#arcburn: the city of sins

[the-arson-author-gamer]

What's the main character of Arcburn: City of Sins like now? Is her backstory, personality, and design (if you have one lol) any different? Also I could've sworn her name was Diana but apparently it's Cassandra so maybe my mind is being stupid 😭

OH BOY, HERE WE GO! Time to cringe at my past writing myself!

I guess by breaking this down means I'm also going to be revealing spoilers but I don't give a shit I just really enjoy talking about my ideas!

Arcburn has had multiple different changes over the past few years I've been working on it. Currently, it's taking the backseat for Voided Hearts & Wicked Sunflowers to shine, but it's still great to talk about!

The biggest change was actually a giant rework of the entire plot and characters, and of course that consisted of my main character. So in fact, you are right by thinking Cassandra's name was originally Diana because it was originally Diana!

To make this clear, I'm going to differentiate my first version of Arcburn (which is on AO3, but I need to orphan that thing because why the hell would I ever publish that monstrosity) by calling it A1. And my current version of Arcburn by calling it A2.

So in A1, we have Diana Peregrine as my MC.

Whenever I'm creating a character, I typically always have a concept before a name, so I had the concept of Diana in my head and went with a name that both sounded good and made sense. Diana has relations to being considered goddess-like or divine. Looking back, that was not the name I should have picked for symbolism for a more rugged and asshole-ish main-character. The stupid thing that I never thought by giving her a very Greek name was not making her Greek? Which was pretty dumb of me, and something I decide to rectify later on in A2.

A1 had a completely different power system which at this point I have reworked twice over so she had completely different powers to what there is now.

The original power system was very magic based, which is a little weird for a superhero story, but I rework that obviously much later on. But right now this is 2022, and I haven't considered religious symbolism as a concept yet. Nor had I considered how governments actually work, which is prevalent in my writing back then. (goodness why did I ever think half the shit I pulled could have worked?)

So Diana has pyromancy, which as you already know is essentially fire powers, (the Azula allegations never stop) and she was born with this magic like everybody else. But with this power system you could train to use a different magic type, which is what Diana uses to cover up her identity and connections to her parents. Said different power type is telekinesis which she actually is pretty good at, but she trained that power extensively.

Her backstory was so fucking basic: Orphan? Check! Want's revenge? Check! Has Money? Check!

So the orphan thing is because when she was 7, her super villain parents who were trying to expose the evil government got exposed and killed by heroes and she witnessed it. Thereafter she was tossed around the foster system while she tried to mitigate her connections to her parents while stewing about how the government killed her parents. She then gets a bit of an excuse to go apeshit because in an inheritance she is given the start-ups of the plan to expose the heroes and rather than being intelligent about it, she gets a bit trigger-happy and drags her friends into it.

My writing was... something for her. I do enjoy pulling out the sarcastic asshole card for my MC's. Which is pretty generic considering my actual type of favourite characters are much more complex in comparison to asshole with a heart of gold.

Which are, of course, women on a mission of revenge, and it doesn't matter if it destroys her in the process + confidence and sheer skill that are hiding an inferiority complex or sheer fear of losing or death. (Something which I am actually writing about now in Voided Hearts & Wicked Sunflowers, thanks C!Clownpierce for being a little freak)

Her personality in A2 actually hasn't changed toooo much, maybe a bit less of an asshole and more stubborn? It's more obvious to the reader now that she's an ass because of strategy and plans, not because she's "secretly sad". I think she's much more angry and lacks 10x less the morals that Diana has. Which is funny, because A1 Diana is already fucked morally. So the women out for revenge at the destruction of herself type begins to play in more later.

Her actual design at the time looked like this:

(Sorry for the piss poor quality lol, picrew by potatolord)

I did in fact later keep certain design choices like the glasses and short brown hair, but those are pretty basic features in comparison to the final or current product of what my MC is now. Which is one of the more drastic changes since it also ties into the power system (which is still pretty "magical" all things considered, but it feels very different than just slapping a magic label on it).

