#what is so unbelievable about that?

[lazlolullaby]

Angel Island Guardians Wachowski pt 1 backstory

tldr: Sonic Unleashed based universe where Mobians, Chao, Humans + sacred creatures just exist. Like real life except there's Mobians just chilling on the streets + in the history books.

This exists for 2 reasons: More Mobians, Sonic needs friends. And giving Tom and Maddie some things to do for plot/character aside from, "this our foster kid Sonic and the family nemesis Eggman".

This is my sandbox, please sit and enjoy. Incorporating video game/TV show lore in broad strokes, just take what you want.

Part 1: general changes (here)

Part 2: Sonic movie 1 + 2 changes (https://www.tumblr.com/lazlolullaby/766607274156376064/angel-island-guardians-wachowski-pt-2-movie?source=share)

~millions of years ago, when the Earth was created

In ancient times, the Master Emerald and the Chaos emeralds were created when Light and Dark Gaia first clashed. Mobians and Humans have used them for power, fought over them, but they are now considered myths. Their power to change thought into reality created some sacred beasts like the Pheonix from Unleashed, weird architecture / rock loop de loops, etc. Chao gardens exist as protected areas across the globe.

~50 years ago (only to be revealed in Movie 3)

A joint Mobian/Human project of researching and healing diseases that affect one species but not the other was created. Several creatures were created in pursuit of immortality. (Involve the family of Dr. Starline, Tails, or Sticks as their main Mobian scientist?). The Biolizard happened, Shadow was created for Maria, the Gizoid incident, etc. But it was shut down violently by GUN. Any creatures that were made were placed in cold storage.

Per the fandom theory, Grandpa Wachowski shot Maria and had issues with it. He left to Green Hills.

~25 years ago (only to be revealed in movie 2)

The Echidnas gathered the Emeralds + were about to attack the Master Emerald Temple and the Chao. Tikal summoned the Owls + and tried to fight. The Temple was raised out of the ground to become Angel Island. The island gets teleported away. Tikal's dedication changed many minds and (most) Echidnas stopped being Warriors and decided just to live as civilians.

Angel Island was teleported to Green Hills. It floats above the forests and moves in a pattern. There's a few spots per year for roughly 1-2 weeks that gets it close enough to the ground so people can jump on it and climb the sheer rock face. It's difficult for most people and Mobians.

Dad Wachowski and his bestie, Maddie's Dad... uh...Dad Sumpter, figure it out. There's just a small Chao garden and a Temple for the Master Emerald, room for a small edible garden, but due to the altitude and rain conditions it's hard to grow anything substantial. The Spirit of Tikal tells the besties what happened. They decide to keep it a secret, because why would they want unlimited power anyway? They tell people that it's too hard to climb, and spend the next few years visibly "training" to get strong enough to climb up there.

(training where they go to the local rock climbing place and throw buckets of the water on each other to simulate rain. There's a local competition now.)

Then they take pictures of barren places for the research + get the Government to sign off that it's a highly dangerous hike and there's just the Chao. The Guardians have to divert attention from thrill seeking tourists, but it's not bad. Some locals suspect something is up there, but don't pry.

Tom Wachowski + Maddie Sumpter grow up each year watching their family climb up the Island and check in on the Emerald and the Chao. Then they do it too. Rachel was trained, but she's been out of practice since moving to San Francisco. Since they don't have kids, they're looking into getting a club together of locals who are in on it. Maybe the Thorndykes, since they're rich and don't need to have jobs to live? But they only have a vacation home, so it's not feasible.

Also the Wachowskis have Chao Companions that come down and chill with them sometimes. Based on the SA2 Chao they are both adults. Tom's is Normal/Power, Maddie's is a Fly/Power. (Cheese is still normal/baby, but I like the peachy Fly/Run to match Cream the Rabbit)

(image id: infographic chart showing the difference between the Chao forms based on stats of Normal, power, run, fly, swim, and baby form.)

~15 years ago (also movie 2 + adding context for movie 1)

Longclaw comes back and says she's got a better plan for the Master Emerald. Dad Wachowski and Dad Sumpter team up with her to bury the Master Emerald in the Ruins and teleport and hide the compass in the Siberian mountains.

