#rhythm anon

Boombox and Skateboard have been friends since childhood, actually! Or at least since they were 15. They've been super close ever since.

The two actually met Slingshot in their early 20s through a Phight! They then met him again by visiting his café by complete coincidence.

Boombox would love listening to his partner's heartbeat when cuddling. Physical affection and being there in the moment means a lot to him.

Boombox's favorite music genres are EDM, Hip Hop, and generally rap and dance!

Boombox has a very good flow when rapping. He's rapped for some of Flipside's songs.

Boombox's gear actually works quite interestingly! This ties into my general headcanon for how some gear works, but specifically some boombox gears were spawned with cassette tapes similar to that of a heartbeat! Cassette tapes were invented after the spawning of boombox gears, and utilized more to play music and the like! Without a cassette tape, the gear does work at least a little, but the manifested energy-infused soundwaves come off way weaker than they would if music were playing.

Boombox can store multiple cassette tapes in his boombox, and rotate them out in phights! He brings a set few different genres with him to ask his teammates what genres they want to hear during phights.

To prevent hearing damage, Boombox wears highly specialized earplugs that were made to help music gear demons keep their hearing intact (whilst people like Valk do not go into phights, he would still have to wear these earplugs, just guessing basing on what the original roblox gear does and how phighting gears work). Due to this, he highly relies on being extremely aware of his surroundings and teammates around him.

To further more on Boombox's gear (sorry, I've just thought a lot about this), his gear allows him to do things like carry himself up in the air with these soundwaves, being able to perform ground slams and hoist himself up in the air to slam the ground during his phinisher! These soundwaves flow through Boombox's body when he's in sync with the beat/using the m1 attack. He has to be in total sync with his gear and keep a level head, otherwise his internal rhythm gets off kilter and it does not work as well. This is why he chooses to view phights in a very fun, relaxed manner rather than a literal blood sport. Otherwise he'd be way too stressed to use his gear and help his team.

Skateboard is aroace, Boombox is gay, and Slingshot is pan.

Boombox's favorite baked dessert that Slingshot makes is his chocolate chip cookies. Slingshot has tempted Boombox to take a break from music with these cookies (and it has worked).

Skateboard has zero fucking filter dude. He will say genuinely anything any time no matter what it is and Boombox has had to nudge him to stay a bit quiet sometimes.

Skateboard is EXTREMELY loyal and would fight for someone despite the causalities. He would do anything for the people he loves, especially Slingshot, Boombox, and his gang.

Boombox enjoys the rain a lot because of the rhythm of the rain pattering against the ground and the windows and that kind of stuff. It rains here and there in Playground, but not as much as he'd like (which is why he actually likes Thieves Den a lot, as it's a very rainy place).

Slingshot likes feeding stray cats outside his café. He hasn't taken any home... yet.

Boombox is very chubbuff. He WILL win in an arm wrestle, as he has a LOT of upper body strength from carrying a 26 pound boombox gear on either arm/back at any given time. He's also very good at taking hits.

Boombox does not slam the ground with his skull, because that would give him a concussion. Instead when he slams the ground, he aims his horns towards the ground and hits it with them! Phinishers give phighters a very strong adrenaline rush and a generally tougher body due to the sheer amount of raw magic that flows through demons during such an event. So, using this logic, Boombox slamming his horns to the ground does not affect him as much as perhaps slamming the ground with his head would (and generally, that is significantly more stupid than trying to aim for people with your horns as you could potentially get a concussion)

This is.. a lot of headcanons. like a lot i am so sorry. I have more on the way if you guys want more I never stop thinking ever

-Rhythm Anon (if that's not taken :] )

"YOOOO BOOMBOX LOVE!!!!"

I won't say much because I have to be civil and bite my tongue, but I see a lot of people write factions in general in fanworks and other places and it makes my eyebrow raise because there's a lot of things that are a little... um. mean. in parallel to real life things. So I take matters into my own hands to give a hopefully neutral and well developed faction ramble. As I usually say when I share worldbuilding here: Some of these go directly against the canon because the canon makes my eye twitch a little sometimes.

Playground

Playground is a very urban and a little crowded city on the ground (and NOT in the sky like the canon says) with lots of tall buildings and lots and lots of people. It's kind of like a less chaotic version of crossroads, most playgroundians find themselves at home in Crossroads because of this. Playground has an incredibly rich musical culture--it's where hip hop and such genres blossomed due to the people coming together in harmony. Despite what other factions may say, Playground isn't just 'mindless violence.' That in itself is a very harmful stereotype made to criminalize the faction and the people who live in it. Yes, it does have a higher crime rate, but generalizing everyone like that is awful.

