#puppet history may be a close second

[kagakuoniryu]

Alastor x reader I've written randomly to vent about a shitty situation I'm currently living

Summary : a new guest you knew from your past life arrive at the hotel, she was that one person who bullied you throigh high school, but she mooks too angelic to be guilty

Code : E/n (ennemy/name)

Tags : fem reader, etablished relationship, angst for the most part, there will maybe be a part 2, mentions of bullying, reader is TRAUMATIZED, english is not my first language, may have some inaccuracy about the show since I'm just projecting, and of course probably ooc characters

It wasn't a bad day, at least not in a place like hell, it was even quite nice, charlie was babbling about a new team bonding activity as usual, and it was nice being with your friends, until around 2 pm...when a new guest arrived...

Oh you remembered her...from high school, so pretty, so popular, she was you best friends ! You should have been overjoyed to see her down here !

Well...not exactly, because she wasn't your best friend anymore, you hardly bear to be in the same room as her, of anger, from your history and how your friendship ended...but also of fear and dread...

You were both teens back then, you and eager to have many friends ! You had your own group of friends, and she was a separate individual, spending her time with her boyfriend often, that's okay by you, you were happy for her, and when that boy left her you welcomed her with open arms ! You became best friend soon, even inseparable ! You heard her badmouth you to your friend group from time to time, but she told you it was okay, it was "to know who was fake" then, one by one, your friends ghosted you, but you had her, she was there at least, making new friends, each time you introduced her they left soon enough, you thought that maybe you were the problem and stopped trying, your best friend was there after all

Until a boy came along, love at first sight for you, he had everything ! He had so much...your best friend wanted him too...and with that, she had him, when you called her out she called you an homewrecker and a toxic friend getting in the way of her relationship, that ended badly and an argument followed, while you stayed on the down low, she texted your few friends left, and any new friends you managed to make telling them how awful you were, so you ended up closing your media althogether, moving away, and never hearing about her ever again

And there she was, she didn't really looked different from her time on her, a round face and blond hair, she didn't looked like she fitted in hell, but you you were different, your body jointed like a doll, mocking your life as the puppet of those who wanted to play you, but if not your appearance, your personnality changed, you were more confident, your boyfriend was a powerful overlord too ! No, not boyfriend, he proposed a month ago after all, he was your fiancee now, and you had friends, through thick and thin, you knew they wouldn't buy into her lie at least !

Having an hard time to breath you sucked it up, maybe she wouldn't recognize you ?

Wrong

How wrong

"Hello ! Welcome to the hazbin hotel ! Guys this is our new guest !" Charlie started with her usually cheerfulness

"Hi everyone ! My name is E/n, I barely arrived in hell ! And I figured that if I could, I would want to be redeemed ! After all everyone deserves second chances !" The girl said back

Her voice hasn't changed, neither her tone, that fake nice tone you used to hear every day, here, one again in flesh and blood, not through a phone, not through class, but..here...

Breathing harder than ever, you only went back to reality when husk called out to you

"Hey ? You seem weird, like you've seen some ghost ?" His tone nonchalant as always showed half concerns, but for him, it was a lot

"A glass, of whiskey, or vodka, whatever you got, strongest you got please"

"Wowowo...alright, that's not your type to drink, what's up...?"

"I-I...I know this girl...she...listens, I can't be in her presence sober, I knew her from where I was alive...we had...some bad conflict...she did some awful things to me, and I got bad issues after that...I said some mean things to her too, we were kids, but since then I'm scared I'll lose all my friends again !"

Husk just nodded at my whispered rant, trying to calm myself, I didn't even insisted on a glass and went straight to my own room since alastor and I didn't shared one yet, not before marriage he said

Later that day, angel vaggie and charlie passed by my room, concerned by my absence, I told them everything, how I ended up abandonning the notion of making friends when I was alive, the calls, the insults, they looked at me with compassion, charlie said she believes that she could have changed, and even if I doubted it, I wanted to believes it

Alastor arrived to spend some quality time with me, dancing on old jazz music far from my time, reading a book, basking in silence with each others

After a while, I thought I could talk about E/n with him, he was my fiancee after all ?

"Al ?" I started, unsure

"Yes my dear ?"

"You know about that new guest at the hotel ?"

"Ah yes, what a cultivated lady, quite entertaining, she was really into songs from the 1980s not my style at all, we had a long discussion about music genres, she's actually quite against modern technology and that picture show"

"Oh...so...you like her company ?"

"She is not insufferable if that's your question"

Finally you decided against your first idea, perhaps she had changed in the end ? Perhaps a new friendship was possible ? With healthy fondation, you could get your bestfriend back !

