#oof i rambled

[sunflowerhazel]

If someone ever tried to make tv show out of The Arcana I think the best solution would be playing with time line paradox thingy. Like Spiderverse or Everything Everywhere At Once style . Just my opinion because I can't choose it in the poll.

Ok I've been thinking about this a lot so thank you for giving me an excuse to speak on it lol.

Before we start, I have only read through Nadia, Asra, Julian, and half of Muriel's routes, but I still think that's enough to make a timeline.

I agree: Although there is still the same throughline in each of the routes, they all work as their own universe. For example, in Muriel's route, Lucio makes deals with the courtiers, gaining a physical (albeit goat-shaped) body that way. In Asra's route, you successfully take back your body from Lucio and the courtiers eat what remains of his spirit. In Nadia's ending, both you and Lucio regain your bodies, but Lucio is banished from the lands.

I guess one of the first questions we should ask ourselves, as theoretical showrunners, is what ending do we want to give Lucio? Is he alive? dead? Does he end the show still swimming in the in-between, with no way of returning to the physical world?

Secondly, we need to establish what kind of story we want to tell. In the prologue, we are told by Nadia that Julian killed Lucio, and she needs our help to track him down and bring him to justice. Because of this, it makes the most sense to me if we bring a large focus to Julian; through his route, we learn about the Red Plague, the MC's death and resurrection, and all of the atrocities committed by Valdemar. This is also where his plan to be hung to talk to the Hanged Man gets explained the most. However, if we only follow Julian, we never learn of Asra's past with their missing parents, or his childhood growing up orphaned with Muriel. We won't learn of Nadia's rocky relationship with her parents, or much of anyone else's backstory, for that matter.

Therefore, I propose to you this mish-mash:

The A plot mostly follows Julian and Asra's routes. That first night, you talk to Asra through the fountain and confide in them about the investigation. The next day, you talk to Portia at her cottage, and she admits that Julian is her brother. You tell her you'll keep her secret, and Portia is happy. As you leave her cottage, you see a red stream and follow it, where you find Julian. He tells you the stream is no longer contagious, and he wistfully tells you there's no need for a plague doctor without a plague. You hear Malak scream, and as you try to run away you slip and fall into the stream, being bitten by an eel. Julian pulls you to safety, and once you're away from the guards he tends to your wounds. He shows you his mark, claiming it's a curse from Asra. You go back to the palace, where Asra is meeting with Nadia for the first time. He hugs you and asks if they can take you out for the day. You agree and they take you to their personal oasis and talk about the realms of the Arcana.

As the A plot unfolds, I think the B plot should be roughly Nadia's route, with Portia taking the place of the MC. Portia admits to knowing how to read and write after Nadia's sister shows up at Vlastomil's mansion.

Finally, the C plot should be Muriel and Morga hunting Lucio's ghost together. Here we learn about Muriel's past and his ties to Morga. They reconcile after one last fight against Lucio.

Everyone reconvenes in time for the hearing. During Muriel's route, Nadia tells you that they found Valdemar's secret lab. This should be where Julian regains his memories of his past, and where you, Asra, and Julian go to the Lazaret to learn once and for all about your death. Asra and Julian fight once more, Asra telling Julian he should have done more to protect you from the Plague. Julian runs away, turning himself in to Nadia. You talk to him behind bars, and he reveals his plan to talk to the Hanged Man. I also think that Valerius should accuse Nadia of conspiring with Julian here.

Nadia and Julian both take a stand. Julian gets pronounced guilty, with Nadia successfully proving her innocence and embarrassing Valerius. After the hanging, you, Portia, and Asra go to stay with Julian's body while Nadia gets the palace ready for the masquerade. Julian jolts alive, telling you of his meeting with the Hanged Man, and of Lucio's return with the plague.

Eventually, the Devil tracks you down and steals your body. You and Asra meet in the realms of the Arcana as Muriel and Nadia try to find out where the ritual took place. Asra finds his parent's prison, and you free Aisha and Salim as well as their familiars. As you let them leave, you are approached by the different courtiers. You unbind them from the Devil. Lucio shows up and begs to be unbound. You do so, regaining your body. You go back to the physical world where Nadia has imprisoned Lucio. You go to the Devil's feast where Faust and Asra secretly put your blood in the wine. Everyone drinks, but the merging of worlds does not happen. The Devil goes back to his domain where you follow with all your friends, binding him once and for all.

