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A little late, but here's today's upload!

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Today's video is a bit different from normal, as we delve into the origins of a certain mythical bow and its many portrayals in modern media.

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Changes to Natlan

So we're all pretty unanimously agreed that Natlan's story was overall on the weaker side of Genshin's nations right? Well, with Nod-Krai drawing nearer and region just about finished, I decided to try my hand at making some adjustments.

It's not exactly perfect, but consider this a rough idea for what I believe could have made a strong narrative in the Nation of War.

-Tensions between tribes is much higher at the start.

-The Pilgrimage is a ritual devised by Mavuika to hold competitions instead of traditional warfare; tribal disputes are settled by representatives in the arena rather than all-out warfare.

-The Pyro Gnosis, used in conjunction with the Sacred Flame, has the power to revive the recently-deceased in Natlan. This ritual, called the Rite of Resurrection, is possible because of Natlan’s unique Leylines forming the Night Kingdom. Furthermore, it only works on those bearing Ancient Names.

-Ancient Names are titles passed down among the tribes of Natlan; each one is given out by a Wayob when an exceptional warrior emerges in the tribe. Ancient Names carry with them the power and experiences of all previous bearers, growing stronger with time.

-To be wielded properly, Ancient Names have to be forged into special talismans by one trained in the art of doing so.

-The Ancient Names are part of a centuries-long plan devised by Xblanque to fight the Abyss: his hope was that they would one day grow powerful enough to save the Night Kingdom from Abyssal corruption.

-Mavuika wants to unite Natlan to face their true enemy, the Abyss, but many tribes hold reservations about her as an Archon because of this. Some don’t believe the Abyss to be a serious threat thanks to the protection of their Wayobs, and others simply refuse to coexist peacefully with the other tribes.

-The role of Pyro Archon is given to those that inherit Xblanque’s Ancient Name; those that inherit it lose a portion of their humanity in the process. Each Pryo Archon chooses a successor from among Natlan’s greatest champions and warriors.

-Mavuika lost her family in a fierce battle against the Abyss many years ago, but was among the few survivors of the attack after killing the majority of the monsters herself. This feat was what earned her the recognition of the previous Pyro Archon as a successor.

-Mavuika is generally a calm, composed and even intimidating warrior, but is quick to lose her temper when fighting against Abyssal forces.

-Natlan is still on the more “primitive” side of Teyvat’s technology, but more frequently incorporates technologies excavated from the age of the Dragonlords. Engineers like Xilonen are responsible for researching and developing this technology.

-Mavuika’s Flamestrider, Kachina’s Turbo Twirly, Mualani’s Sharky, Chasca’s gun and even Kinich’s bracelet are all devices created from old Ochkanatlan tech.

-The Abyss is steadily becoming more and more active throughout Natlan, and even begins targeting those with Ancient Names. It forcefully drags its targets into corrupted regions of the Night Kingdom, making the Rite of Resurrection more difficult to perform.

-The Traveler and a handful of others from various tribes venture into the Night Kingdom to rescue Kachina when she becomes trapped by the Abyss.

-The rescue plan nearly fails, but Mavuika, having managed to find the heroes “like a beacon in the dark,” performs an extremely powerful Rite of Resurrection to bring them back. This nearly depletes the Sacred Flame of its energy.

-Shortly afterward, The Captain arrives to challenge Mavuika for the Gnosis, believing that her plan is doomed to fail. As before, he is narrowly saved by Ororon.

-The Captain intends to use an altered version of the Rite of Resurrection to revive and tame Xiuhcoatl, believing the power of a Dragon Sovereign to be capable of banishing the Abyss from Natlan’s Leylines. The Captain does not realize that the Pyro Dragon has already been absorbed by Gosoythoth.

-The Captain begins stoking tensions between the tribes, using it as a distraction for Mavuika to turn her attention away from the Gnosis.

-Mavuika, with the aid of the Traveler, narrowly manages to avoid an all-out civil war. However, she soon realizes that the Gnosis has been stolen from the Altar of the Sacred Flame, partially thanks to the aid of Ororon.

The Captain attempts to summon Xiuhcoatl, only to inadvertently unleash a massive Abyssal invasion instead. Gosoythoth looms in the skies over Natlan, blotting out the sun and summoning endless hoards of monsters.

-Mavuika and her allies do what they can across all of Natlan, but the situation becomes increasingly desperate. The Archon begins to lose herself in a blind rage against the Abyss monsters, recalling the trauma of her past. However, just as things are beginning to seem most dire, the Captain arrives with all of his remaining Fatui to help turn the tides. He acknowledges his mistake and returns to the Pyro Gnosis to Mavuika, vowing to do all he can hold the Abyss at bay and buy her time.

