#Swordmaster Shu

[verycharismaticdragon]

@mandlien: Op where is the essay 👀 @latitudeoctopus: An essay I would like to see 🙏

Glad u asked! <-guy who was totally angling for someone to ask

OG post this continues from, for those just tuning in now:

actually SQQ's first encounter with LQG perfectly illustrates which of SY's idiosyncrasies perfectly converged to make him absolutely obsessed with Binghe, in this essay i will

So, to start with, the explanation for why I think this scene in particular is more illuminating than all of SQQ's interactions with actual LBH. 

That's because there's not a single scene in the novel where his interactions with LBH-the-person are not colored by pre-existing bias of already being obsessed with LBH-the-character. Like, consider the scene where he appraises Shen Qingqiu's looks, and finishes it off with:

He still couldn’t compare to Luo Binghe. (vol.1, ch.1)

despite not having seen Luo Binghe in person yet. But no, he's already convinced his beloved blorbo is of course The Handsomest Ever!

Simply speaking, we never encounter Shen Yuan pre-Binghe Syndrome (when instead of brain there's binghe). So it's difficult to tell whether any particular way he thinks or feels in Binghe’s presence is the standard for him, or owed to the fact that he already likes Binghe in at least one way.

But the same can not be said of Liu Qingge: while SY did have some interest in his character, he didn’t really think of him before encountering him in Lingxi Caves. Plus, unlike Binghe who seems to have fully aligned with SQQ’s expectations of him, LQG had given him a little shock — which prompted some re-evaluation of his prev thoughts on SQQ's part.

(cont. under cut)

Now is a good time to mention that I arrived at thinking about this scene while considering Shen Yuan's relationship with toxic masculinity — and remembering I jotted down 'Shen Yuan's fascination with masculinity' in my reread notes for this scene.

[Bai Zhan Peak] was the most warlike of Cang Qiong Mountain's branches, as well as the branch with the greatest martial ability. Every single generation's Bai Zhan Peak Lord was a world-class swordmaster, a victor of countless battles, an undefeated legend. How hot-blooded—how dashing!  Male readers always fervently admired strong characters. Even though Liu Qingge never officially debuted on page, he hadn't lacked for fans, and Shen Yuan had been especially fascinated with him. In his headcanon, Liu Qingge had been a sharp and manly man, powerful and magnificent. A war god, right?! (vol.1, ch.2)

So, Shen Yuan’s fascination with Liu Qingge’s character — or rather his headcanon version of it — is about Liu Qingge being someone who (in SY’s mind) embodies masculine qualities. And what qualities are those? From this section, being “strong” (has to be physically powerful) and “undefeated” (can’t be a loser) — yeah, pretty standard toxic masc starting kit. 

And something of interest here: though SQQ describes it mostly as his own feelings, even in this excerpt, he slips in a “male readers always [...] admired” — which, when considering everything else we know about his relationship to masculinity, kind of gives off an insecurity vibe. He seems to be either trying to justify his own feelings (i.e., ‘other men feel the same way, i’m in-group not out-group, i’m not failing at being a man by feeling this way [admiring another man]’), or else emulating other male fans and trying to convince himself he relates to the story the same way they do (i.e., ‘male readers admire strong characters and im a man therefore i definitely also admire the same things’).

Speaking of emulating other male fans, there’s another quality that SY seems to associate with masculinity, this one not very related to Liu Qingge — though SQQ does make a mental detour into it in the same scene, when talking about other Peaks.

Yeah, when he mentions Xian Shu, and the fact that the popularity of self-insert erotic/lewd fics about Xian Shu "compared to that of the original work” in PIDW fandom, or possibly even in general on ‘Zhongdian’ (since afaik you can publish fanfiction on Chinese webnovel sites alongside original works, you just have to tag it as such). In other words, among male fans. 

But we know SY doesn’t like sex scenes, right? Hell, his favorite wife is Liu Mingyan at least in part because she doesn’t have sex scenes:

There was one more appeal factor. Liu Mingyan was the only female character for whom Airplane Shooting Towards the Sky didn't write detailed sex scenes. (vol.1, ch.2)

Of course… that’s what SQQ says in his head where nobody can hear him. We actually have evidence of him singing a different tune when among other fans:

Most of the female protagonists are stupid sexy lamps, and the male lead doesn't even bed Liu Mingyan, the only breath of fresh air? He doesn't bed the rightful empress? Are you fucking kidding me? (vol.4, ch.26, part 1)

(speaking of, this is why ‘peerless cucumber is SY’s true self’ takes baffle me. his toxicmascsona is his true self, really?)

So SY has another qualifier for ‘manly man’ in his head: being sexual (of course, in a straight way). Which is not something that comes naturally to him, as evidenced by him cringing away from any actual action even when he tries to emulate the thought pattern, e.g.:

Qi Qingqi? She was indeed slightly junior to him, and their first meeting...he'd long forgotten how it went. "Often together" wasn't quite right, though. Perhaps he at times dared to think about going to Xian Shu Peak so they could be "often together," but while he had the wicked intentions, he lacked the courage required to follow through—and he could never commit an act as depraved as stalking. (vol.4, ch.23) 

Riiiight, SQQ, you totally have those 'wicked intentions' that you merely can't follow through on because you just invented reasons not to.

