Work Text:
Q1: *What was Artful's favorite subject in school?
A1: Artful's Favorite subject was always Math, purely because he had a great teacher that spent extra time working with him to figure it out, and never made him feel stupid or like he was falling behind.
Q2: *What did Artful do before becoming a magician?
A2: Artful originally was planning on working with his parents to take over their family business, that primarily worked in construction, He was originally planning on just doing something simple, but one thing lead to another and he ended up with an Engineering Degree.
Q3: *Does Artful have a favorite thing he owns?
AO3: Other than all of the sentimental Mementos he has from his family, pictures, books, other knick-knacks of that sort, his absolute most treasured gift he ever got was a Stuffed Teddy Bear from his own self-titled #1 Fan, it was fairly early on into his magician job, and really cemented that he could be an inspiration for people.
Q4: *Does Artful have any siblings?
A4: Artful is canonically the Youngest sibling in his family, he has 2 older brothers.
Q5: Would Artful be a good father?
A5: Surprisingly, Yes, Artful while he is primarily an entertainer, when he takes things slow he's very affectionate and caring.
Q6: *Does Artful have a crew to help with his show?
A6: Artful runs his shows mostly on his own, occasionally asking some people to assist him in setting up, but he never really had a "team" to assist him, if he ever reached the status of "Artistry" then he likely would, but until then he's mostly a solo act.
Q7: *What kind of hair did Artful have?
A7: Artful had very long shiny black hair, but cut it all off because it kept getting in his face when trying to perform, he didn't really have any specific way to style it, other than combing it back to be all formal.
Q8: *What drinks does Artful enjoy?
A8: Artful enjoys most beverages, though he is also a fine wine enjoyer, due to his family being rather rich and indulging in it rather frequently, though Artful was never as into it as his Parents or Siblings were.
Q9: What kind of voice does Artful have?
A9: Artful's voice is much more suave and smooth, not quite deep, but it's very well established. I don't exactly have any examples off the top of my head for you to help it be more specific, I apologize.
Q10: *Does Artful enjoy Art?
A10: Artful enjoys art quite a lot, again coming from a rich family, they had a lot of finely made artwork and statues placed around their home. And while he never expects to get any fanart or anything, he has a room in his house that he stores all of the gifts (fanart, toys, other items) that he's gotten from fans, he cherishes every single trinket he gets from his fans dearly.
Q11: Does Artful make his own music?
A11: Artful DOES make all of his own music, partially made via his magic. While none of the other skins are canon (other than builder) I'd say you likely could say that each one has made their own theme. Swapful specifically probably isn't a preformer, and is more likely a body-swapping criminal, nigh impossible to correctly capture due to their ability to become somebody else at the drop of a hat.
Q12: *What languages can Artful speak?
A12: Artful is able to speak both French AND English, with French being his first learned language, but as he learned and adapted to speaking English to reach a larger audience, primarily speaks English, with a French accent!
Q13: *Does Artful's family attend his shows?
A13: Artful's family attends them on occasion, Artful frequently travels, so they can't go to every single one. His Mother and Brothers always get a good kick out of them, but Artful's Father think it's pathetic and a waste of his time (though, he does reconize the money Artful earns, and that typically quiets him down from speaking his mind.) While His Father and Brothers really wished that Artful would join them in the Family Business, Artful's Mother was fully supportive of his decission seeing how happy it made him, and over time his two brothers decided the same.
Q14: *Does Artful like to watch TV? Or musicals?
A14: I don't particularly know any specificilly that Artful would watch (I don't really watch TV that often, so I'm not very knowledgeable on them), but I imagine Artful would enjoy watching cheesy romance shows every now and then (this also puts the image of artful leaning forward in his chair and going "OH NO HE DIDN'T!" during a climax of the story when the main couple breaks up, and that puts a goofy smile on my face :>
Like shows, I'm not entirely familiar with Musicals, only really seeing two in my entire life, but I think Artful would be a fan of Les Misérables (goated musical) [it might also partially be an inspiration for Artful in a few ways... 😁
Q15: *Do Devesto and Artful ever meet?
A15: They don't meet in canon, though if they did, Artful would do his best to get away, not knowing anything about Devesto, and being both intimidated by Devesto's Height, and his desire to hide his guilt.
Q16: *Has Devesto ever attended one of Artful's shows?
