#Of course there'd be lore

[rencantunrpgconcepts]

The Qindeyims

Long ago, a powerful diviner discovered that the level 15 (highest skill level) adventurers (general term for someone who studies skills like magic, fighting, etc) running around would lead to the end of the world. The diviner figured out the best way to get everyone to behave was to create a group with two purposes: one, to make rules that prevent someone from trying to take over everything, and two, to prevent dangerous individuals from getting too powerful.

This lead to the founding of the Qindeyims. The diviner gathered as many level 15 adventurers they could and they all agreed to behave, or the other Qindeyims will go kick their a--. Of course, this doesn't mean they all get along, but it does prevent world domination.

(Basically, if you're trying to destroy or control the world, the Qindeyims will go stop you. Other than that, they don't have to do anything)

They also restricted information of how to become a higher skill level than 10, to prevent baddies from doing too much

[nqmonarch]

Like this man is so sad I just wanna hug him and hold him and tell him everything will be okay but I can't because he's not real. Therefore fanfiction.

Minor spoilers for Jing Liu quest

Comforting Jing Yuan through the screen

To feel lonely, is a common feeling. One that nearly everyone has experienced in their life. So of course, when it was one of those nights you find yourself more than ever sympathizing with Jing Yuan. For a character in a video game, that reminds you too much of yourself.

Originally the only thing that drew your attention to him was his looks. The constant relaxed grin and posture showcasing his confidence, his clothes fit him well showing his competency and also highly attractive body, and he had a badass lion by his side in the splash art. He was just plain pretty. And lightning lord was badass to use in combat. Even if he didn't do much damage it felt like he did damage, at least he did damage to your heart.

Then the lore-- oh my gosh the lore. The only one of his friend group to remember them completely and have to bare the brunt of the pain all while fearlessly and confidently leading however many people were on the Xianzhou. He was lonely. Terribly so. Maybe not in the same way you were lonely but the two of you could be lonely, together.

Whenever he appeared on your screen during a TrailBlaze or Companion quest, your fingers embarrassingly drifted to his hair touching the screen gently. Feeling nothing but cool plastic against your fingers.

Jing Yuan, on the other hand, felt a very strange sensation. Jing Yuan and his three friends were reunited again, yet they never fully could be. Dan Heng was not Dan Feng, as much as it hurt to remember. Yingxing held no memory of the past. Jing Liu left to fight against mara. Blade and Jing Liu had engaged in combat again, air rushing around the two of them at alarming speeds and all Jing Yuan could do is watch. It was all he could ever do.

Then even as the air grew colder and picked up with each clang of the blades, Jing Yuan felt warmth surround him, a hand resting on his head in an attempt to comfort him. He wasn't alone. He wasn't quite sure what kept causing all these strange occurrences, the sudden bursts of warmth when he ran into old friends and felt alone.

Then there was the sudden burst of strength he had, he'd always been strong but each swing of the blade felt effortless now and came faster, more precise, more accurate. But lastly was the strange feeling of comfort, sometimes while he was indulged in that feeling a cut or two would appear on his body only to be healed. His body felt no pain. There'd been a few times when he'd passed out, astounded as blood appeared before him, and he'd wake up moments later perfectly fine.

He wasn't sure exactly what the cause of it all was but he didn't feel quite as alone anymore.

And for some reason, neither did you.

You felt discomfort slink up your spine and rest in your shoulders. It felt like someone was watching you but, no one was around. You turned your attention back to Honkai Star Rail, as you watched lightning lord crash down and hit the enemies.

[sholangagaga]

What's your opinion on Monty?

Oh I've been waiting for an ask like this to come across my inbox after how popular my Bonnie theories have been. (full theory and spoilers under the cut)

Short answer: I think he's neat!

Long answer: I think Montgomery Gator is one of, if not the, most tragic character in the entire Glamrock cast. And his tragedy, while of course upsetting to see, is also incredibly endearing from a narrative standpoint.

What does that mean? Well, let me explain.

Monty was not made to be part of the band. That much we know in the canon lore. He was his own animatronic, with his own attraction and his own thing. Whether or not he was there from the very beginning when the Pizzaplex was built, or maybe they added him later to bring in more diversity and subvert the burden on the main band, I don't think we'll ever know. (since every main band member has their own attraction, which probably subtracts from their available time to perform main shows throughout the day)

The only bits and pieces we get of Monty's "life" before his joining the band is narrated through the Gator Golf attraction.

Monty's story starts with him as a One Man Jug Band, playing by himself in his swamp.

Now it's already pretty apparent that the Monty we see here is way more docile and doe-eyed than the one we encounter in Security Breach, but maybe that's the point.

We all know the stories of humble beginnings, of rags to riches. To me, Monty was one of those stories. A little guy who ended up catching a big break down the line.

Now to get this out of the way, I don't believe Monty shattered Bonnie or the theory that Monty hated Bonnie (I went into detail here if you want the full explanation). We actually can easily debunk that theory in a few different ways, but the main thing is everything we see about Monty implies he actually admired Bonnie.

In his ride you see how he looks at Bonnie, His Showtime outfit incorporates yellow stars (like Bonnie), and he even still uses Bonnie's bass.

Now if you hate someone, if you hate them enough to kill them and take their place because you felt you deserved their fame, would you emulate that person? Would you use and wear their items, thereby constantly reminding yourself of someone you hate so much? Why would you go through the trouble of getting rid of them, of wiping them from everyone's memory, just to keep things that will always tie you to them? That doesn't make much sense to me.

You could argue that the items are trophies of his 'kill', but wouldn't you keep trophies or things of the like somewhere no one could see them? Why flaunt them and again, bring attention to this person that you hate so very much?

I think it's the exact opposite. Monty admired Bonnie, the depths of which we probably won't ever know the extent of, and when Bonnie disappeared, Monty took his place but never forgot the person who got him there. He wears Bonnie's glasses (which we never see Bonnie wear aside from in his neon portrait, which may imply that he might have given the shades to Monty directly at some time before he was shattered) and he uses Bonnie's bass, which was ALSO given to him according to the Gator Golf ride

I've seen people say that this scene is actually showing that Bonnie was just setting his bass aside after a show and Monty stole it, thereby using it for his own gain and I. . .don't see how people can infer that from the image? It looks like Bonnie is literally holding it out to Monty, who is on one knee and accepting it with respect and a cheerful expression on his face. Besides, you need some MASSIVE balls to just. . .steal a band's instrument after the show and just get away with it? Especially from what we see in game, there'd be no feasible way Monty could do that without the audience or technicians being like "What the fuck are you doing"

So yeah no, this looks like a mutual passing of the torch.

