#there is a set up going on i'm just waiting for the lore bomb and plot mess to hit me in the face

[sleepy-aletheas]

Honestly, Sumeru falling into a self-made apocalypse because of their curiosity and hubris is inevitable, since all the nations struggle with their ideals/rules in one way or another. It's fascinating. The game is giving us so many puzzle pieces and leave so much space for everything to go wrong, I'm on the edge of my seat every single time, even if I see the trainwreck coming from afar.

(Tbh I wouldn't be surprised if they would fight for Mehrak and Karkata, and possibly other mechanical life forms, because the power of friendship and "what differs humanity from others?" philosophy would probably be dragged across it all to make a point)

On a side note:

It's interesting how much the 4* characters catch narrative strays and somehow get The Trauma™ pilled up on their plates on the daily, especially if they're meant to be a 5*'s narrative foil (or mirror, in this situation).

On one hand it's nice to see that all the characters are cared for and actually have meaning and worth to the story (when will Kujo Sara and Xinyan return from the Shadow Realm ;-;), but damn, do some of them deserve a vacation and a raise. And Kaveh is at the top of the list just for the shenanigans he's dragged into (by his own machination or some coincidence).

I think one of the funniest things about the Sabzeruz event is that the devs choose to go with Candace, Traveler, and Paimon having a whole "Ooh, two mysterious men are going into an alley to have a 'private' conversation; they must be bad guys!" only to then go "Oh just kidding, it was only Alhaitham and Kaveh doing typical Alhaitham and Kaveh things."

Except the "Alhaitham and Kaveh" thing in question this time was talking about Mehrak, a sentient robot that Kaveh built using absolutely forbidden technology, and which he then whole-heartedly willed would develop a consciousness of its own, violating one of the central taboos of his nation's governing agency, committing what amounts to an inherent and extreme felony punishable by law.

Alhaitham and Kaveh: Listen, we're not bad guys discussing illegal activity here. We're just two men having a private, personal conversation. Happens all the time.

Paimon, Candace, and Traveler: Oh cool, they're not doing a crime; they're just gay.

But they were, in fact, doing a crime.

[vexwerewolf]

If I could ask you for some advice, what do you think helps the flavour text of a mech or piece of equipment sell a player on the fantasy of using it?

I'm finding it frustratingly difficult to do so with my own homebrew content: I can come up with lore and backstory easily enough, but re-reading it feels dry, and I can't help but contrast it with how the descrptions in official content and other supplements is more evocative, at least for mechs.

Let's observe some corebook Lancer flavour text and examine the various varieties it comes in.

Purely Functional

While it's usually not the most fun type of flavour text, this just tells us what the weapon is, and - if it has any particular tags or on-hit effects - why it's like that. The Hand Cannon is a good example: here's what it is (modified pistol), here's why it does more damage, and here's why it has Loading.

The main advantage of Purely Functional flavour text is that it provides space for other types of flavour text to breathe. Flavour text is a great place for jokes, but it's not good for every piece of flavour text to be a joke - the pauses between notes in music are just as important as the notes.

Obfuscating Vendorspeak

The Bristlecrown Flechette Launcher this is a great example of dark humour that Lancer uses quite often: marketing fast-talk to cover up something really unpleasant. The joke here is based on us understanding precisely what the equipment does mechanically, and then seeing how the manufacturer tries to sell it. There's a bunch of dense technobabble here meant to obfuscate the fact that this weapon fires knives in every direction specifically designed to kill infantry.

Deadpan Weirdness

The joke here relies on describing something extremely weird like it's the most natural thing in the world. Wait, you're telling me that in a world where I can just print new parts if the old ones break, they put DRM on my fucking knife and I have to apologise to the fucking knife maker to get a new one? What the fuck, dude? Why are you acting like this makes any sense?!

My sword uploads fucking what to the Space Internet?!

Third-Act Twist

This type of flavour text disguises itself as something else - most often Purely Functional - and then hits you with Third Act Twist. It makes you go "wait, what?!" It's very classic setup-punchline stuff. You're telling me my mech can rot?!

As a side note, Lancer loves to use this for its NHPs.

WHY DID YOU PUT THAT IN SCARE QUOTES, LUCIFER

Worldbuilding

This is similar to the Purely Functional, but instead of just describing technical specifications of the weapons, it puts the weapon in the broader context of the setting's history. Okay, so we know what this weapon is and what it does - why was it built? What was the original use case, and why? Most importantly, what can the existence of this weapon tell us about the world that build it?

Whimsical Aside

This is the insertion of a light-hearted, humanising little insertion regarding how this piece of equipment gets used in the field. This serves to remind us that soldiers aren't cold, unfeeling killing machines: they can be as emotional, irreverent and silly as the rest of us, and they do things like name their mobile bombs...

... or call resupply drones "mech snacks."

The Ominous Out-Of-Context Quote That Explains Nothing And Only Raises More Questions

As I've said in multiple textmash memes, this is basically Tom and Miguel's shorthand for "this technology is Intensely Fucked Up in a way that it is more fun and scary not to explain." This is essentially Lancer's version of SCP's [REDACTED].

You might think this is the domain of HORUS, and you'd be right, but every single manufacturer indulges in these - although IPS-N had to wait until NRFaW to get theirs:

What the fuck do you mean by that, Lancer?

[maxwell-grant]

Me, yesterday: Yeah you know, I like M.Bison but I'm really not a fan of him coming back, he's had his time already, he undermines a lot of current characters and storylines by coming back, we really don't need him again, it was always inevitable but I don't know man maybe oh my GOD is that the RAUL JULIA HORSE? 10/10 100/10 bring him back forever

Okay but more seriously: As one of the dead last characters I wanted to come back, the trailer had me totally flip on that stance. I mean yes it helps I'm a mark for the guy, it helps SF6 is infuriatingly good at character presentation even for characters I don't care for, but I actually think they found a very neat way to reintroduce Bison to the series this time around basically by doing to him what they did with Seth: Destroying and rebuilding him as a shell of his former self, with a whole new design, and thus a new personality and angle to approach him from, and in no position to be the Final Boss from the get-go (since it's not like they have much of a story to insert him in). But where as with Seth they leaned into the tragedy of it, Bison is now a ticking time bomb, a looming disaster waiting to happen, which fits him looking like a Horseman of Death.

It was pretty blatant even back in V that Bison was always going to come back, with Phantom Bison existing and Rose's prophecy and characters hallucinating him left and right and all the Shadaloo plot points in 6 spelling it outright. His iconic status aside, his return was telegraphed since forever, so I'm glad that they did it in a way that doesn't actually bring him back all the way to his usual self. Even putting him at the start of a new DLC Year, rather than building a big endgame show out of him like they did with Akuma, also goes a long way towards undercutting the idea that he's coming back to be the Final Boss again.

I'm really impressed with his new design because it is the perfected version of an idea they've been kicking around ever since the drafts for SFIV, that was Bison coming back all battered and torn and fucked-up. Much like older/bearded Ryu, it's an idea they saved into alternate costumes but now are finally willing to go through with as the direction for the character moving onwards. "From riches to rags" is the idea described, and they achieved it by flipping around the kind of old-school overlord he represents. Instead of General Washizaki/Yasunori Kato, he is now Raoh/Violence Jack, the ruler of the wastelands, galloping mightily onwards. (And given Ryu is based on Kenshiro, the biggest villain of this world being Raoh feels like a decision that was waiting to happen)

They've made it so they get to have it both ways: You can have M.Bison in the game looking like his old self with the classic costume, and he's here playable doing all the good Bison stuff and a bunch of new sick shit for you to love, but in the story/lore, he couldn't be further away from being like his old self, and now there is a big mystery box on what is gonna be his deal moving forward. Bison is so well-established to the playerbase that every little thing they do differently can mean something, not just in the design but also in smaller details like his light-blue flames that potentially indicate Soul Power (and that he uses to tame himself in his victory animation), or even the fact that he has visible pupils now.

I think a large part of the pushback against Bison has to do with him being so big in V's storyline and A Shadow Falls dissappointing, and the fear that they'll do it again now that he's back, but there isn't really a storyline for him. The World Tour story is set, the DLC characters add extra stuff to it but are mostly self-contained, I don't think Bison is set to bring another boring world domination plot with him this time around. It's unclear if he even wants it. I could be very wrong here, because I don't want another Bison Doomsday Plot either, I don't want another A Shadow Falls, but my interest is piqued because of how far he seems to be from doing that.

He doesn't know who or what he is, he is a homeless wanderer in Metro City, he is having a hard time keeping his power under control, and Shadaloo is currently warring between factions that want to bring him back and factions trying to ensure he stays dead, nevermind the fact that most if not all of the characters have moved past him (and Ryu still has the power to destroy him, and if Ryu isn't that much fessed up anymore about Akuma, he's definitely not gonna be that concerned about Bison), and the first thing he did when he came back was revive a horse from the dead.

I'm not gonna say this Bison is poised to turn a new leaf, but they did say he is "searching for an identity to make him smile".

Maybe the real world domination was the horses we befriended along the way.

[little-teacupss]

The Serpentine's jealousy.

Note: Full credit goes to @skellseerwriting/ @skellseer, for the title, and the cover is still work in progress they didn't give me much to work with ;-;, anyway hope you enjoy this story it will be more Morgie based, and remember you can give criticism without being a prick.

Summary: James and Morgie navigate their complicated feelings for each other and Fay.

Note 2: If you want to be a part of the tag list, just put mail in the mailbox!

Tag list: @giveityourworst and @brokenmilkcrates, go show both of them love and support. Giveit is my co-founder for MFH, and milkc is helping me build lore for this ship!

Note 3: Part one here.

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Morgie sat against one of the shell chairs that Uliana had gotten for the lair for decoration with crossed arms as they waited for Hook to get back, he wasn't sure if Uliana had seen Fay or not, but he did, it was strange he'd liked Hook for a while, but a part of him also felt something for Fay, he'd been set up with for different classes randomly, but he never felt this way for her before she was always the nerdy, clumsy fairy who couldn't make her wand work.

