#Collection: Meteor Lore

[ofcoffee-andletters]

FFXIV Write day 16: Third-rate

Notes: Wtf when did it became day 16, I am still not done with day 2 haha, wow, I am bad at this...anyway, I do have things for the rest of the days but I am bad at making short things, so I am attempting something different now...I hope you all enjoy.

MeteorArdbert Pre-Dawntrail

Third-Rate : extremely low in quality or value : worse than second-rate. —————— A hyur was staring at something over a table, frowning and making faces constantly…then sighing and walking around, it was more than clear he was frustrated, and as he hears a low chuckle to the side, he glares. “…What?”

Meteor was standing close to the door and couldn’t help but stare at Ardbert, amused and curious, “You seem upset about something…and all I see is a perfectly set of clothes in front of you.”

The former Warrior of Darkness and, currently, apprentice of famous fashionista Redolent Rose, was basically about to hit his head against a wall, “Is not perfect, it has around…a thousand imperfections and I cannot figure out where!”

Current, and eternal, Warrior of Light, couldn’t help but laugh at the precarious predicament his beloved shard was in, “Is that what he told you…?” said man came closer to the table and examined the pieces of clothing, they seemed fine to the absolutely untrained eye but… “Is this supposed to be the basis of a leather armor…?”

Ardbert huffed and finally decided to sit down, “It’s a stupid commission that, explicitly, asked for me to make this set…I have no idea why, I am not even that good at working with leather yet…”

Meteor couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow and then smile sideways, “What have you been up to…?”

At the question, said addressed shard couldn’t help but pout, looking sideways, “What does it look like…? Figuring out a job…I am sure being the Hero and Savior of everyone and everything in the Universe pays well…but we need to have a back up plan…y’know?” That made Meteor laugh, “I am right…!”

“You are! But I never imagined you’d like to take up crafting!” It wasn’t a mocking sound, it was an endeared one — after all, few things that Ardbert did were not adorable, or hot, or cute in Meteor’s eyes. “I also have odd jobs here and there…you don’t need to…”

“I want to.”

Both men stared at each other, with the one standing relenting first, smile still adorning his face as he looked to the set of almost made armor resting there. “…It looks fine to me.”

Ardbert rolled his eyes, “It’s barely third-rate and apparently, no respected Adventurer would be caught dead wearing something like this…” and then, to the utter surprise of the former resident of the First, Meteor grabbed the coat and started to look at it, “What are you…?”

The Warrior of Light then put it on, making Ardbert blink as he realized the piece of clothing — and eventual armor — fit his soulmate quite well, a bit too perfectly fine. And to see him moving around with it, and also going to grab his new swords…made him realize something, “You’re a bastard.”

As Meteor laughed he simply turned around and extended his arms, “Yes? I think I just lost all respect as an adventurer, since…personally, I plan to use what I commissioned, third-rate or not…” even if Ardbert wanted to argue, the damn idiot was smiling at him with one of those big grins of his…that made the shard and soulmate feel a twist inside his stomach and the need to kiss this man to death.

“…Tell that to Redolent Rose…”

Meteor shrugged, “I will make sure to point out that I commissioned my boyfriend for a very specific reason…now, stop pouting and let me watch you work…I like when you’re focused on making armor.”

Ardbert snorts and then shakes his head. “…I am making the entire thing again no matter what, if you’re the one who will wear it…I need to make sure you’re safe with it.”

“I will be safe anyway, I am gonna be with you.”

That only earned Meteor a circle of leather to the face, sadly that covered him and made him unable to see Ardbert’s flustered expression — but…he was laughing, regardless. It had been a great idea to commission his new outfit for Tural right here, in Eorzea…just for this.

[monty-glasses-roxy]

For some reason, the only consistent thing in my head right now is the mental image of Meteors Roxy carrying around a big Jolteon plushie with her snout fitting nicely between its ears and you know what?

It's now Meteors Canon that Roxy adores resting her chin on people and plushies' heads right between the ears. And also that Roxy needs more plushies.

[spidersmiceandeverythingnice]

Gaara is truly the Character of All Time

-Introduced as main antagonist in a tournament arc, the terrifying bloodthirsty ninja from a strange desert village who kills without remorse and has survived every mission without getting a scratch on him

-He's 12

-Character design 10/10 he has bright fucking brick red hair, literal raccoon eyes, a face tattoo that says "Love" and carries that weird ass gourd; between the fun elements and the interesting tie-ins to Tanuki Lore, I have never seen a more charming design in my life tbqh

-Immediately more emo and chuuni than Noted Emo Heartthrob Sasuke Uchiha by virtue of reciting weird poetry after killing a guy in cold blood

-We get his tragic backstory and by fucking GOD is it sad. I cry just thinking about it. Literally everything about it is just horrible and devastating.

-Talk No Jutsu at end of the tournament arc, Gaara realizes that he should, in fact, go to therapy and immediately decides to turn his life around

-The first thing he decides to do is apologize to his siblings <3

-Shows up a handful of arcs later with a cool new outfit and becomes friends with the kid he literally tried to murder and nearly permanently crippled in one of the best fights of the entire series

-Liam O Brian's English dub of Gaara is Stellar ya know what. The raspiness of the original appearance morphing into the Deepest Voice That Any Kid Has Ever Had Ever was a genuinely hilarious choice

-Has the only good filler arcs in the old show; he's such a good character that the entire show molds itself and rises to meet him

-Post timeskip he is Desert Ninja President at the ripe old age of 15 and is extremely good at it because he's the weirdest little nerd with no social skills (on account of his tragic backstory) and diligently applies himself to doing paperwork and going to meetings

-Has a fanclub in the village mostly of girls his own age that he never seems to talk to?? Or realize have crushes on him?? Oblivious king we love him.

-Dies in one of the most genuinely moving scenes. Comes back like 20 episodes of fighting later because where would we be without him honestly?

-Becomes Super General Ninja President of the Grand Army of whatever where he accomplishes such feats as forgiving his asshole father and emotionally healing from his childhood trauma, stopping a meteor, and nearly dying a second time.

-Collects cacti as a hobby

-Has the only good sequel series arc where it's revealed that in addition to continuing to serve as Desert Ninja President, he's decided to adopt a couple of orphan ninja kids so that he can break the cycle of parental neglect and stupidity that created his tragic backstory in the first place.

[chirpycloudyrobin]

Devil Flute Upon Graves AU Masterlist

A masterlist for my Calamity!Wei Wuxian AU where Wei Wuxian died and became the Ghost King of the Burial Mounds.

