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stillness138 · 3 months

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Since there won't be any more expansions (and i'm a chronic procrastinator), i updated my personal top 10 Gwent card arts into a top 20, including the few sets that came since then and shuffling things around a bit.

It's a long one, hence the cut.

Personal top 20 Gwent card arts:

20: Bone Talisman by Bogna Gawrońska It's still the most festive looking thing i like. My beloved blue-and-bright red fidget spinner. I really can't explain my weird attachment to it any other way; i generally tend to like the item arts, maybe it's the collector brain, maybe it's because after Homecoming and most of the expansion sets since later 2019 onwards, these base set trinket adjacent arts became more prominent to me among a lot of new, more dramatic and bleak character and scenery art.

19: Ceremonial Dagger by Katarzyna Bekus The entire set of strategem arts from Merchants of Ofir is honestly packed, but the dagger is the one i found myself putting in my in-game profile the most. Maybe it's the item hoarder brain again, maybe it's the color scheme i find relatable if that makes sense, most likely it's the premium helping a bunch to make that choice too. The background weirdly fascinates me. Does it have anything to do with The Spiral? I have never attempted to really assign any logical meaning to the strategem arts, they're clearly more symbolic than anything, but it still makes you wonder.

18: Ard Gaeth by Katarzyna Bekus Somewhat related, here's another piece of wonky multiverse lore. And once again, it's the color that first grabs attention; the contrast of teal and this dusty red. Then one starts realizing the implied size and scope, the birds help with that, apart from being a cute composition detail. The shattery effect makes it look volatile, unstable, dangerous. Ominous. Which ultimately makes it fit with the rest of the Wild Hunt archetype in more than just lore.

17: Coup de Grâce by Lorenzo Mastroianni There are two wolves in me, one loves bright colors, the other actually enjoys a lot of the bleaker scenes. Although to be fair, Lorenzo Mastroianni is a big contributor to that. And it's no wonder, when he casually drops stuff like this. It's almost symbolic, lot less than strategems but certainly more than other, straightforward "war sucks" Gwent art. How do you visually represent something sad in a way that makes it hard to look away not just because of the tragedy but because of the beauty put into making that image? You ask Lorenzo Mastroianni, the modern classical artist, to do it.

16: Viper Witcher by Valeriy Vegera I once described Valeriy's art as "where Lorenzo uses a tight color palette, he uses every pencil in the case". This one is perhaps not as obvious an example, the whole piece has a very unified atmosphere especially from afar, but still, there are so many colors especially in textiles and skin. They're harder to register sometimes but it's how Valeriy does texture and shading. And somehow, he bridges the bleak and the colorful world too. Admittedly, this card also had to be here because mr. Viper is my son, and the voicelines are done by an actor with the nicest, smoothest bass i've heard since Peter Steele.

15: Naglfar's Crew by Anton Nazarenko I was surprised by how much i ended up liking this one. It's the implications, i think; enchanted to laboriously upkeep this monster of a ship, this 'and if you see it emerge from a breach in the sky, you know you're fucked' symbol of death and decay. It's dark in a way i find compelling, i guess.

14: Serpent Trap by Marta Dettlaff Back to the bright ones, i liked this art ever since i discovered it as Nature's Gift in post-Midwinter beta. The card saw play in Scoia'tael spell decks, and to me it became linked to Francesca Findabair for their shared spectral snake thing. But that all aside, the art is just so pretty. Vibrant, yet not oversaturated. And like the item arts, needed to balance out the cool and badass and the dramatic and tragic. Looking at it now, another point comes to mind; it's still grounded? The way Gwent art at large is grounded compared to other card games. Like it's not trying so hard (both this piece and the game's art in general). That's refreshing.

13: Chort by Bartłomiej Gaweł It reminds me of the first game's main menu. The Witcher 1 main menu is, to me, one of the most accurate representations of this universe, its atmosphere. Even if the "you kill cows, you get ambushed by the fucking baphomet" is a meme game mechanic, something about it is...witchery. Superstition, folk legends, and ultimately, monsters. Or that's my takeaway, anyway. But the Chort art, beside being on the more rare side in-game, has always weirdly drawn me in.

12. Oneiromancy by Lorenzo Mastroianni This was the Novigrad expansion key art before they turned it into a card, and i sure am glad they did. Lorenzo can get a bit weird, as a treat, someone said. Are they Condwiramurs and Corinne? Possibly! But i'll abstain from the schizo theories now. It's a gorgeous, well composed and executed surrealist piece. Inception if it had strong palpable atmosphere.

Denis Villeneuve > Christopher Nolan. but Lorenzo beats both

11: Funeral Boat by, you guessed it, Lorenzo Mastroianni One final yippee for the last card set. And my god it's beautiful. Tight composition can get surprisingly hard to coordinate and make decisions for, but this is so well-balanced. The left end of the boat is closer to the frame, but right side has the most noticeable color, the character's face, and of course the bird to even it out. As if to defend the title i gave him earlier, Lorenzo references Isle of the Dead in a way that, even if symbolic, fits into the universe perfectly. Someone stop me before i start rambling about similar concepts in different mythologies.

10: Dana Méadbh (now the token spawned by Call of Harmony) by Anna Podedworna The most famous Gwent artist enters the list. With a piece made around two, when you think about it very bold choices. The goddess of nature and life, glowing with inhuman light in a black and barren forest. Obscured by thin, bare tree trunks. But to make her emerge and stand out, that was necessary. And it's working wonders. A lot of the Scoia'tael faction is obviously green, all kinds of green, but even a simple choice like making it pop out of black makes the card art stand out among others.

9: Circle of Life by Oleksandr Kozachenko It has everything i usually look for in Gwent art; nature, color, atmosphere. A certain tranquility, perhaps. A little bit of story - the orange badge is the Kerack coat of arms. It's that environmental storytelling thing gamers keep talking about, complementing the character and faction drama of the rest of its card set.

There's a slightly changed, extended version, too, and somehow it's even better.

8: Gezras of Leyda by Bogdan Rezunenko As much as i tend to dunk on Bogdan for having played Blasphemous once and making it his entire personality, Gezras is easily the best school founder card art of the set. Once again, the choice to have these prominent arts on the more symbolic side paid off, and the result is a stalking nocturnal animal out for revenge, backed by a giant image of what simultaneously did him irrepairable harm and gave him the means to defend himself. The premium doesn't disappoint either.

7: Rioghan the Undying by Daniel Valaisis To nobody's surprise, the atmosphere, once again, got me hooked. I love the cold color, the dramatic flow, the big imposing silhouette of a ship in the background. Poor boy is the picture of misery. It's pure melancholy (something not that common in the Skellige faction by the way, which is a point in favor of Funeral Boat too), that i, of course, am inevitably drawn to.

he's just like me fr...

6: Witches' Sabbath by Michal Lisowski Did i craft this card already or not? The realist's complaint towards near-greyscale card art. I share this sentiment, if only for the comedy of it, but with a few notable exceptions, and this piece is the main one. The Robert Eggers comparisons were made already i'm sure, but it really is a take on the last good Witcher 3 quest with a dramatic, more dreamy, or you could say cinematic quality ramped up to 11. Gone is the fanservice present in the game and the unnecessarily grotesque depictions of fatness of other parts of this card set, and what remains is a beautiful, ominous callback to folklore and classical art.

5: Tinboy by Valeriy Vegera This is a baroque painting. The drama. Tinboy doesn't take that scarf off, ever. And here this poor soul is, their last will to live dragging it off him. On purpose? On accident? Probably both. The pattern marking Tinboy as a gang member staining with blood of a victim, something something symbolism. All in Valeriy's signature 'which pencil should i pick up next' style. Underrated piece.

4: Lara Dorren by Toni Muntean They finally got our girl. And once again, despite heartbreak, it's gorgeous. Soft, sweet colors with a necessary hint of melancholy (the lighting suggests it's sunset?), and a pure, painted quality without the need for texture assets. A scene like this is better left a comparatively simple and laid back tribute. Beyond the technicalities, i also really, really applaud Toni for the outfit design. This is the Aen Elle princess, dressed well but for the weather. And the fact her mostly blue clothes with yellow sleeves mirror Cregennan's yellow jerkin with blue details, and her red brooch above the heart might, beside contrasting with the blue, very well reflect his fatal wounds... well. As much as death on card art isn't always done the best, Lara is represented together with that which mattered to her the most. Despite being categorized among the Wild Hunt, she remains herself.

3: Lydia van Bredervoort by Igor Klymenko The joy i felt when this was the art of Lydia they managed to get into the game. It's easily one of the best contest pieces and on par with the best Gwent has to offer - it has mood, and that ever present air of groundedness, realism, and in that, unfortunate tragedy. But similarly to Lara, it shows Lydia being her own person; doing what she loved and was good at without sight of Vilgefortz despite her being known as his ever loyal assistant. Likewise, it doesn't sensantionalize her condition, but references it in a subtle, tasteful, and even clever way. I also love her dress and the overall color palette. Igor understood.

2: Eldain by Anna Podedworna Couldn't help it, this asshole has me in chokehold and he's enjoying it. In my defense, this piece highlights everything Anna is known for, because she's damn good at it. Incredibly sharp main subject of the piece contrasted against a blurry background, which allows for insane details like the strings extending from the top of the lute. To add more fun to it, Eldain isn't even in the absolute foreground, but the piece is still composed smart, so he remains the main focus. His silly red collar on mostly green helps. On top of all that, the art tells a little story, something Anna often does too, and in this case it delightfully sums Eldain up. It's also the best premium in the game.

look at his little red ears from sitting against the sun aww

Honorable mention: Lake Guardian by Anton Nazarenko Like the following #1, this card has sentimental value to me as my second card reveal and artwork i made my best emote of. It was a perfect match, bird gals and all. It's a Sirin, bringing in a more obscure but not unwelcome mythology reference to the universe. And I love her vibrant, marble-like eyes.

1: Dol Blathanna Sentry by Lorenzo Mastroianni ...remains my favourite card art since that fateful day sometime in January 2018. I was just discovering what there was to know about Witcher, downloading Gwent in the first place out of need for more content as i was slowly reading through the first book. Gwent has done a lot to explore and build on this universe, and it has helped me contextualize a lot of things early on. I remember scrolling through the deckbuilder, seeing this art, and being struck by its mood, this aura of secret and wonder. "Oh, so this is what Dol Blathanna looks like..." It's quintessential older Lorenzo. Very much admitted brush work, fog, tight color palette. The little specks of blue in flowers and face paint work just right. Maybe it's a reference to Arthurian myth and Avalon, maybe to Greek myth and Hades, or maybe, as is often the case and was the case later (or earlier in this list), both. It spoke to me and my sense of wonder back then. It speaks to me when i search for comfort now.

now, time to tear Karol Bem to shreds in the top 20 least favourites xd

#shut up elis #the witcher #gwent: the witcher card game #fingers crossed tungle doesn't obliterate the links

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xjulixred45x · 9 days

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WISH: the power of Wishes (RE-IMAGINATION)

okay, I know that many people have already done this, but I want to make my own version of this and above all do my bit for Magnífico Stands (the only salvageable character in the entire movie) and instead of just using the original concepts of the work (which is great) i wanted to mix both the concepts that i liked from the final work and the discarded concepts. we'll see.

