(Have discussed with hillexed) Rewrite of the Team Culture section to be specifically about the in-universe blaseball team as well as fan culture more generally, replacing the current section. Also, add community lore header.
Proposed Update:
Team Culture
The Core Mechanics Officially Named Player Lifelong Association of Yaaaaaaay (or C.M.O.N.P.L.A.Y.) fields teams for several splorts at several levels and takes charge of ensuring that all divinely mandated splorting quotas are met. It is not part of Core Culture and is, at best, seen as an outside attempt to mimic the Core Organizations.
While the Blaseball team is technically a subsidiary of C.M.O.N.P.L.A.Y., they frequently bash them in press conferences and have several notes on record about 'how are they so good at doing what we tell them to in the worst way possible?'. The Core Mechanics have no fixed captain and, instead, the player credited with being team captain seems to randomly shift between every member of the team. This is often used to get out of signing paperwork, to destroy paperwork, to justify barely legal plays or equipment, or just to make anyone who wants to talk to the team captain run around for hours.
Most of the Mechanics are explicitly members of L.E.F.T. and are adept at modifying C.M.O.N.P.L.A.Y. logos into being L.E.F.T. logos.
C.O.A.C.H.
C.O.A.C.H. was originally a platform developed by C.M.O.N.P.L.A.Y. to enable fans to offer criticism of play. After realizing that it was poorly moderated and had a series of gaping vulnerabilities, a dedicated group of DownTown residents hijacked the site and set it up as a platform for strategic analysis and suggestions for the team with a strong focus on optimisitic and constructive support and cheering for all the players.
Custom Bats
The overall culture of the Core encourages creativity, innovation and creativeness. One of the rituals for any new Mechanics player, pitcher or batter, is to craft a custom bat which represents that player. These range from painted wooden bats to elaborate mechanical contraptions capable of vaporizing balls. Many of these are dubiously legal at best.
One of the key ways to communicate intimaacy between blaseball players in the Core is to exchange bats. This ritual is performed at weddings, before solar eclipse games or simply as a highly intimate personal gesture between two individuals who are very close.
There is an unofficial ranking of bats based on how much damage they could potentially do to an umpire. Ruffian Applesauce still holds the record.
Cheating Accusations
While no one has succesfully accused and proven allegations of cheating, there have been several ILB regulations put in place in order to attempt to restrict the Mechanics from their more visible experiments with the limits of league-authority tolerance. The most famous example of this was the short-lived jerseys-per-player rule which attempted to restrict each player to a single jersey, which every part of them had to be in contact with. After Bees Taswell literally dethreaded a jersey and tied it around each individual pollinator before fielding the entire pitch by themself and Gia Holbrook proceeded to attempt to one-up this by using all of her individual bodies to create what she called 'the Ultimate Gia-pocalypse' the regulation was quietly scrapped.
Pitching Perfectly
The Mechanics descended during Chorby Soul's record breaking foul ball count and quickly realized that pitching was a great way to break the game. Having already had a lot of talented pitchers, the Mechanics recruited more and focused on building up their rotation to truly dizzying heights. Pitching Practice and Shadows Pitching Practice are very important events and take place in a dedicated building featuring a Blaseball court, several laboratories and the RIV To The Lineup But We're Different lecture hall. They frequently have guest speakers including Original PolkaDot Patterson and other legendary pitchers as well as scientists, inventors, and members of the Throw Ball Good society of amateur pitch-ologists.
S.H.A.D.O.W.S.
The Core Mechanics' shadows are considered a vital part of the team. Based out of the S.H.A.D.O.W.S. warehouse, they work to keep the Core Pillar Center running, repair equipment using the Smithy and man the Stadium Renovations.
Fan Culture
Chants
Team
- Core Down Gears Up Mechs Good!
- Down and Out!
- MAXIMUM!!!!
Player Specific
- Shirai McElroy Stitch it up, Shirai
- Jolene Willowtree Make 'em weep!
- Kelvin Drumsolo Hit it, Drumsolo!
Maintenance Mode
Core Mechanics fans often cheer for their players to have their blood drained, or gain an alarming grin when facing siphons. While Maintenance Mode took a while to trigger, and for a long time fans weren't sure what would count to trigger it, many fans credit it for the Season 20 Championship and the idea of rising up stronger with every hit back is a strong theme in Mechanics fan culture.
Heist Time
Fans of the Mechanics have a penchant for complicated plans. Most elaborate of these was the 'Zo-Yo', where the Mechanics successfully traded Shirai McElroy for Zoey Kirchner only to move McElroy into the shadows. Others include frequent debates about ways to exploit Party Time and other slingshot mechanics, the 'Data Crimes' plan where fans of a lot of teams fluted to the Society Data Witches to give gifts to their actual teams, and 'Signal the Sleuths' where fans of the Mechanics spearheaded a plan to use the up-shelling mechanic to send a message to Uncle Plasma and Liquid Friend.
