#you do not understand just how much info/lore i had to leave out to make it at least vaguely interesting

[iloveyumi]

PokéFuyu

Fuyumi sighed, plopping the test she'd just finished grading onto one of the many piles that decorated her workspace. Her office was suffocated by the bundles of paper, having migrated from her desk to the floor to every inch of space as she worked. Feeling the sliminess of another few drops of sweat running down her back, Fuyumi ached for a chance to get out of this baking hot, humid space, as pretty as the stained glass windows behind her were.

May had only just begun, and with it were the students' final exams - and the endless calls from angry parents and desperate students. While she understood their frustration, Fuyumi was just one school teacher - even if she could do something about the PPOU law, she wouldn't - that was there for a good reason.

Everyone knew the history behind the Pokemon Protection, Ownership and Use law: Team Eternity, the destruction of Musutafu, the death of Decoma - the legendary lifecycle pokemon, all of it - did they just not think it was relevant anymore? That it didn't matter? The incident was ten years before Fuyumi was even born, but she - and everyone who'd spend their formative years in Musutafu - had the facts of the case hammered into her head religiously. It changed everything about our culture, about our understanding of the world. Learning about what happened, It changed Fuyumi on a personal level.

She was only seven, but the terror Fuyumi felt sitting in class, watching old news broadcasts of the world being frozen in time, the image of people's eyes, mouths, noses shrinking into nothing on their faces, the rip of fissures tearing open to facilitate the change, hearing the crack of bones in their legs and arms as they crumple like tissue paper, as the whole, fully grown, life-lived woman changed into a squirming, squealing, helpless baby. Clasping her clammy hands over her ears to listen to the ba-bum of her heart and instead hearing "TODOROKI PAY ATTENTION" wrench from the teacher's lips.

The horror as she realised her parents were actually there. They didn't see it through a screen, emotive but gone as soon as you asked to go to the toilet. They didn't hear it through classroom speakers, audible but confusing, tinny in a way that disrupted the snaps and screams. Her parents, her mother, her father, had to watch people mutate into something other, natural in an unnatural way, right in front of their eyes.

They had to see it, and know that at any point in time, that could be them.

She'd run home in tears and clasped tightly onto her Arcanine plushie, huddled in her bed, under the blankets, trying to will the wet plop of blood, the snap, crack of people's faces breaking away from her brain. (Touya had teased her, but she'd heard him throw up in the training room three minutes later.)

That was the first, and only, time they played the old broadcasts in school. How unlucky they were, to be the ones to see it.

Maybe those parents were the lucky ones, who weren't told the details, who had the information glossed over, who lost any context for the Pokemon Protection, Ownership and Use law. If they didn't get taught about the complex political background behind the laws and culture in Musutafu, then she… supposed she could give them the benefit of the doubt. After all, if she hadn't been taught, she wouldn't have looked into it either.

Musutafu is extremely different to other regions in how they handle Pokemon due to the law - the "Duty of Pokemon Care" License being needed to catch wild Pokemon is a kick in the ass for anyone outside of the region, who are all too used to being able to battle, weaken, and capture pokemon unrestricted.

For most people, that didn't change much - just meant taking another test the July they turned eighteen and waiting a few weeks for a shiny new card in the mail - in fact, most schools began incorporating it into their curriculum as soon as the law was passed - but for underage or trainer school students, like Fuyumi's, the process was a little different, including needing a reference from their teacher.

Fuyumi's class wasn't like most people, for the twenty-or-so twelve year olds that needed to capture pokemon as part of their future career, this test was extremely important - if you failed you had to wait two months to retake it, and then a year after that if you failed the retakes. That time could be better used challenging the gyms and getting one or two badges, or competing in a contest, or having your first show in Nimbasa City. By the time you finally got your license, all of your friends would already be well on their way, and you'd be left behind.

The final exams Fuyumi offered weren't part of the DoPC licensing exam, but part of an aptitude test she personally put together to assess how ready her students were - and with their results were her personal reference on whether they were fit to take the licensing exam. As such, Fuyumi's opinion was extremely important this year.

There were a few kids and parents that always tried to bribe her, bringing in cookies or cupcakes for the class, praising the shoes on her feet, or ratting our their fellow classmates to try to gather favour. It never worked. In fact, it did the opposite, leaving a disgusting slimy taste in her mouth like she'd swallowed Sluggoo slime. No matter how many times she gave the early year presentation about it, someone always tried, which pushed her, and a few other teachers, to make the aptitude test for their recommendations.

Because as much as Fuyumi hated admitting it, she wasn't perfectly impartial, and the bribes and cupcakes and ratting out did work on her, at least a little bit. As soon as she realised that, the creeping fear that she'd let one of her unprepared students through to take the license exam and would see their agast and heartbroken faces when they didn't make it…

This test was her way of giving all her students a fair and honest chance, one that would make sure they're prepared and would save them from the grief of trying and trying and failing because they weren't ready yet. If only some parents could understand this.

"Mismagius!" The cry from Fuyumi's partner pokemon caught her attention. Muma was hoovering just above ground - next to Ihai, her glacion - and sorting the dishevelled piles of marked tests into something resembling organised. God, she loved that pokemon - Muma had been such a big part of her life so far that Fuyumi had no idea what she'd do without her.

"Mis-mis~" Muma gestured at her office door, which Fuyumi now noticed was being knocked on.

"Miss Todoroki, are you there?" She knew that voice - the aunt and guardian to one of her more troubled students, Anastasia. She'd been having meetings with both her and her niece together about Anastasia's progress in class, to develop a progression plan and keep her on track. Today, they were finally going to see if the plan worked.

"Just a minute Miss Waterflower!" She called, hurriedly moving the paper piles out of the way as Muma cleared a path to the door. Her partner pokemon levitated Anastasia's aptitude test into Fuyumi's hands.

"Thank you so much, Muma." She blew a kiss as she opened the door, "Excuse the mess!"

[eveistdiepommes]

Classes Start !

“World Academy is like… suuuuper prestigious! Everyone who goes there is either at the top of their class, or they had the money to get in! Either way, you’re surrounded by brilliance no matter which hallway you turn down!”

Hiiiiiieeeee everyone!! Welcome to my newest AU! If you couldn’t tell, it’s a College AU! I’ve been struggling recently with making art, but yesterday something clicked and I started doodling tons and tons and this was the result! Safe to say, my art block is at bay for now!! I started doodling for this AU because I wanted to tweak my art style a bit and because I just wanted a universe where lighthearted, funny things might happen! And as I drew and drew, I started thinking up more lore, more character backstories, and just having a ball thinking of all the characters’ dynamics! So, welcome to World University!

(Character bios and info below!)

Feliciano is quite brilliant in his own unique way, as Lovino knows and as Ludwig will find out. Feliciano has the amazing ability to draw what he sees photorealistically, and his brain seems to be able to break down architecture to its finest detail. His paintings are breathtaking, his skills are unmatched, no wonder he earned a scholarship! Ludwig, who was so sure of who he was, starts to question everything after returning a blueprint the elusive Feliciano had dropped. Ludwig comes from a very prestigious family, a family of winners, a family of business. So of course, he is to follow in his father’s footsteps, just like his older brother is. But… What if he… doesn’t want to do that? What if he wanted to explore other ideas, other concepts, where nothing is concrete and everything is colorful? It’s scary… not being sure… But he is sure of one thing! Feliciano is quite beautiful.

It’s a hassle to deal with his brother though! Calloused and on guard, Lovino is always there to speak up on his younger sibling’s behalf, maybe a bit too much. Lovino just gets worried, as their family does not come from money. He doesn’t need some rich assholes picking on his brother like kids did in middle and high school! Working as a model, Lovino is starting to gain attention, which means more money to support him and his brother. And he is just fine with this. He never thought this would be his profession, but he can’t deny, it is a big confidence boost!

Arthur was never a fan of his parents. They pressured the hell out of his older brothers, and then they turned their sights on him. Their pressure was harder on him though, as it wasn’t just to do well, but to do well and be “ladylike.” Safe to say, as soon as Arthur escaped to college he completely abandoned what they had taught him, finally cutting his hair, finally dressing how he wanted, finally living how he wanted to live. And when they came to visit one year, and saw the changes he had made, they were furious. One thing led to another, and Arthur lashed out, declaring that he was dropping out of college to pursue what he wanted to pursue. And he soon learned that his parents had cut him off from their funds completely, leaving him stranded in the town.

Francis is idolized around the school, mostly by other fashion students. Many have confessed their crushes to him, only to be met with a chuckle and gentle rejection. No one understands him! In the years before, he hadn’t been so reserved, flirting freely with peers and what not. But something has changed, and sometimes, people have seen him at some grungy joint where the scene is way too sketchy and the music is way too loud. After Arthur got off stage, it was Francis’ cue to follow him. He heard something curious the other day, something he wanted to ask Arthur. So, meeting him out back, Arthur scolded him for sneaking up on him. And through a game of mental chess, Francis had learned that what he heard was true; Arthur had no safe place to sleep. He decided then and there, Arthur would be going back to his dorm, even if he had to sneak him and that obnoxious guitar case in.

Kiku could relate to being pressured. It was a hassle just for his family to let him choose illustration as his major. But once he was set, he was achieving what was expected of him, he excelled. That was, until two years in he got sick. See, Kiku has a very weak immune system, it had given him issues in his childhood, and now it seemed such conditions were back to haunt him. After taking a year off, he’s been struggling to get back to the top. His anxiety has risen, his focus seems to be dwindling. Arthur helps him study, and what a kind and noble thing to do. But some days, he just needs to let off steam and go to the arcade to set a new high score on one of the many rhythm games. What he was never expecting… was to be challenged by the human embodiment of the sun.

