#light's arg notes

[existentialterror]

ARG notes: ZampanioSim

Okay, a work this metafictional and also that (I think) responds to audience interaction is going to need a high-caliber gimmick. Hang on.

...

Alright. Hey guys, catfishAnabasis (Light) here, taking a moment out of my surprisingly busy day tell you about a weird thing on the internet.

ZampanioSim is an intricate and brainbending ARG. It takes direct inspiration from Homestuck, The Magnus Archives, and House of Leaves, as well as the creator (JR, jadedResearcher/justifiedRecursion)'s previous canon of Homestuck fan-work and games. A major theme is "unreality".

HERE IS YOUR TRAILHEAD.

Feel free to ignore the rest of the writeup and check it out now.

I know very little about JR's other work, right now. However, among my many INTERESTS, I am something of a TMA ENJOYER and an AMATEUR INTERNET INVESTIGATOR, and if I were in a HOUSE I like to think I could LEAVE it pretty easily.

So, yeah. I figured I'd just describe my experience of this rabbithole and maybe you'll want to check it out too. I'm sure this will only scratch the surface.

ZampanioSim is structured as a nested labyrinth. In the same way that:

Homestuck is a webcomic framed as an interactive adventure game about an account of kids playing a video game (Sgrub) that doesn't exist, and

House of Leaves is a novel framed as a found scholarly discussion about a documentary (The Navidson Record) that doesn't exist about a house that doesn't exist,

ZampanioSim is a game-based ARG framed as an attempt to simulate a game (Zampanio) that doesn't exist based on a found FAQ of the game (that only sort of exists).

More concretely, ZampanioSim features a lot of nested browser games, as well as audio, narrative, an actual audience-interactive narrative game (the way Homestuck was originally), external websites, and more.

The starting point is, of course, the House:

ZampanioSim takes full advantage of the browser as medium. There is content accessible via the address bar, developer tools, cookies (I think), the developer console, and probably more that I haven't realized.

Like, to give you a sense of the kind of rabbithole we're dealing with: Here's a map I made of the House outset page today:

...And I say today because the House does change over time. Today (a friday) when I clicked on the EastEast route, for instance, I was greeted by this grotesquely distorted version of Rebecca Black's "Friday":

Okay, let's talk about what we have going on in the House map, starting from the doors and working out. (I've given some of these my own names for clarity.)

North

The Classpect Menu Game:

This, I think, is the main titular "ZampanioSim". It's the part that's intended to recreate the experience of a supposed old computer game, but by and large, you only experience the menu screen, not the rest of the gameplay. You can select attributes (based on Homestuck's Classpecting system + the Magnus Archives fears) gain points and select skills and (depending on your seed) eventually "beat the game". It's glitchy, it's a hellscape, there's an entity or two in the menu system that are trying to talk to you. It's great fun. Contains links to a rabbithole (which you can plug passwords into for more secrets) and + some secrets to you in the credits.

(While mostly the aspects seem to add flavor to the menu options, there's a special class called "Waste". This appears in neither TMA nor Homestuck, but comes from a fan or meta-joke that Andrew Hussie and Toby Fox, the writer and a major composer for Homestuck, are classpected* as the "Waste of Space" and "Waste of Time". By telling it you're a "Waste"you're more likely to get weird glitches and new options in your Classpect Menu game run - there's a fun recurring element in some of these games about the game changing depending on who you tell it is playing. I learned about the Waste trick from JR's youtube channel. Also, setting your birthday as Halloween might also do something.)

I have no idea if the different iterations of games here are substantially different. I haven't checked. There's a lot going on. "There's a lot going on" is a good summary of ZampanioSim overall.

*( Uh, classpecting is this in-Homestuck personality system where game players are a [Role] of [Element].)

Eyedlr: Eyedol Games is the company that supposedly made the original game Zampanio. Eyedlr is their spambot-filled tumblr clone, which also has secrets in it. (Actually, just assume everything has secrets out.)

East

The House Exploration game: It has the same setup screen as the Classpect Menu game, but this one drops you into a game with visuals: An infinite(?) procedural house you navigate with imagery derived from your choices.

Peewee's exploration game: When it's not blasting Rebecca Black's Friday But Weird into your ears, the EastEast route is another procedural infinite(?) maze, except that you type directions to Peewee, a snake guy with goggles who also moves around on his own. This one also introduces named characters we learn more about elsewhere.

Bathroom text: Procredural bathroom maze, unless it's just some text telling you to take a break. ZampanioSim really likes telling you to take breaks and hydrate, so that you can better appreciate and spread Zampanio.

Absolutely not. Also, I'm a busy woman. I have to finish this writing summary first.

South

The Train Game: a game - notably not a maze - where JR walks down a series of train corridors and monologues to you about the game and the "reality" behind it.

The mazecrawler game: You tell a little guy how to navigate an infinite(?) maze - and if you choose right and open up your browser's Console menu, you can learn a great deal more about

West

The only West route is AdventureSimWest, which is an actual text narrative game where readers submit commands that the author incorporates into updates - just like early Homestuck. It's still going. The logs are extensive but it's mostly about the antics of a new employee at Eyedol Games, which is stuck in a time loop.

Other

Then there's some other scattered clickable text -

The truth about alt: An exchange between two shapeshifters.

A transcript: A dialogue between two people who apparently work for Eyedol Games.

The lower left leads you to an apparently rotating selection of other Zampanio-related games. I particularly liked NagaGirlfriend.

None of this is even the stuff you can reach this page exclusively through the Console menu.

And much more

And there's a lot of stuff that's NOT branching directly off of the house. There's other things you find buried in links or by searching - a discord and a wiki that both straddle the line between in-character and -out, Archive of Our Own content, a youtube channel, the Eyedol website...

Is there a "story" to ZampanioSim?

Yes.

Like I said, there's a lot I haven't seen yet. But what's going on is something like this:

JR is attempting to recreate this game, Zampanio, of course, and tap into its fanbase. The game Zampanio is an infectious meme. Eyedol Games is a transdimensional company that is perhaps both trying to spread the meme and contain it, by removing its spores, e.g. the Zampanio FAQ - the thing that inspired JR to make ZampanioSim - from the internet.

Various parts of the game recognize that they are fictional and may identify you the reader/player as "Observers".

There are a few recurring characters who have gotten swept up into the meme, either working for Eyedol or trapped in ZampanioSim or both, and have followed it from variant to transdimensional variant.

(this is an image from homestuck. it's a reference.)

Japes aside, this is a brain-bending, very cool, and completely ludicrous unfiction project which I believe is made mostly by one person with an unparalleled hand for web sorcery, whimsy, and vibes. The vibes are so good.

The host website, Farrago Fiction (which AFAICT is a multi-person project), hosts a number of often-homestuck-inspired weird games and simulators.

I know ZampanioSim is now a few years old and is still actively updating. Consider checking it out.

2024-08-24 edit: Part 2!

[alderaphid]

Some of the more subtle things I’ve noticed in the April update:

- in “Springtime Salutations”, the narrator sounds like Sally. Previous narrators in other audios did not sound so close to the character’s voices iirc (though I may be mistaken). As well, “Sweet Briar” then has Sally narrating. There seems to be a distinction implicitly drawn here, perhaps.

Related: The Not-Sally narrators voice distorts as they go to say the authors name, and as the audio restores they cough. While the cough could imply some sort of meta element to the distortions, to me it calls attention to the fact that the author of the Looky-Loo books is still unknown. My current guess is that it’s Ronald Doloriane, and for as-of-yet unknown reasons his presence/influence is being obscured (either purposefully or not in a “cosmic censorship” sense). Especially since the distortions are really few and far between here.

- “Springtime Salutations” also denotes Frank’s home with a capital, Home. Now, afaik, the use of “Home” has been only towards the neighbourhood itself as a title, and for Wally’s home. Seems all the houses may be proper noun’d (implications, implications… all the neighbour’s homes being Home. Does Howdy’s Place and Eddie’s Post Office count? What could it mean if they don’t?).

