#aphmaudiscourse

Quick sketch after a terrible week

The new Aphmau video was insane and I have many thoughts

“Aphmau’s new boyfriend”

Drew this moment that made me so deeply uncomfortable I had to stop the video and scream for a bit.

Genuinely I was not expecting to have such a visceral reaction to that scene upon rewatching it but it makes me feel so ugh.

CW/TW: Stalkerish? behavior and venting below:

Aphmau: Straight

Aaron: Demisexual

Nana: Bi with a preference for men

Katelyn: Bisexual

Travis: Bisexual

Zane: Asexual

Lucinda: Lesbian

Garroth: Bisexual

Laurance:Pan

First of all, I’m pretty sure Lucinda says that they were all perfectly aware of what they were doing under the influence of the potion. For me, that statement would make sense to mean they were all aware of what they were doing and what was going on, they just couldn’t control their bodies. They were watching, trapped, unable to act.

Honestly, that concept of being frozen and trapped is a lot more horrifying to me then the Silent Hill Nightmare thing. It’s because the character under the potion lose their autonomy. They’re fully aware of what they’re doing but they have no choice but to watch.

It would also make more sense narratively if all characters under the forever potion were fully aware of what was going on. It adds to guilt Zane Aphmau and Lucinda feel about hurting the ones they love. It would make them question their autonomy, if they’re really in control of their own lives and actions. It also ties in to the themes of When Angels Fall, because in that season Garroth and Katelyn lose their autonomy in the same way.

Also, you’re going to have to hear me out, but it also relates to themes in Minecraft Diaries, specially Aphmau as a reincarnation of Irene. It’s called into question whether Aphmau is a separate person from Irene, whether she’s destined to follow the same path as Irene, etc. Also the whole part in MCD Season 3 about Irene taking over her body to kill that one lady which is reflected again in MS Season 6 where Aphmau and Irene interact again.

These examples all kind of fall under the same themes of autonomy and destiny and freedom to make your own choices.

Moving on, this is why I think it doesn’t make narrative sense for Aphmau to have been experiencing the nightmare while under the potions effects during the events of MS Season 4. In the new video, while in this nightmare Aphmau still has the ability to act, she’s just experiencing a warped sense of reality. It clashes with the idea of her being aware of what’s happening in reality, because in this case she doesn’t. She gets flashes to reality but I wouldn’t call that “being aware” of what’s happening.

Which is why… I think the new video takes place in an alternate universe.

I’m rusty on lore but I’m like 90% sure Aphmau confirmed on a livestream that every roleplay takes place in an alternate timeline/universe. That’s what Void Paradox is about; Laurance from MCD gets stuck in a different universe (Mod Mod World?) This multiverse is collapsing? Or experiencing some kind of decay through the void.

Anyways it just makes more narrative sense for the new video to take place in another universe where Aphmau didn’t break free from the potion. She’s stuck in her own mind, unable to process the reality around her due to the trauma of losing her autonomy. In her mindscape she still has the ability to act and she lives through a twisted version of the events of MS Season 4. In this universe, she’s has autonomy, and she’s not the “evil one”. But the truth keeps seeping in. She has green eyes in the mirror. She hears Aaron’s voice come through. The pyramid head guy who was chasing her the whole time wasn’t trying to kill her. He was trying to save her. She’s the bad person. Her mind just was trying to convince her otherwise.

Idk if any of this made much sense but oh well.