#abel (xenosaga)

[linnaealyn]

quick paint

so idk what this might mean for XS or anything but I still wanted to draw it. it somehow makes sense to me with my limited knowledge.

i still think of him like he's an all-seeing all-knowing space baby at the center of the universe, so Abel being able (ha) to see beyond their own dimension, beyond all copyright, fits in my mind

[foxceus]

little guys, big eldritch horror

[aokozaki]

Xenosaga Episode 3 does that sci-fi thing of introducing a kid with Turbo Autism, the kind that makes you a savant but your consciousness is like, halfway in the imaginary space between dimensions. Y'know, sci-fi autism, the usual.

But then it continues with the running theme of Gears' and Saga's highly empathetic approach to what now reads as dated medical understanding of neuroscience by being oddly tender about it.

Abel, the kid, walks in, silently staring, and Dr. Juli Mizrahi (who's dealt with this before, her daughter had the same neurological communication disorder), notices he's looking at the pen on the table and asks "oh, is this what you want? [hands it to him] there you go."

And then he draws a picture on the floor and leaves again.

Preeeeetty sure context clues are implying he's the mystery pilot of the Omega Revolution, the ultimate anti-Gnosis mecha, since an earlier scene had Juli attempting to calm the pilot during a slightly botched activation test, with an assistant wondering if the pilot can even understand them.

But even if they don't know that, they have to try anyway. It's a theory of care that suggests that even if the words aren't understood, the emotional nuance of the words will still be felt.

Though, Juli adds that maybe they're only doing that to assuage their own feelings on the matter (because like, she's forcing a child who has the autism that makes you a good pilot to pilot the malfunctioning death-mech).

[they-have-the-same-va]

Mai Magus, Citrine and Abel, all from Xenosaga Episode III, share a voice actress.

Voiced by Erin Fitzgerald

[valbellepeche]

**SPOILERS for Xenogears and all of Xenoblade except X**

I wanted to talk about how some xenoblade characters and elements (specifically the trinity processor) parallel parts of gears and saga. Beginning with xenoblade 1:

Alvis serves the role of both the Zohar and the wave existence within the story of Xenoblade 1. He is the power source for the demiurge that creates a cycle of destruction and recreation (Zanza/Deus) while also connecting with the protagonist and eventually allowing him to defeat the demiurge. The term "Monado" is directly derived from the Monad, which is the Zohar and wave existence are partially based on. At the end of the game, Alvis appears as a glowing green cross, extremely similar to how the wave existence appears in Xenogears.

The Monado III is very similar to the role of Xenogears (the gear) being the final form of the protagonists weapon after they make contact with Alvis/the wave existence. Alvis's line "I was here at the beginning, and I will proclaim the end." calls back to the bible verse which is the first thing you see in Xenogears, "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last." In the context of Xenogears' opening scene this is associated with Deus. (More on this later)

In both stories they drive the protagonist forward to defeat the final antagonist, creating a world where people are free to live without some god, oppressive government or religious structure deciding for them. The main thing that separates Alvis and the WE is that the WE acts in order to free itself from the Zohar, whereas Alvis, as the facilitator of the world, wants it to cease stagnation. Future Redeemed recontexualizes this slightly by saying he embodied Klaus's regrets.

Xenoblade 2:

Xenoblade 2 formally introduces the trinity processor as well as the actual Zohar. Being computers linked to the Zohar, the trinity processor is similar to Xenogears' Kadomony.

The way Pyra is found resting in the Ancient Ship is a reference to when Abel awakens Elhaym in Xenogears

Elhaym was created in response to Abel's desire for a mother figure, the way blades reflect their driver could be seen as similar.

More on Logos and Pneuma in a bit.

Xenoblade 3 (Primarily Future Redeemed):

Future Redeemed is what got me thinking about all this in the first place. Given the prevalence of Ontos and that it takes two forms, as well as the other parts of the trinity processor having relevance, there's a lot to talk about.

The first form Ontos takes in Future Redeemed is Alpha. He has the appearance of Alvis, but with Zanza's wing(s) and he wields the Monado I (which is also Zanza's). Zanza's influence is an intentional contradiction with Alpha's driving force of extinguishing the past for the sake of the future, and also alludes to how he takes the role of Deus, which Zanza held in Xenoblade 1. Zanza's angelic motif is contrasted by Z symbolizing the devil. Alpha's goal is to take the life of the City to a new world, which is very similar to how Deus acted to return to Earth. This connection is made obvious with Alpha's second phase being obviously inspired by Deus's final form.

