#Cato Adastra

[coldmail750]

[earthling-wolf]

Marco, Virginia and Cato

(This is a slightly rewritten version of a post I made on Reddit months ago.)

So, a while ago, I did some tier lists on Reddit focusing on rating MCs and female characters in mlm FVNs. Adastra was at the bottom of both lists, which some people had problems with. The more I thought about it, the more I realized I had way more to say about them, so I decided to make this post and take the opportunity to talk about Cato, whom I also find poorly written. I should preface that I like Adastra. It's among my top 10 favorite FVNs. I like most of the other characters, but these three that I'm going to talk about leave much to be desired, in my opinion.

Cato

Cato is a one-dimensional villain. There is nothing to him other than being racist and homophobic. And I get it; as an allegorical character, he is supposed to represent the societal forces keeping Marco and Amicus apart, but that is no excuse for his non-existent characterization. Villains need a character, too; they aren't just forces of nature. Notice that the only "conversation" Marco and Cato ever had was when Marco had just arrived at Adastra, and he managed to trick Cato into thinking he was stupid. The closest he gets to being given a personality is in the scene where he kicks Neferu's balls, and even then, all this scene does is reinforce his hatred for the Khemians; we don't learn anything new about him.

Marco

Marco is nothing more than a self-insert. He has no defining personality traits, and none of his decisions feel like his own. It always feels like they are calculated to what the audience would want him to/would themselves do to avoid alienating anyone. This is especially egregious coming from the same people who gave us Samuel, Cameron, and Alex; in his measly two updates, even Scipio has more of a personality than Marco got in 17 updates. Marco is the kind of bland MC that Chase is a parody of. The only thing close to making him unique is his interest in ancient Roman history, which is only ever relevant in two scenes, 1. the abduction and 2. comforting Amicus after he is punished for being late for training, and you could easily write this trait of, just have him be visiting Rome in a vacation or something, and boom he may as well be geologist instead. Now, I'll give credit where it is due because it seems they are trying to correct this particular point in Interea, with Marco giving political advice based on his knowledge of Roman history. However, he still has a long way to go before he starts feeling like a real character.

Virginia

Virginia isn't a strong female character. She is a StrongFemaleCharacterTM. She is that insufferable kind of token where her entire character revolves around being a woman. Every fact about her, every thought she thinks, every conversation she has with anyone, all inescapably tie back to her being female and worse of all, she is also a Flawless Token:

"While usually a well-intentioned attempt at giving the minority in question some much-needed positive representation, another likely reason behind the presence of Flawless Tokens is the fear of misrepresenting minorities and being accused of bigotry as a result, making this trope the safest way of portraying one. This has the unintended consequence of pigeonholing them into being the dullest characters of the entire work and in the worst case scenario, make them The Scrappy. Some media may be shrewd enough to give a minority the odd token flaw or Not So Above It All moment, but they tend to dilute it as much as possible (occasionally to the point of near non-existence), or at least emphasize the fact that such a trait or moment is rare. In other cases, they may actually indeed be just as flawed as the rest of the cast, but still treated as having the moral high ground regardless. In the long run, however, their shortcomings will usually at the very least be far less detrimental than others'." - Flawless Token TV Tropes

Another way this trope can be harmful, specifically in the case of token women, is because writers often try to make them "strong" by giving them traditionally masculine qualities. Which has the unfortunate implication that femininity is inherently inferior, and that's Virginia to a T. Virginia is hyper-competent, and with her being the firstborn, the throne would be hers for sure if not for other's sexism; she does have flaws like being pompous, condescending, cold and uptight. Still, they never negatively affect her goals significantly; compare them to Amicus's impulsiveness and Cassius' insecurity, and the difference is obvious. The story almost seems to deny that those are flaws, as when Marco tries to call out her on these negative traits, the narrative turns it around on him, basically saying that he is in the wrong for misunderstanding her. The only thing in the way of her achievements is other people's sexism. People give me explanations of why, in-universe, this all makes sense: "She is the daughter of the emperor in a patriarchal society, so, of course, her sex plays a big part," but that's not what I'm talking about, I'm talking about writing. Virginia's character begins and ends with "Girlboss," there is nothing more to her.

