#this is all really old lore stuff actually it's kind of interesting to dig it all back up

[celestialtrolls-moved]

Oooo!! I'm adoring Kelmis sooo much. I love funky Bluebloods and blorbos that travel around the world! But I'm curious about that "incident" you kept mentioning with her, what happened?

In their childhood, Malzya (tyrian) was in a relationship with both of these, Vrikam (red) as matesprits, and Kelmis as his kismesis.

However, Vrikam and Kelmis were constantly at odds with each other, to the point that they really could have done with an auspistice, but they never got one, and so eventually they got into a fight basically aiming to kill the other.

Unfortunately, Vrikam is a magic user, and while Kelmis had the physical upper hand, her magic basically wiped them out and, as a consequence on top of sending Kelmis literally flying off a cliff, to what Vrikam assumed was her death, a delicate mental connection was disrupted, one that The Tainted (her ancestor) had created with Kelmis before she 'died', this break causing a lot of mental agony and led to Kelmis causing injury to herself.

However, the trauma caused her memory to completely block out everything that had occurred, leaving Kelmis only with her first name and her scars for many years with no explanation.

[anim-ttrpgs]

Wait does Eureka have its own established lore for how different supernatural creatures work?

Yes, it does!

(I’m going to preface this post by saying that just about everything I’m talking about here, and more, is available FOR FREE for you to read in the free pre-release version of the Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy rulebook that you can download from our website. Go to Chapter 8 to start reading about the supernatural lore. The rulebook itself will do a lot better job of explaining all this than I will, because it has the exact details of how each one works, and I’m just hitting the highlights and going over what those details mean.)

Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy is a game about very human and believable investigators digging into dangerous (often supernatural) mysteries way over their heads, and sometimes those very human and believable investigators will be supernatural creatures themselves.

These supernatural creatures are every bit as human and “normal” as their mundane investigators counterparts, they have jobs, friends, families, hobbies, etc. They live among mundane society, not outside of it.

Most modern fantasy settings have some kind of separation between normal society and magical society, like you see in Harry Potter where there is normal society, and then a separate, secret magical society hidden away from it, or Vampire: The Masquerade, where vampires all have an agreement to keep themselves a secret from normal society despite acting within it.

In Eureka’s world, there is no “masquerade,” but that doesn’t mean that magic and monsters are well-known and well-documented phenomenons. Supernatural creatures such as vampires, wolfmen, etc. are exceptionally rare. Don’t take this as an exact number, but you can probably assume there’s about one of these per every 3.3 million normal people.

This rarity, as well as the fact that each individual has little to gain and everything to lose by revealing themselves (try “coming out” as a person who regularly assaults people and drains their blood), has led to them going largely undocumented in the modern day. Sure, this is the digital age, there are videos, but viral videos are not exactly scientific evidence. For every real vampire caught on camera, there are a thousand hoaxes and horror short films.

There is no secret vampire government controlling things from the shadows—most vampires don’t even know any other vampires, let alone enough to form a secret society with any effect on national politics.

As for how they work, well, that’s one of my favorite parts to talk about.

There are five playable monster types in Eureka (The Vampire, The Wolfman, The Fairy, The Witch, and The Thing From Beyond) plus two extras that are Kickstarter stretch goals (The Dullahan and The Gorgon), but in the interest of time, I’m only going to really go into detail with one of them.

Most playable monster types in Eureka are very, very old-school, with an emphasis on actual historical folklore over just making up all our own lore. That doesn’t mean Eureka doesn’t have a unique approach to the supernatural, though. Little of it is “new,” but it is certainly unique, because to my knowledge no other RPG has ever taken the old stuff this far before. A PC being a monster in Eureka isn’t just a few +1s here and there and maybe a little extra damage from silver weapons, it means playing by an entirely different set of rules from fellow investigators.

The vampires and vampire lore you see in movies are not folkloric vampires, they are mostly a 20th and 21st century pop-culture creation. Eureka’s vampire abilities, weaknesses, and other traits are based on pre-1900 vampire legends, with older traits usually taking precedent over newer ones. Thus, a lot of assumptions you might have about vampires going in could end up being very wrong. For instance, in movies, vampires instantly die when exposed to sunlight, but the first ever instance of a vampire in a story being killed by sunlight was in the 1922 film Nosferatu. In Eureka, sunlight is still awful for vampires, it strips them of their vampiric powers, but it doesn’t do any real damage to them. Sunlight is an issue vampires have to deal with, but it is far from instant death. That doesn’t mean being a vampire is inherently easy though, because in addition to having all the powers that folkloric vampires have (which is a TON), they also have all the weaknesses, and it is the emphasis on weaknesses that really makes the moment-to-moment playing of a monster PC in Eureka the most interesting. A few of my favorites for vampires are the refusal to enter homes without a direct invitation, and the compulsion to count large numbers of small objects. I think most vampire media these days considers these to be “silly” weaknesses and don’t want to acknowledge them in the lore of their “serious” scary horror vampires, but honestly I think that the “sillier” vampire stuff can still be used to great effect in horror. Imagine knowing that the only reason a vicious killer at your door hasn’t stormed in to rip your throat out is because they’re being polite.

A vampiric investigator will need to work around these weaknesses, and more, in their daily life, all while being sure not to reveal their true nature to their more mortal friends. It’s something that really changes how a character behaves and goes about problem-solving.

For instance, the rest of the party may be able to break into a house no-problem, but the vampire cannot. They need a invitation. That’s a problem. That’s a puzzle. It makes me excited just thinking about it.

This was originally going to be a much longer post where I went into more of the themes of monsters in Eureka, but I have decided that that would be most cohesive as its own post, an upcoming essay titled "How Eureka Handles Disability." So stay tuned for that.

Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy is kickstarting from right now until May 10th! Back it while you still can!

If you want to try before you buy, you can download a free demo of the prerelease version from our website or our itch.io page!

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Join our TTRPG Book Club At the time of writng this, Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy is the current game being played in the book club, and anyone who wants to participate in discussion, but can’t afford to make a contribution, will be given the most updated prerelease version for free! Plus it’s just a great place to discuss and play new TTRPGs you might not be able to otherwise!

We hope to see you there, and that you will help our dreams come true and launch our careers as indie TTRPG developers with a bang by getting us to our base goal and blowing those stretch goals out of the water, and fight back against WotC's monopoly on the entire hobby. Wish us luck.

[incesthemes]

since you asked me this question for wincest wednesday...what are YOUR headcanons on the boys' knowledge of languages? :o

YES THANK YOU!!!!!! :) i love talking about languages and supernatural and languages in supernatural

so when i first watched through the show, i actually had a pretty extensive list of languages i thought they would have reasonably acquired some knowledge on:

classical languages (latin, classical greek)

native north american languages (particularly of the siouan and uto-aztecan variety, and navajo, all for geographical reasons)

some modern italic languages (spanish, french, italian, etc), maybe less so modern germanic languages

some old norse (mainly via the two eddas)

some japanese, picked up later in the series and mostly by dean (to honor bobby's memory)

some other ancient or dead languages (aramaic, sumerian, old english, etc)

a very small spattering of enochian, whatever is available for humans to learn

american sign language (sam only)

my reasoning for this was for practical reasons: these are the languages of the cultures that the monsters they hunt originate from, and so the lore is going to be accessible only or predominantly through those languages. especially later in the series, you see them interacting with non-english texts quite often (whether or not they know the languages in question is up to that episode writer's whims, i guess, continuity be damned). i also like the interpretation of both sam and dean as being highly self-educated, and since they're both rather serious about hunting, this would be a natural extension of the knowledge they'd need to acquire to actually excel in their work. for this headcanon, i really like dean being more practical in his knowledge of languages and sam being more academic because it aligns with their areas of specialty in hunting :3

HOWEVER, when i started my rewatch, i also watched the pilot commentary with eric kripke, and he said something very striking to me:

Blue collar, low tech guys and their weaponry should be blue collar, greasy, worn down. It's always been really important to me. I'm mean—I'm just—I'm from a small town in Ohio, and you know, it's always been important to me that these guys just be, you know, Motorheads... and... love classic rock... and know how to handle a chainsaw, and that was to me, more interesting than—spells and magic. And... even to this day in the writer's room they always bring that stuff up, and I'm always like, 'Forget it! Where are the chainsaws?'

it's very obvious in the final product that this was the intention of course, and as i continued to watch i kept this vision in mind. there are three things that have stood out to me since then:

in 1x04, sam tells dean that "christo" is latin for god. it's actually greek (for christ, not god), and it would also be in the wrong declension, which could imply that sam actually isn't really familiar with greek or latin. this could imply that sam is actually just parroting something he's been told in the past (probably by john), without actually knowing it himself

in 2x04, dean flips through a book in ancient greek, and later when they dig up angela's coffin, they find more greek lettering on the inside. dean calls the letters "symbols" which could imply he's not familiar enough with greek to even know what kind of writing system it has, or to recognize greek writing for what it is. sam, too, seems equally baffled at the "symbols"

in 5x05, sam interviews a hispanic woman in somewhat awkward spanish. when dean asks about it, sam replies "freshman spanish," meaning he hasn't learned beyond a freshman, introductory level of the language, and that he learned it through formal education rather than on his own

these moments are super important to me because they really cut through the idea that sam and dean have extensive or even moderate training in foreign languages. instead, they paint the picture of rather sheltered kids who were largely kept away from the world or only limited in their exposure. i imagine, from this, that john was the one who did most of the research on their hunts, and if sam or dean participated they were relegated to controlled, prescribed roles. especially from the 1x04 example, i can extrapolate that they probably haven't examined the information they've been given too deeply; it implies a level of blind trust in john's skill, to the extent that sam isn't even aware of what language he's speaking in to reveal a demon.

as a result my most up-to-date headcanon is that sam and dean both grew up entirely monolingual, and that they didn't actually even start acquiring new languages (sam's freshman spanish exempted) until their network was cut out from under them (bobby's death and then garth's disappearance) and they found the bunker, with its myriad resources to research and study and its stability to house a library for those purposes. before then, i can see them picking up on very minor latin, like a few words here and there, but not actively pursuing any of this learning until they were forced to learn it themselves. what languages they know or how deep their knowledge goes is wildly contradictory in canon so that means i can do whatever i want, which is exactly the point where i wrap back around into my initial headcanon and start adding those languages back into their bunker era repertoire of skills.

(for the record i do generally have opinions about how much they each know of each of those languages and where their strengths in language learning lie, because i think WAY too much about this)

to my own dismay (as a lover of languages and linguistics), i've found this interpretation to be much more in-line with kripke's vision of the show, whether or not the more subtle details were intentional or not (seriously, who on the set of this show decided on "christo," i NEED to know). It also gives an interesting dimension to their early life as being highly sheltered and isolated and kept away from the hunting life while simultaneously being inescapably part of it.

this is a really long way of saying "monolinguals," but in my defense i've been building this interpretation and headcanon for nearly a year straight now. because i pay way too much undue attention to the use of language in supernatural.

[desultory-novice]

Another Lightning Round!

This time, we're answering:

-Borb Feet -Shadow Dedede and The Mirror World's Dream Fountain -Kirby Royalty -Soul of Kirby?! -Forgiving the "unforgivable" Dream Friends (a lo~ng post for an old ask!)

Hee hee! I'll tell you what, anon, at first, I wasn't sure how to take this comment (something I mentioned on stream) because getting good at drawing feet on the internet is... well...you know!

But given I myself started this by pointing out how bad I was at it with Galacta Knight, I really do appreciate the compliment! Next on my list.... borb hands. I've seen so many people draw Kirby's n-nubs (?) in ways that really make them look so marshmallow-y and fun!

-

Hello?! That idea of the Star Rod never getting repaired after Shadow Dedede broke it?! Fantastic! Imagine it drying up, and of course, the effects something like that would have on the mirror world!

