#climactic system

[solarpunkpresentspodcast]

S2.8 is now on YouTube!

Have you ever thought about how dinosaurs lived on a warm, swampy Earth and how we live on one that’s cold enough to keep pretty much the entirety of Greenland and Antarctica buried under kilometers-thick sheets of solid ice and wondered, hmm, how did we get from there to here? The short answer is that it took 50 million years of declining atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations and dropping temperatures, not to mention building an ice sheet or two.

For the longer story of the last 50 million years of climate change, including some of the reasons why, catch this episode of our podcast with Dr De La Rocha! You’ll hear about plate tectonics and continental drift, silicate weathering, carbonate sedimentation, and the spectacular effects the growth of Earth’s ice sheets have had on Earth’s climate. There are also lessons here for where anthropogenic global warming is going and whether or not its effects have permanently disrupted the climate system. Fun fact: the total amount of climate change between 50 million years ago and now dwarfs what we’re driving by burning fossil fuels, and yet, what we’re doing is more terrifying, in that it’s unfolding millions of times faster.

Bonus content: If you want to see sketches and plots of the data discussed in this episode, you can do so at our website here!!

Nerd alert!! If you're interested in the primary scientific literature on the subject, these four papers are a great place to start:

Dutkiewicz et al (2019) Sequestration and subduction of deep-sea carbonate in the global ocean since the Early Cretaceous. Geology 47:91-94.

Müller et al (2022) Evolution of Earth’s plate tectonic conveyor belt. Nature 605:629–639.

Rae et al (2021) Atmospheric CO2 over the last 66 million years from marine archives. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences 49:609-641.

Westerfeld et al (2020) An astronomically dated record of Earth’s climate and its predictability over the last 66 million years. Science 369: 1383–1387.

[outeremissary]

The framing of "what if our guys met and interacted" as "OC playdates" is very cute and sweet and makes me smile, but it also just instills such a sense of "sorry my kid can't come over today she's in trouble for biting again" in me when I think about Carmen. You couldn't have her around for cute, casual interactions because she uh. Changes the tone of things around her quite a bit and is often very unpleasant to be around.

[mymindblindly]

Just read the most underwhelming conclusion to a fantasy series I’ve experienced in recent memory (which is saying something cause I’ve read a LOT of mediocre shit in the past few years) and went on goodreads to revel in hate-reviews only to find that it has over four stars. What a beautiful world we live in where art is so subjective and can have such vastly different meanings to different people.

[jytan2018]

I read the comic in one sitting less than an hour after finishing the movie, and wow I have many Thoughts™.

- It's very obvious the two versions were meant to cater to different audiences AND tell different messages. I don't get why people are going "But the comic was better! It had more nuance!" just because Nimona was easier to root for in the movie.

- The comic was written back when ND Stevenson was still trying to process a lot of stuff, so all the characters are morally grey/straight up evil and the climactic battle is between a Ballister who regrets turning against Nimona, even if it was to save others vs. a Nimona who's too hurt to care if her lashing out was going to hurt innocent people.

- By the time Nimona got a movie adaptation, ND was a lot more secure in his sexuality, so the climactic battle was Nimona vs. the Director, the symbol of religious oppression and bigotry. It's not just about your friends turning on you because you're "too much" for them anymore, it's also about a society that would rather bring itself to the brink of ruin than coexist with you.

- (I totally get why people were upset about Ballister's surname change, though. Like come on, the media dubbing him Blackheart just to be mean was RIGHT THERE).

- Nimona's metaphor for not shifting is such a neurodivergent thing. Even in the comic, Nimona's parents insisting she's a monster who replaced their daughter is reminiscent of the changeling myth, which is what many parents thought their neurodivergent kids were—changelings who replaced their "real" children.

- Ambrosius being trained to cut off HIS BOYFRIEND'S WHOLE FUCKING ARM instead of merely disarming him is a very cop thing to do. As much as cops claim they're trained to de-escalate situations, their training still teaches them to treat everyone as a potential threat, and that level of constant vigilance can turn anyone into a trigger-happy/arm-choppy bastard. Even the Director, who can use a sword but probably hasn't actually fought someone in ages, STILL can't see Ballister reaching for the squire's phone without assuming he has a weapon.

- And on that note, the Queen getting killed simply because she was trying to reform the Institution and allow commoners to become knights? That's the best "no such thing as a good cop" metaphor I've seen. Because even if there ARE good cops and they ARE in leadership positions, the system will crush them before they make any meaningful change. It's not a good institution that turned rotten, it's an institution that only exists to spread its rot and refuses to be good.

- That's why Ballister's characterisation is so different in the movie vs. the comic. Comic Ballister had 15 years to come to terms with his trauma and the Institution's evildoing, while Movie Ballister is still freshly traumatised and hasn't found a way to define himself beyond the role he was assigned by the Institution.

- Not to mention Comic Ambrosius was not very noble to begin with and genuinely believed Ballister was better suited to villainy than heroism, while Movie Ambrosius never wanted the glory that came with his lineage in the first place and only antagonised Ballister because of indoctrination he needed to unlearn (which he did, all by himself, after witnessing the lengths the Director will go to just to kill Nimona).

- It really shows how important it is to surround yourself with loved ones who are open to change. Comic Ambrosius can love Ballister all he wants, but he'll still blast his arm off because he thinks Ballister deserved it anyway. Movie Ambrosius will stop to question what "the right thing" even means, even if he didn't love Ballister enough to defend him unconditionally.

I have so many more thoughts bubbling beneath the surface, but I'll probably address them some other day. In conclusion:

[ID: A pink-haired Nimona grinning evilly while holding up a knife.]

Watch Nimona. This is not a request.

Edit: Added more thoughts!

