Theories & Thoughts

[Luri]

On 11/11/2023 at 10:50 PM, Amare said:

 

I'm not sure if the player could bring Tristan back... or at least, bring him back *properly*. Aurora and/or Shiv might have the power, but I don't know if they knew him well enough to get 100% Tristan and not, like 75% Tristan. The player has the memories, but not the power. Might need all three? (I definitely think we can expect to see Darkrai haunting us with Tristan and anyone else we lose in the future, though.)

 

Does Booker have an Ayrith equivalent? Have we met him/heard about him? Did Darkrai make him up? I genuinely can't remember.

 

Haha, instead of the Foxes it's Team Anti-Assist. No making life better for formerly-brainwashed villagers allowed!

 

See, all of those are great ideas, but there's also room for the world's most awkward conversation about brothers. "My big bro's such a dork, he takes everything so seriously and he got mad at me for being late and he kept trying to date Rosetta even though she turned him down all the time." "...my brother ignored me for most of my life, and then after I left home and got into trouble, he threw me in here as a punishment. And then once I looked old enough that nobody would believe me if I said we were related, he let me out... but then he came back and threw me in here again." "...uh."

 

Signs, tiny ponds that anyone older than three could step over, Psyducks with headaches, chairs, the world's thinnest trees...

 

The Docks falling under Rosetta's purview does make sense, I guess. But the rest of Cellia certainly deserves to get spruced up. 

 

I'm just imagining Cedric falling into a state of despair at the fact that he probably got picked right out of school to go on this mission, he's been preparing for ages, this mission could make or break everything not just for him, but for Ayrith... and he wound up having to work with Ryder. (In another room, Ryder trips on his perfectly-tied shoelaces and knocks himself silly on a bench.)

 

Honestly, I'd murder Waldenhall for torching the labs if I had a chance. That was *pure history* he burned.

 

I barely remember anything about the wars in Ayrith, but it's possible that they could have been fighting over Perfection, or using Perfection. I mean, knowing what the PULSE mons did to Reborn, I bet a Perfected mon could do a hell of a lot of damage if it wanted.

 

Oh, Lord, I hope that's not what we get. Some of the battles are already bad enough.

 

Probably with a whole lot of fighting, honestly.

 

I agree, Connor is probably never going to stop being a jerk, but everyone might be able to file a couple of the rough edges off him. Maybe.

 

A Grid field... well, very purple. And starry. Not sure what the effects would be, though.

 

Maybe the promise was to Booker or something?

 

Yeah, chances are it won’t be as easy as grabbing some chalk and drawing a summoning circle or willing him back into existence. I hadn’t thought about that though, that’s a fair point.

Can’t say for certain but it doesn’t seem like those two know him as well as the MC so bringing him back could require all three unless something miraculous happens.

What an interesting circumstance that would be, working together to bring Tristan back (again x2). Time to cash in a favor with those two!

Summoning Tristan to haunt the player does seem right up Darkrai’s alley. I doubt e6 is the last time we’ll see Tristan.

Honestly, it’s a pretty cool consequence. Like the more people we lose the more Darkrai can summon/create or whatever. Maybe it could be worked into a gauntlet style, where it’ll be easier if we save everyone versus accidentally (or purposely) letting them perish will add more trainers to the gauntlet?

 

That’s a pretty interesting question. I don’t recall ever hearing about or even meeting a character in Ayrith named Booker, unlike the situation with Rufas/Dufas.

I ended up curious about that, so I wandered around for a bit to see if he does. Booker doesn’t have a distinct character sprite so it’s definitely a bit hard to discern. If I were to hazard a guess the receptionist in Cellia Library could be a good contender.

It’s still possible we haven’t met Booker’s equivalent as of yet. Maybe he’ll be chilling in some small library in Astraciel or Darkroot. Or he could be a resident of Hydreilius Island.

Honestly, that’d be pretty neat if Booker was made up by Darkrai. His creation was the result of Darkrai trying to oppose the stagnation of the Dreamscape, someone who goes against the flow of the “established” rule in the Dreamscape to add a bit more pazazz to the dream.

Although Booker did meddle in Darkrai’s plan by casting suspicions on the twins. If Booker was Darkrai’s creation I doubt it would allow him to continue existing when Darkrai was so close to freedom at that point.

Or maybe his whole being is in the Dreamscape, so we haven’t met him in Ayrith.

It is curious he’s not around anymore, presumably cozied up in his place but who knows for sure.

 

Okay that would be pretty neat! They didn’t do so well in Aevium so they skedaddled to Ayrith to start anew and found out about the situation the Keneph Villagers are in. Bonus if the MC just nukes them like the MC in Rejuv and they eventually give up the Anti-Assist lifestyle and help build the resort/the village.

 

Gotta enjoy those awkward conversations, especially about siblings. Way to one-up Eden, Keegan xD. That’d be a fun interlude where we just catch clippets of their awkward conversations and eventual side-kick team-up before they inevitably run into the protagonist.

 

Cracks in the floor that could totally be crossed with a sturdy plank, and some nice piles of rocks…man there sure are a lot of obstacles.

 

Cellia certainly does. If the districts of Cellia do get a nice sprucing up, I’m sure they will look absolutely fantastic.  

 

I can see that happening lol. I don’t blame Cedric. As entertaining as Ryder is that’s gotta sting.  Also, Ryder would totally trip and knock himself silly after denying the obvious clue to the investigation in said room.

 

Yeahhh, torching the whole place was overkill. It certainly didn’t get rid of the entity or rid him of the Perfection Fragment stuck to him. It’s quite sad so many books and other historical objects turned to kindling. Maybe they can get a conservator in there to see if anything can be salvaged or repaired. I wonder if Booker would know anything about book conservation and historical restoration? At some point, Aurora ends up going to Booker and begrudgingly asks if he has any knowledge on the subject.

 

There hasn’t been too much about the wars, just that some trainer crashed the party while riding a Moltres and ended the war peacefully. And that it’s regarded as a fable.

Totally true, I could see them causing major damage as well. Also, kind of concerning since Perfected pokémon seem to have a more aggravated, sometimes malicious temperament. Having them run rampant during active combat sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.

 

I’m willing to give such a battle a try though I’d rather not have to. Unless it was some double battle with Lilith and her Umbreon aiding us. If not, Darkrai can have that win lol.

 

 Haha, fighting seems like a given, all things considered.

 

Maybe is definitely the keyword here xD. Here’s to hoping he cools off a tad!

 

Absolutely. No clue either. I’d expect the effects would reflect the aspects of what we know about the Grid. Like giving the move teleport some stat effects or something. Or even hinting at some secrets, like how the Darkness field seems to have some Perfection connections. If we do ever get to explore the Grid (which I’m totally stoked to explore) maybe we will get a Grid field of some sort :D.

 

Huh, that’s not a bad guess. Could be Booker. After the MC left for Ayrith Tristan went back to visit Booker and they ended up talking and possibly conspiring together, leading to some promise? Another idea is maybe the promise has something to do with Nova? Dunno if it would pan out with the Booker guess but before leaving the Dreamscape the first time around Tristan does mention Nova.

[Amare]

On 11/19/2023 at 12:49 PM, Luri said:

 

Yeah, chances are it won’t be as easy as grabbing some chalk and drawing a summoning circle or willing him back into existence. I hadn’t thought about that though, that’s a fair point.

Can’t say for certain but it doesn’t seem like those two know him as well as the MC so bringing him back could require all three unless something miraculous happens.

What an interesting circumstance that would be, working together to bring Tristan back (again x2). Time to cash in a favor with those two!

Summoning Tristan to haunt the player does seem right up Darkrai’s alley. I doubt e6 is the last time we’ll see Tristan.

Honestly, it’s a pretty cool consequence. Like the more people we lose the more Darkrai can summon/create or whatever. Maybe it could be worked into a gauntlet style, where it’ll be easier if we save everyone versus accidentally (or purposely) letting them perish will add more trainers to the gauntlet?

 

That’s a pretty interesting question. I don’t recall ever hearing about or even meeting a character in Ayrith named Booker, unlike the situation with Rufas/Dufas.

I ended up curious about that, so I wandered around for a bit to see if he does. Booker doesn’t have a distinct character sprite so it’s definitely a bit hard to discern. If I were to hazard a guess the receptionist in Cellia Library could be a good contender.

It’s still possible we haven’t met Booker’s equivalent as of yet. Maybe he’ll be chilling in some small library in Astraciel or Darkroot. Or he could be a resident of Hydreilius Island.

Honestly, that’d be pretty neat if Booker was made up by Darkrai. His creation was the result of Darkrai trying to oppose the stagnation of the Dreamscape, someone who goes against the flow of the “established” rule in the Dreamscape to add a bit more pazazz to the dream.

Although Booker did meddle in Darkrai’s plan by casting suspicions on the twins. If Booker was Darkrai’s creation I doubt it would allow him to continue existing when Darkrai was so close to freedom at that point.

Or maybe his whole being is in the Dreamscape, so we haven’t met him in Ayrith.

It is curious he’s not around anymore, presumably cozied up in his place but who knows for sure.

 

Okay that would be pretty neat! They didn’t do so well in Aevium so they skedaddled to Ayrith to start anew and found out about the situation the Keneph Villagers are in. Bonus if the MC just nukes them like the MC in Rejuv and they eventually give up the Anti-Assist lifestyle and help build the resort/the village.

 

Gotta enjoy those awkward conversations, especially about siblings. Way to one-up Eden, Keegan xD. That’d be a fun interlude where we just catch clippets of their awkward conversations and eventual side-kick team-up before they inevitably run into the protagonist.

 

Cracks in the floor that could totally be crossed with a sturdy plank, and some nice piles of rocks…man there sure are a lot of obstacles.

 

Cellia certainly does. If the districts of Cellia do get a nice sprucing up, I’m sure they will look absolutely fantastic.  

 

I can see that happening lol. I don’t blame Cedric. As entertaining as Ryder is that’s gotta sting.  Also, Ryder would totally trip and knock himself silly after denying the obvious clue to the investigation in said room.

 

Yeahhh, torching the whole place was overkill. It certainly didn’t get rid of the entity or rid him of the Perfection Fragment stuck to him. It’s quite sad so many books and other historical objects turned to kindling. Maybe they can get a conservator in there to see if anything can be salvaged or repaired. I wonder if Booker would know anything about book conservation and historical restoration? At some point, Aurora ends up going to Booker and begrudgingly asks if he has any knowledge on the subject.

 

There hasn’t been too much about the wars, just that some trainer crashed the party while riding a Moltres and ended the war peacefully. And that it’s regarded as a fable.

Totally true, I could see them causing major damage as well. Also, kind of concerning since Perfected pokémon seem to have a more aggravated, sometimes malicious temperament. Having them run rampant during active combat sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.

 

I’m willing to give such a battle a try though I’d rather not have to. Unless it was some double battle with Lilith and her Umbreon aiding us. If not, Darkrai can have that win lol.

 

 Haha, fighting seems like a given, all things considered.

 

Maybe is definitely the keyword here xD. Here’s to hoping he cools off a tad!

 

Absolutely. No clue either. I’d expect the effects would reflect the aspects of what we know about the Grid. Like giving the move teleport some stat effects or something. Or even hinting at some secrets, like how the Darkness field seems to have some Perfection connections. If we do ever get to explore the Grid (which I’m totally stoked to explore) maybe we will get a Grid field of some sort :D.

 

Huh, that’s not a bad guess. Could be Booker. After the MC left for Ayrith Tristan went back to visit Booker and they ended up talking and possibly conspiring together, leading to some promise? Another idea is maybe the promise has something to do with Nova? Dunno if it would pan out with the Booker guess but before leaving the Dreamscape the first time around Tristan does mention Nova.

(Look at us, we've hit three pages, lmao)

 

Oh, shit, that gauntlet is a fantastic idea. I mean, AFAIK there's nothing we can do to save Tristan, but I wouldn't be surprised if there winds up being more people we can save/let die at later points.

 

Yeah, I could buy Booker turning up later on the other islands. (Although it would be very interesting if it turned out that Booker and Tristan were the same entity or something. IDK how that would work, it would just be cool.)

 

That would also be hilarious. Team Anti-Assist exist to get kicked around.

 

There is so much potential for awkward conversations in Desolation, it's hilarious.

 

It's almost like the world is set up to only let the MC go to certain places... nah.

 

Queer Eye For The Darkrai, coming to Cellia!

 

Ryder is like a one-man slapstick show. He's a menace to society, it's hilarious.

 

Yep, that's the one thing Booker and Aurora can agree on. Next episode has them teaming up to hunt Waldenhall down for crimes against books.

 

Hmmm... well, we've already had time travel once in this game. Maybe the MC will accidentally turn out to be the trainer who ended the war?

 

Sounds like they'd make a great distraction, though. (Well, 'great' in the sense of 'enormous'.)

 

Yeah, if we face a gauntlet like that, I'm probably going to give up, there's only so much I can handle. Perfection Umbreon/Mega Mightyena were bad enough.

 

Next episode: Connor gets therapy.

 

The Grid field might give Psychic types a boost? Otherwise, I don't really know. Given the technology aspect, maybe Steel as well?

 

Booker or Nova do sound like the most likely ideas, but there's just no way to tell. :(

 

[Luri]

On 11/22/2023 at 10:12 PM, Amare said:

(Look at us, we've hit three pages, lmao)

 

Oh, shit, that gauntlet is a fantastic idea. I mean, AFAIK there's nothing we can do to save Tristan, but I wouldn't be surprised if there winds up being more people we can save/let die at later points.

 

Yeah, I could buy Booker turning up later on the other islands. (Although it would be very interesting if it turned out that Booker and Tristan were the same entity or something. IDK how that would work, it would just be cool.)

 

That would also be hilarious. Team Anti-Assist exist to get kicked around.

 

There is so much potential for awkward conversations in Desolation, it's hilarious.

 

It's almost like the world is set up to only let the MC go to certain places... nah.

 

Queer Eye For The Darkrai, coming to Cellia!

 

Ryder is like a one-man slapstick show. He's a menace to society, it's hilarious.

 

Yep, that's the one thing Booker and Aurora can agree on. Next episode has them teaming up to hunt Waldenhall down for crimes against books.

 

Hmmm... well, we've already had time travel once in this game. Maybe the MC will accidentally turn out to be the trainer who ended the war?

 

Sounds like they'd make a great distraction, though. (Well, 'great' in the sense of 'enormous'.)

 

Yeah, if we face a gauntlet like that, I'm probably going to give up, there's only so much I can handle. Perfection Umbreon/Mega Mightyena were bad enough.

 

Next episode: Connor gets therapy.

 

The Grid field might give Psychic types a boost? Otherwise, I don't really know. Given the technology aspect, maybe Steel as well?

 

Booker or Nova do sound like the most likely ideas, but there's just no way to tell. :(

 

 

Wow, three pages, not bad at all ^_^ A nice testament to Desolation and our ability to chat about it!

 

Yeah, as of right now it doesn’t look like there’s too much that can be done for him (totally not sad about that, nope not at all!).
If someone else is to end up in a position that can lead to their death, I wonder who it will be. They could also dredge up any ghosts of the MCs past for the gauntlet. The entity does seem to know them. There are lots of neat ideas for a series of battles.  

 

Me too. He seems like a Darkroot kinda guy. Either way, I do hope to see Booker again, at least once more.

Okay, that would be pretty cool. Not sure how’d that work either but hey, they are in a dream. It doesn’t seem out of the realm of possibilities there.

 

Right? They are such a great punching bag team, it would be quite amusing indeed.

 

Absolutely! Desolation has a lot of potential, especially with those awkward conversations. It’s certainly exciting to see where it will go and what will happen.

 

Haha nahhh, that’s a silly notion. The world couldn’t possibly be fabricated in such a way…right?

 

Darkrai ends up purchasing advertisement space on a fancy billboard in Cellia. Or just hijacks Rosetta’s screen above the battle tournament building to display its wondrous motto for the world to see.

 

Ryder and his adorable slippers really are. It’s never a dull moment when he’s around.

 

That would be one fun episode, I bet xD.

 

Oh yeah, we totally did! Wonder if we’ll have another instance of time travel at some point.

The MC does have access to Moltres at this point, that’d be pretty fun if the war was ended via a time traveling protagonist. Maybe we'd get to fight a few battles before being able to calm the two sides. And earn some interesting Ayrith lore tidbits in the process.

 

They totally would. They might end up being too grand of a distraction haha.

 

At least it’s only speculation at this point. We’re sure to have some tough battles ahead of us although I doubt, they will be as difficult as that. Whatever we end up facing though I’ll be rooting for your success!

 

That would be a nice episode. I think quite a few characters should join Connor. Some of them should really take the time to talk things out, get to the root of the problem, and overcome it. Then all go out and have some nice food or something.

 

Psychic seems pretty fitting given the overall nature and aesthetic of the Grid. I also really like the Steel idea. The harnessing of the Grid’s power through technological means could impact the Grid and enhance any steel types/moves.

A really out-there guess but what if it boosts dragon. Dialga and Palkia both have dragon typings and they are the poster children for time and space, concepts that are quite prominent for the Grid. Or at the very least some effect with their signature moves.

 

We may not be able to know for sure yet, but I do think what we know so far is pretty telling.

Leaving aside the potential of it being someone we don’t know (which doesn’t seem too likely given the situation up until then), there doesn’t seem to be too many parties that the promise could have been made to. He’s affiliated with both sides, but I doubt he’d make a promise to Darkrai willingly, so Booker and Nova do seem the most likely.

Since he was in the Waterscape releasing his pokémon maybe it was a promise he made to his Lopunny (or to himself). A promise that allows his pokémon to live a better life with a better trainer, to not be stained by his actions as well as make sure that Darkrai cannot use him as a threat against the Darkrai Destroyer Squad. Outside of these options, I don’t see it being much else.

Speaking of which, where did the last two of his pokémon go? Bugs the Wigglytuff and Damien the Sawsbuck, did they already poof out of existence by the time Nova and the protagonist arrive in the Dreamscape or something?

[Amare]

On 11/30/2023 at 3:12 PM, Luri said:

 

Wow, three pages, not bad at all ^_^ A nice testament to Desolation and our ability to chat about it!

 

Yeah, as of right now it doesn’t look like there’s too much that can be done for him (totally not sad about that, nope not at all!).
If someone else is to end up in a position that can lead to their death, I wonder who it will be. They could also dredge up any ghosts of the MCs past for the gauntlet. The entity does seem to know them. There are lots of neat ideas for a series of battles.  

 

Me too. He seems like a Darkroot kinda guy. Either way, I do hope to see Booker again, at least once more.

Okay, that would be pretty cool. Not sure how’d that work either but hey, they are in a dream. It doesn’t seem out of the realm of possibilities there.

 

Right? They are such a great punching bag team, it would be quite amusing indeed.

 

Absolutely! Desolation has a lot of potential, especially with those awkward conversations. It’s certainly exciting to see where it will go and what will happen.

 

Haha nahhh, that’s a silly notion. The world couldn’t possibly be fabricated in such a way…right?

 

Darkrai ends up purchasing advertisement space on a fancy billboard in Cellia. Or just hijacks Rosetta’s screen above the battle tournament building to display its wondrous motto for the world to see.

 

Ryder and his adorable slippers really are. It’s never a dull moment when he’s around.

 

That would be one fun episode, I bet xD.

 

Oh yeah, we totally did! Wonder if we’ll have another instance of time travel at some point.

The MC does have access to Moltres at this point, that’d be pretty fun if the war was ended via a time traveling protagonist. Maybe we'd get to fight a few battles before being able to calm the two sides. And earn some interesting Ayrith lore tidbits in the process.

 

They totally would. They might end up being too grand of a distraction haha.

 

At least it’s only speculation at this point. We’re sure to have some tough battles ahead of us although I doubt, they will be as difficult as that. Whatever we end up facing though I’ll be rooting for your success!

 

That would be a nice episode. I think quite a few characters should join Connor. Some of them should really take the time to talk things out, get to the root of the problem, and overcome it. Then all go out and have some nice food or something.

 

Psychic seems pretty fitting given the overall nature and aesthetic of the Grid. I also really like the Steel idea. The harnessing of the Grid’s power through technological means could impact the Grid and enhance any steel types/moves.

A really out-there guess but what if it boosts dragon. Dialga and Palkia both have dragon typings and they are the poster children for time and space, concepts that are quite prominent for the Grid. Or at the very least some effect with their signature moves.

 

We may not be able to know for sure yet, but I do think what we know so far is pretty telling.