He'd liked Hook for a while. They usually spent time together, or he was with Uliana. For a while, Morgie thought Hook may be gay, but now he doesn't know what to think. How could he be gay, but now have confusing feelings for his friend and his girlfriend, or is Fay his girlfriend?

He heard a snapping sound in front of him. Looking up, he saw Uliana snapping her fingers in front of his face, although having a passive look, he knew she was worried about him, she always was.

"You good, Morgs?" .Uliana asked as she stopped snapping her fingers and sat back in her seat, Morgie let out a soft chuckle as he gave a wry smile and said. "Yeah, yeah, I'll tell ya later."

Uliana gives him an uneasy look but nods. Finally, after fifteen minutes of waiting, Hook comes into the lair and takes a seat to Maleficent, who says. "You finally made it, I see, but why are you soaked?"

Hook shrugged as he leaned back in his chair before looking at Uliana as he listened to her talk about needing a plan to get back at the AK's.

After a while of thinking and many ideas being shot down, a light bulb turned on in Morgie's head as he pitched in. "What if we smoke bombed the ballroom for rehearsal for castlecoming?"

Uliana snapped her fingers as she smiled at Morgie for giving her a plan that would make people fear them more.

"That's an excellent idea Morgie."

She said as she began to give everyone their part of the plan who would do what.

They sat around and went over what each person would do, and then for a couple of hours, they sat and played cards or gossiped, it wasn't until they all started yawning that they finally left the lair, and headed back to Merlin Academy, while Uliana, Maleficent and Hades went to the dorms, Morgie followed Hook who decided that he'd spend the night in the Jolly Roger.

He grabbed Hook's shoulder, who turned around and looked at him, Morgie didn't waste any time and got straight to the point and warned Hook. "Look I saw you, I'm not sure if Uliana did, I'm not telling you to stop, but I am saying to be careful."

Morgie was very careful about what he said to the pirate as he was unsure how protective he was over his secret relationship, but also there was a tiny part of him that was afraid the Captain might just order his crew to have Morgie forced to walk the plank, while another part of him was terrified of being figured out for his feelings towards him, but then those strange, never before feelings also appeared the ones he held for Fay, she wasn't a VK, she was soft, very delicate, she was clumsy, and terrible at magic so she couldn't protect herself like Hook could, what if something happened to her because Hook was bad at hiding their relationship?

Morgie shook his head, trying to clear those thoughts from his head, before looking back at Hook, who was leaning against the rails of the dock, and fixing his hair, before turning his gaze back to Morgie and saying. "Need anything else, lad?"

Morgie shook his head and quickly made his way from the dock. Once he finally made his way to the gates of Merlin Academy, Uliana popped out from behind one of the pillars.

She crossed her arms as she approached him, and said. "So are you gonna tell me now what's going on?"

The two sat at a random picnic table as Morgie began to explain. "Well, you already know how I feel about Hook, but some things changed."

Uliana nodded a she listening and said. "Changed how?"

Morgie gulped before letting out a shaky sigh. "Well, do you know that one fairy the one always wearing light blues and periwinkle?"

Uliana nodded as she gave him a small smile as she realized where this was going.

"Well, I don't know how or when it started, but she has to be a vixen or something along with Hook she's all I think about her stupid wand tricks and softness, she can barely even get her wand to listen to her if she keeps it up she'll end up dead if she doesn't get her act straight."

Uliana laughed as Morgie went on a big rant about how Fay must have cursed him or something because it made no sense how he was gay, but constantly thinking about her and Hook.

Uliana patted his arm and said. "Morgs, I could be wrong, but maybe you're not gay, of course at one point you could've been, but maybe you've changed, and if you have that's okay, it's normal, maybe you like both men and women, maybe you like all genders, but you won't know unless you give it a chance and stop blaming it on a fairy who can't even get her wand to work for her, it doesn't mean you have to stop liking Hook, maybe you'll find you two are more alike then you may think."

Morgie hummed in response, unsure of what to think of what the sea witch said. He'd know he was gay for a while, so how could he just abandon it so quickly?

Uliana got up from the bench across from him and made her way over before gently putting her arms around his shoulders, hugging him close, so he knew it was alright.

Morgie grabbed her hand and squeezed it as he looked at the table in front of him, unsure of what to think anymore. One minute, he's gay, and the next, he truly doesn't have an idea what to think anymore.

The two ended up going back to Uliana's dorm, where she let Morgie stay for the night so she could be there to comfort him as he figured out what was going on with him.

Uliana smiled at him as he sat on the floor before joining him and said. "You don't have to decide anything yet. Just try and get some rest, okay, Morgs?"

He gave her a small half smile as he nodded before laying back against the carpet. With his arms rested underneath his head, Uliana patted his leg before getting up and getting into bed, as she began to let out a soft humming sound similar to how a siren would, so Morgie would relax enough to fall asleep.

- two days later, Monday 8:40 am. -

The entire VK group was hanging out in the courtyard, Uliana was sorting their plan, while the other four played cards, but Morgie's focused wasn't exactly on the card game, instead his eyes periodically traveled to across the courtyard where a certain fairy was sat with her nose in a book sometimes waving her wand that'd do absolutely nothing.

Hades snapped his fingers infront of Morgie's face and said. "It's your turn."

Morgie let out a shaky breath before throwing a random card. It wasn't looking great for him anyway, so what was the point of trying when he had more dire problems going on right now.

Hades squinted his eyes at him, but let the game go on, not questioning what was going on with the Serpentine, but before he could think about it any longer, Maleficent slammed her hand down and took all the cards from the middle.

"Another point for Mali?" .Hook asked as he picked the pen up and tallied up the score, unaware of what was going on around him as Hades whispered something to Maleficent, whose eyes traveled to Morgie, but his attention was gained when he felt a sharp kick to his shin, and he let out a loud yelp. "That hurt. What was that for ya bilge rat?"

Hook glared at the sorceress across from him, Maleficent got up and led Hook away from where Hades and Morgie were restarting the game and said. "Haven't you noticed some things up with him?"

Hook looked back and forth from Maleficent to Morgie. Before shrugging, he felt a light tap on his chest as Maleficent gave him a pointed look before walking off back to the table, as Hook let out a soft sigh seeing as he'd be the one to figure out what was going on with his friend.

He stalked his way back over he gently grabbed Morgie by his shoulder and led him away from the courtyard and near an old corridor, close enough to see their crew, but not close enough to hear what was going on.

"Alright, bucko, what's been going on? You've been hanging the jib all day, matey?" .Hook said as he looked at his friend, wondering what could possibly being going on with him to make him so gloomy, compared to his usual upbeat self.

Morgie let out a soft sigh as he ran his fingers through his hair and leaned back against the wall with crossed arms while nervously bouncing his leg.

James, taking in how nervous the other guy was, backed a little away in case he felt claustrophobic and said. "Ay, it's alright me hearty, take your time it can't be that bad as plundering or sinking ships for a living?"

He tried to be light-hearted to try and calm Morgie, who shook his head in response.

Morgie had no clue how he could possibly tell his friend that he held feelings for not only him but his girlfriend, the same one he told Hook to be careful with so they wouldn't get caught, he let out a shaky breath, as he tried to regain composer and control of the situation, he combed his hand through his hair and blurted out. "It's about Fay, alright, I think I- I'm not sure, actually."

James eyes widened a bit, and his mouth tightened a little, but he listened on to what the Serpentine had to say. "But it's not just Fay, it's everything. it's you, her, and I don't understand, i thought I did, but I clearly don't at all."

Morgie sighed as he tried to come up with a way to tell the pirate what was going on, but he'd much rather have the floor open beneath him and suck him into the void the more he went on, he started to adjust his shirt, before he continued. "Look, I'm not trying to get in the way of you and Fay, but you needed to know how I feel for both of you it doesn't feel right not telling you as my friend."

He managed to get out before staring at Hook, who was processing what he'd been told with crossed arms as he nodded before approaching Morgie, who was nervously looking at him, James gently grabbed his shoulder.

"How about we figure things out with Fay present, mate?" .Hook waited for Morgie to give an indication that he wanted to, as he watched Morgie look at the ground and cross his arms over his chest before stepping away from the pirate and said. "The last thing I want is for you two to have problems."

James furrows his brows at him before letting out a slow whistle, as he said. "Nothing gonna change. Well, some things will, hopefully, but nothing bad will change, bucko."

James put his arm around Morgie's shoulder and further explained. "Fay's going through something a little similar at the moment, poor wee faes, you'd be surprised by how similar you both are."

After a while of mentally preparing, James led Morgie when he was ready back to the courtyard, but not where the VK's were, but over where Fay was at with her book and wand, being wove around, but nothing happening as she said. "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo?"

They watched as she glared at the book before waving her around around and repeating. "Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo."

Her wand sparkled, but it was becoming clear what she hoped to happen wasn't going to as the book disappeared in thin air, with her mouth falling open and dropping her wand as she look to her hands in shock.

James smiled as he waved his hand in front of the shocked fairy's face, who slowly looked up at him, and Morgie still wearing a look of confusion as she still wondered what happened to the book.

"Y- yes?" .She nervously said while still processing that she had just made her homework vanish, her dark eyes moved from James to Morgie, and back again, as she nervously fiddled with the hem of her skirt.

"Ahoy! Me Corsair, you see Morgie here was thinking of telling you something."

Fay looked at her lap before slowly looking up to Morgie, who gulped loudly as he looked between the two before taking a step closer to Fay and gently helping her stand up.

He pursed his lips as he stared at the nervous fairy who glanced behind him before looking back up at him as he said. "Look, I know we don't- well, it's all strange really, I don't know when or how it happened, but."

Morgie struggled to find the words to tell the fae in front of him who stared up at him as he fumbled to confess to her.

Fau watched him patiently as she was unsure of what he was about to say, but there was a part of her that knew what he was gonna say, as he continued. "For a while now, I've begun to see you differently. You used to be the nerdy fairy who couldn't use her wand, but then I don't know, you always seem so hopeful no matter how upset you get when you don't get it right the first dozen times, yet you never stop trying."

