventureQuestWorlds (relevant here bc we are discussing multiverse) is canonically a result of DF, AQ, and MQ timelines getting merged into one and we know that those timelines all still exist outwith AQW’s existence. For every version of the DF timeline that exists, there is a MQ that preceded it.

However, for sake of clarity, I’ll be using “the” to refer to the DF timeline for the rest of this post, because even if these factors almost certainly apply to all the timelines in terms of mechanics, I am specifically working with The Actual Timeline We Have Experienced (i.e. canon Dragonfable)

The effects of the Reset are, to use a term that @cyraen-ae reminded me exists, retrocausal. If you were to, say, travel back in time five thousand and one years from A Hero Is Born, you would not find yourself in MQ a year before the Reset happened, you would find yourself five thousand and one years in the past of DF. Thus, “before the Reset is inaccessible via intra-timeline time travel in a DF timeline”. (That is too many uses of time related terms right next to each other. I’m going to just say “intra-timeline travel” after this.)

Hopefully that’s clear because I am now moving on to THE EXAMPLES.

We have three specific quests which I will be pointing to today. They are Yulgar’s First Date, Frostval 2014 - A Tale of Two Timelines, and CyseRedux.

2. Intra-Timeline Travel Cannot Access Pre-Reset

We know this because we see it happen.

Hello, Yulgar’s First Date, thank you so much for serving as proof here, I love you for giving us a solid canon example of how this works.

So, during the events of Mechquest, the hero is fully grown. Whether they’re in their late teens, early twenties, or older than that, it doesn’t really matter. The signficant detail is that they are clearly and visibly Not A Child. The hero had a childhood in the MQ timeline and was Not A Child at the time of the Reset. They are Not A Child in the fixed point in time. The hero enters the DF timeline as Not A Child and, if we looked at this purely linearly, was never a child within DF.

But! As mentioned earlier, the Reset was retrocausal. The hero did have a childhood that, as far as they or anyone else can know, they experienced in the DF timeline.

In Yulgar’s First Date, Cysero gives the hero some Time Cake to allow them to travel twenty years back in time. This also equips the Kid armour. While it’s possible that this is a random side effect (it is Cysero, after all), Occam’s Razor would suggest that this is just the age the hero was twenty years ago.

And since we know that the Reset took five thousand years to complete and only ended at the start of Book One, we know that this specific point in time is one in which the Reset would have been on-going, if it were accessible.

So! Intra-timeline travel cannot access the Reset or reality as it existed before it.

3. Wait, But Then, What About The Times MQ Did Show Up Via Time Stuff?

I’M GLAD YOU ASKED. THE ANSWER IS SHENANIGANS.

To be specific, the two instances in which MQ related stuff shows up from Time Stuff are instances of non-standard time travel. One is explicitly inter-timeline (multiple timelines are involved) and the other is...... Cysero Did It (and is also inter-timeline. They are both inter-timeline. Though the inter-timelineness of the latter may not be relevant.)

So, A Tale of Two Timelines. The Artix of an AQW timeline (we do not know if he was canon AQW) got a wand off of a Time Travel Fairy and promptly started trying to bring different timelines together so all the heroes could hang out at Frostval. He also destabilised a bunch of timelines because he was merging them together. During these timeline merges, a bunch of MQ stuff showed up, including various characters having elements of their MQ appearances for periods of time.

However, as established, this was a case of timelines being merged together and, also as established, there is more than one MQ timeline.

Therefore, this was not the before-the-Reset of the Dragonfable timeline being brought forth but rather a separate MQ timeline being brought in.

And that brings us to CyseRedux, in which Sys-Zero shows up in person and shares a bunch of nods with Cysero. This would suggest that they are aware that they are the same person. However, this quest also features Blatant Breaking Of AE Multiversal Rules and Four Other Cyseros, so there’s A Lot Going On.

So. Here’s the thing. CyseRedux features DF Cysero, AQ Cysero, AQW Cysero, Sys-Zero, and Actual Real Life Staff Cysero In A Background Cameo.