But that does give us an image of SY’s ideal of masculinity. Extremely powerful, undefeatable, and hypersexual… yeah no points for guessing who. I’m pretty sure SQQ even directly equates Bing-ge with masculinity somewhere, I just can’t remember the exact spot. And he also believes that any man should definitely want to be in Bing-ge’s place, like for example here:

Every man dreamed of being caught between an angel and a devil. To watch them jealously vie with each other over him one moment, then risk life and limb for his sake in the next—that was the highest, most sacred, perverted fantasy of every male organism.  (vol.1, ch.2)

…though I must note, once again, “every man”, “every male organism” — but does SQQ actually feel the same way? I think that the answer is he thinks that he should, and is trying to convince himself that he does.

Which must be difficult considering he finds men more attractive than women, returning back to that scene with Liu Qingge.

In any other state, Shen Qingqiu might have declared, "What a beautiful man!" (vol.1, ch.2)

Really bestie? You would've declared it? Because I don't see you show the same enthusiasm about women. In fact, you usually jump right into how they were described in the novel, as if you don't have your own opinion. 

Now, I must note that I personally don’t think finding someone attractive equals actually being attracted to them. But this does imply which way SQQ's tastes veer. In fact, we can even see that he has a type. First, he describes LQG's face as "as beautiful as a fine woman's"; then adds:

This was clearly the face of a charming young master who arranged flowers and plucked farewell willow branches! (vol.1, ch.2)

Of course, if we are talking about charming young masters with feminine looks, their bearing that of a classic Chinese gentleman (warrior-scholar ideal who’d ‘pluck farewell willow branches’)...

That firm yet humble countenance, demonstrating his noble and unyielding spirit. That pencil-straight back and stance, evincing a proud core that would rather break than bend! (vol.1, ch.1)

[SQQ] saw a glimpse of the future Luo Binghe's unique grace, that of "eyes like cold stars, a soft and radiant smile, with muted words and quiet laughter." (vol.1, ch.1)

In truth, deep down, Bing-ge's fair and clean pretty-boy type didn't really suit the tastes of "Great Master" Airplane Flying Towards the Sky. He had only assigned this sort of configuration to the protagonist to meet his stallion hardware specifications. The art of growing stallions was grounded in science, and the research was clear: women preferred men who looked cultured, pretty, and even a bit soft and feminine. (vol.4, ch.26, part 2)

…there’s no question who is superlative in SQQ’s heart. To boot, he doesn’t even realize that he’s biased about LBH’s attractiveness, as we can see from Airplane-bro’s musings above. So that’s Cucumber-bro’s type: cultured, pretty, a bit feminine.

See, a fun little discrepancy here: what SQQ sees as a masculine ideal and therefore can admire plainly — again, powerful, undefeatable, and hypersexual, — and what he finds attractive in a man, under all those layers of denial, are two pretty different things.

Liu Qingge, despite his appearance unveiling a side of both to us, doesn’t actually fully embody either type: on the masculinity side, he is missing the hypersexuality, on the attractiveness side, his looks fit but his bearing doesn’t match.

But you know who hits all of SY’s qualifications on both counts?.. yeah, once again no points for guessing, it stars with "Bing" and ends with "ge".

So: the source of Shen Yuan’s obsession with LBH-the-character is the intersection of those two factors. Like you know that old wlw joke “I can’t tell if I wanna be her or date her”? Thats Shen Yuan with Luo Binghe, but, yknow, unconsciously. He admires LBH as an epitome of masculinity, an image of a Perfect Male to strive for; he also very much finds him attractive in a gay way. 

In fact, I would even say that an important component of Binghe brainrot is that he is an acceptable target for admiration. How can SY be accused of being gay over liking a horny stallion novel? So it’s totally normal that he thinks of Binghe a lot, obviously that’s just because he looks up to him! Because Binghe is such a perfect iteration of a male stallion protagonist! Who wouldn’t want to be in his place, thinks Shen Yuan, never ever having imagined being in Binghe’s place even once. Ofc that’s only because Binghe got insane game though! Shen Yuan couldn’t hope to compare. LBH is just so admirable and sexy,, for the wives of course, the wives find him sexy, not Shen Yuan, Shen Yuan is just stating facts— etcetcetc.

Point is, LBH is a man that Shen Yuan can like without shame, because he has a whole bag of above-the-board reasons to prove that he's not liking him the wrong way. A perfect target of convergence for Shen Yuan’s conscious and unconscious thoughts (and desires).

And this is how SY ended up with the years-long hyperfix we see in the beginning of the novel. 

[shuttershocky]

Hey shutters, just wondering if you think any of the upcoming operators in AK are worth leveling or getting to m3

Your favorites :)

If you're asking for "meta" picks, then the strongest are going to be Ray, Arturia, Ela, Shu, and especially Degenbrecher who is so ungodly strong I believe she will eventually challenge the dominance of the Mlynar-Surtr-Chen Alter trio. She's that good.

Arturia is pretty straightforward: if you thought Valarqvin's 12,000 pseudo-True Damage and -50% ATK debuff is good (and it is, you could defang Clip Cliff without using Heat Vents just by constantly alternating Tank skills and Necrosis on him) then get Arturia (I'm forgetting her actual operator codename). Along with Ebenholz's new delta module, you can wreak a lot of havoc on virtually every enemy in the game, as no enemy has Elemental Resistance yet.

Ray is a little difficult as you need to deploy her sandbeast pet as well as her, but if you've played with Coldshot you would know that Hunters basically act like physical Mystic Casters. Ray's DPH is very high, enough that some would argue that Schwarz's fiercest competition isn't actually Pozy, but Ray, who preys on the same enemy types that she does. Just like Schwarz, she's not someone you really /need/, but if you insist on punching through armor via high DPH rather than through Arts damage, Ray's your girl.