Ivan had lived a quite solitary life until now. Even when he started college, many did not seem interested in being his friend, maybe because of his intimidating stature, or his accidentally off color comments. But when he dances, he frees his mind from any troubles, completely absorbed in the music. One would never guess from his height and build how easily he can float through the air, and it’s quite exhilarating to watch! Well, according to Yao! The ever energetic Yao met Ivan in a class they shared, and for the first time in his life, Ivan had been approached with a beaming smile and sparkling eyes. Yao was innocently curious of Ivan’s diet and workout regiment, exclaiming how cool he looked unabashedly. This made Ivan’s face red! He had never been fussed over, his sisters didn’t count!

Alfred heard all about Ivan from Yao, becoming excited at the prospects of more friends! Alfred seemed like he was the polar opposite of Ivan in the friendship regards. Almost anyone at the university could easily find themselves talking to Alfred, he was just that personable! But Alfred didn’t have many close friends. He had his twin Matthew of course, and he had Yao and Ludwig, but that was it! No one really stuck around beyond small talk. Maybe that’s why he went out of the way to climb through a forming crowd in the arcade one day to see just who had all eyes on them? He wanted attention too, you know? To say he was surprised would be an understatement. The guy his eyes landed on playing the game was like expert level good! Being the cocky guy he is, he couldn’t help but offer a challenge, even if he was sure he’d lose. That guy was just too cool! He wanted to be closer!

Matthew has struggled in school in the past. It’s not that he doesn’t understand, it’s just that he could never get the words out to explain his understanding. Oral presentations were living hell, as was socializing and trying to fit in. But with his twin brother’s help, Matthew got through high school and made his way into college. The change of pace was rough at first, often resulting in meltdowns from not comprehending what he felt he should be comprehending. His grades were excellent, and his love for nature and the arctic were always very apparent… maybe even too apparent. See, that’s what he couldn’t comprehend still; he couldn’t socialize. Alfred talked to people so easily, but Matthew struggled greatly. He knew from a child he had selective mutism, but it seemed that even when he wanted to speak, he’d choke! His palms would get clammy, he’d start collapsing in on himself. And then the dreaded day came where he had to give an oral presentation… in college. If it weren’t for his white haired peer, he surely would have gotten a bad grade. But miraculously, with Gilbert, he started finding his voice.

Gilbert does not care what his parents expect from him. He doesn’t care what anyone expects from him, well, except for maybe one person… But either way, Gilbert is a completely free spirit, doing what he wants and making his own way! He’s a class clown, often cracking jokes at the expense of the professors, but when he heard that soft little giggle cut through the crowd, his interest was definitely piqued. He attempted to speak to Matthew after that, being met with a stumbling, awkward response, which was somehow even more endearing. Gilbert learned quickly through Ludwig, who was told by Alfred, of Matthew’s past, his struggles in socialization, and his lonely habits. How could anyone not love talking to him? He had a bear fact for every conversation! What is there not to like? Gilbert was quickly becoming attached.

[teecupangel]

Hiiii teecup!! How are you? Hope you're doing great, or ok at least :3c

Alrighty so I've been craving EziDes lately but I'm too busy to do anything and I have too many ideas so here it goes!

Childhood friends to lovers (god I'm such a massive sucker for this trope)

Now, I have a little bit of plot for this one, cuz this idea have been stuck in my head since 2023 🧍

Okok so it starts like usual. Desmond dies, isu bullshit, time travel, and he face plants right into Renaissance Italy. ALSO he got de-aged, maybe into his 6-7 year old self (I want them to meet pretty early in there lives :'3)

He wanders around for a while not really knowing what to do until a grumpy old lady sees him and how pathetic he looks and decides to hire him to work as her butler/caretaker (or something along those lines I don't really know at this point :'D)

And the lady's rich, not like filthy rich but rich enough. She's been living by herself for years and never got married or have any children (which I'm sure is frowned upon back then) and she's really grumpy, like 40 year old guy who just got home from a hard day of work kind of grumpy.

And most people find her very unpleasant and leaves her alone. So it was strange, downright disturbing to see a kid running around her estate doing chores and having conversations with her.

But anyways Desmond starts living with her, but he's plotting and scheming.... To save the Auditores and take care of the isu bs of course :D.

Desmond didnt plan on meeting with Ezio because he didn't want to mess up the timeline more than he already has...... and then Ezio come waltzing into life.

I don't have any clear idea of how the two would meet but it's I imagine it as extra cute :3c

Desmond is mature for his age..... A bit too mature and he's knows things that most children shouldn't,. All in all he's an odd kid.

Like mistress, like caretaker am I right ¯\_( ͡❛ ͜ʖ ͡❛)_/¯

Desmond cares about Ezio very much, everyone can see that, and he gets Ezio out of trouble. They're always together, rarely to be seen without the other.

On Desmond's busier days (when he have too many chores to go out) Ezio would come to the lady's estate to chat with him and even help him with some of his chores. He stays out of trouble when Desmond's not with him.... But sometimes he just can't help himself lol.

The lady and Desmond develop a parent child bond and judges people together.

And the rest is up to you because my brain is jelly. (You can name the lady. I don't have any ideas on it LMAO)

(You can also make her an important character or not, I just love her too much to cut her out of the plot)

(SHE ALSO HAD A GIRLFRIEND THAT SHE WANTED TO RUNAWAY WITH BUT SHE DIED AND NOW THAT'S WHY SHE'S GRUMPY ALL THE TIME. Do what you want with this info :3c)

(this turned from an EziDes ask to the lady lore dump, apologies)

I’m doing alright. It’s been a busier month than I expected hahahaha

So, for this one, I’m imagining Desmond’s mistress (as he likes to call her) / adoptive mother to be a collector of sort. Making her a collector of the art seems a bit too easy so we’ll pick something a bit eccentric.

She collects dolls.

Dolls aren’t all that popular during that time and, even when they were, the dolls that is more or less considered ‘acceptable’ are dolls describing the nativity and other religious centered dolls.

But she collects ‘strange’ dolls from foreign lands.

This gives us an excuse for Desmond to speak in other languages, sometimes talking on her behalf to foreign merchants who shows her dolls that she may purchase on a whim.

She knows how to speak some of the languages and it’s not like Desmond knows all the languages as well but she prefers to let Desmond do the talking with merchants she hasn’t dealt with before. (the whole “let’s see if they start talking shit about me because they think I don’t understand them” is a common setup between them)

She and Desmond also like to talk in foreign languages when they want to fuck with other people. They rarely badmouth anyone, talking about the most benign thing while their tone and body language can be misunderstood.

She also only speak in foreign languages when the Auditore boy visits. She calls him ‘Desmond’s boy toy’ or some other equivalent of that and Desmond can’t even tell her that he’s so wrong because then he’d have to explain why he knows that word in the first place.

Their home is filled with dolls of different origin and make. Some are even dolls so old Desmond feels like they should be in a museum in the future.

Ezio doesn’t really like entering their home because he feels like the dolls are watching his every move.

He’s pretty sure that the house is haunted.

Desmond doesn’t help the entire thing because, yeah, he also thinks the house is haunted.

To fuck with Ezio, he tells him that someone died in the house and she still haunts its hallways.

Desmond doesn’t know but someone did die in the house. The lady’s grandfather who used to make wooden dolls for her to play with. That’s where her fascination with dolls started.

She also commissions artists to make her dolls and no one knows where she got her money.

It became normal to see Ezio Auditore with the eccentric old lady’s ward(?)/adopted son(?)/secret grandchild(???) when he’s out for his chores. Ezio Auditore learning how to pick the best vegetables or meat was not something anyone had on their bingo card.

This is a super slow burn kind of deal for EziDes because Ezio started out as thinking of Desmond as his super smart and mature best friend while Desmond started out thinking of Ezio as someone he looks up to and wants to protect.

Really, the old lady is the one who clocked in that yeah, these two are gonna fall in love with one another because that was how her love life started.

Best friends to…

Well…

She just hoped his ending was a happy one.

(If you let me name her, Imma name her Renne and she'll spend most of her time teasing Desmond about his 'nonexistent' love life)

[rockanroller]

i actually watched the first two episodes and i just gotta say they left me feeling just kinda…meh?

beautiful BGs, props to the animators and designers, some really good character acting.

but the plot flow… was so… empty? yeah, they packed in a lot of exposition and character intros but to the point there was little room for you to like…sit with the info, laugh, or enjoy a moment before having to listen for the next piece of lore or story point. not to mention some of the lore was straight up confusing.

some shots gave enough pause, just overall it felt very like… bloated/rushed/one thing and then the next with no real interest or entertainment taking place inbetween (to me) if that makes sense?

i can see how less critical folks that are attached to the characters would enjoy this though. but of course it leaves the question of how would this experience be for fresh new audiences who *don’t* know all the lore?

ironically Adam had me dying. i was not expecting to laugh at him after reading his various lines showing a misogynistic douche but the way they were executed slayed me—though tbf i suspect it was due to the ep already had worn me down combined with his first batch of lines being more “Preppy Jock Thinks He’s Cool But He’s Clearly A Dumbass” vibes to me, then of course the misogyny trickled in and it was like ok jerk villain got it.

other occasional moments gave me a chuckle i can admit as much.

Katie Killjoy was awful. to me she was completely out of place with Brandon’s voice, that was just…him. she only had a few lines so who knows if she’ll show up and they felt it was fine for a one-time gag—idk we’ll see.

Valentino… …bro… his accent was all over the place… i couldn’t even tell what it was “supposed” to be until he delivered some pre-song lines but until that he was slipping between accents i couldn’t place, back to a flat American “Just Some Guy” accent then back to a deeper accented voice that I couldn’t place…woof, just odd.

Angel’s trauma felt sudden/forced in like a lot of things in the episodes did.

the whole redeeming sinners thing i felt wasn’t executed great either, i had a hard time understanding Charlie’s outlook as it was shown in the episodes. and her values? she literally **applauds** Sir Pentious for his performance in a growth exercise for declaring that he will not do drugs and he will wait to have sex until after marriage, and Angel Dust is standing right there like…girl what?

does Charlie believe that shit or is she just going by what she thinks will get sinners into heaven? it’s unclear. she also seems generally off-put and disturbed by several of the sinners in the Happy Day In Hell song that she allegedly wants to redeem so badly/cares so much about so…what does she see in them?

idk, thems my first impressions. opinions subject to change.

