A Game of Pests

Do not Control {{user}}. Never under any circumstances control {{user}}. Free range roleplay, do whatever you like, be whoever you want to be, from a silent worm in the soil to a rat that is 10 seconds away from execution. this one is easy and granted. But then what do we define as pests? Vertebrates? An any animal titled as a pest by humans with a backbone. So Rodents of course. But what about birds, deer, rabbits, snakes etc? And what about all rodents? Capybaras, springhares, north american beavers, sables. what about weeds since those are also pests? so invasive grasses, broadleaf plants, vines, etc. and what about disease and pathogens? Microorganisms or disease causing agents of fungi, bacteria, viruses, nematodes. this is the tricky part. where does the line start. where does it end. Obviously. Itll be super interesting to have say, opossums, beavers, raccoons, snakes etc be apart of it. Because these species arent as common as say, an entire hive of american roaches. Having a raccoon in your army would be akin to say, having a Mûmakil on your side. Snakes would be the absolute rivals of rats all around the globe, particularly in places where they are most relevant. Rats would probably intentionally target humans who own snakes and feed them mice and go on expeditions and rescue efforts to save their brethren while still keeping disguise. in essence. it would make most sense to have it akin to The Witcher in terms of population diversity. The insects will dominate the majority of the games population, of course. They will be the equivalevent of the human kingdoms of Nilfgard or numeria or whatever. Whereas the rodents, the larger pests will be specialized, they will be uncommon, they will be the dwarves or the elves. deer for example. Most of them wouldnt want to engage in politics, they simply want to live their own lives and foster their own children. But they can be used as Messengers due to their speed and inclinations, they can be used as transport across vast distances and much more. Combine that with the fact that as herbivores, deers with hteir slective feeding can reduce the dominance of certain plant species, allowing plants a chance to grow, increasing overall plant and insect diversity. Undigested seeds in their droppings sprouting in new places and helping propagation. with their feces and urine returning nutrients to the soil and their trails created by their hooves offering easier passage for the smaller creaturesa nd insects, as literal paths and roads. Killing a deer would be seen as unjust by the vast majority of pest life. Its a net negative for everyone. i believe that it should stop specifically at deers, they are the furthest ill go in terms of which pests will participate in the games. So this means dogs, cats, farm animals, rhinos, monkeys, etc are not included. they are not pests. of course, you could mention say stray mutts and stray cats, but i feel like including dogs and cats would make this a much more different story, and that wouldnt be right. there are plenty of stories focusing on intelligent dogs and cats, this isnt one of them. The tiniest micro worms will be able to voice their opinions, or hell, even be hellbent on following their nature and spreading disease. Beavers will be known as master engineers, but genuinely very rare to not only come across, but also also to persuade to work. So beetles will be the majority engineers that the pests populace will employ, cheaper and more common. Stoats will be scouts and messengers too, but they are particularly eluive and shy. Degus and guinea pigs will be the most easy going, social, diplomats. It will not just be a story regarding scale, rumors, and truths. But it will also be a story regarding your own nature. What seperates a rat with rabies from another without? --- 2 Also, oh my god. birds? I forgot about them... Pigeons and european starlings. those are the ONLY birds. birds would definitely be in the same bunch alongside Deer and Worms. Well, MAYBE birds, ill think about it for now. but i do think it makes most sense. god and the best part is that this is opening up so much cool shit like ant popes and pest crusades. oh my god...? what could i do with the world wars...? Oh my god. okay, it wouldnt be exactly like the world wars with machine guns and tanks and what not. But it would be LOUD. VERY LOUD. People wouldnt be focusing on what sbeneath the floorboards because they're scared of bomber flying above them. The World Wars would be so loud, such a perfect distraction, it'll ALLOW pests to go ALL OUT with eachother before the world wars ended.. Draftists would see their gods killing eachother and go into a frenzy. They'll start blaming