(Has anyone else stumbled across that gorgeous but haunting series of "bad end" pictures a certain Kirby fan artist did on Twitter? I remember one had Dedede with a dried up Dream Fountain. That's very much what I'm visualizing here!)

Now, I vague~ly recall that there's some debate about the "darkness in his heart" part of the Shadow Dedede pause screen?  That the English version says it is Shadow Dedede who has to overcome his darkness whereas in the original, it is OUR Dedede who has to overcome his "shadow" that being Shadow Dedede.

...But just because it isn't saying that Shadow Dedede is trying to overcome something doesn't mean he doesn't represent a painful mark in both Dedede's histories. And such a "mistake" (unknown at the time) is an excellent possibility!

Lastly, thank you! The steady influx of lore and theories everyone drops into my inbox reminds me of my favorite parts of fandom in the old days and is a major treat!

-

This is NEAT! While they may not have known about each other in the past, you bring up a great point that after so many games, these various planets (dimensions? in the case of Fluff) are forging bonds with each other. Everyone likes the Galactic Star Alliance from the anime, right? What's interesting is that we kind of have a basis for such an "alliance" forming in our current Kirby-game verse!

Kirby has helped these monarchs get in contact with each other, becoming a link across multiple planets. So I think the idea of them getting together and talking now, in the present~post-game of Forgotten Land is a possibility! Let each other know if any suspicious activity is happening or if everyone is still doing all right.

Although that reminds me of something that came up in the stream... Since King Dedede is the "self-proclaimed" ruler of Dream Land... is there an ACTUAL ruler of Dream Land/Popstar waiting in the wings? Waiting for their return? Or sealed away even? (D-Dark Nebula, is that you?)

Either way, a meeting between those 5 sounds both intense and fun! I would love to come back to this idea with a sketch or illustration of some kind!

-

I'm digging into the backlog for some of these. Also, I can't believe I never answered this one?! Sorry if this ask is too old even for you, @emeraldcoloredwinter

(I'm also sorry in case I did in fact answer it in the past and can't find it - because Tumblr's search is really unreliable. If I repeat myself here, I'm sorry. If not and this turns out to be relevant...great!)

Frankly, I would love to see all kinds of soul lore expanded upon in future games. Partly because I have my headcanons as to why Sectonia/Pres. Haltmann died for realz versus why Marx and Magolor came back and if we get more tidbits, I can come closer to completing my conspiracy corkboard!!

(As well as figure out just where Drawcia lays in the current state of "canon." And maybe figure out some stuff about Zero, Zero 2 and the Dark Matters and what happened to them!)

On the one hand, I feel like Void did a rea~lly bang up job at feeling like you were battling the soul of Kirby. Or at least "a Kirby." I mean, seeing Kirby's face appear on Void, with all those childish movement patterns and that smile before defeat?

But Void was also composed of a variety of thoughts and feelings, so it wasn't exactly our Kirby. Then we've got the Shadow Kirby battles in Kirby Fighters 2, which also come somewhat close in concept, as you're fighting someone with the same ability set as you. That would be another good way to do it, I think.

But it still doesn't quite scratch that itch, does it? ... Now, I feel silly that I can't remember if this is a real thing or I'm just combining a bunch of games in my head (I-I may be old but I'm decades away from the point where I should have to fear being senile!!) but watching some Castlevania longplays... there was a part of one of the games where you go through one of the old castles, right? Maybe it wasn't in black and white, but it is in my memories.

And Kirby had a part like that too, in one of the games! At least, I think it did...? (Okay, maybe I AM going senile...)

:cough: That aside, something like those visuals above when combined with the feelings evoked by the 8-bit nostalgia portion of Void Termina's The Star Conquering Traveler Suite...

I can only imagine it would be sad. Maybe it would involve some kind of sacrifice or some kind of origin story. A time-travel game even? Something that takes us back to our favorite hero's beginnings. Despite it inevitably being THE penultimate fight, I can't picture it being a big dramatic battle so much as one of those interactive cutscenes, or something with never-seen-before-now gameplay elements. But it would feel like a true goodbye to the Kirby series. Oh, it might be able to continue on past that, just like things didn't end after the Star Allies completion picture either.

...But expect a lot of fears (and tears!) of something happening when it finally did.

Personally, I can't help but think Kirby's Soul would look like Retro Kirby or Popopo from Twinkle Popo. It might not even be called "Kirby's Soul" but have a more archetypical name like "Soul of a Traveler" or "Soul of Youth." 

...Soul of the Spring Breeze.

-

Another super old one. Gah, me and my slowness... The sad thing is, I had nine~ty percent of this written out a while ago but just didn't know how to finish it. I'm so sorry about that, @vexx-ation !

It was a really good ask though and I'm glad I gave it another shot. Now then, I think that in large part, this would boil down to who was most harmed by those characters and in what ways!

-

[Dark Meta Knight]

Dark Meta Knight is the biggest mystery because... DMK refuses (or can't) talk to anyone so we know nothing about his feelings. And we don't even know how he returned the first time after death (?)

Meta Knight is the one DMK has arguably hurt the most (excluding maybe Kirby) but I feel like Meta Knight is also the one who needs nothing from DMK to understand forgive them. It really all depends on where Dark Meta Knight is coming from. Was DMK a willing agent in Dark Mind's takeover? Then Meta Knight would be more hard on/untrusting of his shadow for certain. But being his mirror counterpart, I think he would take it as a sign of something lacking in himself. That he is only one step away from making such a turn. But if you, like me, think that the placement of certain objects and events in Amazing Mirror (Radish Ruins as DMK's "stage" and Shadow Kirby showing up one last time before you face off against DMK) are indicative that something more subtle is going on, Meta Knight may not even require an apology from DMK at all. Either DMK was manipulated or was attempting to manipulate the situation in the Mirror World's favor. In which case Meta would just silently nod and go on with his day.

Then there's King Dedede, who, at least in his own parallel mode, was seemingly attacked at random by DMK. That certainly puts them off on a wrong start, but I also think that Dedede would be able to eventually laugh it off and compare it some of his Meta Knight's more belligerent actions in the past (something that would probably fluster Meta Knight, as he wouldn't expect that comparison, mirror counterpart or no.) IE: I find it hard to believe the guy with a wrestling ring in his castle would hold an ambush against somebody for long, especially as he won.

It would take Bandee probably a bit to come to terms with the scary version of someone he most likely respects, but DMK has his cute (?) side too (like in his idle animation) so I think Bandee could come to accept DMK, especially after both Meta Knight and Dedede express that they no longer hold any hard feelings toward the dark knight.

Kirby would probably be the closest thing to a "holdout" here, only because Dark Meta DID ambush two of his friends (depending on the timelines) and he'd want to know that's not going to happen again. Afterwards though? DMK's right to be a part of the group is never questioned again!

-

[Susie]

Susie... ahhh, Susie. Let's just note that all the classic Susie discourse disclaimers go here and remind everyone once more that they're on a Susie-friendly blog and to some of you, what I am going to say may come off as being exceptionally "light" on Susie's crimes. It is what it is, however. If you want a brutal takedown of Susie, there are dozens of other blogs who will give it, I am certain. I can only go in-depth on things from my view of my Kirby-verse.

In random order: Bandee was the only one to not be incapacitated for large chunks of Planet Robobot's story and I believe that were the game to be remade in the modern style (or even had it been released on more powerful hardware than the 3DS) Bandee would have been a second player character just like in Forgotten Land. And if we assume that of him, then we can assume Bandee would have been exposed to Susie's entire plotline same as Kirby.

Bandee is, at least in the novel-verse (and it's not a bad HC in general) the most empathetic member of the Dream Team. Bandee can sympathize with and care about just about anyone. And Bandee might have been wondering if there was something going on with Susie before even Kirby started to see the cracks in the secretary's facade of corporate perfection.

While Bandee wouldn't like the things she, her father, and the HWC have done to Popstar, I think that once he sees where she's come from, his own anger would be tempered down. That everything reverts at the end (ironic (?) that everything is almost "magically healed" except the Haltmann's shattered family bonds) would be enough of a relief for Bandee that I think he could move on to looking at Susie as just a person. (And isn't he the one in the novel who gives her the pocketwatch back or am I mis-remembering that?)

I actually think Susie "as a friend" could be more intimidating to Bandee that Susie as an enemy. She's a sympathetic enemy. As a friend, she might be a considered too "extra" for the small warrior Dee! XD

On that note...I don't know why, but in most cases, I just see King Dedede as being very forgiving toward people in trouble. Oh, he will grumble about it to no end! But I don't see him EVER hurting anyone while they're down.

Of course, Dedede was also unconscious for 99% of Planet Robobot. Was he even awake when his DNA was stolen? Does he know? I mean, not knowing wouldn't be great at all, but I can't help but think that more than being harvested and bottled, his biggest concern, just based on his priorities, would be that his castle got destroyed AGAIN. Why can't the poor man keep a castle?! He didn't even do anything this time!! (Even the Halberd made it!) So, yeah, imagine a confrontation with Susie and Dedede and Susie tries to imagine all the things Dedede is going to call her out for and no, he's just upset about his castle getting wrecked. Susie is surprised he even cares about that "dinky, dusty old thing" and thus, a shouting match begins.

But again, I don't think it would last for too long. I think the things Dedede and Susie would clash on would be petty things. Dedede is pretty manly in his interests and Susie is very girly. They're blue and pink, even. I think Dedede would forget or just plain ol' not care about Susie's more "human rights" crimes and make MOUNTAINS out of the little things. Although they do share a love of machinery, and that might be something that would bring peace to the VERY petty disagreements. At least until Susie chastises Dedede for using "old parts" while Dedede goes on an old man rant about how those old parts are three times as reliable as all this easy to break new stuff! (Dedede is the equivalent of the guy who put his first car together by hand. Susie is the "born plugged in" type.) So, yes, they fight, but not for the reasons you think. ^^;

...As for Meta Knight, I think countless paragraphs have already been written on these two and most people know where I fall about now. Meta Knight, whether we saw it happen on screen or not, was able to figure out what Susie's deal was faster than anyone else, and while he didn't care for having his autonomy stolen (not to mention, I can't imagine he liked all the bulk of his un-asked for cybernetic upgrades. Mecha Knight is a tank. A stark contrast to Meta Knight's fast "here and away" style.) But if anyone in the entire FRANCHISE understands that sometimes your morals take a backseat for your goals, it would be him and now that the dust has cleared and the HWC was on the losing side with Susie as it's sole survivor (speaking brutally) there's no reason to be angry with her anymore. That said, I believe that, much like happens in the fandom, Meta Knight probably gets questioned fairly often (by people who know) if he's upset at Susie, with some not believing its possible he wouldn't be. But I really think to him, it's just something that happens when you're pushed into a corner.

What Meta Knight would care about is not what Susie has done in her past (to him) but what she does now.

...That said, I think he will find an "excuse" to be somewhere else when she looks at him with stars in her eyes and a wrench in her hand. (I am a firm believer that the Star Allies scene is meant to be taken comically, not seriously. I have nothing against Mecha Knight unwanted modification angst but that scene should not be your sole "proof" such a thing exists.)

And of course, as for Kirby, Kirby has already accepted Susie. He ran to her side when she was injured. He agreed with her request to stop Star Dream, and he accepted her invader armor. There's nothing else to forgive. Acceptance is freely given.

Lastly...

-

[Marx]

Marx is the silly one. Very silly. I think, on my first draft of this post (I made the choice to write it again from scratch rather than base it on my previous version, so that it was up to date with my current feelings) I took the concept of Marx and forgiveness very seriously, but then I booted up Star Stacker (SNES) again and remembered that the story began because one day, Dedede saw a sparkling star flying through the sky and decided, "I'm gonna shoot it with a cannon!" So, in case this needs to be restated...

The people of Dream Land are absolutely buck wild.

