Update 1/26 New comic? and "Soleus" part 2

My toilet got drunk and vomited. Yeah. Few days later, the toilet did that again. 

 

So for the weekly update on 1/26/26, posted on 1/29/26.  

  

 So, with such a poem, there is one thing: Lack of simplicity, lol.

Like, the themes being addressed so far are: 

-Cyras' hesitation (this being her "soleus"). 

-The moral failures of Owlis. 

-Cyras dislike of heroes. 

-Ophelia.

 

So let's go down each of these more deeply. 

 

Cyras' Soleus: Cyras' major flaw, at least by her standards, has become hesitation, her fear. She's done many things, but none are bringing her closer because she keeps wanting truth on her terms versus getting truth on someone else's. Snofall and Owlis aren't trustworthy sources, but is going into the catacomb for a fallen nation really her best chances? 

Owlis' failures: 

Obviously, her phrasing herself as non-suicidal is a way to absolve herself. I think she'd find herself innocent like Ophelia, wherein her family members are fighting. But in reality, she's literally got the major flaw of Hamlet. I imagine her going full Dark Karma while carrying the skull of [THE GAMEMASTER], (if I remember, I will update this with the character by the time the story is released, lol). 

Heroes 

Cyras hates how everyone wants what they want as "best for her". 

Ophelia: 

The victimization, or the innocents hurt. 

 

Fire is also meant to be a motif throughout. Like a city burning. Cyras used her fire early on in story as a boost and now this becomes her main attacks.

 Unfortunately, these are all pretty big themes, all that could probably have their own poem. I might have to cut some of these though. 

 

 

 

 

 Well, anyway, I experimented with better lines, put in (). 

 

To be or not to be never was the question. 

(Admire my fire's light, for yours flickers to end)

For who are you to question my flame when yours ends?

(And even with no crisis of faith in myself) 

I was in lack of crisis for the faith in myself 

(Quaint "heroes" rescue to profit for theirselves.) 

(I question "heroes" who profit for theirselves )

I question rescue from heroes who want for theirself.

Who saves the damsel from the savior's evil? 

(She drowns by the visions of fallen brethren.) 

Who drowns by the visions of fallen siblings

(Ophelia, ophelia, ophelia-a-a-a. 

 

None of these lines are final, still. Next verse, same as the first.

 

 (Are arrows nobler self-inflicted, slings prettier)

Are arrows noble, slings so great, self-inflicted 

Than fortune's seas of troubles, wanting call for ends

Refusing sleep and dream, odd sight to see by now 

The visions rising death, men still dancing to song  

Paradise's pointless when you see who's clamoring

Yet Earth is struggling, hatefully with cynicism 

 

The thing is, referencing Hamlet isn't always easy, especially when in a different meter than he was. However, new throwback to Ancient Mariner with "odd sight", "visions rising". 

I didn't really care for the end part of "hatefully with cynicism", and I wouldn't even show that at all if I wasn't doing progress reports. 

 

 And hell, for fun, here's more versions:

 

Are arrows and slings more noble when self-inflicted

Than fortune's seas of troubles demand an end 

But I refuse to dream, about a new paradise

When I see the people who will meet me then 

What is the point of paradise when I want to go away

But the struggle of earth is also a fault.  

 

Are arrows noble, slings graceful self-inflicted 

Than fortune's seas of troubles calling for an end 

But I refuse to dream, chance to shuffle away 

The wounds are wounds, and blood is colored the same way. 

 

 There's never really a shortage of attempts at writing. As a small writing lesson: Oftentimes first thoughts are the most cliche, so you really need to grind the stones.

 

 This last part is definitely completely getting tossed out, and is only a placeholder for rhythm:

 

We rummaged

and scrummaged 

with nothing to show 

and we went so low

And what we unleashed from the ground

and from what was within us . . . 

 

I see the burning men and cities, wishing for justice

Never acknowledging their own illusions of heroism

Only generated by mirages of their own propaganda paradises. 

 Who saves the hero at the end of fairytales

Who saves the hero from the savior's evil? 

Who hesitates by the visions of fallen fathers

 

 The first stanza is meant to give off the impression of energy or almost speech to the emptiness. She isn't really going to be telling anyone (even though in this play she's telling everyone), so much as Cyras is rhetoricizing herself, and the fallen men. 

 

NEW COMIC!? 

AlienLizard123 and I are co-writing a comic of sorts! Or "Magazine" as I say, about our characters meeting. I'm not entirely sure how far we'll get, but I will try to post some storyboards next week.

 https://www.deviantart.com/alienlizard123/art/Space-Foxes-1200483535 his official characters list. 