[felassan]

More on the Varric deaths stuff, two, as well as on DAII Exalted March and DA:I -

"This expansion was going to be called Exalted March, and here, Varric was going to finally step out from the interrogation room so we could play in the present day, so to speak. It was also here that Varric - in a climactic confrontation new villain Corypheus, introduced in Legacy - was going to die. "So what I wanted to do with the expansion was: there's a lot of stuff we cut and I really wanted to put a bowtie on the Dragon Age 2 story," former lead writer David Gaider told me earlier this year while chatting about the creation of the Dragon Age world for a piece about maps. "It had the confrontation with Corypheus and the whole thing. We'd introduced him in a DLC, which I didn't want to do, but we did it, so I wanted to sort of tie that off. And I wanted to kill Varric because he was the viewpoint character and I'm like, 'This is his story, it needs to end with his death.' "He was the unreliable narrator, right?" he added. "I felt like it had to end with him. So we had this great moment where Corypheus is using the Red Lyrium and it's growing out of control, but [Varric is] a dwarf so he's a little bit immune, so he's able to do the Wrath of Khan Spock thing and get in close and destroy it. And he gets Corypheus enough so the party can take him out, but then he's dying from Red Lyrium poisoning so there's this nice moment with him and Hawke as Hawke says goodbye. And with his death, the story ends. And I felt that's appropriate for Dragon Age 2's arc." Exalted March, however, was never released. BioWare cancelled Exalted March to refocus the studio on new game Dragon Age: Inquisition and the move to new engine Frostbite. The expansion was "cannibalised", as Gaider put it, talking to me, and expanded to become Inquisition. Which is how Corypheus suddenly became the main villain in Inquisition, and how Varric managed to stay alive. It didn't stop Gaider trying to kill him again, though. "I tried to kill him in Inquisition," he told me. "I think mainly because I didn't get to do it in [DA2]. And everyone was like, 'But the Inquisitor isn't Hawke! It lacks the same meaning.' And I was like, 'Yeah, I guess you're right.'" Still, it was a difficult thing to let go of. "I was a little bit upset," he said, "and I remember I went and said - because they wanted to start work on Dragon Age 3 immediately - 'Well, you can make me do that, yes, and I will just be the guy in the meetings doing this [he makes a standoffish posture]. Or you can let me go home for a month or so, get this out of my system and grieve, and I will come back. And I swear, when I come back, I will be ready to go.'" He was true to his word, but he still wasn't entirely done trying to kill Varric. In March last year, Gaider revealed there were once plans for Corypheus to attack the Inquisition's mountain castle base, Skyhold. "The threat of Corypheus after Haven was never truly realised," Gaider tweeted. "An attack on Skyhold would have upped the ante. Maybe I could have killed someone finally... but instead, Corypheus remained a remote villain you chased but were rarely chased by. "By the way," he then added, "if you're wondering who I would have killed in Skyhold, given the chance, the answer is obviously Varric. That dwarf was meant to die in the (cancelled) DA2 expansion and escaped his fate despite having been in my crosshairs ever since." Varric survived again. "After Dragon Age Inquisition came out I'd already left the Dragon Age team," he told me."

[source]

what I'm reading, if I understood it right, is that Varric has survived death at least 3 times thus far.. (；・∀・)

[piosplayhouse]

Some thoughts on the narrative parallels between Scum Villain's climactic Maigu Ridge arc and TGCF's stabbing of Xie Lian + the difference in fan reaction between the two (copy pasted mostly from Twitter with quick edits) :

Some people reject the conflation of scum villain and tgcf's themes of sexual violence due to the idea that because tgcf has an explicit physical antagonist who becomes the vehicle for the idea of an aggressor and therefore can be safely vilified in a way that very blatantly subverts romanticization without much need for literary analysis. And so raises the argument that "scum villain is different because it was between the main characters", with the implication that because both characters were participants and neither of them are strictly cordoned off as an antagonistic aggressor who can be written off as indefensible that must mean the scene is intended to be romanticized or excused. But you can very obviously tell in the book that maigu ridge is not intended to be erotic, it's uncomfortable and both parties visibly hate it which is why you the reader feel so uncomfortable about reading it too.

Maigu ridge should provide a feeling of visceral and violating horror just as strong as xl's stabbing does, but it's treated with a double standard because it's explicitly rather than implicitly sexual. Sure bai wuxiang is the villain orchestrating, but he's not the one physically violating the protagonist. He instead made a bunch of innocent people hurt xl under extreme duress- which is actually exactly the same as what Maigu ridge is! A villain (xin mo/the system) forcing 2 parties into a gruesomely violating act for their own sadistic satisfaction under threat of death and destruction.

Despite the similarities in theme, tgcf is praised for "lacking" sexual content as a whole (which isn't even true if you remove the metaphorical violence-power-sex connection but besides the point) despite having very implicit scenes of sexual violence, while sv has explicit scenes that aren't really about the sex, but rather about the nuances of bodily autonomy and ironically the media glorification of sexuality as an end all be all to relationships, but are reduced to preconceived notions of what ppl think sex scenes should be (erotic and for enjoyment).

[direquail]

My specific read on John is not that he's a nice guy, either. It's that, like any good character (specifically a tragic character, which, TM has said that he is modeled on a mythical tragic hero, so) he has a flaw that dooms him. And what that means is, when he has the choice to change what he's doing, that flaw either prevents him from taking the option he's aware of, or prevents him from being aware that there is another option altogether.

And so as a writer, what I look for are moments where either:

something good about a character becomes an excess that harms themselves or others

we receive information that shows a persistent blind spot a character has

we look for times when a character gives their view of the world/a situation and it Does Not Match Up with reality, or is hinted that it doesn't

we look for evidence of something simmering under the surface that clashes with their outward, agreeable presentation

What fills that role for John?

Yep.

When this first pops up, it's pretty easily dismissed as yet another layer on the falsehood he's propped up. Admittedly, he's been doing it for ten thousand years, so it's probably got a few layers to it.

However:

This one, to me, gives us a hint about what John is blind to: That his friends see his vindictiveness and his failings and that they could still love him. This is where it crosses into tragedy, for me; where his own inability to forgive blinds him to the capacity that other people have for generosity--and so, to a world where "justice" means more than "vengeance for the dead".

And this illuminates the whole chain of events that leads him to that climactic scene in Harrow the Ninth, telling Mercy that she never would have forgiven him anyways:

John is, at heart, deeply angry--like most characters in the series, and like a lot of people who grew up in poverty, especially if they managed to escape it. He also has some deep sense of justice, and deep sense of judgment.

