Moons of Madness - thoughts.

 I DECIDED TO MAKE A DIFFERENT ENTRY FOR MY THOUGHTS, CAUSE I FELT LIKE IT MUDDLED THE WALKTHROUGH - I MEAN WHAT IF SOMEONE ACTUALLY CAME FOR THAT, AND IS SUDDENLY FINDING THEMSELVES HAVING TO DEAL WITH MY INSANE THEORIES ABOUT TIME AND SPACE.

I WILL NOT BE AS THORROUGH AS I WAS WITH THE RACHEL FOSTER VIDEO, CAUSE THAT TOOK ME LIKE AGES! AND I AM NOT ABOUT TO SIT THERE AND SHIFT THROUGH THIS ASS LONG GAME FINDING PROOF IN NOTES, SO THIS IS NOT VERBETUM ANY OF IT.

SO...

FIRST OFF, WE KNOW THAT SHANE NEWHEART LOST HIS MOTHER AT A YOUNG AGE, HE HIMSELF TELLS US IT WAS THE DAY AFTER HIS BIRTHDAY, AND SHE WAS JUST GONE - POOF! HE SEARCHED FOR HER IN THE BASEMENT, WHERE SHE OFTEN WAS, WORKING ON HER BOOKS AND THEORY, BUT SHE WASN'T THERE. 

WHEN YOU READ THE TRANSCRIPTS FROM ORICHI, WE LEARN THAT THEY CONTACTED CYNTHIA AND WANTED HER TO WORK FOR THEM, THEY WANTED TO KNOW WHAT SHE KNEW. BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY THEY ACCUSED HER OF HAVING A ARTIFACT, OTHERWISE SHE WOULDN'T KNOW WHAT SHE KNEW. WE ALSO LEARN THEY CONFISCATED SOMETHING FROM HER, SOME STONE, BUT APPARENTLY THEY DID NOT FIND HER BOOK - A BOOK THAT NEITHER WE OR SHANE KNOWS ABOUT AT THIS POINT.

WHEN WE HEAR THE PSYCHIATRIST CONVERSATIONS, AND ALSO READ THE CASE FILES ON THE COMPUTER, THEN WE LEARN THAT THE PSYCHIATRIST WAS MORE WORRIED ABOUT CYNTHIA THAN SHANE. AND THAT SHE (ACCORDING TO ME) IS SHOWING SYMPTOMS OF PSYCHOSIS AND A FEELING OF UNFOUNDED GRANDURE. WHY WAS SHANE LEFT IN HER CARE? 

SHANE REMEMBERS A NICE CHILDHOOD, BUT ALSO REMEMBER HIS MOTHER BEING MORE AND MORE ABSENT, SIMPLY STAYING IN THE BASEMENT. WHERE THE HELL IS SHANES FATHER? WE KNOW HE IS A THING, CAUSE HE TOOK CARE OF SHANE AFTER CYNTHIA DISAPPEARED, AND ALSO HE IS THE ONE SHANE FEELS GUILTY FOR LYING TO. WE CAN READ THAT IN THE LETTER HE LEFT ON HIS PERSONAL DESK. BUT WAS THE FATHER THERE BACK THEN? 

BUT SINCE WE HAVE THIS FROM SHANES MIND, CAN WE TRUST IT? NO WE CANNOT! IF THERE IS ANYTHING I HOPE TO SHOW YOU IN THESE THEORY TALKS, THEN IT IS THAT A FIRST PERSON NARRATIVE IS UNRELIABLE. BASICALLY WE CAN'T TRUST ANYTHING HAPPENING IN THIS GAME. BUT FOR THE SAKE OF SIMPLICITY, LETS SAY WE CAN TRUST EVERYTHING THAT IS NOT A DREAM SEQUENCE, WE COULD THEN ARGUE 'WHAT PARTS ARE ACTUALLY DREAM SEQUENCES'. THEN LET US SAY THAT THE BASEMENT IS OBVIOUSLY IN SHANES HEAD, SO IS THE CONVERSATION WITH HIS MOTHER, AND THE PART IN THE PSYCHIATRIST OFFICE +THE CLASSROOM. THESE ARE FOR SURE, AND THEN WE COULD ARGUE THAT THE VOICE IN HIS HEAD, MIGHT BE HIM BECOMING UNHINGED, BUT LET'S PRETEND WE TAKE THIS ON FACE VALUE.