TL, DR

All these characters are hollow shells, and considering there are only 7 characters in the entire novel and what the creators showed to be capable in their other works, there is no excuse for them being so two-dimensional.

[luxims]

I remembered I did this last year

[thisfuckingdork]

[civilotterneer]

mr. neer, who do you support in this political struggle? mr. dadbod hot heir? fragile white twink? or Cato? surely bein a resident of adastra you have opinions

Oh dear interlocutor, you sure have poked the political beast, haven't you?

Let's get it out of the way, I really don't like my choices.

Cato: To start, he's immediately the worst case scenario. While he's kept things running during the trials to choose the next emperor, his rhetoric is rather concerning should he cede power from the two heirs somehow. Isolationism is my least favorite kind of philosophy, and doing so under direction of enacting possible war from what sounds like nothing more than a genital-measuring contest sounds idiotic. He seems rather level-headed and stoic, but from what I've heard in whispers, that's just a surface thing, and he's likely to snap easily.

Amicus: Amicus reminds me of the progressives of home a bit. Wears what the kids do, is homosexual, tends to be a fun-loving guy. What concerns me is a lack of what his policies will be. From what I've seen, he's currently planning on just keeping the current regime afloat, with a continuation of friendly trade policies. That's pretty nice, but other than that, he seems to be flying on his charisma alone. Nice guy, but a worrisome politician. He also seems very manipulable, which is concerning.

Cassius: Cassius has his fair share of conservative-leaning policy, since he seems to have no issue using Amicus's 'Tail Raiser' status against him. Concerning as I guess I count as a 'Tail Raiser'. However, Cassius actually presents his agenda, which actually is very socialist in helping out his common man. He's not as isolationist as Cato, but not as progressive as Amicus. If anything, he's Adastra's version of a centrist, and I really do respect that as a left-leaning centrist myself. However, he does seem volatile, which means he gains manipulable points like Amicus.

My honest opinion: I think I'm voting Cassius? (if it was a single-vote thing like home, that is) Amicus is, in principle, more aligned to me with some specific issues, but I have doubts that he'll be an amazing leader and will push useful policy. I could be pleasantly surprised, but I have no evidence towards either. Cassius is concerning from the lack of progressive thinking, but the fact that he seems dutifully dedicated to improving the lives of Adastrans is something I can respect. Plus, since he discusses his policy more, it's easier to debate the parts I don't like and possibly push for change.

I have to say, if Amicus discussed policy a bit more, I think I'd vote for him in a heartbeat. But alas, I can't, in good conscious, vote for someone based on vibe and intent alone. I need solid plans, and solid evidence of them likely working as intended.

Not voting Cato is a no-brainer. Don't vote in warmongers, easy.

[szif]

adastra vn afterthoughts

virginia and neferu seriously took the cake in this story. i really liked how it was not grand or fulfilling in the end and that they were skeptical and not fully open to us even at our departure. how nice

amicus is fine, i've grown to really like cassius as a character he is just so very interesting. cato was a great villain too

alexios was crazy good and quite esoteric in a way, i liked how his fate is really "??" along with basically everything about him. idk there's a lot to him as a person too and i like that we get practically nothing about it

uh, supernatural elements kind of took me out but it was like, fine in the end, its just whatever.

the writing overall and the presentation had less problems with punctuation errors and transition problems than the smoke room vn but it was also very juvenile and felt extremely like baby's earliest project vibe. it was servicable but i wasn't woo'd at any point in the story by anything i saw, really.

presentation was fine, script had pretty much zero highlights but flew well enough and i think it had that echo project flair to it that i've grown used to and sometimes even like.

