History VisualNovel / Adastra2018

* ShamelessFanserviceGirl: So far Neferu has yet to be seen with clothing of any kind within this novel. Disregarding all objections to the display of his ''"unsightly privates"'' whenever raised.

* ShamelessFanserviceGirl: So far Neferu has yet to be seen with clothing of any kind within this novel. Disregarding any objections to the display of his ''"unsightly privates"'' whenever raised.

* ManChild: Even though they're in their 20's, Amicus, Cassius and Neferu have their moments where they act completely immature (such as Amicus whining when a restaurant he wants to dine at with Marco is closed, Cassius overreacting to Marco accidentally bumping into him by declaring it would have been a real tragedy if he'd fell, etc.).

** The [[spoiler: Omorfans (cats)]] obviously have a less than positive relationship with the Adastrans, given the fact that they sent [[spoiler: Alexios]] to their planet so he could spy on them while also subtly sabotaging their government. With the exception of his [[spoiler: lover Cassius, Alexios]] clearly shares this viewpoint as he basically tells Marco [[IDidWhatIHadToDo he did what he had to do]] while the human reflects the consequences of the aforementioned actions (which actually managed to start full scale riots).

*** In his youth Cassius' father (as well as many others) made it unambiguously clear they preferred Amicus to be the next Emperor of the planet, leaving the youngest royal feeling underappreciated and distant in his constant status of being second place to his brother. This feeling even exists in the present day, as Amicus gets a lot of attention and support by the planets Triumvirates when the palace residents visit a nearby city, while Cassius is largely ignored despite being a serious candidate for the next Emperor.
*** His disability, which made him grow up with brittle bones and thus be physically weaker than the average Adastran, also made him feel that he was seen as helpless and in need of extra help by everyone around him. [[DontYouDarePityMe Needless to say, Cass didn't enjoy being viewed like that]].
*** The death of his mother also gave Cassius a lot of despair and may have later contributed to making him act distant towards his remaining family, due to the close bond the mother and son shared (as they both suffered from the same bone conditions and presumably were able to understand what they were going through the most, and when his mother died that support went with her).
** [[spoiler: Later in the story, Cassius claims that Alexios has an excuse in regards as to why he carried out destructive espionage. He explains to Marco that the Omorfian government basically used Alexios as their own stylus and a means to an end for their agendas to hinder Adastra from making a comeback to the Galaxios, with Alexios being lead astray by them into thinking he was doing things for the greater good (as his underestimation of Cato's cruelty highlighted this). However, Marco counters this by pointing out (both personally to himself and out loud Cassius) [[FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse that Alexios nonetheless had a choice, and he chose to accept his saboteur assignment and do all he could to bring harm to the wolven populace]]]].

* AlasPoorVillain: More along the lines of "Alas Poor Jerkass" in regards to [[spoiler: Cassius]]. While the wolf was constantly hostile to Marco and Amicus early on in the story, it's still horrifying and saddening when [[spoiler: he ends up getting poisoned by Cato. The fact that he was going to give up his lifelong desire of being Adastra's Emperor (despite knowing how humiliating it would be for his reputation to abstain in such a short amount of time) in order to help his siblings and Marco oust Cato while also putting his brother in charge as originally planned for the planets sake probably gave way to some sympathy points]].

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: A villainous example. On the day [[spoiler: Cassius plans to abstain from Adastra's throne (as part of the heroes plan to stop the BigBad from using him for his agendas while also freeing Amicus from the dungeons)]], everyone in the room gets on edge when they notice that [[spoiler: Cato, who was very hostile and distant towards everyone since the third trial, is in a [[SmugSnake "happy" mood]], with Virginia noting it's odd that he would summon everyone together for breakfast as he'd never done this for a long time. It turns out everyone had a good reason to worry, as Cato discovered the secret plan to oust him from his position from Alexios. Cassius ends up getting poisoned before he can renounce his leadership and everyone else in the palace ([[BackstabBackfire including Alexios]]) find themselves at the mercy of the tyrants wrath soon after]].

'''This visual novel contains graphic content, sex, and violence and the novel and all links on this page are NSFW.'''

