I Can't Believe Victim's Entire Goal In AvA Season 3 Is To Try And Find Alan, Only For The Q&A Stream

My Fault (part17)

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PRECIOUSSSS not a thought behind those eyes

@sonicstruckcardinal7

He said hi

I got him yesterday!!

Whoever pointed this out needs to be shot dead I'm so serious

owls + apples 🍎

king having his cheeks CLENCHED

Animation vs. Minecraft: The Problem with Meta storytelling

With the continued growth of the Animator vs. Animation Fandom alongside the recent release of Animator vs. Animation 11, I've started to see more and more people come out the woodworks to criticize the problems with Alan's storytelling. Whether it be his overuse of sad character backstories, or the harmful implications that arise from how its only two female characters are portrayed, and while those are all valid concerns, the biggest issue I have with the series arises from something far more systemic than simply the characters itself, and it all starts with this.

This right here is a screenshot from the 30th episode of the Animation vs. Minecraft Shorts episode "The King", specifically the moment when King Orange discovers the existence of the Color Gang.

Now, you can say a lot about how King Orange's backstory is kind of an Ass Pull from a storytelling perspective, but I'm not focusing on that today. Rather the thing I want to focus on is what this scene means for the Beckerverse and, more importantly, how this is possibly one of the worst uses of meta storytelling I have ever seen.

To give context for those unaware. What you're seeing here is a scene where, after failing to make any progress finding the Minecraft Game Icon that he's looking for, King Orange stumbles across a monitor playing the very first Animation vs. Minecraft episode. Specifically it shows the moments where the Second Coming and his friends are using the game icon.

This right here is how King Orange discovers not only the existence of the stick gang, but also the fact that they have the thing that he is looking for, which leads him to putting up wanted posters for the main five in hopes of someone knowing who they are, said action leading to Purple and King Orange meeting for the very first time.

Basically, had it not been for King Orange stumbling upon this computer playing the very first Animation vs. Minecraft episode, literally none of Season 3 would've happened.

Now you might be asking yourself, what exactly is the problem with this? So what if these videos exist both in and out of universe? This is far from the first work of fiction that will utilize elements of meta to tell their story, and you would be correct in saying this. But here's the problem with.

Despite what this episode would lead you to believe, Alan's videos do not exist in-universe, as a matter of fact, I'd argue that Alan's entire channel is not an in-universe entity. How do I know this?

What you're seeing here is a scene from the second episode of the third season of Animator vs. Animation entitled "The Box". In this scene, the Second Coming has just discovered the events of the Showdown, more specifically, the moment he goes all Deus Ex Machina on Dark and completely obliterates him using powers that he... basically pulled out of his ass if I'm being honest here.

(Here's a screenshot of what happened in that episode for context)

This moment is pretty clearly established as Second finding out about his powers for the first time. It's pretty clear that he had no idea he even did this and this is how he learns about what happened in that episode.

But, if you've been following what I've been saying at this point, you might realize a flaw with this. That being how on Earth does Second not know this?

With how AvM Episode 30 establishes these videos as existing in-universe, surely the events of The Showdown would also be documented correct? How does Second not know that he went sicko mode on Dark when he has access to said information through the internet?

Simple really, The Showdown does not exist as a video in-universe. The events of that video are not documented. Second can't possibly know this because in his world, because this video doesn't exist.

Throughout every single AvA/M episode that has been posted, not once have the characters ever established to know that they're in a YouTube video or that they have access to videos of their own adventures.

This becomes even more cut and dry in the Influencer Arc. Where after Green creates a YouTube channel and begins interacting with commenters. I can't find the exact reply where he says this, but I do recall him being asked about the events of Showdown and having no idea what the comment talking about.

Regardless of if it is acknowledged or not. It's pretty clear that Alan's YouTube channel, the one we all know and love, does not exist in this universe. Not only is it never brought up as a prominent element of in-universe Alan's characterization, but none of the characters seem to have access to knowledge outside of what they themselves experience in the episodes they appear in, which is honestly for the better. It prevents plotholes like the one I mentioned above about how Second doesn't know about what he did in Showdown because he has no recollection of what he did while he was awakened.

Now... with the knowledge that the AvA/M episodes aren't supposed to exist in-universe... can you see the problem with this scene?

In this one moment alone, Alan has singlehandedly shattered what seemed like a pretty comfortable boundary. He has established that actually, these videos do exist in-universe and are important to the AvA/M storyline.

This single scene here raises so many questions, none of which really have sensible answers.

How did this video even end up on this monitor? Who was recording it? None of this would be a problem if this series hadn't already established that none of these aren't supposed to be viewed as in-universe YouTube videos that the characters can go back to. That's a boundary that, in my opinion, was pretty clearly set with the existence of AvA Season 3 because if it wasn't, how on Earth is Second only finding out about his powers now?! Has Alan just been keeping the fact that all of their experiences are recorded a secret?

But that in it of itself also doesn't make sense, because all of the events of AvM happen without Alan's involvement. What is he just recording his computer 24/7? Why?