4/10 can't wait to play khemia

[werewolf-gimmick-2]

I think if Alexios and Cato Adastra fused the result would be the first ever furry Char clone, all the ingredients are there but they are separate. Cassius would become the first furry Garma clone by proxy.

[nyaagolor]

I just finished Adastra and I am about to make that everyone's problem

Tldr: it slams and (if you are over 18) you should play it

Disclaimer: Adastra is an 18+ VN. There will be no nsfw content in this post but like. If ur a minor get outta here

This isn't a liveblog, since I already finished the game, but it's a pretty similarly scattered collection of my thoughts while playing so there's no real narrative cohesion to this post. If u were looking for a detailed review just watch the video by Boringkeith

I think the biggest thing about the game to me is how insane the plot gets at Act 2. Act 1, while admittedly kind of dull, does a great job at setting up characterization and tension over time, introducing motivations and worldbuilding in a really natural way. The way the author handles the delivery of information is just. Fucking fantastic if I'm being honest, and the conversations-- ESPECIALLY arguments-- just feel so natural. There's a great tension and release that the game has, and it's a really gripping story. I think writers like this shine in this medium because God. GOD. the dialogue is good. Then Act 2 happens and shit hits the fan and does not STOP hitting the fan until the poor thing is bowled over and unplugged from the wall. Genuinely unhinged, the pacing is breakneck and it is GOOD

The protagonist actually being their own person was also fantastic, and honestly one of the only ways I can see this story going. Despite inevitably being a romance VN with intertwined political drama, I never really felt myself occupying the protagonist (Marco)'s role too much, and this is for the better. Ultimately, Amicus (the love interest) is perfect for Marco, but not for me. Neferu is hotter anyway. But Marco? Amicus??? Those two dumbasses are made for each other. Plus, the actual codified personality of the protagonist allowed for a great deal of information to be presented and withheld in ways that wouldn't be allowed by a blank slate protagonist. The dynamics wouldn't have worked as well either, and I think the story is all the more engaging for it. I, personally, would have been more lenient on Alexios but Marco? He wants that twink OBLITERATED

Cassius is the funniest character in this game I think. He just reeks of like. Loser redpilled 17 year old projecting all his insecurities into the incel takes imaginable. I'm going to wring him out like a wet paper towel. Yes he's a borderline space fascist but I can fix him I swear. When he hotboxes and trips so hard he sees God, only to have God call him a cringefail loser and he starts crying about it? Yeah that's babygirl material. Pathetic beast

It is very funny to me that the game has to spend 80% of its runtime trying to convince you that Amicus would make a good emperor and explicitly has rules in place to say that females can't rule because you KNOW within 15 seconds of her opening her mouth that Virginia is the un-debatable best choice. The fact that Amicus doesn't immediately give up his throne for her is his biggest flaw

Cato is kinda one note but he is supposed to represent heternormativity and the pitfalls of bigotry in this giant scifi queer allegory so he gets a pass. I'll admit I found him to be a lil too mustache twirling snarky towards the climax, but eh. Also I'm dead convinced that the parents meddled with him. He started freaking out when his visor got taken off and acted more erratically now that he lost his parental tech (hm) and also him crashing the parents' ship was totally out of line with his motives even as mentioned by other characters. The parents def manipulated him I can feel it

The Parents are sus as fuck I will stand by this. The game really makes you want to choose the option of trusting them (and I did bc I just want Marco and Amicus to be happy) but like. Fuck man. They mad shifty I don't trust like that they got some other shit going on. BoringKeith says more than I ever could about it just watch his video

For personal reasons I am furious about them not showing the ram civilization. We know about four of the civilizations (greek cats, roman wolves, egyptian jackals, and indian tigers) but like. What about the rest? Based on the little we've gotten it looks like the bears are norse and there are rams but I don't even remember the other two. What are they I want to see them

My only mark against this game is that both of the disabled characters are evil. I don't think there are any non-villainous disabled people which kinda blows. I heard Echo is better about it which is good? but even still it left a sour taste in my mouth

