Contacthigh520 - Day 901 Of Thinking About Those Ice Sculptures

using the astral duo event and the rainy season event, we can approximate topper's age.

tl;dr, topper is an old man. ദ്ദി૮ • ﻌ • ა ---

to start: in astral duo, we learn that double eclipses occur "once every fifty-four years and one month." [1] later, eiden goes back in time to a period that quincy estimates is "[a]t least... two double eclipses ago". [2] so, that's at least a century ago from the present of the astral duo event. during that time, we see quincy's best friend zaro (love u zaro) and quincy during a past eclipse. then, in the rainy season event, eiden has to go fetch rei and quincy from a memory stream using father and topper's connection to them respectively. [3] it turns out this means eiden entering father and topper's memories of rei and quincy to find them. [4] [5] when eiden enters topper's memory of quincy, there's a funeral going on. after quincy gives a vague answer about who the funeral is for, eiden concludes, "(He must be talking about his friend from the tribe all those years ago...)". [5] the friend is, of course, zaro, because that's the only tribe friend eiden knows about.

topper isn't with young quincy in astral duo, which makes me think he didn't know quincy back then*, but he does seem familiar with quincy by the time of zaro's funeral in rainy season. so that gives us a rough timeline (from oldest event to most recent): >= 108~ years ago: young quincy and zaro do chores during the double eclipse. (they seem like they could be anywhere between their 20s and 30s with the conversation where quincy grouses about being old and preferring a younger tribe member calling him 'big brother' rather than 'uncle'. [2]) ??? years ago: quincy caught topper in a trap and decided to keep him. quincy has his sr sprite here instead of his r sprite (which is used to depict his younger self), so it seems some time has passed. [6] ??? years ago: zaro dies and quincy stands outside the funeral in the rain. topper brings him an umbrella. [5] 0~ years ago: the astral duo event given quincy's general angst and zaro's vibe, we can assume zaro is what you call 'a normal human guy' with a normal human lifespan. (well, actually, based on quincy's 4th astral duo room, he may have been relatively long lived for a human since he outlived everyone else in the tribe quincy was close to.) so, let's say zaro lived to be about 100 years old. that means the timeline looks like this: >= 108~ years ago: young quincy and zaro pal around during the double eclipse. (zaro: 20s or 30s) ??? years ago: quincy and topper meet >= 28-38~ years ago: zaro dies at 100~ years old and quincy attends his funeral. topper gives him an umbrella. 0~ years ago: the astral duo event

we also know topper met quincy after all of topper's siblings died? [7] that doesn't really mean anything because we don't know if all his siblings died when he was a baby, but it does give him the vibe of having 'outlived' his siblings? that seems to suggest that he'd been alive for a while. he definitely seems to be an adult by the time he gets captured by quincy. still, without knowing how his species ages, it's kind of impossible to know how old he was when he met quincy. 28-38 years old is already way longer than a irl stoat lives so.... the real world equivalent isn't very helpful when trying to gauge what age topper became an adult topper.... for the sake of adding some time for 'before he joined quincy' and accounting for toppers existing social life pre-quincy, i'll just say he was like. 5 years old when he met quincy. using all this information, we can (very roughly) gauge that topper is about ~35-45 years old, at least. did we need to know this? no, not really. ╭( ´꒳` )╯♫⋆｡♪ we do know that father is older than topper tho! [7.2] so, this gives us some kind of measuring stick there. this also lets us approximate that quincy is somewhere around ~130-140 years old, which is younger than i thought. (let me know if i'm forgetting some key lore;;;) from there we can determine minimum and maximum ages for the yokai and familiars using the program booklet, which states, "The age of the yokais, familiars are arranged in order: Kuya > Quincy > Rei > Aster > Morvay > Yakumo > Garu." [7.3] of course, this all depends on quincy's approximation during the astral duo event that he and eiden timetravelled back to "[a]t least... two double eclipses ago". [2] so all the ages given here are more like minimums.

sources: 1. astral duo - forest alterations 2. astral duo - time fossil 3. rainy season - without a trace 4. rainy season - to their memories 5. rainy season - parting words 6. rainy season quincy - room 3 7. neon carnival (2nd anniversary) program booklet: 1, 2, 3

also quincy's 4th astral duo room, which i didnt give a number lol *I know Topper isn't always with Quincy, like during the flashback (in Razor's Edge - Just What Is This Place?) when Huey was still alive and Zaro was dead. Topper and Quincy definitely knew each other by that point, but Quincy probably didn't bring Topper because like... it wasn't the vibe. So, there is the distinct possibility that Topper and Quincy did know each other during the period of the Astral Duo event flashback. However, I don't think that's super likely because, in Rainy Season Quincy's room 3, the Quincy who catches Topper uses the SR sprite instead of the R and he talks like our Quincy, i.e. depressed, instead of happy, shounen vibes flashback Quincy.

