#he comes from a very militaristic world

[ward-against-blight]

One of the things that brings me sm joy is how even though Cyrus is a jerk a solid 75% of the time, whenever he’s talking about something myth related (Aquila, or the entry quests of Azteca) you can literally HEAR in the voice acting how legit passionate he is about it.

Like yea, the man clearly doesn’t have the temperament for the education field (and needs some serious post Malistaire therapy) but you can’t say he isn’t legitimately passionate about Myth, and it’s so heartwarming to see him happy about something when so much of his storylines are depressing as all hell.

[ghostaholics]

𝐊𝐈𝐒𝐒 𝐈𝐓 𝐁𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑

➸ PAIRING: Lieutenant Simon 'Ghost' Riley x gn medic!Reader (same reader from here, but this is a stand-alone) ➸ SUMMARY: You kiss Simon's very minor injuries. And then some. (Or, alternatively: He's not actually wounded. He just wants to see you.) ➸ WARNING(S): some graphic descriptions of old injuries ➸ A/N: Need to preface that this isn't smut despite how the title and summary sound. Anyways, Jo knows I listened to Hozier's Other Voices 2020 version of "Work Song" for a week straight while writing this. ➸ WC: 2k

❝ 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐊𝐈𝐍' 𝐎𝐅 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐈𝐄𝐋𝐃, ❞ he admits, low-timbered. It feels intimate, especially coming from him. Simon's sitting on the cot; it sags under his weight. He curls his hands over the edge of it as he leans forward. No casualties post-mission means he's got free rein to pick wherever he wants in the medical tent.

"Oh, yeah? What about?"

"That I should probably do my best to avoid injuries so I don’t keep pestering you. Can always just tell me to fuck off, y’know.”

“You’re gonna break my heart if you stop coming around.

“Mm,” he says in agreement. “Can’t have that can we?”

You nod your head earnestly. “I like your company.”

“Tryin’ to say that you’ll miss me?”

“I would.” More than he knows.

It’s routine now. He gives you just enough room, adjusting his position. You step into the space made between Simon’s splayed knees, his massive legs nearly bracketing yours with how close they are. He’s bigger than you. Well, considerably more mammoth-like in his proportions compared to an overwhelming majority of the soldiers that you’ve encountered, to be quite honest.

Simon acts as though he’s acutely aware of his size. You suspect that he purposefully makes himself smaller in your presence. Like now, how his shoulders are rounded forward, the column of his spine not as straight-arrow in that standard, militaristic posture most servicemen have adopted. As if he doesn’t want to appear too intimidating. Not that Simon could, to you. Hours doing his stitches and idle chitchat on your part have taught you that he’s much less ruthless than people seem to paint him as. But you appreciate the thought anyway.

You conduct the assessment – a typical evaluation normal for combat casualty care, more in-depth than the one you’d done when he initially stopped by and you did a quick once-over for any obvious injuries. Though given the complete vacancy in the medical tent, you find it hard to believe that you’ll come across anything on him since the mission went that smoothly.

The first thing you notice this time: he doesn't smell like spilled blood. It's different. Not that sweet, rusted iron of wet tackiness – the one that reminds you of a generous stack of two pence coins held between a pair of hands cupped together. He comes in that way a lot. Reeks, because war means that he's no stranger to charging through a shower of copper and lead-forged bullets out on the field. Everything else is still there, though. Maybe a dying campfire – crackling logs and blackened earth. Soft dirt excavated from a foxhole for cover while under enemy fire. All gunpowder and Marlboro Lights and diesel-fuel smoke. Fresh rain and a blue-violet sky after a storm. Victory without consequence.

You'd breathe it in if you could, pull the collar of his jacket up to your face. At this proximity, it’d be easy.

He drops the act when he’s in front of you. Lieutenant. Ghost. Battle-hardened, gruff. A natural-born leader. The kind of person to rip this world apart brick by brick – scraped up palms clutching onto broken pieces – to make sure that the plan is executed accordingly, no matter the cost. It’s hard for him to shed that layer. A drop in the bucket of information that you’ve gathered about this man.

You’ve seen him at his best. But you know him at his worst.

The laundry list of injuries over the years: blows to his torso and his back and his limbs that were brighter than technicolor – purples and reds and sickly yellow-green shades – deep, blotchy medals of violence decorating his skin like some kind of fucked-up kaleidoscope that was nothing to be proud of; when some bastard drove a knife right into his upper thigh, that dirty blade wedged through tissue and muscle which was sure as hell going to induce the nastiest infection without serious TLC and a tetanus shot; rib fractures 7-9 because he aborted an exploding heli, seconds to spare before landing on his side wrong from a height that was equivalent to three stories tall; old GSWs dotting his body the same way you’d shove push pins into a paper-flimsy map to mark the places you’ve been to.

And then there’s no contest for the top contender. 𝐆𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭'𝐬 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐈𝐧𝐣𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐭 #𝟏: when he was rushed in on a stretcher, barely clinging to life. Lower abdomen shredded by exploding shrapnel. He was outside of the window of opportunity. Too far beyond that golden hour, so his chances of surviving plummeted to a single-digit percent.

He’s more than just a patchwork of scars. There’s a complex person underneath the surface. A miracle in the flesh to have toughed it out through all of that. Resilient. Perpetual. His callsign makes sense. Ghosts really do live forever.

Several seconds pass before you speak again. It’s a silly comment, teasing – poking fun at him. You don’t have any reservations when it comes to picking on Simon; he’s good about taking these things in stride. Funny, actually. He’s got a dry sense of humor. “I think… you like the idea of someone taking care of you.”

His response isn’t immediate. It’s delayed, said with intention. He doesn’t ever waste words. “Not just anybody.”

You nearly reel back at that. Warmth floods your face. You aren’t quite sure what to say, didn’t expect it. So you let the comment hang in the air between the two of you, busying your hands with slipping off his tac vest, triple-checking for hidden wounds, doing anything to keep yourself occupied while you stand this close to him in the wake of that remark. You’re engrossed in your work, in search of a distraction.

(He’s a distraction, isn’t he?)

And then your eyes stop in their scan. Right there: a small nick on the exposed sliver of skin between his glove and sleeve – open to the direct path of some wayward debris that happened to graze him. So tiny. You’ve seen paper cuts more harrowing than this – wouldn’t have even registered on your radar, especially if it’s being dwarfed by other critical wounds that hold decisive sway over somebody’s fate when it comes to your average life-or-death scenario.

Of course, you take your job very seriously.

You feign a sharp inhale. “Ah,” you say solemnly, guiding his arm up to your face for a closer look. “Found your problem.”

“I’ve got a problem,” he echoes, voice laced with amusement.

“See, you came to the right place. Anybody else would’ve missed it.”

“The verdict, then?”

“So terrible. Earth-shattering, in fact—”

Simon starts pulling away. “Alright, that’s enough of you takin’ the piss outta me,” he gripes.

You chase his arm to recapture it into your grasp. “Wait!” you say, huffing out a laugh. Your mouth sprouts into a wide grin that makes him roll his eyes.

“You gonna treat me or what?”

Your humor bubbles away as you come back to your senses. Those once-loud peals of laughter start to die down when you take his question into consideration. Because there’s really nothing for you to do; he doesn’t need you.

The realization is slow-moving. It washes over you, rolls like waves as you finally begin to sober up.

Simon wants to be here, and he’s looking for any excuse to stay. He just can’t find the courage to own up to it.

“I dunno. Might be unconventional,” you throw out casually, playing along. “Risky, maybe – never been done before.”

But he’s undeterred. “Sure. Whatever you gotta do.”

You pause for a beat, fingers still wrapped around his forearm because you haven’t managed to let go yet. His skin is warm under your palm. You’re not sure what exactly possesses you to do it – emboldened by his encouragement, given complete carte blanche; he’s leaving this to your discretion. So you press your lips to that area where the cut is, right over his pulse point. If you had lingered for longer, you probably would’ve been able to feel it thudding, that solid rhythm and easy strength reminding you he’s alive.

You expected him to withdraw his arm in bewilderment. He should’ve kicked up a fuss about you violating his boundaries, should’ve told you that you overstepped. Something, right?

But he doesn’t do any of that. Simon’s studying you. Dark pupils. So chasm-deep that the ground beneath your feet might slip away. Ocean trenches, midnight-black like the charcoal smudged around his eyes. When they land on you, his gaze goes molasses-soft. He’s fond; there’s little room for doubt. The way he looks at you says everything. None of that usual coldness he harbors during an op. Instead, relaxed and more human than you’re used to seeing – all of his attention focused solely on you.

“Where else, Simon?” you whisper.

He’s thinking – carefully weighing his options – the same expression that he gets when a crossroads lies ahead of him and he knows his make-it-or-break-it decision will invariably affect the outcome of a mission.

After several moments, his hand comes up. Simon’s fingers curl underneath the hem of his mask; he’s been wearing the fabric balaclava more often since you’ve fixed the stitching on it. Then he lifts – not the entire way. Just to reveal the bottom half of his face. There he is. Sandpaper-rough stubble. The sharp cut of his jaw. A mouth that you’re convinced wears a scowl 24/7 behind his mask but is now slightly twitched up.

Even though you’ve seen it before, the sight of him never fails to steal your breath away. Feels like meeting him for the first time again. With how rarely he does this, it might as well be – that slow, heart-melting sensation is steadily filling the cavern of your chest.

And you lean in. Your lips brush against his; it’s a chaste thing – the kiss – if it can be called that. Gentle. Like how you’d stitch up his wounds with a light touch and kind intent. He’s built of sterner stuff, but if there’s anything you’ve learned about him, it’s that he’s capable of breaking just as easily as everyone else. You always handle Simon with care: unequivocal compassion and empathy when there’s so little of those left on this side of war – privileges that he’s never taken for granted.

“Better?” you ask quietly, tipping your head in question.

Simon hums his approval – this pleased, low sound in his throat. His hand slides across your lower back. He tugs you towards him. “Wouldn’t mind some more attention,” he murmurs, before slotting his mouth over yours. And then he kisses you like it might heal him from the outside in.

[gatheringbones]

[“In the leather dyke erotica of Patrick Califia and Carol Queen, butch is both a sex toy to be played with and an identity to be fully realized. In these stories, women enjoy slicking back their hair or wearing steel-toed boots to assume a masculine swagger in bed. Queen’s The Leather Daddy and the Femme (1998) has one of the best forced-masculinization scenes I’ve ever encountered. A dyke is taken to a gay male sex party by her new leather daddy fuck buddy; dressed in boy drag, she gets to experience what it’s like to be used like a man by a group of men.

When it comes to hyperbutch symbolism, the leather daddy has long been the most recognizable icon of kinky gay male counterculture. Emerging post–World War II in American urban neighborhoods like SoMa in San Francisco and Manhattan’s meatpacking district, this form of queerness incorporated motorcycle gear like chaps and engineer boots with elements of militaristic uniforms. Immortalized in the art of Tom of Finland and Chuck Arnett, the leather daddy figure is all about bulging muscles and cruising eyes, hairy, confident, powerful.

Leathermen live in a fantasy world of masc-on-masc desire, butch archetypes like motorcycle rebels, sailors, cowboys, and so on cottaging each other in public bathrooms and parks. There’s a reason cosmina chose the leather daddy as her masc example of gender maximalism. But daddy isn’t just a look. In leather culture, “daddy” also means a nurturing dominant, distinguishable from a stricter “Master.” He is a key component of the queering of the family unit, where newly out gay people are guided through rites of passage into adulthood by elders. They learn how to be good lovers, good friends, and good community members, and to one day pass that knowledge along. This kinship has been a form of collective healing and redesign for people who had been excommunicated from their families of origin.

Femmes can be daddies too. There is a very special frisson inherent in a staunchly feminine person in high heels and bold lips who also wants to invoke everything daddy represents. Why, we might ask, would a femme daddy not want to identify simply as a leather mommy? Internalized misogyny may be at play, but I suspect it’s more about the exciting discordance of androgyny. Where a conventional ear experiences disharmony, kinky queers hear intentional instability. Queers are drawn to twists and inversions, to the unexpected, to putting things together that definitionally aren’t “supposed” to go together, to fucking holes (asses) you’re not supposed to fuck with parts of you that aren’t supposed to be meant for fucking (fists). The creation and assertion of the new archetype makes us feel safe that we get to define the terms by which people perceive us, are turned on by us, want to cruise us. The femme daddy archetype is intriguing because it both tells you plainly what it is and eludes your understanding: Which of the qualities of femme and daddy are going to overlap this time?”]

tina horn, from why are people into that? a cultural investigation of kink, 2024

[fihyn]

listen. wyll is good. wyll is earnestly and deliberately good. and I think people are inclined to think he’s somehow boring because he doesn’t appear to struggle to remain good in his heart despite everything that’s thrown at him. and I understand that internal conflict can often be what is most compelling in a character.

but I think the conflict in wyll is just more complex and maybe people aren’t looking closely enough to understand it. I really, honestly believe that being so earnestly good is wyll’s coping mechanism for the horrors rather than something that wars with those horrors within him. like a faith you fall back on again and again because without community or comfort or any other form of support, eventually all you have to hold onto is a desperate prayer. wyll clings to what is “good” and “right” (and sometimes “traditional��) because it is all he feels he has.

he talks a lot about his certainty. he speaks in a very assured and composed way about his ideals and his beliefs in true goodness and heroics. and I do believe he himself has just a depthlessly good heart. but. But. I do think there is some notable repetition in how often he revisits the same ideals if there’s someone around to listen. this repetition, to me, hints at some underlying doubts (NOT doubts about if goodness is worth it or not, just some simmering awareness that the systems that taught him goodness may not be infallible), not to mention an almost frightening martyrdom when it comes to himself.

and. AND. when wyll is struggling the most with these doubts, he turns to classical stories and traditional fables to comfort himself. he molds himself after the qualities of the heroes in his stories and takes very little time to consider what he wants within himself or who he might be outside of those stories. who among us hasn’t turned to fiction for comfort and guidance, when we have so little understanding from other people that we have nowhere else to turn? who of us - maybe especially when we were children - molded ourselves to be just like our favorite characters because we felt inherently unworthy to be ourselves? this is such a deeply compelling aspect of wyll’s character to me.

