#3-D bust

[thepastisalreadywritten]

By Erin Blakemore

October 25, 2023

More than 500 years ago, a 14-year-old girl was escorted up an Andean peak and sacrificed to Inca gods.

Buried on the mountain with a variety of offerings, the young woman’s body naturally mummified over time, preserving her hair, her fingernails, the colorful robes she wore on her last day.

But at some point across the centuries, her face became exposed to the elements, her features slowly vanishing over seasons of sunlight and snowfall.

Now, that long-lost face has been recovered thanks to painstaking archaeological analysis and forensic reconstruction.

A striking 3-D bust of the young woman, known today as the Ice Maiden of Ampato, is the centerpiece of a new exhibit in Peru and part of an ongoing effort to understand the drama of human sacrifice practiced in the Andes half a millennium ago.

A sacrificial offering

When National Geographic Explorer Johan Reinhard encountered the mummy, also known as Juanita, atop 21,000-foot Mount Ampato during a 1995 expedition, he knew he had discovered something spectacular.

“At first it looked like one big bundle of textiles,” Reinhard recalls. Then he saw the wizened face amid the folds of fabric.

Here was a young victim of the elusive Inca ritual known as capacocha.

Capacocha mostly involved the sacrifice of children and animals who were offered to the gods in response to natural disasters — to consolidate state power in far-flung provinces of the Inca Empire, or simply to please the deities.

The ritual played an important part in sustaining the Inca Empire. It would involve feasts and grand processions to accompany the children, who appear to have been chosen for their beauty and physical perfection.

Being selected for sacrifice, researchers believe, would have considered a deep honor by the child’s family and community.

Most of the information we have on capacocha, however, is second hand, notes Dagmara Socha, an archaeologist with the Center for Andean Studies at the University of Warsaw who studies the ritual and commissioned the facial reconstruction of the Ice Maiden of Ampato.

“No European colonist ever saw the ceremony,” she explains.

Despite gaps in the historical record, the high-altitude archaeological finds of more than a dozen Inca children on Ampato and other mountains point provide critical evidence for what happened during these rituals.

The means of sacrifice varied, perhaps due to customs related to specific gods. Some children were buried alive or strangled; others had their hearts removed.

The Ice Maiden’s life ended with a single blunt-force blow to the back of the skull.

In search of the Ice Maiden

Oscar Nilsson knows that skull intimately: He spent months with a replica of it in his Stockholm studio, eventually fashioning a sculpture of the 14-old-girl that, glimpsed from afar, almost seems alive.

It’s a two-step process, says the Swedish archaeologist and sculptor.

First, Nilsson immerses himself in the world of his subject with an archaeologist’s eye for detail, digesting as much data as possible to understand what she might have looked like.

Even without a mummified face, he can extrapolate the likely depth of the facial tissue that once draped over those bones, using everything from CT scans to DNA analyses to information about diet and disease to make educated guesses about the individual’s face.

Then came the handiwork. Nilsson printed a 3-D replica of the Ice Maiden’s skull, plugging wooden pegs into its surface to guide the depth and placement of each hand-crafted, plasticine clay muscle.

Eerie eyes, masseter muscles, a nose, the delicate rope-like tissues that constitute a human face: each was added in turn.

After making a silicone mold of the bust, he added hundreds of individual hairs and pores in shades of brown and pink.

It took ten weeks.

Following the Inca Gods

The result, wrapped in robes woven by local women from Peru's Centro de Textiles Tradicionales, is the main attraction at “Capacocha: Following the Inca Gods” at the Museo Santuarios Andinos in Arequipa, Peru through November 18.

The reconstruction will be displayed alongside the Ice Maiden’s mummy, accompanied by the stories of 15 other children selected for capacocha atop Ampato and other Andean peaks.

Their ages range from 3 to about 13. The mummies and skeletal remains of several are featured as 3-D models at the exhibition, which also showcases holographs of some of the sacred items buried alongside them.

These natural mummies offer scientists tantalizing clues about their last days.

