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chaoticbreadcrumbs · 3 months

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HAVIK EXPLAINED

⚠️SPOILERS⚠️

Thanks to the previous games Havik set himself up as a strong, very intriguing figure when it comes to his lore, firm beliefs, his iconic terrifying appearance, and unpredictability. After many years and not being involved in the MK games, the character's potential was revived as Havik took a pivotal turn in Mortal Kombat 1, establishing himself as the hero, the anti-hero, and a villain in the game's new era yet again but this time even more distinctly. His actions in the game shaped his character arc and laid significant groundwork for future narratives within the MK universe. Today I decided to explore Havik's appearances throughout the Mortal Kombat franchise.

Havik's original design was intended for Noob Cybot as an alternative skin in Mortal Kombat 4 but was scrapped. 🎮

Havik's beta name was "Skab." 🧪

Havik was first introduced in 2004's Mortal Kombat: Deception. 🕹️

Mortal Kombat: Deception (2004):

Havik originates from the Chaos Realm. 🌀

Havik is a cleric of chaos who is very protective of his home and culture. 🌪️

He seeks to spread chaos across the Realms. 🔥

He is approached by Shujinko, a supposed Earthrealm emissary of the Elder Gods, who seeks guidance from him to obtain the Kamidogu of Chaos. 🌍

Havik agrees to help Shujinko if he helps him defeat the Seidan Guard invaders (Order Realm), who have invaded the Chaos Realm and are trying to control and alter its water (which was worshipped by Chaos Realm inhabitants because of its shapeless, malleable, impossible-to-control form). ⚔️

Havik teaches Shujinko the ways of chaos and gives him the keys to obtain the Kamidogu of Chaos. 🗝️

Havik plays an active role in the events of Mortal Kombat Deception, as he sees the rise of Onaga as a threat to the Realms. 🐉

Havik wants to obtain Onaga's heart as it possesses the power to raise the dead. 💀

Havik, seeing Kabal as a valuable ally, nurses him back to health and convinces him to reform the Black Dragons. 🐲

Havik seeks out others to assist him in his cause, but it is unknown how much of a part he plays in Onaga's downfall. 🤔

By the end of the canon lore, Havik is able to somewhat fulfill his wish with Onaga's defeat but is unable to obtain his heart. (Havik wanted to restore the Chaos that once ravaged Outworld by bringing the heroes' worst enemy back to life as was shown in his non-canon ending). 💔

Mortal Kombat Armageddon (2006):

Havik plays a very minor role due to the large roster. 🎭

He appears as an illusion battling the Edenian demigod Taven. 👻

The real Havik makes his last and final appearance during the battle of Armageddon, joining the forces of darkness in their war against the light. ⚔️

Despite his connection to the Chaos Realm and his defiance of mortal laws, Havik dies during Armageddon. 💀

Comic Book:

In the MKX comic book line, Havik was portrayed as the main antagonist. 🔪

He used the blood code, a powerful form of blood magic, to enchant the kamidogu daggers. 🩸

Anyone cut by these blades would be infected by his possession, allowing him to spread chaos across the realms. 💥

Despite its initial release being canon, the comic book line was later retconned. 📚

Mortal Kombat 1 (2023):

Havik's story in the new era is drastically changed as Liu Kang's vision is one without a Chaos Realm. 🌌

Now, the title "Havik" is given to an already existing MK character named Dairou introduced in MK Deception. 🔱

Dairou was a former god of the Order Realm who was stripped of his title for killing the murderer of his family. ⚖️

Dairou strongly disliked the Order Realm and fought against it actively. ⚔️

Dairou's bio mentions the idea of chaos, but there was no connection between him and Havik until the new era. 🌀

"Once a member of the Seidan Guard. I believed in the power of Order and lived by the strict codes of my superiors. I had saved many lives during my years of service. But when I killed an assailant in a fit of rage, I was arrested and sentenced to a life of incarceration. For all the good I had done, the event that had come to define me was that one moment of Chaos. I eventually escaped during a riot incited by the Resistance. I emerged from prison a changed man. No longer would I follow orders of the Seidan. Neither could I bring myself to give in to Chaos. Instead, I opted to serve myself. I became a mercenary, a warrior for hire, and have become revered in Orderrealm's secret underground. My neutrality has been put to the test, however, as my current contract is to find and kill my former guardsman, Hotaru."

In the new era, Dairou takes on the title of Havik in defiance of the Order Realm. ⚔️

Havik does not have a family in this timeline, as his fall from grace was due to the Order Realm's belief that purging chaos was the only way to save the realm. 👪

Havik forms an uneasy partnership with Quan Chi, who grants him supernatural abilities. 🤝

Havik makes his first appearance in the game during Ashrah's chapter, where he and Darrius hand over a red crystal to Quan Chi to power her soul harvester. 🔴

Havik battles Ashrah but is defeated. ⚔️

Havik later appears at the Ying Fortress, guarding the stronghold and keeping out intruders. 🏰

Havik successfully keeps out intruders until Scorpion and Sub-Zero infiltrate the facility. 🔥❄️

Havik and Darrius are defeated by Scorpion, who melts off half of Havik's face, giving him his iconic look. 💀

Havik's story ends here in the game, but his aftermath is revealed in the game's story. 📜

After the Deadly Alliance crumbles and Titan Shang Tsung is defeated, Havik achieves his goal of cleansing Seido by causing a great flood with the help of Rain. 🌊

Tens of thousands of Seidans die, and Havik turns Seido into an anarchist Utopia. 🌪️

Another Havik emerges after the battle of Armageddon. 🌀

This Havik is a Titan variant with many followers. 🌟

He swears that the next time such madness, murder, and anarchy occur, it will never stop. ⚔️

I am sure that Havik's character will continue to grow and shock us in the most chaotic and unpredictable ways in the future. I can't wait to see him as a main villain. I mean, he definitely showed us in the last minute of the game what he is capable of.

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tashas-cauldron-of-magic-soup · 1 year

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I HAVE ANOTHER 5E LORE POST FOR ALL THE BG3 PLAYERS THAT ARE INTERESTED!

I have been seeing a lot of people confused about how elves "sleep" or by the fact they typically don't. How that works and the like. Especially since we see Astarion and your elven PC meditating during long rests.

Info under the cut.

So elves, especially high elves, do not typically sleep. Key word typically, more on that in a moment. Instead they go into a state called Reverie or Trance. Here are some facts about it from the various lore books:

They pick a comfy spot, usually a bed or a chair, and lay down much like going to sleep. In fact, it can be done in pretty much any position. The fact that the animation is different for Astarion/elven PC is likely just to demonstrate that they are doing something other than sleeping. In practice, it usually looks no different.

When in Reverie, elves do not lose consciousness like during sleep. However, if they are awoken from meditation, it feels similar to being shaken awake and leaves you drowsy.

Elves require roughly four hours of Reverie a day to reach the equivalent of eight hours of sleep.

The two reasons above are why they usually partake in Reverie over sleep, as it's more efficient and you are able to stay aware of your surroundings.

They do not "dream" in the traditional sense. Juvenile elves usually receive visions of their past lives. Adults lose these and begin to instead have glimpses of the events of their day, or important things on their mind. A tadpole could absolutely influence these. Then elderly elves begin to once more see visions of past lives.

But MOST IMPORTANTLY, this does not mean that elves never sleep or are incapable of sleeping and dreaming. There are many reasons an elf may choose to sleep or be overtaken by need to sleep.

We see this in the Potion of Angelic Slumber, which mentions in its flavor text that it is one of the few things that can cause an elf to sleep. The others it lists are narcotics use, and being knocked unconscious.

The other situations that may cause an elf to sleep instead of meditate would be severe illness, severe physical injuries, or extreme levels of exhaustion.

Other interesting facts include that many drow choose to sleep instead of meditate. I'm unsure as to why. And elves that follow Sehanine Moonbow will often sleep simply to dream and receive visions from their goddess.

I hope this is helpful for everyone curious and unsure where to look! Especially my fanfic writers out there 😁

#astarion #baldur's gate 3 #bg3 #dnd #lore

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werlikestea · 3 months

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Well i havent posted in a while well, mostly because, i forgor

BUT

wow pretty busy really said fuck you f2p players

I didnt complain untill now so i think i can get a little treat

So ok prepare cause this will be a prob long post or just very well mostly negative about my whole expierence with this game because well I AM PISSED

So I acually first played this game around the time of its release (of couse because of the Leviathan Bath card lmao) but didnt like how the game looked like that much so i quit pretty much as soon as i started

Then my friend got me into it again and well i fell in love with the characters and the plot LITERALLY DONT JUDGE THE BOOK BY ITS COVER

And why am i talking about it well its because it was around the time of christmas gabriel nightmare pass and i was new so i just kinda didnt care about it back then

But now back to the present

so the whole reason im writing this is in the first place is obvs the nightmare pass

Like gabriel one, ppyong one i could live i was like ok it sucks but what can i do i can still get all the 7 kings eventually so thats fine

AND THEN VICTORY LUCIFER NIGHTMARE PASS CAME OUT

AND OMG ok i was like ok im pissed but its probably just the victory cards that will be in the nightmare pass right ?

WELL NO NOW BATH BEEL NOT EVEN A FEW DAYS AFTER LUCIFER'S

both of my favourite characters in a row well how nice

Dont even get me started on how fucked the pricing of it is like i payed for battle passses in games before im not even a total f2p and i was acually considering doing the same here because i mean its a small company and i really like this game so i might as well support it well no. not with this price.

And not only are there no new stories, previous events are payed if u havent read them, oh and if u want to reread them well fuck you too

I honestly havent even read the belphie's event cause i just really dont feel motivated to do it

Maybe its just me but unlocking the character card stories is also a little hard because getting the BEGINNERS candies is just annoying even though it well should be the easiest out of all of them

And the story is what made me get into this game as much as i did

I think it was the first time a game was so perfect for me when it comes to story length, and amount (i tend to get very overwhelmed when theres a lot of content)(I acually quit playing genshin impact after 2 years because there was no skip button)

The 5 chapters, all the events, some of the character's stories i read were all so interesting and fun

and well now we get literally no new content

plus like thats very personal but i would have loved it if this game had some sort of a routine because i feel like everything is such a mess ?

like now we get 3 fucking nigtmare passes in a row, new characters and event are so random and the main story well it left to get milk

also when i say i play this game for the story i really mean it because the battle system is really not my cup of tea overall the game mechanics im just not that big of a fun of that

+just the fact that PB hates that we share content of payed cards with each other but also puts important lore in it just man be fucking for real

I log in everyday just to log in and get my 10 key pull from the pancake shop to feed my gambling addiction and maybe get that mammon or satan attacker cards cause they are the only ones i lack from the ones u can acually get from the standard gacha at the moment

oh and now they erased the free 10 pull from the store huh

well with how little red gems we are getting say goodbye to any gacha in a fucking gacha game

Oh and also i dont know if anyone noticed but now selling S tealeaves gives u 6 pancakes and L tealeaves gives you 9.

3 pancake diffrence. For an S character and L character.

oh and lower grades just dont give you anything really i have like around 14 milion gold and books so yea

and while i wont have that much of a problem cause i already have most cards,most artifact, almost maxxed out bloodshed beelzebub (not his skills)

But now imagine you are a new player trying to get into this game.