Also, another thing that I never considered at the time was weaponry, which is a big thing in A2 in comparison to A1. Which is weird for me because I always drag weapons into the equation whenever I am reworking stuff like my TOA AUs from years ago or writing stuff now (pspsps weapon symbolism with scythes). Like Diana had no weaponry? Other than like a dagger, which is fair for like the first chapters, but beyond that it felt like nothing was there.

Really, the entirety of A1 feels so mish-mashed and unplanned in comparison to A2. Like look at this:

These are side-by-sides of my planning for Arcburn Version 1 (left) and Arcburn Version 2 (right). Note that in A2 that isn't even all of my plans on my whiteboard app or in-ellipsus document planning either.

Which gives into starting with my current version, A2, with my MC as Cassandra Peregrine! (I'm considering on changing the name again to Kairos, holy shit).

The noticeable thing I did not change was her last name, which is because:

I liked the name, I thought it sounded cool

Has the obvious bird symbolism for freedom, which multiple other characters have bird-related last names

Peregrine falcons represent freedom, victory, overcoming, and rulership, all of which have something to do with Cassandra so it remained fitting to her character

Cassandra means to excel or shine, which is certainly something that Cassandra does. But also has association with the Greek myth of Cassandra attempting to tell people of her prophecies, but nobody listening or believing her. Which ties into the corrupt government thing.

The other name that is currently in considering replacing Cassandra is Kairos. Kairos has a figurative meaning of "the right or opportune moment", which also ties into the plot of A2.

This, of course, is another Greek name, so I decided to make her Greek by result. But I figured to create more tension between her connections with her (alive!) parents, I decided to make her father Italian and represent an air of Roman mythology. So her mother is Greek and her father is Italian.

One of the biggest changes I made, as already stated above, is that Cassandra's parents are both alive. With 10x the drama and trauma! This is specifically due to her mother, who attacked her as a young child when she seemed to be blessing-less (I'll get to that in a moment) and not a perfect heir to her #1 hero empire (reminds you of a certain someone from MHA, huh? That was actually unintentional). Her father was attacked by her mother before Cassandra's birth due to her brother actually being blessing-less (oh yes, there is a brother now too).

After the attack, Cassandra was sent away from her mother and adopted by a rich family, where she grows up for most of her life. But she hates the parents because they are afraid of her (get into that later too) and emancipates at 13 (which shouldn't be allowed, but the government is fucked and attempting to get their grabby hands on her as a weapon).

To break out the very revised power system. I went from a magic at birth, to essentially a ripped off MHA quirk style power system, to a concept I call blessings. Blessings are like superpowers given at birth from either angels or demons. Which reside in completely different realms and enjoy meddling in human affairs, giving blessings is the main way to do it. Cassandra and both sides of her family have extensive connections to the demons, meaning that both her and her brother should have gotten blessings, but her brother didn't (Cassandra did get a blessing, but I'll break that down later).

The extensive connections to the demons come from Cassandra's grandfather, who is a demon, and is in fact a high ranking individual in the demon society (which isn't fully established, but there are ideas). He has the ability to actually come to Earth and meddle around in a more personal way, and does by meeting up with Cassandra's monster-fucker grandmother. Who then has Cassandra's mother, making Cassandra part demon.

Cassandra's grandfather is the kind of person who just fucks around, (so Cassandra probably has a lot of second-cousins) but also he just does what he wants meaning when Cassandra hits 8 (if I remember correctly it's been a while since I've thought about Arcburn to be honest) she gets kidnapped with her brother that she ISN'T biologically related to and realizes she has had a blessing this entire time: analysis.

Which probably from the name kind of breaks down her surrounding area, tells her extra details, points out connections, and gives her result predictions for her ideas. Let's say she wants to fight somebody, analysis will break down the best way to beat someone in a matter of seconds. It also comes with heightened intelligence.

Her grandfather sees her annihilate her kidnappers and goes, "hey you got potential to do me favours later in life how about I give you a SECOND blessing"

Second blessings are supposed to be super rare, like only the best of the best get them so it's a pretty big deal for over the course of one night for Cassandra to think that she is without any abilities to suddenly having two. The second ability which doesn't have a name (one form of the ability has a name: eldritch) but it boosts what Cassandra doesn't have which is physical capabilities. But what she is given is essentially her mother's abilities, which is both cruel (because Cassandra hates her mother) and powerful.

