#a matrix of instances

[canticleofcanticlesforleibowitz]

This interview is so painful to listen to. Too much, too relatable. Must listen.

[marsixm]

my main criticism of barbie is that i just wish the very direct stuff said by america ferreras character didnt feel like them reading off a buzzfeed feminism 101 blog post then going “see look we did the thing” like yes keep the sentiment in there and even the specific quotes i just think it could have been written/integrated in the script in a way that felt more diegetic

[violentdelightshavevioletends]

On Chapter 56 of OS… I have so many thoughts theories questions and concerns…

[kitakami-zorua-kin]

Speaking of opinions, I don't get why so many of the other people here treat you like some... I don't even know what to call it? I mean as long as you keep it respectful you are a delightful, if aloof, conversation partner?

I like talking to you actually. I kinda don't see a need to be mean to you? I guess some people have a hard time dealing with the fact that you are very direct in the way you communicate, which is a them issues honestly I grew up with a Grandma having that character trait so I actually prefer getting things told as it is, which may hurt their feelings cause they aren't used to words not being sugar coated.

Ok onto more pleasant things then people being babies in the face of truth, your furret, what's your favorite and least favorite thing about it behaviorwise? Also what's your favorite food and snack? Mines would be fried egg on toast for food, simple I know, and berries especially pecha's and bluk's.

And finally do you have a favourite joke/pun if yes which? If or if you wanna answer that too, what's your favourite type of music?

Oys

//yay character tag earned *final fantasy victory fanfare plays*

Yay your emo onion doesn't hate me, seriously though he's fun to talk to if you don't try to smite him for being terminally 14 and from a town in the sticks. Like I used to be semi like that, didn't live out in the sticks, so I just dial up the way I used to think a bit and it sorta works? (HFHDHDGD HELP I just realised I'm consciously trying to act like an edgy teenager to communicate with him 🤣). Also that video post just now? I love a certain purple element about that. I'm so excited to see your rendition of this story it's shaping up super good, question though cause the Internet was no help, what's blanket unreality?

... People tend to be assholes, from my experience. They're either going to step all over you or think you're a monster, no matter what you do.

Yeah, maybe.

Copper...? Heh. He sure is sweet... I like how expressive he is. No need to second-guess how he's feeling - he makes it very obvious. I guess... I don't like how much he worries. For a Furret, he sure worries a lot, especially lately... As for food... I like anything with apples, really. Favorite joke, huh...? Think it went... Why'd the normal-type cross the street? Audino. ... it's kind of stupid, actually. I don't... really listen to a lot of music. I'm not sure, honestly.

[commodorez]

Start Me Up: 30 years of Windows 95 - @commodorez and @ms-dos5

Okay, last batch of photos from our exhibit, and I wanted to highlight a few details because so much planning and preparation went into making this the ultimate Windows 95 exhibit. And now you all have to hear about it.

You'll note software boxes from both major versions of Windows 95 RTM (Release To Manufacturing, the original version from August 24, 1995): the standalone version "for PCs without Windows", and the Upgrade version "for users of Windows". We used both versions when setting up the machines you see here to show the variety of install types people performed. My grandpa's original set of install floppies was displayed in a little shadowbox, next to a CD version, and a TI 486DX2-66 microprocessor emblazoned with "Designed for Microsoft Windows 95".

The machines on display, from left to right include:

Chicago Beta 73g on a custom Pentium 1 baby AT tower

Windows 95 RTM on an AST Bravo LC 4/66d desktop

Windows 95 RTM on a (broken) Compaq LTE Elite 4/75cx laptop

Windows 95 OSR 1 on an Intertel Pentium 1 tower

Windows 95 OSR 1 on a VTEL Pentium 1 desktop

Windows 95 OSR 2 on a Toshiba Satellite T1960CT laptop

Windows 95 OSR 2 on a Toshiba Libretto 70CT subnotebook

Windows 95 OSR 2 on an IBM Thinkpad 760E laptop

Windows 95 OSR 2.5 on a custom Pentium II tower (Vega)

That's alot of machines that had to be prepared for the exhibit, so for all of them to work (minus the Compaq) was a relief. Something about the trip to NJ rendered the Compaq unstable, and it refused to boot consistently. I have no idea what happened because it failed in like 5 different steps of the process.

The SMC TigerHub TP6 nestled between the Intertel and VTEL served as the network backbone for the exhibit, allowing 6 machines to be connected over twisted pair with all the multicolored network cables. However, problems with PCMCIA drivers on the Thinkpad, and the Compaq being on the blink meant only 5 machines were networked. Vega was sporting a CanoScan FS2710 film scanner connected via SCSI, which I demonstrated like 9 times over the course of the weekend -- including to LGR!

Game controllers were attached to computers where possible, and everything with a sound card had a set of era-appropriate speakers. We even picked out a slew of mid-90s mouse pads, some of which were specifically Windows 95 themed. We had Zip disks, floppy disks, CDs full of software, and basically no extra room on the tables. Almost every machine had a different screensaver, desktop wallpaper, sound scheme, and UI theme, showing just how much was user customizable.

@ms-dos5 made a point to have a variety of versions of Microsoft Office products on the machines present, meaning we had everything from stand-alone copies of Word 95 and Excel 95, thru complete MS Office 95 packages (standard & professional), MS Office 97 (standard & professional), Publisher, Frontpage, & Encarta.

We brought a bunch of important books about 95 too:

The Windows Interface Guidelines for Software Design

Microsoft Windows 95 Resource Kit

Hardware Design Guide for Windows 95

Inside Windows 95 by Adrian King

Just off to the right, stacked on top of some boxes was an Epson LX-300+II dot matrix printer, which we used to create all of the decorative banners, and the computer description cards next to each machine. Fun fact -- those were designed to mimic the format and style of 95's printer test page! We also printed off drawings for a number of visitors, and ended up having more paper jams with the tractor feed mechanism than we had Blue Screen of Death instances.

In fact, we only had 3 BSOD's total, all weekend, one of which was expected, and another was intentional on the part of an attendee.

We also had one guy install some shovelware/garbageware on the AST, which caused all sorts of errors, that was funny!

Thanks for coming along on this ride, both @ms-dos5 and I appreciate everyone taking the time to enjoy our exhibit.

It's now safe to turn off your computer.

VCF East XX

[cube-cumb3r]

part 2: What's the deal with Manneq- SIMULTANEOUS PARALLEL REALITY THEORY IM CRAZY IM CRAZYIM CRAZY IM CRAZY

This is the second part of me trying to make sense of the Mannequins in ENA. Read pt. 1 here, if you want. Or don't!