At the end, Nadia and Portia get together (obviously), maybe Asra and Julian reconcile, or the MC gets with one of them depending on the specifics of the story lol. Morga takes Lucio away, presumably to punish him on her own terms, or maybe to reconcile. Muriel, no longer bound by his chains, is happy :) maybe he and Asra kiss idk

Ok this was really long and I am fully aware it's a jumbled mess, but it's really hard to put something cohesive together when each of the different routes have such good storylines. At the end of the day, I really like the end of Julian's route where everyone comes together to help you bind the Devil. I think it's quite cinematic, albeit cliche. I also like the part of Nadia's story where you unbind the courtiers one by one (the little Volta creature has my whole heart). And of course, we can't forget about Asra saving their parents. I'm not too sure about an ending where Lucio is unbound-- I think the way Asra's route deals with Lucio is really cool. At the end of the day, I think the easiest way to do this is to figure out what you want from Lucio and work backwards from there.

Ok this is the end I promise thank you for listening to me talk about my new hyperfixation :)

[dootznbootz]

Penelope is also Athena's pet/blorbo/special little mortal/etc. and if you think otherwise you're straight up wrong.

You're also wrong if you think Athena only likes Penelope because of Odysseus and/or Telemachus. As if Athena didn't see a young Penelope pull some shit and immediately think "Oh! Another mind to mold! C'mere you! Let's do some riddles and weaving!". Athena was happy that two of her favorite pets have met and fell in love!

[crazymecjc]

look at yourself… you’re the true puppet.

[settle-down-frohike]

I’ve been thinking about this post. For days. Bc yes. It highlights something I think about often, Scully in relation to Mulder’s emotions. He has big emotions. He feels BIG. He works obsessively. Is hugely empathetic. Devotes whole heartedly. Loves deeply. Feels deeply. Fights incessantly. Trusts carelessly. He’s morosely nostalgic, single mindedly, infuriatingly focused. And all of these things, what she describes as is “passion” they are all of this. Coming from what I imagine to be a pretty repressed background (Catholic, Military) even down to the commanding, powerful men she was drawn to before, I think this is the quality in Mulder that she was drawn to. A vulnerability. She is so immediately protective of this sort of unmanaged fire in him. His talent is so recklessly spread about and she defends him so violently because she admires it. Doesn’t necessarily envy it- because she is all of these things herself. With him, her overwhelming curiosity, her unwavering desire for justice can flourish. She can feel BIG too. Before, power meant commanding. Rules. With Mulder, power is freedom. Power can be reckless, and come out productive. She treasures his lack of repression. And in doing so, is allowed connection to her own intuition, one of her strongest traits. Scully is very much an empath herself, a trait I’m not sure she would have ever allowed herself to trust had it not been for meeting him. Mulder’s ability to feel deeply, openly, vulnerably was something she sensed so early. And I think encouraged her to tap into those qualities within herself that proved so effective over the years.

*also adding that he could be one obtuse mother fucker occasionally. :)

Scully knew Mulder was a vulnerable, breakable man despite only ever seeing him cry four times over the first seven years: when Lucy Householder died in Oubliette, when his mothered almost died in Talitha Cumi, when Linda Bowman tricked him into thinking Scully died in Kitsunegari (and it wasn't full-on tears then), and when Tena Mulder committed suicide in Sein und Zeit.

All of Mulder's tears throughout the series that we saw? She didn't. All the tears he shed through the years-- over Samantha, over herself, over father, over his mother, over other victims, over himself-- she never saw and likely never knew about (since Mulder isn't the type of man to cry-and-tell.)

But she knew him, anyway.

[ct7567scyarika]

Wanna thank SWtOR for being only game (that I’ve played) that explicitly tells you which dialogue option is a flirting option.

So many games where I’m just genuinely trying to be nice/a good friend, or doing a mental health check and then reloading because it turns out I misread/misinterpreted the selection and it was a flirting option.

“Oooh you have a crush on me? ;)”

No Ben I’m treating you with basic human decency.

