If there's an ending credit song to this story, I hope for it to be 'Like a Clear Sky' from Ar Tonelico II.
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Author's note, explanation, and stuff.
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No, he doesn't reincarnate.
The last two chapters of this story, are actually two different endings – because whether or not Kristoph lives, is exactly that – a question that cannot be answered.
Did he fall into the river and drown, the way it seems like?
Did he wash up ashore somewhere, and lived the rest of his life without anyone knowing of it, making the perfect escape?
There's really no way to answer that - and the two different endings are the two different path possible. He could have died. He could have lived. No one knew what happened to him, Kristoph just disappeared into his 'namesake', or at least the Japanese version of it. Here I'm going to argue both to and for :
If he had died, then it would have been simply the end. No, he doesn't come back as a ghost. No, I'm not going to write another story where he comes back as Jade Curtiss. Dead is dead is dead. Kristoph won't come back to life, he died – and when he had thrown himself off the cliff, he had known full well that that's going to happen.
This would be the 'logical' conclusion. Except, I'm pretty sure if you played 'T&T', you would have gone 'Hey! Someone survived the Eagle River!' Yeap – that someone would be Dahlia Hawthorne and she was...14 I believe? She dropped off Dusky Bridge, which is about the height of the place where Kristoph had fell from (I know it sounds higher, but think about it – if the mountain had been higher, wouldn't the water source around that area be taller, if it's more violent? It's nearer to the main source after all.) and swam away from it intact. That would mean that it's completely possible for Kristoph to swim away from there, or at least not drown off. On the other hand, as I've already repeatedly stressed – he's thin as a reed and anorexic because he starves himself to sharpen his mind. He's not exactly in prime shape. Maybe the Kristoph Gavin a year ago would have been able to do it – but not the Kristoph now. So that's the argument to and for his death theory :
For
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-He's weak, he can't possibly swim away
-He may not even want to, considering he threw himself off it in the first place
-He wears glasses. As I've written in Man of Mist, he can't see one foot ahead without them. How's he gonna swim when the water tears it off his face?
-Violent river
-I hateeeezzzz Kristoph, kill that sick fuck.
Against
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-Dahlia did it, and she was FOURTEEN. And Kristoph can't be thinner than Dahlia.
-He's a guy. He can swim – or I've established it as so in Man of Mist.
-His body would have been found eventually, it can't wash off that far, especially if you consider the fact that the downstream areas would be less violent.
-I luv Krist0ph, j00 cn't kill him, haterz
Then there's the 'survived' theory. That one was pretty much mold around the song 'Piano Man' by Billy Joel, mind you. (What plagiarism, what what?) This one is a theory where he survives the river, washes up somewhere, and this time – without the ties to Apollo and Klavier to hold him back, he seeks out powerful friends he might have to get him out of the country, just like Daryan. He leaves America and returns to Germany, and there, finds a tiny village to play the piano for the rest of his life. I'm sure you guys noticed the similarities with someone he's done something to in the past? So yes, that's almost sentimental in it's sweetness, the way revenge came around.
Argument to and against, for his 'survival theory'.
For
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-Kristoph's a powerful lawyer. He's had his day in the hay, and he's pretty badass when he wants to be. We've seen him blackmailed people in Man of Mist, so why not do it again? Okay, so admittedly he killed off that friend of his, but there's always another, right? Politicians are a plenty, and they all need lawyers.
-If he lives in seclusion, Klavier and Apollo aren't going to hear of him. Kazaf isn't God either, he can't sniff him out like that.
-Even though he was on the WANTED board, it'll be taken down by now, and he'll be quickly forgotten – especially since he hadn't been recognized in the first place.
-By the time the story ended, his insanity seemed to be under control already.
-I luv Krist0ph, j00 cn't kill him,haterz
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Against
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-Yeah, so we have a sick, half-dead, soaked guy, traveling across the world without a passport, with no money, and no luggage, and his face plastered on the news just days before. Who's his friend again? God?
