#Arc: Seeker of Legends

[alolaveralabs]

(A portal appears in front of Ant's house, with Carmine and Kieran walking out of it first.)

"Welcome to Ant's world, sis."

"Looks just like ours does."

"Yep. Gets confusin', but this is a different world, promise."

"You're takin' the Multiverse thing... oddly well, honestly."

"Oh, no, I'm gonna have the freak-out later. Right now, I'm rolling with it, because what choice do I have?"

"Fair point."

[ @time-travel-trio ]

Oh hi Kieran!

Right..get inside the house. I already called Juliana and told her to come over to Alola..anyone else with you?

@skyfire-the-pokemon-biologist

[time-travel-trio]

..Dusk...

I'm so sorry.

Your sisters...

this..thing called Dokutaro..it's got them.

-Juliana, @alolaveralabs

WE KNOW! WE KNOW, AND WE'RE REALLY WORRIED. UH. DUSK IS. NOT DOING SO WELL. I'M TRYING TO HOLD IT TOGETHER FOR US BOTH.

Dokutaro said he was gonna get revenge on us... it seems like he's following through with it. By going after them. I'm keeping Dusk offline right now, so she can't talk to Dokutaro. I don't want her to end up like them. I could fight Dawn or Twi, no problem. Even with their new legendaries. But Duskie? I wouldn't be able to. I'd hesitate, because it's her.

I... I can't lose Duskie, too.

[talonabraxas]

Mount Shasta

There’s a well-known legend that says that somewhere deep beneath Northern California’s 14,179-foot-tall Mount Shasta is a complex of tunnels and a hidden city called Telos, the ancient “City of Light” for the Lemurians. They were the residents of the mythical lost continent of Lemuria, which met its demise under the waves of the Pacific (or the Indian Ocean, depending on who you ask) thousands of years ago. Lemurians believed to have survived the catastrophe are said to have settled in Telos, and over the years their offspring have been sporadically reported wandering around the area: seven-feet-tall, with long flowy hair, often clad in sandals and white robes.

Lemurians aren’t the only unusual figures said to inhabit this stand-alone stratovolcano, easily seen from Interstate 5, about 60 miles south of the Oregon border. Mount Shasta is believed to be a home base for the Lizard People, too, reptilian humanoids that also reside underground. The mountain is a hotbed of UFO sightings, one of the most recent of which occurred in February 2020. (It was a saucer-shaped lenticular cloud.) In fact, the mountain is associated with so many otherworldly, paranormal, and mythical beings—in addition to long-established Native American traditions—that it’s almost like a who’s who of metaphysics. It has attracted a legion of followers over the years, including “Poet of the Sierras” Joaquin Miller and naturalist John Muir, as well as fringe religious organizations such as the Ascended Masters, who believe that they’re enlightened beings existing in higher dimensions. What is it about this mountain in particular that inspires so much belief?

“There’s a lot about Mount Shasta, and volcanoes in general, that are difficult to explain,” says Andrew Calvert, scientist-in-charge at the California Volcano Observatory, “and when you’re having difficulty explaining something, you try and understand it.” Calvert has studied Shasta’s eruptive history since 2001. “It’s such a complicated and rich history,” he says, “and Shasta itself is also very visually powerful. These qualities build on each other to make it a profound place for a lot of people—geologists, spirituality seekers … even San Francisco tech folks, and hunters and gatherers from 10,000 years ago. It’s one that can have a really strong effect on your psyche.”

Mount Shasta is one of the most prominent of all the Cascade volcanoes, an arc that runs from southwestern British Columbia to Northern California, and includes Washington’s Mount Rainier and Oregon’s Mount Hood, among others. “It’s so steep and so tall that it even creates its own weather,” says Calvert. This includes the spaceship-looking lenticular clouds that tend to form around the mountain, created, he says, “by a humid air mass that hits the volcano, and then has to go up a little bit to cool off.” But they only contribute to Shasta’s supernatural allure, along with its ice-clad peak, steaming fumaroles, and shape-shifting surface that’s being constantly broken down and rebuilt by ice, water, wind, and debris. The mountain also sits about 15 miles or so west of the standard arc line of the other Cascade volcanoes—a move that took place about 700,000 years ago. “We don’t really have a good explanation for why it moved out there,” Calvert says, a statement that seems to make Mount Shasta’s mysteries appear more otherworldly by the minute.

The Mount Shasta spiritual legacy goes far deeper than contemporary myths and sightings. For Native Americans in particular, the mountain is a sacred place, straddling the territories of the Shasta, Wintu, Achumawi, Atsugewi, and Modoc tribes, which can date their lineages back to a time when eruptions actually took place there. (Its last eruption, says Calvert, was a little over 3,000 years ago.)

There’s Something About Mount Shasta

[encyclopediacr]

Last month at the wiki — May 2024

On the first Wednesday of every month (or, best we can to it), we highlight significant work done in the previous month by our editing community at Encyclopedia Exandria.

As always, we start with a selection of articles created in the highlighted month. You can find more at the 50 newest pages report.

Rimecleft, mountain in Issylra featured in The Legend of Vox Machina

Ted 2, Opal's spider familiar

The Highest Light, city in Midst

Yore Mirror, magical item used by the Unseelie Court

Exandrian Accord, coalition opposing the Ruby Vanguard

The Menagerie (adventuring party), of the Daggerheart one-shots

Hieronymous Loxlee, character in Midst

Live shows, episodes performed before an in-person audience

Phoenix, elemental

Weapons of the Spectral Hand, group of legendary magical items

It's been a busy month in May just keeping up with the programming schedule, which has been getting quite lengthy these days! You can always check out what's coming up in the schedule in our upcoming events article.

