Ever wondered why the names in Promare were so “wild and strange”? That’s right they have meaning(TM), and I decided to list all of em.

✮ ✮ Some general thoughts, before the list. ✮ ✮ Most of the names seem to be Greco-Roman, or from a romance language (in many cases, i was unable to identify just exactly which romance variant the name was referencing, but the meanings are mostly the same regardless). These origins fit really well, with the MANY mythological references of the movie, so I think I'm on the right path with them. With that being said, I don’t speak greek, and I have an extremely minimal understanding of latin. I tried to factcheck my translations as much as possible, but there may be some inaccuracies. I’m much more confident with the translations from romance variants, as I speak italian, and have started learning spanish at my university. ALSO. this list is only for character names, as if i got into the places and concepts too here, this would get waay too long. its already too long. god. ✮ ✮  peep the list under the cut ✮ ✮ 

Been writing a fic lately that is super heavy on worldbuilding and I was having a hard time with it because a lot of things in the film are left up to interpretation. So I decided that I needed to sit down and have the Biggest Think of my gosh darn life. All for a fic. Of course.

I’ll be posting my Promare headcanons in a series of posts, which will be long and rambly and not very well-written, because they’re just me parsing my thoughts in real time haha. I hope at least one person out there enjoys reading these either way. I’ll also be linking to my fic when it’s available!

(Just to be clear, this is just my interpretation, and I am in no way saying that this is actually what happened. I just really need some sort of foot to stand on for that fic, man skldfn;dslfk)

HISTORICAL CONTEXT (PRE-WORLD BLAZE)

30 years ago, Burnish manifestations were first treated as anomalies, freak medical conditions. Those who spontaneously combusted (due to anger, being upset, etc.) and unwittingly hurt people were arrested, but no one really knew how to convict them, given that they were essentially accidents. But victims and the families of victims wanted justice. As more and more Burnish started manifesting—most of them in violent ways—the government started to focus on containment. They didn’t really know what they were dealing with, some kind of disease?? Medical researchers were trying to figure out why people were just spontaneously combusting, the courts didn’t know how to judge them, the police didn’t know what else to do but arrest them, the politicians were at a loss, and the general public was growing increasingly paranoid.

In response, governments all over the world quickly established segregation policies and isolation protocols, brought about by a concern for more instances of spontaneous combustion and not knowing if the condition was contagious. When the hotlines opened up, they were flooded. People were being reported upon even mere suspicion of being Burnish, and were swiftly escorted by a party of government medical workers and police to be brought to isolation facilities. It served as both to segregate them from the rest of society in the interest of public safety, and for research purposes into the ‘Burnish disease’. Such facilities were tightly guarded and gave the impression of being high security prisons more than anything else.

At this point, the UN appointed Dr. Deus Prometh to lead the global research effort on the Burnish condition. While he did acknowledge that it was important to isolate the Burnish until the scientific community understood more about the condition, he publicly spoke out more than once about the dehumanizing treatment of the Burnish by law enforcement, and warned that the continued mistreatment of them would eventually prove to be detrimental.

It was within these circumstances that factions started to form—those who approved of the government response, and those who opposed it (mostly friends and family whose loved ones had been whisked away by the government to god-knows-where). There was a lot to it. Rather than the ‘Burnish disease’ being treated purely as a medical condition, politics had started coming into play. Were they patients or were they detainees? If the government truly viewed Burnish as victims of circumstance, then why were they being treated as criminals? Spurred by the increasingly political nature of Burnish detainments, the Burnish Independence Movement was born, the precursor to the group that would later be known as Mad Burnish.

People took to the streets—one side wanted to keep Burnish isolated because they were believed to be inherently violent. Another side wanted them isolated to get to the bottom of the disease and possibly find a cure. The Burnish Independence Movement insisted that there was nothing wrong with them, and that they should be allowed to live freely without being discriminated for their condition.

To add to the already growing tensions, a small subset of the Burnish Independence Movement decided that enough was enough, and that they needed to take things into their own hands. It was breaking news when a group attacked an isolation facility and freed the Burnish being kept inside. They called themselves the Mad Burnish, and said that if the government wasn’t going to help them, then they had no choice but to help themselves. In the months that followed this first attack, they routinely continued to hit isolation facilities and research centers, freeing Burnish and increasing their numbers. They called themselves activists; governments called them terrorists. No matter what people considered them as, one thing was certain: their presence fanned the flames of all sides of the conflict, exponentially so.

It all came to a head when the Burnish finally got sick of it all. It started as a joke—“Let’s just set the world on fire”—something that was mumbled in half-joking jest between disgruntled Burnish, until the idea started becoming more and more appealing. When the first Burnish-initiated volcanic eruption happened with one of the volcanoes along the Pacific Ring of Fire—only a little more than a year after the first Burnish started manifesting—it started off a chain reaction that would change the world forever.

