MAPPING REVACHOL (2.0)

#same

ok....... i finished the game.. but i nev r got to dance at the church :( at the disco elysium :(((

giant sign above my head that says "they'd rather be playing disco elysium right now" that pops up whenever i'm not playing disco elysium

a scene can start wherever you want it to

writing isn't real life. You don't need to set up a character walking into a room or two characters greeting each other and talking about the weather or what-have-you in order to lead into the conversation you actually want them to have. just start at the conversation.

hell, start in the middle of the conversation. you could even start at the end and then have one of them leave and the other one left behind to reflect back on what just happened.

writing gets easier when you open yourself up to writing the parts that are interesting, to starting where it's easy instead of where you think you should start.

if it ends up not working? that's okay. you tried it, and sometimes just getting something out of your head is a necessary first step to getting the words right

It’s been a while, and this project fought me every step of the way, but I managed to finish this book. This is a Frankenstein’s monster of two fan translations of Sacred and Terrible Air slapped together and haphazardly edited some more to my personal satisfaction. As far as I could tell while I was typesetting it was even more bleak than already bleak world of Disco Elysium, and deeply nihilistic to boot.

So I wanted to make it look as disturbing as I could manage (and still want to hold it long enough to read).

🫁 Endpapers are hand-inked neurographics;

🫁 I painted and splattered the edges to look as moldy as possible;

🫁 The spine is linen, and titled by hand;

🫁 The design on the cover is a concept art for the game (I know the book is not set in Revachol, but I wanted a very specific brand of Eastern-European angst, and that church fit the bill).

Memory Hacks: Neuroscience Behind Efficient Memory Techniques

Memory is an elusive neural process concerning the interaction of various parts of the brain, neural tracts, and neurotransmitters. Considering popular memory hacks, we have learned how such techniques used structures and mechanisms of the brain in their own way to make the information more available. Let's carefully look into eight memory hacks and why they work on a neuroscientific level.

The Memory Palace Technique and the Hippocampus: The so-called Memory Palace, or method of loci, in its overall functioning relies on the brain's spatial memory system, enlisting primarily the hippocampus. The hippocampus is placed within the medial temporal lobe and plays a vital role in producing and retrieving spatial and episodic memories. This particular area was more significant for our ancestors with regard to orientation and mapping of their environment, a skill directly related to survival. When you visualize putting things in places you know well, your hippocampus is associating the spatial memory of that place with more abstract information you want to remember. Such an association results in a strong memory trace, since spatial memory is more robust and resilient. The technique also engages the parahippocampal gyrus, which processes visual-spatial context, thereby facilitating retrieval by mentally "walking" through the familiar place.

The Spacing Effect and Synaptic Plasticity: The spacing effect, otherwise known as spaced repetition, is based upon synaptic plasticity, which means the strengthening of synapses through repeated activity. So, when something is reviewed over a longer period of time, it strengthens the neural pathways related to that memory. This reinforcement happens during consolidation, a process heavily supported by the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex. Each time the information is revisited, it causes long-term potentiation-a process whereby repeated stimulation of neurons strengthens synaptic connections. LTP simply makes it easier for those neurons involved in that memory to fire together simultaneously, therefore creating a stronger memory pathway. Such periodic reinforcement will enable the memory to move from short-term to long-term storage and thus set it firmly in the neocortex for long-term recall.

Visualization and Multi-Sensory Memory Encoding: Visualization techniques capitalize on multi-sensory memory encoding to engage not just the hippocampus but also the occipital lobe for visual processing and the fusiform gyrus involved in object and face recognition. Transposing these more abstract pieces of information into vivid mental images through visualization naturally creates a deeper sensory trace, which the brain favors and finds easier to remember. When we visualize, neurons in the visual and sensory cortex fire in patterns that resemble actual sensory experience; detaied and richly encoded memory representations are thus built. This multisensory approach will include the amygdala if there is an emotional component of the visualization, thus forming emotionally laden memories which are even easier to recall because of their strength in memory consolidation.

