#two mega corrupt entities

[wisteriagoesvroom]

once again saying that this would be the perfect time for some f1 olympics AUs… if you will…

[jemichi90]

On flowers and the Fuelweaver

🌹 Because I started thinking about Metheus and the Fuelweaver (as discussed in this mega post), I realized something about Charlie's stageplay.

🌹 Until now, I considered the line about the King making flowers bloom more of a figurative expression of the beauty that Charlie saw in Maxwell's magic when it was new and exciting.

🌹 But since Charlie is now two people in one body – with Metheus likely being the other half, the ”Mirror” – this means that some of their fragmented memories are going to get mixed up. The fact that the details don't add up, is something that Maxwell also comments on, if he's watching the play in the audience.

🌹 And since I consider the Ancient Fuelweaver the predecessor of Maxwell from the same era as Metheus (because the Fuelweaver is the one that calls Metheus by name and there is that shared rose theme - likely from BEFORE the Ancients, but that's also talked about in the mega post) with very clear parallels with Maxwell and Charlie, it hit me that there is someone that can make plants grow and flowers (of a kind) bloom with his magic – the reanimated skeleton on the surface. Which means that this specific memory likely belonged to Metheus.

🌹 The same bones and heart are used to reanimate the skeleton, whether that's on the surface, in the caves, or as the character we know as the Ancient Fuelweaver in the ruins. I sincerely believe that each version is the very same character, but his consciousness is only present when he's near the gate. I previously touched on the topic of Them being a parasitic hivemind entity. Maxwell was connected to Them when he was on the Throne and he still struggles to tell apart which thoughts were his and which were Theirs. He could see what they were thinking, and They could see what was on his mind, likely using his connections and knowledge to find new victims (among other things They needed to make sure that the seal on the Gateway would be broken and They'd be free once more). And it was likely the same for the Ancient Fuelweaver, until his entire mind was absorbed into the hivemind. And They are still only partially free and the majority of the entity is trapped on the other side of the Gate (for now) with whatever remains of his mind.

🌹 There isn't much left of the Fuelweaver's body, just bones animated by nightmare fuel and nothing else. The body can only access its own mind when it's close to the Gate where the hivemind is located. I believe this will also be Maxwell's fate if he doesn't stop using the nightmare fuel...

🌹 In any case, the reanimated skeleton on the surface may not remember anything and is acting purely on instinct. But I think the fact that he's not hostile, and makes flowers bloom wherever he goes, tells us a lot about the person the Fuelweaver used to be, before he got corrupted.

🌹 In the caves he's closer to the Gate and is acting much more aggressive. He's also making noises, but they fail to form proper words, but clearly that version is at least somewhat more aware of who he is and what's going on. I can only hope that his mind gets to rest in peace when the body isn't active...

🌹 Going back to the flowers though. It's pretty clear that Maxwell liked adding flowers too. All of his creations; the statues, the clockworks, and even the door to Adventure Mode are surrounded by flowers! It hasn't been confirmed whether he could make them bloom by magic or if he had to plant them like everyone else, but one thing is for sure; pretty much all of them were corrupted. The flowers you see around his creations are Evil Flowers.

🌹 I saw a line that felt relevant among the skin items. These gloves may belong to Wanda, but the quote fits in general. "Hands touched by shadows can only spread darkness." Maxwell's hands are certainly touched by shadows...

🌹 Maxwell himself has a number of quotes that imply that he thinks exactly that and fears that he'll just end up hurting anyone that gets too close (to be fair, this has certainly been the case).

[milliemuus]

I think that during the fight between Ogerpon and Pecharunt, it was a tough fight, since Pecharunt had a type advantage and set up 3 nasty plots earlier, however, it ended leaving when the humans arrived. Moveset wise I think it would be (Nasty Plot, Recover, Shadow Ball and Malignant Chain).

Now, remember the whole soul absorption? Well, I believe that it can also release these souls with a chain attached to them like a hive-mind. The souls would look like the ghost sprites in the gen 1 games. Their main purpose is to manipulate their victims into killing themselves. However, if the victim was able to stand against it, it would change into the person it was before but ghostly, and would kill the victim by force instead.

Also, I feel that when a person is under Pecharunt’s control, all their Pokémon’s Tera type are poison. This is sort of confirmed when I went to Carmine and Kieran’s grandfather’s Bulbapedia page where his Pokémon all have the poison Tera type.

And if we’re still going by the fusion idea, I would say Pecharunt would just be the base form while Dokuwāro is the fusion between Pecharunt, Mega Rayquaza, Original Dragon Kyurem, Zygarde Complete Forme, Hoopa Unbound, Ultra Necrozma, Eternamax Eternatus and Stellar Form Terapogas. I may need to think how it absorbs them, but the idea sounds badass and legitimately makes Pecharunt look intimidating as hell.

Now, I would say Dokuwāro’s size is slightly bigger than Regidrago. Since it’s a fusion, I’d like to think its shell can split into 6 pieces referencing Hoopa, one arm is out of each segment which looks like Necrozma’s but textually like Eternatus. The tiny hands that Pecharunt has are now arms with claws at the end resembling Zygarde but Tera and Dynamax energy texturally around it and a knuckle claw in the middle that resembles Mega Rayquaza’s jaw or something. However, this fusion would be cohesive and not just a series of random mutations.

Now, since Pecharunt has a busted defense stat of 160, I think Dokuwāro’s defenses are through the roof. Its shell is impervious to any attack and the core is difficult to damage. Not to mention, now that is literally 8 legendaries fused, it can now block attacks by punching them.

Did I make it overpowered? Yes. Is it necessary? Yes. Is it possible for the protagonists to beat it? Maybe not.

Now, these abilities and Pecharunt in the PV Au actually have several inspirations:

The whole soul absorption is because of the third signboard, while the two signboards were answered, this one wasn’t. So, I believe that Pecharunt is behind if you were to look into what the signboard says.

The whole manipulating people to kill themselves, is inspired by the Mandela Catalogue, the Alternates specifically. These entities are shapeshifters who can take the form of their victim’s close members. They whisper things to their victims which cause them to have Metaphysical Awareness Disorder, which drives them insane and they kill themselves. Whereas, the soul killing the victim by force is a reference to the Corruption in a Friday Night Funkin mod. Basically, if the corrupted person fails to corrupt their victim, it mutates and resorts to killing them instead.

The whole absorbing legendaries is a direct reference to Aggregor in Ben 10, in the show, he absorbs 5 Andromeda Aliens to have enough energy to access a certain place and there he can become god. Pecharunt is sort of doing the same thing. Also, how the fusion is designed is inspired by how O.R.Ash (from The Ink Tank) designs his fusions, he’s not called ‘The Fusion Man’ for nothing.

Pecharunt wanting nothing but revenge is a loose reference to Aspheera from Lego Ninjago. In the show, it’s shown that Aspheera wants nothing but revenge on the person that betrayed her, that’s loosing summarizing what she did, but Pecharunt did something similar.

For the shell and punch blocking, it’s a direct reference to Bowser in ‘Mario and Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story’ where in order for him to block attacks, he can either hide under his shell, or punch the attack away.

Finally, for the taking over god part, it’s also inspired by the Mandela Catalogue, where an alternate (most likely Satan) replaced Gabriel and made humanity pray to it. It used religion is a weapon. Sounds awfully like how the story of Ogerpon and the Loyal Three is misinterpreted right? Each story was not the same as their originals and what really happened was a second party influenced the events. Specaking of god, Arceus and Pecharunt are the only two mythical pokemon to be trio masters, this sort of indirectly makes a reference to a phrase in the Mandela Catalogue called ‘There’s not enough room for the two of us’. Indirectly referencing Pecharunt thinking that there can only be one mythical trio master and one god of this timeline. Loose reference, but it’s there.

I’ve rambled on A LOT. But I just wanna express my thoughts, and I felt three need to include what Pecharunt’s inspired by and references I this Au so you get a better understanding. Next time, I’ll think of some quotes that it might say. But anyways, thanks for reading this! It really appreciate it.

I thought I'd never see someone else get inspired by Bowser's Inside Story like,,, ik for you it was different but I love these ideas! I never idealized the idea Dokutaro or Dokuwāro as you say possess the OTHER MYTHICALS AND LEGENDARIES!!! Maybe I could implement these ideas

Idk if I wanna take from like, concepts like Mandela catalogue but it is SO MUCH TO THINK ABT /POS

Also, I still know NOTHING abt Mochi Mayhem or nothin and hope to keep it that way since I want to be as accurate or as imaginative as can be but you mention Dokutaro would have Malignant Chain..that a move? NO SPOILS I BEG I BEG

Anyhoo, with bowsers inside story for inspiration, Idk why but that one feller that can stack on top of itself and is a boss and is just yellow eyes,,,its giving Pecharunt

Ive been listening to the BIS soubdtrack admittedly, mainly for nostalgia purposes but I also was inspired to make an au of "What if Project Venus Kieran got zip-zapped by Terapagos and sent to the canon story, or maybe Project Venus itself sent him" idk I have to be kinda vague WHICH SUCKS BUT

But Project Venus!Kieran is kinda cocky like Bowser, and possessed by Dokutaro it makes him moreso. Of he was ever isekai'd into the canon story it would most def be after Indigo Disk, and he'd deffo be looking for Ogerpon or go back to Blueberry Academy and try to regain control since he also lost it in his canon, I'm sure.

