Entry tags:
OOC: Question meme!
Hello, hello! I managed to hold out for a month and a different journal, and now I am doing a question meme. Ask me a question, then I'll ask you a question, and we'll trade off until one of us wanders off or runs out of questions.
Alternatively, if you are intimidated by question meme format or do not feel like answering questions, you can just ask. Or just not answer. Whatever! I'd love to hear about your characters because I'm a nosy person, but I'm perfectly content to just babble about mine forever. ♥
Characters
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
aather
• Lambda/Mint (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
bodymod)
• Kiriko (starch)
• formerly Rabbit/Ayame/Ginshu (scalesfromeyes), Viola/Hermana Larmo/Vritra (yourmama), Teir/Qamar/Malik Ishtar (doubleminded)
court_rp
• Richter Abend (eternalrecurrence)
• Milla Maxwell (au) (humanspirit)
Alternatively, if you are intimidated by question meme format or do not feel like answering questions, you can just ask. Or just not answer. Whatever! I'd love to hear about your characters because I'm a nosy person, but I'm perfectly content to just babble about mine forever. ♥
Characters
aather• Lambda/Mint (
bodymod)• Kiriko (
starch)• formerly Rabbit/Ayame/Ginshu (
scalesfromeyes), Viola/Hermana Larmo/Vritra (yourmama), Teir/Qamar/Malik Ishtar (doubleminded)court_rp• Richter Abend (
eternalrecurrence)• Milla Maxwell (au) (
humanspirit)
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Mint actually started from a very low bar-- which I think I've mentioned before-- because he just… doesn't come from a social species in the same sense as humans. However! He does pick up human behavior and thought patterns fairly quickly in canon, to a certain extent, so Kunzite teamfeels managed to come before individual Kunzite relationships. (Which he does have, at this point.)
There isn't really an incident I can point to that solidified his teamfeels, but he was definitely feeling them by the time the romance post came around. And Kunzite is important not only because he's been repeatedly told that "Kunzite" (rather than individuals) will help him out and protect him, but because he is part of Kunzite. It remains to be seen how strong he'll end up identifying with Kunzite once he starts getting his more upsetting memories back (…I say this after he got a Sig Neu that was someone trying to kill him…) but at the moment not even his major freakout upset that.
The GM game was definitely a defining moment. I threw him in knowing that a trauma game going poorly could theoretically destabilize him (though probably not as hard as Carnelian's trauma games destabilized Malik, because by that point he went in and was just flat-out told "we're targeted"). But Kunzite Kunzited along and ultimately it was a really good experience for him! He got people trying to comfort him, he got to comfort/protect other people-- whether or not they noticed him trying-- and for a while there (while he was being ruthless) he and Shes got to headmonster bro it up and communication was magically not an issue. And then when Shes stopped getting it, Nagisa and Bolin did! So he's got some surprised satisfaction and teamdere from that.
Within Kunzite, he'll interact with and see people differently, but Being On Kunzite definitely carries certain expectations from him that they are going to have to work together one way or another, and he generally feels much safer with Kunzite as a whole than with most people as a whole.
How's Rena dealing with the aftermath of GM game?
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See, right before the game she got a really tone-setting memory where basically she came to the realization that in the world there are enemies who you can't be nice to if you want to protect your own happiness—and they aren't necessarily bad people who mean to harm you, just people who threaten your happiness by existing. That really colored how she handled the game, because it meant she did not waver in the slightest about Peridot playing as hard as they could to protect themselves being the right thing for them to do. Her belief that you have to be harsh to protect yourself because no one else is going to do it for you was also more or less reinforced by the fact that Peridot got absolutely slammed in the first round.
As a result of that, I'd say that coming out of this game she's more likely to be a little more distant from people on other teams? Not that she blames them for anything, or doesn't like them, or anything like that. But she does have in the back of her mind that these are people she might be pitted against at some point down the road. On the other hand, it was also a really, really good game for strengthening her Peridere.
