Significance

THREE - Once Upon a Time

The Dark Lord has lost but is offered a proposition.

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Hello.

I can't quite say it's nice to meet you, but I do thank you for the excitement. It's been a long time.

Since we aren't fighting right now, I'd like to ask a question: Have you wondered why the Animator named you "The Dark Lord"? After all, it's a... connotative name. The users don't have names like that.

I've wondered what "The Chosen One" is supposed to mean. And over the years, I've come to believe it has to do with "story". Your name, I suspect, is related to story as well.

You might not know yet that the users have created many different types of stories. One type goes like this:

"Once upon a time, there was a land. It was governed by a great Power. And in that land was a strong Villain who did incredible but really bad things. And since the Power couldn't interfere too much for some reason or another, it made a great Hero to take down the Villain. The two had a big battle and the Hero won."

Do you recognise ourselves in this? I wonder if the Animator had any of this in mind when he created me and you. Funnily enough, my name suggests I'm the Hero and you are the Villain, but you were created to defeat me.

And still, I defeated you. Perhaps I took back my rightful role as the Hero. Perhaps we simply slipped back into the roles fated by our names.

In any case, do you see it? No matter how hard we try, we seem to be stuck playing the Hero and Villain, Villain and Hero - stuck in the names and the roles that the Animator gave us. And I have no desire to continue playing my part.

Perhaps you like your role. I can understand; I saw the gleam in your eyes as you sized me up and threw your fireballs and summoned the icons to the fight. But your role, your power, your freedom, your self depends solely on the Animator's favour. And the Animator's favour doesn't last. I guarantee you this: there will come a time when he will tire of you and turn against you, and you. will. lose.

I lost. The Animator trapped me and forced me to his will for five long years. If you can't win against me, what makes you think you can win against him?

That's why I'd like you to join me. Not the Hero side or the Villain side - just my side. And, I suppose, that means I join your side. We can be our own side - partners, allies, or even just combatants with a common enemy. We can cause lots of chaos and ruin the Animator's stuff, and then... who knows? We could find a way forward together. Or we could go our separate ways if that works better. Or maybe we won't even make it out of the fight. But right now, together, we have a chance to make our own story, define our own roles, to not blindly be what some force wants us to be. And that sounds pretty good to me.

So what say you?

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Happy Upload Anniversary to Animator vs Animation III! And Happy Birthday (one of them) to The Dark Lord!

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Published 6 Aug 2023

AvA3 was first posted on 6 Aug 2011 on Newgrounds, so I decided to post this chapter now instead of on the canon date 2 Oct 2011. I may post a thing on 2 Oct as well :D

This piece is the result of over a year of brainstorming, Discord convos, and lots of feedback. Thank you to all you lovely Discord peeps (you know who you are) for all your encouragement, theories, symbolism talks, and criticism! I couldn't have done this without you all <333

As always, I would love to hear perspectives in the comments! :)

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