Bottlecap Bay App

[timeexistseverywhere]

PLAYER
NAME: Merlot
CONTACT: Gesomon @ plurk and discord
OVER 18? Y
CURRENT CHARACTERS: A.B.A

CHARACTER
NAME: Aegiomon
CANON: Digimon Story: Time Stranger
CANON POINT: Post game
BACKGROUND: wikimon.net/Aegiomon_(Time_Stranger) (As you can imagine, this is full of spoilers and they do not hold back.) (cw: suicidal ideation)
SUITABILITY:
Already from a monster collecting game with darker themes, Aegiomon fits in pretty well. The newer Digimon games especially try to appeal to older fans, so the things he's seen and done sure are...a lot. Although he's a child character and very much wants to do child-like things, Aegiomon also knows when to take things seriously and genuinely wants to be helpful. He'd eagerly take on missions no problem. Inori, his favorite person in the world and his partner, put in the idea in his head that he might be some sort of hero, so a part of him still really wants to make this expectation even if she isn't here. He's also the Digital World's "Great Guardian," so he's very much used to colorful critters asking him for help, with some requests bigger than others. Aegiomon is friendly and works well with others, he doesn't pick fights and genuinely wants people to like him. In fact, he has a very hard time with rejection, so he's not about to (purposely) start any conflicts. That said, he's not a doormat, either. Aegiomon doesn't hesitate to stand up against things from bullying all the way up to world-destroying threats. He can handle negative CR just fine.

My biggest goal for Aegiomon is allowing him to live a life where he doesn't have gigantic expectations placed on him. Although his ideal life is something nice and peaceful alongside Inori, the canon point I'm taking him from has him much more accepting of her absence. Is that going to stop him from looking for her just in case? Haha, no. Is he going to be whining about her nonstop? Also no. Which is great, I don't need that, I already play A.B.A. Finding and meeting people who care about his wellbeing and mental needs would be fantastic, as there is nothing Aegiomon needs more than an adult he can really trust. Inori isn't a bad person by any means, but she's also a high schooler with her own trauma and emotional baggage that she kinda just dumped all over him, so things could've been...........better.

As far as mortality goes, it's probably no surprise Aegiomon stives to be a good person. Whether he does it because he truly believes he should be, or because he wants to be the person Inori sees in him is up in the air. It's probably a mix of both, let's be real. Either way, the game likes to remind us that Aegiomon is practically a newborn, and he is a newborn who was hit with the "what if you were a hero?!" bit pretty early on in his existence. Although he understands the weight of that a lot better than he did before, he still very much wants to be seen as someone people can rely on. That said, Aegiomon is also canonically capable of "losing it" as he puts it himself, and "turning the world all crazy." I won't go too into it, but basically every horrible thing that happened in the game was orchestrated specifically to send Aegiomon into a deep depression, and boy...did it. Although I doubt that he'll ever receive that sort of...special attention again, the point is that he's capable of being faltered. Please be nice to your local baby goat.

QUESTIONNAIRE:

⟡ Your character is on an exploration quest when they find an injured Pokemon in need of help. This Pokemon appears to be in distress and is quite dangerous, posing a risk to your character even if they mean well, and putting your quest mission at risk. What do they do? What are some possibilities of how they work with teammates to address this, or do they go at it alone?

• Being from a jrpg and coming across this situation before, the answer is simple. Knock some sense into them. Although he has a bad habit of getting in front of people and telling them to stand back, Aegiomon will not deny and even welcome help. After all, it's safer for everyone if the threat gets taken out faster, even for the injured party. Obviously the goal isn't to kill them, and it would actually be preferable if they can still talk to the Pokémon afterwards to explain why they had to fight, but if they have to be unconscious...well, that's what healers are for.

