#Diablo Franchise

[macabrecabra]

And another chapter, as per the writing schedule I’m keeping to this month in order to finish some fanfic stories up! 

[uesp]

The Warcraft community managed to prove that AI was being used to write news stories about the game by creating a bunch of fake reddit posts about a new feature called "Glorbo". This seems to be a very common trend with many gaming sites articles recently.

The examples in the images are "news" articles from Game Rant from a single writer jumping between very different topics and games in roughly a day.

[raviollies]

Was rewatching a cutscene from Diablo 4 and *man* am I still disappointed with what they've done... I really enjoyed the art direction, the story (Give me any story centered on motherhood/evil mother who loves you in a fucked up way and I genuinely eat that up, yum yum - Lillith unironically best demon in that franchise), the soundtrack and the honestly up until endgame the gameloop was fine.

I gave an honest effort to endgame (I think i got to level 80 something?) but it just got less and less fun with the constant nerfs....I Loved Diablo 3 endgame because it was fun to just make bonkers builds and speedrun the rifts, and their decisions (greedy) to nerf enemy density/build dmg/drops is just...man. What squandered potential....Diablo was never about being balanced it was about what bullshit you can break in endgame to get revenge on that second boss that was spanking you in the beginning of the game (Duriel)

I will say I haven't touched D4 since S1 so if that's changed lmk!

I hope that this follows the redemption path of Diablo 3 & yeah I'm a sucker who'll buy the DLC because Diablo is a franchise near and dear to my heart, but I just get sad at how they massacre it...please...I believe in you....make DLC good...Reaper of Souls was good...please

[licdracuyalli]

Hear me out guys, I have an idea. No no no no, I have a vision:

Lisa Franken-SCREAM

[pearlescent-soda]

🐾//The Three Diablos Headcanons

The events between Puss meeting the Diablos and encountering Humpty and Kitty are actually very close to one another. The Diablos came after Humpty's betrayal, and since Kitty is no longer with Puss, Santa Coloma as well. So, it's safe to assume that by 'Puss in Boots: The Last Wish', years have passed, and the kittens have somewhat grown up a bit. In the context of these headcanons, they're in their preteen to teenage years and still serve as bodyguards for Princess Alessandra Belagomba.

---

Literary References: -'The Owl and The Pussycat' -'Little Robin Redbreast' -'Hey Diddle Diddle'

TW: Child/ Animal Abuse and Child/ Animal Death ---

⚔️Gonzalo:

His so-called 'scrappy temper' is still intact, he's a grumpy, sardonic feline but he's managed to mature. Truth be told, before his intervention he had been more of a bruiser than he was a hero, fortunately, he's renounced his hyper aggressive attitude in favor of being the snarky big brother with a heart of gold. He’ll tell it like it is, no flowery words or detestable small talk, he’s the blunt, cutting voice of reason that his team needs him to be. However, he's still got a lot of work to do regarding his temper, but he's taking it slow one day at a time.

He's the 'brawn', the biggest Diablo, clocking in at 2'11" and thirty five pounds, he throws that weight around at any chance that presents itself. He didn't get his scars by sitting around, he loves a good fight maybe a bit too much with how heavy-handed he can be, but the other option would be to let the enemy win. And for a wild cat like Gonzalo, losing a fight is worse than dying, especially when his siblings are depending on him.

Upon reuniting with Puss, Gonzalo gave the loosest, most half-hearted hug of his entire life to protect his 'cool cat' persona, but he betrayed himself with his near deafening purring. Puss, on the other hand, was taken aback by his nephew's radically different image, the soft little tortoiseshell he once knew had grown into a giant, grizzled warrior, and he was so taken aback by that revelation he almost forgot to introduce Kitty and Perrito. Gonzalo happily accepted Softpaws and Perrito into his family, he likes sparring with her and sharing his endless troubles with him. Furthermore, he'll also take extreme pleasure telling both of them the story of how 'The Three Diablos' met and defeated Puss in Boots, taking great care to highlight all the ways they had humiliated him. 'Ah... Arena en los ojos. It works every time!'

He's had the most encounters with Death due to his past callousness and directionless wrath. 'Gold, Grace, Glory' the Diablo mantra, was reinterpreted as 'Gauge, Goad, and Gut' after Gonzalo became an untouchable bully in his newfound position of power, picking brutal fights both physical and verbal with anyone he believed even looked at him ‘funny’. His ceaseless fighting saw him rack up a win-loss streak of one hundred three to zero that was abruptly shattered when a challenger draped in black nearly cost him two whole lives. The ordeal left his mind and body scarred as a constant reminder that he has one less life, but it was ultimately the humbling experience that he needed.

