#the arcana theories

[snobgoblin]

erm I've actually been nervous to post my Arcana theories here but I really like this one if you'll fuck with me on this

I think that like, the way the characters use magic? is actually based on the Minor Arcana. let me explain

the suit cards, to my understanding, have an elemental association and an overarching thing they relate to in a reading. I'll list out the elemental association of each suit and the traits associated with it, to the best of my ability, drawing from multiple sources including the official Arcana tarot guide, and then when I'm done with that I'll explain how this correlates to the magic systems present in the game

Cups ☕️💧

this one is associated with water, and it relates to matters of the heart, emotions. as well as connections to other people, spirituality and adaptability

Swords 🗡🌬

is associated with air, and deals with internal dialogues, logic, and intuition. it also has associations with decision making and intelligence

Wands 🪄🔥

this one is associated with fire and emphasizes willpower, self reliance, and the ability to take direct action. there's a lot of strong emotions associated with this one, it's a passionate suit

Pentacles ⭐️🍃

is associated with earth and deals with the tangible things in one's life, physical things. it also represents hard work, stability, and practicality

NOW THAT IVE EXPLAINED THAT let me explain how this fits into the way characters will use magic

Asra 💧

i dont think *matters of the heart* represents anyone better than Asra, how about you 😉? not to mention his magic is described as feeling like rain, he communicates through water, he can MAKE water in the desert, in the gladiator battle they can control it too iirc, AND his personal gate is full of pools of water. their teachings also seem extremely emotion based in a way that's hard for me to explain, a very "believe it will happen and it will happen" kind of way to using magic (God I wish I could articulate this better but luckily the others will be easier to explain) all of this would mean they would be operating under the Cups magic system

Nadia 🌬

Intuition is her whole thing! of course she'd be the swords (also notable that Nadia is great with a sword) intelligence also screams Nadia, she knows 12 languages and when she first met the High Priestess all she wanted to do was figure out how the realm worked because it wasn't scientifically accurate to her. decision making is also fitting considering she is the Countess

Lucio 🔥

Lucio is actually a little bit bad at magic according to Asra, so I won't be relying on him entirely for this (you'll see) however, it should be noted that when Lucio summons Vlastomil, he does so by setting a fire and then cutting open the bottoms of his feet. this mirrors how Morga uses magic, like once she cuts open her palm to catch her own spear on fire, and there is no hesitation in the way Morga uses magic, like rushing into portals (not for recklessness, but because she's so sure of herself) and another time she breaks the Devil's chains via extremely precise spear throw, something Asra is impressed by. so! I think the wands suit fits just perfectly when we consider direct action and self reliance in reference to Morga, and I suppose by extension Lucio, if he practiced a bit more

Muriel 🍃

his magic is actually described as feeling earthy at at least three different points, and the way he casts magic is very interesting as well. runecasting, which is described in the game as Muriel throwing a rock and interpreting the meaning. which is a very physical, grounded way to use magic. not to mention the myrrh and protection charms he uses- those are also extremely tangible things, naturey things so I think it aligns perfectly with the Pentacles. I would even argue that Mazelinka falls under this magic system, since she uses plants to make her potions- which is also a tangible way to do magic- pulling from your environment and such

so yeah I just thought that was interesting 🤔

[macabremayhem]

The Arcana (head)canon.

I have a strong opinion: Valdemar, because of their antiquity, was born in the land that has a lot in common with ancient Egypt. Not only because of their antiquity: the developers (NH, of course) said themselves about their inspiration for the Tarot history.

Okay, Renaissance, Arabic, but... Egypt? I have never seen any specific Egyptian motifs in the visuals of the game. But what if...

Okay, okay, Valdemar is an ancient being born as a human. Somewhere in the ancient kingdom like the Ancient Egypt in the Arcana world. I'm absolutely sure!

Please don't tell me who they are: AMAB or AFAB, I really HATE THAT subject. And I really hate any kind of "AMAB Valdemar" or "AFAB Valdemar". They are NON-BINARY. They were non-binary as a human, they are non-binary as a demon and eldritch horror. That's it. Also, I love the fact that Vulgora and Valdemar are demons and have never considered that a "bad representation". Sorry, but as a non-binary person, I really want to have the ability to fully transition as an option. I want nothing to do with any option of human genitalia. And I have the strongest gender envy for the Vulgora and Valdemar. They're not human anymore, they can turn their bodies into anything they fucking want and they can live as they feel. Not AFAB. Definitely not AMAB. But Ȩ̵̙̟̬͚̊̿̉͌͜͠l̷̶̡͙̼̗̳̃̑̄͒͡d̶͒̍ͤ̓͏̴̦̮̲͓͝ŗ̛̯̪̠̤ͬͯ͂ͫ̕͠i̴̵ͪͥ̄̎͜͏̭͎͕̗ẗ̵̨̹̻̥̹ͥ̂̆͜͡ç̝͚̗̗̃̍̔ͬ͘͠͝h̆̌͛̔҉̴̧̦̲̘̪͢ ̵͚̤̲̮ͫ́̀̔̀͘͜H̴̡͙̥̩͔ͩ͛͐͛͟͞o̢̢̖̳͉͕͛͂ͫ͌͟͞r̵̞̮̮̮̄͑ͭ̃̕͢͟r̒͗̒̒͏̢͏҉̯̠̝͚o̯͔̭̝ͦ̔ͣͬ́̀͞͡r̍ͫ̔̄͝҉̛̺̺̗͔́ ̏͊̃ͮ҉̸̷̢͈̲͍̝.