Unfortunately. Locke the Echidna followed them back to Angel Island. Dad Sumpter convinced Locke that he was the only one who knows where the Emerald is. Locke kills Dad Sumpter in front of Dad Wachowski, Tom, and Maddie. It's traumatic, Locke escapes.

Maddie stops climbing for grief reasons + focuses on her veterinary degree. Tom supports her. Since there's no more Master Emerald, Tom breathes easy for a bit. But then he's feeling lost without something to protect, what his family has been doing since before he was born.

Tom is still a cop, but in this world he's got "unexcused absences" (Chao emergencies), "a bad exam record" (issues with the material), and "won't meet his arrest rates" (that would follow kids for life for a dumb mistake!) so he's not qualified for Sheriff. Which is dumb because he knows the protocols, knows the people, people trust him.

(Small town "technically loose cannon" cop that's less likely to abuse his authority/power than actual real life cops, definitely still "copganda"/"this is the Ideal Cop that wields his Authority for Good Reasons", but it balances with the military depiction of "Too Much Force is Not Enough Force" that pops up in 1+2 and i hope to hell that the military continues to be assholes in Movie 3.)

anyway the local park rangers are trying to poach Tom because he's great at Search and Rescue + knows the emergency town protocols + knows all of the forest trails. (While park rangers do have some of the same issues as Cops, there's less connotations. Tom Deserves Better than being a Cop. Sonic and the franchise deserve better than Copganda.)

Wade is the Sheriff instead. Yes he's still very inconsiderate and incompetent at his job. Yes it's funny.

Maddie is both a pet veterinarian and an emergency Mobian and Chao doctor. Her and Tom trade off when they go to the Garden.

Meanwhile on the other side of the world...

Longclaw finds Sonic and takes care of him. We don't know why Sonic has superpowers he just does. we love that for him.

Locke the Echidna was unfortunately, not happy he missed the Emerald, grabbed his son and stole "the Flames of Disaster" so Knuckles could be powerful, and raised him to fight. That's why Knuckles is the Last Echidna Warrior, sworn to find and protect the Master Emerald.

Blaze, unable to take her family birthright as the guardian of Iblis, ended up with Mephiles power set. Smoke manipulation and shadow teleport. She's training to get the Flames back.

Silver got involved with the power transfer somehow and is actually the Iblis Trigger, not that anyone knows it. He's training to also head out with Blaze to collect the Flames.

(but this Knuckles + Blaze + Silver drama doesn't happen until the TV show.)

~10 years ago

Locke thought Longclaw kept the compass to the Master Emerald for herself. He gathered allies to attack her. Same as in Movie 1, Sonic was sent away for his protection.

Sonic was sent to Angel Island. He was traumatized and mute for a bit, swore never to talk about his speed powers. He spends a few days alone + was afraid to approach the Chao until he calmed down.

Tom was able to collect him and give him to a local Mobian foster family. Vanilla the Rabbit takes Sonic in, and he's a great big brother to Cream. Amy is "the girl next door who could beat you senseless". Tails' parents just drop him off in the woods one day and Sonic finds him.

Sonic grows up in Green Hills, surrounded by friends but still restless. There's projected movies in the park, so he can still see "Speed" and adore Keanu Reeves. (sudden impulse to make Sandra Bullock a Mobian. the exploding bus can only be driven by Mobians. Miss Congeniality but with Mobians.)

Cream and Tails both learn how to fly, so they go to Angel Island whenever they want. Sonic can also jump off of some mountains to get to the Island before it's time. This is where Cream meets Cheese.

Tom has a slight panic, but doesn't say anything about the Temple or the Master Emerald until "it's relevant" (see: when movie 2 happens). He just says that it's hard to get up and down for most people, his family checks in on the Chao when they can, please tell your family when you'll be up there so they won't worry.

.

.

.

so. that's all the set up and world-building notes. Hope you liked it~ You've got blanket permission to use these ideas in your fanworks, but NO AI please, it's not enrichment if you're not doing it.

[autisticrosewilson]

While we're on the topic of De-aging AU's I wanna talk about Jason and Damian if Jason was 14 again real quick.

Do you guys think that Damian looks at this version of Jason, so different from the version he knows, nothing like the person he was told Jason was, and feels uncomfortably seen?

Damian was always told that Jason died because he was reckless, because he disobeyed orders, he was fired as Robin and he got himself killed. A cautionary tale, not a threat to his position. He dismisses Jason because Bruce does, because Dick does, because sometimes even Babs and Alfred do.

