#somebody said something about the voicelines

[omegothic]

i like how everyone collectively decided that furina thinks that neuvillette did not forgive her for her lies and neuvillette thinks that furina did not forgive him for the trial, at the same time canon furina: hiiii mind if i borrow the opera house for tonight? no? thanks <3 and canon neuvillette: haha would be so nice if you acted and sang yourself there because i am dying to see you perform and really want to gift you a vision because you deserve the world, haha just kidding... unless?

[cheemscakecat]

Scout unspoken character development.

So you remember how Scout was absolutely struggling to work out how to ask Pauling on a date, and didn’t have the confidence he needed to do it properly? In Expiration Date?

*loud silence*

It makes sense that he’d struggle, because dating requires you to be more vulnerable emotionally and that’s like the last thing he ever wanted to do growing up. His brothers saw being emotional as a weakness, and he still thinks like that because those were his role models.

That’s why he didn’t help Spy with the last wishes. He’s still got that mentality that he’ll be seen as weak if he admits that dying in three days bothers him. But if he makes fun of Spy in front of the boys, Spy’ll be the one seen as weak, not him.

To date somebody, you have to admit that you’re attracted to them, if not in love. He can’t admit that part, which is why he tries to be causal about asking Pauling out.

Like, even when he can tell that he made Spy furious, the awkwardness of that emotional situation makes him try to laugh it off and stay casual, not give him pause.

How much you wanna bet that “I’m sorry”, usually said sarcastically or with fake sincerity is the best he’d get from any of his brothers growing up? No discussion beyond that about what the brother should be sorry for, just “I’m sorry” because Ma is making me apologize.

That’s why he just moved on with his request for help, instead of going into a deeper apology and acknowledging why Spy is upset. He doesn’t know how. He doesn’t know that you’re actually supposed to, and he’s not a weakling for feeling that way.

He can’t accept the weakness of being bad with women, even though that’s why he’s in the smoking room asking for advice. That’s why he lies about the ratchet girl at the chicken place, who probably never existed.

What’s interesting is that the only thing he retained from his dad’s training was the dancing, which is an expression of emotions. He started out doing a casual, cheery boomer dance that doesn’t require a partner, with no risk of hurting somebody else if you mess up. But the dance Spy taught him requires you to be careful and move with another person, and is a lot more romantic.

But we know that music is something he loves, to the point that he hopes his favorite musician is secretly his dad.

But that’s not the only important development he makes in this short.

Scout doesn’t know how to respond to that, because if he ever tried to bring up what one of his siblings did to make him upset, they’d just laugh at him or say “I said sorry, what else do you want?”. But he cares about this woman and how she feels, so when she brings up what he did to make him say more than sorry, he can’t just move past it like he normally does.

He got so close to spitting it out! But what we did get is good progress, because he had to be more honest than usual. If she was paying even the slightest bit of attention to him, she’d be able to see what he’s trying to say.

He’s trying so hard, she doesn’t even know. I hope that someday he finds a girl that does like him, because she sure as heck doesn’t.

What’s interesting is that we have voicelines that imply he’s getting less uncomfortable flirting, even if it’s in his usual Scout way.

He didn’t act ready to take his shirt off around her in Expiration Date. That’s Scout getting more comfortable around her. So is him playing her dorky board game that his brother’s would clown him for looking at.

You have to remember, Scout is the youngest and considered the runt of the litter by his stupid siblings. He acts like he likes the way his arms look in Meet the Scout and talking to Spy in the smoking room, but he’s always comparing himself to other guys. He wouldn’t take that shirt off around most people, is what I’m saying.

I hope someday Scout goes through the character development he needs to find a real girlfriend that likes him. [And also not rely on physique as a tool for flirting].

[fraux140]

Some König Headcanons and Hottakes

So I want to preface this by saying no hate to anyone. These are just some opinions that I think some people might disagree with which is totally fine. This is also a little bit of me pointing out some of his flaws. I love him though.

He is not a shy little uwu boy who would have a panic attack if a cutie looked at him a certain way. If he was so prone to panic attacks and his anxiety was that crippling then he wouldn't have been in the special forces and he wouldn't be in a PMC - which are highly selective.

Personally I don't fully believe that he was a colonel. The only hint we have gotten of that is a one of the 'Bad Brothers' loading screens which just says 'Colonel König' with no more context. Colonels aren't really active on the battle field and it is very unlikely you would see one in action. Officers ranked that highly are seen as too valuable to be 'wasted' in infantry combat.

Continuing from my last point, even a lot of majors and Lt Colonels aren't battle prone. Considering he would have had to have passed through those ranks to become a colonel means that he would have spent a lot of time behind a desk and commanding teams such as platoons and battalions. We don't know enough about him to say that he isn't a good leader, after all he is simply an operator with a few paragraphs of text as a background. However, his voice lines and little text we do get about him tells us he is not one to enjoy standing by and having others fight on his command. He would MUCH rather be in the brawl.

And I know that Alejandro is a colonel and very active duty, however we can assume that this is largely due to his ambition and personal attachment to his home, which he wants to protect from the cartel. I'm not saying a colonel doesn't fight, but it is exceedingly rare.

My last anti-colonel theory point - why would a colonel wear such DIY gear? I just want to say if you hc him as a colonel that is absolutely FINE, those are just reasons as to why I don't :/

Moving on, I believe him to be a sore loser. For example, he was deemed unfit to be a sniper, and so he wears a sniper hood and has that voiceline "And they said I couldn't be a sniper". Dress for the job you want, not the job you have ig?

I believe he wants to prove people wrong. Getting rejected as a sniper wounded his ego so A LOT. I hc him to be between 32-37 and if he joined jagkdo/KSK (old bio said he was German and in the KSK, newer ones said Austrian and JagKdo, now there's no mention of sf so idk??) while he was younger, say around 23-26, he's had a lot of time for that wound to heal and yet it hasn't. This man holds hella grudges.

Because of this, I think that a fear of failure might also contribute to his anxiety. If he was asked about being scared to fail he'd smirk and say there was no way. But deep down in his core it eats away at him.

This might also bleed into his social life. He's fearful of relationships and remains single for a long time. He'd rather not ask you out instead of having you reject him for trying. He'd have to REALLY like somebody and also have some reassurance or signs that they liked him out.

Cannot accept accountability for simple mistakes. He knocked your coffee mug over? You shouldn't have left it there. Hit you a little too hard in training? You should be stronger. You should have dodged it. Not his fault you're not as good as him.

Is a show off. If he is obviously better at something then you'll never hear the end of it. Better driver? Better fighter. Yeah, he's bragging about it. Again, his fear of not being good enough rears its ugly head. He deflects it on to those who are weaker - they could never be him.

Damn this was a list of negatives, but I love him in spite of all of his flaws. What kind of list should I make next? I should probably do one with some positive traits lmao.

Anyway, I don't mind at all if anyone disagrees with these this is just how I see him. Maybe one day I'll write a fic where he acknowledges his demons and starts to heal.

[autisticclownfromhell]

based off that one voiceline from albedo's teapot lines:

"Is there anything else your interested in?"

"Hmm.. probably you."

Now, you weren't somebody who spent day and night on your teapot, but you had done a good deal of building on the several places given within it. Whether it be a complicated and complex village, or a simple water fountain.

But what you were clearly more interested in than any of that was voicelines. Unlocking your favorite characters, being excited whenever your friendship level went up enough, it was far more rewarding. So with your newer pulled characters at a high enough friendship level, you went to go through his voicelines. Who is he, you might ask? Well, it would be Albedo, of course.

You were over by an area that you had created just to put a character in, and he happened to be that character. Going through his newly unlocked voicelines as if it was almost routine, yet you were still just as happy to hear your favorite's voice. The lines were about hobbies in a way, and within the conversation, you were given the usual option of what to say. When you stopped to pick an option of what to say, you chose the option that read:

"Is there anything else your interested in?"

And with that, you were given an awfully unexpected answer.

"Hmm... probably you."

Now, you knew that in this context he was referring to something completely appropriate, but you couldn't help but think if it was out of context. I mean, he had just indirectly said that he was interested in you, or the traveler at least. So without your better judgement in the way, you let your dumb thoughts run unabated. And with that, you face started feeling just a little bit more hot than before. Mumbling to yourself, you said your thoughts aloud,

"y'know bedo that sounds really wrong out of context..."

And a small snicker at your own remark to go along with it. Now, unbeknownst to you, Albedo heard every syllable of that. But obviously, he wasn't aware of what you intended my that. But with only a few seconds thought, he found himself understanding exactly what you meant. Now that was fine of course, until you added another small, and slightly bold, remark.

"I dont mind though"

Along with more muffled laughter in to what he assumed was your pillow. And with that, he realized just exactly what you were implying.

And so for the nth time throughout the game, he found himself avoiding the screen as an attempt to ignore his ever growing red face.

I mean, you had nonchalantly said you loved him before, but he knew you weren't implying anything directly.

But you clearly were now. And he silently thanked the heavens for you not staring at his face right now, because he could have well done and broke the code if you did.

[finisnihil]

god, I love your luocha posts.

I know, and I KNOW that hyv thinks that i would get luocha off my mind if they released a whole new planet n new quests...but it's not true. I'm so intrigued by that man and deep down I pray he doesn't turn out like otto. I love otto's character by all means, but at the same time I hope he's not just a rip-off, the story would be too repetitive. his relationship with the one in his coffin isn't exactly a close bond, his signature lightcone story confirms it, but the way the coffin responds to his caresses quite raises questions for me. he also made a "deal" about the coffin with someone, most likely in exchange of something, perhaps true immortality without the consequence of mara...or, even better, a cure for an illness. considering that his name isn't actually "luocha", and his name as we know it is only used by him inside of the xianzhou, it translates to "rakshasa/raksha" just like ggz otto's on his trip to the shenzhou. as far as I'm aware, the name raksha was given to otto by the characters because they weren't very familiar with europeans (?), correct me if I'm wrong. so, luocha might have some sort of illness, perhaps he's an emanator or a demon (reference to christianity perhaps) since the translation of his name "rakshasa" is a flesh eating demon from buddhist mythology.

jingliu said that they plan to "put the abundance in their grave" and i believe luocha's coffin plays a role in this. however, there's surely something alive inside his coffin already, which contradicts my theory.

personally, just like you said in your previous posts about that one relic set "knight of purity peace" or something similar if I'm not mistaken, he has ties to christianity, just like sunday, except that aspect of sunday isn't very subtle. I believe luocha might be motivated to achieve his goal of ending yaoshi by the destruction of his home planet. honestly, I hope it isn't like this, there are already characters driven by the desire of getting revenge, like nanook.

