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waywardsalt · 6 months

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Have you ever thought about how Linebeck describes Jolene as "crazier than a rabid squid"- only to then be possessed by a literal rabid squid later in the game?

Cause I sure have- especially after seeing a lot of your BellumxLinebeck stuff

mmmmghmm im gonna be honest i haven't thought about it much at all

linking it to my bellum x linebeck thoughts, im not too sure what to make of it in context with my other linebeck notes and w/e

there's also my idea that linebeck has a special interested in shellfish and by extension squids, and the idea of him having a weird thing for bellum, and just... enjoying sealife, and it's kinda of...

he compares her to a rabid squid to link in order to i think... offer a shorthand explanation of what she's like, and i think it (with some other stuff) is kinda just another little peek into how he might feel abt her?

i mean he also compares link to a dog in that one letter? i'm not sure where im going with that one. i dont think linebeck particularly likes dogs

i'm not sure abt the link between that and him getting possessed, jolene is kind of just... there a lot of the time and doesn't really do anything except 1) show that linebeck has enemies and 2) show that people know about link's quest by the end, linebeck generally references sea creatures a few times in ph

relating to bellum x linebeck, i dont see him comparing jolene to a squid an indicator of anything in relation to that, with linebeck having a thing for bellum its more of like. there's a lot of complicated ideas i have with what goes on between them during bellumbeck and bellum being a squid thing is more linebeck having a bit of a monsterfucker streak and having a bit of a thing for like. being tied up. as for literal squids he kinda just likes them as food and to dissect and learn about

like i think 'rabid squid' is more like linebeck just tossing out some derogatory shorthand to explain how he thinks of jolene as some fucking. violent annoyance he has to deal with that he doesn't fully understand

tbh i see the comparison but imo it comes down to a difference in characters and interactions and histories, there is the rabid squid thing (and i think in the manga too theres a vague parallel drawn ig) but im not. sure. what there is there just beyond. linebeck talks about sea creatures and wants to get the fuck away from jolene

i'm not entirely certain what you've been thinking about with that comparison, but i haven't been thinking much about it and it's kinda. eh ig???? its something

#asks #musicncomics #like im gonna be real jolene is a character i do everything i can to avoid half of the time #im not too sure what your thoughts on this are but i can tell you like jolene leagues more than i do so like. idk #idk i have a hard time talking abt jolene bc i Do Not like her so im not really sure beyond this stuff its just. idk #bellum also isnt a literal squid like looking at actual squids the most comparisons are surface level and dont work too deeply #he kinda just looks like one at first glance but 1) doesnt line up well enough and 2) we dont have enough info on him anyways #hes more a reference to a squid than an actual squid bc there is the reference to sperm whales and giant squids fucking hating each other #but while oshus is literal whale bellum is like. some thing in the shape of a squid #im not sure what parallels oyu can draw between the jolene thing and bellum thing. if anything theyre opposites?#w/ jolene its like things got so bad (or w/e) that he just robbed her n fucked off and she decided that was enough to warrant murder #while with bellum things get so good (w/ link and co) that he risks his life for em and is turned against them for it?#tbh this kinda comes down to me having a pretty negative bias against jolene and. that ship. so yeah sorry #im not gonna give this any main tags or anything this is way too far off the beaten path and kinda negative #idk i hc linebeck as gay and a lot of other linebeck hcs just kinda. suggest that he kinda had a really shit time w/ jolene #i dont like her im trying to figure that shit out so i can be like. fair at least in how i write her but i dont like her #salty talks #sorry that i keep tearing away from the rabid squid thing but its like a minefield when i try to talk abt anything w/ jolene #theres not a ton of parallels or like shared themes or w/e and its just too dissimilar in little ways that its just. a thing #ill add this in a few hours later idk if youll see jt but like. i can go in depth and discuss stuff #in dms like im fine with that its just weird in posts bc like tagging and my thoughts are a mess #like if you wanna elaborate on your thoughts thats fine

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oswaldddavis · 6 months

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(They think the other is a idiot)

#asktotag #sonic exe #xhouse #((No idea how to explain we have like way too many interpretations and spoofs of the guy))#((Like I could ramble about the ''Master File & Distributions'' or ''Spoof'' variants but honestly talk so much I end up saying nonsense?))#((Main reason why my art seems to have no context is because I literally voice chat and ramble for 4-6 hours))#((Essentially about the newest hyperfixated multiverse we've created-))#((-for our far to energetic ideas for us to narrow down & ''choose'' one because there's no singular correct interpretation of art))#((There's far too many variables to consider one universe as the most canon so obviously we have to branch from every possible angle-))#((-and end up with at least 30 of the same character but in different flavours))#((NOT ACCOUNTING FOR THE FACT THAT IT'S ADDICTING TO MAKE SPOOFS FROM JUST ONE INTERACTION TO SEE WHERE THEY GO))#((Like. There's so much potential in the morality and development of a character based off of one or more events-))#((-that derail from their original situations! ENVIRONMENTS & SITUATIONS SHAPE SO MUCH FOR A PERSON & I HAVE TO SEE EVERY POSSIBLE ANGLE.))#((Sorry for the rant/ramble here-))#((-I never usually have the confidence to express how much I love making things.))#((I tend to bury my thoughts and say so little cause I usually think no one would be interested or would think I'm annoying for it))#((Sometimes you hear voices say the most stupid take & feel so enraged by its obsurdity that you temporarily lose your social anxiety))#((It'll probably return eventually because the moment I post this I can guarantee it will cause it's happened before. I am not immune.))#((Unrelated but I like having a variety of papers to draw on again. I can't share much yet due to conceptuals but Soon!!))

