Just kinda thinking aloud- spoilers for IEYTD 3 and my theory video-
I know I said I don’t think the EOD are the “bad guys” and I stand by that… but at the end of the day, I feel like IEYTD is an allegory for the dangers of apathy and the importance of caring.
Prism, a wonderful inventor who was able to create inventions that break the laws of Physics with telekinesis, ended up leaving the EOD for Zoraxis after the EOD didn’t care to give her the time to retry her robots test and figure out what the flaw in her system was. They just said “eh, you failed, we’re gonna stick to our methods.”
John Juniper and Fabricator we’re both artists who turned to Zoraxis after finding immense dissatisfaction with their lives. Fabricator couldn’t push the limits she wanted with her life and Juniper felt like he hit a plateau in his career that made it so even his successes were dull. I’m not saying that the EOD were the ones who should have stepped in, but the general apathy surrounding the two getting help or finding a place to refocus their energy is what let Zor get to them.
Same with Solaris, who feels no commitment to Zoraxis and just liked being with the people who allowed her to push the limits with her inventions. Were there another place to turn her inventive energy to that could provide like Zoraxis, she wouldn’t be there.
The main enemy in IEYTD is Dr Zor, a person who is theorized to either be Valeri Vitti or a person with relations to Valeri Vitti,, the Phantom who is keeping an eye on Phoenix and chose to live for herself and left the EOD. But in either case it’s either Vitti resenting the EOD and seeking vengeance for not having people care about her well-being or Zor seeking vengeance for nobody protecting their loved one.
Even the Handler in the first game, he really doesn’t care if bad things happen to Phoenix, laughing at the various death traps. And then as it goes on, he cares. Deeply. And that’s the difference.
That’s why Phoenix is lasting as long as they are, maybe even longer than Vitti but definitely longer than most. They stay because there’s someone who cares about them.
And at the end of the day, regardless if Vitti is Zor or knows Zor, that’s the difference in why Phoenix is succeeding where the Phantom failed, but also is why the EOD is having all of these problems in the first place. Zor is seeking vengeance because they didn’t care.
Well, I got into I Expect You To Die (I'm blaming @solobodor for this!!!!!!!! /lh) and I also got inspired to make my own designs for the characters! These are all very first-pass designs (except for phoenix. maybe) and they're definitely all subject to changing. Especially Hivemind and Ollie who I just threw in there so Fabricator and Solaris wouldn't look so lonely.
The Phoenix page in the bottom preceded the line up, but that's the extent of my concepts for them UDSHFSDKJSD I'm not sure if I'll stick with the silhouette style, or if I'll make these guys actual designs ??? Both can exist at the same time, so who knows.
Oh right yeah also the games are really good and fun!
So imagine that the games are actually seasons of a sitcom. So each game it's own season. All of the characters are just that, characters and everyone is an actor. That being said, John Juniper is just John Juniper. He (like Wil Wheaton who plays him) will occasionally do cameos as himself in tv shows. So they ran with it and were like "hey do you wanna play yourself but as a way more egotistical version who ends up being a lackey for Dr. Zor? You get to die an epic death at the end?"
And of course he LOVES the idea. I expect you to die is one of his favourite shows after all! So he says yes and they film his season. He gets really attached to everyone and he is very sad that "he" dies. But then they air the season and people are outraged that John died! Or at least... Some people are.
It becomes one of those things like "who shot Mr. Burns?" In the Simpsons and the "sherlock didn't die when he fell" of Sherlock. Like people genuinely believe that it's all a ruse and it sparks outrage through the fandom. There are theories and debates about it. Even into season 3 people are looking for clues that John is coming back.
Then they approach John like "hey I know you are literally the best actor in the world now and this is just a silly little spy sitcom but will you please come back to make the fans happy?"
And he is overcome with joy! He ends up becoming the biggest thing that's ever happened in television history and all of the others (Phoenix, Roxana, Reginald, ect) all LOVE that their silly little show has become the most highly anticipated show ever.
So like is this a valid au? Can we make this happen?
Hi, yes, hello, got dragged here by a friend (you know who you are…) so I decided to post my current working design for prism, who- as you can see- I am very normal about
grabbing you. Solaris my beloved, she’s got such a cool character and it feels like she’s swept under the rug. She’s the operative in the last mission of the first game, but it feels like she’s not given a lot of time to shine in the fandom. She loves what she does, all the way down to calculating the basic things she needs. She loves space and science. If she met with Prism science best friends for life. I feel like it would be them launching different robots into space
I love Solaris so much, she was easily my favorite before IEYTD 2 and even then I think she's still a close second for me! Something about her chaotic but passionate approach to science is so delightful. Honestly I wanna talk about her more, all of the characters really.
I also majorly agree, even if the two disagree on using computers or doing the calculations manually Solaris and Prism would 1000% make their own little Mars Rover program where they send a robot to every planet possible if they were able to just be buddies.
They have their differences, they probably argue a lot about their personal systems only to get to the same conclusion, but they will set them aside in the name of science! Besides, they both worked for Zoraxis at one point which sounds stressful as hell so... yay bonding through bad employers?
fact: ieytd takes place sometime within the mid-to-late 1960s
fact: prism lives somewhere in some dry ass corner of california
fact: disneyland opened july 17th, 1955, in california