Home to silly, outrageous, outright cracked theories on your favorite egos. Remember, a theory a day keeps the common sense at bay.
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mark referenced his Minecraft 360 video and said he's working on a sequel for it in his current livestream
Awesome! Between getting the new GoPro (and the sponsorship, assuming they don't panic and run) and having the time to play around with ideas now, I'm excited to see what he comes up with. And only mildly concerned!
Did think it was funny he remembered doing a 360 video, but clearly forgot Google was in there at first--not surprising considering how long ago it was and the sheer amount of stuff he's made over the years, but now I'd love to see Mark make more reaction videos of his older stuff that he's probably also forgotten the details of by now.
(The fans rewatch his stuff all the time, I know I have my comfort playlists outside of picking through videos for this blog, but I doubt he returns to the vast majority of his older videos no matter how rightly proud he is of what he's made and where it's taken him in the long run. Would be interesting to see him look back with the benefit of hindsight/distance.)
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(srry if you already have like a whole anthology abt him smplace, you can just direct me there if ya do)
I...actually haven't talked about Maskiplier much at all on this blog, now that you mention it. Outside of my most recent post regarding that guy at the beginning of 3 Scary Games #111, the only other thing I can find is a couple of thoughts on the masks in WMLW. Which is odd, considering this whole blog is about coming up with silly theories on the egos based on the most seemingly inconsequential details I can drag up, and the whole mask thing is nothing but a bunch of inconsequential things seemingly adding up to...something. Maybe. Possibly.
Plus it started here on Tumblr, so that's a double my bad. To make up for that, uh...take this poorly constructed primer and some half-baked theories? Going for a read more link here because this is a long one:
Okay, for those who are unaware: Mark has a Tumblr. (@markiplier) Yes, I'm sorry to be the one to inform you of this state of affairs, but it exists. Generally he's a lot more active just after a big project of his drops, like ISWM, mostly reblogging art and memes. In fact, the most recent activity was back in January, and probably the only reason he held off on a flood of Iron Lung related reblogging back then was because the movie wasn't widely available yet and he didn't want to spoil those unable to see it in theaters. Once those DVDs/Blu-Rays start flowing, I wouldn't be surprised if he returns and sends the fans into (yet another) panic.
(I'd actually suggest using the archive view to scroll through his blog--it's a great way to find fanart and memes that people have posted over the years that might be difficult to impossible to find using Tumblr's regular search feature in the main tags.)
When he wasn't doing that, Mark was also known to just show up out of nowhere to start fires and create general mayhem. This includes:
Markiplier Games - like the Hunger Games, but with cursed images of himself, his friends, and Chica MAUL-iver/DoggoD (January 2019)
Continued that with another murder game involving various cursed images of himself (March 2021)
Started a cult and a coven, then pitted the two against each other, immediately followed up by trying to pit spot against stripe (September 2019)
Harold B. Darrensworth (August 2018)
Cucumber (August 2021)
And then there's January of 2018. First there's #secretmarkiplier, a "secret" tag in response to a fan complaint about Mark looking in his own tag here on Tumblr. Mark soon after declared he would be deleting it, because Mark giveth and Mark taketh away or something.
Speaking of, a couple of days later, in response to a fan asking if there would be any more Dark or Wilford videos, Mark said they were dead before offering a compromise: 100 thousand reblogs they live, anything less and they die. Soon after, he declares it's too late.
A couple of days after that, he hits the road with Chica, driving from Ohio to LA, and that's when the real fun starts.
A very cheerful post, whose upper cased letters together happen to spell out, "GO BACK TO SLEEP". (Seven months later, in August of 2018, we would get the video go back to sleep... which for later context came out just a few weeks after Wilford Motherlovin' Warfstache.)
It escalates in Kansas, of course. Mark posts a cheerful update about his drive, full of exclamation points, a couple of "haha"s thrown in here and there...
And the capitalized letters in the post just so happen to spell "KILL THEM."
