This blog is now officially closed, but there is a HUGE backlog for any new viewers who wish to peruse.
Most posts are tagged for ease of access, but here are a few tips that might help:
1. #run by MOD and #mod is back are tags used for the failed alternate reality game I started and then did not plan for at all, lol. Still, some fun stuff in there.
2. This link will take you to the Marvel crossover post list.
3. #hogwarts au has the Harry Potter crossover, but if you want to read it easily, and in order, you can find it on AO3.
4. #mod for posts that include the mod somehow.
I try to remember to add image descriptions, but there’s over 1000 posts, and most of them were made before that function was added. However, if there is a post you’d like a description for, please let me know!
To everyone, I've loved this blog so much ever since I first followed it and your answers bring e so much joy! So I wanna ask, is there anything we as the audience can do for you in return?
Artemis: As this blog draws to a close, there is really only one answer to this query: keep the fandom going.
Holly: Create art, create fanfic, music, whatever... allow the books to inspire you to make your own, unique stories.
Butler: Keep bonding with fellow fans and supporting each other.
Juliet: Keep the fandom a safe space for people of all races, genders, sexualities, species and religions.
Mulch: Augh, we liked talking to all of ya. Laughing at the mud boy together was heaps of fun.
No.1: Yeah-- well, the talking part, not the um, the laughing part. I'll miss you all.
Minerva: Oh, we can still have "heaps of fun" mon ami. iesnoth was not the first, and hopefully not the last to create an ask channel.
Myles: Just please, for the love of all that is good, keep us in character.
Beckett: Wow Myles, way to choke the fun out of everything.
Lazuli: Keep us in character, within reason.
Foaly: Seriously, there's enough bad rep of centaurs in media as it is.
Holly: Thank you all for sticking with us so long. Through Hogwarts, the Marvel universe, and weird, failed ARGs.
Artemis: We're the characters of this little book series, but you're the ones who keep us alive. Here, on this blog, and beyond.
I have two questions (you totally don’t have to do any of them tho just curious):
What was your basic plan for the ARG on AF asks (or was there no planning involved)?
can you draw Artemis (or Orion) and holly doing the Jack and Rose *Titanic* pose lol (just thought it would be fun if you wanted too)
love your art and your blog <3
Hello!
I should probably answer at least the first one for people who are curious.
There was little to no planning involved. I wanted to do something for April Fool's Day, was feeling kinda down and chose to do something a bit darker than the normal prank.
I like puzzles, so thought an ARG could be fun, but let me tell you, those things take PLANNING. And knowledge of the future, because you have to know and be able to adapt to how the audience will react to the puzzles.
Anyway, the basic idea was that the Mod had had a mental break due to pressure over the blog and stumbled onto some forbidden knowlege. The MOD AI then took over all creative control, and the Mod's online persona (even hijacked her brain irl? idk).
The AI was obsessed with maintaining order and audience engagement, even at the cost of canon. That's why they had a poll over the popularity of the characters and removed the unpopular ones from the canon over time, putting them into a dimension below them on the ladder of reality. This means they could show up in the blog as characters in fiction they read, just as the blog characters are from a book in our reality.
The removal of characters, even small ones, caused ripple effects across the reality of the blog. These resulted in changes such as:
Artemis having 2 blue eyes (because Opal was erased).
No one knowing who No. 1 was (because he was out of the dimension at the time of the takeover, so the MOD AI couldn't erase him).
A scar across Artemis's face from a troll during their first adventure. Artemis kidnapped Root, not Holly, and so the troll fight went very differently.
Holly looks more punk. After saving Root from Artemis, the two bonded over their shared interest in breaking the rules. Holly spends more time on the surface as a result, and Root lets her because she keep Artemis under control.
Minerva and Artemis meet organically. She doesn't know about the People.
Artemis and Minerva are martial artists (Artemis learned the importance of self-defense after his scar).
Holly never becomes commodore because she's too punk.
Artemis Sr. is dead for realsies, though he died after the twins were born.
Angeline falls back into depression after her husband's death.
Artemis and Holly never go back in time, and so never kiss.
Root never dies.
Artemis and Holly don't lose 3 years during the Hybras debacle.
Butler has hair.
As more people are erased, Artemis gets more reckless.
The twins are raised by Juliet after Angeline falls back into a depression.
The twins don't know about fairies.
Foaly is more of a Steve Jobs type, focused on making money.
Angeline dies in childbirth with the twins, which turns Artemis into a super-serious and dangerous mobster type because he had to provide for his brothers.
And those are all the changes I could find. I had a bunch more planned, whittling down to just Artemis, Holly, and Butler, and how the loss of the supporting cast would change them as people.
But this blog wasn't a good venue for an ARG, as the audience is a come-and-go sort of group. Also, the puzzles weren't going over as planned.
Ultimately, I wanted the blog to be enjoyable over consistent, so I decided to abandon the ARG and preserve the sanctity of the blog itself. I guess you could say it was our jump the shark moment.
As for your second request... it sounds fun, but not something I'd draw personally. Thanks for the suggestion, though!
To Artemis, Myles, and Beckett: Have you been to Disney World and if so, which was your favorite ride/attraction and favorite snack?
Artemis and Myles: Mission SPACE.
Beckett: The Incredicoaster was SUPER COOL!
Holly: The Rise of the Resistance ride was really cool. I liked all the effects and the story.
Lazuli: The Haunted Mansion.
Holly: As for favorite snacks, I'm a fan of the classic Dole Whip, Beckett is a disgusting little carnivore and likes the turkey leg, Lazuli likes to make herself sick trying to eat the jumbo pretzel all by herself, Myles will only eat frushi, and Artemis's favorite, of course, is something called Croque Glacé.
To Artemis, Myles, and Beckett: Have you been to Disney World and if so, which was your favorite ride/attraction and favorite snack?
