#maybe expect more like this to come?

[eaglefairy]

Ok, I was thinking about it my whole walk home and I came up with some ideas as to what I would change about 2 to make it appeal more to Me, Specifically:

Begin the game with a re-enactment of the Aegis War, as put on by the playhouse in Uraya. This sets up intrigue and actually gives me a clue about what coolness is to come, instead of hoping that I stay with the game for 3 whole chapters. (2 is literally the only game in the numbered series that doesn’t begin with a super cool epic battle of some kind. Why.)

Big panning shot of all the Titans in the Cloud Sea, with the World Tree always visible but never in detail. This doesn’t have anything to do with the plot or characters but it’s being rewritten for me specifically, right?

When we get to Pyra, we immediately know that something's up because the Aegis shown in the play at the beginning was white and gold, but the girl sleeping here is dressed in red and black. This is part of the intrigue I mentioned earlier. Also, Rex doesn’t die and he doesn’t get half the Aegis crystal in his chest. I know, I know, but it’ll make sense later.

Gramps doesn’t die? The farther I’ve gotten the more plot-relevant his little quips have become, but I think if he stayed Titan-size it would be a really cool in-universe explanation for skip travel and he could be like a home base for the characters like the camping sites in 3, enabling even more character moments.

The plot has to be rearranged. 2 has by far the slowest beginning of any (numbered) xeno game. I think Tora’s introduction and the plot about his father that happens in Mor Ardain can both happen at once. To accomodate for that, Rex and Nia meet Vandham in Gormott, from where he invites them to Uraya. This gives more time for me to bond with Vandham as well, which is good.

Torna does not let up on our poor little ragtag group. Pyra likes Rex well enough as her Driver and she’s happy to have traveling companions, but she feels really badly about how much danger they’re all in because of her. In fact, I even think it’d be fun if they attack during Zeke’s introduction, forcing him to join up on the side of our protagonists to help us out (cutscene-only, obviously).

Vandham dies and Mythra awakens. She is distinctly displeased with the situation and threatens to strike out on her own immediately—remember, she’s not bound to Rex by the core crystal. She’s the Aegis; nothing is really stopping her from beelining for the World Tree, and unlike Pyra she’s deeply disdainful of Rex as her Driver. (Also at this point they don't know about Ophion because of meeting Vandham in Gormott and getting to Uraya the non-swallowed-by-whale route, if that would even stop Mythra.) Pyra convinces her to stay by pointing out that even if she leaves, Torna already knows that Rex is her Driver, and if he dies then she’ll revert to her core without any way to wake up again. Mythra begrudgingly admits the point and stays, but not without saying that she’s not dealing with any of them and shoving Pyra back in front.

The gang goes to Mor Ardain and this is where they finally meet Tora and Poppi, helping them find Tora’s father, etc etc. From here on out the plot doesn’t change too much (at least not up to the end of chapter 6, which is where I’ve played to), but what does change is Rex, Pyra, and Mythra’s relationship.

Mythra does not like Rex, or at least is deeply annoyed by Rex. She thinks he’s just a kid who doesn’t understand what he’s gotten into and if she could leave him out of the fighting, she would. She still thinks he’s like Addam, for sure; seeing him be so willing to help out Tora was endearing, and she thinks he’s a good person. She just wants him out of the blast radius of her general existence.

Pyra does like Rex, and she’s torn between wanting to be around him because he’s the first real friend she specifically has ever had, and wanting to leave him behind for, again, blast radius of existence reasons (as in canon).

Rex definitely began this adventure believing his own hype (or maybe more believing Pyra’s hype as the Aegis?) as he does in canon, but pretty much as soon as he meets Mythra the doubt starts to settle in. He can take down a monster just fine, sure, but is he really cut out to be fighting Torna? Basically ever since he met Pyra, they’ve been on the run from one group or another. Is he capable of keeping up with his Blades, or is Mythra right and he’s just a kid who’s in over his head? It really gets to him, and he starts wondering whether he deserves to be the Driver of the Aegis after all.

