#as it stands we have 6 characters from the first special that require focus

[lollytea]

ok but moving on to other things we wanna see in season 3: WHAT ABOUT GUSTHOLOMULE?!??!?! they haven't interacted on screen since TTLGR ( over a year ago) and tbh i'm just starved of them

It pains me to say this but we are never seeing that shrivelled up raisin of a man ever again

[mk-wizard]

Big Hero 6 The Series: It could have been better

Hello, friends. Today, I will be analyzing a TV series based on a movie that I fell in love with for its colourful themes, deep plot, compelling characters, great CGI and memorable messages. Before I get into it, I want to take a moment to say that I have quit doing videos. They are too big of a pain in the petunia to make and I write better than I speak, so I will stick to writing essays, reviews and more. Anyway, onto the analysis.

All I can say about Big Hero 6 the series is that it had a great concept, it presented some great ideas and tried hard to be a cartoon of the times, but it could have and should have been a lot better. The show’s downfall all centers around trying too hard to be kid friendly which makes the shame sting all the more because Big Hero 6 was already kid friendly even with its dark themes, sharp edges and intelligent writing. If anything, even the brightest kid friendly cartoons (Steven Universe, She-Ra, etc.) had those things and actually benefitted from them. By needlessly trying too hard, character development got scrapped, the edges were all smoothed out, storytelling was subpar, the humour was too silly and the executive meddling in the end produced a dismal final season. However, I don’t want this analysis to be one lengthy negative rant about how awful the series was because in its defense, awful is an unfair word. It did have potential and ideas which are worth carrying over to a reboot that I hope will be done someday in the future. Also, we should root for a reboot because Big Hero 6 would not be the first story that needs it before striking gold. Just look at how many times Spider-Man was rebooted in film before MCU found the version that worked. Anyway, I will list all the things in Big Hero 6 that could have been better in my opinion;

1- Go easy on the laughs and be more generous with the action. - I love adding comedy to my own writing because I think a good sense of humour makes everything better, but Big Hero 6 is not a stand up comedy routine. It is a superhero story where we expect action, suspense and life or death situations that are to be taken seriously first. The comedy should be for relief and with the right timing. Also, the chibi cutscenes and having characters act like fools aren’t funny. Ren and Stimpy are the exception not the standard and their way of making you laugh doesn’t fit an action series. In a show as big as Big Hero 6, real life physics and danger matters.

2- Make the villains menacing and gritty. - I admit that after having a movie villain like Yokai who was the stuff of nightmares, it is going to be a challenging act to follow, but it was obvious that the writers were trying especially with some villains who could have easily gone into some dark relatable territory. For example, Mr. Sparkles (the gentleman in the photo above) embodies social media and Internet personalities. Right off the bat, you have a long list of things which embody the dark side of that like scams, fraud, using social media to dox or harass, driving people to suicide, online predators, the Internet personalities being very depressed people in real life, and much more horrifying things. When you stop and look at it, Mr. Sparkles even looks like the Joker which hints how dark and scary he could have been if the stops were removed. The same goes for enemies like Hardlight who embodies online gaming, Liv with cloning, Obake an amoral and insane scientist, and Trina and Noodle Burger Boy (more on him later) being evil robots. Globby especially should have been painted and written in much darker colours rather being played off for laughs because he has many parallels with Clay Face. The only two villains who I can say were supposed to be campy, charming and comical were Baron Von Steamer and Supersonic Sue because they were a satire of the Adam West style villains.

The rest of them needed to be dark and threatening including Mr. Sparkles. In fact, I would love a rebooted version of Mr. Sparkles who gives me the heebie-jeebies. Going back to Noodle Burger Boy, I must confess that I was actually excited when I heard that he was going to be the main villain of the final season because I thought he was going to fulfill his master’s final wish and as a reminder, Noodle Burger Boy was based on a super robot for military purposes.

It would have been fantastic if Noodle Burger Boy was upgraded into a full military war machine with a new threatening look. For that, I think all of the villains deserve to be rebooted and have their full potential unlocked for better or for worse.

3- A show about geniuses merits genius level art quality. - I am usually forgiving towards art styles, but in the case of Big Hero 6, the oversimplified style with minimal details and lack of textures did not suit the show. The characters blend in with the background which makes them look flat and the special effects were extremely dulled down. I also know for a fact that Disney can do a lot better than this because I saw how superbly Tangled the Series was drawn.

You can see and almost feel the difference in quality, the number of layers and level of detail between the two styles. I think there was no excuse Big Hero 6 was not done in the same style and at the same level if not better as Tangled.

3- Don’t dumb down or flanderize amazing characters. - I absolutely detest it when characters are flanderized because it makes them one dimensional and grating. For example, Go Go is tough as nails and extremely calm, but she is not cold or hesitant towards helping her friends. She doesn’t require very special episodes for us to know that. If anything, the movie version of Go Go reminded me a lot of Garnet in how she deconstructed the broody character. She isn’t cold or emotionless. Just calm and mature. Another good example was how Honey Lemon was rewritten to be overly positive to the point of toxicity, naïve and oblivious with a juvenile obsession with stickers. Then you have poor Fred who was rewritten to be an incompetent fool. The spark that makes Big Hero 6 shine is that they are a team of geniuses meaning they are all intelligent. Even Fred is genius in his own way just not a scientific one. He has a vivid imagination, he is resourceful and can get himself out of tight spots. Please, don’t turn characters into dummies especially if their intelligence is a part of them. It doesn’t make them better or funnier. It ruins them.

4- Tadashi needs closure and honour. - I am all for Hiro making peace with the loss of his brother, but Tadashi is to the Big Hero 6 team what Uncle Ben was to Spider-Man. His loss was the catalyst if not the reason. He should never be forgotten. Moreover, there was never any true closure to him especially with the possibility that he may still be alive up in the air. After all, like Callaghan, his body was never found and it turned out that Callaghan was still alive.

With that said, who is to say that Tadashi was not secretly still alive and just hiding or being hidden? This is something that Disney really needed to clear up if not for the fans, then at least as a service to such an important character. Never just forget about them.

5- The format can only be episodic with a deep plots, continuity and character development. - Random episodes with a mere monster of the day is an outdated format which doesn’t fit Big Hero 6′s modern and bright setting. In seasons 1 and 2, when the episodes were plot heavy with character development, the series shined brightest. It also helped move the story along, but with the final season, plot was removed, closure was abandoned or poorly written if any was given, and characters were disallowed from growing. A good example at how plot and character development could have made this series and its characters better was the relationship between Hiro and Megan. Would it have truly survived or would they have broken up?

Would Richardson Mole have eventually lost interest in his obsession with besting and bullying Fred or would his obsession consume him compelling him to become a super villain? I do see quite a few similarities between Mole and Reverse Flash.

Then you have Karmi who is in my opinion, the biggest wild card of the bunch. She was intentionally introduced as an arrogant, prickly and unlikable yet complex character who rivaled Hiro bitterly.

Yet had a huge crush on his alter ego and as time went on, started to grow up and even form a friendship with Hiro. What would have happened further down the road with her? Would she have become a super hero herself? Or maybe even another love interest for Hiro kind of like how Black Cat is for Spider-Man?

Is Obake really gone?

What does the future hold Diana (Liv’s clone), Liv herself or the Sycorax the genetics company?

Is Alistair Krei going to become an ally to Big Hero 6 or an antagonist? There is also the issue at how little we know about the other Big Hero 6 characters other than Fred, Hiro and Baymax. What are Honey Lemon, Wasabi and Go Go’s backstories? These questions matter and while not every mystery can be solved, leaving none of them solved is lazy writing.

6- Executives, kindly stay out of the writing and any other part of the creative process. - I’m sorry, execs, but there is no nice way to say it. History itself proves that every time executives got involved in the creative process of any media, it got worse not better. Leave the writing to the creative team and the execs should only handle the legal stuff. Please. We understand that TV is a business, but writing itself is not. It is an art which you just don’t have a talent for. Let the creative people do their thing with the freedom necessary and you do your thing, deal? Deal.

7- Focus on Hiro and Baymax. - The are the main characters so keep them at the heart of the series no matter what happens around them. That is all I can say.

And that sums up all the things that could have made Big Hero 6 the series better, but this is all just my opinion. What is yours?

PS: I am well aware that the Big Hero 6 series is being retconned because a new series called Baymax is in the works as well as the long awaited sequel to the first movie. I am looking forward to both with an open mind. PPS: I also am aware that some people liked this show the way it was including the art style and I am cool with that. An analysis for art that includes cartoons is never right or wrong. It is solely based on opinion. I may have thought this series could have been better, but there are people who make arguments that it could have been worse.

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #190 & 191

Today on Fate and Phantasms we’re providing you a horror double feature- Mecha-Eli chan and Mecha-Eli chan Mk. II! Since they’re nearly identical (in NA) all you have to change between one and the other is how you roleplay. But hey, you technically get an extra build this week, go you!

Both of these servants are 100% Armorer Artificers for some fancy techno-gadgets built into their metal bodies.

Check out their builds breakdown below the cut, or their characters sheet over here!

Next up: She’s got so many pigs around her you’d think she opened a doughnut shop!

Race and Background

Shockingly, the robots... are robots. Specifically, Warforged, which gives them +2 Constitution and +1 Intelligence. They also get Constructed Resilience, which makes you a better ruler since you don’t need to eat, drink, breathe, sleep, or get sick, you get advantage and resistance to poison saves and damage. Elisabeth might get sick from eating all that candy, but you won’t even be tempted.

Instead of sleeping, you take a Sentry’s Rest, spending 6 hours in a still state- you can still see, but you can’t move without breaking the rest.

Integrated Protection gives you your first armored casing, adding +1 to your AC. You can also don armor by fusing it to your body over an hour, letting you wear heavy armor without having to take off your tutu.

Finally, you get a Specialized Design, giving you proficiency with Performance and one set of tools. If you want to get your Elisabeth on, I’d suggest Bagpipes, so you can clear the room just as fast as she can.

Being a robot makes your background a bit complicated, but you were made to rule Castle Csejte Pyramid Himeji so we’ll call you a Noble, which gives you proficiency with History and Persuasion. If you’re playing Mk. II, swap the latter over to Intimidation, boom, roleplay changes done.

Ability Scores

Your highest score should be Intelligence, you have a supercomputer for a brain, it’s not a huge stretch. Constitution comes next, aside from Babbage you’re the only servant made out of iron. So far. Your Strength should also be pretty good, while you do shoot people, you also hit them, and you have one of the most damaging NPs in the game when ignoring type advantage. Your Charisma isn’t bad per se, but your delivery does get a little stiff from time to time. Your Wisdom isn’t that great, neither of you really “get” people. Yes, humans might take offense at being forced to stay in their homes their entire natural lives. That means we’re dropping Dexterity. Your head literally falls off on a regular basis, that’s an accident that would kill most people. Also, you’re not exactly running around in leather, so it’s not like you’d need it.

Class Levels

Starting off as an Artificer gives you proficiency with Constitution and Intelligence saves, as well as two skills. Arcana is the closest thing to robotics in the forgotten realm, and Investigation will help you make a sweep of the battlefield with your robot eyes. Your first machines are made using your Magical Tinkering, adding minor effects to tiny objects. It’s not exactly the wish spell, but you can get creative with it. Speaking of Spells, you can cast and prepare those now using your Intelligence. All you have to do is be smart. Grab the cantrip Mage Hand for a non-combat use for your rocket arm, and Sword Burst so you can try spinning to damage nearby enemies with your tail. I hear it’s a neat trick. You can also cast first level spells, like Feather Fall and Jump (it’s almost flying), as well as Catapult for a prototype rocket arm. Also, if you can spare the slots, grab Detect Magic for robo scanning.

For more substantive mechanics, you’ll have to Infuse Items over a long rest, creating two items from a choice of four blueprints, both of which will go up in number as you level up. Right now, I’d suggest grabbing Goggles of Night and Sending Stones for recon missions, an Enhanced Arcane Focus for better bullets later, and an Armor of Magical Strength for a suit of armor that can either add your intelligence modifier to strength checks and saves or prevent you from getting knocked prone. Doing either spends one of six charges, which partially get refilled at dawn.

Moving to the Armorer subclass dumps you into a proper heavy armor setup, but you can make it even more impressive by turning it into Arcane Armor. This lets you ignore the strength requirements for heavy armor (which you can wear now), and you can use the armor as a spellcasting focus. There’s also stuff about the armor being a part of you, but that’s already true thanks to being a warforged. As the guardian of Hungary you get the Guardian Model, which gives you cool Thunder Gauntlets that use your Intelligence to attack instead of your strength. Creatures that you punch this way have disadvantage against other creatures for a round. It can also produce a Defensive Field as a bonus action, giving you your level in temporary HP, up to Proficiency times per long rest. Finally, you get some free armorer spells to go along with your new outfit. Magic Missiles do a good job of standing in for bullets, and Thunderwave gives you a finale for your Breast Zero Erzsébet.

Your first Ability Score Improvement is going towards making your regular attacks even more powerful with the Crusher feat, rounding up your Strength and making your fists able to shove a creature they hit once per turn, moving a large or smaller creature 5′ away. Your critical hits also give all other attacks against that creature advantage. (Catapult is a save, so I don’t think they work together, but that’s a DM thing, I guess.)

Fifth level armorers get an Extra Attack per action, so you can make enemies taste both of your hands each turn. You also get second level spells, like Mirror Image to put together some cheap factory-made knockoffs to take damage for you and Shatter for more sound-based pain. You can also prepare spells like Levitate for your first taste of flight, Enlarge/Reduce to make yourself the giant mecha you were born to be, See Invisibility for more robo-scanners, and Pyrotechnics for some movie magic.

Sixth level artificers get Tool Expertise, doubling their proficiency with all proficient tools. Now you’ll be really good at clearing out a bar with your bagpipes. You also get two more Infusions, with one more up at a time. Some Resistant Armor will make you deaf to your own music with resistance to thunder damage, or you can customize it to block out plenty of other types, like acid, cold, fire, force, lightning, necrotic, poison, psychic, radiant, or thunder. Makes a great gift for the totem barbarians in your party! You also get a Spell-Refueling Ring, because pretty soon you’ll be flying, and the worst thing you can do while flying is run out of spell slots. As an action, you’ll recover a 3rd level or lower spell slot once per day.

At seventh level, your Flashes of Genius make your smarts even smarter, letting you add your intelligence modifier as a reaction to nearby checks or saves Intelligence Modifier times per long rest. You were literally built to do everything for your subjects, it only makes sense that you’d be good at it.

Use this ASI to bump up your Intelligence for stronger spells, stronger punches, and more flashes of genius. You take a little bit to get warmed up, but that’s true of most computers.

Ninth level armorers can make Armor Modifications, turning your armor into four items for the purpose of infusion, and you can infuse an extra 2 items specifically if they’re part of your armor. That’ll be really cool next level, but what’s really cool right now is your third level spells, including the freebies Hypnotic Pattern and Lightning Bolt. I would’ve preferred fireball, but we’ll take what we can get for big guns. You can also prepare spells like Fly to fly under your own power instead of awkwardly levitating like a balloon, Haste to overclock your computer, and Intellect Fortress to lord your superior brain over the fleshlings, giving you resistance to psychic damage, and advantage on intelligence, wisdom, and charisma saves.

When you hit tenth level you become a Magic Item Adept, partially because you’re a magic item. This means you get an extra attunement slot, and crafting common or uncommon items is a lot cheaper and faster. You also learn the Fire Bolt cantrip for more options from your guns. On top of all that, you get two more infusion blueprints, and can have one more made at a time. I’d pick up some Winged Boots for concentration free flight up to 4 hours a day, and a Helm of Awareness to give a creature advantage on initiative rolls and immunity to being surprised. You don’t really wear a helmet, but you give one to Guda during the valentines events, so now you can do that in game.

At eleventh level, you can make Spell-Storing Items at the end of a long rest, shoving a 1st or 2nd level artificer spell into a weapon or focus. A creature can cast that spell from the item up to twice your Intelligence modifier times, and it is as powerful as if you cat it yourself. You can only have one spell stored this way at a time.

I really wanted to multiclass into sorcerer this build, but to be honest the final level of artificer is too good to really pass up. So instead, use this ASI to become a Metamagic Adept, gaining two sorcery points and two ways to spend them. Most of your spells are really just part of your body, so a Subtle spell will make that more obvious by making the casting less obvious. You won’t need somatic or verbal components. Alternatively, you can use a Careful spell to turn your giant blasty spells into something slightly more controlled, automatically letting one creature make their save against the spell. You use a lot of firepower for a single-target NP.

Thirteenth level artificers get fourth level spells. Fire Shield and Greater Invisibility aren’t in character, but they are useful, and using useful things is in character. You can also cast spells like Stoneskin, which is an understatement if anything, Summon Construct or Fabricate to build extra Elis, and Arcane Eye for your very own security drone. I also recommend grabbing the glyph of warding from level 3 so you can fully stock your castle with summoned versions of yourself to attack intruders.

Fourteenth level artificers are Magic Item Savants, letting you ignore all restrictions for magic item use, and you can attune to five items at a time. You also get the Prestidigitation cantrip for easy 3d printing, and two more infusions, plus one more built at a time. Grab the Belt of Hill Giant Strength for a whopping 21 strength, and an Arcane Propulsion Arm for a proper rocket punch. That last one does come with a pretty hefty price though- you will have to chop an arm off to put this one on. (Your armor will replace the arm if you have to make space for another infusion though, so it’s not all bad.) Annoyingly, this arm also deals force damage for some fucking reason, so you can’t use crusher on this either. I’d let you just punch people normally though.

Fifteenth level armorers get their final goody, giving them Perfected Armor. Now your guardian model lets you spend a reaction to pull a huge or smaller creature closer to you at the end of its turn if it fails a strength save, and if it’s pulled into melee range you can wollop it as part of the reaction. You can do this Proficiency times per long rest. We’ll consider this a giant hand giving them a nudge in your direction.

Another ASI, use this one for more Intelligence. Now you have the strongest and most flashes, as well as super strong spells and force punches.

At seventeenth level you get fifth level spells, like the freebies Passwall and Wall of Force. Technically it’s invisible, but a giant hand cupping around you to block damage is totally possible. Speaking of giant hands, Bigby’s Hand lets you make a giant mecha hand that actually acts like a hand for once. Yes, we are fitting Mecha Eli’s bit from Las Vegas in here. You can also use Creation to make an exact copy of your body, and Animate Objects to bring it to life. It’s not as powerful as the original, but that’s what you get with factory-made goods.

Eighteenth level artificers are Magic Item Masters, letting you attune to six items at once. You also get another two blueprints with another one built at the same time, so unless you’re powerbuilding grab another Arcane Propulsion Arm for two rocket fists, and a Ring of Protection for a bonus to your AC and saves.

Use your last ASI to become Tough, for 38 extra HP right away and another two when you level up again. You are literally made of steel. Come on.

Your capstone level grants you a Soul of Artifice, which is pretty busted. You get a bonus to all saves equal to the number of magic items you’re attuned to, and if you would drop to 0 HP you can end one of your infusions instead, sticking around at 1 HP. We weren’t able to make your mass-production work out that well, but if you have to die 9 times to actually go down, I’d count that as extra copies.

Pros and Cons

Pros:

You’re hard as hell to kill. With your lowest save being a +6 and the ability to add 5 to any save you don’t like the look of, magic will just slide right off you. Plus, with an AC of 20, just over 200 HP, and temporary HP from the guardian model, you have a lot of health to chew through from martial classes as well.

And that’s assuming they can even hit you! Flight is awesome, giving you plenty of mobility to avoid most combatants entirely and rain down fists and hellfire from a safe distance.

This build is highly customizable, with tons of tricks and gadgets to swap out as the situation calls for them.

Cons:

You’re super reliant on magical items to protect you, so if you get caught up in an anti-magic field it won’t be fun. Like, most artificers will have an awkward fight, but you won’t have arms.

While you have a lot of infusion options, you can’t have all of them up at once. That means you’ll have to make hard decisions constantly, and basically predict the future each long rest.

Two of the feats we took aren’t really that great, and probably should have gone towards better stats. Crusher only works on your regular punches, which are outclassed by your magic weapons, and you only get two weak uses of Metamagic per day.

[hypnoticwinter]

Gamifying the Story Outline: A Simple Tool to Revamp Your Writing Process

0. What the heck is this? Ever had trouble figuring out what kind of story you want to tell in the first place? Not a fan of outlines, but end up with meandering, pointless stories that don’t do what you want them to? Do you mainly write pulp fantasy or sci fi? 

This is a tool that will guide you through outlining a story using some of the same concepts as a solitaire roleplaying game. All you need is a few ideas, a pen and paper, and a six-sided die.

You also need to understand some basic concepts: This tool isn’t a substitute for creativity, and if you think you have a better idea, run with it. This tool assumes that you’re going to be writing a fairly grounded story in the vein of a Dragonlance novel or similar - hero’s journey stuff. It’s not very good for more cerebral stuff, or anything more abstract.

With that being said, let’s get started. First, we need to ask some questions and define some notions.

1. Who is the Hero? This section assumes that there’s just a singular protagonist, but there’s no reason you can’t make it work for a small group of characters. 

The story is about a Hero, someone the story will focus on as they go on a journey. They’ll grow, change, face challenges, deal with setbacks, and so on. To that end, we need to know a few things about them. Aside from basic characteristics like name, appearance, etc., we also need to know:

1a. What makes them special? You could be writing the story about anyone - why them? What about them is special enough to write a story about? 1b. What are their strengths? Don’t get too cerebral here. Just list off three or four things they’re good at, and come up with a small backstory or notion for why they’re good at them.

1c. What are their weaknesses? Same thing here. Some weaknesses - real weaknesses, ones that can cause issues, and why they’re there. Remember, the more work you do at this stage, the better you’ll be equipped to move on later. 2. Who/what is the Villain? If there’s a Hero there has to be a Villain. Now, I’m using Villain as shorthand - this doesn’t necessarily mean a literal villain who’s a force for evil, it means whatever overarching force wants to prevent the Hero from accomplishing their goal, whatever that might be. Sometimes the Hero might not know who or what the Villain is, sometimes there might not even be a concrete Villain. But there has to be some kind of conflict or opposition - otherwise the Hero doesn’t have anything to overcome.

Just like the Hero, we need to know some information about the Villain.

2a. Who/what are they? 2b. What are their strengths? 2c. What are their weaknesses?