Not formally written (for now), just a collection of rambly posts

NOW IN FANFICTION FORM EYYY

Main Tag

MAIN STORYLINE

>> TUMBLR POSTS <<

Beginning, general rundown/outline of the AU

Part 1 - covers wwx's emergence from the kiln, the (failed) sacrificial summoning, mo village, dafan mountain. also has notes on wwx's fake names

Part 2 - return to the cloud recesses, bit of a backstory on how wwx recovered after self-destructing and also how he met hua cheng and xie lian

Interlude 1 - jin ling being raised by gods!xuanli, their deputy gods, and jiang cheng

TBC

>> AO3 FANFICTION <<

counting crows - scenes of when wwx discovers he's actually a ghost, to his adjustment to ghostly life (lol), to his first "death" during the first siege

when does a comet become a meteor? - wwx's journey from being a weakened ghost flame to his triumph at the kiln. features hualian as his emotional support parents and the burial mounds as the tiger mom no one asked for

stories from the resplendent skies - jiang yanli, jin zixuan and wen qing as heavenly officials

and thus the crow flies - main AU fic ! so basically everything that happens within the AU

HEADCANONS & AU LORE

wei clan of xianle - my headcanon for the origins of the wei clan

The Bleeding Meadows of Yiling - what became of the Burial Mounds after Wei Wuxian leveled them

Eyes as Windows to a Dead Soul - discussing Wei Wuxian's eyes

CHARACTER SHEETS

Devil Flute Upon Graves, Wei Ying

Lady Water Master Yanli, Lady of the Lake

Fu Liang Jiangjun, Jin Zixuan

Goddess of Freshwater Springs, Zhang Shu

Wind and Rain Cutter, Fang Minrui

Triple Ghost Guardians of the Bleeding Meadows

WIP

[sillovn]

Marika, Messmer and the Hornsent World

OK, finally collected and wrote up SotE lore thoughts. Specifically, want to talk about godhood and details of Marika’s ascension. There's a lot to cover...

1. Divinity and Order

Godhood and the Elden Ring now appear to be entirely separate concepts (though it’s still likely that only gods can use the Elden Ring). Ascension to godhood seems related to accessing a skyward divine paradise, the ‘Higher Spheres’ as the Grandam states. Meanwhile, the Elden Ring appears to “only” be a tool a god uses to create Order.

This is significant, as it now appears that Marika is the first god in many ages (possibly ever) to wield the Elden Ring. The pre-Erdtree Hornsent make no reference to it in their belief systems or visual culture. Her ascension thus represents a major shift in the world’s history, rather than simply being the passing of ages (which was a fair idea pre-SotE).

As a side, SotE also introduces a new class of divinity; the ‘Old Gods’ who seem to be long buried and gigantic in size. The single known weapon related to them appears inspired by IRL stone-age arrow points? (Yes, I know it’s referred to as meteoric ore. But AFAIK, the practice of using meteoric metal seems to predates the ‘formal definition’ of metal ages.)

2. What is the Original Sin?

It is something kept in the Land of Shadow and then what? Marika’s Gold-Shadow creation event would make thematic sense as the Original Sin, again lending credence to the idea that Marika represents a significant break with tradition.

Its notable that Enir-Ilim remains untouched by the razing of the surrounding country, also it was already shadowed at the time of the crusade. As others have stated, there’s an intentionally concealed past here.

3. Marika and the Hornsent

There is a specific relationship here – abandonment and betrayal (ie. Marika was known to the Hornsent and they expected her to uphold something). This is to say that narratives where Marika is ‘a survivor who slipped away and returned with vengeance’ don’t add up.

Instead, Im going to suggest that Marika’s godhood was supported by the Hornsent. Firstly, Enir-Ilim is held by the Hornsent to this very day, Marika ascends using their rituals and Divine Gate. Next, note the religious similarity between the Hornsent and Marika.

Tree Worship and accompanying ideas (gold is holy, sap blessings, fear of Fire Giants).

Note how compared to the present day Erdtree, the Scadutree is a physical sap-dripping tree.

Crucible worship (fades away in the Erdtree faith over time)

Jar Sacrifice. The Hornsent create Saints, the Erdtree followers use gladiators to make gargoyles (again, fades after Godfrey)

Shared motifs with dual meaning (punishment vs. fertility). Barbs vs. Arcs, Crucifixion vs. Dripping sap.

Marika’s braids and jewelry are spirals

Point Im trying to make is that the Erdtree religion is an evolution from the Hornsent one – especially when considering the initial ‘Age of Plenty’ of Marika x Godfrey.

Maliketh’s existence also complicates any idea where Marika and the Hornsent were enemies from the start. A Shadow is tasked with safeguarding their Empyrean; Marika’s only use for Maliketh was to seal Destined Death, suggesting the path to the Divine Gate had little resistance. Lastly there is also no mention of any Hornsent divine candidate, so consider – it was always meant to be Marika. As you can imagine, this changes the relationship between Marika and the other Shamans significantly (but note how Godwyn’s assassins were Numen).

So, what did the Hornsent want out of their god? Perhaps it was the ability control the Elden Ring?

The Scadutree’s asymmetrical shape is blamed on a lack of ‘capital O’ Order. The Elden Ring as is known, can be used to create Order. I bring this up because there is a symmetrical ‘Spiral Tree’ motif that appears in Hornsent culture.

Did the Hornsent plan to create a god because the Scadutree failed to achieve its prophesized form? Was the hope that Marika would succeed with a new order-infused tree? If true, then the Serosh-Godfrey conflict was likely about claiming the Elden Ring from Farum (note; you can find Crucible Knights and Beastmen fighting there).

The elephant in the room for this theory is whether Marika was ever subject to the Jar-Saint ritual? It certainly gives a neat explanation for Radagon’s origin (a Lord is needed for a god to incarnate, and Marika stands alone at her own ascension). I don’t have a good answer, but (as stated earlier) we can rule out ideas where violence was forcibly inflicted on Marika. This leaves 2 options…

Marika was the only Shaman never put in a jar. She rose to power off the sacrifice of her kin.

Marika willing chose the jar. Which sounds completely insane, but religious ordeals seem commonplace in pre-Erdtree religion (see. Curseblades, Lamenters, Tutelary Deities).

4. Messmer’s Crusade is later historical event

Consider the following.

