thejesterofmoths

[thejesterofmoths]

So, I did this today.. one hour, and i don't know why, besides thinking it was funny lol.

[thejesterofmoths]

Could I ask you guys a question?

(I'm gonna ask anyway so I guess the real question is, could you give me some thoughts?)

I'm transgender (and gay), and I obviously hold issues with people who currently are openly transphobic and to out of their way to share that, but I don't really care if somebody *was* transphobic, or said a slur about trans or gay people multiple years ago, or stuff like that. A lot of the content creators and celebrities that I'm fond of have been really nasty with these things, (matpat for example,) but I just don't really.. mind?

I always feel really happy when I find out people aren't transphobic, but not really upset when I find that they are/were.

Maybe my standards for people are too low, or I'm just used to people who suck, but I'm told pretty often that I shouldn't like creators and artists and stuff who said stuff like that in the past.

Should I care more? Either way, are there any good creators who haven't done stuff like that? What standard should be held for making up for it, because people do grow? I'd love to hear your thoughts whether you agree with me or not. Thanks :D

[thejesterofmoths]

Ook.. I'm going to be real with you guys, I'm not going to be finishing this spore thing. I mean, I will, it's so much fun to do, but I'm not going to finish it any time soon. I hyperfixate on things hard, and spore is a special interest of mine, (which is like a hyperfixation, but it lasts your entire life and is an autism thing,) but making the game work gets tiring.

I will give you guys my spore essay, but I need to talk about other interests, too, because I think you guys deserve a finished thought (and making spore lore a chore (hehe rhyming) makes it boring to play :<)

[thejesterofmoths]

Here's a photo and a video I took (they're nicer)

[thejesterofmoths]

An intereuption from your (almost never) daily spore rambling account, to show you that I'm a halfelf at school today (I'm part of the dnd club) and my friend took some not great photos of me for us to laugh at-

Look at the faces I'm making lmfao

[thejesterofmoths]

For sure, it also makes things funnier when I stress that it's the first and only time I gave in and Googled a thing for this project. And I only gave in because I started seeing people saying 42 is the meaning of stuff and it began driving me fucking mad. It wasn't a "haha cool I know what that means, funny reference :>" it was a "WHAT THE FUCK IS 42 AND WHY IS EVERYONE SUDDENLY SAYING THIS WHY WOULD SPORE MEAN 42 AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA"

You guys, and whoever told me "the meaning of Spore is 42", damn it. I hate myself. I've spent two weeks trying to figure 42 out. Why are there 42 staffs of life? Why not 50?

ITS A FUCKING REFERENCE

It's a reference to a novel from 1979! A REFERENCE TO A THROWAWAY JOKE IN A NOVEL FROM 1979. WHICH IS A REFERENCE TO A JOKE MADE ABOUT A FUN FACT ABOUT A CODE. 42 IS A REFERENCE TO A JOKE ABOUT A JOKE ABOUT A FUN FACT GODS DAMMIT.

42 represents an Asterisk in that code, and the Asterisk represents anything and everything. Also, 42, split up, can be 4 in Chinese, shi, and 2 in Japanese, ni, which is then shini, which in Kanji is 死に (this), which means "to die"

So the meaning of life is 42 which means anything and everything and when translated very specifically through three different languages also means to die, and spore made a silly joke reference to it, and you asshats (i love you guys this is a joke and im laughing my ass off) sent me on a two week long goose chase with a joke..

[thejesterofmoths]

Right, reading in to things too much is sort of my whole thing, but also, I didn't come up with the translation thing either >-<

You guys, and whoever told me "the meaning of Spore is 42", damn it. I hate myself. I've spent two weeks trying to figure 42 out. Why are there 42 staffs of life? Why not 50?

ITS A FUCKING REFERENCE

It's a reference to a novel from 1979! A REFERENCE TO A THROWAWAY JOKE IN A NOVEL FROM 1979. WHICH IS A REFERENCE TO A JOKE MADE ABOUT A FUN FACT ABOUT A CODE. 42 IS A REFERENCE TO A JOKE ABOUT A JOKE ABOUT A FUN FACT GODS DAMMIT.

