#a.c.m.e

[iamanidiot9000]

About the WOEICS Carmen wiki:

This is the description of the wiki:

As @carm3nmonoxide pointed out they were confused as to why Carmen was taken by The Chief. I just realized thanks to them that Carmen was not taken under the Chief's tutelage b/c in the S4 episode "Retribution - The Unsinkable Carmen Sandiego, Pt. 1" we don't know much about her backstory about who adopted her in Golden Gate Girls School and it could be Shadow-san/Suhara like in the CS19 show. I realize that I made the same mistake by copy-pasting the wiki and I should change it.

I think the person who wrote this wiki were confused in mixing the Inspector and the Chief...unless you assume that the Chief who took Carmen in was a literal robot which no I mean the C.H.I.E.F-bot was made in some A.C.M.E headquarters just recently during that time. I have a headcanon that the Chief did exist just in a different location if you consider my AU but if you don't consider my AU idk the Chief was just a high-ranking officer in the SFPD I guess OR A.C.M.E was located near the P.I. in San Francisco.

It is possible that A.C.M.E was located in San Francisco but as I said in my first post in Part 1 on Tumblr why would a global law enforcement agency in the WOEICS series that deals with advanced CPU and memory banks and advanced time travel be located in the U.S. in San Francisco, CA?

The Inspector has a different rank, "An 'Inspector' in detective work is typically a high-ranking, sworn police officer, not a private investigator (PI). They lead investigations, supervise detectives, and manage police teams. In some areas, such as the San Francisco Police Department, 'Inspector' is used as the title for a detective, while in others, it is a senior management rank."

Here is the actual Inspector as Carmen addresses him clearly, "It doesn't add up, Inspector." when discussing Malestrom's stolen artifacts:

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On another note, I do have a headcanon I will probably incorporate into my AU:

Requested by @carm3nmonoxide: Carmen Sandiego’s backstory after Golden Gate Girls (Suhara adopted her)

So @carm3nmonoxide reminded me that Suhara was Carmen’s adoptive parent and NOT Malcom Avalon, the reason I made this mistake was b/c at the time I wrote Part 2: Point NEMO AU Tumblr post I wrote so much I couldn’t think of a parent other than Malcom when I wrote that but @carm3nmonoxide reminded me so ty.

Suhara, the Inspector, and Liam Monaghan who at the time was not injured. Ivy's father was a Lieutenant in the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) Crime Prevention Company and at the height of his career was tasked with directing the operations of SFPD SWAT (https://tecs.fandom.com/wiki/Ivy_Monaghan) I also give credit to the findcarmen.com wiki Admin(s) who made the TECS fandom wiki.

Young Carmen during that time worked around the P.I office where she was tinkering with Suhara’s study room or went to read in the P.I. agency’s library etc. Make up your own headcanon as to what she did here until she turned 17 yrs old. I would like to make a distinction early on…

P.I. vs. A.C.M.E.

🕵️‍♀️ A private investigator (P.I.) agency is:

Usually run by one person (especially in classic detective fiction)

Sometimes a small office with maybe a partner or assistant (C.H.I.E.F robot given by A.C.M.E as a gift to Carmen)

Privately owned, not government-funded

Takes individual cases (missing persons, theft, etc.)

Operates outside official law enforcement

👉 A P.I. setup ≠ a massive organization like A.C.M.E

🔎 WOEICS Carmen Timeline Theory (My Interpretation)

Carmen (at 17) was NOT originally part of A.C.M.E

Her early setup as a P.I. with a small, run-down office suggests:

Independent work

No government backing

No access to A.C.M.E resources

🏢 What this implies about A.C.M.E

A.C.M.E likely was NOT based in San Francisco at the time

The idea that A.C.M.E is a local agency or a CIA-like location based on the U.S. doesn’t hold up

Instead, A.C.M.E is:

A larger, distant organization

Possibly operating off-site / internationally

Not something a 17-year-old Carmen could just walk into

🌊 Point Nemo Fan-Theory (my WOEICS Prequel AU logic)

A.C.M.E being located at Point Nemo explains:

Why it feels detached from normal society

Why its authority is global, not local

Why agents operate across countries so easily

🤖 C.H.I.E.F Evidence

The robot C.H.I.E.F being highly advanced suggests:

Access to technology far beyond a normal agency

Centralized control system (not just a boss, but infrastructure)

The A.C.M.E logo on the screen implies:

The robot is directly tied to the organization’s core system

A.C.M.E is more technocratic than it appears

🧩 Conclusion

Carmen started as an independent P.I., not an agent

A.C.M.E is a separate, larger power structure

Its true base (Point Nemo in my AU) explains:

its reach

its tech

and its detachment from the real world

Also, yeah, the C.H.I.E.F might be wrong in that same episode when he said, "We, me and a famous ex-detective by the name of Carmen Sandiego...Yep. Back when she was one of us. Say it loud and say it proud, but just say it, ACME detectives!" but I don't think he was lying. -> This is based around my AU lore which is why I think the C.H.I.E.F is wrong, but you can think of this quote as correct also.