I'll be very glad if you responded to this, I want to know your opinion. I'm desperate to learn more about him, absolutely desperate. I may not know his lore, but I know for a reason that we luocha lovers share one braincell.

HELLO HI I HAVE BEEN SUMMONED!

First off I also hope he isn’t just Otto 2.0. I’ve said it before but I personally think what makes Luocha stand out to me is that he doesn’t seem to have as many strong ties to Kallen and as such so much of his character isn’t reliant on her. I really hope this is maintained because I like him and the independent traits he exhibits. He’s sus, yes, but he also goes out of his way to be kind in small ways with no intention of being repaid or recognized. Everyone calls him a villain because he’s an Otto Expy which I don’t care for because yes he is presented as possibly antagonistic but he isn’t villainous. Most of the other Expy’s got deviating characterizations and fates without compromising their foundational traits, I hope he does too.

Second off I don’t play HI3 but I know a little lore from research and I know Otto’s wiki noted that when he was a child he was kinda under house arrest because he was really sickly and his first meeting with Kallen was because she kinda climbed over the wall of the estate’s yard while he was being belittled by his brother for being outside instead of in bed resting and for being “weakly” and “fragile”. He does have an interest in immortality but we also see him condemn it somewhat because he has voicelines like this:

His stance on immortality is a bit murky but yeah.

Anyways onto analysis because bestie you have asked the question I’ve been hoping somebody would. Luocha definitely has a bunch of Christian allusions and symbolism and it leads me to believe he’s an Emanator. One of my first posts on this site was the theory that he’s an Emanator and I’ve yet to make a post fully analyzing his allusions BUT he has a ton and what’s most specific is that he has Jesus allusions. For example, one of his Eidolons is a literal reference to the crown of thorns. He uses his rosary to heal implying a connection to a higher power is where he gets this power which he confirms. Yaoshi hates death, pain, and suffering and Luocha emphasizes he isn’t a fighter even though he can hold his own. Even his sword shows it, it’s an Épée, a kind only really good for small-scale conflicts as it’s primarily used for fencing. The artifact set I noted might be connected to him also fuels this.

If you asked me I suspect he grew up in a church setting like Otto did but instead of everything in HI3 happening again, the church caught the attention of Yaoshi. Yaoshi’s blessing brought Mara as it does and in the process Yaoshi took a liking to Luocha, probably due to his sickly nature as Yaoshi hates suffering. The Maiden and her knight destroyed everything to stop the spread and Luocha was forced to watch as a final witness, no longer having a home and doomed to be hunted like his god who brought devastation through salvation. Of course I have more in-depth thoughts but that’s for a post.

As for who’s in the coffin… I’ve actually spent hours collecting everything we know about the coffin entity and I plan to make that a post too lol I have a lot of posts I need to make but! You’re right! A lot of people keep saying it’s the Stellaron, Kallen, etc but none of those things align with what information we have about it. Mihoyo’s done a good job of keeping it under wraps and I’m excited to see what it is. Whatever it is, Luocha is delivering it for somebody else and he intends to take it straight to the Ten Lords. I suspect it may be another entity of the Abundance like Shuhu, but I don’t think it’s Yaoshi. Whoever it is, they are able to kill Yaoshi or be used for it.

I also believe Luocha is the one stabilizing Jingliu’s Mara like how Kafka stabilizes Blade’s but I’m pretty sure that’s basically canon.

Anyways thank you for the ask!!!! I love Luocha dearly and I’m currently trying to get as many Eidolons as I can so the brainrot is strong. Rest assured I have more Luocha analysis for the future rattling around.

[danieyells]

Originally I agreed with the idea that Haku is the spy but now my thoughts are beginning to shift. There’s that one campus scene where Leo mentions one of the “hook-up” spots being close to a “creepy forest.” “Creepy forest” could be in reference to Hotarubi or Obscura. Since you’ve shown us Haku’s higher affinity lines… I’m beginning to think he’s working w Alan, Towa, Taiga. Obviously Haku has connections with Towa. I feel like the scene of them encountering each other at the car junkyard could be read a few different ways. My first thought was that Towa was calling Haku a snake by mentioning the dodge viper. This could be a nod to Haku being a spy. But after reading the higher affinity lines, what if it was just him poking at Haku for leaving Frostheilm? Third thought was what if he’s trying to slyly say someone’s (Leo) listening in? Himbo Alan doesn’t seem to catch onto when Towa attempts to hint that someone’s eavesdropping but Haku would catch on. Any animosity between them could just be for show? It would explain why they’d still agree they’d need to chat. Also, why is Haku at the junkyard in the first place…? Meeting with Alan? Towa? Or someone else entirely? 🤔

The fact that you said "Towa" instead of "Tohma" several times makes me laugh lolol. SORRY THIS TOOK ME SO LONG TO RESPOND TO ANON I DRAFTED IT DURING WORK AND FORGOT FOR AGES 🙃

Idk why but Haku as the spy or actually being suspicious never really stuck with me like. . .it genuinely felt too obvious. Look at him. This is a guy who looks like he's supposed to betray you. Especially when he helps you in the beginning.

Same with Tohma. Look at this guy. One of his voicelines is him offering to share his lunch with you then assuring you it's not poisoned. You aren't supposed to say that if you're not suspicious! His profile makes him sound suspicious!! He is WALKING SUSPICIOUS GUY.

Speaking of these two, knowing Haku is ex-frostheim. . .remember the gossiping frostheim girls in the beginning?

You think they're talking about Haku? If so, the "creepy forest" being Hotarubi might make sense(although Obscuary sounds more accurate for "creepy forest" given Hotarubi is a big traditional Japanese garden where it always rains, not a forest? I mean they probably have forests though so.)

Back on the subject of that campus chat, in Japanese what Tohma says is 「ここに、横車の取り扱いがあれば良かったのですが……」 something like "I wish they dealt with cars driven sideways here"--"sideways car"(横車) being a word meaning "stubbornness"--it's something like "pushing a cart from the side instead of the front(even though it's an unreasonable thing to do)". Which either means that Tohma suspects Haku(and that the aforementioned disgrace that had him go to Hotarubi was something suspicious or damaging despite that Tohma helped him run away from it--or perhaps he wasn't helping him run away but instead moving him somewhere safer for everyone) or that Haku's behavior did more harm than good, and he's poking fun at him for it despite that he helped him escape the trouble he caused by getting him into Hotarubi and taking his place as Frostheim VC. Not necessarily to say that Haku is suspicious, but that he's difficult, perhaps

But yeah, I think Haku's part of the "find the spy" team and Leo's inadvertently getting himself involved as well. But maybe I'm reading too much into how suspicious he is and it is, in fact, supposed to be obviously Haku and he's not a big ol red herring.

As for why Haku went behind Vagastrom. . .clearly it wasn't to meet with Tohma, but perhaps to meet with Alan? Maybe he really does like cars and it's a coincidence? Plus his interest is "going on walks" so he really may have just wandered over there by chance tbh. . . . Haku can see ghosts and spirits and things, so maybe he followed something Tohma wouldn't be able to see there and, rather than explaining, said it was about the cars? His profile says he cleans up after other students often, maybe he was helping somebody in Hotarubi who was too scared to go to Vagastrom? Or maybe Tohma's trying to keep him in the dark about things relating to the spy because Tohma suspects/distrusts Haku after what happened before he left Frostheim, and he's trying to be nosy?

[bluehoodedmousebane]

You :3

I like you :3

I, personally, LOVE the added depth that Halo 2 adds to the series. The Covenant becoming more of a faction rather than "Things that want to kill humans" like most games at the time. And Sargeant Johnson actually becoming Sergaeant Johnson instead of a random Marine with cooler voicelines.

And it sucks that Halo 2 wasn't even finsihed. There was so many more ideas and so much more story that Bungie wanted to add but inevitably couldn't.

And this is a complete wild guess, but I think the main reason a lot of people stuck through with the company through Halo 2's horrencous was because it ended up becoming more of a passion project?

Although that may just be me projecting cause im such a nerd idk

And Halo 3, compared to Halo 2 was.... Well it fell flat on a lot of the built up story beats and seemed to just forget most of the previously established plot??

Also Microsoft and 343 can suck an egg. Halo as a franchise should've ended with Reach, but because it was Microsofts/Xbox's lead money maker. The company's mascot, so to speak. So they couldn't let it end, and they had to bring it back as the trainwreck that was Halo 4.

Halo 2 is a beautiful shitshow. The way it adds to the story and world that CE set up is actual art. The only spots it breaks continuity are where it benefits the story, like with Johnson surviving the first Halo.

Oh my god this got so long. Why do I have much to say about these games. Someone sedate me.

But there is something so. strange. about 2. The guy who did the cursed halo mod, Infernoplus, has said that Halo 2 is a coding mess. The levels are a bit better planned than CE, and the story is insanely good, but the game feels like an inbred pug! The way they coded things are weird and inconvenient in places! You can find ass pics from Bungie employees in the files! It's notorious for crashing for no reason!

I strongly suspect that a lot of the weirdness of Halo 2 is caused by them trying to update and change the code from CE on a short notice. Which. CE's code was probably half of the problem. Supposedly CE started as a side project, turned into a 3rd person shooter, then was turned back into 1st person and they re-coded the entire thing in 9 months. All while Bungie was being transferred to Microsoft. And there were only 15 people regularly working on it.

I really think that CE is just the mess that worked, and that 2 inherited everything that could have gone wrong with CE.

Honestly Halo being a passion project is probably dead on the money, at least in some places. The alien designs are all so unique for the time, the worldbuilding is insanely tight-knit, and the story and characters interact in ways that are so specific and perfect I almost can't believe it was one of the last things they worked on.

But the big thing that gives it away, to me, is the architecture. Somebody. Decided to make separate and distinct designs for the Covenant, Forerunner, and human buildings. This part is normal! It's necessary for a game, even! What is not normal is making each level layout distinct too. Giving the ships and building their own kinds of layouts. Not only that, but hallways that lead to nowhere, dead ends, and rooms that have their own clear purposes beyond being 'room to fight in'.