And that's about all I have for now! Obviously it's all subject to change as I see more of the game, but like. mm this game has good bones, I think, there are just some things about it that are not...the best.

[youthofpandas]

What’s up with how the dunmeshi fandom just lies about this kind of stuff all the time. It is easily confirmable information that it was a monthly series, something incredibly common in the industry.

A not weekly magazine schedule is literally common !! Especially in the seinen shoujo and josei demographics, sometimes monthly, sometimes biweekly, sometimes every two months, sometimes seasonal! Please stop lying about how Dunmeshi was some special unique creation that defies all standards of manga just to hype it up because it is so clear that every single one of these comparisons is centered around Weekly Shonen Jump (and understand that SJ has many magazines under its brand that are monthly or semimonthly). Not everything is WSJ and it needs to stop being the only point of reference in conversations like this 🤧

[rokudaimeplease]

he's been through a lot

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

I want it back / I drag its dead weight forward.

[sergle]

Ah fuck ah shit we found a kitten again

dude screaming his LUNGS out in front of some random building in lawton. literally just screaming as loud as possible. his plan to cry for help worked flawlessly.

[the-judicial-assistants-notebook]

not enough discussion about the gavins' complicated relationship with feminine-coded/beauty products, i don't think.

[sualne]

orange and blue guys

[slightlyplant]

pancakes & missing people

[felassan]

.

[foe-paw]

I CAN FIX ANYTHING!

[biblicalhorror]

Yeah honestly I didn't mind the ratfish even though I disagreed with 90% of his takes, I just wish we could have had some payoff of seeing the cast react to him and I kinda don't get why they didn't do that. It felt like a weird choice

[unordinary-diary]

Seraphina and Arlo: The Brainwashing of High Tiers

Exposition:

— Remi, Episode 50.

There is a heavy implication that Seraphina and Arlo were raised in much the same way. The pressure on Seraphina comes from her parents, so I’ll extrapolate that the same goes for Arlo. This raises the question: how do the authorities create such a strong societal pressure on such a small percentage of the population? Most high tiers will probably not know any other high tiers besides their parents. Take Wellston Private High School for example: it’s the most prestigious private school around, and canonically has the “highest concentration of high tiers in the region”. There are six high tiers in Wellston. Apply this to god tiers specifically, and there are only three. Not to mention that this current group of students is uniquely strong, even for Wellston. In Rei’s senior year, he was the strongest at 5.8 max.

So much of this brainwashing relies on the parents to do all of the work, and it only takes one or two people to break the cycle. So how are the authorities creating this immense pressure? One tactic could be by isolating high tiers. There is a very widespread concept that one shouldn’t associate with those outside their level range. A caste system like this that affects everyone is much easier to create and maintain than an expectation for a small group, and it also means that high tiers are only being influenced by those who are also high level. This creates an echo chamber. I’ve researched cults and how they brainwash victims, and the first step in the process is isolating them in exactly this way.

But, if there are so few high tiers, how the hell are they supposed be isolated from other groups? The answer is that high tiers are just isolated in general. Take a look at Arlo: his only friend is Remi, and even her, he keeps at an arm’s length. Arlo is only close with Remi in the first place because he was close with Rei, who, at the time of meeting Arlo, was presumably close in level with him. [EDIT: I forgot about Holden, which I think says a lot about his relevance. He is kept at more than an arm’s length and doesn’t seem to have any actual influence on Arlo, let alone a deep relationship. He is also not presented as an equal.] Take a look at Seraphina: before meeting John, she didn’t seem to have any friends other than possibly Arlo. Seraphina and Arlo pre-John seemed to have had more of a professional relationship, and while they were not close in level, Arlo did fit the bill of being a fellow god tier, and strong enough to also be brainwashed.

