#lonetrail ifrit

[sargehev]

Some practice sketches last night ft. Lonetrail Ifrit

#practice sketch #sketch #pinterest reference #ifrit arknights #ifrit #lonetrail ifrit #lonetrail #arknights #i really like her glow up in lonetrail #she's all grown up WAAAAAA #absolutely precious

[whooiew]

Bonsai! Kafka implied!

#arknights #Lonetrail #Kafka Arknights implied! #Omg Ifrit #ifrit arknights #kafka arknights

[munchiep]

please laugh

#Arknights #ive become quite fond of them from lonetrail #Ifrit #Rosmontis #my art #ifrit ipad baby real

[brave-symphonia]

Her mom saved her!

#zack plays video games #zack plays arknights #ifrit #saria #lonetrail #lonetrail spoilers

[arknightsoutofcontext]

Lone Trail: CW-7 Castle in the Sky (Before Operation)

#recorded this one bc i think the punching sounds and sprite movement makes it funnier #arknights #lone trail #olivia silence #ifrit #silence #lonetrail

[cerastes]

What's your take on MumuDoc in Lonetrail?

Muelsyse in Lone Trail felt, in many ways, like seeing someone diving in a pool, and at first, you're not alarmed. They know how to swim. You don't really think much of it. But then a minute passes, and they are still underwater. Concern sinks in, and you make your way to the pool, and as you're about to jump in, their head surfaces, they are back up. They cough, they tough it out, and are a bit nervous about diving again, but you're going in the pool with them now, and they feel more at ease.

Take this, intensify it a hundredfold, stretch it a hundredfold, and scrutinize it a hundredfold, and you end up with Muelsyse, in her barest form, like a diamond born from a chunk of charcoal that had too much pressure put on it.

I can see Muelsyse's dynamic with Doctor being romantic. I can see Muelsyse's dynamic with Doctor not being romantic. Both are fine interpretations, if you ask me, I mean, her theme song is very much a love song, and at the same time, she feels desperate to find anyone who can just... Empathize in even the slightest of ways to her. Either read is fine, outright discounting either feels a tad disingenuous.

Alienation. Complete and utter alienation, an edge sharper and more injurious than isolation. This is, if you ask me, the main theme surrounding the Rhine Lab arc and cast.

Saria is alienated. She cannot find common ground with anyone else around her for the longest time. She used to have a shared dream with Kristen, but that bridge has burned and frozen and turned to ash all over. Kristen is alienated. She simply cannot see a point to anything except that obsessive doggedly persistent dream of hers, and it has been weighted more important than her humanity. Joyce is alienated. Forever a partial prisoner in her own head, there are few and far between that will ever put up with the unique intricacies of having to deal with someone that talks like her, has sudden Oripathy attacks like her, and falls asleep on the spot seemingly at random like her, fully cognizant of how high maintenance she can be on others. Ho'olheyak is alienated. On borrowed time, without kin or friend to call her own, living for a transcending mission far bigger than her and so, so small in the overarching beats of a world that can't be bothered to stop for her. Silence. Ifrit. Dorothy. Tin Man. I could go on. Alienated, all of them. Not isolated, because isolation would imply the lack of physical company. This is far colder, far darker. It's alienation. It's seeing the other side of the cliff, and no possibility of a bridge to connect it to your end of the cliff. Isolation stings, it's a pain you know is there. Alienation drowns, because you can see the surface, but you are convinced you'll never make it there, and it's a hundredfold worse.