That's not the kid that he's looking at now. This Jason is happy, and smart, and full of love that has not yet soured into grief. He hangs on Bruce's every word, trains until his hands bleed and his body gives out to perfect the moves Bruce teaches him. He looks at Bruce with stars in his eyes and he calls him dad.

And Damian can't help but think, that this is the perfect Robin. The perfect son. And if Jason - sweet, loving, strong, Jason - can be fired, can die and have his room locked away and his pictures torn down, can have his last memory as Robin be as A Good Soldier, how could the rest of them ever compete? What could Damian do to stand a chance?

Jason will never grow out of the shadow of Robin, like the rest of them did. As long as Bruce, and Dick, and Babs, and Alfred look at him and see a dead kid who came back wrong, he will never get to be anything else. He will not get to be looked at through who he is now without the shadow of a dead boy looming over him.

And the worst part? Jason is exactly the same person he was back then. Bitter, sure, angry, justifiably, but he is still the boy with too much love in his heart and righteous fury festering in his gut. He is exactly the same boy who threw himself in front of an explosion to save his mother.

(The lines between the mother that betrayed him and the father that disgraced him are so very blurred. Fire or blade or crowbars or fists it does not matter. It ends the same way it always does because Jason Todd always dies, in every universe, in every timeline, Jason dies and crawls out only to be killed again and again and again.)

[blackkatdraws2]

There are more things in the Parable than Stanley knows about. [Blank Scripts AU]

[3liza]

you have $100. due to a squid games type escapade, you are currently trapped in Whole Foods and can't leave or someone will take you out with a bullet to the brain. you have to buy all the food you eat. you can't shoplift it or steal it from the other competitors. a carton of 12 organic eggs costs $10.

your friend Greg has $100. due to a competing squid games franchise, he is trapped in a Costco. he can't leave, or they'll set the dogs on him. he still has to buy all the food he eats. he can buy 36 eggs for $7

which one of you will starve first? are you or Greg functionally "wealthier" within your respective squid game?

[yumedoca]

It's been a hot minute since I've drawn InuKag!!

(Ignore the fact that 'hot minute' = 2-3 years)

[abyssal-ilk]

not usually a solavellan person but imagining the companion dynamics changing post-breakup and especially if lavellan decided to let solas take their vallaslin?? many thoughts. because without the context of solas being the dread wolf and then his refusal to give lavellan any solid reason why he's breaking up with them, the entire scene just feels like he takes lavellan out presumably for some sort of date night or hookup, tells them a key part of their culture is actually not what they thought at all and are actually slave markings, and then immediately breaks up with them without explanation no matter what they choose. how. how does that not rewrite at least a little of what the other companions and advisors think of solas.

[latenightsundayblues]

I got bored lol

[fuzzbuns]

Um.. ok….

The hatoful bf shitposts as promised 🥺

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

MDZS Disco Elysium AU part 2 - Psyche Skills

Part 1 - Part 3

[fear-no-mort]

evil rick is so good because hes the first and best example of how just cringe and melodramatic evil morty is in the way he acts while being controlled by him. the slow clap, the like fake orchestra director thing he does when hes talking about the symphony of morties, the ‘we’re not so different you and i’ lines, the cut-throat hand gesture he does when saying hes gonna kill rick. u get what i mean all of that is evil morty doing that except it’s him replicating the behaviour of a rick except all of that stuff is kinda just how he is anyway. i personally think he enjoyed it a lot he had fun with it

[jahanmp4]

Jericho : "Sir Marius, I mean this in the most respectful and polite way possible, but you already got one curse. Perhaps... Let us... Bear some curses so you don't have to, that's the point of friends !"

Marius, yelling : " I CAN BEAR MORE !"

Jericho "Why don't... you let your friends shoulder a little bit of your burden ? Let the world do its own spin !"

[remusjohnslupin]

I forgot to make a post about this last week (or maybe I needed time to process what I saw), but addressing my fellow Tolkien fans out there: Did anyone else feel the urge to scoop their own eyes out with a spoon after the whole 'sympathetic and misunderstood orcs who just want to stay with their families and don't want to go to war' debacle?

Misunderstood orcs. Misunderstood. Orcs. Who don't want to go to war. ORCS. They actually showed an orc baby being held by its orc parent.