I feel insane. God's vessel sundered himself to break free of his lonely eternal vigil, intending for half of him to never return and thus doom the world to ruin. that half returned in spite of his purpose for existing, crossing universes to do so, and eventually freed and comforted one of God's servants who, in his lonely despair, conspired to destroy his temple.

God's vessel and servant alike were trapped by the path set before them by God. Huey could not find freedom in this world and had to break himself to find it in another world. Olivine could, but not alone - and he was saved by a fragment of God's will. Eiden's very existence is a validation of Olivine's pain - no one could endure that restrictive life. not a vessel of God made for the very purpose, and certainly not a mortal born to live.

for all that Olivine struggled with his role, for all that he has strayed from the role enforced on him... a fragment of God loves him. personally, intimately. he is loved for his struggle and his straying. he is loved because he finds his own sense of self and embraces his own selfish desires, something the original vessel could not do. Olivine questions God's will and he is loved by God's fragment because of it.

I'm shaking you. do you understand me. do you understand

i could survive my own autopsy

yayy the emptiness #myemptiness

starting a collection

pap

this event rocks

the differences are also so..... [grips my fist]. au dante is the heir of the kingdom; his parents aren't dead. if they were dead, he'd be the king of the samsama kingdom, not a prince. generally, he's a happier guy. he's not from a place that he has to fight tooth and nail to support. people respect where he's from. au dante is a generous person open to peace. he's chill. he shows his hand first, he emphasizes the importance of "working together in good faith", he agrees to "watch over" eiden despite just having met him, he lets a gaggle of strangers ride in his carriage. this is a world where he could always afford kindness and his parents could always afford to be kind because the place they rule is wealthy and powerful. you can see a vague outline of how canon dante's parents might've ruled. there are some parallels with eiden's meeting with au dante and eiden's meeting with canon dante. rather than eiden coming to dante, au dante comes to eiden. he asks to buy eiden for a great deal of money (which turns out to be puffballs, but we can assume it would've be a lot of money (ᵕ—ᗜ—)) in chapter 9, eiden comes to canon dante and tries to ask for help. lowkey, he is asking to 'buy' dante in a similar way au dante was asking to buy eiden. au dante and chapter 9 eiden both want a fair partnership where they help each other out. ch.9 eiden specifically wanted dante's help with the fire altar and the way he was attempting to 'buy' dante was invoking dante's status as a clan member and his stewardship of the land around the fire altar instead of money. and this went...... super poorly. like... kind of poorly as it couldve there are a lot of reasons for why their meeting went poorly, but one of them is that canon dante has a very 'eh' history with contracts. his gem contract is functionally bust. when he was a child, he never had any access to the power of huey's essence. and then, when he became Sun Lord, the contract simply meant a stranger, the Grand Sorcerer, might one day arrive and force him into some kind of alliance. (this is one of the reasons early dante calls eiden his 'master' so sarcastically and why it's such a novelty for eiden to be his butler. the grand sorcerer has been hanging over him pretty much his entire life and it's pretty great (for dante) that it turns out the grand sorcerer is some weak guy who can't force him or solaria to do anything.) his contract with the elemental spirits of fire is... good! it's pretty beneficial for both parties. it got dante on his feet. it only took several gruelling trials to prove that he was worthy his contract, his deal with barbubble, worked! but... whatever happened there was later used to almost blackmail Solaria to great effect. eiden coming to dante in chapter 9 was kind of him asking to make a new partnership, a new contract. and dante was obviously unimpressed. canon dante doesn't believe in good faith, really. it comes down to this: au dante has always had resources. canon dante has had to fight for what he has. au dante is a dealmaker. he offers because he can; he can control the terms. he trusts that he and his partner will be fair. he has wealth and he comes from power and people are impressed by it. canon dante, for most of his life, has been the signee. he takes because he needs. he knows everyone has an ulterior motive. he knows he can only have what he protects and he must flex the glory of Solaria or no one will respect it.