Remember, this is all the ground work. Put in the effort here and you’ll appreciate it later on. 3. What is the Hero's goal? The Hero always needs to have a goal. It's the reason that they keep going through the story. Their resolve can falter, of course, they can have doubts and misgivings and so on, but the goal has to always be present. This can be concrete or abstract, nebulous or poorly defined, but it has to be there to keep the story moving. If the kind of story you want to write doesn’t really have a goal, this tool probably isn’t going to do much for you.

3a. What is the Spark? The Spark is what some other story outlines might call the 'inciting incident.' The Hero's Spark is what gets them off their asses and starts them actually pursuing their goal for real. This is going to depend on what the goal is, what the setting is, who the Hero is, a lot of different factors, but there has to be some kind of tipping point that makes the Hero realize ‘okay, there has to be a change and I have to be the one to do it.’ 4. Creating the Timeline. The Timeline is a track of major events that will occur during the course of the story. The Timeline begins with the Spark and ends with the Confrontation. Prior to the Spark, of course, you can have as much set up as you want, and a lot of the time you’re going to not want to launch right into the story with the Spark, but that’s something you can figure out later. For our purposes, we’re starting with the Spark. In the space between the Spark and the Confrontation, the Hero will encounter Complications, both Minor and Major. Minor Complications are small incidents that stand in the way of resolving Major Complications. Major Complications are large incidents that stand in the way of the Hero's victory entirely.

You can use any number of Minor or Major Complications that you like, but I recommend 2 Major Complications between the Spark and the Confrontation, and 2 Minor Complications between each Major Complication, give or take. This can change on the fly depending on how the story goes, so remember to be flexible. Between each Complication obviously there will be time to lick wounds, make friends, develop plot, and so on, but that's something you can figure out yourself. We want to get the plot points down, knitting them together coherently is a job for later.

4a. Complications. To determine what kind of Complication you’re dealing with, roll the die. 1-3: A Complication of Circumstance Complications of Circumstance are difficulties that arise for the Hero without malice or intention behind them. Maybe the weather turns at the worst possible moment, or something is rescheduled, or sweeping changes of some other kind affect them.

4-6: A Complication of Intent Complications of Intent are difficulties that arise specifically because the Villain is targeting the Hero and trying to hinder them. They can take forms similar to a Complication of Circumstance but the cause is specifically because of the Villain. They can also take more precise forms than might be appropriate for a Complication of Circumstance, like an assassin, a battle, a conflict, etc. You can also roll the die again to refine Complication type: 1-3: General A General Complication is one that affects many people or a wide area. Blackouts, flooding, famine, wildfires, are all examples of General Complications. The Hero might be the root cause of the Complication, if it is a Complication of Intent, but it will affect many more people than just the Hero. 4-6: Specific A Specific Complication is one that affects just the Hero, or the Hero's immediate allies. An assassin, a theft, a parking ticket, and so on, are all examples of Specific Complications. Even if a Complication is Specific the Hero might not be the cause of it - it may just be random chance without interference from the Villain. 4a1. Minor Complications Minor Complications fill the space between Major Complications. A Minor Complication is an opportunity to learn more about the Hero and the other characters, to explore the world of the story, or to develop the plot in other ways. Minor Complications only have, as the name suggests, minor implications on the story as a whole and don't affect it much, BUT they do still need to affect it in some way.  4a2. Major Complications Major Complications are serious events that have the potential to change the direction entire story. Major Complications are plot points that require several chapters at least to resolve, and will change the Hero for better or for worse once completed. 4a3. Resolving a Complication At a base level, all you have to do is ask the question, "does the Hero win?" and then roll a die. Look on the below table for the answer. 1: No, and... 2: No. 3: No, but... 4: Yes, but... 5: Yes. 6: Yes, and... Now stop. Think about the answer you rolled and interpret it. Apply it to the Complication you came up with. Does it make sense? You always have the authority to roll again, or just say screw rolling and choose what happens. But sometimes it can be fun to just see what happens. You do want a healthy amount of variation, of course - the story will probably be pretty boring if the Hero manages to just effortlessly cruise through every Complication, or if the Hero is getting curbstomped repeatedly by bad rolls, but given how many Complications there are to resolve, most likely there’ll be a healthy spread of wins and losses across the course of the Timeline. Now, moving on - what exactly does ‘no, but...’ or ‘yes, and...’ mean? First, yes or no always answers the question ‘does the Hero win?’ That’s the outcome for the Complication. The story still has to move forward but depending on whether it’s a yes or a no and whether it’s a Minor or Major Complication, you might want to do some brainstorming as to the direction the story will go next. If the result you rolled has ‘but’ in it, that means the result is tempered. A ‘yes, but...’ isn’t a perfect victory, something bad happened as well, and a ‘no, but...’ isn’t a total defeat, there’s some kind of silver lining.

Likewise, an ‘and’ means that the result occurs in the superlative. A ‘no, and...’ means the Hero lost hard, just like a ‘yes, and...’ means the Hero wins hard. Whenever the Hero wins a Complication (i.e., rolls a yes), they get a Minor Boon. Whenever the Hero loses a Complication (i.e., rolls a no) they get a Minor Bane. If the roll includes a ‘but,’ they get both a Minor Boon and a Minor Bane. And if the result includes an ‘and,’ the Boon or Bane they get is Major instead of Minor. Mark down what they got and read on to see what exactly that means.

4a3a. Boons and Banes. Boons and Banes are assets the Hero gains through the course of the story that have the opportunity to render aid or cause harm when the Hero is involved in a Complication. There are three types of Boons and Banes, Minor, Major, and Superlative. Minor Boons or Banes are lost after being used in a Complication, while Major Boons or Banes remain in play but become Minor after being used in a Complication. Superlative Boons or Banes are never lost after Complications - if these are ever changed or lost, it’ll be because you the writer stepped in and changed them. The Hero begins the story with one Superior Boon and one Superior Bane, each based on the Hero's greatest strength and weakness respectively. The Villain also imposes a Superior Bane based on its greatest strength, and a Superior Boon based on its greatest weakness. Banes and Boons can only be used in Complications where they would be relevant. A Hero who has a Boon for fighting, for example, can't use that Boon if the Complication is about socializing. A Boon can be used in a Complication, if applicable, to grant a +1 bonus to the roll to resolve the Complication. Likewise, a Bane can be used in a Complication, to impose a -1 penalty to the roll. The minimum roll is still 1, and the maximum is still 6. 

When you’re resolving a Complication, you can choose not to add a Minor or Major Boon or Bane and instead choose to hang on to a Boon or Bane the Hero already has that would be lost due to being used in the Complication. You can roll the die to refine the type of Boon or Bane a Hero has: 1-2: A Boon of Knowledge / A Secret Bane This Boon/Bane reflects knowledge kept secret from others. As a Boon, it reflects something the Hero knows but the Villain does not. As a Bane, it reflects the opposite. 3-4: A Boon of Improvement / a Bane of Entropy This Boon/Bane represents tangible improvement in the Hero's or the Villain's equipment, assets, skills, or talents. It can also represent the opposite - a Boon of Improvement could represent a new weakness the Villain develops, for instance. 5-6: A Boon of Allegiance / A Bane of Servitude This Boon/Bane represents an ally to either the Hero or the Villain. They may be temporary or they may become a recurring character in their own right. It can also be an organization or group rather than one person. It could also be used to mean a betrayal - a Boon of Allegiance could mean one of the Villain’s servants switching sides, or vice versa. When completing a Complication, you need to keep several things in mind: 1. How exactly did the Hero complete the Complication? 2. What did the Hero use to complete the Complication? What Boons and Banes were involved? How did they affect each other? 3. What's the explanation for Minor Boons and Banes being lost after the Complication? What's the explanation for any gained Boons or Banes? 4. How does this affect the Hero moving forward? Will they have to change their objective, or rethink things? Are they on the offensive or the defensive? Are they confident?

5. The Confrontation. When you've dealt with all the Complications in the way, you get to the Confrontation, which is the final standoff between the Hero and the Villain. Every remaining Boon and Bane should factor into this one - this is the big moment, probably the climax depending on how you structure your story, so all the stops should come out. But don't roll. Whether the Hero wins is something you have to decide, based on the story so far. This one can't be randomly generated.

And after the Confrontation the rest of the story should be pretty easy for you to wrap up on your own. The Hero either accomplishes their goal, or they don’t, and the consequences of each have to be dealt with.

6. Example. Let's work through an example. Let's call our Hero Veronica, and the Villain Louise. Veronica is good at swordfighting and archery, so she gets a Superior Boon for that, but she's shy and standoffish, and can't swim, so she gets a Superior Bane for that.

Louise is an Evil Knight. Louise is good at burning, pillaging, and fighting, so she imposes a Superior Bane on Veronica for her expertise in that, but she constantly underestimates her opponents and doesn't treat her underlings well, giving Veronica a Superior Boon for that kind of thing.

For Veronica's Spark, we decide that her Goal is to rescue her boyfriend Sylvester from Louise's evil clutches, and that the Spark, therefore, is Louise kidnapping Sylvester.

The first step for Veronica is to travel to Louise's fortress, which is a long ways away, through the Windy Woods and over the Moldy Mountains. We're going to go with the standard template, with two Minor Complications between each Major Complication and two Major Complications in total before the Confrontation.

So, to recap, Veronica is a shy, standoffish warrior woman who's excellent with a sword and a bow but who can't swim or handle social situations, who is setting forth on her trusty mount Roanoke towards Louise's Frosty Fortress to rescue her boyfriend Sylvester.

The first Minor Complication is a Specific Complication of Intent. This means that this is an action by Louise specifically targeting Veronica with the intent of preventing her from rescuing Syvester. Let's say that Louise gets word that Veronica is coming and sends an underling to go and push a boulder onto Veronica as she passes under a cliff. Now let's think about our Boons and Banes. Veronica has a Boon for fighting, but that isn't really going to help here. Similarly, her Bane for social situations isn't going to hurt her either. Louise imposes a Bane for her aptitude at pillaging, but I don't think it applies because she didn't come herself, she sent an underling. So it's going to just be a flat roll with no modifiers. Does Louise succeed and avoid the boulder? We roll a 5, which is just a flat yes, with no positives or negatives, but she'll still get a Minor Boon out of it. So, the boulder misses. For the Minor Boon we roll a Boon of Allegiance - let's say that she manages to catch the underling and convince him to join her by promising that she'll get rid of Louise. Let's call Veronica's new ally Bruce. Veronica and Bruce keep going, and there'll be plenty of opportunities to worldbuild, to expand on their character, and so on.

The second Minor Complication is a General Complication of Intent. Let's say that Louise found out what happened through her network of spies. She orders her raiding party to head in Veronica's direction and search through each village looking for her. Their paths intersect in one village when Veronica, riding through, gets stopped by the leader of the raiding party, who thinks she looks an awful lot like Veronica. There are too many of them to fight, and Veronica thinks she'll have to try and bluff her way through it, but Bruce can pretend to have captured her and be taking her to Louise himself. This is a social situation so Veronica's Bane comes into play, giving her a -1, but with Bruce as a Boon that negates the -1.

Now, here I rolled a 6, but we already had a success for the previous Complication, so I'm going to reroll it. This time we roll an appropriately abysmal 2, which is a no. Let's say that the raiding party leader wants all the glory for himself, kills Bruce, and takes Veronica hostage for real, and throws her into Louise's prison nearby. This means Veronica ends up with a Minor Bane - according to our die roll it's a Bane of Entropy. Let's say that Veronica gets hurt when she's tossed into prison, and can't fight as effectively.

Now we come to the first Major Complication, and with Veronica being trapped, there are plenty of opportunities for what it might be. We roll a General Complication of Circumstance, so this isn't anything that Louise is behind, it's just a twist of fate. Let's say that a few days after Veronica is captured, there's a raid on the prison by a group of elves who are trying to free their imprisoned friends, and they end up setting everybody free, but in the chaos the prison also catches on fire. Veronica needs to get out of the prison before she's burned to a crisp, but there's a catch - some of Louise's elite guards have been dispatched to make sure nobody gets out of the prison alive. There's no reasoning with them and there's no time to disguise herself - Veronica will have to fight. She's got a Boon for fighting, so that's a +1 bonus, but she also is hurt, which is a Minor Bane for -1, evening out.

We roll a 6, which is a 'yes, and...' Veronica manages to fight her way through the elite guards, which will be a spectacular action scene when you get around to writing it, and gets free of the prison before it burns down. The Major Boon we roll is a Boon of Knowledge. Let's say that Veronica finds a map of Louise's Frosty Fortress on one of the guards and is able to study it and determine a few sneaky ways in, as well as the likely spot Sylvester will be held in. In addition, the Minor Bane of Veronica being injured and therefore not being able to fight well goes away. It doesn't make very much sense for her to already be healed, so let's say instead that she's able to take some gear off of the elite guards and it makes up for her injury. She returns to her path through the Windy Woods and leaves the burning prison behind her with a renewed sense of determination.

At this point, we can proceed with the story as we see fit, either proceeding onwards with rolling for Complications and Boons and Banes or taking over and coming up with things on our own. This tool is meant to inspire the creative process, not replace it completely. Obviously there are limitations; if you want to write something more cerebral or abstract, while the same base system of Complications is still applicable, it'll be a little more difficult to wrap your head around. What does a Bane of Treachery mean if the Villain is Society or Nature, for instance?

[langernameohnebedeutung]

So...Rory, huh?

I've seen a lot of "oh hell no don't introduce time travel in the last season!!" posts and tbh I had the same reaction. Because usually time travel is used as a deus ex machina that always causes loopholes and nonsense if not executed very well. I can think of more franchises that fucked it up than those who actually did well. I'm not at the end of the season yet so I can't comment on how well Lucifer resolved this.

But something I've realised while watching the season is...that so far, the time travel doesn't ruin anything for me because for the first 8 episodes I've watched, it basically hasn't done anything interesting anyway. The way this is set up, Rory might as well be the daughter of some one-night-stand. Possibly, the whole "magically recognising your bio child through the super special connection"-thing rubbed some of my personal daddy issues the wrong way but...

It just feels like a weird tag line attached to Rory's character. They even play the over-the-top idea of it all for laughs when she meets Maze and Eve for the first time and she's like: "Yeah I'm Chloe’s and Lucifer's daughter from the future btw no biggie." - that’s the punchline here, how out of left field and random it is for this show.

But it got me thinking because right now, I also started re-watching x-men and just re-watched days of future past and it made me realise something: You need to be invested in the future (or past) to care about the time-travel.

Part of the skills required to actually make a scenario like this work is to reach the opposite effect. To make the whackiness feel organic and authentic. And...whether they accomplished that or not is up to you. (Personally I think Rory works best once you ignore all the plot stuff and focus on the character)

We have Rory's word for it that Lucifer is gone and she grew up lonely and it was hard on everyone but...we don't get to see it. We just have to take her word that Lucifer did this. We don't get to see the future. We just get to see his protests now that he would never do that.

In fact, we don't even get the typical mystery-open you often get when your premise is that a character is going to do something shocking. Think of God Johnson opening with Lucifer in a mental institution saying he's not actually the devil but a delusional human - and then it snaps back a few days and you learn how it got to that point. Same with Expire Erect - it's a very common trope in crime shows: You show us that a certain, really unexpected event is 100% going to happen and THEN you tell us how it came about.

I think maybe that would have made a stronger impression. If for a first episode of season 6 we had seen some sort of montage of Rory growing up without her father and even narrating it - setting us up with the premise: oh no Lucifer is going to disappear! And do what his father did to someone else! - and then we go back in time with Rory and meet our main cast.

Now, we would already know her, we would go into the season with an expectation - and we would get a new perspective on our characters.

[oftenderweapons]

Mold Me New (6) — Taehyung

A Small Town Swoons Story

Pairing: Taehyung x reader (nicknamed Frog)

Wordcount: 3.7k

Genre: ceramic artist!Taehyung, divorced!reader, Strangers to Lovers, Fluff, sliht angst, Slice of Life

Rating: suggested 18+ for future smut

Hello to my readers!!! Welcome to the Small Town Swoons Universe!🥰✨

In this episode: Frog and Taehyung are gettin closer and closer. As they both face their most vulnerable moments since they met, finding comfort in each other's arms.

TRIGGER WARNINGS: kissing, mild swearing, allusions to smut. Taehyung suffers from tendinitis in his hands after he worked too much. Frog talks about the end of her marriage and her approach to attraction, mentioning that she could be demisexual. About this specific point, the discussion is very short and doesn't focus on details, but THAT doesn't absolutely mean that demisexuality isn't a large and delicate topic that should be disucssed in depth, it only means that the character is growing in that direction and that she'll eventually educate herself more about that topic.

Once more I'm thanking Rid (aka @taegularities). We're in this soft sh!t together 🤍

In case you like my writing, here is my directory for idol!AUs, scenarios and imagines. And in case you need it, here’s the Spotify music companion.

Navi: Chapter 1 — Chapter 2 — Chapter 3 — Chapter 4 — Chapter 5 — Chapter 6 — Chapter 7

Enjoy 💜✨

Entering the studio was mind blowing. It looked like a garden of statues.

Sitting on the floor was Taehyung, using his elbows and forearms to wedge a large body of clay.

“Tae?”

He looked at you standing in the doorway, smiling at you almost apologetically while you were entirely shocked.

“Why are you wedging with your elbows?”

“Tendinitis.” He still smiled like his fingers and palm didn’t feel shredded by thorns.

“For god’s sake, Tae!” You made your way to him, feeling like a cat trying to slalom through an endless field of obstacles. “Baby,” you murmured, crouching down next to him, tutting and fussing once you spotted how messed up he was.

He had clay in his hair, on his face, all over his apron. “Babe.”

“I wanted to create.”

You held his face in your hands, kissing his forehead over and over. “How long have you been here?”

“What time is it?”

“It’s five o’clock. Like all of our lessons,” you reminded him, wide eyed, shaking your head.

“I’ve been here since four.”

You closed your eyes and exhaled. “Tell me you mean four in the afternoon.”

He smiled sheepishly. “Yeah. Of yesterday.”

Your face contorted in disappointment. “Get out of here!” You helped him up, clicking your tongue once you noticed he was barely able to hold himself up on his knees.

“I just stayed in the same position for too long,” he whined at your stern look.

“This cannot do, Taehyung,” you scolded him, before blocking his face, which was aiming at the crook of your neck. “No cuddles. We need to clean you up first.”

He pouted as you got rid of his apron quickly. “How aren’t you tired? Look at the floor! How can you even move in here, Taehyung!”

“Don’t call me by my full name, it scares me,” he objected, puppy eyed. “And your lesson?”

“We’re postponing that. Have you eaten at least?” You stared at the floor as you led him to the large sink.

He followed you as your hands held his hips. He liked how you touched him, and he loved how comfortable you looked doing so. Once he stood in front of the sink, you grabbed some soap and foamed it up, holding his hands and running them under the water, covering them in bubbles and getting a small groan out of him. “This will teach you a lesson,” you mumbled, intertwining your fingers with his and rubbing them together. “Does it hurt?”

He shook his head before leaning his head against your shoulder while you stood behind him. “It feels better with you.”

You couldn’t hold yourself back from placing a gentle kiss at the corner of his mouth. “Let’s clean up your pretty face.”

Still, he tried to deepen the kiss, chasing you, hoping you’d let it slide. “You think I’m pretty?”

“You’re not just pretty. You’re scandalously good looking. You’re disgustingly perfect.”

He smiled and tried to turn. He wanted to plant his face against your chest and feel your digits massaging his scalp. He also wanted to feel you naked against his skin, but that was far from any sexual motive: he simply wanted warmth, closeness, affection. He wanted softness and intimacy. “Can we cuddle now?”

“You still have half a kilo of clay on your arms,” you replied as you took it off with gentle strokes of your palms, adding more soap to make sure no dirt was left.

“Can we cuddle after that?”

You nodded, nuzzling your nose into his hair. “We can do anything you want.”

He lowered his face to the faucet and cleaned it up, washing away the smear of dried up clay on his cheek.

“You should shower, darling,” you said, grabbing a paper towel and dabbing it against his wet face. “Or we could wash your hair.”

“Are you staying over?” He looked so hopeful, so entirely enamoured. You could barely resist him.

“I stayed over last week. I’d feel a bit out of place,” you replied shyly, trying not to feel conflicted. On one side, you felt like you were taking advantage of him, on the other you longed to caress his hair and kiss his nape until he fell asleep at your side. You also wanted to wake up with his hair tickling your chest as he gave you tiny kisses all over your neck and throat, exploiting the warmth and softness of that special spot for a gentle wake up call.

At the beginning you had worried about staying over on that first night, after dinner and… and the couch thingie. You slightly feared the thought that sharing a bed somehow meant pressuring each other into a type of intimacy neither of you was ready for. And then, a week after that fatidic rendezvous, he had asked for you to stay the night and sleep — just sleep — together. He had been extremely clear about his intentions, declaring them after dinner as you were lounging on the sofa once more. You had watched a film, made out, calmed down, washed up and headed to bed, where he had clung to you until his breathing turned into a delicate huffing sound.

You had barely resisted tears once you noticed he tended to pucker his lips in his sleep, his cheeks becoming fluffier and rounder. He had an adorable baby face.

“What if I wanted you to stay, though?” Taehyung murmured, giving you a dubious look. As he noticed you hesitating, he added: “I mean, it’s okay if you don’t want to stay. It would be on the same terms as last time. I’m not pressuring you or anything I—”

Finally you gave up. Maybe his presence would help you. “Okay.”

He grinned, “I should shower then.”

“You want me to cook something as you wash up?”

His eyes got wide and glittery before he kissed your cheek. “Yes, please.”

“What should I make?”

“I like anything in the fridge. Do as you please,” he replied before you moved your head in confirmation.

Once in the house, you headed for the kitchen while he immediately hit the shower. He wanted to be away from you as little as possible. Most activities were painful, like grabbing bottles and massaging his scalp and basically anything that required him to grip and strain his hand muscles and tendons. At a certain point he entirely gave up on his hair, washing his body and getting out of the shower, drying up and wearing a pair of boxers and loose pyjama pants.

“Frog?” he called from the door.

“I made bruschetta! Bread, sliced cherry tomatoes, it’s in the oven,” you answered.

“Can you come here?”

You quickly lowered the oven temperature and reached him.

You inhaled brusquely once you noticed his lean, smooth torso naked, little droplets of water still glistening here and there. “Could you wash my hair? I can’t really use my fingers much.”

You nodded silently, inhaling as you took in his chest. He looked so beautiful, his chest lithe and well-built, his tummy holding a millimetric curve, flat but not muscled. You liked it a lot.

“Shall we?”

Silently you followed him, watching as he bent down over the sink and opened the tap to further wet his hair. You noticed the bottle of shampoo and squeezed a small amount on your palm, watering it down and beginning to energetically scrub his scalp. “This okay?”

