Bisexual Maelstrom

I didn't get the screenshot early enough and I couldn't replay the cutscene, which is criminal, so I had to go to YouTube to get a screenshot of the relevant part, like I love the text on this screen but the action that plays out before the text is so much more important

one: love mundane/practical uses of magic, I understand that's the whole point of this game to a degree but Jen hotwiring a truck with her wand is gold. I love that she knows how to hotwire a truck with her wand. two: Banks does not need to be standing in the back of the truck, she should be sitting down, that's objectively safer, but she clearly has chosen to do this because she looks cooler this way. again: unhinged behavior, what is wrong with her, I love her.

this one has it all. excellent mission complete text. Zan and Dall beginning their journey to lifelong friendship with their Fistbump Of Victory and Shared Victory Cigars. Jen being an excitable dork and wasting Dall's spraypaint. Banks letting Jen sit on her shoulders to be an excitable dork. the last item makes the chat with Banks and Jen that happens immediately after this even more hilarious because a) Banks flirts with Jen multiple times and b) like hell you're gonna leave this team if they don't go after Kennedy, Banks, you have SUCH an obvious crush. look at you, you probably complained the whooooole time Jen was climbing up on your shoulders as if this wasn't a grade-a excuse to get your head between her legs. Banks wants to fuck Jen so bad it makes her look stupid and I love that for both of them.

I'm so sorry team I love you all dearly but aside from the mutual posturing and snarking at the beginning, Liv's team conducted themselves quite professionally. at least towards the other team. there were some internal breakdowns in professionalism on Liv's side of things but that's not what we're concerned about here. also: I like the mission complete screens where the game basically high-fives you for sticking it to the fascists. it feels Nice.

we all agree that Banks gave a dog a cigarette, right? like the obvious explanation is that Rion was smoking a cigarette in human form and then switched to dog but "Banks gave a dog a cigarette" is the superior explanation here. I have also just realized that the two people on the team Banks seems closest to are Jen (got her arrested, now has a catastrophic crush) and Rion (enemy teams, now snarky buds) and I understand why her past self was like "yeah thinking someone is a nemesis is really just a prelude to me liking them in some fashion." she's a mess (affectionate).

also Jen continues to be the cutest and best, I love her taking victory pics for the militia. celebrate those wins girl!!!

another entry in the "high-fiving you for beating up the fash" mission complete screens. I also love love love all the design and worldbuilding in Medil--there's some great stuff about the interwoven tree as their national symbol in the dev commentary. I really like how the game handles worldbuilding in general, giving you just enough to understand the world and the stakes. in terms of design, Medil's my favorite, with Kalan very close behind.

...and that's actually the last mission: complete screen in the game! I was sure there was one over Kennedy after you beat her, but no, it just goes into Big Decision Time for everyone. (which is a bit of a shame, it would've been p cool to have the mission complete screen get cut off by Banks taking the shot.)

THE FOOL: You know how the OG Fool card is a dog watching as the guy is about to fall into the abyss? Yeah. Role reversal and it mirrors Rion's Whole Thing!

THE MAGICIAN: I MEAN, DUH. yeah she's a witch and whatever but Come On. Also drew her pointing towards the sky and the ground, "as above so before", etc.

THE LOVERS: Duh, again. Only sad thing is that there's literally no image at all of Jida (IIRC?) so, purple ghost it is!

THE CHARIOT: Of COURSE the woman whose whole thing is charging up ahead and Never Stopping is The Chariot.

STRENGTH: Ok so the original concept was Rion "wrestling" with his "dog side", but not only was that a bit silly, it also would be redundant after I came up for the idea of The Fool. And then I realized that there's a more significant person Rion overcome to be who he is... So yeah. don't ask me about his broken arm though

THE HERMIT: ok so now I can't find it in the TBW dialogue document but I'm PRETTY SURE it's implied Zan's been stuck at his ma's place feeling guilty for everything until like 3 months pre-game. And also, you know, his arc is partly about looking at himself, and the truth of what he's done, etcetera,

JUSTICE: I honestly just wanted to do the gag with the Jen post-it, and I GUESS if I drew Liv and Bori I had to draw Steve too, so here he is. "But wait," you may ask, "if Jen's writing that note, does that mean the cards are canon in-universe?" And to that I say, *noncommittal noises and so-so hand-waving gesture*

THE STAR/THE MOON/THE SUN: Okay, so, my literal thought process with these three was like:

Oh darn, Jen and Dessa are the only protagonists without a second card > Well Star fits Jen (or at least she has the stars tattoos for a cool visual) and I guess you could assign Moon to Dessa as well, why not > Wait, since Bori is already the Sun card, does that mean that they're literally that meme--

Yup. This was mostly done for a meme. Checks out!

DEATH: Again, DUH. The necromancer is the Death card. Obviously. Anyways, she's also in front of the breached door Liv blows up before killing (almost everyone), representing cycles and life and death (and is also kind of a nod to Death's Door).

THE DEVIL: Yeah, of course the woman doing magic drugs to get incredible power and colonize a country via a military coup is the Devil. She's sitting on that one room where she kills the group, and showing clear symptoms of mana usage. unfortunately(?) Rion didn't fit in the composition of dead bodies at her feet.

I drew Death and the Devil to be parallels to each other, since they are key moments in game that directly precede one another. Unfortunately they're out of order in the standard tarot deck, but oh well!

THE TOWER: gee, Zan, how come Tumblr user waterdroid has drawn you experiencing the worst moment of your life TWICE??? Anyways. Self-explanatory.

JUDGEMENT: Honestly this was made to fill a slot but if anyone deserves a Judgement card it's Moss and the Medilian Militia. And also they DO want to send Liv to trial if you spare her, so.

THE WORLD: The map, our main characters, the journey they made and the people they helped (or defeated). Funnily enough, the first sketch that I did for this was weak as hell and sucked, but this ended up being my favorite card of the bunch :]