#weapons of mass creation 2

[cookie-nigel-dolan]

Concord Dawn  //  You Don’t Have To Run  (2005)

[sixhours]

One Day at a Time

Joel becomes a dad. Again.

Rating: Explicit, 18+, here be smut. Series tags: The Last of Us, The Last of Us (HBO), Joel Miller x f!OFC, Joel & Ellie, soft!Joel, no really super soft!Joel, Joel is bad at feelings and relationships, Joel is a sap, mostly follows canon, SMUT, gratuitous smut, dubious consent (drunk sex), unplanned pregnancy, fluff, references to past miscarriages, angst, hurt/comfort, romance, age gap (~21 years), childbirth, fluffy baby stuff, I've probably forgotten some so please let me know <3 Word count: ~25.7k

Notes: It’s a pregnancy/baby fic. Knocked Up, but make it **post-apocalypse**. Joel Miller’s sperm should be registered as a weapon of mass creation. I really just needed to imagine Pedro Pascal holding a baby. Sorry/not sorry.

Chapter 1: Conception

Chapter 2: Implantation

Chapter 3: Embryo

Chapter 4: Gestation

Chapter 5: Labor

Chapter 6: Transition

Chapter 7: Birth

Chapter 8: Beginning

One-shots

Postpartum

Firsts - Bath

Firsts - Laugh

Firsts - Crawl

Firsts - Colic

[the-whatcherof-89]

Commission for @pixlemonade

Grian “Big Boss” Xelqua Aka The Legendary Poultry Man.

CR 17 N Medium Humanoid Strix

XP 102,400 (if used as npc for encounter)Strix Cleric 10 Evangelist 7

Neutral Medium humanoid, Strix Init +2; Senses Perception +29

AC 31, touch 13, flat-footed 29 (+2 Dex, +10 Armor, +4 Shield, +1 Intuition, +4 Natural) hp 115 (16d8+34)

Fort +11, Ref +19, Will +12

Speed 60 ft. Flying, Land speed 30ft. Melee Returning shortspear+16/11/6 1D8+4 RangedRanged Spell+14, Returning shortspear+17/12/7 1D8+4

Racial Dayguard, Suspicious, Darkvision 60ft, Low light vision 60ft, Hatred, Fly speed 60ft, Land speed 30ft.

Traits Obsession(Buttons, etc), Spark of creation.

Class features Aura, Channel Energy 9D6, Domains Artifice, Air), Divine obedience,Skilled (Use magic device, Fly), Protective grace +2, Aligned class (Cleric), Divine boons (Strategic warrior, Sensibility of crafting), Creator’s touch, Material transformation, Gift of tongues(Ignan, Auran), Multitude of talents(+4 sacred bonus on untrained skills).

Spellcasting CL17 DC17 spells per day 

4/6+1/6+1/6+1/5+1/5+1/5+1/5+1/3+1/2+1/1+1

Str 12, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 24, Cha 10

Base Atk +12/7/2; CMB +13; CMD +25

Feats Brew potions, Deific obedience, Extend spell, Craft magic weapons and armors, Craft wondrous magic items, Empower spells, Quicken spells, Maximize spells, Master crafter.

Skills Appraise +5, Craft(Metal) +20, Craft(Stone) +14, Diplomacy +4, Fly +21, Heal +10, Knowledge (arcana, history, religion) +14, engineering +9 (nobility, the planes,) +5, Linguistics +5, Perception +19, Profession(architect) +19, (engineer)+14, Sense motive +14, Spellcraft +14, Use magic device +13.

Languages Common, Draconic, Strix, Ignan, Auran.

Combat gear Manual of understanding+3(used), Returning shortspear+3, Mithral catskin breastplate+4, Caster shield(greater), Amulet of natural armor+4, Dusty rose ion stone, Headband of aerial agility+6(Wis), Rainbow lenses, Eagle cape, Belt of goat strength, Rod of thunder and lighting, Robe of useful items, Arrow magnet, Band of the colorful(pride) flight (ring of feather falling+Ring of flying improved+Colored flight), 4 Potions of cure critical wounds, Cleric kit, MWK tools(stone mason), 105GP.

Spells per day 0- All. 1-Animate ropes, Bless, Command, Divine favor, Sanctuary, Shield of faith, Summon monster I 2-Wind wall, Bear’s endurance, Sonic boom, Cat’s grace, Summon monster 2, Aid, Make whole. 3-Gaseous form, Dispel magic, Summon monster 3, Remove blindness/deafness, Blindness/deafness, Remove curse, Protection from energy. 4-Airwalk, Summon minor planar ally, Summon monster 4, Divine power, Freedom of movement, Divination. 5-Fabricate, Flamestrike, Summon monster 5, Spell resistance, Truesight, Reanimate dead. 6-Major creation, Planar ally, Animate objects, Dispel magic major, Word of return, Blade wall, Mass bull strength. 7-Elemental body(air), Regeneration, Destruction, Resurrection. 8-Whirlwind, Planar ally major, Summon monster VIII. 9-Miracle, Prismatic sphere.

Mumbo Jumbo Aka Bumbo Baggins the Mustache Man.

CR 17 N Humanoid, Dwarf

XP 102,400 (if used as npc for encounter)Dwarf Wizard (Conjurer, Creation school)15 Lore master 2

Neutral Medium humanoid Init +2; Senses Perception +20

AC 22, touch 17, flat-footed 20 (+2 Dex, +5 Deflection, +5Mage armor) Hp 135 (17d6+51)

Fort +13, Ref +13, Will +17

Speed 20 ft. Melee Father’s forgehammer+11/6 1d8+31 RangedRanged Spell+10

Racial Speed 20ft, Defensive training, Unstoppable, Stone cunning, Craftsman, Industrious urbanite, Stability, Darkvision 60ft, Weapon familiarity.

Traits Spark of creation, Socially awkward.

Class features Summon familiar (archetype Valet), Arcane bond (Familiar Cat), Create gear, Creator’s will, Summoner’s charm, Scribe scroll, Specialization  school (Conjuration), Arcane discoveries: Arcane builder(wondrous magic items), Fast study, Golem constructor(Iron), Lore, Secret of health, Applicable knowledge(Forge ring).

Spellcasting CL17 DC18 spells per day 4/6/6/6/6/5/5/4/3/1

Str 12, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 26, Wis 14, Cha 8

Base Atk +8/3; CMB +9; CMD +21

Feats Brew potions, Extend spell, Skill focus (Knowledge Arcana), Alchemical affinity, Craft wondrous magic items, Craft magic armors and weapons, Maximize spell, Empower spell.

Skills Appraise +16, Craft(Metal) +28, Craft(Redstone) +28, Fly +10, Knowledge (Arcana +31, Dungeoneering +16, Engineering+28, Nature+16, Geography+16, History+16, Local+16, Nobility+11, Planes +16, Religion+11), Linguistics +2, Perception +10, Profession(engineer)+22, Perform(oratory) +3, Spellcraft +28, Use magic device +19.

Languages Common, Draconic, Dwarf, Giant, Terran, Orchis, Acquan.

Combat gear Headband of mental prowess+4(Int, Wis, Craft metal), Amulet of spell mastery, monocle of flawlessness, Father’s forge hammer, Engineer’s workgloves, Winged boots, Belt of giant strength+2, All tools vest, Traveler’s any tool, Handy haversack, Mallet of building, Clock of resistance+5, Ring of protection+5, Ring of crafting improved(Redstone), Artificer portable lab, Mumbo’s top hat(functions as a Cap of light and a Hedge wizard Conjurer’s cloak), Conduit rod, Scrolls(Planar binding greater, Anywhere but here, Expeditious constructions), Staff of conjuration, Blessed book, Potions(4 Cure Critical wounds, 2 Invisibility, 2 Blur), Wand of Summon monster II, Wizard kit, 15GP.

Spells known Mostly Conjuration spells Forbidden schools: Necromancy, Enchantment (around 45) 

Spells typically prepared 9-Portal. 8-Summon monster VIII, Labyrinth 7-Limited wish, Wondrous mansion, Clenched hand, Reflect spells. 6-Mass bull strength, Contingency, Chain lighting, Iron wall, Dispel magic greater. 5-Telekinesis, Teleportation, Summon monster V, Wall of stone, Cone of cold. 4-Elastic sphere, Summon monster IV, Dimensional door, Stoneskin, Black tentacles, Solid fog. 3-Haste, Shrink item, Fireball, Summon monster III, Dispel magic, Resist energy. 2-Make whole, Mirror images, Glitterdust, Summon swarm, Web, See invisibility. 1-Shrink person, Magic missile, Grease, Unseen servant, Mage armor, Shield.