Muelsyse is no different. Muelsyse is alienated, and goodness she has tried and tried and tried, she swims so, so hard to reach the surface, but she can't reach it. Being in Rhine Labs necessarily means you need to resort to some cutthroat cloak and dagger, it becomes routine, all for an ultimate goal, but is that ultimate goal even possible? With every step taken by Muelsyse, it seems two new steps materialized at the end of the staircase. Everyone she's met, for years now, has either been someone looking to use her, or someone she can use for her own advantage. Usually simultaneously. And it's in this context, when the 9 to 5 becomes tricking, blackmailing, snuffing and silencing that by chance, she comes across someone, possibly the sole person, that can actually understand the sheer weight on her shoulders: Doctor, someone who doesn't own their own past, but is shackled by it, someone who has no one to relate to, someone surrounded by sufficiently similar but ultimately infinitely different people to themselves, someone who by all means should be drowning in the same pool as her, but somehow, this person reached the surface. It's very easy to see why she'd become so utterly fascinated by this person, who shares many similarities with her, and yet, who seemingly has it so good, has it so sweet. It could have easily been jealousy, but end of the day, Muelsyse IS a sweet person. Yeah, she plays it up, always so cheerful and whimsical, but end of the day, Muelsyse is playing up something that is already there in the first place. Instead of jealousy, it brought her happiness, because maybe, just maybe, she could enjoy a bit of that je ne sais quoi that Doctor seems to have in spades and she is completely bankrupt of.

The first interactions between Muelsyse and Doctor are telling of this overwhelming rush of emotion: Muelsyse less talks with Doctor and more talks at them. She vomits words, emotion, whimsy, as if trying to put these emotions into words and actions after so long, emotions that was ready to never need to put into words in the first place. It eventually becomes a dialogue between two parties, but Muelsyse's interactions with Doctor are initially extremely one-sided, and they remain one-sided to some degree even moving forward. It was heartwrenching to me, honestly, to see the sheer joy Muelsyse radiated while around Doctor, because that is an almost manic amount of joy simply from possibly finding someone that gets it. Muelsyse has not had a bridge in so, so long, and suddenly, the finds someone that not only resembles her a lot, but also seems to have bridges in spades. Muelsyse and Doctor's dynamic should never be considered in a vacuum just between the two of them: One of the first things Muelsyse saw with her own eyes was that Doctor had a pretty friendly relationship, mutual respect included, with Saria. That, is immediately very telling of Doctor, given that Muelsyse understands exactly how difficult that is. We also know Muelsyse sneaks around Rhodes Island and chats with Ifrit now and then, and Ifrit also expressly has a very high opinion of Doctor. It simply makes sense that Muelsyse would feel as enthusiastic about her Dorothy's Vision brush with Doc, and all that Lone Trail entailed: It's terribly sad, because they don't even know each other, and even then, it's the shiniest ray of hope for herself that Muelsyse has had the chance to bask in: Doctor's essence, Doctor's existence, in and of itself, is a massive beacon of hope for Muelsyse.

And it's so damn sad, that this perfect stranger is the most familiar comrade she'll ever find.

Is this romantic love? Hell, the molotov cocktail of emotions involved might as well be, either now or in potentially in the future. Is it something unhealthily dependent? Yeah... Yeah. It might just be the euphoria of knowing that she can reach the surface, after all, that bridges, too, are possible for her to have, with not underlying motive, with no ulterior motive, without needing to offer something or to extract something. To put in the most basic of terms, Doctor, to Muelsyse, might as well represent the very first person in who knows how long that she can relate to at all. It is an immensely sad emotional starvation, and she finally found something to sink her teeth onto.

This is personal, but the way Muelsyse struck me, it felt to me that when she had even the barest of handles on Doctor, she related to someone for the first time in forever, and it shook her to her very core. It may have been the first time she saw, in someone else, a potentially happy Muelsyse.

It's extremely bittersweet. If you've ever dealt with alienation, think back on the first time you found someone who truly "got you". Add to that the fact that her routine of interacting with people had become to see others as tools, and to always be on the lookout for those wishing to use and expend you as a tool. Then, add to that that there are definitely more Elves, but Muelsyse is so fundamentally different to them that the sheer differences in temperament and culture make it so it's impossible for her to relate to them anyway. What could be lonelier than that? It's called Lone Trail for a reason, because alienation is a main theme for all of these people.

In finding the sole person that could possibly relate to her in circumstance and temperament, it's easy to see where Muelsyse's interest in Doctor comes from. Whether you interpret it as romantic or otherwise, it can't be denied that this immensely strong interest exists. It comes from finally seeing a way to reach the surface after the world told her for decades that she simply could only drown. Because Doctor is the only other person that could understand her in being the last of their race and in having no past and maybe even no future, and yet, Doctor having so many bridges, while she has none. I think Muelsyse craves companionship, not necessarily romantic, from Doctor, and, this is important, also wants to have what they have, and be part of it, of so many bridges built without ulterior motives.

