#desspam

First things first, I wanna make it clear that this is NOT a theory for the actual game, what I'm going to talk about is for my AU specifically!

So with all the references in the game and meta content, I think we can safely assume that the original Mike both Tenna and Spamton talks about, is the pink and yellow eyed black cat we know as IMAGE_FRIEND. I'm going to keep referring to them as Friend here, using it/its pronouns.

How I imagine things to be like in my AU is that Spamton's mystery benefactor assigned Friend to Spamton, to assist him in getting bigger and to keep an eye on him. Which it does.

In the winter newsletter Tenna said that Mike warned him that something terrible would happen if he made Spamton sign the contract. And as we know, yeah, Spamton's life fell apart from there.

Based on this I'd like to think that Friend is not outright malicious towards Spamton, it even goofs around, but it is very serious about whatever boundaries and rules the benefactor sets. Not afraid to remind Spamton of his place when he would get too nonchalant about the whole deal.

Now adding Dess to the picture.

Friend as "Mike" seemed to be close to Tenna, who was close to Spamton. So I think the closer Dess gets to Spamton, the more Friend wants to keep an eye on her too. So after the situationship begins and Dess starts spending more time in dark worlds, Friend at first starts hangout out around her, and later with her when Spamton is too busy to be around.

I think Dess, not knowing about Spamton's deal of course, would find Friend cool. She found an edgy cat fitting her aesthetic taste. She treats Friend as a mixture of a talking pet and an actual friend. And Friend humors her the same way it humors Tenna.

And turns out Friend actually likes spending time with Dess, and it stresses Spamton the hell out.

And now to make things worse... We gotta address the elephant in the room, which is Spamtenna. Spamton and Tenna were close, and I definitely think romantically. And for me it is a big enough part of their characters, that I don't want to just dismiss it.

How I wanna make that work in this AU, is that there is attraction between Spamton and Tenna, but it never goes further than yearning looks or casual flirting. They can't ignore the fact that both of them wants to use the other to gain something and it sours whatever would be between them.

The secret situationship between Dess and Spam starts out as something random, casual, no commitment, so Spam doesn't bother figuring any feelings out, and it's too late by the time things get all messy and tangled up.

Spam feels like scum for messing around and catching feelings for a young lightner, but at the same time it feels right to him, because it's his friend, Dess. His heart pulls towards her, but he can't get rid of the crumbs of unresolved feelings towards Tenna, and he can't just avoid him either, since he wants Tenna to put him on TV. He keeps Tenna at arm's length, and Tenna doesn't try to breach the wall either because he feels something is off. Plus Tenna wanting Spam's secret keeps spoiling things between those two.

Dess can observe most of this, and any time Spam and Tenna share a moment too intimate, or spend time alone together, she feels like she's the one ruining something, keeping them from resolving their issues, and nobody really wants her.

This was a long detour but this is where it circles back to Friend.

Dess and Spam wants to keep the thing between them secret, but Friend would know of course. And it approaches Dess a lot specifically when she's feeling down about Tenna and Spam, but doesn't want to go back to Hometown, so eventually Friend becomes Dess' emotional support, and the person she can vent to about stuff. Keep in mind she'd have no idea what the actual relation is between Friend and Spam, she thinks they are just business partners, and Spamton of course can't tell her the real deal.

And the way I imagine it, Friend would be a bad influence on Dess. It tries to cheer her up and distract her, but by encouraging unhealthy behaviours. Like Dess staying and talking to it for long hours instead of going home for the night, causing arguement between Dess and Carol. Teaching new, strong spells to Dess and getting her to try them out on darkners. Supporting her substance abuse. Playing into her negative thoughts about Spamton. Basically isolating her.

And after I come up with some actual plot it will or maybe won't end up with Friend grooming Dess into becoming The Roaring Knight.

Oh and the most important thing for last! Friend calls Dess by the nickname Firefly :3