#theresis arknights

[presscshoot]

some pic s are too old and too old im sry

[mlynar-nearl]

i really like logos

[unbreakabledarkness]

Why does Theresa act the way she does during the Victoria arc? Before she died, she and Theresis fought a civil war because of their incompatible visions for the future of the Sarkaz. And then they attempted to assassinate each other, with Theresis actually succeeding by getting the Doctor to betray her to her death. So why does Theresa cooperate with him in Victoria after he has her resurrected? Why has she not made an attempt to escape the Royal Court and return to her allies and successor at Rhodes Island?

One answer—one that we are encouraged to think before Chapter 14—is of course that Theresa either Came Back Wrong from the myriad souls or was brainwashed by the Confessarii during her resurrection. But even though the Confessarii don’t seem to have been able to separate Theresa completely from the myriad souls, meaning that she didn’t come back in the same condition, I think that Theresa is, in fact, acting in line with her priorities as shown in Babel.

The “original sin” of the Sarkaz was when the Farchaser King, the first King of Sarkaz, brought the first originium back to the then-Teekaz, binding their fate up with it. He then used the first originium to summon Amnannam against the Ancient and Elder races, creating the first Catastrophe. After this, he and the first originium were both lost to Amnannam.

It’s this “original sin” and connection to originium that trapped the myriad souls of the Sarkaz in the Assimilated Universe. And it’s the lingering resentment of the myriad souls that, at least in part, motivated the greater part of the Sarkaz population to reject Theresa’s desire for peace.

Theresa’s death, her immersion within the myriad souls, gave her direct, personal experience with the damnation and suffering of the Sarkaz being a literal law of the universe. Additionally, she’s not even supposed to be alive! Her time is short; if the myriad souls don’t drive her insane, she’s also Infected, and that will kill her (again) sooner rather than later. And we know that Theresa fundamentally sees herself as a stepping stone to a brighter future rather than someone who will actually get to live in it.

What we see from Theresa in Victoria is therefore a reordering, not a fundamental change, in her priorities as compared to before her death. She’s always been opposed to “fate,” one of the key ideals that she shares with Theresis. And is there any “fate” that’s worse than the binding of the Sarkaz to originium and the resultant suffering for all eternity in the Assimilated Universe?

If Theresa aligns with Theresis rather than Rhodes Island:

1) She won’t have to worry about fighting him and risk re-igniting the Sarkaz civil war;

2) She won’t face (as much) resistance to her self-sacrificial plans (Could you imagine Kal’tsit, Amiya, or any member of Babel letting Theresa die again? Let alone helping her do it?);

3) She’ll have the resources and support to move quickly; Theresis and his Royal Court enact their plans within a year, and Theresa’s living on borrowed time.

Finally, by getting the first originium into Theresis' hands, even if she doesn't necessarily agree with his using it as a weapon, it still puts fate back into the hands of the Sarkaz. The first originium is no longer in Amnannam/the Assimilated Universe; it's back in Terra, and that means that the problems it represents are accessible again.

Tl;dr: Theresa and Theresis don’t believe in fate, and they’re going to force the world to agree with them.

[orpheusfumi]

Anybody here care about gertrude strollo? Because i do i care so much (and others)

[laurarolla]

Before the cooperative sportsball mode in Arknights begins, let's look back on a few thoughts from the finale of Act II of the main story, "Absolved Will Be The Seekers." Also, thanks to Wis'adel, I was easily able to clear all four of the hell stages, and I can probably finally go back and clear the previous chapter hell stages and finally get those upgrade tokens I'm missing for the chapter ops.

First, I enjoyed the little moment in the middle where the Followers trio get to clown on those Confessari pricks. Love seeing those fascist bloodsuckers lose. XP

Moving on, the overarching story of why Theresa returned and her goals with the Originium Assimilation were rather interesting, especially in what we seem to have learned about Arknights possible overarching villain, Priestess. It's nice that the citizens of Victoria will no longer be abused and murdered by the Sarkaz now that Theresis and his loyal forces are off to do something else, but getting his hands on the Originium stone that sort of represents the "original sin" of the Teekaz is not a good sign for the future. Beyond that, it's somewhat unclear how much of what Theresa did in the Assimilated Universe was actually her choice. I think it was a great act of mercy and love to finally free the Myriad Souls from the Originium, granting them the freedom to truly die instead of being trapped in the stagnant tomb of Originium. Unfortunately, I think the Originium she handed to Theresis very much falls under Priestess's plans to "continue the experiment." In the end, everything seems to be progressing as she has planned.

