Line #101 Fanfic/TowerOfBabel


1	!!Warning! Due to the nature of this work, major spoilers for ''VideoGame/NieR'' are unmarked. Tread carefully.
2	----
3
4	->'''Popola:''' ''So you will keep searching for a solution that doesn’t exist until the world ends? Why?!''\
5	'''Shadowlord:''' ''Because we are human, and it’s human to hope. Because no matter how many times we fail, we refuse to give up.''
6
7	''Tower of Babel'' is a completed [[ForWantOfANail canon divergence]] FixFic by Acidwing, taking place in ''VideoGame/NieR'' (specifically, the Gestalt version of the game). It can be found on [[https://archiveofourown.org/works/17337323 Archive of Our Own]] and [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13173753/1/Tower-of-Babel FanFiction.net]].
8
9	The Shadowlord waited and waited and waited for his daughter to be healed, but all he got was empty platitudes. Fed up with the inaction of the android overseers, he decides to strike out on his own. A chance meeting with his daughter’s Replicant leads to surprising revelations, dramatic realizations, unexpected team-ups, and a quest to save the world.
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11
12	----
13	!!''Tower of Babel'' provides examples of:
14
15	* AdaptationDistillation: Some canon events that remained unchanged (the first meeting with Kainé, saving the king of Facade, etc.) are glossed over.
16
17	* AdaptationExpansion:
18	** Several characters have more screentime, with the Shadowlord being the main example. He had only a few scenes in canon, but here he's one of the main characters.
19	** There is a lot more information about Project Gestalt/Replicant than in the game proper.
20
21	* AdaptationPersonalityChange: Unlike his mustache-twirling, [[CardCarryingVillain card-carrying]] canon incarnation, Grimoire Noir is a very subdued WellIntentionedExtremist who hates the responsibility placed on him but genuinely doesn’t see a better option.
22
23	* AdaptationRelationshipOverhaul: With the Shadowlord pulling a HeelFaceTurn, the overseers and Noir are now his enemies, while Nier, Weiss, Kainé, and Emil are his friends and teammates.
24
25	* AdaptationalHeroism: Nier and Kainé's BloodKnight tendencies are majorly toned down, and the characters are generally more willing to talk and try to resolve things peacufully rather than immediately attack.
26
27	* BattleInTheCenterOfTheMind: Kainé and Tyrann eventually end up fighting inside their MentalWorld. [[spoiler:Kainé wins by [[SheatheYourSword doing nothing]].]]
28
29	* BloodMagic: Subverted. Shadowlord uses his own blood to boost his teleportation spell and get through the dimensional barrier. However, it's specifically the maso inside it that has power, not the blood itself.
30
31	* BrainwashedAndCrazy: [[spoiler:Weiss]] ends up being brainwashed. When Nier and his team attempt to stop him [[spoiler:from fusing with Noir, Weiss]] attacks them.
32
33	* CannibalismSuperpower: Weiss already had the ability to absorb blood, but during the fight with Rubrum he unlocks the power to consume other Grimoires, which gives him their powers and knowledge.
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35	* CastFromStamina: Using magic is tiring and can even knock the user out, but sleep and rest can replenish the lost energy without an issue.
36
37	* DangerousForbiddenTechnique: Possession can grant a lot of power, but it can lead to [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity relapsing]], especially if the host fights back.
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39	* DarkIsNotEvil: There are many peaceful interactions with Gestalts and the Shadowlord himself becomes one of the main heroes.
40
41	* DistantFinale: The main story takes place over the course of several weeks, but there is a five-year timeskip before the epilogue.
42
43	* DramaticIrony: Shadowlord knows what the overseers look like, but he doesn’t know their names and assumes that they are staying behind the dimensional barrier. Nier has no idea that Devola and Popola are more than they seem, and Weiss has amnesia. Figuring out that they are one and the same takes a while.
44
45	* DyingAsYourself: Weiss and Noir are the only Grimoires who retain their personality and self-awareness. The others are mad monsters, but after consuming them, for a few moments Weiss can speak to the people they used to be.
46
47	* FixFic: The original game is full of tragedies, leading eventually to TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, in large part due to [[PoorCommunicationKills lack of communication]]. This fic is built entirely on the characters' attempts to prevent it.
48
49	* FlatWhat: Shadowlord's most common reaction to the sheer weirdness happening around him.
50
51	* ForWantOfANail: It all begins when the Shadowlord, who doesn't trust the overseers, starts digging for more information on Gestalts and Replicants. Meeting Replicant Yonah leads him down a much different path than in canon.
52
53	* FusionDance: Comes in a variety of types.
54	** Regular possession between Gestalts and Replicants involves SharingABody, though whether the personalities coexist or fight for dominance depends entirely on the people in question. [[spoiler:Later, a way to make a fusion [[MentalFusion complete]] is found.]]