Once again... ORCS.

I am so glad Christopher Tolkien died in 2020.

[rawliverandgoronspice]

anyway to end the series on ganondorf tp's writing, my take (which isn't canon but arguable as a valid "death of the author" read imo) is that he is at his most iredeemable AND that's because he has zero things left to lose and no community left and his goal doesn't even make sense anymore he is parasitic and a ghost and pathologically obsessed by his own godlike legitimacy because that is the only thing he still has and it has prolonged his life in a horrible diminished state in a nightmare dimension so SURELY it must mean something right right RIGHT

[x-i-l-verify]

Linked Universe Daemon AU Headcanons

WORLDBUILDING NOTE 1: The concept of daemons is borrowed from the His Dark Materials series. A daemon is a person’s soul manifested outside of their body in a tangible, physical form, which permanently settles into the form of the animal that most resembles them in character as the individual matures. Person and daemon are not separate beings, but two halves of one mental coin, which means that they each know everything the other does, thinks, and senses. Daemons are almost always the opposite gender of their person and have a distinct personality than the person to a certain degree, as person and daemon represent different aspects of the same whole. Touching someone’s daemon without their permission is taboo, considered a violation tantamount to rape in most cultures.

WORLDBUILDING NOTE 2: All Links have the same name for their daemon: Ellanharai (composed of the Old German elements ellan “courage” and heri “army”). However, because all the Links are their own person, their daemon’s form settles on something different with each incarnation. Just as the Links in the Chain go by different titles to differentiate them all, so, too, do their daemons. Links tend to settle early (12-13 years), as they generally know who they are and what they want from a young age.

WORLDBUILDING NOTE 3: The Dark World/Twili crystal magic combines someone and their daemon into one physical body. This new body has the form of the daemon but the gender of the person with size alterations or different markings/coloration and is controlled by the person, with the daemon part of their mind taking a backseat. For example, Legend is larger as a rabbit than his daemon usually is, and of course, her natural color is not bright pink. The lingering effects of this transformation only physically affect the person side of the person/daemon pair once they are returned to normal. 

---

SKY + PSALM (RED-CROWNED CRANE)

Red-crowned cranes are renowned for their lasting and affectionate pair bonds, having come to represent longevity and devotion in many cultures; they are cooperative and low-aggression birds, quite tolerant and relaxed around other animals, and only really become territorial and protective over their nesting sites and chicks.

Psalm is impatient, mischievous, and fierce. Sky is more easygoing, considerate, and gentle.

Sky and Psalm are very outwardly affectionate with each other, and both can often be found napping together in a patch of sunlight, Psalm resting her head in Sky’s lap or draping a wing over him. As the physically tallest daemon of the bunch, Psalm delights in teasing fawning over her smaller daemon sisters, especially the younger ones. She will often sit on someone and happily brood, and while some may outwardly protest, everyone secretly enjoys it.

---

FOUR + RHYME (ITALIAN HEBRAN HONEYBEE)

Four's daemon is an industrious, adaptable, cooperative, sociable species of honeybee, known for being assertive but not aggressive insects; they have a high threshold for what they consider threats, and will communicate using pheromones, body language, and vocalizations to make themselves as clearly understood as possible, but they will not hesitate to defend themselves if something is deemed a threat.

Four is empathetic, observant, passionate, and composed. Rhyme is the emotional, pragmatic, impulsive, competitive part of his personality.

Rhyme is usually kept in a protective case Four wears around his neck to prevent any harm from coming to her either in battle or out of it, due to her diminutive size, but he will happily let her out to stretch her wings when around people he trusts. While she is too small to outright cuddle with her sisters, Rhyme loves perching on their heads or burrowing into feathers or fur when it’s chilly, and she’s surprisingly expressive with her body language, though one might have to squint to see it.

When Four splits into his Colors, Rhyme also splits. Which means instead of one being in two bodies, they’re now one being in eight bodies. As in LU canon, none of the Colors is their own individual in this AU, merely a fraction of a larger whole. In turn, each iteration of Rhyme is an alternate part of each of the Colors, with Four’s soul fragmenting into smaller and smaller individual pieces the deeper you go down.

