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Honey Whisper
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>>142239
I still think we made almost the best possible choices for Pliny the spirit, in the long term. And there were not a lot of good outcomes I could see on the horizon. I'll explain where I saw each route going, and where I suspect they may go in the future if we ever get a part 3.
As soon as Jor started talking about Geoun's king and religion, I had a feeling that Geoun Route would be a really rough route in a very different way.
Best case scenario, working against the corrupt institution from the inside to try and improve things through incremental change- we did that route in Pokemon Quest already and that was a much less crapsack world.
Or, living underground as a cult leader always on the edge of being purged. And let's be real, we as a collective consciousness and Pliny as the individual she grew into did not have the focus and frame of mind to maintain cult secrecy forever.
Worst case scenario, purged immediately after Pliny stops being a useful buffer against Vishelt.
I feel vilified in not going the Geoun Route after the townsfolk looked away from Pliny being murdered in the street, because if they're not going to spare that much effort, I was confident there was no world in which we were going to get the town to go to bat for The Other, Pliny, against the entire Geoun army and inquisition.
That's Geoun Route out.
Solo Route, going to bat against both sides outright? That's just the Suicide Route with extra steps.
That leaves the Vishelt Route, befriending the Commander; or the Jam Route, swaying Jam to us and making a swing from Vishelt Route to Solo Route much less impossible in the future.
Now, the other side of Pokemon Quest was the revolution route, the burn it all down fuck the world and build again on the ashes route. And I think that's the route the Commander was in the middle of undertaking. Either that or he was just an ambitious tyrant.
So, is Vishelt Route good for the world or in any way moral? No. Absolutely not, they have warcrimed all over the place continually. I foresee the end point of their goals as leading to a lawless anarchy or a brutal dictatorship.
Is this good for Pliny, who is a spirit who is at least in part composed of elements of war, rot and ruin? Absolutely.
That just leaves the wild card of the Commander, who we still haven't spoken to and know only through Telarin's vague lukewarm explanations. Would the Commander betray and kill Icher/Jam at the end of the campaign? With nothing more to conquer, a war spirit is just a liability, especially Jam who is far more emotional than Icher. Would the Commander be less likely to betray Pliny, who is open to negotiation, is easily swayed by the slightest hint of friendship, and who also has properties of war and ruin but is capable of functioning within society during peacetime? Maybe.
So, Vishelt Route was a maybe for me. Be the tyrant dictator's pet spirit or fuck off back to our city when the world is an anarchic wasteland and build something new ourselves.
Then there's the Jam Route. Icher Route was there, but Icher had the misfortune of being the arc 1 villain while Jam was a newborn spirit that we in a way helped create and shape. That immediately put into peoples' minds hope, attachment, wondering if maybe Pliny could have a friend who she could snuggle without giving them 20 terrible diseases. Also the toxic love friendship story between two weird eldritch spirits was more interesting as a story idea than schmoozing with mortal kings and generals, be it ending in heartwarming or tragedy. Issue is, a lot of us were in the mindset that we can and should 'fix him' and make him behave contrary to his nature. I agree with you on that, that was a major misstep. There's no 'fixing' Jam, he is what he is. Pliny has a little bit of war in her too, but she also has other things, and that roundedness disarmed a lot of us.
I fell into a very similar pitfall to everyone else, of getting too attached to him and letting my guard down, mortal human that I am. We approached Jam and Pliny like a mortal relationship.
I think we had almost the best Jam route, until we backpedaled at the last moment and lost his respect and trust. He was listening to Pliny, exercising restraint, openly asking for advice and ideas, but we went and shoved thumbs into the big raw spot we ourselves made when we gave him severe attachment issues from birth and then made him imprint on Pliny.
Key difference between Vishelt Route and Jam Route would be that we allied with them through Jam, not the Commander. And if the Commander ever pulled a 'you have outlived your usefulness' on Jam after defeating Geoun, we would be in a position to swoop in and fight him together. Then the entire anarchic wasteland of ruin and despair would be Pliny and Jam's land of milk and honey.
Morally reprehensible? Yes. Would Pliny finally have real companionship and a comfortable future accepting her true nature as a spirit? Maybe.
So in the end, Vishelt Route and Jam Route were both viable options for me but I thought Jam was more handsome and enjoyed looking at his scrunkly expressions.
However if angels and god really do exist and Geoun is right and has them on its side that's all out the window and the best ending was the Go Back to Sleep Route at the very start.
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