Anyways, Monty uses the shades and bass as a nod to Bonnie, he was a sweetheart with a baby face who got thrown into fame to replace his idol. I think, in some regards, Monty might've felt conflicted. Like, here he is in his dream job, but at the cost of someone he cared about.

You know who Monty DID hate though? Freddy. We can infer from plenty of sources and in game material that Monty HATED Freddy, and the reasoning for that could be literally anything, but it's not odd for a bandmate to dislike their leader/member because they're more popular (you see it a lot in IRL bands too, the favoritism and jealousy)

It's also easy to see that fame changed Monty, as it does for plenty of people. Having so many eyes on you, feeling the euphoria of all the love and attention day in and day out, it gets to your head. It changes who you are, muddles your humility. And we can see that Monty acts in the stereotypical Rocker way, conceited, destroys his greenroom and other things after shows, etc. It's an all too common trope and its sad to see it happen to Monty, though a lot of his rage could also be compounded by Glitchtrap/Vanny/Mimic being annoying (Notably, you never hear of Monty destroying his shades or his bass. Perhaps there are some things that he's oddly protective of)

And then in the main Security Breach, you only meet Monty at his worst. Angry, Corrupted, feral. You spend your time running from him (since Bonnie's shades protect him from most of Gregory's gimmicks), you hear from second-hand conjecture that he was probably the one who shattered Bonnie (which probably weighs on him too, the children asking where Bonnie is, and the technicians maybe side-eyeing him thinking that he's just a meathead who destroyed Bonnie to take his place) and each time you see him, he just gets more and more split from that sweetheart who was happily playing in his swamp.

Not to mention how he "dies"

Monty comes for Cassie, ruined beyond salvation, his mind still gone from all of the torment he endured being controlled and shattered over and over. To save herself, Cassie uses the Faz-wrench to activate the power and escape, only for the electric currents to turn the water into a death trap.

The thing that decommissions Monty, that finally puts him out of his misery, is Bonnie. That's Bonnie's neon portrait (a bit damaged from the dilapidated building) and it is the very thing that electrifies the water, destroying Monty's hardware. Whether or not its karma for Monty shattering Bonnie, or some sort of heartfelt prose that the thing that finally allows Monty to rest is the one person he cared about most, who's to say? You could argue it both ways, but isn't it just a tad more comforting to think that even in death, Bonnie was always looking out for his understudy?

Monty's story and character progression is a trope of Falling from Grace, of Icarus flying too close to the Sun and plummeting to the unforgiving earth. The more I learn about him, the more I feel bad for him. I think he deserved better. Roxanne for her redemption in Ruin, but Monty is left open-ended. A monster and murderer to some, a washed-up rocker to others.

But I think Montgomery was more than that. I think he had the capacity for gentleness and love, but he was in a position where the world was against him. His older and more experienced bandmates always destined to be loved more than him. He was basically an entry level teenager around mastery level adults. He might've lost his mind back then to the pressure and the negativity, resorting to violence for attention. No one was there for him, and Bonnie, the only person who probably would've been there for him and understood him better than most, disappeared without a trace, leaving him all alone in a world that would never fully accept him.

Yeah, I like Monty a lot.

[venvellan]

i remembered that the whole plot around skyrim vampires was that they were trying to Kill the Sun Forever and i cannot stop thinking about it. the fact that this effort was masterminded by harkon, who was already the most powerful type of vampire you could be and by proxy the LEAST threatened by the sun. and how fucking buck wild it is that he thought it was a good idea?? and then i thought about it vs bg3 cazador and i know this is incredibly niche i just NEED to talk about it

Sun Gone Forever is both so much ballsier and infinitely more stupid than cazador, and there's not one single positive thing to say about that man. if cazador was a harkon-level skyrim vampire he'd more or less have everything he could want, bar like, killing and taking molag bal's place, if that's possible. he wouldn't think to Destroy The SUN because worst case some vampires start acting up and he just chucks them out a window. he doesn't take sun damage at all. they could, if they're stuck out there and don't feed, but he's not in any personal danger. if only cazador knew that he could just become a skyrim vampire to chill on his porch.

trying to PERMA-KILL the SUN is just so abhorrently brainless. harkon look at me. all life depends on the sun. you will run out of blood bags near immediately. you are functionally immortal and you've had so much time to come up with a less dumbass plan, but i'd bet real tamriel money that your research consists of stick figure doodles in your diary.

at this point in this text post i've started digging into elder scrolls lore about the three(3!?) different strains of vampirism and i wasn't trying to get this deep into it, but what i've learned says that harkon would definitely already be at the top of the vampyramid. he can't turn the entire world into vampires because there'd be nothing left to feed on, he can't KILL THE SUN BECAUSE. i don't need to say it again. of course i know he fails miserably even if you side with him. the sun was never in danger. but he WANTED it gone forever and he spent most of that questline patting himself on the back for being so so cool and smart.

skyrim vampires are fucking spoiled is what i'm saying. and harkon is the stupidest motherfucker northside of skyrim. oaughh the sun is bright and annoying hiss hiss. i myself have thought the same and i'm not a vampire, you ungrateful slut. and for cazador to be out-done by a man THIS stupid. harkon has everything you want and he's the sorriest excuse of a vampire villain ever. embarrassing. i hope they're both suffering immeasurably in vampire turbo superhell

[misc-obeyme]

I'm back with some more biblical lore >:'D

I've been thinking lately and noticed how similar Mc is to a Nephilim. In case you didn't know; Nephilim are the spawn from a union between a Human and an Angel. If lilith somehow kept her Angel DNA after being reincarnated as a human and MC being their distant descendant, chances are Mc is more Nephilim than human.

Another thing i would like to point out is; How powerful Mc is! The game even mentions that Mc is probably more powerful than Solomon (Twice mind you). In Lesson 62-19, Lucifer states that there are probably only a few demons who could pose a threat to MC due to how powerful they have become. And if i remember correctly in Lesson 76-19, Simeon stole the ring of light from the Celestial Realm without permission for Mc cuz they couldn't control their power. Now where am i getting with this? You see, a Nephilim is considered one of the most powerful entities in the universe due to being able to become stronger than its angelic parents. Nephilim are greater in power because not only do they possess the power of the Angelic parentage but a Human soul to enhance it, creating a supremely powerful being. Nephilim were also stated to have been quite destructive with their powers especially if they couldn't control said powers.