---

TIME + MELODY (SPANISH FARON MASTIFF)

While menacing in appearance due to their sheer size and bulk, Spanish mastiffs are actually known for being protective, affectionate, quiet dogs, with a long history of guarding livestock; they are patient, easygoing, and surprisingly playful, good with children and tolerant of other animals, though their strong wills and stubbornness make them a challenge to handle for first-time dog owners.

Time is authoritative, jaded, and stoic, while Melody embodies his nurturing, hopeful, mischievous side.

Melody can often be found at Time’s side with one of his hands resting on her head or back. As the largest daemon in the group paired with the tallest person, they make for quite the intimidating pair and are downright deadly in battle together. Outside of battle, though, Melody becomes a big teddy bear, utterly content to let her daughters sisters use her as a pillow or mode of transportation, quietly communicating all the warm care and tenderness Time is sometimes too awkward to openly express. She is the one who introduced the musical motif the other Ellanharais also adopted when coming up with nicknames for themselves.

---

TWILIGHT + ARIA (GRAY WOLF)

Twilight’s daemon is a social, cooperative, dedicated apex predator, who routinely work together to raise their young, defend their territories, and chase down their prey over vast distances; they are not overly aggressive and prefer to avoid conflict whenever they can, using body language, sent marking, and howling to diffuse tense situations and prevent costly fights between packs or individuals.

Twilight is focused, cautious, and opinionated. Aria is his easygoing, empathetic, people-pleasing side.

Aria instantly adopts most of the younger daemons in the group and dotes on them as much as they’ll allow. However, she turns into a big, besotted puppy whenever Time and Melody come into the picture and becomes adorably bashful around Malon’s pigeon daemon Rosamu. She is often found at Twilights right side, guarding his flank and watching his back while he focuses his attention on what’s in front of him. She also loves scritches and belly rubs and has nearly smothered Twilight more than once by sprawling on top of him too heavily while they sleep. While their initial transformation into Wolfie was traumatic and scarring at first, they have both grown to enjoy the occasional opportunity to truly travel, fight, and exist as one.

---

WILD + TRILL (WEDGE-TAILED EAGLE)

Wild’s daemon is a loyal, resourceful, resilient species of raptor that is often found alone or in monogamous pairs, but will freely cooperate together with groups of up to 15 other eagles to take down larger prey; they are straightforward and communicative with their vocalizations and displays and also surprisingly playful, wrestling or playing food games with each other.

Trill is Wild’s dutiful, reserved, focused side, while Wild is the impulsive, playful, lackadaisical side.

Trill is rather choosy with and to whom she shows open affection. She can be very standoffish, preferring to let Wild do the talking for both of them, but once she trusts someone, she will often become very chatty and physically affectionate. It is common to see her riding around or napping on Aria's back, but she has begun opening up more to the others as well.

Because Wild lost all his memories in the Shrine of Resurrection, Trill had become unsettled when they finally woke up, taking the most basic shape a daemon can take, normally only seen with very young children: a small, floating, glowing ball of golden Dust. As they regained their memories during Wild’s quest and discovered more about themselves, Trill began taking on some of their old favored forms before eventually resettling for good as her original settled form, the wedge-tailed eagle. Despite physically being the same, though, there’s still that distance between who they are now and who they used to be, most evident in how their personalities have seemed to switch; Wild used to be more serious, focused, and responsible, and Trill used to embody the impulsivity, rowdiness, and wanderlust he kept tightly tamped down for the sake of duty and appearances. Both of them are still coming to terms with how much they have changed.

---

LEGEND + LYRIC (EUROPEAN HYLIAN RABBIT)

Legend's daemon settled as a hardy, wary, sociable, territorial species of rabbit, able to survive and thrive in almost any environment; they are a keystone prey species, a vital part of almost any ecosystem they find themselves in, who must stay ever vigilant and rely on their speed, wits, and determination to stay alive.

Legend is blunt, private, and practical, while Lyric is the sensitive, sociable, sentimental side of him.

Legend has… a complicated relationship with his daemon’s form. He initially hides her away from the rest of the Chain out of paranoia and insecurity, keeping her in his pack at all times. What would Hyrule they think of the renowned Hero of Legend having a defenseless, soft little rabbit as a daemon? They would lose all respect for him, or worse, be disappointed. It isn’t until after the Twili crystal incident, and Twilight and Sky find out about Lyric’s form, that he starts to come out of his shell.

