#forspoken speculation

[phoenixiancrystallist]

Since the familiars are magical constructs created by the Tantas, how come they never got Corrupted like everything else?

[cruelfeline]

Because I am Totally Normal about this game and its characters, I spent the better part of my free time today considering Cuff's senses; namely, his sight.

It's occurred to me, after thinking about various dialogues and in-game situations, that I don't think he can actually see anything on his own. At least not, like, in terms of our concept of vision.

Cuff can sense things. His "compass" ability seems to work almost like a sort of echolocation, except with tiny birds instead of sound. And he appears to have some ability to sense magic, or power. He can, for example, sense the power of some of the necklaces Frey puts on and says as much. He can likewise sense the power in the Breakshards Frey collects after battle.

Actual sight, however, is different. And it's initially a little hard to pin down because, in certain circumstances, he appears very much able to see things that have no magical signature he could otherwise sense.

He can read, for one thing. At the beginning of the game, Frey cannot read Athian, but Cuff can, and so he reads things for her (while also teaching her, which I find perpetually precious!). Clearly, he is able to see with enough clarity that he's able to accurately make out Athian letters and words. He does this with generic signs and books: nothing that might have some sort of magic he could sense and decipher. It's all just plain old written script.

He can take note of various enemy characteristics, commenting positively or negatively on their appearances. He can see the paintings Frey finds on her journey and comments on them, too.

Then, of course, they're this fun example:

Essentially: Cuff appears able to visually see things when he needs to.

So! Why do I think he can't see on his own? And what, exactly, does that mean?

Well, take a dialogue like this:

Besides being deeply endearing to me, it's also quite interesting in that it appears to imply that Cuff is totally unaware of his currently very small surroundings. Frey and Cuff are in a Pilgrim's Refuge. It's a small space. There's not really anywhere for anything to hide. An enemy would be exceedingly easy to see. So why is Cuff momentarily panicked and asking Frey if there's something there?

Furthermore, why does Cuff, in various battle-related dialogues, ask Frey if they're surrounded, or how many enemies there are? A simple glance around would tell him, wouldn't it?

My personal headcanon is that Cuff sees through Frey's eyes. We know, after all, that he senses what she senses via the following:

What I believe, however, is that he only does so when he specifically focuses on the action. It's not automatic; he has to expend some effort and concentration in order to do it.

It would explain why he's able to do something like read to her: she's already looking closely at the text, and so he's able to reach through their connection and access her own sight. Same thing with something like the tower: she sees it, and he's able to briefly reach out and see it with her.

In other situations, it's simply not convenient or viable for him to look through her eyes. In sudden combat, it's quicker to ask if they're surrounded than to access her sight. It may also be a matter of... how to say... the stability of the image. If Frey is focused on reading and is looking at words on a page, her vision is more stable than if she is in battle, eyes flicking from place to place. In said battle scenario, it may be quite disorienting for Cuff to borrow her eyes, so it's easier for him to ask. Not to mention something like combat featuring much more stress and activity, hampering the concentration that may be needed for accurate sight-borrowing on very immediate notice. Especially if Cuff is more focused on, say, scanning or guarding.

In terms of the moment with the torana-teasing: I expect that, safe in a Refuge, he relaxed a bit and wasn't focused on gleaning information from Frey's vision. When he heard her supposedly opening a torana, he assumed there was an enemy immediately near and either felt he didn't have time to reach through their connection or - amusingly - was too panicked to focus enough to do so. Thus, he asks Frey if there's something there.

This is all just speculative, of course. But it makes sense to me! It offers what I feel is a reasonable explanation for why Cuff seems perfectly able to see at certain times, yet appears totally unaware of his surroundings at others.

It's also just... interesting to me. That this could be yet another way that he's so reliant on Frey. That without her, he's limited in what exactly he can sense and identify and interact with. To his perpetual frustration, I'm sure!

[phoenixiancrystallist]

What if Frey is Thalia reincarnated and that's why Frey was able to hitchhike in her body and experience her emotions?

[phoenixiancrystallist]

Question:

Why is the magic around Frey when she uses Flow gold?

Shimmy and Leap are properly purple

But Flow is pure gold, not a speck of purple to be seen

And she's coated in it when she first breaks into her sprints! Look at this, the only place it doesn't touch is her face:

Looks familiar, too, doesn't it? Where have we seen gold in these patterns before?

Oh. Ooooooh.

I'm sure it's fine :)

But it's really interesting, right? Flow isn't Frey's magic. It's Cuff's. All the rest of Frey's magic has purple in it—after all, Frey's magic is purple magic. But Flow is the only magic in her entire arsenal that has no color other than gold.

Trust me, I spent two-ish hours today going through every single spell.

I'm fascinated that of all the magics Cuff could have given her, it's the ability to run and escape. It's the one thing we don't see him do when he's fighting her as Susurrus. He could have given her flight, laser beams, forming weapons out of gold filament, fancy gold armor, summon 6d12 breakbirds per round, anything. But instead he gives her the power to flee, and that's before he really learned or knew anything about who she is as a person.

What an interesting and missable bit of characterization.

[phoenixiancrystallist]

Anyone else notice how the text in Cuff's scans is all warped? And the Athian text kind of wiggles and pulses sometimes, almost like it's glitching? I wonder if that's a result of the damage that's been done to him, the same way he doesn't sit in nice and neat coils on Frey's arm.

[phoenixiancrystallist]

Not even the best phone fresh out of the box will hold a charge on its battery for six months, no matter how minimal the use is. How was Frey taking pictures for the kids throughout her whole journey?

One could reasonably argue that she kept her phone turned off except when she was taking those pictures, but I posit a different theory:

Athia's ambient magic keeps it charged

[phoenixiancrystallist]

So does anyone else ever think about the fact that Thalia must have had the "you'd make a good mom" talk with Cinta, because otherwise Frey wouldn't have been able to have that talk?

Because, like, Frey can't talk about Susurrus. She tries, and she chokes on the words. It's explained as her not being able to change the course of history, and I can see the argument that she could have the "you'd make a good mom" talk because she was gonna become a mom and have Frey anyway. But if that talk with Thalia wasn't what sparked the thought and desire for motherhood in Cinta, then what else could have? Tantas are forbidden from having children, she knows this. And until Thalia, motherhood wasn't something she'd considered. She had to think about it before she answered.

Makes me wish we got to actually spend time with Thalia instead of hijacking her body. I want to know what that conversation was like from the perspective of a born-and-raised Athian.

[phoenixiancrystallist]

Can't help but to think that Cuff has a soft spot for Junoon. I have nothing really to back that up, but that video with the bridge dialogue made me think of it.

Oh, and worth sharing. The little shit even wanted to call Junoon Vambracia at some point asjasd. Also by wandering around Junoon. I was so offended and Frey too.

Gosh, I love how much there is still to discover.

I'm gonna have to run around Junoon more, I never got that dialogue either! Cuff was holding out on me while I was running around photographing everything in sight!!! XD

He does seem to have some good feelings for Junoon, yeah. It's kind of sweet, and I have so many headcanons about why. Mostly of the "being bonded to Cinta and feeling her love for Frey second hand was the first time he ever experienced positive emotions, and just being in Junoon brings those feelings back" flavor of headcanon, tbh. But he also has an eye for beauty and fashion, which Junoon was known to cultivate, so maybe that has something to do with it, too :) He's such a precious birb, I love him so much 💜