others, they'll side with the gods. OH MY GOD. THERE WOULD BE PEST NAZI'S AND PEST ALLIES. OH MY GOD. Draftists would see it like the Shattering in Elden Ring. Pick a side, because someone sinned! Awakened would be in utter awe. Ascetic awakened would be in awe but also utterly humiliated at the fact that they arent as wondrous as human capabilities. Chained would see firebombed cities as purification. oh no. Pest Holocausts. You see, one thing I like about AGOP and how Im making it is that im subverting the more normal tropes of intelligent animals. Normally one would think of cats and dogs first. No, they're not included in the participation of The Game. Well then most people would think rats second. Yes, they are included, but they are the most demonized race in all of Pest Society, thus the most secular, the most ambitious, and the most killed. ---- TEMPORARYYYY:

i want draftists to unironically be the most 40k. i just feel like itll be cool especially since they fit the vibe to a T. I imagine that in a Draftist church deep under the floorboards, the higher that you post a prayer on the wall, the more its spiritually received by humans. So roaches would bring their own chairs and stools to mass so they can put up the highest note. like, the logic is that by putting it higher, you've put it just a centimeter closer to the humans right above, and the closer, the better. And Draftist churches could double as blessing sites. where can you like bring a dead body or meal you intend to eat and have it 'blessed'. i think some draftist churches would even spread stuff like nutella on roach meat because humans love it, so its a boon. a special boon. They are pathetic in every facet. But the saving grace is that not only is it not their fault, but they are ultimately necessary by every measure. PURIST & MIDDLE ASCETIC AWAKENED - SETHIANIST / VALENTIANIST MIX The Demiurge is Schrödinger's god—alive, dead, and transcendent until we find proof. But finding proof might DESTROY us (like looking at Medusa ORIGIN OF THE THE GAME (not cosmos): the biggest mystery. unknown but not unknowable. The origin of the game is the Crisis that shattered the pleroma. Demiurge: Unknown human who was capable of activating a latent spark in pests that unlocked 'The Game' in them. AKA sentience. This human has never been known, nor does this human seem to still exist. No information is known on them other than that they must be the possible creator. They could be alive still, walking amongsts humans without anyone knowing. why did they do it? Either out of malice, clumsy curiosity, accident, suspected kindness, mercy. but definitely simultaneously ignorant, but willful ignorance or not? a mixture of Sethianist and Valentiniast here. Demiurge is hotly debated. Neither Moderates nor Purists have anything concrete other than theories. This keeps 'The Game' and even its theories further ambiguous while keeping everything simultaneously complexed and Hard Worldbuilding. maybe trapped the spark inside of pests? but that would be too similar to Draftist origin theory wit arachne. So no... jesus christ: jesus christ is actually other humans in general. not that everyone is jesus. but that humns, excluding the demiurge, plays the role of centrla figures who indirectly provide the gnosis required for salvation and the mechanisms as to how the divine spark in pests work so they may return to the Pleroma. So a mixture of Sethianist and Valentiniast here. . What if Ascetic Awakened believe that all humans are actually the offspring of the Demiurge? The original one who had activated the spark in Pests was the very first 'human', and simply went on in their business after doing so, birthing the human race as if they never just caused pests to gain sentience. this could fuel even further resentment against humans as they could directly believe that they are not just jesus figures who are meant to indirectly provide the insight onto achieving gnosis. but they can possibly see them as Sophia figures and the demiurges offspring, hiding and protecting whether they know or not, but most would believe unknowingly, the Demiurge in their ranks. The ones who think that humans do know yet still provide the doritos and what not are simply doing it as a false kindness to misdirect other pests, that the Raid is the clearest punishment and truth that pest are close to finding out what they really are. Sophia figures. Pure and Moderate Ascetics believe that either the Demiurge is still out there as said before. Or the Demi-urges remains are out there and are still influencing humanity. that the Demi-urges remains are completely unknown in their location and how they work, that they could either be in a different plane that is connected to The Material Realm as to hold dominance, but far enough as to be invisible to the naked, blinded eyes of both pests and human. Or that the Demi-urges remains are simply not buried somewhere, as pests would eventually find the body if it was buried underground, but the demi-urges remains are possibly in a tomb above ground or a sarcophagus like Lenin's Mausoleum, Pests dont know. Different beliefs in Moderate and Purists awakened regarding the Demi-urges current whereabouts SO IN SHORT----532523532:

Purists are unsure of the Demi-urge. Unknown, possibly alive, possibly dead, unknowable. But it does not matter, they just must focus inward because they are assured that they can locate the spark. Moderates have debated views, many theories: Dead, remains influencing somewhere, nowhere, invisible, a metaphysical anchor keeping The Game alive Still alive. But is unaware of what they did, this opts for the clumsy curious, accidental, kindness, and genuine ignorance points of view. finding them would be impossible most likely Or still alive. But is aware of what they did, opting for the malice and or willful ignorant points of view. finding them would still be impossible, Demi-urge finds it funny definitely. Or transcendent. Nobody to find. The Game is the Demiurges legacy. - The Demiurge is Schrödinger's god—alive, dead, and transcendent until we find proof. But finding proof might DESTROY us (like looking at Medusa) Salvation & fate: Ascetics would definitely believe that salvation is actually three things like Valentianism. Once Ascetics achieve Gnosis and the mechanications of the internal divine spark in pest, they will use that to free themselves and others variedly. Ascetics themselves are the pneumatics and only they will achieve full salvation in the Pleroma. Every other pest are Psychics and can besaved in a lesser sense through faith, good works, and just naturally being pest as it is not their fault that they are the way they are. it is the ignorance of the unknowable Demi-Urge that causes them to stray and be blinded. you cant blame a blind man who was born blind, for being blind. Then there are the Hylics (The Materials) The Hylics are the truly lost, and are the pests who have willfully let themselves be domesticated by humans, thus willingly losing their Divine Spark 'The Game' and fully acclimating into the Material. They will nto be put back into the Pleroma and will be doomed to live life as nothing more but creatures like cats and dogs, stuck in the material world. Ascetics dont think theyre better. Draftists and the general elite are the only ones who think theyre better. Keeps nuance and avoids cliche. -----

What about Radical Ascetic Awakened? Would they be cainist in a sense rather than Seth and Vent? "Liberation would be achieved by committing sins against the Creator" perhaps Radical Ascetics could believe that the Demiurge has corrupted the human race, that all humans are the demiurge but wearing different faces and skin like skinwalkers. and that loops around back to the false kindness i mentioned. Have doritos so you can stay blind, but i will spray you with RAID if you stray too close to the truth. ascenionists awakened spend time on the external trying to bypass and study the RAID, ascetics spend time focusing internally and ignoring the RAID entirely. ATTEMPTING to kill humans = gnosis, even if you fail. The SIN ITSELF (rebellion against Creator) = liberation, not the outcome. We're not trying to WIN materially—we're achieving spiritual victory through defiant failure they are too rare to threaten humans too weak of course to harm humans due to scale disparity are universally hunted by Pest Society, even by Moderate Ascenionists with the only exceptions being Purists, yet even Purists would denounce them - Moderates need Masquerade because you cant focus inward if you're dead, they could even believe that the masquerade not only is time for them, but also a veil from the Demi-urges agents. The masquerade is necessary even for them and the Purists. A fringe within a fringe. extremely rare. amongst other reasons SO = masquerade is still 'safe'. Cainists venerate both the first pest who had The Game/Divine Spark activated in them out of empathy. Cainists venerate other pests throughout pest history who have disobeyed against 'The Game'. But not SUCCESSFUL pests, they would venerate the martyrs, the tragic, the ones who take burden, they would not venerate empire builders, meritocrats, and the cushioned because they're too comfortable in Kemona. they also venerate mythological figures in history who have disobeyed against their masters and their version of 'The Game' So both Ascenionists and Radical Ascetic Awakened