#Lucio may be a fool but he isn't a dumbass

[mineshaft-birdie]

“I know you didn’t mean it.” Isn’t a good line. It just isn’t.

Edited to add tags:

#within the context of muriel and lucio's relationship it's really fucked up#in muriel's route#everything lucio does is written as intentional#every person he kills has a purpose#to aid his rise to power#writing muriel's enslavement off as an oopsie is so bad#like so so bad#Lucio may be a fool but he isn't a dumbass#hes 40 years old ffs#and from a writing perspective the line plays off on a lot of bad tropes#by not having muriel condemn what lucio did to him the devs are essentially having muriel forgive him#it's a cop out plain and simple

#within the context of muriel and lucio's relationship it's really fucked up #in muriel's route #everything lucio does is written as intentional #every person he kills has a purpose #to aid his rise to power #writing muriel's enslavement off as an oopsie is so bad #like so so bad #Lucio may be a fool but he isn't a dumbass #hes 40 years old ffs #and from a writing perspective the line plays off on a lot of bad tropes #by not having muriel condemn what lucio did to him the devs are essentially having muriel forgive him #it's a cop out plain and simple #Edit: it's the audacity for me #muriel #the arcana #muriel discourse #the arcana game

[nabesthetics]

May I ask why you think Muriel's route is a mess? (I've been saving coins for his route but now I'm scared 😰) Is there anything good about it or should I stay away from it?

Ahhhh it's difficult to talk about without giving massive spoilers, because the thing is, I mainly mean the last half of the route. And endings specifically. There are some things in the early-ish route I have problems with (that first kiss is killing me not in a good way), but overall I actually really enjoyed the first half of it. Hell, Muriel used to compete with Julian as my favorite character. And then… the Masquerade happened and we just have missed opportunities layered with insonsistent lore like a very bad storytelling lasagna.

Now, if you're less focused on the Major Arcana lore then it won't be as big on an issue to you I think, and many people do enjoy the route. But… [massive spoilers for the latter half of the route under the cut. Points 4-6 are spoilers for endings.]

(Edit: to actually answer the question, I definitely don’t think you should stay away from the route, there is a lot of nice, wholesome content in there! But if worldbuilding/storytelling and whatnot are important to you… just don’t have very high expectations and focus on the fact that your MC gets to hug the mountain man, hahahah)

1. they butchered Devil!Lucio's potential so badly oh my god

And no this isn't coming from the perspective of a "redeemed Lucio" fan, this is actually connected to this take on the Devil!Characters. "Canonic" Devil!Lucio is literally just Lucio with a "limited edition spooky skin". For just a moment at the very beginning of his appearance he says something along the lines of "Ah yes, they used to call me Lucio" implying that he's NOT Lucio anymore. And that would make an interesting, threatening antagonist! Too bad the entire concept was then thrown out of the window to never be used again. He doesn't use the Devil's magic. He has none of the Devil's cunning. He's literally the same dumbass except now with horns and edgier eyeliner. And a ridiculously incompetent army.

2. It's still not clear what the hell happened to Muriel's mark. I mean, Julian had to die to lose his. Muriel's just kinda disappears without any troubles? All while it could be used for a gloriously dramatic moment where the MC's myrrh charm is taken away and they have to break through the mark's magic using their newfound Fool "magic immunity" powers? smh

3. Oh right the Fool thing IS NOT EVEN BROUGHT UP. It's the only route where the MC's abilities are completely irrelevant, sans for being used once and never explained, even though they would fit perfectly with the mark thing as I mentioned. Don't get me wrong I adore magic archery, though again it was hardly even used in the route, but it feels like the MC's identity should be touched upon?? The cards don't really exist in the route either.

4. The whole "games" thing is just… so out of nowhere and doesn't fit the entire mood of everything that happened previously. Like, you know. War. Armies. Murder. And ah yes a Slav character + drinking contest haha funni right?

5. The final confrontation of the Upright ending is… American football.

6. Other routes: "you can't kill an idea, there must always be a Devil, killing the Devil turns the person who did the killing into the next Devil" Muriel's Reversed: "leleley leleleleley leleleley" "anyway you can kill an idea from human subconscious actually, the world just spawns monsters now because who needs lore continuity"

7. Muriel deserved better

There are probably other things but I think this gives a good idea on why this route fills me with enough salt to commit a crime against slugs.

#gwUMPY #I think the Dragoat pairing started reaching its status of my main Alastor ship after Muriel's endings.......happened #it had full potential to be my favorite route! I loved it!! until I didn't and then... #you know how noone talks about Game of Thrones because the final season flopped so badly? yeah it was me with Muri's route #AGAIN THIS IS JUST MY PERSONAL TAKE #there are a lot of people who like it so it depends on your lore takes and genre preferences I think #don't really want to put this into the main tag but yeah