#ask aqof

[a-queenoffairys]

Have u seen this? https://codelyoko.eu/index.php/2023/10/23/code-lyoko-is-back-in-production-23th-october-2023/

Yeah I shared the video earlier after I watched the whole thing. I think the title of this post is a bit misleading - it sounds like Sophie and Jérôme are working on a pitch for a new series and have been in talks with the rights holders, but it hasn't been greenlit or financed, so it isn't "in production" (being made) yet. These two writers certainly have some intention of producing a new series, but we don't have confirmation that it will actually come to fruition. So it could be something to look forward to, but I'm not getting my hopes up too high at this point.

Still, it's interesting news! I think there are a lot of good stories they could tell using modern technology, I'm interested to hear what they come up with.

The full interview is worth a watch if you have the time, some of it is in English.

[a-queenoffairys]

You! What are your thoughts on trans people, especially trans women?

I'm 100% pro trans rights. Humans are wonderfully complex and diverse beings and I think that's something worth celebrating. Everyone should have the right and the support to experiment with their own presentation, appearance, pronouns, etc. so they can find what works for them, what makes them happy.

I don't often post about current events on here, but I have been keeping up with the news when I can. I really detest the people who claim to be "protecting women and children" while they systematically strip away our existing rights in an attack on trans people. There is nothing feminist about oppression. Those morons do not speak for me and no matter how many times they insist they have the best interests of "real women" like me at heart, I know that's not true. Trans women are not a threat to cis women, nor to womanhood in general. In fact, the idea that there is this one singular universal experience of womanhood is false and downright stupid when you actually stop to think about it. Everyone's experience is different. I do volunteer work in a girls/women-only space and I would gladly welcome trans girls/women into it. The more the merrier.

In recent years I've been finding more trans voices to listen to and I've learnt a lot about gender and the state of the world we live in. But I know there's always still more to learn. I will never intend for my words or actions to be transphobic, but my knowledge is not complete and there's always a chance I might do/say something offensive without realising it. If that happens, I welcome people pointing it out so I can correct it and do better in future. The same goes for anything that comes off as -phobic or offensive towards any minority group.

Trans men are men. Trans boys are boys. Trans women are women. Trans girls are girls. Nonbinary people are rad. Trans people deserve all the support, love and respect and I hope someday we can create a world that accepts them for who they are.

[a-queenoffairys]

A very interesting rumor about the final moments of Echoes when the light shines on the doors to the supercomputer with the XANA symbol, XANA supposedly says the phrase, "I'll be back" albeit the audio is very muffled. I checked the scene myself and when I raise the volume I can hear something being said during it; but it's so fast, unclear, and the music interferes. Do you know how to isolate or clear up audio from a CL episode or know someone who does to check what's being said, if anything?

I think I've heard the rumour before but I'm not sure anyone has confirmed it. Unfortunately I know basically nothing about audio editing so I can't look into it myself :B But maybe someone who sees this post can have a try.

[a-queenoffairys]

Hi ! I saw your Code Lyoko list of DVDs around the world and I'd like to add some stuff here to help you : Canada released a season 2 volume 1 (it also had the last 2 episodes of season 1), the serbian volume 7 contains episode 27-30, the DVDs that you called "Sweden" are in fact Norwegian DVDs (but the DVDs have the Norwegian and Swedish dub) also the volume 2 is named Virus, Italy had a rerelease of their DVDs (the 2nd version added subtitles to the episodes)

Thanks for all the info, it's much appreciated! I had a draft updated version I hadn't touched in a while and this will be useful for finishing it off.

The Norwegian/Swedish ones confused me - I found the info for volumes 1 and 3 on a Swedish DVD site with Swedish writing on the covers, which is why I had volume 3 listed as "Panik i fabrik" instead of "Siste opptak," but I couldn't find any photos from anyone who owned them. Then I found the Norwegian ones on secondhand shopping sites, so I guess maybe they were planning to release them with Swedish covers at some point but then changed to Norwegian? Thanks for helping clear that up!

And interesting to know about the Italian ones! I know a couple of other countries had re-releases with minor changes as well - I don't think I'll add that to the main list but it's good to know 👍

I've now added the Canadian one and a few others, I'll make a new post soon!

[a-queenoffairys]

If there’s ever another Lyoko series Odd should be bi

Absolutely 💯

I'm not desperate for a reboot but if it did, I'd love to see more diversity and representation like that.

[a-queenoffairys]

Hey, lately I've been rewatching Code Lyoko and there's something I want to ask!

I know it's a fictional work, but Yumi's kimono in garage kids concept art and season 1-3 has a reversed collar in Xanadu and Lyoko, respectively. On the other hand, in Japanese cultural aspects, reversed collar in kimono would be for the dead/ghosts. Do you have possible speculations and/or headcanons why Yumi's kimono look like that? Thanks in advance! (Here is the comparison)

(Also yeah bc of this reason my Code Lyoko Yumi art changed the collar position, which is left over right)

Yeah I'm afraid I don't have a concrete answer for that one. I think it's most likely a mistake on the designer's part, or maybe they knew it wasn't right but they really wanted the black and red to be on specific sides of the outfit and decided the skirt part looked better with the black overlapping the red.

