#lancer's rants

[lancer-but-not-that-lancer]

Lancer: Ok, there is an interesting phenomenon happening right now and it's something that some people are thinking about already digital acheoalogy, and it's got 2 parts to it like people who scour web archives, things like that for lost media and lost records cause I mean just because we aren't writing things down on paper doesn't mean we aren't writing things down. We're producing more words per person now than we ever have been and all that, the vast majority, is digital now but it does mean that say you know 10000 years in the future someone unearths a section of New York that's been built over- its one of the things that humans do a lot is we build on top of other things so like this is one of the reasons that you know rome construction projects take so long because every time you dig something up there's just a piece of older Rome underneath it

So it's gonna have something similar with you know our major built up areas, it already happens in New York, Boston, especially in a lot of the older European cities where there's just bits you stack things on top of each other and the ground level just goes up and up as time goes on

So one of the things that we're gonna have to deal with is what happens if you do a construction project and you find an old server farm, so you have to reconstruct an old busted down water logged server farm maybe with corrupted data- like you may not have the right tools to be able to extract the data normally and there's ways we can get the data on even fried hard drives but- Its piecing that together to form a coherent picture of what the data is is very very interesting

it's 10000 years from now, someone finds an archive with, in this case a Danny phanzine, and they have to try and figure out what the fuck a zine is bc it will probably have a completely different name, that will be completely different format with how those work. So now whoever's looking at this data is trying to piece together a corrupted form of whole bunch of fan art and when you look at it, it's just a bunch of code that tells you to project an image so they have to reassemble the code to create the image and then figure out what the fuck this image is about and it's someone's interpretation of a fan work from 10000 or a piece of media from 10000 years ago so it's a real problem-

So you're telling me that using just the fan work of an incoherent kid's show like no shade to Danny Phantom but most of the kids show especially in that era don't really have an overarching plot, they have those recurring themes and villains but it's not like there's a main story going along other than Danny gets into some hijinks with his friends and also he's a ghost but trying to use The Leftovers, the corrupted fan works of that specifically, would bear no resemblance at all to the original work in any way because unless you found an intact episode or something like that there's no context for anything like that- can you imagine how our understanding or belief in how ghosts work is going to change in 10000 years like this is not just a ‘oh I'm using stuff that I don't know’ The entire context for the issue has to be completely reconstructed and half of the Phandom's jokes are not only references to the show but they're period specific references or parodies of references that were specific to the period the show takes place in. so not only are do you need to reconstruct a time period that you may not have good records for, you have to recover the language and idiomatics Central to that time period, you also have a sliding scale of when that stuff got made and it's all referencing a completely different time period. it's like deciphering fan works of Pride and Prejudice done in you know 2020 but the entire thing is referencing the victorian period-you're trying to figure out which time period all of these things are native to because figuring out who and what is writing is just as important sometimes for the context as what was actually written down it's all about understanding The WHO and what and why of what happened there

Nona: I realized it's a very funny thing to think about that I showed you the one poll and you went off on a tangent

Lancer: except im learning about this right now it's an interesting idea, how data mediums get preserved and the completeness of data it's just a different flavor of going out to the middle of Turkey and digging up something, it's all archeology

[kaffykathy]

Sometimes I look at Lancer's core book and just think about how lacking it is in significant details for all the factions, like who is the current leaders of Union, to founders and owners of the many corporate entities.

I know that doesn't sound like exciting lore to anyone, but for Union, there's no one like the Camerons from Battletech or the Karl Franz from Warhammer Fantasy. And I can see that it was probably purposely implemented like this for the reason that these entities are bigger than the identities that lead them, and that's why when a name like Johnathan Harrison pops up along sith a small blurb of who he is, we start to realize his significance and why Harrison Armory is the way it is. He was basically a fascistic General from Seccomm that fled and made his own Union how he saw fit, and his clones still live up to his legacy to the current setting of Lancer.

At the same time, Union doesn't have any of that. There's no lore about some, or any politician of government in the Core Book at least other than the seats and chairs that they fill. The reason for this is to give the players the ability to make their own interpretations with the world, but it's really saying something when your big government super power claiming to be in a utopian golden age doesn't have a face to its actual organization.