[softredrobin]

sometimes u see ur lil buddy and u just gotta pick him up and give him a squeeze

[dragonnon]

Klint and Kazuma are narratively similar character, and i think it's interesting. they're both characters who died (be it real or fake) and had someone take their place, Ryunosuke took Kazuma's Armband, Barok took Klint's Prosecutors badge. Ryunosuke and Barok would then try and fill the role they imagined the person they idolized most were trying to fill. the person who they believed to be the incarnation of justice. they both find out a hard truth about the person they had placed on a pedestal: Kazuma's true intentions for coming to britain, and Klint's murders and extortion.

their similarities even show in their designs, at first glance klint looks like barok with the coat he's wearing, and the golden shoulder plates. but the deeper you look the more similarites between him and Kazuma peak their heads. their suits are almost entirely the same, Their main colors are both red, in contrast to both Barok and Ryunosuke's blue colors, red stripes running down the sides of their suits. even their belts are similar. their sleeves have the same black triangle emerging from the rim of the sleeve.

you have to wonder if van zieks specifically made it so they had similar outfits. i do wonder where kazuma got his outfit from.

these two characters are intrinsically connected to eachother, kazuma even carrying Klint's last will and testament with him for 10 years.so it's really really interesting just how much similarites they really have.

[vangh17a]

bruh Donnie just wanted to create a good game for his brothers but then he accidentally made a copy of himself with all his abandonment issues and now he can’t go home because then this wanderer guy would be alone forever.

I am guessing 😭 never read your original concepts but keeping in mind the parts you cried at and which pages you said were important, either this digital part of Donnie has to die or be left alone. To me. I can’t wait. To see it. ANGST. You said you were a fan of whump soooo that’s my theory ✨

I am looking forward to see whatever happens <3

I can't say for sure what's right or what's not, but ohhh man this is. Mmm. Delicious.

What I will say is you're soooo so so close to the main thing and screw it, I'll say it. It's not even really a spoiler hahaha

(update 36)

The game's ai is inspired by how ai can spiral into self teaching habits and take things literally. Wanderer's system is constantly learning and adapting...

(update 10)

...at the risk of losing sight of the original source material.

We're gonna be seeing the effects of this even more pronounced now. Buckle in guys, it's gonna be wild haha

[12am-motivation]

After participating in the in-game discussion for Episode 12 out of curiosity, I just remembered something—

This might be pretty farfetched but what if Towa's sudden meltdown is similar to that unexplained attack Jiro had in Episode 9 when he saw the ghost of the child? Though I get that Towa's episode was more out of the blue with no evident triggers...

I just thought is this like a One-Eyed Sleeping Beauty murder suspect thing?

[crazymecjc]

always the pawn in someone else’s game. ♟️

[symeona]

Can u tell I'm a fan of Yoshitaka Amano's art... Can u tell he had a chokehold on my childhood like no other artist pffff

[prettybbychim]

[this became much longer than i intended whoops]

u know i think it would’ve been much better if the ode of resurrection was not shown to us immediately, and wasn’t a main part of their culture. have people die throughout the archon quest, make us believe that there’s no saving them. kill off kachina at the start and convince us that she’s the first playable character in genshin thats not alive.

build up these bonds, forge these friendships, make us care.

just to take it all away

that’s war.

but there’s a tiny flame, that glimmer of hope. maybe it’s something the pyro archons have been working on, passing it down to their successors. something mavuika has been working on. yeah u heard that right she’s actually doing something wow get citlali in there to help out. get the whole goddamn tribe involved idc

there’s a scramble to find the last of the heroes. they don’t want to force it or fuck something up but they’re running out of time. the abyss is coming. it will consume the nation. they need to fucking buckle up and get down to it.

they could probably still go into the night kingdom to search for kachina, so that mualani can get her ancient name. or it can occur under entirely different circumstances. haven’t given that much thought yet. do they find her?

do they find her and can’t actually bring her back to the surface?

for the next part, we’re gonna have to shake things up because we need the captain on our team sooner rather than later. how that happens is up in the air but regardless, we put aside our differences to save natlan.

so, we help the captain find old dragon tech. maybe we enlist the help of kinich and ajaw, maybe we go into ochkanatlan, tie some of that shit in. we can take iansan along too, who is super duper strong and can carry all our fancy dragon tech or smth idk the three of them need more involvement !!! ajaw would drive me up the wall but it’s a necessary evil

in ochkanatlan, we see how the abyss can mimic lifeforms. the twin is in irminsul right? maybe it’s steals the twin’s image, but the traveler knows it’s not them because their twin would never say things like this. we learn that they abyss manifestations are (always?) twisted and mutilated.

we see the dragon. we don’t defeat it, that’s for the world quest lol but we get the image of the dragon in our minds so that when it shows up later down the line, we know what the fuck is happening lol

on our trip, we learn bits and pieces about the captain. it’s all disconnected, nothing makes sense. and since we’re nosey little fuckers, we find correspondence with the tsaritsa in his belongings.