Leaving aside the potential of it being someone we don’t know (which doesn’t seem too likely given the situation up until then), there doesn’t seem to be too many parties that the promise could have been made to. He’s affiliated with both sides, but I doubt he’d make a promise to Darkrai willingly, so Booker and Nova do seem the most likely.

Since he was in the Waterscape releasing his pokémon maybe it was a promise he made to his Lopunny (or to himself). A promise that allows his pokémon to live a better life with a better trainer, to not be stained by his actions as well as make sure that Darkrai cannot use him as a threat against the Darkrai Destroyer Squad. Outside of these options, I don’t see it being much else.

Speaking of which, where did the last two of his pokémon go? Bugs the Wigglytuff and Damien the Sawsbuck, did they already poof out of existence by the time Nova and the protagonist arrive in the Dreamscape or something?

 

Yeah, it's definitely a game that invites speculation, there's just so much to talk about.

 

Honestly, given how popular Tristan is, I'd be surprised if that's the last we see of him, even if he does only get brought back as a nightmare. AFAIK, the fandom's basically adopted him as Desolation's resident poor little meow meow so I think we'll likely see *something* of him again.

 

Future deaths is actually a really, really interesting topic to speculate on. So far (compared to Reborn and Rejuvenation at least) Desolation's actually been pretty conservative with the amount of characters that have been killed off, and it gives you the chance to save a couple. (Which actually leads to a really interesting question: I wonder if in future episodes, there'll be some situation or reveal that makes it so that letting Scarlett or Nova die might actually have been a good choice?) But if you look at it, the common factor is that they've all been working for Darkrai, either directly or indirectly, so it looks like the most likely victims are Nova, Lilith, Shiv, or the inevitable character who's been working for Darkrai the whole time and we never knew.

 

Now that we mention it, getting to Darkroot finally is going to be really interesting for the sole reason that it's basically the closest thing the MC has to a hometown. Hopefully we'll find out more about the MC there, even if it's just 'how's the shrimp allergy going' or 'Is your least favourite colour still grey'.

 

Actually, Darkrai pulling a 'do not adjust your TV set' to announce its takeover of the world would kind of be hilarious. (Especially if it turns out that it's just because Aurora always wanted to be a TV personality.)

 

It would be kind of hilarious if the MC just wound up changing history by sheer accident. They fell on a time travel device, politely asked some angry-looking people to calm down and whoops, they just ended a war.

 

Oh, we're definitely in for tough battles no matter what, but hopefully we'll get through them. And I'll be rooting for your success too.

 

That's the next episode: everyone goes to Teila Resort to undergo rest, relaxation, spa treatments, and group therapy. They return to Ayrith with the whole group having received a total glow up. 

 

Dragon would be really cool too! And maybe we'll find Palkia and/or Dialga in the Grid sometime in the future.

 

That's actually a really good question, and I don't know. (I would have happily adopted any of Tristan's mons, but the game had to kick us in the collective dick...)

 

[Luri]

On 12/4/2023 at 10:01 PM, Amare said:

 

Yeah, it's definitely a game that invites speculation, there's just so much to talk about.

 

Honestly, given how popular Tristan is, I'd be surprised if that's the last we see of him, even if he does only get brought back as a nightmare. AFAIK, the fandom's basically adopted him as Desolation's resident poor little meow meow so I think we'll likely see *something* of him again.

 

Future deaths is actually a really, really interesting topic to speculate on. So far (compared to Reborn and Rejuvenation at least) Desolation's actually been pretty conservative with the amount of characters that have been killed off, and it gives you the chance to save a couple. (Which actually leads to a really interesting question: I wonder if in future episodes, there'll be some situation or reveal that makes it so that letting Scarlett or Nova die might actually have been a good choice?) But if you look at it, the common factor is that they've all been working for Darkrai, either directly or indirectly, so it looks like the most likely victims are Nova, Lilith, Shiv, or the inevitable character who's been working for Darkrai the whole time and we never knew.

 

Now that we mention it, getting to Darkroot finally is going to be really interesting for the sole reason that it's basically the closest thing the MC has to a hometown. Hopefully we'll find out more about the MC there, even if it's just 'how's the shrimp allergy going' or 'Is your least favourite colour still grey'.

 

Actually, Darkrai pulling a 'do not adjust your TV set' to announce its takeover of the world would kind of be hilarious. (Especially if it turns out that it's just because Aurora always wanted to be a TV personality.)

 

It would be kind of hilarious if the MC just wound up changing history by sheer accident. They fell on a time travel device, politely asked some angry-looking people to calm down and whoops, they just ended a war.

 

Oh, we're definitely in for tough battles no matter what, but hopefully we'll get through them. And I'll be rooting for your success too.

 

That's the next episode: everyone goes to Teila Resort to undergo rest, relaxation, spa treatments, and group therapy. They return to Ayrith with the whole group having received a total glow up. 

 

Dragon would be really cool too! And maybe we'll find Palkia and/or Dialga in the Grid sometime in the future.

 

That's actually a really good question, and I don't know. (I would have happily adopted any of Tristan's mons, but the game had to kick us in the collective dick...)

 

 

 Haha, you can certainly say that again. It’s such a treat.

 

Omg resident poor little meow meow, love it . Seems it’s best to prepare for that eventual heartbreak when he does return as some nightmare.

 

 

Very true. We ended up with a lot of mind-boggling and less death. It’s pretty exciting to see if that’ll shift a bit or if there are still mindscrews waiting for us as the narrative progresses. Or a mixture of both.

Ooh yeah, that is quite an interesting thought actually. Saving or not saving Nova does have consequences tied to fending off Darkrai. Scarlett, as far as I can tell, doesn’t have any direct consequences outside of who the MC battles during the tournament and different character dialogue with most notably Connor. If I were to guess I’d say Scarlett’s death has the potential… that poor sweet girl. Unless we get another potential death down the road where the “better” choice would be allowing them to perish. I’m highly curious to see if something like that will happen too.

Regarding the potential deaths, the common denominator does seem to be those who have ties to Darkrai. Definitely agree that’s a pretty viable list of potential characters. Taking that into consideration I would wager that the twins are the safest for now. Darkrai was quick to rein in Shiv since they are still valuable pawns. And besides he can’t die before telling the MC what’s up with those weird colorful shards. Once Darkrai is close to achieving its goals, however, that’s a different story. I suppose it could be on the cards to have a redemption death or two.

Lilith’s current situation is also pretty sketchy. Either something bad happened to her which may or may not result in her untimely passing or she’s coming back with her whole party Perfected ready to annihilate everyone who gets in her way.

 

Outside of ties with Darkrai the danger that Perfection poses would be a close second for possible deaths. Reeve mentions the potential of Perfection spreading across Ayrith. If things go really south and that comes to pass the death count could end up with a few more tallies. Who knows if someone besides the protagonist will end up coming in contact with Perfection fragments/energy.

Depending on how the situation with the Perfection fragment goes the MC could end up dying and it could be chalked up to another bad end.

Perhaps Lilith will die and Nova or the MC will adopt her Perfection Umbreon. Although that does make me wonder what’d happen to the Umbreon if something happened to Lilith. Does it lose its Perfection state or does it stay Perfected?

The character that’s been an undercover Darkrai agent this whole time is finally revealed and subsequently meets their demise. Which just so happens to be Ava… 95% joking about that xD.

 

 

Absolutely. It’s a town that’s been mentioned many times by Ava so there was always a general curiosity about Darkroot. But now we know that the MC was found near Darkroot and must have spent at least some time there which makes it an exciting prospect. Any flavor text about the protagonist would be really neat. I’d be satisfied if someone around town mentions the growth the MC has undergone since leaving with Ava. If we do get any information about them, I’m kinda curious if it will be an all-encompassing information that every protag gets or is dependent on the chosen protagonist.

 

It’d be quite entertaining to see Aurora just start pestering Darkrai until it finally relents and orchestrates a massive takeover of every screen in Cellia.

 

That’d be a hoot! Earning hero status and ending wars by being polite. A pretty nice sentiment actually.

 

Most certainly. We totally got whatever they throw at us!

 

They really need it. Can’t be saving an entire region from impending doom while mentally and physically exhausted. It’d be really nice to see everyone relaxing for a spell.

 

Agreed! Palkia could be chilling in some pocket part of the Grid only accessible by some sort of portal maze and Dialga might be in the deepest depths of the Grid where time is all wonky.

Seeing where we’ll find legendaries in Desolation is certainly one thing I’m looking forward to.

 

Glad I’m not the only one who doesn’t know lol. Chances are they probably disappeared first but who knows for sure.

Omg yeah, adopting Tristan’s pokémon somehow would have been so great. There’d be something poetic about taking on Darkrai with Tristan’s team. Even if he can’t fight alongside the protagonist, he’s still able to help. Mannnn, thanks for that Darkrai .

[Amare]

On 12/11/2023 at 11:56 AM, Luri said:

 

 Haha, you can certainly say that again. It’s such a treat.

 

Omg resident poor little meow meow, love it . Seems it’s best to prepare for that eventual heartbreak when he does return as some nightmare.

 

 

Very true. We ended up with a lot of mind-boggling and less death. It’s pretty exciting to see if that’ll shift a bit or if there are still mindscrews waiting for us as the narrative progresses. Or a mixture of both.

Ooh yeah, that is quite an interesting thought actually. Saving or not saving Nova does have consequences tied to fending off Darkrai. Scarlett, as far as I can tell, doesn’t have any direct consequences outside of who the MC battles during the tournament and different character dialogue with most notably Connor. If I were to guess I’d say Scarlett’s death has the potential… that poor sweet girl. Unless we get another potential death down the road where the “better” choice would be allowing them to perish. I’m highly curious to see if something like that will happen too.

Regarding the potential deaths, the common denominator does seem to be those who have ties to Darkrai. Definitely agree that’s a pretty viable list of potential characters. Taking that into consideration I would wager that the twins are the safest for now. Darkrai was quick to rein in Shiv since they are still valuable pawns. And besides he can’t die before telling the MC what’s up with those weird colorful shards. Once Darkrai is close to achieving its goals, however, that’s a different story. I suppose it could be on the cards to have a redemption death or two.

Lilith’s current situation is also pretty sketchy. Either something bad happened to her which may or may not result in her untimely passing or she’s coming back with her whole party Perfected ready to annihilate everyone who gets in her way.

 

Outside of ties with Darkrai the danger that Perfection poses would be a close second for possible deaths. Reeve mentions the potential of Perfection spreading across Ayrith. If things go really south and that comes to pass the death count could end up with a few more tallies. Who knows if someone besides the protagonist will end up coming in contact with Perfection fragments/energy.

Depending on how the situation with the Perfection fragment goes the MC could end up dying and it could be chalked up to another bad end.

Perhaps Lilith will die and Nova or the MC will adopt her Perfection Umbreon. Although that does make me wonder what’d happen to the Umbreon if something happened to Lilith. Does it lose its Perfection state or does it stay Perfected?

The character that’s been an undercover Darkrai agent this whole time is finally revealed and subsequently meets their demise. Which just so happens to be Ava… 95% joking about that xD.

 

 

Absolutely. It’s a town that’s been mentioned many times by Ava so there was always a general curiosity about Darkroot. But now we know that the MC was found near Darkroot and must have spent at least some time there which makes it an exciting prospect. Any flavor text about the protagonist would be really neat. I’d be satisfied if someone around town mentions the growth the MC has undergone since leaving with Ava. If we do get any information about them, I’m kinda curious if it will be an all-encompassing information that every protag gets or is dependent on the chosen protagonist.

 

It’d be quite entertaining to see Aurora just start pestering Darkrai until it finally relents and orchestrates a massive takeover of every screen in Cellia.

 

That’d be a hoot! Earning hero status and ending wars by being polite. A pretty nice sentiment actually.

 

Most certainly. We totally got whatever they throw at us!

 

They really need it. Can’t be saving an entire region from impending doom while mentally and physically exhausted. It’d be really nice to see everyone relaxing for a spell.

 

Agreed! Palkia could be chilling in some pocket part of the Grid only accessible by some sort of portal maze and Dialga might be in the deepest depths of the Grid where time is all wonky.

Seeing where we’ll find legendaries in Desolation is certainly one thing I’m looking forward to.

 

Glad I’m not the only one who doesn’t know lol. Chances are they probably disappeared first but who knows for sure.

Omg yeah, adopting Tristan’s pokémon somehow would have been so great. There’d be something poetic about taking on Darkrai with Tristan’s team. Even if he can’t fight alongside the protagonist, he’s still able to help. Mannnn, thanks for that Darkrai .

 

Honestly, I will be very surprised if the devs don't try to torture us with Tristan at some point in the future. I mean, that's what fan favourites are for, right?

 

I feel like we'd be most likely to see significant consequences for Scarlett in the next episode and onwards, because that's when we need all hands on deck, y'know? Without Scarlett, not only is the team down a member, but Connor doesn't have the stabilising influence, which means he's probably going to do something stupid.

 

I agree that Lilith does definitely seem like the most obvious candidate because she's in the worst situation, but outside of the Darkrai Gang... hmmm. I can see Garret making a dumb/heroic sacrifice to save Eden, or Reeve making a dumb/heroic sacrifice to stop Waldenhall and redeem himself along the way. Or possibly Emily dying to destroy morale? Not sure. Otherwise, my other bet would be Hardy, either to redeem himself or because he's realised that his situation is so pointless that there's no point in continuing.

 

That's actually a really, really good point: I can see Waldenhall, Amelia or someone else who knew about Perfection and had less scruples than Reeve intentionally distributing artificial Perfection or spreading word of how to attain it in order to get more test subjects, or to wreak havoc over Ayrith, or just to slow the protagonists down. It'd be like Pokerus: everyone would want it to make their Pokemon stronger, even if it wasn't proven to be safe. And if the potential effects of humans reaching Perfection were known, I bet a lot of people would take it in a flash. 

 

I suppose, since Lilith never attained Perfection with her Umbreon, there's no reason why it wouldn't stay Perfected if she died before it. If she had, then yeah, it might lose Perfection, but that's a whole other scenario...

 

Oooh, protagonist-specific text, now there's an idea... Rejuvenation's been doing some great protagonist characterisation in the later episodes, I'd be hyped for some like it in Desolation. 

 

I'm not sure where else we might find legendaries in Desolation- at least, where we've seen so far. Any ideas?

 

We'll have to add it to the very long personalised list of reasons to kick Darkrai's ass. It's getting really long at this point...

 

[Luri]

On 12/16/2023 at 12:24 AM, Amare said:

 

Honestly, I will be very surprised if the devs don't try to torture us with Tristan at some point in the future. I mean, that's what fan favourites are for, right?

 

I feel like we'd be most likely to see significant consequences for Scarlett in the next episode and onwards, because that's when we need all hands on deck, y'know? Without Scarlett, not only is the team down a member, but Connor doesn't have the stabilising influence, which means he's probably going to do something stupid.

 

I agree that Lilith does definitely seem like the most obvious candidate because she's in the worst situation, but outside of the Darkrai Gang... hmmm. I can see Garret making a dumb/heroic sacrifice to save Eden, or Reeve making a dumb/heroic sacrifice to stop Waldenhall and redeem himself along the way. Or possibly Emily dying to destroy morale? Not sure. Otherwise, my other bet would be Hardy, either to redeem himself or because he's realised that his situation is so pointless that there's no point in continuing.

 

That's actually a really, really good point: I can see Waldenhall, Amelia or someone else who knew about Perfection and had less scruples than Reeve intentionally distributing artificial Perfection or spreading word of how to attain it in order to get more test subjects, or to wreak havoc over Ayrith, or just to slow the protagonists down. It'd be like Pokerus: everyone would want it to make their Pokemon stronger, even if it wasn't proven to be safe. And if the potential effects of humans reaching Perfection were known, I bet a lot of people would take it in a flash. 

 

I suppose, since Lilith never attained Perfection with her Umbreon, there's no reason why it wouldn't stay Perfected if she died before it. If she had, then yeah, it might lose Perfection, but that's a whole other scenario...

 

Oooh, protagonist-specific text, now there's an idea... Rejuvenation's been doing some great protagonist characterisation in the later episodes, I'd be hyped for some like it in Desolation. 

 

I'm not sure where else we might find legendaries in Desolation- at least, where we've seen so far. Any ideas?

 

We'll have to add it to the very long personalised list of reasons to kick Darkrai's ass. It's getting really long at this point...

 

 

Happy Holidays to anyone who's reading this! Hope everyone is doing great this holiday season

 

Alright, just had to say that...back on topic I go!

Man, ain’t that the truth, it’s the fan-favorite curse xD. I’d also be quite shocked if that doesn’t happen. Guess we’ll just have to wait and see what’s in store for Tristan.

 

Absolutely to both of those points. The consequences of Scarlett’s death seem like a slow burn. From v7 onward seems like the perfect time to add in said consequences. The more people to join the fight the better and Connor reallllly does need all the stabilizing influences they can muster. It’d be a good way to shake up the stakes.

 

It doesn’t help that there are several rash people in the Hero gang who all have motives to do reckless stunts or heroic sacrifices xD.

I swear if Garret dies by making some heroic sacrifice for Eden after that whole scene in the Visinite Current… But yeah, I can totally see both Reeve and Garret doing something like that! I seriously hope they don’t though >.<.

I’d say any one of the characters dying would probably destroy morale, but Emily dying is actually a pretty interesting prospect now that you mention it. It’d hit Connor the most, and depending on choices and all that could be the second death that the Blackview heroes would have to face. That may make getting to the Perfection Fragment quite a bit harder in the long run.

If Hardy does end up biting the bullet it’d probably be after something happens to Zoroark. Like Zoroark sadly passes away either due to its illness or the Perfection serum that it has been given. With nothing else to lose, he attempts to take out the Foxes from the inside but either Amelia or Waldenhall stops him, for good. Or something akin to that.

Personally, I’m holding out hope that Hardy won’t die and will either achieve Perfection, or at least his Zoroark will.  

 

I can totally see that happening too. Maybe Amelia might dole out the serum to the Foxes under her command if they get backed into a corner in hopes that someone will be able to achieve the Perfected status and turn the tables.

Or now that Waldenhall has some sort of time limit to figure out how to ascend without a bonded pokémon maybe he’ll be less discrete with his pursuits and attempt to obtain more test subjects for his goals.

It’d certainly be fascinating to see in a sort of Pokerus situation. Despite the little information out there about Perfection and how it’s frowned upon most citizens probably wouldn’t have heard about Perfection. With a few honeyed words, I’m sure there would be quite a few trainers lining up to bolster their pokemon’s power, unaware of the consequences that will come of it.

Reeve did liken the spread of Perfection to a plague, so rolling with that likeness…what if the protagonist and Waldenhall are like patient zeros now that they have Perfection fragments stuck to them like a bur. Anyone around them could be exposed to the energy which could lead to disastrous results if they cannot form a bond with their pokémon.

 

Yeah, that’s quite a fair point. In that case, if something does happen to her the Umbreon could still be hanging around.

 

Totally! Rejuv’s protagonist characterization is really great and I’m sure if Deso does go that route as well they’d have some killer charaterizations too!

If not protagonist-specific text in Darkroot it’s possible that there still might be some form of protagonist characterization, once we start unraveling their past.

 

Maybe we should go track down Lilith and Artem and ask them where they got theirs, they were using some legendaries xD.

We did discuss plenty of ideas on where Cresselia is. And we know where Zapdos will be once we obtain the Lightening Orb. If Jarred is to be believed the relic and orbs will lead to Lugia. Where that encounter will take place, I have no clue. Perhaps it will be near Majira’s Rest or something, due to the ties the relic and orbs have with Majira and the Rangers. Or it could be encountered in a new place entirely.

Raikou was hanging around Silver Rise a while back and seems to go back to the Visinite Current to recharge so chances are we may see it in Visinite eventually. Where the other two legendary pups are is another question entirely. If we do find Raikou there then maybe we’ll encounter the others around statues, or in locations akin to their respective typing.

Virizion is protecting the pokémon on Ruby Island. Maybe we’ll encounter the other Swords of Justice pokémon on Ruby Island, inside Majira’s Rest, or on other smaller islands like Ruby Island.

Course we gained Mesprit and the other two lake guardians should be found in the other lakes that reside in the Dreamscape.

 

Beyond that I’m not sure. So, I’ll sprinkle in some creative(?) ideas here:

The protagonist should go figure out where to get their own snag machine so that next time they see Darkrai they can just chuck a pokeball at it. Bam. Darkrai caught! And crisis averted lol.

