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Shards of a Broken Sun [Deprecated; see link in final post for remake]

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Alectai said:
... I Completely forgot about that trailer.

Gosh.

Still, at least a little insanity probably helps in a world gone completely bonkers. As long as you can control it anyway.
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I look at it, and go "what". It was originally intended for a completely different story than this, and to the degree it nevertheless matches, some of what it describes hasn't even happened yet. But good luck figuring out what it describes!

Still, the overpowering theme of Mato's soulspace right now is that if someone who won't let anything stand in their way, not even their own sanity; someone who has lost any sense of what they were originally trying to do.

Human minds are robust. But, well...

They aren't quite /this/ robust. Even if she fixes herself, she won't be the person she once might have been.
 
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:( Every time you post something like this, I feel despair, because these are decent people and our actions to try and save them feel like they're making things worse.

Even if, on the whole, we would be hard pressed to be doing any better at all.

I... I Must Work Harder
 
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Alectai said:
:( Every time you post something like this, I feel despair, because these are decent people and our actions to try and save them feel like they're making things worse.

Even if, on the whole, we would be hard pressed to be doing any better at all.
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Mato was /literally falling apart/, and now she's not. You saved her from turning into the Turgor protagonist... and scenery... and antagonists...

Point is, things are looking up for her.

You shouldn't feel bad just because you can't undo several years worth of damage in one go. No, she won't be the same person; no one who survives that level of trauma ever is.
 
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I know, I know.

So, wait, that Was the original intention? And we basically managed to sidestep that somehow?
 
Alectai said:
I know, I know.

So, wait, that Was the original intention? And we basically managed to sidestep that somehow?
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By picking choices that got her her first "virtue point" just in time, yes.

Look again at her dreamscape back on Monday. Compare.

It wouldn't have happened that quickly, but now it shouldn't happen at all.
 
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Baughn said:
By picking choices that got her her first "virtue point" just in time, yes.

Look again at her dreamscape back on Monday. Compare.

It wouldn't have happened that quickly, but now it shouldn't happen at all.
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Huh, what was it we did that pushed us over the top and avoided a breakdown?
 
Alectai said:
Huh, what was it we did that pushed us over the top and avoided a breakdown?
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If I outright told you that, you'd just try to do it again...

There's a reason why I added green.

(It wouldn't have been instant, by the way; very unlikely it would have gone far at all, as there are more ways to stabilize than ways to break.)
 
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So, the fact that we stood our ground, acting to protect others, gave us the Color of the Protector? Which reinforced our borders against The Void that was pressing up against Mato's soul?

I imagine if Black is "Everything at once, complete insanity", the White Fog at the distance is simply an absence of everything? A blank slate that has no volition, no drive, just nothing at once? And when the Green was added, it strengthened the borders that were starting to wilt under the pressure?

Hrm.

How many "Colors" are there anyway? Blue seems to be linked with Willpower based on your description in the prologue anyway. Something that a "Normal" person wouldn't really have to any particular extent, but with enough of it, pushing hard enough, you can create a miracle... At least if you don't snap first.

(It would also explain why she has Reserve of Will putting her at 10 Temporary Willpower)
 
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Baughn said:
If I outright told you that, you'd just try to do it again...

There's a reason why I added green.

(It wouldn't have been instant, by the way; very unlikely it would have gone far at all, as there are more ways to stabilize than ways to break.)
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Baughn said:
Green is the colour of protection. The mother's embrace, and the wall of isolation.
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Alectai said:
So, the fact that we stood our ground, acting to protect others, gave us the Color of the Protector? Which reinforced our borders against The Void that was pressing up against Mato's soul?

I imagine if Black is "Everything at once, complete insanity", the White Fog at the distance is simply an absence of everything? A blank slate that has no volition, no drive, just nothing at once? And when the Green was added, it strengthened the borders that were starting to wilt under the pressure?

Hrm.

How many "Colors" are there anyway? Blue seems to be linked with Willpower based on your description in the prologue anyway.
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I'd say yes, it's because we stood our ground. More specifically, we stood our ground and took a hit we could have avoided for the sake of others.

And as for the White Fog, I'd say you're spot on as always, Alectai.
Black is every color at once, it's what you get when you mix every ink at once. White is the absence, no ink at all.

Of course, that works the opposite with light, but that's not important for now.
 
{X} I have to talk with Mom—
-{X} Reassure her that you are fine, and tell her about this work. That you want to do it, but would prefer to do so with her blessing.

While OOC we're going to do it anyway, we really should tell mom first. Keeps her stable, more sane, more Her.

Instead of something like a Saving People Machine, which could also happen if she goes maximum Protector.
 
Highwind said:
I'd say yes, it's because we stood our ground. More specifically, we stood our ground and took a hit we could have avoided for the sake of others.

And as for the White Fog, I'd say you're spot on as always, Alectai.
Black is every color at once, it's what you get when you mix every ink at once. White is the absence, no ink at all.

Of course, that works the opposite with light, but that's not important for now.
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The Void uses a paint-related color metaphor, and as that's the inspiration for this mechanic, I'd say that yes, White is "The Absence of Color", which is bad, because a Soul without Color Falls.
 
Green, blue, orange, red, violet...

The colors are conceptual to begin with; they mean what Mato believes they mean, and can swap meanings if her state of mind changes, but that's as a representation of an underlying, less flexible reality.

Two colors you won't see are gold and silver, as there is no need.

She's seeing herself in terms of color because that's what her favorite book uses.
 
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Baughn said:
Green, blue, orange, red, violet...

