#warning that this got VERY ramble-y this is not nearly as cohesive or eloquent as my usual analysis posts

[shikai-the-storyteller]

Screw it, I know I'm never gonna actually have time to make this into an animatic, so let me brain dump for a minute about an animatic I would make about f!Pac and f!Cell if I had the time and energy.

Alright. So let's preface this with a little meta, and a very brief discussion about Fuga Impossível and QSMP.

For starters, we know that the lore of Fuga Impossível is (more or less) a canon backstory for Tazercraft and Cellbit (and, to a certain extent, Felps). We also know from multiple instances of him talking about it that q!Pac is still very afraid of Cell.

Cell. Not Cellbit. This is an important distinction.

Cellbit is no longer Cell— he's one of Richarlyson's other parents, he's one of the Favela Five, and despite the lingering fear Pac has, he still trusts Cellbit and has repeatedly shown it throughout the series. Very recently, we've also seen their relationship heal a little bit in the aftermath of the Federation drug arc.

(I don't have the clips on hand, but there's a moment before Pac gets drugged where he's talking with Cellbit about the plan, and Cellbit offers him a handshake and Pac gives him a hug instead. After the arc and after Pac is cured, Cellbit initiates a hug and hugs him. This, however, is a topic that I want to expand on another day, but TLDR they both got some hangups they're working on.)

Anyways, about the animatic.

I Know I'm A Wolf by Young Heretics is a pretty old song, and I've seen it get misinterpreted so many times that it left a bitter taste in my mouth and a negative association with the song for a long while. That being said, I remembered it out of the blue a few minutes ago and had a "Wait, actually—" moment about it. Like I said before, I don't think I'll ever get around to making this animatic (especially since I'm still hopelessly chipping away at that Bobby Jaiden and Roier animatic with a broken tablet pen and a dream), so despite my usual reluctance to share this stuff, I want to walk folks through my thought process and why I think this song is a fitting choice for Tazercraft (but mostly Pac) and Cell / Cellbit's past and present relationship.

I'd recommend listening to the song since just reading the lyrics doesn't capture the tone of the song as well.

The lyrics for the first part go:

Dear rabbit, my legs are getting weak chasing you The snow fields wouldn't seem so big if you knew That this blood on my teeth it is far beyond dry And I've captured you once but I wasn't quite right So I'm telling you that you'll be safe with me.

In my mind, I'm imagining this part exhibiting the tension between Tazercraft and Cell in the prison. Tazercraft know Cell is dangerous, but they ultimately make an alliance with him.

Can they trust Cell?

Hell no.

"So I'm telling you, that you'll be safe with me" is the moment they strike the deal (ominous piano music and all). Yes, the blood on his teeth may be dry (for the moment) but the blood is still there. Pac and Mike know better to trust Cell, no matter how charismatic he may try to be, but the situation they're in in Alcatraz leaves them with few options.

The line "I've captured you once, but I wasn't quite right" could refer to Cell taking Pac's leg (though I'm still iffy on where I personally would fit that into the Fuga Impossível timeline, but regardless, it's a fitting line for that part of their history).

The next lines are:

Oh rabbit, my claws are dull now so don't be afraid I could keep you warm as long as you can just try to be brave

In this section, I imagine Tazercraft witnessing all the terrible things Cell does in Alcatraz, and their reluctance to maintain the deal (though there's nothing they can do to get out of it now) so they just try and watch out for each other. The "don't be afraid" and "just try to be brave" lines I see being directed to Pac, who's already been hurt by the "wolf" that continues to offer them reassurances with blood still dripping down his chin.

The next section is a doozy:

Yes I know I'm a wolf and I've been known to bite But the rest of my pack, I have left them behind And my teeth may be sharp and I've been raised to kill But the thought of fresh meat, it is making me ill So I'm telling you that you'll be safe with me.

With this section, we move to Cell's perspective, and here's where we tweak the story a little. We know the ending of Fuga Impossível isn't 100% canon to the QSMP timeline, and we also know that Cell eventually was able to make the (frankly miraculous) transition from Cell -> Cellbit. But what was the catalyst?