Teaching or Explaining and the Role of Elaborative Rehearsal: Teaching others or explaining increases retention due to elaborative rehearsal, where the new information is related to the knowledge that already exists. This strongly engages the prefrontal cortex, an area involved in comprehension and planning, along with association cortices that integrate sensory information from multiple regions. Every time you teach something or explain it, you are retrieving information and reorganizing it in your own words. This practice not only reinstates the neural circuits transporting the information but also allows neuroplasticity to be reinforced through reshaping and strengthening synapses participating in this retrieval process, hence making that memory more accessible later. Teaching arouses the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and, in turn, enhances both comprehension and memory encoding.

Mnemonics, Rhymes, and the Temporal Lobes: Mnemonics, especially those with a rhyme or rhythm, enlist auditory processing centers in the temporal lobes. The auditory cortex of the brain is highly tuned for patterns in sound; for this reason rhythm and rhyme are memorable. Angular gyrus and superior temporal gyrus, both implicated in language processing, are activated when mnemonics are used to encode information as sequences or patterns. The repetition within mnemonics and rhymes strengthens sequential memory by evoking the ability with which the brain is particularly adept: remembering information in order. This systematic encoding, thus, has the potential to support the linkage of abstract information with identifiable auditory patterns and enhance recall. Moreover, the cingulate gyrus, involved in the distribution of attention, could further enhance this by focusing and encoding these rhythmic patterns as memories of items.

Diet, Neurotransmitters, and Brain Health: Nutrition can have a variety of impacts on memory and cognition, from neurotransmitters to structure. Some nutrients are precursors to neurotransmitters studied as influencing cognition. Acetylcholine is a neurotransmitter associated with learning and memory and whose synthesis depends on choline intake. Food containing high amounts of choline, such as egg and fish, should provide an adequate supply for the synthesis of acetylcholine in the basal forebrain. Omega-3 fatty acids are considered essential for neuronal membrane health and ensure that signals between neurons are well transmitted. Antioxidants from fruits and vegetables reduce oxidative stress in the brain, which protects against cognitive decline and promotes neuroplasticity. Adequate nutrition maintains neurotransmitter function & structural integrity in memory regions such as the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, promoting overall cognitive resilience and facilitating higher memory capacity.

Source: Memory Hacks: Neuroscience Behind Efficient Memory Techniques

Want to get these on tumblr since I only ever posted them on twitter... various reference collages of official art for disco elysium stuff! Harry, Kim, & Kineema (from 2023)

X7/Locust City Act's V Plot Details, Tasks, and Endings!

hi everyone! I created a new sideblog EXCLUSIVELY so that I can post this text (I figured my main account is shadowbanned or smth) ANYWAY

you can read the 1-5 Acts' Summaries done by @parasolemn! They've done an amazing job and I wanted to take part in deciphering too, hehe

note: English is not my first language therefore word-guessing can be pretty hard for me. There are some minor places I couldn't undestand so I would highly appreciate your help!

UPD 10/04/2025 @parasolemn kindly helped to fill in some lacunas I had in Endings! At the weekend I'll try to edit other gaps myself

PLOT DETAILS ACT V

So what is Cunoesse’s story?

Cunoesse has brought Cuno to Hämärä Maa as a replacement for a kid she drowned three years ago.

Cuno and Jaakko – the drowned kid – don’t have much in common. Both are/were boys with red hair, and about the same build but that’s about it. Only a child’s mind would come up with a plan to replace the dead kid with an ‘identical’ one so she’d be accepted back in her tribe.

But Cuno can’t just be like Jaakko, he has to *become* Jaakko.

The Suru(?) have a coming-of-age rite that involves drinking a brew made of the bone marrow of a blind underwater cave fish. This experience has sometimes profound, sometimes devastating effect on one’s consciousness.

Perhaps this “Naming Ceremony” doesn’t happen until the Hämäräns are 10 years old, so that’s why Cunoesse never got her name, and this is the pretense under which she lures Cuno into the ceremony – a name for herself (but Cuno doesn’t know it’s also going to be a new name for him.)