Probably, due to the comparisons with his spiritual successor Magolor, there's been a casual attempt to try and make a bigger deal out of the "ship in a bottle" events of Milky Way Wishes.

I don't want to be a hypocrite here. I'm a huge fan of "Let's try to expand on Marx's backstory, personality, and motivations using every tiny scrap we've got" and I do so relatively shamelessly. I love the idea that there might have been buckets and buckets of angst and pathos behind his decision to trick Kirby into bringing Galactic Nova into Popstar's orbit so he could kick our beloved puffball into the darkness of space and wish to make the planet his own...

...but do I think that those acts in a vacuum are on the same scale as what all the other big, bad, last bosses have done?

Not really.

Well, not like the modern villains. Marx is a bit more like Dark Meta Knight or Daroach in the breadth of his bad guy-ness. His act harmed very few people in practice. It could have gone on to harm more eventually, had it succeeded. It might have even been devastating! Similar to if Dark Mind's reach was allowed to expand into the peaceful non-Mirror Popstar. Or if Dark Daroach went on to rule as the second coming of the Lord of the Netherworld!

But... it wasn't. The clown's dreams lasted only a few brief minutes. To the people on the surface, Nova exploding probably looked like no more than a shooting star. ("Everyone make a wish!")

...The only person Marx needs forgiveness from, then, is Kirby. And that is the story of several hundred different fanfics and fan theories and frankly, I enjoy all of them because the ~potential~ dynamic these two characters share is one of my favorite things in the series.

And, leaving the "middle" of that journey for we, the fan creators to come up with, I believe we can at least say that, in the end, the two seem to have made up successfully.

...Now, there's still the question of would the rest of the Dream Team LIKE Marx or forgive him upon hearing what he did! I think Meta Knight would be wary of him for a lot of reasons. He's unexpected and uncontrollable. He hopped in to attack the group during the Star Allies credit sequence. But Meta Knight also (in an alternate timeline) thought wishing on Galactic Nova for a ridiculously selfish wish was a perfectly sane thing to do so I gather he would have little issue with Marx's ambitions, if not his actions. And as for his attempted murder of Kirby, Meta Knight is :cough: also guilty of that so yeahhhh. Maybe he doesn't LOVE the jester's antics or even tolerate them, but he wouldn't decry them from a moral high ground...?

I personally love the idea that King Dedede is headache-inducingly familiar with Marx. I like the idea that Marx might have even gotten his title of "jester" thanks to King Dedede. According to the Dedede Encyclopedia entries on twitter, Dedede had no idea about Marx's attempted takeover of Popstar nor did he know about Marx's "true form." Thus, it's easy to imagine that to Dedede, Marx is nothing more than another cute, silly resident of Dream Land, like the Waddle Dees. He may even treat Marx with the same paternal kindness he gives the Waddle Dees. At least until Marx goes a step too far!

TLDR, I love the version of their relationship as implied in the Kirby Storybooks, where Marx is one of "those troublesome kids" who teams up with Kirby to play harmless pranks on Dedede. It's so crazy wholesome, something that you can't always say about Marx!

...Lastly, Bandee... Oh, empathetic little Bandee. I feel like Bandee would probably be the one to eye Marx the most critically. Because Bandee has eyes on the ground level to NOT be fooled like Dedede nor so extreme that he can't hold Marx accountable like Meta Knight. I think Bandee is probably the closest to Kirby in seeing Marx for who Marx really is, but doesn't have the "complex" relationship Kirby and Marx does that inspires Kirby to forgive him no matter what he does.

Not that I think they fight or don't get along, necessarily. (In fact, the sudden spike (?) in MarDee - am I spelling that right? - shippers has rekindled my interesting in their dynamic) But I do think that while Marx is giving everyone his "Who? Meeee?" eyes, Bandee is off on the side giving Marx a narrow-eyed look of "You don't fool me."

But again, I think that honesty may be something that could turn into a kind of closeness they don't have with others! Plus, biased, but I also completely love, love, love the idea that the one Waddle Dee who is tired of being "just a Waddle Dee" and the one Noddy who is tired of being "just a Noddy" have an understanding that none of the naturally over-powered residents of Popstar can ever understand.

It's possible to write them as rivals or enemies. These two, quite frankly, could be very cool together in a variety of ways!

[bloodgulchblog]

I started reading Halo books after you recommended Legacy of Onyx to me not too long ago. I started with Fractures, which was a good first taste. Really liked Into the Fire. Next up was Legacy of Onyx, which was REALLY GOOD WOW and I chewed through the whole thing in two days. There's SO much left about Onyx, I hope we get more of it in novels or gameplay in the future. Now I'm onto Rubicon Protocol, which is pretty good so far (ch3) but not holding my attention as hard as Legacy of Onyx did

Ooh, Fractures is an interesting place to start imo. I'm glad you enjoyed it! It honestly gives you a lot of directions you could jump off in if you're looking for more book recs. I think getting into stuff with big lore like Halo is, unless you're doing something wild like just reading all of it like I did, mostly about figuring out what your handholds are and what you're interested in and where to go to follow those interests.

Rubicon Protocol is definitely a heavier, slower book than Legacy I think. It's a lot grimmer. I thought it was good overall but there were definitely points where I had to take a break because that gets dark. Really loved what the author did with Stone in particular, though.

If you are looking for more things to add to your list for later, based on what you've said here...

(Big post of tumblr user bloodgulchblog rambling about different Halo novels below the jump)

Ghosts of Onyx is the one I'm most confident about. I typically wouldn't recommend Ghosts as someone's first go at Eric Nylund's Halo novels because they're kind of a trilogy and having The Fall of Reach and First Strike read first makes it better, but if you had a good time diving right in the deep end at Fractures I think you'll be completely fine. (...The other two have Master Chief though and he's my special guy.)

Anyway, the reason I'd say Ghosts of Onyx is the stories you've already read are very heavy on the Spartan-IIIs, and that one is their origin story. You've met Tom-B292 and Lucy-B091 twice, you know Chief Mendez, you've seen the Ferrets, you've seen what Onyx turns into. Then if you like what Nylund was doing, Ghosts has you meet the surviving Spartan-IIs and Halsey and that's a big handhold to dig back further toward tFoR and FS if you feel like it.

Into the Fire is also an easy one to pull a rec off of, because it's actually the first section of a novella called Smoke and Shadow about Rion Forge. I liked it! It's short, but it was refreshing to see a book completely focused on civilian characters (...which is another reason that Legacy was fun for me.) It's also the start of a trilogy. The other two books are Renegades and Point of Light, both of those are full length and are circling back to Forerunner lore that hadn't been touched on in a while.

...Actually, speaking of Forerunners, man I feel like it has to have been wild to go right off with Promises to Keep without the context of the Forerunner trilogy. If you're curious based on that, try Cryptum. The Forerunner Trilogy is some true old-fashioned world-buildy weird scifi, Greg Bear was a master, and Cryptum is pretty accessible because it's about Bornstellar the idiot Forerunner teenager who knows just as little about what's going on as you do.

If you like it and go forward there, I'd say the middle book, Primordium, is much slower paced because it's focused on one guy (Chakas) in particular walking around with some other characters on a spooky Halo, but the third book Silentium is this great apocalyptic log of the whole of Forerunner civilization coming the fuck apart and the Didact losing his goddamn mind. 10/10

....What else.

Oh fuck, I know what else.

Alright, so. I don't like the Kilo Five trilogy, which is the series Glasslands is the first book of. The writing is engaging, but it has... it's hard to say it in a short way without starting to pull out my red string conspiracy board of insanity live on camera, but 1) this book in particular severely mishandles the characters from Ghosts of Onyx and 2) it has this really uncomfortable vibe about ONI and "necessary evil" that I think it doesn't quite stick it in a way I'm cool with. tl;dr the fictional characters don't need to be good people doing good things and fiction isn't real and the author doesn't have to come out on stage and tell you BAD PEOPLE DOING BAD THINGS IS BAD in order for a book to be okay, but I just do not trust the way this author handles ONI for real-world reasons that have a lot to do with real-world military imperialism.

...Also if you disagree with her on anything, especially Halsey, prepare to get hit with a sledgehammer telling you that you shouldn't be having fun. But I'll try to be the bigger person here.

The main reason I would say Glasslands at all is mostly Jul 'Mdama, who really does not get any emotional weight anywhere else in Halo. He's just kind of a ragdoll they throw around to have a bad guy in Spartan Ops and the Escalation comics until killing him off in the first 2 seconds of Halo 5. But if you cared about his sons in Legacy, I think you will find the origin story of Jul and how he wound up in an extremist Sangheili sect (and how badly the UNSC treated him as a POW) interesting. (He's also in The Thursday War, which gets him to where he is when he goes to find the Didact. Up to you if you decide to continue for that.)

It also deals with getting characters out of the dyson sphere at Onyx right after that's been discovered. I'd say if you're interested in this one, definitely read Ghosts of Onyx first.

........OKAY I THINK THAT'S EVERYTH-

This is just to say that if you really liked the Halo But It's High School vibe of Legacy of Onyx, you might enjoy the actual Halo YA novel Battle Born where four scared high school kids and one (1) wounded Spartan-III who's only a little older them try to rescue a whole town from the Covenant. It's slow at the start, but it's short and I had a lot of fun.

DONE FOR REAL THIS TIME THANKS FOR READING HAVE FUN OUT THERE BYYYYYYE

[hoodoo12]

how was the show??

THE SHOW. Oh man, THE SHOW. I had such a good time, thank you for asking! (it sparked a lil idea for a s-m-u-t-t-y story, so I'm happily typing away at that atm too!)

It was an audience of "standard" theater goers (older people who hold season tickets) + Beetlejuice fans. Fun combo. After coming from seeing it on Broadway with so many rabid fans, sitting in an audience that wasn't intimately familiar with it was a lot of fun. Kind of like being able to see it with new eyes again! At intermission I kept hearing things like, "This show is . . . interesting. Definitely different," from the older patrons. The old guy sitting next to me was talking to his wife and did some internet research on the show and Justin before it started; I managed not to fandump all the information in the world on them, lol

Even though the show was "sold out" there were plenty of seats open, including the one beside me. I wish I could have taken so many people who have put up with my fangirling about it for so long.

As for the performances! Kate grew on me as Delia. She is still no Leslie, but she seemed more comfortable in the role. Everyone did, actually. Everyone's cohesion and interactions were much more relaxed and natural compared to when I saw it last month.

Isabella knocked it out of the park of course. She really is a stellar Lydia. Will and Brittany still have great vibes together. Justin was amazing. Simply amazing. He really plays up to the audience and milks reactions. His improv background is so obvious; he has impeccable timing as to how long he can stretch a bit: the initial laugh, the increased laughter that comes when it continues, the dip in laughter when it becomes awkward, then the uptick again because it's so ridiculous. He did that twice: when he was sitting on Adam's lap (so much humping) and a sustained, almost a minute long scream after Lydia runs into the Netherworld.

I love that he added a little lore to Beetlejuice's background with the whole "Katherine Hepburn herpes" bit (if you don't know it, let me know and I'll write it out behind a spoiler). His Beetlejuice still sounds and gives off more of a menacing Keatlejuice vibe, which ngl, I am really digging.

My one complaint was that most of the cast seemed to rush through their lines. I know the show, but I bet if I didn't I would have had difficulty picking up on some of the words/lines from all the cast members except for Karmine and Justin.

One super weird thing was that during "What I Know Now", when it's "never smoke cigars in bed" the line was changed to "don't take too much Sudafed" and that actor was wearing a mask. Like a rubber face mask with fake hair that you could buy at a Halloween store. W-the actual-F?! It was just so out of place. I don't know if it was Matthew Michael Janisse (who made his Maxie Dean debut last night) and they wanted to cover his face for some unknown reason, but it was so bizarre I couldn't stop watching him in that scene.