And you cant read events unless you pay, u can do the story but i mean u might finish it quickly or it might get hard if u cant get any characters because well doing any gacha at all just got 1000 times harder,you just see another nightmare pass thats just expensive af, oh and a new character comes out and you didnt get lucky with your one ten pull that u managed to get after weeks of working ? well u have to wait 3 months TO MAYBE get it in the standard gacha that well you might do once a week maybe

and so the low maintence game i loved in a span of a few days changed for much much worse

I will probably keep on loging in just to see if maybe anything changes but i dont have my hopes high

ngl with how it looks like rn i doubt even asmodeus for who i was waiting so much for will change my mind about this game

what i need them to do is honestly just bring back the whole previous pancake shop along with this new nightmare one i feel like for me at least selling tealeaves for the normal pancakes and then if i have a lot of it i can changee into nightmare pancakes and then maybe exchange it for some thing would be much cooler and honestly i just want my very easy ten pull back........

for the nightmare passes just make then like i dunno every 3 months even would be better and just make it so that its smth special not neccessary or just make it more affordable for players to acually afford

and i mean what im saying is just random stuff i havent even thought about it that much there might be better ideas for what to do but i honestly wish the best for this game and what is happening right now is just pretty much ruining it for not only me but most players i doubt only f2p, cause even if you pay for a game u need a reason to do it if the game doesnt provide then you might as well go to a diffrent one

Ok i think thats pretty much all there might be more i wanted to say but well i forgor and well im gonna get bubble tea as a treat prob......

#whb #what in hell is bad #whb rant

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twistedwonderlandsimps · 2 years

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Yuu (Al-) Asim and Jamil

Look, I needed to get this off my mind, alright? Here’s some low-key, high-key Jamil discreetly having a crush on Yuu who is Kalim’s older sibling and it might also be a teeny, tiny bit yandere but not much (maybe). Might or might not be canon to the Sibling!Yuu AU lore. I just needed to get this off my brain, okay? I might make a part 2 but with overblot Jamil though I’m not sure. Anyway, enjoy!

===

Yuu didn’t plan on staying at NRC for long. It was fun catching up with their younger brother and letting loose for a while but at the end of the day they were still a traveling merchant at heart and wherever there’s money to be made, they will be there. In fact, the only thing that made them want to stay for so long was because of the amount of students overblotting in the school. Yuu was very sure this shouldn’t even be a normal occurrence but it’s weird that it’s happened three times already within the span of a few months.

Riddle Rosehearts of the Heartslabyul Dorm was the first one to overblot. Yuu hadn’t really planned on getting tangled with whatever was happening in the Heartslabyul Dorm at first, but then Ace Trappola had come knocking on Ramshackle’s doors and Yuu really didn’t have the heart to turn the poor boy away, especially when he had nowhere else to go. Ace had been under the impression that Ramshackle was an abandoned building so he was thinking of spending the night there.

Ramshackle was abandoned until Yuu rented it from the Headmaster. Yuu had more than enough money to pay for it anyway. They turned Ramshackle into a small shop that sold simple, fun things that they’ve amassed from their travels. Sure, they could’ve sold the same things as what Sam had in his store and they had the resources to definitely do it but they didn’t want to compete with the local business. The older Asim child didn’t even mind if they didn’t make a lot of profit. Additionally, they weren’t an idiot to mess with Sam and, by extension, his friends on the other side. Their sense of self-preservation was working properly, thank you very much, they didn’t need to test it.

The next one to overblot was Leona Kingscholar of the Savanaclaw Dorm. Again, Yuu hadn’t planned on interfering with whatever was happening but then the students just kept getting injured left and right. Yuu didn’t have it in their conscience to just let everything be so they asked permission from the Headmaster to investigate. That one was a wild run from start to end but thankfully everything ended well.

Finally, the latest to overblot was someone from the Octavinelle Dorm by the name Azul Ashengrotto. He had tried to take Ramshackle away from Yuu after Ace and Deuce made a contract with the Octavinelle Dorm Leader and failed to uphold their end of the deal. The stern lecture those two got from Grim was really something Yuu could never forget. Grim didn’t stop until two hours later. In fact, the cat-like creature would’ve most likely continued on for a few more hours but Yuu had taken pity on the Heartslabyul boys whose legs have become numb from sitting for too long and intervened.

Though after the overblot events, Yuu began to have a sneaking suspicion of its emergence pattern. They weren’t saying they were being paranoid but they weren’t taking any chances, you see? So, they discreetly placed Kalim under heavy watch for a few days and only eased up when they could finally be assured that their younger brother wasn’t acting any different and was not in danger of overblotting.

Currently, they and Grim were in Scarabia Dorm. With Yuu’s living arrangement in NRC, they tended to alternate between staying in Scarabia and Ramshackle since they didn’t want to impose on their brother too much, much to Kalim’s disappointment.

Having said goodbye to the others as they went back to their homes for winter vacation, Yuu also began to pack their luggage and started planning on where they and Grim would go next. Coral Sea was out of the potential candidates since the ocean was bound to be frozen at this time of the year. Yuu didn’t want to pickaxe their way through the frozen ocean. Hmm… The Briar Valley was a good place, perhaps? Or maybe the Rose Kingdom–

“Yuu?” A familiar voice spoke up and Yuu paused in the middle of what they were doing to turn their head towards the source of the voice. Standing at the doorway was Jamil. “What’s all this?”

“Oh, good morning Jamil!” Yuu greeted cheerfully with a small wave. Jamil was Yuu’s younger brother’s attendant. Yuu remembered having had an attendant once at a point in their life, too… Not anymore, though…

Well! It was best not to dwell too much in the past! Yuu had Grim by their side anyway!

“What’s wrong? Did you need anything?” Yuu asked, watching as Jamil’s questioning gaze moved to the luggage in Yuu’s bed and the older Asim realized that they hadn’t actually told anyone they were traveling soon, did they? Silly them! They forgot that it wasn’t just them and Grim here now. If they disappeared so suddenly, their brother would surely try to look for them!

“Oh, right! I forgot to tell you and Kalim, didn’t I? Grim and I are planning on traveling again.” They said and continued packing their clothes. “So sorry for such short notice! We don’t really tend to stay in one place for too long and we often travel without a heads up, you see.”

Jamil hummed in acknowledgment and Yuu could hear the Scarabian boy approach them from behind. “Is that so? Well, would you like some help?” He kindly offered. Yuu chuckled lightly and shook their head. They didn’t have a lot to pack, they could finish this quickly. “It’s alright, it’s alright, you don’t have to! I’m about to finish up, anyway.”

However, it seemed like Jamil wasn’t taking ‘no’ as an answer as he reached out and firmly gripped Yuu’s arm, stopping them from putting their folded shirt in the baggage.

“Oh no, no, I insist.” Feeling the other grip their arm a bit too hard, Yuu instinctively whipped their head up to look at Jamil but as they did, they met his gaze and…and…

…

…and what were they doing again…?

Yuu stumbled backward, the feeling of vertigo consuming them momentarily but Jamil quickly reached out, a hand firmly planted on Yuu’s back as they helped the older person steady themselves.

“Are you alright, Yuu?” Jamil asked, worry etched in his features. Yuu blinked owlishly, dazed, and then frowned. They brought a hand up to their forehead and massaged their temples.

“Yeah… Yeah, I’m fine, I just…” Yuu said unsurely, a look of confusion on their face. “What was I saying again…?”

Jamil calmly said without skipping a beat, “You were planning on staying for a few more weeks. The weather’s awfully cold so you were going to live here in Scarabia instead of Ramshackle.”

Huh, that… that didn’t sound right. Did they really say that? Yuu tilted their head. “Is that so?” They couldn’t help but doubt it. Something here wasn’t adding up but Yuu couldn’t quite put a finger as to what.

“Hm…” Jamil hummed, scrutinizing them. “Maybe you’re feeling a bit under the weather? Well, why don’t I help you unpack your luggage since you said you weren’t going to be traveling as of yet. After that, I’ll make you food to help you feel better.” He gave Yuu a warm smile.

Seeing the other smile at them made Yuu smile too. What a kind and caring boy Jamil was! Kalim was really lucky to have such a compassionate and thoughtful attendant like Jamil. They were almost jealous!

Taking a quick glance at their almost-full luggage, Yuu hesitated for a bit, something in the back of their mind warning them of a danger they don’t remember, before helping Jamil unpack their things.

It was probably nothing… right?

N̷̠͖̹̜͖̂͆̔͐͘ǫ̶̞͚͕̀,̸̳̑̓̐͒ ̸͈̭̟̫̭̃̈́n̸͔͋̕õ̶̘̳̩̪͂͝,̵̩̪̉͝ ̶̯̫̭͌̽̏̄͠ň̵̥̻̙͙̃͋ờ̵͉̇͑̔,̴͉̩͍̥͋̚̚ ̶͔͛n̵̲̎̂́́̍o̶̢̡̨̠̒,̶̫͇̕ ̸̞̞͔͈̏̎͛̌n̶̤̔ȯ̵̡̍͐͗,̵͓͐̀́̂͑ ̷̲̖̲̐̋͑̉ș̷̼̗͊̿̓n̸̨̜̭͗͛͝ä̴̡́̂̽p̶͚̤͖͘ͅ ̴͍̍̈͐͠ȏ̷̮̟̱̻͘͠u̴̧̩̤͒t̶̡̲̼̠̒̾ ̷͚͚͉̋o̸͚̹̊͒f̶̻͙͛̑̓̿̉ ̸̖̆͆i̶͔͔̗̩͆̎͆̈͐t̸̡̏̋̕͝,̸͈̬̈́́ ̴̢̳̗̎̓s̸̗̄̒͂o̶̖̤̳͐̀̇m̵̛͎̝̂͘̚e̷̦͈͐̔̄̈́́ͅt̴̳̽̕h̸̳̩̱̗̒̀͘ȉ̸̢̩̘̠̼̎͛̔͂n̷̳͋g̴͖̼̪͙̗̊̊’̸̘̮͓̻̺̈́̕s̴̳͍̟͖͗̂̚ ̴̪͗͝w̶̘͈̞͇̿̓̔͛r̴͓͍͉̈̑͌̚͠ǫ̷̞̎n̷̤̒͂̋̑͝ģ̶̜̘͕̙̀̀̃̽̈́,̸̥͉̎ ̵̲̲̥̍̆̈́̚ś̶͉n̵̺̞͎̞̄̽̐̉͝ȃ̷̧͉̩̉̀̄͝p̷̧̢̛̛̜͇̟̃ ̴̛̘̾ó̷̭̭͍̜̕͝ͅu̷̪͍͓͂t̷̖͈̔̇̄̎̓ ̸̙̺̳̍o̷̧̯̻̮͑̌̌̾f̶̮̲̈̌́͜ ̸̱̘͈̈ḭ̷̾̿̕t̵͎͇̗̯̀̔̽̄̕,̴̩͗̐̄̚ ̸̧̝͙̄̍͑͛s̷̜̘̓̊͛͠n̷͍̜͇̮͆́̆̈́̆â̴̼̕ṕ̶̧͙͈̿ ̸̯̋̽͛̈͒ờ̶̢̻͍̹̤̔̕ú̷͕̭̠̽̋t̷͍͊̚͠ ̵̹̎̇̒̕ͅo̴̙̦͎͔͌̂̉͘f̴̛̣͛̐̏͠ ̶̰̖̹̏̅̕i̵̼̩͙͛–̸̯̌́͆̈

Right...

–

“Fngyaaa…” Grim collapsed down into the bedsheets, exhausted. “Yuu, you notice it too, don’t you? Kalim’s acting really, really weird! It’s as if he’s possessed or something! We managed to talk him out of having to force his dorm members to staying here but then he suddenly just shifted as if he was another person!”

