#light being Everhood | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

dragonkeeper19600 · 2 months ago

Text

By now, I feel like a lot of you have seen the post I made yesterday about the numerous problems with Everhood 2's story and why I found it so bitterly disappointing.

However, a big part of the reason why the story felt like such a letdown is that the plot and characters weren't completely hopeless from the get-go. There is fertile ground for a story here; it was just hopelessly mishandled.

So, I thought it would be a worthwhile exercise to come up with my own rewrite for Everhood 2, using the same characters and trying to handle the same themes that (people are claiming) the game tried to get across.

My version of the game starts out in much the same way as the real game, with the quiz, us starting off in the ruins of Frog's house, chasing down the pocket watch, getting attacked by the Shade, and whisked away by Raven. It's at this point that things start to deviate. See, your player character's memories are jumbled. They don't know how they ended up in the Waiting Room or what's going on, but they remember their name and that they used to be human. They even remember something of their own life. For added fun, maybe the player character's background depends on the color of their soul. Like, if you're blue, you're given backstory A, if you're red, you're given backstory B, and so on.

Either way, you miss your old life and want to return to the world you came from, but you have no idea how. Raven says they can help you. They explain that right now, you're in a dimensional plane considered to be in between other worlds. They can help you navigate this plane and make your way back to your home in the human world, but right now, you're too weak to make the journey, since there are a lot of hostile beings in the worlds you'll have to navigate. So, they put you on the same quest they did at the beginning of the actual game, to get Power Gems to boost your strength so you can take on the Mind Dragon, which will grant you a weapon.

Cool. So you see the sights, go into the worlds, get the Gems, and meet up with Sam, Irvine, and Riley. You team up with Riley in the mines in the same circumstances as the actual game. Riley is about to get beaten up by furry slavers, you fight them off, Riley says they're looking for the Boatman without saying why, but this time they say they want to team up with you because you're stronger than they are, and a tiny little frog has a hard time navigating the multiverse by themselves. Sam and Irvine, meanwhile, are too wrapped up in their own whims and pursuits of treasure to pay much attention to what you're doing.

It's after you beat the Mind Dragon, however, that you reach a turning point. Once you defeat the Mind Dragon, you're shown a vision by the Mirror of Truth. The Mirror of Truth reveals what Raven has been hiding from you: You're dead. You actually died in an accident, and there is no way to get back to the human world, since light beings are incompatible with the human world, and if you ever went there, you would simply dissipate.

When Raven sees that you have your Soul Weapon, they're glad until they see how pissed you are. Raven admits that they lied about you being dead, and the real reason they wanted you to get the Soul Weapon was so you could be strong enough to take on the Shade, who has been terrorizing multiple worlds. They didn't know the Mirror of Truth would reveal that you were dead because they've never beaten the Dragon before and didn't understand how the Mirror works. You then have a fight scene with Raven where you go all out and beat the actual stuffing out of them.

At the end of the fight, a battered and humiliated Raven flees, and you're left not knowing what to do. You're not ready to die, you're not ready to accept that you're dead, you refuse to accept that it's over. Riley, however, has an idea. They tell you that the reason they've been looking for the Boatman is because they believe the Boatman can take them to Everhood. This is the first time that the name "Everhood" has actually been said by any of the characters. Riley has never been to Everhood, but they tell you that they've heard all kinds of things about it. It's a paradise where nobody every dies and people can spend all the time they want having fun, learning new things, and doing whatever they want forever. Riley makes Everhood sound wonderful, like the Pure Land or something. The reason Riley wants to go to Everhood is because Riley's weak, just a tiny little frog, and they've always been afraid of dying. After all, frogs are popular prey animals. Everything tries to eat frogs, even other frogs.

You agree to help Riley find the Boatman so the two of you can go to Everhood. Together, the two of you go through a series of doors into other realms, repeatedly running into Sam and Irvine, who at different points tell you that they've been to Everhood and it isn't all it's cracked up to be. Instead of wasting your time on some silly quest, you should just party with them.

But that's not really an option because there's someone after you. Since you're actually dead, the Grim Reaper themselves is actually hunting you down to reap you. Let's use Evren for the Grim Reaper character, since their design is striking but they didn't really have a purpose in the original game. So, Evren is the embodiment of death, repeatedly trying to reap your soul and take you to the afterlife, from which no individual has ever returned. Evren isn't the first person to be assigned this role, and they won't be the last, but they know they have to get to you before you can escape to Everhood, since Evren can't get into Everhood. There's some sort of barrier or something around Everhood so avatars of death like Evren can't get in.

As you're going through different doors, avoiding Evren and growing ever closer to the Boatman, you keep running into characters who have been driven mad by the Shade. The Shade, it turns out, has the power to possess people, driving them insane and making them stronger. Characters possessed by the Shade often have a jester motif, flicker and flitch weirdly, and frequently flash the Shade's trademark grin. The most persistent is Bobo, who initially seemed harmless when you met them before they were possessed but become increasingly madcap through each encounter.

Finally, you find the Boatman. After gaining enough Death Coins to buy passage for yourself and Riley, After doing the tower defense bit, the Boatman drops you off at...the ruins of Frog's house at the beginning of the game. What?

Riley is troubled and becomes even more so when you tell them that this is the spot where you first woke up as a light being. Everhood is supposed to be a paradise, not this empty void. The two of you search the void for...anything. A way forward, a way back, something.

