#phi posts

i think the names the ava/m fandom assigns characters is very interesting :D [this overview will not include canon name, such as those of the color gang (purple included) or hollowheads]

mango (also called king, also called king orange on ao3) gets his name from mango tango, the hex color. from what i remember (i joined the fandom shortly after he was introduced) the name came about due to needing to call him something other than king or orange (admittedly a lot of people, me included, preferred calling tsc orange), and mango itself was a funny name :P

i'm fairly sure gold's name is due to the imagery of "nothing gold can stay" and a piece of fanart about that. still, there were a multitude of names that sprouted up after the king ep--as an example, apricot (to match with mango), marigold, sunny, and yuzu, with a few still being used by some people. however, i have been told that gold's name has since been canonized.

navy (which is basically canon, judging from the anime opening vid) is almost certainly due to their color as well, being a very dark blue; i recall them also being called indigo by some people for a while before navy became popular. i honestly think that the preference is also bc navy has a more militaristic vibe, as it matches what we know of their character.

navy's official ao3 tag is also navy | dark blue

orchid is interestingly a very consistent name! again, from what i remember, the name is not simply originating from orchid as a color (see the clue game with dr orchid), but also because when purple reappears in the witch ep, they're gathering orchids, and some people theorized later it was bc of their mom. plus, due to the flower petal imagery, it was an unspoken sentiment that purple's mom should be given a flower-themed name to match. i recall one person insisting on calling her sakura as a more fitting name--symbolism of fleeting life, transformation, even the cherry blossom short--which i can agree with, but seeing as orchid has become ubiquitous (probably because cherry blossoms weren't a part of minecraft yet when she was introduced) it's near impossible to try to change it.

even her ao3 tag is orchid, not pink as others call her; interestingly, her full tag is orchid | purple's mother when navy's tag doesn't mention purple at all.

i'm a little more unclear on the mercenaries, but i'll share what i have:

agent was referred to as mr. g.u.i. during AB production, likely as a reference to them wielding the GUI toolbar, but most people have elected to ignore that lol, alan included, considering how even he refers to them as agent. they've been also called shady, smith, and pivot (the last due to a resemblance to an existing stick figure) but most people have elected to ignore that lol, alan included, considering how even he refers to them as agent. dj nicknamed them agent smith.

currently, their ao3 tag is also simply agent, but used to be the agent.

ballista was referred to as eztoon during AB production, as a reference to their original animation. their current widely-used name is due to a confirmation from their original creator. they have also been called pixel. dj has nicknamed them henry stickmin.

currently, their ao3 tag is also ballista, but used to be the pixels.

primal was referred to as lasco during AB production, after the cave paintings found in the lauscaux cave networks. they have also been called sketch, paleo, and hunter. dj has nicknamed them poop.

currently, their ao3 tag is also primal, but used to be the hunter.

if hazard has a production name, i'm unaware of it; their fan-made name is also surprisingly consistent, i cannot recall any other names for them but have been told they were also called warn and pedestrian. dj has nicknamed them bathroom sign guy.

currently, their ao3 tag is also hazard, but used to be the sign.

the whole thing about names? renaming themself h4ck3r for power, renaming chosen to make them powerless? names are proven to shape identity, and victim is...well, they're victim. they were created to be an object of torment. that's all they were, for over a year

and then victim escaped, and victim met mitsi, and victim...wasn't hurting anymore, or at least as much. they got to found a tech company. they met people, made friends. they managed to live a good life.

and then mitsi died, and that changed everything.

i don't think this is about revenge. not really. i know a lot of ppl paint victim as the typical dead-wife villain, which i used to agree with, but now...it's not about avenging mitsi's death specifically. it's because victim started to believe that they could be more than their name, more than someone made to suffer, and then they were confronted with their helplessness and of course it wouldn't last, of course they would lose her, of course they could feel loss and pain because that is who you are, right?

it's not about mitsi, not entirely. but she had been proof to victim that they were more than a cruel name. and then when she was gone, they thought that they were wrong, they would always be a victim, and that in turn made them desperate to find a way to not be the victim.

and, well. what is the opposite of the victim but the villain?

that is what victim has been trying to do. victim has spent so long trying to escape who they used to be, a thing only meant to hurt, that they've essentially recreated the cycle of abuse, because if they're the tormentor, at least it means they're not a victim. it's not as black-and-white as "victim is an irredeemable monster" or "victim is a sweetheart who deserves to do this," it's the fact that victim is inflicting their suffering on others to prove that they will never suffer again.

in other words: victim does not want to be the victim. therefore, they become the oppressor.

