#book of atrus

[witchklng]

actually gehn they hate you for all the atrocities, but sure keep telling yourself that it’s because of the ytram pipe frog bong

inspired by x

alternate version under the cut:

**i decided to have katran drag gehn in the actual post, but i had to include this version as well**

because nothing is funnier than gehn's own mother dunking on him

[redheadedgirl]

Someone on my dash mentioned the game Myst and it struck me that many people who didn’t (or did) grow up with this game series don’t know that there are BOOKS!

[shiroikabocha]

We won’t be able to keep it up for the whole game, but damn, it was great streaming the first hour-ish of New Riven with my brother. Like old times with the CDs in the computer room.

We got to have the same reactions at the same time: huh, okay, so the telescope into the Fissure is constructed a little differently. And the spinny domes, right, their support structures look all weird now— oh, hold on, you can just go straight there? Right on Temple Island, just from the rotating beetle room? Huh. Okay. Might as well flip it, it’s a fun animation. Oo, looks different! Let’s take a look insi—WHAT.

Okay. Okay. Ignoring the [massive spoiler] for now, it looks like there’s one other island we can get to from here. So… let’s go see which one it is!

… W H A T.

[mazekingdom]

ok also tho there's something about like... the D'ni's history of calling it quits on ages in times of big social and societal conflict and abandoning them to create new ones for a "fresh start" that I feel.......... like I've only played thru riven and read the lore trilogy so I'm missing like half the story still but I keep seeing this pattern of like. passing down generational trauma, refusing to learn from mistakes (on both a personal and societal level), and continuing in old patterns of behavior even when you say you're not going to and I just I'm seeing it I'm seeing that theming and just like I'm THINKING ABOUT IT A NORMAL AMOUNT

[mazitdynasty]

She met his eyes clearly. "I'd rather die."

Ft. Bonus Katran/Catherine

[mothshrub]

Someday I want to write an entire essay about the very specific flavor of steampunk that this game has. Because so much of this fucking machinery is steam based, and the way it leans into the extremely sensorial experience of being around so much heavy machinery is absolutely fascinating, both in the viewer's relationship to the environment and to the devices and also when compared and contrasted to the sepia-toned, aesthetic driven relationship that a lot of steampunk otherwise generally has. Like--I'm vaguely reminded of some of the differences some scifi nerds will compare and contrast between Star Wars and Star Trek's handling of technology.

Of course, one important distinction might be that maybe this shouldn't be called steampunk, but instead some other weird category entirely. Both Steampunk and whatever Myst does are images of quaint, strange, and unfamiliar technology seen through the eyes of 20th/21st century fans, but Myst seems to embrace varying times of 20th century industry chique, whereas steampunk as a genre looks further back, even going into previous centuries.

[iamfandom00]

[cw: slight ick factor]

on myst 3. started edanna first, noped out at plant eyeball and eel eyeball(???), went and finished voltaic, mostly done with amateria im pretty sure, i dont wanna have to go back to gross staircase plants and velvety antler n bone and eyeballs made not of eyeball

[whackk-kermitt]

Remember Me?

Genre: Oneshot

Summary: Years after Ragnarok, Kratos finds a familiar face knocking at his door. Turns out he's not the only God who abandoned Greece.

Warnings: Subtle mentions of classic Greek gods and their treatment of women👎. No explicit content, but some suggestive conversation. (also mentions of young Kratos- who was quite the Playboy)

≫ ────── ≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫ ────── ≪

Spring had come in flush with bright florals and on-and-off rain. The cabin was glowing in the early evening light. Birds and crickets chirping goodnight and hello to each other. The day had been a peaceful one.

Kratos had returned from a hunt, deer meat cooking above the fire. The smell wafted through the small cabin making it feel a little more homely. Kratos spent these days in between Atreus's visits home, mostly alone. Yeah Mimir was there, and he was good company, but there's not much they had to say to each other now a days.

Kratos was finally enjoying his retirement from Godhood without death, pain, and struggle around every corner. But these mundane days are starting to way on him. Nothing to do except hunt, built, and intend to the land. He very rarely ventured farther than Midgard, or the realm between realms. His days of adventure were over. He couldn’t help but admit to himself that he did feel quite lonely; having no one to enjoy these moments with.

Yes, it was peaceful, but peace is often an illusion.

Atreus would stop in every month or two and stay a while. They'd catch up and he'd rant to his father about the places he's been and the people he's met. Every now and then, when Kratos wasn't ready to say goodbye yet, he'd come up with something he needed to do, so Atreus would tag along.

But a simple knock at the cabin door made both him and Mimir- who sat on his perch in front of a book- perk up. It was not but a few days ago Atrues departed for another journey, so it wasn't him- and he would not knock anyway. Freya? No, she's busy in Vanaheim. The dwarves do not come to visit him, so not them.

Kratos grunted to himself, standing from the table and approaching the door. He hesitated only a second before pulling it open.

It would be out of character for him to gasp, but he almost did. Before him was a face he had not seen in a long time. A face he had thought he never would see again- someone who he had believed had died.