- Franny, Bea, and Jonesy all evaluate Frank in a way that feels like family being critical of who Julie is “bringing home” (a la a romantic partner)

- In “Sweet Briar” there is no “true love’s kiss” between Frank and Julie, either in text or as part of the audio. Julie just wakes up; and it seems to be her decision to do so. There’s no deviation of Frank being the one to wake her up (as they could have made him shake her awake, or whisper, or something else to that effect if the kiss wasn’t actually scripted). She avoids the kiss herself

- All three currently available Looky-Loo books have that same dot pattern in the inside cover with no apparent changes. This could imply it’s simply a design choice, but it could also be relevant for a future puzzle instead due to the repetition

- Wally’s “Toyland” audio is gone, though the transcription for it is still up. Do not know if that is in error, though I’m pretty sure it’s purposeful. Wasn’t it the only audio of him speaking solo? A cursory search of the newly updated “Discoveries” page seems to indicate as such

- In the shorter book featuring Wally and Julie, as Julie is describing what brings her joy, one page is torn out. Every other neighbour is mentioned except Frank, her best friend. The page missing is his

- Wally’s easel is gone from his character page. Considering the other changes that involve him, I’m assuming this is because it prevents him from painting a message on it post-censorship

- Casual lore drop that Rainbow Monsters have control over the seasons/nature, appears to be a cultural/familial “business” for lack of a better term. The Joyful siblings appear to treat it as their responsibility. Woof, imagine the pressure that must put on someone (👀)

- On awayfrompryingeyes, W documents their consumption of what is likely decades-old, dubiously sealed soda in a glass bottle. Buddy.

- Jonesy sounds like John Lennon

[teachyouhowtodothesponge]

Hello!!

I luv your style so so much ✨✨💙🩷💙🩷

*runs*

AAA Thank you!! 💞💓💞

Here are some secret doodles I had hidden in my notebook! I gift them to you!💖

[numberonesnarkfan]

can I just autism at y'all incoherently for a bit. Aite.

I think Harley becomes a bit easier to understand as a character when viewed as a story of generational trauma. When analysing a monster, one has to ask "what could have prevented this?" In Harley's case, it was just... if he had not been so steadily drawn to one conclusion: that there was something fundamental that separated him from humanity.

What are people to someone who was never a person to anyone? He was kept half-alive only to use him, and even before he had done anything wrong, he was never a person to anyone - he existed in others' minds only as what he could supply to them.

The ARG note, "HE TOOK EVERYTHING. I THOUGHT YOU CARED." combined with his boss fight dialogue, "It was supposed to be mine! My recognition!" draws the connection that after sending a young Harley Sawyer away, Elliott took the research Harley had done with him and claimed credit for his discoveries.

Imagine for a moment that you have never been loved. Not by parents or peers or superiors. That they all showered you in praise of your objective talents, but wanted nothing to do with you in any other respect. At every turn, they attempted to find a way to divert your abilities toward their own goals. Others have always blabbered on about connection and harmony - concepts that simply do not exist to you, for you have never experienced them.

You thought you had experienced them. Once. You almost thought you'd found a father. Before he sent you away penniless and took all of your work as his own. Now you know it for certain: connection really isn't real, and everyone else is lying or faking. The only people who have ever pretended to care about you were lying. You may as well be the only person in the world, because you are completely alone on Earth.

Imagine that you believe that love and happiness are truly false lights. Pipe dreams. Would you be able to empathise, see yourself in your fellow man, see your fellow man as a person?

You don't know what it's like to be thought of as a person. So you haven't the slightest idea how one would go about thinking of others as people.

I still will not budge on the fact that Harley genuinely thought he was doing the right thing. But again, if morals are alien to you because you have never been exposed to them, then your 'right thing' looks deeply different to others'.

There are certain lessons that cannot be learned through just the acquisition of information. Harley was never taught any lessons that were not objective - empathy, morals, emotional control. As much as he could be familiar with ethics, he could not understand anything that can't be understood with logic.

All monsters grow from children.

He saw himself as their father. Their mentor. Their saviour. He made them just like him - the only human in the world.

[mnnuni]

Callsign sviper

Jake "hangman" seresin x reader

Summary: Reader's on her period and Jake comes to the rescue

Words: 1956

Genre : fluff

Warnings: none, I just fear it's uneventful (?)

Author's note: disclaimer for the title : the original callsign her mates thought about was "sniper" because she is super cool -obviously- but that would be too cool, and so would have been their second choice "viper" -even if the reason was related to her tough persona- so they combined them together; also I'm trying some new things, so be patient with me, thank you.

* dividers of @strangergraphics

* gif and images from Pinterest

It was rather strange for the pilots of the house to notice that they had to leave for training in ten minutes and there wasn't a sign of (Y/N) yet.

Fanboy went in the kitchen to check it out while Payback got to the board (Y/N) made them hang in the living room with their printed schedules; she was a really organised girl, that's why they needed her -well that and the rent, the main reason she happened to share an apartment with those two was because they needed an extra roommate to minimise their expenses and she was in need of a place to live near work. They actually liked each other though, so after the first difficulty of sharing a house they all settled pretty well together

The duo of pilot and backseater reunited in the corridor whispering, as if they weren't the only ones there, "I don't think she left early, wherever she does she leaves a note"

Payback pondered his man's phrase a little before nodding and pointing it right, "could she have forgotten?"

"tsk. She never forgets"

"right."

They were still in the corridor for at least another two minutes : two grown ass men, pilots of the American navy, froze in place because they couldn't move without their lady.

"Arg fuck it, I'm knocking"

And then another two minutes of diatribes because they were scared she was still asleep and kill them for wake her up or she could have been in company and they didn't notice. When they finally convinced themselves of the "grown man" part they knocked together -like this they were both equally responsible-

They just got a weird verse in response so they opened the door and pocked their head inside. Fanboy swore he never saw her room like this : the only light was from the half open blinds and at least five scented candles, on her desk there was her open laptop left to die -which she never did- and two mugs from the day before filled with whatever, her bed was unmade with dozens of pillows on it and a strange mass...

That's when Payback got it "Oh shit".

(Y/N)'s head emerged from the covers with bags under her eyes and messy hair "hi".

They rushed to her side "what happened?" "You okay?" "Why are you in bed still?" "What's in the mugs" and so on

She closed her eyes and breathed in, they gave her space to elaborate -they learned the hard way she needed time to express herself-

"I got my period tonight, ence why I feel like shit : it was early. I already called Mav to call in sick, tomorrow I'm all yours"

It seemed it pained her just to talk and she, in fact, changed position on the bed.

"Can we do anything for you?"

Sweet, sweet fanboy.

Payback was rubbing his hand on her back and she smiled appreciatively.

"Go to work boys, don't worry, you need training"

"You sure?"

"Positive. And bring me something sweet when you come back" they smiled and got up, "oh and don't tell anyone about this" Payback nodded and Fanboy saluted her.

They knew she didn't want to be considered weak and even if no one would have called her that they still respected her decision... That didn't stop them from texting her constantly through the day to check on her though.

(Y/N) got out of bed around two hours after her roommates left, but just because she stained her pants and needed a warm shower; then she finally put her laptop in charge and pretended to tidy up her bed -it was just a way of rearrange her pillows more comfortably-

She proceeded to vegetate on her bed for the rest of the morning, only moving to eat some cookies before she got nauseous again.

(Y/N) was unaware of the fact that at the station there was a certain Lieutenant on edge since that morning because she wasn't there and her roommates just told everyone she had a "thing" and couldn't come.

Jake really tried to not overstep or, worse, threaten the two boys and squeeze something from them but he really was glued on their tails all morning in hope of gathering anything, really; so much that they had to sneak in the bathroom to call her during their break.

Hangman was just behind the door though, ear attached to the surface.

"How you doin' sweetie?" "Feeling any better?"

Hangman was glad she had them, they were really adoring to her. He didn't understand her answer though.

The roommates were catching her up with their training when she asked something, "oh no, we can't, we have to fly out in 10" said Fanboy

"Want me to order it from here?"

She must have said no, because then Payback said he would have taken her something when they'd come back home.

When the duo got out they were faced with Hangman, hand on his hip and a determinate look on his face. He only said "what does she need?" and ten minutes later he was off with a permit.