In fact, playgroundians have a big culture on community and helping each other out. Neighbors are a familiar face rather than a distant guy you live by. Often, families and friends strive for loyalty with each other. It's a very big deal if someone betrays the other, as it mostly completely goes against how one is raised. Playground also enjoys big celebrations, as they enjoy living life to the fullest--not because they "die early" (another bad stereotype)--but because they see life as a gift and something to celebrate about. Birthday parties are usually a very big deal to playgroundians, as it's a way to show appreciation for someone they love and their life.

Cars are not usually required in Playground (unless one's job requires it) and public transportation is actually a very common thing. Usually people either walk to where they need to go or take the bus. It's a very walkable faction! Most children take the bus or walk to go to schools if they can (sometimes it's hard to enroll into schools depending on area, however).

Now briefly before I lead into the next faction, I need to explain: Playground and Blackrock have a silent beef going on. The struggle with finances and whatnot within Playground's government was caused by the Blackrockian government in a scuffle that occurred years and years back, something so bad that it's taken a very long time for Playground to even try and recover. During this time, Thieves Den has been in alliance with Playground to support them against both Lost Temple and Blackrock, as those two factions have an alliance with each other.

Blackrock

Blackrock is a very mountainous, cold and snowy area that is very heavily guarded by walls that surround the border. People from the outside are heavily checked, and people who leave are heavily documented. It is a very strictly run faction with a sort of oligarchy government. The richer and more important to corporations you are, the more your position and worth is in the government. People are not born into government jobs and set straight to work--it works just about like any other faction, however it is important that if your child shows potential that one's most important thing is to give them the best education possible to benefit the government.

Faction loyalty is a common, widespread ideology that a lot of people have--however, not everyone in Blackrock is some "brainwashed government lackey" (stereotype), there are quite a few citizens of Blackrock that actually hold counterpoint thoughts on how the government is corrupt. However, due to the fact that the government is very strict and mindful of the loyalty of its citizens, such thoughts are discouraged and silenced... well, silently. Making a scene of such things would be a bad move.

Getting into government matters is a very tricky thing, as for the most part when one gets into such a job (considered a dream job by many), they are monitored heavily via performance and one's words. It's not at all what the government itself makes it out to be--if anything, it's a bear trap. Once it's got you by the ankle, you can never leave. If someone does manage to 'escape' or quit their job/leave on their own and not on government time (as when you are part of the government, your ins and outs of Blackrock are dictated because you are "important" to them and have info that can't be leaked), you are declared as a traitor, your name stained forever. Most likely, the government hunts you down itself until you are dead. (cough cough Medkit).

Blackrock, despite the glaringly obvious flaws of the government, has benefitted to the world greatly because of its advanced technology it has traded and shared throughout the world. This is similar to stuff such as Biografts that are used not only for war, but for the general use of services such as ticket collectors for trains, or other simple jobs and tasks appointed by government and the like.

Blackrock as a government isn't the nicest to other factions, either. Oftentimes they will spread hate and other such things about factions and even talk as if they are above the people in said factions, spreading this idea that it is okay to do so. A lot of bad things said about Playground were personally spread by Blackrock, as Playground has been Blackrock's current "target" for a couple years now, preying off the government's rather weak state (caused by Blackrock as stated before) for the snowy faction's own benefits. In fact, they are not above spreading harmful rumors about other factions if one tries to stand in their way.

Thieves Den

Thieves Den is a rather peaceful faction focused on preserving history and standing by those in need in the name of keeping history alive. It is a very flowery and beautiful faction full of nature and other such things. For a while, there was a lot of internal conflict within itself that managed to settle down, making it into what it is today. In fact, said past conflict within itself is what caused the very prominent preservation mindset within the faction, as there was a lot of internal destruction towards documented history and culture ages and ages ago.

Thieves Den is an incredibly rainy faction that caters to the flora of the area. I personally believe Thieves Den is more than some lame "Place, Japan" and actually has a lot of different things going for it architecturally and culturally. Whenever the infighting came to an end, Thieves Den had to help itself rebuild and come back together, making something better than it once was, accepting others from all different areas and walks of life within the faction. There are definitely more "traditional" areas one could call them, however this does not make up the majority of towns and cities. Thieves Den since then has been slowly becoming more open to other factions, however there still is a little bit of friction between other factions due to what is at the core of Thieves Den's culture: Valuing Nature.

It should be obvious for how many overgrown plants and stuff there are in the faction itself, but Thieves Den is huge on the value of nature of plants and other life (this ties into preservation as well).