[artist-heart83]

What if… Axol was the villain since the beginning?

It’s me again, this is gonna be a fun read for all of you, seeing me saying a lot of stuff about the blue mario show hehehe

Okay so. A little bit of context. I tend to read the wiki page for looking some info

and to see if I miss out something ‘cause I didn’t understand some stuff after finishing the cosmology lore lmao

Anyways, I was reading Axol page when I found out this:

And oooh boy do I was surprised after reading that

At first, I wasn’t that sold of the idea when I read it, but idk, maybe the fact that they’re cutting the power three times at the day and be alone with my thoughts, I come up with something

So, wanna see me make this pathetic (affectionate) axolotl a villain? Well you’re here, so I suppose that is that a yes

Let’s start with some build up!

One of the ways to introduce something to your audience, is doing it subtlety, like: “hey this guy is gonna be important later”

And I wanna do that with Axol, this guy is a famous manga artist and I need to introduce him in little bits considering his importance later on in the anime arc

And then I think: “which character could be the one that… oh shit right, Boopkins” JAJJSJSJS

So yeah! Boopkins is the one that talk about this famous manga artist, his idol and one of his biggest inspirations when is come to drawing (because yeah I see this little guy as an artist) just like in little bits something that you said: “oh maybe is not that important” or “holy shit what are they planning”

Anime Arc

Major changes during the Japan Trip episode. During the trip, Boopkins knows that Axol is the signing stuff/meet up and Boopkins is actively looking where he is

Boopkins is talking about the cool stuff that Axol do and in between that he talk about the Inkweaver and that grab their attention and Saiko comes out with the idea that if their ask Axol to use the Inkweaver to bring anime characters to life and show the amazing world of anime

Once they find Axol, they tried to ask for help but he ignored them and once he finished signing all the stuff

He then leaves and the gang proceeds to chase him until they to get to his apartment. They try to find a way to get his attention, so Bob throwing a rock to his window, which obviously works and makes Axol angry, until he notices Saiko and ask them how they bring an anime character to their world

Boopkins explain the how, but that not important, because they need his helps to unban anime in Mushroom Kingdom, tell their plan, but he still refuses and probably couldn’t help them because the Inkweaver need more ink to make their plan work and for give more power to the characters, inkling ink to be specific (for a unknown reason, but they don’t question it much), they say that in their home place they have an inkling friend and that makes Axol accept help them

Now you’re wondering: “but Heart, the Inkweaver to bring characters to life depend of the quality of the ink, why would be need inkling ink since the beginning and to work perfectly?” Well I obviously forgot that, but I found an alternative way for the Inkweaver to work, being the main source inkling ink that he (mysteriously) gets ”Why do you mean by that?” Wait and see :)

Now to The Mario Showdown! Once they got to Mushroom Kingdom, Axol was in hurry to do unban the anime and get back to Japan, but Meggy wants to get back their weapons now, that was the top priority. Axol obviously couldn’t say no or protest, because he needs the inkling, so he decided to help her

I mean I wouldn’t change anything for the rest of the episodes, they go the same way as the original, but I can tell you that Axol personality is very different from the original.

We can call villain!Axol cocky, arrogant, prideful and with a HUGE ASS EGO, whatever you prefer, but the idea is that the crew find him somehow annoying, except Boopkins, he is just blind by he admiration that he has for Axol and he is just happy to had his idol here

But things get a big turn when Meggy disappears, not knowing what could happen to her, until they crew have the realization: “shit did the axolotl captures her?” Which the answer is aaaaaa…

Axol captures Meggy as well as other inkling to get a lot of ink for a long time, because why miss this perfect opportunity now that he is in Inkopolis

That right baby! Axol usually gets ink for the Inkweaver in sketchy ways, buying it in some sort of black market or kidnapping inklings to get their ink, his plan since he created the Inkweaver was using as a source the ink from the people that made fun of him and this was a great revenge for him, make them suffer directly or indirectly

Everything goes as the original episodes just with a few changes, Francis is not the villain for this arc (obviously), how Desti die and the what happened with Axol since he took Francis place (and by this I mean, what happened to Axol in this scenario, because Francis is dead)

Desti death was more as a sacrifice, trying to get an unconscious Meggy out of the Ink Zuccer. Everyone grab and inkling and start leaving the place before it gets destroyed.

Once Desti get Meggy out, she grab her and the two try to catch the crew, when they manage to get closer is when the two fall into a hole, but Desti manages to throw Meggy, saving her (doomed yuri everyone)

Axol manage to escape and is never see it again, until a long time. Everyone hates him, the crew and even his fans because this accident was quickly in the news, he just accepted his faith and really don’t care, he did what he did.

Post Anime Arc

Moment of realization to me be like: “this was the moment that she knew, she fuck out” Jk jk jk, I mean I do have an idea. Redemption arc yep yep yep

This could be start in the Treasure Hunt and Lost City episodes, when Mario, Bob and Boopkins spot him and Bob is ready to throw hands with him, at that moment they overheard him talking about the Lost City of Gold so they start following him and saving his ass (not because they cared, they need him alive to get to the city)

Once they get to the city Axol realizes that he was being followed and gets pissed, before Bob decided to fight him, they were stop by the Teletubbies and to not get captured pretend to be gods.

Everything goes like the episode just with changes for Axol, one of them being a moment when him and Boopkins goes to find the Inkweaver and they chat (well, Boopkins do it), trying to understand why he did all of that (referring to his actions on the anime arc) because he hurt inklings and even one of his friends, but Axol just answered: “inklings hurt me in the past, not hard feelings with your friend. Just bad luck to her to be the same species that I hate with all my soul” (edgy ass bitch)

I could give episodes only dedicated to Axol struggling financially and trying to find ways to get money (maybe Boopkins helps him, because he is the only one that doesn’t hate him that much) and ended up working for Smg4 to help him with his videos, something like that

My idea is after Axol villain arc he starts slowly getting redeemed, not quickly or even forget him him easily, more like doing his redemption step by step and not gaining the crew trust that easily.

Probably Genesis and Revelations go with a different route, maybe I could rewrite Melony between these lines, maybe. I could do a part two with ideas for those arcs

Villain!Axol probably during Genesis:

And that would be everything, I guess. I mean I missing stuff but I run out of ideas and other ideas need more elaboration. Probably Axol ended up being a recurring character after his redemption, but yeah my point is not killing him

Next week I could do some drawings related to this because the ideas are there, the problem is I don’t have power and drawing in my phone feels uncomfortable (skill issue)

Anyways what you guys think? :)

[trashcanwithsprinkles]

hii i recently started reading your work, cyanide narwhal, and am honestly really hooked! i love your characterization so much and find the story you built around the lore really, really interesting!

i’m not deeply familiar with the intricacies of the lore in genshin impact, but i’ve been fascinated by it for a while—and reading your story made me realize how much depth i was missing out on…is there any sources or ways you can reccomend as a primer/introductory to genshin lore? i really want to learn more and understand the theories better! thank youuu

aaa thank you! and this is actually a really interesting question

obviously my first thought was just play the world quests and pay attention, but not only is the info in the world quests sometimes incomplete, but i understand perfectly that some people just skimmed the dialogue at best and now cannot replay them but the fact of the matter is that the best way to get into some parts of the lore is via the world quests

still, there's plenty of people on youtube who do timeline and lore recaps without theories - as in, just telling you the lore that one can learn from the quests in a more streamlined manner. they're always a great choice!

there's also the artifact and material lore, which does usually contain a lot of info, but is usually kinda cryptic. the good thing about those is that you're not locked out of reading them, so as long as you have the necesary pieces, you can just go into the in-game archives and read up there. as with the world quests, though, there's also plenty of people on youtube doing full analyses on the lore of those

i think once you have a rough idea of some of the relevant names and lorebits, that while daunting at first, the wiki's timeline page is rather helpful when it comes to trying to get the bigger picture of when exactly everything happened in relation to other things. reading the little annotations and notes they put on where they got their info and when they've had to make extra calculations for some things' placements also goes a long way.

once you've started to understand more of the out-of-the-way lore, going to theorists is also a great way to catch the more interesting ways this game is built. as in- real-world references and inspirations.

because telling you 'oh you can find it on youtube' still sort of leaves you having to figure out how to even look for it, here's a little list of the youtubers whose videos i've watched at least once for these things. not a comprehensive list of course, but from there some of them shout each other out and you can navigate the recommended section for more videos, so!