About an hour later, he posts a new game, but instead of the fate of a couple of beloved characters, this time it's to spread some positivity. How? By everyone changing their Tumblr profile picture and start spreading message of support while also encouraging them to "join the party." The shared picture is Mark's icon of the time, just with...a small alteration.
Black eyes, with pinprick white pupils. Thus is born the Mask, and it's about here when fans start referring to Maskiplier. And for the record, Mark also changed his icon to match. (Caps message for this post: HAHAHAHA)
He then reblogs some fanart of Darkiplier, saying "Haha what a funny fellow, he looks just like me! You all look just like me haha!"
"You all look just like me" is the theme of his next post.
And most everyone did. Turns out, when everyone has the same icon and are all sending messages of positivity and invitations to join them, the tags and messages became a bit...concerning. (<- That post is a series of images showing the general vibe of a Markiplier-themed zombie apocalypse.)
Then with the next morning...nothing.
Mark posts a good morning, asks if he missed anything important, then proceeds to reblog some fanart pieces of events with a few "haha"s, laughing off the idea of it spreading like a disease, and complimenting the masks. (Lot more of these posts with some awesome fanart, btw.)
In response to a video of himself, Mark comments "Hey, he looks just like me!" Most of it's cheerful, laughing, but occasionally the mask slips:
When people started taking off their masks, the caps come off as well as Mark asks people to put their masks back on and laugh like you mean it.
He notices there is some resistance among the fans as the days go by, until his tone suddenly changes again when LA finally looks to be in sight.
And then he went into what I can only describe as "Great Googly Moogly" mode, in which he "strikes gold" and asks everyone to put on their "Mining Mask" and stake their claim, as there "ain't any brakes on this gold train."
This version of Maskiplier is less popular than the other, for some reason.
Then after all that, Mark finally made it home, and everything was back to normal. Sort of.
Like I mentioned earlier in this post, seven months after this mask-filled zombie apocalypse road trip, we got Wilford Motherloving Warfstache, and one particularly relevant scene:
Wilford, asking Abe if, for just tonight, they can forget about all of it and just have some fun. All while both of them are surrounded by a silent crowd of onlookers wearing masks.
(Masks which, for some reason, appear in the background of "DON'T LOSE YOUR COOL", a video with Mark, Tyler, Ethan, and "Chica." They're just...there, hanging out on a shelf on the wall.)
In the full breakdown video of WMLW, at 2:12:55 someone asks about the masks, and Mark's response is: "I don't know what you're talking about. What? No one is wearing a mask. I don't know what you're talking about." This just after Mark says he likes to tie stuff into future things he's going to do, and if he explains it then it's not going to be a surprise.
After all, in this video Wilford makes an offhand comment about how he should check in on Damien, then we get the go to sleep... video later the same month, setting up for the Damien video to follow in May of 2019.
That video was also teased again in October of 2018, in "Markiplier Tries: KOREAN BEAUTY PRODUCTS", of all things. There's probably more, but in this particular one, Mark is sitting on a bed in a...familiar red robe, wearing a mask with a growing collection of face masks on the wall behind him...while his subtitled actual thoughts are the opening scene of Damien plus another familiar message.
"go back to sleep"
Okay.
This one is a bit more of a stretch, but in DAMIEN itself, Actor Mark is struck with an axe by Celine and begins to laugh maniacally as he fades away. In the process, his body and face distort, becoming more mask-like in the process before disappearing.
It's not a 1:1 match, but the way he spoke to Damien before that--cheerful, upbeat, occasionally breaking into anger and shouting before collecting himself, is very similar to the tone taken by "Maskiplier" in those Tumblr posts. There are also a couple of closeups of the Actor's face, specifically his eyes (which appear black with a glint of light in them at this angle) and his wide smile.
Another notable return of the Masks is in In Space With Markiplier, when a supposedly questionable choice in Part 1 gets a response from the Narrator. The scene pauses as the Narrator criticizes you and comes to the conclusion you're looking for an Easter egg.
