#Ava getting the Leech powers

[dbphantom]

I've been rereading some of my Bl3 h2o au and actually I missed it sm lol bbbbbbbbbbb info dump incoming

It's wild bc some parts come across as awkward to me now after about 2-3 years... To me this fic is very recent so to think I've improved enough to recognize flaws in such a short amount of time... Wha!!

Also Junpai-7 arc my beloved. That's all. I love this arc. Twin sun planet that hates the moon and has sun festivals with Digby Vermouth to celebrate longer days. Custom made RGB Guardian OC that designed mermaids and furthers 'Eridian experimentation' lore and she eventually teams up with the Crimson Raiders after talking to Tannis. The fact that I accidentally called Guardian possession as a lore mechanic because I wanted a way to fit being moonstruck into my silly au. There are pirates and vampires and double-crossing mermen and an Eridian Compass that points the owner to an underwater Vault that becomes a huge whirlpool with a giant sea monster inside. This arc is SO self-indulgent and I love it so much.

Also when ur reading the Pandora 'main story' stuff u can see where I decided the Crimson Raiders' new base on Pandora was going to be Roland's Rest while they build Sanc-III during the main story because it abruptly cuts back to it in the middle of an arc LOL (and also where I decided there was a Pandoran moon pool in the Salt Flats instead of a lineage factor to this one... Because moon pools... I wanted to fit one into the main story to have a basis for the 'revisiting junpai-7 with the Crimson Raiders' arc OK shhh)

And I forgot I killed off Emma and Nino and actually my heart broke when they died bc I was like 'Awww I missed the Black Ops Squad' AND THEN THEY WERE DEAD hhggghhh but This arc also has all the Obsidian Block lore with all the characters being named after H2O villains (Greg, Sophie, Dr. Denman, Will...) and ALSO explains some Eridian lore and I think is also the first time I refer to moonstone from tps as its 'scientific' name which is Cythium-3 :) AND this is where Barnabas betrays Zane after joining the Black Ops Squad and starts their whole thing. Very back-and-forth with the vibes overall... Also lowkey can't wait to see what the actual lore explanation is for the triangle jackets because I will be permanently ignoring that in favor of my Black Ops Squad designs thank you (the jackets were bc they were all part of the Dahl Black Ops outfit on Pandora (referencing that ECHO Captain has about Zane) before they were abandoned, but they were nice af jackets so they kept them and replaced the Dahl logo with the triangle design)

Also also there are SO MANY references to stuff that isn't just H2O... In the junpai-7 arc the Rogues (Clay and the gang) are in the process of smuggling the Eridian Compass to a place called Mariejois when Zane shows up to steal it for the pirate queen Cutlord Karuu bc I love One Piece and it's Pirates okay. Also Zane drinks and enjoys Pan Galactic Gargle Blasters, in which he compares the headache after getting moon-driver-struck to getting his brain smashed in with a brick without the lemon.

Also oh my god Zoomer is baby I'm so sorry I forgot about you 🥺 he's so small and beeps so much... He's just doing his best... Yeah he will shoot you but he's trying his best okay don't judge him... Blane (stands for Blue Zane) on the other hand is a total dick and messes with Zane at every opportunity and I think that's beautiful. He's only like that because tediore accidentally switched out the personality cores for the clone so he's the exact opposite of Zane

[kappa-bappa]

This was supposed to be for Mermay, but I got sick towards the end whoops. Anyways Mermay with the Borderlands Sirens but as actual sirens. And yes I’m adding Rhys, I love the Au where he’s secretly a siren like come on.

AU time: Sirens are their own race of mermaids that many people fear due to their powerful nature. They “guard” Eridian found at the bottom of the ocean, so many people try to befriend them in hopes of getting to the previous mineral. My lil thought for this is how Angel came to be. Handsome Jack may have seduced her mother or something along the lines idk

To the fish parts: I started off picking fish that best resembles the Sirens aesthetic but later changed it to which sea creature better matches with their abilities and it was a lot of fun.

Steele - barracuda; I couldn’t find info on her abilities so I just did one that matches her personality and name.

Lilith - fire hawkfish; matches her alias and her color scheme.

Tannis - spotted torpedo; this is where I begin picking fish that matches their abilities. Because she has angel’s tech powers, I picked the spotted torpedo that can shock its prey.

Maya - sea Angel; picked this one due to its cool mucus net it spits out when catching prey and it was the closest thing I could find for her phaselock. Fly high maya

Ava - sea butterfly; same way of hunting as the sea Angel and she has the same abilities so ya.

Angel - glass knifefish; another electric fish but it had a soft color pallet that I thought would match Angel more

Amara - peacock mantis shrimp; these dudes punch with the power of the sun and are known to break fingers and tanks. It was a no brainer picking this guy for Amara and for a flashy little guy I thought he fit Amara’s big personality.

Tyreen - lamprey; she absorbs the life force out of people and this dude is known for sucking the blood out of its prey. It’s right there

Troy - angler fish; the male sticks onto the female and leech off of them I thought it fit perfectly

Rhys - electric eel; I feel like he would have a tech ability similar to Angel so electric eel

I wish I could’ve done more research I think I would find better fishes for them but oh well anyways my borderlands obsession is coming back and I don’t know why enjoy

[gaymars97]

Okay so yk what I got sick of rendering the au drawing

So imma show y’all the au with a bit lazy pen sketches.

SO MY BORDERLANDS REWRITE AU

ERIDIAN OVERRUN

(The present in this au is 3 years after bl3)

Part 1: Phaseleech scars

Because yeah I ain’t showing all of it in one post

(Yes I know it’s actually a right hand I drew on the top there. I realized that right when I was about to post this. Please just pretend it’s the left hand I’m too lazy to fix it.)

So basically, it’s also a bit of a headcanon I have where people who survived phaseleech would have scars around the leeched area.

Also before I start, it is important to mention: in this au, Troy still tried to phaseleech Maya, but the VH3 came back in time and saved her. However, Troy had the time to take her power, leaving most of the bl3 plotline intact. Also Ava got phaseleech, not phaselock.

And also, that instead of flying herself on Elpis, Lilith pulls with Maya’s help the Phaselock-Phasewalk combo on Elpis and therefore doesn’t disappear.

At first, the scars are a bit stone-y, kinda like the husks corpses the calypsos leave around. The scars are fragile, very hard to move and most of the nerves are gone. The scars can be healed with eridium, but it is very limited.

The scars leave some kind of magic trace. To most, this doesn’t change anything, but if it’s a siren who has the scars (*ehem* Lilith and Maya) getting her power back will react to this magic trace, healing the scars only to leave the healed skin dark gray. It also gives the siren some weird features and makes the scars glow more often.

Lilith’s scar: Left by her encounter against Tyreen, it goes from her upper neck to her upper chest. She had a bit of difficulty breathing at first because it got close to her respiratory system, but it wasn’t anything too bad. Also, because of that, she now exhales purple smoke when using her power (magic trace stuff). Lilith got lucky as to her scar. Because of her frequent use of eridium, she gained over time natural toughness, even without use of eridium, making the spread of the scar not that bad.

Maya’s scar: Since Maya used eridium only once before she got her scar, she didn’t get that eridium toughness Lilith had, making her scar’s extent larger. Her scar takes her entire left arm and goes up to the bottom left of her face. It also goes a bit around the arm but not that much. Also, since the twins got the rampager’s power before Troy stole Maya’s power, the magic trace left in her scar kinda has some rampager energy. However, it only manifests itself on the healed scars as claws to the scarred arm.

Hey if Maya got a magic trace from her scar, doesn’t that mean I could make her able to anoint people if I wanted to?

What?

Im just saying.

Tyreen has one on the middle of the chest due to Troy using her to charge Elpis.

Oh and you may ask: Is that Maya with Sentinel like glowing marks in the bottom left? Yeah. There’s gonna be something about sirens having some kind of control over the vault monsters but I haven’t even figured it out that much myself.

So anyways…

[ash-and-books]

Rating: 4.5/5

Book Blurb: Set in the same universe as the acclaimed All the Murmuring Bones and The Path of Thorns (one of Oprah Daily's Top 25 Fantasy Novels of 2022), this beautifully told Gothic fairy tale of ghosts, witches, deadly secrets and past sins, will be perfect for fans of Hannah Whitten and Ava Reid.

Ellie Briar is the first non-witch to be born into her family for generations. The Briar family of witches run the town of Silverton, caring for its inhabitants with their skills and magic. In the usual scheme of things, they would be burnt for their sorcery, but the church has given them dispensation in return for their protection of the borders of the Darklands, where the much-feared Leech Lords hold sway. 

Ellie is being trained as a steward, administering for the town, and warding off the insistent interest of the church. When her grandmother dies suddenly, Ellie’s cousin Audra rises to the position of Briar Witch, propelling Ellie into her new role. As she navigates fresh challenges, an unexpected new ability to see and speak to the dead leads her to uncover sinister family secrets, stories of burnings, lost grimoires and evil spells. Reeling from one revelation to the next, she seeks answers from the long dead and is forced to decide who to trust, as a devastating plot threatens to destroy everything the Briar witches have sacrificed so much to build.

Told in the award-winning author's trademark gorgeous, addictive prose, this is an intricately woven tale of a family of witches struggling against the bonds of past sins and persecution.

Review:

A family of witches, a girl who can communicate with ghosts, sins from the past, and murders.... this is a fantastic and fun gothic witchy story with a dash of romance and complicated family relationships. Ellie Briar is the first non-witch to be born into her family for generations, and in a well known witch family such as the Briar Witches, being a non-witch makes you seen as less. The Briar family of witches run the town of Silverton, being tasked with looking after the community and people with their skills and magic. Ellie is being trained as a steward despite her lack of magic, she is to do administration for the town and ward off the church that has taken an interest in them. When her grandmother dies, Ellie's cousin Audra is made the new head Briar Witch and Ellie is made the steward. While Ellie navigates her new role she also discovers that she has a power she never realized, and no one in her family ever talked about, she can talk to ghosts and its up to her to help them move on. It comes in handle especially with so many ghosts in town and a recent death looming over the town. To make matters more complicated there is a new god-hound in town, someone sent by the church yet he's taken a particular interest in Ellie. As Ellie discovers her new abilities she also begins to uncover dark family secrets... that are playing into the dark plot that is happening right in front of her that she has to find a way to stop before it destroys everything Ellie holds dear. This was a really fun read and the story gets you really immersed in the town and the people. Ellie was a really interesting protagonist and I loved her journey and growth throughout the story. The story is much more focused on the mystery and family drama and has a dash of romance but its much more about the family relationship and power dynamics in them. The story is a gothic witchy one with a dash of mystery and romance all set in a small community and it was the perfect cozy day read for me. I've always loved A.G. Slatter's books and this one did not disappoint. I can't wait to see what story A.G. Slatter comes out with and I love that it's set in the same universe as their previous two novels ( which I also love and highly recommend).