When Socha and colleagues conducted toxicological and forensic analyses of the remains of a toddler and four six-to-seven-year-old victims featured in the exhibition, they found they were well cared for in the months before their sacrifice.

They were fed a steady diet of coca leaves, ayahuasca vine, and alcohol in the weeks before their deaths — not as much to intoxicate them as to keep them sedated and anxiety-free as the timeline hurtled toward their sacrifice.

“We were really surprised by the toxicology results,” says Socha.

“It wasn’t only a brutal sacrifice. The Inca also wanted the children to be in a good mood. It was important to them that they go happily to the gods.”

High altitude, psychogenic substances, the spectacular view, the knowledge the afterlife was near — all must have made for an astonishing ceremony, says Reinhard.

“The whole phenomenon must have been overpowering.”

During the last phase of his reconstruction, Nilsson spent hours contemplating and attempting to capture the young girl’s presence 500 years after her death.

The result is both unsettlingly realistic and jarringly personal.

“She was an individual,” the forensic reconstructionist says.

“She must have understood her life would end on the mountaintop in a couple of weeks. We can only hope that she believed in the afterworld herself.”

For Reinhard, finally seeing the face of the girl he carried down the mountain on his back decades ago brought the Ice Maiden’s story full circle.

“It brings her back to life,” he says. The reconstruction brings the focus as much to her culture and daily life as to her spectacular death.

But Nilsson never forgot the way the Ice Maiden died, even as he brought her to life through his reconstruction.

More than anything, he says, he wanted to capture a sense of being frozen — a nod not just to her icy, mummified future but to a girl teetering on the edge of eternity, though still very much alive.

“She knew she was supposed to smile, to express pride,” he says. “Proud to be chosen. But still very, very afraid.”

[raepliica]

serving merylwood again...🍽

[bomkii]

you will always be enough for me.

[stevebabey]

surrounded by your embrace

summary: when you get drunk at a party, old memories make steve worry. he really doesn't need to because all alcohol does is make you clingy. gn!reader but mentioned to wear sum eyeshadow, no warnings u and steve are just absolute goobers for each other :D wc: 2k

He goes to the bathroom for five minutes.

Five minutes and you manage to make yourself scarce. The corner you had been previously inhabiting, slurping the lip of your red solo cup while talking to some friends, is completely void of you when Steve finds his way back to it.

Your friends are still there, leaned against the wall and chattering amongst themselves. Steve clears his throat to gain their attention.

"Did you see...?" He jerks a thumb over his shoulder, asking if they'd noticed where you might've wandered off to. You've had quite a few drinks tonight already and Steve's not surprised if it means you've forgotten you're the only one he knows at this party. These are your friends, not his.

One of them points towards the kitchen and he mutters a quiet thank-you, beginning to wind his way through the people to reach the kitchen.

A fraction of unease prickles at the back of his neck. Last time he was a party and his partner ambled off, full of alcohol, it had left a couple memories that cut deep. Steve hasn't ever admitted it aloud to anyone the seeds that Nancy had sowed that night, the little insecurities that had never bothered Steve in the slightest suddenly sprouting up overnight.

Worst is, he can't make himself forget that night. He remembers the spill of red punch on her white shirt vividly. Remembers the sting behind his eyes. Remembers how later on she'd come back in the middle of everything with Jonathan by her side and Steve had just... known.

But you're not Nancy and he knows that. He knows that this is a different party, you're a different person, it's a whole different relationship—

Yet, those insecurities have rooted deep and Steve can feel them shifting painfully inside him as his worries get away from him. Like vines wrapping tight around his ribcage the longer it takes to find you.

You're aren't by the drink station on the kitchen bench and looking out at the sea of people in the living room, you aren't there either. Steve pulls his collar away from his neck, feeling the prickle roll down his skin again. You've gone, something in his head whispers meanly, You've left him and found someone else at this party. Someone without his baggage, someone without his neediness, someone—

Steve scrubs a hand down his face and shoves away his ugly thoughts. None of them are fair to you — you who has been nothing but impossibly and endlessly sweet on him in the one month you and Steve have been dating. He inhales sharply to clear his head and scans the crowd again. Nothing.