“Well I be damned, it is you.” She smiled.

“Y/n.” He said plainly.

“Kratos.”

They stared at each other for a long moment, taking in each other’s appearance. it had been years, and both their ages have begun to show. More his than hers, he'd noticed. The years have been kind to her.

“Aren't you gonna invite me in?”

“No.” She may have been an old friend, but she was still a goddess, and nothing good comes from a God knocking at your door. “What do you want?”

“Simply to see you.” She shrugged. Her eyes were bright and her body was relaxed. “I heard your name mentioned in a village by the lake. Had to see for myself if it was truly you.”

“Why?”

“Why so abrasive, Kray? Been to long for you to trust me still?”

Yes, but he couldn't say that to her face. It felt wrong. They had… history.

At his silence, she sighed, “I will leave if it's what you wish. I just missed you old friend.”

Before she turned she fought a glimpse of his lips hesitating, she waited to give him time to find the words. He sighed long and deep.

“I thought you had fallen with Olympus.” It was not a question, or him digging for an explanation. He sounded so tiered, and his eyes seamed so mournful. He was voicing how he had hurt when they parted, a hurt she knew all to well.

“Same here.” Here eyes cast downward for a moment. “It is why when I heard your name, I- I had to see.”

Her eyes were always so easy to read.

He stood aside and she looked surprised for a moment that he had changed his mind so quickly. This was new for him, and she won't complain.

Smiling softly she entered the home.

“Well hello there, Las.” Mimir greeted with admiring eyes. Kratos warned him with a glare. “Off the table then?”

“Kratos,” She began with a sly chuckle. “I'm beginning to think that you have a thing for severed heads.”

Mimir gave an offended gasp. “Brother, there was another? I thought we had something special.” He joked but he was genuinely curious as to what the pretty lady had meant. The questioning look he gave her said it all.

“Medusa,” Y/n stated, a sad look briefing her features. “A tale for another time, uh…”

“Mimir.” He supplied.

“Y/n.” She introduced with and alluring smile.

Kratos motioned her to follow him around to the table. She sat as he prepared cups and cutlery for dinner.

“What are you doing here?”

She read between the lines, similar question as before but with a different meaning.

“After the fall of Olympus, there were no more burdens chaining me to Greece.” She paused, remembering something unpleasant. “I traveled away, similar to the way you did, I presume. I found myself in a world called Egypt. It was fun. Chaotic and full of interesting people. Yet it never felt like I could build a home there. After a few years, I grew bored and began traveling again. Eventually, I found myself here in Midgard, and you know the rest.”

He hummed listening to her talk. Her voice was the same as he remembered. Even and calm, almost like a song every time she spoke. As far as he knew, her words were the only ones he heard during his time in Greece, that never came around to be lies. Anytime she had spoken to him before, she had always been honest if she was unsure about anything. She had never lead him astray, and it was the only reason he had ever trusted her in the first place.

But if he was being honest with himself, trust had little to do with allowing her into his home.

“Any you?” She eyed the room. Taking note of all the years of life spent here, and presumably not just by Kratos. “You have family?”

“Yes.” He nodded. “My son Atreus, and the head.”

“Oi, brother.”

“And Mimir.” He corrected himself. Y/n chuckled at that.

“And his mother?” She asked softly, unsure if she still had the right to ask personal questions such as those. She had already come to the conclusion that the mother had passed, looking around the state of the home. There was evidence of a woman, but not for a long while.

“Dead,” He said simply. “She fell ill, nearly ten years ago now.”

“My condolences.” She bowed her head.

Kratos placed a plate of seasoned meat before her with a cup of water before serving himself and joining her at the table. She chuckled at his newly found ability to cook. She would not comment on it at the time.

As they began to eat, they indulged in comfortable conversation. It had been a long time since Kratos had been around someone who knew him. Truly knew him. Not just the stories and prophecies he's been tangled up in. It felt nice to have someone's eyes on him. He had felt before, and again now, that she had been a true ally to him. Y/n had never cared for the God of War, nor the rumors and stories amongst the residents of Greece about him. She had only ever spoken to him as Kratos. Talking to her awakened feelings in him that he feared died with Faye. A feeling of comfort in being seen.

She asked some questions about his life, and where it had taken him since they parted. He talked briefly about Faye and his journey with Atreus after her passing. He told her of Ragnarok. And she commented on how he'd always found himself in trouble with other gods.

While they ate and caught up mainly him talking about Atreus- his eyes had a life of there own, not shying away from admiring her. She had not changed much. Something Krotos noted was her laugh lines; she's had a happier life since abandoning Greece. Much has happened, but he can honestly say the same for himself. He was happy she found some joy somewhere.

“And what of you?” He turned the conversation away from himself. “Did you ever marry?”

“No,” She laughed shaking her head slowly. “No man ever worth my hand.” A sad look in her eyes for only a moment. If he had not been staring so intently he would have missed it.

“You had many options before..”

“None who were worth my hand.” She stated again. “Or at least none who were worthy and willing.”