AHGWDHJDUX NOW IM RAMBLING AND MY WORDS ARE EVERYWHERE BUT YOURE GIVING ME A LOT OF INSPIRATION

Also I NEVER WATCHED THAT FAR INTO NINJAGO BUT BASED NINJAGO FAN!! THERES SO MUCH CHARACTER-BUILDING I COULD DO FOR DOKUTARO/PECHARUNT AND AUUUUGHHH I WISH I WAS AT THAT PART ALREADY HRRRGHHG

[3bansi]

I drew this design from a Dream i had once of Sun and Moon

Story time: This Au is called „The Dimmed Moon Event“ Sun and Moon are two Entity Brothers that share the same body(like in the Actual game) living in a Village with two types of Generations, entitys that have two Personalitys but share one body or just one entity that dosen not share a Body with anyone. Once every second whole year is a Special event for the entitys sharing one body with someone called „The Dimmed Moon Event“ merging their bodys into one Person, that Entity has one Mindset but their emotions and desire double. Sun and Moon also got merged into one Entity that was given the name „Eclipse“ from their town folks. However there is also danger waiting to happen, small dark blue colored gremlins called „Night Terrors“ attack the Village to Kidnap or kill a merged entity to gain their powers so they can rule or destroy the world. Night Terrors can be defeated but Eclipse and the others have to be careful, those small gremlins contain a substance inside their bodys making the Entitys who are affected during this event from the Moon consume their negativity, corrupting their Bodys if won‘t block their mouth with a Hand or cloth, etc. Eclipse forgot that one rule which is really comon while getting rid of them, consuming negative energy and causing chaos leaving Eclipse with regret and guilt. He had no choice but leave his hometown and going to his only Option „Starting a new Life at Earth as just Sun or Moon“. 10 years goes by Sun and Moon are in their 20‘s working at the Mega Pizzaplex daycare attendants, lying to the Glamrocks who they really are or just don‘t share any stories about themselfs in general. Until Sun found out the Dimmed Moon event is happening making Sun, Moon and Eclipse afraid of the danger that might happen if their secret comes out.

[prismaticpichu]

continuing the smash bros. line of questioning, who in the smash roster (other than cloud and sora, obvi) is capable of facing sephiroth one-on-one? i think kirby and bayonetta both have a good shot, but who else?

Ness prolly has a good shot! Little guy has stopped the most evil of cosmic entities before, Sephiroth prolly very familiar territory to him. However, he’s still just a little bean, and mayyyy shy away from Sephiroth. Ganondorf on the other hand is the incarnation of evil energy and corrupted spirit—almost impossible to defeat for real, and Palutena is a Goddess with all the bullet points that your average Goddess has. Sephiroth may THINK he’s a god, but unfortunately just bc mumsy said it in his bday card doesn’t mean it’s true. Bowser is mega strong in the physical sense—and’s got a nice shell for protection! So much more than two meager pauldrons. This guy doesn’t even wear a shirt half the time!

All that said though, Sephiroth is still one of the strongest characters out of all 89. He was still the strongest SOLDIER Gaia had ever seen and possesses the DNA of a monstrous organism that eradicated an entire race. He can fly, is insanely fast, can hurl chunks of buildings at people with enough strange, and is practically a magician with his illusionist abilities.

This guy cleaved Galeem—an entity that was the catalyst for an entire story mode, enslaving every character in the roster save for Kirby—in half. And in one single blow too. Tickets better sell like hot cakes to see him fight!

[smhalltheurlsaretaken]

"The prequels Jedi were corrupt," is something I've just stumbled upon, again.

How are they though? How? I want an example, a single example of corruption.

Do they take bribes? No they don't, not that we ever see. What would they even do with bribes? They don't pursue material wealth.

Do they influence politicians to gain power? Lol, Riyo Chuchi almost bosses Obi-Wan Kenobi, member of the High Council, around and only backs down because he makes a reasoned argument she agrees with. Padmé Amidala is literally the only politician we see getting influenced by a Jedi to a Jedi's benefit (*cough* Anakin diverting her from her duties *cough*). The Council systematically gets shut down when they try to get something from the Senate (like when they try to get Palpatine not to bring the Zillo beast to Coruscant - Obi-Wan and Padmé *do* ask Anakin to speak to Palpatine, and it does precisely nothing.)

Do they accept a corrupt leadership? In a sense but they don't benefit from it (since most of the Senate doesn't trust them, drafted them into a war they never wanted to be part of, and essentially forces them to send their teenagers into battle because they are stretched so thin) which makes all the difference. They don't enable the corrupt system because it profits them, they support it because the alternatives they have are worse (the Separatists during TCW, who are backed by mega corporations like the Commerce Guild, Techno Union and Trade Federation, and who enslave the Twi'Lek, the Mon Calamari and the Togruta onscreen, just for starters, and use weapons of mass destruction like the Malevolence or that defoliator thing they almost test on the Lurmen when Republic weapons are specifically made not to target organic beings - see the Zillo beast arc) and because the Senate has the authority to order the Jedi to kick people out (Ahsoka) or to drop investigations (Maul in s4, Kamino in s6), and can declare them all traitors. The Jedi don't have the means to go against the whole Republic, and frankly making sure politicians aren't corrupt should primarily be the job of the billions of citizens, not theirs (the 10000~ space monks who have kids to raise and Sith Lords to deal with and would very much like to spend their days meditating and being nerds ("I was going to study that!") and helping people.)

Do they lie to their subordinates to get more power? The Council doesn't lie about its beliefs, and its members actively practice what they preach (letting go of things, staying in control of yourself, protecting the helpless...) so no manipulation there, and while they do lie or cover up things from time to time it's never to achieve power or to benefit themselves directly. The Rako Hardeen act? They lie to save the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic, who, as far they know at this point, is their legitimate Commander-in-Chief. OpSec isn't corruption. They cover up the discovery that Dooku made the Clone Army to protect the Clones themselves (as stated by Yoda) and because the public would freak out and then they'd have a civil war on top of a galactic war to deal with. It doesn't benefit them, exactly, because they explicitly say they're not happy about the decision but don't see another way out. ("The right path, no. The only path.") Oh, and Obi-Wan literally tells Rex, Ahsoka and Bo-Katan about Sidious, because the Jedi aren't secretive as a rule. They share intel easily if it'll help people.

Do they seek power in any way? Ffs, when they go against Palpatine – the Sith Lord who orchestrated an entire and forced hundreds of them to for in it, along with hundreds of thousands of Clones and millions of civilians – Mace tried to arrest him twice in the name of the Senate. "In the name of the Galactic Senate, you're under arrest" and after Palpatine kills three Council members "you're under arrest, my Lord." He only tries to kill him without a trial after Sheev blasts him full of lightning for like two freaking minutes. Talk about a coup. (By the way, arresting the Commander-in-Chief of your armies when you have proof of his own corruption, when he has given himself control over the banks (Clovis arc), gotten more emergency powers (RotS), holds power over the courts (Wrong Jedi arc) and has stayed in office for longer than his term? That's not corruption, that's actively fighting fascism.)

You could argue that Obi-Wan sending troops to Mandalore is a misuse of power, but there's a Sith Lord there who could potentially tell them the identity of Sidious and this help end the war. Also, it doesn't benefit him directly since it puts Ahsoka in danger, it divides his fleet and it could get him in trouble since he didn't make the operation a secret in any way. The one time Obi-Wan does go to Mandalore for his own benefit, he does it without backup and without even using Republic property since he borrows Anakin's ship.

So maybe the Jedi are corrupt because they distort their old ideals and preach a false image of the Force? They are corrupt in the sense that they are stagnant and the Dark Side corrupted them? But... Yoda is the Order's greatest critic (see AotC) which points to self-awareness, as he's one of their most important leader, the "fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate to suffering" credo is literally how Lucas describes the Force working (see @gffa 's collection of quotes) so they are narratively correct on most of their doctrines (same goes for attachment as Lucas defines it, in opposition to love), and Yoda and Obi-Wan the quintessential Jedi are deemed worthy of immortality by non-Jedi entities. The Jedi constantly talk about how hard war is because it's against who they are at their very core ("we are keepers of the peace, not soldiers," "we are peace keepers," "unfortunately war tends to distort our point of view; if we sacrifice our ideals, even for victory, we may lose that which is most important, our honor," etc) and every decision they take is motivated by the need to protect civilians and the Order. They don't join the war, they get drafted. Hear that, Rebels!Yoda? This is why I base my understanding of Star Wars on the movies and TCW alone, aka Lucas' canon. I swear, idk wrote that part about "the Jedi joining the conflict swiftly in their arrogance" but that's not what happens in the movies. They literally go save a high profile politician and two of their own from unlawful execution and try to arrest Dooku for being a terrorist (he hired people to kill a political opponent) and a threat to the safety of the Republic (he's literally manufacturing entire armies and talking about going to war), and 200 of them get slaughtered for it, and then they get drafted as Generals despite having no military expertise and they can't say no because again, the Senate can (and would) label them as traitors, and if they don't fight the Clones have people like Tarkin leading them. (You know, just the guy who later commits genocide on a whole planet.)

Seriously, I want one, just one concrete example of the PT Order/Council being corrupt, because it's such a common accusation that surely it must be grounded in canon somehow. Right? Right?

[mariacallous]

A combination of ambivalence, lack of transparency, legislative barriers and hidden owners are undermining Central Europe’s imposition of sanctions on Russian entities and individuals.

In April, Russian activist Alexei Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation published a list of over 6,000 bribe takers and warmongers who, it accuses, have enabled Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine. The EU’s sanctions list falls far short of this, identifying only 80 entities and 1,093 individuals subject to asset freezes and travel bans, though experts cast doubt on whether sanctions are being fully applied even on these fewer targets.

Central Europe is illustrative of the difficulties in applying sanctions to Russian companies and individuals. Behind the lurid headlines about the seizure of mega-yachts and opulent mansions belonging to Russia’s elite, who are conservatively estimated to hold assets abroad worth over $1 trillion, there is a much more complicated picture in which a combination of ambivalence, lack of transparency, legislative barriers and hidden owners is conspiring to water down the sanctions’ effectiveness.

At the state level, while all EU countries have unanimously approved the five rounds sanctions against these Russian/Belarusian entities and individuals, they have done so with varying degrees of enthusiasm.

At one end of the sanctions-support spectrum you have Poland, which has been one of the strongest advocates for tough EU sanctions against Russia. In April, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki even urged the imposition of sanctions against all members of the Kremlin’s parliamentary party United Russia. Given that at the end of 2021 United Russia had more than 2.3 million registered members, such a move would go far beyond even the Navalny list.

At the other end of the spectrum is Hungary, whose Russia-friendly prime minister is holding up the latest, sixth round of EU sanctions, principally over the vexed issue of banning Russian oil imports.