I'm not entirely satisfied with the explanation of "Mannequins are spawnpoints" because it doesn't really explain how the Mannequins got there in the first place. How did so many Mannequins coincidentally end up near locations where it just so happens that Ena is likely to respawn?

I pondered a little bit about the role of Mannequins in the Youtube series as well, and if I could tie that into their role in the game. To my knowledge, there's only one episode where the Mannequins make an appearance, and that's Temptation Stairway.

I don't think about Ulysses often. The most I think about him is the fact that the song that plays when Ena talks to him is such a peculiar banger. But, given that he's the first character in the Youtube series to mention Doors before their existence got fully elaborated on in the game, perhaps more of his dialogue isn't just ominous and strange nonsense.

One of his lines is (paraphrased) "But heed this warning: desires are never fulfilled, nor quenched. You will fail. Like the rest of them."

So who is the rest of them? (other than Moony?) Taking the video at face value, the answer seems pretty simple, it's the Mannequins. They can be seen climbing the Great Runas in the beginning of the episode, and then later on her way, Ena walks past some lifeless ones in various places in a similar manner they are found in Dream BBQ, or they're... lamenting? In this strange space?

Other than that, without any further context, there doesn't seem to be that much to say about the Mannequins in Temptation Stairway, they seem to just be Mannequins. They're these sort of anonymous and ambiguous figures that also seem to have the same goal as Ena, reaching the Great Runas. All of which are failing, it seems.

After Ena meets Ulysses, she of course meets the Shephard who says her infamous "Arghh... another ENA troublemaker." line, which has of course been interpreted to mean millions of things. That being said, literally moments after this scene, we see other Enas when Ena enters the holy code. It seems sensible to assume these are the Enas she's talking about. (Because of Species Theory TM, no one ever really asks how they got here, why they look nearly identical to our Ena, and why they're unmoving. But that's besides the point.)

Most importantly for the purpose of this post, for some frames, they glitch into Mannequins.

(I would be remiss if I did not mention that right after this sequence, there's a data matrix on the wall that when decoded says "FORGET YOUR PAST". Make of that what you will.)

We already know there are multiple simultaneous instances of Ena in some manner, given that the Shepherd has met multiple of them. Given where the Shepherd is located and based on her dialogue, it's likely too that the Enas she met were also attempting to reach the Great Runas as well. That's another set of individuals that are attempting to reach this divine being, other than the Mannequins (and Moony).

So, when Ulysses says "You will fail, like the rest of them", maybe he's talking about the lifeless Mannequins that Ena walks past on her way to the Great Runas. Or, maybe he's talking about the other Enas that can be seen in the holy code. Or you know, both.

Or, perhaps, there's no difference between the two.

Time and reality seems to be a bit weird in the world of Ena. When talking to the remnants of the former Genie, she will offer her memories, to show Ena a reality where Ena did succeed. And this "reality" is (presumably) the reality where Ena had successfully reached the Bathroom, and the events play out the same as if you had done so.

This seems to imply that despite the fact that the sequence of events that led to Ena successfully reaching the Bathoom was not something the Ena you're currently playing as ever experienced, given that the Genie describes it as "her memories", from her perspective, it still happened. Both realities seem to co-exist.

What does that have to do with Mannequins? Well,

Here's my crazypants Theory. Rather Mannequins being a "spawnpoint", they're rather sort of... glimpses of other realities or timelines.

This Mannequin is found on the path that Ena was quite literally walking on before she stops, and she nearly gets caught under the falling structure from above. Perhaps in another alternate sequence of events she didn't stop, and kept walking. And that's what that Mannequin is.

Or this Mannequin found on the other side of the bridge, underneath the floating platforms leading up to the Orb. Perhaps in alternate sequence of events, Ena did end up falling while attempting to ascend to the Orb.

In fact, you can even experience this in-game. If you fall while attempting to climb up, you will "teleport" back to various checkpoints at different points of the ascent. So what if it's not "teleportation" that is happening, but rather you are being "transported" to a version of reality where she didn't fall. Whatever you just experienced did not happen to this Ena. But, you can still see evidence of this having happened, in some version of reality, when you look at the tops of these buildings.

(edit 5/5/25:) A new patch came out today which added a new interaction with the file compressor, where you can compress files more and more until they explode, causing Ena to stumble backwards after which you "respawn" in the center of the roundabout again.

Interestingly enough, with this new interaction they also a new lifeless Mannequin, which can be found dismembered exactly where Ena would've been blown up by this zip bomb. Even more interestingly, this dismembered mannequin is already there even before you've interacted with the zip compressor. As if it's already happened. But not to you. (Yet.) (end of edit)

(Now, I am aware that it's an absurd claim to suggest every single Mannequin here is parallel Ena. That might not be plausible. But I think it's sensible to assume at least some of the Mannequins we see across the series and game may be.)

When the broken Genie shows you a different reality, if you talk to Unforgiven Frank next to the ship, he will still recall your earlier interaction, despite the fact that in the reality where you succeeded in reaching the Bathroom, you would've never encountered him in the Lost Village.

So, it seems these are not distinct and separate realities, but somehow both true at once. Similarly to how the realities where Ena fell in a river or a pit, and the realities where she didn't, are both simultaneously true. And similarly how the Shephard has already met Ena, even if this Ena has not met the Shephard.

Does she retain anything across iterations? Does she collectively experience all of them at once, or just one at a time? It seems for the most part, Ena does not have information that she would've obtained in any parallel iteration of herself, because she needs to ask for it, this is the case in both Temptation Stairway and Dream BBQ. But it seems in some cases she does have information from sequences of events she herself has not experienced, like how she can aspire for Frank's forgiveness despite never having met him (though of course, maybe they already met prior to the events of Dream BBQ.) Perhaps it's as the Shaman said, while perhaps she can, if she were experiencing all of them simultaneously, she would be lost in her own mind.

This theory is not rock solid, there's some things that still don't quite make sense. If you're up on the Orb Island after ascending, you can quite literally jump down all the way to the bottom and be fine, so why would another iteration Ena not make it from falling during her climb? Or, if Mannequins are supposed to represent Ena from other versions of reality, wouldn't you expect lifeless Mannequins to be found at, say, the bottom of the rivers and pits, rather than hanging off the edges? Though, since the Mannequin "inside" Ena seems to be able to "emerge" from her body, perhaps that could be the explanation for this conundrum.