So we have this cycle of related emotions and ideas: Justice, judgment, outrage. And a human measure of selfishness, amorality, double standards, etc.

In one situation, this allows him to throw himself completely into the cryo project, something that (if it hadn't been sabotaged politically) could have made a difference to humanity. He brings in people who work to make it even better, who demonstrably want to make the outcome as just and humane as possible. It's also implied that this is part of why he received those powers; "I chose you to change."

(And, I'll be honest, one of the other things that I see that chafes me is the implication that there was nothing about John to recommend him to the Earth. I'm actually of the opinion that there was; she chose him, and I don't think she just rolled a d100 or drew a card off a tarot deck and called him up. John is also still a human, flawed person.)

Then, the situation changes. It's no longer an issue of dedicating expertise to solve a problem; this is a political issue, and specifically of rich people using their resources to shift outcomes towards the one they think will benefit them the most, that will secure their survival, explicitly at the expense of everyone else.

And their strategy is, profoundly: short-sighted and unnecessary (pooling resources would help create a better outcome for everyone, including the rich, by reducing global trauma and preserving more of the systems that already structure their world); bigoted and uninformed (many rich people think that the world has to be a certain way, generally that the world is violent, competitive, dog-eat-dog, etc., and someone has to be "on top", and there will always have to be a loser, or lots of losers); and utterly cruel, unjust, and pointless.

And John--John, who grew up poor, who grew up aware of the despair around him and the injustice of his position and more than likely made use of that anger to achieve what he had up to this point--John is so angry.

Because they're all the same. They're all the same. It's the same song, over and over again, no matter how stupid and pointless and unnecessary. He is certain, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that it doesn't have to be this way. He passes judgment.

But John is losing to them, because he doesn't have the resources they do. He can hate them and fight them all he wants, and it doesn't matter, because he's nowhere near in the same league as they are politically.

And then, after the cryo project is cancelled, he gains his powers.

The thing about anger and judgment is that the deeper it runs, often, the more invested the person who holds that anger in themselves is in not seeing what they hate in themselves. E.g: John has conceptualized the people he's resisting as fundamentally unjust, cruel, amoral, and bigoted. There's a very good chance--to different degrees, depending on the person--that becoming aware of similar traits in himself might wake up those feelings he has towards those other people--aimed at himself (that is, cognitive dissonance). He can't see the things he's passed judgment on in himself and function. He's not like them; he's trying to fix things, to bring about justice.

Of course, there's justice as in "living in a just society", and justice as in "justice for the dead". But that's a later realization, because right now, everyone is still alive.

So John hides those parts of himself; from himself, from other people. So thoroughly he can exclude it from his consciousness and pretend it doesn't exist. He thinks no one sees the real depth of his own rage, his own cutthroat pursuit of a solution. And then, when he can't pretend it doesn't exist, he can still pretend to be the man he thinks they need him to be. He can "fool" them. He can say--he's trying. He screwed up. He doesn't know what he's doing.

And then, Casseiopeia says, No, actually, we know you, and we know you're horribly vindictive. And we're on your side--we're on the same side--our fight is your fight--and we love you. But your drive for revenge is seriously limiting your ability to imagine and create a living, just world, and that's what we're fighting for. Remember? That's what we set out to create.

And John's brain can't quite handle this; he can't imagine that they could actually see him and still be on his side. Because he couldn't see that and still be on his side. He can't forgive; he can't imagine forgiveness.

He can't see the things he's passed judgment on in himself and function.

And, by this stage, in some ways, it's already too late to change course. But this is one of several "come to Jesus" (no pun intended) moments where John could become aware of alternatives, or could change his behavior--and doesn't.

And I think this is where we get that self-awareness from, the thing that makes him creepy and tragic but also infuriating: He is aware, but apparently that's not enough to stop him from being his worst self--so is he just pretending to be moral? Capable of making different choices but choosing not to? And the weird statements he makes later:

This is, imo, not a power-hungry dictator who genuinely doesn't care about the cost of his throne, or a gleefully predatory abuser. This is a dude who's committed to a course of action and doesn't feel great about it. This is a guy who has violated his own sense of justice and has to live with it.

This is a guy who set out to save the world, killed it, and now the only thing that's left to him is to avenge it.

And like, from a mythology standpoint, that is exactly what the Erinyes are, like the Furies and Alecto. They are not the justice of Apollo or Athena. They are screaming for blood. They are hunting their quarry to the ends of the universe. They are chthonic.

Again: This isn't what Cassieopeia or Christabel said to him. This is what John has said to himself. This came from him. This is a reflection of what he believes.

And it encapsulates, exactly, why he erased their memories. Why he took away their agency.

The difference between him and many, many people is he had the power of a god and no one to check him when he was struggling with his own worst impulses. And then, he created a world where no one could, not just because then he could do what he wanted and pretend to be kind and loving and moral, but so that he would never have to lose the love of the people he needed.

Because, unfortunately, he still needed them.

It just took ten thousand years for the lie to unravel.

[coolseabird]

The Arthurian vibes are dripping off the Star Wars prequels. I've talked @dandyvampling's ear off at length about it but seriously. It's just "What if Lancelot and Mordred were the same person?" and it goes hard.

Even without mentioning things like the code, the round table, and being called knights; the narrative arc of both are very similar.

Ford, H.J. "Lancelot Brings Guinevere to Arthur." Illustration from the 1902 CE Book of Romance.

The forbidden love between a knight and a queen.

Giancola, Donato. Lancelot and Guinevere. 2004.

The "best knight" is ultimately the one responsible for the fall of their society by murdering their fellow knights to save the one they should never have been in love with to begin with.

Hatherell, William. The Rescue of Queen Guenevere by Sir Lancelot. Illustration from King Arthur.

Said knight also fails to be the chosen one due to their flaws, but their child steps in and fulfills that role instead.

Watts, George Frederic. Sir Galahad.

It all ends in a climactic battle between an elder figure who tried their best to uphold their ideals and an ambitious younger figure who had been done wrong by the system but who ultimately ends up tearing everything they desired down.

Hatherell, William. The Battle Between King Arthur and Sir Mordred. 19th century.