Now onto the stage door! It was a different experience compared to what goes on in NYC. I don't know if people were starstruck or what, but . . . man. It was painfully awkward and I was just another fan standing there with them. There were only like 12 people waiting. All had BJ swag and several were talking about the bway show and stuff. When the actors started coming out, though, the other fans just acted deaf and dumb.

First was Will Burton. I clapped for him and told him what a good show, then since everyone else just stood there I walked up to him and started chatting. He asked if I wanted my playbill signed, I said sure; he asked if I had a pen and I said, "no, I'm the worst" so he dug around in his bag and found his own, lol

That type of interaction happened with.all.the.actors. Nobody waiting seemed to recognize any of them. Like WTF??

When Abe came out, I said, "Thanks for thr good show, Abe" and he zeroed in on me. "HOW DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM?!" he asked. I told him I saw him in NY, and yes, it was very creepy, lol lol. We talked for a while too.

I met Sean McManus, Lee Price (had a looong chat with him; he's a DEAR and such a good dancer! Holy crap I want to see him as Beetlejuice!!!), Kate, Isabella, Britney, Jesse, and Justin.

It was all the same with everyone standing around the stage door; if I didn't start talking/thanking the cast, they just froze like they had no clue what was going on. No one even seemed to recognize Justin! Like, this sweaty guy with black nails and smeared eyeliner was the star of the show you just watched! Since everyone else was frozen or whatever, we talked about stuff not related to the show. (I told him I liked his boots. He told me he stole them. hahaha--no, that was a true story.) I got the worst (or best? lol) photo of the two of us together.

So I guess the take away is: stage door in the city you see them in because that fan crowd (at least the size of it) is not anything like the NYC crowd.

I'm seeing it one more time before it leaves the area. If you get the opportunity to see it, do! It's worth it!

[scarlet--wiccan]

Lore coming back would be really cool! I hope it is someone with a lot of thought out into it and not just like. Luminous. Do you have any thoughts on how you’d like for it to go?

Also, since stand alone comic arcs are usually 6 issues and pietro, viv, and Lorna all make appearances in the first 3, I kind of hope Billy, Tommy, and Luna (and/or Marya and natalya?) are in the next ones. It’d be nice to at least get appearances from a lot of family members, even if they’re brief.

I'm definitely hoping we see the boys, and I'm really, really hoping they get the same/similar visual treatment as Wanda and Pietro. There is no excuse for Billy and Tommy to be drawn like white bread after all this effort has been put into Wanda's presentation.

Anyway, Lore. This is a character with a ton of built in potential and very little page time, so you could take her in a lot of different directions. If it were me, I would avoid the obvious choices-- I don't want to see her acting as a representation of Wanda's guilt, or a cautionary tale of what might happen if Wanda abused her powers. That's played out, and we've seen it before. I'd rather learn about Lore's homeworld and the other realities that she's terrorized, and find out what kind of awful stuff she's been up to since we last saw her.

I should say, the last time we saw Lore, Wanda threw a sword at her and she exploded, so she's definitely supposed to be dead. We know now that death cannot stop the Scarlet Witch, and Ms. Lore was a necromancer* by trade, so I'm pretty confident she could make a comeback.

Scarlet Witch (1994) #4

Lore would be a perfect antagonist for a story about Wanda's Nexus abilities. To me, the Nexus aspect of Wanda's powers is one of the most interesting and underutilized elements of the character, and I think that now would be a perfect time to revisit it. With so much of Wanda's trauma behind her, there's a lot of new opportunity to explore her unique powers without having to dig up the same old storylines.

In fact, it would actually be really helpful for both Wanda and Billy as characters moving forward-- the Nexus stuff is sort of the key to understanding how their reality-altering abilities are supposed to work, and I think that they'd both benefit from having more clarity and concrete parameters in that area. Neither of these characters actually do well as nigh-omnipotent demigods, at least not without some kind of grounding.

So, yeah, I want to revisit the Nexus aspect of Wanda's abilities and use that re-litigate what, exactly, her chaos magic and reality-altering powers can and cannot do. I think that would be a great way to round out on the growth Wanda experienced in Trial and Darkhold and just bring her to a place where her powers are more easily understood. I want to see Lore to return as an antagonist, but not just as Wanda's dark mirror-- I want to establish her as a villain in her own right, and a multiversal threat that Wanda is uniquely suited to oppose because their powers are so similar.

*This comic uses the word "necromancer" incorrectly. Writers often use "necromancy" to describe any and all forms of death magic, particularly raising, animating, or controlling the dead. This is a common misunderstanding-- in truth, the suffix "-mancy" is derived from the Greek μᾰντείᾱ (manteia) actually refers to divination and prophecy. Therefore, any word ending in "-mancy" actually describes a form of divination, such as cartomancy, which uses cards, or tasseomancy, which uses tea leaves. Necromancy, traditionally, is a form of divination performed by communing with the dead.

That's not really what Lore does. Her powers mostly seemed to revolve around consuming the life force of other beings, along with raising and controlling the dead. She's somewhat like a vampire in that regard, but you could describe her powers as general death magic. Unfortunately, the English language doesn't really have a kicky little suffix to describe general magical practices-- at least, not one that's widely recognized. The Greek for magic is μαγεία (mageia) so I suppose the appropriate derivation would be -magy. So, maybe necromagy?

Anyways, that's just me being a nerd about languages and magic. I think it's important to know these things if you're gonna write about them, even it's not, like, consequential in the long run.

[doomed-era]

okay okay I have more to say about this. unfortunately you will just have to bear with me-- but a lot of this kind of stems from my belief that Zelda isn't actually that black and white of a series, and the morally grey aspects of it, hidden or not, make it more interesting.

I'd argue this idea that our protagonists can make dire mistakes is even explored in canon, to an extent: OoT Zelda's choice to bring Link into the conflict between her and Ganondorf comes to mind. King Daphnes in Wind Waker is very similar, bringing both Tetra and Link into an ancient conflict because he believes it is best and that he doesn't have a choice. Whether it was the right thing to do in both games is absolutely brought up for debate by different characters (though I'd argue it's kind of justified in Zelda's case), and it is a fascinating part of older games that I feel is really unacknowledged in newer titles and the fandom at large.

Skyward Sword introduced something that dramatically changed how most Zelda fans see the conflicts present in the series, and it makes me deeply uncomfortable that people accept it at face-value. Namely, it introduced the idea of the battle between Link, Zelda, and Ganon as actually the result of an age-old conflict between Hylia, who is pretty much considered the embodiment of light and goodness and Demise, a flat, evil-for-the-sake-of-it deity. Hylia's also...a white blonde woman, and her statue's concept art states that she is supposed to look "pregnant," perhaps to symbolize her status as the "mother" of Hyrule. Weird IRL connotations there, especially since we know that Japan has a history of war crimes and a imperial line that is supposedly descended from the goddess Amaterasu. People more educated in Japanese mythos have talked about Hylia's similarities with that whole shebang, but it's suspicious as hell. Tears of the Kingdom only digs into this symbolism further. This isn't to say that drawing on mythology is inherently bad, by no means! Again, this is generally just part of how the fantasy genre works, but it's really appalling that this stuff was inserted with absolutely no regard to its connotations in Zelda, and people slurp it up because they don't know any better. I wouldn't excuse this in any fantasy series, let alone one that I deeply care about.

Because Zelda's bloodline is directly stated to come from Hylia, they use that implicitly as a justification for their rule, as seen in Breath of the Wild, to an extent Tears of the Kingdom, and by the fandom-- across the entire series. No matter what they do, their actions are seen as objectively good by the narrative-- or at least justified, if not handwaved as "something a random evil outlier would do"-- and if someone goes against them, then they aren't evil because of any bad actions that they commit, but rather simply because they are against Hyrule. It's an unnuanced and unbalanced way of looking at the characters and their actions.

Think about the Yiga, for example. They've definitely done some awful stuff: killing Dorian's wife, threatening all of Kakariko, stealing from the Gerudo, and attempting to kill Zelda and Link. They're implied to be a heavily controlling cult with a charismatic and cunning leader. We're never really given much of an explanation for why they exist, why they worship the Calamity, or why they want to destroy Hyrule so badly in-game, except in a singular dialogue from Cado, where it's explained that they are a Sheikah sect. Everywhere else, they're stated to be goofy, incompetent traitors who are mainly evil because they "worship the Calamity" and are against Hyrule. It's also implied that the Sheikah were in hiding until they were ordered to excavate the Divine Beasts, so you could conclude that the royal family knew they were hidden, but did nothing! Was BOTW Zelda's entire lineage past the king that exiled the Sheikah and drove the Yiga away somehow "the evil outlier?" According to the lore we've accepted as fact, yes, despite Hylia's divine favor being given to Zelda's mother and heavily implied to have been present in the royal line for centuries! I just really fail to see how that's simple good and evil, despite the games saying otherwise.

All that being said, I really do like this grey aspect of Zelda, and it's something I try to lean into. I like that Hyrule isn't as good as it appears, and I like the villains still being evil and doing bad things, but having agency and not being the literal spawn of the devil; having deep grievances with the way things are run and being harmed by it, while also doing great harm! I like our protagonists trying their best to make things right but maybe not doing the right thing in the end, and having to come to terms with that. It gives Zelda something that a lot of other fantasy media doesn't have. I hope that more people enjoy this aspect of Zelda lore as much as I do, because it is utterly fascinating and allows for a much deeper, more human, more real way of looking at the characters we've all come to know and love.

you know, as much as i see characterizations of link and zelda as victims of the hyrulean monarchy and what it entails—and on the flip side, having them perpetuate the monarchy with no regard for how it will affect others— i really think we're missing out on having them be both willing perpetrators and victims.

if you're going to reframe the monarchy as bad, which i think is lots of fun, have them enforce a "divine order," try and make everything as it "should be," uphold the kingdom and do everything they're supposed to with their whole chest, and then face the consequences for both themselves and the people they hurt. understand what they did and regret it, kind of. it's something i really like and honestly can't get enough of

[oh-my-may]

Felt like sharing that I've been in the process of finishing up Genshin content I skipped over. Especially Chenyu Vale exploration. Felt like a chore doing it when it came out so I pushed it to a later point when I'd actually enjoy it. And what can I say, I'm almost through with it now after two longer sessions and I've been loving it :)

After playing a game like Rebirth, Genshins casualness (?) is so refreshing and welcoming, it felt like a warm hug. The last few weeks I only ever did dailies and farmed through resin and logged off because I was busy with other stuff. Now I have the time to enjoy it again, and I feel so happy about it. It makes me so excited for the new map areas in 4.6.

Chenyu Vale exploration probably felt kind of nostalgic and welcoming because there'a lots of small puzzles and mechanics that are similar or the same as Liyue pre-2.0 which now feels so nostalgic to me. The weird bubble flowers that you have to shoot? Placing geo monuments on pressure plates? Count me in.

Also love the "weird" hidden chests that are also so old Mondstadt and Liyue. Like wdym there's a weird digging point that you can click repeatedly and ore chunks come out until it explodes in your face BUT you get a chest at the end :) Following trails of pinecones to caged in Simulacrums (these Treasure Hoarders really just do anything). The ruins were also just such a callback to old Liyue :( I was so happy throughout idk.

I alsl finally figured out how the Chenyu Vale exclusive exploration mechanisms and puzzles work. You know, the teapot (?) things and the light lotus in the water (or so). What can I say, it's been a breeze. The Vale is just so beautiful...

But it did get me to think... it is a part of Liyue, yet it looks so different... it's so green/blue/turquoise and the rest of Liyue is gold/yellow. Like... all of it. And ofc that's still pretty! Been loving to see the silhouette of the Jade Chamber or the other adepti abodes in the distance. But you can definitely see that the dev team has come a long way. I can't wait for Mondstadt to get its Dorman Port expansion :( I've got a feeling we're only gonna get that before Snezhnaya comes out during the 5.x patches, since it's probably gonna be very close... but I'm so happy that Mond will get attention again. I've already loved the events this patch, the potions one and the one with the cats. They definitely haven't forgotten about it! They keep on teasing the place names in characters dialogues so casually...

