#mechanisms deep lore

[modernchemical]

jayvik portal au because ive officially lost my mind. chell jayce coming soon

[gomzdrawfr]

🍊🍊 but why is straight omegaverse bad?

(Takes oranges, thank you)

Anon, I don’t think it’s bad

Personal opinion from here on out :]

If I can recall what the video said, I think it’s mostly because Omegaverse originated in queer fanfiction spaces and it’s used to explore the dynamics, power and relationship outside of a typical straight structures? So if the characters are straight then they feel like it’s just making Omegaverse more conventional and mainstream instead of focusing on the unique aspect

Another thing is probably because the view male alpha/female omega pairings the same in Omegaverse, just exaggerated, which kind of defeat the purpose of gender role subversion. There were a few examples in the comments sections that made me want to wash my brain HFJSJDJSJS (aka it’s bad examples)

I feel like people forgotten that Omegaverse is more than just sex, yk. And all of them are missing the point of the third gender, Beta. There’s more interesting dynamics to explore besides mpreg, what about scenting? Courtships? Pack dynamics? As much as straight relationship being the same; heat cycles, ruts, unexpected gender reveal or anything can still make the dynamic interesting

You may not like a male alpha/female omega dynamic, but that doesn’t make the story or the creation any less Omegaverse

At the end of the day, it’s a matter of preference. I feel like when it comes to creation, there’s no way to appeal to anyone. No matter how perfect an apple is, someone out there is still going to hate it and dump it into fire. So really, just write or do what you like

[lockandkeyblade]

The Lanes Between

The Lanes Between are a fascinating locale, one that is often described as ‘psychedelic’. Though visually mysterious, the reason behind this appearance is a well-known phenomenon attributed to the inherent nature of Darkness: change.

Why the Lanes Between, specifically, are the source of such pure Darkness goes hand in hand with the Light found within the Heart of worlds. Whilst pure Light offers a stable, internal foundation, Darkness composes the most outer layer of the worlds themselves like an ever-shifting crust, though this area is commonly misinterpreted as being disconnected from a world entirely. 

What makes the definition of the Lanes Between difficult to comprehend is that ever changing nature; there are no exact borders within the Lanes Between that one could comprehend as being the end of one world and the start of the next. Some have recorded shifts in the ambient color when traveling between worlds, however, this information is often inconclusive, if not outright contradicted by follow up accounts.

There is much and more that remains unknown regarding the Lanes Between, as they remain a hazardous location for even the most Darkness-leaning wielders. Multiple accounts from Keyblade wielders throughout history have made note of the many odd formations discovered within that ever-shifting space, with particular attention given to meteors of varying colors and sizes that one can even stand on.

Multiple sightings of these meteors converging into larger, often spherical shapes has inspired fierce debate throughout the centuries. While some have concluded that these formations could very well be the beginning of entirely new worlds, others have argued that there is no possibility that a Heart of Worlds could safely form surrounded by such Darkness, effectively ensuring that there cannot, and will not, be more worlds formed beyond those that already exist today. -Excerpt from The Lanes Between: Fact and Theory

[foxybouquet]

Ok—theory # 3,972 as to the new upcoming Ghost lore!

Copia does not have a twin at all. Just as the ghosts of his mother and father and the child- twins are a figment of his fevered imagination, so is this fraternal twin of his. As a matter of fact, the twin is a manifestation of Copia himself. I don’t know what the current terminology is, so forgive me if I get this wrong, but it used to be called ‘dissociative identity disorder.’ What if that is what is going to happen? It’s still Copia, but it’s not Copia. It is another identity in his system.

[warabola]

Top 5 lore areas of interest?

Oh no this is actually so hard to narrow down. Oh man. How do I even start to put this succinctly.

If I was going to give a real quick and simple answer, trying to avoid anything too specific or abstract:

TL;DR

Death in the extended setting

The unknowable depths of the zee

The workings and implications of advanced skills (and the professions associated with them)

The impact of prolonged exposure to the Neath, and other non-Sol laws on biology/physiology

The history and politics of devils

(...That's still specific and abstract I'm sorry everyone.)