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asexual-levia-tan · 5 months

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i was talkin the other day about "you only really need to read up to s2 to follow nb, not the full 4 seasons" but if NBs3 shows up like "you remember the dark crevasse?" i'll have to 100% take that back (also. "only" up to s2 as if that isnt a monumental effort in and of itself pfft)

im over here like. what if the whole reason we got the nightbringer's attention to begin with is the summoning of the dark crevasse. i think that could be fun. the dark crevasse's whole thing is that its a blackhole and whatever it consumes is essentially erased from existence entirely(?). the nightbringer's whole thing is that "time is like mud swirling in a box"

would be fun. would be fun.

#wwaffles bein' an idiot #wwaffles plays n.b #i think that would be especially fun because who were the only two that could help in that situation?#sol and babs. sol wasn't even effected by the dark crevasse's...............side effects (yes im bitter)#and babs even mentioned that sol didn't need his help to close the crevasse. he could've done it himself.#sol probably said something about how much effort/energy/magic that would take idk maybe i'll go reread that part #but sol and babs are like The two main characters in nb so far. like they clearly hold at least most of the cards.#so if this was an extended continuation of the dark crevasse situation. that would be fun.#would still be funnier if it was cause babs fell for you and his counterpart was like ''i just wanna make you happy : )''

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kittyburger · 2 years

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I am very belatedly realizing I should share my submas fic on tumblr dot com as well.

Description:

Dreamshare AU. Emmet has shared his dreams with Ingo for as long as he can remember. For years their dreams were always a landscape of their own creation, a place to have fun and be themselves away from the mayhem and responsibilities of their waking lives. It was always there for them to fall back on, just like each other. But when Ingo went missing, their dreams were broken in two and an impassable wall appeared between them, driving Ingo farther away from him than he could ever imagine. ----- Ingo's dream is always the same, night after night, year after year, for as long as he can remember. The same grassy field, the same weather that reflects his mood, and the same looming wall. ...that is, until one day when the wall suddenly changes and a mysterious figure is on the other side, one that he feels inexplicably connected to. (Even continents away and centuries apart, their bond can't stay uncoupled forever.) Please note: Touch will be an important aspect but this is not a ship fic. With that said, here is chapter 1!

Ingo’s alive.

Emmet believes this. He knows this. Yup.

Yet when he gets home from work and begins going through his mail, he finds an advertisement for funeral services directly addressed to him. Staring at the words, his heart feels like it’s being squeezed tight, tight, too tight. His chest feels both hollow and heavy as he reminds himself Ingo’s alive, I know he’s alive. Ingo’s alive, I know he’s alive. Ingo’s alive I kn-

He must have made a noise because the sound of a pokemon leaving its pokeball snaps him out of his stupor. Before he can process what just happened, Eelektross is in front of him, pushing against his chest. He lets his pokemon shepherd him to the couch. This is routine for them, now, despite Emmet trying to get Eelectross to understand that sleep isn’t going to solve anything. It’s not going to cheer him up.

It hasn’t for two years now.

But he still lets Eelectross try.

As he braces himself to experience the same dream he always has nowadays, he eventually falls asleep to the pressure of Eelectross resting on his chest.

His dreamscape is no longer the exciting space that it used to be. It was different from what most other people called dreams, but to him it was just as normal as breathing. For as long as he could remember, whenever he and Ingo dreamed at the same time they would appear in the same place. They learned to take hold of their dreams the same way one would learn to lucid dream, and soon their dreams became a space to defy reality and just be themselves. Ingo could shout as loud as he liked without hurting anyone’s ears, and Emmet didn’t have to worry about communicating and being polite to strangers. They could go on wild train rides that wouldn’t hurt if they crashed, or create a warm sunny day when it was too cold outside.

They were never able to get their pokemon to join them, but that just gave them a great reason to live out their dreams in the waking world, as well.

It used to be a constant, something he could always rely on being there.

Just like his brother.

From the night Ingo went missing, though, a wall appeared. It was massive, spanning from horizon to horizon, and impenetrable.

Nothing he’s done could break the wall. He tried everything he could think of, from summoning a train to speed to the wall and ram into it to simply willing it away with everything he could muster. Ingo would be proud, he thinks, that he has even tried asking the wall nicely to please go away, I want to see my brother.

But this dreamscape was also how he knew- how he knows, he still knows, that Ingo’s still alive. He has to be. Sometimes the sky would change up next to the wall without him willing it to, or in ways that didn’t reflect his own moods. Sometimes the wall itself would vibrate with the force of his brother’s yell, though the words and meanings were completely indecipherable.