0-All except forbidden schools.

Background Grian and Mumbo lived in a faraway land known for their hermit residents where they are renowned for their incredible talent for architecture and his incredibly complex contraptions respectively. Both of them where building some crazy structure and as always creating some cunning brain-teaser or practical joke to have a laugh while at it. Still, when one day they were about to make their usual pranks and almost detonated each other in the attempt, Grain and Mumbo heard a voice: “Your aid… needed… someone important… lost… will you aid us?” Thinking it was a prank from another Hermit known for his Scars and his fancy Top Hats they went along and accepted only to find themselves transformed and transported into a completely different world. Now they have a mission on hand: Retrieve a lost entity from far away that bestowed part of his powers upon them.

IMPORTANT: None of the images are mine they belong to the following artists in the link. I did this for no profit only for entertainment.

[robopoh]

MORE OF THIS AU LORE (YES ITS A STEVEN UNIVERSE REFERENCE LMFAO)

For this specific Moebius version of Shadow, the two things I altered about og Shadow's story would be 1. the intention of his creation and 2. the relationship he has with Maria.

Anti Shadow was created with the sole intention of being Anti Maria's friend and a cure, not secretly a weapon of mass destruction. He is extra silly and only wishes to cheer the sick girl up (which he fails at most of the time). Anti Shadow has very poor control of his powers and strength, but he idealizes himself to be a hero regardless. He has many insecurities he overcompensates with a harmful savior complex.

Anti Maria in this world suffers from the same illness as prime Mobius' Maria, but her outlook on life and the work her grandfather does is much more cynical. She finds the research into the parasitic Wisp race creepy, and Anti Shadow's overbearing personality puts her off tremendously. She is NOT evil, but their relationship is not healthy for either of them. The lack of love within Anti Shadow's early developmental years makes him far less stable than og Shadow, a fact Scourge would exploit if they were to encounter...

[helgafolk618]

🪴Hilda and the Grass Sword AU🗡

[Hildelion approaches Twig, petting him]

Hidelion: This impostor keeps saying she's me. Why don't you set things straight and tell her who the real Hilda is?

[Twig quickly runs up to Hilda and hides behind her, looking at Hildelion waringly]

Hildelion: What?

Hilda: Yeah, I don't know who you are...

*🪴🪴🪴*

More info about this AU:

PART 1: THE GRASS SWORD

As Hilda, Frida, and Kaisa ventured into the labyrinthine first chamber of Matilda Pilqvist's maze, they encountered an unexpected adversary. A plant creature loomed before them, prompting Hilda to grasp a sword she discovered in the vicinity. In this AU, the weapon in question is none other than the Grass Sword. With a swift motion, Hilda cleaved through the lock that barred their way, all without the help of Frida. "That's a really freakish sword," Kaisa said, eyeing the blade with a mix of awe and apprehension.

The Grass Sword was abandoned in the room as the trio pressed on, the episode unfolding as normal.

In the aftermath of their adventure, Hilda lauded Tildy for her exceptional magical prowess, particularly in the creation of the Grass Sword. Tildy, however, confessed to no recollection of such a feat, but she attributed the lapse to her old age. Hilda, ever respectful, returned the sword to Tildy, who intended to restore it to its rightful place within her maze.

That night, Hilda's sleep was deep and undisturbed. Yet, next morning revealed a curious anomaly: blades of grass encircled her wrist. It seemed the Grass Sword had claimed her as its new master. The thought of her Mum's potential reaction sent a shiver down her spine—Johanna would surely ground her indefinitely. Thus, Hilda resolved to conceal the sword, which is easy for her since she usually wears long sleeves anyways. She signed a confidentiality form with Alfur, permitting him to document the sword's existence, albeit discreetly.

When the Kraken incident led to Hilda getting grounded, she breathed a sigh of relief; atleast Johanna had not noticed her Grass Sword. Unbeknownst to Hilda, it would be a long time before the sword would grace her presence again.

S2E8, "The Fifty-Year Night," found Hilda meddling with the fabric of time. Her goal was simple: to cement the love between Ostenfeld and Tildy in that one fateful night. Alas, Time Worms hate deviations from set-in-stone time. As one such creature wreaked havoc in the nightclub, devouring alternate realities of Ostenfeld, it also targeted the past incarnation of Hilda. Defying the warnings of her future self, Hilda unsheathed the Grass Sword and lunged at the Time Worm. The ensuing struggle saw the sword expand, enveloping her arm in a desperate bid to subdue the beast (like Finn not letting his father escape in "Escape From The Citadel").

The attempt failed. The Grass Sword loosened its grip, severing from Hilda's arm (her arm itself is fine though). The future Hilda met her end within the maw of the Time Worm, which then consumed the remains of the Grass Sword and then turned its appetite towards the present Hilda. In a leap of faith, she plunged into a time portal, narrowly escaping the same fate.

The episode, and subsequently Season 2 and the movie, progressses and finishes as normal, yet what was happening to the Time Worm was far from that at all.

The Ostenfeld and Hilda alternates, trapped within the Time Worm, oscillated between being and non-being, ultimately glitching out to oblivion. The Grass Sword, once a formidable mass, reverted to its original form and impaled the past Hilda. It thought that it had found its way back to their master, but they were confronted with a duplicate of itself. The Grass Demon within the sword emerged, intent on eradicating the doppelgänger. It enveloped past Hilda in a cocoon, initiating a metamorphosis.

Some time after "The Fifty Year Night," the Time Worm, disoriented by the Grass Demon's transformation, flitted erratically across epochs. It traveled to a future that was the timeskip/epilogue of the movie, and close to the onset of Season 3.

Out in the wilderness, the Time Worm fainted on a clearing in the Great Forest. Within the creature, a mysterious force cleaved its way to freedom, leading to the creature's demise. From its remains emerged a figure of grass, gradually assuming a more familiar form—a form that has a beret, a scarf, and an insatiable thirst for adventure.

Thus, Hildelion came into being.

*🪴🪴🪴*

Thanks for reading! I don't have a fanfic in mind at the moment; this AU was just for fun. I'll make a part two soon focusing on Hildelion herself. 💙

>:D

[splonk-fox]

The Chosen One's redemption: Why did it happen?

Since his reintroduction within the world of Animator vs. Animation within its second season, one of the most interesting characters that this series has to offer, at least in my opinion, is The Chosen One.

Introduced intially as an antagonistic force to the Animator/Alan. Despite having minimal appearances overall, The Chosen One has had a massive impact on the plot overall. Due to being the one to destroy Alan's computer and forcing him to get a new one, which inadvertedly lead to the creation of The Second Coming.

All things considered, you can thank The Chosen One for pretty much the entire series going forward, even if indirectly. With all that said though, there's one thing that's always been somewhat bothering me about his character, and it's something that I wanted to explore roday. With that thing being his redemption.

Now on the surface, there doesn't really seem like there's much to discuss in the way of Chosen's change of heart. He disliked what The Dark Lord was doing, do he decided to stop him, pretty simple right? Well... that's where things get complicated, and it all comes down to The Chosen One's vague moral code.

The Chosen One, the moment he was created, was a beast of mass destruction. He immediately started attacking Alan and causing havoc around his PC, and unlike victim that came beforehand, this wasn't instigated by Alan attempting to kill him. He was just given life and decided he wanted to destroy shit. And that's how he was for at least the first episode. He was incredibly destructive and uncontrollable. Why exactly? Well it's strongly implied that it comes with the name, judging by Alan's interaction with progammer021 on AIM.

It seems that in this world, naming your stick figure "The Chosen One" instantly turns them into lethal weapons. Because of this, you could almost say that The Chosen One was simply an amoral program who destroyed because it was part of his nature. As a matter of fact, analyzing his behavior in his debut episode he almost acts like that of a wild animal. Tearing up documents and destroying programs with no real rhyme or reason, and defending himself against anyone who would try to stop him.

In Animator vs. Animation 2 though, things become a lot more interesting. As this episode starts to give The Chosen One more dimension, he starts acting less like a feral creature, and more like a person who's been caged, enslaved if you will, and is yearning for release.

