#(in terms of the timeline I mean I don’t think we see it in game)

[quibbs126]

Well…

Maybe not so much

[inbarfink]

I think a lot about the Concept of ‘choices that matter’ in video games. Like, in terms of what it is that makes a choice ‘really matter’, what do we perceive as a choice that matters or has a consequence, how do different games with different amounts of branching or non-branching storylines play with those ideas…  Especially because Undertale is one of my favorite games of all time, and it has often been hyped as ‘a game where your choices REALLY matter’ and… honestly, I dunno if all of this hype was fully conducive to Undertale.  Because the way it handles the concept of Video Game Choices is actually a lot more interesting and complex than that simplistic descriptor makes it seem.

Because Undertale actually has a lot of choices that ‘don’t really matter’! Lots of dialogue choices and silly little decisions that on a first playthrough seem like they’re some sort of moral choice or a branching plotline but end up always leading to basically the same result regardless of what you do!

And the game doesn’t really try to hide the fact that these choices are kinda 'Fake'. I mean, on a first playthrough a player might assume there’s gonna be some Massive Consequences for picking the ‘wrong’ drink on Undyne’s date, but the game’s narrative expects for there to be multiple playthroughs and pretty much every Choice that Doesn’t Matter is peppered with that Undertale brand of wacky character-focused humor that inherently makes the moment memorable. Papyrus leading Undyne straight to you no matter what you do is basically a cross-timeline running gag.

On some level I see this as a sort of gag that serves as meta-commentary about the expectations around Choices That Matter in Video Games. As in, a lot of games have their Moral Choices happen in clearly easily marked ‘this is a Moral Choice!’ moments within the story, while the actual gameplay (and any violence the player might cause as part of said gameplay) is basically entirely divorced from any element of narrative-branching and doesn't effect the story at all. Undertale basically entirely inverts this dynamic; the most important factor for which Route you’re own is how you handle your FIGHTs, and what seems like clearly-marked and obvious Moral Choices are just goofy insubstantial minor changes in dialogue. 

But also… there is also a level where you must ask yourself ‘what does it mean when we say that these choices Don’t Matter’. I mean, it’s not like they didn't change anything about the game, the Player still made the character say that other thing, the choice probably led to an alternate piece of dialogue, probably a joke with a call-back at the end of the game… The line between a one-off joke and an actual story-changing moment can be a little blurry if you look at it too deeply.

For example, near the end of the Waterfall part of the game, the Player is given the choice to save Monster Kid even at the risk of having to face down Undyne.

Pretty much anyone who isn’t deliberately trying to be an asshole is going to rush to save them and obviously that includes the Pacifist Route Players. But you can actually leave Monster Kid to die without it 'mattering' in the sense that it wouldn't divert you from the Pacifist Route. Undyne saves them instead of you, and ends up with slightly less HP for her battle (which might Matter for Runs when you try and FIGHT her but obviously not in Pacifist Runs) and… by the end of the game, during the extremely happy True Pacifist Ending, they still clearly remember that you abandoned them and are upset by it.

So… does saving Monster Kid ‘matter’ or not? On one hand, choosing not to save them mostly just changes a few lines of dialogue but… these lines of dialogue kinda recontextualize this happy ending and the Player’s actions in general. Despite the True Pacifist Ending otherwise portraying the Player/Frisk as a kind-hearted and brave hero... they still did this undeniably cowardly (and perhaps even cruel) act to one of their friends .

Was running away and leaving Monster Kid to die a brief but significant moment of weakness that the Player regrets and has cost them what could’ve been the start of a lovely friendship? Or is that simply that being a True Pacifist was always more of a matter of pragmatism rather than ideals? Were they only acting as a Pacifist to get that promised 'Best Ending', and only Monster Kid has an inkling they are not as heroic or kind as everyone thinks they are?

And then there’s the Snowman ‘quest’.

A free healing item given early in the game, with your mission being to carry it along in your inventory for as long as you can without ever consuming it. The only reward you will ever see from it is a few lines of dialogue…

But for many, it is more than enough of an incentive to preserve the Snowman’s Piece. You can do whatever you want with the Snowman without it ‘mattering’ in terms of Ending or consequences. You could carry it through all of your adventures with care and kindness... or you could eat it while he can’t see you and then go back to him and tell him that you ‘lost’ it and then get another piece and eat that as well, you could eat it right in front of his face, horrifying him. 

And much like with Monster Kid, you can STILL get the True Pacifist Ending after doing that, all that would change is a few optional pieces of dialogue from the Snowman… 

And a total recontextualization of the Player’s behavior and the ending. The Snowman sees the Player as a cruel and heartless person who is just pretending to be good so they can be liked - the way they acted with this immobile, powerless Snowman who could do nothing for them and their reputation reveals their true self. And he says their friends will realize that too one day...

Doing a True Reset on the Pacifist Ending is, by definition, a (almost) consequence-free action and yet it changes future Pacifist Routes immeasurably. Turning the Player into a Hypocrite doing the exact same thing they were trying to stop Flowey/Asriel from doing - trapping all of their friends into a time-loop so they can play with them forever while never actually letting them to enjoy freedom on the surface, simply because they are not willing to move on or put their friends' wishes and agency above their own. Nothing in the game actually changes, not one character can even suspect that you did something like that, and yet for the Player - this choice makes the entire Meaning of the game flip on its head. 

Even the most famous and heavily-toted Big Consequence in the whole game - selling your soul to Chara after completing a Murder Route… mostly what it does is just… recontextualize the ending of the Game.

As a game, ‘Undertale’ is very much about the ways in which a Player engages with a game can radically recontextualize it. The huge chasm of difference between the Pacifist and Muder Routes is just the most literal example of it. But, in a way, even the tiny little Dialogue Options - where the lack of real choice and consequences is Obviously a Joke - matter. Because of the way they can recontextualize the Player Character’s behavior.

(Okay, maybe not this one, but hear me out…)

Do you trust Papyrus to not betray you, even after you spied on him with Undyne?

Do you have the integrity to admit you forgot something or got it wrong even when there’s no consequences for just lying about it?

Are you a hypocrite for trying to get Alphys to be truthful with Undyne only to then immediately turn around and lie to Undyne yourself?  

None of these choices matter for the ending, some of them don’t even get, like, a call-back joke or anything, but… if you are engaged in this story as a narrative, if you are invested in these characters as if they were people, if you are honestly trying to be the best person you can be, if you are trying to self-reflect at the way you approach this game… even the silliest little dialogue option can suddenly be imbued with deep implications and you can make them matter. 

Undertale is one of the best demonstrations of this concept, but this is absolutely not exclusive to it. For example….

‘Ace Attorney’ is pretty much as far away as you can get from a ‘branching narrative’ within the video game sphere. It is a heavily-linear Visual Novel where 70% of the time it won’t even let you talk to random characters at anything but the exact order it expects you to and any ‘Bad Endings’ are basically just glorified Game Over Screens. (... because this is the Internet and something something piss on the poor, I should probably specify that I am talking about ‘Ace Attorney’ because I love Ace Attorney and these are neutral descriptions of the game and not complaints. There’s nothing wrong with a game being linear.) 

If there’s any Dialogue Choice in AA, it’s generally a very basic ‘right answer-wrong answer’ choice between Progress and a Penalty, or a total non-choice that just gets you to the same final result regardless. Except… Well… as we just talked about, getting to the same final result doesn’t necessarily mean a choice is ‘meaningless’, does it?

There’s actually a lot of great storytelling moments where Ace Attorney, despite its otherwise strict linearity, uses this exact sort of recontextualizing mindset I’ve talked about with Undertale to make choices with some really powerful emotional impact…. Even if technically, the ending is the same ending. It can be something as basic as ‘even if picking this Wrong Answer doesn’t get me a penalty, it still embarrassed my character and disappointed my friends/rivals and thus I feel bad for picking it’. Consequences as recontextualizing your character as more incompetent than they should’ve come across at that moment.

And then there’s moments like the iconic ending of ‘Justice for All’. That moment before Franziska bursts into the Courtroom with the case-making evidence and saves the day. The moment where it seems like Phoenix really is gonna have to pick between protecting his best friend and carrying out a rightful sentence.

The player gets to pick between the two options, but Phoenix never gets to say his choice out loud before Franziska comes running in... and yet… he, and the player, still made that choice. Even if no one ever has to experience the consequences of your choice, even if the rest of the world has no idea what Phoenix Wright would’ve chosen if the Miracle hadn’t happened, we know what we picked and that knowledge of the choice matters. Because of how we feel about this choice and what it says about our interpretation of Phoenix… and about us.

There’s also a bit of this ludonarrative device in ‘The Great Ace Attorney: Adventures’. During “The Adventures of the Runaway Room”, when you investigate the Omnibus for the second time and start finding things that… don’t quite fit together. When you’re finally starting to make progress with proving McGilded’s innocence, while also maybe starting to notice that something is… wrong with these pieces of evidence. 

The unchanging linear narrative of the game is that Ryunosuke does eventually realizes McGilded's trickery, puts truth ahead of victory in court and yet, despite his effort and good intentions - the case still ends with a false Not Guilty verdict. And yet, the Player has the choice to... tweak the details.

There are several points where Ryunosuke can object, where he can call out the inconsistencies even though they help his case, where he can support Van Zieks in his accusations of tempered evidence... or he can not. Not necessarily intentionally misleading the Court as much as subconsciously trying to ignore the inconsistencies in the name of trusting his client.

And yet… in the end it doesn’t matter. Maybe Susato calls out the inconsistency instead of him, maybe Van Zieks does, maybe it remains uncontested but... no matter what you do, the case will end with a Not Guilty verdict (I mean, I guess you can deliberately fail the game but that will not progress the plot), McGilded doesn’t seem like he held a grudge (in the few minutes he had left to live), and a few cases later - Ryunosuke would always be punished for his part at this false verdict.

So it doesn’t really matter what Ryunosuke did back then? Does it matter if he did his best and called out every single inconsistencies or if he kinda half-assed it until he (and the Player) had to? He’s still going to suffer the same consequences down the line. And yet….

And yet, I think there’s something so powerful about giving us that option. About knowing that Ryunosuke, and we, did try and do something about McGilded's dirty tricks- even if it didn’t work. Or alternative, knowing that there was more that Ryunosuke and us could’ve done even if it was not nearly enough. Even if in the eyes of the game and the British Justice system there is no difference, the fact that we know what did and what we could’ve done can radically change the way the player feels about all of the later scenes concerning the truth about McGilded’s trial. It can radically change the way the player interpret Ryunosuke’s feelings about it as well.

Because even though the game itself keeps playing along with the same script regardless, that trial had irrevocable consequences for the Player.

[the-bitter-ocean]

Hi, I hope this ask finds you well. I've recently come across the ISAT AgeSwap AU you're at the least a collaborator on, and I've been really interested in it - in a good way, I wish to specify.

I have a small question I'd like to... well, ask pertaining it, or more specifically, the AU's Bonnie: How would Canon Siffrin react to them & vice versa? The thought wouldn't leave my mind while thinking of the AU, so I wanted to see if one of the people involved with it could weigh in.

I thank you for your time, whether you simply read this or answer my inquiry as well, and I give my best wishes towards any of your future endeavors be they near or far.