Yuu groaned from beside him, lying face down on their bed. “Mou… I didn’t expect he’d actually force us to train with them… To think we’d be marching the desert for hours… Was he really that upset about losing the Magift Tournament? But he didn’t seem like he was affected, even with the stress of the exams.” Yuu would know. They did put Kalim under heavy surveillance, after all. So, why now? What was so different now? “In the first place, why did we have to exercise and study with them? We aren’t even going school here.” They sighed tiredly.

The two stayed silent and still for a brief moment before Grim’s ears perked up. The feline creature sat up from the bed and tapped Yuu’s shoulder repeatedly. “Hey, Yuu… Yuu, why don’t we just go and leave? It’s about high time we start travelling anyway.”

Yuu looked at Grim with a confused expression. “What? What do you mean?”

“Fgnya! It’s not like we have to stay here! You’re Kalim’s older sibling, would he really force you stay here if you were firm about in leaving? You have to put your foot down and really mean it, Yuu! Don’t spoil him!”

Yuu sighed but didn’t deny his words. Grim had a point. They knew they should be acting their part as Kalim’s older sibling and scold him for being too hard on his dorm members. To use their vacation time for training and studying without even being able to see their family was just unnecessarily cruel. Although they felt like they were being a bit unfair to Kalim too, they just couldn’t stand by and see him ruin himself.

Yuu sighed once again but rolled out of bed. “Alright, alright. You stay here, I’ll go talk to Kalim that we’ll be heading off at the soonest convenient time.”

After making sure they looked presentable in the mirror, they left the room.

Walking down the hallways of Scarabia, Yuu didn’t expect to bump into Jamil.

“Oh, good evening, Jamil…” Yuu tried to greet the other with the same cheery expression that they usually had but judging by the look on Jamil’s face, they weren’t successful. Yuu was just too exhausted to care right now, anyway.

“Are you alright, Yuu?” Jamil asked, putting a hand on Yuu’s back as they led them to a nearby balcony to get some fresh air. Yuu felt touched by their thoughtfulness and the cold night air really helped. “Was there something you needed? You could’ve just called one of the dorm members. I’m sure they won’t mind getting you what you need.”

“No, it’s…” Yuu scratched the back of their head. “It’s fine. I was just heading over to go and have a small talk with Kalim.”

“Hm? Why is that? Why do you need to go have a talk with him?“ Jamil inquired in curiosity. Though, had Yuu been paying attention closely, it was more like he was interrogating them.

“Well,” Yuu started. There was a lot of things they wanted to say, honestly. But they don’t know where to start. “I was going to tell him to cut your dorm members some slack, you know? I know there are times to get serious and times to have fun but Kalim’s just… taking it too far right now.”

“Ah, I see… I can’t say I’m not surprised.” Jamil nodded, agreeing with Yuu’s words. “Kalim has always been… willful. Though, he wasn’t always like this. Perhaps being the Dorm Leader of Scarabia is taking a toll on him. It is hard to manage all this all on his own but the way he’s going about it is…” Jamil trailed off but Yuu understood what he was trying to say.

Some people were just good at being leaders and some people just needed… maybe more than a few lessons here and there to be good at leading. And right now? Kalim wasn’t… fit to lead, as harsh as it sounds. He was acting more of a tyrant than anything and if Yuu knew anything about tyrants, it was that people were bound to overthrow them sooner or later. Yuu didn’t want to see their brother get hurt once that happened.

Yuu sighed once again. They’ve been sighing a lot ever since they decided to stay here. Maybe staying at one place for too long was getting to them. They weren’t used to it. Ever since Yuu was young, they’d always had the habit of travelling all around different places. Yuu looked up at the night sky and watched as the stars twinkled up above.

“Objectively speaking…” Yuu gave a quick glance at Jamil through their peripheral vision. He, too, was looking up at the stars and quietly waiting for what Yuu had to say. “I think… you’d suit to be the Dorm Leader right now, Jamil.”

“...!” Jamil, not expecting that Yuu would say this out of the blue whipped his head to the side to look at the older Asim with wide eyes. “...What?”

“I know I’m foolish at times, but I’m not blind.” Yuu laughed lightly, finding the face Jamil was making at the very moment funny.

“I’m a merchant, Jamil. I have an eye for these things. Although you’ve tried to hide it, it’s clear that you’ve got a good head on your shoulders. You’re more than capable enough to run this place. I know Kalim’s currently the Dorm Leader but he’s still… young. He still has a lot to learn.” Yuu’s smiled turned melancholic. “Though, I do understand if you’re against it. There are a lot of households serving… attending the Asim Family and to go against them… us would be a bad idea.”

Jamil stayed silent. Yuu looked over to him with a small smile. “But, if you wanted to be the Dorm Leader, would you, Jamil?”

“I… that…” Jamil looked conflicted but he didn’t answer. That was fair. Jamil had been serving the Asim Family for so long that he was probably hesitant to even do something that would be perceived as going against them (not really but it’s not like Yuu knew what was happening). Yuu patted his shoulders gently and gave him a cheeky smile. “It’s alright if you don’t have an answer now. But if you ever do want to, just call me, alright? I may have not visited home for years now but I know my words still have weight around in the Asim Family. I am the oldest Asim child, after all.”

The two became silent, only the sound of the howling wind and the chirping of crickets preventing it from becoming becoming fully awkward.

Yuu lightly coughed. Right, they almost got off track for their real reason they left their room. “Anyway, have you seen Kalim anywhere? I also need to tell him that Grim and I are going to depart as soon as we can.”

“What?” Just like that, the peaceful– almost gentle– lull of silence between the two was broken. Jamil looked at Yuu with furrowed brows, not understanding why Yuu would just say that out of nowhere.

“Grim and I are planning on going to travel as soon as we can. ” Yuu confessed. It wasn’t like they had any reason to keep it from Jamil. Jamil was so nice and considerate and caring and– these aren’t your thoughts, why are you thinking these things, you have to wake up–they know they could trust him!

“I don’t know what happened last time but we really are planning on continuing our travel this time. I was about to head over to Kalim to tell him about this. I wouldn’t want him to wake up next morning and wonder where we suddenly went, hahaha!” Yuu chuckled lightly but their amusement died down as Jamil made no noise or movement beside them.

Feeling something in the current situation was weird, Yuu looked towards Jamil with a frown. “Jamil…?”

Although Jamil was smiling, their face held no joy. In fact, his smile appeared strained and the aura around him seemed… dangerous. Yuu tensed up, feeling a chill run down their spine. Their intuition that they honed through years and years of travel screaming at them to turn away immediately and start run. And who were they to deny their intuition when this had saved them multiple times from getting terribly injured?

Just as they were about to turn away, Jamil opened his eyes and met their eyes, the smile on his face gone. Yuu found their limbs locked in place. No matter how much Yuu tried, they couldn’t find it in themselves to look away from Jamil’s piercing stare.

“And here we were having such a sweet moment, but you’re still actually thinking of such things?” He said in a low voice, scowling in displeasure. “Looks like I need to completely wipe that thought out of your mind again. Really, why do you keep trying to leave when you can just stay? Now, look into my eyes. Snake Whisper...”

The next day, Yuu woke up in bed with no memory of what had transpired the night before. They never got to speak to Kalim about leaving, either. How odd… When Grim asked them about this, Yuu just gave him a weird look and firmly stated that they were staying in Scarabia, much to Grim’s chagrin.

Though, Yuu felt as if they’ve forgotten something very important… They wondered what it was but they couldn’t seem to get their mind to focus as Jamil smiled at waved at them from the front as the entirety of the Scarabia Dorm was preparing to go to the East Oasis.

Yuu smiled and waved back, the nagging feeling they had getting pushed back to the back of their mind. Well, if whatever they had forgotten was important then they’ll most likely remember it later. Right now, they should get ready to march.

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assignmentimprobable · 1 month

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Per my last gobbledygook infused post about the excessive use of Stryker’s influence in the X-Men movies, I’ve come with my promised rant. This time taking a deep-dive into some of the more consequential changes to Fox X-Men’s storytelling choices when making movies based on different comics, specifically how they chose to adapt Weapon X in Origins, and all my gripes.

Disclaimer: (1) I know that the Origins movie takes much of its creative liberties based on Wolverine Origins; (2) I know that killing your darlings is necessary when adapting books to the big screen, but there’s the difference between a few darlings and cutting the entire thrust of the story. These are two completely different stories with different audiences, and I’m pontificating informally about a bunch of nothing at the end of the day for my own fun.

That said! Join me for the biggest bitch session about how the movies took on the ‘ohh how did Logan become The Wolverine” angle. This has been an essay for 4 years in the making so. Prepare yourselves accordingly.

Trigger warnings for: Graphic body horror with images, non-consensual nudity, torture, experimentation, sexual assault discussion (not discussed in depth, but touched on in a quote) and blood.

More under the cut

To preface… I don’t consider myself even a passable comic fan. I floated by on X-Men Evolution and the Fox films for my X-Men knowledge until I was an adult. I’ve got some measure of Lore knowledge, but at the end of the day I’m a filthy casual, so jot THAT down. Don’t expect me to know shit about Romulus’s involvement. So I, a fool, went into Weapon X (1991) expecting what I saw in X-Men Origins back in (checks calendar) 2009.

What I find most interesting is that movie adaptations of Weapon X tend to give a badass tilt to what happened, when what actually happened was far from it.

Starting with the first gripe: In X-Men Origins, we see that Logan volunteered for the Weapon X program as a means to get strong enough to beat Sabertooth for killing Silver Fox (Here, Kayla SilverFox. Which. :U ), his girlfriend. It was about single-minded vengeance. In the comic, Logan didn’t have a choice. They caught him while he was drunk, walking out of a bar and presumably on his way back to wherever he was staying.

What happens next is a series of episodes and observations about the state of his body, his nature, and his use as a weapon. Furthermore, it’s not an action comic.

It’s a horror story.

The core changes for the big screen can be boiled down into one paradigm shift: Logan is an active character moving the story along instead of a passive one in Origins. And really, that’s the problem, because a key element to the whole premise has to do with his role in the events that made him who he is. Weapon X is not a story about Wolverine, the characters never actually refer to him by his title, only by first name and project designation “Experiment X”. It’d be more accurate to say that Weapon X is a story that revolves around things that happen to Logan. More precisely: The things that people do TO him. At its core, the story is about the dehumanization that accompanies having your bodily autonomy meddled with.

Origins plays with this a little bit, having Stryker make the call for Logan’s memories to be wiped so that he can be used as a weapon. Which brings us back to the main problem: Not only does it undermine the themes of the story for Logan to be recontextualized as a completely willing participant- but introducing that angle entirely just feels totally flavorless, as opposed to the government having pulled his personnel file and tagged him as precisely the kind of volatile presence that no one would miss. Systems do that all the time, marking people as ‘other’ and making a judgment call on their worth.

I think it would’ve been so much more interesting if the movies played with the ambiguity of Wolverine’s participation in the experiment. Because in an X2 scene, when Logan says “you cut me open, you took my life.”, Stryker responds “you make it sound as if I stole something from you. as I recall it was you who volunteered for the procedure.” and everything comes into question. On one hand, it begs the question: Who WAS Logan before he lost his memory? Was he the sort of person to grasp destructive power for power’s sake? On the other, It’s a classic abuser tactic on Stryker’s part, shifting the blame onto the victim and putting forth the idea that they wanted it, and so that what took place was completely fine. It’s a sickening, spineless rationalization. Logan can easily be seen as an abuse victim being manipulated by the abuser.

Which is actually a good segue to my next point— the abuse in the comic. It’s graphic and uncomfortable. There is a crazy amount of nudity in this story (warning: pictured below). Not the fun kind either, there’s enough of it to make you feel kinda icky about what’s going on.