*Thanks Netgalley and Titan Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

[cyber-phobia]

Honestly I’m not sure why people thought the story for BL3 was bad? I don’t think it’s anything like… subpar for borderlands. It’s the standard “go here, ah shit the path is blocked, kill this guy to get in” type deal. And the villains were no Handsome Jack (obviously, cmon nobody can live up to Jack) but they really got the whole “annoying streamer” vibe down. It was pretty fun to hate them.

Ava sucked hard ass but I think she was supposed to

I don't know about what other people think of it, but to me a lot of the "surprise" twists in BL3 fell flat. Don't get me wrong, I had a blast playing the game, especially with all the new mechanics.

[SPOILERS AHEAD]

Tannis getting Angel's abilities? Brilliant. I could not have predicted that. Loved it to bits.

Revealing Typhon as the Calypso's dad? Eh. They already did this in BL2 with Handsome Jack and Angel. I was also a bit disappointed when he died soon after that.

There were tons of things left out; Fiona and Sasha's whereabouts, why Troy can use siren abilities, WHERE FIONA AND RHYS WENT AFTER THE VAULT, that would have been really interesting to hear about and maybe would have spiced it up.

Also Tyreen's final boss fight was... startlingly easy. Much easier than Troy. It probably would have been better if she had turned into a giant Vault Monster that takes up half the screen like usual. Especially since she was supposed to be, y'know, the most powerful enemy in the game after leeching from a planet sized monster.

It mostly just boils down to "I found it boring"

[tiderider1]

𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐂𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐍  :    npc’s  of  the  jolly  roger  crew  .

𝐅𝐈𝐑𝐒𝐓  𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐄  :    Chris  De'Sean  as  Galen,  the  oldest  son  of  Damien  Salt.  Galen’s  father  has  been  a  member  of  the  Jolly  Roger  crew  for  decades  and  was  among  those  pirates  imprisoned  on  the  Isle  of  the  Lost  when  James  Hook  was  resurrected.  Damien  Salt  enjoyed  his  life  as  a  roaming  pirate.  His  love  for  the  sea  and  his  love  of  brawling  is  something  that  he  passed  down  to  his  children  and  Galen  spent  the  majority  of  his  childhood  and  adolescence  boxing  for  script.  Beside  his  childhood  best  friend,  Aleena,  Galen  would  discover  his  fondness  for  music,  and  would  go  as  far  as  to  duet  with  Aleena  when  she  performed  at  Club  Crossover.

Harry  and  Galen  grew  up  together  aboard  the  Jolly  Roger  and  were  on  reasonably  good  terms  until  Harry  left  the  ship  and  joined  Uma’s  pirate  crew.  Galen  was  among  those  Harry  attempted  to  recruit,  but  he  reluctantly  turned  down  the  offer  as  he  didn’t  want  to  leave  his  father  or  siblings.  Harry  and  Galen  would  cross  paths  often  during  the  pirate  boxing  matches  and  when  Uma  disappeared,  Galen  began  working  casually  with  Harry  as  an  informant  and  occasional  man  for  hire.

When  Harry  took  control  of  the  Jolly  Roger  some  years  later,  Damien  Salt  is  among  those  of  the  original  crew  that  Harry  spares  and  brings  back  to  the  Isle.  Galen  is  among  the  first  to  join  Harry’s  new  crew,  and  becomes  Harry’s  First  Mate.

𝐐𝐔𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑  :    Aurora  Burghart  as  Liara,  daughter  of  Red  Jessica.  Red  Jessica  was  affected  by  cursed  treasure  prior  to  her  imprisonment  on  the  Isle  of  the  Lost  and  this  curse  influenced  her  pregnancy  with  Liara.  Upon  the  barrier’s  fall,  Liara  soon  discovered  her  ability  to  “leech”  magic,  absorbing  it  and  containing  it  within  herself  or  channeling  it  into  power  of  her  own.  Liara  has  a  tense  relationship  with  her  mother,  as  her  mothers  optimism  became  increasingly  overwhelming  on  the  Isle,  to  the  point  where  Liara  was  often  convinced  that  she  suffered  from  delusions,  creating  a  fabricated  reality  in  order  to  survive  the  horrors  of  the  Isle.

Liara  left  her  mothers  household  when  she  was  sixteen  and  fell  in  with  Harry  Hook  shortly  after  Uma  disappeared  from  the  Isle.  While  Harry  was  temporary  Captain  of  the  Lost  Revenge  crew,  Liara  worked  closely  with  Harry  and  the  crew  as  a  spy,  informant,  and  thief.  She  hoped  to  secure  herself  a  place  on  the  Lost  Revenge  crew  but  when  the  barrier  fell,  she  was  forced  to  enrol  into  the  Isle’s  Witch  School  in  order  to  master  and  train  her  unique  abilities.  She  continued  to  work  with  Harry  and  the  Lost  Revenge  crew,  but  could  not  commit  full  time.

When  Harry  returned  to  the  Isle  sailing  the  Jolly  Roger,  Liara  had  graduated  from  her  classes  at  Witch  School  and  signed  onto  the  new  crew's  roster  as  the  ship's  Quartermaster.

𝐕𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐔𝐀𝐑𝐃  :    Jojo  Macari  as  Stick,  son  of  Pip  the  Pirate  Genie.  Despite  Pip's  good  nature,  under  the  oppressive  laws  of  King  Adam,  his  powers  as  a  genie  were  under  constant  scrutiny.  Having  already  been  labeled  as  something  of  a  troublemaker  due  to  being  a  Pirate,  the  moment  Pip  used  his  powers  to  travel  between  Neverland  and  Auradon  without  the  appropriate  paperwork,  he  was  condemned  to  life  on  the  Isle  of  the  Lost.

Imprisoned  again,  but  this  time  without  his  powers  and  abilities,  Pip  was  forced  to  find  new  ways  to  survive  the  island.  Here  he  met,  befriended,  and  fell  in  love  with  a  young  woman  and  together  they  had  their  son  Stick.  However,  inevitably  Captain  Hook  discovered  Pip  and  his  lover,  as  well  as  his  son,  and  lashed  out.  Stick's  mother  disappeared,  Pip  was  grievously  wounded  and  Stick  was  held  captive.  During  his  imprisonment  aboard  the  Jolly  Roger,  Stick  met  Harry.  Harry  would  help  Stick  escape  from  the  Jolly  Roger  for  no  other  reason  than  to  thwart  his  fathers  plans  of  using  Stick  to  lure  Pip  into  an  ambush.

Harry  didn't  meet  Stick  again  until  after  the  Cotillion  Riots  when  Stick  appeared  at  the  Lost  Revenge  demanding  to  be  made  a  pirate.  Harry  denied  him,  telling  him  he  knew  nothing  about  being  a  pirate,  and  for  two  years,  Stick  worked  to  change  that.  After  the  barrier  falls,  Stick  finds  himself  attuned  only  slightly  to  his  fathers  nature  as  a  genie.  He  can  often  sense  or  “hear”  the  wishes  of  those  around  him  if  he  focuses  hard  enough,  and  uses  that  to  manipulate  people.

When  Harry  returned  to  the  Isle  sailing  the  Jolly  Roger,  Stick  was  among  the  first  to  join  his  new  crew  and  Harry  made  him  the  leader  of  his  Vanguard.

𝐆𝐔𝐍𝐍𝐄𝐑  :  Ryan  Destiny,  as  Aleena,  daughter  of  Bones.  Bones  raised  Aleena  as  a  single  parent  after  her  mother  Donna,  a  siren  imprisoned  on  the  Isle  for  murder,  was  killed  soon  after  Aleena  was  born.  According  to  her  father,  Bones  and  Donna  loved  each  other  and  had  a  good  relationship  until  her  demise.  Bones  was  a  member  of  a  pirate  band  and  was  best  friends  with  Galen's  father,  Damien  Salt.  Bones  would  write  and  compose  various  songs  about  her  mother,  using  music  to  tell  Aleena  about  her  mothers  life  and  keep  the  memory  of  her  alive.  Aleena  took  after  her  father  and  is  an  exceptionally  skilled  musician.  She  performed  often  with  her  fathers  band,  until  she  began  composing  and  writing  her  own  songs.

Like  Galen,  she  grew  up  with  Hook  siblings  and  considered  herself  an  ally.  She  worked  at  Club  Crossover  as  a  Hostess  and  performer,  and  would  feed  information  to  Harry  for  the  Lost  Revenge,  both  when  he  was  First  Mate,  and  when  he  became  temporary  Captain.  After  the  barrier  fell,  Aleena  discovered  her  siren  abilities,  learning  how  to  hypnotise  people  with  her  voice  which  she  uses  in  brawls  and  fights  in  order  to  lower  the  morale  of  her  enemies  and  boost  the  morale  of  her  allies.

While  Aleena  loves  the  life  of  a  musician,  she  believes  that  she  needs  to  seek  out  adventure  and  excitement  in  order  to  broaden  her  musical  skill  and  when  Harry  returns  to  the  Isle  sailing  the  Jolly  Roger,  Aleena  snatches  her  chance  to  become  a  pirate  and  is  made  a  Gunner.

𝐒𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐏𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐎𝐓𝐄𝐑  :    Ian  Alexander  as  Asher,  son  of  Bill  Jukes.  While  Asher’s  father  was  a  member  of  the  Jolly  Roger  crew,  Asher  was  raised  by  his  mother,  Ava  who  worked  at  the  Siren’s  Song.  He  experienced  various  struggles  with  self-identity  and  sexuality  growing  up  on  the  Isle  and  was  a  victim  of  bullying  for  the  majority  of  his  childhood  and  early  adolescence  until  he  attended  Champion  Night.  A  yearly  event  hosted  by  Captain  Hook  where  a  member  of  every  pirate  crew  participated  in  a  bare-knuckle  boxing  match  for  a  prize.  Asher  watched  Harry  fight  and  win  Champion  Night  and  it  was  this  moment  that  compelled  Asher  to  seek  to  become  a  pirate  himself.

Due  to  his  much  smaller  frame,  Asher  struggled  with  feats  of  strength  and  brute  force  so  turned  his  sights  to  becoming  a  sharpshooter.  Asher  trained  with  crossbows,  hunting  bows,  and  small  arms  such  as  pistols  before  eventually  getting  his  hands  on  a  rifle.  Asher  trained  tirelessly  to  master  his  skill  with  long  ranged  weapons,  and  only  approached  Harry  after  the  barrier  was  finally  removed  from  the  Isle  as  he  worried  that  Harry  would  leave  the  island  and  he  wouldn’t  be  able  to  follow.