First of all, Magnifico would not be the villain, nor would Queen Amaya. Is it simply too much to ask for a king/queen who truly cares about their people in a sincere way and does not want to harm them? although there would be a fixed villain. But I'll leave it for later. Asha and her family remain the same, except that Asha never really considered the stories her father told her about the stars as something real and thought it was another way of referring to the Magnificent King's wishes. which encouraged more fanaticism for him. I think Asha would be more studious, not exactly a book eater, but someone who has many hyper fixations and wants to know absolutely everything about those topics that she is passionate about. which causes some distance between her and boys her age. I mean, his clumsiness is a little more justified (maybe he's even neuro divergent? but I'll leave it ambiguous). Thanks to this and her somewhat more theatrical personality (which we see at the beginning of the movie), Asha participates in various activities to help the inhabitants of Rosas. In this way we would be introduced to the utopian way of life of the kingdom and perhaps even to Asha's few friends. I think that of his group of friends the only relevant ones would be Daliah and MAYBE Simon. Daliah would have a disability that makes her use a crutch (as in one of the old concepts) and she is like a book worm, she and Asha probably met because they had many hyperfixations in common. Simon dreams of being a knight of the kingdom, so he and Asha bond by having similar goals and helping each other achieve them. (Asha and Daliah even help Simón train and encourage him 😭Simon helps Asha get jobs). In general they are a fairly united group. then the main plot of the movie begins, Asha wanting to be Magnífico's apprentice, BUT not because of her Grandpa! But she genuinely wants to use magic to make her family's life easier by being just her and her mother (they're not going to put a 90-year-old man to work) and take better care of them. message about family in your face. The entire At All Costs sequence occurs but with a different context, not only does Magnífico open up to Asha but she also opens up and tells the above, that since her father died she feels that she has to do something to improve the life of her family, take care of them as best you can. generating not only empathy on our part but also on Magnifico. thus becoming his official apprentice. (no, here there is no problem with returning the wishes or anything else, because probably having removed the filling it could be explained in more detail why several dangerous wishes should not be fulfilled.

As an extra fact: I like to think that desires can also disappear on their own when they are fulfilled without the need for Magnifico, simply to give it a little more weight)

Asha and her acquaintances are obviously very happy, and proceed to have certain interactions with Queen Amaya, perhaps just giving more lore about her and Magnifico (God knows we needed it) and even about the founding of Rosas itself and the Magic sistem.

I like to thing wish Sistem of Magic is a mix between The Owl House and Harry Potter.

This would be where the villain would be mentioned for the first time (mention, not appearance), who would be the one who destroyed the Old Village of Magnífico. For now I'll just call him Morgan (like, Morgan Le fay). and then there is the matter of the star. It seems to me that both Magnifico and Asha would be interested in this type of magic to prove ancient myths about stars, so they spend several weeks working on ways to "bring" a star to Magnifico's laboratory. First they study in depth Astronomy, alchemy, traditional magic and then they go to the attempts. **funny sequence of all the failed attempts to lower the star from the sky** I think there would come a time where Asha would even stay the night in the castle to be able to investigate Magnífico's books because her attempts failed and they are both super sleepless. There may even be a cute moment where Asha falls asleep in the castle so Amaya and Magnifico give her a blanket and pillow to make her comfortable (these two are so cute, I can't----) and Magnifico, searching for more books, ends up coming across the forbidden book. the book he took from his old town... that belonged to Morgan. Now, I imagined a whole Dr Jekyll and Ms Hyde-like sequence with this(this was so long i'm sorry) Magnífico tempted to use the book, but as soon as he remembers everything that that same book provoked, what that book TOOK FROM him, it goes away, but he starts to reflect, if it is really good to keep that reminder, that constant nightmare, if he does well. and then (perhaps due to lack of sleep or a materialization of the book) Morgan appears. mocking him, laughing at him, like do you really think you will ever be free from what HE did? from all the damage he caused? He will NEVER be free of it. and Magnifico obviously denies this! Morgan should be dead now, this is just a bad dream. but "Morgan" lets him know that as long as he lives he will always be "there." Magnifico only sees it as all the damage he caused, he lets him know, that when he can completely get rid of his book, there will be no trace of it. That he'll be forgotten. Morgan makes it clear that he will never leave him, THAT HE WILL STAY no matter what he says while he struggles with Magnifico for the book.

AND WHEN MAGNIFICO HAS THE BOOK IN HIS HANDS HE SEE IN HIS REFLECTION THAT HE HAS GREEN EYES WHILE MORGAN SAYS THAT HE WILL BLOOM LONG AFTER HE IS GONE IF HE DECIDES TO FOLLOW HIS PATH (use dangerous magic, the star)... Magnificent knows Morgan well, he needs him to survive, he is a PARASITE, he may not be able to control him, but he will definitely rejoice when he knows that Morgan took his last breath. TRAUMA TIME, "Morgan" showing Magnífico a hallucination of how he destroys 1- the kingdom of roses 2- its inhabitants and 3- AMAYA. f for Magnifico. Magnificent, he's had enough of this, he just curses Morgan one last time, sending him to hell and throwing his book into the fire, which rises above his castle with a green flame... MEANWHILE Asha, still half asleep, settles in as she thinks about her failure with the star again, as she looks out the window at the northern stars, and JUST out of habit, she wishes she wished she could have one of those, so she could help people. and ZASSS! Before she realizes it, a great light appears in the room that almost blinds her and when she regains her composure she is a small creature! What a magic dust! A funny moment that my sister came up with for the inclusion of Star Boy is that Asha gave the star a simple nickname "little guy" and the star decided to change shape back into His kind of human boy😅 In any case, Magnífico hears the confusion and, with his adrenaline high, runs to see Asha and discovers a fucking star boy in his palace. He's shocked, obviously, but now he's much more cautious than before (lack of sleep + ptsd). I think it would take a moment with Amaya to calm down a little, remind him that he is not Morgan and that he would never use magic to hurt its habitants, and to get some sleep (another Amaya moment x Magnifico YEY!) Anyway, Asha, Amaya and Magnifico trying to teach Star boy the basics of human culture while figuring out how exactly it works without being too invasive.

But Star Boy dosen't make it easy, being kind of a knew-it-all(a little arrogant?), messing up some of the tries of Magnífico and Asha of get test material. Things like that.

I don't Even think he knows how frágile humans are at the Start, so it would take a little...incident to make him realize that. But definitely flying dust would be something fun 😝 I think Asha would have several moments with Star Boy showing her the kingdom of Rosas, just trying to use his magic for good and teach him human things.

But at the same time is hard with Someone who's never been with humans before, so when he tries to do something that Asha thinks is "good for the people" Star Boy misunderstand and end up doing something wrong, like grouwing too much the tries to the point the people can't reach them to get fruit, turn the water in ice for fun, etc. Her friends join in! but at the same time I think that some (especially Dalilah) would feel half done by having a new new person in the group (who is literally from another world).

Daliah Even Starts ti believe that Star Boy could be kind of dangerous, specially if she ever sees him mad, he literally is making a disaster without intention, what would happen if he DOES have intention?

But Asha tries to ressur her that Star Boy is not malicous, but just naive, and unexpefienced, and he's trying to learn! Trying to be better.

It would be Even better if Someone endup hurt or Asha almost gets hurt so Star Boy Star to realize, well, MORTALITY, and tries to make up what he did wrong And control better His own Magic. With the proper support ofc. which causes Daliah to distance herself a little while Asha and Star boy have their well-deserved romance (at all cost reprise? at all cost reprise) and Simon continues training hard to be a knight.

Daliah feels insecure around Star Boy, even if he is more careful and empathetic now, she definitely got the impression that his magic is dangerous, but does she feel guilty for distrusting Asha like that, for feeling jealous? so he is going to reflect alone.. That's when he runs into Morgan, probably while on the outskirts of Rosas. and in a certain way when they meet they have some worrying interactions. Morgan gets Daliah to tell him that she feels insecure about her friendship with someone and the whole thing, that she feels like someone is dangerous but they don't believe her, etc. Morgan, with a master's degree in Manipulation, tells her something personal to gain her trust, how he used to be seen as similar to where he came from, how he took refuge and distanced himself from everyone because he didn't fit in, how he had to find his own way of standing out, like her. It sounds like a very Evil Like me moment to me. I mean, Morgan manipulating Dalilah in an emotional moment by being passive aggressive and at the same time being "empathetic." You may even not only try to convince him to see his friends differently, but also his desires. Doesn't that seem archaic to you? Don't you think that having someone who fulfills your desires is something horribly selfish? Like? Are people going to learn if there is no pain involved? (a philosophy...valid, but taken to the extreme) Thanks to this, Daliah begins to hang out with her friends less, but with Star Boy around, they don't realize it at first. Star Boy and Asha do some experiments with their magic for Rosas' benefit, with good results, Magnifico is even being friendlier with him and not as tense. everything seems to be going well... but then Magnifico notices that some wishes have... disappeared. and in the distance, you can see a light on the outskirts of Rosas... a green light... oh no, no no no no- it has to be a mistake- a coincidence- The scene is made where help is sought from the town to find the traitor who stole the wishes, the people are worried, and they are attentive. Asha and Star Boy are confused: why would someone steal the wishes if only Magnifico can fulfill them? There is no way to know who it was? How could he get into the palace? Daliah seems especially distressed, it almost seems like she wants to approach Queen Amaya to tell her something. but at the last moment he decides not to and runs away. Asha and Star Boy get worried and go after her, following her through Rosas until they reach the outskirts of the kingdom. and that's when they see it. Morgan. He has his mirror scepter, Daliah is in front of him, tired from running.

Morgan has several orbs around him, stained and withered, it takes Asha a second to realize they are WISHES. THE LOST WISHES, HE WAS INFECTING THEM..

Now, two possible ways this could end. one attached to the film, another more of my own interpretation. The one attached to the movie is that, Morgan uses his powers augmented by wishes and manages to temporarily absorb Star Boy, and with his powers he manages to keep the entire kingdom of Rosas under his thumb. even Mangifico (maybe controlling it and only true love's kiss can break it?). but Asha, using what Magnifico taught her, manages to make a collective spell to summon the star and thus weaken Morgan, allowing the wishes to leave him and Star Boy using his powers/Magnifico to lock him in the mirror of his scepter. My own interpretation would be that Morgan would rather use people's fears, using their Wishes as a base, infecting them and in a certain way controlling them (and taking away vitality from the people of Rosas). that is the source of the power of evil, fear and ignorance. Then the people of Rosas, seeing that they are all weakened and that the wishes make Morgan stronger, decide to give the remaining wishes to Magnifico and Asha, so that they can recover and be able to face Morgan. Just saying that not only do they not need the physical desire for it to be fulfilled, but they will work to make it happen all together, now the COLLECTIVE desire is to defeat the villain. and thus they manage to give a Power Up to both Asha and Magnifico to fight with Morgan and thus free Star Boy, who similarly ends up locking Morgan in the mirror forever. In the end there is almost no wish left intact, Rosas is a mess, but now they have a new aura of optimism, of desire to try, to work to improve, the people decide to help with their own hands instead of just using magic. There could be a time skip for when Rosas is completely rebuilt, there could be more equity in magical and non-magical users, people no longer depend so much on their desires and work as a team with the few sorcerers there are to make everything better. Asha is Magnifico's official successor, so she is crowned princess of Rosas. while Amaya and Mangifico teach new, younger magic users. Simon is a guard, Dahlia found a way to feel complete in her own way (maybe working with Asha's mom) Star Boy and Asha together, as well as Amaya and Magnifico. In general the message would be that there are dreams that are selfish and that can lead to destruction, that should not be pursued. While there are dreams that are sincere but you have to work for them, everything you can, even if you need help to fulfill them, it is up to YOU to make it happen. and like that, this story is over. END

Shares, reglogs and comments are very welcome!