Hi anon! Thank you so much for the question I’m glad you’re enjoying the ageswap au! As for your question on how canon ISAT Siffrin would react to Ageswap! Au Bonnie (or vice versa) I imagine the two would feel very confused? It’s very jarring to see someone who in your reality/ timeline is a kid be an adult anywhere else. I think they’d get along well though! I think both would be happy that the other has a home/family amongst the party and turned out well overall despite the general traumatic childhood/ timeloop trauma etc.

(2HATS / A6SE spoilers talk under the cut)

That being said I think there’d be a level of guilt both of them would feel especially on the side of like canon ISAT! Loop + ISAT ! Siffrin reacting to ageswap Bonnie being in the loops to begin with.

The reason why is simply because the only ones who knew how to properly and correctly make the wish at the favor tree canonically is The King, Siffrin and Loop respectively. That means in other aus where someone else is looping and not Siffrin…that means someone had to have taught whoever was looping the correct way of wishing and the only one in the group who possibly could would be Siffrin.

I don’t think any looper would personally blame Siffrin or loop at all mind you- but I know how Siffrin and Loop have a very bad habit of placing guilt on themselves for things they couldn’t possibly control or change etc. The idea that even when you’re not the one wishing, you still somehow “doomed” your family by showing them how to wish correctly in the first place would nag at them. What a cosmic joke!!!!!

Not to mention because of the wording of the wish is a lot different than canon ISAT Siffrin and Loops wish. In the canon game of ISAT both Siffrin and Loop wished to stay with their family but in the ageswap au Bonnie specifically wished for the group to be safe (since they knew that the king was dangerous and anything could go wrong).

In simplest terms- it means the timeloop win condition in ageswap still relied on loop and Siffrin ( or any other kid in the group for that matter) to feel safe/be safe. Which is a problem because Loop and Siffrin respectively *would not* feel safe with the group splitting and going separate ways because then they would be all alone and fending for themselves again. Since the wish isn’t fulfilled until everyone feels safe, Bonnie would’ve had to been in the loops even after the group defeats the king and saves Vaugarde.

In the case of the eye incident I think both Siffrin and loop and ageswap Bonnie ( or guide if we go by the one au where ageswap Bonnie was the guide and Siffrin was the one looping) I don’t think anyone would be upset at their younger counterparts, nor at the person doing the protecting ( because they know for a fact that if the situation was reversed they can and will get hurt if it meant protecting someone- especially if that person was a little kid.)

Hope this answers your question anonymous! Thank you for stopping by.

[greyias]

I really don’t want swtor to shut down it’s the only eu thing that’s active we have left

I knew these asks were going to start coming in.

So for those who haven't heard, it was reported, and then later confirmed by Keith Kanneg on the forums, that EA is "selling" SWTOR to another developer, Broadsword. For those who want to read the article discussing it, you can read here: https://www.ign.com/articles/star-wars-the-old-republic-development-third-party-bioware

TL;DR -- It's not shutting down. The servers are going to stay active for a while

There's a few points to note here:

If I understand things correctly, EA actually owns Broadsword. So EA is in fact not actually offloading a property, I think what's actually happening is BioWare Austin itself is being divvied out and would not be surprised to see if that branch is shut down

At least half of the SWTOR dev team is part of this move, so the key things to keep an eye on is which members of the dev team are moving. If the narrative staff is kept intact, then we have more story ahead of us beyond what's been written, and they've confirmed we're getting 7.3, 7.3.1, and 7.4. It's important to note that their production timeline is generally a year out from things being written, so story-wise, if they have narrative staff, we'll likely still have some story drops ahead of us

SWTOR is profitable (it hit over $1 billion in profit several years ago), and I will admit I don't have the best understanding of video game finances, but my impresion it was far into the black and maybe not an enromous cash cow, but a decent consistent revenue stream. EA is a publisher that is about profits, so as long as the game is profitable, even if there's not new story drops, the game will stay online

Disney has seemingly taken a recent interest in SWTOR after mostly ignoring it after its acquisition of Star Wars, even going so far as to finally acknowledge the general KOTOR/SWTOR era in their presentations last year at Celebration. Does this ultimately mean anything? I don't know, but SWTOR is one of the longest running current properties with a stable player base. They're just as interested in profit as EA. Probably another indicator that the game will keep running for a while.

Other properties that Broadsword operates, such as Dark Age of Camelot and Ultima Online, are old games. Ultima Online was released in 1997, and the servers are still active. So like, I think regardless of what happens in regards of the story, we're not losing the ability to log in and play the game

Long term subscriptions - I remember reading, and forgive me, because I've long forgotten the source, that a key indicator if the servers are going offline is to also keep an eye on the six-month subscription option. Basically, if suddenly the only option for subs goes down to one month, that's when to worry about being able to actually play the game.

This is probably not about SWTOR, but BioWare as a whole. It seems there's a leadership issue at the main Alberta office that's causing issues. This is likely an Anthem issue all over again, but Anthem this time happens to be the Mass Effect and Dragon Age properties. Unfortunately, BioWare Austin looks like it's going to suffer the consequences of that, even though they've been running a tight ship overall compared to the rest of the branches. I feel for them. This sucks.

Now I'm not an oracle, I have no idea if this is ultimately a good or bad thing for the game itself. There's a lot of evidence for both sides of the coin, so right now the best thing is to wait and see. We at least have the promise of the next two patches. Let's focus on enjoying that, and celebrating what we love about our silly space game.

If you love the game, keep playing it. Spend money on it, and keep it profitable and it will stay around. Be kind and supportive of the devs, who regardless of how this shakes out, are going through a major transition. But immediately decrying an active game's death and going into doom and gloom is not going to help things.

Will we get more story beyond 7.4? I do not know one way or the other. I hope we do, but it's hard to say for certain on that front. But I do believe we'll still have our toons and be able to replay all of the released content for quite a while to come. Again, for now I'm just going to enjoy my favorite game, and support it as long as I have it. Even if this inevitably means it's going to change.

[plague-of-insomnia]

I'm sorry if this is a silly question but I'm just curious. Do you know how much time Ciel and Sebastian spend in Weston? I haven't read the manga in a while but while watching the anime I just feel like everything is happening too fast??? Luke the whole are was done in 2 weeks max

Hi, anon, I am not someone who pays super close attention to the chronology of canon (as in, exactly what day/date things happen) partly bc I care more about the overall story and themes and the characters than minutiae like that. Not bc I think people who do are dumb but bc I’m more of an AU creator than canon so knowing the details like that to extreme doesn’t really benefit me much so it doesn’t interest me to spend the time doing it. (Though I know at least one person did come up with a timeline through a certain point in the manga years ago, which you may find if you do a google search.)

But what I can tell you is Ciel comes home from the Campania before Easter and arrives at Weston presumably after that holiday, so likely in March or April. (I could probably find out exactly when Easter happened in 1889 but I honestly could care less lol.) We also know from McMillian that he is joining mid-term. It’s actually a clever way for Yana to have the school “begin” in Spring (which is familiar/nostalgic for Japanese audiences, where school years begin in April, usually) while still reconciling with the Western tradition of beginning in the fall.

We also know the cricket tournament takes place on the 4th of June—probably a day Yana picked since it plays with the theme of four (four houses, four prefects) in the arc but also because the number has an association with death in Japanese.

This means that Ciel is not a student at Weston for very long at all—only 2-3 months at most—since the midnight tea party happens after the cricket completes and presumably marks the end (or close to it) of the school year/term.

Honestly, until the last episode I think the anime has been perfectly paced with the manga. They’ve really made only minor shifts and mostly expanded things, so they’re following Yana’s vision fairly closely.

The one major thing is that this episode shoves most of two chapters into one, when it really could have been done in two. But that would mean 12 episodes. and I suspect the team was worried if they didn’t get the cricket part over fast, they might risk losing/boring their core audience.

One huge change they did was take out the explanation of the game itself and its basic rules, which Bard explains in the manga. This was likely done for time/space reasons but also because they may have figured most viewers don’t care and they can communicate enough for people to understand and follow along even if they don’t understand the rules of the game itself.

This is partly perhaps because the cricket part of the arc was not well received in Japan and was one of the least popular chapters, supposedly. It’s why I was shocked they turned it into a musical a couple years ago.

I was a bit disappointed to lose all that not only bc we lost a nice scene with Bard and the servants (they cut a scene with them where they have lunch, though it’s possible that could make it into next episode, but I won’t hold my breath), but also bc I’m like the ONE person who genuinely enjoyed the cricket part of the arc, and it’s one reason this arc is my second favorite in many ways.

I LOVE seeing Ciel and Seb working together in devious ways to get their mission accomplished, and how far Ciel is willing to go to win. Ofc we can still appreciate it anyway, but the fact that he so carefully works within the limits of the rules— and in fact, I learned in commentary on the arc that some of the rules Ciel takes advantage of were actually changed not long after this period of time, which is a fun detail.

So it could be things feel like they’re moving fast because in a sense they are, but it also could be you’re sensing that urgency from how rushed this last episode was. But I suspect when all is said and done, and you watch the entire thing, it probably won’t feel as off. Book of Murder took place over only 3 days, and Seb and Ciel were not at the circus long at all. I can’t be sure but maybe only a week or two? And ofc the campania adventure was also only a few days. In fact, this may actually be the longest mission in the series to this point. So it seems like most missions don’t take too long.

Hope that answers your question! I’ve been looking through the chapters in this arc before every episode to get a sense for the pacing and they’ve generally fallen exactly where I expect. This episode being one exception since they really did condense a lot.

[vigilskeep]

is it canon that loghain sabotaged the tower of ishal? i thought it was bc it was his men guarding the tower before the battle and his men investigating it, and theres dialogue suggesting theyre doing something in there, so it seemed like too much a coincidence that it was breached

some might say it’s a little up for debate, but i 100% do not believe ostagar was planned. there are definitely hints to muddy the water and imply that it could have been planned to affect the players’ suspicions, and it’s also my belief that during development the writers originally thought it would have been planned, before a change in writing direction, which leads to a few of the timeline problems we have. but so little of loghain’s canon character as presented in the final game can even slightly make sense if he planned ostagar that i find it just wholly impossible to believe in canon. it would make every word he says as a companion a lie in a completely bizarre way; it would make even the voice acting directions given to his actor false. i don’t believe he’s remotely capable of that kind of long-term deceit, let alone that he would have chosen to attempt it. and i don’t find the evidence suggesting he did plan it very compelling. let’s look at ishal, for instance

the guard at the tower of ishal says loghain’s men have locked up the tower because they “discovered some lower chambers, and they don’t know how far down they go”. the guard says “i didn’t see anything like that when i was there, but who knows?”

i mean, first of all, i think if that was a lie, it would be the single worst-planned lie i’ve ever heard in my life. you’re going to convince everyone you’ve got the tower of ishal locked down while you set a trap in there, and you’re going to do that by... telling everyone in camp there’s a security risk and it could be dangerous in there? when even soldiers who were based there had no idea there were any lower chambers? and on top of that, you’re going to be the one to stand at the war table and tell everyone how vital lighting the beacon is?

the writers definitely threw it in there to lure curiosity but i believe the simplest answer: loghain’s men were just as unprepared as everyone else at ostagar for what it takes to hold darkspawn back. they found some lower chambers to the old ruin, informed everyone, cleared the rooms, found nothing, and perhaps left defences. they did everything right and it wasn’t good enough

[polysyndetonaddictsupportgroup]

HELP your time travel shenanigans fic idea about toji being very much alive but still putting the fate of his two little ass kids in the hands of a bunch of 16-17 year olds even if he’s still breathing. if i was megumi then my abandonment issues would’ve gone crazy if that happened to me 😭. mamaguro is looking down from the pearly white gates IN ANGER at toji’s audacity i just know it.

but now i’m curious on other ideas (that you have) for fics about jjk that you may or may not get to after sea glass gardens.

see the sad thing is that letting a bunch of 16-17 year old bitchy disaster gays discover the magic of teen parenthood is actually a step up because he had already sold Megumi to the Zenin and feral wolverines would be a better alternative to them. This was the best parenting decision toji has ever made.