Harry  was  initially  reluctant  to  consider  Asher  much  of  anything  as  Asher  had  never  been  aboard  a  ship  and  knew  nothing  about  sailing,  however  Asher  proved  himself  to  be  a  skilled  fighter,  and  after  several  weeks  of  Asher  dogging  Harry’s  every  move,  Harry  finally  relented  and  began  teaching  Asher  the  basics  of  life  aboard  a  sailing  ship.

When  Harry  returned  to  the  Isle  sailing  the  Jolly  Roger,  Asher  leaped  at  the  chance  to  join  his  crew.

𝐒𝐔𝐑𝐆𝐄𝐎𝐍  :    Luciane  Buchanan  as  Morven  Keara  Le  Beak,  daughter  of  Beatrice  Le  Beak.  Morven  lived  with  her  mother  for  the  majority  of  her  life,  learning  how  to  be  a  blackhand,  a  sneak-thief,  and  a  pick-pocket.  She  helped  her  mother  lie,  cheat,  and  steal  from  the  other  prisoners  of  the  Isle  until  she  was  recruited  by  the  thief’s  guild  known  as  the  Knaves.  Morven  craved  the  chance  to  step  out  from  under  her  mother’s  ironclad  rule  and  she  took  her  opportunity  with  the  Knaves  to  do  it.  Her  knowledge  of  the  North-Eastern  part  of  the  Isle  made  it  her  territory  to  pick  and  pillage  from.

Not  long  after  the  Cotillion  Riots,  Morven  was  captured  by  a  group  of  rogue  Bogs  Boys.  She  was  held  prisoner  for  days,  trapped  and  used  for  cruel  entertainments  until  their  hideout  was  assaulted  by  Harry  Hook  and  the  Lost  Revenge  crew.  Harry  pulled  her  from  the  cage  locked  hole  that  the  Bogs  Boys  had  thrown  her  into  and  secured  Morven’s  services  ever  since.

Morven  has  worked  as  a  thief  and  a  spy  for  Harry  for  several  years.  She  spent  time  with  Noelani,  the  Lost  Revenge’s  surgeon,  and  interned  briefly  at  Dr.  Facilier’s  arcade  but  when  Harry  returned  to  the  Isle  sailing  the  Jolly  Roger,  Morven  could  not  have  signed  on  faster,  becoming  the  crew's  Surgeon.

[tinyteenia]

Siren’s: Analysis

 Hello, here’s my first Lore Post for Borderlands. I’ve been pretty silent in the fandom, only playing the games and whatnot.

Warning: Spoilers for ALL three main games below!

In Borderlands, as we all know, are magical beings that can use their powers depending on which ones they have. The origins of the humanoid siren is sort-of unknown but assumedly they come from Eridians which aren’t humanoid but the power was passed on and that’s still how it is. It’s possible that all Sirens can choose their successor, we see that Maya and Angel have chosen one and we can see that it’s pretty direct too. As soon as one Siren dies, the powers can be passed on. There can only be 7 Sirens at a time, why this is hasn’t been stated or probably never will. Before 3, we were told 6 Sirens could be in existence at a time but as Nyriad reveals in 3...

“You must never find the seventh...”

Now, despite all the speculation that can be done. To try and find the 7th Siren would probably be impossible for its a character that’s yet to be revealed or is so obscure to guess them would seem rash and sort of silly, especially with the amount of characters who barely have any background. Not to mention it’s made to sound like they’re hidden in some sort and have never been seen.

Now before we move on, let’s get deeper into what is a Siren. So... What is a Siren? Well, outside of Borderlands, Sirens are:

In Greek mythology, the Sirens were dangerous creatures, who lured nearby sailors with their enchanting music and singing voices to shipwreck on the rocky coast of their island. 

According to Plato there were three kinds of Sirens: the celestial, the generative, and the purificatory / cathartic. The first were under the government of Zeus, the second under that of Poseidon, and the third of Hades. When the soul is in heaven the Sirens seek, by harmonic motion, to unite it to the divine life of the celestial host; and when in Hades, to conform the soul to eternal infernal regimen; but when on earth their only job to "produce generation, of which the sea is emblematic". (Source)

However, it’s confusing since this doesn’t seem to fit any of Sirens. They don’t generate themselves with kin, purify anything(as we know) aren’t really celestial beings by this definition. You could say they are celestial due to the magical background, nevertheless it’s possible this connection is yet to be revealed. The Borderlands manual guide and Nyriad says that Sirens have also been called “Witches”, “Oracles” and “Angels” as well that “No official term exists” however by Borderlands 3 that seems that every term has been used for thousands, if not millions of years. Siren being the most common.

In the games and comics, however, Sirens are being of unknown origin, typically female, that have powers based upon certain things such as creating physical attacks, moving things, teleportation, machine manipulation and leeching power/life. At some time in the distant past, Sirens and Eridians lived side by side, possibly due to their similarity in ability. Sirens also have Tattoos/Markings on their body which singles them out especially. Another obscure and rarely seen ability is the ability to imprint memories and events onto objects via strong emotion such as excitement and trauma.

Some extra things about Sirens is that they and the vaults are definitely connected, Lilith even says she feels as if the Guardians wanted her to be in the Vault in the Pre-Sequel. What this connection is has not been revealed as even in 3, despite visiting many vaults, nothing happens any of the Sirens in the game that visit them despite the number of Sirens and Vaults being numerous, Sirens can also charge Vault Keys, making them usable. Another thing is that all Sirens typically find each other at some point, furthermore all Sirens will at one point be drawn onto Pandora at some point in their lives and it seems that point is true as every Siren, minus the 7th(as we know) have visited Pandora. All Sirens also have wings, usually in a very powerful form. Lastly, to use their powers more effectively, Sirens use Eridium. However, using Eridium is like a Drug, normal use is fine however, one can become addicted or even dependent on it to the point of death from withdrawal depending on the intake. Angel is so dependent once her source is removed, she dies. Lilith seems to just be mildly addicted, needing it and showing obvious signs of withdrawal. 

Then, let’s talk about each Siren in the Series.

Sirens

(The below list and subsequent descriptions of each Siren will have spoilers regarding Borderlands 2 and 3, including some very important moments, do not go below if you do not wish to be spoiled on Borderlands 2 and 3.)

Here is a list of every mentioned/shown Siren, minus the Comics for apparently they are considered non-canon:

Lilith

Commandant Steele

Maya

Amara

Angel

Nyriad

Troy Calypso

Tyreen Calypso

Patricia Tannis

Ava

Lilith

The Original Siren as some would say, she first appears in Borderlands 1 as the playable Siren class, she holds the Phasewalk ability, aka teleportation. Nothing spectacular about her happens in 1, in 2 she is a leader of the resistance against Handsome Jack and regularly takes action in fighting with you. Lilith says in the Tiny Tina DLC that she used to be a DND nerd, which means she was probably an outcast from society especially due to her tattoos and interests and she was bullied as a child. In Borderlands 3, her powers are taken by Tyreen for the majority of the game and gets them back by the end. At the end, Lilith flies into Sun, saving Elpis and Pandora, her Phoenix symbol embedded into the planet. However, it is never said if Lilith is dead or alive, leaving it up to be a mystery. So whether Phasewalk will return as the next Siren’s powers is unknown.

Lilith’s name shares the her name with the true first Woman in Judeo-Christian lore, however she was turned into a demon and is closely regarded in evil.

Commandant Steele

Steele is considered the main antagonist of Borderlands 1, however, her appearance is extremely short-lived and to say she was dissatisfactory would be an understatement. Steele’s design closely resembles Lilith’s older design, which isn’t surprising. Her power is unknown and could be anything but Phasewalk. She also awakens the Destroyer or at least a part of it.

The only notable things about Steele is she proves(or is the first to prove) that Sirens can be on the wrong side. While this isn’t surprising, it’s juxtaposed to most Sirens that are on the quote-onto-quote Good Side and that the only things all Sirens share is fate to meet each other at some point. She also speaks in a Slavic accent.

Maya

Maya is the playable Siren Class in Borderlands 2. She’s from the planet Athenas and was used against the people of the planet to keep them in fear. However, she learned of the scheme and killed the religious leaders and then came to Pandora to become a Vault Hunter, during boarding the train she catches the view of Krieg who becomes infatuated with her. Maya’s Siren power is Phaselock, being able to create gravitational pulls and force to levitate things and people.

In Borderlands 3, Maya plays a more important role mentoring the young Ava and has chosen her as her heir of Maya’s Siren powers. She says Ava seems special and it’s not said why this is or revealed why, yet at least.

Maya is killed when Ava goes to the first Vault despite Maya telling her not to. Unbeknownst to anyone, Tyreen and Troy have already come to the Vault. Troy ends up leeching Maya and takes her powers, which kills her. Why this killed Maya and not Lilith isn’t entirely clear.

Amara

Amara is the playable Siren Class in Borderlands 3, she is from the Planet of Partali and due to her nature of fighting against evil she has been dubbed the “Tiger of Partali”. Her Siren power is Phasetrance, she is able to summon physical forms of energy to attack. She has no real importance to the Siren story so far other than sharing attributes with other Sirens.

Angel

Angel is an interesting character as she was in Borderlands one and plays a much different perspective of character. In Borderlands one she practically acts as an A.I guide to prevent the opening of the Vault and furthermore, the release of The Destroyer. However, the ultimate goal is getting Eridium from the Vault so that it can fuel Handsome Jack’s plans to feed Angel’s Phaseshift powers which allows her to interact with any technology she can and manipulate it thusly.

In her Childhood, Angel learned she was a Siren at a young age and began to manipulate the tech around her. One day, she was kidnapped and was going to be sold. Handsome Jack, her father and Angel’s mother can to rescue her and by accident, Angel killed her mother after activating a turret out of fear. This lead to Jack keeping Angel in solitude in fear she’ll kill more people. This fear of course is irrational as when Angel got older she was able to control her emotions.

In Borderlands 2, Angel acts the same as her role in Borderlands 1. However, this time she helps the Vault Hunters much more and even turns against her father in the end. Nearing the end of the game she has the characters assist her from being removed from her Eridium supply, killing her. Her death leads to Patricia Tannis getting her powers, when this decision was made or why is never explained.

Nyriad

Nyriad is an Ancient Siren, presumably human. She lived along the Eridians and seemed to know a lot about Sirens in general, meaning that this knowledge was probably more well known and supposedly lost to time. It is also said she is one of the last to learn the Eridian Language directly from the Eridians.