MC could be so powerful it could pose a threat everyone. Basically, Mc is capable to be more powerful than any demon or angel. Maybe this could be why the Celestial Realm (or Michael for that matter) kepts a close eye on Mc on all times.

Actually, i have more thoughts to do this but i don't want to spam you full with text. Until next time ✌���

-Angsty Anon.

Ah yes, nephilim, I am indeed familiar with this concept! I can't remember where I first heard about it. I'm pretty sure I knew about them before Supernatural had one in the later seasons... but I can't remember where I first heard it.

Anyway, I think a lot of this depends on how the ancestry works in the OM world. They don't tell us this information, of course, so it's hard to say. But Lilith is one of MC's distant ancestors, so her angel DNA by normal human standards would be extremely diluted at this point. Not gone entirely, but certainly not the same amount that MC would have if they had had one full angelic parent.

Which isn't to say that they aren't still a powerful nephilim. Since this is all made up, it just depends on whatever worldbuilding the game decides to go with. (If they bring this up at all, which they might not.) I mean in that they could say in order to be considered a nephilim, one has to have a fully angelic parent. But they could also say, it doesn't matter. The angelic DNA could be so strong and powerful enough that it manifests in MC just as strongly as it would if MC had a fully angelic parent. If they did go with that, though, I think there'd need to be some kind of special exception for MC specifically. Because otherwise every human in MC's lineage would also have had that same amount of power, possibly more.

I think it'd be interesting if MC's reason was honestly just... they came to the Devildom! That power was always latent in them (and iirc this is kinda how they describe it in the game too), but it isn't brought out until they start making pacts and befriending angels and so forth.

They definitely already have destructive levels of power. MC needed the Ring of Light in order to contain that power because it was fucking with the worlds without MC even doing anything. That's why it was like a matter of desperation that they sever their pacts and blah blah.

I think MC is currently a threat to the stability of the worlds, but because they have the Ring of Light, that keeps their power stable instead of going haywire all the time.

Anyway, MC is OP and whether that's due to just their life circumstances or because of their angel DNA, the game hasn't specified. Which means you get to make up whatever you want, which is always fun!

I was also under the impression that nephilim are often so dangerous that regular angels won't even suffer them to live. Like if they find out about it, they're gonna hunt that nephilim down because nobody that powerful should exist. Most stories seem to go this route with it. But here we got Michael bein like... I gotta watch this one, but I'm not gonna kill 'em. LOL. And I think that's an interesting aspect. They don't really interfere much at all, even when MC was an active threat.

In fact, they straight up punished Simeon for doing the one thing that would save the worlds from MC's power without anyone having to die.

I'm still mad about it.

Anyway, I will tag this as spoilers just in case, I know not everybody is caught up on all the seasons in OG.

But I like this concept! It's certainly interesting to think about and to consider all the different things that could go into it!

[coal-mine]

So one thing about Technoblade (Technoblade never dies!) is that, like...

Ok so I'm not trying to be mean, I'm just gonna do what he'd want us to do (or at least expect us to do), which is make fun of him.

Rememeber like the multiple half-kinda-face reveals he did and everyone was like "we've seen his face yet we couldn't tell you what he looks like"?

Or when Raboo talked about a face reveal, like before he showed his eyes, everyone was like "if this man one day forces us to see his face, or if we ever accidently see it, I will immediately forget it on the spot, it is wrong to see, it is against god's will"?

Ok, that, but real life. Because I've cried about his death multiple times, only to be forced to look up what he looked like because fuck, he was the most generic looking mf in the world. He was just a white dude and I keep genuinly forgetting what he looked like. Like that dude could've walked up to me in the middle of the street, told me to my face that he was Technoblade, only to take a single step back and melt into the crowd like Homer Simpson in a bush.

His dad said he was planning a face reveal before he died, and I'm sorry, but the entire comment section, me included, would have been like "Holy shit I watched the whole 20 min video and he held eye contact like the whole time and I still don't know what he looks like, how"

And we'd fucking drag him about it, because of course we would. We'd be like "Clickbait! You didn't show your face!", and "I trusted Technoblade, I trusted him when he said this was a face reveal in the title, and yet he has let me down", "L, he has no face"

And he'd start the next stream with chat being like "Technolate also he has no face" "TechNoFace" "Nofaceblade" TechNoFace!!" "technoface wth man" and he'd have to spend the first twenty minutes of the stream trying to convice us that he does actually have a face, he promises. And we'd scream lies and slander, and he'd beg us while barely holding back laughter, and eventually, he'd give in. He'd tell us that yeah, we're right, we figured out his big secret. The reason he's never showed his face before this is because he didn't have one to reveal. He'd tell us that we can't tell anyone, he's gotta keep his pig brand and how can he do that without a face? Which doesn't make any sense, but he'd say it with such confidence that we just had to believe him (he'd also refuse to budge on his reasoning). He'd talk about how maybe covid wasn't that bad because the mask has really been helping out when he goes to the store because now no one stares at his missing face, cause no one can see it!

It'd make it's way into the lore, somehow. His crown is suddenly the MCC crown and waaay too big, covering half his face, the rest of it covered by a medical mask. There'd be animatics of his speeches where he's standing the wrong way, shouting at nothing while characters behind him are whispering shit like "should we tell him?" because he has no face, which means no eyes. Or of Tommy doing that thing that kids to do to mall Santa and try and tug on his fur beard, only for his whole face to fall off because it was a paper mask.

It would have been great.

I miss him.

[natureismynature]

Hey QSMP tumblr community! What do you guys think about a lore server? Like, a discord server where we can share all the lore knowledge we know!

There's gonna be a channel for the over-arching lore of it all, but there will also be separate channels dedicated to every single active character where we can talk about them specifically.

I know it's difficult to keep up with QSMP with all the different povs and almost stream-only lore events. And it's especially hard for new people to get into it now that we've gone so far into the story, but I think if we organize our thoughts and knowledge and concentrate it into one place, it would be very helpful for everyone... no?

Because it's impossible to watch every pov, and it's also impossible to rely solely on tumblr liveblogging. So, if we had a server with channels dedicated to specific characters that get constantly updated by people who main that streamer, I think it would be easier.

There'd also be channels for theories and general stuff of course! And voice channels if ya'll ever want watch parties during event where everyone can talk about what's happening on the pov they're watching to avoid sensory overload.

I'm planning on making one, and if ya'll are up to it, I'd be happy to know if you want to be one of the mods or "lore-heads" for general and/or specific character lores.

