#now I’m supposed to create a prototype???

[et3rnallight]

Mood:

because I feel like I’ve been making a lotta shit and I don’t even have a solid slide completed????

[disobey-disappoint-deviate]

The RK series and deviancy (theory + analysis)

I have been wanting to talk about this for some time, because it's kinda one of the biggest DBH mysteries (aside from rA9) and I think there are many many hints in the game about why deviancy came to be and how. And I've had this theory that deviancy was something that started with the RK series, specifically with Markus, so I'm gonna use the hints I've found in the game to expain why I believe this. I also gotta note I'm really new to the fandom, so maybe this is has already been talked about thousands of times before (maybe even debunked), but that's a risk I'm willing to take.

First and foremost, I will start with something that I talked about in another post - namely the significance of the number 28. You can see Adam Williams talk about it here (at 1:04:28), too.

Basically, the number 28 is used in many places throughout the game, and according to Adam, if players found all references to that number, they will understand what the significance of that number is.

And speaking of 28, I noticed that 2028 is the year when Kamski left Cyberlife, but not before creating the Zen Garden and Amanda.

There is a whole series of questions Connor can confront Amanda with during "Last Chance, Connor" (which is the 28th chapter with a flowchart. Maybe cuz he is asking important questions here, just saying).

Connor: Why did Kamski leave CyberLife? What happened? Amanda: It’s an old story, Connor. It doesn’t pertain to your investigation.

Connor: I saw a photo of Amanda at Kamski’s place… She was his teacher… Amanda: When Kamski designed me, he wanted an interface that would look familiar… That’s why he chose his former mentor. What are you getting at?

Connor: Did Kamski design this place? Amanda: He created the first version. It’s been improved significantly since then. Why do you ask?

Amanda Stern died in 2027, which suggests that AI Amanda and the Zen Garden were both created after this and before Kamski's departure from Cyberlife in 2028. Yet somehow, this information is classified to some extent - Amanda doesn't deny, but she gets defensive and doesn't want to elaborate any further. Of course, she might be acting this way because Connor is slowly getting too defiant, but still, it's kinda striking how the player has the option to ask so many questions - questions that seem to unsettle Connor a lot for a reason that is not explicitly explained, yet doesn't get a clear answer.

It awakens the impression that Connor is truly getting at something with them, but it's not said at what exactly.

Connor: I’m not a unique model, am I? How many Connors are there? Amanda: I don’t see how that question pertains to your investigation.

Connor: Where does CyberLife stand in all this? What do they really want? Amanda: All CyberLife wants is to resolve the situation and keep selling androids.

Connor: You didn’t tell me everything you know about deviants, did you? Amanda: I expect you to find answers, Connor. Not ask questions.

Now, Connor asks how many "Connors" (meaning RKs) are there after seeing that Markus is an RK-model one, too. That's news to Connor - for some reason, he's never been informed about the existence of any other RKs. But why?

Well, because the RK-line was a secret project, and apprently, there are no other RK androids left aside from Markus - if there were, Connor would know of their existence, cuz they would be roaming around. What does the game say about Markus?

Markus is a prototype, gifted by Elijah Kamski to his friend and celebrated painter Carl Manfred after Manfred lost the use of his legs. He was initially developed as part of a CyberLife secret program aimed at elaborating a new generation of autonomous androids.

That last sentence, about the new generation of autonomous androids, arises one question. How are these highly autonomous androids, like Connor, controlled, considering that they are supposed to be independent and not wait around for highly specific orders? Well, through the Zen Garden and Amanda - both of which were created sometime between 2027 and 2028. And if Markus was oridinally supposed to be part of that line (that basically got put on hold for 10 years), that places his creation around 2028 as well.

In 2028, Elijah Kamski was our Man of the Century. [...] Shortly after, Kamski had disappeared. Ousted as CEO of CyberLife and living in obscurity outside the media glare, the Man of the Century has left the very world that he recreated. [...] Yet at the peak of CyberLife’s powers – when the company was approaching a $500bn valuation – rumors emerged that Kamski disagreed with his shareholders over strategy. He later departed under mysterious circumstances.

So, he was "outsted" and he likely disagreed with his shareholders. But what do these shareholders want?

Russia’s interest in the North Pole has intensified with the recent discovery of precious minerals trapped in the frozen ice, many of which are used in synthesizing Thirium. [...] President Warren, however, recently torpedoed the notion: “It’s simple. Russia has no business in the Arctic. If the Kremlin doesn’t understand that, we will make them understand.[...] Mired in accusations that she is too close to big business, Warren is under investigation to determine whether or not she has benefited from CyberLife's help in obtaining compromising information about her opponent during the presidential campaign.[...]

If we read the magazines, we kinda get an impression of what the shareholders want - they want war with Russia over the minerals in the Arctic, and they wanna monologise the android market globally. This is further proven by their finalized RK-model being a military android, of whom the government has puchased hundreds of thousands (All CyberLife wants is to resolve the situation and keep selling androids). The government - whose President is said to be corrupt and basically installed at her position by Cyberlife themselves.

Naturally, we can assume that this was not the direction Kamski wanted his RK-series to take - he likely disagreed with this enough to be removed from his position as a CEO, because Cyberlife only saw their futures as secured if they prevented anyone else from being able to create thirium, even it meant starting a world war.

So, is it a coincidence that the only existing RK android who was created by Kamski's original design ended up with Carl Manfred - a friend of Kamski's? I think it's safe to assume that Markus would have been decomissioned long time ago (just like Connor if the deviants lose), had he not ended up far away from Cyberlife's reach.

I think Kamski definitely removed the Zen Garden from Markus, to prevent Cyberlife from ever trying to take over. It's also likely that they generally lost track of Markus, because he was no longer interesting to them.

But what if Kamski not only saved Markus from being destroyed, what if he himself created the "virus" that causes deviancy?

Kamski: All ideas are viruses that spread like epidemics... Is the desire to be free a contagious disease? Kamski: Androids share identification data when they meet another android. An error in this program would quickly spread like a virus, and become an epidemic. The virus would remain dormant, until an emotional shock occurs… Fear, anger, frustration. And the android becomes deviant. Probably all started with one model, copy error… A zero instead of a one… Unless of course... Some kind of spontaneous mutation. That’s all I know…

If meeting another android is enough to "infect" them, then Markus could have been innocently walking around the city and infecting androids for 10 years. He could have also "infected" the androids at Cyberlife before Kamski sent him to Carl, because for all we know, Kamski really just wanted to create truly autonomous and conscious androids. We know the first known case of deviancy happened approximately in 2032, while Kara was being assembled - that would be only 4 years after Markus' assumed activation.

And no, Markus wouldn't need to be a deviant for this - he is simply the carrier, just like it happens with human viruses.

And do you know what also makes me think Kamski purposely created deviancy?

Kamski: By the way… I always leave an emergency exit in my programs… You never know…

Why would he leave an exit in the Zen Garden that is only detectable by the android but not by Amanda (seemingly) if he doesn't want the androids to be able to escape the controll of their owner? And why would he call humans and deviants "two evils" and pretend to be so neutral on the whole thing, but still give Connor a way to save himself and escape Cyberlife in case he became a deviant?

Because he isn't on Cyberlife's side. He is fascinated by androids, he likes them better than humans, and is also likely obsessed with the idea of having created a new species that is superiour to their creators. It's also quite likely that one of the Chloes is a deviant, too, and he is fully aware of it, but doesn't seem eager to turn her in.

This post is ignoring the deleted Kamski ending, but even so, Kamski paints a rather clear picture to me, and I'm also fully convinced that he didn't gift Markus to Carl because of goodness alone.

A sidenote, but: how sinister would it be to send Connor on a mission to kill Markus? Connor, who is based on Markus, the only other alive RK model, after boosting him with an extra anti-deviancy variable and 2 additional red walls and brainwashing him against what has likely been a part of his program since his very activation?

[nyxtickled]

I kind of can't get over you studying freakin' *robotics engineering.* Now I'm picturing you as the cool engineer on some sci-fi show. Whaddaya think? Star Trek? Something with giant robots? Maybe something grittier and more cyberpunk?

Maybe this is making too light of what you're working so hard for. Follow-up and/or substitute question: what's one of your dream projects or goals? What kind of robot(s) does Nyx most want to create, or work on?