This brings the whole "I was here at the beginning, and I will proclaim the end." thing full circle, what with Deus being associated with the ALPHA and Omega verse. Additionally, Xenosaga's expy is called Omega so it all fits together nicely.

If Alpha is representative of Deus, then Na'el fills the role of Miang. Both are women who act in order to achieve the goal of Deus/Alpha. What makes Na'el different is that it's at least partially coming from her own will, whereas Miang fully takes over women's bodies.

In Xenogears, Kadomony is composed of 3 parts, the Persona, Anima, and Animus. The Persona is what created the original Elhaym alongside Miang. Na'el is connected to Ontos and parallels Miang, which leaves the final aspect of Ontos in Future Redeemed, A, to be Elhaym. A is separated from Alpha by Ghondor's desire for a future that's the best for everyone, once again being similar to how Elhaym is created. A also states that they are composed of Alvis's memories with Shulk which is a similar type of thing.

Future Redeemed states that Ontos acts as an arbiter between Logos and Pneuma, using their input to make decisions. Without the complete Trinity Processor, Ontos cannot function properly. This feels very reminiscent of Xenogears' theme of becoming whole, and also Deus needing all of its different parts to accomplish its goals. Alpha is only defeated when the powers of Pneuma and Logos (at least symbolically) come together again.

Side note: this fantastic video by PhantomHeit talks about the trinity processor and speculates that Zanza and Meyneth may have stood in for Logos and Pneuma in Xenoblade 1.

Future Redeemed establishes Pneuma and Logos as intrinsically feminine and masculine respectively, granting credence to them representing Anima and Animus. This isn't the only thing pointing to this, Malos's battle theme in Torna the Golden Country is called "Over Despair and Animus". Nia's weapon in Xenoblade 3 is called the Anima Sword, which could relate to the 2 phantom Aegis swords that float behind her or that she created the Ouroboros power which allows Matthew to access Pneuma.

In Xenogears Animus takes the form of the Gazel Ministry, antagonists who wish to obtain the Anima Relics to become complete, not unlike Malos needing Pyra/Mythra to repair his broken core.

In the climax of Future Redeemed, everything comes together, not just the Trinity Processor, but also Keves, Agnus, and even Moebius to complete the power of Ouroboros and oust Alpha and -redeem- the future if you will. Humans joining together to create a future they can live freely in is a frequently recurring theme in Xeno, and it's a fitting end for this chapter of the series.

[mcalhenwrites]

6 Name the frogs

13 Geckos Automata

Thank you for the ask! :D

6 for Name the Frogs: What makes this fic special or different from all your other fics?

A few of the reasons are spoilers, so I’ll have to navigate around those to answer this question. Some of them deal with the types of relationships I write in the story! (Though I did add a reporter character friendship again.) While I do tend to stick with certain themes in all my stories, like characters navigating trauma, in this one the main character, Irving, is the son of someone openly detested. It makes him a pariah, even though Nestor mistreated him. People think he has been groomed to take over for his father. That has led to some interesting relationship developments in his adult life… And a lack of them, sadly, especially for a kid who acted out in class to impress his peers for laughs. He has been crying out for friends his entire life. 13 for Geckos, Automata: What music did you listen to, if any, to get in the mood for writing this story? Or if you didn’t listen to anything, what do you think readers should listen to to accompany us while reading? Geckos, Automata doesn’t have much of a “playlist” - a lot of my stories don’t, since I tend to either get hooked on a new soundtrack or song in a moment OR I’m repeating the same Yasunori Mitsuda music as I always do. Can’t help it, Mitsuda is good.

Uh, anyway! Here are some songs I definitely recall listening to while writing:

“Abel’s Ark” from Xenosaga Episode III OST, by Yuki Kajiura I want to note that I listened to a lot of this soundtrack recently while editing, and it really fit the mood. But “Abel’s Ark” is the one I keep putting on repeat.

“Dead” from Koudelka OST, by Hiroki Kikuta A peaceful melody from a horror game works well for some of the more heartbreaking moments in Geckos, Automata.

“Waking the Monster” by Darren Hayes When listening to this song, you can definitely sense why it fits the story so well. I actually listened a lot of his music during the writing of this, from “The Future Holds a Lion’s Heart” to “Hero”, but “Waking the Monster” maybe fits a little too well? I’m worried I subconsciously took a lot of plot from the song, even though I actually converged a recent plot with an old one in order to develop the one in Geckos. The old one is from 2011, and yes this song was out back then, but it was about necromancy and stealing from tombs. The one in 2020 that developed alongside some new characters (Duncan, Rosalia, and Kieran) was simply a desire to write a story in a post-apocalyptic world where a group of people banded together and traveled along the train tracks.

