#apoc posting

[sirinoya]

the fact that four out of four apoc members have explicitly stated that their favorite team is apocalypse is insane to me actually. everybody who said they’d be a clout team 2.0 when the team was announced can suck it

[sirinoya]

MINUTE: [laughing slightly] this is kinda just apocalypse, isn’t it?

CLOWN: without rek, yeah

SB: [almost crestfallen] rek’s travelling now, he’s not gonna log on

oh my team apocalypse

[sirinoya]

first day on lifesteal world and sb is saying they should have a team apocalypse meeting as if there is a team apocalypse to have a meeting i said oh i’m sure. first day on lifesteal world and clown is interested in an alliance between the four of them and sb is saying that rek would probably agree to it and is explicitly asking minute “do we have apocalypse alliance?” i said oh i’m fucking sure

[sirinoya]

squiddo polling her chat to see if apoc is the most auraful team for sb and they all say yes and sb goes, apropos of nothing, “rek really bumps up those numbers for us”. okay bro. lock in

[sirinoya]

one of the big reasons why i like apocalypse’s end arc (or more specifically sb and rek’s) so much is in big part because of its sense of ephemeral freedom, if that makes sense? because— this is lifesteal, right, a server that’s built itself on constant danger and that’s beat neverending wariness into its players until they wear it like a second skin. the server’s gimmick alone inherently breeds competition and conflict, even without taking into account the players on it and how their differences affect their actions and relationships with others. when watching a lifesteal stream, when on lifesteal, there will always be that sort of danger lurking in the background, the potential to be jumped or trapped or hunted. but— during the end arc, even if it was only for a little while, that wasn’t the case.

it’s an obvious byproduct of sealing back up the end behind you; for almost a full month, team apocalypse were the sole inhabitants of the end. but this respite, this sense of safety, is such a change of pace from how lifesteal usually is, especially in regards to apocalypse. in season 7, apocalypse was a team that was hunted from nearly day 1. they had what, under than two days before the hunt for their orbital really kicked into play? and then past that, once they’d succeeded in their plan— in minute’s own words, “we’re gonna have an infinite target on our backs”. and they did! people were constantly mistrustful of apoc no matter what, they were blacklisted from things like the end item events, and, just like minute said, every member of apocalypse became a kill-on-sight target to a lot of people. not even just kill-on-sight; they were being hunted down. and it’s not like apoc didn’t know this would end up happening, didn’t account for it in their lists of pros and cons, and didn’t throw that worry to the wind anyways. but it still makes this sudden freedom to be such a novelty, really, something almost jarring in how peaceful it is. at the same time, though, it’s nice.

yes, this is lifesteal, and its inherent conflicts and heart culture— all of which need people— are so integral to it, and to its success as a server. and these are all things i love about it! but there’s just something about how rek built a beautiful base in the end, turning the main end island from plain to a beautifully decorated— aboveground!— base, making it a colourful whirl of greens and purples and pinks. hell, he made paths. there’s something about apocalypse’s end civilization, about its custom-designed and custom-built floating island made not just of plain endstone, but trimmed with obsidian at the bottom, blending all the way up into a carefully chosen gradient to its main body, and there’s something about its white castle, the outside still lovingly trimmed and detailed even in its unfinished state, and its inside much the same, a true base all out in the open. and, especially to me, there’s something in how the entirety of the lived-in end is filled to the brim with both rek and sb, the way rek’s storage systems are all labeled with named items for sb, the way sb contributes to end civ’s castle in the way he’s confident in by building farms and getting resources for rek and making the base functional, the way sb’s fountain tnt duper has a large green-stained glass front panel because rek had said he wanted to see the tnt fall in, the way they casually keep everything of theirs together, leaving around shulkers of gifts and materials and whatever they feel like at the time, really, because what’s mine is yours. what rek and sb built was less a base and more a home, something that is otherwise never truly possible on a server like lifesteal. throughout that one month, the two of them poured in their heart and soul to build something that they knew was so fleeting— and yet they built something all the more beautiful for it.

