#this is just straight up lore and lore hypothesis. just straight up facts and what do they mean.

[bleue-flora]

not the age discourse we've been over this so many times

[context]

I hardly think it’s discourse to look at lore and theories, especially since I found out c!Quackity is canonically 28. This isn’t discourse or my take, just simply — huh if Wilbur is supposedly canonically 8 years older and Quackity is supposedly 8 years older, what does that mean for everyone else? 🤷‍♀️

[mewrising]

Coatls and language

So, in the spirit of coatl ctuesday, I figured I’d investigate one of the coatl species’ most defining lore aspects: their unique language!  I’ve always found it strange that such a sociable species hasn’t adapted more efficient communication with the rest of Sornieth’s dragons.  The encyclopedia article lays this at the feet of a unique ear structure, but centuries of coexistence would surely have promoted some sort of favorable change, either by way of prosthetic devices/spells or straight up biological adaptation.  Many coatls never live in monospecies lairs nowadays, so it doesn’t make sense for them to cling so stubbornly to a unique language they may get to use only rarely.  Why is it so rare for a coatl to learn common draconic?

My hypothesis is that something else in their biology makes it very, very difficult to speak in anything but coatl.

Now, when I first had this idea, my initial thought was that their long tongues made it difficult for them to form the right sounds in common draconic.  However, bogsneaks have the exact same problem, and they, as an artificial species, most certainly use common draconic as their language of choice.

My next thought was that their very voice-boxes might be different somehow.  I got lost in the rabbit hole of researching voice-box differences between various species.  And you want to know what I found?  Most animals possess the same type of general vocal structure: a larynx filled with special flaps that direct sound.  Only one type of animal deviates from this norm--by using a vocal organ that is entirely unique within the animal kingdom.  Want to take a guess which animal group that is?

Yeah, it’s birds.

Birds have an organ called a syrinx instead.  This organ is located at the base of the windpipe where it branches off into the lungs.  They still have larynxes, of course, but simply don’t possess any vocal structures there.  The syrinx is what allows them to have such striking melodies; in fact, it even enables two different notes to be sung at once since there are two tracts to manipulate rather than just one.  This, combined with their long necks (proportional to their body size) enables them to sing incredibly loud and varied songs.

Hmm.  Coatls are one of the only dragon species to have solely feathered wings.  They also have extraordinarily long necks proportional to their body size.  And their language is based on songs.  My hypothesis: coatls have syrinxes and all other dragon species use a traditional laryngeal voice-box!

Because of how the syrinx is structured, producing traditional, larynx-based language would be exceptionally difficult.  However, it would not be impossible.  Think about birds that can mimic sound and language!  This does not come easily to them, but it can be taught with enough time, effort, and repetition...

As for why coatls don’t have a unique written language?  Probably because their spoken language relies so much on pitch and gesture.  It would be pretty hard to cram all that down into a series of symbols!  And impractical, since they originate from a place so fiery that the only practical way to write would be stone carving.

Anyways, just a cool thought/biology investigation from someone who is very much still learning about how biology works (so please feel free to correct any blaring misinformation)!  Feel free to use however you like or add some headcanons of your own :D

[jackjots]

#11 Drinks

Wayward Guide for the Untrained Eye 30 Day Prompt

(This takes place around Episode 6 )

Day #11 @30daysofwayward

(I do not own any other characters or place names outside of Shelby St. Ranger, this is just for fun)

I didn’t go straight back to the Dead Canary. I wanted to, after that much intrusion on someone I didn’t know very well. I wanted to go home, for that matter. But the Dead Canary was my closest escape hatch from being social. But instead, I decided to walk through town. I passed GPS and Wallis, assuring them that I both had found what I was looking for and knew where I was going. 

 I had to take a layer out of my bag and put it on as a chill started to cut into the air. I was grateful for my forward thinking this time. I would go from shop to shop, I decided. I would go and I would talk. I’d buy random things, and I’d gather information. If someone seemed rather chatty, I’d offer them a drink. I wasn’t questioning people, I was listening to people. Somehow this was a less intimidating prospect. Somehow it felt like a solid plan.

What I didn’t count on, was that most businesses were closed.

I passed the tiny market, closed; the tiny tourists shop, closed; and the butcher, closed. I hadn’t been to the butcher before, because I didn’t eat enough meat to justify it and also, something about a butcher kind of grossed me out. It definitely reminded me of where meat came from more than just picking up something at the market. Not something I was likely to admit readily, as it felt odd to be so divorced from where my food came from. Maybe I just shouldn’t eat meat, I thought, as I rounded the corner. I wondered if Quinn’s hypothesis about serving only vegetarian food would really actually point any werewolves out. If meat equaled werewolves, then was the owner of the butcher shop more likely to be one? 

This made me realize that I hadn’t even thought of making a list of suspect werewolves. Now that I thought about it, I’d rather make a list of suspect murderers anyway. That seemed more pressing than the werewolves. If they existed, if they’d been here for years, why try to seek them out? Unless I was somehow able to help them by finding them and talking to them, I didn’t see the point. I only wanted to know more about them to rule them out as killers; I wanted facts instead of all of the maybes and ifs I was carrying around in my notebook. But there was something deep within me that believed they were innocent. If they were real. Were they real? I was starting to really feel like they were. Regardless, the idea of them was becoming real in town, and that mattered more than if they really existed or not. 