“Coffee with a Bullet” from Shadow Hearts OST, by Yoshitaka Hirota I listened to a lot of both SH I & II OSTs, but this one stands out to me a little more than the others. If Hirota didn’t compose it, Mitsuda did. Yes. Mitsuda. I’m predictable.

There’s also a massive chance I was listening to KHUX music at this time, because it hadn’t finished yet, and I was obsessed. This includes a lot of songs from the earlier Kingdom Hearts soundtracks, especially any related to darkness. The game wrapped up in June of 2021, a few months after I wrote the original Geckos draft in one month, so it’s very possible that I was listening to KH music frequently at the time.

[blaiddfailcam]

Unprompted Xenosaga cut story ideations

While Omega Metempsychosis is obviously a calback to Deus, I always wondered what possible explanation there was for the two accompanying subunits tethered to its arms. It seems rather pointless to ponder, but...

Given that Xenosaga's plot was ill-fated by financial disasters, it feels at times like the story was altered in some way that left a ton of loose ends in order for Monolith Soft to be able to deliver an actual trilogy with the usual staples of video games, like progression and gameplay, which always gets me thinking where these loose ends might have once connected to form a cohesive world. (For example, the alpha trailer for XS1 shows another Deus-like mech, seemingly an early design for Proto Omega, which was cut from XS1 and moved to XS2 to fill out the journey from Miltia II to Old Miltia.)

Well, there is one other loose end I realized would paint a clearer picture of just what Metempsychosis represents—it very easily could have been the conclusion to both Jr.'s beef with Dmitri Yuriev, as well as Shion's promise to Febronia.

In XS1, Febronia sets Shion up with a quest to free her sisters, Cecily and Cathe. Within KOS-MOS's encephalon, Shion and Jr. are forced to face their conjoined trauma sustained from the Zohar Incident, representing Shion's fear of chaos/humanity and her resonance with U-DO, and Jr.'s fear of order after failure to suppress U-DO's waves and the subsequent corruption of the URTV. Together, their fears form the beast Tiamat, whose destruction reveals the imprisoning dream shared by Febronia's sisters, trapped on Miltia.

Of course, it isn't until XS2 that we find them in a gruesome suspended animation, their fleeting subconscious forming a link to bind the limitless energy of the Zohar. Rather anti-climactically, Shion and co. eventually make their long and bloated journey so that KOS-MOS can put a bullet or 100 through the sleeping children, achieving... not much of anything, as the Bad Pope promptly appears to activate Proto Omega and escape with the Zohar anyway. Then there's another rather pointless dungeon that sets up the fight with Bad Pope, as well as Jr. and Albedo's temporary conclusion.

What probably would have made more sense from the standpoint of story progression would be for the Bad Pope to have not existed, and for Yuriev to have appeared much sooner. In which case, I feel like there would have been a much more... tense battle as he fused with Omega, the Zohar, and Cecily and Cathe to form Metempsychosis, with the two sisters represented by the tethered "mechs" on either side. (Although they're clearly modeled after Weltall and Vierge, I feel like this could oddly represent Jr. and Shion's conceptual parallels to Fei and Elly.)

It's a bit of a shame XS ended up as inflated as it did for the mere mistake of planning a video game trilogy without accounting for the actual gameplay aapect, necessitating all that repetition. (Seriously, Proto Merkabah, Merkabah, Miltia's destruction, Proto Omega, Omega Res Novae, and the appearance of Abel's Ark probably should've been combined into one major event in a single game, lol.) But at least it's fun to ponder how the pieces might have once fit.

[fukaimetsu]

Ok, I clear my head but it alwasy pissed me off when people say XB3 story are ''nothingburger'' that will not relevant in future games.

like I would understand if this coming from blade-onlies who never play any xeno games beside blade but I see this sentime to other xeno fans and im just...what the fuck are you on about?

like who could you play ALL xeno games including Gears & Saga and think what happened to Xenoblade 3 is just NOTHINGBURGER and IRRELEVANT. like, are you sure you pay attention to the stories and lore???

bear with me but, in Xeno series, the Lost Jerusalem or Earth has always been fucking important in grander scheme of Perfect Works because something in Earth have a key to fuckin saving universe or whatever -Zohar- shenanigan shit.

and in Xenoblade we just know that , Alrest is fucking Earth that was LOST in entire Xeno series. and we just learn that Earth got split into two (I'm guessing that Bionis world is more of the Spiritual Aspect of Earth considering how in bionis world, it's flowing with Ether & doesn't follow usual earth law of physic. meanwhile Alrest is the physical aspect of Earth. where all the law of physic is closely similar like real world and Ether is very rare & people cannot freely use Ether like in Bionis (hence why, in Xb2 you cannot farm Ether mine) and Ether is mostly for Blades & Titan.