We've added The Re-Slayer's Take to our routine coverage, with individual articles for each episode. You can explore the topic area starting with our category for the series. In accordance with our spoiler policy, we update as episodes hit the public feed.

The new Critical Role Abridged also provides us with illustrations for many characters, creatures, and objects! As Encyclopedia Exandria has chosen to use only official art—that is, art that is commissioned by the production—this gives us opportunity to finally have images on many of our articles, like Cyrus Wyvernwind and Green Seekers. On the subject of images, many images from The World Of Critical Role have also been added to the wiki to grace our articles, like Sorrowsworn.

Beacon's launch also gave us arcs for Campaign 3: Bells Hells! This allows us to (finally) organize our episode list into narrative arcs rather than in chunks of 25 episode, and it gives us the ability to organize character articles in this way as well.

[literally-just-there]

hello! since you're a history lover, I was wondering what historical facts/periods/events are some of your favourite and if there are any you like to talk with informant about?

Oooh thank you so much for this anon !! 😄💖

Overall I think Seeker and Info would talk a lot about pre-roman civilisations like the Etruscans or the Iceni, as well as the religious practices and beliefs of these populations. It is quite reminding of Darkwood's own history with the "Stars' People" and the numerous artifacts that were found and that confirm the presence of a prosperous civilisation thousands of years before the city they know today was founded.

As for me personally, my favourite topics to study are a bit miscellaneous, but how could I have it any other way when literally everything is an object of study !!

Now I have mostly studied French History, since it is where I live. My favourite period to study is the whole of the Middle Ages, but most particularly the period of the monastic and Gregorian reforms, as well as the establishment of the Peaces of God, which in my opinion is basically a form of medieval Geneva convention. I also love studying courtly love and its parts of truth and legend in society.

The historical figures I find most interesting to study are Hildegard von Bingen, Nicolas Fouquet, Joan of Arc, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, Napoleon I, Charles de Gaulle, Maximilien de Robespierre, Charlotte Corday, Lenin and Stalin.

I also like studying the different kinds of medieval combat gear, and the evolution of armors, and the different kinds of swords.

On a more contemporary note, I recently found an interest in wine counterfeiting between the late 19th century and the 1930's. Some recipes of those contained pokeweed for the coloration, if you know about pokeweed then you know that humans cannot digest it. Also some Californian counterfeiters used boxes labeled in French so that when the ships arrived in New York, it was thought that the wine really arrived from France. Feel free to research more about the subject, it's both fascinating and disgusting to know about the ingredients.

I also love reading about more somber theories, like whether Madame de Montespan actually had black masses performed on her to try to regain Louis XIV's affection, or the various identities attributed to the Man in the Iron Mask.

[ultraericthered]

DARXOMNIOUS

"What we have longed to see...a World torn apart at the seams."

A Kingdom Hearts OC of mine I've touched upon on here before. Not only the overarching Big Bad of the second story arc of Kingdom Hearts (Divergence) - the Key Of Destiny Chronicle -, Darxomnious is the closest thing to a dark deity this side of Chernabog. Born from when the World was plagued by darkness that arose from all the vices and ill intent in the hearts of men in the period that's got down into legend as the "Keyblade War", Darxomnious is in essence all the darkness from the darkest of all hearts aggregated together and made manifest as a singular entity. In the true history of the World (not the fairy tale), Darxomnious spawned all Darklings into being, with the amount of darkness this begot proving to be the final, back-breaking straw for the old World, which was completely consumed by darkness and left in tattered ruins as Kingdom Hearts faded from it into the darkness, prior to being restored into the Realm of Light with multiple divided worlds we have now thanks to light that survived within the hearts of children. These same children stood up to the darkness, incapacitating them with their light and trapping them within the remains of the ultimate key, locked away in a black box.

And in that box Darxomnious remained until one day Luxu, leading Keyblade Master for the Dandelion Guild unions (a guild started by the children who'd remade the World to keep it protected from the remaining Darklings), foolishly wanted to uncover the secret to restoring lost hearts, so he opened the box with the key materials and let Darxomnious loose upon the realm. This incident led to Luxu going into self exile so that he may right his wrong and find some way to erase Darxomnious from the World for good this time, and to one of the Guild's unions, soon to be known as the Luminous Vanguard, gaining traction through the abolition of Keyblade Mastery. The black box was buried beneath the earth of the world called the Land of Departure, which later became Castle Oblivion. Master Luxu eventually subdued Darxomnious but unabe to slay them, he performed a ritual to seal the dark god deep within the mental space that connects the heart and mind, known as the Dreamscape. But in doing so, the master had tied his and Darxomnious fates together, with him gaining life sustaining power from Darxomnious' darkness at the cost of his mental soundness, and from Luxu did Darxomnious gain full sapience and thinking skills. From deep within their Dreamscape prison, Darxomnious continued to absorb hearts so tainted by darkness that they could not be pulled into Kingdom Hearts by its light, while also keeping Luxu alive for all those years...

