#asra rambles

[asravine]

the zhongven is actually making me go insane why are they role-playing like they don't know each other?? flirting at the dinner table??? RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE KIDS????

[asraxfile]

If money didn't matter my dream job would be a detective that lives in a vintage 2-3 floor house with a large piano in the living room and with a huge bookshelf in her bedroom with an owl pet. Or maybe a psychologist. OR A SINGER 😔😔😔😔😔

[magicians-abode]

Tired of people wanting sex and crazy things with their favorite characters all the time. I love it, yes, but sometimes I just want to stop for a moment and imagine what would it be like if they existed and we were partners and we just chose to hang out on our bedroom, fully naked or just wearing our underwear while we admire each other and feel like these paintings that give me a calm feeling:

I might be planning to write a fanfic about it too... just don't know with which character

[iliveforyouilongforyouvesuvia]

So we all know that Faust has a knife

(at least, her official plushie has ever since it came out, and it's been referenced plenty of times by the devs -)

But did Asra ever make her a knife?

Did that nonbinary menace to society wake up at 3 AM one fine foggy morning and go "my snake needs a knife ผ(•̀_•́ผ)" ??

Did they just. Did he just roll out of bed and hunt down an old switchblade and craft a Faust-friendly handle and what, hand it to her??? Like it was a good idea and nothing could go wrong????

(it was a good idea, and many things went delightfully wrong -)

[random-monkeey-booy]

am i the only one who can’t unsee asra in eiland??? like, it isn’t even a hear me out bc look!!!!!!

eiland is a freaking variant from asra, even their personalities are similar! someone at npc studio was very much in love with asra, you can’t convince me otherwise

the only thing that doesn’t sit right with me is that eiland isn’t enby :,)

[local-critter]

Asra Alnazar, who has craved your love for so long that now that you're so willing to give it to him, he finds himself feeling so needy. Every act of affection you give him, unprompted, has him swooning because it reminds him he is wanted and he is loved.

Asra, who for the first time in a very long time feels he has a place he can truly belong in; a home with you.

Asra, who has learned to never take a single moment with you for granted but still had to stay away from you for both of your sakes, is floored when you choose to spend time with him and go on trips with him.

Asra, who gets to relearn all the things he loves about you as you come into your own once more, who gets to see you grow and learn and falls for you more and more.

Asra, who's favorite place to be is wherever you are.

Asra, who loves you so much it scares him.

Asra, who wakes up every morning eager to spend a day with you, because he can do that now. Because now there is nothing between you too and he is free to love you when he's had to hold himself back for so long.

Just, Asra Alnazar.

[dandydanthelion]

its so funny to me the fact that julian is a skeptic yet he fucked two magicians

thats too many magicians to fuck as a skeptic

[stars-on-my-bedroom-ceiling]

i'm gonna be so real rn the only reason i like julian better than asra is because he doesn't make me feel bad for missing a day in the tarot section. he just gently reminds me that after day seven i get a reading

but asra goes "you missed a day ☝️🤓 so you're gonna have to start over 😍😍😍😍😍" and i'm like shut the fuck up i know i missed a day 😞

[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 :)

[malaierba]

Been thinking, there's an issue with how creators and readers often approach the theme of "coming back wrong", since so much of the emphasis ends up being put in the "they came back part". Especially on the readers' side, the idea that someone would do whatever it takes to bring you back is parsed as romantic and devoted, which it can be, but it overlooks a big element of the concept.

Coming back wrong, or even just performing forbidden rituals etc in general, for it to be impactful needs to place a big AND constant focus on the in-universe equivalents of Do Not Resuscitate & bodily autonomy when one can't consent.

It's not just the coming back. It's that you don't know what type of body, what type of mind you're coming back to. It's the dysphoria, if it can exist (and it should), and the expectation that you'll be okay with whatever was done to your inert body when you couldn't decide over it. You're back, you're alive, surely you can get over the circumstances under which it happened, be thankful.

You don't even need to get abstract with "the inherent feeling of wrongness that comes from being brought back from death", most humans can't relate to that, it's vague to the point where it isn't real stakes. It's just a non-issue mentioned to give a fake sense of stakes.