Morgie rambled on about randomly little facts about her he'd noticed over time before looking down at her and nervously looking away when their eyes met.

Fay nodded as he went on, and on about random things she'd do, her love for blueberry pie, how excited she'd get if her wand would finally decide to work, the way she smiled, or how the gleam in her eyes was ever so familiar a gleam.

"I guess what I want to say is- well, you know, I like you, Fay Godmother." .It felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders the moment he got it out, but then a new fear arouse as he waited for Fay's reaction to his confession.

Fay's eyes widened at the sudden confession as she looked up at the Serpentine, whose eyes slitted a bit as he stared at her, Fay nodded as she let a small smile grace her face.

Behind Morgie, they could hear a soft wolf whistle before Morgie was playfully shoved forward and sent flying into Fay.

The two tumbled into each other, Morgie slipped one arm around Fay's waist while the other braced against the picnic table behind her to keep them from falling onto it, when he opened his eyes he realized just how close they were as their noses brushed against one another's.

They both gave a soft chuckle to each before before Morgie lifted them back into a standing position.

Hook finally made his way over and drapped his arms around their shoulders as he smiled at the two deviously and said, "So how bout we give this a wee try, me hearties?"

The two nodded bashfully as the pirate gave a hearty laugh at the two's reactions to his suggestion, after a while of clearing some things up and three planned a time to spend time together soon, so finally after a long few days of questioning everything Morgie laid in bed feeling content at where his life was at the moment.

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I want to give a special thank you to @skellseerwriting and @brokenmilkcrates for giving me so much help with setting up queer relationships and queer discovery, so go show them some much love and support!

Another special thank you to @giveityourworst for helping me create the MFH ship and becoming my co-founder go show them some love as well!

I hope you've enjoyed it, and if you want to be on the tag list, just put mail in the mailbox!

Tag list: @giveityourworst and @brokenmilkcrates! @saturnisaroace and @jupiterisaroace

Anyway till the next story! Ba bye!

[thewertsearch]

(Mini) Ask Comp 11/10

I talked a bit about this during Hivebent. In summary, my predictions were:

Sollux is guaranteed to die.

Vriska and the Guardians are likely to die.

The four humans will probably make it to the comic's endgame, as will Karkat, Kanaya and Terezi.

Gamzee, Nepeta, and other secondary trolls could potentially die.

Aradia will remain 'alive', and might move to a biomechanical body in the future.

I couldn't tell you when these deaths will happen, but I stand by each of these predictions - including Aradia's.

The explosion may have destroyed her body, but the ghost within was incorporeal. She'll be back.

Yup. I knew almost nothing about Bec at the time, but it was easy to pick up on the aura of danger he exudes.

Just based on vibes, I'm going with 'a Time Player who was almost a Life Player'. Who knows if that's consistent with the comic's lore.

This idiot thinks his special oven transports him into the future by the amount he sets on the timer. Well, he's sort of right. But in reality, all that's happening is that he's hiding in there until the timer's up, then pops out. [...] The oven doesn't really have any magical time properties to be negated. It just travels into the future at a rate of one second per second, like everyone else.

I suppose it's not explicitly stated that the oven is mundane - just that it doesn't have any powers relating to time.

You set the bomb to go off in a few seconds, when both it and Biscuits are released from it in a few hours.

As you pointed out, this is pretty obviously false - although I actually think it was intentional. The Intermission's time shenanigans were deliberately written to be confusing, and I think the oven's properties were designed to muddy the waters even more.

You're meant to read the line above, and be like: "Wait, what? But I thought it was just an oven! Does it have time powers or not? This was hard enough to follow already, and now the narrator is basically lying about the Felt's abilities. Am I being fucked with?" (Yes.)

[major-knighton]

Tonight, I was browsing through @gallusrostromegalus' Family Lore tag having a great time, when I got a phone call to announce the birth of my baby cousin, my first ever female cousin (I have six of those), and it reminded me that I, too, have a Weird Family Story that some people might be entertained by. So, this is the story of

How my birth solved a 7 decades old mystery

First, the setting of our story's first part. Rural Picardy, France, 1940s. War has just stopped, the Germans and Americans alike have left, but things are still A Mess. Lots of buildings and crops destroyed by bombings, everyone is poor and traumatized and lots of people have just disappeared. Still, life goes on.

My great grandmother, who in my mind will always be my beloved Mémé, is a young woman of 18 or so, works in a broom-making factory and lives in a tiny village at the foot of an old castle. She is also pregnant.

But wait, that's not a problem, a strapping young man of 20 wants to marry her, he's also a factory worker, and more importantly he's a delightful man and wonderful cook. Mémé is a sensible girl, she's very charmed and soon wedding bells are a-clanging.

Here's the catch : the baby she's pregnant with is not her husband's. This is not public information in the slightest, so the couple can live their life without scandal, but it's a sort of hushed up semi-secret within the family. Who is the actual father of the baby? Nobody knows. Maybe Mémé does, it's even likely because everyone in the village knows each other, but if she does, she doesn't tell. Doesn't talk about it, and those in the know know better than to ask.

I sincerely hope it was a sort of one-night-stand and not something more sordid, but that's something we'll never know.

Anywho. Mémé and Pépé have a very happy marriage, and go on to have another child, and they raise the half-siblings as full siblings, never treating the eldest any different. Pépé loves his daughter even if she's not his blood, and she returns it fiercely. As far as my Grandma is concerned, Pépé was her true father, the one who mattered.

Skip forward in time. My Grandma has four daughters, who of course know Pépé as their grandfather without question even after learning The Secret after adulthood. Blood is thicker than water but not as thick as the blackberry jam that Pépé made while you played in the pond during the summer holidays. The youngest of Grandma's four daughters is about to give birth to her first child, and Mémé and Pépé are delighted to welcome a fifth great-grandchild.

Traditionally, a birth is a moment of joy and happiness. I'm sure mine was too, but it was also rather chaotic, as my first action was to karate-kick my mother in the stomach to herald my imminent arrival, therefore making her spill her recently eaten pasta on my dad's shoes. My triumphant entry into this world did not stop there, as my poor beleaguered mother was told, right after delivering a baby of nearly 4kg, that this massive chunk of flesh and screams had Something Wrong With It. Not the best thing to hear after giving birth.

The Something Wrong, as it turned out, was a specific type of hip dysplasia. That means that my hips were not properly finished forming around my femurs to lock my legs to the rest of my body. A slightly too enthusiastic pediatrician demonstrated this by pulling on one of my pudgy little baby legs to show that it would go as far as the stretching of my muscles and skin would allow. My mom, lifelong rugby player nicknamed McGuyver by her friends and toughest person I know, proceeded to burst into tears.

Other than being a sure way to traumatize young mothers, hip dysplasia is not an irreversible problem. Several weeks of wearing solid diapers that were a bit more like a plaster cast than an article of clothing, my bones were set with nothing more than a slight crookedness that would result in mild scoliosis. I learned to walk and sit straight perfectly well, and all was well.

Except.

The pediatrician with very little tact remarked, in passing, how this specific variation of hip dysplasia is particularly common in Brittany, but not so much in our region. Bizarre, thought my mother, we have no Breton relatives or ancestry. But some weeks later, while she was watching baby me wiggle around making a lot of noise, she remembered that in the family village, there had been a family of Bretons.

To be fair, seeing as we had no contact with that family, and I was only told about all this after Pépé and Mémé's passing, we'll never have absolute utter certainty that Unkown Breton Man is the biological source of our very extensive family. But it seems hella likely.

I don't mind the uncertainty very much. I know who my great grandfather was : a very funny old man who kept pigeons, cooked like magic and flipped the table after losing at Scrabble to amuse his many grandchildren and great grandchildren, DNA or no DNA. I keep a picture of him, black and white, marching on strike with a cigarette in his mouth and a béret on his head. My eldest cousin is named after Pépé's father. He's the real family.

But knowing the history of dysplasia in the family is useful. Tonight, Pépé's first great great grandchild is born. Without dysplasia, but the doctors knew to look for signs of it in advance. So, I'm glad to welcome this little one. I'll sit her in my lap in a few years, and tell her how her great great grandparents loved each other deeply from 20 to 90.

[vaalthus]

The Mana Core (Spoilers)

Oh boy have things escalated quickly.

I have to say I like the brief gander through the Project Casca laboratory. It reminds me all too well of sequences in other video games, in which, characters finds themselves in dreary or primitive settings only to find highly advanced sterile white rooms indicating they are in the presence of something that completely contrasts the settings they've been in prior that tells them immediately that something is either very off or that the world around them is much bigger than they realize.

Unfortunately, in the case of the Magesterium's little white room, we learn that we should very much be in a state of unease when learning the consequences of their use of this facility. To learn that the Mana Core is not self-replenishing is very concerning, as it makes manaphages more terrifying, and it's alarming that the Magesters are more than fine with continuing to take pieces of the Core if it means they can have a stranglehold on their empire and how far it reaches if no alternatives can be substituted for the Core. I'm curious as to whether or not they would have brought Lore to the very brink before giving up on this resource and I feel like we already know the answer to that.

and speaking of alternatives...

Rather interesting to learn that the Exalted did, as suspected, come across MQ based technology and incorporated into their own works. What I find interesting is that one of these remnants was used in the creation of the Exalted Artillery. It certainly explains why the Exalted were able to forge a weapon capable of harming the Aequilibria to begin with as there has been a bit of consistent theme of mechquest related structures, or entities, being able to kind of just break the rules of reality. I wonder, in looking upon this revelation, if Notha would be proud she followed in similar footsteps of the Exalted when it came to incorporating and manipulating technology.

Which of course explains why Akanthus can't be bounded by the rules of magic in this world and is incredibly strong. Not only is he accessing the vast well of mana that the Magesters so desperately wanted to tap into for themselves one day, which grants him a strong body, but he is also slipping past the laws of the magic that governs Lore. Or perhaps more accurately, those laws are overlooking him so to speak. Either way, the world just doesn't know what to do with something like him or rather what he's been connected to.

