taniahylian

[taniahylian]

Just finished the 2.0 event, and... Huh????? it's so good! Wtf!

It didn't have to go this hard! It's become one of my favorites, which is surprising cuz I wasn't very interested on it.

Also... Can we acknowledge the fact this feels like ch. 7.5??? Like, it's a direct continuation of the main story! Also the ending! Damn!

And Kimberly???? Hello???? She's such an interesting character! Can't wait to see more of her.

PS: Good for Matilda for slowly climbing up in the Foundation ranks. She might soon even be on par with Sonetto. Problem is, the better investigator she is, the more dangerous missions she'll be sent to haha, this is fine :)))). Stay safe, little duckling!

[taniahylian]

A human using a wand?

So, there's a lot of especulation about how Schneider could have possibly used arcanum while being a human, and after the latests chapters I think we got some more clues.

First of, Greta Hofmann, who was (mostly) human and couldn't use arcanum normally, could use arcanum-enhanced bullets developed by Laplace by simply shooting her gun. These bullets could also have different effects, like the "sleeping bullets" she tried to hit Heinrich with. Now, while this is not new in r1999 (see Horropedia, Pavia and Tennant, for example), it's the first time we saw a human use an arcanum-enhanced weapon.

Then, we see in chapter 7 and Semmelweis' story that Laplace often records incantations/rituals in disks or other such materials for their personnel to use. This is useful, not only for humans, but also arcanists whose capabilities aren't enough to cast certain rituals, allowing pretty much anyone to use the arcane skills that are made into these devices.

This led the fandom to especulate that Schneider being able to cast arcane skills wasn't that much of a mystery; it was staring at us in plain sight. Druvis simply modified her guns, allowing her to shoot bullets with different effects, like Greta did, right? Well... not entirely.

While it's true that Druvis modified her guns, this on itself doesn't explain how Schneider was able to cast other, more complex arcane rituals, like the teleportation ritual, or conjuring up a ball of light that led her men through the maze under the Walden.

Not to mention, Vertin could literally "feel" Schneider casting an arcane skill, like she often does when other arcanists cast spells as well (remember, this is Vertin's signature superpower, so to speak), which wouldn't be possible if she was using something similar to the Foundation's soft disks, since the human who uses them isn't actually casting the incantation, but merely using a pre-recorded incantation. You can think of it as the difference between playing the piano and using a radio to play the recording of a piano. Completly different, right?

So... was Schneider actually a human who could cast arcane skills like arcanist do? Well... yeah. The game actually shows it to us, plain as day.

That's right, in Schneider's second incantation card we can actually see her holding a wand. Not only that, but when she uses this attack in-battle, we see her replacing her guns for a wand, and using it instead. It's a blink-and-miss moment, especially if you're playing at increased speed, but it's there nonetheless.

So... there's our answer. Schneider is a human who can use arcanum. Somehow. And the reason hasn't yet been explained to us. Or... has it?

According to this post in reddit, in the beta version Schneider was actually an "infected" in the Atlas. Now, at that point in time we didn't know what an infected even was, but now we have Semmelweis as the first infected, along with the explanation as to what an infected even is; a person who was bitten by a Beyond (vampire) and is suffering a permanent transformation which very few arcanist survive (no humans on record).

It's also important to note that in one of the narrator trails in ch1, he mentions that Schneider just "recovered from a serious illness". This doesn't necessarily refer to the Beyond decease, but could be a subtle nod.

Also, we know Semmelweis goes from being unable to cast any arcane skills to actually being pretty good at it once she completes her transformation, so that could be the explanation for Schneider's arcanist-like abilities... but would also mean her true nature didn't really change, as she still faded away in the storm for being human.

So anyways, what do you think? Am I going crazy? hahaha.

(Please Bluepoch make Schneider playable and give us answers or I'll keep making up dumb theories).

[taniahylian]

So

Have y'all thought about how Vertin asked for 15 equlibrium umbrellas?

Well, Schneider had 12 sisters and 2 parents.