Messmer is familiar with Tarnished as a concept

Messmer is a demigod, but has no Great Rune

Messmer’s relationship (in terms of seniority) to Rellana, Gaius and Radahn

Messmer’s army includes troops that are standard of later eras; Perfumers, Omenkillers, Tree Sentinels, Abductor Virgins and various Carian troops. Which could be over-interpreting game-assets, but eh?

Ritual combat exists in the Land of Shadow

This is to say; Messmer’s Crusade occurs after Godfrey’s exile, but not too far into the Marika-Radagon era.

If revenge was the motive, why wait for the passing of an entire age and the exile of the land's foremost military leader?

5. Messmer’s Crusade is about Purity

Its explicitly stated that Messmer’s Crusade was about purity (see. Crusade Insignia, Queelign and the various ghosts). With regard to the timeline above; the rationale for exterminating the Hornsent is simply the emerging Crucible taboo put into action (see. Crucible Talismans). This also explains why the Hornsent were not attacked during the Godfrey era.

So what changed? Perhaps Radagon returning to Marika created Golden Order Fundamentalism and all its present-day taboos?

In fact, the crusade as a whole seems to be a bloodbath between the Golden Order’s rejects - Messmer the serpent, Gaius the Albinauric and the Crucible worshipping Hornsent.

Couple more points...

Prejudice vs. Albinaurics might be an emerging opinion at this time, Gaius is both second in command but also a subject of mockery.

Messmer and the crusade are such a dishonor in Leyndell that it is later covered up. Again, if the motivation was to avenge Marika, then why such attitudes?

Belurat does not have a standing army. Sure, the tower has guards, but Ritual Dancers had to be repurposed to fight the invaders.

What Im saying here is; rather than being a foreign nation, Belurat was simply a city within Marika’s empire. Purged for practicing the ‘old ways’ (ie. Crucible worship).

6. Messmer’s Curse?

What is the Abyssal Serpent? What is Messmerfire? Other than the general Erdtree taboo, each of the other ‘flames’ have a distinct property (both in gameplay mechanic and lore) - Blackflame can kill divine beings, Frenzied Flame melts anything into primordial elements.

Messmerfire has a unique aesthetic, and that’s it?

7. A Tower to Heaven

Some ideas about the nature of Divine Ascension.

As per SotE; there seems to be an implication that the sky above holds a tangible divine paradise; the ‘Higher Spheres’. Ascension to godhood quite literally involves reaching into heaven via. Divine Gate.

The building of a Divine Gate also seems to merely be the final step in the process, establishing a connection between Higher Spheres and the mortal world.

Enir-Ilim provides a template to how the whole process might have worked. Firstly, the Divine Gate must be positioned to reach the sky – in the case of the Hornsent, a tower was used (though there might be other options). Vast amounts of sacrifices are also needed, potentially related to the earlier point as throughout Enir-Ilim, architecture is blended with bodies (are corpses used to make buildings fly?). Given that the Divine Gate continues to function at present, long after becoming petrified; Id’ argue that the sacrifice was about creating said gate, rather than a repeated ritual necessary for achieving divinity. I think it’s also safe to say that the main reason for making Jar-Saints was to provide said sacrifices.

The main point however, is that this ‘Corpse Architecture + Sky’ template can be found in 2 other instances – Farum Azula and The Eternal Cities.

This is not a comment on timeline, just shared goals in creating divinity. In Farum Azula’s case, it suggests that the city has always been airborne, flying due to the numerous Dragons and Beastmen entombed within the city (as opposed to meteor aftermath). Also note that Maliketh’s room (which holds a depiction of the Elden Ring and a statue of an unknown woman) sits at the top of a vast spiral stair where the lower part has since been lost.

As for the Eternal Cities? They seem to be attempting divine ascension without finger influence (see. Fingerslayer Blade), with the sky and lord both being ‘created’. Recalling the Nox-Numen-Black Knife-Marika connection, the Eternal City version of this ritual might very well be direct response to Marika’s own ascension.

8. Great Chain of Being

Next, I want to talk about the nature of the paradise. Rather, the idea that Paradise, The Crucible and the Primeval Current are elements within a larger system (if not entirely synonymous).

SotE gives a glimpse into the Crucible’s appearance: it’s an outpouring of ‘golden stuff’ (see. Divine Bird Feathers) that can be stabilized into a spiral column that links gods and humans (see. Spira). With this in mind, take note of the form of Elden Stars. Compare with the creation account (both Ymir and Hyetta versions); The Greater Will fractures the One Great, spilling stardust (carrying life and souls) across space.

Sure, this is *very handwavy*, but one can imagine a cosmology where life is carried in stardust (Primeval Current), reaches physical worlds and pours from sky to earth (Crucible current, also Bird Warriors are closest to the Crucible). A chain linking back to the very origin of all things.

As commonly noted, ER is known to homage old ideas with regards to philosophy/science. Consider here the ‘Great Chain of Being’, an idea that classifies things on a descending scale of God>Angel>Human>Animal etc. Under this classification scheme, a chain/ladder motif is used to depict these relationships (see. Spira), but more importantly; Angels are thought of as beings of pure spirit (more on this below).

Usual disclaimer that history is not my expertise.

9. God Incarnates

Given the Divine Gate does not seem to lead anywhere physical, are the Higher Spheres a realm of pure spirit? The Sculpted Keeper custom (incl. Lion Dancers, Bird/Beast Warriors) involves the invoking/possession of mortal beings by spirits from the Higher Spheres. The whole practice of horn cultivation exists to enable this.

Going further back in time, the Rauh society had a practice of carving stones to act as homes for spirits. Rauh also seems associated with Golems, Ruined Forges and Divine Towers (details on this culture are for another time) 

You could argue that invoking divinity is the connection across time between Rauh, the Hornsent and then finally Marika.

The passage of history is: God inhabits a statue (Idols), God can be channeled (Mediums), God walks among man (Messiah).

----

Thanks for reading.