Just as he's turning to go bug your friends again, he spots movement out the corner on his eye, someone shuffling about the walk-in pantry. Steve walks closer and peers in. It's you.

Delight and relief bloom together in his chest and he rounds the corner with a shaky smile, leaning up against the door frame. "There you are."

You turn with a little hiccup, clearly startled.

Steve adores how the recognition on your face melts into excitement, steamrolling his anxieties in an instant, and you drop whatever is in your hands and leap for your boyfriend.

"Steve!"

"That's me," He says with a smile, arms opening for you to burrow yourself in. You do so, arms twisting around his middle and face smushing against his chest and he welcomes the warmth of you in his arms. He expects you to move after a minute but you stay put, pressed right up against him, hold only tightening.

"I couldn't find you." You whine.

"You were looking for me in the pantry?"

"Nooooo," The drinks you've had have turned your usual drama up to 11. You dig your face out of his chest and rest your chin against it instead, forcing Steve to look directly down to meet your eyes. "S'just went to get water from th' kitchen 'n' then I saw they have a box of Fruit Roll-Ups."

You say this all as if it's incredibly self-explanatory why you're in the pantry while you're also looking for your boyfriend. Steve looks over your head and spies the spilled box on the ground you were holding just a few moment prior. Lo and behold, half a dozen Fruit Roll-Ups are scattered on the ground.

"Fruit Roll-Ups, Steve." You whisper with more emphasis.

He laughs a little, looking back down at you and thinking how pretty you look tonight. There's this blue crystal-coloured eyeshadow lightly smudged across your eyelids and it glitters beneath the low hanging bulb of the pantry.

"Well, I'm sure you can have one." He nods to gesture behind you. "Melanie won't mind, you're her friend."

Melanie, the party's host, had been tucked up and fast asleep in her bed with a big red bucket by her side when he had opened her door trying to find the bathroom. Steve definitely thinks she won't mind letting you gorge yourself of a single Fruit Roll-Up. Or a couple. Whatever, he won't tell on you.

"You think?"

Steve rubs your back lightly and goads you back towards the snack you're clearly hungry for. Your hands slide out of the hug reluctantly but the moment you turn, you're scuttling over to the treats. Steve chuckles watching you plop yourself down, sitting down on the cold tiles. You're in shorts. Steve can see your goosebumps from here.

He takes a few steps and crouches down, taking a seat next to you, leaning his back up against a beam. You're trying to tear into one of the packets but the moment Steve's back in your view, you're pouting and holding it out to him.

Steve pretends to scoff, taking the packet and opening it easily, but really, he loves that you ask him to do those things. Loves doing little things for you. He offers it back to you and you pluck it from his hands with glee.

He assumes you'll sink your teeth into it but you stare at it for a moment before you surprise him, crawling forward and all bout clambering into his lap.

It's rather inelegant, your drunkenness not helping and you push the heel of your hand just two inches from where it would really hurt, making Steve wince in anticipation. He holds his hands up and out of the way and lets you settle yourself.

A quiet revelation makes something in his chest glows hotly. You're always affectionate, always want to be touching him, but this is another level for you — there's a shyness around PDA that you usually carry that seems to have been shed tonight. Anyone could peer in the pantry and see you curled up in his arms and lap and you seem too enamoured with him to even care.

Steve grins and chides himself for ever being worried earlier.

"Hi." You say, finally situated comfortably. Steve's not sure it is comfortable, sitting sideways in his lap with one leg twisted nearly underneath you and one out in front, sorta curled in, but you seem content enough. He places one hand on the small of your back, the other holding just above your knee.

"Hi there. Comfy now?"

"Very. Can you pass me my roll-up please?"

You've dropped it in your wriggle to get closer to him and its rolled nearly under the shelf Steve's leaning up besides. He leans over and retrieves it, thanks God for the wrapper, and produces it for you.

