#basically alternative merge rift

[fishybehavior]

Yo make an elemental master of life and make them malicious

[finn-m-corvex]

FINN.

*PINS YOU DOWN LIKE THAT CAT MEME* YOU

TESSA AND NOAH!!!!

TALK. SPEAK. !!!!تكلم عنهم دلوقتي

RAMBLE ABOUT THE BABIES NOW NOW NOW PLS I LOVE THEM ALREADY

`*GASP* ME????? YES ME!

Noah and Tessa are both 16 and their birthday is November 21st!

Tessa is named after Libber (who I think of as Elizabeth) and Noah is named after Msya's father (Nya's grandfather)

Jay picked Tessa's name because he always wanted a little girl and Nya picked Noah's name to make it fair

They're the oldest of all the Ninja kids (yes I have more) so Tessa is the squad leader because she also takes after Cole and Lloyd

Because Nya merged with the sea, Noah's powers get a big boost when they develop and no one knows what's going to happen with his True Potential whenever he unlocks it (spoiler alert it's not good)

I should probably explain how they exist! Which is a bit of a doozy but hear me out. You know that wish that Jay made in S6 where he wished that he wasn't alone with Nadakhan? Yeah that didn't spawn Nya. That spawned his kids.

He was horrified to hear two screaming babies on the doorstep and rushed to get them inside, and he knew he had to keep them safe from Nadakhan even though he was not ready to be a father.

Basically the kids existed for a while and Jay and Nya took them to the lighthouse and Jay grabbed them before anything could happen and left them with his parents while he saved Nya, but reversing the wish also reversed their existence. Or so he thought-

Because Nya and him couldn't find the kids no matter where they looked, but that was because the kids were trapped in the alternate timeline where Jay wished for Nadakhan to be human, which meant that Nya died. The twins never got to meet their mother but they knew they had to be Nya's because of Noah's powers.

So because I believe in the theory that the Merge would've happened sooner if Jay hadn't reversed the wish, S7 and everything after that subsequently doesn't happen, and instead the Merge occurs when Noah and Tessa are around 7 or 8.

What would've normally happened happens, and the team is split up but Noah and Tessa stay with Lloyd; kinda like the same thing that happened with Jenna and Ethan, and it stays that way until they're both 13. And they find out that Jay died during the Merge because I gotta inject trauma.

Tessa and Noah both decide that their best chance of finding their parents again is to keep hopping through the dimensional rifts until they find one where their parents are alive, and lo and behold! They pop out into the current timeline again! And that's when Noah's power boosts kick in and everything goes to shit :D

Jay always told the two of them that they were more like Nya than him (which is absolutely not true) so they are both very surprised to see how their mom acts because they never got to meet her

It's also very surprising to see three more kids when they didn't grow up with any other siblings and oop this is going to be difficult to adjust to-

This was entirely too long and a bit convoluted but I had a different plan for them before the Merge and had to adjust accordingly. I can also write the plan I had for them before the Merge because it is, uh, quite different.

[seeksholyarc]

okay i think i'm awake enough to compile my thoughts on what rebirth has done with the story for ff7 and compile it with my own headcanons that i've held for aerith for years now.

the multiverse. i'm gonna come outright and say it, i don't love that that's where square is taking the story. as interesting as the multiverse idea can be for media, it was executed poorly. yes, branching timelines is a really basic and integrated trope by this point, but they have to do something in the narrative, or they have to have major emotional impact. and rebirth, sadly, does not hit that for me. i don't really understand what it is they're trying to do, but even with branching timelines that exist based on certain choices (butterfly effect style), ff7's story both in the og and the remake trilogy really seems to be an all roads lead to rome kind of situation, that being aerith's death at the hands of sephiroth in the forgotten capital. for all intents and purposes on this blog, unless plotted or decided otherwise, aerith is dead and the timeline proceeds as normal.

aerith's death. aerith went to the forgotten capital knowing she was going to die and that her death was necessary. i've held this headcanon for years that aerith has known about her death for a long time preceeding remake, given that she herself states that she wants to live in the moment, because she doesn't have much time, but she wants to at least take her destiny into her own hands. if she has to die, it will be on her terms, when she decides she's ready. her death is inevitable, at least the way the remake timeline was proceeding, despite sephiroth being an arbiter of fate.

the date with cloud. this is actually quite interesting to me, as both cloud and aerith merge with their counterparts within this timeline. cloud is wheelchair bound due to the mako poisoning he suffered from hojo's experiments, and aerith is comatose. but since the cloud from the main timeline merges with the cloud from the alternate timeline, that is how he is able to see the rift in the sky at the end of rebirth, while the others cannot. it is also how i believe he's able to still see aerith, as she is, as stated above, dead in his timeline. until the third game proves me wrong, i'm choosing to factor in cloud's status as an extremely unreliable narrator. however it was that aerith returned to the main timeline, i'm not sure, but i imagine it has something to do with sephiroth, as he enters the church as aerith sends cloud back to the main timeline with the white materia.

the white materia. in the main timeline, as of rebirth, aerith's materia is completely empty, devoid of the magic that would summon holy. the aerith in zack's timeline still has a white materia that can be used, which cloud is given in the church on his date with aerith. as for what happened in the og timeline to completely erase the white materia's power, i suspect that has to do with the duel against sephiroth at the end of remake slightly altering the course of destiny, though completely diverting it from its intended path. the aerith in zack's timeline is somewhat closer to aerith from the og, and she is able to give cloud her version of the white materia, allowing the aerith from the main timeline to summon holy.

the rift in the sky. somewhat controversial take, but the rift cloud sees in the sky is, as established, a symbol of the fact that the timeline has branched. he created a divergence by parrying sephiroth's sword, and in this alternate reality where aerith survives, by virtue of having created it, cloud can see that it is doomed to disappear. the main timeline is not the one that is crumbling, by virtue of converging with another version of himself previously and having been the one to form the rift, cloud is experiencing two timelines at once, the one where aerith died and the one where she didn't. for the rest of the party who were not present for the events of aerith's death, they are only aware of their main timeline. the exception to this is tifa, as i believe and many others believe that she has also witnessed this other timeline to some extent, though she can't see or interact with the aerith that was saved.

aerith at the end. at the end of rebirth, after the final boss battle with sephiroth, aerith disappears into the lifestream, signaling her death as a concrete event. for the purposes of the main timeline, aerith was killed by sephiroth, just as she was in the original game. and since she had previously prayed for holy, it would come, as in the og, bugenhagen says that in order for it to work, the materia must be glowing and a soul seeking holy must reach the lifestream. however, only cloud being able to see her after her death may also have been a callback to advent children, where cloud is able to perceive the spirits of zack and aerith at the church.

effect on portrayal. while i'm picking up the aspects of rebirth and remake that i enjoyed ( aerith getting her date with cloud, the actual moment of her death, the temple sequence, the trials, etc. ), i am planning to still primarily rely on the original telling of the story, as i am partial to more events of that story. primarily, the only things i'm adapting from the remake trilogy are things that expand aerith's story and her experiences because, as i said up above, aerith's death is an event that is set in stone, and she both knows that and accepts ir in the og game and in the remake trilogy. i base more of my portrayal of aerith on her personality, actions, and dialogue from the original anyways, as more of those scenes stood out and emotionally impacted me. at the very least, i am officially caught up on the remake trilogy, and am willing and able to plot in that verse. the remake trilogy is not and never will be my default.

[lookbotsfollowmeyay]

I write a tiny amount, actually. I personally do not think it is very good at all, but I have got to be at least slightly confident and plague the world with my writing.