(Time travel!Megumi: look we don’t have any other options. Anything is better than the Zenin.

Gojo, in the distance: they’re what three? That’s old enough for a red bull

Geto: I will actually kill you over this satoru

Time travel!megumi: *deep breath*)

A loose catalogue of my jjk fics, which may or may not exist one day:

Sea glass gardens verse:

I am forever compelled by the siren call of expanding my fics into universes because one story is never enough for me. I’ve got threeish stories in this universe, with no promises of how many, if any, I’ll write.

1. The Teen Parenting Chronicles: Gojo, Nanami, and Shoko’s expert guide to raising children when you are, in fact, children. Featuring what the fuck happened with the Zenin the first time around.

2. Megumi’s pov of what just happened leading up to sea glass gardens: someone asked me if I’d ever write this and it has the highest chance of existing because I have. Sort of. Started writing it. I have impulse control issues.

3. Okkotsu Yuuta and the world’s longest distance panic attack: crack fic of Yuuta on his study abroad trip becoming increasingly more frantic at the other second year’s updates as to how His Boy’s first year as a jujutsu sorcerer is going. What do you mean sukunas there. What do you mean he doesn’t have a shirt. Well put one on him!

Time travel AU:

1. The Time Traveler’s Guide to Fucking Shit Up And Living Well: following another attempt on their lives by the higher ups, the first year gang is forced into a desperate, high stakes gamble with a time-centric curse that puts their very existences at stake. If they want to survive, they have to complete one task of their choosing in the past before the clock runs out. Their mission?

To punch fushiguros shitty bio dad in the face, something which will surely have no long term consequences on the timeline.

See this one has the most chance of actually existing one day because it is by far my FAVORITE jjk fic I have. It even beats out sea glass gardens. I desperately want to write it.

2. The 2006 Gang and the Art of a Good Union: following a confusing incident with the star plasma vessel and three unknown sorcerers, the 2006 Tokyo jujutsu high first and second year class inexplicably goes off the rails and retires from jujutsu sorcery, claiming that they’ve discovered the magic of teen parenthood and can in no way risk themselves in such a dangerous profession now that they have kids to think about. At least, not with the way things are run now.

No one knows where they got the children from.

3. Toji Fushiguro and the Dead Beat Dad Chronicles: in which toji fushiguro succeeds at being a dead beat baby daddy to two teenaged gay boys and their crew of bitchy lgbtq compadres, who in no way want him to be involved in their children’s lives.

Standalones:

1. “Fushiguro is unleashed in junpei’s school like an invasive superpredator” AU: I’ve talked about this one in way more detail in another post for an ask game, but the idea is that itadori discovers junpeis abuse at school and says Not On His Fucking Watch and escalates the matter to gojo, who decides the funniest possible solution while they try to draw out mahito is to unleash his all star delinquent son into junpeis high school to bully the bullies.

Fushiguro resents this as a problem solving strategy.

2. The Zenin raise Megumi AU: also discussed in more detail in an ask game. In which people took Tsumiki’s little brother from her, but she’s trying to get him back, she promises.

Or, in which the Zenin take megumi, leave tsumiki, and they both spend every day after fighting to get back to the other.

3. Sort of a no curse AU: Itafushi romance story, in which local himbo Itadori Yuuji falls for delinquent Fushiguro Megumi when his grandpa is placed in the room next to Fushiguros comatose sister. Starts as a no curse AU… except there’s totally curses, Tsumikis mom just moved them to Sendai without telling anyone so the Zenin never found Megumi, and he’s just never told anyone about the curses he sees because he’s worried he’s schizophrenic. He thought the shikigami thing was a metaphor for self actualization or something.

4. Fushiguro Megumi and the World’s Most Inconvenient Custody Battle: pre JJK0, Geto decides to be a shithead magic terrorist at a local school that represents all the worst of monkey society: it’s known for a rampant bullying issue, which is a breeding ground for cursed spirits, and it contributes to the risk to jujutsu sorcerers by feeding a local legend of a haunted bridge that could explode into a serious curse any day.

What he didn’t count on? Finding the new Ten Shadows in the student body, who’s fully willing to kamikaze them both if it means saving his sister’s life.

And who doesn’t seem to be aware that he more than has the potential to take suguru in a fight.

In which Fushiguro just wanted to shut up, go to school, and go home, and instead finds himself in a binding vow to give cult life a whirl to save the lives of classmates he doesn’t even like all that much.

It involves oddly more parenting than he expected.

5. Fake Fiancés AU: prodigy and noble prize winning physicist Gojo Satoru, following a very ill advised fuck buddies arrangement with fushiguro toji, has settled down into domestic bliss with the two kids he took from the relationship despite them not, in any way, being related to him. The problem? His ex is back in town. The hot one. The one who broke up with him and started a cult. The one who he wants to convince he got over when he absolutely did not do that.

The solution? Tell everyone he’s happily engaged to Nanami Kento, who cannot express enough how much he does not want him to do that.

… until, all of a sudden, he needs a show of domestic bliss himself. His adoptive son’s older brother, sukuna, has crawled out of the woodwork and decided to make a play for custody himself. And Nanami does not know what Sukuna truly wants, but he knows it does not have Yuuji’s best interests at heart.

I share custody of this story with my best friend, who cocreated it with me over deranged text message. I may convince her to joint write it with me if I ever get her to publish her fanfic.

6. Todo Aoi and Schrodinger’s Boyfriend: Todo’s beloved brother, who is most assuredly a man, suffers some kind of terrible brain damage that leads him to confess he loves an assless boy. Todo cannot abide by this, until it’s pointed out to him that if Fushiguro’s type is his brother, that would make him the most interesting man alive. If it is not, he continues to be a boring and uninteresting boy.

Todo sets off on a mission with two goals: determine if fushiguro megumi is interesting, and get him to do some squats. because there’s simply no ass there.

Fushiguro wonders why his life is suddenly harder.

7. Choso and the Art of Being a Big Brother: choso discovers the truth of kenjaku early and does the only logical thing in response: he kills his father in his sleep, cuts out his brain, and delivers it in a jar to his new brother Itadori Yuuji as the first step in wooing him into domestic sibling love.

Megumi doesn’t know where these people come from. Or why all of them think itadori is their brother.

8. SatoSugu realizes their little boy is all grown up when he gets his first crush on a boy when he meets yuuji.

They do not fucking take it with grace.

Also co-written with my best friend via text message.

9. The instagram chronicles: crack fic in which the jujutsu sorcery personnel crisis gets worse, because nobara Kugisaki keeps trying to hard launch her instagram influencer career, and keeps accidentally making every jujutsu sorcerer instagram famous except for her

10. So I don’t actually ship Yuuta and Megumi, but I do really like the idea of low stakes relationships? Like, especially for teen romances. You tried it, decided you were better off as friends, and just went back to being friends. I just like the idea of fumbling around in relationships and getting a sense of boundaries and what you’re interested in without it being a big, world-shaking romance. It seems like a more realistic portrayal of high school relationships than every one of them being this world-defining mature love.

Pre season 1 but post JJK 0, Yuuta and Megumi dated for maybe a month and half, held hands maybe twice, and decided that they were better off as friends and parted on good terms. The issue?

No one realized they were dating. And when it is realized, everyone thinks their relationship was torpedoed because the second years kept inviting themselves onto their dates.

Cue the jjk high school students trying to amend old mistakes and get Yuuta and Megumi back together, who do not, in fact, want to be back together. Headlining Inumaki Toge, who is half in love with Yuuta and does not know why he’s helping get him together with someone else, and Itadori Yuuji, who is half in love with Megumi and also does not know why he’s helping get him together with someone else.

[nesisamess]

my first impressions of the characters from the twitter post thing that DRDTDev made about the other killing game. First off: I love all of them, and half the cast gives me gender envy. I am continually impressed at DRDTDev’s character designing ability, especially in making them interesting, non-boring designs that still communicate their personality and aren’t too complex or over designed. ugh. love them for it (/platonically and/or parasocially)

Also, this post will be kinda assuming you’ve already read the very little info we have about them. If you haven’t, go here: https://href.li/?https://t.co/muTM8j8MPH

ANYWAYS

First off, here’s an image of the characters!!

Beautiful, right?

…

Just take a few seconds to admire them.

Ok! I’ll be going over some theories that relate to all of the characters, and then character by character, and then at the end a little general reflection.

So, one of the main theories that have been posed is that this killing game takes place before the events of DRDT, which I am like 87% sure of (up 7% from my last post, woo). It makes sense, especially in the context of the other theories regarding the characters. As well as this, it just makes sense timeline-wise.

There is also a theory that every character is somehow connected to someone in the current killing game, which I am still a little unsure of. I can definitely see it for some characters, but we know so little about each of them that it’s really hard to say whether or not that’s true. I will be going over who I think could be connected to who, just in case it does end up being true. However, I think a more likely theory is that a couple of the people involved in this killing game (likely the survivors) are connected to the current one, and exactly how much is up for us to discover.

Ok, on to the characters!

First off!

(I don’t know why, but she’s the only one who’s photo is cropped. oh well)

Pretty!! For the sake of this post, I’ll be calling her Spiral (I will be using the names that @xmicrophonyx came up with!).

My first thought when I saw her (besides the obligatory screeching) was that she gave me teacher vibes? That might be since I already had the context of this story being “about a person who wants to become the perfect teacher”. But outside of that, she definitely looks shy, with her hunched over posture and expression. I do adore her color palette, and the pops of teal add a lot.

In terms of a possible talent/role, I still think she gives teacher-y vibes, whatever that means, although outside of that I would think her talent is something a little more professional, considering her attire being formal (the coat, top, and scarf most of all). So other possibilities could be a secretary, librarian, buisness woman, etc.

Spiral could also be some kind of fancy art critic, or someone who works with the Spurling Foundation, if we need to connect her to the current killing game somehow.

—

Next up!

The boy!!!!

I’m going to be honest with you. I think he’s my favorite. His demeanor, the neon green jacket, the fingerless gloves, the cap, the khaki capri pants, the aura of a 14 year old shoujo protagonist—he is the moment. The fan name for him is Soundwave.

I think he likely deals with music, since the pattern on his shirt reminds me of sound recordings. Specifically, he probably is into the more technical side of music, such as EDM or techno or something like that (I know pretty much nothing about music, so take my word with a grain of salt).

Because of this, I think Soundwave would be connected to J. J also is in a similar sort of technical profession, so I think that maybe he could be someone who ends up working with J in the future/has worked with J or something like that.