Okay, let's go back to the Ancient Egypt theme. I'm sure - the developers should have had that reference, and maybe when they were building the Arcana world they had that thing in mind.

Also. I love learning something (or use my knowledge) and turning it into the Arcana reference. Ancient history is the best thing for that entertainment. So...

Meet the goddess Sekhmet. She's beautiful, she's angry. According to the myths, she wanted to destroy humans because they had humiliated her father, the Supreme God Ra.

And the goddess Sekhmet was a... patron goddess of medicine. She was a patron goddess of medicine, and the same time she had the power to command the diseases and especially the plague.

Plague!

That was her, shall we say, "crown curse sign". Medicine in ancient Egypt was also extremely advanced (for the ancient world, of course). The first time, I swear, I headcanoned Valdemar as a priest of Thoth (for the reasons). But the connection between medicine, plague and the goddess Sekhmet is amazing.

Thank you for coming to my Ted-Talk. :D With all my love for the world of Arcana, Lunatic Sun.

[totally-not-here-for-the-smut]

... sorry, the first point had Nadia talking in my head.

"Good gods, Valerius, you can't even manage to scramble one whole demon together".

I think that it's implied that demons were humans, once. They're much different from the major arcana, much more similar to humans, and also it says the became demons, probably for some kind of ritual or pact. I think there's another suggestion in Lucio's route: we learn there that Lucio can still redeem. As a tyrant he has done some serious evil, yes, but compared to other tyrants (real/fantasy) he was a pretty chill dude after all (yes, I know, he enslaved muriel, julian and basically everyone he needed stuff from, but it is FAR from the evil we see on a daily basis irl). Basically, Lucio still have a soul. The question is: why?

option 1. is he never got through the pacts. I'm a big fan of the "each time you do X a piece of your soul goes into it", and he didn't actually sealed the pacts - which makes them invalid to some degree.

option 2., time is of the essence. Until he gets confronted by everyone, Lucio shows an incredible lack of remorse, so maybe his empathy/soul was starting to whither. The process is stopped during his route.

option 3. is forgiveness. In his route he repents and gets a BIG forgiveness from some people. In many religions and esoteric traditions this is a big deal, for it lifts the weight of evil from a soul. He's literlly saved by the characters' compassion and help from MC into being accountable of what he did.

option 4. is he no longer suits the role. Each demon excels in one very specific deadly sin. Volta is gluttony, Vulgora is Anger, Vlastomil is Sloth (as is Pilato's in the Bible, since they both were judges who didn't care to do their job) and Valerius is greed; Valdemar's harder to pinpoint, but probably is Envy: he joys from other's misfortune and often times scientists are deemed "envious of god's knowledge"... plus, he's green... "green with envy"?. The seven deadly sins are so called because they "kill" your soul -that is, they send it straight to hell... to the Devil.

Now, wasn't Lucio just perfect for Pride? Yes, until MC came into the picture and slapped him humble. This severed his link to the devil and saved him: he couldn't ascend as a demon, because he had lost what it takes, that being the embodying of a deadly sin.

And about the mortality rate... they all seem pretty dumb, except Valdemar. I bet demons get themselves killed fairly easily, but in the arcana universe this is unsurprising since we all know Nadia is the only one capable of rational thinking.

Last thing... I love that Valdemar's one and only interest during the eons has been doing science. Iconic. Big bro of ours. Would have him as a mentor 100%, Julian is an idiot.

So… demons.

The Arcana demons are such a fascinating topic to me. So here are some ramblings & questions that are a cool territory for headcanons. Why? Idk I just thought about Valdemar for 4 seconds and opened a “new post” window.

My main question is, how many of them are out there, really? We meet four (and a half, if you count Valerius I guess) but these are just the ones that happen to be around because Lucio dealt with them. I really doubt that there are no others. They are definitely less common in (most) areas outside of Vesuvia, but still, they’re out there. (Am I thinking about making some demon OCs that are pissed off at MC for messing with their boss, for that sweet post-route action? Mayhaps.)

Most of the ones we see are special in their connection to the Major Arcana, so that might have been a limiting factor in the ability to become a demon in the first place, but there is a demon that doesn’t seem to be connected to any Arcana, and thus throws that theory under the bus, I’ll talk about him a bit later.

(Then again, it’s also never explained if there can be only one person connected to each Major Arcana, but that seems very unlikely, because the Satrinava family would kinda hog almost a half of the Arcana roster. Sharing is caring, guys.)