Ela is a trapmaster like Dorothy. Unlike Dorothy, Ela's module foregoes the crit traps in favor of letting Ela deploy on melee tiles and place her mines on ranged tiles. This is significant because Ela's mines are the only Trapmaster mines that trigger when someone steps near, rather than on the mine itself. This increased versatility in unit placement serves Ela well, as she's the only Trapmaster who is designed around her autoattacks instead of her traps. Ela does a lot of attack damage on enemies debuffed by her traps, making her own positioning just as important as her traps are.

Does Shu powercreep Saria? Well not really. Is she still ridiculously busted and both the most interesting and unique operator to come in the next 6 months? Absolutely. Though lacking Saria's bulk and simplicity, Shu's ricefields act as both HP regen (heals unhealable units lul) and Shelter source, making her decently tanky in her own right while also protecting allies from damage. Her 2nd talent also showers the entire fucking team in free buffs (if team has 3 operators of different classes, +12%HP, if 3 of the same class, +12 ASPD, if 4 Sui are in the team, +12% ATK and +1 SP every 4 seconds) which honestly feels a lot to me like a "Shit she has to compete with Saria" panic button. Her most interesting feature however, is her S3 turning her rice fields into portals for enemies, forcibly teleporting them back to the first rice field they touch after moving 2 tiles. The possibilities of this skill are sky-high (example: the rice portals preserve momentum, meaning you can constantly push an enemy through a ricefield tile to build a ridiculous speed) and make Shu my pick for the most valuable and interesting operator to look forward to.

Degenbrecher is like what if we had a new Mlynar but a Swordmaster instead of a Liberator, so unlike Mlynar she actually blocks and fights while her skill is still charging. Press S3 to destroy everything in sight and remind Chen why she became a support and make Irene question why she's even here. Unlike the other Swordmasters, her S3 charges based on time rather than by attacks, so even if there are no enemies onscreen, Degenbrecher's S3 will still get ready. I truly wonder what HG was thinking completely removing Irene from the game like that, but our poor seagull at least has a second module to look forward to (unlike Carnelian after Lin).

[umbrellaeclipse]

Lol, personally the three I'd hope for are Qing Jing, Wan Jian, or Xian Shu.

*gets picked for An Ding/Ku Xing*

[cerastes]

Ok, we are entering Critical Roll Season in AK, here’s the plan:

I currently have 287 rolls between all my resources.

Hoederer comes out next week with Chapter 13. I want him but I can’t break the piggy bank for him, 30 rolls I think.

More importantly, Chapter 13 means more Originium, so that’s some rolls refunded.

After Ch.13, we have either Ill Siracusano rerun or Zwillingsturme. Ill Siracusano means 10ish more days to save more, but also that’s weak aura shit and I’d prefer to have Zwilling out sooner.

When Zwilling drops, then I’m going to go fucking ham, I want Arturia and Viviana both. The main target is Arturia, and if I could get Pots for her, that’d be radical.

Degenbrecher comes after, and I like Kjerag Capitalism Trio (SilverAsh, Gnosis, Degenbrecher), goat women, and swordmasters. She's definitely a high priority as well.

Ray comes after, she looks fun and is bnuuy, but not an essential want, maybe a 30-roller situation here, because...

Shu, must, I need her, absolutely going ham. Farming dragon goddess...

Ela Rainbow Six is a must, she's my main in R6S as well as a Trapmaster, going ham here as well.

I would like Ascalon quite a bit! I'm cool with Manticore being my Ambusher tbh but Sarkaz Woman Hot. I've yet to see her kit and numbers, though.

Let's hope I don't have another Mudrock Situation with Arturia and Shu, ora!!!! But yeah, My Rolling Plans.

[theabysscomeshome]

[Global] Here A People Sows

Duration: July 31, 2024 – August 21, 2024

Wiki.gg Event Page

Official Event Page

Event PVs

New Operators

Shu - 6* Guardian Defender

Zuo Le - 6* Soloblade Guard

Grain Buds - 5* Decel Binder Supporter

Wanqing - 5* Flagbearer Vanguard

New and Rerun Skins

Chongyue - Alighting

Lin - Heavenly Mirage

Honeyberry - Saturated With Rain

Highmore - The Land With Me

Rerun Operators and Skins

Bibeak (5* Swordmaster Guard) and Hibiscus - Night Watcher skin are available in the event store for players who do not already have them.

New Modules

Fighter Guards

New Operator Records and Paradox Simulations

Chongyue, Cliffheart, Qiubai, Shu, Wind Chimes

Note: Recruitment tags will be refreshed when new operators are added to the pool. Use any top or senior operator tags before the update.

Recruitment Update

Furniture

New English Voices

Shu

Grain Buds

Wanqing

Zuo Le

Bibeak

Mr. Nothing

Waai Fu

Sora

Pallas

Purestream

Integrated Strategies 4 Expansion 2 available after July 31.

See linked event pages for more details on login events, free orundum events, shop packs, and more!

(All images taken from the official website. Youtube videos taken from the official arknights channel)

[vodkassassin]

Hm

i wanna… draw all the peak lords in fancy dresses

Everyone immediately pls send me what dresses you think suits each peak lord best.

We have 12 fancy outfits to chose here:

1. Yue Qingyuan, M, sect leader and peak lord of Qiong Ding peak, the peak over general affairs and ruling.

2. Shen Qingqui, M, peak lord of Qing Jing peak and chief strategist of the sect. Qing Jing is the scholarly peak that focuses on teaches the Four Arts.