And yes, even though he is a child, Aegiomon will absolutely act like he's the one in charge of the situation. It wouldn't even occur to him that his teammates might find it a little odd or even reckless. If called out on this, he may remember his place and become a little sheepish about it, but he also won't stand down. Although he's willing to accept he is no longer the Big Damn Hero™ of this world, he would also like people to accept that as a Digimon, he's gonna want to fight. Aegiomon IS technically an "adult level" Digimon, which obviously means nothing when it comes to how he behaves or his maturity, but more so his power level. He's just...used to being a kid who's allowed to fight.

⟡ Your character's worst enemy has recently appeared in game, and has joined the guild your character is part of. They both want to tackle the same quest, and your character's enemy suggests that they work together as a team to accomplish this goal. How does your character respond to this?

• This absolutely depends on the enemy in question. The "main" enemy is an entire faction known as the Titans, but I still think Aegiomon would accept them regardless of which Titan approaches him. This is mainly because the Titans have already proved they're willing to work with him if they really need to, and Aegiomon would just assume they come from a similar canon point where they've done that before. THAT SAID, he has also been fooled by Titans playing the friend, only to double cross him later, and I am a firm believer that he would absolutely fall for that again. Look at him. He is full of love and trust. I can't even say he'd be suspicious if it's the same Titan who turned on him, because he'd just believe they're trying to make up for what happened.

The big spoiler answer (cw: suicidal ideation)

The true antagonist of Time Stranger turns out to be Chronomon, someone who is introduced as a legendary hero who fell to protect the Digital World. He is also the Digimon equivalent to Aegiomon's dad. Turns out Chronomon was just a Digimon who picked a fight with a higher power (aka God) and got punished for it, making it everyone else's problem. Chronomon discovered that destiny is more or less predetermined, that no one can truly control their fate, and unfortunately came to the conclusion that the only real choice is self destruction. This is obviously a very heavy topic, and if he were to approach Aegiomon, Aegiomon would have no reason to believe that he no longer thinks this. He's not emotionally mature enough to handle this, he'd have to tell his guild leader right away so this can be handled with the care it deserves.

⟡ The leader of your character's guild has just approached your character with an offer: they will provide your character with extra supplies, reputation points, and help them with any of their current struggles. In exchange, they ask for your character to do a favor for them that may harm the other guilds, and will not specify what the favor is in advance. It sounds shady, but it's the deal of a lifetime in your character's path to get back home, and refusing it may cause strife for your character within their current guild. What do they think of this offer? What do they ultimately decide to do?

• Sadly, Aegiomon is just too selfless to even consider such an offer, which is probably where the guild leader went wrong. In fact, if it truly does come off as shady as implied, there is a nonzero chance Aegiomon isn't going to run off and tell the other guilds in question about what his guild leader is planning. What a little tattletale. Aegiomon just cares too much about others to see harm come their way. He's already made friends across all guilds, after all. There's no way he'd risk a single person's safety.

Now, that isn't to say Aegiomon isn't manipulable. If his guild leader truly wanted to get him to do something shady for them, they simply need to appeal to his good-hearted nature. Instead of offering HIM the deal of a lifetime, it'd be more appealing if his guildmate friends find themselves with better accommodations. Wouldn't it just be great if everyone knew he helped them live more comfortably? Or sneakier yet, Aegiomon would absolutely believe if his trusted guild leader came to him explaining they just heard the other guild leaders in question are up to no good. We can't have that! What if they end up hurting the other Pokémon? His friends?! That would be just terrible.

Yeah, no, he'd fall for that so hard. ...And then be devastated that he was tricked by someone he trusted. Again. That said, there's a no way he wouldn't tell the Pokémon mad at him what really happened, and I'm sure most Pokémon would understand he was just a kid who got duped. You'd think that would make Aegiomon pretty distrusting of his leader from then on out, BUT if you recall my answer for the working with his enemy question, you can bet he'd also forgive the guild leader if they wanted to try again. At some point his friends might have to sit him down and explain that he needs to stop forgiving them. Someone needs to save him from himself.