'The Fiddler, The Robin, and The Owl' should remain unmentioned around him unless one wants to unwisely incur his wrath. Yeah, that was a job gone wrong if there ever was one, three criminals for each Diablo to capture and they only caught Robin and the fiddle itself. The Fiddler and Owl had left an injured Robin behind to take the heat for a botched heist and he remains incarcerated to this day, while that lovely mystical instrument of theirs is currently being held in the Belagomba treasury. The Diablos didn't leave empty handed, so why is he upset? Simple... He was knocked unconscious by Owl for the entire duration of the fight.

He doesn't like his milk plain, it's got to be chocolate, premixed or with chocolate syrup, no compromises. 'Brand is irrelevant, the flavor is all that matters, and I could go for a glass of leche con chocolate right about now'. If his siblings weren't there to stop him, he would most definitely down entire kegs of the stuff if presented the chance.

🌸Perla:

The clever and cunning cat of the group, she's easily the most noble Diablo with how quick she is to take blows on behalf of others. Although, she can be alarmingly impatient and too ambitious for her own good, which often has her come across shortsighted and unbearably pragmatic. Thankfully, her less than savory attributes typically become her greatest strengths when facing an 'all-powerful' enemy or self-important court official.

Compared to her rather 'eccentric' brothers, she easily fills in as the 'brain', and it suits them all just fine. She's the planner, the tactician, the diplomat, the self-appointed leader, everything she had to be to keep them together since she was a littler kitten. When one plans fails, she's quick to pull out another one in the blink of an eye to complete her mission.

Wholly unexpected from a lady such as herself, but she tackled Puss to the ground in the warmest embrace her furry little arms could muster when he returned to Belagomba. He treats her like a little princess much to her dismay, she's more used to giving affection to others than receiving it, which makes Puss' paternal gestures so, so embarrassing. She's still wary of the overly friendly Perrito because of her long not-so-fun history of running for her life from stray mutts, but she adores Kitty, she loves her so much that sometimes, if she's not careful, she may let a 'mamá' or two slip out.

'You wouldn't spare him a cup of water, but you would now trade a life for his return? Tch. Was he not a citizen of your kingdom, gatita? The citizens you swore on your lives to protect?' She had pleaded with Death not to take a homeless beggar with him, a beggar that she, prior to the apparition's visit, perceived to not be worth a second of her time. Her failure to empathize with the ailing man cost him his life, but she was determined to convince an unmoved Death to bring him back, no matter the cost. So, she came up with another deal, he can take as many of her lives when he determines that she's failed to live up to heroic status, to which he... Accepted. Intrigued by her, Death, without missing a beat, took her tail as assurance stating that he'd be back for the remainder of her spine if she 'strayed too far'. She knew what he meant, and it was through that encounter that she truly gained her noble heart.

Nearly caused an awful scene in Far Far Away Palace after being tasked by Alessandra to entertain young King Arthur's beloved Bichon Frisé, Fido, while royalty gathered elsewhere in the castle for a summit. Perla did her best to tire out the dog and keep her from tearing apart the castle by using chew toys and playing fetch, anything the dog wanted to do she did. The dog just needed to black out long enough for her to return to her princess and brothers, but Fido decided to make the terrified cat her long-term playmate and dragged her around by the tail for what felt like an eternity. By the time she tuckered the little white terror out, it was nighttime. The exhausted kitten just wanted to get a glimpse of the new king rumored to be an Adonis and all she got was teased by Gonzalo for her exasperated appearance and a short tussle ensued between them.

Soy or almond milk only, she's lactose intolerant so regular dairy products are a no-go. Even a tiny sip of milk or a bite of ice cream would have her out of commission for who knows how long, and an embarrassing scenario that she does her best to avoid.

🐞Sir Timoteo Montenegro III:

While he may be ditzy, gullible, and idealistic, he's by far the most personable Diablo, being kind and curious to all who cross his path. Timoteo is always seen smiling and laughing with the townsfolk, the young man has got friends everywhere, and that's the irrefutable truth. However, for such an innocent creature, he says uncharacteristically macabre things, but he's just so innately adorable and sweet that he could get away with murder if he really wanted to. Not to worry, the name 'Sir Timoteo Montenegro III' should only insight fear in criminals with wicked hearts and royal chefs with freshly prepared platters.