1+12+2=15

She wants to make sure she can save them all if she ever sees them again. You're welcome.

*posts this and runs*

[taniahylian]

Thanks for the addition! Admitedly, I don't know much about Norse mythology, I'm more of a greek nerd, so I hadn't made this connection. Thank you for adding such important imformation!

Marta and the three Fates

Spoiler warning for chapter 7! Last chance to get out of here and come back after you finish it.

Alright, so this time I want to talk about this mysterious person called Marta, who was residing on the Island of Aperion, had the same appearence and voice as Bessmert and, to top it all up, was also blind. To me, these all indicate they are the same person, so I was very intrigued, and honestly, with good reason.

First off, let's look at what Marta says just before the storm, after Vertin asks her what she'll do. Note that Marta was in the safe zone with everyone else before Vertin said anything, and only then did she ask 6 for advice.

What's even more puzzling however, is 6's answer.

At first glance one might think 6 is simply telling her to decide for herself, but honestly I think it's a lot more complicated than that and 6 knows something we don't. Why is she calling Marta "fate"? Does it have something to do with her soul number and its meaning? Does 6 have that information? But also... could these be an allegory to Greek folklore? This chapter is full of those anyways.

Then I remembered the myth of the Three Fates. Basically, in Greek Mythology, there's three women who decided the life, destiny and death of every living person, and I think each has a counterpart in the game.

The first Fate is called the "Spinner", often represented with a loom or spinning wheel, who is the one who waves the threads of ppl's lives, basically deciding who is blessed by destiny and who is doomed. This imo is Vertin. Not only does she have the spinning wheel with ppl's lives represented by threads, but she's basically deciding their fate when she invites them into the suitcase, therefore saving them from the storm.

The second Fate is the "Allotter", who measures ppl's lives and decides how long they'll live. I think, based on 6's comment, this is Marta. Also, in my interpretation at least, this seems to be the most neutral of the Fates; simply measuring the threads without actually interfering with their trials and tribulacions, or the way they'd die. This would fit in with Bessmert, if we assume she and Marta are the same person, as she is a historian that simply records past events without interfering one way or another.

The third Fate is the "Inevitable", aka death. She cuts the thread of life and choses the way ppl will die, regardless of their age, status or anything else. Imo this is Arcana, since by accelerating the storms, she's basically cutting ppl's lives short and deciding how they'll die.

Now, of course, in chapter 7 Arcana "died". I don't believe this for one second, and I also don't think Marta was disolved in the storm. The first point is obvious; Arcana wanted to die, meaning she probably had some ulterior motive/plan we're not yet aware of.

As for Marta... what 6 said is very suspicious, and given what happened, we are led to believe Marta chose to be reversed. However, if you have read my theory about Bessmert, I think she's likely immune to the Storm, much like Vertin. So... where did she go then? We saw her be reversed, didn't we? Not exactly. Let me explain.

During the prologue, Vertin finds Regulus in London and pushes her into the suitcase right before the storm. We then get a short animated scene from Regulus' POV when the storm happens, and it seems like everything around them disappears and they find themselves in Chicago, 1929.

But wait... Chicago? Weren't they in London? Yes. The storm transported them, not only through time, but also space, exactly to the epicenter of the next storm. Now, at first I thouht this was just a visual representation with some artistic license, but then when they finally get out of the suitcase, Sonetto mentions they're only two blocks away from their target and they can go there by bus, which would be impossible if they were still in London.

So yes, I think this is what happened with Marta; she got transported to the epicenter of the next storm, and we will probably see her as Bessmert/The friend from afar in the future, wether in the main story or another event.

And, just one last thing to conclude my speculations about Marta/Bessmert: I really think she's the Biographer Urd.

He adds he doesn't know much more cuz the memories of 1999 are blurred, like everyone else's. However, we know that the biographer Urd published her travel note about Aperion in 1999, and we also know "The Friend from Afar" traveled to the Balkan peninsula before the storm in 1996, which gives me yet another reason to think they're the same person, which would explain the "unique" soul number (She's vertin's mother).