Anyways, that's all from me, hope to get your thoughts! :D

[flowers-for-the-grave]

All Reigns Come To An End

It's over now.

Joey disappeared into the sunset. The sea churning below, wind in his hair. The rhythmic action of rowing the boat calmed him. No matter what, the sea would always call to him like the sirens that lived in its majestic waters. He was glad to not be alone. With others by his side, traversing the sea was even better.

Joel had ascended. He'd always known Jimmy was a toy; that reassurance wasn't exactly needed, but was satisfying. And even if Hermes...didn't seem to like him, at least his son was grown up now. And everyone left him. So he made his goodbyes and joined the other Lore Gods.

Scott and Owen were adventuring together. Scott delighted in the thrill of the risk; the dangers that came with raiding tombs and collecting things. Even if that skull came to mind, Owen was always there to comfort him. He was rarely afforded privacy with Owen, but he didn't mind. They both did things for Chromia, even though Scott definitely did more. Adventure called to them both, and they were kindred spirits bonded together with it.

Shelby eventually chose her track of magic. Lightning coursed through her veins, and the storms bent to her will. She grinned as the rain poured outside her home. That date with Katherine had been wonderful. Perhaps she could go on one with her later. But that letter in her letterbox wouldn't read itself.

Katherine's curse was gone now. Even though her parents weren't too keen on her monster-hunting, the monsters would always exist. Who else would get rid of them? She delighted in protecting her kingdom. And visiting Shelby didn't sound too bad. She did promise a date after all.

FWhip smiled as the racket of the tavern filled his ears. Downing another goblet of mead, he wiped his mouth with his hand and joined the drunkards in their joyful melody. Ecstasy rode through his veins and he did nothing to stop it. Surrounded by friends, he eased into his own comfort.

Pix was satisfied. He'd done everything he'd wanted. Pride flowed through him as he looked upon everything he had accomplished and he couldn't resist the relieved grin that curled at his lips.

Jimmy protected Tumble Town as best he could. The Old Sheriff was brilliant to be around, if not a little odd from time to time. He was content. Sure, there'd be bandits one way or another. The law would always need upholding. But for now? Rest sounded good. And being with the Old Sheriff? Seemed like a nice ending to him.

Oli's Olipeligo was beautiful. His own refuge. His home. Old memories of old faces still popped in from time to time, but he didn't need them. Memories of the Orb, of vampires and angels, of thornlings and dragons, had all but gone now. Replaced by collectors and princesses, by sheriffs and gods and goblins.

Everyone's reign was over. Would new ones begin, or were the history books finally complete?

For now, their reigns had come to an end.

It was over now.

[livmadart]

What if Conan's not dead, but because he became a Phantump (something something connection with death something), and with the lore surrounding them (which I always thought was more like popular myths and hearsay rather than anything actually tangibly true in most cases), everyone, including himself, assumed that that was what had happened? He could just be like Haibara, but there'd be next to no way of knowing it.

Also, having Hattori capable of understanding Pokemon is a fun touch to add to his canonical weirdness (the dude is lowkey a clairvoyant in canon, even if they never properly address this- maybe in the Pokemon universe, he's a Psychic trainer class? without realizing he's one, of course).

I do wonder, if Kaito is a Zorua, then what's his entire deal in this universe in the first place? I don't know if the same premise would work here without some tweaking- maybe he's Toichi's Pokemon instead of his son? Or maybe Kaito's parents are also secretly Pokemon, maybe taught themselves how to talk like Meowth does in the anime or something. Real-life kitsune/fae, pretty much, lmao.

Ty for the ask! I am gonna answer by paragraph:)

I think it’s extremely funny that Conan is a dead murdered ghost in this au, so I’m gonna stick with it, but I will say that they find out pretty early on that the Black Org has some kind of powerful Legendary or Mythical Pokémon (probably Jirachi) locked up, and if Conan can defeat the org, that Pokémon can help him turn back—basically, same as in canon

I agree, heiji’s quasi-clairvoyance is one of my favorite random details that’s never ever addressed. He’s so weird and I love it so much, so ofc in this au he’s gotta be wild to outside people as well

I mentioned in a previous post, I don’t really have strong feelings on either explanation for kaito cause it’s funny to me either way :) he’s just having a good time going to school and stealing gems and also can use Shadow Claw if he so desired

[lune-redd]

I'm curious, what are Beam's ingredients? What recipe did Blossom follow or come up with? Did she ever fail before Beam?

Sorry for all the questions, i just never saw this approach for a ppg fan kid and I'm really interested in the lore! Feel free to ignore this if it's too intrusive of course.

Still, amazing work!

I still have no idea what his ingredients are. I guess he would be made from something sweet

I'm guessing she assumed "3 ingredients = 3 kids" (despite Bunny also being made from 3 ingredients) so she prob only used one just to be safe. I'm guessing she would've used Beam's ingredient as an experiment to see if it worked, and there'd probably be no Chemical X around so she uses her blood instead of that (assuming that Chemical X is in her blood)

I actually don't know if she would've failed the first time actually. I don't think the Professor did (ignore ppg 2016 ignore ppg 2016 ignore ppg 2016 ignore ppg 2016) so idk why she wouldn't

[the-art-block]

Seeing your latest art of the nossies in the group new years picture reminded me of Wolf Mother (and her childe) as characters and now I'm DEEPLY interested in them as people and characters! I love their designs, just how much the curse affected them and am interested in how they fit into the Moonrise Nation story. (not that you have to reveal anything, of course!) Just admiring.

You're too sweet! YOU'RE TOO SWEET 🥺

These two have a lot of lore behind them (which I'm sure folks don't mind) so for the sake of brevity I'll try to keep it simple!

The Kindred population in the pre-colonial states was never that big, and it was kept in check by Kindred themselves - because the more of them that existed, the less food there'd be for the whole. These old laws regarding Kindred creation and conduct state that a Sire is responsible for their Childe for their whole unlife, and forbade any Kindred from having more than one living Childe at a time. Wolf Mother, original name lost to time, is a seven century old Nosferatu that was Embraced in the St. Lawrence River Valley for the crime of sabotaging the hunting grounds of another tribe in the locality.