ANYWAY (is it obvious that genshin is a huge hyperfixation lf mine I could talk on it for HOURS) I have like 10% exploration remaining in all areas of Chenyu and I'll probably finish it within the next few days. I also still have Lynette'a hangout to do and a bunch of smaller world quests in Chenyu. Then my vault of primogems will be ripped open for Arlecchino <33 Will talk about her so much after her quest and listening to her voicelines about other Fatui members when she comes out. So obsessed with her lore. I have over 250 pulls waiting and I really want her weapon too... i'm kinda scared.

A good friend of mine who was the reason I started genshin to begin with also came back to the game after not playing since before Sumeru. We've been talking a lot about the game, she's in the process of finishing up all things Sumeru and we're gonna play together some time this week to get her coop achievements... and she wants me to summarize and explain the archon quests so far before she digs into Fontaine... welp. Anyway, it's just so nice to talk about everything wirh someone again, especially because we're on the same page what concerns all things genshin, be it lore, gameplay, critique or anything else. It's just nice sharing interests :)

Maybe I'll give some few thoughts after I actually finish up the area and did Lynette's hangout. Also maybe give some predictions on Arle's story or so.

Have these screenshots I took! I rarely actually take screenshots while playing genshin... since I played on an old laptop for so long I'm not used to the game actually looking nice :) will hopefully change that in the future

[greyborn2]

Choose violence ask game! 19. you're mad/ashamed/horrified you actually kind of like...

20. part of canon you found tedious or boring

Choose Violence Ask Game

Ooooooh! Starting off strong!! 19: Really had to wrack my brain for this'n because I have so little shame about my opinions but no... I found a thing. The Shivering Isles. Not just the dlc, but, like, the entire realm as a worldbuilding thing. And it is awful. I should hate it. It has absolutely atrocious ways of depicting actual mental illness, Sheo is my most despised prince and top of my 'most evil prince actually' list, it is so much more whimsical than most stuff I like but at the same time...? It just has an energy that draws me in. Wonderlandy meets fae vibes to it all. Its fun and frightening and tantalizingly interesting. And there are (mad) rules to it all, which overcomes my normal dislike of whimsy. The people, even if awful representation, just make for super strong characters because that's what you get when you gimmick them up as hard as everyone in the Isles is. IDK. I should hate it, by all rights, and I still hate Sheo... but the Isles? The Isles I love.

20: For a long, long, loooong time it was redguard lore. I found them really disconnected from everything else in the setting and sorta 'tacked on' feeling. That feeling has very much changed as my knowledge of TES lore has deepened since my childhood and teen years (when I disliked them) to now. I used to dislike that they were the ONE human race not originating from atmora, like everyone else, but with the strong theory that old pre-ehlnofey war mundus was one continent that only later got broken apart in said war I started accepting it. Continent gets blasted to pieces, folks are gonna end up scattered. I used to dislike how completely unrelated most of their gods were to all other tamrielic gods... but then dug in more and learnt that, no, you can still compare pretty much all of them to other gods they just have far more different names than a lot of the other god-variants. Honestly I think a lot of my bleh-ness for their lore just came from unfamiliarity, since I didn't dig into them early, and me disliking sand and desert areas. Now I really dig redguards a lot. Anyways, that isn't now... so as for actual current answer? Nothing majorly honestly. I adore TES to pieces. I ravenously eat it up. Buuuuuut there are a few little things that generally still grab me a little less. Small scale politics (such as between petty breton kings or cyrodiilic counts) rather than large scale (province scale) politics, just because they tend to be unimportant really, Nocturnal and Clavicus Vile as a whole, a lot of 'modern' (2E onwards) nord lore... I don't dislike any of those things but, yea, less interest.

[thefirstknife]

OK... So I was told when I first started getting into lore that back in D1 there were lore tabs (called grimoire notes or something? IDK, I only started getting into lore once D2 was out) that said specifically guardian's could have children. But then I also got conflicting information that there is no such thing. Now I know that you, personally, have stated that we don't really know. So I guess what I'm asking is, do you think there's merit is literally reading every single grimoire note from D1 to see if there's anything that could tell us one way or another? Because I'm the crazy who will do it and hate my life cause, I'll be real with you, the old stuff was a little dry. Also, if you know what lore tab they might be thinking of that is actually ambiguous, but 'seen in the right light' could be misconstrued as saying definitively they can have children. Also is there lore that would have started the thought process that they /can't/ have children, because that actually seems kind of a stretch to suddenly jump to. I would be more likely to believe they CAN then they CAN NOT as they are brought back from death perfectly fine and healthy. So unless there's lore saying they CAN'T then I'm a little baffled by it. Sorry if this was meandering? Also, thank you for reading through that trainwreck of stream of consciousness xD

Old grimoires don't go into this question so you won't find much digging through them. It hasn't been discussed much back in the day, not that I can remember at least.

This has always been up in the air. Guardian health and body-status in general. Like, how .... "alive" are they really? Given that they're immortal and paracausal and all that. We don't have any firm answers, but there have been some hints recently actually.

For example, in the second lore page from the new lore book, Triage (still not available on Ishtar but linking for the future), Safiyah doesn't let Zavala's Ghost heal him and instead she shows him how to tend to the wound. That means that Guardian bodies still work relatively normally, as Zavala was bleeding and his wound acted like it would for anyone else. He just has a Ghost that can patch that up quickly.

"This isn't necessary," he says, but lets her continue. She produces her hooked needle, the hemostat, the polypropylene thread. Tools that fit easily in her hands; precious resources for an immortal man.

"I'm going to close the wound," she says, and touches his arm lightly with a gloved hand. "I will make six sutures. It will take four days, maybe five, to heal."

So without using a Ghost, a Lightbearer needs the same type of medical attention and healing time. This suggests to me that their bodies still work exactly the same.

As for children.... It's a very tough question to answer because even if Lightbearers' bodies work normally otherwise without a Ghost (need to be healed, can scar, become disabled...), bearing children is a whole other thing.

There is only one direct mention of this, but it's unclear. Iron Forerunner class item from Season of the Lost:

"You'll never have a son," his Ghost had said, "but it isn't too late for you to take an apprentice."

This is Saladin's Ghost telling him to take Zavala as an apprentice because he will never have a son. Does that mean that Saladin, as a Lightbearer, physically cannot have a son? Or that he as a Lightbearer should not make children because he will outlive them? As I said, it's unclear. We can't tell if this is something that's just phsically impossible or if Saladin's Ghost is just telling him it would be a bad idea to have a biological family given that he's immortal.

Or maybe it's just Saladin himself who simply cannot have children? As in, maybe he couldn't have children before he was a Lightbearer too.

This is interesting also because we now know that Zavala had a family with a mortal woman. And lore on Tymbal Lucidae mentions also that he had a son. However, it does not specify if the child was Zavala's biological son. Frustrating.

At first I thought that the previous lore for Saladin was as clear as they could get with telling us that Guardians can't have children, but this new lore with Zavala is making me question that. Obviously, Hakim (Zavala's son) can be adopted, but the ship lore mentions that Zavala was there since the child was an infant. The framing makes me think it's not an adopted kid:

Early evening stretched out before him; his son's infant silhouette traced into the violet sky. The air thrummed with the cicada's song. Hakim traipsed through the meadow as a child, stood a boy, and flickered forward through adolescence in rotoscoped evolution until, when he stepped in front of his father, he was almost a man. Zavala laughed to himself with prideful disbelief at the sight of his son.

We will likely get more info on this through the Triage lore book, but we'll have to wait a few more weeks. And hope that Bungie gets a bit more specific about whether or not Zavala actually had a biological child.

We'll have to wait to see the full story of the Triage lore book and Zavala's life with his family to get more answers. And that is IF they give us a direct answer. At this point, it all hinges on how they tell us more about Hakim and whether he was Zavala's biological son. Only that, for now, will fully answer this question for good.

[midbus8]

The Soulmates - The Gift of Light (The Christmas Gift of Light). Lore and theories.

Hey, yeah, so I know I’m a Care Bears archiver, but recently I’ve been becoming very interested in an old cartoon called The Soulmates - The Gift of Light. You’ve probably heard about it, it was lost media for years and was recently found and people are talking about it. In my spare time I’ve been doing a little bit of digging on this cartoons’ lore. The Soulmates, Angris McBragg, Doubting Thomas, and after some closer looks at what’s going on, there seems to be more to this cartoon than I actually thought there would be. Definitely seems like they were going to launch a series that would’ve cleared a bunch of stuff up. Well, it was confirmed that they were, but the company involved with the series went bankrupt, so that sucks..

First, let’s start out with The Soulmates themselves.

The Soulmates seem to be two alien creatures that surf the universe, but if we listen closely to some of the Moons’ dialogue, it’s made pretty clear that they’re not the only Soulmates in the universe. He refers to the Soulmates by their actual names (Orion and Orillia) in a way that makes it obvious that there’s more of them.

In the scene where Orion is trying to communicate with Orillia telepathically, the communicators on the side of his head state “The Soul you are trying to reach is currently under a spell and thus out of our service, thank you for using SoulNet.”. This could mean that the Soulmates all communicate with each other in the same way, why else would there be a whole service dedicated to them communicating telepathically?

There’s more evidence that there’s more Soulmates, which leads us perfectly into Angris McBragg.

Not much else is known about him either, apart from that he’s Santa’s rival, as said in his dialogue “It took years of work, but it finally paid off!”. Meaning that he’s been trying to take his place for years. They are also not related, because Angris’ last name is McBragg, not Claus. Plus they look nothing alike.

Angris and Thomas seem to know what a Soulmate is, even though the Soulmates we watch have never even been to earth, and they haven’t even done their first mission! This could mean that Angris and Thomas have met other Soulmates in the past who have tried to stop them from doing something bad. They also don’t refer to the Soulmates we see by their actual names, just “Soulmate”, which adds to this.

Going back to Angris McBragg as a character, I’m not sure what his backstory is. My only guess is that he isn’t some massive evil mastermind, but rather a very resentful guy with a short temper and a lot of intelligence. He doesn’t really act super evil, he treats his henchman Thomas with respect, bosses people around, and does petty bullying and causes chaos in local towns just to ruin someone’s day for no reason. On the other hand, his goal isn’t to take over the world or destroy the universe or whatever, he just wants people to doubt themselves and be miserable, which is still pretty bad, but not “Mastermind” evil.

Next we’ll look at Doubting Thomas. The first thing I noticed is that he doesn’t have elf ears (as seen in this screenshot with Pops, yes the polaroid photo elf is named Pops according to the cartoon), at first I thought that Thomas was a disgruntled elf, but that’s obviously false. Thomas is a dwarf, and that’s all we really know about him. It’s possible that Angris could’ve hypnotised him into being Doubting Thomas, but that part is just a theory.. One little trivia fact is that Doubting Thomas means someone who doesn’t believe in something until they see it for themselves, and it’s also a reference to the bible, which may be why he turns good in the end.

Edit: I've just noticed that Thomas still has 4 fingers, not 5 like the other humans. So what is Thomas? Is he actually an elf? Is he a hybrid? Or are his normal looking ears or 4 fingers some kind of deformation? I'm not too sure, but it's fun to headcanon about!

That’s basically all I have to say. I am interested to see if anything comes out of this cartoon. The creator Gabrielle St George is very active on Social media and talks to her fans a lot, and I do wonder if a reboot will happen, or at least some merchandise. Imagine a Halloween special where the Soulmates fight an evil pumpkin man who steals candy and makes monster ornaments come to life. That’d be sick, lol. Thanks for reading!

