Scholastic Forums » The Archival Room

BrownWolf123 · 7/18/2021 11:53 pm

Hiya! This is the thread where I discuss my MB write-ups (I say MB but really they're skewed to SAMB history or overall history cuz that's where my knowledge lies). Besides posting drafts/segments for feedback, I'm also open to discussing research and also might pop in here to share thoughts on findings (aka screaming over my past self). The actual finalized write-ups will be published on r/HobbyDrama tho.

-Prank

BrownWolf123 · 7/19/2021 12:54 am

Okie I actually have the first draft completed but also it's 11 pages long on Google Docs (I think 4000+ words) so I'll probably won't just be pasting the full thing in one go.

I do have to say beforehand that I've changed names for the write-up. I felt more comfortable not using people's actual nicknames/usernames since some still go by them to this day so it just felt polite to do. The only exception to this rule (besides myself) is links which is partially why I'm mainly refraining from links (most hobby drama posts have at least one just for sources, like "this is the shitshow message thread for you to read through", "here's the steam page for the game being discussed", etc). I have a few links planned for specific reasons tho - for this write-up, the only thing linked currently is the Wiki page for CatSpirit the Musical because of its glory.

Anyway for y'all I'll add a key before each post so you can tell who's who. For tonight I'll just share the exposition section + footnotes just so I'll get a feel for pasting/formatting here. I'll do so in another reply, so sorry if I'm doing too many.

-Prank

BrownWolf123 · 7/19/2021 1:21 am

Who's Who:
FelineSoul = CatSpirit

Oh yeah, the title for the write-up is "Scholastic Presents: Stolen Identity, the Musical!"

I uh also just realized I have to censor some words for the rules, so if you see any * that's why.

Disclaimer: The events of our tale begin in the former worst year of 2016, and all parties involved were cringey minors at the time. Despite how dramatic the story may get, know that no one mentioned deserves harassment, and all have since moved on. I will also be renaming all the cast (barring myself), so an extra disclaimer: some of my name substitutes might be names of other users not involved (because there have been so many names on the site).

Exposition
Between the years of 2013 and 2019, there lived a corner of the Internet where young children could gather to discuss their favorite Scholastic books: The 39 Clues, Infinity Ring, Wings of Fire, TombQuest, Shadow House, and many, many miscellaneous. Among these boards was a specific one dedicated to a series started by Brandon Mull (the famous author of Fablehaven) in which each subsequent book would be written by their own different authors. This was the Spirit Animals series: the journey of four chosen ones in the fantasy land of Erdas, where young adolescents have the chance to summon animal companions and fight as child soldiers (yay)! A webgame was set up, promoted by the first book of the series (which even included a special code), and the Greencloak Message Boards were set up.

But if you believe that the little Greencloaks spent the next 6 years fawning over the book characters, reporting game progress, and overall interacting with the franchise, you’d be mistaken. Well...sorta. In actuality, for most of its existence, the Spirit Animals Message Boards (as they would later be rebranded as) served as a hub for young children and growing adolescents to chase whatever trends they wished. Roleplays existed for media that a children’s book company would never promote, including anime and adult-targeted franchises. Fanfictions were written about the board members themselves and the “gangs” of fictional characters they claimed to post along with them. And don’t get me started on the things we were able to slip past moderation (at least when the damn thing wasn’t broken)...

There was one unifying factor that united what would be known as the SAMB. Something that the forumers were not just self-aware of, but were highly proud of: their distinct craziness. And holy * did some crazy * happen.

This is the story of a summer so crazy, we got together to write a musical about it. But first, there are some terms I should introduced you to:

Terminology:
SAMB - the Spirit Animals Message Board. All other boards are similarly abbreviated, although none of the others are relevant for this case. “MB” also obviously stands for “message board”, “MBers” are the users, and “SAMBers” are specifically those active on the SAMB.
Nicknames - a name a user goes by, usually different from their username. I once came across a claim that the practice was started by a friend group of old, very popular users, but I’m currently having difficulty finding surviving evidence of this.
Wars, Conflicts, etc - labels for incidents based on the level of intensity. While today we refer to today’s tale as a “war”, some of the surviving threads call it the “FSC” (FelineSoul Conflict) due to the scale not being fully fleshed out at the time.
Gangs - this briefly makes an appearance, so I’ll include it because this needs context. “Gangs” were groups of media and OC characters that would post alongside a user, usually in other font colors and markdown text to differentiate who was speaking. No, they have no relation to IRL street gangs. I’m behind the name - I was referring to how Fred from Scooby Doo called his friends his “gang” and everybody ran with it.
Ship Wedding - makes a brief appearance but I’ll explain anyway. It’s basically just a wedding held on the forums for a ship (fandom term; relation“ship”), which usually was SAMBer x SAMBer or SAMBer x gang character.