This was by long shot the LARGEST work i Ever done, but i hope You guys like it.

#headcanons #wish #wish 2023 #disney wish #wish disney #wish asha #wish amaya #wish magnifico #wish dahlia #wish star #wish simon #wish spoilers #wish au

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logicmaru · 7 months

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i love how ranmaru kageyama is doomed by the narrative from the very fucking beginning and i hope his minisode is even more miserable.

warning i'm gonna talk a lot. ranmaru is very blatantly described as a boring guy, who's underneath the average height for guys, doesn't have any notable likes or dislikes, unless you count his hatred for happy couples + people who are happy in general, which ngl comes into play later

i'm gonna try and explain this as simply as i can bc if i try to word it like an essay i'll confuse myself aha,,,,

it kind of shows us that ranmaru can get jealous pretty easily? and he's upset at the kind of trust keiji and sara share, even though he probably knows that's because they've known each other longer than sara's known ranmaru, but it probably still pisses ranmaru off idk

he wants to prove himself to sara, even though sara already sees him as something alike to an ally, but he wants something more than that. in the logic sara deleted scene, ranmaru states that he would want to be sara's best friend, and he admits how wants to go home with her and laugh casually over jokes together and treat life like nothing's wrong

i like to believe this was deleted because it would be ooc for ranmaru, that he would probably be very reluctant of sharing such an ideal with sara, and him suddenly spilling about wanting to be sara's friend in one moment would probably cause more shock factor, and not do much good for the lore, idk it just seems very "ah omg" and less "how interesting"

i really love how ranmaru is. not a good person. i know how strange that sounds, but ranmaru is, kind of, in a way, a support character for sara. And u would think, well support character, must be someone kindhearted and encouraging, right? well, in ranmaru's case, yes, but no?? he's more like "i will go to lengths for your survival, you NEED to win" instead of "you got this! i'll help you escape!" and it's somewhat refreshing? i'm not sure maybe i'm just not normal

anyway enough about evil ranmaru, emotion ranmaru is just very Sad, and again, doomed by the narrative

he doesn't get any kind of character development iirc, in the infamous ransara "win for me" scene, he just talks about how he knew this was going to be a bad idea, and how he has no right to be sara's friend, but from that point on, we don't get any remarkable moment where ranmaru gets some sort of character redemption, and instead we get a moment where ranmaru AGAIN goes through with some sort of wild plan to make sure sara escapes, which is erasing his personality / replacing it with the joe ai's personality.

gosh, if ur friends with me, u probably know how i love and hate this part of the game, mostly because of how interesting it is and how it could've fleshed out into a whole other issue, but i dislike how it's totally overshadowed by both the fandom and the game itself

sara herself doesn't seem to react too strongly by ranmaru's choice to erase himself to become a "vessel" for joe's personality, which really i'd love to explain but honestly idk,,, i definitely thought there'd be a bigger deal about it, but perhaps it was overruled since the modified maple boss fight was literally like,, moments after that

in emotion route, ranmaru shares little to no information with anyone, though he does come close when he tries to tell sara, which he does successfully tell sara about the asunaro human in the group, but i believe that is the only moment where ranmaru goes "sara, hold on" and actually tells sara about what he was actually going to say, which, on one hand, had me on the edge of my seat, but on the other hand, was nice to see since it was really showing how untrusting and reserved ranmaru is, no matter how much he trusts sara, he's not entirely sure if she trusts him in return, or if he trusts sara to not share this information with anyone else

i love ranmaru kageyama

#ranmaru kageyama #logicmaru talks #got damn i was talking #who let this guy yap #yttd #yttd spoilers

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professoruber · 4 months

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Thoughts and speculation regarding Meridian before Birds of Prey (2023-) #5 drops!

Spoilers for Birds of Prey (2023-)

Please also keep in mind I am a novice when it comes to comics and their lore. I am also tired and writing this in my iPad, so please let me know if I am misremembering or overlooked any details.

Maps Mizoguchi! Or rather, Meridian! A very surprising addition to the latest Birds of Prey series. As someone who is a fan of Gotham Academy, even sometime before I started really becoming interested in comics like I have been recently, this definitely caught my attention and has led me to following this series in interest.

However… currently I have a number of thoughts of Meridian which I would like to get off my chest now before #5 releases and either gives us more questions or (hopefully) more answers.

I suppose my big question thus far is… why Maps in particular? Especially given the fact that her constant departures due to the apparent limitations of her time travel tech means she subsequently has limited ‘screen time’ to justify her involvement. Why was it a time travelling future Maps who kicked off events and not anything else?

I like Maps, but I still have begin to find her role somewhat odd; perhaps in large part due to a simple question it raises….

Is Meridian Maps’ destined future hero persona (instead of Robin)?

Maps wants to be Robin, it’s been a thing since Gotham Academy, and it’s a goal which has been given both some focus and some credit via both the main Batman run and also the non-canon Batman Black and White.

The goal of becoming Robin is one which she was shown to be still determined towards even after experiencing the dangers which would come with the job.

So with this in mind, it seems kinda odd how they’ve also introduced the Meridian persona for Maps. While I do like the name well enough, the fact that it’s a geography term being a neat nod to her nickname, I can’t also help but notice that Meridian… doesn’t really seem to display any of the typical Robin or Bat-related skillsets?

She teleports around and shoots people with lighting, and I’m pretty sure that’s about it. She doesn’t appear to be notably tactical, nor does she display any martial arts (she just points her fist and shoots), which is honestly a tad disappointing. Maybe that’s just me, but I guess it just feels a bit odd.

Cresting such advanced technology also wasn’t exactly something I’d expect from Maps; but tbh she would’ve had plenty of time to learn science as she grew up so… hm.

Does this mean Maps is not going to become Meridian? Maybe?

Possibilities

A very interesting observation and suggest by @transpanda-1 was that Meridian was not in fact Maps Mizoguchi, but rather Katherine Karlo (the blonde girl picture with Maps in the comic snippet a little higher up); the daughter of Clayface. This is based both on uncharacteristic behaviour from Maps herself as well as her departure being described as looking like she is “made of dirt”, a very specific and odd way of describing what would otherwise be assumed by readers to be her disappearing in a flurry of static or energy.

Of course; any oddities, as well as any differences in the behaviours and skillsets of Maps vs Meridian, could be easily justified by the fact Meridian apparently comes from a post apocalyptic future, plus the general effects of aging.

But even still, I do really like this theory and think it makes a decent amount of sense. Especially given the whole “dirt” descriptor.

Katherine Karlo has displayed the ability to be at multiple places at once in the past, seemingly controlling multiple bodies with the same consciousness. She has also impersonated Maps in the past.

However, Katherine appears to be inspired by Annie, a character from BTAS who iirc was a ‘daughter’ Clayface who was created when part of him got separated from his main body and so developed a distinctive identity seperate from the main consciousness. I don’t think Katherine’s backstory has been delved into (correct me if I’m wrong) but I assume it was something similar. Therefore, if she is Meridian then perhaps the reason Meridian keeps disappearing is because maintaining control of a part of her so far away takes a significant amount of effort? Or maybe it is a time travelling Katherine instead?

Hard to say for sure. And also probably doesn’t exactly explain the lighting powers. But tbh I kinda would also kind of prefer this?

Would give Maps more of an opening/hope to still become Robin one day.

Motivations and Answers

This is the final bit of this rather long-ish post which may or may not get totally disproved by #5 tomorrow. But I’ve gotten this far so might as well cap off my thoughts.

If I remember correctly; Meridian is the reason for the general secrecy of this mission, not only from Diana and the other Amazons, but also from Barbara. I feel that big secrets from close allies, especially given Babs’ importance to the Birds of Prey, require big reasons. But from what I can recall we have yet to get any actual look into her reasons… or how she convinced Dinah for that matter (it’s not as if Maps Mizoguchi is some close confidant of hers, I doubt they’ve met before this).

If Meridian is a time traveler then perhaps she’s already attempted this mission via other methods which have failed, hence the reason for specific exclusions this time around?

Or maybe this is an evil future/alternate self kind of deal. I don’t think Meridian has acted overly suspicious apart from this secrecy but it’s still possible. At the very least, she may not have been entirely upfront with all her plans/motive/knowledge.

For all we know, maybe Barbara is involved and pulling the strings for whatever reason? Maybe not, but still.

I guess the reason I’m thinking on this is I feel excluding Barbara and causing a “hero vs hero” conflict seems like the kinds of things which require a very good reason for. And Dinah presumably found said reasoning quite convincing since she went along with it.

If Meridian isn’t from the future, then that just adds further mystery since it means for some reason Katherine Karlo (or someone pulling her strings) has posed as a future version of Maps to direct the Birds of Prey in a mission to rescue Sin. Why all this deception would be needed is another question (assuming she’s not from the future, anyway).

Conclusions

Let’s start wrapping things up. Despite my confusion/semi-complaints, I’ve generally enjoyed Birds of Prey so far and am looking forward to seeing how the story continues. I also am a fan of Maps and am curious at what kind of role she will have as this fort continues, and I also hope she gets her overall dream of becoming Robin one day.

Maps would make an awesome Robin.

For now I guess we shall see whether #5 provides any answers, and if it does then we’ll see if my random speculation and thoughts were off the mark or not,

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danddymaro · 2 years

Text

Strum Along | Revenant x fem reader

Reader is a bit of a masochist /// you’ll see.

Warning if you don’t like choking than just skip this one { It’s basically the whole plot, which if I'm being honest I got from a meme lmfao)

The meme basically goes , “ I'm scared of fighting, because what if they choke me and I cum instead. ”

Really, Really Crackish type because it’s rather silly, esp how it came to be.

I use some of his quotes in this//

Don’t know if some of yall don’t keep up with the in story lore, but you should if not ! fanfic is cool, but Apex has nice stories. Angela Fazia is a minor character, not a made up one lol.

First POV to Third POV switching

- This might have a follow up, headcannon type just cause i have an idea of some.

Word count: 5353

Strum Along

Seldom were there moments where Revenant felt...concerned.

No, Perturbed was the word that defined it better.

He did the scaring off, not the other way around, and anything that had him on the other end was just...inconceivable.

- Truly unexpected.

And after it all went down, he mused that perhaps it was his own fault, because maybe if he hadn't specifically targeted you, he would have saved himself from the rediscovered embarrassment that had found home in him and now had judgment upon his every move.