"A gift." He says, drinking in how your face washes over with delight. With the lights haloing behind your head, your hair frizzy from dancing earlier, he thinks you look like an angel.

"That's right!" You take it from him and pull it close to your chest, attention back on him. "I wanted to give you a kiss, to say thank you."

Steve feels his heart flutter, a stutter in the beats at the utter tenderness of your words. He squeezes your knee and turns his face, holding out his cheek.

"Well, go on then."

You giggle and it's the most dreamy honeyed noise Steve's ever heard. You lean in and plant a big wet kiss on his cheek with a happy hum, pulling back with a mwah!

"Thank you for the kiss, sweetheart." He rubs the hand on your back lightly and you soften at his words completely, pure giddiness running rampant across your features.

Steve soaks it all in, unsure of the last time he knew someone who gave him love so freely. You seem to have endless amounts of it for him. You don't even mind when he's greedy with you.

You finally peel back the wrapper of the Fruit Roll-Up and gobble a bit of it down. You chew and swallow and lean all your weight against him, your shoulder pressing into his. You're close, a couple more inches and the tip of his nose would brush yours. A bashful expression flits across your features.

"I like when you call me sweetheart."

"You do?"

You nod enthusiastically.

"That's good," Steve says, fondness coating each word. " 'Cos I like calling you sweetheart, sweetheart."

It's so cheesy that Steve thinks you shouldn't laugh, but you do because you're wonderful. He grins, his fingers on your knee tightening slightly as you look over him, your eyes crinkled up by your grin. The alcohol makes you brash enough to stare and you look at his face intently for a moment before you huff.

“God!” You drop your head back with a dramatic sigh and sink your teeth into your bottom lip to try contain your giddy grin. It doesn’t work in the slightest. “That look.”

"What? What look?”

You tip your head back up and Steve can read the shyness on your expression, pulling at your eyebrows.

“You know,” You say, a little embarrassed, which is even more adorable on you while drunk. You're flustered over your words, like you know you wouldn't normally have said them if you were sober. “You just get this look sometimes, when you’re looking at me—”

Steve frowns for a moment, minuscule, as he thinks of what face you might be referring to.

“—and your eyes get all intense and- ugh! It still makes nervous when you do it.” You’ve drop your head again, forward this time, to hide your face in his shoulder. You pat your tummy theatrically and then clutch it, voice lowering to a whisper in his ear. “These butterflies are your doing, Harrington.”

Steve laughs, entirely too pleased with himself —he still makes you nervous. Ditto, he thinks. “Is that so?”

"Mmhm." You hum and Steve feels you place a soft kiss on one of the moles on his neck. His breath catches and his heart flip-flops. You wiggle a bit but it's just to try get closer to him, your nose nuzzling against his neck. A tired sigh escapes you.

"You tired? Wanna go home?" He asks.

You nod sluggishly but make no attempt to move. Steve chuckles lightly, his hand still soothing up and down your back gently, not helping in the least he knows. Still, he can't help himself; he wants to ply you with love, with comfort, if he can. You sigh happily.

"N' a minute." You mumble. Your words are slurring the more tired you get. "Just wanna be at a party with my super hot and amazing boyfriend for one more minute. S'okay?"

Steve's heart crumples and he can feel his entire body curl up, his legs sliding up an inch, his hands tensing, all involuntarily reactions to try bring you in closer to him. There is an ache in his very core but it's a lovely ache. Steve feels a burn behind his eyes. He blinks and presses a long kiss to your hairline.

"Yeah, sweetheart," He murmurs into your hair. "That's more than okay with me."

[funshinebf]

they arent bald anymore btw

[gromky]

want to be a person who draws every day so 🕯️

[sysig]

Maybe something with Mousey being jealous of Hunter and Smoker for one reason or another? hehe

Day 7 - There might be a reason for that

Bonus:

[vgtrackbracket]

Video Game Track Bracket Round 3

C-R-O-W-N-E-D (Reprise) from Dedede's Drum Dash Deluxe

vs.