(quick note that I understand that he does sometimes do what he wants to pursue his own happiness - he is truly the biggest dork ever and loves being The Blade - but this still partially suffers from being what he wants within the framework that he feels he’s even allowed to have wants inside of.)

I think a lot of people think it is ridiculous or even foolish for him to not be angry with his dad. but I believe in the wake of what happened, wyll couldn’t bear to be angry with his dad, because it would mean giving up on the idea that his father is adhering to what is “good.” he’s willing to accept that his father is flawed or misguided in sending him away, but I don’t think he ever allowed himself to think on the reverse, to wonder, “why couldn’t he believe that I was good too? even if I did something that to his eyes, looked like it might have been bad?” because it was too painful to imagine his father as less than good. because wyll learned his ideals of being good from his father - and it is too much for him to let that be threatened. thus the pattern begins - even if it is painful, even if it hurts wyll deeply, it is better to stick to your ideals above all else because it’s just not tenable to give up being good. 

and he clearly does not think this way in regards to anyone else other than himself. he accepts people like vampire astarion and sharran shadowheart and militaristic lae’zel as his friends because he’s willing to give everyone a chance other than himself. everyone else in the world deserves the opportunity to live and thrive and see who they’re meant to be and it’s wrong to cast them out or harm them on the basis that their existence goes against some pre-established ideal��� but not wyll. wyll’s wellbeing and happiness never comes above the greater good. he believes that so deeply. listen no one has ever loved this man for who he is beneath the heroics and it hurts but he believes that.

wyll not getting his own choice (apart from the player character’s ideas) in the act 3 mizora scene is frustrating, but maybe. maybe it hints at him feeling completely lost - coming up against this brick wall of a choice that either forces him to once again turn away from his father’s ideals to work with a devil to save that which he loves most (repeat what drove him away from his beloved father years ago) OR. face the idea that all this pain he’s feeling in regards to (seemingly) giving up his father in order to be “good” is something that maybe his father should have shown for wyll as well. ulder ravengard didn’t even appear to be conflicted in sending wyll away, and wyll is facing this terrible choice, possibly for the very first time letting himself wonder if his father was really as matter-of-fact about it as it felt from wyll’s perspective. maybe that’s why he doesn’t choose for himself. 

in any case, I do think we lost something as a natural consequence of having wyll’s character arc rewritten so late in development because it would have been REALLY rewarding to see some more act 3 wyll character arc in the form of “sometimes hard moral choices can’t always be solved just by sacrificing yourself” because I would have loved dearly to see him both come to realize he’s worth fighting for too, and that sometimes there isn’t an obvious “good” answer. not that I think wyll is naive, but I do think he’s come to associate “difficult” choices with the idea that “one of these choices will be painful for me but it’s more important to strive to be good than to strive to be happy” and has grappled less with “none of these choices feel right or good but I still have to make a choice.” 

as a final note I do believe ulder ravengard loves wyll but he is deeply flawed in his relationship to him. he does the exact same thing - wyll learned it from him - “what is ‘good’ and ‘right’ must be followed above all else even if it is deeply painful for me.” and I do believe sending wyll away was deeply painful for him. but he wasn’t even willing to show hesitation, and wyll learned that from him too. wyll never sounds like he’s even questioning his ideals, because his father never did, never showed wyll it was okay to struggle with them. not even when it was wyll himself on the line. also, due to his position as duke, ulder has naturally had to align his ideals with general civilian law, instead of doing what many of us would (what wyll does, when he’s out on his own), and understanding a certain loyalty to your own is maybe more important than perfect righteousness. 

[call-me-casual]

I’ve been thinking about them so here’s a Scott Tracy [TAG edition] headcanon dump:

1. This is a bit of a retcon of an older headcanon, but Scott is 26 at the start of S1, just at the edge of turning 27, and 29 on the brink of turning 30 at the end of S3. I originally put him as 27, but I will die on the hill that Alan is 17 in S1 based on the uk driving age and I think I’ve seen somewhere that an old magazine or something said the age gap between Alan and Scott was 9 years?

2. Probably not going to be very popular but I headcanon that in the world of TAG, Scott was never in the military or GDF. No bereznik, no nothing. Instead his possible “militaristic” behaviour comes from Jeff’s training and Scott’s tendencies to copy his father.

3. Scott may have the colouring and significant facial features of his father, but actually has a good amount of his mother’s traits, such as his lanky build and personality. He loves his dad dearly and aspires to be like him, but also appreciates the little things his mother gave him that didn’t leave him a simple clone of his dad. He also inherited a few traits from his mother’s side in general.

4. Scott’s behaviour is often him attempting to act like Jeff for the sake of the others. It started as him trying to figure out how to lead, but there was also an underlying factor of him wanting things at home to stay as similar as they could. This is “Commander Scott”, whilst his real personality shines when he banters with his family, expresses his own interests and feels more comfortable.

5. Linking to headcanon 2 is what I like to call “The silver prince of Tracy Island”. Scott is a valuable asset, and people know this. Even before iR, organisations and militaries were scrambling to try and get hold of the firstborn of the legendary Colonel Jeff Tracy. They think that the kid who wants to be just like daddy will be easy to manipulate. But Scott always turned them down out of a desire to stay with his family and his incredibly pacifist nature. One of these organisations was the GDF, at the time run by a not so nice man. Not long before the Zero-X, they attempted to basically kidnap Scott and force him to serve, but were stopped by an irate Jeff who came in and saved him. This incident lead to the man in charge being investigated and replaced by Colonel Casey not long after Zero-X. (This is partly influenced by an old thread that I can’t find for the LIFE OF ME-)

His brothers know what happened, they know that there are people who want Scott Tracy for their own gain, and they are determined to protect him as he’s protected them. Sometimes, one might find a brother or two sitting vigil over their brother’s rare instances of sleep. His royal guard.

6. Scott’s pacifist nature comes from the fact that his earliest memories include the fresh Conflict of 2040. He became aware of the destruction through Jeff’s own experiences and hearing many, many news broadcasts and conversations. Scott may have been young, but he understood the gravity of what adults talked about following the conflict, when it was fresh in everyone’s minds. Whilst he doesn’t remember this, it was monumental in forming who he is today. He’s not a TOTAL pacifist (as seen when he attempts to punch evil Indiana Jones-), but he is determined to never take a life. He knows his father’s regrets, and promised to never repeat them.

7. Scott is stronger than he looks. Yes he’s light as a feather and could almost be called a twink, but he’s actually mostly lean muscle. iR promotes training for strength rather than show, so Scott isn’t very buff looking. He does however, lack a lot of body fat and can sometimes struggle to warm back up. His uniform is thickly woven and padded inside as a result, and on windy days at the island, Virgil will attempt to swaddle his big brother in blanket-thick towels post-swim.

8. Despite only stating “looking up at the night sky” (ouch) and “swimming” as his hobbies in that interview, Scott does have a few things he enjoys! Flying is obvious, but he also enjoys playing football (the REAL one, where you KICK the ball), hiking, model making and using burner accounts to wind up the bigots of 2060.

9. Scott has some variation of separation anxiety, even if he’ll never admit it. If a brother comes home after a close call or particularly long/dangerous mission, he’ll essentially wrap himself around them and refuse to let go. Because he’s mad at himself that he couldn’t protect them more, scared of what could have happened, and needs to assure himself that he hasn’t lost his baby brothers the way he lost his dad.

10. When there’s a particularly annoying or just frustrating board member at Tracy Industries, Scott will perform a series of secret pranks to get under their skin without any real consequences. The investors fear the coffee machine after it got filled with non-toxic washing up liquid found its way inside. He sits with Gordon to brainstorm new ideas.

11. If picked up from under the armpits or grabbed by the back of his shirt collar, Scott will go limp and one can perform the cat “temperament test” on him. Beware that this only occurs when there is a level of trust, otherwise expect resistance.

[bluespiritshonour]

I started Reckoning of Roku against better judgement and I have to say: does ATLA want me to suspend my disbelief a la monarchy or not?

Like, Zuko being crowned Fire Lord was considered to be a good ending—whereas through real world logic, toppling the monarchy would've actually been more egalitarian.

So I've always suspended my disbelief with regards to that—and now Gyatso actually confronts Roku about it. He also says there have never been female Fire Lords and how the word Fire Lord is inherently masculine (so Izumi becoming Fire Lord is actually very real world equivalent of, say, a woman becoming chairman/woman).

But I'm just really hung up about the monarchy aspect of it: because if we were to apply real world logic to it a traumatised 16 yo being crowned a monarch of a post-war nation that should (again, realistically speaking) take years to stabilize is tragic, not happy.

But if I do apply real world logic to ATLA world as Reckoning of Roku wants me to?—then I'd say I LOVE GYATSO!!! HE'S A RIOT!!!YOU CAN CLEARLY SEE WHERE AANG GOT HIS SASS FROM!!!

And everything Gyatso says about class difference and autocratic governments is so correct and valid of him.

He served cunt.

Also, the Air Nomads being accepting of gender fluidity? Amazing.

While I still think gender segregation of the temples wasn't a good thing let's get this straight: victims don't have to be perfect. We can consider it a flaw of Air Nomad society, that is no justification for Sozin going genocidal on them!!! And you know that's not the reason he did for duh 😒 (as if anyone colonises anyone because tHey'Re bAckWArd) It's very similar to how South Asia has a gender segregation culture, but we have very rich trans history. Which, again, in no way means we're free of transphobia. (Although Air Nomads do not feel transphobic from the text) It's nuanced.

As for Fire Nation culture being so militaristic at this point. It makes sense. (I wish I had read Kyoshi novels first so I'd know what Fire Nation was like during her and Rangi's time, especially because ATLA tried to hammer in how Fire Nation has lost a lot of its real essence to imperialism too).

My reading of this is: Sozin didn't just wake up one day and decided to colonise the world. It must have happened gradually, especially the cultural shift. Roku lived on the precipice of the war. He was the reason it didn't break out even earlier. So it makes sense that we see these tendencies in the Fire Nation already: political atmosphere was already shifting. Gyatso sees it too and he doesn't like it. Remember how the Air Nomad council was debating whether to tell Aang he's the Avatar?

Because they anticipated a war was coming.

Another complain I have is Gyatso using language that, say, in a few years Fire Nation is going to use for Air Nomads after they genocided them. Words like ‘backward’ and all. Because everything Gyatso means to say is RIGHT—making him use that language was a wrong writing choice.

[mysticwolfshadows]

Taken - Zutara - Part 1

First / Previous / Next / Masterpost

So, as far as I know, we don't know much (if anything) about Azulon's wife. And I have a soft spot for fics that set up her as the origin for much of Iroh's (eventual) kind nature. Knowing a bit about world building and government structure (thanks DND), Azulon being a very militaristic leader means that the Fire Nation, to survive, would need a second in command (Fire Lady) that kept things stable on the home front. I love fics that include this, too. And we do see hints of that in ATLA. The polluted river? What smart leader puts a factory shooting chemicals into a river right housing a floating town???

Anyway, the fic that I was working on had Azulon's wife (who I called Ilah) as a main character. Basically, Fire Lady Ilah has fallen ill, and out of desperation to keep the balance of their power, Azulon managing the war front while Ilah kept the mother land alive, Azulon searches for something that can be done to save her. The only thing that was suggested that could work was a water bending healer. Of course, the Fire Nation had no access to any water benders. They executed all of the prisoners after Hama's escape, and an assault on the North would take to long to be effective. Thankfully, word had just come that there was a new waterbender spotted in the South.

Some worry its the blood demon (Hama) returned to rally dark spirits. Others hope it is a potential healer for their ailing leader. Either way, an investigation must be made. They must find the waterbender in the South.

When the ships arrive, led by Iroh (maybe Lu Ten, or with Lu Ten aboard), the tribe is helpless. Hama is not there, and hasn't been in decades. No warrior, no matter how many there are, could stand to the well equiped soldiers of three high class cruisers. So when the leader steps out, wanting to see the waterbender, the village can only cower. Hakoda tightens his grip on a spear that will be useless against so many. It's when an officer mentions a rumor that waterbenders instinctively save themselves from drowning, and suggests holding each tribesman under water until the bender is found that Katara, only 8, screams out that its her, so the Fire Nation won't hurt her family.