The Great World Blaze is the collective name used to refer to a series of Burnish-initiated, extended volcanic eruptions around the world that lasted for weeks. During this time, volcanoes all around the world erupted violently everyday, spewing lava that leveled forests and fields, belching ash that buried entire cities. They were often preceded by strong earthquakes that caused multiple landslides and tsunamis, on top of the damage they wrought to property and infrastructure. Aside from triggering natural calamities, the Burnish resistance also instigated blazes wherever they could. When the last fires had finally been put out, countless lives had lost, leaving what was left of society on the brink of collapse, and an Earth charred beyond the point of recovery.

(I know a lot of this is stuff that viewers already know; I just needed a more precise timeline/sequence of events and a little more flavor for my fic!)

I rewatched Promare recently, so I thought I’d write a piece on it. (Read Part 2 here )

I want to try to explain why Galo and Lio work so well together, even though Galo himself described their partnership as “oil and water.” And it’s true. They’re opposites, practically living in separate worlds. Lio’s the leader of the terrorist group Mad Burnish. Galo’s a firefighter, tasked with putting out the Burnish’s fires and capturing them. They’re natural enemies, natural rivals. They’re on different sides. They certainly start out this way. But by the end of the film, they find common ground and fight together. Let’s take a look at how they got there. 

This was also inspired by the song Inferno from the Promare OST, so I’ve incorporated some lyrics throughout, which will explain why the song fits in so well with the movie.

first, have you seen this baby!? Gorgeous!

But seriously, the first thing I noticed here was that Lio only has one earring on, on the left ear. Some years ago, that was used to indicate that one prefers the opposite gender, while a piercing on the right ear indicated homosexuality.

Of course, we're talking about the 90s, a time when stating that you were part of the lgbtq+ community was dangerous (it still is, but 30 years ago it was almost out of question); now, I don't honestly think that people still believe that, and I mean homosexuals too. Like, as part of the community myself, I don't believe in this right ear/left ear thing, but feel free to enlighten me.

So, back to Promare... Why did they show us this detail? Why didn't they simply put an earring on the other ear as well, without complicating things further?

The fandom of this movie is absolutely nuclear and I love it, and since I'm not the only one that over-analyses things, I'm sure that the pink triangles (queer symbol, read more about it here) have been noticed by many others too. And sure, it's a peculiar characteristic of Promare's animation, everything is pointy as you can see very few round shapes if not in the characters' design. But look, everything can have a double meaning.

So, assuming that they meant those as a symbol of the two main characters being queer, why did they have to "confuse" us with the earring?

Another thing is that Galo doesn't hesitate to give Lio mouth-to-mouth at first, as that is an act free of any sexual meaning but, after that, he seems embarrassed and flustered. Still, not in a "disgusted" way, like "ew I kissed a man!", but more like "OMG I kissed a man??". Furthermore, Galo's hand keeps supporting Lio's head even after he wakes up again, just saying... So soft!

Also, just to be precise the procedure is wrong, as we can see that Galo has a hand on Lio's head, while that hand should pinch the boy's nose. But hey, maybe fire-y resuscitation procedures work differently!

These are just my ideas, feel free to discuss and criticise them (politely, please, since I'm sad already). What do you think?

Bonus: heart-shaped explosion!

Hello! I’m back again! and 15 pages deep into my headcanons doc! It’s getting a bit out of hand!

This is the second in a series of posts I’m doing to help me figure out the cultural and historical milieu that Promare is set in, because there is a lot left up to interpretation. Which can be a headache when you have a penchant for wanting to be canon-compliant when writing fic!!! (Related: Click here to read the first post on my Historical Context (Pre-World Blaze) thoughts!)

But again: all of this is just my own personal interpretation, and I am in no way saying that this is the gospel truth. This holds true only insofar as my fic (coming soon!) goes. Fair warning that this is long and rambly and not that well-written LOL this is just me sharing my thoughts.

Enjoy!

HISTORICAL CONTEXT (POST-WORLD BLAZE: THE FIRST 10 YEARS)

Simply put, the world was in shambles after the Great World Blaze. Half the world population had been wiped out. Almost all the arable land on Earth had been torched, no longer usable. Clean water was now rare, as all the water sources were now saturated with ash, which also choked the aquatic wildlife. For a time, it seemed like mankind was on the road to extinction.

The next few years were difficult. There were many who survived the Blaze, only to perish in the aftermath. At this point, everyone in the world had just one goal: survival. There’s nothing quite like the threat of extinction to band everyone in the world together. World peace and all that. Slowly, society rebuilt itself. The concept of the nation-state was lost, and mankind reorganized itself into city-states, scattered throughout the barren landscape.