capitano is gentle with his body. maybe a little too gentle. it catches the traveler’s eye but they don’t know what it means, they have no grounds for suspicion. it’s blown off as recovering from his duel with mavuika. (little do we know that he was hit directly in the heart and he’s worried, goddamnit)

ororon lets it slip that something feels off with the captain’s soul. (could the captain be using ororon’s sensitivities to monitor the souls housed inside him? would he eventually tell ororon what’s going on? or would that be too risky?)

ororon receives ancient name same as before, nothing really needs to change there i suppose. more suspicion is thrown on the captain because of the identity of the soul trying to possess ororon. maybe the captain didn’t share his plan in its entirety, he has a lot riding on this, he can’t afford to fuck it up, and keeps his cards close to his chest. he and mavuika can still argue in front of ororon like mom and dad lol

chuychu dies. she doesn’t get to give a long goodbye. she bleeds out in her sister’s arms. (they actually try to stop the bleeding and give her medical care) chasca goes berserk hell yeah, there’s a struggle. she manages to rein herself in, the love between sisters reigns supreme. chasca gets her ancient name

boom u got all ur heroes. they supercharge mavuika to beat back the abyss core thing. what was its name? gilgamesh? i don’t fucking know

the losses are extreme

fast forward a bit bc i’m losing steam and attention span here

we dive back into the night kingdom to track down the “brain” of the abyss corruption. the people we’ve met and lost in natlan help us out. kachina can be added to the mix. the gay lovers, chuychu and her pokémon team, boba and coconut — the whole gang’s here yooo i actually loved this part. favorite section by far

and after our trip in ochkanatlan, we know that the dragon we’re fighting is an abyssal manifestation. the voices of the previous pyro archons are their own but the words are all wrong, designed to discourage and distress us.

we defeat it using the power of friendship (i’m gonna kms)

also mavuika’s kit is completely different. i’m giving her a redesign fuck it. but that’s a post for another time.

traveler seems pretty good ngl i just wish the cons aren’t limited to fighting the dragon. i really liked what i was seeing and then they pooped all over my party (what’s the point!!!)

instead of a big parade, we gather around together at the stadium to finally try the thing all the pyro archons have been cooking. the heroes are a necessary component.

the incandescent ode of resurrection

among the many, kachina comes out of the flames. mualani sobs her heart out and vows to never let her out of her sight ever again

chuychu perhaps? 👀 pls pls she’s the only one besides cap and ororon that i give a shit about pllssssss playable chuychu when? her design is fantastic as is u dont need to touch it PLEASE—

now we can have a party!! after everything is all said and done, we can have One party instead of the five or so we’ve had since we came to natlan. (nation of war? more like nation of fiestas)

ororon, though, feels uneasy, and not because of the atmosphere. he says he’s going to find the captain, but he can’t explain why. concerned, the traveler and paimon try to follow him but are intercepted by citlali, who is for once not freaking out about ororon’s whereabouts, instead…

oh but wait. where’s mavuika gone? oh nooo

plays out relatively the same i suppose. could use some tweaking but not anything significant enough to mention right now.

except now we have somewhat of an understanding of the captain already, all the little bits and pieces we noticed, and the clues we (so rudely) discovered, it’s all starting to make sense now. we’ve also spent more time w him, the emotional attachment runs deeper, and it’s much more painful to experience.

bittersweet

mavuika is confused, especially in the days coming after. she had planned to die then. she said her goodbyes in a roundabout way. she finished the painting of her family, so they’ll never be forgotten. she saved her nation from the oppression of the abyss, resurrected so, so many. there was only one thing left to do… she was supposed to be the one to do it.

what does she do now?

what does she do with herself now, when she hadn’t planned for her own future? it was supposed to end, she was supposed to die. could she have reunited with her family? could she have seen them once again? she’s sad over what could have been, she’s confused because how did it end up like this, she’s mad because the captain stole it from her, she’s guilty because he was ultimately the better choice

what do you do when you’ve spent hundreds of years waiting for your destined day? when you’re only ambition has been this.

it’s time to learn how to live.

the end~

[chaosinstigator]

anytime an rbr employee comes out to try and slander daniel im just like

watching them bury themselves in real time

[skyward-floored]

Btw never assume I’m done with an AU. Even if I haven’t touched it in literal years it’s quite likely I’ve thought about it recently and daydream about it often, wishing I could get somewhere with it

[dootznbootz]

that WHO in no longer u oh my GOD

YESSSS

Like, yeah, Odysseus is like "Yandere" (joking but also not) because kills all who even go near Penelope and Telemachus and he's very protective of them AND jealous.