3. Wei Qingwei, NB (hc), swordmaster of the sect and peak lord of Wan Jian peak, which crafts swords and teaches the art of the sword and where all sect disciples go to obtain their spirit sword.

4. Shang Qinghua, M, lord of the logistics peak An Ding peak. All senior An Ding disciples live in houses called Leisure Houses. An Ding takes care of day to day functioning of the sect, like budgeting and agriculture and trade and etc.

5. Qi Qingqi, F, peak lord of Xian Shu peak, and all female-peak. Girls Only club, HC: this peak trains its disciple in espionage and information gathering. They work closely with An Ding for this reason.

Since QQQ is the only female peak lord she will be wearing a fancy suit (bc women in suits just hit me like 👌🏻 mmyeah )

6. Liu Qingge, M, peak lord of Bai Zhan peak, the war division of the sect that focuses on training its disciples in the martial arts.

7. Mu Qingfang, M, doctor and peak lord of the medical peak, Qian Cao. All disciples take a HC svsss version of the hippocratic oath and focus their skills on healing.

8. Kang Qingxiu, M, lord of the all-male Ku Xing peak. Boys Only club to Xian Shus’s Girls Only. It’s disciples live a monk-like lifestyle. Kind of like nuns, but male?

9. Shui Qingyu, M, peak lord of the brewery peak, Zui Xian. They brew the sect alcohol. HC: also creates disinfectants for Qian Cao... etc.

10. Chang Qingzhi, FtM, peak lord of the talisman and array production and research and development peak, Fa Ming. They produce most of the sects wares in terms of talismans and cultivation arrays, working closely with Qing Jing to also produce cultivation manuals.

11. Ju Qingsong, M, peak lord of Yang Shou (beast tamer peak). This peak is foremost on monster and creature knowledge, but also trains spirit animals such as dogs and cats and horses. They also rear cattle for produce, such as cows and sheep.

12. Rong Qingsheng, M, peak lord of Kong Tian, the agricultural peak. They produce most of the sect’s food and fiber (for weaving and paper making and what not), and sell their produce to the world for profit for the sect. They work closely with the beast taming peak for animal produce as well.

[honkaistarrailsorter]

Sorter Changelog

Upcoming Updates

None currently besides keeping up with character releases!

There may be a delay for newly drip marketted characters to be added to the sorter.

2024 September

(9/17/24) Moved [Feixiao], [Moze], [Lingsha] to playable. Added [Rappa] to Penacony, Female, 5★, Imaginary, Erudition. Added an NPC to the sorter (Richard_Knowitall) on request. Added two more NPCs to the sorter (Velite and Wilder) on another request.

under the cut is old updates

2024 August

(8/26/24) Added a singular NPC to the sorter (Giovanni) on anon’s request.

(8/13/24) Added some NPCs to the sorter (Oti Alfalfa, Huaiyan). sorry chat i forgot about the old people

(8/12/24) Major update!! Added the cursor used in game! Made the information box a little prettier and the sorter counter less generic. Added Sorting Categories for 4★, 5★, and Character Alts. Updated all icons used in the sorter to a different design because I think the previous one is ugly and it was bothering me, mentioned in Anniversary Post. New icons now show Character’s [Rarity], [Path], and [Element]. Changed icon images of some characters because.. It looks nicer. Added [Yunli], [Jiaoqiu] (my beloved), [March 7th • Swordmaster], [Feixiao], [Lingsha], and [Moze] to the sorter and their respective rarity/path/element/faction. Added some NPCs to the sorter (Dan Shu, Master Gongshu, Hamster Ball Knight, Boss Stone, Origami Bird, Skott, the other Ten Stonehearts shown in that trailer). Moved [Firefly] and [Jade] to playable (i’m so sorry this is late).

2024 May

(5/9/24) moved Robin and Boothill from upcoming to playable, removed Robin and Firefly from NPC, added Legwork, Tiernan, Razalina, and Siobhan to NPCs

2024 April

(4/25/24) added new charas, added categories, updated categories for some charas, updated chara elements, updated images for some charas, changed sparkle name to just sparkle because firefly is just firefly itd be weird to have only one of them diff, sam is taken out of the sorter completely (im sorry), added Imbibitor Lunae back into the sorter by popular request (ive gotten like. 5 messages asking to add him back who am i to deny the people), firefly best girl happy anni. also thank you for using and supporting the sorter! :)

2023 December

(12/15/23) added Sunday (Male, Penacony), Robin (Female, Penacony), Firefly (Female, Penacony), Gallagher (Male, Penacony), Duke Inferno (Male), Aventurine (Male, Cosmic), and Owlbert (bro i forgot about him) to NPCs, changed images for Black Swan, Hanabi/Sparkle, Misha, and Sam

(12/13/23) added Hanabi/Sparkle (Quantum, Harmony, Female) and Misha (Ice, Destruction, Male) to Upcoming. // Note: Sorter will display Hanabi/Sparkle’s name as Hanabi (it’s her name in JP)., moved Black Swan (NPCs, Cosmic) from NPC to Upcoming + added the following categories; Female, Wind, Nihility + changed image to her Warp Illustration, moved Ruan Mei (Ice, Harmony, Female), Dr. Ratio (Imaginary, Hunt, Male), and Xueyi (Quantum, Destruction, Xianzhou Luofu, Female) to playable // Note: so i don’t have to do it later </3