...until one year, Luxu's Dreamscape connected with that of the secret guardian Keyblade Master named Xehanort as he delved deep into darkness without his protective armor on, madly pursuing all the answers to all his heart's questions regarding the full history and true nature of the World. In that space within Xehanort's subconscious, a pact was made between the aging man and the deity of darkness, with the assurance that Xehanort's endeavors and legacy would far outlive his own mortality and would be made to serve Darxomnious. So after Xehanort had passed on, once in Heartless form and then in Nobody form, this contract enters play. In KH3D, Xehanort's reborn heart, from the Hollow Replica vessel that had yet to reach completion, projects himself into worlds whose populations have been cast into slumber by Maleficent's sleep magic, skipping from one Dreamscape to another in hopes of finding his master and untethering them from it. When he successfully manages to do so, Darxomnious is now able to completely overtake Luxu's heart and mind in order to use his body as a puppet to initiate and spearhead the Seekers of Darkness movement, in which he and 12 other villains control multiple adversarial entities and initiate as many of those with dark hearts into the movement as they're able to, with not just hearts claimed by their forces but the hearts of the Dark Seekers themselves becoming sacrifices to a mass of distorted void that empowers their footsoldiers. The crux of Darxomnious and Xehanort's master plan is to sacrifice the seven pure hearts of the new Princeses of Heart to the abyss within the Dark Keyhole, and for this as well as the Guardians of Light's fight to rescue them to create a massive distortion from which a Dark X-Blade can be forged, which Darxomnious could then use to open the way to the true Kingdom Hearts and steal the light out from it. Darkness could then once more cover the World and tear it apart at the seams, with the realm being reborn into one in an eternally distorted state where all hearts born to it succumb to darkness, giving Darxomnious unlimited hearts to feast upon forevermore. A sick apocalyptic vision that must never come to pass, which is what sets the stakes for KH3 so damn high.

In the final level(s) of KH3's story, both Luxu and Darxomnious are split back apart in the Final World, but Luxu, having become so crazed and so dependent on Darxomnious’ power for life, beckons the dark ruler back into his heart. Then in Scala Ad Caelum, Darxomnious begins to summon Kingdom Hearts but is interrupted this time by Sora, Donald, and Goofy coming to face him. Luxu's heart is destroyed from the inside by Darxomnious, which transforms Luxu's physical form into one that is half-Darkling much like Anti-Aqua. After fighting him across land, sea, and sky of Scala Ad Caelum, his body is completely destroyed, exposing Darxomnious in their raw form as they flee back to roof of highest tower, just as the light-filled moon of Kingdom Hearts appears in full in the sky above. Xehanort, still positioned on that tower, pleads with Darxomnious to tie themself to his essence, to make him their new vessel. Darxomnious does so without hesitation, merging with Xehanort and then assimilating all Darklings, Heartless, Nobodies, Unversed, and Hollow Replicas in existence into himself, which transforms his form into a fiendish abomination. Using his new power, Darxomnort pulls all the Guardians of Light back into the Final World through the Kingdom Hearts moon, heads towards a giant keyhole symbolizing the inner heart of Kingdom Hearts to suck out all the light and infuse it with darkness. When Sora comes at him for the final showdown, Darxomnort draws all the XIII’s darkness into himself and they manifest as Keyblades around him during the fight. A Super Trinity Attack by Sora, Donald, and Goofy, with extra rear power from Kairi and Riku, is used to take down Darxomnort, blasting the demon backwards into the darkened Kingdom Hearts moon just as it begins to burn out, which disintegrates him into a massive dark void that, if allowed to spread and expand itself, could engulf the entire World. With Sora's Ultimate Keyblade mended thanks to Terra, Aqua, and Ventus' sacrificial move, the Keyblade Graveyard is obliterated as all the ancient Keyblades that had long lost the power they'd had that united with the hearts of their wielders regain power from hearts across all worlds that Sora calls out to for help, with all the blades joining with the Ultimate Keyblade to make the void shrink and implode, obliterating all trace of Darxomnious once and for all.

Some tidbits:

The name "Darxomnious" is something I thought of (it’s pronounced like “Dark’s Omnious”, as in “Darkness Is Everything”, and of course it has to include the "X" in there), but the concept behind it actually has basis in something introduced to KH canon here - the guy calling himself “Darkness” and referring to himself as a plural “we” sparks in the imagination the concept of an entity that’s basically a reigning deity of Darkness made from all the darkest of hearts. It would make far more sense for a literal dark god to be the ultimate Big Bad than an old man who’s just so overpowered, overly knowledgeable, and ridiculously advantaged that he might as well BE a dark god.

The most conveniently OP of all Darxomnious' ability would be to use their darkness to reach out through all time and space in the Kingdom Hearts multiverse in order to grab darkness-filled hearts in a vicegrip and bring them to themself to either absorb or, in the case of the other twelve of the XIII, place them in Hollow Replica vessels.

Much like Chernabog, Darxomnious does not speak in their default form. They only gain a voice through Luxu, who they puppet to deliver their own words in Luxu's voice (Hector Elizondo) but with a faint demonic filter behind it. The wordless sounds Darxomnious does make would be provided by an uncreditted Frank Welker.

Darxomnious inhabiting Master Luxu, with hood and without hood

The partial Darkling form that Luxu's body is transformed into

Darxomnort, the Final Boss of my KH3

[zponds]

(Credit goes to JWBtheUncanny on Deviantart)

Ketchum Alliance Uniforms 3

If you Recall Kris of the first Picture, Well, Allow me to introduce Kris's Johto Team for the Ketchum Alliances, Consisting of The Boys and Truth Seekers.