Anyways, I have a great concept and would like to present it. It is a bit long, so brace yourselves.

So. The fabric of the universe (or the fabric of reality, basically interchangeable) is fragile and gets damaged all the time randomly. The hierarchy of damage to the universe goes: wrinkle < rift < fracture < fissure. They all expand exponentially, so even a rift is an emergency.

To close them, there is this thing called a rift sealer because I am horrible with names. Rift sealers contain small amounts of rift fibre, which are obtained by bringing a certain forcefield on to carbon fibre. They are basically magic at this point.

Each rift sealer needs to contain a small amount of rift fibres, which can just be put into a box and soldiered on to a memory chip or something in a USB. You can totally put it on to a computer motherboard or something, but if you put it on to a USB, you retain the functionality of the computer it is plugged into once the USB is unplugged.

Now, why does one need to shove magical carbon fibre into a memory drive? Rift fibres need to be trained so they can make fissure thread (more on that later) and before they are trained well enough to operate independently in threads. In order to use untrained thread, they need guidance from sentient beings in a movie style hacking way (please somebody improve this) to be able to do their jobs. If left alone, they might make the situation worse by enlarging the rifts, risking fissuring.

Completely trained rift fibres are then woven into fissure thread.

Wrinkles do not cause much damage (yet) and can be ironed out just with the presence of a rift sealer.

Rifts are easier to find than wrinkles due to their influence on their surroundings (more on that later).

Fractures are untreated rifts. They are dealt with by using rift locks—a specific type of knot tied with a length of fissure thread, carefully installed as to maintain stability. Or in layman terms, tie a knot, dip it in wax, and yeet that bitch into the fracture.

Fissures are the hardest and most resource intensive to deal with. They are the only type to leave permanent scars on the fabric of the universe. To seal fissures, the edges have to be hemmed and pulled together, all with fissure thread. Due to the fabric being forced together, it leaves bumps which are quite noticeable if you travel over them.

There are types of rifts. While consuming the universe somehow, they cause disturbances in reality. Their types include:

Temporal rifts (or time rifts) distorts the flow of time. Time loops, time jumps and the merging of multiple timelines can all be blamed on this.

Spatial rifts (or space rifts) distort physical space. Mainly the seamless connection of two seperate places and twisting topology of the surrounding area.

Dimensional rifts open gates to other dimensions. They are a subcategory of space rift, and the alternate dimensions do not always follow our laws of reality.

Reality rifts mess up the fabric of our reality, causing disturbances in laws of physics, math, whatever.

Energy rifts disturb the logic of "raw energy", like electrical, thermal, or nuclear. Energy rifts might constantly throw out energy which disrupt the normal flow of energy.

In conclusion, that means you can: make all your AUs canon, get isekaied and shit. I should be sleeping and I have typed all this out with my thumbs on my phone.

[finn-m-corvex]

I can only explain my two; if you want the other five, you gotta ask Taddy Levi and Ren!

In the combined AU, Noah and Tessa are Jay’s kids from an alternate Skybound timeline. Basically, when Jay wished not to be alone at the mansion, instead of Nya being spawned into existence it was the two kids. Jay panicked and left them with his parents before they left for Tiger Widow Island, and once he was kidnapped by Nadakhan he realized that the djinn actually wanted the two kids to hold them hostage.

When he was rescued, Jay and Nya took the twins with them to the lighthouse, and that was basically all the bonding time that Nya got with them. In this timeline, Jay wished for Nadakhan to become human rather than to reverse time, which meant that Nya died and the kids stuck around.

To cut a long story short, Jay spiraled and was NOT a good dad, and Noah and Tessa were basically raised by the other Ninja until the Merge happened. Jay died in the Merge, and Noah and Tessa were alone at the Monastery when they decided to jump through the rifts until they found a world where they had their parents back.

And eventually, they just ended up in the current world right before they turned 17!

I Have no Idea what’s going on with Jay and his 5000 children and at this point I’m too afraid to ask.

[sepublic]

The Collector taught Philip/Belos and his Brother?

Belos is clearly Philip Wittebane, and Yesterday’s Lie did just about everything to confirm it! What with the two of them looking COMPLETELY identical in terms of their face, its structure and the nose… But also?

I think Yesterday’s Lie also gave us an answer as to Belos and the Collector’s potential connection!

Both of them have distinct, red magic that can dabble in the power of curses- The Collector transformed the Owl Beast into a curse, and Belos is able to manipulate the curse to restore Eda’s consciousness when she’s transformed! Not to mention their tall, pillar-like silhouettes, and ability to basically ‘melt’ into an amorphous black form!

I think there’s a good chance that the witch that Philip and his brother met, who whisked them off to the Demon Realm?

That was the Collector, and she likely taught Philip/Belos her unique form of magic! After all, we see the Collector capture the Owl Beast near a lake of dark liquid, reminiscent of that world between worlds that Luz finds.

Given her title, not to mention her association with the eclipse, which itself is a symbol for the crossing over of the Day of Unity, and is the namesake of a lake of Titan’s Blood, which creates rifts between the worlds… And the Collector is likely someone who can travel between the worlds at will! 

Since Philip made the Portal, she was probably the one who took him and his brother in- Maybe to collect them as humans… Although with Philip having become her apprentice, and his brother going on to sire what would eventually become the Clawthorne lineage, those plans clearly changed. 

Who knows? The Collector might be how Belos knows enough about eclipses as part of his Day of Unity, about the properties of different worlds and crossing over, in order to merge the realms! Though this does leave the question- Where is the Collector now? In some other world, minding her own business? Could she give answers to Luz about Belos? 

The space with the tesseracts that Luz used to look into the human world… Perhaps the Collector has visited this place to look for her quarry- Maybe it IS her place, and Luz just happened to miss her! Or, with how Dell is clearly descended from Philip’s brother… Maybe the Collector married Philip’s brother, and the two sired what would eventually become the Clawthorne lineage!

Amity and the Collector share symbols… Perhaps they’re parallels, as powerful witches who fell in love with a human from another world! Maybe the Collector is long-dead, and died of old age… Who knows? Maybe she’s been imprisoned by Belos somewhere. We’ll just have to wait and see…

Alternatively, maybe the Collector is the Eda to Philip- With Philip being Luz! And the King to Philip is… None other than King’s father, who likely taught Philip how to put together the Portal’s ingredients! More on THAT in another post!

[violethowler]

Highlands Poppy: An Analysis of Clone Shiro’s Role in the Story of Voltron Legendary Defender

It pretty much goes without saying that Shiro’s consciousness being merged with his clone in S6E07 Defender of All Universes was a controversial decision with the fandom. Many had been expecting the Clone Shiro plotline to be resolved the way that such stories usually go in your typical science fiction story. The clone would go through an existential crisis realizing that everything they know about themselves is a lie before eventually deciding to build a new identity for themselves independent of the original. So from that perspective, many fans saw the merging of the clone and the original as one character being killed off because the other was seen as more real, and therefore more important. 

However Voltron: Legendary Defender is not a purely science fiction franchise. With its druids and magic, and the Altean basically being elves in all but name, the show has the trappings of an epic fantasy set in outer space. So when discussing Clone Shiro’s role in the overall narrative of the series, we should not be looking at it from a purely sci-fi perspective. Meaning that despite the name “Operation Kuron” and being labeled as such on-screen in Seasons 6-7, “Kuron” does not align with traditional sci-fi tropes about cloning. To more accurately describe what he is, we should first look at the function that both Shiros fill within the overarching story of the series. 