Taehyung hummed in reply, turning his head to the side a little to offer you a better angle. “Very okay. Actually, fine. Ideal.”

You smiled.

It took you a bit more time than you thought, mostly because you were a bit distracted. “Are you sleepy, sweetheart?” you asked once you managed to finish, helping him stand up straight and drying his hair haphazardly with a towel.

“I’m so caffeinated I can barely think straight,” he murmured, purring once he noticed the way you were still looking at him. “Frog. Don’t look at me like that.”

“Like what?”

He cupped the back of your head before he leaned to your face, sucking your lower lip into his mouth and forcing you to unseal yours, his tongue sliding in sinuously, his other arm pinning you to him. “Like you really want me to do this.”

Once your back hit the wall, his warm body contrasting with the cold tiles against your spine, you realised you needed to slow down. “Tae. Dinner,” you reminded him.

“Sure,” he unglued you from the tiles. “Do you even want me to put a shirt on?”

You shook your head and smirked. “You sure are a smooth mess.” His eyelashes looked magical from this up close. After almost three months of knowing him, you still wondered how he could be so absolutely perfect, and so real.

“Is that a yes or a no?” He cocked an eyebrow, adding a mischievous grin on his face.

“It’s definitely a yes, you tease!”

After dinner you decided to go for your usual shenanigans and headed for the living room, finding yourself a little dumbstruck when you noticed a large sculpture on the coffee table, which had been moved out of the way and to a dry and cool place. The structure was as large as your upper half and, as you switched on the lights you recognised exactly what it was. The torso was still drying, as the colour showed, and for a second you asked yourself how it would ever dry. It would of course hold water in its core, causing the structure to fail and break. And then, it would never fit in his kiln.

“You like it?”

You turned towards Taehyung. “What material is it?”

“Modelling dough. It’s made for large structures. It dries in a couple hours.There are about ten layers latched on a metallic structure. It’s modelled after you.”

Your eyes widened. “Is that why your hands have been acting up?”

He looked away in a manner that told you that yes, that was the very reason.

“Do you have a balm or something?” you asked, trying to fix the mess he made.

He left the room and came back with a glass jar. “Arnica gel smells very bad but works fine.”

You took your place on the sofa, patting the spot at your side to invite him there. He joined you in a nanosecond, placing the jar on your lap. Methodically, entirely caught in your thoughts, you opened the lid, got some lotion on his palm and began rubbing the pressure points on his palm before turning to the back of it and tracing the tendons energetically.

His relieved groan echoed into the room before he let his head fall on the back of the sofa.

The massage went on for a bit, the motions so mechanical that your mind started to wander until you eventually said your thoughts out loud.

Having him to assist had calmed you down enough that you felt ready to reflect over your worries.

“Today is my wedding anniversary. Or it was.” You kept staring at your digits digging into his flesh. “I don’t really know how I should talk about it.”

Taehyung, though looking like a lazy feline, was actually paying close attention to your words. “How was it, being married?”

You shook your head. “At the beginning there was a lot of emotion and companionship. And then life carried us away from each other. Like two leaves scattered in different directions by the wind.” Your explanation was something that had become a truth to you: at the beginning you had tortured yourself with understanding why and how it had happened. And then you had accepted the blatant way of things: separation.

“Are you scared of it happening again? That companionship to separation process?”

You shrugged. “Not really. If people drift apart, then maybe it’s because they were meant to be together for a while before they could venture towards different destinations.”

Taehyung moved closer to your neck, to get impossibly nearer. If he could, he would have crawled underneath your skin, to inhabit you like a squirrel does a tree. He wanted to build his nest in your heart and sing all his favourite songs to you, and from you he would never, ever part.

He knew he was letting himself romanticise the affection and comfort he felt for you, however, he couldn’t find anything that made him disappointed with you, or that annoyed him. There were small things here and there that made him question your approach to life, but your grounded self was the kind of roots he needed to drift in the wind and let everything surprise and amaze him.

You were his anchor and he was so infinitely glad to have met you.

“How do you feel about the whole marriage thing? Do you still believe in it?” His voice was incredibly velvety, like a mother’s caress, a lover’s glance.

You pondered your emotions and sensations. “I believe I do. I mean, it’s not like I think I failed something or love is a lie and all of that. I’m just trying to understand the… the ground rules—” You took a pause, trying to explain yourself. “Like, the foreword, you know?”

He listened and let you talk.

“What makes a couple fit for marriage? And then, what is marriage? I need it to be more than just a bunch of paperwork and legal duties. But maybe it’s just that.”

Taehyung rubbed his naked foot against yours. His feet were freezing. Plus it felt funny to test the smoothness of your calf with the sole. He wished the two of you could cuddle under the sheets, talk until the larks would start singing and thin rays of premature sunshine would start lighting up the dawn and stream into the room, colouring your face with a greyish halo before it turned pink, and then orange and then deep red for the briefest minute until bright yellow settled in.

He wanted to study the colours of you bathed in any type of light, any shade and palette that would come with the passing hours.

“I think I want more than paperwork and formalities too. It's a promise after all. You're officially telling your beloved that you will be by their side forever.”

“As someone who betrayed that promise, I don't think I can see it from that point of view anymore.” You exhaled before he placed an arm around you, almost sitting on your lap as he offered you his untreated hand.

He frowned. “It’s not like you betrayed it. You honoured it. It might say ‘till death do us part’ and all of that, but the biggest promise is to be at each other’s side, to find happiness and support and comfort in each other. You realised you couldn’t hold on to each other anymore and you let go.” He kissed your cheek. “Your right to happiness is way greater than a promise neither of you wanted to keep anymore.”

You found refuge in his hair, sniffing it gently before letting your eyelids lower. “I’m afraid I’ll break future promises, too. Sometimes I ask myself how I could keep one.” You felt incredibly calm as he started delivering gentle pecks from your temple to your ear to your jaw, the sound of his lips disclosing in quiet pops slipping into silence as he lost the excuse of kisses and started simply skimming your skin with the smooth petals of his mouth.

“You will not be alone keeping it.” He drew a line with his nose, from your cupid’s bow to the middle of your forehead, where he placed one final kiss. “It’s a shared responsibility. You won’t need to go all the way. The right one will meet you halfway, and they will be willing to go a bit farther on the days you can’t reach, just like you’ll be willing to take a few more steps on the days they’re not feeling good. It’s a compromise, and the border moves and melts.” He hummed as you kneaded the base of his thumb between your own thumb and index. “At least that’s the way I like to imagine it.”

You would meet him halfway. And you would reach for him, on days like this, when you need him and he needs you. And you would walk a bit more when he’s tired and worried and afraid, just like you knew he would come for you.

“I think it really works for friends too,” Taehyung mused. He looked at you. He wanted to meet you halfway, and renovate that promise day after day after day. One day at the time, as long as you loved him. And then he would let you go, not without trying to fix the distance between the two of you. “Sometimes the difference between lovers and friends confuses me.”

You looked at him and blinked. “Well, I would never do anything sexual with a friend. I would with a lover, though.”

He nodded and hummed as he reflected. “So I should call you my lover?”

You felt your cheeks heat up. “Sure, if you’d like to.”

“I’d love to.”

You smiled, a tiny chuckle parting from your lips.

“Once you said you don’t feel attracted to just anyone. What is it that makes you feel attracted to me?” Taehyung asked, genuinely curious.

You gave a small laugh. “You know all about me meeting my husband when I was a kid, growing up together, being with him, only him until we divorced and then some.”

He nodded.

“I think that made me used to being extremely close to my partner before being capable of perceiving any type of attraction. And even when I was with him, I didn’t ever think about anyone else. All people were just—” you thought about the right word. “They were only human beings to me. I couldn’t see them as somebody I could be attracted to, especially since I never got to know anyone as much as I know Terry and him. I think you’re the first one I want to explore.” You let go of his hand.

“Thank you,” he murmured before letting his back fall against the pillows, laying down and dragging you with him so you were resting on your side, your legs tangled up with his before you found your spot flushed against his side, his chest pillowing your head and your leg thrown over his hip. He wanted to comb your hair but he didn’t want to mess it up with the balm, so he decided he could simply draw circles against your arm. “What do you mean with ‘exploring’?”

You yawned as you felt relaxation wash over you. “I mean I want to take my time to get to know you. I’ve read somewhere that people who only feel attraction for those they have an emotional bond with are called demisexual. And somehow I feel I could identify myself with that, but I think I still have too many open questions to feel like I fully belong to that category.”

Taehyung felt blessed he could listen to your thoughts out loud. They felt so precious to him, like they could give him a way to understand you better. And the more he understood you, the deeper he fell for you. “You’re still so young, you have all the time in the world. Maybe you could talk to a therapist, or find some support through online forums. You know you have my full support.”

You softened and furtherly cosied up in his arms. “Thank you so much, Tae.”

“It’s the least I can do.” You felt his voice sweeten with joy and gratitude. “We take care of each other.”

He had become your solace, your reprieve, your second chance at happiness. Hopefully, your definitive one too.

You calmed down, trying not to rush things through, reminding yourself this had been the strongest, most unreasonable form of enamourment you could have ever thought of; nevertheless, you couldn’t deny the sudden lightness and warmth and fondness that invaded you whenever he peeked into your thoughts or appeared in your sight.

“However, yes, I feel attracted to you because I’m emotionally attached to you. I don’t know what this will become, or if it will evolve into deeper feelings, but it feels good to be your friend. And to be your lover too,” you continued delicately, trying to play it cool. “I just don’t know how long this sense of attraction will last — you know, because of this being an actual first time and me being afraid of making promises and not keeping them. For now I only know I want to know you deeper. And I want to be your lover.”

Fear crawled into his veins but he let the present reassurance comfort him. “It’s okay. It’s not like I’m experienced. We’ll just let ourselves feel whatever comes our way. The only promise I need you to give me is that you’ll allow yourself to feel everything life will give you, without being afraid.”

You stretched to press a kiss to his lips. “Okay. Can I count on you to meet me halfway?”

He nodded. “As a friend, as a lover, as anything you allow me to be.”

You kissed him again, your body relaxing even more. You couldn’t hold back another yawn.

“Let’s get you to bed. I don’t want you to fall asleep on the couch.” He traced your profile with the tip of his pinky. “Come on.”

As you laid in bed, your legs tangled together, you caressed his hair, watching his eyelashes fan against his cheekbones.

“I hate that my hands hurt. I wish I could touch you more.” He turned to fit his back against your front, your hand meeting his chest and feeling his calm heartbeat.

“Did you really shape that sculpture after me?”

You noticed him nodding. “I could still feel you under my fingers. It was torture to lay in this bed without you.”

You kissed his nape. “Good thing I’m here now.”

“You make it so much better, darling.” His voice was reaching that depth that fit night-time pillow talk so perfectly.

You thought about how your life had changed since he came into it. “You make it better too, Tae.”

Taglist is open

Navi: Chapter 1 — Chapter 2 — Chapter 3 — Chapter 4 — Chapter 5 — Chapter 6 — Chapter 7

[af1899]

FEH - "The outside world...! So vast!" (+10 WIP Sophia mini-showcase and appreciation)

So, with the [Feh Pass] subscription, I've been auto battling as much as I could while doing whatever else and gather [Hero Feathers] to get all the [HM] I had yet to get, and it was absolutely worth it, although I've already spent like 300 out of my 900+ something [Stamina Bottles] in the [Forging Bonds] lmao, I have around 660 now.

But with the obtained [Hero Feathers] I merged up Tailtiu to +6 and...

Poggers

I'm happy to have finished merging Sophia at long last which makes of her my eleventh fully merged project soon after New Year Eir, her build is pretty much done but I'd be delighted to give her more premium stuff she can use in the future and make more builds, as well as giving her the remaining [Dragonflowers (I)] but I'm so close to fully boost Sonya and then I have to boost OG and Legendary Julia because of the post-[CYL 2021] update. 🥴

But her current build does wonders already, true, she's not impervious to nearly everything as it is, but I can give her some team support and the like, she's still great on her own.

Now, onto appreciation talk which includes describing her a little and explaining why I like her. I did this in one of my previous posts but it's time to review the info we have about her and expand on it. As always, feel free to read on (long read ahead)...

About Sophia

She's a half-dragon, half-human girl with the power of foresight, she's a priestess residing in Arcadia, a village that houses manaketes that survived one of the most vicious wars from past lore (The Scouring) located in the southwestern desertic region (Nabata) in Elibe, the continent on which the sixth and seventh Fire Emblem games take place in, she's a playable [Shaman] in the former and makes a minor appearance as a NPC near the end of the latter. Her class makes of her one of the two playable dark magic users in Fire Emblem: Sword of Seals (the other is the guy you're most likely to get while pulling on red stones in FEH, a.k.a. Raigh), and she gains access to basic staves after promoting to [Druid].

In her support convo with Niime, it's revealed that Sophia's father was human, meaning that her mother was a dragon, but neither's identity is ever known to the player. But despite this, she never transforms into a dragon, most likely because she never had her own stone to contain those powers. Being half-dragon also allows her to live much longer, but not as purebred manaketes/dragons.

She's fully self-aware of her heritage and doesn't let that bother her, she accepts both halves of herself which make of her a whole person.

She's somewhat important around the half of the game's duration as she helps a gravely injured Cecilia to at least tend to her wounds while waiting for Roy's army to rescue them as they were both thrown into a prison under Bern's control (the kingdom invading the other countries during the events of the game).

Sophia displays a shy and gentle personality, showing clear astonishmnet yet in a calm way when witnessing what the outside world is like and what it has to offer (beyond the village she's been living for around a century), this is most evidenced in her support dialogues with Igrene. She even feels similarly when wearing a new set of clothes, such as those of Embla in the World of Zenith, anytime after she joins the Order of Heroes.

«As long as I am with you... I can go anywhere...even a new country...»

― Sophia

She also mentions she was raised to avoid outsiders, and in the same aforementioned support convo, it's mentioned why.

«I understand what he's saying... The Dragons' powers could easily destroy entire countries. If the outsiders found out, they would surely fight over it. I've seen many conflicts like that in my life...»

― Igrene

And it's understandable why she feels that way after being raised by the elder of the village to do as told for decades. But in the end, she wants to work towards a world of peace where both dragons and humans live together without a war ever spreading out, and befriend other people, she's appreciative of other's kindness.

So... why do I like her?

Because she's purple-haired and most of her design has purple and I love purple soooooo much, that's all you need to know. :)

...Kidding kidding, that's not actually it, but it's in part true that I find her aesthetic pleasing, partially due to my passion for this color:

(Official artwork from FE6)

Her design is rather simple but so charming, clearly evidencing her shyness (see the way she holds her book and her facial expression), and feeling clean without going overboard on details.

Also, I find long, purple hair a rather rare yet dazzling sight, I always look at it in her artwork and remins me why I love her design.

True, her neck in Zaza's take on Sophia in Fire Emblem Heroes bothered me a little, mostly because her neck is a little long as seen above, but not as slim as long as Zaza has drawn her (it's still a decent artwork and the artist has made some really nice pieces later, look at Emmeryn), the style also felt a little off to me. But her Resplendent upgrade made Sophia look more cute and still being the one we know, doning a brand new attire.

(❶ Original by Zaza. | ❷ Resplendent by Miwabe Sakura)

But for me, it's pointless to be pretty if there's not a likeable personality behind the character in question, and Sophia has been proven to be really interesting, often a mysterious but shy girl, she's capable of kindness and finding comfort with outsiders like Kiran or Roy, when I see her, I always feel that she's so nice, never feeling bitterness towards any of her allies, just being shy due to how she's grown, but with a desire for friendship and peace pushing her forward, even slowly but surely, she's so lovely. 🥰

What's more, some of her quotes show she has a protective side, determined to stand up to help her allies but specially those she's close with, this eventually includes Kiran themselves.

Her voice in Fire Emblem Heroes is also really soothing, Wendee Lee has made such a delightful work giving new life to Sophia through her voice acting, there sure are differences between her work back in 2017 (Sophia is a launch unit, meaning she's been around ever since the game was live) and the work on the Resplendent in 2020, yet both are pretty consistent and equally pleasant to hear. But if I have to vouch for one or another, I give a point to the Resplendent voice acting, her voice can be heard with a little more depth and calmness to it than the original, which feels more natural.

And she's a dark magic practitioner but that doesn't make her evil at all, she's really pure actually. But I actually find dark magic most appealing out of any kind of weapon I have ever seen, the whole concept is cool, being always creepy and nefarious in nature, often portrayed in hues of black and dark purple.

And like, c'mon, this thing is amazing:

I wish that [Apocalypse] was her PRF weapon in Fire Emblem Heroes but neither Raigh nor Bramimond who's its OG owner got it and just got random PRFs instead.

Anyway, in short, I adore Sophia and it always makes me happy to turn a seemingly weak unit into a tough to crack cookie, love for favorites sure can take them far.

"And... as a unit?"

I've been trying her mainly against the foes she has advantage with, but I've been also trying her against red/blue units and sometimes she does a nice job holding them at bay, she has low speed even after all this investment but with buffing it's somewhat usable.

Yet I prefer to focus on her strengths, not weaknesses, and she stands as a fairly good magic tank, with the few extras she enjoys as a launch unit and full demote plus Resplendent skin since around the first weeks of the [Feh Pass].

I actually tried her here some time after posting this because I didn't notice the [Limited Hero Battle] for today requires you use FE6 units, so I went with my faves in the game and it was rather easy. 🙂 But it still took a little thinking.

"Who's the next +10 you have in mind?"

Hmm... actually gonna (at least try to) work on Lilina, another one of my Elibian favorites. I also have her Resplendent upgrade and could revamp her kit. 🤔

But she's currently +3 so her turn might take longer or someone's else may come before, Idk.

And then, hopefully someone I like out of the next potential Resplendent Heroes...!

[recentanimenews]

Mitrasphere Beginner's Guide - Quick and Easy Pointers to Get Started

  Written by Mist and Aramitz

  Introduction

  Are you looking for a guide to help you navigate Mitrasphere’s vast and diverse content? There are numerous things to do in Mitrasphere, and you may be wondering what you should be focusing on first.

  This guide aims to provide new players with quick and easy pointers to help optimize your start and allow you to power up swiftly.

  This guide will also give you some tips surrounding combat mechanics to help you feel more comfortable about participating in more advanced content, but we’ll try our best not to overload you with information right off the bat!

  We hope you will find this resource useful and wish you a pleasant read!

    Table of Contents:

Part 1

Starting Your Journey (0 - 1,000 CP)

Advancing the Story (1,000 - 15,000 CP)

Part 2 (COMING SOON)

    Starting Your Journey (0 - 1,000 CP)

  3. Selecting Your Job

    In Mitrasphere, there are a total of five different Jobs to choose from and swap between. There is no best class, and each class plays a distinct role in a party! 

  Swordsman - The king of burst damage and giant swords. The Swordsman is primarily known for its dangerously ruthless single-target damage, sometimes forsaking its defensive capabilities to dish out extreme damage. The Swordsman can also use Magic Twin Blades, allowing them to dish out magic damage with powerful combos.

  Mage - The Mage excels at powerful area-of-effect damage. Where the Swordsman stands king against a single target, the Mage stands alone at dishing high damage to all targets. The Mage also benefits from being able to quickly build up their Dragonkin Gauge, enabling them to burst targets down in swift succession.

  Archer - The Archer is key to bringing the maximum potential of your party out. As a support class that boasts massive buffs and debuffs, as well as bringing some damage to the party, your team will love you for making battles much easier on both the offensive and defensive fronts.

  Cleric - The core party support. A Cleric is needed to upkeep your party's health and cleanse debuffs. This is a mandatory class for difficult content and can also provide buffs, debuffs, and revives.

  Guardian - The defensive wall of the party. A frontline class that is essential for difficult content. The Guardian takes the heat for the party and even helps mitigate the damage everyone else receives. 

  4. The Equipment Grid System

    Mitrasphere supports an equipment grid system as opposed to your standard character ability system in RPGs. To develop your character, you must obtain weapons, armor, and accessories. 

  At the start of your journey, you will be able to equip 10 weapons, 2 armor pieces and 3 accessories in your main equipment grid. 

  Additionally, you may also add 10 weapons, 10 armor pieces, and 10 accessories to your support grid purely for stats and elemental bonuses. As you progress through your journey and obtain more power, you may also add up to 5 more support weapons to your Advanced Support grid for additional stats.

  Please note that your support grid is mainly for stats and elemental bonuses and you will not be able to use your support weapons during combat. 

    Advancing the Story (1,000 - 15,000 CP)

  1. Unlocking Further Content Through Story Completion

  As you continue to uncover the story of Mitrasphere, you will come across points where things may get tough and find yourself in need of stronger gear. It is recommended to complete the various events to help power yourself up, which we will cover more in depth in a later section. But to begin with, we suggest farming Crimson Seeds in Guerrilla to level up your weapons.

    As your Combat Power increases, you will want to specialize in a main Job and obtain gear specific to that Job. Below are the recommended chapters to farm class-specific armor and accessories early on. (Note: These chapters can be cleared on Normal or Hard.)

    Job

Recommended Passives

Chapters

Swordsman      

Physical Damage Dealt UP   

1-6 or 10-6

Mage

Magic Damage Dealt UP

3-6 or 11-2

Archer

Evasion UP

4-6, 7-6, or 9-6

Cleric

Ally HP Recovery UP

11-10 or 13-7

Guardian

Defense UP

5-6 or 12-6

    It is highly recommended to focus on these chapters especially when your daily 100% co-op bonus is active for that chapter to acquire additional Jade Seeds. Eventually, you will want to obtain multiple copies of your gear for limit breaking.

  Please note that if you are looking to farm a specific set of 3-star gear, Hard Mode stages drop the same items as their Normal Mode equivalent but benefit from a higher drop rate. Generally speaking, that makes them a good source for Jade Seeds as well, with more players farming them to get their own equipment

    2. Understanding Core Progression Avenues

a. How Combat Power Unlocks Content

  Combat Power is a key value meant to reflect your progress as well as determine what level of content you can participate in. As you increase your Combat Power, you’ll unlock more content and avenues to further increase your strength. Various event stages open up at different power levels, and you’ll be able to tackle Expert Mode once completing the Hard Mode of a chapter. But keep in mind, power is not everything as some of the toughest stages in the game will restrict your stats down to a stated Combat Power, making it difficult to simply brute force your way through some content! Prepare for difficult challenges regardless of your power.

  b. Powering Up Efficiently

    Starting from approximately 5,000 CP, you may find that keeping your Combat Power up to match what’s required of the Main Story becomes increasingly difficult if you only rely on rewards from clearing chapters.