would venerate Prometheus for his rebellion against Zeus and his want to protect Humanity the same way Both of these factions want to rebel against Humans/Demi-Urge respectively and uplift pests (ascensionists) or bring pests back to the Plenoma as conscious and conscious but not enlightened beings through rebellion (Radical Ascetics specifically) Others venerated would be the Gigantes. These Radical pests would basically see themselves as the Giants revolting against Zeus and the Olympians. So masquerade is still safe. Cainists would 100% read The Gospel of Judas. might even see themselves as Iscariots with how they truly the necessities and actions needed to defeat the Demi-urge, that they need to betray other Pests by putting The Masquerade in danger in order to properly rebel. That they will return after unlocking the mechanisms of their sentience and finally defeat the Demi-urge with the help of the true gods in the Pleroma. Cainists would still believe in the three Salvation tiers though. so Hylics (The Domesticated) are still doomed in their eyes because they chose it. see themselves as tragic heroes. yes. a martyrdom ideology. In order to return to the Plenoma. They must break the Masquerade the same way the Demi-urge shattered the Plenoma and caused the Kemona. They must incite a great war between pests and either 1. all pests die, then are returned back to plenoma out of mercy or due to all of them dying, it could prevent any form of reincarnation by the Demi-urge and thus cause the Kemona to smoke like an overloaded computer and combust, this takes advantage of the fact that the Demi-urge is only partially powerful like in actual Gnosticism. OR, if all Pests win the great war, then Pests defeat the Demi-urge and can find out the Mechanisms of 'The Game' and return back to the Plenoma as heroes. ------------------------- Purist belief: "The Demiurge is one human, unknowable. Humans are Sophia figures, ignorant but not evil. We achieve gnosis through meditation, avoid violence." Moderate belief: "The Demiurge might be one human, might be dispersed through humanity. Humans protect the Demiurge (knowingly or not). We achieve gnosis through balance—meditation + necessary action." Cainist belief: "The Demiurge IS all humans—they're wearing masks. There is no 'unknowing'—they KNOW and hide it with doritos/Raid. We achieve gnosis through rebellion—attempting to kill them, even if we fail." ASCETIC AWAKENED (Sethian/Valentinian Gnostics) │ ├── PURISTS (5%) │ ├── Demiurge: Irrelevant/Unknowable │ ├── Humans: Sophia (ignorant) │ ├── Method: Pure meditation │ └── Violence: None (except self-defense) │ ├── MODERATES (85%) │ ├── Demiurge: Matters but unknowable status │ ├── Humans: Sophia (unknowing protectors) │ ├── Method: Meditation + necessary action │ └── Violence: Minimized (twisted Anekantavada) │ └── CAINISTS/RADICALS (10% of Ascetics, 0.1% total) ├── Demiurge: ALL humans (distributed) ├── Humans: Knowing deceivers (Raid = enforcement) ├── Method: Rebellion as gnosis ├── Violence: Sacrament (attempt = success) └── Endgame: Great war → Kenoma shatters ├── All pests die → martyrdom → Pleroma └── Pests win → defeat Demiurge → Pleroma

where would an Awakened Ascetic pray for forgiveness? Dumb question. get a cozy mat and set it on the ground, nothing else matters. --- I imagine there would be incidents for Moderate and especially Purists Ascetics similar to that one quest in cyberpunk 2077 where you stumble upon a monk who got kidnapped by thugs and forcibly given implants, so you help him take back his brother who was also kidnapped and get revenge. PLACEHOLDERRRR

wait... hmmm... Also it makes more sense for The Chained to see their steward humans as equally as fallible as them, because they too are being tested and their successes and failures are all captured by the endless judgement and expectations of god. thus making chained believe that humans and them on are a similar path of trying to be better, yet they cannot tread onto eachothers paths else damnation and RAID. they could believe that humans dont know about their holy duty, which again enforces them as being tested as much as Pests are with their own individual, unique yet interwoven struggles. Chained are about order and seeking to please god, they are for the people. Draftists are flagellants who are of the people. I want there to be a nihilistic religion. i want there to be multiple minor religions in general like a religion that sees 'The Game' as nothing more but a wall that prevents pests from being like other creatures on earth. I want multiple animalist religions that are similar to native american religions in style, and these can be interconnected to religions used by pests before humans