My personal favorite concept artist for The Arcana, I love their art style and their interpretations of the M6.. If I’m honest, I might even like them a bit more than the finalized designs! Espesially Portia, I love the dark curly hair on her
I don’t remember much before I met Asra. All I remember is waking up and Asra being there. I didn’t know who he was at the time, but I had a feeling I knew him before.
He tried telling me what happened but when I try to remember I get terrible headaches. I’ve been trying to find a way to regain the years of memories I no longer have.
I’m walking around the market trying to find some ingredients for a spell that might help. I found it in one of Asra’s books. I didn’t tell him what I had planned in case he tried to talk me out of it.
I finally found what I needed. I paid for it then hid it inside my bag. I started to make my way back to the shop, head down avoiding everything around me.
I looked up every so often to make sure I was going the right way, but suddenly I saw this painting. The man in the painting looked oddly familiar, but I couldn’t put a name to his face. I tried to remember but all I received was a headache.
I stopped a woman walking in the street, “Who is that in this painting ma’am?” I asked her. She looked at me as if I was stupid, “That’s Count Lucio.” she said before walking off muttering to herself.
Was I supposed to know who that was? I continued to walk to the shop, a million questions running through my mind.
As I entered the shop I placed my bag on the counter, and went to look for Asra.
I found him pacing in our room, “Asra?”
He turned to look at me with a shocked expression written over his face, “Y/n where have you’ve been? You just left without a note, do you know how worried I was?”
I suddenly felt guilty for making him worried, “I’m sorry I went to the market, I thought I would be back before you woke up.”
He sighed before walking over to me and engulfing me into a tight hug. “I’m not angry, just worried. Next time at least let me know where you’re going so I know you're safe.”
He worries too much about me. He seems to panic if he thinks I’m going to get hurt or could be in any danger.
“Why do you worry so much about me?”
This seems to take him by surprise as he pulls away from me, still holding on to me. “Because I care about you, what makes you ask such a question?”
“Sorry, just forget I said anything. I do have one more question though.”
“Go on love.”
“Who's Count Lucio?” I whisper, even though I didn’t mean for it to come out that way.
He is silent for a moment, fear flashes across his face. “Asra, what's the matter?”
“He was the one who died in the fire in the castle two years ago.”
I remember being told about the fire, but I remember none of it.
“I felt as though I knew him before, but when I tried to remember I got another headache.”
Asra looked like he wanted to say something, but he didn’t.
“You know something, don’t you?” I ask, suddenly feeling cold.
He slowly nods, “I do.”
He knew something about my past, and he didn’t tell me? I don’t know how to feel right now. Betrayed? Hurt? Confused? All three.
“What is it?” I ask, voice breaking.
“Before you di-… lost your memories you did knew Lucio. You were his servant, he kept you a secret. A-and that night- the night of the fire, you were there.” He manages to say even though he looks like he is about to break apart.
“Where?”
He looked shocked by the sudden question, “Where what?”
“Where was I in the room that night?”
He hesitated before answering, “His closet.”
“How did I make it out?” I ask the question I’ve been wanting to ask from the beginning.
He was silent for a second, before looking me in the eyes. He looks pained, and I already know the answer.
“I didn’t.” I whisper, tears burning my eyes, “Did I?”
He looks like he's about to break down in tears when he answers, “No, you didn’t”
I rush out of the room, still in tears, and grab my bag. I start to unload its contents as Asra rushes to me.
“Y/n what are you doing?” He panicked.
“I found this spell in one of your books that should help me regain the rest of my memories.” I stop what I’m doing and turn to him, “Please don’t talk me out of it.”
He looked scared, but then relaxed. “If I can’t stop you, at least let me help you to make sure you do it correctly.”
I nod and let him help. Together we set up everything we need for the spell to work, as the book says.
When we are finally finished, I look over to Asra, “Thank You.” He smiled softly at me, “Anything for you.”
I take a deep breath before I start to chant the spell. Asra stands back, tears brimming his eyes, but he doesn't do anything to stop me.
Once I complete the spell, I start to feel light headed as everything slowly turners black. “Y/N!” I hear Asra scream before I fully black out.
“Y/N!” I hear Asra scream, but this time I’m somewhere different. “Y/N, get out of the room!.”
That's when I open my eyes to find myself in a room filled with flames. I looked around panicked, I tried to move but I couldn’t. “I-I can’t move.” I shout.
I look around and I see everything in flames. I don’t recognise the room, until I do. This is Luico’s room.
I look towards Asra who’s in the doorway, trying to get to me. “I’m coming Y/n, try not to breathe in any of the smoke!” he yells as he covers his face with his scarf.
I try to cover my mouth but I already feel light headed, and I can’t move. I slowly start to lose consciousness.
“Y/N! Look at me!” Asra screams, tears running down his face. He was suddenly pulled back by someone- Julian. I remember his name now.
“NO! I HAVE TO SAVE THEM LET ME GO!” Asra screams, trying to get out of Julian’s grip.
“It’s too late, there is nothing you can do now.” Julian shouts over Asra’s screams.
