#… can you tell I really love Fusionfall yet?

[crystallizedday]

Aight, so

As some of you may know

I have quite a bit of knowledge of Fusionfall & its story, especially its endgame plot points.

You may ALSO know that most of my Fusionfall research is centered around Demongo, an endgame character I absolutely adore.

Well, there’s this minor plot point I’ve conjured a while ago that I thought would’ve been a great addition to the story, help give some important endgame characters some well deserved spotlight, & actually give one of the endgame missions some proper build up.

So

Unlike the rest of Fusionfall, the Darklands does not feature many familiar faces with the exception of four: Samurai Jack & Tetrax in Forsaken Valley, Demongo in Huntor’s Crest, & Cheese in Hero’s Hollow.

Obviously, ONE of those characters stand out against the rest since well

Cheese is not a serious character.

In fact, he’s only there to explain how the heroes lost the battle at Hero’s Hollow.

Which

Is odd to me

Cause the ENTIRE story of Fusionfall builds up the importance of imaginary friends, & how their energies actively work to counteract Lord Fuse’s forces.

After all, the fusion spawns can fuse with any object or copy the DNA of someone to make themselves stronger

So what’s a better way to combat them than through something born from nothing, something that can’t be easily absorbed or mimicked, ie imagination?

It’s a cheesy resolution, but it’s one I very much appreciate, especially since this universe hinges on the imagination of the people who make all these cartoons in the first place.

What I DON’T understand is why there was an imaginary character RIGHT THERE in one of the LAST locations of the game that was not utilized in the final battles against Fuse’s army.

Yes, I know. It’s Cheese. He already cost the battle of Hero’s Hollow.

But it just feels like wasted potential to just

Keep the character there for joke missions & not much else.

But I have a solution to that

& it’s all thanks to our favorite fire demon.

Ya see, there’s this set of missions where you are tasked with destroying these fusion control centers, which are essentially hot spots where Fuse can efficiently communicate with his army.

Samurai Jack guides you through the first three, but for the fourth one, Demongo guides you, planning on making this one a surprise attack that could end the war for good.

He’s clearly done his research as he states how he knows imaginary energy can be used against Fuse’s army, & has called someone harnessing that energy to join in on the fight.

That person being…

>:/

Look

I get it.

Demongo probably thinks Eduardo was the most intimidating of the selection, & that’s why he was chosen

& that all the control center assaults feature characters from all over the map

But like

How would Demongo even convince Eduardo to come to the Darklands, let alone convince Frankie (who is with Eduardo at Foster’s) to let the big guy go to THE most dangerous area in the entire world??

It just doesn’t make sense the more you think about it…

So I have a proposal

What if it was Cheese instead?

Cheese is already like

A 5 minute walk from where Demongo is

& NO ONE at Foster’s would probably object to Cheese joining the fight outside of the concern of the lil guy messing everything up.

& Cheese…

I mean, you play your cards right & Cheese might not even give a damn & go along with this assault.

& that’s when I got an idea…

See

Fusionfall fleshes out Demongo’s character by putting him in a situation where he’s essentially powerless, having to rely on whatever doohickey he can get his hands on to keep his ego intact.

He uses dry ice

To feel spooky,

& has the player fetch him a hibachi so he can look like he still has his pyrokinesis.

It’s adorable in a really REALLY sad way…

So

Since he’s essentially powerless with NO ONE on his side (since no one really trusts him)

It wouldn’t be so far fetched to say he’s kinda in a vulnerable spot right now

& that vulnerability eventually leads to him stumbling upon Cheese

Who at FIRST annoys the hell out of him

Cause

Ya know

It’s Cheese.

However, despite how vulnerable CHEESE may be in such a war zone, since he IS an imaginary friend, I can see him actually being able to (unintentionally) fend for himself in Hero’s Hollow.

Perhaps it can even be in the same fashion as his synergy attack with Billy in Punch Time Explosion (the CN fighting game).

Which is just

Screaming IANWKAMSOXMSOXM

But it WORKS

& it HAS taken down monsters out in the field.

So let’s say

Demongo sees this

& is intrigued by it

That such a pathetic, disgusting, & universally HATED creature can fend for himself despite not exactly being warrior-material.

& in a way, deep down, it’s actually sort of touching for Demongo, who is also not exactly well liked (for different reasons) & cannot battle like he used to.

In a way, he finds Cheese to be somewhat inspirational, in an appalling way

Maybe even forming a sort of goofy, one sided friendship with the lil guy.