The Regi group seem like they’d fit well with the Depths. A section of the cavern could crumble away, revealing an entrance that leads to the inner Depths and the Regi.

It’d be pretty fun to find Jirachi snoozing in some remote corner of Ayrith and to awaken it we gotta find it in the Dreamscape or something.

Astraciel Wildwoods and Darkroot Woods seem like they would be pretty fitting for Xerneas and Yveltal respectively.

Celebi could be responsible for the trip back in time that has the protagonist putting an end to the wars. Afterwards, it could join the team. 

It’d be pretty amusing to see Arceus tied to the Hand of Arceus questline. Helping out Serenity gives us the chance to catch the golden boy itself.

I feel like maybe there may be more legendaries to find in the Dreamscape aside from the lake guardians but I dunno who would work the best as encounters in the dream. Since it is a dream maybe anyone of them could…who knows.

 

Haha absolutely. It may be getting a bit too long... it’s about time Darkrai gets its just deserts!

 

[Amare]

On 12/25/2023 at 12:15 PM, Luri said:

 

Happy Holidays to anyone who's reading this! Hope everyone is doing great this holiday season

 

Alright, just had to say that...back on topic I go!

Man, ain’t that the truth, it’s the fan-favorite curse xD. I’d also be quite shocked if that doesn’t happen. Guess we’ll just have to wait and see what’s in store for Tristan.

 

Absolutely to both of those points. The consequences of Scarlett’s death seem like a slow burn. From v7 onward seems like the perfect time to add in said consequences. The more people to join the fight the better and Connor reallllly does need all the stabilizing influences they can muster. It’d be a good way to shake up the stakes.

 

It doesn’t help that there are several rash people in the Hero gang who all have motives to do reckless stunts or heroic sacrifices xD.

I swear if Garret dies by making some heroic sacrifice for Eden after that whole scene in the Visinite Current… But yeah, I can totally see both Reeve and Garret doing something like that! I seriously hope they don’t though >.<.

I’d say any one of the characters dying would probably destroy morale, but Emily dying is actually a pretty interesting prospect now that you mention it. It’d hit Connor the most, and depending on choices and all that could be the second death that the Blackview heroes would have to face. That may make getting to the Perfection Fragment quite a bit harder in the long run.

If Hardy does end up biting the bullet it’d probably be after something happens to Zoroark. Like Zoroark sadly passes away either due to its illness or the Perfection serum that it has been given. With nothing else to lose, he attempts to take out the Foxes from the inside but either Amelia or Waldenhall stops him, for good. Or something akin to that.

Personally, I’m holding out hope that Hardy won’t die and will either achieve Perfection, or at least his Zoroark will.  

 

I can totally see that happening too. Maybe Amelia might dole out the serum to the Foxes under her command if they get backed into a corner in hopes that someone will be able to achieve the Perfected status and turn the tables.

Or now that Waldenhall has some sort of time limit to figure out how to ascend without a bonded pokémon maybe he’ll be less discrete with his pursuits and attempt to obtain more test subjects for his goals.

It’d certainly be fascinating to see in a sort of Pokerus situation. Despite the little information out there about Perfection and how it’s frowned upon most citizens probably wouldn’t have heard about Perfection. With a few honeyed words, I’m sure there would be quite a few trainers lining up to bolster their pokemon’s power, unaware of the consequences that will come of it.

Reeve did liken the spread of Perfection to a plague, so rolling with that likeness…what if the protagonist and Waldenhall are like patient zeros now that they have Perfection fragments stuck to them like a bur. Anyone around them could be exposed to the energy which could lead to disastrous results if they cannot form a bond with their pokémon.

 

Yeah, that’s quite a fair point. In that case, if something does happen to her the Umbreon could still be hanging around.

 

Totally! Rejuv’s protagonist characterization is really great and I’m sure if Deso does go that route as well they’d have some killer charaterizations too!

If not protagonist-specific text in Darkroot it’s possible that there still might be some form of protagonist characterization, once we start unraveling their past.

 

Maybe we should go track down Lilith and Artem and ask them where they got theirs, they were using some legendaries xD.

We did discuss plenty of ideas on where Cresselia is. And we know where Zapdos will be once we obtain the Lightening Orb. If Jarred is to be believed the relic and orbs will lead to Lugia. Where that encounter will take place, I have no clue. Perhaps it will be near Majira’s Rest or something, due to the ties the relic and orbs have with Majira and the Rangers. Or it could be encountered in a new place entirely.

Raikou was hanging around Silver Rise a while back and seems to go back to the Visinite Current to recharge so chances are we may see it in Visinite eventually. Where the other two legendary pups are is another question entirely. If we do find Raikou there then maybe we’ll encounter the others around statues, or in locations akin to their respective typing.

Virizion is protecting the pokémon on Ruby Island. Maybe we’ll encounter the other Swords of Justice pokémon on Ruby Island, inside Majira’s Rest, or on other smaller islands like Ruby Island.

Course we gained Mesprit and the other two lake guardians should be found in the other lakes that reside in the Dreamscape.

 

Beyond that I’m not sure. So, I’ll sprinkle in some creative(?) ideas here:

The protagonist should go figure out where to get their own snag machine so that next time they see Darkrai they can just chuck a pokeball at it. Bam. Darkrai caught! And crisis averted lol.

The Regi group seem like they’d fit well with the Depths. A section of the cavern could crumble away, revealing an entrance that leads to the inner Depths and the Regi.

It’d be pretty fun to find Jirachi snoozing in some remote corner of Ayrith and to awaken it we gotta find it in the Dreamscape or something.

Astraciel Wildwoods and Darkroot Woods seem like they would be pretty fitting for Xerneas and Yveltal respectively.

Celebi could be responsible for the trip back in time that has the protagonist putting an end to the wars. Afterwards, it could join the team. 

It’d be pretty amusing to see Arceus tied to the Hand of Arceus questline. Helping out Serenity gives us the chance to catch the golden boy itself.

I feel like maybe there may be more legendaries to find in the Dreamscape aside from the lake guardians but I dunno who would work the best as encounters in the dream. Since it is a dream maybe anyone of them could…who knows.

 

Haha absolutely. It may be getting a bit too long... it’s about time Darkrai gets its just deserts!

 

Well, shit, I knew I forgot to do something. Sorry. Happy new year to everyone reading this.

 

I agree, I feel like V7 is when they're really going to start hitting us with the consequences. (Speaking of consequences, I can't remember if I already asked or not, but do you have any idea what happens in V6 if you don't save Nova? I don't think anyone posted videos or anything like that.)

 

It does feel like the Visinite Current thing is going to turn into a Big Thing, so if anyone's going to make a sacrifice, stupid or otherwise, that sounds like a likely place for it. We'll probably have to find another key item or something... or maybe touching the Perfection serum will have something to do with it? It lets us sense something we can use to talk someone down?

 

Yeah, honestly, looking at the heroes, if you asked 'Which of these people would not sacrifice themselves', I feel like the only real answer would be the MC because if the MC dies, we don't have a game. (Well, at the very least, one can assume that they wouldn't stay dead.) But yeah, it does feel like morale will be gone if anyone sacrifices themself. Hell, even if someone only gets badly hurt and not dead, it'd be a blow to morale.

 

I'm also hoping that Hardy and Zoroark don't die, mainly because I can see how this would be an incredibly tragic end to his story and he really doesn't deserve that.

 

Oh, shit, I never thought of that- the player/Waldenhall being patient zero. For all we know, even if they're not, the player having had contact with the Perfection serum might have a similar effect. The only person it's had an effect on so far is Garret, so we should probably keep an eye on him in case weird stuff starts happening. 

 

Given how much they've been hinting at the player's past, I'm guessing some Big Revelations are incoming.

 

True, we'll have to politely ask about it, I'm sure they'll share. /s

 

I could definitely buy the other Swords of Justice being protectors of something, and I could also buy them turning up in future Ranger quests. Problem is that the beasts and birds seem like they'd be found in similar places- like, Raikou could absolutely show up in Visinite Current, but it seems like an equally good place to find Zapdos, you know?

 

We call in the protagonist of Rejuvenation so we can borrow their Snag Machine. Everyone watches in amazed horror as Darkrai goes down to a single Poke Ball.

 

No, no, it turns out that Serenity *was* Arceus all along. It's the equivalent of those fairy tales where someone gets given a secret test of character by a disguised fairy. Otherwise, the Regis turning up in the caves would be cool. I could see a Marshadow hiding in the Dreamscape too, seems like a good place for the little munchkin.

[Luri]

On 1/3/2024 at 4:29 AM, Amare said:

Well, shit, I knew I forgot to do something. Sorry. Happy new year to everyone reading this.

 

I agree, I feel like V7 is when they're really going to start hitting us with the consequences. (Speaking of consequences, I can't remember if I already asked or not, but do you have any idea what happens in V6 if you don't save Nova? I don't think anyone posted videos or anything like that.)

 

It does feel like the Visinite Current thing is going to turn into a Big Thing, so if anyone's going to make a sacrifice, stupid or otherwise, that sounds like a likely place for it. We'll probably have to find another key item or something... or maybe touching the Perfection serum will have something to do with it? It lets us sense something we can use to talk someone down?

 

Yeah, honestly, looking at the heroes, if you asked 'Which of these people would not sacrifice themselves', I feel like the only real answer would be the MC because if the MC dies, we don't have a game. (Well, at the very least, one can assume that they wouldn't stay dead.) But yeah, it does feel like morale will be gone if anyone sacrifices themself. Hell, even if someone only gets badly hurt and not dead, it'd be a blow to morale.

 

I'm also hoping that Hardy and Zoroark don't die, mainly because I can see how this would be an incredibly tragic end to his story and he really doesn't deserve that.

 

Oh, shit, I never thought of that- the player/Waldenhall being patient zero. For all we know, even if they're not, the player having had contact with the Perfection serum might have a similar effect. The only person it's had an effect on so far is Garret, so we should probably keep an eye on him in case weird stuff starts happening. 

 

Given how much they've been hinting at the player's past, I'm guessing some Big Revelations are incoming.

 

True, we'll have to politely ask about it, I'm sure they'll share. /s

 

I could definitely buy the other Swords of Justice being protectors of something, and I could also buy them turning up in future Ranger quests. Problem is that the beasts and birds seem like they'd be found in similar places- like, Raikou could absolutely show up in Visinite Current, but it seems like an equally good place to find Zapdos, you know?

 

We call in the protagonist of Rejuvenation so we can borrow their Snag Machine. Everyone watches in amazed horror as Darkrai goes down to a single Poke Ball.

 

No, no, it turns out that Serenity *was* Arceus all along. It's the equivalent of those fairy tales where someone gets given a secret test of character by a disguised fairy. Otherwise, the Regis turning up in the caves would be cool. I could see a Marshadow hiding in the Dreamscape too, seems like a good place for the little munchkin.

 

Haha, it’s quite alright, happens to the best of us! Also happy belated new year to everyone as well!

 

I also agree with that. In regards to that, I’ve played around with different choices and tanking relationships and all that not too long ago actually (I’m drowning in save files at this point…). As far as I’ve seen if Nova ends up stabbed, whether it’d be because of the player failing to obtain the information from Aurora’s final diary page or outright siding with Aurora during the Archive incident, she’ll make a recovery. The events of v6 play out the same as the events do if Nova is saved.

Interestingly enough she doesn’t even give a passing comment about the protagonist siding with Aurora and being compliant in her potential murder(?) in v6, especially odd given how intense the scene was. I would think there would be at least some level of distrust toward the protagonist for their choice.

Going through the game again was a nice refresher though and a great reminder about smaller details that get overshadowed, at least for me. I did notice things, some of which were already discussed, so I’ll just tack that on at the end of the post.

 

Yeah, I totally agree with that.

I’m definitely excited to see the Perfection Serum in action. It has the capacity to give us some interesting snippets of a person’s past and who knows if that information will be used in a choice later down the line. While it could easily just be a way to provide some more background on a character (and maybe cut through some lies) it’d definitely be pretty neat if it was used as a means to talk someone down or something.

If not a key item or the serum, then maybe we’ll have another insight check soon. We did gain a bit of knowledge in Crescent's hideout and there was that one journal written by Shiv in the Waterscape.

 

Depending on how one views it mayyybe Scarlett is the only other person who wouldn’t. She already went down that road once and was talked out of it. I don’t see her sacrificing herself again unless it is absolutely necessary or the situation is dire enough. Other than that, yeah the only one who wouldn’t sacrifice themselves would be the protagonist. Everyone else…man what a reckless team xD. Totally.  Someone getting badly injured would most likely break morale in a variety of ways. If that does come to pass it’s gonna be interesting to see how they’ll manage to pull through. Perhaps Garret will give one of his inspiring pep talks again.

 

It’d be so tragic. The guy just wanted to take on the League and help his Zoroark. I’m keeping my fingers crossed Hardy and Zoroark stay safe!

 

Yep yep, assuming that the fragment latching onto them could have effects on others. It is stated in the Fairbale journals that somehow Perfection had claimed the lives of multiple people which is what caused the priests to insinuate the author was at fault due to their pursuit of Perfection. Maybe fragments radiate enough energy to affect others near them or something. Which would make the player/Waldenhall patient zeroes if this is the case. Maybe it will be a repeat of what happened in the past?

It is possible those people were exposed to it via serum if the journal author was conducting experiments although the author doesn’t state this when mentioning how they were being accused of being the cause of said deaths.

I was wondering about the Perfection serum too. He did have direct contact with the protag and it did have an obvious effect on Garret. Crescent’s findings didn’t specify whether or not those who had their pasts read by another infused with Perfection were fine after the experiments.

So, we can add yet another reason to have Garret on a watch list.

Another possibility is that there will be a spike or even an overabundance of Perfection energy permeating the Ayrith region.

 

Absolutelyyyyy. Those were some major hints that the protagonist isn’t some unfortunate soul who got dragged into things just cause they can hop between reality and dream (in the grand scheme of things they are probably still an unfortunate soul though). Big Revelations are on the way.

 

If the protagonist can quell wars by asking politely, I’m sure they could convince Lilith and Artem to relinquish their pokémon xD.

 

Me too. It’d be cool if the Swords of Justice respected Majira and decided to reside on the Islands he’s been on to protect the local flora and fauna.

I’d so love to catch Zapdos near the Visinite Tree, that sounds so epic (the battle background near the tree is just so cool!)

That is quite a problem with the beasts and birds. They could fit in the same locations. Maybe they will? Looking closely, I do think that birds seem to carry several other patterns that may give them concrete locations. Both Articuno and Moltres have been encountered on Amaria Island, and near their respective legend statues. I’m kinda wondering if Zapdos will be caught in the mountain the hiker is talking about in Addenfall Meadows.

Assuming the beasts follow a similar elemental pattern, I can see them ending up in similar locations to the birds. Raikou might be hanging out in Visinite or Addenfall Meadow where I’m guessing Zapdos will be. Entei could be tied to Vejyr like Moltres, Boutilla, or Hydreilius Volcano (though if it’s hanging out in Hydreilius Volcano it may be a bit longer until we get Entei). Suicune is an odd one since it can be attributed to both water and ice. So many of the snowy mountains like Silver Rise (which may be the best location for Suicune…there are waterfalls that could lead to unexplored locations later on), the Frozen Wastelands, or Visinite Peak (if it has a cold climate) would work. Maybe the lake on route 1?

I really wanna add the Waterscape too…I can see Suicune chilling at Somnium Lake.

Oh yeah, Heatran is always found in the heart of a volcano so it can join Entei’s list.

 

It’s nice to have connections! Darkrai just gets critical captured in a regular pokeball, no struggle or anything. Wouldn’t that be a scene? If it were possible, I’m sure everyone’d be hearing its muffled complaints from outside the pokeball xD.

It does make me wonder how we will obtain Darkrai.

 

Omg I really like that idea! Arceus was trying to find someone willing to walk the path of the Hand of Arceus. At the end of Arceus's Serenity’s questline, the protag has proven their kindness and devotion by helping Serenity and so Arceus wants to tag along.

That’d fit Marshadow well. What if we find it shadowing some folks in the Dreamscape and it flees when it’s found out and we gotta go track it down. Or maybe it’s hiding out in the DZ. I can see multiple fun little ways to encounter Marshadow there.

 

 

Okay so here’s a rapid round of revisited and other interesting bits (in hindsight several paragraphs isn’t quite rapid lol):

We previously discussed the manor situated in Silver Rise. Rereading Aurora’s journal in the Archives states that the manor belonged to their parents who just up and vanished. So, it’s a family home they decided to stay in. Wonder if we’ll ever find out what happened to their parents.

 

Also, the way Garret tells the story of Lilith and the Undercity does allude to the fact she and her parents are from Cellia, like ya mentioned. So, at some point, her investigation or training did lead her to Arcanius. Curious to see if any NPCs mention her the closer we get to Astraciel.

 

I also noticed, while helping the Jinx Scientist collect pieces of the grid in the Dreamscape they are labeled as Dreamscape Fragments. However, when tasked to find the fragmented grid pieces in Ayrith they are called Grid Fragments. Both of these fragments carry the same description; a material with a glass-like texture that emits a strange energy. Given that, it’s intriguing that there’s a difference in name between the two when they are, supposedly, both fragments of the Grid.

 

Nova mentions that Darkrai would say she was better than the alternative, and then surmises that Tristan must have been the alternative. If she just had this revelation, then it’s likely that Tristan wasn’t the one who led her to Darkrai. It makes me more curious as to how she fell into Darkrai’s clutches to begin with.

 

Also, what exactly was the Twin negotiation event [Redacted] that Amelia was a part of? Was it when Aurora was in contact with the Foxes to find Nova’s location? If it is why the redacted bit?

 

Also…sorta a crack theory, has anyone realized how often everyone brings up the fact the protagonist is late? While I quite like the fact the protagonist is always fashionably late or joins the cast at the most dramatically appropriate moment, I couldn’t help but wonder. What if there’s a reason behind it? We do learn of something that can alter one’s perception of time. Perfection. I raise you this: the protagonist was in contact with Perfection to some degree before the start of the game and that’s why they are always chaotically late.

I know it’s most likely just one of those fun little jabs at the protagonist. But still, it’d be kinda neat if it was the case.

[Amare]

On 1/11/2024 at 3:17 PM, Luri said:

 

Haha, it’s quite alright, happens to the best of us! Also happy belated new year to everyone as well!

 

I also agree with that. In regards to that, I’ve played around with different choices and tanking relationships and all that not too long ago actually (I’m drowning in save files at this point…). As far as I’ve seen if Nova ends up stabbed, whether it’d be because of the player failing to obtain the information from Aurora’s final diary page or outright siding with Aurora during the Archive incident, she’ll make a recovery. The events of v6 play out the same as the events do if Nova is saved.

Interestingly enough she doesn’t even give a passing comment about the protagonist siding with Aurora and being compliant in her potential murder(?) in v6, especially odd given how intense the scene was. I would think there would be at least some level of distrust toward the protagonist for their choice.

Going through the game again was a nice refresher though and a great reminder about smaller details that get overshadowed, at least for me. I did notice things, some of which were already discussed, so I’ll just tack that on at the end of the post.

 

Yeah, I totally agree with that.

I’m definitely excited to see the Perfection Serum in action. It has the capacity to give us some interesting snippets of a person’s past and who knows if that information will be used in a choice later down the line. While it could easily just be a way to provide some more background on a character (and maybe cut through some lies) it’d definitely be pretty neat if it was used as a means to talk someone down or something.

If not a key item or the serum, then maybe we’ll have another insight check soon. We did gain a bit of knowledge in Crescent's hideout and there was that one journal written by Shiv in the Waterscape.

 

Depending on how one views it mayyybe Scarlett is the only other person who wouldn’t. She already went down that road once and was talked out of it. I don’t see her sacrificing herself again unless it is absolutely necessary or the situation is dire enough. Other than that, yeah the only one who wouldn’t sacrifice themselves would be the protagonist. Everyone else…man what a reckless team xD. Totally.  Someone getting badly injured would most likely break morale in a variety of ways. If that does come to pass it’s gonna be interesting to see how they’ll manage to pull through. Perhaps Garret will give one of his inspiring pep talks again.

 

It’d be so tragic. The guy just wanted to take on the League and help his Zoroark. I’m keeping my fingers crossed Hardy and Zoroark stay safe!