He didn’t want to think about how, in the first few weeks after his brother went missing, a hint of Ingo calling for help could be faintly heard over the wind. He had tried calling back, to tell him I am here, I am Emmet, I am here, tell me where you are! Volume had never been his strong suit, however, and if how faintly Ingo’s call and normally-piercing SOS whistles was anything to go by, he wasn’t sure if his own voice was ever heard on the other end. At the very least, his own calls have never received an answer.

This was not the first time a barrier had appeared in this dream world, though they’d never been so opaque and immovable. Sometimes it was involuntary, like when one of them had a mental breakdown and needed to be alone and somewhere quiet. In those cases, the dream world would reflect their subconscious needs.

Emmet could only remember one time where it was voluntary, when Ingo had been so excited about a surprise present for Emmet that he knew he wouldn’t be able to keep it to himself in a dream that reflects their thoughts and emotions. Once Ingo had seen how dismayed Emmet had been at the sudden and deliberate separation, however, he had promised to never do that again, surprises or no.

So much for that, he thinks and he vacantly stares at the wall for yet another night. The thought is spiteful and bitter and he resents himself for it as soon as it’s gone. He should have more faith in Ingo, right?

…but it’s been a long time since he had last heard the faint echoes of his brother calling for help. He supposes it should be a good thing, that his brother didn’t seem as lost as he was before.

It just also means that there was one less way for his brother’s presence to make itself known.

One less reassurance that his brother isn’t gone for good.

He reflects on a recent conversation he’s had with Chandelure, in which he had asked in a moment of desperation whether she could detect his brother’s soul anywhere. If maybe Ingo had become a ghost, and that was the reason he couldn’t connect. Chandelure had simply lowered her head and shook it softly from side to side with a soft, mournful “’Lure…”

Emmet gets the sense that he should be glad. Another proof that Ingo’s still alive, right? Surely the ghost Pokemon that was so close to his brother would know if Ingo… passed? That he should hold on to his hope that he’ll see his brother again?

The hard emotions are still there, though, and he spends the rest of the night trying to think of anything but his problems, despite the looming barrier in his face, seeming to taunt him in his dreams.

He just wants his brother back. Is that really too much to ask?

╰ᕦ╯( O+|+O )╰ᕤ╯

Ingo lays on the rough bedding in his tent, contemplating the memories that had surfaced earlier that day. He had had the fortune to meet the young Miss Akari earlier that morning, and to escort her through Wayward Cave despite Meili’s meddling. He wasn’t sure how to feel about her after learning that she had fallen from the sky, especially once he found out that the Galaxy team’s “hospitality” seemed to be on the condition that she would be required to face dangers greater than anyone else in the team. He is disgusted at the idea of sending a child to the frenzied Lord Electrode’s seat, especially since the Commander’s plan seems to be to leave her to face and cure Lord Electrode virtually alone.

It is a small comfort that he had been asked to help her arrive at her destination safely, though that was probably more because of Lady Sneasler’s abilities and his connection to the Noble pokemon than any apparent concern for Akari’s safety. He thinks back to their walk through the Wayward Cave, trying to identify what about her had brought forward those wisps of memory. Why now, after over three years of grasping at nothing but clouds? Was it the way she spoke? Her accent had felt both foreign and familiar, but he couldn’t place why. Maybe the memories sparked because of the way she interacted with Meili? Or… maybe it was the familiarity of conducting someone to a safe destination.

Maybe it was because, for a small time, he had dwelt on the guilty, selfish hope that she could solve this, that maybe she knew him before, that maybe, just maybe, she could help him figure out what was missing before his precious memories fall between the cracks of his mind again.

He resolves to test her skills in battle before teaching her Lady Sneasler’s call in the morning. If nothing else, having definite proof that she shares a good bond with a strong team of pokemon will reassure him about her safety. The idea of battling someone who might be just as familiar with pokemon as he is is exciting, too, so he holds onto that thought as sleep slowly comes to him.

╰ᕦ╯( O+|+O )╰ᕤ╯

When the feeling of impossibly soft grass brushing against his face replaces the rough-but-warm texture of his tent’s bedding, Ingo knows he’s dreaming. He always dreams of the same thing: a vast but empty grassy plain that extends outwards as far as the eye can see, a sky that changes the weather according to his mood, and a towering, impenetrable wall that extends from horizon to horizon.

He keeps his eyes closed as he resolves to continue to work through the scraps of memory from that day, with the added caution of shying away from anything that might upset him. He doesn’t particularly feel like getting soaked from an emotionally-driven rainstorm right now, memories or no.

The thought reminds him of the partner he remembered, who wielded its flames with mastery. Those gentle flames would certainly be a comfort if he were chilly, and in the same thought he worries whether her flames would be– her flames, that’s right!! …whether her flames would be hurt by some rain. He tries to work from there, but his expertise is slow to come to the surface since he hasn’t had much chance to work with fire types since his arrival in Hisui.