[ninjasmudge]

What are your thoughts on the two other monkeys? Idk if you ever heard of them, but it's the Red Bottom Ape and Long Armed Gibbon.

i actaually had some pretty lore heavy origin story hcs for those guys a couple of years ago, but i dont think i ever posted them. ill put some of the old art here and paste the lore under a cut cause its LONG (replaced the old swk and maq in the last pic with some more recent ones bc my hcs for them changed so much lmao)

their lore was well researched i spent days on it but it was a couple years ago lmao, its based on the principals they represent plus which of yin/yang they represent

long armed gibbon- can seize the sun and the moon, distinguish the auspicious from the inauspicious, and manipulate planets and stars

gibbon was born when a seed from a fir tree fell from heaven to earth. it landed on top of an eroded mountian and a tree started growing. after several hundred years, when the tree stretched high enough and was wise enough and the pine cones had gone from dark purple to blue, the trunk split one day at sunrise on a blue misty morning and gibbon walked into the world

red-buttocked horse monkey- who has knowledge of yin and yang, understands human affairs, is adept in its daily life and able to avoid death and lengthen its life

horse was born from a drop of water flung from a trough in heavens stables (part of the reason swk was so pleased to guard the horses when he went)

when she fell to earth she became a river that people often visited and talked around and played in. from this she came to understand human affairs. she also found she could help creatures avoid death or prolong their life by feeding their crops. when she knew enough, she climbed out of the river at sundown and walked into the world

sun wukong, the wise stone monkey- who knows transformations, recognizes the seasons, discerns the advantages of earth, and is able to alter the course of planets and stars

stealing from nezha reborn where the myth goes that when nüwe patched the sky, the leftover stone was where swk came from, but im changing it to one of the tiles that was used to create the furnace was dropped, leaving a monkey sized gap where he could later on slot into to keep himself alive in there. the tile was knocked out of the basket by the wind and fell to earth and this was the only one that landed on ffm. you know the story here, he absorbed chi from heaven AND earth which is why hes so powerful

six eared macaque- who has a sensitive ear, discernment of fundamental principles, knowledge of past and future, and comprehension of all things

macaque was born very suddenly when a piece of moon rock broke off and fell to earth on a new moon. the resulting meteor created a huge and sudden flash of light in a forest which created hundreds of stark shadows at once. the shadows condensed and the resulting being wouldnt have lived if it hadnt been a new moon because he needed the next hours of darkness to collect himself into a full being. but before the night was done, a new monkey was born who was able to hear everything in the radius he had collected shadows from, which if youve ever seen a meteor flash, is a long way

somethin interesting abt the things that created them- swks tile was actually heavenly, which is why he represents primarily yang (heaven). his was the only one that was CRAFTED BY heaven. gibbon and horse are both from something that fell from heaven and then the earth changed its form (the tree grew on earth from a heavenly seed, and the drop of water became a river) whereas macaque, representing the yin is fully of earth, the meteor that created him was from heaven but he didnt directly come from the meteor, he came from the shadows it created on earth. his only connection is to the earth

[cb-writes-stuff]

Yes I would like to see some in hats and time stuff,,, and also maybe an explanation of what a hat in time is I know barely anything about it

Firstly, A Hat in Time is a 3D collectathon platformer by indie studio Gears for Breakfast. It stars Hat Kid (and, if you’re playing two-player, Bow Kid) who has to collect magical hourglasses called Time Pieces, which are the fuel for her spaceship, so that she can go home. Her enemy is Mustache Girl, a precocious rebel with a strong sense of justice, who is collecting Time Pieces for her own nefarious purposes—to deal with anyone she deems a “bad guy”.

Basically, the idea behind IHAT that it’s a crossover AU between In Stars and Time and A Hat in Time, with AHIT characters in ISAT. The idea came from the similarity in names, hence the title In Hats and Time. Up until now, it’s just been a couple art wips, but now, I’m gonna write some stuff, so buckle up.

Picture this. Siffrin and Isabeau, lying down in the field, stargazing. It’s Act 4 (because that’s as far as I’ve gotten so far). Isabeau excitedly tells Siffrin to look—a shooting star! Oddly, he interrupted them, unlike every other time. As usual, Siffrin doesn’t wanna turn away. But the script calls for it, so they do—and they freeze. Burning across the sky is a massive ball of fire. Way too big to be a shooting star. And it’s getting bigger.

Meanwhile, on board the Spaceship (Mk. 14 Custom), Hat Kid is in a panic. There was some sort of distortion, the ship went haywire, and now she’s crashing through the atmosphere of an unknown planet. Bow Kid disappeared somewhere, which sucks because she would’ve been a big help right now. The computer is screaming something about “escape pod ejected” as she desperately pulls back on the controls. She manages to bring the ship up, but not enough to avoid crashing. She blacks out.

Siffrin is shook. Completely shook. Something new happened. New things aren’t supposed to happen. He doesn’t know what to do when new things happen. He blanks on all his lines when Bonnie, Mirabelle, and Odile show up. Nothing goes right.

That night, he can’t sleep. Can’t even pretend to sleep. So he sneaks out and goes to the banana peel. The meteor, or whatever it was, was weird. But it’s just a one-off. An outlier. If it keeps happening, then something’s gone wrong, but if it doesn’t happen again, then it’s okay. So he loops back to that morning. No harm, no foul.

So yeah! That’s basically how it starts. I’ll be posting more stuff as I write it, probably not in chronological order, but I’m also very worried that I’ll make a fool of myself by not knowing all the ISAT lore, so it’ll probably be slow until I beat the game.

(Edit: I put “as usual” twice, so I removed the second one. It was past midnight and I was tired. Don’t judge me.)

[altocat]

I was chatting with someone about this and would love to hear your thoughts, oh wise lore-master...

Who all knew Sephiroth was responsible for meteor?

My thoughts were that most people wouldn't know right away, because Shinra would want to keep that all the way under wraps, especially if they'd declared him dead a few years prior.

I like to pretend that while people don't know the explicit details, the sheer power involved summoning of Meteor gives everyone on the planet a shared collective dread that automatically associates with Sephiroth. Something similar happens in Berserk where everyone is given a trippy dream that connects them to Griffith and the demon war.

So as an homage, I'm going to say that after Sephiroth summons Meteor, everyone and their mom just senses that it's because if him. Even though most people think he's dead. It's a shared vision that Sephiroth WANTS to project to them as their God. He's gloating. He wants them all to know that they're all about to die and that he's the one that brought about humanity's extinction.

[homestuckreplay]

The Fatherly Gent’s Daunting Text of Magical Shaving and Almanac Japery

(page 542-555)

8/27/2009 Wheel Spin: Dramatic Irony Verdict: Dad’s Note Sadly Qualifies

8/28/2009 Wheel Spin: Captchalogue Lore Verdict: Captchalogue Card Within A Captchalogue Card Within A Captchalogue Card

FINALLY we examine the contents of John’s dad’s safe. John sure likes to take his time with these things. We see the contents before the note, but in my mind the note definitely reframes why Dad might have locked these things away – he wants to give these things to John, not hide them from him, but he’s waiting until John is ‘a man.’ He defines this by physical strength instead of age, maturity, or presence of facial hair, but also by curiosity and the prankster’s spirit. Someone else could be physically able to lift the safe, but never think to do so.