Valdemar is distinctly different from the other demons, which is likely connected to their age, among other things - we’re talking tens of thousands of years here. I’d say Vlastomil is the second oldest, and Vulgora and Volta being relatively young (wiki says that Vulgora became a demon “sometime in the past century”, but idk what the source of that info is) But even Vlastomil is nowhere close to Valdemar.

Which makes me wonder about the reasons behind that. What’s the demon mortality rate? Most of them likely just never make it to Valdemar’s age. Some might be killed at an early stage, others are banished to the Realms, like Vulgora was. So only the really intelligent ones can “make it”.

But there is another curious case of a demon that we never even meet, aside from a single event in the Realms that was probably not him anyway:

Continua a leggere

[soullessseraphim]

cat behavior

have this old sketch I was too lazy to update but not lazy enough to leave black and white

[biblicallyaccuratefangirl]

ꕥ Asra Headcanons: Jealousy ꕥ

If ever there was a healthy relationship, it would be one with Asra— it's something that is very important to him and something he actively works to maintain

Despite his willingness to spend his near every waking moment with you, he's very accommodating when it comes to you needing space

It's this same mutual trust and stability that makes him so comfortable with you spending time with other people

Despite his maturity and security, the beginning of your relationship (like any) was a period of heightened emotion. In the midst of it all, despite himself, Asra still had tiny inklings of self doubt and worry when it came to you being alone with people who had little reason not to be more than friends

He hated his anxiety about it, and felt guilty that there was still any part of his mind that struggled to trust you and your devotion to him

From the start, however, he'd never found himself feeling insecure when you two were together among other people. He always felt that being around you was very grounding, and you seemed to be able to restore all his sensibilities

By now his trust in you is unwavering, and he feels fully secure in the place he has in your heart. There are, however... a few small exceptions to his confidence

It hits the hardest when he's away for long periods of time. Every idle moment is spent thinking of you, and he makes sure to communicate with you as frequently as he can, but eventually the guilt of leaving you alone catches up

He has immense gratitude for the people in your life able to keep you company in his absence, but sooner or later the regret begins to take the shape of a benign jealousy that others are caring for you when he ought to be

He hates feeling so helpless, but the longer he's away the more that shame piles up on his heart. The muted envy that others are getting to do his job is never resentment, he's too grateful that you have support around you. But he certainly does wish he were there with you, reclaiming his responsibilities as your partner

Beyond that, there's little that could put a dent in his faith in your relationship. He knows any attempt to alter your mutual affection will be entirely unsuccessful

If someone does try to make a move on you, he feels in no way threatened, but he's quick to indulge in a little flaunting. A hand sliding down around your waist... Leaning close to your face to speak to you... A kiss to your knuckles... Standing close enough to you that his body brushes yours... All little ways to simultaneously flirt with you and deter those interested

Overall, he's nearly never jealous, and could hardly be a better partner if he tried 🫶

[taniahylian]

Vertin and Esperanto

So, first of all, there'll be spoilers for chapter 7 of reverse 1999 under the line. If you haven't finished it, I suggest you to come back to read it after you do.

Alright, here we go.

First, let's talk about the incantation Marcus recovered from Isolde's mind, the one Arcana spoke.

It's an incantation in a language that, Ulrich said, Laplace has no records of. Literally, Enigma argued that decoding it in 24 hours was impossible precisely because they didn't have the language or any clue as to what it could mean.

And yet...

Vertin can read it. Naturally. As if it was her first language. And not only that, she also adds that the incantation that unlocks the suitcase is in the same language.

And what language is it, you ask? Well, irl it's Esperanto.

However, it's doubtful that the foundation would've no records of Esperanto, so it's only logical to assume that this language doesn't exist in the game in the same way as it does irl. In fact, it's likely the original language of arcanum. However, knowing it's Esperanto, we can get some in-game clues about it.

There are mainly two ppl who use this language. The first is Vertin. Now, we don't really see her cast many incantations, but the few she does cast are in Esperanto.

Why is this relevant? Well, because it seems most arcanists cast incantations in their native language. Sonetto uses italian, Kaalaa uses Hindi, Sophia uses Greek, etc. What's interesting is that, even though Sonetto has resided in the Foundation since she was very young, and speaks English fluently, she still uses Italian. Maybe because arcanum only works if it somehow connects with the arcanist's own roots, or something like that.

This implies Vertin's native language, aka mother tongue, is... Esperanto. But who taught it to her? Was it her mother? Is there any character that naturally speaks this language?

Well... yes, there is.

When Vertin agrees to joing Manus Vindictae in chapter 2, Arcana is pleased and says the following:

However, although the text translates it to English, what she actually says out loud is bonvenon hejmen, which is, you guessed it, Esperanto.

And this isn't the last time she does it. Later, in the same chapter, when Vertin is reunited with her team and is about the leave the manus, Arcana says this before teleporting away:

Again, the text translates it, but what she actually says is "adiaŭ", which again is in Esperanto. What's interesting, however, is that in these two ocassions she's not using incantations, but simply speaking... kind of implying it's her native language.