It is explicit AE Multiverse Lore that there cannot be more than one instance of a person in a timeline at a time. If you jump to another timeline, your counterpart gets yanked to your timeline until you return. This comes up in A Tale of Two Timelines, for a DF source, but also comes up in the AQW Mirror World plotlines.

CyseRedux is a case of Cysero blatantly and flagrantly breaking this rule. Because Cysero gets to break any and all rules of reality as he wishes and it’s great.

Which means that we have two options here. The AQ and AQW Cyseros are from other, separate timelines. So it would be logical that the Sys-Zero who shows up is also from a separate MQ timeline. However, he could be from the DF timeline’s pre-Reset MQ, without it presenting a problem to the impossibility of intra-timeline travel across the Reset, because Cysero is already breaking the rules.

4. Conclusion

I just infodumped to you for over a thousand words about timeline mechanics in a bunch of indie flash-based video games and it is currently past four in the morning in my timezone. I have Special Interest Brain so badly.

[cyraen-ae]

So Dragonfable celebrates Pride with capes and wings, even if the canonicity of the event is uncertain.  So now I’m wondering.. how would they celebrate Pride in the Mechquest timeline? It’s the most modern, could it be the closest to our world? Could Thallen hang up pride banners in the dorms and around GEARS? Would a Pride Parade happen in the street of Soluna with recolored mechas? 

[flavos-df]

LMAOOO THIS SENT ME

IDK WHO THE CATHOLIC ELVES WOULD BE THO

so i have a fun meme that i made about heavensward

[mismagireve]

Recompiling // Listen

A Sys-Zero playlist I started working on years ago on 8tracks, and finally finished on Playmoss.

This is mostly Keygen, so be prepared for weird names.

Nameless - Somethingunreal // 1st Privacy Tool for Windows 7.3.2 - ACHU // Insert No Coins - Razor1911 // Digital Insanity -  Kenet & Rez //  Settler 7 - Razor1911 // 8-Bit Trip - Rymdraglage // Music Using Windows Sounds II - Ranivius // Five - Algar // GBA Cracktro - Venom/Zweifeld // Gothic 3 - Razor1911 // Sleepy Sunflower - Hyochan // Funky Stars - Quazar // Absolute Uninstaller 2.2kg - CFF

[yukippe]

nonbinary lesbian yue...

tmae how do you always know exactly what i want to talk about

i will be using she/they pronouns for yue <3 this is yue lives because i deny any reminder that she is not happy and alive. if you would like yue moon spirit nonbinary lesbian i can provide next week tho bc i am Thinking

so i think yue doesn’t realize she’s a lesbian for a really long time! part of this is because she never really thought about her own romantic feelings in general. she always understand that they would marry whoever was seen fit for her and so she went along with that and. then sokka came along. 

see, not only had yue never really thought about their own romantic feelings, they had never been very close with anyone around her age! she was a sheltered princess and while they kept themselves as up to date as possible on what was going on in the northern water tribes day to day, she was kept seperate from everyone else (because you know. nwt sexism (that katara and yue dismantle <3) + overprotective dad)

so sokka comes along! and he’s really funny and yue loves being around him and you know that meme that goes they had feelings for each other. platonic feelings but never had a friend before? yea

so yue and sokka have a similar relationship to the one in canon, but yue also finds herself trying to spend time with katara. and yue justifies this to themself by going, oh well katara is really cool and we have to be around each other as we start to work to changeing the perspective of women not being able to fight and only being healers! it is actually a big fat crush

like yue will have a very nice walk with sokka, hold his hand maybe, they will make fun of each other and yue will threaten to throw him into the water, bunch of goofs. essentially they are like the “oh we look like a couple” “a couple of bestiess” but the opposite

then yue will leave her walk with sokka early to go talk to katara because the light on the water reminded them of katara’s smile

sokka is the first one to connect the pieces together and realize that yue is. more into his sister than him. which is a bit of a let down because he did really like her! but he’s a lesbian icon, so he takes yue for a ride with appa and he hesitantly brings up them liking katara

yue: what are you talking about i like you

sokka: yue, you just spent 10 minutes talking about how talented katara is and how you think she’ll really like going for a moonlit walk followed by a picnic in the spirit oasisi and you would like to do that with her

yue takes it all in, and yue is the type of person who never outright dismisses someone’s suggestion but instead tries to think about it in depth and see if theres any merit to it. 