The art? is really good??????? I love the expressions and the way the CGs look especially. Fucking fantastic

The themes of homophobia in this game are ROUGH and really really raw. Again not gonna talk about it much here watch the boringkeith video but Woof. This game is so good I highly recommend

Go play Adastra

[videorelaxant6025]

Hi I just wanted to let you know that ever since I saw the post about your Adastra Steven Universe AU I have losing my GODAMN MIND

I HAVE NOT STOPED THINKING ABOUT IT

AND IM STUCK IN THIS PURGATORIC LIMBO STATE BETWEEN JUST DAYDREAMING AND ACTUALLY WRITING SOMETHING. I HAVE SIMOTANIOUSLY THOUGHT OF THE RELATION THE PARENTS WOULD HAVE WITH THE DIOMONDS AND OTHER INTERACTIONS DOWN TO THE MOST INATE DETAIL WHILE ALSO HAVING NOT EVEN THOUGHT OF HOW THE STORY WOULD PLAY OUT.

(Love your art btw)

I'm glad you like it!! I'm kinda in the same state with everything too, actually! All I really know other than the details I already gave is that Steven is 100% going to sing a modified version of Change to Cato/Alexios.

Gah!! I'm not even certain on that either!! So many possible ideas!!

[moodytanuki]

umm. no comment

[coldmail750]

So the Drusus and Meera story-within-a-story - if we wanted to invoke the parallel to real world history and myth we could compare it to Aeneas and Dido, shoutout to Dzhakh on Echocord and @h-worksrambles for pointing that out a while back - is a classic love versus duty story, right? Drusus and Meera are lovers, but Drusus must choose between his duty to his planet and his love for Meera, so Meera ostensibly sacrifices herself, allowing Drusus to choose his people.

Adastra's really explicit on how Drusus and Meera parallel Amicus and Marco; indeed, Amicus and Marco are the lens that Howly uses to explore how big that "ostensibly" in "ostensibly sacrifices herself" is. Amicus and Marco, lovers, play the roles of Drusus and Meera in the first trial; Amicus actively compares himself to Drusus when confronting the Parents at the VN's climax; if you get the Meera ending, Meera outright tells Marco he is her "successor and replacement". It's made abundantly clear that, ultimately, the Parents are the ones sacrificing Meera and Marco.

Except... Amicus and Marco aren't the only pair of lovers playing the roles of Drusus and Meera in that first trial, right?

Alexios and Cassius are doing the exact same thing literally just across the room.

Now of course, in this scene, Cassius is playing the role of Drusus, and Alexios the role of Meera. That matches what the player is being led to believe about Cassius and Alexios's relationship at this point in the story - this is around the point where Alex is reassuring Marco that he isn't going to immediately report everything they say to Cass, so Marco can trust him (a statement which is... half-true, at least).

As the plot develops, however, it's made clear that this is misdirection and the power dynamic in their relationship is actually inverted - Alexios holds power in the relationship, not Cassius, because of Cassius's psychological and emotional dependence upon Alexios. So the Drusus-Meera parallels are inverted as well.

The Drusus in the Cass-and-Alex relationship is, in fact, Alexios. Correspondingly, the big reveal about Alexios is that he has been sent to Adastra to sow chaos, to forestall the threat that a resurgent, militaristic Adastra might pose to Omorfa. Alexios, like Drusus, is doing what he thinks is necessary to protect his planet and his people.

And the Meera, the lover who the Drusus sacrifices in the name of fulfilling that duty, who is deemed an acceptable sacrifice for the greater plan by the Parents?

Well... it is Alexios's unwitting tipoff to Cato that leads to Cato poisoning Cassius, isn't it?

And it's not like the Parents seem to care much about what happens to Cassius at any point in the story, or in the backstory for that matter, so we're checking off that checkbox with flying colors.

