#i'll try to update with the more developed versions of the tbn characters when i get there

[sorbet-and-gelato]

Talking a lot about my AITSF fan project!!!

As you may know, I really, really like Pewter. He doesn't get a lot of time so I really want to see things from his perspective. I like him so much, in fact, that I've made a whole project about him!

To preface: 1) It's still a huge work in progress, there's a few characters that haven't been named or designed and a ton of plot details to still be worked out

2) I'm not planning to make it anything concrete, like a comic or a fic. Maybe one day...

That being said, I wanted to share it! AITSF has become a huge interest of mine, and I know I have some AITSF followers now... So I want to share what I've been doing, and maybe get some talk going!

As of now it doesn't have a real title, but I've been calling it Pewtergame. The premise is a hypothetical prequel game all about him! (Though, moreso focused on just the story then how it'd function as a game. Hard to figure out how to fill in gaps without AI-balls and the like, let alone if there'll even be multiple routes.)

These are all the characters I've designed for it so far! This is going to be a long post, so I'll go into the actual story and character details under cut. (There are mentions of murder, but nothing graphic and nothing worse than AITSF itself.)

Plot overview so far!

The story is split into two segments: Past (2013) and Present (2018).

Past focuses on the trialling of the newly made Psync Machine, and the very first psync... And what goes wrong as a result. Alongside that, the case ABIS is investigating begins to escalate more and more.

Present takes place 5 years later. Pewter is enjoying his everyday life... Until a sudden murder pulls him into another perplexing case.

The main themes I'm focusing on as of now are love, and creation - specifically, creators and their relationship to what they make.

I'll explain the cast more indepth after this, but the story so far goes something like this:

Past

Pewter and Boss are tasked with using the newly made Psync machine to investigate a theft. Pewter's old friend from school (TBN) volunteers to psync with the prime suspect, Kurogane. They discover an unintended feature of the psync machine, that it can swaps consciousnesses. Kurogane escapes in the psyncer's body, and the psyncer is left behind in hers.

Pewter, feeling guilty about his friend's situation, involves himself directly in the investigation. As he investigates, his younger sister Makane meets with him. She introduces him to her good friend Tomoru Kouseki.

Later, someone from the investigation team lets Pewter know Makane was spotted lurking around an important location (TBD). He gets a bad feeling and goes to see what his sister is up to. He finds her crouched over Tomorou's body.

She's brought in for questioning, but won't answer anything she's asked. Pewter goes and sees her, and asks to psync with her since she's struggling to talk. She agrees. Pewter psyncs with her himself to make her more comfortable, as well as wanting to make sure nothing goes wrong on his end.

Her somnium reveals that she's completely innocent, as Pewter thought. After this point, I don't have much else fleshed out.

They find Kurogane and return her mind to her body. She's arrested on suspicion of both the theft and murder, and the case is quickly swept under the rug to hide the truth about the Psync Machine. Pewter has misgivings.

Present (I have a lot less figured out here)

Pewter enjoys some peace. He checks in with his friend and Makane. Later, he goes to see Renju for their anniversary. He gifts his lover the wristwatch.

A couple of weeks later, Renju is working late at Lemniscate. On his way out, he spots the silhouette of... Someone against the side of the building. He discovers the body of a woman. So starts the next case.

Hearing Renju is involved, Pewter immediately goes to see him. He asks some questions, but is more concerned with finding out how Renju is doing

I have barely any other specific plot events laid out, so most of the details from will be in the character section below this.

Eventually, the true culprit behind both Past and Present is revealed. Gin Shiratsuki manipulated his "friend" Kurogane, and had her take the fall for him.

And of course, after everything's resolved, there's a nice epilogue and a dance number led by Seiko.

Cast

Pewter - Past & Present

- 30 in Past, 35 in Present

- The man himself! Everything is from his perspective.

- There's a lot of focus on his relationships to the people he loves, as well as his relationship to his inventions (mainly the Psync Machine).

- I imagine there'd also be a lot of fun details! Like how he got involved in ABIS in the first place, what he gets up to outside of work, some of his personal insight into his creations, all that stuff that doesn't come up in AITSF. While I haven't come up with all that just yet, I hope I can include it in the bigger picture.