  The daily occurring Guerrilla event will be your go to at this point and will definitely give you a much needed boost. Guerrilla can be accessed from the Events menu, and is available for one hour at a time, four times a day. It includes four levels of difficulty, and each one gives the added bonus of Sea Crystals for your first clears.

  Its main point of interest, however, are the 2,250 Crimson Seeds per clear of the Advanced stage, which you can enter starting from 5,000 Combat Power. You do not need to worry about being able to clear it by yourself as you’ll find yourself teamed up with others during each run with co-op enabled, and each attempt will zoom by quickly.

  The fourth difficulty, labelled “Extreme”, gives 30,000 Crimson Seeds per run, but requires 30,000 CP to enter and typically requires a full team to complete, including a Cleric and Guardian due to its difficulty. If you are able to clear it within a reasonable amount of time, it will definitely be worth it once you’ve reached its power requirements.

  With the Crimson Seed Guerrilla, you will be able to level both your main and support weapons relatively quickly and get a good amount of Combat Power out of it. By spending around 75,000 Crimson Seeds in early-game weapons, you can level them from level 20 to level 30 or so, and find yourself going from around 5,000 CP to 8,000 CP without a huge time investment.

  Farming Crimson Seeds continues to prove to be a worthwhile opportunity even once your weapons are maxed, as you are able to spend Crimson Seeds on the Crimson Seed Gacha to acquire new weapons for use or for disassembling to obtain Crimson Gems.

  However, please note that Crimson Seed Guerrilla will not drop equipment, and like other event battles, you will not be able to earn Jade Seeds as a co-op bonus.

    The Crimson Seed Guerrilla equivalent for Azure Seeds is a permanent set of events named “Amulet.” You can find them in the Events -> Weekly menu, and each day you will be able to access a different Amulet that drops gear of a specific element.

  Each daily event includes three difficulty levels, the highest being “Advanced,” which you can enter as soon as you reach 5,000 CP. Like the Crimson Seed Guerrilla, you will be automatically matched with other players, and clearing the stage will be easy even with minimal stats. Each clear will grant you 1,125 Azure Seeds.

  Similar to the Crimson Seed Gacha, you will be able to spend Azure Seeds to pull on the Azure Seed Armor Gach, but for an unlimited number of times. Considering you can get 4-star armor from the gacha, or if you’re particularly lucky +Equipment which come with a 20% boost to base stats, farming Amulets will remain rewarding for a long time to come.

  Lastly, the notably higher-than-average 3-star drop rate means Amulets are a fairly good way to Azure and Jade Gems via dismantling. The gear that drops from Amulets is not recommended to be used as equipment as they are not optimized for any particular Job.

  c. Co-op in Your Daily Bonus Zone for Jade seeds

    When it comes to leveling up accessories, acquiring Jade Seeds can be a bit trickier. Unlike with Crimson and Azure Seeds, there are no events dedicated to farming Jade Seeds, and you’ll instead look towards obtaining them via the Zone Co-Op Bonus.

  Clearing a Main Story stage—whether Normal, Hard, or Expert—with others in your party will earn you Jade Seeds. The more players in your party and the higher the rank difference between you, the higher the bonus will become.

  Each day, you will have one Zone that will grant you a 100% boost to the Jade Seeds you earn via co-op. The designated Zone rotates on a daily basis and is not the same for every player. 

  The optimal Jade Seed farming strategy would be to clear stages in your designated Zone with four others, either by forming a private party or by matching with others automatically. It is typically recommended to farm the 6th stage of each chapter (for example, 2-6), as you’ll often find others farming for their Job-specific gear in those stages due to the increased appearance of monsters which amounts to higher chances to acquire drops.

  Considering Jade Seed farming is likely to be slower than acquiring the other seeds, you are advised to focus on upgrading your main gear before considering support gear for maximum efficiency.

  Like Azure Seeds, if you find yourself with an abundance of Jade Seeds, you might consider pulling the Jade Seed Gacha to try your hand at some 4-star accessories. However, please note that 4-star accessories can be farmed fairly easily later in the game once you are able to tackle Expert content, so you are not advised to make this gacha your priority early on. 

  d. General Tips on What Not to Spend Your Resources On

  Keep skill levels for last as gems are hard to obtain and should only be used on gear you will keep for an extended period. Please note that skill levels only affect gear equipped in main slots. Support items do not benefit from an increased skill level.  

Don’t upgrade your accessories too much until you are able to obtain powerful 4-star accessories from the Nekia Trader, the shiny Search spots on the map, or from bosses (Expert / Grand Battle / Extra Battle).  

Any armor or accessory below 3-star should not be upgraded as you may easily obtain these from farming.  

Weapons below 3-star should not be upgraded extensively as you will eventually be able to get 3-star and above weapons for your Job.

  e. Searching Shiny Map Spots

    Have you noticed those shiny spots across the map? Those are called search spots! Clicking them will reward you with a random assortment of goodies, from elemental Pearls that you may redeem at the Nekia Trader to powerful 4-star rainbow accessories. Here is a list of the best places to search for 4-star rainbow accessories based on your class:

  Job

Recommended Accessory

Zones

Swordsman     

Master Scroll

Trading Post (Day) Sanctuary Interior (Day)

Mage

Star Record

Jobari Forest (Day) Jobari Forest (Night) Mt. Stardust Summit (Night)

Archer

Evil-Warding Amulet

Jobari Village (Day) Goddess’s Forest (Night Edol Town (Day)

Cleric

Scapular

Fairy Forest (Day) Fairy Forest Depths (Night) Edol Plains (Day)

Guardian

Guardian’s Cup

Goddess’s Forest (Day) Mt. Stardust Mountain Trail (Night)

  f. Limited-Time Events

  In addition to the permanent avenues of farming, there are always a plethora of events occurring in Mitrasphere. Keep an eye out for them because these events are a great opportunity to reap additional rewards.

  At the moment, we can split limited-time events into a few categories:

    First, Mitrasphere hosts a series of side events where you can enjoy some fun story bits and face stages with relatively low CP requirements. These events will include great rewards for your first clears, including Sea Crystals, and will be your chance to gain exclusive equipment to spruce up your wardrobe. 

  The equipment that drops from these events aren’t typically recommended to be used as your main or support gear as they are more for cosmetics. They are also a decent source of Azure and Jade Gems, allowing you to level up the skills of your main equipment.

    Second are the more challenging events: Grand Battles. Grand Battles revolve around a specific boss. These battles are interesting even for relatively new players, as they will generally include mechanics that can be found in later Expert content, while still being reasonably easy to clear, at least for the first couple difficulties. 

  Like other events, rewards for your first clears are generous, but it can also be very rewarding to farm them for their 4-star armor and accessories. As they offer interesting rewards in a limited time frame, you will be able to find other players to group with quite easily.

    Lastly, Extra Battles are similar to Grand Battles in terms of challenge, except you will fight a boss you can already encounter in the Main Story Expert stages. While they are only available at specific times of the day, similar to the Crimson Seed Guerrilla, they are a great way to benefit from a high drop rate of Job-specific 4-star accessories, and a high concentration of players waiting for a group.

  That’s it for Part 1 of this guide. Stay tuned for Part 2 which will dive into the later stages of the game and mechanics!

  In the meantime, if you have questions about the gameplay or are looking for players to group up with to tackle content, hop on over to the unofficial community Discord!

By: Guest Author

[deathvalleyqueen]

Full clear on OC asks for Sam! 💋

Thank you my dear... now lets gush about John’s first born and only son shall we???

BASICS

What’s their full name? - Samuel Joseph Seed 

What does their name mean? Why were they named that? -  Well he was going to be named Joseph, after his Uncle...The Father... but his mother was having none of that and switched out the birth certificate forms for the one she had filled out because there was no way in hell Mary Jane was about to let her precious baby boy be named after Joseph... though she allowed his middle name to be Joseph as a way to keep the peace. 

Do they have any nicknames? - SOOOO MANY! Sam - is the most common one and what most people call him. Sammie - What MJ still calls him even as an adult. Bubby - Ellie’s nickname for him as a child, Thing 1 - Sean’s nickname for him as kids. Cousin It - Finn’s nickname for him. Jesus - another Finn nickname. (because he looks like the only image of Jesus they had ever seen) Weasel - Mac gives him this as small child and sticks. 

How old are they? - At the time of New Dawn 24 almost 25 years old.

When’s their birthday? -  October 19th

What’s their zodiac sign/element/birthstone/etc.? Do they believe that holds any significance?

What’s their species/subspecies? Do they have any special/magical abilities? - He’s a Seed... does that count? He has John’s “far too blue” eyes...so like... That could be considered super powers.... 

What “class” do they belong to (for fantasy characters)? If none, what weapon do they favor? - If there was such thing as a Healer Mage class in the FC universe.. .that would probably be Sam’s class because he is exceptionally smart with a real focus in medicine and science/chemistry. If the Collapse wouldn’t have happened he would probably have gone to Med School to become a surgeon. 

APPEARANCE

What do they look like? - Same is the tallest of MJ and John’s kids standing just a hair taller than his father at 5′11. He has long dark brown hair and an impressive beard, both of which he has sported since he was 16 making him often be mistaken for much older than he is. He slight of build and looks to be in far better shape physically than he is actually is. 

Do they have a face claim? - Tom Payne - Specifically as Paul “Jesus” Rovia from TWD

What’s their style like? Clothes, hair, makeup? -  He is a pretty standard guy. He isn’t fancy, mostly because this world doesn’t allow for it. He likes t-shirts, sweaters and jeans. He will wear an old button up shirt if he can find it and has several trench coats he has acquired over the years. His hair is usually down and one the rare occasion that he puts it up, Lily always glares at him and tells him to put his hair down before their mother sees... because with his hair up.. he looks a lot like a young Joseph. 

How do they carry themselves? What’s their default expression? - Sam is a very self assured young man, bordering on the cockiness of John in his youth. He has been painfully aware that he was always one of the more intelligent people in the room from a young age and developed a bit of a superiority complex because of it. He tends to stand with his shoulders back and hands at his side or in his pockets. He is an observer, rarely the person leading the conversation but always watching and passing his judgment.

Do they have any physical ailments or disabilities? - Sam is the only one of MJ and John’s kids to have been born with health issues. He had a medium sized hole in his heart when he was born that eventually required surgery. Though since that surgery had very little issue besides a heart mummer. This however left MJ way over protective of him well into adulthood. 

PERSONALITY

What’s their alignment? Lawful Neutral 

Which one of the 16 Personality Types do they fit into? - INTP

What are their hobbies and interests? Do they have any particular “favorites” (food, books, and so on)? - Sam loves music, he plays piano and guitar. He is much more of a classical music person and as a child spent hours practicing. His favorite books are Animal Farm and Frankenstein. His favorite food as a child was pizza and pasta, as an adult he is happy with whatever he can get but still loves carbs. His favorite item from his childhood he was able to keep was a model plane that John and him made when he was 6. It’s of John’s plane. 

What are they bad at? - Dealing with intense emotions, both their own and other people’s. He never knows how to react and often seems to ‘over react’ with his own emotions. He also can not shoot to save his life. 

What kind of things do they dislike/hate? - Unnecessary cruelty. Onions, Fish and split pea soup.

Do they have any vices/addictions/mental illnesses? - Well... lets just start with he has a lot of childhood trauma... which defiantly manifests it’s self in some pretty well hidden anxiety and depression. He also comes from a long line of people who suffer with various addictions and I could see Sam having again...a very well hidden...drinking problem. Particularly post-ND events. 

What are their goals and motivations? - Their end goal is not peace, as much as an agreement that would allow everyone to function as they need to with in a certain set of rules... IE... he wants to re-establish a ruling body of government on a very small scale in Hope County that would allow for the communities to work together when needed but function independently as they wish as long as they cause no harm to the other communities. This is motivated by his study of history and his belief that because he has studied so much, he has found fault in the old systems and what he will build will be better. 

What are their manners like? Any habits? - He has an odd stillness about him, even as small child. He was the quite one, the better behaved of the twins (easily the most well behaved of all MJ and John’s children). He tends to crack his knuckles when he is nervous or clear his throat when he feels the conversation is getting off topic. 

What are they most afraid of? - Not being able to do enough. He sees what happened because of his father, his family.. his mother’s family. Sam feels (like all the kids do in some way) responsible for fixing the mess that the Seeds created in Hope County. 

BACKGROUND

Where were they born? What was their childhood like? - He was born with his sister Lilith at the birthing center in Hope County (but both he and Lily were sent to a much bigger hospital shortly after they were born because the small hospital couldn’t handle them being 8 weeks early). Their childhood before the collapse was filled with pockets of really happy times mixed with stretches of chaos. Both he and Lily vividly remember The Project at Eden’s Gate and the events of the Reaping. Both he and Lily were present for the attempted arrest of Joseph. After the collapse it was still difficult in the bunker as both his parents struggled with believed loss of Jacob, Ellie and worst of all Grace. Once they left the bunker things settled into a new normal. He is very close with Lily and Rose, as well as his Uncle Mac. He is close with both of his parents but is resentful on some level of their preoccupation with losing Grace.  

What’s their family like? - A hot mess... but the core they are very tight knit. Sam is more ready to trust a member of his immediate family than anyone else. 

What factions or organizations are they a part of? What ranks and titles do they hold? - He and Lily were called “The First of the Children of New Eden” within the Project as small children and as an adult he holds the role of the “doctor” in the community John calls “Redemption” but really Sam is main intelligence gatherer as people are very disarmed by him because of his ability to help the sick. 

How do they fit into their “story”? - Sam is Ethan’s foil for lack of a better way of putting. Ethan is grasping for power, while Sam wants nothing do with holding an position at all within New Eden. He has no desire to fulfill any of the role that The Father saw him. He is easily the one most suited to lead, but has no desire what so ever to lead anyone or be any manner of spiritual leader to people. 

Where do they currently live? What’s their place like?

How do they eventually die? - He dies of a sudden heart attack while speaking to a group of people gathered in New Eden (preaching basically) at the age of 36. He dies before both his parents and all three of his sisters. 

RELATIONSHIPS

Do they have any friends? Would they consider anyone to be their best friend? - His best friend is easily Lily, because they are twins. Their relationship is just on a different level than other peoples. They understand each other often with just glances and small changes in expression. He also becomes close with Finn, both sharing a bit of a sarcastic and witty sense of humor. 

What’s their friend group like? What role do they play in it?

What’s their love life like? (See also: ship question meme.) Do they have any kids? - Well.. not really. He spends most of his time with his sisters during the story and I never really thought of him in romantic terms...at all. I could see him having kids one day, either “adopting” or by natural means... either or. 

Who do they look up to? Who do they trust? - Really the person Sam looks up to the most is Mac. He respects Mac’s ability to pragmatic about difficult choices and always put the others before his own benefit. Mac had a big hand in raising Sam, so this really comes as no surprise. As far as people he trusts, he trusts his family... his sisters (including Grace), his uncles, Rachel/Faith, Ellie,... pretty much everyone but Joseph and Ethan that share DNA with him. 

Who do they hate? Do they have any enemies? - Joseph, mostly because he puts the full blame on what happened with the collapse and the events the happened in his life right before squarely on Joseph’s shoulders. This by proxy extends to Ethan...

Do they have any pets? - As a child he had several, Boomer and Salem even made it to the bunker with them (thank you Sean and Faith) but since then he never really kept bets.

Are they good with kids? Animals? - Yes to both.

FUN FACTS

Which tropes do they fit? Which archetypes? - The Dutiful Son , Looks Like Jesus/Hippie Jesus  (that one goes without saying right?), The Spymaster & Big Brother Instinct 

Do they play any instruments? Sports? - He plays Piano and he was never much for sports. 

What are some items they always carry?- A knife, a small black notebook and a pen.

Do they collect anything? - Books.

What position do they sleep in? - On his stomach mostly with the pillow over his head rather than under his head.

Which emoji would they use the most? - The eyes emoji

What languages do they speak? - English

What’s their favorite expletive? - Fuck

What’s their favorite candle scent? - Probably like Pine...

What songs remind you of them? - Loosing My Religion - R.E.M

Which animal would you say represents them? - The Raven

What stereotypical high school clique would they fit into? - The Weird kids that don’t fit in with any other group who is kinda metal head looking but gets straight A’s. 

What would their favorite ride at an amusement park be? - Bumper Cars (he actually gets to go once as a child)

Do they believe in aliens? Ghosts? Reincarnation or something else? - For someone who grew up in such a superstitious home, if Sam doesn’t have evidence for it... he doesn’t believe. 

Do they follow any religions/gods? Do they celebrate holidays? - Again, for someone who grew up in such an intensely religious home, he lost all connection to PEG or even conventional Christian beliefs by the time he is an adult he declares he is in Atheist. He does preach about keeping a very personal set of morals that you should adhere to but, not the belief there is an all knowing deity. 

Which Deadly Sin do they most correspond to? Which Heavenly Virtue? - Pride 

If you had to choose one tarot card to represent them, which would it be? - The Hierphant 

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #40: Hassan of the Cursed Arm

Today on Fate and Phantasms, we’re building one of the old men of the mountain and king of “he’s a really nice guy despite every aspect of his appearance”, Hassan of the Cursed Arm. Surprisingly, Hassan is not a rogue, but a monk/warlock mix thanks to the titular arm. 

Originally, this build gave you a weapon with reach to act as your cursed arm, but that puts a lot of strain on a character that already needs multiple stats to work properly. I still think slapping someone from across the room is funny though, so I’m including both the original and variant build in the spreadsheet. I’ll also bring up the differences in the level-by-level breakdown below the cut when they come up.

(EDIT: This one required a bit of fixing up, but I’m too lazy to completely rewrite everything. This has less to do with Tasha’s and more to do with me suddenly remembering whips exist and don’t have the Special tag. Just focus on dexterity, and you’re good.)

Race and Background

Despite his looks, Hassan is a Human, giving him +1 to all abilities. He’s also an Acolyte, a much nicer and less accurate title than his real one “Cult Leader”. This gives him proficiency with Insight and Religion. He also gets the Shelter of the Faithful feature, meaning he can perform religious rites and receive free healing and care at temples related to his god. This makes sense, considering you’re the second highest rank in the cult, and the first highest only shows up to kill you.

Stats

Your Dexterity is your best stat, you’re nimble and really good with throwing daggers. Everyone you’ve met generally agrees you’re a pretty nice guy, probably because of your high Charisma. You’re a major religious figure, so your Wisdom is pretty high. You also lead a bunch of assassins, and if you couldn’t tell when they show up to meet with you that would be pretty embarrassing. We’re not dumping Constitution, because we’re not masochists, which means our last stat is Intelligence. You learned enough to summon and forcibly amputate a demon, and that’s all the schooling you needed. Finally, dump Strength. You’re pretty wiry, but we just don’t need it for this build.

Class Levels

1. Monk 1: As a monk, you get proficiency in Acrobatics, Stealth, and Strength and Dexterity Saves. For a religious figure, you lead a pretty active lifestyle.

First level monks get Unarmored Defense, meaning your AC is equal to 10 plus your dex mod plus your wis mod. You also learn Martial Arts, letting you use your martial arts die in place of your normal damage for unarmed attacks and attacks with monk weapons, as well as use dexterity for those attacks. You can also use your bonus action to make an unarmed attack if you use your action to attack with a monk weapon.

Also important to note, your monk weapons can scale their damage with your Martial Arts, which will improve your throwing knives and cursed arm a bit.

2. Monk 2: At second level, you get a number of Ki points equal to your monk level. You regain spent ki points on short rests, and can use them to add options to your bonus action. Flurry of Blows lets you attack twice, Patient Defense lets you dodge, and Step of the Wind doubles your jump distance and lets you disengage or dash. You also get Unarmored Movement, adding 10′ to your movement when you aren’t wearing armor.

You can also make a Dedicated Weapon at the end of a short rest, turning any one weapon you choose into a monk weapon pretty much indefinitely. Spend a little quality time with your arm, get to know it.

3. Monk 3: At this level you can Deflect Missiles, reacting to reduce ranged attack damage. If the damage is reduce to 0, you can also spend 1 ki point to throw it back at an enemy. 

At this level, you also become a Way of the Shadow monk. At this level you can spend 2 ki points to cast Darkness, Darkvision, Pass without Trace, or Silence without material components. You also gain Minor Illusion as a cantrip. Smashing out the lights with some throwing daggers also works, but a lot of creatures have darkvision naturally, so you’ll need something to fall back on.

4. Warlock 1: We’ve got the Hassan, but no Cursed Arm. It’s time we fixed that. We’re not sure why the demon you tore an arm from rewarded you with supernatural powers, but we’re not complaining. At first level, fiend warlocks get the Dark One’s Blessing, meaning you gain temporary hit points equal to your charisma modifier plus your warlock level when a hostile creature is reduced to 0 HP. You also learn some Pact Magic, limited spell slots you regain on short rests. You use charisma to cast spells. At this level that includes Mage Hand because you couldn’t reach far enough as is, Eldritch Blast as a magical stand-in for all those throwing knives, Hex to curse your enemies, and Expeditious Retreat to bolster your already impressive movement skills.

5: Warlock 2: Second level warlocks learn Eldritch Invocations, little ways your patron shows you they care. You get Devil’s Sight and Agonizing Blast, which grants you darkvision even in magical darkness and extra damage for your “throwing knives”. You can also cast Sense Emotion; assassination requires manipulation as much as murder.

6. Warlock 3: At third level you get your pact boon, specifically your Pact Weapon, any melee weapon that you want, though since this is supposed to be your arm you should keep it consistent. Whips are good, use that. You can unwrap your arm as an action, and counts as magical for resistance and immunity’s sake. You can also turn other magical weapons into your pact weapon if you really want, but again, this is supposed to be your arm. I know you’re already playing fast and loose with limb ownership, but there needs to be limits.

You also learn how to make a Shadow Blade, a finesse weapon that gives you advantage in the shade.

7. Warlock 4: Use your first ASI to become a Martial Adept, giving you one d6 to use two maneuvers from the battle master list. You regain the die on short rests. Your maneuvers are Evasive Footwork, which adds 1d6 to your AC while you’re moving, and Lunging Attack, which adds 1d6 and 5′ of reach to a single attack. Congrats, you can now slap someone from fifteen feet away.

At this level you learn the spell Cloud of Daggers, letting you set up very painful traps. You also learn how to cast the cantrip Poison Spray. Poison isn’t your gimmick, but it’s important to be flexible. Being flexible also isn’t your gimmick, but... you know what I mean.

