#Thinking that this happened in parallel with the og game

[lowkeyclueless5137]

Rain Code Au :3

Hello!

I am a very impatient bish! :3

Cuz like... Ya know... The creator of Danganronpa released a brand new game... And I told myself 'ah, don't get into that... It's another bandwagon you don't need to mix with twst'...

Welp... Guess who bingie watched gameplay during beach holiday :v

So in between me spinning in the water like that one seal meme and fighting with old ladies for a fucking plate(damn, women, have you ever seen food?!)... I got to refine this Au and make it similar to the Danganronpa au...

I am aiming for more of a psychological horror, just how I originally planned to write the Danganronpa au(like full on messing with your brain and spiking that anxiety) So expect some easter eggs or allusions to that... :3

Also disclaimer! Master Detectives Archives: Rain Code is only recently released... And I did finish chapter 2 at the time I write this...

So I assure you that the biggest spoiler you could possibly get is for the first chapter's gameplay/lore. I will only use lore aspects which means plot is leaved aside so you can go and see for yourselves what happens in there. It's a glaring difference from my Danganronpa au, where I referenced so hard the 3 main games. :v

And yes, our protagonist will be Azul, because do I like to make him a shounen protagonist amnesiac that gets to suffer every single tims? Yes... I like it :3

Also! Big warnings for: blood, murder, gore and everything associated with it. Spike Chunsoft made this game after all... You know what you're in for.

Now with all the disclaimers settled, we are gonna go on with the Au!

We are starting this with a bang! Mainly Azul waking up on a hall, sorrounded by worried people, all looking down at him, asking if he was alright.

It takes a bit for things to be regained to some calm, but it quickly spirals into a problem since apparently, Azul didn't recognise any of the people on this hall. And to top it off, they were all on a boat, heading to what they said it was: Sage Island.

One of them, named Kalim, kindly explained to Azul that they are master Detectives from WDO(world detective organisation) along with a few trainees, on a mission. Kalim added that Master detectives are people with extraordinary powers, called a Forte. Currently, they are 10 of them on the whole boat.

Azul does a count and realises that, counting him too, there were only 7 in here. Kalim says that 2, Lilia and Silver, are steering the boat while the 3rd, Leona, is in his room, sleeping.

Kalim finally introduces everyone and adds that none of them got to properly know Azul, therefore none really had an idea about how he was supposed to act or behave.

And so, the list is made:

Kalim-trainee-Forte: Persuasion(he used it to confirm Azul wasn't lying about amnesia)

Jamil-Master Detective-Forte: Hypnosis

Ace-Master detective-Forte: Video Immitation

Jack-trainee-Forte: Smell

Epel-trainee-Forte: Freeze frame

Rook-master detective-Forte: Target Sight

Lilia-master detective-Forte:???

Silver-trainee-Forte: none

Leona-master detective-Forte: Sand recreation

When asked about how come silver has no forte and Leona's was already known, it is explained that Silver is training to be a normal detective, while Leona is a top master detective, his forte being a very powerful one on top of it. Leona is apparently the leader of the master detectives of this group, while Lilia takes over the trainees as a field teacher.

What was their mission? Sage Island is an independent government in it's own, although a very specific influx of people, generally teens, come in and never leave. People assume they found a more stable lifestyle in there, although the population of the island is never reported to have increased or decreased over the years. Upon a failed investigation and a distress signal from a master detective investigating this, it was discovered that it has to do with people that hold fortes along with the very heavy censorship.

To add more to the mistery: WDO started to receive lately less mistery reports, some being handled by some other detective organisation they never went in contact with.

Azul is a bit taken aback by it, since he is registered as a very fresh trainee, along with that, it seems Like Ace, who is younger than him, is already a master detective. Jamil explains that Ace was a star detective, because he passed all exams with flying colors. Everyone is trained without preferences, it just happened for Ace to get signed in earlier. His forte is able to replicate via video any kind of situation. From theories to reality. The videos last in between 1-2 minutes and can be holded on any device for at least 72 hours weather Ace forgets them or not. He can put up to 4 videos before he collapses, so he has to think really hard about the possibilities he can recreate and annalise.

Being a cocky bastard, Ace decides to demonstrate his forte, using a spare phone he had. He explains that this phone has no service or valid number, it is merely a storage for his videos.

And so, Ace presents a video of what would happen if Kalim threw a bouncy ball around. He explains that his videos happen in natural physical conditions, so you can never see something mid-air without any explanation or sudden trajectory change.

Now their focus was mainly on Azul's amnesia.

Kalim was the first one who found Azul. He was knocked out on the hall. Previous to that, Azul simply got on the boat, made a humble presentation and settled in his room. He came on the roll call and after that he said he would go to the bathroom and that he would be back. Too much time passed, so Kalim offered to look for Azul and that's when he found him unconscious and called the others. From there on, everyone knows what happened already.

Jack notes how he smelled 12 beings on this cruise. 2 of which were apparently Azul's pets. At that, everyone realise that the reason Azul must've taken so long in his room was probably to accommodate his pets. This also surprised Azul, mostly since apparently, he had pets and now the poor little things must be starving or worried for his absence.

So using the room list from Jamil, the group goes to Azul's room and open the door.

From there, a big ass lizard immediately jumps on Azul. On the bed it was also a bird bundled in a blanket. I could stay here for hours describing how cute the bird blanket buritto is, but we aren't here for that :v

Azul rightfully is scared since a bigass lizard the size of a cat, punted him to the floor and right now is having their scaly head with sharp teeth resting on his chest, very close to his neck.

Everyone is chill since 'these are your pets, maybe they might help you cure your amnesia'. Epel is the one who voices it.

And as if it was a switch, both pets perked up and looked at Azul. The lizard got down enough time for Azul to get up before the creature wrapped around his legs.

Nonetheless, Rook suggested for Azul to check a bit around his room

Maybe he could find something which might tell him more about himself other than health and physical information.

So they leave him to some privacy.

Once the door is closed and it was made sure that no one was around, the bird comes out of the buritto. It was, surprisingly, quite a big bird and one to sure faunt with at how pretty it's feathers were.

But the creepy part starts when the bird talks. Like human talking. Full articulated and clear talking. And of course, it asks what's up with the amnesia.

Rightfully, Azul is absolutely horrified. It gets worse when the lizard does the same thing. It doesn't take much for the bird to be the one to realise what exactly went down.

So they introduce themselves. The bird was Idia, a soul keeper. The lizard was Malleus, a demon prince. Azul had a contract which binds all 3 together. Of course, the contract cannot be voluntarily disclosed at all otherwise it will be resulted in Azul's death. Moreover, only Azul, as the one who had a contract with supranatural beings, could hear the 2. For others it would sound like normal animal sounds.

So Azul please, calm tf down. Pointing a hairbrush at them won't help you. :/

Idia is the one who gets whacked with the brush before Azul finally calmed down and looked like he was willing to listen. Malleus re-explained again the basics: he was a demon prince, which Azul made a pact with. To prevent some nasty effects and also to prevent other people from assuming he went loco for talking to seemingly nothing, Idia was also tied into the pact as a mediator.

Idia recovers from the brush wacking, adding to Azul that he beared this contract for years, although he bearly used it, noting in what conditions he used to be. Azul just asks if the 2 could tell him how he used to be.

Unfortunately, when the 2 try to do it, but instead, both are tied up to the mouths by sum invisible force. To try and figure it out, Malleus summons the contract and annalises it. As he traces the problem, he realises that Azul's memories are on the line. Therefore the pact stated that they can only disclose to Azul present information. Nothing related to his past shall ever be brought up if Azul doesn't remember, mostly since the collateral of the contract were previous memories, therefore the more Azul forgets, the more is added to the colateral.

So basically Azul's memory is like a bidding bowl. They can only use and comunicate to Azul things related to him that he remembers. The rest just become collateral that none can tamper with, unless Azul remembers.

Thankfully, Malleus's biscuit making(you know, that thing cats do with their paws) helps with calming down Azul faster and enough so he could process the new information.

Idia adds that this is very bad. Azul holded some very important pieces of information, not just in his mind, but also on him. After a small pocketing, nothing was found. It meant Azul was knocked out not for the amnesia part, but to be robbed.

Which yeah... It is a bad thing. Someone must've stolen Azul's belongings. His room luggage only had some spare clothes and necessities. Idia does cry out that Azul has to find who stole his belongings since they were really important. Malleus does say that everyone has with them identification objects and if Azul's got stolen, then he cannot verify anymore his identity. Luckily he already verified himself to the others before getting the amnesia hit, so at least he has a safety net.

So Azul starts to search around. The only significant things he found was a portable console Idia had in front of his blanket. Also Idia's blanket was a personal one, meaning Azul owned it. On the desk there were some toiletries, 3 hairbrushes and 2 glasses cases. Azul currently wore a pair of glasses, so one was empty. The other glasses pair had tinted lenses, therefore sunglasses.

In the room were also snacks. More specifically a bag of gummy worms and fish crackers. Malleus cleared it out that those were specifically for him and Idia. In Azul's luggage bag, besides his spare clothes, there were also smaller ones, most likely meant for the 2 in question. Also 2 leashes. It was clear that Azul will have to drag those 2 around.

Idia explained that they can't leave Azul for a long distance. But since most people can't see an invisible leash, they have to improvise. The bonus of the invisible leash is that it acts like a circle line, so it can't get longer just by going around a thing like the normal leash.

Then why do these 2 need it? Malleus has a foul habit of getting lost and Idia ran away multiple times from people, ESPECIALLY kids. So a normal leash is very much needed.

With the room investigation done, Azul had to move to the hall, mostly to the place he was attacked.

In there, not much was present. The carpet was a bit wet. Malleus finds tho something shiny: an earring. It was Azul's and it was a small one, not that noticeable.

They also find a glass tossed around. Except that it was wet in the outside, not on the inside. Idia notes that since they are currently moving via the boat, they cannot check outside since it was only sea and if by chance something would be floating around, they would have passed it long ago.

Azul does ask how long was he gone. Idia responds that Azul was gone for 2 hours at least. The roll call couldn't take more than half a hour from Malleus's Intel, since he heard people passing around after 30 minutes since Azul leaved.

Again, nothing more was found around here. The place where Azul passed out was close to the bathroom too, in which there was a small table with a few glasses, with paper towels under them.

Except that one paper towel had no glass on it. That had to be the glass on the floor.

After that, Azul made his way to the lounge room, where everyone else was waiting. Now there were in here only Epel, Ace, Jack, Kalim and Jamil... Rook apparently went off to his room.

Kalim looked very excited by Idia since it was a big and pretty bird. Idia was just perched on Azul's shoulder and it was clear he was not having fun by how tight he was clawing onto that shoulder as Kalim approached him.

Thankfully Azul doesn't like how tight Idia was holding him so he told Kalim to not go near his bird.

Kalim does ask Azul how is he and if he happened to remember something. Azul says that he didn't remember anything, but he didn't find any identification object into his room, which makes him believe they were on him before he got knocked out.

The others caught on what that implied. Someone stole from Azul.

Unfortunately, that was a thing they would have to figure out later, since a voice at the speaker announced that they are approaching the Sage Island port.