(they become chosen, alike in strength; they become alan, powerful in a new way. they torture chosen because they refuse to be tortured; they burn alan's memories because alan can't stop them.)

when you realize that the chosen one and the dark lord's friendship had always been doomed...that they both craved freedom and yet had two opposing understandings of it...that they both never really recognized each other until it was too late...because dark found freedom in doing whatever they wanted, because chosen found freedom in enjoying beauty and peace, and. oh.

i...honestly think red and blue are going to die during hardcore.

i've been discussing this theory with my friends, and we're a fan of the twist it'd bring to the storyline, not to mention how it can align with the clues we've been given--but i've been rewatching avm s4, and maybe i'm reading too much into it, but i think it'd fit?

like: firstly, the bedwars ep. blue is the last standing for the two battles we see, and moreover, they're the only one we never see die. (besides the time near the beginning, but that's not even a real death, yellow pushed them off.) maybe this could be a set-up for blue's first non-respawn death? interestingly, red is also the first and last death in this ep; they die at the beginning in the practice round, then in their first hypixel game, and they're the last to die at the last game, since blue was banned and not killed.

not to mention how in the hardcore manhunt ep, they're the ones who seem to be more active than the others (save maybe purple)--like red and blue being vital in saving the rest of the group when they've fallen into the cave, red attracting the phantoms and blue trying to save green and purple and orange only to crash into red and yellow

additionally, we can see throughout avm s4 that red and blue have a stronger focus on them than they usually do. this could perhaps be to balance out green's influencer arc and yellow's involvement in ava, but maybe it's also to se up the next season? after all, consider the storyline implied in the beginning of the episode, where we find the CG relying too much on the command block staff when they're playing; it's likely that we'll be seeing them relearn what it means to play the game the hard way. if so, consider blue in the chef ep, taking the difficult route to gaining the master cookbook; consider red pushing the boundaries of the staff and his tactics with the cake prank. if they end up being major contributors to keeping the team stable with their experience, then their deaths would be even more painful.

another reason can be purple--it's clear that purple's going to take a more protagonist role than they have in the past. besides green, purple clearly has a good friendship with red, and they have a history with blue. their deaths would likely leave a strong impact on purple, especially if they're witness to one or both of the deaths.

finally: listen, they're in hardcore mode and gold is implied to make a return, i'd be more surprised if somebody DIDN'T die, i just think red and blue are the most likely candidates. besides, it'd be interesting to tackle a split team, with one in minecraft and the other going through the minecraft afterlife, maybe involving gold along the way.

merry stickmas, @ohhhsosleepy! as your gifter this year, i chose to write for your first prompt, purple and gold as siblings, and added a heavy dose of angst :P i hope you enjoy

i love avm s3 with all my heart, but i admit i was disappointed by some of the storytelling, specifically in regards to purple and king...and at some point my friend and i started discussing our own rewrite for the finale wheeze

notes below for a rewrite of mango's backstory and a few changes to purple's as well--not very major changes, i do think canon has good potential, just a few altered details i think would have made the story more interesting:

Purple's mother, Orchid, was a Minecraft player before Purple was. She was also a romantic attracted to strength, a reason why she fell in love with Navy in the first place, and when Purple was young, she would try to comfort him with fairytales of royalty and dragons and happily-ever-afters, her own ideals of strength. Purple's venture into Minecraft, as well as his aiming for the Dragon Egg, is therefore both a reflection of his desire to please his father and to honor his mother's stories.

Mango was an ordinary stick until one day, a long time ago, he was mysteriously transported into the Nether--imagine isekai-style in a sense, or maybe Jumanji lol. By that time, he'd had a child, Gold, and he became desperate to return back home to them. He perceived his new surroundings as hostile and survived through violence, wit, and domination; he would go on to subjugate the piglin brutes and crown himself as their King.