42 represents an Asterisk in that code, and the Asterisk represents anything and everything. Also, 42, split up, can be 4 in Chinese, shi, and 2 in Japanese, ni, which is then shini, which in Kanji is 死に (this), which means "to die"

So the meaning of life is 42 which means anything and everything and when translated very specifically through three different languages also means to die, and spore made a silly joke reference to it, and you asshats (i love you guys this is a joke and im laughing my ass off) sent me on a two week long goose chase with a joke..

[thejesterofmoths]

This is really cool too, I appreciate the background information and stuff :D I'm trying to piece together this story in a complete vacuum, but this is a little context that I think helps without changing the narrative much

How did you guys interpret the story of the game Spore? Between the Grox, and Steve, and Spode? I found learning it on my own so genuinely amazing, but I realized that by growing up with the game since before I could read, and having an accumulative ten thousand gours in the game, that most of my idea of the story is entirely interpretation, based on so many tiny details.

[thejesterofmoths]

You fucking told me what book it was from, I didn't finish reading your response because I got all excited and wanted to figure out what the fuck, but I did find that it actually runs deeper than hitchhikers guide so I did learn a few things :D

How did you guys interpret the story of the game Spore? Between the Grox, and Steve, and Spode? I found learning it on my own so genuinely amazing, but I realized that by growing up with the game since before I could read, and having an accumulative ten thousand gours in the game, that most of my idea of the story is entirely interpretation, based on so many tiny details.

[thejesterofmoths]

trick or treat! *places my portable hole on your front porch*

Treat :> *drops a caramel apple lollipop which has spent obvious time in a pocket into the portable hole*

[thejesterofmoths]

You guys, and whoever told me "the meaning of Spore is 42", damn it. I hate myself. I've spent two weeks trying to figure 42 out. Why are there 42 staffs of life? Why not 50?

ITS A FUCKING REFERENCE

It's a reference to a novel from 1979! A REFERENCE TO A THROWAWAY JOKE IN A NOVEL FROM 1979. WHICH IS A REFERENCE TO A JOKE MADE ABOUT A FUN FACT ABOUT A CODE. 42 IS A REFERENCE TO A JOKE ABOUT A JOKE ABOUT A FUN FACT GODS DAMMIT.

42 represents an Asterisk in that code, and the Asterisk represents anything and everything. Also, 42, split up, can be 4 in Chinese, shi, and 2 in Japanese, ni, which is then shini, which in Kanji is 死に (this), which means "to die"

So the meaning of life is 42 which means anything and everything and when translated very specifically through three different languages also means to die, and spore made a silly joke reference to it, and you asshats (i love you guys this is a joke and im laughing my ass off) sent me on a two week long goose chase with a joke..

[thejesterofmoths]

You know what, I hadn't even thought of the 42 thing! Never even crossed my mind that specifically that number was important. May I ask what you think the significance is? Or should I try to figure that out?

How did you guys interpret the story of the game Spore? Between the Grox, and Steve, and Spode? I found learning it on my own so genuinely amazing, but I realized that by growing up with the game since before I could read, and having an accumulative ten thousand gours in the game, that most of my idea of the story is entirely interpretation, based on so many tiny details.

[thejesterofmoths]

Honestly. Space stage is equally overrated and underrated in my opinion. People talk about reaching certain landmarks and goals, but personally, the best part of space stage will always be the other creatures. It's like civilization stage with the drama of tribal stage and the chaos of creature stage, but with LOOOOOORE (lmao)

How did you guys interpret the story of the game Spore? Between the Grox, and Steve, and Spode? I found learning it on my own so genuinely amazing, but I realized that by growing up with the game since before I could read, and having an accumulative ten thousand gours in the game, that most of my idea of the story is entirely interpretation, based on so many tiny details.