(Side note: if anyone ever tells you that their realm is a Utopia, you should be taking that the same way that someone says that a ship is 'Unsinkable'. Sorry to burst your bubble Pilot NET, but some of you really need to read between the lines about this. Especially with how much of a bureaucratic nightmare DoJ HR is.)

I know that it's very much the case that Massif press could have done this intentionally to show in the Lancer setting that the sum is bigger and more significant than all the parts added together. The world of the setting is too big to care too much about one individual or planet without weeding in a reason why in most cases because unless you're playing a mission book like Solstice Rain, you probably wouldn't be visiting any of the planets or people brought up in the first place. But the thing is, to me, is that this really makes Lancer less lively than I think it should. When I read about the Albatross, I wanna know about their heroes and significant feats and journeys. I could just play and Albatross, but having record of the daily life at the perspective of a nomadic Lancer would have been told so much more than I think the actual descriptions give.

It's why I love the blurb of text on the Sisyphus NHP. It builds a character, tells a narrative, and humanizes this being most probably would only be used to get a better roll. It also implies how cycling actually works for an NHP and the significance to it. And from all this, we can see that Sisyphus knows that his fate is to be cycled and die over and over again. Something barely given full page and it's just text on equipment.

And yet we don't have anything like that for the bigger picture. We don't know that the leaders of Union generally feel or think about the world surrounding us. We don't have a set uniform for Union or any other of the major players. And as a person who was fascinated with historical things like what soldiers wore during the battle of waterloo, or what camo patterns did a certain tank use, I feel like it's a significant diservice to not give us official uniforms and outfits for Union.

Imagine what cultural reflections that could have impacted the clothing an officer would wear.

I don't know, Lancer really likes to skim on the actually interesting descriptions, but I still love it. It's just that it really doesn't give me enough reason to care about things like Cradle or the Solar System in its current timeline. There is a lot of telling, and not showing in the lore for me, but they don't even tell things that historical nuts like me might be interested in.

[hazmatmaid]

Who's your favorite character/boss from deltarune?

I think the easy answer leans mostly towards

but I have a special love for all of them.

[lady-rosceline-hurst]

Twould bring me greatest of joys for the barbarians of harrison armory to leaveth mine House's territory in the Interest be. Nigh on six disputes of over trade routes which do passeth by Crossland this month and I tireth of the imposition of these swine. 😮‍💨

[lothricknightgirl]

Gaslight

[starryluminary]

I forgot how awkward kisses in total drama looked. why do their lips come out like that, they look like tiny sharp beaks lol /lh

Anon I’m thinking it’s because the total drama artstyle is just kinda ugly. I love it to death, I can draw in it near perfectly, its just kinda ugly

[szkin-art]

my Lancer party is going through some Gundam soap opera shit

[petrenocka]

Wonder if in a Lancer AU Vah Medoh should be a Monarch of a Raleigh

[bimbusbobus]

I can see on your profile about things you like one of them is Deltarune chapter 1 but what about chapter 2?

Deltarune chapter 1 is an incredible, beautiful, and really cozy game that I have an extremely deep emotional connection with. It’s a wonderful story that just ticks every single box in my head, and I always get a nice warm feeling when I think about it. It has my favorite music. It has my favorite characters. It has Susie and Ralsei’s near-perfect chemistry (they work so well off of each other). It has SUSIE’S FREAKIN’ CHARACTER ARC. It has the freakin’ “Field of Hopes and Dreams” song, my favorite music track out of anything ever. Its story is something I constantly think back to, something that left me as a changed person by the end. Something that I will never forget for as long as I live. There’s so much more than that, and honestly, there’s just no contest. I know no one else in the world feels this way, but… Deltarune chapter 1 is my favorite thing ever.

Deltarune chapter 2 is a phenomenal game that I do not feel emotional about at all. It’s hilarious. It’s got Spamton, the Queen, Noelle, you name it. But none of these characters, nor the areas, nor the music, really made me FEEL as much as chapter 1 did.

That’s all I have to say about that, though. It’s pretty tough for me to ramble about stuff I’m not passionate about. Plus, if I talked any more it’d just be a bunch of half-hearted nitpicks, so…

Deltarune chapter 1 is love, Deltarune chapter 1 is life.

🎵Don’t forget… I’m with you in the dark.

