“I Would Gladly Read Fanfiction Of This Exact Scenario.”

The Characterization of Damien

So a lot of people seem to be interpreting DAMIEN as a redemption of sorts for Dark. I don’t agree with this. I think this addition to the story is a way of making Darkiplier more of what he already was: a sympathetic villain.

Dark’s motivation comes from a just source: he wants to avenge the people he lost and take down this evil, manipulative bastard that is roaming around in his body, who stole everything from him. Unfortunately, he doesn’t use just means to go after him. Dark is more than willing to brun everything in his path to the ground as long as Mark dies; he’ll fight fire with fire, manipulating, torturing, and destroying absolutely everything and everyone to get to Mark, with no regard for the consequences. Somewhere along the way, that just motivation became a blind rage, and he stepped into the role that Mark put in front of him, the role of the villain, with too much zeal and enthusiasm. He fully embraced the darkness around him because he saw nothing but the power it would give him, and not the corruption that would overtake him. 

In this way, he shares a fatal flaw with his twin: he has a completely one-track mind. This isn’t even totally surprising; wasn’t his one ambition to make the city he presided over greater than any other? Wasn’t his one goal at the party to make sure that justice was served and the past was put behind us? Damien is very good at strategy in that he can get what he wants with ruthless efficiency, but he cannot see the consequences of his actions, and that, ultimately, is where Dark’s vilainy comes from. Dark would be a good guy if his actions didn’t cause destruction wherever he went, in a dark shadow of Actor Mark’s actions.

This is all fascinating, and I am so curious to see what the last “dark” side will be. As Morality’s corruption, it’s got to be a fascinating character. Selfish, uncaring about others’ needs, totally and completely egotistical, would be my guess, and that’s why he’s invisible. Can’t see him, can’t get rid of him, right? In fact, that could be his “name”, Ego. Maybe it’ll be an interesting battle between “is Thomas doing things for others or for himself?”

I also want to see the interaction between the three still-”dark” sides and Virgil, and I want to know more about his time as a dark and what caused him to become a “light”. I suspect it was because they showed him that he wasn’t just fear or panic, he was the preservation instinct. Maybe, also, Virgil doesn’t like the darks because he’s afraid he’ll become one again.

Theory Master Post: Buckle Up

So in Moving On Part 2, there’s a strange, out-of-place picture right after the intro. It lingers for three frames and has nothing to do with what they’re talking about, whereas other pictures stay for one frame and relate to the topic. Here it is:

Speak no evil, hear no evil, see no evil. We all know that the dark sides are seen as evil, yes? Well in order of appearance, Deceit covers mouths and Remus has to do with the ear topic. So who will be covering eyes?

I know some of you are thinking “But Remus didn’t cover their ears!” How does he enter? The video goes quiet, and Thomas can’t hear anything but Remus when he speaks to him. Other, less important ear things include: taking off his own ears, and when people are around him, they tend to cover their ears. So essentially, Remus is “hear no evil”. Most of his power comes from listening. He can’t do much physically.

To elaborate on that, Remus is a bit like a siren. During his song he drags them into his pitch-black realm of dark thoughts. Virgil even explicitly tells Thomas to stop him from singing. And how do you resist a siren? By covering your ears. It’s fitting that his logo/animal is a kraken. If you don’t listen to Remus, he’s powerless.

Some people have said that Virgil is “see no evil”. Maybe. Here is why people have thought that. Let’s go chronologically. In Embarrassing Phases he’s able to straight-up disappear before re-entering in a cloud of darkness. Shortly after, he makes the room go black. Now, he’s been revealed to have been with the dark sides in the past, and fear “blinds you”. Also, Virgil tends to cover his eyes a lot, whether it’s with his hoodie, bangs, or even hands. Plus, he wears eyeshadow that affects the other sides when in his room.

However, I don’t think this is the case. So far, all of the sides have continued to follow the rainbow color theme. Not the cartoon doodle rainbow with six colors, I’m talking ROYGBIV. Red (Roman), orange (?), yellow (Deceit), green (Remus), blue (Patton), indigo (Logan), and violet (Virgil).

There’s one missing side. The orange one, who is likely dark. When Thomas learns about Deceit, he asks if there are any more sides. Roman and Virgil both reply to this by confirming there are more, or “the dark sides” as Roman puts it. Note he says sides as in plural. So it’s not just Remus. There’s another one.

To even begin to figure out what this side is, we need to poke at the opposites theory which goes hand-in-hand with the color theory. First, let’s look at the first canonically opposite pair: Roman and Remus. Red and green are across from each other. Looking at Logan’s color, he’s across from yellow, while Patton is across from orange. Virgil does not have a clear opposite. Let me explain how this is perfect.

