Retrospect

A fullbody image of Lady Retrospect

### Other Names

Lady Retrospect, Retro, Mistress of Memory Lane, "Upstart", The Forgotten Goddess, Retrospect Anima Lifeline.

### Domain

Memory, Amnesia, Reboots, Second Chances, Personal Timelines

### Portrayed By

Whirlwind Gale

"*Does a lamp dwell on the light it shed mere moments before, when its bulb still continues to burn? No, the lamp simply continues to shine. To ruminate is to regret and to regret is to have made a mistake, something with which I am entirely unfamiliar."*

## Appearance

Retrospect can appear in many forms, but most often she takes the shape of a short Toonkind woman, with a heavier set figure, a serious case of film grain, short and curly blonde hair, and a wide smile. Her eyes are sharp, and have irises, pupils, and sclera made up of alternating rings of gold and white. Typically Retrospect dresses in a sort of Steampunk inspired fashion, aiming to balance practicality and aesthetic, and though she always carries her Second Hand Sword and her pocket watch, neither is guaranteed to be visible at any given time.

## Personality

It's hard to read Lady Retrospect's personality, because on the surface she seems to contradict herself at every turn. She is kind enough to offer someone a chance at the perfect life, but cruel enough to take their old life from them as payment. She's equally as likely to offer you her protection as she is to nearly erase you from reality so you'll learn an important life lesson. On the surface she seems fickle, unreliable, and unpredictable as memory itself.

To understand Retrospect's personality requires a look below that surface level. Underneath the cheerful and manic energy, the teasing and laughing and spur of the moment choices, Retrospect is actually very calculated.

Ultimately, she is a benevolent goddess, and how she makes things better for people and for the world is by carefully orchestrating events in the timelines of individuals. Every supposedly random action is made in the pursuit of getting the people who ask for her help the best lives they can have, or in the interest of guiding the Canon timeline in a good direction. And while she can be childish and excitable, Retrospect is far from flighty, being the most hands on and responsible patron amongst herself and her siblings.

She personally guides each of her warlocks, teaching them skills they'll need in their second chance during their time with her. And even though she knows her followers will have to leave her and forget her eventually, she can't help but get attached to them in her own odd way.

In contrast to the kind, caring, and responsible side seen by those for whom she acts as Patron, certain people will only ever know Retrospect as a harbinger of misery. Remember that she is just as likely to hurt someone as she is to help them. This goes beyond just hurting them, Retro can and has killed, tortured, erased, destroyed, and cheated people in pursuit of her goals without remorse, and will likely do so again in the future. In her Debut game, Memory Lane, she exemplified this, offering Sandy Sweet a chance to forget traumatic incidents from her past, and then stabbing Gille Trebble through the chest and nearly erasing him from reality, doing both with a smile on her face.

After all, When you can see through all time, and see a thousand versions of every person you meet, the margin of means you can justify by your ends gets a lot wider.

## Notable Abilities

Erasing, Manipulating, and Removing and Storing memories on both an individual and universal scale,

Erasing, Manipulating, and Removing and Storing memories on both an individual and universal scale

Spinning Memory-Film back into Lifeline by stripping the memories from it

Dealmaking to create Warlock Pacts

Limited Omniscience (Her vision can be blocked by magic, and she's only truly omnipresent on Memory Lane, for all other knowledge she has to seek it in the massive weave of timelines she has access to)

Moving people and objects through different timelines

Slowing, Stopping, and Rewinding time

## Region

Nowhere really. Hard to be worshipped when your followers don't remember your name. But she's always there when she's needed

## Symbology

Looping ambient audio, the ticking of clockwork, pocketwatches, sepia tones, film grain, the hands of a clock, the glowing face of a clocktower, gas lamps, strips of film

## Hymn

Time in a Bottle

How Does a Moment Last Forever

## Allies

**Rhett Conn, God of The River of Time-** Us gods with power over timelines have to stick together, y'know?

**The Mask Maker, God of Facade and Character Growth-** Retrospect's older sibling with whom she is friendly if not particularly close.

## Rivals

**Rikishi, Fate of Ruin-** Well, we say ""Rivals"" it's more of a narrative foil situation, thank you very much.

**Prismatone, God of Voice and Characterization-** Siblings will be siblings, And who could ever expect the beginning and ending to get along?

## Enemies

Retrospect isn't the sort to make enemies

## Trivia

* She has two older siblings, Prismatone and the Mask Maker
* While Retrospect herself is not directly worshipped by anyone, she has another title, Lady Memento, who is worshipped in a very small capacity by historians and antique restoration artists, and anyone else who seeks to preserve memory of the past.
* Before film was invented, memory soaked Lifeline took the form of books. Retrospect's very glad that with the invention of film, storing, editing, viewing, and erasing memory has become much easier.
* Sometimes, Retrospect will appear to someone who won't wind up making a deal with her, because there's a chance they could have. In cases like these she'll hand them a magic pocket watch to summon her with if they need her.
* Retrospect's favorite pastimes are tinkering, antique restoration, train jumping, reading, sleeping, and dancing, Even though she knows nothing about dancing.
* Outside of very specific and rare circumstances, Retrospect will refuse to make a deal with anyone under the age of 18. She doesn't deal in kids.
* Her favorite food is Butterscotch candies
* Like the other Soulspinners, Retro can split her mortal and immortal selves apart and send her mortal soul out to live a life while her immortal self does her job. She's done this 32 times, and each life has been different
* Retrospect's main weapon is the Second Hand Sword, a sword which can erase people from existence
* Retrospect debuted in Memory Lane, as the main antagonist
* She will always say that she never makes mistakes. This isn't true. She makes lots of mistakes. But what she means is that she's never made a mistake big enough to regret, because of the fact that everything she does is calculated for the best outcome.

## Mythos

The youngest of the three Soulspinners, Lady Retrospect, then just "Reflection" was born when the first character ever died. There was a need for someone to manage their lifetime of memories, and so she was created, along with her realm of Memory Lane, the place where all memories go, and all forgotten things wind up. She has ruled over that realm and managed it ever since, gaining the name Lady Retrospect when she began to interfere with the world as more than just a manifestation of Memory Lane's magic.

Retrospect's been running Memory Lane for centuries, managing the living and dead memories of all who fall under the protection of the Soulspinners. And between spinning Memory-Film into Lifeline, and managing the shades and clockwork of Memory Lane, she also finds time for her own pursuits, taking on parties of mortals to play games with their memories, interfering with the events of the timeline to guide people in the right direction, and taking on warlocks who she gives second chances at a life perfectly tailored to bring them a happy ending, in return for their memories and a few years of their service. Occasionally she will also split her soul in half as is her gift as a Soulspinner, and live a mortal lifetime, to reconnect with the reasons why her job is important.