And on top of all of that, those CGs, they're really mirroring each other, aren't they? There's some explicit visual callbacks going on between the dance and the poisoning, explicit enough that I can't believe I didn't catch them sooner:

In fact, in the process of writing this post, I decided to go into Adastra's files and double-check to make sure that I was remembering the Drusus-and-Meera story correctly, and in doing so I stumbled upon this little detail in Marco and Amicus's practice session:

That hand-to-the-head pose that Cassius is making in the poisoning CG? That is the in-universe stage direction for Meera dying.

Cassius explicitly makes the Meera death pose as he is sacrificed by the Parents for their great and mysterious plan, held in the arms of a lover who did not think that duty to their planet would mean this.

I don't think I'm going to be able to get this revelation out of my head for a while, lol. I legitimately cannot believe it took me this long to notice it, and now that I have I don't know how I ever missed it, and it opens up so many potential new angles for analysis - the Amicus's optimism versus Cassius's cynicism angle (credit to Kai on Echocord for their musings on that one), comparisons between Cassius and Marco (esp if we ever get an Omorfa to follow up Adastra and Khemia)... you name it, really.

The Adastra fandom is very well aware of the way that Marco-Meera parallels are drawn but I haven't yet seen much talk about the Cassius-Meera parallels, and ever since I noticed those parallels I cannot stop thinking about them

[earthling-wolf]

What D&D Alignment are Adastra's Characters?

if you don’t know the details of this project, check here

What D&D Alignment are the characters in Echo?

I ended up doing one of these for Adastra, too. I only used the original Adastra VN for this, FYI

Marco

Marco is a human exchange student studying abroad in Rome who ends up kidnapped by Amicus to become his pet.

As the audience surrogate, he displays pretty... average, well, everything. His main goal for most of the novel is to survive and go home, eventually changing to wanting to stay with Amicus. Throughout the story, he grows a distaste for Adastra's rules and the "benevolent" authority of the Parents. Still, in the end, he does, however, submit to the parents and follows their plan, not because he believes in their cause, nor for the well-being of Earth or Adastra, but basically because he figures out that the Parents will conspire to separate him and Amicus if they don't do what they say, Chaotic Neutral.

Amicus

Amicus is one of two princes competing for the title of Emperor of Adastra. A youthful goofball who struggles with fulfilling the high expectations set upon him by the pressures of royalty. He kidnaps Marco, hoping to make him his pet to boost his status and the chances of ascending the Adastran throne.

Amicus is generally well-meaning, but his good intentions often backfire due to his inability to think before he acts, frequently leading to unintended negative consequences for himself and others (see kidnapping incident). While he may be spoiled and prideful, Amicus is also sweet and loving and has relatively liberal views (by Adastran standards). Amicus is carefree and fun-loving and doesn't seem to take the responsibility of the role of Emperor very seriously (at least at the beginning); he definitely starts leaning chaotic, but seeing as he grows into the Emperor role and his more genuine (initial) submission to the Parents, I'll say he is Neutral Good by the end.

Neferu

Neferu is the second prince of Khemia. Known as the Flower of Khemia, a shameless flirt and sex-positive jackal, this hedonist has more going for him than just his looks. He is visiting Adastra as a diplomat to ensure an alliance.

Neferu is charismatic, polite, and one of Marco's most reliable allies and friends, with strong morals. His most notable act was the deal he made with Amicus to make Marco a Khemian citizen if Cassius became emperor, which would be lawful good. Still, I would say his general hedonism and disregard toward the rules of Adastran society averages out to a Neutral Good.

Virginia

Virginia is the lone sister of Amicus and Cassius. Because she is a woman, she is ineligible for most positions of power in the Adastra government. A mysterious woman with a hidden agenda of her own...

Said hidden agenda was to become the new emperor's advisor and dedicate her every waking moment to the prosperity of Adastra. Virginia is a duty-driven workaholic utterly devoted to the betterment of Adastra, even at her own personal cost. However, it should be noted that she isn't above more ruthless or underhanded actions if she thinks they are for the greater good, Lawful Good.