But headcanon-wise, the idea that at the time she was first virtualised, Yumi perceived herself as being dead in some way - yeah, I can see that making sense. Always dressing in black and not having any friends, that seems like the kind of teenager who'd have that sort of mindset.

I see no issue with flipping it the right way around in fanart though. If you or anyone else has any other headcanons about it, I'd be happy to hear them 👍

[a-queenoffairys]

More questions regarding XANA's name. 1 If XANA's name doesn't stand for anything, then why do some official sources spell the name as X.A.N.A. putting a period after each letter implying that it's an acronym? Was his name originally meant to be an acronym at some point, but things changed? 2 Why is XANA's name spelled in all caps if it doesn't stand for anything? 3 How come the only times XANA's name was spelled out in the original series was when Code XANA is entered into the towers?

The only official info I have on the name is that it comes from Xanadu and it doesn't stand for anything, so I can't confirm anything beyond that, like why it would be in all caps or if it ever stood for anything.

But for XANA and X.A.N.A., imo that's just a stylistic thing and it depends how you write acronyms, like you could say MIA or you could say M.I.A..

Official sources use all sorts of variations, like XANA, X.A.N.A., Xana or X.a.n.a., so it's hard to nail down the most accurate one. Personally I use XANA and think of it as an acronym, but without using the full stops because it's easier to leave them out. I only use the tag #x.a.n.a. because of Tumblr's NSFW filter.

As for the text thing, there aren't many instances of written text in the show in general, so I don't think it's surprising. I think we only see the word Lyoko once outside tower sequences, and some of the characters' names only ever show up in the eyecatches. Less written text means it's easier to localise when you're dubbing in a new language. Plus I think the eye does a great job at being the visual representation of XANA, there isn't really a need to have the name spelt out on screen most of the time.

[a-queenoffairys]

Are you going to get Switch Sports?

I haven't really seen anything about it. I don't buy new games that often tbh, it might depend on how many of my friends decide to get it and do online group sessions.

Definitely looking forward to Splat3 though 👀

[a-queenoffairys]

Is there any sort of lineup or reference for comparing the sizes of XANA’s monsters? I was rewatching the episode where XANA materializes Krabs on Earth and seeing them on Earth made me realize how huge they and a lot of XANAs other monsters actually are. I’d love to see anything that could give perspective to how big they are and compare their sizes to one another.

I had a look around and the best I could find was a sketch height chart for the season 1 monsters in the graphic bible, on pages 16 and 18. But there may have been some changes to some of them, like the Megatank looks way too big there.

The concept art for new monsters/bosses in QFI also has a height comparison with Odd. I know there are also some fanmade ones of varying quality but I couldn’t find any I wanted to link here. Otherwise I couldn’t find anything official, sorry about that ‘n’

[a-queenoffairys]

Do you ever think about how all the students of Kadik probably were thinking that the Lyoko warriors were a weird group?

Oh absolutely. It would’ve been interesting if they’d touched on it a little more in the cartoon, but we did get Jim and Sissi being suspicious and the group getting accused of doing something to William. With the gang frequently being absent from class or suddenly running off, and all the events that didn’t get an RTTP, I can definitely believe the other students were aware that something weird was going on but it rarely got brought up in the show.

I often wonder about new students arriving and quickly being warned to stay away from that group of kids because they’re weird and it’s a little hard to explain why. It also could’ve been something they brought up with one of Odd’s girlfriends, where this girl really gets into questioning why he keeps ditching her to go off with his friends and how everyone at school knows they’re up to something. Or maybe Milly and Tamiya could’ve decided to investigate (without needing to be prompted by William’s clone). Plenty of potential for good fanfic at least.

Then on the more humorous side you have Evolution, where I often find myself laughing when I think about what the other students must be thinking when they see some of the stuff going on. The LWs were the only people in danger so you’d see them running for their lives away from some 12-year-old while everyone else just goes about their business, almost as if they don’t even notice that there are two Ulrichs all of a sudden. I like to think they’re pretending they don’t see it because they don’t want to get involved with those weirdos.

Then you have stuff like this shot which looks cool on camera but really weird from the perspective of the other students, plus they’re blocking a walkway and some lockers which is rude. Imagine wanting to get into one of those lockers while they’re all just standing there in formation like that. I’d probably want to wait until they left.

[a-queenoffairys]

Was the Future Flash ever really useful? Odd had absolutely no control over the Future Flash, apparently could never gain control over it, it appeared rarely and randomly in only four episodes throughout the entirety of the first season, the visions could not be altered no matter what anyone did, and he freezes when experiencing these visions leaving him vulnerable to being devirtualized by the weakest of XANA's minions. I struggle to think of any positive use that this power truly gave him.

I don't think future flash happened often enough for us to definitively say his visions were absolute and couldn't be changed. In the case of Aelita falling, I like to think having forewarning helped him react faster. Yumi's fall was the only time anyone tried to prevent the vision from coming true, and Ulrich did come very close to saving her thanks to Odd's warning.