Wrong again

You revealed her the next day who you were, well, used to be, what linked the two of you back in the living realms, for others, nothing changed, but for you it was subtle, for exemple she never interrupted anyone, but when it came to you each time your mouth opened she would cut you out

She was such a charmer too, a quality you envied her, her audience was captivated, and soon even alastor was her aquaintance, he presented her rosie of course ! Just like he did for charlie !

And just like he did for you...

Rosie found her delightful, and from your tea parties at 3 with her and alastor, became 4, adding E/n

A comment about your appearance back in high school, an embarassing moment you had, a silly crush, every single detail of your life was used to mock you, even your crush on a video game character

Soon you always found excuses to avoid going to the tea party, and spend most of our time outside of the hotel, feeling akward in her presence

You tried talking about it to charlie or maybe vaggie, to no avail, they said how nice E/n was and how much progress she was making, if they weren't saying you sounded silly thinking that in these 3 weeks she took your place, you still felt like it...

And it all confirmed when, after a whole day of searching for everyone, they finally came back to the hotel from shopping...without you

"Finally you're here toots ! We tried searching for ya before going but you weren't anywhere !" Angel started, holding many bags in each arms

"What do you mean ? I was in my room all day ?"

"Wait you weren't out ? E/n told us she saw you leave ?"

"Oh I'm sorry my eyes deceived me...next time I'll still check your room !" As everyone looked sorry I couldn't help but see it, even for a second...

She smirked...

Of course she did, she never changed

This started becoming common occurence, either the others left you behind, or you could leave the entire day without them noticing, and at some point, angel, husk and sir pentious started to distance themselves from you

"Hey angel, hum...you wanna hang out...? Go to a club, or drink with husk, just spend some time betweens pal ?"

"Sorry sweet cheeks, but we're partying with E/n tonight and...she doesn't feel comfortable around you..."

"Wha ? Angel what are you talking about ?"

"She told us about it, about the two of you, hos jealous and manipulative you were, you even tried to make her dump her boyfriend, that wasn't cool of you, I don't want to take side on this, but if I hang out with one of you, I'd rather not force her to be with the other for both your sanities"

"Oh...ok"

That's all you could have mustered, because what was there to muster, you were in hell, all the proof you used to have were on your previous phone in the living realm, but even if angel and the other favored her, mayne your fiancee could understand your side ?

Gently you knocked on alastor's hotel room as he called you to come in, he was currently eating his dinner, a...fresh venison...but you shook your head lightly, taking a sit across the table

"Al, can I vent to you for a bit...?"

"What is it my dear ? But please, spare me your story with E/n, as much as I love a good gossip, the young lady did you a favor by never taking vengance in the living realm, I wouldn't want the two of you to get in troubles once again"

"Al, please it's serious, she's telling lies about le ! And you believes her ? I'm your fiancee ! She's in hell as well !"

"And so are you, and so am I, I am not interested in knowing the why who is were, but I admit your little querrel is...quite entertaining !"

"So your fiancee see her ex bully...and all you think about is entertainment ?"

"Well, ma chère (my dear) as far as we are all concerned, without proof, both of you could be the liar, it's about, who's able to convince the public, just like on a stage"

Alastor's half sadistic smile didn't amused you, you just sighed, getting up, wamking slowly toward the exit of his room, if even your own fiancee, the man you loved refused to believes you, who would ?

You couldn't see alastor's curious expression as you left, he just wanted to prolounge the fun and not outright gives you the solution, but seeing you give up almost made him that for once he screwed up badly

[crispycreambacon]

You fill your head with thoughts you find you can't even feel

Try to make room in your skull, but it’s full of them

All of the things that you think and then think about thinking

I know it’s hard, but they're not who you are

They're white noise

— White Noise, Will Wood —

Welcome one and all to "Mashing Two Interests Like Playdough", the first episode is Puppet History x Will Wood, specifically the Substitute x White Noise 'cause holy moly. It fits him so well. Omg.

I had so much fun creating this poster! I'm really proud of how the poses and the rendering turned out even though both gave me a rough time at first </3 I actually had an earlier version of this poster, but I scrapped it because it wasn't doing it for me ngl :,D I'm glad I did though!

Anyways if you'd like to know more about why I think this song fits the Substitute, you can read my interpretation of the lyrics and how they can relate to him below the "Read More" button. You can also find the glitchless + filterless version of the poster there.

Note: A lot of this is speculation on my part, and you don't need to conform to this reading. This is just how I perceive him.

They paint the walls with colors that you're not meant to notice

They fill the halls with tunes you can't get into your head

Let's establish the obvious: The Substitute can't feel. The extent of his unfeelingness is unknown, but what is known is that he can't taste and can't have the sensation of touch. This may lead to him being isolated due to his inability to relate to experiences both humans and his fellow puppets seem to have, particularly the experiences of the one he is based on.