Boss - Past & Present

- 35 in Past, 40 in Present

- She has a similar role to AITSF, but she's more involved here.

- She has a lot of interaction with Pewter, and their relationship gets more focus. I think she's the reason he's part of ABIS in the first place, so that has some bearing on their relationship.

Mama - Most of what I have planned for her is for Present, but she'll probably appear in Past too

- 29 in Past, 34 in Present (Probably)

- Her role is the same as AITSF, acting as an informant. She and Pewter do have some good conversations, some about general events, some about Renju in particular.

Araya Kagami - Past & Present - He's there!

Renju Okiura - Present

- 35/36 in Present (haven't 100% decided when this takes place)

- Renju is a lot of things, but the most relevant here is Pewter's lover. Their relationship gets a lot of focus!

- His discovery of the second victim's body is what initially draws Pewter into the 2018 case.

- I don't have a lot worked out for him yet but I want to make him important! Also want to have some focus on him as an individual, go into some things AITSF didn't touch on.

The first psyncer (TBN) - Past & Present

- 30 in Past, 35 in present

- A good friend of Pewter's from school that he's stayed in touch with. She's a very kindhearted woman and is always eager to help people. Intrigued by Pewter's call, she offers to become the first psyncer.

- Despite being very rattled by the body swap, she still does her best to help where she can.

- In Present, she returns to take on the case as the main psyncer.

Makane Amanoma - Past & Present

- 24 in Past, 29 in Present

- Pewter's younger sister. Pewter nicknamed her "Kane".

- She's a pretty easygoing person, notably more outgoing and outspoken than her brother. She doesn't like sitting around doing nothing, and is very confident in herself. Teasing Pewter is a favourite past time of hers.

- Although she enjoys being a menace to her older brother, she does genuinely care about him. She trusts him more than anything, and they get along really well. After finding Tomorou's body, he was the only one who could get her to finally open up about what happened.

Numea Kurogane - Mostly Past, but makes appearances in Present too

- 36 in Past, 41 in Present

- A cold fashion model and designer who seems to hold her work above all else. She has a tendency to avoid people or push them away if they interfere with her time to work on her projects.

- She feels that no one understands her work, and she looks down on those who question her rather than inviting them to learn. She believes Gin is the only one who understands her.

- Gin is the only person she sees as a friend. She clings to that connection, and that's used to take advantage of her.

- She hates Pewter's guts and his outfit.

Tomorou Kouseki - Past

- 24 in Past

- A good friend of Makane

- Tomorou is a very friendly, very sweet guy who makes a living as a professional photographer. He's just a great guy to be around, really good company. Makane gets him to take a photo of her and Pewter together when she introduces him to her brother.

- I'm still working out the exact details, but he got a photo of something that pointed to Gin being the culprit. He lost his camera, and Gin held off acting because he hoped that'd be enough to stop Tomorou. But Makane found it and returned it to him. Gin decided something had to be done before he turned in the evidence.

- Just to be sure, Tomorou decided to follow up what he found at the (TBD) important location. He let Makane know he was gonna leave for a while. He never came back, so Makane went looking for him... And discovered the body.

- He's the first victim, murdered by Gin to make absolute sure he stayed silent.

TBN A - Mostly past, makes a small appearance in present

- Still deciding on his occupation (some kind of manual labour?) but he does creative writing as a hobby.

- I don't have a ton worked out for this guy yet, but he's a friend of another TBN character who appears in present. A steady, grounded guy with a straightforward perspective. He simply does what he thinks is right, no question about it.

- He has some sort of connection to the 2013 case.

- Pewter finds him very handsome.

TBN B - Present

- A painter who's always trying to find inspiration. In Present, he's struggling with art block.

- He's a pretty laidback guy who doesn't seem to have a lot of cares. While it's partially true, he's repressed a lot of real dark feelings.

- He was friends with TBN A in past, but a (TBD) event pushed them apart. He dealt with it by pushing TBN A away out of shame and fear, deciding to simply pretend the incident never happened.

- After he's psynced with, ABIS learns of his old friendship. Pewter approaches him and talks to him about it. He finally opens up, and makes an effort to reconcile with his old friend.