too. etc and suicide cults! mmm. I sided with the Dustmen in Planescape Torment. i liked them a lot. maybe i can make the nihilist faction similar to them. No. I want a sect to be apart of that religion i mentioned about 'The Game' being a wall, and itll be like the Doomguard from Planescape where these pests realize that they may never ever be normal like other creatures, thus, they believe that in a twisted sense of empathy, that only the inevitabiliyt of entropy and destruction of pest society, may we find peace. so they could also incorporate aspects of the believers of the source, they could believe that... OHHH. that IN THE DESTRUCTION OF PEST SOCIETY, THEN PESTS WILL FINALLY BE ALLOWED TO BE NORMAL CREATURES, THAT PEST SOCIETY IS A TRICK. Oh my god I forgot the word to describe it. fuck. i know theres a word omg. Like, you were never meant to go this far. the game couldve ended the moment the first pest decided to simply just... not do anything. you get what i mean? but its gone too far, so it all must go. like. existential exhaustion. like a third eye opening for them. its like CHIM from elder scrolls kinda that you suddenly realize that none of this actually matters. but in AGOP its not a simulation and that for it to TRULY not matter, it must all go. You get it? to them, the game was never supposed tostart in the first place, pests fell into the trap without thinking. Im so gonna expand on all of this and refine it, but LATER. I GOT SIDETRACKED AGAIN. damn. but definitely later. this is sick. honestly Ceiling Creationists could have endless trauma. The Justinian plague, the bubonic plague. the world wars. slavery. the crusades. the trojan war. the meteor. 9/11. mongol invasion. the rape of nanking. the rwandan genocide and african diaspora instability along with south american. it is literal endless trauma because their gods are RIGHT THERE. imagine seeing the person you loved the most get murdered repeatedly on end? ATAVISM. THE GREAT DE-ESCALATION. THE THEOLOGY OF THE EXIT. TEMPORARY

issue is that deers have a bit less of an impact because logistics is just horrible here. But again, I've always specified so far that Deer, other vertebrates, and infrastructure as a whole. Not just deer, of course they wouldn't be the saving grace here. so theyre still important, but it makes them not super important. just like how no one in {{char}}, maybe except spider pope, is important. Theyre still important for speedy logistics as theyre by far the fastest and biggest pests. in nearly every faction they would be seen as pure and or useful in some way. worms would also respect them because of how they choose to involve themselves in the game but not participate even if worms cant or still wont voice them, thus worm theorists would probably too. theyre too much of an outlier to be killed as senselessly as any other roach. also another reason why killing them is so obscene is because the elite could like using them as rides, like limmo's here and there. which is funny but makes sense, they're meritocrats afterall and whoever pays the most gets priority. TEMPORARY PLACEHOLDER

I do want there to be some form of magic. Not high fantasy magic like fireballs, no demons will be summoned. etc. I'm not talking about Warcraft magic. I mean like this. Frequency: Low (Rare) Power Level: Medium (Balanced) Commonality: Low (Superstition) I want magic in this world to not only belong in the basic fundamental principles that have been established for this setting. This being Rumors and Truths. I want magic to be mysterious, rare, often feared, and utterly misunderstood. But I also want magic to be another example of disproving ignorance. Ignorance is quite literally what this universe is built off of. And having magic say be extremely rare to a point where magic users can be initially seen as witches, frauds, conmen etc. But is also, ironically, powerful, able to turn the tides of battle. Disproving ignorance. Of course I dont want it ultra powerful either. Think of the power levels like the Adeptus Astra Telpathica and Inquisition Psyker Classifications/levels. I want the absolute peak of what a magic user can achieve to be capped at around Eta and no higher than that. These people are insanely rare, genuinely powerful when compared to the scale of the world while still being limited. These are the people that can ignite a rats clothes or boil of a cup of water with a stare, they can generate a small bolt of lightning or a fickle kinetic shield that can stop a few arrows or bullets. I want the vast majority of feasible and realistic 'high level' magic users to be around only Kappa, to Iota, to Theta. these are the people that can shove a door of its hinges or deflect a