I genuinely do love the amount of self-pitying Akanthus does in this moment. Yes, it does suck that Sobieslav was effectively raised up alongside other children to be experimented upon until they achieved a state that they were rendered effectively magicless in a world defined by magic and that they might just fade into the Ether once they die but it doesn't justify all they did after they were exiled by the Magesterium. It doesn't justify all those he killed or allowed to be killed in the Land of Dragons nor all the suffering he caused under the guise that he was achieving the peace the Rose claimed it offered.

He implies his lack of mana is what made him a monster, inhuman, but it's not. It was his selfishness, brutality, and apathy towards the lives of others. You were human Akanthus. You just chose to be the worst of what we had to offer.

For a moment, I thought this was going to be the most terrifying moment in this quest...

I even thought perhaps this was going to be that moment, but no there was something much worse waiting to happen. Also screw this guy for putting his hands on the dragon child!

*Ahem* No what was actually terrifying was this moment.

The Aequilibria, the gods of this universe, reawakened. Imagine my utter horror at the fact that it wasn't Jaania trying to weave herself into the Core or the doom bomb being the cause of this moment but us bringing Draco, one of its creation, being the reason why the gods woke up to see what was going on in their world.

Curiously enough, they bare the face of Sk'aar prior to turning back to the eight elemental stars we can see at the top of the Exaltia tower when fighting the Engineer in the Inn. This seems somewhat odd given that Sk'aar seemed to be implying they wanted to awaken a separate entity alongside us which seemed to be the Aequilibria itself.

I just love how this moment proved my suspicion that the eight eyes of Sk'aar we saw in AdventureFriends were supposed to be representative of the Elements which makes sense given the only reason we had that dream in the first place is because the love potion we drank had Quintessence in it, something that clearly contains all eight prime elements within it.

Curiosities on the visage of Aequilibria aside, what follows next is a pitiful sight.

This seems a narrtively fitting end for Akanthus if he can't be harmed. For the longest time, Akanthus viewed himself as an abomination cheated out of his rightful place in the world alongside everyone else and committed countless atrocities in his quest to regain that place. Going as far as waking up the gods of this universe to grant him his way. Upon awakening, they confirm that he is indeed an impurity to the natural order of the world but they do not grant him the connection he seeks. No instead, they remove him even further from the world itself and they contain him in a way only a god can when killing isn't an option. I don't know if this farewell for good to Akanthus since his soul still exists but if so I say goodbye and good riddance to bad rubbish.

With Akanthus finally neutralized, we turn our attention to the elephant in the room:

Our gods are analyzing the state of their creation.

And they are not pleased with the current status of Lore one bit.

All of Lore has just been marked for death because a frozen arch magus and one big metal butthead couldn't leave stuff alone.

Interestingly enough it seems like Aequilibria was referring to the twin cycles when they asked if it was time to start anew. This makes me wonder if Draco themselves aren't necessarily the true destroyer that is meant to wipe clean Lore but merely responsible in alerting Aequilibria when it times to refresh the system and Fluffy in turn is meant to alert them when its time to create life again. It seems somewhat unlikely, especially if they meant they were only waking up because the cycle has gone so wrong, but the Aequilibria makes it sound as if they were supposed to be woken up at set intervals.

What concerns me most though is the way they speak. Others have already pointed out that they talk very robotic in nature, very similarly to how Sk'aar spoke in one of the AdventureFriend routes, and their decisions are very straight to the point and seemingly without any trace of nuance.

Connections to MQ aside, this is very much a being that expects order and nothing but order in the system they have created and if it deems its creation has deviated too far from the system it will conclude to destroy it. I do not have high hopes for being able to reason with such an entity. It took the resources of all the Exalted to force this thing out of commission for a period of time so we are in some serious trouble.

[macgyvertape]

Fallout show impressions (spoilers ep 1&2)

Much like Righteous Gemstones, Walter Goggins steals the scenes he's in

The opening bit is really good in setting the tone where you're just waiting for the bomb drop, and I look forward to seeing gifs that break down the good editing and use of reflections

Same thing with the vault wedding waiting for the other shoe to drop, since no one ever leaves a Vault happily. Where the show shows tattoos and scars that Vaulties wouldn't have but Raiders would, so there's a horror to watching Lucy sleep with a guy who isn't who he says he is even before the knife comes out

The show takes place 14 years after Fallout New Vegas, I'm surprised there's still a Brotherhood of Steel presence like this but I guess it makes sense if this isn't a world where the Pridwen was blown up and Maxson was killed (my default FO4 state)

The razor blade boot scene was brutal god the Brotherhood of Steel is so fucking toxic (very accurate!) where I'm genuinely not sure if Maximus did it

Ep 2 the opening musical montages worked. Fun on point lyrics "some folks can lose the blues in their heart" as we see something blue on screen and we see the Enclave Scientist target get a quite literal "Pet the Dog" trope moment. The fadeout of "don't fence me in" where Lucy takes in the horror of family dead at the dinner table with the "Vault Tec Econo-Savings Poison".

The comedic moment of "It's a Man" as the music contrast as Maximus has fun with the power armor that also shows how much of a threat it makes someone.

me: why does the scientist guy seem so familiar, oh it's Harold Finch!

Great to see greenery, like obviously stuff would have regrown but the non 76 games don't show it

Guess the armor can go for longer than 10 hours one one charge? Like Maximus did not think armor support through like he thinks the Brotherhood won't still kill him even if he brings back the target

Very fun to think about what perks the characters spec'd as, like The Ghoul definitely picked Grim Reaper's Sprint, and Lucy seems to have Weird Wasteland

had to look away from the leg device, even the sound effects were awful. Of course it's replacement limbs made for the army and they are shit

LMAO the powersuit can't go up wood stairs just like 40k

lmao the scientist would rather take cyanide and die than explain any mysteries

Overall the show pulls off swinging between camp and being dead serious especially going through sex, violence, and horror moments. As a show it's well done, but it's wait and see if they make any dumb lore writing choices

[wretcheddthing]

wait hold on you GOTTA tell me about guy heroic (and also mercury and the others 👀)

OKAY Quick Rundown

Guy Heroic: Human Fighter, Battle Master i think (i lost his character sheet it's been a HOT minute). Guy Heroic is my silly attempt to make the most BASIC D&D Character of all time. Noble background, he's a prince. He likes cartography. His personal mission is to hunt down and kill a dragon that attacked his kingdom, but as far as I can tell not all is what it seems! His parents aren't as charitable as they present themselves! His new friend Ultyn is teaching him about communism :)

Mercury: Tiefling artificer, she's an alchemist :) Forgot her background, I have her sheet somewhere but I'm lazy. They make alchemical bombs :) Big fan of explosives and volatile substances. They were responsible for a workshop explosion that killed their younger sister, Cobalt, so they're working toward finding a more stable form of explosive that won't overload unaccompanied. But also she trades with a lot of shady individuals to get her hands on hard to obtain materials. i actually have an unfinished reference sheet for her

Zelmae: She's my everything. She was my everything long before Venali was incepted. Zelmaeeeee my girl. Half-elf cleric of Muflene, a made up goddess for my dear friend @pricemarshfield's campaign setting. Zelmae is a Pacifist, has (had?) a girlfriend named Daphne, and grew up really really secluded. She took a vow of silence at a young age, but was exiled from her home for Reasons (hello other players who don't know). She's not bound to that vow any more and doesn't really want to honor it anymore after everything, but having not spoken for so long, her voice is shot. She communicates almost exclusively with sign language. Also, she's having a generally Pretty Bad Time where she doesn't know how much faith she has anymore <3 Rough for a cleric. I don't have any current art for her, she needs to have a redesign.

Tozra Cardove: Half-elf bard, college of swords, entertainer background. He's my Wyll romance tav and I don't know too terribly much about him other than he's had a crush on Wyll and is a little starstruck in meeting him - the famed Blade of Frontiers ! I'm not very far in that save yet bc I'm still playing Venali for the third time ;-;. I'll get there.

Ninasi Mavaro: I've forgotten just about everything about her outside of vibes. Drow rogue thief. She has a casual relationship with murder as well, but she's not like. Into it. There's no satisfaction there. I gotta find out where I wrote all of this stuff down, her character sheet is Somewhere.

Lilfi Zinwyse Sona Heslin "Limbo" "Seeker" Lastreach: Gnome rogue, goes by Seeker, she's a treasure hunter! She's sort of a predecessor to Venali in those terms bc Ven's backstory borrowed a little bit from Seeker. Not much, but definitely some commonalities in terms of Shit Went Down in some old ruins, but man. idk. Seeker kinda stopped there in terms of development other than she wants to travel but her family are really deep in some woods and don't want her to. They want her to stay and help, but she wants to go out and explore (and steal objects to sell to bring money back to her clan.)

Micha "Bane" Folkor: Gnome cleric of Helm i believe. They grew up noble in a large city (i forgot which one i said bc i wrote it well before i learned more about forgotten realms lore). Their father was an inventor and merchant and that's where the family wealth came from. They weren't set with some of the practices being used to uphold that wealth, so they left to try to spread some good in the world.

I have PLANY more but my memory for them is way worse than it is for some of these guys :)

[ufohio]

I'm really interested in this setting! What are the types of alien species in X World to play as? I've got some ideas for a character and I want to see if they could fit here!

Hey, great question. As a matter of fact, there will be no prescribed alien peoples or species on X WORLD. Instead, extraterrestrial life can come from anywhere in the universe and take any miraculous form you can come up with. 

Or, to make a long story short, aliens and their respective home planets, asteroids, or vacuums are DIY with some basic assembly instructions.

Our upcoming science fiction setting hopes to invoke an older, more colorful and magical sense of wonder that was typical of the genre before the bombs, Sputnik, and the moon landing. With that in mind, I'm eager to see all different kinds of creatures and peoples from all different kinds of worlds, societies, histories, and futures. My hope with this setting is that there will be just enough solid ground to make encounters with these other imaginative beings truly astonishing and fantastic. 

Plus, I hope it gives writers the opportunity to explore other avenues,  possibilities, and even anxieties regarding future societies in the same way a lot of classic sci-fi does. 