Logan spends virtually all of the story naked and a good amount of it bound in dehumanizing ways. The method feels weirdly evocative of bondage, muscles flexing and body bare, the form twisted into forced submission. It isn't his choice to be unclothed, and so it feels like you’re not to see him like this. There’s a layer of wrongness to it that you can’t quite shake as a reader.

According to the center for victims of torture: “Forced nakedness creates a power differential, stripping the victims of their identity, inducing immediate shame and creating an environment where the threat of sexual and physical assault is always present.” Nearly all of the elements are met in the story. Logan is drugged, stripped, bound, and subjected to multiple forms of violence. He has hot coffee poured onto his unconscious naked body for no other reason than a doctor’s bad mood. His abuse is justified by his status as a mutant, being told “This infernal thing is what [he] has always been” while left naked and unconscious in a pile of glass shards. The Doctors and staff have all the power, and he himself has none.

At every corner of doubt expressed by Carol Hines the lab tech or Dr. Cornelius the co-project lead, there’s someone ready to express that his identity is inconsequential. That person is typically the lead scientist, Dr. Thornton- or “The Professor”. He’s the menacing bald guy you see in a bunch of different cartoon adaptations of the Weapon X story.

(^ This guy. Like to slap his bald head. Reblog to stab it.)

Autonomy is defined by the Merriam Webster dictionary as “ self-directing freedom and especially moral independence.” It is the capacity to make an informed, uncoerced decision. Here, where Logan is constantly in and out of reality due to the drugs and conditioning equipment, there is no autonomy. Logan is incapacitated, has no information on what is happening to him, and is being fed scenarios that he did not give his permission to be in.The nakedness is part and parcel of what the Weapon X project is trying to do: They are trying to tear Logan away from his identity and personhood. Whether Logan breaks from the programming or not, he is treated as a tertiary consideration in all aspects. Humiliation is necessary to the conditioning. And I feel the need to clarify that it IS humiliation, defined as “to reduc[ing] (someone) to a lower position in one's own eyes or others' eyes.” The doctors must bring Logan down under their heel as a monster to tame, their agenda can’t survive without the subjugation element. The program wants to assume dominion over his body, mind, and by extension his abilities.

Addressing the vaguely sexual tilt to the nudity: I’d wager that the objectification stands to poise him in the eyes of the scientists and lab staff. Something to observe, a passive subject to be engaged with at their leisure. It’s a framing device. Logan is effectively robbed of his voice for much of the story, speaking in broken fragments and more often than not expressing how much pain he’s in. The underpinnings of the nudity are grounded in asserting control over Logan’s form, the Professor at multiple points talks about how this experiment and awakening the animal inside Logan is the latter’s destiny. He has decided that it’s this man’s highest calling because of who he is, a mutant and one of the troubled undesirables of society. Mentally ill, violent, drunk. The purpose of Experiment X is to mold Logan into a mindless beast, because that’s what they think he is, the rest is to strip him of any pretense or illusions about what he thinks he is. It’s an oppressive environment that reinforces its power dynamics through violence on the body and mind.

Next gripe: That really satisfying scene in Origins where Logan breaks free from the adamantium tank and shrugs off the bullet Agent Zero put in his head. It has all the trademarks of cool. The shredded figure of a big dick legend, the angry snarling, the bodies flying and claws slashing. It’s about intention! We are meant to see this man as effectively invincible and totally badass. It’s a short stint of medical malpractice that ultimately brings us the character we look up to and admire. It doesn’t hurt that he’s got a lovely figure and a handsome face either. It’s all pure, bloodless action. The scene on a tonal level doesn’t scratch the surface of how invasive or horrible the experiment was, nor do any of movies seem to capture how fucking GROSS! The closest we get is the sequence in X2 where Logan runs down the hallway naked, hurting, and horrified at what’s been done to him. And to Hugh Jackman’s credit, this brief and bloody snatch of memory leaves people unsettled, asking “What happened here?” This is the first time Logan’s seeing the claws, he doesn’t know what we know about their use now, only that it HURTS and he has to get AWAY. That’s creative storytelling within the limitations of a PG-13 rating.

Meanwhile, with Barry Windsor-Smith…

Having re-read the story a few times for the sake of this essay: I can see on some level why a major studio wouldn’t tackle this in full-fidelity. It’s not marketable in a “Middle of the road, grandparents and little kids can see this movie” way. It’s also fair to say that it’s hard to pivot from, because his involvement doesn’t end with the adamantium bonding. We still have several years of false memory implants, missions with Team X after the successful conditioning, and then getting to a solid stopping point before the X-Men recruits Wolverine. Marketing heads and studio executives don’t want to grapple with a complex trauma narrative and Wolverine being brutalized in deeply un-fun ways nonstop, no matter how compelling it would be to bring to life.

However, it’s a total missed opportunity that in shifting the perspective of the story to Logan as its driving force that the movie didn’t try to get at the juicier quirks of his mental state under the strain. Since you know, it’s the subject of at least 3 PTSD nightmare sequences in the X-Men films where Logan is at the forefront. Experiencing such immense psychological trauma impairs the ability of a victim to cope because of the deficiencies in endorphin activity following a traumatic experience. Volpicelli J, Balaraman G, Hahn J, Wallace H, Bux D. The role of uncontrollable trauma in the development of PTSD and alcohol addiction. Alcohol Res Health. 1999;23(4):256-62. Alcohol is a common method of compensating for the endorphin withdrawal by increasing endorphin activity, avoiding both the withdrawal, and also impairing the parts of the brain that recall memory. Ibid. Considering the detailed abuse in previous paragraphs, it’s no shit that Logan is an alcoholic. The trauma conga line of Wolverine’s history aside, an extended trauma event such as the one in Weapon X alone warrants the kind of hyper-awareness, aggressive outbursts, and self-destructive behaviors that the character is known for. The scene in X-Men 2000 where Logan attacks Jean while she’s putting the IV in his arm makes complete sense, having the context of panels like these behind it.

Is there something to be said here about depictions of masculinity that go out of their way to avoid showing vulnerability? I’d be willing to say so, especially based on the commentary around what the filmmakers wanted for the Origins movie. They wanted to prioritize the action and invoke Robert De Niro’s “oh fuck this guy is scary” factor in Cape Fear, highlighting the sheer badassness and animal edge of the character. He’s sexy, he’s a wounded soul, he’s a killer, and most of all: a Fighter. He gets back at Zero for killing the Hudsons, tracks down Victor and annihilates him with his newfound strength, and kills anybody who gets in his way.

To contrast: There are plenty of points in the Weapon X story where Logan fights and kills. He kills every animal they sicc on him. Slaughters a lab tech who goes into his cell while he’s screaming bloody murder. There’s no victory in it though, because he is doing precisely what the Professor has set out to condition him for. In text, it affirms the view of his abusers that he’s a “Mindless murdering animal.” He slaughters the security team sent to him and most important: He kills the architect of his immediate misery, he kills the Professor, the most satisfying slaughter of the story. But that very same satisfaction is hollow, it’s the product of unreality, false memories being planted into his mind as another part of the experiment. They’re empty for Logan, the subject. He doesn’t get to triumph.

This is the story of an abused man in the thick of that environment, not so much a story about how he beat the odds. It’s hinted at toward the end, but likely not shown because this is a prequel story, and Wolverine’s integration into the X-Men in the modern day IS the triumph. This is a contextual tale. This story can’t be all that there is and it isn’t, because Logan is destined to make it out. The Logan we know is at the end of this, but the Logan in this story is only just beginning down a path of trauma that will rip away his sense of self. The distinction lies in what kind of story both mediums are trying to tell. The tale of victimization, abuse, and dehumanization that is told in “Weapon X” undermines the kind of story that Origins wants to tell, one of a man’s journey down the long road and the choices and intentions that set him on the path to being Wolverine.

With the amount of blood, gore, and misery at work here, some might be compelled to characterize what happens in Weapon X as torture porn. However, Torture porn implies a level of gratuitousness that I just don’t think is present in the story proper. There’s a perfectly good reason for the raw, visceral discomfort and atmosphere: It speaks to the total lack of compassion and empathy in these people. Those who aren’t actively mocking this man are complicit at best, lending their help in a project that they know the subject isn’t a voluntary participant in.

Everyone seems to be in on a joke that Logan is the punchline for. Even if not everyone laughs, the point stands that Logan is stumbling blindly into spectacle for the entertainment and voyeuristic study of the project workers. It all feels like one big horror side-show. Windsor-Smith was doing a thematic breakdown on human apathy and sadism through characters like the Professor, Dr. Cornelius, and Carol Hines. The Professor is sadistic and clinical, he feeds little fish to the big fish and taps the glass for his amusement. Cornelius and Hines are apathetic, they will occasionally express remorse (with Hines crying multiple times), but both of them continue to be active participants in an unwitting man’s abuse and torture. Cornelius because he feels that he doesn’t have any other choice but to be here, and Hines because of her sense of loyalty to the project and general obligations as a staff member. The graphic imagery and out-of-touch quality of Logan’s mental state are meant to evoke compassion, sympathy, and anger in the readers. This is the Wolverine we’re talking about. If it’s one thing he does, it’s fight back. He kills, he gets even, but here? He doesn’t. He can’t. He’s helpless.

It’s an interesting exploration, seeing a major icon for masculine ideals being subject to the sort of objectification that we only tend to see rendered in such explicit ways with female characters. Nobody expects someone associated with such strength to be brought this low. The story doesn’t diminish the value of his suffering or imply that the abuse diminishes him in any way, I never quite got the implication that Logan was less of a man for any of the things that the experiment put him through. It’s absolutely insane for a story written during the Bush Sr. era to be able to tackle the kind of nuance on abuse creating victims across genders that people still struggle with today. Hines, Cornelius, and the Professor are the central drivers of a dialogue on what it means to be human, and through their contributions to Logan’s suffering, they prove that for being the supposed “human” opposites to his mutant monstrous self, only acknowledged as human as lip service, there is an endless capacity for cruelty. It brings us back around to Logan, who in being subjugated has shown the audience that The Wolverine is human too.

TLDR: X-Men Origins fumbled the ball adapting the story in an interesting way and I blame executive meddling. I think it would’ve been a really cool exploration of the character to showcase the horrific parts of the origin story, and if not that, then to explore the various themes highlighted by the original story but that probably would’ve required an R rating, and you know how studios take to those for their big IPs. That said, I cannot recommend reading the source enough. Barry Windsor-Smith tells a damn good story, even if it doesn’t feel characterized by the same quirks of an X-Men tale. Quite honestly? I think that’s the appeal. It’s as much a character study as it is a horror show of all the ways one person can be unmade.

#logan howlett #XMen #Wolverine #weapon x #deadpool and wolverine #Tagging as DPAW specifically for you fic writers who want some character content to study #Stevie Speaks

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thegayhimbo · 5 months

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Ranking The Stranger Things Tie-Ins:

Now that I've finished the reviews (for the time being), I wanted to do a ranking of all the tie-in comics, graphic novels, and books. Originally, I was just going to do a Top 5 Best and Worst List, but I figured it would be more fun to make a complete list of all the tie-ins while also giving my brief thoughts on each one (especially for those who don't want to read my lengthy reviews). Please note this is all in good fun and just my personal opinion, which can be subjected to change.

Also, this list will NOT include any of the show's episodes, video games, tabletop games, children's tie-in books, the Choose Your Own Adventure book, the Stranger Things Experience, or the stage play The First Shadow.