With all this said, there seems to be a natural conclusion to this theory. Under the assumption that the Enas we see suspended in the holy code in Temptation Stairway are Enas that "failed" in their task, like the rest of them (like the rest of them) like the rest of them... What does that actually mean for Ena at the end of Dream BBQ?

I'm sure everyone has noticed the shot we see at the end of the game is nearly the exact same as the one in Temptation Stairway. There's other Mannequins as well, also suspended in the holy code. The conclusion of this theory seems therefore to suggest that the Ena we see at the end of Dream BBQ never actually made it out of Uncanny Streets at all. She got stuck behind the Lonely Door. Failed, like the rest of them, alongside the other Mannequins we see floating in that space.

It's a sensible assumption that the hand that reaches out and grabs this Ena-Mannequin is "taking" her and "placing" her back in the body of the Mannequin in the hub. But what if even that isn't true? What if the Ena "emerging" out of the Mannequin in the Hub isn't her "respawning", but rather, she is an entirely different instance of Ena that never left the Hub in the first place? Whatever happened to the Ena in the Lonely Door still happened, but not to this Ena.

Which seems to prompt a question that no other theory would need to ask. Where is that hand taking this other Ena?

[bisupergirl]

the two major things to look at for people wanting to decipher whether or not a drawing of a blonde white woman wearing a supergirl costume is kara zor el are 1.) the year the issue was written, and 2.) the costume itself.

TIME: if you're reading a comic from the years 1986 to 2003: THAT IS NOT KARA. kara did not just simply DIE during crisis on infinite earths, she was ERASED FROM EXISTENCE. in that time period there were two main supergirls that filled her place: MATRIX (mae kent) and LINDA DANVERS. there are certain instances where kara does appear in either a main universe or elseworlds comic from that time, but in each instance it is exceedingly clear which supergirl is being used.

so, if you stumble across a supergirl while reading something that was written between the years 1986 and 2003, that supergirl is either MATRIX or LINDA.

COSTUME: if you're reading a comic and you see someone wearing the classic, barebones supergirl costume: THAT IS (probably) NOT KARA. kara has only worn the classic supergirl costume a handful of times, and each time it is clear that that supergirl is kara and not mae or linda.

these instances are: any coloring error from a silver age comic that mistakenly makes it so kara's wearing a red skirt instead of her original blue dress, helen slater in the 1984 supergirl film, melissa benoist in cw supergirl, and supergirl rebirth, which was the first time kara wore the classic suit for an extended period of time in a main universe comic.

OTHER THAN THESE SPECIFIC INSTANCES, if you see a supergirl that is wearing the classic costume, it is either matrix or linda or... both? idk I haven't read supergirl (1996), but the important thing to take away is that THIS:

is not kara! pre crisis kara wore a similar suit before she died, but it is still very distinguishable from the classic costume. here's pre crisis kara on the left and matrix on the right:

now, if you're reading a comic and see a supergirl wearing THIS costume:

this is LINDA DANVERS. kara only wears this costume in superman: the animated series, so unless you are watching that (or reading a comic set in that universe), know that this is LINDA and not KARA.

TO SUMMARIZE:

are you reading a comic written between the years 1986 and 2003? if yes: THAT'S NOT KARA.

is that supergirl wearing either the classic costume or white crop top and blue mini skirt? if yes: THAT'S NOT* KARA.

*unless you're watching supergirl (1984), STAS, cw supergirl, or reading a modern supergirl comic. in which case: it IS kara.

in 2004 kara was reintroduced back into main continuity, so from 2004 to NOW every supergirl you see is, more likely than not, KARA:

thank you for your time :)

[edgebug]

just because you like a movie doesn't mean it's good. for instance i love the michael bay transformers films (terrible) bc i love to watch big robots smash things. had a blast. dogshit slop movies. loved every second optimus prime was onscreen. for me it was an easy 10/10

by that same token just because you don't like a movie doesn't mean it's bad. for instance i hated the matrix. i know this is a controversial opinion. i simply did not vibe with it. however i do know that it is an objectively good film

[feinv]

hereeee me out.. virgin pre-matrix neo with dom-ish reader .. it'd go crazy i fear 😞 he's all tensed up and awkward, literally sweating when reader just touches his knee.

so submissive and breedable just to be fictional. 😔

virgin pre-matrix neo x gn!reader.

especially if you are a naturally touchy person cuz that’s just how you show affection…he won’t survive that yeah.

doesn’t matter if you are still in the talking stage or just got into a relationship or…if you are nothing but a couple of friends, you still make him a flustered mess.

— you were sitting next to him in front of his desk while he showed you some cool tricks he did by coding, your knees touching every now and then as your body shifted around, and he was trying so hard to not act weird at the pleasant sensations your innocent touches brought him, craving more of you and internally begging you to stop continue :(

he tried distracting himself by clearing his throat during every such instance, which helped a little, allowing him to think he would get through the night without making a fool out of himself in front of you, but all his delusions would shatter in the just a few seconds.

he showed you a particularly unique website he made, your excitement getting the best of you when your hand unconsciously flew to his thigh, your fingers slightly digging into his flesh as you squealed. “that’s so cool, neo!! you probably spent days on this, right?” you exclaimed, genuinely curious to hear his answer. but when you turned your head to look at him, his eyes would be anywhere but on you. the monitor, the desk, the wall, the window, even the hardly shining light bulb. everything was suddenly so interesting to him.

he swallowed the lump in his throat, his adams apple bobbing up and down as your hand was still connected with his leg, and he felt a burning in that exact area. was he going insane? your words were completely muffled to him, his thoughts so loud they blocked out other sounds. except maybe the pumping of his heart, which was definitely louder than anything else. he was grateful the apartment was dimly lit, at least you wouldn’t see his flushed cheeks, or the little drops of sweat forming on his forehead.

he fidgeted with his fingers, stuttering on his own words trying to form a coherent reply. “i ugh…well…it’s uhm…” his pupils racing back and forth in between your pretty face and your hand, his own soothing down his other leg which was literally trembling “sorry…what did you say?” you heard his nervous laughter.

[baeddelicto]

I think yes, we can talk about manufacturing consent as this ongoing and systemic social process re the raping of transfemmes/camab genderweirdos... depraved, pathetic creatures who are desirous of any and all forms of attention and physicality, the abject as desire projected and epitomized...

And i think we could talk specifically about the feminist subject(yes this includes transmascs as many feminist spaces currently and historically demonstrate) in its relationality to this as 1. actors that are categorically unable to perpetrate sexual violence and 2. victims that are desired and objectified and hurt.