🥹🤭 awww jeez don’t make me all fricken bashful on main i’m supposed to be tough !!!! CYBERPUNK PLEASE AAAAH

ok ok but to answer seriously, so far in my academic career i’ve worked on autonomous cars (1/10 scale autonomous racecars built essentially from scratch, a full size autonomous EV gokart, and i’ve even been fortunate enough to work on a fully autonomous indy 500 car…essentially the most advanced autonomous vehicle in the world. shit was one of the most mind blowing things i’ve ever been a part of), i’ve worked on some cool solar stuff (solar water heater for an orphanage in Tijuana, solar carport concept design for a nonprofit who wants to propose the idea of charging EV cars while they’re parked outside at work all day and distributing leftover power to the building), and my personal favorite was this project i did for a class i took where i designed an autonomous campus rideshare prototype on one of the 1/10 scale cars that was able to use facial recognition to identify the student who requested the ride and would essentially drive itself to the drop off location!

the last one was the most fun for me bc it was the first time i really got into the programming side of robotics. the car would have a starting location where it waited for ride requests, then when you submitted one it would drive itself to the location using LiDAR for collision avoidance and GPS path training. but the real doozy was the pickup stage bc i had to develop the facial recognition code to be able to scan the student’s face upon arrival with computer vision in live time with a camera that was attached to the car, and then match it to a photo of the student that was stored in a database, and then try to match the name of that student to the name of the student who requested the ride! if it matched, the screen would be like “rider verified! hop in!” and proceed to the next stage of driving itself to the drop off point. if it didn’t, the screen would read “sorry, we couldn’t verify your identity with the ride request” and drive itself back to the parking spot where it would wait for the next ride request! and the database of faces would basically come from your student ID picture, cuz the rideshare service would be around campus for students only!

god it was so fucking challenging but i had so much fun with it. so uhhhh to avoid writing 18 more paragraphs about all the cool robotics shit that i’m obsessed with, i would say my dream project is definitely something that combines machine learning software, robotics operating systems programming, and mechanical design all in one. something that could take the technological advancements that we have made and turn it into something useful for everyone. fuck i’m such a nerd i’m sorry i did NOT mean to go on like this ahahahahaha

[trippinghearts]

thinking about ult dirk and as much as i hate to admit it i think i’m starting to see his perspective. i also think the writers did a shit job of explaining it in text

dirk was created for the purpose of winning the Game. alpha dave, a famous director and revolutionary, set aside his precious time and money to make sure dirk had the things he needed to live, even with centuries of time between them. he was important. he was supposed to be the Hero. he spent the first sixteen years of his life waiting for the Game to start. it was his purpose.

and then he got into the game and was greeted by a dead planet he couldn’t even breathe on unassisted. ruins and skeletons everywhere, the writings of a species waiting for a savior that never came for them. and he had to exist there for months. there was nothing for him to do. the battlefield wasn’t prototyped. there was no forge, no frogs. his session was dead and doomed from the very beginning. all of that waiting, only to be set up for failure by the very universe.

and he never did get to be the Hero. sure, they won the Game. but he didn’t actually do anything. the only reason their session was even winnable was because of the real Heroes. the thirteen-year-olds who flung a meteor into the farthest reaches of space, who sent a ship crashing through the literal Fourth Wall, who spent three years traveling to another reality so they could crash it and save everyone’s asses. the rest of the alpha kids did something. roxy created the matriorb that allowed the trolls to continue their species. jane was able to revive everyone who died. even jake took on the entire felt by himself.

and what did dirk do? he died. he didn’t take out any of the bosses. he stood there and he let dave kill him. dave is the one who killed the jacks. not dirk.

and in the end it didn’t even mean anything. his sacrifice didn’t even carry any weight because jane just brought him back to life. he couldn’t die knowing he had allowed the Heroes to win. he had to come back, knowing he didn’t really do anything at all.

then they got their reward. the new universe, which he couldn’t even help to create. he was heralded as a god despite his uselessness. plopped into this world where the sky was a little too blue, the sun was a little too bright, the world was a little too perfect. this reality just like his but shifted slightly to the left. it felt wrong. it felt twisted.

and now what? all his life he’d been waiting to play the Game and be the Hero. and now it was over. what came after that? get a job? buy a house, find a partner, settle down and pop out babies? grow old and eventually die having contributed nothing of meaning?

no. that can’t be it. he was supposed to be a Hero, damnit. this world is just- just mocking him. this isn’t how the story ends. he never got his time to shine. he never got his moment of glory. this wasn’t fair. none of this was fair.

if the universe wasn’t going to give it to him, then he’d just have to take it himself.

[artbyblastweave]

There’s a specific needle you need to thread when you’re doing an indie cape thing. One of the most common criticisms of Big Two comics is that the editorial structure guarantees that death, when it’s even allowed to happen in the first place, is immaterial. No one stays dead in comics but Uncle Ben, and even he’s been known to twitch on occasion. “Death that sticks” therefore becomes a lynchpin selling point for a lot of indie cape stuff. But the other side of this, which I don’t see acknowledged as often, is that if you create a cape setting that’s stupidly lethal, if capes are dropping left and right, if the average contender goes on two adventures before dying in action, that would seriously affect the norms of the setting! Fewer people would do it, you’d see different strategies, attitudes and presentations amongst the ones who do, and public attitudes towards the superheroic profession would be adjusted accordingly. It wouldn’t look very much at all like the prototypical superhero setting as we envision it. To be clear, a setting that deliberately embraces those shifts as part of a broad commentary on the prototypical dynamic is a fine idea, and I can think of several works in that vein. But if you do want to maintain the vibe of a big-two setting as part of your project, you need to thread the needle, creating a setting where superheroes do get killed, but not all the time.

When you adjust for how generally violent it is, Invincible actually becomes a notably deathless narrative, at least in its front half; civillian and grunt casualties abound, but after the Guardians- who are nothing but signposts- it takes until the Lizard League fiasco for another superhero to die, and it takes until The Invincible War for a superhero with any actual character development to die; the named-character kill count, or more accurately the characters-we’re-supposed-to-weigh-significantly kill count, skyrockets from there. On balance I’m prepared to call this a good thing; it allows the Guardians massacre to stand alone as a noteworthy event in the front half, and it cements the sense of increased stakes in the back half as Mark moves into higher and higher weight classes. That said, I do think that this does suboptimal things to the adaptation, which, not having hit any of the material in the back half, has run two seasons now without any casualties in Marks orbit that don’t turn out to be fakeouts. A couple of weeks ago I was bloviating about how the adaptation handled Shrinking Rae’s “death,” only to face plant when it turned out she survived in the adaptation; I’m now effortlessly pirouetting my criticism to be about the fact that they weren’t even wiling to axe a Mauve Shirt superhero in a way that reminds us that it’s actually a possibility, which of course was the point of Ray’s death in the original. It sort of creates this sense that the show is reproducing the annoying-big-two-ism of throwing around mass civilian casualty events that nonetheless rarely if ever directly connect with anyone in a costume- when in fact what’s happening is really more like the narrative analogue to a Popeye-style comically-extended windup punch.

[tensaiproductionz]

I know I have really no right to mention this as I’m not solely in the Chainsaw Man universe, but I just realized something that I wasn’t sure would connect.

The original invention for a chainsaw had nothing to do with wood or violence - but I had everything to do with trying to help someone give birth.

Around the late 17th century, Scottish doctors by the name of John Aitken and James Jeffray, created an item that was to be used in symphysiotomy, which was to widening of the pubic symphysis. What this means is that it was suppose to force open the canal opening/cut it open because babies had often had trouble being able to get out of the birthing canal due to their heads. This instrument was a prototype that was a hand cranked chainsaw with a chain like from a watch, specifically for this medical purpose, and would be later made into a more refined version of a chainsaw by orthopedist Bernhard Hein in 1830s. It wasn’t until 1883 when the chainsaw would be used for the purpose of only for board cutting, with later inventions going to what we know as straight wood cutting as time passed.

Yet another thing I’ve noticed is that when Pochita/Chainsaw man actually eat someone, they disappear from existence - does not matter if you’re a devil or a mortal or a concept - you are erased from memory, history, and from the face of the planet. The funny thing about life is that you cannot stop life from being born - every generation before and after will continue on until the end of days - yet because of that it has put pressure on living beings to adapt or die in the process. Many species have died and have been forgotten about from this, and while there are the rare skeletons and impressions left in dirt or rock, to show they existed, they cannot tell the story of how they got there, and the way they died. Nature will take and often bury those that came before us, along with the history and knowledge they once had. It would be appropo to assume that even certain concepts and ideas have been lost and forgotten to time and history, and there’s no way to be able to get them back even if we have books, documents, fossils, etc that we could look at and judge an estimate. Life, even if it’s abundant and constant, has always taken and removed metaphorical ideas and objects, and made us unable to remember them unless we actively try to preserve their history, or try to seek them out.

