#maestronot

[potentiallymrsdevorak]

Taking a quick break from headcanons to share this WONDERFUL, BEAUTIFUL art of Nijah that I commissioned @maestronot for!

She’s getting ready for the colder weather to come and hoping that Julian remembered to wear his coat in the freezing temperatures coming their way.

Thank you so much again to the talented Daru! Make sure to follow them and see more of their amazing art!!!

[cedarmoons]

Hello Theia ! I like your writing and I'm really curious about your opinion, so I wanted to know why do you think Nadia is the best written route out of the three ? :'3

Hello, and thank you! Buckle up gals and pals, it’s time for some opinions™ under the cut. anyone who wants to add their opinions are welcome.

So, while my love for Nadia is vast and she deserves better, my opinion that hers is the best route is less “it’s the best written of the three” and more “it’s not the worst written of the three.” And really that all comes down to character development. It’s been my opinion that The Arcana is steadily backsliding in writing substance, even as the visual goodies increase. 

In all of Nadia’s books, her character development has been consistent. She repeatedly states that she is sick of hiding, doing nothing, “withering away in [Lucio’s] shadow.” Your choices have tangible consequences for Nadia’s development. 

If your MC questions her or tells her not to act alone, she thinks about what kind of ruler she wants to be.

If your MC goes along with everything she does and/or deflects blame (such as the choice “It’s Lucio’s fault, not yours” [paraphrased] in the Tower), she becomes fixed in her beliefs, becoming a headstrong-slash- stubborn ruler. 

These choices reflect the readings you can give her in the prologue (The Emperor upright or the Emperor reversed). More proof of tangible results on her development:

If your MC encourages her to stay distant from her sisters, she consistently attempts to “prove” herself to them like when she was small (ex: when she deflects blame onto her servants for the Masquerade not being entirely ready in Death, and says “I require your services,” which is more stilted and formal, reflecting her awkward relationship with them.) 

If your MC encourages her to reconcile with her sisters, she explicitly asks for their help, and is relieved when they readily agree, which shows that she has outgrown that desire to prove herself as capable to her sisters (which, I suspect, was a partial or influential reason for her marriage to Lucio). 

Despite this, she is not dependent on MC for her core development, which is wanting to become a good ruler for her people, vs. the passive observer she was when married to Lucio. I say this is her “core” development because the two aspects I outlined (sisters & challenging her) influence what kind of ruler she will be, as opposed to influence her overall character development. if that makes sense. Instead, her development has been linear.

I haven’t felt that way about Asra or Julian’s route. I love Asra with my entire black heart, but the influence that MC wields over him is not as apparent as it is in Nadia or Julian’s routes; I didn’t even know his paid choice in The Tower could be changed until I saw a throwaway comment on a post in Asra’s tag. 

One problem with this is that Asra’s route is so centered on the past (as opposed to Nadia’s present, and Julian’s future) re: his and MC’s relationship, but I’m disappointed that the first “evidence” of which ending we will get, either reversed or upright, only appears in a paid choice in Book XVI, when we have ~5 one-chapter updates left. I kind of feel like his route is going in circles, and teasing answers without quite providing them. The last book that I felt “added something” to the story rather than being hollow, vague as that sentiment is, was Death.

As for Julian… I originally started out with Julian’s route. I was originally going to be a Julian main, and write Julian fanfic, because the top in me can’t rest until I’ve written every character I love as a bottom at least once. Julian’s route has the most variations, which makes sense, because of the three his is the route most dependent on MC for the outcome. 

Despite this, I feel like Julian’s more spicy proclivities – being a bottom, a masochist, etc – has been made the butt of the devs’ jokes in his route. I am of the opinion that his route has kind of sacrificed his development for fanservice. (Case in point: the vine CG.) His development as well as writing has been pretty, uhhhh, irregular? EX: MC mentions seeing red water in the rivers in the first chapter of Book VI, and it isn’t mentioned again until Judgement. Mazelinka potentially being a witch? Never mentioned again, and only a side line in Heart Hunter. Early in the books he seems chill with magic, and MC wonders at his change of heart, which isn’t brought up again until he does magic in the Tower w/ MC. 