[seerofmike]

with everyone digging their talons into the apex lore recently, i wanted to zero in on something i think actively ruins the lore, but not enough people realize it or talk about it:

character motivations (and lack thereof).

i'm gonna ask ya'll a super simple question: what is mirage's character motive?

is it paying for his mom's dementia treatment? while a popular theory, it’s not entirely confirmed, and only implied in one line from a different character entirely. is it looking for his brothers? he seems to have accepted that they’re gone. is it looking for his dad? he honestly doesn’t really seem to care about him too much.

one could eventually come to the conclusion that maybe he just wants fame and fortune so he can have a better life with his mom, but that’s after stretching everything we know about him to form one solid character motive that isn’t actually in the story, or at least, explored.

and that’s the basis for half this post: lack of character motive.

what are some characters here for? helping people out? saving lives? chasing the best thrill? bringing honor? all technically motives, but all so vague that it doesn’t grasp you or leave you as interested as you could be.

[more under cut]

eventually, bloodhound’s motive of honor extended to bringing enough honor to get boone into valhalla, but it’s never actually said how they’ll do that. it just seems kind of pie in the sky. like, how does one determine when they bring honor to boone? will bloodhound decide that for themself? will they maybe realize they don’t need to be hung up on this boy from like years ago? don’t know. it’s so vague.

what’s wattson’s motive? like, her actual motivation? she doesn’t have one yet. some cool stuff is IMPLIED, with her father--but like, she didn’t join the games to find out any sort of truth, or get revenge, or anything. she just joined because she considers them family, and if anything with her father happens, maybe then it will become her motivation, but as of now: none. 

some characters HAVE a motivation or a clear ‘end goal’ to their story--actually, change ‘have’ to ‘had’. that’s another issue. some characters reached the goal of their story too early.

pathfinder was introduced with his motive being to find his creator. well, we found out who pathfinder’s creator(s) are, and now he has a totally new one: find his son.

wraith’s thing was discovering her identity and finding out who she is. in season 6, she gets handed this information. literally. she does nothing for herself and mirage just gives her a file with her name on it. her ‘goal’ has been reached prematurely, with little actual input from her. it just happened to her.

loba joined for revenge, and she gets it. she throws revenant’s head in the phase runner, kicks his ass, and seems satisfied. now, technically that’s not the end of it, and there’s more revenge to maybe be had considering rev can never truly go away and he’s intent on killing someone she loves. but right now? loba seems really content with where she is. it kind of feels like she thinks she’s gotten her revenge. so her goal: achieved. for now. she’s just kind of hanging around, currently.

horizon: needs to return to her son. finds out in her debut season that she does end up doing it. we see her end goal achieved, and though we still wonder how she did it, we know she does it, and we found out shortly after her release. there’s no tension in her story now relating to her motive, to be quite honest. her goal: technically achieved, but achieving still in the works. (time travel--It’s Complicated(tm)!

on the flip side, other characters have a motive, and haven’t achieved it yet, but are moving at a SNAIL’S PACE to get anywhere with it.

crypto’s goal of exposing the syndicate and getting his old life back? mila ??? on PAUSE for relationship drama with wattson.

revenant’s revenge and systematic takedown on hammond ??? on PAUSE for relationship drama with loba.

bangalore getting back home ??? on PAUSE. kind of never really brought up after the first couple of seasons. her motive now seems to be finding her brother (possibly as a part of her larger goal) and to be honest, i think it’s the best we have right now in terms of motivation. like, it took us. several. seasons to get there...but there seems to be small developments in it with every season. incremental development towards an end goal. that’s better than most characters.

anyways, this is getting kind of long, but the point is--the reason apex often feels so empty and dry at times despite things technically happening, or messy and confusing and frustrating because ‘too much’ is happening--is because motives are all over the place. some endings are seemingly achieved too early--and it’s likely that those were never their real motives or arcs to begin with, but hell, the story sure did represent them as such for a long period of time, and when they achieve their ‘end goal’ and suddenly get a new one (or worse, meander around for a bit) it just feels. Bad. it feels empty and rushed. 

characters with little motivation waiting for something to happen to them feel just as bad. wattson could eventually have a motive if she finds out something happened to her father--but that is plot happening to her. not her actions moving the plot forward as it should with a character arc. same thing for rampart--rampart doesn’t actually seem to give a shit about big sister, like, it’s explicitly stated she’s just not the kind of person that really cares for revenge and stuff like that. so the big sister plot we’re all interested in? isn’t really her motive, end goal, whatever word you wanna use for it. and again, if she gets one eventually--it happened to her.

this post is going for a while, and i don’t really have much smart to say or add on, and if i proposed a way to fix the shortcomings we would be here all day. but it’s just something i wanted to make an observation of and put into words, ‘cuz it’s been bugging me for a week.

[ketavinsky]

hi so i did a quiz you linked and got 'day.' where is this character/deity from? super interesting that the daytime is so incandescent so i gotta know more

!! Hello! Finally i have some time to rant and rave about my boy, my scorching sun, my droughtsummer divinity! Day, and the rest of the deities from that quiz, are from my longstanding novel project that is very tentatively called In the Old World, the Stars Spoke to Each Other.

Chucking a readmore here because I really need to get my thoughts out about this dude, seeing as he's more or less the pivot around which the whole series revolves, as well as the foundation of the magic system asdjgkl.

Day is one of five gods of the Sect of Silent Spaces; the others, as mentioned in the quiz, are Dawn, Dusk, Night, and Twilight. Twilight, a sea goddess, is by far the youngest, Dawn and Dusk are siblings, and Night and Day are in consistent conflict over who is older than who. I had some big ideas over them representing Space and Time respectively, once upon a time.

Day is essentially a sun god and is by far the most powerful out of all the deities in this universe because he can actually act for himself. There is another, Starface, who is an avatar for the universe itself, but it is confined to the void of space due to its inability to be contained on a mortal plane, and as a result can only act through hosts or conduits. So he's kind of a big deal! The lore for this is split into five chapters, with the actual novel series occurring in Chapters Four and Five (Eclipse and Black Hole Sun), but Day's actions in One to Three (which are set between the Qin and Qing dynasties) are pretty pivotal to how things go!

In his original form, he is a six-armed locust harpy young-god prodigy gilded king, paragon above all his peers, neither a good nor just deity, but not necessarily an unkind one either. He's a whimsical little dude, a manifestation of entropy with heavy motifs of circles and cycles.

I took... a long time to answer this ask because I was digging around for my original concepts for him, and this is from 2014 and so wildly outdated, but probably gives a decent feel for the kind of creature that he was. A common theme in all of his iterations is that he doesn't have a face, per se: look upon Day and you are likely to see the gilded skull of a cadaver, a flurry of locust wings, three hyena heads, an electric concentric halo, a melting pool of bronze, a cluster of blinking eyes. 

He's also one of those "look too long and you'll go mad" types, which while being something that he can't help, does factor into his cruelty later on.

Phew, the 2014 draft. Messy stuff, rivalled only by the 2016-2017 draft, which is truly a shitshow. Anyways. This is the most up-to-date draft I have of what Day looks like, from a scene where Dawn is visiting Day.

His realms are in deserts and waterfalls and long boundless places where the wind seems to rush in from other times and worlds and planes of reality, and the lengths of his cloak appear to be crafted from glass but they are in fact mirages of the future ever-expanding and distorting. Granted, Day is not a deity who is particularly concerned with fate, stability, order- those are the dominion of his wife, Dusk. 

Dusk is stillbirth and bone graves and overgrown valleys devoid of mortal interference; Day is chaos and lightning storms and the smell of rain so thick that it lingers in your nose and your mouth and seems to whisper with your tongue something is coming, something is going to happen, something's already happened, it's on its way. Those who enter his presence will become disoriented, lost in what has already happened or premonition for what is going to happen. Time itself flows strangely around him, and there's a lot of looping in Chapters One to Three. The five deities make the same mistakes and live the same half-lives, over and over again, with Day at their center, gradually but unmistakably decaying.

Most relevant to the whole showdown is Chapter Three, aptly named Daybreaker, where he completely loses his shit. The five all revolve, narrative-wise, around ideas liiike divinity and humanity blurring together, the hypocrisy of deities who demand perfection and damn their mortal subjects for failing to live up to this ideal despite being hilariously imperfect themselves, the search for beauty in the eternal where the joy of life is in fact in mortal transience; the failure of these divinities to realise this. Despite being an entity of entropy, Day develops a deep disdain for mortal beings due to their inability to make any meaningful change on his scale; despite being a locust god, he likens humanity to a massive swarm of roiling, thrashing, blind-and-hungry insects, and he starts to hate them for it. 

Day cannot tolerate stagnancy; Day cannot bear the idea of himself unable to change; Day resents that he contains the enormity of possibility inside of him, but he can't do anything meaningful with it. He cannot alter fate, he cannot create, he can distort and disrupt and fuck around and find out but cannot give any of it meaning. He is a disembodied god in a confusing, horrifying world who can't die, unlike Dawn who, as a phoenix, can kill and resurrect himself, and Dusk who is basically undead. He has no will to go on as he is and he cannot create any new meaning for his existence because that, the creation of something out of nothing, is a skill that is restricted to mortals with their inconsequential lifespans and bizarre appetites, and he hates it. It takes quite a few... dynasties for him to realise this, and a lot of... honestly vitriolic disruption and unneeded advice from the other four that becomes a major plot point later, but all in all-

By the end of Chapter Three, Day becomes a hateful spitfire god that resolves to devote himself to destruction if he cannot create. Locust lord, Apollyon-alike, Abomination Almighty, the center of an atrocity. This is the Day that the quiz revolves around! He reckons that what he does is cathartic; the rest of the world is rightfully horrified and decides that he's a massive fire hazard. 

After he completely loses control over his form, Dusk eats her own heart, a symbolic gesture as she cannot afford to waste time mourning her husband, and she and Night imprison him in the core of the earth.

And then Chapter Four/the Age Where the Stars Stopped Speaking, starts, which I am actually writing for. Due to the fact that he’s trapped in the core of the earth with 1000 chains and tassels and binding scripture, he doesn’t interact with people much until the final act, but he can possess his secretary, the Chimera, to talk to people.

I wouldn’t call him a villain in the actual novel until... well. Much Later. The current outline for the final act is that Dust releases Day from his prison, and he is given the vessel amalgamation of his secretary and his younger son, Obeir, the porcelain giant. And then he lives in their body as a Biblical angel-esque creature. I have a tag for him that’s called I think Ramiel of the Wretched!

However, Day’s eldest child, Ofluxe, and his court, are the main villains for most of the novel! Ofluxe is inspired by the alchemical magnum opus and perfect union of man and woman, the Rebis, and his whole thing is that he was stolen from his mother when Day started becoming malevolent, but ended up inheriting Day’s great rage and misanthropy anyways. Day did not become a malevolent god until quite late in his life; Ofluxe kind of speed-runs the whole process.

But, yeah, Day doesn’t make his huge appearance until Chapter Five. As the story revolves around Dawn’s eldest daughter, Minuet, who was Day’s mentee up until Daybreaker, and Night’s sons, the majority of his appearances are interactions with them. I have no idea how to link documents and I haven’t posted these scenes anywhere so here’s a draft dump of Day interacting with Minuet, with Night as a buffer.

Silly-billy Day dialogue:

And this is a draft of a scene, also between Day and Minuet, that occurs in Chapter Five/Black Hole Sun, when he’s been stuffed into his new body.

It’s mostly just them yelling at each other. Day does a lot of yelling and complaining in ancient languages. This is the only scene I really have where he’s not yelling, and it’s from a flashback sequence from Dawn going to meet Day.

But, yeah, here’s my guy! My he/they/it king. My sweet cheese, my rotten divinity, my bad-time boy. 