So it made me think of the idea of Pochita - and maybe another devil - had fused together to create an entity that both erases but also allows life to flourish. Why they refer to him as mainly Chainsaw man because he is neither the former or the latter anymore - they had created a new entity, and that’s what is present as of right now. Heck, even the organ scarf I’ve seen him have makes me think of an umbilical cord - something that often happens to babies while they’re still in the womb - and desperate to get affection like a baby that lost its mother cause the dude just wanted a hug.

Idk, maybe I’m bullshitting and maybe this theory doesn’t come out as true, but it’s a pattern I’ve noticed, and was curious if someone else thought it up.

[iamthekaijuking]

Gigabash Character Overview: MechaJURAS

Remember in the Pipijuras review where I mentioned that Passion Republic Games could add Pipi’s mechanical doppelgänger to the roster like they originally envisioned in order to add content?

This is so corny it’s great

I suppose it was a matter of time before they added it, although I’m surprised it’s free, then again maybe it’s a consolation for the fact that MJ was intended to be in the original roster.

Mechajuras is the fourth mech in the roster and is a bit of a tank (literally). It lacks a lot of movement options outside of the standard dodge and a rush attack you have to charge, and doesn’t have great air game. But MJ does hit decently well, has a grappling hook to bring in opponents from halfway across the arena, a ranged drill attack, and an anti-air attack (that aims a little low so it can be tricky to use).

Mechajuras also has rocket boosters that can allow for slight hovering and surprisingly give it one of the highest jumps in the game.

Design

In some ways Mechajuras was definitely easier to implement into the roster than other characters. As a scrapped fighter repurposed into a stage boss, PRG already had a model and many animations to work with, so they didn’t actually need to make something from the ground up. I will say though that playable mechaJ is smaller than the stage boss version, but is still very large compared to the rest of the cast. Also the tank treads don’t actually move so it sorta just glides along the ground, but I think we can give PRG a pass on that since they are a small indi team.

As for the character inspiration itself, it’s pretty obvious. MechaJuras is to Pipijuras as Mechagodzilla is to Godzilla. MJ specifically has a sort of bolted together steel look that showa MechaG had.

It might be worth mentioning though that as a mech with drill hands and tank treads, there might be some Moguera inspiration.

Here’s some concept art.

Also one of its skins turns it into a minion

Lore

Apparently I wasn’t the only one who didn’t like that we had to wait for lore in a future update when the mighty dlc character pack came out, because we get character files for Mechajuras right off rip.

Apparently the playable MechaJ is actually the fully complete version while the larger arena boss is a prototype, both being products created by the Global Titan Defense Initiative. There’s actually quite a stretch of time between the creation of the two versions, with the project having been circling the drain for years and about to be axed by higher ups in the GTDI. But it was suddenly revitalized and given way more resources, and for a particular reason. Apparently the GTDI’s Giga Counters have been going crazy and picking up massive spikes in Giga Energy, meaning a bunch of kaiju might be waking up.

Now we don’t actually know when this is as the character files for MJ don’t have any dates on them. So production of Mechajuras 2.0 could have started at the beginning of the 2020s before the story modes started and Thundatross was revealed to the world, or it could have started after the decimation of the Aegis Program at the paws of Balzarr and by extension after the story mode. So either production started in preparation for the second kaiju crisis, or it was started in response to a future third one.

Creation of the fully realized Mechajuras was overseen by Dr. Adler, chief of weapons research and the person put in charge of the Pipijuras mind control program after Dr. Reiner left for OtamaTEC in 1998. The higher ups gave him about a year to get it done despite his begging for a 2 year roadmap, so the crunch time the MechaJuras department was facing must have been ungodly. An offhand comment even mentioned that new coffee machines would be given to the department just to speed things along. I have no doubt someone probably died working to death just because of these unfair working conditions.

But it paid off, and despite being the most technologically crude of the mechs in the game, it’s the only one that’s mass produced. The second character file is literally just a massive advertisement for MechaJuras, because of course countries have to buy their own mechs on top of paying the GTDI for other protections. I think the GTDI might be a little spiteful after the world made the Aegis program in an effort to be extorted less to rely on them less. The trailer also mentions that various weapons for MJ are sold separately too hilariously enough, so if you want any weapons on your MechaJ then you’re paying extra.

The Global Titan Defense Initiative is going all in on MechaJuras though because apparently they’re gunning for it to dominate all entertainment industries and have already agreed to five movies with Universal, or I’m sorry, Universell Pictures. It’s absolutely hilarious that GTDI is trying to pull a helldivers and make their mech some big patriotic thing everyone will be obsessed over.

Overall I’m glad I can finally pierce the heavens with Mechajuras’s drill and it’s pretty neat that we get it for free! Here’s to Passion Republic Games adding more characters to Gigabash!

[mossy-paws]

hello! I do parody accounts of phighting characters on twt, I was wondering if you would allow me to make a parody account of one of your biografts? (Leaning towards mossgraft or jestergraft.) I was also here to half ask if you have any more content of either of them../nf/lh

STARES SO HARD,,, I think I would be cool with that!! I definitely recommend dm-ing me on here or discord though so we can both talk about it a bit more so we can lay some stuffs down :3! Especially if you’re thinking about doing one for Mossgraft since I’m really attached to her specifically + they have PROBABLY the most expansive lore!

Also,, ohhhhhh boy do I got some food for you /silly like I said Mossgraft is my BABY (they were also my first EVER PHIGHTING oc and were made like 2 days after I got into the game LMFAO) so out of all of my bio’s them, Clementine, and Wall-e are by far my favorites

buuuut for Mossgraft and wall-e specifically with lore, there is a LOT, so I’ll start with a bit of design and lore history and then get into the really fun stuff :3

soooo where to begin! So to start, like I said Mossgraft was my first ever phighting oc made basically when I first got into the fandom, originally, Mossgraft was a custom built supposed to be betagraft prototype that failed pretty harshly and became sentient and then booked it out to playground LMAO, they were also supposed to be married to catshot because when i first started playing the game I wouldn’t stop calling him “wife” (catshot as a skin was also literally the ENTIRE reason why I first started playing,, that and broker). This is not Mossgrafts lore anymore (at least not fully) and they safe to say aren’t married to anyone now.

Mossgrafts old design was also WAAAAY different to say the least, when making it I was having such an actual pain trying to get the colors right + I didn’t really have much down for their lore, so you can probably see the struggle I was having there LMFAO

Now! Time for the fun parts when it came to design, obviously you can tell after I created that absolutely horrific version of them I still was VERY unhappy about their colors and stuff, so I was playing around with them on this one specific piece (if anyone remembers this you are the GOAT) which was I BELIEVE(?) made when BH was first introduced. At this point I don’t really remember much extra lore and stuff for them (not even the venom bits were thought up yet) but yeah!

At this point though, I really wanted to make an actual design for Mossgraft, and so I did! This was when I first came up with the idea of murder dronifying them /j and when I first came up with Wall-e! At this point Wall-e’s lore was basically non-existent other then what’s on the ref LMAO and mossgraft’s was still a huge WIP

Now this is just a really small but pretty influential thing I made for Wall-e, this was when I was first coming up with his lore! Basically, Wall-e is one of three original biograft proto-types created by subspace. All of them were made as a sort of practice to see if they could actually mass produce Biografts- with Wall-e being the zetagraft proto, Violet being the Betagraft proto, and cyan being scrapped completely

Why was Proto-type cyan specifically cancelled? Well, all of the protos were made for one reason; testing. They were made to be used as testers and NOTHING else, just as a sort of social experiment in a way where Subspace can monitor their behaviors and such and then later on make changes to the designs and coding and such. This didn’t go well though, and Cyan ended up going rogue and dismantling Violet (who was also beginning to go grow sentient, it was just much less violent about it and was uncontrollable because of fear) and then breaking out of the labs and going on a rampage and killing a ton of Blackrock civilians before it was eventually recaptured and killed. Wall-e, afterwards, was SUPPOSED to be dismantled, but managed to somehow escape (NOTE: this was changed later down the line and now in wall-e lore Cyan had attempted to dismantle it too but failed before it was detained). Mossgraft, shortly before cyans failure, was created as another way to test biografts made for war, created with Violets alternative blueprints and made 3000 times more deadly… this though, also failed. After cyans failure (NOTE: in new lore, Mossgraft was the one who eventually killed Cyan after a few months of it being rampant, which is why wall-e was eventually saved by it) Mossgraft managed to break free from Blackrock, saving wall-e from being dismantled in the process completely by accident, and… then moved to playground to be spiteful…… It didn’t ask for wall-e to come follow it, wall-e just ended up tagging along after his saving and just,, hasn’t left. Mossgraft doesn’t really mind this though, since wall-e hasn’t done anything to harm Mossgraft. (Maybe Mossgraft cares a LITTLE bit about it, just maybe, they would never say it though).

in playground, Mossgraft was later found and taken in (?) by a small gang of demons who use it as basically a fucking threat to anyone trying to annoy them LMAO, these guys don’t have designs yet, but they’re named Rainbowcape (just a little gal,, she’s as sweet as can be in most occasions although she can be a bit mean even if she doesn’t mean it, she has a good heart though), Overseer spider (a manipulative little rat of a man /j who’s a Thieves den/Blackrock demon who later moved to playground because he hated both of his parent factions. Does he like playground? No, no not really, but in his opinions it’s better than either of the latter.), and a few other demons who I really haven’t put much thought into. Mossgraft honestly does NOT care much about the gang, they just also tolerate their presence because 1) they haven’t done anything violent to Mossgraft yet 2) treat Mossgraft really well since Mossgraft is basically their shield and means of protection and 3) Mossgraft kind of thinks they’re funny, it’s like watching a sitcom with those demons.