 

Yep yep, assuming that the fragment latching onto them could have effects on others. It is stated in the Fairbale journals that somehow Perfection had claimed the lives of multiple people which is what caused the priests to insinuate the author was at fault due to their pursuit of Perfection. Maybe fragments radiate enough energy to affect others near them or something. Which would make the player/Waldenhall patient zeroes if this is the case. Maybe it will be a repeat of what happened in the past?

It is possible those people were exposed to it via serum if the journal author was conducting experiments although the author doesn’t state this when mentioning how they were being accused of being the cause of said deaths.

I was wondering about the Perfection serum too. He did have direct contact with the protag and it did have an obvious effect on Garret. Crescent’s findings didn’t specify whether or not those who had their pasts read by another infused with Perfection were fine after the experiments.

So, we can add yet another reason to have Garret on a watch list.

Another possibility is that there will be a spike or even an overabundance of Perfection energy permeating the Ayrith region.

 

Absolutelyyyyy. Those were some major hints that the protagonist isn’t some unfortunate soul who got dragged into things just cause they can hop between reality and dream (in the grand scheme of things they are probably still an unfortunate soul though). Big Revelations are on the way.

 

If the protagonist can quell wars by asking politely, I’m sure they could convince Lilith and Artem to relinquish their pokémon xD.

 

Me too. It’d be cool if the Swords of Justice respected Majira and decided to reside on the Islands he’s been on to protect the local flora and fauna.

I’d so love to catch Zapdos near the Visinite Tree, that sounds so epic (the battle background near the tree is just so cool!)

That is quite a problem with the beasts and birds. They could fit in the same locations. Maybe they will? Looking closely, I do think that birds seem to carry several other patterns that may give them concrete locations. Both Articuno and Moltres have been encountered on Amaria Island, and near their respective legend statues. I’m kinda wondering if Zapdos will be caught in the mountain the hiker is talking about in Addenfall Meadows.

Assuming the beasts follow a similar elemental pattern, I can see them ending up in similar locations to the birds. Raikou might be hanging out in Visinite or Addenfall Meadow where I’m guessing Zapdos will be. Entei could be tied to Vejyr like Moltres, Boutilla, or Hydreilius Volcano (though if it’s hanging out in Hydreilius Volcano it may be a bit longer until we get Entei). Suicune is an odd one since it can be attributed to both water and ice. So many of the snowy mountains like Silver Rise (which may be the best location for Suicune…there are waterfalls that could lead to unexplored locations later on), the Frozen Wastelands, or Visinite Peak (if it has a cold climate) would work. Maybe the lake on route 1?

I really wanna add the Waterscape too…I can see Suicune chilling at Somnium Lake.

Oh yeah, Heatran is always found in the heart of a volcano so it can join Entei’s list.

 

It’s nice to have connections! Darkrai just gets critical captured in a regular pokeball, no struggle or anything. Wouldn’t that be a scene? If it were possible, I’m sure everyone’d be hearing its muffled complaints from outside the pokeball xD.

It does make me wonder how we will obtain Darkrai.

 

Omg I really like that idea! Arceus was trying to find someone willing to walk the path of the Hand of Arceus. At the end of Arceus's Serenity’s questline, the protag has proven their kindness and devotion by helping Serenity and so Arceus wants to tag along.

That’d fit Marshadow well. What if we find it shadowing some folks in the Dreamscape and it flees when it’s found out and we gotta go track it down. Or maybe it’s hiding out in the DZ. I can see multiple fun little ways to encounter Marshadow there.

 

 

Okay so here’s a rapid round of revisited and other interesting bits (in hindsight several paragraphs isn’t quite rapid lol):

We previously discussed the manor situated in Silver Rise. Rereading Aurora’s journal in the Archives states that the manor belonged to their parents who just up and vanished. So, it’s a family home they decided to stay in. Wonder if we’ll ever find out what happened to their parents.

 

Also, the way Garret tells the story of Lilith and the Undercity does allude to the fact she and her parents are from Cellia, like ya mentioned. So, at some point, her investigation or training did lead her to Arcanius. Curious to see if any NPCs mention her the closer we get to Astraciel.

 

I also noticed, while helping the Jinx Scientist collect pieces of the grid in the Dreamscape they are labeled as Dreamscape Fragments. However, when tasked to find the fragmented grid pieces in Ayrith they are called Grid Fragments. Both of these fragments carry the same description; a material with a glass-like texture that emits a strange energy. Given that, it’s intriguing that there’s a difference in name between the two when they are, supposedly, both fragments of the Grid.

 

Nova mentions that Darkrai would say she was better than the alternative, and then surmises that Tristan must have been the alternative. If she just had this revelation, then it’s likely that Tristan wasn’t the one who led her to Darkrai. It makes me more curious as to how she fell into Darkrai’s clutches to begin with.

 

Also, what exactly was the Twin negotiation event [Redacted] that Amelia was a part of? Was it when Aurora was in contact with the Foxes to find Nova’s location? If it is why the redacted bit?

 

Also…sorta a crack theory, has anyone realized how often everyone brings up the fact the protagonist is late? While I quite like the fact the protagonist is always fashionably late or joins the cast at the most dramatically appropriate moment, I couldn’t help but wonder. What if there’s a reason behind it? We do learn of something that can alter one’s perception of time. Perfection. I raise you this: the protagonist was in contact with Perfection to some degree before the start of the game and that’s why they are always chaotically late.

I know it’s most likely just one of those fun little jabs at the protagonist. But still, it’d be kinda neat if it was the case.

 

I always feel too bad to actually do things like that- I felt like a massive douche letting Scarlett die just so I could see what the dialogue was like immediately after her death, and then going back and saving her. 

 

So... Nova makes a recovery? Here I thought Aurora straight up killed her... 

 

Yeah, it did surprise me that we were getting not just new insight, but also additions to the old one. I'm not really sure why we'd get new insight into a check we already did at this point, unless... IDK, Darkrai quizzes us again? We get brainwashed?

 

Next episode, Scarlett starts a Society For People Who Tried To Sacrifice Themselves. It gets bigger and bigger as the episodes roll on. They have the most awkward meetings in history. (In all seriousness, I do agree about Scarlett.)

 

On the one hand, it could be a tragic commentary about how sometimes, people who do bad things only did them because they didn't have a choice- they needed to help someone who wasn't getting help through the normal means, and at root, they're just like you and me.

 

...or the devs just wanted to kick us in the emotions a few times. *shrug*

 

Yeah, that's a good point. Admittedly, there's a pretty high chance that whoever wrote the journal wasn't exactly a reliable narrator- they could have been embellishing, making stuff up, or leaving out stuff to make themselves look better. But assuming they *were* telling the truth, I think things are going to get very bad soon. (I will say, if the next part of the game has the player's journey suddenly derailed by a plague of horribly mutated and incredibly strong people and Pokemon, which they accidentally caused, it's going to be an incredibly novel experience.)

 

Maybe we just need to lock Garret in a room with Rosetta and Aaron to watch over him. It's not like they're doing much at this point...

 

The player is... Eden! And Majira! And Majira's secret kid, Majora (and their mask)! And Lilith's long-lost sister! And Amelia and Ava's secret cousin! And Kuiki, who went back in time to save himself! All at the same time!

 

The protagonist's real secret weapon is the Big Sad Puppy Dog Eyes. Nobody can say no.

 

Given the existence of Ruby, Bronze and Bountilia Islands, there's probably a surplus of tiny little islands that Legendaries could be hiding in. (Or, the Dreamscape, of course.)

 

I don't know that we will obtain Darkrai... given that it's the big bad of the game, it seems more likely that we'll kill, banish or imprison it somewhere. We might get *a* Darkrai, but I don't think it'll be *the* Darkrai.

 

As for your points:

 

1. Excellent point. I wonder, did Aurora or Shiv accidentally kill or banish their parents, like that one kid in the Twilight Zone?

 

2. Ooh, now there's a thought. Arcanius really does sound like it'll be full of plot.

 

3. Maybe... IDK, the Dreamscape Fragments are called that because they were literally dreamed up? They're not actually real, hence why they didn't work when collected?

 

4. See, I'm guessing that Darkrai was looking for dreamers the whole time, so once one developed/manifested/whatever, he'd yoink them into his clutches as soon as he could.

 

5. I don't recall that one, remind me?

6. That really would be good. Nice idea.

 

[Luri]

On 1/14/2024 at 11:40 PM, Amare said:

 

I always feel too bad to actually do things like that- I felt like a massive douche letting Scarlett die just so I could see what the dialogue was like immediately after her death, and then going back and saving her. 

 

So... Nova makes a recovery? Here I thought Aurora straight up killed her... 

 

Yeah, it did surprise me that we were getting not just new insight, but also additions to the old one. I'm not really sure why we'd get new insight into a check we already did at this point, unless... IDK, Darkrai quizzes us again? We get brainwashed?

 

Next episode, Scarlett starts a Society For People Who Tried To Sacrifice Themselves. It gets bigger and bigger as the episodes roll on. They have the most awkward meetings in history. (In all seriousness, I do agree about Scarlett.)

 

On the one hand, it could be a tragic commentary about how sometimes, people who do bad things only did them because they didn't have a choice- they needed to help someone who wasn't getting help through the normal means, and at root, they're just like you and me.

 

...or the devs just wanted to kick us in the emotions a few times. *shrug*

 

Yeah, that's a good point. Admittedly, there's a pretty high chance that whoever wrote the journal wasn't exactly a reliable narrator- they could have been embellishing, making stuff up, or leaving out stuff to make themselves look better. But assuming they *were* telling the truth, I think things are going to get very bad soon. (I will say, if the next part of the game has the player's journey suddenly derailed by a plague of horribly mutated and incredibly strong people and Pokemon, which they accidentally caused, it's going to be an incredibly novel experience.)

 

Maybe we just need to lock Garret in a room with Rosetta and Aaron to watch over him. It's not like they're doing much at this point...

 

The player is... Eden! And Majira! And Majira's secret kid, Majora (and their mask)! And Lilith's long-lost sister! And Amelia and Ava's secret cousin! And Kuiki, who went back in time to save himself! All at the same time!

 

The protagonist's real secret weapon is the Big Sad Puppy Dog Eyes. Nobody can say no.

 

Given the existence of Ruby, Bronze and Bountilia Islands, there's probably a surplus of tiny little islands that Legendaries could be hiding in. (Or, the Dreamscape, of course.)

 

I don't know that we will obtain Darkrai... given that it's the big bad of the game, it seems more likely that we'll kill, banish or imprison it somewhere. We might get *a* Darkrai, but I don't think it'll be *the* Darkrai.

 

As for your points:

 

1. Excellent point. I wonder, did Aurora or Shiv accidentally kill or banish their parents, like that one kid in the Twilight Zone?

 

2. Ooh, now there's a thought. Arcanius really does sound like it'll be full of plot.

 

3. Maybe... IDK, the Dreamscape Fragments are called that because they were literally dreamed up? They're not actually real, hence why they didn't work when collected?

 

4. See, I'm guessing that Darkrai was looking for dreamers the whole time, so once one developed/manifested/whatever, he'd yoink them into his clutches as soon as he could.

 

5. I don't recall that one, remind me?

6. That really would be good. Nice idea.

 

 

I hear ya. Totally the same way, especially when it involves kind characters like Scarlett. Poor girl doesn’t deserve that. Siding with Nova, letting Scarlett die, and then Aurora going stab-happy absolutely killed me…I actually like Nova too, so I felt awfully villainous for that.

On the other hand, I really enjoy extra dialogue and morbid curiosity drives me…which seems to outweigh my guilt (and there’s a lot of guilt XD). At least I can take one for the team in the name of uncovering the truth!

 

Haha I actually did too, I remember seeing quite a few posts saying that so this was a surprise. Granted this is just based on my experiences but it seems that way. I’ve tried several ways (giving Nova the stone then failing to read Auora’s dairy entry/siding with Aurora and giving Shiv the stone then failing to read Auora’s dairy entry/siding with Aurora). In the end, she still appears and helps out the gang, unless I’m missing something. My earlier thought about the twins being immortal? Nah, Nova’s the immortal one. She won’t die for me lol.

 

Insight might represent the culmination of all knowledge regarding the hocus pocus that’s going on in Ayrith, Dreamscape and all. The cracks of the dream were but one fraction of the bigger picture.

My guess is that the insight we gained in v6 might not be a continuation of the old insight (or at least a continuation of the cracks in the dream). Instead, the insight gained is new and most likely knowledge of other mysteries. Mysteries about Perfection and the twins.

One interesting thing about it is the difference in insight text color. Insight pertaining to the cracks in the dream were a fuchsia color. The knowledge of perfection that Crescent had in their hideout was a blue. Although I dunno if this does count towards the insight value given its difference in phrasing so that’s up in the air. And the insight from Shiv's journal about their powers engulfing them and their respective blue and red dreams is a lighter shade of purple. These distinctions between colors might represent those other mysteries the MC is uncovering.

We may not get insight checked regarding those cracks but maybe a check for knowledge of Perfection? Like…the more information we have about Perfection the protagonist can obtain Perfection themselves. Or maybe we’ll discover some more old journals and figure out what’s going on with the twins. Which may end up giving the protagonist a way to knock some sense into those two if enough insight has been found.

That’s just my interpretation of the insight at least. Given what’s going on with everyone who’s working for Darkrai, maybe it really will turn out to be a case of brainwashing. Darkrai goes Perfection mode and a lot more insight would be required to fend off Darkrai. Failure to do so could result in some Pulse level Hypno brainwashing or something.

But Darkrai pulling quiz out of no-where would be kinda fun actually xD Especially some game-show style quiz.

 

In the end, the society will be comprised of most of the cast. That would be quite an awkward meeting, wouldn’t it?

 

Hardy’s situation, whether he will perish in the end or not, does work well as a tragic commentary and doubles as a gut-wrench if he does bite the dust. It’s both, definitely both.

 

I absolutely agree with the fact the journal’s author could be an unreliable narrator. In fact, I’d be surprised if they weren’t. There is a vast level of egotism and bias oozing from those entries. Especially if the author is revealed to be the entity. I’m betting some details were left out for sure.

I do think they can still serve as a rough estimation of what went down back then. Their information about Perfection tracks with what we know about Perfection so far. And there is the fact the Settler’s Ruins is hidden underneath a statue which implies a level of secrecy or not wanting to be found. There seems to be a degree of truth to those entries at least. It really would be. What a way to raise the stakes for the protagonist, making the situation even more personal than it already is. Even if the protag doesn’t end up causing a Perfection plague whatever is gonna happen it’s not gonna be very good for the cast. It’ll be equal parts exciting and worrisome.

 

Honestly might be the safest spot for Garret at this point. Plus, Rosetta and Aaron get to do something finally, it’s a win-win!

 

If Majira had a kid and their name isn’t Majora I’m gonna be disappointed lol. I would love to see that reveal just to see everyone’s reactions to that.

 

Best protagonist secret power ever. Puppy dog eyes. No wonder why the protag is so persuasive.

 

Omg yeah. Here I am talking about Ruby, Bronze, and Bountilia Islands but totally forgetting that there could be other islands. There is quite a possibility they may also be found on some other tiny islands we’ll be able to go to at some point.

 

Yeahhh chances are it won’t be thee Darkrai with the way the story is heading (besides would the protagonist even accept Darkrai as part of their team after all that it has done?). Maybe another one (or some copy) will be in the Dreamscape.

 

Ooh that could be. Maybe their powers weren’t as stable back then and they just don’t remember. I like that idea. The only other thing I could think of is the whole “disappearing parents” thing is just a fabricated memory.

 

It really does, which fits for a place called Arcanius. Makes me wonder what’s gonna go down on Hydreilius Island.

 

That’s kinda sad if so. He’s just gonna be fiddling around with a fictitious fragment for who knows how long, making no progress whatsoever.

True, gotta start somewhere. Huh, what if the last gravestone in the Weeping Hill that’s all scratched up doesn’t belong to the entity but instead the first dreamer Darkrai found.  

There’s the bit in Cellia North during the Fox raid where we can look through a folder called Midnight.

In Amelia’s file, it lists a bunch of activities that Amelia was a part of, ranging from the cruise ship incident and Addenfall to some Darkroot situation. One of the events listed in Amelia’s list is the Twin Negotiation event [redacted]. I’m blanking on what that one could be. Was it when the Foxes were in contact with Aurora when she was searching for Nova?

 

Not exactly sure how it’d pan out but it’d sure be pretty interesting nonetheless!

[Amare]

On 1/22/2024 at 3:15 PM, Luri said:

 

I hear ya. Totally the same way, especially when it involves kind characters like Scarlett. Poor girl doesn’t deserve that. Siding with Nova, letting Scarlett die, and then Aurora going stab-happy absolutely killed me…I actually like Nova too, so I felt awfully villainous for that.

On the other hand, I really enjoy extra dialogue and morbid curiosity drives me…which seems to outweigh my guilt (and there’s a lot of guilt XD). At least I can take one for the team in the name of uncovering the truth!

 

Haha I actually did too, I remember seeing quite a few posts saying that so this was a surprise. Granted this is just based on my experiences but it seems that way. I’ve tried several ways (giving Nova the stone then failing to read Auora’s dairy entry/siding with Aurora and giving Shiv the stone then failing to read Auora’s dairy entry/siding with Aurora). In the end, she still appears and helps out the gang, unless I’m missing something. My earlier thought about the twins being immortal? Nah, Nova’s the immortal one. She won’t die for me lol.

 

Insight might represent the culmination of all knowledge regarding the hocus pocus that’s going on in Ayrith, Dreamscape and all. The cracks of the dream were but one fraction of the bigger picture.

My guess is that the insight we gained in v6 might not be a continuation of the old insight (or at least a continuation of the cracks in the dream). Instead, the insight gained is new and most likely knowledge of other mysteries. Mysteries about Perfection and the twins.

One interesting thing about it is the difference in insight text color. Insight pertaining to the cracks in the dream were a fuchsia color. The knowledge of perfection that Crescent had in their hideout was a blue. Although I dunno if this does count towards the insight value given its difference in phrasing so that’s up in the air. And the insight from Shiv's journal about their powers engulfing them and their respective blue and red dreams is a lighter shade of purple. These distinctions between colors might represent those other mysteries the MC is uncovering.

We may not get insight checked regarding those cracks but maybe a check for knowledge of Perfection? Like…the more information we have about Perfection the protagonist can obtain Perfection themselves. Or maybe we’ll discover some more old journals and figure out what’s going on with the twins. Which may end up giving the protagonist a way to knock some sense into those two if enough insight has been found.

That’s just my interpretation of the insight at least. Given what’s going on with everyone who’s working for Darkrai, maybe it really will turn out to be a case of brainwashing. Darkrai goes Perfection mode and a lot more insight would be required to fend off Darkrai. Failure to do so could result in some Pulse level Hypno brainwashing or something.

But Darkrai pulling quiz out of no-where would be kinda fun actually xD Especially some game-show style quiz.

 

In the end, the society will be comprised of most of the cast. That would be quite an awkward meeting, wouldn’t it?

 

Hardy’s situation, whether he will perish in the end or not, does work well as a tragic commentary and doubles as a gut-wrench if he does bite the dust. It’s both, definitely both.

 

I absolutely agree with the fact the journal’s author could be an unreliable narrator. In fact, I’d be surprised if they weren’t. There is a vast level of egotism and bias oozing from those entries. Especially if the author is revealed to be the entity. I’m betting some details were left out for sure.

I do think they can still serve as a rough estimation of what went down back then. Their information about Perfection tracks with what we know about Perfection so far. And there is the fact the Settler’s Ruins is hidden underneath a statue which implies a level of secrecy or not wanting to be found. There seems to be a degree of truth to those entries at least. It really would be. What a way to raise the stakes for the protagonist, making the situation even more personal than it already is. Even if the protag doesn’t end up causing a Perfection plague whatever is gonna happen it’s not gonna be very good for the cast. It’ll be equal parts exciting and worrisome.

 

Honestly might be the safest spot for Garret at this point. Plus, Rosetta and Aaron get to do something finally, it’s a win-win!

 

If Majira had a kid and their name isn’t Majora I’m gonna be disappointed lol. I would love to see that reveal just to see everyone’s reactions to that.

 

Best protagonist secret power ever. Puppy dog eyes. No wonder why the protag is so persuasive.

 

Omg yeah. Here I am talking about Ruby, Bronze, and Bountilia Islands but totally forgetting that there could be other islands. There is quite a possibility they may also be found on some other tiny islands we’ll be able to go to at some point.