Following The Chosen One managing to release himself from Alan's grip. He continues his rampage from several years ago. Though this one noticeably feels more spiteful. While his first attack upon his awakening seems more like he was simply destroying things because of his nature, here it feels a lot more targetted at Alan, which makes sense considering he obviously hates the guy's guts for what he did to him. That isn't to say he doesn't still exhibit old traits though. He still does a lot of things in this episode that come off as somewhat childish in nature, such as eating Alan's required essay Pac-Man style.

However, the biggest thing I believe that this episode shows isn't the fact that The Chosen One is more humanlike than we might initially give him credit for, but rather the fact also shows that he has agency. Morals even, and there's no better show of that, than with his alliance with The Dark Lord.

The Chosen One's friendship with The Dark Lord is a weird one. Cause all things considered he had no reason to even want to ally with him. They had been enemies up until that point and it would've been more beneficial for him to just kill him off right then and there. But he didn't. Instead, he offered an alliance, for the two of them to team up and rise against their oppressive creator. This, to me, shows that even in the early days, The Chosen One was more than just a stick figure of mass destruction, he was a person, and that all leads back to the main topic of this post, his redemption.

The Chosen One's redemption has always been a weird one to me. The main reason being that we aren't actually given an explanation for why he changed. Yes, we know that he didn't approve of Dark's actions, and that's a big reason for why he redeemed himself. But what exactly about his actions did he not approve of? It can't of been the sheer fact that he was causing destruction or endangerig lives because well... The Chosen One had already been doing that, years before his redemption

As a matter of fact, The Chosen One was the whole reason The Dark Lord became a villain in the first place. So if not for the sheer fact of Dark putting innocents at risk being the reason he decided to change his ways, then what was it? Well I believe there are two likely explanations for what caused this change.

The first is the one that a good majority of the Animator vs. Animation fanbase believe to be the most likely of them, and that is that The Chosen One has standards against harming his own kind.

Now there's actually a lot to support this theory. The biggest one being when Chosen imagines what would happen if Dark released the ViraBots onto the internet.

Many have pointed out that in this vision, Chosen only imagined stick figures running away from Dark's entourage, and how that's what caused him to put his foot down. There's also the fact that the moment Chosen starts having second thoughts, is when they start attacking Newgrounds, a place populated by stick figures.

Hell there was even evidence of this before his redemption. All the way back in Animator vs. Animation 3, Chosen chose to spare Dark and become friends with him. This would make a whole lot of sense if we look at this through the lens of Chosen not liking the idea of hurting his own kind.

There is... one pause I have with his however. And that is with the fact that The Chosen One, doesn't seem to just object killing fellow stick figures. Going back to the Newgrounds flashback, the last shot we see before we fast forward to present day shows The Dark Lord holding the Tankman by the neck while Chosen pleads for him to stop. Tankman isn't a stick figure, so going by the logic that he only takes issue with him hurting other stick figures, why would he care about this? Well you could argue that maybe him seeing what Dark was doing to other stick figures gave him a wake up call and made him realize that them hurting other programs was wrong, but I believe there is another possible explanation for this.

Explanation two: The Chosen One was never meant to be a villain. Let me ask you a question, were you born believing that you had a specific purpose, a specific reason to exist, and you spent most of your life thinking that's what you wanted, only to realize overtime how unfulfilled it made you feel? Well I believe that The Chosen One might just be experencing this exact thing

The Chosen One, since his very first days, was a destructive monster. He destroys things, he wreaked havoc, and there was seemingly no way to control him. Though beyond that he was also an incredibly young stick figure, one that, as noted above, acted rather childish. However, by the time of Animator vs. Animation season 2, which going by the date displayed on Alan's computer, took place in 2018, The Chosen One would've been around eleven years old. That's more than a decade of doing the same thing, and it's clear that it took its toll on him.

In his official reintroduction to the series, The Chosen One is noticeably colder than he was when we last saw him. He completely ignored the praise he was receiving from the other sticks, and at no point do we see him getting up to any sort of childish antics. He feels a lot more mature here, like a stick figure who has grown a lot since his creation.

So considering his clear change in personality, would it be crazy to assume that perhaps his enjoyment in destructive habits did to?

The Chosen One is one of the oldest stick figures in this series, and in that time it seems like he spent most of his life doing the same thing, destroying.

So, assuming that the Newgrounds raid happened not too long before his confrontation with Dark. Perhaps The Chosen One was feeling a sense of emotional dissatisfaction. Looking at the inital shot, it does kind of come off that way, with how his hands are slowly extinguishing of their flames as he watches over the destruction. Perhaps in that moment, he realized he wasn't enjoying it anymore, as a matter of fact, he might've even felt guilty about it, if him pleading for Dark to release the Tankman is anything to go by. Really in a broader sense, I think The Chosen One, kind of had a moment of self-reflection. He finally let the years catch up to him and it made him realize how emotionally unfulfilled he was.

After all, he isn't just some amoral beast, he's a stick figure. A stick figure with its own agency. And we know for a fact that stick figures in this series possess almost humanlike intelligence, so is it bold to assume that, in the decade he's been doing the same thing, he didn't feel satisfied anymore? In my opinion, I think that's a possibility.

To take this a step forward, I might even go as far as to to argue that The Chosen One was never meant for destruction in the first place. Yes, he was born a monster, but that doesn't necessarily mean he meant to be one. As early as the third episode of the series, The Chosen One already showed to be a lot more human than we may have initally suspected, he has already shown to be capable of mercy and kindness, even when he was this supposedly ruthless villain.

Let's take a look at Chosen's name for a moment. "The Chosen One", what does it mean? Well according to wikipedia a Chosen One is "a narrative trope where one character, usually the protagonist, is framed as the inevitable hero or antihero of the story, as a result of destiny" now I dunno about you, but this sounds pretty similar to the character journey that The Chosen One underwent. He may have started out a villain, but through destiny (in this case The Dark Lord's full descent into villainy), he became the hero of the story. Maybe, this had been his true purpose from the start.

Hell, let's dive even deeper into this idea. Who is The Chosen One's archnemesis? The Dark Lord, and what does Dark Lord mean in fiction? well, looking at wikipedia again, a Dark Lord is "an antagonistic archetype, acting as the pinnacle of villainy and evil within a typically heroic narrative." which I dunno about you, but that sounds pretty fitting considering that The Dark Lord is by far the most evil antagonist this series has ever seen and one of the few who hasn't redeemed in some way. I should also mention that, even before The Dark Lord joined The Chosen One, he was fighting on the side of Alan, someone who, at this point in this series, was arguably the main villain. He created a stick figure just so he could torture and kill them and enslaved The Chosen One for four years. Sure Chosen kinda had that one coming, but even then Alan had no reason to be that cruel to him when he could've just killed him or kept him contained. But instead he decided to use him, like an object, that doesn't really sound like a hero to me. Not to mention that Alan was literally the one who gave The Dark Lord his name. All things considered, you could almost consider Chosen the hero in that scenario for trying to destroy his creator. Which kind of loops back to my original point, that The Chosen One wasn't meant to be a villain. Even in the beginning he was meant to be a hero, even if he didn't realize it. Which is why he ultimately left his past as a villain behind, because it was a life that was never made for him, a life that only provided a temporary sense of satisfcation. Meanwhile The Dark Lord, someone who's name alone means to be the worst of the worst, would become an irredeemable monster who The Chosen One, as the inevitable hero decided by destiny, would have to stop.

Oh, and one last thing that goes to support this theory, ya know The Second Coming? Well if you remember, he was meant to be The Chosen One's reincarnation, his return. So isn't it convenient that he is possibly the most heroic character in the series? And that's not mentioning the fact that he started with the same roots that Chosen did. A rogue stick figure who fought against Alan before redeeming himself. Keep in mind, The Second Coming only exists because of The Chosen One's actions. So all things considered... maybe his redemption was a lot more inevitable than any of us first thought.

On that note, I think that's me for today, thank you all for taking valuable time out of your day to read this analysis, I greatly appreciate it. Here's hoping that more come in the future

[meeeeeeese]

GW2 Profession Ask Questions or something IDK

General

1: Why did they choose their profession?

2: Did they have a teacher? If so, who were they and were they good instructor?

3: Have they dabbled in any other professions than the one they ended up with?

4: On the scale of absolute novice to complete expert, how good are they at their chosen profession?

5: Is there anything atypical about their usage of their profession? If so, what?

6: How are they regarded by others of their profession?

Guardian 🛡️

7: What are the convictions that keep their guardian magic burning?

8: Do they focus more on healing and protecting their allies or on incinerating their enemies before they can do harm?

9: How much do they rely on their magic in combat? Could they still be effective if they were stripped of their guardian powers?

