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fanfic-obsessed · 11 months ago

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Ten Years in Two months

While the meat and potatoes of this idea comes a bit later, it does require some finangleing beforehand. Some of the beginning does feel a bit contrived, because it is. In order for the dominoes of the plot to fall right later, we do have to force them into shape now in a series of improbable actions.

Bear with me for a bit, we’ll get there.

There is not really a particular point this starts, save that it is after Padme becomes pregnant (though well before she realizes she is) but before the Umbara arc (or ignoring the Umbara Arc), for no particular reason other than I want Waxer there. A mission is assigned to the 212th to escort Padme Amidala and her retinue to a neutral world for negotiations with the Separatists. They are taking with them commander Ahsoka Tano (the in-world explanation being that she was on Coruscant catching up with course work and they would rendezvous with the 501st, who were on a campaign in that region).

On the way to this neutral world, from the perspective of the rest of the galaxy, the 212th in its entirety vanishes for two months.

From the perspective of the 212th they become trapped on an uncharted planet for 10 years.

For the rest of the galaxy those two months are enlightening into Anakin Skywalker's particular brand of instability. Without the tempering influence of the bonds to his Master and Padawan, compounded by the fact that his secret wife disappeared as well, Well…his attempts to find them could, in the best of lights, be described as unhinged. He did not fall in at this time, for he was given no reason to make that choice (and falling to the dark, into evil is very much a choice. One does not fall by accident, after all), but he made it very clear that the war, protecting innocents, the Republic, or even the lives of his own men meant nothing compared to finding Padme (occasionally he would remember to make it seem as though he was focusing on finding Obi Wan or Ahsoka, though he never quite remembered to include the rest of the 212th). His obsession presented itself in such a way that even Palpatine was reconsidering some of his plans (he still intended to break Anakin into Vader, but he was now inclined to let Padme-and maybe even Ahsoka; Obi Wan was always going to die-live on as a stabilizing influence to his ultimate apprentice).

He was swiftly removed from command of the 501st and had to be kept partially sedated for at least 6 of those 8 weeks.

With the 212th for the first few months, from their perspective, they tried to contact the rest of the fleet. Tried to contact anyone. Tried to escape from their orbit around this one planet, thankfully habitable and with an abundance of edible food. However, though they did not know it, the planet was out of sync with the rest of the galaxy.

Over the period of about two years they shifted from living mostly on the ships with just enough people on the surface of the planet to keep everyone fed to a more permanent settlement on the planet with a rotating skeleton crew up on ships to keep everything running.

Padme found out about her pregnancy pretty early on, and with it came the knowledge that her relationship with Anakin was not the secret she thought it was. Nor was the relationship forbidden like Anakin told her. The marriage was forbidden, because of the Oaths Anakin swore as part of the Jedi Order and how they conflicted with the traditional Nabooian Wedding vows (though she also finds out that the Jedi Order would have helped revise both sets of vows so they did not conflict). Even beyond her own misunderstandings of the Jedi, she started to see the many places where Anakin either deliberately misunderstood his own culture, or deliberately misled her.

In fact it became obvious within the first six months that every culture represented in the ships (The variety of cultures from the natborn admiralty, the Nabooian Delegation, The clones, and the Jedi) all had some misconceptions about all of the other cultures ranging from the humorously minor to massive misunderstandings (One of the minor misunderstandings is between the Jedi and the Clones on names and numbers. The Jedi believe that they are making sure that they are calling the clones what the clones want to be called instead of their designation. The clones think that the Jedi as a whole are uncomfortable with their designation AS names-Which yes but also no-so even though most of the clones prefer a name to their designation, even the few that want to use their designation are told by the other clones that the must choose a name to use around the Jedi).

Obi Wan takes over Ahsoka’s training and the gaps that Anakin had left become very obvious; the place where he taught her something that was outright wrong even more so. About three months in, Ahsoka tells Obi Wan about Anakin’s ‘training’ of being surrounded and fired upon by the 501st. One of the few things that Anakin was right about was that he Jedi would not understand, nor condone, that training. Ahsoka had not realized how disconnected from her own culture she had become in her short time with Anakin. How isolated he had made her from her people. Though she and Obi Wan were the only Jedi, she felt closer than ever to everything she had grown up with as he took on her tuition.

In month 8 Obi Wan, who was looked to as the leader, arranged for a series of times to address the misconceptions held by an for each culture present. When it became clear that they were cut off for the long haul, he helped the variety of people to start to live instead of just surviving. And at the beginning there were a number of natborns among them that were anti clones, or anti Jedi, just as there were many clones that were anti nat born. But with only about 1500 people in total (1300 clones, about 50 natborn officers and support staff, about 150 senatorial support staff) there were simply not enough people to support those kinds of prejudices. It is hard to say that the clones were not human when you listen to the stories of decommissioned batchmates during one of the remembrance ceremonies. Or hate the natborn lieutenant that got drunk and cried all over you about the pregnant wife they left behind.

The twins were born with a village of aunts and uncles, and though they are the oldest, they were not the only ones. Sache, one of Padme’s former handmaidens and part of her senatorial retinue, entered into a relationship with Waxer and Boil, having a child with them that was a year younger than the twins. Many relationships formed and broke apart during those years.

Ahsoka and Padme ended up co parenting the twins, with Padme being called Mom and Ahsoka being called Mom Ah. It was the twins who insisted on their names from their earliest ability to speak.

In year four Cody and Obi Wan get married. Though theirs is not the only relationship that develops, nor the only one with healthy communication, their relationship does highlight to Padme how unhealthy her relationship with Anakin actually was. (It should be noted that, although Anakin’s instability and actions were flashier, this is not Anakin abusing/coercing the poor innocent Padme. In this they are toxic together, both acted in unhealthy ways that compromised their own morals). Padme was able to see how Cody and Obi Wan did not use their love for each other as a bandage for deeper wounds. That CodyWan did not become all consuming; each man had friendships and hobbies and duties separate from each other (even with the friends they shared, they did not act as a single unit, inseparable from each other). The other relationships she saw only drove this point home.

At some point in those ten years she tells Obi Wan of what happened on Tatooine, just before the start of the war. And Obi Wan, eyes betraying his grief and horror at the massacre of the Tuskens asked her why she absolved Anakin of his crimes (By technicality, as a senator Padme did have the authority to absolve Anakin-so even if Tatooine becomes part of the Republic, and the crime is reported, Padme’s actions mean that Anakin cannot be tried under Republic Law). Padme cannot answer him.

Though it does take time, Padem is eventually able to meet Obi Wan’s eyes again after the revelation.

6 years in, Ahsoka and Padme realize that they have fallen in love. Driven by the Jedi teachings for healthy and open communication (though many cultures value open and honest communication, few need it in the same way as the Jedi who are all some degree of Empath), they talk about what was happening. Neither is sexually attracted to the other, but they do want to date each other. But Padme is married to Anakin. And it might have been six years, so they do not know if Anakin even still lived, and if did, he had likely moved on (both of which are reasonable assumptions) but being together without first speaking to Anakin felt too much like giving up the idea that they would find a way home. So they agreed to wait until they were ready to give up that idea.

They had not given up by the time that the 10 year mark rolled around.

In year 7 the chips begin to deteriorate. The material they were made up of were not meant for the extra years of use, plus the method Helix used to stop the accelerated aging (discovered within 5 months of actually having time) created an enzyme as a byproduct that had no effect on the clones, but accelerated the deterioration of the chips. The first three chips were removed after the clones involved complained of migraines. All the documentation in the computer banks (the archive of what was readily available, instead of what was stored on the galaxy’s version of the cloud) of the ships said the chips were to inhibit excess aggression. No one had any reason to not believe the documentation, not even with the realization that the chips were not in the right place for what they were supposed to do (the assumption is that the Kaminoans, for all their genetic know how, just do not understand near human neurology enough to have put it in the right place). Obi Wan met with Helix, the head medic, with Cody after the removal of those first chips. Obi Wan assumed that he did not know about the chips because he had not been on the council when the order was put in. Helix is able to confirm that all of the clones have these chips and what they are supposed to do (according to the literature) and that some were beginning to deteriorate. After it becomes clear that the removal will not hurt the clone, they make the decision to remove all of them. However, believing them to be behavioral modifiers (if incorrectly placed), and as they did not have the optimal equipment to decode them, they all left it at that and put the Chips into storage and basically forgot about it.

Just 15 days shy of the 10th anniversary of their arrival to the uncharted planet, whatever grip that was holding the ships bound to orbit the planet vanished (The planet was in sync with the rest of the galaxy- it is a window of time that is six hours long in the larger galaxy, or 15 days long on the planet) Still not able to raise communications to anyone outside of the planet’s orbit, not knowing how long they would have before they were stuck again, and fearing that they would be cut off from anyone left behind (no one had forgotten that the planet had not registered as there until they were trapped), everyone was loaded onto the ships along with all of their food stores and the 212th left the uncharted planet.

As soon as they hit the galaxy at large again, alarms began to shriek. Every system that communicated with the central systems (basically everything outside of life support) experienced a fatal error upon reconnecting with the galaxy’s central system. It takes 4 days to fix. They have to reset all of the internal clocks/calendars in their computer systems to a date and time two months and 3.5 days after they became trapped (the last 24 hours of that time was spent inputting random dates into the system).

NOTE: There is a very important reason for this. Computers are very black and white about some things, and communicating between computers is often validated on specific information to make sure that both systems are dealing with the same information at the same thing. Current Date/Time had to be validated for the purpose of navigation. Galactic/Stellar drift is very real, and in the mapped regions of the galaxy that drift is precisely calculated. It is impossible to keep a real time map of every object in the galaxy, instead there is a systematic ping that goes out at specified times (Twice per Galactic Standard year) remapping every object in the known galaxy and correcting the location in the centralized system. Then Navigation computers calculate how long it has been since the last ping to figure out where everything is and a safe route. That only works if the current date time matches the current date time of the centralized system exactly (some of those object movements, even objects large enough to damage the largest of ships, can be measured in microseconds).

No one realizes why this is an issue. The entirety of the 212th believe that 10 years have passed (born out by their time keepers, which had ticked along for ten years) and yet to the larger galaxy only two months have. They absently notice that by the time anything is working again the planet they were on had vanished.

A message is sent to Coruscant, to the Jedi temple, but it is a hesitant thing. Deliberately vague in details. Obi Wan has no idea what 10 years has done for or to the war effort. The response is almost immediate, a call from the Jedi council. The very first question out of Mace Windu’s mouth is a cranky sounding ‘Where in the Force have you been for the last two months?’ (Look Master Windu is absolutely ecstatic that they are safe and not dead, but he has spent the four days helping to keep Anakin contained-the sedation began to wear off faster now that he could feel Ahoska and Obi Wan in the Force again-, the last two months realizing that Obi Wan ran about a third of their side of the war, and had been in the middle of sleeping for the first time in weeks).