(12/7/23) added Acheron (NPCs, Females, Penacony) to Upcoming, added Penacony (World 3) and Cosmic (Catchall Other) as sorting options, added Tail to NPC, added Stelle (Female MC) and Caelus (Male MC) to the Astral Express category because they are also part of the Astral Express family <3, added Argenti and Topaz to cosmic category, moved Huohuo (Wind, Harmony, Xianzhou Luofu, Female), Argenti (Physical, Abundance, Cosmic, Male), and Hanya (Physical, Harmony, Xianzhou Luofu, Female) to Playable, changed Jingliu, Topaz, Huohuo, and Argenti to their lightcone image because it looks nicer than their wish art

2023 October

(10/31/23) removed Imbibitor Lunae (Destruction, Imaginary, Xianzhou Luofu, Male) because it's still just Dan Heng, added Dan Feng (Dan Heng’s Previous Incarnation), Baiheng, Yingxing (Blade but w/white hair and a bf), and Phantylia to NPC, added Oroboros (Voracity), Ena (Order), and Long (Permanence) to Aeons + Added the respective path for each Aeon, changed Tayzzyronth (Propagation) image to a better image, added Huohuo (Wind, Harmony, Female), Argenti (Physical, Abundance, Male), Hanya (Physical, Harmony, Xianzhou Luofu, Female), Ruan Mei (Ice, Harmony, Female), and Dr. Ratio (Imaginary, Hunt, Male) to Upcoming, moved Xueyi (Quantum, Destruction, Xianzhou Luofu, Female) from NPC to Upcoming, moved Jingliu (Ice, Destruction, Xianzhou Luofu, Female), Topaz (Fire, Hunt, Female), and Guinaifen (Fire, Nihility, Xianzhou Luofu, Female) to Playable

2023 August

(8/19/23) moved Jingliu (Ice, Destruction, Xianzhou Luofu, Female) from NPC to Upcoming + Changed Image to Gacha Splash Art, added Topaz (Fire, Hunt, Female) and Guinaifen (Fire, Nihility, Xianzhou Luofu, Female) to Upcoming, added Numby, Sam, and Elio under NPC (Note: Sam and Elio are also under Stellaron Hunters), moved Imbibitor Lunae (Destruction, Imaginary, Xianzhou Luofu, Male), Fu Xuan (Quantum, Preservation, Xianzhou Luofu, Female), and Lynx (Abundance, Quantum, Belobog, Female) to Playable, changed Fu Xuan and Lynx image to a better image

2023 July

(7/23/23) added Imbibitor Lunae (Destruction, Imaginary, Xianzhou Luofu, Male), and Lynx (Abundance, Quantum, Belobog, Female) under Upcoming, fixed Dan Heng name; Danheng -> Dan Heng, changed a few character’s images to a better image

2023 May

(5/28/23) added Luka (Nihility, Physical, Belobog, Male) under Upcoming

(5/9/23) added Jingliu under NPC after the release of Jing Yuan’s animated short

(5/6/23) added all Aeons because i was asked too- they have their own category. added Peppy, Diting, and Cocolia to NPC. also the day this sorter started getting used lmao?

2023 April

(4/25/23) Sorter released! also the game’s release :)

[dongzhou3kingdoms]

Lesson learned from previously i.e the need to include a keep reading otherwise a whole bunch of text walloping into people's sight. Previous posts

Will split response into 2 for sake of length

@hungryhydra69-blog

Post 1

"Except that's not what happened. He was talking about the events in the GAME, not history."

For his initial post? Sure and generally with me he did, others he did not. So was my responses for quite awhile. They covered the game (with a bit of history throw in to show what game is working from) and that included the analysis thread on the concept

For example, the first response. "None of those. Literally none of those factions won"

It isn't (just) history or novel that claims Jin win. It is, since DW7, the franchise. They literally say Jin won, they have Sima Zhao calling for the overthrow of Cao Wei. To quote the game "Thus the three kingdoms of Cao Cao, Sun Quan and Liu Bei all eventually conquered under the rule of the Sima clan"

Or any of the other quotes I recently brought up.

It isn't just hints: the faction name, the colours, the separate character selection, stages where you fight Wei, fighting and bringing down the Wei Emperor. It is the game literally says Jin won. Yes, the game does expect you to look at it's ending just like TV expects you to watch the final episode of a season or an author read the last chapter of a book.

When the game literally says Jin won. Wei fell, it is not "Wei won in game, Jin won in history", it is Jin won in game+novel+history. To claim otherwise is to see the direct lines of the game telling you so and denying the reality. When people tell you Jin won in the game (or the three did not win), they are saying Jin won in the game becuase that is what the game says "You purposely spreaded lies in order to vilify him by pushing unrelated factoids as a source of cheap "gotcha" moments"

Only you haven't shown a lie. Indeed I have linked to the threads so people can see them. You generally seem reluctant to do so

You say gotcha, literally the game says Jin wins. Is Wu in the game wears red a gotcha moment? Are basic facts like the games says Jin gotcha moments now? "Just because he had negative opinions on Shu, which, when you actually look at them from the game’s narrative, is not that far fetched."

Have you met... anyone in the 3k community. Half the people here, including me love to tease Shu? I have been very open about my own anti-Shu times down the years, including in recent twitter threads. Here's the problem, the narrative swordmaster has set out is Shu are, in game, facists and neo-nazi's

Yes, yes it is far fatched to claim Shu in game are neo-nazi's. Unless

You think the game-makers are extremely stupid and would choose to sabotage themselves like that

2. You think the message and character of neo-nazi's is benevolence, virtue, kindness and not abandoning people in time of crises.