[derekscorner]

Fated Rantings: Airgetlám

It's been a while, no? Welcome to my 11th (or was it 12th?) march into the Fate series. Albeit it delayed by covid, I finally saw the second of the two Camelot movies.

I made a small post after watching the first movie but I didn't make my usual long post for it since it was one part of two and because I had little to say.

In fact, some of what I said in that post apply to both films. Such as how the pacing feels a bit rushed, some characters change quickly, and some events are moved around or removed.

However, I can't call these faults with the movies since they're adaptions of the FGO mobile game and do not let the "mobile game" moniker fool you, FGO has novel volumes of text.

Some of it's arcs are even written by the original novel writer Nasu. He may be even more involved than that but my development knowledge on FGO isn't as broad as other series.

All that you need to know is that there was no way to compress that full Singularity into a movie just as there's no way to compress FGO into a full anime.

The one FGO anime that does exist just covers one singularity in of itself. (Babylonia Front) That is how each entry is.

So while I won't fault the movies for such things I do still miss certain aspects the mobile text had. Such as the lengths to convince Ozymandias, the hilarious fact that Hassan had beheaded him before the story started, Sherlock Holmes making an appearance, etc.

Instead I'd rather focus on how the movies made story moments full highlights. Such as Arash's sacrifice, it was damn near beautiful. Then you have any scene with Da Vinci in them. There's a fun troll energy to everything she does and I liked seeing it animated.

The glow up of Nitocris also caught me off guard. Her sprite and art in FGO is "eh" but she's downright adorable in these movies...and more powerful than the game gave me an impression of.

I am also glad I got to see at least some of the uneasy tension between Lancelot and Mash. Mash, being possessed by Galahad, Lancelot's son, does not give him any slack. You only see bits of it in the movie but each scene reminded me of the sheer disapproval Galahad has for Lancelot in the game.

For as badass as Lancelot is in legend, for all his power as a spirit, he can't deal with his son and it's amazing.

I also haven't forgotten other characters such as the Hassan's, the mountain people or even our leads Mash and Fujimaru but I will admit I have little to say about them.

The mountain people are shown little for the novel to movie compression reasons I already covered and the Hassan of the Arm and Serenity are good characters but I do not know what add about them.

I do like their characters thanks to the mobile games context but what you see is also what you get. They are great assassin's and the movie gives them great moments.

It would've been hard for them to compete with the original "Old man of the Mountain" anyway. Hassan, the real one, is legitimately intimidating and I looked forward to every scene he was in.

The way he taunts Gawain with the truth just moments after rendering his powerful holy sword useless. The way he just appears or vanishes, Hassan truly is death personified and you see even more of that ambiance in the game. Even a primordial god (tiamat) comes to fear him.

In turn, Mashu and Fujimaru are more or less "just there". Mash gets more interaction than Fujimaru but she does not take spotlight. The most significant of her time is in relation to Sir Galahad who had possessed her when FGO started.

Even then Galahad does not physically appear. He'll talk through Mash toward Lancelot but most of the relation is the other Knights realizing (usually in shock) that he is there thanks to Mash's shield.

You wonder why since Galahad doesn't appear in many movies/shows based on Arthurian legend but the short of it is Galahad's talent.

The Fate Galahad reflects his IRL myth, he was the perfect knight. He was nearly uncontested in swordplay, loyalty, and overall skill. He was the only knight to successfully get the Holy Grail, the real one.

In other words, even if just in spirit, Galahad's presence is to be feared. Him opposing knights is also a clear reminder to them that they're in the wrong because they know Galahad's moral compass is flawless.

Fujimaru felt the most like he was "just there" to me but I expected it in some form since he's just one of the two gender options for the FGO protagonist. A person you're supposed to name and see the PoV of in the game.

I see lots complain about how perfect or "overly good" he can be animated and while I can understand someone finding that annoying I also do not know what they expected. Fujimaru is a stand-in, they took the safe route with him for these films.

Granted, I know some of those complaints are levied at the Babylonia anime which is a bit more fair since it was a full anime production. It's also hard to not feel the flatness of him when you see his opposite, the female option in FGO dubbed "Gudako", being downright chaotic and funny in several Fate productions.