Now, Arcana is a very ancient being, I think we can easily deduce this. Not only that, but her name is very similar to arcanum/arcanists. And she even speaks about how the the "first magic circle" came to be, so I wouldn't be surprised if she's somehow related to the origins of arcanum.

So... what if Esperanto is the original language of arcanum? Maybe that's why powerful spells, like the storm immunity ritual, are in this lost language. Although it's not the only one.

That's right, the teleportation arcane skil, Aferoj Around, is also in Esperanto. Not only that, but it's described as "an advanced arcane skill" both times it's mentioned.

However, what's interesting here is that the Foundation and Zeno know this skill. In fact, they even have a number for it. So, how could they not know the language of the storm immunity ritual? Well, I lied. Because the only reason Laplace had the correct pronunciation and spelling of the storm immunity incantation was because of paper sent to Lucy by the "White Marble House", which seems to be an independent and very important faction within the foundation, of which we know nothing about.

But that's a theory for another time. For now I'd just like to conclude saying that I think Vertin's mother taught the language to her (or maybe she was born knowing it somehow?), wether her mother is Arcana or someone else with great knowledge of arcanum (personally I think Bessmert), or maybe even both.

Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think!

[totally-not-here-for-the-smut]

This is a great analysis! There's a couple of notes I'd like to add:

-Julian is hands down the one that faces his unhealthy sides the healthiest way. He's one of the two characters that managed to form genuine and stable connections (its implied during the game that he has lots of friends. A random breadmaker risks a lot to help him while imprisoned). Of course, the other one is Portia. Nadia is smart indeed, but very much alone. For this reason, he's the one who has the healthiest and most realistic healing of his troubles.

-Julian is the character with the biggest cultural barrier in Vesuvia. He grew up and studied abroad, so as he gets to the city he's seen as clumsy and weird because he's from a very different culture than everybody else is -plus, he's a drams queen, so any kind of weirdness shows a lot. Portia is younger than him and a maid, so she probably kept up with Vesuvia's culture way faster.

-Julian's idiocy -who imho IS there- comes from his "I have to carry the world on my shoulder" trauma, which as I said it's very obvious to everyone because Julian is an open person, people oriented and really likes to try his chanches and put himself to work. It's very easy to come off as smart, polite and mysterious when you hardly speak and never try to do anything relevant unless pushed to it (Asra and Muriel I'm looking at you), when you received a formal education and have a strict behavior code to rely on (and this is Portia and Nadia). When all is said and done, his dumbness level is average.

And now, what makes my heart ache the most

-Our dearest Julian is a scientist in a world of magic, and in a city where a lot of people can't even read. Studying science for years is something that shapes the mind, and any irl colleague of his can tell you how fucking hard it is to level with non-scientific people. It's not that they're stupid, but your logic and reasoning works differently. In the modern world many people looks at science people as "the weird ones" (even after the whole nerd-is-cool trends), and scientists feel somewhat responsible of educating people around them about why some things are dangerous to believe (I'm sure you all know what I'm talking about). It's not that they feel better than other folks, it's just a big part of the education. Try to imagine the extent of this in VESUVIA, a place where most people can't read. What I'm telling you is that a person of science is often looked at as a Valdemar, a parody who only wants to hoard knowledge. The reason why Vesuvia people think that Valdemar is an ok guy to trust as physician, it's because in their eyes every scientist is like him. Probably who wrote Julian wasn't a scientist per se, but they did a very cool job into trying to incorporate this part of his personality in it.

And there's no way that this makes Julian smut worse, because competence kink is real,

and Nadia Has It.

About Julian

In my post About Dorian I mentioned how people in the fandom typically reduce the M6 into one or two personality traits. I’ll be talking about Julian today and the fandom's treatment of him!

I'm going to try and keep this factual and not opinionated, nothing like “he should only be like this” and more like “this is what he is in game, but people show him like this” 

It's gonna be a long post so if you don't want to get into the topic, or don't feel like reading something long then go ahead and scroll by! I don't mind! 

And if you want to make this a civilized discussion then i don't mind talking and hearing others points out either!

So let's go!

Julian is a Doctor who went to Parka to learn medicine and got most of his experience on battle fields while he apprenticed under Nazali. He started up his own clinic in Vesuvia and ended up being hired by the palace to work on the red plague cure, eventually treating Lucio himself. 

After the apprentice died he was stricken with grief, eventually he had an affair with Asra but it didn’t exactly last. He soon found a cure in the form of killing Lucio through sickly hallucinations of the hanged man. 

Julian is a smart man, who often blames himself for things that were not his fault, even putting himself at risk with no evidence simply to save others or because he feels guilty. He loves people with his whole being and yet doesn't trust himself to be around them as he thinks he’ll hurt them with again no evidence. 

So tell me why most of the Arcana fandom will portray him as, for lack of a better word, idiotic and whoreish. 

I know Nyx Hydra poked fun at Julian a few times, mentioning that he likes to use leeches or make him kinky, but that is simply not his whole personality.