Jimmy (Protagonist of The Legend of Thunder Arc), Marina (Protagonist of The Legend of Thunder Arc and Kris's Cousin), Vincent Jackson (Protagonist of The Legend of Thunder Arc), Ethan (the Younger Brother of Jimmy) & Lyra (The Johto Trainer Ash, Dawn and Brock met)

For Jimmy's Outfit, since he was the Anime's version of the Original Ethan from the Original Gold and Silver games (In the same was Ash is the Anime version of Red) Game him a similar Yellow Colour like Ash's costume, While Ash's costume is Blue, Jimmy's is Red, As for Marina... thanks to Vincent saying that Marina has a thing for People wearing Capes, Yana implemented a Cape for Marina's Suit.

[antihibikase-archive]

"i see the truth." / The Heart , Cheren Slater 🖤🍒🕸️ - chronological order + meanings

Listen here!

I trimmed down the Slater playlist to just 11 songs, and re-arranged the tracks to fit the order of how Cheren’s arc is supposed to go down in my rewrite!

Edit (5/9/23): Playlist now has 15 songs!

Trigger warnings for mentions of; dissociation, self-hatred, and attempted self-harm.

1. Escapist

This is who I am Escapist, paradise seeker Farewell now time to fly Out of sight, out of time, away from all lies

From the perspective of an outsider, they are listening in to the story of The Legendary Twin Heroes of Truth and Ideals; both princes are accompanied by their loyal scholar and warrior as they pursue their goals in hopes of meeting the legendary dragon, who in turn will lend them the strength needed to earn the respect of the people of the kingdom and ascend the throne.

However, in the story, there is a healer who plays the role of The Heart; a healer who is loved and cherished by both princes. 

At the end of the story, The Heart is killed when the dragon splits itself into two, using his mind and body as the sacrifices needed to give birth to the dragons of truth and ideals, Reshiram and Zekrom.

2. Kami-Iro Awase

Searching for a hope within But the line to despair is so paper-thin It's the nature of the system It's the way of your existence

The Heart is reborn as Cheren Slater, one of the children from Nuvema Town. Along with his best friends Hilbert Blackburn and Bianca Alabaster, they set off on a journey accompanied by their new Pokemon on Pokedexes on hand.

However, they encounter a strange group called Team Plasma, who start forcing them and their newfound friend Hilda Weiss into roles similar to that of the legend.

Though Cheren remains oblivious, he feels a sense of dread as he continues towards his journey.

3. Choice

Nice to meet ya Who could you be? I am injury No you aren't You made the choice to be!

When everything Cheren knows and desires is brought into question, Zinzolin takes that opportunity to use his mind as a sacrifice to forcefully summon Reshiram, as Hilbert cannot will himself to, forcing Cheren into the role of The Heart.

4. Hitorinbo Envy

Dreaming in color, burned it in my mind But then I wake up, with black as raven hands alive Well I was chosen, to burn inside Couldn't be more fun to whistle and sing

Cheren is brainwashed and pitted against his best friend, completely losing his sense of agency. Though he’s unconscious, he dreams of his days playing with Hilbert and Bianca as children, and he unconsciously begs for them to save him.

When he’s rescued, the last thing he sees before his consciousness fades is fire emerging from Hilbert’s back like wings, cementing his status and role as the Hero of Truth.

5. Snowman

The kind nonsense spilled over in the end It's okay to have laughed and cried My body melts away as I watch over the two But I'm sure it will be fine For no matter what winter is like, Spring will come

After the battle at N’s castle, Cheren doesn’t fully regain consciousness until the day after Christmas, where he discovers a letter and Pokeball left on his doorstep. Realizing that Hilbert has left Unova under the pressure as its new hero, Cheren starts to fall into despair over losing both his best friend and his sense of agency.

He’s sent to Flocessy to live with Alder in hopes that the quietness from the media would help him, but Cheren spends his days yearning for Hilbert’s return and rereading the letter left for him. 

When he’s offered the chance to be Lenora’s successor, he is taken to Castelia to train under Burgh and the Striaton Triplets, hoping that his talents as a trainer won’t go to waste.

At the end of the song, spring arrives, bringing with it a new life for Cheren, and a new hero.

6. Lower One’s Eyes

I'll make sure that all my secret sins Everything my heart has hid All the feelings deep within Beating in my heart's the Truth, Amen

The first half of the song begins with Cheren recapping his journey from what little he remembers of it; he remembers mostly the major events, but what sticks out to him most is Hilbert’s kindness, and how it persists even when Cheren loses himself under Team Plasma’s control.

Even as Beheyeem has him under its spell, Cheren is saved by Hilbert, but he loses his hero before he can tell him his feelings.

The second half of the song shows Cheren alone in Aspertia City, lost in his new role as a teacher and gym leader. He then meets the trio of Nathaniel “Nate” Blake, Hugh Obsidian, and Rosa Whitefield, who adore him and make him remember what its like to smile and love again.

Unfortunately, Neo Team Plasma shows up, and Cheren finds himself seeing Nate in Hilbert’s shoes. Deathly afraid to lose him as he lost his best friend, Cheren spirals into near madness and tries to stop him from becoming a hero, but ends up jumping in front of Kyurem’s attack.

With his body in a near-date state, it is enough of a sacrifice to summon Zekrom and acknowledge Nate as the Hero of Ideals.