A Million Gruesome Ways to Die from Billie Bust Up

Propaganda under the cut. If you want your propaganda reblogged and added to future polls, please tag it as propaganda or otherwise indicate this!

C-R-O-W-N-E-D (Reprise):

MAGOLOR AND DEDEDE!!!!!!!

A Million Gruesome Ways To Die:

"What about ten thousand volts of ELECTRICITY??????? Or try a death by Shakespeare in a TRAGICOMEDY!!!!!!! " that line is just UGH 🤌🤌🤌🤌🤌🤌

And spooky and catchy song about the various ways that you could die in order to join a big ghost party.

[termagax]

re: "good girl" i think they say it once randomly as a joke and its just one of those things that gets him wayyy more than they expected it would. so now its their secret weapon and they use it very sparingly and every single time he gets super embarrassed about it but it works ill tell you what.

[will0thew1sp-art]

Thimkimg about THEM,,,,,

@billiebustupofficial hope u dont mind me showing this to u ok thank you bye

[keeps-ache]

think this is funny. anyway. the Thoughts are back at it again

[mekanikaltrifle]

Finished commission for @halifaxafterdark ! This time we have my specialty: big, dramatic and having a great fucking time! I absolutely adored drawing Tina and her whole Brujah wrestler bit is great fun, so thanks for asking me to take a crack at her! Best thing to do was the smudged-up eyeliner and the pink eyelashes, though her expressive face was a close second. love me a spectacular Brujah <3

[bmpmp3]

dysgraphic artiƨts risɘ UP!!!!!

[small-spark-of-light]

i wanted to finish the alignment chart so heres more

[clowndensation]

the world's saddest blond boy just got his "golden retriever bf" license revoked on account of all the atrocities. yeah he's averaging about one ever fifteen minutes.

[player-1]

Once again back on my bs throwing out another insane but possibly valid Nexomon theory until Nexomon 3 finally gets a proper release date...

Going through the Abyssal DLC again, mostly finding hints on what they foreshadow for 3 (And it's quite a few things, a bit about sorcerers/witches already getting wiped off the map and a possible time-skip prediction of 100,000 years.), but the one thing that caught my eye was after the MC defeated Volcel [N:E Abyssal DLC part 4]. Long story short, it's heavily implied that the Abyssals were engineered like the Greater Drakes and/or Vados, but not in such an unnatural way that Deena couldn't have sensed it. In her own words, "Unlike the dragons and Vados, these Abyssal Tyrants couldn't have been forged by human hands."

Which leads me to the obvious conclusion (and indirectly the mad scientist Logan's): GENETIC ENGINEERING!!

And I'm obviously jumping on the idea that Metta made them (for obvious reasons) since resurrection would've opened up a similar scheme; besides, he's the only one of the fam with these skills so he had all that free time to do something else here. While following the assumption that the main element Abyssals (Fire, Water, Wind, Nature, Earth, Lightning) were modeled after the main Omnicron Fam, the Abyssals also share some physical characteristics with some Nexomon of N1 & N:E as well besides the nixed bag that is Venefelis, but I'll just go in order from appearance in the DLC then explain/ramble from there.

Major-ish spoilers for Nexomon 1 (& Netherworld dlc/arc) and Nexomon: Extinction w. the Abyssal dlc below:

1. Venefelis (Masquiti(?) + Kitsunox, Carnagrius, Fanfrou, Fuzztino, Felicient)

Like I said, Venefelis is such a mixed bag since she came out the gate just after Omnicron's bucket got kicked for good and the N1 protag thought any major world-ending threat was over and done for...Well that was a fucking lie and we all know it. While I feel that Venefelis got that hot-headed attitude (and obvious golden child syndrome) from the other cat-based 'mon, it's easy to see the similarities w. the Masquiti line even when they didn't appear until 1,000 yrs later in N:E (and the off-putting entry about Masquiti fits way too perfectly w. her "ghost" form Salem), but I digress. Whether or not Venefelis could be considered the first Psychic type after N1 (or the first uber-powerful Masquiti known to man), or maybe Metta made a replacement Omnicron on the side if his main plan failed (before he threw her out only to kill Hilda in revenge), that's already up for debate for me. [Also somewhat implying that Venefelis is a mutation of Kitsunox since the cape seems similar and she actively boasts about being the “perfect servant” in killing Hilda for a master she never knew nor witnessed (N:E Kitsunox are unwaveringly loyal too) but that’s my opinion here]…