Was this just an excuse to post lovely art alongside propaganda to make you read Arthuriana? Perhaps.

[orange-orchard-system]

I love (fiction) stories about someone finding out they're a system because there's so many different ways you can take it. Was it dramatic? Was it anti-climactic? Was it a slow realization? Were there bumps along a drawn-out journey, or was there near instant acceptance? Did they realize because they heard the voice of another headmate? Because they were diagnosed with something? Because someone else had a suspicion after some of the things they said lined up a little too closely to plurality and had to confront them about it? What if a different headmate realized before them? What if they realized before their other headmates? What if all of them realized at the same time and had different reactions? Do they tell anyone? Is anyone there for them? Is there conflict over keeping it secret, or was it understood by all that this wasn't something to share – whether that meant just for the time being, or at all? What if they can't hide it, but somehow still didn't know? Did they think all of it was normal? Did they never question it? Did they suppress or forget all of the signs? Did this only come on recently, leaving them little to recontextualize? What do they think about the future, now that their life has a new, very important factor to consider?

Endless possibilities. Endless potential. Endless entertainment!

[bonefall]

a couple of leafstar questions! 1) is the process of selecting her to be new!skyclan’s leader changed at all by the fact that brokenstar is now firestar’s travelling buddy? 2) is billyleaf sticking around as a ship, and how will it change, if at all? 3) is leafstar going to be as… notably dumb in her reactions to everything happening so far in ASC?

The list of SkyClan changes is probably longer than the list of things that are staying the same. Cultural expansions, a very different culture, unique politics, even an alternate Warrior Code. Real fans of SkyClan want them to be completely different <3

Leafstar's not an exception. I HATE canon Leafstar. Every action they've taken with her has felt absolutely awful since Firestar's Quest so I'm just overwriting her completely.

SkyClan's Leadership

The part of Firestar's Quietus where Firestar and Brokenstar actually CHOOSE who the new leader is going to be is a bit up in the air. I have the beginning and end with the rats figured out-- but the middle has been evading me.

I know that Brokenstar prefers Sharpclaw, at first. Probably because Sharpclaw is so aggressive and dedicated to the old ways.

So it makes sense that Firestar prefers Leafdapple. She's making him realize things about his own way of ruling, parts of Clan culture he's come to accept uncritically.

She straight up blows past his thought-terminating cliches;

Firestar: "You see, Leafdapple... you can't live with a paw in both worlds."

Leafdapple: "Pardon? I don't understand what that means?"

Firestar: "It means... um... hmm ._."

In the end, she's probably chosen exactly because she's not committed to bringing back the past. SkyClan has not been the Clan of Skystar for a long time. It's the Clan of Skywatcher.

It is no longer the Clan-in-the-Canopy, it is the Clan-in-the-Stones.

I feel that the first Leader and Deputy were chosen by Firestar and Brokenstar. Though Brokenstar's mind changes over the course of Firestar's Quietus, I think they ultimately still agree that there were two "sides" of SkyClan that should live in balance.

Leafstar, committed to fairness, abides this. Until Sharpclaw ultimately betrays her for The Kin. (Repeat link from above but if your eyes just popped out of your head it explains everything about how PROFOUNDLY differently I'm approaching The Kin lmaoo)

I hadn't planned explicitly for the deputy system to work a bit differently here, BUT it does also feel in line for Leafstar to decide it on a whim after regrouping. Surrounded by the remnants of her Clan, deputy having just turned half of their warriors against them, SkyClan's protector oak ripping itself off the cliffside and destroying their camp, she jumps up on top of a rock like, "Ok team, that sure was a doozy. Let's try to pick a better deputy this time 8)"

It feels better that deputies are popularly "elected," or at the very least nominated by the Clan. Might make for a nice climactic moment in a rework of Hawkwing's Journey.

Is Billyleaf sticking around?

Yes! But it's actually a bit different.

First of all, Leafstar is actually in a constellation with Billystorm and Echosong, the Cleric. Leafstar is mates with Billystorm and a partner of Echosong. Echosong is not romantically involved with Billystorm. SkyClan actually split off from the main Clans before the Cleric's Vow was codified by Larkstripe's strike. They don't have the same taboo against Clerics having mates or raising kittens.

Billystorm is also a massive himbo now lmao, I'm not a huge fan of him in-canon. I'm still reworking stuff here though-- I'm planning to change SkyClan and the Stranger into Sol's Game, a darker story diving into Sol, the Entity, and Harry, the vessel it courts.

But it's been a while and I need to revamp my old drafts, so that's on the backburner for now.

Is Leafstar going to remain an idiot?

absolutely not. christ. I Don't Rewrite Arcs Until They Are Done but if I ever produce something as brainless as "An entire society believes that a child is lying because her accused murderer says he heard her mother snoring evil manipulation plans in her sleep" then explode me to bits with 10000 pounds of nitroglycerin

instead of just having her and everyone else be dumb, it's an easy enough small change to just have Splashstar already be in power and show the beginning of his reign having gone smoothly. Everyone's desperate for RiverClan to have a leader again. Have Leafstar's bias be against ShadowClan specifically, because Heartstar's nephew Juniperclaw mass-poisoned her entire Clan.

Even before then, too. I don't like how the Erins seem to treat Leafstar as this "unreasonable" character who's usually some shade of wrong. I don't like how she just has to accept that Sharpclaw was undermining her for her own good in SkyClan's Destiny. I don't like how Dodge dragged SkyClan into his stupid conflict. Or how she went back to the Gorge after Juniperclaw's poisoning, only to be herded back by the noble Clan cats when a sudden flood makes their old home unsafe for some reason.

I don't like how she only seems to get a "win" when she's accepting or asserting that the Clans have the perfect way of life and she should resemble it more-- see the opening of AVoS, where it's strongly implied that Daylight Warriors being unable to fight to defend the camp at night was how The Kin was able to throw everyone out, and thus the practice has been abolished since then. I think these conflicts are frustrating in the way they're written and presented.

So quite frankly I'm tossing a lot of it. First and foremost, SkyClan's primary conflicts should be trying to keep its unique cultural identity. Secondary conflicts should be based around its political interactions with the other Clans at the lake, particularly ShadowClan and ThunderClan, which it shares borders with.