Now if you think neither of those is true, it is really hard to see how Shu in game are portrayed as neo-nazi's

"You instigated the idea that Sw0rdmstr and Corrupter view Cao Cao as a patron saint but they did no such thing, that was you making things up and telling people your lies."

Yes, my mind control forced people to see what I demanded. Nobody else is capable of reading and coming to judgement when they see such things. I mean what was even more impressive is I don't actually know one of the posters swordmaster insulted yet apparently I mind controlled them.

On views of Cao Cao:

How could anyone think that !

Apart from several people, who have seen those sorts of claims before and recognized the problem. When people saying positive things about Cao Cao that aren't actually true, setting him as this heroic altruistic figure and Shu as neo-nazi while backing an article even the writer says is wrong, yes they are backlashing.

Funnily enough, you interpret people being able to read for themselves and checking what was said, then coming in with their own views, as my evil lies. When Corrupter is cuaght (and by cuaght, I mean openly says something that isn't true) making false accusations, you say nothing

"Instead, the former simply categorized the video game's interpretations and aligned them to his own opinions"

They literally called a faction they disliked neo-nazi's and fascists.

They also did later tried to claim the same was true in history

"Labeling Shu as “fascists” likely stems from the fact that, for allegory sake, they resemble not so differently to groups like MAGA and Proud boys, wanting to “Make the Han Great Again” and such."

neo-nazi's?

He could have gone with conservatives or traditionalists. Not neo-nazi's and fascists. He chose nazi's and fascists. That is on him. "Wu, on the other hand, were just sitting in the sidelines while the actual plot between Shu and Wei were continuing on, but ultimately good natured as they don’t actively express any maliciousness throughout the games"

I don't disagree with that

"Wei, while Cao Cao was no saint, was by far the most successful of the three factions, and games (as well the movie) interpret him as starting from villain to more a rare anti-hero with actual noble intentions."

I don't think most would disagree here. Or at least it is different impressions (and more direct about his moral failings)

"Jin, when it comes to the games, is as they said, just “Wei: Part 2″ as DW7, 8, and 9 do not actually cover the Jin dynasty but instead simply lead up to it’s creation"

Only in 249, the Wei court were accusing Sima Yi of treason. The state of Jin, as a Dukedom, is created before the game ends. Meanwhile, the game, as it does for many factions, does indeed start earlier then "they existed" (bad narrative otherwise) and they represent them by faction screens, character lists, own story and colours.

Which is what Jin gets.

Jin is knitted into Wei's story certainly but that is being used to ignore all the things the game does to differ.

"It’s like how the Wei campaign isn’t referred to as Wei but actually Han, as Cao-Wei didn’t become a thing until Cao Pi seized the throne."

Actually Wei became a thing when Cao Cao took the rank of Duke. Of course in practical terms, Cao Cao being different from the Han was awhile back

The game has always referred to Cao Cao, Dian Wei and co as Wei, as the Wei story. I feel I am missing a point your trying to make here?

"While historically, Cao Mao may have been too young to be a benefactor in the rebellions, the games interpret Cao Mao as part of Wei’s corruption, and that Sima Zhao’s character arc in DW7 centered around him dealing with the fact that history will remember him as just an evil killer, similar to Cao Cao, and similar to the former Wei leader decides to deal with it. In DW, the Jin characters aren’t treated as “anti-Wei” but actually Wei’s next generation."

Apart from where they help bring down Wei and where the game says Jin overthrows Wei, Jin win.

What DW does is have Wei and Jin "ideals" as similar to each other and uses Jin coming from within Wei to make similar but different enough. Like I said, they do it skilfully bar the one bit I found a bit questionable

"But YOU misinterpeted his post as some “novel backlash” when in reality he was talking about the games."

Shu neo-nazi's

Also novel backlash has long come into game talks. Or things like this !

I mean this novel backlash could be used as a poster example: blaming the novel for a historical misdeed of Cao Cao and for the reputations of the two warlords. With insults when someone pointed out the reputation was from before the novel

"In history and the novel, Jin wins, but in the games, Jin doesn’t exist yet so therefore Wei becomes the victor as Jin won’t exist until after the fall of Shu. Jin serves as just the “Book Ends” trope as Wei, since DW7, acts as the first campaign you are expected to play, with Jin being a return to Wei in the era’s final moments."

Of course. When koei says Jin wins, they keep mistyping. It is all a horrible horrible accident. Also the moon is made of green cheese and your wishing things were so will soon gain you that flying pig

"Sw0rdmstr realized that talking to you was like preaching to a brick wall thus why he blocked you"

and blocked so many others

I accept that "Wu surrendered to Jin" might be too complicated for him to understand.

"You just couldn’t be nice and try to understand what he was talking about and instead made him into your boogeyman like the average SJW."

I was nice to him. I tried to reach out and gently explain things even as he embarrassed himself.

Funny though you seem to have issue with me being transparent, providing links and evidence so people can judge for themselves is lies. I'm mean for not pretending the game said what he wished about (hey, Yuan Shao and Turbans are both yellow, are DW saying they are the same?). This makes me a SJW? No quote of me talking about social justice, just a random insult to make yourself feel better as you humiliate yourself and your friend.

swordmaster uses neo-nazi's, accuses someone of being triggered for disagreeing with them

called people idiots

of being a prick

questioned mental competence

more insults

He signed off with swearing at people. My evil mind controlling SWJ reply. I literally provide him historical sources in that thread to help him (since the one he used was disowned by it's writer), I was not rude.

and you say nothing about what he does. While trying to conspiracy theory why people told your friend they were wrong

[briarruler]

AU Idea: Shadow Melee Class Lock

Alternate Universe where each Shadow is locked to a single melee based class.