#arknights #muelsyse #doctor #lone trail #justintaco

[000yul]

“you don’t need to read the rhine manhua before you read lonetrail” ok TECHNICALLY true but but then you don’t. you don’t see the parallels and stuff like e.g.

rhine lab manhua: saria calls kristen out. look down. look at humanity. look at the people you’ve hurt. stop just looking at the stars.

the call back in lonetrail right before kristen launches saria out of her ship. but this time it’s kristen saying (stealing my friends words): “hey...look down there's ppl who need you and i've accomplished my dream u dont need to look after me anymore”

saria’s downfall as director of defense—her inability to protect those like ifrit etc.—feels like it stems from the whole “i can fix her” thing she has going on with kristen. it’s this massive blind spot centred on kristen, born of love. it’s a failure that ends up hurting a lot of people she cares about. kristen is a woman obsessed to the point of madness but here even she’s trying to set saria free in her own way (i’m clutching my head in pain)

#these two hurt so much to think about jfc #i’m screaming in pain oh my god #they’re both too stubborn. #tae our shared brainworms on this #arknights spoilers #arknights

[justintaco]

I've been up for almost 24 hours so

superheavy Lonetrail Muelsyse spoilers

Besides the like, uncountable amount of stuff that blew me away in Lonetrail,

linking together Mansfield Break and Dorothy's Vision with Vigilo and Walk in the Dust

creating thematic parallels with Near Light at the end,

what really blew me away was Muelsyse.

Anyone who's followed this blog for a long time knows I'm not big on shipping and I'm semi-public with my opinion that most times shipping brain completely poisons someone's ability to actually engage with a narrative. But honest to god, even to me, they seemed to be almost writing a romance with Doctor and Mumu.

Blink twice if you don't think I'm crazy.

like any gacha you have a lot of flirty lines between the player character and a million of the girls (and guys), but like, this seemed unusually genuine and romantic?

(x)

Like besides them sharing a dance and all their cute little scenes, they seemed to be creating a genuine parallel in their backstories and who they are as people here

Mumu discovers she isn't actually the last of her race but realizes that she has so little in common with them she cannot form any meaningful connection or even find a shared language with them. Her integration into human society is like, almost all just an act of survival by her own admission, she doesn't feel any belonging there either. In fact, most of the time her real body is hiding in her vivarium because the physical world itself is becoming so poisoned by originium that it's dangerous to leave using anything but a clone. Even in her flashback with Saria and Kristen, she seems to be the third wheel.

She is by every possible metric, completely alone. And it seems like her chronic teehee backstabbing is a coping mechanism to feeling completely alienated from even her closest friends and what becomes her second family with the Rhine Lab directors. Even that dysfunctional and over idealized family is gone now too. She even says the following after she betrays Doctor for one last ditch effort to throw in her lot with Kristen and maybe find somewhere out in the stars she can belong:

Compare that with the Doctor, who in this event witnesses what seems to be the death of the last member of their race. In fact, the dialogue implies that Doctor feels an incredible amount of anguish even just pulling the plug on Trevor since it's not so quick a death. Directly after this event, after escaping the big silo bunker thing, Doctor's first thought is to go seek out Mumu rather than regroup with everyone from RI (including Saria who just reentered the atmosphere Halo 3 style). It feels like a response to an epiphany.

Earlier, Doctor had managed to actually get her to tell the truth about herself during their dance. How isolated she feels without any past or family, just like Doctor. So they go directly to her, fresh off of losing the last connection to their past life besides Kal'tsit (who is implied to not only be unwilling but in some way unable to share more info with Doctor).

You then get what is this, extremely deeply intimate conversation between Doctor and Muelsyse, commiserating over their shared loneliness.

She tries to play things off with her usual shtick but pretty quickly she admits that saving those random Control goons on the ship was her failed attempt at suicide because Saria had well and truly kicked her out of the triumvirate to confront Kristen alone.