 

Yeahhh chances are it won’t be thee Darkrai with the way the story is heading (besides would the protagonist even accept Darkrai as part of their team after all that it has done?). Maybe another one (or some copy) will be in the Dreamscape.

 

Ooh that could be. Maybe their powers weren’t as stable back then and they just don’t remember. I like that idea. The only other thing I could think of is the whole “disappearing parents” thing is just a fabricated memory.

 

It really does, which fits for a place called Arcanius. Makes me wonder what’s gonna go down on Hydreilius Island.

 

That’s kinda sad if so. He’s just gonna be fiddling around with a fictitious fragment for who knows how long, making no progress whatsoever.

True, gotta start somewhere. Huh, what if the last gravestone in the Weeping Hill that’s all scratched up doesn’t belong to the entity but instead the first dreamer Darkrai found.  

There’s the bit in Cellia North during the Fox raid where we can look through a folder called Midnight.

In Amelia’s file, it lists a bunch of activities that Amelia was a part of, ranging from the cruise ship incident and Addenfall to some Darkroot situation. One of the events listed in Amelia’s list is the Twin Negotiation event [redacted]. I’m blanking on what that one could be. Was it when the Foxes were in contact with Aurora when she was searching for Nova?

 

Not exactly sure how it’d pan out but it’d sure be pretty interesting nonetheless!

 

 

 

We salute you for your service. You are doing a great and valiant job. (I also love extra dialogue, I just feel this compulsion to make sure that the characters get as good a deal as possible.)

 

Hmmm. I wonder, maybe Nova really is immortal... she and the twins are already Special, so maybe they're not entirely human? (Maybe this is when the X-Men all turn up, lmao.)

 

Yeah, it does seem that the first insight was about the Dreamscape/Darkrai and the second is about Perfection. As to what the latter might be for... well, my best bet is another check, but as for what, I don't know. Maybe we'll have to prove a falsehood or show that we know more about Perfection than what someone else says? More brainwashing is certainly possible, given who we're dealing with...

 

It would be pretty hilarious, though. Everyone just sits there looking awkwardly at each other, and then Ava finally says "I think we have a problem."

 

The fandom's probably going to riot if Hardy gets a bad ending, especially after what happened to Tristan, lmao.

 

I don't think the journal's author was outright lying, but I'm betting that they were embellishing or deliberately downplaying things. I imagine we'll eventually get some more accurate sources, whether it's from Lilith, Waldenhall, the priests or somewhere else, so that should be interesting.

 

It's just going to be non-stop complaining from all of them afterwards, lol.

 

God, I want there to be a reference to Majora at least once, kid or no kid. It'd just be funny.

 

On that note, we haven't been shown a really extensive map of Ayrith yet, have we? Like, I know we've seen one that shows the major islands, but not the minor ones, right? So we don't know just how many islands there could be?

 

I doubt that the player would accept Darkrai on their team, but I could see Shiv or Aurora doing so in order to lord it over Darkrai. 

 

A fabricated memory would be really interesting, especially since I could see multiple candidates: parents who wanted to get rid of them, parents who wanted to keep them safe, someone who knew what they could do and wanted to put them somewhere where they couldn't do too much damage... or maybe one of them brainwashed the other two and then themselves for some reason. It's possible, is all I'm saying.

 

To me, 'Hydreilius' sounds like 'hydraulics', so... IDK, maybe waterworks?

 

I mean, at least it gives him something to think about other than 'my life was a lie and this place sucks'?

 

Now there's an idea... those tombstones really are food for thought. 

 

Hmmm... calling it 'Twin Negotiation' implies to me that both twins were involved, but I do see how that could work...

 

 

 

[Luri]

On 1/27/2024 at 5:26 AM, Amare said:

 

We salute you for your service. You are doing a great and valiant job. (I also love extra dialogue, I just feel this compulsion to make sure that the characters get as good a deal as possible.)

 

Hmmm. I wonder, maybe Nova really is immortal... she and the twins are already Special, so maybe they're not entirely human? (Maybe this is when the X-Men all turn up, lmao.)

 

Yeah, it does seem that the first insight was about the Dreamscape/Darkrai and the second is about Perfection. As to what the latter might be for... well, my best bet is another check, but as for what, I don't know. Maybe we'll have to prove a falsehood or show that we know more about Perfection than what someone else says? More brainwashing is certainly possible, given who we're dealing with...

 

It would be pretty hilarious, though. Everyone just sits there looking awkwardly at each other, and then Ava finally says "I think we have a problem."

 

The fandom's probably going to riot if Hardy gets a bad ending, especially after what happened to Tristan, lmao.

 

I don't think the journal's author was outright lying, but I'm betting that they were embellishing or deliberately downplaying things. I imagine we'll eventually get some more accurate sources, whether it's from Lilith, Waldenhall, the priests or somewhere else, so that should be interesting.

 

It's just going to be non-stop complaining from all of them afterwards, lol.

 

God, I want there to be a reference to Majora at least once, kid or no kid. It'd just be funny.

 

On that note, we haven't been shown a really extensive map of Ayrith yet, have we? Like, I know we've seen one that shows the major islands, but not the minor ones, right? So we don't know just how many islands there could be?

 

I doubt that the player would accept Darkrai on their team, but I could see Shiv or Aurora doing so in order to lord it over Darkrai. 

 

A fabricated memory would be really interesting, especially since I could see multiple candidates: parents who wanted to get rid of them, parents who wanted to keep them safe, someone who knew what they could do and wanted to put them somewhere where they couldn't do too much damage... or maybe one of them brainwashed the other two and then themselves for some reason. It's possible, is all I'm saying.

 

To me, 'Hydreilius' sounds like 'hydraulics', so... IDK, maybe waterworks?

 

I mean, at least it gives him something to think about other than 'my life was a lie and this place sucks'?

 

Now there's an idea... those tombstones really are food for thought. 

 

Hmmm... calling it 'Twin Negotiation' implies to me that both twins were involved, but I do see how that could work...

 

 

 

 

Alrighty, I’m back after that slight delay!

 

Happy to be of service~
Yeah, honestly the cast deserves the best possible outcome. Especially Tristan and Hardy, I’m holding out hope for those two. At least they will get that in your save (assuming the situation doesn’t nosedive later on)!

 

It isn’t out of the realm of possibility she could survive an attack like that, but it was certainly framed as a death in the game, and man she bounced back rather quickly. Wonder if it has anything to do with her bubbly personality xD.

In all seriousness, they aren’t normal that’s for sure. Could be that they aren’t entirely human. Someone, quick, call the X-Men XD. Tristan, at least the one the protagonist knew, is confirmed to be some fabrication of Darkrai’s that can enter reality. And some entity, which may or may not be some person who lost their physical body, is now roaming Ayrith. So, there are non-human entities in the story. Although that begs the question, what exactly would they be? They certainly aren’t fabrications like Tristan and Perfection doesn’t seem to grant those sorts of powers, as far as we know. I dunno exactly what they could be.

Nova was able to siphon off Aurora’s power and seems to have some sort of connection to Lilith so she may be special to some degree. Could the reason behind her survival be because she yoinked a part of Aurora’s power at some point?

Oh! What if it’s a part of Darkrai’s influence over them? It’d be quite unfortunate for Darkrai to lose one of its pawns to something out of its control like a stabbing for instance. If it can exert a level of control over them who’s to say it’s not able to make sure they don’t kick the bucket too early?

There’s also the possibility Aurora didn’t hit anything vital, and Nova patched herself up ASAP (or maybe Shiv patched her up and once she was stable, she fled). She then took time to recover from the wound in the Dreamscape. Time flows differently in the Dreamscape, especially when a person’s physical body is there. Which could allow her to be up and at em by the time Darkrai entered Ayrith.

 

It seems likely it’ll be for another check of some sort.

It doesn’t seem like having more knowledge about Perfection affects it in any sort of way so that doesn’t seem very likely.

Proving a falsehood or demonstrating our knowledge of Perfection could work. My first thoughts would be involving Crescent or Hardy. The insight gained could prove to Baron that yeah, the protagonist is now in the loop about Perfection and that they have a mutual goal of stopping Waldenhall. Or to convince Hardy nothing good is gonna come from subjecting his Zoroark to Perfection and that he should aid the Darkrai Destroyer Squad instead.

Completely, I’m not ruling out any sort of trickery, brainwashing, or otherwise lol.

 

Haha absolutely, that’s a bit of an understatement there xD.

 

The preparations for the riot are underway as we speak juuuuuust in case it comes to pass lol. Seriously though, first Tristan and then Hardy. That’d be absolutely brutal, exciting but brutal. Totally can feel my heart fracturing just thinking about it

 

For sure. They are also journal entries - a collection of the author’s personal thoughts and perspectives on the situation. Embellishment or downplaying what went on could very well have happened.

Definitely, with Lilith’s absence, she may come back with some new knowledge of the situation. And Waldenhall is quite capable, he could very well track down yet another fount of knowledge. I’m just hoping Waldenhall doesn’t go torching the next historical discovery he stumbles across. I’m most looking forward to the Kanzen Priests. If they come from the same priests as the ones mentioned in the entries, they could have some stories or records about what happened back then.

 

That’s as certain as the sky being blue! I don’t think the protagonist would ever hear the end of it from those three, especially Garret.

 

It would be! I can see Jarred appearing from nowhere on a Ranger sidequest and striking up a conversation about Majira. Except he keeps referring to Majira as Majora for no explainable reason then peaces out.

 

Yep, we haven’t got an extensive map of Ayrith yet. The smaller islands like Ruby or Bountilia are always shown as disconnected when they are visited. It’s quite probable many more islands will be available later on. Which also means more places for legendaries to be hiding!

Honestly, it’d be pretty cool to see a map of the Ayrith region in its entirety. Maybe one day we will be graced with one (totally not cause I have ulterior motives and really enjoy maps or anything...).

 

Assuming Darkrai doesn’t perish or end up sealed away again I’d say that would be a fitting end for it. Arceus knows Darkrai deserves it after all that it’s done. I’d also hope it could achieve some level of atonement with them as its keepers.

 

Totally. Fabricated memories could go any number of ways, depending on who is doing the fabricating and for what reasons. I pretty much agree with any of those. With so little information to go on it's definitely on the list of possibilities.

And with it already being difficult enough trying to discern fact from fiction when it comes to those two… who’s to say this isn’t the case?

 

Hydreilius could be water-related. Hydr is a Greek root that means water so maybe it is. It also kinda reminds me of Hydreigon. Which isn’t water-related but is quite similar to Hydreilius. Or it could just be an island with a really cool-sounding name. Which I can say for certain it is. Hydreilius…sounds like an awesome place to live!
Outside of the name we know the island houses another volcano which the league sits on top of, Hakari City. And of course, the gym leader Kairo. Not a lot to go on but maybe we’ll get a bit more in v7. I wonder what type of festivals they hold. It’d be interesting to arrive on Hydreilius while one is underway.

 

 Very true, seems much more preferable than dwelling on that depressing note.

 

They are. The tombstones are a bit of an early hint at the connection between the four of them. So that last one must be linked in a similar fashion. The next character that we come across whose name starts with Si is officially on my sketch-as-heck list.

 

That’s the impression I had of it when reading through that again. Although I don’t recall both twins striking deals with the Foxes/Amelia. What was the negotiation about? When did it take place? The only other option I could think of was the whole Aurora thing lol.

[Amare]

On 2/7/2024 at 1:33 PM, Luri said:

 

Alrighty, I’m back after that slight delay!

 

Happy to be of service~
Yeah, honestly the cast deserves the best possible outcome. Especially Tristan and Hardy, I’m holding out hope for those two. At least they will get that in your save (assuming the situation doesn’t nosedive later on)!

 

It isn’t out of the realm of possibility she could survive an attack like that, but it was certainly framed as a death in the game, and man she bounced back rather quickly. Wonder if it has anything to do with her bubbly personality xD.

In all seriousness, they aren’t normal that’s for sure. Could be that they aren’t entirely human. Someone, quick, call the X-Men XD. Tristan, at least the one the protagonist knew, is confirmed to be some fabrication of Darkrai’s that can enter reality. And some entity, which may or may not be some person who lost their physical body, is now roaming Ayrith. So, there are non-human entities in the story. Although that begs the question, what exactly would they be? They certainly aren’t fabrications like Tristan and Perfection doesn’t seem to grant those sorts of powers, as far as we know. I dunno exactly what they could be.

Nova was able to siphon off Aurora’s power and seems to have some sort of connection to Lilith so she may be special to some degree. Could the reason behind her survival be because she yoinked a part of Aurora’s power at some point?

Oh! What if it’s a part of Darkrai’s influence over them? It’d be quite unfortunate for Darkrai to lose one of its pawns to something out of its control like a stabbing for instance. If it can exert a level of control over them who’s to say it’s not able to make sure they don’t kick the bucket too early?

There’s also the possibility Aurora didn’t hit anything vital, and Nova patched herself up ASAP (or maybe Shiv patched her up and once she was stable, she fled). She then took time to recover from the wound in the Dreamscape. Time flows differently in the Dreamscape, especially when a person’s physical body is there. Which could allow her to be up and at em by the time Darkrai entered Ayrith.

 

It seems likely it’ll be for another check of some sort.

It doesn’t seem like having more knowledge about Perfection affects it in any sort of way so that doesn’t seem very likely.

Proving a falsehood or demonstrating our knowledge of Perfection could work. My first thoughts would be involving Crescent or Hardy. The insight gained could prove to Baron that yeah, the protagonist is now in the loop about Perfection and that they have a mutual goal of stopping Waldenhall. Or to convince Hardy nothing good is gonna come from subjecting his Zoroark to Perfection and that he should aid the Darkrai Destroyer Squad instead.

Completely, I’m not ruling out any sort of trickery, brainwashing, or otherwise lol.

 

Haha absolutely, that’s a bit of an understatement there xD.

 

The preparations for the riot are underway as we speak juuuuuust in case it comes to pass lol. Seriously though, first Tristan and then Hardy. That’d be absolutely brutal, exciting but brutal. Totally can feel my heart fracturing just thinking about it

 

For sure. They are also journal entries - a collection of the author’s personal thoughts and perspectives on the situation. Embellishment or downplaying what went on could very well have happened.

Definitely, with Lilith’s absence, she may come back with some new knowledge of the situation. And Waldenhall is quite capable, he could very well track down yet another fount of knowledge. I’m just hoping Waldenhall doesn’t go torching the next historical discovery he stumbles across. I’m most looking forward to the Kanzen Priests. If they come from the same priests as the ones mentioned in the entries, they could have some stories or records about what happened back then.

 

That’s as certain as the sky being blue! I don’t think the protagonist would ever hear the end of it from those three, especially Garret.

 

It would be! I can see Jarred appearing from nowhere on a Ranger sidequest and striking up a conversation about Majira. Except he keeps referring to Majira as Majora for no explainable reason then peaces out.

 

Yep, we haven’t got an extensive map of Ayrith yet. The smaller islands like Ruby or Bountilia are always shown as disconnected when they are visited. It’s quite probable many more islands will be available later on. Which also means more places for legendaries to be hiding!

Honestly, it’d be pretty cool to see a map of the Ayrith region in its entirety. Maybe one day we will be graced with one (totally not cause I have ulterior motives and really enjoy maps or anything...).

 

Assuming Darkrai doesn’t perish or end up sealed away again I’d say that would be a fitting end for it. Arceus knows Darkrai deserves it after all that it’s done. I’d also hope it could achieve some level of atonement with them as its keepers.

 

Totally. Fabricated memories could go any number of ways, depending on who is doing the fabricating and for what reasons. I pretty much agree with any of those. With so little information to go on it's definitely on the list of possibilities.

And with it already being difficult enough trying to discern fact from fiction when it comes to those two… who’s to say this isn’t the case?

 

Hydreilius could be water-related. Hydr is a Greek root that means water so maybe it is. It also kinda reminds me of Hydreigon. Which isn’t water-related but is quite similar to Hydreilius. Or it could just be an island with a really cool-sounding name. Which I can say for certain it is. Hydreilius…sounds like an awesome place to live!
Outside of the name we know the island houses another volcano which the league sits on top of, Hakari City. And of course, the gym leader Kairo. Not a lot to go on but maybe we’ll get a bit more in v7. I wonder what type of festivals they hold. It’d be interesting to arrive on Hydreilius while one is underway.

 

 Very true, seems much more preferable than dwelling on that depressing note.

 

They are. The tombstones are a bit of an early hint at the connection between the four of them. So that last one must be linked in a similar fashion. The next character that we come across whose name starts with Si is officially on my sketch-as-heck list.

 

That’s the impression I had of it when reading through that again. Although I don’t recall both twins striking deals with the Foxes/Amelia. What was the negotiation about? When did it take place? The only other option I could think of was the whole Aurora thing lol.

 

Hmmm. Speaking of outcomes, I wonder, do you by any chance happen to recall any mention of how many endings Desolation might have? I know Rejuvenation will have four, and Reborn had the postgame split. Since (IIRC) Deso will only have ten episodes, maybe the devs might have mentioned it?

 

It's true that people can survive a lot of stabbing, especially if Aurora didn't manage to hit anything vital. (Or for all we know, Nova had a mon using Heal Pulse on her somewhere.) But I actually really like your idea that Darkrai was somehow responsible. Not sure if it could actually heal Nova, but maybe it used some kind of illusion power on Aurora so she thought she stabbed/killed Nova, but didn't actually do it? I agree that Darkrai would get a bit miffed if one of its pawns shanked another, so it would have a vested interest in making sure that didn't happen.

 

Those are fantastic ideas, but I'll add another one- maybe it's with Lilith, to get her on our side. If we prove we know enough about Perfection, it might convince her that we can be trusted/we're an ally that's worth sticking with.

 

Somewhere, the devs are plotting which character to make us love before giving them a depressing fate (or making a new character entirely). They want us to suffer.

 

True, the priests are absolutely a good potential source of information. And Waldenhall definitely needs to lay off on the arson of priceless historical sites, once was bad enough. (I would punch him myself for that, if I could.)

 

Oh, God. Speaking of Jarred, today I discovered that not only did some mad lad make a dating sim of him (

, the same mad lad made a mod of Deso where everything is Jarred (

Maps are awesome. Everyone loves maps. I'd totally be down for a detailed Ayrith map. (Someone call Talon, lmao.)

 

Darkrai winds up as Aurora's research assistant. They co-author numerous papers on the history of Ayrith. They make a surprisingly good, but utterly terrifying combination.

 

Somewhere, Shiv is laughing at us for thinking we could understand him and his origins.

 

I forgot about the League being on a volcano, actually. I thought it was a mountain?

 

I'm going to have to comb over every tombstone in the game, aren't I...

 

True... Aurora does seem like the most likely option there... or maybe Shiv's just playing the Foxes too?

 

[Luri]

On 2/11/2024 at 10:12 PM, Amare said:

 

Hmmm. Speaking of outcomes, I wonder, do you by any chance happen to recall any mention of how many endings Desolation might have? I know Rejuvenation will have four, and Reborn had the postgame split. Since (IIRC) Deso will only have ten episodes, maybe the devs might have mentioned it?

 

It's true that people can survive a lot of stabbing, especially if Aurora didn't manage to hit anything vital. (Or for all we know, Nova had a mon using Heal Pulse on her somewhere.) But I actually really like your idea that Darkrai was somehow responsible. Not sure if it could actually heal Nova, but maybe it used some kind of illusion power on Aurora so she thought she stabbed/killed Nova, but didn't actually do it? I agree that Darkrai would get a bit miffed if one of its pawns shanked another, so it would have a vested interest in making sure that didn't happen.

 

Those are fantastic ideas, but I'll add another one- maybe it's with Lilith, to get her on our side. If we prove we know enough about Perfection, it might convince her that we can be trusted/we're an ally that's worth sticking with.

 

Somewhere, the devs are plotting which character to make us love before giving them a depressing fate (or making a new character entirely). They want us to suffer.

 

True, the priests are absolutely a good potential source of information. And Waldenhall definitely needs to lay off on the arson of priceless historical sites, once was bad enough. (I would punch him myself for that, if I could.)

 

Oh, God. Speaking of Jarred, today I discovered that not only did some mad lad make a dating sim of him (

, the same mad lad made a mod of Deso where everything is Jarred (

Maps are awesome. Everyone loves maps. I'd totally be down for a detailed Ayrith map. (Someone call Talon, lmao.)

 

Darkrai winds up as Aurora's research assistant. They co-author numerous papers on the history of Ayrith. They make a surprisingly good, but utterly terrifying combination.

 

Somewhere, Shiv is laughing at us for thinking we could understand him and his origins.