Her appearance in Carnival Phantasm is comedy skit gold and whoever wears her mascot attire in Japan is known for being a chaotic lil shit. I kid you not, look up videos.

And yes, I know that "Fujimaru" refers to both as well as that the male version is often called "Gudao". My point is that our mobile game PoV insert isn't too fleshed out a character nor do they have odd quirks to identify with.

I think this is fine because the two Camelot films aren't about Mash or Fujimaru. No, the true star of these films is Bedivere.

Knights of the Lion, Knight of the Round

I don't even know what to say about this man to get myself started. He, like most of the round table, is a tragic soul. More so in the Singularity than he is in other versions of history.

The movie didn't mention it but the sole reason this singularity existed, the catalyst for history altering, was Bedivere. Lion King Arthur is a result of Bedivere's actions, not the Mage King or the grail.

This movie also reminds me of the thing that pulled me into Fate to begin with, it's odd but loyal use of Arthurian legend. You may see female Arthur and laugh but do understand that King Arthur and his knights are more faithfully portrayed in Fate than they are most modern western media.

Bedivere is no exception. Everything from his personality to his fake arm are a nod to it. I'm not sure how true it is in Fate's history but the earliest versions of our history portray Bedivere as missing a hand (or arm) and while handsome he was not among Athur's most well known or even skilled knights.

He, however, was the most loyal. Galahad excelled in all areas but most knights matched (if not surpassed him) in one and for Bedivere that was loyalty.

That loyalty is shown in every version of Arthur's myth with his death. Bedivere was the one at his side when he died and he was the one that thrice approached the lake to return Excalibur.

It is also here where this version of Bedivere failed, in the final moment he was not loyal.

He could not accept Arthur's death and did not return the sword as instructed. That single act altered history and doomed it because Arthur was not by her tree when Bedivere returned.

He knew that Excalibur made her ageless & immortal but he didn't know that her holy spear Rhongomyniad did the same thing. By denying her Arthur's destined death she also held onto the spear and became a wandering spirit.

You see, the thing about gods in Fate is that many were originally something else before human faith and worship elevated them into a god. What Bedivere had no way of knowing is that centuries of wandering with a holy spear would eventually turn Arthur into a god or "divine spirit".

And this is more tragic than you can fathom because gods in Fate do not comprehend humanity. They are affected by it but they do not think on the same level and what they deem rational a person will not.

The great sin Bedivere committed here was rob King Arthur of her human heart. Something that her subjects already doubted that she had.

A good deal of Bedivere's guilt is see in the two movies as he realizes what exactly he has done.

He already felt guilt before the movies started and he was already warned by Merlin that the end of his journey would be rough but he didn't realize the extent of those words.

He, now ageless due to Excalibur, spent 1500yrs looking for Arthur hoping to apologize. A truly grueling punishment within the Fate series because souls, like bodies, degrade.

Your "essence" will go back to "the root" when you die but a soul can degrade overtime if left clinging to the mortal plane. For many, this results in their mind breaking and going mad.

Even the gods only thrive as long as the civilization that believes in them does. Nothing is eternal and that is the lesson Bedivere had to learn in the movies.

That's why I say that he is the star of this story. Over two films he has to learn that everything ends and that endings have meaning. Something doesn't just vanish when it's over.

He could not accept that Camelot was over or that Arthur was meant to be over.

Idolism

For many reading this you probably ponder "why?" but the movie also answers there albeit it in spurts. The best window into his loyalty and guilt is seen in how he reacts to the other knights.

Many of them look down on Bedivere even if they also praise his loyalty to the king to the point that him standing against the Lion King shocks them.

Even then, they see Bedivere as beneath them. Mordred especially chides Bedivere harshly for weakness. But what's telling is his words and replies to them, especially Mordred.

Bedivere looks down upon himself. Even after 1500yrs he does not understand why Arthur made him a knight when he's essentially just a normal person.

He was not blessed by faeries, he did not have a holy sword or other magical weapons...in Fate. Irl he supposedly had a magic spear but Fate seems to have forgone that.

In Bedivere's mind he's outclassed by the Knights of the Round in every possible aspect. Even his loyalty, the thing that the other knights were say he's best known for, is lacking in his eyes.

That does not mean Bedivere is a depressed or self loathing individual either...well originally. He's very harsh on himself in the movies for what he's caused but there's no indication he was that way originally.

