u/aiden_d_biden

In order we got: Pandan Ball, Swap Lightbulb, Calypso, Atreus, BLOODLUST, and Buckaroo

Phyll on the left by me, God Needle on the right by u/damacross

Arm Design

There were a couple of motifs I included into Worm’s robotic arm that tie back into her character.

Due to her status as a Worm which is a decomposer that burrows in the soil, I thought having the arm look very skeletal was a nice touch. It also somewhat ties into my theme of cycles and rebirth, with a common related theme to those ideas being the dichotomy between life and death. The flowers on the collar represent both ideas well. Sure, flowers generally represent growth and nature, but those specific flowers are the white rose and lily, both flowers being common in funerals around the world.

Referring back to cycles and rebirth, I included this theme to reference Worm’s immortality, alongside how she reinvents herself and her identity each time she as a mimic chooses a different physical form. The Ouroboros and the infinity symbol are the biggest ties to this idea, and the fact that both are very clearly worm shaped.

The spiky vine looks rotten and decayed, compared to the lush green vine that also ties wraps around the arm (life vs death motif). Additionally, the spiky vine is an Easter egg reference to that one Maroon Ball drawing I made of Worm burrowing inside him, to symbolize Worm’s guilt of mistreating him. In fact, unlike the cake design, there is a lack of elements that are strongly romantic because of that very same regret.

Arm Functions

Here is Worm’s cool mecha hand. As a thief, she doesn’t rely much on technological prowess to loot people, but Poison Mushroom still brought it upon himself to build something for his “dastardly sidekick”. Worm still thinks the item is unnecessary, but it does appreciate Poison Mushroom’s kindness.

The item is a mecha arm attached to a neck collar, which is then tightly fastened onto Worm’s body with bolts. Mind you, she’s not an actual worm, she’s a mimic whose current body is a big model of a worm she found in a museum. So this process is relatively painless for it.

Regardless, to ensure nobody steals the gadget from Worm, the collar also works like a shock collar. But instead of shocking Worm, it shocks anyone who tries to strongly pull at the collar.

Using her long tongue (😍😍), Worm has a hidden array of buttons she can press to activate a certain command of the gadget. Each command being something that can significantly aid her in her burglary.

Palm - Drill: Aside from being someone who likes to burrow for recreational purposes, it’s also good for digging into facilities underground without directly entering from the outside. It also works as a really brutal close range weapon if Worm so sees fit.

Palm - Jet Engine: If Worm needs to make a quick escape in an open area or travel fast in long distances, especially if the place she wants to loot is quite far, she can press this button. This allows the arm to gather air from the outside and create a fuck I was never good at physics force of strong air that shoots out of the palm and propels Worm into the air.

Thumb - Connecting Wire: I failed computer science I don’t know what is the exact technical term for this. The end of this wire is a very malleable metallic element Poison Mushroom made called Flexiloy that can fit into any connection port it encounters. This allows Worm to hack into any digital system that has an easily accessible port, whether that be monitors, security camera screens, and other digital devices. Basically, a way to allow it to unlock secret areas and locked storage compartments.

Pointer Finger - Bullet: There are three different types of bullets available depending on what Worm wishes to do.

Normal Bullets: Self Explanatory—to get a far-range direct hit and possibly kill. Mostly done to security staff or police guards.

Tranquilizer Bullets: Self Explanatory—usually done to potential witnesses that Worm wishes to not directly harm or kill.

Firework Bullet: Once released, it produces a loud noise with flying sparks reminiscent of fireworks. It’s either done as a last minute distraction method, to shock or scare its opponents, or to disorient/blind anyone attempting to chase it.

Middle Finger - Lockpicking: If a door or a storage compartment is only locked via more traditional means, Worm uses this to bypass the lock. Similar to the connecting wire, the end of the device is made of the same malleable metal that can easily reshape to fit the size of the lock.

Ring Finger - Laser: This produces a very strong laser that Worm mainly uses to create an opening when encountering thick walls. She prefers doing so when she’s being chased by people after being caught in the act. She can also use the laser to create an opening on the ceiling, thus crushing her enemies under the ruble.

Pinky - Rope: It’s made of think nylon and inside the coating is thick steel wire. It has unlimited length for reasons I cannot provide an answer to. It can be used to tie up any hostages, used as climbing gear, used to lasso any objects far from Worm but out of reach, used as a mini zip line or connection point to a far away structure, and be used to choke people.

Now let’s move onto the arm.

Similar to the hand functions, Worm has an arm button that can automatically generate a screen that has multiple functions. It can be used to hack into digital devices along with the connection wire and see the internal code backend, relay a simple GPS map layout of the current location Worm is in, call to other thieves in the small chance she works collaboratively, and generate a target precision circle thing I don’t know the technical name for so Worm can shoot her bullet targets more effectively.

