okay because aphmau lore is confusing as HELL sometimes 😭
i made a google doc for people who want to get into the roleplays/lore stuff easier 💜
it includes:
✨ the series in order
✨ basic lore explanations
✨ hidden details/things people might miss
✨ descriptions of what each series is about
✨ youtube links for every series
so if you’ve ever been confused about:
“wait what comes after diaries”
“why is this character here”
“what timeline is this”
or “where do i even START”
i made this for you 😭
1. Minecraft Diaries (The Fantasy Epic) This was Aphmau’s first major breakthrough series. It is a high-fantasy, medieval adventure packed w
hope you enjoy!
an if there is any other information I should add let me know.
Edit-
i'm still working out the links and other subjects so I went ahead an made it so you can comment directly onto the doc.
so if you have any specific links, or information you want me to put in you can leave them there.
From the Call of Duty werewolf lore by @deadbranch
Werewolves like to party--they're no different from their human counterparts in that regard.
We've previously discussed werewolves' progressive attitude toward sex, so it's no surprise that some of their parties involve physical intimacy with friends & even strangers.
"Scent parties" are popular among young adult Wolves. At a scent party, there are guests who (playfully) choose to be "prey" & guests who take the role of "predator."
Both classes stay in their human shapes, but it's common to see the occasional white eyeshine among the crowd.
There's a separate prey arrival time, about an hour before the party begins.
The "coat checker" takes an article of clothing from the guest prey & pins a number to the fabric, then provides a slip of paper with the same number for the guest to take with them. For easy of numbering, coat checkers often use two decks of playing/tarot cards to link the article of clothing to the guest.
The prey states their preference tonight: male, female, or either. The coat checker seals the article of clothing in a zippered plastic bag and drops it into the appropriate box.
The prey takes their number/card in-hand and then focuses on finding a cozy place to wait while enjoying refreshments & socializing with other prey.
As they walk through the venue (usually a large house) they touch objects, nuzzle drapes and decorative flora, and sit on various pieces of furniture, making sure to give good contact between surfaces and the scent glands along the outside of each forearm.
Some guests choose to be nude, regardless of prey or predator status. Nudity is not shocking or shameful to Wolves. If naked, their scent will travel through the air more easily. There's more challenge involved if the prey remain fully clothed until found by their designated predator.
As guest predators arrive, they're politely reminded by the coat checker to keep their human shape & to avoid knotting their prey, since it's "not that kind of party."
The predator states their preference tonight: male, female, or either. They draw a plastic bag from their chosen box.
They step aside to let other predators draw an article of clothing. The predator opens the bag and breathes deeply, taking in the scent of their prey. Their objective is to "capture" their assigned prey by following their scent through the house, gardens, or wherever prey are permitted to wander at the venue.
Experienced Wolves leave the article of clothing with the coat checker. They go by scent memory alone, with only the tarot card to prove they have the correct prey once they've found them.
However, most wolves retain the article of clothing to take periodic deep breaths of their prey's scent. They're surrounded by many other Wolves, both prey & predator, so reminders help.
Once the predator has "caught" their prey, they talk and quickly decide if they'll like to continue socializing, have sex, or if they'd prefer to part ways.
If they part ways, usually both prey & predator continue socializing with whomever they choose. However, the predator has the option to return to coat check to redraw prey.
Scent parties are intended to be fun for everyone involved. Most guests are werewolves, but sometimes humans show up, hence why all guests must avoid changing into their Wolf form.
The first weekend before the new moon is when most Wolves organize scent parties since their average libido is at its lowest, and they're the least likely to experience urge-induced change.
The traditional intent of such festivities was to encourage copulation outside of the natural frenzy of The Hunt.
Werewolves have relatively low birthrates compared to humans, so Wolf governing & social constructs actively encourage events fostering consensual intimacy that may lead to successful mated pairs.
instead of a bonus/drabble for today’s @augustwritingchallenge prompt, i wanna talk about the siren lore in my series, fish. it’s just gonna be a few bullet points about them. the relevance to today’s theme will become apparent :)
evolution — sirens are underwater reptiles that have evolved from prehistoric aquatic lizards (such as mosasaurs, titanaboa, or deinosuchus). some species started later on in evolution and the characteristics of different types of marine reptile. there are turtle sirens, sea snake sirens, crocodilian sirens, etc.
appearance — i imagine that species descended from mosasaurs looks like the siren in this. other types would look pretty similar in upper-body, the main changes are in the tails and lower bodies :)
early life — sirens grow in the same way the reptiles they evolved from did. any sirens with a huge full-grown size (such as the prehistoric-descended sirens) will age very slowly at first, only to have a massive burst of size around age 5.
species characteristics — i wanna go further into the concept of differences between species somewhere else, but here’s the main deal: sirens have the same habitat, size, diet, and general appearance as the reptiles they evolved from. there will be a species of siren for almost every species of aquatic reptile out there!
rarity — sirens are super rare. most of them are either incredibly shy/weary or incredibly hateful/angry towards humans. the only real efficient way to catch them is by trawling in their habitats, but even that doesn’t turn up many results unless you’re super lucky.
dinosaurs — the connection is small, but it is there!! in my lore, quite a few sirens are basically modern dinosaurs. many of them are just highly evolved (and highly intelligent and somehow humanoid but don’t look too far into it) versions of mosasaurs or titanoboas.
you can get freshwater or saltwater sirens, although saltwater sirens are the only ones to have ever been caught <3 also: this isn’t a chapter but it is a piece of content for a series so i’m gonna tag people anyway :)
Reblog this if you want readers to come into your ask box and ask for the “director’s commentary” on a particular story, section of a story, or set of lines.