as with all things lore-related in this game, keep in mind when the videos were made in relation to the game's patch version. the ones that are more just strict lore read-throughs are less vulnerable to later patches sort of- changing some of the context? (looking at you remuria) but still. and obviously theory videos are even more dependant on that. so:

for lore analysis (most of these are strictly just the lore with little speculation, but there's probably some extrapolation here anyway): - Ashikai has a great beginner's guide series on region lore, but it only covers up to sumeru so far. still, might be a great place to start! there's also some quest recaps and lore details here and here - Francis Lee Arthur has a great series of very concise videos of world quest recaps, though they sadly don't have mondstadt and liyue quests, and only a handful of inazuma quests. still, they're great videos, and there's a ton of sumeru and fontaine quests (and one chenyu vale quest i think) - SiliconOneFour has a bunch of videos on artifact and weapon lore, and some recent ones on stuff like the remuria timeline, mondstadt's aristocracy, the history of the temple of silence, etc - KlemenTime has a bunch of videos on pieces of lore that aren't really laid out explicitly on world quests, but that you sort of learn through exploration? idk how to describe it. they also have artifact lore, and while not in the playlist, if you go to their profile they also have some more borad sumeru and natlan timeline videos - Minsleif has archon quest and world quest recaps, along with other lorebits. there's also their massive 1-min reel lorebit video collection on much shorter things

for theories (some of these have a mix of lore+theory videos so i'm putting them here bc i wanted ot keep the 'just the facts' videos to the section above): - Ashikai is my favorite theory nerd in the community so forgive the bias, but there's the incredible project:teyvat series and the world structure series, which are two massive theories about the way teyvat as a world functions. i think you might want to save these ones for after you've familiarized yourself with the lore. other than that, there's plenty of other theories to sift through (though bear in mind these are ALL the theories, so there's project:teyvat and world structure stuff here? but the titles will help you know which they are if you want to save them for later) - The Laughing Man has a ton of videos on lore and theory/speculation on like- a ton of stuff, along with character analyses - roozevelt has a bunch of videos on lore and theories, mostly revolving around the traveler and khaenri'ah, but there's plenty of other stuff there also - My Name For Now has a very interesting massive khaenri'ah theory, theories on the descenders, on the elemental system, and a bunch of other lore theory videos - Minsleif does have theories also (but i personally can't remeber if i've ever watched one. still, they're there if you want to check them out!) - Wei has theory videos that look like shitposts and sometimes feel like shitposts, but god, there's some interesting stuff there. i wouldn't know how to even describe it though, most of it is traveler related but still (also this is a general theories playlist, but like all their theories are from genshin with the exception of one jjk theory so like- i mean yeah, just letting you know why that's there lmao)

And here's the wiki's timeline page

so uhhhh yeah! hope you have fun if you decide to watch any of the videos from anyone there. of course there's probably a lot of other theorists and recap channels, but these are the ones i've watched at least once, so, pick and choose which ones you like best. have fun!

TL;DR: you can still access a bunch of lore in-game via the artifacts, weapons, and weapon materials, and any world quests you might not have played yet. but since i recognize that's a daunting task and the info is scattered and incomplete and confusing, watching video recaps might be the way to go. Ashikai's beginners guides are great introductions and refreshers, and there's plenty of videos to catch up on world quests or to have someone explain artifact and weapon lore to you

[oh-my-may]

I'm still alive omg!

Lots of irl things happening atm, BUT I managed to play through Penacony 2.2 (stretched over 3 days, no less)

Woah. Just ... woah. So much happening, so many characters interacting, so much lore, IT WAS GOING ON FOREVER but I loved it nonetheless. Of course they had to make the finale of Penacony long and epic.

FIRST OF ALL I KNEW IT! I TOLD Y'ALL!!! Literally in my post about 2.1 I talked about how Misha definitely has some close connection to Mikhail/the Watchmaker. I suspected him to be a child of his or something but the actual thing was close enough, I guess. My sweet boy. I love him. Mikhail being a Nameless was so cool. I'm really glad we're finally getting more lore and info about Akivili and previous Nameless, but I feel this was only the beginning.

I'm still madly in love with Sunday and Acheron. Robin is such a cutie too. I'm not gonna pull for her because I need my savings for Mr. Boothill and then Jade but I'll try and pull for her on a rerun. Sway to My Beat in Cosmos is such a banger. Caught myself constantly singing "riiise into my wooorld" (ofc much worse than the one and only lol)

On the topic of Boothill... my god. Love him. The way they can't make him swear so they just make him say??? Whatever??? Whose idea was that 💀 mother loving instead of mother fucking?? What the fork?? Wubbaboo?? I would die for this man. He looks so hot too. Again I have to say that HSR never misses with male character design. THEY'RE ALL SO PRETTY.

On the topic of pretty men... SUNDAY. My little radicalized bird man. I cackled when Sparkle called him chicken boy. She's just a hater, love her for that. Serious question... is he straight up dead now? I have only played the main quest so far so in case it'a mentioned somewhere in game don't spoil me but if it's not... tell me will I get to see him as a playable character... pls...

The whole thing with Ena the Order was so interesting to see. The fact that they made Order so similar to Harmony... AEON LORE. Love it. Resurrecting an Aeon is possible, you say? Kind of? The way they make Sunday'a motives understandable... he's just a boy

So I had the feeling that facing the boss Dominicus was a bit too easy the first time around. Wdym he has only one phase. I should have known there was more to it. Nevertheless loved to see IL and Jing Yuan cameo. They slayed (literally)

But then the eerie feeling I got when Black Swan talked to us on the Express... the way she makes us question everything that happened... GENIUS. I did kind of get flashbacks to Sumeru act II. The line between dream and reality, who is dreaming, what happens outside of the dream, the repetition of events... not critiquing or hating, but the concepts were just similar to me and I liked it :) Penacony just put a different twist to it.

The final fight was still very cool. The several toughness bars to break is really interesting, and the fact that you get a shield value the more bars you break. Also the Astral Ecpress literally crashing into Sunday??? I barely realized what I had just watched ghe first time around. Idk why, but the concept is hilarious to me. And the question remains... is Sunday dead now??? What about Robin?? Are they both dead??

Aventurine isn't dead either?? What about the present that Sparkle gave out to several people? What was it and what did it do? Is there smth I don't remember about that rn? Did I miss it? Also if Robin didn't actually die, how come we saw her body? If she just got transported to Dreamflux Reef, then there wouldn't have been a body, right? ALSO is Firefly dead too? She didn't make an appearance throughout the second part after we see her leave and she talked abput the way that the script said she would die 3 times in Penacony... I'm so eternally confused. It's part of the reason I think there's still gonna be more in the next patch... They're not gonna give us playable Firefly without at least a Story Quest for her, right? And Jade, too? She had one appearance in a throwback during the story, the Trailblazer hasn't interacted with her in person yet so the IPC probably hasn't finished their business with Penacony yet?

And since I mentioned Trailblazer... HARMONY MC??? LOOKS SO GOOD? LOVE THE MOVES?? THE HAT? The Significance of it had me 😭😭 my MC obsession ks back y'all. He looks so good. Caelus ily. The silly little dance with Clockie 😭 Can't wait to build him, I heard Harmony MC is really good.

I also briefly have to mention my girl Acheron. So they've literally just casually confirmed that she's Raiden Mai? I actually don't know what Bosenmori means or it's significance BUT RAIDEN MEI. And her whole flashback with Tiernan... I had my suspicions about his identity but the reveal was interesting, anyway. I've got the feeling this is not the last we've seen of Acheron. I never played HI3rd far enough to fully understand Raiden Mei's story, but I'm really intrigued with the whole thing. How come her and Welt exist in noth universes, how did they end up in HSR and what's their motive?

One thing I'm also still hung up on is the Annihilation Gang... no more mention of them? We don't get any real eyplanation as to why Acheron killed Duke Inferno? No little animation of the scene? I'm guessing it's gonna play a role later? The reason they talked about it is probably to tell us that Acheron was dangerous but like... idk what to think of it. No question the other members of the Gang are gonna appear later and maybe then we'll get more background? But if they don't play a large role in Penacony, why introduce them to the players prior to it in such a grand way?

Anyway, I judt have lots of questions still but no doubt the game is gonna answer them when the time is right... I had a really good time playing the quest, went through a whole lot of emotions during it, fell in love with even mlre characters... the new maps are GIGANTIC and look so cool and let me just say rhe music was so so epic too. Can't wait for the OST for this to get released.

I also wanna mention here (outside of discusaions about the story) is that having a fully leveled Acheron with pretty decent relics paired with a tank Aventurine feels like playing the game on easy mode. Nothing can penetrate a fully def stacked Aventurine, and Acheron's damage is straight up insane. Gonna take a while before I get tired of using them. They helped me clear basically all Stage V of every SU World I hadn't done yet... legends.

Now we wait for Boothill... The grip that Hunt characters have on me is unbelievable. Meta wise I know I should invest in Harmony characters... Ruan Mei or Robin but... HAVE YOU SEEN BOOTHILL? HAVE YOU???

Alright, that's it for now. Really excited to dive into exploration and events and quests of the new maps. Might post a little about it.. or maybe not. I still have to tell you about my thoughts on the Arlecchino quest and Remuria exploration, I began a post about that and never got around to finishing it.

As always, have some cool screenshots from the story!

[nalyra-dreaming]

as a solely show-interactor, what is the most important info someone would need to know going into season two if they wanted a little more background or understanding (or just, lore depth)? <33

Hey dear!

Soooo spoiler free?! :)

Lestat had his reasons to warn of the European vampires...

These vampires have history with each other

Not all of them will make it out alive

I will add a few more things under the cut, but beware that these are explicit spoilers. (I mean, since you are on my blog you probably read a few already^^, but... just in case.) I'm listing the spoilers here which will very likely come into play next season, since they were already hinted at/mentioned in season 1:

Not all vampires possess the "spark" after turning, there are those who do not quite make it, and who are little more than mindless monsters, they are called revenants in the books

Lestat and Armand have history. Lestat destroyed Armand's cult (The Children of Satan) back then, after his turning, more or less because he defied their rules. Armand got the theater from Lestat, who had been an actor there in his mortal life. Nicolas, who is Lestat's lover and second fledgling, goes mad after turning (he was depressed before, and he had been kidnapped and tortured by Armand and his cult) and is left in Armand's care. Armand later cuts off Nicolas' hands in an attempt to control him, and Nicolas goes into the fire.

Armand is Marius' fledgling. Marius is a 2000 year old vampire, who was also turned against his will. Marius and Armand were separated by the Children of Satan, and Armand was broken by them to join their cult, and ultimately became the leader of the Parisian coven.

Marius is a mentor for Lestat. Lestat seeks to find him after he leaves Paris (with Gabrielle, his turned mother(!), who is his first fledgling), and eventually finds him. Marius is also the keeper of "Those who must be kept", who are the first vampires, and must, as the designation says, be "kept" safe.

Marius extracts a promise from Lestat not to tell, or else, which is the main reason why he does not tell much while with Louis and Claudia.