After that she begins connecting with Doctor on a deeper level than any character I can really recall. As much as I love the ex wife Kal'tsit stuff, they really don't seem to have a romantic attachment. A very very close and intimately trusting one, maybe a past romance, but never romantic with Doctor as they exist in the present since waking up. Doctor views other characters like Amiya, Ifrit, and Rosmontis as children to be protected. But this here is these two really baring their souls and it's just crazy to see in a gacha game where the format discourages stuff like this.

Just, man I love this whole conversation. They've both just learned recently that they can't shed their loneliness with what's left of their races. Muelsyse is totally at the end of her rope, but Doctor has just learned that the only thing they can do is fully commit to the people they know in the present. So despite Mumu's one final attempt to put a barrier up between her and another person, a literal physical barrier of water

Doctor walks right into the barrier and literally reaches out to her to help save her with what they just learned that same day

Muelsyse refers to the parts not in blue here (blue usually being the only confirmed dialogue Doctor says out loud in any given cutscene) when she talks to Nasti later. That means the Doctor said all of this out loud.

Again, am I crazy or does this feel like the most romantic Doctor has ever been with another character?

A lot of himejoshis on Twitter have been mad about the event and what it means for Mumu x Ho'ohleyak, Mumu x Saria, or Muelsyse x her OT3 with Saria and Kristen, and honestly

they might have a point

#needed to get this out or I'll never be able to sleep #please try to keep replies spoiler free if you do #Arknights #Muelsyse

[dlartistanon]

If FrostNova joined Rhode Island, do you think she'd make friends with Muelsyse after Lonetrail? Powerful Ice and Water users, part of a good cause that they built and was their life for, but had to watch it be corrupted to evil, both with a close relationship to a powerful and indomitable shield user, and both grieving what could've been if they weren't betrayed.

First off, thank you; this is such an involved question involving characters I adore and you're awesome for thinking it!

While they do have those things in common, I don't know if they would strike up a friendship. At least not in the traditional sense. More like kindred spirits?

Their personalities might clash, but Mumu is close to even the hardheaded Saria. Yelena is straightforward, Mumu is deceptive. Yelena quite possibly has one of the worst cases of Oripathy, and is a physical danger to anyone near her, but Mumu is close with Ifrit, despite having to stay away from Originium for her own safety. Even if they don't strictly do things friends often do, like hang out, I think because of their shared experiences and commonalities, they may be able to understand certain things that others can't.

Yelena is powerful both in spite of and because of her illness, it's a double-edged sword. Muelsyse is unlike any other race on Terra; the power that she, as an Elf, holds is unlike anything we've seen from other (non-godlike) characters. Yelena has solidarity with other Infected, her siblings. Muelsyse is alone. Originium ultimately wrecked both of their lives (Yelena's health, Mumu's sense of home).

Talulah and Kristen respectively gave them dreams and a future to look towards, and that is the most devastating of all. Tal promised a home for Infected, Kristen promised a place where Muelsyse wouldn't feel so estranged. The amount of respect and faith Yelena and Mumu had for Tal and Kristen made their subsequent "betrayals" sting even more. They dedicated their lives for their causes. They were kept in the dark of what was really happening--even though Alina urged Talulah to confide in Yelena, while it was implied that Mumu was conspiring with Kristen (before LT gave her role to Nasti which I'm still bitter about). In the end, Yelena chose not to hate Talulah despite all the pain she brought, and Muelsyse is holding onto the possibility of seeing Kristen again.

Their relationships with Patriot and Saria are also great because they give us a closer look into who they are when not putting on a face. It's arguably some of their most humanizing aspects. Yelena is just a sick girl who was saved and adopted by Buldrokkas'tee, and she even has moments where she's apologetic for causing him trouble. She could've been a better daughter to him... while Muelsyse can't keep up her facade of an intimidating Rhine Lab Director in front of Saria, who, despite not trusting her 100%, knows she isn't heartless; Mumu was shocked at Kristen signing off on inhumane projects. Yelena prioritized her Yeti Squad, treasuring her family above all else. Mumu's acts of kindness went unnoticed because she helped Ifrit, Saria, and Silence behind the scenes--their lives were made better because of Muelsyse.

Ultimately both FrostNova and Muelsyse are girls who just want a place to call home, and have been handed tragedies on a platter in response.