I was originally going to introduce the cast as well, but there are actually many notable faces with spoiler-roles or only minor appearances that I’ll simply name them as we go along.

The final bit to note: these old Scholastic forums have been wiped from the Internet. All that exists are Wiki pages, random Wayback Machine snapshots, and memories. Many threads - including critical ones - were unfortunately not crawled and therefore cannot be peered into even when one has the correct link. There are some details lost to time, and others I will be able to retell in full, depending on the threads that can be looked into. But fear not, my friends - the preserved musical script will be waiting for you at the end!

With that out of the way…

And that's it for now. My writing style for this is a bit of a hybrid between professional and casual; it'll probably be more noticeable in future sections when personal involvement comes in. For future write-up's I'll probably have a standard exposition thing to just copy-paste but it's the first one so I don't mind what I got. I know all the context about what Scholastic is and why the forums exist isn't actually relevant to the story but a lot of Hobby Drama posts go ahead and explain background anyway just for the sake of audience understanding I guess.

Also the irony that I'm changing the names of people in the story about the importance of names is not lost on me. Actually, just a fun fact about some future stuff - I actually found two Ruby's involved here! Idk if one or both changed names later and the Wayback snapshots just caught them with different sigs than when they first posted. I know I came across same users on different threads with changed sigs, like RabbitPaw (which briefly confused me on whether she was Gem or a different Sunshine/Gem).

-Prank

PS I thought the formatting from Google Docs was gonna transfer seamlessly and then I pressed preview and everything turned into a giant word wall and I had to manually re-format everything. That's gonna suck in the future with the quotes and strikethrough text oof.

BrownWolf123 · 7/20/2021 10:20 pm

Sorry for the day or two break; even tho I have the whole draft done I wanted to pace sharing sections. This time I'll share two sections since they're shorter and the trial one after them is longer due to quotes.

And if you're wondering on sources: I got pretty much most of the CatSpirit bio off the wiki page she made on the old wiki, while the tidbit from Feb. 2016 was something I had stumbled upon while browsing Wayback. The thread in question was about the Edge conflict. I basically freaked when I first came across this.

I...also just realized I forgot to share the footnotes too. Oof, I guess I'll share them as we go along.

Who's who:
FelineSoul = CatSpirit
Breezy = Windy

The Rise of Skywalker
According to her self-written Wiki page (which uses multiple pronouns, but for this write-up I’ll stick to she/her as that was what was used in this era), FelineSoul initially joined the part of the site dedicated to The 39 Clues back in 2010. Although based on information about the T39CMB, it was more likely in 2011. Either way, the account she originally held was one she would later lose the password to; so when our heroine joined the Spirit Animals side in 2013, she began with a fresh slate.

What would follow was a pattern of playing the game, quitting for a year, then rediscovery. This would end in 2015 when FelineSoul ventured into the SAMB, made some friends, and decided to stay. It was around spring of that year that she would come up with her FelineSoul nickname.

And if you’re wondering about this chapter’s title: FelineSoul would join in on the fun of adding a “gang” to her posts, among them being Anakin Skywalker. The ship #Catiken would blossom in her mythos, and she soon would take the full name of FelineSoul Skywalker.

Deja Vu, We’ve Been in This Place Before…
Conflicts over newbies taking claimed nicknames were actually already an infamous staple by the time the third major incident - as well as the greatest and lengthiest - rolled around. Just in February of 2016, one such conflict was occurring. On a thread bemoaning the current incident, FelineSoul hopped in to reply:

“I doubt there are any other [FelineSoul] Skywalkers running around. If there is then I have no idea who they are. Although, to be honest, this name came last SPRING, and nobody had it then, so if there are any now, I have a right to argue with them.”

That summer, FelineSoul would get her wish. Given the incomplete state of the archives, I can’t say which exact date things begin. Still, with what I did observe on the snapshots, I can at least estimate that an infamous new user would appear around mid-May. While I can’t locate their introductory post, I was able to locate a thread titled, “Hmm. First order of business: Let People Know I Am [FelineSoul]” but I can’t really confirm it was the first.