- Again, still working things out, but his connection with TBN A helps reveal the connection between the 2013 and 2018 cases.

Here's the concept sketches, B on the left and A on the right.

Seiko Kotetsu - Present - 18 in Present - A spunky, outgoing newbie idol who works for Lemniscate. Renju is giving her a hand putting herself out there. Pewter meets her while looking for him at Lemniscate. (She cluelessly tries to introduce him to his own boyfriend. Then calls him an old man.) - She's very passionate about her music, and a little desperate for it to be heard. She craves the attention and praise, something to prove she's on the right path. Alongside that, she's insecure about what she makes, especially if she doesn't get it perfect right away. - Her mother, Ukana, passed away in a car accident 6 years before Present. Ukana was a composer who was very passionate about her craft and her family. She taught Seiko everything she knew about music. Because of everything, Seiko believes Ukana lives on in the music she makes. She wants her music to be heard not only for herself, but so that her mother can live on in it. - She ends up spending time with Pewter, and takes a liking to him. She can tell Renju trusts him, though she doesn't fully get why. She doesn't really care though, as long as Pewter's not causing trouble.

Taichi Kotetsu - Present - 48 in Present - The husband of Ukana and father of Seiko. - A humble, mild-mannered jeweller. He wants nothing more than to support his daughter. He's her biggest fan, listens to all her music, and tries to help with whatever she needs. - He worries that Seiko is pushing herself too hard and wonders if the idol life is really what's best for her. But he's afraid of bringing her down, especially after she endured such a terrible time losing her mother. - He shares the grief of losing Ukana with Seiko. He knows he can never make up for the place she left in their lives, but he wants to do everything in his power to see Seiko smile. - He knew the second victim (still unsure how exactly). She bought a necklace from him, which was found at the scene. Pewter took it after Kagami confirmed it belonged to the victim, and Seiko saw it and identified it as her father's work. - He knows something, but I'm unsure as to what.

The Second Victim (TBN) - Present

- I have nothing worked out her yet asides from her formerly being a friend of Gin, and her having gold motifs.

- Pewter doesn't meet her personally, but she's talked about and learnt about that way.

Gin Shiratsuki - Past & Present

- 30 in Past, 35 in Present - The true culprit of Past and Present. On the surface, he's calm and friendly enough. He even comes off similar to Pewter. However, it's all surface level. It's very easy to set him off. - Much like Pewter, he takes great pride in his achievements and creations. However, he thinks that he deserves all the praise and recognition, and that anyone who's better than him is a threat. He thinks his way is the only way. - He drove away or cut off a lot of his friends because of that, leaving only Kurogane. He feels a genuine like for her, but he doesn't think using her in the way he does is really bad. - Figuring out the specifics still, but he was involved with the Wadjet System. (Maybe as a programmer?) He felt that his contributions were overlooked (whether they actually were is questionable) and grew bitter towards his co-workers. - He learnt about Pewter and the Psync Machine through Kurogane, and he hates Pewter for it. He acknowledges how talented Pewter is, and he sees that as a threat. His grudge only grows more personal as Pewter interferes with his plans. It turns into a something akin to a parasocial relationship, though it's more of a rivalry. - He calls Pewter by his nickname despite not knowing him personally (Kurogane mentioned it to him). He's not doing it to be friendly, but rather attempting to reduce Pewter to the name associated with his ABIS work. Pewter doesn't know why Gin is calling him that, but he finds it really unnerving coming from a stranger speaking with spite.

- I have all that, but I'm still working out the exact details of Gin's motives and crimes. Concept for Gin:

I did consider having Date involved but 1) it's hard to fit him in a way that doesn't sidetrack the story and 2) it's heavily tied in with the Psync Machine, and he is not allowed to know that! I did want to explore Pewter's relationship with Aiba, but perhaps that can be for something else.

The main things I'm working out are the exact details of the crimes, and how all the individual pieces fit together. I also want to make the cast more interconnected. Making something near as elaborate as AITSF takes a lot of work!

Okay, that was a lot...! But that's about the extent of what I have going on! Of course there are some other details, but this post is long enough. Maybe I'll post some of my other art for it. For now, I hope this was interesting! I am very very open to talking about what I have going, I'm very eager to share!