There’s one thing with Soundwave that also is present in 2 of the other characters—he looks quite a bit younger than most of the cast. He’s shorter, yes, but his proportions also make him seem younger. However, the DRDTDev specifies that all of the characters present are 18 or above, so it likely doesn’t mean anything. People can just look young, after all.

I think that’s all, but I’m really excited to learn more about this character because he just seems so fun :)

—

Oh boy, let’s talk about them…

Hello there, XF. I will also be trying my best to use all of his pronouns! (Those being he/she/they). I am so happy to have yet another gender-non-conforming character in the general DRDT universe, and it is amazing to see such a wide array of diversity and representation in this cast, as well as the cast of the current killing game. Genuinely, I am just… blown away.

She is also the character which we have the strongest connection to the current killing game/a character from the current killing game, that being Min. Min mentions in her bonus episode that an organization called XF-Ture Tech were the ones to sponsor her for the test to become the Ultimate Student. On XF’s coat is an XF-Ture Logo. As well as this, they have the exact same tie clip that Min has.

PLUS, on top of this, he has the same purple/pink eyes that Min has. That last detail almost made me think they were related, but I don’t necessarily believe so. I mean, they might be, but I’m more inclined to believe that XF is just affiliated with/the leader of XF-Ture. There are A LOT of theories for her (along with a lot of simping ahem), but I won’t be mentioning all of them.

If they are the founder of XF-Ture Tech, I imagine their talent would be something like Ultimate Founder, Ultimate Inventor, Ultimate CEO, or something in that vein. He may not be the founder, however, and instead may just work for XF-Ture Tech. I’m not entirely sure, but I am inclined to believe that she is the founder because of the pink eyes. I have a theory that Min actually wears contacts, and that’s why her eyes look the same as XF’s. I may be totally wrong about this, and I thought that DRDTDev already said they weren’t, but I looked through the QnAs and I couldn’t find anything saying that. Unless it is confirmed somewhere, or it gets confirmed, that’s my theory for now!

As well as this, in the chapter 2 part 1 QnA, DRDTDev mentions that Min’s least favorite color(s) are pink and white together, because it’s “annoying”. Since that is a part of XF’s color palette, that draws an obvious connection between the two of them. If Min has had a lot of interaction with XF, and perceives them as annoying, this could be the reason for that connection. It definitely furthers the theory that Min and XF are connected. I’m pretty sure I barely scratched the surface in terms of what has been theorized about them, so I recommend you check out @accirax @googledetective and the posts they made, as well as any of the posts that are bound to be made by the rest of the DRDT theorists.

—

Him!!!!!!!

For all of you who don’t know, this character uses he/him pronouns and I absolutely love him for that :,) I am truly just… flabbergasted at how amazing DRDTDev continues to be in adding representation to their stories, and not only that, but doing such a good job of it.

Anyways! I will be calling him Dandelion after the dandelion in his hair.

As far as what we can deduce based on his outfit and demeanor: obviously this is a character who messes around with gender presentation (we stan) and doesn’t fall into the rigid categories that many cultures try to enforce. He also looks somewhat naive, and young (though all of these characters are ~18, of course). I also definitely don’t think his talent is something physically demanding, since he seems pretty skinny, and his clothes don’t look like they would be good for running around in.

However, this character has a few things that might key us in to what his talent might be. The first of which is his clothing, since my first thought on seeing it was that it looked trendy, or like something an influencer would wear. In a way that kind of juxtaposes their outfit, however, he has a dandelion in his hair, through the band keeping it up. It is very different from the rest of his color palette, and dandelions are usually considered ‘weeds’, which makes me think that Dandelion’s talent is instead something plant-based.

Since that dandelion is just so different from the rest of his outfit, I believe the latter is true, and that his talent is something like the Ultimate Botanist.

In terms of characters he might be connected to, my first thought was Levi. They both are fashionable, and if my previous thought of Bunny being an influencer or something of the like, it makes sense for Levi to know them somehow. Still, it’s a shaky theory.

—

I love asymmetrical designs, and the green/blue hair strand balances out his hair really well. I do also really like the strap on his leg, it gives him a slightly edgier look. I will be calling him “Scale” for convenience (I had names for each of these characters before someone came up with better ones, but @pastelclownkitty and I actually had the same idea for this guy!).

So, firsts things first: I do not think he is Elliot Cuevas. I saw this theory, considered it, and have come to the conclusion it doesn’t make sense (at least to me. if this is one of your theories that’s totally fine!). Elliot is described, by DRDTDev in the chapter 2 part 1 QnA, as having looked “shockingly similar” to how Charles looks now. I think the comparison is vague at best, not shocking. They do both have purple hair and dark skin, but both shades of those things are darker for Scale.

In terms of talent, the pattern of his shirt has been pointed out, and I agree that it probably relates to his talent. In fact, Scale somewhat reminds me of an anglerfish, with that bright green in his eyes and that strand of hair. I don’t know, I think I’m just saying things at this point.

Due to the mentioned factors above, I believe his talent is related to fishing or swimming, something like the Ultimate Angler. I can’t discern his build from under his clothing, but he looks a little skinny to be the Ultimate Swimming Pro or anything like that.

Ok. I’m sorry, but he looks a little… Fishy (don’t mind the pun). Maybe it’s how calm he is, or his mouth, but he reminds me of Rantaro somewhat. I love his design, though, and I think his color palette is supremely cool. I also like how his hair highlight is very faintly rainbow. It reminds me of how when you look at water a certain way, it shows a rainbow.

—

Our protag!! Or, well, Teacher.

Now, I’m pretty sure almost everyone agrees that this character is the Ultimate Teacher, or something of the like. He also has an ID card which says:

This ID card is the property of Hope’s Peak Academy. Use of this ID card by any person other than the rightful holder is prohibited. Report lost or stolen ID cards by contacted 555-483-7367.

(Thank you to @weightedblankettt for the blurry text translation!)

Now, numbers starting with 555 are used for fictional phone numbers, specifically in North America, which is how we’re able to tell that this killing game’s participants probably come from the same Hope’s Peak that the participants of the current killing game are from. Other than that, it doesn’t really tell us much, other than our Protag has an ID card for Hope’s Peak. This leads us to believe that he may be staff, however DRDTDev confirms that these are 11 students.

One thing, though, that I think may be something…

What if Teacher is, instead of just a student, a student teacher? Basically, what if he is someone who comes in to help the actual teachers with the class load and such, but isn’t a classmate of the rest of the Ultimates. Either that, or he’s just a student who carries around his ID card from a lanyard. Like a weirdo (/j).

Now: The Mai thing. Many people think that Teacher may be a relative of Mai, or connected to her in some way, due to the red in his hair, on his shoes, and on the inside of his coat. However, the red used with his colors is very different from Mai’s red. Another theory to why he might be related to Mai is because his eyes are always closed in all the art we’ve seen of him, so maybe he’s related to one of the cast and DRDTDev is keeping his eyes closed to not spoil who. I do believe this part, just not with Mai.

Okay well, here my theory goes:

Teacher is the older brother of Teruko. Teruko mentions in chapter 1 episode 4 that she has an older brother, but they were separated when she was 5. She likely doesn’t remember much about him at all (and I suspect that he was the one who Teruko says she “couldn’t remember the face” of as well). Although they don’t have the same hair color, they do have a very similar skin color, and the closed-eye thing could be just as true with Teruko as with Mai. As well as this, most characters in all of DRDT have a gradient on their eyelashes. 3 characters who don’t? Mai, Teruko, and now Teacher.

Imma be honest, it’s a bit of a crack theory, but I kinda like it, and think it’s interesting. I’m pretty sure I’m going to be the only one to believe this haha

Oh wait! I almost forgot! The whole thing on him being the “Teacher” referenced in secret text. I don’t have much to say on that except that yeah, that’s probably true. Maybe. Who knows.

—

Sigh, I love men.

I’ll be calling this dude Mint, which I know is separate from the names that @xmicrophonyx came up with, but… I think it’s cute, so. First off, his design is great, yada yada, and I love his little cropped jacket. Very cute.

I definitely think his design is pretty sporty, especially with the layers of the undershirt, over shirt, and jacket, along with the coat around his waist. My first thought for him is that he does some kind of racing, either with cars or motorcycles, because that’s what his jacket reminds me of. Race car drivers do wear gloves, so this would make sense for that. I imagine this isn’t his actual racing clothes, instead just casual clothes, but there are still elements of his racing clothes in there. Along with this, it makes sense that he’d have his hair tied back so then he could fit it under his helmet and it wouldn’t get in his face too much (although I suspect his ponytail is too high to fit under a helmet. Oh well, he might wear it lower on race days).

His personality seems like it would fit that sort of thing as well, since he looks serious and somewhat aggressive. He also has those little marks under his eyes. I’m not entirely sure what they’re for, but I’m sure I could connect it back somehow if I wasn’t working on this post for like 3 hours and had any energy whatsoever to do research into it (I just got home from a very long car ride, so keep in mind I am still somewhat delirious). Idk. Maybe he just wanted to look pretty/intimidating/whatever so he put markings under his eyes.

—

A Child?!? Well, no, probably not, but she does look very, very young. Perhaps it’s the fact she’s right next to Teacher, who I’m pretty sure is the tallest out of the cast? Maybe it’s also the fact that the color that dominates her design is pink, and her complimentary color is baby blue.

So, her design is pretty clearly inspired by sheep/rams, since her pupil is the same shape as them, her braids are coiled up similarly to ram horns, and the bottom of her coat/dress looks like sheep wool. The bell on her bow also looks like the pupil of a sheep, too. I actually had a phase of drawing people with that type of pupil, too, because I thought it looked so interesting and unique. I still think characters with those kind of eyes are pretty cool.

Since her design looks so much like a sheep/ram, you would think that was involved in her talent, however in her eye you can see a little needle. That makes me think she’s a tailor or seamstress or something like that. Perhaps, since wool is a big material used for fabric, she cares for sheep and then makes fabric out of their wool, or something in that vein.

She seems pretty peppy and happy, so I assume she would take on an Eden-esque role in this killing game (Though, I assume, she is actually far different, and likely more naive than Eden is).

—

Our girl Fire! She is hot, amiright? (Cue the applause). I don’t know what came over me, with that pun. Maybe the spirit of Whit or something.

But no, seriously, she is certainly a… very attractive woman. The snakebite piercings, eyebrow piercings, nose piercings, and bellybutton piercing? Oh my. A win for the girlkissers. A win indeed.

She certainly gives aggressive energy, like she would fight you (and win, obviously. It wouldn’t even be a competition). She looks like she could take Xander. Also!! I really like her teeth, because one of my teeth stick out like that too. I’m pretty sure it’s the one in the exact same spot as her, just mirrored. I’ve always kind of liked it.

Now, her outfit is definitely very sporty, though I’m unsure of which sport exactly. Her abs and chunky gloves give the vibe of something like a boxer or weightlifter, but she also has chaps on. I’m truly unsure if the chaps are just decorative or if she actually does ride horses (I want to say they’re just decorative because white chaps? Not a good idea. No white clothes are really a good idea when you ride horses a lot. Especially if the horses are unruly lol). Plus, she has a lot of skin exposed, and I can say from experience that flies and bugs are a bitch, and there are a lot when horses are involved.