All I can say is that this new account would immediately become hostile when denied the name she claimed her “brilliant mind made up!” She would switch her story to claim that her parents used to call her FelineSoul before their tragic death in a car accident, and therefore the already existing FelineSoul should give it up. And like, come on guys, it’s not like anyone would lie on the Internet for pity points, right?

Both sides would remain stubbornly undeterred - the already existing population having experience with this sort of thing and overall getting tired of it. Perhaps this is what led to the “Fakey McGee” name-calling that would begin to sprout up, and the increasingly hostile responses the new user would get on her rapidly growing new threads.1 Fortunately, a nicer name would spring up in reference to the user based on their actual username: Breezy.

Footnotes present:
1 Later threads near the end of the war would mention bully behavior from SAMBers, including some admissions of guilt. And given I’m also one of the users to admit and apologize (despite having no recollection of getting involved - I was seriously surprised to find myself in here!), I’m inclined to believe it’s true.

Oh hey, there is something I was a little confused on. My assumption is that CatSpirit was shipped with Anakin Skywalker, and I'm pretty confident in that, but then I also saw a thread title signed "-Anikin" in user posts and got worried #Catikin was actually SAMBer-SAMBer. The thread in question wasn't saved so I can't see what it was about. What's your thoughts - was my initial assumption right or wrong?

Also actually if you have any additional knowledge on the CatSpirit War not included - or even clarifications to where I had to estimate, such as when Windy first arrived and what her first posts were - that would also be helpful.

-Prank

PS: OH WAIT ACTUALLY if y'all are interested in my complied notes or the thread links/screenshots I got, I can also share those, too. Honestly might share anyway if I get an urge to.

Time · 7/21/2021 1:40 am

To think drama such as this happened back in the forums. How very much so petty indeed.

Still interesting indeed.

When you say archive are you referring to the timeline on the wiki?

BrownWolf123 · 7/21/2021 7:33 am

Time wrote:
To think drama such as this happened back in the forums. How very much so petty indeed.

Still interesting indeed.

When you say archive are you referring to the timeline on the wiki?

Oh the dramatics of CatSpirit War in particular is what got me interested in trying out the write-ups, and then I kept remembering other good tales like the Blizz War and the Apocalypse.

In those specific instances of me saying "archive", I was more leaning towards the Wayback Machine. Although the Wiki's have been useful as well - particularly in being a starting part for facts and helping to fill in gaps.

-Prank

Time · 7/21/2021 11:35 am

Oh yeah, I forgot the wayback machine exists. Though it's only the pages that people manually saved on that place right?

EchoDraws · 7/21/2021 4:31 pm

Tbh I forgot there was actually a lot of drama in the forums XD but to be fair my memory is hazy

BrownWolf123 · 7/22/2021 1:09 am

Time wrote:
Oh yeah, I forgot the wayback machine exists. Though it's only the pages that people manually saved on that place right?

We found out on one Discord server that there were some links randomly saved by Wayback's crawler AI over the years, so there's a whole small collection of varied stuff. Generally it's a coin toss on whether a link will work or not, and sometimes it's only a few pages of a thread and not the full thing.

~~also I legit freaking typed toin coss at first pfptotfdpam~~

-Prank.

BrownWolf123 · 7/22/2021 1:37 am

Okay so this one is the longest section of the whole write-up due to the quotes used, ~~which may not look as nice here due to how the copy-paste messes up the text~~ (nvm I found a neat way to portray 'em). Also because the jury thread was preserved in full on Wayback while most important threads to this point are lost.

Here's the thread if you're interested:
https://web.archive.org/web/20160526084629/http://spiritanimals.scholastic.com/forums/topics/207714

Oh and of course, the who's who is much longer this time:
FelineSoul = CatSpirit // Entrapta = Elektra
Breezy = Windy // Felinebreeze - Catwind
Elm = Tree
Lazuli = Jasper
Hope = Happy
Soapy = Sofi
Aeris = Aerca
Magari = Mayari
Crunchy Roll = Creamytroll
Aria = Aurelia
Tootsie = Hootsie
Lucario = Lutari
Gold = Yellow
Emma = Emerald
Lioness = Tigress
Rosie Party = Ruby (CatParty)
Satellite = Star
Alfie = Alpha
Lansbie = Angie // Lanie = Angel
Clever Rosie = Ruby (CleverRuby)

Breezy v FelineSoul (2016)
However, cooler heads would take over, and user Elm would call the warring sides into a trial thread. Unfortunately the main trial thread is lost; although from its name as well as surviving threads and wikis, we can see some who were intended to be involved:

Lazuli and Hope were called to represent FelineSoul, while Soapy was Breezy’s lawyer (although confusingly she was selected as part of the jury as well, at least until this was noticed and rectified). The jurors included Aeris, Magari, Crunchy Roll, Aria, Tootsie, Lucario, Gold, Emma, Lioness, Rosie Party, Satellite (stepping in for Alfie, although he ended up showing up and voting anyway so that’s a point of confusion), and Lansbie (filling in a spot when they realized they accidentally put Soapy in the jury).