With that out of the way, let's begin in order from Worst to Best:

#26: Stranger Things Summer Special (See Review Here)

I never cared for Powell and Callahan as characters. They barely have anything to do with the show's main arc, they're NOT funny, and the "bumbling cop" trope is something I've grown tired of in recent years.

The premise of this short, where both of them are conveniently present at key events during season 3 in their lousy pursuit of being "good cops," all the while having constant near-misses with the Upside Down, the Flayed, and the Meat Flayer, is a repetitive joke that quickly grows old. That's not even getting into the huge continuity errors plaguing the short and creating a bunch of plot-holes. Completely unnecessary. Hard pass.

#25: Stranger Things The Bully (See Review Here)

This only ranks slightly higher than Summer Special because I like the artwork better, and it doesn't mess up the show's continuity like the previous comic did. However, that's all this really has going for it.

For whatever reason, they decided to make an entire graphic novel focusing on Troy and James (the bullies from season 1), and all I could think about while reading it is "This is a huge waste of time." I already didn't like Troy to begin with, this comic does NOTHING to improve my opinion of him, and considering that neither James nor Troy have appeared on the show since (and probably aren't coming back for season 5), I don't see what the point of this story was. This paragraph from my review sums it up best:

#24: Stranger Things x TMNT Crossover (See Review Here)

I'm sure there are fans who enjoyed this bizarre trip while embracing its absurdness and surrealism, but I am not one of them. I like TMNT and I like Stranger Things, but I draw the line at saying both properties exist in the same universe. That's not even getting into the haphazard attempts by the writers to make this comic canon with the show. Knowing the Duffer Brothers, that's likely not going to happen.

#23: Stranger Things Tales From Hawkins (See Review Here)

The idea of doing an anthology comic focusing on Hawkins residents was intriguing, but the end result was disappointing. They should have broadened their horizons regarding which characters to focus on, and not just set the stories exclusively in the first 2 seasons.

Murray's story (Issue #2) and the Pumpkin Patch Rivalry (Issue #4) are arguably the best ones. The rest are either forgettable or derivative.

#22: Stranger Things Six (See Review Here)

My first venture into Stranger Things comics. I've come a long way since then! :)

I remember looking forward to this particular comic to learn more about Hawkins Lab, Dr. Brenner, Project MKUltra, and the special kids............only to feel underwhelmed when I actually read it. I wanted to like Francine/Six, but I didn't find her interesting or compelling as a character, and the attempts to include other aspects of the show's lore (i.e. The Upside Down, Terry Ives, El and Kali, etc) felt shoehorned. Combined with the direction season 4 went, and it's a safe bet to say this comic is NOT canon (if it ever was).

#21: Stranger Things Suspicious Minds (See Review Here)

Suspicious Minds ranks slightly higher that Six for doing a better job fleshing out the experiments that were taking place at Hawkins Lab, as well as giving more details about Kali, Terry Ives, the test subjects, and El's biological father Andrew. It helps that Brenner is a threatening presence in this book, and that the narrative excels in maintaining suspense.

However, similar to Six, the events of season 4 render most of this book non-canon. That's not even getting into a major continuity error regarding El's date of birth that sticks out like a sore thumb.

Suspicious Minds serves as a cautionary reminder that if you're a creator and you've planned out a major twist for your show, then you either need to have a direct hands-on approach to how tie-ins are written and approved, or you need to be willing to share that twist with those you've hired to write tie-ins for the universe you're managing.

In any case, it is PAINFULLY CLEAR the Duffer Brothers didn't share information about Henry/One/Vecna with Gwenda Bond when she worte this book (or Paul Dichter for that matter when he helped oversee its development), and boy does it show in the final product. 😖

#20: Stranger Things Kamchatka (See Review Here)

Another example of a comic where the premise sounds intriguing, but they squander it on characters who aren't going to play a role on the show while also giving very little (and in some cases, contradictory) information about the show's lore.

While I liked the darker tone, the Cold War setting, and the spy thriller aspects, the characters didn't do much to impress me, and I was also frustrated by the lack of canon characters (Hopper, Dmitiri, Yuri, etc) who could have been in this comic and weren't. It's not bad, but it is mediocre when it didn't need to be.

#19: Stranger Things Into The Fire (See Review Here)

A sequel that improves on its predecessor (Stranger Things Six). While the comic likely isn't canon for the same reasons Six isn't, I appreciated the personal stakes this time around, I loved the creepy gothic aesthetic they did with Jamie/Nine's hallucinations, and it was nice to see Kali utilized in this story in a meaningful way. Here's hoping the Duffer Brothers wise up and bring Kali back for season 5 because she deserves so much better!

#18: Stranger Things Creature Feature (See Review Here)

One aspect of Season 4 that was disappointing was how little we got to see of the family dynamic with El and the Byers once they moved. It's hinted at, but not explored deeply. Creature Feature dives a little more into that, as well as El's struggles with PTSD, and gives a nice heartwarming scene between El, Jonathan, and Will towards the end that makes the short stand out.

However, the one-shot comic is sadly brief, and it may leave people frustrated about why they didn't go for a longer comic/graphic novel about El and the Byers adjusting to life in Lenora. I would've been interested in seeing that!

#17: Stranger Things The Game Master (See Review Here)

A one-shot comic where we get to see Steve and Nancy back together after the events of season 1 while also getting a surprisingly sweet interaction between Steve and Mike that isn't them griping with one another. I don't care much for Steve and Nancy's relationship, but I did like their attempts to help Mike feel better after El's apparent death. That was enough to elevate this short.

#16: Stranger Things Erica's Quest (See Review Here)

Not a fan of the artwork, but I was happy to witness the Scoop's Troop back together again. I also love how this short confirms Steve has played D&D before, which gives context to that scene in S4 when Dustin calls Steve asking him to be a substitute player in Eddie's D&D campaign.

#15: Stranger Things The Voyage (See Review Here)

Major improvement on Stranger Things Kamchatka. It's highly doubtful the show will include any mention of this comic (though if the Duffer Brothers decide to bring back the Russian arc for S5, I hope they incorporate Dr. Karine as the main antagonist), but the story is scary, suspenseful, and has the kind of gruesomeness you'd expect from an R-Rated horror film.

#14: Stranger Things Darkness On The Edge Of Town (See Reviews Here)

Having grown up reading a lot of murder mysteries, I have a soft spot for the genre. Hearing that Hopper's backstory involved him tracking down a deranged serial killer in New York City back in the 70s while also dealing with a dangerous cult was enough to get me on board with this book.

This novel isn't perfect, but it makes up for its shortcomings in creative ways. Hopper's backstory with the NYPD is fascinating, the story's focus on issues related to poverty, crime, mental health, law enforcement, and societal woes works well (even if they drop the ball towards the end), Hopper's interactions with El in the present are a highlight, and the narrative is effective in keeping the reader invested.

#13: Stranger Things Erica The Great (See Review Here)

A light-hearted graphic novel that bridges Erica's arc between seasons 3 and 4 while expanding on her growth as a character and development as a D&D play. It was cool seeing Erica's friends get their day in the limelight (one of whom might be making an appearance in S5), and the story has enough funny moments to keep the reader entertained.

#12: Stranger Things Flight Of Icarus (See Review Here)

I know fan reaction towards this book was cold when it was first announced, and I'll admit parts of it were hard to read given we all know how Eddie's story ends. I'm not a fan of media that teases false hope to the audience, only to cruelly yank it away.

That being said, I will go to bat for this book: It's well-written, and does a good job expanding on Eddie's character and his relationships with others (Wayne, Al Munson, Jason, etc). I also appreciate the book's themes regarding "forced conformity," and its scathing criticisms towards individuals and institutions (school teachers, law enforcement, students, residents, etc) who scapegoat and punish people like Eddie for existing while allowing (or in some cases, enabling) truly vile people to get away with being vicious and cruel towards "acceptable targets."

Considering how certain individuals on Tumblr and varying social media platforms have been treating others for the past few months, this book couldn't have come during a more relevant time.

#11: Stranger Things Halloween Special (See Review Here)

A delightful Halloween comic taking place before season 1 which centers around the Party telling an urban legend about the Child Eater of Hawkins, which coincidentally has eerie parallels to Vecna. Creepy artwork, an unsettling atmosphere, and a fun twist at the end! :)

#10: Stranger Things Hawkins Horrors (See Review Here)

Same deal as the Halloween Special, except it takes place between Seasons 3 and 4, and features multiple horror stories told by Steve, Robin, Nancy, Max, Lucas, Erica, Dustin, and Mike while they're all trapped in the Video Store during a power outage. The stories are scary and reminiscent of horror anthologies like Tales from the Crypt and Goosebumps, and some of them even cheekily foreshadow certain events that occur in season 4.

#9: Stranger Things Runaway Max (See Reviews Here)

Like Flight of Icarus, this book is hard to read, albeit for a different reason: I don't enjoy stories with characters trapped in abusive situations, and this book does not pull its punches in depicting the utter hell Max suffered through living with both Neil and Billy.

That being said, I grew to have a new appreciation for Max's character because of this book, and I liked seeing her backstory, her perspective on the events of season 2, and her thoughts about the characters she interacts with. I loved seeing her relationship with Lucas develop, I liked her brief interactions with Steve, and there was a satisfying payoff in her standing up to Billy and finally regaining some control over her life. If you love Max's character, this book is for you!

#8: Stranger Things Winter Special (See Review Here)

The closest Stranger Things will ever have for a Christmas Special (not counting the endings of the first two season finales). So many little details (i.e. the way the Party explains different Christmas stories to El and how she visualizes them, the revelation about what happened to the demodog in Joyce's fridge, etc) that make this an enjoyable read.

#7: Stranger Things Lucas On The Line (See Review Here)

One thing I will say for the tie-ins is that I appreciate how they expand the perspectives of characters from the show. Such is the case with Lucas on the Line. It takes place between seasons 3 and 4, and explores Lucas's attempts to come to terms with his trauma, the growing rift between himself and Max, his attempts to balance his strained relationships with his friends and his desire to play basketball and break out of the "nerd" stereotype, and it gives a very brutal but effective portrait of what it's like for Lucas to be one of the few black kids in Hawkins constantly surrounded by people who are either outwardly racist or project their biases and prejudices in truly insidious ways.

There are two reasons I'm not ranking this novel as highly even though it's a fan-favorite: 1.) There are continuity errors that took me out of certain moments while reading it, and 2.) The third act (which is when S4 begins) does a clumsy job tying in with the rest of the book and its themes. I really wish the book had continued with Lucas's story up to the end of S4 instead of stopping halfway through.

#6: Stranger Things The Other Side (See Review Here)

I always wanted to know what was going on with Will in season 1 when he was taken to the Upside Down. This comic thankfully elaborates on that and doesn't disappoint. Will's journey to survive is both intense and terrifying, and the way the comic seamlessly connects itself with the events of season 1 is to be applauded.

I have no clue what the Duffer Brothers plan to reveal in season 5 about the Upside Down and why time froze in 1983 when Will was taken, but considering they talked with the writers and artists for this comic and gave their stamp of approval, I'm hopeful the events of The Other Side won't be retconned.

#5: Stranger Things Science Camp (See Review Here)

Who knew that when Dustin went to Science Camp, he walked right into a Friday the 13th movie? ��

Don't want to spoil too much about this one, but I had a blast reading it. Dustin's perspective is always entertaining, the comic works as a brilliant introduction for Suzie, and the mystery plaguing the camp is genuinely interesting and has a good twist. High recommendation.