-Anti-depressants
-Anti-depressants
-Anti-depressants, dammit!
-Someone will notice him when he starts chopping people up for disagreeing with him again.
-I hatteeeeezzz Krist0ph, why joo make him live, you sick fuck?
So as you can see there are loads of reason why and why not. It's really up to you to decide in the end – did Kristoph live, or did Kristoph die? You're not getting a straight answer out of me, because I don't have it either. I stopped myself from making a decision to avoid completely polluting the story ending, so there's no 'official' answer either. Whether he lives or die is by your will – do you want it to believable, or sweet?
I like the note it ended on. I know it's weird, so feel free to tell me to my face if you hate it, and I won't do it next time :D
Either way you decide – the other characters don't change.
Klavier and Apollo went on to live their lives assuming that Kristoph is dead and gone. They still sometimes get pangs, when they watch TV and hear about mysterious people appearing here and there, maybe amnesiac. They get pangs too, when they see blonde long hair appearing on the screen – but for the most part, Kristoph is gone. He's still in their heart, but they've accepted that they're never seeing each other again. Their paths have diverged.
They put on the road show they decided on – whatever Polly's role in THAT might be – and traveled around the world until they're convinced everything's behind them now – whereby they return to the states and blow everyone away with how much they've changed.
Daryan left for Zheng Fa, and started his own music scene there. He's a one man show – and he sure as hell is one fucking load more popular than Klavier Gavin and his gay boyfriend – even if he does say so himself. Nail, Enrich, and Zydaline started their own band too – and sometimes they meet up with our two lawyers and do shows together. They've gone their own way though – and Nail's their vocalist now, along with Ema – who joined them for a lifetime supply of snackoos.
Machi sits out the rest of his sentence, with the punishment for escaping waived because it really wasn't his fault. When he finished, he returned to Lamiroir, and took up residence in that one room. He trades letters with Daryan sometimes. Maybe one day he'll pull off his shirt and we'll see another secret too, hmm? Gumshoe on the other hand, becomes the chief of police, does his job well, and Maggey obviously becomes his right-hand-lady.
Kazaf disappears off somewhere, and he never did return to L.A again, or at least – no one's heard of him, and he never went back for his old job.
So whatever you decide on, they all have their own ways of moving on, of living their lives.
Explanations on Kristoph's Mental Retardation.
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Okay, I'm sure at least ONE guy I know out there is going to insult my intelligence gravely for throwing Kristoph off a cliff. I know one other guy, and he's typing this.
So I'm going to attempt to straighten everyone out with some conditioner.
Let's think about it.
Kristoph basically has no place left for him to go. He's left with only one choice – to go back with Klavier and Apollo and take their 'offered' olive branch. To go back, sit in the jurist system that PHOENIX created, that he had made possible, and allow his system to save his life.
Okay, full stop – you can pretty much see where that's going.
His pride, not to mention his XL sized ego isn't going to like that. So he's left with a dead end then – take their offer, or not at all. So we know Kristoph, and we know how he is. He's showy and flashy and likes to recite poetry. So he goes off the most dramatic way he can think of. You can guess already right? All that stuff he said at the end? It was partial bullshit.
Yes, it's true. Part of Kristoph Gavin is tired of the whole game too. He's just holding them back really – but obviously he's not going to throw himself off a cliff because of that. He simply came up with the solution because of the other thing. To put it simply, he refuses to be saved by Phoenix's jurist system – he'd rather die. He'd always been headed on that way anyway - notice that he never once mentioned when he was leaving that he doesn't want to die - all it did was speed up his decision, because obviously, if he stayed around any longer he wouldn't be able to carry out his plan. That he gets out of Klavier and Apollo's way to happily-ever-after is just a nice bonus, that's all. Yes, he really does love them. No, it's not just an act.
Would you die for your mom because she had a back ache?
No, I don't think so.
