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bluecheeseinmyoffwhites · 1 year ago

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Hello, saw your posts about RWBY Characters' Allusions. A question, does team rwby have another character allusion?

A lot of characters have more than one allusion, and team RWBY is no different. These allusions often have a character fill a complementary role of a significant figure in another fairy tale.

Let's start with Ruby Rose. She is of course Little Red, but there are also other characters she embodies. The Wolf in the story is known for his big & shiny eyes, a very notable feature of Ruby (that was pointed out by Ozpin in the first episode, just like the fairy tale). She is also her own huntsman, equip with an "axe" weapon of her own.

Weiss Schnee is Snow White, but also takes other roles of the story based on her summons. Her Boartusk represents the huntsman, who killed a boar to spare the princess. Her Knight represents the noble prince who saves her. Her Queen Lancer represents the Evil Queen who plagues her. Weiss seems to take after the Evil Queen the most, with her friends often referring to her as "Ice Queen".

After reading those first two, you can probably now understand why Blake is based on both Beauty & the Beast. She has Belle's beauty, part of her name, her love for books, her relationship to "Adam" and her tendency to run away. But like the Beast, she has animal traits that she hides, is haunted by a rose, prefers living in isolation, and eventually falls in love with a human girl. She is often seen in Forever Fall, a forest with wilting red flowers, representing the wilting rose that curses the Beast.

Yang is Goldilocks with her destructive nature & yellow hair, but can also be seen as Baby Bear, the child of the Papa (Taiyang, blue eyes) & Mama (Raven, red eyes), resulting in Yang being a mix of both (purple eyes). Each parent compares Yang to the other, and she learns to embrace the good and bad traits of both in order to become "just right".

The tale of Rose Red & Snow White, two young girls based on Little Red & Snow White, can be the inspiration for the partnership between Ruby & Weiss. The two were sisters, which is represented by the ever-growing bond between Ruby & Weiss. Weiss's fairy tale, Snow White, could also be the reason for Ruby's theme, Red Like Roses, which is how the Evil Queen described how red she wants her lips in the original tale (in some stories she compares it to blood in the snow, both line up perfectly with the Red Trailer & Players & Pieces).

Weiss also represents the story of the Snow Queen. She is called Ice Queen. She has a male companion (Kai/Whitley) who is cold, distant, & rude. She sets off to find the Snow Queen (Winter) in V5, during her trip she meets a talking corvid (Raven) & a robber maiden (Vernal). Weiss also gets pierced by evil glass like Gerda.

Gerda’s most cherished memories is being young playing in the rose gardens with her friend. They shared many happy memories here. This rose garden takes the embodiment of Ruby Rose, who befriends Weiss & takes her on adventures. Weiss reminisces about Ruby in V4 after the attack on Beacon, missing the days when they had fun together. A frozen rose garden is seen in Weiss Character Short, representing her longing for Ruby (innocence, fun, freedom).

Blake & Yang have so many allusions when it comes to their relationship. Start with Beauty and Beast. Blake already shows traits of both Belle & the Beast, but Yang does as well. Her affiliation with yellow, adventure, bright energy, & beauty is reminiscent of Belle. The Red Trailer even directly ties her with Blake, calling her the beauty to her beast. Yet Yang also displays signs of the Beast, most notably her behavior when she is angry. She sparks fire red eyes similar to the monstrous Grimm they fight, and is the most aggressive fighter of the group. She receives an injury on her arm identical to the Beast. Most importantly, she is abandoned by Beauty in V3. This theme of having similar & different traits within one another ties into another dynamic that will be explained later.

There are two roses that bring them together. They meet through Ruby, the good rose Yang gives to Blake. Adam is the bad rose that Blake tries to keep away from Yang, but he breaks them. Adam starts off as the Beast (Adam) to Blake’s Beauty. Once she leaves him (like the fairy tale) he then embodies the Rose that haunts her. Once he meets Blake’s new partner, he then becomes Gaston & adopts his jealousy. Once Blake & Yang defeat him, they free themselves from the curse and come back to the Good Rose.

Blake & Yang also represent the Yin & Yang dynamic. We have the darkness (Blake) and the light (Yang), with a little bit of each other in each (matching eyes). Many cultures depict Yin as a tiger (Blake's cat ears) and Yang as a dragon (Xiao Long). The themes of darkness and light has been associated with Blake & Yang since their trailers. Blake engulfs in darkness when she leaves, while Yang brings light when she enters (kind of like their semblances). Scenes with Blake & Yang play with lighting a lot (2x06, 6x01, 9x06), and fights involving them often have them circling around each other or moving across each other, just like the Yin Yang Symbol.

Team RWBY as a whole also has references. One commonly known reference is the Wizard of Oz crew, with Ruby acting as Dorothy (who had Ruby/Silver slippers). Weiss is the Tin Man who gains heart while the real one loses it (Ironwood), Blake is the Lion who gains courage while the real one loses it (Lionheart), and Yang is the Scarecrow who learns to fight smarter while the real one acts irrationally (Qrow). These four adventurers set off to Beacon (Land of Oz), meet the Wizard (Ozpin), and get their wishes (graduating). They are told to stay on the Yellow Road, but fail.

The team's respective Remnants also allude to their fairy tales. Ruby sheds roses, representing her red color scheme, her youthful innocence, and the flowers Little Red picks for her grandmother. Weiss sheds snow, representing her white color scheme, her cold attitude, and Snowhite's soft skin that gave her the name. Blake sheds shadows, representing her black color scheme, her dark personality and background, and the Beast condemned to the shadows. Yang sheds fire, representing her yellow color scheme, her bright but scorching personality, and the porridge Goldilocks claimed was "too hot".

Ruby represents multiple figures from others characters’ allusions. Penny is based on Pinocchio, who wishes on a Shooting Star to be a real human. Ruby, who is often characterized as a small flickering light (literally & figuratively) she represents the star that Penny wishes for & makes her feel human (literally & figuratively).

2x07 Dance Dance Infiltration is a retelling of the Cinderella story. The maiden is told she needs to return by midnight, puts on a disguise, & goes off. Ruby tracks her, Cinderella enters the stage, the two dance, and she leaves without a trace. Ruby in this case represents the Prince that wants to find the mysterious maiden he danced with the night before. His only clue was her missing glass slipper. Cinder fights with glass, a point Ruby reports to her professors as information to track her down.

There's a lot more micro references to other fairy tales but these are the most notable for Team RWBY. These references influence how a character is portrayed, how they interact with others, and the actions they take.

#rwby #ruby rose #weiss schnee #blake belladonna #yang xiao long #team rwby #whiterose #bumbleby #rwby allusions #rwby meta #rwby analysis #greenlight volume 10 #ask blue

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wanderingmind867 · 5 months ago

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Here's my ideas for a Season 4 of Batman 1966: Season Four would get 70-80 episodes, max. I realize I didn't use Catwoman that much, but it wasn't intentional. So forgive me for that one. I did get a lot of Riddler, Penguin, Joker and Bookworm in here, though.

Episodes 1 and 2: Batman and Robin encounter The Riddler, who's dealing with a severe sense of outrage. A popular gotham city tv show has taken to mocking him lately (treating his laughter and his riddles like a joke), and he is not going to take that kind of talk lying down. He's hijacked the TV station, and he's now planning a dramatic variety show revue.

But all is not merely as simple as a case of airwave piracy. No, The Riddler is also doing a telethon to get people to vote on the fate of the Dynamic Duo. Death by electricity? Death by axe? C'mon people, vote now! And the question on every honest citizen's lips is: how are batman and robin going to escape now!?

Episodes 3 and 4: A story involving The Joker (as played by Cesar Romero). Angry that Batman and Robin managed to catch up to him via their Batmobile, he pulls a fake burglary to trap them and steal their priceless getaway car. He then rebuilds it and modifies it to suit his purposes, letting it become a bonafide Jokermobile! Thankfully, Batman and Robin escape (and have a backup, old model batmobile in their Batcave). So now it's an all out drag race between Joker and Batman!

Episodes 5 and 6: A story featuring The Penguin (Burgess Meredith), this time as he seeks to acquire the proper social standing amongst gotham's elite. This might be the first episode where i'd touch on penguin's backstory (that of the heir to an old money family who lost everything years ago). In his quest to prove himself worthy of idolization and of palatial mansions, he ends up trying to rob from all the other millionaires in Gotham. Naturally this eventually ends up leading him to Wayne Manor, where he almost ends up discovering the batcave.

Episodes 7 and 8: Introducing Signalman to the world of Batman '66! Signalman uses his gimmicks to try and trap Batman and Robin, while stealing as many symbols of good fortune as he possibly can. He eventually tries to tie them to the bat-signal at police headquarters, but they still escape and manage to end his patterns of crime.

Episodes 9 and 10: A Batgirl solo saga, focusing on her and her new partner (who she meets in this episode): Jason Bard. Her and Jason end up on the case of Louie the Lilac, who's running an illegal smuggling ring out of flower shops all across gotham. So while Barbara Gordon and Jason Bard begin dating, Batgirl and Jason end up wrapped in the mystery of Louie the Lilac's smuggling scheme.

Episodes 11 and 12: Batman and Robin are preparing to leave for Ivy Town to go see a research seminar, but they're held up by The Bookworm and his criminal gang, who planned to rob Gotham City of a priceless manuscript stored deep within Gotham City Hall. Only the dynamic duo can stop this marvelous mastermind before it's too late!

Episode 13: While Batman and Robin are busy travelling to Ivy Town, Jason Bard ends up hired to protect Miss Harriet Cooper from danger. She's helping organize a Gotham City Policeman's Ball, and she's afraid that all the attention is putting her in danger.

Meanwhile, Barbara Gordon is investigating the same mystery as Batgirl, trying to make sure that her parents aren't hurt in any way either. Batgirl and Jason end up running into each other again, and they decide to team up to protect the policeman's ball (with Batman and Robin away, consider them gotham's new defenders)!

In the end, these two tough investigators find the real crook behind this scheme: Catwoman! The strangest thing happens, though: since Jason and Barbara split up to search seperate areas of the auditorium, they both saw different Catwomen. Batgirl sees the Eartha Kitt one, while Jason Bard sees the Lee Meriwether one. And since both Catwomen successfully escape, Batgirl and Jason are left even more puzzled than ever. And if you're puzzled too, don't worry: the riddle of the three Catwomen will be answered at some later date.

Episodes 14 and 15: Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson arrive in Ivy Town for the Ivy Town University lecture. It's in this episode that we'd learn about Dick now being in his last year of high school (which is partially why him and bruce have come to visit universities together). At Ivy Town university, Bruce and Dick wind up running into Ray Palmer and Jean Loring (neither of them guessing that Ray Palmer is Batman's fellow JLA member, The Atom).