Tell me about Lambda's relationship with Sophie in canon, because that seems interesting... And do you have any predictions for how it could differ in Aather?
EVEN MORE MASSIVE TALES OF GRACES SPOILERS THAN LAMBDA'S EXISTENCE IN AATHER GIVES
Basically, the story starts when Asbel (our protagonist) and co. find Sophie asleep in a field of flowers. She has amnesia! She has battle skills! She is super cute and they name her after a flower and Asbel wants to adopt her. She is super cute, and it's structured a lot like a deconstruction of the ~find mysterious girl~ and protect her narrative (in that Asbel is like I WANT TO PROTECT YOU I'M THE BOY and Sophie goes ???? and basically beats him at everything and is a combat genius).
Lambda comes in as her nemesis: there are documents talking about how Lambda basically destroyed an entire planet and the reveal is that Sophie is a humanoid robot who was created to destroy him and only she can do it! And the conflict is that the only way to destroy him is through a mutual self-destruct function because he's this evil gross alien creature who is impossible to kill otherwise. And remembering that is this huge moment of like… the development is that she's gone beyond her programming and FRANDSHIPS. And also destroying Lambda means destroying his host, who is their childhood friend Richard. Who is clearly being enslaved by this terrible alien creature.
…Only the game starts to sow these seeds of doubt. Sophie's creator, who tells them the most about Sophie and her mission, treats Sophie as a tool and tries to force Lambda to merge with her so that she can steal his powers and be the final boss (Lambda NOPES out of that one by exploding her from the inside, it's pretty rad). There's a sidequest where the main party can singlehandedly destroy Lambda's humanoid body, which he abandoned 1000 years ago and is still so terrified of humans that touching him triggers his self-destruct function. And if you talk to the other humanoids on the planet that Lambda supposedly destroyed… it kind of seems like maybe the humans on the planet did that to themselves.
And then the final dungeon basically has Lambda's heartgame, wherein we learn that, in fact, Lambda did exactly zero to the humans that was not triggered by Sophie or her creator. Her creator was basically SO YANDERE that she created Sophie for the sole purpose of destroying Lambda… because Professor Cornell spent time with him. And Sophie, who has throughout the game been adorable cute amnesia fighting robot, is… well, she's a weapon. She wasn't designed to kill Lambda because he's evil and dangerous, she was designed to kill Lambda because her creator was the worst. The two of them have been locked into a series of battles for 1000 years not because Lambda is evil but because she keeps pursuing him with the sole purpose of destroying him. And she still has that programming!
Cue endgame and the bonus part of the game, where Lambda has been accepted and is now chilling in a head that's less likely to set off his issues by having the same issues. Weird shit starts happening and Lambda starts giving people his powers, and Sophie is basically a giant (UNSURE) face the whole time. Programming is hard as hell to overcome, and while she is struggling with it thanks to FRIENDSHIP (which is basically the entire game right there: FRIENDSHIP), she and Lambda are in this wary circling truce where they don't hurt each other because they have mutual friends but they don't actually trust or like each other ever. Lambda insults her a lot and dismisses her as the robot programming he knows her as, and Sophie does her (UNSURE) thing and there's a whole lot of talk about how EEEEVIL Lambda is (which Lambda contributes to LOOK I'M SO EVIL YOU SHOULDN'T TRUST ME).
And then right towards the close of the game, Sophie comes over to him and initiates a conversation for the first time, not to threaten him, but to say, okay, I have decided to trust you, don't make me regret it. And in turn that allows Lambda to go okay, maybe everyone was right about her, maybe she's not going to kill me, we should be friends. And they make a friendship pact and it's really cute because their whole thing is that they're both immortal so they are literally going to be friends forever even after their human friends die and it is basically the best.
I don't know if Aather will have a different conclusion, but I doubt it. Mostly what I'm hoping for from Aather is more chance to actually develop the evolution of their feelings, because it's super rushed in the game (believable, but rushed). And also probably at some point they'll try to kill each other and it'll be great and hilarious because they both look like tiny children because the society that made their bodies is fucked up as shit. 8D
Relationship me, Lambda!