She's taken, her family screaming, onto the ship. There, she's kept by Iroh and/or Lu Ten, who sits with her and gives her tea. Iroh or Lu Ten explain why they came, how his mother/grandmother is ailing, and needs a healer. He tells her that, while she may be young, she's their only hope of a healer. Katara has no choice but to promise to do her best, knowing her village would take the punishment for her failure.

They dress her in Fire Nation clothes, which she hates, and as they sail back to the Fire Nation, Iroh and/or Lu Ten do their best to trian her. They have her practice on soldiers that are injured either from training or work accidents. She becomes surprisingly competent in a short time, all because she had a master (even though a firebending one) to guide her.

When she finally reaches the Fire Nation, she's taken by how bright and colorful everything is. She's amazed by how load and plentiful the people are. And when she's taken into the Fire Palace, she's shocked by how big everything is.

When she's brought before Azulon, the Fire Lord rages. A peasant child? This is the hope of the Fire Nation?! Iroh asks his father to trust, and they take Katara to the Fire Lady.

And, by some mix of sheer force of will and some miracles, Katara succeeds.

Ilah is able to recover, at least partially, and Katara is placed as her 'ward', always at the Fire Lady's side, lest the sickness return. But Ilah is a gentle soul. She won't have a child acting as a nurse full time. Whenever there is a moment, she makes sure to be where Katara can be around others her age will be. In the Fire Palace, that is anywhere Zuko and Azula will be.

Katara spends a lot of those first weeks stiff and cautious, hesitant to go near the Fire Nation royals. But Azula constantly pokes at her with Mai and Ty Lee. She bites back, snaps when Azula sneers. It is only because Ilah is there that Azula doesn't try to burn her. Later, Zuko starts to come by. He's awkward and kind of rude, but it's not meant in a mean way. Ursa encourages Zuko to be kind, to make friends with her, so Zuko does his best.

After a couple months, Katara isn't skittish or cautious. She surrenders to the fact that she's never going home. Ilah doesn't need her as much, so she is mostly locked in her room, a small room attached to the Fire Lady's personal chambers. With little to do, Katara begins to despair. It's Zuko, still trying because his mother asked and he would never disappoint her, that becomes her ally.

He brings her snacks, books, even trying toys and things, to get her to brighten. Eventually, she opens up, relying on Zuko as her only friend. It brings out more of Azula's spite, and Zuko becomes worried about safety. He asks if Katara would maybe like to come with him to practice instead of sitting around in her little room, hoping to keep her closer in case Azula tried anything.

It's at these firebending practices that Katara starts to learn combat bending. She mimics and mines certain moves when she thinks no one is watching, slowly learning what does and doesn't move the water. She learned, if she loosened her stance, made her body just a bit more fluid as it moved instead of sharp like firebenders, she could waterbend. Slowly, she adapts, teaching herself to fight by changing firebending moves to fit her needs.

It's about a year after Katara arrives in the Fire Nation that it happens. The sickness returns with a vengeance, and Fire Lady Ilah needs full time care again. Katara, attached to this woman whose life she holds in her hands and has been at the side of for over a year, weeps when she realizes she's not enough to save her. At 9, Katara must tell Fire Lord Azulon that she is weak and can not do the one thing that they kept her around for. She cowered as the Fire Lord raged, knowing that it could be the last thing she ever sees.

"It is only by Fire Lady Ilah's will that you live," Azulon tells her after the funeral. "It is her memory that stays my hand. Do not sully it, lest I forget why you are here."

Katara is put into Ursa's care, and is placed in lessons. She attends private classes, learning Fire Nation history, math, and literature. Her life becomes so busy, she barely has time for anything but her studies. Zuko is her only reprieve, and they share their wants and desires. Zuko wants to become someone that his mother and father can be proud of. Katara just wants to go home. Zuko promises that, some day, some how, he'll make that happen for her. Katara thanks him, but she knows that it's impossible.

First / Previous / Next / Masterpost

[lemon-natalia]

Nona the Ninth Reaction - Chapter 27

holy shit Pash is Wake’s niece?? and thus Gideon’s cousin?? this family tree (and honestly everyone in it) is unhinged. having a cousin who is both undead and also the kid of a guy she absolutely hates feels like it’s Pash’s worst nightmare coming true. this is probably the world’s second shittiest family reunion, bar the murder tea party at the end of HtN

Wake’s whole photo with Pash shows that she had a sentimental side beyond what she had going on with G1deon/Pyrrha i guess. rip Pyrrha, the only person she can reminisce with about the woman she loved is Pash, who just completely hates Pyrrha’s guts. fun!

the whole thing with young!Pash smiling while holding a gun is a little sweet that Wake seems to have cared an awful lot about her family, but also a pretty disturbing look at what it would be like to grow up in BoE, and why exactly Pash is so militaristic and dedicated to BoE’s cause

oh shit is the truck getting bombed? which reminds me we haven’t had a John chapter in quite a while

oh no, its worse than a bomb its Heralds from the RB. given Gideon was only really able to fight them at the end of HtN because she was in Harrow’s body and thus functionally immortal and kept regenerating, pretty much only Nona and Pyrrha stand any chance here 

okayy interesting tidbit of information from Pyrrha’s small speech here, which is that she seems to know/remember Gideon’s first name, from pre the Resurrection? makes me wonder that if she does remember stuff from before, if she’s going to ever give an account of events that contradicts the stuff John’s been saying in his chapters. Pyrrha Dve woman of mystery, the more i learn about her past the wilder it gets

i just adore that Nona’s first response to the RB here is to yell at the top of her lungs ‘you said you wouldn’t do anything weird!’ truly channelling Isaac and Jeannemary’s teenage embarrassment to new levels

i love that Nona’s copying what Cam says to her to try and calm down the RB. top 10 tips on how to negotiate with the vengeful ghost of a dead planet: use Camilla Hect’s emotional advice 

oh some very interesting stuff being said by the RB through Judith here. specifically that ‘the danger is upon you, and you do not even know … they are coming out of their tower, salt thing’. towers have been mentioned a couple times now, with Gideon and Ianthe being named the Tower Princes (probably by John) - with the turret image being on Chapter 16, where they first appeared on the broadcast - and the tower in the hidden message. all in all it doesn’t seem to spell anything good

also Nona in this chapter is just wonderful. i mean Nona’s always wonderful, but i especially love this moment where she grabs the sword despite not knowing how to use it, and her determination to confront the RB

given Nona’s declaration that she knows full well she’s not Harrowhark, and that the RB addresses Nona as the ‘Green-and-breathing thing’ and asks what a mysterious ‘he’ did to her, i feel very sure at this point that she’s Alecto’s soul. though you never know with this series, i’ve been blindsided too often by reveals to be certain of anything 

[local-redhead-bookworm]

Finished Gundam 00. My closing thoughts, in no particular order:

I’m glad that almost everyone has their happy ending and something to keep working toward

I enjoyed how Graham’s arc was about learning to live for something other than revenge (you may be noticing a recurring pattern with me). He spent most of season two being driven only by his desire to fight Setsuna again for honor, and how it closes with him finding something new to live for.

I still find Katagiri’s story a bit frustrating. Like yes Sumeragi shouldn’t have used his feelings to her advantage, but my guy. Becoming a fascist is already a bad idea, somehow it’s even worse when it’s motivated by relationship issues

Lyle killing Al-Saachez is just as deserved as if Setsuna had done it. I know we’d just had the whole big realization about the necessity of understanding each other, but Al-Saachez had no interest in trying to understand anyone else.

I was so upset about Tieria, but if he’s still alive inside Veda he’s not really gone. It’s like how in Ninjago Pixal went from an android body to being a program in Zane’s memory bank. Idk, it’s been a long time since I watched Ninjago

This show takes a very interesting philosophy on war. Wing asked more vague questions on the ethics of war, and what happens when you take humanity out of the fight and replace it with technology. IBO comes closest to truly analyzing the role of capitalism in war. But 00 questions the interplay of diplomacy and war, and how our approach to interpersonal conflict affects how we approach conflict on a broader scale. The message I feel 00 was aiming for is one that aligns with some of my core beliefs: in order for us to live at peace, we must see each other as equals and make every possible effort to understand each other. We may not always succeed, but if we approach our problems with the goal to find common ground and work together, the world will be a better place. Will it be perfect? No. But we don’t have to be perfect, we just have to try to be better

I’m really fascinated by the angle this show has on religion, sin, and deity. The religious themes are baked into the show, starting with a protagonist raised in a militaristic religious war, to the final villain being a man who wants to make himself God because he sees humanity as below him. There is also an element of guilt, the idea that there is blood on everyone’s hands. There is blood on the hands of the soldiers, but there is also blood on the hands of the civilians who choose to remain ignorant and look away. But the show does not say that we have to find a way to wash off that blood, only that we learn from the past and keep growing and trying to be better each day.

I did feel like all of this was slightly undercut by the fact that at the end, Celestial Being is still active. However, it did seem that Celestial Being would be looking less to act as they did in season one and more to work in conjunction with diplomatic forces, as a last resort when all else failed or intervening to help the innocent. I’m still a bit saddened that Setsuna doesn’t get to settle down and live a peaceful life, but that wouldn’t be realistic with him, to be fair. Marina says it herself, all he knows how to do is fight; if he cannot stop fighting, he has to change how and why he fights.

I really enjoyed this show overall. To be fair, there’s yet to be a single Gundam piece I wholeheartedly dislike, but I like a lot of how this story was told.

I feel like this one was a lot less character-oriented than other Gundam stories were. It works for this particular story, because like Wing, it’s interested in asking a broader philosophical question and less on the characters themselves in the situations. The characters’ backstories are important to why they choose to become involved with Celestial Being, but their life experiences did not have much influence on them otherwise. I do think that’s because the scope of this show was so big, and we as the audience are looking at this entire story from a much broader scope, so the extreme minutiae of character are less important than the broad strokes that lay the scene for a much bigger conversation.

[prongsmydeer]

Things I Kept Thinking About While Watching Pacific Rim (2013):

It's crazy that there are only two female pilots when the entire premise of Jaeger Pilots is a capacity for intellectual and emotional vulnerability with each other. I feel like you are way more likely to come across women who are skilled in doing that than men

I thought at some point they might return to why the Jaeger pilots were being defunded, considering it was by far their most efficient way of dealing with the Kaiju. I understand that if the film is taken as an allegory for climate change, that move represents a form of environmental nihilism, but the metaphor kind of falls short when the same nations they're representing are also deeply militaristic. The more likely outcome than rerouting resources away from a military operation, would probably be the alliance itself falling apart? I think if the film had used that premise, it would more strongly contrast with why the Jaeger rebellion, which persistently believes in the power of cooperation, empathy, and collective action, is the best solution

I did appreciate the detail that most people defaulted to their first language in times of trouble (Mako speaking in Japanese during her fight, Sasha and Alexis speaking in Russian during theirs, etc.) or when they wanted to communicate privately (like Mako commenting on Raleigh when she thought he wouldn't understand) and I think that helped the movie to expand beyond an American War Movie

On that note, I feel like what the movie lacked in strength of dialogue (often feeling very American War Movie), it more than made up for in interesting world-building and character dynamics. The idea that Stacker knew Mako should be a pilot, but was reluctant to put her and Raleigh in the same Jaeger, due to their mutual Kaiju trauma, was so interesting. The concept of drift compatibility, very cool. The concept of the rapid technological evolution of Jaegers from analog (nuclear) to digital, with both of them having clear drawbacks, very cool. Even just the concept of Raleigh being one of the only established pilots to be completely and utterly willing to let any stranger in his head. I feel like I could think about this movie for hours

Truly, they breezed past the dinosaur thing. Nobody even questioned it!!! What do you mean, the dinosaurs were a trial run? They really needed a paleontologist on their research team

[foefire-flame]

Does Leo Enjoy being a dragon dad in aurene's younger years? Also, please, literally anything you want to ramble about, I would love to hear! I love ur fluffy charr boi

Once Leo gets over the initial panic of like, inner turmoil of not knowing how to be gentle in a way thats required of a father, to raise a literal child when charr don't even raise their own children...yes. I always joked that Leo was made to be a father but I truly think its just the type of thing hes not only built for (just the entire thing of patience, love, and iron will thats required TO even be a parent) but to Love someone, to guide them and teach them is just something that really just comes naturally to him despite all his fears about it…

In my canon I really expand upon the Champion's relationship with her. I write it like yknow, Aurene IS an actual child, even if shes also a dragon. She sleeps and she cries and she panics if she doesnt understand something, she gets into things and accidentally hurts herself. All the woes and joys of having a young child are things Leo does experience with her, just slightly different. It's not just about shaping her destiny and teaching her great moral philosophy, it's helping her figure out better control of flight, playing with her, measuring her when she gets scared of something bc shes so new to the world, singing a song so she sleeps. I've talked about Leo having the patience of a saint and its what makes him such a good father to begin with. He adores Aurene, he didn't choose to be her champion, but he chose to be a father to her. Ik the Story agrees with the whole "the mc is aurene's parent essentially" but I never felt satisfied bc I felt the connection between the mc and her is extremely rushed, so I Really want to make it feel like that connection is warranted. Even the bigger she grows he never stops acting as her Father.

