Happy Birthday to my friend, @athetos !!

Pose || outfit

So, I had this in my drafts for about a month. I've been building theories off this post that I never posted:

My entire understanding of Axiom Verge changed when I found the Breach Attractor. As it turns out, this was NOT Athetos' invention, but a Sudran device.

I've stated before that Athetos must have built his devices based on Sudran tech. For one thing, I don't think Athetos designed all the upgrades for the Axiom Disruptor; I think it's more likely that he designed the AD to be compatible with Sudran upgrades (we know, for instance, that the flamethrower, or "dinger-gisbar" is a Sudran device and not something that Athetos built).

This also explains something that puzzled me all throughout the first game: how did a theoretical physicist manage to engineer biomechanoid technology??? These involve multiple different skillsets and fields of study and expertise. Even if Athetos had hundred or thousands of years to learn, it's still somewhat doubtful that he would have been able to do it by himself.

BUT it would have been a lot simpler if he was using Sudran texts and blueprints to work from. We know from AV2 that the Sudrans merged human minds with their "Arms," and that they invented the drone technology that we know and love from AV1. We also know that it was even more sophisticated than what we saw in the first game, with the ability to transfer from human to drone and back, without the somewhat janky mechanics of the drone teleport.

Over the course of several hundreds or even thousands of years, due to the way the Breach slows down time, Athetos was able to both learn and translate Sudran text (as well as Vykhyan). But Athetos also mentions, in one journal page, that the Sudrans also invented a programming language.

(If there actually is an IRL programming language called "Sudra" or "Sudran," let me know. I looked it up and couldn't find anything.)

So it's not impossible that Athetos learned how to work with the Sudran programs, and just designed the AD around those programs.

He probably got the Breach Attractor from Ophelia. She's the one who had it first.

without place v2.0

Glimmer and adora

They are perfect for each other. Everything about them i love and its so loving they love each other support each other they never wanted to hurt each other. So much fluff so much angst God they are Canon to me they are the best thing ever and I have other thoughts but I'm not being salty in main LMAO

There’s a book from Boss Fight Books about chrono trigger, I got it on a humble bundle deal, and it’s a great read. It discusses a lot of the cultural context for the game, differences in the English translation, an interview with Woolsey, and some other really cool trivia as well as why we love the game in the first place! I definitely recommend

Is that the one by Michael P. Williams?

I remember hearing about that book but I've never gotten around to getting my hands on it. Thanks for the rec, I'll have to look into it further!

Leo tmnt

*foams at the mouth* I am SO normal about him

Have you played triangle strategy it’s very good I think it’s better than fe3h as far as switch strategy rpgs go but ymmv

i havent!!! Specifically: I played the demo and then the bigger demo three times over, LOVED the gameplay and ~political intrigue~, then just. Been busy and thus failed to get it and play it!

It absolutely sounds like I'd love it, I just need time to get around to it!!

Leave ava alone you fucking freak

princess of fucking your whole shit up. Badly. + more stej ponies

Sudrans and the Udug

In Axiom Verge (one and two), the Udug are said to come from within the Breach (technically they say "the storm" but that's a metaphor). In AV1, we don't get a good look at the Breach itself, just pockets of corruption left at it's edges. But in AV2, we see inside, and the architecture there seems identical to some seen on Sudra; specifically the blocky ground with the embedded spheres. The doors are identical as well. Finally, on the steam points store, there is a background available for purchase that shows this architecture, titled "Ruins of Udug". It's likely the war that served as the historical backdrop for AV1 was a war between A'Ansur and Sudra. Regardless of who won, Sudra fell into ruin, and the effect on the Worldstream is plain to see. If Sudra was designed to manage the Breach, then it stands to reason that the people who operated it would have intimate knowledge of the technology used to do so. This knowledge would likely include how to create Breach portals, as well as how to survive within the Breach itself. My hypothesis is that some of the Sudrans who fought against A'Ansur left Sudra behind, and took up residence in the Breach. These Sudrans then went on to become the Udug.

It's also likely that Athetos' pathogen has some connection to the Udug as Telal was doing something that he referred to as "Udug hul". Unfortunately I don't know much Sumerian, so I don't know what "hul" means, but it's interesting to note that the improved Xedur variant was named "Xedur Hul". I have more thoughts on the pathogen itself but I'll put that in another post.

Draw more OCs (and hunter hehe)

HELL yeah

Ok, I played Axiom Verge for a second time, and spoilers for anyone who still hasn't played the game, but...

Oooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhh. I get it. I get what happened.

He never went back to Earth.

THIS is where he really is. Fast asleep, wrapped in a Rusalka's embrace, believing that he is living on Earth when he is actually just trapped in a Rusalki "mind world."

They lied to him. They manipulated him. They killed Athetos when they said they would not, and then they said they would send Trace home but they kept him.

That's why going back to his old life felt wrong, because it WASN'T his old life. He's fast asleep on Sudra.

And then there are the additional endings. The "almost true" ending, the one everyone thinks they get when they get over 80% of items, where Trace says he's almost got it. And Athetos shows up, tells him to wake up, and shoots him.

And then the REAL true ending, the one you can only get if you finish the game in under 4 hours, the one I've only seen in videos- where Trace says he actually DID finish. Athetos shows up, obviously still with a gun in his pocket, but does NOT shoot Trace, only says that he can't run from himself.

You know how they say that if you die in a dream, you'll either wake up or die for real?

Athetos shot Trace in the "almost" ending because Trace hadn't quite gotten the answer- but if Trace died in his Rusalka-induced dream, then he would wake up from it. In the true ending, Athetos doesn't need to kill Trace, because if Trace found the answer, found the way back to Sudra, then he already knows that the only way back IS to wake up.

