#the arcana update

[aquilaofarkham]

I MISS MY WIVES TAILS I MISS THEM A LOT

[havinganidentitycrisis]

☆ | SOUL EATER ◇ PROJECT ARCANA | ☆

Cards 1, 2, and 3: Death, The World, and Temperance

☆ Wanted to go back and update each of my three cards, to make sure all of their colours popped out more and looked more visually appealing and unified when put together.

☆ This project is by far my most popular series thus far, and I sincerely appreciate everyone who is patiently waiting for the next card. As previously mentioned, Project Arcana will be my biggest and longest project to date, with a whopping demand of 12 personalized tarot cards in total. I've been sprawling the workload out between other personal artwork in order to keep myself from becoming too burnt out, and after i complete a commission i recently just recieved an order for, I will proceed on with the fourth card for this project.

- Our next character certainly wouldn't mind the wait, just as long as his long awaited arrival to the scene is as bright and bold as he is... ⭐️

[soltaven]

who up reviving their Arcana obsession in the big 25

[tanukitsuneko-suki]

major arcanas and main riders i think would be cool to put in there, though i havent really thought of the deeper meaning at all (*subject to edits) (**ive seen like 4 heisei seasons so its gonna be empty...lol)

0 Fool - i want to put build here but isn't it a bit too basic to put the amnesiac in the Fool category... it's not like amnesia is his whole identity yk

1 Magician - wizard (ok but if we're including reiwa it's totally geats BTW)

2 High Priestess

3 Empress

4 Emperor

5 Hierophant - ex-aid(??)(????) (arent priests doctors if you squint hard enough)

6 Lovers - w

7 Chariot

8 Strength

9 Hermit

10 Wheel of Fortune

11 Justice

12 The Hanged Man

13 Death

14 Temperance

15 Devil - idk ...kiva?? (i havent seen kiva)

16 The Tower

17 The Star - also considering wizard here

18 The Moon

19 The Sun - for imagery it's kabuto but i dont really think tendou is the embodiment of joy yk)

20 Judgement

21 The World

[soullessseraphim]

I am in no way finished with this post but I didn't want to deprive you of val pets.

FINISHED DRAWING

[ryns-ramblings]

Snippet from 06/03/25, June 6th 2025 from the prologue.

The radiophone came to life with fizzy static. Astrid Meadows and the Asphodel Orchestra flickered in the background of the screen, but it was hazy, ghostly figures on the screen, even if the music was strong—it was raining and even in the city the humidity and ambient power diluted the spells transmitting. Mrs. Kolos had said there was a mighty important announcement coming up on the governmental channel, but she’d be cross indeed if she had turned off her stories for just an update about all the nonsense up north.

The song faded, as did the figures, but then the image became a crisp black and white, as powerful as if she were there herself. Ronald Schaefer was there in a black suit with a monochrome mum flower in his lapel. She had an awful feeling, having last seen a mum flower used by officials when the Queen Mother had passed. The amount of magicians it had to take to get it that clear even with the weather—she stood up and headed towards the staircase. Redge would want to hear

“This is Dorimus National News, hosted live by Ronald Schafer. Thank you, our valued polis, for joining us this evening.” Schaefer, normally wearing an affable smile, did not have it this time. “It is with a heavy heart we come to inform the public that King Phillippe Lasille, Queen Margaret Bellinvue, Minister Epiphanes Stephen Volas, and the Princes Kleos and Achilles—along with dozens of others—have been assassinated by Lord Grunel and the Charon radicals, who have taken over the government after the attack.“

“Honey! Come downstairs quick!” she called, grabbing the nearby broom and rapped it twice up above her on the wall hard, knowing his office was on the other side and he had a tendency to get too engrossed in reading. He’d been keeping up with the news about Charon and the Light Lord in case there were any mentions of his brother or information on SCRATCHED OUT and her whereabouts.

He came out asking her what was wrong until they turned to the radiograph. His gaze focused, realizing what the news was about.

*”—tensions have been escalating. Minister Epiphanes Volas and the royal family arrived in Verdun yesterday afternoon to try and deescalate tensions with Light Lord Herald Grunell and his group the Charon Mystai. However, at 10:45 this morning, at what was supposed to be a speech and demonstration of faith with our and several other world leaders, a large scale sacrificial ritual was initiated. The death count is still unknown and news is sparse, but several key figures of Charon are known to have been sacrificial pillars. However, all of the envoys present at the event were in the Thule city hall rotunda. Anyone within the salvo zone did not survive.”

