#“all of them.” said bluepoch.

[vertin-is-the-frog-guys]

sonetto and sophia are so similar, both have strong arcanum's, but don't think their strong at all

putting themselves down while also lifting everyone else. i can't help but think it was intentional for them to look very similar.

plus, with the whole prisoner is the cave theory that sophia has about her self and 37, you can't help but think of vertin and sonetto.

how vertin was brave enough to open the door and see the storm, except the storm took away what was dear to her, and sonetto stayed behind.

in reality, nether sonetto or sophia will even be greater than vertin or 37. simply because they don't think they can

sonetto has been caged, and turned into a lap dog for the institution, and thus vertin

the same can be said for sophia, as she mentally traps herself into her own cage, afraid of miscalculating again.

with the sonetto and sophia conversation where sonetto mentions something very similar to the ideas of the prisoner in the cave that sophia has.

she says that even if they are not the ones who reach the core of truth (get out of the cave) they can help pave the way for people in the future (maybe saying that they can help the other person get out of the cage?).

it's a much more optimistic view of their situations than what sophia has.

it also makes me think that if bluepoch made sophia a arcanist that we can pull, she would be mineral

mineral arcanists has such a simple mindset, as they just, don't think their enough? they are almost always soft spoken so far, too

[vasito-de-leche]

so remember when we were all wondering what's with the r1999 character profile page?

the "an arcanist's work displayed in the 19xx"

and with their length x width dimensions

and how our chosen character in our home page retreats to being a painting in the background

anyways...in one of the new game infos in the loading pages (which has a very short window of reading time so it was hard to catch), it was said that:

there was a strange phenomenon of people turning into paintings that they can't find the cause of

based on what we have so far i am not liking what bluepoch could be implying in that loading page 🥹

For those who don't know or haven't seen it yet, they're talking about the following loading screen (ty to Tale's lore server for providing these!)

I just assume that these details are part of the whole artistic theme within the game, like how each Chapter is named after a real book, all the references to artistic movements and so on and so forth. As well as Vertin's role as the Timekeeper─she's meant to record and keep evidence from different eras, which sounds to me like a job for an art collector, conservator or restorator! So it makes sense to me that the people she saves are seen as art pieces.

Besides, the suitcase/Wilderness is a very vague, mysterious place. It's a literal pocket dimension that just seems to do its own thing and follow its own rules. I'm willing to casually accept that, sometimes, people turn into paintings for no apparent reason because it's a LITERAL pocket dimension that pulls people from time and space.

If I think reaaally hard ... Maybe you're implying that the people within the suitcase are doomed to become paintings eventually, because they're in the wrong era?

But that makes no sense, because there's hundreds of other survivors within the Foundation, Manus Vindictae and Apeiron so far who survive just fine─and Chapter 05 revealed why some places are immune to the "Storm."

Any potential arguments to support this theory don't hold up from my perspective, either. For example, the idea that the arcanists Vertin pulls from the spinning wheel in the middle of the lake are different from people who survive the "Storm" through different means (siding with either the Foundation or Manus, or by being in Apeiron, these are the only examples we have so far), and therefore they don't count, so they could be affected in different ways. This doesn't hold up, because Vertin pulled Sonetto, someone from the same era as her, into the suitcase through the spinning wheel. Whereas Regulus, who comes from an entirely different era, was just pushed inside. And yet, both of these characters turn into paintings anyway when you select them on the main screen.

So I don't think I understand the "implication" you're talking about and why you wouldn't like it? But please, feel free to elaborate on a different ask/reblog/reply, etc etc! I'd love to know!

[misskriemhilds]

the jewishness of eternity from reverse: 1999, and why this is important to me

first and foremost: i doubt that any of the jewishness of eternity from reverse: 1999 was intentional on bluepoch's part. this is personal interpretation, and i am not trying to insinuate that it was intentional of the game developers. but nevertheless, i find eternity's character to be deeply comforting and resonant with me, specifically with regards to my own viewpoint as a young woman who is american jewish.

let us begin with her backstory:

at the end of the 19th century, torches constantly lit up the night sky of exeter, a frontier town in the usa.  the door of her store was closed. in a dimly lit room, on the shelves stood many candy jars. the last young buyer of these candies had been sent to that crowded, shabby cemetery (if you prefer to call it that) three months ago.  too many farms had been destroyed in the civil war, and plague was not the only terrible thing to develop from the ashes: fear of an unknown future also gradually turned into madness. the candies were taken down. instead, the store owners now stock their shelves with garlic necklaces and bottles of holy water.  more and more vampires were brought to trial, and the seed of suspicion grew in everyone's mind. the once-friendly residents became ruthless intruders and broke into the woman's house, despite the help she had provided them.  but they found nothing in her house. it seemed to have been long abandoned. the floor was covered with dead shellfish, under which there were marks of dried blue blood.  peace didn't come back to the town of exeter until the day when everyone heard about a disease called tuberculosis.