"You want an Easter egg? You get an Easter egg" over a burst of static on the screen, followed by the sound of a CRT TV switching channels, recalling "go back to sleep..."
Spotlights form on the familiar mask as it drifts to the ground, as a sarcastic Narrator says, "And there it is. Ooh! Aah. It's amazing. It's incredible. It ties together every single piece of lore across the entire universe if only you're smart enough to puzzle it out. You're a genius. You're masterful. You found the impossible and only you can solve it. Happy? Good."
The lights shut off and the Narrator puts you in the next scene with the reminder you're supposed to be shutting down the Warp Core, prodding the story along.
There's probably more instances of where the masks have shown up over the years, but that should be enough to get an idea of what we're dealing with here.
So...what can we gather from all of that, if anything?
"Maskiplier" first showed up right after Mark "threatened" to kill off Darkiplier and Wilford Warfstache if the fans failed his impossible challenge. (One of his messages literally being "KILL THEM".)
The first hidden message before the Mask Cult fully kicked off was "go back to sleep." The go back to sleep video has the message "You made this place for broken things. But some things can't be fixed. Go back to sleep." It's full of imagery teasing DAMIEN, where Celine is constantly telling Damien he needs to rest, to go back to sleep, and ends with Celine resting while Damien takes over as Dark. In the context of the Tumblr stuff, it could be seen as "Maskiplier" telling Mark to go to sleep while he takes over (Mark seeming to return to normal with each good morning post that followed), or it could be directed at us.
The masks in WMLW could be seen as a reference to the audience, watching the drama play out between Wilford and Abe, with Wilford's message in that moment being to slow down, stop getting caught up in the minutiae of it all and how the details don't make sense, and just enjoy the ride. Have fun, if even for just a moment.
However, in DAMIEN the mask imagery is clearly applied to Actor Mark, who is always wearing a mask now that he's co-opted Damien's body after the events of WKM, or as he performs as the hero in the various stories (only dropping the "mask" in meta scenes, such as in ADWM after the director yells cut, or in ISWM Part 1 where the Captain comes across him after wandering around the set for a while).
In ISWM, the Narrator gives us the mask as an Easter egg, mocking the viewer for supposedly picking every option and combing through events in the search of clues or a larger mystery. It's similar to the message in WMLW, but instead of "relax and have fun," it's coupled with the command to get back to the story and do what you're supposed to do. Even Wilford's appearance in another Part 1 Easter egg is him yelling at the player to get back to the story already.
So, Maskiplier could be Actor Mark, who in turn is encouraging the fans to wear masks to look like him--as a form of idol worship, a cult of personality with him as the leader, or to encourage them to slip into the roles he has provided. Wear your mask, be positive and don't stop smiling, and stop questioning the narrative already. Stop questioning him, stop trying to "save" Dark and Wilford, he's in control here, so just go back to sleep already.
Maskiplier is just what happens when that control starts to slip.
...Maybe! I don't know, I could just be getting caught up in the minutiae of it all. Again.
But the biggest takeaway of all has to be that Mark gets...weird when he's bored/understimulated.
That there is! (There's also a livestream I'm listening to while writing this, where Mark is most definitely not just talking about his liver.)
"Hello, everybody. Think happy thoughts. My name is Markiplier and welcome back to 3 Scary Games. Don't be nervous. I'm only doing this for you. A better you. Close your eyes and remember."
Remember what? I don't know about you, but I'm not about to close my eyes around this guy who reminds me of...someone.
Just not entirely sure who.
Thoughts?
Let's all put our masks on and think some happy thoughts (Maskiplier)
βIsnβt it kind of messed up that we call Dark βDarkiplierβ after the guy who made him what he is?β β Maybe, but mayhaps Celine just wanted to keep the last name to spite him, have you considered that?
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Okay, so good news, bad news time. Good news is, I finally had time/felt up to it to start playing Lixian's new game yesterday, and finally beat it today!
