Jan 14, 2025
While Arufa gets her happy ending, Marsia comes back from where she originally died and meets Skyler... while taking on Arufa's name... interesting. This is a really intriguing ending, but damn this is the kind of ending that I think I need to sit down and think about for days to fully understand this. I get that in Skyler's pov, it'd be hella weird to see another Marsia, so she'd take on Arufa's name... What an interesting ending for sure.
This is probably the most unique novel I've read, not just for obvious reasons like the ARG, but because of the worldbuilding and the philosophical themes. With such an impressive amount of lore, I think writing it out as a novel doesn't do enough justice for this story, because there are times when I think I need visuals to really see the trippy moments more clearly, like that lag spike in Act 1 and the world splitting into parallels in act 2. If this gets adapted to a VN tho, I genuinely think it could be a banger game.
You've also developed the characters pretty nicely, and I've grown to care most of them... and then the deaths and world splitting moment happened, and now we'll never see more of Arufa/Skyler and Marsia/Locri dynamics anymore. Not to mention, after Ive grown to like Ghiles, he's now alone in his world, like damn poor dude man 💀 At least Arufa and Marsia are content in their own respective worlds but damn, the gang we've grown to care for got all split up in different worlds. this left me as an emotional wreck 😭👍
This is probably a really terrible critique because I'm absolutely certain this story is packed with philosophical themes to the brim, but the problem is that I'm too dumb to connect everything. The concept of parallel worlds, the idea that things can be true and false at the same time, the concept of memories defining someone -- I can clearly see these topics but my monke brain is so overwhelmed by it all that I can't connect them, at least, not right away, especially when I also have to process the fast-paced plot, the worldbuilding, the character backstories, and more... which is why I said it would take me days to get it. In short, so many things are happening, not enough time for my tiny brain to process it 😭😭😭 This is where the ARG comes in and explains everything better, but you cant guarantee every single reader will put in the extra effort to go outside this novel page, so it really is a risky approach 🤔
Despite all those trippy moments I had tho, I still really enjoyed this story anyway. Loved the worldbuilding, the themes, and the characters. I ESPECIALLY love the super dark alt history approach, because I believe what Alt History ultimately wants is a dark scifi story, and your story perfectly fits the themes. I still sincerely think this entry still has potential, so best of luck, and a massive congratulations for completing this!! Its been a fun read, and if you're planning to expand this, you can bet to see me there 