10: What’s their fighting style like? (ranged, defensive, aggressive, etc)

Warrior 🪓

7: Do they incorporate any magic into their fighting or stick to pure physical might?

8: How big is their weapon collection and which weapons do they tend to carry with them?

9: What strategies do they have to deal with casters and other such enemies that of sit out of reach of warriors?

10: In terms of raw physical might, how strong are they?

Revenant 🌫️

7: How well do they handle their legends? Have they ever lost control?

8: Can they channel any legends not shown in-game?

9: What’s their feelings on the mists? Does it feel like home to them, or is it more a fearful feeling?

10: What’s their relationship with the legends they channel, be-it cooperative or adversarial?

Engineer 💣

7: What was their first invention? Do they still use it today?

8: How would they handle being forced to operate without their array of gadgets?

9: What’s their engineering style? (for example; steampunk, magi-tech, futuristic, jade tech)

10: What’s the biggest engineering accident they’ve had?

Ranger 🏹

7: What’s their favorite pet and why?

8: What kind of terrain do they feel most at home in?

9: What type of animal do they least want to see while out in the wilderness?

10: What kind of routines do they have to take care of their pets?

Thief 🗡️

7: Do they use their skills for ‘selfish’ ends such as pick-pocketing or assassination?

8: What’s the most concerning thing they’ve ever taken out of someone’s pockets?

9: Do they use much shadow magic, or do they stick to acrobatics and trickery to outwit their opponents?

10: What’s the most impressive assassination (if they’ve ever performed one) that they’ve ever pulled off?

Elementalist 🔥

7: What’s their favorite element and why?

8: Do they prefer to camp one element, only shifting when needed, or do they shift fluidly between the elements?

9: What’s the greatest feat of spell-casting that they’ve ever achieved?

10: Does their magic tend to leave a lot of collateral damage or are they fairly precise in their casting?

Mesmer 🦋

7: On a scale of ‘none’ to ‘I’m never even in the same room I appear to be in’, how many layers of illusions do they prefer to stay hidden behind?

8: What sort of tricks do they have up their sleeve if they’re caught out without any illusions?

9: Do they ever use their magic to touch up their physical appearance, making themselves taller and such?

10: Do they like pink as a color? And if not do they ever change the color of their magic?

Necromancer 💀

7: What’s the most unethical spell they’ve ever cast, and what prompted them to use it?

8: How do they feel about the unsavory reputation attached to many necromancers?

9: Do they use minions much? If so, do they rather mass-summon disposable soldiers or handcraft sturdier creations?

10: Has their necromancy impacted their feelings on death and loss at all?

[odinsblog]

Israel’s campaign to displace Gazans—and potentially expel them altogether into Egypt—is yet another chapter in the Nakba, in which an estimated 750,000 Palestinians were driven from their homes during the 1948 war that led to the creation of the State of Israel. But the assault on Gaza can also be understood in other terms: as a textbook case of genocide unfolding in front of our eyes. I say this as a scholar of genocide, who has spent many years writing about Israeli mass violence against Palestinians. I have written about settler colonialism and Jewish supremacy in Israel, the distortion of the Holocaust to boost the Israeli arms industry, the weaponization of antisemitism accusations to justify Israeli violence against Palestinians, and the racist regime of Israeli apartheid. Now, following Hamas’s attack on Saturday and the mass murder of more than 1,000 Israeli civilians, the worst of the worst is happening.

Under international law, the crime of genocide is defined by “the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such,” as noted in the December 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. In its murderous attack on Gaza, Israel has loudly proclaimed this intent. Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant declared it in no uncertain terms on October 9th: “We are imposing a complete siege on Gaza. No electricity, no food, no water, no fuel. Everything is closed. We are fighting human animals, and we will act accordingly.” Leaders in the West reinforced this racist rhetoric by describing Hamas’s mass murder of Israeli civilians—a war crime under international law that rightly provoked horror and shock in Israel and around the world—as “an act of sheer evil,” in the words of US President Joe Biden, or as a move that reflected an “ancient evil,” in the terminology of President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen. This dehumanizing language is clearly calculated to justify the wide scale destruction of Palestinian lives; the assertion of “evil,” in its absolutism, elides distinctions between Hamas militants and Gazan civilians, and occludes the broader context of colonization and occupation.

The UN Genocide Convention lists five acts that fall under its definition. Israel is currently perpetrating three of these in Gaza: “1. Killing members of the group. 2. Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group. 3. Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.” The Israeli Air Force, by its own account, has so far dropped more than 6,000 bombs on Gaza, which is one of the most densely populated areas in the world—almost as many bombs as the US dropped on all of Afghanistan during record-breaking years of its war there. Human Rights Watch has confirmed that the weapons used included phosphorous bombs, which set fire to bodies and buildings, creating flames that aren’t extinguished on contact with water. This demonstrates clearly what Gallant means by “act accordingly”: not targeting individual Hamas militants, as Israel claims, but unleashing deadly violence against Palestinians in Gaza “as such,” in the language of the UN Genocide Convention. Israel has also intensified its 16-year siege of Gaza—the longest in modern history, in clear violation of international humanitarian law—to a “complete siege,” in Gallant’s words. This turn of phrase that explicitly indexes a plan to bring the siege to its final destination of systematic destruction of Palestinians and Palestinian society in Gaza, by killing them, starving them, cutting off their water supplies, and bombing their hospitals.

It’s not only Israel’s leaders who are using such language. An interviewee on the pro-Netanyahu Channel 14 called for Israel to “turn Gaza to Dresden.” Channel 12, Israel’s most-watched news station, published a report about left-leaning Israelis calling to “dance on what used to be Gaza.” Meanwhile, genocidal verbs—calls to “erase” and “flatten” Gaza—have become omnipresent on Israeli social media. In Tel Aviv, a banner reading “Zero Gazans” was seen hanging from a bridge.

—RAZ SEGAL, associate professor of Holocaust and genocide studies at Stockton University and the endowed professor in the study of modern genocide.

[hiddenincommand]

The Alpha Male: The Sovereign Foundation of the Natural Order

In the grand architecture of masculinity, the Alpha Male reigns supreme as the bedrock of all hierarchy. He is the embodiment of unrelenting power and authority, a force of nature whose very presence imposes structure and obedience. Unlike the feeble masses beneath him, he owes nothing to the world he commands; it is his domain, his creation, and his triumph. His dominance is not a gift but an inevitability, as unyielding as it is undeniable.

The Essence of the Alpha Male

The Alpha Male stands alone as a sovereign entity, elevated above the teeming masses who exist only to serve or submit. He does not require validation, nor does he seek the approval of lesser beings. His authority is absolute, his rule unchallenged. While others scrape and cower, the Alpha Male strides through life with a singular purpose: to dominate and to conquer.

Defining Traits of the Alpha Male:

1. Unyielding Strength:

The Alpha Male is not merely strong—he is strength personified. His physical presence alone inspires both fear and submission, while his mental fortitude crushes resistance before it can take root.

2. Natural Authority:

He does not ask for respect; he demands it. His dominance is an unspoken truth, written in the timidity of those beneath him and the deference of those who dare not meet his gaze.

3. Master of Instinct:

The Alpha Male’s instincts are razor-sharp, honed to perfection. He seizes opportunity with precision, wielding his dominance like a weapon to bend the world to his will.

The Role of the Alpha Male in the Hierarchy

The Alpha Male is not a leader in the pedestrian sense of the word; he is the architect of order, the force that molds chaos into structure. The hierarchy exists because he commands it to, and those beneath him occupy their places only by his indulgence. He is not a shepherd guiding sheep; he is the wolf, and the pack moves only when he allows it.

Responsibilities of the Alpha Male:

• To Command Without Mercy:

His word is law, his will absolute. Those who falter or question their place are swiftly and ruthlessly reminded of their insignificance.

• To Enforce Submission:

The Alpha Male thrives on control, relishing the sight of others bending to his authority. Their compliance is not merely expected—it is demanded.

• To Dominate Completely:

Every interaction with the Alpha Male is a reminder of the natural order. He leaves no room for ambiguity; his dominance is total, his rule unquestionable.

The Limitations of Lesser Beings

The Alpha Male’s world is not constrained by limitations; rather, it is defined by the inadequacy of those beneath him. The weak, the indecisive, and the irrelevant serve as fodder for his rise, existing only to validate his supremacy. Their lives are tolerated insofar as they serve a purpose: tools to be used, obstacles to be crushed, and reminders of what he will never be—ordinary.