ෆ˟̑*̑˚̑*̑˟̑ෆ

- (F/n) was only a small fry to him.

Truly, She was no one.

She was just a new competitor that had somehow scraped her way up to victory, allowing her in the same competition as the legends after a handful of losses under her belt, all outweighed by one, glorious one that kept trending in the media and spreading like wildfire.

Images of her played on the feed, shared by thousands of fans that certainly held interest for the newcomer, as well as expectations.

As he watched her little interviews and interactions during her public welcome, Revenant scoffed, quickly understanding the new legend already, soon becoming familiar with the newest competitor by simply observing.

And that scoff quickly turned into a devilish laugh that filled his quarters.

Because (f/n) was absolutely Beloved by the crowd, and just about everything about her was awfully noble, holding a certain touch that was rather irksome to him.

‘Aren’t you...sweet?’ he thought to himself with sarcasm dripping from his words like venom from a viper’s fangs.

Everyone was cheering her on.

- so, he thought ;

who better to ring by the neck?

Who better to target than the starry-eyed new competitor that had all the hope in the world sparkling in their eyes, and who had so many dreams and aspirations that it was enough to have crowds fall in love with them for that one, simple feat.

What would be better than to destroy her, over and over, repeatedly until she was left devoid of what had made everyone love her?

Clearly, she was someone that had yet to be utterly crushed and conquered, and he'd figure he'd do it as a courtesy,

‘ Considerer it something of a welcome,’ he mused darkly.

After all, it was a bloodsport wasn’t it?

- Might as well get used to it dear (f/n).

"I plan on getting under your skin, " he voiced out lowly with promise, the moving image of (f/n) that was before him, a sight that was somewhat enticing as it had him coming near the screen, the idle movement of his hand finding purpose as it ghosted over the familiar face.

- So benevolent it was like she’d been saturated in sugar.

he’d stared for what felt like hours, time not holding any significance when he went through such trances.

At the moment he recognized the faint tremors and fails in her voice that occurred every now and then, the bubbling joy she felt nearly bursting through the interview with the chocolate haired journalist he knew well.

He remembered her terrorized expression as Forge’s blood splattered over her face, strings of scarlet painting her during the interview, a terror she more than likely had nightmares of.

A passing thought had Revenant amused as he thought of how she’d react to seeing him again, doing just the same with the precious girl she now seemed to fawn over.

- Would it be enough to drive her insane?

Perhaps, but he really didn’t care to bother, not when it would end things with (f/n) so soon.

“(f/n),” he then lowly uttered.

Silently, and with the same curious glance, he trailed a finger down (f/n)’s face, skimming down her cheek and wondering just how much he’d have to press down to get her to squeal.

- And much more, how much it’d take to draw blood.

“- You have to know you’re trending right now!” Angela informed the new legend, and that made your soft smile brighten, your eyes twinkling in a way that was just so damn....hopeful.

“Believe me, I’ve noticed,” you responded back with a small chuckle, clearly nervous, something the interviewer caught onto and was taken in as humility that was welcome.

“- What’s on your mind,” she pressed on, leaning in with interest while you seemed quick to let your guard down at the question, because it’d been something you’d itched to say, but didn’t know when to mention.

Now was a good time, right?

“ - Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate all of the encouragement and kind press,” you then added, grateful for such a welcome. “Luckily all I've seen are good things, so I must be doing something right,” you said with amusement, the last bit mostly reserved for yourself, not knowing what you did to earn such a fanbase, but certainly appreciative.

“- I’m just happy to be here,” you added.

“ That being said, if I'm being honest...the media attention is a little overwhelming,” you admitted.

You could hardly go anywhere without being approached.

The woman sitting across you nodded, understanding as she modestly crossed her legs and leaned back into her chair, her eyes wide with wonder,

“Are you really (stage name)?” she asked with amusement, because, to think the competitor that successfully wiped out entire teams and had, had such a buzz for the last bloodbath was so...nice.

not only that, she wouldn’t have expected it from your appearance and overall serious demeanor you initially presented while in the games.

“ I will confess, and I’m sure I'm not the only one, but I expected you to be … a little different,” the primly dressed female admitted.

That seemed to hit a funny mark in you as you laughed, mostly because you always did have the feeling that somehow you became someone else when you were out there, that, and that there was much more to you than just the surface.

It also wasn’t the first time you’d been told something similar.

‘-I’m not such a bitch!’ You inwardly mused, knowing that’s what she meant.

‘My face doesn’t quite fit my personality,’ you then thought with amusement.

“- The one and only,” you said with assurance, “ And you’ll get to know more of me soon, because I'm not going anywhere,” you added with a sudden bravado that made the woman across you enthusiastic and certainly surprised.

“- We’re all counting on it,” The reporter for the Outlands Journal encouraged, and if the simulacrum could guess she was defiantly a fan of the newcomer. If he could take a wild guess it’d be that she was also amongst (f/n)’s loving crowd.

“So tell me,” Angela then started, “ - the other Legends,” she then said with a pause of suspense as she crossed her hands before her, her index fingers straight as they pressed to her own lips and narrowed her eyes at (f/n).

“-Your thoughts,” she went on, and the question piqued more interest within the simulacrum.

“- Oh! well, I've met octane before,” (f/n) then piped up, “And he’s a total sweetheart!” she then added, seeming enamored by the encounter, “ we even took a selfie together,” she mused.

“I honestly can’t wait to see him again, though, I don’t think he even remembers me,” she added, not at all seeming troubled by the fact.

“So is he your favorite Legend?” (f/n) was asked, and the question had her laughing.

“ He’s great, and fun to watch too, but no,” She said truthfully.

“Oh? then who’s your favorite legend?” Angela asked, and (f/n) shook her head, clearly embarrassed, “ Oh no! I can’t,” she giggled, and Rev watched with genuine curiosity, wanting to know.

“Oh I see,” Angela said coyly as she waved her hand playfully, and it only made (f/n) behave even more...cutely.

After even more amusement between them and more idle talk, the brown haired woman then pressed a sole index finger to her lips as a sign of secrecy, smiling beneath the press, “Ok, Ok, we’ll move on,” she assured (f/n), and from there the interview became much more tame.

“- I can’t wait to meet everyone though,” the (h/c) haired young woman said with anticipation, and the simulacrum’s eyes glowed more.

“Don’t worry, We’ll get to know each other, real soon...real close and personal,” he said to himself, all as he tracked her down, watching her every move from the shadows, never too far from her because he had to make sure that no one else took what he’d claimed.

- A new toy, so breakable and untouched by his claws, unscathed by any other.

What more could he ask for?

Every now and then he saw you stop, your eyes skimming over the area, and you looked so much like a frightened mouse that he couldn't wait to pounce on you just to see what true fear would do that little, worried face.

- You could feel it, and he knew it.

In the midst of what was supposed to be calm, you could feel it in the background, that feeling of being watched and hunted.

he knew it, and he let that feeling of impending doom slowly consume you before he decided it was time to give you some answers to the dark unknown you threaded upon.

ෆ˟̑*̑˚̑*̑˟̑ෆ

Hastily, you closed the door behind you , your (e/c) colored eyes keeping a focus on the outside through the door's partial glass making, in your mind making certain you weren’t being trailed by the third party that had interrupted your last confrontation.

frustration showed on your face as you stood in a readied stance, and you made no attempt to hide it, instead, too concerned over what was trailing you.

"Something is out there..." you whispered to yourself as the hairs on the back of your neck stood straight, the foreboding feeling that twisted your insides not leaving as you took a chance to reload your gun.

- It was strange, something you’d never felt before to such a degree slowly consuming you until it promptly overwhelmed your earlier determination, threatening to crush it completely.

"Someone’s been following me," you added with a sour tone while holstering the weapon, before having a shield battery in hand.

"I just know it..." you breathed, and that sweet sound of fear in your tone that you couldn’t swallow down and hide gave him a sense of purpose.

- It let him know that you were just perfect for him.

"since the beginning," you went on, sounding as though you finally accepted it as truth.

By then you’d grown certain, no longer clouded by denial.

- no longer high on the earlier tenacity that had you believing that somehow, you were untouchable, and that any wall that formed before you was breakable to your will.

Silence should fill you with comfort, but instead, it fueled your dread, and you tensed.

"- You ever get the feeling you're not alone in the room?" then said another voice, confirming your suspicions.

And it was then that your heart stopped.

Abruptly, it halted, and you felt yourself lose the ability to breathe for just that second as your eyes flew wide with surprise.

clinging to the ceiling, the red beast watched as you jumped, your wide, (e/c) colored eyes moving left and right as you notably fretted, drawing your weapon with haste, not even finishing charging your shields.

To your grand misfortune you’d been only seconds away from a full heal, instead, deciding to confront the sudden ambush straight forth with all you had than be vulnerable for a second longer.

In all of your panic you ran your eyes to what was before you, both left and right before you presented your back to the directions, instead, aiming your weapon at the door you’d just came through as though that was undoubtedly the spot the bogyman waited.

You didn't think to look up at the ceiling, which was an error on your part as you were left to the observance of the prowling mechanical beast who let not a second of your movements go unstudied and unrecorded.

You inched back slowly, each of your steps holding a hint of a tremor, and he made sure to keep the moment stored in his memory bank, reserved for his later enjoyment to it’s full capacity.

- New prey always intrigued him, and this one had certainly caught his eye.

This one had him greedy.

" You hope you are," he proceeded idly as though he were talking about the weather, all as you continued to wallow in distress, still not knowing where he hid.

"- But You're not." he then said definitely before he came down, dropping from the top and simultaneously swiping his left hand over your weapon where your grip faltered and you were left disarmed.

As a response you reached for your second weapon but were stopped by his own move which came much quicker.

His large hand caught you by the neck, his fingers pressed down as he picked you up and toward the building's interior wall where you'd run into to recover from your earlier skirmish.

- How ironic, to hope to find refuge in the place you'd soon be slaughtered.

‘How tragic,’ he thought to himself as you silently lamented and cursed at your own carelessness.

Here you were thinking you were safe, foolishly placing the paranoia you felt as an aftermath of your last encounter.

All in all, you’d realized it too late, and it was to his pleasure.

Your back was then pressed to the cold surface while your feet dangled off the ground quickly as he picked you up to his eye level and then above, exceeding his actual height as he stood straight at his horrifying tower of everyone else.

Soon your (e/c) colored eyes met his, connecting as you looked down with a wet gaze, the glaze filled with spite.

- Towards him, and partially to your own stupidity.

You should have known, you should have, but you hadn't figured that you'd be targeted by the simulacrum.

You hadn’t even thought of him as you heard the voice speak, and you yet again cursed your own foolishness because if you would have thought of him, you would have considered looking up, knowing the way he moved and stalked.

- BUT

It hadn't crossed your mind that you'd hold any significance to him.

After all, you’d only ever interacted with him twice, two times that had been brief.

Two times that shouldn’t hold any significance.

Was it that you had greeted him?

‘ Was it that? ‘ you thought with concern, trying to understand as you squirmed.

- That you had foolishly waved to him before, just before the drop?

You were truly excited; hopeful, and perhaps everyone else could see it.

