taniahylian

[taniahylian]

Don't mind me, just a silly thing I made lol.

[taniahylian]

Paulina and Regulus

Okay, I'mma post this cuz I think I'm going insane (I probably am), but here me out. There's too many coincidences that point out to there being a connection between the two, even if don't know exactly what kind of connection.

First let's start for the most obvious thing... Paulina's blue polka dot scarf.

It's not the same as Regulus', obviously, but it is very similar. Yet, if this was the only coincidence I wouldn't be making this theory... yet here I am.

Next it's this peace sign sticker that's next to Paulina's picture at the restaurant, but also on Regulus' backpack. Again, on it's own could be just a coincidence, but maybe it's not.

In that picture it says Apple on the background, and there's an apple in that same poster, and I don't think I need to saw how this connects to Regulus. To the side there's also a vinyl disc, like those Regulus always carries with her, which wouldn't be a big deal... except we're in the 1990's, when using CD's was already a lot more popular than vinyls.

And there's also the fact that Paulina's mom married J's father, who was from a world-famous family of alchemists. How is this relevant to Regulus? Well, she's an alchemical genius. Maybe Paulina's mom had an interest in alchemy too and that's how she ended up meeting J's dad.

Now... I want to point out that, at least to me Regulus and Paulina look quite similar.

It's not a one-to-one resemblance, of course, but they look similar enough for me to think they might be related, maybe, especially since Paulina's blue scarf was a gift from her parents. That said... as funny as it'd be to say to Regulus "So you are a mother!", I don't think that's the case at all. Firstly because Paulina is French, while Regulus is British, but most importantly because Paulina is human; she doesn't have any powers at all.

Of course we don't know Regulus' lineage, so she could be only half-arcanist, and therefore she'd be able to have a mostly-human child if she married a pure blood human, but... I don't think that's the case. Sonetto says in ch1 that Regulus' talent is rated "S", which most likely mean she's either pure blood, or very close to it, so any child she had would be at least a half-blood arcanist.

That said... the dates would match. Regulus was 15 in 1966, and lets assume Paulina was the same age when she left J, let's say 1989, one year before the event takes place. That'd mean Paulina was born in 1974, and Regulus would've been 23 years old at that point. However, if she is Paulina's mom, she died very young (around 30 years old?), as we know Paulina and J became orphans soon after becoming sibilings... and, believe it or not, the fact that Regulus would die young is actually hinted at by Mr. Apple in the mini chapter after ch7.

So... it is possible that Regulus had a child with a French person, said child, Paulina, happened to be born without powers despite her arcanist lineage (like Kumar, for example), then they moved to San Francisco, where Regulus met J's father, bonded with him thanks to their shared love of alchemy, got married and then died soon after. However... idk, it doesn't seem right to me? I think there might be different kind of connection between them, although I'm not sure what.

Maybe I'm just losing my head, idk. Most likely, honestly, but it's fun to speculate XD

Anyways, thanks for reading! Let me know what you think.

[taniahylian]

Hi, I just had to draw my favorite character from the 2.0 event. Wdym she just showed up for 5 minutes, that's still enough for me to obsess over her lol.

[taniahylian]

Kimberly

Alright, first of all I want to apologize to all the characters in the Golden City event because I got absolutely obsessed with a character that literally appears for 5 minutes just to be the final boss 😂💔. But I think there's so much lore in those 5 minutes, so I wanted to share my analysis with you.

Now, to be fair I know a little bit of what's to come on future patches, so I might be slightly biased (I absolutely adore this hellish creature), but I'll limit what I say to the current patch. That said, spoilers for 2.0 ahead! Read at your own discretion.

First off, let's talk about the way she's introduced. A very unique way indeed; Eternity, being contracted by Apostole Mathew to get him out of the Elysium safetly, but not wanting to escort him herself, gives him a simple old wind-up robot toy (probably from the 1800's, when they were cheaply produced in mass quantities for the first time).

She also says that it's from the Saint Pavlov Foundation, and that an employee stole it and sold it to her for some cash. Not only that, but it's not the only artifact that was stolen and sold to Eternity during the chaos after the storm; this toy is part of something they call "lost assets" that they're urgently trying to get back.

However, Bernard calls this toy the "most important one" of these assets, so... why? What does it do, exactly?

Well, you just need to wind it and...

It's just like the tale of the genie of the lamp, isn't it? Wind the toy and a beautiful girl obligated to fulfill all your wishes appears. We also know her name is Kimberly, since it was inscribed on the toy.

But here's the thing... Kimberly, this girl, is literally forced to do anything her master wants. ANYTHING. Let that sink in. She's literally a slave. Why do I say that? Well, she says it herself; she'll obey any command.

Her voice isn't exactly thrilled when she's summoned, nor is her expression; the game even points out that she looks frail and weary. It sounds like she's only ever summoned to do very bad things; to the point that when the Manus Believer asks her to kill J and his friends, she says "Is that all?" And seems happy that it's a relatively simple request.

Still, she doesn't exactly take pleasure in the task; it's more of an automatic response for her. Sure, she also has some blood thirst in her, threatening to rip out their spines and all, but she also says that she's a skilled hunter and prefers to kill her prey fast. And honestly, even if she has developed a thirst for blood and questinable morals... can you blame her? We don't know for how many years she's been enslaved and forced to perform henious acts for her masters; this kind of life would change anyone.