And I think this is ignoring how the visions definitely were useful in episodes 15 and 10, where Jeremie was unable to help and future flash got them unstuck. In season 1 Lyoko's environment feels as much of an obstacle as any monster, and Aelita and Odd's powers are useful in overcoming that as opposed to being used for combat. There was a lot more travelling on foot without any monsters around and the fight scenes were generally slower-paced, meaning he usually wasn't in danger when he froze up while having a vision.

But the whole context of Lyoko changed in season 2, making future flash more of a detriment. With the exception of Sector 5, the environment is more of a static backdrop for fast-paced fight scenes and doesn't have that mysterious and treacherous feeling it had in season 1. They also make a point of Jeremie improving his scans, readouts and stuff so there's less chance he won't be able to help them from his end. Having a vision would put Odd in more danger, but they also simply eliminated the need for him to have them in the first place by making these changes.

So I do think they were useful in the context of season 1 (and the concept of Garage Kids for receiving warnings about stuff on Earth) but season 2 changed a lot and removed its original purpose, so it makes sense they'd get rid of it at that point.

Hope that makes sense? tl;dr season 1 Lyoko was very different to in later seasons and I think future flash made sense and was useful in that context.

[a-queenoffairys]

Can I just say in light of that Winx Club live action I am so glad they didn’t whitewash Yumi in Evolution?

Same ;; It was so significant that Yumi was Japanese, I'm really glad they cast an Asian actress when there were at least some white girls who auditioned for the role.

Gotta say Samantha Suarez sure reminds me of the Terra thing though (´。＿。｀)

[a-queenoffairys]

Why was Waldo Schaeffer unable to materialize himself completely in Lyoko? While not canon I heard that the novels say that the scanners can only properly children. The supercomputer can apparently only form a cohesive avatar for children since they don't have much to worry about in life. Adults having faced the stress of real life and its problems are unable to be processed by the scanners leaving only incoherent digital avatars with only Waldo able to retain his sanity. Your thoughts on that?

I think they’re not so much incoherent as monstrous. Franz’s energy form was definitely a unique case. Some quotes from book 3:

“On the images of Lyoko that I took through the eyes of our soldiers. They had all acquired monstrous appearances. One, for example, was transformed into an immense spider, and another was a child that seemed completely lost and was covered in a yellow substance that seemed like…vomit.” (...) “Yes. It’s difficult for us to face our greatest fears and accept the vision that we have of ourselves. These soldiers have dirtied their hands in all sorts of crime. And when Lyoko forces them to look reality in the face, they crumble and become immobilised.”

The first mention is when the bad guys try to virtualise their soldiers and find they all become frozen in fear. This makes sense because they’re terrorists, people who’ve done a lot of terrible things in their lives. So you’d think maybe this mainly applies to really awful people, but then we hear from one of the people who worked on the Supercomputer with Franz.

“Well, it’s a matter of mental representation, the way that each person imagines themselves subconsciously. Us adults normally make mistakes throughout our lives, and then do things that we regret. Over time, that can cause us to create really terrifying mental images of ourselves. Shortly after having begun our experiments, I myself entered the scanner to test it. I was only on Lyoko for nine seconds, but it took weeks for me to stop shaking like a leaf.”

I think this character was a scientist and not a soldier or a criminal, but this is the quote about adults regretting their many mistakes and that being enough for them to be severely affected by going to Lyoko. The book does seem to offer some explanation for Franz’s unique case though.

“It seems that Hopper is still the only man capable of surviving on Lyoko.” (...) Did he know that by entering Lyoko, the professor had lost his body, transforming into pure energy?

That he somehow lost his body in the process, so he didn’t have a body/monstrous form that could paralyse him like everyone else. The books make an attempt to explain a lot of these sorts of details so it wouldn’t surprise me if at some point they explained why he ended up losing his body, but I couldn’t find anything from a brief search.

It’s interesting he says in the show that he can’t take human form yet because he still has more work to do on Lyoko and it needs to develop more, seeing as he seemed to have all the time in the world. But maybe his paranoia reached the point where he believed he was out of time and had to virtualise them as soon as possible, and keep working on Lyoko from the inside where it was (meant to be) safe. In that case, I pretty much agree with the general assumption that an adult form is more complicated to manifest and he hadn’t implemented that capability yet. I don’t think there’s any one clear answer to the question, really, it’s open to interpretation.

[a-queenoffairys]

do we know what sissi’s ethnicity is? like she’s white in evolution but in the cartoon she was able to pretend to be Yumi for picture day

Nope, the only prominent characters with explicit ethnicities are the Ishiyama family. I think it’s safe to assume Sissi is white, particularly given lines like “What’s that Chinese girl doing here?!” (XA). I figure she used make-up to try and make herself look like Yumi for picture day, and maybe it was passable as long as you didn’t look closely.

[a-queenoffairys]

I love Code Lyoko.

same

[a-queenoffairys]

Can you imagine if Yumi lived in the school? I guess things would be easir for like, missions and stuff, but poor Yumi.

I imagine there’d be more Sissi shenanigans if they lived on the same floor. I really would have loved to see her sharing a room with Aelita too, I wanted to see more of them being friends and doing normal teen stuff together.