But at the Ivy Town seminar, the university's clocktower and accompanying bell both go off in a supersonic wave, causing mass hysteria and panic. A panic which some thieves use as cover under which to steal the university's many rare and valuable artifacts.

The people of Ivy Town are quick to blame the supervillian Chronos for this disaster, but it turns out that he's still in the Ivy Town penitentiary. The police check, and he says that he was framed! By who and for what purpose, none can say. But Jean Loring is reluctantly resigned to defending him in court. Meanwhile, Batman and Robin do some investigating of their own. And eventually, the truth comes to light: The true criminal was The Clock King! He sprung himself from jail back in England, and he was all set to make his grand return to supervilliany! How was he to know Batman and Robin would show up again!?

So the Clock King is sent back to jail, and The Atom never had to lift a finger to help Batman and Robin (which is great for the show, since they'd never have had enough effects to make The Atom work). But a scene at the very end of the episode hints at The Clock King working for someone else, and that this isn't the end of the dynamic duo's troubles…

Episode 16: While Batman and Robin are off in Ivy Town, Batgirl and Jason Bard run into Cluemaster (John Astin), a strange new villian who seems to have an odd vendetta against The Riddler. Although The Riddler doesn't actually show up in this episode (beyond maybe a cameo from Frank Gorshin in the last scene of the episode), we learn that Cluemaster is a minor villain who's always held a grudge. He wants to take the title of world's biggest riddle/clue/puzzle themed supervillian away from The Riddler!

They both have different backgrounds: The Riddler was a former GCPD officer who snapped after being constantly bullied for his mental issues and weird habits; while Cluemaster was a game show host who ended up going mocking a contestant on his show to an almost traumatic extent one day, and thus had his show cancelled and his career ruined. But as kids, both these men admired The original master of crime: The Puzzler. And now Cluemaster is trying to prove he's closer to The Puzzler than The Riddler ever was. And now it lies on Batgirl and Jason Bard's shoulders to stop him.

Episodes 17 and 18: Batman and Robin return to Gotham, just in time for a late september scheme hatched by Egghead, that diabolical master of eggs-pert larceny! Batman and Robin need to enlist the end of Batgirl and Jason Bard just to get him to be defeated before he commits the greatest crime of our time and era!

Episodes 19 and 20: Batman and Robin team up with Batgirl to deal with Simon the Pieman (Jonathan Winters), a bizarre criminal with a baking motif who's planning to get vengeance on all the people who criticized his bakery over the years. Can this trio defeat him and his diabolical desserts before it's too late!?

Episodes 21, 22 and 23: This story would be used to address the three catwomen and three mister freezes. The three Mister Freezes are all different men sharing the same name, but they all hate how batman has fouled up their schemes. So they trick Batman, Robin and Batgirl into a devious trap. Catwoman I (Julie Newmar) leads Batman into a trap by Mister Freeze I (George Sanders). Meanwhile, Robin and Batgirl are tricked by Catwoman III (Eartha Kitt) into being trapped by Mister Freeze II (Otto Preminger). And so by the time the three freezes have congregated, they betray the catwomen. And then it's six against three for the last story in our set.

Episodes 24 and 25: In the brisk early October air, False Face steals a new chemical designed to make a human being shapeshift. But one of his men steals it away from him! Matt Hagen (Rich Little), a greedy henchmen of the dastardly False Face, uses the machine and turns himself into a hideous being made of Clay! Remembering the case of an old villian Batman tangled with named Clayface, Matt Hagen decides to embrace his evil side and become Clayface the second!

Episodes 26 and 27: Batman, Robin and Batgirl all end up tangling with The Scarecrow (Anthony Perkins) on Halloween Night! A washed up former psychology teacher with a love for fear, Jonathan Crane has come to haunt Gotham as the one and only Scarecrow!

Episodes 28 and 29: Batman and Robin tangle with Blockbuster (Richard Kiel), a menace who's too mindless to actually mean any harm to anyone or anything. He's being used by his mad scientist brother Roland, but the dynamic duo don't figure that out until it's nearly too late…

Episodes 30 and 31: While hosting a Gotham City Beauty Contest to mark the beginning of November and the subsequent colder season, Batman, Robin and Batgirl tangle with Poison Ivy (Ann Margret), that powerful sorceress of seduction! Using her brilliant botanical wisdom, she snares all three of them inside of a horrible death trap. But they manage to escape, and successfully bring her to Justice.

Episodes 32 and 33: Batman and Robin deal with the Polka Dot Man (Paul Lynde), a bizarre new criminal capable of using polka dots as tools for committing new crimes to bedevil and beguile the people of Gotham City!

Episodes 34 and 35: Marsha, Queen of Diamonds returns to Gotham City, yet again seeking to obtain the Bat-Diamond from the Batcave. This episode would actually show her succeeding, however. Yes, she seemingly manages to steal the Bat-Diamond at the end of part one of this episode. But then she goes to examine it at her headquarters, and she finds out it's actually a fake! An impressively well put together fake, but a fake nonetheless! So once more, the Dynamic Duo have outsmarted the Queen of Diamonds and her witch of an aunt!

Episodes 36 and 37: Batman and Batgirl have to work together to fight off a mad team up of The Penguin and The Riddler. Robin is sick with the flu, so he's unable to help them. So it's up to Batman and Batgirl to save the day this time around!

Episodes 38 and 39: Batman, Robin and Batgirl deal with a counterfeiting ring run by a man named Senor Rekoj. Little do they suspect that Mr. Rekoj is actually Joker in surprise, since he's cunningly convinced the whole city he runs a beautiful charity. And now he's planning the biggest practical joke of the century: he's going to frame the terrific trio and blame them when his counterfeiting scheme comes to light. They still manage to stop him, of course. But he very successfully damages their public perception.

It's also an excuse for me to finally see Cesar Romero star on Batman without his makeup. Because, yes, Senor Rekoj is just Cesar Romero without any of his Joker makeup.

Episodes 40 and 41: A Christmas Special, featuring a series of Christmas Capers pulled off by The Riddler! Batman, Robin, Batgirl and Jason Bard all have to team up to defeat the foe this time. The Riddler is the one leading this scheme, but he's mostly breaking in a new tradition i'd want the show to have: Christmas episodes. And plenty of them. One every year, so we can have as many villians as possible trying to ruin Christmas.

But for this debut christmas special (where our four heroes face off against The Riddler and his men), the Mall Santa who's introduced at the beginning of the episode ends up helping to save the day. And in the end, it's left rather unclear if the mall santa was just a mall santa, or if they were the real santa all along…

Episodes 42, 43 and 44: Batman is challenged by his most dastardly foes yet; a terrible trio of crooks from Gotham's distant past! The Eraser, The Getaway Genius and Killer Moth! Batman hasn't tangled with them in years, not since the days of… Batwoman. Back when Robin was younger (a few years before the show started), Kathy Kane was a rich socialite who teamed up with Batman to fight crime. But she retired after an awful case involving Killer Moth. Yet now, she may be Gotham's only hope for surviving the Triumvirate's terror!

Episodes 45 and 46: Batman was set on edge by the Triumvirate (and by Batwoman's return), so he's gone on a brief vacation to the countryside to try and clear his head. While he's off on vacation, two different teams have to protect Gotham from ill will. Robin and Batwoman are who we're gonna focus on first. While Batman's away, they end up having to deal with Doctor Double-X, a horrible foe from years past, capable of creating duplicates of himself to fight his battles for him!

Episodes 47 and 48: Batgirl and Jason Bard end up having to deal with a new scheme by two of gotham's worst criminals: The Bookworm and Mister Camera (Tony Randall). They've started a dual crime wave, wherein Mister Camera delegitimizes the Gotham City Police Force, allowing Bookworm to run wild and free throughout Gotham. Batgirl insists on taking up this case solo, as it involves people trying to frame her father (something she can't stand for). And Jason Bard is dragged into it because he's been hired to investigate it.

Episode 49 and 50: Batman was off on vacation in the countryside just outside Gotham, when he accidentally ends up getting snared in a trap set by Olga, Queen of the Cossacks! She's moved on from Batman and Egghead, however. Yes, now she's partners with Catman, a big game hunter who lives for the thrill of the hunt. Catman appeals to Olga's warrior nature, and so they make a delightful team.

Catman and Olga prepare a death trap for Batman involving a fight with a massive tiger in a steep pit, but shockingly, Catwoman (Julie Newmar) comes to his rescue. Not for any altruistic reason, but mainly because she has a personal grudge against Catman. All three Catwomen hate him, and he hates them in kind. So this is really just an alliance of mutual benefit. Batman gets to deal with Olga, while Catwoman takes down Catman.

In the end, Olga and Catman are delivered to the authorities, but Catwoman successfully escapes. Which probably means this isn't the last time we'll see her (or one of her other two "partners" before the season is out).

Episodes 51 and 52: Robin and Batwoman team up to fight against Shame and his wife Calamity Jan. They've assembled a giant underground railroad system, and they plan to use it to tunnel into all the banks in Gotham! Can Batwoman and Robin clue in to their scheme in time?

Episodes 53 and 54: Batman comes back to Gotham just in time to learn of a new scheme being hatched by The Penguin, that crooked bird of crime. Frustrated and upset that his schemes on land have all been failing, Penguin has decided to turn to the high seas, running a piracy operation just outside of gotham's territorial waters. Batman, Robin and Batgirl have to stop him, before he can become the world's biggest pirate since Blackbeard or Captain Kidd!

Episodes 55 and 56: The Joker and Simon the Pieman team up to bring bizarre chaos to Gotham City; using elaborate cakes as weapons of destruction. Batman, Robin and Batgirl have to team up to solve the motive behind their mysterious and completely illogical crimes, before it's too late…

Episodes 57 and 58: Batman and Robin end up dealing with a new scheme by The Riddler, that prince of puzzlers himself. He's hatched a new mad scheme, and only Batman and Robin can stop him from bringing it to fruition. It all involves riddles in the form of morse code, to present the dynamic duo with an extra difficult new challenge.

Episodes 59 and 60: Batman, Robin and Batgirl have to handle a new crime wave by Catwoman. She leads our terrific trio on a mad chase all throughout the city, as she's hunting for a hidden cat's eye ruby apparently buried somewhere underneath Gotham City. A harmless enough crime, one would think. But as the hunt for Catwoman continues, it becomes clear she's willing to do anything to get her hands on this statue. Anything.