Anyway, here's her general design:

Of course the biggest change is the demon horns, tail, and red eyes. Since she is quarter demon, I wanted to show those traits, if I wanted to be more realistic I probably should have dialed it back a bit but I don't give a shit. Also I can just say demon genes are more prevalent than human genes which is why even though she is quarter she is displaying a lot of those demon traits.

The jacket stays, I like cool jackets. But her outfit is supposed to make sense for the climate, Arcburn is in northern Manitoba, polar bears reside not too far away (I want to utilize this at some point I just haven't decided where exactly)

Weapons wise, I definetly did more thinking. Beside her blessing Cassandra has got weapons up the wazoo. Her best weapon, one that isn't depicted here is an axe. Not like a huge war-axe but like a small wood-chopping one. This is because it's both easier to handle and easier to conceal. It's not necessarily the handle can't be big but rather the blade. Handles can be extendable, but the axe blade would be harder to deal with.

At one point in my life I was a huge scythe fan (and still kinda am because my two fav mcyters have canon scythes as weapons at some point) as a weapon, despite their lack of practicality. But my attention of impracticle weapons has switched to axes on chains (thank you Gyomei from Demon Slayer). So Cassandra has an axe on a chain as her main weapon.

I think one of the biggest changes was the colour scheming. I went from teal-ish blue to a deep red for colour theming. Both of which convey completely different messages.

Teal is supposed to be calming and practical, but a darker red like this holds symbolism for passion, aggression, and adds a sense of foreboding patience unlike a brighter more fiery red.

I think Cassandra from A2 is much scarier than Diana from A1. Really because I wanted her to be scary in a sense. She's the omen of her mother's downfall and by proxy the government.

I think I should mention that her morals do improve as time passes, she's less likely to chop off heads Jason Todd style and show some mercy (occasionally).

Overall though, Arcburn has improved dramatically from what it once was. Really it started off as imaginary little scenarios in my head of my favourite characters and evolved over the past three or so years till now where it is a fleshed out story (still in my head but there's a plot now rather than disconnected scenes).

What I would say I'm on right now is a hiatus from Arcburn, I figure I will return to it at some point and probably revise the entire damn thing again but it's slowly getting closer to what I want it to be. This is more of a hobby project than anything. And of course I have other projects like Voided Hearts & Wicked Sunflowers (Shamelessly plugging below because I'm a little shit) and I have other sick ideas that I'll eventually act upon (dystopian/apocolyptic killing spree?).

Thanks for reading my ramble about Arcburn @thekingofthenameless, I'm always happy to talk about it!

[the-arson-author-gamer]

Thanks for the tag!

It would be interesting if Uther was a tragic villain! I wonder how you would balance his bad moments and his tragedy if you still intended on making him a primarily "bad" character throughout The King of the Nameless.

This is a moment from Chapter 8 of Arcburn: The City of Sins. Currently, this scene is still in the process of being fleshed out, but the main idea is definitely there:

Also: TW for Blood, Death, Swearing, and Decapitation!

“There’s no way you killed Fárbauti.” In the lighting he watches the figure tilt his head, he ignores the chill down his spine and focuses on the lump hanging over the man’s shoulder. What the hell is that? Almost like he read his mind, the man slip the bag off of his shoulder, it looked like it weighed a decent amount, but Argent still has no idea what’s inside. Balancing himself, the figure placed their boot on the railing, showing more of the purplish armour, almost gently tossing the bag down onto the table.  On impact, it makes a thump that sounds more like a squelch, and Argent can feel the whole table shiver in fear. The bag looks like it’s wet. Argent looks up at the figure, questioning. In response, he tilts his head to the other side and gestures, go on, open it. Standing up, he moves towards to open the zipper of the bag, when he touches it though, it’s warm and sticky. Pulling his hand back, Argent can see his fingertips covered in blood.  There’s no way, it’s impossible, some random lowlife with a gun couldn’t kill Fárbauti.  “Go on, what are you, scared?” the figure calls down. Fuck it. Argent goes back to the bag and rips open the zipper, ignoring the blood on his hands.  But when he opens the bag, he still can’t tell what’s inside, so he peers in, multiple others following, more curious than scared. What meets them is the decapitated head of Fárbauti, blood coating the inside of the bag, and a disgusting rotting smell. Like the others, Argent jumps back, “Holy shit!” “What the fuck!?” Argent shouts up to the figure, “You just hired some poor bastard to kill him! It’s a fake!” In the back, he can hear one of his colleagues regurgitating their lunch.