He's a doer not a thinker, he follows his brother and sister around like a puppy and typically just does whatever they tell him to do. Though since he's such a people cat, he's the designated interrogator in the group, because he can separate the truth from a lie with the same swiftness he has when removing a lobster from its shell. Unfortunately, interrogations aren't frequent occurrences for the Three Diablos, so Timmy has happily taken on the role of designated decoy in the meantime.

Timmy didn't recognize him until Puss did his signature 'Trust Me' face, then it was purrs, pats, and kisses all around. Puss is surprised to see Timoteo so alive and healthy, but mostly alive since this is the exact same kitten who ate multiple gold coins in front of him despite them 'tasting bad'. Timoteo and Perrito are glued at the hip in one another's company, talking a mile a minute about nothing and everything, no two creatures were as made for each other as those two emissaries of pure positivity. Kitty, on the other hand, is more protective of him because of his clumsy nature, although she does find it hilarious how this lovable goofball was a part of the same 'Three Diablos' that had allegedly buried Puss alive. 'The great 'Puss in Boots' couldn't handle three rowdy kittens? You're right, that is bad for your reputation'.

He's died exactly once; he caught a bad 'fever' after stopping in the royal garden to munch the lilies instead of smelling the roses. That fatal 'fever' was in actuality chronic kidney failure and in his delirious, bedridden state, he'd heard the loveliest voice sing him to sleep, but when he rose fresh onto his next life the singing had already stopped.

He was grounded for eating all the goldfish in one of Alessandra's garden ponds. His sister tried to pull the last surviving fish out of his mouth, but she wasn't fast enough to grab it and even slower to fess up to Alessandra. 'I am very disappointed in you two. Perla, cariño, I've told you time and time again not to let him travel alone. Why weren't you wearing your 'buddy harnesses'?' Perla would rather have her tail off again then physically tether herself to Timmy, but as usual, whatever punishment he got would be hers as well regardless of whether or not she participated.

Any leche is good leche, though if he had any choice in the matter, his go to drink would be banana milk. When he was much younger if he was given a saucer of banana milk, his entire face would disappear in the liquid, and he would only come up for oxygen at the very last second. He hasn't broken the habit yet and likely isn't planning on doing so anytime soon.

[slocumjoe]

I shit on fallout 4 a lot for many different things, but at least it didn't take the city named Sanctuary, really play up the finally we're safe here, no one can hurt us here, this is a safe place thing before it inevitable becomes oh no! Sanctuary is being attacked, our safe place isn't actually safe, how will we ever recover from this!!! thing

usually if a place is named something that just means "this is a peaceful, safe area" it's going to explode at the end of the first arc, and I can appreciate that Sanctuary is named that for no narrative reason beyond "its fitting for the first settlement you'll have"

[mermaidsirennikita]

I know there are going to be a lot of Feminist Thinkpieces on how Ryan Gosling's Ken is getting the most hype in early reactions to the movie, and arguably has taken up a surprisingly big part of the promo....

But, the entire concept of the girlboss Barbie mythologizing Mattel is going for and Diablo Cody being.... right.... about the issues surrounding that (and tbh, very tame in her critique) aside, I can't help but wonder about how much of the centering of Ryan and Ken has to do with a mercenary evaluation of how Margot Robbie's career trajectory and the public perception of her changed in between her being cast as Barbie and the movie's promo actually beginning

which sure does undermine the FEMINIST FILM MADE BY FEMINISTS promo vibes

[kyndaris]

Blessed Mother

The Diablo series has always had a soft spot in my heart ever since I played the second game back when I was 12 at the behest of a few school friends. Yes, it was MA15+ and I probably shouldn’t have been playing it at that age but I managed to convince my father to buy me it, one of a thousand cherished memories that I had with him, because I was already hooked on Blizzard’s other games: Warcraft and Starcraft. So began my descent into the terrifying world of Sanctuary and humanity’s quest to purge the evils that stalk its land.

Unlike its other major franchises, Diablo is an action role-playing game. Or, ARPG for short. But for many, it’s known as the one game that helps most people develop repetitive strain injury (RSI) because of the constant clicking that goes throughout the gameplay.