Mango spent years trying to hunt down a way home, resulting in him building the hub of Nether portals we see in AVM S1. However, despite his efforts, he could never truly escape, and he took out his anger on the beings surrounding him. Rather than trying to grieve properly, his resentment and obsession boiled over into a blind hatred of the world of Minecraft.

(This also provides explanation as to why Mango knows so much about Minecraft and why he's such a good fighter (because in all honesty, i'm unsure of how he was able to almost defeat the cg and all their allies if he was really just a normal stick), and it also brings back the portal hub because that's so far an unsolved mystery.)

Eventually, Mango meets Purple, who was freshly exiled from his old village. Purple sees Mango's kingdom and crown and projects not just his father, but his mother's stories of good, brave kings, which fosters an instinctive trust for the stranger. He is further grateful for Mango's kindness, shown to a youth and the first stick he's met in years. He leads Mango back to his Macbook and shows him the way back to the Outernet.

Mango is at first happy to be returned home, but his joy is ruined when he learns that Gold had died while he was gone. The cause and time of death can remain unknown, but this is the last straw for Mango, who no longer has a reason to continue surviving. Instead, he decides to go all out and take down Minecraft with him, blaming the game for trapping him and preventing him from returning to his son.

Purple--adrift, desiring to do well by his parents, blindly admiring of Mango's strength for its resemblance to his father's prowess and his mother's stories--pledges his loyalty to the King. With Purple's help, Mango builds the staff. They figure out how to obtain a command block, and then that an icon is needed; AvLoL happens because Purple is sent to scout out the CG's PC and gather information on them, so they can steal the Icon as bloodlessly as possible.

Cue the rest of AVM S3; this might be unnecessary, but it could also be interesting to imply that the piglins Blue met were meant to deliver her to Mango, as ransom for the icon, and their disobedience led to Mango calling upon the Witch to trap them, whose failure forced their hand to get Purple to distract the CG.

The CG's recruitment of their allies also further parallels Mango's refusal to recognize the sentience of Minecraft entities--he could have chosen peace and kindness, but his anger led him down a darker path, one where he refuses to see any good left in Minecraft. It's a deliberate choice, more than anything else; it opposes how the CG never fight alone and mourn their allies even if only for a moment.

Further parallels between Mango and the CG: Mango, like Red, lands in a hostile situation, but withholds forgiveness and returns the violence; Mango, like Blue and Yellow, offers training and weaponry to his soldiers (the piglins), but doesn't intend on helping them, only using them to die die for him; Mango, like Orange, faced a monster, but killed it instead of showing it kindness.

Purple's redemption regards his feelings on his parents--his wish to meet his father's expectations, his wish to fulfill his mother's stories--and how those feelings influenced his view of Mango; thus, with Green's help, he decides to make a choice independent of trying to make any of his parents proud, and returns to fight Mango.

I think the imagery for Mango's redemption can remain pretty similar, honestly. It's meant to force him to realize that he had chosen to be blind to all the lives he was killing by destroying Minecraft, how his grief left him in a narrow-minded, self-centered world. When he sees Purple and thinks of Gold, it is thus him coming to terms with Gold's death, that it was out of his control and never truly his fault; however, he can still save this one other child who's still alive, who's dying because of him.

Not entirely sure how the ending might play out, if it's identical to canon or maybe different, but I want to emphasize Purple freeing himself from his parents' expectations but still choosing to stay with Mango out of choice instead of blind idolization, and additionally Mango returning to the Outernet to free himself from the pain associated with Minecraft. Also, when Mango gives the staff and crown away--I think it'd be interesting to suggest that Mango became suicidal due to his grief, planned to die with Minecraft, and is forced to truly become better when the CG refuse to exact any vengeance on him and instead offers their characteristic kindness.

these are all just little ideas my friend and i had...again, avm s3 is so good and the animation is gorgeous, but i think it could have been improved somewhat by adding more cohesion as to mango's backstory and motivations, not to mention complexity on him and purple and a more comprehensible ending for the two.