Eventually, you run into an alternate version of Riley. This was the little hopping thing that you grabbed the pocket watch from at the beginning of the game. Alternate Riley tells Riley Prime that they actually made their way here a while ago (maybe years), and the pocket watch (that you stole from them) was how they were able to keep themselves alive for the difficult journey here. Everhood doesn't seem to be the paradise they were led to believe it was, but Alternate Riley is content to stay here because even though they've been here for a long time, they haven't felt hungry or thirsty and haven't aged. So, it seems true that this is a realm where death cannot enter. Riley Prime, however, can't hide their disappointment.

Just then, the group is interrupted by the Shade, who tell the trio the absolute truth: This isn't Everhood. This is just Limbo. Everhood can't be found anywhere because Everhood was destroyed long ago. Riley Prime is distraught, and the Shade seems to sympathize. The destruction of Everhood, they say, was a great tragedy. It wasn't right to rob people from the chance to enter paradise. Without it, Riley is just a sad little mortal, doomed to a meaningless death.

But, there's another way. If Riley accepts the Shade's power, they can be strong enough even to fight off death. They'll never have to die, they'll never be weak again, as long as they accept the Shade.

See, the Shade can possess people, but they can't possess anyone at will. They can only possess someone who's willing.

And Riley is so scared of death that they are willing. They accept. Riley accepts the Shade and becomes a god. Warped and maddened by the Shade's grip on their soul, Riley Prime grabs Alternate Riley and eats them alive. Then they turn to you. You're locked into a very hard fight with only black attacks that you can't deflect.

But, if you hold out long enough, you're rescued by Raven, who has recovered from the thrashing you gave them earlier. They whisk you back to the Hangout and apologize for deceiving you at the beginning of the game, admitting that they were so desperate to stop the Shade that they didn't know what to do. But now you tell Raven that you want to beat the Shade, too. After all, Riley's your friend, and you want to save them from the Shade if you can. Raven isn't actually sure how to beat the Shade, but they suggest that the two of you go see the Divine Mushroom, who might be able to offer some guidance.

So, you go tot he Mushroom Bureau and gain audience with the Divine Mushroom, who tells you that the Shade was once a divine being, too, but they were cast out for "going against the natural order." They say a light being on their own cannot defeat the Shade, but maybe if a light being were imbued with the power of death, they might be able to do it. You and Raven realize this means you'll have to team up with Evren.

You and Raven track down Evren, who tells you they're willing to make a deal. They will lend you their power and help you defeat the Shade if you agree to come with them quietly and go to the afterlife where you belong. You agree.

With Evren's blessing, you make your way to the world that Riley, Bobo, and the other possessed characters have taken over and established themselves as gods. You defeat the other possessed characters one by one until you get to Riley, who seems to have been chosen as the host for the main body of the Shade. The Shade, speaking through Riley, tells you that they're happy to see you and they've been hoping you'd come. They explain that in Everhood, which they call a "beautiful place," there was a light being just like you, who was the Shade's favorite person to watch. The battles they got into, the destruction they caused, were some of the most entertaining sights the Shade had ever seen. But they went too far. They wanted the fun to end, and so they destroyed Everhood. The Shade was so upset that their favorite form of entertain was over that they tried to storm the gates to the afterlife to drag the inhabitants of Everhood back to the mortal plane. But they were stopped, and the other Divine Beings (who the Shade calls "fools") cast them out.

With their intention of overthrowing Heaven thwarted, the Shade decided that if they couldn't have the old Everhood back, they would use their powers to create a new Everhood. But a new paradise wouldn't be complete without a new light being. That's when they reveal that the "accident" that killed you wasn't an accident at all. They actually killed you because they could tell you had the special quality required to become a light being. Isn't it so much better to be a light being than a boring old human? Just look at all the things you've seen an experienced since you transformed. Your old life isn't nearly as cool as what they're offering you now. They invite you to join them in the new Everhood, where you can play and battle alongside Riley and all the others forever.

Maybe there's an alternate ending here where you accept their offer. Either way, if you reject it, you enter into a final boss fight with a possessed Riley. As the health bar gets lower and lower, Riley's real personality starts to reemerge. They pathetically beg you not to kill them, crying that they don't want to die, and promise to leave you and everyone else they've hurt alone if you just leave them be. When they're down to their last sliver of HP, Evren tells you the only way to force the Shade out of hiding is to kill their main host: Riley. You do it. Riley dies, and the Shade emerges.

The fight with the Shade is brutally tough, but thanks to Evren blessing your weapon, you're able to deplete their HP. You strike the final blow, and the Shade starts to melt. However, the Shade gloats while you may have beaten them, you can't really kill them. In fact, you don't want to kill them. You'll miss them, and once you do, you'll be back to play with them again. This would actually be true on a meta level. The last save point would be before this fight, so if you return to your game file, the Shade would be up and ready to fight you again. The Shade thanks you for a fun experience before disappearing.

Finally, Evren tells you it's time to go. You wave goodbye to your living allies and depart through a new door with Evren. On the other side, waiting for you, is Riley. They are deeply remorseful for what they've done and ask you to forgive them. You can choose either to forgive them or not. It's up to you. Either way, you and Riley follow Evren into the light and disappear.

Well, there you have it. That's my version of Everhood 2. I welcome any feedback you choose to give, and I mean any feedback. If you want to say, "Wow, this version is so much better!" that's cool, and if you want to say, "Yeah, I didn't like Everhood 2, but I don't look your version either," that's cool too, and if you want to say, "Nah, Everhood 2 is awesome, fuck you," that would also be cool. In my view, though, this version of the plot fixes a lot of the key issues with the plot as it was written.

But what do you think? Is it better? Worse? Let me know!

#everhood 2 #rewrite #fix fic #light being #riley #raven #sam #irvine #evren #the shade #another post reposted from reddit

14 notes · View notes