8. Warlock 5: Fifth level warlocks don’t get any more features, but they do get another invocation: Improved Pact Weapon. When attacking with your pact weapon, add 1 to the attack and damage rolls. You can also use the weapon as a spellcasting focus. Honestly this invocation is so useful you may want to swap out an invocation for it at third level.

You can also cast the spell Gaseous Form, turning a willing creature into a cloud of smoke for up to an hour. The spell’s great for infiltration and is the closest thing you’ll have to a spirit form. You aren’t truly incorporeal, though: you only resist nonmagical damage.

9. Warlock 6: You have the Dark One’s Own Luck, and can add 1d10 to an ability check or save you make once per short rest. You can also cast Spider Climb at this level so you can sneak into a building without having to become a cloud.

10. Warlock 7: You get another invocation, Ghostly Gaze. This allows you to concentrate like you would a spell and see through objects up to 30′ away. This is especially powerful given a number of spells require line of sight to be used.

Shadow of Moil is not one of those spells, though. With this spell, you don a cloak of shadows, heavily obscuring yourself and dimming the light around you. You also retaliate to being attacked with tendrils of darkness.

11. Warlock 8: Use your next ASI to round out your Wisdom and Charisma for better spell saves and AC. If you’re using the variant build, round out your Constitution and Charisma instead.

Regardless, you also learn how to Summon Greater Demon. They’re still a bit miffed about the whole “ripping off their arm” thing, so you’ll have to convince it to work for you, otherwise it will turn on your party. You’ll need someone’s blood to do it, but that’s still much better than ripping off your own arm.

12. Monk 4: There’s still a couple things we want from the monk class, so lets take a break from demon summoning for a bit. At this level, you can Slow Fall, reducing falling damage by five times your monk level. Given the amount of climbing and flying you’ve been doing, you’ll definitely want this.

You also get another ASI. Bump up your Dexterity to improve the damage you can do with your pact weapon.

13. Monk 5: Fifth level monks get an Extra Attack, letting you make two attacks in a single attack action. You also have the ability to perform a Stunning Strike, spending 1 ki point to ruin your DM’s attempts at balancing encounters. Your martial arts die also become a d6, slightly increasing your power when you’re caught without a weapon. Which is never, so it’s not that useful.

14. Monk 6: Sixth level monks get Ki-empowered Strikes, making your unarmed strikes magical, just like your arm already is. You can also move an extra 5′ per round, and learn how to Shadow Step, spending an action to teleport from one area of dim or darker light to another, so long as it’s within 60′ and you can see it. (This is one of those things that’s a lot better with Ghostly Gaze.) After teleporting, you have advantage on your next melee attack, meaning you can pop into your target’s inner sanctum, snap their neck, and then pop out with any guards none the wiser.

15. Warlock 9: Your next invocation, Otherworldly Leap, lets you cast Jump at will for free. This is another good mobility option, as well as being a vital component to Posing Dramatically In The Moonlight, a mandatory part of being an assassin.

You can also cast Infernal Calling, which is kind of like Summon Greater Demon, but you don’t have to worry about the demon betraying you if you have its talisman. I’m pretty sure its arm counts for this purpose, but that’s up to your DM.

16. Warlock 10: Tenth level fiendlocks get Fiendish Resilience, giving you resistance to damage of one type from weapons that aren’t silvered or magical. You can swap your resistance types at the end of short rests. I’d recommend bludgeoning for a proper Protection from Wind.

17. Warlock 11: At eleventh level, warlocks get their first Mystic Arcanum. Your spell slots stay at fifth level, but you get a sixth level spell you can cast once per long rest.

This level, pick up Psychic Crush from Unearthed Arcana. There isn’t a spell that lets us grab a person’s heart, so we’ll have to settle for grabbing their brain.

18. Warlock 12: At this level you get your last ASI and last invocation. Bump up your Strength (or Charisma if you’re doing the variant build) and pick up the Eldritch Spear invocation to have a lot more range on your throwing knives.

19. Warlock 13: For your seventh level Mystic Arcanum, grab Finger of Death. You should have five of these already, but this lets you deal a lot of guaranteed damage to a creature. Just try not to get the final blow with this-explaining the zombie it makes would be a headache.

20. Warlock 14: Your final level gives you the ability to Hurl (creatures) Through Hell. After hitting a creature with an attack, you can send them on a guided tour through the lower planes until the end of your next turn. When they come back, they take 10d10 psychic damage if they’re not a native of those planes. You can only use this feature once per long rest. This and Psychic Crush are about as close to your Delusional Heartbeat as we can get. Neither can cause instant death, but let’s be honest it’s not like your NP does it that often either.

Pros: You’re very good at infiltration missions. You’re very fast, and have a bevy of mobility options available to you, from flight to climbing walls to straight up teleportation. You’re also tough to hit, with multiple ways of obscuring yourself from ranged fighters. You’re also able to perform hit and run tactics without using your bonus action thanks to your arm’s range, saving your disengaging actions for something else.

Cons: You have a low constitution, meaning that the rest of your build being melee focused isn’t the best idea. This also means you have bad concentration saves, which is bad if you’ve got a buff spell on you to escape, and worse if your concentration is keeping a demon in check. Like all warlocks, you also have the issue of limited spell slots, so most of the time you’ll be relying on just your throwing knives and invocations, without much of a safety net if things go wrong. 

Your best abilities don’t have saves though, so if you stick to the shadows and avoid that guy whose arm you stole you should be fine.

Next up: MGS 3: Snake Eater

[gamingnc]

TOP GAMES ON PS5 IN 2021

TOP PS5 GAMES IN 2020

Dear reader, I took a crazy vow on myself and a task that may be a bit difficult is to search for all the upcoming games for the PS5 platform which are widely dispersed to collect them here in one article for easy access after that, this article includes exclusives, confirmed third-party games For the platform, the online games, the titles that will get a free upgrade for the platform on the PS4, the Indie games and finally the titles that will fall under the Sony rule for the 13th of July, which requires any developer to develop his game on both PS4 and PS5 if it will be released after the 13th date. Therefore, you may find some games in our comprehensive guide for today. They are not officially announced for the next generation but will be released sooner or later.

Note: This article will be updated continuously with all new and any upcoming PS5 titles officially until the next generation release date. So, put that article in your bookmarks and come back to it later. This is the biggest guide you can find for PS5 games. I hope you like it and let's start.

Exclusives:

During the PS5 event that took place on June 11, we got an idea of ​​the upcoming console exclusives and 23 new games.

1- Horizon Forbidden West

In the warmly awaited second part of Alloy's journey, our heroine goes to West America in San Francisco in a Post Apocalyptic world in which machines hover everywhere to save humanity from a new danger. We have seen in the official presentation of a new game of machines, a wonderful environmental diversity that will put speed The PS5 SSD is under test and of course, various villains

Release date: 2021

2- Spiderman Miles Morales

We did not believe at first glance that Insomniac Games had been able to create a new Spiderman game in two years until we learned that it would be a Standalone game like Uncharted The Lost Legacy, this time game puts us in the shoes of Miles Morales, who discovered his supernatural abilities at the end of the events of the last part, and we saw him swinging with movements and forces New, such as being able to hide and use his electric hands, the events of this part will take place a year after the first in New York during the winter, and we expect to see a masterpiece that relies on the power of the PS5 largely in terms of ray tracing and lighting, details and innovatively using the SSD.

Release date: 2020 Holiday Season (could be a launch title for PS5)

3- Ratchet and Clank Rift Apart

A second game from Insomniac Games, where we return in a new adventure with Ratchet and Clank across dimensions where planets and dimensions come together for a mysterious reason and our heroes have to save the world. The unnatural, the lighting, and the use of Ray Tracing are remarkably amazing and finally, we knew that we would be playing the female character of Lombax.

Release date: unknown

4- Gran Turismo 7

Polyphony Digital Studio returns with one of the most amazing realistic car racing series through the seventh part of Gran Turismo, almost the game developed to show the power of ray-tracing technology and the most dazzling reflections on cars, the game promises us the return of the story phase with more modification and customization methods than before... The game will fully exploit all the features of the PS5 from ray tracing, 3D audio, SSD, and Dualsense to give you a different feeling in driving, but its developer aspires to deliver its frame rate to 240 frames per second and more than that too.

Release date: unknown

5- Demon's Souls Remake

One of the most highly requested remakes from players, Sony, and Bluepoint Games have already fulfilled their promise by showing them to Demon's Souls Remake, which was first released on PS3 and paved the way for the emergence of Souls games in the current form that we see. Generally, the game will contain an unknown Fractioned phase with its purpose and two methods. To play, either focus on the frames without graphic quality or vice versa and you are free to choose.

Release date: unknown

6- Destruction All-Stars

A game similar to Twisted Metal with some of the flavors of Rocket League, where different heroes compete with their cars to destroy others' cars inside arenas. Unfortunately, we did not know other details about it, but from what we saw, we think that you can jump out of your car and play with the same character in all that chaos

Release date: unknown

7- Returnal

This is Housemarque's new IP, of the action and Rogue-Like genre, that game takes you to an alien planet controlled by an astronaut, the problem is that the planet changes automatically with each time you die to always witness different events that are repeated with time and quickly change After your death, you are inside a repetitive cocoon, our heroine tries to break it and save herself from madness. Generally, the game is based on action, fighting with weapons using the 3D Audio features of the PS5 while using the Dualsense features!

Release date: unknown

8- Astro’s Playroom

Astro returns in an adventure of its own that will use all the features of the PS5, but you will feel the fluctuation of the atmosphere and the rain already through the sensors of Dualsense, the game will be available for free with the purchase of the PS5.

Release date: 2020 holiday season

9- Sackboy A Big Adventure

Sackboy returns on his own adventure alone this time when he'll have to navigate obstacles beautifully.

Release date: unknown

10- Quantum Error

A horror, excitement, and suspense game developed by Teamkill Media, in which you play a fireman as he tries to rescue his colleagues from a building that burned in mysterious and very terrifying circumstances that will put the horror games in a realistic framework for the first time in terms of the survival factor, the game will benefit from all the capabilities of PS5 even the Dualsense to sense danger With ray tracing to give additional realism, the game will work on a 4K display resolution at 60 frames per second according to the developer, the game will also release to PS4, more details you can find in bulk about this news during the developer team's interview with Playstation UK magazine

Release date: 2021

Read: Did Sony fail when it made the Japanese media review the PlayStation 5, or is there a secret battle you want to win ?!

Second and third party games (some of them are for PS5 and PC only, so these titles are not purely exclusive)

These titles are not purely exclusive for PS5 because they are developed by second or third party studios. Generally speaking, I have used Playstation UK magazine, which leaked 38 games for PS5 by third-party developers.

Assassin's Creed Valhalla

The next Assassin's Creed segment from Ubisoft Montreal, which will take us to the era of Vikings, has been confirmed for the next generation of platforms, including the Xbox Series X as well, which will be the game optimized on it than the PS5 to run at a resolution of 4K and 60 frames per second, in general, the game talks about our hero Eivor, who He wants to move his clan from the Vikings to England to start a new life, only for King Alfred the Great to stand in his face, and of course, Eivor will use all he has and this includes the Hidden Blade and being the Assassin to win that battle, in general, you can know literally everything about the game through the link that we collected for you in it All about the game or read our comprehensive guide to it below, and we await the announcement of its gameplay at the upcoming Ubisoft Forward show.

Release date: 2020 Holiday Season with leaks to release in October as a PS5 launch title

Watchdogs Legion

Watchdogs Legion has been confirmed for PS5, our game takes place in England or London to be exact, as Deadsec tries to eliminate the ruined hands that manipulate the country politically, the amazing thing about the game is that you can control literally any NPC and each of them has amazing hacking capabilities and thus gameplay Completely different from one personality to another.

Release date: unknown after several delays

Rainbow Six Quarantine

One of Ubisoft's games is sure to come to the next generation, but we do not know much information about it except that it will be a co-op game, with a deadly virus and this is all. In general, as I mentioned Ubisoft exhibition is coming, and we will definitely see it there. Of course, the article will be modified constantly as I mentioned.

Release date: unknown

Gods and Monsters

A game that will take you to the world of Greece to fight the well-known gods of Greece (God forbid) in deep antiquity. We do not know much about it except that it comes to the next generation as well.

Release date: unknown

FarCry 6

I know that Ubisoft has not officially announced the game, but this is what will happen at its next exhibition, and FarCry 6 will definitely come to the next generation platforms, especially as it may be released in 2021, and according to the latest leaks, the game will take you in a world outside of America finally and rumors talk about a tropical atmosphere such as Narcos. There is nothing for sure.

Release date: unknown

Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War

I also know that all the leaks confirm that Activision is preparing for a live event inside the COD Warzone game to announce Black Ops Cold War, but this has not happened but, it is obvious that Activision's next title in a series like Call of Duty is coming for the next generation, whether the PS5 or Xbox Series X.

Release date: unknown

Project Athia

A new project from Square Enix and Luminous Productions announced during the PS5 event, and it seems that our heroine will be a female and will have special abilities, including distant jumping and speed with fighting dragons and strange-shaped monsters, generally, we will know more soon, this game will be exclusive for PS5 home platforms to be issued to the PC also at a later time.

Release date: unknown

Outriders

From the publication of Square Enix and the development of People Can Fly, Outriders are among the first games that we have known of their official arrival for the next generation, whether PS5 or Xbox Series X, in the Destiny-like Action RPG and Co-op, Outriders give us a great fighting mix between Gears of War and Bulletstorm.

There are sections for the characters, each with special abilities, whether fiery, defensive and so on. We watched the game on the ground at the end of May during the first live broadcast of Outriders Broadcast in which we saw the capabilities of The Trickster along with the fighting style, designing the planet Enoch world to which human groups go Outriders for his exploration of whether or not he is habitable after Earth in Single Player or Co-op story will be breathtaking.

Release date: 2020 holiday season

Resident Evil Village

Capcom announced the Resident Evil Part VIII bomb, the title we had been very expecting due to the leaks. Generally, the eighth part would have a completely different horror direction based on fear of the unknown, magic and sorcery that we had seen in Outlast before as well as the presence of Zombies with shields, wolves, vampires. And an evil character called Alan who founded a group called The Connections occupying the village in which the game takes place, our hero is Ethan, who returns again after his marriage to Mia to live in that infested village until Chris Redfield reaches them and kills Mia with petrified and cold blood..the game uses the features of PS5, especially the acoustics Three-dimensional to enhance the horror feeling more fully.

Release date: 2021 also coming for PC and Xbox Series X

Pragmata

A new game from Capcom, you showed us during the PS5 event. The truth is we did not understand much of it, but it seems that it will be kind of science fiction games, virtual worlds, and the difference between them and reality.

Release date: 2022

Godfall

From Gearbox and Counterplay, Godfall offers us a new concept of RPG and looter games named by its developer Looter Slasher, simply the world of Godfall is a world of fantasy where the five elements of life, whether fire, water, land, and otherwise form forbidden kingdoms within a world called Aperion in which there are warriors They call the Valorian Knights. We do not know their goal, but within the game’s objectives is to obtain the best shields in this world, which are called Valorplates. Generally, you will be able to choose one of three types of warriors. You have to look for stronger shields in the framework of the RPG with combat full of Hack and Slash a little bit.

Release date: 2020 holiday season for PS5 and PC

Deathloop

From the Arkane Lyon team from Bethesda, Deathloop introduces a little new idea where you have to play a character called Colt and you have to accomplish some goals and kill eight people before the day ends and if you fail, the game will repeat your day from the beginning with differences in the design of the stages through each time you lose The challenge becomes different, it is a bit like Returnal, but the difference will be in the presence of a hostile character who will try to stop you in various ways.

Release date: 2020 holiday season for PS5 and PC at a later time

GhostWire Tokyo

This game will take you to a time when humans have ended and the city of Tokyo has become an abyss devoid of any life except for some souls that swirl around which you have to confront, there are different types of souls, each with its own characteristics, abilities, and you will also have supernatural abilities to defend yourself, the game seems very mysterious And it's worth a try.

Release date: 2021 for PS5 and PC

Starfield

The mysterious Bethesda project about space, we do not know anything about it, but it seems that its announcement is soon, the game is released for the PS5 and this is known, but when? this is the question.

Release date: unknown

Elder Scrolls VI

Another awaited game from Bethesda's side is generally coming to the next generation but according to news, don't expect it anytime soon.

Release date: Unknown. May be 2022

Hitman III

The third part of the Hitman World of Assassination series has been announced, this part will be the last and will be the darkest of them. Its events take place in Dubai in some missions, but you can expect the return of all the beloved elements from the past parts such as disguise, stealth, and innovative ways that you can reach your goals.

Release date: January 2021 for PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC

Battlefield VI

EA did not announce it for a moment, even after the end of the EA Play exhibition, but the company stated that its game will be released for the next generation only with the PC. According to a leak, its events may take place in the modern era for the first time since Battlefield 4, and we hope so.

Release date: unknown

Dragon Age 4

We did not get a new announcement for Dragon Age 4 for a moment except for some hints, in general, it was confirmed that it is already a next-generation game.

Release date: unknown

Next Need For Speed ​​segment

We learned from this news that Criterion Games is currently working on the next part of Need For Speed, and it will be the largest and widest game in the series, and of course, we can assure that it will be a next-generation game and so far, it has not been announced.

Release date: unknown

The Sims 5

We only learned that Sims 5 is coming to the next generation including PS5 through Playstation UK magazine, but EA didn't mention anything about it for a moment.

Release date: unknown

Dying Light 2

After postponing, again and again, we can say that Techland still has a lot to do before refining the game Dying Light 2 optimally, and therefore, it may be released in a large proportion for the next generation. Until now we do not have any other information about the survival game that has a world full of Zombies and has a Parkour system. Outstanding.

Release date: 2020

Sniper Elite 5

Believe it or not, dear reader, there is a new part of Sniper Elite, and also the developer has not announced anything about it for a moment, we learned about its coming to the next generation through the report of Playstation UK magazine.

Release date: unknown

Observer System Redux

A game of the type of mystery, investigation with the side of suspense and excitement, puts you in the shoes of a detective who analyzes crimes with very modern technical means and then traces the perpetrator to the end, the events of the game take place in a future world similar to the world of Cyberpunk 2077, and the truth is that the game was a masterpiece when its developer showed us An extended section of the gameplay, as the game is beautifully decorated with ray tracing technology.

Release date: 2020 holiday season for all next-generation platforms.

Elden Ring

We do not know anything about the Elden Ring game developed by From Software in cooperation with writer George RRMartin, but as long as the game is with him, we will wait forever, it is assumed that this will be the expected new Souls game, but its news has been cut short for a while and it is expected that we will not hear about it until 2021.

Release date: unknown

Lords of The Ring Gollum

A new game for the Lord of The Rings puts you in the Gollum shoe, one of the most prominent monsters or characters in this world. We do not have many details, but the game is coming to the next generation.

Release date: unknown

WRC 9

As far as we know, it has joined the WRC 9 series, which is one of the most prominent racing games for Codemasters, the team that develops the Dirt series, but in general, there is a new part waiting for us from WRC 9 for the next generation and so far has not been officially revealed.

Release date: unknown

Star Wars Squadrons

Up to this point, EA has not officially announced that its next satellite game will come for the next generation, but its release date is in October and therefore I think that an improved version is waiting for us soon. More about the game, its story, stages, Cross-Play, and Multiplayer, here is the link.

Release date: October 2 for the current generation and PC

Dirt 5

The most famous realistic racing game ever is officially coming to the next generation, and it seems that Codemasters has literally excelled in that game as it introduces a heavily modified Career mode for the first time that will feature both Troy Baker and Nolan North with a very large list of races, circuits across the tracks of the world and inside the atmosphere Very dynamic, the multiplayer is here, everything is here and the graphics look fabulous, the game will support 4K display resolution with a frame rate of up to 120 frames on Xbox Series X and it is also highly optimized for it, all the details announced for the game you can find here.

Release date: October 2020 for PS5, Xbox Series X, PC, the current generation, and Stadia

The awaited Batman game

I don’t know how long I’ll be waiting for this game from Warner Bros Montreal, but it seems that it could happen at the DC fandom event on August 22nd, where we might see the first show of the upcoming Batman game, which is sure to come to the next generation.

Release date: unknown

Harry Potter RPG game

At least, we know some details about that game from Avalanche's side, it will be an RPG, an open world where the Hogwarts school is explorable. It is assumed that you will play with a normal wizard and learn magic arts until you reach higher levels.

Release date: 2021 or so it should be

NBA 2K 21

During the PS5 event, we saw NBA 2K 21 for the first time ever and it looks like it will be stunning in terms of graphics, from sweaty to realism of the moves themselves.

Release date: 2020

Metal Hellsinger

This game is a mix between Doom and Beat Saber in terms of music, where you will kill monsters in the form of a fast shooter like Doom with the same brutality, but with musical rhythms such as Beat Saber, the idea is different, it looks promising and officially confirmed its coming to the next generation.

Release date: 2021, for the next and current generation, and for PC

Chivalry II

A game of the type of planning, wars, and strategy, which looks very good, especially in the aspect of war and fighting.

Release date: unknown, for current, next-generation, and PC

Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines II

This game introduces you to the world of vampires, and the most wonderful thing is that you will play with one of them from a list that includes different types of them and each has his own personality, abilities, etc.

Release date: 2020 for the current and next-generation as well.

Sherlock Holmes Chapter One

Studio Frogwares is now working on a new game for Sherlock Holmes Strana that we control in his early days and in the early days of his career as a detective before he became famous in this way, the events of this part take place on an island in the Mediterranean where he tracks Sherlock who killed his mother, gets to know Watson and then they travel To London - The methods of investigation and linking conclusions with each other will return again. You will also be able to disguise themselves for the first time only to speak to certain people, and so on.

Release date: 2021 for the next generation PS5 and Xbox Series X, the current generation, and PC

Control

Remedy announced a while ago that its game Control will be among the titles that support the next generation, whether Xbox Series X or PS5.

Release date: unknown.

Scarlet Nexus

A fighting game based on anime by Bandai Namco, coming for PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC

Release date: unknown

Read: GTA5 enhanced version may be exclusive to Playstation 5

Other third-party games:

- Chorus, coming in 2021 for the current, next-generation, for PC and Stadia

- In Sound Mind is coming for PS5 in 2021

- Dustborn is similar to Walking Dead in 2021

- Cris Tales game on November 17th for the current and next-generation as well.