A16: Devesto has seen posters for Artful's shows, but was never interested in seeing them, he has no idea he killed the people in his audience.
Q17: *Are there any canon skins? What was the incident at Artful's construction job that led him to get paid leave and allowed him to have time to study magic?
Q17: Builder is canon, though the wood on his face isn't the incident that gave him paid leave, it's simply a design thing so he had a mask like most of his other skins, the incident was him nearly getting Crushed by a building falling down on top of him, he was alright, and only slightly wounded.
Q18: *Does Artful have a bad or good ending?
Q18: Artful already has a full story written out for if he was caught/turns himself in... I won't be telling you here, you'll need to wait for it's full drop, but I think it's sorta beautiful in it's own way. A subversion of expectations if you will.
Q19: *Does Artful have any friends?
A19: Artful was mostly alone, when he wasn't spending time with family or with his fans, he didn't really have anyone, he spent too much time with his magical studies, and has been mostly cut off. Further exemplified after the incident, where Artful had absolutely no one, not even his family.
Q20: How tall is Artful?
A20: Artful is the average human height (I'm using the Human Average as the same for Civilians), so Artful would be 5'9." (at this moment in time, he is the shortest member of the cast.)
Q21: *Do Harken and Artful ever meet?
A21: Artful and Harken do canonically have a Run in, though it's specifics still need some polishing.
Q22: *From a scale of 1-10, how scared would Artful be of Pursuer if he ever met him?
A22: Solid 9.
Q23: What is Artful's favorite food?
A23: Artful's absolute favorite is basically anything with noodles or general pasta, his personal favorite is likely Gnocchi (Noki? Nyoki? however you spell it) Pasta.
Q24: *Does Artful receive gifts from his fans?
A25: Artful actually was gifted his own custom made plushie by his number 1 fan, and he cherishes it. Artful has sold his own merch before, such as the music he uses in his own performances, but he'd probably be surprised to actually see miniature plushies of himself up for sale (especially with how insanely well they've been selling!)
Q25: *Did Artful want to work alone or did he want to have a crew?
A25: Artful had actually been wanting an apprentice or co-host to run shows with, but he ultimately never found the right person to try and teach his magic too. Though, now being a man on the run, this obviously isn't one of his priorities.
Q26: Its mentioned that he stargazes to reflect on what hes done, has he stargazed before this?
A26: He has on occassion, but it's been a lot more frequent since he's been out in the wilderness away from cities or towns, where the stars are a lot more numerous.
Q27: *How would Artful feel if he learned that people still supported him after the incident?
A27: He'd feel absolute disgust and dread, that people support him and defend him even after he slaughtered an entire audience. He hates the feeling, it makes him feel sick to his very core.
Q28: *How does Artful not get his identity figured out?
A28: His identity isn't exactly hidden, so he hides behind clothing he wouldn't normally wear to try and hide himself, making sure not to use the same outfit twice.
Q29: since artful stays/sleeps in the wilderness, would this ALSO imply its possible artful may have encountered pursuer?
A29: It is very possible Artful has had a run in with Pursuer, but that I can neither confirm nor deny at this moment in time.
I will say it IS canon they cross paths with Harken though.
Q30: *Does Artful still wear his outfit while on the run?
A30: Artful puts his accessories back on, not for himself, but because the noticeable white helps others to recognize him, he hopes that keeping himself noticeable, with the public still thinking he's a crazy murder, that they'll run away. If he was just a regular Civilian, others might try to approach and ask if needs help.
Q31: *If Artful had to step off stage, which foot would he place down first?
A31: Right Foot
Q32: What was Artful's school life like?
A32: Artful's school life was rather basic, no real confrontations or fights ever happened.
Q33: *Has Artful done any accidental tricks?
A33: He did pull a rabbit out of his hat once, on complete accident, he didn't know what to do with it, so gave it away to a member in the audience after the show.
Q34: *What was going on in Artful's head before he ran away?
A34: Before he ran, he contemplated himself, he asked himself how he got to this point, a mental breakdown if you will, and with the looming fear of the police or worse being after him, he hasn't had the time to process it like he would have.
Q35: *How does Artful pay?
A35: He always pays in cash, he has enough money on him, and is good enough at scavenging that he has enough to keep him from needing to get more money for quite a while.
Q36: *Does Artful talk with all his fans?