Someone slinked by me and I got a whiff of what could only be described as musk. They backed up and their face brightened to a beaming smile. “I don’t know you. And I know everyone, and like I’ve tried to date everyone like I don’t care about gender or whatever and I am like totally feeling this layered look you have going. Do you like live here, are you a werewolf, are you interested in buying werewolf clothing?” The words came out like someone pulling scarves out of a magician. I shrank into myself as much as possible. They were wearing all black and a fuzzy black hat. I caught the word wolf on their clothing. After a break for air, they said: “I’m Donny. Who are you?”

“I’m Shelby.” 

“Are you single?”

I looked at the young face and made an assumption about the person before me. “I’m 32.” 

Their face fell. “Damn. Well if you know anyone that’s like around 17 that wants to date just like let me know and also let me know if you want new clothes because this is like all the rage right now.” And they walked off, simple as that. I thought about asking them more questions, but I did not want to engage their attention again. They did mention werewolves. But it didn’t feel like anything important. I figured I’d just write a quick note about it. 

I had trouble finding anyone out on the street outside of Donny, and most places were closed, so I went back to The Dead Canary; what little plan I had fallen apart by sheer lack of townsfolk out and about. Instead of buying someone else a beer to pick their brain, I bought myself a beer to console my failure. I sat back in my usual spot, and took my notebook out again. Desmond hadn’t asked me about my little adventure. He’d seemed to read my dejected attitude accurately and promptly had provided the beverage that I now stared at. 

I thought about what I’d heard Aubrey say. Why did he want werewolves to be real, but didn’t believe they were? That was explained easily enough, as his family was apparently steeped in werewolf lore, but had for so long been ignored. Had to be why he was so convinced it couldn’t be true. But if it was true, the vindication would run deep. 

I got an idea and asked Desmond if I could read the paper. He told me Henry had taken half with him to who knows where, but the other half, with the front page, was still around for me to read. I read the headline: Truman Sweeps Reynolds in Contested Town Counsel Race. I marveled at the typo, tempted to fix it with my pen, but ignoring the urge. The article talked about how many people had gone to vote, and as one of the 700 people I agreed that number sounded about right. The memory still felt odd in my head, like a fog had enveloped it. But I remembered there was too many people. 

There was another article asking where the river rocks had gone. I wondered if that meant anything, but pushed the thought away. I threw the newspaper aside. Nothing new. I couldn’t even read the whole article without the rest of the paper. 

“You may not want to walk home tonight.” Desmond said as I got another beer at the bar.

“Is there a curfew?”

“I haven’t heard of one yet, but everyone’s staying inside.”

“On account of werewolves?”

“On account of whatever is killing people.” 

“It hasn’t all been at night.”

“Even so.”

“Well, I can’t stay here again.”

“Why not?”

“Really?”

“Full rate this time.” 

I sighed. “That is only fair. Fine. Fine. But don’t get used to me being here all the time. I might as well drink myself silly and try not to worry about all of this nonsense.”

“You might want to stay relatively sober. I have a feeling you won’t be the only one in here tonight.”

I nodded. “You’re right. You’re brilliant, and you’re right.” 

I went back to my booth, put my drink beside the unlit lantern at my table and got my notebook ready for whatever the night would bring. 

[radioromantic-moved]

a study in semantics

(hey, does this look familiar? it should! because i fucked up and it got deleted for a little while. things are okay now)

i came up with the headcanon that frank calls me a ray of sunshine initially sarcastically before it evolves into an actual affectionate nickname. and yeah, that’s what this is.

word count: 1650

They say in the business world that first impressions are everything.

Nyx probably didn’t get the memo. Actually, they probably got the memo and promptly chose to purposefully ignore it. 

They show up to interview for a position at Toy Zone wearing all black, with a close-cropped mess of blond hair as the main splash of color in a wardrobe that would probably camouflage them in a dark room. The way they cross their arms over their chest and stare across the desk they’re sitting in front of, Frаnk feels vaguely like he’s the one being interviewed.

“Aren’t you a little ray of sunshine,” he mutters to himself.

They level a bright green stare at him. “Excuse me?”

“I’m just saying, I’m guessing ‘cheerful’ isn’t one of the reasons you’re going to list as to why I should hire you.”

“I’ll have you know, my close friends find me delightful.”

He can’t tell if they’re joking. They deliver everything in the same sort of dry, vaguely amused sounding tone, as if they’re watching a somewhat-interesting movie. 

“We have a uniform here, you know,” he says. “It might clash with your aesthetic a little.”

“Yeah, I kinda got that from what you’ve got going on.”

They gesture at his bright red polo, name tag dangling conspicuously from it. “I can handle the shirt,” they shrug, “as long as I can still wear this coat. I feel like I’d have a case to sue if you guys didn’t let me wear this coat.”

It is a cool coat.

“There isn’t anything in our rulebook about letting you wear a coat over the shirt. Just don’t let it cover your nametag. But back on track, we still have to figure out if we’re hiring you at all. Do you work well in a team?”

                                                      ---

 It’s been a few weeks. 

And yes, he hired them.

People aren’t exactly clamoring to work at Hatchetfield’s one toy store smack in the middle of a shopping mall, but he wasn’t going to tell them that. 