Ok, but what does XB3 having to do with this? in Xb3, we just saw that the conclusion of whatever happened to Aionios is the fusion between two worlds and considering in Xenosaga, we dont fucking know where the fuck earth . this is fuckigng biG , especially implication that Xenoblade Earth just got fused in normal universe (because there's implication both Bionis & Alrest are in pocket universe). that means Earth, the planet who have been dissapear for thousand of years is SUDDENLY appeared.

this is FUCKING BIG revelation.

And also what happen to Aionios isnt ''mere'' nothing burger, Aionios isn't ''simulation''. people complain about it but Aionios is definitely the Imaginary Number domain or subconcious domain. XB3 doesn't pull this concept out of nowhere,. remember in Xenosaga 3, where Shion when getting Renée la château & suddenly being warped into ''what itt seems'' to be time travel to the past when its actually aren't. it's actually Shion subconcious domain and in her ''subconcious'' world. Shion managed to awaken Abel's Ark at least in the supposed 15 years ago but turn out that shit happening in reality! when Shion and co finally go back to presents time, we see how Abel's Ark si fucking exist despite it was awakened on Shion' subconcious domain which..logically doesnt makes sense however that stuff DO happen in Xenosaga.

and very consistent with Xeno lore because in Xeno universe. the Imaginary domain or the subconcious domain are also reality even if it feels like illusion or dream. because they're still in lower domain & can affect the physical domain as well!.

so clearly Aionios are actually using similar concept and it's not far fetched when in Xeno universe the will of people, the soul, and collective unconciosu are veyr tangible & shit can happen if people strongly feeling it.

god, I need to write this so bad. XB3 aren't nothingburger!! it's actually very important to grander scheme of Xeno and Perfect Works.

people are just odnt pay attention to the lore and story!

genuinely annoyed with people who keep perpetuating that XB3 story are nothingburgers or irrelevant in grand scheme of things

[h-worksrambles]

Takahashi bringing Fei into Xenoblade by any means necessary be like:

[linnaealyn]

li'l U-DO boy🥰

I dont know how, I dont know why, but the game seems to be making him out to be literally U-DO. If all the conversations between Shion and U-DO that shows him lurking in the *dead center* of the screen means anything at all. lol

don't even HINT a word to me regarding this

[foxceus]

asher + pieta

[anonarat]

I would like to nominate Shion Uzuki for the protagonist whose actions caused the most death.

[citan-uzuki]

There aren’t enough omega res novae jokes on this website.

[the-bad-taste-aquarium]

Abel’s Ark  |  Xenosaga Episode III  |  Yuki Kaijura

[hrodvitnon]

Abraxas Playlist

Holiday stress and Hell Week aside, I’ve been working on this off and on for a little while and thought I’d just throw it out there for fun, because why the hell not! I figure this might be a neat treat, an early Xmas gift of sorts! Huh, that’s a lot of Silent Hill in there...

ACT 1 (1-6):

“Krigsgaldr” – Heilung “Incantation” – DOOM (2016) “Waiting for the Engineer” – Chernobyl “Who... Are You?” – Final Fantasy VII “Innocent Moon” – Silent Hill 3 “Magdalene” – Silent Hill 2 “Dillion” – Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice “Maith Dhom” – Kíla “The Darkness That Lurks in Our Mind” – Silent Hill 2 “Cleric Beast” – Bloodborne (with screams) “Ashes” – Halo: Reach

ACT 2 (7-13):

“Traust”  – Heilung “Elysium” – Gladiator “Black Tower” – Halo 3 “Never Forgive Me, Never Forget Me” – Silent Hill 3 “Face On” – Wolf’s Rain “Breeze in Monochrome Night” – Silent Hill 3 “Omen” – Xenogears “Acolytes of a New God” – Fallout “Heads No. 2” – Silent Hill 3 “On A Pale Horse” – Halo: Combat Evolved “Battle With Magus” – Chrono Trigger (orchestral version) “Warlord” – Killer Instinct (2013) “Faraway Promise” – Xenogears