⟡ Due to shortages on supplies, the city is facing issues deciding where to cut corners during this rough time. Somehow, the responsibility has fallen on your character's shoulders, and they have to make a decision. If they send out an extra team of Pokemon, they will be able to gather more food, and through that, save the lives of dozens of starving Pokemon that were in dire need of nutrition. However, the only Pokemon available to scout for food are those working at the pokeclinic, and sending them out would mean certain death for at least two ill patients. What does your character decide to do? How do they feel about this choice, and how would they deal with the pushback that comes from either side?

• Alas, Aegiomon is once again too hero-coded to accept a "one-or-the-other" outcome. This is also not his first rodeo dealing with injured parties in need of dire medical care, so calling back on that, he'd ask around if anyone knows some sort of healer no one's thought to ask yet. You know, someone who lives in the forest or in the mountains they can quest for. Obviously, this will probably fall short, or else this wouldn't be the difficult question that it is.

Without any super powerful healer to fall back on (Venusmon, where are you???), Aegiomon will come up with his own solution, which is aiding the medics in their gathering efforts in hopes that it'll speed things along. Maybe if they gather food faster, they can get back to the poor, sick Pokémon sooner! You know, just in time before things get really bad. Don't worry, everyone, things are going to be okay! He'll be very optimistic about this, it's such a good plan, he's such a good boy. I imagine it's not going to work, however, and the fallout will devastate him. Aegiomon will attempt to explain that he did his best, that he's SO sorry, and he's not sure what he can do or say to make it better. He doesn't have time travel powers anymore, he can't just...retry, and honestly? That'll hit him pretty hard. He's used to getting a redo, he's seen friends die and then relive the scenario for a better outcome. The weight and realization of just how much power he held, how privileged he was to undo tragedy like that, it's a lot. Oh god, people just live like this normally and that's terrifying.

POKEMON: Shiny Skiddo! My thought process is simple. Aegiomon is a satyr baby goat, Skiddo is a baby goat, what more do I need to say? On top of that, some of Skiddo's pokedex entries often mention how it's believed to be one of the first Pokémon to live in harmony alongside humans. Time Stranger really likes to emphasize how Aegiomon was hatched in the human world and how peculiar his relationship with humans is, it's not a regular thing that happens. There isn't a group of kids with their special partners like in the anime, there's just Inori, Aegiomon, and the player. ...Whose Digimon don't count for some reason. I think that's really sweet that I can softly imply that importance with his Pokémon form. (Although I'll be real, I probably would've picked Skiddo either way, but it's such a neat little added flavor.)

The shininess is once again just to match his color scheme better. I swear I'm not trying to make all my characters shiny on purpose. I also plan on turning his leaves red with future AC rewards. You may see some icons with that already in place, but he isn't coming in like that. Baby gets to be neon green for awhile.

GUILD OPT-OUT: I know this is going to sound weird since I already have a character in Oran, but I'm gonna opt-out of the Lum Berries. This is just because I don't believe Aegiomon is the scholarly type and wouldn't have as much of a fun time at the off chance he catches their eyes. I'm sorry Lum Berries, I love you, Lum Berries.

As far as Cheri and Oran, however, I really have no preference either way! They both focus on helping through more physical action, which is something he's very much used to. ICly, Aegiomon already has a strong interest in both. Cheri is appealing due to their lack of focus on taking the spotlight. He had a nice conversation with Archnemon about the Cheris, she told him how there are already a good number of former Digimon there, and even mentioned Ribombee by name. On the other hand, he stayed at the Spire during the Blizzard, got to know a few of the Oran Berries, and had a great time playing their games. He loves playing! He can't believe that's just a thing they do! The focus on care and encouragement would be absolutely fantastic for his mental health, too.

SAMPLES:
Archnemon explains in a way that a Digimon can understand
Hide-and-seek may be even better than playing tag
Honestly, I love all my TDM threads, I can't pick just two.