Games to get a free PS4 upgrade to PS5:

I talked to you about the idea of ​​Cross Gen games that are issued between two generations and the idea of ​​a free upgrade, which is simply followed by Xbox through the principle of Smart Delivery. As for Sony, it leaves the issue of the current generation games on specially developed copies for the next generation in the form and free upgrade in the hands of the developers, more information about each You can find this dilemma here:

Playstation has announced some games for PS4 that are free for PS5 if you buy them on the current generation, and they are:

GTA V

For the third time, GTA V is released for the new generation after its release on PS3, PS4, and now for PS5, and this announcement occurred during the platform unveiling event that Rockstar Games started with its slogan that almost whacked us to follow with a provocative announcement about GTA V coming for free for PS5 if I owned it as a player on The PS4, of course, in an improved image befitting the features of PS5 and the next generation in general, the improved version will be available with the launch of the PS5 and in addition to PS4 players getting it for free, they will get a million in-game currency every month until the official release of the platform.

In general, I did not like the company's milking policy for GTA online in particular, so I wrote that article:

FIFA 21

Believe it first, believe, we learned about FIFA 21 coming for free for PS5 for PS4 owners through the Blog. He mentioned that point between the lines on the official EA website and not during the EA Play Gallery itself. What was shown in the EA Play event was how titles like Madden 21 and FIFA were used. 21 for next-generation capabilities graphically, details of that can be found here.

But we soon talked to us until we discovered in the official FIFA 21 Blog that the game will get a free upgrade for the PS5 and this applies to the physical and digital versions of the game, generally more details about the pre-order bonuses you can find here

Release date: October 9th on current, next-generation, and PC platforms.

Marvel’s Avengers

One of the most anticipated games from Crystal Dynamics, which taught us new details and information in bulk from here:

The game will take us on a storyline journey in which we control our beloved superheroes as they try to confront the villain MODOK, we have a fun fighting style full of moves and superhero abilities, we have a very deep mod system, story, and co-op missions, RPG style, side missions and a lot more and above all, you will get Marvel's Avengers is getting a free upgrade to the PS5 if you own it on the PS4 and it will use all the features of the PS5 in terms of ray tracing, Dualsense, 3D audio, SSD and more.

Release date: September 4 for the current generation and PC, for the next generation.

Cyberpunk 2077

It was CD Projekt Red who detonated the Cyberpunk 2077 delay bomb until November 19, but it followed this news with a positive thing, which is that the game gets a free upgrade for the PS5 if you bought it as a PS4 player, and this will happen through an initial update of the game using the Backward Compatibility feature for both platforms, followed by an update. Huge to add next-generation benefits and generally ended since the days of the Night City Wire event, which showed us important information about Cyberpunk 2077, and we analyzed journalists' impressions of it after four hours of play.

Release date: November 19 for current, next-generation, PC, and Stadia at a later time.

Madden 21

EA announced that Madden 21 will get a free upgrade for PS5 as well.

Release date: August 25 for the current generation and PC, next-generation at a later time.

Read: The SSD in the PlayStation 5 may limit the lifespan of the device.

Other games to mention:

Operation Tango 2021

Remothered Broken Porcelain 8/25

Ghostrunner 2020

Twin Mirror 2020

Haven 2020

Rogue Lords 2021

Everspace 2 2021

Torchlight III 2020

System Shock Redux

Empire of Sin 2020

Samurai Jack Battle Through Time 2020

Destory All Humans 28/7

XIII Remake 11/10

Star Renegades 2020

Prodeus 2020

Gothic Remake

Moonray 2021

Path of Exile 2

Cygni All Guns Blazing

Paradise Lost

So to recap, here is the exact list of PS5 release games:

Godfall

Spiderman Miles Morales

Astro’s Playroom

Dirt 5

Outriders

Observer System Redux

Deathloop

Madden 21

FIFA 21

GTA V

Cyberpunk 2077

Marvel’s Avengers

NBA 2K 21

Assassin's Creed Valhalla

Destiny 2

Jett The Far Shore

Buggsnax

Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines 2

Those were all the details that you wanted to know as a player about all PS5 games, I hope you have reached this stage of the article already and hope you share your opinion and do not worry, a list exactly like the Xbox Series X games awaits you soon.

from Gaming News Center https://ift.tt/34YfJsk

[blankdblank]

Loki Baby Pt 7

Pt 1 - Pt 2 - Pt 3 - Pt 4 - Pt 5 - Pt 6 -

Wk 21 Prompt - “This isn’t working, is it?”

...

“These should not take more than a week to be completed in full. And we shall be certain to send the tux out first in time for Friday.”

“Thank you.” You both said and in the joining of your hands readying to turn Pietro spoke again.

“I do hope you like the blue suit as well as your old one.” Loki’s lips parted and the man grinned, “I’ll make it nice and roomy for dancing, just like that one you wore to the Swan Club. I’ll even throw in a hat to go with it.” Adding a wink at the end.

“Thank you.” Loki stated kindly and lead led the path out of the shop as you leaned against his side with your free hand resting in the bend in his arm. When the door closed behind you he glanced down at you still grinning loving the halfway supporting role he held in keeping you upright while you molded against him melting the long lasting chill off his skin from years of isolation. “Swan Club?”

With a giggle you glanced up saying, “I’ll take you there.”

“Yes, but, how did he see me dancing in a club I’ve never been to?”

“Time is a funny thing. Pietro, well, he’s one of the few to see it for the wibbly wobbly jar of marbles it is.”

“So he saw the future?”

Again you giggled saying, “In a way.” Loki wet his lips to ask you to clarify only to grow silent in your rise up to peck his cheek sweetly at the car door saying, “It’s a surprise. I promise, it’ll be worth it.”

With a quick flinch of his hand upwards to touch his cheek he brushed his hair back and lowered to slide inside closing the door as he did. Turning his head he asked, “What type of dancing do they do there?”

In your splitting smile you answered, “Swing dancing.”

“Swing-,” he looked you over in his reach to draw out his phone to read the message from Thor asking if he could bring a show he got that the others don’t like. “Ah, Thor is asking to come over.”

“Sounds like fun.”

His eyes landed on you and he said, “Yes. Yes it does.” Holding back how these plans of being alone with Thor greatly impeded his chance to nap with you again. “What will you do?”

“Oh, I’ve got a knob I need to make for one of my boxes.”

“A knob?”

You nodded, “It’s a very special one, has to be precise or disaster to the cosmos and all that.” Making him chuckle as you said, “Pretty thrilling stuff.”

“Indeed.”

 *

“You seem at home already, Brother.”

Loki smirked watching Thor unload his supply of snacks across the coffee table while Loki eyed the disk he added into the open disc tray, “I am. Miss Pear has seen to my every comfort to be so.” A gentle push and the tray closed signaling his turn to find his brother smoothing his hands over the remnants of his belly he had been working off over the past year in his lingering struggle with his once crippling depression Loki had been helping him face.

“I have wronged you. In countless ways.” Loki exhaled and moved to sit by his brother taking his hand to allow him to spill all his pent up thoughts. Again their life had been hashed out, though this time mainly focused on their relationship since his exile. Near an hour Thor spoke and listened to how his friends in his search for their approval to feel right again in his new life banished from his home and listened to Loki and how all of it had affected him and ways they could work to continue improving their bond and respect for one another. When the open wound sat without any more words to say an agreed upon respite was taken and the disc in the player was switched on and the snacks were dished out onto plates with the pair resting their feet up trying to understand the odd Midguardian tale Thor was trying to be fluent in to grow closer to young Parker in his love of it.

He still did seek approval, and was working on his ego, but at least the pair were speaking openly and honestly and trying not to revert to their early days of being set against one another. Thor, never wanting or fully matching the standards for King accepted Loki and their Mother had been managing the Kingdom masterfully and their people had never been more content. He had faced that not being who Odin had hoped him to be did not make him any less and certainly did not give him any rights to have dealt with his jealousy of Loki how he had. Even in scorn and hatred the silver tongued Prince always seemed at ease in dealing with others confidently, a trait Thor ached for even still. But here they sat in a stance to better themselves inside and out.

“Have you shared a bed yet?” The question tore Loki’s eyes to his brother relaxed beside him fueling a rage filled rant to defend your honor only to halt in his adding, “You smell of her is all, more than since your return from Paris.”

“I did fall asleep in her apartment through a film the other day, and a machine of hers has obstructed her pheromones.”

“You speak as if she was a Mare brother, mind your toes.”

Loki rolled his eyes, “That is exactly how Miss Pear explained it to me. Patches were crafted by her for her neck to aid in diluting them. Her natural allure was-,”

Thor chuckled out, “Had I not known better I would name her a succubus. Able to draw in men of any standing or strength to their will. Was it troubling for you? The change?”

Loki exhaled curtly, “You remember your coming of age, the heat?”

Thor nodded, “Father and Mother nearly had me in chains to keep me tolerable.”

“We had decided on breakfast and I simply walked in, and I could feel the same draw to her. Somehow she noticed the effect on me and stepped out to apply her forgotten patch, returning in this wave of apple scent.”

Thor glanced at him again, “It is comforting a scent.”

“True.”

“When you spent the night, where did Miss Pear sleep?” His grin spread in Loki’s catching his gaze and darting glance away crossing his arms over his chest in a heavy exhale, “Keep your secrets then. Quite fond of you, I dare say she would jump at the chance to court you.”

“Now who is telling tall tales?” Loki teased back taking a bite of a chip he had lifted.

Thor smirked saying in a sigh, “All I know is were I to house one so lavishly and requiring nothing but company while verbally battling troubling family and enemies set on attacking the object of such dotage, that would require quite a level of adoration on my part.” Loki’s eyes shifted to land on him timidly making Thor reach over and pat his shoulder, “Stated it plainly in my opinion. Though as usual take your own pace, Brother. You will see it yourself.”

“Why would she wish to be Queen though, were you to be correct in the assumption?”

Thor smirked saying, “No wish at all, you are the prize, Brother, not the crown.” In that Loki’s eyes flinched wider for a moment and he looked forward again to the screen, “Terrifying isn’t it?” Loki glanced at him again, “Jane felt that for me, for a time, then thought worse of me. Miss Pear knows the worst of you and yet openly adorns you with rightly earned adoration. You have an unmatched heart. The woman of your choosing must be mighty in deed to have earned it.”

“Now you sound like Mother.”

“Who is often right.” Making Loki chuckle again.

“Miss Pear is mortal.”

Thor shook his head, “I would not be so certain.” Making Loki look at him, “The photographs Tony has discovered even in the opening of her company, it has been decades and she has not aged a day.” Thor’s eyes shifted over his face and he said, “You have noticed something?”

Loki wet his lips and turned his head to catch his eye, “In our suit shop appointment the old man mentioned her at a club he frequented in the Second World War. Only,”

“What?”

“He mentioned seeing me there. With Miss Pear in a blue suit and hat like the one he is crafting for me.”

Thor’s brows furrowed, “How is that possible? We were not allowed to travel to Midguard in that time gap.”

Loki shrugged, “Miss Pear stated she would take me sometime, and that I would see what the man had talked about, that it was a surprise.”

Thor shook his head in a shrug, “Then all that is left is to allow her to surprise you. Discovering what life the creature is hiding.”

Loki, “I only hope that truth is still far from deserving of Tony’s mistrust.”

Thor chuckled, “Tony is often wrong. He will see her character and adjust in time.”

 *

“This isn’t working, is it?” Scott turned the pen over in his palm again in a deep sigh then practiced again, “Mr Stark, I have your pen!” Again a snicker had broken free after his own inspection of the pen had named its secrets clearly chosen to irritate Stark.

Up into Stark tower he strode and straight for the elevator he rode up to the top floor and beamed in Tony’s distraction to set the pen down, “One pen, as promised.”

A simple pass of a check and a quick grin later Tony said, “Thank you. I trust this will be handled with the utmost discretion?”

Scott nodded, “Wouldn’t have it any other way, Sir. I will leave you to your investigation.” Turning around in Tony’s lifting the pen with a spreading smirk he gained a smirk of his own heading back to the metal box that was step one of the trip home.

.

His smirk soon traded for an irritated scowl as the pen sat in front of him and the smirking Dr Banner and Dr Strange tried not to snicker at what the pen had been revealed to do. The crystal end was no more than a fancy flashlight with a setting to project funny cat clips complete with a hidden dial to play cat sounds from the hidden speaker.

Again Tony’s brow twitched and he said, “I have to be missing something.”

Dr Strange, “Or it could just be a novelty pen in a fancy suit.”

Bruce, “She does seem the sort to enjoy a good cat clip every now and again. Maybe it helps her to focus on life when work gets too hard.”

Tony stood up, “Maybe Vision can see something in it I can’t.” Turning to go find the endlessly informed one in question he left freeing the duo to burst into bubbling laughter at how much he was working himself up over this pen supposedly being more than it was.

Pt 8

[here4theheartbreak]

2019 Writing Wrap Up

Under a cut because long, long, long.

Fandom(s): BTS and SH

Fics that you wrote in 2019:

💔🔥 Nice Things - Namjoon is clumsy, even with others’ hearts. (smut, angst, bottom!Namjoon)

🔥 Detention (Jimin/Namjoon/Taehyung) - Jimin and Taehyung are stuck in detention for a very particular reason. (smut, top!Namjoon, switch!Jimin, switch!Taehyung, teacher/student roleplay)

🔥 Euphoria - Jungkook has had a crush on the leader of BTS since forever. Now that Namjoon is helping write his solo for the upcoming album, this could be his perfect chance. (smut, dirty talk, bottom!Jungkook)

🍭 Lost & Found (Hoseok/Jin/Namjoon) - Hoseok and Namjoon get caught in a flash flood while hiking. A mysterious man saves them, claiming to be a supernatural creature. He’s crazy, right? (no sex, first kiss, faerie AU, fae!Jin)

🔥 Sentience (Halsey/Jin/Namjoon) - It’s Namjoon’s birthday and his girlfriend surprises him with an android. It’ll just be a single, fun night, right? (android!Jin, bottom!Namjoon, top!Jin, cyberpunk, MMF, smut, AU)

💔 forever rain (Hoseok/Namjoon/Yoongi) - Namjoon made a big mistake six months ago and has been hiding from the confrontation he knew would result. The rain can’t hide him forever. (fluff and angst, no smut, AU)

🔥 Silent Love (Jimin/Jin/Namjoon) - Namjoon got new toys for his boyfriends. He can’t wait to hear their silence. (smut, gags, dirty talk, bottom!Jin, switch!Jimin, bdsm)

🔥 Surprise Visit (Jin/Jungkook/Namjoon) - Jin surprises Namjoon with a visit while he’s working in the studio late one night. But they’re not as alone as they thought. (smut, voyeurism, bottom!Jin)

🔥💔Run to Me (Jin/Namjoon/Taehyung) - Taehyung has a crush on Namjoon. Not like he stands a chance with Jin there though. (smut, HYYH verse, AU, virgin!Taehyung, switch!Taehyung, switch!Jin, switch!Namjoon)

🔥 Ready (Jimin/Namjoon/Yoongi) - Jimin is finally ready to give a special part of himself to his boyfriends. They do their best to make it special. (first time, smut, bottom!Jimin, top!Namjoon, top!Yoongi)

🔥 Detention (Jimin/Namjoon/Taehyung) - Jimin and Taehyung are stuck in detention for a very particular reason. (smut, top!Namjoon, switch!Jimin, switch!Taehyung, teacher/student roleplay)

🔥 Trying New Things (Hoseok/Jungkook/Namjoon/Yoongi) - Jungkook loves trying new things. He also loves being tested. So his boyfriends find a great way to do both at the same time. (sex toys, bottom!Jungkook, triple penetration, top!Hoseok, top!Namjoon, top!Yoongi, bondage)

🔥 Red - Jin agrees to try a new form of play for his Dom, and things don’t go as planned. (smut, safewording, bottom!Jin, bdsm)

🔥💔 Camshows and Camera Lenses (Jin/Taehyung) - Jin knew it was a bad idea to get so involved with the camboy he knew as TaeTae95. But the young man was charming, beautiful, smart, and everything Jin could ever want in a man. Now only if those around him could see that too. (Multichapter, AU) 🔥 Stuck - Jungkook gets himself a little stuck. Good thing Jin is there to help. (smut, under-negotiated kink, bottom!Jungkook)

🔥 Sensitive (Hoseok/Jin/Taehyung) - Jin has a sensitive neck. His boyfriends can’t help but tease. (non penetrative sex, dirty talk)

🔥 Paper Beats Rock (Jin/Jungkook/Yoongi) - Jin and Yoongi didn’t really know how things would turn out with the cute stranger who played rock, paper, scissors with them. Neither expected this. (smut, meet weird, bottom!Jin, top!Yoongi, aro!Yoongi, ace!Jungkook, AU, poly V)

🍭 Love Is Not Over (Jimin/Jin/Yoongi) - Yoongi has decided that love isn’t worth it after a particularly nasty divorce. Even if his daughter’s kindergarten teacher is fucking adorable. He’s married anyway, and Yoongi sure as hell isn’t a home wrecker. (fluff, no smut, divorced!Yoongi, single dad!Yoongi, AU)

🔥 Mouthy (Jimin/Jin/Taehyung/Yoongi) - Jin’s been mouthy this week. His boyfriends wanna fix that. (smut, rough sex, bottom!Taehyung, sub!Jin, Dom!Taehyung, top!Jin, switch!Jimin, top!Yoongi)

🔥 Three Times as Much (Jimin/Jin/Jungkook/Taehyung) - Jin needs a little punishment. His boyfriends are happy to oblige. (smut, rough sex, triple penetration, all 4 are switches)

🔥 Best of Me (Hoseok/Jin/Jungkook/Yoongi) - The rap line has been working hard on their first American collaboration. Unfortunately, their hard work has caused their boyfriends to feel a little neglected. (webcam/video chat sex, dirty talk, bottom!Yoongi, top!Hoseok, switch!Jin, switch!Jungkook)

💔 Promise - Jimin has some trouble dealing with things in his life. Yoongi is there to support him. (no sex, angst, self harm, eating disorders) 

🔥 Gotta Go (Hoseok/Jimin/Jungkook/Yoongi) - Jimin has never had to go so bad in his life. Unfortunately his boyfriends have other plans. (watersports, no penetrative sex, urophagia) 🔥 Properly Chastised (Hoseok/Jimin/Taehyung) - Taehyung realizes that he really likes to be spanked. No way can his boyfriends find out. They would most definitely use it against him. (spanking, bottom!Taehyung, top!Jimin, top!Hoseok)

🔥 💔 Paint the Roses White (Jimin/Taehyung) - Jimin’s life sucks. He’s miserable, beat down, and tired. That is, until a mysterious boy with purple hair and a dangerous smile slides into his life and turns it upside down. The White Queen is ruling and drinks are on the house in the Hat Trick Lounge. Caterpillar is missing and the Prince of Hearts is ready for a war, if only he could figure out where his damn rabbit ran off to again… (AU, Multichapter) - collaboration with @i-live-so-i-love​

🔥Naked Yoga (Jimin/Jungkook/Taehyung)  - Jungkook is just trying to do his yoga and relax a little. But it’s his birthday and Jimin and Taehyung have other ideas. (smut, bottom!Jungkook, top!Jimin, top!Taehyung)

🔥Mile High and Mildly Bored - Jungkook is insufferable and horny when he’s bored. Especially on a thirteen hour flight. (smut, bathroom sex, bottom!Taehyung)

🔥 Taking the Challenge - Jin can’t handle his new toy, but Jungkook is up for the challenge. (smut, sex toys, bottom!Jungkook)

🍭💔 Family - Jin gets injured during a performance. He just wants to mope in solitude. (fluff, sick fic, slice of life)

🔥 Vacation Heat - Jin is in heat and needs a little help. Unfortunately his heat triggers those of his lovers, requiring a little more help than planned. (AU, Alpha/Omega verse, smut, knotting, omega/bottom!Jin, omega/bottom!Taehyung, omega/switch!Jungkook, omega/top!Jimin, alpha/top!Hoseok, alpha/top!Yoongi, alpha/switch!Namjoon)

🔥 Sleeping Beauty - Taehyung has a secret fantasy that he can’t wait to have his boyfriends fulfill. (consensual somnophilia, bottom!Taehyung, switch!Jungkook, switch!Jimin)

🍭 Bitter Revenge - Jungkook’s pranks have gone too far. The others will go to any lengths to get their revenge. (no sex, fluff, prank wars)

😈 Spooky Stories with Bangtan - A series of Halloween shorts. Some will have ships, some will not, but they are all based on the kid’s book series Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark. They may or may not all be connected… You’ll have to stay until the end to find out. Some will have character death, others are more funny, none are X rated gore (though some borders on M if you don’t like body horror or bugs - still read the warnings for each fic). Hope y’all enjoy and have a happy Halloween! (kiddie horror, no smut, light gore, varies, implied ships throughout including ot7)

🍭💔 Stretched to the Breaking Point - Jin’s exhausted after 4 years solid of picking up after/for the absolute loves of his life. He wants to prove he’s useful, but is this really how he’s going to have to do it? (fluff, light angst, no smut, slice of life)

🔥 Give Your All to Me (I’ll Give My All to You) - Malec - Alec really needs to learn to relax. Magnus has just the thing. (Alec x Magnus, smut, D/s elements, bottom!Alec, sub!Alec, sensory deprivation, sensation play, bondage)

🔥 As Equals - Malec - Alec insists, but Magnus isn’t sure he’s ready. (Alec x Magnus, smut, virgin!Alec, canon compliant, missing scene, sorta fix it, s02e07, s02e18, bottom!Alec, top!Magnus)

🍭 Season of Love  - Malec - Magnus takes Madzie and Alec to make some new memories.

Total Fics: 33 + 3 = 36 fics

Total Words: 179,065 + 21,827 = 200,892

~Ship/Character Breakdown~

Ships (if applicable): (I’m only doing main focus ships for my fics)

Halsey x Jin x Namjoon

Hoseok x Jimin x Jungkook x Yoongi

Hoseok x Jimin x Taehyung

Hoseok x Jin x Jungkook x Yoongi

Hoseok x Jin x Namjoon

Hoseok x Jin x Taehyung

Hoseok x Jungkook x Namjoon x Yoongi

Hoseok x Namjoon x Yoongi

Jimin x Jin x Jungkook x Taehyung

Jimin x Jin x Namjoon

Jimin x Jin x Taehyung x Yoongi

Jimin x Jin x Yoongi

Jimin x Jungkook x Taehyung

Jimin x Namjoon x Taehyung

Jimin x Namjoon x Yoongi

Jimin x Taehyung

Jimin x Yoongi

Jin x Jungkook

Jin x Jungkook x Namjoon

Jin x Jungkook x Yoongi

Jin x Namjoon x Taehyung

Jin x Taehyung

Jin x Yoongi

Jungkook x Namjoon

Jungkook x Taehyung

Namjoon x Yoongi

OT7 (7)

Malec (3)

Character Frequency (minus ot7):

Namjoon Ships: 11

Jin Ships: 14

Yoongi Ships: 11

Hoseok Ships: 7

Jimin Ships: 11

Taehyung Ships: 10

Jungkook Ships: 10

Halsey Ships: 1

Character POVs:

Namjoon – 6

Jin – 11

Yoongi – 2

Hoseok – 1

Jimin – 3

Taehyung – 3

Jungkook – 5

Alec Lightwood – 2

Magnus Bane – 1

Omnipotent 3rd Person – 1 (Sleeping Beauty)

Varying POV – 1 (Spooky Stories w/ Bangtan)

~Specifics~

Best and Worst Title?