Colonel Sassacre’s Book – As p.543 suggests, this is likely the accidental weapon that caused Nanna’s death, and so this object encapsulates the Egbert family values. Clowning and tomfoolery are highly encouraged, but serious, difficult topics don’t get discussed openly, they get locked away, and communication happens indirectly through notes and pie throwing. This is 50% Dad being uncomfortable with emotions in a way typical of cis men who grew up in the 20th century, and 50% Dad wanting John to have a pure, idyllic childhood away from the realities of the world. I would bet 413 boondollars that Dad locked this up after Nanna’s death and bought John his new copy at the same time, so that John could enjoy the lighthearted pranks of the book without it being tainted by death.

The Fatherly Gent’s Shaving Almanac – This is also likely an heirloom that Dad used to read himself. If Colonel Sassacre’s was originally Nanna’s, this may have originally been Grandad’s. Dad is making some assumptions about John with this one. The first is that he’ll want to shave, even though plenty of people have facial hair by choice. The others are that he’ll be a ‘father’ and a ‘gent.’ The idea that John might not want kids, or might not be a man, doesn’t occur to him. Dad’s vision is that John will grow into exactly the same kind of adult that he is, and possibly that Dad’s dad was too. But this book is also Dad admitting that he had to learn and practice his skills somewhere, showing that he’s a regular human instead of the Eternal Dad who came fully formed from the dad factory that John clearly sees him as right now.

Newspaper clippings – OKAY WHAT THE FUCK. Something weird’s going on here. The clearest article is from Monday, April 13 of either 1970, 1992 or 1998, and the ‘downpour of meteors’ could have happened at 4.13am. Hear me out. The mentions of ‘Local Burb’ (Local Sburb?) and the loss of life being brushed off by authorities means that the people behind Sburb aren’t making their first attempt at causing the apocalypse. It’s their most successful attempt by far, but they’ve been practicing for some time, and are rich and powerful enough to pay off the authorities into covering their tracks. Dad is a baker, and a different clipping says ‘Crocker Facility Leveled.’ Dad developed an interest in meteor news after the factory for his favorite baking company was destroyed by one, and that’s why he collects clippings – keeping them in something that might be strong enough to survive a meteor strike. He’s made some progress towards figuring out who or what is behind all this, but hasn’t finished the work. This is why he showed John Deep Impact and Armageddon as a kid, so that John would have meteors on the brain, and be ready to carry on Dad’s investigative work at some point in the future.

02-49-13 – This safe code was definitely chosen for a reason, but it’s not obvious. It contains a 4-13 (with 4+9 equaling 13) but I’m not sure about the 02. If it was a date, February 49, 2013 would be March 21, 2013, which is shortly before John’s 17th birthday. However, my actual theory – based on this safe being for John, and the fact that John’s birthday is in Dad’s Serious Business screen name – is that 02:49:13 is the time of day (to the second) that John was born. Currently imagining Dad gazing down at his baby son for the first time and thinking ‘I gotta get the time, this is gonna be important later.’

In other news, we learn that a blank captchalogue card is 00000000 (answering @tenaciouschronicler's question) while a card holding another card is 11111111. This is a simple binary option of ‘card or no card,’ and we also see the two straight lines of holes that are punched from the 11111111 code. These facts suggest that the captcha codes make sense (unlike a lot of actual captchas) and that both the codes and the hole patterns can be deciphered and manipulated, which is exciting both for what John could accomplish, and for giving fans something to really dig into.

John Egbert would be nothing without Rose Lalonde. He fully launched his PDA – arguably his most important possession right now – into a yawning void of unknowable darkness, all for the sake of captchaloguing a captchalogued captchalogue card, already kind of a silly thing to do. He got fucking lucky with the Sassacre manuever, and did not earn his ‘pesky urchin’ status or his +5 man grit. I question the line ‘From now on it will probably go without saying that you'll nab any grist lying around without making a big fuss over it.’ on p.542 - can this really go without saying? Can we really give John this much credit?

I love this kid so much, but it really feels like he’s speedrunning growing up and using cheats for character development, with his sylladex, his imp combat and his getting into the safe. He’s not actually ready or able to handle any of these things, not even thinking to move away from the giant hole gazing over the abyss before he puts things into his TWO CARD SYLLADEX, but he’s got computers and somewhat more capable people holding his hand. I am thinking again about Rose’s prediction of hackers, and what might happen if John and Rose are cut off from each other in Sburb, and how John might deal with that.

It’s a hard truth that being a kid often sucks because of how little control you have over your life, but being an adult is really hard and takes a lot of practice, and being a teenager often means sitting at this uncomfortable divide. And it’s literally John’s first day.

[holly-fixation]

With all the Dissidia Opera Omnia stuff going around about Sephiroth remembering Genesis and Angeal and potentially remembering his emotions before the Nibelheim incident, I'd like to clarify a few things about what Sephiroth does and doesn't remember canonically.

In the book On The Way To A Smile, which is a collection of short stories taking place between the end of the Original and the start of Advent Children, there are small explanations of what Sephiroth and Aeroth did in the Lifestream (dubbed Lifestream Black and Lifestream White). The second Lifestream Black section starts with the quote below.

"When the Lifestream erupted onto the surface of the planet, the man had already surrendered his inconsequential memories to the planet. Memories from when he was a boy, of his few friends, of the battles when he was still unaware, of his life in bygone days- all these became a part of the inundation, encased around Meteor, and finally receded."

So Opera Omnia was not pulling a, well, Opera Omnia by saying Sephiroth didn't have his memories from Crisis Core. In VII's universe, he gave them up. He truly only remembers everything involving Jenova and Cloud. Cloud literally acts as an anchor for Sephiroth to never fade completely into the Lifestream itself.

Do you want to go even deeper? Do you want to know why the Remnants are like that? At least look like that?

“...firstly, he tried to manifest on the surface as just a spirit, but his attempt failed. He had already returned the memories of his own appearance to the planet, and so he was not able to produce an image of himself.”

Sephiroth literally did not know what he looked like. Ever part of him that did not directly connect to His/Jenova's goal was sacrificed in order to keep his will/himself separate in the Lifestream.

As for the Remnants, since Sephiroth couldn't remember what he looked like, he tried to build another form for himself using the memories in the lifestream (presumably from everyone else that died and knew of him). Then he realized he could do a lot more as a spirit than as a person on the planet (how? Your guess is as good as mine) so he made 2 more boys and out popped the Remnants: made from his will, Jenova, and the Lifestream. But they are their own entities with his goal.