Cunoesse believes that if she subjects Cuno to this ceremony and “spirit guides” him through this process Cuno might actually *become* Jaakko. Or at least accept he’s Jaakko now. She’s been laying foundation for this transformation throughout this whole journey.

Cunoesse’s people thought her dead, drowned with the boy. Hardly anyone could recognize her at first sight.

Maybe Cunoesse hid the body (under a rock in one of the caves) before she fled Hämärä Maa, so in her mind no-one can definitively claim the kid she brought back isn’t Jaakko.

Psychedelic Sequence

We want this to be a truly visually … and spectacular setpiece where you can bind the rules of everything <…> and apply dream logic.

The entire underwater showdown will be in FELD.

We can depart form/ play with the … perspective, switching into a side-view showing the vastness of the dark screen, with the C&C small figures sinking.

Experiment with overlays, filters as well as tainted and/or 3D mode/ed addictions (??) in the scene, showing people, motifs and icons elements from their journey. There can be lots of … with the visual elements reflecting decisions the players has made throughout the game.

Competitive Red Checks are the key now feature we want to test here, to create unique playthroughs and the impression of truly “fighting yourself” as the rolled value of Cuno or Cunoesse’s Red Checks affects the difficulty of the other’s counter attack.

For the first time, … and commune with each other.

Cunoesse comes out of the trip with +1 Psyche is she lives.

Blue notes:

Multiple life/death outcomes.

Swarm/Locust City side-plot reaches its conclusion.

New home for Locusts

Funeral cultural event

(another note totally unreadable for me, sorry)

_____________________________________

TASKS ACT V

The path through Act V is still largely TBD

In its bare minimum implementation Hämärä Maa could have the same density as the Deserter’s Island finale of Disco Elysium, where the game’s entire conclusion is communicated through a small number of characters – three very extensive and immersive dialogues (one of which is a stylized dream sequence) followed by a posse epilogue. Although railroaded, Disco’s finale had a “page-turning” quality to it that we should aim for as going too much into the mundane idle of the Hämärans would kill the pacing. However, since the entire journey has been about getting to the island, we should give the player at least a little more to see and do than the Deserter’s Island did.

An example of how the task chain at Hämärä Maa could look:

Face Cunoesse’s folks

Find a new home for the Locust City.

Learn how the brew works

Make the brew

Go to the caves

Survive the caves

Bring “Jaakko” to his parents.

Reactivity/Outcomes

Cuno drowns and Cunoesse is this time for real exited by her people

Cunoesse drowns and Cuno returns to Jamrock alone.

ENDINGS

Ending 1 – Jaakko Ending

Location: Hämärä Maa

Cunoesse is alive, Cuno is brainwashed

Notes:

Cunoesse’s manipulations worked. Cuno has fully internalized Jaakko.

The scene closes with Cuno diving dead-eyed among the Hämäran boys. He’s one of them now.

Loss of Identity. No more Cuno-sentences.

Ending 2 – Pale Ending

Cunoesse is dead, Cuno is alive

Location: Tréville, deserted

Notes:

With Cunoesse dead, Hämärä Maa holds nothing for Cuno anymore. He turns back, aimless.

He lands back in Tréville and finds it deserted. The prison has finally moved.

Cuno sits with him. With Cunoesse’s death, Cuno’s prison has left him too. The thing about freedom is that no one tells you where to go.

Cuno waits with the prisoner indefinitely. We fade to white and roll credits.

Ending 3 – Bad Ending

Cunoesse is dead, Cuno is dead

No notes, no location

Ending 4 – Circle Ending

Cunoesse is alive, Cuno is dead

Notes:

With Cuno dead and her plan failed Cunoesse must exile herself from Hämärä Maa again.

She goes into another Murder Hangover, back to sleep and hibernation.

The Internal Skull(?) announces “A new epoch of timekeeping is beginning”

(two another unreadable notes for me)

Ending 5? – New Tribe Ending

Cunoesse is alive, Cuno is alive

No notes, no location

calling...

calling...

still calling...

...

Then, the ocean breaks.

______

Alternative caption: noooo girl where you goinnng aha

i finished the game

literally wake up some nights in a cold sweat thinking about this