Well, why not the Island, and the isolation he had to deal with after getting stranded there? Being alone with your own thoughts can really change a person... and sometimes drive them to the brink of insanity, but Cell was already well along his way to that.

Cell has done horrible, horrible things, and based on what CC Cellbit has said about his character and the things he's made canon, his crimes started long before he ever got to Alcatraz. According to Cellbit, his character fought in a war alongside Bad in his youth, and that was where he first began indulging in his fun new hobby: cannibalism. (Hence the line: And my teeth may be sharp and I've been raised to kill). We could argue that this originated as a survival response (hell, who knows what kind of conditions he lived in during that war, and q!Bad himself said he's eaten people, so Cell might've picked that up from him), but regardless of it's origin, it still happened.

I want to emphasize that I'm not bringing this up so we can say "Oh poor baby!" and excuse Cell's actions; I just think it’s interesting to think about his past and his perspective on this whole situation. But regardless of the circumstances that set him on the path he was on, he did some wildly messed up stuff, and if I were to actually do this darn animatic, I wouldn't want to sugarcoat anything.

Now let's contrast all of that with these lines:

"Yes I know I'm a wolf and I've been known to bite / But the rest of my pack, I have left them behind"

It's human nature to crave companionship, and no matter how many people Cell's killed or how many atrocities he's committed, it's hard to unlearn that instinct. At the line "But the thought of fresh meat, it is making me ill" I think of that moment on the Island where Cell offers Pac an apple. Regardless of how you read that moment, it's an interaction that really stands out to me. Is it a power-play? An olive branch? An offer of friendship? (COPIUM, it's not). The contrast between “fresh meat” and the apple is very appealing to me though, both in the literal and metaphorical sense. I've got a lot of thoughts about that moment, but I'll save that analysis for another day when I'm not so tired, and when I have more reliable translations to base my analysis on. For now, let's leave that open-ended.

And then there's the line "So I'm telling you that you'll be safe with me."

Here, the perspective is split between Cell and Pac & Mike, who are safe now. Not because of Cell — but because of each other. They leave Cell stranded on the Island, and survive the narrative of Fuga Impossível as well as the narrative of the song (where the "predator" is implied to eventually catch its prey). At the extended "me" part of the song, I imagine Cell sitting there in shock, alone on the island, realizing that even with all his threats and all his (imagined) authority, he still couldn't get what he wanted. (And what did he want? Well, he's certainly got a lot of time to think about that!)

Now, we have the final stanza: So rabbit please stop looking the other way It's cold out there so why not stay here Under my tail.

We're back to the present. No more Cell, no more Alcatraz, just Pac and Cellbit dealing with the aftermath of Richarlyson and Mike vanishing and Forever being drugged.

Because I'm changing the narrative of the song, I'm also changing the tone. This time, the offer of safety in the presence of an old enemy isn't an empty promise. Time has changed both of them, and now Cellbit and Pac are both prey and predators (if we continue the analogy of the song). They're at the mercy of the Federation, but they know they can rely on one another in a way they weren't able to before, and together they can somehow find a way to overcome this latest hardship. I like the idea of leaving things on a hopeful / positive note, especially since we know these characters eventually become good friends and even family in the QSMP universe.

ANYWAYS! Those are my thoughts. There's a lot more I could say about this (and a lot lot more I could say about Pac and Cell / Cellbit) but I'm very tired and I think this covers the jist of things (though I may go back and edit things tomorrow). Obligatory disclaimer that I'm trying my best out here vis-a-vis the Fuga Impossível lore, but if I missed the mark on any of that, please know it is solely because I can't speak a lick of Portuguese lmao. I'm always reevaluating and updating my interpretation of characters and stories based on every new bit of information I get, so I might revisit this thought again some time in the future. Cheers.

#i talk #qsmp talk #Idk the dynamic between Cellbit and Pac is so interesting to me #I'm really glad that they both seem to be healing now. #Nothing like a little bit of new trauma to wash away a bit of the old trauma #warning that this got VERY ramble-y this is not nearly as cohesive or eloquent as my usual analysis posts #I actually am still chipping away at that Animations Family animatic #but ya boy got a broken tablet so progress is slow