A recurring narrative device used throughout VLD is to link two different characters or events by framing them as parallels. These parallels thematically tie the two together and serve to link the similar elements together in the mind of the audience, often with the additional purpose of highlighting the parts where the two are different. The most immediately obvious example would be the fight against the gladiator robeast in S1E03 Return of the Gladiator, where Voltron’s battle against the robeast intercuts with brief flashbacks to Shiro fighting the warrior it was built from back in the gladiator arena. 

However sometimes these parallels are more subtle, and aren’t directly pointed out in the narrative. Instead, the more subtle parallels are depicted through similar elements, or through visual details that signal that the events being depicted are of a similar nature. For example, despite being separated by at least 18 episodes, Pidge’s grief when she finds Matt’s grave in S4E02 Reunion parallels Shiro mourning Adam in S7E09 Know Your Enemy. Meanwhile, the bits of light floating off Lotor’s body in S8E10 Knights of Light: Part 2 resemble the ones seen coming from his parents’ eyes after their resurrection in S3E07 The Legend Begins, signalling that Lotor is not dead, despite WEP removing all trace of his survival from subsequent episodes.

After Allura transfers Shiro’s consciousness into the clone body, his eyes fill with a solid pink light that contracts before fading to show his pupils as the merger of Shiro and Clone Shiro completes. After this point, Shiro has all of his and the clone’s memories (although thanks to WEP’s meddling with Seasons 7 and 8, we did not get to see this shown on screen). The only other time in the series where we see this visual of a character’s eyes lighting up with a solid color before the light contracts and fades to reveal their pupils is when Haggar leaves Oriande and completes her transformation back into Honerva. 

From a storytelling perspective, this signals to the audience that what Honerva experienced in Oriande after forcing her way past the White Lion’s trial in S6E01 Omega Shield is similar to what occurred with Shiro and his clone in S6E07 Defender of All Universes: a merging of two selves. This connection ties in to an existing pattern that has been present in the show since Season 4 and still remains in Seasons 7 and 8 despite the extensive executive meddling that resulted in the culmination of this plotline being removed.

When speaking with Lotor in S6E05 The Black Paladins, Honerva refers to her Haggar persona as something she was transformed into. Something different than who she really is that she was changed into against her will. Lotor also treats Haggar and Honerva as separate entities in the same episode, and in S4E05 Begin the Blitz, even though we as the audience know for a fact that they are the same person. Shiro, too, makes a distinction between his own actions and those of his alternate self in S7E06. 

But despite her claims to the contrary, we are shown that the only difference between Haggar and Honerva is her memories. Even before she took a bath in the rift on Daibazaal, Honerva was always willing to push ethical boundaries in the name of science. She does not react with horror at her actions after regaining her memories, and despite attempting to separate herself from her Haggar identity, she still adheres to the same tactics to stay in control of the people around her.

In the same way, the biggest distinction between Shiro and his clone is their diverging memory post-Season 2, and the fact that the events of S3E5 The Journey added more trauma on top of Shiro’s PTSD from his time as a prisoner of the empire, making him more short-tempered and less patient. But the Shiro in Seasons 3-5 at his core is so identical to the Shiro of the first 2 seasons that despite the Operation Kuron line in S3E5, many fans before Season 6 did not believe that he was a clone at all. 

We do not get any on-screen acknowledgement of Shiro having two sets of memories, however the Season 8 episode Clear Day points out that Honerva and Haggar are the same person despite the change in her name and appearance. This indicates that we should have gotten a similar acknowledgement of Shiro’s situation at some point during the final season. We should also have seen both characters be forced to confront the reality of their situation in order to move forward. 

The moment where Honerva is forced to confront the fact that she cannot absolve herself of her actions as Haggar was more than likely a casualty of Lotor’s removal from the final season. Her final conversation with Lotor would have forced her to accept responsibility for her actions as Haggar, and Lotor would likewise be forced to acknowledge the cruel witch Haggar and his mother Honerva as the same person. 

While Honerva’s confrontation was centered around Lotor, Shiro’s most significant relationship throughout the overarching narrative is his bond with Keith. It would make perfect sense, then, for Keith to play a major role in helping Shiro reconcile with the memories and actions of his alternate self. And since all of Keith and Shiro’s personal interactions were cut out of the season in order to No-Homo their connection, scenes that acknowledged the merger of the two Shiros were left on the cutting room floor. 

TL;DR: Shiro merging with his clone at the end of Season 6 is an external representation of what happens inside Honerva’s mind at the beginning. The two were each meant to have moments in Season 8 where they admit that their other selves were a part of them instead of separate entities, but these scenes were cut as a consequence of Lotor’s removal from the season and Keith and Shiro being No-Homo’d. 

[animatronic5]

