#event analysis

First off, the name is probably at least somewhat inspired by “What Sort of Ending Are You Wishing For?”. WxS has achieved their ending, at long last. Rui’s wish has come true, and the ending is a happy one.

First, the theme park below is PXL, and the balloons are colored in WxS’s colors. Yet, they’re flying away, into the musical night sky, leaving it behind. The star is also a compass, and paired with the map, it’s WxS finding their way. And the. The pegasus… well, Tenma means pegasus, and Tsukasa is the leader. Stars can also represent dreams, so Tsukasa is helping to guide WxS to their dreams.

Time for the lyrics.

“There's no answer to it, what's being imagined is Just according to your— Just according to my—”

There’s no answer as to why she keeps dreaming of them being together, and what she imagines (a happy ending) is according to her heart.

“Weeell, when I play like "WEEE!", and eat like NYOMP,  It makes me want to sing like "Lalala~"――" With heart alone”

In whatever she does, Emu wants to sing. Song form her heart about how happy (maybe sad) she is doing what she loves. (Skipping the next lyric because it’s just “with heart alone” repeated)

‘"If it’s up to me, I'll do it like this" "Cha-la-cha-la-cha-cha!"’

If Emu had the choice, she’d do everything she can to protect Phoenix Wonderland and its smiles, all while keeping WxS together. This doesn’t happen, but if she could, she would.

“On a rainy day, I take a sky-blue umbrella out and Make it into the summer sky”

This is who she deals with sadness! Just do something fun (preferably with your friends), and the rain goes away! Well, most of the time, anyway.

“On a cold night, the apple tart Makes it look like I'm stuffing myself with the sunset, it makes me laugh”

On lonely nights, “the apple tart,” her worries, causes her to laugh as to not worry others. She hates sunset, after all.

‘Time to depart, alllright! (Time to depart, alllright!) Keeep it steadyy! (Keeep it steadyy!) Now, what are you depicting? "Wait for me~"’

This part obviously refers to them leaving PXL, and when they say to “keep it steady,” they mean “be careful,” and it’s asking what they’re depicting in the show, like how they changed the ending of their first one.

‘"But-" "Still-" "Anyhow-" "Even though-" "However-" "It's just" "What if-" "After all"; None of those are ice cream flavors’

These are probably referring to her’s and WxS’s doubts, which Emu is trying to cheer everyone up from by saying that those aren’t ice cream flavors or happy thoughts.

'"When you waver, "There's this one trick" "Twinklediding"?'

When she hesitates to do something, the trick is to "twinkle," or flicker between bright or faint, so that she forgets whatever she's hesitating because of.

"(Tick tock tick tock...) It's brilliantly twinkling Di-ding! The lightbulb goes Ride the whale that rode on the bucket Anytime, anywhere, let's let our smile bloom!"

The "it" is the Wonder Stage. It's shining brightly, even in its low moments. The lightbulb goes "Di-ding" because an idea was born. I... honestly can't tell what the third part is for, but the last part could be referencing how the goal of their shows is to make people smile, and also how WxS make each other smile.

"(Wandahooi!) One, two, go!"

Do I need to explain this one? They're probably counting down how long until showtime! :D

"Twinkle-di-ding★twinkle-sparkle A good luck spell has just been born If you are (I am) the one who imagines it (imagines it)"

Not doing the first lyric. Anyway, the good luck spell is probably her time with WxS, as it causes people to smile! As for the imagine part, it could be that MEIKO is telling Emu that if she keeps at it, the spell will last, no matter what.

"Being in love, I dreamt it, It fell down, I laughed: Those are all the answers, how wonderful they are!"

The "being in love, I dreamt it" part could mean that she dreamt being with her friends, as again, they make her happy. "It fell down," means she temporarily gave up on the dream when faced with the idea of WxS splitting up soon, but she laughed to hide her sadness. "These are the answers, how wonderful they are," could refer to them being the answers to how she feels.

'"Whaa~ That's so hard..." "It's easier than acrobatics! Wanna try?" "Yeah!"......but..." "Cha-la-cha-la-cha-cha!"'

So here, Emu's saying that something (possibly a stunt) is hard, but she's being told that it isn't as hard as acrobatics, so she's gonna try it.

'"I want to be even more free, but I don't want to ride a train whose destination has been decided Adults— You see! Adults are so boring! That's right! Only if those who forget how to have fun are called adults, that is Ideas are precious; "Now, hold onto them!"'