However, we also know Marta hasn't been in Aperion for much longer than Vertin (probably since after the storm in 1966). I think she likely decided to go back to Aperion to reseach more about the cave, but no one remembered her because the last time she was there was in 1999.

But anyways, what do you think? Thanks for reading my crazy theory! I guess time will tell if I was correct or not XD.

[taniahylian]

Marta and the three Fates

Spoiler warning for chapter 7! Last chance to get out of here and come back after you finish it.

Alright, so this time I want to talk about this mysterious person called Marta, who was residing on the Island of Aperion, had the same appearence and voice as Bessmert and, to top it all up, was also blind. To me, these all indicate they are the same person, so I was very intrigued, and honestly, with good reason.

First off, let's look at what Marta says just before the storm, after Vertin asks her what she'll do. Note that Marta was in the safe zone with everyone else before Vertin said anything, and only then did she ask 6 for advice.

What's even more puzzling however, is 6's answer.

At first glance one might think 6 is simply telling her to decide for herself, but honestly I think it's a lot more complicated than that and 6 knows something we don't. Why is she calling Marta "fate"? Does it have something to do with her soul number and its meaning? Does 6 have that information? But also... could these be an allegory to Greek folklore? This chapter is full of those anyways.

Then I remembered the myth of the Three Fates. Basically, in Greek Mythology, there's three women who decided the life, destiny and death of every living person, and I think each has a counterpart in the game.

The first Fate is called the "Spinner", often represented with a loom or spinning wheel, who is the one who waves the threads of ppl's lives, basically deciding who is blessed by destiny and who is doomed. This imo is Vertin. Not only does she have the spinning wheel with ppl's lives represented by threads, but she's basically deciding their fate when she invites them into the suitcase, therefore saving them from the storm.

The second Fate is the "Allotter", who measures ppl's lives and decides how long they'll live. I think, based on 6's comment, this is Marta. Also, in my interpretation at least, this seems to be the most neutral of the Fates; simply measuring the threads without actually interfering with their trials and tribulacions, or the way they'd die. This would fit in with Bessmert, if we assume she and Marta are the same person, as she is a historian that simply records past events without interfering one way or another.

The third Fate is the "Inevitable", aka death. She cuts the thread of life and choses the way ppl will die, regardless of their age, status or anything else. Imo this is Arcana, since by accelerating the storms, she's basically cutting ppl's lives short and deciding how they'll die.

Now, of course, in chapter 7 Arcana "died". I don't believe this for one second, and I also don't think Marta was disolved in the storm. The first point is obvious; Arcana wanted to die, meaning she probably had some ulterior motive/plan we're not yet aware of.

As for Marta... what 6 said is very suspicious, and given what happened, we are led to believe Marta chose to be reversed. However, if you have read my theory about Bessmert, I think she's likely immune to the Storm, much like Vertin. So... where did she go then? We saw her be reversed, didn't we? Not exactly. Let me explain.

During the prologue, Vertin finds Regulus in London and pushes her into the suitcase right before the storm. We then get a short animated scene from Regulus' POV when the storm happens, and it seems like everything around them disappears and they find themselves in Chicago, 1929.

But wait... Chicago? Weren't they in London? Yes. The storm transported them, not only through time, but also space, exactly to the epicenter of the next storm. Now, at first I thouht this was just a visual representation with some artistic license, but then when they finally get out of the suitcase, Sonetto mentions they're only two blocks away from their target and they can go there by bus, which would be impossible if they were still in London.

So yes, I think this is what happened with Marta; she got transported to the epicenter of the next storm, and we will probably see her as Bessmert/The friend from afar in the future, wether in the main story or another event.

And, just one last thing to conclude my speculations about Marta/Bessmert: I really think she's the Biographer Urd.

He adds he doesn't know much more cuz the memories of 1999 are blurred, like everyone else's. However, we know that the biographer Urd published her travel note about Aperion in 1999, and we also know "The Friend from Afar" traveled to the Balkan peninsula before the storm in 1996, which gives me yet another reason to think they're the same person, which would explain the "unique" soul number (She's vertin's mother).