 

I forgot about the League being on a volcano, actually. I thought it was a mountain?

 

I'm going to have to comb over every tombstone in the game, aren't I...

 

True... Aurora does seem like the most likely option there... or maybe Shiv's just playing the Foxes too?

 

 

That is one answer I don’t have/recall, unfortunately. That’s a really good question though. Maybe the answer is floating around somewhere? If not it's definitely a great question to ask.

Given the trend of endings/splits in the Rebornverse, and the choices already present within Deso I’d hazard a guess and say it’s pretty likely that Deso will end up with at least the very least two actual endings (not including the Bad endings). That’s just my assumption though.

It makes me wonder how a story split will go. We’ve already had several important story choices and a bad ending. There's quite a lot of potential for one.

 

 Ya know…I totally forgot about moves like Heal Pulse. Adding that to the list of potentials!

Right? It isn’t like the three of them are any old pawns either. There’s totally a vested interest in keeping them around. The illusion idea is pretty neat and would fit much better with Darkrai and its displayed current abilities.

If that’s the case I can’t wait for Aurora to see Nova alive and well later on. She’s in for a surprise. Just like I was.

 

I really like that idea! The protagonist and Lilith go from enemies to an uneasy truce, to partners in crime (minus the crime…maybe).  Earning Crescent's or Lilith’s trust would be my go-to thoughts for what the Perfection check will entail. Hopefully traversing the Canyon will provide a few more clues for a more definitive answer going forward.

 

Most likely. After all, that is what every great author/writer does, yeah? Spend countless hours plotting how to achieve the most amount of suffering for all.

 

Yep yep, the Canyon and the priests seem like treasure troves of information! So looking forward to it :) Seriously, of all the things he’s done he had to add arson to the list as well. Quite unnecessary lol.

 

Omg that’s amazing. Thanks Cervys for gracing the world with these gems! Jarred absolutely deserves this spotlight. Also thank you for bringing this to my attention!

I must check these out, they sound like a grand ol’ time. I know what I'll be doing with my free-time xD.

 

Haha, they really are. Alrighty, the protagonist just needs to take a quick trip to Aevium and recruit Talon to the cause. He’s a chill dude and perfect for the job of charting those uncharted islands we’ll undoubtedly visit in the future.

Until then the protagonist will just keep on winging it and hopefully won’t get lost in the process!

 

Aurora and Darkrai make for such a great duo IMO. Shiv should watch out, Aurora and Darkrai could make waves in the academic world. Imagine if the protagonist finds a few drafts of theirs scattered around Ayrith. Quite a way to learn about the region.

 

Just you wait Shiv, you and your enigmatic origins will be uncovered one day. Count on it.

 

Yeppers, it is on a volcano according to one of those pamphlets on the cruise ship. Hydreilius Volcano to be exact. Can only imagine what the cooling bill for the league must be lol. Also, R.I.P. little pamphlets….your valuable contents will be sorely missed. At least until another fount of information regarding Hydreilius shows up.

 

Haha better bring some offerings so that the dearly departed don’t mind the disturbances!

Luckily there aren’t thatttt many tombstones in Deso…excluding the ones in the Weeping Depths that is. Shouldn’t take too long to scour every major tombstone. They are certainly worth a gander, there always seem to be some neat little tidbits on tombstones in these games.

 

Quite. If Shiv is involved, I’d agree. I totally suspect he must be playing the Foxes too. Makes me wonder what his ‘negotiation’ with the Foxes involved. He seems to always be in the know so it’s hard to imagine it’s for information of some kind.

 

[Amare]

On 2/26/2024 at 2:36 PM, Luri said:

 

That is one answer I don’t have/recall, unfortunately. That’s a really good question though. Maybe the answer is floating around somewhere? If not it's definitely a great question to ask.

Given the trend of endings/splits in the Rebornverse, and the choices already present within Deso I’d hazard a guess and say it’s pretty likely that Deso will end up with at least the very least two actual endings (not including the Bad endings). That’s just my assumption though.

It makes me wonder how a story split will go. We’ve already had several important story choices and a bad ending. There's quite a lot of potential for one.

 

 Ya know…I totally forgot about moves like Heal Pulse. Adding that to the list of potentials!

Right? It isn’t like the three of them are any old pawns either. There’s totally a vested interest in keeping them around. The illusion idea is pretty neat and would fit much better with Darkrai and its displayed current abilities.

If that’s the case I can’t wait for Aurora to see Nova alive and well later on. She’s in for a surprise. Just like I was.

 

I really like that idea! The protagonist and Lilith go from enemies to an uneasy truce, to partners in crime (minus the crime…maybe).  Earning Crescent's or Lilith’s trust would be my go-to thoughts for what the Perfection check will entail. Hopefully traversing the Canyon will provide a few more clues for a more definitive answer going forward.

 

Most likely. After all, that is what every great author/writer does, yeah? Spend countless hours plotting how to achieve the most amount of suffering for all.

 

Yep yep, the Canyon and the priests seem like treasure troves of information! So looking forward to it :) Seriously, of all the things he’s done he had to add arson to the list as well. Quite unnecessary lol.

 

Omg that’s amazing. Thanks Cervys for gracing the world with these gems! Jarred absolutely deserves this spotlight. Also thank you for bringing this to my attention!

I must check these out, they sound like a grand ol’ time. I know what I'll be doing with my free-time xD.

 

Haha, they really are. Alrighty, the protagonist just needs to take a quick trip to Aevium and recruit Talon to the cause. He’s a chill dude and perfect for the job of charting those uncharted islands we’ll undoubtedly visit in the future.

Until then the protagonist will just keep on winging it and hopefully won’t get lost in the process!

 

Aurora and Darkrai make for such a great duo IMO. Shiv should watch out, Aurora and Darkrai could make waves in the academic world. Imagine if the protagonist finds a few drafts of theirs scattered around Ayrith. Quite a way to learn about the region.

 

Just you wait Shiv, you and your enigmatic origins will be uncovered one day. Count on it.

 

Yeppers, it is on a volcano according to one of those pamphlets on the cruise ship. Hydreilius Volcano to be exact. Can only imagine what the cooling bill for the league must be lol. Also, R.I.P. little pamphlets….your valuable contents will be sorely missed. At least until another fount of information regarding Hydreilius shows up.

 

Haha better bring some offerings so that the dearly departed don’t mind the disturbances!

Luckily there aren’t thatttt many tombstones in Deso…excluding the ones in the Weeping Depths that is. Shouldn’t take too long to scour every major tombstone. They are certainly worth a gander, there always seem to be some neat little tidbits on tombstones in these games.

 

Quite. If Shiv is involved, I’d agree. I totally suspect he must be playing the Foxes too. Makes me wonder what his ‘negotiation’ with the Foxes involved. He seems to always be in the know so it’s hard to imagine it’s for information of some kind.

 

Sorry for the delay, it's been a very hectic week.

 

I agree, there's definitely a lot of potential re: story splits. I do think the story will likely have multiple endings, but probably only four or five, like Rejuv- even if there's potential for like twenty endings, I doubt the devs would go with that.

 

Honestly, Aurora's lucky that Nova's powers are waning/failing, or I wouldn't put it past Nova to use her powers to screw with Aurora's head just for the sake of it. 

 

I think the 'crime' part is pretty implicit with Lilith, LMAO.

 

They love our tears. They taste like candy.

 

Arson, desecration of historical objects/a historical site and offending historians worldwide. The bastard.

 

I don't think my brain can handle the Jarred, but let me know how it goes for you.

 

That's how E7 starts: the protagonist, Garret and Emily managed to get lost because Garret screwed up somehow. We immediately have to prevent them from strangling each other.

 

I feel like the drafts would either be full of snarky notes where they're criticising each other's writing, or just full of arguments about the most minor details.

 

And by God, if the devs don't tell us we'll make it up ourselves.

 

I bet that one Elite Four who likes Fire-types (Damien?) likes to walk around outside in full regalia just to show how tough/immune he is, while Azura calls him a freak.

 

*reluctantly adds 'grave-botherer' to my resume*

 

There's always the possibility that Shiv's trying to get as much information possible while feeding the Foxes/Crescent/God knows who else disinformation. He seems like that kind of sneaky.

 

 

 

[Luri]

On 3/6/2024 at 3:19 PM, Amare said:

Sorry for the delay, it's been a very hectic week.

 

I agree, there's definitely a lot of potential re: story splits. I do think the story will likely have multiple endings, but probably only four or five, like Rejuv- even if there's potential for like twenty endings, I doubt the devs would go with that.

 

Honestly, Aurora's lucky that Nova's powers are waning/failing, or I wouldn't put it past Nova to use her powers to screw with Aurora's head just for the sake of it. 

 

I think the 'crime' part is pretty implicit with Lilith, LMAO.

 

They love our tears. They taste like candy.

 

Arson, desecration of historical objects/a historical site and offending historians worldwide. The bastard.

 

I don't think my brain can handle the Jarred, but let me know how it goes for you.

 

That's how E7 starts: the protagonist, Garret and Emily managed to get lost because Garret screwed up somehow. We immediately have to prevent them from strangling each other.

 

I feel like the drafts would either be full of snarky notes where they're criticising each other's writing, or just full of arguments about the most minor details.

 

And by God, if the devs don't tell us we'll make it up ourselves.

 

I bet that one Elite Four who likes Fire-types (Damien?) likes to walk around outside in full regalia just to show how tough/immune he is, while Azura calls him a freak.

 

*reluctantly adds 'grave-botherer' to my resume*

 

There's always the possibility that Shiv's trying to get as much information possible while feeding the Foxes/Crescent/God knows who else disinformation. He seems like that kind of sneaky.

 

 

 

 

No worries, same for me actually! The month of March sure has been quite crazy. Now that things are chill I’ll start checking the site more frequently. Anywhooo, onto the interesting stuff!

 

At minimum two endings, at max, I’d guess four. That seems like a reasonable amount. Twenty sounds like a daunting task…I mean unless they go the joke-ending route or count the Bad Ends in that total. But hey if they wanna be utterly ambitious and shoot for that, I’ll be rooting for them!
The cool thing about story splits is that assuming a split of some sort does occur, said split should be happening soon. There are four more badges left before Victory Road and the showdown with the Elite Three Four. Same thing for the endings. It’s gonna be really exciting to see what choices/consequences/surprises will be in store for us going forward.

 

Correct me if I’m wrong, didn’t Nova insinuate her waning powers were due to Aurora (it’s been a hot minute lol)? She’s totally lucky either way. Nova is already a thorn in her/Darkrai’s side. All they need is for Nova to have her powers. Aurora would be in for a bad time.

 

Haha true. Time to commit some fairly illegal things with Lilith for the good of the region!

 

They are…the tears of fans are the most precious of treasures. The sweetest treat a writer could ask for.

 

Right? After Ryder and Cedric nab Lilith, they need to set their sights on Waldenhall. He’s being a menace to priceless historical sites…and modern society. To the dungeons with him.

 

Haha understandable, Jarred is quite a lot for any one of us mortals. Will do, I’ll most likely have finished the dating sim the next time I post!

 

That’d be quite an exciting way to introduce E7 . Garret was doing something silly like holding the map upside-down or mixing up the location names and that’s how they ended up in said predicament.

 

Absolutely! Maybe I’m a bit of a weirdo but a 20-30 page research paper on Perfection or Ayrith’s history dripping with snarky notes left by those two sounds like a great read to me.

 

Oh we will lol. By the time we’re done Shiv’s gonna have quite a background. Just look at our wonderful headcanons of Aurora and Darkrai we have going on .

In all seriousness, I’m sure some of their cryptic past will be revealed if that journal in the Waterscape is anything to go by. Just gotta bide our time and wait, we’ll be rewarded soon enough.

 

I believe the Fire/Dragon user is Atlas and that’d be so amusing. That’s totally how he greets any trainer who just traversed Victory Road and has finally arrived at the League proper. Damien would be off in some dark corner or cool patch of shade, scoffing at the pair of them.

To be honest that’d be pretty impressive though…being able to strut about in full regalia without turning into a human puddle.

 

Wonder what else Deso will have you add to your resume .

 

That definitely seems like Shiv’s style, especially since they are Foxes. If it were information he’s seeking then I’d hazard a guess and say that the info pertains to Perfection (or I suppose Nova’s location since he was searching for her on Bountilia later on…guess it depends on when this negotiation took place).

[Amare]

On 3/25/2024 at 1:43 PM, Luri said:

 

 

 

No worries, same for me actually! The month of March sure has been quite crazy. Now that things are chill I’ll start checking the site more frequently. Anywhooo, onto the interesting stuff!

 

At minimum two endings, at max, I’d guess four. That seems like a reasonable amount. Twenty sounds like a daunting task…I mean unless they go the joke-ending route or count the Bad Ends in that total. But hey if they wanna be utterly ambitious and shoot for that, I’ll be rooting for them!
The cool thing about story splits is that assuming a split of some sort does occur, said split should be happening soon. There are four more badges left before Victory Road and the showdown with the Elite Three Four. Same thing for the endings. It’s gonna be really exciting to see what choices/consequences/surprises will be in store for us going forward.

 

Correct me if I’m wrong, didn’t Nova insinuate her waning powers were due to Aurora (it’s been a hot minute lol)? She’s totally lucky either way. Nova is already a thorn in her/Darkrai’s side. All they need is for Nova to have her powers. Aurora would be in for a bad time.

 

 

Haha true. Time to commit some fairly illegal things with Lilith for the good of the region!

 

They are…the tears of fans are the most precious of treasures. The sweetest treat a writer could ask for.

 

Right? After Ryder and Cedric nab Lilith, they need to set their sights on Waldenhall. He’s being a menace to priceless historical sites…and modern society. To the dungeons with him.

 

Haha understandable, Jarred is quite a lot for any one of us mortals. Will do, I’ll most likely have finished the dating sim the next time I post!

 

 

 

That’d be quite an exciting way to introduce E7 . Garret was doing something silly like holding the map upside-down or mixing up the location names and that’s how they ended up in said predicament.

 

Absolutely! Maybe I’m a bit of a weirdo but a 20-30 page research paper on Perfection or Ayrith’s history dripping with snarky notes left by those two sounds like a great read to me.

 

Oh we will lol. By the time we’re done Shiv’s gonna have quite a background. Just look at our wonderful headcanons of Aurora and Darkrai we have going on .

In all seriousness, I’m sure some of their cryptic past will be revealed if that journal in the Waterscape is anything to go by. Just gotta bide our time and wait, we’ll be rewarded soon enough.

 

I believe the Fire/Dragon user is Atlas and that’d be so amusing. That’s totally how he greets any trainer who just traversed Victory Road and has finally arrived at the League proper. Damien would be off in some dark corner or cool patch of shade, scoffing at the pair of them.

To be honest that’d be pretty impressive though…being able to strut about in full regalia without turning into a human puddle.

 

Wonder what else Deso will have you add to your resume .

 

That definitely seems like Shiv’s style, especially since they are Foxes. If it were information he’s seeking then I’d hazard a guess and say that the info pertains to Perfection (or I suppose Nova’s location since he was searching for her on Bountilia later on…guess it depends on when this negotiation took place).

 

I am so sorry for how long this took. It's been really hectic around here, and there was a death in my family recently, so a lot of things got sidelined and I'm trying to get back on top of things. It's been a lot.

 

I mean, with these devs, never say never, lmao. And since we recently got confirmation that they're keeping on even without Doctor Caz at the helm, I think we're in for a fun ride no matter what happens.

 

See, it's entirely possible that we've already had the major split- either with the 'side with Nova or Shiv' decision or the 'save Scarlett/let Scarlett die' decision. I know the repercussions from both haven't been enormously significant so far (aside from the obvious, in the latter's case), but they might come back to haunt us soon. Or things might get rewritten here and there to make them more significant.

 

Yeah, I think the insinuation was that Aurora's regaining what Nova took from her? Or maybe Nova just has to keep shanking a twin for power every so often. Canon will probably clarify that for us eventually.

 

We'll add 'desecrating historical sites' to Waldenhall's rap sheet. I'm sure Reeve would be horrified if he knew.

 

I hope your brain didn't get Jarredsploded. The prospect is terrifying.

 

Or Garret decided to take a short cut and it turns out the short cut didn't exist and whoops, we've crashed into Arcanius.

 

Half of it is Darkrai saying things along the line of 'I'm an eternal being, I was actually alive at that time, don't question me' and Aurora saying 'You're a stagnant, unchanging being, let someone whose brain can actually withstand the idea of a new concept do the commenting'. The terrifying bits are when they actually agree.

 

Shiv's going to turn into The Stig at this rate. Some say he only ever eats mangos, and he developed the ability to teleport by frightening baby Slowpoke. But all we know is... he's called Shiv.

 

(In all seriousness, yes, I'm sure canon will tell us in time.)

 

Atlas has his Fire Pokemon on hand to keep him from melting. Azura has a mon for using Icy Wind on her, though it often melts and she winds up getting rained on. Damien just stays inside with the air-con on, like a normal person.

 

Grave-bothering, assistant dimensional researcher, unofficial member of the local law and order, attempted Darkrai-wrangler, and person who has to deal with the Gym Leaders when they're all arguing.

 

Yeah, Perfection, Nova or Darkrai would be my guess. Maybe Cresselia, if we're right about her being significant.

 

[Luri]

On 4/19/2024 at 1:26 AM, Amare said:

 

I am so sorry for how long this took. It's been really hectic around here, and there was a death in my family recently, so a lot of things got sidelined and I'm trying to get back on top of things. It's been a lot.

 

I mean, with these devs, never say never, lmao. And since we recently got confirmation that they're keeping on even without Doctor Caz at the helm, I think we're in for a fun ride no matter what happens.

 

See, it's entirely possible that we've already had the major split- either with the 'side with Nova or Shiv' decision or the 'save Scarlett/let Scarlett die' decision. I know the repercussions from both haven't been enormously significant so far (aside from the obvious, in the latter's case), but they might come back to haunt us soon. Or things might get rewritten here and there to make them more significant.

 

Yeah, I think the insinuation was that Aurora's regaining what Nova took from her? Or maybe Nova just has to keep shanking a twin for power every so often. Canon will probably clarify that for us eventually.

 

We'll add 'desecrating historical sites' to Waldenhall's rap sheet. I'm sure Reeve would be horrified if he knew.

 

I hope your brain didn't get Jarredsploded. The prospect is terrifying.

 

Or Garret decided to take a short cut and it turns out the short cut didn't exist and whoops, we've crashed into Arcanius.

 

Half of it is Darkrai saying things along the line of 'I'm an eternal being, I was actually alive at that time, don't question me' and Aurora saying 'You're a stagnant, unchanging being, let someone whose brain can actually withstand the idea of a new concept do the commenting'. The terrifying bits are when they actually agree.

 

Shiv's going to turn into The Stig at this rate. Some say he only ever eats mangos, and he developed the ability to teleport by frightening baby Slowpoke. But all we know is... he's called Shiv.

 

(In all seriousness, yes, I'm sure canon will tell us in time.)

 

Atlas has his Fire Pokemon on hand to keep him from melting. Azura has a mon for using Icy Wind on her, though it often melts and she winds up getting rained on. Damien just stays inside with the air-con on, like a normal person.

 

Grave-bothering, assistant dimensional researcher, unofficial member of the local law and order, attempted Darkrai-wrangler, and person who has to deal with the Gym Leaders when they're all arguing.

 

Yeah, Perfection, Nova or Darkrai would be my guess. Maybe Cresselia, if we're right about her being significant.

 

 

No need to apologize, it’s completely understandable given all you’re going through! My heart goes out to you. Take as much time as you need to heal and get things sorted, should you require more time. The forum will always be here.

 

Absolutely, there’s always the chance they could cook up something like that. I whole-heartedly believe they will do a wonderful job going forward. Episode 7 will be a grand time, no doubt about it!

 

True, true. The major decisions might be the major splits and we’ll see more of their repercussions and whatnot soon enough. I’m certainly looking forward to Scarlett’s contributions in the canyon. She deserves some time to shine.

It’s also possible we may get another high-stakes choice later now that we have a few other sources of insight as well as the entity skulking about. Given the events of v6 I can see it being something revolving around helping Team Crescent, something to do with the entity, or depending on how things go down saving or condemning the twins similarly to Nova.

 

That’d be unfortunate for her if that was the stipulation. I can only imagine what’d be like to track one of them down every time a shanking is needed. Yikes xD.