Redge just sank to the floor and she followed him, pulling him to her tightly. “We don’t know if they were part of it yet. Until we know we’ll remain strong.”

She knew her optimism was growing thinner. EXCISED had been missing for several weeks and her brother-in-law…well, she did not share his radical religious opinions.

*”—Further information has been slow to trickle in, but the Charon Mystai have taken over Verdun’s government officially. They have issued the following official statement:

*”We that are Charon begin what seers of old told was to come to pass. We light the fires of deliverance, cleansing all before us to be consumed by the fires of death. Be not afraid, for all that perish shall stand before the thrones of the Arcan in the hopes of being reborn anew. We shall scour all the earth with light, leaving no land or living being unseen. Let the Earth tremble for its evils as the reckoning of the glorious quest has begun. May you know as we do—death is only the beginning.”

[burningartwork]

Slowdown

I've become a little bit burnt out from prepping for my con, my daughter's birthday & the Minor Arcana, so there will be a bit of a slowdown in production of new cards. I think I just need a looser schedule. 😞

But I am NOT stopping, just slowing down. We have come this far & there are only 1 face card left + 23 pip cards (unless I torture myself with more.)

EDIT: DEC 2024

66/90 cards

24 cards left for a full deck! (Maybe +2 but I'm not sure yet.)

[greyspirehollow]

Chains

Pairing : Quaestor Valdemar x Liam (mc oc) ; platonic Fandom : The Arcana visual novel Warnings : angst ; hurt/comfort (still not good at warning tags grgrg)

Summary : Reverse ending ; Thinking they have betrayed him by aiding Liam becoming the new Patron Arcana of Death, the Devil punishes Valdemar (nothing related to assault, don't worry). But this cruel treatment will not go unnoticed...

The room was dark. The only source of light was the faint red glow of the chains that bound the Quaestor kneeling to the floor. The air was filled with the scent of burnt papers and parchments. They could still feel the trace of the quiet tears they'd shed when the Devil left, despite keeping their face as expressionless as possible. They were pretty sure they had bruises, and the tip of their right horn threatened to fall off at any moment because of how they'd struggled against their binds. They knew their labcoat was scratched, and that their bandages were loose. They could feel strands of hair tickle the skin of their cheeks. This... was simply cruel. Unjustified. After their centuries, their millenias of loyal services, how could the Devil possibly treat them like this?? They hadn't crossed any lines, not in the terms of their deal at least... So why? Their gaze remained on the floor as they let their thoughts consume them. What else could they possibly be doing? Struggle against the chains some more? To what end? They wouldn't yield.

But their train of thoughts was interrupted by the distant muffle of voices...

______________________________________________________________

In the corridors, some of Death's troupes looked around the rooms, opening every door they could, seemingly searching for something. Or someone. The skeletons were quick and efficient as Death advanced slowly, surveilling the operation. His cape flowed softly with each step he took. The skeletal soldier's search was fruitless so far, but it was also interrupted by a red figure down the hall. "...Vulgora." Death muttered, similarly to a greeting. Probably posted there to guard the halls, the Pontifex yielded a double bit great axe. But their expression lacked the usual bloodthirst and thrill of battle. As if... They didn't want to fight. Death was skeptical ; they'd always loved fighting. But he didn't have time to reflect upon that much : they charged at his soldiers, determined, and made the bones cackle and fall to the ground each time they'd seem them rebuild themselves. Death marched towards them, and drew their sword. He did well, because the Pontifex charged at him next. He blocked their attack, momentarily face to face with them. "They're on the second floor" if it could've conveyed confusion, Death's skeletal face would've upon hearing Vulgora's words. "The last door to the left." They sounded... worried. Death nodded and pushed them off, letting them pretend to fight off part of his troupes and taking only three soldiers with him as they rushed upstairs. He heard the Pontifex pretend to chase after them, and give up once he was halfway up the stairs. He climbed the marches one after the other.

______________________________________________________________

The sounds and muffled voices grew closer. Valdemar couldn't make out the words being said -what was the point, anyway?- but could only distinguish the clinking of metal on the floor. The steps grew closer.