However, we also know Marta hasn't been in Aperion for much longer than Vertin (probably since after the storm in 1966). I think she likely decided to go back to Aperion to reseach more about the cave, but no one remembered her because the last time she was there was in 1999.

But anyways, what do you think? Thanks for reading my crazy theory! I guess time will tell if I was correct or not XD.

[taniahylian]

************************************************************************

Hi! Just wanted to do a little update after finishing chapter 7. That said, spoilers ahead, so don't continue reading if you haven't finished that chapter.

Alright, I just want to say the game directly calls attention to the two ways of being a leader, and even gives us an answer as to which type Vertin is. First in the cave of Aperion, during the trial:

6 says this to Vertin and 37, and Vertin seems to choose the first option when she decides to fall back and wait for 37; the other girl even calls this a "choice of insight" fitting for the number 0. However, this isn't true. The reason Vertin decided not to ask a question herself wasn't because she wanted to watch from the sidelines, like a mere espectator, but because she wanted to be ready to help 37 if she needed to.

Then, before the storm, 6 again reminds 37 of these options, orging her to make a choice.

37 doesn't really decide anything here, but she would've tried to stop the other Believers from dying in the storm if 6 hadn't stopped her. And not only that, after the fact she's stricken with despair; clearly now affected by the phenomenal world, unlike before.

6, on the other hand, remains seemingly unaffected, choosing to continue with the teachings and beliefs of the school of Aperion despite the defection or death of so many of their members, because he feels like it's still his duty, effectively having made his own choice.

And here's when we get Vertin's perspective on the matter:

That's right, Vertin is definitely the type of leader who is practical, involved and suffers, while I think Bessmert is the type who is wise, uninvolved and looks on from the sidelines. I just find it interesting that it's such a prevalent motive in ch7, and wonder if it'll come up again in future chapters.

Bessmert vs Vertin: Different ways of recording eras

So, after finishing the 1.9 event and pretty much confirming that the "Friend from afar" that writes articles for UTTU is Bessmert, I started reflecting on what she does, compared to Vertin, because at the end of the day they're quite similar characters, but with some key differences.

First of, they're both recording eras, but for their own reasons and in their own way. Vertin was given this task by the foundation, presumably so they'd have more information of how the storms work and how they affect historical events (plus, the way Manus interferes), while Bessmert seems to be driven by her own desire to share what she experiences in the form of articles and/or books, which leads me to the second difference; the medium.

Vertin takes pictures of everything she deems worthwhile, as we learn in the prologue, and also presumably makes some paintings, both of which are purely visual mediums. Meanwhile Bessmert, for obvious reasons, could never use those, and instead turns to writing.

But the major difference, imo, is what they choose to record. Bessmert writes about historical events (the theft of the world-famous rimmet cup, and how an unknown little town in the middle of nowhere saved itself and became prosperous) or major geological arcane discoveries (Pei city and it's Divination, and presumably Aperion and it's magical cave). Meanwhile Vertin records what she herself, personally, finds interesting; the single mother who wrote a play about the transantartica expedition, and a girl who had a collection of a futbol player photos are a few examples. Of course, some of the pictures she took happen to be of historical events, like the Apollo 11 launch, but they're not all she records.

What's even more interesting, however, is how Bessmert detaches herself from the narrative; she's never a protagonist in the stories she writes, and she doesn't try to influence their course or make connections with the people she meets; she's simply an observer. In Shuori she was forced to participate in the the story due to circumstances beyond her control, but even then what she wrote about the event seemed to be more like... collections of geological and cultural observations, rather than anecdotes of the people she met, or what she felt during the events.

Vertin, on the other hand, tends to be an active protagonist in any story she is in. See Green Lake and Uluru, for example; she interacted with the characters, helped them, used whatever resources she had to influence the story for the better, etc. Not only that; she formed personal connections and even invited them to the foundation and her suitcase, because this is the most valuable thing that Vertin deems worth preserving of each era; the people she meets and the bonds she made.