Most people think that Deceit is Patton’s opposite simply because he impersonated him first and went against him in the court room. But, look closer. Logan loves his facts, but those facts are usually helpful. Deceit absolutely loves facts, information, and philosophy too, but his are usually dark. This is just like how Remus likes dark ideas, while Roman likes brighter ones. Another thing, like Remus and Roman, they dress similarly. The only sides to wear a tie/bow tie, but that’s just a minor detail. Deceit also keeps Logan in the back seat for the courtroom video because he knows he’s his match. What does Remus do with Roman? Keep him in the backseat by knocking him unconscious. Do the dark sides fear their opposites, or are they just doing this to simply have more power? In summary, it’s facts vs. lies which are very opposite indeed.

Before I get to Patton, let’s talk about Virgil. “If there’s opposites, why doesn’t he have a light side?” His whole character arch is about being unique. In the Fitting In video, he doesn’t fit to a specific house. He is an exception to the rule, like most things. Anxiety is hard to understand, so it makes sense that he wasn’t able to be split into a good and a bad part by Thomas’ mind. He got to choose like he chose his color.

Then there’s Patton. Repressive, innocent Patton. Whoever could his dark side be? That’s not too hard to guess with all of this information put together. Remus is Thomas’ view of bad creativity, Deceit is Thomas’ view of bad information, so the final dark side will be orange and Thomas’ view of bad emotions or morals. The “see no evil” of the group. The one who’s likely always been in the background, but never seen. With all the build up, probably the worst one yet. So how will his role come into play?

We all know the question Thomas has been asking for some time now. “Am I a good person?” It never got answered. Even after Remus. The first big video about it was Selfishness vs. Selflessness, which is a confirmed two-parter according to Joan. So why the video(s) between the next part? Well, we haven’t met all the dark sides, now have we? In order to answer this question, Thomas needs to see every part of him, good and bad. So I bet you anything, that second part will be light vs. dark to answer the big question. The internal struggle most people have of finding your true self.

My inbox will be open...

OKAY BUT VIRGIL’S MAKEUP GOES BRIGHT PURPLE WHEN HE’S HAPPY IS EXACTLY THE KIND OF STORYTELLING DETAIL THAT I NEEDED.

FUCK I LOVE THAT VIDEO.

Oh my god, this is brilliant! Absolutely brilliant. You’ve somehow managed to perfectly blend to absolutely amazing universes and you’ve done it seamlessly. I would gladly read this as a miniseries or one-off book.

AJ Crowley and Harry Potter bump into each other in public:

Harry Potter: Oops, sorry about that.

Crowley: No, it was my fault, don’t worry about it.

Public: *stares at the two men making strange hissing noises at each other*

Both: Wait…

Yeah like it’s one of the few times he actually starts to loose grip of his shell. Other times he’ll threaten to, but nobody had ever actually see him crack fully until that happened (Yeah snow was mad! My school got closed n stuff it was crazy!)

(that’s so awesome yessss)

And poor Wilf is just lost. I’m so sad.

WILFORD HAS A FULL, REAL NAME!!!! HE’S GOT A NAME!!!!

WILLIAM J BARNUM!!

AND HE’S NOT CRAZY AT ALL, HE’S TRYING TO UNDERSTAND AND HE CAN’T BECAUSE THERE’S TOO MUCH HAPPENING! HE’S AWARE THAT IT DOESN’T MAKE SENSE AND THAT HE’S LOSING IT ALL AND IF THAT ISN’T THE SADDEST BIT OF THE STORY DUDE

@markiplier BRO YOU KNOW HOW TO BREAK MY FUCKING HEART AND MAKE ME LAUGH AT THE SAME TIME WTF

Do You Trust Me? Pt. 3

A/N: This is a short one, but it’s a scene I thought up while writing the first part, and I wanted to give it it’s own time to shine instead of shortening it so I could add in another plot point.

Link to Pt. 2: http://skinnyscottishblokeaddict.tumblr.com/post/155686403892/do-you-trust-me-pt-2

Link to Pt. 1: http://skinnyscottishblokeaddict.tumblr.com/post/155650933267/pizsospa-cmon-little-dude-you-can-trust-me

"You're a good man, Jack." Your voice was very quiet, but sudden and jarring in the silence that'd elapsed. Jack looked down at you, surprised to find that you were awake, and was quiet for a moment before replying. "Thanks. Though, technically, I'm not a man at all." He looked back up at the...sky. Ceiling. Thing. You frowned a little and sat up, stretching and wiping your face. "What're you talking about?"