Yes, he can be flustered easily, and easy to arouse, and a masochist. But he is also lovey dovey, and soft and mushy and loves with his whole heart not just his dick.

And he literally went to school, i know its a big joke that he simply doesn't know what a medical school is but he literally went to one… and even if he didnt and there's no evidence of that he was at least mentored by Nazali who definitely did go to school. 

Now again i'm not saying he can't be horny, oh on the contrary he is horny, for someone he loves, not just a stranger. And by all means he's not the smartest man in the world, he actively struggles to comprehend magic and the Arcana realms but that's because he is smart with science and medicine! 

And yes you can write porn without plot with him, he doesn't have to show off his undying love in every single thing he's in. and yes you can make him marvel and question magic and still show his smarts in reality. He literally tries to use logic in the tower's realm and figures out that the realm is looped by testing out his hypothesis. 

All I'm saying is that a lot of people reduce his character when he really is rich in personality, and hopefully this will help bring some light as to what his character might look like more fleshed out. 

Another point I want to touch, is Julian as a background or side character. I’ve written a fanfic that was focused on my Mc, Asra, my friends Mc, and Julian. But my friends Mc and julian were supporting cast, so Julian wasn’t as fleshed out as Asra, but i didn’t reduce him to only horny or kinda dumb whenever he was “on screen” his traits just didn’t show as much as it would if he was a main character.

So what should we take away from this? 

Well, Julian can be horny and isn't the smartest man in the world, but he is much more than that! He's loving and cares so much about the people close to him, he's smart and doesn’t know much about magic but is willing to try and figure it out with the knowledge he has. He gives his whole self to someone, his heart and body. And he does not need to constantly show these traits in depth especially if he's mostly a side character in someone's story. 

Julian is a lovely character, and I would love to do an analysis of him after I re-do his route, but I think this is good enough for now.

Of course you can all do what you'd like with him, but when it becomes prevalent that the fandom is mostly thinking of him in a reduced state it becomes a little saddening, and it's good to remind ourselves that he's not all horny and unknowing! 

Feel free to give your reasoning for making him more horny, since i’ll be honest i don't think as many people think they’re dumbing him down. If anything I think Lucio might be dumbed down more, but I definitely notice the dumbing down of Julian too.

[lala1236]

Summoners!!!!!!!!

So...it's me again and I want to encourage our enthusiastic fandom to keep creating more content for artw, even if Storytaco keeps starving us of content! I encourage everyone to create edits, make more bots on Chai and characterai and write fan fiction! We can't die yet!!!!

[sleepytwilight]

Theory #1

Spotlight: Sirrah and Alpheratz

Remember when Spica's butler said this? Has no one thought it weird?

Sirrah is Polaris lover. The first to imprint to Polaris yet, Alpheratz was Sirrah.

Polaris was still there when Alpheratz is a kid.

You probably think, "Maybe Sirrah died first?"

Nope, Sirrah was there to watch Polaris turned into a monster. Polaris died and Sirrah is there to witness his death.

Entry I

The memories got alternated because of Sirius using the forbidden magic, time magic. It could have messed with everyone memories.

Though, there's lack of evidence because Spica said he was saved by Polaris from drowning. If the memories did got alternated and Polaris already dead at that time, who the hell saved Spica and Alpheratz.

Entry II

Alpheratz might as well died from drowning.

Though I don't support my first theory

Entry III

Sacrifice.

Sirrah death was never mentioned, he was chosen by the constellation so he can't age.

Schedar knew Summoner was Polaris... He might as well knew Sirrah and Polaris were a thing.

Storytaco did follow the Greek story *cough* Pollux *Cough* Castor. Who knows they might as well follows the old urban legend. (There was a story I once heard about a mother killed her own son to bring back her husband to life by letting her husband be in her son's body...)

Anyway... As I was saying, knowing Alpheratz personality, he did mention he don't like Polaris sacrifice thing and think sacrifice for other people are just a pain.

If Sirrah actually died after Polaris death, Schedar might had to sacrifice his own grandson so Sirrah the sorcerer of Pegasus can live again.

He makes sure Sirrah won't remember this sacrifice... Yet Alpheratz always feel hinted of disgusted when it come to Schedar.

Also to the anon who gave me Mama's boy theory, THANK YOU IT WAS SO GOOD- I'll reply to it later okay?

[aaliillustrate]

TOUCHSTARVED AND THE MAJOR ARCANA

this is something that I just noticed but please educate me if I got something wrong or the way I formatted things is incorrect. Those will be noted in the future.

So the Major Arcana right?

I think that the Senobium is the Tower card. Not only because the Academia is literally the long tower in Eridia, it's probably because the tower is a disaster card.

"A lightning bolt strikes the tower which sets it ablaze. Flames are bursting in the windows and people are jumping out of the windows as an act of desperation."

"They want to escape the turmoil and destruction within." This probably theory at Vere wanting to escape the Senobium.