His thoughts are interrupted by a muffled thunk, thunk, thunk coming from behind him. The wall! This is new; the wall had never made noise before. He takes a moment to discern whether or not the source of the sound is a threat, but the rhythmic pounding neither falters nor comes any closer.

Cautiously, he opens his eyes and turns his body towards the sound, hoping to not catch the attention of… whatever is making that noise. His attempt turns out to be unsuccessful, however, as the sound nearly doubles in pace. And…

His eyes widen in disbelief as his mind takes a moment to understand what he is seeing. The wall, which has always been dark and immovable for as long as he can remember, is now… translucent, like the sheets of ice that cover the cliff sides in the wintertime. His eyes are drawn to movement, which causes the gears in his brain to temporarily halt as he takes in what is directly in front of him. There’s a shape on the other end of the glass. The figure looks like a man in white, and he pulls back his arm another time before slamming the side of his fist against the wall, resulting in yet another thunk.

Something feels important about that thought, so he repeats it in his head carefully. A… a man. In white. Who…

His train of thought derails as the figure pounds against the wall again, inclining his body towards Ingo. The small part of his mind that tells him to be cautious reminds him of pokemon that can cast illusions, but… the pounding doesn’t seem to be aggressive. Just… desperate. Familiar. Frantic.

In opposition to his well-honed sense of caution, his heart makes a decision. He’s drawn to the man, his feet carrying him opposite of the figure, his toes just inches from the wall now. The man stopped hitting the wall but is still leaning forward, facing Ingo with his weight on both forearms and his hands still in fists. Ingo reaches up to match his hand to the man’s across the divide, lining his own forearm to where the other’s is pressing but placing an open palm opposite of the man’s fist. The man immediately opens his hand up to match, then they both bring their arms down to eye level simultaneously.

Now that he is closer, it appears that the man on the other side is saying something, one word, over and over again. It’s hard to tell, though, what with how hazy everything appears through it. He almost thinks he hears his name, but it’s so faint that he dismisses it to the wind and some wishful thinking.

They stand like that, face to face but separated by a metre-deep wall that obscures all edges and defining features, frozen. This obscuring, impassible rift feels just like his memories, the details just as foggy as the destination his thoughts always steer him into. But standing here against what feels like a representation of his experiences with memory, he can’t help but feel like it’s so much more… real, more tangible than anything else he’s had to work with. The one opposite of him rests his forehead against the wall, shoulders slumping in what looks to be relief. Or maybe defeat?

Tears spring at the corner of his eyes and his own head bows forward as his heart mourns for something he doesn’t even know he misses. Is it the man? His heart is telling him how important this person is to him even while his mind can’t tell him why. The one trying so desperately to get to him must be someone he was close to… before. Maybe this is the man who looks like him, that likes winning more than anything else!

He wants to hope so. He wants that to be true, to be right, so he can hope for the possibility of meeting him again, even if it’s just a dream.

He wants, needs, his heart to be right.

—--

They both wake up crying. They wipe their tears and run opposing hands through their hair, unknowingly still mirroring each other even hundreds of years apart.

╭╭<^◕°ω°◕^>╮╮

Emmet does not want to be awake.

Awake means not with Ingo, and leaving him behind in the dream was like starting a train with the brakes still on. It was wrong and it hurt.

He replays his dream from the previous night over and over like a broken disk, trying to pull out and inspect every detail he can.

Ingo.

Ingo was there.

He saw Ingo!

For the first time in just over three years, a weight is lifted from his chest. He hadn’t realized how tightly his emotions had been wrapping themselves around his heart until they all loosened at the sight of a dark shape across the rift moving.

Moving!

In their shared dream!

It has to be him. No one else can join their dreams, they've tried.

Ingo’s alive!!

Ingo’s alive.

Ingo’s alive!!

The confirmation of his stubborn belief bursts through him like an electric charge as he lets out a short eeeee! and twiddles his feet in excitement.

Crustle, ever the overprotective one, bursts out of his pokeball at the sound. Emmet calms a little at the disturbance and sits up to soothe the worried pokemon. He repeats “I am Emmet. I am safe! I am fine. I am verrrrrry fine!” over and over again, like a mantra, until Chandelure floats through the door, looking curious about why Emmet is so excited and chatty so early in the morning. The hope in her eyes prompts Emmet to excitedly break the news.

“Ingo! I saw Ingo! In our dream! Ingo is alive! He was verrrrrrry far away, across the wall, but he was there! Ingo’s alive!”

Chandelure’s eyes widen for a moment before she gives a spin, stops, then comes right up to Emmet’s face, enthusiastically calling out. Her call summons the rest of his and Ingo’s team, and soon the whole room is overcrowded with pokemon leaving their pokeballs to chatter excitedly with each other. They all know about his and Ingo’s mysterious connection, even though they’d never been able to join the brothers in the dreams themselves.

“The wall was different today! I could only see a little through it, but Ingo was on the other side! I tried verrrrrry hard to get to him. I think he heard me trying, or maybe he saw me. But he came up to me! It was him! He was there! Yup! We saw each other! He is alive!”