"General ! They're in here !"

what...?

The door was pound against, exactly five times, before it fell off its hinges, hitting the floor with a loud thud and blowing an air current that made them squint their eyes, in addition to the sudden pool of light red light pouring from outside the dark room. They caught the glimpse of four silhouettes, three human sized ones and another, more imposing, standing in the center. The three smaller frames returned into the corridor, and seemed to go keep an eye on the surrounding area, the light they basked in revealing skeletons in armor. The Quaestor's gaze then landed on the fourth shadow : it slowly started approaching. On the floor, it noticed the carcasses of journals, books, files and parchments. And a copious amount of them, too... Two little green lights served as eyes to them, and Vlademar recognized those. Their teeth greeted together, but they couldn't find anything to tell him. Liam. The reason they were in this mess in the first place... That foolish necromancer, taking the place of the thirteenth major Arcana... They briefly looked back at the ground, but their head instantly snapped back up as they saw him crouch down beside a burnt book, about to touch the crispy pitch black pages. "GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF THAT!!" They shouted, instinctively getting up on their feet, only to be dragged back down by the red chains, drawing a pained grunt out of them. Their shoulders hunched slightly. Liam's hand immobilized in the air and he looked at them. They briefly wished they could still read his expression in this moment... "...Your research." he simply commented. They knew he was right. He got up, and slowly walked towards them. Their gaze was suddenly drawn to his sword, as it morphed into a scythe in his hand. They looked up right at those greenish lights he had for eyes now, their gaze unwavering. Death towered over them... They looked at him grip the weapon with both hands and raise it above his skull. He was going to do it, wasn't he? They weren't even mad. They found themselves... Strangely determined. Fine. After all, maybe it was the greatest service he could make them in th-

SHCLANK.

THUD.

....

....

..

The chains...

He'd aimed for the chains. Eyes wide, they looked at one of the metallic binds that was snapped in two by the scythe, and had fallen to the ground. Liam then snapped the other one.

SHCLANK.

THUD.

They felt the remaining ones around their body loosen, setting their upper body free. They looked at their shaky hands, and then back up at Liam.. Confused. He'd crouched down to their level. Despite the lack of... basically anything that could convey emotions on his face, they felt no ill will or threatening aura coming from him. As if... He wanted... to help...

"Do you think you can walk?"

The lich's raspy and otherworldly voice asked. "How can I possibly trust you?" was their immediate response, which they briefly regretted. Liam didn't seem fazed however. Even... Understanding. He removed the glove of his right hand, exposing his bones to the dark room's air, and reached for one of the burnt books that laid at their feet. They were about to protest again, gripping his wrist to yank it away from the fragile paper, but as soon as one of his bony digits made contact with it, it's as if the book was reborn. The pages found their normal consistency, and their handwriting appeared through the book again. Their jaw hung slack in a mix of confusion and bewilderment. "I thought... Y-you said it didn't work with..." they looked back at his orbits, inhabited by those two green lights, their gaze unable to hide their emotion. "This is... One of Death's tricks. A very brief reversal of time. It only works on objects..." He replied, as he got up and removed his other glove, going around and picking one by one the journals, the files and parchments, each seemingly coming back to life as he touched them. Valdemar was stuck in shock, still on their knees on the floor, the overwhelming amount of emotions swarming them without a single warning. He... He had to have ulterior motives. It couldn't be out of... kindness. Their brows furrowed "What do you want?? wh-why are you doing this?!" as they got back up on their feet, their hands slightly shaky. Liam looked back at them "...Do I need a reason to help a friend?"

...

Friend...? "You mean... Fiend." "I mean... Friend." Shock appeared on their features once more. Death took a slight breath and spoke up again : "But if it is easier for you, consider this a thank you for helping me get where I am now. A... Payback, if you will." he paused, turning around to face them "But the truth is, I only wish to help." The Quaestor stood there, dumbfounded, their brows knitted together due to... Whatever emotion they were currently feeling. They observed as Liam went around the room, picking up each and every single document that the Devil had previously burnt right before their eyes. They watched as he carefully arranged it all in a pile, then a mount as more and more documents were added. They took a few steps forward, their shaky hand reaching for one of the journals, flipping through the pages, then reaching for another one, and another, and another... Tears welled up in their eyes as they held at least a dozen against their chest, crumbling back to their knees and hunching protectively over them, as if they'd vanish if they let go. Their researches... Their life's work, their reason to live... Nearly wiped out like a speck of dust. They couldn't help the tears. Yes, they could muffle their sobs, and yes, they could hide their face against the pile of journals, but they couldn't stop the subtle shaking of their shoulders... Nor the bony hand that gently settled on their back and started caressing it soothingly, Liam crouching beside them.