All this to say that I'm not sure if they would be friends, but it's kind of nice knowing someone else out there has essentially lived your life, and thus knows what it feels like. Knowing someone can empathize and understand how much those familiar beats hurt. It's comforting.

#dltext #anonymous #kudos to you anon #frostnova #muelsyse #dl talks ak

[lanymme]

Getting emotional right now thinking about Ifrit and Saria and family and gender.

I was working on some fic stuff when it hit me all of a sudden like. The way Ifrit looks up to Saria so much and the way they have this unspoken understanding with one another when they meet again in Lonetrail, even though Saria's been absent from so much of her life and hasn't gotten to know the little things about her.

The way Ifrit uses the super masculine first-person pronoun ore, her sort of punk masc style of dress, the way she talks and approaches the world, and how obviously masc Saria is.

Like. Saria absolutely delivered Ifrit's ring of keys moment, right? Like we can agree on this?

She saw Saria's masculinity and strength and uprightness in the face of adversity and drive to protect people like Ifrit herself and was like. "That's gonna be me." They have this special connection bc they're not just family, they can also see themselves in each other. They understand each other in a way that other people don't.

Think of what it must have been like for Saria to see Ifrit again and be able to tell that she had grown into Someone Like Her, but with a much healthier version of masculinity than she had at her age. With a support system and a reliable home and family that love her that she can fall back on, something Saria never had.

Even if horrible things happened to Ifrit, even if Saria herself didn't get to see much of it, for all her own faults and mistakes and half-measures, she helped her kid have a better upbringing than her.

There's plenty of talk, for great reason, about how much Silence's way through the world helps post-Lonetrail Saria see a bright future.

But I can't help but think, after losing Kristen to the end she had always planned for herself, to be able to see Ifrit and how she's grown... Saria must have been feeling something like, "it wasn't all for nothing. At least there's something I got right.”

#arknights #lone trail #ifrit #saria #silence

[arkiwii]

Thoughts on Kafka, her relationship with Silence, and analysing it in the context of Lonetrail stuff?

My thoughts on Kafka? Simple. [rolls my head over my keyboard]

I LOVE Kafka and she's an amazing character who is ABSOLUTELY underappreciated. I already had so so so much thoughts about her, and with her operator record now, I have EVEN MORE of them because it reveals SO MUCH about her character and how she met Silence. I'm so feral

WHAT I THINK ABOUT HER she's an absolute adorable young woman who CARES a lot. her files talks about how she lived in the Columbian grey zone and was involved in gang and criminality to make a living, as she is an orphan, and an infected. It caused her to adopt a "mask", the one we can see in Mansfield Break, a very impish, maybe bad intentioned girl, one that you can't trust. This was her way to stay safe, and it suceeded! People were afraid of her, avoided her, so this way, she was able to mind her own business and stay far from anything bad happening.

But, well, it's just a mask! She's truly caring, deep inside. In her operator record, we can see that she stole Silence's lunch, but had slided a coin to her to pay her back, and even more, it wasn't even for herself, because she gave the snack to a homeless boy. It already shows that she's very altruistic and watches the wellbeing of those youngers than her.

And the fact she enjoys plants! Being a gardener means a lot of patience, having to take care of living beings, to carefully watch them... She's truly very sweet

Her relationship with Silence particularly made me melt. Silence had shown a care for Kafka that she never had before from a complete stranger. It made Kafka realize that Silence might be a bit naive, she's a good person, and someone who will do great things. Kafka accepted to help her because she just decided Silence was a good person

Kafka's files made me cry for real I can't explain. Silence had dragged her in Rhodes Island, and while Kafka wasn't really wishing to stay here, she ended up accepting. And it helped Kafka to grow outside of the toxic environment that was Columbia's streets. She started to show herself, her true self, a genuine one, someone who cares, and started to truly smile. The way she looks after the children in Rhodes Island, that she became a good friend of Perfumer and hangs out at her garden... I'm just so moved by how she changed and how she grew up. And now that Silence doesn't need to look after her, the roles changed, and it's Kafka who looks after Silence.