In the meantime (Y/N) had changed forty-five position in bed and was currently debating whether to getting up to cook, order take out or starve herself untill she became maniac.

Someone opened the door and she tried to yell "heere" but just came up with a muffled-by-the-sheets grunt. The person must've understood anyway 'cause she could hear footsteps.

Hangman found her with her legs up on the wall and one of her hands stuffed in her pants on her stomach, with the other she was holding her phone. He almost chuckled.

"You good?"

She recognised that voice immediately, (Y/N) arched her neck to have a confirmation of who was standing at her door and sighed when she saw him , "I'm gonna kill those two idiots"

He really chuckled now.

"They didn't say anything, I forced them to when I overheard your phone call", (Y/N) made to move to look at him better but he stopped her "no no, you looked comfortable" and he then proceeded to step in her room until the bed; he was waiting for permission to sit on it when she nodded yes.

Hangman lifted a full bag then "I got you something, if you get up I could cook it for you"

(Y/N) narrowed her eyes "you can cook?"

"You know I can"

She knew he could, but she was in a too vulnerable position to not tease him.

"Can i wait another five minutes to get up?" she almost pleaded while moving her fingers on her stomach

"Sure, I'm gonna start and set up".

When (Y/N) got up it actually passed almost ten minutes, but Jake didn't mind : he had time to discover where things were stored and to organise his space, he was a very finicky guy. She looked at his back and how his muscles moved when he stirred something in a pan, how he looked so comfortable in her kitchen.

"What are you making?" he was turning to face her and answer her but she stopped him "no wait, let it be another surprise. Tell me though, why are you cooking for me?"

(Y/N) got her hairs up in a bun when she sat at the table in front of him and looked a little less pale just from the smell of food. Jake was almost ready to tell her how blue he was at work without her and how much he needed to see for himself that she was actually okay, but he retreated.

"Can't I do something nice for you?"

They weren't exactly the best of friends, so this phrase unsettled her a little. Still, there was always some kind of tension between them, a spark every time they teased each other -and there wasn't one day without a snark comment from the both of them-

(Y/N) just shrugged her shoulders with a little grin on her face, one he copied before continuing to work.

She spent all the time admiring him cook while he recounted her his day at work. It felt so good to be like this with him that she almost forgot her pain.

In about half an hour Jake was turning to face her again, this time with two full plates.

"I heard spaghetti with red and yellow tomatoes is your favourite"

(Y/N) was speechless: the dish smelled delicious and Jake looked so good in an apron with an hot plate in hand that she could have just smile.

They ate in a comfortable silence, occasionally sharing smiling glances. Jake was taking everything in, hoping to do something like this again.

When it was time to clean Jake offered to tidy everything up while she could relax, but (Y/N) swore that she had to help him because she couldn't take advantage of his strange generosity.

"I am always generous" she wasn't sure if he was faking or not his offence but she scoffed either way, "sure Hangman".

While he washed the dishes, she dried them so they were "equally contributing".

Finally (Y/N) offered him her couch, she dreaded to sit on it from the moment she had to stand to help Jake -even thought she didn't mind one bit staying with him in the kitchen, the back pain was coming again-

She sat with her legs curled in front of her and a pillow on her lap; Jake sat next to her, relatively close but not too close to cause her discomfort.

"A movie or a show?" , he looked at her "be honest, how many movies have you already watched today?"

She made a fake thinking expression and then sighed "one and a half", he arched his brow "what? I got bored" Jake chuckled then, "show it is. What do you wanna watch?"

The next few minutes passed with (Y/N) explaining why law and order was one of the best franchise in the world and Jake almost drooling at her enthusiasm.

Halfway through one episode he noticed she was pressing the pillow on her stomach so he got closer and asked if she wanted him to make her a hot-water-bag, "oh no, the water movements make me nauseous, I prefer pillows or my hand usually. But thank you"

"Oh"

Another two minutes passed before he found the courage to ask her another question.

"Do you want to use my hand? I um tend to run hot"

(Y/N) looked at him with wide eyes and a weird feeling in them; she was so touched by his offer, it was such a sweet and caring thing to do for someone.

"Sure" she whispered and got closer to him.

Jake didn't expect his suggestion to be accepted, but after the initial confusion he slowly approached her. He opened his arm to make her settle in his side and after he circled her with his arm, he slightly lifted her shirt and positioned his hand on her stomach. (Y/N) was trying so hard to stay still and concentrate on the TV, but it was true that Jake's touch was so warm and soft.

After she finally accepted his presence on her, (Y/N) moved his hand to where she wanted it and snuggled up in his side.

Jake was feeling so ecstatic.

It didn't take long for (Y/N) to fall asleep on him after Jake started to move his thumbs in soothing circles. Eventually he slumbered too after he confirmed she was comfortable and sound asleep.

When Payback and Fanboy came back home they found the lieutenants still curled up on the couch, they looked so cozy and happy together like that.

"They are so cute"

"The cutest"

"Ohh Phoenix's gonna eat up these photos"

[oltammefru]

Hey if you've finished Babel go and read the chapter Memoria of Vigilo because it recontextualizes basically everything in it in a new light. I'll wait.

Kal'tsit definitely figured out what happened to the Doctor's memory. I think the doctor mentioning Priestess in Ep8 was the moment when Kal'tsit knew that the Doctor was not lying about their amnesia (if they had their memories, they'd know that Kal'tsit couldn't answer anything due to the lockout Priestess placed on her, and they would also know it wouldn't be a convincing way to prove that they were amnesiac) and that the probable cause was Theresa. In light of this, the numerous brain scans she subjected the Doctor feel to me like her coming to terms with this realization, that the person she cared most about in the world completely and utterly destroyed the memories and identity of the other person who she cared most about in the world. Like. It could not possibly be that. The Theresa she knew was gentle with her power and delicate in its use. She wouldn't. She couldn't. But, the things that are missing from the Doctor's mind. It's much too convenient, much too deliberate, and there's no other possible explanation, there is only one possible explanation and it has to be that.

(Also of note, the conversation right before this snippet, Kal'tsit seems confident that the Doctor's memory will come back some day, which raises of the question of what exactly saw that led her to believe this.)

There's also this conversation which now has the context it was missing and now appears in an entirely different light:

One more thing:

There's a bit of things getting lost in translation here: "prophet" and "oracle" are both possible translations of the past Doctor's codename. Memoria uses "prophet" while Babel/the ARG uses "oracle" but they are referring to the same name. Kal'tsit here is deliberately referencing the codename the Doctor had back during the precursor days. The "why are you staring at me like that?" dialogue reveals what is really happening in this scene: Kal'tsit saying the word Prophet in an attempt to trigger some sort of reaction, scrutinizing the Doctor's every microexpression and tell, probably already knowing what she'll see (nothing). This is in part a relief, she knows for certain now they aren't the old Doctor she knew. This is also in part agonizing, since she knows that the Prophet she knew, the one that she trusted wholeheartedly and saw the goodness of, is gone now, and that Theresa was the one responsible for it.

[audliminal]

It's Just a Game, Right? Pt 11

Masterpost

Patrol that night is relatively boring; Tim stops a handful of petty criminals and makes some progress on a couple of his cases, but none of the work is particularly hard and despite his earlier exhaustion, Tim finds himself wide awake the second his head hits the pillow.

It's annoying, but also unsurprising, and after a few minutes of laying in the dark, he sits back up with a grumble. He turns the light on and walks the few steps over to his desk, and the notes that he'd left there before patrol, and he stares at the names of the... people? They're not exactly victims, so to speak. Unless this arg is trying to imply that their causes of death are a cover-up.

If that were true, it'd be something well worth looking into, but the whole point of this game is that it's supposed to be fictional. Of course, there's always the possibility that this whole thing is some fucked up rogue plot. It doesn't necessarily fit with any of the known players' usual MOs, but if the Riddler were working with someone...

Of course, the two deaths in Gotham were before any of the current rogues really started operating, so the probability of them being killed for the sake of this fucked up game is low. The possibility of a serial killer is also still there; someone who might have orchestrated these deaths and was never caught, now taunting the world and wanting credit for their crimes.