there is merit to the idea that they have a massive crush on katara.

even after yue realizes she might like katara, she isn’t sure if she likes girls and boys or just girls so she goes to yugoda, someone she’s always viewed as a mentor, and asks for advice

yugoda, a lesbian in love with her friend kanna who is katara’s grandmother: well yue have you ever heard of lesbianism?

yugoda describes her feelings with never being able to see herself in a long term fulfilling relationship with a man, but feeling supported and loved by other women and yue goes oh! katara...

yue spends a while thinking about how they feel, and then eventually team avatar leaves to keep up the fight. yue wishes them well and watches them go. the next day she decides that she will pack up emotions and put them in a box and come back to them when they have time <3

in the meantime yue sits down at the table with her father and asks for more input and conversation on everything going on with the northern water tribe. her father agrees and yue pours all of themself into seeing how the northern water tribe can reconnect with the southern water tribe, assist in the war and make sure any girl who wishes can train however they like

at the end of the war, yue finally finds time to breathe and goes with yugoda to visit the southern water tribe. 

she meets up with katara and aang and sokka and katara and aang convince her to extend her trip away from the northern water tribe and travel with them for a bit

yue, after a lot of convincing from yugoda (and yugoda’s new fiance kanna) agrees and goes on the road trip where she is met with 1) nonbinary aang excitedly explaining that he has no clue what gender is and 2) katara and Sokka's girlfriend being incredibly beautiful and stunning

The road trip is quite possibly the best thing that couldve happened to yue, because it means shes without responsibilities and around other people her own age AND they get to test out pronouns knowing there will be no judgement (as everyone on the road trip is trans) and it's very :)

When yue comes home they have clearer sense of self and look to the future with excitement.

They don't get a girlfriend right away, but after a few years she meets a really pretty girl when she's snuck out of the palace to see a secret water bending competition that is girls only and the winner flirts with them outrageously (not realizing who yue is) and yue asks her out (thanks to the many times she fantasized about asking out suki and katara)

Yue has a type and the type is silly and incredibly passionate :) Her gf (and eventual wife uhaul lesbian yue thx) is a butch lesbian to Yue's femme lesbian too

[ewatsonia]

b r o platonic flowermoose or whatever their thing was, with ur bnha au? B)

Two characters + au/prompt = 3 sentence fic

They were cornered, the villains that had invaded Asagao right on their tail as they headed for a dead end; the only way out was Ian’s Quirk and given the…side effects of travelling through the void he was nervous about using it.

“Hana, do you trust me?”

There was no hesitance in her response, “Of course I do.”

[flavos-df]

@tmae3114 OK WELP HERE WE GO AGAIN HOPEFULLY TUMBLR DOESNT YEET THIS INTO WHITE VOID THIS TIME-

So! I did not expect to receive such a thorough response and honestly I'm so glad you're willing to explain this in depth to me BECAUSE CLEARLY I HAVE MISSED A LOT OF KEY THINGS!!

I DID NOT REALIZE KORDANA PREDATED MQ?? That throws a couple wrenches in my thought process...

I did think about the cordemi while I was writing my og post and tbh? I was hoping someone smarter than me would point out what the deal was with them, like maybe I missed a mention of them in MQ and they were in some far-off solar system? Interesting how they never actually got implemented in the game...

2. I am DUMB and HORRIBLE at wording my thoughts:

So I think my post kinda imples that I think Cysero straight-up replaced Sys-zero, but that's only half of what I meant to say (this is all on me sorry about that T-T).