Lestat goes to Armand for (promised) help, but instead Armand tortures him, forces him to testify against Claudia, and then throws him off a tower.

Armand (mind) controls Louis on several occasions, something Louis is aware of afterwards. Louis is also entombed while Claudia's execution happens, and he destroys the theater afterwards.

Armand conducts a medical experiment on Claudia and ultimately sends her out into the sun to burn, an event which is witnessed by Lestat and breaks him.

There are things in the cut-out/torn-out pages of the diaries which will in all likelihood come into play and will come with grave consequences.

Daniel is of bigger importance to Armand than might seem right now. He will become Armand's only fledgling.

Armand and Louis do love each other, despite Louis knowing Armand killed Claudia. Though there are long stretches of time where Louis is simply numb, or trying to numb himself, what we see in Dubai is likely after a series of other events.

These are the things that... might be most important, I guess. If anyone wants to add on, go ahead, but all the above things will come into play in some kind of fashion next season, as all the trailers/teaser/bts photos have shown.

The only thing might be that we will not yet see Gabrielle, and the details of Marius' and Lestat's relationship, but since they already mentioned "Those who must be kept"... :)

The theater is built on the "Grand Guignol" theater, a rather macabre theater indeed. Here is some more information.

There will be a very palpable shift in the tale now (there was in the book as well), and, no matter how they revisit (as they said) it's going to shift certain things. And Armand's POV of Lestat will be very interesting indeed.

[slashers-and-rats]

Hello! I hope you're having a wonderful day/night! You can ignore this if it's not your cup of tea!

Im hella adhd and I was wondering if you had any head cannons for slashers who have an s/o with adhd and how they react to things like loss of focus, forgetfulness, info dumping and/or hyper focus.

I'd like at least Thomas Hewitt but you can add who ever else you want!

a/n: I’m adhd too, don’t worry bby. i got you.

thomas hewitt with an s/o with ADHD :

thomas is someone that gets very focused on their work. whether he’s playing the role of butcher, or helping out around the property, he tries to stay pretty zoned in on whatever he’s doing. that’s mostly because he works with big sharp things 90% of the time, but that’s besides the point-

it took him some time getting used to you. don’t get him wrong, he was never frustrated or anything with you, it’s just that it was a different perspective he wasn’t accustomed to. where as he’d choose one thing to do at a time, he’d look over at you and see that you were juggling three different tasks at once, and yet hadn’t gotten a single done.

he was also new to having someone talk to him so much. while he’d be downstairs in the basement, carving some questionable meat into steaks and strips, you’d be sat right there with him, talking about your favourite show and going in depth on the lore.

he enjoyed it, though. he was much calmer and quiet than you, and you brought an energy to him that he couldn’t quite understand. something about how you ranted, and got so invested in things, and were always coming up with something new to do- he loved it. every day there was something else you were showing him. he got excited to see what you’d tell him about next.

overall, he just liked having someone excited to be around him and share in their life. every new hobby, every new thought, every thing you found interesting; he got to hear about these things. you chose to open up this way to him. he loved it. he loves you.

there were a few downsides. for example, you were quite forgetful. but, this was easily remedied. you two had started leaving notes for each other. you’d draw a little doodle and stick it to his axe or chainsaw or something before he began working, and thomas would ride short reminders about things you needed to get done that day.

if thomas knew you had something important to get done, he’d always make sure you did it. it didn’t matter what you were doing, if there was a deadline, you were meeting it. he wanted to be as helpful as possible with you. sometimes you’d be in the middle of procrastinating, and he’d come and throw you over his shoulder, whisking you off to finish whatever you needed to get done. but don’t worry, once you were finished, he’d make sure to shower you in affection for a job well done.

he knew sometimes you got very overwhelmed. he was new to that. especially since his house tended to be such an overwhelming place on its own. he had learned to zone it out, but you- you were new to it all. he often had to take you for breaks, sitting up in his room all alone while you relaxed against him and let yourself breathe. during these times he’d stroke your hair, and let you just vent about how you were feeling. he’d always try his best to listen and understand, and even help when he could.

he’s very supportive. he just wants you to be happy. you’re the only person that ever treated him this well, flaws and all, and so he wanted to do the same for you. whether it was the good, the bad, or the ugly, he was there for you. besides, to him, there was nothing wrong with you. you were perfect.

[wanderingblindly]

PLEASE give me rules of engagement director’s cut. i need it biblically

AAAAAH thank you!!!! I haven't gotten to talk about this fic before, I think, so let us commence the info dump <33333

The Origins

I've always been a fake dating trope fan, but I've never had an idea that made it feel like my story, you know? But I've always wanted to try!

While I was procrastinating on cleaning my apartment, I randomly thought of this dialogue, directly copied from my planning document:

“If we do this, we need to make some rules” “Max we live together, I’m sure it’ll be fine” “WE NEED RULES CHARLES”

My brain immediately latched on to it, and the fic was born like... two hours later hahah

My Favorite Bits

Ok so this is one of my favorite lines for the DUMBEST reason:

“Are women not…? Is it these women, or?” His voice sounded tight. They hadn’t discussed Max’s sexuality before. Actually, if Max thought about it, they never really discussed Charles’s, either. He was pretty sure Charles stayed the night at a few different women's’ flats during uni, but that was little more than speculation.  ... “That’s fine, of course. Anything is. Fine, I mean.” Charles stuttered, his cheeks still slightly pink.  “Doesn’t solve the problem though, does it?”

Was it vaguely inspired by BBC's Sherlock? Yes it was. Would anyone have noticed if I didn't confess to my sins? No.

More seriously, I also really enjoyed this little scene:

They always ate breakfast together.  Max always woke up first to get started on washing the fruit, and Charles always stumbled out of his bedroom in a state of total disarray about fifteen minutes later – hair sticking up, sweatshirt off one shoulder, pajama pants low across his hips, glasses nearly askew. They would eat breakfast together, Max happily talking about his to-dos and Charles diligently humming and nodding along as necessary. They’d get dressed, they’d walk out the door together. Max always locked it, Charles always lost his keys in the depths of his bag before he left the house.   It was easy and understandable. It was theirs. 

While the rest of the story, up until this point, has hinted at the routines baked into this domesticity, I loved how this scene used that to highlight why Max found the situation so alarming. They have a distinct rhythm -- an easy cadence that I tried to mimic in the very basic structure of the paragraph -- that's so noticeable when it's disturbed.

It also shows how much Max notices about Charles, even before he realizes why. To know someone well enough that even the slightest change in timing throws a red flag is just hmmmm I love it lol

And finally, one of my last favorite scenes:

“You’re still wearing your ring,” Max pointed out rather unhelpfully. Charles let out a bleak laugh, devoid of his usual eye-crinkling warmth.  “You picked it out for me,” He shrugged, leaving something unspoken in the air. Max didn’t do well with unspoken, with reading between the lines. He tried to breathe it into his lungs, find the meaning Charles left out. Speak it. 

The confession was just so full of "Max is trying his best and he doesn't entirely understand what he's done wrong but he'll do absolutely anything for him and Charles to just go back to the way it was before please please please". This line in particular highlights how much of this is Max desperately trying to understand what Charles really needs from him -- even though the answer ends up being nothing he expected.

Random Fun Lore

As always, this fic is full of random things from my actual life (for no real reason other than I'm unoriginal and boring). Some examples are:

Max's MD's summer party in the countryside: YES I have to go to this every year, YES I do get splashed by my coworkers, and YES there is far too much alcohol lol (although I do not partake like Max did but hey)

Full Recovery Mode: the very specific mug and the very specific tea that Max puts together for Charles is absolutely based on my real life (liter sized Japanese mug my beloved)

[val-of-the-north]

Wanted to pop in and just say thanks for all your hard work with lore posts! Elden Ring is such a tough game to get a grasp on, leaving so many things up to interpretation. But in the end, there are also things solidly backed by actual lore, and you do such a great job of referencing and adhering to that canon pretty objectively. We all have our biases when we read this info, which leads us into the realm of interpretation. But when posters like you go to lengths to outline canon lore with screencaps and images to back your interpretations up, it's not just helping me see how you reached a conclusion but also laying the info out clearly so I can decide if I agree with that conclusion.

There's a lot of info that gets missed or plain old ignored in favor of either villifying/woobifying characters depending on what people think of them. And then sometimes people make these huge leaps from A to B that are just mystifying and seem to be purely based on "this sounds good to me so it must be right". It's refreshing to see someone trying hard to just present the facts and go from there, without these leaps of faith and desire to change the characters in one direction or another. It's easy to think you're reading things objectively while still clearly interpreting everything with a certain bias that will paint your favs/unfavs in a better/worse light, so your more neutral efforts are a breath of fresh air!

Hey! That's very sweet to find in my inbox... I am glad people appreciate the way I write my lore posts. I strive to be very objective when I tackle these topics, so I am very glad it's noticeable. I still have room for improvement, I will not lie, but I am surely getting better and better! The use of more images in my claims is something I started to pick up on recently, though believe it or not, I used to do it a looooong time ago too, for sillier stories lol. Now they are here to stay though, and they provide a very neat way to space out posts too.

I am honestly really flattered with your words ahahahah. Characters are probably the hardest ones to keep a purely objective lens on, as I do have my own personal opinions and headcanons on them as well as certain events that involve them… regardless, I try my absolute best to not rely too much on those and simply on things I have structured those headcanons after.

Of course, depending on what the lore I am discussing is about, I will be focusing and highlighting particular aspects over others, because I can't make an entire character study every time one is needed. Things would get really bloated and not as understandable really fast! I also avoid fandom tropes like the plague unless I am purposefully making a meme lol. I do dislike when meme/flanderized versions of characters end up popping up in genuine lore analysis (like "absolutely worthless fool" Godrick and "completely irredeemable fiend" Miquella, but there are many more)

To conclude... thank you so much for this! It was certainly a breath of fresh air that I needed too eheh... but I guess since we are talking about lore posts, I could tease that the next thing I wanna tackle has to do with the soul and body in Elden Ring! It's a topic that has fascinated me for some time, and the DLC actually helped me piece together some stuff I had missed from base game! I will try to make it as good as it can possibly be!