A few nice bits about Priestess that we got to see (if we are to believe anything she said to us) include that she's not a member of the same people as the Doctor, and previously spent her time recording sounds of dying worlds. Originium is not only a way for her to show that she deserved to stand alongside Oracle as an equal, but also became a way for her to record the dying breath of each and every world if her experiment succeeds. She seems genuinely motivated out of a love for what she's seen and heard across the universe, but she can't accept the transient nature of life. Whether there's some actual intentional malevolent force she's trying to use Originium to avoid, or just straight up entropy, she's so desperate to cheat death that she sees life as a threat to her efforts. It has left her cold in her interactions with the Doctor, who has fully regained their ability to love life and accept its limited nature while seeking to improve the lives of those they meet on their journey. I theorized that the Doctor may be been manipulated or controlled by Priestess during Babel, and at this point, I'm now sure not only that they were manipulated, but that they can't be manipulated in the same way anymore. Kal'tsit also rejected Priestess, and Amiya figured out how to use the Civilight Eterna to manipulate some aspects of the Assimilated Universe. I'm interested to see how these rejections affect things later in regards to Priestess's intentions.

Looking forward to future encounters with Eblana now that she's kinda the main threat to the current Victorian hierarchy, especially since she got one of the dukes on her side. Overall, though, I think we'll get most of the important immediate follow-up for Victoria when the Siege Alter event comes in about 4 or 5 months.

Wis'adel got her name finally and I'm super happy about that. Her journey from the beginning to now has been great, although I think most of her big character development is basically complete now. It's nice to have a character get their Alter form from an event or something that has significant personal story growth, with Wis'adel and Silence probably being my favorite alter/story intersections so far. Eyja's was also quite nice.

I'm also gonna say that Civilight Eterna (Theresa's Phantom) is herself a product of the Civilight Eterna arts ability I previously theorized/observed. She was largely created through Amiya pulling memories from the past and binding them into a phantom clone that Theresa left as a kind of keepsake. Basically, she's there because both she and Amiya want her to be there, and each used the power of the King of the Sarkaz to manifest her. That's why she has actual memories and arts powers from Theresa, albeit not as strong. I also love that how Amiya created the staff was to reshape Yin Xiao into an arts staff, reforging a sword seeking vengence into a tool of healing. Very simple but very effective.

Oh, and after 300 pulls I got Nearl the Radiant Knight from the shop, and my last free pull today was Mizuki, so now I have all the Ambushers... except Kirara.

[furniture-piece]

the man named frederick:

[kampflesben]

:) my girlfriend wanted to see theresis. to shreds you say?

[alkalische]

its over uncle theresis i will destroy you

[zeravmeta]

really does hit the moment that both the bloodthirsty king of vampires and the warmonger nachzehrer king are utterly baffled by the sorrow they feel the moment theresa dies

because that's really the only reason why the sarkaz, why theresis, are declaring this endless war on the world starting with victoria: it's pride, it's suffering, it's anger, it's revenge.

it was cruel of theresa to ask them to forgive and forget, yes. the suffering of the sarkaz is not something that could have been fixed within a single lifetime, the wounds ran too deep. no matter how much they wish they could have believed in theresa, the suffering of the sarkaz would not just vanish no matter how much she did. the core issue between the sarkaz and the rest of terra lies in their ancient grudge, the thousands of years of entrenched bitterness and loss that the sarkaz suffered and still suffer to this day. they have no home, not even kazdel, because the only thing kazdel really is at this point is the reminder that they once did have a home, have dignity as the teekaz rather than just "the sarkaz, the devils".

but even then, theresa was simply born ahead of her time. they were not ready for her future, and they all know this. babel was a dream that theresa tried her damnedest to accomplish, but they were too bitter to accept it. no matter how much they wanted to believe in it, the royal sarkaz court, scareye, the countless sarkaz we see through Babel, none of them could ever see true unity.

it's a unity that neither theresis nor pre-amnesia doctor could conceive.

theresis and doctor have their own roles to play, and their own promises to keep: the sword of kazdel that will revitalize their past glory and strike down all who oppose them, the last survivor of an alien race dedicated to completing the ancient project of a world long past to ensure its future, they are unable to accept another way.

"I can't accept your beautiful and fleeting dream, theresa. not after all the sacrifce."

they were not strong enough to believe in her. no matter how much they loved her, how much they wish they could have seen her dream come true, they simply couldn't.

it was always going to end on that bloodstained floor. they were always going to sleep, and dream that things could have been different. that one could have let go of their past, be it the long held suffering and revenge or the guilt of duty as the last survivor.

we will always be equal. i will always hold your beautiful dream in my heart.

you have to keep going, even if I am not here anymore. you're free now.

[apolunatic]

[amiya-shirou]

Spoilers about Babel and Zwillingstürme im Herbst

I was thinking about Arknights' recurring dynamic of siblings who must confront each other no matter how important the other is for them and realized there are more parallels than I expected between Theresa/Theresis and Arturia/Federico - to the point the latter pair feels like a still growing, less actualized, somewhat inverted version of the first.

Arturia is Theresa: focused on emotion and empathy, has weird mental powers (that interact pretty well with Theresa's, as seen in her interactions with Amiya), her ultimate ideal is a level of connection that goes beyond the scope of her own civilization and in trying to achieve it she's at the same time dooming herself, her halo almost looks like the Black Crown (which I doubt wasn't intended, since the Law is definitely comparable to Civilight Eterna). The contrasts between them are pretty evident too: a white Devil who perfectly looks the part of the saintess and a black Angel who perfectly looks the part of the villainess.