I do think, one of Leo's negative traits actually Stems from his deep love of Aurene, because he is so Incredibly Defensive over her. He's one of those parents that just doesnt Take criticism about their kid very well, and it's not like he snaps or gets wildly angry, Its just that he kinda brushes it aside or makes it clear its not up for debate. This partially stems from his own insecurities as a father, again, he is a Charr and never experienced parents so has a whole thing of How Is He Supposed To Raise A Kid. Not only that, this kid is expected to defeat the Most Powerful Elder Dragon, the weight of his performance in terms of guiding and teaching her correctly is Immense. And theres a (in the earlier days) small amount of dread that what Aurene is meant to do won't come easy, she will most likely have to fight. Even if she herself becomes okay with that, as a parent who already has existing problems with his culture deciding he had to be a soldier bc he lives in a militaristic society it just doesn't feel great. BUT TLDR:Yes he loves her so, So much, indescribably. And Thank you ;w;

[cdr2002]

Mortal Kombat Odyssey Bio: Onaga

In the ancient past of Outworld, the realm was divided into a various kingdoms, territories, townships, tribes, and communities.

The oldest of these, and for many centuries the most powerful, was the dragons. They were possibly the first sentient race to come about in the universe created from the defeat of the One Being, before even the humans who would go on to populate nearly every realm in some form or another. They were revered for their wisdom, their strength, and their majesty. And with their considerable army, they were virtually unchallenged.

With this power, respect, and seniority, the dragons of Outworld grew arrogant, believing that their position at the top of the food chain was secured, and their superiority self-evident. Even with the rise of the mighty kingdoms of the Shokan and Centaurs, it seemed that this would remain.

At this point, the latest of the Dragon Kings began to develop desires to expand his empire, and take all of Outworld under their banner. Cooler heads in his council were able to deter this ambition for a few thousand years, and Outworld remained in its status quo.

And then a child was born.

Two mere commoners in the Dragon Kingdom laid an egg which would hatch into the strangest dragon which had been seen in eons. He was… humanoid. Two arms, two legs, and while still towering like an elder Shokan, as he entered adulthood, he was smaller than many of the leviathans among the dragon race. A mutant.

His parents named him Onaga.

Onaga had a very difficult life as he entered the world. The other dragons found his mutation and appearance abhorrent, believing him to be hideous and even unworthy to be considered one of their kind. He was constantly berated and mocked, written off as an outcast and excluded at nearly every venue of life. Even his parents seemed ashamed of him, although they tried to keep up his self esteem in his youth.

This embittered Onaga over a period of centuries, causing him to hate those around him just as they hated him.

But there was something more than the pain of suffering this discrimination. Ever since he could remember, Onaga felt some kind of calling… a higher purpose. As if he was destined for some greatness. While the other dragons saw him as lesser, something told him that he was in fact a being most supreme.

He saw the universe before him and it was if he could bend it to his will…

Onaga’s arrogance allowed him to deflect many of the insults as he got older, and in the same span of time, he began to feel his own inner power grow. Something inside him that granted a might which the realms had never seen.

And one fateful day, it was time to let that power out.

Onaga suddenly snapped under the heckling of a group of his fellow dragons, killing them savagely. And he did not stop there.

As if all his rage had finally been unleashed, Onaga rampaged across the kingdom of the dragons, slaying all who stood in his path. Even his own parents fell victim to his staggering strength.

Entire armies were sent against him, and none of them were enough to stop his advance. Whatever innate power Onaga possessed was beyond them all.

Eventually, Onaga had single-handedly genocided almost the entirety of the dragon face of Outworld, reducing their once-great kingdom to ruin. His final foe was the king of their kind, who had his behind warriors for years and finally had nowhere else to run. Their battle was fierce, but Onaga ultimately succeeded, and laid claim to the title of Dragon King.

Onaga would not stop there, going across Outworld and exerting his might to encourage that all those in his path swore fealty to his burgeoning rule. Even the Protector God of Outworld, Shao Kahn, bent the knee to the Dragon King.

Within another century, Outworld had been reorganized into a unified militaristic empire under Onaga’s singular rule. Kingdoms which maintained their stature had become vassals and he had legions of loyal soldiers at his command which recognized his superior might or saw the opportunity to bring order to Outworld.

For several more millennia Onaga would reign unchallenged, using the intervening time to gain a mastery of several arts of sorcery, including a particular knack for resurrection magic, adding a force undead to his army that was fabled to be undefeatable, and which only grew with time.

He also gained a fascination with ancient legends, relics of potential use. The Amulet of Shinnok. The dark blade, the Ebbonrule. Remaining artifacts of the very dragon kingdom he had destroyed. All potential assets as Onaga began to grow in ambition beyond the bounds of Outworld…

Onaga envisioned a vast empire spanning the entire universe. All of existence beholden to his will. All he needed to do… was conquer.

The Dragon King sent forth his armies, commanded by undead generals and worshippers completely loyal to him, into other realms to seize them and allow him to merge these realms with Outworld. Among those conquests were the Kytinn home realm of Arnyek and the oceanic realm of Ebisu.

This merging of realms was an imminent threat to the relative peace the Elder Gods sought throughout the realms. If Onaga was not stopped, his expansionism risked reconstituting the One Being, and thus destroying the universe that the Elder Gods sought to protect, as well as resurrecting their greatest enemy.

Though still reluctant to interfere, they wished to put a stop to this expansion. Thus, the Elder Gods created the Mortal Kombat tournament. Onaga could no longer freely invade realms without incurring their wrath, and realms under threat had a means to defend themselves with minimal bloodshed.

Onaga was infuriated by this, quickly realizing that the Elder Gods were perhaps the greatest threat to the growth of his empire. He has always hated them, something inside him had always despised their arrogance and presumption to dictate the direction of the cosmos. They sat on thrones which Onaga felt rightfully belonged to him, and he would depose them through whatever means he could.

As the Dragon King regrouped his armies and reconsidered his options, he began to remember back to a story he had known since he was a boy, an unimaginable amount of time ago to most. No one had ever told him this story… at least not that he could remember, he just… knew it.

It was the story of the One Being, the Elder Gods’ battle with them, the creation of the universe

…and the advent of the Kamidogu.

Those artifacts had stayed in his mind for most of his life. He swore to himself that one day he would gather them all and unleash their power. That was his path to omnipotence and total dominion over all reality.

It was a goal his dreams of empire had blinded him to. Onaga realized that expansion through brute force was no longer necessary. If he could venture throughout the relams, or perhaps send agents to do so in his stead, he could gather the Kamidogu in time, without having to wage wars with other realms. Then he could lay siege to the Temple of Elements, claim the final piece, and unlock the secret required to unite these artifacts of the Elder Gods into one.

This however was one factor which his strange innate knowledge denied him… why? What force in the universe would grant him this knowledge of the ancients and forgo the final piece of it all. Perhaps something that had goals which did not align with his own?

Before Onaga could consider the matter of his mysterious benefactor further, he was assassinated at the hands of his advisor, Shao Kahn. The protector god poisoned a drink Onaga had been given, and laughed at him as he fell dead. Onaga damned him a coward as his body failed him.

His remaining loyalists were able to recover his corpse during the ensuing civil war for control of Outworld, taking it to a pyramid which would become known as the Lost Tomb, where powerful mystics among their number engaged a spell which caused the deaths of all present: a ritual suicide to join the ranks of Onaga’s undead army and serve him for eternity. Silent sentinels awaiting his inevitable return.

Shao Kahn succeeded in taking the throne of Outworld and began his own campaign to conquer and merge the realms, abiding the Elder Gods’ Mortal Kombat tournament for the time being.

But in his arrogance, Shao Kahn failed to truly understand the power wielded by Onaga. In his all his time of studying the mystic arts of life and death, Onaga had become virtually immortal. Death would not stop him.

His soul persisted, protected from the pull of any afterlife realm, and Onaga began to put a new plan in motion.

He commanded his mystic followers, the Lava Priests, to gather a stillborn dragon egg from the ruins of the dragon kingdom and construct a shrine around it. If necessary, the body within this egg would serve as Onaga’s new vessel in the living world when he decided to return. The Lava Priests were to stand guard of this shrine until their master’s resurrecifon, and for increased security, they conscripted a firespawn named Blaze using powerful mind control sorcery.

The second part of Onaga’s plan was to find a soul to serve as his agent in traveling across the realms and gathering the six Kamidogu so that he could seize them upon his return and begin his path to being utterly invincible. Onaga knew that this plan could take thousands of years, but despite his rage towards Shao Kahn, he was willing to be patient.

After thousands of years of searching, he honed his focus on Earthrealm, and in particular, a young boy seeking adventure…

Alternate poses

[princess-of-the-corner]

Amnesia!Dabi & AtLA Todorokis

My tablet has decided to be finicky, so submitting this all in a big chunk-

1) AtLa Todorokis

(Assuming CC!Canon)

Toya just looking at Princess “I Must Please My Dad And Be The Best!” Azula, and going “oh, you’re in for a bad time.” Somehow, he and Azula end up sparring, and then screaming and sobbing all over each other. 

Fuyumi and Rei being “dismissed” is less “Woman” and more that the Fire Nation is a very militaristic and power centred society, so the demure housewives get ignored. Jokes on them, by the end of the first week Rei has blackmail on every member of Ozai’s cabinet, and Fuyumi has the undying loyalty of most of his staff.

Natsuo is less “God, how primitive” and more “Ok, I get that you don’t have access to the same technology, but here’s how to make a very simple freezer so these medicines last longer”. Also “ok, I’m like … 80% sure that this plant is the same one where I’m from, in which case you should stop using it, and use this one instead, it’s less addictive”. Or, alternately, “Oh, so this plant does all this cool stuff, isn’t addictive, and grows like mad? Neat, how many seeds can I buy?”

Shoto takes one look at Zuko, decides “Ah, yes. This must be another version of me from an alternate reality.” Zuko … doesn’t really know what to do with that, but the kid seems alright, all things considered. Shoto also kind of … smacks Zuko in the face (metaphorically) cause part of the problem is that Zuko is surrounded by politicians and manipulative power-mongers. Everybody keeps talking around problems, or making Zuko second-guess himself, meanwhile Shoto “What Is A Filter?” Todoroki is like, “I get where you’re coming from, but that was a dick move.”

Enji is gritting his teeth the entire time, cause like. They’re in a strange place, they have to play by the rules until they figure out how to get home. But the more time he spends with Ozai, the more he wants to punt this smug bastard into the sun, and he has to keep reminding himself why that might be a bad idea.

Finally, Ozai decides to have Enji assassinated, cause the Fire Spirit and his family are causing all kinds of political problems. Only, of course, it fails pretty spectacularly, and since it involved using Azula as bait, she’s firmly against him now. Somehow, it ends with Zuko, Azula, Ty Lee, Mai, Shoto, Toya, Fuyumi, and Natsuo going on the run, while Enji and Rei team up with an escaping Iroh to wreck havoc and cover their retreat. The group run into the Gaang, and Zuko has to be like “So, firstly, Sorry for all the times I tried to kill you, secondly-”

At some point, Aang uses his “Spirit Medium” powers to try and connect with someone from the MHA world, ends up contacting Fumikage. 

2) Amnesia!Dabi

I think I sent this ask already, but I am becoming increasingly attached to the idea that Amnesia!Dabi as an AU is one where, for whatever reason, escaping AfO is actually not that hard. Like, in order:

Dabi - literally walked out of the sketchy clinic he woke up in. He was coming out of a coma, covered in half-healed burns, and still fighting off some lingering sedation. Took 15 hours before anyone found out he dipped. He proceeded to “evade” AfO for the next 3 years, to the point the guy thought he was dead, and only knew otherwise when Dabi walked into the bar to join the LoV. Finds out Dabi was basically two streets over the whole time.

Himiko (and Dabi again) - during the smack down involved with Katsuki’s Great Escape, AfO somehow misses Dabi covering Kats’ retreat, and then fleeing with an injured Himiko. When they don’t show up again, everyone assumes they got caught or went to ground, and only manage to piece together any kind of idea what happened when a news story breaks about the Togas suing UA over Himiko. Then the news Dabi=Toya, and his memory loss. Given the publicity involved on both Himiko and Dabi, unless AfO wants to really blow the fact that him being in prison doesn’t mean much, he “decides” they aren’t worth it.

Magne - left shortly before the Toya=Dabi story broke, but after the Himiko court case got announced. Just … left. Decided this clearly wasn’t the kind of group she thought it was, told everyone goodbye, good luck, and left. Jin, Compress and Spinner still have her number. AfO is unaware she left at all until sometime after the League joins up with Overhaul.

Jin - managed to escape a facility that was SUPPOSED to be secure, while severely injured from a procedure that stole his Quirk. Managed to escape, get help, and lead a bunch of heroes to said facility, forcing AfO to abandon it. Is now under the protection of both Enji, and U.A., and when the HPSC try to get at him, Nezu “reveals” Jin’s the pioneer patient for a new program about “rehabbing” villains or something. Hero support skyrockets. HPSC support continues to down-swerve.