But i think it is worth discussing the ways in which narrative as an aspect of aspirational identity is thrust upon us. One presupposed on a bioessentialist understandings of sexual violence.

In the sense that the narrative of femaleness is one of being raped. You see this in the various responses to discussions of transmisogyny when cafab trans folx chime in to more or less effect "well us real females have real problems: we are raped" which has some implications no?

And so any claim of sexual violence done unto our milieau is met w scrutiny even from our cohorts and ourselfs. It seems to basically every1 tht we are trying to adopt the narrative of femaleness. Another instance of the impersonator dressing up. A mummers play with the dragon trying to claim real harm, subjectivity, personhood. Laughable if it werent so insulting.

And so this becomes part of the projected desire matrix. An implicit understanding that yes even if they dont want to(which they do), they want to be forced to. Which means thrs no way to rape them; thrs always a c at the beginning of the dna chain cncncncncncncnc.... so when we bring up even the possibility of sex violence its not only "u wanted it!" its "u wanted to be raped!" We want to be traumatized in the female way which makes it impossible for us to be such... Laughable if it weren't so insulting.

[stylinsoncity]

in addition to really complex grief, liam's passing has also stirred up anxieties i have about life and death, about our limited time on earth and the pressure to do something with that time. i think we owe it to ourselves to feel grief thoroughly (rather than push it down or minimize it), but i think the next thing we can do -- when we're ready -- is live the life we would've wanted for those we've lost and not give into hopelessness or melancholy. i struggle with the concept of people just not being here anymore. it feels like an error in the matrix. or a flaw in human design. that someone can be here and their presence and their spirit can be so clear and indisputable and then in the next instance, and very quickly, just not be anymore. except it isn't true that their presence or their spirit simply vanishes. i do think it lives on in other ppl. and i do think that's why we have to go on living fully and fiercely in spite of loss. bc the act of living keeps them alive in some way too.

i wanted to drop a note here to say that i support you all in however you're feeling and i love you. pls be kind to yourself and to others. and take all the time you need... xx

[dekaydk]

Mental health and entertainment figures

A video that @waitmyturtles posted (in a response in an understandably non-rebloggable post by @respectthepetty) had a frankly surprisingly serious tone for something that seemed intended mostly as PR for an upcoming Thai series with Ohm Pawat and Perth Tanapon.

Both of them really just came right out and said that they have a lot of mental health struggles. I thought some of it was worth highlighting.

Preface 1: I don't know how accurate the English translations are, nor if they convey the feelings that are being expressed, and linguistic and cultural differences can drastically alter how you come across to someone outside that matrix. Preface 2: It occurred to me that acting is not a field noted for a lack of narcissists, but I didn't get the feeling that this was "look at me" behavior. Had I felt that way, this would be a very different post.

That said, here's what I came away with. (Not entirely in sequence.)

The PR-friendly version of this is "We have to smile even when we're not feeling happy." That's a tried-and-true wording that dances around deeper feelings. But the PR-diluted version isn't what he used.

Perth comments that he (in effect) feels like he's always on an emotional rollercoaster, up and down, and lays (at least some of) the blame on the industry:

The interviewer later suggested that therapy was a good thing, and both agreed, strongly, and in response Perth both said "I think I should [get therapy]" and advocated for more therapy throughout the entertainment industry, while Ohm nodded along.

As to the below, I don't know if this literally means "I'm not happy" or he means "make me fully happy" with his life. Translation of stuff like this is difficult under the best of circumstances. In the context, I'd say it's somewhere in the middle.

The PR-centered aspect is always present:

As always PR handlers are present for these things, but they didn't shut down the discussion, which is interesting. It may not signify much, but at least this level of honesty and openness about mental and emotional health is out there, in this one instance.

Here's the entire video. (You can skip the promotional bit at the end as it doesn't really say much except that they are both excited to be in an action setting vs. a romance and they got along during filming).

[agent-smiths-gun]

Agents in a Snowball Fight --- > (Headcanons) ☃️ ❄️

Smith

Smith HATES the snow…

…and also doesn't really hate it? Let me explain.

He doesn’t like how it causes roads and highways to be blocked off, electricity to go out, for office life to slow down, etc.

He thinks it’s gross when he sees how the cold can cause humans' noses to get all snotty

He hates the baggage it brings, it gives him a headache.

So, if you ask him if he liked it, he’d say no.

“It gets in my way.”

However, he has his secrets, cause that’s not the full truth.

He’d gladly peer out his office window to look at the white blanket coating the city. From afar, it looks very pretty to him.

He also likes it because when he’s chasing people who have broken from the Matrix, there’s a high chance they won’t fully pay attention to their surroundings and slip while running.

“You shouldn’t run when it’s icy,” he’d taunt.

He wouldn’t bring up the idea of a snowball fight, that would be like, the last thing on his mind

If you somehow managed to get him outside his office’s building, you’d have to try hard to get in a sneak attack. This guy has seen a lot, coming to expect it at this point, especially from you.

“You’ll have to do better than that.”

They could potentially work, though, if he was, for instance, occupied with another task

If you're just an absolute chad at throwing and you manage to hit Smith, he’d look at you with this unsatisfied stare. He simply dusts off his suit and walks away (he’s secretly impressed you managed)

The only reason he would actually throw a snowball is if you continued doing it/trying. If you persisted, he’d use his speed to gather a giant snowball together and hurl it at you. You take your defeat and stop, cause 1. He threw it so hard, that you’re now on the ground and 2. All that combined snow was hella cold.

All in all, you don’t want to challenge him, especially as a human. You’d be losing. Hard.

Brown

When it comes to snow, I think Brown appreciates it more than he dislikes it.

He already recognizes the overall cultural aspect of snow, and that’s what he respects about it.

However, I can easily see him somewhat struggling to do the things he can usually do because of it. Like, I can see him easily losing his balance on the street if it’s iced over.

But anyway, I believe that he’d be more open to a fight, but here's the catch:

He’s not going to agree if you ask him to a snowball fight

“I have more important things to worry about.”

However, if you bring it up under the guise of training to help your throwing speed, aim, or something of the sort, he’ll agree

But only for a little while, he is a very busy program after all

He takes your proposal of actually training you seriously. When you’re both outside, he’s stone-faced the entire time.

He sets up some ground rules and you start training. He doesn’t hold back at all.

“The rebels won’t go easy on you, therefore I won’t go easy on you.”