Longer version ft. incoherent rambling and heavy spoilers to follow:

Death: What the fuck is the far shore. Why can't I get a proper answer. If we're eaten by stars if we die where their light touches and eaten by the God Kings if we die under moonlight then what is the far shore and what is eating us over there. Why does the boatman exist. Why is the greatest shame there under the river and what was it. What are the implications of the rivers connected to Death, including the one through the Waswood? Why is there casually an alternative to death and why is it turning into a moth. Who was the Boatman prior to the Naturalist's arc? i'm going to scream.

The Zee: Alright. Fun warabola lore! I had thalassophobia at one point in time, particularly regarding the really deep seas. But I am nothing if not stubborn, and my response to any irrational fear is to try and rationalize it and confront it face on. It's likely not the best response to forcibly expose myself to the things that cause me distress but I was determined to do so and, well. Do nothing in halves. Hyperfixate on your worst nightmares, play Subnautica with an audience that goads you into going deeper even when you're panicking, learn everything you can, and you too could end up microdosing exposure therapy until your wires cross! Subnautica and Sunless Seas are now some of my favourite games. I'm quite obsessed with every new horrifying thing we discover about the zee. I cannot possibly get enough of it. Old Fitz and the diving bell part of Evolution are some of my favourite recent writing in Fallen London.

Advanced Skills/Professions: You might've seen me rambling about the implications of silverers and crooked crosses recently, but the advanced skills really are fascinating. The specific details and mechanics are especially interesting, be it Glasswork (Mind Palaces, the ability of Parabola to influence the waking world via dreams, the ability to travel through time and space as implied by Caduceus, the effects on a human body if the mirror is broken mid-traversing-) or Kataleptic Toxicology (bottling of the most specific and profound emotions, Station VII, Licentiates' capabilities, the fact that you train it/research it by repeatedly dosing yourself to death sdfsfdd). The mind-map I made regarding the connections between different professions and specializations is like the tip of the ranting iceberg.

The impact of prolonged exposure to the Neath etc etc: Who isn't interested in this. What are tomb colonists and frost moths. Why does that happen. What are the specific details regarding how the sun smites us if we step onto the surface. Why does Yearning, Burning happen. What is the effect of time-anachronism and can it be replicated by humans with the Rose Giveth. Answer me, Failbetter.

Devils: I will be honest, this is less about Hell and more about all the other weirdness and politics going on with them, as well as the history regarding Caduceus and how they're like chefs for the stars and Mount Palmerston and the Brazen Brigade and the Iron Republic and the physiology of Grand Devils and their unique language and how they're.... they're really fancy bees. They are so weird and interesting. Tell me more.

[criticalsucc]

you know what not only is my need for extra comforting after sex not an inconvenience or a problem, it’s actually really cool because it demonstrates emotional vulnerability and provides me with an opportunity to trust my partner to accomodate my needs

[shiraishi--kanade]

Can someone remind Minecraft devs they're making a sandbox game not a horror rpg please. Ok thank you

[loregoddess]

finished the final map for Unicorn Overlord (well, not the final final Lv. 45 map in the epilogue section but ah, it's late so I'll do that tomorrow)

the ending was so good, and the final battle sequence was so cool, probably one of the coolest final boss sequences for an srpg that I've yet played (it's hard to get srpg final bosses on the same level of coolness as can be found in jrpg final bosses or just, final boss fights for most other genres of game in general)

Absolutely astonished by how much I loved this game. At first it was a bit baffling that a few people saw the game trailer and came to me like "Hey, this looks like a You game", enough so that I did actually go pick up the game bc I kept hearing good things about it, and then it was a bit embarrassing that not even fifteen minutes in I was like "Ah shit, this is exactly my sort of game" bc I really am just that predictable, but honestly? UO went above and beyond even those first impressions.

Like yes, this is one of the most "things I love in a narrative, and super fun game mechanics that I adore" my type of games I've ever played, but it's also genuinely so well-crafted and fun, and so much more than I imagined it would be from my initial impressions. Absolutely excellent game, excellent gameplay, excellent narrative, excellent characters (maracas are no longer enough, I need to stick these characters in a centrifuge). Can't wait to finish up the epilogue and see the final-final conclusion to everything.

some more thoughts under the cut bc spoilers

as part of my revised attack plan, I had spent a few hours grinding aux battles for gold so I could buy a shitton of healing/revival supplies which I then.......did not use at all. Didn't use a single item, except I think a strengthening serum once, during any phase of the final map.