Compress - Undermines a fairly important operation to nab a powerful Quirk user, saves several heroes and adjacent from losing their Quirks, and even rescue the current holder of OfA. The resulting de-aging, turning Compress from 32 to 16, somehow ends up with “Mr. Compress” being “dead”, as teen him doesn’t remember being an adult! (I mean, my idea is he … kind of does? Like, general impressions, or big moments, he does remember. He knows he WAS an adult, and why he did what he did. But Eri’s Quirk went a little haywire, so for all intents and purposes, Compress is, indeed, 16 now.) Somehow, ends up adopted by Aizawa & Mic, cause Eri sees him as a big brother figure.

Kurogiri - K, so like. Originally, he got nabbed during some big operation, right? However, so much is different here, that AfO is just trying to get these guys to lay low. So, instead - bear with me - Kurogiri gets sighted during an outing for groceries, and during a scuffle, suffers a head injury that abruptly causes him to remember his time as Oboro, and forget/muddle much of his time as Kurogiri. Disoriented, he accidentally portals himself into Aizawa and Mic’s living room. Shenanigans ensue. Tomura and Spinner figure he got caught. However, they decide to tell AfO he straight up died. AfO, for some reason, decides “yeah, that checks out”.

Tomura & Spinner - so, my general idea for this is. AfO has decided that “if you want something done right, do it yourself”, and has used a combination of Overhauls’ Quirk plus some others to reconstruct his own body, and then with Jin’s Quirk, is going to make an army of himself. He also decides he’s going to yoink Tomura’s Quirk, cause Decay is pretty powerful, and then he’ll kill Tomura on live TV, telling the whole story about Nana & Yagi, and OfA, really hammer in the message that he’s awesome and all is lost. While this mostly goes to plan, he also ends up broadcasting Spinner decking him in the face, grabbing the de-Quirked Tenko, and escaping while calling him a “bitchass knock-off Palpatine wannabe motherfucker” on the way out. The boys get an unexpected assist from a nearby Hawks & Miruko, proceed to tell everyone everything they know about AfO’s plans.

Much later, after everything is settled, if this ends the way CC will, it takes a few weeks for Yoichi and AfO to have a proper conversation, because Yoichi just. Can’t stop laughing.

-

Everyone easily leaving AfO is fucking great.

Also yes let Rei get blackmail!!!

[thedrunkenreadersreviews]

A brief tantrum on the portrayal of faeries.

Well, we gotta go with the green fairy for this one. Pour a very demure and mindful amount into a glass (I am so sorry).

*Sip*

Well, it has been a hot minute. And I am slowly climbing out of a reading slump brought upon me by the great letdown that was Masters of Death (more on that later). But as I was staring at my shelf (which became known as the Void for the time being) I found myself utterly enthralled by my various versions of The Folk of the Air series by Holly Black. The Juniper edition just ties that whole section, dedicated solely to all the books set in the world of Black's Faerieland, together nicely. And while I sat and stared and admired how finely I decorated the area with little mushrooms and fairy lights, I found my smile slowly fading as I thought to myself "Is this it?"

*Sip, sip*

There is a YouTuber by the name of "WithCindy" who is funny as can be, reviews books, talks about other major issues, and is just overall entertaining. Now while I don't always agree with Cindy, there is something they said when reviewing ACOTAR (which, I cannot recommend enough, their videos on that whole series are just perfect!) that I think about a lot.

Cindy, when first starting ACOTAR, asked their reading buddy,

""What makes them fairies?'"

To which the agreed-upon consensus became:

"'Basically, they're magical and have big dicks.'"

*Sip, sip*

How disappointing. Maas is not the only one to write faeries in this way, she is just one of the most popular. But many authors using faeries do this and I have become rather melancholy when thinking about faerie portrayal in literature. Which is why I think I cling to The Folk of the Air so tightly.

FIRST, let me say if you enjoy books like ACOTAR and favor that portrayal of faeries, that is wonderful! And I'm truly happy that you found something you enjoy as that is what reading should be for and I have no beef with anyone who enjoys this type of depiction of faeries.

With that out of the way: It is what I have been yearning for when it comes to faeries for so long. I crave the scary, tricky, terrifying creatures from Irish and Nordic Folklore. I want to see them be cruel and cunning, I want them to look grotesque and imbued with nature.

*Sip, sip*

Cardan, for context, IS a faerie. Like, in every way. He has powers, he cannot lie, there are wards to be used against him, he has a freaking tail! And he is not some thousand-year-old militaristic war leader with a six-pack who knows how to swing a sword. My boy is a noodle. A seventeen-year-old, moody, grumpy, noodle. And I love it! (I don't care for how so many fanarts depict him as a buff dude with a six-pack, like no, he's a skinny boy, but damn these artists are talented as Hell so I can't complain too much lol) I love how he doesn't use his powers to their full extent until book 3. I love how he is so into makeup and dressing up and caring about how he looks before he gets sloppy drunk and then smears his eyeliner all over his face. I love how he is beautiful and dangerous and sometimes downright haunting when he tries to be. I love how he doesn't always know best and how he has to find out that he can be a fantastic ruler/good person if only he tries. I love how he feels excluded from things and longs to be included in them. I love how since he doesn't have the ability to lie, he does so by telling the truth. I love that when he had a crush on the weird girl he got so angry and disgusted with himself and yet just let her tie him up.

I love how in this world, you don't know what the faeries will do next. You don't know what trick they'll play or what riddle they'll provide.

I want these faeries. I miss these faeries. They are magical and horrifying and I love them.

*Sip, sip*

The Replacement, The Call, Emily Wilde's trilogy, and Holly Black's Faerie world. I'm on the hunt for more. I hope to find more. And I hope---my goodness, do I hope---that more are created.

Because faeries are awesome.

Cheers.

*Sip, sip*

[petite-guignol]

bringing this over from twitter because nobody is reading twitter anymore lmfao and i figure the long version is more likely to be interesting to people here

(the OP is responding to some film account's description of something in an upcoming Avatar movie, not that it really matters but that's the context in case anyone was curious)

putting this under a cut because, as is apparently customary for me, the long version is like. really long.

the elemental theming for different nations in FF4 is not very strong and we do not see much of Damcyan anyway but i do think it has a pretty interesting angle on what a "fire kingdom" looks like

the crystals mostly serve as a metaphor for stewardship of the land and the people on it. the earth crystal in Troia is probably the most on the nose about it but that's kind of my read on the whole deal. various fantasy settings, particularly video games, have had different variations of what a "fire landscape" looks like, and a lot of times its inhospitable. (FF5 always makes me laugh here because Karnak, the fire crystal city in that game, just has literal open flames straight up raging in the streets, presumably all the time. the people there are actually distressed when the fires go out. but i digress) Damcyan is a desert, which is kind of a harsh environment comparatively but both naturally occurring and perfectly habitable, a place one ought to care for and not just a big empty wasteland.

Besides being situated in the middle of a hot, bright environment there's a vague aesthetic connection to fire. edward dresses in bright red and gold, with anna in a yellow dress and sometimes bright red hair. the DS version puts sunbursts on the castle walls and a lit candle on their flag, and maybe this is just me overthinking it (this whole thing is tbh) but the SFC version of Damcyan castle features these weird clusters of extremely tall towers that almost resemble smoke stacks or something. at any rate Damcyan is at least slightly more clearly "fire themed" than Fabul is "air themed", for example.

the elemental connection is again mainly metaphorical, in the associations people have made with the classical elements. water is knowledge, air is discipline, earth is abundance, and so on, which means Damcyan is indeed supposed to have the figurative qualities of fire

which are...

well, again we don't see much of Damcyan. in-game, their prince is a bard (and in the DS version they also have a lyre on their flag). they have soldiers but are clearly not intended to be read as militaristic in any way. the castle has a dungeon, which is full of treasure chests largely containing hats. it has the first healing pots you'll come across in the game. it's the only country on the surface besides Baron that seems to have anything approaching modern tech, and its a civilian vehicle that helps you get across the desert. the area's signature boss monster produces a healing item and is supposed to be docile despite its terrifying appearance.

Edward himself is primarily known for his beautiful voice and is a healer, mechanically speaking. the first thing we learn about him is that he eloped with his lover against her father's wishes, and while the game on its own doesn't really give any context for his apparent habit of wandering around in disguise, it's very easy to read his behavior as impulsive. he's extremely emotional, to the extent that it actually bleeds into the battle system. so he's "fiery", in a sense -- seemingly always in the throes of some volatile emotion or other -- but in a way that's essentially the opposite of aggressive

the primary quality of fire here, i think, is compassion -- warmth and light, music and love and healing. it's a harsh world out there, but here in the firelight even the monsters are tame

plus, a little bit of "hey, can't you use fire to do metal smithing? what about a combustion engine? wouldn't that make you like, fabulously wealthy?" thrown in there for spice i guess

(actually, if you want to combine poet-kings, the vague tech-y overtones of the place -- including Edward functioning as a sort of proto-Chemist -- and the guidebook stuff about Damcyan having gotten extremely rich off trading and idk Rubicante, you could probably make a good argument that "fire" also serves as a general emblem for "civilization," but that's neither here nor there and this post is already long as fuck)

[every1sno1fangirl]

Extremely belated Civilization VII posting!

I've been really out of it dealing with some terrible stuff these past few weeks so I've been slacking on doing this. I am going to be doing a gigantic masterpost about the leaders Amina, Ibn Battuta, Harriet Tubman, and Benjamin Franklin. As well as Exploration Age civilizations Hawai'i and Songhai, the Modern Age civilizations Mexico and America. After that, the Developer Diary they released about the Narrative Events system and then finally, some of the cooler parts of the recent Modern Age livestream that I happened to really like! So with that out of the way...

Leader: Amina

https://civilization.2k.com/civ-vii/game-guide/leaders/amina/

The warrior queen Amina rose to power when the trade routes of the Sahara began to provide access to a larger and larger world. A callous and single-minded conqueror, she led the Hausa people on a campaign of expansion across the precolonial Sahel, and she was said to take a lover in every city she vanquished, only to kill him in the morning. In uniting the lands, Amina conquered according to her own fashion – with a sword, not a man, at her side.

Amina is an Economic & Militaristic leader that comes with the Unique Ability Warrior-Queen of Zazzau. Not only do all of her cities receive +1 extra Resource Capacity (Which is a big deal!) but she also receives +1 Gold per Age for each one, which can really add up! And fittingly enough with her militaristic ways, all of her Military untis receive +5 Combat Strength whenever they're on Plains or Desert tiles!

So if you piss her off enough because of her agenda, Desert of the Warrior Queen by having more Settlements on those kinds of tiles...beware her sword! They recommend you pair her with Songhai in the Exploration Age, and I'm inclined to agree though I think she could also pair very well with Mongolia. As for the Antiquity Age, Aksum or Persia seem like good fits in my eyes.

I don't have much more to say about her since I don't know a lot about her, but it's still cool to see a figure like her make a nice showing.

Leader: Ibn Battuta

https://civilization.2k.com/civ-vii/game-guide/leaders/ibn-battuta/

Ibn Battuta, a scholar and chronicler born of a Moroccan and Berber family, traveled down the trade routes of Africa, Asia, and Europe starting in 1325. After performing the Hajj, the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca, he went on to explore the Dar al-Islam (the known Muslim world). Through his travelogue, the Rihla, Ibn Battuta's insights into his world, and the lives of those he shared it with, continue to inspire like-minded travelers.

Ibn Battuta was an extremely interesting guy in real life who explored more of the world than anybody else before the modern world; 117,000 kilometers of it compared to Zheng He and Marco Polo who did 50,000 and 24,000 respectively. I feel like he's kind of unsung here in the West despite that so seeing him here now in Civilization VII is really great.

And surprisingly enough, he is also the first leader so far to be considered a 'Wildcard' which is fitting...because holy shit is this guy really good! His Unique Ability The Marvels of Traveling (Which is part of the formal title of The Rihla, his travelogue!) gives him +2 Wildcard Attribute Points after the first Civic in every single Age! They haven't gone too into detail about the Leader Attributes and how to get points into them I don't think, but that is insane. That's 6 of them across the entire game completely for free that you can put into any category when as far as I can tell, the other guaranteed sources of it are from Age transitions. And as if that wasn't enough, all of his units receive +1 Sight which is a big deal because of how much more limited Movement is in this title. And on top of that he has access the Unique Endeavor Trade Maps that lets you gradually see other Leaders' exposed areas.

Fittingly enough, his Agenda Far and Wide makes him like you a lot more if you've uncovered the most Fog of War and dislike you if you have uncovered the least.

I think he is a fantastic addition to the game and much like Benjamin Franklin, Confucius, Harriet Tubman, and Machiavelli, he is a really good choice for a leader who wasn't necessarily a head of state which is something they've wanted to branch out and include for Civilization VII. He is also probably going to be the leader I recommend most to new players or people who haven't been buildcrafting or anything like that too much; A lot of them are still going to be new-player friendly but he is so flexible and can go in literally any direction you want with any civilization you want that he's hard to 'mess up'.