I can see you two working on your awareness of others; you two could build snow people and you’ll have to hit him without hitting the, as he’s put it, the “snow citizens”.

And he’d train your brain to have better quick-thinking abilities. He’s absolutely going to use his super-speed while training you.

If you try to deviate from practice and goof off, he’ll pelt you with a bunch of snowballs, much to your dismay.

“Cool it with the snowballs, Brown!” “Stay on task!”

Sneak attacks could work on him. He’d demonstrate throwing strategies. Since he’s taking it seriously, he wouldn’t expect a sneak attack at all. 

If you go through with the attack, he’d be very insulted that you’re not paying attention. Your punishment; you get pelted with snowballs. 

He won’t admit it to you, but he had fun since it’s not the usual type of training. He’d want you to propose a snowball fight training session again.

Jones

Like Brown, I don’t think that he really has an opinion on snow.

Before he really experiences it, his mentality is,

“Oh, look…snow. Anyway–”

Compared to Smith and Brown, he’s the youngest program of the two

Therefore, I think that he’d be the most open to playing in it.

When you ask him to go outside with you under the guise of “training”, he immediately says yes

Once you two set up some rules, he’d get the hang of the activity quickly

The most lighthearted; the most likely to categorize what you’re doing as fun

“That was…certainly different from what I’m used to doing.”

He wouldn’t be the type to take it extremely seriously, therefore he’d go pretty easy on you. I can’t see him using his super speed that much since he wants to give you a fair shot at winning

You can easily get away with sneak attacks since he’s new

When you manage to do it, he’d be taken by surprise, but he’d catch on quickly.

“Oh, so we’re breaking rules now?  Well, if that’s how you want to play–”

After the snowball fight with you, he’d probably ask about other activities. So you decide to show him other winter activities, still under the guise of “training”. You two make snow people, lay on the ground and create snow angels, and just watch as snowflakes fall (Jones catches one with his tongue, and he quickly decides he’d rather not do that again because of the taste, lol).

Your fun is cut short when Smith sends Jones down to fetch you two so you both can get back to actually training.

I think that’s when he’d have an eye-opener moment.

After that day, he’d look around the Metacortex building and watch others playing in the snow like you two did. Now, when he’s out and about, he might stop to observe the tiny cat footprints indented in the snow. Maybe he’ll watch from a distance as families glide on the ice of skating rinks

Overall, he’d recognize snow’s ability to bring people together for a good time.

ALL THE AGENTS:

Smith does not participate in the antics. Nope.

He’ll watch you and the other agents throwing snow from down below

He doesn’t need to drink or eat but he can. If it’s cold, he’d drink a hot chocolate (I think peppermint-hot chocolate would be his fav)

Brown starts off taking the fight seriously, but after seeing you and Jones smiling, he doesn’t take it as seriously

He decides to just throw snowballs at regular speed when he sees that’s what you and Jones are doing

He’s winning the fight so far

Jones is truly enjoying the snowball fight with you both

He watches as you try your hardest to hit him and Brown while occasionally ducking for cover behind a nearby tree

Your accuracy isn’t as good as theirs, but he loves that you’re playing anyway.

A/N I’m a little bit late with this! In the state I’m in now, people aren’t used to getting snow. Many of my friends hadn’t seen snow before, so it was nice being able to go outside and make snowmen and just goof around. Somewhat inspired by that January day. I hope you enjoyed, this is my first time writing headcanons!

[our-ensemble]

haiii question,,,, sorry for being kinda dumb here but what would be the point of sending emails to hapiele? the story is written already and akatsuki redebuted (???) so what Will they do then? would they just take back the things that happened in the event? sorry again for the bother! i dont go to twt or social media that much so im lost,,,

Thank you for asking, and this isn't a dumb question at all. Of course, contacting HappyElements has been quite the undertaking, so it's only natural to want to know what we should expect. This is a bit lengthy since I wanted to put as much perspective as possible, and as always, I do not mind if others wish to add to this.

The most important thing to acknowledge is that this is an unprecedented scenario, so we're making estimates about how HappyElements will respond. At best, we hope that HappyElements complies with the requests made in the emails and nothing less, with these requests being a) the removal of Ibuki from AKATSUKI since this plays into the existing discrimination and Japanization of Ryukyuans and b) the careful consideration of how Indigenous characters are written going forward. Other additional goals may be added at individual discretion, but in relation to AKATSUKI and Ibuki, this is our main focus.

There is a chance that Enstars can edit or change the story. For example, in Izumi's event, "One Drop * A Specially Chosen Mad Party in UNDERLAND", fans raised concerns about how Izumi and Leo's backstory was mischaracterized in the story, and the line was later changed. However, when it comes to AKATSUKI and Ibuki, we should acknowledge that our concern is with the story as a whole, not a few lines, and so this is not likely. Should HappyElements decide to edit the story, they would likely be attempts to soften the blows that they dealt - but especially for a subject matter like this, it most certainly does not change the fact that the blow is still being dealt.

Another hope is that, even if it does not change AKATSUKI's event, it will push HappyElements to be more considerate in the future with regards to discrimination and characterization. We know that Enstars has been able to change its trajectory with how it approaches topics. For instance, Arashi's earliest stories contained both homophobic and transphobic stereotypes (specifically, she had many stereotypes associated with gay men, which is why the earliest translations of !-era stories tend to use he/him pronouns exclusively. At the time, her gender was not explained.) However, as years passed, the quality of her stories has noticeably improved, with a greater emphasis on her relationship with her gender. Hopefully, pressure from fans will encourage HappyElements to consider the racist, anti-Indigenous message that its pushing, and reevaluate how to approach Ibuki and other marginalized characters.

Some fans are also taking the angle of focusing on mischaracterization as a sort of "foot-in-the-door" technique. Again, as was the case with Izumi, if we can argue that certain things are out-of-character and that the continuous mischaracterization will be a threat to HappyElements' profits, then we might be able to use that momentum to target the racism in the story, since for AKATSUKI, the mischaracterization has been done to facilitate the discrimination that we see, and thus is not wholly separate from the issue. (Though on that note, fans have been asked to emphasize the treatment of Ibuki, since we must not treat occassional mischaracterization as comparable to active discrimination rooted in prejudices that continue to affect Ryukyuans in the present.)