Episodes 61 and 62: A new TV show is airing in cities across the nation. A show about "The Black Knight", a violent and brooding vigilante who punishes criminals with his sword of darkness. Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson watch it with Aunt Harriet one night, and they're appalled. Bruce and Dick are also shocked though, since the villians of the show appear to be modelled after Commissioner Gordon and Chief O'Hara.

Batman and Robin go to investigate the show, but they're trapped by the criminals behind the whole thing: Clayface and False Face. They were using the show's violent themes to promote a culture of violence citywide, and then they'd use their powers of disguise to instigate riots amongst the people of Gotham. The Black Knight would usurp Gotham's Caped Crusader in popularity, and then the city would be theirs for the taking! But unfortunately Batman and Robin found them out, and now all their schemes have come to naught.

Episodes 63 and 64: Batman, Robin, Batgirl and Jason Bard team up to fight off a gang war between Louie the Lilac and Poison Ivy. It turns out these two have some really personal grudges against each other, and Ivy clearly wants this man off her turf. So this tense standoff has to be resolved by our four heroes, before anything else goes disastrously wrong.

Episodes 65, 66 and 67: Batman has to go up against The Riddler, Cluemaster and The Puzzler, all of whom have gone on the attack against each other. There can only be one king of puzzles/riddles/clues, and they won't stop until one of them has successfully defeated the other!

Episodes 68 and 69: While Batman deals with the three puzzling champions, Batgirl and Robin end up fighting against The Bookworm and Scarecrow, both of whom have teamed up to try and steal some rare manuscripts for old time classic horror novels. It might be in this story that we get the first hints that robin is beginning to feel stifled by batman's authority. He wants to fly somewhat independently. To prove himself to Batman.

Episodes 70 and 71: Batman and Robin have to defeat The Joker, when he decides to challenge them to a game of wits. He commits crimes using the gimmicks of other criminals, and thusly tries to lure them off his trail. It almost works, until Batman and Robin finally get wise to the scheme.

Episodes 72 and 73: Batman and Robin have to deal with the one thing they never expected: The Penguin successfully seduces Aunt Harriet. She falls in love with him, and Penguin begins using this to try and capture a piece of the Wayne fortune. Batman and Robin have to somehow find a way to stop him, but how? When he's so close to their home ground, how can they possibly stop him!?

Episodes 74 and 75: Batman and Robin have to deal with King Tut, who's once again relapsed into his horrible criminal ways. He plans to flood Gotham City with sand, to finally bring the beautiful desert of thebes back to him. A pharaoh needs a home. And by Ra, he will make Gotham his new home!

After this, Season Four ends. Then we'd have the two animated movies (The Return of the Caped Crusaders and Batman vs Two-Face), and we'd also have the third movie which we were promised but which Adam West died before he could film (we were teased a film project with Harley Quinn, according to the Batman vs Two Face wikipedia page). So we'd have the Harley Quinn story (which might also feature Hugo Strange), and then we'd move into Season Five, where we'd introduce the League of Assassins. And after their story, I might consider having Dick Grayson leave for college. Because I want a pre-crisis Jason Todd in this show eventually, and I will reluctantly have Dick Grayson begin taking a more supporting role in order to get to that. But so far, i'm pretty happy with what i have here.

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in-love-with-the-snake-sannin · 2 months ago

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Foreword/Blog Introduction

Orochimaru has been living rent free in my head since his manga debut over 20 years ago. My family and FB/IG friends are over it, so I figured I’d make a page to dump all my memes/edits, photos, blurbs & thoughts, and occasional artwork dedicated to the man himself.

🐍 Canon Orochimaru.

I prefer canon Orochimaru to fanon depictions & HCs that tend to make him either a woobified babygirl, sadistic lecher, or p3d0. Obviously.

🐍 I prefer OG Orochimaru to Next Gen Orochimaru.

OG manga Oro > OG anime Oro > NG anime Oro > NG manga Oro. You won’t find too much Boruto-era soccer mom MILF Orochimaru on here.

🐍 I do not ship Orochimaru with anyone.

However, I have no preference as far as his sexual orientation and I don’t mind any ships that keep him mostly canon and don’t involve underage partners and/or extreme coercion and/or non-con.

I may occasionally reblog or share posts that feature him in various ships simply because I like the art/story/HC.

I usually prefer top/dom Orochimaru as I think his pride/ego and need for power/control would get in the way of his ability to enjoy being a bottom/sub. However, I don’t have a strict preference.

🐍 I am anti-Boruto/Next Gen (for the most part).

I don’t really acknowledge Next Gen (or even the ending of Shippuden). I don’t like the direction they took as a whole nor the forced character progression and complete butchering of Orochimaru‘s entire character. I don’t like Ikemoto’s art style (the same face syndrome is ridiculous) and I think the anime illustration is too wildly inconsistent (and often just plain terrible).

However, I like Log and Mitsuki. I don’t think it’s a stretch that Orochimaru would be a good father…most ENTPs make great parents. As long as he can restrain his Machiavellian and slightly narcissistic tendencies, I think he has all the other qualities that make for raising an adjusted child.

I also like the dynamic between Orochimaru and his subordinates, especially Suigetsu.

🐍 I consider Orochimaru a man

Since I don’t really acknowledge Boruto-era/Next Gen. I consider Orochimaru a man. Not only does he consistently use he/him pronouns for himself throughout the series, everyone else does as well. He very deliberately proclaims that he’s a man several times (and even gets offended/angry in SD when they jokingly question it due to his asexuality). Several characters even make various comedic references to his ‘big snake’ in the spin-offs.

I don’t care what pronouns you use for him. I won’t correct you; you don’t correct me.

🐍 I won’t tolerate blatant Orochimaru slander

If you don’t like the character, cool. If you like/dislike certain versions of him or certain ships, I literally couldn’t care less. Just don’t bring toxicity to my page.

If you would like to have a civil debate or philosophical discussion regarding his character, I’m always down for that. However, as soon as it becomes juvenile (especially name calling), redundant, or overly defensive, I’m out. I don’t like pretentious grandiloquence or circumlocution, so keep that in mind.

I am often a bit pedantic in an innocent way, so just bear with me.

🐍 I don’t consider Orochimaru evil

Even at his worst he was on the darker side of chaotic neutral. Yes, I can back this up (veteran D&D player since 1996). I’ve noticed that people really don’t seem to understand the alignment axes (or the characters). Chaotic Neutral is not synonymous with ‘crazy’. You need to examine each axis (order/neutrality/chaos & good/neutrality/evil)…each alignment is a bit of a spectrum in and of itself. Smh.

Open to debates/discussions on this as well.

#orochimaru #大蛇丸 #大蛇丸様

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softantlers · 3 months ago

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I agree heavily with your take on Lottie but also has she been truly wrong yet? Like it wasn’t ideal but they’d be in HUGE trouble for what they did to Ben, Nat most of all. And now rescue will likely be looking for the scientists, which gives them time to clean up any evidence beforehand. She highkey saved their asses whether they like it or not.

yes, good points! i think the whole deal with lottie is method over practice. clearly, the YJs were willing to kill the froggers, right? like shauna said that thing about being rescued without leaving witnesses. obv the surviving froggers witnessed lottie axing that dude down but they also witnessed ben's head on a goddamn platter.

the thing of it is... lottie just acted. it is highkey very possible that if they had trapped the froggers and all come together, they might have come to the conclusion (as democratically as their fucked up dynamics allow) to kill them to avoid witnesses. on the other hand, they might not have killed them, or even worse, let them get away. so really the only options were... kill them. or risk a potentially worse fate in the outside world when the stuff about ben came to light.

the betrayal of it all is that lottie didn't let the group come to those decisions. she actually has no regard for what the group decides, and i think it's such a profound part of her character. (like with knocking the ben execution sideways despite the vote.) lottie acts very instinctually based on a certainty that she is correct. she exerts a paternalism over the other girls and their decisions because she fucking loves them. is it okay to take away people's autonomy, even if it will lead to their undoing? no. but i think that's like a principle feature of lottie matthews.

she loves akilah. she loves travis. she loves nat. she loves shauna. and in various ways, she hurts them because she thinks she knows best and she feels that she's serving them better than they can serve themselves by controlling and manipulating situations. that's all very meta, but i also don't even know that lottie has a conscious thought process about this. it's embedded in the way she operates. that's why the axing happened so fucking fast imo.

like i will never imagine her as purely evil because she's so much more complicated than that. (and you're right, she actually wasn't wrong logistically lmao, but it's still going to ruin her teammates. oh lottie.)

#lottie matthews #yellowjackets spoilers #yellowjackets meta #asks #lottie pinned post

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voidandabyssal · 2 years ago

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Okay, hoping this is allowed. In regards to Below the Ice, how do you think some of the other Sans' would react to Reader in the same situation? Say Red, Blue, Axe, or Dior? You don't have to answer for all of these if you don't feel like it!

Of course this is allowed! Such a good idea. Hopefully I read this right lol

Red:

Reds more aggressive than Sans. He's not an Orca Siren but a Bull shark Siren. Not exactly known for being cold and calculating. There's definitely more murder attempts, Red is also far more successful at killing off Readers co-workers. This is probably set off the coast of coast of mexico, lots of bull sharks and bull shark sirens congregate there.

He's also more openly flirty though, he's more aware of his feelings to reader than Sans is and he's not shy about checking you out ;)))

Initially, he thinks your just like the other scientists. Dumb, easily manipulatable and an easy meal. You quickly prove him wrong when you successfully manage to trap him under some falling rocks.

Boy does Red love a strong and smart partner. Something about being capable enough to take down an apex predator like him just does it for him.

The two of you get closer once he's under captivity, which is in this au, not for evil science purposes but more so for everyone's (including reds, safety). Once you're on more equal power dynamics you find him to be quite funny and charming when he needs to be.

He's pretty touchy as well, not to the point of it being uncomfortable. He just likes play fighting with you, or just holding onto you.

Blue:

He's a Dolphin Siren! you initially meet him when your scuba diving taking coral samples. He's friendly and inquisitive and all too helpful. Your other colleagues are jealous he approached you this time. Similar to Red, this doesn't take place in the arctic but instead somewhere off the coast of Australia, maybe the Great Barrier Reef.

Yeah, he's definitely known around the area for how kind he is. Tons of youtube videos have gone viral featuring him helping fishermen, scuba divers and even lost swimmers.

ngl, this is probably the best start to your relationship compared to any of the other boys

He often swims circles around you, trying to draw you from your work to play with him, solve puzzles and even tries to get you to meet his brother. Sometimes you relent, sometimes you don't, though you do build a strong friendship.

You fall first but he falls harder.

