Deimos

A dark silhouette sits in bright pink with only the face and neck partially highlighted and unblurred. The silhouette has short hair and a small frame. The face shows a bit of hair, a red eye, and a small smile.

What's done, what's done, what's done is done.
That's the way the river runs.
#Reverse1999

Lorelei (Vampire), she's been raised by Valentina and Semmelweis in this AU, so she grew up to have mannerism which mirrors Valentina but wits similar to Semmelweis. She's the reason why we had to age up the kids cast, because the plot eventually led to sending her to a vampire law school to end racism (just normal AU things /j)

Lopera (Werewolf), raised by Moldir and the rest of the pack most of her life until Igor abandoned her because she's the runt of the litter and not suitable to send to war. Some of her mannerisms were influenced by Moldir, but she had to survived on her own for 3 years, so she became mangier and much more roguish (it's ok Lorelei still thinks she's cute)

Thinking about Werewolf x Vampire AU...
(Alt text for more info)
#Reverse1999 #Peralei

Thanks for reading my tangent here. As always, feel free to leave your own thoughts and/or questions as you see fit.

— End of Thread.

— Afterthoughts

These themes have been really fun to identify and explore, and it impacts how I see the story itself. It's very interesting that the general themes tend to focus on a particular aspect, and I wonder if this is carried over to the 4th arc (3.0 Series). We'll see in the end.

All of the characters often always miss and yearn for what they had left behind or what they had lost. They yearn to return to a place they considered a place of safety and comfort, only to be met with conflict and a place now unfamiliar.

Then there are those like Anjo Nala, Barcarola, and Recoleta, who all have long left their first homes, but still feel this sense of longing to return to what once comforted them. It's particularly resolved through making a home of the new environment they now live in.

There are characters like Joe, Lopera, and Fatutu who are all facing conflicts from being essentially removed from their homes, and tend to be fighting their way through to return back to what was once theirs. They oftentimes not entirely succeed in the end, and have to live with the "new normal."

"Home" does not have to mean a physical building either, it can mean family, close friends, and kindred spirits as well.

It becomes central to many conflicts in the story, and every character involved in this series so far has been affected by it in a way.

This series emphasizes on the theme of "Home" and how many yearn to return to it. Even if it were destroyed or taken from them, they still yearn to go back to where they found comfort and where they feel most safe.

Chapters 8-9 of Reverse: 1999 — Tristes Tropiques and Folie et Déraison

Version 2.0 and 2.1 — Floor It! To the Golden City and Route 77: The Haunted Highway

Version 2.4 of Reverse: 1999 — Last Evenings on Earth

The Homecoming Series — "Home"

It's quite in the name, isn't it? The 2.0 series is unique in that their event stories particularly tie back to the main story in some way. While that is in itself a major writing flaw, the theme particularly sticks out in all of the stories.

What comes out those events are like a pandora's box: it strikes back at what was once considered the "norm", bringing severe consequences in those who are foolish enough to take them to heart.

When thinking of the word "belief" here, I really mean that each and every event, each circumstance, is particularly influenced by broad ideologies or faiths. It never focuses on one particular figure, while it is also brings out devotion from many.

It does not mean that she believes in arcanist supremacy, rather, it highlights the importance of the role that arcanists play into the world they are all in now.

Yet from all these years, it has drastically changed her perspective on arcanum and arcanists. She had accepted that there was no way to go back from where it all started in time; it becomes important to how she sees how the tides must be shifted through how the arcanists are able to see fit.

For example: Greta Hofmann is a mixed human that has lived through repeated tragedy. She has lived to see her brother nearly commit suicide, her colleagues be reversed, even the people she meets disappear right beneath her feet.

All of them: 37, 6, 210, Sophia, Isolde, Marcus, Hofmann, Kakania, Lucy, Enigma, Ulrich, Semmelweis, Lorelei—Even someone like Heinrich—They all held beliefs that particularly influenced not just their personal arcs, but the overall narrative as well.

Many, if not all, of the main characters in this arc have something or nothing tangible to believe in. Those beliefs are either shared or they deviate from the society they live in.

In the same societies, these beliefs will end up becoming their downfall the moment it is challenged or shaken.

Chapters 5-7 in Reverse: 1999 — The Prisoner in the Cave, E lucevan le stelle, and Vereinsamt

Equilibrium Trilogy — "Belief"

Belief describes in the faith and trust held towards something or someone. In Chapters 5-7, this word becomes very central to how many characters and communities think.

The highlighted characters are very central to how they lead others out of or into conflict, and the people almost blindly follow as they have nowhere else to go.

...How Schneider, with her jaded view on her religion, took matters things into her own hands and became the breadwinner of her family. And Madam Z, who was relied on by her supportive colleagues and Vertin's friends alike to be able to get this bill passed.

But there are other characters too: Like how Arcana and Manus Vindictae swept the rug under the feet of the wealthy and marginalized, then offered them a chance of being in their ranks in the same move...

It becomes clear that she is highly sought out by many because her profound altruism shines through as a person who sought freedom more than anything. She showcases the impact and change she brings to be able to progress forward to making that change.

While it has resorted the victims to act irrationally or even fall for ill-intended narratives, "messiah" figures held a major influence throughout this first arc. And of course, our main centerpiece is none other than Vertin as both the Timekeeper and the "bellwether."

We're introduced to a world that is in chaos due to the "Storm" and the harsh changes that come with having to live through constant tragedy. From these calamities, people need something or someone to turn to for hope, or for them to be saved from this rubble, no?

The first four chapters of Reverse: 1999: In Our Time, Tender is the Night, Nouvelle et Textes pour Rien, El Oro de los Tigres

The Timekeeper Tetralogy — "Messiah"

Of course; "saviour", "salvation", many people sought out hope in one person or one entity to save them out of that rubble. Chapters 1-4 primarily centers around this theme as we dive into the world of Reverse: 1999 for the first time.

Meanwhile, the Equilibrium Trilogy focuses more on the more broad, widespread beliefs—on what the larger population of the era believes in, and how these beliefs affect individual people.

I figured that both the first two arcs in this story heavily focuses on faith itself, but the difference between them is the focus itself. The Timekeeper Tetralogy puts the focus on faith towards one person to help you move forward and "absolve you of all sin."

1.0 Series — "Faith"
For the 1.0 series, I found that one of the overarching themes centered around the word "faith", and how it applies into a somewhat post-apocalyptic world after a large, time-distorting calamity.

There are currently 3 story arcs in Reverse: 1999
The Timekeeper Tetralogy (Chapters 1-4)
The Equilibrium Trilogy (Chapters 5-7)
The Homecoming Series (2.0 Series, Chapters 8-10)

I found that these arcs have particularly interesting themes, and this thread I will go over each one. Lets get started.

3 items in the center of an otherwise empty canvas: Vertin's hat, the Hofmann Knot, and a Spinning Wheel

Reverse: 1999's Story Themes in the Form of Arcs — 🧵
*Taken from Tumblr and edited based on the initial retcon.
#Reverse1999