As mentioned before, the main trial thread is lost, and therefore the discussions and lawyer arguments are lost to time. However, FelineSoul would request a clean thread for the actual jury vote (potentially due to continuous outside opinions being offered outside of the lawyers and jury), which was granted. This jury thread is available to us in full, and Aeris was even kind enough to issue occasional status updates.

Aeris’ official statement, which also provides insight into the lost trial thread:

“I've reached a decision. I think that [FelineSoul] should take the nickname because of her MB age. I have several reasons to support that.

1. If someone just walked into the SAMB and said their name was going to be [Aeris] and that they would fight for the nickname no matter what, I would probably be pretty upset. If you've had a name for a long time, you should be able to keep it. Someone who is very young in terms of their MBirthday, in my opinion, shouldn' be stealing the name.

2. We don't now a lot about [Breezy’s] real life and past. We have no idea if the bit about her parents is true, nor do we know if [Breezy] is really a new SAMBer or a 1st, 2nd, or 3rd gen coming to mess things up.

3. [FelineSoul] has proven herself worthy thoughout the trial. Even though she has voiced her nervouness, she stated three very valid reasons why she should keep her name. [Breezy], however, has been acting a little too fearless and arrogant throughout. This seems like unnatural behavior, and, although it is not confirmed, she could have done something to [Elm] via magical or other means. This is just my little hypothesis, I've probably just read too many fantasy books and [Elm]/[Breezy] are fine.

4. [FelineSoul] doesn't want to revert to [Ellie], even though it is her backup name. [FelineSoul] has voiced the opinion that it's called a backup name for a reason, and that she would not revert to [Ellie] permanetly. I can understand that - once again, if I had made an alternate name to use sometimes, I would not want to revert to it permanently.

I'm sorry, [Breezy]. I'm sure you can find another nice nickname. There's plenty out there. In fact, your username still isn't taken - [Felinebreeze] is a beautiful name.”

Aeris’ last jury summary:

“Juror [Aeris]: [FelineSoul] should take the nickname.

Juror [Magari]: [Breezy] should change her name and let [FelineSoul] have the name.

Juror ~~[Soapy]~~ [Lansbie]: [Breezy] should get the nickname.

Juror [Crunchy Roll]:

Juror [Aria]: [Breezy] should change her nickname and let [FelineSoul] have the name.

Juror [Tootsie]: ~~-waiting on lawyers-~~ [FelineSoul] should have the name. [FelineSoul] has no claim to the name [PhelineSoul].

Juror [Lucario]:

Juror [Gold]: Let [FelineSoul] take the nickname.

Juror [Emma]: Let both keep the name, but have [Breezy] change something ([Phelinesoul] or [Soulfeline])

Juror [Lioness]: Let ~~[Breezy]~~ [FelineSoul] have the nickname.

Juror [Alfie]: Let them both keep the name, change something in one ([Felinesoul/FELINESOUL]) to differentiate

Juror [Rosie Party]: Find something to separate the names, let both keep the names

Judge [Elm]: [FelineSoul] should take on the [“Ph”] and [PhelineSoul] because if she has a similar name to her gang member, that would be OK as opposed to someone else having a similar name.

Now just [Crunchy Roll] and [Lucario] have yet to give their opinion. Okay. Six out of twelve jurors are in favor of [Entrapta]/[FelineSoul] keep the name. One out of twelve is in favor of [Breezy]/[Felinebreeze] having the name. Three jurors are in favor of finding a solution where both keep the names, with slight differences. And... *thinks for a moment* One out of those three wants [Breezy] to do the slight change. The other two don't care. *writes:*

6/12: [FelineSoul]

1/12: [Breezy]

3/12: Let both keep the name, find something small to distinguish them. {2/3: It doesn't matter who changes their name. 1/3: [Breezy] should make the small change.}

2/12: No answer.”