This he did not quite understand. She was as intelligent as she was graceful in her beauty. A humble and modest woman. She was the most sought-after for marriage in all the time he knew her. He had figured it was why he had never been able to pursue her more than idle flirting. She was above him, worthy of more.

She laughed slyly at his eyes moving over her, confusion written on his face.

“That is way, Kratos.” Her head shook. “Few men has ever looked past my body, so few men were worthy.”

“Hmm.” He nodded. Kratos was guilty of this. He knew it. All his years, encountering her by chance and seeking her out for aid in his quests for revenge, they had flirted and bantered, but that was it. He had gotten to know her without ever asking questions or listening.

He was ashamed of the man he used to be, a womanizer. She had always worn loose-fitted gowns, but he had still seen glimpses of her figure through it. He'd flirt and she’d flirt back, but she'd never let him touch her. Never let him have her the way he wanted to. Her eyes would always make him feel like she wanted him to, but her words always told him no. She'd often leave him with an itch he'd let any other willing women scratch. Because he would not cross the line so many other gods did. But all the same, he had once treated many women as throw-away fun.

He is glad she never swayed from her standards and belittled herself for a man. It was respectable and dangerous considering the men of Olympus.

She would've made a fine wife if he had the maturity then to recognize it.

“I am sorry.” It came out more pitiful and emotional than expected. He regretted the things he'd elude to with her back then.

“For what?” She asked stunned by a sudden apology.

“Not seeing past your beauty.” He chose his words carefully. if she was planning to settle in Midgard, it would be nice to have an old friend to talk to. offending her was the last thing he wanted to do.

“But you did.” She smiled. “You were just not willing.”

“I was not.” He refused. He couldn't believe anyone would see that version of himself as worthy of women like her. He had had trouble believing Faye would see him as worthy once he opened up to her about his past, once she knew the kind of man he was once. So surely not a woman who had seen it firsthand could truthfully say he was- then or now.

“It is a shame you do not see you as I do, Kratos.” She sighed deeply. “Sure, you were a man led by emotion and hormones,” Pausing to chuckle. “But you treated me kindly and fairly. You never hurt me.”

“Aww.” Mimir sighed happily.

Kratos groaned eyeing the back of his head. Y/n laughed nervously, forgetting someone else was in the house. She did not mean to get that personal in front of a stranger.

“Sorry, ignore me! I'll be reading.”

“Anyway.” She stood grabbing the empty plates.

Kratos stood taking them from her hands, making her frown.

“You cooked.” She demanded.

“You are a guest.” He retorted, taking them to wash. She smiled at his back, enjoying being in his company again. He smiled ever so slightly for the same reasons.

“What will you do now?”

“Oh,” She thought, looking up to envision her coming answer. “Likely travel a bit, find a cozy place to settle for a while.”

Kratos hummed turning back to her, watching as she leaned against the table. His eyes took in all of her. Her body was covered in a gown and light armor. Boots and straps fitted by no blacksmith or tailor known to these realms. The colors complemented her skin and hair fairly. She seemed to be traveling light. Her gear would not aid her well in traversing these realms.

“You're staring again.” She mused.

“You travel light, it will not do you good in these parts.” He explained. He did not want her to conclude that he was the same man driven by lust, as that was not the case anymore. “Before you go far I will introduce you to the dwarves.”

“Dwarfs?”

“Blacksmiths- good ones.” He nodded. “They will fit you with what you’ll need.”

“Thank you Kratos,” She smiled to him sweetly. “But I do not see myself going far.”

“Good.” He smiled back ever so slightly.

≫ ────── ≪•◦ ❈ ◦•≫ ────── ≪

Not proofread.

•Kermitts Masterlist•

[nateconnolly]

I made a Patreon lol.

Here's the free sample post:

THE CREATION MYTH OF KILL 6 BILLION DEMONS

INTRODUCTION

I love fantasy religions. I love it when fictional humans try to understand worlds like Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere and Tolkein’s Middle Earth through a religious lens—especially because in those books and in many others, the fantasy religions are somewhat true, and somewhat false. It’s really fun to look at a fictional universe through the eyes of a character who might not see things objectively. Religion usually plays a role in that. But, if I’m being honest, a lot of fantasy religions are just Christianity wearing a fun hat. Don’t get me wrong, I am fascinated by Chrisitianity, and I really enjoy a lot of fantasy versions of Christianity. But it’s a great special treat when a fantasy story goes the extra mile and portrays another concept of the divine. That’s one of many reasons that I love the webcomic Kill 6 Billion Demons. The webcomic’s fictional religion Atru has parallels to Taoism, Gnosticism, Advaita Vedanta, theothanatology, Biblical divine nomenclature, the list goes on. I just threw a lot of big scary words at you, but I promise, this is a beginner level essay. I’ll break everything down into bite-sized pieces. I just wanted to list out some of K6BD’s religious influences to show that they are complicated, and diverse.