Cause like

Wouldn’t it be hilarious if the ONE person that actually gave a damn about Cheese was THE most reclusive & seemingly dangerous character in the entire cast?

The fanmade Retro revival tried doing the same thing with Demongo & Chowder, but that just did not work as an idea cause the whole plot line just straight up mischaracterized Demongo’s character purely for the funni.

Not here though.

Cause his “friendship” with Cheese isn’t just to be funny.

It also helps him somewhat cope with the loss of his powers, & how no one else is really on his side.

Maybe Demongo eventually learns to speak to Cheese in a way that the little guy can ACTUALLY understand him, perhaps after studying the lil fella extensively.

I can imagine him meeting Cheese for the first time happens sometime when the player is at level 33, where missions for Hero’s Hollow become open to complete.

Maybe you’re tasked by Demongo to investigate the area after he hears reports of a ruckus going on over there, only to learn that Cheese is the one causing it.

Maybe Frankie/Mac chime in like “WOAH, YOU GOTTA SAVE CHEESE BY TAKING OUT THOSE MONSTERS!!”

But afterwards, Demongo butts in, explaining how he’s been surveying the situation & has seen Cheese fending for himself just fine, absolutely marveled by the strength of such a tiny ugly creature.

You return to Demongo, who tells you that he’ll be keeping an eye on Cheese, explaining how the lil guy may be much stronger than he looks & could be useful to the war effort in the future.

This eventually leads to the fourth control center assault where, instead of Eduardo, Cheese is sent into the fight…

Which all gets ruined by Billy, just like in the original.

I like to think that if this scene was rewritten to be just Jack & Demongo taking on the assault & NOT the player (like a sort of Fusionfall anime kind of deal where these characters do all the missions you’re supposed to do), Demongo would bring Cheese along using a stupid lil baby carrier, using Cheese as a sort of shield for his front…

Without exactly processing how absolutely stupid the two of them look to everyone else OWMWOSMSOMXSOKC

It’s just such a fun idea that I wanted to share with y’all, cause honestly

Both Demongo & Cheese deserve a friend in the messed up world of Fusionfall, & Demongo could DEFINITELY use the ego boost after having his entire life turned upside down with the loss of his powers OSMWOSMSOXKSOCK

[silyabeeodess]

FusionFall Headcanons: Mandy

Despite her own agenda, Mandy has never been one to simply let evil run rampant.  Earth is still her home, and any danger someone like Fuse poses to it is just as much a threat to herself.  With a steely determination matched only by her wit, she’ll make certain that Planet Fusion’s days are numbered.  

Several episodes/movies of GAOBAM like “Billy and Mandy’s Big Boogey Adventure” highlight Mandy’s ultimate goal for world domination and just how dangerously close she can get to it--a trait that carries over in FusionFall through her plans to create an army of her own during Mojo Jojo’s guide missions.  The main reasons she stops other villains rather than helps them is because she wants to be the main one in control with any sort of takeover done on her terms.  Meanwhile, episodes like “Scary Poppins”  would indicate that Mandy already has a large amount of power/influence in at least Endsville, but chooses not to use it as much as she could. Given that there’s little holding her back in this scenario, she might be weighing all of the potential risks such as the large number of heroes that would stand against her and that she personally may lack the strength to maintain her control were she to gain it.  Basically, she’s taking smaller steps that would fly under most people’s notice and bidding her time for the right moment to act.

Nevertheless, as villainous as Mandy can be, she has acted out of seemingly selfless desires before, her friendship with Billy being the most obvious.  True, Billy would make a decent pawn for her, but she’s also had to clean up a lot of his messes and has been shown to genuinely care for his well-being.  It was her plan that saved his pet hamster, Mr. Snuggles, when the two first met Grim.  She gives advice to Jeff the Spider and treats him well.  Even thought she’s not a fan of Christmas and didn’t believe in Santa until she saw him, her first plan was to go after the Head Vampire to save him and the holiday.  She even tried being kind to Mindy when she first moved to Endsville out of sympathy--before ultimately getting annoyed and telling her to shut up.  This fits her status as more of an antihero than true villain.      

Three traits Mandy seems to value most are intelligence, loyalty, and honesty:

She has respect for those who can match her wits even if they’re not always on her side.  We see this a small bit in “The Cracks of Fuse” when, after the player destroys her Hypnotic Charm, she compliments them before warning them that they “won’t be so lucky” in the future.  