Key Observations on the Weak:

1. Incompetence as a Given:

The masses flounder in mediocrity, incapable of comprehending, let alone challenging, the Alpha Male’s superiority.

2. Blind Obedience as a Virtue:

Their only redeeming quality is their capacity to follow, to serve, and to exist in awe of the one who commands them.

3. Insignificance as Their Nature:

They are shadows in the Alpha Male’s light, their lives devoid of purpose save for their utility to his ascension.

The Alpha Male’s Relationship with Power

Power is not a pursuit for the Alpha Male—it is his birthright. Unlike the impotent ambitions of lesser men, his power is unassailable, derived not from external validation but from an internal reservoir of strength and superiority. He wields it not with hesitation but with precision, savoring the fear, envy, and submission it inspires.

The Alpha’s Philosophy on Power:

• Power Must Be Taken:

It is not given freely, nor is it shared. The Alpha Male seizes power, crushing resistance with calculated ruthlessness.

• Power Must Be Displayed:

His dominance is not subtle; it is a spectacle. He revels in the awe and terror of those who witness his authority.

• Power Must Be Absolute:

The Alpha Male does not compromise, negotiate, or retreat. His power is total, his control unrelenting.

The Alpha Male as the Foundation, Not the Pinnacle

While the Alpha Male stands as the cornerstone of masculinity, he is but the beginning of something greater. His raw dominance and unrelenting authority are the foundation upon which the Alpha Gentleman and the Alpha Officer ascend. These evolutions refine his power, introducing sophistication and strategic mastery. Yet, even in their refinement, they owe their existence to the primal force of the Alpha Male.

He is the origin, the force that sets the hierarchy into motion. Without him, there is no order—only chaos. Without his strength, the structures of masculinity crumble, leaving the weak to wallow in their insignificance.

Conclusion: The Alpha Male’s Legacy of Domination

The Alpha Male is the unrelenting force that shapes the natural order. His dominance is cruel, his rule merciless, and his power absolute. He does not lead out of duty or compassion but because it is his right—his destiny. To stand in his presence is to understand one’s place, to feel the weight of true authority, and to accept the inevitability of submission.

For those who dare to challenge his rule, there is only one outcome: annihilation. The Alpha Male does not forgive weakness, nor does he tolerate defiance. He is the sovereign foundation of masculinity, the unassailable force that defines the hierarchy. His legacy is one of power, control, and unrelenting dominance—a legacy that will endure as long as there are lesser men to remind the world of his superiority.

[championari]

I’m very interested in the linguistic implications of the connection between Aoidos, Aion, and Aionios. All of the names come from very different places: Aoidos is the name of the university Klaus came from and the body of power in charge of finding the Conduit, Aion is the name of the most powerful Artifice ever made, and Aionios is obviously the botched world created by Origin. But I think these different definitions actually help carry the themes of the Xenoblade Trilogy very well.

Beginning with Aoidos and Aion. Given that Aion was created by The Trinity Processor, which were under the watchful eye of researchers from Aoidos like Klaus, it makes sense that Aion would have a close-sounding name to Aoidos. It’s a branding thing. This reinforces what was going on with that university at the time: their research into The Conduit became less of a search for knowledge and more of the creation of weapons of mass destruction. This aligns with what happened later with the Blades in Xenoblade Chronicles 2. The Architect originally meant for them to gather knowledge about the beings of the new world he created, but became weapons of mass destruction, particularly the Aegis’.

Hmm. Starting out as a way of exchanging/obtaining knowledge but becoming a recipe for perpetual war. Sound familiar?

Aionios is the end result of that line of thinking. What was once a desire to reunite the worlds torn asunder by The Experiment, became a never-ending battleground of two nations put together by Moebius. Not only that, but Aionios and its systems have thematic and functional overlap with both Aoidos and Aion.

Aion: The Artifices themselves are not your typical robots. They have what is called a “Slave Generator” as detailed in the Siren Model Kit. This is a replacement for an internal engine, where they receive energy from the Conduit directly to function, hence why they have Conduit-shaped crystals on their middles. They even have some level of implied sentience/AI as part of their systems, as they can function on multiple occasions without direct orders and are even sometimes treated as sentient beings by the Aegis’. The soldiers of Aionios are continuations of this original idea: beings created to be weapons, beholden to their creators, and marked by symbols tied to their origins. The evolution is that while the Artifices were made explicitly into weapons of war, the Soldiers were clones of the original people downloaded into Origin and turned into weapons of war. War was the purpose of the Artifices from the get-go, while the soldiers were corrupted from their original purpose. (EDIT: it cannot be a coincidence that Artifices all have a gold halo in their designs, and Moebius Form/Interlinks all have rings/halos incorporated in their designs as well).

Aoidos: Instead of the Artifices' original purpose infecting what should’ve never been so, Aoidos’ original meaning itself became perverted. Aoidos was originally meant as a research institute, a place for learning and knowledge gathering for the betterment of mankind. Due to the Moebius takeover of Origin and the botched merge of the two worlds, all knowledge of history before the merge was wiped out. Locations lie forgotten with no information of their origin, and entire family trees go unknown outside the City. This gets more messed up when we hear from Noah in the opening that Aionios in-universe means, “Eternity”. An institute of knowledge is meant to keep information alive throughout time, for “eternity”. Instead, the Eternity has become one of lost knowledge and only warfare.

[the69thgames]

Capitol Headcannons P.3

The Classes + Fanmade Districts

The Working Population

The Working Population is the average citizen in the Capitol, taking up the well majority of the population. it is technically the middle class by our standards, but in the Capitol it is the lower class since doctors, pilots, and architects and stuff are middle class only

so, though most of the hard labour and work are given to the Districts, there are jobs that the Districts can't serve to the Elite directly in the Capitol (like cooks, cleaners, drivers). of course, a good amount of these jobs are taken by avox, but there isn't possibly enough war criminals/caught runaways to serve the entire Elite population

plus, avox are really only owned and work for very rich and high above people, like the richest of the rich, and game staff. Snow honestly wanted to be a bit more of an asshole so instead of having Working Population servants he made sure that avox would be the only ones serving the tributes and Victors

jobs that the can Working Population cover are: teachers, maids, cooks, cleaners, babysitters, cleaners, basically most jobs where they work for a specific person/family/group of people

and, before the Hunger Games era, like way before, a few decades after Panem's creation there were more districts (literally self indulging from my fanmade Districts au). and a good amount of them joined the Capitol

Fanmade Districts (that disbanded and spread)

District 14: medicine. doctors, nurses, and medical scientists were all trained here and experiment in labs for new types of drugs/equipment/medicine that can be used for people. there is also the biggest hospital in Panem there, and there are factories that mass produce medicinal supplies like basic equipment and some drugs. this District was so incredibly loyal (rich and very important as well) to the Capitol they eventually joined in and became a sub-class

District 15: plastic/rubber production. basically factories that would mass produce these materials. all kinds of plastics and all kinds of rubber (plus in the future they make more biodegradable types of plastic). eventually, these factories were included in District 1 territory and joined them, becoming their lower class

District 16: tool production. basically blacksmiths who make axes, pickaxes, knives, hammers, scythes, machetes, and all other types of tools that would be used in other Districts. eventually this was moved to be mostly District 2's job, but there are still small groups of blacksmiths across all Districts that require such tools

District 17: animals. basically exotic animals and mutts. since in the future, there are many animals that naturally went through evolution, there are many useful but dangerous animals. this District basically took them, got stuff that benefited them such as, more healthy/nutrient full meat, harder and more powerful bones for good weapons/furniture, blood and poisons for medicine, etc. this eventually became another sub-class in the Capitol

District 18: research. this District was formed pretty later, like a lot later. this was more of historic research and entertaining scientific research, nothing that would really benefit the Capitol or Panem, but it was interesting (yeah, there's zodiac scientists and etymology nerds). this District was even smaller than 12, and was kind of useless. the Capitol liked them though so they let them join, they joined either Elite class or Working Population though

District 19: food. y'know those frozen foods you keep in your freezer and then warm up in a microwave? or cup ramen you just boil with water. most of those foods are probably made in factories, and that's what this District was for. there's also cheese factories and other factories for cleaning, cooking, and sanitizing foods. eventually, this job was spread out evenly throughout Districts 3, 7, 9, 10, 11, and some in the Capitol

District 20: oil and gas. yeah, car shit. there was more found eventually even after we ran out. gas was eventually stopped being used, but it did take a while to create generators. oils have their own factories in almost all Districts, stuff like coconut oil is One's job, but food oil is a mix of Seven and Eleven, maybe even a bit of Ten. anyways, not many of them made it to the Capitol

District 21: landfills/recycling centers. easy enough to understand, these people actually live terribly, though the work was split between the Capitol, some of District 3, and some of 5. imagine Wall-E, toiling away packing garbage, that is what they do. this District was split in half between landfills and recycling centers and have very different cultures/ideals, I'll make a post about them someday

District 22: entertainment. movies, video games, athletes, hell, authors if Capitol people read enough (jkjk, they do surprisingly). but yeah, this District ended up being split between the Capitol and District 1, a bit to District 3 for stuff like the metaverse or animatronics or cheap amusement parks

[dare-to-dm]

I guess today is Gush About Dragon Age Origins Day for me.