There is quite a bit of confusion as both Obi Wan and Mace were absolutely sure the other had lost it over how long the 212th had been gone (Obi Wan: we were trapped for ten years; Mace: Bullshit! You’ve been gone for 2 months). It is Ahsoka’s appearance that convinces Mace that something more is going on (he would not know the children, and Ahsoka is the only other one for whom 10 years-or 10 years and 5 months for the clones- would make a huge visible difference). Mace is able to convince Obi Wan that they really have only been gone two months and the 212th makes its way back to Coruscant, reeling over the disconnect (The Lieutenant who spent the last 10 years mourning over the missed moments with their wife and unborn child…hasn’t even missed the birth).

The mind healers who have been dealing with Anakin nearly weep in relief at the news that Padme Amidala is with the 212th and safe. They know that Anakin needs many much therapy still but they have hope he will actually pay attention now that his wife is back.

The 212th, now a community in a way that they had not been, returned to Coruscant. They do not split in the ways that they would have before (before relationships and children) and peer at the lives they had left behind that they no longer quite fit the shape of.

The lieutenant brings home their best friend (a clone who had not picked their name before the mission, but decided to go with 29, which they picked to reference the number of a decommissioned batchmate) to meet their wife, only for some of the wife’s family make an awful comment about flesh droids and being a pet (thankfully their wife was equally embarrassed by her brother’s behavior).

Obi Wan, Cody, Padme, and Ahsoka go to the Jedi temple, to the Jedi Council (the twins, like the rest of the children, were left aboard the Negotiator in the care of their extended family). They speak of the planet where they had been trapped and the lives they grew there.

Padme took the time to apologize to the Council, formally, for the violation of their beliefs that she and Anakin had perpetrated by marrying as they had. She could admit that while Anakin had not told her of any Jedi traditions for marriage, or really any traditions they might be violating by marrying, she had made no effort to check either.

As an afterthought Obi Wan told the Jedi Council about the chips deteriorating, but that they did not appear to be doing anything anyway (To which every other member went: “What chips?”). Upon being asked Obi Wan calls for Helix to get a chip or two out of the storage closet they had been forgotten in. Which was then promptly handed to people with specialized equipment for decoding bio mechanical chips.

After the latest round of sedation has worn off Padme, Obi Wan, and Ahsoka go to see Anakin. They are told that before Anakin can be released he needs to be assessed by three different mind healers. They go intending to tell Anakin of the twins. Padme also goes with the intent to test the waters about the possibility of separating (She does not know that her and Ahsoka dating would go anywhere, nor are either of them even thinking of it right now, but even leaving that aside Padme has realized that her and Anakin are not healthy together). Things do not go quite as intended.

At first Anakin is so happy to see all three of them, he exclaims over Ahsoka being so grown up (she is now 24, now older than Anakin). It rapidly becomes clear that Anakin expected he would be released immediately, now that they were back. There was a small blip, a frown and a strange heaviness when he realized that all three of them were backing the healers that he needed to be assessed. Anakin also did not like how close Ahsoka and Obi Wan were, oh before they vanished he would joke about Ahsoka being their shared padawan, but he preferred it when Obi Wan’s lessons unintentionally reinforced the idea that Ahsoka was better off with Anakin than any other Jedi.

There were a few moments when he could speak to Padme alone, and the way he spoke left Padme feeling cold. There was nothing overt but it all reinforced a possessiveness that Padme realized she did not want in her or her children's lives. They leave without telling Anakin about the children.

Padme tries six more times to go and talk to Anakin about separating. At best he acts like he does not hear or understand her words. At worst he starts ranting about Obi Wan trying to steal his wife and needing to be sedated.

Regretfully, and with the backing of both the Jedi and the 212th community, Padme starts the process to get a divorce. Nabooian traditions insist that a couple that wants to divorce must meet with a Nabooian marriage counselor first, to see if reconciliation is possible. Setting this up takes several months as, upon being informed of proceedings Anakin had a second breakdown. His connection to the Force was such that the Jedi needed to block the connection lest he become very destructive. Only the Force Blockers left him not coherent enough to attend the session with Counselor. In the end the Jdi built a special room just to block Anakin’s specific connection to the force for them to meet in. Traditionally the divorcing couple meets at least 5 times before permission is given to divorce. It took one meeting for the Counselor to grant Padme her divorce.

The 501st had not been assigned a new general by the time the 212th returned, and Ahsoka was almost ready for knighthood. She took command of the 501st for a total of 4 months, it was too uncomfortable and too much like she was replacing Anakin (made weirder by the fact she still wanted to date his soon to be ex wife and was helping to raise his children). In the end Obi Wan ended up taking direct command of the legion, with Cody taking the lead of the 212th. This also made everyone uncomfortable, thankfully the war ended three months after that (the revelation of what the chips did had the council contemplating finding the planet that 212th had been stranded on).

Palpatine had been indiscrete around someone who he had assumed would back his power play for an Empire. To be fair, in another world that family would have been high ranking imperial with very human centric tendencies.

Palpatine had not expected a Lieutenant of the Galactic Navy, member of the 212h or not, to whip out a slug thrower and shoot at a party when Palpatine had admitted to knowing about the slave chip in the clones' heads.

To be fair, neither did the Lieutenant.

#star wars #star wars the clone wars #fanfiction prompt #obi wan kenobi #star wars au #anakin skywalker #codywan #bamf obi wan #Anidala critical #sheev palpatine #Not for Anakin Fans #anakin critical #Order 66 did not happen #jedi order respected #jedi order

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papabirdurskeks · 2 months ago

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Precursor Anatomy Pt. 2

Continuing some more things with my headcanons on Precursors, here is a part 2 to the anatomy bit I had previously posted months ago!

Part 1 can be found here!

Again, these are just headcanons for myself and my main AU, which is all meant for fun!

With that said, here we go to start with the skeleton once again!

The Skeleton:

Picking up from part 1 where we briefly discussed the bones of the Precursor species, we were only given a view of the skull and a few notes. Here, now, we have a full skeleton to look to!

Just as previously stated, the bones are stained a teal bluish gray in color due to the rich, dark blue blood that flows through their bodies. It also stands tall in its stature, as most individuals average a height of above 16 feet. However smaller individuals have been documented and seen as well as taller individuals as well being close to 18 feet in height.

Their skeletons bear a striking and haunting resemblance to that of our own, being eerily similar in structure and stance. However, as previously stated, there are a few keen differences that do pop out to the eyes. Aside from the height and coloration of the skeleton, some parts of the bones have extra ligaments attached to them that are made of a cartilage like material. These ligaments are mostly attached to specific parts of the body that allow for Precursors to be flexible and agile when they need to be, mostly around the arms, hips, neck, and chest.

The elbows, wrists, and heels also possess defensive pikes to aid Precursors in a natural form of protection for self-defense. These pikes naturally form from the bones and harden as they break out of the skin and take on a darker color. Their spines are also lined with special pikes known as nerve pikes, which allow Precursor nervous systems to properly function. This area, much like the back of their heads, are extremely sensitive to touch.

A final note of detail also falls on the hips, being wide and nearly identical to female human hips, indicating they do carry their young within and give birth similarly to humans. This is a clear indicator to Precursors being an intersex species.

The Body:

Next comes the physical body frame of the Precursor, which has been showcased many times in numerous posts before. But with the help of En, we can get a better look and idea of the Precursor body by glance of his frame.

Beyond the skeleton lies a body that is shrouded in pale white skin lined with dark stripes and markings alike that paint the most sensitive parts of the frame. These dark markings are an outside liner of the nervous system that lines their bodies while also helping to regulate warmth/heat throughout their bodies. However, over time and the course of evolution, these markings have begun to fade with time though the purpose they hold still remains just the same.

As shown below, with a repeat post of the height references over time, the evolution of their bodies is shown throughout the different time periods.

As time goes on and evolution stays its course, Precursors of the modern era have grown taller and somewhat lankier to fit into their newfound environment in their great worldships orbiting in space. Their claws have grown longer and sharper, their bodies more flexible and taller, their tendrils longer to better aid them in feeling out their surroundings and reading the environment better.

The Tongue:

A rather short passage here, but an interesting and quick note to be made about Precursor tongues is that they possess some rather long, giraffe-like tongues in nature.

While hardly ever seen out in the open, as it is considered rude and impolite to show one's tongue in the public in Precursor culture, their tongues are considered to be quite long and strong. These powerful muscles actually help them in extra grooming methods such as keeping one's eyes clear of debris or adding a protective layer of saliva to keep them cool in hot places. It also aids them in getting hard to reach food that is out of their reach when out and about living off newfound environments.

This long, prehensile tongue sits comfortably within a pouch in their jaws.

The Teeth:

And now comes the last bit of notes that can be offered for the moment, Precursor teeth!

While briefly touched upon in the last post, it is important to look upon the teeth of a Precursor as part of their anatomy. These teeth, while some would think are dull and small like a human's, are quite large and powerful when seen.

Adult Precursors have long and sharp canines that are nearly identical to that of a chimp. And while their bites are not powerful enough to crush bone, they are dangerous enough to sever flesh and pull them from the bodies of unfortunate individuals daring enough to provoke them.

Despite such sharp canines, however, the rest of their teeth prove Precursors to have a varied diet of both meats, fruits, and vegetables that are easily broken down with these powerful teeth.

These teeth are also used as displays of threat to further emphasize a Precursor's viewing of undesirable individuals. This is usually accompanied by their skin darkening and the flare of nerve lights lining their faces and necks.

However, these powerful canines are only found in adult Precursors. Children under the equivalent age of 14 do not have these canines but instead blunt milk teeth.

As soon as a child hits the age of 14 (the equivalent of it), their canines will begin to grow in. This process is considered to be extremely stressful and painful to the child as it causes heavy and chronic headaches that last about a month. These headaches are almost akin to a heavy migraine. Many parents usually try to help their children through this painful moment with medicines and teas to ease their pain.

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This now concludes part 2 of the headcanons on anatomy! Again, these are just my own personal thoughts and headcanons for my AU and more will come soon! c:

#destiny 2 #destiny #the witness #headcanon territory #Alternate Timeline AU #long post #oc

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monbons · 4 months ago

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Stitch Sunday

Thanks for the recent tags @whatevertheweather, @run-for-chamo-miles, and @shrekgogurt!

It seems like a quiet day, but I'm too proud of my DeNiall dolls (lovingly made to celebrate @mooncello's more than a footnote) to let the finished version go uncelebrated. If you are on Discord you may have already seen them. For everyone else, look at these beauties!

One of the best things about this particular ship from this particular fic is just how rich and vivid Heath's descriptions of each character and every outfit have been. I was very committed to representing all of Dev's piercings, so you can see he has tiny gauges, a tongue "barbell," and an orbital piercing. Harder to see but also present---his Watford sweatshirt is distressed! (Sadly, not with magic--just plain old Xacto knives and a pumice stone.) You can see the perfect hole by the collar and his cuffs are torn up too.