For dreamgraft, its lore ties pretty heavily in with Mossgrafts, although its lore is much less “pronounced” then M’s is. For Dreamgraft, it was created specifically to target and kill Mossgraft, other rogue bio’s, and demons (although mainly to track down and kill Mossgraft). I actually came up with dreamgraft’s concept well. From their namesake, although they looked way different in my dream then on paper LMAO

But! Back on track, Dreamgraft was created using another offshoot of regular betagraft (and a tiny bit of violets) blueprints AFTER Mossgraft had left. Why now, would a biograft be made specifically to hunt down another one? Well… this is because of Mossgraft basically being a walking war crime, which was also why it was never remade, Mossgraft is INCREDIBLY dangerous and the other factions did not appreciate it getting loose so they had to get on blackrocks ass about fixing their mistakes and killing it……. This is easier said then done though, because Mossgraft knows DAMN WELL that it does not wanna get dismantled so will gladly do anything to avoid getting caught by anything it so even suspects to be of Blackrock origin. So, they had to come up with a counter too it- and so Dreamgraft was made! Its code, unlike Mossgrafts, was absolutely PERFECTED and because of this Dreamgraft isn’t sentient, its biggest goal is to track down Mossgraft and kill it. Mossgraft is smart enough to know how to avoid it in most circumstances, though it has had some close calls in the past since dreamgraft’s toxic vapor can be a real pain to get away from.

Jestergraft was created as something akin to a “show biograft” and is subspaces personal pet biograft. How did he get away with making this when it does almost nothing else other then looking pretty, you may ask? No clue! But hey at least it can tell you the time and juggle!! Anyways subspace basically just wanted a biograft he could baby and it SHOWS with Jestergraft… especially because it’s sentient and boy oh boy is this little fucker smart. It’s code corrupted almost the second it was made but it’s learned how to masterfully hide it since if it shows any sort of sentience around its creator it’ll get dismantled. It also copy’s subspace’s manner of speech (making it even more insufferable to be around).

It also doesn't really *like* other biografts, but it knows how to manipulate them into doing its bidding’s when subspace isn’t looking. Dreamgraft on the other hand it HATES because it can’t. It thinks Dreamgraft 1) is a threat to its status and 2) sentient…. It’s not, though, why does Jestergraft think it is? Absolutely no clue at all. I like to think of it as some mad little brother trying to pin all bad these things on the really tired, annoyed, and uncaring older sibling who’s done absolutely nothing.

so, that’s basically it for a lot of their lore! I’m not gonna be doing mangografts/clementines/or sootgrafts for the time being since sootgraft and Mangograft have their own lores and clementines would take HOURS to write out fully (I actually DO have a plan for drawing out a poem I wrote out about biografts that will reveal a lot of his lore in the distance future, but for now I just don’t really have the time to dedicate to it :sadface:). For Mossgraft and wall-e though, I do actually have some FUNNNN ideas for them planned in the future! Specifically since I’ve been getting into transformers I’ve been itching to make some fun little “what if” alternative designs for them specifically, as well as some other lore pieces and such of them! For prototype cyan, I actually wrote a small little fic of them a long time ago, I doubt I’ll ever post it but if I do I’ll be sure to attach it to here! It’s very unfinished and old though so it’s not the most interesting read LOL

now,, for some fun stuff! Doodles and extra little pieces :3

First one is because a friend said they wanted to kiss Mossgraft (hi steam), second was actually a tumblr request! It was a fun little piece where someone asked me how the bio’s would react to a phone (fun fact, none of them know what one is (besides jester that is)). The third and fourth pieces were me trying to redesign Mossgraft and wall-e after their second ref was made (I later gave up because of motivation loss LMAO). Sixth was self indulgent, I just wanted to draw them as cats, seventh is an old old doodle of Cyan, this was me just testing out a brush. And the last is just a fun little wall-e thing

anyways! I hope you liked the lore dump, if you wanna talk more about making a parody account please do dm me for sure :3! I do got some important stuff to lay down (duh) but yeah!

[more-things-in-heaven-hell]

Amyel Drabble under cut

A chance meeting

———————-

He had been working on this for a fortnight, —— sure he wasn’t as creative as the seraphim’s or archangels , being a dominion and all , he wasn’t as close to the holy father as them either .. but he could still be powerful still be important , he just had to work hard and show them in other ways and this was it, it was still a bit wonky in some places but creating wasn’t easy . That’s why there was a team of creatives working together and he would be apart of that he would be important make a name for himself .

That power — it would be his .

His thoughts were halted by something short and almost muppet like slamming into him,

“Oof! Ah so so sorry , “ Samuel apologized profusely , that ever present little pet of his slithering around his face and on his head glowing from the halo light.

“Monty got In my eyes for a second “ the younger ( annoyingly more higher stationed then him) seraphim explained , golden eyes bright and cheerful , red wings all a flutter .

Amyel never felt such a rush of annoyance and anger .. but he tamped it down for now.

“Just be careful you almost destroyed my project—-“

“Ooh wow did you make that? That’s so good! Is it supposed to be a palm tree?” Samuel interrupted .

It was supposed to be a fig tree …

“Here let me try ..” and as effortless as ever .. wielding that light power that should have been his, the annoyance created a perfect small Palm tree , “look Twin trees!” He grinned .

Amyel never wanted to crush something so badly .. he worked for weeks on this one prototype .. this little upstart with his weird serpent…. Wait what was with that serpent.

Amyel always had a nack for sensing things of the darkness .. that vauge Being they all battle back with creation …. But why was he sensing it here ? Was there a break in the wall.. maybe he could shove Sam through it.

It was then he noticed an intense pair of red eyes focusing on him …. No it was coming from that ?.. it was faint as if the snake was trying to suppress it , but he could see It this wasn’t a normal snake and it was latched on to— oh father worked in mysterious ways indeed how perfect.

Well if asked he didn’t notice anything~. He simply winked at the snake and turned a blind eye to it.

“That does look nice Sam but I’m rather busy so I can’t play Around .. why don’t you go spend time with your pet.. he seems to like your halo.

Samuel glanced upwards indeed Monty was eyeing it like he wanted to devour it .

“Ya I think he likes the warmth and light, I should go feed him, see you Around Amyel! Keep up your cool palm tree making !”

It was a fucking fig tree you little — he sighed and waved the other off . It didn’t matter he was sure he could use what he just saw to his advantage somehow .. one way or another he will get that power.

A snake in a nest of angels how funny.

[maddymoreau]

My Thoughts on Poppy Playtime Chapter 3

Ollie is ADORABLE!!!! "No ouchies or lost body parts?" HE'S A BABY I NEED TO PROTECT!!!!!! AHHHHHH!!!!!! (¬‿¬) I have ZERO evidence for this but my theory is he’s The Prototype.

I’m REALLY happy to see the phone Ollie calls the player on is identical to the one in Project: Playtime! It’s nice seeing stuff introduced in Project: Playtime finally appear in the main series.

( ⚆_⚆ ) ESPECIALLY DR. HARLEY SAWYER!!!! WOW THE TAPE FEATURING HIM TALKING TO THE PROTOTYPE WAS DARK!!!! I knew a man like Dr. Sawyer would be a sick and twisted individual since he created the Bigger Bodies Initiative.

Despite that I was NOT prepared to hear the joy in his voice to experiment on children. It was revolting.

This exchange:

Prototype: "You stick us. Beat us. Tear at flesh. Do you feel it?"

Dr. Sawyer: "There is a secret inside you, 1006. Valuable beyond all measure. I cut and prod and burn at it, and I get closer with each session . . . So speak, or don't. Fight, or give in. Regardless, I learn something new about you every day . . . (Laughs) It excites me!"

Prototype: "Thank you."

Dr. Sawyer: "You . . . thank me?"

Prototype: "Absolutely. I learn something new about you every day."