Supply and demand notwithstanding, Nyx is on the team now. They get along surprisingly well with Leх (actually, not that surprising. They seem to be someone who never grew out of their edgy teen phase anyway), and whenever they’re on break the two of them engage in spirited discussions about--

“No, I’m serious. You’ve got the vibe.”

“Dude, I’m a high school dropout. Aren’t they all, like, cheerleaders or prom queens or something?”

“What? No! Don’t you know your lore? In the real kitschy ones, cheerleaders and prom queens die first.”

Frаnk stops dead in his tracks. “What in the world are you two talking about?”

“Leх would be the final girl in a horror movie,” says Nyx. “She doesn’t believe me.”

“Have you met me?” protests the younger of the two cashiers. “I’d probably run right into the middle of some shitstorm of a situation and get myself decapitated or something because it was a panic response.”

Frank shrugs. “I’m with her on that one.”

Nyx scoffs. “You’re just petty because you’d be the first one to die, Frаnk. Actually, scratch that--” they stare at him for a few seconds with that weirdly intense gaze of theirs-- “second. Final response. You’d die second in a horror movie.”

“Man,” he says, shaking his head, “you really are a ray of sunshine, aren’t you?”

Leх pats Nyx on the back. “Damn straight.”

                                                       ---

bossdude: Can I ask you for a favor?

me: okay shoot

bossdude: Something came up. I’m not gonna be able to open on Sunday. You’re the oldest staff member I have, so consider yourself officially temporarily promoted.

me: whoa whoa whoa

dude 

you want ME to open

on SUNDAY

bossdude: It’s one day. You can handle it.

me: alright but don’t blame me if people are dissatisfied with my subpar customer service and lackluster welcoming skills

so dissatisfied that it translates into anger

and eventually a boycott

and eventually you won’t need to find sunday replacements

because our store will be only a fading memory  in the greater hatchetfield consciousness

why did you let me open on sunday?!? why?!?

bossdude: For the love of--

Always a ray of sunshine, aren’t you.

I’ll see if Leх or Alice can help out.

You type fast.

me: awwww, thanks

                                                      ---

Nyx groans, resting their head on the counter. “I did not get enough sleep last night. I’m dead tired.”

“Well, you better snap out of it,” he says. “We’re already down one pair of hands today because you insisted you’d work overtime if Leх took the day off to watch her sister.”

Nyx lifts their head. “Of course I did. Her sister’s got a fever. I may be weird and creepy and kind of mean sometimes, but I’m not a monster. Workers have to assist one another when the corporate millstone attempts to grind away our humanity.”

“Still a ray of sunshine, I see.” He sets down two coffee cups next to them on the counter. “Maybe this’ll help wake you up. I went across the street before you came in and picked them up. The one on the left’s yours.”

 They take a tentative sip. “Hey, a white chocolate mocha. How’d you know?”

“You were talking about getting one after work last week. I remember it since it seemed like a weird order for you--you know, with your everything.”

Nyx grins. It’s a small one, but somehow, it seems to light up the whole store. “What? I think it’s a perfectly reasonable drink for a ray of sunshine such as myself.”

With that smile, he thinks, they could almost live up to that nickname for real. 

He doesn’t say that out loud.

“Oh, and, um, thanks. For the drink, I mean. It was surprisingly generous of you.”

“No problem.”

                                                      ---

“Now that was what I call a successful day.” Frаnk places a hand over his heart in faux-affection. “I love rich kids’ birthdays.”

Nyx looks up from rearranging the cash register. “Little Jonathan is sure gonna be occupied for...uh, maybe two days, before he gets bored and starts asking for more stuff.”

“Nice to see you’re as much of a ray of sunshine as ever,” he says, and there’s something suspiciously like fondness tinging his voice.

“Well, it’s not that I’m not grateful for the bonus.” They slide the cash register shut. “I can finally treat myself to a ticket to that alien invasion movie I’ve been wanting to see.”

“Aliens. Why am I not surprised?”

“Oh, and I’m sure your taste in movies is so highbrow.”

“I never said that. I like alien movies. You know, I was also planning to go see that at some point. And, you know, I guess today is as good a day as any.”

He didn’t think that. He has no idea why he said that.

They raise their eyebrows. “Are you asking me on a date?”

WHAT.

“What?! No, I was just, you know, bringing up the fact that I like alien movies and I might see that one on my own time. Maybe today, maybe some other day--still vague. Still working out the details. You know how it is.”

“Ah. Now everything is much clearer,” deadpans Nyx.

“But you know, and I’m speaking from a business perspective here--seeing as we both want to see the same movie, and we both have free time and the means to see it today, it would be convenient for both of us if we...in a strictly platonic sense, here--if we saw it...together? Assuming we’d be paying for our own refreshments.”

“Well, how can I say no to such a captivating offer?” says Nyx with a shrug. “You’re paying for your own ticket, too, though.”

“Aww. Can I suggest--?”

“You cannot.”

                                                      ---

Frаnk enters the supply closet and confirms a long standing hypothesis of his. 

“If it weren’t for the hair, I wouldn’t have known you were in here.”

“The dark is my natural habitat. One day I will return there for good,” says Nyx without turning around.

“Sometimes I think you’re just screwing with me.”

“Yeah, that one was a joke,” they admit. They swivel around to face him. They’re sitting on a box. 