IF WE PICK THIS APART WE SEE A MAN THAT IS STILL TORMENTED BY HIS MOTHER DISAPPEARING MYSTERIOUSLY. BUT ALSO A MAN THAT IS SO LOST IN THE PAIN OF LOSING HER, THAT HE IS WILLING TO BELIEVE THAT THE HAG IS HIS MOTHER, HE IS WILLING TO PRETEND THAT SHE HAD A SECRET ROOM, AND A EVIL BOOK. AGAIN, A CHILD EXPLANATION.

I MEAN IN THE BEGINNING OF THE GAME, WE DON'T HEAR ABOUT HIS MOTHER REALLY, AND WHEN WE DO, WE JUST LEARN SHE DISAPPERED, AND THAT SHANE GREW UP WITH HIS DAD. HE DOESN'T SOUND ALL TOO FOND OF HIS MOTHER, AND ON MORE THAN ONE OCCATION STATES THAT SHE WAS ALWAYS IN THE BASEMENT, AND WITHDREW FROM HIM. 

AND THEN LATER WHEN SHANE FINDS THAT ORICHI CONTACTED CYNTHIA, AND HE SAYS SOMETHING LIKE "THEY MIGHT KNOW WHERE SHE WENT, I MUST FIND HER", THEN SHE STARTS BEING AN ACTIVE PLAYER IN THE GAME, AND WE NEVER HEAR ABOUT THE DAD, NOT REALLY. I THINK WHAT HAPPENS IS THAT SHANE EXIBITS WHAT MOST CHILDREN WHO LOST A PARENT, OR GREW UP WITHOUT ONE OF THEIR PARENTS, DOES - THEY MAKE UP STORIES, THEY PRETEND THAT MOMMY LEFT WITH SOMEONE IMPORTANT AND THAT ONE DAY THEY'LL COME BACK - OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT. AND I THINK THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENS HERE. I THINK SHANE WANTS TO BELIEVE HIS MOTHER IS ALIVE SO BAD, THAT HE ALLOWS THE MONSTER TO BECOME HER, AND USE HIM TO DO THEIR BIDDING. 

WHEN HE MEETS THE HAG IN THE CAVE (AND REMEMBER SHE HAVE JUST TOLD HIM THAT SHE CONJURED MONSTERS FROM THE CHAOS IN COSMOS, TO HUNT HIM), HE ASKS HER WHY SHE ISN'T HELPING HIM INSTEAD, AND THE HAG BECOMES CYNTHIA, LIKE SHE LOOKS ON THE BACK OF THE BOOK WE SAW IN THE PSYCHIATRIST OFFICE, SO THAT BOOK WAS WRITTEN RIGHT BEFORE SHE DISAPPEARED, WHEN SHANE WAS LITTLE. AND SHE LOOKS LIKE HERSELF FROM BACK THEN - SHANE DOES NOT EVEN BLINK, HE DOESN'T QUESTION IT. 

HE NEEDS HER TO BE REAL, HE NEEDS HIS MOTHER TO BE THERE, TO KNOW THAT SHE IS HELPING HIM (EVEN IF SHE IS ACTUALLY TRYING TO KILL HIM ALL THE TIME, HE IGNORES IT). THIS TELLS ME THAT SHANE PUSHED ASIDE ALL LOGICAL THINKING, AND IT DOESN'T REALLY RETURN BEFORE WE SEE DECLAN LAYING THERE DYING, TELLING SHANE NOT TO TRUST HER, AND THAT IT'S NOT REALLY HIS MOTHER. (NOT THAT WE KNOW, WHERE HE'D KNOW THAT FROM) - THIS IS WHEN SHANE STARTS TO QUESTION THINGS A LITTLE, LIKE 'WHY DID THIS HAPPEN, WE STARTED THE GAIA ENGINE' - MAYBE HE IS AFRAID TO ASK HIMSELF THE QUESTION, THAT WE THE GAMER IS SITTING WITH 

IT HAPPENED BECAUSE YOU FUCKING STARTED THE GAIA ENGINE, SON. 

