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Of Myst and Lust

I find it unsurprising that the Myst community is so heavily asexual. It's probably the most non-horny game series I can think of. There's rarely any character interaction. The characters you do encounter are a married couple and their extended family and entourage, usually older individuals. Plus live acting.

The heart and soul of Myst is the worlds and their lore. It's definitely the type of game for people who like things rather than people. Like figuring out the mechanisms of the boiler or the Wahrk game.

I'd wager I'm probably the most unusual tier of Myst fan in that I really really like attractive characters in games and am deep into romance plots. Hence why I try my hardest to actually get through any damn gacha gayme.

I think it's why I often feel a bit of an outsider in the Myst community despite being pretty close to Cyan relationship wise. I don't really fit the standard type of Myst fan I see. I'm probably the least asexual person on the planet and I'm somewhat of an edgelord (although getting better in this regard.) I genuinely am more interested in the characters and their relationships (i.e. Book of Ti'Ana's Veovis/Aitrus/Anna love triangle for instance) than the puzzles themselves or the more esoteric and scientific side of the lore (the quantum mechanics stuff kind of bores me.)

I think what I like about Riven is that the characters and their motivations and relationships are so central to the core gameplay and world where they're essentially inseparable. This is what makes me care about the world and gets me invested in completing the game.

I think for Myst VI/Prefall/Whatever I honestly would want nothing more than a game that deep dives into Veovis' character and his relationships with Anna and Aitrus prior to the Fall. Veovis is by far the most compelling character in the saga (in my opinion) especially when looked at under the lens as a tragic villain and hero and his-not-so-subtle gay coding.

In all honesty I think what I find lacking from modern Cyan games is the sheer drama. I want some real tragedy and chaotic human interpersonal breakdowns here. I crave this so much more than something high minded and intellectually subtle like Obduction and Firmament. Give me characters who love and hate each other. Give me heartbreak, shame, trauma, violence etc.

That is what essentially hooked me on Myst as kid. Myst and Riven were dark, tightly delivered stories and worlds. What I'm saying is I want Myst to be more sexy. I want characters I can gush and cry over.

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The dreamer will dream to save worlds, and save many.

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putting Saavedro in drawing studies my beloved. guy of all time

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Riven paintings, 2022

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Nyktowe’s Guide to Rivenese Wildlife (5/5)

Part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4. Reference screenshots from Lost Library of D’ni.

It’s established that webbers are a kind of fish the Rivenese eat, but not what they look like; on the other hand, this fish is the only animal in this room which is part of the code but can’t be found in-game, so it seems parsimonious to identify these important fish as the same. It reminds me of both freshwater and marine angelfish; if I redrew it, I probably wouldn’t be so strict about trying to keep it as rectangular as the screenshot.

Another seabird. This is definitely a filter-feeding pelican - its beak is shaped like that of a flamingo, or arguably the skull of a right whale. The water on Riven is thick with thermophobic bacteria; the Rivenese can’t drink it without boiling it first, but it would be very nutrient-rich for any species that can, which could be a reason for species to be adapted for filter-feeding which are apparently more active than their equivalents on Earth.

Another bit of artistic license justified entirely by that mouth shape and the fact that it didn’t seem appropriate to just draw an alligator. I expect this is another, more carnivorous relative of the sunner, presumably from somewhere in the family tree corresponding roughly to Pakicetus among the archaeocetaceans.

I offer my apologies for the fact that the only name I can think of for it is a quackodile.

And finally! Arguably I’m abandoning the “stylised representation” argument I made at length regarding the one-eyed water strider, because by the same standard this is clearly a beast that walks on three legs and its nose, but I’ve also been trying to treat these creatures as part of the same ecosystem and it’s far less plausible that the internal skeleton successfully evolved twice according to two very different body plans. (And the alligator shows that not all the symbols are a simple side- or top-view.) This symbol made me think about equally of an elephant and an elk, and what I eventually got is this moose-sized megafauna I imagine is most closely related to the other lagomorph- or rodent-like species.

Thank you for reading my thoughts on this project! I’m not aware of anyone else who’s attempted to do this, but I’m very interested in hearing about other interpretations or things I in my enthusiast’s-level understanding of zoology may have overlooked.

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Totally normal choice of décor

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Finally getting to play the new Riven (its phenomenal!), since you did the lettering of the journals, were you the one that added the tear marks to Atrus’s passage about Catherine??? Evil! Evil!!

I AM INDEED 😈

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hey everyone!! i’ve decided to do a g1veaway for these leftover myst bumper stickers i designed a few months ago :} i have 8 left, and they’re approximately 10”x3”. i’ve had one on my car since late august and it has held up extremely well between high and low midwestern temps lol

all you have to do to enter is like and reblog (and if you would like, tell me your favorite age from any of the games in the tags)!!! g1veaway ends when i feel like it has enough entries :} i will pay for shipping; this is open to international entries as well!!

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The Kadish Tolesa Age (part 2) from URU: The Complete Chronicles. This is the “Wow!” moment of the game, when you walk beneath those broken arches and come out into the trees above the clouds. These little screenshots (sadly, the KI doesn’t capture large sized images) just don’t do it justice.

This part of the game was in the back of my mind when I decided on the visuals for the Veil in The Madness of Mr Goth. Not so much the trees poking through the clouds; but rather the notion of trees extending into another realm. From that was born the idea of the Veil being a huge, endless forest, with every tree that ever lived on Earth being remembered there.

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The Kadish Tolesa Age (part 1) from URU: The Complete Chronicles. Including the alignment puzzles, and the Vault of Kadish - which gives me the willies. I’m not great with heights, so balancing along those spindly walkways over that yawning chasm makes my stomach lurch.

(Yes, I’m saving the best bit of Kadish Tolesa for another post.)

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Saavedro exploring Edanna... i rlly want to draw the actual foliage there more

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I'm convinced the reason Gehn and Sirrus never met is because we wouldn't have been able to handle both of them at once

the grandfather-to-grandson dynamic we could have had (NOT GOOD)

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for the mysterium may/june prompt "blooming" 💖

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sneak peek of somethin ive been working on 👀 still has a long way to go but for my first time making something like this, its going well!!!!

gotta work on brushing out the seams and adding details, but i was very inspired by a super cool mutual (@/meowthiroth) to make a myst fursuit piece!!!!!

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Behold the Fab Five Myst Masterpieces – one from each Age, plus the mandatory Iconic Myst Island view (which is my favorite)

Official Myst Wallpapers from Cyan

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Saavedro exploring Edanna... i rlly want to draw the actual foliage there more