“Any particular reason why you’re in here and not, you know, doing your job?”

“Mrs. Monroe’s in again--she wanted me to check the back for one of those dinosaur puzzles. The longer I’m in here, the more time she thinks I’m dedicating to her request. And I just needed to take a breather.”

“I could issue a write up for that, you know.”

“Well, I could be looking for a puzzle and be taking a breather at the same time.”

“We don’t have any of those puzzles.”

They place a hand on their cheek in mock-surprise. “Oh, really? I wonder what I was taking so long for! I was sure a sold-out item would magically appear in the back once she asked about it!”

“I see you’re a ray of sunshine as usual today.”

They scoff. “Oh, you could have used that earlier. A single sarcastic comment is a waste of ‘ray of sunshine’ compared to the ‘I will return to the dark’ thing.”

“Didn’t you say that was a joke?”

“Well, yeah, but a purposeful one. I gave you the setup and everything. C’mon.”

“I’ll--I’ll do better next time?”

“Oh, how the tables have turned,” Nyx remarks.

                                                      ---

He calls Leх a ray of sunshine once and never again. 

It feels wrong coming out and only more wrong when Leх looks at him sideways. “Don’t call me that. It feels creepy.”

“Yeah, I’m...not doing that again.”

“You’re lucky Nyx wasn’t here to hear that,” says Leх as she organizes stuffed animals. “Might have made the whole thing lose its meaning.”

“What--there’s no meaning to it, and it’s not a whole thing.”

“Keep telling yourself that,” says Leх with a rare smile.

It’s more of a smirk, really. 

[segadores-y-soldados]

Devil in the Details

So after Michael Chu confirmed that the details on the tv in the background of the Pharah panel in Reflections were not only deliberate but also meant to hint about her location and her father’s nationality -

This tinyass image -

On a page with this much other stuff -

It made me curious about any other potential details I previously overlooked or wrote off as “just a funny coincidence” and rather surprisingly, I might have kinda found something??

I mean, there’s a shitton here but what I originally wrote off as being “just another background piece” is the map -

...These are not Watchpoints.

These are the Watchpoints that still exist at the time of Recall - you can find this map on Watchpoint: Gibraltar (I did not write these locations, but this is the clearest, head-on image I could find.)

The image from the Uprising comic 

Are active missions or points of interest.

Locations that I can determine are:

Tokyo, Japan

Cairo, Egypt (based on the other screen discussing the “Cairo Incident”)

Numbani, Nigeria

(City unknown), Switzerland (?)

Paris, France

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Dorado, Mexico

Seattle, United States

More under the cut

I wanna go through these one by one.

First up:

Tokyo, Japan

This one is pretty straight-forward.

Uprising shows us that Genji has just recently joined Overwatch/Blackwatch and is currently in training and evaluation for his new cyborg body.  Genji’s hero profile states:

“[Overwatch] saw Genji as a potential asset in its ongoing operations to combat the Shimada clan. As Genji's injuries left him clinging to life, Overwatch offered to rebuild his body in exchange for his help. He was put through an extensive process of cyberization, which enhanced his natural speed and agility and augmented his superlative ninja skills. Transformed into a living weapon, Genji single-mindedly set about the task of dismantling his family's criminal empire.”

So we know that the Tokyo mission is very likely the on-going targeted mission against the Shimada clan, since Hanamura is meant to be based in the Tokyo area.

Cairo, Egypt + Paris, France (?)

I’ve seen hypotheses that the “Overwatch official murdered - Director Petras orders full investigation into Cairo incident” is about Gérard Lacroix’s death (also supported by the pretty obvious images of Widowmaker’s cameras in the little screen).  It’s not a bad hypothesis, but there are minor details that counter this:

“After several unsuccessful attempts to eliminate Gérard, Talon decided to change its focus to his wife, Amélie. Talon operatives kidnapped her and subjected her to an intense program of neural reconditioning. They broke her will, suppressed her personality, and reprogrammed her as a sleeper agent. She was eventually found by Overwatch agents, apparently none the worse for wear, and returned to her normal life. Two weeks later she killed Gérard in his sleep.”

This leads me to believe that the Paris, France mission is actually the one about Amélie and Gérard.

Especially given that Amélie appeared to have lived and worked there.

Interestingly, a different character references “Egypt” in the very same Uprising comic:

So there’s the possibility that the Cairo Mission is an event we haven’t seen yet.

Numbani, Nigeria 

So

We know this one now.

We know that Numbani faced consistent raids and assaults from both the Scourge Doomfist, and his “Successor,” Akande Ogundimu.  It appears that at the time of Uprising, Overwatch was already planning a mission to try and arrest Akande.

And this leads me into my next few points.

The reason I picked out Paris, Numbani, Rio de Janeiro, Dorado, and Seattle of all places is because the Soldier: 76 origins video actually has this map in it.  This video is over two years old, and was released just under a year before the actual game came out.  When I first saw the video, I went, “Well, Paris makes some sense because of Widowmaker’s story, Numbani and Dorado are maps in the game and have active places in the lore, and Rio de Janeiro is Lúcio’s home city.  But what the hell is up with Seattle?”