#4: Stranger Things Zombie Boys (See Review Here)

I'm still bitter that the character of Joey Kim never made an appearance on the show despite the camaraderie he had with the Party, as well as how he gave the boys some catharsis from all the shit they were put through in season 1.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed the premise of the Party making a zombie movie, and I appreciated how it handled the characters' trauma without being patronizing. The artwork was also impressive and beautiful to look at. Here's hoping we get more comics and graphic novels like this in the future!

#3: Stranger Things Tomb Of Ybwen (See Review Here)

At its core, the comic manages to explore an aspect that wasn't given much coverage on the show: Will's reaction to Bob's death and his attempts to come to terms with it. All of which culminates in a quest Will undertakes when he finds a map from Bob that (allegedly) leads to an ancient Viking treasure buried in Hawkins.

I don't want to give too much away in terms of spoilers, but the story is both emotional, sad, and heartwarming, and it does an excellent job reinforcing the friendship between all 4 boys while also demonstrating the impact Bob had on Will's life.

#2: Stranger Things and Dungeons and Dragons (See Review Here)

Speaking as someone who's occasionally crafted various fantasy scenarios in my head to cope with the stresses of life, this comic was deeply relatable. The show never shied away from emphasizing the importance of D&D to these characters, and this comic expands on that by illustrating why they became interested in D&D in the first place, how they've used D&D to cope with living in Hawkins, how the events of the first 3 seasons factor into how they play D&D, and how the game evolved with them as they continued to get older. It's like the piece of media from your childhood that stays with you as an adult. Arguably the best comic in the series (so far).

#1: Stranger Things Rebel Robin (See Reviews Here)

My favorite book and tie-in of the series. Speaking as someone who's gay, this story spoke to me on a personal level, and there were a lot of parallels I was drawing between Robin's experiences in high school and my own: The fear of being outed and ostracized. The desire to break free and explore the world. Recognizing the injustices that exist in society and wishing you could do something about them. Getting a nasty dose of reality that people you thought you could trust aren't reliable, and may even be more awful than you anticipated. Been there, done that, still dealing with some aspects of it.

It's funny because even if you take out the plot elements relating to the Upside Down, you still get a great coming-of-age story, and one that speaks to many people, LGBT+ or otherwise.

That concludes the ranking and reviews for right now! Thank you again for those who've been reading them! :)

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thecourtsknight · 7 months

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So. Side Order, huh?

I've been chewing on my thoughts over this for a good few days now. Want to spit them out somewhere. Vague-ish spoilers ahead.

I want to preface this with saying that I love Splatoon, I've been playing it since 1, really dropped off near the end of 2. Nintendo made Octo Expansion for me, they released it on my birthday and I love it so fucking much.

Side Order is fun, but lacking criminally in content.

You can argue Roguelites are like this in general, its the core princible to replay them over and over again and as someone who enjoys Roguelites, I agree!

However, a key thing that good roguelites do is continously give you a reason to keep playing- whether that be addictive gameplay or, usually, good story and lacing that in with difficulty that becomes the players goal to lessen- It rewards the player for being curious, experimental and above all else persistant.

I am fully aware that difficulty, due to Splatoon's target audience, in something like a roguelite was never going to be an easy thing to balance let alone pull off but having the main plot resolve itself once you hit the top of the tower was, in my opinion, the first of its blunders.

I feel as if the Splatoon developers know how much the lore and worldbuilding of these games matter to players. Side Order was advertised in very similar veins to Octo Expansion. The trailers had mystery and intrigue with clear connections to the well recieved and loved Octo Expansion to the point of having the same protagonist among other simularities.

They were clearly teasing this to be a successor of SOME capacity to Octo Expansion. And even as I went into this expecting it to be nothing like OE in terms of it's personal weight, I wasn't expecting something so short.

Classically, in roguelites that focus on story, you would gain story beats the more you replay. And techincally you gain this with the keys gathered from each fully cleared palette. But usually your story rewards in roguelites come from clearing or attempting runs and rewards:

With Side Order's story being resolved the MOMENT you step onto floor 30 with no real context unless you've intentionally avoided the top or have genuinely been slowed by its difficult (which I assume is what the devs intended) makes it's climax feel fast paced and lackluster- undeserved, even.

And, yes, I am fully aware that when you climb the tower agani after the credits role, you begin gain more lore about whats going on. But with the actual, main threat neutralized in every possible way it feels as if this lore should've been offered to us much sooner and much more spread out for a better pay off.

It's story feels like its being told out of order and, in my personal opinion, the themes and actual telling methods of Side Order we're a largely missed opportunity to tell something a bit more indepth. Climbing a tower that gives you essentially nothing until you reach floor 30 (which in my experience takes about 35-40 minutes) only to recieve about two scentences of lore is incredibly tiring and feels dissastifying when the main plot is already over.

It's lack of variation in level design, tasks and chips doesn't help with the climb each time if you're looking for the lore or just to 100% either. And you can argue this is a roguelite problem, but Splatoon's scenario's for a tower climb are pitifully small and you will start to seem repeat almost immediatly on your second or third run.

I also feel like it relies far too heavily on the player knowing and caring about Octo Expansion. I'm not saying that I think it was a bad idea to have most of what's going on in Side Order happening because of Octo Expansion's events. Hell, I was happy when they were very blatently showing this early on.

But it does very little with its ties to Octo Expansion, making Side Order feel like its constantly struggling to be its own thing away from the original DLC.

I think I can almost see what they wanted to go for here, and its frustrating, it felt close to something at least telling a decent story.

Every single little beat I've gotten has helped me understand more and more what they were going for, but since the main conflict is already resolved I find it hard to be excited and more frustrated that I wasn't given these during my initial playthrough.

I feel as though the roguelite formula was an interesting idea that they polished the best of their ability and to make work both for casual and experience players- but I think thats where the problem comes in.

With Side Order being the same price as Octo Expansion and offering very little in terms of replayability and most especially for me, story, the whole thing ends up feeling like a muddled mess that would've worked better had the roguelite aspect perhaps been dropped in general for a general tower climb.

Missed opportunies feel like they decorate Side Order in a way that leaves me fairly disappointed.

I think, overall, Side Order is a fun time that can be enjoyed but the way it was implimented into the gameplay formula was largely a mistake, especially coupled with the marketing of this being something more indepth with its story when it's not, and I can absolutely understand why I'm seeing a lot of disappointment for it.

#splatoon #splatoon 3 #splatoon side order #side order #splatoon spoilers #side order spoilers #i just wanted to spit my thoughts out somewhere #i could've gone more into my grievances with the plot but i wanted to generalize this and its already too long #but i definitely feel mismarketed too #i say this as someone whos enjoying it despite its lack of content #i am DEFINITELY let down in terms of what they seemed to be implying in trailers #and if you enjoy side order thats fine all the more power to you #salutes #scrolls.txt

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hermesgoestojuvie · 7 months

Note

do you have any permes hcs or fic ideas?

oh anon u have no idea what you've unleashed. the permes fic ideas are all i have some days, alas, im not that accomplished at the whole idea to words transition as i wish i was. i'll go into a few more concrete ones under the read more

Quick note: So like. All the things I plan to write happen when he’s 18+. and there's no sibling or parent incest. (bringing that up cause i got an. interesting dm once.) So this is just a quick disclaimer of sorts. And I’m not hating on anyone who wants to write or read something dark! I mean for instance I have a time travel Percy/Hermes brainworm that is considered dark and probably not what a lot of people want to read, so i'll tag it as such.

The One Where There is a War

Explained a little more in detail here but I have no problem talking a little about it again. It was inspired by this one perpollo fic that I'm still looking for so I can link it, bc trust me, it is GOOD. (edit: FOUND IT!!!! HERE it’s by @ghost-bxrd)The premise of that fic was a war between the gods and demigods, and my fic is meant to draw from that as well as some elements from Lore by Alexandra Bracken. It takes place post-second Giant war, but I'm toying with the idea of having the war and all related events, like gaea's rising, happen when percy is maybe 19-20? I'm not sure yet though. I might keep the timeline as is instead. For now, just know that it is post-second giant war.

Anyways, the premise is the new war the demigods have waged on the gods, when Percy, already a conflicted party to the war, comes across an injured Hermes when he is separated from his group of scouts.

2. Warning: Untitled For Now But It Is The Dark!Hermes One

you ever read child surprise by aphroditesfavorite or the breezeblocks series by violetmoreviolent?

Both are perpollo, and while I've not caught up to child surprise (i'm two chapters in, its been in my marked for later for a while, and ive had the tab open for ages, i just keep getting distracted lol) i know that it does deal with a time-travel trope, with percy, post-second giant and titan wars, waking up in the past, the day athena and poseidon compete over athens.

from what i hear, where child surprise is perpollo, there is a dark, forcecful hermes scene, which is absolutely not meant to be shippy btw! i heard from a friend who has gotten farther than me that the aphroditesfavorite has also stated that the shippy comments received about that hermes scene has made them uncomfortable so like, dont go reading it for that guys please.

breezeblocks meanwhile has a take on dark!apollo, a more ancient apollo, in a way. an apollo that you remember IS an olympian and all that may entail. i actually have caught up with the latest updates, and it takes place in the present. i dont want to go spoiling, but I will say that like, the way its all unraveling and unfolding is just so interesting, im high key invested.

@ashilrak and @mrthology have also written an absolutely heartbreaking, gutwrenching, exceptionally glorious banger of a fic, HAUNT ME, THEN- that also really captures the otherness and ancient, almost older, aspect of the olympians.

anyways, the reason i bring these fics up is because i just really love the idea that percy was born from the sea, while also acknowledging that one of my favorite parts of the whole book series in the first place is percy's connection to mortality and to his mother. reading child surprise really was root of a lot of ideas of percy emerging from the saltwater fountain in athens at the time of poseidon and athena's competition, with the idea that the trip to the past coincides with unwanted percy's ascension. it is not the birth of percy jackson the demigod, but in half, percy jackson the deity (the other half near coming to fruition in tartarus before he forced himself to stop.)

all that^ was just a very long way to say, this fic, im not sure WHAT it is yet, or where the direction its going in is, but we have established permes in the modern era, the time slipping happens when percy is struggling with keeping his impending ascension at bay, and then percy deals with a hermes at his like. prime? if thats the word. having to reconcile that with the softer versions they know later.

3. The One I've Been Struggling With

i'm just gonna copy/paste some stuff from my outline, like just the first two pages. this is the most concrete fic wip i have lmao. its all very rambly bc thats how the process goes for me so sorry abt that! anyways, starts below:-

an au that is not modern times, but perhaps in the past? Ancient Greek times? So more “ancient greek minded hermes.” Or if you think there is a better alternative, that would work too, I’m all ears. Trickster god Hermes (which he is) and minor immortal(?) Percy.

i dont know what percy's situation is yet. need to figure that out

i was looking at a comic and thought, trickster god Hermes would definitely pull something like this on Percy. And then I thought, what if, trickster god Hermes, sees this one man (Percy) and falls in love with him. But this man seems to pine for a woman who doesn’t love him back, and so Hermes takes her shape. (I don’t know who this woman would be. Annabeth? It could be her, but I also love the bond Percy and Annabath have in general, she and him are incredible friends. Rachel? I loved her friendship with Percy too.)

Anyways, Hermes taking their shape made me laugh a bit because wow Percy is getting catfished by a god. And then I was like WHAT IF- Percy himself is a minor immortal like. A young nymph-ish type. A prince of Atlantis? A demigod turned prince of Atlantis? I am not sure what he is, but, I am going to use nymph as a placeholder until I figure this out.

So sure, Percy is immortal, newly or otherwise, but he’s young and still not fully like, aware (I don’t know if that's the right word) about what it means to be immortal because he literally was born 20 years ago, which is normal mortal young man age. And Percy is like, “I’m as old as them and I want to live as them. I was them.”