At another roll call, this time everyone with their luggage bags at them again, Azul finally 're-meet' Lilia, silver and Leona, who were filled in about his amnesia from Rook. Lilia mentions that by chance Azul was sea-sick, but that got quickly debunked when it was added the new recent info: Azul was robbed by the belongings he had on him then.

Silver is a sleepy guy, but he was very nice, going for petting Malleus first since Idia again was a millisecond away from a meltdown. Malleus seemed to have a Microsoft error moment since he got petted on the head by someone.

Nonetheless, he seemed warmed up by it and actually happy. Idia does explain to Azul that, unfortunately, Malleus is very awkward at interactions with people, so when someone first approaches him, he's over the moon.

That also explains why Malleus was around Azul's legs non-stop.

When getting off the boat, they are greeted by a guy. He introduces himself as Trey Clover, a simple detective from WDO and also the guy that would house the trainees. Apparently the Master detectives had their own place payed by WDO, at a fancy hotel.

Behind Azul, Ace was rubbing it in Epel's face. Jack was just palmfacing.

Lilia does come clean about the short notice regarding Azul's memories, so Trey promises to adapt to it. For now, as to not seem that suspicious, the trainees will go with Trey while the master detectives will follow Leona.

Trey brings them to a bakery. His house is above the bakery, which was a family heirloom, therefore Trey also worked there. He mentioned that it was the most of his income, which begged the question of why?

Trey explains that Sage Island doesn't rely too much on outside detectives, rather, it trains it's own detectives and uses them for cases. Rarely Trey gets a case and most times is about a missing pet or lost objects. So the bakery is his best income source.

Well... At least they get sum food. :v

Trey does say that he isn't sure what Azul's pets would eat. He does say that he doesn't have bird seeds or crickets, to which Azul says that Idia is sum exotic bird species that apparently eats gummy worms. For Malleus... Well... This big silly looking lizard seems to eat  crackers for now, but Azul won't rule out the meat option.

Epel mutters how maybe they could feed Ace to the lizard. He got a grudge for the hotel room, ok? :'3

Trey makes them a small house tour and explains to them that currently, this is an undercover mission. The trainees are written in as normal students, who came here to study. Trey was the kind soul who housed them in for the meantime. They used this cover to carry out the master detectives on the same transportation means, mostly to avoid any attempt from Sage Island of preventing WDO detectives from getting in.

Then, how was Trey here? He was a WDO agent...

Well... Trey says that he didn't use to be a single WDO agent. He had a lot of partners, but right now they either were killed, framed or simply rotting in jail. You could leave and come to this island as you please, unlike Kanai Ward. That's exactly what makes this place more dangerous: if you conspire, they will find a motive to have you wanted by everyone.

The problem was: whoever seems to hold confidential information doesn't have the right to leave.

So Trey begs the trainees to just don't get in trouble. If the Sage Island Government finds out they have ulterior motives or that they discovered something, they will be hunted down immediately.

Malleus seemed a bit restless, rubbing around Azul's leg and rolling on the ground. The others passed it off as just lizard things while trey assigned to them their sleeping rooms. He had a few guest rooms, rooms which once belonged to his partners, so everyone got their own room thankfully.

Malleus still was restless, which he himself confirms as misteries. This island was one huge mistery, Azul's stolen goods were also a mistery and that got Malleus excited.

Idia says that he doesn't like the 'mistery cooties' at all. Azul asks about it, to which Idia responds that when they will stumble upon a good mistery, Malleus will feel all itchy and act as if he had cooties. Worst case scenario: Malleus will make a hole in the wall/floor.

Malleus does beg to explore and find something, but so far they had to listen to Trey.

Trey assigns them a few chores for the day. From cleaning to errands. Azul got broom duty, but he does contemplate on how he could get to do an errand.

At the dinner tho, Trey makes clear more about the mission: tomorrow school starts. They are enrolled in there as new students. For silver, Azul and Kalim, they will say they got late into school. Meanwhile, the master detectives will condone their own separate investigations. Ace would be home schooled tho, so Trey asks for the others to take some notes and borrow them to Ace as well.

Trey also sits down Azul a bit to talk about his pets. The school does allow pets, but Azul will have to put both on leash(he says that as Malleus knocks down a shelf and Idia perches on the TV, crying as Epel and Jack look at him).

Trey also asks if by chance the 2 are related to Azul's forte. Azul would have wanted to say no, but Malleus told him to say yes. With that confirmed, Trey noted it down and gave to Azul a paper, which he will have to present to the faculty office tomorrow.

The next day, it was the big day. Lilia came to visit in the morning, clearing it out that the school they will attend is one out of the only 2 schools on Sage Island: NRC. They choose it because daughters and sons of important government figures also attend there, therefore they have more chances of gathering intel.

And then it came the leash problem. Idia had no problem, he even got the leash on himself, Azul only had to close it. But Malleus? Nah... He wanted to get it on himself as well, but he ended up tangled and there it was a struggling lizard rolling on the floor. :'3

So armed with 0 knowledge about NRC, 2 supranatural beings on leash and a backpack with snacks hidden in it, Azul was ready to start this very long day.

Cue very flamboyant ceremony. It was broadcasted on TV as well, so it was that level of important apparently.

The principal also presents himself as Dire Crowley and makes some very sugar-coated speech about the school and the start of this academic year.

Nonetheless, Azul was assigned to his class. First year class along Kalim and a very loud mf. Upon his homeroom teacher's request, he had to give the slip Trey gave him so it could be taken to the faculty office.

So far, nothing seemed out of order. Very boring day followed by a normal dinner and sleep.

But the next day?

Azul was just walking his way to school. Silver was driven there by Lilia and Kalim was dragged by Jamil with a car.

That's when Azul was passing by the church when a scream was heard amongst the bell rings, something falling down from the tower.

It was a person. A person fell from the bell tower and plummeted into the church fence, which unfortunately had spiked tips.

And Azul was the unfortunate soul who saw that play out in front of him. Even a few droplets of blood touched his face much like the horrified by-standers who screamed in horror and immediately called the police.

Idia was calm tho, while Malleus started to rub his back on the fence. Again, the mistery cooties acted up, so the 2 nudged Azul to investigate.

Malleus reassured that they can spare some time to investigate, they will make sure Azul won't end up late to school.

So until police arrives at least, Azul got to look at the body. It was a nun, a quite young nun. Her hair was damp and her clothes were drenched in blood on the front as she fell belly first into the fence.

Even so, Azul took some courage to get closer and check for the pulse. It was the stomach aera, maybe she could still be saved.

But as he checked the pulse, he noticed how the body was awfully cold. Way too cold for someone who just died. Looking a bit at the face, it was also drenched. It couldn't be sweat, so it was water.

On the forehead it was a wierd mark, but Azul didn't have time to check since he heard the police sirens, so the next best thing was to go retreat through the crowd.

Malleus tho, dragged Azul towards the church insides. In there he is immediately greeted with a bulkier nun, who was glaring daggers at him, asking what is he doing here while a holy ceremony is commencing.

The best thing Azul comes up with is to tell the nun about the commotion outside. Idia is the one who tells Azul what exactly to say, the final story being: Azul was walking towards school when the nun fell and died on the fence, so scared, Azul came to call on the church personal as other bystanders already called the police.

The nun warms up to it very quickly, becoming horrified when she sees the body and realises that this teen just saw a murder play out. So she immediately drags Azul in, with pets and all, while she calls to the other nuns and priests that one of them is dead.

Luckly, the ceremony was just finished and the bulky nun explained how 'this poor child witnessed a person die so violently'. The other nuns sympathised with this and of course Azul was swarmed by them. Only Idia's horrified bird cries got them to give him some space so a more older priest could approach him and sit down to talk. The police came and already it was a chaos while trying to mark the scene and get people to leave.

The priest asked Azul what he saw and again, the same story was shared. The priest got a confirmation from another nun, so he noted that the one who died had an injured leg and couldn't climb stairs. Azul marked it off as a suspicious detail since how is it possible to jump from the bell tower if you can't climb it?

So Azul asks to see the bell tower. The priest is skeptical, but Azul made an excuse that some breeze from up high might help him calm down.

The priest personally gets him up there. He did voice his concern over Azul's pets coming too, but Azul cleared that those are his service pets, trained to help him with some issues. The priest didn't question it.

While climbing the tower, they meet a young boy who carried after him a bag. The priest introduces him as Rollo. Rollo says that he wasn't feeling well and only now woke up from a black out. He did ask if he missed the ceremony, to which the priest tells him which jun died. Rollo seemed absolutely devastated. When asked about it, the priest says that he doesn't have the heart to disclose that.

Malleus was just scratching his butt on the floor from the mistery cooties. :'3

Unfortunately, that's also when police caught up with them and immediately demanded to arrest Rollo. Apparently, from the clergy members's testimonies, Rollo was the only one with a flimsy alibi, so he would be taken into custody. The priest did protest to it, but in the end he gave up and went with Rollo to testify as well and hope Rollo won't get arrested for good.

Azul was told to go up to the bell to take some fresh air without necessarily seeing the body, but not stay much, since a nun will be waiting down for him.

So reaching the tower top, Azul was met with a mess. Malleus seemed to bear better the itching problem, so he did walk around and look for clues. Idia took it upon himself to check the bell tops and surprisingly, there was a catwalk above them. In there, some buckets and cleaning supplies were, most likely to clean up the top of the bell and hinges. The bell also seemed a bit too shiny, so it must've been recently cleaned.

Malleus tho, found a wooden stake which was wet, but it had some blood stains on it.

Azul only got height fear so he couldn't bring himself to go close to the edge, even so, he noticed something: the edge had a quite sturdy metal fence, most likely to prevent falling down. Another notable thing was that from the tower top to the fence it was quite the distance. Unless you were a great jumper, you couldn't land on the fence by simply jumping.

On the other side of the tower, Azul could spot a backyard, where a well, an incinerator, a big washing bowl and stings full of laundry to dry were set in between thick trees.

Deciding that they still had some time, Azul rushed back down(much to his own relief), hid from the nuns and got into the backyard, looking around.

Even more things were there, that weren't hidden by the trees: benches and a long table, some beehives, animal pens, a veggie garden and a shed with tools and feed mills.

On the table tho, a big stain was under the white cloth that covered it. There was a bottle of wine that was also opened and quite a big amount of it was missing. One could assume that it was simply wine.

Malleus tho, jumped onto the table and sniffed it. He couldn't confirm it, since it smelled like detergent so powerfully around from the clean laundry, that he hardly could tell if it was wine or something else.

It also seemed like the little veggie garden was recently watered. Idia perched in there,

But that's when the sprinklers went on, scaring him and thus, attracting a nun.

A very last minute excuse and the nun bought it, explaining that the bird must've been scared by the automatic watering system. It helps everyone with managing things. They just have to fill the tank behind the trees with water once a week and that's it.

Azul was guided outside the church tho, so nothing more was to be done. He just couldn't figure out what went on. So far, Rollo seemed like the most likely suspect, but from his devastated face, Azul could tell that he couldn't have done such thing.