Or, send in a ⭐star⭐ to have the author select a section they’ve been dying to talk about!
Sooooooo I really want to talk more about the last chapter I posted, Chapter 3: Death. There were a few things I wanted to accomplish in this chapter, some very small, some larger.
Spoilers below the break!
First, I wanted to establish that Malthael was willing to draw on Death to protect innocent lives, regardless of who they were. When he and Zaira talk in Tales from Tristram, she suggests he would do that if he ever had to protect Farah. Which, he would. But I wanted that to be a bit of a red herring, because it’s far more important for him to act based on what’s right rather than based on love. I don’t want to devalue how much he cares for her. But a guy doing anything for a girl is a) pretty tropey and b) a decision he’d have less ability to stand by later. And I like subverting trope when possible.
Second, I wanted to show as quickly as possible that Death is a different experience for Malthael now that he’s mortal. I think a lot of his madness while immortal came from not-quite-hearing all the mortal souls. The Book of Cain describes his duty as comprehending the wisdom of eternity by understanding the emotions that drive all creatures. Mortals are inherently more complex, and I don’t think he could understand their feelings at all, let alone their fear of death after such relatively short lives. Now, when he himself is mortal, he can understand that fear, and he can listen to them at an individual level. Which means he can also be their defenders, and can abide by their wishes (in this case, that wish was for revenge).
Third, I wanted to begin suggesting that Malthael needn’t give up his dual-Aspect in order to be a defender of the Light. Death is, after all, the (natural) end of all things. You can be a terrifying Angel of Death and reap souls. Or you can represent the end and rebirth of the cycle, and use those same powers to preserve life. This is something that will be developed as the story progresses further, but it has its starting seeds in this chapter. Malthael just had to get to a point where he was willing to break his pact to himself and dabble in Death. (And that dabbling won’t necessarily have bad consequences, per above.)
Pretty much all of you (if not all of you) are Spyro Fans. So I was wondering if you would all love to share which of the four Spyros are your favorite and why, you could even list them off least to best or visa-versa. I’ll give you my list right here as an opener.
- #1: The Legend of Spyro Trilogy
This one really doesn’t need justification due to how I’ve focused mostly on this Trilogy in any post I’ve made, but here we go. I personally leap for joy at in depth stories, an at really good character development; which are the things that the Legend Series nails to the point where anyone who is a fan of this series is likely interested most-exclusively in the lore of its series, and the characters involved. From Spyro and Cynder to Ignitus and Malefor. Very rarely is there a series with such depth to its lore and character development; that even with all of the details that its development teams had to cut out due to a lack of time; there are always more things for me to discover about the characters amd the world that they live in; from how they feel to the true depths of their characters. I even learn new things when I look back today. (I also happen to really enjoy how Spyro and Cynder seem to have escaped the world together in the end, and I also like discovering how Spyro is way more powerful than I thought he was every time I look back over a few details, but those all can wait to be explained by me later).
- #2: Skylanders Academy
I don’t know what is more surprising about this one, the fact that it is so high above Skylanders which is the last on my list, the fact that Skylanders actually has two canonical stories and takes up half the options on this list, or the fact that the Original Series has to be #3 because of Skylanders Academy. If you are a fan of the Legend of Spyro trilogy, you really should watch Skylanders Academy, because even though I personally disliked the first season just because it was somehow more childish than sesame street for a series that actively touched on the concept of darkness nagging at people’s hearts; I absolutely adored the second season; which lead me to actually enjoying the first season in how it set up the second. I love the second season because of how its writers appeared to have either done their research on specifically the Legend Series, or have just been fans-enough of the Legend Series to decide and focus the entirety of the internal character struggles of specifically Spyro and Cynder on the same exact points that they occured in the legend series; just with Skylanders characters and twists. They even went further in having Spyro and Cynder’s relationship mirror the Legend Series perfectly. Even down to specific scenes in skypanders academy being almost exact look-alikes to the legend series with two key differences, Spyro and Cynder have physically swapped places, and Cynder does more of the teaching to Spyro; which would mirror the legend series perfectly (key term being MIRROR as in like a mirror would; where if you look into a mirror and raise your left hand, your reflection would raise its right. Spyro and Cynder swapping their roles in their relationship from the legend series is a perfect mirror, much like what also happens with other characters around spyro and his relationships with them.) So yes, I love it because of the Legend Series, and cannot wait to see Cynder save Spyro from himself; while discovering she is a half-breed purple dragon, maybe even becoming the hero that saves the Skylands while Spyro is recovering, further mirroring the legend series; then topping it all of with having Spyro confess his love to Cynder after it all, and Spyro trying bringing Cynder back to her senses after Malefor dies for her, but that is all only if season three keeps up the Legend-Mirror theme. I would love to see what other crazy powers they give Spyro, and maybe even watch him kill Eon. I also would probably have a heart attack if they released the third season on October 10th; which would actually be the 12th anniversary of the Legend of Spyro series (since it is supposed to be released in October).