As he loses consciousness, the familiar silhouette of Reshiram descends upon the Giant Chasm, carrying two familiar figures on its back.

7. Lunod

Drowning in anxiety As if it’s punishment that never ends Where do you hold onto when you’re falling in deep They say “it’s just shallow”

Though Cheren is saved once more and treated before hes succumbs to his injuries, he doesn’t find himself in a stable state; feeling as if he’s lost both his mind and body to the dragons, and with Hilbert’s sudden reapparance, he dissociates and distances himself from his friends and family.

Feeling as if he’s now lost himself and all he has had to call himself his own person, he decides to use what’s left of his self-control in an attempt to throw himself off of Aspertia’s lookout.

8. Racing To The Night

"I don't want this, I'm tired of it" I frantically reach for your hand But you push my hands away "I don't want this, I'm tired of it" To tell the truth, I want to say that, too

To Cheren’s chagrin, he’s saved once again by Hilbert, who he views as an illusion his mind has conjured to cope with his anger and resentment towards himself. He rebuffs all of the illusion’s attempts to help him, and repeatedly lashes out, until the league decides that Cheren should go on hiatus until further notice.

Cheren’s anger towards himself and the illusion continues to grow, and in an attempt to stop him from isolating himself further, he’s taken to Nimbasa City to spend time with his students and friends. Unfortunately, Hilbert’s sudden touchiness towards him drives him away, and he falls off the stairs of the Pokemon Musical Theater.

Though he only gets a mild concussion and is relatively unharmed, the sudden pain coursing through his body is enough proof that he is awake and conscious, and the Hilbert holding him is the real deal.

9. Magnetic

Now I'm walking through my star-shaped morgue Singing, "What the fuck'd I do it for?" Heard voices from my closet door "You're all we want and more" Yeah, you said it "I'm magnetic to the things I hate the most"

Cheren’s birthday comes around, and his friends decide to celebrate his birthday at his Castelia condo, the place he stayed at during his training.

However, when Cheren blinks, he finds himself in a strange place with a person whose face is obscured. He recognizes the strange place as a grayed version of his Castelia condo, and curiously, the doors have no knobs, rendering him trapped.

10. Karma

What I desire most, what I fear most Is that somewhere in my heart I left a part of myself, but in no time it’s back in my hands Just like a lie, Oh Amita

Cheren’s birthday is celebrated, with the attendants of the party being him and the stranger.

As he tries to figure out where he is and what happened beforehand, Cheren remembers he was suddenly taken by a strange Pokemon at broad daylight on the streets of Castelia. 

Cheren realizes where he is and how he ended up there; while he was taken around Castelia City by his students, a Sigilyph hypnotized him and whisked him away with the help of a Cofagrigus.

At his sudden realization, the stranger lurches towards him, and Cheren finds himself trying to fight back against a growing void whose face shares his own.

11. Headlock

I'm walking, you've been hiding, And you look half dead half the time. Monitoring you, like machines do, You've still got it, I'm just keeping an eye

Though he is not in control of his body at the moment, he knows who is- The Heart, or at least, their willpower.

Taken into Relic Castle, the restless Yamask of Relic Castle are actually the spirits of the heroes of truths and ideals, as well as their party and the priest who guided them. They’ve mistaken Cheren for The Heart, and are intent on making him stay with them as they themselves have forgotten that he had died.

The stranger that lurched towards him has no intentions of hurting him- rather, it tells Cheren to keep fighting, to break free from the same chains that held The Heart in place.

Cheren realizes that this is The Heart himself, whose spirit was taken to the castle by Hilbert and co.

12. Unknown Mother Goose

How could I grow to adore this world surrounding me? Tell me will I just keep on rolling on eternally? Hey I think I’ll take these feelings no one ever wants Give this world a chance and share them all now with this final song

As Cheren’s friends try to convince the spirits of the castle to pass on, Cheren thinks of the things he’s lost when he’s begun his journey with high hopes; he’s lost his dreams, his sense of self, his agency, and even his heart, as he realizes the heart beating in his chest is not his own.

When he thinks of fully succumbing into the whims of the ghosts and assuming The Heart’s personality, he hears the dreams and wishes of his friends and his Pokemon, who are fighting for his sake.

He asks The Heart what he should do, and though The Heart insists Cheren keep fighting, he understands he’s worn down at being seen as an extension of The Heart’s will.

The Heart then asks Cheren what does he want to do.

13. Homunculus

I realized in my last life, that I hate the light So I keep running, and running I'm trying to hide From everything that's inside This heart that I've tried To erase and wash away all the shame

Cheren makes his own choice.

Having enough of the role he was forced to play, Cheren rejects the truth and ideals of the twin princes to force himself awake, where he finds himself surrounded by the ghosts of their past lives. 

Repeatedly, he rejects them and acknowledges his existence as his own, and not as an extension of The Heart’s.

The Hero of Truth is then reunited with the true spirit of The Heart, whose body was laid to rest all the way at the Abyssal Ruins.

Finally brought together, The Hero of Truth leaves Cheren and acknowledges him as a completely separate person from The Heart he loved, and The Heart thanks Cheren and his friends for offering their spirits peace.

14. Flowering

I want to bloom as the way I am​ What I desire and fear the most cannot be taken in this borrowed form​ As the way I am, as the way I am​

In the aftermath of the Relic Castle incident, Cheren takes his time to ponder on his own existence and sense of self, all while his friends continue to set up his birthday party. 

