Since you also shared some theories, I mentioned some of mine in the most recent update post that ToMyself did in the comments section after a reply ( https://tomyself.itch.io/interact-with-me/devlog/1525192/road-to-03 ), in case you wanna exchange perspectives/theories and findings.
And, yeah, it's a good idea to explore the game files as well, didn't do that yet.
32 days ago (+2)
!!SPOILERS FOR THE GAME IN ALL REPLIES!!
AHHH, sorry, I never got a notification for both yours and ToMyself's replies. Just saw your theory thread too! That actually opened my eyes to a new possibility of the story leaning more towards a fantastical story, rather than having the entire world confined in a computer. I'd love to see more of your insight in future updates. As of right now, I'm working on multiple theories, building upon them and finding sooooomewhat good evidence to back them up.
I'm planning on releasing a video about it in the near future, but I really can't bear keeping my mouth shut anymore. So I just wanna spill some mini theories in no particular order. I'm sorry in advance if the following starts to sound stupid or incoherent. Please be warned that most of them are shallow suspicions since I don't have complete theories eoghhhh. They're all a part of the bigger theories (possible endings) I'm trying to construct, though, and I'd like to see other people's opinions about them.
Also, I have to upload my entire comment in parts since I keep getting an error message, something about verification, sorry.
32 days ago (+2)
1. Do you think it's too much of a stretch to say that the KEY that Myrddin is referring to is the InteractWithMe! game file? It's just that I find it peculiar that Myrddin says that we, the human, perceive things differently, either because we live in 3d or "reality".
We can technically see his world from a bird's eye view undeterred, since we're not the ones confined in the jail that is Myrddin's room. Also, isn't it kinda sus that this game's Itch banner is Myrddin cradling an object that weirdly fits Myrddin's description of the key? (Sorry, I can't upload images. PLEASE LOOK AT UR GAME'S ICON!!)
"I do know of a key."
"A real one."
"Something that could open whatever is keeping me in here."
"I even know what it looks like."
"A small cube
"Ha."
"As if this place needed one more way to mock me."
"The key to my freedom shaped like the very thing that cages me."
"..."
"But I can't find it."
"Not anywhere."
"And no, it's not just lying around where I somehow failed to notice it."
"This room is far too small for that."
"If it were sitting in plain sight, I would have found it long ago."
"So it has to be hidden."
"Somewhere."
"In some way I still don't understand."
"At least..."
"Not yet."
"You're human."
"Maybe that means you perceive things differently than I do."
"Maybe you notice what I can't."
"Maybe your eyes would catch something mine keep missing."
So perhaps..."
"Perhaps you really could find that key somehow."
"Or at least help me in another way."
32 days ago (+2)
2.) Also, there's something pretty sus with Myrddin's name. Or more specifically, what he says about names:
"Does it feel like it belongs to you?"
"Or does it feel like something that got handed to you and you just... kept it?"
"It's identity, but it's also a tag someone can grab."
"And they're not random, usually."
He speaks his name like he's trying to figure something out about it.
"Myrddin.... Myr..... M.."
I think you're right about his name being important, but so far, I have nothing concrete aside from Myrddin not being his true name or that there's more to his name than JUST Myrddin.
It's also odd how ToMyself went through the effort of coding Myrddin to be weird about his introduction. Either that or it's because he hasn't had much of a reason to speak his name until now. Kinda strange that there's a pause at the end, which can also be chalked up to him being awkward, but it's still... kinda sus. (Maybe ToMyself just likes adding pauses in dialogue idk).
"Let me introduce myself properly."
show m m at m_pos with m_dis
"My name is..."
"It's Myrddin."
"You can just call me Myrddin."
"Simple. Easy. Elegant!"
"..."
32 days ago (+2)
!!TW: MENTIONS OF SH AND UNALIVING ONESELF!!
3.) Idk if it's a common theory among every player here, but I think that aside from his episodes with The Outer, Myrddin's high pain tolerance may also be a result of self-harm and attempting suicide. He's mentioned failing acrobatics (universally painful experience), getting concussed, and that one time where he glitched out during his philosophical questions.
"If the past is already gone, and the future feels locked in place..."
"If there is nothing left to return to, and nothing ahead that can still be changed..."
"What does a person like that do?"
"..."
"Do they just kill-"
4.) Speaking of his philosophical question segment, istg he's projecting or something. He's like, trying to sus us out. It was like, he was checking whether or not the player is someone he can use or trust or something, like he's about to do or is planning something he's afraid that the player won't like/agree with, so he's checking if it's okay to go or re-plan a few things.
Idk, I don't really have proof for it, but I AM working on it trusttttt. There's so much more, but this comment is getting too long eoghh, uhh, I'll come back with more once I have more progress with my theories! I'd really appreciate 2nd opinions and am interested in your thoughts on this too, because most of these can be interpreted differently or are reaches. Your knowledge of Arthurian Legends can surely build on or bring new perspectives to things I've brought up.
