r/Fractsidus_HQ

>!Tiankui (Muyu): Ngh... What... what did you do?!<

>!Qingxiao: On the Junce Bureau's Cloud Shuttle, I shared my protective sword intent with the puppets you turned into your test subjects.!<

>!Tiankui (Muyu): ...You... the zither you played back then... Have you gone mad from your cultivation? Protecting even the Echoes of the dead?!<

>!Qingxiao: Whether living people or Echoes, none should fall victim to schemes and selfish desires, having their existence stolen away for no reason.!<

>!Qingxiao: This is the principle I believe in.!<

>!Tiankui (Muyu): ...What a magnificent Sword Immortal, what a fine Zhenxuan Officer!!<

>!Tiankui (Muyu): Whenever I think of the truth I saw inside "The Casket," I feel nothing but pity for you.!<

>![You draw your sword and step up beside Muyu, wary of any remaining tricks.]!<

>!{PlayerName}: Muyu, did you sneak into the shrine just for the "Casket of Civilization"?!<

>!Tiankui (Muyu): Don't misunderstand. I have no interest in the box itself... I only care about the knowledge within. The ones who truly want it are your old adversaries.!<

>!...Fractsidus?!<

>!...Threnodian?!<

>!Tiankui (Muyu): Heh... "She" has probably realized it by now, hasn't she?!<

>!{PlayerName}: She... who is she? Who is backing you?!<

>!Tiankui (Muyu): None of that matters anymore... You have indeed defeated me, but only because... you were strong enough, not because my path was wrong.!<

>!Qingxiao: Unrepentant to the end.!<

>!Tiankui (Muyu): If I admitted my fault, would you spare me? I own up to everything I've done and regret none of it. Look at this sky...!<

>![The sky surges with tumultuous clouds as corrupted mechanisms churn, teetering on the verge of total collapse.]!<

>!Tiankui (Muyu): Under the erosion of Echoes, it is about to crumble completely, breaking through into reality. You may walk away, but you cannot... alter Xuanfang City's ultimate doom.!<

>!Qingxiao: ...What do you mean?!<

>!Tiankui (Muyu): This unprecedented mechanical city was built upon the Sentinel's intervention in the mortal realm. Every life it saved was merely a pre-paid <ano=Cause>cost</ano>.!<

>!Tiankui (Muyu): Just like your meaningless protection, it merely delayed the original <ano=Effect>destruction</ano> for a fleeting moment.!<

>!Tiankui (Muyu): What hangs high in the heavens right now are the remnants of Tacet Discords and the deceased since the Battle of Yunyuan—the very annihilation that Xuanfang was originally fated to suffer.!<

>!{PlayerName}: From the very beginning, you intended to wait for this place to fall apart before escaping to the outside world.!<

>!Tiankui (Muyu): I told you... I have no interest in the Casket itself. And as for the fate of Xuanfang City, I care even less...!<

>!(Finish off Muyu yourself)!<

>!(Let Qingxiao finish off Muyu)!<

>![A flash of sword light passes, and the puppet carrying Muyu's consciousness falls silent.]!<

>![Qingxiao gazes at the collapsing sky, her resolve already set.]!<

>!Qingxiao: ...{PlayerName}, I will stay behind.!<

>!Qingxiao: My Resonance power can help purify the malice within these Echoes. As long as someone stands against this so-called "Skyfall," it won't collapse completely.!<

>!Qingxiao: So...!<

>![She looks at you, signaling for you to escape first, but you stand firmly by her side.]!<

>!{PlayerName}: I promised Heart Moon Fox that I would never abandon this city. And I promised you that I would walk alongside you.!<

>![Qingxiao is not surprised by your choice; a shared understanding binds you together.]!<

>!Qingxiao: ...Mm.!<

>!{PlayerName}: For all the soldiers and civilians outside... we will not lose.!<

>!Qingxiao: Xuanfang is in peril, the heavens are falling...!<

>!Qingxiao: Everyone, lend me your blade!!<

>!Qingxiao: This is not the sword of one person... it is the sword of all living beings.!<