To summarize and straighten it out after all that turnaround way of speaking/excuses :
-Kristoph refuses to be saved by a system Phoenix made possible
-Kristoph has big ego. Yes, he's a bit of a shit.
-He escaped prison in order that he can see Klavier and Apollo, who were avoiding him
-He's seen them, he's hugged them, okay people – it's time to die.
-No, that's a joke. They have each other now – and in a way, that makes Kristoph feels excluded. He isn't needed anymore, redundant – just like with Zak Gramarye, he's been cast away.
-In short, he kills himself because his ego is supersized, he doesn't like Phoenix's jurist system and because he won't interrupt Klavier and Apollo's makeout sessions.
-If he survives, that's good too.
Okay, people, that's the end of it. Ask me questions in reviews/flame me/smack me with a newborn – I'll answer any vague questions through this space (if you're anonymous) or through a PM or something.
[Also, following this story, I switch some OC's jobs a little. Enrich isn't an Interpol (Come to think of it, where did that dumb idea came from?), he works as the local coroner. Zydaline's job has been changed to undercover (Hm? How can he be an undercover when his face is all over the albums as a cop? Oh, I'll work something out.)
Bye, thanks for reading, and if you've read the whole thing...There's a truck of Klavier babies behind there for you :D
Bitchy little Carlis.
One little Carlis went down the hill...Bitching all the way he goes.
This part is for people who have nothing better to do but to read my thoughts on this fic, which is basically a will I leave to my future self.
Okay. This fic changed my life. No, I'm not saying that in avid fanboysm of myself. I mean it literally - because I never used to swear at all. I used to be a nice person, I was a pushover (I still am, actually.) that you can hand a plate of shit to, and I'll say the absolute nicest thing to you. I never swear either. Maybe it's my upbringing, my mom always goes all frowny and frumpy at me if I swear, so I've learned to play nice. Besides, people swearing in my face is so abnormal in my circle of friends that it's kind of strange even hearing the F word out loud.
So yeah, what did I say about this fic changing me? Yes, it did. If you read Man of Mist, you'll notice that there's barely any swearing in there, whereas this has swearing almost on every page. This is a sign that I am manly.
No, just kidding.
But yes, I started writing from Daryan and Nail's perspectives, both of whom are rock stars. I think of them as uh 'liberated' individual who aren't afraid to tell you to your face that you need to get off on yourself. So I wrote and I wrote and I wrote, and I had so much fun writing from Daryan's perspective, until the next thing I know, I'm doing it almost everywhere - swearing I mean. I don't know why, it just came naturally. I think I was too 'into' the story. (Yeah, staying up til six finishing a chapter might have something to do with that - that and the cans of coffee.) When I write, I kind of shut down and go into auto mode. I'm just seeing what is happening, and my fingers just go tap-tap and do all the work.
So I think I like, brainwashed myself or something. Like hypnotism, except this is an accident. Nngh.
By the end of the fic though, I'm starting to like my two OCs. I don't know why, because there were a couple of chapters where I wanted to reach into my computer monitor and strangle them. They were just so irritating at certain points, and I don't know why, but I can't seem to change that either. When I write...They just sort of overwhelmed me with their bitchiness. But then towards the end, I guess they're okay. Kazaf amused me mostly. Nail I just want to see married to Ema. Maybe it's like author's love or something - you know, a face only only a mother can love - except these are OCs only an author can love.
And I can't believe how much of my life this took. 350k words. One month and 23 days. Wow. This is ultimate proof I need to go get a life or something.
For everyone's who's reading this (why?), thanks for sticking to the story to the end! I'll give you my firstborns, except I'm gay for Klavier, so you can't have any. Everyone gets a firstborn! Oh, and AC gets my middle finger.
Bye guys, it's time to work on my next fic ;D
(Gonna try my hand in canon-ish AUs! Time for...Mafia!Kristoph and Mafia!Apollo and Mafia!Hobohodo and Mafia!Klavier!)