Thank you and warm regards,
Player
Honestly I think we are among the first ones heavily theorizing around here, plus vocaloidsrcool, but I do believe after the next update people will share more of their theories once the real mystery starts to surface.
-- Warning, heavy themes below:
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And regarding your comment: the developer did say the next update is going to be more brutal, which is definitely going to be something. I think we might see Myrddin getting more directly hurt, yes. But I also believe he tried to harm himself, after all he has been there for a long time.
We don't know the exact time. He was a child when he arrived but he might age differently. Myrddin did say he created a clock and he destroyed it when it got to the 1000th day. So he stayed there for AT THE VERY LEAST almost three years. Of course, not counting the fact that he took a long time to actually know how to create objects on his own to finally create the clock. So in all that spare time, I'm sure very negative thoughts crept inside his head.
But honestly, I think the motivation behind his actions might not only be the isolation but the torture the Voices do to him. He comments something about there being no limit to what one can harm the other, even though he says he is resilient. So I think he is partially referring to the torture he goes through because of the Voices. We did see the Voices use loud noises, change the room size, and sever our connection with Myrddin. So they probably can do a lot more.
Random note: also, very interesting that Myrddin does not like brown, if I'm not mistaken, especially because the whole room is pretty much white and brown. Very curious.
20 days ago(+1)
No, no, I agree there is something at least suspicious with how he introduces himself:
The three dots are interesting. He started off with a simple sentence, but didn't finish it.
Regarding this comment:
"Or does it feel like something that got handed to you and you just... kept it?"
Maybe it is related to Myrddin not knowing his origins, more specifically, not remembering his past. Like I theorized before, his past and future are nonexistent, like he said himself when he had a breakdown: he has no past (memories) or future (he's stuck in the cube). Maybe he showed up in the cube or was transferred there without much memory, but the Outer or a third party told him his name and that was it. That's why he asks us if his name feels like it belongs to us. And no matter what answer we give to him, there is a strange noise that plays out in that moment (maybe it is a reversed audio? I don't have experience with those, but I don't know if we already have such a thing in the game yet), and then Myrddin just brushes off the comment and continues. Very weird behavior, I wonder if the Voices scared him or pressured him to change the subject or something like that.
And you probably read what I said about his mythological name being related to a mad man who got prophecy powers, so that is very interesting. Currently, it looks like Myrddin is hiding things from us, but I honestly do think parts of his memories are missing since at some points of the story he gets very philosophical regarding why he is in the cube and about himself.
Someone who is simply hiding who they are from us usually wouldn't go as far as creating those minor moments of existential crisis. In summary, I think the name Myrddin is very intentional and has meaning, yes. And he is looking for the meaning of his name, since he doesn't have a "past."
Additionally, I believe a nice way to get into his psyche is to analyze his questions that happen before his future/past breakdown:
Some of those questions show two interesting things, at least initially, to me (and I'm curious to know what you think of them as well):
- Myrddin does not fully know what he is, but he is sure he is not human. We don't know if we are his first interaction with humanity. It doesn't seem likely since in multiple moments he expresses himself as if he has talked to someone else before.
- He probably considered that his past might involve (or he vaguely remembers) him doing something bad, and that's why he is in the box. But he believes (or wants to believe) in second chances or in stopping endless suffering (being stuck forever in the cube).
The last question shown in the screenshot I think is more directed at us, in a way. Like how powerful our words can be and how we can destroy or help Myrddin. Probably related to future endings.
The previous questions, though, they are more intimate:
Like he is testing or exploring our morality, or perhaps ending up leaking his own. I think the questions above show us that Myrddin is trying to fit into something he does not know what it is, and he wants to know if the Player would be willing to give him those chances, eventually. But those questions, I don't think they relate to endings directly, because apparently there are no variables being stored for those, if I recall correctly. (Yes, I just checked again, no variables for those answers.)
Finally, I wanted to mention this sentence he says right before his first breakdown/altercation with the Outer/The Voices in a direct way:
"YOU WILL MAKE IT STOP SOON"
That really stood out to me. What does he mean? Hmm, perhaps he did think ever since the beginning that the player might help him. But do you think he was manipulative since the beginning? I do think he is suspicious, definitely. But perhaps it is early to say with certainty if he is malicious, especially because it does seem like he doesn't want us near the Outer/the Voices, meaning perhaps he does want to protect the player, or at least the connection with the player.
But here is the thing: there is a moment he mentions something crawling in his mouth, something like that. Like it was using his face. I wonder if the Outer/the Voices can pretend to be Myrddin? If they already did it at some point? Interesting and worth keeping in mind.
20 days ago (+1)
Okay, great one. I like that you already start with a very important theory: the key related to the mystery around it.