Now let’s look at Remi. In episode 60, Cecile says to Remi: “And yet here you are... Always hanging around those two monkeys, Blyke and Isen. Letting them treat you as an equal even though you’re in a completely different league.” This struck me as odd because, aside from Cecile herself, the Wellston students closest in level to Remi were Arlo, Blyke, and Isen. And who is she friends with? She actually was doing a pretty good job at following that social convention, unless Cecile wanted to be friends with Remi, which she clearly didn’t. But... her friends were still not close enough to her level. Was she supposed to just not have friends at all? The answer seems to be a resounding yes. Can you think of any genuine friends that Cecile has either?

Friendship simply isn’t considered a necessity for high tiers.

But... why is it that Arlo and Seraphina were brainwashed differently? Creating a societal norm for an isolated group of people is one thing, because those people’s mindsets feed into each other. Putting pressure on individual families to keep them in line, but doing it all in different ways? That would be near impossible. My theory is that Seraphina recieved the typical high tier brainwashing, and that Arlo was raised differently because he was being groomed to work for the authorities. Seraphina didn’t have a set career path planned out for her, but if she’s trying to be “perfect” by the standards of those controlling her, she’s bound to end up going in a direction that pleases them. Arlo on the other hand was specifically planned to become an authority figure. That’s why his brainwashing is so centered on leadership. Also, growing up with direct contact to the authorities makes it more possible for them to customize his brainwashing in this way.

But does all of this apply to high tiers in general, or is it specific to god tiers? Let’s take a look at the high tiers in Wellston. We have Seraphina, John, Arlo, Terrence, Remi, Cecile, and Blyke. John is a unique circumstance because he wasn’t raised by high tiers, so we’ll cross him off the list. Terrence was also unique, so we can cross him off as well. Remi was different from the norm as well. Why is that? Well, Remi actually wasn’t raised by high tiers either. Rei said on screen that both of his parents were elites. We can cross Remi off. Blyke doesn’t fit the bill either, but that’s easy to explain. He was an elite for a large part of the story, and he shot up rather quickly. We don’t know much of his family, but he probably wasn’t expected to be a high tier at all, and was raised as an elite. (All of this also serves to emphasize how much of this brainwashing comes from a person’s parents.) That leaves only Seraphina, Arlo, and Cecile to look at.

Cecile does seem to have high tier brainwashing, but it’s not nearly as intense as with Seraphina and Arlo. She doesn’t seem “obsessive”, and she wasn’t one of the examples Remi mentioned in chapter 50. It’s clear that high tiers are brainwashed in general, but god tiers are kept on a much shorter leash. This makes sense, obviously, because keeping a population in control like that is less necessary the lower the level. However, it’s also a chicken an egg situation: god tiers are both more important to keep in control, and also easier to keep in control. It’s important to note just how many exceptions we had to cross off. People like Remi and Blyke aren’t actually that unusual— a lower leveled high tier is much more likely to have non-high tier parents, or to have not always been a high tier themselves, or just in general, to have way more day-to-day interaction with non-high tiers. The brainwashing gets more and more diffused the lower down the ladder you go.

[freakinator]

thinking about kab and the thing about her i think is she knows just enough to keep herself safe Generally but not enough to really predict what would happen should something more... complicated??? unforeseen??? idk whats the right word to use but something not covered by someones reputation and/or vids happen, believe it or not this also affects her view of clownpierce (we'll get to that)

for example, mapicc has a reputation for being an violent, angry, & impulsive guy and nothing else which makes sense but is incredibly surface level and something that only really works if you dont have a lot of experience working with him

another is reddoons, his betrayal after the base incident while shocking is not unforeseen but his reputation as being a guy whos seen as being a reasonable person whos fairly loyal to his team made it seem like something he wouldnt do even tho it absolutely is

regarding how it affects her view of clown, since he isnt perfectly aligned with his reputation she instead pivots in the complete opposite direction and forgiving basically every crime he does even tho hes something much more mild and complicated than either his reputation or her view of him will ever be (think madonna-whore complex which is especially obvious when it comes to kabs vs woogies view of him)

another side effect of this Just Enough amount of knowledge aside from being blinded by her own expectations is that it frustrates ppl who think shes oversimplificating things (like me and seemingly several other tumblr users as well) especially when she claims that shes objectively correct and the smartest in the room at any given moment

how this roughness in her analysis affects her in the server still has yet to be fully seen but we do still have at least a couple months until the end but 'til then shes just gonna keep stumbling as more and more complicated situations pop up as is typical in lifesteal to happen and eventually shes gonna have to learn to adapt or else she'll be suffering the consequences one way or another