They could feel it as it radiated off of you, and no one had such a fixation on it as fiercely as the red-painted creature that stood across you, off on the other side of the ship, but with a clear view of you, the only place that could come close to giving him the same satisfaction as right near you and in invasion of your blissful unaware.

As your eyes traveled amongst the rest of the competitors you found yourself looking at one in particular who hadn't broken his focus, even as you discovered him.

Part of you wondered if he was really looking at you, or if he simply happened to look in your general direction, unable to help the sudden connection in between.

Though you had a feeling of being watched, you couldn’t fathom as to why you’d be on his radar so it was all unclear.

was it just your imagination?

‘Maybe,’ you thought to yourself as, nonetheless, you decided to acknowledge him, just in case.

After all, you weren’t going to be rude.

Your smile was somewhat withheld, though, still holding some sort of welcome as you looked at him, the only legend that seemed to address your presence until then, even if it was in silence.

With the same uncertainty, you lifted your hand up, your five fingers in sight as you opened your palm and waved to him in a sheepish manner before stepping onto the lowering platform, soon leaving you out of sight of eachother.

- only for the time being.

He wondered what ran through your mind as you watched him, as you found him eyeing you.

No matter,

'Don't worry little skinsuit,' he thought to himself as he glowered at you while you lowered, ready for a jump, not knowing what was to come.

' - You'll get to know me real soon...real close and personal. So no need to be shy.' he mused while standing still, only staring, glaring at you as you left his sight.

Could it be that you simply didn’t know danger?

Were you that dim-witted?

- That trusting?

He wondered.

You thought of your freshest encounter before the attack, and then the one before it, wondering if that was when you’d done something to trigger him.

Was it that you’d almost run into him way before that?

Was it that during then, you’d been too familiar with him?

- That you’d chuckled at his response to your carelessness, which, had been a rather morbid line you actually found amusement in?

In your panic you could hardly remember a word other than ‘skinbag’, the term he’d addressed you with, and everyone else, for that matter.

To be fair you thought he was just being...funny.

you’d assumed he was the dark and dry humor type of guy.

So, what was it?

Should you not have smiled at him?

Was your mistake to even acknowledge him?

If so, You couldn't help it!

- It wasn’t like you could actually ignore him.

“Let me get a better look,” he murmured as he brought you down to eye level, bringing you just a bit closer to the ground, but not enough to have your feet anywhere near the surface.

"There...now You're all mine now," he said with a little chuckle proceeding his words while he executed a small tilt to his head, gleefully mocking you, living for the moment.

Surges of shockwaves traveled through his body and it left him with a nearly euphoric feeling that would certainly bring shivers of excitement to anyone else had they experienced such a sentiment.

Your skin was just as soft and delicate as he’d thought, and the bliss he felt at the proximity was just exhilarating as the warmth you emitted through your flesh was shared to him.

"hahaha...All alone..." he teased, his deep voice echoing in the room, the menacing sneer to it making you shiver in his hand's hold.

It felt like you had a blade traveling down your flesh, tickling you as a playful tease before there would be an inevitable tear through, and you were certain that was amongst the things that would await you if you continued to be at the bot’s mercy.

he made sure not to crush your windpipe just yet, instead, relishing in the terror that he nested in you throughout the game and that would soon, most certainly overwhelm you.

" You're going to die all alone," he pressed on snidely, reminding you of how you’d been left solo on a team event, something that you had in mind throughout the entire time and thought of as a stroke of bad luck.

- Perhaps this was fate.

if it’d all been so well aligned.

You were destined to be at his mercy with no salvation.

"And I'm going to enjoy it," he told you while leering closer, his movements eerie even as the white plate of his cheek gently brushed over your jaw, barley skimming past it.

“every second of it,” he muttered as you looked at him with horror as you took in the words while sharpness meant soft.

No one would be around any time soon, and he gloated in the reality of it while you thought of all the ways you’ve seen him kill.

-And how soon, you’d be on that list.

"Mmm... that smell of yours... “ he then said.

‘Of fear...you reek of it,’ he thought to himself, pleased.

“It sure is sweet,” he added as somewhere within your fragrance it lingered, making you even more delectable to the red beast.

“Hmm...Just know that I'm not gonna make it quick..." he then let you know .

It’d be a waste, and much more an insult to consider such a quick end for you with the anticipation he’d festered with, with all of the desire to have you in his hands infecting him.

" No...That would spoil all the fun, " He murmured with a hint of enthusiasm in his tone as he felt your little hands take hold of his wrist as you huffed out, your struggled breaths a sound that felt like music.

His other hand found your face, his thumb pressing to one side of it as the others felt the softness of your other cheek, all as he released a chilling laugh.

- You were truly his.

“P-Please...” You said with strain, and his eyes glowed a fierce color, ignited more by the sound.

“Yes...” he hissed, “That’s it...beg for me,” he urged you as your glazed eyes looked into his, finding him and keeping contact right in between half lidded, dark lashes that gently obscured the pretty orbs.

"R-Rev...” you begged, “ I..." you struggled as a soft glow of drool escaped in between your parted lips as you made an attempt to say his name a second time before your (e/c) colored eyes began to roll back.

“L-let go... Please..” you barley managed to say, hardly seeing through the narrow bit of clarity you had that was soon diminishing.

‘If you don’t let go....’ you thought with anguish, knowing what was to come.

His enjoyment deterred as he truly studied you and noted your rather odd behavior that continued as he restrained you.

And If he would have had an eyebrow, it would have risen with question.

He observed as your body heat rose in temperature, his eyes scanning and capturing the warmth that arose, heavily targeted one specific area that became thickly slickened beneath the layers of clothing you wore, something that left you in an unbearable discomfort that made you wiggle even more.

Your dangling legs crossed, and he could see the straining way you squeezed them together as you then bit your lower lip, the air you struggled to take in through your nose enjoyed slowly, purposely taken in at a slow pace.

‘Fuck...fuck...fuck...’ you inwardly cursed, losing yourself.

“Ha...”you tried to say something, but stopped quickly, trying to swallow down thickly before releasing a faint hum, which in truth was a very muted moan.

Your eyebrows were knitted tight, and you made a feeble attempt to stay sane.

- to hold together craps of your dignity.

"Ha...Ha..." you huffed out needily as your hands held on tighter, right before you uttered a word that froze him, making his grip falter.

"Harder..." you breathed, and he made a choked sound, by then realizing what was happening, the fizzled static sound filling the room as he retracted his hand as though it burned.

"Filthy, little meat bag!" he snapped, chiding you and it actually rewarded him with a soft whine far too obscene to be that of a person in distress.

You weren’t begging him to let go.

You weren’t suffering.

You fell to the ground in a heap, your legs trembling as they bent, picking up to your chest as you pressed them together in discomfort.

It took you a moment to truly gather yourself, to come back down from the clouds and throughout the time he glared down at you.

The way you looked up at him was wide-eyed and definitely ashamed once you seemed to find some clarity as you settled down from the delirium the lack of oxygen had given you.

As you lay there, ashamed, he stared at you silently for just a few moments before he simply turned away, disturbed, not knowing how to handle how much his face burned.

His open palm attacked the door, the single jut breaking glass and forcing the entire door to fly open before he stalked out, utterly frustrated.

Was he blushing?

He couldn't possibly be reddening, but he certainly felt heat in his face...somehow.

His right hand fell over his face, covering the lower portion of it as he released a rather low sigh.

He couldn't think of anything without somehow circling back to you, and it’d completely thrown him off his game as he made an attempt to leave a trail of dead bodies with whoever crossed paths with him.

It had done little to sedate him, and it was all short lived.

He’d cut through three teams before he was ambushed by a final, and as he felt the ache of the final bullet of his eventual ambush, he wondered how you fared.

With dark amusement he mused over how if you’d lasted longer, you were doing so with a hidden mess between your legs.

- That was if the desperate, exited wiggled of your hips and twitches of your legs had anything to indicate.

Meanwhile, you couldn't help but fidget beneath the attention you got as you were put in the spotlight when the match was left to one sole contender ;

you.

- Champion.

‘Champion,’ you thought to yourself with surprise, the word uttered dryly within your thoughts.

Somehow, you'd made it to champion.

It should be a moment of celebration, of happiness, and yet, all you could think of was the beast that had attacked you.

His stunning face so inhumanly human, yet... pretty.

He was beautiful, so stunning.

He was painted red, a color he let trail behind him as his claws extended, finding flesh.

You thought of the creature towering over you in such a way that made you feel so terribly small and feeble.

- Much more, powerless as you remembered how only a fraction of his grip felt.

And he had that voice, that deep, sinister speak that made your knees wobble until they bent and gave out.

That wasn't the reaction you should have had.

That wasn't the one you should have...but your fuzzy mind and heated body had taken the reigns.

Was it strange to be attracted to Revenant?

You wondered with concern, though lighthearted because the attraction you had could have been forgiven if it hadn’t manifested the way it did.

The better question was,

Should you apologize for what happened?

' Sorry for getting horny while you choked me. It’s something I like.

Shh....It’s a secret, don’t tell anyone.

- By the way, could you do it again?'

The afterthought being one you grimaced at because not even in theory could you somehow act decent.

you felt bad, but then again,

‘Two wrongs don’t make a right,’ you started, ‘But… he was the one that decided to put his hands on me,’ you thought while trying to somehow justify yourself.

‘I never touched him...I begged him to stop...I think.’

It wasn’t like you’d planned for it to happen, and you briefly wondered if it was just the fact that you liked the squeeze, or that you liked him.

- or was it both?

You were wrong, yeah.

But it wasn’t like he was a saint either.

- Again, he’d gone after you first.

‘It's bad...but I've had awful dreams about you,’ you then added, mortified with how lewdly you thought of him.

Days after, and then later weeks, you had managed to somehow avoid him, all with the misfortune of yearning for him more, so much so that your eyes had a mind of their own, somehow always finding him.

They gravitated to him even when you’d purposely stayed out of his way, putting distance in between.

Could he read minds? you hoped not.

Because your thoughts held little sweetness, instead suffocating desire.

‘They’re all filthy, degenerate... and obscene,’ you inwardly whined as the thoughts had you shaken with excitement, wanting them all to come true, against all logic, against all sanity.

You nearly salivated and to save yourself from further corruption of the lingering thoughts, you wrung your hands together, nervous, not knowing how you would ever come to face the simulacrum.

- To think you’d scared him off.

Time flew by and before you knew it, you were back on the ship for another match, and as your partner was displayed before you, you felt your stomach drop, sinking low, as, admittedly a small tingle tickled you too.

The bot stood from his seated position, towering over everyone else, moving with his eyes aimed to his little partner who’d silently stepped onto your designated spot, having been the closest to it.

“Look at that... you and me again, alone,” he voiced out, his tone rather snide as he stepped onto the platform, just as it was beginning to lower.

Your eyes were averted, staying away even as he went next to you , and you struggled to stand right, the little wobble in your legs not going unnoticed by your ever so observant partner, especially as he loomed over you.

Your chin was pointed away from him, but not for long as one of his hands took hold of the lower portion of your face, forcing you to look back at him with little effort.