AND I THINK IT'S ABSOLUTELY INTENTIONAL THAT THE GAME IS FUCKING WITH US, SO WHO SHOULD WE BELIEVE? THE FRIEND WHOM WE READ WAS ARRESTED FOR DRUGS AND HAD A LONG RUN IN REHAB CENTERS AND WHAT NOT, WHICH TELLS US THAT HE IS MAYBE NOT SUPER TRUSTWORTHY, AND SELF SERVING (I MEAN THAT IS WHAT THE GAME IS HINTING AT). OR YOUR MOTHER?! MIND YOU, THE MOTHER THAT ALIENATED HERSELF FROM THE FAMILY - NOT THAT THE GAME MAKES HER OUT TO BE SUPER TRUSTWORTHY EITHER. 

REMEMBER THE PAPERS WE FIND IN THE PART OF THE GAME WITH ALL THE ORBS? IS THAT HER? I THINK IT IS, I THINK THAT IS CYNTHIA LOSING HER MIND. AND THE STUFF THAT SHANE FINDS IN THE BASEMENT, WHERE HE COMMENTS SOMETHING LIKE 'I KNEW SHE WAS LOOPY, BUT NOT LIKE THIS'... YES SHANE, EXACTLY LIKE THIS! AND COMBINE THAT WITH THE TAPES PLAYING AT THE PSYCHIATRIST... WE KNOW THAT CYNTHIA WAS BATSHIT CRAZY ACTUALLY, AND ALSO SHE WAS A TERRIBLE PARENT, AND SHE KNEW IT. SHE SAYS IT A COUPLE OF TIMES IN THE PSYCHIATRIST PART OF THE GAME, THAT SHE NEEDS TO LEAVE HER RESEARCH AND FOCUS ON SHANE - SHE JUST NEVER DOES. 

AND WHEN THE GHOST VERSION OF CYNTHIA ANSWERS SHANES QUESTION ABOUT WHY SHE WANTS TO SAVE REALITY, SHE SAYS 'BECAUSE THAT IS WHERE MY SON LIVES'. THAT IS NOT HOW THE REAL CYNTHIA WOULD HAVE SEEN IT, AT LEAST THAT WHAT I THINK. I THINK CYNTHIA WENT MAD LONG BEFORE SHE DISAPPEARED.

AND I THINK THE END OF THE ORICHI TRANSCRIPT IS ALSO THE END OF CYNTHIA, I THINK SHE ASKS THEM TO 'OPEN THE DOOR' AND LET HER LEAVE, BUT THEY DON'T. AND I BASE THIS UPON THE FACT THAT IT'S THE LAST WE READ ABOUT HER IN THEIR LOGS. I THINK CYNTHIA HAS BEEN DEAD FOR MANY, MANY YEARS. AND I THINK ORICHI COVERED IT UP. AND THAT IS WHY THEY HIRED SHANE (THEY SORT OF SAYS THAT THEMSELVES IN THE PERSONEL LOG YOU FIND ON ALL THE INVITICUS MEMBERS) THAT THEY HAD TO APPLY A LITTLE PRESSURE TO SHANE, TO SEE WHAT HE KNEW OR REMEMBER.  THIS MEANS THEY CANNOT ASK CYNTHIA. 

I KNOW THE GAME HINTS AT CYNTHIA DISAPPEARING INTO A DIFFERENT DIMENSION IN HER BASEMENT, BUT I REALLY DON'T THINK SO. 

I GET ONE OF THOSE MOUTH OF MADNESS -MOMENTS. THIS IS REALITY, THIS IS REALITY.... THIS. IS. REALITY! 

I THINK MUCH LIKE WITH RACHEL FOSTER, WE NEED TO SEPERATE SHANES FANTASIES FROM REALITY. SHANE DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT ORICHI (OR DISCOUNT UMBRELLA) UNTILL HE READS THAT STUFF ON CHANDRAS COMPUTER, AND SO HE DIDN'T KNOW THEY HAD APPROACHED HIS MOTHER. THAT IS WHY HE NEVER EVEN CONSIDDERED KIDNAPPING AS THE REASON. BUT MADE UP HIS OWN VERSION WHERE CYNTHIA GLITCHED OUT OF REALITY BECAUSE OF HER SUPER SMARTS. 