I regret that I don’t currently have any art of him because he is... very difficult to draw, buuuut I do have some AI-generated shots of him that come very very close, especially in his Ramiel of the Wretched form, that I might post at some point. Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk!

[steve0discusses]

Yugioh S5 Ep 20: Pharaoh’s Cool New Trick

Digging my way through quite a pile of commission work (funny how these things only come all at once or not at all), nearing the light at the end of the tunnel, was looking forward to some free time to catch up on my many little side projects when I was asked to take off for a weekend to do some cat-sitting to which I would NEVER say no to a cat, so like...Rip this blog I guess, we only update like once a week nowadays, but what do you do?

That’s right, play Puzzles and Dragons! The only phone game worth paying any attention to! Where they just released Pegasus on their Yugioh Collab and he looks pretty great!

So I’m just gonna take a second for some art appreciation, because the Puzzles and Dragons art team is just A++++ honestly, and yes, I did pull 13 times to get a Pegasus in my monster box, and yes, he is a completely insane team leader that is absolutely broken when paired with Yugi (the numbers are so satisfying) but...look at him. He looks so good!

(also I finally got Joey Wheeler, and so now my gatcha cravings are settled. And, don’t worry, I play this game so much that I was there during Christmas when they offered like a bajillion stones for free so I didn’t actually use real money on this.)

Now PAD also released a Weevil and Rex, and I don’t know why, and neither does the art team because they still look pretty good but in comparison to all the mains, they sure do looks like just some shorty guys in some casuals.

though I gotta admit, I want to learn how the hell this art team does swooshy effects, because man, that would make my art so much better to just have flames violently exploding out of all my art. Why am I not doing that more often? I have the technology.

anyway, I didn’t bother trying to pull them. Maybe I’ll accidentally pull them when they eventually release a Duke Devlin. (also, RIP to the fact that Roland will probably never be in Puzzles and Dragons but like...I can only send them so many polite letters covered in stickers pretending I’m some 10 year old child and writing in my broken Hiragana “Roland in PAD?”. Thems the breaks. (They also might not remember who Roland is.))

Shoutouts to the card that Weevil is holding that is censoring this nipple on the booby spider, PS.

So because this is not actually a Puzzles and Dragons blog, and it’s been ten eons since I regularly updated so I could remember episode to episode...where the hell were we?

That’s right, we’re on an island now. This show’s wonderful obsession with evil islands (and spoiler, this is one of the few Yugioh Islands that doesn’t explode at the end. Mostly because Kaiba isn’t here to do it or this place would be cinder)

(read more island stuff under the cut)

Anyway, after announcing “hey guys! Screw islands!” Yugi immediately collapses and without any warning.

Apparently the armor is a big ol parasite, which is something that Yugi is so used to at this point that he refuses to admit that this is a problem. Just normal Muto stuff, refusing to tell anyone that he has a serious illness going on underneath that giant mass of hair.

(the sailor moon vibes coming off this weird orb energy)

Sort of feels like a call back to S1 when Yugi was clearly possessed and everyone else was like “He acting weird to you?” except it’s S5 and everyone has learned to never trust Yugi when he says he’s fine and they are responding like he is about to die. Which is correct.

Outside of the cave falls this scroll that is...glowing, I guess. So they open it up and get a bunch of hieroglyphs that give them the “riddle of light” and like youknow...it’s riddle stuff.

They’re doing this riddle for “wings.” And it’s like...everyone’s monster here has a set of wings or an ability to fly. Every single monster except for I dunno, flaming swordsman? Hell, Yugi himself had two sets of wings when he fused with Dark Magician (which was weird, and I still don’t like to think about what technically was going on there.) But we have to go and get ourselves even more wings.

Weirdly, Joey turns to Tea and does something that in any other show would be completely normal. He was like “you want to stay here with Yugi, don’t you?” and it was the first time Joey has ever actually addressed the fact that Tea and Yugi are close. Uncharted territory. I was amazed at the amount of casual shipping that is happening here. It’s almost like a normal ass relationship.

So the boys decide to go off, and be boys and tackle this themselves. And they shouldn’t have, because Tea is smart for this group, and also has the only healing spell.

Like if you’re playing D+D you wouldn’t typically leave your only healer behind. Just saying.

Also like...Grandpa Muto went with them? I guess he’d have to since he’s the translator but also...kind of weird to leave your grandson dying in a cave, but maybe that’s just the Muto lifestyle.

Do not be fooled by my caps, no one has addressed the Bakura in the puzzle for 3 seasons. I’m starting to think this show will never address the Bakura in the puzzle. Which honestly, that would be hilarious if they made a big deal out of that plot point and then couldn’t use it in the end.

And speaking of plot points that kind of come out of nowhere and don’t make full sense with the continuity of the show--Joey has regressed back to the 4th grade.

Hey show? What?

So like if you love Joey, this is not the arc for you, because this arc he is reduced to a Himbo and nothing else. Straight up didn’t know what an echo is, but is very strong and pretty, I guess.

This inevitably happens with any TV show becuase different people make different parts, and I’ve brought up before that sometimes it feels like some teams only have loose post-it notes of what any character should be like at any given point (ESPECIALLY with Seto Kaiba’s timeline) but like...

...Personally I’m mot so fond of this interpretation of Joey, kind of ignores Joey’s best traits, and makes Tristan look way too smart in comparison (and like I always pinned Tristan to be the Himbo of the group, but maybe it’s because they give Tristan so little else to do?)

And like don’t get me wrong, Joey’s a dumbass a lot of the time and needs to get corrected by his pals...but...to the point he doesn’t know what an echo is? He’s a dumbass in a High School student sort of way, youknow?

Anyway, they get down to this big ravine, and they have to destroy this stone while the light passes over it. Kind of feels like a Breath of the Wild shrine quest, actually. In fact, I think Breath of the Wild recycled the shadow/sunlight pathing quest like 4 or 5 times. (I love Breath of the Wild to death but boy did they run out of ideas at the end there.)

They have to fight a glass monster and it’s kind of like...do you know the game Balls 3D? probably not, but it looked like a bunch of random shapes stuck together like a 90′s animation. They basically went to war with shapes.

Pure Himbo energy, has several pokemon, but punches for his pokemon instead of using them. A power move if I ever saw one.

Youknow that would make pokemon a lot more interesting if you could like throw out your pikachu, and then choose to just physically run up to your opponents Eevee and sock it in the jaw. Raise of hands--I know you all would love a version of pokemon like that. Let Ash Ketchum punch a Ratata.

Bro has informed me that Ash does do something like this in the anime. But I’m not talking about the anime, I’m talking about the video game. Give me the option to physically combat my rival. This is what I want, Pokemon.

They discover a way to break the monolith, and the show thinks we’re like actually 7 years old (because the show is Y7, although I forget because it deals with so many dark themes) so the show is going to hold on to this puzzle for a while...just to fill time. And it’s fine because we gotta switch over to Pharaoh anyway.

Yami has this dream again. He attempts to fuse with Dark magician to overcome the dream, but alas, he is still not strong enough.

Yugi wakes up in this murky cave while Tea is out washing out like...some rag? (he’s also still got a rag, so I guess multiple rags were required for how sweaty Yugi is.)

Yugi says “I feel like I’m a new man!” a lot in this episode, and every time he calls himself a man like he’s some sort of adult it’s very funny to me.

And then this plot lore dropped.

I mean I guess inevitably it had to happen...

But man, end of an era. It was freakin hilarious while it lasted: that Pharaoh refused to read ancient Egyptian because it’s like 2002 and he is a High Schooler living in Japan and he actually doesn’t WANT to resolve the mystery of the puzzle. Maybe the people who made this arc don’t know about how in S2 and S3, the fact Pharaoh couldn’t read Marik’s back tatt was like...a really big issue. He couldn’t read the God card, he couldn’t even read that massive tablet that read “HEY PHARAOH THIS IS LITERALLY YOU”. KAIBA had to tell him how to read the God card for him. Freakin Seto “Magic is a lie” Kaiba had to tell him how to use the God Card because Pharaoh couldn’t read it.

But like...Pharaoh finally gave in at some point after the world was devoured by the Leviathan, and before Kaiba finished building Kaibaland (which was already built in S1 but wtv)

The timelines on this show have always been a mishmash...but this one is just like...

...show are you trying to convince me that at any point in this show after season Zero, Pharaoh had any idea what he was doing? Did he sap that brain energy straight out of Joey Wheeler so he could do this?

Wow.

(secretly hoping he forgets how to read Egyptian after this arc is over and the show goes back to the other development team)

Pharaohs reasoning is that, if this is the riddle of the light.....

....then where is the riddle of darkness????????????

and when Tea was like “Pharaoh that is not even remotely logic. Omg it’s so bright outside, lets go back to gross cave.” and Pharaoh was like “Tea! You got it!” and she was like “What the hell are you talking about?”

Not gonna lie, I saw the Orichalcos green, and I got concerned.

Anyway, Yugi gets very frustrated and was like “ugh, lets go save em. They’re gonna die (again.)” and marches down there as if he didn’t pass out an hour ago.

And he fuses with Dark Magician again while everyone else (including his grandpa) was like “Yugi are you freakin kidding me? The suit freakin kills you omg! Tea you had one freakin job!”

And then we get the plot twist that...I mean it makes sense but it was choreographed in a confusing way.

And out of no where this guy shows up again:

So this mysterious man shows up and says “If you don’t succeed you have to live here forever” which...nice...that would probably save the world a lot of problems if Yami got locked away and took his OP puzzle with him. And then this man also says “if you do succeed you become VERY POWERFUL” and Yami was like. “...”

This whole episode had a theme to it, where Tristan and Joey were trying to prove that they could do things on their own and without Yugi’s help. And honestly...felt a little bit misplaced. Yami’s the same guy who murdered Yugi last season with the Orichalcos so like...

...I mean he is probably more reliable than Tristan who once died and turned into a robot monkey for 10ish episodes.

and then they flew into a glowing door.

Folks, this was wild to look at.

This is wild.

And at this point I closed Photoshop and thought I was done. But then I looked at my timeline on the video and was like...wait...there’s more?

and I’m really glad I kept watching because it went back to Alex, who...is apparently just still at those steps in this haunted ass Pyramid.

Now we’re watching Yugioh.

I forgot for a second when they turned Joey into a Himbo and made Pharaoh literate, but we’re back. I mean...

...look at the liner art on this adult man.

So...I posit the question...has Alex spent the last 2-3 episodes doing nothing but applying eyeliner to his face in the dark? Because he absolutely has. And honestly, the vibe of being in a spooky haunted pyramid with barely any light, just applying eyeliner down the edge of your face...that’s a Yugioh vibe, if I ever saw one.

This arc is wild. Anyway, next episode we do even more fetch quests and riddles? Just going to guess now that we probably will.

(and for those new here, this is a link so you can read them from the top. Which, since we’re in S5, means you got like...hours of Yugioh content to read through. Enjoy the rewards of my weird hobby.)

https://steve0discusses.tumblr.com/tagged/yugioh/chrono

[nighttimepixels]

TALK TO US ABOUT MASS EFFECT I HAVE BEEN AN INSANE MASS EFFECT/SHAKARIAN TRASH PERSON SINCE 20-FUCKING-11 AND LEMME TELL YOU THOSE FEELINGS HAVENOT TARNISHED A SINGLE FRACTION IN THOSE TEN YEARS OH MY GOOOOOOODDDSSSS!!!!!!!

I DEMAND A PLAY-BY-PLAY UP TO THE MINUTE OF YOUR REACTIONS TO EVERYTHING!!!!

you are so valid and I totally see why everyone I've ever mentioned it to loves the hell out of it

aksdjlsdfj I meannnn if you want to hear my rambling about it then hell yeah

Okay, gonna put this below the cut to save everyone else XD also- since I'm not leaving this Mass Effect obsession anytime soon, if you're not interested in seeing occasional posts about it, please feel free to block the tag "night plays ME"~

(mild spoilers ahead??)