fanfiction.net/u/10887504/

The link above is for my Fanfiction.net profile. 1. A sequel to my story, LoZ: Hyrule Heroes, involving Link and Malon's kids, Lyn and Mel, trying to rescue Zeldas sonn Prince Scott, from a ressurrected Vaati and Zant from TP. Along their journey, they travel with a young Rito girl named Sarah, Erma, (the witch from the first story), the desperate Midna who's trying to reclaim her throne, and Flynn's pup, Zeke. A side-plot in the story would be Link and his companions from the first story protecting Hyrule Castle, and Zelda, from Zant and Vaatis incoming forces. 2. A harem crossover, Dragonball Z and Chrono Trigger, involving an OC, Ayla, Maron, (Krillins Ex, not his daughter), Launch, and a few other single women in these universes. The plot I've thought of so far is a young man from the future who ends up travelling through time, and thus, meets the many hot women who fall in love with him. 3. AvP, a female predator named Tia'ra and a male human named Max are trapped on a prison planet with many other humans and aliens. As they try to find a way to escape, as well as fall in love, they meet a Xenomorph whose been experimented on and given human speech and thought, a little girl whose been wrongfully taken there, a woman and her pet Xenomorph, (note, this is my character Violet and Xander from my story, the Android and The Mutant), and a male cyborg, the group find out about a plot that threatens to destroy the universe. 4. OFF, Batter x Queen AU. The Judge sends a regretful Batter to a time before Hugo lead his world to ruin, and thus, starts to form a relationship with the Queen. 5. A continuation of my story, UnderFell Mob. In this, Frisk is now an adult, working with her monster family to maintain peace. Soon, a new menace rears its head to threaten Frisk and those she cares about. 6. Godzilla Apocalypse Story involving OCs, humans and monsters from Godzilla, Gamera, Mothra and King Kong movies. When the world is turned into a wasteland, it's up to a small group of humans to try and create peace between the monsters and themselves. When Ling Ghidorah threatens the last of humanity, it may be up to a certain radioactive creature to maintain peace. 7. Invader Zim X Gaz AU, if this one wins, or if I ever decide to do it in the future, I might do another poll on where you'd want the setting for this AU to be. 8. Tom, Toonamis glorious host, is sent on a Sci-Fi adventure that will have him meet several faces. And they're all his own! (Basically, our current Tom ends up stranded on a desert planet with a new larger, more mobile version of SARA, Georgia the worm, and Clyde 56s, and they end up finding the factory that built Tom, and in doing so, they find the previous models of Tom, but discover that they have their own personalities!) 9. An OC ends up on a cosmic adventure with Quenn Tyr'ahnee, (aka: The Martian Queen on Duck Dodgers). On their journey, the two fall in love as they are chased down by a group of space pirates, (who may or may not look like classic Looney Tunes villains). 10. Years into the future, the Teen Titans, (comic versions mostly), are now lead by a new generation. The son of Bruce Wayne and Selina Kyle, the daughter of Dick Grayson and Starfire, the daughter of Raven and Garfield Logan, an ageing Victor Stone, the grandson of Slade Wilson, and an orphaned monster find themsleves coming together to carry on the legacy of the Titans before them... 11. A crossover between Super Mario Odyssey, and Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. In the story, set in an AU, A weakened Ganon creates a spell that merges his world with the one housing a certain Italian plumber. When he forms a shakey alliance with Bowser, it's up to 2 heroes to save the day. A plumber with his talking cap, and the Hero with the sword that seals the darkness must save their world's from the Koopa King, and the Demon Lord... 12. Who loves Smash Bros? I Do! So I thoight, why not make it into an actual story? Keep In mind, due to so many characters In the games, and several games at that, I made it a more simple plot by making my own that's loosely based on the first game. I will have various characters from certain games In it though. Some as heroes, some as villains, and some as side characters. In my story, a dimensional rift created by Master Hand brings various worlds together. This includes the Mario Bros, Sonic the Hedgehog, Link, Fox Mccloud, Samus Aron, Solid Snake, Megaman, Kirby, Red and his pokemon, Ness, Lucas, Donkey Kong, Pit, (aka Kid Iccarus), and Captain Falcon. Characters such as Bayonetta, Lucas, Banjo Kazooie, various Princesses, the Wario Bros, (Yes, I'm putting Waluigi in there), will be forced to hold up together while our heroes work to stop Master Hand and his minions. 13. Mad Marvel. A Mad Max style universe involving various Marvel characters. For my main leads, Spiderman with his Karen AI, She-Hulk, (note that I'm toying with the idea of Spider-Man and she hulk as a couple for this story) Iron Man, Captain Marvel, Wasp, and Thor. The villains would be an immortal Joe version of Thanos, Hela, Magneto, Red Skull, MODOK, Dr. Doom and Abomination. Other characters like the X-Men, Deadpool, the Hulk, and other Avengers would pop up in other groups. The main one is the characters I listed. 14. Spiderman: Great Power. A very loose adaptation of the PS4 game. It has variations, like the action, and certain changes to the story. Such as Peter having his AI Karen and his drone from SM: Homecoming, Peter is in a relationship with She Hulk, he is friends with the Avengers, and side characters like Ned being involved on the side lines. 15. A Ben 10/ Fallout harem romance story. It loosely follows the combined plots of Fallout 3 and 4. An alternate Ben's universe is destroyed by a black hole, and so Paradox, feeling bad for him, sends him to an alternate dimension where he was unknowingly killed by an insane pyronite. Ben is brought to a fallout style dimension where various alien species have come to the Earth before and after the nukes turned it into a wasteland. As Ben works to save this world from being torn apart, he also finds himself in a harem style relationship with various woman from the series. Influenced by the story, "Ben's Harem", by GreyKing46. 16. A Smash Bros AU. In this story, Samus Aran is the captain of a group of space mercs. This team consists of Aran, Sonic from Mobius, a Pikachu tested in in a lab, a baby Metroid, Link as a Luke Skywalker type character as boy coming from a backwater planet, Mario as a space mechanic, Fox Mccloud, a cyborg version of Snake, Megaman and and Kirby as a mysterious space outlaw. 17. A fantasy story maybe? When a feared yet gentle barbarian is taken hostage by a tribe of ogres, he is soon thrown into an adventure involving high stakes danger, and romance. He soon finds himself in a relationship with several females! Yeah, trying to delve into harem style storytelling. He finds himself with an orc warrior, a runaway dwarf princess, a human thief, an enslaved centaur, a flirtatious elf, a hard headed goblin and a shy nymph. 18. A simple romance story where Peter Parker, Spider-Man, and Jennifer Walters, She-Hulk, become a couple, fighting against various enemies as members of the Avengers.

[overanalyzingelswordiswhatido]

Time Travel in Elsword

With the idea that Doom Bringer route Add uses quantum physics for all of his abilities, that means that time travel is an entirely plausible ability for him no special additions required. It's simply a matter of working out the details. Since the only thing it's stated he needs at this point is a power source for it, I'm assuming he worked out most of those details already but, his particle fission can't build up enough power for him to successfully travel. He needs something more powerful to give an initial burst in energy to get himself that far back. Though that also means he would have to be VERY careful and precise in his application of that power.

That also provides an explanation regarding Mad Paradox's abilities as well. Since Doom Bringer's fission isn't enough to get the job done, Add's power source (whether it's Mad Paradox or Doom Bringer) would have to be equivalent to nuclear fusion (the process that provides energy/power to stars) at a minimum. Because the El is implied to be an acceptable power source, destroying alternate universes/worlds/timelines is actually well within Paradox's abilities and would be within Doom Bringer's if and/or when he makes the attempt. Since the El Explosion is stated to have split the continent in half.

Along with that comes a possible explanation for why time travel is so damaging in the Elsword lore. Since Doom Bringer is safely able to use fission, despite all the radiation it causes it can be assumed that something filters that out. My first assumption is Dynamo but since nothing else seems to be damaged from it either and that the El is implied to be on par with nuclear fusion, it can be assumed ambient El energy is also an explanation. However, while the El is stated to be the source of life in Elrios, there is a such thing as too much of a good thing. If the power source required is on par with fusion, then we can plausibly apply a similar concept of sickness from frequent exposure/over exposure especially since repeated time travel is heavily implied to only build the detrimental effects. Dynamo can only filter so much and the El can only protect from so much before bad things start to take affect.

I think Doom Bringer's time travel would work differently from Mad Paradox's. Mad Paradox rips open rifts and travels through the space between timelines (which leads me to believe he's exposed to higher levels of "radiation" much faster than he otherwise would be). Because of Doom Bringer's basis in quantum physics I think any time travel capabilities he develops would more closely resemble teleportation. Quantum physics is weird and complicated (and even more so when relating to time travel) and so... I don't have much more of an explanation for that other than that's just how I interpreted the research I've been doing. Because Doom Bringer is planning it out so thoroughly I do think his time travel would be more exact than Mad Paradox's. My thoughts on that right now, are basically a timeline search engine. Doom Bringer finds a way to enter parameters into Dynamo that would then narrow down the timelines he could land in. How far things are narrowed down depends on the specificity of the parameters set. I also think that because Doom Bringer doesn't ever go into the space between timelines due to his time travel working more like teleportation, his time travel is more limited in some ways. Unlike Mad Paradox, he can't just rip open a rift and be elsewhere. He'll end up in another timeline no matter how small the time span traveled is. Though, Doom Bringer would totally come up with a way to circumvent that little issue shoukd the need for time travel in the same timeline arise. Right now, I'm thinking he likely travels farther than his actual goal into another timeline and then travels to his actual goal time to return to the first timeline.

On to the base premise of time travel. Based on Dominator and Mad Paradox's storylines, it can be assumed that the use of time travel in the Elsword universe sticks most closely to the many worlds idea. Where no matter when you go to, it will always be an alternate universe/world/timeline whatever. This greatly implies that Add himself is from an alternate timeline. And he actually says as much after the Hall of El, saying his mother isn't even in this timeline. Doom Bringer route Add, having a deep understanding of the laws of quantum physics, would KNOW THAT. Tangenting for a second but I don't think Dominator or Mad Paradox know they are in a different timeline as opposed to simply being in a different time, since they both do different things that wouldn't require the same deep level of knowledge in regards to quantum physics that Doom Bringer has. Another reason I think they don't know is both Dominator and Mad Paradox rushed in and they ran the same calculations that pointed at it being impossible because of the existence of alternate timelines. But if the calculations say its impossible because of the existence of alternate timelines, it is implied that they are thinking along the lines of traveling solely through time, only to the past, as opposed to the past of another timeline.

