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Multiversal Axioms Commentary
Jan. 27th, 2020 09:29 amIf you're an Axiom Verge fan and have been looking around AO3, you may have come across a little fanfic collection known as Multiversal Axioms. This fan project of mine has really grown in the past two years or so. At this point, I've written 32 chapters and posted 27 of them every last Sunday of the month.
I've toyed with many ideas for Axiom Verge fanfiction, many long-form epic and emotional stories. One of which was going to be a trilogy prequel to the events of the game. Another was going to be an AU romance with the Rusalki as mermaids. However, as plenty of writers will tell you, it's not the idea, it's the execution. And I was not happy with how any of them were turning out, nor did I feel like any of them were good enough to post on the Internet. Until I decided to write a short-form fic about Trace discovering that the JUSTIN-BAILEY code works on the Passcode Tool. I then wrote about nine more fics in the same short format before I decided to start posting them online. And things expanded from there.
The series as a whole was inspired by a few similar-ish fics on both AO3 and FanFiction.net as well as the web series Freeman's Mind of all things, the inner thoughts and machinations of a crazed physicist. While Trace is obviously saner than how Gordon Freeman is portrayed, I still tried my best to emulate that kind of style of describing the thoughts and feelings Trace would have during the events of the chapters. Your mileage may vary on how well I managed to accomplish that. One example that comes to mind is Chapter 19, Broken Physical Laws. I tried to describe it as Trace observing the, well, broken laws of physics on Sudra by first noting the graphical corruptions before segueing to the wonky Grapple and theorizing that the planet's proximity to the Breach might be the cause of this. But someone on Discord interpreted the chapter as lambasting the Grapple. I know, death of the author and all, but it's still interesting to note.
Speaking of things to note, guess now's the time to talk about my other series, Platonic Set Theory. This was a series written for the BroTP March challenge on Tumblr and I decided to see if I can use the Multiversal Axioms format to write a fic every day for 31 days. I could do it, but it was kind of a struggle. And the format really is the only connection between the two fics, they're completely unrelated otherwise. For one, while I do like many of the chapters I wrote during the challenge, a lot of the chapters were obviously rushed. For another, one stipulation I added for Multiversal Axioms was to write each chapter as close to canon as I possibly could. Again, your mileage may vary on how well I succeeded on that part, and with the upcoming release of the sequel to the game, who knows how many of those chapters will become outdated. Platonic Set Theory did not have that stipulation. Egregiously, in Chapter 27 Babysitting, Trace and Hammond play Babysitting Mama, a Wii game that came out in 2010. By that time in canon, Trace and Hammond (presumably) have already gone off to Sudra.
So I guess that's my ramble about my silly fanfiction. I will try to keep the series going as long as I can, and hey, with Axiom Verge 2 and Bounty Battle (essentially Indie Smash Bros with Trace appearing in it) coming out this year, I might get some plenty material to work with. I'm already toying with the idea of making a series with the same format but starring the protagonist of the sequel, Indra.
I've toyed with many ideas for Axiom Verge fanfiction, many long-form epic and emotional stories. One of which was going to be a trilogy prequel to the events of the game. Another was going to be an AU romance with the Rusalki as mermaids. However, as plenty of writers will tell you, it's not the idea, it's the execution. And I was not happy with how any of them were turning out, nor did I feel like any of them were good enough to post on the Internet. Until I decided to write a short-form fic about Trace discovering that the JUSTIN-BAILEY code works on the Passcode Tool. I then wrote about nine more fics in the same short format before I decided to start posting them online. And things expanded from there.
The series as a whole was inspired by a few similar-ish fics on both AO3 and FanFiction.net as well as the web series Freeman's Mind of all things, the inner thoughts and machinations of a crazed physicist. While Trace is obviously saner than how Gordon Freeman is portrayed, I still tried my best to emulate that kind of style of describing the thoughts and feelings Trace would have during the events of the chapters. Your mileage may vary on how well I managed to accomplish that. One example that comes to mind is Chapter 19, Broken Physical Laws. I tried to describe it as Trace observing the, well, broken laws of physics on Sudra by first noting the graphical corruptions before segueing to the wonky Grapple and theorizing that the planet's proximity to the Breach might be the cause of this. But someone on Discord interpreted the chapter as lambasting the Grapple. I know, death of the author and all, but it's still interesting to note.
Speaking of things to note, guess now's the time to talk about my other series, Platonic Set Theory. This was a series written for the BroTP March challenge on Tumblr and I decided to see if I can use the Multiversal Axioms format to write a fic every day for 31 days. I could do it, but it was kind of a struggle. And the format really is the only connection between the two fics, they're completely unrelated otherwise. For one, while I do like many of the chapters I wrote during the challenge, a lot of the chapters were obviously rushed. For another, one stipulation I added for Multiversal Axioms was to write each chapter as close to canon as I possibly could. Again, your mileage may vary on how well I succeeded on that part, and with the upcoming release of the sequel to the game, who knows how many of those chapters will become outdated. Platonic Set Theory did not have that stipulation. Egregiously, in Chapter 27 Babysitting, Trace and Hammond play Babysitting Mama, a Wii game that came out in 2010. By that time in canon, Trace and Hammond (presumably) have already gone off to Sudra.
So I guess that's my ramble about my silly fanfiction. I will try to keep the series going as long as I can, and hey, with Axiom Verge 2 and Bounty Battle (essentially Indie Smash Bros with Trace appearing in it) coming out this year, I might get some plenty material to work with. I'm already toying with the idea of making a series with the same format but starring the protagonist of the sequel, Indra.