______________________________________________________________

After a while of such deep and sudden emotions, Death stood back up, ordering his three soldiers to fetch the others, so all of them could carry the mount of documents out of this place. Valdemar took with them as much as they could, their legs slightly wobbly from the whole ordeal, as they, Death, and the soldiers hurried downstairs. They left the damned halls of the Devil's palace, and at the entrance, the Quaestor's eyes widened as they laid upon a familiar centaur-like figure. The horse skull turned to look at them "well, would you look at that! Quaestor Valdemar, in the flesh. It's been a while" Death. Their throat tightened and they looked at the ground in shame. This... All of this was starting to become a little too much. "Cut them some slack" Liam spoke softly, patting Death's flank. "I'm going to need you to carry them home. The Devil's not been kind with them..." Death nodded, although slightly bitter, lowering themselves so Valdemar could mount them, while the lich walked on foot. The Quaestor desperately clung to the journals in their arms, and as the gentle rocking motion of Death's pace nudged them, they felt exhaustion start to close onto them, despite their best attempt to keep their eyes open and surveil the soldiers which carried the rest of their researches.

______________________________________________________________

They woke up in what looked like a cottage, resting on a couch, with a thick blanket over them and a plush pillow under their head. They blinked awake, looking around, noticing Liam sitting at a table. The lich was studying what looked like maps ; there was a warm fire going in the fireplace. Their eyes lingered on the flames for a while before returning to Liam. They observed his skeletal hands carefully holding the paper, before their red eyes looked out the window, into the snowy forest around. The sight felt much less dreadful than they remember. The soft creaking of Liam's chair drew their attention. "Ah, you're awake. How do you feel?" It was... paradoxal to have Death sound so soothing... Or maybe it wasn't. "...Better." Warm. "That is great to hear." he put the map down on the wooden table, getting up to reach for a set of keys and picked two from it. He then walked over to Valdemar and gently placed the keys in their hand. "It's to access a small shed I have built nearby. I've made it so your research could be stored there, in Death's realm." yet another emotional blow for Valdemar. But of gratitude, this time. They closed their eyes and let out a soft sigh to keep their composure. "...Thank you." Liam nodded. "It's my pleasure." He was about to return to his table when Valdemar gripped his sleeve. He turned around. They'd stood up ; they seemed to be contemplating something. Their eyes briefly scanned Liam up and down, before they gulped and extended their arms, before wrapping them around him, in a clumsy hug. A warm feeling spread in the lich's chest as he embraced their smaller frame back.

Valdemar could've never guessed Death's embrace could ever be this soft and welcoming.

[contell-shootingtwilight]

PRE-Floor 13 (1/9)

[sunsetkai]

THE SUN

This card symbolizes the ultimate truth. The haze has been lifted, and one can see clearly what is in front of them. Clarity of mind, body, and spirit is obtained; it is the complete liberation from darkness and all vexing issues. Forgiveness is in order and happiness is now within one’s grasp.

Life will not hold back those who lie underneath the sun’s purifying rays. Life is now being experienced in its truest form.

“Radiate who you are and what you stand for; shine your love on those you care about.”

[alnazarcana]

my lucio obsession has leaked into royale high

[mysilaan]

WRITING AGENDA SO FAR 🍒

Well hello 😎

It has been a few weeks since I started taking headcanon requests and I've written THREE of them so far (it may not seems like a lot but I swear it's a lot of work as non native english speaker...)

Actually, I really thought no one would care and that I wouldn't get any requests at all, so I'm very happy it's not the case ⭐

I've already written headcanons for :

Touchstarved (all LIs)

My candy love new gen (Thomas and Roy)

What's coming up?

