#playing with a lot of cool sci-fi ideas in their sci-fi franchise so i'm excited to see what implications it has for the lore

[katagawajr]

BORDERLANDS 4- the lore so far

a post compiling all the tidbits from the trailers/descriptions, about everything we know about the story (so far).

wanted to make this post because i may be borderlands' biggest hater, but this new stuff looks really intriguing so far! call me optimistic but i'm definitely interested for now...

(speculation/theorizing involved here. i'm not actually 100% knowledgeable on all the lore but this is just what i'm gathering from it. if it turns out to be true then i called it here first <3)

so here's the timeline we know so far:

-> At the end of Borderlands 3, Elpis is crashing into Pandora. To save everyone (on both places), Lilith flies up and teleports Elpis away. Presumably, just like Sanctuary in BL2, she can't exactly control where it goes.

-> Where it happens to go is the planet of Kairos: a planet hidden in space- it's insinuated that the "protective barrier" surrounding the planet (made of glass?) turned it invisible. Or at least undetectable.

-> This "revealed" Kairos to the universe. Elpis presumably has been pulled in and is now orbiting Kairos.

-> Kairos is currently being controlled by "The Timekeeper." The Timekeeper is not a PERSON, but rather an Eridian Guardian. AKA... A Vault Monster.

-> This is explicitly stated in one of Nyriad's diary entries from BL3. She mentions the Timekeeper by name as an "Eridian Creation," in the likes of Graveward (BL3) and the Traveller (TFTBL). It's also obvious by the images above that it isn't Human- it has robotic limbs, floats, and seemingly harnesses/is connected to the Vault Gate behind it.

-> The Timekeeper is described as a dictator obsessed with Perfect Order, furthering the idea that this hidden planet was in a perfect state of "Order," with only the Timekeeper + its "synthetic" army. Remnants of whatever Eridian Society created it, and hid it away, for whatever reason.

-> Elpis crashing into Kairos, and breaking the barrier, has enraged the Timekeeper, who's planet is now visible to the galaxy. And a big hole in the ceiling of it's house. Damn.

-> It's confirmed there's a few years' time-skip between the crashing of Elpis and the start of the game. The SCAVS of Elpis (and bandits of Pandora most likely, however they hitched a ride) have now made their way to the surface of Kairos and are causing mayhem. They seem way more mechanical in nature than the last time we saw Elpis, but similar vibes. Very tech-y, robotic, etc. -> These bandits become their own faction known as "The Rippers," and their leader is a robot lady named Callis.

-> Queen Callis is shown in the trailer to ALSO be not human (robot? something else? Kairos's influence, or Elpis tech? who knows.) But apparently she also has the power to control the bandits, through their masks. She puts the masks on them and their eyes turn red, matching hers. So it's possible she's just mind controlling every bandit.

-> Anyways, it's a "robo-bandit" VS. "synthetic Eridian" civil war deal. The Timekeeper appears to be attempting to subjugate the entire planet again, especially based on all the "break free" wording of the teaser descriptions. Whether you're fighting WITH Callis's army or just as a third party, it appears the Vault Hunters are from Elpis (or, were on Elpis when it got yoinked at the very least). And they're trying to escape this planet. -> The last description does mention "cast of characters, new AND old," so it remains to be seen in what capacity old characters are involved. It IS a time-skip, so maybe Sanctuary finally tracked down Lilith's whereabouts and she's stranded on Elpis. Maybe Ava is an adult now and leading the Crimson Raiders. Maybe the whole "Timekeeper" business means there will be timeline fuckery- pulling alternate timeline versions of old characters, bringing back dead ones, who knows.

-> (I'M PERSONALLY INCLINED TO BELIEVE that Sasha and Fiona will also play a role in this game? Because New Tales called specific attention to Sasha being in a different part of the galaxy unable to be found (hidden planet? wink wink?), and Fiona's talk of Sasha's anahatium pocketwatch, with the etched phrase "TIME HEALS ALL WOUNDS.")

-> (Who knows if that is true, or what that really means. Just speculation here. I miss Sasha and Fiona, and they've been hyped up with BL3 Echoes, New Tales stuff, and even their own book. Give us the two best Borderlands characters back please.)