This is specifically a essay about the creation narratives. K6BD is an amazing comic—later on, it tackles questions about time, free will, and optimistic nihilism, but I won’t dig into that stuff here. Those things would require their own essays. Here, I’m going to try to explain how the seven-part world came to be. More specifically, I’ll examine the stories that White Chain, Cio, Michael, and the old devil’s tale tell us; then I’ll look at fictional holy texts found in the Concordance.

I’ll also compare and contrast with a lot of real world religion and philosophy. I want to be clear that the creator Abaddon and I have never spoken. I don’t know where he got most of his inspiration. I’m not revealing any information that wasn’t already available, I’m just compiling it and offering my own thoughts. Unless I specifically quote Abaddon, assume that I’m not even talking about his inspirations. I’m drawing parallels because it’s fun, even though it probably won’t give us new insight into how the text was created.

I promise I’m not trying to convert you! I genuinely don’t want to make other people believe the religion that I believe—or any religion at all. I’m just trying to show you how understanding some real world religious and philosophical concepts can deepen your appreciation of K6BD. Obviously, there will be tons of spoilers, so go read the webcomic if you haven’t already. It’s absolutely genius.

Lastly, I want to say I will discuss suicide and murder.

Ok, let’s get started.

PART ONE: THE FIRST AND GREATEST DIVISION

Let There Be No Genesis

White Chain begins the history of the universe with the words, “Let there be no Genesis,” closely echoing the in-universe fictional Psalm I. “For indeed, there was [no Genesis]. God has always existed and has never existed.” As White Chain tells her story, we are shown the god YISUN. This figure is sometimes described with it/its or she/her pronouns, but for the sake of simplicity, I’m going to follow the example of the fictional Psalm I, and use he/him. I might call him “YISUN” or “God” with a capital G depending on the context.

YISUN was eternal, and the “undisputed master of the entire omniverse.” He predates everything else, and without him, nothing would exist.

YISUN has at least twelve bodies, probably more. Some are smiling, some look mad; some resemble insects or animals; most hold weapons; and all are different colors. The central white body has four arms. Abaddon has said that YISUN’s appearance is directly inspired by the Hindu god Vishvarupa.  Hindu gods are frequently depicted with multiple body parts, an artistic tradition that Doris Srinivasan calls “the multiplicity convention.” She explains some of the religious and artistic reasons that many Indian gods have multiple body parts in her book “Many Heads, Arms, and Eyes: Origin, Meaning, and Form of Multiplicity in Indian Art.” The tradition of Hinduism is long, and diverse, so the multiple limbs in one text can mean something very different from the multiple limbs elsewhere. Srinivasan closely examines a vast expanse of Indian history, and I don’t have time to present all her ideas. I would like to specifically focus on the interpretation that multiple limbs represent the manifestations of a singular godhead.

Srinivasan writes that “Multiple versions of a myth are facilitated by the idea that there exists multiple aspects or manifestations of a godhead.” Think of the difference between Greek and Hindu goddesses. Bruno Snell suggests “that these four women signalize the four aspects of all womanhood,” but Srinivasan qualifies his interpretation. The Olympian women “are not multiple forms of [one] Divine Woman, as is the case in Hinduism.” Artemis and Athena are different people who are both women, plural. Parvati, Sati, and Uma together are Woman, singular. Zeus, Demeter, and Poseidon are gods, plural. Shiva, Vishnu, and Krishna are God, singular. That’s not how all Hindus see things, but it is one Hindu perspective that I find especially comparable to K6BD.

Similarly, the multiple bodies are only manifestations of a single God: YISUN. All of his bodies are a single person. In Hinduism, the plurality of the divine can be seen as empowering and liberating. Multiple body parts signify that the god is a well-rounded entity. But Abaddon makes it look like a curse. He turns the artistic convention around. Using the same symbolism and metaphysics, he tells a radically different story. As White Chain says, “Being was only circular.” “YISUN had no equal… It was a wretched life, without meaning or perception. Imagine infinite stories to tell… and nobody to tell them to.” Perfection is lonely. At this point, YISUN is the only thing that exists, and that can’t be fun. All those arms and heads cannot satisfy YISUN’s need for companionship. It’s fascinating to me that when White Chain says YISUN had no one to whom it could tell its stories, Abaddon chose to illustrate multiple heads right next to each other. Even if those heads told each other stories, the speaker and the listener would still be the same person. Dissatisfaction with isolation is why YISUN created the world.

Although not all Hindus follow the school of Advaita Vedanta, in this case, I think it will be helpful to compare and contrast with Advaita. As Ram Shanker Misra writes in “The Integral Advaitism of Sri Aurobindo,” “Brahman [ is] perfect, absolute, infinite, need[s] nothing, [and] desir[es] nothing…” Brahman is full of all perfections. And to say that Brahman has some purpose in creating the world will mean that [Brahman] wants to attain through the process of creation something which it has not. And that is impossible.”

But that’s exactly why YISUN created this world. He wants to gain something that he does not have: companionship.The universe is God’s escape from himself. There was no Genesis, but there was “the first and greatest division: division of self”: “God committed holy suicide.”