She wants to be with WxS as freelancers, but she doesn't want to go with them when they'll probably still split up in the end anyway. She's saying that adults are boring because based on what she's seen from her brothers, as they used to be against her dreams and such, calling them "childish." The next line is saying that not all adults are boring, such as her grandfather, which is why Emu has to hold onto her ideas to reach her goal: so that she doesn't become an "adult." (Also, it's worth noting that this seems to possibly follow the Peter Pan theme from "To the Gleaming Stars Halfway to a Dream," as in the play, Peter calls adults boring and such.)

'When we start to run, there’s no stopping us We won’t fall down while we’re flying See! We can go anywhere “As many times as you want”'

The first two lines both mean that when they start doing something, they're not gonna give up. Which leads to the third and fourth lines, where they're telling Emu they can do anything as many times as she wants.

'"The future" "Anxiety" "Insincerity" "Clumsiness" "A lie" "Dilemma" "Pain"; None of those are the make-up of the witch"'

In the set, Nene gets the role of the witch, so it could be saying that none of the stuff listed in the lyric make her up. In other words: don't focus on bad things, because they'll get better!

"If you waver? "Uumm...... Right!" "Twinklediding"!"

This is a callback to a previous lyric. :)

"(Tick tock tick tock...) It's brilliantly twinkling Di-ding! The lightbulb goes Hold the kittens that held the fiddles Diddlidy-doodle-dee all the way to the end of this earth Let's play our smiles out!"

The first three lyrics are a repeat, so I'll ignore them. Anyway, the fourth one could mean "hold the ideas (or shows?) that bring you happiness," and the next two are about doing those shows, as not only do they make the audience happy, they make you happy.

"(Showtime!) One, two, go!"

This is a bit like a repeat, so I'll ignore this one.

"Twinkle-di-ding★twinkle-sparkle It's a good luck spell from my secret pocket It's just like (It’s just like) a journey, no? (a journey, no?)"

First two lyrics are again, a callback, showing that Emu's learned how to use the spell, even if it's only just been born. The last lyric is saying that her time with WxS is like a journey.

"Whether it's sunny or raining, Even if the clouds piled over It would be great if we all smile"

Even if they're going through something, WxS wants to smile.

'"How far will you go?" "Well?" "Cha-la-cha-la-cha-cha!" Yeah!'

It's asking how far she'll go with WxS! :D

'(Tick tock tick tock...) It's brilliantly twinkling Di-ding! The lightbulb goes "Stop, stop!" That which can't be stopped so abruptly is "the show"!'

The first three are again repeats. The next two could refer to Emu trying to stop the show they did, possibly because she doesn't like how sad it is or the ending. But it can't be stopped.

'"But you see......This is where my story ends" "Then, let's start it―― Right now! Your next story" (Your next story) As if you're opening a present every second As if I'm searching for a star that's still unknown to anyone'

Emu's story at the Wonder Stage is coming to an end, but her story as a freelancer is beginning. Because she's doing what she loves with her friends, it's like she's opening presents every second, and she's learning how to run a park in the process, so she's looking for an unknown star, but it's exciting, because shows.

"Twinkle-di-ding★twinkle-sparkle A tiny little hand grasped onto that good luck spell If I imagine it from my heart"

Emu's embracing the good luck spell, and she's imagining it continuing for ages.

"Being in love, I dreamt it, It fell down, I laughed, I skipped, it's the truth I showed my courage and spread the hope"

She showed her courage in leaving the place she wanted to stay at, allowing her to spread hope.

"All those answers, Someday you'll understand them Until that day comes, just like this"

Until the day comes when Emu can understand things like running a park, she can just fool around with WxS.

'"Sha-la-la!" Now, let’s imagine it Twinkle-di-ding★twinkle-sparkle! Ta-da-dun!'

I don't know what to say to this, tbh.

Ok, now for the cards!!!

Tsukasa gets the role of a cook here, because as the leader, it's his job to keep everyone fed. The card's name, "Words of Thanks," are how he thanked Emu's brothers for the thing with the Phoenix Stage. The skill name, "Last Morning," is how it was his last morning at Phoenix Wonderland.

I... actually can't tell what Rui is here. Sorry. Anyway, the card's name, "Troubled at Midnight," could refer to the fact that he was troubled at midnight over the situation with Emu. And the skill name, "A Better Ending," is both a reference to "What Sort of Ending are You Wishing For?" and to the fact that he wants WxS to have a happy ending, like the event name suggests.

Ok, so here, MEIKO is selling the essentials for traveling, like how she aids their journey as a Virtual Singer. Her card name, "Narrator of Happiness," references how it was she who suggested that they change the ending of the show. The costume name ("Skilled Merchant's Traveling Outfit") confirms that she's a traveling merchant here, implying that wherever WxS goes, she'll find a way to be with them, selling them what they need on their journey. And her skill name, "Guarding Their Bright Dreams," shows how she's guarding their dreams by showing them a better ending if they do split up.