“What’s got you shaking girlie?” he started, his face only inches from yours , the bot not having any consideration for your personal space, “ You afraid of me?” he questioned you , and you didn’t know what to answer with.

Yes.

- you were, that was true.

but also, shamefully drawn.

You didn’t want him to kill you, but you did want to get fucked by him.

And there was what happened last time, it was still in your head, it being a memory so cringe-worthy you almost blocked if off as a sort of trauma.

“-Or you excited?” he teased and it earned him a soft gasp from you, not expecting that, not knowing if you should answer.

Perhaps you’d gotten the best out of him before, with the way he cowered away he could not say otherwise.

To be fair, you’d surprised him, and had awoken something else within him, something he had trouble accepting when it had been rekindled after so long, and much more so unexpectantly.

- It was only further proof that while he was now in his current, wretched body, he’d once been a skinsuit.

All in all, even if his body wasn’t the same, it still responded in the same moronic way.

It was a curse, one that he was forced to live with.

You stayed silent, but the heat that rested over his palm was just enough to amuse him and make him feel a little tingle of something delicious.

The feel of your skin was certainly missed throughout the time since your last encounter, as well as that smell so sweet it had him hungry for just a bite of you.

If he had teeth, he’d sink them into you, and he considered a few modifications, just enough to fully enjoy his pretty prey.

He then moved, rounding you before standing behind you, all while his gripping hand stayed in place.

His other arm snaked over your midsection, sitting right across your abdomen, his hand stopping right over your ribs, the little bones in crushing range.

Purposely, he pressed his sharpened ends down to you, lightly gripping your body as he loomed from behind, your smaller body fitting perfectly to his.

“Hey Partner..,” he said in an awfully sickeningly, pretended sweetness, all while craning your neck as he wanted, forcing you to look down to a rather empty location, one that was skipped over by the other teams.

“We should land there,” he suggested, and you could hear the smile that existed within his words.

‘There’s nothing there...’ you said to yourself, looking at the lonesome building, your eyes drawn to it with a heavy crease to your brows preformed.

Another thought crossed your mind, and it was that he was certainly trying to get you alone.

He wasn’t one to skip out on first blood, and you fretted over what seemed obvious.

- For whatever reason he wanted you just to himself.

“Why...” you breathed before finding the courage to say more, “Why not somewhere else?” you asked him, bringing your eyes up, but still being unable to see him with how they were posed.

“What?” he sounded, "Don’t want to be alone with me?” he questioned you with a touch of insult present.

“Don’t trust me girlie?” he questioned you as though you had no reason to do so, and you didn’t respond.

“-Hmm...tell me ; you Afraid of what I'll do to you?” he then asked, and you denied it with a soft ‘ no.’

“N-No,” you admitted, though sounding hesitant in your answer, especially as his hand slid down, gripping you right beneath your jaw and inclining your head back to get you to look at him instead.

Afterward, his hand slowly eased off a little bit while his fingers tenderly strummed down to the base of your neck, the pads pressing down gently, no malice intended, or so it seemed.

Glowing eyes stared down at your own, the short gaze leaving as did his grip, an act that left you with a complaint locked in your chest because you wanted it back.

Against all logic you wanted him back.

“Hmm...Shame,” he grunted, retreating, recognizing a soft whine from you as his arm that rested across your abdomen slid down, his hand grazing you teasingly before it slid off completely.

He could hear your breath hitch before it struggled to find calm, all as he drew farther.

He didn’t argue with you and then left altogether, the warmth that had melted you both gone within a matter of seconds.

“I’m going over there,” he informed you, still insistent on his earlier spot, not asking for where you’d go, not giving you any other chance to argue afterward.

“Follow me if you want,” he added dismissively before he launched solo, and sure enough you followed, just as he’d expected, right into his hand.

“Wait for me,” you added, trailing behind him, and even through the comms he could hear the desperation in your voice as you dove right behind him.

- Predictable.

predictable, yet pleasing.

‘There’s plenty of ways to break you,’ he mused, thinking back to how easily you’d subdued to him before, and how quickly you caved at his demand.

‘And when I'm through with you, you’ll beg me to keep ruining you...’ he thought with the utmost certainty, as well as an overwhelming desire to see it through.

“I’ll follow!” you said hastily, and he merely grunted back, soon landing.

‘Go on... Keep following me,’ he thought to himself, watching as you found ground too, seeing you out of the corner of his eye and noticing the way you seemed to contemplate something.

you thought of something, something that had you bite your lower lip, and he chuckled lowly, wondering what it was that you had in mind.

What did you expect?

What did you want?

- Maybe he’d be merciful.

If you begged some more, if you knelt to him, and looked at him again in that same ‘Fuck me,’ way, maybe he’ll be kind.

‘Sweet little thing, so easily coerced, and so mindlessly scattered with the right one,’ he mused.

‘Giving in so easily to the devil....clouded by desire...knowing better, but too greedy.’

you approached the building, your hand already on the door before you were stopped by his hand as it gripped your shoulder.

With that little tremor in your body that he forced, you looked up at him,

“Rev?” you breathed with question, your voice soft, a tantalizing way of speaking that had him delighted, starving for more reactions.

Slowly, his hand moved to the nape of your neck, taking hold of it as he pulled you back to him where his chin dipped right between your shoulder and neck,

“We should stick together,” he advised, his voice low, and somehow sultry.

“What do you say....partner?” he asked you , and you softly smiled in a bashful way that he mused over.

- How cute.

You nodded in agreement as his other hand went to your face, his thumb brushing your lips, the thicker flesh a draw his eyes drew to. At the contact the smallest sound akin to a little moan left you, and in the pit of his stomach there was a little flutter.

“Good girl,” he praised nearly purring, and you practically glowed with appreciation at such a praise.

‘Do you want more...?’ he wondered. ‘What would you do for more of my approval?’ he went on, the many things he wanted to do to you left on a to-do list.

‘ Good girl...Into the shadows...away from all light....away from all hope.

Fall into death’s grip and savor it.’

Lol in a separate post I'll add some of the ways he tries to fuck with the reader because I see him TEASING the absolute fuck out of her.

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demonslayedher · 1 year

Note

Since you seem to know a lot about Demon Slayer, do you know any production or development history about the manga? Like inspirations, cut storylines/characters, etc?

The most I know is what the first fandom says about the development of Kimetsu no Yaiba based on the world-building framework of "Kisatsu no Nagare," which focused on a character who seemed to have a presence more like Giyuu did in the first chapter, only with fewer limbs. The editor guiding Gotouge found the character not very relatable, and after asking questions about other characters in the world, Tanjiro was introduced as "maybe not being very interesting," but the editor immediately insisted on Tanjiro being the focus. I wrote more about that here, in regard to the importance of the Final Selection arc in establishing KnY as a successful manga for serialization (Gotouge was about to quit if this didn't work).

I later saw comments from Gotouge in advice to other budding mangaka about how you should draw your main character the most; perhaps this is from editorial advice about keeping the story well-centered about a marketable character, I wonder.

In other titles considered, some used the name of the god of the hearth, Kagutsuchi, a Shinto deity with lore in written mythology. For the most past (but not entirely), gods or Buddhas or deities weren't named specifically throughout the manga, even if they were called upon. I feel the story may have started with wanted to stick closer to existing Shinto mythology, but a choice was made to avoid it instead. I find this a good choice, as it leaves the story more freedom in its own world-building and canon while still leaning on the folksy faith, which doesn't concern itself so much with those fussy details and instead dives into the cores themes behind the faiths. I also like how the story doesn't muddle itself with preexisting oni lore, it leans into its own oni canon.

As for cut storylines, I love how long the Taisho Secrets get in the later volumes with all the extra detail Gotouge so badly wanted to give--about the fallout after Muzan & Yoriichi's encounter, about the guy in the dojo next door had a more complicated history before killing Koyuki and Keizo, even about Kanao's past. I want them all!! Gotouge, give me all your Taisho Secrets!!

As for inspiration, I've heard it stated here and there that Gotouge was a big fan of both Bleach and Gintama, which was why the choice to submit to Shonen Jump was made.

Looking back at "Kisatsu no Nagare" and what came before it, like Tamayo and Yushiro already existing very close to what they'd be finalized as later, makes it easy to see how characters like Iguro and Kanao and Muzan and Muichiro and Genya even Swamp Demon came around... but Uzui???? Hmmmm. I wonder when characters like he and Mitsuri were born, and how much of their creation was influenced by editors saying Gotouge needed to liven up the cast more? Or at least their finalized character designs...

And for that matter, Rengoku-san! I wonder when he came about, before or after Tanjiro was cast as the main character and the world started to form around a character him? One thing we do know straight from Gotouge is that Rengoku and the rest of the cast are based on people in real life. Maybe that's part of why this series has been so successful, no matter how outlandish Gotouge's imagination has been (like biting heads??? Whyyyyyy?????), there's realistic elements that we can see ourselves or people we know in. Zenitsu can be insufferable, sure, but aren't we all Zenitsu sometimes? Shinobu can be both kind and vicious, and hasn't anybody who has worked in customer service had to smile like that? Maybe when we're taking something seriously, we wind up seeming aloof, and pushing others away, like Giyuu? And don't we all get carried away sometimes when we are proud of ourselves or our appearance or position of power, and play it off in a somewhat silly looking way, like Uzui? When a situation becomes too much, haven't we all found ourselves emotionally distancing ourselves from it, so as not to be hurt by it? Don't we all second-guess our own intentions, or if we'll ever be good enough, or react with our own understandings of the world and only come to broaden our perspectives later? But don't we all know people who have good traits that come out in bad circumstances too?

Wow, this devolved, heh... sorry, that rambled into more of my personal appreciation side.

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doom-nerdo-666 · 11 months

Text

Doom x Halo thoughts

(Needed an excuse to post an image... this IS "official" art, right?)

Doom and Halo have some history "together", at least from the outside like people comparing them and all.

So MicroSoft owning Doom lead to people think of potential crossover and other things.

I feel like there's some stuff to think about, just because:

The fans (And some comparisons)

I'm sure everyone knows about older Doom fans insulting Halo fans for "picking the inferior game that ruined the genre".

But with how less popular Halo got over the years and the mainstream return of Doom, it seems things have changed where more likely the "older gamers" are those into Halo and the younger ones are those into modern Doom.

Doom fans also used to compare Master Chief to Doomguy, as if he was a copycat stealing someone else's throne when the 2 didn't have much in common besides "green space marine in revolutionary FPS series".

Let's see some basic differences at the time:

One has grey/white helmet, the other has green helmet.

One shows arms, the other doesn't.

One shows face (Even in the HUD), the other is faceless.

This is why 2016 was a bit special, because it somewhat broke those differences (And i guess the more advanced armor and an AI companion, no?).

But even Doom 2016 brought new unique elements to Doom to make it stand out, even if there's still arguements of how the series is comparable to Halo or other games.

So Eternal brought back the exposed arms and added a shoulder gun and arm blade but still kept the helmet green.

The existence of the Doomslayer can also be traced to outside factors and not just the comic book with "rip and tear" but even stuff like how people compared Doomguy to Chief, Death Battle, maybe some goofy webcomics or copypastas etc.