Bad news is, I am extraordinarily bad at this sort of game. We...don't need to talk about how many runs it took, or that it was enough times to unlock the liminal door before unlocking the boss door. Also could have done without Wilford telling me after I unlocked the last of the upgrades that if I died now it would be a skill issue, considering I had just come back after falling in a hole.
Again.
Still, lots of fun, would definitely recommend playing if you can. And on the plus side of my many trips through the complex, it gave me plenty of time to look around and take screenshots for those who would like them.
Let's start with the posters:
And my personal favorites:
Also there's some lore stuff on the chalkboard or whatever:
M Labs has Lixian as "Kill on sight," which would probably be more of an issue if security was still around.
It's interesting that while the clone Lunky's legs are useless, each of their teeth has a compact source of energy at their core. Warfstache mentions that it takes a lot of energy to make those coins of his, so that's useful, downright plot convenient even.
And...yeah, that's all I've got at the moment. Plan on watching Mark and Lixian's videos on the game in the next few days, but it's good to know me and Lunky are on the same page: hole.
At least, I think that's a good thing...
(I should add, if you want a good breakdown of Project Lunky in relation to the rest of Mark's stuff, check out canceltheact's recent post -- lot of good stuff there.)
there's also some lixian shenanigans in the new blood money letsplay...
it's probably just for the lulz, but also the entirety of markiplier extended universe is for the lolz so i thought it might be worth mentioning
My biggest takeaway?
Yet another hole for the whole Hole Theory! Which is definitely a real thing and not something I'm making up as we go along.
Importantly, this hole is different than the other hole Mark had Lixian throw us into in the No Skin video. That one was pink, and inside were gray clouds and flashes of blue lightning. The hole in the Bloodmoney 2 video is blue and full of galaxy colors/stars.
Specifically, pink hole takes us to the Lore, blue hole takes us through time.
Funnily enough, in In Space With Markiplier, every time we went through the wormhole it was blue on the inside, except for the time Wilford ordered us a ride after saying, "None of this 'Oh, is that in the past, is that in the future? Oh, I can't wrap my head around this whole timey-wimey thing--' Figure it out!" when it was pink.
What I'm saying is, time, lore, it's all holes all the way down, holes inside of holes even.
Calling it now, if/when Mark gets around to playing Berry Bury Berry, things are going to get weird (mostly because he has no chill when it comes to incremental games and the inevitable hurricane of euphemisms, but also: hole).
"They killed everyone and it escaped. Find the axe and end it. I'm counting on you."
Wow, good thing that message is clearly intended for someone else who isn't distracted looking at this thing and trying to figure out which Unown that is in the middle:
I wanted to see if anyone can find the video where the animated train sequence is from?
I dont think we ever got an answer about what the train meant, but it's a small animated scene, walking through a train carriage. I believe it was in his minecraft series
@dying-ship-and-sea-of-dead-stars
Had to go back and check, but it is in the Minecraft series, specifically Part 16: LAVA IS HOT HAHAHaha..., starting at about 15 seconds in (right after the Iron Golem gives Mark a "'sup") and going until about 0:39.
It's more auditory, the sound of a train picking up speed and a train whistle along with a distorted/sped-up song of some kind. For a brief moment there is an (extremely dark) image of a door that gets farther away, presumably at the end of a train corridor considering the sounds.
My attempt at upping the brightness/contrast of the door:
(There's a reason I don't usually bother trying to do this sort of thing: I'm not very good at it! But the door in the second image does seem to be distorted/glitching, going by the broken lines of the door's paneling at the top and bottom.)
Here's a not edited screenshot for comparison:
Listening to the audio, the music playing does sound like a jazzy version of "Skip to My Lou," which while doing a Google search to see if I could find the original version Mark might have used and doing a quick scan of the Wikipedia page on the song, uh...
"Skip to My (The) Lou" (Roud 3433 and 3593) is a popular American folk song and partner-stealing dance from the 1840s.