In the fic, Niall has gorgeous brown/ginger hair, so he is the first doll with two kinds of yarn to get the right shading. He will wear a polo/rugby inspired collared shirt in a future chapter. When Heath sent the inspo pic, I explained how hard it is to produce anything with a collar. With that said, my love for this fic knows no bounds, so I went to the fabric store and was sorely disappointed that they did not carry the right kind of stripe. Ever the problem-solver, I dug through my kids' torn/stained clothing, found the perfect shade of blue in my daughter's tees, made my OWN striped fabric, and put a fussy little collar on it. I think Ni might be the cutest doll I have ever made as a result.

Another fun thing this round? Hightops for all with functional laces. Yes, Niall and Dev can swap shoes. Or pants. Unfortunately not tops since I had to sew Niall into his because of the collar...but if Dev wants to wander around topless, he can...

In other news, I realized late last week that my summer vacation is almost over and I'll be running Camp Mom again until school starts for all. This means I'll be taking a break from doll-making ... or at least significantly slowing down production moving forward.

I have only one more fic on my list of planned dolls, but I probably won't start them for a while because I'm taking some time to write and maybe (finally!) make a set I get to keep. (I'm trying for WS SnowBaz and found the PERFECT material for the PERFECT suit...)

In any case, hellos, high-fives, and sleepy Sunday vibes from the doll factory: @thewholelemon, @cutestkilla, @bookish-bogwitch, @raenestee, @roomwithanopenfire

@emeryhall, @rimeswithpurple, @you-remind-me-of-the-babe, @youarenevertooold, @talentpiper11

@brilla-brilla-estrellita, @beastmonstertitan, @best--dress, @thehoneyedhufflepuff, @larkral

@drowninginships, @valeffelees, @messofthejess, @iamamythologicalcreature, @aristocratic-otter

@blackberrysummerblog, @orange-peony, @facewithoutheart, @ic3-que3n, @rbkzz

@supercutedinosaurs, @skeedelvee, @arthurkko, @fiend-for-culture, @hushed-chorus

@martsonmars, @katatsumuli, @comesitintheclover, @fatalfangirl, @stitchyqueer

@onepintobean, @palimpsessed, @moodandmist, @ileadacharmedlife, @theimpossibledemon

#deniall #beautiful boys for a beautiful fic #it literally hurt to give this set away #hand-stitched dolls #more than a footnote #stitch sunday

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jpitha · 2 years ago

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Humans are Deathworlders: avoid #Humans are Mary-Sue's and #Humans are Saviors

One thing I've noticed around here is a propensity to make everything human can do a Deathworlder thing. Do that too much and you write yourselves into a corner, or you put a new cover over old racist tropes. Observe:

Humans live on an oxygen rich world: Do that, and now your humans need to wear O2 masks everywhere that's not human made and your sapients need to wear masks in human spaces. Additionally while O2 isn't flammable per se it makes everything else burn really, really well. Doing this could lend some fun flavor to the world, but consistency is key. Also, breathing masks hide emotion really well.

Humans are strong: Make them too strong and in any sapient spaceship or station they run the risk of just hulking everything and breaking it, not making friends and influencing people. Corollary: make them strong because they're from a high gravity world and suddenly all your humans in space get osteoporosis because their bones atrophy in the low gravity. Astronauts in microgravity lose a ton of their muscle and bone mass even after only a couple months in orbit. I'd say that you probably don't want the sapients that interact with your humans to come from a world that's much less than 60% earth gravity.

Humans are predators: Remember real predator/prey relations. Prey species have defenses, otherwise the predators would just gobble them all up and lose their food source (and the prey species would die out). Horses and other equine species kick like hell. Other species have super thick hides, or are masters of camouflage or live on an opposite schedule to their predator species, etc. Being a predator isn't a guarantee that we could just lord it over all sapient prey species. Give your prey species defenses and have them show them off sometime.

Only Humans Can Save the Day: Yes, Yes I know. We're human and we're the ones doing the writing BUT, Do #Humans Save the Day too much and you just make a different flavor of the old White Savior trope. Your other sapient species need to help out too.

Other Human Specific things: For every "cool thing" that "only humans do" make sure your sapients have a cool thing of their own. If your humans are the only prey species, make sure your other prey species have cool things they do that they evolved to avoid their local predators. Humans are warriors? Make your other species be negotiators or collaborators. Humans eat weird food? There's plenty of things we can't, don't or won't eat. Give your sapients a weird food they love.

Only Humans Do Art: This one bugs me the most. Humans do art, but it is specist to assume that ONLY humans do art. Art is an offshoot of culture, an offshoot of bonding, an offshoot of collaboration. Unless you decide your sapients became sapient A WAY DIFFERENT WAY than we did (and sure, if you want to do that, go nuts), your human friendly sapients have art. I promise. It might not be like human art and there might be some fun interactions about that. But making them NOT have art is just another flavor of White Saviorism.

#humans are deathworlders #humans are space orcs #humans are space capybaras #humans are space australians #writing #sci fi writing #humans are human

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tac-bat · 2 years ago

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Why I hate how the elders are treated and misinterpreted in a big chunk of the fandom. Rant!

Before we start

I mention fat phobia, and talk about how certain hair types and cultural clothing is described as "food" as a response to what some of the elders are perceived by alot of the fandom. These comments are not only directed at some elders, but many folks who have gotten representation from them are also affected these comments that many thrown around freely.

I’m at my breaking point and will get heated on an array of things but I don’t care

You're entitled to your own opinion, even if i heavily disagree with it. If you don't wanna read then just scroll, because I will rip apart the interpretations I talk about under the read more tag.

If you "don't see this happening" or believe this "doesn't happen" that doesn't mean it didn't happen, Tumblr isin't the only social media I have. I've dabbled in the official Discord, on Instagram, and god forbid Pinterest too, i've seen it all.

Let’s go in order, most issues I have a bone to pick with are more prevalent in some elders more than others.

Daleth

They’re just forgotten, really. Even with knowing what Isle looked like before. Flourishing even, populated seen in the switch trailer and even making an appearance in the Auroras' concert for runaways, they’re pretty much never talked about. And if they are they're just kinda only the butt of pee-paw jokes

Ayin

Their characterization is just confusing to me. I've seen a lot of them portrayed as happy-go-lucky. I’m not saying they can’t be happy, but from what I’ve seen, that’s all they are to a lot of folks in the fandom that I’ve seen. Which really confuses me because in their cutscene they wake up in a daze, notice us, are sort of like "ah, hi," and get straight to work. And they’re gentle, tipping the pot to the butterfly they make to enter. But then there's their orbit cutscene, where they look tired and a tad grouchy after being woken up—not mean, just tired. Again, nothing wrong with it, but it’s pretty one-dimensional to me to just see them as all that.

On a more bitter note, i've seen alot of "fat jokes" or straight up fatphobia in art and comments alike about their body, "Why are they so fat?" -a comment i've actually seen in the discord regarding Ayin. it's disgusting.

Teth

I have so much shit to say about them.

They're not mean simply because they took your light.

"But they snatched it away." Motherfucker, you're looking surface level. THINK!

Imagine you're dead, stuck in limbo for god knows how long, rotting away without anything to do. And you enjoy building and creating, and you were possibly the catalyst for the production of darkstone; your temple could be a goddamn factory for it! So much so that your anvil and hammer are in your constellation; they're a part of you. It’s what you love. And now that you're dead, with no light to fuel, no life to live, forced to sit there with broken shards, it'd bore you, drain you. And then a child appears with a flame; and for the first time in thousands of years, if not more, you can create, build, make something.

And you do.

You take the light without a second thought, regaining your strength and setting to work to help this child pass through your realm to the other elder. You just put all your focus on making the diamond, and when you finish and are proud of it, you send it up to the sky. You’ve created again. And in your orbit cutscene, you're much gentler, no longer bound to that soul-sucking abyss of nothing, so you honour the children who gave you light, your gift. Taking your time and presenting it to them with grace.

That’s what Teth does; that’s what they do. Yes, they seem like a more serious person, but they’re in no way mean. Did they take your light away? Yes. But putting yourself in their shoes for just a moment can make you understand why.

Samekh

I love the twins; I’m a fan of them, and I love Sah in particular with all my being. Which is why this one I will get very passionate about.

It baffles me how those two got the impression of being idiots who share a single brain cell. I don’t mind the jokes, but some people think that’s all they are. Which is just so wrong, like? How can you be so wrong? Would a ruler who built their fucking realm, Valley Triumph of all names, in a goddamn mountains? Would the most prosperous, decorated, and successful realm be led by idiots? Let me repeat that, They built the realm Valley of Triumph, in the fucking MOUNTIANS! Do you know how hard it is to make a city that size in those conditions? MOUNTAINS ARE FUCKING BRUTAL, WITH LESS OXYGEN, EVEN LESS WITH MASK'S, AND FOR HOW UNPREDICTABLE THE WEATHER IS ITS INSANE. Yet valley thrived! They thrived in those mountains, creating impossible architecture, floating buildings, and sports ranging from sliding to flying to manta racing.

Would idiots who share a brain cell accomplish that? No! It's incredible what the twins achieve—an amazing realm and, in my opinion, the capital of the sky. Eden, on the other hand, seems more like a sacred place where you ascend. Not to mention the Citadel? Hello??? It's fucking fantastic; it's incredible how they created such a beautiful realm in the mountains. They wanted races; they got them; they wanted enrichment; they have theatre, gondolas, even the coliseum, and races too.

The twins can be silly and serious, and they are shown to have the same rivalry as all siblings do. But they are not dumb idiots, not in the least.

Tsadi

Tsadi, like Ayins, is just confusing. I’m not too well versed, but I’ve seen iterations of them where they side with "Resh," who is really just a concept art character that has definitely changed from the base game in concept art. Even then, they've never officially appeared in-game; you just have those statues in Wasteland. And in those interpretations of seeing Resh as a full-fledged character, they’re seen as "evil," which I don’t agree with at all. I mention them because most of the time, Tsadi would side with Resh in the war to mant; them seeing Resh as pro-Darkstone in the war (the diamonds Teth makes, and that we light up, basically the main power source for sky), this would imply Tsadi destroyed their realm because they followed the "king." However, their sun shield is right there; based on the memories of wounded warriors, it shows that they were on the "sun side" of their friend. If they we're pro darkstone and was on the same side as the hypothetical "king" wouldn't they have a diamond shield?

"But the spear falling in warrior's and seeds memory could be them," would you expect Tsadi to attack their own realm, where civilians are in warrior memory? Attack their own PEOPLE for the reasons I stated above?

Lamed

Like most of the elders, they're pretty much forgotten. And frankly, I haven’t seen any character interpretations that stick out, so their section is more about how they’re mistreated. Mostly on their headscarf, which is confirmed to be based off a hijab by one of the devs, Ash. Who explains why we should be respectful about it.

And god, so many POC deal with shit already because their hair or cultural clothing are described as food or even worse which many hate. It's disheartening to see almost every joke or comparison refer to Lamed being an "Egg".

More stuff that piss me off

"Bad rulers"

I despise when folks call the elders "evil" or "bad rulers," not seeming to care for their people or even being seen as lazy, which baffles me. Have you watched the vault cutscene?