"The Tower is a symbol for the ambition that is constructed on faulty premises." There's a theory about Kuras giving knowledge to the Senobium and the Senobium used at some point?..

I could already guess that Leander is The Magician Card. It sort of fits his description and could also predict what kind of person he is.

"This is a rather complicated phrase, but its summarization is that earth reflects heaven, the outer world reflects within, the microcosm reflects the macrocosm, earth reflects God. It can also be interpreted here that the magician symbolizes the ability to act as a go-between between the world above and the contemporary, human world."

"..he takes the potential innate in the fool and molds it into being with the power of desire. He is the connecting force between heaven and earth, for he understands the meaning behind the words "as above so below" - that mind and world are only reflections of one another. Remember that you are powerful, create your inner world, and the outer will follow." AS ABOVE SO BELOW where did we hear that from?

"... reversed Magician is a master of illusion. The magic that he performs is one of deception and trickery. You may be lured in by the showmanship of his arts, but behind that there may be an intention to manipulate for selfish gain. It might mean that there is someone who pretends to have your best interests at hand when the opposite is true." Remember when Leander's magic flower is just an illusion?

But yeah, that's all.

(note: all quotations made was from LABYRINTHOS https://labyrinthos.co/blogs/tarot-card-meanings-list)

[wwane]

special theory time: what if arcana isn't the hot bod but the black spike that runs through the hot bod? and at one point in time, one of the hosts of that black spike was vertin's mother?

ulrich is a living piece of ferrofluid that ambulates with the aid of a suit. what if 'arcana' is an awakened in the form of the black goo that ambulates with the aid of host bodies?

[snobgoblin]

ok I've been sitting on this theory for a while because of a few factors, and also I was afraid that the whole fandom has this unspoken rule that you're not supposed to spoil this thing but Thun said it should be fine if I include a warning. SO CONSIDER YOURSELF WARNED. massive Arcana spoilers ahead. if I'm right. which I'm not gonna make you think I'm right but *I* very much do think I'm right and this was fun to come up with

I'm gonna apologize in advance, I really wish I could articulate this better but it's ultimately just gonna sound like the ramblings of a madman because I've been so in my own head, so please forgive me 😭

anyway. the takeaway: Lucio was never The Devil. he is The Fool. the PLAYER was actually The Devil all along. and the reason Scout still exists despite the player having the body of The Fool is because... that body is Lucios.

now this is the part where I show you some evidence out of order

⭐️evidence for Lucio being The Fool:

first of all he doesn't even share that many traits of The Devil. not any more than the demons anyway- obsession? well, the demons are all obsessed with something, that's kind of their whole thing, and we know they have different associated patrons. material wealth? well, Nadia is wealthy and she's not associated with The Devil. not to mention Lucio wasn't even always wealthy, he grew up in the mountains. you know what Lucio does embody though? recklessness. adventure. inexperience. traits of The Fool

another evidence is like, the whole ritual. I only mapped out those seats we know FOR SURE are occupied and by who (but it's easy to assume that they are seated in numerical order based on this. I left out the speculation for the sake of clarity here and besides the ritual is a theory for another day) ANYWAY. anyway. wouldn't you know it but the sectioning on the table corresponds with the phases of The Fool's Journey (we know for sure that The Devil is sitting at the head of the table, with Morga taking up the other head. to the Devil's side are the Apprentice and Volta, and so on) (I know there's a whole bunch of people not present at the table but again a theory for another day)

AND THATS KIND OF WHAT STARTED THIS THEORY IN THE FIRST PLACE, why isn't Lucio in The Devil's seat. he's in The Fool's seat! he says he was right next to Asra which is where the player would have been sitting and we know the Devil was THERE during the first ritual because he was overseeing it and people bargained with him. he wouldn't be able to sit anywhere but the Devil's seat. Lucio was sitting in The Fool's seat

also, just, some design aspects, such as the colors of the eyes and everything and also, in one if the concept art, Lucio is almost wearing a tunic (like the Rider-Waite card) and also has a feather in his hat that PERFECTLY matches the one on that card (I don't know if I'm allowed to show you that or I would)

this point is a little looser because this isn't something exclusive to Lucio, but people call him a fool a lot. specifically in Dawn of the Grub he says this

also this one's a little bit of a reach but the way the Fool card doesn't have an animal on it and Lucio, when he was a kid, struggled with his identity in relation to animals, like he didn't wanna be associated with beetles but he didn't know what else he was

also I think Asra says that basically Lucio just thought The Devil looked cool and that's why he latched onto him. it's really not much deeper than that. Lucio only THINKS he's tied to the Devil. but Lucio isn't to be trusted especially when it comes to magic. hell, when he visits the Devil's realm his first thought is "I'll have to remember these decorations for the palace" he just has a fascination with The Devil. which is actually part of The Fool's journey