-Mavuika, calmed for the moment, returns to the Stadium and requests the Travelers aid in gathering as many Name-Bearers as possible.

-When enough Name-Bearers are gathered (Citlali, Kachina, Ororon, Kinich, Iansan, Chasca, Mualani and Xilonen), they invoke the power of their Ancient Names to reignite the Sacred Flame. This allows Mavuika to channel its full might into the Pyro Gnosis once more and punch Gosoythoth out of the sky.

-Gosoythoth retreats back into the Night Kingdom, and Mavuika gives chase on her Flamestrider, intending to finish the beast off once and for all.

-With the aid of Citlali, The Traveler and the Name-Bearers heroes are able to eventually enter the Night Kingdom in the hopes of following after Mavuika.

-Hoards of Abyssal monsters attack, but the Name-Bearers break off into groups to hold the beasts at bay, leaving the Traveler to find Mavuika in the corrupted depths.

-Mavuika is injured and struggled against Abyssal Corrosion. It is revealed that this corruption is partially responsible for her rage (basically she’s got a similar situation to Chasca but has managed to hide all traces of her contamination.) The Traveler’s purification power is able to help her regain control, and the two face Gosoythoth together.

-Gosoythoth takes the form of the Pyro Dragon and slays Traveler during the battle. However, due to their deeds in Natlan, the Lord of the Night has acknowledged them as a hero and given them a new Ancient Name: Tumaini (hope). Thanks to this, Mavuika is able to perform one last Rite of Resurrection on the Traveler with the Pyro Gnosis. This, in turn, awakens the Traveler to the Pyro element.

-Together, The Traveler and Mavuika slay the corrupted dragon, banishing the Abyss from the Night Kingdom and restoring peace. All the heroes of Natlan return to the realm of the living and are celebrated for their deeds.

-After all is said and done, Mavuika ventures to the remains of Ochkanatlan to speak with Renova, the Ruler of Death. The Traveler follows her in secret, and it there we learn the truth: Renova allowed for the “rules” of death in Natlan to be altered at Xblanque’s request, which is what permitted the Night Kingdom and the Rite of Resurrection to exist. This was to last either until the nation’s destruction or until the Abyss was defeated. The price to pay for this, however, was to be the sacrifice of a vast amount of life energy; an amount typically only found in Name-Bearers, who hold within them traces of all their predecessors. Mavuika intends to be the one to pay that price. Once the sacrifice is made, the Night Kingdom will dissolve.

-Before the price can be paid, however, The Captain arrives to propose an alternative. As one with the souls of many warriors inside himself, his existence is similar to that of a Name-Bearer. Furthermore, as one suffering under the Curse of Immortality, The Captain’s life energy can never truly be depleted. This means that his energy will continuously be absorbed by Renova unless she removes the curse; ergo, the transaction can never truly be “finished” and thus the Night Kingdom will remain.

-Ultimately, Renova is forced to accept the Captain’s Sacrifice as he seats himself upon Ochkanatlan’s ancient throne, entering a death-like sleep and at last gaining reprieve from his five-hundred years of service.

-With the fighting over, Natlan begins to enter a new era of peace. Inspired by the heroes from disparate tribes coming together to fight for a common cause against the Abyss, the people set aside past tensions and begin to more openly accept Mavuika as their Archon. A grand celebration is held in honor of all the Natlanese heroes, and not just the Traveler.

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A new video is out! The first Runeterra Recollection in quite some time, too! This time, we'll be going over the Void and how it's changed both in-universe and in the narrative.

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New video dropped today! This time we're doing Big the Cat.

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Almost forgot to post this one here. Yep, we're talking about Kai'Sa today.

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Finally making this old project idea a reality.

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Yo, any fellow mythology nerds down to help me with a video idea I've got in the works? I particularly need people well-versed in Arthurian myth.

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In relation to my last post.

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With my latest video discussing Record of Ragnarok out, I decided I may as well try my hand at proposing my own list of fighters and matchups. More below the cut.