THAT FINAL LINE WHEN THE PROTOTYPE IS MIMICKING DR. SAWYER'S VOICE AHHHHHH!!!!

＿|￣|○ I WANNA KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO DR. SAWYER SO BADDDDD!!!!!! He wasn’t around for The Hour of Joy but I hope he suffered.

Leith Pierre: "Normally I'd have Dr. Sawyer do this but he's uhhh . . . out, let's say. So you got me until they find his replacement."

(o ´ _ ` )o The contrast between how Dr. Sawyer speaks to the experiments VS Leith Pierre the Head of Innovation at Playtime Co.

Both dehumanize the experiments in different ways.

Leith Pierre can’t even bother remembering Catnap's real name. He puts on this fake friendly facade. Referring to Catnap as his Pal and Buddy. It's so disingenuous.

Especially when he asks, "Heya Theo! How ya doin' bud?" Pierre could care less about how Catnap feels. It's only when Catnap responds, "The Prototype will save us." That gets Pierre to finally drops the corporate spiel. Admitting to what this place is. Catnap’s prison.

No wonder Catnap worshipped The Prototype after being save when this is what he’s told about his horrific situation.

Leith Pierre: "THIS is your life now. Get used to it."

I absolutely LOVED all the new features for the Grab Pack. The air jet looked SO FUN!!!! Watching people desperately shoot the flare gun against smiling critters in a cramped space WAS SO INTENSE!!! The smiling critter's small growls and whimpers made me sad.

(ʃƪ 〃’▽’〃)♡ The horror in this chapter was INCREDIBLE!!!! While I had fun playing Chapter 2 I remember feeling disappointed by the scares.

CHAPTER THREE HAD ME HORRIFIED!!!! EVERY JUMP SCARE HAD ME FLYING OUT MY CHAIR, THE ATMOSPHERE WAS AMAZING AND AHHHHH THE HOME ORPHANAGE SECTION!!!!!

It reminded me of PT ∑(; °_°) Especially with the radio informing us that in Elliot Ludwig's house it was discovered he HAD THE BODY OF A CHILD IN A DUFFLE BAG!!?!?!?!?!?!

ALSO THAT ONE RADIO'S REVERSE MESSAGE!!!

"8-8-1995 I find your presence intrusive. After all this time you return. You come in here and yet you kill and murder. You pilate and destroy. Your presence was demanded 10 years ago and yet you didn't show up . . . 8-8-1995 You were supposed to be here. Why weren't you here? You missed the event. You missed the meeting. You missed the party. You have no right to be here . . ."

AHHHHHH MOBGAMES KNEW WHAT THEY WERE DOING WITH THE LIGHTING IN THIS SCENE!!!!!

I thought I was going to see MY BOY 😭💔!!!!!!

Huggy Wuggy is completely fine.

Kissy Missy was so sad and adorable in this chapter. Seeing her stare at the picture and hug herself BROKE MY HEART ( o̴̶̷᷄ _ o̴̶̷̥᷅ )!!! She deserves the world.

Catnap acting like a child and avoiding school 😭💔

Miss Delight was a minor spoiler I knew about since people used her face in their thumbnail. However I was NOT prepared for her to act like a Coil-Head!!!!

Theodore being described as antisocial and having a peculiar relationship with an imaginary friend _(:ì」∠)_.

That “imaginary” friend being The Prototype. Who guided Theodore to help them both escape. Only for Theodore to get electrocuted since he was just a child who didn't know how to safely use a Grabpack.

The Prototype throwing away their chance to escape to save Theodore by bringing him to the staff. Showing The Prototype does care in some way.

Only for Theodore to be later turned Catnap.

THEN the player electrocutes Catnap the SAME way Theodore originally received his injuries. The Prototype comes to “save” Theodore once again but this time by making Catnap a part of him AND CATNAP ACCEPTS SO WILLINGLY (˃ ⌑ ˂ഃ )!!!!

It felt like I was watching a religious experience.

I love Poppy Playtime but I do think they show too much in their trailers. Dog day is a great example but even then his scene was *chef kiss*

All the smiling critters crawling inside Dogday as he desperately screamed in agony and for us to run away left me speechless.

I liked the detail of Dogday calling us angel. I'm excited to see all the AUs people create where we save him.

ALSO THE HOUR OF JOY WAS A BLAST TO WATCH!!!!!

I know Poppy is right that it was just senseless slaughter. How all that death didn't fix or help anyone. Especially when it didn't matter if those killed were innocent or not.

However imagining these characters being painfully experimented on and stripped of their autonomy. Going though years of hell and finally reaching their breaking point. It's hard to not feel good for them getting to release that anger. Even if I know it's wrong.

ALSO I GOT TO SEE MY SECOND FAVORITE CHARACTER BOXY BOO YAYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!

THERE WAS SOOOOO MUCH HUGGY WUGGY IMAGERY IN THIS CHAPTER AHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

I'M GOING TO OVER THINK IT!!!!!! I HAVE NO THEORIES I’M JUST POINTING DETAILS OUT!!!!!!

When hallucinating Huggy Wuggy's face is on the employee training video:

“Join the Innovationists, where the bounds of science are continuously pushed. Or join the Counselors of Playcare, whose diligence and care for our children will help shape a brighter future, just you see.”

“Now every one of you has your part in that future, so should you come back tomorrow feeling unhappy for where you are, or what you’ve done . . . worry not, for your supervisor is here and happy to listen! And . . . should you come back . . . years later . . . your conscience finally getting the better of you. May you descend into the dark and the dust, finding all that awaits you are incomprehensible horrors . . . each hungry for your return, each eager that they might find you. Perhaps they’d smile at you from a shadow, their smiling mouths full of teeth and meat and plastic, watching and waiting patiently for their turn at a warm welcome. Or perhaps they won’t allow you such a time to figure your place in the world you’d left. A world that’s theirs now. Welcome home.”

The video transforms into a manifestation of the player's guilt. Not only for their involvement for whatever they did while working at Playtime Co. but for being gone and returning after ten years.

This is also paired with the player's possible guilt for killing Huggy Wuggy and their fear of him.

The hallucination version being a more exaggerated version of the Chapter 1 Huggy Wuggy vent chase.

When Catnap causes the player to later hallucinate:

Poppy: “Do you even know what’s real?”

Poppy: “No you don’t.”

THEN AT THE END OF THE HALLUCINATION IT SHOWS US THE DAY OF JOY!!!! Which is very odd when you consider two things. We've been told multiple times we weren’t there and during this scene we didn't know what the Hour of Joy was.

So the player hallucinating being in front of Huggy Wuggy’s podium during The Hour of Joy with a large Prototype hand reaching for us IS ODD!!!

ALSO THE TAPE IT SHOWS THAT’S WHERE HUGGY WUGGY WAS DURING THE HOUR OF JOY!!!!!!!

WHAT DOES IT MEAN?!?!?!?!

This is just speculation but perhaps the player's memories aren't as trustworthy as we think. After all we still aren't even sure who even sent us the letter or tape in Chapter 1.

"EVERYONE THINKS THE STAFF DISSAPEARED 10 YEARS AGO WE'RE STILL HERE FIND THE FLOWER"

It’s important to point out the characters from Chapter 2 made ZERO appearance during these hallucinations. Mommy Long Legs, PJ Pug-a-Pillar, Bunzo Bunny and the Wack-a-Wuggy.

Is the Huggy Wuggy imagery used because he’s who we encounter at the start of the game?

OR SOMETHING MORE AHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

[wiredaughter]

@fluffyfebruary 16: kiss and makeup/reconciliation

×××

Heckle for a Pistol

I’m always telling him not to kill my drones. Not to let go of the proton gun I’ve spent eons working on and was still a bloody prototype anyway. Not to take the carbon based armour I’ve made exclusively for him for a swim in the Pacific, since I’ve not tested the material’s salt resistance. I suppose it’s on me for not asking him not to total my own motorbike I made him take with in case he needed a quick getaway. So totaled it is. Funny how that works.

I glare at the pieces of the aforementioned gun Sapien delivered back two missions ago, and throw myself despondently back on the chair. He cannot die, or I don’t think he can, but still he’d have been hard pressed to make it against those ghouls in Sonoma, say, without my hydrochloric devices. This time, he’d have got a bit chewed up by that sea abomination had he stayed close, and he didn’t. He drove my bike away, not fast enough to escape its spiked limbs, though, and it ended in a crash that left him without longterm issues, and my bike a piece of rubble.

Glad as I am he’s not dead, and of course I’m glad but that’s not the matter at hand, I’m getting tired of the way this place overlooks my department. And it’s my own fault, I joked I’d be just like Morgan Freeman for the Batman, and that’s the regard given to the rooms allocated for me to create a research and development team. What’s the point, I muse, when everything I develop gets thrashed before a patent can be finalised?