2. The Divine Suicide

White Chain’s story is similar to Friedrich Nietzsche’s famous claim that “God is dead,” but Nietzsche did not mean God was a real entity that had literally died. He meant that intellectually, it was impossible to continue believing in God, and that all intellectual achievements founded on belief in Him had to be abandoned. Nietzsche’s claim is a famous example of a philosophical school of thought called death of God theology, also called “theothanatology,” which means “the study of God’s death” in Greek.

“Death” can mean a lot of different things in this context. Sometimes it’s metaphorical, sometimes it’s literal, and usually, it’s a very confusing mixture of both.

Nietzsche proposed the death of God as a social claim about humans. He’s talking about what we can believe, what we should do, and what we need to accept. God never really existed, but as religion loses followers and influence, even the idea of God has begun to “die” because it no longer has power over the real world.

“Death” can also mean God exists, but in a way radically different from what people usually mean when they say “God.” The Rabbi and philosopher Richard L. Rubenstein thought God exists as a “ground of being,” but not as a supernatural entity that made a covenant with Abraham. Rubenstein proposed the death of God as an intellectual change in what humans think the word “God” means.

And, finally, “death” can just literally mean “death.” The Protestant theologian Thomas J.J. Altizer wrote “we shall understand the death of God as an historical event: God has died in our time, in

our history, in our existence.” This isn’t a social claim about humans—it’s a metaphysical claim about God.

Death of God theologians usually mean more than one thing when they say God is dead. Nietzsche wasn’t just trying to convince Christians to become atheists; he was also trying to convince many atheists that they disbelieved in God in the wrong way. Altizer had radical thoughts about what human beings are able to believe.

White Chain means that God is dead in the literal sense. She is proposing a metaphysical belief that God, as a historical figure, chose to actually kill himself. White Chain is not rejecting or critiquing religion—she’s asserting that her religion, in which God has died, is fact.

You can see slight parallels to Nietzsche, Rubenstein, Altizer, Hegel, Zizek, and Blake in White Chain’s version of the fictional religion Atru. But there is no better comparison than the king of sad philosophers Philipp Mainlander.

Mainlander was an atheist—but not in the sense that people usually mean when they say “atheist.” Mainlander believed that there was a God at some time, but that time is now over. There isn’t a God anymore. Mainlander is pretty unique among death of God theologians because he explicitly describes God’s death as a suicide. Whittaker explains that Mainlander thought “[a]ll things have their origin in what may be called… the ‘will’ of the absolute being… to annihilate itself.” Essentially, the cause of the universe is God’s suicidal desires.

God was a “real unity,” but his death caused a “collective unity”—that’s the universe where we live now. God had been a total and undivided One, but now the universe is made of distinct parts. God cut himself apart into the pieces of the universe. God created the world by becoming it, and he became the world by dying.

Mainlander said “the knowledge that life is worthless is the flower of all human knowledge.” He thought suicide was desirable, and ultimately, he put his money where his mouth was. The biggest difference between Mainlander and White Chain is that she doesn’t seem to think ordinary people such as herself should follow God’s suicidal example. Even beyond the views of a specific character, the story of Kill 6 Billion Demons reads as an affirmation of life’s beauty and value.

But the webcomic clearly argues that making a better world is a bloody project. So it should come as no surprise that making the world itself involved bloodshed. First and foremost, the blood of God. What’s so interesting to me is that both White Chain and Mainlander equate God’s suicide to the creation of the world. Our life comes from God’s death. Creation and destruction aren’t opposites—they’re different ways of looking at the same process. At the end of Book 2, Allison destroys Mottom’s evil tree and a lot of her palace—but this destruction is also part of the creation of a more just and free world.

So, what did God’s destruction create? What came after YISUN?

3. The Duality of Un and Yis

The destruction of the total unity creates duality. I know that’s a little confusing because YISUN had many faces, but remember that behind all of those faces was one God, and only one. Not anymore. “From division was birthed duality. White Un, Lord of empty and still places, master of all that is not. Black Yis, infinite mother of the rampant flame. Master of all that is''

I cannot avoid comparing the White and Black gods to the Yin and Yang—a spinning black and white symbol usually associated with the religion Taoism. Yin and Yang represent a cosmic duality. Yin is associated with femininity, darkness, passivity, and even numbers, among other things. Yang is associated with masculinity, light, activity, and odd numbers, among other things. Mainstream Taoist philosophy asserts that the universe can be understood through duality. So, why are these pairs important? And why do things get paired together in the first place?

As is written in the foundational Taoist text the Tao Te Ching, “Being and non-being create each other. Difficult and easy support each other. Long and short define each other. High and low depend on each other. Before and after follow each other.” What’s so interesting about the pairs is they “create,” “support,” “define,” and “depend on” each other. Black can’t exist without white, and white cannot exist without black.