There would be some thread crashers offering up their opinions as well - including some warnings that this wouldn’t end the fighting - while some jurors had to recast due to not following guidelines (notable example being Rosie Party wanting to not pick a side at first). Now the outcome from here was probably obvious from the beginning - but you might have also noticed that Breezy had minor support on her side as well. I’ll just leave those quotes as insight, as they also summarize the overall attitude/motivations for those who sided with Breezy during the whole conflict.

Lioness’ initial vote (she would later retract after re-reading evidence):

“Ok
My vote is for... [Breezy]
I voted this way because [Breezy] I believe has better reason for the nickname. However I do believe that she should apologize for not telling us that reason until now. She could have avoided a whole lot of conflict.
I also voted this way because the older generations ought to let the younger ones take their places. And this is supposed to be a fun site for kids not a war zone.”

Lansbie’s vote:

“I vote for [Breezy].

Well, I suppose I should tell why.

Before I begin, no hate to either side. I promise.

So, when I was young and crazy (aka when I joined), I was [Lanie]. As I have stated before, there was this teeny war and it was over. If you don't believe me, check my posts. Anyway, there was a fight, like this. My only wonder is, this is basically the same name. So why is this different?

And then I realized.

I was ‘ignored’, at least in a way. I watched as people heaped praise upon praise to the other [Lanie], and I snapped. Now, believe me, I would not react the same way if it was now. Anyway, the point is: [Breezy] was yelled at;I wasn't. I was ignored.

So, I ask you: Is it better to be yelled at or ignored?

Now, both are pretty bad, if I do say so myself. If put in that situation, I might have acted the same way.

I rest my case.”

Yet the final tally of the official jury votes showed a majority in favor of FelineSoul keeping her nickname. As those on the thread noticed this victory and rejoiced, they also noted the sudden silence of Breezy. Their words suggest she was posting on the thread (of which these were her last posts at the time), but I couldn’t really find her there so it’s possible they were deleted later on by moderators. However, just as suddenly as she appeared, Breezy was now gone with the wind…

Clever Rosie (not to be confused with Rosie Party):

“Maybe she just got all angry when she realized she wasn't going to win. Maybe she was like, ‘IF I CAN'T HAVE THE NICKNAME [FELINESOUL], I'M NOT GOING TO STAY HERE!’”

Fate (the final message of the thread):

“i wish she would stay…”

Yes there really were two Ruby's. Not sure if one changed their nickname to Ruby after the fact or not, but I just find it so funny. Also like how I was able to turn "Katspirit" to "Phelinesoul"? I was so worried that changing names would cause moments like that to break, until I remember f/ph. I might actually right Pheline down for a potential character name or something, that's how proud I am of that pun.

-Prank

Time · 7/22/2021 2:06 am

I haven't read the whole writing yet due to me about to go to bed but wow

I can't believe a... debate? "Court case"? Was done for this. It's both funny and fascinating that this used to be MB life.

Last edited by Time (7/22/2021 2:06 am)

GalaxianExplosion · 7/22/2021 3:42 am

Honestly, name controversies seem very tame in comparison to what I've seen since then. What I would've given for the forums to have stayed in one place.

-Galaxian-

BrownWolf123 · 7/22/2021 8:28 am

Time wrote:
I haven't read the whole writing yet due to me about to go to bed but wow

I can't believe a... debate? "Court case"? Was done for this. It's both funny and fascinating that this used to be MB life.

Yeah I wasn't entirely expecting what I found in the jury thread alone. The people involved really put an effort into it, it makes me a little sad the lawyer's cases are all lost now.

GalaxianExplosion wrote:
Honestly, name controversies seem very tame in comparison to what I've seen since then. What I would've given for the forums to have stayed in one place.

-Galaxian-

I miss old MB life too. There's some SAMB friends I'm still in contact with, but other post-MB places I drifted from as people grew and changed. Although I wouldn't entirely say MB drama in general was tamer. Blizz War is first thing that comes to mind. Apocalypse maybe too? There was also the drama when someone revealed their cancer was fake and they didn't actually die which got...oof-y.

-Prank

GalaxianExplosion · 7/22/2021 5:52 pm

Oh, haha, sorry, I just meant that name controversies seemed tame, but I didn't actually see any in my time. I remember something quite similar to what you said but it was a car accident instead of cancer, and in the meantime they had pretended to be their own (nonexistent) sibling and another user and whatnot...oof-y indeed. Drama wasn't fun, but I do still recall how the forums tended to stick together with a bit of nostalgia. Now it seems like any bit of drama will tear the community's remnants apart, which breaks my heart.