Seattle, United States

Jumping ahead a bit, as far as I can tell, Seattle is only listed as a place of interest twice in Overwatch canon material - once, in the Soldier: 76 video, and then nearly two, real world years later in the Uprising map.  There’s no Watchpoint there, no major hero is from there, and there’s seemingly nothing in the rest of the series to connect back to it.

A tantalizing hypothesis, however, comes with Michael Chu’s confirmation earlier this week:

Originally, fans were confused as to why Fareeha Amari, a woman with Egyptian origins, whose design clearly draws inspiration from the god Horus, had the Thunderbird and Raindancer skins, which appeared to be inspired by the Thunderbird iconography from the Native American/Canadian First Nations tribes of the Pacific Northwest.

While Seattle is definitely off from the fact that Reflections has a Canadian flag in the background of Fareeha’s dinner with her biological father, it is dead-on in the middle of the Pacific Northwest, and may be “close” to wherever Fareeha’s father is from, especially if he does have tribal affiliations.  This is not to say that he or Fareeha are Americans, but rather that the Pacific Northwest may be an area of “lore activity” that we haven’t seen explored yet, and may explain how and why an Egyptian sniper encountered “a public servant” and had a child with him in the years before the Crisis.

Dorado, Mexico

Unlike Seattle, this one also feel pretty straight-forward and obvious.  Dorado is a playable map in the game itself, and features a ton of lore, notably surrounding Sombra, the power company LumériCo, the company president and old war hero Portero, and the gang Los Muertos.  

And of course, it features into the lore of a certain old soldier.

References to both Sombra and Soldier: 76 can be found scattered across the two in-game maps, both Dorado and Castillo.  Also included on the maps are references to McCree and the Junkers, who pulled off a bank heist there roughly at the same time Sombra had her LumériCo email leaks.  McCree, meanwhile, had a, uh - “much needed” drink at the Calaveras bar at the time of Reflections, shortly after the email leaks and bank heist.

Interestingly, what the Uprising map seems to imply is that well before any of the “current” events happened in Dorado, Overwatch was already doing some sort of investigation into the city - but whether that was for LumériCo, Portero, or Los Muertos, we don’t know.  

However, it is telling that the only character who seems suspicious of LumériCo besides Sombra is Soldier: 76 - Jack Morrison himself.

“I wanna know what LumériCo is up to.”

Besides Sombra, Soldier: 76 is the only character to indicate that he’s actively investigating LumériCo, and based on the files found in the Dorado Defenders’ final spawn room

It appears that LumériCo is investigating him too.

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

This one appears to be fairly straight-forward, but like Dorado, it’s the implications of what the Uprising map is hinting at that is the newest part to this story.

If you’re not aware, Rio de Janeiro is where Lúcio is from - he was born, raised, and lived in an unicorporated community (called a “favela”).  According to his background, Lúcio’s community in particular “was hit hard by the financial upheaval following the Omnic Crisis.”  Still, his community banded together and worked to rebuild their stability until, extremely recently - 

As in, after the Fall of Overwatch - 

Vishkar moved in.

In Symmetra’s comic, we learn that Vishkar attempts to get “dirt” on a rival, Brazilian company (Calado), but when their “infiltration agent” Satya fails to find anything “bad” about the CEO, Vishkar blows up the building.

Hypothetically, Overwatch “never knew about this,” because it occurs sometime in the five years since Overwatch disbanded.

But both the Uprising map and the Soldier: 76 map seem to imply that Overwatch was aware of something that was going on in Rio de Janeiro.

We know that Satya’s boss, Sanjay Korpal, was the one who gave the order to blow up Calado, and we also see him at the very end of the comic expressing a cold, orderly worldview about the nature of people in “what fits their station.”  It’s particularly horrifying when looking back at Lúcio’s profile, because once Vishkar moved in:

“Vishkar imposed controls on the residents in the name of building a more orderly society: enforcing curfews, cracking down on what the company perceived as lawless behavior, and exploiting the populace as a cheap labor force.”

There is an incredibly dark, awful undercurrent going on with Vishkar, with the implication of exploitative labor both in Rio de Janeiro and in Utopaea.  It isn’t surprising that even before the present, on-going events in Rio de Janeiro occurred, Overwatch may have been investigating the company the same way they might have been looking into LumériCo.

But, in light of Masquerade - 

In which we see someone who appears to be Sanjay Korpal in the Talon Council

(And yes, the lighting is harsh, but he appears to be wearing the same exact purple-and-white Utopaea uniform from the Symmetra comic)

An incredibly interesting, ridiculously tempting hypothesis is beginning to take shape.

Which brings me to the most interesting mission of all:

Switzerland

As a reminder, here’s the close-up map of the active missions/points of interest from Uprising again:

True, it’s such a small dot that it could be in France, it could be in Italy, but given the slightly awkward placement between the two, and the fact that it’s not clearly situated in one or the other

I’m gonna guess that it’s probably Switzerland.

Where exactly in Switzerland, I’m not sure.  Personally, I’ve always been of the mindset that the Overwatch “Swiss Base” is somewhere near Geneva, which is where the UN has a major headquarters, but Blizzard will pick or choose whatever it wants really.  What matters is that the dot for the mission appears to be somewhere in this region.

Now - this could mean a lot of things: Overwatch could be investigating a different point of interest in the region, they could be keeping an eye on the United Nations in Geneva, they could be keeping track of their own agents, etc, etc.