Anyway, back on track. For me at least, to make things even simpler, I would then combine it with the idea that every change is like a ripple in a river. Hypothetically speaking every single choice made could create an alternate timeline. However, by sprinkling on what is really a fictional application of consistent history (this might not be what it's called I've done a lot of research recently so the terms might be a mixed up in my brain), some choices will not have a large enough impact as a whole and the alternate created from said choice will no longer be able to sustain itself and will merge back into its original timeline. As time flows on, and choices become less impactful, the alternate created by those choices will likely begin to degrade. I have decided to call these timelines splinter timelines and I have also decided that it is possible for these timelines to destroy themselves if they degrade too quickly to merge back into their original. Not quite related but I have also decided the flow of time, climates, and geography are all slightly different from one timeline to the next.

With consistent histories mixed in, things can plausibly be simplified for the purposes of a story (which is exactly what I plan to do). I just thought I'd share my ideas about time travel in the Elsword universe, since I have it all written out for The Depths of Time anyway.

[courtneytincher]

ISIS vs. Al Qaeda: What Lies in the Future of Global Jihadism?

The IS – Al-Qaeda Dispute (excerpt from Chapter 4 of After the Caliphate, Polity Press, 2019)Colin P. ClarkeThe fall-out from the split between IS and al-Qaeda has led to a competition viewed by both sides as zero sum in nature, where progress by one of these groups signaled a loss for the other. One of the primary drivers of such a heated competition is that, in many ways, the ideology and objectives of the group are so similar. The Islamic State reverted to extreme levels of violence as one method of differentiating itself from its rivals, including al-Qaeda. Both groups are attempting to recruit from the same milieus and influence similar constituencies. The main differences are that IS sought to create a caliphate on a timeline considered premature by al-Qaeda, and IS pursued a far more sectarian agenda in attempting to achieve this objective. Whether and how these differences are ever resolved will have a major impact on the future of the movement writ large.The split itself occurred at the leadership levels of these groups, so one of the most interesting questions is: to what extent do foot soldiers and mid-level commanders really care, in actuality, about the previous infighting and strategic disputes? For some of the fighters at these levels, there is an obvious parallel to conflicts between street gangs, where members like the Bloods and Crips “fly their colors” – or represent their gangs by wearing their distinctive colors – and continuously disparage their adversaries by posting “dis videos” online, mocking and threatening rivals.63 The bitterness and divisiveness of the feud has played out on social media, with leaders on each side hurling vituperation and casting opprobrium on the other as “bad Muslims.” The initial castigation came from al-Qaeda’s leader Zawahiri himself, who fulminated against IS for being deviant from the al-Qaeda methodology.The truth is, as outlined in chapter 1’s discussion of al-Qaeda in Iraq, that the relationship was doomed from the start. The group that would eventually become IS has always been something of a rogue element, formed and led by Zarqawi, who fought hard to preserve the independence of his affiliate. Even after pledging his loyalty to bin Laden and assuming the al-Qaeda moniker, Zarqawi still ignored directions from al-Qaeda’s core leadership and narrowly pursued his own sectarian agenda in hopes of igniting a Sunni–Shia civil war, first within Iraq, and then throughout the wider Islamic world. One of al-Qaeda’s first steps to present itself as more evenhanded was denouncing blatant sectarianism and working to convince AQI to jettison sectarianism as a guiding principle. When, in July 2005, Zawahiri penned a letter to the leader of AQI chastising him for his group’s wanton slaughter of Shiites, the former stressed the overall negative impact these actions were having on the al-Qaeda brand and urged him to eschew targeting other Muslims. When Zarqawi disregarded Zawahiri’s advice, he cemented AQI’s reputation as a ruthless organization where violence was almost an end in and of itself.So while the initial rift began deepening in Iraq in the mid-2000s, it developed into an internecine struggle during the early years of the Syrian civil war. Following the fall-out, al-Qaeda has worked assiduously to reestablish itself as a major factor in the Levant; to accomplish this, it has been forced to overcome several significant setbacks related to its organizational unity and coherence. Al-Qaeda’s initial presence in Syria was through an affiliation with Jabhat al-Nusra, the Islamic State in Iraq’s erstwhile Syria branch. In mid-2016, Nusra rebranded itself as Jabhat Fateh al-Sham and later merged with other terrorist splinter groups to form Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a jihadist umbrella organization, which put even more distance between itself and al-Qaeda. As of mid-2018, al-Qaeda had no formal affiliate in Syria but still commanded the loyalty of several high-profile militants. Some al-Qaeda loyalists announced the formation of yet another new group, Tanzim Hurras al-Din, or the Religious Guardians’ Organization, in 2018. While HTS remains focused on events in Syria, Tanzim Hurras al-Din is headed by al-Qaeda veterans who may seek to use Syria as a base to launch high-profile terrorist attacks against the West. This posture is a departure from al-Qaeda’s recent focus on grassroots appeal in Syria and, if it comes to fruition, it will probably have significant ramifications for the group’s return to its former glory. Another important angle is that there are several Jordanian jihadi veterans among Tanzim Hurras al-Din’s leadership cadre who were close to Zarqawi and, as such, there is both historical and ideological affinity with IS, which increases the probability that Hurras might successfully poach IS members and bring them into the al-Qaeda fold.The rebranding process for al-Qaeda in Syria was undertaken partly out of necessity, but it was also strategic in nature. From a pragmatic standpoint, the rebrandings have served to put some distance between al-Qaeda and a host of imitators and rivals. This could be an effort by the group to learn from past mistakes, when the leadership’s reluctance to publicly disavow Zarqawi traded short-term gains for long-term losses and eventually contributed to the split, an event that seemed like an existential threat to al-Qaeda throughout 2014. The strategic part of the rebranding is no different from a company’s use of public relations and marketing to refashion its image – al-Qaeda now seeks to present itself as the “moderate alternative” to the Islamic State. The IS brand was represented by the caliphate and the group’s reliance on anomic violence, while al-Qaeda sought to position itself as an organization more adept at strategic planning and with more attractive prospects for enduing success in the future.Although the rebranding is considered a feint by many counterterrorism scholars, it just might have worked to recast al-Qaeda’s image within Syria. And so, even while the emergence of IS at one point threatened the existence of al-Qaeda, it also presented the latter with an opportunity. Al-Qaeda’s calculated decision to distance itself from its former satellite organization was an effort to portray itself as a legitimate, capable, and independent force in the ongoing Syrian civil war. Another objective was to prove that the militants were dedicated to helping Syrians prevail in their struggle. Finally, it would give core al-Qaeda a modicum of plausible deniability as it paves the way for its erstwhile allies to gain eligibility for military aid from a collection of external nations.Now that the Islamic State has lost its caliphate, al-Qaeda may be the only group viewed as militarily capable of challenging the Assad regime’s grip on power, although, as of mid-2018, that seems like a long shot. Al-Qaeda could certainly prove to be the longer-term threat to stability in Syria, primarily due to its grassroots support and local appeal. Unlike the Islamic State, al-Qaeda is perceived as an entity willing to work with the population and possessing the resources necessary to provide at least some of the trappings of governance. In the long term, al-Qaeda could resemble Lebanese Hezbollah – a violent non-state actor that has solidified political legitimacy while still retaining its ability to wage large-scale acts of terrorism and political violence.Depending on where it operates, al-Qaeda has shifted between protector, predator, and parasite, labels which are not mutually