Yeah, it sorta sounds like a retro top-40 but wrong

You're not meant to sing along

It isn't that kind of song

It's white noise

Despite his unfeelingness, he still wants to have the experiences others have. After all, he literally almost killed someone just to have that chance, but his plan is not entirely well-thoughout. How was he going to dispose Ryan's body without getting caught? How was he going to sew the skin onto himself and dispose the rest of it? What was he going to do after he finally what he asked for?

In a way, he was doomed to fail. He was never meant to gain sentience anyway, let alone have the desire to feel like his counterpart. His existence is a complete accident. Now he has to deal with the consequences of actions he never even had a hand in doing.

But if you listen closely I swear, to God I swear

You can hear the ocean if you hold it up to your ear

This lyric directly inspired the pose of the Substitute listening to the conch shell. He has memories of some of the most wonderful sensations on Earth yet he can't connect with any of them. Perhaps when no one was looking, he tries to recreate some of them in a desperate attempt to find a scrap of semblance of feeling and gets increasingly frustrated with his inability to understand them.

Is it any wonder that he would do anything to regain that scrap of enjoyment? To end his torturous experience by any means necessary?

Its personality's a lack of identity

The entire second verse in general speaks about the meaningless of art and how people try to give it meaning anyway. The Substitute's only purpose was to replace the Professor either to console a dead mass or to continue the show. Now that the Professor is back... What can he do?

Moreover, he's also never allowed to have an identity of his own. Since he's meant to be a perfect copy of someone else, especially someone who's presumed to be dead, he can never really deviate from that role because it would break the illusion the puppets created to cope with their grief. No matter what his desires are, he can never really explore any of them because no one is allowing him to do so.

Also, the way the orchestra swells during this part kinda calls back to theatrical music for me. I feel like the Substitute would enjoy performace arts. His bombastic musical number implies he had a flair for the dramatics, and despite his lack of feeling, his expression of his ambitions is quite dramatic.

You fill your head with thoughts you find you can't even feel

This can relate to how the Subtitute is forced to relive the memories of the Professor despite not being able to experience the emotions connected with them. In a way, he has to so that he could remind himself of his motivations. Remembering the joy the Professor got through feeling would keep him going on this path in the hopes that some day, he could feel that joy too.

I know it's hard

But they're not who you are

They're white noise

This line can be taken in two ways. One is based on the speculated official meaning of the outro which is centered on intrusive thoughts. No doubt the Substitute deals with homicidal thoughts, but I wonder if he truly believes in them. Does he genuinely enjoy indulge in them, or does he act on them because it's all that he knows? For all the talk about him having the Professor's memories, at the end of the day, he was crudely coded for one simple purpose. His thoughts are very simplistic—as seen with how quickly he jumps to murder as the most logical solution for his problem—and I wonder if he was given a chance to grow beyond his purpose, he could've reliazed that homocide was not the right course of action.

The other way, which is likely more relevant, relates back to the Substitute being intrinsically tied to the Professor. His thoughts, his memories and his actions are all in a way influenced by the Professor. But it didn't have to be this way. As unlikely as it is, he could've had a life where he discovered his own interests and his own personality outside of being "the evil Professor". If he had gotten to learn more about the world on his own, if he had been able to act not as the Professor but as himself, he would've been able to develop more and find that joy he was missing. He could've had a life.

Unfortunately, he was never given that chance, and it is unlikely that he ever will be.

[au-mashup-party]

⚠️—…-Xirustale —…-⚠️

Xirustale is an undertale au by

au-mashup-party (me) on the Tumblr app ONLY! If you wish to draw the story, feel free, but credit afterwards, please and thank you. with that being said, enjoy the story!

⚠️Warning!!!⚠️

This story may contain things that many might find disturbing, or just flat out messed up. Note: This story is not exactly written like other AU’s and is intentionally dark. Viewer discretion is advised… you have been warned.

Once upon a time, centuries and centuries ago, Empress Charla Corrupto gave birth to three sons. Their names were Xiro, Xelter, and Xirus. The Corrupto Family was known for being the wealthiest and possibly most powerful family in the multiverse, and have been for many generations. Especially Emperor Xavier Corrupto. The emperor was feared by everyone at the time, monsters, humans, nobody dared to suffer his unbearable wrath.

The boys were each named after a god of the Lost Era. With titles as important and sacred as those to their family, Emperor Xavier had huge expectations for his sons. Empress Charla was against training their children at such a young age, but the king insisted that this was for their own good. One day, Emperor Xavier discovered something special in one of his sons, Xirus had turned out to be an Omnipotent, which meant his power had no limits. That meant he could continue to grow in strength as he pleases with the endless potential that he had.

Discovering that one of his sons could possibly match up with the prophecy of a reincarnated Omnipotent God, he swore to make Xirus his number one heir into a powerful ruler.

Of course that came with a huge 360°, the fear of someday being overthrown by his own son. The full power that could intentionally be unlocked, the kid will be unstoppable, he would kill everyone that stood in his way. He would become the monster everyone feared in the legends.