Wolf Son, going by the name Jack Skinner modern-day, was Embraced 600 years ago by Wolf Mother for the crime of banditry. Probably like most Embraces, the relationship between them started out strained and unfriendly. Getting Embraced in the old tribe days was definitely a form of capital punishment and not something anyone really wanted. This of course is doubly true for an Embrace via Nosferatu, and the man that became Wolf Son took a long time to settle into his fate as a hideous living omen. When he did manage to overcome his grief and horror, he became a proper student to Wolf Mother and served alongside her in the assigned role of the Promiskeepers (The colloquial name for the Nos at the time) - which was to safeguard and dispense knowledge from both Kindred and Kine of generations gone. Things like: what to do when the seasons are uncharacteristically unfavorable, how to respond when a certain disease starts spreading, what to do with land that refuses to yield resources, etc. (Nos like Grandma Oginn also used to provide matchmaking services to her local tribes ;D) Additionally, in the old Kindred society, the Promisekeepers were tasked with keeping track of debts and contracts made between Kindred. The Nos of pre-colonial North America (at least on the East Coast) were basically your archivists and judges.

As the modern Moonrise Nation is attempting to reclaim some of the old traditions, both for Kindred and their human relations, Nosferatu who come into the faction are expected to take up this mantle of advisors and story keepers, to learn and preserve history, and be there to aid humans and other vamps alike when they're not sure what to do about a problem. Wolf Mother herself was a bit of an isolated Kindred back in her day, she roamed a huge tract of land and only encountered other undead and humans rarely. Still, she was widely known to be a neutral or friendly presence, and her child inherited the same nomadic lifestyle.

The pair would be separated when the first waves of Sabbat Kindred arrived on the continent on the crossings from Europe. They thought each other dead until very recently.

Wolf Son met with immigrant Camarilla Kindred in the 1700s and would later travel to Europe, where he would be installed as Sheriff over a Midlands Domain for several decades. Modern-day, he has come home to America, and is now serving as an Archon.

Wolf Mother spent most of the last few centuries in torpor near Lake Erie, and in the few years she's been awake again she's been singing into the night in hopes her long-lost Childe might still be around... Poor thing...

You can imagine the eventual reunion between them is gonna be super emotional. Not least of all because the Moonrise Nation is explicitly not joining the Camarilla, and seek to make themselves an independent faction.

I'm sure it's fine 🙃

[shapeshiftersvt]

Cryptid Collection Spotlight: Mothman

Welcome to our first cryptid spotlight! Over the course of this week we're going to infodump about the six cryptids we chose to feature in our Cryptid Collection! We'll be posting about the lore and origins, our thoughts, experiences, and relationships with all of these cryptids, and we encourage folks to share their own!

First up is Mothman!

👣The Cryptid Collection 🗺️Cryptid Travel Posters 🦋Mothman Binders & Sportsbras 🧵Mothman fabric designs

On November 15, 1966, two young couples were out for a joyride along the backroads around Point Pleasant, West Virginia. Around midnight, they made it to the decommissioned munitions factory the locals called The TNT Area (now the McClintic Wildlife Management Area) where they encountered the creature we now know as Mothman.

Those two couples (Linda and Roger Scarberry, and Mary and Steve Mallette) weren't the first to see it. In fact there'd been enough sightings before that of the creature lurking in the woods by The TNT Area, that it had gained a local nickname — The Bird. But their story was so detailed and harrowing that it was reported on in the local newspapers the very next day, making it the very first published sighting of the Mothman.

According to the Scarberries' and Mallettes' accounts of the incident, when they arrived at The TNT Area, the first thing they saw of the creature was its eyes, glowing red in the headlights of their car. It didn't chase them, not yet. Instead they watched it turn and disappear around the corner of the building, which gave them a better view of the rest of the creature.

All four eye witnesses — and at least one of the earlier eye witnesses — described the creature as a humanoid with wings. According to the original police reports about the November 15th incident, the Mothman was grey in color, around 6-7 feet tall, with muscular legs. The wings on its back, also grey, when fully unfurled, had a wingspan of around 10 feet. The only color on the entire creature were the circular eyes, about 2 inches wide and 6 inches apart, which glowed "a fiery red" in the car's headlights. But despite seeing its legs and eyes clearly enough to give those detailed descriptions, Linda Scarberry and Mary Mallette both reported being unable to see any arms or even a head.

When the creature disappeared around the building — wobbling as if it were unsteady on its feet — Roger Mallette, who was driving the car, floored it, heading back towards town with his passengers yelling at him to hurry. They were not home free yet, though, because they saw the creature again, perched on a hill as if waiting for them as they turned a bend in the road. As they watched, the creature spread its wings and launched straight into the air. The terrified passengers amped up their shouting for Roger to get them out of there.

As they pulled out onto a straight stretch of road, Roger was able to really open it up, speeding down the road at around 100 miles per hour. But it wasn't fast enough. The creature kept pace with the car, the passengers reporting not only being able to see it and its shadow through the rear windshield and back passenger windows, they could hear its wings flapping as it kept up to speed, could hear them brushing and scratching against the roof of the car. They weren't able to shake it off until they reached the gates of a local farmer's home, theorizing that it was the bright lights that had scared it off.

They drove the rest of the way into town, stopping near the lights of a local business to process what had just happened and figure out what to do next. Linda insisted on calling the police, but Roger and Steve were worried that the police would just laugh at them and, against both Linda and Mary's protests, decided to drive back out to the road. They only got as far as the farm before they lost their nerve and decided to turn back. But, just as Roger was turning the car back towards town, something leapt out from behind an animal carcass beside the road, climbed over the back of their car, and disappeared into the field on the other side of the road. The couples didn't know for sure if it was the Mothman or something else entirely, but it scared them enough to convince Roger and Steve to finally go to the police.

After telling their story and insisting that they hadn't been drinking that night, a policeman and another local, Gary, who'd placed the call for them from a drive-in diner, decided to follow them back up the road to The TNT Area to look for the creature again. The couples saw it first, walking in a pasture as they crested a hill. It flew into the air directly towards them, but veered off and disappeared when it was hit by the headlights of Gary's car coming up over the hill. They drove up and down road for a bit, but didn't see it again and the whole caravan headed back towards town where they met up with Deputy Sheriff Millard Halstead.

The Deputy Sheriff drove back up to The TNT Area with the couples and Gary once more. The drive, this time, was uneventful, and once they'd parked, Halstead turned on the spotlight on his car to search the tree line. While Roger only reported seeing seeing some "dust or smoke" coming from the nearby coalyard, both Linda and Mary reported more. Strange shadows on the building, an odd noise like the squeaking of a mouse "only a lot stronger", and eventually the eyes. Linda and Mary both recalled telling Halstead that they could see the eyes and that he then turned his spotlight directly on them without even asking them to point them out, implying that he could see the eyes too.

