#also this would reduce the weird biological subtext into more of a haha-isn't-it-funny where

[honestlyvan]

(Crossposted from DW)

One thing I'm sad we never got to see in XC3 was an Ouroboros/Ouroboros interlink, a two-core Ouroboros to match the two-core Moebiuses we have to fight. It's left as unexplored thematic territory, and for me it would have really heightened the sense of camaraderie between them -- and also given us cool new monster forms to look at >:3c

Of course, this would mean that the plot would have needed to be about twice as long -- Ouroboros^2 forms would pretty much require a second character arc for every character. Ideally, I'd have it start at the end of Act 2, before Camp Omega, which would leave the logical first option as Noah and Mio coming to terms with how hey, Lanz and Sena, how come you were THAT READY to kill yourselves to save us all? and the fallout of Noah and Mio being ~*~special~*~ would be really good at driving force to re-establish the adhesion the ensemble had built up until then.

For the designs themselves, it would definitely be cool if they changed to reflect which of the four participants is "in the lead", but for practical reasons having the experience be closer to having the two pairs be in a kind of Pacific Rim style drift state along the Keves-Agnus line, sharing mental estate rather than being fully merged together into a single four-aspect consciousness, would simplify the design process a great deal. Maybe it only works as long as they're mentally holding hands, making the two Ouroboroses connected by a strong sense of belonging together rather than an extension of the duality-in-one that fuels a single-core Ouroboros.

For the designs, it might be cool if they're even more removed from humanity, maybe in a Janusian way where the Kevesi half and Agnian half are present at the same time, with the dominant half being represented through colour and animatedness. Hell, this would even be extensible to a potential Ouroboros^3 form, one that has all the pairs synched up, distinguishing their abilities even from those of the Moebius capable of Interlinking, which could outright be a "Be Not Afraid", fully artificial-looking, closer-to-mechanism-than-even-the-Moebius kind of superform that only shows up for cool finishing move cutscenes.