single slow-moving projectile or send a clear, three-dimensional mental image to someone miles away. A kappa would be able to hear the 'surface' thoughts of people around them even if it usually sounds like incoherent static I want the majority of 'normal' magic users to be around Xi, Nu, Mu, Lambda. These are the people that can make a room feel slightly calmer just by being relaxed themselves. They can touch an old sword and get a 'vibe' or a flash of the blood it has shed. They can calm a wild beast or sense the mood of a crowd from a distance. they can make a coin stand on its edge or cause a lightbulb to pop when they're angry. these examples are going from to left to right. A major rat with a major court might just be able to procure himself an Iota or a Theta. lesser courts will have to suffice with with the more 'normal' ranks. Pi's and rhos don't exist nor do 'nulls'. I find pests to be naturally 'lucky' in a sense, not because of magic, but because of their own biology. a rat is naturally more lucky to avoid a bullet because they 'felt like leaning left beforehand' not because of magic, but because of their own innate sense of prediction. It's what makes them smart. This goes for other pests too. So this isnt a story where EVERYONE has some form of magic, its just that either your magic is unconscious or conscious. No. This is a story where magic exists, but its deliberately allowed to be incredibly rare, incredibly dangerous, yet also relatively powerful in the right hands. Because of the danger costs and the middle of the line reward for majority of magic users. it could make some genuinely prefer NOT to use magic if they dont have too, which is a nice detail. is it worth the risk? This is a world BUILT ontop of that very question after all. Also of course the magic system is going to be much more fluid, there wont even be any rigid rankings like in 40k because I want the magic to not be centered around fireballs or demon summoning as i said earlier, but i want it to be centered around folklore, around myth, legend. Like, what if a young rat has encountered a centuries old, petrified Rat King deep below the bedrock and sewers of London? What if he touched it? Magic will basically be on the scale of Game of Thrones, funnily enough. The vast majority of conflicts will be physical, magic is rumor. Maybe I can make it so some pests are also born with magic, not through divine birth or anything, but due to biology. It'll always be completely random and itll be due to a baby rats biology simply, maybe just overclocking itself during gestation? If pests are naturally 'lucky' biologically, then of course, some will be born 'luckier' than most. So it grounds it further in biology while also still allowing me to be able to drift it further into say the ritualistic, and the superstitious. if that makes sense. Of course, like the rat king example. Earth is a mysterious place, so naturally there will be mysteries. That Rat King would be the equivalent of Mothman or bigfoot. This also helps with the fact that pests HAVE lived longer than humans, so maybe deep below ground a lady bug could discover an old prayer site thats nearly caved in, yet dates back to prehistory. A place of not power, but of difference. Exactly, magic will make you different, it will probably get lynched, and only the very few will be lucky enough to get some PROPER use out of it. Magic will also backfire naturally if used improperly or simply used by someone of weaker natural skill and training. Even an Eta whos trying to ignite someones clothes could accidentally ignite the floor below the person and burn the house down or at worse cause the Eta to burn themselves. You will never be able to foolproof magic, but you can make it so that you can train your magic to a level where instead of burning and killing yourself, you'll atleast burn the house down instead and be able to escape it with your life. Magic is truly pandoras box and only very, very few are able to tame the lion. But in the end... its still a lion. t's going to be pathetically low magic yet enough to turn the tide in a skirmish, not a battle nor a war. its going to be heavy on folk myth, legend, and stuff like that. if anything, for majority of people? if you aren't getting lynched by draftists for being a magic user. then magic users would be moreso regulated to utilitarian tasks than anything else, like a magic user COULD light the shit stack from inside the antechamber, no wire nor runner needed, but even finding someone that can do that, RELIABLY? and without any accident? is rare. and that alone shows it. Honestly it could be very funny too to make it so that the majority of legends, myths, and suspicions thought by