AND I THINK. MOST IMPORTANTLY. Lucios association with dogs. i dont think its a coincidence that hes so aggressively a dog person and I believe that Mercedes and Melchior are representative of the two different interpretations of The Fool's Dog (some guiding, some hurting) because Mercedes is definitely more violent (bit off Melchiors ear) and I won't bother explaining their personalities you probably already know. also Lucios masquerade mask is a dog and also in one ask Nadia compares him to a yapping purse dog

not to mention, Lucios favorite flower is a white rose which is present on the rider-waite card and he also has this thing where he wants to be a hero, which is something the Fool represents (main characters/heroes)

also the devs stated Lucios favorite pokemon is Houndoom. how interesting, a dog with horns... surely that couldn't be symbolic 😉

also this interaction just in general

and like in my first playthrough of Lucios route I kinda just assumed "Lucio switched patron Arcana because the Apprentice used blood magic on him" when people referred to Lucio as The Fool at the end but that doesn't make sense in hindsight, I don't think it's that he switched at all it's just, that's always who he was

⭐️ evidence for the Apprentice being The Devil:

first of all, their power. the power to break chains, the power to break binds. it's said that this is a power unique to them, but why would they have the power to break the Devil's chains if they were not associated with The Devil? that card can mean "escaping entrapment" and the entrapment is sometimes represented by chains. it makes sense that, being The Devil's beneficiary, they would share his power. like Nadias intuition

also, The Devil almost STATES that you have a connection to him

also, this one's more silly but Natiqa says this.........

also, I don't have a screenshot but I remember the Devil might have said something during the ritual like "you're all in your proper seats... and MC, well, I suppose one Fool is as good as any other" <- implying that they are not a good fit and are only there because of their fools body

⭐️ evidence for the body of The Fool being Lucios

ok so Scout is The Fool yeah? that much is obvious I think. even in the concept art book, Scout is pictured next to that card. so then... how does the Apprentice have that body

Muriel says that the ritual was Asras idea

I believe that what happened was Asra wanted to use the ritual to force Lucio out of his body so he could revive the player with it

and I think that Lucio wasn't even murdered, he was just separated from his body, and that the ashes in the bed are not his remains. he did not "die" in bed, he "died" in the ritual room. why would there be ashes there? well, the courtiers are trying to frame Julian, of course they'd plant evidence. and Voltas footprints are in the ashes... it was all a set up

there's also that whole thing of Lucio calling the player a body stealing thief, and the fact that the player had to relearn to walk when they obtained this body but Lucio seems to function with it just fine. because it's his! he's used to it

-----------------

GOD I *know* I had so many more points to make but I think that's plenty. I'll add on in a rb if I think of any more but it's really hard to remember... I hope that makes sense enough because at this point this theory has seeped into the very bones of this game for me and I see evidence of all of this every time I play it. it's so fun to look for BSBFNDBDB and I really just have. a ridiculous amount of analysis based on this but that's for another time BDBFBDND does this make sense? God I hope it does

ALSO ALSO PS please understand this doesn't like, say anything about their morality or anything to me. this doesn't automatically mean "Lucio is good and the Apprentice is bad" I think they're both nuanced, just like the cards

[macabremayhem]

The old sketch of human (or not?) Valdemar.

Because of their antiquity, I came up a headcanon about their origin. So, what about a country near the great river and with the great pyramids? Many lands of the Arcana world have references from India, Arabic region or Mongolia – so, Ancient Egypt? Why not? I can't decide, maybe this is ancient Zadith? There is nothing about Zadith in the canon, just a note in the ArcanaWiki:

"The homeland of Asra's parents, Zadith lies across the Malvent Strait from Vesuvia. This is a country where both science and magic are highly respected. Those who combine both disciplines are known as alchemists."

I think this short description is suitable for the heritage of such civilization as Egyptian.

I’m sad that the history of the world is so poorly developed, but I still love the lore so much. And I’d be happy to read (only from the original writers), say, a brief history of the world. But since there's no any history, I'm taking the liberty (and, a bit, my history degree) to assume: Zadith is the inheritor of some ancient civilization like the Ancient Egypt.

I'm not good at naming, so I will provisionally call it "Deshret" – Egyptian word for "red land, desert". Valdemar spoke about "millennia of existence", describing their antiquity, so I'm pretty sure: they have been born as a human in the ancient kingdom, like the Ancient Egypt. Also, note that red beetle brooch at the neck: similar motives were common in the Ancient Egypt. And, I think, Valdemar had this beetle brooch long before the Plague.

Okay, maybe developers in Portia's route (flashback scene with Prospero and foundation of Vesuvia) just showed Valdemar to us as we know them, because of developing another (kinda "more ancient") sprite and costume for the short scene is not viable. But anyway: we have what we have. What if we imagine that "red beetle brooch" of the Courtiers is rooted not only in the Red Plague? What about a, merely my headcanon, the Egyptian "scarab" motif?

So, there's the old traditional sketch I have. When I drew this pic, I imagined Valdemar just after their first deals with the Devil. Just look at their eyes.🫀

And – of course, they are in the tomb. Maybe as a priest? Who knows, fellow humans.

[star-arcana]

Pokemon Horizons Theory: Kieran's current team (Spoilers for Horizons and the DLC's to Scarlet and Violet!)