I can feel myself start to burn. I take one last look at Asra to see him crying and screaming as he watches me burn.
“NO! PLEASE, PLEASE, Y/N. DON’T DIE ON ME!” Asra screams as I lose all consciousness.
Before Fire
“Asra!” I yell running to him as he stands by a tree.
“Y/n, how lovely to see you.” He says as he hugs me.
I look around and it looks as if I’m at the castle, in the garden.
“How was your last trip?” I asked him, reliving the memory.
“It was successful, but lonely without you.” He says as he leans down to kiss my neck.
I blush, “We could run away together. Get away from this all.” He continued.
“You know we can’t do that. They’ll find us someday.”
“But we’d at least be together, love.”
I sigh, “Someday.”
“Someday” he whispers. “Look at this beautiful tree.”
I smiled looking up at it, “It is beautiful.”
“Not as beautiful as you though.” he smiled down at me, “Let’s write our names on it.”
“What?!” I asked, looking at him shocked.
“You heard me,” He said, pulling out a pocket knife. He squatted as he began to carve his name into the tree. I slowly followed suit.
Asra + Y/n was written on the tree now.
“Better hope Lucio doesn’t find this,” I say laughing.
“He won’t” He said before whispering a spell. Nothing happened to the tree.
“What did you do?” I asked curious.
“I placed a spell so that only you and I can see the writing,” he said smiling.
“Y/n!” I heard my name being called within the castle.
“Must be Lucio,” I say sadly, “I see you again soon?”
He smiled sadly, “Until next time love. I love you.”
I smile back, “I love you.” I say before going back inside the castle.
I felt this emptiness, like I knew without Asra I wouldn't be whole.
“Y/N! WAKE UP!” I heard Asra’s shaky voice, “Not again, please not again.” his voice broke.
I slowly open my eyes confronted with Asra’s tear stained face. He looked scared, panicked, and broken all the same time.
“Asr-” I tried to say before I was cut off, being hugged like this was the last time he’ll ever see me again.
“You’re never doing that. I thought you died again. I thought-”
“Asra, calm down. I’m fine, I’m not hurt and everything went as the spell said it would.” I whisper trying to calm him down.
He held on to me for a few minutes before pulling away.
“Did it work?” He asked, voice broken from all his screaming.
I nod my head, “I remember everything.”
He began to shake again, sobbing. He brought his hands up to his face to shield his tears.
“Oh Asra darling.” I say before bringing him to my chest.
“You don’t know how it felt to watch the love of my life burn in front of my eyes and I couldn’t do anything to stop it.” He cried, “Having to hear your screams knowing I couldn’t do anything.”
“It’s not your fault, you tried your best.” I whispered. “I’m here now, thanks to you and your magic.”
He nodded and whispered, “I had to bring you back, I’m just grateful the Arcana helped bring you back to me.”
We stayed in each other's arms until we decided to go to our room.
“Asra?” I asked, holding him as we lay on our bed.
He hummed acknowledging me.
“I love you.”
“I love you,” He whispered back before falling asleep.
I smiled as I too fell asleep. Finally becoming whole again. This time with memories.
Asra (The Magician), Nadia Satrinava (The High Priestess), Nasrin Satrinava (The Empress), Namar Satrinava (The Emperor), Valerius (Hierophant), Aisha and Salim (The Lovers), Morga (The Chariot), Nasmira Satrinava (Strength), Muriel (The Hermit), Natiqa Satrinava (The Wheel of Fortune), Vlastomil (Justice), Julian Devorak (The Hanged Man), Valdemar (Death), Volta (Temperance), Lucio (The Devil), Vulgora (The Tower), Portia Devorak (The Star), Navra Satrinava (The Moon), Nahara Satrinava (The Sun), Nazali Satrinava (Judgement), and Nafizah Satrinava (The World)
I don't know why but this scene despite being quite hot, I see it very "insane", Asra is on the edge and thinks nothing but MC ... It always seemed to me that he used Ilya to vent his frustration and despair. And Ilya lets him do it.
Large whirlpool tub is central focus on two bath wings. Built-in neck roll allows relaxed soaking; blinds provide privacy; wall sconces add drama at night.
I've been working on this pre-route since September, and now that the new year is upon us, I've released it to the world. It wasn't planned that way at all, actually, I literally finished final details last night and decided to post it today without thinking about it lol 😂
The first half goes through bits of MC's six years with Asra and their relationship, the second half is her relationship with Julian as his apprentice.
The End, The Beginning, And The Little Things In Between
Check it out if you dare. It's real long so buckle down for the emotional rollercoaster if you decide to embark 😋
I just wanted to share this with you or else i might forget.
Tw : potential(?) angst
What are your thoughts/ How do you envision the argument of asra and mc that resulted in their seperation and so on till the prologue.
This is the only point in asra's route that I just can't make scenarios of
I apologise for my broken English. I hope you have a great vacation 🤍 your blog is literally my safe space and I hope that you find peace in this community too <3
Brainrot's Arcana Essays: Pre-Prologue Asra and MC
Hiya lotus(?) flower anon!