As the Encyclopedia of Philosophy puts it, “...yinyang is emblematic of valuational equality rooted in the unified, dynamic, and harmonized structure of the cosmos. As such, it has served as a heuristic mechanism for formulating a coherent view of the world…” Essentially, neither of these opposites are “dominant” or “truer.” Choosing one side won’t help you understand the universe because the universe is their partnership. Their equality gives “structure to the cosmos.” That structure is order, not chaos, but it is differentiated. There are two different things: Yin and Yang. They contradict each other, but at the same time, they make the universe. Yin and Yang are a productive paradox.

I’d like to return to the notion that “being and non-being create each other.” At this stage of creation in K6BD, UN and YIS could not exist without each other. Their very existence is the fact that they are not a unity. If there was only one of them, then there wouldn’t have been a division—and they are nothing more than the product of division. Just like how being and non-being create each other, the Master of All That Is and the Master of All That Is Not create each other. YISUN was characterized by his totality—he was the total sum of the omniverse, there was nothing else. After the division, Un and Yis experience otherness. The first otherness in the omniverse. It’s difficult for them to find balance—in fact, they immediately went to war for seven years. At the end of their seven-year war, Un and Yis made love for seven days.

I want to be very clear that this is not a depiction of actual Taoism. Yin and Yang are not gods with faces and minds. Notably, the Tao Te Ching asserts that yin and yang are “older than God.” so make of that what you will. But I think Taoism is thematically relevant to this era. Two opposites have to come into balance with each other. The whole universe is a duality of interconnected forces.

K6BD repeatedly emphasizes the need for community. As Allison says at the end of King of Swords, “I couldn’t have done this without any of you… We make mistakes. We learn from each other. We all still have so much to learn. Once I saw that as a weakness, now I’m certain it’s not. Someone who lives still thinking like that… struggling to do everything themselves… I can’t help but think how alone they must be.”

YISUN had to do everything all by himself, and we saw that Allison was right—isolation was a struggle, even for God. But the struggle is over, and in its place is duality. Partnership. The first community.

These are the first four parts of a fourteen-part critical essay. You can read the rest here.

Bibliography is on the free Patreon post.

[meowthiroth]

been meaning to post these here for AGES now but I keep forgetting to. explodes 💥

but ANYWAYS! i redid the ref art for my Stranger oc from Myst/Riven! and also finally got around to drawing the aged-up version I thought up for him between Myst 3 and 4.

also wrote out a sort of messy bio for him a while ago, which i'll put under the cut since it's kinda long lol

ACE

Basic info

• Born October 7, 1782. He is 24 during the events of Myst & Riven, 33 during Exile and 42 during Revelation.

• He stands about 5’6” (1.6m) and is around 120 lbs. Pretty scrawny and definitely built better for agility than physical power.

• He is transgender and uses he/him pronouns. That caused quite a few problems for him back home, given the social climate at the time. He really doesn’t like to discuss his past or his birth family & will quickly change the subject if asked.

• He's very kind, easygoing and silly, and he loves to help others. But he can also be quite scatterbrained, forgetful, and prone to emotional manipulation.

• While he can be a bit absent-minded at times, he’s actually quite intelligent & quick-thinking, and he excels at problem- and puzzle-solving. He often cracks Atrus’s puzzles within mere minutes, but then can't recall his thought process when asked how he did it.

• Most of his favorite pastimes involve creating and fixing things. For instance, he’s very skilled with a needle & thread, and he makes and mends all of his own clothes. Drawing is another big one for him— his journal contains a lot more doodles in the margins than actual writing.

• He also LOVES animals, especially frogs, reptiles and bugs. He’s good at reading animals' behavioral cues and often has an easier time gaining their trust than most people would.

Early life/childhood

• His birth family were early settlers in the Northwest Territory, moving out west with him in tow when he was just a small child & starting a homestead there. His family consisted of his father, mother, and 3 brothers- 2 older and 1 younger.

• His gender identity caused friction with his family later in his childhood, since they had assumed he was just a tomboyish child and would eventually grow out of it. Obviously, though, he never did.

• His refusal to adhere to his assigned gender eventually escalated to his parents viewing him as hysterical & mentally unwell. Things only continued to get worse as he grew older, which eventually led him to go on the run. He kept a low profile & travelled mostly on his own for years, pressing farther into uncharted territory in an attempt to get as far away from his family as possible, which was how he first stumbled across the Myst linking book.

Life with Atrus & family

• Despite everything Saavedro did at the start of Exile, Ace still finds himself understanding of the man's predicament (perhaps relating the experience to his own upbringing in an abstract sort of way), and he takes it upon himself to help him get home by any means necessary. He often wonders how things worked out for Saavedro after their encounter & genuinely wishes the best for him.

• Slight deviation from canon- After the events of Exile, Ace got so worried about someone else coming after Atrus and his family while he was gone that he insisted on staying with them to help keep an eye on things. He moved in with them in Tomahna and helped out, both with Atrus’s projects and just general home/family things. He sort of took up the role of another older brother figure to Yeesha.

• Over time, he begins to view Atrus & Catherine not just as friends, but sort of as a new, more accepting family. He's definitely slipped up & called them “mom” and “dad” by accident before. SEVERAL times. He was really embarrassed about it at first, although they weren't bothered by it.