[sirinoya]

i was talking it over with ian and lord i just. the actual cruelty it is to decide to pretend to betray apoc for pili, team up with him and gain his trust and make him believe you care about him, only to reveal later it was all a lie, and that you’ve never left rek, never left apoc. and this is especially crazy considering it’s a literal 360 pivot from wanting to betray rek for pili so pili “wouldn’t be sad about his osc gettng destroyed”, all because he thought of the fact that it’d mean it would quote “be the end of sb and rek”. like oh okay! for a self-proclaimed ‘solo player’ you don’t seem to be faring well at the idea of never being able to be with rek again, huh

[sirinoya]

sb saying “squiddo must’ve corrupted rek” because rek wanted to destroy the osc with his tunnel bores is even funnier with the added context that squiddo didn’t ask for it to be blown up, just for apoc to do something else with it 😭 rek just wanted to blow it up for the funsies

[sirinoya]

okay i can’t stop thinking about team apocalypse fencing au. here’s some explanations under the read-more of fencing weapons + the weapons i’ve chosen for each of them + why ^_^

general fencing knowledge: there are 3 main weapons. these are:

sabre: if you’ve seen fencing where they swing and whack at each other, it’s sabre. the most aggressive one out of the three (although not always the most hard hitting), sabre is a very fast and athletic weapon where you hit with the side of your blade. Do Not Stab, you will bend the shit out of your sabre. target area is anywhere above your waist (including fencing mask and glove). scoring system uses something called right of way (RoW), which determines who gets a point when both fencers hit at/nearly at the same time based on footwork, parries, missed attacks, etc etc.

foil: it’s not Stab city but it’s definitely closer. there’s a button on the tip of a foil that, when pressed down with enough force (which isn’t a lot on foil, you can literally flick), signals a touch. footwork tends to be lighter, bouncier, and it’s definitely the most technical out of them; for instance a Lot of touches are determined by How exactly you got the touch. your target area is your torso area only, so missed hits are a lot easier (eg a touch on your arm instead). foil also uses RoW.

epee: remember when i said foil wasn’t stab city? well, this is! epees are heavy, and you need a lot of power behind what you’re doing to press the button at the end of the epee. it’s the most strategic in part because of how simple it is; target area is everything. Yes everything. this includes your toes, i’d know. there’s no right of way, and if you both touch at the same time you both get the point. it’s controlled pace-wise because of this, too, but you have to have a lot of stamina or you’re cooked. be prepared for lots of bruises.

characters choices:

clown: him and minute are genuinely the easiest people to choose a weapon for. clown really enjoys the more aggressive and fast-paced style of sabre (he Loves right of way) and isn’t as big of a fan of the point contact system in foil. don’t get him started on epee; i think truly the sheer difference in the general style of how you fence in it throws him off a lot, especially with the footwork aspect of it. and tbh the only reason he considers other weapons is for the colored masks (staring at rek).

rek: i think he’d start out sabre because it’s the common one to get into. he’s not bad at all at it, in fact i’d say he’d be pretty good, but he tries out foil and i think he’d really like how foil has a very large technical aspect, but still keeps a fast pace and requires you to be very nimble and on-your-feet (also having RoW is a bonus, i think he enjoys RoW). he still does do sabre, although not that often… and now that he’s a foil he can have a colored mask, and he has a white LP xchange to match his other gear.

sb: he’s literally the epee of all time. nobody here is more epee than him. epee is a very strategic weapon, because it’s core it’s super simple: hit and don’t get hit. i think he would really excel at coming up with strategies and making use of the many different styles you can employ (he personally likes to go for touches by making the opponent underestimate how far he can reach. he pairs this with a french grip epee for longer reach + more angulation). he also prefers the slightly more paced footwork.

minute: i randomly thought of minutetech and went “he would be a great foil”. he’s the au starter. minute imo would just really prefer the baseline system of touches in foil, with the more controlled flicks and its technical aspects. i also think he’d be the sort of fencer to walk the line with controlled yet kinda loose movements, with almost dance-like footwork instead of, for instance, more bouncy steps. he started in foil and tried sabre and epee but neither of them really spoke to him like foil did before…

i also have like 10 million equipment headcanons for them. someone free me.