ALTERNATE LOG 14: SUBJECT A1422MW / 05MWCC / 29MWM - Shelter

Recently, we have found that Shelter’s log has contained information crossing over from different timelines - or perhaps just entirely false information altogether. The Otherside Initiative tries to preserve the alternates in the truest form possible, which is why we are updating Shelter’s log. In addition to removing any fiction from our fact, we’ve identified entirely new information altogether - we hope you find it interesting.

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GIVEN DESCRIPTION: From the minds of two musicians, and some wild technology added to some scrap parts, comes a robot called Shelter! They're a newcomer to this whole thing, accidentally crashing into the tournament whilst in search of those who created it, unaware of Chair's league of epic bosses. Whilst Shelter's here, they plan to make some sick mashups and cheer the contestants on! They've a long way forward, so trust in them until they're gone, ok?

RESEARCH NOTES:
Subject A1422MW - also known as Shelter - is an original character made for Mashup Week based on the titular song made by Porter Robison and Madeon. Comparisons can be made with another character - Omega Soundcloud - as both are original characters who are somewhat based on specific circumstances surrounding Mashup Week’s tracks themselves, and are also music-based creations. They can be loosely described as a robot, with several parts of floating metal connected together by advanced anti-gravity metal technology. The face bears the design of the logo for the collaboration between the two artists, and the other metal parts are much thinner, apart from the two hands - the left based on Worlds, the right based on Shelter Live. The faceplate acts as a semi-solid screen, similar to the tablet that Rin has during the Shelter music video, and they’re able to create solid light projections, pushing and pulling their creations from the screen. This is due, in part, to the reason for their existence - that being an experimental visuals system for the Shelter Live Tour inspired by the music video itself that is in turn given life. Once the tour ends, the three all go their separate ways, which is where Shelter comes across The Weekyard, and, in turn, Mashup Week.

MASHUP WEEK
Fans of Mashup Week may have noticed the use of Madeon and Porter Robinson’s songs during its run, despite no character having a source that would allow them to pull it. Of course, this is a result of Mashup Week’s common use of offsources, which were generally deemed more acceptable at the time of its release. Shelter itself appears in six tracks, but Madeon and Porter Robinson’s songs appear a further eight times across the tournament. As a result of this, when it came to submitting bosses for WR3, Shelter was submitted, and was quickly accepted due to the fact that many people working on the tournament enjoyed making tracks featuring Madeon and Porter Robinson’s discographies. K/DA Akali, whilst submitted in this timeline, was almost immediately passed over once Shelter was a possible candidate, and even if she does have a track or two in this universe, she does not have the - admittedly, minimal - role she has in ours, and is reduced to a bonus. As a result, Akali is announced to not be returning to Mashup Week: Megamix at all alongside Eustace Bagge, and Draculoaf.

Unlike all other bosses in Mashup Week, Shelter is not hired by Cici as part of her Epic League of Bosses, and instead simply appears as a random encounter of sorts after K/DA Akali fails to turn up - even if they functionally act as a boss. After a run-in with Lord Farquaad and Neil Cicierega, this quickly turns into a fight, where Shelter, thinking fast, pulls a gun from their screen and blindly fires it. In this timeline, this is the canon reason for why Lord Farquaad’s alternate costume features him as a ghost. Fortunately, he made a full recovery by the end of the tournament. Finding the Weekyard Hotel suitable for them, Shelter decides to stay there, until Garfield breaks in, and Shelter - despite not being hired by Cici in the first place - is possessed. Their sendoff lore addresses their creators more directly, as well as Cici, thanking her for letting them stay. Shelter leaves, determined to find the pair, leaving a final track as a gift to the tournament, contestants, and fellow bosses alike.

On an unrelated note, Mashup Week’s results have been heavily changed from those in the original timeline. The most prominent examples of this may be the results for WR1M6 - Heavy Weapons Guy vs Mettaton EX - have been changed, as have those for WR2M2 - Geico Gaming vs Neil Cicierega. The running theory we’re working with as a result of this is that the existence of rigging hardly has an impact on the full course of the tournament, or it might simply not exist at all - perhaps as a result of the use of Google Forms from the first round, although this is simply a theory. Either way, Neil Cicierega wins against Lord Farquaad in WR3 with ease, whereas the popularity of the Undertale soundtrack within the community means that Mettaton EX doesn’t just make it past the first round in this timeline, but ends up making it all the way to Grand Finals. Regardless, it appears Scott The Woz, the canonical winner of Mashup Week in our universe, also wins in this universe, as well. Neil Cicierega and Mettaton EX’s consolation prizes are a Cabinet Man fusion collab, and a Death By Glamour fusion collab. Shelter returns for Scott The Week, and the track known as “Maddeneon” has been transformed into a fully-fledged dual track between Scott and Shelter, as opposed to being simply built around a single offsource.