Doomslayer can be seen as a product of fanservice even if the comparisons to MC lead to a certain irony.

Some people also thought Halo Infinite was taking stuff from Doom Eternal like the grapple hook or even some character designs but it's clear that Halo still had energy swords first.

It's also worth mentioning that both Doomguy and Chief were treated as blank slates except MC was still a clear character who talked in the right moments (Though this again leads to differences between Bungie and 343) while Doomguy was "unfinished" enough to be carried by his fans (Hence "Doomguy").

Another thing is how both series have religious references but differently: Halo has its own lore/setting but has clever references to Christianity in it, whereas Doom came in the "Satanic Panic" era and was a goofy "heavy metal" premise (And how later games handled the setting also depends on how it affects this but still).

And if you recall the original Forerunner lore, even Eternal's lore for the Sentinel may have something to do with the idea of humanity's ascendents or something like that.

Either way, i'm sure some fans would prefer to see both series stand in their own, since Eternal didn't even explore some other parts of classic Doom's aesthetic.

Perhaps this is why i think not only Doomguy's helmet should remain white/grey but also that the Sentinel Crucible should have been an energy chainsaw at best instead of a sword.

Gameplay

Both franchises have their impacts in FPS games and in a way that makes fans see them as opposites.

Doom was the upgrade from Wolfenstein 3D that needed to happen to actually kick off the genre while Halo (And i suppose also Half-Life) led to a new version of the genre that mostly defined modern console gaming.

(Though it can also be seen as games copying popular titles when considering terms like "Doom clone" or "Halo killer")

With the FPS genre, we obviously know about later games and how they had their affects on it over time, while both Doom and Halo changed, whether it's to make them stand out or even fall under certain trends.

Despite Halo being somewhat responsible for FPS games after it, it actually suffered worse with the trends and copied the kind of games it inspired.

You can point out D3 having reloading, upgrade systems in later Doom's and a 2 weapon limit in D2016's multiplayer (Funny enough, this mode was done by the studio Certain Affinity, that worked on Halo and COD before) but the games still managed to stand out among other titles.

Even if people trace modern Doom to Painkiller but even then, the Painkiller or Serious Sam format wasn't as big as the "Halo killer" one.

This is also a result of MicroSoft wanting Halo to be their "Mario" even when Bungie wanted to move on, while 343 tries to be clever and to justify making new Halo games.

Bungie even used to have a line in the studio saying "we make games we want to play" and there's even stories of the original Halo's development where Bungie and MS were at fights over what was going to happen with the game.

While Doom was probably never meant to be a "franchise" (Specially with the existence of a new IP that is Quake and the wad/mod/source port scene) but titles like D64 still existed and D3 for better or worse was something else entirely (And D2016 basically existed as part of a ZeniMax contract and the cancelled D4 development but still turned out great).

"Within the genre" crossover

On one hand, it's neat that fighting game franchises from Capcom, SNK, Namco and some others mix up within their genre.

On another hand, you had situations where Mario and Sonic meet up at the Olympics because despite both being 2 titans in the landscape of platforming, they have a lot of gameplay differences that means it could be hard to mix them up.

Because i though it'd be fitting if Doom and Halo had a crossover in FPS format despite their differences (Even if you had to cherrypick specific elements).

Meanwhile, Quake Champions was the first time BJ, Doomguy and Ranger were in a game together but it also felt like QC wasn't aware of it (I mean, remember that Doomguy was announced through a tweet before they posted an actual video trailer).

And i know people will want something better than the two green soldiers simply showing up in Fortnite (Specially because the idea of these 2 interacting in particular is not intentional and besides, Fortnite's crossovers don't have the same feeling as something like certain fighting game crossovers or Smash).

I also think a crossover needs to portray a series in a way that feels respectable, like not just sticking to the latest entry in a series and getting creative with designs and so on.

Kinda like how Smash is notorious for its "Snake" being both Solid Snake and Big Boss.

Basically, think of something like MetaDoom as how Doom as a series could be portrayed.

Except Doom is a series that can (Or at least should) ignore lore while Halo always had a lore focus (That was eventually mismanaged).

A Doom mod called Halo: Doom Evolved attempts to merge both series and is a popular example.

Of course i'd use MetaDoom and Samsara as references but honestly, they're the best kind of fanservice.

(I think Halo also had its own "franchise mix up" mod being SPV3)

Story/lore

Perhaps a major difference between these 2 franchises is how they treated story/canon.

Doom's own story was always a mess and not taken seriously, with examples besides that one quote by John Carmack such as:

Lack of story and barely enough context.

Abstract levels and assets.

Contradicting information.

"Additional info" that is obscure and hard to look for.

Adaptations that deviate from the main setting such as the 2005 movie or older novels.

Different games might as well have different canons since D3 is clearly its own timeline.

The mere fact that concepts from the fanbase overlap with the series, be it a nickname like "Doomguy" or how anyone remembers an aspect of gameplay due to source ports.

Halo on the other hand always had a lore/universe, since a book even came before Combat Evolved and it's a series by the people that brought you Marathon.

Cutscenes, story segments, voice acting, lore... it was always there.

With this in mind, you'll understand why fans dislike 343's involvement on the series due to what they've done to the story and setting.

The most noticeable example being the Forerunners, since most of Bungie's games and material had clear hints of what they were going for.

But it's not even just retcons, there's always decisions that make no sense as if 343 is struggling to do something while trying to address fan responses.

343 Halo is also noticeably more story-heavy compared to Bungie.

And let's also not forget what they've done to Cortana (Which i believe is a case of someone looking at the concept of "rampancy" in the Marathon series and poorly copying it; Didn't Bungie themselves had ideas of making Cortana turn evil but they were dropped? Thought i heard that).

Modern Doom does focus on the idea of a universe with lore (Even if just for the sake of nerd appeal) but i also imagine that even the new id Software has second thoughts on some decisions.

It's why i think Doom works as a "blank canvas" where a certain game can simply do things differently just because.

But this "blank canvas" mentallity isn't the case with Halo, so how does one save its worldbuilding?

Well if that trainwreck of a TV show can deviate even further from Halo canon, anything should go including a return to glory... hopefully...

Still, it's clear Bungie intended to end Halo with 3 and 343 only kept the series going because it's essentially the Mario of the Xbox brand.

Art style/aesthetics differences

Both series went through visual changes as well.

Doom definitely "changed skin" more noticeably than Halo, but you'll find more Halo fans unhappy with visual changes than Doom fans.

Again, it's due to lore/story reasons since even the looks are key in the world building of Halo.

Bungie wanted to make Halo somewhat grounded while still sci-fi whereas 343 makes their designs way more detailed and "out of there", until Infinite tried to make it up and attempt to go back to a more familiar style.

There's even fanmade redesigns of 343 designs meant to make them more Bungie-like.

Doom's original art style was always messy and lead to fans have their own interpretations, even if i made a post trying to explain some aspects of it.

And most Doom games are different takes in the series, even if 2016/Eternal forms canon ties to the classic games.

You get the feeling that a Doom game after Eternal might as well play and look very differently but can still offer some stuff to enjoy and if you don't like it: The older games still have that modding legacy.

Meanwhile, it turns out that Kenneth Scott who worked on Quake 3 and Doom 3 (And apparently Hacx) also worked on Halo 4.

Then there's comments about which series is copying which one but i'm sure people will prefer that both stand out in their own hopefully.

If Doom and Halo start to have similarities, it might also be a certain revelation that modern games will have certain aesthetical trends and result in lots of comparisons.

Hell, the idea that companies could use AI art could even adhere to the fact that "sci-fi" and "fantasy" are just vague labels to companies and there's no such thing as more distinct styles or designs.

Samsara and mods

Speaking of FPS crossovers, Doom has its fair share of amazing unofficial ones like the "Smash of retro FPS" that is Samsara and even Quake 3's Generations Arena.

And then there's a franchise mix ups like MetaDoom.

Along with mods that add "original" stuff that extends the setting like Complex Doom and all those Realm667 adjacent projects.

But even Halo has stuff like SPV3 and Halo Legacies.

Sometimes, i feel like these projects could be good use of reference of "what the fans want" even if there's the danger of companies stealing from fans or going after fan projects.

Monopolies and the corporate side of things

There is reason to worry about MS owning more studios and companies.

I'm sure we all know about corporations controlling stuff people like and all.

At least Doom's source code is available and there's a lot fans can still do, but this doesn't apply to all Doom games.

MS had a history of originally buying Doom and then there's the history of the 95 Windows Doom port (And this can also tie to Direct X).

It'll also be strange seeing Xbox fanboys put Doom alongside Halo in their console war attitudes even when it contrasts the established subcultures set by older Doom fans (Not like Eternal didn't already have something like this).

Meanwhile, you also have the story of Bungie making games for Mac and Halo originally being a Mac game before MS bought Bungie and that may've lead to the Halo we know today.

Another thing is Doom's reputation of being a game with various ports in different machines (Officially and otherwise) while Halo is usually XBox and sometimes PC (Though there's the story of that cancelled Nintendo DS game i guess).

What else

How could i forget Marathon? Think of it as a middleground between Doom and Halo.

It's technically a "Doom clone" but it's also a predecessor to Halo.

Despite being a lore heavy series, it's also known for its limited presentation and abstraction.

I've already talked about what i think of the new announced Marathon game.

And the music?

Sure Doom has a lot of great music, (From Bobby, Hodges, Mick, Hulshult, Levy, TNT, Tweaker, even the 3DO port) but let's not forget: Halo had this and it rules:

youtube

Anyway, this post could've been a lot better but if a Youtuber ever makes a "let's talk about Doom and Halo" video, feel free to use this as reference or "food for thought".

#doom #id software #halo #bungie software #crossover #opinions #microsoft #bethesda #343 studios #doomguy #doomslayer #master chief #Youtube #xbox

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galaxacious · 7 months

Text

My comments under the cut:

I wanted to do a chapter that focused on the admin side for a long time (longer than 15 months, heh heh) because surely an organisation like Death Squadron is just lousy with paperwork. You can't tell me that after the Emperor died the entire admin department didn't do lines of space cocaine for a week straight trying to put new systems in place. I imagine Death Squadron's Space IT department is at permanent war with Coruscant's. Lawyers starting fistfights because the entire legal system fell apart overnight and they don't have to use their words anymore. I wanted to do a chapter of characters dealing with that and the more mundane side of things.

"Han adjusted the frequency band on the anderon meter and checked the engine again." - Anderon meters are real machines that measure vibrations. Which I found out after googling the fancy star wars device name I made up. Turns out it's a real thing!

Most of the foods mentioned in Sienna's Great Pastry Heist are real lore according to wookieepedia, except for kriffake mushrooms. I was inspired by shiitake mushrooms.

"I heard there was going to be an Alderaanian player competing, and she was considered one of the favourites." - Inspired by Judit Polgar, my favourite women's chess player and one of if not the greatest women's player of all time. Perhaps best known for beating Garry Kasparov while she was young and forcing him to be less of a dick about women playing chess.

I've had Piett's sister and his brother in law planned out for MONTHS all I want to do is talk about Mavis Piett and her family trying to make it work during the civil war. I love them so so much <3 Does Piett have an in-lore sister? Dunno, don't care. I love Wishful and Frodogenic's versions of her, I wanted to do my own.