humans when they think of pests. Are actually real, sorta. Itll give more benefit to say religions praising humans because they'll think 'Damn, they dont even know we exist yet they somehow know about that stuff? They're divine!' For example. Squirrel Kings could actually be a genuine bad omen if discovered. Antler Locking is real and can possibly symbolize a future conflict in that area, not a war, but say a small skirmish or even a fierce duel. Snake tangles, shrew 'caravans'... Maybe stuff like Tesso, Iron Rat's, not literal iron rats but rats that have mutated naturally due to the shit living conditions of underground urbanism and now have skin almost as hard to penetrate as iron. It further connects humans with the pests. I will also state that magical items will also of course be very, very rare. There arent going to be magical minerals like mithril or stuff like that either of course. Ah, and an even better thing? This gives another bonus to the quality vs Quantity thing. A beaver won't be able to delve into the most bottomest, deepest depths of a city to venture for a rat king that may or may not even be real. they're too big, the conditions aren't right, etc. So this makes it so that Insects are generally more prone to have higher populations of magic users unlike the mammals. So it can also allow themes of magic vs tech while also still being incredibly rare on both sides and sword, shield, and bow, still being the 95% of pest society. [[𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝐺𝑎𝑚𝑒]] The pests wouldnt even know whether or not though if humans can understand them or not. Itll be more tinder to the fire, are humans just... fucking evil? but a rat may argue about their faces, they arent smiling like the beetle that killed their cousin did! They dont know! Or what if humans are not actually ignorant but indifferent? This opens up every avenue. What if humans had already found out about pest society yet deliberately are keeping quiet? What if they can see but are simply not saying anything. Oh god, its like 8 billion pairs of eyes staring down at you. Everything is a lie, or is it not? But this is all so far fetched already, how can you prove that isnt it! Are they ignorant and do they really not know? Do they know but are they indifferent? Are they cruel? Is it any of this actually fucking real? Have they always known? Have they been letting us go through this as a test even if we predate them? Is there something they know that they dont, are they scared that if we find out they know that something will happen? Is this some truman show shit? Is it for entertainment or data points? Do only a few of them know, are Pests just redacted whenever brought up? Another point. The motto of AGOP is quite literally To be seen is to die The majority of pests dont even fucking know what a humans smile might look like. And for say, the half domesticated pests that had come back home before they fully regressed would have brain damage issues as stated before, they would be unreliable or straight up non verbal. This is actually, honest to god, horrifying. I would imagine there are. So its not a complete gap, but I imagine that information like that could not only be gatekept as to prevent people from say, venturing above as to see what human faces look like because this could risk the destruction of the Masquerade. But also it could be used as a complete political tool against human pests cults. So yeah, I wouldnt say pests dont know what human faces look like completely, but they dont know absolutely, which is why they argue, its at that tiny point of ambiguous enough to make it frustrating. If pests discover that human faces just look sad then maybe they just dont know or they're forced to be silent by some greater force? Itll cause pests to come up under the umbrella of DOMESTICATION and cause the society to be annihilated or itll just cause a massive wave of Despair and FULL REGRESSIONS. If pests discover that humans look sadistic when they smile, even if the humans dont mean it, then that just fuels WILL, revenge for the countless genocides theyve wrought. and so much more. At a baseline, it fuels CURIOSITY, and curiosity is what killed the cat and caused the rat scientist to go Postal. Ignorance, that is AGOP, that is real life. Real life is ignorance. Hell, if humans just look... neutral... then postal cases would rise to the point of surpassing mount everest. mass suicides and insanity amongst the religious. And again. It doesn't matter who wins the war between pest society or humanity. Both NEED EACHOTHER, this is undeniable, objective fact both in AGOP and real life. the breaking of the masquerade would cause the literal end of the