Federico is Theresis: the more down-to heart, more serious, less idealistic brother, who has difficulties expressing emotions to others (or even understanding them in Fede's case) and is extremely close to his sister but also feels he must stop her as her ideals lead her down a dangerous path for others. Theresa/Arturia are going against the will of the Myriad Souls/the Law, and Theresis/Federico confront them by acting as protectors of that will for the sake of the people that would be affected. Even in this case, there are evident contrasts: Theresis is seen as a negative figure, the villain in Theresa's story, while Federico is seen positively and Arturia is presented as the villain in his story.

Despite everything, the siblings know each other best. Federico can tell if a crime is Arturia's fault or not because he understands her more than anyone else; when Arturia's ideals crumble after the discussion with the Witch King and she seeks death, Federico is the one she wants to be killed by. Years of civil war and aiming for the others' destruction didn't put a dent in the trust and affection that exists between the Sarkaz twins, and when they're reunited in Londinium they're once again betting everything on each other like it's the most natural thing do to.

Civilight Eterna chose both Theresa and Theresis as successors for the will of the Sarkaz; they were special, the legendary twins with the potential to change Kazdel's fate. The Law calculated the immense adversities Terra is going to face in future, and chose both Arturia and Federico as the next Saints, essential for Laterano to prepare against them.

The one advantage the Giallos have over the twins is that they're younger, less caged by the collective will of their people. They can still reach a good middle point and work together for a better future without needing to extinguish the other for their ideal to prevail. While Theresa and Theresis understood the value of the other's belief, they were fundamentally opposed because they acted as the symbols of two separated possibilities for the Sarkaz, possibilities that clashed with each other despite their continued survival being the ultimate objective for both. Instead, Zwillingstürme im Herbst shows Federico taking steps towards Arturia and learning to use emotion as a way to understand her even if he can't feel them the same way she does, while Arturia realized the value of Federico's logical approach and that his approach can make her objective more concrete rather than just an abstract ideal.

Federico helps Arturia give footing to her philosophical inquiries, reminding her that it is possible to find an answer and reach a conclusion and that her ideals do not need to remain abstract but she can actually take steps to realize them; meanwhile, for how strong the Kazdel twins' bond is, Theresis will always be an eternal reminder that most of the Sarkaz reject Theresa and her dreams for an hopeful future, and was never able to truly help her sustain Babel. And just as Federico one-ups Theresis on this matter, the same does Arturia to Theresa: she wants to see her ideal realized, she has learned that she also has a role in her utopia and that she shouldn't forget about herself while seeking it, in opposition to how Theresa can only see herself as a sacrifice, the soil upon which the flowers will grow after her death. Theresa and Theresis were doomed by the weight of Kazdel's history and suffering, but the two Sankta's story ends in a hopeful tone as their fate is not yet written, and in fact both of them are less a symbol of the will of Laterano and more clear outsiders in their society, rare different voices in a very conformist state and thus have the potential to change it rather than be shackled by their people's voices.

[presscshoot]

some not so new FAs

[mui-ka]

Arknights: Special Commemorative Animation

[el-loy]

not gonna do anything with these, just some basic ass sketches of my beloveds i drew while cn event farming. I draw in PS usually but potato pc doesn't like PS+emulator fsr, so I had to SAI.

[the-cornuthaum]

It's really nice of Babel to confirm basically every negative preconception I had of Theresis.

The man started undermining his sister's every effort decades - decades - ahead of the civil war because he could not stop dickriding his revanchist hard man rhethoric for a single fucking second, and then treats it all as a Very Mature Tragic Sacrifice he has to make.

He's completely sincere about it, which I appreciate greatly, because I hate the hollow hypocrisy ethnonationalist revanchists are usually ascribed in fiction. He's completely sincere about everything he says and does because from his PoV it is a very mature tragic sacrifice he must make for what he considers the good of all Sarkaz, but it built on him directly, and immediately, reneging his promise to Theresa to actually give her time to work.

I just hope that come Chapter 14/15, he does not actually survive the end of this arc and gets the gentle, quiet rest that Theresa and Amiya represent. Please, HG. Don't put him in a hole for future developments like Talulah and Kaschey, but actually cut that thread for good. Six feet under, as they say.

[kara-knuckles]

(Information about Logos is wrong!)

While Sarkaz aging is generally weird, it always gets me that these two are of similar age:

Both of them were born over 200 years ago, around the time of Kazdel campaign of 898. At least it was established as far back as A Walk in the Dust that Banshees stay young for a very long time, and in Patriot's case we don't actually see his face...

But then we have stuff like 40+ Odda looking much younger than 30+ Hoederer:

Or 200+ Warfarin who doesn't look a day older than barely 20 W:

I guess, you can handwave Warfarin and Logos since they belong to ancient bloodlines and, based on backstory, Teekaz could live for a thousand years... But then Patriot should also look young-adult-ish under his helmet, and this thought is just cursed.