I don't think it is a stretch; as a matter of fact, I thought it was very curious that once the Voices/Outer made Myrddin be sucked into the darkness and severed our connection in the end, we saw the room getting farther and farther, almost like seeing the room as a small cube in the end... I thought it was a very interesting visual choice.
But I don't know if the room or the game file themselves are the key.
Because at some point we will need to deal with the key, right? And since the developer mentioned that it might be possible to see the story expand to more than just talking to a person in a room (see one of ToMyself's answers to my theory comments in the updates section), then it's difficult to think the game file might be the key, but the room could be (the cube game icon also being an interesting note, even though many games have icons like that as well).
So if the key is actually the room (seeing it from our perspective, it does look like a cube), I wonder how we are going to explain that to Myrddin in the next chapter. Since the story might expand, like I mentioned above, we might be able to free Myrddin from the box sooner than we expect, and finally see what is outside, which I theorize to be something different from what we (humans) are used to.
Also, having the message "Do not trust the false Messiah" appear near the moment we see the room/cube distancing itself from us is very interesting. Once again it might just be a visualization of our connection being severed, but it might also be nodding to something else.
Now, the implications of the game being the key would mean the player would have to have access to the game files. Past updates from the developer do mention liking details as such, but I don't think anything extremely big is in the files for now (but I will comment about the MainAct in a future message, don't worry!) simply because ToMyself mentioned having difficulty balancing the browser and the downloadable version of the game. I theorize it's because the downloadable version would have details rewarding those who check the game files, and it is more difficult or unavailable at the moment to check the files if you're playing on the browser.
However, in the most recent update, the developer mentions the story will have more and more limitations in that regard. I wonder if it's because we're getting near some sections in the story where we will have to check the files more frequently, and since it is difficult to do so in the browser, it would create discrepancies between both versions. But that's just a technical theory.
Now, an extra observation here: near the end of the chapter, Myrddin keeps saying stuff similar to "I can't ask that of you" and "It is my burden to carry." Again, my current theory is that Myrddin is not a 100% bad guy. But he was very cautious, and his sentences might imply he actually wanted the help, obviously. However, I cannot deny that there might be a possibility he was expecting us to take pity on him all along.
But if I'm being honest, I don't fully believe in that theory, since Myrddin was very angry and unstable when we read his book, meaning it is very possible that he wouldn't be able to manipulate us right after being very emotionally unstable. Even so, I thought it was worth mentioning here, like how hesitant he was to ask for our help. That moment was interesting, maybe planned.(Early theory here, not much to go on, particularly a path I don't think might be the one, but interesting enough to mention anyway.)
20 days ago (+1)
Hello, LJEphr! First, I just wanted to say that is totally normal, sometimes I don't receive notifications from Itch.io either. And i also apologize for the late reply! I was very busy these days. But I read what you commented days ago and thought about it. I had some thoughts in mind, I just didn't have the time to actually type full replies, unfortunately, ahah. At least we have time until the next update, but again, I'm sorry for the late replies! I hope we can still share theories after each update and so on.
And please, do share the link to the video! I'm very curious and i would like to see more of your vision. I managed to get into the files of the game per your recommendation and also managed to get some other thoughts of my own,
I'm curious to know yours. I will answer your comments one by one below, I believe it will be more organized that way.
20 days ago (+1)
That was a very interesting read, ahahh! Thanks for the heads up.
I will comment below the "read more" so that no one gets spoiled, even though I don't think it is much for now, perhaps the next updates will get more interesting. Anyway, since our comments are very down the scroll, I highly doubt many will see, but it is better to be safe than sorry:
Warning, heavy themes below.
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- Interesting, there are comments with unused dialogue. I wonder if they are things Myrddin doesn't want to say to the player, or if it was an extra thing the developer added with Myrddin kind of "aware of it." But that is less likely, since Myrddin can change our interface (positioning of choices and what we can or cannot see). Perhaps he regretted it or didn't trust the player yet?
The divinity question is probably related to his suffering. I like the fact he was hopeful in the end, saying he/we can be grateful for some things (which are some of the signs that make me believe he might not be 100% evil or tricking us with malicious intent, at least from what we know now), but there is an underlying message of someone who might be tired of his life. It is a heavy conversation and an important one, I wonder if it will pop up in the next update.
There were some interesting comments in other places as well, like the beginnings of another interaction where we will create a story as the main character with Myrddin. Very interesting bits here and there. I liked reading Myrddin's interactions for the different names, I thought of testing Myrddin as the name but didn't know he reacted to silly and pet names. Not gonna lie, the dialogue with the pet name was endearing, I giggled a bit, hahh.
However, I might have a feeling the next update might hold more mysteries now that the developer knows more people are engaging with the game. Who knows, let's wait and see!
Finally, I wanted to know your thoughts regarding the next update. What do you think is gonna happen? Your early theories? After all, we have time until the second half of June.
Next last important question: when did Myrddin get environmental sounds?! I didn't know you could get sounds from a book. O.o hahygah