SO IF YOU LOOK AT THE STORY, WE KNOW THAT THE CYNTHIA, SHANE IS TALKING TO IN THE GAME, IS NOT CYNTHIA - BUT PROBABLY JUST WHATEVER COSMIC BEEING THAT NEEDS HIM TO PUSH THE BUTTON AND FREE IT. I DON'T THINK IT ABSORBED CYNTHIA OR NOTHING, CAUSE IF IT DID - WOULDN'T IT HAVE ABSORBED LIKE LUCAS? BUT WE NEVER SEE HIM AS A GHOST, OR ANY OTHER OF THE PEOPLE WE FIND TRACES OF, LIKE CHANDRA - OR WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER RESEARCHERS? NOTHING.

I THINK THE BEING USES THE ASTRONAUT GHOSTS BECAUSE THEY SCARE SHANE, AND I THINK THAT THE DEVS USED IT - BECAUSE IT RESEMBLES THE STORIES ABOUT DEEP DIVERS. I DON'T KNOW IF YOU EVER HEARD THE SUPERSTISION ABOUT THE DEAD DIVER - BUT IT IS SORT OF LIKE THIS, A DIVER SEES ANOTHER DIVER, AND THINKS IT'S A COLLEGUE IN PERIL, AND IT'S NOT UNTILL THEY ARE PRETTY CLOSE (OR TOO CLOSE) THEY REALISE THAT NO BUBBLES RISE FROM THE SUIT, AND/OR THE HELMET IS BROKEN. AND REALLY DOES IT MATTER IF YOU ARE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE OCEAN, OR ON THE SURFACE OF MARS - THERE IS NO ONE TO HELP YOU, AND YOU ARE DEPENDING ON SOMETHING (LIKE YOUR HELMET AND OXYGENE TANKS) TO SURVIVE. THAT IS WHY I THINK IT'S RELATED - AND IT'S AN EASY AND UNSETTLING SCARE. 

WHAT I DO THINK IS HAPPENING, IS A KAZAD DOOM THING, YOU KNOW 'THE DWARVES DUG TOO DEEP AND TOO GREEDILY' HAHA - I THINK THAT THEY UNEARTHED SOMETHING, THEY TAPPED INTO SOMETHING THAT SOME CIVILIZATION BEFORE WARNED US ABOUT, AND USED SOME OF THIS TO MERGE WITH PLANTS - TO SEE IF WE COULD MAKE SENTIENT PLANTS, OR PLANTS THAT WOULD GROW ON MARS SURFACE. CAUSE REMEMBER THE ORICHI PLAN WAS TO BUILD A SETTLEMENT ON MARS, THIS IS WHAT ALL THE ROBOTS AND CRAP IS FOR. BUT INNA SHE HAD OTHER PLANS, AND WHEN WE LOOK AT HER TITLE, IT IS NOT BIOLOGIST LIKE LUCAS, BUT XENOLOGIST OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT - SHE IS NOT INTO PLANTS, SHE IS STUDYING ALIEN LIFE. SO THE TREE AND ALL THAT - YEP I THINK THAT IS ABSOLUTELY HAPPENING, I THINK THAT INNA GOT IN OVER HER HEAD. SHE SPLICED SOMETHING SHE SHOULDN'T HAVE. 

AND SHE IS A HIGH RANKING MEMBER OF ORICHI I THINK, HER MAILS CONFUSE ME A LITTLE - NOT SURE IF SHE SAYS 'FATHER' AS A TITLE TO AN ELDER. OR IF SHE LITERALLY MEANS HER DAD. I THINK IT IS THE FIRST, IF WE THINK ABOUT THE 'DIRT ON EVERYONE' EMAIL, THEY CHOSE HER BECAUSE SHE IS BRILLIANT AND UNETHICAL.