-Galaxian-

BrownWolf123 · 7/24/2021 3:46 am

GalaxianExplosion wrote:
Oh, haha, sorry, I just meant that name controversies seemed tame, but I didn't actually see any in my time. I remember something quite similar to what you said but it was a car accident instead of cancer, and in the meantime they had pretended to be their own (nonexistent) sibling and another user and whatnot...oof-y indeed. Drama wasn't fun, but I do still recall how the forums tended to stick together with a bit of nostalgia. Now it seems like any bit of drama will tear the community's remnants apart, which breaks my heart.

-Galaxian-

Ahh. Yeah this turned out a little crazier than I was initially expecting? But I think I already remembered in advance about how it ended, which accounts for maybe 80% of the craziness of this specific name controversy.

-Prank

BrownWolf123 · 7/24/2021 4:28 am

Another double-section for y'all since I napped most of the day away after my vax. And also because these are short while the one after 'em is longer.

Who's who:
FelineSoul = CatSpirit // Entrapta = Elektra
Breezy = Windy

God This Thing Just Keeps Going
As unwelcome some of the messages were on the jury thread, they were right about one thing: the conflict didn’t end with the jury vote. May would turn into June with multiple incidents popping up regarding Breezy. However, even the Wiki’s cataloging the events admit this was dragged on in the middle with lots of nothing happening in between dramatic plot twists, so this section isn’t too fleshed out (also partially due to incomplete Wayback archives).

All that’s important is:
- FelineSoul temporarily left the SAMB due to her mother’s restrictions, causing Breezy to attempt to use this as an opportunity to stake her claim once again. Notably she potentially sounded rude and tone-deaf while doing so.2
- Breezy impersonated FelineSoul at a ship wedding, which was one of the most controversial points of the war and earned her a lot of backlash.
- Someone claiming to be Breezy’s older sister started posting on the account. She explained that she was the one to make the account, but while vacationing in Russia, her 8 year old tech genius sister hacked into her account and caused all the drama. The SAMBers accepted this.
- Breezy would suddenly reveal that the previous story was all a lie, shocking everybody! And then the conflict renewed again.
- Breezy would go on to claim she actually had split personality disorder and this was the reason she was causing the drama. I’m not really sure what effect this “reveal” had.

The SAMB was caught into a cycle of dramatic peaks within the FelineSoul war, surrounded by stretches of boring agony. This began to take a toll on the SAMBers. Some people decided to depart - at least temporarily - since it was hard to escape the drama. Others would stick around, either making their own “bunker threads” to wait out the storm or offering potential solutions (such as a dance off).

The message of the detractors of the jury thread would ring true: this could only be settled by FelineSoul and Breezy alone. One would have to give in eventually, no matter how stubbornly attached both were to the name. And soon, around late June to early July, one of them had made her final decision.

The Truce
FelineSoul called for a truce. She surrendered the name “FelineSoul” to Breezy, resigning herself to the name Entrapta. This was all to finally end the fighting and allow the SAMB to return to normal.

Of course, this was not entirely a popular decision. For a few days, threads begging FelineSoul to reconsider hit the forums. I myself was apparently included - and I can tell because only my 7th grade self would yell out “[FelineSoul]-chan! Don't even THINK about changing your name!” in a forum title. FelineSoul would apparently reply to these threads - as evident by a Wayback Machine snapshot of her user post page - but of course one can only speculate on what was said because none of the links to them were saved.

In the end, there was nothing anyone could do or say to change this outcome. It was FelineSoul’s choice to make, and she would not be deterred. She would henceforth be known as her back-up nickname, with Breezy officially getting her hands on the FelineSoul title. It was not an ending most were happy with (especially those of us concerned with Breezy’s spoiled behavior and nasty personality), but finally the SAMB could be at peace...

And that’s where the story should end.

Footnotes present:
2 Only “potentially”, as this is my own speculation based on thread titles I can’t access, of which may not even be in response to this specific FelineSoul departure.

So if anyone has any individual info on this middle part (either other incidents not listed or elaboration on incidents mentioned that was left out), that'd be helpful. Especially the "split personality" bit of the saga - both Wiki's only mention that it occurred, but not the reactions, and I couldn't really find any threads 'bout it while maneuvering Wayback.

Also I didn't mention it in the write-up but there's actually mixed info about the claimed age of the tech genius sister. Both Wiki's use 8, but a thread title I found used 6, and I think I found other numbers but can't remember where now or what they were.