Apparently? being a couple of levels higher due to those gold-seeking aux battles and rearranging Alain's unit for peak damage output and debuff negation (instead of balanced defense/offense like I had it all game) was enough that when I went to fight Galerius I was uh....able to finish his battle in one go, while only losing like, 20 hp for the entire unit. The same was true for Batlro during the third phase, the unit I had arranged for Galerius was able to one-shot Baltro and his six-party unit in one battle (but damn his special spell had such a cool attack animation).

So alas, I spent all this money and hunted down so many curative items.....for nothing (although maybe not, I have no idea what awaits me in that epilogue map battle).

I had actually seen a spoiler out of context so I knew about Illenia, but it's still really cool that she was alive like, that entirely upends the "dead parent" trope in a really weird way, and given how Not Okay Alain was about missing his mom, it's like, well this is nice actually. Probably a bit awkward, there is a lot of baggage to unpack, but nice. Glad she did not suffer the dead parent fate to its fullest potential.

(Also knew about the two endings beforehand, which was good bc I would have had a minor crisis if I had seen that decision w/out spoiler knowledge, bc until this point choosing the "1" option was always the best outcome, for the entire game except this one decision, where the "1" option actually leads to the bad end and also sounds a bit worse than the "2" option; but yeah I would have been pausing the game and running off to search for a guide if I had gone in entirely blind).

I ended up choosing Scarlett for the rite bc it seemed to fit the story beats the best (my temptation to go for Lex bc he also fit the story beats in a weird way aside), although seeing Scarlett foist the pontifex role onto Sanatio was kinda funny (sure, give the role to this guy who's so guilt-ridden he makes Renault's not-great coping w/ guilt look okay, and not I dunno, Nigel, the guy who was running things for a bit; I unsurprisingly love Sanatio so I say this all in good humor of course bc that was the wildest outcome honestly).

I wasn't unhappy w/ the Scarlett ending though, although now I'm curious about all of Alain's other paired endings since he can marry (or uh, become life partners with) basically every single character including characters he only has one rapport convo w/, which I was not expecting but which is super funny (everyone's a little in love w/ Alain, whether romantically, platonically, or in a familial way).

Gotta say I was not expecting Gilbert to marry Virginia though, that ending card hit me out of left field bc I would have sworn, based on the RCs, that he would have married Leah in absence a paired ending w/ Alain, but eh. All the other endings were either what I was expecting, or if they weren't, something really neat that still fit the character (Hilda becoming an apothecary was not on my bingo card, but damn does it actually fit her so well; thought Clive and Monica might hook back up, but it's cool that they each go on to rule their respective domains each in their own way while still remaining close friends). Really enjoyed all the character endings actually. Totally forgot the coliseum was a thing so I uh, never picked up Amalia, so I dunno what her deal is, but I'm sure I'd like her just as much as I do all the other characters.

Honestly really loved the entire story and all the characters. I'm surprised how well-balanced the narrative feels, since in my experience with other large-cast srpgs, there's usually a bit of narrative imbalance (minor characters only get minor character arcs or minimal extra writing, sometimes worldbuilding gets out of hand and details get lost, etc.), but everything about UO feels like it ties together really nicely, there weren't any loose ends or glaring ???s I had about anything regarding either the main storyline, the lore and worldbuilding, or even the side-stories and character arcs for the playable characters who weren't part of the main cast. (Although I do definitely want to review some of the exposition stuff from the endgame, bc hot damn that was interesting and tied into the story well, but it was a lot, and I'm still not over the nuclear unicorn).

(Okay there were some questions I had but they're uh, useless questions like, "Do angels have hollow bones and larger lungs to be able to fly so high?" or "How the fresh hell does bestral anatomy work?" or "Why are there human NPCs who are very open about wanting to hook up w/ the elves, but none who want to hook up with the bestrals or angels? bc I KNOW there would be humans who would want to" and not like, questions relevant to the main narrative).

Even when things were more hinted at then outright stated (i.e. Lex being in everyone's business bc he shows up as a guest in so many random RCs that are not his own), it felt organic in a "yeah well, they're all part of the same army so makes sense they'd show up in each other's RCs even if they're not directly involved" way. Even the late-game recruits who have the fewest RCs feel well-written and fleshed out.