* TragicKeepsake: Possible example, despite three years having passed since Amicus ascended to the Adastran throne, the chambers reserved for the use of the Emperor have remained untouched, since Neferu vacated them. Whether or not this is because Amicus refuses to leave the bedroom where he & his human spent so much time for sentimental reasons or the monument of an all too painful reminder within the Emperor's bedroom, a vacant bed set aside for his pet, is unclear.

* TragicKeepsake: Possible example, despite three years having passed since Amicus ascended to the Adastran throne, the chambers set aside for the Emperor have remained untouched, since Neferu vacated them. Whether or not this is because Amicus refuses to leave the bedroom where he & his human spent so much time for sentimental reasons or the all too painful feature within the Emperor's bedroom, the monument of a vacant bed set aside for his pet, is unclear.

* TragicKeepsake: Possible example, despite three years having passed since Amicus ascended to the Adastran throne, the chambers set aside for the Emperor has remained untouched since Neferu vacated them. Whether or not this is because Amicus refuses to leave the bedroom where he & his human spent so much time for sentimental reasons or the fact that the Emperor's bedroom would have the sore reminder of a vacant bed set aside for his pet is unclear.

* BullyingADragon: Not long after the third trial, [[spoiler: Neferu taunts Cato by revealing that he knows about his involvement in staging the event, along with some other taunts in a plan to get him into saying something incriminating. Cato responds by slamming the jackal into a wall and kicks him so hard in the groin that he vomits]].

*** In his youth Cassius' father (as well as many others) made it unambiguously clear they preferred Amicus to be the next Emperor of the planet, leaving the youngest royal feeling underappreciated and distant in his constant status of being second place to his brother.

** [[spoiler: Later in the story, Cassius claims that Alexios has an excuse in regards as to why he carried out destructive espionage. He explains to Marco that the Omorfian government basically used Alexios as their own stylus and a means to an end for their agendas to hinder Adastra from making a comeback to the Galaxios, with Alexios being lead astray into thinking he was doing things for the greater good (as his underestimation of Cato's cruelty highlighted this). However, Marco counters this by pointing out (both to himself and Cassius) [[FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse that Alexios nonetheless chose to accept his saboteur assignment and did all he could to bring harm to the wolven populace]]]].

** "Alexios" is Greek for defender/helper and seeing how he is kind and helpful to the heroes really fits him well. [[spoiler: The kind and helpful part is mostly undermined later on when Neferu and Marco discover that Alexios was really a spy sent by his planet to cause trouble from within the Adastran government, making him give the duo a very haughty reply when called out on his actions. And while he does help overthrow Cato later on, Alexios still remains distant towards Marco.]]

* AlasPoorVillain: More along the lines of "Alas Poor Jerkass" in regards to [[spoiler: Cassius]]. While the wolf was constantly hostile to Marco and Amicus early on in the story, it`s still horrifying and saddening when [[spoiler: he ends up getting poisoned by Cato. The fact that he was going to give up his lifelong desire of being Adastras Emperor (despite knowing how humiliating it would be for his reputation to abstain in such a short amount of time) in order to help his siblings and Marco oust Cato while also putting his brother in charge as originally planned for the planets sake probably gave way to some sympathy points]].

* CainAndAbel: Cassius is the Cain to Amicus` Abel, as the former is determined to become the next leader of the planet and doesn`t hold back when it comes to trying to undermine and discredit his brother. [[spoiler: It should be noted that the bad blood between the brothers does settle down after Amicus becomes Adastras Emperor, with Cassius taking on another government role he finds more suitable]].

* CrapsaccharineWorld: As mentioned under SceneryPorn, the world of Adastra looks breathtakingly beautiful, but there is also plenty of government corruption (such as poorer cities not getting any critical aid while the richer areas are pampered with more resources), lots of homophobia, sexism and FantasticRacism going around and riots that break out in several areas (with mention that one city had one [[spoiler: even before the real conflict within the palace kicks off)]], just to name a few issues. [[spoiler: There`s some hints in the stories tone that the royal family might find a way to fix these problems in the long run after Amicus becomes Emperor]].
* DefiantToTheEnd: [[spoiler: Moments before he dies, Cato makes it clear that he doesn`t let his hatred for the Khemians settle down even a bit, as his last words are [[NeverMyFault him angrily blaming Neferu for causing all his problems]]]].