ALL OF THEM ARE ASSISTING ANCESTORS, AND EVERYONE IS LEADING, GUIDING, OR CREATING THINGS FOR THE ANCESTORS IN SOME WAY.

For fuck's sake, Flight Guide is Ayin's apprentice! Would someone who doesn't care about their people bother with an apprentice? Even a flight guide shares the same pattern on their pants as Ayin, and the same pattern on the flight post's. It's ridiculous how folks can spew the most disproven zero reading comprehension ever when this shit is right here.

And they're not saints; they made mistakes, of course, but I see them wanting the best for their people and the kingdom. But in the process, they made huge mistakes that piled up and spilled over, resulting in the kingdom's downfall. But it wasn’t done out of malice; they tried and messed up big time, but they weren't evil, not one bit.

How many treat Lamed and Teth when it comes to shipping

I can’t stop who you ship; as long as it’s not weird and illegal, it’s whatever for me. Some pairs are not for me because of personal preferences/ familial head cannons, but I do dabble in ships. Yet it’s more mellowed out to me just saying "cute" when I see fanart and moving on. But it irritates me that when Teth or Lamed are shipped with most people, they appear to be more submissive in some ways. I’m not saying they can’t be happy, but to me, in so much ship art, it seems like just because they look more feminine, they’re suddenly almost always a blushing or shy mess, or (and I hate to use this term) a tsundere for Teth in some other cases. But that’s completely my biased opinion.

Fucks sake in my earlier time in the fandom, I was a Lamed/Tsadi fan, but again, it’s mellowed out to me just seeing fanart and thinking it's cute and moving on if it comes naturally. But I didn’t make one meek and the other an alpha male or some dumb shit when I used to draw them as I've seen many do. I mention this because I can see some folks calling me hypocritical for pointing this out. But the reason it irritates me is when Teth or Lamed are paired with someone (who often appears to be masc) almost always seem out of character simply because they're with said person. Which rubs me the wrong way since they are usually almost always seen as fem presenting in many folks eyes. Again, I don't have an issue with the pairs themselves; it just irks me when only their personalities seem to be changed for the sake of it, where it's just out of character.

How some elders greatly overshadow others and leave them in the dust

I'm guilty of this, fucks sake most of my content is twin stuff. And while I can feed on alot of twin content here, many folks who are fans of any other elder's barely get crumbs, even less so with Daleth, Ayin, And Lamed who are pretty much left do the dust. Which I hate because i know why.

The reason, Twins and Teth and even Tsadi are so popular when they others aren't is because they're "conventionally attractive", all are fit, all are gorgeous and can be attractive to many. Yet so can the others be appreciated, yet they aren't. Again, i know a hypocrite because of my blog being mostly twin stuff, yet even blogs like mine that don't focus on a single elder barely draw Daleth, Ayin, and Lamed. It sucks ass.

I think that’s all. I’m just sick of how the elders are treated by everyone.

#i was talking with some friends how the elders are treated by the fandom and im just so done #so i wrote this #isle elder #prairie elder #forest elder #valley elders #valley twins #wasteland elder #vault elder #sky elders #sky cotl #skyblr #sky children of the light #sky: children of the light #sky: cotl #tac rambles #fatphobia #i think thats all

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nientedenada · 1 year ago

Text

Is it fair to say Tiber Septim nuked Alinor? - The nature of Numidium as a weapon

Reposted from r/teslore. Yes. It's completely fair.

Lately, I’ve read and participated in a bunch of arguments over

whether it’s right to compare Numidium to a nuclear weapon,

whether it caused nuclear-weapon level destruction in Tiber Septim’s conquering of Summerset.

I’ve seen the argument that if you go by official Bethesda sources only, there is nothing to support 1 & 2. It’s alleged that only Michael Kirkbride’s unofficial writings support this. Specifically, this post:

Numidium's siege of Alinor: It's not the Brass God that wrecks everything so much as it is all the plane(t)s and timelines that orbit it, singing world-refusals. The Surrender of Alinor happened in one hour, but Numidium's siege lasted from the Mythic Era until long into the Fifth. Some Mirror Logicians of the Altmer fight it still in chrysalis shells that phase in and out of Tamrielic Prime, and their brethren know nothing of their purpose unless they stare too long and break their own possipoints.

That’s a reflection on how the Numidium worked in Alinor by one of the devs who wrote parts of this story about Tiber Septim and Numidium. I think it influences Bethesda official lore (as we’ll see when we get to ESO) and will continue to do so. However, we’re going to put unofficial lore aside for this post, and take a look at what the official lore says about Numidium and whether it supports the nuclear weapon comparison.

Numidium of course doesn't work like a nuclear bomb. That's not what anyone means when they're comparing it to a nuclear bomb. They're comparing it to a similarly feared horrible weapon of mass destruction. For us, the nuclear bomb represents the worst weapon imaginable, for Third Era Tamriel, it’s much the same way.

There are not many sources on Tiber Septim’s invasion of Summerset. The Pocket Guide to the Empire, First Edition, which is one of the main Tiber-era sources, is written before the Armistice with Morrowind and the invasion of Summerset. The anti-Imperialism game Redguard is also pre-Numidium, with Tiber Septim’s deputies searching Dwemer ruins for weapons. We never hear the story of the invasion from a Summerset source. We’re stuck with some very vague references. We know Tiber Septim used Numidium to conquer Summerset, but what happened there?

The Pocket Guide to the Empire, Third Edition says,

Thus, the Dominion thrived until the coming of Tiber Septim. The conquest and assimilation of Summerset into the Empire is remembered by many a living Altmer with horror only partially diminished by time. Certainly, the pride of the people has never recovered.

People argue over whether the “horror only partially diminished by time” refers to the horrific nature of the Conquest or to Altmer horror at humans conquering them. I believe that, from what we know of Numidium, it’s both, but the source here doesn’t say outright.

During the War of the Isle in 3E 110, the Maormer of Pyandonea were very nearly successful in conquering their ancient enemy, and the Altmer had to call upon the aid of the Psijics and the Empire to help defend themselves.

The Dominion’s ability to defend itself was still not restored 110 years after Numidium.

So, given how scant our sources are on the use of Numidium in Summerset, we have to look at the general cultural memory and opinion of Numidium in Tamriel, and at the one time we get a detailed canon look at its use: the Warp in the West.

Sotha Sil, quoted in the Truth in Sequence, calls it “the walking horror.”

But most profane is this: the walking horror that bears the Name, NM. The Brass Tower of Vanity. The mindless guardian of the Nirn-Prior. The Antipodal-God-Thing that reigns on the darkest pole of the sacred Nirn-Sphere. Of all the threats to Tamriel Final, NM is the greatest. Anuvanna'si. The Daedra can be banished in thought, but NM must be sundered on Nirn. It is the welded knot at the center of Anu that must be untied. The God-Puzzle. The Mainspring Ever-Wound remains silent on this point. And where there is silence, there is great wisdom.

In Where You When the Dragon Broke? the tender to the Mane speaks

You did it again with Big Walker, not once, but twice! Once at Rimmen, which we'll never learn to live with.

What happened at Rimmen with Big Walker that the Khajiit can never learn to live with? Well, there's an official Bethesda Q&A promoting Morrowind from 1999 that makes the nuclear comparison clear

Jodenjone! Don' let Marshee lie to you about Big Walker. The Blades took It from here, sure, but they din' take It back to Cyrodiil and rebuild the thing. Talos, he "annexed" a swath of our bounty-land in Ana'quinal and cleared the Khajiiti out by force. There's where he built the Hall of Colossus—a mighty name for a secret testing warehouse—and that's where Big Walker was born. And that's why that part of our Elsweyr is still poisoned glow-rock, where no cats go. Ach, for the lunacy of you Wayward Folk!

"Poisoned glow-rock". It’s not just the fans comparing Numidium to a nuclear weapon It's clear that was the devs' intention here.

The horror of the Numidium is also the foundation of the main quest of Daggerfall. Throughout the Agent’s quest, s/he receives letters from various random people and factions in game detailing the Numidium’s reputation.

The first letter the Agent gets reads

You have probably not heard the fairy tale of Numidium, but you need to. The legend dates back to the earliest parts of the third era [sic]. Numidium was supposed to be a giant so big his hands could knock the moons from the sky. I do not recall from the stories whether Numidium was supposed to be good or bad, but the legends used to scare me as a child.

Followed by another letter:

Numidium was Tiber Septim's secret weapon in his bid for supreme power: a thousand foot tall automaton, a golem or an atronach of sorts powered by a gem called the Mantella. The Mantella was infused with the life orce [sic] of Tiber Septim's Imperial Battlemage, and with it, Septim crushed all who stood in his way. After the complete and total defeat of all his opponents, Septim began using Numidium to crush the neutral royal families of Tamriel so that he could enthrone only persons he knew to be loyal. His Imperial Battlemage was furious at this use of his creation, and fought to reclaim the Mantella.

The letter writers aren’t certain how it worked or what it did exactly - which matches Tiber Septim’s secrecy, Numidium’s immediate destruction after its first big use, and the nature of a time-breaking machine that messes with people’s recollections of how things happened. But they are sure that Numidium was a horror, a weapon of mass destruction unlike anything else.

The people of the Iliac Bay would soon get a front row seat to that horror.

The Warp in the West is the only time in canon that we get extensive details on the aftermath of Numidium’s use. As could be expected from the general fear of the Numidium in the above sources, the picture isn’t pretty. We don’t know exactly how Numidium would have functioned in Summerset, but we do know that Numidium works by breaking time. The clash of many different narratives and timelines in the Iliac Bay brought about massive losses of life and property, and huge environmental damage.

The shorter account of the Warp in the West is in the Pocket Guide to the Empire, Third Edition. Bolding of phrases attesting to the destructive force of the events mine.

In the year 417, however, the province redefined itself in a most mysterious way. They call the event the Miracle of Peace. On the 10th of Frostfall, a strange force exploded over the Iliac Bay, displacing armies and decimating whole territories. Though its nature is still unknown, most Bretons believe it was the ancient Gods who had once made High Rock their home scouring the land, making it whole once again. Though it was a painful process for most - the Miracle is sometimes spoken of as the Warp in the West - the result of it is a province that is more unified than it has ever been in modern history. Where once there were a hundred small squabbling kingdoms, today, just two decades after the Miracle, there are five.

Even the ever-optimistic PGE3 admits it was a catastrophe for those who lived through it, but claims the resulting hegemonies and peace were worth it.

The Book, The Warp in the West, which is a private Blades’ report on the event is less circumspect about the details.

Speaking of the official “Miracle of Peace”:

The catastrophic destruction of landscape and property and the large loss of life attending upon this miracle is understood to have been 'tragic, and beyond mortal comprehension.'

And

The other remarkable features of these events -- mass disappearances, armies mysteriously transported hundreds of miles or completely annihilated, titanic storms and celestial phenomena, apparent local discontinuities of time -- fit comfortably into the notion that these events are part of a vast, mysterious divine intervention.