2. Pluvean (Arqua + Harectic, Hydrose, Reeferus, Torrex)

Even if Arqua/Merida was always shown to be hotheaded and quick to throw a temper (even at the expense of a destroyed ship or two), Pluvean was only mean to be a sacrifice to either confuse the Guild on the Abyssals' purpose or direct their attention away from the real threats...Either way, he's pretty lax on what the Guild wants to learn from him (ie. the bare minimum) and is more concerned over why Venefelis revived him if he already completed his task with flying colors. While this might also relate to the calming nature of water as opposed to Arqua's unpredictable rage, it's an interesting starting point for the Guild (and MC) to figure out that the Abyssals are far from their usual brand of Tyrant. And I guess Metta wanted to see a cooler side to Arqua/Merida when she's not flaunting around with other humans, who knows?

3. Rotramus (Nara + Outgrov, Raksuma, Prisimazor)

While I'm not going to theorize if or how Metta got Nara's DNA to create Rotramus (which that would next to impossible without revealing himself), but it's pretty telling since the only things he has to do is 1. Hide from the Guild, 2. Nap out of sight of said-Guild, 3. Answer or follow any tamer's command without question or self-preservation if they find him (and 4. Deny and insult said-tamer's command without question if they attempt to turn him against the Abyssals); you know, it just like Nara's main deal of betraying Omnicron, joining the humans to destroy her dad and siblings, and wanting to live freely and independently as Deena. Even if Rotramus is perfectly harmless apart from not betraying the Abyssals at the drop of a hat, it's interesting to see how much of an iron grip Metta also has on the Abyssals despite none of them ever knowing their master by appearance or name.

4. Inominox (Ventra + Heliventus, Eqoloptera, Lurkennie, Voltosfrere, Swactrum)

Just like the vulture Inominox is based on, he fights only against tamers he considers weak and easy-pickings and has survived because of that for generations...Yet he heartily declares the MC weak and worthless despite after defeating two Abyssals at that point (Pluvean and Rotramus) despite clearly being the King/Queen of Monsters, then getting completely bodied in the process (mostly after using one Nexomon with a type disadvantage). Makes sense though since Ventra was always shown to be incredibly egotistical and overestimated her enemies in N1, so Inominox might've been so blinded by his cunning and "weakness radar" that he's the only Abyssal besides Helevolk and/or Braccus that don't immediately recognize the MC as Nexomon King.

5. Helovolk (Fona + Carnagrius (N:E), Oregoon, Treclay, Moltano, Shardrillion)

Sucks that I can't find an proper Nexomon to connect to why Helovolk is blind and as irrational as a ordinary monster, but it might relate to the theme of fire being a blind and destructive force if left unattended...Or Helovolk just got the worst part of Fona since he was just a bad-boy dude who always played by his own rules. Also putting in the revived N:E version of Carnegrius since they became increasingly violent after loosing their natural habitat, and Helovolk constantly digs a mindless series of tunnels to stay hidden and elusive...Maybe N3 will expand more on his personality/motives, but that's all I got for him here. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

6+7. Caelesa & Byeol (Metta + Raamu, Mistrallion, Starckal, Paupo(?))