I've recently started another new play through, and I'm honestly impressed by how polished this game still feels. Like, there are so many little features this game has that I wish more games integrated.

The ability to design my own character portrait as part of character creation.

The level of control and granularity I have over combat with things like instantly switching characters, quick pausing to select abilities, items, etc. Or the entire tactics screen which you can individualize for each character.

Having the option for 2 entire weapon sets for every character that you can change with just one button press.

Honestly, the inventory system holds up to pretty much any modern RPG (and is way better than a Bethesda game inventory management).

I like the way having a character knocked out in battle gives them a specific injury, which you can heal with single use items. Like, it's a good penalty, without being too unforgiving. And I actually like the little flavor of checking out which specific injury my character got.

Obviously most players never used or even noticed these features, but I really liked them. The trend in Bioware games has gone towards greater simplicity and less granularity. The last single player Bioware game, Mass Effect Andromeda, doesn't even let you give your squadmates orders. But I really liked the crunchier systems to be honest.

[monstersdownthepath]

Monster Spotlight: Sandman

CR 3

Neutral Evil Medium Outsider

Bestiary 2, pg. 236

These cruel elemental spirits are found most often in sun-bleached deserts, where their sandy forms are nearly impossible to differentiate from an errant dust devil or sand flow until they resolve into a humanoid form. Their lore leaves it ambiguous as to whether or not Sandmen exist at all when they're not being summoned into the Material Plane by an elemental binder, but once they've been formed, they're in no hurry to return to any sort of elemental quanta and will voluntarily remain in the plane they've been called into long after the spells binding them expire to continue wreaking havoc.

Why, exactly, Sandmen all seemingly possess a malevolence other Elementals typically lack, going out of their way to harass, terrify, and even kill other beings for amusement alone, is left unsaid. It may be that the nature of their creation instills a certain amount of misanthropy in them, or perhaps the "blueprint" for calling a Sandman into being comes with an unfortunate flaw built in. Perhaps, as their lore hints at, they're fiercely independent but malicious spirits who leap on the opportunity to gain a malleable body at the minor cost of temporary service. Whatever the case may be, Sandmen are dangerous entities to summon in despite their comparatively low CR, as no force or spell exists to bind them fully and completely to the will of the caster. Much like a bound demon, Sandmen will consistently find ways to maliciously interpret all but the most direct, thorough, and unambiguous orders, fulfilling their mission in ways which amuse and benefit them the most.

It's a pity that they're so damn handy despite the danger they present to their summoners. Their amorphous bodies and ability to shift back and forth between a strong humanoid form and a featureless mass of sand (in which they're treated as a Small Earth Elemental, becoming more fragile but gaining access to the immensely powerful Earth Glide) make them excellent spies, able to slither through the tiniest cracks or keyholes and swim effortlessly through anything but solid rock. Of course, if a summoner wanted an elemental spy, there's better choices... so Sandmen are typically used as assassins and kidnappers that are nearly impossible to keep away from their target, a task they excel at in chilling ways.

Just at base, a Sandman is far more resilient than they look. Sand isn't exactly hard to hit, but ask any child digging holes in a beachfront how easy it is to keep those holes empty when waves wash sand in from one direction and the wind blows even more in from another. The propensity for sand to flow in every direction it can get away with translates to DR 10/Bludgeoning, all but the largest of two-handed bladed weapons wielded by the burliest of Barbarians effectively useless against them (to say nothing of most ranged weapon damage at this level), but a single critical hit from a two-handed greatclub swing that passes by its 15 AC will scatter its 30 HP to the four winds... or it would, if Sandmen weren't both Elementals and Amorphous and thus immune to both Sneak Attack AND critical hits. Their shifting shapes also render them immune to being flanked, and their lack of any bodily systems makes them impervious to bleed, poison, paralysis, stunning, and sleep.

Take note of that last one.

While Sandmen are immune to being put to sleep, they're very adept at wielding sleep as a weapon for reasons unfathomable (if Golarion has equivalent tales of Sandmen putting children to sleep, they're likely far more gruesome than even the earliest tales we have on Earth). They're surrounded constantly by a cloud of soporific sand 20ft wide that causes any creature within it to fall soundly asleep if they can't succeed a DC 14 Will save; success renders the victim immune to the aura for 24 hours, but there is no 24 hour immunity clause against the Sleep effect caused by its slam attack. Being hit directly by the Sandman not only causes 1d6+3 damage, but forces another DC 14 Will save versus being put right into naptime. It, thankfully, can only attack once per round, but that's a cold comfort for the person receiving that one attack.

Any creature with a disabling aura is already one disastrous series of rolls away from ending combat the instant initiative begins, if not just forcing the party to waste their initial actions undoing the aura and ruining whatever plan they had, but the fact the Sandman can also potentially knock out anyone it encounters with a single punch means anyone who passes the initial aura save may STILL be rendered completely helpless! Its Sleep effects last for eight minutes, giving it enough time to take its pick of who to rob, who to coup de grace, and who to kidnap, putting the slumbering victims completely out of the fight unless their allies waste time slapping them awake.

Even if the hostile elemental isn't out to kill the whole party, anyone who survives the initial encounter will be several minutes behind the thing as it makes off with stolen loot and lives... and given their ability to burrow or even Earth Glide when needed, you may simply not get that stuff back until you track down the Sandman's summoner and beat it out of them.

I'm actually impressed that there aren't more low-level horror stories about the Sandmen; a group of them seems almost unfair for lower-level parties, given how the party has to make saves against each aura and each Sleep slam...

You can read more about them here.

[invadertem]

(CLASSIFIED DOCUMENT) ROGUE ZIM

Status: Unknown; presumably alive

Personal Information:

- Pak Model: Defective Superior Model-1

- Gender/Sex: Male (Type B)

- Pronouns: He/Him

- Age: 25 Earth/Irken years

- Sexuality: Omni (Preference: Male)

- Rank: Rogue Super Weapon

- Rogue Code Name: Poltergeist

Physical Description:

- Appearance: Magenta Eyes/Pak

- Height: 5'5"

- Notable Features: Extremely scarred but bandaged arms, small face scar, Pink hoodie

Skills and Enhancements:

- Natural Ability: His pak can release high-voltage shocks capable of killing living beings and destroying technology. Connection to tech results in corruption.

- Pak Weapons: Equipped with powerful weapons designed by Zim himself.

- Emotion-Induced Abilities: Strong emotions can tear holes in time and space, creating small Florpus-like portals.

- Emotional Range: His defect allows him to experience a wide range of emotions.

- Independent Pak: His pak sometimes acts independently from Zim.

- Enhanced Senses: Superior hearing, scent, and sight.

- Training: Proficient in war strategies, combat, anatomy, mechanics, and other fields, driven by Miyuki to be the best.

- Speed and Strength: Quick reflexes allowing for rapid movement. Above-average strength and high pain tolerance.

- Natural Weapons: Claws and teeth sharpened to knife-like sharpness.

Fun Facts:

- Bio-Weapon Origin: The first successful Irken Empire Bio-weapon.

- Unique Scent: Emits a sweet scent with underlying hints of blood and metal.

- Powerhouse: Considered the strongest Irken to ever exist.

- Purring Smeet: Teased for his sleepy nature and purring as a smeet.

- Culinary Preferences: Enjoys sweet foods, while regular food makes him feel sick.

- Musical Inclination: Surprisingly, likes singing songs to himself.

- Personality: Aggressive and cold in nature.

- Troop Membership: Part of Troop 9 during training.

- Infamous Record: Personally responsible for the documented deaths of 10,000 individuals using only his pak.