alternate universe dante from journey to a nu world is really fun because you get to see that he is just like that. bro was born cocky. thats nature baby

contemplating danoli arranged marriage once more… (the seeds planted by @wet-poodle-nudes of course.)

so, thinking about a timeline where dante’s parents never died and he was just sort of… kept. very bird in a cage. he never underwent the trials of the elemental spirits of fire because his parents feared the strain would kill him.

with his parents’ continued rule, solaria teeters on falling into ruin. it stays afloat mostly through luck. the local public sentiment towards the sun lord (dante’s father) and his consort (dante’s mother) is pretty negative due to their lack of action against those who attack solaria. meanwhile, the other territories view them as frivolous, ditzy nobles; they’re both too nice, too kind for their own good. its quite fanciful that desert rulers would purchase ice sculptures and other luxuries.

dante, in the midst of all this, resents his parents and his position immensely, but he’s self-aware enough to know that he doesn’t exactly have the health to rule and he’s lived an incredibly coddled life. he’s privileged, but he can’t do anything.

as solaria’s position becomes more and more precarious, it becomes evident to dante’s parents that the best move, for solaria and dante, is to marry dante off. it would bring in a strong alliance, wealth, and, if they can send dante off, perhaps they can protect him from the local strife.

enter: olivine.

there were probably a lot of possible suitors dante’s parents looked at for him. but, olivine’s healing ability puts him head and shoulders above the rest. after all, if their son’s survival is paramount, then they want someone who could properly look after his health.

after some intense discussion, the marriage is arranged. there’s a wedding in solaria. and then a wedding in the water territory.

for the wedding in the solaria, dante and olivine meet one day before their wedding to be.

going to solaria a bit of an adventure for olivine; its nice for him to be able to see the world outside of the water and light territory, even if it’s for an event that’s tying him to a stranger. he hopes that maybe the marriage means he can visit again.

meanwhile, dante is so furious about the whole ordeal that he stonewalls olivine’s attempted visits for several days. his parents reassure olivine with soft words and laughter; they invite him to hospitality in dante’s stead. it’s clear to him that dante’s parents are incredibly kind people who love their son dearly. they are very much unlike his own parents whose love is shown through unyielding and weighty responsibility.

on the final day, dante agrees to see olivine. as he arrives to dante’s bedroom (a scandalously intimate place to visit but it seems that dante’s health will allow nothing else), he sees dante’s mother bowed close to dante, cupping his cheek. they exchange whispers, cajoling and reluctant in turns. dante’s mother introduces them while dante remains mute to olivine. his mother says that he wanted to meet with him alone and wishes them both luck as she leaves.

two caged birds left to talk… dante is terse with olivine. in their conversation, it becomes very quickly evident that neither of them particularly desire their marriage. olivine has a gentle, sad smile when dante asks, angrily, ‘don’t you want more?’. dante’s prospects are rather dire, but surely, olivine, a beloved priest, could protest a marriage he didn’t want.

going into more of a broader overview of what the potential dynamics would be: dante goes to live with olivine in the water territory.

olivine is pretty chill with letting dante do what he likes and also helping him do what he wants. its a kind of freedom dante has never known and he uses it to his full ability. though the marriage wasn’t his choice, he’s determined to take control afterwards. he’s also very much an only child and kind of a brat.

in their adventures together, i feel like dante gets very frustrated with how passive olivine is. he sees how olivine’s temple goers ogle and fawn over him. once he’s sure olivine’s kindness isn’t some ploy, he starts to bully olivine into having preferences.

i like to think, at some point, laying in bed together at night like children at a sleepover, they discuss their wishes. they both have many, many wishes they’ve kept close to their heart, for one reason or another. and like… though some of them may be difficult, once their wishes are spoken aloud, they help each other realize how achievable those dreams are.

dante’s straightforward thinking cuts through much of the winding anxiety that strangles olivine’s wishes. he can see all the strength, all the power olivine possesses. he knows olivine is capable. meanwhile, olivine’s experience with helping others overcome their own struggles opens up possibilities that dante didn’t consider because he thought if his wishes did happen, he’d have to muster the strength to complete them on his own.

together, they find that they arent quite as trapped as they thought they were