I didn't include what ship wedding the impersonation incident took place because A. there's debate on which one since people forgot and B. technically it doesn't matter whose wedding, just that it happened at a wedding (and also it'd be a pain to change a whole ship name).

And yes I legitimately found a thread title declaring a dance-off to solve the CatSpirit War.

-Prank

Time · 7/25/2021 2:16 am

I can't tell anymore if this was serious or not

BrownWolf123 · 7/25/2021 4:59 am

Time wrote:
I can't tell anymore if this was serious or not

In our defense, your honor, we were all like 12-13 at this point. Some even younger.

Also we haven't even reached the craziest part of the whole drama yet.

BrownWolf123 · 7/25/2021 11:41 am

The final post of the draft. So far I haven't changed much since beginning to share with y'all, save for adding "(sic)" in quotes that had spelling mistakes within them like the pros do. Might go back to change Wiki's to Wikis.

Who's Who:
FelineSoul = CatSpirit
Gemshine = Sunshine/Gem
Breezy = Windy
Aeris = Aerca
Peggy = Pegasus
Fro-Pie = Frostpi
Lucario = Lutari
Emma = Emerald

Will the Real FelineSoul Please Stand Up?
Back in May, Gemshine made a theory thread titled: “A few of me have asked me what my theory about [Breezy] is. I'll share it, but...” In it, she offered the crazy thought of, “I don't know how to say this... I'll just go straight out and say it. I think [Breezy] may actually be [FelineSoul].” Responses at the time were actually mixed on this.

Aeris:

“No, [Gemshine]. [FelineSoul] wouldn't spawn a war like this. I know she wuldn't. Sure, that theory could be true, but I don't believe it. [FelineSoul] wouldn't do that. She wouldn't make another person to fight herself. She wouldn't make the SAMB crumble. [FelineSoul] would never do something like that. You can believe that if you want, [Gemshine], but I know that that's not something that [FelineSoul] would do. *unsheaths blue lightsaber*”

Peggy:

“I don't think [FelineSoul] would do a thing like this. It's like [Fro-Pie] and Fluffehwin3. [Fro-Pie] never wanteda war, (AND THERE SHOULDN'T HAVE BEEN) and told us the truth. If [FelineSoul] were [Breezy], she would've told us the truth when it got out of hand.?”

Lucario:

“I've actually been thinking about this, but tried to push it out of my head.
Every now and then I get concerned with the fact that since [FelineSoul] left4, [Breezy] has posted more often.
Its killing me.
Im sure it's false, though.”

Gemshine? Most likely one of her gang characters based on color formatting:

“Okay. She gave me all the details for went she thinks this. But first, I'm going to tell you that she was about 90% sure it is phooey. But she also thinks it may be another MBer doing it.

1. This is the big reason. When [Breezy] impersonated her, she was very accurate on what the posts said with there characters. If this is true, what if [FelineSoul] forgot to switch accounts?

2. Her first post. ‘I'm sure no one else has this name’.

3. Only [FelineSoul] or another experienced MBer would really know much about [FelineSoul’s] families she made.”

Emma:

“I named that theory on my theory page, but I was only kidding.......it could be, but it's a 60-40 chance. 60% it's not, and 40% it is.”

FelineSoul:

“The fact that people think this...

Well, maybe I won't come back tomorrow night to help deal with this conflict.

As if I would ever want to inflict this much pain on myself and the MB.

I'm sticking to WattPad now.

*Walks away*”

In July, FelineSoul confessed to Breezy being her sock puppet.

I don’t need the archives to be complete to tell you there was fallout after this. I can confirm that FelineSoul seemed to disappear a little afterwards, creating a thread in August titled: “Is there a way to calm this down, or do I just have to vanish until everyone's over it? ~[FelineSoul” It was, for lack of a better term, a ****show in this thread. Not only were there those berating FelineSoul - which included some of her previous supporters - fights broke out between SAMBers over conduct within the FelineSoul War and its aftermath. I regret to inform you that I was part of this back and forth, being an unnecessary edgelord while doing so (I didn’t even remember being part of this until finding the intact thread in Wayback, and god I hated reading this).

Now, you’d think this would make FelineSoul persona non grata for the rest of SAMB history. But that’s not actually the case. Despite the infamy of the FelineSoul War and the hurt feelings expressed in her August thread, time would cause moods to cool over and FelineSoul would continue to interact with the forums peacefully until its untimely 2019 demise. I can’t really give you an adequate explanation, other than people moved on and stopped caring, which isn’t entirely a satisfactory end to such a rollercoaster ride.