Diablo IV continues in this vein as very little of the core gameplay has changed. The playable character moves around by clicking the mouse to a specific spot on the map. The playable character attacks by clicking on enemies. Occasionally, one can mix it up with a variety of other skills by pressing something on the number pad.

That is, of course, if you play Diablo IV on the computer. The controls might be a little different on consoles but I’ve always found that the best way to play isometric click-heavy ARPGs on computer.

Besides, I didn’t get a heavy-duty PC just to write my stories. I mean, yes, that is the primary purpose but not the sole reason. I do use it occasionally to play video games that seem best suited for the PC. Why, just recently, I even bought an external SSD to possibly install Baldur’s Gate 3 and Starfield because these games require an SSD. And while my PC does have an SSD installed, since I bought my PC about five years ago, the storage on it is only about 256GB with quite a bit of it taken up by...well...normal PC function.

How was I supposed to know that game development would go towards SSD? I’m not a TECH expert with a pulse on the ground when it comes to new technology although my work colleagues think differently.

Anyways, back to the game at hand: Diablo IV.

While I was excited to re-enter the world of Sanctuary following the events of Diablo III and the interesting premise promised by the trailers regarding Lilith, it is my personal opinion that opening up the world only served to damage the game. While some might enjoy having an open world to explore, I personally found the countless cellars and dungeons repetitive. With level scaling and how quickly I managed to level up to 50, much of Diablo IV felt much the same. Especially when I’d unlocked all the skills that could fill my skill hotbar.

True, I could have respecced my character but there wasn’t much need for it with my storm wolf druid. It was an effective DPS machine and with the added ability to fortify at the end, I was essentially unkillable in the lower world tiers. Especially when I began to be level past the recommend threshold.

Open worlds, it must be said, used to be one of my favourite game builds. However, as worlds have become larger with needless collectibles to fill out the world, they have also become some of my most hated elements because I’m a compulsive explorer - always desperate to check out the next nook or cranny in case of side quests or something interesting. Diablo IV proved infuriating in this respect as it had so many side quests but no way to track the ones you’d completed except with a ?/45 on the world map. This made knowing which side quests I’d completed difficult to keep track of and figure out which ones I was still missing.

For a completionist such as myself, it was a nightmare. 

Even as I attempted to get most of the blue exclamation marks that I could find. It doesn’t help that they also only appear if you’re in that particular segment of the map, which makes it even harder to mop out unless I decided to hop between fast travel portals.

Despite this, I can see why the developers decided to go for an open world. After all, Diablo end-game (at least from 3 onwards) has always been about collecting the best gear and becoming stronger than you were before. Slap on live-service with battlepass and it’s a winning formula to become an endless grind quest. 

A part of me almost wanted to shake the developers and have them turn the franchise into a massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG) for it appears to be the direction that the franchise is going. Should it go down this route, I’d also be happy for it to ditch the isometric focus on the ground. 

Alternatively, Activision Blizzard, you could also scale it back down. At least for the story segments and have it opened up afterwards. I much prefer the more compact nature of Diablo II, where I was free to explore the map of the immediate area, kill all the enemies it contained and be awed by the majesty of how large the world COULD be rather than be faced with all the open space and respawning enemies. Which, also, only seem to attack the playable character rather than have any real conflict amongst themselves.

Are you honestly telling me that the demons and the snake cultists wouldn’t fight each other or the hellspawn-esque willdlife?

Honestly, I pity the people still alive on Sanctuary. It’s clear that they can get nothing done without being mobbed by an endless amount of bandits, goatmen, cultists and demons.

Yes, it works from a gameplay perspective but it SUCKS from a world-building perspective. The people of Sanctuary might as well give up and succumb to the end if all they have to look forward to is being eaten alive by cannibals that are just outside their gates.

Now, most of my readers, and friends, would know that I love myself a good story. And Diablo IV delivered it, especially at the start. Lilith’s arrival in Sanctuary was suitably chilling and the prologue with the people at Nevesk laid the ground work for what I had hoped would be an interesting throughline of the greyness that encompasses real-life morality and perhaps have the playable character struggle with the implications of ingesting Lilith’s blood.

But did we get any of that?

No. No, we didn’t.

The playable character serves as a patsy to link up the other main characters: Lorath, Donan and Nyrelle. It is never explained why the playable character is so strong, tearing through demons left, right and centre as they traipse through Estuar (the eastern continent of Sanctuary). Or how they seem able to resist the influence of Lilith’s blood in their veins. Even Lorath is amazed at their mental fortitude but it’s never truly explored. I never see my character waver in their convictions although there is a scene where they confess to Nyrelle that they have flaws.

