rarsneezes | ywkon artificials vs tos chosens parallels

one of the fun things about ywkon is that i stumbled into a LOT of fun little accidental roleswaps (kratos being the one surviving experimentation instead of anna, flipping the power dynamics between yuan and botta, making it so sheena is the only character in the thing who can’t do the summoning equivalent) but my favorite by far is still the zelos/colette roleswap

because its’ very subtle, very thorough, and holds some incredible poetic irony that is curently kicking my ass

so let’s break it down

the most obvious thing flipped between colette in zelos is that in ywkon zelos has friends that love him and trust him and support him in everything despite his shitty life, which he really barely had in tos, if at all (his and sheena’s dynamic is so fun because despite being best friends neither of them really trust each other an inch)

meanwhile colette, in ywkon, has no friends. zero. she meets lloyd only a few days, maybe a week or so, before the start of their journey (and, technically, meets martel a few weeks before that). both of them have lived very long lives due to the nature of blades and especially aegises, but--- now, zelos has something that only colette had in tos cannon (a support group that has held him for years) and colette does not

it still goes deeper

they live parallel lives due to their shared status in separate countries (chosen in tos, artificial aegis in ywkon). these lives are similar and similarly horrible: the role of an artificial aegis is to sit on display all pretty and remind the public that they can power the cannon and they can destroy the opposing country should their ruling country wish it, which sucks about as much as being a sacrificial lamb for the sake of regenerating a dying world

(people don’t really want you for you, only what you stand for)

and, the kicker

one of them goes through a traumatic experience that Sucks A Bunch and is generally immediately pointed to, while the other has underlying, hidden trauma created through much more sinister means

tos colette is forced through the angel transformation process, which hurts like a bitch and eventually steals her free will and memories. ywkon zelos is shoved into a cannon and forced to power it, which hurts like a bitch and burdens him with the guilt of killing a couple thousand people, even though he had no fucking choice in the matter of his power being used like that. both of them have a purpose, even if it’s a shitty as hell purpose. they are wanted for Something.

but their counterpart does not get off scot free

their counterpart is left with a much more volitile bad brains coctail concoted from an entire lifetime of being fake as hell and literally no one caring about them, not for simply being themselves. no one wants them, either.

what use is a chosen (tos zelos) if you don’t need him to die to save your world? he’s just in the way, and almost everyone would be much happier if he was dead.

what use is an artificial aegis (ywkon colette) who is incompatible with the cannon? no use! you can tell the people she works all you like, but she doesn’t really, and everyone hates her for that. she’s not good enough (and unlike tos zelos, is not even blessed with fake affection but only open disdain)

the chosens and the artificials share equally horrible lifes becuase the expectations hefted upon them by their role is the same

but one of them bears the full weight of that horrid role (tos colette and ywkon zelos), while the other sits around just for show, either not currently needed to fulfill it (tos zelos) or competely incapable of fulfilling it (ywkon colette)

which is only worsened by the fact that the one who lacks an explicit purpose also lacks friends to support them

leaving them with nothing to hang onto until lloyd comes into their lives