The Budapest government’s general attitude towards the EU sanctions can be characterised as ambivalent at best. It expressed reservations when the European Commission included Moshe Kantor, president of the European Jewish Congress, and Herman Gref, CEO of Sberbank, on its sanctions list, but went along with it. But Russian Orthodox Church leader Patriarch Kirill, who is included on the sixth sanctions list for his vocal support for Putin’s war, was a step too far in Orban’s view.

“We do not support the inclusion of religious leaders on the sanctions list, as this goes against freedom of religion,” the prime minister said in his weekly radio address on May 6.

In between Poland and Hungary are the Czech Republic and Slovakia, both of which are run by Western-oriented, EU-sanction supporting governments, who have to deal with prominent domestic pro-Russian forces ranged against them. In Czechia, this includes President Milos Zeman and his overtly pro-Russian entourage in Prague Castle; in Slovakia, it is the two-time former prime minister Robert Fico and his SMER-SD party, around which various extremist pro-Russian parties coalesce.

[stardestroyer81]

On September 11th, 2020, I posted this, a teaser for a 'faux Earthbound-inspired project' featuring four brightly colored silhouettes of its four main characters. The concept and characters were shrouded in mystery up until April 7th of the following year, where I posted yet another teaser in the form of an in-game screenshot, revealing the character of Lauren Henley and the project's placeholder title, Project 2000.

In that post, I mentioned that Project 2000 isn't the project's final name, and that I would be unveiling its true name later on down the line. The truth of the matter was that I could have gone and revealed the true name as early as... well, 2020 if I wanted to. But a lot of the project was still being figured out at that time (Including the designs of its main characters!), and I wanted to hold off on revealing anything more until I knew I was 100% ready to explain what this 'Project 2000' even is.

Now, nearing a year after I posted the initial first teaser, I feel as though it's about time to introduce a few more original characters of mine to this blog, and with that being said...

Let's talk about Override!

Shigesato Itoi's 1994 cult classic Earthbound (Known as MOTHER 2 in Japan) flopped due to misleading marketing when it came around to being released in the states, but its witty humor, nonstandard JRPG setting and its colorful visual presentation proved to be a hit to the American audience in due time.

This, of course, led to creators opting to shape games around a similar basis to Earthbound, whether its in terms of graphical style, humor, battle tactics, and much more. I think the most popular example when the phrase "Earthbound-Inspired RPG" comes to mind is undoubtedly Toby Fox's Undertale, which shared a lot of the same humor as its inspiration as well as a similar graphical style.

Some fans liked the MOTHER series so much that they wanted to take the franchise into their own hands and create the next installment after Shigesato Itoi stated that MOTHER 3 was the last game in the franchise, and MOTHER 4 began production by fans. Many Winter 2014s later, it was unsure if the game was still in production, though the project was officially rebranded as its own entity as Oddity in 2020.

Override is, essentially, my kind of Undertale/Oddity, mixing elements from Earthbound, MOTHER 3, the Y2K bug and the general 2000s aesthetic together into one. By that first part, I mean it's an Earthbound-Inspired RPG crafted by my own hand (Dating as far back as mid-2019); it, of course, isn't an actual game, but rather a collection of conceptual art pieces and faux in-game screenshots I've made detailing what it would look like as a real game (Like Mega Man Ultimate).

Oh, right, the plot! Bear in mind that a lot of the finer details of Override's story haven't quite been figured out yet, but I can say that I at least have enough to finally get around to talking about it.

Charles Feldman, CEO of Synergon Robotics, longs to spearhead a dystopian world with an invincible army of technologic law-enforcers, though finds it almost impossible to in his current time, the year 2095, where such technology is commonplace.

For years, he has meticulously shaped a plan where he, a team of subordinates and all the robo-security he could need would time travel back just before the year 2000, wherein he would corrupt all technology at that point with a 'Y2K Bug' and force the denizens of the world to live a lifestyle not unlike the events of the novel 1984, wherein humanity's every move is closely observed, and if someone steps out of line, they fall to the wrath of the Synergon Police.

His plan, for the most part, is successful. He travels back to the date November 18th, 1997 to have enough time to prepare for his eventual world-ruling plan on midnight, January 1st, 2000. The aforementioned Synergon police are armed with powerful devices called 'Psiometers', which are watch-like gadgets which connect to the user's neural network to unlock the powers of the mind.

Psiometers alongside other tech necessary for Feldman's ploy are transferred base-to-base in the middle of the night via drones, which are equipped with cameras and can hold up to twenty pounds of equipment. However, on the night of December 30th, 1999, a flaw in the wrap-up of Feldman's ultimate plan occurs, when a last minute drone delivery of two Psiometer units results in a crash.

The drone lands in the yard of the Henley residence. Nine and a half year old Lauren Henley overhears the crash and goes outside to investigate, finding the busted drone amidst the snow. After another brief malfunction, it shuts itself down, and Lauren, vowing to figure out its origins, drags it into the garage and goes back to bed...

December 31st, 1999. Lauren brings the Synergon drone to her neighbor's house, and shows it to her best friend, nine year old Casey Treverton. The two shortly discover the drone's contents, and Lauren instantly suspects there's more to the Synergon story. They ultimately are short on answers for the time being, and keep the whole thing a secret from their parents until later that night...

One minute until the new year. Casey and Lauren hurry to the downstairs of the Treverton residence to catch the ball drop for the new millennium. Whatever weirdness happened earlier is put on the backburner as the two flop down in front of the TV, eagerly counting down the seconds left of 1999.

"5... 4... 3... 2..."

Then, a nationwide power shortage. Nobody has any clue what's going on. Eventually, the TV flickers back on, and instead of the new year festivities they had been watching prior, the picture depicts a grizzled although finely dressed man in front of a white backdrop; Charles Feldman.

He states that his message is being broadcast across every television in the country, and reveals his lengthy plan to create a highly technical dystopian society overseen by Synergon Robotics, threatening to rewire any technology he pleases for the worst should anyone oppose him.

Casey and Lauren grimace at each other.

Three months pass. Not a lot has changed this early on in, though the citizens of Maywood are under close surveillance by various automatons to make sure nobody tries anything funny. Lauren decides that she has had enough of this 'Synergon Business' and asks Casey if he's interested in figuring out how the Psiometers work and using them against Synergon to ultimately take them down.

At first, Casey is unsure, true to his nervous personality. There isn't any rational way two children could lead to the downfall of an entity which has taken over the world, but Lauren is sure of their success, and with enough coercing the two embark on a mission to take back what's theirs. Who do they meet along the way? Just how deep does the Synergon plan run? And will they reign victorious? Only time will tell...

Well, now that we have the lengthy scene-setting out of the way, let's check out the good stuff; checking out the four heroes of Override which were teased last year! It's a good thing I chose to wait to show their designs off, because the silhouettes shown in the teaser weren't the same designs as what I have now. So, let's get right into it!

It may have taken much longer than I expected to show Override off, but at the very least that means I can now get around to posting/writing about what I've come up for it! I have a lot of Override-related content on the way, though I find that this is an excellent way to introduce its world! A LOT of work was put into this, so I hope you've enjoyed everything this post has to offer!

[bluemoose86]

My Thoughts on Honerva’s Arc (S8 of Voltron: Legendary Defender)

SPOILER WARNING for Voltron: Legendary Defender, obviously. Also obligatory disclaimer: the following is solely my opinion and should be treated as such. I know there were several production problems that led to the show becoming what it is, but I am not informed on those issues and won’t be speculating on how they specifically influenced the show.

I’M GONNA SAY IT: Honerva’s arc could have been soooo interesting if the lead-in had been better instead of tacking it onto the end of the whole “beating the Galra Empire” mega-arc. Honestly, the end of season seven felt like the natural end of the series, and if they had changed a few things it could easily have been an open yet resolved ending. The main plot-line has been wrapped up because all the major Galra Empire villains from the show (apart from Honerva obviously) have been defeated, but there’s still a lot of work to do in order to completely free the universe. The show could have ended with the Paladins getting ready to re-launch and looking towards the future, which also opens up the possibility for spin-offs or even a sequel series. IMO, everything from season 8 (and the weird Altean Robeast attack at the very end of S7) would have been much better if it had been its own series. There could have been more focus on Honerva’s downfall, how she plotted to use the Altean colony just as her son did, all the details that felt rushed at the end. And they could have developed their sub-plots more, especially the Allurance (Allura x Lance) romance if that was the direction they wanted to take. Plus we could have seen a lot more of the side characters that never got a chance to shine! Shay, Romelle (my beloved), Axca and her place at the Garrison, the MFE pilots, etc etc. 

Anyways, back to my original point: Honerva’s arc had so much potential. Seeing her transform from this shadowy, almost faceless entity who only exists to support Zarkon to a spotlight antagonist in her own right is really interesting. Reclaiming her Altean heritage while simultaneously corrupting it? Being so desperate to regain everything she lost 10,000 years ago that she would do anything and everything to get it back? Seeing how her mindset has come full circle–a woman who loves her family more than anything–yet how it has changed and warped over the millennia? That’s some good shit right there. Honerva in the show might believe she has returned to her original state from 10,000 years ago, but if you compare them, you’ll notice how even though there are glimmers of the same person, they are exponentially different. It could have been such an interesting and nuanced take on her character and really expanded on the earlier themes of “good vs. evil” that we see early on in the show. 

Another interesting part of Honerva’s character is her interactions with the Alteans on Lotor’s colony. It’s clear that she only uses them as means to an end, since she uses them as a battery for her Robeasts and kills Luca as soon as she starts talking to Romelle (and I think she kills others as well). However, if this arc had been developed over a longer period of time (say a series?? or even a 26 episode season honestly), that relationship could have been much more complex. In S8E2, “Shadows,” the entire episode is devoted to flashbacks of Honerva’s life, ranging from Lotor’s childhood to the three years Voltron disappeared. In one of those flashbacks, Honerva appears at the Altean colony that Lotor created, announcing that she is his mother, that the Alteans are great and the Galra are horrible, and that Lotor and the fake sister colony have all been murdered by Voltron and now she must help them avenge their savior’s death. The Alteans agree and Honerva takes one of them, Merla, to Oriande. As the two overlook the magical palace thing that Lotor, Allura, and Honerva visited in order to gain their magic powers, the following exchange happens:

The second image is could allude to a couple things, but one of the possibilities is that it’s referring to her own mindset–how she will do anything to bring Lotor back. She understands how Merla feels because she feels the same way. However small, and however brief, there’s a connection between them. And not just to Honerva and Merla, but to Honerva and all the Alteans because they (presumably) have the same feelings as Merla. It would have been interesting to explore how Honerva views the colonists. Does she relate to them on some level because they share a deep love for her son? She exalts Lotor the same way the colonists do, even referring to him as a god during the last Kral Zera in the show (and possibly ever). Or does she resent them? Does she harbor hatred for them because they loved and adored him when she could not? Because they spent all that time with him before she even had the chance?