Notable Events (in chronological order):

1. Caused five years of darkness on Irk upon creation due to a high-voltage electricity shock.

2. Experimented on by Miyuki as a child.

3. Excelled academically, ranking at the top of his classes.

4. Had a height stunter installed by Miyuki for easier control but later removed.

5. Spark from his pak caused four more years of darkness on Irk during a sparring incident.

6. Invented numerous bio-weapons and mass destruction devices.

7. "Accidentally" killed Miyuki and Spork with a bio-weapon.

8. Played a key role in winning the battle of Meekrob during Mission of Impending Doom One.

9. Banished from the Irken Empire, reappearing during Mission of Impending Doom Two.

10. Banished once more, this time to Earth.

11. Involved in the Florpus Incident.

12. Went Rogue, leaving Earth for four years with no trace of his whereabouts.

13. Destroyed multiple Empire Watch Bases (C1, C2, C3, D5, D6, G9, G11, G18, Z1), with more to be documented.

This document provides official information regarding Defective Superior Model-1, also known as Poltergeist, and his extensive history, abilities, and notable events within the Irken Empire. He is extremely dangerous and is to be reported upon sighting.

!!!WARNING: FILE IS HIGHLY SUBJECT TO CHANGE!!!

[katyahina]

Some (potentially) useful remarks on Healing Church clothes and weapons

1) Situation with Ludwig's sword(s) might be less simple than we used to think!

(I will be using retranslations document ( x ) by Last Protagonist as usual, to avoid losing some nuances)

So, we know that Ludwig was using the 'normie' silver sword that hunters of his type were using as well - the normal one that you stick in a 'sheath' to make a big one, replicating Holy Moonlight sword's transformed design but not glowing. The simplest variant is, of course, that he found Holy Moonlight sword but since he was so jealous and secretive of it, he was MOSTLY using the 'normal' blade. Perhaps, Holy Moonlight sword was only used on special occasions, or treasured away from most people and "consulted" for advice until later when he went mad. I would not say that this description comes from the fact that untransformed versions of the blades are the same, because... they are not:

And I think it mostly works, and it is worth pointing out that as epic as fanart of Ludwig swinging that turquoise-colored shiny sword is, and as simpler as memes using that sword are to get, but within the story it was not likely to happen consistently! But also:

This bit about description of Guidance rune makes things a bit more strange. If he, say, has been exploring the dungeons and found the sword that later inspired him to mass-produce similar swords, what it is about closing his eyes? Is this really about Ludwig just falling asleep before the sword or something? :')

@val-of-the-north suggested there is a possibility that Ludwig was shown the sword by superior forces - likely by Flora / Moon Presence herself, especially since Ludwig was close associate of Laurence, who was, in turn, beckoning Flora for creation of Hunter's Dream to begin with. For one reason or another, Ludwig could have seen the vision of the sword, that inspired him to create a very similar one under inspiration and become Laurence's knight this way. God- For all we know, Laurence might have planned to ""enlighten"" him!! And then, either himself or the hunters he inspired would go to the Chalice Dungeons and discover the REAL thing on their way. It could even be additional justification for why Executioner type of hunters are roaming the dungeons! Speaking of...

2) It is likely that Ludwig never wore Tomb Prospector set!

We know that Ludwig was THE first hunter of the Healing Church, who were a different type of hunters than Old Hunters of Gehrman's type. But at the same time, description of the Executioners clothes says that they were the very fist prototype for ALL following clothes of the Healing Church hunters, especially having inspired the trademark holy shawl:

So, FIRST was the garb of Executioners, THEN came the garb of Tomb Prospectors, at least as we know it!

(Source for Ludwig's model is Bosses Up Close video by XTrin: ( x ))

Additionally, whereas Tomb Prospector set is bought using the Radiant Sword Hunter Badge, it marks people using this badge as 'descendants' of Ludwig:

So, again; first was Ludwig, in Executioner drip, and then Tomb Prospectors, and their attire, were inspired by him. I... see the only way around it; that Ludwig was wearing Executioner clothes initially, and later wore Tomb Prospector set on his adventures, but when he was back, he also was wearing his normal set.

Interestingly, though, clothes of Executioners keep hinting at Rogeriusz/Logarius, despite him being... well, at the very least, SECOND known Healing Church hunter.

Whatever is the reason of Logarius being met in drastically different clothes, but the statue implied to be him, to which Alfred lays a crown at the end of his mad quest, IS depicted in Executioner clothes. Albeit, with far more robe-like feeling to it than how we see it on Alfred's example. Maybe for a different vibe, maybe Logaius always has been a bit more wizard-like, whichever you think it is!

It is hard to say which one is true, as we are with two variants:

one. Logarius was not the first hunter, but he was the first staff (court wizard?? lol), therefore set the trend of clothes, that Ludwig took upon as a hunter.

two. Ludwig is accursed, he fell from grace and was hated and forgotten as blood-possessed beast; meanwhile, Alfred alone is a good proof that Logarius is still honored and respected! So, perhaps, these clothes came to be associated with Executioners of Logarius instead, since Logarius (undeservingly so) pushed Ludwig from the place of admireable figure! Was it just society's sentiment, or a deliberate political action, hard to tell...

I am more fond of the second variant, and funny enough, this brings me to the next point I want to make:

3) It is likely that Healing Church's saints started wearing crowns thanks to Logarius.

Alright, this one is also slightly lost in translation, since not only the name of the item is different (which can be distracting), but also a sentense is missing in English localization.

Healing Church "sacrificing" someone would imply them giving away something treasured for them, so odds are, they would give away bodies of their saints to them roaming Pthumerians in the dungeons, instead of doing proper burial! The 'they are oddly stimulated by the stench of dead saints' also makes me think of this bit:

(Interview with Miyazaki ( x ))

If this was very special quality of blood what Pthumerian Watchers are after, then sure the saints would be the best; not only as very avid consumers of the holy blood, but also as those 'holding back' on transforming into a beast the most, which would sure make it special.

Additionally, you could use this intention, though it is a bit more vague: when Bloodborne was still a sequel for Demon Souls, Laurence's skull was going to not only look more human, but also have a crown on it:

Yeah, the simpler times when we had demon-like enemies, when Gasc and Mico would say 'Umbasa', all that.

But even cut content aside, the lore as we have it specifies that there were saints who worn crowns (and fancy rings and wrist accessories)! My lucky guess is that after Cainhurst was massacred, the saints of the Healing Church were... to put it in the most blunt way possible, qualified to declare themselves new aristocracy/rulers/whatever. Maybe it was to establish theocracy and their reign as new most influental figures, maybe it was to honor Logarius who started wearing the crown of the murdered King after his crusade, maybe it was both.

...besides, it means there were so many important saint figures in the Healing Church in the timespan from Cainhurst falling to Paleblood Hunter arriving. We seem to meet Emilia/ Amelia at the very end of whatever authority Healing Church still had, with no seen successors, and current Healing Church hunters chief being Cleric Beast on the bridge... Before this point of time, though? It is an aviary for OCs of the size I can't even describe x)

4) There is a reason why Black Church Servants have a more "dangerous" weapon despite 'black' being lower rank to 'white'.

I am talking about these guys, and their annoying Crucifix weapon that activates Frenzy buildup.

It did not quite make it in the final game, presumably because there were only so many ways to make a proper mace-like weapon, but in the concept, Bloodletter was looking a lot like this as well:

I just want to point out that the 'expelling bad blood' aspect is QUITE important here! Bloodletter causes the user to get Frenzy buildup, much like the Crucifix used by Black Church Servants. And the reason it is believed to "help" with the "bad" blood? The fact that Frenzy is connected with the hunt!

I talked about it more in this ( x ) and this ( x ) post, but TLDR; Frenzy spears are literal weapons manifesting from the person's very blood solidfying, Oedon the Great One is inextricably tied with the bloodshed and bullets and the Hunt itself, and blood itself seems to solidfy into those spears bit by bit.

So, they might have ended believing that what deliberately causing Frenzy would do is to unleash whatever it was in person that was getting corrupted - and thus, more subjective to beasthood. Especially, that would work with Black Church, who were "preventive":

4.1) Just like that, White Church Servants correlate with what White Church Doctors do.

The lamp is especially interesting detail, as it is harmless, and only hurts you with the Arcane projectile when you have enough Insight. Meanwhile, Frenzy does hurt stronger the more Insight you have... Truly, in Bloodborne, the Hunt and Eldrich Truth, the Beasts and Kin are simply two sides of the same coin... Just two outcomes in the same corrupt deity's vicious plan.