He was truly at a loss as to why Arthur made him a knight and fully believed himself inadequate for the role but worked his hardest anyway.

This eventually put him in the pitfall that nearly everyone fell into, they idolized Arthur. All of the knights in the movie have flaws in their logic due to their idolized views and it's reflected in their words and oath to the Lion King.

Mordred & Agravain are possibly the biggest victims of this mindset but they're a topic for another day. What is unique here is that Bedivere wanted to see Arthur's true smile or see her drop the ideal king act.

This was not for any grand or selfish reasons Bedivere just wished for his king to be happy in a sense. Ironically, he too only ever saw the perfect king and could not let them go.

Even at the end of the movie I wonder if he ever truly understood Arthur. Because when I saw the film, the flashbacks, I didn't just see the tragedy of Bedivere's quilt and choice but I saw what Arthur saw.

Personally, I think that Artoria valued the normalcy of Bedivere. He truly was not blessed by faeries, heaven, or by magical blades. He was a guy that tried his best and he saw things the way a normal person would.

I can't say to what extent of course but I do think she saw true value in what he saw as shortcomings with himself.

Either way, these movies are truly beautiful and what makes them so isn't just the animation or OST but the tragedy that is Bedivere.

Other Knights and Conclusions

As said earlier, Mordred is a topic for another day and I've already talked about Lancelot in my Fate Zero post. In fact, the Lancelot here seems either loyal in spite of what happened to Guinevere or because of it.

Had the other knights not referenced his betrayal I'd have assumed he was summoned lacking those memories.

And I haven't read the 'Garden of Avalon' novel to truly know about the whole round table. Let alone Tristan who is infamous for the line about “The king does not understand the hearts of men.” which is misinterpreted.

Not in the sense that it's mistranslated but in the sense that how people took his words both in-story and out were not his intented feelings.

And I know next to nothing about Gawain in Fate other than he, like many, was a child of Morgan. Much of the chaos in Camelot was either direct or indirect thanks to Morgan's relationship to her children.

Agravain is a fascinating case study due to his nature. He famously hates women despite his king being a woman and it's thanks to his relation to his mother Morgan.

A trait he shares with Mordred oddly enough. Both have a complex relationship to Arthur based solely on how their mother warped them.

You can also see Agravain's dynamic with Lancelot in the movies. There's a disdain there and Lancelot is quick to suspect him despite being a betrayer. This is presumably due to Agravain exposing Lancelot's affair in life.

It is also due to people misreading Agravain's intent. He often appeals to Arthur's kingly or inhuman side and many assumed he was trying to run a shadow kingdom but Agravain was just trying to help his ideal king the best way he knew how.

He, to the disbelief of many, is actually very loyal to the king and country. His actions and feelings are just complex due to his hatred of Morgan and women compounded with his ideal king being a woman herself.

One day if I manage to read the novel I may come back to give Agravain a proper post since he fascinates me.

For now though I think I'll stop and focus on the Mordred post while it's fresh in my mind.

I can't really think of anything else in-depth to add. These movies are amazing, especially if you view it as Bedivere's story more so than an adaption of Fujimaru's.

The animation is godly and the scene of Bedivere returning Arthur's sword and her heart/memories with it is beautiful. The music is beautiful.

The OST for that scene is 'walk by' btw. Go give it a listen, bye now~

=============================

For my other experiences with Fate go here: https://derekscorner.tumblr.com/tagged/fated-rantings

[cat-of-many-faces]

I HATE d20's. For the love of god use a core roll mechanic with some fucking central tendency! i am so sick of never rolling higher than a fucking 6

[gemsiiie]

me, watching someone play deltarune: HOLY SHIT IS THAT SNEEGSNAG?!??????

[lancer1234]

I love HTML!! (I already managed to mess up my entire layout, have to retrieve the code I used from different sources, in the process of this frustration I managed to burn myself out in three fucking days of working on this god damn website to the point if I continue I will further demotivate myself and have to give myself a break but doing so means being so bored to tears bc all I want to do is code. BUT!! IF I DO!! I'LL BE FORCING MYSELF TO!!! ISNT THAT FUN!!!>!?!?!?!?!?)

[lancerious]