But if you take inspiration on DNR, from people whose lifestyle was changed radically from being saved from a situation where they may have preferred to be allowed to pass on. Like, say:

You come back, and you gotta learn to use your body from zero, and you'll be reliant on others forever. Or you come back and you look so different you feel disconnected from yourself, and every waking moment is uncomfortable. Or you come back, and too much time has passed, you feel like the life you were meant to live got away from you. Or you come back, and what was done to your changes you so fundamentally you end up isolated even if it's no one's intention. Or the ones that brought you back didn't do it selfishly but out of entitlement to your life.

The wrongness needs to be acknowledged often to the point of tediousness, only then would the spectator get a real sense of "okay, I see now why that'd be an issue, and why many would hate it".

[asraxfile]

I just realized here on tumblr people only wanna read smut and suggestive content while there are so many better fics but are flopping cause they dont have a sex scene

[3v3rl4stingbr4in]

AU but nothing changed. Except the fact Mhin can transform into like an actual raven , specifically an albino raven and they look around while they are in their form. They do have their limits for how long they can stay in their raven form. :3

Now imagine they visit MC​ by their window and just listens to everything MC have to say like of course, you don't just casually see an albino raven, specifically landing in your place. Babbling how interesting to see Mhin by their window and there's a good chance they would not like to get pet until they know MC a bit more.

I think everyone ( Main casts, Elyon & Sen ) knows that Mhin is the raven but everyone keeps their mouth shut from saying anything because it's funny as shit to watch this go down.

[lordedlady]

HOT TAKE!

does anyone main portia? by that i mean : think portia is their favourite *LOVE INTEREST*.

not favourite character, favourite TO DATE/FLIRT WITH/MARRY POTENTIALLY (??)

'cus, dont get me wrong, portia is an absolute gem in other routes... but that' s the thing.

in other routes.

i haven't currently met anyone who likes portia's route as their best, or even top 3. personally, the route isn't ALL bad, its cute, quirky and it's not too out of character.

however, it feels less like a romance and more like a platonic. sure, they get together in the end -- but it doesn't really feel all too established, aka i feel like the route is rushed.

i feel the same for muriels and a little for lucio's as well, though i think that (COUGH COUGH dorian COUGHGHG) did portia the most dirty, which is a shame, cus i definitely would've loved her if they established a bit more of her personality, and less on tasya.

cus while the plot is important, we haven't really seen anything like it in other routes (where the M3 where the same), and this caused alot more building to be on plot than a romance option

... which could've been EASILY fixed if her route was as long as the M3 (asra, for example)

LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK 🤍

i'd love to hear ur opinion, darlings!

xoxo,

lordedlady

[iliveforyouilongforyouvesuvia]

Smol!Asra and Teen!Muriel moving out to the woods together and figuring out campfire cooking - which inevitably leads to Muriel watching his little friend attempt to make tea when the memory of a magically possessed teapot is still fresh in their mind

Asra just wants to make a pot of tea without getting too close to it

Muriel just wants to know why they feel the need for a shield

(CW for brainrot's pitiful attempt at doodling -)

[magicians-abode]

Wish I had taken a screenshot of what Lucio said, but it was basically something like "I think I see Asra on that gondola... Asra, wait for me!")

[local-critter]

Asra Alnazar, who wakes up some nights with the sight of his bloody, ash-covered hands seared into his brain.

Asra, who in his darkest moments worries that you are just a dream, a figment of imagination brought on by his grief.

Asra, whose worst fear is you dying and whose second worst fear is you forgetting again, because he knows he wouldn't survive either; losing you is the worst fate he could ever fathom.

Asra, who panics whenever you get sick and insists on being by your side the whole time, terrified it's fatal no matter how minor the illness; you got sick once when he wasn't around and you never recovered, never got the chance to recover. He refuses to risk it again.

Asra, who is terrified of putting down roots but longs for it all the same; he doesn't want to have a home that can get ripped away from him again, but he yearns for a place to fully call his own.

Asra, who has spent so long wandering that sometimes he worries he won't ever be able to settle down.

Asra, who finds himself picking up a fear of fire after your death, which worsens upon your resurrection. He whisks you away whenever Vesuvia gets too hot, the heat too stifling, unable to bear the thoughts of the crematorium that you burned in, unable to stomach any reminders of the time either of you spent on the Lazareth.

Wow it really is Asra Hours rn lmao