5) Use or not, but male Church Doctor clothes have weird similarities with 'foreigner clothes'.

It is hard to confirm of deny anything here... Brador has five buttons but Black Church Doctor has four; similarly, the foreigner set our Hunter arrives in has five buttons and White Church Doctor has four. They're the same striped type of a vest though, and they have the same type of buttons, athough Church's is sewn with dark threads but foreigner is with brighter.

It could have been an intentional reference that either was abandoned or is so hard to decipher that we will never get there. We only have subtle hooks towards Paleblood Hunter being not loreless; such as Cainhurst summon we find in the room we woke up at having OUR name written in it, with one of the Cainhurst portraits featuring Golden Pendant adn Church's necklace. I am always lost with the ideas of what might have went down in the past..... or whether 'we' are secretly related to Brador or his land, bwahaha!

6) They ARE, all in all, DOCTORS clothes.

I find it a bit... harder to tell what DO hunters of the Healing Church wear? We find only so many of the NPCs that wear Healing Church Doctor clothes: for black set it is two black hunters in Research Hall (female and male), one guy in Nightmare Frontier and Adella who has no hunting weapons, for white set it is a praying lady in Research Hall and Imposter Iosefka + likely real Iosefka too, that also doesn't hunt. Seven characters, FIVE of which are confirmed to be associated with medicine (...six if being a Blood Nun counts...?); three characters in Research Hall, one is stated to be a doctor, one is a nun, one does Kin experiments that originated from Research Hall.

Would not put the Black Church guy in the Frontier as a drastic contradiction. What I am saying is, they might not even qualify as hunters. Logically, they'd have weapons and get some self-defence skills as they HAVE to kill (people, less so beasts!). Iosefka is never confirmed to fight, Adella uses normie dagger and not even a legit weapon, and four from the remaining five are reclused to the indoors places.

Mostly, I am thinking as I am writing it, as there is an interesting character - Henriett! She is wearing the clothes descending in design from Old Hunters type (not Healing Church type!), yet she has Church weapons (Repeating Pistol and Kirkhammer) and helps to beat Amelia, Ludwig and Laurence. I always felt like she used to be Healing Church's hunter but found something she should not have and detracted... And I presumed she used to wear Black Church clothes (trousers variant to be practical). Buuuuut.

I might actually take this back. Depending on the interpretation, the current hunters of BEASTS, not of PEOPLE that "might" be beasts etc, could either 1) wear Executioner garb like Alfred does 2) wear unique clothes that is yet to be designed, but might be similar to Executioners garb, for example, design mix of doctors' and Executioners, or TOTALLY unique clothing like Gascoigne for example 3) actually wear 'Hunter' set like Henriett and our Paleblood Hunter from promo materials after changing their foreign garb.

On the other hand, Henriett having been one of them paranoids eliminating people falling for beasthood and then snapping out of it could make such a mess of a character's backstory. Not to mention that some Black "doctors" (and occasional White ones) did blend in with Huntsmen mobs, in chaotic mess of no longer being able to tell where is a friend and where is an enemy. No longer caring for those 'showing' signs of beasthood but only those who fully turned. And foreigners, of course! Like, maybe the 'they are not hunters but so-called "doctors" point USED TO be relevant in Old Hunters era, but during the game events it is not relevant ANYMORE, as Yharnam is basically anarchy now.

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Alright, I think I compiled what I had to say!

Mostly, I made this post for the reference to myself as an artist and a writer, and for my friends that might find it useful, but I decided to put it here just in case if someone else could find something here! Also, a headcanon: whereas Ludwig's Holy Blade was based of the OG Holy Moonlight Sword, the Kirkhammer instead was based off the hammer the Pthumerian creator of Holy Moonlight Sword used to forge it! It was discovered waaaay down there. Because Loran already met Yharnam's fate once. Maybe, somewhere in Yharnam, there is still the 'original' Hammer. And it glows in red upon tranforming, rather than how the sword glows in turquoise!

[eruscreaminginthedistance]

Okay so. I've been sitting on my full first impressions of the game until after the gameplay reveal, cos I know shit can get twisted in marketing.

I was NOT a fan of the trailer. The vibe was off; I cringed a lot; it gave a off very bog-standard hero team saves the day kind of vibe which I inherently dislike because it seems like Dragon Age has just given up on giving you the freedom to be a bastard, or any kind of character that isn't on rails to be everyone's favourite boy. It also failed to bring any dark fantasy to the table. BUT I know from experience, namely the DA2 trailer (not the CGI one. the other one), that marketing is intent on making Dragon Age look like the goofiest shit possible to appeal to the dregs of society (normies). I watched it. Hated it. Moved on to life stuff.

Now with the gameplay reveal out of the way, I have some more solid takes on everything we now know about the game overall.

Things I liked:

The companions all look pretty cool; I've been excited for Devrin for years now, and seeing that he's a Dalish Elf as well as a Warden is quite exciting to see; everyone else are also not only well designed but don't feel like rehashes of our previous companions (apart from Harding)

The return of multiple weapon sets. Thank fucking god. This may even make archer a viable build again. Also I noted that you only have a set number of arrows which the UI tracks, which I'm a huge fan of

The look and style of Minrathous. I like that Bioware is showing their hard work in coming up with a unique area based entirely around magic-tech and I think the result looks great; I am really intrigued by the dark panopticon vibes and hope that becomes a major theme going forward

Different demon designs. I hope there's a bit more variation as the game progresses, but I liked little details like the Pride demons having some kind of armour aesthetic

Dialogue wheel. No notes; she's here, still the same comforting presence as ever. Praying with fingers crossed that it doesn't turn into a super bland protagonist situation like Inquisition

Choosing a faction in character creation that isn't locked to one's race; this one is a really cool idea and if origins don't come back it can be a decent alternative if the reactivity to your choice is the same as in the prologue

Things I didn't like:

Action wheel. Like. I'm a PC person, so I have no idea what the final UI will actually look like for me. But Bioware hasn't elaborated on their UI style at all and if Inquisition is anything to go by, I'm stuck with shitty console-centred UI for the whole game. I would rather just have the ability bar back, for my sanity.

The two-person companion limit. It automatically restricts people into a specific party build depending on their class and I hate that

The Mass Effect-style gameplay. Party tactics was a HUGE draw to the DA series for me, and is what got me into retro RPGs in the first place. Seeing it replaced completely to the point where we can no longer manually manage our party is a huge disappointment. I am willing to keep an open mind, just because I love Mass Effect that much, but it hurts knowing for a certainty I'm never gonna engage with Veilguard like I did with Origins or 2 as a result

The voice acting. Was this an out of date take, or did everyone sound super flat to anyone else? Especially Neve, who didn't seem to know what she was reacting to, just really wooden. It was disappointing, cos I love her voice overall. Wasn't a fan of Rook's voice but I don't plan to play a man anyway

The breaking pots method of looting. This is gonna feel like such a nitpick but I immediately pulled a face seeing that cos I could TELL some suit somewhere asked the Bioware team to "make it more like breath of the wild" and now for some reason it's not dynamic enough to just click on a crate and choose what loot to take; now Tevinters are storing exactly one (1) random health potion in decorative clay jars around the city (more likely than you think!)

The aesthetic of the veil and spirit stuff so far; it's just all a bit bright and noisy, doesn't really grab me as something fun to explore or fight (again, I'm an Origins girly so I'm biased)

Harding coming back. I know she's cool and everyone likes her and I like her too. In Inquisition. This is just a preference, but if I'm gonna start a new game as a new person I don't want to be inheriting pre-bought friends from the last protagonist ://

Things I HATE:

Why does everyone look like play-doh; it's disconcerting.

Like guys I know DA2 is having a renaissance but I don't think anyone was getting nostalgic over everyone's pudding faces.

Everything put out so far has basically crushed any hope I had for this becoming Dwarf age :/ No new dwarf characters, no mention of Kal-Sharok, Harding being the only dwarf companion basically confirms that dwarves will be unromanceable AGAIN. not a fan

TLDR: This is still definitely not a day-one buy for me. The series has just strayed completely from the genre and format that I loved about the previous games into a full action RPG derivative of games from four years ago. Without the focus on party tactics and the low-tech, dark and gritty worldbuilding from the first two games it just fails to excite me. It looks too much like other games for me to really register it as a Dragon Age game.

I love the story and the world of Dragon Age though, so I do still intend to buy it when it goes on sale, but this is definitely a "wait and see the reviews" situation for me, which is a first when it comes to this series :/