Can you guess who the person is in the purple armour? It's a pretty easy guess but eh gotta ask anyway!

I should note that this Argent guy gets killed within this same chapter. Different scene but the same chapter for sure. He just exists in order to show a different perspective of the events which is something I want to do throughout.

Tagging: Open tag! Anybody is welcome to dump their current WIP on here! I want to see it!

WIP Wednesday, squeaking in pretty late in the day due to family and IRL obligations.

From a WIP AOS fic:

Jim is still not sure if his appointment to the Enterprise was nepotism in action, or just the fact that 90% of his graduating class and almost half the starships that size were decimated in the Battle of Vulcan, so the ‘Fleet was horrifically short-staffed, and needed a pretty face for recruitment propaganda.

Either way, he was far too immature for that chair.

He’d give anything to have learned that lesson some other way, but he owes it to everyone, and himself, to make sure that it is learned better late than never. Dying kind of gives you perspective, a little bit.

Being brought back to life, when so many were not that lucky, then ruthlessly wrecks that perspective.

No-pressure tagging @strangenewwords, @tigereyes45, @calliethetrekkie, @muirmarie, @ncc1701ohno, @affixjoy and anyone else who wants to participate! Whatcha workin' on?

[the-arson-author-gamer]

Ayyyyy Pinned Post!

Welcome to the block chain!

Here’s a couple banners for the sake of having them!

Arcburn: The City of Sins Masterpost (eventually... in a few hours days)

I haven't really taken the proper time to talk about Arcburn and I think it's time I do so! So here's both an intro and masterpost!

Introduction Below The Cut:

To start, I actually have a complete different version of Arcburn on my AO3 still up with the prologue and the first two chapters. But, this isn't the version of Arcburn I am talking about now, if anything that was just a warm-up.

This version of Arcburn is what I am calling the "true" version of Arcburn, as it's what I actually really want, instead of trying and failing to come up with a story that I thought would appeal to others. Which is a tad dumb looking back because I was already into MCYT which is a shameless fandom (I love being there it's so fun) and then not months later was talking about anime (Demon Slayer owns my soul). Hell, the first fandom I was on here for was Voltron, in 2021. Since 2022 I've learned to accept my ideas and have some great IRL friends who encourage my bullshit. Which has led to this point.

As said, what was holding me back originally was that I was not inserting any new and fun ideas I had into Arcburn. Which was making it a pain in the ass to do anything for because I wanted to think about the new and fun stuff I was coming up with. This time, no holding back!

I originally called this my "self-indulgent" version of Arcburn as it was essentially a giant fandom mashup, but since then this has shifted over time as I gain more ideas and implement them. And sure, the original core idea of Arcburn has always been teenage girl annihilates government with help of friends, but the process of getting there is very different in each version. Originally, it was just a stumble into information given by her long dead parents, now it's a simmering rage that has lasted for 9-10 years by the time the story starts, (not to mention the stumbling into info on top of all that differently this time around).

Anyway, sidetrack aside, this was originally some messy MHA, Demon Slayer, MCYT mashup of stuff, while still fun to think about, was in no way cohesive. I managed to rid the Demon Slayer quickly because really I was adding solely for a wind breathing form that I created myself (favourite fight move I have ever come up with btw). MCYT was literally used for character concepts, as I found it difficult to come up with ideas for a hefty bunch of super villains. Eventually they have evolved as well, into a set of character's I'm really liking with only aesthetics and a basis for power ideas linking it back to MCYT, which was my intention anyway. MHA was the hardest to rid of, and I did have an entire Japan Arc planned out (I'm still having a travel arc, but I might change the location, might not), as I could NOT think of any way to get it out of the way. I was just planning on embracing it and having fun with it, as the power system is simple but versatile, which is what I wanted. But in the past few weeks I have actually come up with a power system that's versatile but still my own in a sense with the added bonus of religious imagery. (Despite the fact that many ideas nowadays aren't original but are based off of something else, which is what happened for character concepts here, but they do feel very original now).