I'm disappointed Kafka didn't appear in Lone Trail, but I always imagined Kafka being a really supportive character to Silence. Post-Lone Trail, Silence is the executive advisor of Control, but also Rhine Lab's representative of the Scientifical Ethics Committee. And it's seriously pressuring for her, she mentions it often in her voice lines, this new life is one she's uncomfortable with, but one she knows she must follow. Kafka would be an amazing emotional help, a way to remember Silence that what she does had saved her life, and many other people's - it's thanks to Silence that Anthony was out of prison and safe. It's thanks to Silence that Robin joined Rhodes Island and can get help for her dad. It's thanks to Silence that Ifrit is still alive, and can enjoy a normal life outside of a laboratory. Kafka is here to remind her this, that what Silence does is far from useless, that she can only save more lives. And Kafka is also here to distract her and be goofy when Silence needs to change her ideas from work!

Anyway, Kafka, big thumbs up. Really a big goofy baby. I WANT to see her again in the game, please drop Mansfield's Break 2 Hypergryph

#ILOVE THIS GOOFY BIRDD #i also forgot to mention Kafka's module #ABSOLUTELY sweet #the way silence looks after her... #AND the symbolism #norizc doesnt joke on symbolism #Silence is associated to plants #Kafka is a gardener #aka Kafka's job is pretty much to take care of plants #it's amazing to me #arknights #askiwi

[bobbile-blog]

Okay so considering the end of Il Siracusano, I wanted to put together a list of floating plot threads that might lead to future events, just to get my brain in order. This will be a list of the events and characters involved, as well as a general summary of where things are in these plots in Global.

So, we have:

(Minor spoilers for a lot of Global under the cut, but specifically for some bits at the end of Il Siracusano)

- The main story, obviously, counting both Reunion and Dublinn/Kazdel stuff, as well as stuff like What the Firelight Casts and Vigilo. Not sure how relevant this will be to future side events because it’s already the main plot, but who knows.

- The Feranmut plotline, encompassing Ancient Forge(?)/Who is Real/Invitation to Wine/Where Vernal Winds will Never Blow, featuring Nian/Dusk/Ling/Chong Yue. Updated pretty regularly as the CN new year event. Haven’t been keeping up with this one so I can’t say where we are rn but we’re about to get Vernal Winds anyway so it doesn’t matter much. The short overview is that Yan used to be populated by godlike beings called Feranmuts. Feranmuts fought a war with people, which concluded when a Feranmut named Sui betrayed his people out of a selfish desire to be the only being with the kind of power that Feranmuts possess. When he was discovered, the emperor of Yan (China analogue) split him into 12 fragments which eventually developed their own identities and personalities - these are the Sui siblings, i.e. Nian, Dusk, Ling, Chong Yue, etc. Once all twelve of these siblings meet again, they will reform back into Sui and he will be reborn, and probably take over the world. As such, the current goal is to find a way to prevent the siblings from all waking up and getting back together, and hopefully finding a larger way to prevent Sui’s resurrection.

- Abyssal Hunters and Seaborn, with Grani and the Knight’s Treasure/Under Tides/Stultifera Navis/Mizuki and Caerula Arbor, featuring Skadi/Specter/Gladiia/Kal’tsit. Was updated pretty frequently as an anniversary event, but they seem to have thrown us a big lore dump with Caerula Arbor and left it at that for the time being, which is understandable. The state of the plot at the moment is the Abyssal hunters we have are back together, Specter is back to her old self, they’ve met Ulpian and established an uneasy truce with the Iberian (Spanish analogue) Inquisition, and we’re starting to understand just what Ishar-mla is. Iirc the alternate timelines we see in IS3 are actually shown to the Doctor by Mizuki, so that may play into future events as well.

- Kazimierz, with Maria Nearl/Pinus Sylvestris/Near Light/Obscure Wanderer, featuring Blemishine/Zofia/Nearl/The Followers/Flametail/Ashlock/Fartooth/Wildmane/Justice Knight my beloved/Młynar. This kinda shouldn’t be on this list, because it’s mostly wrapped up, and I don’t expect any more Kazimeirz events for a while. It’s still probably important to summarize though so: Margaret Nearl won the 24th Major and became the Grand Knight, and has since stayed in Kazimierz (Poland analogue) to improve living conditions for the infected and push back against the General Chamber of Commerce. The Armorless Union has mostly been decapitated - the Platinum defected, the Lazurites have disappeared and taken on new identities, and the Darksteel has promised to stay away from Margaret and Rhodes Island. Pinus Sylvestris and most of the rest of the Nearls are now on the landship, working for Rhodes Island.