I keep hearing people talk about how they keep getting lost in CE, and I think part of that is because the levels are designed so strangely! Someone made the decision to make the buildings and ships more realistic, to the (slight) detriment of their player experience!

Whoever made the designs for the ships took inspirations from Alien for the humans architecture. Same for the designs that became the Elites. It would have made sense to try and ride the coattails of that movie, make more money, but that isn't even what they were trying to do! I really do think that someone did this because they wanted to. I think Halo 2 was just them getting to expand on their ideas properly, even with how little time they had.

I know next to nothing about 3 right now lol. It's one that I don't see talked about a lot, and I'm saving actually looking into it until after I've played it myself. I've heard people say it's the worst Halo (besides 5), I've seen people say it's the best Halo, and I'm sure a lot of people say that it's mid. I do figure that some of the plot was set up at the same time as 2's was, since the trilogy was probably planned once the sequel was being produced.

I am a lot more opinionated on 343's games. I definitely think the route they took for 4 and 5 was dogshit. 5 was especially bad, because a lot of the conflict is just super shallow compared to CE. The characters feel so flat because, while there is plenty of conflict in theory, it falls on its face because of the pacing. The writing feels so rushed. Like the story isn't the focus of the campaign, or even of the cutscenes. The characters and conflict don’t get to develop because nobody has time to say anything meaningful to each other.

But I kind of disagree with 4 being a trainwreck, if only because a lot of the story points were set up by 3. I don't think they handled it well, and there were so many places where they could have done better, but I do think it was a progression that could have happened even if Bungie held onto the property. I don't know about the actual gameplay yet though, so there's good odds I'll find issues there if I'm able to play it.

I am also super opinionated about Infinite, because I think that it has genuinely one of the best stories in Halo, even compared to CE and 2. I just think it's held up by mid gameplay in the campaign, and absolutely ruined by the cash grab of a multiplayer. And the story sucks in some places, but even when it sucks it compels me. It’s SO frustrating. It succeeded everywhere 5 failed and failed everywhere 5 succeeded. But I'm never gonna get to play it, so at least I don't have to deal with the gameplay to get to the story :3c

[lotus-mirage]

Trigun Stampede episode 6 liveblog!

oh, a defector, presumably?

Alright, Punisher is an apt title it seems

so confirmation that the red plants are the ones considered defective. but huh, "scheduled for disposal" - I was under the impression that they didn't have a way to get more? They wouldn't keep them around just in case?

Meryl and Roberto have good reasons for leaving, but I'm still kind of expecting it to not last very long

oh those were some suspiciously cross-shaped coat buttons. and symbol on the back of the coat.

huh I think his guns are also cross-shaped

Okay yeah so Wolfwood is very much taken off guard by this.

The 2D animation kind of startled me tbh lol

The lack of voicelines in this section is interesting! Kind of directing you to pay closer attention.

Wait the law enforcement appearing reminded me - Vash's appearance is pretty well known, right? Is he not disguising himself at all?

Oh what's catching up to the car and why are they so colorful??

... the 2D silhouettes approaching the building look kinda like caskets.

"child of blessing." huh.

oh THATS a color sequence

he's on an upside-down cross I... wow

also bit of a weird feeling that this might be kind of early to learn this?? Like I feel like this is at least a late-season or season 2 sort of sequence. There's been two and a half episodes of Wolfwood so far total.

That is a lot of cells

Wait the scientist guy seems surprised. Where did Wolfwood get the glass thingies if not from him??

Oh wtf is somebody psychic or. whats happening here.

Okay first of all I don't think we've seen this person before, but I think they have the same haircut as the baby twins and the angel kid.

Second "eye of michael," okay. I guess that's the thing in the center of the symbol, then.

Oh this is the guy with psychic powers(?)! Alright, that's a mystery partially solved. Second question: How??? (is that allowed???)

Huh, I'd have thought they'd also indoctrinate the kids, if they're getting them from that place?

Also. I'm assuming this is a framing thing for the viewers, but it also kind of feels like the guy is also seeing the future here.

Bluesummers, okay. Sure.

"Forgive us, boy." Unless he's talking about something else, this seems at odds with the priest's previous charicterization. Huh.

Oh I think I missed it, but they said something about Wolfwood retaining something, mentally, right? I should check that.

Implication that the orphanage needs to supply two kids at any given point?

More skull motifs on Bluesummers.

And the mask on Livio is sparking blue. Looks like it matches up with whatever was happening to his eye in the flashback. (I wonder why so many have their visible technology on their heads?)

Geometric patterns on Bluesummer's arm, noted (and small book! ...actual bible?). Also is he paralleling Wolfwood and Livio's relationship and Vash and Knives'?

Are they redirecting the ship to the orphanage?? Why???

That's like the most neon I've seen on this show by far. Feels a little weird honestly.

Notably Livio doesn't seem to have emoted at all.

End notes:

Uhhh general observations first. Animation in this episode was very cool as always. Background music was noticeable, but felt intentional in that.

On the symbolic stuff this episode, idk if I have enough knowledge to really speak to any of it? Bluesummer's emotions shtick seems like a personal rather than organizational thing, for one. I think Michael is an archangel, and other media I've seen them in has had them either as an authority figure or as like a high-ranking fighter. Those portrayals were also definitely taking a lot of liberties, so that further muddies the water.

No idea if "child of blessing" has symbolic meaning, but it kind of reminds me of Rollo from last episode? In the sense that they kind of undergo the same thing and also that results in a 'blessing' they don't get to experience/enjoy, potentially through their doom or demise.

I feel like I don't really have a lot to speculate on in this episode, particularly in comparison to the last. I'm surprised that Wolfwood is getting this much focus so early, let alone a two-parter mostly about him. With the reappearance of the neon desert raiders, I was expecting Meryl and Roberto to also return, but I could be wrong or it could be the next episode lol.

[chocoenvy]

i recently got into SAGAU and im absolutely addicted, you write masterpieces! this is a request, but it can also be brainrot! imagine that the genshin characters have kidnapped darling into their world and so as retaliation, darling refuses to speak to them or eat and just sleeps all the time. so everyone takes turns seeing who can get darling to say something or eat. how would kaeya, chongyun, and thoma react if their god said something to them or ate the food they brought?

Favortism!!!!! I love it >:D

So for this I'm going to use the idea that:

Albedo created a machine to bring you to this world. While you love Teyvat and the game Genshin Impact, you hate being stuck here. You have a family and life back at home and you wish to return to it. However, they refuse to let you go back home or even try to return you back to your homeoworld. Thus, you grew bitter towards the people of Teyvat. Sleeping all the time and barely eating.

Kaeya:

Treats you like a human. Sort of.

He jokes with you as though you're not a god but it's still obvious the reverence he holds for you

Everyday, he'll try and come in for even a moment to make some stupid joke

Or say his stupid voiceline everytime he catches you sleeping in bed

"Your grace!" He shouts at you everyday, "I didn't know you were such a slacker!"

Eventually you're so sick of him that you run out of bed and chase him.

His long legs keep you from ever catching up to him

When you give up he giggles and you find that you're outside of the Angel's Share.

He grabs your hand before you can say anything and tugs you in

"Order anything you want," You think he tried to wink but you couldn't tell because of the eye patch, "I'll put it on Diluc's bill."

You raised a brow but you couldn't help the small smile tugging at your lips.

Hesitantly, you ordered some food. You were kind of hungry... and this was the first time you were actually going out to eat instead of somebody bringing you food.

To say Kaeya was happy was an understatement.

He can and will brag about this for his entire lifetime

He grinned brightly as you ate the food in front of him.

It made him happier than anything to see you care for yourself, and he had never seen you out of bed or eating. Most people hadn't seen you out of bed or eating. This was a gift, one he'd cherish for a long time.

He'd make sure that he did this with you again. He'd take you all the way to Inazuma if he had to, anything to spend time with you and see you finally care for yourself and enjoy Teyvat.

Chongyun:

Would visit you often to make sure no demons were attempting to haunt you in your sleep

Usually, you're asleep when he visits, so the visits are short and sweet.

But one day, you hear him come in to check on you, and you meet him face to face.

It was the first time he had ever seen your eyes, whether one a statue or your actual face.

He couldn't help but just stare at them for a moment. Admiring the gold flecks in them before snapping out of it.

"Sorry your grace..." he muttered, averting his gaze to the floor, "I was merely here to make sure there were no demons in the area. They like to come for victims that are asleep."

"Ah," you had responded, "I see... if that's all, I'm going back to bed."

He didn't have the courage to say anything else and merely nodded. But he wished he had said more.

The next day, he came in at the same time to find you awake.

You waved at him and he nodded. He was so caught off-guard he was practically frozen to the spot. So, awkwardly, he held out one of his popsicles for you.

He wanted to retract his hand as soon as he held it out but it'd be rude of him to do so.

You looked at his hand, then his eyes, his hand, his eyes, then his hand. It felt like his arm was about to be bitten off with how tense he was.

Finally, you reached out and took it.

You always wondered what it'd taste like.

You took a cautious lick and blinked in surprise.

"Not bad," You muttered, just barely smiling at Chongyun.

His heart rate picked up tremendously and he couldn't help but smile.

Everyday after that he'd give you a popsicle, and then you'd chat about whatever you wanted to.

It was nice, having a friend to talk to, for both of you.

Thoma:

The house husband would check on you everyday

He'd come in with some sushi or something that could be eaten cold and lay it beside you in a container. Willing you to eat something.

You never did and it broke his heart.

He also, along with Noelle, cleaned your room up.

Granted, it was never really a mess since all you did was sleep, but it still collected dust.

Thoma knew how sad you were

He could tell you hated it here with how much you slept and the fact that you never ate.

He could sympathize with your homesickness but you still needed to take care of yourself. It hurt the entirety of Teyvat to know that you were locking yourself in slumber all day.

So, he left a note upon the next meal he gave you

Your grace, if you don't mind me asking, what nation is closest to yours back home? I know that when I'm homesick, I like a good bottle of dandelion wine to remind me of home. Yours truly, Thoma

It was kind of a wake-up call for you.

You were reminded that this was real and that was Thoma. One of the characters off of Genshin that you adored.

Despite your reluctance and your stubbornness, you wrote back on the note the name of the nation closest to your home or at least the nation you cared about the most.