Not to mention the fact that the colonists are Altean, the same as she is. In fact, there was a massive missed opportunity to explore Honerva’s views of her own culture. A major part of her arc is regaining her identity as an Altean and pride in her culture. She de-camoflauges herself, though only in private at first, she learns Altean alchemy, all the good things. And yet ... she destroys everything. She proclaims that Alteans are the best of all the races, that the Galrans are lower than scum and that Galran blood poisoned her son. Yet she goes on to manipulate and use her own people, killing them without hesitation in order to further her own plans. She destroys Oriande–or at least the statues–a place greatly revered by Alteans that she searched for her entire life. If she reveres her heritage as much as she believes, how can she turn around and destroy it the way she does, with seemingly no remorse? Add to that the fact that Lotor’s (supposed) aim for most of his adult life was preserving Altean culture. Imagine if the show had gone through with resurrecting Lotor, as it was hinted at. Assuming Lotor came back sane/with his full faculties and wasn’t being controlled by Honerva at all (which would be a long shot I know but hear me out), how would he feel knowing what his mother did? Maybe he wouldn’t care about the “using Alteans as batteries thing” since he basically did the same thing, but how would he feel about her defiling Oriande, even if she only destroyed part of it? Would it wake him up to the horrors of his ways–this person whom he despises doing the same things that he did? Probably not. But it’s interesting to think about.

I actually had more to say but the train has left the station on this topic, so I’ll just end it there. TL;DR: Honerva had so much potential and she, like pretty much every character in season 8, was robbed of her chance to shine. To everyone who made it to the end, thank you and I hope you enjoyed!

[assortedasurathings]

The Lore-Purists Guide To Writing Splices in Tyria (Yes, It’s Lore-Adherent!)

Hello! Now that the Title has got your attention? YUP I’m actually going to prove how ,from a “ Lore Purist “ perspective, you can not only WRITE splices, but do so in a way that is 100% true to ALL given Tyrian lore.

Introductary Terms :

Splice : A character consisting of a hybridization or fusion of two species. GW2 has a class that plays with this already : Soulbeast, but for the purposes of this excersize, those will only be touched on . 

Lore-Purist : Oftentimes read as gatekeepers , Lore Purists ONLY accept what is written DIRECTLY in the wiki, or things that came directly from the mouths of devs. Of course, this is usually based on bad experiences with Lore-Lenient folk, oftentimes newer roleplayers in general, thus lending to the perception as Gatekeepers

Genetics : The understanding of, and decoding of, the genome of species, sapient or otherwise. 

Part 1 : Hexes, Soulbeasts, and Magick Amok  . 

Tyrian magic is a fantasic, all-encompassing system of INCREDIBLY diverse spell types .  Imagine if you would , throwing light into a prism. That’s how magic works. The spectrum of magic is broad, and it’s uses moreso.  Hexes are lore compliant, demonstrated by the Siren’s Reef Fractal, The Foefire Ghosts, The Undead ‘ Charm’ in Some paths of the personal Story, and Even More! , so , as demonstrated by the Foefire , Undead Charm, AND the Spectral Magic At Siren’s Reef, curses are capable of not only altering body shape, but the soul and magic of It’s target. Thus, an easy way to have a splice is just to have your character be cursed. Just, be sure to throw in some /ACTUAL/ Curse-like bits in there. Like being unable to say some words or having an allergy to some oddly-specific but common thing.  Soulbeast magic! This is by far the easiest way to do this. Soulbeasts,��  can become one in spirit(with their animal). By channeling their pet, they become a single entity, attacking with fanglike dagger strikes and using the abilities of their companion and its archetype.. “ Notice something in the wording there? “ Becoming a Single Entity “  There’s a few ways to interpret this. Either by just “ Buffing” yourself using the power of your animal, or, the more generally accepted, fusing yourself magically into a new beast. Fangs, Claws, tails , Scales, and Burning Breath all possible... And encouraged. 

What’s more ? Magic in Tyria is decidedly unstable. Ley Magic Surges , Instabilities in Artifacts, and More can cause a soulbeast to be ‘ Stuck’ in a merge, thus resulting in a splice.. and likely a fair amount of distress over a “ Lost “ companion, depending on how you handle the merging of minds.  Part 2 : Asura don’t know Genetics* (*AKA ‘ Anet isn’t consistent ‘ )  It’s explicitly stated that the asura don’t actually understand genetics. This is, of course, Only true at the time the statement is issued. From there we’ve had two pretty impressive peices of genetics-based lore given. Taimi suffers from a genetic condition, a terminal illness which is well understood and treated. The clue-in that this is genetically related is that the treatment isn’t shotgun-style “ throw things at it until it works “ ... That can not only prove detrimental, but outright lethal. Thus, the remaining conclusion, and the one that’s , yes, Genetics related: that asura doctors, if nothing else, understand genetics enough to know that ‘ upping dosages’ when something doesn’t work , or rapidly changing medicine types, probably won’t get them anywhere with terminal illnesses. Unless of course, one wants to say that they magically stumbled along the perfect route to learning about medicine without ever once touching on How illnesses develop. Given the asura tendency towards obsessive learning patterns, it’s doubtful that they’d pick up medicine without picking up anatomy, genetics, and more.   Rata Primus Is the 1 absolute in this case. When dealing with plagues, especially ones that are species-specific, tampering with them to get them to jump across species requires some baseline understanding of genetics. You can’t just throw magic at it directionless and expect it to do anything but kill the researchers first. Yet we see those beautiful inquest bastards slowly, if not certainly, tweaking the plague generation-by-generation to adapt to new targets and hosts. while notably being wholly unaffected by it themselves in those first few iterations.  Thus,even from a purist standpoint, the Lore has shifted enough from the “ Asura can’t do Genetics “ Time to today. We’re nearly in 2021,it’s time we update our Canon , just like the writers have done with the story itself.   Part 3 : The Inquest Can Clone  This is where things get fun! So , even without genetics , the inquest are capable of manipulating dragon magics and cloning entire creatures using them. Examples of this are Subject Alpha , An amalgamation of many different dragon magics, the Six Simulacrum (Artificially made) Of dragon minions , And various projects that violently warped the state of their subjects (Subject 6, Thaumonova Fractal ). Kudu himself was even capable of absorbing absurd amounts of dragon magic and staying sane    Part 4 : Dragons? Easy. Souls? Easier. Splicing? Why even ask. The extreme ease by which the Inquest manipulates dragon energies is superceeded by one other thing they’re experts at warping.. Souls. In the asura personal story, long before dragons become a hassle for the commander, the inquest are seen fusing souls to Golem bodies as a power source.. so easily, in fact, it can be done without even touching the subject or golem, as well as being done in multiples (Funhouse instance Cutscene). Doxa is one such victim of technology like this going awry. 

By this metric, it’s extremely easy to infer that the Inquest are capable of precise tampering with Bodies , souls, or magic as a whole in subjects.. meaning if they felt like it, an abuse of any of these magics would suffice to make a splice : Druid , Soulbeast, Dragon Corruption, Ley Energy, .  Or, if you prefer Less magically dubious : Just fusing the two bodies into one. 

The Conclusion : The Lore is Hazy.  It’s fairly well established that lore in GW2 isn’t IRONCLAD, nor is it very definitively written. We, as players, have seen things go 180 in the drop of a hat. Norn Roleplayers have seen “ All the spirits are dead “ turned into “ All the Spirits are imprisoned “ In the course of 1 single story update. Asura have seen the Inquest go from a fringe group of mad scientists to a Mega-civilization that encompases the bulk of asura population itself. Anet isn’t known for consistent writing, and it’s not our place as players to say they’re concrete, and infallible, in their wording.  The long and short of it is, Just have fun Roleplaying. Policing other players based on what they write is outright petty at best, and Full-on gatekeeping at worst.  If you don’t want a specific Kind of Player or Character in your guild, Say it outright, Be direct yet Kind in doing so. It’s a stressful world, and the last thing anyone should do is attack a person for the wrong reason when they’re just trying to have fun.  Edit : Updated Terminology , removed tooth from Post

[galacticnova3]

as someone who played thru both games blind (and kss/u first) the sheer disproportionate level of hate magolor gets in comparison to m*rx makes me 🗡🗡🗡

FUCKING SAME! Like yeah I was pissed at Magolor for a while until I discovered Kirby Has Lore In It and started actually looking in to things. That’s around the time I figured “oh shit he probably wasn’t himself through some of that” and started being Less Mad.

For fuck’s sake one of the songs is literally called Under My Control, that’s a pretty big hint that you were going to be fighting the crown(indirectly) as soon as he put it on. Magolor didn’t control shit at that point, he just got stronger, but his boss descriptions make it pretty clear that the crown was up to something besides being a fancy headpiece... such as possessing Magolor. The use of ‘My’ can easily be interpreted as the crown itself, not necessarily Magolor, when given the context of those descriptions. Also the crown wiggles and shit so denying that it is a being and saying it’s just a powerful object is pretty difficult to do in an honest interpretation. Regular cursed crowns don’t move of their own accord.

Nowadays my headcanon is that he wasn’t originally intending universal domination or to do anything to Popstar at all; he just wanted to rule Halcandra because it fucking sucks right now. The infrastructure is in shambles, there’s a pissed off military robot attacking people in Egg Engines, and the water supply is full of giant eels. Is becoming a god through lies the most moral way to go about solving that? Of course not! But if it had worked it would have been very effective. Throw out the current government speedrun any%. Of course the crown not only let/made him power trip, but also possessed him, and those things don’t exactly mix well when you think you’re invincible and you can’t quite tell what thoughts are yours and what are from the entity firmly digging itself into your skull.