I also just wanted to point out that Fire and Ice (her brother, who I’ll be talking about next) have eyes that are half brown and half grey, and they each have a color palette of either brown or grey and another color (the extra colors are also complimentary). I personally believe this is because the siblings/twins are very different, and likely don’t get along too well, but that’s just a theory. A DRDT theory. I’m mentally unwell, I think.

[glorfys-glorioushair]

Story in the Castlevania Games

Buckle up this is a long one!

I understand that there is often a divide about which of the Castlevania game types are better (Classicvanias, Metroidvanias, and the 3Ds) but I think this is kind of shallow because they each offer a different perspective of style. 

Personally I love the Igarashi era because the first game I 100% completed was Symphony of the Night (I started with Super Castlevania on a SNES). I also connect with the style because I’m a terrible gamer and you can easily scrape through those (yes I went as mist throughout a lot of the inverted castle don’t @ me) as opposed to the classicvanias which make you pay for it (I like the tough concept and the reward, but I can’t tell you how many times I have screamed about falling off stairs). I haven't had a chance to play the 3Ds yet, but I have watched the Curse of Darkness cutscenes in 4K numerous times!

My own preferences aside, we all know that despite gameplay, every Castlevania game (the ones that follow the timeline, bc idk anything about the Lord of Shadows series) have the same simple plot with the sole purpose in defeating Dracula. And I sometimes see in the gaming community that their simplicity of plot is marked off as terrible and shallow. In a surface level view this can be true if you just play games to play games. But in regards to Ernest Hemingway’s Iceberg Theory that “emphasizes the idea that a writer should only reveal a small portion of the story, with the bulk of the meaning and emotion implied or hinted at”, the Castlevania games explore such deep concepts of love, human struggle, identity, gender roles, sexuality, good vs. evil, religion, and other philosophies. 

By having the same basic objective, the writers are able to explore the different avenues in going about the completion of the task of defeating Dracula and point to the ideas of what it means to be human. Some examples under the cut:

Symphony of the Night has the debate of how evil and even good can have radical ideology evident with Dracula obviously, but also in Richter who got so consumed with being the force of good he was manipulated by darkness. Thus Alucard, who is a product of both good and evil is the only one who can reinstate this balance and leave behind the quote from the Sega Saturn version, “However, you must never forget this: the one with the power to destroy this world is not him... Humans themselves possess this power.” The dialogue is actually good and complex in this game when you compare the different versions. 

CVIII: Dracula’s Curse is argued to have one of the hardest gameplays (outside of the original Japanese version) and couldn’t this have an impact on the fact Trevor Belmont and the gang are the first ones to take down Dracula? It had to have been hard for them to achieve such a feat! Also the different motives for all of the playable characters. Trevor and his family’s fealty to fighting the night and who was once Mathias Cronqvist. Grant Danasty who seeks revenge for getting temporarily turned into a monster and fights for his country’s safety. Alucard who wants to stop his father from tormenting humans. And Syfa Belnades who was a female magic user for the church in a time where that mysticism could be deadly, but was necessary to preserve humanity. I think Syfa is interesting in terms of hiding versus showing true identity (something Yoko Belnades eons later talks about). 

Curse of Darkness. Y’all this might be the most complete and obviously complex story (supplement material aside) that they have ever produced, yet it’s the one that’s the most sidelined. And for what?? Hector is an outstanding foil to Dracula even to the point of the goal is to use him as a vessel to resurrect Dracula. Like that is so interesting!! Even Isaac and Julia have great characterizations. If you want more stuff about this game, check out @beevean they have great content. 

My second favorite game, Aria of Sorrow explores how Soma is actually a reincarnation of Dracula and it’s a battle of the self, temptation, and his love for Mina that can defeat the evil within. Also Alucard’s change in terms of approaching the situation of defeating his father under the guise of Arikado Genya. Now that’s a can of worms right there.

Order of Ecclesia and the discourse of cults, Harmony of Dissonance regarding how the Belmonts are just as cursed as Dracula, friendship and more in CV: Bloodlines, Simon Belmont’s battle with outward and internal strength, Lament of Innocence and how the women are fridged for both good and evil, the list can go on.

Now I won’t say that every single Castlevania game achieves this well, most things are left to speculation and interpretation like deeper information of what happens between games and what the Belmont lineage canonically looks like. But the fact you can draw these intense and deep messages from pixels and gameplay is incredible!  

What may be my biggest frustration with Konami sidelining the Castlevania series is the potential of a complex story within a well-thought out gameplay and style. Grimoire of Souls may have failed with repetition and it being a gacha game, but the story was interesting because they explored what it looks like with the characters from different games comparing and contrasting themes. It shows that there are people in the writing room who still care about the games because of the story. But money seems to be the problem for Konami which is stupid because they would make bank with this game franchise imo

Anyways my real point here is that taking a minimalistic approach to the story-telling within a game isn’t a bad thing because there’s always going to be deeper meanings. Perhaps this is why I myself gravitate so much towards this series. For me it’s not always about how good I can get through a level or boss fight, but the subject of what speaks to the human soul.

TL;DR: don’t get hung up on what gameplay is better, pay attention to the fact that all the games share a simple plot in order to explore complex themes of humanity, saying that less is more.

[marinaiguess]

some thoughts evoked by the poll thingy with blaze being in the finals. It’s not about the polls, I do know these are for funsies and stuff, the thought occured to me though because of it. 

I think blaze is a very mistreated and underrated character. 

Wow, okay, that was loaded. Still stands though. I guess I have none other than SEGA to blame, but either way, I do wanna analyze her journey in the franchise and also share my thoughts along the way. 

Blaze the cat had a great kick-off at the beginning of her career. What better way to introduce her than have her as a playable character alongside the main character in an exclusive game for the massively popular at the time, Nintendo DS. Sonic Rush sold more than a million copies and even though it was a pretty great game, it did more than that: it took care of Blaze. It established her character, her background, her story, it gave her an entire character development arc. What was there not to love about her? Sonic’s rival at first, a girl who could keep up with him in terms of speed and power, a princess from another dimension who could also control fire, having her own set of emeralds of which she was the guardian and even her own super form. So many things to consider. All those things were what made her super likeable back in 2005. Fans were actually obsessed with her. And they needed more. So, SEGA had to do something about it.

Here comes Sonic the Hedgehog (2006), changing quite a few things that we already knew about our favorite blue speedster. Possibly changing the entire franchise irredeemably. You already know where I’m going with this. We’re introduced to a new character, Silver the Hedgehog. Everyone is excited to play through his story and, right off the bat, we meet his company: Blaze. Everyone is cheering beacuse Blaze! She’s here, in a 3D game! Soooo, Silver is a character from Blaze’s dimension? Wrong. They’re from the future. Maybe Blaze’s dimension is from the future? Wrong. Blaze and Sonic don’t even acknowledge each other when they eventually meet, acting like they’ve never met before, like Sonic Rush never happened. Okay, fine, it can’t get worse than that, right? Wrong. 

Blaze, for the entirety of the game is treated like a cosmetic, acting solely as Silver’s sidekick, or even as his mentor if you will, and nothing more. We rarely see through her and her thoughts and we’re given little to no means to understand her character. For some people, Blaze was a newly introduced character, since not everyone knew her existence from a year prior. What they get is not the powerful princess we met in Rush, the one who understood the power of friendship and used it in her favour despite her bad past. No, what they got in 06 was a side character, merely existing to give Silver advice and suggestions for his own journey, which she follows no matter what path he chooses to take, even if she disagrees or is not entirely content with it. 

Her limited screentime used for fan-service purposes ended with a bang. Despite this huge journey of giving Silver a purpose (or helping him fulfill it), Blaze was the one who saved the future by using Chaos Control and sacrificing herself in the process, turning into a sort of Burning Blaze as she ascends to the sky. The only reason I felt bad about it was because I knew who Blaze was supposed to be, Blaze to me was the character introduced in Rush. But, given all the info from this specific game, I wasn’t really attached to this Blaze, I had no reason to. Her story felt too blank in comparison to everyone else’s for me to feel the impact of her death. I can understand Silver’s pain though. 

Which doesn’t matter in the end because the timeline is erased. 

So, does that mean Sonic 06 never happened or that it’s not canon? Nope. Everything happened and everything is back to the way it was. Except that the future is saved. How do we know? Sonic Rivals and Sonic Rush Adventure happened. 

I will stick to the latter for the time being. Sonic Rush received a not so commerrcially successful as its predecessor sequel, picking up from where it left off. Kind of. The game released in 2007, a year after 06, the events of which were never to be brought up again, at least until Generations (2011). So, as you’d assume, Sonic and Blaze act like 06 never happened to them, continuing their story after Rush’s events. This game gave more in-depth character development to Blaze, who strengthens her bonds with old and new friends. It doesn’t really matter though because this game didn’t sell well, meaning not a lot of people bought it. Basically, no one knew that game existed so they were wondering what the hell happened to Blaze. Was she dead? Was she from the future? Was she from a different dimension? Would we ever see her again?

Uncertainty prevailed and after SEGA realized how bad of an idea it was to release 06 at its terrible state, they decided it would be best to pretend like it never happened. Iizuka (if I’m not mistaken) when asked in an interview, said that the reason Sonic and Blaze didn’t recognize each other in 06 was “amnesia”. Which doesn’t answer anything and I believe an official answer right now would differ a lot from that. Blaze went on to be a playable character in a few racing games, she got a few cameos. 2009, she appears in Sonic and the Black Knight as Sir Percival. Once again, it doesn’t change anything because, this is a storybook game and doesn’t take place in the in-game universe (this is the arthurian kingdom/world/universe).

Many fans theorized that 06 happened before Rush, making Blaze die in 06 and being transeferred to a new dimension while she had used Chaos Control, forgetting about the past, hence why she didn’t know Sonic in Rush. This was further supported by the fact that Blaze and Silver didn’t recognize each other in Sonic Colors DS (2010), meaning they had forgotten each other. Blaze forgot about 06 and traveled to a different dimension and Silver was affected by the timeline erasure. Sounds pretty solid, right?

Sonic Generations (2011). Blaze is there because she is still relevant and a beloved character to the franchise. No one knows how she got there and no one explains it but no one cares, she’s there to celebrate Sonic’s birthday, the Sonic she knows through the Rush games. But stuff happens and she gets trapped, alongside many of Sonic’s friends, into this ‘white limbo’. Sonic saves her...from Crisis City. Which is a stage from the future of Sonic 06. You may think “okay, maybe SEGA just wanted to pay tribute to 06 as well.” and that would be fine, if it weren’t for Blaze stating that she “never thought she’d be here again.” She remembers 06. Theory debunked. This is never mentioned again, in any game ever. It is still canon however. 

After that, she appeared in Team Sonic Racing (2019), taking 8 years to appear in a game again...despite it being a spin-off. Nothing happens there really, she’s just there to talk to Silver and Amy who she races against for some reason. 

She does appear in IDW, and we now know that the comics are canon to the game timeline. And, I gotta say, I like her there. She hasn’t appeared many times but the writers made those times count. (I think it was Ian who wrote her all of those times, so yeah). 