Another Thomas headcanon

Small fic of my oc Amalia and Clem (from @dreamtydraw's game 21 Questions)

A Jason headcanon with @rey-mi's candy: Ayamura!

Something I'm keeping as a surprise and only for French speakers (sorry) that I made with @dreamtydraw and some other friends on my discord server ☝️🤓

[sleepytwilight]

Let artw boys react to mpreg

WHY THE HELL ARE YOU STILL IN MY INBOX-

[bluesapph]

Mona with Mavis vs Mona with David during the event

[soullessseraphim]

For those who asked :D

LORE DUMP ABOUT ARCANA OCS🎉

Liam (my mc)-°-o-°-o-°-o-°-o-°-o.

Liam is my mc, meaning he's Asra's apprentice, and so, a magician. While he's been following Asra's teachings faithfully, he's found a liking in forbidden practices, and therefore necromancy. The practice of necromancy is actually forbidden amongst magicians, mainly because it is a type of dark magic that feeds on the magician's life essence to be more effective (meaning it has been deemed highly dangerous), and so he has to practice in secret. Hence why his left arm is bandaged : due to his frequent practice, necrosis has started to spread onto him. However, it isn't organic necrosis, but magical necrosis, meaning it doesn't smell nearly as foul, doesn't deal as much damage as if it were organic, but also cannot be cured by amputation or by removing the source of the infection or the necrotic tissues. It also means that bugs and maggots are not something to worry about. However, Liam can manage to keep the progression of the necrosis relatively slow by regularly changing his bandages and dipping them in a potion ; in addition, he wraps talismans around his arm, to give himself more time. Because yes, if he continues practicing or lets the necrosis spread too much, he will be gone as fast as in five weeks (without the bandages or talismans).

But why does he practice then ? Well, Liam has not felt a call / wasn't drawn towards any other type of more conventional (and authorized) magic. While he isn't incompetent, he was lacking that intimate link necessary to specialize in certain fields of magic. However, with necromancy, he feels as if he has to furnish much less efforts ; everything just flows more naturally, and it just feels... right, somehow.

In the context of the game, during the various books, the love interest (Julian) once they learn about Liam's practices will try their best to persuade him to quit (to keep him from fucking dying, obviously), however the outcome of that persuasion will variate depending on the endings :

Upright ending : Liam will eventually give up necromancy, and actually find another field of magic he is drawn towards (that is actually not forbidden or dangerous) : Conjuring magic (I've played Skyrim, can you tell?), although he will as well dip into Voodoo practices (and other types of 'pagan' magic), though safely since he's going to be watched closely by the love interest and Asra (he's got friends on the other side now too- ok I promise I'll stop my references there) ; and so he lives happily ever after with the love interest.

Reversed ending : (now, I've not finished any route yet, and so I don't exactly know how accurate to lore this is, so it's very possible that all this might be... impossible. But I bend reality to my will and I do whatever the fuck I want, I'm an artist) Liam, devastated by having lost his love interest in some way, will fully give in to his forbidden practices, but to survive and save them, he will actually find a way to become the new patron arcana of Death (or at least a second one) and wage war on the Devil with his undead troupes, in order to free his beloved from their deal and set them free, and hopefully keep everyone out of danger in the process by making the Devil busy fighting skeletons. He will find a way to save (Julian) them.

Delicatessen-°-o-°-o-°-o-°-o-°-o.

Victim of the Red Plague, Delicatessen's original name is unknown. If he's being honest with himself, he's forgotten it. He was simply another patient with a number attached to him. Patient n°056. He was "lucky" being in the first few batch of the victims, because in his final moments, doctors still had the patience and strength to accompany him. However, he did not want this to be the end. He may not have a cure, but he had something much more unique and morally ambiguous means to survive : if he was dying, then he'd be reborn.