He learns of the full story of the twin heroes from Bianca, and realizes that she, Hilbert, and the rest of their friends were similarly haunted and forced to play into roles by not only Team Plasma, but also by the restless spirits of the Relic Castle.

As he blows his candles and celebrates his 17th birthday, Cheren finally decides to look at Hilbert straight in the eye again.

15. Matsuri

'Cuz I was crying so hard, until my tears drowned And 'cuz, without any guard, you only laughed loud The summer heat then was burning both our bodies' ends The winter, seething then, froze us to a bitter old death

As the year ends, Cheren spends the new year with his friends and family at Nuvema Town, having invited Nate and his friends and family to celebrate with them.

Though he admits to Hilbert how he felt abandoned and angry, after having met The Heart and seen the grief that the Hero of Truth was going through, he could feel nothing but pity for the both of them. Though he knows what he’s gone through is nothing to be swept under the rug, at the very least, he is thankful he was given the chance to live again instead of having his life fully ripped away from him by the dragons.

When the clock strikes twelve, Cheren asks Hilbert to not repeat the same mistake as the Hero of Truth did, and Hilbert agrees to keep true to his promise.

[taiblogcomics]

A Campy Little Adventure

Hey there, anxiety clowns. Well, we've got a whole new MLP stack to get through! Normally I'd start up again with the main ongoing series, but the next two issues are the conclusion to the Discord arc. Considering it's the Spooky Month, that somehow doesn't feel right to review right now. Instead, I'm gonna try something a li'l different. To that end, let's start something instead of concluding~

Additionally, my computer crashed just as I finished this review, and I have to rewrite the entire thing. So if this review kind of sucks, that's the reason! It's because I couldn't remember how I wrote it the first time or the timing and wording of a particular joke, and I'm a little mad about it.

Here's the cover:

Even if it was a summer camp issue, this is perfect for the season. Like, it's practically a Goosebumps cover. At least the comic version, anyway. Certainly there were enough Goosebumps books about camp to justify this. Summoning demons is everypony's favourite camp activity, clearly. The other thing I like about this cover is that the black silhouette of the trees behind Izzy kinda makes her look like she's got a beehive hairdo. Real classy look. Anyways, as the colder weather finally sets in, appreciate this as one more look back at summer~

Since it's totally summer and all, the Mane 5 are setting up the titular Camp Bighoof. They're planning all the usual camp activities: arts and crafts, music circles, obstacle courses, nature walks, magic lessons… You know, standard stuff. As an aside, like… I don't wanna knock on the artist or anything because there's nothing actually wrong here. But all the characters are making the same ^-^ while staring up at the reader, and it's mildly unsettling. So I guess we're off to a good start if this was meant to cultivate an eerie atmosphere!

Hitch starts channeling his inner Twilight Sparkle by having an entire schedule and itinerary for every camp activity. It's fine, though, he's camp director. He probably should have that. The other four are the counselors, and they have three charges each. None of them are given names (though one looks like a ponified Terry Bogard), but they do all get cabin names: Sunny's charges are the Shooting Stars, Izzy's are the Beaming Buttons, Zipp heads the Sky Seekers (hint for Zipp: look up), and Pipp is in charge of the Melody Makers.

It's already the first night of camp, and they've set up a big campfire. This is always the best part of camping. Heck, this is the only good part of camping. Izzy proposes campfire stories, and Sunny immediately switches to flashlight-under-the-chin mode. As you might guess, there's a legend in these here woods. The camp used to be called Camp Horseshoe, after the canyon it's built in. But as these things go, soon they started finding huge hoofprints lingering around the camp. Well, nice to know Trouble Shoes' descendants continued on to this day~

Naturally, giang hoofprints lead to a giant creature, and Sunny describes Bighoof as a hulking, bipedal pony with a shaggy coat. Izzy then interjects that they have the same legend in Bridlewood, except it's got a unicorn horn and goes by the name Bridlesquatch, which is just not as catchy. Zipp chimes in that they also have a similar legend in the mountains near Zephyr Heights. Their version has shaggy white fur and is called the Zeti. Now that one I think is definitely something else. And before Sunny can dismiss it all as just possibly legends, a huge roar echoes from deep in the woods surrounding them.

Hitch has everyone cool it, since all the kiddos are freaked out now, and the counselors lead them back to their respective cabins for the night. The following morning, however, Sunny spots one of her charges at breakfast, looking bummed. He doesn't have a name or even a cutie mark, but he's a small fellow with a green mane, so I'm gonna call him Broccoli. Broccoli is homesick, which is pretty normal for a colt his age. Sunny bond with him by saying she misses her own bed too. Then she invites him on a walk to clear his head and lift his mood.

Sunny gathers her other campers, and the lot of them go for a nice scenic nature walk. Their walk leads them all up ons the camp sign hanging between the valley leading into the camp. The group's unicorn, a citrus-y looking filly I'm going to name Li'l Oranges, asks if they can practice their magic here. Sunny agrees, and they decide to spruce up the camp sign. Li'l Oranges moves rocks out of the way, Broccoli grows some vines, and their pegasus, a blue filly with a high ponytail, stretches the vines up to the sign. They even get a full splash page of them having fun together.