To put it simply, Blaze is a lost opportunity. Talk about having a rough transition into 3D (hehe). SEGA could have used her in many ways and I think they were intending to, they were preparing her for something big. But they didn’t handle her as they were supposed to and this leads to where we are, where Blaze only appears in spin-offs and the comics, as if they are afraid to bring her back in mainline games. They could really capitalize on her character, if used correctly. They could use her as a playable character that uses the boost formula, as a character that has a super form. They could use her world to introduce new level designs, avoiding using Green Hill over and over again, right? 

I don’t wanna see her standing on the sidelines, doing nothing. I don’t want her purpose to be mentoring Silver. I don’t want her legacy to be Sonic 06. I don’t her to appear only in dire situations (even though, now that I think about it, she didn’t even appear in Forces despite there being a literal war in Sonic’s world). I don’t want her character development to be forgotten and erased. She was a girl with a unique personality that now feels empty, as if she hides behind the face of being a princess from another dimension and nothing more, barely being Sonic’s or Cream’s friend. Mainly focused on the games right now. 

It is said that Blaze is one of the fan-favourite characters of the franchise. But I don’t know if that’s correct. Because I’m not sure if people are a fan of who she is now, of who she is in their minds, or of who she is supposed to be, best depicted in the Rush games. Personally, I believe Blaze still has a lot of uncovered potential that they could take advantage of, so that they can show to everyone who Blaze is supposed to be. Strong and independant, her own character, her own hero.

Hopefully, we get to see more of that in the future. She definitely deserves it. 

[thefandomenchantress]

Asks you more stuff because why the hell not What do you think of the ship: Levi x Ace x David? What do you think of the theory of David being the real protagonist? Apart from Acevid, whats your favorite David ship? (Acevid >>>>>>) What do you think *my* MBTI is? (I love asking people this so sorry) Who do you think killed Arei and why? Out of all my current Acevid oneshots, whats your favorite and least favorite? (Any why ofc bc I just love hearing what people think about things I make) While we're on the topic of Acevid oneshots, whats your favorite and least favorite out of your own? Whos your favorite DRDT VA? (Probably Ace) Is there anything you genuinely don't like about Ace? Do you like Arturo? Which DRDT character would you say is the emoest?

Yaaaay more questions to answer! I love when people ask for my opinions and stuff! :D (/gen)

What do you think of the ship: Levi x Ace x David?

Hmm, I’ve never considered this ship before, surprisingly. And here I was thinking I shipped every Ace ship in existence!

But since I ship acevid and acevi, and I’ve read at least one good David x Levi (Levid?) one-shot, I think they could all be cute together! I think their personalities would even each other out, if you know what I mean. I kinda wanna see a fic about them now, though I’m not sure how I would approach writing one myself.

What do you think of the theory of David being the real protagonist?

I’ve never seen this theory around before, so I can’t be 100% sure I know what you mean, but I do think it’s interesting that he stands where a protag normally would in a canon game.

I suppose maybe in the in-universe TV show the cast is on David could maybe be the protag? Since, as mentioned before, he stands where the protag would. Maybe audiences got bored of the hopeful protags and wanted one that was more interesting and morally grey like David.

But I think, in terms of the real-world YouTube series, we’re going to have Teruko as the protag the whole game.

Apart from Acevid, whats your favorite David ship?

Honestly? Probably Teruvid. Their banter makes me smile, and I’m a total sucker for the rivals to lovers trope (hence my obsession with acevid, haha).

I’ve seen some Nico x David stuff, too, and I think they’re also pretty cute.

Honestly, most David ships fascinate me, just because each character deals with David’s whole personality change/reveal a bit differently.

What do you think *my* MBTI is?

Hmm…ENFP?

Who do you think killed Arei and why?

Okay, hear me out…Eden. NOT BECAUSE I THINK SHE’S SECRETLY EVIL OR ANYTHING! Nice people are allowed to be nice. But there’s piece of evidence pointing to her as the culprit I don’t think we can ignore.

When Ace wakes up from almost dying and knocks Eden to the ground, a few moments later the tape that was on the floor of the crime scene disappears from the background, seemingly stolen while Teruko was distracted by Ace. Then later, we have a whole scene with Teruko and Rose (the pull-up scene) confirming it’s gone. If Eden stole the tape, then I say that she definitely killed Arei.

If you want to read something more in-depth about this theory I suggest checking out @1moreff-creator’s theories about it, they were all super interesting and convincing, at least to me.

Out of all my current Acevid oneshots, what’s your favorite and least favorite?

I guess to properly answer this question I’ll have to go reread all your one-shots, AKA some of my favorite one-shots to reread…oh no…/j

But in all seriousness, after rereading all of them my favorite is probably ‘Red and Blue Work So Well Together’ and the sequel ‘Love Between a Ruby and Sapphire’, which I’m counting as the same one since they’re in the same timeline. I also really like ‘It All Started with a Bet’!

And I honestly don’t have a least favorite, since I think all of your one-shots are good! :)

While we're on the topic of Acevid oneshots, whats your favorite and least favorite out of your own?

My favorite would probably have be either ‘Synonyms’, which will always hold a special place in my heart as the first Acevid one-shot I was really proud of, or ‘Stealin’ Shit’, my most recent one, since I’m pretty proud of the overall story and longer length of that one. Plus I got a chance to put Jarei in that one!

My least favorite is probably ‘Sleeping Soundly’, just because it’s so much shorter than my other ones, or ‘Soap’, because Ace felt a bit out of character.

Who’s your favorite DRDT VA?

I know that this is super predictable…But yeah, it’s Ace’s. He just sells Ace’s emotions so well, and it’s so cool to listen to any voices lines of his!

But I also really like Hu’s voice actor. At first, since Hu was usually pretty calm and delivered most of her lines in the same tone, I didn’t really notice her voices lines as much as Ace’s, but that one moment in the 2nd trial when she says “I am trying my best” and goes on her tangent about usefulness? My God, that was such a stand-out moment for me. I can still hear it in my head.

But honestly, all the voice actors are amazing! I love and appreciate every single one of them so much!!!

Is there anything you genuinely don't like about Ace?

Even for someone who loves him as much as I do, I will admit his bullying of Nico wore me down a lot. Every time in Chapter 2 when we saw them arguing, I would go, “Ugh, he’s doing this again?”.

But that’s not a bash on the writing by any means! The failed murder attempt would have felt like it came out of nowhere if not for all the necessary build-up, and I can totally understand why the DRDTdev showed them arguing as much as they did.

But seeing my silly little angry coward turn into a certified bully definitely made me…Well, not annoyed, but really sad? Like, I was under the impression Ace would get a redemption, only for him to get worse.

But despite the fact it made me feel pretty sad in the moment…I think I kind of like it. It would make sense for someone like Ace to get more desperate, more aggressive, than to just get redeemed this early on. It wouldn’t have been very realistic if they didn’t take this route. And like I said, it’s not even that this makes me dislike him…It just makes me feel bad for him. With a group of people like the one in the killing game, he might have finally started to grow as a person, but instead someone murdered and this happened. It feels tragic, and I can’t wait to see where the character goes next.

My tangent about what I don’t like about Ace kinda turned into another reason that I like him…Whoops. What I’m trying to say is that Ace’s abrasive personality can be a lot to process, even for me. I can kinda see why some people just write him off as a jerk, but I think a closer inspection can yield a lot of interesting stuff.

Do you like Arturo?

In the past I’ve said I’m kinda meh about him, but he’s grown on me a bit. His mindset is…unique, let’s put it that way, but it seems he’s got an interesting backstory and I think the prologue/chapter 1 version of him is good for comedic purposes.

He’s a good character. Not my favorite, not even close, especially not with the developments of chapter 2 and him following J around, that was hard to watch (not a bash on the writing, I can honestly appreciate how they’re not using the stalking/obsession thing purely for laughs, just treating it as creepy, unlike other pieces of media will do sometimes).

Overall, still not one of my favorite characters, he might even be my least favorite. But I love all the characters in DRDT so much that saying he’s my least favorite isn’t even an insult. There’s just some tough competition.

Which DRDT character would you say is the emoest?

Oh, I’ve never really thought about this before. I wasn’t sure what the definition of emo was so I looked it up:

And I think the person who would be the ‘emoest’, or the biggest fan of emo music…Would probably be J? She feels cool and badass listening to it, especially if her Mom called it ‘distasteful’ or something. In that case she’d also listen to it out of spite.

Welp…That’s it. This was super fun to do again! Sorry it took me a while to answer this ask. Tumblr reloaded and deleted my unsaved draft answering the first few questions, and it took me a bit to get the motivation to retype them and (after triple-checking it saved) answering the rest. But again, I love when people ask my opinions and stuff, so this was super fun, thanks for the ask!

[p5x-theories]

Just out of curiosity, how do you think the story is gonna go from here? Since we know Futaba and Okumura’s palaces are coming, and probably take place during the 3rd palace, that means the next palace in crossfate should be the casino, during whatever the 4th palace is, which seems to be an actual part of the story according to Wonder’s dream? Do you think crossfate will be out on hold until the main story catches up? Or do you think the main story will pause and the timelines will cross? I keep thinking about it and can’t really figure out a good theory of what’s gonna happen next. I’ve talked to a few other fans about it and they don’t really seem sure where the story’s gonna go either

Sorry I held onto this ask for a bit, I wanted to play through as much of the story as we have right now so I could answer this ask with as much information as possible!

I could see them going either way, in terms of having the casino now, or having it later, and it really comes down to whether or not the collab itself is tied into the game's main story. If Wonder's dream was only foreshadowing the collab, there's nothing really stopping them from finishing up the collab's plot sooner than the actual game plot. Wonder did recognize Joker from his dream when they first met in the Castle Chapter, so a connection has been drawn here. But then, if Wonder's dream was tied into the main story as well as the collab, obviously the devs will want to wait for the optimal time in the story to reveal the casino part of the collab. Given Wonder's dream, and that strange cognitive (?) Joker, both of which appeared within the actual story, that could be evidence towards this possibility.

That all said, the fourth Palace could be the right time to shake things up. Three Palaces is enough to establish a pattern, even if it was already somewhat disrupted by the third Palace having two Palace rulers. In the original game, they throw off the pattern by having Futaba's Palace, which is kickstarted by Futaba contacting them to steal her heart, and then the overall strangeness of navigating a Palace where the ruler wants your help, even though you're seen as an enemy. Here, however, I could see them taking it several steps further, and maybe tying the collab into the plot, or otherwise crossing the universes.

But in the end, that's all just speculation that's really hard to back up with any evidence, haha. I'm kind of with you and the other fans; I could think of reasoning for a couple different ways they might do this, but none of them stand out as the obvious thing to expect here.

At the very least, though, I think that makes it all the more exciting to find out about later! :D

[lucicada]

Do you ever think about how the watchers, as they are defined by Grian, would be the most powerful force in the universe?

I mean, watchers are.. us. We are watchers. Which is Duh, of course we are but its a bit more complex than that. Watchers would be classified as Gods which exist OUTSIDE of the universe: you know the end poem that’s basically ‘you are the universe and the universe is you’ basically watchers are disconnected. Because when we watch a video we aren’t IN the video thus making us, not apart of the universe.

How does this make watchers the most powerful forces of all? Well, in a traditional sense it wouldn’t.

They don’t have very much affect on the world as people inside it do, thus watching it unfold and only being able to give warnings through forms of voices, comments, chats etc. If this were the case this would make Technos voices and Phils crows to be watchers in disguise and this would actually be very plausible.