Hello everyone, here is Star-Arcana and I am here with a bit of a small theory and some quasi predictions on Kieran's team!

Since Horizons is going to show us his sister Carmine, who is probably going to get her ass handed by the RVT!

With Kieran I had a lot of thoughts and a lot of speculation before it, my most notable one is that he is going to be a dark-counterpart to her in the far future, since we know how his final team looks like in the Indigo Disk. Here is a small team that he owns in my own theory/headcanon for Horizons:

As I mentioned above, I think the writers will set him up as the Anti-Liko due to their similarities as characters: Shy, introverted, have a fierce battle side, are highly sensitive and compassionate, as well as having been rather lonely for much of their lives . So to make someone a dark shadow of what they could have become,had they allowed their darkness to corrupt them, Kieran would be perfect for Liko as her most dangerous rival ever. In the future I will expand on this idea, but as of now, I am sick, so I keep it brief, witty and simple!

The idea of them being counterparts is also based on the fact that they share something in common with 3 of their Pokémon:

Incineroar is of the Litten evolutionary line, which is a Fire/Dark Type Starter Cat, kinda like with the Sprigatito line being Grass Types, with the final evolution Meowscarada being Grass/Dark Type. And since currently Floragato (Grass Type middle evolution of Sprigatito) is Liko's ace, we make here his Torracat as his ace, and that Pokémon is good. To diffrenciate it from Roy's Crocalor, it's ability is Intiminate. These cat Pokémon are a popular pairing and the Incineroar line being Kieran's ace makes sense with his heel-turn and then again his big heel turn once a certian experience with a legendary Pokémon shapes him into becoming good again! So a turn-heel warrior that changes from good, to bad and then true good again, is perfect for him and contrasts with the witchy vibes of Floragato and Meowscarada to his brawler vibes with, in this case, Torracat and Morgrem.

Speaking of whiches, Liko has currently a Hattrem (Psychic Type), which could evolve into Hatterene (Psychic/Fairy Type) in the future . This Pokémon is a female counterpart to the demonic Grimmsnarl(Dark/Fairy Type) line, with Morgrem(Dark/Fiary Type) being the middle evolution of said demonic Pokémon. They are both native to the Galar Region, their dex entries are next to each other and both have as secondary type, fairy, since they are based on fairy tale figures such as forest witches and ogres respectively. They also respond to emotions, but whereas the Hattrem line is irritated by emotions, even happy ones, the Morgrem lines feeds on negative ones as without it, it will bore itself. Because of this, the Hattrem line is for those who are empathic and have a calm personality like Liko, while the Morgrem line is for those who are thinking about gloomy things and have a lot of negative emotions, like Kieran. So a theme of light and darkness is seen with the two, Liko represents light, while Kieran respresents darkness.

Finally there is one Pokémon that is important to the two of them, and has shaped both lives tremendously:

Terapagos!!!

Liko and Kieran had this Pokémon in both of their lives involved heavily, as with Liko it saved it from a missfired Psycho Cut and is rather comportable with her partner, not just because she resembles his friend Lucius from ages past in terms of looks (strongly implied to him being Liko's ancestor), but is also because Liko is really kind-hearted and empathic. Kieran had by the time it forcibly made Terapagos his Pokémon due to his urge to become the hero of his own story and wanting to defeat the main character, who not only bested him many times, but caught the Pokémon he always wanted: Ogerpon!

In Liko's case, it started her adventure with the Rising Volt Tacklers, who are rivals and enemies to the explorers , an evil organisation that sought to hunt Liko down for the pendant containing Terapagos! Kieran sought Terapagos, Area Zero's Hidden Treasure, for himself. Liko due to this event made many irreplacable friends and became a happier person as a result, while Kieran became more lonely with him pushing away everyone after he was left out of something he cared about and wanted to get revenge on the player for taking away "his treasure" away. However Kieran lost Terapagos, as he terastalized it and made it agrressive, but that isn't the end of him. A fight with the Stellarform Terapagos ensues and when everything was nearly hopeless, Kieran got the encouragement needed to fight and help the player to pacify this Pokémon. Afterwards he became nicer and the only one able to help us against Pechurant after it turned his entire village into zombies...again.

In conclusion, they share 2 counterparts to the other's Pokémon evolutionary line, and had the same species of Pokémon.

What do you think? Could this team hint to a bigger connection between Horizons Kieran and Liko? tell me below by sharing and commenting, bye!

[polluxverse]

ARCANA TWILIGHT ENTHUSIAST WE RISE!!

WE ARE SO BACK OMG, I'M GOING INSANE. IT'S 12TH FLOOR SOON, THE ANGST- I CAN FEEL IT COMING

[soullessseraphim]

Huh ? That doesn't sound right

Naaah, I call cap ; let's check it out let me download that and open Krita real quick

Looks kinda green to me though y'know how could it b-

.....what? Nuh-uh, wait- they are green it can't-

.....

...

WHAT THE FUCK??