They didn't say what happened after the Deputy Sheriff turned his light on the eyes, but after sitting out there for about 15-20 minutes with no other major incident, the group piled back into their respective cars, drove back into town, and went their separate ways. Too scared to be alone after the experience, the Mallettes stayed that night at the Scarberries' home, though none of them were able to fall asleep.

The next day, the couples were interviewed by the local paper, who sent a reporter to go back out to The TNT Area with them, where they saw the creature again. A few days later three of the four witnesses gave their official police report describing the creature and the incident in detail. They also went into some detail about the harassment and mocking they'd been experiencing in the days since the encounter. Accusations of excessive drinking were common; Linda and Mary both complained about not being able to go out in public without hearing people laughing at them; speculations about what they "really" saw out in the woods were plentiful and insistent that the couples simply couldn't have seen what they knew they'd seen; Linda even described a local minister making light of their experience.

But even as the Scarberries and Mallettes were being ostracized by many of their neighbors, the sightings continued. The two couples have, over the years, individually reported seeing Mothman again several times. Linda, in particular, has claimed that Mothman was an occasional visitor to the Scarberry home's roof. Of course after the newspaper article about their encounter was published, not only did previous reports start coming to light, more people made pilgrimages to The TNT Area either seeking out their own encounter or trying to prove one of the many debunking theories people have posed. With so many people visiting the site, it was inevitable that the reports of encounters with Mothman would only continue.

Since that Fall night in 1966, speculation about who, what, and why Mothman is have spread through both the believers and nonbelievers. The most common theories among the debunkers are that Mothman is simply a bird. Some speculate that it's an owl. The Huntington Herald-Dispatch reported a mere four days after the incident that West Virginia University professor, Dr. Robert L. Smith, was certain that Mothman was just a sandhill crane that had taken a detour during its normal migration (though he admitted that not all the details fit the crane, nor was he aware of any confirmed sightings in the area around that time, even though the occasional sandhill crane had been spotted in the area before).

On the other side of the speculation, some folks believe that Mothman is some kind of demon. Others believe it's simply a creature we previously didn't know existed. Still others have chosen to believe that Mothman is not only not an evil or malicious entity, but that it came to Point Pleasant, WV to help.

On December 15, 1967, Point Pleasant's Silver Bridge collapsed into the Ohio River under the weight of heavy rush hour traffic. It was, at the time, the worst bridge accident in American history, thrusting Point Pleasant into a national spotlight and triggering a rehaul in regulations for both the inspection of existing bridges, and the building of new ones.

The fact that the tragedy happened exactly thirteen months to the day after the Scarberry and Mallette sighting; the fact that, leading up to the collapse, many locals reported having nightmares about an upcoming disaster, some even specifically seeing people drowning in the Ohio River; the fact that reported sightings of Mothman suddenly dropped off immediately following the disaster, have led some to believe that the Mothman was simply there to try to warn the people of Point Pleasant about the upcoming tragedy.

This theory, popularized by the 2002 Richard Gere film, The Mothman Prophecies, was proposed originally by writer, journalist, and ufologist, John Keel in his book of the same name that loosely inspired the 2002 film.

It's hard to fully grasp Mothman's influence on the greater US culture. While it doesn't have the mainstream name recognition that Bigfoot or Nessie do, it's impossible to deny that it's become more well-known outside of its territory than almost any other regional cryptid. The 2002 film, largely met with a resounding "meh" by audiences and critics alike, may have been Mothman's most mainstream appearance besides also been name-dropped in the hugely popular '90s series, The X-Files. But where Mothman really finds popularity is in lesser known, more niche media with passionate fans — original comics, video games, prematurely canceled genre sitcoms, made-for-TV movies, and actual play TTRPG podcasts.

There's no mistaking that Mothman has become a symbol, icon, and darling of weirdos, queerdos, nerds, geeks, and freaks. The folks who know that there's more to life than just accepting the world as society presents it to you.

[thefirstknife]

It's starting to feel like there's an implicit understanding in the community that complaining about the game is one of the main ways to engage with it, and maybe is something newer players pick up as part of the 'haha even diehard destiny players hate destiny' narrative. =\

Im happy to see the playerbase growing, but dang, I wish there'd be a bit less of 'if you love this thing you'll be passionate about criticizing it' among some of the big personalities

Yeah. Destiny always had that whole joke like "The one thing Destiny players hate the most is Destiny." I never understood it. When I mildly disliked Destiny, I stopped playing. Genuinely cannnot fathom playing a game religiously while hating it. Mindboggling. I'm also somewhat salty that a lot of people "criticising the story" and latching onto this whole vibe have never actually been fans of the story or have never really paid attention to it.

Like, it feels somewhat strange to me that suddenly every single content creator, including those that were openly NEVER into the lore and even content creators who literally only play pvp and those that openly play with voicelines and subtitles off, are suddenly great experts on how this story apparently sucks. And of course followed by a million of their fans who have until yesterday only ever cared about meta weapons for Trials, but have overnight become lore masters who understand that the story was "bad."

I know people who ARE into lore and who had issues. I also know that there's a lot of new players who were probably utterly confused, though that's to be expected when you tune into the 9th year of the franchise. I'm totally fine with that and respect people who have a different view of the campaign and how it felt to them. And of course if any new players are super confused and have no idea where to start learning more... I sympathise. Greatly. And I'm happy to help! Obviously a lot of what people are discussing right now is really complicated and draws from super specific lore that might not be easy for a new player to understand right away. It will take some time and that's okay!

But when I see the amount of people blasting the story, I'm left thinking... Really? There were so many lore enjoyers out there all this time? You're telling me that twitter user xxTrialsHunterMain69420xx understands the problems with the narrative and can talk with authority on obscure lore references and how Bungie fucked them up? This is absolutely news to me, as most players have been dissing the story for years and if they weren't dissing, they just weren't engaging with it at all.

Obviously every player has a right to say how they felt playing and how they vibed with the campaign and if they didn't vibe with it, that's fine. They didn't vibe with a lot of campaigns that I would die for, like for example Shadowkeep. But there's a distinct feeling like a lot of these people are just latching onto the hate train for no real justifiable reason of their own. Like, it's popular to shit on the campaign now and people will do it to fit in, even if they personally have never ever had any stakes in what Destiny's story is about.