55	** Weiss has the ability to [[CannibalismSuperpower absorb other Grimoires]], but it's strictly one-sided: Weiss gets their knowledge and abilities, but their personalities are gone.
56
57	* IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight: After [[spoiler:Weiss]] falls victim to MindControl, his friends have to fight him. Unfortunately, appealing to his [[HeroicWillpower better nature]] doesn't work.
58
59	* InstantAIJustAddWater: Well, ''add magic'', that is. True AI can only be created with magic, and if they have sufficiently complex minds, they can even gain a soul.
60
61	* InternalReveal: There is a lot of AwfulTruth to go around in this setting: the true nature of Gestalts and Replicants, the identity of the overseers, etc. Several chapters are devoted to one revelation or another.
62
63	* IronicEcho: The Overseers justify their plan as TheNeedsOfTheMany, saying two lives (Shadowlord and his Yonah) against millions is simple math. Later, when [[spoiler:post-fusion]] Nier and the others prepare to storm the shrine, rescue [[spoiler:Weiss]], and enact their plan to save both the Gestalts and the Replicants, he repeats Popola's line when asked what will he do if she and Devola won't listen to reason.
64
65	* ItIsDehumanizing: Nier and the others start off calling Gestalts "it". After realizing that they are sapient beings, both he and his team switch to he/she/they. Grimoires are treated similarly.
66
67	* MentalFusion: After attempting possession, [[spoiler:Gestalt and Replicant Nier]] fuse both physically and mentally. Afterwards, Weiss finds a way to replicate the effect [[spoiler:for any Gestalt and Replicant pair]].
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69	* MentalWorld: There are two different versions: Gestalts and their Replicants [[spoiler:who attempt fusion]] see a world based on their memories, everyone else sees only white nothingness.
70
71	* MindControl: [[spoiler:Noir]] used a mind control spell on [[spoiler:Weiss to force him into activation.]]
72
73	* MultiformBalance: In human form Emil is physically just a child, but he's not affected by magic attacks and has DeadlyGaze. In Halua's form he's huge and cannot be hurt by physical attacks, but he is vulnerable to magic. In his mixed skeletal form he can fly and use magic himself.
74
75	* MundaneSolution: When Shadowlord realizes that Replicants don't understand his speech, he writes on the ground.
76
77	* MundaneUtility: One of the most useful spells? [[{{Hammerspace}} Magic pockets!]]
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79	* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Nier is horrified when he realizes that Shades are intelligent beings and there is a very high chance he has killed innocent people before.
80
81	* NamedByTheAdaptation: Kalil's mom, two people from the Aerie, and three Grimoires mentioned in the supplemental material are given names and a [[AdaptationExpansion slightly larger part to play]], though they are still side characters at best.
82
83	* TheNeedsOfTheMany: The overseers were perfectly content to keep Gestalt Yonah in stasis so they could have leverage against Shadowlord. As Popola puts it, two lives against millions is just math.
84
85	* NoJustNoReaction: Emil suggests that if Gestalt Nier is the Shadowlord, Replicant Nier should be called the Lightlord. No one is impressed with this idea.
86
87	* OriginalCharacter: Several background characters are introduced, though none of them have a very big role.
88	** Yaegiri, Yama, and Kintaro are a trio of Gestalts who [[ExpositionFairy provide exposition]] to the Shadowlord soon after he escapes the overseers.
89	** Eric is a boy from Seafront whom the Shadowlord saves from a relapsed Gestalt.
90
91	* PoorCommunicationKills: Mostly averted (unlike the original), but if Nier, Weiss, and Shadowlord bothered to compare notes, they would've found out the identities of the overseers much earlier.
92
93	* ThePowerOfBlood: All magic and technology uses maso as an energy source. Since Shadowlord's blood is the main (and only) source of stable maso, he can use it to boost his spells and power up ancient technology.
94
95	* OurSoulsAreDifferent: As Weiss has put it, "if the mind is complex enough, magic is the seed from which a soul can grow". And since all AI are made with magic, any sufficiently complex robot or artificial being can eventually gain a soul.
96
97	* QuantumMechanicsCanDoAnything: According to Weiss, magic is based on quantum physics.
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99	* SeinfeldianConversation: After the fight in the Aerie, deliriously tired Weiss and Shadowlord go on a rambling tangent about quantum physics and [[UsefulNotes/SchrodingersCat half-dead, half-alive cats]] to the confusion of their friends.
100
101	* SharingABody: Gestalts that attempt to possess their Replicants are usually stuck in one body with a fairly equal control over it. Cooperating with each other is the only way they can stave off relapsing and remain sane. [[spoiler:That is, until [[MentalFusion fusion]] is discovered.]]
102
103	* SheatheYourSword: [[spoiler:Tyrann fights Kainé in a MentalWorld, so he can't actually harm her. Once Kainé realizes this, she stops fighting.]]