Nyriad used her powers to seal the Fake Vault that holds The Destroyer and fed The Destroyer all of the Eridian souls so that it made be satiated, even for a while. After this, she traveled to Nekrotafeyo and sealed herself and her ability to pass on her powers. However, when Typhon DeLeon and his wife opened the Vault, it caused his wife to transfer Nyriads Phaseleech ability to Tyreen and Troy.

Nyriad also left behind many recordings across the Borderlands using the Eridian Language, revealing that the Sirens used to form a “Sisterhood” where they would all come and join together even if one died, the next Siren is said to have always found her way to the Sisterhood.

Troy and Tyreen Calypso

Troy and Tyreen are a special kind of Siren. Tyreen is obviously the main Siren, however, Troy being a parasitical twin also gained Siren powers being possibly the first and only Male Siren. They are the Children of Typhon DeLeon and his wife and were born of Necrotafeya. Their powers initially are Phaseleech which allows them to leech the power and life from anyone they come in contact with and subsequently use their powers against. They inherited their powers from Nyriad.

During Borderlands 3, Tyreen and Troy are the leaders of the Children of the Vault cult, a vicious and murderous cult that obeys the Twin’s every will and command. Their desire is to open the Grand Vault and release The Destroyer and become literal Gods. During the story, they manage to steal Lilith and Maya’s Siren abilities and by the end, Tyreen absorbs Troy and soon Tyreen fuses with The Destroyer, but is ultimately killed.

Whether or not Phaseleech will be the ability of the next Siren character is unknown, but without many others left. It’s to be assumed.

Patricia Tannis

Tannis is a long-running character in the franchise. She’s an Autistic researcher and now Siren. Her ability is Phaseshift and inherits it from Angel. Nothing about Tannis being a Siren or before her status as a Siren is important. However, she is very intelligent and does take action when necessary. It seems by the end of Borderlands 3 she has become an incredibly important character as she is essentially the new Lilith.

Before Borderlands 3, she was alone at a research site which lead her to become delusional and psychotic.

During Borderlands 3, she unleashes her Siren powers after being contained and is able to save the Vault Hunter.

Ava

Ava is the pupil of Maya who has chosen for Ava to be her heir of the Phaselock ability. Ava became a pupil after Ava’s family died, Ava became a Ship Stowaway and soon lived in extreme poverty.

In Borderlands 3, Ava is a very immature characters, regularly acting out and speaking about how unfair she’s treated due to her age. This is ultimately what would get Maya killed in the events of Borderlands 3. Ava plays a very unimportant role in the game until the events of the second to final Vault where she awakens to her Siren abilities and is able to assist the team.

After this, it seems as if Ava will become a very important character to the Series.

End

Borderlands 3 in particular drew a very important note to Sirens, suggesting their upcoming importance in the near future. Not to mention the way in the Guardian’s Warning in the Pre-Sequel. Something is coming up for the series and it seems Sirens will play a very important role. What that is isn’t even hinted at but I theorize it’ll be something that involves the Vaults, Destroyer and Eridians. This of course is not surprising but to say there’s barely information to guess would be an understatement. 

This post I will admit was just lore spattering and not really theorizing. I will update this post with more thoughts and more information as it is pretty generic “spout of what we already know”. But, I hope you enjoy anyways. I will try to make more Borderlands lore posts in the foreseeable future. Especially character analysis as this series has tons of good characters.

[border-spam]

Bit of a subjective question, but I'm at a crossroads with my au. I posted a while ago that I think Ava should have been Lilith's apprentice - and while I do still think that, I think it for the story we had. A lot of its problems came from Ava's connection to Maya when she had more of one with Lilith - but I'm changing the story, and I do like Ava's relationship with Maya. So, in a different world, would Ava work best as Maya or Lilith's apprentice?

This is such a great question that I’m gonna essay it because I’ve not commented on Ava as much as I wanted to in general. Any choice you make here in regards to using her is going to work, because she’s a blank slate character you can develop to fit your overarching planning. I like Ava. There is nothing wrong with her character build, she’s an exciting and interesting idea to work with. The problem is:

Ava in BL3 was a plot mechanic for a plot that never actually happened. She was seeded into the game story in a way that destroyed the “Sirens can choose who they give their powers to” rule in the same game it was added to canon in.

Throughout Bl3, Maya repeatedly drops hints that she knows Ava is going to be a Siren. She does this more than once, it’s literally the driving cause of her death when Ava mouths it to the twins (apart from blatant fucking stupidity from all sides which I’ll cover later), and that as well as how much Maya cares about Ava, is meant to be a major plotpoint in the game. 

It isn’t, it gets completely ignored after the entire plot shits itself when Troy goes full e-thot and dies. 

Essay under the cut. /dab

Ava exists as a character to further a very simple and clear plot that’s fed to us from the point we meet her:

She is going to be a Siren.

Maya knows she is going to be a Siren.

Maya has taken her on as an apprentice because she wants to train her how to be a Siren before she becomes one (wat). 

She is very important to Maya and may as well be a sister figure.

We know this, and we sit and wait to be shown it instead of told it, but the problem is that BL3 completely falls at showing not telling (which I covered before), and instead we are left wondering WHY the hell Maya, a character we know very well and understand is very intelligent, is doing any of this at all.

We have no context for why Maya cares about her, we have no build up of relationship or backstory. It’s hamfisted and shoved into the game plot and like most things in BL3, the writing thinks the players are stupid enough to just accept it and move on - which is why the story has been slammed in general as time goes on. If Maya had for some reason met Ava and decided this kid was going to inherit her powers, it means also she had vast amounts of knowledge she was refusing to share with any other Sirens and chose newcomer Ava over any of the women she’d known very well who could be excellent choices over the years.

None of this is very Maya at all, so we move onto option two for why she chose Ava:

Because we have no actual explanation for WHY Maya is so close to this kid or HOW she knows she is going to be a Siren, we have to rely on mystical fuckery instead. That Sirens can somehow... sense.. other future Sirens? And this is where things start spiraling downhill very quickly. 

If Sirens can sense other future Sirens, then they aren’t choosing who their powers go to, are they. 

They can’t decide who gets them, it’s preordained. And if they can sense this, why did NO ONE cop Tannis was going to be one or WAS one the entire time she was? It makes literally no sense, it’s contradicting its own plot as the story continues, so now we are left with something really terrible. 

Now we are left with Maya and Ava having a clearly written side plot of:

She is going to be a Siren.

Maya knows she is going to be a Siren.

Maya has taken her on as an apprentice because she wants to train her how to be a Siren before she becomes one (wat). 

She is very important to Maya and may as well be a sister figure.

.... except as the game progresses you realise this fits nowhere in the story. It literally does not fit into BL3′s plot, it contradicts it blatantly.

The story needs to get Maya’s power into Ava for some reason, it’s stressed she knows Ava will get her powers and is highly defensive of her and given us no actual explanation of why, and suddenly we are in a cutscene that’s going to haunt a huge group of players for a long ass time, watching Maya, this intelligent woman we care about and know:

Grab one of the fucking Leech Sirens who kill with direct contact with her hands. 

Have him fumble at her arm as she has him in a choke hold and begin to husk her despite not having a clue he could do that. 

Stare in surprise and give a “Wat lol” response (I don’t blame u Troy that was mine too)

Threaten our dearly beloved Ava

We are meant to care about all of this, but none of this intended plot has been put in the game correctly so instead we just stare in complete confusion and try and work out what the hell just happened. It’s garbage tier storytelling. It’s absolute wankery.

The only way to redeem this arc would have been for Maya’s death to somehow have some grand saving grace across the rest of the game, like for Troy to turn on Tyreen and join the raiders - become the true Leech and return Maya’s power to Ava with a somber acknowledgement of her loss, or to have Ava become a force for good, mature and step up to the mantle Maya had known she would bear and use Maya’s gifted powers to defeat the God Twins, but instead we got nothing. 

Ava was completely forgotten about till the end of the game where suddenly she’s given control of the Raiders, and Maya just.... lol. Goddddd. No one cared.

Because this fizzled so badly, and the actual arc was:

Maya dies -> Troy gets power ->Troy pisses on moon -> Troy dies -> Ava gets power -> Fart noises -> Ava big girl commander now 

Ava is hated for being a shitty character and people want Maya back. 

Ava isn’t a shitty character, her and Maya (and Troy’s!) plots were not part of BL3 and so came across as clownshoes honk honk leading to people hating that entire arc. 

If you’re using Ava in an AU, go ham with her! Don’t even consider the canon, it’s -shite-. If Sirens don’t predetermine who an upcoming Siren is going to be, then don’t even have her in your AU if you want, because there is no reason for her to have been in the position she was at all. 

She’s not in Leech Lord as a main char for the above reason, there is literally no logic for Maya to have taken her on as an apprentice because Siren’s can’t.. magically.. tell.. who will be one in the future. She’s just a kid who got a chance at a home and a live with Maya’s sect instead of some star crossed Mary Sue the game used her as. 

I think personally, Ava’s way of interacting with other’s and explosive emotions does suit Lilith a little closer to Maya, but we got so damn little of her canonically that you cannot go wrong. Just have fun with her, give her the use she missed out on BL3.

She’s a great char, she just needs a chance. 

[fairie-gothmother]

In The Shadow of Starlight, Part 6: Gut Instincts

First part: The Fall

Previous: The Sheep Will Flock

How long had it been? Days, weeks? Troy lost track of time while he’d been slowly starving to death. Since his excommunication, each moment blurred into the next as whatever he possessed of the leech power fed off of his own body. Finally, he had some relief. He couldn’t help but be grateful for the scientist’s carelessness during the lab experiments. That was the first time he’d taken from any siren apart from his twin. It felt very different. This energy was more restless than he was used to. Maybe this what Ty meant by saying she could taste what she leeched.

Now that Troy had some extra juice, he felt incredible. Even after Lilith dumped him in Sanctuary’s garage on the bottom deck, he was amped. And what did Troy do when he was hyped up and left to his own devices? He beatboxed. The Calypso bobbed his head and swayed to the groove, bustling around the room and inspecting the equipment. He had to admit, it wasn’t a bad setup. He knew everyone was talking about him, probably deciding where to eject him into space, but he wished they’d hurry it up already.

He paused when a noise from nearby threw off his rhythm. A beep came again from a cluttered desk. With no regard to the desk owner’s privacy, he opened one of the drawers to find an Echo device inside. It was an older model, but obviously still in working condition. Troy glanced over his shoulder and scanned the room for cameras before putting the Echo on silent mode and slipping it into his pocket.

“Hey.”

Troy reeled around, startled from the voice and saw the blue haired siren descending the stairs into the workshop.

“Relax,” the sapphire siren said. She wiped the dust off a tool box and casually leaned against it. “Don't look so guilty. I, uh… Sorry for phase-chucking you across Tannis’s lab. You alright?” 