Idia tho, shows what he snatched: a photo. It was the victim and a smaller Rollo. Both were smiling, the picture being taken in the backyard, next to the pig pen. On the back it was written: Rollo and Piggy meet up :).

So Azul leaves the church perimeters, slipping on his head his hoodie, trying to blend into the crowd.

Except that he was very easy to spot from Idia and Malleus's presence. And someone immediately stopped him. That someone was a very handsome man who presented himself as Vil Schonenheit, the one in charge of this case. He just finished interrogating a few nuns when he caught wind of Azul's little exploration around the church.

Vil wanted to take Azul into custody and possibly arrest him for the murder that took place, as an accomplice.

Of course, this scared the shit out of Azul, who wanted to run away, but already police were around the whole perimeter.

That's when Malleus tells him that there is only one way to get out of this thing: call upon his power. Azul wanted to say that he doesn't know how to call for that, but Idia butts in and tells Malleus that he can do it without Azul asking for his help.

So Idia is the one who soars in the air, becoming a big blue flame that quickly descended down. Azul was more horrified by the blue fire than to notice that time froze around them. The blue fire did clear up, revealing a tall guy with quite the gloomy attire and of course, hair made out of the same blue flame. He presents himself as Idia and again, tells Azul to not panic.

Malleus just spits green fire, creating a circle, which he passes through, getting out as a tall guy with horns and quite the princely attire. The circle of course turned into a portal.

Poor Azul, already all of his reason and sanity leaved his body. Apparently his talking supranatural pets are very handsome guys that stop time and open a portal to God knows where.

But there is no kind of time for any calm explanation, because Idia is the one who kicks Azul into the portal, following by himself and Malleus who jumped on his own.

Cue epic free fall, with Azul screaming his ass off.

The next thing he knows was that he was on the ground, completely alive and alright, in front of some kind of temple like thing floating in the middle of some sort of dimension? He didn't know and would rather not question it.

Malleus presents it as the mistery labyrinth. He could summon a portal to this place only when they stumble upon a mistery. By beating this labyrinth, they will find the real culprit behind the murder that just occurred. Malleus would be able to guide Azul and help him out in navigating the labyrinth.

But what did Idia have to do with it? Well, Idia does explain that he is here because, unlike a death God (and because Malleus is a little goofball), the hidden secrets of the labyrinth can only be revealed by Idia's intervention, since Malleus cannot.

So here we go with the very wierd 'would you give your life for the truth' question from our resident demon prince. It is mandatory and Idia just tells Azul to say yes and get over with it. He said and I quote: 'just say it so Malleus can do his silly dance and we can enter'.

And yes. Malleus does his lil tango with Azul, at the end pulling out of Azul's chest something. This also changed Azul's attire as he was handed from Malleus a silver trident, dubbed as the eclipse key. Malleus explains that this weapon can be used in the labyrinth, especially if you have solution keys.

As for the solutions keys, it is time for Idia's turn at the 'silly dance', this time Malleus being the one who is spun around, from his robes falling various keys. Azul finds that on his new attire there is a key ring, using that to hold the 'solution keys'.

Now with everything ready, they get to navigate through the mistery labyrinth.

A few important mechanics:

the reasoning duels, in which Azul learns how to use the trident with the solution keys.

Hidden questions, where Idia uses his scythe on Azul(much to the initial horror of the other), ro reveal The hidden questions and what each path is meaning(a lot of blood is sprayed around and Azul at first thinks he actually was dying)

Malleus's puzzle: where Malleus summons a paralel room with many stairs he uses to jump on and make out an answer pointer.

Finally, the last stand, on which we get big dragon Malleus and an epic castle attack against the last boss: the culprit.

During this, we also find out what actually happened: a crime out of passion had the victim being bashed to the table in the backyard and stabbed in the forehead with the wooden stake. The culprit then washed the victim with water from the well, throwing the bloody one at the veggie garden. Then the victim was thrown onto the bell as it rung, the culprit screaming so to make it seem like the victim committed suicide while the already dead body was thrown off onto the fence and finally getting the scene Azul first saw.

Once the final stand is over, the 3 are faced with the spirit of the culprit: the bulky nun. The reason for the murder was none, rather it was an act of passion, due to the fact that the victim was not a virgin, rather a teen mom, Rollo being her son. Despite the absolute horrible way she gained a baby, she didn't want to abort and raised Rollo with all of her love. Rollo used to have a twin, but that poor boy died at the hands of the same nun for being a 'mistake'.

Now Azul wanted to ask what are they supposed to do. Idia says that if Malleus gets his hands on the soul, the culprit will die in real life, so that's why Idia is here: to collect the soul and therefore gain complete control over it.

The soul itself tries to run away, but Idia is faster and catches it with his scythe, putting it into a small vial he gives to Azul.

Back in the real world, the time continues and Idia with Malleus are back as just pets, while Azul was still sorrounded by police and Vil.

Azul tries to clear it out that he has no ties with this case, but Vil denies it. Idia nudges Azul to check his pockets and there it was: the vial from the mistery labyrinth. Azul doesn't bring it out, as Idia told him to only hold it into his hand.

Guided by Malleus and Idia, Azul is teached how to bluff it up and use secretly the vial to bring forth the true culprit and force them to confess. His best excuse was that he saw the head of the culprit while the victim was thrown from the tower and so he searched the church for them.

Vil seems suspicious, but nonetheless since the police was busy with arresting the nun that kept crying out that she didn't say that or that she didn't do it, Azul was able to escape him and run to school on time.

Kalim does ask Azul what took him so long, Azul replying that unlike him and silver, he wasn't driven to school. Kalim rebuttals tho, saying that Jack and Epel took it by foot too and got here some time before Azul. The next best explanation was that he got lost and had to ask for directions.

Azul decided that it was best to not bring up the church incident at all. It was way too wierd for him.

Kalim also introduces Azul to Sebek, who was their classmate. Sebek was loud, very proud of himself for having a forte. Azul was asked multiple times throughout the day what was his forte, but because of his amnesia, he simply said he didn't have one. Unfortunately, that got people to look down on him.

Kalim still was sticking out with Azul, which made Idia the more agitated. It was clear Idia didn't like cheery persons and Kalim was literally the dictionary definition of friendly.

Although Azul's lie couldn't hold all that much, because later that day, Rollo came to the bakery, happening to meet up with Azul, who was assigned by Trey to manage the cashier for a bit.

And Rollo runs off, returning a few minutes later with a bouquet of flowers from the church garden. It was very lucky that the church was close. Rollo thanked Azul, as he saw him while waiting in the police car with the priest to be taken to interrogation. Rollo wanted to do much more as a thank you, but for now Azul was welcomed any day to come at the church and possibly dine with the rest of the clergy members. For now, these flowers are a thanks from all of them for exposing the truth and bringing justice to the death of his mother.

And you know, Trey happened to hear it, much like the rest of the trainees. After Rollo gets his usual order and leaves, Trey closes the bakery and everyone bombards poor Azul with questions.

Trey is the saviour of the situation, tells them to go and finish their chores. He again sits Azul down to talk, while being absolutely tired because he told them one thing: don't get into trouble. And what did Azul do? Waltz his ass into trouble. (more like trouble fell in front of him)

But the thing got solved in the end, so Azul gets scout free this time. It doesn't mean Trey won't close his eye again if it happens.

Back to his room, Azul prepares for bed when he notices that his coat, the one he wore on the ship, had a tare on the inside pocket.

And in there he found a small ring. It was a bit large, easily falling off Azul's fingers. The ring was slim, with very intricate motifs on it, on the inside of the silver band being engraved a logo.

Whoever knocked out Azul on the ship, most likely had this ring caught in his pocket fabric and fell down inside the coat. Azul probably didn't notice it in his panic.

But now he had a lead for his own mistery. And he will pursue it! Weather he gets in trouble or not.

And that's where I will stop for now. Of course, there are many other miseries laying before Azul. The main one is after all: who was the one who gave to Azul amnesia.

Yes... There will follow more small cases which slowly add to the big picture. But we also ditch the big picture to pursue the thing that started everything.

Also I will try to go more of the Danganronpa route, where you do get attached to the characters involved in the cases. Weather is before, during or after the case involving them.

So imma wait for your speculations, and ideas... I don't really plan on making it a thing like P5 next gen au(I swear I am working at it) or like NRSSAB au(seriously I have a bigass plot in there and no one caught onto the gig) so this au will be a very ask driven one...

Until next time! Bye bye!

[telekinetic-electronica]

Indigo Park: Salem is Important

I've already done a post on why I think Lloyd is important. I go over how I think he's the first mascot and the OG face for the Indigo brand. Not to mention, drawing a parallel to Mickey and Oswald. You can read it here.

There is also this picture at the beginning of Rambley's Railroad can suggest that Lloyd is giving the deed to the park to Rambley. I.e. transferring ownership to him, as seen here.

We also see Lloyd as a statue that's very similar to the style of the Rambley and Isaac statue we see when entering the park. I haven't seen this mention with people, but I think the biggest case for the other important mascot is Salem.

(Lloyd's statue in his maze)

Anything regarding to Salem is a mystery. Salem's part in Rambley's Railroad is completely destroyed. There's splats of blood, Rambley glitches out, Salem's cutout is ripped in half, and hints that Rambley's Railroad used to be Lloyd's Limos, in the backrooms.

(Salem's section destroyed in Rambley's Railroad)

(Lloyd's Limos in the backrooms)

Any important lore drop for Indigo Park, Salem is somehow connected. In the video game portion, where it's revealed Salem was the one who was corrupting the squirrels, then goes ahead and corrupts Mollie.

This is hinting to something big, something that possibly happened to the mascots at the park. Rambley did say, in a way, the mascots are like their cartoony selves. Via when he tells Ed the truth and in the credits song. Something either corrupted them or it could be symbolic to how trauma changes you. Within the same game, if you drop near the first half off of it, we see Mollie's sprite in a cage.

I mention trauma is because I think it's obvious that Mollie and the other living mascots were physically and emotionally abused by the staff and the on-goers at the park. Mollie can repeat things that were said back to her.

"I wanna play with the birdie!" "Don't touch that thing, son." "It barely hurts at all..." "Get up, you stupid freak." "Get back in your cage, bird." "The customer is always right." Mollie and Lloyd are conscious beings who were tossed around and mistreated from the employees to the people visiting the park. They treated them like they were just props, things. The parent calls Mollie a THING. The employees called Mollie a "stupid freak" and for her to get back in her cage. As shown in the video game. They were treated like rag dolls and if they didn't do want the employees wanted, they would get beat or screamed at, or left to rot in cages. It just makes the line "It barely hurts at all!" more dark.

It barely hurts at all.

She's convincing herself that the abuse she is going through is fine or that she's used to it. Or an employee saying the abuse she is going through isn't hurting her. It barely hurts at all. I wouldn't be surprised if Indigo Park's underlying horror is mistreating people as just tensions of the park to sell a fantasy towards parent for a quick buck, instead of, y'know, treating them like people.

Not to mention, Salem uses potions. Magic. A possible hint to how the mascots were brought to life. They aren't robots or anything, but they're conscious, living beings. Now, let's take a look at Salem's intro card. It was censored before chapter 1 was released, but I believe it is important.