Probably, he should seek someone else's opinion. But Bernard doesn't have the training of a vigilante, and frankly, which of the Bats could he take this to? He has no concrete evidence, just a weird collection of facts and a horrible gut feeling. Nobody had been interested in humoring him after Bruce disappeared, so why would they think any different now?

He knows it's not their fault, really. Tim knows he's prone to making logical jumps that other people can't follow. But it sucks, seeing details and patterns, things that are definitely concerning, and not knowing how to explain it to anyone. And he'll, he could be wrong. One doesn't become a vigilante without gaining serious trauma, and everyone knows that the Bats are some of the worst off in those regards. Gotham rogues are known for their fucked up mind games above all else.

And yet, whoever is creating these videos clearly isn't limiting themselves to just Gotham. That, above all else, makes it unlikely that this is the work of a Gotham rogue. People of Gotham are typically loathe to leave for long, and even when the rogues are sourcing details outside of the city, they still tend to stay close by, and their actual operations almost always remain within the city. It's an odd fact, and it tends to baffle the other heroes, but that makes it no less true.

So, really, the most likely possibility is serial killer, and the wild variance between the two modes of death he already knows, makes that also questionable. And as far as he knows, there's nothing connecting these people, other than the fact they're dead.

Tim catches himself yawning, and glances back towards his bed. Realistically, there's not much he can do about this now, and he does have work in the morning, so he really ought to make a good effort to get good sleep. Besides, he's pretty sure he's read that even just closing your eyes can help, so he forces himself away from the puzzling mess, and drops back into bed, and waits for sleep to finally come.

[necrotech-puppywitch]

Intro - whoami

Salutations? I am necrotech-puppywitch aka morrogos aka Morrigan. Currently living the cyberpunk life (surviving off of "contracting" remotely while studying two degrees and running all my stuff off of salvaged and resurrected tech while still barely paying for rent and fighting my cornucopia of demons).

Note: I CANT DONATE IM BARELY GETTING BY MYSELF

TERFS FUCK OFF TO HELL

Blm, 🇵🇸, Trans rights are human rights, fuck capitalism, fuck fascism, fuck right wing bullshit, abolish ALL borders, healthcare is a human right not a business model

I use Arch btw (custom hardened kernel) with Hyprland because GET GOOD

>blog - this blog is my personal blog, sometimes i do horny posting/ reblogging, usually just random pictures and thoughts from day to day life, occassionally an essay or a poem or a snippet of something I am working on (could be art, could be journalling, could be code, who knows)

> pronouns - she/ they/ it

>id - trans fem demisexual poly sapphic leaning (check back on that last one in six months) nonbinary creature of the night waiting to rip out your throat :3

>autistic? Very

>music - Dazey and the Scouts, Avril Lavigne, Night Tapes, carolesdaughter, GRLwood, Destroy Boys, chloe moriondo, Halsey, Jazmin Bean, KiNG MALA, Leanna Firestone, Paramore, PERTUBATOR, Pretty Sick, Poppy, Mommy Long Legs, Bikini Kill, Royal & the Serpent, Sir Chloe, Skating Polly, TAELA, awfultune, Rare Americans, dacelynn, Mountain Goats, Penelope Scott, wallows, cavetown, ethel cain, Bloodwitch, Atlad Ivy

>intr - fungi, digital art, computers, diy tech, resurrecting dead computers from the dump (every device I own is either one ive repaired from there or something 3rd or 4th hand), capture the flags, args, piracy, philosophy, poetry, cozy horror writing, books, bug bounties, maldev, old books (I love old book smell), FOSS, making synth music, old b grade horror movies, cozy horror, furry stuff

>fvfds - sushi, karage chicken, chicken nuggies, baguettes, cheese melts, mie goreng noodles, brisket

>fvmedia - Scoobey Doo Mystery Incorporated (animated show), Harley Quinn (the 2019 show), She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018), LOONEY TUNES MY BELOVED!, Creature from the Black Lagoon, Gravity Falls, Rick and Morty (I know I know it sucks whatever), Watchmen, literally anything Studio Ghibli, Serial Experiments Lain (she just like me fr), wargames (both movies, the dead code is a comedy and underrated), Lisa Frankenstein, Strange Darling (LITERALLY GOALS), Hilda, Atomic Blonde, TRON Legacy, House on Haunted Hill (the original), Re-Animator (he did nothing wrong fr fr), the Fear Street Trilogy (the lighting is delicious!), Pantheon, ARE YOU AFRAID OF THE DARK? (I grew up on the 90s series, love it), Black Lagoon, Guillermo Del Torro's Cabinet of Curiosities, Dracula (1931, Bella Legosi is amazing), all the scream movies (yes they are terrible, I love them for it), Atlantis (the disney one, I just like the aesthetics of and the submarine is so so cool it just tickles my brain right), gingersnaps, the creepshow trilogy, the owl house, Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, psycho, series of unfortunate events, I am not okay with this, goonies, the iron giant, Ulysses 31, Last Night in Soho

>vgmes - Faith: The Unholy Trinity, Minecraft, CS2 (I miss csgo, cs2 is worse, I also miss the old overwatch), Stardew Valley, Cyberpunk 2077, Orwell, Oneshot, Party Hard, Fallout New Vegas, Fallout 4, Payday 2, Life Is Strange, The Sims 4, Crusader Kings 2, CELESTE MY BELOVED (that made me cry TwT), Mother Russia Bleeds,

>fvprintmedia - courtney crumrin, goosebumps horrorland, the amulet series, the domino comics, the graveyard book, tales of the cthulhu mythos, the sandman comics (the 40s and 50s one, I have a mega edition with all the comics of the old sandman), the phantom of the opera, wuthering heights, the mysterious island, the Fall of the House of Usher, the picture of dorian grey, bodies from the library, psycho, series of unfortunate events,

> ask me about? Anything, i am so so bored please interact with me

> colours - greens, purples, lots of black, pastel pinks, but mainly blacks

>will I break your knee caps? Yes, yes I will. I am a violence enjoyer and a massive masochist

>I reallly hate going to the vet TwT

[the-kestrels-feather]

I know I'm SO late to the party, but In light of the hbomberguy video, I wanted to drop a list of some of my favorite video essayists on here who are all great. Some are well known, some of them not, but all deserve a lot of love thrown their way!

Any creators I know are Queer will have a * next to their names if that's what you're looking for! (Note some of them might not have a star that should, that's not me trying to invalidate anybody I just didn't know, please feel free to correct me!)

Dominic Noble- book content! Has a series called Lost in Adaptation that judges how faithful movie adaptations of books were to their original source material, but also does some reviews/summaries as well. Very publicly denounced JKR after she was revealed to be a TERF and stated he will no longer review anything by her on his channel. Also deleted ALL of his HP videos after finding out she was a TERF (which were his most popular videos), so I have a really deep respect for him tbh. Former Channel Awesome member who publicly denounced them on several occasions, and an all around swell guy.

*Overly Sarcastic Productions- channel run by 2 people who go by Red and Blue. History and Mythology/Literature content, as well as analysis of tropes and media! I've been told their History content can be a bit... Iffy, but I'm not a Historian so I don't know, however if they get something wrong they're good about correcting it for what that counts for. Very interesting to listen to, I've watched Red's Videos roughly 100 times each. Also has a podcast.

*Strange Aeons- fandom/Tumblr history mostly, as well as some history, and weird businesses too. Reads a LOT of cursed content for her channel.

*Lindsay Ellis- Media/film analysis. obviously not as unknown as some of the others on here, but I absolutely adore her content and will forever be sad that she isn't on YouTube anymore.

Cruel World Happy Mind- MLM/explanation of controversial figures. I'm not sure how best to explain her content, but she seems genuinely lovely and is interesting to listen to. Also a victim of Illuminaughtii's ire and deserves some love. The video she made on Blair is a bit outdated since she made it at the start of when this all came to light, but imo it's definitely worth a watch. Her talking about her interaction with Blair genuinely broke my heart.

*Night Mind- Analog horror/Unfiction/ARG content! Analyzes and explains various internet horror pieces, and also has a very nice voice to listen to.

*Lola Sebastian- Film/Media Analysis!

Li Speaks- Deep dives into various nostalgia, mainly flash games!