Artemis and Myles: Mission SPACE.
Beckett: The Incredicoaster was SUPER COOL!
Holly: The Rise of the Resistance ride was really cool. I liked all the effects and the story.
Lazuli: The Haunted Mansion.
Holly: As for favorite snacks, I'm a fan of the classic Dole Whip, Beckett is a disgusting little carnivore and likes the turkey leg, Lazuli likes to make herself sick trying to eat the jumbo pretzel all by herself, Myles will only eat frushi, and Artemis's favorite, of course, is something called Croque Glacé.
Hey hey! I've been asking all my friends this weird question xD, but how do you feel about advertisers using subliminal messages to make viewers buy products? I don't totally understand the science behind this, but do you think it's an ethical business tactic?
Artemis: Subliminal messaging, or the hiding of words or pictures in media, hasn't proven to have long term effects. If the message is sufficiently subliminal, it only stays in the brain less than a second. To be effective, the messaging must be given over a long period of time, and be relevant to the consumer: in which case, a straightforward advert would be more effective.
Since subliminal advertising can't convince a consumer to buy/want something they didn't want before, I don't see an ethical issue with it.
However, I've not tested subliminal messaging for myself. Let me know how it goes.
Look, I know you say you're totally back, and I do trust you, but I'd much rather play it safe. MOD was creepy.
Foaly: A very safe question to ask. My favorite colors aren't something I'd like a wardrobe made from, but I can't work in a space unless it's bathed in some sort of neon glow.
Since Artemis was cloned he lost holly's eye so only Holly has artemis's eye....my question is to Holly...does it feel strange having artemis's eye but he not having yours?
Holly: It is strange-- so strange, I had to talk through it in therapy.
On one hand, it feels like a connection is gone. Artemis is renewed, reborn, looking to the future, while I have to look the past in the eye-- pun intended-- every day. I felt lonely, like I'd been left behind, again.
On the other hand, I wasn't left behind. When Artemis Prime (as Foaly calls him) died, a part of me literally died with him.
I blamed myself for his death for a while, until Foaly pointed out that Artemis had been experimenting with fairy magic for so long at that point, the curse would have taken him even without the elf eye. In which case, I'm glad some part of me followed him into the grave. It's a weird sort of closure, I guess.
What's weirder than only having one eye in the world, though, is having three.
Artemis and I have both had a lot of eye-related therapy.
Mod: Other eye-related posts can be found here and here.
I have a question for the twins! What mythical creature do you wish you were?
Hey mod, have you looked at the number of characters or notes on the posts from MOD? The No.1 Anon (how does that anon use anon if it's disabled? weird) was talking abt numbers. Your whole puzzle is beyond me, I'm no Artemis Fowl, I congratulate you for not having a mental breakdown and moving across the world to leave everything behind.
Myles: I'd be a bai ze, or hakutaku in Japanese myth. They were all-knowing ox-creatures thought to ward off evil spirits.
Beckett: I'd be a heckin' DRAGON!
Mod: It's cool, the puzzles were a way to avoid a breakdown. It was only half-successful, heheh.
No.1 : Well, thank you! I'm stilling doing moon research, and have another trip planned, but now I'm doing some guest lecturing at Haven universities, and babysitting for Minnie in my free time.
No.1 : Many things, @sfire777, as is the nature of life.
Have you ever made plans and then had them change drastically somewhere along the lines? Were you able to accept and grow from that?
Juliet: I never really wanted to be a bodyguard. I respect Dom, of course, but he made it clear from my preteen years that I should do whatever made me happy.
And I did. I made a career in pro wrestling, and was damn good at it. I made a lot of friends, traveled, partied. I won't pretend it wasn't thrilling, even fulfilling.
Then Artemis disappeared-- the first time. I came home to be there for Dom, but then Mrs. Fowl announced her pregnancy with the twins...
They never pressured me to be a Butler: in fact, Mrs. Fowl kept asking when I was planning to go back on tour. They hoped Dom would take on the twins, both because he had more experience, and to help him recover from Arty's loss.
But he refused. It was the first time he'd ever said no to the Fowls, and the first time he'd inconvenienced me. He was convinced Artemis would come back.
I took care of Dom until the twins were born, then I took care of Dom and the twins. Minerva did help with my brother, though at the time I thought she was enabling him more than anything.
Then Artemis came back and screwed everything up again, as per usje.
I dunno. Maybe I'll go back to pro wrestling someday, or do something else entirely. I've been raised to live my own life, not the one tradition has for me. But for now, I'm happy to take care of the people I love. Going from serving out of duty to serving out of love is growth, for me. I could have grown the same way under different circumstances, but this is how it's happening and I've come to terms with it.
Does anyone else need glasses besides Foaly (for any reason)? I'm curious (and I think we need a break from panicking over MOD and Mod).
Mod: Yeah, this ask references the failed ARG. These asks are all old, but they're refined now, they aged well... mostly.
For the sake of "I didn't feel like it", we aren't going to hear from those who we've seen wear glasses before: Myles and Minerva.
Holly: I don't need them normally, but they do help when I have to read the fine print on all this stupid paperwork.
Lili: I've always needed glasses, but I wear contacts to keep up appearances.
Have you ever tried to give a loved one advice that they didn't take? Were you able to get past that and accept their decisions?
Angeline: In our meetings we've discussed this at length, and come to the conclusion that unconditional love is loving someone even when they don't take our advice.
Holly: And there can be real reasons why they don't that aren't personal: like them not having the emotional intelligence, or even having the intelligence to know what works for you won't work for them.
Butler: Bottom line, no matter how well we know-- a person, or how empathetic we are, we can't know them completely, and can't force them to make choices. What we can do is control our own actions, and be there when they need us.