It just hits him one day. You and him are out swimming, you collecting important marine data and him following you around with a strange stirring in his soul that he can't quite place.

When he sees you helping a small fish out of a plastic bottle. That's when it hits him. He loves you. You're perfect

Axe:

hhrrrrrrgggg pretty human,,,,,,

eyes wide, jaw dropped, STARING,,,,

you first meet when you're out late night fishing. You had been warned of a Giant Pacific Octopus Siren that had recently started inhabiting the area but what did they know??? Certainly not more than you! You'd been fishing round these parts since you were a baby!

"....HOLY SHIT!" is what you screech out, dropping your fishing rod when you see Axe's bright red eye-light looking up from the murky deep.

Yeah you turn right back around and don't come back. Much to Axe's disappointment. Luckily for him, and unluckily for you, he has very long, very powerful tentacles that he uses to pull you into the water with him.

He doesn't drag you under of course, he's smart enough to figure out that you really don't like that.

He's already designated you his mate. Sorry, pal, you're just going to have to make do with the giant octopus Siren cuddling up to you now.

He does let you go eventually, though you do have to repeatedly promise him that you'll come back.

And you do, afraid that he'll come chase you down. Eventually it does come to be a mutually loving relationship, it just takes a little time.

Dior (lusttale Sans):

This time you're the one approaching him. You're a famous wildlife photographer and you have been craving that perfect, career making picture; and you know who you have to photograph.

Dior, a famous lionfish Siren, known for his striking beauty and his charming friendliness to everyone. He proves to be rather elusive. Hard to find, rarely ever in one spot as he's surrounded by many Siren admirers. But you're determined!

finally, after days of bashing up against sharp corals in your search, you find him! Dozing off on a large rock formation. You're steadying yourself for the perfect picture when you notice a much larger Siren sneaking up on Dior, teeth bared and claws sharpened.

"Look out!" You say, or at least try to say through all the bubbles. Dior does manage to wake up though, and quickly pokes the attacker with one of his many poisonous spines.

He thanks you, deciding to pose for you in thanks for you saving him.

When you leave, he assumes you'll never come back. He's too used to people leaving once they've gotten what they want out of him.

He's pleasantly surprised when you come back, without the camera, just wanting to know more about the beautiful but distant Siren.

He doesn't mean to fall as fast and as hard as he does, but being around someone so genuine is such a nice shock to his system he just can't help but fall for your smile.

#hhrrrrrr I love my boys #thank you for letting me talk about my new ones #poor dior #and Axe!!! what a darling #ignore me lol I'm just rambling in tags #sans x reader #undertale headcanons #void askes #voidimagines #sans undertale #lusttale #horrortale #underfell #underswap

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misshollowayss · 5 months ago

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Can I request to see your thoughts about Girl Jeri?

RAAA A A A A. A I WAS JUST TALKING ABOUT HER WITH MY BF GRGRGRGRGR OKAYYYYYY

cw: religious discussion, teenage pregnancy, comp-het and it’s affects on a person. tw: vague/implied discussions of SA, and power imbalances, murder, violence, and death. note : JUST A REMINDER, these are primarily my headcannons. you do not have to agree with them, just be respectful pls.

NOW THAT THAT’S OUT OF THE WAY, let’s talk about girl jeri, one of the few favorites of mine.

JERIKA ‘GIRL JERI’ BAYR ( now MATTHEWS ) , is featured in nightmare time 2, abstinence camp. played by the godly woman herself, kim whalen, she’s brought to the table a specific look into religion and it’s qualms with purity culture.

𝙰͟ 𝚂͟𝚃͟𝚄͟𝙳͟𝚈͟ 𝙸͟𝙽͟ :͟ ͟ ͟ ͟ purity culture being taken to the nines, resisting temptation, guilt overruling your psyche, not wanting to be a mother, giving birth to what you think will be hope but will ultimately kill you in the end.

─┈ㅤ ⠀starting off, i think from the get-go, jeri had grown up with an already fixed view of religion. most likely being baptist, and growing up in an uber-religious household had meant that there was no room for error. perfection, was called upon her. she was god's daughter, is god's daughter and creation. he had crafted her for a reason, not to be toyed with and disobedient. her mother was a godfearing woman who prayed three times a day, sometimes six. her father was also a faithful, god-loving man; who created the home. he was honored by the both of his girls. jerika doesn��t have siblings imo, her being an only child makes sense to me considering the isolation she goes through later in life.

i've seen people discuss a lot revolving around her being closeted queer as well, and i do agree with this notion to an extent. she to me, is a lesbian who unfortunately is in a comp-het situation with jerry and has been for a long time now. ( i personally view their dynamic not healthy but i will get to that ). HOWEVER, i can see her not being queer at all, but for the sake of my interpretation, she is.

i don't believe she was popular at all in highschool and i do like to think that she's only a few years older than the Nerds. my personal hc for her and jerry's ages are 23/24 at most, with a child ( lumber axe but i will go into more detail with how i view that ).. i feel if they were just a few years their seniors, it to me, makes sense, given jeri's reaction to steph and pete's shower attempt ( her worried for steph about teenage pregnancy ). i do know it'd be a loophole regarding the beef jerry has/had with ted, but i like to think this makes more sense due to the closeness in age she'd have with steph. again, this is my personal headcanon regarding their ages, you can definitely disagree with me on this.

"Seriously guys, this information could save your life." - Regarding the dangers of contraception ( 1:14:40 of Abstinence Camp )

─┈ㅤ ⠀jeri and jerry met at abstinence camp at the ages of 13/14. ( jerry didn't need to go, but he went to want to connect with the kids his age. he went to sycamore, like his brothers and sister ). they met while canoeing, the two quickly shared their favorite bible verses with one another and clicked. her favorite verse is 1 corinthians 13:4-7, whereas his is john 3:16 ( iykyk ). she didn't always question her faith, in fact, she rarely did. there were a few ladies in church her eyes would fall upon, but it never went longer than that, just glances at other women she thought were "pretty". she didn't think much about it until she was asked about marriage by her parents one night over dinner. her chest hurt, but she persisted and said she'd find her match soon.

!! IMPLIED SA AHEAD, BE WARNED !!

that match, what she didn't know, would be jerry matthews. he was awkward, and she thought he was an alright person to be around. even now, she struggles remembering how they got together specifically, it being a blur for the most part. she liked him, but she wasn't sure she actually loved him. she didn't want to make him feel as if he was being led on though. she continued a relationship with him, maybe expecting things to go smoothly, like her parents were. she wanted nothing but the love she saw growing up.

she remembers the night they did things though, consummated their love. she remembers being confused, wishing that a woman said all the sweet things to her rather than jerry. the temptation of flesh grew stronger than she expected. he kept calling her a dirty girl, and she wanted to prove something. it was uncomfortable, but she did it. it was good in the moment, but the aftermath, she felt as if she committed the most sinful act she could. she was 17 when she found out she was pregnant. she didn't know who to tell or who to confide in. when she did tell her parents, it was greeted with disappointment.

"Our baby girl, tainted by the hands of the devil?" "I don't want you in my house, you wretch." "But mom, dad, I-" "Out. Now."

disowned, scared and alone, jerika made her way to the when she had told jerry, he had a similar reaction, initially pulling away from her, recoiling in disgust, but when he saw the tears well, and her having her arms wrapped around herself, he just watched. she sniffled, hiccuped and sobbed. she didn't want this. he came to and gathered his thoughts. he could leave. leave his family home, the family that had gone through a handful of events as of the last few years regarding his nephews and his late sister. that night, he and jerika left, he had packed a bag and left a simple note for his parents to find. 'Bye.'

“Teen pregnancy is no joke, Steph. If you don’t start taking this work seriously, you’re gonna end up with a child before you’re ready. You’re gonna have to drop outta school. Your family will disown you. Where are you gonna raise that baby? In the woods? We just wanna help you!” - Talking to Stephanie Lauter about the rumor of her ‘pregnancy’ in tears.

─┈ㅤ ⠀jerika during her pregnancy was confused, unsure of how she was going to raise this baby. she couldn't continue school, and when they left to go to camp idonwannabang, they had to scower whatever they could. jerry had suggested that she drop out, but he continue school, to help and fund for their bundle of joy who was bound to arrive eventually. she couldn't say no, so she listened, and stayed within a small cabin that the two found that went unused at camp idonwannabang. originally used as a councilor cabin and meeting room, they rennovated and flipped it to work as their living space. the former camp councilors hadn’t been in during the season, so they took the chance and seized it for themselves.

having had dropped out at 17, and disowned by her family, jerika felt as if he was a failure. a failure of a daughter, of a partner, if a devout christian. it all came crashing down on her. during one night, when jerry had fallen asleep, she carefully slipped out of bed to sit out on the back of the porch. she held her bump, wishing she didn’t have this- yet guilt crept into her body, wrangling her tightly and held her high in the air. what type of mother was she? she wasn’t. her girlhood felt as if gone, and thrown into motherhood, she didn’t understand— she didn’t know who to talk to, who to confide. so that night, she prayed.

she prayed for something, something good, to make this worth it.

when he was born, they didn’t go to the hospital, they ( jerry mainly ) didn’t want to let the existence of their now illegitimate child to the rest of hatchetfield. god knows what would happen if that news got out. was she really ready for that? the people of hatchetfield would know jerika bayr was a dirty girl. that she fornicated out of wedlock. she would rather die than deal with that. jerika gave birth in the bathroom of the councilor cabin, jerry delivering him. the baby was a whopping 8 pounds when he arrived into the world, and she remembered seeing him for the first time. hair, so much hair, dark like his father and nearly purple from oxygen meeting him for the first time. she didn’t even have a name prepared, but jerry swept in, calling him ‘little jerry’. that was his name now, apparently.

she didn't expect to love him as much as she did. the idea of her pushing him away had come up numerous times, during the first few years of his life, she fought hard to make sure the idea of purity was surrounding their new dysfunctional family. like in canon, she raised him off of the flora and fauna of the witchwood, the berries that'd grow locally became one of jerry jr's favorites. when he was two, he began talking, saying 'mama' and 'papa' relatively often. now, the difference between my hcs and canon is that jerry jr is NOT lumber axe.

lumber axe is boy jerry, then grace chasity.

“I just can’t help but feel responsible.” - Moments before she finds Mary Shaw and Gabe Anderson’s bodies.