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First of all: people have told Mint about the Darkness, but he… wasn't really paying attention, let's be honest. HUMAN PROBLEMS, W/E, I DON'T CARE ABOUT THOSE \o\ and by the time he cared a little more because he started genuinely liking some of them, nobody was bothering to explain anymore.
Second of all: I was always anticipating some sort of kinship between Lambda and the Darkness, even if it was only perceived externally by others. There have been incidents of Darkness infesting people, and Lambda's true form being… well, pretty much Darkness with a bit more reddish tones*… means that there was probably always going to be some of this.
* In L&L it's different, but, honestly, I have no idea why, aside from the uncomfortable implication that because he's "good" now, he's light?? so I mostly just ignore that and shrug it off as Asbel's perception because it makes no sense-- he was always black and red in flashbacks as well, and he didn't change colors because of his massive eleth sponging, so…! Unless I mark it as a separate skill and gain it back, he's black and red.
Third of all: …I was not expecting to play with this in the aftermath of a trauma game that bonded Lambda pretty firmly and gave him a lot of dere, because it means even more massive fallout.
Basically, Lambda in canon reaches out to The Little Queen not because his natural inclination is SHE IS LIKE ME I MUST HELP HER (though there is a little bit of that) but because he's been friendshipped from here 'til Sunday with THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP. And Aather is honestly no different, except that people can interact directly with him, and he's gaining interpersonal bonds at a massive rate for him. I was honestly expecting that he'd have nobody he cared about protecting until he started remembering Richard, but by the time the GM game happened, he already wanted to protect Sapphire, Amethyst, and Coral from himself. I… I WAS NOT EXPECTING THAT.
So the trauma game went well, and Lambda did not feel attacked, which means that while other teams were like YOU MADE US DO THIS/YOU DID THIS TO US/AND YOU'RE STILL TRYING TO HURT AND TRAP US, Lambda… saw a threatening figure but also someone who was like him. And who maybe did not understand how humans work. And his impulse in that case is to reach out the way he did to the Fodra Queen in canon (and still doesn't remember), the way Eureka did to him, by sharing their minds and emotions so that he can show the Darkness how to interact with humans in non-harmful ways.
…And… instead humans lashed out and destroyed the Darkness, which is like Lambda. (Formless, doesn't understand humans, takes others' shapes, probably ancient.)
While I don't think there are going to be too many lasting effects of AND THEN WE ATTACK THE DARKNESS beyond interpersonal relationships, since Van and Richard both independently figured out the problem and are addressing it, and Eureka is being herself and Alvin is being himself, and other Kunzite threads haven't gotten far enough but might do things… it definitely brought Emeraude's casual dismissal of him as non-human = threat = kill back full-force, and he freaked out. Van and Richard can't actually be too reassuring, because Mint knows he's probably killed humans before and is likely to kill them again because they'll try to kill him! And he knows that! But they are calming him down to the point where he'll just turn that into regular Lambda bitterness instead of full-on panic and fear.
I… could probably babble even more but on quick glance this seems like a decent-ish overview of where I'm coming from with it.
And I'm curious about how Van feels about Lambda's freakout and being given that memory!
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So on the one hand: running into barriers with emotional communication, especially since Lambda's natural tendency upon touching minds with someone he likes is to settle into a doze or a sleep. On the other hand: this meant that when GM game happened, Amethyst was one of the teams he didn't want Kunzite to hit no matter what, which is cute and not what I was expecting to happen at all. (I wasn't expecting him to latch onto anybody fast enough to want to protect them, buuuut… his first memory WAS losing someone important to him.)
And if she's interested, I handwaved a quest to make that infinite as well, because it's fun having a character be able to communicate in memories, so that'll probably come up in their current thread.
Relationship me back, Eureka. :3c
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So, how is talking going, Lambda? Also, his feelings on communication . . .