Cassius

Cassius is one of two princes competing for the title of Emperor of Adastra. A sickly wolf, he was born with the lupine equivalent of osteogenesis imperfecta (brittle bone disease). Loud, obnoxious, and highly competitive, he will stop at nothing to obtain the throne from his brother's clutches.

Cassius is a complicated character. On one hand, he is rude, abrasive, and obnoxious to everyone except Alexios. On the other, he genuinely believes that his plans will further the well-being of the ordinary people of Adastra, and once the trials end, he is shown to be quite reasonable, although I will call out his stunt at the second trial as Neutral Evil; he is also unflinchingly loyal to Alexios, willing to make excuses for even the most egregious of Alexios's actions, putting it all together, I'll say he is most likely Lawful Neutral.

Alexios

Alexios is Cassius's pet from the planet Omorfa. A bit of a prim and proper cat, Alexios lives to please Cassius and assist him in all matters.

He is later revealed to be a spy with the mission of sowing internal instability within the Adastan government; he believes that the Adastrans are threats to the greater order of the Galaxias, and whatever suffering he has to cause to keep Adastra isolated is worth it. He uses everyone as disposable pawns for his ends, including his boyfriend, and Alexios is indirectly responsible for most of the misfortune that befalls the protagonists. He never shows any remorse for his actions. His only redeeming quality is that he seems to genuinely love Cassius, not that this stops him from stabbing Cassius in the back whenever he sees fit. Lawful Evil.

Cato

Cato is the acting emperor of Adastra in the absence of Amicus's father, who died in an unexplained accident a few months before the novel's start.

It is later revealed that he sabotaged the ship the former Emperor was in; his reasons behind this are still a mystery, as is much of Cato's actions. What is known is that Cato hates the Khemians with a passion and will go to any lengths to make sure an Adastra-Khemia alliance never happens; he orchestrates a fake third trial to put Cassius on the throne as his puppet ruler when it seems like Cassius will step down, he tries to assassinate him and frame Marco, he then attempts a coup to make himself Emperor, and execute Neferu, Neutral Evil.

[dontexpecttomakesense]

Adastra Playthrough Masterpost (or APM for short)

1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14 - 15 - 16 - 17 - 18 - 19 - 20 - 21 - 22 - 23

[bedrock-brock]

it’s the bestboi, Emperor Warcrimes.

[bedrock-brock]

if i may add one

and shit yeah i bet you would bro 😊

I'm back making memes again ig 👩🏽 (free to use!)

[szif]

so far my thoughts about adastra. not finished yet + spoilers/speculations*

very funny actually. the sprites are so high quality (but they vary in details so when they quickly change you can see the artist missing several or misplacing them, a bit jarring) which is an interesting contrast with the terrible background art, especially when they start throwing heavily edited textural pics into the mix. it's really ugly and doesn't fit there, really rudimentary and i feel like they could've gotten a better cohesion with like, just stock images. but i didn't mind it that much, just every scene felt like a "oh, okay, let me look at this super amateurish, terrible background for a while".

the sex and the absurdity of the entire situation is just really funny to me and i like how the echo project people keep linking together events so you can't have 1 thing happening, you have 3 interlinking events that ruin/connect to each other so none play out completely. i find this to be a really good way of writing, and i think they've nailed it in the smoke room vn too.

adastra seems more lighthearted and casual, and i like that, everything mostly fits that sort of vibe they've built up.

*uh, my speculation is that cassisus will actually hold a combat despite his fragile body and somehow he'll gravely wound amicus and this will be an entire scene, we'll be thinking cassius won and that amicus died, but then it all works out in the end. oh also people will realize that we're humans but it'll be fine because we're a nepobaby.

um. very fun. neferu + virginia has to be my favourite obviously. cassius is also fun as a villain we oppose. cato seems like an interesting character too. our protagonist and amicus is fucking stupid and they deserve each other