A36: Artful welcomed all of his fans, he typically hosted a meet and greet after his shows to talk with any and all of them. He didn't have much or any security really, as most were hosted in public spaces, atleast before he made it big.
Q37: if artful ever came in contact with his family again, would he end up hurting/killing them like everyone else?
A37: Artful would try to apologize to them while hiding his face, before running away.
Q38: does artful have trouble sleeping at night because of what he did? where would he be staying?
A38: Artful spends most of his time sleeping out in the wilderness, using his magic to construct a little building for himself while he stargazes for a while, he regrets what he did heavily, and is too ashamed to go back and turn himself in, he lives on the run paranoid of those around him.
Q39: how does he get food and basic needs due to being on the run?
A39: He very rarely goes into towns to get more food or water, when he does he simply removes his accessories and blends in, though this is very infrequent, and he spends most of his time just scavenging.
Q40: does he purposefully STILL go out of his way to harm others even after the incident? or is he only focused on staying on the run? (ignoring gameplay)
A40: In lore, Artful only hurt the people at his stage showing, everyone else he doesn't intentionally kill with malice, he just wants to be isolated to prevent himself from hurting anyone else.
Q41: how would artful think of mequot?
A41: Artful would be both very shocked, and equally interested, in his head thinking something along the lines of "there's a familiar energy this guy gives off, but I can't quite recognize what it is."
Q42: if you offered artful 27 hotdogs or 27 burritos, which would he choose.. (very important.. im lying)
A42: Artful hates Hotdogs, he'd happily take the Burritos.
Q43: since artfuls STILL on the run assumingly, has he washed his makeup off yet or does he keep it on?
A43: As stated earlier, he rarely takes off his makeup unless he's absolutely desperate for something to eat or drink, but in all other times he keeps wearing it to make him stand out, and to warn others of him.
Q44: how good quality IS his makeup. (or body paint .. whatever hes using)
A44: Top of the line, Artful actually makes quite a lot of money from his shows and merch he sells, so he can afford it.
Q45: does anyone know the potential Artful has? (Does Artful know? If someone knew how strong he could become, what would they think/do?)
Q45: No one knows, not even Artful himself, he's just continuing to see how far he can push his limits while on the run.
Q46: how would Artful react to someone calling his shows/magic fake?
A46: Artful has had nay-sayers saying its take, but he just laughs it off.
Q47: what is Artful's opinion on magic shows other people preform? (Assuming hes the only one who knows real magic)
A47: He knows that they're fake, but he doesnt feel any malice towards them, seeing as he physically got into his profession from being a fan of them.
Q48: What is Artful's causal wear?
A48: What most civilians wear.
Q49: If each killer was turned into a pastry/sweet treat what would they be?
A49: Truth be told, I'm unsure, I imagine most would just be cookies with different flavors based on their color, Artful would be vanilla, Harken would be lemon lime, etc.
Q50: how would each of the killers react if you called them cute lol
A50: They all likely wouldn't care for it, Artful would react with a light chuckle and brush it off, since he heard it a lot from his fangirls.
Q51: You mentioned that Artful once received paid leave while working as a Builder due to a certain incident. Could you describe what exactly happened during that incident?
A51: It was a light injury where a building they were working on collapsed on top of them Artful managed to get out with only some light injurys, he wasent able to work, but he was on track to make a full recovery.
Q52: Did that "incident", where Artful kill his audiences, leave any trauma on him? (Considering the guilt he felt afterwards)
A52: He feels heavy guilt for what he did, a sense of he abused his power, and did something he knows he wont be able to walk back.
Q53: Does Artful see himself as a confident and talented person, or more as someone who is insecure and sensitive?
A53: He sees himself as Broken, he has this amazing gift that he worked hard for. But at the same time, he feels like he doesn't have a real identity behind his persona, he doesn't truly know what he is.
Q54: What kind of family background was Artful born into? (Is his family wealthy?)
A54: His family was wealthy, but not mega rich, his two brothers got most of the attention when compared to Artful.
Q55: *What happened to the old lore?
A55: Artful killing and stealing a wand from a powerful magician has since been rewritten.
Q56: *Does the magic come from Artful or the wand?
A56: Artful's magical abilities manifest from himself now (has no impact on his "physical traits"), the wand he uses is actually from one of those "Magic Tricks Bonus Packs" you'd buy at the toy aisle from most stores.