WHERE ARE THESE FLAWS? All that the playable character does is help out those that need it and shout defiance at the demons of Hell.

I would have preferred a story with more player choice and to see us grapple with the consequences of our actions. Instead, most of the major decisions were made by other characters and the player character was simply along for the ride as the hired muscle. 

It would have been far more interesting to me if we could have chosen to follow Lilith rather than stop her and allow Mephisto to do what he will upon Sanctuary. I mean, with that ending, there is little doubt in my mind that the world will be drenched in Hatred. A rather frightening prospect although it’s no different to the world we live in today. And while we fight amongst ourselves, the world as we know it steps ever closer to the edge with climate change wreaking havoc.

Let it be known that our current civilisation was laid low by our own hubris and the fact that we had grown fat and indolent on greed that thinking to change our ways to ensure our own survival came second to materialistic objects.

But enough of the doom and gloom! Diablo IV! 

Personally, while I am fascinated with the lore of the Diablo franchise, this recent game left me wanting. I would have much preferred a more engaging story where the playable character didn’t sit on the sidelines as the other characters decided the fate of the world. In fact, I’d have rather a slow-burn corruption story where we step off the path of the lawful good and accept the lesser-evil to save Sanctuary.

Or perhaps have us turn away from the Light entirely and fight against the Heavens for their callous disregard of humans.

At this point, I probably have a corruption kink. 

Wait. What are you doing?

No. Don’t look at that!

...

...

...

Okay, yes. Voldemort x Hermione Granger and Voldermort x Harry Potter are a few of the things that I like to peruse on the odd occasion. No, I won’t explain myself.

All right. Where were we? Ah, right. BALANCE!

For all its talk of balance, Diablo IV very much likes to paint things in black and white. Lilith, the Mother of Sanctuary, has an evil plan to cull the weak. As such, we must stop her even if it would open us up to the Greater Evils. Elias, because he brought the Mother back, is also evil despite his intention to save Sanctuary because of the ongoing threat.

As for the Angels, well, they’ve all apparently abandoned humanity. They might not have voted to destroy Sanctuary but they are doing nothing to combat the threat of the Greater Evils in the world. 

Tyrael, a mainstay of the last two games, is absent in Diablo IV and its difficult to understand why.

In any case, if Activision Blizzard ever saw fit to paint out a little more of the world, I would have liked to play a game where the playable character deals with the corruption of the Zakarum by Mephisto. 

Or maybe if we finally saw a few demons turn to the light. 

Why is it that angels can fall but demons remain forever in the depths of Hell?

Despite quite a few gripes regarding Diablo IV, I still enjoyed the majority of the game. My only wish was that it was more concise without so many open-world shenanigans thrown in to elongate the longevity of the game. Yes, there will be  a large group of people that will enjoy the end-game portion of it, but for those that thrive on story, the open world proves to be detrimental to one’s enjoyment. Especially when the world is so utterly grim. 

And I think the wider question that needs to be asked is if Sanctuary ought to be saved or not.

[daeluin]

AND DONT START ME ON LORATH I'LL JUST

[goosetan-sonyeondan]

Truly, where the fuck does Yoongi get his time management skills because I am 100% convinced *his* 24 hours aren’t the same as mine. This man is out here being a multi-talented artist and is booked and busy 24/7.

[lighteffexor]

You ever consume a piece of media that came out years/decades and think "man, I wish I grew up with that, that would have been awesome", and then you look at how the franchise is now and think "what the fuck happened here"? That's how I feel about a few things.

But then I look at what I grew up with, and, aside from the things that have moved on to greener pastures in their prime, they're doing alright. Nothing absolutely beloved by all or record-breaking, but they're still doing pretty well for themselves. Just chugging along and not being poster children of how things are fucking awful.

[macabrecabra]

Chapter 47 arrives and with it, only ten chapters left until this massive labor of love finally comes to an end! Hard to believe the end is finally in sight after years of writing this story! 

[jvzebel-x]

🦋

[ohnoitstbskyen]

Why do you think Diablo has disenged on it's core themes? (I mean I agree) I've always considered it to be a franchise with some insane wasted potential, but my perspective comes more from Diablo 3 and 4. Id be nice if you could expand on that.