─┈ㅤ ⠀jerika knew about the strange occurrences in the witchwood, it wasn't hard to know. everyone in hatchetfield knew that it was a dark place. she thought that the darkness wouldn't reach her family, her child nonetheless. she was wrong, like usual. jeri had witnessed the steady decline of jerry throughout the years. when campers started going missing, she thought it was the woods, the evil that lurked between the branches.

one night, after she had put jerry jr to bed, she went to check on her 'husband' ( they didn't marry officially, but she took his last name as a means to hide the bayr name ). she didn't find him in their bedroom, she didn't find him in the living space in the cabin, but she heard dragging. she heard whispers, and stepped out to the back to find jerry hauling a potato sack soaked in crimson and an axe over his shoulder to match.

"what are you doing?" she had asked. "taking care of those horny kids. go to bed," he told her, clicking his tongue.

weary, she listened, choosing peace that night even if she slept uneasily. she had heard him come in, run a shower, and close the bathroom door behind him. when he was showering, she stepped out, sneaked by to see what he was carrying.

approaching the sack of red, she swallowed, bracing for whatever. she didn't realize she had to brace for anything, but it scared her. he frightened her.

jerika was barely able to open it fully before she got sick at the sight, of a wrist with a WWJD bracelet still on it. blue, a boy camper, but who? she didn't know until the following morning that two campers had never returned from the bonfire that night.

madison o'reily and william crew.

she watched as jerry delivered a saddened speech, something about, 'well, hopefully, they'll find their way back to our lord soon.' but his eyes didn't match his tone or his mouth. it would've been here, at the age of 21, she would've realized that he was doing far more than expected.

the two had gotten into an argument, but it ended the same way, he was using jerry jr's existence as a threat. and he'd call her that. she was subdued whenever she was referred to as that, and it made her skin crawl. back before, sure, she would've liked it but she's grown to despise the nickname.

she had to comply and remain complacent, or else he would air out her business. she had to be obedient, in the eyes of god and her lover, because if she didn't, she'd surely be sent to the fires below.

she grows tired, anxious and wants to be free from this chamber. she wants to be free from the knowledge she has, the role she was thrown in. she was never meant to be a mother this early. she never was supposed to be with a man, a man like him. because of jerry's false preaching, she questioned her faith heavily, soon losing it.

the only reason she's still playing along is to hopefully fix whatever mess he creates, and help whoever she can. she wouldn't wish for anyone to go through what she did. by god, she'd do what she could, even if half the time, it meant being killed by the one she thought she loved.

AND THERE YOU HAVE IT!!! my thoughts on girl jeri are finally finished — just as a reminder you do not have to agree with everything here, this is just my fixed canon and how i go about everything in hatchetfield. i love girl jeri and she deserves sm more than what she’s given <333 bbg <3

girl jeri graphics + stamps by @cherrieguroo girl jeri gifs found on tumblr .

#─┈ ⟢ ⠀( the good witch of hatchetfield ) : character thoughts.#girl jeri #boy jerry #jerika bayr #jerry matthews #hatchetfield #hatchetverse #hatchetblr #girl jerry deserves sm more #i love her #bbg ever #abstinence camp #nmt2 #virginity rocks #okay thats it #time for the next victim

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satoshi-mochida · 1 month ago

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2D cyber-fantasy Metroidvania SHADE Protocol announced for PC - Gematsu

Developer Little Legendary has announced SHADE Protocol, a side-scrolling cyber-fantasy Metroidvania. It will launch for PC via Steam in 2026.

Here is an overview of the game, via its Steam page:

About

SHADE Protocol is a 2D cyber-fantasy Metroidvania where precision combat, fluid mobility, and an intricate narrative collide. Set in a dying world overtaken by Elythium, a sentient metal that has turned against the world, players assume the role of Zura, a prototype Replica that can recompile reality. As the last hope for humanity and free-willed machines, she must navigate the ruins of civilization, master lost technologies, and defy an enemy that has rewritten the fabric of existence itself. Seamlessly switch between DAWN and SHADE modes, altering combat styles and gameplay dynamics. Wield Instruments, powerful code-based weaponry inspired by music, each serving a unique role in battle and exploration. Engage in high-speed, skill-based combat, parrying and countering enemies in a world that demands mastery. Explore vast, interconnected Bastions, where every discovery alters the fate of the war between SHADEs and Xaviors, and the all-consuming SHADE Protocol.

Key Features

UNISON System: Rewrite Reality – The world of SHADE Protocol exists as code. Wield it to manipulate events, relive key moments, and choose their ultimate outcome, shaping the fate of entire factions.

Dynamic Combat System – Mix precision melee combat with specialized Instruments, executing devastating combos, parries, and counters. Swap between DAWN and SHADE modes to adapt to different playstyles in real-time.

Unique Defensive Mechanics – Perfectly timed parries and counters restore Echo, a vital energy source for powerful Instrument attacks and defensive maneuvers.

Instruments: Weapons That Sing – Wield an arsenal of musical weapons, including the Twilight Spear, Sunrise Great Axe, and Midnight Chakram, each with distinct combat and exploration abilities.

The war is lost. The song is rewritten. Will you take the stage?

Watch a new trailer below.

Announce Trailer

youtube

#SHADE Protocol #Little Legendary #Metroidvania #Gematsu #Youtube

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tbshorts · 7 months ago

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The Best Panels of One Piece, Orange Town arc (chapter 8-15)

youtube

Full video scripts below the cut

Chapter 8:

What are the best panels in One Piece?

Chapter 8 is the introduction of Nami, and what an introduction it is. Oda pulls a clever move narratively, separating Luffy and Zoro. Zoro, and thus the audience, learn from some pirates he picks up that Nami is a devious swindler, but Luffy encounters her separately and doesn't know that, which means we as an audience are predisposed to distrust her, but Luffy can meet her with no prejudice. This allows him to demonstrate his honest nature to her, which will become important to their relationship.

But the best panel in the chapter, right. It's not a chapter with obvious bangers, I think. The introduction of Buggy's ship is a quiet little technical masterpiece of character design, but doesn't really relate to the story that much.

No, I think it's this one, with Nami trying to strike up a partnership with Luffy after using him to take care of her pursuers. It's a great bit of compositionional storytelling, with her perched above him, literally looking down on him, as she gears up to try and use him once again. She's in a position of power, which makes it hard to trust her, and it sets up a dynamic between her and Luffy that won't be resolved until over 70 chapters later.

Chapter 9:

What are the best panels in One Piece?

Chapter 9 finally sees the introduction of Buggy, who is a massive improvements as a villain design over Axe Hand Morgan. He has a gimmick, he has a solid consistent theme, clowns and pirates kinda work together and by the way anyone who says he doesn't deserve to be an Emperor of the Sea is dumb and wrong, Buggy is the best.

But here this perfect idiot is being introduced as one of the first major villains, which means we need to build up his menace. So we get his introduction, manspreading on a throne whose crown looks like the top of a circus tent, all gangster energy and dressed in an opulent fur-lined coat, and that does do a pretty good job making him look cool.

But the menace happens on the next page, here. As he walks away from the explosion of his cannon, blasting one of his own crewmates to cinders, he's illuminated in stark black and white shadows, giving his face a horribly evil look while his form is hidden in the deep shadow of that cape. He may be a clown, but here, for just a second, he looks truly demonic. Buggy might turn out to be an ineffective idiot, but this panel sells him as a villain.

Chapter 10:

What are the best panels in One Piece?

Well Chapter 10 is honestly full of bangers on that account. We've got a classic Oda pirate party scene - these are just always some of THE most fun to look at, absolutely bursting with life. Then we have wild technical masterpieces like the blast from the Buggy Ball, folding an entire row of houses up like paper - like, I can't overstate how impressive it is to do this kind of creatively distorted technical artwork. It's hard! And then there's Nami literally scorching her own hands to save the life of someone she insists out loud she hates and doesn't care about, which is a fantastic character moment for her.

But no, the best panel, by far the most striking is this Buggy face. Oda crosshatches all these ominous shadows onto him, making him look like he's lit from below, and there's such a striking contrast between the cheerful clown makeup trying to drag his face into a smile, and that murderous, contemptuous, cruel grimace, all the folds and lines of his face converging to communicate the reality of the situation. It's a loyalty test. Either Nami kills Luffy, or Buggy kills Nami.

Chapter 11:

What are the best panels in One Piece?

Chapter 11 features a cavalcade of truly excellent Buggy faces - his clown makeup and nose work together so naturally with Oda's hyper-exaggerated style, and I find them all so charming.

But no, there's not contention for the best panel of the chapter. It's this. It's Zoro doing what he will always do for the Strawhat Crew: shouldering the burden, even at the cost of his own life. This panel really encapsulates everything of what Zoro is: his incredible feats of strength, his utter dependability, the total trust between him and Luffy, and his propensity for self-sacrifice. There is no pain Zoro will not take on for his friends, there is no hurt he won't go through. And if his guts spill out of his stomach for doing it, he'll just shove them back in again. That's the kind of vice-captain he is.

Chapter 12:

What are the best panels in One Piece?

Chapter 13 only really has two contenders. The first is Luffy confronting Mohji after he has burned down Chouchou's store. Luffy opens with his trademark big goofy grin and maintains that attitude while swinging Richie around… and then he drops the mask, and we see the genuinely frightening person he becomes when he is confronted by injustice. It's the first time in the series we see this side of Luffy, and it hits, although, again, translators, please stop covering up the art with sound effects, oh my god.

Speaking of which, the actual best panel in the chapter. Oda and his team worked really hard to render the stark awfulness of Chouchou's store burning down, but gotta have that big "fwoosh!" on there I guess. But this is a good rendition of heartbreak, this tiny dog way too close to the fire, lit up by its glow, just barking out its anger and pain at the flames. A tiny little thing, powerless against the tragedy that's been done to it. If you don't engage with Chouchou's story, obviously it rings hollow. But if you do… ow.

Chapter 13:

What are the best panels in One Piece?

Chapter 12 is another exposition dump. The plot beat of these chapters is all about developing Luffy and Zoro's relationship with Nami, showing her that piracy isn't just a means to abuse people but a means to claim freedom, which is important to her. And this is done partly through Chouchou, the silly looking ultra-loyal dog protecting his beloved master's pet food store. Visually the big impactful panels go to Mohji and Richie, with Oda having a lot of fun over-rendering the lion, but… honestly I think it might be these two. Chouchou grabbing the key to Luffy's cage and eating it.

It's such an out-of-left field ridiculous moment. It's so silly and dumb, and it is done so matter-of-factly by this very silly looking dog. Chouchou eats the key because he's actually literally starving himself staying by the store, of course, but it's such a blindsiding comedy moment. All the drama and danger of escaping Buggy's crew and Nami stealing the key and then the dog just goes chomp and it's gone.

Not that it matters, Mohji gets Luffy out anyway, it's just Oda gleefully trolling the reader, and I do respect that.