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Aather-wise, it lets me play with the aspect that to communicate with Mint once he has this skill, people are going to have to initiate it (or, more rarely, allow him to initiate it— he so rarely does this in canon, but who knows! in Aather, lack of communication has been more frustrating, so he might actually do it more often). The longer his inability to communicate goes on, the less people are going to bother experimenting with this— especially since he doesn't like to be touched when he's freaking out, and quite a few people are getting to experience that. Like his name(s), it's going to have to be word of mouth to a certain extent, which pleases me. It means most people just don't know! His entire team knows him as Mint, but I'm pretty sure nobody off the team knows him by that name, and those who do have a name for him know him as Lambda from his memories. Coming at it from characters who had very strong opinions on names and which names people use, it's really fascinating to play with.
In canon, he does have accelerated learning re: languages as well as other things, but that doesn't really fit the Aather motto re: skills. So, basically! Talking is not going to be a thing for a while, though hopefully he'll get back his telepathy and body creation skills soonish. :3c
Lambda's feelings on communication are… complicated. Half the time he just doesn't even bother to try because he has no interest in whatever's being talked about. But sometimes he really wants to communicate and it's incredibly frustrating to him that he can't (and sometimes he nopes out of trying because of that frustration). It builds up into this WHY EVEN BOTHER TRYING at some points in canon with the addition of feeling threatened, and he lashes out at humans he perceives as a threat instead of trying to beg them to stop attacking him (which he does do in the beginning). So… his feelings are going to fluctuate depending on the situation in Aather and what memories he's gotten back. But talking out loud is never going to be his first choice unless he's merging with somebody, and that takes seven years of hands-on trauma + extenuating circumstances in canon, sooooo. Who knows!
How's Elsa settling into Aather?
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Richter would do really well in Tales of Vesperia, because the main antagonist has a very similar narrative role and arc. The difference is mainly that Vesperia's antagonist has a much more satisfying conclusion (to me) because the game acknowledges what was done to him and the role the protagonists have in perpetuating a harmful cycle. He's culpable for his actions, but the sympathy that the game creates for him isn't wasted— Richter's story is a fucking feelings massacre steeped in what is essentially (though I'm not sure the game realizes it) a narrative about how being part of a discriminated underclass meant that Richter couldn't be the hero or save the world even though that's his ultimate goal. His endings are all basically >RICHTER GIVES THE FUCK UP ON WINNING EVER AND ALSO POSSIBLY ON LIFE.
In Vesperia, the antagonist is allowed to reach a moment where it's possible for him to go on with his life, and he does! And I would like that kind of narrative respect for Richter, so yes. I think he'd do really well there with all of his baggage. uwu
Milla… Milla's more difficult, because she's actually the protagonist. I've seen some people compare Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World's narrative to Tales of Xillia (in that they have some similar themes protagonist-wise), but… eh, I'm not going to say that. Instead, I'm going to go with Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 3, because I would love to have seen her in a Radiant Mythology game. Not because I think anything special would happen; I just selfishly want her to interact with all the characters ever and RM3 has a huge cast and balances it well. Plus I think it would be fun to have her in a setting where she doesn't take over from the other protagonists but instead exists alongside them.
I know nothing about Touhou except that it's a series of fighting games or something? I'm really curious about it and Yuyuko's role in canon.
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... which is to say, talk to me about Coronet and Mint.
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so I'm going to ask you for a reverse pre-emptively anyway but don't feel you need to reply (but ask me more anyway :3 hi hi hi).
Basically, congratulations, Richard, even when Lambda doesn't remember you you evoke massive Lambda dere. And possibly yandere. Who knows! This hasn't been put to the test the same way Eureka's relationship with Lambda has, but I strongly suspect that if Richard were hurt by someone in Aather Lambda would experience those strong protective urges.