I do hope it is explored more later on, or at the very least a tad more. Or just a tiny bread crumb more. It’s always been peculiar that she could seemingly sap Aurora’s powers from her. In the current chapter we see it’s not a permanent thing and Aurora can regain them now that Darkrai is in Ayrith.

 

What a rap sheet it will be. If Waldenhall doesn’t turn to dust by the end of this, I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets an earful from Reeve.

 

I am glad to report my brain is intact and functioning optimally….I think. There mayyy be a slight possibility that I suffered a minor Jarredsplosion. Might explain why I’m seeing the majestic Jarred in my dreams XD.

The Dating Sim is a pretty fun time imo. It’s short and sweet, and definitely had me chuckling on multiple occasions. Especially the secret ending lol.

Now we need a Chef Quackington Cooking Sim. Or…what about a Chef Quackington Dating Sim à la Hatoful Boyfriend? I’ll see myself out now.

 

That does sound rather accurate. Good thing he isn’t the one captaining the yacht xD.

 

Worth reading every word just to see the bickering. Seriously though them agreeing on something is a rather terrifying prospect. Terrifying but highly efficient. If they were in agreement more often than not I’m sure Ayrithian history would be well known in no time.

 

He really is reaching The Stig levels of mysteriousness; he’ll end up a walking enigma in no time. Next version he’ll just appear with a black racing suit and helmet.

Maybe the only ones who could rival his mysteriousness are Nova and the entity themselves lol. 

Also totally headcanoned, with his penchant for frightening Champions and Champions-to-be it makes total sense. Wonder how many baby Slowpokes it must have taken for those powers to develop?

Also, glad he has a refined taste for fruit!

 

Omg it’d be grand if Atlas does walk around in full regalia and Azura calls him a freak for it yet Azura herself uses Icy Wind and ends up getting soaked every time. Even she has quirks. I’m sure she can use the rain to increase her image as a beauty icon. After all, rain photography is reflective, dramatic, and quite pretty.

Damien is totally the normal one of the trio. Nothing beats a good ol’ air-conditioned room!

 

Attempted-Darkrai wrangler, love it. Now I’m imaging the group of protagonists donning cowboy hats and lassos, ready to do some Darkrai-wrangling.

With skills like those you’ll be fit for any position, especially if you’re mediating a bunch of arguing gym leaders!

 

Definitely, we can add Perfection, Darkrai, and Cresselia (I’m keeping my fingers crossed for Cresselia’s significance) to that list as well.

This kinda pertains to Perfection but I wouldn’t be surprised if he was fishing for information on Waldenhall too.

[Amare]

On 4/23/2024 at 11:10 AM, Luri said:

 

No need to apologize, it’s completely understandable given all you’re going through! My heart goes out to you. Take as much time as you need to heal and get things sorted, should you require more time. The forum will always be here.

 

Absolutely, there’s always the chance they could cook up something like that. I whole-heartedly believe they will do a wonderful job going forward. Episode 7 will be a grand time, no doubt about it!

 

True, true. The major decisions might be the major splits and we’ll see more of their repercussions and whatnot soon enough. I’m certainly looking forward to Scarlett’s contributions in the canyon. She deserves some time to shine.

It’s also possible we may get another high-stakes choice later now that we have a few other sources of insight as well as the entity skulking about. Given the events of v6 I can see it being something revolving around helping Team Crescent, something to do with the entity, or depending on how things go down saving or condemning the twins similarly to Nova.

 

That’d be unfortunate for her if that was the stipulation. I can only imagine what’d be like to track one of them down every time a shanking is needed. Yikes xD.

I do hope it is explored more later on, or at the very least a tad more. Or just a tiny bread crumb more. It’s always been peculiar that she could seemingly sap Aurora’s powers from her. In the current chapter we see it’s not a permanent thing and Aurora can regain them now that Darkrai is in Ayrith.

 

What a rap sheet it will be. If Waldenhall doesn’t turn to dust by the end of this, I wouldn’t be surprised if he gets an earful from Reeve.

 

I am glad to report my brain is intact and functioning optimally….I think. There mayyy be a slight possibility that I suffered a minor Jarredsplosion. Might explain why I’m seeing the majestic Jarred in my dreams XD.

The Dating Sim is a pretty fun time imo. It’s short and sweet, and definitely had me chuckling on multiple occasions. Especially the secret ending lol.

Now we need a Chef Quackington Cooking Sim. Or…what about a Chef Quackington Dating Sim à la Hatoful Boyfriend? I’ll see myself out now.

 

That does sound rather accurate. Good thing he isn’t the one captaining the yacht xD.

 

Worth reading every word just to see the bickering. Seriously though them agreeing on something is a rather terrifying prospect. Terrifying but highly efficient. If they were in agreement more often than not I’m sure Ayrithian history would be well known in no time.

 

He really is reaching The Stig levels of mysteriousness; he’ll end up a walking enigma in no time. Next version he’ll just appear with a black racing suit and helmet.

Maybe the only ones who could rival his mysteriousness are Nova and the entity themselves lol. 

Also totally headcanoned, with his penchant for frightening Champions and Champions-to-be it makes total sense. Wonder how many baby Slowpokes it must have taken for those powers to develop?

Also, glad he has a refined taste for fruit!

 

Omg it’d be grand if Atlas does walk around in full regalia and Azura calls him a freak for it yet Azura herself uses Icy Wind and ends up getting soaked every time. Even she has quirks. I’m sure she can use the rain to increase her image as a beauty icon. After all, rain photography is reflective, dramatic, and quite pretty.

Damien is totally the normal one of the trio. Nothing beats a good ol’ air-conditioned room!

 

Attempted-Darkrai wrangler, love it. Now I’m imaging the group of protagonists donning cowboy hats and lassos, ready to do some Darkrai-wrangling.

With skills like those you’ll be fit for any position, especially if you’re mediating a bunch of arguing gym leaders!

 

Definitely, we can add Perfection, Darkrai, and Cresselia (I’m keeping my fingers crossed for Cresselia’s significance) to that list as well.

This kinda pertains to Perfection but I wouldn’t be surprised if he was fishing for information on Waldenhall too.

 

Thank you, I appreciate it. It's been a very long month and change.

 

Episode 7's going to be awesome. Looking back on how far we missed the mark with all our ideas... maybe not so much, but it might also wind up being hilarious.

 

All of those seem like good choices. I guess we'll have to wait and see, but I do think we should expect a split.

 

In hindsight, I wonder why Nova went for Aurora and not Shiv? Was Aurora's room closer? Did she think Aurora would be easier to take from? Could she just not take Shiv's powers? Shiv trusted her more, so theoretically, he seems like a better target... Did she want/need Shiv's powers intact for some reason?

 

Yeah, that's Waldenhall's punishment: imprisoned and subjected to Reeve's lectures about how awful he is, how little style he has and why he's an inferior scientist.

 

Oh dear Lord, Jarred in your dreams... I can only imagine. 

 

A Quackington sim would be hilarious. Especially if all he says is 'Psyduck'.

 

Executive decision: Garret is not allowed to pilot anything, be it a boat, a train, a car or a bicycle.

 

They are the heroes and terrors of historians worldwide.

 

I really want to see Shiv as the Stig now. He got banned from Alola, Kanto and Johto for his Slowpoke-terrifying, lmao.

 

I hope we get to see in-universe Elite Four memes. Actually, in-universe memes about the Gym Leaders are probably equally hilarious. 

 

IDK if you played Legends Arceus, but when you try to catch Darkrai there, like 95% of the time he vanishes if you throw a ball at him, so I'm just imagining everyone throwing lassos and Darkrai vanishes every time. 

 

That's a good point, actually. As far as we know, the twins didn't have much to do with Waldenhall, but since he was part of Crescent and everyone haired off to Fairbale after him, Shiv/Darkrai might have got curious...

 

 

 

 

[Luri]

On 5/5/2024 at 5:44 AM, Amare said:

 

Thank you, I appreciate it. It's been a very long month and change.

 

Episode 7's going to be awesome. Looking back on how far we missed the mark with all our ideas... maybe not so much, but it might also wind up being hilarious.

 

All of those seem like good choices. I guess we'll have to wait and see, but I do think we should expect a split.

 

In hindsight, I wonder why Nova went for Aurora and not Shiv? Was Aurora's room closer? Did she think Aurora would be easier to take from? Could she just not take Shiv's powers? Shiv trusted her more, so theoretically, he seems like a better target... Did she want/need Shiv's powers intact for some reason?

 

Yeah, that's Waldenhall's punishment: imprisoned and subjected to Reeve's lectures about how awful he is, how little style he has and why he's an inferior scientist.

 

Oh dear Lord, Jarred in your dreams... I can only imagine. 

 

A Quackington sim would be hilarious. Especially if all he says is 'Psyduck'.

 

Executive decision: Garret is not allowed to pilot anything, be it a boat, a train, a car or a bicycle.

 

They are the heroes and terrors of historians worldwide.

 

I really want to see Shiv as the Stig now. He got banned from Alola, Kanto and Johto for his Slowpoke-terrifying, lmao.

 

I hope we get to see in-universe Elite Four memes. Actually, in-universe memes about the Gym Leaders are probably equally hilarious. 

 

IDK if you played Legends Arceus, but when you try to catch Darkrai there, like 95% of the time he vanishes if you throw a ball at him, so I'm just imagining everyone throwing lassos and Darkrai vanishes every time. 

 

That's a good point, actually. As far as we know, the twins didn't have much to do with Waldenhall, but since he was part of Crescent and everyone haired off to Fairbale after him, Shiv/Darkrai might have got curious...

 

 

 

 

 

Of course, you’re most welcome! I can only imagine how rough the process must be. I wish you nothing but the best with healing and moving forward.

 

You can say that again. We’ll have quiteeee a bit to skim through to see how well we did lol. But yeah, it’ll be pretty amusing to see how on/off base we are. And if we are wrong on a few things, which is bound to happen, we’ll at least have a few more surprises in store for us :D.

 

Expectations are set. The wait continues.

 

Ya know, that is a good point. Shiv would be the ideal target in that situation.

It could be a sentimental thing. Like she didn’t want to take away his power ‘cause she cares about him sort of deal. It could have been harder for her to take his power. So, it was Aurora instead. Although I’m inclined to believe there’s a bit more to it. Especially since Nova comments about not really being herself at that time.

At that point it seemed like they were gunning for Shiv. Given that Nova lacks the necessary power maybe Darkrai thought that Shiv’s powers needed to be intact in order for him to free itself or something. So, Nova went after Aurora’s power instead.

Or it could have been a setup to lure Aurora if Shiv failed.  It’d be pretty silly to go after just one of the twins when both of them are able to do pretty incredible things.

Sure, harming Shiv would have given her enough reason to track down Nova but also stealing a portion of her power, one of the only things that has given her some semblance of control in her life, would undoubtedly send her over the edge and make sure she followed them into the Dreamscape.

 

Honestly fitting for the trouble and destruction he’s created so far!

 

Haha it certainly is one of the more unusual dreams that’s for sure.

 

Something along the lines of a small Cooking Mama game featuring Chef Quackington instructing the player to cook up some of his world-famous dishes.

Now that you mention it, we haven’t had a chance to talk to Quackington yet, have we? For all we know that could be accurate.

Half of the fun is just trying to translate whether ‘psyduck’ means tomato, asparagus, or zucchini.

 

Given that he’s lost the keys to the rooms in Reeve’s boat, it’s probably for the better he doesn’t pilot anything lol.

 

The dark duo that leaves historians and anthropologists everywhere equally as impressed as they are concerned. I’m sure this must be the case in some alternate universe. There’s just so much potential with Aurora and Darkrai!

 

Me too, I didn’t know I needed this in my life until now. Seems like he’s gotta make do with the slowpokes in Ayrith XD.

 

That’d be amazing if we do! There is a fan club for the Elite 4, surely, they have been crafting some memes in there. I can totally see there being Gym leader memes too…I dunno which would be more accurate, the general public memeing the leaders or the Gym leaders making memes about each other which ends up viral. I’m just gonna go with both xD.

 

I’ve played a bit but that’s convinced me to carry on. I’ll have some catching to do! If I recall correctly in PR: Shadows of Almia Darkrai wouldn’t sit very still either, kept teleporting around and all that. Vanishing and teleporting everywhere is very Darkrai accurate. He’d totally just vanish with every lasso toss. Some gym leaders would be getting prettyyyy salty about that.

 

Yep yep exactly. Garret and Emily also find that note on the roof of the Blackview High-Rise which points the group to Waldenhall and by extension Fairbale so at some point they must have found out about that somehow.

[Amare]

On 5/19/2024 at 12:28 PM, Luri said:

 

Of course, you’re most welcome! I can only imagine how rough the process must be. I wish you nothing but the best with healing and moving forward.

 

You can say that again. We’ll have quiteeee a bit to skim through to see how well we did lol. But yeah, it’ll be pretty amusing to see how on/off base we are. And if we are wrong on a few things, which is bound to happen, we’ll at least have a few more surprises in store for us :D.

 

Expectations are set. The wait continues.

 

Ya know, that is a good point. Shiv would be the ideal target in that situation.

It could be a sentimental thing. Like she didn’t want to take away his power ‘cause she cares about him sort of deal. It could have been harder for her to take his power. So, it was Aurora instead. Although I’m inclined to believe there’s a bit more to it. Especially since Nova comments about not really being herself at that time.

At that point it seemed like they were gunning for Shiv. Given that Nova lacks the necessary power maybe Darkrai thought that Shiv’s powers needed to be intact in order for him to free itself or something. So, Nova went after Aurora’s power instead.

Or it could have been a setup to lure Aurora if Shiv failed.  It’d be pretty silly to go after just one of the twins when both of them are able to do pretty incredible things.

Sure, harming Shiv would have given her enough reason to track down Nova but also stealing a portion of her power, one of the only things that has given her some semblance of control in her life, would undoubtedly send her over the edge and make sure she followed them into the Dreamscape.

 

Honestly fitting for the trouble and destruction he’s created so far!

 

Haha it certainly is one of the more unusual dreams that’s for sure.

 

Something along the lines of a small Cooking Mama game featuring Chef Quackington instructing the player to cook up some of his world-famous dishes.

Now that you mention it, we haven’t had a chance to talk to Quackington yet, have we? For all we know that could be accurate.

Half of the fun is just trying to translate whether ‘psyduck’ means tomato, asparagus, or zucchini.

 

Given that he’s lost the keys to the rooms in Reeve’s boat, it’s probably for the better he doesn’t pilot anything lol.

 

The dark duo that leaves historians and anthropologists everywhere equally as impressed as they are concerned. I’m sure this must be the case in some alternate universe. There’s just so much potential with Aurora and Darkrai!

 

Me too, I didn’t know I needed this in my life until now. Seems like he’s gotta make do with the slowpokes in Ayrith XD.

 

That’d be amazing if we do! There is a fan club for the Elite 4, surely, they have been crafting some memes in there. I can totally see there being Gym leader memes too…I dunno which would be more accurate, the general public memeing the leaders or the Gym leaders making memes about each other which ends up viral. I’m just gonna go with both xD.

 

I’ve played a bit but that’s convinced me to carry on. I’ll have some catching to do! If I recall correctly in PR: Shadows of Almia Darkrai wouldn’t sit very still either, kept teleporting around and all that. Vanishing and teleporting everywhere is very Darkrai accurate. He’d totally just vanish with every lasso toss. Some gym leaders would be getting prettyyyy salty about that.

 

Yep yep exactly. Garret and Emily also find that note on the roof of the Blackview High-Rise which points the group to Waldenhall and by extension Fairbale so at some point they must have found out about that somehow.

 

I mean, at least we haven't reached 'make a spreadsheet' levels, though there's nothing stopping us from coming up with the craziest ending theories we can think of.

 

Maybe it was about Aurora instead? Nova was spending all that time at the Mansion of Sad Lonely Children trying to assess which twin would be a better target, and figured if she stole Aurora's powers, Aurora might be vindictive enough to go after her, but Nova could always teleport away? Or you could be right, maybe she didn't want to hurt Shiv. Or maybe Darkrai did have some kind of scheme in mind. 

 

Following from that, if Nova had been able to steal all of Aurora's powers, would they have been gone permanently, do you think? Would they have still regenerated? Hell, if she'd taken Aurora's, would she have then gone for Shiv, to depower both twins? To me, the most likely answer would be that Darkrai wanted one fully powered Nova who was under his control and two depowered twins not under his control, but then Aurora woke up and he's been trying to frantically juggle things ever since. He wound up with one fully powered twin and one mildly powered twin under control and depowered Nova breaking free, so I guess he's doing pretty well if that is what was happening.

 

Yeah, it's kinda weird that for how much Quackington has been built up, we've never talked to him, even though we were on the same ship and we bailed out his bar. That Psyduck owes us big time. (Or he's secretly the bad guy behind Darkrai.)

 

Naturally, Garret tries to drive everything he can, just to spite people.

 

See, Aurora and Darkrai are brilliant, but what about Shiv and Darkrai? For some reason I'm imagining them as the world's most vicious movie critics.

 

Definitely both, and I bet Gym Leaders post memes incognito to mess with the other Leaders. (There's probably thousands about Garret and his hat.)

 

For Darkrai you need a save file from BDSP on the same Switch. (If you have one from Sword or Shield, you can get Shaymin.) Otherwise, happy lassoing.

 

That's definitely true. I wonder, does Shiv know Waldenhall somehow?

 

 

 

[Luri]

On 6/2/2024 at 6:36 AM, Amare said:

 

I mean, at least we haven't reached 'make a spreadsheet' levels, though there's nothing stopping us from coming up with the craziest ending theories we can think of.

 

Maybe it was about Aurora instead? Nova was spending all that time at the Mansion of Sad Lonely Children trying to assess which twin would be a better target, and figured if she stole Aurora's powers, Aurora might be vindictive enough to go after her, but Nova could always teleport away? Or you could be right, maybe she didn't want to hurt Shiv. Or maybe Darkrai did have some kind of scheme in mind. 

 

Following from that, if Nova had been able to steal all of Aurora's powers, would they have been gone permanently, do you think? Would they have still regenerated? Hell, if she'd taken Aurora's, would she have then gone for Shiv, to depower both twins? To me, the most likely answer would be that Darkrai wanted one fully powered Nova who was under his control and two depowered twins not under his control, but then Aurora woke up and he's been trying to frantically juggle things ever since. He wound up with one fully powered twin and one mildly powered twin under control and depowered Nova breaking free, so I guess he's doing pretty well if that is what was happening.

 

Yeah, it's kinda weird that for how much Quackington has been built up, we've never talked to him, even though we were on the same ship and we bailed out his bar. That Psyduck owes us big time. (Or he's secretly the bad guy behind Darkrai.)

 

Naturally, Garret tries to drive everything he can, just to spite people.

 

See, Aurora and Darkrai are brilliant, but what about Shiv and Darkrai? For some reason I'm imagining them as the world's most vicious movie critics.

 

Definitely both, and I bet Gym Leaders post memes incognito to mess with the other Leaders. (There's probably thousands about Garret and his hat.)

 

For Darkrai you need a save file from BDSP on the same Switch. (If you have one from Sword or Shield, you can get Shaymin.) Otherwise, happy lassoing.

 

That's definitely true. I wonder, does Shiv know Waldenhall somehow?

 

 

 

 

Haha, we do have some decently wacky ideas but yeah no out-of-the-box endings yet. We do still have time; we can totally break out the spreadsheets and documents and go ham. With all the unanswered mysteries there are the ending theories will absolutely be on the wild side…and highly entertaining.

 

Mansion of Sad Lonely Children…too accurate xD.

That could definitely be. A case could be made for either twin. Nova built up more trust with Shiv and he was already pretty interested in power. Though according to the journal in the abandoned manor he did harbor some wariness about Nova and her potential secrets. Aurora is not nearly as close to Nova as Shiv was, but it’d be simple enough to goad her into following Nova. I can see Nova spending time assessing them while revealing her lofty goals in the process.

Another idea could be that stealing Aurora’s powers could have been Nova’s idea in order to further her own ambitions. Or maybe she thought Aurora’s powers could help her fight back against whatever was in control of her, or at least give her a fighting chance.

Definitely makes me realize there could be a lot of ways as to how the whole thing went down. It’d be neat to hear Nova’s side now that she isn’t under threat from Aurora.

 

Interesting line of questions. If it is possible to steal the power in the first place, then I’d think it is pretty likely that all of it can be stolen. There doesn’t seem to be any other instance of power transfer or loss to really confirm if it’s possible so it’s just a guess. I mean unless you count something like Darkrai losing its Perfection state, although that might boil down to a temporary loss due to the whole bond aspect of Perfection and being stuck in another reality. Not exactly the same in light of the context lol.