The next day, when you had eventually woken up, you turned to where Thoma always left your food almost excited.

You gasped at the pile of souvenirs, food, toys, items, treasures, and much more from the nation you had mentioned to Thoma

Despite yourself and your resolve to stick to your little rebellion, you couldn't help yourself as you dug into the food from the nation.

Thoma noticed later when you were asleep again that the food was all gone and you moved the souvenirs he had brought. You had them around you as though they were your treasures.

He smiled softly and cleaned up your mess, leaving some more food from the nation as your next meal.

You had woken up while he was in there. You both froze as the two of you made eye contact.

Tentatively, you reached over and started to nibble on the food he gave you.

Thoma's heart swelled with joy at seeing you eat his food. He couldn't help but giggle, "Do you like the food I've made for you your grace?"

You hesitated but nodded, not saying anything as his grin grew wider.

"I'm glad." he said and got back to cleaning. Leaving you two in comfortable silence.

He continued to do this and you started to expect him. Staying up more to wait for him, eat his food, and chat with him.

It eventually got to the point where you had left your room to go looking for him.

Thoma was a kind man and wasn't very openly prideful...but he'll never forget the look on Diluc's face as you went up to him and asked where he was.

He couldn't help the large smile when you found him and asked if you could go out with him for some food.

[froggysoup]

wowee

Alrighty I’m just gonna ramble on about my thoughts on the new quest (and things in general because I talk too much) and pray that at least some of it ends up coherent. Spoilers, by the way.

I’ve had this first theory since the last archon quest but got nervous and didn’t share, so here it is now. Maybe it’s an obvious thing that I’m just in the dark about, but I’m fairly sure that Dainsleif’s “Boughkeeper” title has a large part in explaining why he knows so much about things he really shouldn’t. From the newest quest, we learn that he is actually cursed with immortality, which could explain some it, but the guy still knows too much for it to simply be chalked up to his age. He’s literally the designated narrator for half of the official videos and knows a lot about what and who he talks about.

I suspect that the ley lines serve as an information network of some sort, and that Dainsleif’s position as Boughkeeper allows him access to it in one way or another. The only other places we really see the whole tree/branch thing is with the ley line branches, Irminsul trees, the Frostbearing Tree, and the tree who once had roots that spanned the whole continent (which we know the ley line branches were once directly a part of), all of which are connected in a way that I haven’t quite figured out yet. 

Now, from those screens that come up while the game is loading, we know that supposedly, the intertwined roots of the Irminsul trees far beneath the earth determine the pattern of the ley lines above, and we also know that ley lines are a “mysterious network that links the whole world together” and that they are said to remember everything that happens in the world. From this, I don’t think it’d be that much of a reach to say that Dainsleif can access that somehow.

Next. I do think there’s a pretty good chance that the Archons were involved in the destruction of Khaenri’ah. The Viridescent Venerer set actually tells us how the former Dendro Archon died during the cataclysm while in Khaenri’ah, which. Uh. That’s kind of really incriminating. 

However! Obviously, we’ve only heard this from Dainsleif’s point of view and he’s pretty biased considering his whole thing. We don’t know how much control Celestia has over the Archons’ actions, either, and I’m about 98% sure that some of them weren’t into it, and likely didn't even have a choice. Like, look at the Tsaritsa. Her whole thing is that sometime during the cataclysm, she witnessed something so view-shattering and unjust that her whole thing now is to “burn away the old world” and overthrow Celestia. 

I also can’t see Venti and Zhongli going along with the destruction of an entire nation with no hesitation. Like, obviously, again, Dainsleif is going to be biased, but from what we’ve been told Khaenri’ah didn’t even do anything divine-retribution-worthy. Celestia just seems be into dropping skyscraper-sized pillars and other things onto nations who get too good at being independent, for whatever reason. The new quest is definitely supposed to make us question the current systems of this world but I don’t think we’re meant to hate Venti or Zhongli, at least yet. I think they’re even kind of meant to be seen as the “best” out of the Archons, so to speak. (Not that I think they’re perfect, by any means.)

Like, just look at the way they’ve been presented to us, versus how some of the other Archons have been introduced (Storyline Trailer, my beloved). 

Raiden Shogun is made out to be some self-absorbed divine ass-kisser who doesn’t have humanity’s best interests at heart (which we know is supposed to be a thing you do as an Archon). She’s doing her whole confiscating visions and oppressive rule thing in an effort to be seen as more divine, but, as Dainsleif puts it, “what do mortals see of the eternity chased after by their god?”

The Dendro Archon/God of Wisdom is implied to not actually be as smart as somebody with that title is supposed to be, one way or another, and either has turned a blind eye to or blatantly encourages the “push for folly” in Sumeru. Can’t tell exactly what that would mean or entail (thanks, Dainsleif), but obviously. Doesn’t sound good.

Dainsleif says of the Hydro Archon that she “lives for the spectacle of the courtroom, seeking to judge all other gods. But even she knows not to make an enemy of the divine.” While the not making an enemy of the divine thing I get (I guess, coward), the whole “seeking to judge all other gods” bit seems very “remove the log from your own eye”-y. Like, you’re an Archon, too, what are you trying to prove here?

The Tsaritsa is- well, the Tsaritsa, as we know. While I do think we are meant to sympathize and agree with at least part of her core ideals and motives, she still is the one behind the Fatui and is, by extension, a war criminal. She also apparently has “no love left for her people”. It’s a bit of a complicated relationship that we have with her.

The only ones who Dainsleif does not directly slander in the trailer are Venti, Zhongli, and Murata. While I don’t think we have enough on her to come to any conclusions about her character yet, Venti does say of her that she is a “wayward, war-mongering wretch”. Now, he does also jab at Rex Lapis during this voiceline, but unlike with Murata we know that those two are buddy-buddy and it was very likely that it was “buffoon (affectionate)”.

Venti and Zhongli are also the first two Archons we encounter, which is important for multiple reasons.

Gonna derail for a bit because I don’t know where to start. But. The game very likely will (or at least should) end with no Archons.

Obviously, especially in light of the new quest (although this stuff has been floating around since the Dragonspine update and even before that), Celestia Bad. Like, cataclysmically bad (lmao). In fact, I’m highly certain that you could trace basically every problem in this game back to them, some way or another.

Even our main “villain” groups all seem to be gunning for Celestia. The Fatui obviously work for the Tsaritsa, who’s made it very clear that she plans to rebel against the divine. The Abyss Order, too, has their Deeply Upsetting plan of creating a mechanized god with the power to “topple the divine thrones of Celestia”.

Evidence points to an overthrow of Celestia at some point in the game, and considering how being an Archon or even a god is directly tied to Celestia, yeah. No more Celestia means no more Archons.

But even besides that, there’s a lot there to suggest that that’s where things are going.

I find it interesting how Mondstadt’s our prologue chapter, or that there’s even a prologue chapter of the game at all. Prologues are meant to set up ideas that will be present throughout the rest of the story, and Mondstadt does exactly that. Venti’s let the people of Mondstadt govern themselves and has almost completely been out of the equation for millennia, even if that means he is significantly weaker than his godly peers. When asked why he chose to do that instead of remain in charge and just give them freedom, Venti responds that “freedom, if demanded of you by an archon, is really no freedom at all.” This sentiment is also brought up in the Mondstadt portion of the storyline trailer, and the traveler even has a whole voiceline debating what Venti really meant when he said that.

This idea of freedom and that humanity is capable on its own is further reinforced in Chapter 1, in which Liyue learns to move on from the death of its Archon. Zhongli set up his plan with the intention of testing if his people could stand on their own legs without him there to guide them, and they do. He even expresses how pleasantly surprised he is that the Qixing were able to take advantage of the situation and seize control like they did. Keqing gives us this whole speech when we first meet her about how the adepti and gods underestimate humanity’s capability and how Liyue’s future is meant to be a godless one. This, in a way, extends to the rest of the continent as well.

In the storyline trailer (which I quote too often, I’m sorry. My favorite and only party trick is that I got bored one day and memorized the whole thing), Dainsleif spends the entire Khaenri’ah section musing about something similar. 

“In the perpetual meantime of a sheltered eternity, most are content to live and not to dream. But in the hidden corner where the gods’ gaze does not fall, there are those who dream of dreaming,” is obviously about the people of Teyvat vs. those in Khaenri’ah. While a future under the care of the Archons is a safe and reliable one, is it one that allows humanity to chase its potential to the fullest? Khaenri’ah was destroyed for flourishing like it did without gods, both as a punishment and a warning to everybody else.

“Some say a few are chosen and the rest are dregs, but I say we humans have our humanity.” This is in reference to visions. Throughout the game, this idea that, at least in the eyes of the gods, vision holders are more important than those without them, is constantly brought up.

In the commission “Leaves on the Wind”, Dr. Edith expresses how it often seems as if vision holders are the main characters of this world. From the notebooks we receive during the “Time and Wind” world quest, we learn that the Sumeru Academia actually discourages non-vision holders from conducting outdoor surveys, and how “these days... trying to be an academic when you don't have a Vision, it's really restricting...” Dainsleif even just straight up asks us what we think the gods think of vision holders and people in general during question time in that one quest.

In Lisa’s stories, we learn that the reason for her laziness is that a part of her is afraid of learning or doing too much, after witnessing what “uninhibited erudition” can do to people during her time in Sumeru. She also senses that something beneath the surface is happening regarding the distribution of visions. “For whatever reasons, the gods gave humans the key to changing everything, but they did not explain the cost involved. Lisa grew fearful of the truth.”

I forgot exactly where I was going with that last paragraph, but yeah. There’s definitely sketchy shit going on behind the scenes in regards to visions, possibly to keep people either quiet or complacent. I suspect it may even be to restrict access to certain knowledges or even the elements themselves. Anyways.

I lose track of my thoughts too often. Fuck. Right. Mondstadt and Liyue served as good examples of society under the rule of the Archons, and in Chapter 2 we will encounter our first bad example, showing us the pros and cons of the current situation. However, despite Zhongli and Venti seeming to genuinely care for their people, humanity’s wellbeing shouldn’t be reliant on how their god is feeling that day, and they shouldn’t have to look to the gods for a chance to become something greater than themselves, either.