I mean, my argument is that Diablo 1 was a dungeon crawler with a randomized loot mechanic that existed mostly to enable the roguelike random level generation that ensured replayability for the adventure. Players shouldn't be able to simply beeline it to the most powerful items in the game once they figure out exactly where they are, so randomization made each journey into the Tristram Cathedral a new process of discovery.

It's a game that, yes, wants to provide engaging gameplay, but just as much as the discovery of loot, it is driven by discovery of its world and story - multiple NPCs in the game exist that have no function or benefit to the player except as characters to interact with. You find lore tomes in the labyrinth which give you exposition about the world, but offer no tangible benefits. Shrines will randomize your stats, transform your potions, curse your items, randomly teleport you into a horde of monsters. The world is populated by objects, people and events that entice a player with curiosity to see what happens as much as they entice the player with the power fantasy of Making Number Go Up, and plenty of interactions have no hard gameplay benefit. "Sub dungeons" in the labyrinth, like the Halls of the Blind or Chamber of Bone, exist in part to give the player lootable rewards and monsters to fight, but also each of them have their own exposition, lore and worldbuilding (however limited by budget and technical limitations).

Diablo 2 realized that the skinner box thrill of randomized loot drops and number-go-up optimization was by far the most primally emotionally engaging part of Diablo 1's gameplay, and began the process of reorienting the franchise ENTIRELY to enable that specific pleasure. The loot system expands exponentially, crafting, gem slotting, etc all get introduced, and loot mechanics are given pride of place in terms of how the game engages the players. Shrines all provide knowable, specific benefits, every NPC is either a quest-giver or a merchant, there are HUNDREDS of randomized sub-dungeons on every map, and the vast majority of them have absolutely no narrative content whatsoever, they are merely slot machine arms for the player to pull, hoping for a chance of a jackpot loot drop.

Diablo 3 is the apotheosis of this process - a game which drops all pretense that the nature of your loot matters in favor of orienting every part of it around chasing the high of Getting A Bigger Number. You're a sorcerer running around with a greatsword? No problem! You cast all your spells as normal. So long as the greatsword has Bigger Numbers, anything works. Templar with a Wand? Equally viable! Damage numbers inflate into the millions, hordes of monsters swell with ever greater numbers, your spells and abilities clear entire screens in seconds, and everything in the game revolves around enabling the player's power fantasy.

In Diablo 1 you are an unimportant adventurer, the latest in a long line of unremarkable hopefuls, stepping alone into the bowels of a middle-of-nowhere village church, creeping slowly through its doors and hallways, fighting its monsters primarily one by one. Any group of ranged monsters can kill you in seconds, even in the late-game, and if you get surrounded, likely as not you are quite simply dead. It's tense, lonely, unglamorous and often desperate. Unwieldy inventory management puts constraints on your ability to heal and restore mana. You can only carry so many potions while leaving room for loot, and remember to leave room for your Town Portals and Identify scrolls, and for your all-important gold, which will clog your inventory almost totally by the end. Slay a unique monster and hope to god that the item it dropped wasn't cursed. Touch a shrine and you might lose 2 Strength points and suddenly be unable to equip your armor. When you kill Diablo, you find he is nothing but the possessed body of a young boy who was abducted and abused by a corrupt priest, an ugly and mundane tragedy leading to extraordinary suffering.

In Diablo 3 you are the most specialest most important incredible super-hero that has ever existed. You are a half-angel half-demon unstoppable killing machine, mowing down hordes of demons and corrupted angels like nothing, absolutely BATHING in infinite showers of ultra-powerful legendary loot, each more ultra-powerful and legendary than the last. You deal ten million damage with a single ability. You fight Ultra Diablo, the special super-powered SUPER SAIYING MEGA ULTRA super-powered extra special Prime Evil who is the most powerful evil bad guy who has ever existed and YOU are the only one in the whole universe who can beat him because you're SO special, yes you are! Identify shit by clicking on it! Cast town portal whenever you want! Enemies drop infinite health potions whenever you need them! Fuck it, you even KILL DEATH by the end because you are invincible and immortal and unstoppable and perfect. Fear has no hold on you, never in your life will you know uncertainty or doubt. AND it's your birthday! Buy a sword that is 3.2% better than your magic wand with real money in the auction house as a treat!

tl;dr Diablo 1 is an adventure game, Diablo 3 is Cookie Clicker.