Although...if I had to add a bit more to that theory, I’d say what helped heal the wounds was how the SAMBers chose to cope with them afterward.

“Wow This is as Dramatic as the Plot of a Musical”
...is what I imagined I said one day. Because apparently I’m the one cited as bringing up the idea?? But I don’t remember that at all?? In all fairness, I also didn’t remember ever dropping in to threads about the conflict, but there I clearly was...It’s also possible the researchers mixed things up - because while I don’t recall getting involved in FelineSoul the Musical, I was the one to conceptualize, cast, and ultimately fail to deliver SAMBilton.

Either way, weeks after the war was officially over, work on a musical based on the events began. Unfortunately, it was never fully completed: two acts were written, but only the first was performed in-thread and saved. This act was later revised within one of the SAMB Wiki’s. I shall simply end the write-up with the link to this musical, so you may enjoy it for yourself:

FelineSoul the Musical: https://scholastic-forums.fandom.com/wiki/CatSpirit%E2%80%94The_Musical (note: of course the actual nicknames/users of people are present; it should be easy to figure out the who’s who, but please refrain from mentioning these names in comments and remember to look not touch)

Footnotes present:
3 Not renaming Fluffehwin because if I remember it correctly, it was an obvious “villain” account that’s more a character than a person so I’m more comfortable with just naming it.

4 As a previous footnote mentioned, there apparently were multiple FelineSoul departures throughout the conflict, which only makes reconstructing the timeline a bit more difficult without consistent dating of posts.

And that's the end of the CatSpirit War draft. I'll let it sit for like awhile before officially posting to r/HobbyDrama, just to let people catch up and offer thoughts.

Oh! I do have some questions:
Was the timeline of events coherent and easy to follow in this write-up?
Do you think a non-MBer would be able to read this and understand? If not, what do you think could be changed to help?

-Prank

Time · 7/26/2021 12:17 am

I love the *walks away* part

And that it has a musical too.

For the questions, I'll probably have to reread it and think of it

BrownWolf123 · 7/26/2021 8:03 am

Time wrote:
I love the *walks away* part

And that it has a musical too.

For the questions, I'll probably have to reread it and think of it

For me, it'd have to be "*unsheaths blue lightsaber*" because of how just random and out of nowhere it is.Idk what it's supposed to mean or imply, and honestly it's entirely accurate to how we used to communicate back then.

-Prank

Time · 7/26/2021 10:43 am

Wait, can you even unsheath a lightsaber? A lightsaber has no blade to sheath when deactivated

Is the lightsaber even mentioned/used after that?

BrownWolf123 · 7/27/2021 3:12 am

Time wrote:
Wait, can you even unsheath a lightsaber? A lightsaber has no blade to sheath when deactivated

Is the lightsaber even mentioned/used after that?

You know what, you got a point.

Also nope.

BrownWolf123 · 8/02/2021 5:23 pm

Alright, so I have an update on the project. I'm gonna go ahead with publishing to r/HobbyDrama with the current version, with only minor edits for spelling, grammar, and formatting. Although since I have a doctor's appointment this afternoon, it most likely will not be today, but at least sometime this week. Formatting on Reddit is a bit different to this site and Google Docs, so I might need a bit of time to play around with it before sending. I'll notify when it goes live.

As for future write-ups, I'll be using this thread more often for them. I already had the CatSpirit War write-up basically done before posting here, but for future write-up's I'll be able to share segments as I write them, so I can gauge reactions and feedback alongside writing rather than after the fact.

I'll go ahead and say now that I've planned for awhile for the next write-up to be the Blizz War (since I had a moment of involvement during the "SAMB refugees in IRMB" phase of the war that I have never forgotten, and also since it's pretty high in the dramatics like the CS War). I actually already have a middle segment done (the aforementioned moment of my involvement), but lemme know if it's more preferable for segment drafts to be shared in order of appearance for clarity or if it shouldn't matter since the main purpose is for beta-reading.

-Prank

BrownWolf123 · 8/05/2021 7:01 pm

Major update! I've published the write-up (with some slight changes to this version) on r/HobbyDrama. https://www.reddit.com/r/HobbyDrama/comments/oytzqd/forums_scholastic_presents_stolen_identity_the/

One important change: I noticed I unintentionally made two replacement names for CatSpirit's "Elektra" back-up name, so I swapped out the "Entrapta" ones to just "Ellie".

-Prank