*Princess Weekes- Media/film/literary analysis!

abitfrank- summaries and analysis of various "darker" children's content such as Coraline (book and movie), Nightmare Before Christmas, and various dark fairy tales

Hello Future Me- writing advice and world building information!

Curious Archive- deep dives into the various bestiaries of video games and the animals in real life that they're similar to, I love his Subnautica video!

In Praise of Shadows- Horror media analysis! Will often focus on specific franchises, but also covers things like horror comics and tropes as well.

Wait in the Wings- theatre! Deep dives into the back stories behind the production of various musicals! His video on Rogers the Musical that he did for April Fool's last year is comedy fucking gold

Weird Reads With Emily Louise- conspiracy theory/cult/weird thing analysis! Looks at things from an objective and skeptical view, and is very in depth. Recently served as a consulting producer on an HBO Max documentary on the Love has Won cult.

Ask a Mortician- death content! Covers various historical events and darker stories of death from the view of a Mortician.

*Izzzyzz- deep dives into fandoms, as well as well as different video games and kids' virtual worlds.

Disney Dan- Disney content! Covers the history of different mascot costumes at Disney and Disney-like parks! Has collaborated with Definctland in the past too!

Yesterworld- theme park content! Discusses history behind rides and parks, as well as some Disney movies. I think has also collaborated with Defunctland and Disney Dan?

Legal Eagle- legal content! Breaks down news about ongoing legal cases in a way that feels approachable. I like him because both my parents are paralegals and his videos have helped me understand what they mean when they're talking about work a little bit

Super Eye patch Wolf- media video essays! Mostly about anime/manga and video games, but also covers things like influencer scams and pro wrestling. His "what the internet did to Garfield" video is SO GOOD

*Jessie Gender- Media Analysis, loves Star Trek

*Laura Crone- Media Analysis video essays, her videos on the Swan Princess are fucking great I highly recommend!

*Lady Emily- Media Analysis, did a whole video on Spuder-Man turn off the dark that is SO good. Co writer for Sarah Z

Tale Foundry- covers different forms of fiction, their xenofiction video is great, as is their Angelarium one!

Defunctland- Theme Park ride and Children's TV History channel!

Jenny Nicholson- one of the sort of "big three" commentary channels with Lindsay Ellis and Sarah Z imo, covers all sorts of stuff but her most recent one is a 3 hour video on the theme park Evermore Park!

*Sarah Z- Fandom history and Media analysis! I really enjoy their content, the Johnlock Conspiracy and DashCon videos are my favorites!

Li Speaks- Flash games/virtual world analysis mostly! She has a very soothing voice to listen to, if you played like. Any MMOs or virtual worlds growing up I Highly recommend. I've watched her video on Horseland SO many times.

*Codex Entry- Video game coverage! Her videos on Pathologic are great if you're like me and wanted more after the Hbomberguy video!

Wendigoon- ARG/Spooky content! One of the early proponents of the Mandela Catalog and best known for his conspiracy theory iceberg, but has also covered things like various weird/unsolved crimes, Assassination conspiracies, and other things. His videos on Faith, Blood Meridian, The Mandela Catalog, and his Religion/Cult iceberg are some of my favorites

Dino Diego- Dinosaur fiction, like movies, video games, books, short stories, etc. his 2 videos on West of Eden and Winter in Eden are two of my favorites!

Haley Whipjack- I don't know how to describe her content really? She does a lot of deep dives (her Shrek one is my favorite), currently doing a recap of Once Upon a Time by season that is very fun. She's an elementary school teacher by day (that's not me dozing her she talks about it on her channel), and so she has fun unhinged teacher energy!

Other channels that are a sort of collection of different people talking about different things rather than 1 or 2:

TEDx

PBS

The Exploring Series

[lia-linny]

skz as kotlc characters 🤔🤔

Who the skz member would be in keeper of the lost cities

Note: ok, ok i got a bit too excited over this!! I just finished reading unreavled and omg!! I love keefe!!! Anyway... i had this in my mind a while ago but never actually wrote it because i'm not sure if many people will like this... (or even know kotlc) so thank you for the request. 💕

Bang chan would be Sophie. Why did I only just realize that the two of them are simply the same person? Sophie is an obvious choice for chan, as she is the leader of her group just like him. They both lead their members with a lot of empathy and understanding for their problems, but in serious situations they react with a certain strength and determination. They often put their needs second. This could also be due to their self-doubt. Their insecurities also motivate them to work tirelessly on themselves. And they both have the worst insomnia ever! Arg, it fits so well.

Minho is tam. They're both very calm and exude a certain serenity. Sometimes they seem reserved or shy, especially with strangers. in interviews, lee know is not a person who has to push himself to the center of attention and is content to observe the situation. In addition, they both express their affection more subtly because they have difficulty expressing it with words. Instead, they show it through gestures or actions. (acts of service bitches!)

I think Changbin could be Keefe... The two are similar in that they are often the center of attention due to their humor and high energy, which they use to lighten up situations. Changbin manages to write and produce profound lyrics and songs. Just like keefe, he is very creative and dares to speak openly about his feelings and thoughts.

Hyunjin and linh. Elegant, introverted, empathic, creative, the urge to be recognized for something else, than a beautiful face?! Yep Hyunjin is linh. Like?!?! She has a painting room, ok?! It matches so well i don't even have to explain.

Han is Dex. They are both clumsy AS HELL! sorry, but the number of times Han spilled his drinks is proof enough. And yet they are way too creative and talented! When one of them is bored, a new masterpiece is created on the side. Han writes a banger song that's far too good and Dex invents some technical thing that can solve all the elves' problems... And Dex is really loyal to his friends, who are almost like a second family to him, like Jisung.

Felix is a social butterfly, the sunshine everyone adores and a professional at socializing. Like jensi, he is popular and loves to talk as much as he loves to listen. Sometimes he just won't stop ramling but he always makes sure that everyone is happy and comfortable.

Seungmin: sandor Hear me out!!! Somehow the two of them have a lot in common...ok?! I'm not crazy... Seungmin tends to be very perfectionist like sandor, especially when it comes to Sophie's protection. They are also both very professional and always want to improve their skills but never forget, what they already can. And last but not least, both always keep a calm head in stressful or serious situations. (Ok, I realized myself that this doesn't fit 100%... but I couldn't think of anyone better for seungmin).

I.n = biana = Twin where have you been? Biana is the fashion princess of Foxfire. She loves going shopping, putting on make up and giving her less fashoinable friends make overs. Pretty Jeongin coded, don't you think...? She is very confident and charming but always babied by everyone, what annoys her pretty much some times. (like Jeongin... just saying...)They are both very optimistic, cheerful and tend to light up the room.

[itsprobablydean]

To the Potential Recruit Dean Marks,

You have caught the eye of those who understand the true power of the shadows. I am Ash, The Endless Phantom, and I am reaching out because you possess qualities that align with our dark vision.

In the depths of the Underdark, we seek individuals who can excel in the art of secrecy and subterfuge. If you choose to join us, you will be trained in the ways of covert observation and intelligence gathering—skills that will make you an invaluable asset to our cause. The path we offer is not one of light and easy victories but of hidden truths and unseen power.

Consider this your invitation to step into a world where your unique talents will be nurtured and sharpened. If you are ready to embrace the darkness and unlock your full potential, we are prepared to guide you.

The shadows await your decision.

Ash, The Endless Phantom

@huntersunderdark-arg

@glee-of-ares-wrath-of-aphrodite

Mace can you read me this note???

[existentialterror]

ARG notes: ZampanioSim, part 2

Hey guys. catfishAnabasis (Light) here, continuing my… uh, ZampanioSim Let’s Play? That’s dumb. My investigation into the Homestuck/Magnus Archives/House of Leaves-inspired alternate reality game ZampanioSim. Read Part 1 first.

Now we have the bare minimum on Zampanio Sim’s format. Actually, we don’t know much and it’s constantly changing, but we at least have an idea of what we’re in for. Cool.

What is the story unfolding within Zampanio Sim?