[pearlescent-soda]

🐾//The Three Diablos General Headcanons

Ideas that have been collecting dust in my brain for the past two - three weeks that I finally got around to editing/ posting. Enjoy!

---

TW: Child/ Animal Abuse and Child/ Animal Death

The recently crowned Queen Alessandra Belagomba took the longest out the palace inhabitants to warm up to 'The Three Diablos'. After all, they were henchmen for the conman who literally snatched her kingdom's crown jewel from her head and now they're her personal guards. Of course, she was going to be skeptical of three notorious, deeply feared thieves being in charge of her life, while 'The Three Diablos' thought it was going to take nine lifetimes for them to gain any semblance of trust from her. When in reality, it only took about a year, and while Alessandra honestly hated to admit it, they are three of the best, most magnificent bodyguards she’s ever had. They've thwarted a ludicrous amount of assassination attempts and maniacal schemes in and out of her own court that after fifteen she stopped counting. It was becoming obvious to her their redemptions weren't a ploy to get back at her after all, they genuinely wanted to be better and she grew to love them for it.

Puss was the worst at staying in contact, he sent them each letters at an excruciatingly infrequent rate prior to his scuffle with Death, probably two to three times a year at the most. Now, there's a castle servant delivering letters to them every week and by the end of the month it's like Christmas with how many gifts that spindly, overworked messenger delivers to their quarters. They don't exactly know what brought on the sudden change of heart, Puss left a lot of explicit details out, but they're certainly not complaining.

While they might be hometown heroes, their heroism isn't exclusive to Belagomba, they go wherever their royal highness goes whether it be the nearby San Ricardo, the not-so-nearby Poison Apple, or the true to its name Far Far Away.

They're not biological siblings, they're three orphaned strays that got lucky and found each other... And then 'The Whisperer' found them and treated them like utter crap. He treated all his 'employed' henchmen like they were slaves because with nowhere else to go, what could they do? Go back to the cramped alleyways and diseased cesspits they were born in? Nope! The Three Diablos earned their title by becoming the best of the best out of all his destitute critters so they could stay in his favor indefinitely and it worked out well for them... Well... Until Uncle Puss arrived that is.

In the very, very early days of their new careers, like the first two months, they had troubles adjusting to their new life in the castle, their less than fortunate upbringings on the streets and under the Whisperer being made apparent. They wouldn't eat all their food opting to hide it under their beds instead of finishing it, they had an extreme dislike for being touched by humans, and then there were the school lessons, those were a doozy. They're smart kitties, truly they are, they flew through every subject thrown their way, arithmetic, art, reading, finance, but those speech lessons were a beast to get through. Going from 'Meow' to 'Hola' took a lot of patience from their tutors and plenty of sleepless nights for all involved that ultimately resulted in three somewhat well-spoken kittens.

As strays/ henchmen/ heroes/ personal bodyguards they've all had encounters with death from a young age, however, their personal accounts on meeting 'Death' vary greatly. The three for the life of one another just cannot agree on what he looks like or how he acts. Sometimes he's a gentle voice that lulls one to sleep and other times he's a psychotic, hulking beast determined on tearing one’s soul from their body through brute force.

[diablo-that-first-spark]

Hell has frozen over: I am deviating from the lore

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, my dearest cupcakes, you read that correctly. Hell is indeed an icy wasteland now and the Seven Evils need full winter gear to function. I am officially ignoring certain parts of the lore and deviating back to a previous version of them.

For those who don’t really know me, here’s why this is a big deal:

Lore is sacred.

Respect the goddamn source material.

These are the two golden rules I always follow, no matter the fanart or fanfiction I create (I’m talking about serious attempts here, not jokey sketches or memes, of course). I do not trample over established lore and rules in a world, just because I want to tell my story. I always do my best to make my story and characters work within the guidelines already set by the original creators. I don’t retcon backstories, I don’t blackwash, I especially don’t rainbow-wash, all of these are shameful practices in my eyes, and I would not be caught dead doing them.

Anyway.

With Diablo 4 out and its spin-off stories being published, I am finally forced to partially let go of the “Lore is sacred” golden rule… or at the very least, stay true to a former version of said lore. Namely, the Diablo 3 and the Sin War trilogy versions.

Now, it is obvious that Blizzard is doing its best to ignore D3 altogether in D4, outside of bringing back a few older locations like Maghda’s boss arena or the Forgotten Overlook. Returning D3 characters would rather die than mention anything from that game, while D2 characters (who should be dead 3 times over by this point) can’t shut the hell up about their former adventures.