Chapter 14:

What are the best panels in One Piece?

Chapter 14 is another exposition dump, all about establishing the stakes for the mayor, and giving the audience a reason to care about the town and its buildings. It's all worldbuilding, establishing the very real danger and menace that pirates pose to ordinary people. Nami doesn't hate them for no reason, and we kinda need this perspective to see things from her point of view and understand why she instinctively hates Luffy so much.

And for my money the best panel here is this one, with the mayor's face in profile and a montage of moments from the building of the town arranged in floating images. It does a fantastic job of visually showing him gazing into the past, remembering all these moments from his life so vividly that they come to life. Flashbacks and exposition is hard to do in an engaging way, and here Oda gets the whole thing out of the way in a single page so we can get back to the action, and he does it by using good visual shorthand like this.

Chapter 15:

What are the best panels in One Piece?

Chapter 15 is the lead-up to the big fight with Buggy, and this chapter is all about setting the stage. It introduces Cabaji, who will be fighting Zoro, it reminds us of Buggy's powers and his cruelty and establishes his ideological position. Buggy believes that the only treasure worth caring about is gold and jewels, that only money and power matters, while the Mayor stands for the idea that anything can be a treasure if it means something to you, which is also Luffy's position. That's why he has the straw hat after all.

But we're also still establishing Luffy's character, so Oda has him crack an old man's head into a wall, because if he was conscious he would just get in the way and this is the most straightforward way to keep him safe. And this is the best panel, because it does establish something about Luffy's character, and how brutal he can be, even when he's technically trying to do a kindhearted thing. Luffy does not feel bad about doing this, at all, as with everything else in life, he acts violently towards his friends when he thinks it’s the right thing to do.

#tb posting #one piece #one piece manga #straw hat pirates #monkey d luffy #roronoa zoro #zoro roronoa #nami one piece #buggy the clown #Youtube

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wallpapersmonster · 3 months ago

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Unleash Your Inner Warrior! ⚔️

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sineala · 1 year ago

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Hi there. Thank you for answering my question last time. This time, I just want to ask something about your opinion. When I scroll through Stony community, it seems like there's some people think that Hickmanvengers has destroyed Stony, and they can never come back to what they used to be. What do you think about that? Also, what do you think about Stony's dynamic recently?

Hi! So you sent me this ask approximately two months ago, and I started writing an answer then, and I wrote what appears to be approximately 50% of an answer and then Life Happened. And I am back but I have literally no idea where I was going with the rest of this answer.

So, here is approximately 50% of an answer to your question! I figured you might prefer having half an answer to zero answer. It's like the "in this essay I will" meme except I attempted to start the essay.

Thanks for the question! I really appreciate getting asks like this.

Has Hickmanvengers destroyed Stony? This is a really interesting question, though admittedly I'm not quite sure how to answer it, both because I think it assumes an amount of… emotional continuity… that I don't think really exists in these comics, and also because in another sense I think it's a question that canon has already answered, although admittedly canon's answer was kind of unsatisfying.

If you'd asked me this in 2015 -- say, right after Avengers #44 had come out -- and I'd just read the very last page of this very long run which ends with Steve and Tony in a fight to the death, I would definitely have had my doubts. I mean, yeah, it's a run that opens with the immediate aftermath of Tony betraying Steve, although we don't know that at the time, and over the course of the run we find out that the Illuminati wiped Steve's mind, that Steve holds Tony personally responsible for this, and that after Steve finds this out, he spends the last third of the run trying to hunt Tony down and murder him. Steve doesn't ever stop or forgive him, and Tony never apologizes. They just beat each other to death (and then get squashed by a falling helicarrier, which kills them first). That's… a lot, you know? It seems reasonable to think that they'd have difficulty coming back from that. I certainly wondered how they were going to come back from that.

I figured Secret Wars was going to do something about that. That didn't end up happening.

But it's also not 2015 anymore, and we have had nine years of canon to decide whether or not Hickmanvengers has destroyed Stony, and the answer seems to be "no, because canon has acted like none of this ever happened." We've seen them. They're friends again. They seem to be doing all right, as friends. And not only are they friends again, they've never mentioned any of this.

So, I have to say, it doesn't look like it destroyed them, otherwise we wouldn't have had things like the team-up miniseries, or that Avengers Annual from a couple years ago, or AXE Judgment Day.

For something like Civil War, we had a bunch of resolution, and while some of it (cough World's Most Wanted) may not have been what fandom would have preferred, we've also had things like Avengers Prime, and then Bendis' subsequent Avengers run, where we see Steve and Tony work through their feelings about Civil War as much as they can, and it's clear that they've dealt with it, at least to some degree, although maybe not as much as we would have wanted. Prior to that, we've had Cap #401, which featured Steve and Tony having a heartfelt conversation and making up in the wake of Armor Wars and Operation Galactic Storm.

For Hickmanvengers? We got nothing. Steve and Tony weren't in Secret Wars, they came back to life afterward, and everything was fine. The only time they have ever mentioned the incursions was in one of the Civil War II tie-ins, Captain America Steve Rogers #6, in which Steve is secretly Hydra Steve and he's trying to put Tony off-balance, and he's asking him why he's on his side now. That's it. And that wasn't even the real Steve. The real Steve's never mentioned it. So as far as we know, they've never talked about it. They've somehow just gotten over it.

Should it have destroyed Steve and Tony? Maybe. I think it depends on how much you feel comics should resemble reality. Because, I mean, obviously, in real life, if your BFF tries to murder you they are definitely not going to be your BFF anymore and also should probably be arrested and you probably don't want to see them again ever in your entire life. So if they were real people, yeah, of course, that would obviously be a dealbreaker right there. Definitely a relationship-ending move.

But comics aren't reality. And I don't just mean that in the same way that any fictional story isn't reality. Comics have had decades to establish their own reality. And that means that totally bizarre things that would never, ever happen in the real world just happen all the time in comics. New York gets routinely destroyed by supervillains and people still live there! Superheroes come back to life every week! The US government keeps building giant robots that will capture, imprison, and usually torture or murder their own citizens if they happen to be mutants! So there's a sense in which you can't expect characters in comics to have the same reactions and attitudes as people in our world, because they're not living in our world. They're living in a world where you can literally be murdered and wake up the next day, 100% fine.

So you're talking about two characters who have tried to murder each other on multiple occasions -- but in a world in which being dead is a very temporary condition. You're talking about two characters who have, at the very least, deeply wounded each other -- but they're also characters who are committing, essentially, state-sanctioned vigilante justice. They solve most of their problems by punching, and what with the mind control and villain AUs and whatnot going around, it's also the case that a lot of superheroes, including Steve and Tony, have just basically hurt each other a lot. These are pretty well-established conventions of superhero comics. They live in a world where the stakes are very, very different than they are here.

I suppose what I'm arguing here is that you can't just straight-up apply our standards of morality from here on Earth-1218 to Earth-616. Obviously the same sorts of things are still wrong, so this was definitely not a great thing to do to a friend and/or loved one, but there's a sense in which it's hard to say that killing a superhero in comics -- or trying to kill them -- has anywhere near the same actual impact as it would in our world, where you don't get to come back to life, period. Which is kind of a problem, because these standards are the ones we would use to judge whether characters have acted in an ethical matter toward each other, and how seriously it is that they've hurt each other.

So how can you actually evaluate, say, how badly Steve and Tony have hurt each other, according to the standards of their world? Well, okay. So Tony wiped Steve's mind. This isn't the first time this has ever happened in comics. This isn't even the first time Tony has done this to Steve; he made Steve forget he was Iron Man in the 1998 Annual. So how bad is mindwiping, as a transgression? And that's kind of interesting, because there's a fair amount of canonical evidence to suggest that the answer is "not very." In the most recent Fall of X comics, Emma Frost mindwipes Kamala Khan's family so they won't remember that she died, so they won't be sad about it. This is presented, in context, as a nice thing to do. A merciful thing. Not, say, a wrong and invasive thing. Here she is offering this at the beginning of the Hellfire Gala:

You wouldn't know this from this Hickmanvengers run, but, historically, Stephen Strange -- who actually did this particular mindwipe -- has a habit of mindwiping people like it's going out of style. It doesn't seem to be a big deal. Not to him, and not even to the people he mindwipes. In the classic arc Avengers/Defenders War, Strange concludes the fight in Avengers #118 by wiping Tony and Thor's knowledge of each other's identities, which they didn't ask for, but which no one seems to be all that fussed about. No one says anything in protest.

Then, as an encore, in Defenders #11, which is the next issue, he mindwipes Nick Fury's knowledge of the Defenders' identities, and then mindwipes the entire world about the same thing, except the Avengers.

For this, Tony calls him honorable. No one is mad. Mindwiping seems… mostly okay, actually?

And even in the 1998 Annual, Steve and Tony make up. Tony makes Steve forget Tony's secret identity. Steve is a little mad about Tony mindwiping him, but he totally forgives him by the end of the issue. They're good. They shake hands. They're friends.

So Hickmanvengers is kind of the odd one out, here. There doesn't seem to be a lot of evidence for "mindwiping someone on Earth-616 is a terrible crime for which the guilty party deserves death." And there is, in fact, evidence that Steve has personally been willing to forgive Tony for this in the past. But here in Hickman's run, for some reason, Steve is much harsher than he or anyone else has been in a comparable situation. So it's very bad within the context of the run, but once you get out of the run and think about it by the standards of the rest of the Avengers comics, it seems like mindwiping Steve… shouldn't be that bad? It should probably at least be forgivable. Steve has previously demonstrated that he can, in fact, forgive Tony for this. It seems reasonable that he could do so again.

Is Steve attempting to hunt down Tony and murder him bad? I mean, yes, but how bad it actually is does kind of depend on how you view death in superhero comics, as above. You'd think that at this point people would suspect that some of these deaths might not permanently stick.

Aaaaand... I think that's all I got. Sorry. I have one more paragraph in my draft: Building on that, the other thing you can do to figure out how bad something is for Steve and Tony is look at how, specifically, the two of them feel about this particular incident. Because that's the thing about superhero comics. The events are unrealistic, larger than life battles that could never happen. But the feelings? The feelings are real.

I have no idea where I was going with this, but maybe I was going to talk about whether Being Really Mad counted for something.

There you go!

#replies #alice1939

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superthatguy62 · 11 months ago

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Final Fantasy III Fun Facts of the Whenever: Command Deck Edition

While a lot of the unused text for Final Fantasy III is in the plot-based text strings, there are also some menu-related stuff that got axed. One such menu is the "eureka_battle" file which contains most of the non-item/magic in-battle text. There's some interesting things in there.