Leader: Benjamin Franklin

https://civilization.2k.com/civ-vii/game-guide/leaders/benjamin-franklin/

In colonial America, few individuals shone as brightly as Benjamin Franklin. Beginning as a humble printer, he soon established himself as a prominent newspaper publisher. In 1747, he moved into politics and became one of the Founding Fathers, participating in the drafting and signing of the Declaration of Independence. A restless polymath, Franklin also made many contributions to science in fields as diverse as electricity and oceanography.

We've known this guy would be in since forever, so it's nice to finally get the details about him now! He's a Diplomatic & Scientific minded leader who uses his Unique Ability The First American to gain +1 Science per Age on Production Buildings in all Cities as well as an extra +50% Production towards building them in the first place. He also gets a similar Science bonus on every Endeavor he starts and supports and he is allowed to have two Endeavors of the same type active at the same time which is pretty great! In this game Science and Production buildings go hand in hand in regards to being constructed next to Resources so having extra bonuses to that will really help him with the Science Legacy Path, and he does interesting things with the diplomacy side of things too.

His Agenda, Civic Virtue was always really annoying in Civilization VII and I expect it to remains o; He likes other players who share his type of Government and dislikes those who don't. Which has interesting repercussions if that goes further with differing Ideology. However, since he's able to have two of the same kind of Endeavor active, he's able to keep peace and good relationships with a lot more people too; There's a limited number of Endeavors after all, and if you can only have one of each type at a time, it's a very real possibility that you can't build a positive relationship with every player as a result.....

The game recommends playing him with America in the Modern Age, of course. Though he'd also do a very good job as Qing China (Which has not had its details revealed yet, but we do know Han and Ming's already and it will follow suit). In fact, besides the obvious path of the Mississippians or Greece into the Shawnee into America or something just going hard into Han -> Ming -> Qing would work out really well for him.

Leader: Harriet Tubman

https://civilization.2k.com/civ-vii/game-guide/leaders/harriet-tubman/

Born Araminta "Minty" Ross to enslaved parents on a Maryland plantation, Harriet Tubman escaped slavery, then helped others do the same via the Underground Railroad, a network of safehouses that led to the free North. She led the Union Army in a raid on Combahee Ferry, rescuing over 700 people, and later became involved in the suffrage movement and other causes. Few have embodied the fight for freedom and equal rights as well as Harriet Tubman.

Harriet Tubman is a Diplomatic & Militaristic leader, though she's 'diplomatic' in a very different way than Benjamin Franklin and other Diplomatic leaders have been. Namely because her Unique Ability Combahee Raid gives her 50% extra Influence towards Espionage Actions and 5 War Support for every war declared against her. Espionage in general is now way better and less micromanage-y (thank god) because it is now separate, 'secret' Diplomatic options you engage in against other Civilizations. And all of her units get to ignore the movement penalties from Vegetated tiles, which can be really helpful for fighting near forests and in jungles, if I remember how the new tile system works right!

Because of her Agenda Veracity she likes other players who have declared Formal Wars and dislikes those who have declared Surprise Wars. Which is...interesting? I feel like that is the 'normal' relationship modifier in previous titles; So will that be an extra influence on top, or do other AIs no longer care if a war was Formal or Surprise if they don't have a relationship with one of the other parties?

She of course, is a good pick for America for America and any other diplomatic Civilizations, but she would also be an interesting one for more militaristic ones too, considering her bonuses towards that.

I'm going to elaborate more here since there are a lot of disgusting racists but this was a surprise pick they pulled out just for the Modern Age stream and I have to say I really like it actually. She is an interesting figure in American history and is someone I'd personally consider to be an archetypal 'American Hero' in a way that makes a lot of people upset. (I do not recommend looking at the YouTube comments section) One of my favorite quotes has always been "I had reasoned this out in my mind; there was one of two things I had a right to, liberty or death; if I could not have one, I would have the other.”

I think her bonuses are also a really good fit considering her role as a spymaster and (posthumously recognized as one) brigadier general in the Union army. And they also offer an interesting contrast to Benjamin Franklin's, who is also a 'diplomatic' leader but engages with it in an entirely different way. By making her a more militaristic, clandestine leader it offers that interesting contrast. I know some people were hoping for Frederick Douglass or even John Brown, but I think she best suits that contrast as separate pillars of the American identity; One, the open-armed and high-minded idealist working to build the better tomorrow and the other, the embittered radical who does whatever it takes to realize and make it worthwhile. And in that regard, I can think of no other to better represent the latter in that time period than her, who was one of many to sow the seeds that would bloom into the civil rights activism of the future. And quite frankly, she's going to be on the $20 bill—it does not get much more prominent than "They're literally on the money."

We're finally moving on to the civilizations, and I have four to talk about here! Just as a refresher, EVERY single civilization has the following:

1 Unique Ability (UA)

1 Unique Civilian Unit (UCU) that can be anything from Scouts, to Merchants, to Missionaries to to Commanders, to having Great People which are no longer in the game otherwise!

1 Unique Military Unit (UMU)

1 Associated Wonder (AW) that are essentially an 'alternate unlock' for where they would normally be in the Tech/Civic trees, so you can get access to and build them faster!

3 Unique Social Policies (Traditions) that you can keep and slot in in any Age.

Unique Civics that give unique and persistent bonuses.

A Unique Art Style for ALL of their units and infrastructure. And of course, a soundtrack to go with!

And finally, 1 Unique Infrastructure that consists of either 1 Unique Improvement (UI) OR 2 Unique Buildings (UB) that if built in the same tile, combine to create a Unique Quarter (UQ) with its own special bonus!

I will not be going into too much detail about specific leader/civilization combinations with these new ones, simply because it would be even longer and more detailed than it already is and because we only know of two of the Modern Age civilizations so far.

Exploration Age Civilization: Hawai'i

https://civilization.2k.com/civ-vii/game-guide/civilizations/hawaii/

With their double-hulled canoes and crab-clawed sails, Polynesian settlers reached across the vastness of the Pacific. Hawai'i, settled around 1000 CE, was at first a series of rival kingdoms until the advent of Kamehameha in 1795. But just a short while later, European and American missionaries, settlers, and planters invaded Hawai'i until the kingdom fell to a coup.

Hawai'i is a Cultural & Expansionist civilization whose inclusion in the base game I feel is a little rough; They seem to occupy a similar space Mongolia does of not really having a satisfying Antiquity Age civilization to have turned into historically, and unlike Mongolia, they don't seem to in terms of gameplay either since there aren't really any civilizations/leaders who specialize so much in the marine/coastal starting biases either. That being said, I do like seeing them and their bonuses are pretty cool and I imagine those previous concerns will eventually be patched up with DLC.

Their UA Moananuiākea lets them gain Culture every time a Settlement of theirs expands into a Marine tile and all of their Fishing Boats gain increased Happiness. This is pretty good for what they want to do, especially since as far as I can tell, every coastal tile can be a Fishing Boat now instead of just Sea Resources like it was in Civilization VI. (Though if I'm wrong about that and the Coastal improvements that can actually be spammed everywhere is something different, that's okay too!)

Their three Civics are as follows:

Mana

Tier 1: Adds Culture for every time an Environmental Event has provided Fertility this Age.

Tier 2: Leiomano Unique Infantry Unit receives Culture when defeating enemy Units. Unlocks 'Kapa' Tradition. 

Tradition - Kapa: Increased Production towards Culture Buildings. 

Ohana

Tier 1: Unlocks the Lo'i Kalo Unique Building and 'Ahupuaʻa' Tradition.

Tradition - Ahupuaʻa: Food Buildings receive increased Culture.

Tier 2: Increased Culture for Lo'i Kalo Unique Improvements in Settlements with a Pavilion.

Heʻe nalu

Tier 1: Receive a set number of Relics. Increased Settlement Limit. Unlocks 'Ho'okupu' Tradition.

Tradition - Ho'okupu: Increased Culture on Marine tiles.

Tier 2: Marine Rural tiles in Settlements following your Religion provide increased Culture. The Kahuna Unique Missionary Unit Receives an additional charge for the Heal action. Unlocks the Hale o Keawe Wonder.

Their Unique Improvement is a UI called the Lo'i Kalo which provides Food and Production as well as giving adjacent Farms extra Culture, but it can only be placed on Grassland and Tropical tiles.

Their UCU is the Kahuna which is a Missionary that has a Heal action that doesn't delete if when used; I don't know how to interpret if ALL missionaries have that ability and it normally deletes them after, or if this is entirely unique to Hawai'i.

Their UMU is the Leiomano which is an Infantry unit that has extra Combat Strength against both other Infantry and Cavalry Units! That actually seems like it will be pretty strong and help them a lot with their expansion.

Their AW is the Hale o Keawe which provides Culture and makes it so whenver you finish a Building on a Marine tile you receive more Culture equal to a percentage of its cost as well as providing Great Work slots. (Which I don't think they've talked much about besides it being part of the Codex/Relics/Artifacts system.) It can only be built on a Marine tile adjacent to land that is not the Tundra.

With all of this put together, I think a good Antiquity Age civilization for them would be the Aksum, with Hawai'i itself occupying an interesting space in the paradigm the Legacy Paths establish in the Exploration Age; They are incentivized to expand and proselytize in the Distant Lands and receive quite a few bonuses to make that easier and better support the Settlements you establish there so they can grow and prosper which helps them achieve both the Cultural, Domination, AND Economic paths!

Exploration Age Civilization: Songhai

https://civilization.2k.com/civ-vii/game-guide/civilizations/songhai/

As the Empire of Mali faltered, their Songhai vassals rose up to form one of the largest states in Africa. Songhai revitalized Islam in the region, renewed the academic community in Timbuktu, and controlled the trans-Saharan trade. But the empire’s days were numbered when the Moroccans invaded, armed with gunpowder and seeking new routes for their own prosperity.

Befitting Amina's rulership, Songhai too is a civilization focused on the Economic & Militaristic side of gameplay. They are a fitting successor to the previous Antiquity Age civilization Aksum, though Persia would also make for a fantastic origin point for them.

Their UA Tarikh al-Sudan gives them even more Resource Capacity in Cities on Navigable Rivers and your Trade Ships can never be Plundered on them. This means you can really support your cities and spread out all of the resources you're going to be getting while being able to focus on protecting the ones you trade more proactively because they'll all be save on Navigable Rivers.

Their three Civics are as follows:

Ships of the Desert

Tier 1: Unlocks the Caravanserai Unique Improvement, the 'Timbuktu' Tradition, and the Tomb of Askia Wonder.

Tradition - Timbuktu: Increased Gold on Mines if there is a Gold Building in that City. 

Tier 2: Increased Gold on the Caravanserai Unique Improvement in Settlements with a Bazaar. Unlocks 'Mud Brick' Tradition.

Tradition - Mud Brick: Increased Production towards Gold Buildings.

Hi-Koi

Tier 1: Increased Combat Strength to all Military Units on Navigable Rivers.

Tier 2: Rivers do not end Unit movement. Unlocks 'Isa' Tradition.

Tradition - Isa: Increased Movement to all Units on Navigable Rivers.

Kanta

Tier 1: Tajiro Unique Merchant Unit gains increased Gold. Increased Settlement Limit. Cities in Homelands on Navigable Rivers generate Treasure Fleets worth one Victory Point each.

Their Unique Improvement is a UI called the Caravanserai which provides Gold and even more of it when adjacent to Rivers and Resources but can only be built on the Desert or Plains.

Their UCU is the Tajiro which is a merchant that gives you Gold when you create a Trade Route that includes at least one Navigable River!

Their UMU is the Gold Bangles Infantry which is, you guessed it, an Infantry Unit that has extra Combat Strength on tiles with Resources on them and provides extra yields when you Plunder a Trade Route with them.

And finally, their AW is the Tomb of Askia which provides Gold and increases the Resource Capacity in the Settlement in which it was built while providing extra gold and Production for every Resource assigned to it. It can only be built in the Desert!

Put all together, Songhai fits pretty cleanly into the Domination and Economic Legacy Paths, even if it is in more indirect ways than some other civilizations do. Their ability to take advantage of resources is really helpful in the Distant Lands and conquering them is easier; Even moreso if you can exploit Navigable Rivers to do so.

Modern Age Civilization: Mexico

https://civilization.2k.com/civ-vii/game-guide/civilizations/mexico/

For centuries, Spain extracted from the New World natural resources and the wealth of past empires. But following Napoleon's conquest of Spain, many saw an opportunity to create a new, free society in Mexico. Mexicans succeeded in their struggle for freedom, and a new state emerged – a cultural powerhouse primed to navigate challenges of governance, relationships between indigenous peoples and white Spaniards, and the operation of the Mexican economy relative to its northern neighbor.

Mexico is the first civilization in the Modern age they've announced, which lasts from 1750 into (roughly) the 1950's. And I must say they captured it in a really interesting way that I wish was more well-known. Mexico went through a tumultuous time that doesn't get talked about much from what I've seen here as an American. Maybe that is a personal bias that isn't reflected by others, but I feel like I never heard much about the Mexican Revolution in school despite how important it was to the US; While the 'formal' revolution lasted only 10 years, Mexico was dealing with coups and revolutions for a hundred years prior. I think it's interesting that they're being considered a Cultural & Diplomatic Civilization since I think they're quite a bit more Militaristic than the latter.