-> Last thing as an aside, it DOES show that we will be getting a Siren VH again. So she either needs to have Steele's unknown power, the Leech power, or some secret third thing. Maybe she isn't a real siren at all. The device on her arm could either be a way to REPLICATE a siren's power (like Anu, making her a "fake siren") or possibly as a way to enhance/contain the Leech power, like Tyreen alludes to in BL3. Interested to find out.

TLDR: we're finally getting the Eridian War plotline! They didn't forget guys! AND it directly involves Elpis, like the game where we first learned about the Eridian War!

Synthetic "Eridian" army led by a Vault Guardian/Monster, THE TIMEKEEPER, vs. the robotic bandit army, the Rippers, led by QUEEN CALLIS. Time-skip again (intrigued to see how long this time. It's canonically been at LEAST two years since BL3.) New + Old characters. New Eridian planet, like Nekrotafeyo. 4 New VH's, either FROM Elpis, or wayward travelers who accidentally crashed onto Kairos.

“Early 2025” gameplay reveal, unspecified 2025 release date.

[virtual-winter]

Frozen memories #001

My Frozen story - Part 1

It's the end of October which means it's time for me to reminisce about another year of experiences with the Frozen franchise. What's extra special this time though is of course the upcoming Frozen 10th anniversary as well as an opportunity to share it with more than just a few close friends 🙂

I never saw the original Frozen in theatres. Back then in late 2013, I was relatively fresh out of school, unemployed and didn’t have much time or interest to engage in media fandoms of any kind. Things got better the following year as I attended university, beginning my studies in structural engineering and urban planning. Despite having to travel a lot every day and trying to keep up with my studies, life was relatively simple. You did the same thing every day. I was not the most sociable person but I was making good progress getting to know and working together with my fellow peers. Most of them were fresh from high school while I had been studying a bit before applying for uni so I was a little bit older than most of them.

Being in my early twenties, animation or Disney wasn't exactly anything I was paying attention to. I couldn't remember the last time I watched a Disney movie and I think I was feeling a bit out of touch with fandom culture in general.

Entering October, I happened to notice that ABC's fantasy TV-series Once upon a time was coming back for a fourth season. This wasn’t anything out of the ordinary and I had actually never watched the show before (only briefly in an ad and I remember the CGI looked really bad 🤣) but thanks to my local newspaper, I learned that actor Georgina Haig was gonna play a new role in the show. I was very fond of this Aussie gal since her small role as Henrietta in the sci-fi series Fringe 2012-2013 so I was very excited to see what her new character was about.

With hindsight, I know for sure that without Georgina’s involvement, the show would have never caught my attention. And my goodness, did this change my life 😃

Oh, and that newspaper highlight? I rediscovered it a couple of years ago👇

For those of you who (shockingly) can't read Swedish, here's what it said:

Ask about TV Elsa, queen of ice, shows up and it gets cold in Storybrooke.

Will there be new episodes of the fairy tale series? In "Once upon a time" we got to know several fairy tale characters. In the last season, Emma and Hook travelled through time which messed things up for Snow White and the Prince, and Robin Hood and Lady Marion were reunited. When the series is back in Channel 11 on October 20th, a recap episode will be broadcasted at 7PM before the saga continues at 8PM. Queen Elsa of Arendelle (Georgina Haig) shows up.

I obviously had no idea who Queen Elsa of Arendelle was (I barely even knew what story she was from). I was aware that the movie Frozen was a thing and I had seen the teaser with Olaf and Sven around Christmas 2013 but it had left no impression on me whatsoever. I had a vague idea that the song Let it go had become very popular but I didn't understand the fuss behind it. Yet.

October 20th, 2014. My first introduction to the Arendelle sisters👇

It’s hard to describe exactly what my initial reaction to watching the first few episodes was. In general (since I had no experience with the show) I was of course confused about what was going on but the consistency of the Frozen-story definitely helped. Much later on, having seen the entire series, I understood much better how the characters and their story tied into the main plot and especially Emma Swan’s character development. But at the time, it was just cool to take part of some new and (to me) pretty unique fantasy storytelling in a modern setting. For any true Oncers out there, regardless of the quality of the show as a whole, I'm sure you would agree that it was a heck of a fun ride while it lasted!