• He and Atrus work well together! Although Ace can’t write his own Ages, he often helps test Atrus’s creations and suggests ways he could potentially improve them. His ideas tend to fall somewhere in between Atrus & Catherine in terms of realism- a little wacky but still somewhat grounded in reality. He’s also quick to remind Atrus to take breaks & not get TOO into his work.

• Ace also spends a lot of time back home with Catherine and Yeesha. He does a good job earning his keep by helping around the home, and he and Catherine often like to bounce ideas off of one another. He finds her creativity super impressive, and a favorite pastime of his is to try & draw various creatures and landscapes that she describes.

• Since he lives with the family in between Exile and Revelation, Ace learns about what happened to Atrus’s sons much earlier than in canon, and he often tags along with the family when they visit. Usually he doesn’t go visit the brothers by himself, since he isn’t sure how comfortable Atrus would be with that, but he has offered to deliver things like care packages to them before & he’ll often stop to chat with them for a while.

• Ace has sort of always felt drawn towards Achenar. Despite the older brother's obvious shiftiness, Ace couldn't help but feel bad for him. He'd actually collected every blue page and was going to free him before he was (thankfully) stopped by Atrus. Despite being made aware of the attempted trick, Ace still forgave Achenar pretty quickly after seeing how much he’d changed over the years, and now he's always eager to go visit him with the rest of the family. The two get along surprisingly well & become close friends over time, and Ace will often stay behind to talk to him long after the rest of the family decides to head home from their visits.

• Ace, however, has always gotten bad vibes from Sirrus ever since he first arrived on Myst. He already has a disdain for greedy rich-guy types, and Sirrus always struck Ace as very disingenuous and closed-off, which further limited their ability to connect on an emotional level. Deep down, though, Ace still has a soft spot for Sirrus, and often displays it by teasing him in a playful little-sibling sort of way. While Sirrus generally finds his jokes more annoying than amusing, it clearly isn’t malicious and at least breaks up some of his day-to-day tedium, so he begrudgingly tolerates it.

[magpies-gold]

Back From Mysterium

I did a very small couple of posts before this, but Saturday at Mysterium blew my expectations out of the water, and so I decided I needed to circle back around and try again as a much bigger post.

First, foremost, and coolest - yes! I got to meet Rand Miller (bonus infamous RAWA just to the left as well)! Even better, for once in my life my social anxiety didn't turn me into a non-verbal lump and I was able to say a grand total of two full sentences and a greeting. If you know me at all, then you know that that's quite the accomplishment. Usually @timmcosplay has to do the talking for me when I inevitably choke on my own tongue, but by a quirk of fate we got separated (he wanted to get our Book of Ti'ana signed and got yoinked into a different line up from me, who wanted photo evidence) and I had no choice but to attempt to be a functional human. My theory is that I've talked to Rand's face so many times during the intro to Riven (I always talk back) that it was just second nature to say hello the second he looked at me. Genuinely, though, he's so kind and so patient and I'm stoked that he made time to meet all of us and then spend a couple hours even after that being a presenter and answering heaps of questions.

Tim may have not been with me directly, but he was still creeping in the sidelines getting photos of me getting photo'd and briefly chatting. ;)

Ultimately, we were split into three groups and everyone ran through the events of the day in a different order.

Tim and I were on Team Ytram (or Team Forg as I insisted on calling it) and had little Rivenese froggos on our badges.

After the meet and greet, we got lunch. It was simplistic fare, but the fact that we got hot dogs and Cool Ranch Doritos out back of the Cyan HQ means that they were very special hot dogs and Cool Ranch Doritos. Legendary!

And then... they actually allowed my wee goblin self and Tim to go through the iconic archway entrance and to scramble around their actual studio. I've seen pictures of the place on the internet before and knew how neat it would be to some degree, but now I know where everything is!

In no particular order....

Iconic signage and that giant honkin' Moiety dagger that Adam Savage apparently worked on?? It is truly large in person!

Costumes from Riven! Including Catherine's dress, which I remember my mom was always cooing over when I was playing the game on my clonky PC in the late 90's, and Gehn's costume, with Tim posing (and having not totally slightly held up the rest of the group by getting detail shots for cosplay purposes, no, no, he wouldn't do that....)

Art! Design sketches and THE MAP.

The infamous elevator wherein you'd better know your D'ni numbers if you want to get anywhere (I would get stuck).

And then... artifacts!

They had THE LEVER from the beginning of Riven. Did it never occur to me that the lever was a real lever? THE LEVER IS A REAL LEVER.

Plus there were goggles and books and Gehn's gun (AKA the only Game Over inducing object in Riven) and more character design sketches with actual costume fabric swatches! That last bit made Tim make high pitched glee noises, as someone who both designs and makes costumes himself.