- Rhine Lab, with Mansfield Break/Dorothy’s Vision/Lonetrail/the second Records of Originium comic (which has an official translation that you absolutely should read it’s really good), featuring Silence/Ptilopsis/Saria/Ifrit/Dorothy/Mulesyse/Ho’olheyak/Kirsten. This is one of the newer plotlines, and my personal favorite. Kirsten Wright, founder and head of Rhine lab, wants to go to space. Ever since her parents were killed in a plane crash, she’s looked at the stars as a goal for humanity and a symbol of the power that science and technology can give us. Unfortunately, in pursuit of that power, she believes the end justifies any means, and the Colombian (America analogue) military-industrial complex definitely isn’t helping things. Kirsten’s disregard of human rights has pushed away the people closest to her, most notably Saria, who left the company after discovering how Ifrit was abused. At the moment, the relationship between Rhodes Island and Rhine Lab is becoming more adversarial because we keep poaching their directors when they see the horrific human rights abuses that they’ve committed. Saria left after the Diαbolic incident, Dorothy left after site 359, and now the Doctor even has Mulesyse thinking about leaving. In addition to that, Saria has finally confronted Kristen and told her in no uncertain terms that she is done working with Rhine lab, which Kristen previously hadn’t fully accepted. Unfortunately, all this has only served to drive her deeper into “the ends justify the means” - rather than accept that she might have been wrong, she’s doubled down on the idea that if she can just achieve her goal and make it to space, they’ll all see how right she was and come back.

- Wolf Fangs, with some hints in the earlier chapters of the main story and being explicitly confirmed in Il Siracusano, featuring Texas/Lapland/Projekt Red/Lunacub. This is the newest of these plots, set up in Il Siracusano and presumably proceeding from there. The Feraerus are supernatural talking animals that we’ve encountered a couple of times throughout the story, like the High Priest or the Emperor. They are connected with the land and are almost akin to guardians of it. They don’t need Originium for their magic, and are tied to the setting in ways we don’t quite understand yet. More importantly to us, though, they’re involved in their own power struggles and contests among each other. This underscored the drama in Il Siracusano - the whole Bellone family was propped up by the wolf Feraerus Zarro as part of an ancient game in which the wolves pick champions, called Fangs, who fight each other in a Battle Royale to decide the pack’s next alpha(debunked study, I know, just roll with it). We know a couple of the fangs - Lunacub is one and Bernardo was another before his death, but Projekt Red is also a Fang, as well as Crownslayer’s mentor, so we’ll probably be coming back to this conflict in the future. Judging by Bernardo’s story and Lunacub’s files, the implication is that a lot of this story is going to revolve around breaking free of these old traditions and systems.

- The Sami Icefields haven’t technically gotten an event yet, besides that one story in Operational Intelligence, but I’m including it as an honorable mention because it looks like we’re going there for IS4. The Icefields are up north of Ursus, and they are terrifying. You remember the Emperor’s Blade, the one that kicks your ass in WD-8? Yeah we only see three of them in the game because the rest are busy fighting against the Eldritch demons constantly invading from the Sami Icefields. Let’s please never go there ever, thanks.

That’s all I can think of in terms of plotlines as of Il Siracusano in AK Global. If there’s anything I forgot or got wrong, tell me and I’ll add it in.

#arknights #il Siracusano

[hypaalicious]

hypaa what did you think of lonetrail? i've seen surprisingly negative opinions here but i personally loved it and agree with the people who say this is one of the best stories they've done!

Negative opinions??? IMO the only negative opinion that matters coming out of Lone Trail should be that Rhine Lab scientists are eugenics-loving amoral narcissists with god complexes!