** Marco ends up getting insulted and teased by Cassius and [[spoiler: later more subtly by Alexios]] over the fact that he`s a human. [[spoiler: Cato later tries to get him killed upon learning that he`s from an uncontacted species without a second thought]].

** Cassius` bitter demeanor and aggressive personality is said to stem from a variety of sources.
*** In his youth Cassius` father (as well as many others) made it unambigouously clear they preferred Amicus to be the next Emperor of the planet, leaving the youngest royal feeling underappreciated and distant in his constant status of being second place to his brother.
*** His disability, which made him grow up with brittle bones and thus be physically weaker than the average Adastran, also made him feel that he was seen as helpless and in need of extra help by everyone around him. [[DontYouDarePityMe Needless to say, Cass didn`t enjoy being viewed like that]].

** [[spoiler: Later in the story, Cassius claims that Alexios has an excuse in regards as to why he carried out destructive espionage. He explains to Marco that the Omorfian government basically used Alexios as their own stylus and a means to an end for their agendas to hinder Adastra from making a comeback to the Galaxios, with Alexios being lead astray into thinking he was doing things for the greater good (as his underestimation of Catos` cruelty highlighted this). However, Marco counters this by pointing out (both to himself and Cassius) [[FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse that Alexios nonetheless chose to accept his saboteur assignment and did all he could to bring harm to the wolven populace]]]].

* GratuitousLatin: As Adastra is the precursor to Ancient Rome, Latin is abundant. [[note]] However, Marco notices that the language the wolves speak isn`t named. [[/note]]

** [[spoiler:When Cato and Neferu get into a fight, Cato knees Neferu in the balls so hard that he is vomiting and incapacitated.]]

* InferioritySuperiorityComplex: It`s hinted that Cassius` bitter demeanor stems from this through a variety of reasons, with his father completely neglecting him in his youth [[note]] making it very clear he preferred Amicus over him [[/note]] and his bone disease making him fragile and vulnerable [[note]]with Marco speculating that this made others see him as helpless and in need of support growing up; [[DontYouDarePityMe a viewpoint the wolf didn`t like]] [[/note]] being the main factors. Amicus even tells Marco that Cassius hates himself at one point, with his bid for the Emperorship possibly being an attempt to give meaning and self-importance to his life.

* LockedOutOfTheLoop: What Amicus was hoping to put Marco through as he tried to explain as little as possible as to what's happening and in order to make the facade that he was dumb and unaware of anything more credible. In return, Amicus was going to lavish Marco and make his stay on Adastra as comfortable as possible while they figured out a plan.
* ManChild: Even though they`re in their 20`s, Amicus, Cassius and Neferu have their moments where they act completely immature (such as Amicus whining when a restaurant he wants to dine at with Marco is closed, Cassius overreacting to Marco accidentally bumping into him by declaring it would have been a real tragedy if he`d fell, ect.).
* ManipulativeBastard: If you only read his earliest scenes in the story, you`d be surprised to discover later on that [[spoiler: Alexios (who gives Marco, and by extent the audience, the first impression that he`s a loyal friend that can be trusted) is actually a spy with hidden agendas in regards to ruining Adastra, with him using Marco behind the scenes at specific points to try and achieve his goals.]]

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: A villainous example. On the day [[spoiler: Cassius plans to abstain from Adastras throne (as part of the heroes plan to stop the BigBad from using him for his agendas while also freeing Amicus from the dungeons)]], everyone in the room gets on edge when they notice that [[spoiler: Cato, who was very hostile and distant towards everyone since the third trial, is in a [[SmugSnake "happy" mood]], with Virginia noting it`s odd that he would summon everyone together for breakfast as he`d never done this for a long time. It turns out everyone had a good reason to worry, as Cato discovered the secret plan to oust him from his position from Alexios. Cassius ends up getting poisoned before he can renounce his leadership and everyone else in the palace ([[BackstabBackfire including Alexios]]) find themselves at the mercy of the tyrants wrath soon after]].

** One of the risks to a human being on a planet full of sentient aliens is that they`re vulnerable of catching viruses and diseases that their bodies are not used to. [[spoiler: At one point, Marco ends up catching something called avia pox, and while the average Adastran can easily deal with any symptoms, the human ends up suffering more severely (ranging from having violent hallucinations to slipping into a near coma-like state) as his body has no idea how to fight off the alien illness]].