Mass disappearances of people, armies annihilated, titanic storms: all these are part of the catastrophe caused by Numidium. The Blades agents on the scene had more details. I’m quoting the bits that specifically attest to the destruction and harm caused by Numidium.

The Blades have on file few reports from agents dating from the "Warp in the West" period. Most of our agents were lost in the initial dislocations, and others were lost in the confusion after the event.

Most Blades agents in the area died or vanished in the Warp. Others fell to the after-effects.

The Report of Hammerfell Agent 'Briarbird' 'I was on assignment in the Alik'r Desert, a few miles south of Bergama on the 9th of Frostfall. I was encamped, as it was still early morning, when I felt the ground shake so violently, I was thrown to the ground. Dazed, I was aware of a great roar of a sandstorm, which alarmed me, as I had been on a high dune and had seen nothing like that on the horizon. It was on me before I was even on my knees, burying me and my camp.

The first detail on the “titanic storms”. Here, the ground shakes violently and sandstorm buries people in its way.

Briarbird continues:

When I crawled my way out of the sand, I realized that I must make haste and get to Bergama as soon as possible, as all my food and water had been swept away. The sun was just rising as I began, like I said. When I reached Bergama, it was nightfall. The town was in chaos, filled with the soldiers of Sentinel. The Lord of Bergama's fortress was in ruins.

Bergama got off better than other places, as we’ll see. The fortress is said to be in ruins the Sentinel armies have defeated its own troops (who can’t recall how or when it happened), but the town is still there.

Much unluckier is the next account:

The Report of High Rock Agent 'Graylady' ’I was, at the time of the Warp, undercover as a witch in the Skeffington Coven of Phyrgias [sic], in central High Rock. In order to give my report, I had volunteered for an expedition to gather supplies, which would allow me the freedom to reach my contact in Camlorn. I was traveling north-east along the foothills of the Wrothgarian Mountains, on the 9th of Frostfall, when I felt a great heat behind me, like a fire. I turned, but I regret to say I cannot tell you what I saw. The healers tell me my eyes were burned out of my sockets.

This bit btw, about the wave of heat, seems to be consciously modeled off accounts of Hiroshima and Nagasaki survivors.

I think I must have fallen into a state of semi-consciousness, for I distinctly remember falling as the ground seemed to give way beneath me. Then there was a series of explosions in the distance, to the south, and I heard high whistling noises that were getting louder, coming closer. I had my shield with me, and fortunately anticipated that volleys of some sort were falling from the sky. Though I could not see them, I could hear them coming from a distance away, and was able to use my shield to block them from striking me. The assault stopped suddenly, and I could smell smoke. I learned later that most of the forest of Ykalon and Phygias [sic] had caught fire, in an inferno that started further south in Daenia and the Ilessan Hills. Fortunately, I kept my bearings, and moved north, finally reaching a temple in the wilderness where my wounds were healed, as well as they could be.

People here experienced the Warp in the West as a fiery inferno and volleys coming from the sky. Even after the Warp itself ended, the forest fires that it began kept burning.

It was there I learned that there had been a three-way clash between Daggerfall, Wayrest, and Orsinium not far from where I had been, and that the land midway between their kingdoms had been decimated.'

‘Graylady’ doesn’t say that the land decimated was all wilderness or countryside, just that it’s the land midway between the kingdoms. In the heavily populated Iliac Bay, it would have included towns and villages and farms.

Lord Strale encountered a tsunami-like wave on the River Bjoulsae.

'We had just passed the delightful riverside village of Candlemass when the captain sounded the alarum. There, in front of us, was a colossal wall of water, at least thirty feet high. It smashed our barge to splinters before any of us had a chance to react. I woke up on the shore, having been rescued by one of my servants who had miraculously not lost consciousness. He and I and one other man were the only survivors.

Strale finds every town along the Bjoulsae on fire in the aftermath, with soldiers fighting along it.

there were seven great battles in the Iliac Bay, and no one could describe them at all, only their bloodsoaked aftermath

And

to summarize: on the 9th of Frostfall, there had been forty-four independent kingdoms, counties, baronies, and dukedoms surrounding the Iliac Bay, if one includes the unconquered territories of the Wrothgarian Mountains, the Dragontail Mountains, the High Rock Sea Coast, the Isle of Balfiera, and the Alik'r Desert. On the 11th of Frostfall, there were but four - Daggerfall, Sentinel, Wayrest, and Orsinium - and all the points where they met lay in ruins, as the armies continued to do battle.

And

The battles continue on, now months later, as I return to the Imperial City to make my report. What more do I have to say? They are bloody, violent clashes, as is always the case with modern warfare, but I have been to the blackened, desolate no-man's land between the four remaining kingdoms. No mortal army caused that devastation. I can say that the force that shook the Iliac Bay on the 10th of Frostfall 3E 417 was infinitesimally [sic] greater than the power these mighty kingdoms are wielding today.

Is the Numidium a nuke? No. Is it a catastrophic weapon of mass destruction, one of the worst weapons the people of Tamriel can imagine? Yes. Did it cause mass destruction in Alinor as well? Almost certainly yes. That’s how it works. It meddles with time, but not bloodlessly: Numidum retcons reality, but in the process it also burns, maims, drowns, and kills people, and destroys regions, as seen in the Warp in the West. It’s the perfect weapon to bring down an island nation that can otherwise defend itself against outside invasion.

That is why we compare it to a nuclear weapon. It's a comparison that I believe the developers intended as well, for what it's worth. And if I'm a bit over-passionate about the point, here's why. The developers went out of their way to show the horror of modern war and weapons of mass destruction. It's a bit of reality they injected into this fantasy world. I think it's worth taking in, rather than arguing that actually, Numidium isn't that bad, and it's an exaggeration to compare it to a nuke.

Even if you don't think you'd personally compare Numidium to a nuclear weapon, it should be clear that it's a quite rational comparison other people can make based on the evidence.

This post sparked some interesting and passionate discussions as well as some very angry politically-charged ones that are now thankfully deleted! You can read the full discussion here, since I don't want to copy large bits of other people's responses on to my tumblr. But I'll append some stuff I wrote in the comments.

We see something very specific with the atomic bombs, and with the TES reports of Numidium's wreckage, which I think are actuallly modeled in part on eyewitness accounts from HIroshima and Nagasaki.

Both are a horror that's incomprehensible. A single moment in which the entire world around the witness goes from normal to apocalypse without any seeming explanation or warning. The laws of reality themselves seem to bend and the earth tears itself to pieces. Nuclear war really was a historical departure from previous experiences in this regard.

If you compare historical atrocities by which was worse, the bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki didn't claim many lives compared to other horrifying deaths in WWII. They still haven't been followed up. All the many atrocities of the 20th and now 21st centuries haven't involved the use of nuclear weapons on populations.

But the threat of Nuclear war still stands out as something categorically different and horrible, the potential for the complete destruction of humanity in such a short time. The Numidium was probably only used once or twice in history, but it has the same terrifying potential, and is even more inexplicable to the residents of Tamriel than the nuclear bomb is to us today.

Roak67 made some interesting comments about whether we can trust certain sources, given Bethesda has retconned a lot. I replied:

You have to take any lore with a grain of salt, since it's bound to be contradicted at some point, but you're right that older sources like the Skeleton Man interview are most likely to be contradicted. However, I'd say it's important for a few reasons.

It's official lore, copyright Bethesda, and contradicts the idea that the Nuclear comparison is unofficial lore from Michael Kirkbride's pronouncements post-full-time-employment with Bethesda. Nope, the nuclear comparison was there during Morrowind development as shown by the "glow rocks".

The origin of the Halls of the Colossus has been retconned twice, first by Skeleton Man, then by ESO. However, unless there's something in the future that retcons the information Numidium was rebuilt, tested, and activated there, that lore should still stand. It's a big place with a spot for the Numidium, no matter who first built it. "Where were you when the Dragon broke?" refers back to what happened there, and continues to be in the games.

I think it was turned on in Rimmen and then went to Alinor in one incident. Breaking time is, as far as I can see, a function of the Numidium, how it works. It's possible it can work in other ways, as you've proposed, but it wouldn't be my favoured interpretation.

If Tiber Septim had better control over it - which is likely enough - I'd suggest he was still breaking time, because its advantage is getting to a place and defeating defences while the opposition is unaware, but could better direct it to hit his targets in Alinor.

About Summerset's lowered defence capabilities after Numidium.

I'm not making that assumption. That's simply the only baseline we have for the condition of the Isles post-Numidium. It's 110 years later.

However, we do know that prior to Numidium, Summerset always was able to push back invaders. According to the PGE3 at least they weren't able to after Numidium.

Did Tiber Septim use Numidium anywhere else than in Elsweyr (turning it on) and Summerset?

The legends surrounding Numidium posit that he was in the process of turning it on neutral parties, at and some point the Underking stopped him. According to the Arcturian Heresy, he didn't actually get that far. The Arcturian Heresy is clear that he only used it on Summerset Isle and the Underking destroyed it right after.

Daggerfall lore has him using it to conquer all of Tamriel, but no one after speaks of it, so I would guess that's been retconned? It's certainly been removed from later versions of the in-game book, the Real Barenziah. The Daggerfall version had the Numidium conquer Morrowind, that is gone from later games, and the new Numidium origin story is that the Tribunal gave Tiber Septim the Numidium in return for peace. All of the above leads to the lore post I've never written, but need to some day, which basically would be. "Yeah, Tiber Septim is a bad guy and he was MEANT to be a bad guy. Each TES game is learning more about stuff he did and there's rarely anything good." But it's a delicate subject, particularly since some devs. started going on like he was the best thing since sliced bread because he found CHIM. (Press X to doubt). Anyway, that's another story for another time, but the bottom line is the gods in TES are not necessarily good, they're just powerful. See every other Daedra who might help you out sometimes but has also been involved in some plot against humanity. And the Aedra aren't always nice either. Talos fits into the crowd as one of the better documented and more recent stinkers.

#tesblr #tes lore #Numidium #tiber septim #high rock #summerset #niente lore

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sqarletsworldlesswandering · 2 months ago

Note

I caved

More ophan trivia, perhaps? Specifically cultural stuff because I think those are interesting-

Alrighty, *rubs hands*

Language:

I mentioned briefly that the angelic orders have their own language, and Ophanim have their own dialect in said language. Theirs is probably the hardest for other angels to understand - sort of like the average English speaker has a very hard time understanding a thick Irish dialect, even though they're still technically speaking English.

However, the purpose of this language is pretty specific - it's very much a sub-cultural language. It can be used for private communication between Ophanim, especially among other Starfolk, but it also functions as a cultural bond point. It's considered formal and respectful to greet fellow Ophanim in this language, especially if they're your elders, regardless of which language the remaining conversation happens in. It's also a core language for their arts - prose and poetry are usually spoken, memorized, and/or written in this language.

It is also considered disrespectful to address an angel from another order in one's own dialect if the address is meant to be formal. If you don't know theirs, you use the common tongue, not your own. There's a set of basic greetings across the dialects that most angels make sure they know, just because it's polite.