He didn’t notice the tears running down his cheeks until a Joltik Nuzzled against his chin, responding to his excitement. He went to put the sweet bug pokemon down somewhere safer, and felt the wetness on the back of his hand from when he grabbed the little bug.

Oh.

He took a moment to ground himself, as his employment-mandated trauma counselor taught him to do, and identify his emotions. It was hard to pick out his emotions from the buzzing Combee-hive of thoughts and feelings, but the first emotion he recognizes is happiness.

Then relief. Yes, he is verrrrrrrry relieved. It is one thing to believe, to know your brother is still alive, and another thing to see him right there in front of you. Moving! Responding to his own movements! Still in sync, after all of these years.

He takes another breath, trying to pull his focus back to the task at hand. Emotions. What else is he feeling? His mind blanks for a moment when he realizes he’s also feeling… betrayed? No. Betrayal has some anger with it. The thought Ingo’s the one who is good with emotions comes up, unsolicited. He’s surprised to see that the thought not only comes with the normal sharp pain of missing Ingo, but now with some frustration and fondness mixed in as well..

Ah.

Hurt. That’s what it is.

It makes him think back on what that counselor taught him about hurt. Your hurt exists because you care. It’s a part of you, and it’s nothing to be ashamed of.

He takes a look around him, watching the pokemon celebrate his declaration in their own little ways. He thinks back to his interaction with Ingo. How… slow, deliberate, and almost hesitant every movement seemed. How he hadn’t seemed to try to break down the wall with him. Didn’t his brother miss him? Didn’t he want to be reunited just as desperately? A spark of jealousy spikes through his heart, tied together with fear and shame, and he hurriedly files those emotions away to never be seen again. Screw the exercise, he saw his brother and he will be happy or so may Haxorus cause mass panic in the subway with Earthquake again.

Speaking of…

“Alright everrrrrrrybody, there’s too many of you in here and it’s getting stuffy. We’re all excited, but can you go be excited in the living room instead? We might even have a celebratory breakfast if I can get ready early!”

The pokemon all file out with various grunts and grumbles, though Eelektross affectionately nudges him on the way out. He takes one breath, then two. A third, and then a fourth to the count of four. Elesa would be glad to see me doing the exercise.

Elesa!

He excitedly grabs his xtransceiver and dials up Elesa’s number, excited to share the news.

It rings once, twice, three times, four–

Her voice comes through, groggily asking, “Emmet. Do you even know what time it is?”

Emmet glances at the time at the top right-hand corner of his screen.

4:12 AM.

Oops. “...ah. I did not look at a clock first. Are you awake?”

“Well I am now , ya dingus. But what are you doing up? Is everything okay?” The concern in her voice assures him that he’s forgiven, so he gratefully moves on with the conversation.

“Yes! I am Emmet. I am fine. I am fine. Yup. I am verrrrrrrry fine. Ingo–” he cuts off, wondering how he’s going to explain the events of tonight with her. The pokemon know about the dream connection, sure, but he and Ingo never told Elesa. They never told anyone, really, out of fear since they were both drilled into secrecy by their parents and because of that One Time when the kids at school who did hear about it called them freaks and bullied them both instead of being impressed. It had been just a quiet, happy secret for the longest time between the two of them, and they never brought it up to anyone else because they never really needed to.

“Emmet?” Elesa’s worry is more palpable now, and it halts his train of thought. Right. He’s in a call. Elesa is waiting for the good news!

“Yes, I am Emmet.” he answers, trying to think of a way to tell her. Nothing comes to mind, so instead, he stalls for time. “Let’s meet up today. You mentioned a coffee place that has electric pokemon-themed drinks? We’ll check it out.” He pauses for a moment, knowing he’s missing something. He set the place, the time… the time was just ‘“today”. Too broad. He amends this by adding a quick, “Are you free after work?”

Elesa hesitates for a moment, then asks, “Are you sure you’ll be okay for that long? I’m awake now, I can chat if you need!”

Emmet still has not figured out how he will tell her. Plus he does feel a little bad for the rude awakening. Sleep is verrrrry important for safety, after all! So he assures her in the most confident tone he can muster, “Yes, I am Emmet! I will be fine. Sorry for waking you. Go back to sleep.”

Yeesh, he still needs to work on his inflection. His voice had even cracked like a teenager’s in the middle of his reassurances. It makes him miss Ingo all over again, makes him want for times when he didn’t have to worry so much showing people how he feels and instead he could rely on Ingo to get people to understand what he was saying.

Elesa still sounds doubtful, but she gives in. “Alright, Emmet. Don’t you ever feel bad for calling me, though. I’m–” she cuts herself off with a yawn, betraying her tiredness, “...I’m glad you thought to talk to me. I’m… gonna see you later, right?”

Disaster averted. He now has time to think and she was too tired to hear his confident tone not going according to plan. He hastily replies, “Yup! I will see you later. Remember to send me the address of the café!” before hanging up. An address and a GIF of a man pounding his chest then turning it into a peace sign with the caption “Love you Bro” pop up on his message feed with Elesa, leaving him with a soft smile on his face as he straps the Xtransceiver onto his wrist and gets up to prepare for the day.