BB!Leafstar's personality is that she's assertive, fair, and polite. In my head I lovingly imagine her always speaking in the tone of a corporate manager trying to keep control of her team as the office goes up in flames around her. While she always tries to consider all perspectives and stay approachable to all her warriors, she's often misinterpreted as being passive-aggressive or not genuine.

In a nutshell: I am personally making sure she's not the sort of dumb she is in canon. I have a vision for this version of SkyClan.

[onlycosmere]

Questioner: In Words of Radiance, you started off a chapter talking about breaths, calling it the life of men. And then immediately afterwards, you had Kaladin bring up how the Alethi are soulcasted into statues. And I believe you said in a livestream that you can't Awaken stone-

Brandon Sanderson: Very, very, very hard.

Questioner: -but you can Awaken soulcasted stone. Was that intentional?

Brandon Sanderson: It's intentional to get you thinking. Do not expect this to be a major foreshadowing point.

To do something like I'm doing [with interconnected Cosmere stories], it's a dance. And the dance is to try to make sure each independent story works fantastically well on its own without any knowledge of the other pieces.

That doesn't mean I won't bring those pieces in. (In fact, I do, quite a bit.) But I don't want to build huge climactic moments based on knowledge of a magic system that is not native to a given planet.

Questioner: I had a question about Odium's intent for going after Ambition. Obviously, with Devotion and Dominion teaming up, he didn't want a twosome over there. Are we ever gonna learn more about the background on Threnody?

'Cause Khriss implies that there was always Investiture there, before the clash. So I'm looking for a little bit of information about the Evil before the Admiral's background story.

Brandon Sanderson: Before the clash, the Evil was not the Evil. It is the clash that warped it. And Secret Project Five has a splintered piece of Ambition as a plot point.

Some of these books... All that stuff I said about not having to know multiple magic systems? That goes out the window for things like Secret Project Five. Those are books that are about that.

You will find out some more there; it's gonna take me a long time to get to what actually happened with Ambition, why, and things like that. Know that Odium was not expecting it to be as hard as it was and ended up severely wounded in that clash.

[velvet-cupcake-games]

Made Marion Development Update, August 2024

Official Will Route Release Window

I've checked in with the team and we aren't quite ready to release Will's route in (what remains of) the summer, but we're far enough that I have team buy-in on an official release window of the first half of October.

I'll have a more specific date once we begin our beta test in September, which usually lasts two weeks. I may release the first three chapters early for testers while I finish coding the chapters 4.

Will Chapter 3 will be fully written within a week from now. It turned out to be quite a beast. That means that Will's chapter 4s may be a bit shorter each than Robin's were, however, they will also be more different from each other than Robin's were. In fact, the love scenes and the climactic Chapter 4 action scenes are in completely different locations.

I'm going half-tilt on coding while I finish the script, and should have Chapter 1 fully coded soon, as well.

World Name Thoughts

Although the world in which Made Marion is set has three named countries: Avalon, Sunjata, and Nibiru, the world as a whole does not yet have a name.

I probably won't give it an in-universe name because its inhabitants primarily identify with their country of birth and don't really have a view of themselves as being on a planet in a system full of other planets. But still, since I'm planning to create multiple tales in this world (one for each country), I could use a name to call it for marketing purposes.

I've been putting this off for a while, but I'd like something with a historical/folkloric connection that deals with the number three OR that has something to say about the kingdom's themes - Sunjata, the Sun Lands; Avalon, the Middle Kingdom (light and shadow); and Nibiru, the Twilight Realm.

Right now I'm thinking perhaps "Triskelion," named after the Celtic triple spiral pattern. But I'm not 100% satisfied with that since I have two other countries that do not have Celtic inspiration (Sunjata is inspired by Medieval North and West Africa, while Nibiru is very loosely inspired by Ancient Babylon and the Indus Valley Civilization). It's probably not a big deal since it'd be difficult to encompass all three and this entire world began with my desire to thread Celtic elements into the Robin Hood tales, but still. Any thoughts or ideas?

Here's a reward for everyone who made it to the end. Arrapso didn't make those shirtless combat sprites for nothing!

[x7mafiadetective7x]

analysis and excitement time!! tottmnt style! spoilers for the new trailer and me picking it apart 😋 ☆

i’m not exactly trying to figure everything out, even though i have theories and lots of analysis in my noggin about the who, why, what, when, and where (especially in regards to their location when seperated.)

i’m mostly just going to cover: what the turtles are going through, what’s going on with the krang/Cynthia Utrom/Bishop, and any easter eggs or potential characters we see.

let’s start off with Bishop! cuz oh my god, if they’re going to be the first opponent the turtles face, i can’t imagine the lead up to shredder.

im used to Bishop being a super climactic, build-up to the big bad thing that’s going to happen kinda character, so i’m kind of surprised to see them being used first. especially as an immediate villain!

the FIRST thing that catches my eye is the robot-cams on the turtles, presumably when they’re separated, and the big screen telling Bishop to ‘RETURN TO BASE’ — i have theories about their tie to Cynthia Utrom, but we know Bishop was a rebellious character against the utrom/krang throughout other gens so i don’t think it’s telling them to return to Utrom— unless they’ve freshly gone rogue to try to stop Cynthia’s plans (hence why they wanna get rid of mutants.)

the robots Bishop uses remind me heavily of ROTTMNT.. especially that one on the left! we see more being possibly made to the right, and that kind of clues me into it being a factory of sorts.

we also see them take over the city moments after their reveal!

the turtles look like they’re all back together and donned in robot parts. Raph is wearing a faux wrestler’s padding, Leo in some sort of samurai get-up, Donnie in a cyborg cosplay, and i’m not entirely sure what Mikey’s trying to look like, other than ‘i’m gonna beat your ass.’

this kind of reminds me of Shredder! maybe it’s just the metal, sharper weapons, and the way Raph’s holding his dual sai..

i don’t think we get enough turtles in armor at all. in 2012 we barely got to see their noir armor when fighting the shredder, and imo it was super hardcore!! so i’m happy to find that they’ve added this to TOTTMNT.

time to analyze what is happening to our fave terrapins!!

what we know: they’ve all been transported to different locations/dimensions, they’ve been separated, and know that they can find each other.

let’s start with mikey’s situation, since we’re introduced to it from the beginning of the trailer via voice-over.

my idea is that he’s been transported somewhere in the future, and he’s with some scientist that knows them all by name— and gimmick. he tried to recreate a mutant, and that’s why we see a Pigeon Pete look alike.

besides that, he rags on Mikey for not having a ‘thing’ like his brothers while following him around. (people r always underestimating him — even in-show.. cannot catch a break i swear) i’m not sure if this rando has a destination, but it looks like Mikey does!!

we also see Raph with the purple dragons, and a MOTORCYCLE!! i MISSED motorcycle Raph so bad.