Grouped with the commands for the player's menu are a set of unused commands. Given that the strategy guide mentioned some skills that were intended for the online vs mode, they might be worth looking at. Some of these seem to have been ported from or influenced by XI while others... We'll get to that.

Line: Very likely would've switched rows. In-game, it was split to the more distinct "Front"/"Rear".

Chakra: Chakra is traditionally an ability that restores HP/MP to the user. It is also traditionally linked to the Monk-family of jobs including in Final Fantasy XI, which holds quite a bit of influence over the 3D remake of III. Thus, it almost certainly went to either Monk or Black Belt (possibly the former, given the nature of retaliate).

Chainspell: Introduced in Final Fantasy V, Chainspell has been eternally associated with Red Mages, giving them the ability to cast multiple spells at once as a means of making up for their comparatively lacking magic power. While the 3D remake brought in a number of abilities that jobs would have in later appearances, Red Mage wasn't one of those jobs and lacks Chainspell in the final game.

Hide: A signature ability of the Bard, courtesy of Edward from Final Fantasy IV: The Bard hides off-screen, preventing them from taking damage or doing anything.

Berserk: While the Berserk status (increased attack power, but your character automatically attacks enemies) does appear in various Final Fantasy games, Final Fantasy III does not feature it. However, going by the influence of Final Fantasy XI, it is very possible that Berserk was simply an earlier name or different variant of the Warrior's Advance ability, as it seems to work identically there. Provoke, the Viking's ability is also bizarrely late in the command order, so it may have also been a possible Viking ability?

Bash: Unclear. The Bash line of abilities has always been enemy exclusive, yet is in with the rest of the commands. Was it an intended command? Something multiplayer related? A silent command for enemies? Who knows.

Cover: Knight actually has cover in-game, simply as a passive rather than an active command.

Sentinel: Sentinel is a recurring ability using associated with Knights/Paladins/Cecil, etc. It tends to increase defense while sometimes also having a Draw Aggro ability. This was almost certainly intended for Knight, although it also overlaps with Viking's Provoke (simply missing the defense debuff) so it's hard to say for sure.

Aim: Usually associated with Archers/Rangers and acted as Rosa's unique command in Final Fantasy IV. It allows an Archer to forgo a turn in exchange for making their next attack stronger. This was almost guarenteed a Ranger command.

Shadowbind: Shadowbind is an attack that paralyzes an enemy. It debuted in IV where it was part of Edge's Ninjitsu. Later appearances would go back and forth on whether it is a Ninja or Ranger ability. It being between Aim and Barrage would imply that it is considered a Ranger ability.

Gauge: This is an interesting one. In the original Final Fantasy III, the Scholar's Study and Peep were two different commands: One let you see enemies' weaknesses and the other, their health. Gauge is actually the original version of Scan while Analyze became the basis for Study in the 3D remake, which does both in one while packing in a free cast of Erase for good measure. Whether this is just a leftover from the original, a sign that the original dynamic between the abilities was kept originally, just an alternate name or if Gauge would have been overhauled to be unique (even if only for multiplayer) is unclear.

Alchemy: It's Item Lore. Interestingly, the Pixel Remaster would use this name for Item Lore, now a command instead of an passive ability. Whether this was the same case originally for the 3D remake is unclear.

Control: Usually a command to control monsters. It's not particularly clear which job would have gotten this as Final Fantasy III does not have a clear Beastmaster job. It's not located with the rest of the Ranger commands but instead between the Scholar and Dragoon commands. It's Japanese name is "つかい" which can mean Errand (Boy/Girl), Familiar (as in a spirit such as an imp) or a Trainer/Tamer/User/Charmer/etc. Indeed, 使い, it's equivalent, is used in a few different ways; both for animal taming and not (Elementalist and Archer from Tactics & T-Advance use the term in their job titles). XI influence would suggest that this is a Dragoon ability, but it's right before Banish which would make more sense as a Scholar ability. I just... gah.

Banish: Not to be confused with the Warp spell. Given the XI influence on the 3D remake it may be that version of the ability, a sort of "heir" to the Dia line from the first game: It deals Light damage with increased damage to undead. It's unclear if it would have gone to the White Mage (per XI), the Knight (Ditto, kinda) or the Black Mage (XIV 1.0 and 4 Heroes of Light both classify it as a Black Mage spell). It is (not counting Control)(?) right between the Scholar and the Dragoon command sets. Take that as you will.

Abduct: This was the command that made me take a closer look at the command list in general. We know from the interview that one of the Dragoon's scrapped abilities was the "Abduction Jump" ability.

Blood Weapon: Not to be confused with the Blood Sword or Blood Lance. This was apparently a Dark Knight ability in XI which applies the Blood Weapon effect to all of a Dark Knight's attacks.

Hexed Quarter: ...I actually have no idea what this one did. This ability does not seem to match with any FF abilities. It's Japanese name is "きもん" which does not help matters. The closest I can find is that it may be linked to the FFXI Geomancer's "Cardinal Chant" ability, which changes effect depending on the cardinal direction the enemy is located at relative to the player. How this would have been implemented, if this is indeed the ability, is unclear (maybe it would depend on what direction the party was facing when the encounter started)?

Ley Lines: Ditto. It's Japanese name is "りゅうみゃく" or "龍脈" which seems to translate to "Dragon Vein", which is a general Feng Shui concept. Thus, this seems to be connected to the Geomancer job. (While Black Mages would be associated with Ley Lines in FFXIV, this seems to have been after the reboot rather than the 1.0 version that Hiromichi worked on.)

Meditate: At the time of the remake's release, the only game to feature the meditate skill was XI, in which it was a Samurai ability. However, it is located next to the Black Belt's Boost and, interestingly, Retaliate. Given the presence of Chakra for the Monk, perhaps at one point, the Black Belt was intended to more closely mirror the Monk in terms of abilities?

Trance: At a glimpse, it's hard to tell. Most know of the Trance ability as an ability that transforms characters into stronger forms (Terra in VI, the cast of IX, etc.) but it's unclear what job would've had that ability in III. On the other hand, it is an ability associated with the Dancer job. If that is the case, it might be a Bard-related ability, but it isn't grouped with Sing and Hide.

Charm: This one is... weird. It's Japanese name is "あやつる", which is the name given to the line of abilities/spells known as "control"/"Manipulate"/etc (the spells you use to control a monster). This ability tends to be heavily associated with the Beastmaster. However, not only is it far from the Scholar's commands, it's between the Black Belt and Ninja abilities. I'm not sure if there's a potential job I'm overlooking, if it's a "grouped together but not really" situation, a similar case to Advance/Berserk or indeed intended for those two classes.

Dual Wield: A weird one: Final Fantasy III, even on the Famicom, allows everyone to dual-wield. To my knowledge, Dual-Wield has never been a command, although it has usually been heavily associated with Ninjas. It might also be a "silent" command like Cover, although

Utsusemi: A recurring Ninja ability introduced in XI, functioning similarly to the "Image"/"Mirage" command introduced in IV with Edge.

And there we have it. It's possible that not all of these were intended for the game or that some were remnants of different directions for certain jobs. It's all quite mysterious.

#Final Fantasy #Final Fantasy III #FF3 #FFIII #Warrior #Red Mage #Scholar #Dragoon #Ninja #Monk #Black Belt #Geomancer #Ranger #Dark Knight #Viking #Knight

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bcamelsamples · 6 months ago

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Sample: Diablo IV Feature Overview (Diablo IV)

One more Diablo thing, then we'll move on. I promise. 😊

While I left Blizzard in early 2020 prior to Diablo IV's launch, I was involved heavily with the announcement plans and reveal at BlizzCon 2019. That was a cathartic triumph of an experience for me—members of the community can tell you I was crying in the audience when the trailer played, because I'd been holding this secret in for so long.

At this stage, I was pretty much the only North American community manager dedicated to Diablo, handling D3, Immortal, and now D4 communications (I did work with a kickass social media manager, though, so I wasn't totally alone). We were in the process of hiring a new manager above me, which was all well and good; I really didn't want to be a manager (and still don't) because I enjoy writing and creating.

I wrote pretty much every article covering Diablo IV on reveal day (and for the whole of BlizzCon 2019), in addition to managing all our influencer activations onsite, posting on social live from the event, and generally ensuring Diablo stuff was running smoothly each day of the event. If I didn't pause to say hi to you, that was why. 😅 Probably the biggest, busiest BlizzCon I was ever involved in.

This and all the other blogs around that time are preserved by the Wayback Machine - I picked this one because it had the best performance out of all our blogs. People really enjoy details, after all.

Warning: this is a very long one under the cut; if you're playing Diablo IV right now, how has the game changed since reveal?

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Diablo IV Feature Overview

We know you’re all eager to learn as much about Diablo IV as possible, and we’re incredibly excited to share everything with you! To get you started, we’re taking a comprehensive look over the features and details we’re sharing at BlizzCon 2019 and answering a few of the most common questions you undoubtedly have about the next mainline entry in the Diablo franchise.

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The Classes of Diablo IV

At launch, Diablo IV will have five unique character classes, each bringing its own distinct mechanics that embodies their respective fantasy. Today, let’s talk about the first three we’re bringing to life: the Barbarian, the Sorceress, and the Druid.

Barbarian

A brutal, physical warrior, the Barbarian roams around the battlefield constantly, dishing heavy damage and wielding an array of powerful weapons with ease. With the Arsenal system, Barbarians can swap between different types of weapons, such as from a heavy two-handed mace to a pair of sharp, agile hand axes, depending on the situation, skill, and your player needs.

Barbarians will be able to haul around four total weapons and swap between them dynamically at any time. You’ll also be able to assign specific weapons to different skills, allowing advanced players even greater depths of customization.

Sorceress

Harnessing potent elemental powers, the Sorceress is brimming with all your favorite flavors of magic. Fragile but destructive, this high-risk, high-reward hero weaves between Fire, Cold, and Lightning. Her mastery of magic is an iconic and indelible part of the Diablo power fantasy, and we’ve only continued to build upon this sturdy foundation.

You’ll be able to control and dominate enemies with a new Chilling mechanic. The more Cold damage you deal, the more foes will be slowed, frozen, and eventually shattered by your attacks.

Druid

The master of shapeshifting makes his triumphant return to Sanctuary! Seamlessly changing forms from human to Werebear to Werewolf, his command over earth and storm magic is second to none.

Different skills utilize different forms, and entirely new skills like Cataclysm will annihilate hordes of enemies with the unbridled fury of nature itself. Storm magic persists on the battlefield, so you’ll be able to unleash torrents of lightning, wind, and rain before shifting forms to ravage foes.