In other words, no, this isn’t woobifying him like I’ve been accused of doing, this is giving him a more interesting motivation that could easily be corrupted and taken too far. Like it was. His actions aren’t being excused or ignored, nor am I writing it like “ohhh but everyone forgives him because he said he was sowwy!” Literally I have gone into detail how much Meta Knight still despises him, and how the majority of people don’t trust him at all despite not even being involved with what he did. The only two characters I’ve written actually forgiving him are Kirby and the Lor. Kirby because they’re just like that and value friendships over grudges, Lor because she thinks he’s dealt with enough natural consequences and consequences from other people. Also because she has some (imo understandable) bias; even if he kept the reasoning from her for years, she’s only around because of his actions, as awful as they ultimately were.

Also I write him as such 99% out of spite towards Marx stans, who tend to be the most vocal anti-Magolor group. THIS is how you do a villain redemption arc, not “he died but got better so things are chill now” like I’ve so often seen with the jester bastard. Forgiveness/acceptance and consequences/punishment are not mutually exclusive! Consequences/punishment with no forgiveness/acceptance isn’t really redemption, and forgiveness/acceptance with no consequences/punishment is woobifying. Some level of both is needed for an honest redemption, along with realistic character development.

Unless you want to just have Kirby yeet a friend heart at them, but that’s not very interesting to read, is it? Anyways sorry for the mega tangent but I have thoughts.

[sebastianshaw]

Do you have any headcanons about how Haven and Maddie would get along? You mention them both a lot and they seem like they have things in common

OH BOY DO I EVER i happen to love shoving my faves into interaction in my head even if they never met in canon---ESPECIALLY if they never met in canon---and these are my two mega fave ladies! ...coincidentally I was out today on errands and playing Tori Amos (because *of course* I was) and specifically her “American Doll Posse” album, and I was like “GIRL DISAPPEARING and SECRET SPELL have Maddie vibes” (I also listened to KING AND LIONHEART by of Monsters and Men, it’s my fave of theirs, and “As the world comes to an end, I’ll be here to hold your hand” is forever a Haven lyric to me) So massive MASSIVE ramblings under the cut!

Anyway, yes, you’re completely correct, they have a TON in common, both in what actually happened TEXTUALLY to them, and the meta-text of how their stories were handled in very similarly misogynistic ways. Like, they’re both villains through no choice or fault of their own, both the victims of demonic corruption, both exploited specifically for their reproductive capacity (Maddie created literally to have Scott’s baby, Haven’s unborn child used by the Adversary to possess her), and both used to frame female sexuality as evil (Maddie only starts with the skimpy black outfits when she becomes a villain, Haven is a pure and chaste woman who had sex ONCE and as a result becomes demon-pregnant, corrupted, and dies, she’s very much punished for violating purity taboos just ONCE despite all the good she did, while NOTHING HAPPENS to the man who took advantage of her naivete and knocked her up) and both were treated with little sympathy by the story or other characters despite being so very deserving of it. So they’ve got a ton to relate and commiserate on if they ever met and opened up to each other about it, but even if they DIDN’T tell each other about their pasts (which I doubt they would, certainly not at first, it’s not something either is keen to talk about, Haven never told her own beloved brother and Maddie literally KILLS Threnody for throwing it in her face) I think they would get on well. With the understandable exception of Jean Grey, Maddie has NEVER been a jerk to anyone who wasn’t one first (she did go overboard with Threnody, of course...) and Haven, even while a demonically-posessed supervillain, was very calm, composed, polite, and downright kind to the good guys even when they KEPT ATTACKING HER. And to quote the “X-Plain the X-Men” podcast “❝ In this scene, she [Haven] is the one that’s being kind and calm and compassionate, and he [Xavier] is being AN ANGRY JERK. ❞ So, I think they’d get on at first meeting because they’re just both nice people at their default. They’re also both morally good people at their default. Haven’s history is that she’s someone born to extreme wealth and privilege who was driven to use it to help others, she did shit like bathing lepers and caring for dying babies and building children’s hospitals (literally how she got her name in canon, no shit) and even as a supervillain BENT ON DESTROYING THE WORLD OUT OF COMPASSION she STILL does shit like SURRENDERING A FIGHT SO SHE CAN TRY TO HEAL AN *ENEMY* OKAY. And Maddie was just straight-up a superhero even before she had the “super” part going for her, she was one of the X-Men even as a human and even after Scott left her, she had an incredibly strong sense of justice, she did her best at rescuing people in her job as a pilot during crises, she GAVE UP HER LIFE with the rest of the X-Men when Forge needed their life energy for a spell to save the world (she got brought back, they all did, but she didn’t know she was going to be resurrected, she went in knowing she’d die and thinking it would be permanent) and the first time she did get superpowers WASN’T as the demonic Goblyn Queen, but as the healer Anodyne. And you know why her powers specifically took the form of healing? It wasn’t random. The Fire Fountain (from which she and some other humans got these gifts) gave people their powers based on their passions and desires; Maddie’s desire and passion was to help others. So both of these women are extremely moral, healing-types at their core, both in powers and personality, who care about others deeply, even at the expense of themselves. Obviously, Maddie became very morally-grey since in the 90s, but even then she cared about other people first; Sebastian Shaw was never a bad boyfriend in the slightest to her, he was actually her first good relationship, but she left him because he was doing harm to other people, people she didn’t even KNOW, and she wouldn’t be complicit in that even as a bystander. She’s kinda gone full evil in the 2000s but she’s also very much Not Maddie Anymore as of the 2000s, so I just...don’t count that...anyway you see my point! My point being I think they would really come together on helping people, like Haven has the funds (she would probably not have powers anymore if she’s alive, since she’s no longer the host body of the Adversary) and Maddie has the piloting skills and superpowers, they could do a TON of good in the world if they teamed up to do relief work and refugee aid and stuff! I would honestly be really here for that. I really like the idea of them doing good in a way that has nothing to do with superhero adventures and is in no way glamorous or a battle that can be won with powers and punches, but is necessary and worthy all the same. I think they could really get a good working relationship going with this. I think the place they would differ is that Maddie is ANGRY. She’s very angry at what was done to her, she’s very angry at the X-Men, she’s very angry at Jean, she’s very angry at Scott, she’s very angry at Sinister, and she has a RIGHT to be. There is nothing wrong with this. But her anger also isn’t limited to people who harmed HER. Back when Maddie was Maddie and not a walking misogynistic stereotype, she also got BIG MAD at people who did bad things, who hurt others, who oppressed mutants and other minorities, etc. Like, during the story in which we find out about Genosha and how they’re enslaving mutants, Maddie is ready to WRECK ALL THEIR SHIT WITHOUT MERCY using the demonic energy that’s started incubating inside her. And you know what? Good for her. Maddie is the fire of justice and retribution, and if you have done something to deserve it she will FRY YOU IN HELL. Haven is not like that. Again, even when she’s possessed, even when she ostensibly wants to kill the world, even when she’s being steered by an entity of cosmic evil and chaos...she’s still so soft with her “enemies”. Hell, even when she’s come to the conclusion that Xavier must die, she still can’t do it with her own hands and has to just let some other villain out of prison and HOPE he does it, that’s the MOST action she can bring herself to take, and she thinks how “I admire you, Charles Xavier. I respect you. In an odd way, one might say…that I love you. For how can one not love a soul so pure, a heart so full of good intentions? One must love one’s enemy…if one is to slay him with compassion.” And this was AFTER Xavier rammed in his way into her head after she begged him repeatedly to STOP (boy was THAT an uncomfy scene) and she literally unmade herself from existence temporarily (yes, she could do that, and remake herself) in order to get away from him, even though SHE could have just unmade HIM permanently. So, once you take the demon out of the equation, I can only see her as being even MORE pacifistic and forgiving, just the epitome of grace----grace meaning not as in graceful (though I think she’s that too, she’s very elegant) but as in the religious sense of God’s grace, which is mercy where it is undeserved. She’s NEVER going to want to hurt people for their misdeeds like Madelyne does. She wants to comfort the victims, but not attack the victimizers. She’s probably the kind of person who prays for Neo-Nazis. She probably utterly forgives X-Factor and Xavier and the man who got her pregnant. And you know what? I also support that. I support Madelyne’s righteous rage, I support Haven’s all-forgiving compassion and mercy. I think both of these are beautiful. But they WOULD probably make conflict wherein like, Maddie wants to go after some bad guys to avenge the victims, and Haven doesn’t, that kind of thing. And I can see Maddie being angry AT HAVEN for that, and Haven UNDERSTANDING because she’s very understanding but still standing fast in her own beliefs. Haven is at peace with the universe, both its good and its evil. Maddie rages at the Heavens like if Milton wrote a woman. Both are perfect. Also like...I love so much the idea of Maddie being ready to PHYSICALLY FIGHT SOMEONE, no powers, she’s just going to WRECK THEM WITH HER BARE HANDS (trust me, she has a mean punch) and Haven pulling her back. Because Maddie is canonically 5′6 and 110 lbs, she’s not short but she’s VERY skinny (because Marvel likes making all their women borderline underweight; I headcanon Maddie should be more in the 135 lb ballpark) and Haven is a SOLID SIX FEET and has been shown as able to carry around GROWN MEN in her arms, so like Maddie just this feisty lil skinny spitfire ready to MURDER YOU and big mama Haven gently holding her back like an angry lil kitten!! Speaking of physical contrasts I also love how they’re very Tomboy & Girly Girl? Maddy is a pilot, she’s very adventurous and rough and tumble, she’s got cute dresses but she also wears her brown/green flight suit a lot, she’s a goth in the 90s...and then Haven is like, this very well-brought-up polite woman with super-long princess hair and the one time we see her in civilian-wear it’s this GORGEOUS sari with tons of jewelry, they’re just so Queen & Lady Knight, I love it. (It’s not that Maddie is unfeminine, Maddie’s VERY femme, she’s just more versatile and aggressive, whereas Haven is very conventionally hyperfeminine) I think another point they’d have a lot of difference---though not arguement---is sex. Like, Haven still spoke about her one (1) sexual experience with a lot of shame twenty years later, she’s very much a product of a conservative religious culture and while I don’t think she’s the type to slut-shame anyone else, I think she’s now very thoroughly celibate because of her experiences. Whereas Maddie is very much not, like she literally walks into Sebastian Shaw’s bedroom one night and rides that dick because shut up she wants to. While I don’t like the idea of her as this Sexy Evil Succubus that she’s become in the 2000s, I do see her as having a fun, practical, down-to-earth approach to sexuality as something that she enjoys and isn’t ashamed of, while also not being this male fantasy of a femme fatale 24/7. So I can see her commenting on hot guys buff bodies and Haven being embarrass, things like that, maybe Maddie trying to get her a date. Like basically Haven is the Virgin Mary, she’s chastity and motherhood and peace and mercy, and Maddie is Ishtar, the goddess of love AND sex AND war. Another thing about Haven is that she was established as EXTREMELY sensitive to the feelings of others, especially their pain, and that this was NOT a superpower from the Adversary, it’s how she’s always been since childhood. She’s almost psychic, she instantly figures out the personal problems of everyone in X-Factor, from Lorna and Alex’s co-dependence to Guido using humor to mask that he suffers from chronic pain due to his mutation. So while I doubt Maddie opens up to her about her past even when they become friends, Haven can very much feel out that SOMETHING awful happened to this woman. And Haven’s nature as a healer is going to be drawn that, to want to help her, without going too fast or too invasive, without doing anything Madelyne doesn’t want, without forcing anything on her because Haven has had that happen to her and she’s not going to do it to someone else even with good intentions. She’s done ENOUGH wrong with good intentions. And as Madelyne does begin to let her in and let Haven know what happened, Haven in return reveals her own startlingly similar trauma, and I think there’s a mutual healing there in supporting each other. Haven becomes the one shoulder Maddie has to cry on, and Maddie becomes someone who can be angry FOR Haven on her behalf. I see Maddie as probably being protective of Haven, like she has been of other women in the past who were wronged or vulnerable----such as when she was murderously incensed over what Genosha did to Jenny Ransome or when she offered to be Dazzler’s eyes when Dazzler was blinded by a mask magically stuck to her face. And Haven can help Maddie with moving on and owning her own life instead of devoting herself to vengeance anymore, because she loves Maddie and rightly believes Maddie deserves BETTER than that. Honestly, I just...love them both...and want them to be happy and healing...so much...thank you for this ask, I loved talking about them!! ;A;