He is also shown in a barn with two other characters in a seperate trailer, but I have no idea who those guys could be.

Raph seems less concerned with finding each brother unlike Donnie.

Donnie opens up with a ‘I have to find my brothers, I have to save them!’ which is SUPER. cool TO ME. we got such little protective Donnie in other gens and i’m super excited to see his stress level rise in TOTTMNT.

it looks like he’s forced to un-hack what Bishop’s done to New York’s devices (unsure if this is all devices, or just all important systems like train stations and billboards/adverts.)

ALL while there’s robots after him. UGH. i can’t wait to write major angst about this kid.

unfortunately, for me at least, we see the least of Leonardo.

what we DO see of him is mostly combat, and quips. i’m super humored by the failed confidence which is a super different from most Leo’s!! (2012 Leo hero-quipping because he wants to be one, Rise Leo passing the charisma check 24/7, and 2003 Leo not really giving af as much so he just sounds dorky and cool whenever.) he looks like he’s fighting multiple robots in different areas, unlike Donnie who we only see in a train station, and Raph we see fighting multiple things (people and robots.)

i hope he gets to have as many badass moments as Donnie and Raph seem to have, because i’m afraid of him turning into ‘generic leader personality’ SO BAD. i dont think he will, but i’m not ready for him to be pushed aside during fights like how Mikey and Donnie was in 2012 at first, just so he can be the main star in relationship issues and stuff.. BUT i do think we will get a huge chunk of ‘i can’t do this without my brothers’ angst!!

we also get a glimpse of April and Leo interaction which i was the MOST scared of!! it looks like it takes place in a different episode than the Bishop one, along with the trailer where they’re all in halloween costumes (or party costumes???)

i cannot wait for this little party mix up. it’s super teenagery sounding and i always wanted more teenage, slice of life-ish (i don’t think we will ever get a filler without some slicing and dicing) episodes in tmnt!!

anyways. thanks for reading if you’ve gotten this far! tottmnt seems a bit more childish than past gens but i’m sorta excited for it!! august 9th here we come ^_^

[phoenixcatch7]

Botw's final boss fight with ganon would have been fixed if it was a shadow of the colossus style climbing his giant boar form to get to the eye instead of shooting it from a distance.

Easy enough for kids to do, speedrunners can come up with some insane strats like they did the shrines, it takes advantage of botw's unique traversal system, it's CINEMATIC and CLIMACTIC. Running your weapon into the beasts skull and clinging on for dear life as it thrashes and roars. Falling off wouldn't be a problem with the paraglider and horse, even better if the coding allows for the horse to chase underneath so you land on its back like the totk final boss. Zelda could actually use the bow rather than having link use it, or if link is out of weapons he could use the light arrows instead!! She could snipe obstacles out the way, distract ganon, idk!

But man, it'd be so visceral, so personal, Link using his full body, his full strength, everything he's learned from roaming this landscape to mountain climb ganon and ram his sword into the eye with all the building fury of a hundred years. Totk got close, but even that was more hit and run slash tactics. I want a qte of link SLAMMING his weapon in the reverse grip into ganons SKULL. Like tp or ww! Or!! Ss!!! It's iconique. For a reason!! Stab the mf!!!

That, and with the optional weapons in botw/totk, we could easily have the dramatic ganon stabbing scene, Link snarling and glaring, happen with like. A ladle. A broom.

But yes botw ganon should have gone the shadow of the colossus route, it would have fixed all its problems!! Shooting it down from a distance was too impersonal and really didn't take advantage of boar ganon ridiculous size. We could have had something so good.

[dairy-farmer]

Another stalker/civilian Au~!

Its an Au where Bruce get thrown into some multi-verse adventure with a few other Batmen, not long into his grief spiral? And between Climactic Battles(tm) they try to tell him to be... less harsh, on his Tim? Because they know he is them. He won't listen if they say Be Nice. He's raging and full of grief.

And he's like? Tim? Timothy Drake. The neighbors child who should be in Morocco, THAT Tim?

Yep. He becomes your next Robin. They ALL tell him. Because *various explanations basicly boiling down too "you publicly lose your shit in grief"*. And? Bruce has time to work through his immediate, VIOLENT denial? While on that adventure?

Comes back having reached a stage of "Absolutely Not. No More Robins." Not because it's TIM, but because he refuses to lose another kid? But ALSO? He's now Hyper Aware of this kid?

That's HIS kid.

He has to PROTECT that kid from trying to become Robin. From trying to join the Caped lifestyle. So he, now that he's no longer risking just destroying just HIMSELF, drags himself together. Painfully, slowly, and with help, but he does it. Is he okay? Not remotely. But he slowly gets functioning again.

Twitchs everytime Tim looks too hard in his direction. Seems too concerned.

He carefully manipulates Tim's school to offer better and better distractions. Opportunities for growth and too entice. Photography, engineering, languages, skating, game creation. Anything.

He monitors Tim too and from school. Stops purse snatching and petty crimes far before Tim ever sees them. Makes SURE there will never be any call to action for his boy. No great tragedy.

Then, of course, the universe (as it tends too) spits on his efforts in mockery. Tim's parent are kidnapped, killed, by a madman. He is orphaned, like Bruce was. Left with too much wealth and few to protect him from those who would take it. It's like looking into a mirror of the past.

He steps up.