I think the power system deserves its own post, same with the worldbuilding that comes with that (that's still fucked, I need to literally come up with new ores now for armour and shit because I blatantly used minecraft worldbuilding for funsies).

As said earlier, the main concept has remained the same all the way through. Along with a couple other ideas, like a core trio of friends, and the school's name is actually still Monarchy!

But that's kind of a history run-down of Arcburn to this point! I'm going to make an introduction post to Cassandra (the MC) right after this, so that will be the first post that shows up after this one. If you have made it this far congrats and thanks for listening to my ramblings!

[the-arson-author-gamer]

I AM WRITING CHAPTER 1 OF ARCBURN

I REPEAT I AM WRITING CHAPTER 1 OF ARCBURN

THIS IS NOT A DRILL!!

[the-arson-author-gamer]

Cassandra, to Reyna: You know, Diana can be really aggressive, so it's important to take all the necessary precautions when approaching. Cassandra: *blows airhorn at Diana* GET FUCKED!

[the-arson-author-gamer]

Thanks for the tag!

Last Song: Jiyuu no Tsubasa (the second Attack on Titan opening)

Favourite Colour: Red

Currently Watching: rewatching the Sonic Snapcube fandubs

Spicy/Savory/Sweet: Tough decision, but I ought to say sweet!

Relationship Status: aroace

Current Obsession: Getting through that last month or so of school, other than that my book Arcburn: the City of Sins and Stardew Valley

Tagging: @talesofarcadiaforever and anybody else who wants in!

Nine people i'd like to get to know better:

Tagged by: @bell-of-indecision, thank you so much for tagging me <3

Last Song: Gmfu by Odetari,6arelyhuman

Favourite colour: Dark red, violet, pink

Currently watching: Death note, ep6

Spicy/Savoury/Sweet: Spicy

Relationship status: Single

Current Obsession: Mbti types and cognitive functions.

Tagging: @somin-yin @a-cloud-for-dreams @axepen @hinsaa-paramo-dharma @basic-bitch-alkali @rhysaka @blackknight-100 @squishywizardd @reykalot

[the-arson-author-gamer]

I have noticed a few things about my writing while I was rereading through Arcburn after a while of not touching it:

I am great at including humour in my writing

I am a sucker for foreshadowing, symbolism, and subtle cues at facts hinted throughout my writing

I suck at dialogue

I am great at descriptive writing and including a character's thoughts and personality

I suck at dialogue

[the-arson-author-gamer]

I read the chapters of Arcburn that you have released so far, so Diana for the character ask game? :D

Thanks for reading Arcburn! HMMmmm let me think without spoiling much...

Fluffy/Funny

She's on the shorter side, 5'4. Constantly made fun of for it by friends and enemies.

While in Vigilante costume, not a soul can figure out what gender Diana is because she got herself a voice modulator and her armour suggests nothing in any way other than a slim build. Everybody just picks a set of pronouns and rolls with it. Diana doesn't care (gender apathetic)

Her favourite animals are jackals and falcons. Partially because of vibes, but also her last name (Peregrine)

Mythology and history buff. You'll see what I mean when it comes to vigilante names in what I think will be chapter 5/6

Really enjoys sponge toffee and chocolate, in general.

Angsty

After her parent's death (which was literally told in the prologue, so it's not a spoiler) the police gave her the few belongings they could find left, including their wedding rings, she wears them both on a chain hidden.

Tiffany (if you haven't already picked up on it) is actually kind of an asshole. She ignores Diana most of the time except for house changes, blames Diana for the house changes and not the people who have hurt her, and overall just makes Diana sound terrible to the public's eye. Diana knows and picked up on it quick, but she feels like she owes Tiffany a debt for putting up with her.

Diana has spent nights out on the streets in Arcburn, at one point she spent a week out there on her own.