104
105	* ShoutOut: The chapters have titles like "VideoGame/ShadowOfTheColossus", "[[Manga/ThePromisedNeverland Promised Neverland]]", "[[Literature/LordOfTheRings All That Is Gold]]", and "[[VideoGame/{{Undertale}} Despite Everything]]".
106
107	* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: Both the heroes and the [[WellIntentionedExtremist villains]] are trying to save the world, their conflict stems from ''how'' they're going about it. The overseers are firmly on the cynical side, trying to [[TheNeedsOfTheMany save Gestalts at the cost of Replicant lives]], while Nier and his team are on the idealistic side, searching for a way to save ''everyone''. [[spoiler:Idealism wins.]]
108
109	* SparedByTheAdaptation: Turns out, being able to talk to each does wonders to the characters' ability to resolve things peacefully. [[spoiler:And considering that canon leads to eventual TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt, this trope applies to almost everyone]].
110
111	* SufficientlyAnalyzedMagic: Weiss calls [[QuantumMechanicsCanDoAnything quantum physics]] a "theoretical underbelly of magic" and creating new spells requires a lot of research.
112
113	* TheStationsOfTheCanon: A lot of events, such as meeting Weiss, Kainé, and Emil, or the battles with Hook, Rubrum, and Halua are fairly similar to canon.
114
115	* TakeAThirdOption: The entire premise of this fic is the characters trying to find a way to save everyone, when the only choices presented to them are [[TheNeedsOfTheMany genocide]] and [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt extinction]].
116
117	* TeamMemberInTheAdaptation: Shadowlord, the BigBad of the original game, joins the main team.
118
119	* TeleportInterdiction: The overseers have some kind of technology that can block teleportation.
120
121	* ThemeNaming:
122	** Just like Weiss, Noir, and Rubrum, the new Grimoires are named after colors.
123	** The named Gestalt and Replicant characters follow the conventions of the game: the characters in the Aerie reference ''Literature/PeterPan'', those in the Seafront reference ''Literature/LittleMermaid'', etc.
124
125	* {{Transmutation}}: Grimoire Zlato specializes in transformation magic. She transformed an entire research lab into a cavern full of golden pillars and turned herself from a book into some kind of insectoid monster.
126
127	* TranslatorBuddy: When Weiss gains the ability to understand Gestalts, he becomes the main translator for the Shadowlord or any other Gestalt the team encounters. Kainé can understand Gestalts too, but she usually doesn't bother with translations unless it's really important and Weiss is otherwise occupied ([[VitriolicBestBuds or if it can annoy him]]).
128
129	* VoluntaryShapeshifting:
130	** Emil eventually gains the ability to freely shapeshift between his original human self, Halua's giant form, and their skeletal mix.
131	** Grimoire Zlato has the ability to transform herself and her surroundings into different shapes, which Weiss steals from her.
132	** [[spoiler:After the fusion, Nier can switch between Gestalt and Replicant form at will. So can Yonah, and it's implied to be an ability all Amalgamates share.]]
133
134	* WhatIsOneMansLifeInComparison: When the Shadowlord calls out the overseers on the way they held his daughter's life over his head to keep him compliant, they retort that [[TheNeedsOfTheMany two lives against millions is just math]].
135
136	* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman:
137	** After learning the truth about their origins (and going through some CharacterDevelopment), Nier considers both Gestalts and Replicants to be human. However, there is a difference between sane Gestalts, relapsed ones, and the fused monsters. Relapsed Gestalts cannot be helped, and while some of them are docile, most are AxCrazy. Fusions of multiple relapsed Gestalts like Hook or Wendy are mindless monsters that must be taken down, because they can and ''will'' kill everyone in their path.
138	** Weiss has no problem killing and eating other Grimoires, but it's considered more of a MercyKill, since those Grimoires were already dead when they had been transformed. Weiss himself and Noir are treated as people.
139	** No one cares about the robots destroyed in the Junk Heap, but Shadowlord is willing to talk to P-33 because it's an AI, implying that the others are just mindless drones.
140
141	* WhatTheHellHero: During their confrontation, the main characters and the overseers condemn each other's choices, with overseers choosing TheNeedsOfTheMany and Nier and his team trying to [[TakeAThirdOption find a different solution]].
142
143	* AWorldHalfFull: Sure, the world is recovering from a near-apocalypse, but it ''is'' recovering. The epilogue probably puts it the best:
144	-->It wasn’t perfect, not by any means. The world had suffered greatly, but despite everything, humanity had survived and could finally start healing. Life went on and even in this imperfect world there was a place for happiness.
145
146	* YouHaveGotToBeKiddingMe: Shadowlord is disturbed when he found out that [[AxCrazy Tyrann]], the malicious Shade possessing Kaine, was allowed to become a Gestalt.

Context Fanfic / TowerOfBabel