At the same time, we must acknowledge that HappyElements has not made any efforts of note regarding other concerns raised by fans. Most relevantly, the event "Answer * Matrix of Stars Drawn Towards One Another" contains racist, anti-Indigenous sentiments in its depiction of the Amagi village. Instead of taking inspiration from Ainu culture as has been the case with the Amagis thus far, they made the Ainu village a sci-fi setting. Japanese imperialism has worked tirelessly to erase the culture of the Ainu in order to assimilate them. By making the Amagi village less culturally rooted and more fantastical, Enstars erases the presence of Ainu culture from their world - likely because it wasn't deemed interesting enough, since Enstars does value its shock factor - which is insensitive to the plight that the Ainu face to this day.

With all this in mind, we have to remind ourselves that this situation is still developing. The reaction to fans' emails has been mixed in the past, and the response to concerns of discrimination especially has been disappointing. Though, we also need to acknowledge that this is arguably the strongest, most concentrated reaction of the fans towards HappyElements, and we cannot allow them to intimidate us, nor can we allow them to forget that they are enabling dangerous anti-Ryukyuan sentiments that are not without real-life consequence.

Lastly, as I personally see it... even if "nothing" happens, I still ask that fans continue to pressure HappyElements. If HappyElements cannot treat marginalized people with respect, then at the minimum we should do the opposite and show marginalized fans that we stand with them. As I've mentioned time and time again, what we have seen in Enstars is reflective of real-life prejudices that are actively harming people. Even if HappyElements' mind does not change, other people observing the situation may reevaluate their own biases, and we can counteract whatever harms could occur as a result of HappyElements' lack of care.

[ruanbaijie]

I’ve been thinking a lot about KoD/ The Spirealm lately (no surprises there), and I think, after having watched the show two times and read the novel a couple of times, I have an inkling of a theory of what really happened in The Spirealm. And I don’t mean just the ending. I mean what was really going on throughout the entire show. Because when I was doing my rewatch, I noticed that beyond the obvious lines, this show is rife with foreshadowing.

So here’s my theory, with evidence picked out here and there from the show. Beware: this will get very long, and a lot of it might be overthinking on my part (as an INTJ, overthinking is my middle name). There will be spoilers for BOTH the novel and the show, so if you don’t want to be spoiled for either or for both, perhaps you might want to scroll on or save this post for another day.

But, if you’re absolutely curious and totally okay with spoilers… We shall press on.

When I finished the show for the first time, I went “oh god yet another open-ended cdrama ending”, and only had two theories for what that ending meant.

1. Everything had really happened, everyone that had been involved had really gone into the doors. When RNZ managed to cleanse the game, ~somehow~ time got rewound and events got rewritten, and everyone (including those who had died) went back to how they had been before encountering the games, memories wiped clean and all, except for LQS.

2. LQS had dreamed everything up in those few seconds between getting hit by the car and regaining consciousness. The games did not happen in reality at all.

The first one didn’t sit well with me, just because it seemed too damn unlikely. Even if we were to consider advanced technology and all, it just seemed too… far-fetched (for lack of a better word) for such a technology to completely rewind time and rewrite things, including the minds of everyone except LQS.

So I thought well okay maybe it’s Theory 2 which seemed more likely, LQS dreamed up everything and none of it had actually happened, and he spent the next 50 years remaking and rebuilding the entire Spirit Realm. And this theory pained me. Because it meant that after it all, LQS was still alone, and was a RNZ made up with data that LQS had input, who had never “experienced” what they had experienced together, really RNZ at all? Besides, how did LQS manage to dream the names and personalities of so many different people so accurately?

Which leads me to Theory 3, which is actually pretty close to what had really happened in the novel, and also kind of an offshoot of Theory 1, but with a but.

Now, circling back to Theory 1, it’s a chilling thought that something like this could happen in reality. But what if, what if, what we thought was reality reality is not actually reality? Could there be a technology that’s so great it could rewind time and rewrite events and minds… à la The Matrix? 

And so, Theory 3, which is the one I strongly believe (with >95% conviction) is what really happened:

THE WHOLE SHOW IS DOOR 12.

My supporting evidence, split into a few sections:

The Forum Scene

More Individual Instances

Common Motifs

What Happened Outside the 12th Door? + Unanswered Questions

A Simple Chronological Diagram

Tidbits

EXHIBIT A: THE FORUM SCENE

This was a very quick cameo of Wu Qi scrolling on the forum and then proceeding to still impersonate as a college-going girl (after the crying baby arc). There was absolutely no reason for this scene to be there, which highlights just how important this little cameo discussing the 12th door is and what it could entail.

A summary of what this says (bolded parts added by myself for emphasis), as far as I can since some parts are blocked:

A Quick Deduction: The Rules of the 12th Door

Everyone says that the higher the level of the door, the closer to reality it gets. That means that the 12th door is extremely close to reality. In the 12th door, your entire world is exactly the same as the real world, and there might even be doors within doors.

The people who enter the 12th door will lose all memories, including those of their relationships, and will exist in the 12th door with the identity of “if they had lived till then without entering the doors”. An NPC will replace the “personality” of the person who enter the doors, and other than their appearance, their personality and identity will be very similar, and the progress rate will be very high. (This sentence is quite blocked out so I don’t really get it.)

Then, the two will meet. Because after waking in the 12th door, one will find themselves in the “1st door”, then meeting place will naturally be in the world of the doors.

After that, the condition to clear the game would be to, under such circumstances, go through the eleven doors all over again.

I know, it’s a forum post, and it was titled “deduction”, but this is exactly what the novel was revealed to be about, and it also explains a lot of the foreshadowing that I started seeing throughout the show.

EXHIBIT B: VARIOUS INDIVIDUAL INSTANCES

Right at the start of the show, even before entering his supposed 1st door, LQS is shown to already have very sharp hearing. If these additional abilities are gifted by the doors to selected people, then why does LQS already have it not just outside the doors, but also even before setting foot into one? Unless, he is not outside the doors, and he has already set foot into not just one, but in fact, several.

RNZ says this line when he is directing LQS to run from the wolf. This is not just a foreshadowing for RNZ’s identity as an NPC, but also hints that the people that RNZ has been “directing” till that point (think all those people in the villa, including the twins, Chen Fei, etc.) were also not “live people”, but NPCs.

After the 1st door, LQS returns to the real world, while still wearing the jacket he had put on in the door. It is later mentioned that only selected props from the doors can be brought out and back in for special uses to be figured out by the players themselves. So how can LQS return to the real world with the jacket, which is never mentioned to be one such prop?