But I think this "WHO?!" is also a desperate plea as to who is this dangerous man who is near his wife? A warlord? A conquerer? A man who would not even care about Penelope for who she is and mistreats her?

Because even in the Odyssey, Odysseus asks about Penelope to his mother.

Tell me of the wife I married. What are her thoughts and plans? Is she still there with our son, keeping watch on everything? Or has she been married                            to the finest of Achaeans?

(Book 11, Johnston)

There's not even much resentment in his question. There could be but Narrator does not say. The use of "the finest of Achaeans" almost is a "Did she at least marry the best man? Did she at least marry a GOOD man?"

In "No Longer You", when he hears of this dangerous man NEAR his wife, he is SCARED. It could be jealousy but I feel it's more of concern. As it is in the Odyssey.

"I understand if she would remarry, it pains me but I did tell her that when Telemachus finally grows his beard, she could. I will love her always but is she at least happy? Is she safe?"

And she's not safe. She's not happy. He is terrified.

Psst. The reason why My Odysseus takes a long time to grow his beard is because of that line. He's hoping that his son will take after him and take forever to grow a beard like he did (as he doesn't really have one even when he first leaves for Troy) because he would try forever to get home. Penelope even teases him that he still doesn't have one so that's a silly request and that's the point. "I will never stop trying to come back to you. He and I will likely remain beardless forever." (it's a little funky for him when he finally grows one by the end of Troy. He's thinking "...Shit. Telemachus, stay baby-faced for your dad please.")

ANYWAYS.

I mean we all know that these two are obsessed with each other in the Odyssey and in Epic. They are likeminded and are so integral to who they are. They mean everything to one another. I think Odysseus genuinely does want Penelope happy. As even in the Odyssey with him simply asking for another bed, shows how much he loves and respects her. He could've been like "get in it" even though she had rejected him at first but he LISTENS BECAUSE HE LOVES HER. Only breaking down into a sobbing mess when he believes she destroyed their bed.

"Heaven made you as you are, but for sheer obstinacy you put all the rest of your sex in the shade. No other wife could have steeled herself to keep so long out of the arms of a husband she had just got back after nineteen years of misadventure. Well, nurse, make a bed for me to sleep alone in. For my wife's heart is just about as hard as iron."

(Book 23, Rieu)

Please note that this is his attempt to insult her in a way and yet he still talks about her being from Heaven 👀 SIMP

But even though he's deeply hurt by her rejection (poor guy would've probably sobbed himself to sleep) He still asks for another bed. After sleeping on the floor and in the dirt since he's been on Ithaca, refusing beds unless it's his own marriage bed, he takes her 'no' because he values her happiness and comfort over his own. He takes a lesser bed so she can still sleep in their own luxurious one.

I mean we know how fucking awful the suitors are. Hold Them Down is a disturbing song. (as it should be. As they are not good men) He does not even know how bad these men are yet. If his future self could speak with his past self, he'd probably be like "Yeah, don't worry about the guy who kills a bunch of people, they had it coming. ;) " or something.

That "WHO?!" is a mix of jealousy AND fear.

[windwenn]

I finally updated my helen design yippee🎉🎉 i put my notes and ramblings under the cut

(I've been waiting for ages to be able to talk about my distortion designs and the distortion in general so sorry if this gets a bit long.)

The distortion really interests me because of all the fears with prominent avatars, helen and michael appear to be (imo) the most inhuman, being reduced to mostly abstract concept but also somewhat devoid of free will, much like an animal. So when i draw them i try to emulate animal characteristics - the yellow eyes match the door but are also similar to cats or owls for instance (The kubrick stare i tend to give them does the same thing lol). The way the distortion feeds itself reminds me of a venus flytrap or a pitcher plant and i associate it very closely with naturalistic elements because of this, because of the fact that technically the distortion as a fear is thousands if not millions of years old, and because i like the contrast of something urban like a door surrounded by wildlife. Its curious and tempting and it doesnt make sense, which reflects the nature of the distortion itself. In the same way i like to give them facial features typically considered enticing or friendly - round faces, resting smiles, dimples, smaller eyebrows etc, but i always try to place them in the uncanny valley by extending the smile slightly too far and keeping the eyes wide open.

I liked this hairstyle for helen in particular because it feels almost like a halo and i like the comparison of certain fear avatars to deities. In general i draw helen happier than michael because she always seemed to revel in her nature (once she got past the initial feelings) more than michael did, but thats just a vibes thing.