Best: Camshows and Camera Lenses

Worst: Season of Love

Best and Worst first line?

Best: There were a few moments in Jungkook’s life that made him stop and think, how did he end up here. (Stuck)

Worst: “I don’t get it?” (Ready)

Best and Worst ending line?

Best: “See, Namjoon? This is why we can’t have nice things.” (Nice Things)

Worst: Jin smiled softly, his heart feeling full and happy between his two new boyfriends. (Paper Beats Rock)

~General Questions~

Looking back, did you write more fics than you thought you would this year, less than, or about what was expected? – Actually, a lot more. It didn’t feel like I was writing near as much, but when I crunched the numbers over the past few years it’s actually more words on average per month than even when I was writing for SPN – and anyone that is a holdover from that time in my life will recall I was incredibly prolific and pressured myself to constantly put out new work. I got burnt out so bad too, which was why when I saw how much I wrote this year I was surprised – I felt literally no burn out.

What pairing/genre/fandom did you write that you would never have predicted last year? – Hmm, I mean SH, for one, I never thought I’d get into that show. But for BTS related stuff, a ship with Halsey in it. 100% did not see that coming.

What’s your favorite story this year? Not the most popular, but the one that makes you the happiest. – Three-way tie. Paint the Roses White, Stretched to the Breaking Point, and Give Your All to Me. Paint the Roses because it was my first collab with my best friend, and I had so, so much fun plotting it out and working with her to put this world together. I can’t wait to dive into our next universe and get it started. Stretched to the Breaking Point because it felt so raw while I was writing it. It stung but it helped me work through some stuff going on in my life and I just really felt like it came together in a clean and good way. And Give Your All to Me because it was my first SH fic and it felt like coming home. Normally I struggle with new fandoms but when I finally got a handle on the guys, it flowed like I’d been writing them for ages.

Okay, your most popular story? – By hits, it’s definitely Stuck. Kudos it’s Euphoria, comments it’s Camshows and Camera Lenses, bookmarks – Euphoria. So to me, I think Kudos and comments weigh more than hits and bookmarks – so Euphoria and Camshows and Camera Lenses are the most popular of mine on AO3.

Story most underappreciated by the universe? – Ugh. Sentience. I feel like it’s shunned because of the ship and it’s just an out there prompt but I worked hard on that thing and I’m proud of it.

Story that could have been better? – Paper Beats Rock. I wanted to do a lot more with it but I just ran out of inspiration for it and kinda rushed to the ending.

Sexiest story? – Give Your All to Me. While just a generic smut fic, I feel like I captured the feeling a bit better than I do sometimes, and it evokes more of a response in me than some of my other smut.

Saddest story? – Promise. I mean it ends on a hopeful note, but anything involving self-harm or other self-destructive behaviors always hurts.

Fluffiest story? – Love is Not Over – I never in my life imagined I’d be writing a kid fic for BTS but here we are.

Most fun story? – Sentience, again. It was a challenge but it was so fun to try and work out all the kinks and figure out how to make this AU work.

Hardest story to write? - Sleeping Beauty. I’m still not entirely happy with how it turned out. I had a grand plan in my head for how I wanted it to play out, but I ran into a lot of writing issues in terms of POV and just feeling rushed or not into it since it was so heavily smut. It gave me more trouble than I expected it to.

Easiest/most fun story to write? – Paint the Roses White. It was easier of course because I had help, with it being a collab, but I think that just the overall plot and idea and world itself was so fun. Things came easily and even when we had to stop and discuss it didn’t feel like things were being forced. It was just something that was meant to be written.

What story took the longest? – I feel like I was writing Paper Beats Rock for a century. This was likely due to the timing – I was writing it right over a busy time in the real world – school, work, kiddo, friends – and this distracted me and made me write slower.

Did you take any writing risks this year? What did you learn from them? – I wrote things that I previously may have considered ‘risky’ in the sense of like… I wrote for me. Rather than spending a ton of time worrying about how others would perceive the story I was writing, I wrote what I felt helped the story and worked for it. It was really satisfying to do that, to be honest. I feel like it made writing so much more enjoyable overall and less stressful. And, it was nice to see that the response wasn’t near as horrible as I worried it would be, or it would have been in other fandoms.

What are your fic writing goals for next year? – Nothing serious or big, really. I would really like to finish up a couple of chapter fics that I have had sitting on my to-do list for almost a full year now. There’s also a collab or two I’d like to work on and publish next year, in addition to my own solo stuff. And I’d like to keep writing for SH and posting those – I’m doing a writing bingo for the first half of 2020 and I think If I can do at least half of the squares (so like 12-13 out of 25) I’d be totally satisfied with that. As for word count or things of that nature – I don’t think I have anything set in stone. It would be nice to keep the same or higher for total word count, around the 200k mark, but if I don’t reach that I’m not going to fret about it. Writing should be enjoyable and relaxing, not stress me out to the point I no longer enjoy it. So, I guess my goal is to just keep writing what makes me happy.

Tagging: @btsaudge @i-live-so-i-love @lucibae-is-dancing-in-hell @compo67 @flora-jimin @chimknj @softjeon @zzzett And any other writing friends! I am 100% sure i forgot people here. 

[racefortheironthrone]

Thoughts on House of X #6

The penultimate issue!

While You Slept, the World Changed:

Before I get into the content, let me say that I think Hickman et al. really brought it with their two final issues, which are some of the best of the miniseries. 

Showing Hickman’s love of circular storytelling, we flash back to the speech from the very first page of House of X #1, where Xavier announced the formation of Krakoa. The always-frustrating timeline is cleared up a little: Xavier’s speech happened a month ago, although we know from that same issue that work had been going on on Krakoa for “months” before the announcement - more evidence that the schedule was important.

Despite this all of this preparation, Xavier takes a moment before the speech to ask Moira and Magneto to join him for this “leap of faith,” which requires “total commitment.” (Which is interesting, given Namor’s questioning of same.) Moira agrees quickly, but then hangs back and watches, as is her wont (as we’ll see in Powers of X #6). 

By contrast, Magneto makes a significant shift from his earlier pledge of unrelenting accountability to burying the hatchet completely (I love how “all the anger at the other’s relentless ideology and unyielding persistence” so perfectly describes both men) and promises his complete support (and possibly more, depending on how you interpret the hand-on-hand-on-shoulder panel) going forward. That’s a big moment for the two of them.

And then we get Xavier’s speech in full, which I’m going to do my best to annotate. 

“Humans of the planet Earth...I am the mutant Charles Xavier and I bring you a message of hope. ”

The first thing I’ll note is that we’re already seeing a rather significant change in Xavier’s behavior: for decades, Charles Xavier refused to come out of the closet as a mutant even when asked directly, and only did so in New X-Men when possessed by Cassandra Nova. Here, he’s straightforwardly describing himself as “the mutant Charles Xavier,” putting his group identity before even his name.

Secondly, there’s an interesting tinge of classic sci-fi in the way that Xavier addresses “humans of the planet Earth” - it’s very reminiscent of The Day The Earth Stood Still - and I wonder whether part of this has to do with the so far largely unspoken Krakoan ambition of beating humanity to the Moon, to Mars, and the stars themselves.

“In the coming days, you will learn of several far-reaching pharmaceutical breakthroughs that have been discovered by mutant scientists. These drugs extend human life, heal disease of the mind, and will prevent - or cure - most common maladies. Influenza, Alzheimer’s, ALS, many cancers...gone. Overnight. These drugs will make life on this planet...better. Remarkably so.”

First, this is very much of a part of Hickman’s technocratic futurism from his F.F run, which I have to imagine often leads to a bit of frustration with the editorial mandate not to use super-science to make the world unrecognizable.

At the same time, I’m all the more convinced that the point of this proffer (in addition to buying U.N votes and diplomatic recognition) isn’t to mess with human biology - I think the drugs actually do what’s advertized, rather than mind-controlling people or activating the X-gene - but rather (according to what we learn in Powers of X #6) to dull the drive to achieve post-humanity, solving humanity’s problems but leaving the source out of their hands. This is a theme that featured quite heavily in the finale to Hickman’s Transhuman.

“All this...we have made for you. In the past they would have been a gift. Something freely given by me -- to you -- because I believed it would create harmony between our two peoples. That was my dream -- harmony -- but you have taught me a harsh lesson: that dream was a lie. You see, all I ever wanted was peace between humans and mutants. All I ever wanted was to love you and for you to love us.”

Here’s a great example of how comics can use text and imagery in different ways. Visually, what this page shows us is different levels of humanity: ordinary people in a hospital room, who see Xavier’s speech as a message of hope, the promise of deliverance from disease; a board room full of businessmen who probably see either opportunity or competition, depending on their market position; and a situation room of national security types who represent human power structures that have always viewed mutants as a threat.

At the same time, I think the text is an answer, if not a rebuke, to those fans who’ve been decrying Charles Xavier as acting “out of character” or spinning conspiracy theories about how it’s actually the Maker or the like. This is clearly the same Charles Xavier, who has come to change his mind about his vision of society, because he’s seen how humans have responded over again. (I think it also gets at one of the problems of grounding the X-Men in a “dream” of harmonious co-existence when genre conventions prevent that dream from ever coming to fruition. Especially given how the serial nature of comics leads to repetitions of “anti-mutant hysteria,” it’s not surprising how much of the fandom have shifted to a “Magneto Was Right” perspective.)

“We wanted to save you -- and we did, many times -- but in return, all you did was stand by while evil men killed our children. Over 16 million of them. So there will be no gift...for you have not earned it. We will -- however -- let you pay for it. In return for two things, we will provide you with the means to have a better life. One without pain or suffering and full of hope -- and it will cost you so little.”

Here, instead of constrasts, the text and images are working in concert, with the art giving pointed examples of whom Xavier is referring to - pointing to the Avengers as “stand[ing] by while evil men killed our children” (given that the Avengers tend to specialize in threats to the planet, but have had a decidely mixed record when it comes to threats to mutants specifically, to say nothing of the fallout from the Scarlet Witch’s actions), or the Fantastic Four as having “not earned” his “gifts,” given that the FF haven’t exactly been at the forefront of applying scientific advancement to specifically mutant concerns. Similarly, Doctor Strange was willing to brave the dangers of hell to bring the city of Las Vegas back from the dead, but didn’t do the same for the victims of Genosha.

At the same time, it becomes clear that what Xavier is getting at isn’t just direct complicity in anti-mutant violence, but the broader systemic problems of human apathy towards anti-mutant violence. (Although, to be fair, he’s bringing this up as, essentially, emotional blackmail to justify his economic policies and his political demands.)

On a different topic, it’s interesting that Xavier is offering something of a utopia for humanity - “a better life...without pain or suffering and full of hope” - but may instead be planning to put humanity inside a walled garden where they will be cared for but kept out of mutant-kind’s way.

“First, you must accept the island of Krakoa as the nation-state of all mutants on this planet. We will happily go through the same process as any newly formed nation with the U.N, but there is an expectation that our sovereignty will be recognized. Second, all mutants -- by birth -- can claim Krakoan citizenship. And with that citizenship, we expect a period of amnesty. So that those who have been singled out as criminals -- or punished and imprisoned by humans -- can overcome man’s bias against mutants.”

So here we get Xavier’s main political ask: international recognition of Krakoan sovereignty, mutant citizenship, and amnesty for mutants in prison.

It’s clear from his tone, however, that Krakoa is going through the “same process as any newly formed nation” mostly as a formality, with “an expectation that our sovereignty will be recognized” - both because humanity needs what Xavier is offering and the unspoken fact of mutant power.

One thing that caught my eye is that the citizenship/amnesty isn’t just a one-for-one copy of Israel’s law of return; given the heavy focus on human judicial system’s “bias against mutants,” it also borrows heavily from the 1966 platform of the Black Panther Party, which called for “freedom for all Black men held in federal, state, county and city prisons and jails,” because they had been denied a trial by jury of their peers.

“From this day forward, mutants will be judged by mutant law, not man’s. These are our simple demands, and they are not negotiable. In return for making our lives better, we will do the same for you. And if you find yourselves asking, who are these mutants to think they can dictate terms to us? We are the future. An evolutionary inevitability. The Earth’s true inheritors. You closed your eyes last night believing this world would be yours forever. That was your dream. And like mine...it was a lie. Here is a new truth: while you slept, the world changed.”

Here’s where we get a firm statement of mutant-kind’s manifest destiny, although how accurate a description of “evolutionary inevitability” it might be is up for debate, given what we learn about Moira’s Sixth Life in the next issue. No wonder that Magneto is eating it up, but Moira seems more ambivalent.

One important thing to note: as the art demonstrates, ORCHIS is very much in operation when Xavier makes his announcement. Rather than being a response to a more militant and separatist Krakoa, their motivations are much more driven by eugenic fears of demographic replacement, which is way less defensible. 

Quiet Council of Krakoa Infographic:

In the wake of Powers of X #6, we now have to ask ourselves whether the (un-elected, possibly temporary) Quiet Council is, if not a Potemkin government (this would be a bit much, given what they get up to in this issue), but perhaps not the only locus of authority on Krakoa.

In addition to continuing the naturalistic themes of Krakoa, I wonder whether the Autumn/Winter/Spring/Summer designations suggest a kind of rotating chair system for a council in which all are supposedly equal...but who is primus inter pares? Xavier is acting as speaker, setting out the agenda and moving the action along, but he’s not the only voice in the room - a sign that he is sharing power to a significant extent.

So let’s talk about the membership of the Quiet Council:

Autumn: here we have the three ideological leaders whose ideas have led to the formation of Krakoa (although Apocalypse’s contributions are less public), and potentially Moira’s exes (although we never learn whether Moira was romantically involved with Magneto in her Eighth Life). 

Winter: is “where we parked all of the problem mutants” other than Magneto. Mostly, this seems to be on the basis of both necessity and “better inside the tent pissing out than outside the tent pissing in.” One question I have is whether Exodus, as someone who used to basically worship Magneto, is a vote that Magneto can count on, since clearly he and Sinister aren’t on the same page, and Mystique is very much on her own.

Spring: here is Emma’s quid-pro-quo, and a recognition that the economic and foreign policy might of the Hellfire Corporation has to be represented within the governing structure of Krakoa. Given the structure (down to the very seating), I have to think that Xavier and Magneto had always planned for the third vote that Emma demanded. It’s also quite notable in later deliberations how limited Sebastian Shaw’s influence is on the Council. 

Summer: as we might expect, given who’s extending the invitations, Xavier gives three seats to “my children,” which gives Xavier at least four votes that he can count on - although Ororo, Jean, and Kurt clearly have their own minds and priorities. As the Krakoan national project continues, counting votes will only become more important.

Speaking of which, we can’t forget about Krakoa and Cypher. While not formally one of the twelve, they are nonetheless a powerful influence who have a voice if not a vote on the Council. And ultimately Krakoa’s voice is quite loud, because the whole enterprise cannot happen without its consent.

The Great Captains:

So here we see the division of civilian and military government, with the “great captains..assum[ing] the responsibility of defending the state” during “times of conflict or war.” 

The more curious question to me is what counts as a “state-related excursion” - it would seem to cover X-Men missions like the one at Sol’s Forge and at the ORCHIS facility in X-Men #1, but does it mean that Kate Pryde wouldn’t be in charge of her own vessel if Bishop steps on board? Does it cover X-Force clandestine operations, or would plausible deniability be important? Who does X-Force report to?

Cyclops as first among equals makes sense, although it does raise a question of what happens when you have two other captains in the field.

So Bishop makes sense as a head of whatever the name of the agency in charge of resurrection-related investigations is (possibly X-Factor), but I was surprised to see him show up in Marauders #1.

I wonder what Magik’s role as a Captain is supposed to be, especially since it seems she’ll be heading off to space in New Mutants. Down the line, I’m going to guess she’ll be involved in Krakoa’s version of Inferno, but what’s her intended role supposed to be?

Finally, what’s Gorgon’s role as Captain supposed to be.

The First Laws of Our Nation

Before I get into the content of this section, I want to talk about the beautiful panelling here that starts wide, shrinks down to the nine panel grid as the political debate intensifies, and then opens up again once the decision is made. 

Similarly, I like the use of the two key symbols: the X of the chairs and the sigil on the ground (secular authority), Krakoa’s face looming over them all like a heart tree (spiritual authority)

Given what we learn in Powers of X #6 about why various council members was chosen, describing three of the four seasons as “family, friends, and allies” is highly ironic.

Sabertooth is removed from watery confinement - which, if Krkaoa can just hold people in water bubbles for an extended period, why isn’t that the punishment used late? - and Kurt sets an appropriately Biblical tone by noting that “our first bit of business is the oldest kind on this planet...judgement.” (Appropriately for Kurt’s themes, the judgement in question also centers on how to punish the first murder in this new land, and ends with exile.) Also, for those of you keeping track of how much Krakoan justice accords with human conceptions of justice, I will point out that Sabertooth comes out of the bubble threatening his judges/jury, which is never a good look for a defendant.

So let’s talk about the trial:

One of the things that jump out to me immediately is that it’s interesting seeing Magneto in the role of an idealist - “this is the establishment of a nation...and I would have it be one of laws.” - whereas Xavier’s acting as the pragmatist, acknowledging that “I cannot say everyone here best represents the ideals of what any society should be based on,” but that they have to do the best with what they’ve got. Ultimately, I think this is a tension at the heart of all national projects.

Meanwhile, we get precisely three speakers in before conflict erupts: Sinister is a camp shit-stirrer who (publicly, anyway) really only partakes in the meeting to poke at Xavier and Exodus. Meanwhile, showing how little bloc voting there will be in the “problem mutant” camp, Exodus goes right for direct threats, prompting Sinister to propose criminalizing “mutant-on-mutant violence” (again, the political resonances here are obvious), not because he believes murder is wrong but because he’s enjoying trolling Exodus.

Showing how much Krakoan technology and the...unique worldviews of the Council members are going to produce new forms of political philosophy, Aopcalypse opposes Sinister’s motion, because he doesn’t think it should be “a crime to kill someone who cannot be killed,” since killing mutants is now a non-lethal way of testing them for social Darwinian worthiness. 

This clearly does not track with Storm’s morality, and in a rare moment in HOXPOX where we get to see Jean Grey operating as a forceful political presence, she uses Storm’s interjection to pivot to an appeal to “the highest of ideals” (perhaps aiming her words at Magneto as well as her fellow X-Men) that it should be the “highest crime...killing someone who cannot come back.” (This is more in line with her more recent appearances in X-Men: Red.) Thus, the Second Law of Krakoa is established...without actually taking a vote. It seems that the Council operates on the basis that any proposal not actively objected to becomes law, which I imagine the political scientists out there have some thoughts on.

Before the law passes, Mystique raises the question of self-defense against human aggression (which fits her first X-appearance nicely). Showing how much his earlier views have shifted now that he’s operating in the context of a mutant nation-state, Magneto distinguishes between “murder” and killing “done in defense of a nation,” and while that question is formally tabled, it does suggest an exception for formal armed conflict at least in the founder’s intent.

Supporting my theory that he’s going to be the de-facto Chairman or Speaker, Xavier not only drives the agenda (although he’s not alone in this, Magneto is definitely acting in this capacity), but also makes sure to “call the question,” deciding when proposals become law as long as no one objects.

Another point wrt to the justness of this process: well before he’s found guilty, let alone sentence is passed, Sabertooth threatens murder and cannibalism against his judges...which isn’t a persuasive defense against murder charges (even if he’s just threatening the murder of mutants...which isn’t legal AFAWK, just not as illegal as the murder of humans.)

A nice bit of character work, and another rare rmoment where we see Jean’s power in action, Emma and Jean collaborate to silence Sabertooth’s ranting. 

With the Second Law established, and Sabertooth’s trial technically in abeyance, the Council moves on to “any new business.”

As we might expect from a neoliberal robber baron, Sebastian Shaw calls for “property rights, wealth, currency,” to be legislated for next.

In an interesting turn of events, Doug Ramsey interjects that “Krakoa is alive. Not a place, or a biome -- a person.” Krakoan (real) property rights will have to have a decidedly non-capitalist orientation, because as we see further in Marauders #1, in addition to not having rights in the land, you have to ask for Krakoa’s consent in order to build grow a house.

In a development I didn’t see coming, Storm takes the position that  that mutants can still own property, but “it has to be...out there...in the world. No one has said we have to run from it.” This is somewhat more capitalist than I might expect from Storm, but it does make sense that someone with her particular entanglements in the wider world would take a less isolationist position. This raises an interesting question: if mutants own property in a sovereign nation, and they decide to plant Habitat flowers on their property, does that make that property now part of Krakoa?

Doug’s position gets supported by Exodus (in a characteristically religious tone), and Xavier once again calls the question, creating the Third Law of Krakoa. For those of us keeping track of the colonial theme, it is interesting that this largely European-led nation state has taken a legal position on land ownership that’s much more associated with indigenous peoples. 

Befitting her role as the true power in the Hellfire Trading Company, Emma Frost tables the discussion of economic legislation, due in no small part to it impinging on Krakoan diplomacy and international economic policy.

With a decidely mocking air aimed at her son, Mystique shifts the agenda from the secular to the sacred. After a moment’s thought, Kurt who fires back with the original “manifest destiny” out of Genesis (the first creation), and we get the First Law: “make more mutants.” In addition to continuing the very horny feel of the issue, this law raises a set of interesting questions about Krakoan attitudes with regard to the right to choose, access to family planning services, and sexuality - although as Hickman has pointed out, the implications of an egg-based system for (re)growing people point in completely different directions. Why assume Krakoa will follow human social mores in any area?

With the fundamental laws established, the Quiet Council can now decide how to apply them to Sabertooth:

In an example of how subtly powerful agenda-setting can be, Xavier makes the question of voting guilty or not guilty a question of “making an example...that no one is above mutant law” or “giving you one last chance.” Fitting his somewhat collectivist bent in Powers of X #1, he frames this question not in terms of the civil rights of “Mr. Creed,” but in terms of how the decision “benefits our new society.”