His lawyers vicious, the will, a forgery they'll never be able to prove is fake. They KNOW it is. Because they destroyed the original. However, his fake is better then theirs. His lawyers far more bloodthirsty. He sees most of the Drake Industries board in jail by the end of the month.

But... Timothy Drake is not his son. He's his foster child.

One who avoids him.

Who chokes on the secrets he KNOWS, but doesn't know, Bruce knows he knows. Who mourns his parents. Who's trying to hold on to the shreds of his life. Bruce watches him through the Manor cameras and obsesses. So small. So sad. They have both lost so much.

It is almost... perverse, the weight that lifts from Bruce's shoulders, when he drags his weary body back to the cave each night. After brutal patrols and the untold horrors man visits upon man. And he can just? Flip on the cameras. Find Tim. Curled warm and soft, safe and alive, in his bed. Playing some game, later then he should, as young men do. Sneaking a snack.

The living representation of what he's fighting for.

But Dick comes back, raging through and misunderstanding. Thinks Tim is Robin. Lashes out. The shouting echoes. By the time everything is cleared up, Tim has already quietly found himself a boarding school abroad. Dick is devastated. Feels like a monster. Bruce wants to refuse. But whispers of another break out on TOP of League of Assassins agents being spotted lurking around?

He hates it, but agrees.

It's a miserable slog of time after that. Report cards and updates the only highlights. A crime lord that turns out to be his dead son appears. A BIOLOGICAL Son that hounds him to be Robin appears. Eventually Tim returns. Technically, aged out of the foster system.

As though Bruce would ever let go so easily.

He welcomes him home at the airport. His boy, grown into his slender frame and delicate features. Wants to drive him to the Manor but drives him to the upper class apartment Tim has bought himself instead.

Adjusts his patrol routes mentally.

Learns, through his planted cameras, that Tim's schoolmates have been a TERRIBLE influence. Casual nudity, sprawling hedonistic nights of take-out and wine, and most concerning? Mentions of "hook ups" he will be missing, over the phone. Bruce is appalled. How did he MISS this?

Sure, Tim cleans up well. Presents himself as reserved if flirtatious in the boardroom. Is now working to seize control of his birthright. But... but...!

Bruce is conflicted. But can not tear his eyes away, as he reviews the surveillance from the Welcome Home gala he threw for Tim. Was it coincidence? Or intentional. That every "hot young thing", as it were, that Tim pulled into a side room to fuck him throughout the night. Was the civilian identity of a Cape?

Bruce, as he tends to, gets obsessed. Watches as Tim is fucked by hooks and lovers alike. As he pleasures himself in his home, works in his office, commutes to and from work.

Maybe it gets weird. Because of course it does. Maybe Damian volunteers, after noticing his Father's obsession, in hopes of gaining som of that attention for himself. Seduces Drake. Finds they have a lot in common. Fucks him knowing his Father is watching. Realizes he is IN to that. That he enjoys the murmured commands of his Father in his ear, telling him how best to earn his approval.

Maybe it's just Bruce. Who finally shows up as Batman. And they pretend. That Tim doesn't know. That Bruce doesn't know he knows. And Bruce rocks his world.

However it ends? Tim is a kept man. Batmans secret civilian lover. And he gets WEIRD about it~☆

-🐼🐼🐼

it would be just like bruce to get weird over it especially since, whether he realized it or not, he's formed a pretty severe complex over tim 😩😩😩

[felassan]

Just poring over some of the new images. ◕‿◕

Combat shot, with the Ability Wheel open. Elf sword and shield Warrior Rook (cape and flowing hair!!!), Harding and Bellara fight a red lyrium ogre. Compared to early game, like here, more abilities and parts of the ability wheel are unlocked. The display advises that the ogre is vulnerable to fire damage and resistant to what looks like necrotic[?] damage, which we know is a thing (and it makes sense why that wouldn't affect darkspawn much). The purple and bronze color theme of the game is evident in the display. The bottom three icons must be Rook's current skills. The icons on the right are Bellara's, the left Harding's. I wonder if the bar at the bottom is Rook's 'special resource' bar? (the one that is Momentum for rogues) Then, in the bottom left, I guess the green bar is Rook's HP, along with notification that Rook currently has three health potions[?]. It looks like right on the d-pad consumes a health potion, while down on the d-pad could maybe be swap weapon set? We can see that both Harding and Bellara have access to a healing skill. In the bottom right, we have the option to navigate, change target, select, close and cancel.

It's interesting looking at the buttons for different skills and actions and trying to figure out what they are based on what the symbols could represent. ^^ Highlighted is a skill of Harding's called "Shred". The display advises the damage amount, cooldown time and general effects applied by that skill. It staggers enemies and looks like it sunders armor. I wonder if in this shot, the player has hovered over Shred on the wheel (purple light highlighting it, info popup on that specific skill). Then, the system helpfully auto-advises what other skills the party have right now that would make a combo with Shred (amber arrow, top skill of Bellara's being highlighted in amber) - a handy suggestion. It also explains why it makes a combo, namely that a certain effect of that skill of Bellara's combines with the sunder effect of Harding's Shred. With the symbol and name of Shred, I guess the idea is that Harding fires a shot that shreds through an enemy's flesh. :>

As for where they are fighting in.. the growths on the walls and black tentacle-looking things could be rubble and roots, but they remind me of Blight corruption in general and such as we see here, and well, there is an ogre. The gold on the floor and the shape of the gold patterns on the wall gives ancient elvhen ruins. There is also a plinth of some kind in the middle of the room. I wonder if this could be this area and battle mentioned in the Game Informer cover article:

"After a few more combat sections, including against a Frenzied sentinel, we reach the center of the temple. In there is an artifact called the Nadas Dirthalen. Bellara knows that this means “the inevitability of knowledge”. Before we can progress, a darkspawn ogre boss attacks, hitting hard with unblockable, red-coded attacks and a massive shield that you need to take down first. It is weak to fire After defeating it (it’s a climactic arena fight), Bellara uses a special crystal to power the artifact and remove it from the pedestal, which destroys the Veil Bubble."