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dmclemblems · 2 years

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I do feel kinda bitter over AG though because of all those things you mentioned since i cant look at AM the same way for not having a lot of those things

I can get that. I feel a little similarly. Overall I like AM more because it really delved into Dimitri’s trauma, but AG definitely handled the Blue Lions’ friendships better. What I didn’t like about AM’s characterizations for Sylvain and Felix in AM is that despite five years having passed, they didn’t mature nearly as much as they should have. In comparison, AG was only two years of a timeskip and it felt a lot more fleshed out with their characters. Ingrid was on a lesser scale, but she definitely got the better end of characterization in AG.

In part I think this is also because the writers have had time to decide on some things. When they made Houses, it was a new game. With Hopes they were working with pre-existing characters, so it was probably a lot easier to flesh them out and change their behavior. It just feels weird to look back at Sylvain from a five year skip and see that he hardly changed, but with a two year skip in an AU he’s a much more mature and composed version of himself.

AG also gives us the possibility of having Rodrigue to the end, and I’m wondering if that was a decision the writers made because they saw how he was received and decided to swap his position in the story with Gilbert who was a less popular character. Having the possibility of losing him is like a callback to AM, but we at least have the option this time. There’s also the chance for us to get supports for him with the characters that needed to be more fleshed out in their relationships with him.

Granted, in AM Rodrigue died because that was the final nail in the coffin for Dimitri’s mental state. He needed to have that moment where he gave up entirely and stopped caring about everything, planning to just go out and kill Edelgard or die trying. Byleth was also able to prevent it because they spoke with Rodrigue the night prior and could bring Dimitri to his senses through what they learned when speaking with Rodrigue. In that sense I think it was too important of a scene to leave out, because if not Rodrigue, I don’t believe any other death could have impacted his story to reach that point.

For example, in Ailell Dimitri behaves the same way to everyone around him. When they meet up with Rodrigue, that’s when his manner of speech starts to waver and he is, for the first time in five years, scolded and essentially told to shut up and listen. With Rodrigue being, as Dimitri literally says pre-skip, a second father to him, he didn’t treat that situation as he would have with anyone else, ending it with referring to Rodrigue as his friend (which is more than he did for anyone else by that point, too paranoid and being unconvinced that everyone wasn’t his enemy. The one person he knew would never be his enemy was Rodrigue).

Since the stories are vastly different in both games I do get why things were altered. Going back to AM will just be unfortunate that Rodrigue fans can no longer use him as a playable unit or get all the character lore we got in AG (which was a whole lot tbh for the parent generation, as well as his relationships with the people around him). We also have things like Gilbert coming back to the Kingdom much sooner and thus mending his family relationships, bringing back the old Gustave who is fiercely protective of his family to the point he won’t tolerate any enemy laying a single finger on his daughter and brother. I love seeing him in SB as an enemy and getting to see how aggressive he really is when someone tries to harm his family. To me that shows us who he used to be before Duscur.

I guess in the sense of like, for the sake of fanfics I’ll probably love keeping both stories in mind and mixing the two for things like characterization. Like I said, I understand that they were reusing already established characters so it was much easier to create new situations and improve the characters (to which tbh I’d say was usually hit or miss, like how I can’t even begin to imagine what they were thinking when writing Caspar for Hopes but they did so, so good writing for Lorenz).

Really I guess it’s just kind of what happens when they use existing characters and improve upon them when the original story was already so good. I’m going to hate going back and not having all the Rodrigue content because he’s one of my favorite characters in the franchise itself. On the other hand I’ll like returning to all the sides of Dimtri’s character, because having that aspect of such severe mental illness I think is really important to use in media, particularly in our modern day where that’s a big and largely important topic in our society. While I’d say they also made the attempt with Takumi in Fates, at this point Fates is not a very well loved game and due to how it was handled overall, I think a lot of the attempt at mental illness and suicidal behavior went over people’s heads due to of how poorly the rest of the game was received by players (and admittedly the writing wasn’t nearly as clear with Takumi as it was with Dimitri).

Houses kind of has the vibes of like... a whole lot of “what if” situations that AG used to show the answers of that. SB is more of like... another rendition of Edelgard’s story with not much changed except that we get to actually fight Thales instead of the characters defeating TWS post game. GW is the total opposite of VW, so rather than creating it as a “what if” timeline like AG it’s more of a “what if they went the opposite path they took in VW”. AG focuses more on the possibilities that existed in AM and builds upon those, rather than SB’s choice of the same route but handled differently and GW’s choice of seeing what it would look like if VW was turned on its head (no upside pun intended...).

Technically it’s not bad in and of itself for them to have written SB and GW in those ways, and that’s not to say AG is just absolutely the best because of it. It comes down to personal preference and I saw a lot of people saying the same thing that they see SB as more of a retelling but altered CF, which at that point it’s up to the individual if they prefer the new or the old. GW’s plot in and of itself wasn’t an issue, but it was the treatment of its characters and how the plot wasn’t focused on the characters but instead focused on altering its characters to the plot instead of the characters being what made the plot (ex. AM being written to follow Dimitri, not Dimitri written to follow AM).