What I was thinking in my og post (and the thing you partly suggested in your own post) was that Cysero (The Mage) was supposed to be a replacement for Sys-zero, and they ended up merging with each other. I think this was even in game? Lemme see if I can find a screenshot of it.

Yeah! So this to me sounded like the og files and the replacement files were merged together! So if we go by my theory, Sys-zero and The Mage were merged.

And so this led me to believe that Kordana was right. But only partly.

Yes, Cysero was a starship, but also yes, Cysero was not a starship.

I was also thinking about the possibility that there's more of The Mage than Sys-zero in the Cysero we know, considering, well. Yeah, he's basically unrecognizable (unless you're Hero lmao). Kinda understandable though considering you have a human vs a universe backup machine.

I don't imagine that the Coffee Spill made the merge any smoother, either.

Speaking of merging! Fun fact but AQW was actually my childhood game that I still play sometimes, but I mostly moved on to DF and MQ.

But THAT ROOM. The Sys-zero room. I was so curious as to what this easter egg was, pressed it, and bam! MQ! The original reason I started playing MQ and DF right there!! And I will Never Forget!!

Er- anyways back on topic-

3. Theory stuff:

Ok so I went to do a bit more research about the Dragon Heart Shards and-

Jemini's bio reads as "A thief who stole the Dragon Heart Shards from Dean Warlic's Ultimate Weapon"

Alright alright I know "ultimate" is a very popular adjective but I mean............ I think there might be something here... but the MQ forums are a bit.. hard to navigate? So maybe I'll investigate some other time!

In regards to the whole "attempting closest match" topic, I never thought to base it on proximity rather than similarity... not sure if I'm incredibly stupid or you are a genius so imma go with both!!

Considering the fact that Dean Warlic installed a coffee machine RIGHT BESIDE THE UNIVERSE-SAVING BUTTON, I would NOT put it past him to shove all the files in one place and however they're organized is however they're organized.... but I guess he was on a time crunch so... he gets a pass.

Now that I think about it, the time crunch would also make it so that implementing a whole scanning system in the case of corrupted files less of a priority...

So I think that right now the theory's at a null point where nothing really disproves it (could be wrong on this and if so lmk!!) but also nothing really supports it, since Kordana's... well. Yeah. I'll be keeping an eye out though!

Anyone remember the Kordana quest in the Wind Orb saga? And how she basically implied that Cysero was a starship?

Am I wrong in thinking that Cysero was The Mage (Dean Warlic's starship)? Because iirc Sys-zero's starship was the Reliant, and I mean,

"A mage?! Oh, I see! What a clever idea!"

I feel like that would make more sense if, well, yknow. The Mage became a mage.

Wait wait I just remembered something.

The Mage was used to backup the entire universe.

Cysero is weird. Reality-bending levels of weird.

He does things that shouldn't be possible. Knows things that a normal person shouldn't. Way past the occasional fourth wall break to remind the Hero to read the name above the dialogue box.

A literal diety recognizes him as another higher being (listen I know Zeuster is weird but he counts as a diety in my eyes).

And people call him mad.

But how much power would it take for something to backup the universe? At that point, no sky could ever hope to limit you! And what would happen if that something with such immense power had to turn into a someone?

The only thing I'm a bit iffy on...

Why was the starship the closest match?

Well, Dean Warlic knew Sys-zero, dare I say they may have been friends. And we never really hear of The Mage before the finale, so we don't know how much time he spent in it. But he definitely spent enough time in it to build it into A UNIVERSE SAVE FILE, so hey.

Maybe Cysero was the AI aboard The Mage. Idk, some kind of sentient autopilot system. Maybe they were friends too.

Maybe that's why Kordana knows he would remember her. We don't know what DW and The Mage were up to back then after all (and Warlic is old af, this could have been centuries before the events of MQ), so maybe they went on a mission abroad and that's how they got in contact with Kordana?

Could also theorize that DW and S-0 had an inside joke between them that resulted in DW nicknaming The Mage Cysero, but who really knows. That's more of a headcanon than anything though.