I mean when we join a minecraft world we look.. as regular as a player can be: no robes or wings as the statues depict them in Evo. We just look.. like a regular player. Like watchers visiting as guests taking on human forms to blend in such as that subscriber who visited Evo because they won a contest. A watcher in disguise.

Grians appearance changes after becoming a watcher if you go by Evo timeline terms, becoming more plain looking and less evo looking. More like a human to hide his less than human godlike origins.

If you think about it Watchers would be more powerful than the Goddess of Death Kristin almost. I mean, we as watchers basically made her god, she wasn’t apart of the SMP naturally we just decided it. We has watchers gave her that power the same way we gift godhood to other characters in the form of headcanons: but its rare these actually come into affect.

Its like a story of ancient gods being shut off from everything to avoid abusing their power. I mean, in EVO watchers for the first time ever seen actually interacted with the world in the form of signs, riddles, games, puzzles, punishments and even sending an asteroid flying into a building in the main spawn area. If thats not proof enough that if watchers were given the power of free control over their main worlds they would be the most powerful force in the multiverse.

Honestly if the watchers sent an asteroid into a building who’s to say they didn’t make moon big happen. Just a thought. I mean the moon falling? Grians old skin being Link? Watchers being directly connected by the recent Last Life with Martyns lore who also conveniently had moon lore. It was all a coincidence but y’know. Still plausible.

What we make in the form of AUS just proves this fact, we mess with the timeline but we can never rewrite or alter the original. Evo is unique BECAUSE its altered by the watchers actions and their decisions: taking Grian away from Evo to become a watcher, whether of his own free will or kidnapped, could’ve caused the original fate of Evo to shift. Altering the future events in a sense.

Watchers would be more powerful than Kristin, DreamXD, Aeor and Exor. They exist in a universe and have to abide by its rules. Watchers however, dont.

The watching quality of it is also very accurate because they really do see everything but they can pick and choose. Watchers know about Tommys Exile but others don't, if they so choose to know everyone they can.

The ability to rewatch old videos and storylines also implies the watchers really can Time travel and thats were they get their ability to send the Evolutionists further into versions, we time travel with watching content all the time. Screw Watchers living in the End or the Void put them in the Aether or Outerspace those would be better fits for these anomalies, since once doesn’t exist and the other is replaced by the void meaning that outerspace the way we know it doesn’t exist. Maybe because we know it though, thats why is DOES exist. See what I mean by complex now?

What are listeners then? What would that mean for Grian if he were still a watcher as Last Life seems to imply. Its all so interesting I’d love to see discussion on this; sorry if any of this repeated or if my grammar is awful I am very sleep deprived and am thinking very self existentially.

Just thought that watchers are associated with time travel and sight of everything. Grian was admin of a time travelling server, he owned a time machine that could to back to Alpha which is conveniently where Evo was before, he has a rift in S9 that literally bends worlds and has a very similar aura and feel to the old portals to travel through updates, with clues as well like the watchers would do. Woah.

TL;DR: We are watchers, were fucking stacked because we can see fucking everything if we choose, if Grian is a watcher he'd be the BAMF-est bitch ever and would be stronger than the Goddess of Death and DreamXD and Aeor and such since he can interact with the world unlike other watchers.

Man, I got carried away. Discussion anyone?

[caramsels]

i see a lot of disagreement about whether cece (i've seen some people spell this as cici but idk which is right sorry) is implied to be six or raincoat girl from VLN, and i wanted to defend the six one a bit.

"the raincoat did not originally belong to six, so otto's recognition of it means that he might have known rcg or a previous owner of the raincoat"

this is a good point, but i think that the ties to six are more prominent with what we have so far. i find the specificity of the dialogue interesting too. upon noone mentioning that she saw a "yellow raincoat" on one of the mannequins, otto perks up at the mention of yellow, not a raincoat. this leaves more ambiguity, it's possible six just is a fan of yellow. maybe that's why she gravitates toward duck toys, maybe it factors into her wearing the raincoat initially, she is nine after all.

the ferryman

the role the ferryman plays makes me think that the audience is supposed to latch onto a connection to six. "the ferryman" is what the audience knows him as, because we have seen him interact with her. with otto claiming that he is " cece's ferryman,” it feels like a direct reference to the audience's knowledge of the character, which could easily be reflected in universe by our old protagonist.

clothes

this one is less solid and more like speculation, but we don’t really know if six “wakes up” in between nightmares like noone offscreen, or if she accepted the ferryman’s invitation and is permanently trapped in the nowhere. i lean heavily towards the second, hence why this section is just speculation on if the first one is true. we know that the nowhere isn’t just some dream lair, it’s it’s own world that the kids are physically taken to. based on noone describing herself wearing a dress in the first episode, it’s implied that LN kids get taken whatever they are wearing in their realm, the nowhere doesn’t give them a costume switch. if kids don’t get a new wardrobe upon entering the nowhere, who’s to say the new clothes they acquire in it wouldn’t also transfer over when they woke up? noone straight up disappearing in the night implies that the nowhere isn’t too interested in being discreet about kidnapping the kids and changing them either, so i can see this being a defense for the raincoat to be recognized by otto. i don’t actually believe this one much, but it’s fun to speculate.

time

this is actually a good point against the cece = six theory that i haven’t seen mentioned yet, but to me, one of the most chilling reveals in the final episode was that otto is the younger brother. The whole time I expected him to be older, but otto being younger than cece implies that she didn’t just go missing a long time ago, she went missing a LONG time ago. if the six we are used to seeing is still mentally and physically a nine year old, how do we connect her to cece’s age?

my answer would be that i think six is no longer a kid in the nowhere, i think that the podcast/LN3 and any future installments of LN are set after what we have seen so far. i’ve always thought that if a third game was ever made and six made an appearance, she’d be the sixth lady (in terms of power at least), not the version of her we know. six’s arc as a child has concluded by the end of LN1, she’s a part of the nowhere now. narratively, i don’t see a reason for her to be explored further at that stage of life. when noone is in the room with all the mannequins, she notes that they are past victims of the nowhere. and while the raincoat could represent rcg’s death in that context, i think it represents both. six also fell to the nowhere, the ending of LN1 is not happy.

promotional material for LN3 also mentions something “lurking in the shadows” and heavily features a mirror; both of which have been connected to the lady’s powers in the past. this isn’t to say that they 100% are meant to symbolize her, but i think the connection is worth noting when we talk about LN3’s placement in the timeline. i could talk longer about why i think any further appearances of six are likely to be older, but this isn’t about that so i’ll stop yapping.

conclusion

sorry if this is like incomprehensible, i’m used to screaming my LN tangents at my poor non LN fan friends in DMs and not posting them lol so forgive me for the weirdness. basically i’m still not entirely convinced thar six = cece, but i wanted to defend the theory from people writing it off completely. from the ferryman, the color yellow, the timeline, “six” and “cece” starting with similar sounds, “cecilia”, (which cece is a nickname for) meaning “sixth”, and the fact that the podcast has six episodes, i think the audience is at the very least encouraged to make the connection to six, whether or not it’s a red herring.

[digisurvive]

Aoi in the Moral route

For day 4 (moral/wrathful/harmony) of @surviveweek​​, I'll talk about some of the answers for Aoi's character arc the Moral Route and her ultimate evolution scenes provide and how these relate to the larger thematics in the game.

Previously, I wrote at length about how the themes and events in the pre timeline split informed the narrative in Wrathful. If Wrathful is a route about all of the worst extremes in Aoi's rigid thinking and unresolved issues, then what is the game’s answer to these dilemmas? To answer that, we'll recontextualize the themes running through her adult and perfect evolution cutscenes in order to understand the answers provided in Anubimon's. 

A desire for Authority.

Outwardly, Aoi's character arc looks quite simple: she's a meek, insecure girl who needs to become more confident. Her evolution cutscenes constantly talk about her desire for power and assertiveness. 

In Dobermon’s debut, we can see illustrated the push to get her to take pride in her efforts in order to stand tall in front of adversity:

[Image id: Dialogue log.

Aoi: My feelings… I… I want to become stronger. But I lack courage…

Labramon: That’s not true! You’re standing right here, aren’t you?! You’re fighting right now! Come on, don’t you see?!]

And in Cerberumon’s scenario, we see her desire for power laid out in explicit terms:

[Image id: Aoi and Labramon chibi models standing in a field, facing off against Kuwagamon. Aoi’s dialogue reads: “I want more… More power… Not just to protect, but to overpower!”]

Aoi: I want more… More power… Not just to protect, but to overpower!

I want to be more than a damsel in distress! I want to defend everyone! And to do that… I need power!

Labramon: (grunting) This feeling, your craving for power. It’s all rushing into me! The strength of your resolve, the courage you use to stand firm… They give me strength! 

We can discern that Aoi wants to move on from passively supporting the group to overpowering what threatens them in order for her to protect everyone. It’s not enough for her to simply face things as they come, but she wants to have a more proactive hand when facing whatever comes their way.

In order to fully parse her constant desire for proactiveness, power and confidence, we need to factor in her hidden face shown in Wrathful.

One of the biggest conclusions she comes to in Wrathful is that "She should've been more assertive from the beginning."

[Image id: Screenshot of Aoi in the spider lily portion of the woods saying “Yes… I should’ve been more assertive, from the very beginning.] 

This relates both to her regrets over not being able to guide everyone to proper behavior from the start (let’s remember, she shrinks down the responsibility of leading the group in part two due her own insecurities) and her long-standing resentments stemming from being taken advantage of due her strong sense of responsibility, her desire to be a valuable member in her community and her inability to draw firm boundaries.

The latter is subtly hinted at from the prologue of the game, where she constantly brings up the fact Minoru doesn’t address her appropriately as his senpai in indirect terms. This causes Minoru to keep joking around, which frustrates Aoi deeply and is reflected in the way Labramon harshly chews Minoru out in the early stages of the game. 

[Images IDs

The first screenshot shows Aoi frowning mildly, saying: “And do I need to remind you, Minoru, that I’m actually in a grade above yours?”

Second and third screenshots show Minoru with a toothy smile, and his dialogue reads: “I mean, shouldn’t you act like it, then, or something? You should be more of a nag, like… “I told you to knock that off!”]

Minoru is joking, but the implication is clear: Aoi lacks the boldness necessary to have any authority over him…

The brief flashback in part 10 reinforces her inability to directly assert herself both due being a pushover and the expectation she ought to make sure the results are satisfactory due her social position; which is also shown in her dialogue as Plutomon before the group fights her a second time:

[Image ID: Plutomon dialogue log that goes as follows:

Plutomon: I hate it when people are selfish, when all they do is complain and put everything on me! Why is it always like this?! So what if I’m class president? Why do only I get lectured? It’s not like I ever wanted to be in charge! I hate dealing with people! I can’t do it! But that’s how it turns out, whether it’s in class, after school, or here! Still, someone has to do the work, and if not me then who? That’s why I do these things!”]

In Wrathful, her response to these struggles is to embrace her desire for aggression unfettered, which translates in her not allowing others to have input in the decisions she takes over everyone's fates, and shutting down any attempt to question her by brute force. 

[Img ids: Screenshots of Plutomon, whose dialogue reads: “I can save the world. I can fix it. I can bring peace and harmony with my rule. Humans, monsters… all are to become one with me and share my feelings.]