Note of some important things here. They are a major trouble maker, super quick, and cunning. Interesting. Personally, in a speculation of mine is that Salem was the first one to act out and think what the employees and on-goers at the park treating them and the other mascots were wrong. Anytime something of lore is dropped or something of importance, Salem is involved. Salem is important.

Either or not they're an ally or enemy to Rambley and Ed, we'll see. Heck, Salem doesn't have any merch minus a keychain. So, whenever Salem is on the screen pay attention. Isn't it odd that Rambley NEVER mentions Salem? Like, the dude mentions Lloyd and he hates his guts. Interesting.

[inhuman-obey-me]

Celestials and Saltiness: Lessons 48/49

HAHAHAHA of course while we had irl stuff going on and couldn't go through the lessons for a couple weeks, was when the Big Stuff drops. But we have caught up, and hoo boy, there is plenty to discuss. So let's discuss! Strap in, it's a long one.

(MAJOR spoilers for NB lesson 48/49 below the cut)

The Situation

Let's start with what's actually happening. Hey, remember when the devs decided Simeon is a human now as punishment over the whole stealing the Ring of Light situation? SURPRISE, they've decided he's becoming a demon after all! You know, like all of us fucking expected of what happens to angels when they are punished and fall? Yeah, that.

As it turns out, despite the whole "I'm human now" gradual reveal across two whole fucking seasons, they've now decided this has been going on since basically all the way back to his human world cafe days in OG Season 3 to say he was starting to become a demon even back then, or at least so Solomon theorizes. So...basically the entire length of his "human" punishment thus far. Cool, cool, we're sure that's totally not a retcon due to the devs realizing they wrote themselves into a corner. Definitely had a plan all along, that's why they bought themselves 2 seasons of Nightbringer time travel shenanigans of time before getting into this. Totally.

Anyway, setting aside the salt (for now), we are told that this demonic aura has been starting to appear whenever he feels deep emotions, somewhat similar to how power manifests for the brothers. Solomon tells us that it's because Simeon has a unique ability to access his latent power - which is an interesting little tidbit to note, as it implies that they took away his angel powers but he has his own inherent powers which he was just never able to access until now. We have long held the headcanon that God artificially limits angels' power, so it's very interesting to us to see that it may be suggesting something similar here.

On a related minor worldbuilding note, this does confirm the detail that celestial power has a distinctly opposite feeling than demonic power, meaning that their magic and powers are not neutral. And we also get an in-game reminder that demons do not like angels, so in this situation, it would be expected that an average demon might think an angel deserves to fall and want to torture/kill them if given the chance.

By the way, all of this is going on during the Science Fair Chemistry competition specifically, which is...an interesting parallel to say the least. Chemistry is the science concerned with matter -- including its composition, structure, and how it changes down to the molecular level. We've always been of the opinion that Simeon just turning into a human was odd as it's been established that demons and angels have different physiology in comparison to humans (like how Demonus can get both demons and angels drunk, but doesn't affect humans). Simeon turning into a demon with the absence of his angel powers makes sense.

Celestial Realm Reactions

Now, the consequences.

First, let's look at the political implications. Diavolo, Barbatos, and Lucifer know that this does not bode well for relations between the Realms. After all, what will the Celestial Realm think, having one of their own turning into a demon after they sent them to the Devildom for the exchange program? Especially considering everything that happened with Lucifer and the Great Celestial War, it would be very easy to point a finger at Diavolo and the Devildom for being a corrupting influence.

Lucifer also mentions that Simeon is currently not allowed through the gates into the Celestial Realm without first obtaining forgiveness. However, that status as a human is an ongoing punishment (think of a kid being grounded by parents), not a one-and-done thing, opening up an implication that this transformation is not necessarily intended to be permanent. That's also totally not a retcon, we're sure! If he turns into a demon, that challenges the supposed punishment and calls into question which realm actually has a claim to him -- in a situation where both answers would have precarious implications for Diavolo's peace plan.

So, that's the Celestial Realm as a whole, on a political level. But let's take a look at the individual angels we know too, shall we?

First, there's the big question mark of Michael. We know that he's the one who called Simeon back to the Celestial Realm about the Ring of Light, and we also know that he is in fact the one Simeon stole it from. However, Lucifer assumes Michael is planning to bring Simeon back to the Celestial Realm when he gets the chance, so it seems like he was not actually the one to decide on this punishment and may actually be working to end it. And interestingly, this would not be the first time Michael has acted on his own to seemingly try to cancel out a punishment from God -- as a reminder, he also went off to the Devildom disguised himself as Raphael to try to invite the brothers back at the end of NB Season 1!

Considering Lucifer's insistence that Father would never forgive him, plus his Cocytus punishment at the end of NB Season 2, it does seem like Michael probably didn't have permission from God to go inviting them back. If he's also looking to reverse Simeon's punishment, that would show a surprising rebelliousness from the top angel of the Celestial Realm! So it will be interesting to see how Michael's role in this whole situation unfolds.

Then, we have our sweet baby angel Luke -- who ends up crying himself to the point of passing out when he finds out. He's grown a lot since he first arrived to the Devildom, no longer thinking that all demons are inherently evil monsters -- but he's still very proud to be an angel. He loves Simeon dearly, as the one who has acted as a parental figure of sorts for him this entire time. Luke is adamant about protecting and helping Simeon in any way he can, even if he's not sure what can really be done.

However, this sets up quite the conflict for the poor boy. He was too young to know Lucifer and the other brothers at the time of the Great Celestial War, so this is his first time reckoning with an angel he's known personally becoming a demon. And on top of that, this began with the Celestial Realm's decision to punish Simeon for taking the Ring of Light -- saving MC and Lucifer, and stabilizing MC's "ring" to essentially save all of the Three Realms.

In other words, Simeon is becoming a demon now for saving everyone. So it begs the question -- will Luke, who has unquestioningly believed in the Celestial Realm until now, start seeing his home in a different light after all of this?

Then there's the next-youngest angel, and the newest in the cast -- Raphael. We didn't see too much of him, but we get enough that it's clear he's not taking this news well either. It's assumed he was suddenly called to the Celestial Realm because of this development, though we don't know exactly what they say to him about it, and when he returns, he's in a daze. We see Mephistopheles being the one to actually first run into him and try to talk to him, but he is mainly met with a very out-of-it angel, and he then takes him out to have his family's special Demonus because it's clear Raphael is distressed. In another scene, we see Thirteen run into a now spaced-out Mephisto and he asks her a "hypothetical" -- what happens when an angel reaches their limit? Also, Solmare, are y'all setting up RaphaelxMephisto as a ship?

And then, of course, we have the angel of the hour -- or rather, ex-angel. And Simeon's reaction to this change is...not so bad, actually. It's one of understandable confusion but also a kind of near acceptance. We've always been convinced that the reason Simeon was demoted after the Celestial War was because he stayed neutral and refused to fight. And how Simeon discusses the past in Lesson 49 suggests similarly -- he has always had regrets over not joining Lucifer, because he couldn't. Now that it seems he is possibly turning into a demon, he can't help but wonder how things could have been different if he had.

He mentions how he feels less unsure about this than turning into a human, as he always did want to be closer to the brothers, and didn't like that he was different from them. In that sense, turning into a demon doesn't seem so bad to him -- though he also doesn't have control over these powers yet, so he needs to be careful. And, if you choose the "are you a bad boy at heart" option, he mentions that maybe his loyalty to the Celestial Realm is lacking -- pretty understandable, after all he's seen from them and all they've put him through...!

And Then There's the Shady Sorcerer...

Now, that's all complicated enough for that delicate, delicate balance between the Celestial Realm and the Devildom, but let's not forget there's one more realm in the "Three" Realms, with one very conspicuously powerful representative here in our cast.

And so, where is Solomon in all of this? Well, we know he placed a protection charm on Simeon to protect him when it was thought that he was a "defenseless" human, so that even if a lesser demon messed with him, they'd be in for a world of pain. He was also, it seems, the first one to notice Simeon starting to transform into a demon, but kept that information to himself until confronted about it. Lucifer opens up to us that he can't help but wonder if there's some kind of connection between the sorcerer's activities back in the human realm and Simeon's predicament, feeling some doubts even if it seems everyone relies on Solomon and trusts him. And after all, Lucifer would be a demon with a good reason to distrust Solomon, since the sorcerer has long been after a pact with him, even on top of all the many powerful pacts he already holds with others.

Lucifer brings up some of his concerns to Solomon by asking him why he's been going back and forth to the human world so much -- to which Solomon answers that's making some preparations for unlikely scenarios. He insists it's not important, but we wonder...

Back in OG Season 2, Solomon knew about MC's "ring" which was putting the Three Realms at risk, and he secretly swiped the Night Dagger from the Reaper's Cave as a potential solution. His top priority, as we've seen, has always been protecting humanity from the battling influences of the other two realms. We know that's also part of his mysterious deal with Nightbringer.

So what possible plans and preparations could Solomon be making, and for what unlikely scenarios? Another war? Another imbalance of power? We'll see what awaits with this whole new situation...

[yuri-is-online]

What are your ideas on Yutu’s Unique Magic?

Maybe Riddle!Yutu having a countering UM to his father, or Cater!Yutu having one that allows him to see the true in people, etc, etc…

Also, what if Yutu has a sister/brother back in his OG timeline? Did he bring them with or they just got left behind?

for context, check these posts (1) (2) or look at the Fyuuture kid section under series on my masterlist.

oof I have a lot. Unique magic strikes me as something that is supposed to be reflective of who the mage is as a person as well as the Disney character/concept the boy is based on.  Since Yutu is not based on anyone really, we are more free with inspiration for his unique magic, with two exceptions. Idia and Kalim both have lines suggesting that their unique magics are passed down in their family's, though I imagine the incantation is different to each person; it makes sense for their Yutu's to have Gate to the Underworld and Oasis Maker respectively.

Before I really get into the weeds, I do like the idea of Yutu having (a) sibling(s) in the OG timeline, again because that can happen in Fire Emblem Awakening but also because it adds to the angst somewhat. As for whether or not he would bring them back in time, the answer to that is yes. Yutu has a few friends he traveled back in time with that are scattered around Twisted Wonderland with no way to contact each other, and if he had a sibling (with the exception of Malleus! Yutu whose sister is a bit... special) then they would be among that group. If you want some extra angst we can steal even more from FE: Awakening and make it so Yutu's sibling died before he arrived, maybe they turned into a blot monster that follows Grim's overblotted form as a replacement for his hench human.

We could even make it so Yutu's sibling doesn't have any magic, just like Yuu. You know. For the parallels ψ(｀∇´)ψ

Riddle! Yutu

Riddle! Yutu having a magic that counters his dad is such a good concept, especially for someone who initially hates him. There are two types of magic that we have seen counter Off With Your Head: Trey's Doodle Suit and a strong shielding spell used by Leona.  I can think of a few directions to take this line of thinking, so let's start with the most grounded.