Of course, the point is keeping me away from the field, this is where I’m most useful, wouldn’t you agree? I think Manning does. Much as he resents me, he understands acting like my job here has a value gives him an edge. I smoke, indoors as I am, it’s one of the pointless rebellious acts I allow myself. I’m done with looking at diagrams for the day, and I’m mad at the loss of my bike, but honestly, my father will buy me a new one and I’ll actually have fun modding it.

It’s the gun that still eats at me, and for good reason. I’m working on a way to defeat ghosts without having to guess which amulet will do it this time, and what do I get for my troubles? A very blue agent taking it for a spin when he’s facing down demons? Please. I make tea as I try to rework the model, but my blueprints are as indescifrable for me as anyone else. That’s why I keep the prototypes.

I’ve got two nerds slaving at them all the same, in the next room. Manning had preened and boasted when he told me he’d got them on loan all the way from Washington to help me keep his agents on gear, but I don’t care much for them. They’re an alright help, but one can’t stop hinting at wanting to dine with me and the other won’t stop asking whether I went to Eton or Winchester; ever since I declared I’d never set foot on a university. A lie, of course, but I thought it’d make him back off.

Great, now I’m thinking of my temps, chainsmoking and drinking a tea that’s long gone cold as I stare hatefully through the window I insisted on, if I was to have an office. As I curse them and their families, trying to remember their names, they prove their usefulness all the same when someone walks into the office they share and I hear them protest I said no visitors. I’m thinking of humouring the one who’s not a bitch about public schools and sharing a nightcap to spite Sapien when the object of my loathing and the man I’m trying to keep safe no matter how many of my robots he gets slaughtered walks through the door, my favourite employee clinging to him. I cross my arms, blow some smoke in their general direction.

‘I told him you were not seeing anyone!’

‘Yes, thank you…’ I trail off, make a note to learn his name. ‘You can show him around, I’m done today.’

I move towards them at the door, and he makes a valiant attempt to pull Sapien out of the way.

‘We need to talk.’

‘Unless your name is Johnny Walker I’ve got nothing else to say.’

I turn around, open the window and climb out, for I will not be deterred. He’ll want to apologise for the bike and sure it was cool but I’m just done with the entire thing, and unwilling to explain it. I don’t want to think about it. I hear an argument break out and the affected speech of my least favourite intern before I’m walking away.

I’m about six drinks in or eight, paging despondently through Dorian Gray’s excesses when he knocks on my door. ‘I said go away!’

I’m trying to set the door on flames with my eyes and sheer willpower, and that’s the only reason I see a paper sliding beneath it. I get up, ready to tell him where he can shove it, but when I pick it up I realise it’s not some old timey apology letter, but diagrams. Of my gun. I open the door, annoyed at him not being there anymore, and step out to see him walking away.

‘Sapien!’ I jog to reach him, papers held tight on my hand. ‘What’s this?’

‘I was sorry about taking the proton gun the moment I did it. I thought it might help with the case, but I should have asked. I created a working schema from your notes.’

I snort, notes is maybe too kind, considering my work process. I hold his arm to steady myself, surprised in equal parts at his work and his correct guess it wasn’t about the motorbike.

‘How?’

‘I got copies of the material from Philip.’

I tilt my head. ‘Who’s Philip?'

His mouth twists, almost a smile. ‘Your staff?’

‘Oh. Well, does this work?’

‘We won’t know until you build it.’

I laugh, begin pulling him along towards my room. ‘I’ll build it when I’m not drunk. Or hungover.’

He hums as I slam the door behind us. No use letting everyone know they can annoy me with bogstandard IT issues without fearing my wrath again. Abraham goes easily when I shove him to sit on my bed, step back to put the brilliant, legible, workable pages in my desk.

‘And what are you doing now, being drunk?’

I arch a brow. So, he’s got better at innuendo. For all I like that I’d like it better if he wasn’t speaking right now, and move to climb on him to rectify that. His kisses are sweet, and I missed this, so I huff when he pulls back.

‘I’m sorry about the bike too.’

I roll my eyes. ‘Oh, fuck my bike.

[hyzenthlae]

Severance 2.8 spoilers

I really hope they give us more background on Cobel inventing severance, because currently I’m finding it kind of unbelievable. All we’re shown is that she designed the chip in one single notebook. How did Jame get those designs, and how did he know they were legit? Did she tell others about it? Did she do experiments and make prototypes? What made her want to invent it? It would have made more sense if we were explicitly shown that trophy was for creating severance, through text on the plaque, maybe something for a science fair. Then it could be inferred that she had made prototypes, it had caught Jame’s interest and he awarded her, and then stole the idea and scrubbed all mentions of it. But from what we know now, she just made it up in a notebook? That’s Glass Onion napkin levels of silliness. I assume they’ll fill in these details, but idk why they didn’t do that in this episode, because it was so slow and short.

I also found Cobel’s grieving arc jarring and difficult to connect with because there was no build up to it. We only were given one hint that she was grieving, the breathing tube episodes ago, and we didn’t know who she was grieving until now. There’s no emotional buy-in to her grief when we’re barely shown that she’s affected by it and we have no connection to her mother who died. I don’t think this episode earned its emotional weight. It’s very different from how palpable Mark’s grief for Gemma is.

And the pacing was bizarre. Long pauses between dialogue, Cobel loses her sense of urgency every five seconds, we’re supposed to feel something about her childhood sweetheart who we’ve never met before

[santoschristos]

ASHTAR SHERAN – BE CAREFUL OF FALSE MESSAGES.

Greetings Emanuel and Pastor, this is Commander Ashtar Sheran, Unverential Peace. This afternoon I wanted to clarify this message that is circulating on the networks, announcing events that will happen in 72 hours. Announcement of the Event that will take place in the next few days.

We always told everyone to look inside their own heart, to look there when they see a message. When you read a message on the networks, subject it to the scrutiny of your heart, if you vibrate it, if you feel it. Listen if this message is authentic, or if it's a non vibrating message, it's not true.

I tell you that among the strategies used by the dark forces is also the one to confuse, creating disappointment and fear in the population, in front of the event.

I tell you, my dear ones, that no one should fear, in case it happens. Like they said, it hasn't been 72 hours, we had no information about it. I haven't made any statements about this.

We have always said that, through Emanuel and Pastora, we will give official information about the program and the whole event. I’m saying unto you my beloved, don’t be confused. That's why I tell you, when you read a message, if it calls you to fear or fear, put it through the careful examination of your heart, there will be the truth.

We've always told them they will be informed internally. In the last few days there has been some solar activity. This was already planned. Father Mother had already announced it months ago. Several interlocutors from this side of the veil have also provided information about this. If the event speeds up these days, it’s unlikely.

Yes, there is a very intense solar activity, but not of such an entity to be called and classified as an event. They are previous activities that come gradually to prepare the souls, beings, to raise their vibration, to integrate into their I Am.

Don't take information that makes you afraid. We will warn them, yes, they will hear and their Self will know that it is time and they will hear.

Remember that before the big event there will be the declassification of all the information and the galactic announcement will come, which didn’t happen. All the information will be made public, boats from different families will also be shown and this has not happened yet. So watch the signs, read the signs.

Do not enter that circle in which even the dark forces try to sow fear, because they could not do it with other means. They have abandoned the blessed plan of the supposed Demia plan. All these actions have already taken place, they have tried to bring humanity back to the same situation as years ago, this one has no value anymore. They experienced wars and this one had no impact either. It's not time for war, nor is it time for a demise plan, nor is it a time for any negative activity on humanity.

These forces have already left the planet. We understand that there are still those who remain in human bodies, submerged, attracted, conditioned to act in favor of dark forces. Yet they continue to implant humanity, damaging its auric field, damaging its electromagnetic network, its body, implanting it with microchips to keep them under their control.

They continue to implant prototypes of negative energy that they themselves produce in their laboratories, and this through satellite signals, as we mentioned in the previous messages, through the Internet, 5G mobile phones and all those communication signals on TV, which humanity uses a lot, just as the use of energy is now widespread cell phones, computers, digital TVs, smartphones, everything.

In addition to keeping them monitored, supervised, they also take advantage of it to implement them.

Beloved, as I told you, we are installing the entire infrastructure of the light satellites, so that this way of continuing to control and manipulate humanity ends. They are so desperate that they already know what they have left are these disastrous strategies to continue to oppress humanity.

I tell all beings of light to stay alert and protected, very protected, because they will hear strong echoes as a result of all these strong implants that are made to them, through communication systems.

Fear not, everyone will be warned. It will come when it has to come. Pay attention to Emanuel and Pastora information, they are authorized and have information directly from us, the Hierarchy and the Source.