OH WELL - LOOK AT ME, TURNED OUT SUPER LONG ANYWAYS.  SO MY POINT IS - AT NO POINT IS SHANE TALKING TO HIS MOTHER.  AND IF YOU PAY ATTENTION TO THE 'MOST RECENT TRANSCRIPT' ON A COMPUTER IN THE ICARUS COMPLEX, ITS ALL JUMBLED IN COMPARISON TO WHAT WE THINK HAPPENED, LIKE SHANE WAS ANSWERING A DIFFERENT QUESTION, OR SOMEONE ANSWERED HIM, BUT WE NEVER HEARD IT. DOES THIS MEAN WE CAN'T TRUST THE RADIO TRANSMISSIONS WITH NEITHER LUCAS OR DECLAN? I MEAN NOT THAT THEY ARE LYING TO US, BUT THAT WE DIDN'T HEAR ALL THEY SAID FOR SOME REASON - AND WHAT ABOUT ALL THE WRITING ON THE WALLS, WHO DID THAT? AND DOES IT EXIST, OR IS IT IN SHANES MIND? I THINK IT'S JUST IN HIS HEAD, CAUSE HE ALSO KEEPS SEEING THE FLICKERING GHOSTS - NO ONE ELSE SEES THAT OF WHAT WE'RE TOLD. 

AND WE DON'T LEARN OF DECLAN BEING UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF THE BEING UNTIL THE END, WHERE HE IS WITH WILCOX AT THE GAIA ENGINE, TALKING ABOUT EATING SOMEONES EYES OR SOMETHING. 

NOW A LITTLE FACTS, DEIMOS AND PHOBOS ARE INDEED THE MOONS OF MARS - AND WE KNOW THAT MEANS FEAR AND DREAD... EXEPT IT DOESN'T, AND I THINK THE DEVS KNEW THIS, MAKING THIS GAME. DEIMOS AND PHOBOS ARE TWINS, THEY ARE THE SONS OF ARES (THE GOD OF WAR) AND AFRODITE (THE GODESS OF LOVE). 

DEIMOS REPRESENTS TERROR AND DREAD, WHERE HIS TWIN PHOBOS REPRESENTS PANIC AND FLIGHT. THIS WAS WHAT THEIR FATHER NEEDED BECAUSE HE ACCOMPANIED HIM TO WAR. BUT BECAUSE AFRODITE IS THEIR MOTHER, BOTH THE TWINS ALSO REPRESENTS 'THE FEAR OF LOSS'. AND THAT PLAYS SO WELL INTO THIS STORY, DON'T YOU THINK? 

THINK ABOUT IT - THE GAME IS CALLED MOONS OF MADNESS - NOT MARS OF MADNESS... AND THE MOONS ARE YEAH, PHOBOS AND DEIMOS - COMBINED; THE FEAR OF LOSS.  AND ISN'T THAT EXACTLY WHY SHANE IS TRICKED INTO HELPING WHATEVER PRIMORDIAL MONSTER WE ARE TALKING ABOUT - PROBABLY AZATOTH IF I AM NOT COMPLETELY OFF - BECAUSE WE ARE BOMBARDED WITH 'THE DREAMERS' AND THAT IS WHAT AZATOTH DO, HE DREAMS REALITY. BUT REALLY IT COULD BE A WHOLE GALLERY OF OUTER GODS - IT'S JUST ME WHO THINKS IT IS MOST LIKELY THE CRAWLING CHAOS.  SO IF WE ADD THIS WHAT DO WE GET?

WE GET A CONSTRUCTED AND UNTRUE REALITY, DREAMT UP BY THE BEING, WE GET A BOY WHO LOST HIS MOTHER, AND IS SCARRED BY THIS. AND WE HAVE A GREEDY UNETHICAL COMPANY, SECRETLY WORKING ON MAKING A CITY ON MARS.  

NOW I ONLY HAVE TO QUESTION THE UNFINISHED 'CLONE' SUBPLOT STUFF, I MEAN WE ARE ONLY TOLD ABOUT THIS TWICE, ONCE WHERE SHANE READS THAT THEY ARE EXPENDABLE ON A COMPUTER, AND THEN WHEN WE FIND THE TANKS WITH THE CLONES OF THE CREW. IS THIS REAL? I THINK IT IS, I THINK THAT ORICHI WOULD HAVE GONE TO THESE LENGHTS TO KEEP WHATEVER THEY ARE DOING A SECRET. BUT IF THEY NOW THEN USE THESE CLONES, SO NO ONE WOULD NEVER EVER KNOW ABOUT THE MARS MISSION - I DON'T KNOW.