Carl Sandburg, poet and biographer of President Abraham Lincoln, writes that "Skip-to-my-Lou" was a popular party game in Lincoln's youth in southern Indiana, with verses such as "Hurry up slow poke, do oh do", "I'll get her back in spite of you", "Gone again, what shall I do", and "I'll get another girl sweeter than you".[1]
John A. and Alan Lomax wrote that "Skip to My Lou" was a simple game of stealing partners (or swapping partners as in square dancing). It begins with any number of couples skipping hand in hand around in a ring. A lone boy in the center of the moving circle of couples sings, "Lost my partner, what'll I do?" as the girls whirl past him. The young man in the center hesitates while he decides which girl to choose, singing, "I'll get another one just like you." When he grasps the hand of his chosen one, the latter's partner moves to the center of the ring. It is an ice-breaker, providing an opportunity for the participants to get acquainted with one another and to get into a good mood.[2] "Skip to My Lou" is number 3433 and 3593 in the Roud Folk Song Index.
Lyrics that include "I'll get her back in spite of you" and "a simple game of stealing partners" you say?
Well, it would certainly be thematic if Mark had been considering making a train-themed follow-up to WKM, that's for sure.
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I know it's been a hot minute since Mark shared that literal single frame teaser for the sequel to the Warfstache Automated Interview Automaton, but for some reason I thought of it again today and the fact that screenshot reminds me of another automaton: Zoltar.
Y'know, this guy made famous by the movie Big with Tom Hanks:
You can see a clip of Zoltar in action here, but in the movie Zoltar is a run-down automaton able to grant wishes for the low, low price of a quarter. (Just, uh, be careful what you ask for.)
When he activates, the automaton's eyes light up, and his movements are very jerky/unsettling. So not hard to see why one might make the connection, but there's something else.
Look at the frame Mark gave us:
The WAIA appears to be inside of some enclosed space, but there's also that curved opening behind him. It could be the viewer is sitting inside of this room and the WAIA is leaping through the opening, but the shape of it reminds me of Zoltar's box.
Specifically, the real world Zoltar:
That's right, this guy exists in the real world, just in a significantly less creepy form. The one in the movie was based off of this fortune-telling machine (here's a short video about the guy who runs the shop that makes these and similar machines--interesting short watch, as long as you don't have automatonophobia). This one actually talks and moves, and gives out advice.
Behind this Zoltar, there's a curtain in the back of his case forming a rounded arch/opening. While the structure the WAIA is in isn't as fancy, the shape of it is very similar, right?
Really, the main point against it is that whatever place the WAIA is in looks too barebones to really resemble a fortunetelling automaton, because the idea of getting advice and/or wishes from this guy sounds like it would be awesome and totally not likely to backfire at all like that other guy's did.
Instead the little bit we see of the structure looks to be made of plain wood, like a cabin or something. But that's just silly, it's not like we're dealing with the Damien Automated Revenge Killbot or something.
(Though your fortune says meeting either one would likely end in the same way...)
Going to be honest, didn't have "Lunky and Actor Mark are actually one and the same" on my theory bingo card (no, not even on that one), and yet here we are.
No wonder that axe worked so well, Lixian was just continuing the job Celine started.
That...or that ritual Lunky performed with the "help" of the viewer back in 3 Scary Games #103 was actually to get a human body for his return/revenge. It would explain why his voice is notably deeper in the end of the video compared to the beginning--he's already started changing into his new human form.
Well, more or less human, if you ignore the splitting down the middle and extra teeth carrying over, but no body is perfect.
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Looks like the Plier Corporation has received a makeover since the last time we saw it. Under new management, perhaps?
M
A reference to the 1931 film "M"? Could it stand for MΓΆrder, or simply murder?
Wait, no, I remember something about that word being...bad. Maybe it stands for something else, like...Murdoch? Malarkey? Marco?
I don't know, I just feel like I'm missing the Mark on this one. Maybe there's some kind of, I don't know, place with a bunch of files out there to help figure this all out?