She takes betrayal very seriously and it has been shown to hurt her deeply, as it did with Pandora in “Pandora’s Lunch Box.”  Her reactions to it seem to depend on the relationship the traitor has with her and their reasoning beyond the betrayal.  Mandy genuinely saw Pandora as a friend and hated being used, even if the result would’ve been convenient for her, so she had no issue locking Pandora away.  She threatened to destroy Billy in the GAOBAM/KND crossover special when he stood against her.  Meanwhile, the player in “The Cracks of Fuse” has more of a working relationship with Mandy and betrays her by Dexter’s orders in order to save people.  The closer you are to her and the more deep the betrayal, the worse she’ll retaliate.  If you stick by her side, she shows gratitude if only in passing comments.  This would also align with her deep love for her dog, Saliva, an animal known for its loyalty. 

As for honesty, don’t get me wrong, Mandy isn’t above deceiving others to get what she wants.  At the same time though, she often makes her intentions very clear.  If she hates someone, she hates them openly.  She makes her goals and boundaries known to all.  Furthermore, she’ll respect an agreement if she makes one--such as giving the player a reward at the end of “The Cracks of Fuse” despite her anger toward them.  Her hatred toward Mindy may also partially stem from this, given the latter’s behavior as a stereotypical popular girl/bully with a “fake” personality.    

Other than what I’ve said above, this bullet is pretty much based entirely on my own speculations and investment in a certain trope in a lot of current webcomics, so take with it what you will.  Even as an infant, Mandy has been shown to rarely, if ever, smile with a dark outlook on life. She’s also extremely intelligent for her age.  Fitting her personality and the supernatural themes in GAOBAM, I headcanon that Mandy might be an individual who reincarnated with her memories--likely on a subconscious level--from a terrible, previous life rather than moved on to the afterlife.  It’s probably the most extreme claim I could make for her and you all who’ve been following these posts know that I rarely come up with them without some canon basis, but it’s one that I just can’t easily shake the longer the idea sits in my mind.  She’s cynical of the world because she recognizes it as an awful place with awful people--and never would’ve had an infant’s naivety if she somehow already possessed early knowledge about the harsh realities in life.  As a result, she wants to be in a position of power at all times so she doesn’t become anyone’s victim.  She keeps her distance from others, yet cares about loyalty so much, because at some point in that past-life she would have already faced a cruel betrayal. This would feed into an insecurity/unwillingness to form real attachments, along with feelings of superiority.  Even if she would despise personally having an overly nice, happy-go-lucky nature, she doesn’t actively go after individuals who are themselves that way like Jeff: This fits a respect of genuine kindness/innocence while also recognizing it as a potential danger in a cruel world.  She would be more optimistic as a very young child, but with tempered expectations because of being given a second chance at life. However, her worst feelings would still continue to sink in as she grew and recognized everyday annoyances/evils others her age wouldn’t pay much attention to. Billy would only be able to draw so closely to her due to reaching out to her when they were so little and never giving up on that friendship, forcing her to accept him in her life.  Think of a more ambitious Six from Little Nightmares.  

Outside of the Mojo guide missions, most of Mandy’s own depict her as being an extremely effective Fusion Fighter if seemingly a little detached. There’s a strict approach to the way she directs the player, and she doesn’t let distractions or her own desires get in the way of her immediate work.  Due to the amount of knowledge she has on both Fuse and supernatural artifacts for these missions, one of her main roles in the war is likely research.

Her time spent with Grim already allowed her to learn a lot about the supernatural; however, she has also studied under/with Hex some since arriving at Devil’s Bluff.  At first, he admired her ambition and interest in magic. Once he realized how much of a threat and potential rival she could be though, Hex started being more careful with what he told her, treating her with caution.  Mandy is aware of this, and as such will try gathering information he would keep secret from her through other people. As of now, she’s unable to summon magic herself without the help of others or the use of objects despite the vast amount of knowledge she’s gathered.

The mission “Hands Off” hints that Mandy didn’t join the nano project solely to help with the war effort, as she slips up by referring to her allies as “slaves” when explaining the decrease/lack of nanos would make them weak.  Extending this to her nanos themselves, it’s likely she joined the with the intention of using them as a sort of personal army once the war is over.  Since they would think and act like her, she imagined the only thing she’d have to worry about is some of them possibly sharing her ambitions and trying to usurp her, and that she could easily outsmart the small doubles should the need arise.  Others would align with her goals and know they’d be in good standing if they followed her commands.  However, she didn’t count on just how much their IE Donor’s influence would also affect their creation.  Her plans haven’t really changed, but any Mandy nano with a strong bond to their IE Donor is a lost cause to her.