A strong shielding spell, one that can be applied to multiple people, sounds like a spell that thematically fits Yutu.  We don't know a lot about how these spells function, but they're important for combat magic and shielding multiple people seems to be implied to be difficult.  Let's say in this case it's natural for Yutu and essentially the same for him as shielding himself.  This sort of spell feels like it should have a card themed name, Big Blind maybe?  It's a term that refers to the minimum bet required to continue a poker game if I understand what I read correctly. The only card game I know how to play is yugioh

The less grounded approach could be a sort of spell that creates an anti magic field… it's a concept I did toy around with mostly because I was thinking about more Alice in Wonderland themed names for a unique magic, and thought up “Everything is Nonsense” or something along those lines.  My one sort of caveat to this concept is that I think a spell like this would be heavily stigmatized, probably cause a lot of blot build up for a caster, and I'm uncertain of how it would work mechanically. Well that and I have an idea for a different Yutu who this spell would fit a bit better... but that would require me to cook with a different type of fire.

I did mention in my post about Riddle! Yutu that I liked the idea of his unique magic allowing him to shrink or grow because of Rule 42 in Alice Adventure's in Wonderland saying all people more than a mile high must be rejected from court. If Riddle is the Queen of Hearts, well then any time they argue all Yutu has to do is grow and then he won't be allowed to yell at him any more so there. As a side note do you think this logic could apply to the Chimera in the Prologue? Because I could see that being darkly funny if it comes up in game in that context.

Cater! Yutu

I had a really well thought out idea about Cater being able to see a limited amount into the future before I realized that I was describing the sharingan from Naruto so fuck me I guess.

So just hear me out, you know in twst battles you can see at least one of spells the enemy is going to use? That's sort of what I thought Yuu's unique magic would be if they had it, but I also like the idea of it being Cater! Yutu's. It would function more like an instinct than an actual vision (*clenches fist* just like naruto) but he can use his magic to tell what a person intends to do before they fully think it. Cater is skilled at divination so a unique magic that lets his kid see a little bit of the future feels like it could work for him.

Speaking of divination, I sort of also like the idea of Cater! Yutu having a magic that has something to do with stars and starlight. Maybe he can turn into a void like being made of cosmic energy, similar to how Cater's Split Card is symbolic of his many faces, Yutu's void form could be symbolic of how he feels displaced in the world.

Ace! Yutu

We don't know what Ace's unique magic is (yet) but there are a lot of theories. Time travel, something that steals another person's spell, something related to optical illusions?

I think it would be fun if Ace! Yutu could do something with reflections/mirrors. As in he can reach through mirror and attack, similar to how Hanged Man works in JoJo. The further the distance the more magic it takes, it can also work with things like water but that takes a lot more magic too.

Either that or he's able to travel between mirrors on his own without the dark mirror. That might be a much more difficult thing to do though...

Jade! Yutu

I have a very clear idea for what I wanted to do with Jade! Yutu's magic, but it's a bit complicated to explain because I'm not a physicist.

The basic idea was that Yutu is able to exert magical force on an object, so long as he knows it's exact dimensions and what it is made of. I called it "Crush the Heart" because I wanted both his and Floyd's Yutus to have magic to follow their dad's naming theme. To activate it he has to be looking at where the object should be and picture it in his mind, the more precise the crush the more concentration, control, and magic it takes.

The name could in theory be quite literal, but Yutu isn't quite there yet in his knowledge of biology or magical control.

Floyd! Yutu

Like I said, I want the twin's Yutu's to have a name that is similar to their dad's. Floyd's Bind the Heart uses Kanji that literally translates to "coiling tail"... which I guess is more similar to the magic I gave Jade! Yutu than the "gnawing teeth" that Shock the Heart does, but that magic is supposed to be something that requires calm collected control, which Floyd and his son simply do not have. Still, lets play off that and give Floyd! Yutu a magic that has something to do with shocks and teeth.

I think Floyd! Yutu should have a taunt. Floyd already loves the idea of a good fight, his son is really good at combat magic, and they both talk so much shit that the idea of that literally being his unique magic just sort of works.

Functionally the spell would work similarly to Jamil's, where the person has to look him in the eyes for it to work. The name of the spell could be something like "Reveal the Heart" but that does sound sort of stupid to me so I'm not sold on it. The spell makes a person unable to focus on anyone other than Yutu and wares off after a certain amount of time, it can fail in fashion similar to Riddle's if the enemy mage has a protection spell up.

Azul! Yutu

Another Yutu who I know exactly what I wanted to do with, I got the idea while playing Darkest Dungeon of all things. I feel like it's a bit lame though.

Azul! Yutu can create phantom limbs out of cosmic magic. When he is in octopus form those limbs take the form of human arms, and when in human form they take the form of tentacles. He says when asked that what he is doing is manipulating shadows because he likes to keep people on their toes (or fins take your pick) and he finds it very funny to watch people squirm when they realize there really is no escaping his grasp.

It is a very difficult magic to use, he needs physical strength to use those limbs because they are only as strong as his real ones, so he works out and a lot to make sure he doesn't hurt himself while using it.

Ruggie! Yutu

Laugh With Me is a perfect magic for a hyena to have, and it suits Ruggie's personality really well. Actually... I did write that his Yutu shares his laugh and I think it would be so painfully cute if that extended to his Unique Magic too. Ruggie makes a big deal about how he's kind of a crappy mage, how he has to do a lot of extra work to make up for his low mana pool and poor upbringing. Can you imagine how embarrassed, proud, and awed he would be if his son inherited his spell? That's something only great mages are supposed to have, not little guys like him. Good thing neither Yuu or Yutu care about that huh?

Vil! Yutu

I haven't done a post about Vil! Yutu really beyond this bit about him bonding with Vil, but I did mention what I think his unique magic would be.

I can't find it but I read a myth once about a painter who drew animals with a magic paintbrush that would bring them to life if he gave them two eyes, so he only ever gave them one. I thought it would be neat to have a spell like that and it feels like something that would fit Yutu Schoenheit very well. His magic allows him to create temporary familiars similar to Lilia's bats, bigger creatures take more magic and focus.

I wrote the name for this spell as "Technicolor Dream" since I thought it would be nice for the name of Yutu's magic to nod towards his father's job and his dreams about having his family back.

I have a lot more Yutu's chilling in my inbox, so I'll revisit this topic (lilia! yutu has a whole ask about his um that I really like) once we are done with round 2 of Yutu posting.

[sapphire-weapon]

I think Eagleone is canon because in the game something really happens between them and it’s very noticeable, but I’m wondering why you consider them canon?

Because the romantic nature of their relationship is baked into the thematic framework of the narrative. In order for RE4make to achieve what it's trying to do with its storytelling, Leon and Ashley's relationship has to be read as romantic.

Resident Evil 4 Remake is Resident Evil 4 re-imagined as a fairy tale. Survival Horror is the genre of the gameplay of RE4make, but Horror Fantasy is the genre of its story.

RE4make contains fantastical elements that were not present in OG, including but not limited to:

Leon and Ada's plaga hallucinations (Ada's especially looks like it has a magical effect)

The magical blue fire that keeps the Armadura at bay

The cursed black water in the castle (irrespective of whether it's tied to the mold in RE7; it's still attributed to turning men mad and is treated like a magical reagent during the ritual)

Ashley getting possessed -- not Saddler using her plaga to manipulate her body (which he also does in OG) but actually physically possessing her and speaking through her mouth and seeing through her eyes

New enemies that invoke the imagery of Minotaurs

On top of that, one of the major themes of this story is: folklore, story books, and fairy tales. We see it show up not just in the characters but also in the lore of the world itself. Just to name a few examples off the top of my head, we have:

Luis's parallels with and direct verbal references to Don Quixote

The folklore of "madness" spread around the villagers that Mendez tried to quell panic of

Historic folklore from when the people of Valdelobos thought of Las Plagas as demons

Salazar's invocation of Pulgarcito (which is a Spanish fairy tale)

Literal storybooks that you find throughout the game, like the one in Mendez's house and the holy scripture (complete with a colored illustration like a child's picture book) in the castle

And, most of all -- and, most importantly for our purposes -- "The Knight and the Princess Fair" allegory that gets repeated over and over throughout the game centering entirely on Leon and Ashley.

And it's not just Salazar being a crazy asshole, either. Luis also refers to Leon as "Prince Charming," beckons him to the ballroom, and tells him not to be late for the dance.

The story itself also has an element of "true love conquers all" in it, as both Leon and Ashley literally pull off the impossible. Leon manages to fight off Saddler's influence (something that we've seen no other character manage to do -- and Leon's plaga is very advanced at this point) while he's holding Ashley in his arms. And tiny little 120lb Ashley manages to heft all 200+lbs of Leon and his gear up onto Luis's surgical chair all by herself in order to remove his plaga. They saved each other for each other and only got through this ordeal because the other person was there with and for them.

This narrative is then reinforced by overtly romantic imagery, like Leon appearing to Ashley bathed in moonlight, and Ashley wistfully looking to him off towards the horizon, hands clasped to her chest, as embers float around her like fireflies.

It also invokes the imagery of classic romance stories and fairy tales, including:

Several literal princess carries

Prince Phillip about to break the spell on Sleeping Beauty with true love's first kiss

The Prince approaching Snow White's altar

Leon kneeling before Ashley like a knight does his queen

Romeo and Juliet's very famous balcony scene

Leon extending a hand to Ashley as though he's asking her to dance, not once but twice

And in case all of that wasn't enough -- if you somehow still didn't catch it, Capcom included a set of matching alternate costumes for Leon and Ashley literally called "Romantic."

I don't know how much more explicit they could've been about this, short of having a big, sweeping kiss scene -- especially when you consider that absolutely none of the above was present in OG. None of those scenes happen in OG at all.

And this isn't even taking into account that the devs restructured the plot of OG to follow the story outline of a romance novel beat-for-beat -- nor the overt sexual imagery associated with specific lines of dialogue between Leon and Ashley. And even if you ignore the fairy tale aspect all together, Leon and Ashley's relationship is intrinsically tied to the theme of teamwork, and there's a romantic element about how that is portrayed, too.

So, sure. You could look at RE4make as a story about a man who's just doing his job and saves the president's daughter because idk he's a badass and that's just what he does. And he overcomes his trauma about Raccoon City because he actually saved a person's life finally, and it wouldn't have mattered who it was; it just happened to be Ashley.

Sure.

You could.

But you miss the fucking point of what the storyteller(s) were trying to do.

You miss the intention of the developers paying homage to RE4OG being such a huge part of so many people's childhoods by turning the story into a fairy tale.

You miss the parallels of Leon becoming a broken husk of a person because of failing re: Ada, and Leon finding his smile and his kindness again through Ashley.

It leaves you with a shallow story where shit just kind of happens and Leon's a cool dude who overcomes the odds all on his own because he's so cool and strong.

And you'll never be able to convince me that that's how the devs wanted their story to be read. Not with the deliberate layering of themes and imagery and allegory that they've folded into the narrative.

And you'll never convince me that all of this was just a coincidence, either.

Eagleone is canon -- just not canon in the way that most people tend to think of it.

Because the one thing missing from RE4make's fairy tale is that Leon and Ashley don't live happily ever after. They don't end this game a couple, and they'll never be together in the future.