- #3: Original Series
I am sorry for placing this third all of you Spyro Nazis out there who just hate everything that isn’t the first three spyro games ever, even hating on aspects of the reignited trilogy for just not being the original down to the 100% mark, but I just don’t treasure the original series as much as the two above it. It is an amazing series with a magical and beautiful atmosphere, but I just do not resonate with that as much as I do with character, lore, and story depth. I still love every series on this list, its just that there are two Spyros that I love more then this one; they’re all still their own Spyro though.
- #4: The Skylanders Series
From comics to games; I just couldn’t get behind these as much. Mostly because they ignored character depth and story depth; and actually pushed the lore away for the purposes of enabling people to get just as attached to a complete storyless side-character as they could to a side-character that has a deep story to be descovered, or a main-character that has a deep story to be discovered. The comics also focused heavily on the missions, and dropped relationship development quite a bit, and it also contradicted its own lore; trying to make it seem like it was both a retelling of the Legend Series with a different cast, and a sequel to the legend series at the same time; while also ignoring a lot of the character lore from powers to character depth that was existent in the legend series. It really just reminds me of a sloppy fan-fiction that was done by somebody who blocked-out most of the facts of the story and world and characters they were writing about, and replaced all of that with just a mess of quantity in events and characters instead of focusing on the treasures of any of them. Still a fun series though, but only if you play exclusively the games as a legend series fan and ignore the comics that just cause a mess of frustration (specifically to fans of the legend series that don’t like poorly-done imitations), aren’t a legend series fan at all and actually maybe even dislike it for giving Spyro such a distinctly different personality from the original series (then the ignorance of anything hat isn’t Spyro’s ego will probably not hit any sour notes), have friends and family to play or read with, or read Skylanders as its own series, and play the games that come from that series as they were originally meant to be interpreted; same as every Spyro on this list, they are all their own Spyro, and any likes (and especially dislikes) of any one Spyro stems heavily from how they compare to either your favorite or first Spyro. I actually used to hate the Skylanders series until I sat down and stopped comparing it to the Legend series, cause unless if you are and original trilogy nazi; you only would dislike spyro from a spyro fan perspective from how it treated the legend series. I love all of them though for their own reasons, besides skylanders stopped the legend series from entering the same mess that killed the original series anyways.
So yes, I actually love each of the four Spyros for who and what each of them are, and each of their series for what they are, and each of the three Cynders for who they are. Feel free to comment/like/approve/detest/hate/threaten/question my list as you see fit, and feel free to ask me any questions about each of the four Spyros and their series.
Please leave your lists and reasonings below cause I’d love to see them, and I may edit and repost this on occasion. Feel free to post your own lists yourself, or just post mine and let me face all of the unfiltered reactions of the internet. You could also post your lists or just share your favorite Spyros in the comments here, I’m making this post because I want to see them after all.
Suppression status: None, no suppressors taken on record
Governing familial structure: Open clan
Parentage/Matrilineal support: Soap has eleven siblings, six of which are twins. His mum says it was good that he did not himself have a twin or she would have stopped having pups as a result. She's joking of course, but young John was hardheaded and often in trouble in his youth. The clan knew he would join the service, with as much fire and fearlessness as he had in him at an early age. His mother encouraged him to serve but she reminds him around the holidays that she would love it if he's return home with a mate, especially with a rounded belly. As a result, he often uses his young age as a deflection when he speaks with clan elders.
Coat Color & Pattern: Gold sand with silver streaking along his ruff and flanks
Human eye color: Light blue
Wolf eye color: Irradiated tundra lichen yellow
Age at first change: 12 summers
Issue: None
Legacy status: None
Suppression status: None, no suppressors taken on record
Governing familial structure: Open clan, bogland isolationists
Parentage/Matrilineal support: Ghost has a complicated relationship with his mother and clan. He was raised in the boglands by conservative Wolves who distrust humans and their Wolf collaborators. His mother is the local matriarch of several clans in a tetrad familial construct, so she had little time to devote to Simon or his siblings, which created a cold and distant relationship between them. He was raised primarily by clan caregivers, spending most of his time hunting at the edge of the bog. As most isolationist Wolves do, he experienced his first change at a young age and was taught to ignore the 3-night social convention of The Hunt, instead choosing to hunt all month long.