I will admit I do not own the book, so the above quotes are from a pdf online. Of you're curious, I highly suggest reading the Lifestrean parts. I, admittedly, have only read those because the lore of this world and game interest me greatly.

[ofcoffee-andletters]

FFXIV Write day 3 Prompt: Tempest

Preface: This is a snippet writen based on a gpose I already did once when I was going through MSQ with Meteor - that will be posted eventually but all you need to know is that Ardbert is alive (with a body of his own) with Meteor here.

Please enjoy.

Tempest : a violent storm : TUMULT, UPROAR

—————

Looking up to the sky there’s nothing but the silence of the stars, the calmness of the vastness of the eternal dark sea — and yet all he can do is close his eyes and think about the irony of this whole situation — his world was being consumed by Light and here he is, by luck, by a miracle and the stubbornness of someone who is too stupid and too brave for his own good…but it came with a great opportunity.

He is here.

Saving, or attempting to save, a world consumed in Darkness.

——————

‘…Are you going to be alright?’ Meteor had asked, and Ardbert had no answer. The idea of going to the thirteenth shard and seeing what had become of Cyella’s world, what had been the reason for her to leave his home behind and try to use him and the others was, frankly, overwhelming — but… ‘You can stay if you…’

‘There’s no way in all hells I am staying back.’ Ardbert growled back, basically, making Meteor look surprised and a bit more worried — and so Ardbert cursed himself for a second before he tried to understand his own thoughts. ‘…That’s…her world. And she has suffered for so long, she was even willing to betray us…’

The Warrior of Light seemed to understand the conflict inside his shard’s heart and — to his credit — he knew a bit about what to do: It was his time to be there for him. To be there to support him.

‘This might be the first time we see the thirteenth shard, but…you know I am going to be there every step of the way.’ Ardbert chuckled after hearing that, knowing full well from where those words had come from. ‘…I do prefer seeing you smiling, you know?’

Ardbert — the once called Warrior of Darkness and, now, second Warrior of Light along with Meteor — closed his eyes and nodded, ‘…How curious…I do also prefer to see you smiling, Meteor.’

——————

There’s a soft touch upon his hand and Ardbert has to look to the side — he finds Meteor to his side and smiling, before he stands in silence next to him, the two of them looking ahead as they are finally here, standing on the Moon of another of the shards…a red moon that overlooks a world consumed by darkness.

As Ardbert studies said world with his eyes, he can’t help the pain inside his heart that wants to make him scream at how unfair everything has been, since the very beginning — since before any of them even knew about other worlds, about reflections, about…anything. And yet he feels sure about the next steps to take, about his decisions, more than ever — or maybe for the first time ever.

“We will find Golbez…we will save not only Azdaja, but this entire world…” Meteor’s words make Ardbert remember how to breathe, an irony for him, so used to be an oddity, an existence that shouldn’t even be here — yet he is alive, miraculously and surprisingly. “As long as we’re together, we will save this world.”

“Your eternal optimism continues to impress me…but, it is one of the reasons I love you.” Ardbert can’t help but tease his soulmate, making said man get a soft pink tint over his cheeks — and then he is rewarded with a soft smile and a look of reciprocated love. “You’re really so easy to melt…”

Meteor let’s go of his hand and then pushes Ardbert away, flustered and smiling, “Shut up…!”

Ardbert can’t help but feel his heart full with love, with happiness and…comfort, he is unable to be worried or doubt himself, the circumstances, anything, as long as Meteor is there, shining like the Sun itself and with a smile that would be enough for him to fight through despair as many times as he could — for this man.

All he desires is to be able to show this to Meteor, from here on…

——————

He can hear his heart hammering inside his chest, painfully fast, his own breathing coming to a halt the second his eyes register what is happening — and while something inside of his own self tells him he shouldn’t just stay there and then kneel down to try to see what is happening — he just stares, barely feeling the weight of his shield on one arm and unable to even notice if he still has his sword on the other.

He just sees him, falling.

“…Death is not forever in this world, Hero.” A voice, grave and cruel, says behind him. “But do not despair — for your beloved shall join me, as another voidsent.” That last word made the former Warrior of Light tense — and his mind stopped reasoning. “…Maybe then, you shall understand the pain we have gone through…”

Pain, Golbez says, and Meteor cannot help but think that he is is familiar with it — pain and loss have been a constant company every step of his journey since he started to fight for the sake of the star. And now Golbez wants to say his pain was greater? His loss was bigger? His suffering was enough of an excuse to take away anything and anyone he wanted?

Bullshite.

"I…will…kill you." Meteor's voice can be heard, and even himself finds his words to be surprising. Violence and suffering are not things he likes to inflict on others — but he can't stop, he can only think about what he just saw, what jus happened.

He was here fighting alongside Ardbert, and while he had been worried about what could happen…his soulmate was always sure and firmly believing that as long as they were together nothing would or could go wrong.

But of course, Golbez wasn't an idiot and throwing Ardbert off the edge of the arena was always an option, and what did Meteor do? Nothing. What did Meteor attempt? Nothing. He just stared, there, scared and frozen until he couldn't see Ardbert's body anymore.

"…I will kill you, over and over again…until I am satisfied…" Meteor hears himself saying, his heart hammering against his chest in pain and anger, his soul burning with desperation and mourning — a feeling he hates, a feeling he doesn't want anymore.

His entire being screams to get rid of whoever and whatever hurt one of his most important treasures, his beloved soulmate, his Ardbert. Yes. This man had killed his Ardbert.

And Meteor could feel a surge of pain and agony powering every single blow of his sword as he rushed back to make sure Golbez regrets every breath he takes from now on.

——————

His entire body is moving but his mind is long gone, he knows voidsent can't die here, he knows Golbez is weak and practically out of power to keep defending himself.

He doesn't care.

He sees the black knight's figure ahead and he is walking towards it once more, focusing on this, on hurting someone else, on making someone else feel pain and agony is better than trying to think what he is going to do after.

And when he raises his sword again he feels a soft touch stopping his arm — his mind goes blank and he swears his very heart stops beating for a second — slowly he is being turned around and he hears it.

"…Meteor?" Ardbert's voice sounds filled with worry.

And Meteor can't do anything but let go of his weapons and cling to him, gripping on Ardbert's clothes so tightly he fears he is going to rip them but he doesn't care. He is here. He can feel his warmth and hug him, he can touch him and hear his voice, he is here. He is fine. He is alive.