While it doesn’t quite settle the post facto question, Magneto argues that Sabertooth’s killing of the Damage Control guards violatted the “strict instructions” he was given when Magneto dispatched him on the mission, making it not merely a question of the First Law but also of obedience to the chain of command. Apocalypse, who knows something about managing an aggressive workforce, agrees.

Sinister and Exodus, for once, are on the same page, and while Mystique ultimately goes along with the emerging majority, her body posture and dialogue suggests a degree of internal conflict - after all, she was the one leading the mission, so some responsibility falls on her shoulders.

Turning to the X-Men side of the room: as befits his spiritual role, Kurt feels shame for not turning the other cheek, Jean takes a moment but is more assured, and of course Storm has no problem with a bit of divine judgement.

Continuing the trend of divisions among the Hellfire Club, Emma is all about getting rid of Sabertooth, while Sebastian goes along with the emerging consensus because he doesn’t care. 

And once again proving that a defendant representing themselves is always a bad idea, before all the votes are in (and we don’t know whether Krakoan juries require a unanimous verdict) or the sentence is given out, Sabertooth threatens familicide of the Quiet Council. Not exactly a strong argument for leniency, since Sabertooth hasn’t exactly been pleading innocence at any point. 

Finally, Doug asks Krakoa to bring the hammer down, and Sabertooth is dragged down to hell put into an oubliette. As Xavier explains, “we cannot send you back into the world” (because Sabertooth is a serial killer who can’t restrain himself, and Krakoa just promised the world it would hold mutants accountable for their actions), they won’t jail him because “we tolerate no prisons here” (this seems a technicality), they won’t kill him, because seemingly the “resurection protocols” are non-optional (which is interesting, given what we learn about Destiny in the next issue), and so they “exile him.”  

One interesting question: given the resources available to them, why is it necessary to leave him “aware but unable to act on it” rather than have him be unconscious during stasis? My guess is that Xavier wants to motivate Sabertooth to “redeem” himself down the line. 

And then finally, we get Xavier’s concluding statement, where I think Hickman’s views on nation-states (“it’s distasteful, I know, this business of running a nation”), the proper attitudes one should have about holding and exercising political power (”I pray we never get used to it...never grow cold from it...never learn to love it”), and even parenthood come through.

Just Look At What We’ve Made:

But in the meantime, the council emerges to what almost everyone has analogized to the Return of the Jedi celebration: not only do we see bonfires and fireworks and a riot of color everywhere, but we see mutants flying around, using their powers, for the first time really feeling that they can live as mutants without fear for their lives.

As the Quiet Council walk down the steps, we see some of the reasons why and the consequences: the Five party as one, but near them we see the formerly dead raising a glass with the living. And echoing Magneto’s earlier statements about how Krakoa will change the way mutants see their own powers, we see Siryn and Dazzler combining their powers for the purposes of culture rather than warfare or high tech.

Xavier’s final message is that the Quiet Council will work like hell to ensure that the next generation of mutants “sleep in soft fields of lush green, staring at the stars and dreaming of a future where they hold those stars in their hands.” Once again, a sign that Krakoa’s manifest destiny lies in space, a common theme of Hickman’s from his FF run. As this happens, we see three of the O5 goofing around (I’m surprised how many people didn’t notice that Bobby had frozen Warren’s drink while he wasn’t looking), and Exodus leading storytime with the children as Sinister watches in the background.

But that’s not what people are really here for - as nice as it is to see Broo and Synch and Skin and Pixie, what people really care about is the Jean/Logan/Scott panel. As the now infamous architectural diagram in X-Men #1 makes very clear, this is not a case of a mere open marriage: the most famous romantic triangle in X-Men history is now a throuple, founded on the principle of beer and tummy rubs. 

Almost as exciting for much of the fandom is the next page, where Jean goes to make peace with Emma while Scott hangs out with Alex. One of the big questions going on is what Emma’s role is in the polycule, since she doesn’t seem to be living at the Summer House. My guess is that Emma is “part of it” (to quote David S. Pumpkins), but may only be with Scott, and definitely would refuse point-blank to share communal living quarters with Logan. We will have to wait for more evidence to be sure.

And so we end with Xavier and Magneto looking out over the celebration, taking a moment to feel (rightly?) proud of “what we have made.” And yet, all is not well, because Apocalypse, the third ideological force who (through Moira) helped to create Krakoa, broods on what he lost when Krakoa was born.

Krakoa Infographic:

With Krakoa now extant as a nation-state, we get one more infographic...that shows us that there is a Krakoa Atlantic to go along with Krakoa Pacific. This points to an important truth about this new polity - it would be a mistake to see Krakoa as an island nation like Genosha or Utopia, because the nation of Krakoa exists wherever the physical entity of Krakoa exists. It’s in the Pacific and the Atlantic, it’s on the moon, it’s on Mars, it’s everywhere a Krakoan flower has been planted. Which makes it a post-geographic power.

So what’s on Krakoa Atlantic?

The Pointe is one of Xavier’s Cerebro back-up locations, so that an attack on Krakoa Pacific won’t destroy the database. 

Danger Island is the X-Men’s new and expanded training facility.

Transit allows for instant transportation between Pacific and Atlantic to allow the X-Men to respond to a threat to either island or cradle, and possibly a final keep to fall back to if everything else is lost.

And finally we get one last map of Krakoa (All), and there’s a lot we don’t know about these locations:

The House of X and the House of M are Xavier and Magneto’s residences, and the location of one of the Cerebro “cradles.”

The Arbor Magna is the big tree where the Resurrection system is located in/on.

The Arena we don’t know anything about, but from the name it suggests that it’s a combat-oriented location, either for training or for entertainment purposes. 

The Akademos Habitat is almost certainly Krakoa’s educational facility that Jean mentions back in House of X #1, but the fact that it’s a Habitat is interesting, because a Krakoan Habitat is a ”self-sutained environment” of its own that is “part of the interconnected consciousness of Krakoa,” and I had thought that having a Habitat on Krakoa itself, as opposed to one out on the moon or Mars would be redundant. My guess is that this is meant to provide an additional layer of safety to the next generation of mutants.

We saw Transit back in House of X #1, this Transit location is the Grand Central Station for Greater Krakoa, linking all gateway locations together. Yet another sign that, for Krakoa, their nation has a different conception of distance. 

The Oracle is, I would guess, probably one of the Krakoan Systems, most likely either Sage’s or Beast’s part of the system.

I don’t know what the Grove is supposed to be, but given its proximity to the Akademos Habitat, I think it’s supposed to be a living space, possibly just for the young and possibly not. 

The Cradle, it turns out, is just a cradle.

The Resevoir could be that lagoon we saw back in House of X #1, which would make sense if the Wild Hunt is a nature preserve, because animals love to congregate at watering holes.

The Carousel’s name suggests it’s an entertainment facility. 

We know what Bar Sinister is from its last appearance; it turns out that Sinister recreated his little island Edwardian eugenics nightclub on Krakoa. Interesting that it’s locsated so close to Transit; maybe Sinister wants to be able to make a quick getaway.

Speaking of the fruits of faustian bargains, it turns out that the quid-pro-quo for becoming the economic engine of a nation is that the Hellfire Trading Company gets a whole Hellfire Bay to itself as its headquarters. 

Red Keep is almost certainly Kate Pryde’s new pad, which is conveniently ocean-ajacent for our newest mutant pirate privateer queen.

Blackstone is Sebastian Shaw’s Gilded Age “gentleman’s” club.

The White Palace is naturally Emma’s boudoir, complete with buzzsaws and spikes. 

The unnamed location 18 is clearly Moira’s No-Space.

[zigmenthotep]

Final Stand Review

Final Stand is a game about martial arts action fighting, and also a game that was recommended to me by a reader, which is convenient for me because I didn’t have to find it myself.

Setting: 1/3 [−]

The setting of Final Stand is a city with hundreds of dojo described as “stereotypical medieval Asia” with modern aspects, which is somehow weirdly specific and incredibly vague at the same time. It feels like they had a very specific idea about the world the game should take place in, but didn’t really do much to explain it or incorporate it into the actual game. Like you could literally change the setting to 1960s Iowa without making any changes to the game. Also I’m just not fond of the “generic east-asian” settings in general, they feel lazy.

Character Creation: 2.5/5

The first step in creating a character is to select one of fourteen ‘stereotypes’ which provide two ‘quirks,’ an ability that can be used twice per game, and two skills. We then chose our ‘way’ which is a combination of a style (drunken, flowing, Iron, ect.) and form (cobra, dragon, monkey, etc.) which grant energy and action points, two and three special techniques respectively, and two skills each. Then we add everything together, divide our actions between punches, kicks, and throws, and end up with something like this.

Name: Yuka Yen Stereotype: The Street Bum Quirks: Bad Manners, Street Smarts Ability: Dogged Tenacity (regain 1 energy after KO)

Energy: 20 Actions: Punch (3), Kick (4), Throw (2) Skills: Acrobatics (2), Contacts, Intrusion, Perception (2)

Way of the Empty Eagle Special Techniques No-Thought No-Concept Strike: 2 punch moves, 4 damage Void Attack: 2 throw moves, 5 damage Tearing Beak: 2 punch moves, 4 damage, and opponent loses one move Raking Talon: 2 kick moves, 6 damage, and opponent loses one move Flying Kick: 3 kick moves, 9 damage

So overall, it’s an okay system. You pick three things and distribute some points and that’s it. Also there are a lot of options with 14 stereotypes, 12 styles, and 12 forms, but a lot of that just feels more like minor variations than meaningful options. Also if there’s any intentional system of balancing the energy, actions, and moves of the styles and forms it is lost on me, it all seems mostly random and arbitrary.

Mechanics: 2.5/5

The mechanics here are a little odd, for all your non-combat skills if you have the skill, you succeed, if you do not, you fail, there is no rolling involved. If you have the skill from multiple sources (e.g. from your stereotype and style) you succeed better, so you can have any skill up to three times, but every skill you have multiple of is another potential skill you don’t have.

Combat is really the main focus here (hence the lack of any actual skill system) and is a little complicated. At the beginning of a fight, both parties roll the specified number of d6 for their punches, kicks, and throws, then dice that come up 2 or higher for punches, and 3 or higher for kicks and throws, are put into a move pool for the specific attack types. Still following? No? Eh, I’m sure it’ll be fine. The combatant with the highest total number of move dice acts first and selects a basic technique or one of their special techniques which can each be used once per fight. So for example, a basic light kick costs one kick move die and deals 2 damage. Attacks are automatically successful unless they are opposed by a defense move, for example, the dodge move costs one kick move die and can stop any incoming attack. However, unlike attacks, defense moves do need to be rolled, in this case requiring a result of 5 or higher. After the attack is resolved the defender becomes the attacker and it goes back and forth until both parties are out of moves, at which point the whole thing starts over again until somebody is knocked out.

It’s all definitely within the realm of “not as complicated at it seems, once you go through the entire thing and make sense of the eccentricities of it.” It’s a bit rough around the edges, but definitely comes across as something that has a definite intent behind it, and does something different.

Writing: 1/3 [−]

For the most part everything is understandable, but getting to that point may require a bit of re-reading. The order of things is also a little off, presenting character creation outline first, then the full mechanics, of which the basic techniques are listed last, then the stereotypes, styles, and forms, then miscellaneous game stuff. Which ends up requiring a lot of flipping back and forth between sections and hunting for the rules you need, which shouldn’t be that hard in a twenty-three-page document. Of course the thing that bothers me most, even though it might not be objectively the worst, nothing is in alphabetical order. The stereotypes, forms, and styles are just presented in what is as far as I can tell is a completely random order. And like, that had to be done intentionally, as there is an order followed in the lists and descriptions, but that order is completely nonsensical.

Presentation: 2/5

The layout is okay by the standards of a web-published game from 2002, which is to say it isn’t great. Basically just words on a page but with some effort put into formatting things into proper lists and tables.

Final Remarks

Final Stand is a game that seems to have had a clear idea of what it wanted to be; however, it is definitely lacking in the execution. Although I can’t say if it’s due to inexperience, or sanctifying the ideas and insisting that everything else had to be built around them. Overall, it just comes down to okay, another one of those things that has the feeling of having been worked on until it was “good enough.”

Base Points: 7 Character Creation: 2.5/5, Mechanics: 2.5/5, Presentation: 2/5

Adjustments: −2 Setting: −1, Content: N/A, Writing: −1

Overall Score: 33% (5/15 Points)

[ad1thi]

the significance of james rhodes

or why he doesn’t deserve to be slept on an essay by me

--

based on the recent james rhodes appreciation, but ultimately influenced by this post

--

i told y’all i would write an essay right??

--

Under the hierarchy established by the United States Military Forces, applicable to the Army, Marine Corps and Air Force, the rank of Colonel is the most senior field grade military officer rank. It classifies as an O-6 pay grade, and is one of the most respected military roles, requiring a minimum of 22 years of service (in which 3 must be a Lieutenant Colonel) in order to qualify for promotion. 

In it’s most crude terms, a Colonel of ANY military divison (Air Force, Army or Marine Corps) is automatically the highest ranking field officer. 

Colonels are also famously responsible major significant changes in both wartime and peacetime, and go onto to be some of the most decorated military servants. Notable examples of Colonels include: President Roosevelt, Colonel Jack Jacobs, Colonel Aldrin and Colonel McSally 

Directly superseding the rank of Colonel is the rank of Brigadier General, an O-7 rank of generals who’re chosen from a suggested list given to POTUS and then, the Senate. 

Simply put, the rank of Colonel is one of the most significant roles in the US military.

In this essay I will discuss how the implication of this rank on the character James Rhodes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and why his military ranking is significantly more important than that of more celebrated military affiliated characters such as Captain Steve Rogers, Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes and Pararescue Samuel Wilson

This essay in no way aims to diminish said characters, or pit these characters against James Rhodes, but to simply highlight the apparent disparity in the representation of their respective rankings and importance, both within canon and fanon

James Rhodes is first introduced to us in the pivotal origin film Iron Man 1, where he is addressed as a Lt.Col. This means that, cumulatively, James Rhodes has already served for a minimum of 15 years. He is an alumni of MIT (where he famously met and befriended protagonist Tony Stark), and also the official military liaison between the USAF and Stark Industries. It can be reasonably assumed that Rhodes joined the military straight out of MIT, meaning that his entire adult life, or a significant part of it, has been the USAF. 

This is important because there is a proven difference between civilian reasoning and military reasoning, and evidence that continued exposure to military professionalism changes the way one thinks, making civilian life extremely harrowing on a person built for military.  In one of his very first scenes, during the infamous i will be shutting down all weapons production press conference, Rhodes is visibly uncomfortable and upset by the decision made by his bestfriend.

Unless Tony, who is a civilian and to whom any death is significant, James is more likely accustomed to casualties over the years of his service and therefore is not likely to have been affected by the deaths of the soldiers in the way Tony was. The clearest example of this is that while Rhodes extensively searched for Tony, there seemed to be no significant desire to exact vengeance for the death of the foot soldiers like Tony so clearly shows throughout the film. From the time of the kidnapping to the penultimate end of the film, Tony Stark, a civilian, is bent on fixing his wrongs and making up for the deaths caused, while James is torn between following protocol and watching out for his hair-brained bestfriend. 

This is a very important distinction because it is worth considering how the movie may have played out differently had James been in the cave instead of Tony. One of the defining moments in Tony’s life is Yinsen’s sacrifice. However, given his military background, it is hard to argue that James would’ve made the same decisions Tony made (shutting down weapons production, building Iron Man and using it to destroy illegal weapon shipments). The more likely outcome is that James would’ve reported the infraction to his immediate superior, and taken steps to stop the illegal weapons trade; but one is hard-pressed to see a scenario where James shuts down weapons production. 

In fact, within the entire film, the only scene in which James breaks protocol is when Tony identifies himself as the UFO that the Air Force is currently gunning down. 

Right from the origin film, James Rhodes is established a significant character with his own opinions, thought processes and reasoning, and is not simply a side character or the protagonist’s yes man. 

--

This of course doesn’t mean that james is the military’s yes man

James Rhodes is a black colonel in the USAF. He has fought various prejudices and discrimination to reach where he is.

In Iron Man 2, James Rhodes is introduced, and has with him, a comprehensive study on the pros and cons of the Iron Man armour (and the pros and cons of it being in Tony’s hand)

Select paragraphs demonstrate the weaknesses of the Iron Man armour and the man who wields it, but James is visibly upset about this unilateral pinpointing of his study as opposed to a comprehensive study, something he make abundantly clear

Unlike most military, James also doesn’t hackle Tony and demand that he mass produce the suits for military consumption (though he does try to reason with Tony, its clear that he won’t push the issue) and only requisitions one after the birthday party incident; in which James is shown to be increasingly worried about Tony’s mental state and tries on multiple occasions to show support before ultimately making the decision that Tony cannot be trusted with the suit.

James in a later scene is also seen to be arguing with his superior officer about allowing anyone but him pilot the suit, and also about allowing Justin Hammer modify it in any way. He is overly critical of the weapons presented by Hammer, which could be attributed to his time at MIT or his continued exposure to tech mogul Tony Stark.  

In Iron Man 3, we see that James Rhodes has since been promoted to Colonel (potentially, in part, due to his efforts in Iron Man 2); meaning he has now served a minimum of 22 years. The armour that he requisitioned from Tony has been rebranded and given a new paint job (which can possibly by interpreted as the military’s way of recreating the iconic Captan America persona); and James is conducting various solo missions that compliment Tony’s initial purpose of the armour. 

It is important to note that despite the existence of the Avengers, headlined by non other than WW2 legend Steve Rogers, James’ allegiance is still towards the US Military. Despite all its faults, James very clearly believes in what the US Military stands for. James is also extremely protective towards the proprietary amour, whether because of the advantage it presents to the USAF or out of respect to his bestfriend’s intellect is unclear, but the sentiment is the same- James, like Tony, doesn’t trust the Iron Man armour in the hands of another (this is also seen in IM2, when he insists on being the sole pilot).

James then makes a cameo in Avengers: Age of Ultron, where he is seen joining the team, possibly replacing Tony Stark (who, after the events of the film, chooses to retire)

Here is where things get muddled up

Steve Rogers, while being an extremely shrewd and talented strategist, has cumulatively accrued 4 years of service in the US Army, and is an 0-3 ranked Captain. His rank is extremely inferior to James’ Colonel- and has also not been an active member of the military for a significant amount of time.

Granted, he was frozen for most of that, but the fact remains that after his brief stint as an Avenger, he then joins SHIELD as a quasi-spy, and doesn’t return to the military. Steve’s rank as leader of the Avengers in the 2012 film made sense since, among the 6 of them, he was the only one with any military experience and quite frankly, any experience as a soldier in a warzone.

But Steve is ignorant to many real time tensions, the politics and power plays between various military decisions and simply hasn’t been around the current military structure long enough to justify his rank as leader, and is especially not of the correct rank to give order to Colonel James Rhodes

In an extremely real life scenario, the Avengers are a specialised branch of military. It genuinely does not matter that they aren’t officially affiliated to the military, and that they operate outside the purview of any official special forces; as far as any other country is concerned- the Avengers are an extremely violate nuclear warhead about to blow.

The politics and diplomacy involved in negotiating Avenger-intervention is something that reasonably, only Tony Stark or James Rhodes, and possibly, Natasha Romanoff, could handle. The distinct lack of regard for sovereignty and single-minded focus on one’s narrow goals that Steve inherited in WW2 is perfectly shown in the Lagos incident.

During WW2, there was mass carnage, and Europe as a whole was a battlefield. The world’s biggest powers were at war, and things like borders scarcely mattered. Soldiers in WW2 were highly unlikely to know when they were crossing the border from France to Germany, or Germany to Belgium, and even if they did, it didn’t matter. It was a time of war. Sovereignty wasn’t really on anyone’s mind. 

But the world has drastically changed since WW2.

National sovereignty is one of the most sacred things in the global community, and as harsh as it is, multiple countries use national sovereignty and diplomatic immunity to escape with various human rights infractions. 

With the current politic climate, and especially, the military and political power that the United States wields, there is no circumstance in which it would be okay for Steve Rogers to take a team of extremely skilled and sometimes, meta- humans; wearing a suit with the american flag; and exact his version of justice.

Collateral damage is simply not okay.

As stated earlier, for better or for worse, the Avengers are viewed as an extension of the already expansive US military power. For them to completely ignore international borders and treaties and operate in Lagos, especially given that certain members of the team (wendy bitchimoff) have powers of untold proportions and no true grasp over them.

In contrast, it is in the personal opinion of the author that had James been leading the Avengers, he would’ve navigated the diplomatic waters much more smoothly, possibly arranged action in tandem with Nigeria instead of just showing up in Lagos, and the entire incident would’ve been much smoother.

It is also important to note that the Avengers were in Lagos at full force not on official Avengers business, but rather, following a personal investigation by Steve Rogers and Sam Wilson. In a more realistic scenario, the Avengers would’ve liaised with Nigerian officials and not have been in Lagos at all.

While there is sufficient consideration given to the fact that Brock Rumlow was a HYDRA agent and targeting a biological weapon, he and his team were ultimately, human, and the force of the full Avengers rota seems excessive (and likely the reason there were so many collateral casualties and damages)

The final and probably the most important part of James’ arc; is his stance on the Accords. 

Again, it must be emphasised, that he is a military career man.

Order and hierarchy and assignments passed down the chain of command is a concept that makes the most sense to him.

He is extremely used to joining units, reporting to a supervising officer, walking into the line of fire simply because he was told to do so. The Accords, in its most simplest terms, was aiming at developing a chain of command for the Avengers.

This is extremely important because there is a popular stance that James simply followed the Accords because he was Tony’s yes man. But if one looks at James through the entire of the marvel cinematic universe; his character has never once shied away from stating what he believed was right; and is usually the most level headed and diplomatic character.

Thus, it is extremely confusing that the mcu as a whole tends to largely ignore his authoritative status (except for Tony, who regularly defers to James, but that can be attributed to their friendship) and it is quite honestly criminal that various directors and producers have overlooked the potential of this character; and also blatantly ignored the very existent hierarchy that exists within career military men and women.

As any active or retired military personnel will tell you, within the US Military Forces, rank is everything. It was cute when STeve was 5 foot nothing and disregarded orders, but after 10 years and 23 or so films, one would hope he’d show some character development. 

In conclusion, Colonel James Rhodes is one of the most powerful characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, in terms of his military prowess, his intellect, his ability to navigate the War Machine armour, the connections he’s developed during the course of his career, the loyalty he’s inspired in his cadets, and his sheer presence

and he does not deserve to be slept on

--

thank you for reading hope you enjoyed!!