exclusive. In both Yemen and Mali, its members demonstrate a remarkable knack for pragmatism when operating in the midst of brutal civil wars. After infiltrating local rebel groups, al-Qaeda fighters parrot their grievances and champion parochial objectives. After ingratiating its fighters, al-Qaeda then ramps up proselytization efforts and introduces a narrative defined by a mixture of local and global themes. Unlike the Islamic State, al-Qaeda is willing to work with other groups, as it has been doing in Syria, where it typically puts locals in charge of units, battalions, and other military formations, lending a sense of local legitimacy to its face in the country. Moreover, al-Qaeda has displayed a penchant for cooperation beyond immediate conflict zones, as evidenced by on-again, off-again tactical cooperation with Iran.One of the most debated issues within the global jihadist movement is the so-called “near versus far debate” about which enemies the militants should concentrate the bulk of their efforts fighting – local apostate regimes or Western countries, especially the United States, but increasingly also the United Kingdom, France, and Australia. Al-Qaeda in Syria has managed to boost its brand through the provision of local services, including water and electricity, while also working to support local bakeries and control market prices of basic foodstuffs. Its leadership publicly announced that it will refrain from attacking the West, at least temporarily, in order to avoid Western counterterrorism reprisals, while simultaneously conserving its resources to concentrate on overthrowing the Assad regime, by far the top priority of Syrian Sunnis.Al-Qaeda’s Syrian leadership also recognizes that it is infinitely more successful when it focuses on local issues instead of a more amorphous and contested struggle with the West. These tensions seem to be at least partly to blame for the continued fracturing and splintering of al-Qaeda in Syria and its multiple iterations and offshoots. The debate over whether to focus locally or to revert back to a relentless quest to conduct spectacular attacks in the West could lead to a long-term and enduring fissure within the global jihadist movement. With the movement already divided by the al-Qaeda – IS split, this issue, similar to the decision on when to attempt to establish the caliphate, is a core ideological debate that is unlikely to be settled anytime soon.For all of al-Qaeda’s attempts at moderation, IS has behaved in an entirely opposite manner, as it pursued an uncompromising strategy of sectarianism, barbarity, and conquest. IS fully embraced sectarianism, seemingly making the killing of Shiites its raison d’être. And while al-Qaeda’s propaganda might still be peppered with derogatory references to Shiites, in general it favors a much more measured approach than IS. The groups are different in many ways, some subtle and others not. For example, rather than working with local groups, IS consistently acted as a conquering army, routing local militant leaders rather than working alongside them. In addition, locals were taxed, extorted, and closely policed by IS religious patrols to ensure strict adherence to sharia law.IS’s approach to warfare was reflected in its fighting style, whereby the group relied on conventional means of warfare, including artillery and tanks, in combination with some asymmetric tactics. When IS assumed control of a certain swath of territory, it often installed foreigners (Chechens, Tunisians, and Uzbeks) in command of the area. But its success came with a price. The more territory IS took over and the more brazen its displays of military might, the more likely the Coalition could no longer ignore its actions. The result was that, compared to other Salafi-jihadist groups operating in Syria, IS bore the brunt of Wester counterterrorism operations, a development that suited al-Qaeda just fine. The relentless stream of IS propaganda directed at the West – particularly the gruesome videos of beheadings, burnings, and crucifixions – left the Coalition with little choice but to set its sights on the caliphate. The success IS experienced in building its proto-state elevated it to the top priority for the Coalition. Accordingly, al-Qaeda in Syria was given breathing room to patiently rebuild its credibility and political legitimacy among locals. Gartenstein-Ross has described this as a “strategy of deliberate yet low-key growth.”The future of al-Qaeda and IS will be largely defined by the competition between the two. There is little debate that, beginning around 2014, IS could successfully lay claim to be the undisputed leader of the global jihadist movement. Once its caliphate collapsed, that began to change, and its current decline may be accompanied by al-Qaeda’s rise back to preeminence. There are clear signs that al-Qaeda has modified its tactics to take advantage of what it sees as a unique opportunity. In Syria’s Idlib province, al-Qaeda successfully cultivated grassroots support and by mid-2017 was beginning to accept former IS fighters into its ranks, a development most would have thought unthinkable just a year or two earlier. Al-Qaeda’s leadership realizes that its response to the Arab Spring was sclerotic and is now making amends, focusing its resources and energy on the concerns most salient to Sunnis, a strategy that has helped the group spread its roots throughout northwestern Syria. It has also used this strategy successfully throughout parts of Yemen, where it operates under various front organizations, branches of Ansar Sharia, and other Salafi groups.Al-Qaeda’s more balanced and predictable approach to governing is geared toward winning the popular support of civilian populations. Life under the Islamic State, even for its own loyal subjects, was enforced by draconian religious interpretations and subsequent enforcement of punishments for those who were not fastidious and completely obedient. Al-Qaeda was far less stringent and could be indifferent to perceived offenses that would draw harsh rebuke from the Islamic State. The year 2018 marks the 30-year anniversary of al-Qaeda’s founding and it is clear that the group has evolved, adapted, and learned over time. Its ability to establish widespread political legitimacy through a refurbished image could propel the group through well into its fourth decade.This shift over time by al-Qaeda to a more tolerant organization was in part a result of Zawahiri’s leadership. For all of the criticism he endures for lacking charisma, a critique most jihadist scholars find unassailable, Zawahiri does give al-Qaeda the benefit of continuity and a historical appreciation for what has traditionally worked and what has failed in the jihadists’ ongoing struggle against their adversaries. With his direction, the group has made course corrections based on trial and error and actively sought to amend previous errors in doctrine and strategy.Al-Qaeda in Syria has gone to great lengths to protect its image by rebranding its affiliate several times already. Bilaad al-Shaam, or the Land of the Levantine People, is highly coveted by multiple groups within the global jihadist movement for religious and geographical reasons. Zawahiri sees Syria as an opportunity to demonstrate relevance, juxtapose al-Qaeda to the Islamic State, and position his group as the more capable and pragmatic entity and, thus, the group worth siding with as the competition continues.Perhaps the most interesting change in al-Qaeda’s behavior since the death of bin Laden is that the group no longer seems obsessed with striking the West and, indeed, according to Bruce Hoffman, in 2015 Zawahiri issued strict orders to Mohammed al-Jolani not to use Syria as a launching pad to attack the West. There are several possible reasons for this decision, including that al-Qaeda’s infrastructure in Europe was not nearly as robust as that of the Islamic State, and thus any attack was probably going to pale in comparison to what IS had already achieved.Another, more nefarious possibility is that Zawahiri is merely playing the “long game” while strategically concealing its Khorasan Group assets as IS is further attenuated. Again, this might be changing with the continued splintering of groups in Syria and the emergence of Tanzim Hurras al-Din. At least in terms of capability, if not intent, discerning a group’s organizational structure could provide clues to its reach and ability to conduct external attacks. Do groups adopt a more decentralized structure to conduct external attacks, or are attacks outside of the group’s main territory a byproduct of a flatter structure? Relatedly, it is possible that too much structure is assigned to jihadist groups by those attempting to analyze them. Al-Qaeda and IS, in addition to their respective affiliates, may in reality be far less monolithic than scholars and analysts believe.Colin P. Clarke is a Senior Research Fellow at The Soufan Center and a senior adjunct political scientist at the RAND Corporation. Image: Reuters