[acabang]

Nerding out on the Borderlands

I finally got around to playing Borderlands 3 and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Personal order of preference for the franchise: Tales ≥ BL2 > BL3 > BL1 > TPS

Depending on how the DLC goes though, 3 could be just as good as 2 for me. Unlikely but it’s possible.

I really enjoyed playing all the Vault Hunters, Zane in particular, even if it seems like he lags behind the rest of them. And while she’s fun as just a straight up gunner, my only real bummer is Moze. For me when it comes to the playable characters, it’s all about their Action Skills and if I don’t find myself using it regularly then I hope they have something fun in their skill trees to make up for the lack of it other than shooting guns exceptionally well (ie. Gaige with Ricochet-Anarchy stacking abuse, Krieg with Flame of the Firehawk-Raving Retribution Hellborn madness, etc.). The idea of Iron Bear is rad but vehicles have never been useful outside of a means of map traversal, which this mech isn’t for, and if I’m gonna give up the benefits of my gear then it better be fucking OP or at least viable, especially at the highest of difficulties. So far it’s not looking like it is and I don’t expect it ever will get to that level. For the most part though, she’s still a lot of fun to use as a Plain Jane FPS character.

Overall, I actually enjoy all four initial characters pretty much equally which I can’t say about the other games. I still had fun with them but I didn’t like Roland, Salvador and Nisha as much as their fellow Vault Hunters in their respective games. I’m really looking forward to what DLC Vault Hunters they have in store though, they’ve all been pretty solid and just plain fun to play as.

                               -SPOILERS FROM HERE ON OUT-

I liked the story well enough and felt engaged the entire time. I didn’t really feel bogged down throughout and enjoyed the pace. Even the sidequests I thought played along well with the storyline missions, they didn’t feel as jarring with too much backtracking or as tediously boring as The Pre-Sequel had it. Although, all the games are guilty of this, the Underdome/Circle of Slaughter missions are still lame.

I loved pretty much most of the new NPCs, however major or minor a role they played. Lorelei was interesting and I want to know more about her, the same goes for Clay, who I could both see becoming Vault Hunters themselves (hopefully) in a future game. The Katagawa-Rhys dynamic was fun, as was BALEX and GenIVIV. I loved Wainwright Jakobs and I especially loved Typhon DeLeon, two of the more likable and wholesome characters in the entire franchise. They don’t hold a candle to Loader Bot & Gortys from Tales but still very admirable in a universe full of assholes and psychopaths. Even some of the minor villains were fun, the Traunt Brothers and Pain & Terror specifically.

Now it’s going to be unfair to compare the Twins to Jack but... they still could've been written better. Brats with god complexes and one with an inferiority complex to boot is fine, not the most compelling, but wait! They’re also streamers because *nudge, nudge, wink, wink*. Despite that, the VA performances of what they were given were both still very well done. When they start to actively antagonize each other is when they started to turn around for me, especially with the power corrupting Troy to the point of almost killing off Tyreen. The Twins being the children of Typhon is a neat twist reveal but I feel like if you’ve been discovering his logs throughout the maps you can put two and two together long before they outright state it.

Though I should probably give credit to the Twins for being a part of why I love Typhon so much. With him being revered the way he was, especially by Tannis, as the first Vault Hunter, it’s refreshing to see a fabricated myth actually turn out to be mostly a myth and not a 100% accurate depiction or historic event like most other games usually do. Even the damn posters of Typhon got him all wrong which I loved. He’s endearingly flawed and his admittance to not being the best father to Tyreen & Troy after they lost their mother actually really got to me. He wasn’t around for long but it was smart of Gearbox to have built up his backstory through those logs, it allowed his character to make some sort of impact like it did on me which made his death actually quite poignant.

Thus leading to probably what I can only assume, since I haven’t bothered to read other people’s reaction to it, is the most controversial part of the game. I love character deaths, especially for ones I adore. When done properly it brings more meaning to them and for the character that may have taken their lives. Bloodwing and Roland helped build Jack up to be even more of the villain that most people love (to hate). Hell, even Sasha’s death in Tales actually had me crying... then immediately laughing because I totally got baited by it especially after already losing Scooter.

Now, like I said, I love character deaths and I’m totally fine with Maya being the one we lose but the way she dies was more of a pathetic wail than whatever Gearbox was hoping to achieve. And for what? All I hope for in a character death is to have more meaning to it than a passing of the torch to a cipher of a character that was basically just introduced and I have no real connection towards, good or bad, because going forward from then on certainly isn’t going to be positive at all. Who knows, she could end up being a favourite character of mine in the future as she develops more but as of right now, no, the only reason for her existence in this game world so far was to take the place from two beloved characters that hasn’t been earned yet.

The other character being Lilith as she sacrifices herself to keep Pandora closed. I don’t believe she’s actually dead, gone for now but at least not dead. It’ll probably be the main focus of the next game, if not in a DLC, in figuring out a way to get her back from Elpis, if she’s even stuck up there. It’s sad to lose her immediately after regaining her powers back but at least she went out with Alicia Keys singing her a fire swan song. Unfortunately, before going off to save the day and Gearbox not being entirely satisfied yet with shoving Ava down our throats the first time, Lilith hands over protection of Sanctuary III to her. Hopefully Ava is given an extremely satisfying character arc in the proceeding games because woof, that’s going to be a tough mountain to climb especially if it takes another 2-5 years for the next game to release.

I don’t actually hate Ava, I just don’t care about her. Also our Vault Hunter(s) were right there, technically, and as was Tannis. She may not be able to fight but she’s more than capable of leading the Crimson Raiders. She’s also the most consistently well written character that’s shown growth over the games that she’s been a part of in the franchise, in my opinion.

As for the rest of the characters, I’m good with moving on from Vaughn now. He was unexpectedly funny to okay during Tales but yeah, he’s already worn out his welcome for me. Rhys was fine, not as good as he was in Tales but he wasn’t really even my favourite character from that game anyway. Who I was missing was Fiona, I really wish that she had shown up but hopefully that might still be a possibility in DLC. Maybe she’ll show up alongside Athena & Janey, continuing her VH training somehow saved from wherever she disappeared off to. Preferably with Loader Bot and Gortys as well. It’d also be nice to run into Axton, Sal, Gaige and especially Kreig considering the whole Maya situation and her promising to see him again.

Then there’s also the B-Team, which a part of me wanted to interact with more but another part where I think I’m okay with what we got. I was disappointed in Tina’s development however, I didn’t expect a full maturation of character but I also hoped she wouldn’t be the spaz that she was when she was a young teen. Even in Dragon Keep she showed a little bit of growth with her acceptance of Roland’s death but I guess they wanted to keep her annoying, which was fine back in 2 and TPS when she was basically a kid but I believe she’s supposed to be at least 18 now? I guess it’s fine as long as it fits the dynamic between her, Brick and Mordecai. I will also say that Mordecai’s side quest to attend his protégé’s birthday party was really bittersweet, I loved that brief respite from the chaos that is the rest of the game and a stark reminder that Pandora sucks.

Aside from the actual plot and characters, I thought they did an even better job at world building the rest of the universe. The mega-corporations side of Borderlands has always been fascinating to me and I feel like they often take a backseat by most fans since they’re just these ever present entities in the universe and not actual characters themselves, despite each of them having quite unique “personalities” in the products they manufacture and the individuals that represent them. We had Commandant Steele & General Knoxx show off a militaristic side of the original Atlas as The Crimson Lance, then there was Jack as the face of the Hyperion we knew, and the fallout from his demise during Tales. There’s also Tannis giving us slight tidbits of how Dahl operated on Pandora between the first & second game and, of course, Mr. Torgue with, well, Torgue and I guess now he’s in charge of the battle arenas. Now we get insight on the current incarnation of Atlas with Rhys at the helm, Maliwan with Katagawa Jr. and Wainwright as the heir to Jakobs. It’s just fun to see these corporations steadily being fleshed out with each game and I’m interested to see how Tediore, Vladof and maybe even S&S Munitions, if they ever make a return, will turn out.