So we know from the Classpect Menu game, the one that “is” ZampanioSim, that this was an effort to simulate a now-deleted game from the 1970s called Zampanio, based on a now-lost* FAQ on how to play it. At some point, possibly just search engines, I have learned that Eyedol Games is the company that makes Zampanio. Let’s take that going in.

*dubious

A lot of the “routes” off the house at the start of ZampanioSim – see the diagram – are procedurally generated places to explore or are otherwise collections of content. But other have a more directly obvious narrative to them. I have marked these places here.

Let’s go. We'll start... Uh...

…

(Okay, so there’s a recurring meme in ZampanioSim about whether personality-typing you based on whether you traverse labyrinths clockwise or counterclockwise.

But I’m confused about which one that means – like if I’m looking at a drawing of a labyrinth top-down, and I go from the entrance to the right passage, I guess I’m going counterclockwise. But if I were standing in a physical maze, the clockways framing wouldn’t occur to me – I mean, they’re both chiral processes, but like, the hand of a clock moves to the right, so which reference am I taking?

Maybe I’m not cut out for labyrinths. When I’m caving in minecraft I go to the right, so if I’m coming back into the house through the north door, then... I guess:)

We’ll start with the non-existent West Route (accessible by clicking on the west side of the house, where you’d expect a door to be.)

AdventureSimWest

AdventureSimWest is an audience-participation adventure game that, like Problem Sleuth or Early Homestuck, takes suggested commands from an audience that guide a character, and the author tells a story around it. This one has been running for quite some time, so there’s a lot of backlogged material!

AdventureSimWest gives us a lot of info right away. It’s about a character named Peewee, who is hired by Eyedol Games. Peewee and the staff of Eyedol Games are trapped inside a Space Loop. A Space Loop is like a Time Loop except that once you die, physical space (within the loop) and many of the circumstances reset, but its point in time is… not fixed. Peewee is a snakelike alien called a lamia. He first appeared in a different SBURBlike game on FarragoFiction.com called Farragnarok, which he remembers but which I don’t know anything about. He is a COOL GAMER who has lived various other lives including through the destruction of his home planet, Segundia. Keep in mind that he is from a SBURBlike.

Oh, hey, according to an offhand exchange in AdventureSimWest, solving mazes by following the righthand wall means you’re going counterclockwise. Everyone jot that down. We can bootstrap this. We can do this.

I read up through the “JR Rambles about Spoilers” interlude. And it was fun! It’s Peewee’s quirky, haphazard series of adventures in a quirky, sharp universe. The style is fun, self-aware and whimsical. I don’t know how much about the AdventureSimWest lore applies to mainstream Zampanio, especially given the multilayered narrative Zampanio serves up to us like a delicious but concerningly non-Euclidean cake, but some of the characters and concepts appear in other places, and so the worldbuilding might too. Here are some things we learn about the world of AdventureSimWest:

Peewee arrived here from his old universe by jumping into a giant, spiky, magical wall of flesh called an Echidna. He’s actually one of the set of gods who created this universe, but seems to be the only one left.

People central to the space loop remember the space loop exists.

Eyedol Games may have caused or be causing the space loop, but does not appear to be completely in control of it.

The space loop started in 1971 and is spiraling towards the end of the world in 2022.

Eyedol has other employees, including:

Wanda, the “CEBro” and “Lord of Space” (homestuck classpect). She’s tremendously rad and maybe a shapeshifter.

The Intern, a college-aged dude from Ohio, who Wanda is always trying to find and who seems unexpectedly critical to the existence of Eyedol Games. (I might apply a little homestuck logic and guess that he’s the “Muse of Time”, but this is my own speculation.)

The Closer, an aggressive businesslady in a suit and cape

Someone called the Eye Killer, who, like, lives in Eyedol’s basement and kills people.

Flower Chick, some kind of identity-stealing fae, who keeps a copy of Peewee’s skull on her desk.

Quotidians, which are another alien species – these ones are shapeshifting crows and are a hivemind. Many of them are named Tom.

Parker, a “waste”, who has made his business out of learning glitches, hacking, etc, in reality itself.

There are also just two other teams of people who don’t work at Eyedol Games, who both got ejected into some kind of infinite labyrinth around the same time. They have kind of SCP energy. I don’t know what their deal is. Yet.

What about that FAQ?

The mysterious lost ZampanioFAQ actually exists, more or less.

When I found it, it felt like natural game progression: I beat the Classpect Menu game, then there got a link to the official Discord. Then buried in one of the Discord channels, one of the pinned links goes to – yes – THE Zampanio FAQ.

But then it turned out the thing I’d found a link to was a fan-made transcript (by @verbosebabbler) of a different “official” ZampanioFAQ PDF. And through various link-hopping, most of which I now forget, I also found the original PDF on a different website by JR. So I don’t know if I got there the way I was “supposed to” or where else I might otherwise have found the FAQ. But we’re here now!

(The official discord, by the way, does not have talk permissions open in any channel. They are all frozen conversations from years ago, with only a spare few used threads acting as the actual usable channels. So the discord is its own labyrinth too. ITS A-MAZE-ING)

Okay. The ZampanioFAQ. In the frontnote to the FAQ, JR describes this finding a printout of fic they'd read long ago, and sharing it as evidence that they did not invent Zampanio – that this is a sburbsim/glitchFAQ (we’ll get to that, hang tight) crossover fanfic by someone else that they read once, lost, and recently re-found - and that it has a couple indications that it’s referencing Zampanio.

Mostly, contentwise, this FAQ is sort of a interuniversal document about how to play SBURB (the universe-creation game that the characters in Homestuck play), written by a group of players. The Zampanio FAQ has, unfortunately, been heavily redacted by interdimensional forces, perhaps SBURB itself.

It’s like it’s written by a new set of characters who are playing their own game of Sburb. They’re learning about it as they experience it! Haha, that’s a cute gimmick.

Oh, the skull? Yeah, don’t worry about that. Hah, no, I get how it looks. But it's actually totally fine.

The redacted words in the ZampanioFAQ seem mostly to do with certain details of SBURB itself, like SBURB is trying to keep its players from spoilers.

Drawing from VerboseBabbler’s transcript and partial de-redaction of the FAQ, I gave my hand at making what sense I could out of the original PDF.

Excerpt. You may not like it, but this is peak ARG performance: multiple collaborative layers of nested PDF annotation.

--------------

Trying to fill in these blanks made me appreciate the potential of the fan-ARG.

Homestuck is a story that both rewards a lot of knowledge about its worldbuilding and also often doesn't explain itself – I think that’s why it has such intense fanwork, because it implies so much but leaves you to fill in the gaps.

Like, okay, classpects, alright? Fans make a big deal about classpecting and it’s cool but it’s also kind of nothing, like, we get some gestures about what it means but not much. (Quick, what does a mage do?) There’s so much fanon trying to make sense of it that even the wiki explanation is based on fanon. But fanon can be dope and people have done some really, really neat stuff bouncing off of the gaps in canon.

ZampanioSim is about nested realities and missing information, and it's heavily based on specific fanworks of homestuck. And filling in missing information on this document, I could use my knowledge of Homestuck to make inferences about this related-but-separate storyline and worldbuilding. That’s so cool!

In the same way that the best fanfiction draws from and interacts repeatedly with canon, the fan-ARG can act as a commentary on or a dialogue with its sources - a story made stronger by connection to another.

There have been other fan ARGs and this is really my first experience with the genre (well - does EverymanHYBRID count as a fanwork? discuss), but like, holy shit, I get it now.

-----------------

Okay, let’s regroup. So the FAQ is a bunch of advice written collaboratively by a group of people playing SBURB. The FAQ is about a kind of SBURB that is very similar to the one in Homestuck – but it’s even more similar to another game on the FarragoFiction website, SBURBsim, which is “is a fanmade browser simulation” of SBURB.

In SBURBsim, you can throw in a randomly-generated or customized set of characters into their own session, and SBURBsim will invent plotlines, fights, character progression, romance, alchemy, time travel shenanigans, and more, eventually telling you a story about how that session might go. It is mind-bogglingly ornate and cool, check it out.

