Watched Graecie’s first VOD before realising that there’s no way I can keep up with another streamed SMP right now, but I would absolutely lay down my life for her character at a moment’s notice
this all started when they went around checking if people were real or fake. the main clues as to who was real was whether they could speak or whether they are wearing a backpack. long story short, they were able to confirm sunguard was real after they talked to them, even though they never actually use their voice.
so after that small interaction of course i went crazy with it.
me and the other 3 sunguard fans are cheering rn
(we all need to get more insane about them right now)
just watched that scene by the Dragon Crypt from two days ago (I think? Time is weird idk) and Legs being all scary looking and then immediately reverting back to the Wet Cat Little Guy we know and love as soon as the danger is gone and all I can think of is that one audio where someone’s going like “watch your tone… I’m sensitive, and WILL cry—“ where they start out sounding all scary and then drop the act as the statement shifts
[MILD TW- meaning trigger is mentioned, or gone into shallow depth]
TRIGGER WARNING: Potential; ED, suicide, mentions of death / suffocation, abuse, alcoholism
indented- my opinions/ commentary, otherwise all else analysis
So…. how are we feeling AJ mains…?
I WAS JUST GETTING USED TO HAPPY FUN TIME YURI AHHHH
Is the ED canon now? AJ basically said to (gonna call it “the entity”, but the thing/spirit in the crypt door) “I don’t eat so I’m in control of the rate I decay,” so…
That’s how I interpreted it at least, but this also ties back to the drinking, smoking, and general disregard for their own safety.
[This is not me criticizing Aimsey’s not eating while in character, I think it’s actually quite a good character choice, and a good example of how close to death AJ could be at any moment in opposition to their cocky exterior (even though it makes my anxiety go through the ROOF)]
Also: the shadow figure. Is it an ex-lover? Abusive parent? Old friend? Is it someone they killed? Ima share my predictions for each;
Ex-lover would probably be someone they ‘dated’ or hooked up with in the past, since they do mention earlier how they were always alone bc people in their youth didn’t want to be outed as lesbian/bi/liking women. Potentially it could lead to a juxtaposition with the spirit that kept embodying Drift as well? Idk maybe Mark just likes the chaos…
Abusive parent? Idk. AJ canonically didn’t go to school, and taught themself everything they know, (according to their convo w Drift earlier) which might mean neglect? I think it’s more likely though, that AJ was an orphan, or abandoned on the streets. This could apply to a mentor figure as well, similar to what Legs has going on w Olstead?
Person they accidentally/on purpose killed- now this is my best idea, which could also be added to any other thing I or you could come up with, but I think it fits. Mage of decay, haunted by someone they killed. There are so many ways that person could’ve died, but it would be so ironic if it was by falling off a cliff
Leaving Drift recalling??? Amazing acting choice from Aimsey. LEAVING DRIFT RECALLING??? HORRIBLE DESCISION FROM AJ-??!?!
The suffocation sfx were so goooooood, I kinda wanna make a twins at the carousel animatic of that, but Over and Over would be good as well (inverse of that w drift underground or underwater could be cool)
the music haunts me bro-
Over and Over is such a scary song to me now bc I have a stress signal associated w it, so this means actor is doing good job 👏
I appreciate that AJ does (most of the time), to their own credit, move their wolf away from Graecie when they see she’s uncomfortable, this is so important to me that they DO HAVE EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE- they know when to comfort Drift, they give (not great but still trying) therapy sessions to Graecie, they omit harsh truths that Molly’s family SUCK from them-
THEY DO KNOW HOW TO DO STUFF, THEY JUST CAN’T
and I’m so excited to see what trauma led to their inability to process their own emotions and not be able to be vunersble
Scott giving them food the other day, and them being so confused how this man they have mutual (maybe not hate) but large mutual distaste for, and that THREW THEM OFF A CLIFF could possibly notice before their totally-not-girlfriend
I’m gonna say it- Drift is too trusting. She takes what AJ says for truth TOO OFTEN.
When she finds out abt the 6-ft-under spell there is gonna be so much angst, and I am not emotionally prepared for this 😭
I think it will be beneficial for AJ to see exactly how Drift felt when she was under though, this might spark some empathy (although Megii’s blunt confrontation I don’t think helped at all with convincing AJ to tell her sooner)
AJ is gonna start losing friends and allies QUICKLY.
Drift- close w Megii, who currently is PISSED at AJ (rightfully so I think)
Pyro- is close w Scott, and will probably side w him if the odds are stacked against AJ (but I could be wrong, there is a chance he could read this as like an “injustice”, and I think Pyro would be most likely besides Drift to join the rebels)
R- is controlled by higher ups, and AJ hasn’t exactly been performing well
Molly/Melinks- Doesn’t know AJ has been withholding info from her fam, (bc her fam are manipulative assholes but still) and might turn on AJ once she finds out they’ve been lying
Amber- will most likely side w Megii
I think Juniper and Ros may be the only potential long standing allies. Ros and AJ already have a “will they won’t they are they rivals oOooOOO~” sort of vibe, and I think AJ will befriend Ros and help her with her internalized homophobia and self worth issues, while Ros tries and fails to help them in return, ultimately leading to AJ’s death either in a season finale battle of their two sides by Ros’s hand, OR in some act of self sacrifice (either to power up the final boss or wtv or to save everyone). Juniper I know empathizes w AJ a bit bc of Rowan, her sister, and bc they’re both technically on the same team. I think the biggest roadblock between an AJ-Juniper friendship is actually Legs, but this is already too long so ima cut it off here.
UPDATE:
well well well the Yuri thickens…
GHOSTIE HAS JOINED THE ACADEMY
and maybe in the future… the polycule…
They’re probably exes for a reason though…
I wonder if Ghostie was one of the ones who would pretend to hate AJ in front of a crowd bc of their internalized homophobia but secretly be making out w them…
(this may require some ESMP knowledge but i will do my best to explain to those without)
so in Empires SMP Season 1, Scott was the ruler of Rivendell. He got ice powers, found out about a destined prophecy, got hit in the face with a reincarnated souls reveal, went on an elsa arc a self-imposed exile, all that good stuff.
the thing that sticks out to me is the reincarnation bit.
so basically there's these stag gods, Aeor and Exor. Aeor is "good" (debatable on how you percieve him), and associated with snow. Exor is "evil" and associated with fire. these two stag gods are brothers.
now it's been a while since i've brushed up on my empires lore, but if i remember correctly, there's basically been a long line of reincarnated souls. in each lifetime, the souls are brothers whose lives are literally intertwined (a la Double Life if that makes sense), and they'll be given fire/ice magic by higher deities and forced to fight for the good of the prophecy and whatnot. it went from aeor and exor, then to alinar and conal, and then to scott and xornoth. and as far as im aware, scott finally broke the prophecy chain by stabbing himself with the Rune Blade.
so now it's time for the conspiracy part of this conspiracy theory:
what if pyro dagmeare and scott borealith are the next reincarnations of this cycle, but this time, it's without any of the weight that the prophecy bears.
king scott of rivendell died and severed the chains of the prophecy, and so now in the next cycle, the reincarnations no longer have to carry the whole "oh yeah by the way there'll be an eternal blizzard thats Your Fault and your lives are tied together and you have to fight your own brother to the death" thing.
aaaand then they both get stuck in ANOTHER corruption scenario anyway. hey i'm just sayin', if pyro gets corrupted, i Will be drawing art of tf!scott with the Rune Blade.