I knew for sure that I had found something that I truly loved and that was pretty rare for me. Several years back I had been pretty passionate about other franchises like Star Wars, Stargate, Fringe and Hannibal but this modern fairy-tale world was truly something different. And I know a lot of that can be said to be thanks to the Frozen-story. No offence to the main cast, but I would be lying if I didn't credit Georgina, Elizabeth Lail (Anna), Scott Michael Foster (Kristoff) and Elizabeth Mitchell (Ingrid) as the true stars of the fourth season for me! They truly helped bring their characters to life and I still can’t picture anyone else playing them outside of animation (looking at you, Frozen live action-rumours). It should also be said that compared to the rest of the show’s characters, the Frozen characters did have a very strong presence on screen, a look and a feel that was carried over beautifully to the small live-action screen. I may not have known it at the time, but it would be equally true for the original movie.

About four weeks into the season, I knew for sure that I had found something that truly resonated with med and I knew I had to watch the "source material". But that will be a thing to cover in Part 2. 😉

See ya soon!

[theinstagrahame]

It's time for the Monthly-ish Mail Call Hype Post!

Another set of awesome games I've gotten in the mail, and why I'm hype about them. Because people out there making rad stuff and I'm super into it!

It was a pretty big month. A lot of stuff arriving coincidentally at the same time, not all from crowdfunds, but still a really exciting collection. Let's dive in!

Beam Saber: I've played this one, and just started a campaign. Plus listening to Friends at the Table play it in Partizan (Which I legitimately cannot recommend highly enough). Mech Anime Forged in the Dark! It's genuinely a fantastic game.

Coriolis: A friend in a Discord server was clearing some room on their shelves before moving, and offered a few titles up. I wound up with three of them, this and the next two. Initially, they told me the box would only fit two, so I debated between Coriolis and DCC, and ultimately picked Coriolis because the sci-fi universe it takes place in seemed unique compared to what I've really experienced. An exploration-driven, Middle Eastern-inspired universe sounded really fascinating.

Dungeon Crawl Classics: I first became aware of DCC early in my TTRPG career, and was honestly mostly intrigued by DCC because of its use of Weird Dice; D3s and D5s and whatnot. I've heard mostly good things about it, and haven't done nearly enough Dungeon Crawling in my day, so I was quite pleased when it turned out this would also fit in the Discord Friend's "get it out of my house" box!

Last Fleet: This was the game I'd wanted from the pile. I'd recently backed Wreck this Deck, also by Black Armada, and have played Flotsam. I was intrigued by the pitch for this one, so it was the definite from the Discord friend.

Hull Breach: Mothership took the indie RPG scene by storm, and this book looked fantastic. I still haven't played Mothership, but honestly having this makes it feel like I could just about pick it up and throw anyone in. It's packed with scenarios and extra content, in a really great package.

Animon Story: I've been searching for the right Pokemon-themed RPG for a while. Too many of the ones I have seen spend a lot of time on the combat system, which I honestly find the least exciting part of the franchise. I want to explore and meet cool little guys. I confess I haven't read this one, but what I've heard of it sounds way more inspiring than most of the ones I've looked into.

The Hexcrawl Toolbox: I have The Bottled Sea and the Undying Sands from Games Omnivorous (Plus Vaults of Vaarn and Isle of Ixx). This box looks like an incredibly expansion of those ideas, and it's such a great package.

Enoch's Wake: Big fan of R. Rook games, ever since I had Richard on my (defunct) podcast to play a session of Moonlight over Roseville Beach. Enoch's Wake is a fresh take on a science-fantasy setting, and I really wanted to dig in and check it out more.

Sanctuary and Sentinel: I've followed Meghan Cross' work in the scene for a while, and it's all great. I love stories about lone sentinels guarding something long beyond the point of its relevance, and listening to how the two games intersect on Party of One really sold me that the Kickstarter had been a good investment.