Ah yes, the lovely RNZ fake death scene. It’s a huge piece of foreshadowing for RNZ’s identity, but it might be foreshadowing something more. I’ve wondered, since RNZ is an NPC, if he “died” in one of the doors, would he respawn somewhere else? This quote might be referring to that. But it also sounds very much like he’s hinting to LQS that what he thought was reality was also not reality at all.

In the penultimate episode, LQS, out and about after his accident, running first to the villa to see if RNZ and co. are still there, and then proceeding to question himself if his reality is really reality at all. I think it's at this point he starts to suspect that he's really still in the world of the doors.

The final pre-time leap scene: notice how LQS says find (寻找) the point where reality and virtual world meet, and not create (创造)? Which means that here, LQS has already realised that this reality is not reality at all, but he’s still in the world of the doors. Now, he has to find the point where reality and virtual world meet, i.e. the physical 12th door.

Post-time leap: “including the 12th door”. After spending 50 more years in the 12th door, LQS has finally found the physical 12th door, at the point where reality and virtual world meet.

And when he touches RNZ’s hand, he gets restored to his younger self, because he has solved and unlocked the 12th door and the 50 years that had passed have not really passed at all.

EXHIBIT C: COMMON MOTIFS

1. Kaleidoscopes

Of course, kaleidoscopes. The original intention was definitely as nod to the name of the novel, but they’ve been written into the plot in a different way. Also a clue to RNZ’s identity as an NPC, since the only other ones that have been shown to have kaleidoscopes are the NPCs/ door gods. But, the kaleidoscopes only appeared in the doors, but RNZ has been shown to have them outside the doors. Unless… you know the drill by now.

2. Corridors

In the first episode alone, not one, not two, but four hallways of doors are shown. The first is a straight corridor that starts off the entire show (with credits and all), the second is another straight corridor and is shown to be rotating clockwise, and the third and fourth are the one we’re most familiar with: the one with the doors facing one another like a cross-section of a kaleidoscope. Here’s my theory for each: the first one is the “real” one, the one that LQS walks to get to the 12th door. It starts off the entire show and hints that the entire show is the 12th door. The second one that rotates (see next point on this motif) is the one in the bootleg game that LQS plays in the PC bang. The fourth one is when LQS enters the door world within the 12th door.

Also, this could very well just be an artistic choice, but note how in the poster of the show, the doors are also shown not in the cross-sectional kaleidoscope format, but in a straight corridor.

3. Circularity

I don’t know how to summarise this motif because it’s a combination of a few, but this show has a lot of circles, things in rotation, clock imageries, and the idea of things being in reverse.

The clue that Gao Dawei gives LQS through the kid NPC, “Flower in the water, moon in the mirror” (水中花，镜中月) is actually a reversal of an actual Chinese idiom “Flower in the mirror, moon in the water” (镜中花，水中月), which means a mirage, something that is an illusion. While this is a huge analogy for the whole real world vs. door world theme, it’s also another instance of reversal or something flipped in the show.

Some other examples are the flipped clock in the 11th door, RNZ’s quote in the 11th door about ending at the beginning, and even in the lyrics of that painful song that plays whenever someone dies: “Please don’t rewind time again, for I’m afraid I will do anything regardless of the cost” (请别再倒数时间，我怕我会不顾一切). Now… this idea of circularity, of rewinding time, of going back to the beginning to end… sounds a lot like everything restarting again after LQS emerges from the “11th door” and finding himself in a car accident. Or maybe, just maybe, it also sounds a lot like going back to the first 11 doors to finish the 12th door, doesn’t it?

4. Repeated Phrases

Now these might REALLY just be me overthinking. But Wu Qi mentioned a couple of things in his monologue (side note: this show has some SERIOUSLY GOOD angsty monologues) that made me go… hang on a second. These mentions of “light”, “the meaning of friendship”, and “path” - they were all also brought up in previous conversations between LQS and RNZ. “Light” - so many times (another side note: I find it hilarious that Xia Zhiguang also has the same “light” character in his name, so whenever RNZ says that LQS “has light on him” I get sad at the foreshadowing but I also snicker a bit for Reasons). “The meaning of friendship” - when RNZ and LQS argue over accompanying TZZ into her 6th door.

“Path” - when RNZ and LQS walk under the umbrella in the rain doll arc and RNZ mentions (also foreshadowing) that “legs are longer than paths, and paths will always have an end”. Again, these might jolly well just be coincidences, but my overthinking brain says I think not. Because, if LQS is really still in the door world, then Wu Qi and everyone else around him are really NPCs, and then it makes sense for the system to throw these words that had popped up before, in situations where Wu Qi was never present, right back at him.

5. Premonitions

There are so many of these. 

In episode 1, LQS already briefly “hears” the blades of the air vent of the room he had been trapped in with Gao Dawei, even though he’s still in the PC bang and the memory of that kidnapping is not at the forefront of his mind… unless it had already been triggered at some time shortly before that (i.e. in the “real” door whatever number it was when he had met the NPC that revealed the nature of the doors to him).

Just before LQS is hit by the car, he sees a door on the road, that is the same door as one of the two in the 11th door - the one that represents “illusory life”. How did LQS manage to conjure up the image of a door that only appears in his future? Unless, he has already seen the door before in the real 11th door.

BUT that being said, in the same flashes, he does also see the kaleidoscope cross-section style (seriously, I need a better name for this) of doors - the third hallway he sees in the first episode. This one, admittedly, I’m still trying to figure out, since technically, based on the theory I’m working out, at that point, he should not have yet actually stepped into the hallway.

LQS also encounters Li Dongyuan and Xiong Qi in the “real world” before he enters his “1st door”.

And also explains why he could dream the names and personalities of so many different people so accurately before actually meeting them “in real life” (that asshole in the hospital arc - I forgot his name -, Xiao Ke, Chen Fei, the twins, TZZ, Lu Yanxue), including the “real” owner of the villa.

This might also be me overthinking and just be the cast trolling, but the “actual” Spirit Realm game in the “real world” also seems to draw upon elements of what LQS had experienced in his 11 doors in the show, albeit in a more chibi form: from the door and Nanqiu and Toast and Chestnut on the front page, to the kaleidoscope and entering the door on the loading page, and the woman in the rain, Xiao Jiu, rain doll, nurse, and Zuozi characters on the game grid. If this was really the real world, was it really a coincidence that LQS had “dreamed” or “experienced” doors that had these very same elements? Or do we have cause and effect the other way round here, where the “reality” is actually drawing on what LQS had “dreamed” or “experienced” in the doors? I say, it’s no coincidence at all.