Even if Scott The Woz still wins Mashup Week in this timeline, of course, two of the three finalists being swapped means that there are further bracket changes to talk about. Billie Eilish, bizarrely, given her popularity in our universe, deals two stomps in a row to Heavy Weapons Guy and Geico Gaming, at 22.22% and 15.99%, respectively. Of course, the irony is not lost on us, Heavy Weapons Guy’s final percentage can be seen as a cruel reference to the common internet in-joke that Valve can't count to three, whereas Geico Gaming’s percentage plays out as it does in our timeline - it is only fitting for the company whose tagline includes “fifteen minutes or more” gets roughly 15% in their final match.

Interestingly, it seems the strangely removed LR4 does return in this timeline due to backlash after Lord Farquaad and Hat Kid lost, although the dropdowns barely matter, serving as a round that could almost be described as “filler”, due to it being incredibly obvious what the results of both matches would be. From there, both Scott and Billie make it to Losers Finals, the rematch holding the same results as it did back in WR1. Further unexplained differences in the bracket exist, with the results of LR1M2 - Kesha VS Quad City Barkley - and LR2M1 - Filthy Frank VS Herobrine - being swapped.

Because of all of these changes, there are several miscellaneous differences with the tournament, too. “Mouth Mollusk” has been reduced to a smaller dual between Neil Cicierega and Snail-Chan, whereas “Bad Snail” has been made into a full match track, with additional versions existing for the Mashup Week Ultimate Rave - as part of Oreceler Fest 2020 - and Remix Week. Furthermore, “It’s Bad, Baby! DX (Song Of The Year Edition) - first released in Scott The Week - exists in this timeline as one of the two match tracks for Losers Finals, and “Scott The What” is somehow pushed all the way back to Scott The Week, although “Wii Phone” is released as a usual post-tournament dual. Secondly, the order the sendoff tracks were posted has been shifted to account for the new results. The list is as follows:

1. Later, All! [Scott The Woz]
2. The Finish Line [Neil Cicierega]
3. DARE THE FUNKIEST ROBOT STAR [Mettaton EX]
4. goodbye, i love you [Billie Eilish]
5. An All Star’s Saddened Sleep [Lord Farquaad]
6. Hats Off To You, Kid! [Hat Kid]
7. One Last Adventure [Snail-Chan]
8. FRANCIS OF THE FILTH [Filthy Frank]
9. Final Tran$action [Kesha]
10. Cadillac Memory [Geico Gaming]
11. Retiring Is Scary [RayWilliamJohnson]
12. Nostalgia Trip [Herobrine]
13. Eric Worldwide [Flat Eric]
14. Tetris Type RED [Heavy Weapons Guy]
15. 世界の終わり!「Final Roundabout」[DIO Brando]
16. Your Mother Got Dunked On!!!!!! [Quad City Barkley]

Aside from what’s related to Shelter’s existence, Mashup Week’s lore more or less plays out in the same way that it does in our universe, only slightly edited to account for the changes previously described. There is a small arc where Cici begins to feel guilt over sending out bosses to fight Billie, only for it to be transformed into rage when Scott beats her once again. WR3M1 - Lord Farquaad VS Neil Cicierega - wraps up old lore, where Neil meets Farquaad for the first time. As a result of the existence of LR4, the lore with Lord Farquaad and Hat Kid meeting with Garfield is dramatically pushed forward. Interestingly, it seems the two left from the Winners Bracket are also forced into the Jamension once Garfield takes over, providing an explanation for - one - why Neil and Mettaton are using their alternate costumes, and - two - why Neil still needs Bill Cipher’s help to escape the Jamension, even if he never lost a match in order to fall there in the first place.

MASHUP WEEK: COUCH CRISIS
Interestingly, the cancelled Mashup Week: Couch Crisis - an eight-contestant, single-elimination bracket featuring all of the main bracket bosses - has been fully realised into a full tournament, slotting right in between Scott The Week, and Megamix’s reveal. As a result, Scatman and Hatman are not submitted towards the Megamix Newcomer Poll, as are any other bosses, as the prize for winning Couch Crisis - aside from the titular couch itself - is a guaranteed character slot for Megamix. However, this is shown to have not meant much in the end, as Omega Soundclown - as Forum Freakshow - Baba and Scoops - as Club Bangers - Scatman and Hatman, and Shelter, all make it into the main Mashup Week: Megamix roster through various means. Coincidentally, these four also make up Couch Crisis’ semi-finalists, with Shelter and Omega Soundclown moving onto grand finals, and then Shelter standing as the lone winner. The round one bracket is as follows:

M1: SPINEL vs SHELTER
M2: SCATMAN AND HATMAN vs TONY STARK
M3: SUSIE vs BABA AND SCOOPS
M4: COMMANDER TARTAR vs OMEGA SOUNDCLOWN

As the winner of Couch Crisis, Shelter is immediately announced alongside the other veterans to be returning for Mashup Week: Megamix.