Fittingly enough, their UA is Revolución which is a unique Government type they are forced into, which is...also called Revolución! It has a single Celebration effect which gives them a large Culture boost. As they explore their Civics they unlock additional Celebration types they can select, and since they are restricted to the single Government type theirs will be stronger and more flexible since they have more options than the normal Governments do!

Their four unique Civics are as follows:

Planes Políticos

Tier 1: Unlocks the Catedral Unique Building, the Portal de Mercaderes Unique Building, and the 'Corridos' Tradition.

Tradition - Corridos: Increased Happiness in Settlements for every Tradition slotted into the Government.

Tier 2: Increased Policy slot for Revolución Unique Ability. Unlocks the Palacio de Bellas Artes Wonder.

Plan of Iguala

Tier 1: Unlock an additional Celebration effect, granting a large amount of Production towards Military Units for a set number of turns. Unlocks the 'Cry of Dolores' Tradition.

Tradition - Cry of Dolores: Increased Combat Strength for Units in Friendly territory for every Tradition slotted into the Government.

Plan of Ayutla

Tier 1: Unlock an additional Celebration effect, granting a large amount of Influence towards initiating Diplomatic Actions for a set number of turns. Unlocks the 'La Reforma' Tradition.

Tradition - La Reforma: Increased Culture in Towns for every Tradition slotted into the Government.

Plan of Tuxtepec

Tier 1: Unlock an additional Celebration effect, granting a large amount of Science for a set number of turns. Unlocks the 'Order and Progress' Tradition.

Tradition - Order and Progress: Increased Science in Cities for every Tradition slotted into the Government.

Their Unique Improvement is two UBs and a UQ. The Catedral is a UB that provides Culture and receives Happiness when adjacent to other Culture Buildings, such as the Portal de Mercaderes their other UB, which provides culture as well as receiving Gold from adjacent Gold Buildings. When both of these occupy the same tile they create a Zócalo UQ which gives extra Culture for every Unique Tradition slotted into their Government! (So all of their Traditions from their civilization+previous ones, as well as any they might have picked up from Independent Peoples.)

Their UCU is the Revolucionario which is essentially a 'Great Person' from previous Civilization titles. They can only be built in a City with a Zócalo Quarter and each one is random and can only be received ones. Each one also increases the cost to make the next. They are:

Amelio Robles Ávila: Activated on a Zócalo Unique Quarter to grant a set number of free Soldaderas Unique Infantry Units with increased Combat Strength.

Vicente Guerrero: Activated on the Palace to immediately trigger a Celebration.

Petra Herrera: Activated on a Commander Unit. All Soldaderas Unique Infantry Units within its Command Radius gain increased Combat Strength.

Miguel Hidalgo: Activated in a Town's District to summon a free Infantry Unit on every land District in that Town.

Ángela Jiménez: Activated on a Commander Unit to grant Culture for every Promotion it has (effect scales based on game speed).

Benito Juárez: Activated on a Zócalo Unique Quarter to grant an additional Tradition slot.

José María Morelos: Activated on a Commander Unit to heal all Units in its Command Radius to full health.

Antonio López de Santa Anna: Activated on a Commander Unit to grant it enough experience for a set number of Promotions.

Pancho Villa: Activated on a Commander Unit. When a Unit within this Commander’s Command Radius defeats an enemy Unit, gain Gold equal to a percentage of its Combat Strength.

Emiliano Zapata: Activated on a City Center to grant increased Culture to all Farms in the Settlement.

Their UMU is the Soldaderas, an Infantry Unit that can heal Adjacent Units by a certain amount that doesn't stack, so they are a battlefield medic of sorts!

Rounding it off is their AW, the Palacio de Bellas Artes. It provides Culture and Happiness as well as extra Happiness from Great Works while coming with some slots for them itself. It can only be built adjacent to an Urban District!

All together, Mexico seems to be an incredibly interesting civilization. Again, the 'Diplomatic' tag seems to be really fuzzy and vague but they seem to be fantastic for any kind of gameplay you desire. I honestly couldn't recommend any single one since it seems to be versatile enough to fit into any of them. I think their any of their historical paths are also very flexible; Your choice of either Greece or Rome into Spain as a history means you have a lot of different flexibility on what Legacy Paths you've been traveling down and the same is equally true if you instead went from the Maya to the Inca (Who I assume are the other path to Mexico—every civilization seems to unlock two possible in the next Age by default so far and this seems to be the reason why the current multiplayer cap is so low in the Antiquity and Exploration Ages while it is expanded again in the Modern.) So while they don't necessarily have any strong bonuses to any of the four in particular, their flexibility and ability to continue off from where you came from is top notch! If you like messing around with the 'Great People' though I'd recommend that Greece into Spain path however, since both have their own.

I do assume playing as either Spain or the Inca will be the only way to turn into them besides whatever alternate unlock they might have though(The developers have not shown off any of them except what Mongolia's might be.) because three of the people that would have been really good picks for leaders (The alternate way to unlock a later-Age civilization as a choice is if you are playing as the Leader of one) are instead Revolucionarios instead, which I feel like is a hard de-confirm for one showing up as a leader. Maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised? It remains to be seen. Also the team at Firaxis was incredibly based for including Amelio!

Modern Age Civilization: America

https://civilization.2k.com/civ-vii/game-guide/civilizations/america/

America was a new nation, one founded on Enlightenment ideals of progress and rationality, industry and progress, and ever-expanding horizons. The American Revolution ignited from this demand for expansion: to expand trade independently to the Caribbean, to extend the colonies’ borders westward (into land held by indigenous nations), and freedom from British tariffs and taxes.

America is the second revealed Modern Age civilization, and perhaps the one people most expected considering where the game is being made. I think more than perhaps any other civilization, they are receiving the biggest benefit from the new Age structure and making sure each one is interesting to play and has their own civilizations entirely; They've always been kind of whelming since IV. They weren't exceptionally weak then by any means, but they just didn't offer anything unique. In Civilization V this didn't change much. Their main bonuses of 50% cheaper tile purchases and +1 Sight weren't bad by any means, but they were nothing special either. And their UBs and UUs always came online way too late. And quite frankly, it was extremely middling in Civilization VI at launch too; It took DLC to make America itself better and Theodore Roosevelt was only ever just Alright until he got his Personas and it too suffering from UBs and UUs that only ever became usable in the late game. So much of the 'modern' civilization gameplay has consisted of twiddling your thumbs while you wait for their actually unique thing to finally come online and being kind of generic while it wasn't. Earlier civilizations also had that problem in reverse, but it felt better because snowballing in the early game was better. By focusing on making each Age a distinct thing with their own civilizations, this problem is entirely averted and now America (And other civilizations of course!) can truly shine. So with that mini-rant out of the way...

America is an Economic & Expansionist civilization who seems to pull most thematically from the 1800's with Manifest Destiny and all that entails in mind. Their UA is Frontier Expansion which gives them Gold every time they Improve a Resource.

Their three unique Civics are as follows:

Yankee Ingenuity

Tier 1: Unlocks the Steel Mill Unique Building and the 'Gold Rush' Tradition.

Tradition - Gold Rush: Increased Gold for every assigned Resource.

Tier 2: Prospector Unique Merchant Units receive a Gold discount.

Captains of Industry

Tier 1: Unlocks the Railyard Unique Building and the 'Robber Baron' Tradition.

Tradition - Robber Baron: Increased Influence for every assigned Resource.

Tier 2: Increased Production on Resources. Increased Settlement Limit.

Wartime Manufacturing

Tier 1: Units receive increased Combat Strength for having more than one adjacent enemy Unit. Unlocks the Statue of Liberty Wonder.

Tier 2: Increased Production towards Military Units when fighting a war in which your Support is higher than your opponent. Unlocks the 'Lend-Lease' Tradition.

Tradition - Lend-Lease: Increased Gold and Influence per Trade Route.

Their Unique Improvement is two UBs and a UQ again, this time being the Steel Mill and Railyard respectively that combine together to create the Industrial Park UQ. They both synergize really well; The former is a Production Building that gains extra Gold for adjacent Resources and the latter is a Gold Building that gives extra Production for adjacent Quarters. When combined together the Industrial Park increases the amount of Food in a City for every Resource assigned to it, which America is already heavily incentivized to get!

America's UCU is the Prospector, which is is a unique Merchant that can be activated on unowned Land Resources within a certain range of all of your Settlements...where it will automatically claim a path of tiles to and Improve that Resource! This is very very strong and as you can see, really does a lot to feed into the rest of their gameplay.

Their UMU is the Marine, which is a unique Infantry unit that requires less Production to build and has the Amphibous keyword, making it so they have no Combat penalties when attacking from Embarkation. It still costs them Movement to Embark and Disembark though, which is kind of funny so they're always chilling in their DUKW's anyway. They just pull their awnings up when they're Embarked!

And finally, the AW for them is of course the Statue of Liberty, which provides Happiness and a certain number of 'Migrant Units', which are Civilian Units that can be used to trigger Growth Events in any of your Settlements. It also increases the Resource Capacity in a Settlement, as well as provide Gold and Production for each one assigned to that city. It can only be built on the Coast adjacent to land!

All together, America is really really really well suited for completing the Economic Legacy Path which is very fitting, considering its emphasis on being a Robber baron. Just like the previous Ages, there is a big emphasis made on collecting Resources, though I'll go into the specific details about that later on. I think the way they expand and why are also interesting; They don't have a lot of direct military bonuses, but are still capable of holding their own in that regard while they secure resources. It straddles that period of time in America history where barring the Civil War it was only ever really a means to an end to acquire more resources and they were otherwise uninvolved and isolated from the rest of the world and their much more vigorous turmoil (That America itself contributed to of course, in regards to the Indigenous peoples of the continent.) and the slow lead-up where that would very much change with WW2. Focusing so much on the Robber barons makes sense in that context.

As for the historical paths to America? It's one of the squickier aspects of the new system, but the Mississippian civilization into the Shawnee provide a really strong ground when it comes to gathering and taking advantage of Resources. It is what I would personally recommend in all likelihood.

Developer Diary #4: Emergent Narrative

This is the section I'm going to talk the least about, mostly because it speaks for itself. I think everything discussed here, like the previous developer diaries, is incredibly interesting and very much what I like to see though. It is a continuing trend of introspection and thoughtfulness that I really appreciate, and seeing how some of the examples in the post itself have come to fruition in the streams themselves is a nice thing to see. I especially like seeing the wide variety and extensiveness of this new system; It is one of the things that reminds me of Civilization: Beyond Earth which I really liked and seeing it further refined and less 'jank' for lack of a better word is great.

The Modern Age Stream

This section from me is going to be a highlight summary for the most part and some of my own thoughts; The full stream is around an hour and thirty minutes long for those who want to see the whole thing though!

To start off with, the Leader count was fully confirmed for the first time; There will be 26 leaders (5 of which are Personas—essentially, a different flavor for a leader) complimenting 31 civilizations at launch. With Benjamin Franklin and Harriet Tubman officially revealed today that is 14, which means there are 7 left! Which is coincidentally, how many weeks away we are from launch. So you can expect seven more posts about the leaders from me and eight about the rest of the Modern Age civilizations (Or maybe I'll combine each one together into the same post?) For other leaders and civilizations that have been soft-confirmed even if there bonuses aren't revealed yet I believe we have:

Himiko for Japan (And Japan in the Modern Age as a result—I really hope they get representation in the Antiquity and Exploration Ages later too.)

Bugunda

France

Mughal India

Qing China

Siam

Napoleon Bonaparte (And his Persona!)

I have no clue in what order they will be released in and who else is on the list but I eagerly await to see who gets in!

Dark Age policies are back! I don't know if they were showed off earlier, but I think it's nice to see them included. IIRC you fall into a Dark Age for a given Legacy Path if you failed to meet even the basic Milestone for it in the previous Age? It feels less like an intentional tactical failure you can game like in Civilization VI and more like a pity feature though, since you really want to get those Legacy Points to spend on actually good things. Especially since choosing one consumes ALL of your other points in every category. It seems like something you should only do if you are falling behind on a certain path I'm honestly not quite sure how or why you would this honestly; Maybe you know of another player who is insanely well-positioned to get a certain Legacy Path victory and you want to try and take it out from under them in the next Age? It feels like something you can't know until it's too late to intentionally throw like that though, and that you'd do better just fighting for it normally in that Age and into the next. Maybe it's for those who didn't do particularly well in achieving any of the Legacy Paths?

The Modern age officially starts at the year 1750 with things such as the invention of the steam engine!

And...it ends in roughly 1960, with the discovery of Rocketry.

This is going to be controversial. I already see a lot of complaints about it and how the game (for now—they also teased how an expansion might go beyond it later.) is 'incomplete' because of a lack of a Contemporary/Information Age but personally...

I really don't mind? It feels kind of superficial and knee-jerk, even.