After the ice has been broken, Lyric leaps at the chance to interact with the other deamons more. She goads Aria or even Melody into games of chase, can finally properly pounce on Warriors’ daemon the next time she teases her, curls up into a little fuzzy ball with Hyrule’s daemon to nap, leaps up on Trill or Psalm or Wind’s daemon’s backs and coax them into giving her a ride, and holds Rhyme in her little paws to gloat that she finally knows a daemon smaller than her (Rhyme is not amused). She is the one who came up with the name for their group of daemons, which is a chorus, just like a group of Links is a chain.

---

HYRULE + CADENCE (YELLOW-BELLIED GLIDER)

Hyrule’s daemon is a small, nocturnal glider species that is selectively social, close-bonding, and expressive, utilizing a number of chirps, whirrs, whistles, and growls to keep away intruders and keep tabs on each other; yellow-bellied gliders are incredibly active, hard-working creatures, spending up to 90% of their time awake foraging, and they can travel up to 2 kilometers in just 4 hours through a combination of climbing and gliding.

Hyrule is independent, wary, and agreeable. Cadence represents his dependent, connected, feisty side.

Cadence is generally quite a skittish daemon, who can normally be found clinging wide-eyed to Hyrule’s back, shoulders, chest, or arms, or hidden inside his tunic or pack. She has not interacted closely with many other daemons in her time (fairies do not have daemons), so she is still getting used to the physical affection the others offer. She does not dislike it; it is simply a lot. But she is gradually learning to love being nuzzled, cuddled, and carried, and she greatly enjoys riding around on the other larger daemons.

---

WIND + SHANTY (MILITARY MACAW)

Wind settled just a couple months before the events of Linked Universe as a resourceful, gregarious, deeply loyal species of macaw; like all macaws, they can be quite loud, communicative, and expressive, and they have generally been described as having friendly, confident, playful dispositions, albeit with the occasional temperamental mood swing.

Shanty is Wind's meticulous, perceptive, down-to-earth side, while Wind is reckless, curious, and carefree.

As is befitting for a parrot daemon, Shanty spends much of her time perched on Wind’s shoulders or arms, though she does love being held and cuddled, too. She is still getting used to her settled form, and sometimes forgets she cannot shift like she once did, leading to some hilarious mishaps when she faceplanted on the ground trying to turn into a hermit crab, or one memorable instance where she nearly drowned while trying to become a yellowtail snapper. She gets very starry-eyed over the other demons and thinks all of them are the coolest for different reasons. She desperately wants to impress them and prove she’s just as badass as they are, so she can sometimes chafe under their well-meaning coddling.

---

WARRIORS + BALLAD (RED FOX)

Warriors’ daemon settled as the confident, dependable, independent red fox, the most widespread and successful carnivore in the world, found in just about every available habitat, from jungle to tundra; despite being mainly solitary, these animals have a complex social hierarchy and can be seen in a wide variety of group settings, with vixens sometimes coming together during the breeding season to help raise each other’s cubs, and their mates bringing them food and also helping parent the new cubs.

Warriors is shrewd, charming, and diplomatic, while Ballad is more brash, cheeky, and candid.

Ballad, while generally friendly and warm with the other daemons (especially the younger ones), is also strangely skittish around them. She is fine initiating touch or curling up for a nice nap around or with someone else, but if touched unexpectedly, she tends to either bristle, growl, and retreat behind Warriors, or go very still and quiet. She shies away from any human hands except Warriors' (and even then there are days he doesn't touch her directly). They bring to mind other hands. Slim, small, elegant, painted hands that hurt, that took, that tainted- ...It’s fine. She’s fine. They’re fine. Everything’s fine.

---

Resources:

Red-crowned crane analysis: https://daemonpage.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=24990

Italian honeybee analysis: https://daemonpage.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=23882

Tibetan mastiff analysis: https://daemonpage.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=24552

Spanish mastiff information: https://dogtime.com/dog-breeds/spanish-mastiff

Gray wolf analysis: https://daemonpage.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=23828

Wedge tailed eagle analysis: https://daemonpage.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=26686

European rabbit analysis: https://daemonpage.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=23718

Yellow bellied glider analysis: https://daemonpage.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=24968

Military macaw analysis: https://daemonpage.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=26591

Red fox analysis: https://daemonpage.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=24946

Art belongs to @/linkeduniverse

[beyondthislifetime]

People who truly dislike Edwina Sharma are wild. Heaven forbid an 18 year old be charmed after being almost relentlessly pursued by an older man. Three married women, including her mother, are for the match. THE QUEEN is for the match. The only person saying he isn't right for her is her sister and like I'm sorry but my sister could swear that a man wasn't that into me and I would not listen if he BOUGHT ME A HORSE!???!!?!!