Following that thought too, AG follows the formula of its characters being the story itself because in SB and GW, the characters go here and there and everywhere and they’re dragged along. In AG if you try to suggest that you go west during a civil conflict, you’re basically told no, we can’t afford to do that and have to stay here where we already are to deal with this problem and we can head west after that. You’re in one place and kept in that place until the conflict is resolved, rather than being pulled west and then having to go back to where you already were.

In some ways I guess you could say AG was written too well, because now when we go back to AM we’re missing all those improvements on the writing. I do prefer chapter 19 to chapter, what is it, 9 or 10? with the way Claude allied with Dimitri because it felt way more natural in AM and was rooted in a trust that was forcibly finnicky in AG because they were trying to sneak in concepts of GW Claude and how he wasn’t someone people ordinarily trusted. Instead of writing him as just a different path Claude, they tried to keep aspects of him that applied to very different routes and it wound up feeling wonky. AM was much more rewarding, and even more so because Gronder had already happened. Comparably, AG Dimitri and Claude had not even fought each other and yet everyone except Dimitri (and presumably Seteth and Rhea based on the dialogue when they all met up) was highly distrusting of him and treating him like he was some infamous slimy plotter who was going to jeopardize something. It was very forced and kept trying to nudge at GW/SB Claude, so for me that was extremely awkward to see considering in AM, nobody really highly distrusted Claude when he asked for aid. They’d never even fought or had problems in AG, but for some reason most of the cast didn’t want to trust him.

Regarding Thales though, for sure AG did handle it way better. I don’t really like Edelgard’s story in the second half of AG since I prefer AM’s ending for Edelgard (and it makes more sense because she was hellbent on fighting to the end, even if her path killed her. Dimitri gave her a final chance to end it alive, but she willingly chose her death and for her that could’ve been a matter of pride which is more in line with her character, but AG took her character away entirely so that just wasn’t a possibility). Thales imo should’ve been the final boss in AM too, having escaped as Arundel in chapter 19 and fighting the Kingdom later on. Considering how deeply rooted in Dimitri’s entire backstory Thales is, it’s kind of insane to me that he wasn’t the final boss. He has the least connection to Claude but is the second to final boss in VW instead.

For me the perfect ending would’ve been like... a mix between the two, where Dimitri had to come to his senses because Rodrigue almost died but he survives just barely. Perhaps he can’t fight for the rest of the war, thus rendering him unplayable as a unit and making sense as to why he couldn’t be playable from beginning to end. Sylvain, Ingrid and Felix would have grown into who they became in AG when you get to the five year timeskip in AM. Obviously Dedue would keep his story about saving Dimitri with others from Duscur, but then maybe soldiers from Duscur continue to fight with the Kingdom army the way they do in AG. We’d have AM’s version of the Alliance getting the Kindgom’s aid, and we’d have Thales escape as Arundel but fight the combined armies later on. Maybe while they were allied, the Kingdom gets news that people from the Alliance, maybe even Holst, located TWS’ base (since they’re near Goneril territory I think?). Since they were basically one big army, Dimitri could defeat Edelgard as we know their battle to happen in AM, but then they could travel to the Alliance territories with the war being over now and from there, fight Thales and have Dimitri learn the truth. Maybe Rodrigue joins as an NPC in the final battle so that he can be present against Thales, even if he’s not fully recovered because he feels he has to be there since it’s the battle for the truth that he’s been waiting on since he lost his best friend and son.

Whether or not Nemesis would be at the very very end idk, but I think Thales at least should’ve been the final or second to final boss like how he was the latter for VW. I think it would also be nice if Claude hadn’t left right away and instead joined the joint armies, even if just as an NPC since in this case you’d be traveling through the Alliance to fight TWS, and since they’re in Alliance territory I think it would make sense for the Alliance to be much more invested in that fight. It would give Claude the truth he’d be seeking in VW, thus giving a nod to his story in his route, and would give Dimitri and everyone else the truth about Duscur. It would be a complete story imo that way with all loose ends tied up, and if they had Duscur soldiers show up with Dedue in the timeskip then they’d be there too maybe as some NPCs in the final battle, so their story would be concluded too with the truth proving their innocence. Imo it would be a perfect way to resolve the whole Duscur storyline.

I know they were probably going for an imperfect ending in AM in the sense that we can’t have everything, but the only problem with the way they wrote that out was that Duscur was the focal point of AM. At the very least I think they should’ve tied up that entire story from beginning to end, concluding it with everyone learning the truth and Faerghus finally being able to heal when the truth gets around that Duscur’s people didn’t kill their king. Not only do the characters we’re familiar with have resolution, but the actual story we’ve followed right from the start is finished in full.