Um. All that’s to say I’m just very excited to see where the story will go, and if Zhongli’s contract with the Tsaritsa is any indication then it’s gonna go somewhere good. Celestia bad, Archons bad but also not bad but also bad, I don’t know if what I just wrote actually even counts as understandable, thank you and good night.

[genshinconfessions]

I want to preference this by saying this is going to have Inazuma spoilers & spoilers for Kazuha, Ayaka, Yoimiya, and Sayu's voicelines.

-

Does anyone else find it interesting how different people have perceived Baal? Baal is the character I am most interested to learn about and see more of when it comes to Inazuma, so I have done a lot of research on her and her lore. She's a very difficult character to understand, seeing as we are only given information on her from a third person perspective, rather than through herself directly, but I find it interesting what certain people have to say about Baal.

While Thoma calls her "selfish" when we first stand in front of the Omnipotent Statue with him, a store owner in Ritou- Kaede -calls Baal "merciful" and "forgiving". What's even more interesting is what the playable/soon to be playable characters have to say regarding Baal.

Kazuha expresses his disliking towards the decree, but calls her actions in the duel against his friend "not unjust". In game, when we ask Ayaka about Baal, she says that was "emotionless", but in her voiceline Ayaka says that she believes that "Her Excellency must get lonely on the road to eternity". I have a huge suspicion that the line is foreshadowing either Baal's motive, her past, or her future.

Now, to move onto Sayu and Yoimiya, neither have anything terribly negative to say regarding Baal. Yoimiya discuses how her "fireworks are probably the farthest thing from "eternity" that the Shogun persues" and then goes on to express the differences between a deity and a mortal. Sayu express how Baal is "definitely not someone I'd ever get to meet".

I find these voicelines interesting because no one- besides perhaps Kazuha -expresses utter hatred or disliking towards Baal like we've- or at least I -was made to believe. Baal herself seems to cause conflict in people's characterizations of her in game. While some seem to like her, others despise her (much like the fandom).

Now, to speak about Baal herself, she seems to be an oddly calm- like Ayaka mentioned -emotionless character. While she keeps an even, almost unnervingly calm tone when speaking (in trailer/in game) her actions are brash and destructive. I feel as though, for somebody who enjoys doing character studies, the actions and tone of voice conflict a lot.

She's powerful enough to kill a god- the serpent -with a single lightening strike, and yet the resistance still stands. She's boastful and- perhaps -narcissistic, yet it is said that she wants to bring eternity to both herself AND her people.

It's clear that she has been an archon for- at least -500 years (if not more) and yet only a single year ago did things change so drastically. I wonder what could have changed her views so abruptly that she initiated the Vision Hunt Decree. I speculate that it has something to do with Celestia, and I think her motives may reveal to the players that she isn't completely in the wrong while also still allowing her to be a gray/villainous character, but still proposing questions in people's moral.

I'm curious to know if admins/others have any opinions regarding Baal/her motives/what could have changed her views to see visions as divine blessings?

SPOILERS FOR INAZUMA and general theories about celestia/inazuma!!!

OP's addition to the post:

Hello, sorry! I’m that anon that sent that really long Baal study. I forgot to add something that I meant to talk about and although it might not seem important, I think it’s interesting enough to share.

In the canon game, Baal used to- if not still does -really like Shibas. Both on the Baal wiki and in the description of Shibas this is mentioned. I find it interesting as to how someone known to be emotionless, tyrannical, and ruthless found enjoyment in something like a dog which is dependent, energetic, and outgoing. For a character like Baal, I felt like a snake or cat might be more suited to her liking, but that isn’t the case.

I think this is an interesting thing to note, sorry that I forgot to add this in the original post. 😅

.

i think you're right, anon! i talked to one of the npcs (i forgot which, and maybe it was on a side quest or smth, i don't remember) and they mentioned that barely anyone spoke up against the vision hunt decree because most people didn't even have visions. vision users are a select elite group anyway, so standing up for them will cause even more enmity.

i'm not sure if everyone knows this, but if you talk to venti after the prologue (and actually read/listen to what he says), he mentioned that 'people with visions are called allogenes'. like, yeah.... in chinese they're called 原神 (original or primary/primordial gods). that said, it's very possible that any vision user could potentially end up as a god (we admins have a headcanon that baal was either scaramouche's sister, or she possessed said sister. either way, she, scaramouche, and kujou sara look way too similar).

so it's possible that baal is securing all visions so that no one starts a revolution against the gods/celestia (as what happened with khaenri'ah 500 years prior), but it's also possible that she's securing the visions so that celestia doesn't strike inazuma. as we know, khaenri'ah was destroyed for being much too advanced (and presumably having too much knowledge).

one of my headcanons is that the tsaritsa is working to unite all the nations against celestia (it's been mentioned that snezhnaya is the most technologically advanced country, which likely places it next in line for destruction by the gods) and venti and zhongli are her allies, simply putting on an act in front of the traveller. baal, on the other hand, may or may not be compliant with said plan... i tend towards non-compliance, since if everyone was on our side, it'd be a boring story lol.

as for baal's characterization, well, that just goes to show how even the most seemingly-tyrannical leader has a side that's human, and how not everyone will disagree with their methods because most people are just simple citizens who want to live their lives. for a citizen without any means (even if they have the heart) to make a significant impact, all they can hope for is a peaceful life.

either way, we'll find out once part 3 unlocks LOL.

- katheryne from liyue

[time-traveling-fetus]

a nice moment with old jerma content was when somebody made a tf2 mod that replaces every single scout voiceline with something jerma said and then his friend ster_ made a video about it and introduced it as the "idiot scout mod" that turned scout into a fucking IDIOT

[teyvattherapist]

Time for oc fun facts!

You got it!

-Ohm's full name is Ohm Alphonse Mizuki Ambros. Ohm is a reference to his parents both being electro users as an Ohm is a measure of electrical resistance. Alphonse is his father's name but means "Battle Ready" and Mizuki means either "Water Moon" or "Beautiful Moon" either way. Its a reference to being the Favoured Moon. Ambros means 'Immortal'.

-My favourite written voiceline for Ohm is his field snack line. I can and will recite it by heart. In regards to recording though, I think either his Troubles line or About Ohm iii. I get to drop the vocal act for him and switch his personality completely. Its very fun and much closer to how I actually speak.

-All of Ohm's death/knockout lines reference acceptance. He says it himself that not only has he been waiting for this, he also expected this. The last one is only a tad different by saying to die is his destiny. Even one of his Low HP lines suggests that he's ready to die in order to do his job. Take what you will from that.

-Ohm's abilities are unique from other healers because he doesn't just heal wounds. He physically transfers the injuries to himself. Its why he loses such a large amount of his HP when reviving his teammates. It's also why he only passively heals them when he's under a certain health threshold, he "takes" their injuries. Story wise this is how it works.

-When he was fourteen and after everything happened, Ohm had been consumed by rage and rage alone. This is why he got into paper origami. It was distracting enough and he was creating something. If it weren't for this hobby of his calming him down, the events that happened when he was fifteen probably wouldn't have been able to happen because he'd still have been too angry. It's his only artistic skill though haha.

-Though its seen more storywise and in cutscenes then in regular game stuff, Ohm can take fatal blows for a mortal and still keep going. However he has multiple weakness outside of this. His karma, his energy levels, and also his heart are just some. The karma is self explanatory, the energy is if he uses too much well that's it, and his heart is physically frozen, as a result if the ice is shattered, its game over for him.

-I've written some voicelines for characters about my OCs. Though Ohm has many due to how many lives he's intertwined with. My favourite is probably Mona's. "Ohm Ambros, now there's a man whose fate has already caught up with him. Not everybody can see it, but the moon that guides him has begun to consume him, too. Oh his constellation? Vita Altaris, one half of the Scales. Supposedly the scales once judged his family a long time ago and decided they were guilty of something. Of what even I cannot be sure. Either way, I do not envy somebody in his position. To have Celestia always watching? To battle that darkness? No thank you.”

-Sandrone's full name is Sulien Haru Donati Ambros. Sulien means "Sun Born". Haru means "Sun" or "Spring" in this case, I bet you can guess which he is named after. Donati is short for Donatello, which means "God Given". Sun Sun God Given Immortal, quite frankly its hilarious and I love his name.

-In the same vein, my favourite written line for Sandrone is his Interesting Things line. I think being able to show off his true interest, knowledge, is nice. Recording wise its a toss up because Sandrone and I have very similar speaking tones. Aka we're both monotone. So all of his are easy for me to do. Though either his Memories voiceline or his line about the Tsaritsa are my favourite to do given their topics.

-All of Sandrone's death/knockout lines reference memory. 1 and 2 both specifically reference his brother. One is a bit more vague. But 2 directly references to the fact they used to use the wind to communicate when they were first separated(Thanks Barbatos). His final line is also about memory but in a completely different vein. Its a reference to his clan rather than his sibling. This was woven within their fates.

-Sandrone's abilities are centered around shaping the battlefield using a wall of cryo and then dendro to make blockades as well. Story wise he has an ability we don't see him use which is to create a protective dome of ice around himself or a target. I annexed this ability because I liked the wall better, but it does appear in cutscenes + story. His abilities are massively defensive despite usually working alone.

-He cuts his own hair and he's actually really good at it. Sandrone just doesn't really care about his hair anymore because he forgot what it meant to him in the past. But it is an odd little skill of his. I mean somebody needs to do it and he ain't taking his mask off for anybody so... He learned to do it himself<3 the first few times though.. Yikes.

-Due to what happened, Sandrone rarely reacts to pain and often times can't even feel it. You could stab him and he'd be unsure of what happened for a hot second. As a result his damage lines are incredibly difficult to record because he just doesn't actually outwardly react. He isn't allowed to react, after all. So he just kinda laughs it off.

-Sandrone also has voicelines about him by various characters. However, despite not knowing him personally, surprisingly.. Mona has one about him too! "Ah.. That harbinger.. Yes, his fate is dark, but escapable. He is ruled by Mors Altaris, the death altar. And yet, his altar is one commanded by the sun. He is the second part of the Scales. Sol's child. Hm.. What else.. Ah yes. Destiny has not been kind to him. Celestia's cards have been cruel, at best. But something tells me that he has the power to wrangle his own fate and choose how he wants this to end. Just like his brother, however, I do not envy him. There is something to be said about belonging to Celestia and none of it good."