[statementlou]

https://www.tumblr.com/louisupdates/754934426217152513/goodbye-faith-in-the-future-world-tour-272024?source=share

did he or did he not lose fans then?

I will answer this because this anon actually brings a concrete question to the table rather than just "hurhur but you're a larrie??" (tell me you can't actually refute any of our points…). Anyway this post shows the decrease in Louis instagram followers between the screenshots taken directly after the release of Faith in the Future in Nov '22, when he changed his bio to promote that album and the tour tickets, and now, when he changed it again to mention the current release. But I'm putting that response under a cut because I'm tired of the actual POINT of all this nonsense getting lost in a sea of made up things people insist are important:

There is no rational argument you can make to say that Louis has less fans now than he did 2, 4, or 6 years ago. You don't need a spreadsheet of details you need to USE YOUR EYES! He has gone from filling theaters to filling arenas and stadiums. His second album made a higher chart position than his first album. His festival has doubled in size EVERY year of its existence. And for that matter: his insta post engagement numbers remain about the same (despite the fact that older posts should have way MORE likes due to having been there longer, even aside from follower counts.) SO WHO FUCKING CARES ABOUT HIS INSTA FOLLOWER NUMBER???? Serious question: what does the word "fans" mean if these things aren't what matters? ALL of this quibbling about what he should do to make things better and people can't even see that THINGS AREN'T BAD.

Anyway to address the specific question- (con't......)

NO- HE DID NOT LOSE FANS. HE LOST SOME INSTA FOLLOWERS. THESE ARE NOT THE SAME THING. As I said above, literally what does it mean to lose fans if that number change coincides with him having higher sales, more audience members, and higher engagement than ever before? Whatever he lost ISN'T FANS. I wouldn't be surprised if a significant factor was something like a bot purge, but also yes: I'm sure a lot of casuals followed him around the time of his big album release and later unfollowed him. That's extremely normal because that's how casual engagement works, and why the definition of fan really matters. Louis and his team understand this and have referenced it repeatedly, talking about how lucky he is to have *us* specifically, to have the kind of dedicated fanbase he has, to have the KIND of fans he does who will allow him to do what HE wants. @dogsliampaynedoesntinstagram named the issue of depth vs breadth with regard to fans a long time ago, and pointed out why having DEPTH is so much more important. It's like this- artists who are on top 40 radio have more numbers on things like insta follows, and for a time on sales and tickets. But those aren't FANS- they're people with a casual interest. And as soon as that person isn't being forced in their ears 10x a day, those people lose interest and stop supporting them, stop buying stuff and unfollow, and those artists end up doing the 'opener on the jingle ball' circuit rather than their own tours. One Direction as a whole, and Louis maybe most of all or near to at this point, have something MUCH MORE VALUABLE than that- DEPTH FANS. Louis has fans who will support him even if he takes years to release music, or stops parading around with a pretend girlfriend to stay in the headlines at least once a month, or completely changes his image and genre, and that is UNHEARD OF. It's ASTONISHING and worth SO MUCH MORE. And they get that! THAT is why he always bragging about us, why industry people he works with are always so agog about us, why he will do anything for US- not for randos. He is also growing his breadth- and it's OBVIOUSLY WORKING whatever his follower counts are, but that is always going to be secondary to doing things for THE FANDOM because that is his sustainable business model. That is what keeps him onstage and reaching number one. And not coincidentally, the things they do are also working to grow that- much more valuable- commodity. So the fact that that's exactly what these chuckleheads complain about- that he does things that are just fandom facing or serving rather than everything being aimed at recruiting casual fans- does nothing but betray how completely they, unlike Louis and his team, misunderstand the actual drivers of his (actual, existing, happening) success. Luckily for Louis, he and his team rely on their own data harvesting (they do a LOT of it) and growth metrics (they're off the charts) rather than the smug assumptions of random (mostly quite new to this) fans and the few bitter people leading the complaining about everything Louis does.