There were presentations after all of that. Trailers, talks, a non-profit project to digitize over a hundred hours of behind the scenes footage from the making of Uru and Riven and other things, which we got a sneak peek of. They showed off a snippet of the remake of Riven. There was just so much. It was hours and hours and I was practically vi-bra-ting by the time we finally were ushered back to the bus and back to Spokane.

I will never entirely get over the fact that I was able to go see all that with my own two eyeballs. As someone who's been enamoured with the universe surrounding Myst island for the full 30 years of its existence, ever since I was 8 years old, who used to make big calligraphy posters of passages from The Book of Atrus and The Book of Ti'ana and tape them up all over Thorhild Central School whether my fellow students and teachers wanted me to or not, and who was so solidly influenced by the idea of books as literal doors to other worlds that it became a foundation for how I view my own characters and stories (namely that I'm no god, and they do have a life all their own), this is a treasured memory.

[witchklng]

it’s truly a miracle that atrus survived gehn’s idea of father-son bonding time

[rorykillmore]

something about the riven remake's intro cutscene missed HARD for me. i think genuinely the 3d models just sap away a lot of the original fmv charm. but also (this is much more nitpicky) something about atrus linking out of the scene and letting you access the linking book yourself interrupts the momentum of the whole thing as an opening sequence i think. like you don't get that same build in the music!!! ah well

[veovis-of-kveer]

Post-Riven Ideas

Been thinking about what kinds of games I'd like to see from Cyan after Riven's launch in a week. Cyan mentioned at Mysterium that they'd like to make smaller more experimental games in the Myst universe partially to revive the franchise but also to avoid too much financial risk. For instance Firmament had a rough launch and stretched the company thin and many of the devs I spoke to mentioned their frustration with the project and the backlash it received. What was also mentioned to me was Cyan's interest in rekindling the magic of the early Myst games in the same way Star Wars: Andor did recently for Star Wars.

They also mentioned that a smaller more Myst-sized game or even smaller would be much less of a financial risk compared to say a massive sprawling epic like Firmament. Some ideas that were tossed around at Mysterium were: Pre-Fall D'ni Post-Fall D'ni A stylized Myst game A Myst horror game Anything involving new characters and time periods A Myst dating sim (not joking)

Here are some of the ideas I'm interested in:

A game about Veovis and his downfall featuring Anna and Aitrus. Set on K'veer and maybe some small ages. Could be either post-Fall or pre-Fall. It would allow us to explore the whole island and read his journals and explore his personal rooms and inspect his belongings. If set pre-Fall we could interact with him as a character along with Ti'ana and Aitrus and uncover his dark plot right on the eve of the Fall while delving into his not-so-subtle romantic love-triangle with the other main characters. The point is it would allow us to finally explore K'veer in its entirety. Bonus would be also remnants of Gehn's stay on the island if set post-Fall.

A game set on Releeshahn centered around Marrim. This would take place after Revelation but before Uru, roughly sometime in the mid to late 1800s. A new cast of characters with occasional Atrus and Yeesha cameos but ultimately centered around Marrim and her uncovering of the secrets of Releeshahn. Book of Marrim would be the tie-in novel for this game. This might be a bigger project since it would be set on Releeshahn and might require several years of dev time so maybe not the first thing Cyan focuses on after Riven but I know its a story Rand and RAWA had planned for a long while.

Garternay and the Exodus or alternately the origins of the Art. This could be a weird one and possibly unlikely one but it could be a really deep dive into the story of Ri'neref and the founding of D'ni or alternately the origins of the Art and how the bahro were enslaved. Did the bahro create the Art initially? How was the tablet made? Etc. I know Robyn Miller has a whole design document for a TV show pitch he did a few years back that would have focused on Garternay and from what was posted on his site and twitter we can see that Garternay was most-likely a barren scorched age in the final days of its red giant sun. There's a lot we could delve into here. We also know that Gehn's timepiece likely shows the planetary map of Garternay possibly before its sun went red giant, although this is something Gehn was told when gifted the timepiece so it's not 100% verifiable. In any case Garternay could be an interesting left field game to produce but I honestly doubt Cyan would reveal that much. Maybe if Robyn is involved.

D'ni Renaissance era. New D'ni character drama set at the height of D'ni civilization. This could be smaller game set during the height of the era of Kings during the reigns of Rakeri or Kedri or maybe one of the bad kings like Tejara or Ti'amel. I'd like to see another heavy character driven narrative but set in this peak period of D'ni civilization. Maybe the story of an exiled Writers Guild Master who's been framed for murder wanting to reconcile with his best friend who now wants revenge etc. I'd like to see more human stories about people in this universe and their personal and interpersonal struggles a la Myst/Riven/Exile with a clear goal in the game to resolve these issues.

Ok but I do really want a D'ni dating sim where you get to romance Veovis and maybe some other D'ni guild master hotties >:)

[mazekingdom]

Thinking a lot abt how Gehn failed Atrus as a father and a mentor and how then, in turn, Atrus also ended up failing his children (just in a different way). Really the only person who succeeded at raising a well rounded and compassionate adult was Anna and only then the second time around.

[mazitdynasty]

Anna ❤❤❤