"Oh, Meteor…I thought…you…" Ardbert tries to understand what is happening, and he sighs. "I thought you remembered how my echo works…something like that isn't going to…" It's clear his dear shard doesn't want to mention more.

It feels like even saying the words would make Meteor break.

"…What am I to do with you…?" Ardbert whispers as he slowly embraces Meteor, his hand caressing his back up and down, the other one making sure to keep him pressed against his body. There are no tears happening but there's no need for them…the pain and fear inside Meteor's soul is palpable enough without it.

And so Meteor finally speaks, his voice far weaker and scared… "I thought I lost you…"

"I know."

"I couldn't see you…"

"…I know."

"…I can't go on without you…"

Ardbert closes his eyes and kisses his cheek, his embrace becomes even tighter. "I know, and you will never have to…I am here." And those words are what finally break the Hero, making Meteor care not for anything else, just clinging to his soulmate, his eyes closed as he allows Ardbert to move him around…the rest of the Universe doesn’t matter in this moment, or any moment until his heart can stop hurting.

Until his mind stops being filled with fear.

Until he is sure he is not losing someone again.

[pixiecaps]

hi pix i know nothing about qsmp or purgatory but my streamers are in it now so please could you give me a quick summary of lore and stuff i need to know? :3

okay so this is a purgatory event so you really dont need to know any lore as i dont think it will affect any of the competitors at all or at least very little of them.

purgatory is a competitive event. its focused on winning. whether this be by strategy or pure luck. its truly anyones game even if you arent the most skilled player.

last time there were three teams and a lot at stake. which were the eggs lives. only one team could win.

this time the video stated ONLY ONE PERSON COULD WIN the “grand prize” so. like you. the audience nor the participants know anything about purgatory two besides that. and it seems to have a radioactive theme surrounding the event which may be linked to the fact the previous purgatory island where the first event took place got “blown up” by an atomic bomb. so theres that.

last purgatory there was i think three events if im not wrong i could be. all very strategy and pvp type of events. events inspired by capture the flag, bed wars, and such.

every day teams would compete and a single team had the chance of winning daily. by the end whoever had the most wins won the entire event overall. to win you had to gain points. percentages for points were different every day. so the twitter account would tweet something like “Kills 20% Contracts 50% Tasks 30%” which gave the players an idea of what they had to prioritize to win that day. some days were more kill focused and others more tasks and contracts focused.

tasks are your personal missions for the day. things like collecting a certain amount of blocks and killing a number of mobs. these were relatively easy to get done and an easy way to gain points for the day.

contracts were more complicated versions of tasks. whichever team completed and claimed the contract by the end of the day would gain the most points from it. so you’d have instances where One Contract was regarding collecting sand. if green team collected 30k sand and claimed that contract there would be a cooldown until someone else could add a higher number like 31k sand and claim that contract back for their team. taking all the points that the previous team had gained from that contract. this is where we’d get a lot of. interesting moments. overall contracts matter depending on the percentage they get you that day.

I don’t quite recall the schedule but the purgatory server would open at a specific time and close at a specific time. i remember watching by like 1pm est and it closing near like 10pm/12am est. each player had a play time limit so you had to be smart and manage and coordinate your time well with your team. YOU DID NOT WANT TO RUN OUT OF TIME BEFORE THE SERVER CLOSED. YOU ALWAYS WANTED AT LEAST SOMEONE IN YOUR TEAM WITH PLAY TIME LEFT BEFORE THE SERVER CLOSED. arguably the most important times were right as the server opens and right as it closes. the last minutes before the server closes will be the most stressful part of your day by far. anything can change. anyone can win even if its just a minute on the clock.

general game stuff. you lose hunger quicker and food rots so you need to be careful of that. you have hydration so you need to drink water or something like tea to make sure you dont die of dehydration. all the mobs are buffed like insanely buffed. you can have prot 4 diamond armor and still get your ass whooped by an enderman. it is difficult.

NOW. there were also disaster events. like toxic fog, blizzards, meteors, increased hunger (passive mobs also attack you), quicksand (you sink into the floor if you stop moving), earthquakes (if you are in a cave RUN AND GET OUT. THE ROOF WILL CRUSH YOU also nausea effect), mini you (you shrink into a like one block height and are slow), reversed controls, acid rain, radiation (if you have radiation and are nearby crops, animals, or players they will begin to take damage), etc. these would happen in random intervals and you NEED to be prepared for them because if you arent. you will die. and dying lowers your percentage. hence negativity impacting your chances of a win that day. you prepare for these disasters by having certain items for instance the toxic fog has the gas mask counter. all events have a counter. you just have to be fast.

heres the thing though. that was purgatory one. i am 100% sure this time will be different so everything i am telling you could be completely changed and adapted after all the feedback from purgatory one. i dont know if the point system will work the same, i dont know if the disasters will be the same, i dont know if there will be pre determined teams or if it’s purely you make your own alliances, i dont know if the schedule for the server or play time will be different, i dont know WHAT THE STAKES ARE, i dont know. anything could change. but what probably wont change is the anguish of purgatory. because the entire point is to make it feel torturous and draining and hardcore enough to condemn the “sinners”. that is what The Watcher calls the players. The Watcher is the entity that runs the Purgatory event.

it is meant to be a free for all. it is meant to be raw and merciless. so heads up. its okay if you get frustrated. it happens to all of us. now this isn’t specifically at you but to the community overall never never never release your frustrations OVER A MINECRAFT EVENT on the streamers. purgatory caused a lot of discourse and stress for the streamers because the community, specifically on twitter, got toxic. but also as a qsmp blogger tumblr was also not flawless. so again if another player kills your favorite streamer or the team youre supporting is not doing well and getting targeted… it is not the end of the world. the whole point is to be aggressive and WIN by any means. if someone wants to kill someone in game without a second of thought and not allow them to even beg.. so be it. if someone wants to raid someones base and burn all the shit they worked hours for.. so be it. if someone gets into an unfair unbalanced pvp fight and they lose everything.. so be it. it is purgatory. my advice to FULLY ENJOY IT is don’t take it too seriously and filter any neg or discourse tags lol.

heres the thing. purgatory one had certain rules established after a few days and after feedback. when it initially started spawn killing was allowed and as you can imagine after a few days a rule was set to no longer allow spawn killing. im assuming for purgatory two certain rules will be set before the event and creators will be informed of them. i imagine purgatory two will be a more polished version of the original purgatory though im sure it too will have some flaws and criticisms to be had.

besides that purgatory is a very fun event with a lot of funny moments and cool interactions between streamers and i think purgatory two will be 10x better than the first. any new viewers have a lot of awesome stuff to look forward to. you guys are going to love the admins and i just know a lot of cool things are planned and prepared as they always are for qsmp events.