Alas, this can only go well so long. One of the rocks passes over Broccoli's head, spilling dirt on him and making him sneeze. The sneeze triggers a surge in his magic, over-growing the vine the one I'm naming Bluesky is pulling on, rocketing her into the valley wall. This triggers a landslide, and Sunny is only barely in time to pull them all safely out of the way. But the landslide has collapsed the valley entrance, the only way in or out of camp, trapping them in the valley. The sun is going down (how long was that walk??), and that same roar from last night is now echoing through the valley…

It's just a little MLP camp adventure, it's very cute. It's a decent spook setup, every culture can relate to the hairy wildman of the woods. Heck, this one even shows how similar the Bigfoot/sasquatch idea is to the yeti (their Himalayan cousins, in my book). A good start to the setup, especially turning it into a closed circle story at the end, which is how you arrange great horror. Really, the only drawback is the art style. Again, nothing wrong with it, it's just a bit too cutesy for its own good. Bright colours and very round curves. Like, it looks great for ponies! But a camp story needs a little bit of grit to it, y'know? Just a little more edge to carry the unease.

Alas, I don't have any further issues of this miniseries, so we'll have to put it on hiatus for another stack and look at something else next week~

[alolaveralabs]

I requested that Anthony meet me at Nemona’s house. I’ll fill Arvie, Pen, and Nemo.

if push comes to shove, it’ll be our stronghold

[time-travel-trio]

???? Mail. It's just Skyfire! Who looks rather tired and a bit angry. They had their tera sword at the ready and rather worn Giratina cloak with a scuffed helmet to match. They had a satchel on their side and it seems they didn't even bother to put on a sweater. And their rotomphone was floating beside them

Morpho was there as well, in butterfly form crawling on Skyfire.

- @skyfire-the-pokemon-biologist

(Kieran, Carmine, and Dusk are all standing outside of the lowest research station. Kieran's talking to Dusk, and doesn't notice Skyfire. Carmine, though, does.)

"Woah! Are you Skyfire? I wasn't expecting... this."

[marysunburn]

So I’ve been building some ideas for League of Legends OCs, one per region. Except Bande City because I don’t care for Yordles.

Aside from Fletcher, my demon OC who lives with cartoon logic and goes around to spread mayhem, I’ve been building up some ideas as it goes.

I’m not really sure about Bilgewater, she’ll either be some creepy hybrid monster-girl or a fierce assassin and pirate with a cute physique. If the latter is the case I want her to be a cool rebel.

For my girl from Demacia, however, I have no doubt: Sylas’ proud and beloved henchwoman, a mage he saved and who fights by his side. Sylas is a king and deserves love. I may base her off Karli Morgenthau from The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, except she’s treated as if she’s right and she gets to live.

Ionia’s side will have a healer, someone who lost enough from the war and tries to mend wherever she can, even though she knows sometimes violence is indeed the answer. I’ll try to find an Asian culture that’s not China and Japan to build her from.

Ixtal has the dubious honor of containing my least favourite LoL character, Zyra. So I’ll create a character who’s hell-bent in hunting and destroying her for the good of the world, all the while she debates herself about Zyra’s own sentience.

I’m also indecisive when it comes to Noxus. On one hand I like the idea of creating a villainous character – Fletcher kills people but she’s not evil, she’s just a demon – but on the other hand Noxus offers more potential for a complex heroine and I shall indeed take it.

My Piltover character – and probably token white character, unless I decide to create that Noxian baddie – will be a high-end gentlewoman thief with a classic double life. Probably a cyborg. Probably spat in Camille’s coffee out of spite

Shadow Isles: this is the character I’ve worked on the longest, so much so I gave her a name (Vivienne). She’s Senna’s older sister, who blames herself for her fate as older sisters do. After shutting herself off from the world she gave all she had in fighting: now she occupies a high rank in the Sentinels of Light and needs to find herself a greater purpose than “protect my sister and my bil with my own life, and on the side curb-stomp Thresh’s head”, thus living for herself. She also exists to fulfill one of my greatest fantasies: hug Senna and tell her she’ll be alright.

When it comes to sweet Shurima, I’m browsing a bunch of ideas and cultural inspirations. I already made a SWANA Oc in Genshin Impact, and since I don’t want to copy her (especially her name, since we already have a Samira) I’ll try to make something that’s the opposite of what she was. My Samira was self-conscious, responsible and insecure: this one will be an extroverted thrill-seeker who needs to undergo a Puss in Boots II arc about life and responsibility and, on the side, slap some sense into a certain bird of dubious smarts.

I need to look up more into Targon, but if I do end up making a full villainess, this one will be it. An anti-Pantheon of sorts, and someone who doesn’t care about the Moon or the Sun: just herself.

The Freljord will bring home a unique character: an old, worn warrior who’s lived through plenty of battles and knows a thousand ways to survive. She’ll probably be my only older character.

Not sure if I’ll even consider the Void.

And finally Zaun: this one already has a unique backstory, having been kidnapped as a kid from a rich Piltovian family and raised by ChemBarons to work as an errand girl. But will cynicism prevail, or will the brave local youth show her a different way?

[e-adlirez]

Which book is your favorite among the Treasure Seekers trilogy, and which book is your least favorite among the Special Editions?

First, MMMMMHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH WHY MUST YOU ASK ME THIIIIIISSSSSSSSSSS BOOK 2 AND 3 ARE SO ICONIC WITH THE BIG-BRAIN MANEUVERS UEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Tie between Compass of the Stars and Legend of the Maze for now

Secret of the Crystal Fairies is a disappointment, you cannot convince me otherwise. It's so disappointing, Steven He is a prodigy by comparison (Steven He is a legend, I just don't think his dad would think the same). So underwhelming that it makes Mulan 2020 look decent (no it doesn't Mulan 2020 is still bad). So generic it makes every brown/black-haired anime protagonist look revolutionary. So blatant and obvious with its storytelling it makes Raya and the Last Dragon look nuanced and subtle.

Goldfire's arc isn't an arc, it's a water balloon that was so pathetic the water just leaked out before anyone even did anything. Diamond isn't the tragic character clown, he's the entire tragic character circus. Bella Swan could look at Esmeralda and say "geez you're flat as cardboard" with a straight face. Arbor isn't a deus ex machina, he's the ultimate simp ex machina. The girls should by all accounts be dead by now, but plot took a look at that and said "no because I said so". Fang is so underrated, the wolf boi doesn't deserve to feature in a plot as underwhelming as this. Violet got her life put in danger for the 123,351,848,748,257,823,379th time and she didn't even receive the dignity of a badass moment to balance it out. Nicky's general OPness shows so much the only reason no one talks about it is because of Esmeralda existing. Pam is just there. Paulina is just there. Colette ends up in a weird situation that doesn't contribute to much besides plot, but other than that, she's just there. Overall, an underwhelming pile of rocks from start to finish.

[chibisnowfox]

(Over) Analyzing Pokemon Hints (23)

Quiet this week. On April 13th Pokemon GO will be getting a Mega Heracross Raid Day event. If this means anything, it's probably hinting Mega Heracross will be in Legends ZA. And with the recent events in Pokemon Masters EX... The Researcher & Seeker event, and the next part of the Mysterious Stone event were separate, but still connected. I won't go into story details, because spoilers, but it feels like something big is getting set up. If that's the case, it could be going into the next big story arc. That should be it for this week.

[jacensolodjo]

At first I was ??? about the Umbra ARC and the Lambent Seeker ARC in Battlefront 2 and now I'm like okay that's actually really cool they made colorful ARCs even though we already used yellow and green.

one's a big fuck off yellow the other is neon green

My only problem with Umbra is um. It's too close to Umbara.

Anyway here's Umbra he's yellow and black and it makes him look like a bee

here's Lambent Seeker. hims neon green and idk what a lambent is in the new canon but it sounds like either a beer or a throat lozenge.

(In legends a lambent was actually a fruit the Yuuzhan Vong were horny for. So um. Are lambent seekers looking for these fruit?)

[disdaidal]

something you're excited about AND top 5 characters currently ❤️

Oh heya! 👋💖 I already answered here what I'm most excited about, so. :3

My top 5 characters?

Cahir (The Witcher). He's my newest conquer so duh. This knight bitch already (kind of) caught my interest on the last previous seasons of TW because I mean - a cunty, ambitious, antagonistic guy on a holy mission, any means necessary? Yeah. But I was still like, hmm, he's kinda, you know, but I don't know. But s3, this season? He was just really kind of pathetic (like a sad, wet little kitten compared to the murderous little twink that he was in s1), but still cool and complex, and I decided that's it. I'm putting him in a box and taking him home with me. Like, villain/antagonistic dudes with potential redemption arcs? Sign me the fuck up.

Billy Hargrove (Stranger Things). I may not have been really active in this fandom lately because... well, you know. But he's still mine and you can pry this bitch from my cold, dead hands. I originally didn't care much for him in s2 (I didn't hate him by any means but I just couldn't take him and his macho-ism seriously lol), but then s3 came and his character arc just... fucked me up. Broke my heart. Like he had wronged and sinned, yes; he was a massive bitch and a bully, sure. But he was also never really given a chance to properly redeem himself, at any point in the show imo. And that fucked me up and broke my heart and so he's mine.

Ellen Ripley (Alien). My first (bi) awakening and also the first female protagonist that I felt like I could really look up to. She may not be big and muscular, or a man-hating girlboss who doesn't cry or show emotion when she feels bad, but she kicks ass. She kicks alien butt. She's a woman but she has big balls. She fucks. And she loves cats, too. And that I can appreciate. A lot.

Cara Mason (Legend of the Seeker). I feel like this is a recurring theme with me but a character who starts off as an antagonist/villain and then gets a redemption arc? Yeah. Like, she's also gone through so much shit in her life - she's been forced to go through hell and back and raised to believe emotions mean weakness - and then she allies with the protagonist and slowly finds home with him and his 'merry band', and starts to *feel* things and even show *emotion* and like. A simple girl like me, with simple tastes - how could I watch a character unfold like that and not feel *anything*? Anything at all? Impossible. Yeah, so she's also mine.

Fili (The Hobbit). I feel like he's a bit of wild card in this group because he isn't an antagonist with a complex story line, or some big ass protagonist ready to save the world. But I had such a huge crush on him when the Hobbit movies came out about 10 years ago, and having recently rewatched/revisited the LotR & Hobbit trilogies, I realized just how much I loved him back then and how much I love him even now. He didn't get a lot of screen time, not even that many lines. But his bravery, stubbornness and will to defy his 'destiny' and go to the edge of the earth, hell and back, to protect his baby brother touched me. Through his character, I also found his actor, Dean O'Gorman, and his numerous other acting projects and man, he's great. The Deano fandom has also been kind, chill and just a great place to hang out at every now and then, so. It's all thanks to this "golden lion prince" dwarf here.