Zola keeps her Assassin Class.

Marumaro keeps his Monk Class.

Shu keeps his Swordmaster Class.

Kluke gets the Guardian Class.

Jiro gets the Generalist Class.

I've started playing this, we'll see how it goes.

[astra-galaxie]

"He (Aslan) calls me 70% of his impulse control." - Heimdall Sadik-Halvorsen

Biographical information

Full Name: Heimdall Sadik-Halvorsen

Alias(es):

Watcher

Dall

Gözlerim (means "my eyes" in Turkish)

Gender: Male

Sexuality: Gay

Status: Alive

Age: 59 (season 2)

Birth: 1956

Race: Mythonite

Nationality: Asgardian

Origin: New Asgard, Mythos System

Residence:

Istanbul, Turkey

Montreal, Canada (formerly)

Family:

Aslan Sadik-Halvorsen (husband)

Adalet Anders Sadik-Halvorsen (child)

Birgitta Halvorsen (mother)

Soffía Halvorsen (mother)

Kára Halvorsen (sister) (deceased)

Brage Halvorsen (sibling)

Fili Savage (son-in-law)

Ahmet Savage (grandson)

Clover Savage (grandchild) (deceased)

Deniz Sadik (father-in-law)

Maria Sadik (mother-in-law)

Affiliation(s):

New Asgard Royal Council

GIA - New Asgard Branch

Profile

Height: 6'0"

Age: 59 (season 2)

Weight: 185 lbs

Eyes: gold

Blood: O-

Heimdall is a tall man with a strong build and a slightly lighter skin tone than his husband's. He has long black dreadlocks that reach just past his shoulders and is beginning to go grey at the roots. He has a short salt and pepper beard wrapped around his jaw, and his eyes have a unique colouring; an ombre mixture of gold, copper, and bronze.

He normally wears a light brown, hooded trench coat over top of a red button-up shirt and a grey undershirt, jeans, and combat boots. He wears silver stud earrings and a chain with three GIA dog tags on it; one is his, another is Aslan's, and the last belongs to Adalet. He also has silver bands clasped around his dreads that if you look close enough, you can see Nordic runs engraved into them.

During Out of This World Murder, Heimdall wore a red cloak with a New Asgard planet pin holding it in place, a black long-sleeved tunic with a red sash around his waist, black pants and dark boots

His GIA communicator/miniature computer is a bronze pocket watch. When it's clicked open, and he holds his thumb to the glass, it activates the device and he can use it to have a video call with anyone within the GIA or use it as a computer to research nearly anything in the universe.

In his first suspect appearance, Heimdall wore a red waistcoat underneath a black jacket and dark-washed jeans. It is known that he rides horses, drinks whiskey, and eats Mu shu pork.

As per his suspect appearance in Star of Death, it is known that Heimdall is a marksman and drinks ginger beer.

Powers and Abilities

Super-strength

Enhanced durability

Enhanced speed

Superhuman Stamina

Regenerative healing factor

Flight

All-Speak

Star generation

Asgardians can create small orbs of light which they call "stars" that they send up into the sky at night

Omi-senses

Capable of seeing and hearing anywhere in the universe but limited due to it taking time to locate areas in the universe. Quicker if he has visited the place before or knows its exact coordinates.

History

Heimdall grew up in his mother Birgitta's observatory with his older siblings. He is the youngest of his mothers' children but was always closest to Runa, the only daughter of the previous King and Queen of New Asgard. His mother Soffía served as the Queen's personal assistant and since Runa had no other siblings, she "adopted" Heimdall as her little brother when they were still children and to this day likes to baby him. Heimdall tells her to stop it but secretly likes how she's still always there for him even though she is now the Queen.

While he is one of the sweetest, most patient person you might ever meet, never get on his bad side. He is one of the best swordmasters on New Asgard and could scare you so bad that you'll think you've lost years of your life. Despite this hidden temper, he's still the best at helping children learn how to handle training weapons. He likes to call the junior swordmasters "ankle stabbies" as Asgardian children have a habit of accidentally hitting trainers with their blunt weapons, especially in the ankles.

His Omni-sense manifested when he was seven years old and caused him to experience the worst headache of his life. He couldn't/wouldn't leave the observatory for nearly two weeks and couldn't handle loud noises for months. He was non-verbal for a few months since the vibrations from talking hurt his head, so he and his family learned sign language to communicate. Eventually, he got used to his heightened senses and was able to handle loud noises and public spaces.

Heimdall first met his daughter Adalet when he heard a baby crying in the middle of the night. When he exited his house, he found her lying in a bassinet, crying her eyes out. After quickly freaking out, he brought her inside his house to get her out of the cold. He called his older sibling who rushed over to help him with the mystery baby. After finding the hologram recorder that contained all of Adalet's information as well as a brief explanation about her creation, Heimdall spent the rest of the night watching his new daughter sleep in the makeshift crib he and his sibling had built.

After Aslan had moved to New Asgard, Heimdall quickly fell in love with his new family. Spending time getting to know the man he had a child with and teaching his daughter everything he could think of. He taught Adalet how to use her Omni-sense in a way he never got and always encouraged her to try new things.

When Aslan and Adalet entered the integration program, Heimdall also moved to Earth to be closer to his family. Aslan and he still own a house in Turkey for when they visit Earth and that is where they primarily live but occasionally visit New Asgard.

Events of Criminal Case

Season 1

Like his husband, Adalet mentions her father occasionally during her time in Grimsborough. Though unlike Aslan he was never named and at times it was unclear which father Adalet was referring to when she mentioned one of them.