* RedHerring: At first, the narrative makes it look [[spoiler: like Cassius will be the main villain of the story (due to his constant JerkAss behavior, his desire to do anything to be made Emperor and the fact that he threatens to have Marco executed once he becomes Adastras leader at one point). However, it later turns out that Cassius is more "all bark, no bite" and Cato ends up taking the role of the main antagonist (with his brutal actions scaring even Cassius)]].

* TheUnmasquedWorld: Not shown during the main story, but it`s heavily implied [[spoiler: that by the time Marco finishes his mission on Earth, everyone on the planet will know about Adastra, Khemia and the Galaxias as a whole. On the night he returns to his planet, Marco can possibly be informed that the Parents have already made some form of contact with it, meaning that the trope has already started to play out]].

* WomenAreWiser: Compared to her brothers (who do have their own strengths but also behave like [[ManChild manchildren]] at various points), Virginia is the most mature member of the royal family, as she`s fully responsible with any task she`s given and doesn`t tolerate any form of immaturity or incompetence. [[spoiler: Granted, she was molded into behaving like this during her youth through many etiquette lessons (much to her chagrin), though she does also admit that it helps her get by in a world where women's rights are years behind Earths]].

* FreudianExcuse: Cassius` bitter demeanor and aggressive personality is said to stem from a variety of sources.
** In his youth Cassius` father (as well as many others) made it unambigouously clear they preferred Amicus to be the next Emperor of the planet, leaving the youngest royal feeling underappreciated and distant in his constant status of being second place to his brother.
** His disability, which made him grow up with brittle bones and thus be physically weaker than the average Adastran, also made him feel that he was seen as helpless and in need of extra help by everyone around him. [[DontYouDarePityMe Needless to say, Cass didn`t enjoy being viewed like that]].
** The death of his mother also gave Cassius a lot of despair and may have later contributed to making him act distant towards his remaining family, due to the close bond the mother and son shared (as they both suffered from the same bone conditions and presumably were able to understand what they were going through the most, and when his mother died that support went with her).
* [[spoiler: Later in the story, Cassius claims that Alexios has an excuse in regards as to why he carried out destructive espionage. He explains to Marco that the Omorfian government basically used Alexios as their own stylus and a means to an end for their agendas to hinder Adastra from making a comeback to the Galaxios, with Alexios being lead astray into thinking he was doing things for the greater good (as his underestimation of Catos` cruelty highlighted this). However, Marco counters this by pointing out (both to himself and Cassius) [[FreudianExcuseIsNoExcuse that Alexios nonetheless chose to accept his saboteur assignment and did all he could to bring harm to the wolven populace]]]].

'''''Adastra''''' is a 2018 UsefulNotes/RenPy SciFi SpaceOpera {{UsefulNotes/Furry|Fandom}} VisualNovel made by the collaborative indie group [[https://itch.io/profile/echoproject Echo Project]], who are also responsible for the PsychologicalHorror visual novel ''VisualNovel/{{Echo}}'' and its' standalone prequel ''VisualNovel/TheSmokeRoom''.

* OnceDoneNeverForgotten: According to Scipio, the footage of Neferu getting his balls kicked in by Cato is still well remembered three years after it happend (and also the thing the jackal himself is mostly remembered for).

* NeverLiveItDown: According to Scipio, the footage of Neferu getting his balls kicked in by Cato is still well remembered three years after it happend (and also the thing the jackal himself is mostly remembered for).

The project was completed in 2020 with a sequel titled ''Khemia''[[labelnote:*]]named after the planet that Neferu and the Khemians reside in which will be the setting for the story[[/labelnote]], in development with regular monthly scheduled updates. The latest versions and updates can be found on the Echo Project's [[https://www.patreon.com/EchoGame Patreon page]] and [[https://echoproject.itch.io/adastra itch.io page]]. As well as [[https://twitter.com/echothevn?lang=en a main Twitter page]] which contains information and updates on all their current projects.

[[SimilarlyNamedWorks Not to be confused with]] the Creator/BradPitt movie, ''Film/AdAstra''.[[labelnote:*]]Note the distinction between '''Ad Astra''' and '''Adastra'''.[[/labelnote]] [[SincerityMode Seriously, no. You clicked on the wrong page.]] [[ARareSentence You're not going to find Brad Pitt in a furry visual novel.]]