It is also an undisputed fact that D3 is the least popular entry in the franchise among the hardcore non-fanart-creating part of the fandom. A sad fact, but a fact nonetheless.

Now, I am not saying Blizzard is a shit company, they don’t know what they are doing, I know better. No. Stories change. Things get retconned. Characters rewritten. Course-correction is necessary. That happens to almost every long-running story, it is entirely normal.

I just don’t like these changes, I think they take away from the lore overall. Attempts to erase my favorite entry from the franchise won’t make me happy, naturally, even if I wholeheartedly understand the purely logical and business reasons behind it.

So! Not to mince words, here is a list of every retcon I can think of from the top of my head, that I am going to apply to That First Spark:

1) Nephalem are weak no-name peasants who look perfectly human

Going by D3 and Sin War rules, in TFS nephalem are absolute powerhouses who survive insane shit being thrown at them, just because they are nephalem. Their power level is either off the charts or much higher than normal, both in magic and in physical strength. As a personal preference, I will also make the First Generation Nephalem (namely, Rathma) a little bit inhuman. I lllloved it when we still believed Elias would be Rathma, his design was perfect for the role. I will give Rathma a bit of a redesign for Act IV but his slight but disturbing inhuman appearance will remain so. No full-blown furry designs, that is just ridiculous, good lord.

(One day, I might write a rant about the current state of the Nephalem-era of history, because it is an absolute travesty. One day.)

2) Inarius is just a “lieutenant” of Tyrael

Yeah, nah, eff that. Rhythm brothers, till the day I die.

3) Rathma becomes the First Necromancer after he corrects a very plot-convenient mistake.

(Not going into more detail because the Rathma graphic novel is still very new.)

I’m going back to the original lore, which is far more interesting: Linarian had started a rebellion among his generation, after he realized their children were born weaker because of Inarius’ meddling. The rebellion goes horribly wrong, Inarius manages to kill most of the first generation nephalem with the aid of the Worldstone then he disappears and suffers a fate of isolation that eventually breaks his mind. On the other side, Linarian goes insane over the guilt of leading his fellow nephalem to their deaths, until the dragon Trag’Oul finds him and teaches him of the Balance, giving him the name “Rathma” (“Keeper of the Balance”).

None of this is made up by me, btw. This is how the lore was in the Sin War trilogy books.

4) Demons can be born/manufactured from the blood of angels

That is just the dumbest stuff Diablo Immortal has ever pulled, like hell I will work with that.

5) Lyndon didn’t kill Rea, instead he allows her to make his life hell

Hells, I already retconned it with the ending of Act I, without even trying. I saw into the future with this!

On a personal note: this is the most terrible story line they could have given to Lyndon, I hate everything about it, and I wish it to the deepest pits of hell. He deserves better. Grimdark is utter trash.

6) Lilith is an unkillable boss bitch that walks away from lethal crippling injuries like it’s nothing

Oh do not worry, she is going to be an absolute nightmare to take down. Quiet and co. will have to work for it hard. But originally Lilith has never been the “strahng wahmen unkillable boss bitch” modern day trope, and she won’t be that in TFS either. I have to be clever with what kind of injuries she may or may not receive.

7) Kingsport is on the south-western shore of the Western Continent

TFS works with the Diablo 3 version of the world map. If there is a location that is needed for the story, which shows up on the D4 map, but not the D3 map, I will bring that one detail in. There is nothing big behind this decision, I just grew used to the D3 map.

8) Lilith initiates the Purge of the Renegades because of Linarian's vision her son told her about

I am working with the Book of Cain version: Lilith assumes Inarius is already plotting the genocide of the children when he withdraws to meditate on the right choice. So she kills every angel and demon so that should Inarius want to destroy the children, he would remain utterly alone on a dead world. Her gambit would pay off in the end, although not before Inarius banishes her.

---

I am sure there will be a bit more retcons down the line, but for now, these are the critical nodes I see from here.

It probably doesn’t sound too bad for you, and I agree, I am probably making a mountain out of a mole-hill here. However, I have my own code to follow in creative works, and I honestly feel like this deviation from my usual methods warrants a heads-up.

So, anyway, back to the drawing board! I wish I had an ETA to give you cupcakes about the arrival of Act IV, but unfortunately I don’t. Thank you for your continuous patience!

2024.08.26.