now, i retroactively found out that this aspect of her backstory was likely inspired by the mercy brown vampire incident, which i haven't researched all that thoroughly. what i want to emphasize in this context is that these trials in eternity's backstory were specifically a result of post-civil war paranoia causing exeter's townspeople to suspect others of being vampires causing misfortune.

it is important to stress that while not every portrayal of vampire characters in fiction are antisemitic portrayals, vampires being used as antisemitic caricatures is not uncommon. similarly, while jewish people have not necessarily been subject to the same legal discrimination or systemic oppression in the u.s. as much as other minorities (that said, it wasn't non-existent, and jewish people were definitely subject to systemic oppression and worse legal discrimination in other countries outside of the u.s.) it is not uncommon for us to be used as scapegoats when disaster strikes. that's why so many conspiracy theories have antisemitic routes; it's harder to acknowledge and analyze the complicated reasons as to why things in the world suck than it is to pin it on a more tangible scapegoat - more often than not, the jews.

i think with eternity from reverse: 1999, that definitely holds the same weight here. whether or not she is officially a vampire is a bit murky (to be honest, i'd say if she is then she's doing the vampire equivalent of keeping kosher by consuming the flesh of sea creatures, even if i'm pretty sure stuff like whales or jellyfish are officially considered treyf), but she was persecuted for being different.

in this jewish reading: it did not matter that she was one of "the good jews", it did not matter the kindness she had shown to exeter's people in the past, when their circumstances took a turn for the worse their memories of antisemitic imagery and myth they had subconsciously absorbed from all the fairytales they read flared to life and they realized how nice and easy it would be to get rid of all their problems if they directed it at the jewish woman residing in their little town.

surely, if the vampire - the witch, the jew, died - then their troubles would be gone, right?

on a broader, less concrete extent regarding eternity i'd also like to bring up her tagline when we first meet her - the one that all r:1999 characters have regarding their age and their ethnic background.

the exhibit was later displayed all over america.

i think this could definitely be a general reference to eternity's immortality. after all, if you've suddenly got all the time in the world you might as well tour your home country and hit the highlights, right?

from a jewish perspective, i think this feels very resonant with the experience of american-jewish diaspora. there are oftentimes when people like us are desperately searching for a place to call home and when we think we've found it, social antisemitism starts spiking up. we want a place to call home - not necessarily as a people, but definitely in the context of being jewish - and even in america where we've been here since its conception as a country, we're not even sure if we can find a place to call home.

and in a jewish context, eternity spends over a century in search of somewhere to call home. her traveling all across the usa takes on a more deliberate context - moving out of areas as soon as you realize maybe the spikes in antisemitism in your place of residence aren't going to pass as quickly as you'd like, and moving out as soon as you can because you have the luxury to. she looks for somewhere she can call home, but this there anywhere that can act as a true home for someone like her?

"there are no chill jews," is something we jewish people like to half-joke about from time to time; that is something that i certainly read into with eternity's voice lines. in particular: "my immortality allows me to be well-informed. no matter the dead or alive, you can have your answer from me as long as the pay is adequate. but just like anyone with a clear mind won’t touch a hot potato, i suggest you keep your little nose clean."

the reason there are no chill jews is because a lot of said "chill jews" died. as soon as our ancestors realized, "alright, people hate us and are using us as scapegoats, let's get the hell out of here" they left. that's how they survived. eternity's immortality allows her to be "well-informed", in a jewish reading, about how she is perceived as a jewish woman throughout time and across the usa. thanks to her old age, she has learned to be vigilant about this, and to keep watch so she can resume her life - maybe she'd have no reason to worry about death, being immortal, but at the same time it would be nice to just live and breathe in peace as a jewish woman. as she says in her voice line when you touch her head, "...what really matters is a good mind and a clear view of the time."