Spoilers for my AU: I think his memory got wiped but I don't want to spoil too much. Carmen Sandiego was a detective in that P.I. agency but she was recruited by A.C.M.E. and the P.I. agency office was in affiliation with the SFPD. Carmen also ran her own P.I. firm hence why she has her own office.

A.C.M.E the global law enforcement agency bribed Carmen by giving her a robot, the organization probably told the Inspector to lure in Carmen with a shiny gift. The Inspector does not know the organization personally since he works for the SFPD, so he was a poor victim but instigator for Carmen in all of this.

Edit: I changed my mind about the Inspector and A.C.M.E's relationship since I told @carm3nmonoxide that Suhara was a part of A.C.M.E not the P.I. Suhara/Shadow-san did work with the P.I. but as a spokesperson for A.C.M.E. This means Suhara was the one along with A.C.M.E who convinced the Inspector to bribe Carmen to work for the organization...this is similar to my Point NEMO Part 2 AU where Suhara told Chase a similar thing about how Chase needed to 'control' Carmen to be in the shape of Suhara's image.

As you can tell, Suhara hides his intentions behind Carmen which I am foreshadowing in the future where Carmen isn't angry but calmly tells Suhara about how reshaping her will not help overcome his past with his former pupils (this will make sense if you read Part 2 of what happened to Adam and Raven).

[mayplesyrup]

*Carmen Sandiego spoilers*

So I just finnished Carmen Sandiego, and I just want to say WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT ENDING?!?! LITERALLY- NOT EVEN A FIGHT SCENE TO TAKE DOWN V.I.L.E.? JUST A MONTAGE WITH CRINGY UPBEAT MUSIC?!?! NOT EVEN A CANNON LE CHEVRE AND EL TOPO?!?!

And now that V.I.L.E.'s gone A.C.M.E doesn't need to exist either, but it still does?

And IVY AND ZACK joined A.C.M.E. Like- seriously?

And why is A.C.M.E. so unequipped for dealing with enemies? They have the gas thing that knocks you out, but it almost always rebounds, and is only a short-range weapon

And SERIOUSLY. Once Chief realized who Carmen's father was she didn't show even the slightest guilt or remorse?

And you mean to tell me that Chiefs first lead to V.I.L.E. Is a man who she immediately killed? No wonder it took her 20 years to take them down

And geez- for a kids show this was pretty dark

[rainiedazeart]

so i watched that interactive episode...

[christinakratt]

Is no one going to point this out...

CARMEN

CARMEN

CAME

Unscramble the letters... and you get

ACME

Thank you for your time...

[from-shattered-stars]

I just finished Carmen Sandiego s2

And I don't know what to do with my life 😔

WHERE IS S3???????

[iamanidiot9000]

An update on my Pt. 2 Carmen AU (see my blog post for more info)

lol so I forgot to add this to my pt. 2 AU but I would definitely recommend checking out my blog for more information because without context it looks like a RWBY vs. 2019 v.i.l.e mashup (trust me it isn't). Here are the villain side by side comparisons I made allusions to. Basically I will explain which is which and why I chose them:

Mime Bomb → Roman Torchwick 🤹‍♂️🎩🃏🎆

Very Joker-like aesthetic, wear makeup (roman has guyliner and mime bomb wears face paint), both have red hair, Roman just is better as a better written villain and more classy than Mime Bomb.

Paper Star → Cinder Fall 🔥🏹🖨️💫

Both shoot projectiles (Cinder her Dust-activated ash arrows and glass projectile semblance) but I decided that fire beats paper and Cinder is better designed imo.

Graham Crackle → Mercury Black 🥈⚪🪨⚡

This one b/c Mercury wears a lot of silver and grey clothing and Crackle is called 'Gray' I thought it was cause he wore grey clothing...nope it's just b/c he's morally gray. Anyways 🤔 I chose this matchup b/c I had to put Mercury somewhere lol.