Human Candidates

Leonidas (Unbreakable Shield) +

Lu Bu (Unyielding Spear)

Jack the Ripper (Terror of Whitechapel)

Sasaki Kojiro (Swallow-Cutter)

Adam (Father of Humanity)

Simo Haya (The White Death)

Boudica (Matriarch of Rebellion)

Zheng Yi Sao (Scourge of the Seas)

Julie d’Abigny (La Maupin)

Nikola Tesla (Wizard of Machines)

Qin Shi Huang (Emperor of the Earth)

Amina (Warrior Queen)

Mestre Bimba (The Fighting Dancer)

Gods

Zeus (Patriarch of Olympus)

Heracles (Hero of Fortitude)

Shiva (Creator and Destroyer)

Thor (Thundering Berserker)

Sekhmet (Raging Lion)

Loki (Lord of Lies)

Morrigan (Sorceress of Death)

Susanoo (Divine Swordmaster)

Pele (Volcanic Judgement)

Marduk (King of the Heavens)

Kali (Wrath of the Divine)

Guan Yu (Supreme General)

Odin (Allfather of the Heavens)

Valkyries

Brunhilde (Defiant One): Julie d'Abigny Power: Brunhilde can grant a combatant the power to cheat death/fate, but at the cost of falling into a deep slumber...

Gunnr (Dauntless Warrior): Lu Bu Power: Gunnr can bolster a combatant's bloodlust, driving them to fight on past their normal limits.

Hildr (Lifegiver): Simo Power: Hildr possesses the unique ability to restore people from the brink of death, but only once...

Gondull (Wise One): Tesla Power: Gondull can offer insights and understanding into esoteric secrets that usually defy human understanding.

Skogul (Balancekeeper): Kojiro Power: Skogul can create an area in which combatants areplaced on equal footing, regardless of their natural abilities.

Hlokk (Carnagebringer): Jack Power: Hlokk can imbue ordinary objects with trace amounts of divine power.

Kara (Stormcaller): Zheng Power: Kara can affect the atmosphere of a battle, altering the weather and air currents to give one side an edge.

Herfjotur (Binding One): Amina Power: Herfjotur's very presence exudes an immense pressure that can restrict combatants' movements.

Rangrid (Devoted Guardian): Boudica Power: Rangrid can nullify incoming damage to another by taking any wounds they would have received herself.

Hrist (Groundshaker): Bimba Power: Hrist can alter the very terrain a battle takes place on to give one side an advantage.

Eir (Peaceful One): Qin Power: Eir can temporarily halt all conflict and nullify aggression between two parties.

Reginlief (Holy Child): Adam Power: Reginlief can imbue humans with trace amounts of divine power, but at the cost of taking a hefty toll on their bodies...

Goll (Harmonious Cry): Leonidas Power: Goll can transfer the strength of various soldiers into one, uniting their hearts and minds.

Matchups

(Humanity/Gods) Round 1: Adam vs Zeus (Winner: Zeus) 0/1 Round 2: Sasaki vs Sunsanoo (Winner: Sasaki) 1/1 Round 3: Thor vs Lu Bu (Winner: Thor) 1/2 Round 4: Jack the Ripper vs Heracles (Winner: Jack) 2/2 Round 5: Shiva vs Mestre Bimba (Winner: Bimba) 3/2 Round 6: Boudica vs Sekhmet (Winner: Sekhmet) 3/3 Round 7: Nikola Tesla vs Morrigan (Winner: Morrigan) 3/4 Round 8: Simo Haya vs Loki (Winner: Loki) 3/5 Round 9: Zheng Yi Sao vs Pele (Winner: Zheng) 4/5 Round 10: Guan Yu vs Amina (Winner: Amina) 5/5 Round 11: Qin Shi Huang vs Marduk (Winner: Marduk) 5/6 Round 12: Julie d'Abigny vs Kali (Winner: Julie) 6/6 Round 13: Leonidas vs Odin (Undetermined)

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Aye new upload discussing everyone's favorite bloody onion.

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On Lilac's Gender (Ender Magnolia)

Lilac from Ender Magnolia is an interesting character for a variety of reasons. Their exact origins are never really hard-confirmed, but there's enough in the game for players to piece together one or two possibilities. This is all quite interesting in-and-of-itself, but ever since Ender Magnolia came out, I've seen some debate as to what Lilac's gender is actually supposed to be.

Right from the get-go, this character design is EXTREMELY androgynous. I remember as far back as the very first reveal trailer of the game that I was a little confused as whether Lilac was supposed to be a guy, girl, or neither.

Now, it should be addressed that the wiki refers to Lilac as female, and uses she/her pronouns for the character. This does make a degree of sense, as Lilac is, functionally, a White Priestess, and there's nothing necessarily contradicting that.

However, it should be noted that the game itself seemingly goes out of its way to avoid using ANY gendered pronouns for Lilac at any point. Other characters only ever refer to Lilac as "Attuner," "Child," or by name. Even Lilac's own character bio ONLY ever refers to them by name, not using "he," "she" or even "they."

