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Liam Ferohn-Gau ([personal profile] endoftheuniverse) wrote2017-01-21 09:21 pm

[Crafting backstory: DLC-inspired headcanon]



In this page, I explain the "Liam was a lost princess" headcanon, which is inspired by the fanon consensus, demonstrating that I, at least, am not the only person who had this reading and am not completely delusional.

So, fuck it.

Here we go, friends.

--

Liam was renamed by Shaman, his mentor and vaguely paternal figure. We don't know what Liam's old (last) name was or if he even had one, but we do know that the title of Liam Ferohn-Gau was given to him to make up for that.

Why was Liam renamed? Well, maybe there's a good reason he needed to choose a new name. A couple good reasons, even. Here's one theory:

Part One: The dialogue that started it all

Liam: "If you were born in a different place and time,"
Liam: "If you didn't have to fight for anything, what would you have wanted to be?"
...
Liam: "What about you, Sarah?"
Sarah: "I don't know..."
Sarah: "I really liked being a psychiatrist, but I felt like I wasn't being challenged, so I joined Everdusk..."
Sarah: "Then there were too many challenges so I became a warrior, though I haven't been in real combat yet."
Sarah: "But what I truly wanted to be as a kid was..."
Sarah: "Gods, this is shameful..."
Jack: "Spit it."
Sarah: "Forget it, it's not even a profession."
Donald: "A princess! She always wanted to be a fairy tale princess!"
Sarah: "Donald! Don't be an asshole."
Donald: "Sorry... I..."
Sarah: "Yeah, I was obsessed with marrying a prince and living in a cute fucking castle."
Liam: "Well, that seems pretty normal in a little girl..."
Donald: "Obsessed about it until she was 15. "
Liam: "Yikes."
Sarah: "I'm going to kill you, Donald."
Sarah: "But yes, and when I was 17 I realized there was something wrong with me."
Sarah: "So that's why I took up psychiatry."
Liam: "Well, in just your specific case, I'm glad you didn't achieve your dreams."
Liam: "Being a princess is totally overrated."


Liam says "totally overrated" as though he knows firsthand that this is the case. It’s odd for a revolutionary like Liam, who is anti-corporation to the point of being a Robin Hood-like figure in his youth, to make a statement like that without firsthand knowledge - further, he says princess specifically.

Let's assume, for a moment, that Liam was nobility. Maybe he had a sister? Well, this is actually not true, as Liam only had younger brothers:

Liam: "It looks like they respect him. You can use that to your advantage.",
Liam: "Any action performed to him will surely affect the group in a greater way.",
Abraham: "It sounds like you've done this before.",
Liam:"Ha ha... Let's just say I had too many little brothers.",

So begins a collection of Liam being weirdly evasive about his past. More on this in Part Two.

There's also this part in the same "what would you have wanted to be" conversation:

Paul: "Your turn, Liam."
Liam: "I don't know..."
Liam: "I'm pretty fucked up, I couldn't do with a calm life..."
Liam: "I'd probably end up looking for whatever conflict I could find, I'd pick a side, and I'd try to solve it."
Liam: "For me, it was like that before I started the revolution. I guess I'm completely hopeless."

Note that it's interesting that Liam says he did that sort of thing before he became the face of the revolution, which he did when he was still a teenager.

As well, in the (admittedly non-canon) comic, when he talks with a close friend about why he is disgustingly wealthy, he hesitates to say it out loud and simply says they are due to his "[his] previous... 'activities'...," even while they are discussing committing potential violent crime (ie he's not shy to say that they're going to buy weapons and raise hell against the Federation, but he won't admit out loud why he's sitting on insane amounts of money). Especially interesting considering Liam is noticeably young during this flashback (probably around 18-22 at the most, but likely closer to if not exactly 18, considering 20 years is "half his life" in the DLC, and he'd have to be 50 if he were 22 in the flashback, which is a stretch).

Part Two: Shaman

Jack: "By the way Liam, how did you and Shaman meet?"
Liam: "I thought I told you when you were with Xenolifer."
...
Jack: "So how did you and Shaman meet?"
Liam: "It's a long story. I'll tell you when we make it out of here alive. Deal?"
Jack: "You bet."

Liam is hesitant to tell Jack his history, and brushes him off twice, even saying that he will only tell him when they make it out alive (knowing that the climb will very likely be fatal). From a meta perspective, the author probably wants the reader to draw their own conclusions, but from an IC perspective, Liam seems very evasive and does not want to share his history so easily.

Part Three: A Shadow from so far away

While Liam is undergoing his psychotic break, he shares this:

Liam: "My true self is still trapped at the bottom of that tech-hive world."
Liam: "Hungry for power, a thrillseeker. Lost like a comet traversing the void."
Liam: "Shining without a purpose."
Liam: "Shaman gave me one, but..."
Liam: "Will my desires ever truly be my own?"
Liam: "Is there anything I really want?"
...
Liam: "It's been so long, my past seems like nothing but a shadow from so far away...",

Considering Liam's history as a revolutionary has been pretty cohesive- starting around 15 and continuing to when he was 46 - it's compelling that he mentions his past before he met Abraham and Shaman seems like a just shadow to him.