The problem with ending it with Edelgard for AM is that Edelgard... wasn’t really the true enemy of AM as a route. She was Dimitri’s personal enemy and conflict and he would have to fight her if he was going to end her war, but with the way the actual plot goes, Edelgard should have been AM’s penultimate battle, exactly like how Dimitri is CF’s penultimate battle before she reaches her actual enemy and goal, Rhea. Edelgard’s war was most specifically against Rhea, thus why her route made Rhea the final battle and not Dimtiri. AM should’ve followed that same formula, because Edelgard’s overall gripes weren’t Dimitri himself. Similarly, Dimitri’s story and the plot itself was centered around Duscur and the truth, which defeating Edelgard doesn’t solve a single part of. It concludes Dimitri’s personal arc with his step sister, but it resolves absolutely none of the plot of AM. While it resolves a character arc within the plot, the plot itself remains unfinished.

Like I said, I get the whole idea that we can’t get a perfect ending, but in this situation I don’t think it’s even about a “perfect” ending anymore. You could argue that this ending still should be present even if Rodrigue still died. AG is in a better position for the plot because it actually thoroughly explores the true plot of Dimitri’s background as a character. AM is a character centric ending, but AG is a plot centric ending, and I hate that we don’t get both in either of them. We either get a very good character heavy story, or we don’t get the full depth of the characters (ex Dimitri’s mental state not really being a problem in AG and is only sometimes given a nod to) and have a completed plot.

Hence, I feel like for fic’s sake and headcanon’s sake I like to think there’s more to the point of the Alliance fighting alongside the Kingdom as one army and that the plot related final battle would be against at least Thales if not Nemesis (since Nemesis himself isn’t relevant to AM’s plot or any of the characters, but Thales is deeply involved in multiple characters’ lives). Also, it could maybe give resolution to Dimitri’s personal story with Edelgard, learning that Arundel was killed and that was why he stopped donating, and realizing why Edelgard changed so much post her stay in the Kingdom. Just a final battle against Thales alone would conclude both the story and character plots and make a full, true ending. AG technically has a full, true ending to its story since Edelgard wasn’t in a position to continue her war, so whether she lived or died becomes irrelevant at that point since what happened to her, whether we enjoyed that aspect or not, did resolve that particular conflict. In that sense, yeah, AG solved pretty much everything in one shot.

So yeah, I totally get why you feel bitter about it. AG had an actually conclusive plot while AM was just left hanging as an incomplete story. CF was “complete”, i.e. TWS was defeated post game, and VW was a fully complete story. Instead in Hopes, GW is left a huge question mark and incomplete and SB is still basically complete unless Edelgard continued her war for conquest, so that one is more like... complete(?), with that question mark being necessary. AG is basically complete, since what happens to Edelgard doesn’t really affect the plot which was finished.

Considering TWS is the center of AM’s entire backstory and Dimitri’s most intense trauma, you’d think that would be much more important to the story in AM and that Edelgard wouldn’t be the end of the game. I wish they were still making DLC or updates or something for Houses, because it would be so great if they added that as a late attachment to AM (like how, if you know Tales of Graces, the game ended up releasing and then re-releasing with an entire post game arc added, though in that case it was more of a remake because it was titled differently, adding “F” to the end of the title to indicate there was an addition to the game and changes made/added).

#Three Hopes Spoilers #sorry this kind of turned into a whole analysis of like...#why AG is a complete story and why AM is not #and how that can absolutely make AM fans a little upset at how good but incomplete it was #compared to AG which was a great story and also a completed plot #I love them both but it's still gonna be a bummer for me as a huge Rodrigue fan to go back to AM and have less content of him #Felix's story was also kinda left incomplete in AM but was handled far better in AG whether Rodrigue survives or not #Sylvain's story got more substance both with his family and Sreng in AG and in AM that's pretty much loose particles in the air #technically Sylvain probably lived with Miklan again and if he didn't he at the very least had Miklan in his life again #and Sreng was a topic more often and even given a paralogue while in AM it's just kinda... a background ''this happens sometimes''#both of those aspects were extremely helpful for Sylvain as a character but he was given literally nothing in the timeskip #his substance is his supports and in the main game he has almost nothing that he didn't already have pre-skip #I feel like we sacrificed a lot by making AM so heavy on Dimitri's conflicts with Edelgard bc like #it's fine that the story centered around HIM since he's the lord of the route #but the overall conflict ending with her was only a resolution to a character arc and not the actual plot #so AM is just kind of sitting there like... if you happen to have Hapi she just happened to have defeated TWS post game #while CF did that too it happens no matter what but AM relies on a side character being alive and present for it to happen #meaning before the DLC there was no indication of TWS being stamped out after Thales died #AM is definitely a great route but its actual plot was a disaster. CF had a messy plot with a disaster incomplete ending #VW and SS had complete stories and full character arcs so I don't feel like GW really hampers VW #SB could be seen as a more complete and better version of CF (especially since it's LONGER than CF just for starters alone)#so I wouldn't be surprised if CF/SB fans felt similarly about SB being more complete like how AG seems to feel for AM lovers #it's kind of just a problem with Houses in general that a lot of story threads were left unfinished #DCE Ask

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