It makes absolutely no sense for Alan's channel to exist in-universe because that would create a metric fuckton of plotholes, and the thing is, I think Alan knows this. I think he knows that making these videos something that occur in-universe can easily break everything, which is why his YouTube channel and videos are never actually acknowledged as an important narrative piece.

Now, you might argue and say that this isn't actually the first time Alan has done something like this. We also see this happen in the Showdown.

Here, we can see, clear as day, Chosen and Dark fighting on a Desktop that is not only playing the exact video they are currently in, but also shows Alan's other animations in the sidebar. So if AvM appearing as a video in episode 30 is such a problem, why isn't this?

Simple really. This scene is not important to the overall narrative. In-universe this is just one of the many areas that Chosen and Dark fight in and it only lasts a few seconds. It's pretty clear to me that this isn't actually meant to canonize Alan's YouTube Channel and videos as much as it is just a neat little visual gag. It is not meant to be taken as some sort of massive lore reveal and is literally never acknowledged beyond those few seconds of fighting.

This same logic also applies to Animation vs. YouTube. Yes, Alan's YouTube account is seen here and Second and Green do stumble upon the first Animator vs. Animation, but again.

This moment is not established as a serious story moment, it's just a fun little reference that is quickly glossed over because you aren't supposed to think about it too hard. It has no bearing on the lore of the AvA universe, it's just there as a cheeky moment of the series acknowledging what it is while not having it play any part in the story itself.

This moment however, cannot simply be dismissed as a fun little reference, because it is literally the entire setup for how King Orange discovers the existence of the Color Gang, which inadvertently leads to him meeting Purple, thus leading to the events of AvM Season 3. The first Animation vs. Minecraft being a in-universe YouTube video is a crucial aspect of this story because without it it wouldn't have the pieces necessary for the rest of the season to function.

This is such a clumsy use of meta storytelling because it now establishes a prescient that all of the AvA/M episodes, or at the very least, the first AvM are in fact in-universe YouTube videos that anyone can watch. But if that's the case then how does Second not know abotu his powers? How do literally none of the characters know about these in-universe events when they apparently have access to videos that show said events from a third person perspective?

Perhaps you could argue that what we're seeing here is actually footage that Rocket Corp was secretly recording in order to get information on Alan. I mean, the monitor does have the Rocket Corp logo on it. So perhaps they had been secretly recording Alan's PC the whole time...

Except that doesn't make any fucking sense either.

Going back to the Box for a second, beyond Victim beating the shit out of Chosen for the sake of vengeance, he was also trying to pry Alan's location out of him. He wants to know where Alan is so that he can take his revenge, which tells us that he doesn't actually know the location of Alan's desktop. So you can't possibly say he was secretly recording footage of Alan's computer the whole time when in order to do that, he'd have to first know where Alan's computer actually is, which he doesn't.

So basically, no matter what way you dice it, there is no feasible explanation for how this...

makes any sort of canonical sense. It can't be the doings of Rocket Corp, and if Alan's channel and by proxy all of his animations are in-universe YouTube videos, then moments like the Second Coming discovering his powers for the first time in AvA Season 3 don't make any sense.

To me, it's pretty clear that Alan inserted King Orange finding out about the Color Gang through the first AvM video with very little forethought as to what this would mean for his universe. He tried sneaking in a self-reference and ended up creating massive plotholes that are very hard to dig himself out of. This right here is an example of what happens when you decide to insert elements of metafiction into your work when you don't actually want it to be a metafiction.

Alan wanted to have his cake and eat it too. He wanted to add elments of fourth wall breaking into his story without actually wanting to go the full mile. He wants to simultaneously write a story where his YouTube channel and the fact these are all videos that people can watch have no bearing on the story itself... while also making it so said videos are a crucial element of the plot. Perhaps something like this could've worked with better execution, but as it stands this is just incredibly sloppy storytelling and shows me that, at least with AvM Season 3, Alan didn't actually have a proper boundary for how he was going to incorporate meta elements without them completely destroying the foundation of his story in the process.

Let this be a lesson in meta storytelling. You need to set boundaries so that you don't break anything. I should note that Second finding out about his powers occured after the events of AvM Season 3. Which tells me that Alan himself probably realized the mistake he made in doing what he did and is going to try much harder in the future to separate the reality of our world, and the fictional narrative he is looking to create.

i wonder what he watched (he being me) (what he watched being animation vs minecraft)

Animation VERSUS introduction animation

As a little celebration for the kickstarter hitting 1 million 🎉 (sound recomended)

Had to compress the file a little hope its not to bad in quality

DID VICTIM AND DID TSC

Hear me out, no, fucking listen to me.

Victim has DID. Each past death + clones are an alter, the last one who survived is the host that split into two: one being the one left with memories of Mitsi and the other being the one we see front in the box.

Soon after AvA10, Victim realises that TSC is in the early stages of the same disorder with most of the alters not being very conscious.