We'll see, huh? In any case, those are just some of the reasons I decided to go with very, very "open lore" for aliens. 

So You Wanna Make a Space Alien…

I'll go over this in more detail when I cover storylines and opportunities for the Floridian member group—in fact, maybe I'll go over that next—but if you're brainstorming alien character ideas, let me help get you started. On X WORLD, it all starts with a basic building block of life. 

So think about what kind of compositional base you'd like your alien to have—and then how that might affect everything else about them. One of the very first profile fields on X WORLD is what type of lifeform your character is. 

For instance, are they a carbon-based human lifeform?

Or an ice-based extraterrestrial lifeform? Or a magnet-based alien? Are they a jellyfish-like creature? Or is their most basic bodily foundation fire—or light, or muscle, or sound? (I'm not adhering to science fact and neither should you; anything can be life in science fiction and fantasy.)

Anyway, that's just to get you started thinking. Again, I'll go over this in more detail eventually. I also hope to get you good folk some screenshots soon! My friend is making good, beautiful progress and I can't wait to share when she's ready.

[shadow-kings-legacy]

"We're wide awake now, our eyes are wide open" Definition of hero

1a : a mythological or legendary figure often of divine descent endowed with great strength or ability b : an illustrious warrior c : a person admired for achievements and noble qualities d : one who shows great courage source: Meriam Webster online dictionary

The dictionary definition of a hero paints quite a fantastic picture of an ideal good character, something my players and I have put aside for the PCs, who all have flaws, goals and needs. It makes me really proud everytime someone does something incredible and in-character when we play. But I digress, it's time to introduce the main characters of our journey. In order of appearence and color coded for your benefit: 🟡 Alyssa (the paladin) 🌞 🟠 Joshiro (the monk) ⚓ 🔵 Korinn (the warlock) 🌊 🎀 Nonemi (the artificer) 🔫 🟢 Ozthen (the rogue) 🍀 🟣 Vesper (the bard) 💄 ⚫ Cassius (the warlock) 📚 🔴 Phybble (the (villain) wizard) 🍵 (Not shown) Dakreg (the fighter) 💪 I'll go into detail about their backstories and my thoughts about them in individual posts. For now, I'd like to make a synopsis of the story and a little bit of the process of how I came up with it.

"Have you heard about the Warlock King?" "Shh! Don't call him that, least you'll anger him!" "Alright, how about Shadow King?" -Whispers amoung a Waterdeep tavern crowd It all started in our starting campaing, where our local tabaxi warlock Korinn chose Larloch, the Shadow King to be her patron. This is nothing new of course, he is a popular choice for he is know as an incredibly powerful archmage in the DnD lore, his existence stretching back for centuries, having been a powerful mage in the ancient Netheril empire. Always the naive woman, Korinn made a deal with the lich, and in exchange, she would bring him magical items and offer him interesting subjects for his research. But in her chaotic nature, Korinn chose to defy his orders at the end of Lost Mines of Phandelver, this being the starting point of our next plot, and the birth of our new BBEG (Big Bad Evil Guy). Now, for anyone who has read a bit about Larloch, you'll know he's not really "evil" by canon lore, he's a lawful (but still kinda evil, he kills anyone not of interest to him without a second thought, come on) crature, one who wants to be left alone to read and experiment by his lonesome like the nerd he is, he simps for the goddess of magic Mystra (he calls her The Lady, tips fedora) and makes the ocassional ground breaking new magical item / spell of the moment. That said, the wiki gave me a juicy hook to use him as a villain:

"But he was also insane, his mind affected by his extreme age. Sometimes he could be calm and even whimsical. Other times he was crazed, snarling and launching spells at random" -Forgotten Realms Wiki

"Well now, ain't that interesting" thought the me of the past. You're telling me this stupidly powerful being, who is presumed to have planned to every single variant that could occur, Dr Strange style, is a unstable old man? Sweet. So the magical equivalent of an atomic bomb's trigger was being held by this dude, let's just make the small sliver of sanity he has left realize he is loosing himself, that time is running out and he has to secure his legacy, to go out with a boom. But Larloch is not that selfish, he knows whatever plan he comes up with will affect Faerûn as a whole, so why not try to change the continet for good? Start a new era, an age of magic. Sweet lady Mystra, as much as she likes him, would not approve of him messing with her precious Weave of course, so his first step, deal with the meddling (but oh so beautiful) goddess of magic. He would not kill her, as he is no fool, gods can not be slayed (or can they...? Let's put a pin in that as well); so he'll just trap her, sealing her powers and keeping her safe in the safest place he knows, his phylactery. One deceitful invitation later, and with the help of his ol' "pals" Szass Tam, Zulkir of Necromancy and leader of the Thay nation; and the ancient black dragon (I know, he's cannonicaly green, but as I said, this is semi-homebrewed to fit the needs of my table) Vorgansharax, better know as the The Maimed Virulence, Mystra finds herself trapped and helpless at the hand of one of the few mortals she admired. Ain't life funny.

"Wait, so you're telling me a goddess, and not just any goddess, the misstress of fucking magic got trapped and no one noticed?!" Well, not quite dear reader, the other gods of the pantheon of course noticed, particulary god of justice Torm and his fiance (again, homebrewed) goddess of beauty Sune. The latter being the first to realized the absence of her dear friend, who went and told her man something smelled fishy (or dead, considering Larloch's an undead?). Both set out to investigate, and considering not many beings in the realm could be a danger to a god, the trail let to our lich friend quite fast. Torm, being a bit of a hot-head jumped at the chance to teach justice to this creature, while Tyr, the old god of justice begged him to reconsider, to think things through before taking actions. "A mortal capable of making Mystra dissapear is not to be taken lightly my friend" he said to deaf ears.

And so, with Sune helping him, Torm met with quite the surprise. Larloch had prepared for the interferance of other gods, so he ran a little experiment, he knew gods couldn't be killed, but why was that? The church would tell you it's because the gods live on all of us, as long as we believe in them, so even if they were to be struck down, the faith of the believers would bring them back. "The hypothesis is set, it is time to test it". And test it he did. With the raw power of two ancient liches and a black dragon, they were struck down in all of their inmortal arrogance. Larloch tracked the massive magical energies to two mortals in the Material Plane. "Interesting". The gods, after the mess that the Spellplague caused in the mortal's plane, had decided to not pick "champions" to control again it seemed, but still designed "vessels" of high faith and compatibility with their characteristics to recuperate their strenght at a faster rate if something were to happen to them. "So it is true, gods cannot die as long as their faith exist in mortals... Well now, what would happen if we removed this faith? Time for a new experiment. How intriguing". And so, the Shadow King set out to do the impossible, again. I'll tell more about the backstory and start tyring to tie in the PCs in the next posts. it is quite a lot of information, so putting everything together is a bit overwhelming, but so fun. Makes me realize how much work I've put into this. I'm proud of myself, take that depression! Stay tunned, and beware of the shadows 💀 Credit of the Faerûn map goes to Johnovick on Reddit.

[topherfoxtrot]

Thunderbolts: The hulk's personal protection team

Hey, here's the second episode of my fanon thunderbolts. Since last episode Emil Blonsky escaped from his imprisonment. He's probably going after the Hulk, right? John, Ava, Yelena, Justin and the mysterious Contessa Valentina attend to a presentation Bruce Banner is giving at MIT to find out. This one is more comedy leaned. It wasn't a conscious choice, it just sort of happened. But I'm glag it did. If you enjoy your read please like, share or comment something :D

Valentina hated those heels but something inside of her made she wear them anyways, even on grass. She was going first and foremost. Justin Hammer was right behind her jumping in excitement and giving a lot of useless yet interesting facts about MIT lore and culture. The rest of the thunderbolts were there too. John was wearing a cap and a 5 o'clock beard. Ava was wearing a huge gray sweater as she usually did. Yelena was rocking a leather jacket. For all purposes they did look like a group of college students.

"This place is huge!" Ava looked around, "I wish I went to college."

"What would you do?" John asked.

"I don't know. Anything except quantum physics I guess!" Ava laughed.

"I knew a quantum physics guy once." Justin thought out loud.

"Yeah you knew everyone." Yelena rolled her eyes, "You told that already. We been knew."

"Hey, no need to be so harsh. Your new equipment is my property and I can reclaim them at any time, remember?"

"Oh yeah I haven't used the tasers yet. Wanna help me out with that?" Yelena smirked.

"Behave, children." Valentina intervened, "We want doctor Banner to have a good first impression about us. Specially after the Blosnky incident." She side eyed Ava.

The campus was packed with people of all ages and all around the country and possibly the whole world too. There have been a lot of workshops and seminars the whole week, but today's main event was special: Bruce Banner was gonna give a presentation on the applications of biochemistry in robotics. Apparently the robot dogs running around campus were testing an engine that doesn't need gasoline or electric energy to work.

"I've seen those dogs before." John was reading an informative folder, "I don't think building them to never sleep is a good idea."

"I have a history of dangerous applications of robotics and I agree." Justin cleaned his glasses. The microfiber cloth had his name on it. "It can get out of hand rather quickly!"

"Now that I think about it Bruce Banner also has a history of dangerous applications of robotics." Yelena pointed out, "Y'all remember Ultron?"

"Mistakes are learning opportunities. I mean, not for them I guess." Valentina sighted, "Trust me those super idiots are always making mistakes and they never learn!" She said that last part in a loud whisper.

The presentation was supposed to happen at 4pm so they got there one hour earlier as the Contessa wanted. Doctor Banner was in the auditorium already. His big hands were setting the projector and his eyes were studying the obnoxiously small papers scattered across the table. As usual, the heels Valentina was wearing announced her presence.

"Doctor Banner." She greeted him formally.

"Hello." He analyzed her quickly, "How can I help you..? And you?" He looked at the thunderbolts arriving with the Contessa.

"Well, you see." Valentina took off her sunglasses, "It might actually be the other way around. We are the ones who are here to help."

"Oh." Bruce changed his posture to pay full attention at the lady.

"We are the thunderbolts and we are here to protect you Doctor Banner."