Oh. He wasn't busted after all. Still, Troy couldn’t help but be suspicious. No way she cared to chat. Probably cared even less about hurting him. A golden canine glinted through his lopsided smile. “I did ask for it, didn’t I? But yeah, I’m good. No hard feelings, Meg.”

“It’s Maya,” she said, obviously annoyed. “Get it right next time. Okay, Trent?”

Excuse me? Troy furrowed his brow and glared at her. She wore a playful smirk and raised her eyebrows as if daring him to correct her. Interesting. She was messing with him.

“Alright then, Maya. Let’s hear it already,” he folded his arms across his chest. “Are you guys gonna launch me into the nearest sun? Or does the scientist want me as a lab rat for unethical tests? Whatever it is, please don’t tell me it’s life in prison. That’s boring. I deserve something creative.”

Maya shook her head. “Oh, no. You don’t get off that easy. You’re still helping us fight the COV.”

Troy cocked his to one side, analyzing the siren in a skeptical stare. As hard he looked for the smallest hint that she was full of shit, her body language suggested she was telling the truth. He huffed, “So what, no punishment then? I figured the Firehawk would want this handsome mug served on a silver platter.”

Maya gave a one shouldered shrug. “You said you didn’t leech Tannis on purpose. Sometimes powers are weird like that. With some training, you might be able to control it.”

Easy for her to say. If only it was as simple as meditating on a mountain to master his broken siren powers. “Ah, right. You’re from Athenas. I’m sure those monks taught you all about control and restraint, great power is great responsibility, blah-blah-blah. But it’s pretty safe to say that I’m a special case. Clearing my chakras isn’t gonna do it for me.” 

“It would at least help with that attitude of yours.”

Troy began pacing and brought his flesh hand to his chin. “I don’t know. It wouldn’t be considered very zen if I accidentally ended up leeching you. Then again, you might taste like chamomile tea.” He cast a half-hearted sideways glance in Maya’s direction.

Maya rapidly drummed her fingernails on the tool box and said, “I take it back. I’m not sorry to phaselocking you.”

“That’s what I thought,” Troy snickered. “Be honest. How many times a day do you phaselock stuff just because you can?”

Maya closed her eyes and clasped her hands in front of her, mimicking a monk’s prayer pose. “I take a great amount of pride in my self discipline so if you must know-” She raised her left hand, and her fingers sparked. A ball peen hammer levitated from a workbench and hovered across the room into Maya’s hand. “I do it all the time.”

Troy scoffed. “Show off.”

The two were locked in a stare down. It wasn’t clear who cracked first, but neither of them could keep a straight face for long. A gentle blue glow emitted from Maya’s siren marks. Troy’s smile dropped as he looked down to his left hand, noting the harsh red light of his own marks.

“You really didn’t know that would happen to Tannis, did you?” the blue haired woman asked softly.

“No,” he answered honestly. “I’m still trying to get a grip on everything myself.” All his life he’d been broken. His parents treated him as a burden, although they never said it outright. He was constantly sick and needed extra help when he struggled with the use of only one arm. And Tyreen never considered him an equal. Even as one of the twin gods, he wasn’t seen in the same light as the God Queen. And now that he knew he possessed siren power without knowing it, his whole outlook was in question. What did it mean? What other parts of himself remained untapped?

Maya said, “Even if it’s only half, you’re still a siren. It’s not an easy life. Sirens have always been feared, hunted, extorted… worshipped.” Troy met her blue-gray eyes for a moment, then redirected his gaze to the wall. “We’re just trying to find our place.”

Troy’s heart skipped a beat. We?

“Yeah,” he said in a voice just above a whisper. He snapped out of it and quipped, “But, you gotta admit. Life would sure be a lot easier if I could phaselock grapes into my mouth all day.” 

Maya scrunched up her face and flung an empty can at Troy, who reflexively caught it in his mechanical hand with a metallic clang. He waved it, shook his head, and grinned at her.

“Nice catch, wise-ass. Now, get in the drop pod,” Maya teased.

That tiny thing? Troy had used porta-potties with more legroom than that. “You’ve gotta be kidding me,” Troy groaned. The siren smiled wickedly as she held the hatch open and ushered him inside. He sighed knowing the ride back to Pandora would not be a comfortable one.

~~~

On a normal day, Ellie was a delight. Today was not a normal day considering her garage was used as solitary confinement for one of the most hated influencers in the galaxy. Maya recalled her saying, “He’s about as welcome as an outhouse breeze.” It took a while to convince the mechanic that her garage was just as she left it. Eventually, she cooled her boiling blood down to a simmer.

If Maya was being honest, she didn’t actually believe that Troy hadn’t messed with something. Call it a gut feeling. The same gut feeling that knew Ava would be a siren someday. The same gut feeling that told her to go talk to Troy just now. Her gut hadn’t lied to her yet so she didn’t question it. The ex-God King was absolutely still on thin ice, but she was willing to give him a chance. Maybe he just needed some guidance. Either that or he was a hopeless, cocky little shit.

Hydraulics hissed from the rising door as Maya entered the ship’s bridge. The orbital view of Pandora loomed outside the windows of Sanctuary’s observation deck. Crew members clacked away on keyboards at their posts. Lilith and Tannis stopped mid-conversation when they noticed Maya approaching.

“Troy’s on his way back to base,” Maya announced, slightly out of breath from rushing up three flights of stairs. “Cramer should be waiting for him when he lands. What did I miss?” she asked when she noticed neither of them would look her in the eye.

“Sorry I didn’t tell you about Tannis sooner. I decided the fewer people that knew about it, the better. These days, being a siren puts a target on your back,” Lilith apologized. 

The revelation that the two of them were keeping Tannis’s siren powers a secret was shocking to say the least, but Maya wasn’t upset. She understood. Her own siren powers had been used by others to threaten an entire planet’s population. “I get it. I’m glad to have another siren on our side.” Maya smiled at the scientist, who awkwardly returned the gesture. It was cute when she made an effort.

“How are you, Tannis?” Maya asked.

“I'm fine. No need to fuss,” Tannis said. “It was actually interesting to experience the leech power first hand.”

Lilith knitted her brows. “Troy could have killed you. We still don’t know his intentions. Who knows what other abilities he’s hiding.”

Maya recalled the look of shock on Troy’s face while he held Tannis’s wrist, and the way he kept his distance from the two sirens afterwards as they processed what the hell just happened. After the conversation she’d just had with the Calypso, Maya felt the need to voice her opinion. “It seems like he doesn't understand his abilities either. I really don’t think he leeched Tannis on purpose.”

The commander was unconvinced. “Even if that’s true, we can’t underestimate what he’s capable of. This is still Troy Calypso.” Lilith stared out of the window at Pandora below. “For now, he’s useful to us. We’re going to need all the power we can get. It’s about time to make our move on the Holy Broadcast Center. There’s been a lot of activity lately. I’ve got a feeling something big is about to go down.”

Claptrap’s eardrum piercing voice called from the command console, “Incoming transmission!”

Speak of the devil. Maya’s heart sank as Tyreen’s smug face appeared on the overhead monitors. She was beginning to wonder if the COV had tapped their coms. Their timing was unusually coincidental.

“Hey, Lil!” the cult leader said in a singsong voice. “How’s life been as a non-siren normie human? Does it suck? I bet it sucks. Not gonna lie, these powers of yours are pretty sweet.” Lilith was seething. Tyreen had a knack for getting under her skin. The Calypso continued, “But hey, you don’t have to take my word for it. You know someone who knows all about my Firehawk upgrade. Just ask my brother.”

Damn. Word had finally reached her. Now Tyreen knew the Crimson Raiders were harboring her disowned twin.

“By the way, did that traitorous freak happen to mention the fact that he stole something from me? Can you believe it? Yoinked it right out from under me. I don’t want your grubby normie fingerprints on my stuff so if he shared it with you, I’m gonna need it back.”

Lilith calmly replied, “I assumed you’d know better since you were the one who dumped him in the middle of nowhere. He wasn’t exactly in any condition to exchange gifts when we found him. He’d been stripped and unarmed.”

Tyreen paused before shrieking with laughter. “She said unarmed! Please tell me you meant to make that pun.” She wiped a tear from her eye. “I needed that. No big deal. It’s a matter of time until I find it anyway. Well, I’ve got places to be. Big milestone event coming up. You’re gonna love it. Oh, and tell Troy I said hi before he runs outta juice and shrivels up. 'Kay? Laterz!” The Calypso winked before the feed was cut.

Maya’s fists tingled with the urge to meet that punchable face. She hollered back at the empty screen, “Troy will be the one kicking your door in, you cocky bitch!”

Claptrap said something about the video transmission’s crappy production value, but no one was listening. Lilith grit her teeth. “Using Troy was the plan, but that’s only if we can keep him alive long enough to get there.”

Maya squeezed her fists tighter, causing her fingernails to dig into her palms. Tyreen was always one step ahead of them. She couldn’t care less that her brother was in the Raider’s custody. Because of Troy’s dependence on her, she never even saw him as a threat.

Tannis chimed, “I have a theory, but you aren’t going to like it, Lilith.” All eyes turned to the scientist. “It is apparent that Troy cannot absorb the life force from living things through touch alone, with the exception of sirens. According to my experiments, it’s highly plausible that he can gain the same effect by ingesting it directly via anthropophagy or hematophagy.”

The room was silent apart from the humming of the spaceship. Maya blinked and said, “Tannis, no one understands you when you talk like that. In layman’s terms, please?”

Tannis sighed in disappointment but explained, “Troy should be able to regain energy from cannibalism or drinking blood.”

~~~

Sorry it took so long for an update. I’ve been working through a serious creative block. Showing my girl Maya some love in this part. This was a little shorter than usual, but I hope it was still entertaining. As always, thanks for reading my garbage! <3

[wildselkie]

Top 10 Scenes in TDP Season 1 (pt. 1/3)

Top 10 Scenes in TDP Season 1 (pt. 1/3)

*not ordered in which is better or worse, but it will be in chronological order*

Also some things are worded weirdly. I have a pain in the ass time trying to get my thoughts across in words so... I thank you for your patience :))

_________________________________________

1) The scene where Callum, Ezran, and Rayla find the dragon prince. Ep. 2

I think this is one of the more pivotal moments in the show. I mean it is literally the scene that sets the story in motion after all! Two human princes, an elf assassin, and the lost dragon prince (who was thought to be dead/gone/egg destroyed(?)).. this is just IT.

*also i’m aware that Ez probably found the egg first cos he already knew about this secret area but still

2) Viren (attempts to) proposes the idea to trade his life in for Harrow. Ep. 3

Now there are other well thought and well written posts on this scene with Viren and Harrow, so I won't waste your time with all the gushy stuff. I find this scene important because it shows the lengths that Viren would go for his friend. Whether he's doing out of the goodness of his heart or some other selfish reason... maybe both(?)..