But let’s just cut to the most fascinating one, because that’s what we’re all here for:

As the UN investigation proceeded, Overwatch's Swiss headquarters was destroyed in an apparent accident. Among the casualties were Morrison and Reyes. The UN has steadfastly maintained that there was no foul play behind this event. However, an anonymous source has given me access to classified UN debriefings and other data that paint a different picture of Overwatch's final days.

These records indicate that a rebellion tore the group apart from within. On one side was Morrison, determined to hold together what remained of Overwatch. On the other side was Reyes, whose agenda remains unknown to this day. A battle raged between these men deep within Overwatch's base. At some point, their fighting triggered an explosion that destroyed the facility and sent the dreams of an entire generation up in flames.

Anyone who follows me knows that I don’t really believe Gabriel Reyes - now Reaper - did this, nor that I think Jack Morrison - now Soldier: 76 - did this.  All the other evidence points to another group, likely Talon, infiltrating Overwatch and destroying the base, possibly with the intention to frame and/or hurt both Commander Morrison and Commander Reyes.

“It was a conspiracy - Overwatch got hit from inside and out.” - Soldier: 76 Origin video

But as Overwatch's influence waned, rogue elements within Blackwatch sought to bring down the organization and turn it to their own ends. Wanting no part of the infighting, McCree set off alone and went underground. - McCree’s hero profile

It is believed that in her former life, Widowmaker was married to Gérard Lacroix, an Overwatch agent spearheading operations against the Talon terrorist organization. After several unsuccessful attempts to eliminate Gérard, Talon decided to change its focus to his wife, Amélie. Talon operatives kidnapped her and subjected her to an intense program of neural reconditioning. - Widowmaker’s hero profile

Though to the outside world his motives are inscrutable, there are those who claim that he is a former Overwatch agent, determined to shed light on the conspiracy that brought down the organization. [...]  Unrelenting in his search to find those responsible for Overwatch's fall, Soldier: 76 will stop at nothing to bring them to justice. - Soldier: 76′s hero profile

What the Uprising map appears to imply is that Overwatch was not only aware of the conspiracy within their ranks - 

But was actively investigating it.

In theory, this could have been extremely difficult, because both Overwatch and its covert ops/intelligence division Blackwatch were getting hit with penalties and suspensions left and right, even at the time of Uprising.  The Uprising comic shows that the UN was already in the process of “trying to investigate” the peacekeeping agency, but it also shows us that - despite the efforts of people “both inside and out” to keep the organization down, it continued to function.  It was still training new agents -

Conducting arrests

Potentially investigating corruption and human rights abuses

And with Masquerade now giving us a potentially new angle to see Reaper/Gabriel Reyes’ actions:

http://segadores-y-soldados.tumblr.com/post/163200042035/death-becomes-you

We may be looking at a very tiny, very small detail that points to the fact that Overwatch was potentially aware of its very own impending downfall - 

And was actively trying to stop the conspiracy creating it...

Or perhaps...

Infiltrate it.

I’ve been saying for awhile that Reaper’s actions with regards to certain missions are highly suspicious and - to be perfectly honest - pretty damn embarrassing for a man who has done covert operations for like, 30 years.

Unless, of course

That’s exactly what Reaper wants Talon to think.

We are told Reaper “is hunting former Overwatch agents and systematically eliminating them,” but as a reminder - Reaper has failed to kill or even seriously injure any ex-Overwatch agent in any of his canon material appearances.  Soldier: 76, Ana Amari, Winston, and Tracer are all still alive and, honestly, perfectly healthy at the end of their different encounters - hell, Reaper almost goes out of his way to actively piss Winston off (twice) and “throw” the missions.  He claims to have killed Overwatch agents in Masquerade, but as a general reminder, never believe in those “off-screen deaths,” kids.

It’s an easy plot device to bring “old soldiers” back from the dead.

And remember

Blizzard is actively trying to mislead you about certain characters:

“One of the things that we really like doing with Overwatch is playing with perspective.  We utilize perspective when we tell stories about what characters are thinking, what their goals are - and we have a lot of unreliable narrators.” - Michael Chu, GDC 2017

Blizzard loves putting references into the game and comics:

“I tend to like hiding some pretty obscure references in the game, and I get equal parts enjoyment when people don’t discover them as when they do,” [Chu] said.

Like these: http://segadores-y-soldados.tumblr.com/post/157378862270/reaper-and-soldier-american-cultural-references

If you pay close attention to the ridiculous and almost overwhelming amount of references within the game, it’s not at all surprising that some of that finally flipped over into canon source material.

Reaper and Soldier: 76 in particular are littered with pop culture and literary references - everything from Commando, to Michael Jackson, to, yes, Edgar Allen Poe.  “Red Death” Reaper is not just his second Poe reference, but his third American literature reference (the Headless Horseman being the second).

I know some people think that these kinds of essays are “reading too deep” into the references, but now that Michael Chu has outright confirmed that stuff as small as this

Can be important to a character’s background

You can bet I’m taking this moment to indulge in some bigger ideas.

Because remember, y’all:

“No one left behind.” - Reaper

The devil

“You’re the boss.” - Soldier: 76

Is in

Soldier: 76: Well. You sure take to this bad guy thing easily, don't ya? Reaper: And you sure know how to play boy scout.

The details.