There have, allegedly, been interviews with developers that refer to Lilac as female, but I've also seen a fair bit of debate about the legitimacy of these interviews and whether or not they were translated accurately. Admittedly, I don't speak Japanese myself, so I can't really say anything on that front, nor could I do any sort of comparison to the in-game Japanese text. I can only base my thoughts on what is presented to be in the English version of the game.

Ultimately, Lilac's gender is left kind of ambiguous, and until or unless we get any sort of direct confirmation from the devs of Binary Haze themselves, I don't think there's any way to conclusively say one way or the other if the character is meant to be nonbinary/agender.

Even so, I will continue to interpret them as such until further evidence is provided, though I won't necessarily fault anyone for using she/her pronouns either. At the end of the day, it's not really that significant to the game itself, but still a point I think is worth discussing due to the vague language used in the text.

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New video came out today! God I need to get back into the habit of self-promoting here.

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So I've gotten myself thinking about the MCU again. Ramble under the cut.

Okay, to clarify here: I have not actually watched anything in the MCU since Thor: Love and Thunder. I liked some of the Disney+ shows they put out like Moon Knight and Hawkeye, and I did find Shang Chi fairly enjoyable. Hell I even liked Wanda-Vision despite its messy ending.

But of course, the MCU as a whole has kind of fallen apart from lacking a clear direction; too many projects going all at once, not enough cohesion, etc. I don't think I could levy any criticisms that haven't already been made. The only point that I don't see brought up that often is that I think choosing to make the vague concept of the Multiverse the next big 'arc' was a massive mistake, since not only do almost none of the properties deal with that, it's also just a really vague topic to begin with. I know that was partially because Kang was supposed to be the next big bad to replace Thanos, but... I mean they apparently just killed him off in Ant-Man so that went nowhere.

But of course, that raises the question: if the MCU HAD to continue after Endgame (because of course the megacorp Disney isn't going to let their cashcow die just because the story's over), what SHOULD have been the next step? Doctor Doom? Galactus? The Beyonder? Knull? All valid answers, and none necessarily wrong. Honestly there are a lot of good options for what the next arc could have been if set up correctly.

However, for my money, I honestly think there was a lot of potential to focus in more on the mystical aspect of the MCU post-Endgame. They kind of already started down that direction by having Wanda awaken as the Scarlet Witch and, of course, giving Doctor Strange a sequel that just wound up being a botched Multiverse setup.

However, Multiverse of Madness did introduce what I think would have been a perfect macguffin for a more magic-focused arc of the franchise: the Darkhold. While they do kind of delve into it within the MCU, its significance is MASSIVELY underplayed.

Like, the Darkhold is the source of basically all evil magic created by a Lovecraftian god. In the comics, the Necronomicon was inspired by a SINGLE passage in the Darkhold. This thing CREATED vampires, contains powerful demons within its pages (as in the demons themselves actually reside IN the book), and can even allow access to unholy realms like Limbo.

Beyond Wanda and Doctor Strange, quite a few magic or magic-adjacent characters were introduced into the MCU: Moon Knight, Shang Chi (with his rings), Black Panther (with the heart-shaped herb), Loki, and they've also apparently been working on Blade for ages now. Oh and let us not forget that Ghost Rider was in Agents of SHIELD, and supposedly took the Darkhold (or a copy of it?) to Hell. But... What if that wasn't the end of it?

Basically, I think Mephisto should have been the antagonist of the MCU after Endgame, and his goal could have been acquiring the Darkhold. This would have worked wonderfully if they actually made him the true villain behind Wanda-Vision as so many people theorized, and from there we could have gotten the likes of Khonshu and Strange sensing the demon's growing threat. From there you could somehow rope in Black Panther (Shuri), Shang Chi, Loki and maybe a couple others like Blade.

To summarize: Magic-based MCU could have gone hard and the Multiverse Saga was a mistake. Thank you for coming to my TED Talk.

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I've been working off and on towards expanding on my Fire Emblem Fates rewrite concept for a couple weeks now and I still have no idea how the FUCK to make the Deeprealms kids work from a narrative standpoint.

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Very tempted to write a new backstory for Mel. Her current "bio" is really more of a color story that makes little to know sense if you're not already familiar with Arcane, further emphasizing how Riot's approach to making that show the centerpiece of their entire continuity is a terrible idea.

The real trouble is figuring out what to even do with her.

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Hey it's been a while since I promoted my own stuff here but I'm fairly proud of how this one turned out.