They've been given not only permission, but encouragement to blast the campaign over something they barely understand and something that a lot of people reacted to out of their basic impulses. And I get it because my basic impulse was negative too. I feel like maybe a huge personality who influences the entire community shouldn't post the first thought that comes to their mind uncritically to social media. Or at least that they should feel like they can change their mind and correct that later. I feel like a lot of them would never do that now because it would mean alienating their audience. "Oh yeah I told you all that this sucks, but actually no it doesn't, just listen." Yeah, not going to happen. Not to mention that outrage brings clicks.

And of course, now the whole discourse has been completely ruined by the outrage so it's incredibly hard to find and filter who actually has decent feedback and who is just riding the hate train. Frustrating and draining.

[watari-apologist]

do you think there would have been watari/L shippers within the death note universe?

personally, i think pre-kira, there was a small fandom surrounding the top detectives like L, deneuve, and coil, and most of the people in the community would ship them amongst each other. but there would be a dedicated subsection of the fandom made up of mostly people whose favorite detective was L who were absolutely obsessed with watari/L. i feel like most of the fics would either be really soft fluff portraying them with a sort of king/knight dynamic, or shameless smut of a bdsm dom and his hyperobedient sub.

post-kira, the detective fandom tag on ao3 would get flooded by kira/L fans who are unfamiliar with the fandom's history, inside jokes, etc, thus causing the older fans (especially ones who like deneuve or coil more than L) and the watari/L fans to develop a superiority complex over the new fans since they're, like, veterans or something. i don't know

(teeeeechnically death note takes place at a point in time slightly before modern fandom, the way we know it, but let's pretend haha)

while that kind of fandom would definitely see a lot of new people joining (as is the case with most fandoms when A Big Thing Happens, in this case the lind l. tailor broadcast), the impetus of kira/L would probably still come from the og fans themselves. prior to the broadcast there'd be theorising on if/when L would get involved, i imagine, and a select few fans would already be writing kira/L fic. mostly a crackship thing at that point, you know.

(also there is DEFINITELY already kira rpf, which exists separately from the detectives fandom at the time, so kira/L is crossover created by the fans who are in both communities)

fic of L, deneuve and coil setting their differences aside voluntarily or being forced to team up in various couple or threesome constellations to solve the kira case - and have a lot of very plot relevant gay sex on the side - springs up almost immediately too. sometimes kira kills one of them to heighten the drama. L taking the case, getting killed and then deneuve and coil banding together to avenge him is a fan favourite.

the watari/L crowd are on the ball as well: you've got the obvious where one of them gets killed by kira and the other tearfully avenges them. you've got watari getting kidnapped to blackmail L (which was probably already pretty popular in watari/L fics tbh; it's just good angst). and of course that one writer who has every watari/L shipper scream praise and obscenities at them in the comment section because 50k words into a fic, they drop the reveal that watari was kira all along and L is completely at his mercy now and things get REALLY dark REALLY fast.

and then tailor gets killed live on television and L directly challenges kira. the few fans lucky(?) enough to live in the kanto region who actually saw the broadcast in person come in screaming and crying, first liveblogging what's happening and then posting recordings uploaded to youtube, and the fandom LOSES ITS MIND. it's the middle of the night for some of them, but it does not matter. everyone is blowing up the message boards (or discord channels, or wherever the fandom is congregating), the first few fic writers are already hard at work, fanart is being created, the 'lore' people are drawing extremely funny conclusions about L's personality based on this daring move of his. it's a wild night/day for everyone.

and then... well. the excitement is so intense that others from outside the fandom bubble take notice. probably also a healthy dose of people going "haha what if anyone shipped kira and L together and wrote fic what a hilarious and unlikely idea" and then being shocked when searching the pairing on ao3 - or whatever the in-uniserve equivalent would be - brings up actual results. screenshots get passed around, there's the first inklings of disdain from the uninitiated (isn't it weird to write fic about real people? isn't it kind of fucked up to write fic about real life crimes and murders, especially?), maybe a small news article reporting on the fandom as a curiosity. you know how it goes.

but all the attention doesn't just attract the ones who find it weird or creepy. more than a few people look at the idea of shipping kira/L - or making fan content of kira and/or L in general - and go "i hope this doesn't awaken anything in me" and then (spoiler alert) it definitely awakens something in them. here is where the big influx of new people happens - and while yes, some og fans would definitely be disgruntled by the upset, it's probably just a lot of excitement for the most part, a lot of art and fic and what have you being created because there are suddenly so many more people.

this would of course lead to ship wars (it always does lol) - the kira/L crowd, mostly newcomers, might not even know about deneuve and coil and watari because their only point of reference is the broadcast. cue the og fans creating big 'lore' summary posts with all the important info and fandom history. some of the new fans don't care and will never read them, but i like to think that it wouldn't be a stand-offish 'old vs new' mentality. fandom isn't about animosity, it's about showing the thing you like to other people.

the detectives fandom is pretty old; it has been around at least since L started solving cases, and there was probably a select few people who shipped coil and deneuve and other top detectives even before that. (hilariously, that means there were probably newbies who came into the detectives rpf fandom when L showed up and had to be lectured by those fandom olds back in the 90s or whenever haha)

of course there will always be bad eggs. people who look down on the newbies and go "i liked x before it was cool." you always have people like that, but they're not usually the majority. most fans would just be excited that there's suddenly so much happening in their previously so tiny community.

one thing that might ruffle a few feathers is the way L is portrayed visually. before, it was likely a tma jonathan sims situation where obviously nobody had any idea what L looked like, so there was sort of an agreed upon 'fanon' look for him that artists who drew him and writers who described him in text would reference. after the lind l. tailor broadcast, a lot of the new fans probably start drawing L as looking like tailor just because it's a convenient visual reference (and because tailor is admittedly kind of good looking. which of course brings with it the moral handwringing of whether it isn't kind of fucked up to draw fanart of a guy who got killed live on tv, and who was also a criminal on death row)

(also, consider the tiny subset of the fandom who ship L/tailor and make up AUs where he wasn't actually a criminal at all but L's childhood friend who has helped him solve cases all along and sacrificed himself for the greater good and L is mourning him fiercely. anyway)

then again, back when the fandom was tiny they probably also had their fair share of debate about what L and watari look like (and deneuve and coil, if they were anonymous detectives. otherwise they would get portrayed the way they look irl, obviously). tiny fandom wars were waged over their ages, their backstories, what the exact power dynamic is between them.

top L defenders go to bat for the master/servant dynamic while top watari fans shoot back that L could just as well order watari to top him, or even headcanon that watari is the one in control actually and L is just his mouthpiece. "watari didn't work for L; L worked for watari," as the german death note audio drama would put it (reset the clock, i've mentioned it again). watari gets drawn in the trenchcoat+hat+mask combo A LOT and it's generally agreed upon by watari/L shippers that L finds this outfit extremely hot and has ordered watari to keep it on during sex at least once.