Incidentally, because of how the language works, Ophanim are responsible for all of the writing involved - they don't exactly have Inkwells to do it for them, at least not very many. A couple sentient ones have learned the language, but transcribing the Ophan dialect is tricky at best, and the writing system is wildly different from standard speak. Rather than orbital structuring, the angelic language is written in glyph loops, and the word order is... much more flexible, because a lot of parts of speech are denoted by prefixes.

While most sonar speak is a single blip containing the entirety or a large part of what the Starfolk is saying, this is more spread out. An eavesdropper would hear and musical chain of sonar pings, each containing a small phrase or idea, with the sonar break separating out sentences and ideas at a smaller scale that the average Starfolk. Some observers have likened it to listening to birds sing and chirp.

I should also note that Ophanim have their own very small set of non-sonar vocalizations/sounds that they use in broader, vague communication. Namely, electricity humming - meaning is informed by the harshness, pitch, and duration of the hum. They also communicate through little electric shocks that they can send jumping from themselves to each other. It's a useful silent communication method, all things considered.

Robes:

I said before that Ophanim's robes (really all angel robes) have high personal value - heavily personalized, revolve around significant events, and very labor intensive.

Ophanim have a few different categories of robes:

Their primary robes, which are the ones they wear the majority of the time. These are the "coming of age" robes that they so often make themselves, either on their own or with the help of a mentor. In fact, younger Ophan frequently have a mentor teaching them in a number of things, and one of those things - towards their "graduation" so to speak - is making their robes.

Gifted robes - gifting robes is a massive sentimental tradition, and is considered a very high honor to receive, especially since they're usually handmade by the gifter. Such robes may be worn to general events, and are often designed for specific events.

Festival robes - Ophanim, and the angelic orders as a whole, have a number of festivals across the year. Some of these festivals have specific garments associated with them, some don't. Festival robes are often less ornate and more free-flowing, but with plenty of brighter colors, and more bits and pieces.

Pajamas - because ain't nobody sleeping in any of the above, and they do value comfort. Said pajamas are usually nightgown-ish, very soft, and low-backed in the event that the wings decide to make an appearance. They also look a little bit dorky because again, these guys are built like sticks. It's kinda reminiscent of a bedsheet ghost.

The weaving process:

Materials include primarily Weaver silk, usually charmed or imbued with protective spells - Ophan spellwork specifically, since the different angelic orders have different spell-work and specialties. It's a fair bit more potent than regular magic, and longer lasting too.

There's often at least some material that's made of their own feathers that they shed. "Bundling feathers" is an idiom in their culture meaning to gather something up in large quantity, or to hoard something/gather it in somewhat ludicrous quantities, and stems from the practice of meticulously collecting and storing your fallen feathers for use in a robe. Most angels actually collect their feathers when they come out, whether for robes or not, but the specific act of carefully storing all your lost feathers for robe making is a bit of an inside joke by now. The feathers can make two different materials: The web of the feather, mixed with a few other things, produces filmy sheets that work wonderfully as inner lining, and can be stitched over other fabric to create a shiny, glossy finish. The stalk of the feather - depending on how sturdy it is, can be used to add stiffness to areas that need it. Stalks from larger feathers work as boning in the abdominal area (makes for some great back support tbh), and the more flexible stalks from smaller feathers can be sewn into the lower hems of skirts to give them more structure and flare. Sometimes they also use the whole feather for decoration, but that's less common.

As for the process itself - basically every Ophan knows how to operate a very large loom, a skill that comes in handy for some other things too - tapestries, blankets, pillows, etc. A lot of their home furnishing involving fabric is handwoven.

It's an incredibly lengthy process, but a worthwhile one, and they come out of it with their very own personalized, well tailored robes.

Festivals and Holidays:

The angelic orders have an assortment of festivals and holidays, some of which are shared laterally across the orders.

Most of the time, any and all Starfolk are welcome and invited to celebrate with them and partake in the festivities. There's a very small handful of... not so much holidays as... "observations" that have a fair bit more gravitas and weight to them, and others are discouraged from participating without full understanding of the holiday or festival. I... haven't really worked out what festivals they have, so here's some general ideas that may be subject to change (suggestions are very welcome-)

Typically, holidays are just the one day, the festivals are multiple days (usually a week or so), and then "observances" vary.

Holidays:

Edrorin - this one is hardly an Ophanim holiday specifically, but rather an all-starfolk holiday celebrating the end of the Conflict. However, the Ophanim do in fact bring a great deal of life to the party.

Dayglory - a summer holiday occurring on the longest day of the year, and that lasts from sunrise to sunset.

Nightglory - a winter holiday lasting from sunset to sunrise on the shortest day of the year.

Days of Balance - a pair of twin holidays celebrating equal day and night, which employ many activities and decorative themes centering on balance.

Gladirif - this one is less a designated holiday, and more of a flock celebration for whenever an Ophan becomes Gladiran. Because that doesn't really... happen very often, flocks usually celebrate the anniversary of it. This is usually a celebration between the flock in question and the wielding cherubim.

Festivals:

Nesting Festival - This is a funny one, because all the angelic orders celebrate it, but they each do it very differently, so there's effectively up to four different festivals going on in different places and different times, because "nesting season" varies. Angels celebrate it every year, as do the Ophanim, the Cherubim every four years, and Seraphim every other year. The basic gist of it is "teach any newbies how to nest properly" and then a bunch of market stalls where you can buy and trade nesting materials, because those tend to wear out after a bit, and the nest sometimes needs shoring up. This is totally unrelated to the slight uptick in Angel starlets shortly after.

Festival Hashemeim - Elsewise known as the Skygazing festival. During the day, there's some market stalls and games, but mostly sleeping. During the night? Good food, warmth in blanket bundles, and very little ambient light, because they're going to staying up all night watching the sky do its thing with the assorted light phenomena that act up long about the beginning of spring.

Festival of Veils - this one is new, and developed in New Eden, and celebrated by all the angelic orders. This one they often invite others to join them for the third day, but the first two you really should only attend if you know the history, or plan on learning it. It's a three-day long festival characterized (rather obviously) by the wearing of veils and masks, or anything else that covers the star. The festival remembers the casting down of the Seraphim, as well as their eventual restoration. The first day of the festival, you wear dark clothing, thick veils, and fairly minimal ornament. The main events include the Dance of Fire (a dance form reenactment of their falling) - and the Chant of The Depths (a lamenting chorus resembling the tones of Leviathan and Daemonae sonar). The second day is much the same attire wise, though often with more... militant tones. It's a silent day - no one speaks, and most of the festival is attending visual acts commemorating the trials of the conflict, including the strife between Seraphim and Leviathan. Then, at last, the third day, and the best part of the whole festival - the color comes back, you throw back the veils, there's dancing and feasting and lots of singing. This one the Seraphim themselves show up and parade for a bit, and often join in some of the festivities themselves. Of particular note are the Seraphim who were themselves cast down and are now restored.

Perahsil - a week-long festival celebrating the blooming of all things foliage. Flowers and fruits are budding, plants are growing, the world is bursting into color, and the festival reflects that every bit

Zaiytot - Another week-long festival, this time in celebration of the harvest specifically. This one was actually started by the Angels, since they're usually the first to be helping with the harvest itself, but the Ophanim are also very involved. The Cherubim and Seraphim usually have other matters demanding their attention, but will often attend the last day or two.

Going back to nesting...

Nesting and Flocking:

Because boy howdy, these guys have some strong nesting instincts.

If you are a friend of someone in the flock, you're nearly part of the flock, more so the closer you are with the Ophan. So in, say, Aven's case, he is outright considered part of Throne's flock. (By the way, what do we think of Tephira as an alternate name for her?)

If you are part of the flock, they will fret over you, and if you don't come nest with the flock once in a while they start to get worried.

Sharing a nest for them is a show not only of familial love, but also of significant trust.

They also get... antsy around late fall and start sprucing up the nest and packing in a whole bunch of new bedding and blankets in preparation for the winter, because most of them reside in the Silver Peaks and winters there are harsh. Will they 100% fuss over each other like they're all starlets? Yes, yes they will. The number of times Throne's flock gets fidgety and broody when Aven gets soaked in a lake is... rather ridiculously high. At least once an unsuspecting Aven got scooped up by an Ophan with a big fluffy towel and subjected to a very thorough (but gentle) drying. He was confused, but not bothered.

Flocks often have some very deep-rooted care routines for each other as well, including grooming/cleaning and back rubs, plus wing maintenance, which is a whole (exceedingly delicate) thing.

Speaking of, with wings? Especially in the angelic orders, especially with thinner wings like the Ophanim? You do NOT touch the wings without permission. Those are sensitive and touchy and while they are very aware of how to treat them, you are not. Uninvited touch is a massive no-no, and is liable to get you smacked or zapped.

I mentioned this in the other post as well, but angels get claustrophobic. Ophanim are no exception, and arguably are the most so. They need elbow room, and they like to have a pretty consistent view of the sky.

#sqarlettalks #ask box shenanigans #worldless au: eclipsed

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magicaguajiro · 5 months ago

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hi, in one of your maracas there’s a cross like symbol,And I think I recognize that symbol! Can you explain more about it? I grew up heavily Cuban including visiting the island every break I get and I think I saw that same exact symbol in one of my trips!

Yes of course!! Here is the Maraca for reference:

So this symbol is actually not specifically Taíno. Much of my family are from a separate Island called Isla de Pino when they lived there. Now it is called Isla de La Juventud. It is known as Guanasa by the Indigenous Cubans and was presumed to be inhabited by a Guanahatabey culture.

On my beautiful island, we have a cave called Cueva de Punta del Este. Caves are sacred to Indigenous Caribbeans, and this one has been called the Sistine Chapel of Caribbean Indigenous Cave Art.

Here is a couple of the many pictures on the cave walls:

Many of these are presumed to represent the Solar System, the Moon’s orbit around the earth, different constellations and planets. The Cross, in mine and others beliefs, is the Morning Star aka the planet Venus. Venus plays a major role in many indigenous myths, especially in the Caribbean. We even see the Seminole having myths and planning ceremonial and social events around Venus, who they call the Bashful Star.

All crosses also represent the Medicine Wheel to me. I didn’t subscribe to the Medicine Wheel 100% at first because I heard some people call it Pan-Indianism and obviously thats something we want to avoid as all of our cultures, although connected, are certainly independent and different. This was until I learned of artifacts found here in my part of Florida that show Indigenous Spiritual Leader’s jewelry depicting what appeared to be a medicine wheel, as well as hearing some Seminole and Miccosukee Elders speak on their Origins of the Medicine Wheel.

I hope this helps!!

#witchcraft #florida #bioregional animism #bruja #brujeria #florida witch #santeria #swamp witch #witch #traditional witchcraft #taino spirituality #taino #indigenous caribbean #indigenous #nativeamericans

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celestialholz · 2 years ago

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The Anatomy of an Outfit (aka 'holy fucking Continuum THE LOOK™)

Y'all know I haven't seen a single STP episode since 2.9. I would rather gargle with acid than go near this show ever again frankly, but, well...

