Wow, thanks for such a detailed look at this game, I can’t wait for more!

I’d guess that 7th Sea 2nd edition’s Stories is more likely than Chuubo’s to be a direct inspiration for the Character Arcs, could be wrong. They work pretty well to generate content for a session as long as you don’t necessarily expect there to be an overall plot as well (there can be, but it’s hard to guarantee). The desideratum idea is a neat way of tying them together and encouraging them not to pull in different directions, but it’s weird that you don’t pick it until after the character arcs, at least to me.

The concept of the game, and especially the idea of living in Shadow worlds that are “less real” than the ones you’re returning to and also populated with people that are “less real” sounds like it’s inspired by the Chronicles of Amber. Which might also explain why all the characters in the vignettes are childless singletons without family, if it’s intentional emulation. This isn’t a justification mind you (Amber has it’s share of problems on this and other fronts), just a guess of the angle they might be taking.

I’m really interested in the idea of first person rules text, and wonder why it hasn’t been done more often.