Whereas majority of the research prior to the Great World Blaze was focused on ‘Why is this happening?’ the research that took place after focused on ‘How do we survive this?’ and ‘How do we prevent this from happening again?’ Researchers worldwide focused on developing the technology needed for indoor farming, fast-growing GMOs for food production, water purification, and air filtration. Prometh himself focused his research on two prongs: still, on understanding the nature of the Burnish condition, while developing technology to help defend against Burnish fire and the threat of another Blaze possibly happening. His technology was never meant to be used as a tool for oppression; rather, he intended it as protective, a means for people to defend themselves and stop fires where they may start. (ofc, we all know what happened to that)

It took somewhere between 5 to 10 years after the Blaze for the world to get back on its feet and for some sense of normalcy to finally return, depending on where you were. After a long struggle—the losses from the Blaze and its aftermath—society was finally starting to flourish once more. Humankind recovered surprisingly fast, all things considered. With city-state populations being smaller than nation-states ever had been, things got done more quickly. Less people, less red tape, and everyone operated with a greater sense of urgency. Not only did society recover (as best as it could, at least), but it was developing even faster than before. The city-states quickly established themselves, and with the life-supporting technologies coming into place, people started to move on from surviving, to thriving once more. Still, in most of these settlements, it became markedly clear: Burnish were not welcome.

Even though the collective world population had focused on trying to make it through those rough years, that didn’t mean that they had forgotten their outrage at what had happened. Hatred for the Burnish was at a high more than ever. It didn’t help that most of the survivors from the Blaze were Burnish, being able to withstand fire and all. They were barred from rejoining society, if not chased out—or worse, killed on account of being Burnish. Many of them eventually died out in the wastelands either from starvation or disease. Mad Burnish, considerably weakened in what was essentially a post-apocalyptic world, did what it could to provide aid, but it was never enough.

Once society got itself back on its feet, now came the next question: What to do with the Burnish? There were very strong opinions. There were multiple instances when scientists and politicians almost came into blows in the meeting rooms; there were some instances they actually did. People on the street cried for justice in all forms. Some called for the complete extermination of the Burnish. Some called for segregation. A very, very small movement called for peace, to let Burnish back into society. Most were fine with just leaving them out to rot in the Wastelands, as they had come to be called; let the elements claim them with no skin off their backs.

Although talks on what to do about civilian Burnish went on for a long time, there was one thing all the city-state representatives agreed upon: that Mad Burnish was a threat, and if the world didn’t want another Blaze to raze the planet to the ground again, they had to be eradicated. Thus, the International Counter-Terrorism Federation was formed. It mandated the establishment of a counter-terrorism unit in each of its member city-states, and made it possible to have a coordinated global front against the threat of terrorism—mostly that which was instigated by Mad Burnish. In the city of Promepolis, this special unit was colloquially known as Freeze Force.

Hello I’m back again with more headcanons! I decided to go for post-World Blaze stuff first instead of my write-ups on the city-states. Fair warning, this part is particularly word vomit-y, because this is the murkiest part of the timeline to me. Mfffhhh sorry;;;;

Anyway! If you are unfamiliar with this, I’m doing a series of posts on my Promare headcanons! They’re long and rambly and not that well-written because this is me just trying to figure my way through the first 5 minutes of the movie lel. This is post #3 and you can find the first two here: Pre-World Blaze Post-World Blaze (the first 10 years)

Enjoy!

HISTORICAL CONTEXT (POST-WORLD BLAZE: YEARS 11-20, LOOSENING GRUDGES)

At this point in time, the world was still shaky in its stability, but it was getting there. The International Counter-Terrorism Federation (ICTF) was there to protect people from Mad Burnish, so citizens were a bit more at ease, but their hatred and paranoia still burned as strongly as ever. The widely-held belief of the Burnish condition was that it either manifested in those who were evil, or it made you evil, like an insidious virus. Once you got it, it was all over. Being Burnish meant being destructive and hurting people. Never mind that you were a good person before it; it would only be a matter of time before you were itching to set things on fire. The world could not and would not risk another Blaze. Those who manifested were handed over to the police, where they would continue to be carted off to research facilities with their limbs bound in Freeze Rings. Those who were proven to have hidden knowledge of Burnish from the authorities were arrested as well, on grounds that they put public safety at risk. The more extreme citizens thought they’d do the world a favor and off any Burnish that manifested before they could get a handle on their powers—there were definitely vigilante justice groups who thought they were doing the right thing. Some of them did it for retribution. Others did it for the misguided sentiment that it would keep the world, as a whole, safe. In the eyes of the eyes of the law, however, it was still considered a crime; not because it went against human rights, but because civilians acting without proper training is still considered a threat to public safety. Leave it up to the professionals, they said, we’ll handle it.