... Good sweet sanctuary what the fucking hell is THIS. :O (@tennant, clearly a fellow appreciator of all things ancient god, must be thanked profusely for these glorious few shots I'm about to show off. <3)

I called this lovely, lovely man returning about ten minutes after he 'died', but I don't think any of us were expecting his outfit to slay THIS HARD when he did. And not only is it the sexiest thing my fortunate eyes have ever had the pleasure to absorb, but it also happens to be very, er... well let's be real here, it's ridiculously Qcard-coded.

Let's break it down, shall we?

We'll start with the obvious: it's maroon and black. This look appears to be a mad fusion of his Encounter at Farpoint judge robes (which is fair, we end as we begin), and his husband of forty years' captain's uniform. That piped shoulder's hugely reminding me of this, in fact:

It's the inverse! You know, the same look, flipped? Because they have perfectly distinct personalities but are also mega gay???? Costume department allies fr.

The delightfully dramatic sash Q's rocking is also interesting - it places maroon at the centre of the outfit, and is its grandest statement, which makes it an excellent example of the importance of the colour to its wearer. This is the clothing equivalent of him having mon capitaine tattooed across his essence, which... well yeah, valid. Canonical facts. It's worn across virtually his whole chest, too, because nothing says 'that's my husband' more than having him literally held against your heart.

It's a different era of captain, across two shoulders - the old teasing, and the new love.

Also, this fucking brooch.

Now, whilst I doubt they've given even John de Lancie a piece made of actual rubies for a fifteen-second scene, the stones here are very clearly meant to evoke them. And rubies are interesting for several reasons:

They're Picard's birthstone, his birthday being July 13th;

They're symbolic of power and protection. What follows is some of the interesting info I've picked up from internet gemology on rubies:

... Huh. Resolve disputes. 'Dispel anger,' when we've seen a darker Q in this series. And 'protective powers'... mm, how many times has Q saved Picard's life again? What did we get up to, six?

... 'Romantic love.' 'Devotion.' Uh-huh.

This brooch is also evocative of the Navaratna, or this thing:

The brooch itself is clearly stylised, but it features eight gems orbiting a central larger ruby (which is meant to be the sun by the way, as though this motherfucker wasn't already evocative ENOUGH of the sun here or here), and is an important cultural and religious symbol in Hinduism. What's it symbolic of, exactly?

... Oh, nothing much. Just... just this.

... Like I said, nothing much, just the whole concept of Qcard in fucking jewellery form.

The brooch's also, as the wife @porgthespacepenguin pointed out, an eight-pointed star.

... Have I mentioned yet that I fucking detest this show? Because I really fucking detest this show.

There's nine rubies on it, as well. Picard's in his nineties.

So, let's recap:

Nine of Picard's birthstone for his ninety years

Sun symbolism, AGAIN

Celestial relationships

Beyond space and time

Romance

Prosperity

Protection

Resolution

So, all that, from a brooch worn over an outfit that looks suspiciously like Picard's, which has a sash across it in Picard's colour.

... And I'm supposed to believe that Qcard isn't endgame? You're really going to gaslight me to this degree right in front of my salad, you absolute bastards????

Guys, when you inevitably wipe this shitshow of a Star Trek from your collective minds like I'm about to do, just... take this with you. Take the fact that everything about this outfit and this SHOW has said all along that Qcard is endgame, until they couldn't be arsed. Until they lost their balls for the pathetic few who might have naysayed it.

Patrick, and certainly John, deserved so much better. I'm glad that at least someone on this set understands that. (I see you, costumers. I see you, and I love you.)

Just going to... just going to stare at the absolute fine-aged wine of a man that is John de Lancie for a moment, before I lose my whole shit. He calms my soul, you see.

HIT THE SLAY KING JOHN <3

#qcard #q of the continuum #jean luc picard #just gonna throw in here again that I DETEST THIS SHOW WITH EVERY FIBRE OF MY BEING thank you for listening #can't believe love won guys even if no one actually bothered to tell us #they're married now and everything #star trek picard spoilers #stp #meta

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void-writing · 8 months ago

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Okay I’m back on my Mummies nonsense and I’m thinking about the untapped potential of Amanda Carnovan and wanting to bite something.

Like, I get that this is a late 90s Y7 show so of course the normal adults aren’t necessarily going to be involved very much given who the target audience is but we could have had SUCH FUN DYNAMICS between Amanda—technically mother of the pharaoh and also a certified Egypt nerd—and the Mummies. The Mummies, who would be an ancient civilization researcher’s WET DREAM because they’d be the ULTIMATE primary sources to their era of ancient Egyptian history. I may be projecting a bit, but having people who LIVED IN a civilization three thousand years ago AND who would be able to verbally talk about their experiences (biases and all) would be so cool.

Plus, I think Amanda and the Mummies would have gotten along so well. Like, they canonically respect her despite never really interacting with her purely on account of what Presley says about her.

I can see Amanda talking parenting and leadership with Ja-Kal and them confiding their doubts and hardships to each other that they wouldn’t talk about with anyone else. Like, for example, Amanda is a single mother working a full time job, and Ja-Kal struggled with balancing his responsibilities as the prince's guard with his duties as a father and husband. I think both of them would have a lot to talk about regarding work-life balance. Plus, Ja-Kal in the show was edging very close to "dad who stepped up" territory. I'm not saying that Ja-Kal and Amanda would get a romantic subplot (Amanda doesn't seem to be interested in looking for a boyfriend and Ja-Kal isn't either) but I feel like they'd become platonic co-parents in the right circumstances.

I can see Amanda just absorbing every historical and arcane lesson Rath gives and chiming in with her own knowledge. They’d butt heads and argue over specific facts for hours, both being entirely too stubborn at times to give the other an inch, but at the end of it all they’d do it again because they’re both nerds and love the pain of their research.

I can see Amanda and Nefer-Tina becoming gal pals, maybe at first being friends solely because they’re the only women in the group but ultimately enjoying each other’s company; Amanda affirming that Nefer-Tina isn’t wrong for being fascinated by modern advances while Nefer-Tina gets Amanda to break out of her shell a bit by dragging her along to experience the modern world with her (I can see circumstances conspiring to get them stealing a car together and I think I’m right about it).

I can see Amanda and Armon bonding over cooking and exchanging recipes from their respective cultures, even if they may have to substitute a few key ingredients for Armon’s recipes (I doubt Amanda would be able to get her hands on hippo steak, sadly).

Plus! I also want to see Amanda’s reaction to hearing that 1) her baby boy is the reincarnation of a murdered Egyptian prince from three thousand years ago (and one she made a full exhibit about and probably rambled to Presley about for months), and 2) the man who killed him the first time is still around in present day trying to not only do that AGAIN, but use her son’s soul to attain immortality for generally nefarious purposes.

What I’m saying is I wish we could have seen Amanda’s reaction to the Mummy Nonsense because she would have been a WELL of interesting character interactions and also likely caused Scarab headaches personally by beating him up for trying to repeatedly murder her son.

And don’t even get me STARTED on Walter! He was presented to the audience as Presley’s best friend but we hardly see him at all! We could have had Walter as the best friend sidekick! The non-chosen character stuck in the chosen’s orbit! He could have been a Toby Domzalsky or a Connie Maheswaran before those characters even EXISTED! We could have had Walter struggling with pressure from the Mummies to be as dogged and dedicated in his defense of Presley as they are because they see Walter as Presley’s last line of defense, someone who can protect Presley where they can't. After all, the Mummies can’t follow Presley into school and have to be careful about going out in public on account of their whole undead situation. It could be really interesting to see Walter get continuously pressured by these adults who literally died in the line of duty to follow in their footsteps, even if it meant meeting the same fate as them. It would have been interesting to see the Mummies be struck with the realization that they made themselves forget that Walter is a kid too and someone very dear to Presley, and that they were wrong to try and pressure him into becoming a warrior like them. It would have been interesting to see them try to atone for the way they treated Walter as another soldier for their cause. It would have been interesting to see how Walter buckled under the pressure the Mummies heaped on him and even more so if Scarab tried to exploit it because in his darkest moment, Walter would have just wanted all of this Mummy Nonsense to STOP and for everything to go back to how it was before (even though that’s impossible) and almost costing Presley his life because of it.

And Elaine! How cool would it have been if she didn’t have her memories conveniently wiped and she just elbowed her way into the Mummies’ and Presley’s crazy world of gods and monsters out of rabid interest in getting the truth, even if she has to learn a lesson about how not all truths are created equal and sometimes lies and secrets are made and kept to protect the innocent! We could have had an episode where Elaine gathered proof of the Mummies and Presley’s involvement with them and was SECONDS away from publishing before she’s confronted with the reality that Presley keeps his involvement with the Mummies under wraps (ba dum tss) because the anonymity surrounding his modern identity is the only thing keeping an immortality obsessed madman from turning up on his doorstep or in his class to LITERALLY KILL HIM AND EAT HIS SOUL. We could have had her be the reason Scarab learns Presley’s modern identity and her having to atone for putting him in MORE danger.

Ugh. There's just so much wasted potential and it makes me sad.

#screaming from the void #mummies alive #go watch it pls. you can watch the full series free on youtube bc I don’t think anyone cares enough to copyright claim it #it’s so 90s in both the good and bad way but the writing slaps surprisingly hard when you least expect it to #the fandom is so itty bitty and it makes me sad bc I don’t have people to rave about this dumb toy show with #like I’ve seriously been working on a rewrite of the WHOLE SERIES and EXPANDING it since it got tragically cancelled #ill paddle this canoe by myself and FOR myself if i have to but im still going to ramble about it

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professionalranter31 · 4 months ago

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So I got a chance to play Juno for a bit, both as and with

Gotta say she is fun to play as and with

Pairs well with nearly all heroes in all roles

Love the fact that now all three roles have a character that hovers off the ground (don’t count Zenyatta since it’s described as floating not hovering)

But I’m particularly excited about three specific things

The first is how she is gonna expand the lore of Lucheng Industries since Juno came to Earth because the Mars Colony lost contact with them

Second is the fact that some of her in game voice lines has her call Mei Aunty. That is huge for Mei’s lore but it also validates my thoughts that Mei needed someone she had a connection with before she was frozen. Because imagine how Mei feels, knowing she missed out on so many of Juno’s years, so many events and achievements. Imagine how that’s the moment where it sinks in for her just how much of her life she’s lost that she can never get back. Imagine how she could break down from that realization, that pain

Third thing is that holy shit apparently they colonized Mars. I never saw anything in the lore that revealed that until Juno was revealed back at Blizzcon. What this means though is we could get a map where we play on the Mars colony, but it also has implications of getting heroes not just from the Earth and Moon. Because how many planets in the solar system have they colonized? Do they have orbiting stations that people live on? And the final thing with this, how long until Blizzard decides to add Alien Sci-fi into all the other sci-fi genres that make up Overwatch? How long until they make a hero who is an alien?