[bullets-and-masks]

Krieg’s Backstory: based on tips/missions/canon quotes

“Alright, y’all. Since This Post (by @necromorph-slayinglovemachine) is making some rounds, stating Krieg’s inner voice quote [ Where is she? Is she still alive? Did she get away?] refers to Dr. Samuels, the woman responsible for slag experimentations at the Exploitation Preserve, and I’m just gonna say: Yes, I agree. So, let’s explore that, and therefore the very possible option that Krieg became what he is at the Preserve, going through Quotes and game events.

In the DLC Sir Hammerlock vs the Son of Crawmerax has a optional mission called Victims of Vault Hunters, in which Sparky, the son of Captain Flynt, hires assassins to kills the Vault Hunters as a revenge plan. Each assassin is related to who the Vault Hunters are and whatever happened to them before Pandora or got them in the planet.

Here is Krieg’s assassin description: “At this point, Sparky’s hopes for victory have been dashed, but he reluctantly introduces Clements, a Hyperion scientist who wants Krieg.”

Sparky also says:  “Next guy, who's probably frigging dead already, is a Hyperion scientist named Clements. He wants Krieg cause you killed some dudes when you escaped or something. I don't even care at this point.”

Krieg’s assassin in a scientist, and it’s not clear wheter he plans on retrieving or killing the psycho. But, Clements is pointed as a Hyperion scientist, tying Krieg’s relation to Hyperion was one that has to do with science/research. The word escape also makes it clear he was a prisioner of Hyperion at some point, and the Hyperion facility we are aware that both holds prisioners and conducts experiments is the Wildlife Exploitation Preserve. (We’ll come back to this mission).

What works most about this assumption is Krieg’s very nature, design and skills: He is a borderlands psycho, bandits made crazy by experimentations. Badass pyschos themselves are a result of slag mutation, as Jack’s voiceover at the Preserve states:

“This is Handsome Jack, thanking you, loyal test subject, for helping bring Pandora into the future. The experiments you’ll be put through will help us uncover new uses for Eridium, new cures for medicine, and…why are you having me read this crap? They know we’re gonna mutate the hell out of them, why lie to - (static) “

This voiceline is furthered reinforced by a loader present at the preserve, made to greet the “volunteers” (subjects) that arrive there. Its quotes that prove slag, pyschos and mutations are all tied:

“Eridium injections may cause side effects such as gigantism, insanity, and excess limb syndrome.” All things seen both in psychos and rats - a name that could allude to them being lab rats.

“Thank you for open quotes volunteering closed quotes as a test subject at Hyperion Preserve. Do not attempt to leave the grounds.” Stating that people are capture to be subjected to slag experimentation.

“Do NOT touch the Eridium vats unless you have alerted a Hyperion technician first, preferably one with a camera.” Just furthering on that.

Krieg’s Mania Skill Tree also ends up with him assuming a badass pyscho form, confirming the possibility of him being a subject of slag experiments. Krieg’s design also counts with tubes going into his hand, or the protection on his arm, and wether this might not have anything to do with experimentation, it raises the question of why he needs it (if it’s a need) as well as the bigger filter present on his mask.

(image description: a turnaround of Krieg the Psycho from Borderlands 2, showcasing his design. He has orange pants, same as psychos - enemies from the game - a gas mask and bandages. He is shirtless, sporting only a harness that carries tubes that connect to his left arm. He’s holding his buzz axe, an weapon made of an axe with a buzzsaw as its head.)

What we have so far: Slag experimentation was done at the Exploitation Preserve. Said experiments resulted in psychos, among other kinds of bandits/enemies. Krieg is a psycho, and not only his design but his sent assassin and wanted poster alude to him being tired to a scientific branch of Hyperion, as property/prisioner. Dr. Samuels was a very relevant and active scientist in said experimentations, as proved by the Doctor’s Orders side quest given by Tannis.

Going into the Quote that started this all, let’s examine ALL his quotes pertaining women:

1.“ I can’t see her anymore… She was so clear and bright… but the blood is in my eyes, and now I can only watch the ocean of blood… Its waves crash against my forehead again and again, AND I JUST NEED TO LEARN HOW TO SURF!! “

2.You’re gonna scream, just like she did; open mouth, open heart, blood and noise forever piercing my skull, poisoning me with its psychopathic purple liquid. We watched it all, and felt the knife edge split down the middle… CAN YOU HEAR ME?!

3.“I’ll never forget the way her holes cried… The way she screamed in agony as she pushed the knife slowly into my sternum... Such a beautiful symphony of feelings, and at the end of it, she was so much greater! My operatic diva of flesh and steel!! “

4.“ (On your feet, she might still be out there.)”

5.“(Where is she? Is she still alive? Did she get away?)”

6.THE TINY ONE AND THE SAD-FACED MOTHER AND THE BLUE TATTOO FOREVER AND EVER! (when Moxxi asks about a mister-or-missus Vault Hunter in Krieg’s life during the Mad Moxxi and the Wedding Day Massacre DLC )

Quote 01, 02 and 03: 01: It’s unclear the context or identity of Her. It’s possible to presume there’s more than women being referred to in all quotes, but at the same time, although only a pronoum is used, it seems to be used as the closest he can to a name. 02: Pyschopathic purple liquid: Slag. It’s unclear hear if Krieg thinks about someone that was also experimented on, or along with him. 03. her holes cried: eyes, actual crying. The screams in agony could be or not an exaggeration; but the important here is that we are aware Samuels was threated, via her wife’s life, to work on the subjects, as she did not want to. By the ECHOs during Doctor’s Orders, Samuels sounded very humane, and it’s fair to believe she’d suffer having to do this. 02 and 03: Both “knife edge split down the middle” and “my operatic diva of flesh and still” could be interpreted as alluding to the birth and inspiration of a second personality, one that thrives in pain and slag - outter Krieg. Quote 04: It’s extremely unclear what happens to Samuels, but Doctor’s Orders alludes to her possible death in the explosion caused by Tiny Tina for her escape. However, there’s solid evidence pointing she’s alive (we’ll come back to this.) It’s therefore possible Krieg believes so, and would like to find her. As a familiar face? For revenge? To thank her or just check on her? Hard to know. But as the inner voice seems to have strong morals about who to kill, and seems not to resent her, it’s safe to assume a darker opition is less likely. Quote 05: As stated previously and in the other post; Krieg worries about her. He got away from the Preserve and would like Samuels to have gotten out too. Quote 06: Finally, with couple with 02 and 03, it’s possible to read “sad faced mother” as Samuels, as she’d be sad about the situation every human is at at the Preserve, and technically, because she’d be the operator during the slag experiments, the “mother” of the Outter Krieg personality. It’s important to note this quote is Outter Krieg’s, and that the outside personality seems to have clearer access to memories, or at the very least try to stop Inside Krieg from remembering. Now, what’d I say we’d go back to Samuel’s possibility of being alive, and the Victims of Vault Hunter’s mission? Well, the mission goes as follow: The Vault Hunter tries to track the assassins hired by Sparky, only to find one dead after another, all killed by assassins’ assassins related to the Vaulties somehow. Each “savior” leaves a message, and Krieg’s reads: “Krieg: (reading) SALUTATIONS PSYCHOMAN I’M SORRY AS A SLICE WOUND SINCERELY SAMMY “ Samuels is also known as Sammy, as she’s called this by Jack during the ECHOS.  This can be read as Samuels looking out for Krieg, and making so he’s not taken back by Hyperion and has a chance to live a good life. Not only that, but when Krieg finds Clement’s corpse during the Victim’s of Vault Hunter’s mission, he says:  ”HE WAS THERE FOR THE BIRTHING! HE BROUGHT THEM INTO THE METAL FUN PALACE SO SHE COULD START THE PARTY!” He being Clements, and the birthing, as we discussed, being the rise of Outter Krieg. A Metal Fun Palace can be a cage, but we can go bigger and see it as the preserve. Finally, interpreting She as Sammuels, we can infer that Clements was an assistant or colleague of hers.  So far: Krieg is a psycho, made so by slag experimentations at the preserve, performed by Doctor Samuels (forced to). Samuels is alive and watches his back, Krieg believes she’s alive too and would like to find her, and that Hyperion could still be trying to retrieve Krieg. Finally, specially while being revived, Krieg has Quotes that can be interpreted as him not knowing exactly the difference between pain and care anymore, specially because they’re all quotes from the Outter Krieg, someone “born” from being hurt by a woman that possibly tried her best to be kind, or showed kindness while hurting him at the same time. They also seem to make it clear he might equal pain to something good. Being revived: “What’re you doing to me?!“ “Why aren’t you stabbing me?” “Somebody still cares?” Salt the Wound (a skill) stacks: “Hurt me more!”

“It hurts, HAHAHAHAHA! IT HURTS!!” “Pain is LIFE!!”

Among many others.

The last important point is this quote: “ Yes, make them pay for what they did to us…”said by Inner Krieg during killing multiple enemies, which could be a hint about him having been sold by bandits as where Tiny Tina’s parents.

In Conclusion / TL; DR: Krieg’s backstory is about him being captured by Hyperion or bandits, and becoming a test subject for slag experimentation at the Exploitation Preserve. There, he build trust and care towards Doctor Samuels, that though was the one to coordinate or perform experiments; didn’t want to, being as kind as possible in the situation. The experimentations split Krieg’s mind into two, the Outter, psychotic Krieg possibly considering Samuels a mother of sorts.

Fun facts:

Krieg has a voiceline where he mentions Hera, possibly another planet. Wheter he was just an intergalatic traveler or from Hera is unclear.

Inner Krieg uses “us” to refer to himself and Outter Krieg, making it clear he separated both.

Writer Anthony Burch has described Krieg’s psychosis as a man driving an out of control truck: He cannot stop the truck, but he can try and steer it away from as many innocents as possible.

Although it was a fan-favorite theory; it has been debunked that Krieg is Tiny Tina’s dad. 

Krieg’s reaction to hearing about the Son of Crawmerax is something along the lines of “What?! I do not have a son!” (I can’t find a transcript of this one but I literally just played it) hinting that perhaps Krieg indeed does not have kids, though it’s unclear if this is just Outter Krieg blocking out memories

This is possible and noticeable on this quote:  inner: (I'm beginning to remember...) outter: Stop it, keep the memories down with a knife in its throat, slash it until it bleeds thought juice across the dirt and it's absorbed into nothingness... Personal Headcanons:

Considering only his canon Quotes - the ones that are not references or fourth wall breaks - is notable that Krieg has a vast vocabulary, and I believe he can grow to rearange the words and communicate better.