As for his character development being inconsistent, I understand & have personally experienced that recovery while living with mental illness, which he clearly has (as does Asra probably my poor babe), is a rocky road at best, so to that aspect I am more forgiving. But really, for the past several updates, I have felt that I was biting into a hollow chocolate shell when reading Asra & Julian’s books: tasty at first, but no substantive filling. I haven’t felt that way with Nadia, which is why I firmly believe hers is the best written route.

(((Also, sidenote only tangentially related, Nadia’s Coliseum chapter made the most sense, because Valerius has been resentful of MC&Nadia since the very prologue, it makes sense that his resentment culminates in an attempted coup, thus leading to her Coliseum chapter. Julian’s also arguably made sense because he was on trial for murder, but I also saw complaints about him backsliding in his development re: lying to MC about why he was there, why he didn’t tell MC his plan, etc, but I am no Julian stan so I can’t comment on that. (I’m just salty about Asra’s Coliseum chapter b/c it was more fanservice than substance so that’s why this part was at the end.))))

Thanks for the ask! Hope this clears stuff up! :)

[afsaneh-jaan]

23, 40, and 50 for afsaneh ? :3 (I'm sorry if you had answer any of them yet, ignore. >____>)

no worries, dear, none of them have been asked yet 

(and like i said, i don’t even remember if i ever actually reblogged that specific ask list or not, i only know i had it in my likes apparently)

23. What is a random fact about your OC?

she’s good at climbing. sometimes she’ll perch in high places and watch people together with her falcon.

40. Your character is getting ready for a night out. Where are they going? What do they wear? Who will they be with?

it’ll most likely be Nadia to propose the idea and have everything planned, from  the outfit to the location and everything around and in between. if Afsaneh were the one to take Nadia anywhere… it would probably be to one of her favorite places that look especially beautiful at night. perhaps with a picnic basket that Portia helped prepare. and then they’d just enjoy each other’s company without obligations and distractions. and maybe get frisky in the moonlight ;)

50. If your character was presented with imminent and unavoidable death/fatality, how would they react? Would they try to avoid death anyways? Would they try to make their last days count?

well if it were imminent i’d imagine she wouldn’t have any last days, so here are two scenarios:

she’d die within the next few minutes: she’d be scared, and depending on the amount of memories she’s regained, have a few regrets, mainly regarding her family. but ultimately she’d concentrate on accepting her fate. there wouldn’t be much she could do against it anyway. 

if she had a few days left: she’d try to make the most of her days. spend time with the ones she loves and try to reassure them that she was going to be fine and they were going to be fine too. she wouldn’t wan’t them to feel sadder than they had to be. i guess she’d want to leave them all with some last beautiful memories they could remember her by. she’d spend the most of her time with Nadia. if possible she would try to find her family and at least send a letter or something. let them know the life she led had been a good one and how much she regretted to never have seen them again after she had left (depending on how much she remembered them).

[robogart]

Are polyamorous relationships in nighttorn possible ? <:3c

Hmmm - an excellent question :3c 

I was originally imagining Nighttorn relationships as one-on-one bc it was just the kind of feeling I got as I’ve been planning the story and characters..? Hmm but to be honest, I have yet to really decide though...I think I was planning this one to not be polyamorous bc my other story Devil Ward was going to be a very gay and polyamorous game with a large cast - but we’ll see.... > w >;;; I’m curious if it’s something that people would be interested in though? This is a story/game that will be a while in the making so there’s lots of time to think about it! ;3c

[karuoke]

Your life is strange kids are so stylish !! I love the headband you give to Max in your "coping with heavy shit" club pieace. (Enjoyable caption by the way ; ^ ;)

dressing up these pretentious little shits always been my favorite thing to doodle (:

glad you like it ♥

[lucioscunt]

The high priestress. (I can't help, Nadia's is my main isn't it.)

(Only the best for such a great person, right?)

The High Priestess: what is your dream date?

I don’t know?

I don’t have any particular preference on the matter, I’m fine with whatever makes my date happy cause honestly there’s nothing I love more than spending time with them and seeing their smile~

Tarot questions✨

[atomicshitpost]

Fanart of Fungi @maestronot ‘s OC Your art is amazing and this zombie gal caught my eye :))) thanks for letting me draw her!

hat and no hat ver (hat in transparent png) 

[ptanalo]

maestronot: I really appreciate to read your personal notes. Thank you for sharing to your blog.

aw gee thank you very much!!