In this card, Nene is showing Emu where on the map they're going to go next, guiding her to their next journey. She's a mage here, using her magic to spread smiles. Her card name, "Everything, Even Sorrow," references how she wants Emu to be honest about her feelings, even sorrow. The skill name, "As Rivals, As Friends," refers to her feelings toward Sakurako.

Here, Emu is leaving the kingdom- Phoenix Wonderland. The plushies are the friends she's made there, and the reason there are balloons is because they know Emu's going to come back a better person. The card name, "A World of Smiles," shows the kind of world Emu wants: one full of smiles. A world where everyone is happy. The skill name, "Goodbye for Now," is because while Emu may be leaving, she will return eventually. Her costume name, "Wonderland Traveler!," is what Emu is now, and will be until the day she returns.

Javier's injury on Gurama

Early on, after arriving to Guarma, Javier is shot. The first two times I played, I was like ouch, his poor knee, and then kind of forgot about how freaking bad that would be as the game advanced. But now I'm back to say WAIT A MINUTE. Ouch wtf!

I'd like to discuss the severity of the injury, point out times where it looks like it wasn't actually the knee, (which could help matters down the road), point out times where yeah it's clearly the dang joint of his knee that got shot holy crap, and then talk about how tf this man healed so gosh darn fast.

I took screenshots of the cutscenes to analyze it.

First contact with the bullet, it's pretty clear it's his knee, though the position does change in later shots, but I'll get into that.

Here we see the trajectory. From here it would be reasonable to argue it might have grazed him, and I'm not ruling it out, but it's also likely it was a fairly direct hit. That blood spray, the position of his leg... It's bad either way.

In this shot however it looks like a direct puncture and it hit slightly above the knee. (my drawing is a little off, his knee cap would be slightly higher, but here it would seem to have missed the joint, colliding with the much less vital muscle of his thigh)

However! You can see here, the blue X represents the position we saw him hit in the last panel, meanwhile the hole of his pants is almost directly over his knee now. The clothes could move of course, but there's no exit wound, and the nature of the fabric hole doesn't lend to a graze by the bullet. (Of course we see people get shot all over in this game, but cutscene injuries can be taken more "realistically" imo)

Later on...

After all of the island missions, it has been approximately 40 hours since Javier has had his wound tended to. We could venture to say that someone treated him off screen, but why would they? They intended to torture him for information and his wound isn't life threatening.

((Timeline: -First day Javier is shot around midday

-boys sleep through the night

-Arthur goes to meet Leon the next day (24hrs since injury)

-is tranquilized and wakes up next to Leon at night

-the next morning Arthur meets with Dutch

~40hrs since injury))

This next segment, I always assumed he was dragged by his bad leg. It seems the likely thing for these sadistic assholes to do, and it lends to it being the case especially because of Javier's reactions. Getting dragged around by your leg isn't going to feel good regardless, but he cries out and tenderly holds his leg when they move him. This is a man who was smashed against a table repeatedly in a bar fight and then sets his own jaw without a sound. He's tough and rarely shows when he's hurt so he's clearly in pain here! Previous events wouldn't allude to anything else causing it.

It's... the wrong leg though!! You think he'd be holding the hurt one, even while being dragged by the good one, not wanting to let his fresh injury drag in the mud... Ouch.

Later on again...

We see Javier again after defending the fort. (I have no earthly idea where he was during this btw, they don't allude to it, I couldn't find him, they just popped him into another dimension while they fight I guess)

His injury has been.... tended to....

It's now fairly clear it was his knee based on the position of the bandages. They're bloody too. I want to say it's bleeding again because of tending to it? But where it's over his clothes, that is pretty unlikely. The bandaging is filthy, he's filthy, everything is filthy, it's fair to assume they didn't clean and properly treat it under his clothes. Beyond Arthur cauterizing his own and the rest guzzling miracle tonic, I haven't see any of the fellas here treat a gunshot wound before. Javier, you're on your own kid.

Also he's WALKING on it already, I hurt just looking at him.

The boat ride home

((Another shot of this bloody, and bloody poor excuse, of a bandage job.)) From my research, the boat ride would only have taken around 2-3 days, maybe 4 if we're being generous. And yet, by the time we see Javier in Lakay, he's walking normally!

He arrives back before Arthur, he's clean and dressed too. I want to say maybe someone finally tended to him, and likely they did, but oh boy, it would not be looking good after all that time.

Though he doesn't join the shootout with the Pinkertons, instead guarding the vulnerable in the house, he can be seen picking up bodies afterwards

Around a week since getting shot and already back to his old self.