Because while RE4make was a fairy tale, it was the nightmare horror version of one.

And horror stories don't get to have happy endings. That was true for Ethan and Mia in the literal storybook that was RE:Village, and it's true here for Leon and Ashley.

But that doesn't make the romance between these two characters any less real.

[t4tstarrailing]

boothill speculations

so, my migraine is gone (finally) after a couple of days (i love season and weather changes sm /heavy sarcasm). and i just want to get my boothill speculations and theories off my chest, written down somewhere.

couple of theories i have right now: murder ballad, degeneration flow, and timeline.

murder ballad

what's a murder ballad? well, it's exactly what it sounds like. it's a narrative song about a murder that takes place, including the lead up and sometimes the follow up. they originated in the british isles, oftentimes involving some supernatural aspect like a ghost taking away the soul of someone instead of them being murdered. but when these stories traveled to the US, they took on a more realistic approach with a person committing the murder. they're not uncommon in southern culture, and there's a specific variant called Appalachian murder ballads.

murder ballads in the south tend to revolve around the idea of "justice". someone righting a wrong that's happened to themself or someone else. so, following this line of logic, we've got a fairly clear story lying out. boothill is seeking out vengeance against the IPC for a death that they caused.

but the question is. who was murdered? realistically, given that boothill's name is a common name for cowboy cemeteries (specifically those that died a violent death), it wouldn't be a shock if it's revealed that he's the one that died and he's the one seeking vengeance for his own death. how the IPC is involved with this story, i'm not entirely sure. southern murder ballads (specifically ones heavy with southern gothic themes) do traditionally discuss how poverty has impacted southern culture, so that could realistically be a theme they'll go with in his story.

we've already got something of a murder ballad in the game itself, involving musketeer oakley and the path of vengeance she's decided to take following her father's death. it's not unreasonable to believe that boothill's story may parallel hers or have similar themes.

degeneration flow

there is literally the briefest mention of this in the databank.

and that is literally it. no other mention, no other lore bits in the data bank. just this.

based off the information that we know, this "degeneration flow" seems like a physical ailment that galaxy rangers specifically suffer from for one that eventually leads to them being unable to fight. so, if boothill suffers from this in one way or another, it could explain why he's made himself a cyborg. if you don't have a human body, it could easily delay the spread of this condition.

timeline

so boothill could fit into multiple parts of the timeline. he could be one of the OG galaxy rangers, one of the people that defeated the lord ravager, and he created his new body to keep himself alive. he could be one of the people that duked it out with dr. primitive, eventually falling alongside his comrades and eventually needing a new body.

but honestly, more than likely, i think he may have been the anonymous galaxy ranger that we heard about in the IPC broadcast regarding the Holstein Aphasia that occurred before the game began.

it may be a bit of a stretch but, based on the fact that he's already been associated with language in one way or another, he may have had his own language processing center messed up as a result of this incident. it could easily be that his memory of language was taken and some of it was restored, but not all of it. this would make him active more recently (with the current AE being 2158, the new year starting following the events of Jarilo-VI), making it more plausible as to why he's in the area. i've seen theories suggesting that he's one of the OGs that defeated the lord ravager, but i'm not entirely sure about that theory tbh. unless the decorations on his vest (thing?) are military decorations, then that could be plausible.

... what if he's seeking vengeance against the IPC for making him the "anonymous" galaxy ranger when he actually wanted to take claim for it? now that's a stretch but, ngl, that'd be a funny plot twist.

anyway, this is all i've been able to find about possible theorycrafting for boothill. the galaxy rangers are a fairly mysterious organization, and i honestly can't wait to learn more about them with boothill.

[themindcrowave]

recurring jing yuan thoughts #2... a spiderverse AU

so i've been thinking about spiderverse jing yuan lately..... trying to decide whether he's a spider or a gwen/MJ

- if he was a spider he'd be able to travel dimensions,,, he'd definitely have a backstory similar to miguel o'hara's about trying to find a reality where everyone he loved was back together again, but unlike miguel, once that reality inevitably goes wrong he either:

- decides to really focus on his emotional healing and grief processing or

- becomes a compartmentalization master like he is in the game

because either way he knows he can't properly help others and be a leading figure if he can't move past his own grief first. he would rather gnaw through his own arm than push his old emotional scars onto the young spiders he's met and formed family with along his journey. he might have lost his first found family but he'll be damned if he loses his chance at another.

- and then just like in-game, jing yuan will meet the people of his past again... i'm thinking dan heng is a spider from a parallel universe where dan feng's weakened consciousness ended up after he was completely wiped from jing yuan's dimension, so basically dan heng was always his own person of course but then he started having visions of a lifetime parallel to his own lived by someone who looked exactly like him (insert my gwen stacy theory bc WOW does it fit him)

- blade would be kinda like the usual spiderman villain setup where his undying situation is all because of a terrible science accident and his main motivation is to find the ones involved in what happened to him (the og high cloud quintet friend group) and exact vengeance so that maybe he can finally disappear in peace (basically the same as in-game)

- baiheng's death was probably jing yuan's first devastating "canon event". i think he wasn't around to save her when she died (and he couldn't have been, he didn't even know where she was or what happened to her until he heard the news) and that guilt will forever eat away at him... i'm thinking she died in an aircraft accident but i haven't decided what kind yet

- dan feng was a genius scientist. he experimented with a lot of things that he probably shouldn't have and always pushed the boundaries of scientific possibility,, especially after baiheng died. he started secluding himself in his lab and only yingxing ever had any success at visiting him there for any substantial period of time... which is exactly how yingxing got caught up in dan feng's plan to bring baiheng back (think kingpin bringing his family back with the alchemax super-collider) and subsequently cue the horrible accident which turned him into the immortal blade

- oh and then of course jing yuan, being spiderman, has to track down and apprehend dan feng for what he did and decide his sentence (life imprisonment) but dan feng's family clan had him assassinated in prison for reasons jing yuan was never able to completely uncover (and a nagging little part of him will always feel like dan feng's fate was his fault)

- i think jingliu was jing yuan's superhero mentor... not sure if she was a spider too, or just another masked hero in the area who took him under her wing when he was new to his powers. just like in-game, she was the one who introduced him to the rest of the group, and just like in-game she will go completely berserk and become a vigilante with no clear morals or objectives after baiheng dies. like with dan feng, jing yuan has to track her down and try to get her back. unlike with dan feng, jingliu decides that given her shattered mental state the safest option for society as a whole would be for jing yuan to defeat her then and there, once and for all, simultaneously saving the day and proving his graduation from her mentorship. and, well. he did.

- there's yanqing (young spider, official mentee, and unofficial son of jing yuan) thoughts rattling around in here too, but words are difficult so unfortunately you'll have to put your full imagination to work here and just try to feel the "i'm-putting-this-character-in-a-jar-and-shaking-it-like-a-mixed-drink" vibes for yourself! cheers

[dutchdread]

Hey Dutch what is your opinion on crises core reunion ? I had few ca tell me it didn’t do anything for zack and aerith relationship it just made things worse ? I don’t know we’re they get that belief from but it’s there opinion. Did you think the story was ok and gave good context on what they mean to each other?

People give too much flack to Crisis Core. I only played the original CC back on the PSP so I can't say anything about whether or not Reunion made it better or worse, but I enjoyed the original. But part of that is because I simply had lower expectations for portable games than I do for AAA pc or console titles. I won't deny that the game has a bunch of stuff that could have been done better (Cough, genesis, cough), but it had its strong points as well. I think some of the basic concepts of Crisis Core are good in principle, like theme of hopes and dreams, and watching how Zack through adversity unwillingly becomes the hero that he always wanted to be. But the execution was often lacking. I love the idea of watching a several friends slowly break, and I think there is potential in tying that story into them being "monsters" and exploring what it really means to be a monster vs being a hero. But again. The way it was handled made it rather ridiculous and overly obtuse. The constant quoting of Loveless, ESPECIALLY without it ever getting a clear meaning that allows the player to connect with it, Angeals random dramatic self-pity, and a bunch of other stuff just made it so that storywise a lot of the bad overshadowed the good. But I played CC for Zack and Aerith, and they were perfect in my opinion.I loved seeing Aerith like an actual 16 year old girl and how her time with Zack rubbed off on her and caused her to start living every day to the fullest. I still think that the scene with Aerith hugging Zack from behind is one of the most romantic scenes in FF, simply because of how viscerally real it is. Her trying to make small talk, him just being there, choosing to mourn in the presence of the woman he loves, not needing to be consoled, but just needing her presence. And then that hug "sometimes you don't need words to tell a person how you're feeling" indeed. This is also a part of the reason I am convinced Aerith was still projecting Zack onto Cloud at the end of Rebirth "our place", "the church", Yeah right. For Cloud and Aerith the church is just a place they happened to spend about 5 minutes at one point, not even the place they met. Meanwhile Zack went there to see her for I think about one and a half years. He goes there instantly in intergrade, he goes there in Rebirth, we see him waiting there for Aerith at the end of rebirth, the core visual for Crisis core was changed to TAKE PLACE IN THE CHURCH. But the Church is Cloud and Aeriths place.....yeah right. Either that is an intentional hint that Aerith is still projecting, or the writing has fallen off a cliff. Then we have the other character moments, Cloud and Tifa pining for each other, the parallels between Cloti and Zerith. Zack promising Aerith he'll come for her underneath the water tower. And my favorite Aeriths "23 tiny little wishes", all encompassed in the one with to "spend more time with Zack". Which is then ultimately fulfilled via Cloud in the OG/rebirth. And then of course there is the ending, my favorite ending of any game ever aside from Nier:Automata. Man I bawled my eyes out. So yeah, I like Crisis Core, it's messy, but it's messy with a lot of gold in it, and for a portable title I think that's not half bad.

[lavellenchanted]

okay I have a bit of a theory that was inspired by your Yuna Aerith parallel gifset, while I immediately thought of Yuna during that scene as well, I didn't really think about it beyond it being a reference until seeing your gifset again just now. A lot of people think there are parallels between ff7/ffx already and that maybe the games are connected in some loose way. And thinking about Yuna's story... how the game revolves around her intending to make this big sacrifice in order to save everyone until we find another way and are able to put an end to things for good without her needing to die (a better ending than her sacrificing herself and restarting the cycle). Not to mention other parallels between her and Aerith in general. And a lot of people are unsure if the ending of og FF7 is actually a "good" ending. And I am now wondering if Aerith's lifestream dance scene was more than just a fun reference and it was actually more of an intentional nod to her and Yuna's similar stories and maybe a hint to the fact that she doesn't need to die for us to win in the end (ofc Aerith already meeting her fate in rebirth has happened, but with the other worlds etc we know things can potentially be altered somehow in game 3 and that we may have saved a version of Aerith already). Perhaps this time we can get an even better outcome. Defying fate/destiny is very relevant to Yuna's story and is a heavy theme in this re-trilogy which I would like to see have a purpose beyond faking us out. I feel the direct comparison between her and Aerith does potentially feel more intentional along that line of thinking

apologies that got quite lengthy and disjointed but hopefully made some sense hah

That's a really good catch! I think as well it's interesting to note that as well as Yuna not having to sacrifice herself, they also brought back Tidus at the end FFX-2 - albeit only in the hidden ending that you have to 100% complete the game to get. So clearly SE aren't against bringing back characters that appear to be gone for good.