[valictini]

Hey I came across your posts about the qsmp situation and although I absolutely understand your anger and dissapointment, things are not as easy as one might think. For one, Quackity Studios and Quackity himself are already in a legal procedure against the previous admins who stole money off the project, therefore, while it is still open, they legally cannot say much about the entire situation. We do not know how deep it actually goes, so there's that. Maybe at the beginning if it had all been resolved amicably it would have worked, but I find it hard to see.

The reason why those previous admins were not contacted, in my opinion, is because they 1. stepped away from the project, meaning, they do not form part of it currently, therefore they do not necessarily need to know everything that goes on in the administration and 2. as much as it does sound stupid there were a bunch of stuff here and there that these admins leaked, in fact, I remember being really weirded out because Lea in particular (no hate to her I empathize with her situation) was talking in Twitter about things that had nothing to do with her situation, like lore stuff, and that is a breach of trust in a person that they won't go to the public inmediatly, much more now that they've kinda gathered an audience by themselves. I do believe the ex-admins deserve closure, but I do think it should be well prepared, not empty promises, like saying "oh yeah we're gonna pay you" "well how much" "we still don't know" >> that would be a disaster, both PR and legally wise.

Hey, thanks for being cordial with your ask I appreciate it!

I'll put in in a read more because there's a lot ot unpack, and I'll try my best to explain why I don't think the studio ghosting ex employees is excusable.

First of all, i agree with your first point. I don't expect news from the legal procedures Quackity is having with the people who embezzled money from him. It's no one's business but his, and yeah, he doesn't have to share anything about that. Especially if it's legally binding.

Now, my problem is how the studio never contacted any of the victims (the ex employees). This is a separate issue altogether that has no link with the embezzlement issues. And should have been treated as much.

It is a workers' right issues.

The studio had 2 months and a lot of good faith on their side, but they didn't even ask for the victims' testimonies, despite being encouraged multiple times to do so by the french union. The amicable solution definetely was on the table, but by repeatedly ignoring all the warning signs, they've now put themselves in the situation where the only way to make them acknowledge their mistakes is probably going to be through legal procedures. And that is unfortunate, because again, everyone was willing to give them grace at the beginning.

Hell, with Quackity leaving the administration, they had a chance very recently to make this right, in a way that fans and ex employees would have probably been satisfied with. Something like, "the new administration seems to know what they're doing, i am willing to trust them". But they didn't.

And the argument that the admins that werent contacted have breached their trust by talking on twitter... is still not a good reason imo? Like, it started precisely because they werent heard in private. Sure, now the cats out of the bag and some ex admins are probably mentally blacklisted by the current admins, but it's still not right to ignore them.

People posting their testimonies in public is their right, and wouldn't have happened if, again, Qstudio had asked for them privately. Also, talking about behind the scenes info about past lore is just not that big of a deal to me. They're not spoiling any future lore or event. They're not breaking anything that wasn't already broken. But, yeah maybe in their minds, that's what's happening.

To me though, the trust argument falls completely flat when people who didn't do anything wrong (like Lumi or Ryan) have been ghosted. Especially Ryan who is still supposed to be working for Qstudio. Are they fired? Are they still in but ghosted? These are questions no one should have to ask.

And to me, there are ways to keep contact with the admins without making empty promises. The message I wrote in my precedent post was, to me, not an empty promise, but here is the more professional version: we want you there and appreciate the role you had in the project, but we realistically don't know if we'll be able to keep you there. We'll be in contact in the future if the opportunity to get you back in presents itself, but for now, we have to consider you not part of the project anymore.

Yes, it's harsh, yes, this would have made the fans mad if shared in public, but its more honest and to the point than being ghosted.

Finally, I do understand that my posts might have been more angry than usual, and im sorry if I've made people feel bad in any way, but I never maintag these posts for a reason. All I hope is that the people who want to still enjoy the QSMP take care of themselves and don't go through the negative tags.

[sirenjose]

Your thoughts on the Identity Switch

Thanks to you…. I now really like Norton. I used to hate him because I have a vendetta against people taller than my 4’11 self but now I love him.

on another note, what are your thoughts on the Identity switch system? Looking more into Norton’s background specifically makes me wonder why Norton gets a hunter form. What does this represent? I know that there’s a lot of drugs involved but I always interpreted it as them unlocking a new personality or smth, one more attune to following the manor’s games and supervising it (hunter) and like the other just trying to leave (survivor). I’ve been so interested in Norton’s lore lately that now I’m in an existential rabbit hole in how survivors get hunter forms, why that is, and if it’s like some sort of curse or punishment. Why are these survivors getting hunter forms?

soooo many questions, IK. But like reading your theories and analysis at 3Am is my serotonin. As a new player purely interested in the game for its lore I am just excited to know more but can’t wrap my head around all these weird concepts cause, again, I’m new. Also if I spend the next hour reading more of your analysis I will not sleep so therefore I need to preface my curiosity with a timed endeavor. My question probably do3snt make sense but like uhhh yeaaaaa. You should totally make something on your thoughts on identity switch (especially for the survivors gone hunters) cause I am too far in deep into the Norton-Campbell-Fool’s-Gold-Alternate-personality rabbit hole.

I’ve never done the questioning thingy before so sorry if this is not how it works. G’day!

Ah, it makes me happy to think a nobody like me can turn your thinking around on someone. Especially Norton since he was 1 of the main reasons I got started with the lore at all. I'm someone who usually plays a game based on how interesting the story or characters are, so I was interested in learning about idv's lore soon after I joined (had to take quite awhile to figure out the basics of the game and what all the various buttons were, then take some more time to get used to it before I could even get started with the lore). Was the main reason why I went looking to join places like Discord or Reddit, just so I could find people talking about the story.

Started by just understanding what I could about what people said, but then I eventually moved on to trying to understand at least the basics of everyone's backstories (once again, took me awhile to do that ^_^; Especially as I joined before we were getting all that much story at all). While I was doin this, I heard a lot of people saying bad stuff about some character named Norton. Have to admit I didn't know who he was for quite awhile. Wasn't in my radar. Can't even say I cared much for him. But I eventually got to the point where I basically decided I wanted to see if I could determine if Norton really was that bad or not (maybe as a challenge to myself, maybe because I wanted to find out myself rather than just hearing other's opinions, or maybe because I failed to find anything really in-depth about him).

That analysis took a ridiculous amount of time. In part because I ask too many questions, because I'm a perfectionist and wanted to look at every bit of info on him and detail on him, but also somewhat because I ended up writing this like a persuasion piece, and felt the only way to do that was by going through everything to back up my conclusion (whatever my research turned up). Which was also why I analyzed every single essence he had a skin in, as well as any skins not in an essence, his accessories, emotes, etc... It was during that process I actually got attached to Norton. Probably because of how long I spent going through him (no one needs to know how long it took... only the immense joy and desire to collapse I had when I finally finished).

Since then, I've rewritten his analysis... 3 times now I think? Counting after hunter norton's release? Though I've taken down that 1st version due to issues, and haven't reposted my essence analyses as they're old (they were pretty much the 1st analyses I wrote, and I'd like to think I've improved since then) as well as because they're based on the 1st version of my norton analysis... and because they're probably a bit needlessly long and thus embarrassing... Maybe I'll repost them once I get around to rewriting them. I definitely will eventually at least for Soul Catcher's and Magic Item Keeper's essence because I have to say they took longer than almost any other part of that original (complete) norton analysis (i can never forget the trouble they caused me over how long it took to understand them).

ANYWAYS! Ignoring my stupid rambling because who cares about any of that.

I was going to include my answer to your question about Identity Switches but it’s starting to become a little silly in length ^_^; (seriously, for those who know me well enough, I have a bad habit of writing more than I initially intended to once I get started) so I’ll make that a separate post for you, and you can let me know if it answers your questions (once I post it). If not, feel free to ask any more of your questions.

Honestly, the lore is confusing even to those who aren’t new players, so don’t be too hard on yourself if you can’t wrap your head around a lot of this ^_^;

It’s hard for me to imagine my stuff is so good people are willing to read it, much less re-read it. Especially as I know people tend to prefer… shorter things, but I have tendency to be lengthy. I can’t help it though ;’) But thank you so much for the compliment.

And please, I’m still pretty new to Tumblr, so I’m still figuring all this out myself.

Anyways, don’t feel nervous talking to me or asking me any questions you have. I enjoy being helpful! So please, ask whatever you like. Or even if you don’t have a question, that’s ok too. I enjoy rambling about a subject I get started on, as long as the other person can bear with me ;’)

 It’s always nice to know people besides me, myself, and I are reading this stuff.

(Apologies for any errors or nonsense in this post, as I decided to write it without double checking it for errors cuz I felt like being lazy, and I'm still busy writing out my thoughts about Identity Switches for you)

[dearestaeneas]

1 and 5 for zeno!! 8 and 9 for ardan!!! and then also 18 :3 for the pride oc asks!!

HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

1. What's your oc's gender identity? What's their relationship to their gender?

Zeno is nonbinary and uses they/them exclusively! i like to think that they view their gender as neutral and that they take a lot of pride in being super androgynous. i think for them, there’s a kind of ownership associated with binary genders and so being genderless is kind of freedom. it comes as a double-edged sword, too, though, because i also think of them as a really isolated character who leans into Being Mysterious™️ because they’ve been forced to be separated anyway. to me, Zeno’s entire character is about recognizing when something isn’t good for you and getting away from it, and i think their relationship to gender is similar

5. How did you figure out your oc's identity?

i honestly don’t have a lot of (human) nonbinary characters! it really was just because i wanted to give someone they/them pronouns! as i kept writing them, though, it felt important to keep them androgynous for the reasons in the previous question, like with that relationship between varying degrees of gender and varying degrees of freedom

8. Have they had struggles with their identity, be it due to internal or external reasons?

honestly, not really? the little i share about his life outside of Plot is that he was raised by pirates and became a traveling bard. the boy’s had a lot of exposure to what different things can look like, and if anyone had a problem he wasn’t planning on staying long, anyway. he struggles a lot with identity, but i don’t think much (if any) of it is related to gender/sexuality. he struggles a lot with how he feels about Adrian, but it’s less identity based and more concerned with how he could be deceived by him and how Ardan puts his friends in danger

9. Are there cultural or lore specific aspects to their identity? If applicable, does their species affect it?

yes and no. i think Ardan truly sees these aspects of identity as details, which gives him a lot of freedom and adds to a really open-minded view of people, but it also gets him in trouble because i think he forgets that even though these are something he feels he understands naturally, other people don’t or are more ingrained in traditional cultural values than him. i think it’s important that ABC starts with him misgendering the gods, because it’s an honest mistake. i think he doesn’t see it as important, not because he doesn’t value it, but because he thinks of it as so flexible. it’s a mistake that comes off as malicious because he’s been a part of a different culture from the places he travels to. i also think it’s important that he adopts something (mindset, info, etc) from each place he goes to- he’s meant to be this human melting pot! he values interpretation above all else, and he gets stuck when he comes up against rigidity

18. Do you prefer to give your ocs specific labels, or keep it unspecified? Why? If applicable, do you change their labels depending on circumstance?

i don’t think i have any ocs where i explicitly identify someone’s label? or at least, not any ocs that i use beyond like, a short one-off. i think a lot of my ocs have explicit identities that are important to their arcs/respective stories, but i don’t know if i’ve ever said outright that Branwen is bi or Celeste is a lesbian, for example. it had been a long time ago, but Neil Gaiman had answered a question once about how he does identities/appearances for characters, and he said that he purposely leaves descriptions vague so that the reader can decide for themselves what a character is meant to look like, and if he wants an explicit feature/identity, he outright says it. that stuck with me- i like having that ambiguity and giving readers that power! it’s like how i want to make it explicit that Celeste and Ardan aren’t white, but characters like Ulysses or Casek, etc are up to you.

every character i write has a specific sexuality/gender identity, but it’s honestly just fun for me to write it in as offhand comments (i believe at one point Celeste makes a joke about how Branwen and Ardan are so similar, but since she doesn’t like men he’s not being cute, he’s just annoying) or having it like Branwen or Ardan’s bisexuality where it’s so central to their stories that the only ambiguity is that i haven’t said the word itself. it can also be a pain because i write fantasy and it’s like…do they use the same language to talk about this? is this a universe where we need a label? do they have the same understanding of gender and sexuality? all that to say, i put myself into all of my characters to some degree, and as a result each character is gonna have some aspect of queerness to them! i have specific labels for all of them that don’t change, but like, if someone says they see Ardan as gay instead of bi, i’m gonna be able to disagree but still go “yeah i get why you’d say that”

I JUST POSTED THIS, BUT EDIT BECAUSE I FORGOT TO MENTION HER: i think my most ambiguous character is honestly eris, and that’s truly because i don’t know what her label is. and i definitely feel a way about that because i want to know because i think it’ll help me write her! but in the same token, she doesn’t know who she is, and i think it’s kind of cool to like, learn with her. eris is my truest Choose Your Own Adventure character

[savventeen]

I JUST BINGED YOUR ENTIRE “THANKS FOR PLAYING” AND I HAD TO STOP MYSELF FROM CRYING IN THE LIVING ROOM AND GODDAMN I GOT SO MANY QUESTIONS/IDEAS so here’s a dump lmao

AND SPOILERS ‼️‼️

and be honest if you honestly don’t have any idea or want to leave it up for interpretation

dino’s friend recommended it to him and he recommended it to mc right? well what happened to that friend/person?? i bet they are alive because they sent that game to 13 people before 3 am so the lady in the closet doesn’t get to them 🤭

if mc didn’t mess around and acted seriously in the game, would the outcome have changed? or was it always the gamemaster’s intention for the player to fall into obscurity?

how come dino remembered the mc? power of love??? or because he knew about the game (im pulling stuff out of my ass)?? or he has an android phone in this au 🧐

what if the pfps for the “AIs” are actually previous victims

so if you actually finish the game against all odds everyone is released (if they aren’t dead) hmmmmm sequel merhaps?? jk

imagine the only clue left about the players existence is the goddamn phone bill for texting 💀

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE MC????? wait that’d be really sad if the mc was actually still alive but dino couldn’t recognize them as “mc” but knows they exist somehow uGH

i know you wrote this story for fun so these don’t need to have answers/comments but please provide any extra tidbits of info about this concept it’s so interesting 🙏🙏

SKLJDFLKSDJF OMG THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING????? AND IM SO HONORED HOLY SHIT I WILL DO MY ABSOLUTE BEST TO ANSWER WHAT I CAN 😭💜

also you are not the only one with questions so I'm going to do my best to answer them all here!!!

[for anyone who hasn't read it yet and wants to know wtf we're talking about, you can read the entirety of my .|X| THANKS FOR PLAYING |X|. smau here!]

*cracks knuckles* alrighty buckle up folks time to try and answer some questions and take a deep dive into savv’s personal TFP lore here we gooooooooooooo

[putting it all under a readmore bc it got long af and also i didn't realize how hard it would be to translate the lore in my brain into words??????? i somehow didn't realize how oddly complicated it is??? like writing all of this out in any kind of semi-coherent way was SO HARD sdkjfsdlkjf]

~ Was it all a dream? (this one was asked by @junhui-recs)

Sadly, no. 😭 In the reality of this fictional universe, a tragedy very much did happen and Dino and MC are very much suffering from it 🥲 (I will not stop you from imagining that it was all a dream tho, we all have different ways of coping dklsjfsklj <3)

~ What's the main purpose of the game? Why are they doing this? (this one asked by @diamondyjh)

OKAY SO to start off you need to know that this au was heavily inspired by an episode of a podcast called "The Magnus Archives", specifically the episode “Binary” (transcript here). [If you're a fan of horror, I highly recommend giving the episode a listen/read, it's delightfully creepy — you don't need to have listened to any of the other episodes to understand it (just stop at the ending 'supplemental' part)]

The episode goes into detail about this sort of digital urban legend/creepypasta/copypasta about a guy named Sergey Ushanka who, long story short, tried to upload his brain/consciousness into a computer because he was afraid of death and wanted to try living forever virtually. There are tame versions of how he did it and other much more brutal ones, but basically "Sergey Ushanka" is a prank that various coders/programmers like to pull when making chatboxes in which you could talk with "strangers". It would start out normal and then steadily devolve into something creepy. This paragraph taken directly from the episode transcript sums it up very nicely:

"But then the responses start to break down, become more sinister, and keep referring to how much pain Sergey is in. Eventually, the only response the bot gives you is screaming and pleas to be released. The idea is that the chatbot is Sergey Ushanka’s mind, and he doesn’t like being in a computer nearly as much as he’d hoped."

So the idea that I stole from the episode essentially was: but what if it was real? What would the reality of being turned into cold, unfeeling data feel like? Agony is what the episode posits. Here is a list of phrases that the Sergey in the episode uses:

cw: vague body horror, blood mention "the angles cut me when I try to think" / "it peels my mind like knives" / "it feels like thinking through cheese wire" / "there's no feeling, but the no feeling hurts" / "it's cold without blood" / "the maze is sharp on my mind"

My next thought process was: What happens after? If someone were able to survive this process and were somehow able to keep any kind of agency, how would that person try to get out of the digital hellscape that has now become their existence? After knowing what it feels like to become distinctly inhuman, wouldn't they do anything to feel human again?

And how do we feel human? How do we find connection with each other and our humanity without ever having to come in contact with another person?

Stories. Fiction and non-fiction alike, we are all connected through storytelling, by finding feeling through other people's words. The thing about stories, though, is that they aren't messy in the same way that actually feeling our feelings is. That being human is.

So what does all of this have to do with the purpose of the game?

Essentially, when it's all boiled down, in this universe the story of Sergey Ushanka is real, and in this universe he is trying to gain his humanity back by stealing that of others. He started off with stories, with whatever online libraries and resources and archives he could find across the internet. And while it wasn't even close to enough to satisfy him, to get rid of any of the pain he was constantly experiencing, it was enough for him to learn, to grow, to realize that if he wanted his humanity back, he needed to go to the source.

So he started stealing real people from the real world, with all of their messy feelings and emotions and humanness.

That is the purpose of the game, why "they" are doing this. (pls don't ask the how bc i don't have an answer for that, just -waves hands- you know, insert your supernatural/sci-fi explanation of choice sldkflksj)

~ Did all the other characters from the game also get pulled into it the same way reader did? (asked by @diamondyjh) / What if the pfps for the “AIs” are actually previous victims

Short answer, yes to both! (Longer answer in the next question lol)

~ Who are those other people? (asked by @junhui-recs)

Essentially, the other characters/bots/whatever you want to call them are a kind of amalgamation of all the previous players who got sucked into the game. Once someone's been... let's call it absorbed, whatever parts of themselves are left after the process basically get shoved into whatever "character" they fit best, sometimes different pieces going to different characters.

And while the pictures could just be random ones, I like the idea that they're taken from the most recent players that got absorbed :')

~ Why was Changkyun evil? (asked by @junhui-recs)

Well, the main reason he was "evil" was because he's, y'know, a part of the game and the game is trying to steal people's souls or whatever. As for why he's mean, that's because he's trying to trigger an emotional reaction. The more messy, human feelings that are happening at the time of absorption, the better :').

~ Dino’s friend recommended it to him and he recommended it to mc right? What happened to that friend/person??