I know I know, why add Byeol in the mix, aren't they supposed to be a regular ol' Tyrant? I mean, have you even seen these two side-by-side!? They might as well be half-siblings here! And if anything goes to show, if Metta dabbled with gene splicing with his own DNA, not everything was going to be all sugar, spice, and everything nice here (and probably experiencing ego-death with the "abomination" that is Byeol)...Maybe throwing in a bit of Paupo in the mix so the family resemblance isn't too obvious, who knows. Besides, they're both Normal type, they both have ring-like objects on them, and they both have a tendency to constantly evade the Guild's Tyrant witch-hunt without a care in the world...Possibly w. Byeol, but their lack of a noteworthy dex entry says as much (And on that note, it was only today ago that I realized that Byeol’s Nexomite/energy crystals are on the cheeks or might be the little stars floating around them…So I’m technically right and they have permanent dimples! 🥰). While Caelesa obviously has Metta's crassness around humans (only calling them idiots and getting huffy about the Guild labeling for a Tyrant for only running around as ordered), I headcanon that Byeol only avoids getting caught as a "game" and enjoys people-watching or nagging for attention so much that it easily weirds out the Guild. But I'm pretty sure Metta would've had a grand old time getting a 2-in-1 Tyrant deal while (possibly) pretending his mini-me cherub doesn't exist at all.

8. Braccus (Grunda + Broshield, Grath, Bitztrong, Rustung)

My boy Braccus is chonk supreme here, already topping off against all the Abyssals in pure strength and size alone (and makes it even funnier when his dialogue sprite takes up 1/3 of the screen on its own), but I have a feeling that this is the kind of terror and might Metta aspires Grunda to be before he "mellowed out" in N:E. Not that he did any kind of extreme damage on purpose, even Grunda's Chasm in N:E was made just from the Nexolord reviving him, and his entry mentions that it's only getting on Grunda's bad side when he goes on a rampage, so tamers and residents always had to walk on eggshells around him. But what does Grunda secretly want more than anything in the world? Take care of a small camp/village in the desert town Solus (aka Lateria in N:E) as its leader and as the human Ulrich (in the N1 dlc btw, sot it's an idealized verision of what he wants in the world...neat!). So yeah, even if Braccus was given actual freedom with distracting the Guild instead of a set-in-stone calling, he decides on his own that cold-blooded destruction was the only way to go...Until Xanders killed him, that is. And yes I will wholeheartedly believe that Xanders did it barehanded, he's just that kind of dude tbh. -Oh yeah, and who wants to bet that the crystal he has was ripped out of his chest? Either Xanders did it or Braccus did it for a power move, who knows?

9. Volcel (Luxa + Resonect, Resonic, Zappnic, Tephragon)

Isn't it interesting to know that both Volcel and Tephragon have an innate skill in tracking other people and/or monsters? While Volcel mainly used his skills to find a safe place for the Abyssals to hide in (aka. Precursor Mountains), his dex entry notes he "excelled at scouting and locating other living beings"...Maybe Venefelis revived him first to track the other Abyssal skeletons and find the mountain? Just some food for thought here...But yeah, I suppose Metta wanted his not-Luxa Tyrant to do something important and meaningful instead of being materialistic and smiting humans only for fun.

10. Kroma (Kromatice, Phantra, Hohopi, Rapilux, Dredrone)

And last but not least, the attack rabbit themselves! While I love the irony of a cute winged rabbit-fox thing having the power to control ghosts (and she was set loose in Immortal Citadel, you know, the one place already filled to the brim with ghosts...), I kinda believe that her appearance was purely meant to be a distraction to hide her true strength (apart from every other Abyssal I mean). While it doesn't clearly explain how Kroma controls spirits in the first place (and being strong enough to control Ulzar nonetheless), it might work like Dredrone or Phantra with a strange otherworldly energy or hypnotism. Sucks that she only got to roam free in a relatively short time, trying and failing to kill Hilda's apprentice Eliza, before Deena curb-stomped that pile of stuffing into oblivion (or not caring to do her mission with gusto since she knew their master won't show up, who knows)...But hey, at least we'll get to see them again in Nexomon 3...Hopefully.

Anywho, thanks for reading my growing brand of rants here, and here's to the future installment in the completely underrated Nexomon series!