It had been noted even before the Blaze that the condition seemed to manifest in times of great emotional distress—more often than not, when one was feeling anger, frustration, anguish, and other negative emotions. It was a very much incomplete hypothesis based more on loose correlation rather than causation, but the general public ate it up. It was a simple explanation, easily digestible in the midst of all other the other theories floating about. Occam’s razor won out in the end, and a home remedy ‘preventive measure’ that came about was the repression of negative emotions. (something something conceal don’t feel let it go) One can imagine just how well the repression of negative emotions went as a preventive measure for Burnish manifestation. (Hint: bottling up emotions -> larger probability of a meltdown)

Another widely-accepted belief to prevent the manifestation of the condition was that the presence of fire ‘influenced’ people to become Burnish. It was recommended, then, that one should eliminate all fire-related paraphernalia in one’s home. Because of this, the sales for gas stoves plummeted overnight, while induction cookers flew off the shelves and proceeded to become the norm for decades to come. Many other things in people’s daily lives changed because of this belief as well.

With the systems in place to protect the public from the Burnish threat (i.e. anti-terrorism campaigns by the IATF, systematic arrests of Burnish), the continuous research efforts led by Dr. Prometh, and the ‘preventive measures’ that were being practiced by the general public, the world was finally moving on into a new era, one where everyone could forget that Burnish even existed in their daily life. With all of them under lock and key, the world could go back to the way it was.

It would be another 10 years or so before Burnish hate finally started to ease up (this is around 20 years after the Blaze). Though there would always be those who would hold fast to their beliefs, there were a growing number of people who had started to grow weary of being angry, or maybe they had just become complacent. Out of sight, out of mind, as they say. No Burnish in my neighborhood, and the IATF has those Mad Burnish hooligans on the run. All is well, nothing to see here.

With the easing of old grudges came a growing movement towards peace. Enough is enough. The Blaze is over, the world is still trying to rebuild itself. The Burnish manifesting now have nothing to do with the Blaze, so they shouldn’t have to pay for the sins of their predecessors—This was the rhetoric that was gaining traction, especially with the younger generation, those born after the Blaze, those who weren’t around to see the world burn. A distinction needs to be made between Burnish and Mad Burnish, they reasoned. The Burnish who started the Blaze were victims more than instigators, pushed to the brink by a society that shunned them, didn’t we learn anything from the last time?

It was controversial, to say the least, and neither side was specific to any particular demographic. There were older ones (the ones who had been there) who supported this move towards peace, tired of living in a world of conflict. There were younger ones who decried the move, calling for accountability (by whom, Mad Burnish? The Burnish as a whole? It was something that side of the fence could never seem to agree upon).

In the midst of all the debates, the growing sentiment of forgiveness over retribution, and politicians being pressured to decide which side of the argument they fell on, it came as a shock to both the scientific community and the world as a whole that Dr. Deus Prometh, leading researcher on the Burnish condition for the past 20 years, was found dead, murdered in his own laboratory.

Yay, you made it! And so did I, because that was hard to write!! The bit about people giving up their gas stoves for IH cookers was my favorite haha. I feel like a lot of things in their daily life would have had to change, either from necessity or whatever was the widely-held belief at that time.

NEXT UP: Post-World Blaze - Years 21-present (from the POV of the movie), the rise of Promepolis and Kray Foresight

Hello! I’ve been posting some Promare headcanon posts lately, and I thought I’d put them all in a single post. This was mainly an exercise I did for a fic of mine, and these might prove relevant later on when I actually post said fic (fics? Oops).

Warning that these are long and rambly, and are prone to change. I’ll be peppering some less formal notes along the way, where applicable. Also, disclaimer: This is just my interpretation! In no way am I saying that these are actually reflective of what happened. I just really need some sort of foot to stand on for my fics, lol.

With that, I hope you enjoy!

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

Pre-World Blaze

Post-World Blaze (the first 10 years)

Post-World Blaze (Years 11-20, Loosening Grudges)

Post-World Blaze (Years 21-present, the rise of Promepolis and Kray Foresight)

Burnish Perspective

SETTING NOTES

City-States

Promepolis

CHARACTER NOTES

Read part one: a Galolio relationship analysis--> here. 

So I got to thinking, what exactly are the Promare? How do they choose who to dwell in? Why was Lio so much stronger than all the other Burnish? On that matter, how was Kray so strong too? And how does Galo fit in with these two? After thinking about these things, I’ve come to a few conclusions:

1) Kray and Lio are not all that different from each other. Neither of them intended to be villains, they were just at the mercy of their emotions and circumstances.

2) Because of this, Galo wanted to save them both. Galo ended up representing hope for them.

3) A gap or emptiness along with a strong emotion is essential for the Promare to manifest within a person. The Promare fill in the emptiness that the Burnish feel. This will be evidenced by Kray, Lio, and Galo.