!WARNING! MINI VIREN POST ALERT EVEN THO I SAID I WOULDN'T GET INTO IT

In the book Moon, it dives deeper into the plot along with expressing the characters' thoughts and feelings. As for Viren, it's stated in the book that he wanted to:

"offer his life for Harrow's, but he wanted him to understand that this was more than just a sacrifice of a subject to his king. This was personal"

"... he would need to be straightforward. He wanted to say simply I love you and I will die for you" (Ehasz 80).

I have no doubts that Viren didn't not love Harrow or anything of the sorts, but at the same time it feels like there was another motive. Maybe there was, who knows.

All we know about Viren is that he's a father of two (Claudia & Soren), divorced/ separated from his wife, and he's a dark mage. Of course there's some more (like he's taller than Harrow according to the character line up)... also his staff... like if you look at it, it's the same one as the mage who faced Sol Regem all those centuries (?) ago. Maybe he's related to him, or possibly descended from one of the followers. I'd imagine that teaching dark magic may be a thing within his family and ancestors... he taught Claudia dark magic. That doesn't prove anything but it's a small thought.

ANYWAY-- this scene is one of many scenes that show Viren in a vulnerable state. The book gives a look into how he felt when he decided to sacrifice himself and everything. It's just interesting and I'm here for it. 

3) Amaya and her weapons grade baguette Ep. 4

On a less serious and more fun note, the fact that Amaya is a breakfast connoisseur is just perfect. Amazing. Fantabulous.

"As a breakfast connoisseur, she was offended that Ezran would neglect a hearty morning meal" (Ehasz 120).

I only emboldened and italicized "offended" because in the show YOU CAN LITERALLY SEE HER FACE WHEN EZ TELLS HER.

Bruh she was so offended lmaooo

It's right at 13:36 time in the show... the slow zoom in and all 😂

4) Amaya and Gren meeting Viren at the statue Ep. 5

I’m trying to see if I should have paired this with the first scene where Amaya arrives first. That scene is pretty calm but has a somber feeling. It introduces the relationship of Amaya and Sarai without having to directly say it. 

But this scene here is... interesting. Not in a good way or bad way, but we see they’re reminiscing of the past. At some point, they all got along nicely. Callum even noted in his spellbook that Viren’s family became like a second family to him when he moved to the castle. 

This interaction was cute tho. It started out positive (sort of) with them joking about Viren eating the last jelly tart which pissed Sarai off lol. But then Viren went on to apologize to Amaya and reassured her that what he does is out of the goodness of his heart and love for Katolis. But...

“Aaaaand, he’s back, Amaya thought” (Ehasz 150). 

And then went on to sign that he’s on a bunch of bs. See? Even Amaya knows he’s full of shit lol. But really tho... it makes me wonder how much of bs Viren goes on even before the events of the current story line. 

5) Rayla saves Bait from the sea monster Ep. 5

Let us give a round of applause for Rayla going against her fear of water to save Bait, the grumpy frog who hates her. I think this just goes to show how compassionate Rayla really is. This would include the time when she goes back to grab bait back in the banther lodge in episode 4. 

6) Viren giving his kids their *secret* missions Ep. 6

Okay this isn’t just one scene. I cheated yeah yeah whatever >:3

When Viren is telling Soren what he must do when he finds the princes, at first he doesn’t fully get it, but then.. OH n0

Viren’s intentions are starting to unfold and come together as one. Like, this man just told his own SON that should he find the princes, he should kill them. This 18 yr old bby 

bruh

And Viren didn’t say it aloud, but he heavily implied it. Only to then gaslight him later on when Claudia confronts him in prison. 

As for Claudia, Viren tells her that she must retrieve the egg. And do everything in her power to bring it back, even if it means that she’ll have to sacrifice Soren... her own damn brother ;-;

7) When Callum finally lets Rayla hold the egg Ep. 6

This scene is pretty big. Rayla knows that Harrow is long gone and is trying to find a way to tell them. Obviously she doesn’t choose the best time to try it.

They were in a dire situation that could potentially kill them (even tho they had plenty of those moments already). The reason why this scene is so big is because it shows her struggle to break the bad news (ever since the right binding fell) as she continues to grow closer to them. Here you can see Callum passing the egg to her, despite her hand being in the terrible state that it is in. It is also the scene where right before passing it, he finally tells Rayla that he trusts her. 

8) Human Rayla!! Ep. 7

Human Rayla is so corny but it’s the good kind of corny. One of the best comedic jokes in the series! 

That is all cos human Rayla needs an AU of being a nighttime tv host or smthg

9) Viren and Runaan Ep. 8

yo this is alot okay. The scenes with these two introduced some Moonshadow philosophy and such (ie. not being scared of death). Runaan being the stoic and serious assassin that he is. And Viren not having any of this shit. 

There are three major things here:

 Runaan knows about the mirror and is most likely aware of who Aaravos is. He literally says, “That mirror? You have found something worse than death.” Goddamn...

And then Viren just... trapped his soul.. his essence into a goddamn coin. Just like that? wow. And hold it, almost admiring it in front of Gren. 

Also this is the first time we officially see Viren in that form. In the beginning of episode 5 we are given a darkened silhouette of Viren and the butterflies. But here we see the damage resulted from years of having done dark magic, and it’s horrifying. He is the high mage and all but goddamn. I mean with every action there are consequences so- 

10) Callum destroying the primal stone Ep. 9

I feel like this is one of the “of course it’s this one!” scenes but it really is! Callum realizes that only a sky dragon can be hatched in the eye of storm and there he is with a literal storm in his hand. By now, Callum has come to understanding what feels right and that being a mage is his destiny. But he also understands that he needs to sacrifice some things for new beginnings. This whole journey was to get the lost dragon prince home and restore balance and peace and with the egg starting to die... well you can’t really do that without the egg. 

It’s at 18:50 where he realizes all of this. It’s one of the big boy moments in the show. Seriously, it’s a big moment and the suspension helped get the feels in. And we got a cute baby dragon!! 

End, begin. it’s all the same. (pls someone get that reference ;-;;;)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Some honorable mentions:

- Episode 7: Claudia and Soren interacting. I love their sibling bond; it’s so silly and sweet and I love it. It makes me wish I had an older brother of some sort. 

Ellis and Ava,, I like the flashback story given when they meet the dragang. I just like it, okay? Smol chiald w/ smol wolf pup and a hippie Lujaane seeing the beauty & strength in Ava. 

CGI Coran. That all I have to say about that guy lmao

- Episode 8: When the group is going up the cursed caldera and they encounter that giant leech. Like can we just appreciate Callum’s funny way of making out a plan? Fat respect for that. 

Another is when the group split up and waited for the leech to leave. The conversation between Ellis and Callum were sweet as was the one between Rayla and Ez. I loved Ellis’s admiration for Callum being a mage. And her expectations of what a mage was is pretty hilarious. So wholesome. The same goes for Ez when he gave Rayla that daily fill of positivity. 

Like... Ellis is telling Callum how smart and confident and cool he is. And meanwhile Callum is like... it’s not me, it’s this. *whips out primal stone* And she goes on to tell him that she believe he’ll be amazing with or without the stone. 

And Rayla is telling Ez how she failed in her job of killing the enemy. And Ez is telling her how she’s awesome at everything she does.

this is the positive wholesome shit I come for like... this is parallels but GODDAMNIT it’s so.. ;;;;-;;

Yo this is long ENOUGH! Thank you so damn much if you read to the end. You’re the real beauties. Anywho... uh parts 2 and 3 will be up soon. 

 It’s 11 now so I need some sleep. goodnight kids

[bruisesandbuzzaxes]

Ava in the “Angel Lives AU”

Ava is the biological child of both Krieg and Maya and she is... well... ANOTHER SIREN. However, unlike the canon Ava, this Ava is a Leech and received her powers at the age of 5 (during the time frame of BL3). Ava is essentially Tyreen’s “fail safe” successor. If Tyreen failed: Ava (her biggest fan) would carry on her legacy by inheriting her Leeching powers, taken to a COV stronghold, and slowly be manipulated by Tyreen via the use of her very siren powers (Siren’s can communicate with successors via the use of their powers after death. Think how the Avatar can communicate with the past Avatars) and the rest of the COV into their new god-queen. However this never came to fruition since Maya has Ava guarded under lock and key (powers restrained by the use of a collar and forced to live in the monastery) and without Tyreen the COV fell apart. 

Ava has no idea what her powers really do or why she has to wear a collar that completely nullifies them. However, she does know that everyone around her knows the answers to those questions and wont tell her. She is usually frustrated, angry, and annoyed by her mother being extremely overprotective of her. However, Krieg is not as overprotective as Maya and allows Ava to do “psycho activities” with him rather frequently. Going out to bandit parties, eating garbage, and dancing around bonfires makes her feel free (important if you will) thus she often goes out of her way to tag along with her dad when he does this stuff. So if you wanna get down to it, Ava is a “psyren” (functionally a psycho, but literally a siren). 

[lycanomancy]

BL3, but Ava is Lilith’s apprentice

Continuation of this post.

This took me three hours, and I know it isn’t the best. I tried to follow along with the story as it is in-game, only changing Ava’s initial involvement and moving some parts. Certain aspects were kept, no matter how controversial they are. See also: Ava becoming the commander.

Also, my cat, Peanut, climbed up on my demanding attention, and while I was loving on her, Butter, my other cat, sat on the keyboard. He deleted half of the post, typed in a paragraph of keyboard smash, and almost discarded it.

Lilith doesn’t lose her powers on Pandora

You go to Lectra City to find Naoko Katagawa (she should have been plot-relevant, ok?) to get Maliwan’s intel on the Vault Key fragments instead of Gigamind existing

Proof of Wife is now a part of the main story. 

You find Ava in the prison where Bloodshine is. Lilith sees her on your echo and tells you to go see why there’s, like, a literal child in a jail cell. 

Ava is an orphan because of the war. She got arrested for stealing around Lectra City. Ava does her whole ‘VHfangirl’ thing and asks you to let her out, and offers to help you get Bloodshine out, too. She breaks out Bloodshine, the quest goes as normal. Naoko turns herself in to Atlas to A: get away from Maliwan and B: help take down Maliwan. 

 Ava tries to go her own way, but Lilith, knowing she wants to be a vault hunter and worried about a little girl in the middle of a warzone infested with a murderous cult, offers to let her tag along. Ava gets ecstatic and overjoyed, quickly shoves it down and plays it cool.