(as an aside, my dear friend @kingoffiends commented in our dms that eternity's voicelines remind him of his very frum grandmother from her phrasing and tone alone. this is only somewhat relevant but i thought i should put it here regardless.)

but not all is doom and gloom with eternity, even with the pains of immortality.

to quote rabbi lord jonathan sacks from his book studies in spirituality: "in judaism joy is the supreme religious emotion. here we are, in a world filled with beauty. every breath we breathe is the spirit of god within us. around us is the love that moves the sun and all the stars. we are here because someone wanted us to be. the soul that celebrates, sings."

where is the joy in eternity?

well, for all of the worst parts of immortality she has still been handed the opportunity to live forever. and eternity will live as happily as she will damn well please. though not all is sunshine and rainbows in her life, she delights in 29-inch crt tvs where she can wind down with a nice glass of warm milk before bed, and takes delight in the progression of technology as time has gone on. "...let's just call it a toast and watch a vampire movie in bed." if she has forever to live, then she might as well take delight in all the small joys she can find.

(while wealthy jewish people do have stereotypical or antisemitic connotations, as a jewish person i'd like to say that i'm definitely self-aware of that when approaching her character. while she is wealthy she is not malicious, and her "read the fine print" approach to the products of the sea for yourself shop seem to be more a result of playful mischief rather than any outright malice. she's got a sort of hershele of ostropol energy to her, if you will.)

all in all, it's so very jewish of her - and it's why her character, in a jewish context, is so resonant with me. there's something very comforting that this is a woman who has lived forever, longer than i have. she may not be real, but for all of the persecution and loss she has suffered throughout life, she is determined to find happiness in even the smallest things. that sort of fortitude and determination to forge her own joy is very meaningful to me as someone jewish, and it's why i approach her as being like me.

eternity may not be real - hell, she's likely not even officially intended to be jewish. but there's such a firm theme of sorrow and joy to her character in a jewish context, and to have even a fictional character who embodies those experiences of mine is why i hold her so close to my heart.

[whimsyplays]

Reverse 1999: Gacha gaming, but with a story that is worth it.

I've been playing the mobile game Reverse 1999 by Bluepoch since it released globally in October of 2023. I had been seeing the ads via the app store for a while and the time traveling themed turned based JRPG caught my eye.

It is so much more than the ads could have prepared me for, but first, let's get down to the nitty gritty of genre:

Reverse 1999 is a gacha game. A gacha game is game that implements a gambling mechanic where you spend a special in-game currency to have a chance to get something that you want. That chance is not always guaranteed and you can spend real world currency to purchase more chances. This is, of course, what funds the often free to play games. It is gambling and should be done in moderation and with caution. Like with most of these kinds games, I would suggest not going in fully blind - look up guides and tier lists to see what is the best use of your resources.

All that being said, Reverse 1999 is very generous with its rewards and has many fun and engaging events that keep them coming. It's not challenging to play the game for free, as I have been doing, although with the quality game that I've been experiencing, I'm sorely tempted to purchase something just to show my support.

Now to the game itself:

The game is a turn based card battler - you control three to four characters in a battle and each has one of three cards that go into a hand; two normal abilities and an ultimate that they have to build up to. You can play manually or auto. What cards you have in your hand are luck of the draw (with some means of reshuffling or controling that, of course) which I know some people might take issue with, but I think is rather fun. The simple card based system opens it up to complexities and strategies which the characters you choose bring to the table - which means teambuilding is very important part of the game.

When playing manually, the card based combat is fun; its strategic and satisfying. Playing auto and it's convenient for getting through dailies quickly.

The best part of this game for me, however, is the story and the voice acting.

The game story reads as a visual novel set in a rich and thought provoking setting. I don't want to spoil anything, so I wont go into too much detail, but you are following the main character, Vertin, who is immune to the current vexation of the magical community; The Storm. The writing is great, the cast of characters memorable and well thought out. Even the event stories are amazing; voice acted, well themed, and with grand character arcs. They either scratch a great genre itch or leave you thinking - like most great pieces of media should.

All in all, so far Reverse 1999 is a 10/10 game for me - so long as they get rid of that stupid double banner they did with Centurion and Tooth Fairy. Come on, Bluepoch. You know what you're doing.

[withered-rose-unbreakable-lotus]

What was Bluepoch thinking when choosing Medicine Pocket's 2nd line you get from the Wilderness once your bond has increased enough with them? I am so mad xD. Like sure keep being uncomfortable with people approaching you but that was the rudest shit any character has said so far. Wasn't that like sth they'd say when they first met us and not aaafter forming a bond? And especially not after unlocking the line they explain they like being in the same room but at a distance cause that's the best companionship? I dunno. It irritated the shit out of me I dunno xD. But honestly I am thinking that they had serious trauma to freak out so much when others approach them. I don't even know how their situation was dealt with in the first place, after being taken from their mom. All we know are the results. But well there is an event with them coming up. I hope they will tell us more and that we won't focus only on the mushroom girl.