The Book of Gaub: I will admit, I fall straight into peer pressure. I've heard about the Book of Gaub, heard all good things, and was really intrigued by the premise. It's honestly not even a game supplement per se, as much as it could function as an in-world text and concept, with annotations to make it usable in a game. The writing is fantastic, the art is great, and I really can't wait to find an excuse to bust it out. (I may or may not be trying to squeeze it into that Beam Saber campaign...)

Aberrant Reflections: Another that I'd heard really good things about, but also I had heard the words "puzzle dungeon" used pretty close to it, so I absolutely could not pass it up. It's been a great year for adventure content, so I am intrigued to get stuck into this one.

A Butterfly Dies and Cocoxoca: Primal Quest grabbed my attention because I don't feel like we see a ton of work in the stone age setting. A Butterfly Dies seemed like a really interesting premise, drawing on Mexican myths and murals to give a perspective on that world that I hadn't seen before. Cocoxoca was a pamphlet adventure that I thought would make a fantastic add-on.

Viva la Queer Bar: As someone starting to explore their queer identity, this was honestly a no-brainer. I'm honestly hoping this could be my first Descended from the Queen game played (I've got For the Queen, and have flipped through the cards, but still haven't brought it to the table). Again, heard incredible things about this game, so can't wait to check it out.

Guild: I did say earlier that I've not gotten enough dungeon crawlers in my background. I've been kicking around some Discords with Disaster Tourism in them, and have been watching this grow with interest. It came with so much stuff I really had to, packed a lot into two zines, a bookmark, and a tearaway pad.

[wastelander997]

Most anticipated movies of 2022

What it says on the tin, these are the movies I'm most looking forward to this year.

1. The Batman

Everyone's already said it, but I'll add on: This movie looks like a Masterpiece. I love the tone and style (even if I am getting a BIT tired of constant gritty/grim Batman) the cinematography looks next level, and it just looks like a kick-ass movie. I'm looking forward to it.

2. Sonic the Hedgehog 2

I'm a massive Sonic fan so of course I'm looking forward to Sonic 2. It dosen't help that Knuckles is my favorite Sonic character, so Idris Elba playing him is something I'm extremely excited for. Plus, I like that the trailer was less "kid's movie" and more like the trailer you'd see for a legit action movie. Got me pretty excited.

3. The Bad Guys

Coming out the same day as Sonic, I believe, this was a surprise. I really like the art style and the animation (very Spiderverse esque), and the story looks pretty fun. A bunch of normally villainized animals on the path to become good guys despite a lot of people, even themselves, saying "the hell?" It looks pretty cute and fun.

I'm not looking forward to horny fanart, but that's already happened I think.

4. Across the Spiderverse: Part One

Speaking of Spiderverse, what else do I need to say? The first Spiderverse is a Masterpiece. I know it, you know it, everyone knows it. So of course I'm looking forward to Across the Spiderverse: Part One. It dosen't help the Spider-Man 2099 is coming, and I LOVE Spider-Man 2099. So again, very excited.

5. Lightyear

I made a small post about this earlier this year, but I'm just gonna reiterate. I REALLY like Buzz Lightyear, as well as just the Toy Story franchise in general, but Buzz has always been my favorite character. So to have this cool sci-fi action movie MADE by Pixar be about Buzz, and sort of the "true story" behind his toy, is just super fascinating to me.

6. The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent

Bit of a recurring theme for this list, but I fucking LOVE Nicholas Cage. He's that actor that always gives 110%, even when the movie is kinda trash. And this just sounds like a super fascinating concept. Nicholas Cage playing HIMSELF, and helping Pedro Pascal, his biggest fan, with a big problem? It looks really good and entertaining, really excited for it.

And that's my list. Some honorable mentions are Morbius (honestly the trailer looks good to me, but the stupid amount of delays makes me roll my eyes) Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (Sam Rami directing a superhero movie again is fantastic, and the trailer looks great, there movies just beat it out by a touch) and Mission Impossible 7 (I love the Mission Impossible franchise, and honestly it would be on this list if we had a trailer. But we don't, and I honestly have no idea how they're going to top MI: Fallout.)

Anyway, that's that. See you guys later.