Vertin goes against the wishes of the foundation, to record what she sees without sparing any feelings for the people she met, while Bessmert... well, she really would be the ideal Timekeeper, wouldn't she?

[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!

[taniahylian]

Summary: Love is a difficult thing to find; it takes months and months of careful nurturing to cultivate it, yet can be destroyed in a moment with just a few careless words, and once lost it's almost impossible to get it back. Z thought Greta was the love of her life, but alas, in a world where there's such a deep division between humans and arcanists, how could love like this ever last?

I'm not gonna lie, I'm a bit surprised (and disappointed) that there's no fics out there for Z and Greta, so... I decided to fix it XD Enjoy!

[taniahylian]

Zeno wouldn't have saved Rayashki

This post contains spoilers for the main event and Vila and Windsong's anecdote, so this is your warning to not keep reading if you haven't finished those.

So, one thing I don't understand is people saying that if Rayashki had cooperated with Zeno they wouldn't have been consumed by the storm, which imo is only partially correct. Firstly, although Zeno's main base is probably storm-proof, it's doubtful all of their bases are, as Bertolt himself says they've suffered many loses, including some of their academies. Taking this into account, I doubt the refugee station where they'd take some of the townsfolk would be storm-proof, which basically means they'd only save those from Rayashki that they deemed most "useful" to Zeno.

This is indeed essentially what ends up happening in the story... Except it's the Foundation, not Zeno, who gets to cherry pick who to save, of course deeming the children the most useful, as they get to shove them in SPDM (and brainwash them). Vila, being half Rusalka is of course very appealing to them as well because of her versatility underwater, unmatched by any other arcanist. Meanwhile Windsong's study of leylines seems also very useful to Laplace in the coming storm, as said by Lucy herself.

So yeah, imo no matter what, there was no way to save all of Rayashki. At least now, if time ever returns to its normal course, Rayaski will be free from Zeno and prospering with the mining of coal.

[taniahylian]

Madam Z is an arcanist

So, I've seen some debate in the fandom wether Madam Z is a human or an arcanist, and I decided to make this post because there is actually a canon answer that's been given to us two times; first in chapter 4 of the main story, and then in the Green Lake event.

First, in chapter 4-14 we get a narrator trail that clearly states that Z is an arcanist that somehow made it to the same level of hierarchy as the humans in the Foundation comitee.

Then, in the final part of the Green Lake event we see Tooth Fairy and Z in a car, and TF notices she has a headache, but Z denies it and then confesses that she doesn't want to eat tooth fairies because the texture "creeps her out", revealing that she has consumed them before (remember that TF will only give tooth fairies to arcanists, as said to Blonney). Upon this, TF says she also has human drugs, which Z accepts.

This caption yet again confirms Z is indeed an arcanist.

I don't blame anyone for not remembering these details because Z is unlike most arcanists we typically see in the story; mainly, she has no fancy powers, and doesn't seem to be facing direct discrimination for her origins.

Now, maybe she doesn't have powers; we know this is possible thanks to Kumar, who was born in a family of arcanists yet she couldn't use arcanum. She could also be a half-blooded arcanist, which we know struggle a lot using arcanum as well. She could even be the same case as Greta; having 1/4 of arcanist blood, which would mean she she'd have practically no arcanist characteristics (which is why Greta considered herself a human). However, Tooth Fairy once treated a kid with tooth fairies, and we know the only arcanist in his family was his grandma, so he was also 1/4 arcanist, yet he was arcanist "enough" to consume fairies.

Now, regardles of if Z can use arcane skills or not, I think it's likely she's not "out" to most people in her workplace. We know many of the members of the commitee are rather prejudiced against arcanists, and often are openly racist towards them, and while I don't think they'd stop themselves from saying these things if they knew Z was an arcanist, I think they would definitely use this fact against her, especially when they were trying to stop the storm reformation from being approved.

That said, I think some trusted people in the Foundation do know of Z's status. First of Tooth Fairy, since she won't give people tooth fairies unless they not only are an arcanist, but also accept themselves as an arcanist.