And honestly, what a cast of characters. Usually w/ larger character casts I end up kinda indifferent towards like, 25-50% of the characters, but the UO cast gets the writing right in just such a way that I surprised myself by enjoying basically every single playable character in some way or another, and all the non-playable ones as well (the villains, despite starting off seeming generic, ended up being really cool from a narrative perspective, and I love that Baltro is the actual final boss bc like, he should be! fucked up scientist-mages doing unethical experiments are untapped potential for final bosses).

Loved the game so much, will be thinking about it for a long while yet I'm sure.

[snavian]

Why are dreadnaughts immune to L.U.R.Es. Why do these things have so many status effect immunities I don't get it. Genuinely I feel like one of the reasons elimination/sabotage can feel so miserable is because bosses are arbritrarily given immunity to half the gear in the game with no reason or explanation why.

[inkedmyths]

Totk thoughts so far (SPOILERS sorry I'm on mobile and don't remember how to add a Read More)

I'm having a lot of fun!! The added game mechanics, new items, new map additions, new monsters... its all making for a great experience, and not just a carbon copy of BotW. The greater focus on characters and story is a huge bonus as well, I'm having a ton of fun with that.

That being said... the game seems really hesitant to reference the events of BotW in some ways? Like I understand leaning away from it in an effort to not be just another BotW, but like. No mention of the Divine Beasts? What happened to all the Ancient Sheikah tech? Mechanically, most of it has been replaced by the Zonai stuff, it seems, but where did it all go in the first place?

Maybe it is explained, and I just haven't come across it/gotten to that point, but in some ways, the lack of explanation seems very weird and makes parts of the story suffer for it.

Mind you I haven't delved extremely deep into the story yet, but its been bugging me the entire time. Like, this weird attempt at balancing it for "new players" (who is playing this without knowing at least the story of BotW...) and still being a direct sequel... idk. Maybe this is the attachment to BotW and its mechanics and story.

[riftwalker-limbro]

recent dev stream discussed about how they picked overguard and not health or shields for kullervo's 2 (or something) for lore reasons, because this would be More Correct

so, i raise you, isn't it fun how if the knives don't find a target, they come back to stab you? to the point of damaging you?

i wonder what the fun lore reason behind that is :)

[anxiouslyeccentric]

I need it

Metroidvania with a fishing minigame where every single upgrade is somehow relevant to the fishing minigame.

[iridescentis]

i find it really funny that mako mermaids distinguishes water from the moon pool with normal water by making moon pool water vibrant blue

[spotlight-reblogs]

Ahh. My beloved problems of Not being deeply invested into a Fandom but also seeing the complete lack of comprehension or trust in the storytelling process from. Many. Many people. It hurts my brain.

[baileyboo2016]

Since I am so normal about Gulliver, here’s a fan theory I’ve heard a few times and why I don’t agree with it.

People say that there is no ship, there never was. Gulliver is using this whole sailing, passing out on the beach, the crew and parts thing as a cover story so that he can hang out with you. Makes sense, right? He was just faking it this whole time! So he doesn’t have issues! And that’s why he’s always washing up on the beach at the same island.

Well…I don’t follow that lol. You can see him clearly floating in the water in the first Animal Crossing. In Pocket Camp, he brings an actual ship over to your camp. And by the time of New Horizons…let’s be straight here: if he’s faked being a sailor for 20 years just so he can make a friend, I think we have a bigger problem on our hands. If he really wanted to just hang out with you, why does he stay walking around on the beach for an entire day? Surely he would follow you and get to know you better, right?

So yeah. I hate (or in a way, love) to admit it, but Gulliver has issues. Also, my personal theory (and where my AU comes in) is that the crew hates his guts and are plotting to get rid of him by making it so he’s always at the same place. Partly due to his actions, and it takes him a while to realize that.

TL:DR Gulliver isn’t faking it. I can fix him, I swear. I’m normal.

[lyraeon]

Okay, this from @halfaqueen and whoever actually started "#barnacle that hates you hates you hates you" are my two favorites so far.

And it's made all the better bc they're like the lawful good and chaotic good of an alignment chart where "good" is "no that completely makes sense". Just you have this detailed, lore-focused, based on real world biology response, and then the lmao where is the lie shitpost.

I love this website.