Therefore, instead of trying to help or leaving it be, Victim Rocket (the host) purposefully worsens the situation and makes Orange split a shit ton of alters by various ways of torture and manipulation. Their alters try to stop them, but they can't. They're too weak to front.

They tell Shady Smith that it's to benefit from the kid's powers easier or some shit. But in reality, they see their "weak selves" (the rest of the alters) in TSC (+Yellow and TCO). They're trying to be "the superior one in the power dynamic". They are trying to control their surroundings.

Cowboy manages everything in The Second Coming system and puts Orange (the host) through many puzzles and challenges to keep them distracted and away from the front... away from whatever horrifying thing Victim is doing to them...

Victim knows the host is hidden deep in the mindspace. They try to lure the host out bc they deem the rest of the system useless. Orange tries to get out of there after realising what's been happening. Cowboy can only keep them* safe for so long...

*Every sentient being you see in AvE and more... (Yes, the Math symbols and the multi-dimentional creatures are alters.)

More goo kid and worker drawings for the like… one other person who remembers them. If you wanna see my first post and drawings of them plus HCs (they’re better than these I swear), you can go through the goo kid tag on my blog. And also one shadow kid snuck in

@mjrdm

I guess I’ll sprinkle in a few more HCS

In the third picture I basically just drew my idea of why the goo kid looks like a burnt up hairball covered in tar. They were chased by a worker(s) into part of the factory that had large vats of that weird goo liquid. The worker ended up attacking them, tearing one of their overall straps, and with no other choice, they took the plunge and proceeded to get lost in the sauce. Quite literally.

The goo isnt something that they can just wash off, especially since they kept putting it back on as a way to blend in with the workers. It’s kind of a part of them now.

The goo ended up blinding them in one eye when they initially fell into the vat

I guess warning for more dark HCs, although I feel like they all align with the darker content in LN

The goo is made up of whatever the workers don’t use from the body of a child, oil, tar, melted plastic and other things that you probably don’t want to be smeared on your body. After a worker kills a kid, they essentially strip their body for parts like fabric, metal or plastic from buttons, teeth, etc. basically any sort of material they can use. Most fabrics and other materials that the workers can’t use are sent up in a dumbwaiter to the chained lady so that she can hopefully find a use for them. Most of the organic parts of the kid can’t be used, so they burn them in a furnace that’s very similar to the one in the maw. It likely has a hand in powering the factory as well. The ash is then processed with some other materials to create the goo. This goo plus some other bullshit or something is how workers are made.

Something something pink sauce McDonald’s

If you actually look at the factory/stone giant as a whole, a lot of it doesn’t actually make sense or should work logically. There are a lot of machines that just shit out their products into god knows where and a lot of them are just needlessly complicated

The reason why goo kid adjusted so well to life in the factory is that they were taken to the nowhere at a relatively young age. The incident with the vat happened shortly after they arrived. They basically grew up among the workers, and while they aren’t really friendly towards them, they aren’t outright aggressive unless they mess with the machines. They probably see them as a defective worker or something.

All workers have mouths, but not all of them have permanently exposed teeth

Workers are VERY fast and able to react quickly, especially to light, but they do still sometimes get limbs torn off by the machine. All workers are ambidextrous, as in they do not have a dominant hand and can use both with an equal amount of skill, so they usually just use their other hand, but since they sometimes use two tools at once, they might use their mouth to carry it or tie it to whatever is left of their arm. The goo can stick to it, but they will usually tear off part of their overalls (most commonly the leg parts/cuffs which is why a lot of workers have torn short overalls) until it grows back.

Goo kid got most of their food from the upper levels of the stone giant- just eating whatever was thrown down into the trash

Workers do eat- but not for sustenance. They use their stomachs as just a place to store stuff. it’s mainly because not all of them have tool belts or pockets, so they might swallow down some nuts (don’t) or bolts or other small objects so they can regurgitate them while working.

Most workers start out decked in the same or very similar clothing (overalls, tool belt, hammer, wrench, etc) but they like to steal from each other, plus it’s a factory setting, and it’s very common for them to get their clothes ripped. Workers do occasionally get new clothing, and while they are somewhat of a hive mind, they do vary in personality, especially when away from others. Some workers also differ visually. They can have all different lengths of hair, unless it’s ridiculously long and gets stuck, which usually isn’t a problem though as the goo mats their hair. Different overalls are usually because the person who makes them, (chained lady or the really weird doll with the sewing machine) sometimes use different materials or different styles

Workers are highly flammable, but do not react if set on fire unless the fire is damaging a machine. Unlike shadow kids who are very scared of fire, workers really just don’t care. It doesn’t hurt them like light does.

Workers are a bit larger than most LN children, it’s just that goo kid is small because he’s younger/just short which might give the appearance in the images of them being a lot bigger

Goo kid wears worker’s overalls but they’re sinched since they’re quite short

Workers can climb on all fours on sheer drops while facing downwards since their feet can twist the other way, similar to a few kinds of cats who can also do this