MASHUP WEEK: MEGAMIX
In this timeline, due to being guaranteed a slot, there was a lot of debate on what to make Shelter’s buff for the sequel. Namely, this involved whether to focus on one of the artists, or involve them both, or perhaps bringing in a whole other character altogether - before Forum Freakshow was submitted, there were even plans to team Shelter up with Omega Soundclown, due to the several similarities between the two, alongside the fact that they were Couch Crisis’ finalists. However, the Mashup Week: Megamix backroom quickly settled on a buff once 12122017 - the basis for MAD/EON - was released. The EP already found some use during Couch Crisis, as it was released practically right as Couch Crisis was starting, with musicians rushing to put it in their tracks for the character, but this was a golden opportunity to utilise it more.

The resulting teamup of Shelter, based on Shelter (Madeon’s Evil Edit), and MAD/EON - known as The Silent - was also released through the TWENTY NINE alternate reality game, although its contents have been slightly changed. Its lore is split between MAD/EON’s original commentary, and Shelter’s desperate efforts as they journey towards finding what is left of their other creator which they have, so far, been unable to. Even if Shelter becomes physically corrupted in the process, their personality provides a contrast to MAD/EON's own, showing an eagerness to bond with their creator, whereas MAD/EON seems ambivalent at best to Shelter, seeing them as representative of a time long gone that too has been corrupted in his inability to recreate his past efforts. Their sourcelist is as follows:

THE SILENT
- Songs by Madeon, Porter Robinson & their collaborators/associated acts.
- Songs in the Industrial, Dark Techno & IDM genres.
- Songs related to ARGs and virtual realities/worlds.
- Songs related to creative struggles and Greek mythology.

However, due to the overlap that now exists between the two, and the somewhat negative reception as a result of this, the Mashup Week: Megamix backroom believed it fit to rework Snailiens to fit. Head Chef Heavy does not exist in this timeline, with a different buff being released instead of Volskaya Co., allowing for the Snailiens rework to, coincidentally, also be food-themed. The sourcelists for the Snailiens and Head Chef Heavy replacements are as follows:

SNAIL’S PATISSERIE
- Songs by Snail’s House, their collaborators, & (Kawaii) Future Bass artists.
- Songs by Kero Kero Bonito, their collaborators & Bitpop artists.
- Songs by HAL Laboratory properties.
- Songs related to space/aliens & foodstuffs/drinks.

BRASS BEASTS
- Songs from Valve Properties, fan content & comic books.
- Songs featured in first person & class based shooters, or related to guns.
- Songs related to Eastern European, Slavic & Australian cultures & artists.
- Songs by Huey Lewis and The News, & Pop Rock artists.

This new buff, based on the Kirby Café, proved to be extremely popular, causing several bracket changes in the meantime. Strangely, the character order, and nothing else has been changed for WR1M1, and WR1M2 - now being Tyler and The Grinch VS Black Mamba Farquaad, and Hot Ones VS Lofi Girl - but the results have somehow flipped entirely. We can’t find any reason to how this could’ve happened, as the only difference between the two matches is the order of the characters themselves flipping.

On a minor note, due to The Silent making it to WR2, being interviewed alongside Ruler of Everything, a joke that comes up in their interview is the strange, unexplained existence of a fifth couch in the interview room. It is, of course, the couch that Shelter won as a result of their victory in Couch Crisis.

Speaking of WR2M6 - The Silent VS Ruler of Everything - it is a match that can simply be described as… significant. The preexisting lore with Juno follows on as it does in our timeline, but following their exile, Ruler of Everything seems to realise the reality of the situation they find themselves in, with Shelter being an anomaly that shouldn’t exist. We believe this to be the first instance of a character aside from the alternate themselves becoming aware of the Otherside Initiative. Curiously, this version of the lore has only presented itself to us once, as repeated viewings of the WR2M6 lore have it proceeding as normal, with no mention of the Otherside Initiative. This is an event that surely should be heavily detrimental - perhaps even fatal - to a timeline as a whole, and yet, Shelter’s timeline perseveres, potentially held up under several pairs of mechanical hands. We would like to bring all three in for questioning at some point, but due to its stability, we are finding it very hard to find an excuse to do so.

The Silent won against Ruler of Everything in Mashup Week: Megamix’s very first tie, through mere minutes of a lead.

EVIDENCE LOG:
- MASHUP WEEK FINAL BRACKET [https://images2.imgbox.com/da/18/DbInww51_o.png]
- MASHUP WEEK: COUCH CRISIS FINAL BRACKET [https://images2.imgbox.com/1e/6b/NZP0hjCB_o.png]
- MASHUP WEEK: MEGAMIX LR2 BRACKET [https://images2.imgbox.com/38/82/t7qO67Ic_o.png]