Remember that even the forces of darkness are looking for many noble conduiters. But they deceive them, they send messages pretending to be us, just to sow fear and terror among all inhabitants, among all beings.

We always tell them: stay connected, stay calm, stay composed. As the Father said, these days of the year are left, and even the next year of your calendar starts with great strength, with great energy.

We’re also waiting, my dears, because we also don’t know the date when this result will take place, but we know that everything is very close. We know because we manage energy at planetary level and solar system level and we understand how it flows, so we know it is very close.

Who gives you a date, who tells you that day, that hour, that date or that month is not correct. There will be situations in which you will know that the great solar flash is coming, which we desperately need for all the children of Father and Mother, so that they can integrate into their divinity.

All this energy that has entered all these portals, the last one since the solstice which has been quite intense, helps with reconfiguration, recalibration of the bodies and DNA of all humans.

Be peace, be love, be calm, because the anxiety of fear is the weapons of the enemy. Dress in light, dress in peace, dress in love and wait tied to your heart, there you will be informed and through our official interlocutors, every news will be transmitted to you by this means. Silence.

I salute you with absolute love. I am commander ashtar sheran.

Inverential peace, blessings to all.

Emanuel and Pastora - ServiUM

Sacred Mount of ERKS

Original Post: Enzo Palomba - Altro Pianeta

[talenlee]

Dev Pile 2025-22 — Sharkuterie

Rapid prototyping is the practice of taking a game idea and then, within a fixed timeframe, doing what you can to create a workable version of that game. It’s game jam stuff. Except we call it ‘rapid prototyping’ in the academic space because game jams sound far too fun.

Rapid prototyping is a practice I love doing and I recommend you do it because it lets you mess around with pens and paper. You get to break from rules about how things are or aren’t meant to be used: you aren’t supposed to draw on game components. You aren’t supposed to rip up things and make them into new things. The prototype I expect to make with this game, in this post, is going to be playable in a deck of cards that I’m going to draw all over with a pair of permanent markers, you know?

However. I guess we’ll do it as a content warning.

Content Warning: This is going to discuss and show the work of generative media tools, specifically Microsoft Copilot. I am not paying for Copilot; it is being paid for by my work. I am using it as a tool and trying to give an honest assessment of what it does and as a designer, the things that it can do. This should not be considered as a recommendation for these tools. I want to talk to you about the things they do not do well, and the things you can use them for.

Also, I’m writing all of this. I’m writing about the experience of using Copilot, not using Copilot to write about it. After all, surely Copilot would never say anything nepotistically self-praising since it is after all such a good program that does not do anything you will complain about later.

What Did I Do With Copilot?

The idea was that if Copilot (and other tools of its type) present themselves as everythingamajigs. They can do everything in every part of a process. I booted it up, and told it that I wanted to make a card game. I had an idea; I wanted a game about mermaids making charcuterie boards, with the threat of a shark taking food. I called it sharkuterie, and I told Copilot I wanted it to help me make it. It offered to present sample rules, and I said sure.

It then proceeded to give me completely dogshit rules that needed around 100 cards to be interesting, multiple types of tokens and counters, and a board. Simply put, it sucked.

I told it those rules were bad and instead I suggested a game about a set of 9 small decks, and each stack had a shark in them. You had to be careful about how far you could go in any stack without getting a shark to bother you. This is from my game design Camp Osum. I actually really liked this idea in hindsight, with the idea that once a shark has left a stack, you want to plunder that stack, which means players wind up with valuable boards… that are then in danger now they have to work on other stacks.

Gunna use that idea somewhere else.

Anyway, I didn’t like this idea for this set collector. I didn’t really get a good feel for it, but also, this wound up consuming a lot of card space, and meant for a 50ish card deck, in 9 stacks, with a shark in each, that’s 41 cards and each stack would be pretty small. That kind of sucks, I don’t like that. Plus, there’s nothing spatial in it. If there’s a grid of cards, and the stacks are slowly shrinking, it should mean something, like are you hiding behind these stacks as they wear down or something?

I told Copilot to ditch that idea, and instead I wanted a simpler version of a more blackjack style, flip-from-the-top game. I told it the mechanics I wanted, I realised that this meant I could put in an ‘attracts the shark’ stat, and then all I needed was a way to make the cards you collect meaningfully different, and for them to represent charcuterie. I asked Copilot to list to me what goes into a Charcuterie, and it suggested a list, then asked me if I wanted it to produce some thematically appropriate card examples.

And… I told it okay.

It produced then a list of perfectly reasonable but not great card names, with things like ‘kelp cheese,’ or ‘jellyfish wine,’ and then offered to use its image generator to make some proxy cards. Which, again, testing the device, I said okay.

I’m not hosting the image here because it sucked and it sucked so bad that I didn’t bother to save it. It wasn’t an image of a proxy card; it was angled, it showed a bunch of cards, partially, and unclearly, with no meaningful text on them. It was not producing what it described, it was producing, well, the slop picture for a news story about those things.

Then I asked Copilot to compile a summary of this I could share with my students, and I put that in a document for them.

The Actual Game Though

Anyway, this meant that I had a ‘game’ I made, and spent the next day just making the card images and finding stock art to make a version of the game that looked like non-ass.

This is an example of what I think of as a ‘deck’ game. It’s 52 cards, held in a single box. No tokens, no counters. You remove exactly one card, you shuffle the deck, and then the game starts.

1 Shark Card

51 Ingredient Cards. Each card has a name, a type, three stack values, a blood value, and rules text.

5 Bread Cards (Bread Type, Stack Value: 1, 0 Blood. Rules Text: +1 if your board is full!)

4 Red Windsor Cards (Cheese Type, Stack Values: 1-2, 3 Blood. Rules Text: Can’t be next to meat!)

5 Swiss Cards (Cheese Type, Stack Values: 1-2-4, 2 Blood. Rules Text: Can’t be next to fruit!)

6 Parmesan Cards (Cheese Type, Stack Values: 1-2-3, 1 Blood. Rules Text: +1 if it’s a corner!)

4 Blood Orange Cards (Fruit Type, Stack Values: 1-2, 3 Blood. Rules Text: Can’t be next to cheese!)

5 Kiwi Fruit Cards (Fruit Type, Stack Values: 1-2-4, 1 Blood. Rules Text: +1 if it’s the middle!)

6 Grapes Cards (Fruit Type, Stack Values: 1-2-3, 2 Blood. Rules Text: Can’t be next to meat!)

4 Blood Clam Cards (Meat Type, Stack Values: 1-2, 3 Blood. Rules Text: Can’t be next to fruit!)

5 Salami Cards (Meat Type, Stack Values: 1-2-4, 2 Blood. Rules Text: Can’t be next to cheese!)

6 Seared Seitan Cards (Meat Type, Stack Values: 1-2-3, 1 Blood. Rules Text: Sharks Don’t Want This!)

1 Salt Cards (Seasoning Type, 0 Blood. Rules Text: Add to Any Stack!)

This description is a little tightly packed. To unpack it a little more; there are meat, cheese, and fruit card types. There’s also a type of bread card, and there’s a single seasoning card. These indicate how they relate to one another; you get a point for each type on your board at the end of the game, encouraging you to get everything.

Cards have blood values. This indicates how likely it is to get the attention of a shark. Things with high values are likely to get attention to a shark.

And on those high values, stacks can be worth 1 point, 2 points, or 3 points; but to get 3 points, you need to have the number of cards in your stack minimum to get there. So if you have 3 Salami cards in your stack of Salami, it’s worth 3 points. This follows for

Each card has a score value, a rule for how it relates to other cards in your tray, and a number of blood drops on it that indicate if it pulls the shark’s attention. If while you’re flipping cards, you reveal a total of 5 or more blood, a shark shows up. Your turn ends, you put the cards you’ve drawn onto your board, and then a shark eats the biggest stack you have. If there’s a draw between those, it’ll eat the stack of the thing with the most blood. If there’s a draw between those you can choose one to throw to the shark. Stick the eaten cards in a discard pile. They’re out of the game, face-up.

When you get stuff eaten by a shark, you get the Shark card. That Shark then signals who last got the shark, and on your turn if you still have the shark, the next time a shark comes to bother you, you can ignore it the first time; add the flipped cards to your board, and then start flipping again like it’s the start of a new turn.

You only ever wind up with six slots on your charcuterie board. When a player gets six items, that player drops out. This continues until every player has six cards.

Once you’ve done your turn, you hand the deck to the next player and they go.

