[Video Game] [Heart no Kuni no Alice] (Not) All Who Wander Are Lost, an Ace FST

[ivoryandhorn]

(Not) All Who Wander Are Lost, an Ace FST
Track list:

• Low - "Murderer"

  Don't act so innocent
  I've seen you pound your fist into the earth
  And I've read your books
  It seems that you could use another fool
  Well, I'm cruel
  
  This is a very short song, but there's a slow and terrible menace to it and the dedication in this words. I've always seen it as Ace's dedication to Julius, doing the dirty work that Julius can't/won't do. But at the same time, when viewed in that light, there's a sly condescension and mockery to it.
  
  This has always felt like a really fundamental Ace songcall to me, in the way it ties together his brutality, cynicism, self-loathing, and above all, loyalty.



• The Hoosiers - "Killer"

  I hate my work but I'm in control
  I'm fearless now but it cost my soul
  
  This is a song that didn't become a strong Ace songcall for me until his secret backstory was revealed in Dia no Kuni no Alice. I feel like Ace has a lot of conflicted feelings about how his deal with Joker to save (a) Julius worked out, but the dichotomy between he hates his situation/he wants this situation is the central push/pull of his character.



• Godsmack - "Greed"

  Two faced! I feel you crawling under my skin
  Sickened by your face
  
  I've always seen Ace as a fundamentally angry character. To me, he walks around keeping a very tight lid on what is a bottomless but also impotent rage at his entire life; the people in it who he hates, the job(s) he hates, the untenable situation of where he is, just...everything! He is very self-controlled and has a long fuse, he's not necessarily aggressive...but at his core, he is not a kind or peaceful soul. This song also encapsulated Ace->Vivaldi to me for a long time... And after his backstory stuff, I think they're even more fitting for Ace->Joker.



• Scissor Sisters - "I Can't Decide"

  It's not easy having yourself a good time
  Greasing up those bets and betters
  Watching out they don't four-letter
  
  I feel like the light, jaunty tone contrasting with the creepy lyrics about killing is very Ace. And also accurately encapsulates his attitude toward taking lives, which is "lol whatever."
  
  I particularly like this song for the part where the singer briefly seems to be about to lose their temper (It takes the truth to fool me / And now you've made me angry) before immediately reverting to the initial jaunty tone. That is very much an Ace affectation, and also central to how I see him as having a ton of self-control. He's always seemed like a person who puts effort into commanding how he presents himself.



• Assemblage 23 - "Let Me Be Your Armor"

  Let me take the blows
  That were meant for you
  Let me help you with the trials
  You're going through
  
  Let me stifle you
  Let me have control
  Let me smother
  Every aspect of your soul
  
  Ace is very possessive and condescending towards his things, the end. Substitute in Alice, Julius, etc... I love the progression from "I will protect you" to "haha never mind I'm a terrifying controlling tool." Which is very Ace, since I've always seen his personality as having this very liminal aspect; his various traits exist on a continuum of "safe" to "unsafe abort abort abort" and that's what makes him so interesting to me, that his good traits are also his bad ones.
  
  The quote seriously doesn't do this song any justice. It's all about the progression.



• The Weakerthans - "Aside"

  And I'm leaning on this broken fence
  Between past and present tense
  And I'm losing all those stupid games
  That I swore I'd never play
  But it almost feels okay
  
  And now for something completely different: A non-awful song about Ace! This song does a good job of capturing Ace's adventuring/wandering spirit, and feels a bit like a hopeful ending for him. The upbeat tone about eventually finding what you're looking for at the end of a long and meandering road. In (some of) Ace's good ends, he does seem like he eventually reaches a point where he has some direction out of the emotional mire he's lost himself in.



• Rasputina - "Incapable of Regret"

  I still want what I tried to get
  I've been a warmonger for so long
  I try to admit I'm wrong, but yet
  I am incapable of regret
  
  Anyway back to not-happy songs for Ace. This song is one of the first songcalls I ever made for him and it's survived till now on that alone... But I do think it's fitting for him, as it's a mighty cosmic shrug at the fact that, when he made the deal to resurrect Julius, he didn't actually save any existing Julius, just ensure that a Julius would exist forever. So the Juliuses that he has known and cared for are still marked for death. So in the end, has he really saved anything at all? And yet.



• MIKA - "Happy Ending"

  This is the hardest story that I've ever told
  No hope or love or glory
  Happy endings gone forever more
  
  And a final pick that's a bit out of left field. But there's a very resigned feel to this song that I feel fits Ace very well. Whether or not he made the right decision about reviving Julius, he did it, and he's stuck with it. And while he agonizes over it still, he's also shrugged and accepted that he's never going to get what he really wanted, but at least he'll get something that's close enough.
  
  I like the lines I picked out especially because Ace's backstory came out as him guiding Alice through a series of flashbacks, so it fits that specific moment, too.
  
  The song is also a bit shippier than I usually like for Ace and Julius, but I still think it works. I could see Ace sleeping with an alternate Julius as a form of self-flagellation because he has Emotional Issues(TM) and that's how he rolls. Which means are now entering the "specific relationships" part of the FST.



• Chris Cornell - "You Know My Name"

  You can't deny the prize, it may never fulfill you
  It longs to kill you
  Are you willing to die?
  
  This song is very specifically Joker to Ace and their little ~arrangement~ of Ace being the Executioner and Julius the Clockmaker. And as a result it works really well as a commentary on that deal and what, exactly, Ace didn't get out of it.



• Mumford & Sons - "White Blank Page"

  Can you lie next to her
  And give her your heart, your heart
  As well as your body
  And can you lie next to her
  And confess your love, your love
  As well as your folly
  
  I feel like this song applies to Ace's jealousy and possessiveness really well, okay. In this case, it's specifically about his feelings toward Julius/Alice, feeling shut out from both, yet longing for them both too. Which of them is he more jealous of, anyway?



• Daughtry - "Crashed"

  Where I've been, well, it's all a blur
  What I was looking for, I'm not sure
  Too late and didn't see you coming
  And then I crashed into you
  
  And the flip side! A song for Ace->Alice. It's a bit generic, since I think Alice radically changes everyone she meets in Wonderland... But I think the opening stanza of being lost/confused and the resolution being "this is a disaster, probably" makes it a very Ace take on Alice.
  
  The fun thing is that if you were to do a cover with a female vocalist, it fits Alice->Ace as much the same reasoning.