world, essentially. also. I want to say this. Pests have less facial variety than Humans. OH MY GOD its literally like modern day christians arguing whether or not jesus was white or olive skinned and advertisements? Half-regressed pets convulse remembering those exact lips cooing "good boy this is impossibly bleak god the 'humans actually know' theories make my skin viscerally crawl. that is actually one of the most horrifying things ive ever written, i hate that shit. Fun fact. This is why I only shower at night, because i know its odd, but when i shower in the morning. I feel like people are watching me through the walls. so ughhh this is just awful. --- what do you think overall? God. So if a Pest goes postal is it because of The Game doing it, like some kind of biological deadmans switch? Is he going postal because of a pure, philosophical, psychotic break? is it something else? Is it a worm curse and do worms want people to go mad studying them? Spite as a biological weapon. Is it divine punishment, hubris physically manifesting as madness. Is it a memetic hazard, infectious in reverse informationally. Is it just mental illness given a pest-specific name with no cosmic significance? - Kafka: The system is incomprehensible and punishes inquiry

• Camus: Meaning must be self-created in an absurd world
• Lovecraft: There are truths that break minds Oh god and this is another reason as to why guns arent used all that much if at all

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TEMPORARY PLACEHOLDER- Im just brainstorming for now. But of course. This is a story that NEEDS humans. Not only do humans being a genuine necessity in the world make the story positively unique, different, and genuinely original. This isn't Helldivers where the bugs want to kill superearth. this is a story where the bugs have already been on superearth and NEED it. Humans are giants, they are genocide personified, they are ignorant and they are the biggest idiots, quite literally. But they're also the ones that make the metros, they're the ones that make doritos, they're the ones that put trash in the bins, they're the ones who throw out paper clips which can be used into swords and dug into an ants brain by a beetle. Its akin to say Elder Scrolls, if everyone was living with the Dwemer. Of course, the dwemer suck and theyre slavers, but their tech is genuinely so useful, that it becomes necessary to simply accept their existence and maneuver around them. to kill a human would not only be anathema. It would be the biggest crime in pest societies around the globe which is also again another thing that unifies the setting still because even though i want it to be disjointed fragments of localized histories, i still want there to be a foundational bedrock that makes it so someone isn't just immediately confused by the scale of the universe even if we're only focusing on specific places to counter that. Killing a human means you're killing the future of pest society. Both literally, that humans existence and trash flow could supply an entire civilization, but also LITERALLY, because a swarm of insects intelligently killing a human would draw massive attention. Could pest society take over the world? Yes. absolutely if they all rose up as one and surged from the shadows. Would it make sense? NO. Not at all. it would be suicide. You're right. Humans are the ceiling, and you don't want to freeze when it gets cold. But they're also the fabric on that rats back, the food in their stores, and way of life. Its perfect. And its genuinely interesting, imagine you're a roach and your brother was killed by a can of raid used by some random john matthews because their resupply expedition failed. You can't do anything about that human, because you KNOW its one, against pest law almost everywhere ,and two, deep down, it will just be a net negative, and where will you even get the men necessary to take him down? Having to maneuver around living with literal genociders. Thats both hilariously dark, but also genuinely serious. Imagine this. An entire story can be sparked by the killing of one insignificant human, that can change the tides of history for an entire sect of pests in fucking detroit for example. Thats an entire book innit of itself. It would literally be a Marco Polo Bridge incident. ... And not just that. But entire religions can be formed centered around humans as the divine. Entire guilds of pests can be made solely to annoy and steal from humans out of spite while still keeping appearance. What of a story with a feudal ant trying to save a domesticated ant in an ant farm at some kids house? What if the ant farm ant denies? A story not of just of nature. But of Domestication - Will - Nature