((also for real I mean it when I say this is rambling as hell lol, apologies and no stress if absolute no one reads all this))

OKAY SO Mass Effect 1-

Stars help me, I was honestly hooked right from the start?? Like even in Legendary Edition (the combined trilogy just re-released in one "can play it on one system + minor improvements", for anyone who doesn't know) where it's smoothed out, of course it's obvious that ME1 is a decade old... but the foundation for these relationships are all there and gods I love them already.

Like - Kaiden right off the top is a delightful good fightin lad, what the hell. I've heard that he's viewed as 'bland' by a good portion of the fan community but I dunno, he's a delight and even more complex by the time 2 rolls around and you encounter him on Horizon, it was honestly Ashley I was way more meh about - mostly because before you can learn about her family history/etc, she comes off as hella xenophobic and I was immediately offended for my growing space family that she didn't like/trust all the aliens around, pfff.

(she gets redeemed a bit through further actions/evolving thoughts, but I thought in retrospect it was a bummer that they didn't flip the order there, give her a chance to be liked before the complicating factor of being so rude about aliens >:c that then she could grow from... ah well. Apparently she has a good arc but uh, let's just say I chose Kaiden at the "key junction" in the latter part of the game so I won't be seeing anymore of Ashley uh... anytime soon, haha.)

Garrus??? Is??????? The ABSOLUTE best???????????

I liked him from the start, I'm always a bit of a sucker for a rogue-detective "the system won't bring this bastard to justice, so I've got to" type and all their moral shadiness XD But he just gets better, honestly, and where I'm at in ME2 (right before the Reaper IFF mission, as of typing this, with everyone's loyalty!) I am only digging myself deeper into this hole-

-*wheezing* okay anyways -

Wrex is AMAZING I love fightin' middle-aged krogan bastard, gods. Liara is great too, I'm a sucker for a wlw relationship (playing fem!Shepard, so) - buuuut I'll admit she's a bit more one-note in ME1. Last week while I was still on ME1 I remember hearing (while trying to dodge spoilers) that her arc is really good, though. I think they leaned a little hard on the 'innocent but sexy' sterteotype on her (so despite the yikes aspect of a few of the things I've learned in ME2, lol, I actually really like the complexity that's been added to her character.)

Saved Liara first, so by the time I got to Noveria and had the standoff with Benezia there was the chance to have emotions over Liara having to face her TwT and of course, I made the questionable but quality decision to free Queen Rachni heheh. no ragrets

More than a blow-by-blow of my choices though I totally wanna take the chance to say that even in the mild jankiness of ME1 (goddammit, the Mako.... please..... please just go up this impossible cliff I just want to resource hunt-) the way that the lore, both obvious/key to main plot and the lesser/filler/background/world-building kinds... I just love it. It incorporates it well, you can go ham in the codex learning more, or just dive into the basics - it's clearly a complex galaxy (and they do an even better job in 2 of fleshing it out further), and it never really felt overwhelming. It was pretty natural figuring it all out-!

Plus the interesting implications of resource hunting amongst the sapient races, and the little side missions you better bet I did every one of- there's so much rich depth in the story if you do 'em!! (And that lead with that Keeper side mission...? Looking back, damn, clever foreshadowing-!!!)

And oh my gods, Ilios??? hell yeah. I loved that mission so much, especially having Garrus & Kaiden with me when talking to the hologram/computer, and more than anything, that last sprint in the Mako trying to get to the jump before it closed-???

yeet the boi-

Also mannn I love a good setpiece, and having to go up the side of the elevator, space-side?? such a cool setup!!

Plus it felt good having been Paragon enough (as simple as the good v bad vibe system is, I don't hate it, lol) to avoid one of the Saren fights, ngl. And the er, "second fight" with Sovereign-Saren.... hell yeah

... I'll admit I had to double check my choice re whether to save the Council. I did in the end, but I swear, sometimes the way they phrase things I'm like ".... okay but Garrus is right, defeating Sovereign is more important than these few leaders??????" woops. Listen, priorities, is all I'm saying..... (￣ヮ￣|||)ゞ

'Course later they emphasize (in ME2) that there were 10,000 people on that same ship and I was like well I wouldn't have second guessed if I'd known that, I mean c'mon-

Also I did indeed romance Liara in this one, so I got that scene ;Dc But,,,, I also knew by the end that I was totally gonna romance Garrus in 2 since he's an option then finally,,,,, lemme tell you the guilt as I waffled over whether to romance Liara bc of it. hahaha.

Aaaaand Mass Effect 2-

So I'm only up to right before the Reaper IFF Mission, so I don't know the ending, etc etc lol. That said, I've just finished every side mission I've found with the exception of the Shadowbroker Quest and the Arrival Quest (I've heard the latter basically leads into ME3, and the former is best either right before the Omega 4 jump or in postgame).

So from the start - fuck yeah fuck yeah what a high adrenaline start Shepard noooooo but also yes save Joker aH-

The motion comic too hot damn nice job

I loved this setup, seriously - especially forcing Shep into this situation, having to work with/for Cerberus, and the compelling reasoning given behind "why" they do what they do (I especially found it a good point that the Salarians have the Task Force, the Asaris the Commandos, the Turians the- etc... like, true, when you put it like that, having a similar group advancing human interests/solving human interstellar problems is pretty reasonable...). That said, I love too that it really isn't shied away from how Cerberus is nonetheless fucked up - or its at least done fucked up stuff.

Listen, I still think some messed up stuff is gonna be revealed in 2's endgame......... after that Horizon mission and the Collector's ship???? TIM I SEE YOU YOU SHADY MF-

aaanyways lol...

I'm so so glad on a gameplay level they nixed the Mako style exploration. A few Hammerhead missions are fine and a lot more focused than the slippery ass navigation in that glorified ATV, pfff. The probes are a neat way of getting after similar resources - and more importantly, having good levels and some good hubs (the Zakera Wards, Omega, Ilium, etc) is way way more fun than having a more 'sprawling' space that is.... a lot of empty nonsense, lol.

Then there's the fact that we get Joker right off the bat and you can interact with him so much - and him and EDI??? Get out gods I love them. Kasumi is so right when she says they sound like a bickering old married couple lol. I have a terrible feeling that some shit is gonna happen with EDI..... but I don't think she's evil as-is, at least.

Side-eying the hell out of those "access forbidden" parts of her that she doesn't even know.... and the fact that her AI core has a locked door access................... something's gonna happen gdi LEAVE OUR ADOPTED AI ALONE.

(Also Joker pls stop fracturing your thumb on the mute button)

Also please save me there are so many hot aliens in this game,,,,, the xeno/monsterfuckers really comin' through strong in the sequels............... doin' the lord's work........................................

In general, I love how many levels ME stepped up in two with complexity and interwoven narratives!! Like, to the point it'd be almost a drag to replay ME1, even though it was fun going through it (if occasionally a bit tedious with the cookie cutter rando planet science/mine facilities, lol). Like, just from how fun and interesting ME2 is, mostly! more of all the pre-introduced races, plus new ones, plus more filling in of intragalactic politics, and more interesting implications of all these space-faring races mixing....

Also gods WREX and his planet holy shit,,,,, fuckin' hell yeah my man get their shit together and also adopt Grunt yes good-

And Mordin??? My singing semi-evil scientist best friend forced to confront his choices more than he thought he ever would have???? With some of the best ongoing general report chatter of all the companions??

(when I tell you I choked on my coffee when I talked to him after confirming romance choice w/ Garrus and that 'pamphlet' and 'anaphalactic shot if ingesting-' kajsldkfjsldfjk)

Like, fuck, the fact that they actually dive into the mixed morality and horrors of the genophage, and you can confront Mordin on it, for good reason, yet he still stands his ground, until finally some bits of his loyalty mission seem to... affect him, and I'm guessing might set up things for 3 with him? Unsure, but either way, damn, the fact that they start to dig into it...

And Taliiiii my beloved forbidden alien wife TwT her loyalty mission was SO GOOD. I love how varied they all are?? Getting to defend her and discover what she'd unwittingly been a part of-!!

Zaeed is a bastard but tbh I love that he is and that he's unapologetic in him - and Kasumi omg, best thief. A heist?? Gods, yes- I love our couch lounge chats XD

Samara is..... illegally.......... she's an illegally powerful and beautiful and eloquent MILF...........................

(.... listen I'm sapphic as hell and I'm kicking my own ass for picking her up last aksjdlfksjdfl - but her loyalty mission, damn. And seeing how there's this interesting cultural subset, and the struggle with the Asari in that they unquestioningly accept/respect justicars, but also know that the impact outside their culture is a diplomacy nightmare waiting to happen-)

,.,,,,,T,,, Thane,,,,,

I am weak for morally implicated murder dads okay?? And that voice??? His mannerisms?????? How you first see him, and that prayer after assassinating her...???????? And his history/his people's history with the hanar, gods I love how messy it is, it feels so much more real!

Also Jack is a mess and I love her (and want to get her some therapy, omg), and her and Miranda nearly duking it out after you've done both their loyalty missions??? so good and makes a lot of sense-! Honestly I would love more interactions between teammates on the ship, but there's already so much the devs had to balance I can't blame 'em for minimizing, heh. But suffice to say I also love Miranda and Jacob, even if I'm softest for my alien crew XD Hell yeah Jacob, we'll get loud and spill drinks on the citadel indeed TwT

.... I could write a whole essay on how much I love Garrus oTL Perhaps because he and Tali are the throughlines from 1 on your 2 crew, I have some of the strongest feelings about them... but genuinely, he was one of my favorite companions in the first game, and how you find him as Archangel in two? Getting to help him fight his way out after he's gone nearly 48 hours straight fighting off three gangs alone, jfc. His vengeance quest and what can happen there.... That line? fuck me, that line -

It's so much easier to see the world in black and white. Grey? I don't know what to do with gray...

How DARE you come for my heart like this, devs holy shit

(also, some other choice faves so far from the series from him include We can disobey suicidal orders?? and This wasn't in my training manual... [in 1, if you have him with you @ th Thorian fight] and his whole.... pop the heat sink - in his romance ;Dc)

asdasdfksadjfkl like I said I can write an essay on him PFFF suffice to say I'm very looking forward to his romance scene and where things go in 3

But yeah gods I'm just gonna keep rambling if I'm not careful lol. Gods I don't even know what to talk about it's all so good and while I can understand people roasting the obviousness of Paragon V Renegade (v neutral) choices/alignments, I think they do a pretty damn good job in 2 of pushing it further - to the point that there were some times that I accidentally got renegade points and I wasn't that mad, haha. There's so much fun in the interactions that I just have a good time anyways~

I have so many thoughts about TIM (The Illusive Man) and Cerberus.... theories evolving galore............... and like, what the hell!! Omega 4 going to the center of the galaxy is such a cool twist, goddamn - though my heart still breaks at losing Kaiden (his line if you haven't romanced him?? about feeling like he lost a limb when he lost you??? holy shit.... but I also can't blame him for not trusting Cerberus to the point of it affecting his ability to trust Shepard... like fuck Shep go after himmmm) I'm really excited to see where that goes since he comes back in 3, and what the fuck happens with Cerberus bc while I love the fact that obviously there are a lot of people in it for the right reasons, doing good work, there are those that are doing the opposite, and I have a very bad feeling about where TIM will end up landing....

All that said though I need to do the Reaper IFF mission (where I'm lightly spoiled as to getting That Boy, but not how/what happens to make it so - just that it's apparently wise to have all your side missions done before getting him...) and the actual Omega 4 jump. So we'll see what happens and what I think about it from there heheh!

.... major kudos and genuine props if you made it here to the end, I am so sorry for not editing on condensing all this, and appreciate you so much ;w;