"Protect... me?" Bruce tried to sound polite.

"We have privileged information that confirms you might be in danger, man!" Justin put himself in front of Valentina, "We don't want to scare you or anything but the Abomination scaped his imprisonment!"

Bruce's eyes opened wide suddenly. It's been fifteen years since he saw Emil Blonsky. And as time passed by he caught himself thinking about the man less and less. Now however this distant memory became an immediate danger.

"Should I cancel the..?"

"No, of course not Doctor Banner!" Valentina waved her hand as if the whole situation was nothing but a little annoyance, "You can carry on with your presentation. The Thunderbolts are here to protect you. Also, my name is Valentina Allegra de La Fontiane, Contessa Valentina de La Fontiane. It's a lot to remember I know but don't worry, I'm hard to forget."

"Okay. The.. hm, thunderbolts." He looked at the weird bunch, "Hey aren't you the new Captain America?" He asked.

John looked down and then looked to the roof real quick, "I'm not Captain America anymore." He said between his teeth.

"Yeah there's a new new Captain America now." Valentina rolled her eyes, "But that's not important now, is it? We'll just sit here and wait for the presentation to be over. How about that?"

Bruce didn't trust the team quite yet, but he trusted himself to be his own protection so it was no big deal. Still, as the thunderbolts took their sits at the end of the room, Bruce grabbed his cellphone to check if Emil was really out. There was nothing on the news or on twitter which meant that either Valentina was lying or the government was hiding this information really well. Both options were equally plausible in Bruce's eyes so he decided to roll with it.

***

When the presentation started the lights went out. Yelena, Ava, John, Justin and Valentina were sitting on the last set of chairs. At some point Valentina got up to get a phonecall. John whispered to not disturb the presentation:

"So...who is she?"

"What do you mean?" Justin asked, also quietly.

"This... Contessa. I don't know. Her." He pointed at the exit door she just left through.

"Haven't you read the card?" Ava asked.

"What card? You mean the blank card? The one with nothing written on it?"

"It was written with invisible ink." Yelena clarified.

"Invisible ink?" John couldn't believe his own words.

"John that's the oldest trick in the book." Justin seemed interested in the presentation, "Espionage 101."

"I was black ops...!" John sounded offended. Someone shushed them so they stayed in silence for a while. Ava felt bad for John though.

"It doesn't matter if you read it or not." She whispered, "It's not like there was any key information there. It was just her name and this weird lightning symbol."

"The thunderbolts!" Justin whispered back.

"So.. us?" John asked.

"That's what it seems." Yelena looked around with no sign of the Contessa, "But who are we?"

"Didn't she explain anything to you guys?" Justin asked.

"No! Did she explain anything to you?"

"I mean, no."

"What?" Ava asked a little louder than intended.

"She just said she would sponsor my projects so I was immediately on board." Justin justified himself, "I just assumed you were more into her deal than I was."

"I can't believe I fell for another pyramid scheme." Ava sighted

"Another?" John asked.

Someone shushed them again, more aggressively this time.

"Excuse me who do you think you are to shush me??" Justin whispered as loud as he could.

"Hammer, sit down!" Yelena ordered.

"Not, let's see what this fella has to say!" Justin grabbed his cellphone to use as a flashlight, but that was not necessary because the lights turned on out of sudden. The robot dogs entered the room as part of the presentation and everyone clapped and cheered at them. Justin sat down again and straighten his blazer aggressively.

The robot dogs did some flips and silly dances. Their "skin" was transparent so it was possible to see all fluids and engines working inside. Everyone was having a good time except Justin, John and Yelena. Something about the dogs and the claps made John unsettled. Yelena felt the same. They looked at each other looking for some guidance. That's when the shots were fired.

A few people from the crowd got up wearing balaclava masks and wielding machine guns. The robot dogs positioned themselves, one on each side of every seat row. The chemicals inside them started to bubble in a menacing way. A man from the first seat now in balaclava got closer to Hulk with a shotgun aimed at his head.

"Hello everyone!" The man screamed, "We are only here for the money. If everyone cooperates, no one gets hurt."

The criminals started to walk around the room with huge bags stealing rings, watches, wallets and all sorts of jewelry.

"There's twelve of them." Yelena whispered.

"How much you can take?" John analyzed the room with her.

"Without getting shot? A few. But the dogs seem to be time bombs."

"Yeah there's too many people here. We have to think this through!" Ava stated.

"Oh my god is that Ant-Man??" Justin screamed pointing at Ava's feet.

"What? Where?" Ava got up on a jump. The men started shooting at her but she phased around the bullets out of reflex. That was just the distraction Justin needed to run into the exit door Valentina went through minutes ago.

"Fucking Hammer!" Yelena grunted before jumping to the ground. A nearby dog jumped to attack her but she quickly applied a jiujitsu move that made the dog fly above her. The fluids inside the robot started to shine in a weird way. John jumped across the seats and kicked the robot to the roof where it exploded. The roof suffered some damage but no enough to fall. No one got hurt. Except the dog whose metallic remains fell onto the ground.

John landed beside Yelena to check on her. Ava made herself invisible and visible again more times than the nearest criminal could comprehend. When Ava reached him she grabbed him by the back and used him as a human shield. Her hand phased into his neck in a lethal threat.

"Nobody shoots no one and no bloody dog explodes!" She demanded.

Everyone in the auditorium hold their breath together. Bruce seemed to be having fun. Yelena and John remained on the ground watching everything in anticipation. Ava had declared a temporary negotiating time, but for how long?

Suddenly breaking the absolute silence the auditorium was emerged in music started to come out of the speakers on the wall. Even the criminals looked around confused to the sound of "U can't touch this". When MC Hammer sang the iconic 'Hammer time!' the exit door exploded and among the smoke Justin Hammer emerged with a shield, three tasers, a shotgun and bunch of flash grenades. He took his right hand to the sky to show his car keys in triumph.

"He went out to get our stuff from the car trunk." John said in denial.

"Fucking Hammer!" Yelena screamed again (with a smile this time) before running to his direction. John came right after.

The criminals started shooting at Justin, who jumped to the ground scattering everything he brought with him. Ava let go of her human shield and disappeared. Yelena grabbed her tasers and John grabbed his shield. They both got up ready for action. The criminals started shooting and John instinctively projected the shield in front of them while Yelena got closer to him.

"Hey, it even looks like we rehearsed it!" Yelena said, smiling.

John also gave her a smile. Without realizing it he offered his arm for a forearm pump like he used to do with an old friend. Yelena forearm pumped him and jumped back into action. John smiled even brighter.

What happens next is just incredible. John's shield ricochet's throughout the whole auditorium at his will. Ava phases through and disarms everyone fast. Even with no powers Yelena runs around quickly dodging bullets and immobilizing the criminals. Justin cheered for them just alright. But he also turned off the robot dogs and used some of the flash grenades when necessary.

At the end of the showdown all the criminals were gathered at the podium. Bruce scrubbed his hands with a pride smile as if he did something at all. The gesture clarified that the threat was indeed neutralized so all the people in the crowd got up and started clapping at them. Justin waved his hands with a bright smile.

"Come on guys, it's the least we could do."

"What is happening?" Ava grabbed her arms is a slight self hug.

"Don't you see?" Hulk whispered to her, "You're the heroes!"

The sentence made John move his shoulders awkwardly. We are the heroes!, He whispered to himself. Yelena giggled because she totally heard that. She grabbed one of John's hands and one of Ava's hands and curved to the crowd as if they were actors in a play. Ava and John looked at each other and decided to bound as well. The cheers went louder.

The Contessa finally came back. She looked worried.

"What the fuck is going on?"

"We are the heroes, Val!" Justin winked at her before grabbing John's shield and bound as well.

[revchainsaw]

Stargate (1994)

Welcome to the Cult Film Tent Revival my freaky fanatics, prepare yourselves to take the sacrament from across the stars, as we engage in the miraculous works of one of our most beloved Cult Saints, Saint Kurt. Coming to us from the golden age of Sci-fi Adventures, when Hollywood would dump the big bucks into a film so out of this world, we are partaking this evening of 1994's Stargate!

The Message

Every child has an Egypt phase. I remember fondly flipping through my DK Eyewitness guide to ancient Egypt with my Anubis warrior action figure from the movie stargate propped up on my desk. This wasn't even school work, Egypt inspired this young freak to learn outside of the classroom, and Stargate inspired me to look to Egypt in the first place. My father was a military man, as mentioned before, and this film irked him to some degree. He hated that the film was slightly critical of firearms, but mostly he hated that it depicted the high security military installation where he worked unrealistically. You know the high security military installation in the side of Cheyenne Mountain. yeah, that one. I don't know why my father expected a bunch of nerds from Hollywood with not security clearance to have any idea what it looked like in that hyper-secure location, but he did. I suspect after they lost him on the guns he was looking for any reason to hate Stargate, and so, impressionable as I was, I thought for years that this movie was really stupid.

Thank the Gods of Cult that I had the inspiration to give this film a second chance. I have to say, it's a little stupid, but it's not REALLY stupid. Also, Disney's Atlantis is totally just animated Stargate, and that's pretty fucked up.

Stargate is the story of how a big old nerd, whos name is NOT Milo, played by James Spader was enlisted by a bunch of military bad guy types to use his crackpot pseudoscience egyptology crap to decipher a bunch of writings that every other scientist or academic was wrong about. When he does this he succesfully creates a Stargate, a bridge between our world and another.

Our other hero is Sergeant Kurt Russell. Russell is sitting around trying to take two and not call his doctor in the morning, just generally being sad about guns because his son accidentally shot himself. Like father like son I guess. Sorry if that sounds cruel, it's just so desperately reaching for pathos and drama that it kind of enters into the realm of parody parody. I may have been raised by gun nuts, but I am very pro depicting guns as dangerous. Stargate is about as subtle as a pie in the face, or a bullet in the face. Ok, I'm done. Anyway, the military has one more mission for Kurt and he decides for some reason that means that guns are good again for killing bad guys, except for later when he decides that guns are bad again.

