spoilers about zwilingsturme in herbst

so arturia huh

the episode she had when she was young with the "voices" and "feelings" overwhelming her vaguely reminded me of my mother's tales of my uncle who had schizophrenia. never met the man, he died very young but that's another story. now obviously there's a clear fantastical element here: the cause of her suffering and some of her consequent behaviour is her arts that she was born with, which we can't exactly define as an illness. or can we?

throughout the story she struck me as that specific and very rare kind of mentally unwell that is more of a harm to society than to herself. she does manage to maintain a friendship with cora, something worth nothing, but she's clearly isolated, alienated. the way she interacts with the world ("my eyes, ears and heart") is entirely through her musical instrument, which is completely incomprehensible even to the most committed musicians and which is connected to her arts, the root cause of her social deviance

and out of all fucking people it's the witch king who asks her, but who are you? i guess it makes sense that terra's #1 tyrant/musician would be the only one to understand someone so strange and alien like arturia, whom he considers both dull and interesting.

dull because there's not much arturia. not a lot of substance inside arturia, you understand. arturia is just whomever she's playing at that moment, some sort of emotional vampire who attaches herself to the next delectable meal, craving to fill that void. the moment she couldn't express her grief at her mother's funeral, realized that all the people in attendance around her were "performing" grief - like a play, as she says at one point - was her breaking point.

and so she wishes to create a world - an impossible, incomprehensible world - where everyone's emotions are all laid bare, all emotions, at all times, from the most detestable to the most praiseworthy, to her empty self. so she can finally feel and understand people. she says it will be a utopia for others, but what she wants is actually just a heaven for herself.

in that way, i guess viviana and arturia mirror each other as people who are seeking their place in society.

(i did not proofread this post and just wrote anything that came to mind so i'm not taking any responsibility for it. didn't think i'd like her but i did!)

I'm reading Zwillingsturme, and while I'm only on ZT-2, something that really struck me about Arturia Giallo is that... well, she hardly seems as 'evil' as she's made out to be? by both the fandom and the Lateran state. Like I said, I'm early on and may have to revise this opinion, but still.

It's indisputable that her Arts, combined with her sort of persuasion, have led people to their deaths, but in the cases of both Kriede and Bordin... She helped give them meaning and find purpose, despite their tragic ends. Bordin is able to, one final time, stand up as a hero and save a single life in front of him, and Kriede, while doomed, is able to refute the claim that he and Ebenholz' lives were tragic, and that part of Kriede's mentality is largely thanks to both his mentors, Arturia and later Czerny. Through her actions and words, not even mainly her Arts, Arturia is able to grant both Kriede and Bordin the chance to die with their heads held high, facing their fates.

And even with Frau Seemann at the beginning of the event, she is... accompanied by Arturia, to put her whole self into her painting, a painting that, in my opinion, seemed to express more 'love' for the Witch King than condemnation of him, despite what the public thinks. It's with Arturia's help, because it is genuinely helping her recognize and express her feelings, that Seemann is able to put her whole 'self' and soul into her art... which is also just what an artist does, or at least what many might aspire to do.

I mean yeah, she still gives off sinister vibes at first glance, especially when you look at the background of her E2, and if you read about the powers of her Arts, they could be potentially very destructive if she had the mind to turn them to that purpose, but that's not really where her personality is, and she even says in her File that the reason why she doesn't play while at RI is because RI is basically making beautiful music on it's own and shouldn't be interrupted by her.

"She believes that truth freely, fully expressed, leads to a life without regret." And she's fucking right, damn, to thine own self be true.

Having finished the event now: holy shit she is good. she is so fucking similar to her brother. the laterano+leithanien are about black and white colored sibling pairs.

but the mirror cannot reflect itself, a set of all sets does not contain itself.

she is lonely. or at least was.

Yapping about Zwillingstürme im Herbst but specifically Arturia and Viviana

Okay but Arturia essentially NOT casting illusions with her music or even hypnotizing the target but rather bringing out the deep seated emotions and desires inside someone is a brush of genius. And the fact she doesn't even do it to sow chaos, but out of a misguided care? PEAK

She basically doesn't want to see anyone live their lives beholden to being shackled to what others want from you, and to give you the resolve to live fully and overcome the obstacles in the way of your real goals. She's trying to give you Resolve!

Also, the way she gently guides Viviana through her memories without even using her Arts are you kidding me? I'm sick, they're literally so fuckin aesthetic and I know it might not be as popular as ViviNearl but I really do like the idea of a ViviArturia pairing because it's not two knights, it's a knight and a corrupt mage, so to speak. Or, less romantically, it's a woman who has been railroaded through her life, chasing a fleeting definition of meaning in her choiceless existence, and a woman who wants nothing more than to bring out the best in others. Sure it's for selfish reasons, perhaps, but there's a sort of... misplaced empathy there in wanting to see people break free of all the entanglements in their lives: social contracts, arbitrary restrictions, things that keep us all from pursuing our ideals and goals.

And having read the Arturia manga it really highlights how she's not at all this conniving, ruthless villain. Yes what she does is, ostensibly, wrong but I think more than anything what it is is a curiosity about others. A lot of the time she seems to want to connect to people, to learn about them and to essentially read life stories. A nice parallel to Viviana who sought escape in reading stories and books. It's really interesting how a lot of the time so far Sankta have the most complex relationship with the world around them, probably due to the nature of their existence and the fact that they're the only ones to have the kind of hivemind weirdness they have.

I dunno at the end of it I really just think Arturia is a fascinating character, and that her brief encounter with Viviana was splendid writing because it managed to make both of them shine and exceed their first impression sort of vibes. I love how helpless Viviana actually comes across, how life strings her along and repeatedly kicks her in the dick and how she's literally just trying to find meaning in any of her suffering, and how Arturia is kinda trying to do the same.

Quick side note: goddamn the sweet tragic yuri vibes of Viviana and Cora's last encounter together. Wow! Okay I'm done. For now.

I said I’d post this publicly if they both came home and they both did in a ten roll! 😇🦌

Now kiss

Let’s make the most of the time we have left.

love mark

Wait a minute

Scully you’re not gonna believe this

I had the "come here" Shiningale interaction from Chapter 13 in my head for quiet some time now so take this quick thing I put together I guess. I got to record the OST used in this chapter and I had to sneak it in here hehe

This happened, right?? Right???

Them!!