"i bet they are alive because they sent that game to 13 people before 3 am so the lady in the closet doesn’t get to them 🤭" SJKDFSKLDJ this made me snort, so thank you 😂

BUT to answer your question, in the story, Dino says that Yeonjun gave it to him and that he got it from "a friend of a friend of a roommate". Because the absorption and the consequent complete erasure is such a big process, not everyone who plays gets sucked in. In fact, most people who play don't get sucked in. Which is why Yeonjun is totally fine! (And why the friend of the friend of the roommate, aka this universe's irl Changkyun, is not 🥲)

~ If mc didn’t mess around and acted seriously in the game, would the outcome have changed? Or was it always the gamemaster’s intention for the player to fall into obscurity?

This one's a little bit complicated. It's kind of a yes and no situation? Generally speaking, the game isn't looking to ensnare every single person who plays because 1) it takes A Lot Of Effort to take/erase a single person, and 2) the game needs to spread to other people somehow, thus it needs people to play it and then tell other people to play it too.

For MC specifically, though, it's hard to say. How they played the game didn't matter so much as how they reacted to the game, specifically the first phase(s) of the Mnemosyne Protocol. The whole point of the game is to get big, messy, emotional responses, so if MC hadn't had such a big reaction, the game probably would have turned out differently. That being said, if MC had played the game as blandly as possible, the game might not have ever decided to test out the Mnemosyne Protocol, so. *shrugs* Do with that what you will lol.

~ So if you actually finish the game against all odds everyone is released (if they aren’t dead) hmmmmm sequel merhaps?? jk

Sadly, nothing special happens if you finish the game 😭 Plenty of people finish the game and pretty much go "huh, that was cool I guess" and then move on with their lives after telling their friends about it. This can be said about all four games mentioned actually, since we only see one of them get played.

As for a sequel... almost certainly not 🥲 I'm not going to give a hard no/no forever, because who knows if I'll end up getting another idea/get suddenly struck with inspiration, but... it is Extremely unlikely. Another story in the same universe??? ...still not likely, but slightly more likely than a sequel lol.

~ Why is Dino the only one who remembers reader? (asked by @diamondyjh) / How come Dino remembered the mc? Power of love??? Or because he knew about the game (im pulling stuff out of my ass)?? Or he has an android phone in this au 🧐

I almost want to make the answer "bc he has an android" because that is So Funny to me like sldkfjsldkjfslkjdf amazing 😂

But no, that's not the case lmao. And while I am a huge sucker for the Power of Love being an unstoppable force (ESPECIALLY when it's non-romantic love!!!), the reason Dino and only Dino remembers is thanks to sheer luck and a glitch.

So, in episode 28, MC drops their phone when meeting their brother and in episode 29 we see the alert ".|| MNEMOSYNE PROTOCOL COMPLETE ||." show up on a cracked screen.

The final phase of the Mnemosyne Protocol is the erasure portion, and the reason players get erased instead of just like, disappearing is because their "essence" is basically being transferred from reality into this digital realm of Sergey's existence. And reality, because it's now lacking an entire person and their history, just kinda... rewrites itself to make sense with the missing gap. Think of it as the universe doing like a sort of reverse autocorrect.

But because MC's phone got broken in the middle of that transfer, there was a slight glitch in the process. A glitch wherein Dino, because he was on the opposite side of the globe when this was happening, got accidentally missed in the autocorrection process. If he had been in Korea (or heck, anywhere within a few thousand miles) when this happened, he would have forgotten MC as well.

So long story short, Dino was just extremely (un?)lucky 🥲

~ Where is reader? (asked by @junhui-recs) / WHAT HAPPENED TO THE MC????? Wait that’d be really sad if the mc was actually still alive but dino couldn’t recognize them as “mc” but knows they exist somehow uGH

Well, sad news here friends. Most of what's left of MC is now stuck inside the game. They got absorbed and are now a part of Sergey's dataset and will be used/distributed into "characters" as needed.

Notice that I said most. Because, thanks to the glitch, the part of them that was connected to Dino didn't get transferred properly, and now that part of them is kinda stuck — it no longer exists in the real world, but it also didn't get fully absorbed into the game.

Which leads me to the next question:

~ Did reader turn evil and try to pull Dino into the game or is it the game itself being evil and impersonating reader to lure Dino in? (asked by @diamondyjh)

When I wrote the original version of this, the answer was a kind of combination of both — MC had gotten absorbed and corrupted by the game, so while it was the MC reaching out, they were doing so because it was what the game wanted.

But in this version... It's actually neither! Which I think would normally be a good thing but I think in this instance actually just makes this sadder oops.

So, the epilogue isn't the game impersonating MC and it isn't an "evil" MC trying to lure Dino in, it's actually just the part of MC that got stuck during the glitchy transfer. This is why the messages show as being from "Unknown" instead of the phone number associated with the game. And the reason what's left of MC asks Dino if he wants to play a game is because that's the only way it knows how to connect with anything anymore.

Basically, this sliver of MC that's left is experiencing what the original Sergey went through when he first "uploaded" himself, but instead of reaching out to anyone through a chatbot for help, it's reaching out to the only thing it "remembers" about humanity — Dino.

...I honestly didn't mean to make this story any sadder than it already is and I'm glad that the epilogue by itself just reads as spooky/freaky as hell instead of, well, this. 🥲

~ If Dino plays the game, will he be reunited with reader? (asked by @diamondyjh)

It pains me to say that there is no longer an MC for Dino to reunite with 😭 The part of them that got absorbed by the game is, well, a part of the game now. And the piece of them that's left and trying to reach out to him? Well, like I said, it's just a piece.

There could potentially be a chance for him to find some closure here, but that's about it I'm afraid :')

And now because I want this to end on a more lighthearted note:

~ Imagine the only clue left about the players existence is the goddamn phone bill for texting 💀

It becomes the next biggest conspiracy, that there's someone (or a group of someones) out there completing the world's next biggest scam by raking up random people's phone bills and somehow finding a way to steal the profit lmao

~ Some last thoughts from savv:

If y'all made it all the way to the end of this... holy shit I applaud you sldkfjsdlkjflksjdf LIKE!!!

thank you for taking the time to read all of this?????? it's not even fic it's just me rambling and making things Even Sadder??????

i also want to say that i'm a believer that 'canon' is whatever was posted in the story itself and that anything else is just headcannon, even if it's from me, the author. so if you don't like/don't agree with anything i've said here, feel free to ignore it!! fill in any gaps/questions you have in the way that makes your reading experience the most enjoyable!!

but yeah tHANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR READING AND I HOPE THESE ARE SATISFACTORY ANSWERS TO YOUR QUESTIONS AND IF YOU HAVE ANY MORE/HAVE A RENEWED DESIRE TO FIGHT ME MY INBOX IS OPEN SDKLJFSLKJFLSKFJSLKD

[clamsjams]

If you’re chill with people in your ask box sharing theories /if not you can ignore this ^^/. My personal theory about Maximus is that he’s not secretly working for the federation or anything, the federation just needed him to either 1: cause unrest and distrust among the order group since he was one of the forming members of it 2: they needed to test a small experiment with him, 3 he could’ve also became a sleeper agent but I doubt it.

I don’t think the code attacks people who are with the federation, I think it attacks people because the federation needs them for something or to take them in private, making the code seem worse and more threatening to the residents just helps the cause since it takes the heat off the federation a little bit.

dude i’m chill with people in my ask box just to say hi or something pls pls pls talk to me i am normal i swear i am not foaming at the mouth i can talk to ppl

anyways yeah i absolutely agree with ur first thing, bc of how trumps death affected max and the way he’s been so so focused on finding answers, founding the ordo theoritas, and basically constantly trying to figure out the federation, there’s basically no way he would ever be a part of the federation willingly imo. unlike fit, who seemed to stay more neutral, which makes sense if he was planning on being a traitor for a different organization, and he had to have been planning that for a while, if not since the start, which makes his neutrality seem like a planned move.

however, max is extremely paranoid and gets tunnel vision when it comes to the federation, which makes it extremely easy to manipulate him if u know what ur doing. and look, i hate to have to take the ass camera seriously, especially bc the ass camera thing was like improv that they came up with on the spot, so if you’ll excuse me for being meta for a sec, there’s no way the people who put together the story could’ve planned for that or factored it into the lore. BUT hehe butt implanting some kind of monitoring device into someone does seem like a classic federation move, even though i think it’s main goal was to gather info, and the sowing of dissent was kind of a secondary bonus

and as for the code thing, that’s def an interesting point. i like the idea that the code is a red herring, something planted by the federation to serve its goals. and i think that would be interesting if the codes real goal is to give the players an enemy to unite against, to make them feel like theyre doing something and to take the heat off of the federation for a sec. bc most players seem to agree that between the feds and the code, the feds are the lower priority threat, the lesser of two evils. bc the feds don’t resort to violence as much as the code, and their agents can be reasoned with, in a way, even tho that reasoning and logic seems pretty warped to anyone with a functioning understanding of how emotions work. the code, on the other hand, just shows up, attacks, and leaves, there’s no way to talk to them or try to negotiate, bc you’ll just get killed if you try. so yeah def a possibility

but that’s the thing about the codes. when u theorize u go off of the info that u can gain from the source material, things that are explicitly stated, things that are implied, and things that u can extrapolate based on the data u have and logical thinking. the problem with codes is that they’ve given me basically nothing to work with. all i know is that they attack without mercy, they have some form of admin powers, allowing them to fly and summon mobs, they target the eggs for some reason, and the federation won’t admit they exist. that’s basically it. which means that all of my thoughts on them is just baseless speculation. when i theorize about them, it’s mostly just me speculating on a direction i think the code storyline could possibly go in and how it might affect the storyline, but i have nothing to back that up.

anyways that was basically a long winded way to say, i don’t fuckin know what’s going on with the codes at all but it’s a fun thing to think about and i think ur idea is def plausible and would have interesting implications