While this is the only confirmation we have, I'd like to think other people like Greta, with whom Z seemed at least amicable, or Katz are also on the loop. Vertin too, probably, and finally... Constantine. I actually think the whole thing with the kids and the storm was also Constantine's subtle way of telling Z "this is what happens to arcanists who rebel", so she could control her better, but of course that's only speculation.

[taniahylian]

Bessmert vs Vertin: Different ways of recording eras

So, after finishing the 1.9 event and pretty much confirming that the "Friend from afar" that writes articles for UTTU is Bessmert, I started reflecting on what she does, compared to Vertin, because at the end of the day they're quite similar characters, but with some key differences.

First of, they're both recording eras, but for their own reasons and in their own way. Vertin was given this task by the foundation, presumably so they'd have more information of how the storms work and how they affect historical events (plus, the way Manus interferes), while Bessmert seems to be driven by her own desire to share what she experiences in the form of articles and/or books, which leads me to the second difference; the medium.

Vertin takes pictures of everything she deems worthwhile, as we learn in the prologue, and also presumably makes some paintings, both of which are purely visual mediums. Meanwhile Bessmert, for obvious reasons, could never use those, and instead turns to writing.

But the major difference, imo, is what they choose to record. Bessmert writes about historical events (the theft of the world-famous rimmet cup, and how an unknown little town in the middle of nowhere saved itself and became prosperous) or major geological arcane discoveries (Pei city and it's Divination, and presumably Aperion and it's magical cave). Meanwhile Vertin records what she herself, personally, finds interesting; the single mother who wrote a play about the transantartica expedition, and a girl who had a collection of a futbol player photos are a few examples. Of course, some of the pictures she took happen to be of historical events, like the Apollo 11 launch, but they're not all she records.

What's even more interesting, however, is how Bessmert detaches herself from the narrative; she's never a protagonist in the stories she writes, and she doesn't try to influence their course or make connections with the people she meets; she's simply an observer. In Shuori she was forced to participate in the the story due to circumstances beyond her control, but even then what she wrote about the event seemed to be more like... collections of geological and cultural observations, rather than anecdotes of the people she met, or what she felt during the events.

Vertin, on the other hand, tends to be an active protagonist in any story she is in. See Green Lake and Uluru, for example; she interacted with the characters, helped them, used whatever resources she had to influence the story for the better, etc. Not only that; she formed personal connections and even invited them to the foundation and her suitcase, because this is the most valuable thing that Vertin deems worth preserving of each era; the people she meets and the bonds she made.

Vertin goes against the wishes of the foundation, to record what she sees without sparing any feelings for the people she met, while Bessmert... well, she really would be the ideal Timekeeper, wouldn't she?

[taniahylian]

So, in light of recent events I want to add a couple of things to my original post. Please don't keep reading if you don't want (very minor) spolers for ch 6 of the main story and the "Farewell to Rayashki" Event.

First of all, can we all agree that Bessmert is 100% Marta?

She sounds the same, looks the same, is blind, and even admits that she hasn't been in the island for long, and has instead traveled to many places. If she's not Bessmert I bet she's *at least* related to her in some way.

Also, is it me or the way she says this "You're such a young, yet you sound like an official" sounds too... idk, endearing? I think this adds to the theory of her being Vertin's mom. Why she hasn't said anything nor has Vertin recognized her, however, I have no idea.

Another thing I want to point out is that Bessmert is also very clearly the "Friend from afar", which is the writer of UTTU that wrote "The theft of the rimmet cup", as stablished above, and also the new "Farewell to Rayashki". Not only does the story starts with her voice narrating, but we also get confirmation from Avgust in the story itself.

This blind lady with a typewritter is undoubtedly Bessmert imo. Who else do we know that is blind, travels a lot and writes about the places she visits? And again, she signs as "The friend from afar", same as the rimmet cup. Also, she says after this she visited many other places, including the Balkan Peninsula, where Aperion is located. So I guess that settles that she's Marta, right?