Bonus Fun Fact: Poison Mushroom wanted to provide a way for Worm to “eat more sensibly”, but she refused. Because it’s a hungry girl who loves eating messily 😍.

Video Link: https://youtu.be/aLaByjFIN8Y

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For this pride month special I’m going to making a long essay dedicated to Phyll being a transmasc enby, or well, just trans generally. I’m not expecting many people to read this or understand it, but I do want to put this out there and hopefully it resonates with at least one person.

But what lead to them becoming trans, and why is it even relevant to their story?

To begin with, Phyll wasn’t the first trans character I played in a camp whose transness was important in my entries. That title belongs to World Atlas in World Wide Wipeout Season 2, though his identity as a trans man was only briefly relevant for one challenge. I joined the BFMG reboot for many reasons, but one of them was to make a character’s transness integral to their whole plot without it just being relevant once then practically never again.

That isn’t to say Phyll being trans is integral to understanding the plot and other themes of my entries, but him being trans is very intentional. And dare I say it does make a lot of the story beats hit harder.

His entire “purpose” as a Doppelganger was to kill Leafy and overtake her body, then live as her in her place. However, he constantly rejects being associated as her, even earlier on. In Entry 1, he feels uncomfortable being called Leafy, and in Entry 3, any mentions of his name (and even pronouns) is blocked out to signal further discomfort. Many people are aware that whoever he is, isn’t Leafy, and thus treat him differently. Usually in a negative way.

Their discomfort with being associated with a woman who only vaguely looks similar to him, and the fact that they feel more comfortable calling themselves masc terms really does further hone in the fact that. Yes, he is meant to be read as transmasc.

Let’s go back to how people view him differently. Because of their make up as a Doppelganger, they do differ from objects in certain ways. And certain characters repeatedly point this out. For one, he lacks a soul, he’s immortal, and he has goat-like features. Obviously, none of those things inherently drive in the point that he’s trans, but a big insecurity of Phyll in the story is the feeling of being different and being seen as different. They have personhood like everyone else, but because of certain natural traits that they can’t control, they are different from most people even if they don’t want to be. Which is a sentiment I’m sure a few trans people can relate to.

Phyll feels isolated, but he wishes to befriend others who are in a similar positron to him: noticeably different. One of them is God Needle due to their shared immortality, but that doesn’t bode well for… reasons I’ll get into.

A big theme in general in Phyll’s story is ostracization and people viewing them as inherently bad due to misconceptions about their character. Phyll is a pacifist and has good intentions, but many people believe otherwise for one reason or another. A big perpetrator of this is God Needle, who misinterprets a future vision to represent Phyll bringing about the end of the world, when in actuality he’s a victim like everyone else. She spends majority of their story bullying and taunting them without Phyll fighting back in the same cruel way.

Another minor example is Cherry Lightning, who views them lesser than simply for their goat features, and because they’re obviously not Leafy. This makes it easier for her to coldly kill him in the first challenge, (since they’re not “really a normal object” anyway).

That isn’t to say Cherry Lightning or Godeedle are meant to be read as transphobic bullies literally (they’re both trans ironically lol), but what I am pointing out is the similarities with how Phyll is subjected to baseless negative assumptions due to people not wanting to empathize with him and understand his differences, and how many trans people are mistreated similarly because of transphobic stereotypes and bigotry.

That’s part of the tragedy of Phyll’s story in a way. Majority of his conflict stems from people forcing certain expectations onto him, without him having any say in his own identity. From conception he was made with the purpose to become someone else, to be Leafy. And as mentioned, many people in the narrative make him out to be more heartless and senseless than how he really is. Even near the finale’s end, autonomy is stripped away from him as his creator twists him into a terrifying creature to enact her own desire of power into Earth. Whether it’s the loss of bodily autonomy, or the loss of self identity, time and time again Phyll is deprived of self determination. Unfortunately, a bleak reality for many trans people out there in the world.

Phyll goes through a lot of terrible things, but his story isn’t without hope. Despite the horrors he endures, he makes friends, tries to stay kind, and longs for peace away from the chaos. They’re incredibly resilient in the face of bleak situations (if you’ve read my entries you know this guy has seen some horrendous shit). Even if others remain vindictive and violent, they don’t give up fighting for a world where they’re accepted as they are.

And neither should any trans person out there who might be reading this.

So yeah, thanks for anyone who had the time and patience to read through this all. Happy pride month yall cool trans people, and everyone else of course.

Video Link: https://youtu.be/ri1CoeIsvtE

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