also kira gets drawn as an eldritch horror creature with tentacles sometimes for obvious reasons. the doujinshi are wild.

og fandom in-jokes for your consideration:

personally apologising to L (primarily when posting smut) - the fandom likes to joke that L probably keeps tabs on what's being said about him online, mostly to squash attempts to locate/identify him and other nefarious plots, and is therefore probably at least tangentially aware that there's fanfic/art and stuff being made of him. opinions vary on 1) whether he reads any of it and 2) if he is actually secretly One Of Them

variation of that last point: "i'm not L." which is exactly what L would say if he were one of them, of course. there's one fan in particular who has been jokingly suspected of being L for years because of their really specific headcanons for him

watari's height - nobody has any hope of figuring out what L looks like, but there exist at least a few photos of watari and the fandom has been desperately trying to figure out how tall he is based on the height of the people he's been photographed standing near. general consensus is somewhere in the 5'10 area, but there's one person who stubbornly insists he's 6 feet (it's me. i'm that person)

there's an infamous watari/L crackfic where orgasming is the only way L can solve cases, and all that that entails. it's considered an integral part of their fandom's history and is one of the first things the new post-tailor broadcast fans are subjected to when they join

[trashcanwithsprinkles]

I'm currently writing out the Archon War in a fic, and it got me thinking - who exactly would Morax be going to war against in Cyanide Narwhal's original timeline? It seems like he's got pretty much most of Liyue already except Havria's land which we know he didn't fight for. And like, sure Osial's being a thorn in his side, but like, that's one god. And you had Chi coming back again later as undead, which is two gods.

it's a good question but i'm afraid the thing about cyanide is that i had no answer for that originally, and when i began writing it i didn't want to add even more conflict and complicated political schemes than i already knew there'd be? (if you can call them that?) so i sort of... ignored the big issue.

the big issue being that, before the archon war, it's likely morax would've had control of only the guili assembly and maybe jueyun karst. it's actually a complicated point of contention when it comes to pre-war liyue theorycrafting. the rest of liyue would've been populated with other settlements led by other gods. either that, or liyue was a sort of big alliance of multiple leaders, and when the war broke, everyone started fighting each other.

kinda how china itself had a tendency to unify, split, unify, split, unify, and split throughout history. i imagine Liyue could've had something like that happen at some point. you could even argue that morax had control over all of Liyue bar Chenyu Vale, and when the war broke out, all his subordinates in charge of looking over all the other settlements decided they might as well fight both each other and their emperor.

so like- please keep in mind that cyanide sort of waves away that major problem in figuring out pre-war liyue lore.

as for the original timeline, i think i sort of also toned down the amount of gods morax originally fought. not only the two you mentioned, of course, but there would've been at least four immortals in chenyu vale, more than just osial and haishan in the sea, and probably a handful of gods from the south of lisha, a region not availiable in-game that i'm simply assuming is part of liyue.

so yeah,, my excuse was a sort of "just because they're not mentioned doesn't mean they're not there" for all the gods that would've popped up to fight in the war had childe not fucked up the timeline.

edit: i completely forgot about xiao's master. so uh- yeah that one also.

[randomnameless]

Do you believe it would have been better for the state of the fandom if CF had ditched any attempts at subtlety and just made it clear and undeniable that it was a villain route?

I don't doubt there'd have been people trying to argue against it even then (Arvis was a hero who did nothing wrong interpretations of FE4's story come to mind), but it'd have significantly reduced how widespread the Edelgard wank would have been; the Fódlan stories themselves would also have been significantly improved if they didn't need to treat Edelgard with kids' gloves at every opportunity, so it'd even work as a 2-for-1 in making the Fódlan games better.

Hahaha,

Talking with a friend and musing about this verse - Fe Fodlan has always been about "uwu or not uwu" regarding the Red Emperor, and you can't sell Ashnard slapping his ass (I'd buy it) or Walmart in a nightgown (I wouldn't buy it) in heroes or in Cipher.

That's the, say, spinal cord of the Fodlan Verse, at least, how it was developed by the devs.

So to sell this merch, but also, with the usual brand of sexism and "women can't be BaD", we end up with... a route where you side with Supreme Leader that is extremely white-washed (no angry civilian/random asking for reparations! When Dimitri deals with Flèche!), Rhea roasts babies and they both lose because the plot commanded them to.

To be honest, after taking into account the rest of the game(s) I'm still surprised Tru Piss has so many red flags and clues and general enemy lines showcasing how this route is, well, the one that ends up with deadeyesfish!Billy.

Sure SS was supposed to be the Billy Route, but since Rhea BaD and Church BaD (as you are hammered every time!) it makes Supreme Leader not so BaD - and with Rhea (and the BL!) being a scapegoat to sell Supreme Leader as she was intended, I don't think any amount of subtletly would have saved, not Tru Piss, but the fandom who swallows everything Tru Piss says.

In a way, Tru Piss suffers from two opposites directions, make a villain route - as to not shoot the lore/worldbuilding (SS) - but also, remember to make Supreme Leader sellable. So it couldn't be a villain route, and they tried to fit every mention of it being a "shouldn't have picked that" route in the lore/background/other convos, so they got their cake and ate it.

But yep, Fodlan verse wouldn't be Fodlan verse if Supreme Leader was treated like Ashnard, because Supreme Leader and her "uwu betrayal" were at the core of the Fodlan verse.

Nopes dropped the "betrayal" aspect, but still, she's not supposed to be the clear cut villain - even if her actions, and the world building, and the genocidal death cult she works with say the contrary - so her enemies will be demonified (Dimitri kills people! omg so bad! - and Nopes ends with somehow everyone agreeing to kill Rhea on the Zahras chapters).

Many people already tried to explain why the fandom wank took as it did regarding Supreme Leader - but imo that's what the devs gunned for.

It's no wonder why in the next game, Sombron doesn't sing a jpop song and you can't side with him (willingly!), or why the people turned into zombies aren't sidelined and ignored like Baldo'n'Waldi - we returned to a tradition non wank state where selling alts, cards and tea bags isn't more important than telling a story, regardless of what you think of said story.

Of course we have funny people pushing a Lumera BaD narrative, but it's not to defend of absolve Sombron of any wrongdoing or to treat him with gloves, somehow, it's still used to defend Supreme Leader (that's why those people are funny!).