From these corrupt answers, it's clear that her desire for power encompasses a desire to exert the authority inherent in the social positions she occupies. Which is made very clear in the way Cerberumon's cutscene is phrased, where's an emphasis over how she'll wield her power over others:

[Image ids: screenshots of Aoi and Cerberumon’s chibi models standing in a field, highlighting their dialogue, which goes as follows:

A: Well, a little… But it’s not your body that scares me… It’s the sharp, monstrous shape of the power I craved. Can I truly master such power…?

Cerberumon: Don’t be afraid. As long as your heart is true, even great power will not go astray.]

Aoi worries over whether she can be fair with the power she desires, which can be contrasted to Kaito’s unadulterated desire to get his hands over any power he can get his hands into:

[Image ID: Kaito and Dracmon standing in a field, facing off against Kiwimon. Their dialogue goes as follows:

Kaito: I’ll protect Miu. And I’ll grab hold of any power I can to do that!

Dracmon: Heh, that’s a risky way of thinking. Still, I like your spirit!]

The key difference between the power Aoi and Kaito desire being the scope of it: Aoi wants to proactively look after everyone (the responsibility she has to her community), whereas Kaito only seeks to protect his family and be able to live on his own terms (and as long his desire doesn’t become corrupted into a revengeful spite against the World, these self-centered motivations aren’t necessarily wrong). Thus, Aoi’s worries over being fair with the power she wields.

Still, Cerberumon encourages her to assume her position of authority (to not to be afraid to use such power), and it’s a theme that’s already present from Dobermon's cutscene:

[Image ID: Conversation log between Aoi and Dobermon.

Dobermon: This is how strong your feelings are, Aoi! That’s what gave me this power. I’m proof of your strength. With a just heart, you can wield great power.

Aoi: Labramon…

Dobermon: Now then… Time to teach you some manners. Oh, and Aoi… I’m not Labramon anymore… Call me Dobermon.]

Now that we have established the significance the concepts of Power and Assertivity can encompass for her, we can contrast the way they're applied for Anubimon and Plutomon, respectively. 

Anubimon and Plutomon.

One of the biggest differences between the resolve she has with Anubimon and her Plutomon’s ethos is that she explicitly declares she doesn't need any more power despite still holding true her resolve to look after everyone and get them home; instead declaring what she wants is A heart of Justice (the fact they're supposed to be struggling to fend off against the kenzoku in this scenario should Clue you In that Power here doesn't really mean the magnitude of special or physical damage).

[Image IDS: Screenshots to Aoi’s dialogue during Anubimon’s cutscene. It reads: “No (we can’t turn back), we have to hold them off here! Otherwise the others will be in danger! Running won’t solve anything! I refuse to lose anyone! We are all going back home!”]

The theme of a Just Heart is a constant through Labramon’s previous evolutive stages, and, as we’ve seen, it refers to wielding authority fairly. That she doesn’t desire to be more “assertive” clues us in that she no longer feels disrespected nor unable to express her limits and is able to delegate work fairly (to herself and others). This is further supported by the shadow event in Moral’s part 12:

[Image ID: conversation log between Aoi, her shadow and Labramon.

Shadow: I’m scared... I feel so insecure... I can’t handle everyone else’s trust...

Aoi: Yes, I do struggle with insecurity. I don’t think I have what it takes to lead everyone.

Labramon: What? Aoi?!

Aoi: But I don’t have to do it all myself. When I’m struggling, I can rely on my friends. And by leaning on one another, we all support each other. That’s my kind of leadership.]

That she can trust other people to act responsibly and share her burdens leads her to no longer desire to become bolder in order to be respected and stand by her resolve. “Relying on her friends” also translates to her being able to willing share her worries and misgivings, as seen in Anubimon’s cutscene, where she’s able to share her fear over losing the school as their base to the kenzoku:

[Img id: Aoi looking troubled in the forest. Her dialogue reads: I could tell both of you my honest feelings here. But now...]

Of special note is that her mindset here is markedly not self-centered. She uses this painful experience to empathize over how Jijimon and the digimon at the park must have felt over losing their home to the same menace the campers are faced with. This stands in direct opposition to Wrathful not just because of the obvious (that she’s opening up), but because it’s lacking the self-aggrandizing aspect her guilt and self-loathing give to her pain in Wrathful— where she develops an intense tunnel vision where she can’t consider the others might be burdened by Saki’s death as well—after all, they all have already decided that they must keep on moving, roused by Takuma.

Despite her collectivist ideals, Aoi actually has to be reminded to consider how the others are feeling when she’s ruminating over their problems, as seen in this affinity dialogue from part 6:

[Image ID: Conversation log between Aoi and Takuma, that reads:

Takuma: You’re so serious, Aoi. You should let go of some of this tension.

Aoi: But Labramon is my partner. She means so much to me. It’s only natural for me to worry about her well-being.

Takuma: If you worry so much you end up ignoring her feelings, then what’s the point?

Aoi: Argh…]

Despite her worry stemming over desire to do right by Labramon, she has the tendency to only consider her perspective and values as the only correct ones to reach a solution, a behavior we see at its worst during her Wrathful spiraling, where she fixates over the mistakes the others made and the need for her to prevent them from being made at all:

[Screenshots of Aoi in the spider lily forest. Her dialogue reads “I wasn’t wrong… Harmony and cooperation ARE the most important things! If everyone felt the same as me, there’d be no more fighting… No more death.]

Needing help is okay.

The humility to acknowledge her own limits, share her burdens with others and consider perspectives outside her own are what facilitate her to a fair leader who, instead of seeking to impose her judgment, guides the group to unanimous consensus (much like Anubimon is a fair judge of the Underworld) and also facilitates her healthier growth in Moral:

[Image ID: Aoi dialogue that reads: “But when people are in trouble, I still want to help! And my friends are counting on me!”]

Instead of her responsibilities to the group being solely imposed on her due her social position (As the remaining oldest kid in Moral, but this also applies to Truthful), they also correspond to her desire to help those in need and doing right by others. Her desire for Justice.

[Image ID: Aoi dialogue that reads “My friends count on me because they believe in me! That gives me all the courage I need!]

This also gives her a sense of purpose and connection to others, something she was struggling with in earlier stages of the game (seen in one of the affinity dialogues where she wonders just what is she to the group and laments being seen just as the Class President everyone can foister their work upon). When she’s able to trust others to pull their weight, the pressure over having to be responsible for the others doesn’t overwhelm her nor feeds her hidden resentments.

Compared to her Plutomon extremism, it’s a down-to-earth approach to dealing with her self-doubt. Being more confident and assertive is what she desires through most of the game, but part of what is stunting her growth is her reticence to open up and rely on others; this is something she has to constantly be reminded to take care of by Labramon, Takuma and Saki. Over time, her own limitations and fears stop being something selfish she imposes over others. The worry over making the wrong decision and letting everyone down or bringing in terrible consequences is still present, but she’s able to accept these struggles without them being world-ending because she has the support she needs. Just like Nott put it in their Ryo-Shuuji write-up, being able not to dwell in one’s mistakes is a key component for this group to be able to move forward and do better. It doesn’t have to be damming if the pressure is too high or the work too much because she can count on the others. This speaks to Survive’s ideal for shared responsibility both for communal problems but also personal growth. 

[yvtro]

struggling to phrase this concisely but do u have any thoughts on how stephanie and cassandra would relate or struggle to relate to jason given that his death was held over both of their heads and the timing of his return to gotham being RIGHT after steph’s death in war games… i just think it’s such an underutilized dynamic and there’s a lot of interesting stuff there bc i think cass would find jason infuriating whereas steph would find him unnervingly relatable and similar to her… add in the context of jason’s relationships to dick babs and tim (or lack thereof) and i just think there’s a lot of much more interesting storylines and conflicts than the half redeemed uncommitted to anything jason we have now where most of the batfam is like simultaneously disdainful of and indifferent to jason’s presence/choices

disclaimer: i'm moving blogs. still here to go through my askbox, but you will find me at @boyfridged from now on.

i’m sorry but I think this might be a mad disappointing answer… (which is why i’m very curious how you see it! maybe there’s some interesting angle that i am missing – please do tell!)

i think it all depends on what moment in the timeline we are thinking about for jason. utrh doesn't offer much space for anyone other than bruce and jay to interact, and i believe this (and lost days) is the only time when he is truly committed to any particular moral 'code' or a specific cause (like 'controlling crime'). even in comics in which jay is portrayed as a villain, he doesn't really... do anything other than displaying severe mental illness symptoms? no more crime empire, no more fixed agenda, just dogmatic murder and wandering around in some maladaptive state. but since you mentioned that in most scenarios he is “half-redeemed”, i will go with what i think is going on with jay post-utrh: he's not truly committed, but he's also not rehabilitated; nowhere near to it, even. 

now, the question that i always ask myself in terms of what dynamics can arise for characters is what both of them can get out of this relationship (on a meta level). 

which kinda leads me to perhaps a very underwhelming assumption that jay is just such a mess in that period that it's difficult to imagine scenarios where characters like steph or cass actually gain anything from sharing the narrative with him. it's a bit ironic in a sense that jay could get plenty out of it in terms of his storyline: cass' very presence poses a threat to his already very wobbly philosophy, and it would probably unnerve him because of how her personality reflects his own innate compassion. steph, on the other hand, is like a still frame of his worst time as robin, right before his death. (and by *the worst* I mean his emotional turmoil and issues in relationship with bruce rather than an assessment of his skills or even morals), which i think would also terrify him. as such, i reckon he would actually avoid both of them. in terms of cass, I don’t think she would necessarily want to interact with him either, mostly because while *ordinarily* she would fight anyone of his views, and she for sure wouldn't have much sympathy for him, she would be able to see that his philosophy is a result of immense trauma. we could conceive circumstances in which they are forced to work together, and as i once mentioned, if we put them in a box and shook hard enough, a conflict would definitely arise. but at the end of the day, does cass get anything out of it in terms of her own development? at this point she is (for the better part) way past the internal conflicts that jay experiences; she is simply more mature. 

as for steph, i could see steph seeking him out if the comparison to the ‘failed robin’ was fresh in her mind. but I think, to an extent, she would be disappointed – because while they do share a lot of characteristics and background, he is reckless only as much as he is suicidal. it’s definitely not his typical trait and as a child, he never had the same issues with bruce until the very end (starlin’s run). i'm not saying there's no room to still bond over certain things – but jay's self-isolating tendencies definitely would not help here at all. and i think if steph realised how big of a mistmatch there is between all of stories she was fed and his past + current attitude, she would maybe pity him.

so tldr it’s very difficult for me to imagine any particular dynamics nor stories for them within that timeframe. i don't think it's the case for *all* characters btw – i think people who knew him before (dick, donna, perhaps leslie or dana if we want to go in the direction of civilians), people who don't even know who he is and don't really care (kyle), or parental figures/older gen (talia or even some jl members) generally have a better set up to get involved with jay in meaningful ways (for both sides involved.)

but when it comes to characters around his age who only heard of him in a context of his death, it's simply... sad, especially that he *is* still a walking tragedy at this point.

now, on the other hand… the lost days? here, there is some grand potential for cass & jay or even jay & steph content. but that’s a topic for a whole another post.