EXHIBIT D: WHAT HAPPENED OUTSIDE THE 12TH DOOR? + UNANSWERED QUESTIONS

Now, if the entire show is about the 12th door, then what happened in the real world? In doors 1-11? Well, it could be anything at this point.

Perhaps it’s something closer to the novel, where there’s nothing game-related about it at all, and people get pulled into the doors because they're about to die a sudden death, and the world of the doors is a "gift" for them to fight for that chance to continue living. The whole business is really just a supernatural thing, and the 12th door just happened to take on the setting of a virtual reality game.

Or, perhaps it’s really more like the show, where doors 1-11 happened exactly as they did (or close to) in the show, where LQS had to save the world from the nasty game that had been sullied by the capitalists in Piao Liang Guo (an analogy for the USA, if you haven’t yet realised), but he had to sacrifice his closest friend (read: bosom buddy) for the sake of the greater good.

Again, it could be anything. But I’d like to believe that it’s the latter. Because it goes exactly with the idea of circularity (see Common Motifs), of starting from the beginning again. 

But, post that, after everything is said and done, does RNZ end up going to the real world? I really hope so, because I need my happy ending damn it. It was possible in the novel which was more supernatural-coded, so the idea of a door god stepping out of this supernatural door world and into the real one to live with his husband seems a bit more… probable. (I know we’re talking about fiction here but please hear me out it’s like the walrus vs. fairy thing.) But if RNZ is really just made up of data, how the heck does data step out from the virtual world and into the real one? Maybe LQS really does end up making a “body” for him in the real world and takes a few years (or decades) to code him from scratch? But that just kinda goes back to my 意难平 with Theory 2 - is this RNZ really RNZ? Not to mention, the pain of LQS being alone for decades and trying to make RNZ from scratch.

Another unanswered question: what the heck is with LQS’s evolving hairstyle and fashion throughout the show? Is it an analogy for LQS’s changing personality, that even TZZ’s director “friend” mentions in episode 62? Or does it symbolise something else? I really don’t know, at this point.

EXHIBIT E: A SIMPLE CHRONOLOGICAL DIAGRAM

If you’ve managed to read till here, MASSIVE kudos to you. And here’s a simple diagram that I drew on PPT just to illustrate this entire theory, because I was also confusing the heck out of myself and I needed to see it visually to make sense of it.

EXHIBIT F: TIDBITS

These don’t really support Theory 3, but I’m including them anyway because I find them… interesting.

There’s a Yuyu Hakusho book in LQS and Wu Qi’s apartment. Now I’m in no way familiar with that series (I only watched that one live action adaptation of it), but in that series, there also exists a Spirit World (霊界, Reikai), which (ahem Wiki copy and paste) is the world where sentient beings (humans and demons) go after they die; not the equivalent of heaven or hell, but a station in between worlds where a soul's fate is decided. Which sounds… a lot like the premise of the doors in the actual novel.

I also find it extremely punny that the drama changed LQS’s name to Ling Jiushi (凌久时). For one, the characters for Jiushi are the exact ones that mean “long time” - which reminds me of the final exchange that RNZ and LQS have in the show. Also, the fact that his surname is now Ling instead of Lin? Absolutely hilarious… once you realise that the Chinese slang for bottoms in a MLM pair is 0 (零)… pronounced exactly the same way as show!LQS’s surname. And, if you haven’t yet figured out the running thread through this entire damn long ass post by now: coincidence? I think not.

[jynxedshapeshifter]

apollo's bracelet should've had more relevance in dual destinies and spirit of justice tbh

I was responding to this ask and got super off-topic so I thought I'd make a post about why I think Apollo's bracelet should've had more relevance in Dual Destinies and Spirit of Justice, because it seriously should have and I'm surprised it doesn't.

First of all, a recap of how Gramarye perception even works. Everyone in the Gramarye bloodline that we've seen (Magnifi, Thalassa, Trucy, and Apollo) tense in response to other people's tension. Apollo actually seems to react to the same things Phoenix's magatama does; both lies and information being withheld, whether someone's aware of it or not. Apollo was reacting to the same situation with Athena that was giving Phoenix black Psyche-Locks, and we know this bothered him because it's why he spends most of the last two cases with his eye covered.

Apollo also reacts to people pretending everything's fine when it's not, as seen in The Magical Turnabout with Trucy (although to be fair she also lied about being fine there but I digress). All of this to say, Apollo doesn't just respond to lies. He responds to any kind of tension. Which brings me to how weirdly irrelevant Apollo’s bracelet is for most of Dual Destinies and Spirit of Justice. It's still relevant obviously, he still uses it and it still helps drive the plot forward, but we also don't really get mention of it reacting where it feels like it would.

Apollo should've reacted to Blackquill on multiple occasions if not every time he saw him. Apollo should've been tense constantly around Fulbright. Apollo should've reacted to Klavier pretending to be fine in Turnabout Academy (which isn't just speculation on my part, we do get some hints that Klavier isn't as okay as he's acting, mostly through sprite and dialogue combinations).

He should've reacted to more things than just what he's mentioned to have reacted to, and we know that's all he reacted to because he mentions every instance of his bracelet reacting to something to Athena. I think you could argue that he was using his perception to help Athena figure out where to press a witness or present evidence, but I also think it's just as likely that he's just giving her advice based on his experience. It's so weird to me that Apollo doesn't react to more in Dual Destinies and Spirit of Justice. Like maybe his bracelet DOES have the same amount of relevance in Dual Destinies and Spirit of Justice that it does in AJAA, but my point still stands. Apollo should react to a lot more than what he does, even just going off what he does react to in canon.

He reacts to the same thing that caused Phoenix to get black Psyche-Locks on Athena and it bothers him badly enough for him to purposely take away his ability to use his perception. Athena detects discord in people's hearts by the same triggers that set Apollo off. In fact, while I was replaying the two Mood Matrix sequences in Turnabout Academy, I was questioning why Apollo's bracelet apparently wasn't reacting. He was also looking at Robin and Hugh during the Mood Matrix sequences, and both times they were actively lying, but there's no mention or even implication that Apollo was reacting at all (nor during any other testimonies where someone's lying). It's so weird to me.

It is WEIRD that Apollo’s perception isn't utilized a lot. It feels like it's underutilized compared to Phoenix's magatama or the Mood Matrix and it makes me sad. Apollo cares so much about other people and I feel like that in combination with his perception is an unexplored gold mine of heartbreaking and heartwarming Apollo interactions.