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines

The IS – Al-Qaeda Dispute (excerpt from Chapter 4 of After the Caliphate, Polity Press, 2019)Colin P. ClarkeThe fall-out from the split between IS and al-Qaeda has led to a competition viewed by both sides as zero sum in nature, where progress by one of these groups signaled a loss for the other. One of the primary drivers of such a heated competition is that, in many ways, the ideology and objectives of the group are so similar. The Islamic State reverted to extreme levels of violence as one method of differentiating itself from its rivals, including al-Qaeda. Both groups are attempting to recruit from the same milieus and influence similar constituencies. The main differences are that IS sought to create a caliphate on a timeline considered premature by al-Qaeda, and IS pursued a far more sectarian agenda in attempting to achieve this objective. Whether and how these differences are ever resolved will have a major impact on the future of the movement writ large.The split itself occurred at the leadership levels of these groups, so one of the most interesting questions is: to what extent do foot soldiers and mid-level commanders really care, in actuality, about the previous infighting and strategic disputes? For some of the fighters at these levels, there is an obvious parallel to conflicts between street gangs, where members like the Bloods and Crips “fly their colors” – or represent their gangs by wearing their distinctive colors – and continuously disparage their adversaries by posting “dis videos” online, mocking and threatening rivals.63 The bitterness and divisiveness of the feud has played out on social media, with leaders on each side hurling vituperation and casting opprobrium on the other as “bad Muslims.” The initial castigation came from al-Qaeda’s leader Zawahiri himself, who fulminated against IS for being deviant from the al-Qaeda methodology.The truth is, as outlined in chapter 1’s discussion of al-Qaeda in Iraq, that the relationship was doomed from the start. The group that would eventually become IS has always been something of a rogue element, formed and led by Zarqawi, who fought hard to preserve the independence of his affiliate. Even after pledging his loyalty to bin Laden and assuming the al-Qaeda moniker, Zarqawi still ignored directions from al-Qaeda’s core leadership and narrowly pursued his own sectarian agenda in hopes of igniting a Sunni–Shia civil war, first within Iraq, and then throughout the wider Islamic world. One of al-Qaeda’s first steps to present itself as more evenhanded was denouncing blatant sectarianism and working to convince AQI to jettison sectarianism as a guiding principle. When, in July 2005, Zawahiri penned a letter to the leader of AQI chastising him for his group’s wanton slaughter of Shiites, the former stressed the overall negative impact these actions were having on the al-Qaeda brand and urged him to eschew targeting other Muslims. When Zarqawi disregarded Zawahiri’s advice, he cemented AQI’s reputation as a ruthless organization where violence was almost an end in and of itself.So while the initial rift began deepening in Iraq in the mid-2000s, it developed into an internecine struggle during the early years of the Syrian civil war. Following the fall-out, al-Qaeda has worked assiduously to reestablish itself as a major factor in the Levant; to accomplish this, it has been forced to overcome several significant setbacks related to its organizational unity and coherence. Al-Qaeda’s initial presence in Syria was through an affiliation with Jabhat al-Nusra, the Islamic State in Iraq’s erstwhile Syria branch. In mid-2016, Nusra rebranded itself as Jabhat Fateh al-Sham and later merged with other terrorist splinter groups to form Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a jihadist umbrella organization, which put even more distance between itself and al-Qaeda. As of mid-2018, al-Qaeda had no formal affiliate in Syria but still commanded the loyalty of several high-profile militants. Some al-Qaeda loyalists announced the formation of yet another new group, Tanzim Hurras al-Din, or the Religious Guardians’ Organization, in 2018. While HTS remains focused on events in Syria, Tanzim Hurras al-Din is headed by al-Qaeda veterans who may seek to use Syria as a base to launch high-profile terrorist attacks against the West. This posture is a departure from al-Qaeda’s recent focus on grassroots appeal in Syria and, if it comes to fruition, it will probably have significant ramifications for the group’s return to its former glory. Another important angle is that there are several Jordanian jihadi veterans among Tanzim Hurras al-Din’s leadership cadre who were close to Zarqawi and, as such, there is both historical and ideological affinity with IS, which increases the probability that Hurras might successfully poach IS members and bring them into the al-Qaeda fold.The rebranding process for al-Qaeda in Syria was undertaken partly out of necessity, but it was also strategic in nature. From a pragmatic standpoint, the rebrandings have served to put some distance between al-Qaeda and a host of imitators and rivals. This could be an effort by the group to learn from past mistakes, when the leadership’s reluctance to publicly disavow Zarqawi traded short-term gains for long-term losses and eventually contributed to the split, an event that seemed like an existential threat to al-Qaeda throughout 2014. The strategic part of the rebranding is no different from a company’s use of public relations and marketing to refashion its image – al-Qaeda now seeks to present itself as the “moderate alternative” to the Islamic State. The IS brand was represented by the caliphate and the group’s reliance on anomic violence, while al-Qaeda sought to position itself as an organization more adept at strategic planning and with more attractive prospects for enduing success in the future.Although the rebranding is considered a feint by many counterterrorism scholars, it just might have worked to recast al-Qaeda’s image within Syria. And so, even while the emergence of IS at one point threatened the existence of al-Qaeda, it also presented the latter with an opportunity. Al-Qaeda’s calculated decision to distance itself from its former satellite organization was an effort to portray itself as a legitimate, capable, and independent force in the ongoing Syrian civil war. Another objective was to prove that the militants were dedicated to helping Syrians prevail in their struggle. Finally, it would give core al-Qaeda a modicum of plausible deniability as it paves the way for its erstwhile allies to gain eligibility for military aid from a collection of external nations.Now that the Islamic State has lost its caliphate, al-Qaeda may be the only group viewed as militarily capable of challenging the Assad regime’s grip on power, although, as of mid-2018, that seems like a long shot. Al-Qaeda could certainly prove to be the longer-term threat to stability in Syria, primarily due to its grassroots support and local appeal. Unlike the Islamic State, al-Qaeda is perceived as an entity willing to work with the population and possessing the resources necessary to provide at least some of the trappings of governance. In the long term, al-Qaeda could resemble Lebanese Hezbollah – a violent non-state actor that has solidified political legitimacy while still retaining its ability to wage large-scale acts of terrorism and political violence.Depending on where it operates, al-Qaeda has shifted between protector, predator, and parasite, labels which are not mutually exclusive. In both Yemen and Mali, its members demonstrate a remarkable knack for pragmatism when operating in the midst of brutal civil wars. After infiltrating local rebel groups, al-Qaeda fighters parrot their grievances and champion parochial objectives. After ingratiating its fighters, al-Qaeda then ramps up proselytization efforts and introduces a narrative defined by a mixture of local and global themes. Unlike the Islamic State, al-Qaeda is willing to work with other groups, as it has been doing in Syria, where it typically puts locals in charge of units, battalions, and other military formations, lending a sense of local legitimacy to its face in the country. Moreover, al-Qaeda has displayed a penchant for cooperation beyond immediate conflict zones, as evidenced by on-again, off-again tactical cooperation with Iran.One of the most debated issues within the global jihadist movement is the so-called “near versus far debate” about which enemies the militants should concentrate the bulk of their efforts fighting – local apostate regimes or Western countries, especially the United States, but increasingly also the United Kingdom, France, and Australia. Al-Qaeda in Syria has managed to boost its brand through the provision of local services, including water and electricity, while also working to support local bakeries and control market prices of basic foodstuffs. Its leadership publicly announced that it will refrain from attacking the West, at least temporarily, in order to avoid Western counterterrorism reprisals, while simultaneously conserving its resources to concentrate on overthrowing the Assad regime, by far the top priority of Syrian Sunnis.Al-Qaeda’s Syrian leadership also recognizes that it is infinitely more successful when it focuses on local issues instead of a more amorphous and contested struggle with the West. These tensions seem to be at least partly to blame for the continued fracturing and splintering of al-Qaeda in Syria and its multiple iterations and offshoots. The debate over whether to focus locally or to revert back to a relentless quest to conduct spectacular attacks in the West could lead to a long-term and enduring fissure within the global jihadist movement. With the movement already divided by the al-Qaeda – IS split, this issue, similar to the decision on when to attempt to establish the caliphate, is a core ideological debate that is unlikely to be settled anytime soon.For all of al-Qaeda’s attempts at moderation, IS has behaved in an entirely opposite manner, as it pursued an uncompromising strategy of sectarianism, barbarity, and conquest. IS fully embraced sectarianism, seemingly making the killing of Shiites its raison d’être. And while al-Qaeda’s propaganda might still be peppered with derogatory references to Shiites, in general it favors a much more measured approach than IS. The groups are different in many ways, some subtle and others not. For example, rather than working with local groups, IS consistently acted as a conquering army, routing local militant leaders rather than working alongside them. In addition, locals were taxed, extorted, and closely policed by IS religious patrols to ensure strict adherence to sharia law.IS’s approach to warfare was reflected in its fighting style, whereby the group relied on conventional means of warfare, including artillery and tanks, in combination with some asymmetric tactics. When IS assumed control of a certain swath of territory, it often installed foreigners (Chechens, Tunisians, and Uzbeks) in command of the area. But its success came with a price. The more territory IS took over and the more brazen its displays of military might, the more likely the Coalition could no longer ignore its actions. The result was that, compared to other Salafi-jihadist groups operating in Syria, IS bore the brunt of Wester counterterrorism operations, a development that suited al-Qaeda just fine. The relentless stream of IS propaganda directed at the West – particularly the gruesome videos of beheadings, burnings, and crucifixions – left the Coalition with little choice but to set its sights on the caliphate. The success IS experienced in building its proto-state elevated it to the top priority for the Coalition. Accordingly, al-Qaeda in Syria was given breathing room to patiently rebuild its credibility and political legitimacy among locals. Gartenstein-Ross has described this as a “strategy of deliberate yet low-key growth.”The future of al-Qaeda and IS will be largely defined by the competition between the two. There is little debate that, beginning around 2014, IS could successfully lay claim to be the undisputed leader of the global jihadist movement. Once its caliphate collapsed, that began to change, and its current decline may be accompanied by al-Qaeda’s rise back to preeminence. There are clear signs that al-Qaeda has modified its tactics to take advantage of what it sees as a unique opportunity. In Syria’s Idlib province, al-Qaeda successfully cultivated grassroots support and by mid-2017 was beginning to accept former IS fighters into its ranks, a development most would have thought unthinkable just a year or two earlier. Al-Qaeda’s leadership realizes that its response to the Arab Spring was sclerotic and is now making amends, focusing its resources and energy on the concerns most salient to Sunnis, a strategy that has helped the group spread its roots throughout northwestern Syria. It has also used this strategy successfully throughout parts of Yemen, where it operates under various front organizations, branches of Ansar Sharia, and other Salafi groups.Al-Qaeda’s more balanced and predictable approach to governing is geared toward winning the popular support of civilian populations. Life under the Islamic State, even for its own loyal subjects, was enforced by draconian religious interpretations and subsequent enforcement of punishments for those who were not fastidious and completely obedient. Al-Qaeda was far less stringent and could be indifferent to perceived offenses that would draw harsh rebuke from the Islamic State. The year 2018 marks the 30-year anniversary of al-Qaeda’s founding and it is clear that the group has evolved, adapted, and learned over time. Its ability to establish widespread political legitimacy through a refurbished image could propel the group through well into its fourth decade.This shift over time by al-Qaeda to a more tolerant organization was in part a result of Zawahiri’s leadership. For all of the criticism he endures for lacking charisma, a critique most jihadist scholars find unassailable, Zawahiri does give al-Qaeda the benefit of continuity and a historical appreciation for what has traditionally worked and what has failed in the jihadists’ ongoing struggle against their adversaries. With his direction, the group has made course corrections based on trial and error and actively sought to amend previous errors in doctrine and strategy.Al-Qaeda in Syria has gone to great lengths to protect its image by rebranding its affiliate several times already. Bilaad al-Shaam, or the Land of the Levantine People, is highly coveted by multiple groups within the global jihadist movement for religious and geographical reasons. Zawahiri sees Syria as an opportunity to demonstrate relevance, juxtapose al-Qaeda to the Islamic State, and position his group as the more capable and pragmatic entity and, thus, the group worth siding with as the competition continues.Perhaps the most interesting change in al-Qaeda’s behavior since the death of bin Laden is that the group no longer seems obsessed with striking the West and, indeed, according to Bruce Hoffman, in 2015 Zawahiri issued strict orders to Mohammed al-Jolani not to use Syria as a launching pad to attack the West. There are several possible reasons for this decision, including that al-Qaeda’s infrastructure in Europe was not nearly as robust as that of the Islamic State, and thus any attack was probably going to pale in comparison to what IS had already achieved.Another, more nefarious possibility is that Zawahiri is merely playing the “long game” while strategically concealing its Khorasan Group assets as IS is further attenuated. Again, this might be changing with the continued splintering of groups in Syria and the emergence of Tanzim Hurras al-Din. At least in terms of capability, if not intent, discerning a group’s organizational structure could provide clues to its reach and ability to conduct external attacks. Do groups adopt a more decentralized structure to conduct external attacks, or are attacks outside of the group’s main territory a byproduct of a flatter structure? Relatedly, it is possible that too much structure is assigned to jihadist groups by those attempting to analyze them. Al-Qaeda and IS, in addition to their respective affiliates, may in reality be far less monolithic than scholars and analysts believe.Colin P. Clarke is a Senior Research Fellow at The Soufan Center and a senior adjunct political scientist at the RAND Corporation. Image: Reuters