Ava has been added to PC Box 1

Aboard Sanctuary, Ava fangirls over Lilith 

Naoko’s info takes you to Athenas. Ava asks if she can come. The vault hunters are worried about child endangerment, but Lilith lets her go with you

“If she survived Maliwan on Promethea, she’ll survive Maliwan on Athenas.”

Ava wanders off and you lose her. 

Meet up with Maya, she takes you to the library on Athenas to get her book. The library is on a different map (Athenas has multiple locations now). The book is gone. You find dead Maliwan soldiers that have wounds caused by Ava’s gun. You call her. 

“Oh yeah, their dusty a** library wasn’t even locked! Everything in there is junk, but I found this weird looking one that has gold in it.”

Now you have to go find Ava to get Maya’s book. Maya is not amused at her library being robbed.

Traunt taunts her over the echo, implying he killed her parents. Ava forgets about the book and goes after him. She gets captured, obviously, and you have to save her. Maya makes the comparison.

“Jeez, Lilith. She’s almost as bad as you.”

“Why do you think I like her?”

Back on Sanctuary, Lilith gently asks her about her deal with Maliwan, and Ava snaps at her and gets defensive.

Maya and Krieg help you with Skywell, like they should have in the cut content. They don’t destroy the Zanara

When Zero jumps in to save Rhys from Katagawa, instead of fighting, Katagawa grabs Rhys and the Vault Key fragment and fast-travels to the Zanara.

Naoko gives you the co-ords for the Zanara, and Lilith teleports the Vault Hunters and Zero aboard the yacht. Ava comes along because she wants revenge against Katagawa.

Ava and Zero go off to bust electronic shit to get doors and force-fields open for you. Once you kill Katagawa, Ava spits on him. You save Rhys and get the fragment.

You and Ava loot the Zanara 2 minutes before it explodes due to the damage she and Zero did. Like General Knoxx’s Armory.

Vault time! Ava is told to stay with Tannis while Maya, Lilith, and the Vault Hunters go kill the Rampager.

...Only she shows up. 

Lilith tells you and Maya to go loot while she tells Ava why what she did was risky and why orders are there to protect her. Not yelling or mad, just calm explanation. 

Twins show up.

Ava eggs Lilith on to fight Tyreen. Lilith engages in magic-slap-fight with Tyreen.

Ava gets grabbed by Tyreen, Lilith teleports behind and grabs Troy in retalation

Troy does the leech-thing, but before he can kill Lilith, Maya and the Vault Hunters charge out of the Vault guns blazing. Maya Phaselocks Troy, and throws him away from Lilith and into Tyreen to free Ava. Lilith is out-cold from losing her powers. Troy teleports himself and Tyreen away.

 No blame game this time. Ava feels bad and guilty for causing Lilith to lose her powers and almost die, but has trouble showing it and apologizing

Maya scolds Ava for leaving Tannis and tries to make her take responsibility, and you can tell she does want to, but pride and defensiveness get in the way and she storms off. Lilith tells Maya to go easy on her. 

“Lilith, you can go easy on her, but her enemies won’t.”

Ava doesn’t have a part on Eden-6 or during Carnivora, because Carnivora has been cut. Tannis isn’t a Siren.

Instead of Troy Phaselocking you in Jakobs Manor, Aurelia is there and freezes you place and leaves you and Troy. 

Head back to the Sanctuary after Graveward, Athenas is being destroyed by COV teleported in by Troy. You and Maya go to Athenas to save it and hopefully stop Troy. It’s a trap. COV ambush you, and in the middle of the fight, Troy captures Maya.

The Twins use Maya to Phaselock and charge Elpis. Krieg goes ballistic. When you and Krieg confront him in the Great Vault, it isn’t Tyreen he’s leeching off of to fight you - it’s Maya. When you kill Troy, Maya is injured, but fine. 

Tyreen comes down to absorb Troy, and gets Lilith’s powers from him. Maya saves everyone from Tyreen’s rubble/explosion with Phaselock

Nekrotefayo time

Lilith and Ava talk about Typhon being the Twins’ dad. Lilith asks Ava about her family (The player should know by now that she’s orphaned but Lilith doesn’t) and instead of being defensive, Ava says they were killed by Maliwan at the start of the war. 

Instead of her backstory being presented as a joke and making Ava look worse, she has a moment of vulnerability because she wanted to open up, rather than it being told against her wishes.

Lilith asks what they were like. Ava pauses and implies that they were neglectful and didn’t pay attention to her, and shows introspection as to why she hates authority and rules.

“Hard to do what you’re told when you’re never told to do anything. Or talked to at all.” 

The Vault Hunters chime in. FL4K says something about psychology and childhood traumas in humans, Zane relates to her with his brothers/bandit family, Moze says her family was the same, too busy with being in the Vladof Military, and Amara talks about how her family disowned her.

Ava comes down to the Machine to help clear COV. When Tyreen shows up, instead of engaging, she hides in the shadows. When she grabs Lilith, Ava sneaks up and shoots her point-blank in the back with Typhon’s shotgun. Tyreen tries to leech her, but Ava almost takes off her head with it, and Tyreen has to retreat. Typhon doesn’t die. 

Story continues as normal

When Lilith stops Elpis, she dies for good. And Ava gets her powers.Lilith doesn’t tell Ava that Sanctuary is hers, but Tannis and Ellie both agree that if Lilith felt like Ava was worthy of her powers, she’s worthy of being Commander. “

[kinghorsehead]

Rewriting the Borderlands 3 campaign

So finishing the campaign again, I’ve realized where the source of my personal problems with the campaign are coming from. Largely, I think the campaign is fine except for three core characters, the ones everyone has a problem with. Ava, Tyreen, and Troy. So I’m going to rewrite them (and parts of the story) in order to try and make it a better overall experience.

Spoilers under the cut

We’ll start with the villains first. I like the concept of them being chatty, young twitch streamers. There’s a lot you can do with that sort of angle, but they don’t play into it nearly enough. All through BL2 Jack is hammering away at your ear, telling you about all the stupid things he’s done and has done. You get a real feel for his character pretty early on and they expand it quickly and naturally. With the Calypsos, a lot of that is missing and replaced with the third act twist. 

So I want to do away with the twist of them being Typhon Deleon’s kids. Have it out there plain and simple, and instead put more emphasis on what happened to Typhon. 

“Out of nowhere, two young streamers with a strange amount of knowledge relating to the vaults appear and take over the media, claiming to be the children of the fabled first Vault Hunter”

Tyreen, the face of the operation, somewhat emulating Handsome Jack in an attempt to catch people’s attention. Totally down with wanton murder and manipulation to get what she wants. Troy, the one in charge of the wetwork. He works the streams, edits everything, and works from the shadows in order to make them be as appealing as possible to try and convince more people to get on their side. At the start, their dynamic is largely the same as it was before.

Until Troy kills Maya and takes her powers. 

Troy, with his new complete Siren powers, no longer needs to feed off of Tyreen in order to survive. He’s totally self sufficient at this point, why does he need her?

As the campaign goes on, Troy starts pushing for more and more airtime on the echonet, butting heads with his sister as he wants more power, and she doesn’t want to give any to him. 

The original fight with Troy gets changed around. You walk into another fight between the Calypsos, and its the worst yet. All of a sudden, Lilith cuts the argument short with a bullet to Tyreen’s head. She goes down, but before her Siren powers can return to Lilith, Troy leeches off of his sister one last time, taking the powers for himself. The boss is replaced by a guardian who is enhanced by Troy’s new powers. and troy takes his leave with everything in place for the great vault to open.

You get the call to go to Nekrotafeyo, and meet up with Typhon who explains what happened to the Calypsos. Same as before. You catch transmissions from Troy, who is struggling to contain his power and also keep the CoV under control. He can’t deal with you on top of all of that, and quickly begins unraveling with all his new responsibilities and problems. 

You fight Troy at Nekrotafeyo while you’re trying to rework the engine that sealed the great vault. He’s totally lost it at this point, and his body is just about to rip at the seams for trying to contain the power of three and a half sirens. Lilith throws herself at Troy at the end of the battle, a gamble to try and get her powers back. It works. 

He lets her take her power back, but as soon as it happens, he phases out back to Pandora. He tries to release the power inside of him, but ends up falling victim to the destroyer, merging with it like Tyreen did, but he has no control over himself anymore. He wants to lose the fight.

you beat the destroyer, and in a moment of clarity, Troy knows he has to right his wrongs. Instead of Lilth sacrificing herself, Troy does, throwing himself and the destroyer into the moon to set it back, protecting Pandora with one final effort.

Maya’s powers move to their intended recipient, Ava. After seeing all of this happen, she’s mellowed out a lot since the beginning of the campaign, and starts studying Maya’s notes and teachings to be just like her one day.

Ava in this version is much more toned down. She’s still rascally at the start, but being thrown into all of this quickly shows her that she isn’t ready for the galaxy. She wants to do more, but she feels helpless. Her efforts to help aren’t always welcome, but over time she starts to collect herself. Maya’s Death pushes her far. She doesn’t understand all this Siren stuff, so she starts studying it. Like other Sirens before her, she seems to have a knack for learning about it, and often brainstorms with Tannis on eridian based things to figure out what to do next.

[godkingsanointed]

Jak-knife COV timeline+ an Troy friendship HC's

(Characterisation of Troy here heavily inspired by @border-spam 's hc's/way of writing him)

JK originally joined the COV as a spy,they where never officially affiliated with the Crimson Raiders,but did it because Moxxi asked. And because as a lifelong and very proud pandoran raider they needed to know what was going on. (Moxxi an JK are an unlikely match,maybe I'll do that post sometime)

Their main jobs when they joined was geographical and planet specific clan Intel. The twins had already amassed a strong following,enough that they couldn't spare the time plotting there own maps for sites and clans of interest anymore.

JK had spent equal time as raider and mercenary at that point (having lost their clan young to the Crimson Lance) so they knew the culture,but also how to work efficiently. Something Troy appreciated,especially since he didn't have to speak 100% in bandit to them.

Eventually JK was given a small scouting team,and used as first contact with clans they wanted to recruit as well as to plot any Eridian structures/sites they came across. It didn't take long for them to become captain of a much larger team as recruitment rocketed.

After a while the COV's reputation grew so much that clans scrambled to join,and JK's team was no longer needed. With Pandora charted and numbers swelling they where sent to join the grunt ranks. Troy kept an eye on them after that,seeing potential. In honestly seeing potential in any raider who wasn't a slavering maniac.

Tyreen didn't have much of an eye for it,most bandits all looked the exact same to her. So she listened to Troy when he suggested/organised teams for things that needed to be done. He had a system for testing followers for advancement,usually testing a handful at a time.

The missions where often convoluted,and rarely worth the effort. This tested loyalty,But also he was looking for a little iniative. Any Recruit that blindly followed the extremely inefficient workflow they where assigned was quickly tossed back in with the grunts.