Make fun of him all you want but he genuinely knows magic, even if his methods aren't exactly the most simplistic.
Q57: *Does Artful make a lot of money or is Artful broke because he eats take-out a lot?
A57: Artful actually DOES make a sizable amount of money, his shows aren't THAT obscure, he does have loyal fans that attend every show, and his fair share of hecklers, but they end up just giving him more attention, and bringing in a bigger audience.
Though he does spend a large majority of money on Food, he isn't homeless!
Q58: *Does Artful eat animals in the wild?
A58: Artful, while he could use his magic to hunt animals, prefers to just stick to fruits or berries if he can find them.
Q59: *Can Artful tell which berries are poisonous or not?
A59: Artful IS able to determine what types of berries/fruits are/aren't able to be eaten. Though the list is rather short, due to most Berries/Fruits growing on the Continent the story takes place on being non-poisonous.
Q60: *uhhh i can't think of a question
A60: Artful, while he doesn't cook or attempt to make fancy dishes while scavenging, he does atleast do the bare basics of cleaning them and taking sure that he isn't eating anything unsanitary that could get him sick or poisoned.
Q61: *What is Artful's favorite cuisine?
A61: Artful's absolute favorites were Italian Cuisine, specifically anything with good Noodles.
Q62: *Does Artful just scavenge everyday?
A62: Not every day is him scavenging, it's mostly a mix of hunting, practicing, and still trying to cope with what he had done to his audience during the incident. (Every time he tries to improve his magic, he typically things back to the event, and it slows him down drastically.)
Q63: *Is Artful always on the move?
A63: Artful isn't ALWAYS moving, he lingers in some places, but if he notices something that could imply that any other Civilians could be nearby, like trails, roads, houses, anything of that sort, he keeps moving.
Q64: Since artful is canonically a civillian, does he ever get tired of being a killer and takes a break/weekend by blending in as a survivor? If yes, what would his ability be?
A64: Artful would probably run for Bonuspad/Cloak, it doesn't bring much attention towards himself
Q65: *Why did Artful kill his audience out of hatred?
A65: Artful doesn't kill because they hate his show, that was the old lore made by the other guy and is mega outdated, there's a lot of reasons leading to why he killed his audience, and will be explained in the lore document
Q66: *Does anyone smoke in Artful's family?
A66: the only smoker in the fromage family is Artful's father
Q67: hold up, Dialoguing man, how old was Artful before he started pursuing magic tricks as his job?
Q67: roughly 23 years, he was fresh out of college, wanted to work, and shortly into his career of construction his injury happened, leading to him picking up magic tricks
Q68: *What drinks does Artful like? (AUTHOR'S NOTE: ik this is a repeat question and the answer kinda contradicts the previous one, i think this one was answered more recently!)
A68: Drinks huh. Lemme think, He isn't much of a tea person, he also doesn't really like coffee that much either, I believe he enjoys a nice fine wine every once and a while, but only on rare occassions.
Q69: *genuinely don't remember what the question was
Q69: Not really, he got the hat for part of his uniform, he has multiple of the same identical hat in case he loses them (they were on sale)
Q70: *How did Artful's family treat Artful after the incident?
A70: Most of his family likely cut ties with him after what they heard, or asked the authories to capture him so they could speak with him directly, in genuinely shock he'd do such a cruel thing.
Q71: What is Artful's favorite color?
A71: Despite being primarely monochrome for colors, he enjoys a nice vibrant cyan, his favorite color is probably royal blue.
Q72: *Does Artful have friends?
A72: He has, or I should say had friends that he'd go out and do activities with, but never really felt he was "close" with them, constantly feeling like a third wheel only if they needed another person.
Q73: *What is his favorite color? (AUTHOR'S NOTE: presumably a repeat question but slightly different response from dialoguing man)
A73: Artul enjoys pretty much every variation of Blue, and sometimes purple.
Q74: *When does Artful host meet and greets?
A74: He typically hosts little meet and greets after his shows are over, new people are able to come over and talk with him (ever so conviently located next to his giftshop)
Q75: *What is Artful's favorite trick to perform?
A75: He enjoys all of his magic tricks, he doesn't especially have one he prefers over anything else, though his number one favorite trick in general is his ability to create walls, as that was the first REAL magic he preformed, and it proved that his studying finally paid off, that magic WAS a true concept.