So Disney's Atlantis and Guile from Street Fighter enter the Stargate and discover a world where illiterate humans are kept in subjugation by a ruling class of aliens who use them to mine precious minerals and demand to be worshipped as Gods. The leader of these aliens is an immortal alien being who has possessed the body of a teen boy pop sensation and goes by the name of Ra.

James Spader is gifted a wife by the locals because it's so quirky that women are property, i guess, but it's okay because they happen to be in love, and with her help he is able to learn the truth behind this worlds condition. Ra had built the Stargate to travel between worlds and was worshipped in Ancient Egypt, however the people got wise to his BS and he had to escape. He took many humans hostage and crossed the stargate and then banned reading and writing as an attempt to quell any kind of uprising, and it's worked for a long time.

Ra is pissed at the earth boys though because he knows a nuclear weapon when he sees one. Turns out Kurt Russell brought a big ol bomb with him across the stargate as a contingency plan for any aggro aliens they may have found. Hey, they found them so I guess it wasn't too bad of an idea. Ra punishes his worshippers by having them mercilessly bombed and Spader and Russell team up with the locals to revolt. They eventually gain the upper hand and Ra attempts to flee with his Pyramid space ship but our heroes teleport the nuke onto his ship and save the day. Thus launching several Sci-Fi television series that I have never watched.

The Benediction

Best Scene: Ra Footage

The Throne Room Scene where we are first introduced to Ra and his godlike warriors is pretty excellent. It's so menacing how he surrounds himself with a force field of children, and the combination of futuristic technology with an ancient Egyptian aesthetic that this film sells itself on is on it's ultimate display in this scene. I really like the villains in this movie and I savor whenever they get to be shown off.

Best effect: Mastadge Ride

The CG on Stargate is better than in Species which sought to be it's competitor a year later, but it is still dated. It's utilized in cool enough ways and sparingly enough that even though it looks cartoony at moments it is very easy to forgive. Being Easy to forgive however, would be a pretty lackluster qualification for best effect and I'm going to have to turn this honor to the practical creature effects for the Mastadge. When we are first introduced to our alien world one the first things we see is the fuzzy maw of one of these creatures, before it takes James Spader for a very harrowing trip across the desert. These alien beasts of burden do sometimes reveal that they are mounted upon horses, but in close ups they just look so good. I love them and I want one.

Worst Scene: It's just sad OK!

Kurt Russell becomes very popular with the young men from the village of Ra's worshippers. They come to see him as some kind of hero and seek to emulate him. However, these people are very peaceful and not in any way battle hardened. A group of the young men stand up to the leaders and seek to aid the Earthlings in their revolution. They are brave but in many ways out classed by Ra's elite guards. Through the sheer force of numbers they do succeed in casting off the shackles of their oppressors but not before one of the young men we've come to care about is tragically blasted all to shit in slow mo. That scene made me cry a ton when I was a kid, and I dreaded waiting for it as an adult. It is worth noting that if you aren't 5 years old a lot of the drama in Stargate is pretty hamfisted and corny. It's a pretty excellent action movie, and a pretty goofy drama.

Coolest looking Villain: Animals as Leaders

I used to think that Ra was really stupid looking, but I was a kid and was biased towards cool warriors with animal heads, but I really have a much better appreciation for the effects and costume design of all of the godly villain crew than I used to. That said, The Anubis guy in particular still holds up. It's the dope Jackal head, the teal of the armor. It's what I picture when I picture Stargate. The Horus guys are also worth a mention with their awesome hawk jets. I couldn't pick a "Best" villain, so I went with the Coolest Looking.

Worst Aspect: Lacking Character

When I have fond thoughts of Stargate, they almost never revolve around the characters, or if they do it's in a juvenile manner. Who had cool armor, who had cool weapons, or who did the coolest thing? I have a hard time caring about these meandering people. They are inconsistent. They have no flaws that they work on or grow from. They are special because the script insists that it's so, and I don't really care if they succeed or fail at any point in the film. It's a shame because we have a good set up, and good lore. If at any point any body acted like a real person I think Stargate would be better remembered as a film than as the weird older sibling of a long running television series.

Summary

I'd like to say that Stargate succeeds at everything it's trying to do, but it doesn't. Stargate fails in the tragedy and pathos it attempts to create within it's characters; but it does succeed in almost every other way. Stargate is an engaging and exciting action movie. Stargate delivers on it's science fiction concept, and provides some fun fantasy lore to round out it's world building. Stargate is also a great looking (at most times) special effects spectacle. For all of those reasons, It is not a great film, but it is pretty darn good film.

Overall Grade: B

[cthylla-rlyeh]

@badass-at-cuddling for some reason my answer for you question got all fucked up & I accidentally deleted before I finished it, but I have your answer here ⬇️ sorry 😥

I’m glad I can bring you joy in these trying times ❤

Now.... I’m gonna preface this by saying that I won’t be able to tell you everything, like the ending, primarily for two reasons.

I haven't really finalized all the details & big story beats for the romance. I'm currently outlining & writing "The Santa Monica Arc", & Beckett of course doesn't show up until the end. So while I do have some moments cool Faith x Beckett moments & headcanons in my head for later in the story, but I haven't really written anything major for them yet.

I'm afraid to say anything about the ending, because I already know I'm going to heavily change the game's ending. I'm also changing alot of the later game stuff. There’s new characters, sub plots, stuff from Clan Quest Mod, plus V5 & extra VtM Lore. (I feel exhausted just thinking about having to remake Chinatown from the ground up 😔) So I really don't want to spoil anything if I can help it.

So when Faith (officially😉) met Beckett her emotions were all over the place. She’s trying to get used to being a vampire, all the politics, & being a Malkavian on top of all that. If you’ve ever seen LA by Night, & how Annabelle was, that’s very similar how Faith was feeling. But unlike Annabelle, Faith’s coterie is full of Fledglings who don’t know that much more then she does. She genuinely feels sorry for the Thin-Bloods but she knows she can’t really do anything to help them, & every other Kindred that’s older then her have been very hit or miss. She knows about some of the clans, she knows the names, & some of the powers, but that’s about it.

She didn’t know anything about clan Gangrel, only that they prefer not to get involved in politics. So she’s running away after setting up a bomb, just gets far enough to be safe, hears the explosion, waiting for the rest of her coterie to show up at the meet up point. Then she hears a random wolf howl that’s way too close, then sees a giant fucking wolf running across a train cart, jumps down only a few feet away from her, & then the wolf turns into a fucking man, who just nonchalantly asks her if she blew up the building.

^^Faith's reaction 🤣

She literally thought Beckett was a fucking werewolf. While she knew next to nothing about the Garou, the one thing that Jeanette told her, that if she ever saw one, she would be fucked. Beckett's snide little comment quickly snapped her out of it.

Now I’m gonna be real with you, Faith isn’t going to like Beckett when she first meets him. His snarky pretentiousness really rubs her the wrong way. One of her voices actually just says “What a smug fucking prick!” (tbh he is, I love the guy but he can be an annoying pretentious asshole sometimes) She doesn’t vehemently hate the guy, but she’s certainly annoyed by him. But two of the voices in her head really like him. Like she’ll get irritated by him for something, & then those voices start saying some interesting things. So yeah.... expect a slow burn with alot of snarky banter with these two. I hope you like the answer for this one. 

[bowtomypointlesswords]

Okay, you know I'm a die hard fan of Skelomorphs, but what are your other wips? Can you give me brief summaries or links to summaries? (and what's your favorite thing about them? :D)

Yes I can! 

Resist: Urban Fantasy Post-Apocalyptic Dystopian

You can check out the character moodboards here

 The year is 2042, the world has been at war for over fifty years, illness has racked the population, people struggle to survive. It is during this time that Queen Cecile takes power in England. The young Queen is noble, it seems, she brings with her order, safety, her people love her, and fear her. She has armed patrols marching the streets in search of mages, magic users. It is in this version of London, bombed, barely even a quarter of the way rebuilt, crumbling and choking on the collar of a Queen mad on power, that our story takes place. In this world magic, once a part of every day life for some, has been outlawed, is punishable by death, and the majority of the population is happy to see mages carted away and put to death as their Queen’s rule spreads near globally. But the mages, those few still living and free, see things differently, and the Resistance of the Eclipsed Sun, demands their freedom and their right to exist. Magic is in their blood, it is in their DNA, and they will not stand idly by while their people are slaughtered for a gift they cannot control.

My favorite thing about this one is the way that it’s changed over the 5+ years me and my coauthor for this story have been working on it. It used to be a Sherlock fanfic, not that you can even really see those roots in it very much any more. 

The Doll Maker’s Apprentice: High fantasy, Steampunk

You can check out more about this one here

Adelia flees the chaos of the second world war and moves to a small village called Braywood, finding work as an assistant to a toy maker. Fate however has other plans for her. When she follows a talking cat through a portal she is transformed into a being of clockwork and porcelain, a living doll, and is thrust into the middle of a chaotic war. The tyrant king Absalom has trapped Empress Talffyn in a magical crystal and only Adelia and her new friends can stop him from sealing her away for good. In a world of Airships, dragons, and magic, Adelia has a lot to learn if she’s ever going to find a way to turn herself back from clockwork.

My favorite thing about this one is the steampunk, the magic, the world. I love world building. That leads nicely into...

The World of Althea: High Fantasy, Steam/Dieselpunk, D&D

You can check out this one’s info here but most of it’s just the stuff from the one above so far. I’m working on a few posts though to come in the next few days.

This one is a bit different. It’s a large world I’m working on in hopes of using for both writing and D&D DMing. It’s huge, with 10 continents, 60 nations of note, and tons of official D&D races and Homebrew creations/additions. This world is one that I’m slowly building as I learn the game and how to DM but man if I can’t wait to play out some stories in it! There’s already a ton of work done on it, since I’ve mushed a bunch of old WIPs that I never really went anywhere with into the world’s lore. That said there is potential for interconnected writing in this world, and the Doll Maker’s Apprentice is actually set in it!