Okay, anyway, so the game described in the FAQ is mostly Sburb-y but has some clear Farrago/SburbSIM elements in the form of the fan-classes – wastes, graces, smiths, and more. But it has some stuff that feels more Homestuck-classic-SBURB, like in the FAQ [EDIT: SBURBsim] there’s a convention where all the randomly generated player-usernames have the same initials as their classpects, so like the session’s Bard of Time might have the username belugaTrainer or belligerentTriangle or whatever, which isn’t a thing in Homestuck nor in the FAQ. It also adds a few elements all its own, like that there’s a recognized pantheon of gods who have sway over the rules of the universe, with their own usernames and classpects.

(Hey, synthesizing that with some background Homestuck knowledge + what we’ve learned from AdventureSimWest, I think the ‘gods’ are the players whose Sburb session created the ones that the FAQ authors were born into. Elegant!)

Oh yeah, as JR mentions, the Zampanio FAQ also takes heavy and pseudo-explicit inspiration from a fanfiction called the Sburb Glitch FAQ, a sprawling fanwork I haven’t read that’s sort of a game guide and technical manual to SBURB. Maybe more of this is references to that, I don’t know.

(Sidenote, Rose’s GameFAQ was one of my favorite plot points in Homestuck. I’m only sorry it wasn’t used more. So I’m delighted to see all these fanworks that took inspiration from it.)

So okay whether the FAQ players are more playing OG-SBURB, or SBURBsim, or a game that has aspects of both – well, they’re all pretty similar, I don’t’ think we need to split hairs. This document is an in-universe survival guide for a SBURBlike.

You know what it’s not particularly like? ZampanioSim, the game it supposedly inspired!

This is so fun to me. SBURBsim existed long before ZampanioSim. If you were going to make a simulator game based on the Zampanio FAQ, that game would be SBURBsim. But SBURBsim was already a thing! JR knows this – they worked on SBURBsim! Their sburbsona is on the about page!

They mention this in the introduction to the “found scanned printout” of the FAQ - they initially read it deeply to figure out, through the redaction, if it was a fanwork for their own project (SBURBsim). They write:

this is obvs JUST the faq, not any of the like, description or author name or all that shit that eventually lead me down the rabbit hole. like, you could find the missing sections in this weird ...not arg? I don't THINK? and they started talking about things like the achievement system and shit, stuff that stuck with me a lot more if what i chose to focus on in zampaniosim is any indication. still. having a record of the START of this branch is better than nothing

So, okay, the FAQ itself is not explicitly Zampanio. We’re missing the description and whatever else that’s supposedly out there somewhere, as lost media. I tried to find some reason to think the fic was supposedly out of time, like that it would have been from before SBURBsim was made, but there isn't any - everything lines up with what JR said in the forward.

So I think maybe reading so far into the FAQ without that other supposed metadata was a great time and, yes, sold me on a new art form, but it wasn’t that productive in terms of the broader Zampanio story.

... Or was it?

I've connected the dots

There was a reference somewhere – I think in the South route, though I can’t swear to it – that was pretty outright something like “JR added Magnus Archives elements to Zampanio because of an at-the-time obsession with the Spiral from TMA.” Now, some stuff like the south route is less in-character than in other places, so I don’t want to necessarily say that everything like that will “carry through” to the rest of canon, if that makes sense. But it helps put those pieces together, so here’s my running theory:

In the story, Zampanio is a memeplex that moves and spreads between dimensions - very diverse multiple dimensions, including different fictional worlds. (Think the Big Bad in There Is No Antimemetics Division - effecting "universes which embed ours as fiction".) Sort of a psychic prion that goes around twisting orderly systems and punching its way between meta-layers. The core of it stays similar between - it has a predilection for spirals, mazes, meta bullshit, and games - but some of the specifics change from instance to instance.

Zampanio probably spread rampant among this constellation of Sburb universes, perhaps because Zampanio is affiliated with games and Sburb universe is a game. (Or at least uses a game to reproduce.) It’s a great carrier. From there, Zampanio rode into our universe on the back of the FAQ. (Game FAQs being a known way to throw information between Sburb dimensions, in Homestuck.)

JR took the seed that came with the FAQ and instantiated Zampanio in this universe, and added their own compatible TMA-spiral flavoring to it.

(This also lines up with another cool aspect of Zampanio, which is that if you make your own fan-work or fan-story about Zampanio, that’s canon too. It is impossible to gamejack this. Thus far I’m focusing on JR’s ZampanioSim canon, but there are other people out there putting their own spins on it, which are also canon.)

Questions I have now, if that theory is true:

What other aspects of ZampanioSim carry on between versions?

Is Eyedol necessarily associated with the Zampanio memeplex? Does or did it actually create ZampanioSim in some causal way?

Does the Space Loop that occurs in AdventureSimWest have ramifications or equivalents in other instances of Zampanio?

Why does Zampanio like games so much? (Is it because interactive games are a convenient way to punch through from one dimension to the fictional dimension within it?)

There are comments about someone, maybe Eyedol, trying to scrub the ZampanioFAQ from the internet (in our dimension). Why would they want that?

What’s the other missing metadata that would have associated the ZampanioFAQ with Zampanio?

Who wrote the ZampanioFAQ? Was it written (...IC) as a fanwork of SBURBsim or did it “come from a SBURB universe”? Who censored it?

Aw man. And there's still so much I haven't even gotten into.

Like, okay, do you guys know gopher? It’s an early alternative to HTTP as a way of organizing the internet that was mostly sidelined, but a few servers are still around.

Apparently there’s a bunch more Zampanio stuff only accessible via Gopher and I’m going to have to figure out how to use it.

Thanks, JR, YOU MAD SORCERER.

So, that's where I'm at vis a vis ZampanioSim. I gotta get back to my own stuff for right now, but thank you ZampanioSim discord for helping blaze trails and mostly to JR for weaving such a wonderful weird mystery.

If you have questions or comments you want me to talk about in a future one of these, my ask box is open.* Also, if you get into ZampanioSim yourself, feel free to say hi on the discord.**

*(okay I know people have been involved in this for years and I’m still mostly trying to formulate my own opinions about what’s going on, so if you know something that’s like “an actual answer” and want to share, then consider phrasing it as an ominous clue instead of telling me outright – but I’m under the strong impression that this is an ARG where there’s not gonna be like a canonical underlying “answer” to a lot of things so, you know, do what brings you joy.)

**Your first challenge is to find the discord. I wanna be cryptic too!

[unaskedformagnustheories]

Recap Notes: MAGP 4 “Taking Notes”

Spoiler Warning: this is a purely selfish exercise in remembering what the hell happened last season (from someone caught up thru MAGP31, 2/27/2025 & all of The Magnus Archives). No promises I'll keep up with it.

Summary: A spooky instrument gives a whole new definition to musical vamping and an unnamed bastard child from the 18th century becomes a renowned prodigy by feed-me-Seymouring his gifted violin. Casement: CAT3C7494-19111831-29012024 Random Thoughts & Observations:

Sam sings under his breath while he works, which is precious, but I'm still curious why Freddie re-directs Sam's security ping to Alice. I'm still not sure I fully understand what the gestalt consciousness (consciousnesses?) got from that. Does one of them resonate with Sam, and that's why it tries to make him happy by forwarding him the TMI cases? Does the Tria Prime-a (that was awful, I'm sorry) collectively need him for some purpose? A whole season down, and I'm no closer to answering that. Would be real curious if it was playing favorites with Alice, considering she does everything she can to tune him out, but if there's any truth at all to be found in the bonus content episodes it was a curious mention that (at least in the 'what if everyone listened to Colin' AU) she has the best KPI's. Starkwall mention! We never get a name for the casement giver, but we do get a description of their "towering father" with an "unshakeable belief in his own significance". With the obvious German connection in this episode, could be interesting if he's peripherally related to one of the bigwigs messing about in the Great Work. And yes, I was a little disappointed to look at a map and see that the route from Alnwick Abbey to the palace at Mannheim does not pass thru the Schwarzwald (although if I'm reading the maps right, I think we're at least in the state of Baden-Württemberg, which is fun for Johann Von reasons). Really want this guy to be a Von Closen. Hunger and luck are mentioned, two recurring themes in the show so far. More on that later. "the blood for its strings need not be your own" Neatly hints at what the OIAR could be up to with their balancing act, but with a lot of the playing with chance/deal-based stories in Protocol so far, I'm interested to see how far they can push it before something implodes. Unhealed wounds of existence also casually mentioned in regards to satiating casement giver's hunger. Skirted it, but think this is going to come into play re: the larger metaplot and what happened at the end of TMA, but I have a hunch MAGP08 is the best early episode to discuss that. For now, this a great first story from Augustus. His VA Tim Fearon (great name for a horror actor, btw) is a treat, and old-timey statements were always a delight in Magnus so I'm glad to see Alex and Jonny continuing that trend into Protocol. "a 'jete', a jarring musical demand for their attention, a declaration that I must be seen, and heard" also sticks out for this series' focus on social media / Freddie's whole shtick. The fears here aren't thriving in the shadows. They want to be seen. Whether or not that's a side-effect of having been brought here by The Eye is yet to be seen. Klaus cameo! Really hoping he pops up in person at some point and isn't just an ARG hero. And unrelated, but in this week's 'I doubt it'll come up, but this was an entertaining find from over-googling everything':