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Skill Points & Talent Trees

Diablo IV will feature permanent character progression as well as personal customization. To accomplish this, we’re reintroducing both Skill Points and Talent Trees.

Skill Points will be earned by leveling up as well as by hunting down rare tomes out in the world. You can choose to spend Skill Points as you go, save them up to invest more heavily in skills that are unlocked at higher levels, spread them out between multiple skills, or focus on your favorites to make them more powerful.

Each class also has a dedicated Talent Tree for further character customization, though your choices may come at a cost. For example, the Sorceress concentrate on skills that emphasize mobility or Lightning damage while passing up more powerful Cold powers in the process. The Druid might choose to become a tanky melee combatant by investing in Werebear talents, though this doesn’t prevent him from using his Werewolf or Caster skills; they’ll just be less optimized. Where you want to specialize is up to you, and your Talent investments will reflect these decisions.

Talents get more powerful the further down the tree you travel, so make sure you’re choosing wisely as you grow!

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Open World & Multiplayer Gameplay

Unlike previous Diablo games, Diablo IV is fully open world. This means you can explore any of the five distinct regions in any order, at any time, and travel seamlessly between them. Sanctuary will become a living, breathing place to explore and plunder. With introductions like monster ecologies tied to regions, a shared player world with public events, and town points of interest that act as social hubs, Diablo IV will feel a little less lonely (though no less bleak).

The distinctive regions we’re introducing are connected contiguously, for streamlined adventuring from area to area with no loading interruptions.

Scosglen

Home to the Druids, this verdant and rainy land is heavily forested and borders the coast. Werewolves lurk in the thick foliage and the new monster family, the Drowned, crowd the haunted coastlines, waiting to drag unsuspecting victims to a watery doom.

Fractured Peaks

Snowy and secluded, a sect of devout priests find refuge in the isolation of this high mountain range. They seek enlightenment while remaining unaware of the horrors that dwell in the dark cave complexes below.

Dry Steppes

The unforgiving, harsh environment of the Dry Steppes is home only to the hardiest—or desperate—souls. Be warned; the denizens of this land will do anything to survive, resorting to anything from petty banditry to savage cannibalism.

Hawezar

Witches and zealots call this snake-infested swampland home, scouring the murky depths for ancient artifacts. The unaware will quickly find themselves in dire straits.

Kejhistan

As we’ve seen from previous visits to Alcarnus and Caldeum, the desert shadows of Kejhistan make excellent cover for a group of rising cultists. They quietly plumb abandoned ruins, seeking power to aid the return of the ancient Prime Evils.

To Party or Not to Party

Whether you’re prone to partying up or an independent adventurer, Diablo IV will have a way for you to play.

When it comes to the Campaign, you’ll be able to play through the entire story at your own pace or alongside friends, with progress syncing up to the party leader so there’s no question about what’s been done or what’s next on the checklist.

While most of the world is socially open, certain, smaller parts of each region are campaign specific. Once the campaign objectives have been completed, those areas will also dynamically open to other players. This means you might see another party of adventurers pass you by or you could organically stumble into an event or World Boss other players are already battling. You won’t need to party up to enjoy these activities; whether you decide to join the fray or continue your own journey, that decision remains yours.

Delving Dank Dungeons

Dungeons will be separate, instanced experiences. While you won’t see wandering adventurers alongside you as you delve an abandoned ruin, you can opt to bring up to a party of four players in to tackle tougher challenges for greater rewards.

As has become hallmark to Diablo, Dungeons are randomized experiences, including both their layouts and the events that might occur within them. They can be interior or exterior landscapes, may mix and match between different tilesets, and offer totally seamless exploration; moving from one level or scene to another is now a natural, loading screen-free process.

We’re also introducing Dungeon Objectives, which help guide your adventure and offer greater rewards and increased danger. As you complete Dungeon Objectives, the goals you have will continue to update, and the Dungeon itself might respond by sending tougher enemies and challenges your way. Each Objective has been custom designed to give their Dungeons their own identity and character, and there are hundreds of dungeons with tons of events, ensuring each delve is a unique one!

We’re also evolving endgame Dungeons by building them around three pillars: variety, strategic depth, and player agency. One new system we’re sharing today is what we’re calling Keyed Dungeons. By finding a key out in the world of Sanctuary, you can upgrade an existing Dungeon into a special endgame version with increased difficulty, greater rewards, and dungeon affixes. Between the natural randomization, knowing the strength and affixes you’re going to face, and choosing your skills and equipment in advance, we’re hitting all three of these pillars for a unique, ever-evolving endgame.

Monsters of Sanctuary

You know where you’re going to kill things, and how you’re going to kill them. But what, exactly, is threatening you? Let’s look at some of the enemies you can expect to face in Diablo IV.

Monster Families

To breathe new and realistic life into the world of Sanctuary, we’re taking a fundamentally new approach to how we create and design monsters. Each monster is now part of a Monster Family, which usually includes a handful of different enemies based around a theme and location. Check out one of our new families, the Drowned.

The Drowned are watery entities that can be found around the coasts of Scosglen. You won’t find them anywhere else in the world, and if you’re looking specifically to hunt them down, you’ll need to travel to find them. Each member of the family has a specialty or signature ability that synergizes with other members of that family, becoming stronger when they’re fighting together.

Reimagining Affixes

Affixes work a little differently this time around. While you’ll still see expected effects like Molten, you might be surprised at how the Multishot affix changes up strategic gameplay depending on which enemy it affects.

For example, take the Fallen family. A Multishot enchanted ranged Fallen might throw three projectiles at you, as you’d probably expect. Put that Multishot enchantment on a Fallen Shaman, though, and your priorities change as he begins to revive three of his friends at a time instead of just one. Affixes should change the way you look at and strategize against your enemies, as well as offer different gameplay depending on the monsters they affect.

Ashava and World Bosses

If you got your hands on our BlizzCon demo or watched our gameplay trailer closely, you may have noticed a massive new addition: Ashava. Ashava, the first of our new World Bosses, is an ancient demon lurking below Sanctuary who will take more than just one mighty hero to fell.

Not only will you need to group up (or at least join several other players) to challenge Ashava, but you’ll want to pay close attention to her abilities and carefully make use of your skills. Avoid her deadly strikes with the baseline Evade ability and leverage the new Stagger mechanic in your favor. Rather than having bosses be immune to crowd control effects, they can instead become Staggered, losing some of their capabilities or powering down once a certain threshold has been met. When battling Ashava, Staggering her will shatter her arm blades and greatly diminish the range of her whirlwind attack, making her a little less deadly for you and your friends.

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Itemization

It’s not a Diablo game without tons of new loot to find, and we want to share a broad, top-down approach to our itemization. First, you’ll see the familiar return of most item categories:

Normal -> Magic -> Rare -> Legendary/Set -> Ancient -> Mythic

In Diablo IV, we want Legendaries to be just as, if not more, powerful than Set items. We don’t want you to feel beholden to one particular class set to play your chosen style. Ancient items are a system we’ll be leveraging for Seasons, but we’ll dig into that at a later date. As for Mythic items, these will be so powerful you’ll only be able to equip one of them at a time, so choose wisely!

When it comes to combat statistics, we’ve simplified the math problem. Players should spend more time thinking about stats that change how they play rather than solving arithmetic. Attack and Defense will be your bread and butter; one stat for increasing your damage, and one stat for decreasing damage taken.

More complex stats like Attack Speed or Melee Damage Reduced will still exist; however, these are stats that can change your approach to combat in more than a numerical way. While they might still increase your damage output or reduction, they do so in ways that make you think about the battlefield or which skills work best in different situations.

Some items will also boost individual Talents, effectively acting as bonus points spent in them. If you want to go all-in on Pulverize, you can do so with Skills, Talents, and items!

Legendary Powers

Legendaries should fundamentally change the gameplay of abilities, and that’s exactly the approach we’re taking in Diablo IV. The best way to illustrate this is to review a few powers we’ve worked on for the Sorceress skill Teleport.

One Legendary might increase your defense shortly after you Teleport, making it a great defensive escape tool. Another might increase your damage for a short period of time after you Teleport, making you more likely to want to jump into the fray. Still another removes the Teleport cooldown entirely, but now sends you in a random direction, so you have high, but unpredictable mobility. Lastly, we have a power that adds a burst of area damage to enemies upon your arrival.

Combining all these Legendaries can result in some pretty wild and satisfying results, and it’s up to you (and perhaps a little luck) to decide which ones to combine.

Runes

Runes are back and better than ever! Runes in Diablo IV translate to another layer of gear customization. They come in two types: Conditions and Effects. It’s as easy as socketing in one Condition and one Effect to create your own Legendary power. There will be a great variety of both types of Runes and we can’t wait to see what sorts of combinations you come up with.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Have a question not covered above? Check out the FAQ below.

Q: Will there be trading? A: Yes. While we’re still working on the details, we know this is a huge community request and we want to reintroduce some level of trading while still preserving the loot-finding experience.

Q: Will there be clans? A: Yes! Clans will be a key feature in Diablo IV.

Q: Will there be PvP? A: Yes. Some areas of the world will offer opt-in PvP experiences where you’ll need to watch your back while you adventure.

Q: Will there be Seasons? A: Yes! Seasons will be returning, and we’d like them to heavily impact your approach to gameplay. More details to come.

Q: Will there be Hardcore? A: Yes! We’ve loved this feature ever since it started as a player-created and self-imposed challenge in the original Diablo.

Q: Is Diablo IV coming to consoles? A: We are working with our partners to bring Diablo IV to both PC and console, including Xbox One and PS4. We have no additional platforms to announce at this time.

Q: What about [insert game feature we haven’t yet mentioned here]? A: We know you have a lot of questions about what the final form of Diablo IV will look like. While we’ve been hard at work on all the art, story, and systems we’ve shown so far, we’re far from done and still quite early in the development process. What you’ve seen this weekend is a high-level overview. As we continue working to get the next iteration of Diablo into your hands, it’s likely many things will change.

*****

A Lot to Share, More to Work On

Diablo IV is early in development, but we just couldn’t wait any longer to share with you where we are so far. While we don’t have any news on when we’ll be moving into our first public access stage, we will be keeping up with quarterly updates available here on the Diablo community site and mirrored on our forums for your easy access.

We’ve got a lot of work to do and even more hell to raise. We can’t wait to see you on the other side!

#community management #Diablo #Diablo IV #Diablo 4 #D4 #System Design #Game Design #Game Development #Blizzard Entertainment #BlizzCon 2019 #BlizzCon

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