Interestingly, Liam uses the words "trapped" here, and then goes on to explain that Shaman gave his life purpose (freed him from his trap, perhaps?). Liam says he was trapped at "the bottom" of the hive. If you think of a round planet, the "bottom" would be the core. This is also where Queen bees are found in a beehive, which completes the metaphor of Liam's planet being a human hive colony.

The statement is also coupled with the fact that he wanted real power from a very young age, which would not be a surprising statement for the heir to the throne of the glorified broodmare that is the Hive Queen, who is expected to raise heirs that marry into and control the aristocracy of other sectors. Especially unsurprising when you remember that all of Liam's siblings are male and younger than him, and thus wouldn't be subject to the same expectations. Is being a princess totally overrated, yet?

Part Four: I'm a good listener

Jack: "Where do you think Liam comes from?"
Jack: "And why do you think he began this revolution?"
Abraham: "He told me he was from a huge hive-tech planet."
Abraham: "He was a 'speck of dust on a very dirty planet'."
Abraham: "And he came to be some kind of rebel punk who led a big group of youngsters against the big corporations."
Abraham: "That has nothing to do with Xenolifer's current cause, but I guess he always had an appetite for revolution."
Jack: "He told you all of that? Wow, seems like you two got pretty close.",
Abraham: "I'm a good listener.",

In the very first cyberpunk novel, Neuromancer, megacorp leaders are kings and queens, and treated like royalty over their planets. Neuromancer also introduces the concept of neuroimplants and neurohackers (in TRSC, Donovan is even afflicted with exactly the same illness as Case, the main character of Neuromancer), so it seems purposeful that the analogue matches.

Here, Abraham quotes Liam, who says he was once nothing more than a speck of dust on his home planet. This could be seen as evidence against him being royalty, but considering the comment Liam makes of being freed from his trap, it's not unlikely that his rebel punk days were inspired after he ran away (or Shaman helped him escape), which led to him live on the streets with a gang of kids that he came to lead against the very corporation he fled from.

Being a revolutionary aside, it's also interesting that Liam understood that being a princess was "totally overrated" despite living on the streets, at some point in his youth. Considering Liam was a homeless revolutionary who hated the upper class... well, why would it be overrated unless he understood firsthand what it was like? Surely, a golden cage would be hell for a spitfire like Liam.

Part Five: Mothership

Liam runs a Mothership called The Matriarch.

Matriarch, like a Queen. Interesting choice of name for a person raised in a matrolineal aristocratic society. Seems like a hearty “fuck you,” almost.

Yeah that’s the biggest stretch in this list but no single point is meant to be conclusive.

Part Six: The Red Strings Club

In The Red Strings Club, we learn that Larissa has a neuroimplant, and that her neuroimplant is used to regulate her hormones to help with her transition. The subroutine she runs is called a "gender calibrator." This is not considered an unusual feature of the neuroimplant.

Interestingly enough, in GWBW, no other character has a neuroimplant and they seem to be unique to Liam's hive planet. Thus, it's somewhat interesting that he maintains his neuroimplant into his old age in spite of it not being ubiquitous (and thus not as useful), and most importantly, making him immediately identifiable as the war criminal Ferohn-Gau in the Everdusk timeline.

Finally, Liam's neuroimplant is very unique; the other neuroimplants in TRSC are wildly different and come in different colors. Why does this matter? Liam's implant is silver, and is positioned just above his ears, and extends around his head in some illustrations, almost like a crown of laurels would... Sure, that's a bit of a stretch, but it's somewhat interesting!

Part Seven: Word of God

I can't find the link to save my life, but the author wrote that he peppered in a bunch of details about the characters' pasts into the DLC because he knew the fandom would really appreciate it. Deconstructeam has also said not to assume characters are cishet by default.

In conclusion...

So, in summary:

  • Liam was renamed by his mentor/vaguely paternal figure; at the very least, his last name was replaced by a title that effectively serves as his new last name. In his profile in the bonus art, he even retains the name in his old age when the title is no longer true

  • Liam expresses relief that Sarah never achieved her dream of being a princess, and somehow knows enough about the life of a princess to know it is "totally overrated", in spite of having lived in poverty at some point. It seems unlikely that a person who was homeless AND an anti-aristocratic revolutionary would feel some sympathy to royalty unless he understood it.

  • Liam mentions that he used to be in some kind of conflict-resolution related job before he became a revolutionary

  • Liam says he was once "trapped" at the "bottom" of the hive. The deepest part of the hive is where a queen lives.

  • Liam says he was freed from his trap by Shaman, and is very evasive to explain how they actually met.

  • He has a mothership he named The Matriarch

  • Liam maintains his neuroimplant into his old age, in spite of no longer living in the tech hive and in spite of it making him less anonymous

  • The Red Strings Club confirms that neuroimplants like Liam's can and are regularly used to transition

  • Liam's silver neuroimplant is unique to him, extends around his head, and can appear like a crown of laurels if you squint

  • The writer purposefully included hints towards Liam's past



None of these points are sure things. All of this is somewhat tenuous speculation, but overall, there is more evidence to suggest that Liam is trans than evidence to suggest that he is cis; so, without treating cis as the default, I assume that Liam is trans. The writers have also cautioned against assuming everyone is straight and cis, as well.

So. There you have it.

[insert bad Game Theory outro here]

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