"then he’s taking Alsakan for their political support," - Alsakan is a real planet near Coruscant and apparently known for their politics. So this is somewhat lore accurate, for no reason.

“I dream of it, sometimes,” Leia said, “of beings referring to me as General Organa, and it sounds natural. I see different bases and different uniforms in my mind’s eye. I can feel red salt under my fingernails.” - referencing the sequel trilogy. Not the first time Leia's dreamed of it.

"Mon had a speech prepared about nature and nurture that she was quite proud of." - it was ME. I had a speech planned out in my first draft that I could not for the life of me get to flow naturally in the convo. I rewrote that thing like three or four times from the ground up. Conversations are SO HARD.

"Greyvile held the vibroblade out. “Dathomirian steel. Very rare." - Dathomirian steel being a reference to damascus steel. It is SO funny to me to keep giving Piett all these cool blades and watch him lose them before he can use them. Will he do it again? Maybe!

"Death Squadron Conditions of Service part Grek section Eight: Remuneration," - I downloaded declassified aussie military contracts from the 70s to get a baseline of what sounded reasonable to put in a contract. Yes it was way too much effort for two lines of dialogue. No I have not learned my lesson.

"“Did you pass my message along to the Head Bioengineer?” Dampa murmured" - she's trying to buy drugs.

Dampa's speech patterns are based on this Canadian engineer's I enjoy on youtube called AvE, although he turned out to be kind of Shit, but I do like the way he plays with words. I take idioms I hear around (so far down the flute he can't toot a tune, is from a tour guide I heard in a place called Lighting Ridge several years ago. A day late and a dollar/credit short is something I learned researching for another fic also several years ago) and star wars-ify them. Often they come out illegible but that's okay.

"Kirff'll mach-three the air distributor in no time" - shit'll hit the fan.

Picking first names for Venka and Kallic was AGONY I changed my mind SO many times. Tom Venka suits him so well but alas, that's Wishful's name and not canon. But I adore Pico Venka, pico meaning 10^-12 and I think flowing very well with his last name. Alasdair is an old scottish gaelic name meaning "the one who repels men" (in like a war/fighting way) but I like how I used it too >:)

So yeah! A lot of thoughts this chapter. I have the next one planned out, and a few plot points for the one after that, but my main priority now is the last chapter of Galaxy Revolves.

#quadrillion ways to die #ao3 fanfic #ao3 #star wars #firmus piett

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artwithoutblood · 1 year

Note

“it can burn. it can make the viewer pull their eyes out in terror. it can make you vivisect yourself. it can make you do anything, and aeron will sit there and hold your cheek.

erebus witnessed something similar when he first got his eyes. it was only with aeron's "kindness" for the first few years that led erebus to where he is now, calmer while still feeling the tremors, keeping his first and only body alive.”

Ahhh, more lore! Eri tormented by what he sees through his new eyes confirmed.

I would be a bit worried about Aeron’s kindness though. They might hold the sufferers cheek through it all and behave tenderly but given what we know about their ideas of love, is inflicting that suffering in the first place a form of affection and bonding for them?

Despite seeing the parasight as natural are they enjoying what they wrought? Maybe that’s why Erebus is somewhat scared of Aeron yet Aeron dotes on him. Or maybe it’s just that they created him as a demon.

And those strange sights, perhaps that’s why a character (with some resemblance to Aeron) named Delusion is holding Eri’s face while he has bloody eyesockets. He’s literally ‘in the grip’ of Delusion!

Unsure if it’s right after he got the eyes, he injured them himself or they’re being damaged by the input… but he’s still adjusting to them and being deluded visually by things he shouldn’t be seeing. *cough* Cuil

in a way, a long time ago, perhaps aeron was in love with erebus. did they know it? probably not. it's been so long now.

i think it's "erebus holds onto everything" as to why he's still scared of aeron and upset with genesis.

with the parasight, it's important to know (at least at this stage), aeron's route is the only one where there isnt a situation where you aren't actively looking for a cure or a solution. genesis's revolves around solving a murder mystery + swapping your parasight with his tinnitus issue (long story). erebus's has endings where he tries to look for something, even if that's not the focus of either of his routes. aeron acknowledges it, but they stick their fingers in the wound on your arm.

erebus once saw hells he had never known. but he found his love in his art, and they went away. mostly. someone was just happy that erebus found his purpose. when aeron comes to watch erebus's plays, sitting in the audience, it is not out of malice, even if erebus is wary.

erebus will not talk of his sight.

#aeron ask #erebus ask #my fav toxic ship

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heyheyatstarfield · 5 months

Text

My headcanon about Sam

Basically, I prefer a lore-friendly style. So, I don't stray too far away from the original. I just add something I like in between the non-described parts, like details of his character, or his tastes in his private life.

Seems to be an animal lover As for the reaction to Atheles, he appears to love animals. Although I can't understand why I recieved some complaints after choosing Atheles instead of microbe. It seems that the reason he refuses Cora's request for pets is not because he dislikes animals, but because their lifestyle doesn't lend itself to having pets with responsibilities. I wish someone could make a mod that enables petting animals for both the spacefarer and NPCs. It would also be great if there were a mod that brings dogs and cats to Starfield. If it comes true, I will keep foxbats in my husbandry, dogs in the Lodge and watch Sam so happily pets them. (kawaii)

Seems to like keeping things neat and clean Since he tries to change the subject from Lilian to bathroom hygiene, it seems he prefers keeping things clean. His room at the Lodge isn't that messy, and the same likely goes for his room at Jacob's house. There's still a lot of the naughty boy in him, but he seems decent about it.

Seems more attentive than he looks The 3C (or 4A?) levelled curly hair that Cora has requires detangling almost every day; otherwise, her hair gets matted. So, I think Sam would comb her hair as a daily routine until she can do it on her own. Cora might still ask him to do it sometimes. As someone with very straight hair, I haven't experienced this myself, but I can imagine how much work it takes. Apart from that, just imagine Sam combing Cora's hair — it's such a heartwarming sight, isn't it?

Seems doesn't care himself much While there are dumbbells in his room, it seems like he doesn't have enough time to exercise. His body looks less toned when he wears a swimsuit. He takes good care of his beard, but otherwise, he seems to pay less attention to himself than to Cora. Though a maintenance of his beard doesn't seem to demand a significant amount of time and effort. It looks he lets his beard grow as it is and just trims it with clippers, maybe using a 3mm attachment, about twice a week or so.

Scent I remember Cora mentioning that her dad's ship was kind of smelly. However, he doesn't seem like someone who has a strong body odor. I think he wears a very classic masculine perfume, perhaps something like Aramis, with a leathery, musky, and smoky scent. In that case, my spacefarer might not prefer the scent either and could consider offering something more preferable for both of them as a gift.

My thoughts on his night life are in the next section. (It's safe for work.)

My spacefarer had no chance to know that he was bi. Sam can be flirted with regardless of the spacefarer's gender, and his voice actor mentioned that he played Sam as bisexual. So, I already knew that he was bi before I played that part of the game. But my spacefarers wouldn't know that just from his dialogue. Sam has an ex-wife and a daughter, and his confession mainly revolves around his ex. Barret is similar in this respect; he only talks about his late husband. Although Barret awkwardly tried to hit on the spacefarer on the ending of his personal quest. Since bisexuality of romantically involved NPCs is a common thing in many games, the development team may have felt that it was not necessary to mention it in the game. However, I think it would be more immersive if Sam or Barret were given the opportunities to subtly imply their bisexuality to the spacefarer, if their feelings were somewhat mutual (in game-wise, if the affinity level were enough). Nevertheless, I can assume that Sam has had various naughty experiences, including indulging in aurora, during his days of partying hard with his smuggler master. This means that the possibilities of Sam's sexual preferences are infinite.

Since he prefers cleaness (or, so I believe)... To engage in intimate relations between men requires careful preparation and aftercare to prevent any issues. You can't have it the moment you want it. As mentioned earlier, he appears attentive but less focused on self-care. Both the preparation and aftercare aspects would likely feel tiresome to him, and he wouldn't be inclined to use an unprepared space. Consequently, although he may enjoy both giving and receiving, I suspect he wouldn't engage in such activities very frequently. If there were advanced devices capable of swiftly cleaning, sanitizing, and preparing the spot and be safe to use, he would enjoy it more often, but the world of Starfield seems unlikely. Because, for instance, it has only very antiquated toilets without even electric bidet seats. Despite being a highly energetic individual, I believe Sam would find greater satisfaction in intimate connections with men through a sense of peace of mind or spiritual bonding rather than direct sexual experiences. I will explain this in the next section.

He may try to find his ideal father in his male partner With Sam taking every opportunity to speak ill of his father, Jacob's existence is of great importance to him, whether he likes it or not. Deep down, he can't hate Jacob completely and wants to make peace with him. But at the same time he knows that Jacob would never change the way he is, and neither would he, and he still suffers from flashbacks to the bitter memories of his youth. So, I believe he would be drawn to someone who listens to him, accepts him as he is, spoiles or guides him sometimes and provides comfort, which might include non-platonic forms of intimacy. Physical intimacy doesn't always have to involve penetration for him; what's most important is the emotional connection and support which Jacob never could show him.

His taste in women is unclear for me As he seems mildly possessive, and as energetic as he can easily be for 4 rounds, he is the type of person who wants to stay with his love all the time, regardless of gender. I can understand that he can't be patient with Lilian's lack of motherhood and that he wants the spacefarer to treat him and Cora well as a full package. However, I don't think he expects his beloved to be a typical mother type. If he were, he wouldn't be a partner for the woman who lives such an intense, distinguished lifestyle. Besides, he didn't have much time to know motherhood well enough to ask for it from a woman he loves, so he wouldn't expect it the way he expects fatherhood from a man. And, as far as I can tell from Lilian's looks, he likes a good-looking one. One more thing, and this is just my personal opinion, he may be obsessed with women's breasts. Not for their size, but for their touch and warmth.

About Lilian He repeatedly said that his relationship with her was an event, that it just happened. I can imagine a beauty appearing out of nowhere to rescue me when I'm in a mess, saying, 'I've seen something in you; why don't you come with me?' I'd follow her no matter what. As for Lilian, I can also picture her stumbling upon a soaked, wet puppy on a stormy night. She couldn't help but pick him up, take him home, and care for him. However, it later turned out that he was a Weimaraner, raised in poverty of love, not an obedient Labrador Retriever. Naturally, it's challenging for her to provide him with more than enough affection to be tamed. After all, she is also a fierce hound, raised and living in a very different environment. It's not surprising that they didn't get along well together.

I haven't thought much about the details of what he would be like in bed, so I'll write it down another time. I have seen some amazing articles that he plays dom. I almost agree with them, but he doesn't strike me as the theatrical type. If he tries to pretend to be a pompous master, he might burst out laughing in the middle, and the spacefarer would join in the laughter amusingly. (kawaii) I'm not sure how he manages to leave bruises during the night, and I can only assume that he plays in a kind of natural and sweet way.

#starfield sam coe #starfield headcanon

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