His father is protective of course, he is aware of the way of the gods and how they chase pretty people. Poseidon warned him about gods, how they come and go, how he should never fall for one because loving one usually ends in tragedy or heartbreak- that to them hearts are easily won by tricks and discarded as easily. (Thinking again: mortal Percy turned immortal by marrying/mating with Hermes? Except, then I thought, Poseidon wants Percy to be immortal–if he thought Hermes showing interest and Percy reciprocating would allow for Percy to choose to be immortal he would probably begrudgingly allow it. So then….immortal Percy? Need to think)

The big Hermes reveal is when Percy is attacked or injured, or some other god shows up, and Hermes saves him but reveals his true form in the process.

BACK TO THE PLOT!!!

Hermes was like, I will have this nymph, and that is FINAL. And Percy is kind even though he is not necessarily always NICE, (it may be ancient greek but new yorker percy is timeless) he's sweet and cares so much. he’s a hero and so loyal. he's brave and mischievous and genuinely good, and Hermes is just. Blown away, by the way Percy loves, so deep and it consumes you, to be the one Percy cares for, Hermes thinks there is no feeling like it.

Hermes tells himself that Percy can't possibly be deserving of mortal love. So what if golden haired Annabeth (placeholder for now, still dont know if we're going the annabeth route?) is a warrior who can run like the deer and loves the very woods Percy does. No, he needs a god's adoration, a force to be reckoned with at his beck and call to fulfill his every whim the way Percy himself makes others feel. If people would be loved the way Percy loves, everyone would be a god.

I am laughing at Hermes taking the shape of Annabeth while talking to Percy, but also using the moment to talk up Hermes. Like if Percy is in his starry eyed about Annabeth phase, Annabeth wanting to have a sit down would be so exciting for him, and Hermes as Annabeth would be petty enough to be like lemme proselytize about myself, “have you heard of the great wonderful god Hermes?”

Percy being like, “Yeah my dad tells me every day, stay away from these people and then gives me a list of gods, why?”

Hermes immediately pissy

Percy is still talking, “so yeah Hermes is on the list too- why, Annabeth? Did something happen? you look...not well. Are you sick?”

Hermes, through gritted teeth, “with all due respect to... your father, I think you should hear about the god Hermes because he's not... whatever it is your dad said.”

Percy: Well, apparently the god Hermes fixates on pretty people and tries to get into their pants using trickery.

Hermes as Annabeth: CHOKES

Hermes-Annabeth: THAT IS SUCH SLANDER. I have never.... ahem, i have never heard of that about the god Hermes

^That was the first two pages. there's 11 more of me realizing writing is hard and i have commitment issues. but hopefully i finish at some point bc this is the fic ive poured some serious time in!

anyways, that was the three main fic ideas ive been tackling. i have had more that i immediately forget about, but just know, i can think about them all day!

#hermes #hermes pjo #percy jackson #permes #hermes x percy jackson #percy x hermes #percy jackson pjo #answered asks

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pikmininaplane · 1 year

Note

Fit lore!! I’d love to hear about your thoughts for Phil figuring out fits secret if you’d like to share, the same thought has been floating around in my head as well lol

OHOHOHOHO friend I love you /p I'm putting this under a read more because I. Ended up writing a lot more than intended–

So the thought came to me the day before Fit's lore, when Fit asked Phil if he'd be there the next day. Obviously it didn't mean anything else than "will you attend the event/will I see you tomorrow my friend ?", but my brain immediately went "what if Phil was involved in Fit's lore"

This, combined with the fact that I've been hoping someone would find out about qFit's secret or at least get sus of his behaviour, led me to believe that qPhil would be the best person that could find out about it, actually

'cause like– first of all, qPhil is probably the person qFit's closest to, without counting Ramón or any of the eggs. I mean, he's friendly towards most people, and gets along pretty well with qBad, qPac and qMike, but qPhil has literally given qFit access to his eggs' bunker, which, to my knowledge, he'd only given to qMissa and qWill, the fathers of said eggs, before. qPhil, who would probably have earned the #1 paranoid dad crown if qBBH hadn't been around, fully trusts qFit with his children.

And like I said, I really want someone to find out about qFit's secret, but like. Wouldn't it be more interesting if it were someone qFit is close to ? Someone qFit trusts, but also someone who trusts qFit ?

Also, as much as I want someone to know at least part of the truth, I don't want everything to be revealed to everyone yet, and I feel like most people, if they found out about qFit's secret, would reveal it to the others – some others, at least. Would qCellbit or qMaximus hide it from the Ordo Theoritas ? Would qBaghera, qForever or qBad hide it from each other ? Would the people actively investigating the island keep the existence of a third, unknown party to themselves ? Well... maybe. That is up to discussion. But they'd want to tell, at least, and that's not what I wish for.

Now qPhil ? qPhil is a lot less involved in the lore, or even in the RP itself (no shade, I love ccPhil, his character and the way he plays him) – he isn't even part of the Ordo Theoritas. He's not really interested in solving the island's mysteries – his priorities lie with the eggs and their safety.

I truly think qPhil would be a friend qFit could confide in. Because let's be real, qFit could probably use one – mans has been lying to everyone on the island for months, and the only one that knows part of his secret is Ramón, his 3 months old child, who he hasn't even told everything. Between that and the growing pressure (for real, what's with the cats appearing around him,,) qFit is under, he can't keep it all to himself forever.

I don't think qFit would tell him himself, though – and neither do I think qPhil would ask. I mean, even if he thinks qFit's chat messages are suspicious, he isn't the type to inquire about it.

... But accidents happen, y'know ?

[As he jumps down the elevator shaft, Phil can't quite shake off the feeling that something's wrong. That whatever Fit's doing down there, it isn't any of his business, and he should probably just go back up and tell Fit to meet him at his gym, or anywhere, really.

But, well. He's already there. Might as well go further.

The trail of torches leads him deeper and deeper, until it finally stops, in a tunnel like any other. But Phil isn't a fool. He can hear the faint tapping of keys.

It only takes him a few seconds to find the hidden entrance.

Fit stands up as he comes in.

The room is small, barely big enough to breathe, and dark. Its only light comes from the computer screen sitting on the wooden desk, in the middle of the room, between the two men.

Neither of them speak.

Phil can see the thoughts flashing behind Fit's eyes. He's certain of it now, he's found something he shouldn't have found, and Fit has yet to decide how to react. Unconsciously, his hand has moved closer to his trident; consciously, Phil prepares himself to grab his sword.

But Fit doesn't attack. He simply places his hand in front of himself and gives Phil an awkward yet friendly smile.

"Hey, Phil ! Didn't expect to see you there... !"

Phil wishes he could just return his smile and pretend like nothing’s wrong. Ignore what he’s seeing and go back to Chayanne and Tallulah.

... but it's a little too late for that, isn't it ?

"Oi, mate," he calls out as he crosses his arms. "What are you up to."]

... something about leitmotivs and Phil finding out people's secrets by walking into their secret underground rooms...

So yeah, TL;DR: I want someone to find out about qFit’s secret because it’s a shame such a huge share of the lore is kept, well, secret, and I think qPhil would be a perfect first confident because they’re really good friends and he wouldn’t just tell anyone :] Plus I love their relationship and I’d love to see it being explored more please I’m begging

(Also I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one who's been thinking about it and I'd love to hear your own thoughts if you're willing to share them 👀)

#sorry I went full fanfic mode there I just had such a vivid image in mind I had to get it out #also for some reason when I'm imagining qPhil finding out about qFit qPhil tends to be Bugza. idk what to tell you #but yeah #I don't think Phil and Fit even have a duo name ? which is a shame #... thinking about it I don't think Fit has a duo name with anyone. pensive #qsmp #qsmp fit #fitmc #qsmp philza #philza #lb originals

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inmateofthemind · 7 months

Text

Have Some TWST Fan Lore Part 1: The Arcane Exchange

First of all, credit to @cyanide-latte for coming up with the event name because it just sounds so lovely, doesn't it?

Now, the Arcane Exchange itself is a fairly straightforward "what it says on the tin situation"; it's Twisted Wonderland's version of a student exchange program.

For approximately three months a year (my friends & I are currently working off the idea that this begins very shortly after the end of Book 4's events), students from various arcane academies will host each other and participate in certain events meant to strengthen the bond between the schools without it necessarily having to be competitive. After all, one of the last events that happens before the students are sent back to their respective schools is the National Arcane Academy Culture Fair that mainly works as an expo/convention (aside from the SDC, but you know).

There's a fairly substantial number of students from each school that get selected to participate, and then those various groups are semi-randomly split up amongst the other academies. (i.e Night Raven will host only some of the students from the other academies. Meanwhile, the NRC students going abroad for the exchange will be separated among the other schools).

In the case of Night Raven specifically, all visiting students are distributed amongst the seven dorms in a shared learning experience 'like a great big sleepover'. This is met with mixed results most times, but nothing too crazy since there are enough empty beds based on the number of NRC students having gone off to the other academies.

Speaking of, lets get into the schools involved in the Arcane Exchange!

Night Raven College and Royal Sword Academy are the obvious picks, but that's also a rather obvious recipe for disaster due to their long-established rivalry...if left on their own, at least. Hence the inclusion of other schools to act as a kind of buffer that actually tends to work due to the neutrality of the other two schools.

Noble Bell College does participate(probably the least since they seem to be the smallest school in both scope & population), and the group of myself, Cy, @ramshacklerumble, and @simons-twsted-children have even recently discussed an interesting debate on whether Noble Bell is co-ed. This is important due to the final participant of the Arcane Exchange.

Corlux Key Seminary(CKS), a paramilitary arcane institution of my own creation that will be discussed in more detail in a later post. Corlux is explicitly co-ed in both students and staff; the gender distribution is almost perfectly split down the middle if not outright in favor of the female-identifying population. Despite this progressiveness, however, the Arcane Exchange a bit of an interesting sticking point for CKS (& NBC to a certain extent). While the male students can be assigned to whatever institution they like, the female students of both schools are only ever exchanged with each other. In regard to any potential PR nightmare an incident occurring on campus could cause, this makes sense. Doesn't mean it's not a bit sexist though.

The Arcane Exchange is a fairly standard practice that has even fostered some grand shows of academic comradery, though there have been some....memorable moments over the years as well. For instance, the Arcane Exchange that happened the year before TWST canon starts was Not Fun for NRC as hosts because both the RSA & CKS kids were terrible. As in 'it was considered the 'trial by fire' for both Riddle as a freshman-year Housewarden & the OctoTrio as the staff of the newly-opened Mostro Lounge' kind of terrible. As such, none of the Housewardens are particularly excited when the meeting before the start of the canon-year's exchange approaches. And they're about to feel a lot more ill-at-ease when Crowley rather casually drops this little bombshell;

For the first time since the start of this most noble tradition, Night Raven College will be opening its doors to a selection of female students from Corlux as a kind of experiment of 'broadening horizons & relations' between the academies. If this particular Aracne Exchange proves to be successful (meaning nobody does anything to 'embarrass' NRC and/or CKS), then there's the chance of expanding the openings for female students to participate at RSA's end of the Exchange as well as Noble Bell being able to similarly 'branch out' as it were.

Now that begs the question; is Crowley really about to let a relatively small group of girls onto an all-boys campus & just have them shack-up in the dorms? "NO! Absolutely not; I would never do anything so foolish and dangerous to those promising young pupils! As a matter of fact, I have arranged for all of the female participants to have accommodations all to themselves for their comfort and safety. Oh how generous I am; it's almost unnerving!" Now if only Crowley had thought to mention to the host of those accommodations that they're about to find themselves with a LOT more roommates than the usual weasel.