August 22, 2019 at 05:06PM via IFTTT

[grazhir]

Sigh

I swear. If it's not one thing, it's another.

Fucked with my mods again, mostly to add in alternate travel options. Basically, I got sick of not having Better Fast Travel, so I updated the fucker for SE and tossed it in there. Also threw in a teleport mod to see what it was like.

And something from LL, but we'll ignore that for the moment, since it ultimately wasn't quite what I wanted and I removed it anyway.

Teleport mod got tossed while trying to track down an issue, then BFT, then Skyland Watercolor... No dice.

The thing is, suddenly, all my saves fail to show location. Unique Region Names had not been touched, so I don't see how that was it. This is when I started ripping new mods out, wondering if one of them was the culprit causing me to see stuff like "Unknown Location" as part of the save name instead of "Skyrim" or "The Rift".

The saves load just fine. The save file looked at in Explorer shows the worldspace name as "Tamriel" (which is why it comes up "Unknown Location" in game, I suppose), but Unique Region Names is behaving in game. I exit the Vilemyr Inn and the door shows something like "Ivarstead, Whiterun Hold" or whatever.

Just the save names are wonky.

I can only hope the issue corrects itself, but if not, and it's only cosmetic in the end, I'll learn to ignore it. (If not, I am certainly not looking forward to the idea of a total uninstall of all mods and the game, just so I can start clean. Especially since I'd either have to remember to back up the .ini files or run BethINI again.)

Tossed BFT back in because why not. Also ESLified three small mods which alter leveled lists for shits and giggles. I was only at around 208 plugins (some of which were already ESL-Light). Suppose I could have merged those three first, but whatever.

This shit'd be so much simpler if I could just make MO2 work with stuff like FNIS and xEdit. Way faster handling on-the-fly changes.

When Legacy of the Dragonborn gets updated to version 5, I'll be starting over again anyway, since I plan to install that again. The new layout for the museum and safehouse look great so far in the released previews, and some other tweaks have been made.