Long ago, his father had saved a noble's life. In return, he'd gotten this gift, and intricately carved golden needle, with a sort of tiny vial at the tip of it, which contained a crimson liquid similar to blood. It was quite obvious that once poked with the needle, the blood would be transferred to whatever was poked... There was a letter as well, with the needle, inside the neatly decorated wooden box :

"in your last hour, after the sun has set, stare at your reflection, for it is the last time you will see it ; let go of who you were, for you will wither away ; place the needle to your neck, and rejoice in the sacrifice, for you know it will allow you to be reborn"

He remembered his father telling him he refused to ever use the gift, for he thought it was more of a curse. Delicatessen doesn't want to live forever either. But he certainly doesn't want the Plague to be his end. And so, Delicatessen poked his neck with the needle, and opened his eyes again as the moon rose high into the sky. He then left the room he'd been left to die in, and went into the streets of Vesuvia, leaving behind him an impossible to solve mystery for the doctors : "the vanished corpse of patient n°056"

After the end of the Plague, a new, more discreet disease hit the darkest streets of Vesuvia : people who'd passed out drunk during the night would wake up with missing limbs, only to find them later all dried of their blood in the streets. Naturally, it frightened absolutely everybody. Taverns were forbidden to open at night and the civilians were highly encouraged to stay inside no matter what. It went on for months, and the culprit had been nicknamed Delicatessen, because of how it looked like they were considering people as meat markets. Patient n��056, now a vampire, actually stuck with the name, finding it quite funny and fitting.

But as violently as those horrendous amputation started, they stopped. Delicatessen had disappeared, remaining a mystery to Vesuvia. Deli (yes you can nickname him that) had actually entered a sort of slumber, hidden away, and he wakes up around the same time mc arrives to the Palace for the first time. But he didn't go back to his life of crime. oddly enough, he'd found a new passion (which he suspects he always had, but his transition to un-death and his time as a sick patient might have broken what was holding him back from actually doing it (moral compass)) : in his hideout, he experiments, stitching animal parts together to make chimeras. His first successful experiment is Eve, a cat to which he attached great bat wings. She's his most precious creation.

Baron Vultur-°-o-°-o-°-o-°-o-°-o.

Cursed to eat human flesh to survive, Baron Vultur is a relatively new face in Vesuvia. As a new courtier, he raises a few suspicions amongst the others : who the fuck is this guy and what the hell is he doing here? (he's just a lil guy) Hailing from abroad, Vultur had to flee his unfortunately crumbling kingdom, and so his previous Court. Nadia was kind enough to welcome him to the court, despite the initial disapproval of the other courtiers (how dare this guy bother our devilish schemes hrhrhrggrrhg) ; however, they quickly realized that Vultur might not be too much of a bothersome asset. As a demon himself, he actually has a few things in common with them. Like being kinda funky in the brain. Or having sharp teeth. But he's a lil fucked up, like all of 'em. Initially not very talkative and simply letting his new environment sink in, Baron Vultur eventually warms up to the other courtiers, having a few more affinities with Valdemar and Vulgora, with whom he hangs around more from then on.

As they grew more friendly, Vultur actually mentioned the lung surgery he went through, months back. His old kingdom now crumbled, it's only natural he has no doctor to have routine checkups with. And so he asked Valdemar who, to his surprise, accepted. However, the Quaestor did NOT expect Vultur's stitches to be so... uhm... it wasn't in a good state. They'd even commented "I don't know who was your doctor before, but this is butcher work", before proceeding to schedule an appointment with the Baron where they'd fixed the previous intervention's damage. And so, Vultur now has frequent checkups with them. It is also during one of those checkups that he was forced to explain his peculiar diet, since he'd gotten a rib stuck in his throat, and had asked Valdemar for help. He'd went outside that night, finding fresh corpses to scavenge on, and his demonic form for some reason had not thrown up the full skeleton. This is how it was brought to the Quaestor's attention that Vultur needs to consume human flesh to survive.

That does explain his carnivore like teeth. But what- who does he feed from? Baron Vulture actually attends weekly public executions, and once the crowd has cleared out, steals the criminal's body to feed off of it (whether it's during the daytime or the evening) ; sometimes he saves it for later, when he wants the meat cooked in a particular way, or just feels like eating a fancy dish. This is why servants have seen him in the kitchen a few times, making his own meals for dinners, instead of taking those already prepared. But he does like it raw at times ; Vulgora had surprised him devouring a piece of meat (which they didn't know was human, it was impossible to guess) ravenously, drenching his chin, neck and the collar of his clothes in blood once. That did stir unknown feelings in them.