Following that, if her powers were taken completely then would she on the same power scale as Nova/Protag, only able to enter the Dreamscape or would even that ability be lost to her?

Whether or not powers regenerate is harder to say. We dunno how much power Nova was able to absorb. Nor how much time has passed since then and the present day. But Aurora was insistent on Nova giving back the rest of powers during the confrontation. Which is something I think she wouldn’t be asking if her powers regenerated. So, I’m going out on a limb and saying they don’t regenerate.

Ya know maybe Aurora kept some of her research around. It’d be pretty interesting if it was able to be found, to see what sorts of conclusions she came up with about their powers.

Chances are Darkrai didn’t have the express intent of inducting the twins into the Darkrai gang. Well, initially at least. Maybe it really was trying to power up Nova and has been dealing with the fallout since. I’d have to agree if that’s the situation, it’s not doing too bad juggling all of that while being stuck in a different reality. Things were looking a bit dicey with Shiv teetering between going rouge or not, but it managed to pull through with a wee bit of luck and a smattering of manipulation.

Speaking of control, I’ve definitely been thinking about what exactly causes Nova to break free from Darkrai’s control or whatever it is. Is it that the more time they spend in Ayrith the less hold Darkrai has on them? Is it insight or knowledge of the situation, like a clearer picture of what’s going on allows them to resist whatever influence it has?

So far Aurora hasn’t really displayed any indication that she’s breaking free, perhaps that will change soon??

 

To be fair he has been quite a busy duck dropping some sick beats in Club 101…Maybe his next gig will be as head chef the resort and we’ll run into him once we get it up and running. Maybe he’ll give us a quest or something. Or several quests. Or a cooking mini-game! I, for one, would love a crash course on cooking Fried Krabby. But yeah, it is a bit weird he’s been on a similar journey as the protagonist and we haven’t been able to have a nice chat with him yet.

He really does. Gotta get paid our dues at some point!

Quackington being the mastermind has potential. Too bad he is a psyduck and not a goose, that’d be so on point. He wants the Dreamscape to bleed into Ayrith so he can turn people the people responsible for the failure of his bar into bowls of soup. Any food critic that rated it less than a flawless 5 stars is soup-ified. It’ll go down in the annals of history known as the “Soupageddon” (Go easy on me, I am actual trash at names xD).

Or maybe they get liquefied and sold as those mysterious but most likely delicious jars of homemade mayo. Quackington has many options available.

On the flipside he could be the key to solving everything. He could some secret miracle dish that is so divine that everyone ends up distracted by the holy Quackington dish. All the Darkrai-Destroyer Squad has to do is set up a sting operation by offering their adversaries meals prepared by Quackington himself. An olive branch of sorts. Made out of food. The dishes are so delicious it convinces everyone to give up their dastardly ways…and if not then Ryder and Cedric can swoop in and nab them in one go. Win win!

 

Naturally! Don’t ever change Garret lol.

 

I can see that too. He’s totally a cinema nerd with a sharp eye for film theory and an equally sharp tongue when expressing his thoughts. The kicker is that Darkrai wasn’t interested in movies at first, didn’t see the point in them, until it walks (floats…teleports?) in while Shiv is watching a movie. Darkrai becomes enraptured with the film, watching until the last credit rolls. Then the two of them sit around for several hours pouring over every camera angle, every line delivery and allegory. Afterwards, they post their opinions and critiques on the Ayrithian social media…to which they have amassed quite a following. Family night at the Manor must be fun when those three gather.

 

I bet that’s what that League group chat probably looks like on slow days. Just filled with thousands of memes of Garret and his hat! And that one of Aaron aron in the Cellia Law Department. Now that Connor has joined the fray Emily is more than happy to share her own stock of memes, all about him. And an occasional one about Garret.

Wonder if the mass influx of memes is why the Elite Four just ignores the chat.

On a side note, why is it that the League chat only includes the Gym Leaders and the Elite Four…why isn’t the Champion included in that chat? Suspicious…

 

Welp no Damian Shaymin for me quite yet but I’ll certainly be able to nab Darkrai, thanks for the heads up. Alrighty I’m off to lasso a Darkrai, wish me luck!

 

I wouldn’t be surprised if he did. He knows Connor is the newest gym leader when everyone else is like “Connor, who?”.

That aside, the twins know about Perfection and Waldenhall happens to be someone who set his sights on Perfection. Given Shiv’s penchant for seeking out the mysterious and powerful, two things that Perfection certainly is, I wouldn’t be surprised if has dug into Perfection himself at one point.

There’s also the fact someone had to leave that note, and everyone in the group collectively assumed it was Shiv.

That kinda does make me wonder just how much of the cast they know. Like Gym Leaders are kinda a given but what about someone like Artem? I assume they must have had some run-ins with him since they certainly have beef with Baron. Or Tristan? Nova didn’t really know Tristan, what about those two?

And most importantly…have either of them had any run-ins or dealings with Jarred? That just sounds like it’d be entertaining to see.

[Amare]

On 6/22/2024 at 2:40 PM, Luri said:

 

Haha, we do have some decently wacky ideas but yeah no out-of-the-box endings yet. We do still have time; we can totally break out the spreadsheets and documents and go ham. With all the unanswered mysteries there are the ending theories will absolutely be on the wild side…and highly entertaining.

 

Mansion of Sad Lonely Children…too accurate xD.

That could definitely be. A case could be made for either twin. Nova built up more trust with Shiv and he was already pretty interested in power. Though according to the journal in the abandoned manor he did harbor some wariness about Nova and her potential secrets. Aurora is not nearly as close to Nova as Shiv was, but it’d be simple enough to goad her into following Nova. I can see Nova spending time assessing them while revealing her lofty goals in the process.

Another idea could be that stealing Aurora’s powers could have been Nova’s idea in order to further her own ambitions. Or maybe she thought Aurora’s powers could help her fight back against whatever was in control of her, or at least give her a fighting chance.

Definitely makes me realize there could be a lot of ways as to how the whole thing went down. It’d be neat to hear Nova’s side now that she isn’t under threat from Aurora.

 

Interesting line of questions. If it is possible to steal the power in the first place, then I’d think it is pretty likely that all of it can be stolen. There doesn’t seem to be any other instance of power transfer or loss to really confirm if it’s possible so it’s just a guess. I mean unless you count something like Darkrai losing its Perfection state, although that might boil down to a temporary loss due to the whole bond aspect of Perfection and being stuck in another reality. Not exactly the same in light of the context lol.

Following that, if her powers were taken completely then would she on the same power scale as Nova/Protag, only able to enter the Dreamscape or would even that ability be lost to her?

Whether or not powers regenerate is harder to say. We dunno how much power Nova was able to absorb. Nor how much time has passed since then and the present day. But Aurora was insistent on Nova giving back the rest of powers during the confrontation. Which is something I think she wouldn’t be asking if her powers regenerated. So, I’m going out on a limb and saying they don’t regenerate.

Ya know maybe Aurora kept some of her research around. It’d be pretty interesting if it was able to be found, to see what sorts of conclusions she came up with about their powers.

Chances are Darkrai didn’t have the express intent of inducting the twins into the Darkrai gang. Well, initially at least. Maybe it really was trying to power up Nova and has been dealing with the fallout since. I’d have to agree if that’s the situation, it’s not doing too bad juggling all of that while being stuck in a different reality. Things were looking a bit dicey with Shiv teetering between going rouge or not, but it managed to pull through with a wee bit of luck and a smattering of manipulation.

Speaking of control, I’ve definitely been thinking about what exactly causes Nova to break free from Darkrai’s control or whatever it is. Is it that the more time they spend in Ayrith the less hold Darkrai has on them? Is it insight or knowledge of the situation, like a clearer picture of what’s going on allows them to resist whatever influence it has?

So far Aurora hasn’t really displayed any indication that she’s breaking free, perhaps that will change soon??

 

To be fair he has been quite a busy duck dropping some sick beats in Club 101…Maybe his next gig will be as head chef the resort and we’ll run into him once we get it up and running. Maybe he’ll give us a quest or something. Or several quests. Or a cooking mini-game! I, for one, would love a crash course on cooking Fried Krabby. But yeah, it is a bit weird he’s been on a similar journey as the protagonist and we haven’t been able to have a nice chat with him yet.

He really does. Gotta get paid our dues at some point!

Quackington being the mastermind has potential. Too bad he is a psyduck and not a goose, that’d be so on point. He wants the Dreamscape to bleed into Ayrith so he can turn people the people responsible for the failure of his bar into bowls of soup. Any food critic that rated it less than a flawless 5 stars is soup-ified. It’ll go down in the annals of history known as the “Soupageddon” (Go easy on me, I am actual trash at names xD).

Or maybe they get liquefied and sold as those mysterious but most likely delicious jars of homemade mayo. Quackington has many options available.

On the flipside he could be the key to solving everything. He could some secret miracle dish that is so divine that everyone ends up distracted by the holy Quackington dish. All the Darkrai-Destroyer Squad has to do is set up a sting operation by offering their adversaries meals prepared by Quackington himself. An olive branch of sorts. Made out of food. The dishes are so delicious it convinces everyone to give up their dastardly ways…and if not then Ryder and Cedric can swoop in and nab them in one go. Win win!

 

Naturally! Don’t ever change Garret lol.

 

I can see that too. He’s totally a cinema nerd with a sharp eye for film theory and an equally sharp tongue when expressing his thoughts. The kicker is that Darkrai wasn’t interested in movies at first, didn’t see the point in them, until it walks (floats…teleports?) in while Shiv is watching a movie. Darkrai becomes enraptured with the film, watching until the last credit rolls. Then the two of them sit around for several hours pouring over every camera angle, every line delivery and allegory. Afterwards, they post their opinions and critiques on the Ayrithian social media…to which they have amassed quite a following. Family night at the Manor must be fun when those three gather.

 

I bet that’s what that League group chat probably looks like on slow days. Just filled with thousands of memes of Garret and his hat! And that one of Aaron aron in the Cellia Law Department. Now that Connor has joined the fray Emily is more than happy to share her own stock of memes, all about him. And an occasional one about Garret.

Wonder if the mass influx of memes is why the Elite Four just ignores the chat.

On a side note, why is it that the League chat only includes the Gym Leaders and the Elite Four…why isn’t the Champion included in that chat? Suspicious…

 

Welp no Damian Shaymin for me quite yet but I’ll certainly be able to nab Darkrai, thanks for the heads up. Alrighty I’m off to lasso a Darkrai, wish me luck!

 

I wouldn’t be surprised if he did. He knows Connor is the newest gym leader when everyone else is like “Connor, who?”.

That aside, the twins know about Perfection and Waldenhall happens to be someone who set his sights on Perfection. Given Shiv’s penchant for seeking out the mysterious and powerful, two things that Perfection certainly is, I wouldn’t be surprised if has dug into Perfection himself at one point.

There’s also the fact someone had to leave that note, and everyone in the group collectively assumed it was Shiv.

That kinda does make me wonder just how much of the cast they know. Like Gym Leaders are kinda a given but what about someone like Artem? I assume they must have had some run-ins with him since they certainly have beef with Baron. Or Tristan? Nova didn’t really know Tristan, what about those two?

And most importantly…have either of them had any run-ins or dealings with Jarred? That just sounds like it’d be entertaining to see.

 

...yeah, so, stuff kinda got a bit crazy over the past few weeks. Sorry. My bad.

 

I mean, there's always the old conspiracy boards with red strings tied between him. Nova and Aurora have names ending in A: *what does it mean???*

 

That's true, getting Nova's side beyond 'Darkrai made me do it' would definitely be good. I suppose the question is, is there any actual difference between Shiv and Aurora's powers, or do they just have the same powerset? Because if they do, then who Nova targeted would be down to personality/availability, wouldn't it?

 

Oooh, Aurora's research. Good question. The Mansion of Sad Lonely Children seems pretty beyond repair in the present day, but maybe the Dreamscape could have some? 

 

You know, that's actually a great question. I can't remember if it was established as to *what* made Nova break free- did Darkrai drop her because it got the twins instead? Was it the thing with the twins in Cellia? Something to do with the player meeting Darkrai? Or has Nova been lying to us and Darkrai's still got her?

 

He is the terror that quacks in the night. The chef that will serve the entirety of Ayrith up to Darkrai. He is... Quackington. *dun dun dun!*

 

(Although, seriously, what's with the mayo? Did we ever speculate about that?)

 

Darkrai and Shiv's reviews regularly go viral. And Darkrai takes its history expertise and uses it to criticise all parts of movies and shows set in the past. "That outfit's all wrong." "No, that building looks like it's from the seventeenth century, not sixteenth." "That slang wasn't in common use for decades." Shiv just throws popcorn at roughly where Darkrai's mouth would be and tells him to relax.

 

Ahahaha, yeah, Emily totally spams the chat with memes, whether she found them or made them. Garret adds in memes about Aaron being old. Tristan works *really hard* on his memes and never gets any replies.

 

I hope your Darkrai lassoing went well!

 

Man, Shiv and Waldenhall as friends/associates is a scary thought. Those are two guys who could do some serious damage if they teamed up to achieve a common goal. And maybe they did know Tristan...

 

Hahaha, no, Shiv and Waldenhall are working together to decipher the mystery of Jarred. They have got absolutely nowhere.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Luri]

On 7/17/2024 at 1:35 AM, Amare said:

 

...yeah, so, stuff kinda got a bit crazy over the past few weeks. Sorry. My bad.

 

I mean, there's always the old conspiracy boards with red strings tied between him. Nova and Aurora have names ending in A: *what does it mean???*

 

That's true, getting Nova's side beyond 'Darkrai made me do it' would definitely be good. I suppose the question is, is there any actual difference between Shiv and Aurora's powers, or do they just have the same powerset? Because if they do, then who Nova targeted would be down to personality/availability, wouldn't it?

 

Oooh, Aurora's research. Good question. The Mansion of Sad Lonely Children seems pretty beyond repair in the present day, but maybe the Dreamscape could have some? 

 

You know, that's actually a great question. I can't remember if it was established as to *what* made Nova break free- did Darkrai drop her because it got the twins instead? Was it the thing with the twins in Cellia? Something to do with the player meeting Darkrai? Or has Nova been lying to us and Darkrai's still got her?

 

He is the terror that quacks in the night. The chef that will serve the entirety of Ayrith up to Darkrai. He is... Quackington. *dun dun dun!*

 

(Although, seriously, what's with the mayo? Did we ever speculate about that?)

 

Darkrai and Shiv's reviews regularly go viral. And Darkrai takes its history expertise and uses it to criticise all parts of movies and shows set in the past. "That outfit's all wrong." "No, that building looks like it's from the seventeenth century, not sixteenth." "That slang wasn't in common use for decades." Shiv just throws popcorn at roughly where Darkrai's mouth would be and tells him to relax.

 

Ahahaha, yeah, Emily totally spams the chat with memes, whether she found them or made them. Garret adds in memes about Aaron being old. Tristan works *really hard* on his memes and never gets any replies.

 

I hope your Darkrai lassoing went well!

 

Man, Shiv and Waldenhall as friends/associates is a scary thought. Those are two guys who could do some serious damage if they teamed up to achieve a common goal. And maybe they did know Tristan...

 

Hahaha, no, Shiv and Waldenhall are working together to decipher the mystery of Jarred. They have got absolutely nowhere.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don’t worry about it! Craziness is bound to happen sometimes. I hope everything has been a lot more chill for you in recent weeks! It kinda got crazy for me too…plus I ended up getting destroyed by summer allergies and all my huskies decided to coat blow at the same time. Oh boy. Things are a lot calmer and I’m right as rain now (and swimming in a much smaller sea of fur) so I’m back and ready to discuss!

 

Full on red string conspiracy boards filled with the wildest theories that’d make even Boyd Cooper proud!

They also contain the letter o…is there a deeper meaning here? Is it a coincidence that Shiv’s name is Shiv and he’s the one that ended up stabbed? There’s just so many mysteries about.

 

Interesting question… I actually do wonder if they have the same powerset. There is definitely an overlap between their powers. Though there are little things like Aurora using her power to increase the rate of growth for her pokémon, something I’m not sure if Shiv has done. Granted there’s nothing to say he hasn’t at some point either.

There is also the cryptic talk about colors and their dreams…not sure if the colors are expressions of their personalities, ideals/goals, or abilities (could be a combination of all those, who knows) but they have very different, contrasting colors. If abilities do play a part in this distinction, then maybe it is possible their powersets do differ in some ways.

If they do have the same powerset it does make sense that it would boil down to personality/availability, absolutely.

 

There’s always a chance the research is tucked away in one of the rooms upstairs. It doesn’t seem like anyone knows about the manor in Silver Rise and its association with their family, so it could be a good place to stash the research. On the other head, the manor is in disrepair and if it’s still there it’s probably not in the best of conditions so maybe not.

The Dreamscape seems like a safe enough place for sensitive research like that. Not many people would be able to access it and theoretically she could create a crafty hiding place for it like in a secret room in their manor or maybe turned it into a tree or something. Absolutely a valid possibility!

The only other place that I can think of that Aurora is associated with is the Undercity however that seems pretty unlikely to me.

 

When Nova confronts Darkrai after it is released Darkrai mentions something about attempting to “deal” with Nova when she broke free so it dropping her of its own volition doesn’t seem too likely.

That being said it could be possible that the showdown between the twins and Nova is that *what* factor. If I remember correctly Nova disappears after that encounter and later on, she’s quite opposed to Darkrai. It seems that encounter could have been the catalyst, and she regained control sometime after that encounter and before the events of Bountilia.

Maybe there is another possibility. I forgot about it but way back at the beginning Nova remarks about some strange feeling and when pondering the feeling she mentions it feels cloudy. Many of the villagers describe the effects of hypnosis in similar ways. And some do experience some lingering effects, like Leonard still battling the protagonist even after Drowzee was dealt with.

Assuming that they are under the influence of hypnosis (maybe a stronger form ‘cause its Darkrai or something?) then it’s possible it can be dispelled in a similar manner as the Keegan situation. In the confrontation Connor unravelling the truth of the situation seemed to cause the afflicted to snap out of it. That could be what breaks hypnosis or is at least one component in breaking it.

If that is the case the events of Cellia revolved heavily around their past. Add in the fact that Nova had realized beforehand the Onyx Stone may be useless and everything is just made up and she would be well on her way to grasping the situation and breaking the hypnosis she’s under.

On a side note, I’m pretty curious as to whether or not Darkrai could bring Nova under its control again. Like is it a situation of once you’re free you’re absolutely free? Or is there a possibility she could end up under Darkrai’s control yet again?

If Nova truly is lying, then honestly props to Darkrai for staging such a ruse. It’s certainly a risky move. It now has a pawn inside the protag’s group. If it goes in this direction, I wonder what Darkrai is planning going forward.

 

Excellent villain bio for Quackington. *cue the cackling quacks*

 

I don’t recall that we have…the mayo is an untouched mystery I believe. According to the item description it is useless. Got any interesting ideas about it?

I was hoping to break the credit market by selling mayo in Reeve’s club but alas destroying the credit economy is not in the cards…yet. Maybe when we meet Quackington officially he can use the mayo in some recipe or something that could be used as like a super revive or healing item. Or some other requirement for another quest.

All I know is that I ended up with a silly headcanon that the protagonist really enjoys homemade mayo after acquiring 37 jars of it (I was bound and determined to find a use for the mayo on a different save…so now I have 37 jars of mayo xD).

 

Man, ‘tis a shame Darkrai can’t even enjoy the popcorn. It is just a well-meaning pedant at heart. That would be highly entertaining to see!

 

I totally forgot he calls him old, he so would! Rosetta and Aaron tag-team Garret in response, sending out a plethora of memes about his horrendous boating skills.

Oof that one about Tristian hits right in the feels. Poor guy! Nothing but crickets for Tristan.

 

It didn’t even know what hit it, Darkrai has been lassoed successfully. It was well worth going back and finishing, thanks!

 

Seriously that is a scary thought. Both of them are driven and quite determined individuals. Combine that with Shiv’s powers and Waldnehall’s ruthlessness and Ayrith could be in a predicament. It would make for some fun bit of chaos though! It’s probably a good thing that right now their goals aren’t aligned.

 

What an investigation that would be! Even they cannot unravel the mystery that is Jarred. That is both impressive and mildly concerning.