Thank you so much, vacation has been wonderful so far ^.^ and I can't tell you how happy I am to know that this blog feels safe to you. Fandom has been my safe space for years now and I'm so privileged to pass that on :)
To get into answering your question, here's my essay:
The writers made MC as vague as possible for a reason - so that as many readers as possible could fill their shoes. This means that when it comes to the past, having an MC without any memories allows the reader to learn new things at the same time as MC, which contributes to the story feeling so immersive. Unfortunately, it also means that all we know about the past is hints and comments and side conversations that we're left to connect the dots with.
I remember being surprised by this too, but in their route during the paid "slow dance" scene (Wheel of Fortune, Rise and Fall), MC has the opportunity to ask Asra "Is this how we were before?" in reference to their growing relationship. And Asra says no.
The way he tells it, they met when he was a teen selling masks and trinkets that he and Muriel had made on the streets in Vesuvia. He says it was about nine years prior to the time of his route (which using fan estimates of his age would put him at 17). He was interested in MC right away, first as a passing fancy, then as serious crush, and then eventually falling completely in love. He even describes making more and more stock in hopes that MC would have so many options to choose from that they'd stay longer and he'd have more time to talk to them.
It's mentioned in an ask arcana post that after Asra and MC became friends, it wasn't uncommon for him to crash on MC's sofa (especially between trips). It's also mentioned in the prologue that Asra started out in a little fortune telling booth in the Marketplace before using the back room of the shop. It looks like, over the course of the five(ish) years between Asra and MC's meeting and MC's death of the plague, they went from acquaintances to friends to frequently sharing the same work/living space and having a strong partnership.
So how far did their relationship progress? When Asra tells MC that they were "like this" before, the two of them aren't even committed yet. MC still doesn't know what happened in their past, neither of them have said "I love you", and there hasn't been much talk of the future yet. It suggests to me that they were close friends, with a hint of something more on Asra's end, but that the "something more" never got the chance to develop.
That lines up with what Asra says about the way their own feelings developed towards MC. They were scared of how strong they were and their response was to leave, hoping that the distance would shake their attachment. But it didn't, which resulted in Asra running from their feelings and passing up the chance to have a romantic relationship with MC in the first place.
Which is why, when the plague came, Asra wouldn't have had any ground to stand on when he asked MC to come with him. They were close friends, they were business partners, but they weren't lovers. Furthermore, Asra had established a personal habit of disappearing fairly often in order to prevent them from getting too close, so even if MC had hoped to explore that kind of relationship with him they wouldn't have gotten the chance. The only influence Asra had when he asked MC to leave Vesuvia with him was as a concerned friend.
It's unlikely that there was a big, loud argument or messy breakup, because MC and Asra wouldn't have had a relationship that warranted it. The point of their disagreement isn't that they hurt each other, it's that they went their separate ways and that MC ended up dying afterwards. Asra takes so much blame on himself, not because he betrayed MC in any way, but because he hadn't committed to them enough to 1) reasonably expect them to leave Vesuvia with him, or 2) reasonably expect himself to stay behind and help. He blames himself for being too afraid of his own feelings to ask for the relationship he truly wanted and have the precedent to get involved in MC's life when everything fell apart.
Which brings us to Asra's and MC's dynamic for the three years between their resurrection and the prologue: it's not ideal, but it's a lot healthier than expected.
Asra did not have any claim on MC's heart when they died (which he sees as one of the reasons why MC was left to die in the first place) and he doesn't try to establish a claim after bringing them back. He doesn't bring MC back as an isolated, obsessive lover who couldn't handle a bad breakup. He sees MC's death as his biggest mistake, and then he works with other people and Arcana figures to bring them back. There was a collective agreement that MC deserved a second chance at life, Asra simply took initiative in bringing that to fruition and then took the responsibility on himself to care for MC as a close friend upon their return. It's a beautiful character development arc for him - the person who was too scared of his feelings being requited to commit, becomes the person committed to the one they love while expecting nothing in return.
There's three reasons why their dynamic afterwards is so isolated: first, all the other people involved in bringing MC back are missing their memories of it, unconscious, or out of town. Second, Asra is a naturally isolated person themself, constantly forgetting that there are people out there who exist and care about them and want to help. Making and holding onto relationships is a big personal blind spot for them.
Third (and most importantly), MC is in no position to make friends, because nobody in their neighborhood will speak to them. It wouldn't be unreasonable to expect that after three years of running a shop, somebody would have made friends without any outside help. MC doesn't have that option because people are too freaked out at seeing them alive, and Asra isn't going to take them anywhere else because this is the lifestyle that gives MC the most financial, emotional, and physical independence.
This is the backdrop of the events of the prologue: Nadia wakes up and Julian comes back to town, and they're quick to reconnect with MC. Asra remains friendly and supportive, but ultimately emotionally distant. The turning point for him is at the end of the prologue, when MC has the chance to ask him, explicitly, what they mean to him. It's only once MC has other connections again, is living independently, is clearly recovered enough to decide their own future, and invites Asra to express their feelings that MC starts to realize that his interest goes beyond friendship.
There's my little speculative timeline, friend, I hope it made sense and you liked it!
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