On the other end of the spectrum and more of an active danger to the universe are the Vaults, their purpose and the monsters contained within, one of them called the Timekeeper who we have yet to encounter. Also more insight into who the Eridians were, the siren Nyriad’s role with their eradication and warning of a seventh siren who shouldn’t be found. There’s definitely plenty of seeds that were planted, it’s just a shame that it’ll probably be a long time from now before any of them get answered unless they start pumping out these games which I hope they don’t. Oversaturation and fatigue can ruin a franchise.

This has been my TED Talk, thank you for reading.

[sburbian-sage]

I remember seeing mention of “Time Demons” in a FAQ, GodsGiftToGrinds one I believe. Do you have any information on what this might be, or if it is even real and not just a rumour?

Did you mean “Time Daemon”? Time Daemons were mentioned once in the “Serious business and worst cases scenarios” section. Apparently they were discussed further in-depth in another chapter, but that chapter has been lost to corruption.

Technology corruption, not Other/Angel Corruption.

Now to be perfectly honest, I don’t know much about Time Daemons. If I recall, I’ve only heard about them twice. In the Sburb Glitch FAQ and in this ask. However, we can make some reasonable guesswork on what these things are.

GGTG brings up Daemons when asked about a Player receiving messages outside their session. Stuff like this happens frequently in most sessions, but never-to-almost never in first-time sessions. There are generally two events that cause session-to-session communication in a first-time session.

A Replayer somehow manages to wiggle their way into a first-time session. They then introduce the other newbies to the Replayernet, letting those poor little squirts communicate with other Replayers.

FUN FACT don’t do this. First of all, you should be teaching them how to survive, not how to go on the mega-internet. Second of all, most of the time these kids either learn about The Vast Disappointment too early, get depressed, and start sadposting, or remain ignorant and bother everyone about the game. Either way it fucks things up for everyone involved.

The Daemon causes this.

FUN FACT we’re discussing Daemons right now.

Now GGTG lumps Daemons in with other Game Viruses. Specifically, a virus that manifests inbetween two different sessions. Judging by that fact, the name, and other context, I would assume that a Daemon is a hostile entity that poses a threat to these sessions.

Now let’s use some of our knowledge of viruses and what causes them. Generally speaking, all Viruses can be attributed to mutations and illnesses in the Genesis Frog of the Sessions experiencing the Virus (Mods are also mutations in the Genesis Frog, don’t do that shit). The fact that the Daemon is connected to two different Sessions means that they are connected in some way, or may even share the mutation. The most plausible explanation is that one Sessions “birthed” the other, or that the two Sessions are twin Genesis Frogs (an event which I’m 98.9% sure is impossible but I can’t rule out).

I can only assume that a Daemon is a highly dangerous presence, because it would be incredibly stupid to be making a fuss out of something that you regularly trounce for Grist. What makes Daemons even more dangerous is that, apparently, they can gain Aspect powers. The Time Daemon being an example of this.

So to answer your question, a Time Daemon is a malevolent entity spawned into the game via some virus. The Daemon not only plagues two different Sessions, connected them, but it also possesses Time powers.

This question sounds like simple curiosity, but if you have reason to believe that you’re experiencing a Time Daemon scenario, exercise extreme caution. Not only are they shrouded in mystery, but they must have incredible power to warrant such mention. Time powers pushes them into a level of threat rivaling that of a Ringwraith. If you are in fact experiencing a Time Daemon scenario, then report back with any information you can. And also stay alive.

Unaffiliated specula on Daemons.

Time Daemons will kill you, but be wary of other Daemons as well. Heart Daemons could literally eat your soul, Space Daemons can nuke people with abandon, and Breath Daemons will probably destroy a few planets.

Viruses are essentially corruptions in the game. While the possibility of a Daemon being a unique entity makes sense, it could just as well be a pre-existing entity either corrupted by the virus, or pre-destined to BECOME the Daemon. That means it’s entirely possible that YOU are the Daemons, John. So a Daemon could possibly be…

You, John.

A Player. Perhaps one from an alternate universe/doomed timeline.

A Ringwraith.

A First Guardian. Just give up at that point.

Some other NPC.

A souped-up Underling. Beware the Imp of the apocalypse.

Because a Daemon connects two Sessions, it’s entirely possible to establish a communication between them (if one wasn’t already established due to time fuckery). In fact, cross-Sessions communication might be necessary to put an end to the Daemon. So say hello to your new friends and brush up on your alien etiquette.

[captainderyn]

The Republic Senate

My (emphasis on my please don’t give me shit for this, take it or leave it it’s just what I will be using for Of Sun and Moon) initial rework of the Republic Senate for the purpose of it making sense in my fic. 

It’s world-buildy, it’s long. It’s heavily influenced in part by the US Senate because that’s what I know and seems to be where part of the roots lie for it. 

Thank you @shortmandown for reading through this and to ALL the other people I crawled to for help with this (there’s like three of you guys but I won’t tag you out of the kindness of my heart xD)

Hopefully below the cut. Enjoy, if you wish to read it 

The Republic

Alliances between several planets. In theory stands for democracy, justice, and freedom and wants to spread democracy throughout the galaxy. This, however, has led to a fixation on eliminating the Empire in a multi-year (multi-decade, multi-century...just a long, long time) war that culminated in a need for eradication after the Sacking of Coruscant. It wants to restore its former greatness and most recent years of government have chosen an ongoing war with the Empire as the way to do that, stating that they need to eliminate the Sith Empire before they can progress again. Propaganda and the numerous victories in the ongoing war maintain the overall attitude of complacency and optimism for the war,  though the younger generations that were either young or not yet born during the SoC are starting to question the legitimacy of this ongoing war. The Republic is still in a state of rebuilding after the SoC and is nowhere near its once great standing.

The Senate:

The Senate is split into seven sections, each coalition representing a selection of ~142 planets average (should all regions be the same, they are not)  in that region. In each coalition, there is at least one representative from each planet up to a max number of fifty seats in the representative house based on the population of that planet. From those representatives five senators are elected to represent the planets, allowing ~28 senators per coalition. Therefore, in the Senate, there are 200 senators total serving at one time.

**NONE of these planets in a region are representative of a major corporation. Planets only allowed to send representatives. In areas where major corporations sit the representatives(s) elected work in favor of a mega-corporation and there is no way to deny that as they are “elected” fairly. Investigation and action will only be taken if there is probable cause to suspect foul play.  

A senator can serve for six years at one time and can serve a Republic Law based two terms back to back, but since the government overturns after the Treaty of Coruscant most senators have served well above those two terms. Senators can be removed from their position if found guilty of any of the numerous punishable-Republic crimes, though it is a long process and most senators are able to weasel their way out with only a harsh warning and a temporary ban.

Each senator has an Associated Planetary Representative (APR) elected from the coalition’s house of representatives and acts as a “Junior Senator”.  Most are chosen with the mentality that they will be the ones to take the place of their superior senator when they step down. The APRs cannot vote, but they do try to represent political, religious, ethnic, or other minorities on the side of their sector. Their main duty is to stand in for their superior should they be indisposed and unable to make important meetings or had to take leave. Should the latter occur then there would be a vote to allow them to act as the standing senator.

**APRs have been known to purposefully target their senators to take their place. The success rate of these attempts are shockingly low as any suspicion is taken seriously and an investigation ensues.  

The seven coalitions act as a separate entity from planetary governments, as does the Republic Senate. Planetary governments are almost entirely removed from the galactic governments except for the election of their representatives, as to keep the focus on galactic issues instead of planetary.

Election of representatives varies from planet to planet and relies on the way their government works. For example. democratic planets will elect their senators through campaigns and the votes of the people, while monarchy based governments (or any non-democratic governments) tend to send diplomatic representatives of the state chosen by those in charge. Smaller planets, especially in the Outer Rim have not always been able to elect their officials or get them to the official coalition headquarters, usually located on the major planet in the system (ie: the Deep Core Coalition would be on Coruscant, the Core Coalition on Alderaan.). In the past, the coalition has worked to get that representative at least holo’d in, though post-Treaty of Coruscant that initiative has fallen behind and it is more common as of the Yavin Coalition to simply let those planets fall to the wayside. As a result, the Outer Rim Coalition is grossly under numbered and no longer has much power in the standing of the Senate.

The head of the entire Galactic Senate is the Supreme Chancellor. The Supreme Chancellor acts as a tiebreaker in tied votes, offers guidance and is a figurehead, and mediates the meetings, but overall does not hold much sway in the voting process. They are given a four-year term and can only serve one term. Therefore when the Supreme Chancellor seat turns over, the Senate will not be turning over at the same time. The SC can propose candidates for military officials, as the Republic Military is closely intertwined with the governmental control, however, they cannot elect those officials. Military officials are elected through a vote of the Senate, and it must be a majority. Reason to be removed from office are as followed: serving a maximum number of years, a vote of no-confidence by the Senate (must be the majority and there must be a probable cause), and if they commit and are found guilty of a high tier crime punishable by Republic Law.

**Senators are known to do some negotiating in backroom deals to create alliances that strengthen their position on important issues; a matter that picked up tenfold once the Yavin Coalition started to form.

The State of the Galactic Senate:

As of the Coalition of Yavin IV and prior/onward the Republic Senate has been falling steadily to corruption. The smallest of the seven representative groups, the Outer Rim has been slowly shunted to the side enough that some worlds have seceded entirely from the Republic and fallen into Hutt Control. The Expansion Region and Mid Rim are close to doing the same, encroached on by both the Empire’s advances and the poor treatment by the Republic. The Deep Core and Core regions remain the strongest and most powerful of the sectors, holding the most sway in voted on matters. On top of worlds, seceding mega-corporations such as Czerka Corporation, Draay Trust, Adascorp, and CEC (to an extent, in Corellia’s representative pool) have infiltrated the interests of the Senate, shifting it from a goal to represent and better the people to instead better their own interests.