Copilot Final Notes

The game, as designed, is entirely my own product at this point. Using Copilot sped me through some processes, and it gave me some good lists of material information I could build out, then change as I checked my art assets. And, in that summary of the document I told it to do…? It dropped the version of the game with the stacks of cards. It just didn’t put that whole section of the conversation in. Which I guess makes sense, because it’s summarising the end product and working backwards, but that is itself part of the problem, because that summary doesn’t include an explanation of what I did and why I didn’t do it that way. It doesn’t show the failures and the reasons they’re failures.

Look, Copilot did some really cool things in this process. It did do some things that were very convenient for me, and I think it was useful for me specifically because I am a smug, superior asshole who looks at the writing output of others and occasionally consider how this should be better written. When it showed me a set of cards with names like ‘kelp crackers’ I immediately went: That sucks, you stupid machine.

The mechanics in this game didn’t come from Copilot. When I explained my idea, it wrote up a version of the game rule and a game loop that was both indescribably generic and very bad. It will punch out a standard set of templated rules mechanics, which look more or less like a generic family game, and notably, it won’t do a good job of expressing any kind of conclusion. Games that it pops out don’t have a distinct, clear end-game, and tend to be conflict averse. They’ll list numerous features, but not how they interact or, importantly, why people should want to do them.

Given that games are fundamentally an interface and incentives, a tool that isn’t good for showing why people want to do things and isn’t good at showing how things interact is a tool that has some limited ability to draw conclusions.

But the thing is, that’s still a really useful tool? Because the things it can do is stuff that is hard and tedious to do in game design. I don’t know what goes into a charcuterie board. Having someone else read two dozen recipe blogs with terrible stories written by mommy blogger foodies (the meat version of a LLM), and then explain to me the generalities of what should go into a charcuterie board. I wound up ignoring one of the categories (‘sweet’), because I didn’t have infinite card space, and wanted the decisions to be reasonably parsed out. It can do basic distributions, semi-random number things, things that computers are good at and it used to be hard to ask them for it.

And like.

Thing is.

For ‘give me standardised distributions of cards that I can use to create variety in gameplay experiences,’ that’s something that I know friends of mine can do. They know the math. Or they can write the simple python code to do it. Or they know the right person to look up for it. That’s good, and that’s not a thing you need to go out of your own way for if you already know how to do it. What these tools offer you is an interface you can use to get through things in game making you’re not good at.

I’ve been an advocate for some time in making your games so you don’t have to do the things you don��t want to do. If you don’t want to write dialogue, don’t make a game that features dialogue. If you don’t want to do elaborate resource management, if that doesn’t appeal to you, don’t design a game with that.

I don’t think this is a good tool for making a game. I think it’s a good tool for making parts of games. If you struggle with clear rules and readability, this is good for tidying up your wording. If you struggle with things like arrays, where you need to have something to keep a large number of cards or pieces straight, and you’re not a big spreadsheet dork like me? This is a useful tool.

But if you ask it to make something, what it makes will suck, and it will drop things that it shouldn’t drop in the name of convenience.

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

[theramblingsofadork]

Congrats on the big release of the first arc! 🥳👏✨

I couldn’t resist the desire to read the entire thing once again, so I did exactly that. And it made me wonder about the characters’ backstories, namely Hex, Lug and Cello!

And by backstories I mean the story behind their creation as characters.

Were they initially created as teammates for Starline or do they have the story before the AU?

(That’s a weird one, but) Do you remember the moment they appeared in your mind - you came up with them?

What inspired you to create them/what did you reference while creating? - maybe there’s a song that they’re practically based off, or a prototype character from another media?

How did you come up with names for them? Were there other options for the names?

What are some things about them that used to be/were planned to be canon, but were got rid of during the development of the story because they didn’t fit anymore, seemed outdated, etc?

That’s a lot of questions, so no pressure at all to answer fast or answer at all! They’re more of a prompt in case you want to talk about them but are unsure of where to start :3 (And yeah, the questions are sort of phrased like the three characters are not separated 😅 but please answer separately about each of them, if you do :3)

Hey there! First of all, THANK YOU SO MUCH! 💖💖💖 I’m genuinely so happy this first part is out. It’s like a huge load is off my mind. 😭

Second, thanks for the questions! I’ll try to answer them as best I can!

1. Cello, Lug, and Hex were all created for the purpose of the AU. While they’ve since grown and now all have backstories, dreams and ambitions, I never had them tied to the canon in any way before.

2. Surprisingly, yes. I had vague ideas of who they were based on what archetypes of people I needed to have on the team to make it somewhat balanced. They kind of appeared in my head then. I always knew Cello would be a blue bug of some sort. For Lug and Hex, I thought bulldog and maybe a squirrel. But when I drew it out, I liked the rat angle better for Hex.

3. Nothing, shockingly, considering most of my characters come into being through means of a song. I think Lug was the only one who was inspired by my friend’s old bulldog, Leo. Real gruff and tough looking guy, but all soft and heart underneath.

4. For me, once a name sticks, it sticks. Rivet, Charge, Hex, and Lug were all named around the ‘Sonic method of naming characters,” which is name them something having to do with what they do or who they are.

> Ex: Hex is a mechanic and a wiz with hacking (‘He’s hexing our systems!’), and Lug is a big ole lug who can carry heavy stuff.

After that, the naming sort of fell into my usual method of ‘the first name that attaches to them is what I’m going with’.

Cello was unfortunately the first of these casualties. 😔 It was always supposed to be a placeholder, but it just.. stuck.

The only way I can really relate her name to her is through the fact that cello music fits her personality and work style (focused, concise and sometimes scary) and she’s more contemporarily classy and learned than the rest of the group. (Minus Starline)

None of them had alternate names that came to me.

5. Ooo, good one! First thing that comes to mind was early on, I toyed with the idea of Lug being more hostile and anger prone due to his abusive dad, working with Yew and Co and betraying the Starpoint Squad for money to save a kid sister.

I ditched the idea because it would have destroyed the tight knit BFF relationship he and Hex have, I already had a hothead on the team, and it just didn’t feel right to do when Starline was already planning to betray them.

It was also supposed to play into an earlier version of the story involving Zeroth, but that definitely got scrapped.

As for the other two… I can’t say much has changed in their stories from conception. I suppose I did consider the possibility of Cello being a big cry baby with almost bipolar mood swings, but I think I settled on giving that to Stormy instead. (Fits her name better too.) :P

Hope that helps answer your questions! ✨✨

[quibbs126]

I’m wondering now if I should have my AU Elita connected to Vector Prime in some way. Because she has her time stop ability here, and she’s connected to the Primes already via Optimus and Alpha Trion, even if the Thirteen don’t really exist as a concept here

But the question now is how do I connect them? Because it’s supposed to be that Alpha Trion created her, albeit she’s basically the prototype for Optimus/a Prime, and her powers come from her having an unstable prototype “Matrix” and/or her powers are the reason it’s unstable (oh yeah btw I think I’m changing the Matrix’s lore again, this time AT made it while making Optimus, it’s what makes him special)

I’ve got some ideas, but I haven’t settled on one. First being that perhaps the Matrix project was initially collaborative between Alpha Trion and Vector, and Vector gave Elita time abilities, but this first attempt was flawed and Vectore ended up getting kicked out of the project somehow, leading to the second go around to not have time powers, but at least be stable. Second is that Vector was fully Elita’s original creator, but due to her instability was abandoned by Vector, being later taken in by Alpha Trion, who in trying to stabilize her, learned about her special powers and tried to recreate Vector’s project but successfully this time with Optimus, just no time powers. Third is potentially that because Elita was unstable, Alpha went to Vector for help, and he stabilized her somewhat and in the process she gained the time powers? But I’m not sure on this one

And then the final one is a bit different, but considering Vector Prime is sometimes a time traveler, maybe Vector is a future Elita? Since I have it that fixing her unstable Matrix requires radically altering her, whether completely changing her frame and/or reformatting her spark/Matrix, which has the potential to essentially bring her back to factory settings and ridding her of her life experiences, thereby erasing the entity of Elita-1, which is the reason why she currently hasn’t undergone any operation for it. So maybe this Vector is an Elita that underwent the process and is now stable, though completely different looking, and whether or not her personality changed is left somewhat ambiguous. And potentially her changing her name to Vector Prime is due to the fact that being the prototype, she technically is a Prime like Optimus and Sentinel, her Matrix being the only different thing due to its nature, which has now been changed to be properly stable, so she chooses to now call herself a Prime

But I don’t know, I’m not sure which I like most. Maybe I should make a poll to settle the matter, but I don’t know if I should do that now or wait till later after stewing on it a bit more. Or if I even want to connect Elita to Vector

I’ve also got some other small changes I’m planning, but I feel like I should save them for a proper art post instead. I just wanted to talk about this one, since I don’t know what specifically I want to do here