Lena is a name of German and Scandinavian origin, derived from the German name “Helene” which means “bright, shining light.” In Scandinavian countries, the name Lena is a shortened version of the name Magdalena, which means “of Magdala” or “from the tower.” This gives the name a sense of strength and protection.

[daily-airimomoi-vitamins]

Come on into the pharmacy~!! ˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

✧˖°.⁺‧˚ ♡ ˚‧⁺ ✧˖°.

Yes, another PJSK pharmacy. Shocker, right?

Go follow the OG, @daily-vitamin-ena, ♡ and all the other vitamin blogs!

Whatever happens in this pharmacy STAYS in the pharmacy.

If you miss a day, side effects may include:

Light-headedness

Hallucinations

Loss of self

existential dread

sadness (Airi misses you!)

cardiovacular arrest

the impression you can talk to animals..?

regaining your memories memory loss

Tread Lightly ~ ♡

Tags!!:

#Vitamin Airi = As you can guess it, your daily dose of airi!

#Pharmacist's notes = anything other than vitamin airi

#lore = this tag will usually be accompanied by the #unreality and #arg/alternate reality game!! it is used for Vitairi lore ^^

pfp by @/didlivio .. header by me ♡

gif on intro post by @/enananhearts

replycons by @/strawberrysnipes !

BLOG TRIGGER WARNINGS UNDER CUT

Before you follow, remember that while I do do the "daily airi" thing, this is also a very lore heavy ARG blog. It contains horror elements, some of which may be disturbing. Here are the common tws:

gore

mentions of flesh or cannibalism

mental break downs

derealization

disassociating

death

mentions of drugs and addiction

grief

identify crises

loss of self

[k4ijynxx2]

𓏵𓏵⠀𖥻 LAUGHHORSEGIJINKA ◟ 𓉸⠀

（　LAHF － HOURSE －　GEE －　JIN －　KUH )

（　LAUGH ＋　HORSE ＋　　GIJINKA ）

[Pt: Laughhorsegijinka. Pronounced lahf - hourse - gee- jin - kuh. A mixture of the words Laugh, Horse, and gijinka]

𓏵𓏵⠀𖥻 A gender connected to the ARG 「 Laughing Horse Orifice Head Quarters 」 、also known as LHOHQ 、　　　and gijinkas 、　being a identity relating to 「　LHOJQ 」　a being a gijinka 、　or otherwise a 「　LHOHQ 」　 gijinka ！　This label can be used in any way ！　◟ 𓉸⠀

[pt: a gender connected to the ARG “Laughing Horse Orifice Head Quarters” , also known as LHOHQ, and gijinkas, being a identity relating to “LHOHW” and being a gijinka, or otherwise a “LHOHQ” gijinka! This label can be used on any way!]

𓏵𓏵⠀𖥻 TAGS ：　@radiomogai ◟ 𓉸⠀

[pt: tags: radioliom (link to its blog)]

𓏵𓏵⠀𖥻 CREDITS ：　gender system by @kiruliom 、　dividers by @selysie （　recolored ）　◟ 𓉸⠀

Note: LHOHQ has a rather dark and grotesque (if that’s the right word) nature to it, it also heavily associates with flashing lights, trippy and confusing visuals and lore, ties with conspiracies and the government, and other potentially distressing content. Viewers discretion is advised!

[cecilcastles]

links to websites that might particularly interest you and tickle your fancy

do you like websites cuz I do

histoire3d.siggraph.org | Website dedicated to documenting the history of French 3D graphics/CGI

thomthomthom.com | Radiohead fansite that’s been up since 1999

citizeninsane.eu | Radiohead fansite that’s been up since 2006. Pretty much a definitive source for all things Radiohead and Radiohead related

radiox.ru | Radiohead fansite that’s been up since 2001. primarily geared towards Russian Radiohead fans, but still a good resource of media nonetheless

radiohead1.tripod.com | Radiohead fanpage that has all sorts of graphics from The Bends - Kid A. i’ve had this one laying around for so long I even remember sending it to my favourite web graphic blog lol

livenirvana.com | Nirvana fansite that’s been up since 2000. Dedicated to cataloging as much historical media as possible

streetphotographymagazine.com/dan-ginn | Specific webpage for a interview with a photographer who I enjoy the work of. feel free to explore the entire site though

moonconnection.com | Website all about the moon and its planetary science. Includes a neat widget you can add to your website

mgmtforum.com | Archive of the old MGMT forum all the way from 2009

mysterydisease.co.vu | Older archived cache of my favorite MGMT blog (check out @/mysterydisease)

wipp.energy.gov | 1993 Sandia report that covers nuclear semiotics in depth. it’s 351 pages long but if you’re not into technical nerd shit then skip to page 150 for various illustrations

cari.institute | Website that covers the conception and hallmarks of various aesthetics. Many pictures/examples included

philbrown.bc.ca | Amazingly designed and animated flash website about director Phil Brown. seriously so much to explore here there’s probably hours worth of details and information to scan over

webdesignmuseum.org | Self explanatory

libraryofbabel.info | Infinite library with randomly generated texts in each book. Based off of a story with the same name. You’ll mostly get gibberish but there’s a chance you can something coherent

canvasofbabel.com | Similar to its textual sibling but visual. Website features a 416x640 pixel canvas with each pixel being randomly generated. You’ll mostly get noise but there’s a chance you can get a fully formed image

semiconductorwave.com | hyperlink collecting that leads to even more websites. many of which you probably already know or would like to know

sbnation.com | Cool website about sports. woah.

rest of these websites are ones a good pal of mine sent so say thank you

lecontainer.blogspot.com | “pretty curated pictures and photography” - pal

steve-hemming.co.uk | Smashing Pumpkins dedicated fansite in a similar vein to Citizen Insane

velvetyne.fr | Free selection eclectic fonts! how wonderful

gifcities.org | I know you know this one

allscreencaps.com | Website for loads of film stills of a large variety of movies

fancaps.net | same as above

internet oddities/mysteries if you watch too much nexpo. note that many of these websites have things like flashing lights, sudden/loud sounds and (possibly) disturbing imagery

obsidiansnow.net | Click around to find out (it’s like some sort of strange puzzle thing iirc)

lhohq.info | Website consisting of multiple webpages of pure web design gore. It’s pretty hard to navigate. has themes of mind control and conspiracy theories. contains many leaks from wikileaks like the contact information of many politicians but please don’t contact any of them. site also features nudity so if you don’t like that, be careful

lomando.com | Classic point and click horror adventure game that used to be very popular. your favorite gaming youtubers have probably played it

yyyyyyy.info | Another website that messes with coding, taking web design to an absolute extreme. refresh for a new layout

visiteroda.com | Harry Styles ARG. yeah

forgottenlanguages.org | You won’t be able to understand 99% of this website but what you are able to read is quite fun

www.newmaterialwant.com | Generates a bunch of 3D models within each other at once. refresh for a different set

timecube.com | Absolute beauty of a conspiracy theory

housecreep.com | Dedicated to listing and explaining the history of stigmatized property. Haunted houses, murder houses, and other noteworthy places with interesting histories