Season 2

Heimdall made his first appearance during Escape From Pacific Bay where he played the role of his husband's secretary. He made sure to "lose" all necessary pieces of evidence to help Amy and Frank catch Scottie's killer, but not reveal the GIA's master plan until Jarvis Donne was safe. He was later present for the explanation of the galaxy to Adalet's teammates.

During his daughter's wedding reception, he learned that Amy hadn't been in contact with her father for years because of her mother. Heimdall resolved to track the man down and reunite him and Amy. He sent Aslan to bring Elijah back from Alaska and later had to make it up to his husband for forcing him to go to the cold state by himself.

After seeing Adalet and Amy off to the Wastes, he and Aslan soon found themselves helping Andrea with managing the bombings of Pacific Bay and evacuating the city. Later he attended Frank and Karen Knight's funeral along with the rest of Adalet's teammates and their families.

Season 3

Heimdall made his first appearance in Save The World at his grandson Ahetm's birthday party.

He later made another, slightly larger appearance during the investigation of his sister's murder. While he didn't become a suspect, he assisted in analyzing a lab sample with Dupont and later lent a hand in the additional investigation. When he learned about the real reason Kára had abandoned the family, he was sad and proud of his sister for dedicating her life to finding a cure for the fire tumours plaguing many Asgardians following Ragnarok II. And while he wished he could have talked to her one last time, at least her work was not in vain and would be used to cure their people.

Months following his sister's death, Heimdall would become a suspect in the murder of Slade Masters. During the investigation, he spent most of the time by Anders's bedside as his son recovered from losing control of himself. He would confirm for Jack and Carmen that he had been following Masters on orders from the G.I.A. as they needed to know what the victim was planning before engaging with Masters. Later, after the case had been solved, Heimdall stayed with Anders to ensure his child remained in the infirmary until he was cleared to leave, as Aslan helped the Bureau investigate Masters's connection to SOMBRA.

A couple of months later, Heimdall attended the Intergalactic Summit with other representatives of New Asgard. He only appeared a few times during Out of This World Murder, but behind the scenes, he was helping the Bureau in any way he could while dealing with his Ambassador duties. When the case was solved, and it came time for the Summit, Heimdall watched with pride as Anders won the council's approval for Earth to be integrated into universal society, something the Sadik family had been fighting for three generations.

Heimdall wouldn't make another appearance until after the defeat of SOMBRA. Even so, while the Bureau was investigating Natasha Romanova's murder, he and Aslan were taking care of the children until it was safe for them to go back to their parents. Once SOMBRA was defeated, and the children returned to the Bureau's plane, Heimdall and Aslan got to work rounding up the team's families and helping them get to New York so they could all celebrate the victory together.

And when he and Aslan reunited with Adalet, Heimdall knew immediately that there was something different about his daughter. But he didn't want to say anything in case his suspicions were wrong. So when it was announced that she was pregnant, Heimdall was overjoyed to hear he was going to have another grandchild. So, while he'll have to wait several months before getting to meet the little one, he'll be content with hearing their heartbeat in time with their mother's until they are ready to meet the rest of their family.

Organization(s)

G.I.A.

Rank:

Ambassador, New Asgard

Assistant Ambassador, New Asgard (formerly)

Agent

Story Information

First appeared: Escape From Pacific Bay

Trivia

Aslan describes Heimdall to others as "looks like a cinnamon roll but could actually kill you"

Likewise, whenever Heimdall eats a cinnamon roll, his husband whispers "cannibalism", under his breath. Heimdall continues chewing in confusion and has yet to be given an explanation for the comment. (it's been years, he just wants an explanation!)

When Alex Turner showed Adalet Earth memes, she nearly died laughing when she learned the reference. She's still debating on telling her Far or letting Baba continue to annoy his husband

Has a big sweet tooth. Back when he lived on New Asgard, Aslan would bring back Earth candies/desserts for him and Adalet. Heimdall's favourites are taffy candies and cinnamon rolls (he knows it's ironic he's just not sure how)

Is a trained swordmaster like his daughter and taught her how to wield a sword

Is themed after the version of Heimdall from the Marvel movie Thor Ragnarok

Gallery

Disclaimer: Character design was created using Rinmarugames Mega Anime Avatar Creator! I have only made minor edits to the design! Background courtesy of CriminalArtist5.

Links to my stories:

The Case of the Criminal (Ao3/Wattpad)

Killer Bay (Ao3/Wattpad)

Where in the World are the Killers? (Ao3/Wattpad)

[briarruler]

Locked Shadow Classes Alternate Universe Idea - Blue Dragon

Partly inspired by this conversation after Jiro heals them in the Lost Wilderness:

“Hey, how come we can’t use this magic?” Shu asked.

“You mean healing magic?” Kluke checked.

“Yeah. You and I are always doing the attacking, and Jiro’s doing the healing. Maybe we each have a specific magic.”

I thought, what if they really couldn’t use White Magic? What if Kluke was stuck as a Black Mage and Shu as a Swordmaster?

It is not canon (at the very least Jiro is shown using a Black Magic Wind spell as well as his default Shadow Class’s White Magic Spells, Marumaro heals Zola with White Magic despite being a Monk, and there might be other examples) but I thought the party being stuck with their default starting Shadow Classes would make for an interesting alternate universe premise.

Of course, I am currently replaying Blue Dragon to see if it is possible to beat the game without switching Shadow Classes until the Shadow Class is maxed out at Rank 100.