As it stands, though, Richard… understands Lambda the best out of all the humans. Still. Even amnesiac. Good going, Richard. (Let's gattai.) Honestly, until he shared the empathy he got from Eureka, there was cuteness, but Richard wasn't anything remarkable on Lambda's radar. And even then it was more… human tries hard yay pink team dere what a cute, but after Lambda's freakout and the memory share Richard got it even more precisely than Van— and Van usually does extremely well, and did so this time as well. TALES ANTAGONISTS, what can I say. Richard correctly identified the what, why, and how to be comforting with pretty pinpoint accuracy considering Lambda couldn't communicate at all except in memories in that thread.
None of this really surprises me, considering canon, but it happened a lot faster than I was expecting— I thought it might not happen until after Lambda remembered Richard, honestly. But nope! Richard has gained +1 overprotective headmonster trapped in a tiny robot body. I'm excited to see what happens once Lambda can talk again. Or remembers Richard. I wonder which will come first. 8D
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How have Milla's impressions of Jude changed since they've been in Court?
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In general, she thinks of him as inoffensive but misguided. Unlike canon Jude, midboss Jude hasn't proven to her that he cares for the spirits, and, as far as she's concerned, he's paying them lip service without actually considering the repercussions. And that came out in their discussion, I think! He interpreted her "the spirits are important" as "humans are less important," (at least as far as she could tell) when in reality it's "without spirits, humans will die anyway and humans aren't concerned about that, so I need to be." She's pretty used to this sort of thing. And she is perfectly okay with humans dying for the cause! In this AU she killed Nachtigal, so it's not an unfair assumption.
Their conversation didn't change that "inoffensive but misguided" perception, but it definitely, hmm. He's no longer Gaius' agent. He went against Gaius! And Milla does respect that, and he held his own against her. She disagrees with him, but she's paying more attention to him. He's not someone who's just subsumed under the servant heading by chance and mutual objectives; he's Jude.
I don't think anything will change until he proves he can put his money where his mouth is, either in terms of caring about spirits (difficult in Court, since things operate differently) or actually being able to do what he promises and find a way to replace spyrix technology fast enough that spirits won't be harmed. She's a lot less willing to compromise in some ways than canon Milla, because she's basically been doing this alone the whole time. (With Alvin, but that's a whole different kettle of fish, and it's definitely changed a lot about how she interacts with people… I should get Vic to comment here so I can do a huge essay about her relationship with Alvin.)
In terms of objectives, Milla thinks he's really cute and enjoys having sex with him and basically yes good most excellent servant. She'll let him go if he wants to go, but otherwise she's definitely starting to consider him hers and likely won't bring it up again. She trusts that if he wants to break the bond, he will tell her.
ASK ME MOAR
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FIRST IMPRESSIONS???
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That said, first impressions are SUPER POSITIVE. Milla believes very strongly in the path that she chooses to take, but (so long as it's not harming others) she does have a lot of respect for people who choose different paths. That respect may not always be obvious-- if it clashes with hers, she'll fight without a second thought-- but it's definitely there. This aspect of her character is actually the reason I apped this particular AU, because I wanted to play more with that but didn't think it would come up naturally. And then it did! In her intro! Super pleased.
Apple's vague allusions to "please do not abuse your servant" aside (whether they're intentional or not-- Milla is pretty used to brushing aside other people's concerns if she doesn't feel they're valid, even if she recognizes that they would be valid concerns for other people) Milla has really enjoyed their conversations and YAY BOOKS and would actively seek out casual conversation more often if that was a thing she… knew how to do at this point in time. She's going to be even more impressed with Apple if she realizes that Apple is a gardener and takes care of the earth, because caring for living plants, yes yes.
Reverse?
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Haha Apple is easily scandalized so it was more "a-are you doing bondage ///" than "don't be mean to Jude." She IS a little concerned because the master/servant system seems to establish a heirarchy that she isn't personally comfortable with because she puts everyone on the same level, but any concerns she might have had vanished pretty quick during her conversations with Milla. She doesn't think that Milla would take advantage of anyone through it, but she is also still getting to know Milla and gauging how her thought process works so she will ask questions a lot until she has a better idea. She will try to seek Milla out more in the future and give her book suggestions and show her lots of fun things to do and see if anything sticks 'v'
questions are difficult, hmm...do you have any current app plans? And if not, are there any songs that you tend to associate with your characters?