[lopezdorothy70-blog]

Multiple Scientists Publish Papers Suggesting The Moon Is Hollow & Artificially Made

 It is not out of the question that artifacts of these visits still exist, or even that some kind of base is maintained (possibly automatically) within the solar system to provide continuity for successive expeditions. Because of weathering and the possibility of detection and interference by the inhabitants of the Earth, it would be preferable not to erect such a base on the Earth's surface. The Moon seems one reasonable alternative. Forthcoming high resolution photographic reconnaissance of the Moon from space vehicles – particularly of the back side – might bear these possibilities in mind. – Carl Sagan (source)

Controversy has surrounded the Moon for a very long time, we have leaks, research and information from some very credible sources who have, over a span of decades, been relaying to the public that our Moon is not what we think it is, and that there's also some type of extraterrestrial presence on the Moon.

One example would be the testimony of Colonel Ross Dedrickson, who was responsible for maintaining the inventory of the nuclear weapon stockpile for the United States, he had a long stint with the US Atomic Energy Commission, you can view his obituary here.

Shortly before his passing, he told the world that the US tried to detonate atomic weapons on the Moon for scientific purposes, measurements and whatnot and that this project was halted by extraterrestrials, who would not allow us to detonate any nuclear weapons in space.  These were some interesting comments because he is one of the hundreds of high ranking military people who have alluded to such things, and we also have a declassified report by the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center from June 1959 that shows how seriously they were considering the plan, called Project A119.

We know for a fact that they wanted to investigate the capability of weapons in space, and if they did, we also know that we would never be told, similar to the testing that goes on here on planet Earth.

Then, we have remote viewers from the STARGATE program who have 'seen' strange structures and humanoid creatures on the Moon, like Ingo Swann (from his book, titled Penetration), for example. He wasn't the only one from the program who did, I have personally had conversations with Dr. Paul Smith, a retired army veteran who spent a decade in that program, he also relayed to me that something strange is happening on the Moon. Many from within that program have been very outspoken about an extraterrestrial presence.

You can read more about the remote viewing program here. We've published numerous articles about it.

Multiple whistleblowers have also spoken of strange structures on the Moon, and it's become so obvious that some academicians are trying to do what they can to bring attention to it. For example, a recently published a paper in the Journal of Space Exploration about certain features on the far side of the Moon that appear in the crater Paracelsus C. Titled “Image Analysis of Unusual Structures on the Far Side of the Moon in the Crater Paracelsus C,” it argues that these features might be artificial in origin, meaning someone other than a human being built them and put them there.

It's not just the Moon, a physicist from the University of Tennessee Space Institute, Dr. Horace Crater, recently published a paper in The Journal of Space Exploration that, along with the NASA Viking images, hints “strongly at artificial surface interventions.”

The list is long, and the idea that somebody else is on the moon is nothing new, even the Deputy Manager for the Clementine Mission to the moon in 1995 said it was really a photo reconnaissance mission to check out structures on the far side of the Moon that wasn't put there by humans…

But this article is not about what's on the moon, it's about what exactly the Moon is.

It's also noteworthy to mention that the United States has been criticized by Russia for concealing artifacts they collected from the Moon.

I thought it was important to provide that brief overview before we get into it, to go more in depth you can check out the articles below:

Dr. Steven Greer: “We Did Go To The Moon, But The Footage Was Fake.”

Another Interesting Leak: A Second NASA Scientist Tells Us That 'Somebody Else' Is On The Moon

A Wel Known CIA Pilot Claims That The Moon Has 250 Million Citizens

Did Neil Armstrong & His Crew Encounter Extraterrestrials On The Moon 

What is the Moon?

Perhaps strangest of all the anomalies are the many indications that the moon may be hollow. Studies of moon rocks indicate that the moon's interoior differs from the Earth's mantle in ways suggesting a very small core or none at all. A 1962 study found the interior of the moon to be less dense that the exterior. – Jim Mars, from his, Our Occulted History

Is the moon hollow? Many intellectual minds seem to think so, but despite what's really being talked about, these theories are still considered unconventional by the mainstream, who like to push their own theories and teach them as fact.

Perhaps the reason why the US has not disclosed their artefacts from the moon, including all of the rocks, is because from what we do have, studies of moon rocks have shown that the Moon's interior is far different from the Earth's mantle which suggests a very small core, or, no core at all.

In 1962 Gordon MacDonald, a NASA scientist, published a study that stated, “Indeed, it would seem that the Moon is more like a hollow than a homogeneous sphere.”

According to Sean C. Solomon, “The Lunar Orbiter experiments vastly improved our knowledge of the Moon's gravitational field…indicating the frightening possibility that the Moon might be hollow.”(Our Occulted History)

Solomon is  is the director of the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory of Columbia University. He is also principal investigator on the NASA MESSENGER mission to Mercury.

Here is a paper by Solomon on the topic published in 2014 discussing how, after decades of data, they still have no idea about the moons inner core and what it's comprised of. There are multiple theories out there that've developed from this supposed uncertainty, including a fluid core.