Le Chevre and El Topo🏳️‍🌈 🐈‍⬛→ Malachite Twins 👭👠🇨🇳

The twins have better character design and fighting skills (as seen in the Yellow Trailer) than these two lol. Le Chevre and El Topo wear skin suits with no dark or contrasting colors to make them stand out it's rlly lame for supposed v.i.l.e villains.

Tigress → Neopolitan ☂️🍨👢🪄🐯🐅🥋

Neopolitan fights using taekwondo when she fights Yang in Volume 2 and while Tigress is a rlly skilled martial artist Neo has taekwondo (like I said), glass aura shattering illusions, kicks in thigh-high victorian spat boots, and while being short has a height advantage by hitting a tall person's blind spots. Also Neopolitan has way better character design and weapon (lace Battenberg parasol) than Tigress. I like Tigress's design too especially the mask but I think Neo is a good matchup fr.

Countess Cleo → Emerald Sustrai 💎🟢

Emerald and Countess Cleo both wear green...also Emerald got better character design (I love her complicated pants and overly complicated white top covering whatever it's called). Countess Cleo can't rlly fight (at least I don't think so in the 2019 series idk let me know if I'm wrong) whereas Emerald can fight using her weapons 'Miss Demeanors'.

🥷 I omitted Adam Taurus and Raven Branwen as parallels to Shadowsan mostly b/c I couldn't fit them in this picture 😭 and b/c while Adam and Raven are villains in my AU they are supposed to have a backstory as students to Shadowsan where Suhara/Shadowsan is now am ACME agent and mentor to Carmen in my AU. None of what I said will make sense if you didn't get the chance to read my blog so I highly recommend you read it to get context to know what I'm talking about.

[iamanidiot9000]

Part 1: 𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚗 𝙴𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚑 𝚒𝚜 𝙰.𝙲.𝙼.𝙴 (𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚅.𝙸.𝙻.𝙴)?

Warning: this will probably be a four- or five-part wiki/reimagining of the 2019 series (don't worry i still like and respect the 2019 version) b/c I have a lot to cover.

I decided to have A.C.M.E located on the furthest point of the planet from all regions (Point Nemo) and is a place disguised as an underwater graveyard for space debris. In actuality, there is a headquarters located right under where they have an air force and existing technology. How did they get here? Well, they signed a contract back in 1921 (yes, I am using the "Elusive Carmen Sandiego wiki"[https://tecs.fandom.com/wiki/ACME#:~:text=4%20References-,History,appointed%20its%20Director%20of%20Operations.] for my AU except in an act of global neutrality all countries at the time separate from the League of nations saw an uprising of a shadow company that supplied guerilla warfare weapons/rations/equipment for wars (later comes together as V.I.L.E) and decided to create A.C.M.E. in order to track down their investigations while they focus on diplomacy across neighboring continents. The main founder of the organization is Agnes Acme. Years later, V.I.L.E spread and A.C.M.E grew as nations saw how quickly the organization spread from its seemingly small black market.

A.C.M.E had several locations, but Agnes first established the organization In Antarctica, Peter I Island. It was claimed by Norway but largely disregarded and incredibly difficult to reach. Agnes had prepared themselves with a small exploration team to first establish in A.C.M.E to isolate themselves from any geopolitical conflict. The place was quickly disbanded during 1923 after agents got hypothermia and died of starvation as it quickly approached winter (June). The lack of communication in long-distance travel rendered impossible for communication across other nations with agents. Agnes had to acknowledge that if A.C.M.E had to thrive it needed to cooperate in the geopolitical setting including nutrition, a proper base of operations (defense).

When the Peter I Island outpost was starving and freezing in June 1923, Agnes sent a desperate, final, coded plea for immediate aid to an embassy of the Republic of Chile's government (country's closest Naval Base (likely in Punta Arenas or another southern port)). Agnes's plea was universally rejected. One of A.C.M.E's early agents Elias realized the powers knew the outpost was doomed and chose to let it fail because they feared a truly independent ACME. Elias intercepted classified responses showing that the supporting nations were not sending lifeboats; they were sending expeditionary teams disguised as rescue crews to retrieve only the advanced encryption technology and the intelligence data developed by the dying agents.

