#also I was thinking of changing KOS-MOS' tag? but i haven't quite figured out what to change it to yet

[moved-to-void-kissed]

Huh. I already knew that the KOS-MOS and T-elos in XC2 weren’t 100% supposed to be the same characters as their original Xenosaga versions, because they’re called KOS-MOS Re: and T-elos Re: (where Re: stands for Refrain according to their visors) in the Japanese version of XC2. But I didn’t realise there was actual lore to both their presences in XC2 on top of that, rather than them just being crossover characters for the fun of it.

According to this video, there’s a caption in the official XC2 artbook that translates as follows: “From a past much more distant than 500 years, a Driver engaged with KOS-MOS and T-elos (not Rex or Amalthus) challenged themself to reach the top of the World Tree, failed in their pursuit, and perished. Thus, the pair fell down into the Cloud Sea of Alrest.” This means the pair have both canonically - or at least, as canonically as information given in an official artbook is - existed as Blades in Alrest for a long time, and actually technically might predate the creation of the original KOS-MOS (and therefore T-elos, since she was created after KOS-MOS) in the world of Xenosaga.

I think that’s actually pretty neat, and it’s something I do kind of want to incorporate into my version of events that has my selfship with KOS-MOS in it, since if a world has lore I always do my best to stick to it (or at least alter it in a way that is actually feasible based on what lore has already been given). And I think I’ve figured out a way to do that!

..It’s under the readmore because it got long, but, yeah! My selfship with KOS-MOS now has a slightly different backstory!

So, I think I’m going to make it so that Calanthe (my self-insert) still gets transported from the world of Xenosaga into Alrest because when KOS-MOS first awakens, and accesses the power of the Zohar, Calanthe being in physical contact with her causes it to happen as a consequence of the Zohar’s effect. However, KOS-MOS (or rather, that KOS-MOS, who normally has red eyes) doesn’t actually get transported with her when this happens, since she was designed to use the Zohar’s power. Instead, when Calanthe appears in Alrest, she does so holding the Core Crystal of the Blade version of KOS-MOS (i.e. KOS-MOS Re:, who always has pink eyes), which she immediately and unintentionally resonates with.

Now, normally, a Blade does not have any memories other than their name when they are awakened by a new Driver. However, it’s shown in KOS-MOS’ Heart-to-Heart that she knows how the World Tree was constructed, because she describes the process, and she says this information is stored independently of her normal memories. If the KOS-MOS in XC2 is just a normal Blade, this doesn’t make much sense that she would have this put in her. However, to explain why it’s a thing, I’m going to write in the headcanon that both versions of KOS-MOS derive power from/are linked to the Zohar/Conduit (it’s basically different universes’ versions of the same thing), and because the Zohar/Conduit is a gate between universes, the two versions of KOS-MOS are able to exchange memories and information between each other now that the Xenosaga KOS-MOS has activated. A bit like having two computers in different places both logged in to the same account and able to share files between each other in real-time. This means that the Blade KOS-MOS in XC2 knows who Calanthe is, and so as far as Calanthe understands, the two are the same entity.

However, the KOS-MOS in Xenosaga is a fully robotic combat android whereas the KOS-MOS in XC2 is a full-fledged Blade, although she still seems to retain some robotic aspects - the wiki calls her an AI, she tells Adenine she stores her knowledge in a database rather than books and encyclopedias, and Astelle is also able to upgrade her and tries to tinker with her (but then, she also refers to herself as a Blade in all instances I can think of, and she tells Pandy she doesn’t run on electricity when she offers to give her some lightning). So, I’m running with pieces of that and saying that KOS-MOS initially has a very robotic personality in XC2 because that’s what Calanthe knows the KOS-MOS in Xenosaga to have (and she thinks they’re the same physical entity) - but over time, as she travels more with Calanthe and the rest of the party and gains things like Trust and Affinity, she is free to express herself more “organically” if she wishes to. She isn’t necessarily restricted to a limited, programmed personality anymore.

I hope that that all makes sense! It.. doesn’t really change too much about the story of my selfship with KOS-MOS (moreso just the backstory), but it sticks closer to canon because it means the KOS-MOS in Xenosaga and the KOS-MOS in XC2 are no longer being treated as the exact same individual physical entity who moves across worlds (although they can share memories and information about their experiences). This also means I may well have two different versions of events for my selfship - the default version of events where Calanthe gets put into Alrest, and another alternate version of events where Calanthe stays in the world of Xenosaga and joins the party there. But I don’t know much about Xenosaga itself, and I first fell for KOS-MOS through her XC2 version, so for most intents and purposes it makes more sense to stick to that version.

Thank you very much to anyone who has read this!