ALSO IF YOU SEE ELQ (ElQuackity) JUST KNOW THAT SEXY BASTARD IS A BITCH ASS MOTHERFUCKER. anyways hope you enjoy it

[campaign-spotlight]

Dungeon Lore IV: Wizards, Pokemon, and Primal Order [S2F4]

In this week's Flashlight, Reilly introduces some very special guests, Jake is intimidated by game store employees, and we discuss the meteoric rise of Wizards of the Coast. We also get into the economic situation in the 1990s, the Canadian political system, and how our podcast production works behind the scenes. The bit about unpaid interns was a joke, we promise.

We compare and contrast WotC with its predecessor TSR, so it might help to listen to our Flashlight on the history of TSR as well.

Also, in this episode Jake says "top quintile" without defining it. This just means "top 20%". Sorry about that.

Here are some links that we used in research for the episode:

You can see those original rules for Wizards of the Coast’s first publication The Primal Order here.

Here’s a detailed history of the history of Wizards of the Coast through the 1990s.

This review of the very first Magic: the Gathering World Championships isn’t the very first use of the word “metagame” but it’s an interesting read and an early discussion of the concept.

Here’s a forum thread on early Magic: the Gathering card prices - we didn’t talk about this in the episode, but it’s interesting history.

Here are the Consumer Expenditure Survey tables we used to get historical spending on hobbies.

Here’s WotC’s patent on collectible card games.

Here’s the Bulbapedia page on the WotC Pokemon card era. As always Bulbapedia is one of the most comprehensive sources of information on anything anywhere on the Internet.

Here’s a thoughtful critical review of the Homelands MtG card deck.

If you like the music on the show, go check out more of Reilly's music.

Follow us wherever you get your podcasts, including Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube. You can also get episodes right from the source at our RSS feed. If you enjoy Campaign Spotlight, consider subscribing to our Patreon. For more on the show, including links to all our social media, visit our website. 

[lafortis]

what were the most memorable elden ring moments for you?

tough call but obviously malenia resting her nuts on my chin for international womens day (and intl womens day pt 2, and pt 3, and etc. ...) was up there, as was spending 6 on stream hours killing the fuckign horse. astel starborn ranks up there as just an insanely unique boss design, it visually really stuck with me. original radahn boss fight was sick design, that was really enjoyable and stuck for sure. the sense of discovery regarding nokron was goated in general, first going down the well and realizing how much farther down it goes than you expected, then second when the meteor opens up a fuckin hole in liurnia and you just keep going down it, both absolutely stuck.

lemme think. patches finally just giving up the game and sending me straight to fucking hell (i.e. telling you to go to the iron virgin in raya lucaria and then it sends you to the pits of volcano manor, which like, might as well be actual biblical hell) made me laugh uncontrollably iirc. like that's always been the vibe but this time he just up and does it. just tricks you into going straight to hell, do not pass go, do not collect two hundred dollars. just boom, seventh circle. see ya nerd. fucking hilarious.

honestly i mean it's a really fuckin memorable game imo. pretty much every demigod i can vividly remember, except maybe morgott, he's got a sick visual design for his real fight but he's a little undercut by having already fought him kind of, but everyone else i can call moments from to mind. maybe rennala gets second bottom slot on memorability, she was relatively standard fair, but visually the second half goes hard as fuck so that's fair game. fire giant goes crazy, maliketh goes crazy, mohg is maybe after rennala in terms of memorability but honestly NIHIL NIHIL NIHIL still sticks. then maybe godrick, who gets a bonus for being your first, then the ones i've mentioned, with marigon/radika being somewhere in between because you don't get any character but FUCK does the visual design go soooo hard.

there's probably more that i'm forgetting, it can't be understated how much i love elden ring. i'd struggle to argue that any game ever made is consummately better, more engaging, more lush and rich, or just more fucking fun than elden ring. like no glazing it might be the Best Game Ever.

oh also i didn't mention anything from the DLC because a. it hasn't been out for 2 years so i haven't measured its memorability as thoroughly b. it hasn't been out for 2 years yet so spoilers, but rest assured there's plenty in there. rellana is maybe my favourite non-demigod boss they've ever done, st trina and her whole thing is just so deeply fromsoft i love it so much, messmer fucks heavy and the phase change cutscene will stick with me for a long logn time, midra's shtick and cutscene and shit fuck so so so heavy, exploring the new areas was exactly what i needed out of an elden ring dlc it's so fucking DENSE, and then finally, of course, [REDACTED], Consort of [REDACTED] is stupid and can go fuck himself and is also so fucking cool it's unreal. the unique death status from the hug? absolutely incredible lore wise and gameplay wise. made me giggle fr. there's some overtuning in there tho, but tbf all it did was make me actually use all the tools at my disposal (which is completely fair enough, i can't just keep dodgeroll charged R2ing forever, sometimes there's gotta be some other other bullshit in there lol).

anyway thank you for letting me relive the greatest game on earth in my head real quick before work <3

[vinkumakkara]

i wanna make an effort post on sr zombie lore. or at least some kinda collection of lines that discuss it. they've always been 100% canon in the srverse they just weren't treated as any kinda main attraction until srtt, in Stilwater it was just this weird little thing in the background for the most part. there's a lot of ominous foreshadowing towards even more apocalyptic events in sr2 than what we already got, nuclear meltdown, earthquakes, meteors... and fears of a zombie outbreak. i don't think these random ped comments were actually hinting towards anything V were planning but idk having the Saints face some kind of biblical end times completely unrelated to their actions in a hypotethical sr3 is kinda interesting

[kronim195]

Thinking about Metroid Prime.

I just really like the method of story-telling it does where you’re kinda left in the dark at first, but you can scan logs and stuff for lore and as you do, you get to piece together the full context of what’s going on. Helps that what’s written there is genuinely fun and interesting to read.

You got the Chozo who were decimated by some horrible creature that came to the planet on a meteor, poisoning and mutating all the plants and wildlife with a substance called Phazon. You get to learn how the Chozo suffered through that while trying to contain the corruption, then you get to read the logs left by the space pirates who came to this planet to try and harvest as much of the phazon as they can because they can use its mutating properties to help further their military pursuits. It’s just really neat that the story itself is its own collectable, and it’s fun to piece everything together bit by bit. :)