This eventually lead to Troy having a small,effective team of his very own. Again Tyreen never kept track,and a good team no matter how small helped him keep on top of his work like nothing else.

It started out with relatively minor tasks. Fetching and carrying his equipment,scouting the security of areas the twins would be visiting. JK sent back info and locations,but still without context it was difficult for the Crimson Raiders to use. They also had to be careful,Troy was clever and often had them scout several places at once so no one knew until it was time where they'd be going.

At first Troy kept his team at arms length. Useful war meat was still just meat,he'd say. But in moments of tiredness or excitement a little humanity shone through. As much as it went against their objective,JK found themselves thinking it endearing.

It was a love of tinkering that became a point of bonding. JK was no engineer. They knew how to get more juice out of a shield,mod a gun,fix a generator,practical stuff. They didn't have the kind of knowledge Troy did,something the God King was used to. What he wasn't used to however was someone listening intently to his ramblings on the matter,and set out the teach them. He explained this away as making his team better was an investment but there was no hiding how his eyes lit up when they caught onto something new.

Troy indulged his whole team in similar ways,damning himself for considering them friends as he picked out gifts for them. But it's lonely at the top an he couldn't help it! Unfortunately,seeing his new friends as people didn't stop him seeing everyone else as meat still an it became a point of contention. Most of the team weren't actually bandits,they where prometheans or from other planets. They found it difficult to stomach seeing how cruel he could be to "meat" while simultaneously smiling and joking with them,where a bandit was used to that.. style of leadership.

Troy spiralled after a number of them left,becoming more paranoid and harsh. JK stayed,by now genuinely invested. Anyone left was made honour guard in a feverish childish attempt to make them stay. Even with the God King persona screaming at him to push them away,the growing distance with Tyreen was killing him an he needed some kind of bond.

The two spent more time together,JK eventually being the one to tend to him while sick. In delirium he called them Ty a lot of the time by accident. JK never brought it up,they had lost a brother an if they where honest? It was so long ago that they couldnt remember his face,now they pictured Troy.

During the final push to the cathedral of the twin gods,Troy panicked afraid the Vault hunters might kill his friend and attempted to anoint them without permission or warning. It reacted badly to the slag burns already on JK an he had to stop prematurely. Still partly anointed,they half heartedly fought the Vault hunter until Moxxi came up with a last second plan to snatch them an hold them in sanctuary.

Distance from him seemed to break the incomplete hold the siren powers had on them,until the final fight with Troy. His pain as he was defeated was strong enough to reach them and they vanished,using their new power to join his side. He took that energy back before passing out,It being enough to stop him dying. JK dragged his body over to Ava,Who did her thing before Tyreen tried to crush them,never getting a chance to drain him.

JK joined him in unconsciousness soon after,the two waking up once everything was over. JK with Eridian crystals growing from them,and Troy with inert tattoos. The need to leech was gone,Even if his other health issues remained.

[doom-dreaming]

WAIT WHAT HAPPENED???? i cant find spoilers anywhere im dying

Fuck you Tumblr why do you post things before I finish them.

OKAY. MAJOR SPOILERS UNDER THE CUT!!!!!THIS IS PRETTY MUCH THE WHOLE MAJOR PLOT. I WARNED YOU.

(I got all this from Char’s Twitch stream, btw. Watched it last night. Cried. Screamed. Ate my hands off. You know.)

This is going to be twins-centric because that’s just who I am as a person, but here’s how it goes:

After the cutscene where the twins steal Lilith’s power, you head to Promethea.

Maliwan!Zer0 is actually Katagawa.

(At some point, Maya joins the crew, I haven’t watched any Athenas gameplay actually. But she’s here during the next event, which is important.)

The Promethean Vault Monster is the Rampager. It has multiple elemental attack stages. Once you go in and come back out of the Vault, Maya is arguing with her apprentice Ava, who snuck along to fight even though she was told not to. The twins show up, take the remaining life force from the monster.

Maya and Ava try to leave. Ty grabs Ava, Maya phaselocks Troy so Tyreen lets go of Ava. TURNS OUT TROY CAN LEECH TOO! SO HE LEECHES MAYA. COMPLETELY DUSTS HER.

Tyreen seems surprised, saying “I thought you could only leech from me?” and it’s at this point that the power balance starts to shift.

So he can phaselock now.

Then you go to Eden-6. I missed a chunk from the arrival to the opening of the Eden-6 Vault.

The Eden-6 Vault is guarded by the Gravewarden, who has multiple attack phases and elements and can shift the area on a slant, so be careful. Once you kill it, Tannis shows up because she’s figured out a way to neutralize the power so that the twins can’t use it.

Tyreen whines about being hungry and Troy says you suck. You go into the Vault, and when you come back out, Tannis is suddenly phaselocked and teleported away by the twins.

This prompts a rescue mission back on Pandora - the Pain and Terror quest. Well. So Tannis is a siren. She manifested Angel’s abilities. So she makes it out of this okay.

Over the ECHOcomms, the twins start getting more interesting. Troy pushes his way into the spotlight, stepping on Tyreen’s toes, ignoring her, stealing her catchphrases, etc. He says he has a big surprise for you.

The next time you get to Sanctuary, you get to see this surprise.

TROY AMPS HIMSELF UP ON ERIDIUM AND PHASELOCKS THE MOON and starts pulling it toward Pandora because it turns out that the Great Vault? Is Pandora. It’s the whole planet. And Elpis is the key.

So naturally, the Raiders send you down to stop him. You fight your way through to the twins, Troy is getting increasingly angry and starts legitimately screaming over the ECHOcomm (which I only found hot, sorry not sorry); well, you manage to cut off his eridium supply, but uh oh, the moon is still being charged?

YEAH. HE’S LEECHING FROM TYREEN TO CHARGE THE FUCKING MOON. I CAN’T MAKE THIS SHIT UP. (If I had, it would be better.)

This cues his boss fight. He has beautiful red wings. He’s so fucking gorgeous.Tyreen is screaming the entire time, saying that Troy’s going to kill her. He mostly ignores her.

Once you land the killing blow, it triggers a short cutscene where Troy staggers toward Ty (already on the ground) and says “Ty…we…almost…made it” and then he dies.

Lilith, Tannis, and Ava come in. Ava touches Troy’s arm. Her siren powers manifest. Lilith says they never belonged to him anyway. :(

AND THEN TYREEN GETS UP. She looks down at Troy and says “Troy….you did it.” And then puts her hands on his head AND FOR A SECOND I WAS EXPECTING A RESURRECTION BUT SHE FUCKING DUSTS HIM. VAPORIZED. BYE TROY I NEVER GOT TO HOLD YOU OR PET YOUR HAIR OR [REDACTED].

She takes the cam-bot out of his arm, which is the only part of him left, and makes a very peppy, very determined broadcast…..and then smashes the camera and disappears.

Time to go to the Eridian homeworld, as it’s the only way to shut down the Great Vault opening.

Once on the final planet that I forgot the name of, you meet up with Typhon DeLeon, who’s been stranded there for decades. As you fight through Eridians and Maliwan to do what you’ve gotta do, you learn the backstory.

Typhon and his wife Leda crashed on this planet. She was pregnant. She had twins. “The boy was always sick and the girl talked circles around me.”

Yeah. Those twins.

Typhon thought they would like staying on this planet, but they saw it as a prison and left - some time after their mother had died. Typhon regrets keeping them there, says he shouldn’t have told them the stories about the Great Vault, says he feels remorse for what they’ve become.

I was crying a lot.

You apologize for killing Troy and he says something like “I’m sorry about my boy but I’m glad he can’t hurt people anymore.” Fam. Fam my eyes are just water.

Through the fighting, Tyreen gives you little tidbits on their childhood, and the one that killed me was how she mentioned stargazing with Troy, who said that they would shine brighter than the stars. Flat-out sobbing by this point.

There’s at least one ECHO log I saw that’s from the twins as they fixed up the ship to leave the planet, I’m sure there’s more scattered around. If we find some of them as really little kids, I’m going to cliff dive without a bungee.

Just as you start to close The Great Vault, Tyreen shows up. There’s a confrontation, Typhon restrains her….she fights him…and kills him. And fucks off to complete her mission to become a god.

Tannis opens a portal back to Pandora, you’re transported to The Great Vault. Tyreen BECOMES the Destroyer and it’s honestly grotesque. There’s a vaguely Shadow of the Colossus style fight with her and then…it’s over.

There’s some talking. The moon is still too close to the planet. Lilith makes the executive decision to take that into her own hands and flies into the moon and…….becomes a firehawk moon shield? I’m still not sure.

UM. YEAH BUT IT WAS A LOT AND I’M NEGLECTING SELF-CARE BECAUSE I DON’T KNOW HOW TO HEALTHILY COPE WITH PIXEL BASTARDS THANKS FOR COMING TO MY TED TALK.

[borderlandsthirst]

Spoilers

.....Well then

I have officially finished the story part of Borderlands 3 and all I can say is-

What the fuck!?

So much shit happened that either made no sense or didn't need to happen.

Pick Maya's death, Gearbox could have found a way to just have Troy absorb her powers, not her.

I'm certain Troy was still alive after we best him, even if he wasn't, Tyreen absorbing him should not have been possible since that power was his and not her's.

Sure Typhon wasn't the best father but he did what he could, Troy didn't seem to have a problem, Tyreen did. She went as far as to call Typhon's stories lies. At least in one part she admitted he was right about Pandora.

Tyreen's death was not satisfying enough, after everything's she done I expected her to be screaming during the fight (unless that was removed after the first update, if so then damn you Gearbox), and I wanted an overdramatic scream after we took done the last of her life.

Speaking of killing Tyreen, what the hell with that damn fusion, I thought she was suppose to leech the Destroyer's power, and if they had to fuse her with it, couldn't it have been some unfortunate accident? Tyreen seemed like she was totally cool with being a literal monster. She just fucking flops into its arms arms like a list lover then comes back up fused to it. What even happened that made them fuse?

She didn't grieve over her brother's death, but I got the feeling she didn't truly care about him anyway. She always treated him like trash in front of others.

As soon as Lilith gets her powers back she sacrifices herself, and leaves Ava in charge!?

Where was Maya and Lilith's burial?!

Why is our character never shown in any cutscenes!?

Why couldn't Troy be the reason Tyreen fused with the Destroyer? Like his consciousness or power or whatever suddenly surfaces and messes with the leeching process and pulls Tyreen into the creature.

TROY DESERVED BETTER!!

And is it just me or are the stories of the Borderlands franchise making less and less since with each game?

I have so much frustration for this game but I'm close to crying. Of I think of anything else I'll rant (bitch) about it.