Yup. Cyras at the Edge of the world of peoples and into the Violetspheres. Comic planned to be 22 pages. Still scripting. 

And yes, Cyras is totally eating them out of house and home, obviously. She fuels her fire in some type of way. 

 

How to end these articles, hm, 

 https://www.deviantart.com/saviorfoxowlis/journal/N-Era-Play-Story-Update-1-19-Soleus-1289044486

https://www.deviantart.com/saviorfoxowlis/journal/N-Era-Play-Story-Update-1-19-Soleus-1289044486https://www.deviantart.com/saviorfoxowlis/journal/N-Era-Play-Story-Update-1-19-Soleus-1289044486 here's the previous part.

N:Era "Play Story" Update 1/19 Soleus

 Random Progress Report: 

 

I know that this isn't really time to be talking about the "Play" story. That might not even come out this year. But this opening poem is pretty important. And I wanted to give progress updates to make this seem like I was doing work, okay.

 

So, in story, Cyras is doing this in a play wherein she's playing a character who is singing this to Empress Owlis, but fun fact! She's also literally singing this to Empress Owlis who is watching the play about her own self. But, funner fact: 

So in N:Era, insofar, all the main villains have one thing as a shared trait: Their love for Cyras. Cyras is in severe danger of this unfathomable love of all these villains, from her father Reynard. To Echo who wishes to serve her. Or Kryyk who lives in spite of her. So this is Cyras' anti-love song or "GET THE FUCK AWAY". 

 The song so far takes two different major inspirations. So, the song takes inspiration from "Fire" by Illium. I didn't even know that the song was called Fire at first, but the image of Fire was super important to how I pictured this part. I just found out about Fire as a song like, three days ago, probably 1/16th. This should be out on 1/18th. (1/19th actually, lol.)

 https://youtu.be/VEuk3jnGi58?si=SjdIQrkquFirRsMp

But the next inspiration is Going Under by Evanescence, "Don't want your hand this time, I'll save myself."

However, here's the opening lines. 

 

 Split Soleus Operatic Faculty OF TRAGEDY

(To be or not to be never was the question. 

And who are you to deny my flame when yours ends?

I was in lack of crisis of the faith in myself 

I question rescue from heroes who want for theirself.

Who saves the damsel from the savior's evil? 

Who drowns by the visions of fallen siblings

(Ophelia, ophelia, ophelia-a-a-a. ) 

 

 The Ophelia part isn't canonically part of this. This is just something I sing mildly to get the cadence, so I can get back into the song if a different song enters. (Though tbh now I sing to cadence of "No Longer You" in Epic: The Musical. Specifically: "I see your palace, covered in red." Doesn't match perfectly so have to enlengthen the note, so like 

To be/or not to be/never was the/question

I see/your palace/ covered in/red. 

 

You can see the opening line was a reference to Hamlet. And the final line in this first stanza is how "Fire" ends with a sorta eerie note of who is being talked to. "The one your gift of prophecy creates". And I wanted to replicate that feel, like, "wait, I know who she's talking about." And so I wanted this first stanza to end with a twist. However, this isn't about who she's talking to, as much as who she's talking about, and this "Ophelia" is everyone being harmed that Cyras' hesitation is preventing her saving. Same as how Hamlet's hesitation is what ended up murdering Polonius and ended up with Ophelia falling in a river. And you can get a sense of vagueness on how direct that is, because no one knows why Ophelia really dies.

One of the keywords here is Fire, as the theme or feeling of burning is very important in this arc, and the background of the novel for official art may even be red or black, like fire and smoke and mirrors.  

So a major theme is Cyras's own accountability. The line of "don't want your hand this time" gets turned into "I question rescue . ..  who saves the damsel . . . " This relates to the evil of trying to save her, because no one is saving Cyras the Cyras, they're trying to save Cyras the Princess, Cyras the symbolism of Owlis' failure to stop Sumhyr, Cyras the symbol of Kryyk's hatred of women, Cyras the daughter. No one wants to save Cyras for what she wants saved, but only what they can tap from her. So the middle actually references the Watchguard, or: Who watches the watcher?

As the Ethereal King said: The structures and Laws of good people are used by evil people as yokes. Who saves peoples from saviors when those saviors are corrupt.  

Anyway, yeah, this is current progress report. Uh, go ahead and give your thoughts. Do you think any lines are janky or mixed up, you think the symbolism makes sense or no. 

Don't have any official ending, so, give your thoughts and get a life, scumbag.