I love this one because it’s literally just world building, I can play around with every race, feature, and bit of lore D&D has to offer and make something I can write in, play in, and potentially use to inspire others. It’s great, I love it!

Utopia Crane and the Mystery Gang: Urban Fantasy Scooby Doo Inspired New Adult

I haven’t posted much on this one yet.

The Effingwood pier is haunted. So they say. Utopia’s not sure she believes that. Still she does know that it’s off limits. No one goes there, on account of the ghosts or whatever, but then a paranormal show decides to do a piece on Effingwood, the tiny, slowly fading town tucked somewhere along the Oregon coast that’s supposedly the paranormal capital of the north west. You can bet Utopia won’t miss the chance to mess with the film crew, but then weird things begin happening, and soon it’s up to her and the other people trapped in the old Effingwood pier to solve the mystery and escape, hopefully with their lives in tact.

This one is newer, barely more than a vague idea, but I love each of the characters so far!

I have individual tag lists for each of these stories, so if you (or anyone else) would like to be tagged in any of them, please let me know which ones specifically so I can add you to each of the lists.

[safitheartist]

A closer look at the circus freaks and Ben 10 (2017)'s pretty amazing world building. Also potential Kevin forshadowing?

Okay, stay with me here for a second because I have very shocking news to you guys. Season 2 of Ben 10 so far was really good.

No seriously, it feels like moa *actually* lead us on the entirety of season 1 and now they actually reached early SU level of subtle world building. It's insane.

For example, lets look at three characters all other incarnations of Ben 10 so far has been glossing over for the most part.

Acid Breath, Fright Wig and Thumbnail.

Because this time. They come with lore! And lore that leaves some pretty dark implications might I add.

So lets dig in guys, because there is a whole can of worms to devoure here.

Now lets have some context, the original circus freak trio were introduced to us as Zambozo's three henchmen in the original series and have been treated as a trio eversince, they never had much characterization out side of the fact that they are vilans and their only motivation seems to be money or other forms of profit.

Most of them time, if they aren't under somebody else's command Acid Breath seems to take the leader role.

The things interesting about them often were the fights they would have against Ben, due to their really unique powers. However, on the personality front there really wasn't much to work with.

Another thing to note is that they were introduced to us as adults.

Now the reboot, is taking a pretty different approach.

It's humanizing them.

First, we aren't even introduced to them alongside Zambozo, they don't even make a appearance in Zambozo's debut episode.

And they only get introduced as a trio after Fright Wig already made her first appearance where we learn that she apparently has encountered Ben on several occasions, that and later context lets me believe that the trio probably does their solo thing until Zambozo would need them. Luring them in with false promises.

It's also then that they establish that at least Fright Wig is significantly younger then her original incarnation. Something that striked me as odd and slightly insulting at the beginning but now, with the newly established context, makes a lot of sense really.

Now Acid Breath's and Thumbnail's introductions don't establish much other then their return as a trio unit.

It's not until season 2 that the big bombs regarding their characters are droped.

MAJOR SPOILERS FOR SEASON 2 HERE GUYS!!!!!

In a episode where Zambozo tricks people with a convoluted hypnothis scheme involving a fake voting campaign done as a distraction so the trio can rob a bank we get something I honestly never expected for these three. Genuine characterization.

We find out in a conversation Ben overhears between these three that Fright Wig is really into science, apparently aiming to get new equipment with her pay. Establishing her as the brains of the trio and most likely to take on the strategist role.

Acid Breath comments that he wants to get mouth water 'for the ladies'. Establishing him as a lot more inmature then his original self and the disgnated goofball of the group. However later interactions also imply he still is the one who is in the leader position...my guess is because he's the oldest and has been with Zambozo for the longest time. It's a pretty big depature from his OG self which always seemed to be the most bitter and no nonsense kind of person. And that has it's reason as the episode establishs later.

Thumbnail doesn't talk, as per usual, but we get a glimpse of his personality as he imagines himself having a spa day with his cut. Establishing him as a rather sensitive person who just wants to enjoy himself a bit. It's again, somewhat different from his original self which honestly never had any personality outside of being the brawls of the group.

This seems minor but it is a very effective way to establish them as people outside of their vilan live. And it also serves as something the other serieses again never did.

Establishing them as friends.

They take interest in eachother. Want to know the other's opinion. Have playful arguments that don't come off as threatening at all. Again. It's simplistic but very effective to make them seem more real. It even translates into their fight scenes. In OG Ben 10 and the sequels the trio, while established as a team, never actually acted as such (if I recall right). They always acted as three individuals who attack Ben and the others together but never actually as a team.

The reboot has them leaping off of Thumbnail, throw eachother around and attack as a actual team unit. Similar to a circus act (and the scenes have some very nice camera angles too might I add. The animation is still meh but they use a lot of techniques to conceal that fact and keep the action dynamic).

Now the thing to keep in mind here is that non of their established desires are expensive, Fright Wig's probably being the most expensive, and even then she seem to only want some new beakers. Ben even comments on it, saying he almost feels sorry for them.

We then find out that Zambozo never paid them before, only having promised he would do so at a later date. Clearly having no intentions to actually follow through with that. Which actually ties in very nicely in the overall narrative of the episode.

Ben then makes them realize that Zambozo is playing them, as Fourarms might I add, either implying Ben himself has diplomatic talents or that Fourarms' dna donator had them (Achi, once you read this, you are very welcome).

The trio react very differently to that realization. Thumbnail gets furious, realizing he will never get his spa day. Fright Wig seems to see Ben's point and points out how Zambozo doesn't seem to care about anything but his own gain.

Now Acid Breath....is something alright.

At first he seemed hesitant to abandoning Zambozo until Fright Wig points out that Zambozo doesn't care about them...which prompts a series of flashbacks that clue us in to some really dark aspects of their relationship.

We see a slightly younger Acid Breath, with hair and teeth. Remarking how he thinks he should go to the doctor as his teeth seem too be starting to rot while Zambozo is uncaring and not at all bothered as he is too busy admiring his profit...which Acid Breath probably colected for him. This repeats a few times with his condition worsening over a seemingly pretty short period of time. At first I thought his mutation was only kicking in now, but what is more likely is that using his powers is causing serious health problems for him. At first I was confused why he was so gullible in the first place and didn't just go to a doctor himself (maybe stealing some money to go to a check up) until his last line....

He remarks, as his hair and teeth are falling out,

"Seriously, I'm only 16!"

.........ouch.

Now that puts his situation into a completely different context doesn't it? Not only does that mean Zambozo was employing children without paying them (again Fright Wig is also younger and I think it's safe to assume that Thumbnail is as well) essentially exploiting them. He also failed one of them as he basically was destroying his body for him, probably scared and confused about the situation and searching for comfort from the only parental figure in his live at the time.

Now that's just fucking depressing. It's pretty fair to assume that Acid breath probably is 16-17 still in the series, going off of context clues and his overall behavior. I think Thumbnail is around the same age if not a bit younger and Fright Wig probably is the youngest, young enough to pose as Gwen's friend, so I peg her as anywhere between 12-15 (probably looks younger then she actually is). That's just speculation on my part based on their behavior around eachother though.

After the flashback Acid Breath decides that they should ditch the clown (thank fuck.) aluding to him being the unofficial leader of the group as it's his decision that is the final.

They sent Zambozo a angry message consisting of emojis (again, heavily implying that they are teens....look, the show isn't perfect okay.) followed by them sending a picture with a 'we quit' sign.

In the end we get teased that we didn't see the last of them. Clearly establishing them as a separate entity from Zambozo, most likely for good as we get a glimps of them enjoying themselves on a vacation somewhere. Showing them still as a close unit.

Now this. This is some very, very dense world building stuffed into one episode and conveyed with very little exposition really. We get the most important context clues via plot development and the little exposition there was felt quiet natural.

It raises a lot of questions. Like 'how did these three get into this situation?' 'Where are their parents?' 'Why is no one trying to help them?' And most importantly, 'What is the follow up to this going to be?'.

Like, think about it. The episode went out of it's way to separate them from Zambozo while also making them more relateable. They wouldn't do that if it's not important. So what narrative purpose does it have?

Now I have a theory what they might be going for here. You see. This entire set up feels familiar to a very iconic character we had in the original show.

A kid with powers who was mistreated and exploited due to them. Somebody who got on the wrong course more due to the nature of his environment rather then his own wrong doings.

Boom. Now isn't that a interesting concept?

Do I think they will make Kevin one of the circus freaks? Eh. No that would be a stretch. I mean sure, it could happen, but we first have to wait and see how they are changing his character.

Do I think they are at least on a thematic basis forshadowing Kevin's introduction? Yes. Absolutely. And there are other clues as well.

Vilgax, on two occasions, has been teaming up with other vilans. Animo and the weather bots. With Animo he almost immediately betrayed him, leading Animo to team up with Ben temporarily and...well that's a bit too much of a spoiler but lets just say.....something very interesting happens that also ties into the thems of Kevin's OG character. The weather bots again, go against Vilgax, leaving him saying 'never again' which probably is a joke since from a narrative stand point there is no way this will be his last team up. Rule of three anyone?

Moa has been exploring a lot of themes that they never got to explore in length in their original show. Stuff Alien Force then took a dump on mostly (I don't fucking care what you guys say. On a writing stand point Alien Force fucking sucked!) They have been putting a lot of emphasis on magic in their show, establishing it as a clear and unmistakeable aspect of their universe. However another aspect Alien Force screwed up was the concept of mutants until Omniverse retconed that again.

In OG it was heavily implied that Kevin's mutation caused people to discriminate againt him. Show casing him having clear abandonment issues and triggers. However they never went into detail with these concepts. Causing....Alien Force to assassinate that entire concept (again. Alien Force was the worst Ben 10 incarnation and you can fucking fight me!!!). So for them to actually forshadow Kevin and making his entire storyline a lot more significant makes a lot of sense.

Anyway. I am actually enjoying the show so far and am very curious as to where stuff is going there. I hope the circus freaks are getting even more development and maybe even a redemption, who knows? I also hope they are keeping the 'found family' vibe they have alive. I'm a sucker for that stuff.