"Well, it's like I said," Jack stretched a little as well, but stayed flat. "I'm a persona. Sean's the man. I'm just part of a man." He glanced over with a smirk and half a laugh. "And don't ask which part." "Seriously though," you said, smacking his good arm. though you supposed now it didn't matter. "You seem like a person to me. And to the fandom." "They don't separate us. They shouldn't, I guess. No one who hasn't been here knows it exists, so there's no reason for them to separate us. I'm not him, though," He insisted, sitting up. "Technically, I don't exist. I'm just...code. Videos and comments and tweets and tumblr posts. And I can only remember back to when the channel was created. I didn't exist before that." "You don't have any of Sean's memories?" "I'm aware of them," he shrugged. "I know about Ireland and the cabin and Signe and all that. But...they're not mine. His life isn't mine." You frowned a little at his tone. He didn't sound sad, or bitter. He just sounded...resigned. But he shook it off and smiled. "And our personalities are a bit different. I think if you met him in person, it'd be very different to meeting me. I don't think he's quite as loud." "But you still act like a person," you insisted. "You can think and talk and feel and all that stuff. You may not 'have' Ireland and Signe, but you've got your own memories. I mean, Sean's never seen this place. He's never met me." Jack was staring off, not really focusing on anything. He was quiet for a long moment, then spoke with much less enthusiasm than before. "I am what I am. And I'm happy with what I am." You shook your head and stood up. "Alright. I'm not sure I believe you, but say what you want, I guess. You're a good man to me, though. A whole, real, and very good man." "Maybe I'm a good program," he smiled, following your lead and getting to his feet. "Ready to keep moving? We've got someone to see." "Yeah. Yeah, I think I'm good. Let's go."

It didn't take as long as you'd expected it to to get down the mountain as you'd expected it to. Or maybe it just didn't feel like a long time, as you spent all of it reminiscing with Jack. A heavy conversation like that was a bit much for both of you, so you chatted about videos that'd been happy and light. You talked about the early episodes of Undertale, and about Trico being adorable. Jack did his Arstotzka accent and you pretended to be trying to get in with a bad passport, which Jack caught you out on because "Who's last name is 'McTits'?" Eventually, you landed on Happy Wheels, and giggled when Jack jumped off a short ledge yelling "I AM STEEEEVE!" You laughed even harder when he landed on his ass. "No segwey, no helmet! You're an imposter!" And then he called you something that made you laugh so hard you couldn't breathe. It was a good time, surreal, but good. In no time at all, there was a door in front of you. But it wasn't made of code. It was an actual door, which was both reassuring and intimidating. "So you never did say, who are we talking to?" Jack, for once in his life, was happily silent as he invited you to open the door. Shooting him a feigned (mostly) suspiscious look, you stepped up to it, but listened for a second first. You were immediately smiling and shoving Jack. "YOU DOUCHEBAG! I LOVE YOU BUT YOU UTTER DICKHEAD!" "Just open the fucking door," he laughed. You turned, wanting to just swing it open and hug the man behind it, but, so as not to look insane, you opened it slowly.

"But thank you everybody so much for watching, and as always, I will see you, in the next video. Buh-bye!"

Thoughts about the WAIA

Honestly I would love to do more theorizing surrounding the WAIA but there’s not a lot of theorizing to do. 

It’s pretty out in the open. I don’t think the FNAF connection is super lore-steeped; I think it’s just Mark poking fun at his King of FNAF status. What I do think is lore-steeped is the WAIA’s responses, which are super on-the-nose but not in an overbearing way. This is direct storytelling done right, and I think that Mark is extremely talented to be able to pull it off.

HUGE SPOILER WARNING FOR THE REST OF THIS POST.

In the “He said...potato salad?” video, the WAIA says:

“A man goes to a party. This man met an old friend. The two friends share some wine. The two friends played a game. The most dangerous game. I didn’t know the gun was loaded. I didn’t know. 

Was it my fault? Was it?”

This got me so hard the first time I played through, and I picked “No.” I picked “No” because in my mind, Wil is not at fault for Actor Mark’s crimes. Wil is the victim of cruel manipulation and the entity in the House; he didn’t make a decision to kill Actor Mark. He wanted so badly to reconcile that he was willing to play “the most dangerous game” to get him back. And when it all went wrong, he couldn’t bear it.

What got me more than anything was the dialogue in “No.” : 

“You can’t change the past. You can tell all the stories you want to tell; it won’t change what happened. You can’t rewrite the past; if you live in fantasy forever, you’ll lose yourself in the story.”

This just about made me cry, and when Wilf’s voiceover mentions that “he’s a perfect scan of my noggin,” it made it worse. 

This is Wil’s thoughts untethered from the influence of the House and the breaks in time and space he continues to experience. This is Wil, as close to sane as he can get, and he’s just...accepting. 

He knows he can’t change anything, and that becoming Wilford Warfstache, telling Wilford Warfstache’s story instead of his own, can’t fix it and instead means he’s slowly losing William Barnum. 

Or maybe that he’s already lost him.

I wrote a book!

Hello! So for the better part of a year, I've been working on a science fiction book titled Artificial Intelligence, and it's been through beta reading after beta reading, edits, re-writes, and so much more, and it's finally published and available for purchase on Amazon. I'm so incredibly proud of this story, and I just wanted to share it. It's available in eBook form and a paperback physical book! Here's the link!

(Cover by the lovely @stitchtehhedgehog on Instagram)

Uh...guys?