Who is Bessmert

So, I bet all of us have wondered, since the "Notes on Shouri" event trrailer was announced, who exactly is Bessmert. After all, being an important character, but not playable, and with a very mysterious past and abilities, Bessmert is quite intriguing indeed. And now I'm gonna tell you who I think she is.

Fair warning though, this is a bit long, but I promise it's worth the read, so please stick with me until the end!

Let's start with the most basic evidence: Her appearence. She's tall, has grey hair, dresses in a typical exlorer garment with a big black coat over it, and has her eyes covered with a white cloth. But, most importantly, she looks quite similar to Vertin, and that's just where the similarities start.

Their accents are pretty much the same, as well as the calm way in which they talk most of the time, and they are very smooth talkers; able to convince people of almost anything.

Bessmert's team seems to be aware of this as well, since Krolik even requests she doesn't speak before they vote about going back, no doubt fearing she'll convince them to keep going.

Later on we also see her use this ability to convince Getian to help them solve the Lushu situation instead of running away, similar to what Vertin has done with Druvis and Jessica, for example.

Now, aside from this almost supernatural manner of speach, Bessmert is also similar to Vertin when it comes to her arcane abilities; she also doesn't fight directly, but is able to sense arcanum in various ocassions, something we've only seen Vertin do in canon, and that other characters have remarked how rare of an ability it is.

However, unlike Vertin, she can sense even more than just arcane skills, like nature-related phenomena, the environment around her, and even the intent behind other people's actions. To the point that she's able to walk around freely without having her sight.

I believe this might be because Bessmert is an adult, more experienced arcanist, but also because her blindness might amplify her abilities, since she uses it to make up for her lack of sight.

Although of course here there's the issue if she's even an arcanist at all... or perhaps something else entirely.

Getian tells her, as they are waiting for the miracle of "Ask and acquire", that the pattern he saw in her bones is unlike anything he's ever seen and, therefore, he can't read them. He also said tit unnerved him to the point of wanting to run away. This makes me think that Bessmert might be especial in some way, perhaps in the same way Vertin is; being immune to the storm, and there is evidence for this, surprisingly.

First of all; most of the places we know about that are a "safe zone" to the storm have one common feature; a fog or something that makes people hallucinate, get exited and/or pass out. These features are all present in Vertin's suitcase, the Uluru stadium and the Aperion cave. Not only that, but we can assume the agent responsible for this effect is Asymetric Nucleide R, a compound that is also found on the Manus masks and on the storm raindrops.

Why is this relevent to Bessmert? Well, it seems like Pei City is actually surrounded by the same kind of fog as that in Aperion and Vertin's suitcase, and the origin of it is the temple where people used to go for the Divination.

Now, Bessmert acts surprised when hearing this explanations from Jiu, and we can especulate that it's because she has been to one of such places before, but regardless, we know she and her team encountered such fog before arriving to Pei City.

After following the direction Yenisei's skill tells them has the strongest arcane energy in the area, they arrive to a place where everything suddenly changes; it's different, odd, surrounded by a weird fog and, most importantly, makes them very tired to the point of almost passing out.

However, Bessmert remains unaffected by it all. She especulates it might be because she's used to high altitudes, but they're going downhill, so I doubt that's the case. Plus, even when we see Yenisei's vision getting cloudy and that she almost can't go on anymore, Bessmert remains compleatly unaffected.

This is all reminiscent of Vertin being compleatly unaffected in the suitcase's spinning wheel area, the Aperion cave and the Uluru Stadium, while others pass out pretty quickly, and it leads me to think that Bessmert, very likely, is also immune to the storm.

And there's one last piece of evidence here: Bessmert's name, which in Russian means "Without Death" or "Immortal", and likely has something to do with her ability to survive even the ends of multiple eras. Although I also think this isn't her real name for two reasons: firstly it'd be far too convinient, and also she's very likely not Russian, but Britlish. Why? Because every other Russian character has a Russian accent, while Bessmert's accent is distinctively British.