Apologies to one Gia Yugo...

NOT! This is going to be fun~ >:)

Taglist: @cyanide-latte @simons-twsted-children @tixdixl @ramshacklerumble (let me know if you also want to be tagged)

#twisted wonderland arcane exchange #twst arcane exchange #twisted wonderland #twst oc #twst ocs #disney twst #twst fan lore #sorry not sorry gia; you're just a lot of fun to burden #sideblog still under construction

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peabrainedraccoonlady · 1 year

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Overwatch Headcanons (based on the canon lore and several in-game events and things) that I really want to be true.

A lot of it is Junkers, sorry.

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☆ Ever since April Fools, I love the thought that Roadhog watches 'mom shows.' (Oprah, Bachelor, Bachelorette, etc.) I also love to think he gets really into it, like he's dead silent and perfectly focused on the episode or he'll mutter stuff under his breath during The Bachelor or The Bachelorette. Like, "... how dare that sludge talk like that..." or "... you go girl, tell him off..."

☆ Cassidy: WHY DO YOU KEEP LOSIN YOUR KEYS, DANG NABBIT?!

Tracer: Why do you sound like a prospector when you're angry, cad flabbit?

☆ Hanzo snorts when he laughs too hard... thats it. But he'll deny it if someone hears it. Hard deny.

☆ Junkrat is the equivalent of that one guy in Ratatouille ("I killed a man, with this thumb." Can't remember his name for the life of me.) when anyone asks what happened to his finger. From 'Extreme Thumb Wrestling Gone Wrong' to the simple one answer that is 'Koalas.' No one truly knows what happened to his finger.

☆ Odessa doesn't know how to write. (Junkertown Education System.) But she does know how to draw just a bit. So when doing autographs, she doodles a tiny version of her. With little stars.

☆ Speaking of Junkertown and Australia in Overwatch, the place is basically like Mad Max and Fallout had a baby. Even Junkrat sees the difference between normal dirt and radioactive dirt. And thats just facts. If you look at the Junkertown map, you'll understand what I mean.

☆ Sombra was an orphan, she hadn't felt a familial bond until Sigma. Come on, the man is like a science dad. He has that energy. I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't see him as family. Sigma is the only (from my current research (not counting Doomfists 'jefe.' Jefe justs means boss.)) one that has a consistent nickname that translates (sorry if its wrong) to 'Old Man.'

☆ Moira knows how to dance every single anime dance... no no no, you don't understand. Every. Single. One. Will she ever show it? No. Definitely not.

☆ Tracer has adhd. Not because of her ability. That's a stupid reason. It's cause she just... seems like she does you know?

☆ Junkrat actually has a love of singing. As shown in the random chatter he has and the interactions with Lucio, Jamie likes to sing. Although, from when he's demonstrating to Lucio, it kinda seems like he's nervous. The "Sausage Roll and Batter Sav" tune he sings isn't bad. He's just a silly little guy.

☆ Speaking of my favorite silly guy, Junkrat is actually smarter than people give him credit for. He can keep a conversation with Sigma, he knows Xenos Paradox, he gets Winstons Periodoc Table joke, it's just that he expresses himself differently. I mean he was theoretically raised in the radioactive outback, you're gonna wind up a bit weird. I think he partly hides his genius so no one can take advantage of it.

☆ Opposite of Junkrat, Roadhog seemingly has made friends with a lot of others. They're more willing to talk to him than the rat man. I mean, come on, Mako gets along with D.Va, Ana, Junker Queen, Kiriko (i think), and Lucio. Maybe Mercy as well, but I couldn't figure it out. I have a feeling that Roadhog thought that no one would like him cause he's scary, but everyone on the team just sees him as a gentle giant (which he honestly is, have you seen his cute little interactions and the plethora of Pachimari things he has?)

☆ Mercy really cares about those around her. So much so, that she believes (if going by some of her chatter is anything) anyone can be saved. Even Widowmaker. I'm guessing from what she had done with Genji, she had proved to herself that she could save anyone.

#overwatch #overwatch 2 #overwatch headcanons #cole cassidy #overwatch junkrat #junkertown #ow junkrat #overwatch cole cassidy #moira o'deorain #ow moira #hhhhhhh too many damn tags #olivia colomar #overwatch sombra #ow sombra #overwatch tracer #junker queen #odessa stone #hanzo shimada #overwatch hanzo

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utilitycaster · 2 years

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I feel myself being somewhat torn about Beau's and Caleb's involvement. While I love M9 and was far more excited about them showing up than VM (and it makes sense in-game that they did since Ludinus is the BBEG this campaign), I can't help but feel a little bit disappointed that we get even more callbacks to previous campaigns rather than letting this campaign be its own story. Would love to hear your thoughts on this!

Honestly? I'm completely fine with it. I don't see it as any different than having Planerider Ryn or Ira there - it's powerful NPC allies working towards the same goal for their own reasons. They just so happen to be past PCs.

I should probably start by addressing why I didn't like the party calling on Keyleth when Laudna died, which is that I feel, and I still do, that it cut off potentially more interesting avenues. There was the potential for a permanent death; the potential for a deal with Jiana Hexum with long-standing ramifications for the party; or a much greater potential for Delilah to come back if a cleric less storied and powerful than Pike attempted the ritual. Honestly, I've talked with other people who feel similarly who have pointed out that even having Manaia take the party to Whitestone on the grounds that it's Laudna's home and then leaving Bells Hells to fend for themselves would have been a more natural progression.

This is not that. Bells Hells were already at the Tishtan site and knew that there were potentially still allies there. This is legitimately not just a potentially world-ending cataclysm; but one that people are aware of. I mean, it's the apogee solstice, and this is a historic site of a past solstice! It's like if our summer solstices were a once in a lifetime event and someone decided to engage in massive shenanigans at Stonehenge or Machu Picchu. And Beau and Caleb are well-established to be after Ludinus. They have every reason to be there, they're providing Bells Hells with some additional information and potentially some limited support (while they're very powerful, monks are mostly helpful during combat or for scouting, and the anti-magic field means Caleb can't really provide buffs) but they aren't stealing their thunder. They're opening the possibilities and helping the party focus, rather than doing the steering. A lens, rather than a mirror.

For what it's worth I also, given the context, don't mind Keyleth showing up here. Again, the comparison is more like the Ashari and the armies of Tal'Dorei and Syngorn helping out during the Thordak fight - they're here to fight the various riffraff while the PCs do the important stuff. By having Beau and Caleb here, there are people to take care of Ludinus so Bells Hells can focus on the key, Otohan, and Liliana, and by having the Ashari show up, they won't be swarmed by Vanguard and Paragon's Call underlings in the process.

I guess the last thing to bring up is that two party members, Orym and Laudna, have always been deeply tied to past campaigns. I still would probably have preferred the hypothetical campaign where that wasn't the case and where the characters were more based in Marquet and where there had been a bit more discussion about the nature of the campaign that steered character creation. But I also don't see the point in judging the Campaign 3 we have over the Campaign 3 that could have been at this point, especially since there's still plenty to enjoy. And even had Marisha and Liam created Marquesian characters with no ties to past campaigns and with every reason to be knowledgeable about moon lore, Beau and Caleb's appearance here would still make sense.

I do hope that after the solstice we get to dive more into Bells Hells backstories and the culture of Marquet for a while! But having some Nein members here is in my opinion making that more possible, not less.

#answered #Anonymous #critical role #critical role spoilers

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ya-kiri · 1 year

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My Thoughts on the Zelda Timeline and Tears of the Kingdom

Given how the Imprisoning War mentioned in Tears of the Kingdom contradicts the one mentioned in the prolouge of Link to the Past, Rauru and Sonia forming the Kingdom of Hyrule and being the first King and Queen (despite Ocarina of Time coming before) and the Ganondorf in this game seemingly having no recollection of past Links/Heroes and Zeldas or connection to the Ganondorf of past games...it's my guess that they reset the series lore starting with Breath of the Wild and the ten thousand years between it and the era of Myth.

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The only other game that stills seems to have any relevant unchanged and non-contradicted canon seems to be Skyward Sword but that's mostly due to it being a starting point, the game's director being the same as BOTW and TOTK, and the Forgotten Temple. Honestly it seems like that because they reintroduced and make allusions to key moments and figures in the series in this game like the Sages (particularly King Rauru) and Imprisoning War from LttP, and Ganondorf and him being welcomed by the King and distrusted by Zelda like he was in Ocarina of Time. I should also point out that the original Imprisoning War happens right before the Fallen Timeline which takes place after OoT, and in that Ganondorf has permanently transformed into pig Ganon after killing Time Link and attaining the full Triforce.

There are too many timeline contradictions yet intentional references in the game's story to past games that it seems like a reboot is the most credible idea.

However at the same time, there are too many connections to previous games that take place after Skyward Sword that even the idea of a series reboot is questionable like the Temple of Time, old OoT Castle Town ruins, the sages from OoT being referenced by the stones surrounding the Master Sword and the Sheikah monks' poses during the Master Sword Trials, the Koroks and Deku Tree, the mural about Ruto's love for Time Link, Rauru sharing the name of one of the sages from OoT, and Darmani. Also, what are the chances of there being another event in Zelda lore referred to as the Imprisoning War that involves an incarnation of Ganon, sages, sealing Ganon, and one of the sages being named Rauru like the Sage of Light?

link to image: x

Are the games during the Era of Myth just that, mythology? Fairy tales? Is there even a Triforce anymore? The symbol is shown but its not referred to as such and Ganondorf in this game shows no interest or knowledge of the Triforce like every other character. On the opposite end of this is Skyward Sword which they reinforce is connected to the latest games with Fi, the Forgotten Temple and Sealed Temple connections, the tree growing out the wall and the fact the Hylia statue gives you the Goddess Sword:

It's so weird everytime Tears of the Kingdom's story made a reference to past games (that aren't Skyward Sword), when you think they are trying to connect them (like I initially thought), it turns around and makes it self-contained and isolated incident exclusive from any game that came before BOTW and Skyward Sword. With all the trouble Nintendo's had making sense of and reworking the Zelda timeline the past few decades for the fans and the success of Breath of the Wild, may be they wanted to wipe the slate clean (with Skyward Sword being the start of that initiative).

At first maybe they were hesistant which is why they stated the timelines converge into BOTW, but I guess they decided during TOTK's development or before and, again, may be due to the massive success of BOTW they just said screw it and just do it with the latest game's story showing the beginning of the Kingdom of Hyrule. These are just my messy thoughts based on my basic understanding of the timeline and theories I've heard and I welcome any other explanations.

EDIT(6/19/23)

So it's been brought to my attention that the Imprisoning War in TOTK may possibly be a second Imprisoning War (thanks @ghoul--chan ). The implications and can of worms that opens is shocking. Since Zelda was transported to the beginning of Hyrule as a kingdom and the start of the Royal Family, that would mean that she was transported to before Minish Cap. If that is true...dear goddess.... that would mean the Ganondorf in this game is one that existed before Ocarina of Time.

That also implies that two incarnations of Ganondorf had been somehow co-existing at the same time during the Era of Myth with one being sealed underground. This also mean that the Imprisoning War in Link to the Past is now retroactively a callback to this hypothetical first Imprisoning War; both involve sages, both involve a sage of Light named Rauru, and both involve sealing an incarnation of Ganon. Also, this means the Rito existed before Wind Waker making this mural from Twilight Princess HD reference to that!!

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