Thieves Den has festivals and celebrations, much like Playground does. However their celebrations are more rooted in history and the culture that surrounds history; such as celebrating the peace that they came to with each other. These festivals are open for inphernals of other factions to join!

Thieves Den currently has an alliance with Playground, supplying them with needs and other general things against Blackrock and Lost Temple. Usually, during matters like this, Thieves Den is often a neutral party as they do not like throwing themselves into conflict unless absolutely needed. The alliance with Playground was something that was dire in Thieves Den's eyes.

Lost Temple

Fair warning before I get into this: I do not have much for Lost Temple. I don't think about it as often as I do the other three factions, I deeply apologize.

Lost Temple is a very, very hot and sandy area filled with canyons and.. well, sand. Despite being home to a lot of deserts, somehow inphernals have found ways to live comfortably within the faction. It's usually very expensive to live there or go on vacation there, hence why there's a big stigma around how "only rich folks live there." There are a lot of beautiful buildings made from all kinds of architecture styles, with lots of places to see. It's very popular and has several places that are wonders of the world just from the architecture alone.

Hi sorry that's all for it, and no I'm not doing Crossroads (I will possibly do that in another ask, if I remember). I hope you enjoyed my long ramble now it's time to disappear for another 4 months

-Rhythm Anon

Fist Bumps are Boombox and Skateboard's thing. They fist bump for everything, being promises, celebration, etc etc. They first started doing it when they became friends, sealing their newfound friendship with a fist bump. It's very sweet and intimate to them. Of course, they can fist bump other people, but it's not the exact same.

Platonic Boomboard! Gwee!

-Rhythm Anon

Playground is a HUGE hub for Hip Hop culture, and in the inpherno, it originated from Playground!

Inphernals such as Boombox and Skateboard are big fans of hip hop and know a lot about it. The minute they found out Slingshot liked old-school hip hop they immediately brought out their stash.

-Rythm Anon

Without further yapping, let me get on the subject of today: PHIGHTS!

IMPORTANT BULLETPOINTS OF HOW PHIGHTS WORK:

Flipside rents out specific places that phighters can sign up for and participate in, but I believe phights in general happen anyways and one could find places to rent out to phight without Flipside's help--it was a little pricey however. Notably, the more 'popular' phights are the ones that Valk and Dom rent out, sonsidering they're celebrities (go figure)

Demons do not respawn if killed. This is a very important point to note.

Due to the very inherently dangerous nature of phights (as stated above, no respawning) inphernals sign a very specific waver when entering for phights, stating that they understand what they are signing up to and that it is a very inherently dangerous sport and Flipside or whoever is hosting phights is not responsible in the slightest for any danger they throw themselves into.

When you sign up for a phight, you know which game mode it's going to be. You can sign up online! Most inphernals actually sign up online, as it's the most efficient way to get a spot for a place out-of-faction or wherever it is. You do have to pay a fee to attend, however.

Teams are assigned upon arrival.

You of course win money big time from winning! Win all money back you spent for getting there! Big stakes on the line!

You must be 18 years of age to sign up and enter phights.

Phights are a huge part of demon culture! Think Pokémon fights, but you are the Pokémon. And it's like 46% more dangerous.

Now that we have that sorted, onto how they actually work!

When inphernals arrived at the area of the phight, everyone gathers near a center. You say your hellos, goodbyes, wish good luck on the other team, etc. etc. After a bit, you are assigned your team and you separate on either side to stand by said teammates. After that, you are left with time to prepare for the phight in the "spawn" area, where you really get to know your teammates, discuss strategy, etc. etc.--whatever you need to do back there. Phights would then start with the blow of a whistle, and everyone would rush to complete their objective.

There are two 'game modes,' like in game!

Annihilate The evil one where you get hurt the most and the objective is to hurt people. Annihilate is a very intense game mode, obviously, but instead of killing the most inphernals, it is simply just getting opposing inphernals to the sidelines enough to knock out their team. Sometimes death is involved (do note that I do NOT think this is often), but it isn't the main objective to kill people (as stated before). There are certain rented places where it is specifically annihilate, just like there are certain places that only do conquer.

Conquer The slightly less evil one where you just wanna capture a holographic point. Conquer is as it sounds--instead of getting people out of the game, this is more focused on capturing a point, which is a ring that is holographically projected wherever the point was, be it in the center of the map or various places (like on the Teapot Observatory). There are certain rented places where it is specifically conquer, just like there are certain places that only do annihilate.

That's all for now ^w^ I will of course be back with more... I am such a chronic thinker of things forever and ever... i hope you enjoy these however!

-Rhythm Anon !!