Civilization IV, V, AND VI have all desperately suffered from that part of the game being boring and flawed and half-baked every single time on launch. Even more than the previously mentioned problems with the more modern civilizations, the systems themselves just feel undercooked and less engaging and had to be fixed with DLC much later, with Beyond the Sword and Brave New World and Gathering Storm respectively. It has always been the weakest part of the experience so far whether it be because the AI doesn't engage with it properly or because there just isn't enough to do that feels 'right'.

Given the absolutely massive emphasis they have placed on the Ages system making each individual civilization and phase of the game always feel good to play and be involved in I really don't mind if they chopped some years off to make it so the experience that remains is even better. So many games suffer nowadays from being as wide as an ocean and as deep as a puddle. Even games that are still complex or really engaging still suffer from feature creep and stuff that just feels like underbaked padding. It obviously isn't a one-to-one example but I feel like if you cut off like 30% of the map in Elden Ring (Not including Shadow of the Erdtree because I haven't beaten that yet and can't speak for it.) the game would be way better and a stronger experience, compared to how redundant some of those Dungeons and such really get and feel and the actual size of the world map not really taking advantage of said size. By far the strongest and best parts of that game are the Legacy Dungeons that best resemble their previous titles; They are the tighter, stronger experiences that have less padding and provide an interesting, satisfying experience the whole way through them.

So no, I'm not particularly bothered if the three Ages currently in the game are really good and fun to play in if that nebulous fourth Age that has historically always been really lackluster was the expense. Especially since they're focusing so hard on addressing the reasons why it was and purposefully left the door open to expand upon and include it later in an equally as thoughtful and considerate manner. The game has been in development for some time now; I prefer the prioritization being shown here especially since they can see what players end up actually liking about every Age and its systems and what they would like to see in the future before including it with those things in mind in whatever form that ends up taking.

Here are the three types of governments typically available to civilizations in the Modern Age. Remember that whenever you have enough excess Happiness to trigger a Celebration, you choose one of the two bonuses listed there and also expand the amount of Social Policies you can include in your Government.

Natural History is one of the very first Civics you can research in this new Age and it is the most important one for achieving the Cultural victory! I think it's interesting to make it available so early on given the prioritization towards it being based on acquiring 'Great Works' so to speak. With the new Narrative system though I'm quite happy that it will be less annoying to fill those up, even if it means there aren't necessarily as many on the map? That is the implication I'm taking away from it at least since they mentioned sending the Explorer to Universities and Museums to do research on where some could be found; Gone is the "X Civilization or Barbarian Artifact" theming shenanigans on an intrusive tile peppered everywhere it seems. I also like the flavor of them having to scour the archives and do research before finding some; I can see it tying into the Narrative Events in a fun way to include hoax artifacts for example or many of the stories that are told about Ancient Egyptian curses or haunted burial grounds and the like.

This is a random event that can result in giving you an Artifact for example. If you choose the top option 'the story continues' and it can result in you gaining one, regardless of your Explorers. This event was triggered by placing a new building, the Grocer, on a Floodplains! It is referencing this event pretty explicitly by the way, as a historical fun fact.

Much like how the Culture Legacy is an evolution of the previous Age's, a new type of Resource and its acquisition is available in the Modern Age and they become relevant with the advent of the Industrial Revolution. Certain Resources are considered 'Factory Resources' and when assigned to a City with a Factory, they provide an Empire-wide bonus. And you also want want to pump as many of those into Factories as you possibly can for the Economic Legacy. I am not going to talk about the specific steps and end goals of each Legacy until later on though, simply so you don't have to skip around too much about what I'm talking about.

They confirmed that Independent Powers are created at the start of every Age; This 'wide open land' was previously unoccupied but now it is populated as you can see here. And of course, since they're playing as America for this stream Manifest Destiny soon happens...

Espionage is a thing again, and it's not as annoying or a pain in the ass as it was in Civilization VI! Instead of having to micromanage a ton of spies it is instead a 'secret' Diplomatic action you are able to do to other civilizations and what they can do against you in turn. That particular one I've highlighted seems like a really good option to pick against anyone you're about to go to war with in a few turns or are even in one currently, lol. If your spies get caught you suffer are a relationship penalty and the opposing civilization gets free Influence however!

Also just above is 'Sanctions' which is another Diplomatic Action type, and I don't imagine that requires a lot of elaboration. In general I really like how the new diplomacy system works now.

Civilization V enjoyers, wake the fuck up IDEOLOGIES ARE BACK!

In this game they are unique Civics that when chosen, you are locked into. These are Democracy's unique Civics that I've taken screenshots of since I really don't want to figure out how I would format it nicely:

So Democracy seems to be focused around a few different things and for the first two Civics at least, they come with downsides to compliment their bonuses. Democracy hurts your Towns a little bit to help your Specialists while Liberalism seems to do the opposite and is reliant on your particular strengths and developments as a Leader. And it's capped off by Progressivism which does neither, instead providing nothing but bonuses that are not directly related to your Settlements at all. I wonder how true that is going to be for Fascism and Communism in regards to their structures?

By the way, if you paid attention to the previously mentioned Governments, you'll notice that they are a separate thing from these ideologies. It's a very 'American' way of looking at it but something they mentioned is how Democracy can be separate from government types though it applies somewhat to the other two Ideologies too. A Bureaucratic Monarchy that follows a Democratic Ideology certainly resembles some civilizations in that early modern era. I'd say that's how the British Empire worked in that time period (And arguably does still now).

Needless to say, civilizations that follow different Ideologies hate each other, which is something directly relevant for the Military Legacy Path, which I will again be talking about a little later all together!

It's a 'smaller' thing but I really appreciate how because of the Age system and the architecture being preserved throughout said ages that you can tell what the exact path this America took was and the lasting mark they've left on their civilization; Even if you couldn't see the city names you'd still be able to tell they came from the Greeks and the Normans from the architectural style alone. In general the way replacing buildings and such works means you get to see really distinct settlements throughout the whole game instead of the previously static ones where you have the same Monument and the same Granary for the entire game. Also there is 50 pops living in Athens and 51 in Rouen, I know the yield porn has been crazy in this game but damn is that a lot! (Also, the player who made this save moved their Capital from Athens to Rouen during the transition to the Exploration Age. He then did the same for Washington D.C for the transition into the Modern Age!)

Speaking of yield porn, I am INCREDIBLY thankful for the fact that new Buildings to place down automatically calculate for what the highest possible one would be with the current Specialists assigned to tiles. Civilization VI sort of had that with the District placements but it's very nice to see this refined further.

In this case, it involves 'Overbuilding' which is essentially replacing a building that became obsolete from the prior age. Unless you selected it as a Golden Age bonus, these always lose their Adjacency (And thus Specialist) bonuses when the next Age rolls around so replacing obsolete buildings is encouraged. There are still reasons to select those traits of course—having three different Science Buildings that still get all of their bonuses is really good for example—but this is still a really nice feature that lets you shore up stuff that traditionally got left behind in previous titles.

Also, those tiles across the river that can be built over and turned into new Urban Districts? Those are Kasbahs. Notably, they are not something you can get from either the Greece or Norman civilizations...they are instead one of the possible bonuses you can select from becoming an Independent People's Suzerain! I think I've mentioned previously that by doing so you can get something unique and powerful from them and in this case, the player chose to get the Kasbah Unique Improvement!

Also again, making that kind of choice at all triggered another Narrative Event. This one can just give you the Artifact directly and it specifically references and makes a callback to the things you have been doing there until now, which I really like!

RAILROADS YAY YAY YAY YAY YAY!!!!!!

Rail Stations are a Building that occupies an entire Tile by itself; Placing only one down is only half of the equation. The fun comes when you place another one down in a different Settlement; If there exists a path between the two (or more!) that exists already, it will be instantly upgraded into a railroad connecting those two points. This is fantastic, because it is even less annoying micromanagement now! certain resources provide an even greater bonus to Settlements connected by Rail—an example shown was Furs providing +6 Happiness to a Settlement that had a Rail Station and only +3 to one that didn't. Settlements that are connected by a Rail Station also provide a +10% Production bonus to training units on top of its own base yields.

Also, and the really big thing IMO is that ALL units adjacent to or on a Rail Station can instantly move themselves to any other tile adjacent to or on a Rail Station within 20 tiles! They didn't explicitly say so, but it consumes all of that unit's Movement to do so because they mentioned how it can't just take you to the opposite end of the world immediately, but you could chain them across it that way over the span of a few turns instead of the few dozen it would otherwise take and then later moved an Army Commander that way who had no Movement Points left afterwards.

Also, these alongside Factories are mandatory for the Economic Legacy Path.

There is a third type of Commander now, with three different variations and contextual trees as a result! These are for air units. I won't go into too much detail about things like the Group Orders and what the different promotions mean and the like because of an upcoming Developer Diary that is going over it for me, but what you should know is that Squadron Commanders are effectively air bases you can use either as a staging ground for fighters/bombers or to paradrop Land Military Units elsewhere. They can only be stationed on certain types of Land tiles even if they can still be moved elsewhere and they are otherwise stationary.

Aircraft Carriers are focused more on the planes themselves and increase their capacity to carry them as well as their actual effectiveness in battle, and Aerodrome Commanders are a lesser version that lacks the bonuses of either but can be built in a static location which is more than fine.

You no longer deploy Air Units on specific Missions; Fighters will just patrol wherever they are and you can use Group Orders to direct all of your bombers to attack a single target for example.

Though, speaking of bombers...

Dive Bombers are a thing for the first time ever! While Heavy Bombers seem to be specialized for taking down Fortifications (I'll talk about Light vs. Heavy which only becomes relevant in the Modern Age when the new Developer Diary comes out) these are focused primarily on taking out other Military units instead.

Also god damn is even just the Fighter's range absolutely ginormous! I'm really glad the AI is finally engaging in Naval and Aerial combat; It's been about damn time and I can't wait to see how it does.

Finally, with that all out of the way, it's time for me to talk about the Legacy Paths and how they culminate into a Victory in this era. An important thing to mention is that much like Science Victory has in the past, this time every single Victory comes with its own 'big moment' and a capstone project to complete before it's completed. Gone is winning a Diplomatic or Cultural victory entirely by accident; Not only do you have to accumulate the right amount of points but you have to be the first to complete the special project associated with each path. I also like how even if each path remains the same at their cores they evolve in interesting ways that remain faithful to how you were engaging with every Age so you're never left with a feeling of "Now I have to do something completely different for no reason?"

Since I talked about it so much already, I'll start off with the Economic Legacy Path. Besides being a cheeky reference to Railroad Tycoon, a game Sid Meier once made, it is centered very firmly on the Resource acquisition of the previous Ages taken to new heights. The playstyle here is really focused on going wide and getting as many Factories with Rail Station (Or Ports, but they didn't talk about those at all on the stream) connections in your empire as possible; Because each Factory with an assigned Factory Resource that is connected like that contributes a point every turn towards this victory type. You need to get 500 total to unlock the final project of establishing the World Bank. If you managed to establish 10 connections like that you would be done with it within 50 turns. So it's a little slow-going but that's fine; All of these seem to be save for perhaps the Military Legacy which still seems to require a good bit of research.

Remember what I mentioned about Ideology before? In the Exploration Age you received points towards this Legacy for having & conquering Settlements in Distant Lands that have your religion. This time, you want to be conquering the Settlements of your ideological rivals since doing so gives you the most points possible of 3 for each individual one. Notably, this also counts if you are reclaiming your own conquered Settlements from them and you need 20 total.

It all culminates in Operation Ivy, also known as the very first thermonuclear bomb. This hydrogen bomb marks the end of the Military path and provides you some limited access to more 'conventional' nuclear bombs prior to that to aid you in your warmongering.

It's the Science path, you know it well from previous titles. In this case the scale of it is smaller though, being confined to completing projects (Which require highly developed infrastructure to make any headway on, which is what you wanted for all previous Ages on the Science path anyway. Namely, because after the first series of projects it culminates in completing the First Staffed Space Flight which was historically accomplished by the Soviet Union in 1961.

Finally, there is the Culture path. Much like in the previous Ages, you are doing your best to accumulate as many fanciful collections of different glamorous, awe-inspiring things as possible. In this case, it is archeological artifacts that enshrine your civilization's history forever. It's special project is creating the World's Fair to show it all off which is...interesting?

Admittedly this is part of why I have hope that there will be further expansions to a Contemporary/Information Age. Because not only is 'Age Progression' still a thing for these (Even if it functions kind of like the 'Score Victory' previously did for games that last only a single Age or in this Modern Age when nobody completes these projects.) but because these are all fitting 'capstones' to build off from in my opinion, even if they are scattered a little all over the place. The World Bank was established IRL in 1944, Ivy Mike was tested in 1952, Yuri Gagarin was in space in 1961...and the World's Fair as we recognize it was technically first celebrated in 1851. Though I think this one in particular is meant to be more evocative of the 1939 New York World's Fair with its focus on cultural themes and societal progress rather than strictly technology. Honestly I've always wanted to go to one of those one day; Maybe by some miracle I will be able to attend the 2025 one in Japan, though almost certainly not. Maybe one day...

And now, finally...I'm done. Until the new Developer Diary comes out today. I'm done. I hope if anybody actually reads this that it gave them some ideas or insights into this game I'm really looking forward to releasing. Have a great rest of your day/night!