>!（长剧透 SPOILER）!<

>!天傀（木禺）：唔……你……做了什么？ !<

>!清宵：在军策府云梭上，我给那些沦为你的实验品的机傀，也分了护体的剑意。 !<

>!天傀（木禺）：……你……那时候弹的琴……你修行修疯魔了？连死人的残响都要护？ !<

>!清宵：无论是人还是残响，都不该成为阴谋和私欲的牺牲品，被无端地夺走原本的存续。 !<

>!清宵：这便是，我信奉的道理。 !<

>!天傀（木禺）：……好一个剑仙大人，好一个镇玄司骑！ !<

>!天傀（木禺）：我一想到在「匣子」中看到的真相， 我就为你们感到可悲。 !<

>!【你也执剑来到了木禺身旁，防备着他的后手。】 !<

>!{PlayerName}：木禺，你就是为了「文明之匣」才潜入神宫的？ !<

>!天傀（木禺）：别误会，我对它本身并无兴趣……我在乎的只有里面的智识。想要它的，可是你的老对手。 !<

>!……残星会？!<

>!……鸣式？!<

>!天傀（木禺）：呵……「她」大概已经反应过来了吧？ !<

>!{PlayerName}：她……是谁？你的背后有什么人？ !<

>!天傀（木禺）：已经都无所谓了……你们确实胜过了我，但这是因为……你们足够强，而不是我的路是错的。 !<

>!清宵：死不悔改。 !<

>!天傀（木禺）：倘若我知错，你们便会放过我？我做的事我自会认，绝不后悔。看看这片天空吧…… !<

>!【此时的天空云涛汹涌，异变机关翻腾，呈现出摇摇欲坠的姿态。】 !<

>!天傀（木禺）：它即将在残响侵蚀下彻底崩落，打通现实。你们大可以抽身而去，却无法……改变玄方城崩毁的结局。 !<

>!清宵：……什么意思？ !<

>!天傀（木禺）：这座超前绝后的机关城，本就建立于岁主对人世的干预之上，至今拯救了多少，便预支了多少的<ano=因>代价</ano>。 !<

>!天傀（木禺）：就和你们毫无意义的守护一样，不过是将原本的<ano=果>毁灭</ano>推迟了片刻。 !<

>!天傀（木禺）：此刻高悬天际的，便是云渊之役以来那些残象和亡者的遗留物，也是玄方地界本应面临的毁灭。 !<

>!{PlayerName}：你从一开始，就打算等到这里崩毁，再逃到外面去。 !<

>!天傀（木禺）：我说过……我对匣子本身并无兴趣。对玄方城的存亡，更是毫不关心…… !<

>!（亲手了结木禺）!<

>!（让清宵了结木禺）!<

>!【剑光闪过， 承载木禺意识的机傀就此沉默。】 !<

>!【清宵望向即将崩塌的天空，已经下定决心。】 !<

>!清宵：……{PlayerName}，我会留下来。 !<

>!清宵：我的共鸣力有助于净除这些残响中的恶念。只要有人抵挡所谓的“天崩”，这就不至于彻底崩毁。 !<

>!清宵：所以…… !<

>!【她看向你，示意你先行脱身，但你只是坚定地站在了她身旁。】 !<

>!{PlayerName}：我之前答应过心月狐，绝不会弃这座城而去。我也承诺过你，会与你同行。 !<

>!【清宵并不意外你的选择，你们有着相同的默契。】 !<

>!清宵：……嗯。 !<

>!{PlayerName}：为了外面所有的军民，我们……绝不会输。!<

>!清宵：玄方有难，天倾在即...!<

>!清宵：诸位，可否借清宵一剑。!<

>!清宵：此非一人之剑...而是众生之剑。!<

Soo I've been thinking about this topic lately, and since I already described it once on discord, I'll describe it here. Instead of whining when our boi didn't show up in the story for the 69420th time, why not take our time and think WHY he didn't show up. I believe this should apply to other characters who have been absent from the story for a long time as well, like Geshu Lin, but we're only focusing on Scar in this post.

It was, and still is, clear that the devs have a specific roadmap planned out for him, since he's the first ever fractsidus member we were ever introduced to. I mean, he's literally the reason why we got to know the fractsidus at all, and also the first time when rover started questioning whether those they trusted were actually trustworthy or not (idk if anyone even remembers this lmao). We all thought that slowly but surely, we'd get a better insight of his backstory, and that he'd surely become playable at one point (I remember when people thought he was coming in 1.3, then Phorlova in 1.4 or smth. ahh those were the days)

Anyways, but hold and behold, he did NOT become playable, neither did he get ANY meaningful story relevance after 1.x except being the fractsidus's uber driver lmao. Ok I understood that kuro wanted to give Phrolova and Cristoforo the spotlight during rinascita arc, but what about now? We're currently in huanglong, and I believe this was the perfect time to make Scar relevant. Based on what we know, he has, or had, some kinda connection with Qichi village, aka where we first met him, which is in HUANGLONG. Perfect timing.... Also a huge missed opportunity to make him playable...

Now here's why I think he ain't in the quest rn, and I think anyone who's a writer can relate. I'm a writer myself; not an official one, I just write sometimes for fun. So when a writer decides to write a story, they think of the plot, characters, and the execution (the most crucial part), and start writing. They think they have a clear roadmap as to how the story will begin, go on, and end. But as the story progresses, new ideas start popping in the writer's mind, ones they haven't thought of before. Once that happens, they add it, but it has to make sense, aka mesh with their previous writing, so the writer has to make a choice: continue writing and get rid of the new ideas, or insert the new ideas and write from there, which means leaving the original roadmap behind.

For kuro, it's definitely the latter. I think that during CBT1, kuro already had a story planned out, I mean the intro to the game, and intended to write from there. But due to angry CN fans who complained about the story being "too dark", they had to rewrite the whole thing again, which meant so many ideas had to be tossed aside so the story won't end up being messy. I remember how different Scar was in CBT1: more psychotic, relevant, even encore's BROTHER. There was also a point when we thought that the little girl Scar talked about in 1.0 act 3 quest was actually encore, but boi were we wrong....

Due to the massive overhaul of the story, at that point kuro had no original plan. They had to restart, and as they continued, new ideas kept popping in their head, which meant they had to set their old ideas aside to put the new ones in. I feel like after 1.x, they had absolutely no idea how to include Scar in the story and give him any real relevance, without it looking out of place. And due to their new ideas, they basically had to scrape Scar's character off, which unfortunately, made him into the fraud we know today.... I'll never forgive kuro for massacring our boi like this... And now, they have no idea what to do with him...

Here's hoping that he becomes relevant, AND PLAYABLE, in 4.x, but idk man... I'm starting to lose hope... CN fans absolutely hate him, and the entire community put him on fraud watch (I can actually understand why tho), so I think kuro WILL make him relevant, but... kill him off afterwards, so no more Scar headaches for them... and I PRAY that does NOT happen. I'll seriously crash tf out if that happens. I'll quit the game, and stop ever paying real attention to the story. I'm not even joking.

To whoever read this far, thanks for reading my pointless yap. Here, take 5 cookies 🍪🍪🍪🍪🍪

https://preview.redd.it/r3g6xu054ejh1.png?width=835&format=png&auto=webp&s=65f02a501e3895d33eacfb5fde1223a635205c7b