The colors are conceptual to begin with; they mean what Mato believes they mean, and can swap meanings if her state of mind changes, but that's as a representation of an underlying, less flexible reality. Two colors you won't see are gold and silver, nor is there any need.
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So, no Trust/Commitment, and no Prudence/Frugality. That's... Welp. Then again, you also said that there "Isn't any need for those", so maybe they've been subsumed into other Colors? Or everything is different. Or something.

So, for Mato, we have Black (Insanity), Blue (Willpower born through incredible trauma?) and Green (Protection). We also know that Orange, Red, and Violet exist (And that we had a little bit of Red in the last "Dreamscape Update", but it wasn't enough to "Lock Down" so to speak, and seems to have already vanished.). Green maps pretty closely onto the Void, but Blue is up in the air (The Void happens to be "Blue is the Color of Speed, Efficiency) And Black isn't even a thing there.
 
Each person has their own private metaphor.

Irino has peeked at Mato's soul on occasion, but you shouldn't assume that they see it the same way. Mato, being Mato, sees everything in terms of conflict and strangely symbolic colorations. Irino does not. Amu would see a starscape.

You shouldn't draw the Void metaphor too far. In the end, this is not a crossover.

Though the underlying reality is the same, whatever the metaphor...
 
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This reminds me that Black Rock Shooter had a story about a little bird that flew around the world and I think picking up more and more colours, becoming ever more colourful, until they blended together to become black and then it was the end, bad end I think. Would have to rewatch to fully recall what it was about.

But basically that too is thus a colour based metaphor, and might be where Mato is taking it from. I think she had a problem with the presented ending or so of it and wanted it to end differently or some such.
 
Ugh, I keep feeling like I need to get a Masters in something to follow along.

Oh well, all I can do is the best I can do. No more or less.
 
Quickshot0 said:
This reminds me that Black Rock Shooter had a story about a little bird that flew around the world and I think picking up more and more colours, becoming ever more colourful, until they blended together to become black and then it was the end, bad end I think. Would have to rewatch to fully recall what it was about.

But basically that too is thus a colour based metaphor, and might be where Mato is taking it from. I think she had a problem with the presented ending or so of it and wanted it to end differently or some such.
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Alternatively, it's because the colors simply blended. You need multiple shades to be a whole person, but each must be still distinct, not blended.

A rainbow or kaleidoscope, rather than the mixed mass of black and white. Which, after all, is all the colors of the world, crushed into one color.
 
Yeah, the whole Bird and the Many Colors bit. The anime has a scene that implies the ending of that book was so traumatic to her she repressed it.

If that still applies here, then it might be best not to put too much color in her soul.

and I just had a thought. That whole thing with black being all the colors amd representing insanity and the Bird dying when he takes in too many colors and becomes black reminded me of Exalted's Virtues, where having too many dots in one virtue can make you act a bit crazy, like with Amu's guilt over spending too much time with her friends and family when she could be working to save the world instead.

If we assume the Colors correlate in some way with one or more Virtues, like Green (Protector) and Compassion (protecting others) for example, then Black may represent too much in too many virtues.

Like, if Mato felt too strong a need to protect others, disregarding her own safety along the way, it could be seen as Green (her desire to protect) mixing with Blue (Her unstoppable drive and willpower) mixing into a Black (insanity manifested as an exaggerated need to protect others).

I'm probably rambling and making no sense here, but it just struck me as something interesting to think about.
 
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Alectai said:
Ugh, I keep feeling like I need to get a Masters in something to follow along.

Oh well, all I can do is the best I can do. No more or less.
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Experimenting with symbology is for my own amusement value. I like to think I'm getting a little better at writing those sequences, but you could probably handle Mato well enough without ever reading her dreamscape sequences. Doing so will give you a better idea of how her mental health is doing, but shouldn't normally include critical details that aren't shown elsewhere.
Highwind said:
If we assume the Colors correlate in some way with one or more Virtues, like Green (Protector) and Compassion (protecting others) for example, then Black may represent too much in too many virtues.
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That would require Mato to care more about the physics of painting than she does, even with that book... she's far more of a tomboy than even Amu. Her take on black is simpler: It's damage. Dying parts of her soul. That's the lesson she took from her book.

Mato has an uncomfortable amount of it, but Yuu's world--last she saw it--is far more broken.
Quickshot0 said:
But basically that too is thus a colour based metaphor, and might be where Mato is taking it from. I think she had a problem with the presented ending or so of it and wanted it to end differently or some such.
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She ended up rewriting it, at the end of the anime. Which is a couple of months ago by now. :)
Alectai said:
So, no Trust/Commitment, and no Prudence/Frugality. That's... Welp. Then again, you also said that there "Isn't any need for those", so maybe they've been subsumed into other Colors? Or everything is different. Or something.
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Mato is low on trust, high on commitment, and prudence/frugality don't really apply, seeing as her mind is still fundamentally alive and can self-adjust... but neither of those concepts were mentioned in her little book of colors, so she can't really see them. Neither one is beyond normal for a (relatively) healthy human being, either, so it won't bite your behind.

She does have some trust issues. Comes with losing her father the way she did.
 
So, friends of the thread, what have we learned?

It's that Megami Tensei is a really, really shitty cosmology to be stuck in
 
Quickshot0 said:
It could be worse, we could have been in Creation when it died. ;)

Though that makes me wonder... how the heck did that place die, and will we need to worry about the cause coming after us?
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I think we established the answer as "Unknown", but that one of the chief contributing factors was residual damage from the Primordial War.
 
{X} I have to talk with Mom—
-{X} Reassure her that you are fine, and tell her about this work. That you want to do it, but would prefer to do so with her blessing.

Changing vote
 
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