But what about his demon form, then ? Baron Vultur actually turns into a sort of chimera : easily the most massive and imposing of the demon courtiers, he has a humanoid face, though he still has carnivore like teeth (just like in his humanoid form) ; he has panthera front paws ; vulture wings, hind legs, and tail, and a long feathery neck as well, like one of a vulture (because... because his name is Vultur haha get it ? Ok I shut up). He can actually fly, though due to his size, it would most likely get the attention of more than one fellow, so he doesn't do it often. (I actually plan on drawing it later jehehehejjehej)

___________________S_m_a_l_l___B_o_n_u_s___________________

Do they all know each other ?

Liam and Delicatessen actually came to know each other in one stupidly on time coincidence : they had both sneaked into Valdemar's dungeons. Liam needed a corpse for his necromancy practices, and Delicatessen needed blood to feed as well as surgical equipment. And Valdemar found the both of them. Stupidly on time coincidence I was saying. That means there are actually only two people that know of Delicatessen (and honestly maybe it's better like that). Baron Vultur does know of Liam, but isn't exactly invested in getting to know him too much, unless it's absolutely necessary.

Tag for those who asked🧡@lunumochi ; @mosssummoner Disclaimer ! : I haven't finished the first route yet, so if there are lore inaccurate infos, it's not on purpose and I apologize

[ryns-ramblings]

Monday 12/16/24 Triggers: cult/religious trauma (descriptive), CSA (mentioned not detailed), bombing (mentioned not detailed)

After many moons, I am returning to my oldest work-in-progress The Arcana Quest (TAQ)! Old summary can be found here to get a general idea of the storyline. I have known for a while that TAQ needed a big overhaul and has had a lot of its themes change, but in my brain it was formless so I couldn't start it. However, I have found a starting point to work off of for my first draft. I realize that I want to be a planner, but I am a pantser at heart, so I'm just going to jump in and see where I go.

I have a summary below of the beginning up to the catalyst. I'd really like it if you'd look it over and give your thoughts and/or ideas. Triggers are above.

Setting: A high fantasy setting resembling the world of the 1940s/WW2 era.

Protagonist: Antigone Fairview, genderfluid, 22. A graduate student studying Arcanism, a major religion in this world, at a university notorious for its connection to a secret society called Order of the Green Flame. It is actually a doomsday cult they were born into that is preparing for a prophecy to be fulfilled where their prophesied supreme leader will bring about the end of the world to make it anew.

Antagonist: Herald Grunell, cis man, early 40s. Following the prophecy the members essentially had a breeding program to birth The High Lord, a epitaph for a player in a prophecy in which he will be adversaries with "Gemini" to collect the nine Arcane Artifacts that will allow them to "ascend to the stars" and have one request granted by the nine gods. He has recently ascended to the role as Prime Minister in the country of Verdun and is a charismatic populist leader beginning military mobilization to conquer neighboring countries with the ultimate goal of taking the country of Dorimus, where the prophecy will be fulfilled.

So a lot of themes around religion come into play as I’m basing this story around ideas I've had in connection to me being raised in a cult, having to do religious deconstruction, and seeing the rise of Christian nationalism in the US. Antigone has been raised in a doomsday cult trying to fulfill The Arcana Quest, a famous prophecy about the potential end of the world while “The High Lord” and “Gemini” will be working to collect these items (arcane artifacts) and who does will “ascend to the stars” in order to get one wish. This cult has been basically trying to breed the existence of the High Lord and they did. He is in his 40s and has gained power. He is an “uncle” aka adult male within the cult. Antigone revealed as a kid that he had been SA-ing them and basically has been ousted as an outsider since then and gaslit that they were in the wrong. Due to this and realizing their gender identity, they are in the beginning stages of wondering if their religious indoctrination is all true/questioning but is feeling ashamed to be doing so. They are an academic and their interpretation of the prophecy is not aligning with the cult creed and they have an idea of where one of the unknown arcane artifacts is located. A creepy conversation between Herald (High Lord) and Antigone will reveal that destroying and recreating the world is not metaphorical and will be creating it in his image. This leads them to them to essentially blow up the cult building in an attempt to kill Herald and will escape with an arcane artifact. They will be running to Dorimus for asylum and to follow their hypothesis about the potential location of one of the arcane artifacts not accounted for.

I am really excited about this new beginning. I'd appreciate any thoughts, questions, or opinions about the summary above. A snippet will be posted soon!