Q76: *Does Artful like flowers? What are Artful's favorite flowers?
A76: He enjoys most flowers, Roses, Lilacs, Daisys, pretty much anything colorful are his favorites, even sunflowers.
Q77: *What type of music does Artful like? (AUTHOR'S NOTE: i swear that dialoguing man once said that he liked all genres unless im tripping, i don't have the exact quote for it. okay on second thought i think he was talking about killdroid liking all genres)
A77: He likes more classical and calm music, piano or slow guitars are his personal favorites.
Q78: *Can Artful use other tools to help with using his magic?
A78: Artful *has* experimented with other tools to cast his magic.
While he *is* technically able to use just about anything (granted, some items are easier to use than others), He's found that typically wands are the most straightforward and effective item to use for casting magic
Q79: *Would Artful like any of the other killers?
A79: He really wouldn't be a fan of any of the killers, considering they'd all try to kill him on sight, though his absolute least favorite would be pursuer, because atleast he can hear the other 3 approaching and prepare, pursuer just shows up.
Q80: *dunno what the question couldve been
A80: Artful has two other brothers, alongside his parents, he was somewhat left to the side while his other brothers get all of the attention, so he mostly kept to himself though he'd always had a fascination with Magic, even as a young child, he loved the idea of real magic, and was so heavily disappointed when he learned that they were just tricks... but that's what lead him to keep researching and trying, surely it was real. it HAD to be real.
Q81: *What was Artful's hair like?
A81: Artful's natural hair was smooth and wavy, though ultimately he decided to go bald because his hair kept getting in his face while trying to preform.
Q82: *Has Artful ever been in a relationship?
A82: He's only had two attempts to get into a real relationship, both times he had a strong start, but quickly ran out of things to talk about, so they just ended up staying friends, this was before he got popular/his incident, afterwards he never really tried, and just kept his emotions behind his face mask.
Q83: *What would happen if Artful was caught?
A83: Artful would definitely be executed if he turns himself in or gets caught. Which doesn't happen in canon. But he does canonically have an upbringing in a potential scenario where he does get captured. More on that in the lore drop.
Q84: *Does Artful hate banana peels?
A84: Artful doesn't hate banana peels he was upset they were booing and disrupting his act, which led to him losing his temper and abusing his power for evil
Q85: *What happened to Artful's pet fish, Goldie, after Artful went on the run?
A85: Goldie was released into a pond at a local park, where Goldie had grown at a rapid rate, quickly becoming ruler of the pond.
Q86: *Did Artful face backlash online for what he did?
A86: Artful absolutely faced backlash, but since his incident, he's more or less gone dark online.
Q87: *Is there any sports that Artful liked?
A87: Artful quite enjoyed sports, notably Golf, he also worked alongside his older brothers with construction, or general working out.
Q88: *Did Artful go to school?
A88: He has been to school, and College for that matter! He is very smart :^]
Q89: *How good are his cooking skills?
A89: He tried to cook Noodles for his first meal, some stuff for spaghetti or fine pasta, he ALMOST burnt down the house, but they were able to extinguish it, his mother then banned him from cooking.
Q90: *What is Artful good at?
A90: Well overlooking the fact he is the only Civilian to have learned REAL MAGIC!!
He's quite good at Golf, he makes all of his own music for his performances (they sell quite well), and he donates some of his earnings to charity.
He's also pretty good at killing people... he has that going for him too.
Q91: can artful do a handstand
A91: That is his opening act every time he preforms actually.
He has never once successfully preformed it.
(AUTHOR'S NOTE: i don't know if dialoguing man was joking here lol, heres where i found it https://x.com/pursuingnews/status/1947184047136145650?s=20 this twitter account also has a lot of other lore!)
lil bonus section:
Artful likes sunsets more than sunrises because he doesn't like waking up early in the morning
If you had to convince Artful to spare you, you could say "PLEASE SPARE ME I HAVE A FAMILY" and he'd let you go
(i don't have the exact answers from dialoguing man for these statements here so you're gonna have to trust me like you probably did for this whole fic)
for those wondering about the n1 fan lore, check out these twitter posts:
ages and other info: https://x.com/thelamochii/status/1973068044382413045?s=20
what happened to them post incident: https://x.com/thelamochii/status/1984774038687006988?s=20
https://x.com/thelamochii/status/1984774195776274509?s=20