[thejesterofmoths]

I figured I'd do a little update for why I've been away lol

1, mental health go brr,

2, school go brrr,

3, spores story is insanely difficult to piece together and it's becoming increasingly obvious that it was never meant to be. It's meant to be an atmospheric video game with funny, cute Easter eggs, not a novel. I'm gonna make the novel anyway and maybe somebody will find it as interesting as me. (And then try not to he known as the spore guy exclusively lol)

(2 and 3 equally caused 1, if not mostly 3)

[thejesterofmoths]

(POST 5, SPORE)

This is the last post which is in this chunk. I will work for some more time on putting together a real, much shorter, coherent story.

Next, and finally, I'll talk about the player.

We are a fairly new species, only a few billion years old from the time we were cells. No matter your archetype, the first thing you will do, is investigate a colony ruined by the Grox, and the second will be fighting off the drones left over, which are desperate to protect their people from these currently illusive grox. Very similar to the short story, There Will Come Soft Rains, in my opinion.

You will encounter the Grox more than a few times. They're usually seen as hoards of powerful and immovable ships, burning your and your allies colonies down without remorse.

As you venture towards the center, you'll reach a line of occupied stars, and as soon as you identify them as Grox, you're in a war zone.

But, the story of Spore, where the player is involved, requires you to, well,

Dance with the Devil.

With endless gifts, fireworks, happiness rays, and just about everything else there is, you can not convince the grox to form an alliance with you.

This is, until you use your archetype's respective super-power on an occupied planet, breaking the galactic code.

Seeing that you are capable of apathy and cruelty, just like them, the grox look after you a second time. You've been kind, truly kind, but it is not your nature to be.

You are the only race who is ever kind to them, and though they've long lost their humanity, and aren't sure what to do with your kindness, they recognize it, and they will accept you.

By forming the alliance, and Dancing With the Devil, you betray everybody else. You treat with kindness a creature who has so consistently eradicated people, ruined lives, and taken over well over two thousand solar systems, with five thousand planets between them.

You are not the bad guy.

But, you find that the grox, the only people left who claim not to hate you, will still attack you when you try to move towards the center. They're hiding something from you, and, after all of that time and effort you put in to earn their alliance, this feels personal.

So, you gather your best upgrades, fill your inventory with energy and health packs, and you quickly jump from star to star, through the forces of the grox. You meet Steve, and are gifted with the staff of life.

He doesn't express it, but a few things become clear. One, the Grox wanted to hide Steve from you, and two, that they're still not kind, even towards their only ally.

The grox die at anything besides T0, as they've replaced so many parts of themselves in order to be superior, that they're hardly alive. A proper planet with grasses and animals might mess up their prosthetics, and they've given up the ability to walk freely on a living planet.

Well, Steve gifts you with an item which allows you to eradicate the grox off of one planet with a single click. However, you find that the staff of life has a very limited number of uses. Fifty, if I remember correctly.

So, though it looks like, eventually, you're going to have to end the Grox, Steve isn't of much help in the grand scheme of things. You'll have to get your own hands dirty.

You fill three colonies on each of fifty planets, you rebuild relationships with the nearest few species that you can, and build some trade routes, you build your money, you begin trades with the grox as well, collect weapons, and prepare yourself.

Then, you'll reach a point, where you feel that you're ready. (You're not, you never will be.) You take your weapons, and you attack a grox planet. Immediately, your alliance is off, and now, you've truly betrayed ever single space bearing creature in the entire galaxy.

One day, if you spent enough hours for enough months, you'll take over, and defeat the grox. It's stressful, and terrifying. Like spending months fighting a final boss.

Badge Outta Heck, the only other secret achievement I've ever got (please don't tell me if there's other ones I wanna learn on my own, thanks!) You, to my knowledge, have to Dance With the Devil, to gain the upper hand you need to earn Badge Outta Heck, and defeat the grox.

It feels, to me, that the rest of the galaxy sees the player as the new Grox initially. Those wars don't go away on their own, and I'm not sure it's possible to rebuild every single relation. You take the Grox's place as the most powerful, most hated group in the galaxy, but its important to me, that you are very different.

You are not jaded, or cruel (unless you are which sounds like a really fun way to play the game:D) you are capable of being kind.

I've always, including on that world, made it to space stage with full red cards, besides the blue card of omnivore, as I didn't know there were cards at the time, making me a warrior archetype, but I did replay the game a few times after badge outta heck. The story feels a little hit different depending on how you play it.