So what does all this evidence point towards? I think we all know the answer, right? Bessmert is, very likely, Vertin's mother, or at the very least related to Vertin in some way. But considering Vertin is searching for her mother since the beginning of the prologue, and all we know about that woman is that she's "special" (Constantine's words) and the Foundation tried to cover up her existance, this mysterious woman with a lot of characteristics similar to Vertin's seems like the prime candidate.

But that's not all. I'm about to tell u some other theories about who Bessmert is that, although might not be as impressive as being Vertin's mom, are also interesting.

First: She's Urd. Yes, the explorer that went to Aperion and then wrote a travel note about it. First of all because it really seems something that Bessmert would do; travel to a remote island in search of a mysterious cave that grants answers (like Ask and Acquire). But also because Urd is very likely a pseudonym, since Urd is a type of *bean* from Asia.

And finally... Notes on Shouri isn't Bessmert's debut on the R1999 events. In fact, she appeared at the start of the very first event; The theft of the rimet cup.

In case you need a refresher, the event starts up with the newspaper boy trying to sell a newspaper to a "lady in black", who then turns around and the boy notices she's blind.

At this point, the lady asks him to read the news for her, promising to pay for it, which he obliges. Now, we never see her face, but we hear her voice, and it's eerily similar to Bessmert's.

Not only that, but that same voice finishes up the event, apparently dictating an article about the events we see unfold thoughout the story for the UTTU magazine.

Now, of course Pandora Wilson is the main editor of UTTU, but I wouldn't be surprised if Bessmert sometimes wrote articles for it as well, since she's so knowledgable about arcanists, and has traveled all over the world.

So yeah, I believe Bessmert is this mysterious voice in the rimet cup event as well.

But what do you think? Am I overthinking about this one npc way too much? XD. Let me know in the comments!

[taniahylian]

[taniahylian]

Tooth Fairy and Vertin.

I always talk about Madam Z but I don't think I ever really dug into Tooth Fairy and Vertin's relationship.

While Vertin was formally under Madam Z's wing at age 12, Tooth Fairy has all of Vertin's baby teeth (20/32 are baby teeth and she explicitly says 20 baby teeth in her intimacy line). The latest she'd know Smoltin is around 6 years old (roughly the age you start losing teeth) but she could have also known her before then depending on when she officially joined the Foundation.

In other words, Tooth Fairy could have met Vertin anywhere between 1 month (her enrollment) or 6 years (when most children start losing teeth). Another fun fact, most children lose all their baby teeth by age 12, which is also when the parade ceremony/break away event happen. These aren't necessarily related but it's almost symbolic of Vertin "growing up" in more ways than one.

Something else occurred to me.

Tooth Fairy treats her Vertin more like a child than an adult.

Madam Z treats Vertin like a little adult but you can tell she's fond of her and Vertin likes her too. But Tooth Fairy will try to sing her lullabies at night and spends time looking back on Vertin in her younger days. In her voicelines, she brings up dealing with energetic children at night and needing an arsenal of bedtime stories or lullabies for them.

...which is interesting when you consider she's telling this to Vertin at night. She could be mentioning it in passing, but knowing now Vertin was as a kid (trouble-maker who sneaks out at night. Tooth Fairy caught her sneaking out during Christmas too).

And she still give Vertin toffees as rewards in her voicelines!

Where as Madam Z seems to see Vertin as still a kid but tries not to treat her like one, Tooth Fairy doesn't even try. Vertin is still Smoltin to her and will be treated as such.

The way they show affection towards Vertin is different but the Timekeeper is very much loved. They both accept the Timekeeper for who she is.

It feels like Madam Z sees how much Vertin has grown when she thinks about Smoltin, where Tooth Fairy focuses on the core things that never changed despite Vertin "growing up". Still a night owl, still has a sweet tooth, still has trouble sleeping at night etc. Don't get me wrong, she always talks about changes and growing up, but in her other voicelines with Vertin she's mothering Vertin.

[taniahylian]

Vertin and Udimos cuz yes.

Also don't ask why Schneider is a carbuncle (I didn't want to draw a freaking cricket lol).