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MILLA ON ALVIN?
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I mentioned in my app that Milla and Undine actually figured out that Alvin was a traitor earlier on, because without Jude there was no buffer, and Undine being able to spy unseen meant that Alvin being Alvin got noticed. That said! Like in the game, it's not as simple as "you are out to destroy me, therefore I don't like you." Traitor chicken just started earlier, that's all.
That said, it means that her one really significant relationship with a human involves significant amounts of that time knowing said human probably wants her dead. I assume that Alvin still hopped in to save her at several points like he does in canon (good job, Alvin), but there was never a moment at which Milla was convinced that he would never ever try to kill her again-- it just didn't matter if he did try, for a number of reasons. (Undine;, Milla herself; her conviction that even if he killed her mortal body, she would live on as Maxwell.)
This in turn means that she's not as trusting of humans. She's perfectly fine letting them do things and talk to her, and she likes them well enough, but by the nature of the AU she's got Alvin (on her side but a spy who probably wants her dead) and Jude (midboss who has fought her before) in Court with her. Back in AU-land, she's got Leia, who doesn't have that sort of history, but Milla is pretty wary of trusting her anyway at this point. And that carries over into her relationships in Court. She has a fondness for humans, but even when she lets them get close to her, she never really relaxes the same way she does in canon.
As for how she actually feels about Alvin, it's… complicated. She's more reliant on him for companionship than she is in canon, though I'm not sure how aware of it he is (because… considering in canon Alvin thinks Milla and Jude hate him for some reason…) She definitely made the same offer to him about staying in Rieze Maxia with her! But I tend to assume Bad Decision Night was also terrible and possibly murder attempts and in general if Milla hadn't been Milla it might have been upsetting but as it is she came away from it with > oh, sex is interesting > oh, sex with Alvin is also interesting. Definitely wants to try it again in a less emotionally wrought situation! But I doubt it ever came up again for many reasons (not a priority for Milla, Alvin is a disaster, Milla's injury and various plot events, coming to Court).
She's also protective of him in a way that's hard to verbalize, because… she doesn't really trust him! But at the same time, she does genuinely like him; her offers have all been sincere and not suggested as a way to neutralize a threat. She doesn't really think in terms of that. Even with Jude, she half-expects her new servant to make an attempt on her life-- be it obvious or roundabout-- because that's what she's used to. ………God, this is really hard to explain. (INCOHERENT RAMBLING, YOU SAY! Look at all this incoherent rambling.) I wouldn't say Milla is in love with Alvin, but mostly because… she doesn't really think of things in terms of human love. Love is a difficult concept for her, especially romantic, and I'm not sure I'd describe it as such, either. But she definitely cares about him in a way that extends beyond traveling companions, and the potential stab in the back is not really an issue to her.
IN COURT! THINGS HAVE CHANGED SLIGHTLY. Like she's saying in her thread with Damuron, she attributes his unwillingness to be her servant as a manifestation of their innate conflict: he is from Elympios, and she wants to destroy spyrix. She does want to protect Elympions, but Alvin is Alvin and his poker face is good enough that maybe he wants to protect the spyrix. Who knows! Milla doesn't know. She doesn't see any other reason why he would have refused! Also the kissing, that was weird. Your issues are strange and confusing, Alvin. SHE'S… PROBABLY NOT GOING TO PUSH IT EVER. Her strategy with Alvin tends to be more "leave him to his own devices and then if it becomes necessary shove him against a wall." It has not become necessary yet. (If she finds out Jude is attracted to him, though, she's totally going to send Jude to do ALVIN RECONNAISSANCE. It's just more difficult because she hasn't actually seen them together and can't put two and two together there.)
SO. THAT WAS A WHOLE LOT OF INCOHERENT WORDS. :3c If there's anything I should expand on or if there are things that should be changed, let me know!