[thejesterofmoths]

That is so okay lol! I'm going to make a bunch of super detailed posts, and then after I've finished writing them all out, I'm going to try to make a much easier to follow version in a single post. I'll either delete the other ones, or copy and paste those all in to one post, in which case I'd label them (short v) and (long v) :D

(POST 2, SPORE)

(This part is background information, and not yet the story I've pieced together)

The next thing I would like to speak about is the way that the game handles archetypes.

I did not learn that there was a card system until nearly 2020, right after the scary achoo hit. If you ever play the game yourself, I can not stress enough how important it is to finish it a couple of times all the way, without cheats, and without googling anything. In fact, if you've not played the game and you eventually might, stop reading here. You'll lose so much by knowing what is going to happen. Experiencing it genuinely and purely is a feeling i'll never replicate and never find words to describe.

For the story I wish to tell, a few archetypes, which are determined by the card system, are especially important. Notably, any archetype which believes in some form of a higher being.

The most telling, and the most memorable, are the Zealots, who follow the philosophy of Faith. These characters are distrusting, and standoffish in nature. If you introduce yourself by telling them that "I am <your creatures name>. I come in peace.", they will respond with a statement that the only true peace they accept comes from Spode.

Spode, though being a combination of the words Spore and God, Spgodre, Spode, I've felt for the past several years, also sounds like the name.. Steve. (This is important, I promise!)

Followers of spode will be especially friendly to fellow zealots, and hostile towards everybody else. They believe that their intentions are their Spode-given rights, and even instructed by Spode. They will demand money from you, they are generally (in my opinion) the rudest archetype, and I personally find that they're the most painful to interact with, always seeking drama. They're also violent towards any believers in The God That Will Come. (I love the Zealots, they're like sassy holy-alien-men, and they suck in the most entertaining ways!)

Another religious group in spore, are those who believe in The God That Will Come. This is, if I remember correctly, the God that the grox either follow, or reference most. Im doing some limited research so I can fact check stuff as I go, but as little as possible so I don't bias myself, but it also mentions that some shame individuals may follow The God That Will Come, too.

I don't particularly remember the Shamen as a whole holding this belief, but the shaman are largely peaceful, following the philosophy of Harmony. I could see them sharing multiple religious views between eachother.

Lastly, there's mentions of a godthing or important idea within religious cities in civilization stage, known as the Source. This one, I never thought much of, but find very interesting with the little information there is.

[thejesterofmoths]

(POST 4, SPORE)

this is where the story begins. Again, I'll begin with the grox.

My idea of what happened is a genuinely sad story, but it feels right to me.

The grox are notably intelligent, despite their small, weak statute. They're obviously cyborgs now, but, presumably, they did not evolve that way.

I believe that the Grox made it to space, and reached out. They desired connections, ad they were weak, but happy creatures. They did not need to be strong on their home planet, whether they lacked predators, or simply learned to avoid them, so, they were kind.

But, the other aliens saw the grox as less than. It's obvious that many archetypes are eager to pick on whoever won't fight back, and the grox were easy targets. Eager and naive.

They were shut down, their identities as a proper, space bearing race were questioned and diminished, they were bullied down, and down, and down. And, it crushed them.

But, the grox were intelligent. So, they backed off. They fell into obscurity, and they bided their time. They created weapons, they modified their bodies, they were told that they were not good enough, so, by their perception, they made themselves better.

And then, when they re-emerge, they realized that they were ahead. Not by much, but they were finally able to begin reaching out. To grow, and to expand, and they improved their weapons and their prosthetics with each generation.

They started going to war with the people who had tormented them before, and their superior weaponry, and their easier to meet needs, gave them the power to win.

The Grox are a jaded race, in my opinion. They're spiteful, and objective, and cruel, and why wouldn't they be? When they were the weaker people, they were treated horribly. As they see it, everybody else is weaker now, and it's their turn.

The Grox are a notably isolated race. They're their own archetype, they're hated by everybody else in the galaxy, and they're far beyond caring.

Look at this guy. I can't help but feel so bad for him.