The “she” mentioned could also be two people - perhaps Samuels and a woman important to him, taken to be experimented on too

Raving Retribution skill could be named after revenge for said woman Anyway, that’s it! There’s probably a lot more, a lot wrong, who knows, but I couldn’t help myself, Let me know your takes and what you think! And sorry for the english y’all, brazilian here.

[darkspellmaster]

Anon Asks in my Inbox as of 10/29/18 –Afternoon edition

Updated link of the Master Guide: http://darkspellmaster.tumblr.com/post/179532344635/update-and-edit-and-master-post-to-the-fokker

1.       i(.)imgur(.)com/2UHctWY(.)png this picture works if you paste it into your address bar and just remove the ( ) symbols around the dots. It's his left hand since you can see the overside. Wether you find it weird to hold someone at the waist when kissing them or not is irrelevant, the arm and hand does not vanish which is the main point. Add it to your post so people can see for themselves.

 Thank you for the picture Anon, due to the blanket removals of BTISudio related things I’m holding off putting the image up and I’ll use something as a representation of the arm motion that you have up. Again apologies for not being able to put the picture up. But I see it, and you’re right the arm is there, but it’s a really weird way of placing it as the natural cure of a kiss like that would have it where one person would have their hand higher than the other. Like I said it’s a weird position. 

I’ll link your said picture so others can look at it. It’s in the main one. 

 2.       You say in 4 that the studio leak image is that of a cropped shot of the previous leak as they cut off the other mouse - but that's not true. You can clearly see the mouse on Pidge's shoulder.

 Added the Edit to the post anon. Thank you. I explained why I missed it. It’s still a bit odd that the mouse has not moved at all.

 3.       The voiceline thing that one anon was talking about was, somebody took lines Lance’s VA said in other shows/games he worked on and they also picked some lines from the 1 voltron VR game and put it together in one clip. The person included some random lines from the other characters too. And claimed it was “leaked audio” they got. Never said how they got it. Clearly fake, and a whole bunch of K/L fans obsessed with it for a bit before they lost interest.

 Okay so they claimed to have data mined. That’s interesting because normally you would only be able to do that with games, since there is a lot of dialogue that is recorded and then left in there when they choose not to use it. Actors will record hours of dialogue for a game and then studios may change plans on how they are going to use it.

 For example, Yuri Lowenthal, who voiced Yosuke, for Persona 4 had lines that indicated that at one point in the game they were planning to have Yosuke be a love option for the MC, but then dropped that plan for whatever reason. This was later data mined by fans from the finished product. But I’ve never heard of a way to data mine for recordings via a tv show, since the extra tracts would be left off the final disk, and you would have to have access to the main audio recordings of the show, and I don’t think Andrea would just go leaving them out there.

 I’m sorry that the fans had to deal with that. That’s also a low thing to do because it cuts into issues with the whole audio department and such. Also it sucks for the fans because it’s a cheap way to get attention and isn’t fair to the listeners nor the actors.

 4.       I didn't see this added yet, but there was a Plance fake "leak" that got a DMCA takedown here on Tumblr from DreamWorks 3 days ago. The artist admitted it was fake when posted, it was meant as a joke and to show how easy it was to make a "leak." This kind of takes validity away from "posts are getting taken down so it must be real!" Sounds to me Dreamworks just wants all of this to go away (since it's upsetting fans or whatnot.)

 Yeah I got one too way back on the 24th, and realized that that was probably why my first post was taken down. I’m trying to be more cautious out of respect for the BTIstudio. But yes, using any form of intellectual property:

 Name of studio, logo of studio, art, dialogue, written words, even plants and other items.

 Can be subject to claims. So even if it’s something made to debunk, if it so much as has a whiff of anything that could be connected to the actual studio, then that stuff has to be taken down for copyright reasons, and I completely understand that.

Next time I go to my convention in May, there’s a lawyer group that shows up and I’m going to try to ask about leaks and fake leaks and blanket take downs and the rules of it all. 

 5.       Honestly Shiro's sight lines in the first 2 pics make more sense if someone shorter was standing next to him. In the third, (I) it's a profile shot so it'd be easy to rotate or tilt the head up/down if this Fokker is a dummy stand-in for another character and (II) Shiro's hand is literally on Fokker's ass due to hand position and the dude's height which is A LOT for a Y-7 show. Now if it were a shorter character, Shiro's hand would be at his waist. 🤔

Interesting catch there. In the original art where the head shot seems to have come from, the eyes are pointed down and to the left away from where Roy is looking.

This would leave us with the question of who is shorter than Shiro right now, as the only ones I can point to are Pidge, Romelle, Allura I think, or one of the Aliens. Keith, Hunk and Lance are all about the same height to him, and since he is looking slightly sideways it makes me think he’s looking at someone who is not the person with him. It’s a weird line of sight that is for sure for the shot.

6.       Apologies if I misread this, but I think you implied the crisscross watermarks were a function of VSI Chinkel software and therefore would only appear on their studio's work. However in the other Chinkel studio shots, that crisscross isn't there. Watermarking is done by the originator (I.e. Dreamworks) not by the recipient. Also the pause | | in the upper right hand of the wedding is from the program the leaker is watching it in (VLC media player, specifically)

 Yeah I thought that it could be something that happened there. But you’re right that the other image clearly shows that it’s not happening on the main one. I’ll have to edit that factor. Still the actual dubbing equipment, according to their website is one of a kind.

 The thing about the VLC is also right, since we use it at my college. However I don’t know of any dubbing studio that would use VLC when they have access to more expensive and better software to watch media on. Also most get it in some digital form that they could play on Adobe or other media player that is far more useful for pausing and doing scripting, and seeing where the audio track is and what it’s doing. So I find that someone using an Open source tool is strange, at least to me, when it comes to a professional workplace.

 7.       that dude isn't roy, i think, he has the same skin tone as adam.

Oh anon, bless your heart here. Your right in that it’s not Roy himself, because that would land them in real hot water. He’s a look alike or representation. I don’t know if the character has a name at this point, but I’m calling him Roy as it’s easier than calling him “The dude that’s clearly a homage of the guy from Macross that was an inspiration to Shiro himself as a character.” Because that would take way to long. As I said before, this could be what someone thinks Adam without glasses and longer hair would look like.

8.       I also thought Roy's arm disappears through Shiro, but in another pic of that kiss that's in a google doc going around debunking the leaks, his arm is very much in that photo and around Shiro's waist like you'd expect. Ngl, that threw me off because I'm starting to think I imagined things and only saw flaws where there weren't actually any at all.

 And this is kind of the purpose of leaks that are not clear, or are not right, or have bad resolution. They are there to cover up the mistakes or things that make people realize they are false.

 It’s one reason art forgers will be very careful to not make mistakes, but the issue is that there are always tells. Some are very very tiny and you have to take them under a microscope and look at them with the eye of someone trained to find them out.

 As for the situation, take a break from it Anon. Go outside, enjoy the fall weather, watch another show or find something else to do. As I keep telling people, relax. No one has a horse in this race, I certainly don’t and nether should you. Our focus should be more on the real image that came out from JDS and LM and figuring out what was up with the table and, hey, on the plus side we have a “The End” shot. XD

 9.       Saw an anon point out that the “missing arm” is there and they are right. It is mainly behind shiro’s new arm and the hand is on his waist. It is a very normal way to hold someone, just because you can see the majority of it, doesn’t mean it isn’t there at all.

As I said I edited the post to reflect that info. The arm may be there, but there’s still something off about the whole thing to me. And again, if I’m wrong, oh well, if I’m right, oh well. I have no horse in this race and honestly am not into the ships.

10.   Lotor’s statue isn’t 3D.... it’s very clearly painted... I think you’re starting to reach a bit with some of your debunking.

 Changed the statue to an actual screen shot that I have to reflect it better. The thing is to me it looks like what you would do with a matte painting over a 3D image to create a more statue like approach to things. Since we have the white light filter over it, it makes it harder to see if it has the same 3D like rendering as Aang’s statue. Also between the time that Korra came out and now, they may have made the program smoother so it’s harder to tell if it’s 3D or not.

 While I agree that they do some statues in normal drawings, the other ones, like Lotor, seem to need details, and I feel like a 3D rendering would be a better way to do it than, a 2D drawing.

 11.   I so want to believe they’re fakes. So much points to it, but one thing bothers me: this is an awful lot of trouble that someone has gone to, for a cartoon!? I mean finding photos on I’m assuming private Instagram accounts or other social media to highly edit? No one can actually find the originals. Plus Chinkel do actually use the multiple watermarks thing. So? Maybe those ones with the cast in them are real. They seem like far too much trouble to fake unfortunately 1/2

2/2 and I’m gonna stab a guess here and say that DreamWorks and whatever other studio it was, aren’t taking any real action besides silently removing the images but not saying anything because they feel like the images don’t give away a huge plot spoiler? Just the supposed one year later thing? Like I said it’s far too much trouble to go to. Someone would’ve had to literally scour the ENTIRE French VAs’ personal social media to find that cast pic, because no one else can find the original.

 To be honest Anon, you would think that right? But the thing is that there are people out there that do this for fun. Namely because they know that it upsets a fandom and they’ll try to stir up the fans and then sit back and laugh at them.

 Given the incident with the actresses and the cloud leak, it can be done. Seriously you can hack anything that has some sort of connection to the net. There’s always a back door, and it’s something that the “White Hats” have been trying to deal with for years. Social media isn’t a safe place when it comes to keeping pictures and such because people can and will break in, all the time. Remember the Sony leak not that long ago?

 The photo with the cast is real, I just think the image on the screen is not. BTIStudio was sending takedowns, I got one on the 24th of October from them from a Mr. Rachel in the IT department. So my guess is it was a blanket take down regarding the name being used, since BTIStudio is now owned by Investors Shamrock and Altor, who just got the studios recently so there may be business reasons, or intellectual reasons “name being used” to pull it down. As another anon pointed out a Fake debunking image got pulled too because of them showing how to do it.