I definitely think that Aerith is going to live at the end of Part 3 - the lifestream dance is obviously a nod to Yuna, but in terms of FF7's narrative I think it was also deliberately meant to show is that Aerith can and is learning to control the lifestream while she's alive, so she doesn't need to die to be able to manipulate the lifestream to help defeat Meteor.

I'm absolutely convinced we'll get a payoff to the idea of defying fate, just because otherwise it would be really bad writing. They very carefully set it up in Remake with Aerith and Nanaki having full knowledge of the future, and Cloud having fractured visions of it and have then built on it further in Remake; both through Marlene having gained that knowledge from Aerith, and using the interludes with Zack to establish a) that characters we expected to die could survive and b) the rainbow motif to show when fate's been changed, a motif that then appears when Cloud blocks Sephiroth's sword and in both scenes when he's holding Aerith and she wakes up. To suddenly undo that in Part 3 and return to the status quo of the OG would be a complete narrative letdown and anti-climax after everything they've teased, and I think the devs are better than that.

The OG ending is a complicated one and was always intended to be bittersweet, but it's telling that in an interview in the Rebirth Ultimania, Kitase said that he hopes all the characters find happiness at the end of Retrilogy, implying that he doesn't consider that they did at the end of the OG. And if you want everyone to have a happy ending . . . well, the characters that had the most obviously unhappy ending of all of them were Aerith, who died, and Cloud, who was broken by her death.

Not to mention that Nomura said in the same interview that Kitase asked for "a very major something" that wasn't in the OG for Part 3, and I really don't see what else that would be except a ending in which Aerith, and possibly Zack, both get to live and Cloud and Aerith are reunited.

[alex-multiverse]

Kh Worldbuilding headcanons: Destiny Islands Edition

No one ever talks about the original worlds in kh and i find that a travesty because these places are a really, REALLY good mine to play around with. (u can also use them or expand on them if you really like)

So im gonna share some HCs i have about the original kh worlds, starting with Destiny islands..... but before that some basics: also this is kinda long so under the read more it goes

In general:

Kh "worlds" arent really floating in space. the stylized icons we see in game are more akin to dimensional rifts rather than actual planets (seriously who thinks this is how the world looks fr)

Following on with the dimensional rift: as the "worlds" arent really pieces of the original world, they are something more akin as parallel dimensions or something along the lines of something like ff14 (mostly because i would rather die first than live in a world with 5 different versions of britain existing at the same time)

As much as dark road is cool, the explanation for the empty worlds is dumb and for the purposes of this exercise, instead ofthe worlds filling the people gradually after it is created, i consider that the worlds as they exist are the result of the surviving children of the war making their stories real in the fractured reality of the original world (it also follows the weird theme of reality/unreality that kh4 seems to go for) and it turning into a different version of earth as we know it, with some exceptions, such as monstropolis (which exists independently as a parallel land to earth in its canon) and Deep space (which is straight up NOT earth and was more like, the rift of lilo and stitch's world pointing at the high counselor's fleet BEFORE the actual movie started) and also the OG worlds who dont have something to be based on for reasons to be explained later.

the only world that exists in the ocean between as it is, is the Keyblade graveyard. because it was so majorly fucked up by the war it both shattered in the physical and dimensional way after it happened.

Now that that rant is out of the way, LETS GO TO THE MOST UNDERRATED WORLD IN THE SERIES:

Destiny islands is in fact, more than 2 islands, being a big archipelago with a bigger "main island" where our three protagonists live at. this one we have seen before in kh2

Destiny islands, is, by far, not the only chain of islands in the world. in fact, theres way more islands beyond the horizon.

We know the islands have a mayor, thus we know that they must have cordial diplomatic ties with different islands near them.

Due to FF characters existing here, i am very tempted to assure that some of the races from ff8 and ffX exist in this world (you are now imagining kimahri playing with a tiny kairi after diplomacy stuff with her dad just ended)

Due to DI being an original world, it is actually a shard of the original world that didnt really changed much compared to the other original ones. its major difference is that it is an ocean world like Wind waker hyrule or the Grand line from One piece

Magic is a real thing in the original worlds populace, you just really need to get good at it, learn it, be magical by default, or cheat and get a keyblade somehow

Religion in the og worlds strike me as something akin to the way people prayed to the aeons of yevon in ffx or the astrals of FF15. with people praying to the ff summons on a case by case basis and depending on their preference for patron gods. Ie: Leviathan being a goddess of the ocean and water who is prayed to by sailors or fishermen, while scholars prefer ifrit using an interpretation of the fire of knowledge. (you know. like a furry prometheus that doesnt get eaten by an eagle daily)

I'll probably go on more detail later, but for now, the summons that get prayed to the most in DI is probably Leviathan for the aforementioned reasons, Ramuh for nature and agriculture reasons, shiva for tradition and combat reasons (related to riku in my particular headcanon) And Titan for economical reasons, wow alex making the rock man into the economy guy i wonder where you have heard it before

Speaking of economy, DI currency totally has tiny paopu fruit symbols in its coins and bills, and its a legal course currency in its neighboring islands because they too dig the paopu fruit symbolism

Munny looks like malleable diamonds because it probably just morphs into the appropate currency depending on the world we're in, moogles only use them as they are because they are both the people doing synthing and also shady as hell. do not trust the pompom people.

Going back to the Paopu fruit: its quite a common tree fruit in the islands and in fact is industrially harvested in some islands both as an export and in-island use.

The paopu folk story is actually mostly just a misconception for an older tale. originally involving sailors and a promise to return home safe. it eventually turned into "sharing one will entwine your fates forever"

Paopu pastries are a common dessert, and paopu wine is used often in weddings.

Monsters ARE real in the islands and roam the most inhabited places. These are often hunt for game and for safety reasons

THAT MEANS, chocobos are also a thing people use in the most rural parts of the islands for fieldwork, transportation and sometimes food.

Blitzball is MAD popular and they Often do tournaments involving several islands. DI itself was almost a perpetual champion up until jecht retired, then they win every so often instead of always

Boating licenses are a thing, but kids can still use their little boats because they have to row them. think like, the difference between a bicicle and a motorbike.

There are bridges for tram systems between islands that are close to each other, usually reinforced for sea and storm reasons.

Legally speaking, equal marriage is a thing and even polyamorous ones because why being an ass about it.

Healthcare is mostly public, but there are Specialty care stuff in the main islands that costs money because of course it is

Because sora and riku are japanese names, i prefer the island to be something like a tropical japan, so most of the people in DI have japanese names.

That would be all for now. tune in next time when i tackle on Twilight town, who may or not be in perpetual twilight (is not)

[misc-obeyme]

Satan got his wrath from his grandfather if you think about it

HIS GRANDFATHER. Anon, I don't know why but I never made that connection before lol.

Anyway, about the wrath...

We could go old school religious and say that the entity Lucifer calls Father is indeed the Biblical God and make parallels to the concept of the "wrath of God" or how people sometimes call themselves "God fearing." If we consider that kind of thing, then it's likely that Lucifer's wrath wasn't just something that came about because he was angry at his father. It came about because it was something he learned from his father.

Either way, Lucifer's father is the reason behind the wrath. And there is no doubt that he was a big part of Satan's creation.

Can you imagine knowing that? Knowing that your father older brother was so angry at his own creator that he created you?

I think the circumstances of Satan's birth are far heavier than the game makes them out to be. I think the implications of the entire situation are quite bleak. And Satan has to struggle through these things with very little context. I know they once mentioned that he could like... see through Lucifer's eyes before he was born and stuff... but I don't know how accurate that is. It seems more likely that he had no knowledge of any of the Celestial Realm stuff. He never met their Father. Or Lilith. It's like having a parent die so soon after you're born that you never get to know them. Satan sees the impact they had on the people around him. He sees how much their absence makes the people he loves suffer. He sees the lingering pain caused by a Father who was the reason behind so much of their suffering. And not only is he not part of it, he was created because of it.

Maybe we'll get more about this in the upcoming lesson. And it's also possible that I'm forgetting things (especially if it happened in the OG lol I really need to replay it), so anyone please correct me if I'm wrong. But I just feel like there's so much more going on beneath the surface for Satan. The wrath is just the top layer, you know?

And whether that wrath came from Lucifer or his father is part of that deeper complexity.

[my-current-obsession]

To be fair, the whole, “I’ll come back to you even if you don’t promise to wait,” is a line pulled directly from OG FFVII. It’s mentioned late game by Cid (who hilariously went to see a showing of loveless in Midgar but fell asleep then woke up just in time to view this ending scene 😂). But if you wanna deep dive on the meaning of this line, it’s worth noting that a version of the line is used in FFVIII in reference to the main ship of that installment — Rinoa and Squall — who also happen to be another mage/swordsman pair. And if you wanna go big brain square enix energy, there’s also the famous, “I’ll come back to you; I promise…I know you will,” between Sora and Kairi in Kingdom Hearts when he goes off on another journey while she awaits his return. If you go down those rabbit holes, it seems square really has a type for their main pairs, no?

I don't remember that line in OG FF7, but it's been years since I played it so I'll take your word for it. But you're right that similar lines/sentiments pop up frequently in other FF and KH games, so yeah, Square has a type. I still think the conversation between Cloud and Aerith in KH2 is the quickest and easiest parallel to make here though, considering the same pair can have basically the same interaction, in an entirely different game. Yes, Cloud could also have this conversation in the play with T or Y. But only Aerith's would have the added depth of being a potential callback/reference to another moment the pair shared.

And considering this game liked to callback to several moments between Cloud and Aerith in the previous game (him remembering their first meeting being what snaps him out of Sephiroth's control, the "will you be okay getting back", "if I said I wasn't" in the ending...) I think it's totally reasonable to assume that Square might have subtly referenced at least one Clerith moment from outside the compilation.