But I’m kinda not surprised at the same time to hear this because sad to say, the perception of EN server players not ever reading for shit is true, so when they are forced to read blocks of text it’s always gonna skew negative I bet 😂

But yeah I’m totally with you there; it IS one of the best stories they’ve ever done. The amount of depth they were able to convey tying so many loose ends together deserves an award! I told some of my friends the other day that for the very first time ever the story was way more compelling than the limited banner LOL (cause let’s face it, it’s the most mid limited banner AK has done thus far; if MuMu wasn’t limited then I honestly would have skipped it entirely).

Silence is probably the only adult from Rhine Lab that I truly respect because she stood on her values from jump. Ifrit and Ptilopsis were victims. Saria didn’t truly have her coming to Jesus moment until Kristen’s shenanigans humbled her. Dorothy and Kristen both shoulda gone to therapy instead of abusing their power to ruin people’s lives for their own selfish gain. Both Parvis and Loken didn’t suffer enough for me tbh (even tho I respect Rosmontis’s way of handling the latter). It’s a beautiful tale of what happens when you place “progress” over people, personal growth, intrigue, politics… whew. HG ate with this story and they know it.

A part of me wishes that Arknights had the acclaim that other narrative-driven games do, but I know it’ll never happen because it’s mobile and also a tower defense game. It’s seriously underrated and Lone Trail proves it!

#I will be glad that it won that Hollywood Music in Media award though #HG is basically a music company using their games to hawk their tunes #and I’m not mad at it because it always goes hard! #you know the only other story I was impressed with was Originum Dust? #like I don’t care about or know shit about Rainbow 6 but that story was so well done #best collab event to date tbh #I look forward to see what else HG has in store for us lore-wise #arknights #lone trail #明日方舟 #anon ask

[stelladess]

Honestly Lone trail is so friggin good, probably taken the place of my favorite side story, I do have nitpicks of course (Kal just dissapears for a long stretch of time, characters keep appearing when convenient even if it makes no sense, certain bits feel slightly rushed, etc.) but like Im willing to overlook most of the issues cause its so good Its a blast to play trough, feels very well paced (so happy they did not cram everything into just 8 nodes like some events) My biggest complaints arnt even with Lonetrail in and off itself but related to the new units as playable units. Rosmontis stuff alone would have been enough for me to put this among my favorite events, and that is only one small part of the story, Kal´tsit is one of my absolute favorite characters ever and what she does get here is pretty great too. Ifrit is the MvP this tho, also her new look is a big glowup. And if I ignore her dialogue as a playable unit (easier for me since I skipped the banner) I think Muelsyse was also great here, Ho´olheyak I did not expect to be as interesting as she was either tbh. Lone trail is also surprisingly funny and... weirdly hopeful? Which is pretty great. IDK why Saria wasnt the one to get an alter instead of Silence though, also Silence just looks wrong without glasses, not bad but it feels really weird... XD I am really looking forward to what they are cooking for future events like the Jessica one, summer sheep, the new Leithanen one or the future Rim Billiton event.

#arknights #lone trail #arknights lone trail

[brave-symphonia]

Ifrit and Rosmontis talking together just makes me happy.

Ifrit asking Rosmontis if she wants to try building Trimounts with her, and then talking with her about how she writes things down.

I really love their relationship.

#zack plays video games #zack plays arknights #ifrit #rosmontis #lonetrail #lonetrail spoilers

[rorosdumpster]

Finished to read Lonetrail a few hours ago.

So here are my unorganized thoughts:

I liked it a lot but I feel that is a story that was written as the sum of its parts rather than as an overall narrative.

Yes, the massive lore dump is great and very interesting if you look at it isolated from what is going on outside. But from a general perspective it cuts the pacing at the worst moment and I know that, it kinda tries to blend with the overall theme of loneliness, trying to explore Doctor's. But it feels halfway done.

I'm no writer myself, but I feel that would have worked better if the Doctor's ordeal was in a side story like Vigilo and used that time to explore other character's loneliness like Saria and Kristen. Also it's criminal that they didn't explore the relationship between them at all. (You know, the thing that made the plot happen)

Instead it wastes time in things like showcasing every single Rhine Director, or the whole Vice President conspiracy.

On the other hand: Silence is the absolute MVP and seeing Ifrit and Rosmontis in action was a delight.

#arknights #lonetrail