 It's work, but for someone who has the time and skills it’s not insanely hard to do. Because of digital media and how good Photoshop, illustrator, and several other programs are now, it makes it easier and easier to copy art and make forgeries. It’s something artists are dealing with right now because people are finding ways to copy and sell fakes of their digital paintings.

 12.   Something else I noticed about the fake leaks - Ezor's eyepatch. So far, none of the galra with missing eyes wear eyepatches. They all have some sort of cyber prosthetic. Like Sendak, Ranveig, Branko, and Janka. Why would Ezor have a normal eyepatch while the rest of them don't? Doesn't make sense

That’s an interesting point there too. Given what we’ve seen previously, it doesn’t make sense to change up how a character is shown to have a wound like that covered. Unless she couldn’t’ get it done, but that doesn’t make sense either since if she was working with the Blade they would have set her up with stuff on earth by now. And Ezor doesn’t strike me as the type to be all “No I won’t have something cyber put on me” that’s more Zethrid.

13.   The photo with JDS and Lauren are from His official Twitter account.

Thanks Anon, I think I’m going to do some Theories about that when I have a moment. After I finish sewing my costume’s sleeves, and getting done with the prologue to my novel.

I did see it, and it’s interesting, especially with the Red ribbon of fate, the candles and the silver piece on the side. Though that could have been there from another event. XD

14.   I saw that apparently the joke fake "pl/ance leak" was taken down by DW because of copyright as well? if so that proves that the leaks don't need to be real to be taken down.

Yup! As long as it has something that equates to “Intellectual Property” studios and copyright owners can take anything down. It’s a huge issue with Youtube and their review groups and such. That’s why the Essay’s have evolved so much to only put shorter clips in and other aspects.

Fan Art can be copyrighted if it’s too close to original works, or even fake fakes like the Plance art. Most studios just go “Anything that has our name on it, take it down” even if it’s not a real leak.

15.   I think that the anon who mentioned the "fake Klance voicelines leak" is talking about the fake audio leaks that were taken from Jeremy's line from another show and claimed to be about Klance and also a fake picture of Keith with Lance's jacket on .

 Well that’s different. As I said, data mining is a bit hard to do from a tv show since there would be no additional tracks. It’s why most people don’t do that when it comes to creating fake info about a show and typically stick to art, or altered scripts since it’s easier to do. Typically all tracks that are recorded are edited and the ones that are not used are stored on a server that’s not easy to access and isn’t even on the net, it’s in an in house server.

 As for the picture, huh, I think I heard of that one but never saw it.

[mewtwowarrior]

I suddenly remembered one of the failure voicelines from Overwatch Uprising and I've been musing on it all day. So, I decided to write a little something on an AU where the failure is canon.

Unfortunately, even with looking things up, I'm still a little hazy on everything that happened around/during Uprising, I've tried to stick to canon, but I know I've missed some things along the way.

I may rewrite/fix this up later, but I wanted to write it down first. As such quality may be variable. I'm also writing this on my phone, so typos are likely.

Heavily inspired by and referenced by the Uprising comic: https://comic.playoverwatch.com/en-us/tracer-uprising. A quote is directly taken from the Uprising game mode.

Also, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to recap Uprising like this, it just kinda happened. I have a lot of feelings about Uprising and it's the reason Jack Morrison is my favorite.

My original intention was to have Jack dealing with the aftermath of failure, but the story took on a life of its own, whoops.

-

There are times in everyone's lives when you have to make a choice that alters your path one way or another. As the Strike Commander of Overwatch, Jack Morrison had to make a large number of these choices, the results of which would not only affect himself, but many others as well.

A rapidly developing situation had presented itself, and going against his better judgement, he had hesitated. He had been a soldier, he had been good at taking orders, but this particular order had sat wrong with him.

It had also sat wrong with the rest of his team and friends, with them all giving their input, one way or another. For the most part, it was a unanimous consensus - something must be done about the violent Null Sector uprising happening right now.

It didn't take long to put together a team, some of them had already made preparations.

Because Overwatch had been banned from assisting with the incident, the smallest possible team had been assembled, each member picked for their unique strengths and skills.

Lena was one of the four chosen, she had requested to be put in the field and her opinion of the situation had been a tipping point for Jack to make the final decision for Overwatch to step in. Her knowledge of her homeland could possibly come in handy as well.

But, that didn't stop Jack from worrying about her. She had a lot of potential and a bright future ahead of her. Sending her into such a dangerous mission as her first felt ill-advised. However, this was her fight, as it were, and, Jack had a feeling that even if he had selected a different team, she'd somehow find her way on it.

Once the team was chosen, the final preparations were made. Chief among those was a special request Jack made of Angela: watch over Lena. She gladly agreed.

Jack, Ana, and Gabriel took up stations in the control room to observe and guide the mission. There were three main phases to the mission, so each chose a phase and set up their monitors to display the section they were leading.

The first section was Jack's, and it went off without a hitch. He was starting to feel better about the mission, things were going according to plan.

Ana's phase started off just as well, but then the difficulties started nearly as quickly. It seemed that Null Sector had figured out that there was a major effort to stop them and was sending stronger and more varied troops.

Jack stepped in to assist Ana, two pairs of eyes were better than one. They watched the situation and the backs of their teammates and friends.

The trouble began when there was a problem with the payload. It took time for it to be restarted and charge up. While it was doing so, the team would be sitting ducks.

They narrowly survived, mostly thanks to a localized EMP blast that took out the Null Sector bots in the area. This gave the team an all too brief moment to breathe and recover before the payload needed to be taken on its way.

Everyone was in fairly rough shape, despite Angela's best efforts, there was just too much going on for her to fully keep up. She patched everyone up as best she could as they made their way to the destination.

Gabriel had taken the last phase, since he had eyes on the ground who had given him the rundown of the area. While the team was battered, he guided them fairly safely down the street to their destination.

There were a few tough fights on the way to the barricade, but the team handled the Omnics one by one.

While the payload was preparing to fire, their situation got tougher, as more and more Null Sector bots arrived to try and stop them.

The Omnics were unable to keep the team from breaching the wall, but the team was exhausted from their victories.

And, the worst was yet to come.

Some of Null Sectors strongest troops were stationed behind the barricade. With Overwatch clearing out their numbers, they had decided to accelerate their plan and had started the countdown to detonate the power plant.

Time was running out, so four essential targets were chosen. There were other high-priority dangerous Omnics present, but it was quickly determined that eliminating those four would be the fastest way to break through and stop the countdown.

Taking just a moment to formulate a plan, the ream pressed forward.

The first target fell fairly easily, the second, less so. By the time they took out the first half of the targets, the team was in bad shape.

Angela did what she could, but with time running out, they didn't have time to recover.

As the team rounded the corner, they were peppered with bullets and they lost their first member: Reinhardt.

Retreating slightly, the shocked team tried to regroup.

Back in the control room, the three team members looked on in stunned silence, but neither them or their team on the ground had time to mourn their longtime comrade.

The fallen team member's camera was still mostly intact, so Jack, Ana, and Gabriel gathered what intel they could from it and continued advising the team.

Unfortunately, they were facing a killbox and were running out of options.

Exhausted, desperate, and grieving, they frantically came up with a new plan.

Splitting up, Torbjorn darted across to the other side and a hallway, while Lena and Angela gave him cover fire.

As soon as he was clear, he started setting up a turret to try and draw the Omnics' fire.

Unfortunately he wasn't fast enough.

Null Sector focused their firepower on the engineer and gunned him down, completely obliterating his camera in the process.

Both sides were down to half of their crucial members, but the Overwatch team was outnumbered and outgunned.

Angela and Lena struggled to come up with a plan they could pull off together. Finally, after some protesting from Lena, it was solemnly agreed that Angel would draw their fire, while Lena would use her speed to try and dart ahead to see if she could get past the guards and try a desperate bid to stop the power plant from exploding.

Time was almost up, so they rushed their hasty plan into motion.

Angela walked forward slowly, whispering an apology for not being able to keep Lena safe.

Null Sector dropped her almost immediately, while Lena lept past her and darted ahead.

3

Blink.

2

Blink.

1

Lena had just barely zipped past the last two OR-14s when the countdown hit

0The power plant went up in a massive explosion that wiped out the majority of London, both human and Omnic.

There wasn't time to think or register their failure. The remaining cameras were destroyed quickly, their monitors blinked out one by one until the three leaders of Overwatch were sitting in the dark.

The silence that hung over them was heavy, full of grief and shock.

Jack was the first to speak, his voice and heart breaking, "Mission failed. Get the Prime Minister on the line, I have some explaining to do."

Grieving would have to come later.

Both Ana and Gabriel stayed by Jack as he made the most difficult call of his life. Each one had rested a hand on his shoulder, an act of solidarity connecting them.

The call to the prime minister was a long one, but neither Ana or Gabriel moved, they couldn't move, they had to face this together.

Jack didn't talk much on the call, the prime minister didn't give him a chance.

He placed the blame for the loss of London squarely on Overwatch and Jack. They had escalated a terrible situation and he thought that if Overwatch had stayed away as ordered, then perhaps London might still be on the map.

Once the prime minister said exactly what was on his mind, he hung up, swearing consequences for Overwatch overstepping their boundaries yet again.

The three leaders of Overwatch stayed together in silence for some time, until pressing matters finally overtook them.

Leading the way, Jack left the room first, closely followed by the others.

They paused for a moment in the hallway, then went their separate ways, each going off to make difficult phone calls.

The next few days were a whirlwind of grief and stress.

Memorials and funerals were given at Overwatch and around the world. Many people knew somebody who had been killed in London thanks to Null Sector.

Overwatch was an easy scapegoat and target, they were already under scrutiny, but this was the final nail in the coffin.

It took some time to relocate everyone and clear out the facilities, but eventually, it was complete.

Jack, Ana, and Gabriel were the last to leave. It was unspoken, but they all felt the same way. Overwatch had started with them and it was going to end with them.

They quietly walked through the now-empty hallways, the echoing of their boots was the only sound that remained in the once busy building.

They all reflected in their own ways, stepping through their shared past.

When they finished, they stood before the doors that marked the main entrance. They all knew it would be the last time they would ever step through those doors.

Going together, they left the past behind them. They didn't look back until they were some distance away and could see the whole building sitting there empty and alone.

Standing together, they watched as the sun set on Overwatch.

They weren't sure what the future would hold, but for now, they were going to face it together.