[vryivs]

time for the hsr update liveblog

im gonna sob. jing yuan is such a Dad. yanqing is such a Son

thinking so much about yanqing being forced to act older than his age but getting to let loose and actually be a kid when it comes to the things hes interested in

i love him

"miss march" LOOK AT MY POLITE SON!!! LOOK AT HIM!!!!!!

save my son from bureaucracy. and also from my daughter

ok why does huaiyan have and old man model when its canon that xianzhou natives dont physically age

hes old enough to be blades master so hes not an outworlder. what gives

he talks like a man who's had to spend extended time listening to the ramblings of a toddler and now is fazed by nothing

fu hua please give these old men a break

the fact yanqing looks to jing yuan to answer questions... oh baby

also jing yuan is so proud of him its so cute

hes so polite. even though she stole yanzhuo

oh yunli is an ASSHOLE

'you lost your sword because you were unfocused and now you have to fight me to get it back instead of expecting me to hand it over'

lmao the dad voice came out

i really like how its clear that yanqing is a lot more even tempered now. he only even entertains the idea of fighting yunli when she directly challenges him (after insulting him too!)

and when jing yuan warns him he immediately steps back

baby's first diplomatic mission

yunli darling i think yanzhuo is scared because it was possessed by a demon, not because yanqing is mean

this is so sweet. he really is jing yuans son

and remembering blades comment that jing yuan was a hothead as a kid. oh man. the parallels. oh boy

ok im not crazy. thank god

JING YUAN LORE

man it must be crazy for huaiyan to see this rebellious kid who became a knight against his parents wishes eventually succeed teng xiao and grow into one of the best generals the xianzhou has seen

i am ignoring the death flags yet again

hes so sincere its adorable

ok bestie cool it down. you have bigger fish to fry

I AM IGNORING THE DEATH FLAGS

jing yuan you cant die. he will be orphaned AGAIN

i dont know if he can take that

the parallel of jing yuan being told hes overthinking things by huaiyan and yanqing overthinking jing yuan

he is literally jing yuans mini me its so cute

yanqing, dan heng and jing yuan all sharing the same thoughts. i love their dynamic. they are the understanderrrrrs

MISTER DAN HENG

sobs

man yanqing is too young to be implicated in political intri-

hang on. if the abundance yanqing theory is true its gonna look real bad on jing yuan for looking after him. and like. that would be the ideal twist for this

but its only a continuance its fine nothing too important will happen

i hope

YANQING STEPPING IN TO PROTECT LINGSHA HES SO CUTE

hes good boy. jing yuan raised him well

this is maybe the first praise he's had to his face like. ever

at least in the entire game

well now we know why jing yuan was so uneasy

huaiyan's remark was so pointed jesus.

im curious to see where they'll go with this because i bet jy feels guilty as all hell

yes yunli thats what trauma does. and adding to it by insulting him and confiscating his property will totally help

she is so. 13. this is a 13yo

its striking me that yunli is everything yanqing haters claim that he is

i really hope yunli gets some character development. i can see all the yanqing stans realising this ^ and talking smack about her.

btw. dont do that. thats my 13yo edgy emo daughter

FEIXIAO IS SO HOT

well. i guess i do need a wind dps

oh my god shes so hot. oh my god

hes so excited to see her this is so cute

hey. she. she kinda looks like kiana. now that i think about it. with her hair like that and the blue eyes

ok its fine they dont share a va. false alarm. no kiana yet

bur GOD does she make me nostalgic for the og

kiana would absolutely say this

acheron come get your girl

DIPLOMACY KING!!!!

fearing how westerners will react to him being ticked off by yunli because they dont understance face

every girlboss must have her malewife

this warms my heart

she really is kaslana coded

[crimswnred]

thoughts on Volume VI

when I picked 'sass Daphne' I thought we were just gonna throw some shade and move on not get in a whole ass argument in the middle of the recoupling ceremony 😭

Daphne is so corny girrrrl wdgaf

this is the first time I'm so loyal to my og partner ever since Bobby yes I'm sleeping with Rafa in the daybeds no I don't wanna know what's up with Travis

hmmmm, the daybeds chat? so Rafael likes dirty talk HUH???? and you can bet my MC asked him to pull her hair 🧘🏻‍♀️🧘🏻‍♀️

they finally stopped using the word crescendo we are getting somewhere 👏👏👏

"where have you gone last night" LIKE ISN'T IT OBVIOUS I LITERALLY CAME IN WITH RAFA

Summer and Uma are my fav girlies like I'm sorry if you don't have Summer in your playthrough

she called Joyo, Joyo Bear. JOYO BEAR.

anyways, none of these couples are making it omg they are always fighting over some shit

btw I love the parallel shit happening in the game. looooooove that Uma and Alex don't really trust each other and that Joyo is super jealous over Summer

like, it's fun that things are happening without us being directly involved and we SEE them happening

btw we are #TeamUma and #TeamSummer we support their rights and wrongs these are my besties

and like, Alex was SOOOOO about to kiss Estelle in that video bffr

again, Bonnie slut shaming Bryson :(

and no Bon-Bon you're not as hot as Uma, I'm so sorry but you're not

DAPHNE GETTING REJECTED BY LITERALLY EVERY MAN IN THIS ISLAND I'M CRYINGGG

I can't remember if I did flirt with Travis or not but I'm sure I never said I was interested on him either way it doesn't matter because Rafael is obsessed with MC and like, it's mutual. so wtv.

Rafael saying to the boys he really has the feels for MC guys I'm in love

date with Evan? omg I didn't expect that

it was a short but sweet date. maybe because I shut him down as soon as I was able to 😭 he's hot and lovely but I'm too deep in Rafael's route to pick someone else

anywayssss, we fuck on the couch. in the middle of the leaving room. in the open? like—aint there cameras? didn't the producers see us? WHERE'S OUR SHAME.

is Daphne really trying to make me jealous bc she got along better with EVAN? girl... idgaf and also he hates your guts now so that ain't a flex

everyone basically saying Daphne is a bully and making her feel embarrassed at her own behaviour like yessss

Vicky keeps serving btw

you can't tell me Rafael wasn't gonna ask us to be exclusive like that CHAT??? it was the perfect time to ask us omg and I would've said FUCK YES.

hmmmmm flowers? where did they get flowers?

MC is what Daphne thinks she is

three gorgeous man wanting her

I'm sharing my bed with Rafael every day I don't CARE 💅💅

[sapphire-weapon]

I'd also like to know your thoughts on the mind control part where Ashley actively fought Saddler and suprisingly managed not to kill Leon. For Leon not to be able to move a muscle except his face, that scene speaks so much about Ashley's strength and will. Literally, Leon owes his life to her as well - and twice, in the whole game (the other being removing the parasite) but like you said before, Ashley never kept score.

There's a subtle hint of "Ashley is mentally stronger than Leon" running through a lot of the game, and it's a shame that the game itself didn't do more with it. In RE4, she's a year younger than he was in RE2, and she ends up thriving by the end of her journey, whereas he ended up with thoughts of putting a gun to his head.

I think that that was really supposed to be the point conveyed in the "Keep this up, and I'll be out of a job" scene, but idk I feel like it didn't really go far enough. And the only reason I say that is because we know that Ashley disappears from the series after RE4, so RE4 itself is the only opportunity to explore that parallel.

Because, like. I think, in many ways, Ashley is a reflection of what Leon could have been if Ada had never come into his life. And while that might sound harsh, it's also... true? Ashley ends up as strong and confident as she does because she had Leon at her back, keeping her steady the whole time.

But in RE2, just as Leon himself was reaching that point, the rug got pulled out from under him and it all came crashing down once it came out that Ada had been lying to him and was, in many ways, no better than the people who'd caused this mess in the first place. It's really hard to overstate what that kind of deception and betrayal does to a person, and it was really refreshing to have RE4make actually show the fallout of that (whereas OG just kind of ignored it). RE4make Leon is cold and closed off and, for a significant chunk of the game (basically from the start all the way up to about the aftermath of the cabin sequence), he has complete tunnel vision and relies strictly on his training to get him through -- very likely because he has a hard time trusting his own judgment anymore. (Which is why I love that they added in Krauser saying 'You always had poor judgment' in the scene leading into his boss fight, where the goal is to get under Leon's skin as much as possible.)

Like. Leon didn't end up suicidal for no reason -- and he's the only one out of all of the Raccoon City survivors to turn out that way. Imagine how much more he would've flourished if Ada really had been FBI -- if that betrayal had never happened, and Leon had been able to walk out of Raccoon City feeling good about the role that he played there.

It would've been a completely different ballgame. He would've been a completely different character.

And yet, despite all of that, there's probably something to really be said about the fact that Leon still manages to inspire Ashley to move forward despite the fact that he, himself, has spent the last six years just running in place. It goes back to the whole "Ashley is Leon's legacy" thing that I've talked about before, but.

It just sucks that Ashley drops out of the story and there's no real follow-up to it.

[your--isgayrights]

Outside of Lee Seolhwa and Lee Sookyung, do you have plans for any other character outside of Kim Dokja’s primary companions (like Gong Pildu or Han Doonghoon) for your soulmate fanfiction? Constellations like Persephone or Uriel or Sun Wukong probably wouldn’t make sense to exist in real life but maybe characters such as Han Myungoh/Han Dareum or Jang Hayoung could fit? If I recall correctly, Jang Hayoung in particular is the one responsible for the title of the fanfiction, right? I feel like she alongside the Unidentifiable Wall and the Fourth Wall would be so thematically appropriate but I couldn’t imagine how you would do it if at all. I also want to say that I’m impressed how you managed to seamlessly incorporate so many references to the original ORV into your work. It must have required you to reread and recheck the wiki.

Yess, I'm glad you asked this anon bc literally I just threw in a little reference to Han Doonghoon and Lee Sungkook in the 4.4 update and got worried people would think they had to remember the characters well to understand the surrounding plot point better than Kim Dokja does. But I think I should trust the reader a bit more lol.

Unfortunately my inclusion of Aileen and Jang Hayoung isn't going to be as big as the other kdjco members, but they're sort of already set up in the fic and have a role in chap 5. I think JHY doesn't appear directly bc to me the relationship between her and KDJ is harder to make 'real,' though I have some ideas depending on how much I decide to include in chap 5. In my plans 5 will have a gaming tourney featured, so other big 'wos players' may be referenced further there as well.

Of course like you mention the fic title and many of the chapter titles are coming directly from the mouth of Jang Hayoung, so in that way she is constantly being referenced, haha.

Han Myungoh and his daughter are referenced earlier in Chapter 4. It's sort of a drive by.

I do make use of the wiki (bless the editorsn🙏), though mostly just to check dates, numbers, and spellings of names. I like to think of myself as someone with a pretty decent memory tho, so a lot of the more specific story references are definitely just me pulling in stuff I remember from my novel read throughs. Like I might have to look at the wiki to remember Han Dareum's name, but I'll never forget Han Myungoh's entire Male Pregnancy that he had like that was a crazy random W to me on my first ORV read through I was like hello??? Also that being around when JHY was being confirmed trans haha. I think I was only out for like a year or so before reading orv so the little gender fucky moments really stuck out to me.

Sometimes rereading my old work I also remember things I forgot happened in ORV. I think part of the reason I'm struggling so much with chap 4 and onward is that now that the wall fic characters have sort of developed to where they are some of the scenes I had in mind are less 1 to 1 with the OG. For instance, I'm trying to rewrite a scene I have of YJH and KDJ having a rooftop chat that like parallels the one back before the seoul's strongest incarnation arc in the novel, but it's a bit difficult. At first I wanted to include a lot more of KDJ interacting with the rest of YJH's team, but the rooftop Scene makes more sense to put a cap on the themes explored in chap 4. But when I first wrote this scene it was less specifically addressing that theme, because it was in the outline of like right after I wrote chapter 1, so it was kind of just the OG ORV scene with the flavoring of my AU on top. A lot of the little things they do and say in the OG novel would have to be quite finagled to fit anymore, so reworking it is the big task rn.

Anyway I'm really appreciative of people like you who take note of these small details <3. it's kind of helping me remember and appreciate a lot of the parts of me that were behind a lot of Wall fic originally if that makes sense? I am like reintroducing myself to him and giving him a hug instead of running away cringing just because it's me lol.