This ogre has a shield next to its HP-type bar and this room could feasibly be an 'arena'-like area. The plinth in the room could be the pedestal. Bellara is present at that point in the game as here, and the aforementioned temple is an ancient elvhen space.

Btw, Bellara's backpack is so cute.

Harding's party icon has her staring off to the distance, scout-like, ever looking forward, while I feel like Bellara is looking into my soul!

Combat shot. Mage qunari Rook, Bellara and Neve. The Ability Wheel is not opened. It looks to me like Rook here has the same overcoat on as qunari Rook here. The party are fighting red lyrium darkspawn. In the bottom left, the possible 'change weapon' button has a different symbol; where previously it was a sword and shield because warrior Rook, here it looks like a staff (for mage Rook). At the bottom, in the possible 'Rook's special resource' bar, where previously in the prior shot it was empty, for this shot it looks to be fully charged. (and here it would be mana as Rook is a mage)

It looks like a meteor has just struck the earth, sending darkspawn flying. Rook, here a mage, has an ability where its symbol looks like an asteroid or meteor. I think this Rook has just cast the new spell Meteor, which was mentioned in the June 14th Discord Q&A:

"Fireball and Cone of Cold do not specifically return as spells in this game, but their successors do: Meteor and Frost Nova. These two abilities serve the exact same combat role and function as the previous two, only “with quite the glow-up”, especially Meteor. It is “so satisfying nuking a group of darkspawn with a well-placed Meteor”."

And in this screenshot, we can see why. :D

It also looks like there is a skill that can only be cast when Rook has two 'blue bubbles'-worth full on their Mana bar. And, I wonder what the purple bird symbol skill is?

To the right, next to the wagon and crates, it looks like there may be a chest we could loot. Crates and wagon left from previous Veil Jumper excursions?

The enemies here just have plain old HP bars (red color), no armor or barrier or anything on top of it. Compare the ogre in the previous shot which has an 'armor' bar with a yellow-orange color.

Location: This is Arlathan Forest. In the distance is ancient elvhen ruins and architecture, the floating rocks in areas with Fade 'warping', and trees, some which look to have the orange foliage of that area. The pink iridescent hazy light gives a whimsical feel like Game Informer described, and recalls the iridescence you see on soap bubbles. It makes me think that 'wall' of light is the edge of this particular Veil bubble. I think this shot is set in the opening four hours of the game, after the gameplay reveal video and in the section following that described by Game Informer. In the distance is the elven temple that the team are fighting towards (inside there would be Nadas Dirthalen and the ogre fight).

One question I have is is what is the blue orb thing in the distance, just beyond the fiery arc of the meteor? A piece of ancient elven tech? Part of how Veil Jumpers navigate around?

To reach it, we must remove the floating rock rings, and Bellara’s unique ability, Tinker, can do just that by interacting with a piece of ancient elven technology nearby

I wonder if this orb thing is one of those pieces of tech Bellara can perform tinker on. ^^

Combat shot. Human rogue rook and Harding fight in the streets of Minrathous in the opening section of the game. Look at the water effects of raindrops hitting the ground, and the reflections!! They are fighting demons, which are redesigned in this game. You can see the raw veins of their exposed 'nervous systems'. Maybe these are what Shades look like now? ^^ their lil swords are new.

Looking at the arrangement of five skills in this shot and the last one, I wonder if the button on the bottom left is the 'auto-attack' one? Here it's just some arrows (archer Rook), in the previous shot with mage Rook it looks like it could be a mage staff or a mage staff in the process of doing a basic attack.

In the upper background in the center of this picture, that blue light icon is the Inquisition hairy eyeball. What does this indicate? The critpath we need to follow to progress?

The vases and hanging pots make this street feel lived in. The height of the buildings and slant of them make the streets feel closed-in and claustrophobic. It's a neat vibe, living in Minrathous if you aren't one of the upper classes probably feels quite hemmed in and oppressive like that.

The team has taken the lore and art direction seriously and with care, you can tell. :) down to things like the shape of Tevinter doorways and the shape and red glow of Tevinter windows. It's very cool!!

Arlathan Forest, known from a file name. Qunari Rook (looks like a mage), Bellara, and Emmrich explore an overgrown ancient elvhen ruin. Beautiful golden light, sun dapples and beams through leaves, branches or vines hanging down, crumbling cobbles, broken walls, the shiny gold patterning and curving shapes and arches of ancient elvhen architecture (even the cobbles were laid in curves). This shot is beautiful, the game looks beautiful. ^^ I'm so looking forwards to exploring ancient elven places in this game and finding out more elf lore, and I can't wait to hear what insights and thoughts Bellara has to offer in these locales. Emmrich looks so polite here hh.

In the foreground is a statue of a hart or halla. As with here, it looks to be an asset from DA:I (example of one in Ghilan'nain's Grove in that game).

Arlathan Crater, known from a file name. A beautiful scenic shot, no party visible. (If Photo Mode does indeed end up being a thing in this game.. think of the potential :D) Ancient elven ruins and two halla, in a way that reminds me of the elven ruin Bellara appears in during the character trailer.

Mage qunari Rook, Davrin (yayy!!) and Bellara. I'm sounding like a broken record here but just look at all the fine details. Scratches on Davrin's shield, detailing on clothes like textures, patterns and stitches.. how cool Rook's staff is (could this staff be a Warden mage staff? the feathery design reminds me of Davrin's Warden griffon shield), Bellara's many pouches, the magical particle effects lighting up Bellara's gauntlet-bow. ^^ The team here are in some dark, overgrown, ominous and twisted looking place, and they are threatened again by the red lyrium darkspawn. To the right of Bellara's head and behind her bow, you can see pustules of Blight/Taint corruption. It also looks like there is a lantern near Bellara's head hanging from a post, a lantern with grey metal wings. Maybe this shot was taken in a Warden locale, like the outskirts of Weisshaupt or something?

A beautiful shot of Bellara using her magical gauntlet. Comparing the vegetation here (with the red patches) to that in the 'two halla' shot, it looks like this shot is also taken in Arlathan Forest / Crater somewhere. I wonder if this shot shows Bellara in the middle of using her ability "Tinker"? She's looking at something and the gauntlet is lit up like its magic is interacting with something.