Patricia (The switchblade) was a gift from a dying homeless man she came across, she had tried to help the man, but he died anyway. Before his death, he gifted her Patricia and told her to stay safe.

Most people are afraid of Diana after they meet her and get to know her a little. It's rare when someone is not afraid of her.

[the-arson-author-gamer]

I find it funny that I have at least 3 different versions of Arcburn.

What I have written down

AU where Diana's mom is the top hero in Arcburn (instead of being the top villain and dead) and Diana plays her double life a little more dangerously

Diana's mom is a nobody and Diana just runs around the streets fucking around and finding out

[the-arson-author-gamer]

Okay! So!

Kratos was the god of strength or power, and he is the straight-up personification of that. Kratos works under Zeus, essentially as an agent.

When Prometheus gives the people fire, Zeus ordered Kratos and Bia, (his sister) to bring Prometheus to the rock in which Heaphateus would tie Prometheus up.

Let's consider this, Kratos essentially works as a bounty hunter for Zeus in this.

A bounty hunter, hunting a god.

Godhunter.

If you remember any of my spiels from my old blog about my one fic that still wanders around in my head Gods and Hunters, you'll know my main character is aliased as Godhunter.

In Arcburn: The City of Sins, my main character takes up the alias of Kratos.

I unintentionally went to Wikipedia way back months ago and went through Greek god names, I found Kratos and found that having a set of sibling god names would be good for a group of vigilantes (Nike, Kratos, Bia).

Not too long ago, I had come to the realization that I had out of pure coincidence gave my character the alias of Godhunter once again.

Congrats to me, you little shit.

[the-arson-author-gamer]

I have gone 'fuck it lets rewrite Arcburn.'

[the-arson-author-gamer]

Damian: What do I get? Diana: A night of fashion, mischief, mayhem, and possible death. Damian: Ooh, check, check, and check; not sure about that last one. Diana: It won't be you. Damian: I'll get my coat.

[the-arson-author-gamer]

Thanks for the tag!

I technically have a writing folder and then I have folders for original stuff and then my fanfiction. However every single piece of my writing is a wip!

- Arcburn: The City of Sins

- V2 Arburn: The City Of Sins

- Laughing at the Angels

- The Fuck Muzzles Squad

- Like A Deer In Headlights

- FRTEO

- Space Anthropology Murder Mystery Crack Fic

- The Big Brother Instinct ft. Sanemi

- Tiny Yet Mighty

Open tag, for anybody who wants to!

WIP Ask Game

I got tagged by @dp-marvel94 Thank you for tagging me!

RULES: post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it! and then tag as many people as you have WIPs.

So, this might be a little unhinged but I don't have a WIP folder. I have a WIP document that I created back in middle school where I work all of my fanfiction ideas, drafts and planning in. And it's been a looong time since I've been in middle school. I never delete anything out of it. So, I'm just going to name the few WIPs that I know I've touched recently.

Afterimage

Runaway

Ghosts of the Past/Danny raised in Ghost Zone AU

Untitled super short fic attempt at a sequel to The Broken Pieces Left Behind @lavendarlily, @fangirlwriting-stories, @grub-xd, @nanaarchy

[the-arson-author-gamer]

I remember in Gods and Hunters that I had the most fucked up little funky dude named Damian and I want to bring him into Arcburn for shits and giggles

[the-arson-author-gamer]

HOLY SHIT!! I COULD BE DONE CHAPTER 2 OF ARCBURN BY EITHER TONIGHT OR TOMORROW

[the-arson-author-gamer]

🌹🌹🌹

She continues, “I guess the police figured that I hadn’t beat them on my own, because when the fight was broke up, and they arrived, they interrogated me all to-” a pause, she glances at the boy again “-heck,” she finishes her sentence awkwardly.

Stephanie blinks in surprise from the corner of Diana’s eye, probably expecting her to be some delinquent teen and swear in front of her 7-year-old. She was an asshole, but not a complete asshole.

“And now you’re here,” the old man finished for her, Diana nodded, not having any other words to say. 

Diana is talking to an old man at a law firm. I'm kind of stuck here, I'll admit.

Pushing through this rough patch, though. I might skip ahead to the next scene and then come back to this one.