The Coalitions:

The seven coalitions are as followed;

Deep Core: Coruscant is the largest planet in this sector, representing the smallest number of planets with the highest amount of representatives possible. Coruscant holds the maximum number of fifty-seats in the representative house. Tython holds a small number of representatives, being a fairly sparse planet holding mostly Jedi that for many years did not wish to root themselves in politics. This changed post-ToC, with Tython holding more representatives than before.  This coalition is the strongest and largest of the seven by the time OSaM is occurring. Coruscant is the site of the headquarters, located in the Senate District. The Deep Core Coalition is set on expanding the Republic and maintaining its glory, trying to expand rights to all species and is by far the most liberal of the coalition attempts.

**Glory defined as reinstating the Golden Age of the Republic, with extensive expansionism and the minimizing of the Empire and its “threat” to galactic peace. Though from coalition to coalition and senator to senator the definition of glory has shifted and mutated and as the Eternal Empire rises it is near impossible for everyone to see eye to eye.

Core: Corellia and Alderaan are the major planets in this sector, with Alderaan’s representatives standing for each of the major houses and sent by the royal houses. Corellia’s representative election varies from year to year in its ever-shifting government and prior to the Empire’s siege was majorly influenced by the CEC company. However, after the Empire’s attack and subsequential rebellion, it has lost almost all power in the coalition and must wait for the next senatorial election to regain its prior power if it can. The Core Coalition has been known to side with the Deep Core Coalition on the matters of restoring the Republic and rebuilding after the Sacking of Coruscant, however it is known to favor business ideals and trade above the expansion of rights, most likely due to the influence of its major planets.

Colonies: Balmorra would be the major planet in this coalition (so far as swtor is concerned), however, the entire coalition has been knocked off balance by the ongoing war on Balmorra, eventually won by the Republic but not before immense damages were taken and setbacks were piled on. However, the coalition as a whole is representative of a band of largely wealthy planets with booming industrial worlds, trade centers, and garden worlds.  They are the third largest coalition in number, with densely populated planets. They are a known to ally with the Core Coalition for their emphasis on trade and business, as well as wealth.

Inner Rim: One of the smaller coalitions, the Inner Rim is neither strongly allied with the Outer Rim or the Core/Deep Core. Many of the planets in the Inner Rim are either undeclared in allegiance to the Republic or Empire, making its number of planets one of the most lacking. The Inner Rim as a whole tends to look down on the Outer Rim inhabitants, and yet the Deep Core, Core, and Colonies have looked down on them. The headquarters of this coalition are located on Manaan, though since the planet has remained questionably neutral it's debatable on whether or not that should be changed. This coalition has a tendency to ally itself with business and trade for its priority, always trying to reinvigorate declining wealth after the Great Sith War. By the time of the Eternal Empire, the Inner Rim has all but fallen out of importance.

Mid Rim: The Mid Rim Coalition is one of the smaller branches, due to territory that had to be relinquished to the Empire in the ToC. It is also one of the most unstable, constantly caught between planets falling to the Empire or being invaded for more territory during the war. Ord Mantell is the standing head location, however the Separatist rebellion caused significant chaos and it fell out of standing in the Senate, leaving its senators floundering. Being one of the less industrialized groupings of planets it tends to ally with the Deep Core’s efforts to promote rights and social change across the galaxy, unable to offer much to the Core or other business and trade coalitions for support.

Expansion Region:  One of the most, if not the most disrespected of all the Coalitions, and also one of the smallest. Rampant tapping by Corellia and Duros during the Great Manifest Period left many planets impoverished, and even by the current time in-universe, there are several representatives that are unable to make it off planet. Their inclusion and transport have all but vanished in recent years, leaving the Expansion Region Coalition a silent bystander in the greater Senate.

Outer Rim: An area made up of neutral, Empire, or otherwise aligned planets the Outer Rim is the smallest coalition out of the seven. Headquartered in Belsavis it is the one that has been shoved to the wayside the most alongside the Expansion Region Coalition in recent years. Many planets over the years have fallen out of the coalition entirely and it remains one of the least respected in the Senate. Their main goal is to try and get recognition, relief, and resources from the Senate to better support their people but it has gone largely unheard.

[obscurewatch]

The Retribution Newspaper

The newspaper is visible at 1.53 in the video.

We can see the silhouettes of Reaper, Mc Cree and Genji. On the left, security camera footage showing Mc Cree when BlackWatch’s Rome base gets destroyed in an explosion. 

Surprise surprise, it’s not blurry nonsense NOR lorem ipsum ! Took me a while but I got to to the bottom of it, here’s what it says :

"Nations around the world are hit by Islamist terrorist attacks, starting with New Year’s Day, when a gunman from Uzbekistan opens fire in a nightclub in Istanbul killing 39 people. The so-called Islamic State claims responsibility. The gunman had trained in Afghanistan according to Turkish authorities. On March 22, a man drives a car into pedestrians on a pavement along Westminster Bridge in London. Four people are killed. The perpetrator, a Briton who had converted to Islam, stabbed a police officer to death before being shot dead by the police. Two months later, a suicide bomber kills 22 people at an Ariana Grande concert at the Arena in Manchester. The dead include ten people aged under 20. Hundreds are injured. In early June, eight people are killed when a van strikes pedestrians on London Bridge. After the van crashed, its three occupants ran to the nearby Borough Market area and began stabbing people in and around restaurants and pubs. Its three occupants are eventually shot dead by police. St Petersburg underground is the target of a suicide bomber on the third of April. Fifteen people die as a result of the attack."

It’s actually a copy-paste of a real news article on euronews from december 26th 2017. So 4-5 months before the Retribution event.

 http://www.euronews.com/2017/12/26/2017-terrorist-attacks-natural-disasters-and-political-upheaval

My theory is that they put that in because of the title of the article.

“Terrorist attacks, natural disasters and political upheaval” to me, it sounds like a summary of the big themes of what’s to come in the lore of Overwatch.

Terrorist attacks : Null Sector and Talon things. Maybe Volskaya too. She’s not above stirring up conflicts, as Doomfist says in Masquerade, she’s more useful to Talon alive than dead, she will “keep the fight going” to make sure the world needs her and her mechs.

Natural disasters : The “anomalies” Mei is warning everyone about and perhaps an explanation as to why it seems that people are living in gigantic circular cities 100km diameter. Did global warming get so bad that people have fled the countryside and smaller cities because of floods, rising sea level, droughts, etc to take refuge in mega cities? Are those cities the only living alternative nowadays? Hopefully we’ll get to find out more “soon” !

Political upheaval : In his comic “Destroyer”, Torbjorn stops a titan mech controlled by his old engineer friend turned nemesis Sven who’s currently showing the world how to get rid of a dictator in Kurjikstan using godly firepower without a thought about the civilian casualties. Sven’s real motive is to show how strong his mechs(s) are to the world so states, governments and other entities will be impressed and commission him a few of those, two birds one stone though. Kurjikstan is a made up country supposedly in the Middle East/Eastern Europe region. To quote Sven “Kurjikstan is a corrupt dictator ship bent on expansion. Its methods are ruthless and immoral. It is a dangerous, increasingly unpredictable player on the global stage”. So surely, there’s going to be quite a lot of political upheaval after this whole thing. Kurjikstan, what’s left of it, will probably get desperate and do something dumb and relentless. It could be the start of the second Omnic Crisis. 

This sign from the Destroyer comic says “аэропорт” which means airport in russian. Is Kurjikstan Russia’s puppet? Or do they just speak russian over there.

Political upheaval is a common theme in the Overwatch lore. The tensions between humans and omnics, the inflation that allows for a bottle of water to cost 600$, Overwatch’s dismantlement, the U.N. being in charge of everything, the assasinations, etc. Political upheaval could be anything.

Back to the Retribution newspaper !

This one is a work in progress. I’d need help from italian speaking folks. Yes, the entire right side of the newspaper is in italian !

This is the part under Mc Cree’s silhouette.

It says 

“ I funzionari veneziani hanno chiesto la calma all'indomani della sparatoria in città. Hanno assicurato che è in corso un'indagine completa e che la causo e i responsabili saranno scoperti. Inoltre, i funzionari insistono sul fatto che non esista una minaccia maggiore per la città e il paese e che cio rappresenta un incidente isolato, piuttosto che un problema più grande

I funzionari sono stati riluttanti a ??? una connessione tra il recente attentato dinamitardo a Roma, tuttavia non hanno escluso la possiblità che i due eventi siano collegati. “

which means

“ The Venetian officials have asked for calm in the aftermath of the shooting in the city.They have assured that a full investigation is underway and that the cause and the perpetrators will be discovered. Furthermore, officials insist that there is no greater threat to the city and the country and that this is an isolated incident rather than a bigger problem. 

Officials have been reluctant to ??? a connection between the recent bomb attack in Rome, however, did not rule out the possibility that the two events are connected. “

So, the Venice officials are covering for Talon, they’re blaming it all on Overwatch. Venice officials confirmed corrupt :/

The other paragraphs are just the first two being repeated.

This is at the bottom of the page, also a work in progress 

it says

“ dei? partecipanti all'attacco sembra essere un ??? che ha subito ??? profonda cibernetica?. Al momento non sono stati rilasciati? dettagli sulla faccia? “

which means

“ the attack participants appear to be ??? that has received ??? serious cybernetics. So far details about the face have not been released. “

So the italian journalists know one of the people on the Blackwatch team “responsible” for the chaos in Venice is a cyborg and the authorities apparently have pictures of the face of one of them, or the faces of all of them, it’s not clear.

Surely the italian authorities know it’s Genji.

So, this newspaper. What to make of it. Huh.

The english part could be a teaser of sort for the upcoming lore, or at least an indication of the general direction the lore will be taking. And the italian part is about the Venice Incident itself, how the media perceived it, what the authorities knew and decided to hide and what it meant for Overwatch as an organization.

I’m sure the first part of the italian page that’s still a work in progress has the most interesting information of the whole page so if you speak italian or know someone who does please contact me !!!

Please double check the newspaper. Don’t take anything I claim for granted ^^

Zoom in, squint your eyes, figure out as many words as you can see, it’s fun, I swear !

If you’re open minded and if you enjoy wasting time hunting for the many obscure things the devs have put in the world of Overwatch, I have an all new discord server :D

https://discord.gg/Eg8pZdn

(free tin foil hat for all new members)