Elias realized that the only stable market is conflict itself. V.I.L.E. would not seek to resolve conflict; it would seek to capitalize on the inherent instability and cynicism of nations, selling stolen assets and intelligence to all sides. Elias later established and worked on what would later form from V.I.L.E's inner workings as a black-market vendor. A.C.M.E did switch locations after this and grew as a global shadow government slowly, but I want to switch gears to V.I.L.E. the early origins of V.I.L.E. as a black market was established to provide illegal counterfeit weapons of the sort and later participated in WWII's criminal organizations like the Bonny-Lafont gang in France's wartime black market. V.I.L.E.'s mission statement under Elias sought to oppose A.C.M.E's original goal which even twisted into political extremism when founder Elias died in 1941. When later national diplomats gathered around, they realized that A.C.M.E needed to consolidate or else V.I.L.E. would later spread into the post-Cold War era.

V.I.L.E. agents would secretly incite labor unrest or sabotage agricultural output (like the Holodomor) in specific strategic areas, then provide the solution (a counter-intelligence operation) to the Soviet leadership—for a massive, secure price (usually artifacts or advanced Soviet military technology).

By manipulating the proletariat, V.I.L.E. maintains its black market dominance. They prove that true power isn't in selling weapons, but in controlling the hunger, fear, and information of a population.

The Sabotage: V.I.L.E. agents are embedded in agricultural or industrial sectors to incite labor unrest or orchestrate acts of sabotage (like destroying strategic supply chains or agricultural output, echoing events like the Holodomor).

The Goal: This creates engineered scarcity, proving that true power lies in controlling hunger, fear, and essential resources, not just luxury items.

The Transaction: V.I.L.E. then steps in, often disguised as a benevolent foreign intelligence firm, to "solve" the problem for the Soviet leadership. The payment is not cash, but strategic assets (advanced military tech, classified intelligence, or priceless national artifacts).

This proves that V.I.L.E. is now actively engaging in war crimes and state-sponsored terrorism, no longer high-end theft in Elias's time.

This move to political extremism is the final justification for ACME's evolution: ACME's Reluctance: Agnes and the founding nations saw V.I.L.E. as a nuisance (a black market). When V.I.L.E. is definitively linked to inciting political instability, war crimes, and state-sponsored terrorism (like the purges or the French wartime black market), the national diplomats are forced to consolidate ACME. ACME at Point Nemo becomes a necessary evil to counter a threat that is now actively trying to dismantle global politics, not just profit from it. By this point ACME becomes a national shadow government and no longer just a private intelligence organization (like the CIA) as ACME has it's own nationally syndicated HQ located at Point Nemo. V.I.L.E. becomes the monster ACME needs to exist, justifying its own power grab as a "global stabilizer." Cut to a few decades later and A.C.M.E under every country (not N.A.T.O) all compromised (even though realistically this would never be possible in today's political climate) and A.C.M.E is situated around Point Nemo in the N.E.M.O treaty current day in my AU (N.E.M.O is like N.A.T.O though the lens of those Alternate World History videos).

Prequel/Short Synopsis: 8 year old Ivy and Zach hears that their estranged uncle Chase Devineaux transferred from Interpol to a cool island he works at as an agent when Zack gets an email (think of a really old 80s computer) from his uncle a secret encrypted message. Ivy wants to see and Zack refuses but eventually they ask their parents if they can meet uncle Chase during the summer. In some way the parents let ivy and Zach decide to go meet their uncle Chase somehow via field trip. Zack and Ivy eventually arrive to Point Nemo where A.C.M.E HQ is located and are trained like foot soldiers under Chase as mini-ACME agents. Carmen (like her 1994 self) is a detective and sometimes she babysit's Zack and Ivy but she is actually a sleeper agent for shadow government VILE (she was contacted pre-VILE organization via her old 80s office computer and she joined their organization b/c she likes mind games determined to figure out who VILE rlly is). I will discuss more of the plot and characters later in my next post.

I created this plot point for the reason that A.C.M.E was not a private law enforcement organization that was like the CIA or FBI since it catches criminals across the continent. Keeping the organization US-centered I felt was a major breach of security as the US overreached it's authority as a superpower (and would lead to war).

I should mention that I am following the 1994-1999 "Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego" continuity which will cause an alienation for fans who like the 2019 version but to be fair I don't like 2019's writing and worldbuilding (like V.I.L.E being a generic villain training program like the Red Room since I think that A.C.M.E could fill that role better under a slow-burn spy-fi lens).

The next post will be dedicated to some of the characters (warning: I will try and fix Carmen herself, Julia Argent, Zack, Ivy and Chase Devineaux (key word: try)) and talk about some of the characters and why I will not include all of them (b/c let's be honest there are too many villains/characters in the 2019 show that I will not include). 

If there is anything in my rewrite about ACME or VILE that I missed or got incorrect do let me know, I am open to improve as a writer and not everything I post will be perfect.

[anderesich]