[maxthesillyy]

sometimes im normal and sometimes i get violently gobsmacked by remembering all the possibilities of rachel and nathan’s dynamic

[skwtches]

Daisy sketch + my first attempt at designing one of our Rabbit’s sisters, Chrysanthemum (Chrystie)! Been trying to come up with designs for all of em, and my first draft for Chrystie’s ended up being my fave 💛

[marshmcore]

Pondering Sniper with his Emotional Support Scout (AU)

Modern+College AU speeding bullet

Both in their early transitional age (Scout is 19, Sniper is 22), they’ve already spent a handful of years, supposedly taking the steps to build their futures, but are they where they want to be? Are they going to where they want to be? Where is it anyways?

I just had the idea for a more grounded side to their story, slice-of-life in a coming-of-age setting, with themes of existentialism. I aged them down to make it work… Under cut for info dumps about these goobers 8)

Scout took a break right after high school, working for his family business (an unsuccessful one, ran by one of his oldest brothers). This used to be a summer job, a way to get extra money as a kid, but now he’s been a full time worker for 2.5 years, familial obligations exploiting him to stay, while being undermined by his narcissistic brother. He eventually gets out of it, but has to face the hurt from being used, and also the fact that he had to grow up so quickly as a kid (especially when he has to deal with the fallout caused by his Mom’s and Spy’s affairs. He and his Mom are in good terms, it’s just his Mom isn’t a good support system atm). Left to face the real world by himself, he tries to find a way to stabilize by himself, while trying to face his trauma (trauma from a missing father figure, and being treated as the black sheep of his family) as he finds a way to be more himself and be happy. He’s optimistic and responsible when the world calls for it, otherwise he’s most likely to test this new freedom (for better or worse). Eventually Spy comes around to try to reconnect with Scout, there’s no telling how Scout will cope with it when he’s in the midst his new-found freedom.

Sniper went straight to university, never once took a break from the school work, because he thinks that’s the only way to go about in life. He took up a program and career plan that was not right for him, but struggled his way through by retaking course’s countless of times, pulling off impossible all-nighters, etc. At some point he gave up, began to drop classes every semester, and finally quit the program. However, he started working somewhere in the industry he had been studying years for. He thought this could bring him forward, but it kept digging him a deeper grave. He’s a workaholic, impulsive, but lost. At a very young age, he was a subject of a tough custody battle between his neglectful biological parents (Lar-nah and Bill-bel), and his grandparents (who are Mr and Mrs Mundee in this AU). From that, his guardians want him to be better than his parents, and in return he strived for that. However, after giving up, he feels like a failure and is currently going through a period of depression. However, with the money he earned from his job, he wonders if he should take that road-trip he used to fantasize. He told himself doing this will help him find himself, but a part of him wonders if its just him trying to run away from something. Either way, he’s got a deal for a junk RV and he wants to renovate it!

After all that, Scout and Sniper meet, their lives are in the cross roads, and their relationship is a turning point as well. It feels like the world is moving faster than they can cope with, but can they find some respite in this new relationship together? DUN DUN DUUUN

Phew this was really fun to write! I really like their dynamic, romantic or not (idc). Them being the same age range inspired me to write this, because I know myself and some friends have gone through this similar experience aswell, and I just think its fun/interesting to explore that with they have in cannon.

A lot of this projection tho lmao with a loose base derived from cannon, and some embellishments to make this AU work.