Mars elaborates in his book:

“The most startling evidence that the moon could be hollow came on November 20, 1969, when the Apollo 12 crew, after returning to their command ship, sent the lunar module (LM) ascent stage crashing back onto the moon, creating an artificial moon quake. The LM struck the surface about forty miles from the Apollo 12 landing site, where super sensitive seismic equipment recorded something both unexpected and astounding – the moon reverberated like a bell for more than an hour. Frank Press of MIT stated, “…none of us have seen anything like this on Earth. In all our experience, it is quite an extraordinary event. That this rather small impact…produced a signal which lasted 30 minutes is quite beyond the range of our experience.”

How Did The Moon Get To Where It Is?

Conventional wisdom tells us that yes, the Moon may have originated elsewhere and at some point came to orbit our planet. It tells us that it was formed from debris after a space object smashed into Earth, while another theory states that Earth captured the Moon via its gravitational pull when it was wandering through the solar system…

Despite that our current theories are accepted as fact, there is absolutely no evidence for the conventional hypothesis. According to Russian scientist Isaac Asimov,  an American writer and professor of biochemistry at Boston University,

It's too big to have been captured by the Earth. The chances of such a capture having been effected and the Moon then having taken up nearly circular orbit around our Earth are too small to make such an eventuality credible

Asimov also emphasized that,

We cannot help but come to the conclusion that the Moon, by rights, ought not to be there. The fact that it is, is one of those strokes of luck almost too good to accept

Other members of the Soviet Academy of Sciences (Vasin and Scherbakov, 1970), run by the Russian Government, published an article titled, “Is the Moon the Creation of Alien Intelligence?” This article offered another explanation for how the Moon may have been created. This seems to be a better hypothesis because there is actually a considerable amount of evidence that points towards something suspicious happening on the Moon.

It's easier to explain the non-existence for the Moon, than it's existence – NASA scientist Robin Brett

The best explanation for the Moon is observational error – the Moon doesn't exist – Irwin Shapiro, Harvard Astrophysicist

Think about it…The Moon is in a nearly perfect circle, when it comes to its origin, all the while being synchronized with its period of revolution, so one side always faces the Earth.

As Mars points out,

This circular orbit is especially odd, considering that the moon's center of mass lies more than a mile closer to the Earth than its geometric center. This fact alone should produce an unstable, wobbly orbit, much as a ball with its mass off-center will not roll in a straight line.

Were The Sumerians On To Something?

Many within this field are really into ancient Greek, and ancient Sumerian lore. Take Apollo 12 astronaut, Al Worden, for example, who made some very interesting comments about the Sumerians as well as extraterrestrial life in a live interview you can watch here.

In the late 1960's, a senior scientist from the Planetary Science Institute, William Kenneth Harmann, stated he believes that the Moon results from a collision between Earth and another body at least the size of mars. This became known at the Big Whack theory, and it correlated to the story told in ancient Sumerian tablets…

According to several interpretations of Sumerian tablets, most notably from Zacharia Sitchin, more than 4 billion years ago, a large watery world called Tiamat was in orbit between Mars and Jupiter. Nibiru, a planet that supposedly enters into our solar system once every 3,600 years, caused Tiamat to crack under gravitational stress. Tiamat was cracked in half when one of Nibiru's moon's knocked into it, which also knocked a large portion of mars.

This is very interesting because recently scientists have confirmed that Mars used to be a very watery world, an Earth-like planet. There is even large amounts of evidence for ancient life on Mars before what appears to be a dramatic climate shift. Scientists hypothesize that the climate shift was a result of a large collision…The larger chunk of Tiamat became planet Earth.

So, it's interesting to make that connection.

Back to the Moon!

It's important to remember that something had to put the moon at or near its present circular pattern around the Earth. Just as an Apollo space-craft circling  the Earth every 90 minutes while 100 miles high has to have a velocity of roughly 18,000 mies per hour to stay in orbit, so something had to give the moon the precisely required velocity for its weight and altitude…The point – and it is one seldom noted in considering the origin of the moon – is that it is extremely unlikely that any object would just stumble into the right combination of factors required to stay in orbit. 'Something' had to put the moon at its altitude, on its course and at its speed. The question is: what was that 'something?” – Mars

It's hard to believe that the precise and stationary orbit of the moon is simply a coincidence …

Is it also a coincidence that the moon is at just the right distance from Earth to completely cover the sun during an eclipse? While the diameter of the moon is a mere 2,160, miles against the sun's gigantic 864,000 miles, it is nevertheless in just the proper position to block out all but the sun's flaming corona when it moves between the sun and Earth. -Mars

According to Asimov,

There is no astronomical reason why the Moon and the sun should fit so well. It is the sheerest of coincidences, and only the Earth among all the planets is blessed in this fashion.”

With all of the evidence that has surfaced showing an extraterrestrial presence on the Moon, to me, the spaceship theory proposed by Michael Vasin and Alexander Scherbakov (mentioned above) makes the most sense.

According to Mars,

The spaceship-moon theory may come closer than any other in reconciling the contradictions inherent in the origin and amazing orbit of the moon. However, such a consideration is supposed to be outside the discussion of educated and rational people. The circular logic of conventional science regarding the origins of the moon runs something like this: We know that extraterrestrials don't exist, but we do know that the moon exists and has been mentioned throughout human history. We humans did not create it nor place it in orbit around Earth,  it must have been done by extraterrestrials. But because we know they don't exists, we will simply call it an anomaly and will not publicly say any more about.

Sources used:

Our Occulted History, Do The Global Elite Conceal Ancient Aliens? – Jim Mars