But what still scares me is what Athetos told Trace (screencaps from this video because, like I said, I'm a long way from being able to get the TRUE ending):

Is Athetos saying that Trace really can't be redeemed? That he's doomed to become Athetos, no matter what?

x

Night sky and sled

🌟Night Sky: what are your writing goals for 2023? Or: how did you feel about your writing in 2022?

i do honestly want to start up another story like the knight glimmer au but at the same time if i just mostly chill with my writing that is a fine goal with me too either or. And I felt okay with my writing in 2022.

🛷 Sled: how has your writing process changed this year? Or: are you going to try anything new in your process in 2023?

not really sure i mean I have been on a long break for my one story. I did write some 2nd person fics which was fun and I want to do more. I def want to try new things so we will see what happens

What are your thoughts on if chrono trigger got a pixel HD remake, so it was in the style of the new live a live remake, or octopath traveler/triangle strategy?

Hey! Thanks for the question >:)

Going to be totally up front with you, I've only heard of octopath traveler via the release on switch, and didn't know live a live or triangle strategy until I tried to quickly look up what they were for this haha. I watched a few reviews/demos for all of these, but please feel free to expand upon or correct anything I've misunderstood!

After watching a comparison video for live a live, on initial view that's pretty gorgeous. If ct were to get the same treatment, it could be really beautiful! I gotta say tho, totally nitpicky, but I don't think I'm a fan of having 'realistic' elements like the sand and water right against the pixel textures.. I'd be interested to see what those elements would look like with the same pixel style - I just feel that they stand out a bit too much and clash with the style that they're going for in the rest of the environments. Tho I say that with a pinch of salt (or grain of sand haha) cause I'm only watching videos and not playing the game myself. Honestly, as long as it's not the 'HD' pixel art that the steam port had, that smoothed the pixels and ruined it all by creating seam rips in backgrounds that were seamless in the og, it can't be THAT bad.

In regards to the battle system.. I think I'm less inclined to have it changed - or at least, if they DO change it in a potential remake, there needs to be the option from the get-go to have the original battle system in place. The way that ct battle is already built is simple to learn and fun to master (at least until you've maxed everyone out to 999, then you barely have to think about it until lavos :p) and the first play through is paced really well in regards to how strong you are in battle. I'm not a fan of the cc battle system and I'd feel like I've had my ass kicked to the moons if the ct battle was adapted to reflect that more... Ct battle as it is should generally stay untouched because it's already well crafted.

I don't know if you've heard of the fan sequels crimson echoes/flames of eternity, I tried to complete ce a year or two ago; but because they had changed the battle system/lvl points to make it 'harder,' it was completely broken, and not in the players favour. I have a few things to say about ce, but they're not all nice lol so I'll leave it there - but that's part of the reason why I feel it's best to NOT mess with the battle system as a whole. I don't know how adding more things to think about in battle would help, and I worry that it'll break that battle progression that's paced well and easy to understand if you're a newbie/don't care about the battle system.

However, when I was 'researching,' I did see that there were parts of the battle in octopath traveler that kind of looked timed? I'm not sure if you've played paper mario 64, but in battles there's a slight timing element and it made me wonder if it was similar to that? In paper mario, if you press the action button just right while you land your attack, you get an increased chance for critical hit/double jump ect, I feel that maaaaaybe if a slight time based thing that was lenient like that was introduced to battle (or maybe was an expansion to battle in the way accessories like the rage band are?) that it could be fun without feeling hostile!

I also looked into triangle strategy a bit, but the battle looked more like chess meets turn based rpg battle to me... I don't think having an actual grid to fight across like that would work in ct's favour. I know an aspect that might appeal to that format would be the proximity to counter attack, but to suddenly have a battle grid would (in my opinion) take away the charm of the 'real time battle' that ct had, and I don't think it's needed as the party can move to attack whatever enemy they like via selection, and the enemies often move around the screen anyway in ct as is. Adding a board might become a redundant hassle... To bring up paper mario again lol, in the most recent game, origami king, the battles all take place on a circle arena that you turn, literally turn based battle. It gets old real quick and isn't very fun, when the more traditional rpg battle style of previous games worked perfectly fine.

Another example that might help illustrate my concerns with adding too many things to the battle system would be Mario kart 8. It's a decent kart game, but the system for both weight class and the body/wheel/paraglider kart build is INSANE and I hate it tbh. It's Mario kart, I just wanna race, and being forced to build a kart that majorly impacts the way in which you drive sucks ass. And they took out wheelies for motorbikes where the point :'''( I don't wanna have to think about whether I need to build something with inside or outside turning and consider if my heavy character is a light-heavy or heavy-heavy, that detracts from what I came to play and makes it a lot of screens to pass through before I can actually start racing. There also isn't any clear indicators for these weird stats you gotta consider, so you might just try to build a kart that seems balanced and start racing and then find you've fucked yourself over as soon as you start to drift. To me, that is a classic instance of hostile game design - it's only there for the people that REALLY care and is completely overwhelming and useless to players who don't care. If ct were to have things like job classes or battle grids or anything else added... My main concern is ruining the balance that's already in ct, but the other big concern I have is this ^^ I don't want layers upon layers of convoluted and potentially poorly explained systems to be crammed in cause it worked for other games. Ct is it's own game, and what works really well in octopath or triangle strategy might be nothing but a detriment outside of those games.

To tl;dr, I think that the HD Pixel style of these games would be awesome to see a ct remaster in (with perhaps a few tweaks) and I think the battle system should be left alone, perhaps with only minor qol tweaks to modernize it.

Thank you so much for the question, and please feel free to expand upon or correct anything I've misunderstood!

Bispearl

Whoo!