But why was she enslaved, exactly? Well, we know she's a very powerful being, first of all, because she easily breaks J's new knife, which was made with a mystical magic metal that had to be found with a literal ancient map.

So, from this we can already infer that she's no ordinary arcanist... and then comes the big reveal.

Now, I don't know what creature this is, exactly, but from the goat face and horns and all... it looks like a sexy demon. My speculation is that she's a new type of "Beyond", which we know are arcane creatures that possess human-like intelligence and attributes, but usually have tremendous power; Voyager, Jessica and Valentina are examples, but Jiu is a half-blood of this kind too. In real life mythology I'd say Kimberly looks kinda like a succubus? But we need more information to conclude that imo. She could also just be a very weird genie lol.

Regardless of what she is, I think we can safely conclude that her story, being a slave for who knows how many years, and then being trapped in the wind-up toy in the foundation for a lot of time, is very tragic, especially since we're shown that the only thing she wants is freedom.

She was given to a Manus Believer; he's her master, but he's a mindless monster that doesn't know what he wants, so she's free... for now. If either the Foundation or Manus Vindictae find her, however, I don't think it'd go well for her... although actually it might be better if the Manus found her, since the Foundation would just put her back inside the toy and store it away forever.

Now, judging by what Eternity said, I believe she might think that she did Kimberly a favor by selling her to the Manus.

However, I wholeheartedly disagree and I'm personally holding Eternity responsible for whatever happens to Kimberly after this patch. She had a slave in her possession, and she could've probably freed her somehow (like ordering her to be free or something idk), but instead she chose to sell her for profit (like a true Ameri- I mean, capitalist) to one of the leaders of a terrorist organization. Do you understand how fucked up that is? The Manus have no morals, and giving them absolute control over anyone is bad enough, but this one is a supernatural being on top.

Also, we know Kimberly didn't want to be sold. She didn't want to be used. Sure, she liked getting some fresh air for a change, but she would've prefered to stay in Eternity's bag. How do I know? Simple.

This fucking broke my heart. I feel so bad for this poor creature, and I just hope she finds true freedom someday :c

Sorry for this extremely long analysis of an npc lol, but I'm absolutely obsessed with her lore and I can't wait to learn more about her. I hope I at least aided you to view her in a more sympathetic light.

[taniahylian]

I'm pretty sure that the people who get reversed by the storm do actually come back when their era returns, actually. See: Kakania. Let me explain.

Kakania, Isolde and their brothers were friends with Heinrich before the storm of 1912; Kakania mentions that Heinrich went to live in Berlin for two years, and we know from Semmelweis' conversation with Greta that he met the Manus in Berlin and survived the 1912 storm, while the rest of the ppl he knew were reversed.

Then, the storm took us back to 1913, where Heinrich, having been with the Manus through the storms of 1966 and 1929, returned to meet his old friends and even gave Kakania a book from the future. Similarly, Marcus was excited about her era returning and wanted to go to her old orphanage, likely to meet her friends again.

Now, Paulina was from the 90's, but the problem here is that she lived all the way to 1999 and beyond, to the storm of 1996 (2002). Let's imagine she was 15 when she joined the foundation and 2 years have passed in J's perspective; she'd be 17 in 1990. However, since in reality she lived 12 years more, the Paulina who got reversed was around 29 years old. That's why he didn't recognize her and why she had a ring on her finger; she was an engaged adult, not the teen he remembered.

I suspect the reason she didn't reappear in 1990 is because she would've been in the foundation at that year, but in the foundation there's no storm; time keeps moving forward, so it's actually 2007 inside the foundation, not 1990... which would also mean there's no way for Paulina to come back.

Honestly... I'm starting to think it might be better for the characters to get reversed. That way they stay anchored in their era and oblivious to the storm. Problem is, if that happened, we wouldn't get them in our suitcase XD

So there’s some interesting things I found out about Paulina thanks to Reddit:

She was mentioned in Chapter 4, in the Dances of Fire conversation with the old man AND Hoffman talked about how she saw her get reversed in “The Star” Part 2, and how Paulina’s hand and her scarf were the only remnants of her.

This does brings up a lot of questions regarding Paulina and the “Storm”:

If we know Paulina is from the 90s, does that mean J was reversed in a previous Storm? Is the J in 2.0 the same J that Paulina knew as her brother, or is he a different J? Would he even recognize her if she was still alive in 2.0 and they saw each other again? Do people who get reversed in the “Storm” come back if their era returns?

I know this might go into some foggy territory–mainly things like alternate timelines and weird time travel shenanigans–but it does bring up a lot of implications.

- Mayeux

I was trying to figure out where Paulina was mentioned before because I remembered the name and scarf, but not where they were mentioned. You saved me so much trouble!

For some reason my text is cut off but maybe in the future I can put all the evidence of Paulina together.

This is the exact location for anyone else looking the exact trail.

And this is from The Star pt 2 like Mayeux said.

Another interesting thing is why was her hand left behind? Usually only clothes and accessories are left behind, not body parts. This makes me think about the ring on her hand. J said Paulina never mentioned getting married and he does not recognize the ring. Even if her hand was in the safe zone, shouldn't have been Reversed like the rest of her?

Did the ring help preserve her hand after it entered the zone?

Although, we don't know much about Reversal and there could be other instances of limbs being left behind that we haven't heard about yet.

I agree, the "Reversal" seems to be something other than going back in time.

"Do people who get reversed in the “Storm” come back if their era returns?"

The implications! We haven't met anyone yet, but if we did OH BOI

[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.