I have several thoughts on the lore possibilities with Juno

But I’m also really hoping she ends up making a friendship with Venture. Because Juno has been shown to be heavily interested in various aspects of Earth, or Terran culture, including history. It’d be awesome to see Venture teaching Juno all that they know about history and just helping her understand aspects of Terran culture

Because Venture deserves the right to talk non stop about everything they know of history to someone willing to listen

#overwatch #overwatch 2 #overwatch juno #overwatch mei #mei ling zhou #overwatch venture #sloane cameron

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advertingpizza · 4 months ago

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What’s the lore behind Sykobe & Waves? I must know all there is to know about them :0

i had a whole draft i was working on throughout the day and lost it in the last 5 minutes of finishing a heated wii sports golf match 🤠

i've had a few asks for sykobe so i'll just use this as a single reply. you ask, i deliver. context, a lot of togruta society is a headcanon that i can explain in a later post.

also i love answering stuff like this!! i could talk about by boys all day long

cw for bad parenting and non graphic limb amputation

Sykobe Eyros is a 24 year old bounty hunter hailing from the Togruta clan Rivalke based on the abyssal planet Yxoha. Born to clan lead and force sensitive parents Sycante and Nalake, Sykobe and his older sister Neyti were both brought into the Jedi Order at a young age. Due to their unique background, both siblings had experience being involved in their cultural traditions, making them potential competitors for the throne. Sykobe's father, Sycante, constantly saw this as a threat to his leadership and actively sought to get both of his children dispelled from the Order by ensuring their training was ruthless and impractical.

While Sykobe survived far into his Padawan years , his sister succumbed to an unfortunate spinal injury after being ambushed by an alleged Sith. Sykobe always knew that his father ultimately played some role in what had happened with his sister, yet there was nothing he could do to prove involvement to the Order. Shortly after this time, Sykobe was left to complete his trials for knighthood, in which he was left in charge of the 307th Special Operations legion under the command of Alpaha-40, better known as Waves. With the aid of his newfound unit, he successfully completed his Jedi trials after running a successful rescue operation to save his master, Ezo Rizi. During this specific mission, Sykobe unknowingly tanked a blaster shot straight to his chest that penetrated his armor, leaving him with permanent damage to his heart. Thanks to the quick decision of Captain Waves to board another Jedi's Venator without permission, Sykobe was gotten into a bacta tank to heal a majority of his wounds.

Later into the Clone Wars, Sykobe was once again cleared for duty, relying on the use of a modified BD unit to administer a special medication that allowed him to remain in the field without risking death from his prior injury. He was quick to reunite with his legion, of which he began to treat like family. During this time, Sykobe's loyalty to the Republic began to falter as he uncovered a corrupt plot between his father and a Sith scientist, but no amount of hunting could get him the proof he needed. Instead of breaking his back to save a government that refused to protect him, Sykobe decided to expend his time by protecting each member of his legion. It was during this time that he unexpectedly began to foster a relationship with clone captain Waves after a shared recovery process following an orbital bombardment gone wrong. This was also around the time Sykobe and Waves decided to adopt two abandoned Togrutan children, Paka and Loha, as Sykobe was sworn to protected them under his clan's tradition.

Time was not in Sykobe's favor. Only a few months after settling into a position on the outer rim to avoid any run-ins with his father's fleet, Sykobe and the 307th were dispatched to locate 3 missing Destroyers. 2 of the 3 were presumed lost in deep space, whereas the 3rd orbited a small rocky planet far from charted space. In a freak accident where the group uncovered a very early prototype of the later Project I71A, Sykobe was overrun by infected reanimated corpses while evacuating his legion. He and his small squad were able to escape, although Sykobe sustained a mortal wound to his right leg. Not wanting to lose the only general that ever cared about them, Waves, as well as the other clones belonging to the small team, unanimously agreed to amputating Sykobe's leg to save his life. Trace amounts of the virus remained in his blood, yet it was not enough to severely inhibit his day to day life.

The remainder of the Clone Wars was quick. A final encounter between Sykobe and his father Sycante resulted in a duel to the death. With Sykobe's loyalty to the Republic already faltering, as well as his horrible lived experiences at the hands of his father, he did not hold back as the two initially dueled for leadership of the clan. Unfortunately, Sykobe had been blindsided by a second lightsaber wielded by his father that slashed across his stomach. Standing before the entirely of his legion, Sykobe was pushed off a cliff into a bottomless ravine as his father stood tall, claiming the victory for killing his only son. Months later, Order 66 rolled around. Despite Waves and the other Alpha-class troopers in the 307th being completely resistant to the order, all 4 of them at the time very religiously ambushed Sycante, executing him in cold blood for what they considered to be the only acceptable revenge.

Alpha-class ARC Trooper A-40, known as Waves by his brothers, is a special operations captain within the 307th legion. Born in the very beginning round of clones far before the creation of his quicker aging Beta brothers, Waves had the luxury of being trained by Jango Fett and the Mandalorians as many of the Alphas had been. Being unaltered, he and the rest of his batch, consisting of Alphas 41, 42, 43, 44, and 45, appropriately dubbed the 40 squad, all specialized in performing high stakes operations as well as injecting in multiple combat scenarios in order to turn the tides of the war.

Like many of his Beta counterparts, his first significant battle was upon Geonosis, where he very quickly learned that no matter how good he and his brothers were trained, many of the normal clones were painfully inexperienced and unfortunately, even if he tried, he could not save them all. This very quickly led to his distain for the Jedi Order, as he happened to have striking amounts of independence and self awareness when it came to the overarching reality of his purpose.

After serving his purpose as a special operations leader for many months, he and the legion he had led were eventually appointed a Jedi General. At first, hearing about the news that there would be a Padawan, he and the rest of the 40 squad were all appalled, seeing as a literal child on the battlefield would be no better than his undertrained brothers. Though his concerns held very real truth, he found that as a means of keeping his small team of Alpha troopers and the normal troopers they had adopted along the way together, the only option was to accept being under a general or else they would all be effectively disbanded and reassigned. This led to Waves working as a captain under Pantoran Jedi General Ezo Rizi, alongside his wild and disobedient Togrutan Padawan Sykobe Eyros.

In his first mission alongside his new general to apprehend a shapeshifting criminal responsible for stealing a holocron, Waves ended up getting tackled off a hill and stuck in an underground Separatist bunker after Sykobe unknowingly took a blaster shot that would've otherwise taken his life. Even though the Padawan was injured, the two were able to escape the bunker through a cavern encasing it by relying on Sykobe's echolocation. The two shared a brotherly bonding moment on the field shortly after escaping once Sykobe quite literally saved Waves from being eaten alive by the shapeshifter. Later finding out about the grave injury the Padawan had sustained, Waves slowly began to form a protective bond with the Togruta that put everything on the line for him, a feature he had not once observed in any other Jedi.

By now, Waves and Sykobe had become a relatively formidable force, as the young Jedi ascended to knighthood and inherited control of the legion. Almost every day, Waves and Sykobe spent hours training drill after drill, as they both shared the same passion for protecting the clones that served alongside them. Many battles later, the 307th found their way onto Kavado in a large offshoot conflict as a direct result of the slaves from Shili being rescued by the Republic. Waves and the 40 squad, as well as their adopted members ARC troopers Loch and Boulder, as well as a squad medic dubbed Tide, were assigned to evacuating a base while Sykobe investigated a trail of explosives that was far too coherent to have been planned out by a droid.

Unfortunately, Waves lost one of his own, Alpha-45, better known as Mesa, after he self sacrificed to save the rest of the squad from getting stuck in a collapsing building. Alpha-43, nicknamed Click, took a shot to the thigh while the baby of the squad Tide dropped limp after taking a shot to his helmet. Suffering heavy losses, Waves called in a desperate request for Republic backup after realizing that they had been sent straight into an ambush. All the while, Sykobe uncovered a Sith masterminding the attack and engaged him in a duel, catching the attention of the incoming fleet commanded by Jedi Master Sycante Eyros, a feared and dangerous force when it came to clone standards.

Instead of receiving the backup they had requested, a nearly impossible evacuation notice came as the Jedi Master's fleet prepared for an orbital bombardment on the entire outpost, an act that would cost an unfathomable loss of life. Waves attempted to detest the decision, as not only were many clone lives at risk for the possibility of killing one Sith, but a Jedi was in the middle of it all. Yet, the Jedi Master from above refused to withdraw his order for the sake of exterminating the Sith, although it became increasingly obvious that his only real purpose was trying to make the death of his son seem like an accident.

Although he ended up caught in the middle of an intense cultural drama between leading father and challenging son, Waves was lucky to escape the ordeal with his life. After running into the field to help escort his wounded brothers to safety, he got caught in the heart of the bombardment. His armor saved his life long enough for Sykobe to find him after the battle, in which the young Jedi used what he could of the force to stabilize the captain. During this shared moment as the two of them sat alone in the battlefield, it seemed that a deeper passion than just friendship fueled Sykobe's motives as he restlessly tended to Waves' wounds. Though Waves hadn't ever really had the luxury of being in love, he knew almost instantly after rousing from his state of unconsciousness that something about the Jedi lingering over him was far too important to ignore.

The first kiss was extremely out of the blue as Waves and Sykobe thought they both lost each other. Time only began to fly after that. It took a few more weeks, but after a rescue mission to save more Togrutas that had been taken into slavery and rescuing to Clan Rivalke children, Waves and Sykobe both came to realize their feelings for each other. Behind closed doors, the two would fantasize about a life after the war, thinking about all of the possibilities when it came to raising their family far, far away. Sykobe always spoke about a planet deep in an abyss that he grew up on, yet the idea always seemed horribly farfetched. Alas, it was a fun thought that always kept the two entertained as they survived day by day in the corrupt Republic. It was an honor at one point, as Waves had been trusted enough by Sykobe to be made an honorary member of his clan, allowing the two to become a pair mated for life by Togrutan tradition.

Losing Sykobe to his vicious father was the turning point that left Waves' heart shattered. Left with the two children and his squad to protect, Waves was on a quest for blood the moment Order 66 hit. While he had the independence to resist it, he sought retribution for what had happened to his fallen lover. Being trained in just about any scenario possible, there was no escape for Sycante as Waves and the 40 squad passionately hunted him down, ending his life with a blaster shot to the back of his montrals. Within hours, Waves and his entire squad defected, leaving for the promised safe haven Sykobe had always gone on about years in the past.

Two years passed since the loss of Sykobe. Waves had settled down in a small village on Yxoha with his small squad of clones, as well as Pantoran Jedi Jaira Rizi, who had come to trust Waves following the loss of her husband Ezo, who had formerly commanded Waves' legion. The two had come to share a soft love for each other, as they had both lost a lifelong partner to the war. Being together was healing, yet it could not replace the pain of losing the Togruta he had quite literally paired to for life. Yet, through some strange combination of luck and hopefulness, in the middle of the night, Sykobe simply showed up. Nobody really ever knew how, or why, but he was there again, and that was all Waves needed.

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grey-sorcery · 1 year ago

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