ACT 3 (14-18):

“Galgaldr” – Heilung “Breakdown” – DOOM 64 “The One Who is Torn Apart” – Xenogears “Urzael” – Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls “Lost... Broken Shards” – Xenogears “Warped Mind” – Silent Hill 2 “The One Reborn” – Bloodborne “The Miracle” – Xenosaga Episode I “A Great Spirit Lies in Wait” – Ōkami “Abel’s Ark” – Xenosaga Episode III “Omega” – Xenosaga Episode I “The Icon of Sin” – DOOM Eternal “Battle Against the Masked Man” – Mother 3 (orchestral cover) “Now We Are Free” – Gladiator “Faraway Promise” – Xenogears (piano cover)

[tenkohime]

This is the best thing I've ever read.

So let me make sure I’ve got a proper chart of who is and isn’t Fei.

So first there is current, so he’s got main character Fei, Id, the coward, and that one empty shell MC Fei produced. The coward was the first version, but developed split personality disorder due to the abuse caused by his mom, who was possessed by Miang. So that Fei created Id, who took most of the abuse. Id then set out to destroy the world. Then MC Fei was created to seal Id. After that seal was broken, MC Fei created a hollow personality because he couldn’t take all the plot twists. Eventually they all fuse into one being, True Fei.

Then there is Lacan, who developed another personality, Grahf. Grahf then went on to possess Khan, Fei’s father. Thus making Fei his own father.

4000 years ago, a different incarnation of Fei, Kim, created a nanomachine colony that was his daughter. The nanomachine colony awoke with MC Fei.

10,000 years ago, there were two Abels. Both Abel are the same person, so they’re both Fei. At the end of Xenosaga 3, one of the Abel’s along with Nephilim, chaos, KOS-MOS, T-elos, and Jin were sent to a new version of Earth. If my theory is correct, that would be the Earth Klaus blew up and the three people that are deeply connected with the Zohar and could reset the universe with it, became the Aegises, three stones that are deeply connected to the Zohar and can destroy the universe with it. (chaos => Ontos, Nephilim => Pneuma, Abel => Logos). Therefore by that theory, Fei is also Malos (considering that two of the Fei’s are already trying to destroy the world, a third Fei that’s trying to do the same thing isn’t too far of a stretch).

And he’s had countless other incarnations, they’re just not meantioned. Assuming the incarnations happen at a constant rate, that’s one Fei per 500 years, over the course of 10,000 years, that would be 20 Feis. Considering that 2 of the 4 known Fei’s have split personalities, I’m going to estimate that half of them get one extra personality, thus adding 10 more Feis to the counter. Thus, 30 Feis.

But it gets even better. Fei is actually a part of God. The other entities that are part of God/Wave Existence/U-DO are Deus and Elly. So teeechnically Fei, Elly, and Deus are all part of the same person.

Deus is also Omega (a mech in Xenosaga), which is piloted by the Abel that later becomes Malos. Which means that Fei drove himself once.

Like Fei, Elly has multiple incarnations that all have the same name. She’s not randomly getting multiple personalities, so 20 Ellies.

However, Elly has another form, Miang. Miang exists in all women in the Xenogears universe. Because Miang is Elly, Elly is Wave Existence, and Wave Existence is Fei, by transitive property, Fei is every single woman in the universe (except Emeralda), including his mom (who is possessed by Miang, who is also Fei). Fei is literally both his mom and his dad and himself at the same time. However, Wave Existence created Elly to be Fei’s mom, but because every woman is Miang and therefore Elly, every woman is Fei’s mom, who is also Fei. Which makes Fei his own mother. It also means that Fei cannot legally engage in heterosexual activity because it is literally incest and selfcest at the same time. However he and Elly are fated to fall in love no matter what.

However because Fei is also part of Wave Existence and Wave Existence is literally everything that has and will exist, Fei is by extension, everything. And also Wave Existence possessed the Zohar, which is Deus’s battery.

However due to both being green sparkles, it’s possible that Wave Existence and Alvis are the same. Alvis is everything on Bionis, which includes everyone (except Zanza and Meyneth). So if Alvis and Wave Existence are the same entity, Fei is by extension, every single person on Bionis.

Shulk, a person on Bionis is also Zanza. Zanza is also Klaus, the Architect and Malos’s father/creator. Which means by theory, technicality, and extension, Fei is also the Architect.

In summary: everyone is secretly Fei