The Omnipotent of Chaos.

Of course, that would be silly, Emperor Xaiver thought. What type of destruction could this child possibly cause? He wasn’t really THAT dangerous…right? Xiro never thought too much of his brother being an OP god, in fact, he found it kind of cool that his brother could be the man in the history books.

Xelter of course, had always been jealous of his brother Xirus. He didn’t find it cool or wasn’t in deep awe like everybody else on the Corrupto Spaceship were, he saw it as as a stupid cheat code to get stronger quicker, meanwhile, he had been training his entire childhood with little to no respect from anyone. He hated his brother with burning passion, if anyone was to be the next Empeor of the multiverse, it was to be HIM.

Xirus didn’t care, however, and loved the praise and attention he had received from the subordinates and the citizens. One day, however he snuck to his father’s room only to find a book of forbidden techniques, in which the emperor had been secretly using on his son to keep him in control of his mind.

The child didn’t think too much of the book and was about to turn and leave, until he found a note under his father’s pillow, evidence in which his father wanted to have him sealed away in the void for eternity. Xirus couldn’t believe it, after all this time, abiding by his father’s rules, his father was trying to get rid of him for good, simply for being stronger than him.

This made him livid, he also assumed that his mother was in on the plan as well, since he had always noticed she seemed a bit afraid of her children’s power in general. He had never felt so betrayed in his life. He took the book and began to look through it closely this time, finding techniques that were forbidden for a reason, he went through the list intrigued, a sadistic smile growing on his face. Eventually finding some techniques he found cool.

Blackhole Star: Instant Travel. Time: 1.5 seconds.

The Corruption Touch: A puppeteer technique, control anyone to your will with a single touch, or if they touch you by mistake. It works just as well on gods. The person who has been corrupted will lose every sense of themselves and will only follow your lead. Time: 3.9 seconds.

Boop: A odd name but a deadly technique. Can disintegrate anyone’s body from the inside and cause them to explode. Time: Instantly.

Ctrl Alt Delete: A genocide technique, can eradicate any mutiverse in sight, no matter which one it may be. Time: 5.4 seconds.

Otherworldly Transportation: Similar to the Blackhole Star technique, but allows you to visit the real world, different fandoms, etc. Time: Instantly.

Puppet Eyes: Simply able to control anyone just by looking at them and controlling them with your eyes. Time: No limit.

Omni Blasters (Unlimited): Technically Gaster Blasters, but you can summon as many as you like. Time: Instantly.

All of these incredible techniques, these beautiful creations crafted by the gods themselves. Xirus couldn’t help but wonder why his father was keeping this from him. But that didn’t really matter at this point. He trained himself every day to master each technique with ease. Within the next 100 years he would have his sweet revenge. He would show them all the real power of a God.

Timeskip to 100 years later

Xirus was crowned emperor and his father hosted a coronation to celebrate. Although his father forgotten about the book and what he had almost done all those years ago, Xirus was still not over it. In this current time he wasn’t ruling over just the outcodes, but the incodes to. And over the past 100 years, he had really grown to hate the mortals just as much as he hated his father.

He saw them as nothing but selfish, greedy, irredeemable weaklings who did nothing but killed each other and start wars simply because they knew they could. One day he had enough of watching the world go up in flames and decided to put an end to these worms by traveling to earth and causing a worldly genocide. Killing every monster, human, man, woman, child, it didn’t matter.

He had always been focused on bad apples and never bothered to acknowledge the good ones, some that could’ve potentially saved his outlook on the world. This broke him. He was starting to enjoy hearing the screams of the weak, the cries, the begs for mercy. But this was the last straw, the last bit of remorse in him dried up like a shriveled raisin. He became the monster everyone feared in the legends….

Empress Charla was the first to discover what her monster of a son had done with her universal sight seeing powers. She cried, realizing she failed her son. And now their family was forever broken. Before she can tell anyone else what he did, Xirus activated puppet eyes and had her kill two guards in such a gruesome manner. He feigned horror as soon as his father entered the room. Labeling his own mother as a traitor who’s gone psycho and needed to be stopped.

Xavier with genuine horror and disbelief on his face, was absolutely speechless. He was oblivious to the fact that she was under their son’s control. Xirus begin to put his plan into action and ordered the other guards who just entered to have his mother killed by morning as she couldn’t be “saved” anymore.

Of course they were hesitant because this was the empress who they have served for over a decade, then again, they weren’t here to question, they were here to follow orders. The next day she was killed in front of everyone in the empire. Xirus showed absolutely no empathy or remorse for his actions. Of course everyone else couldn’t believe what had just happened, the rumors of the empress killing two guards spread like wildfire. Some refused to believe that she could possibly do something so… horrific.

Xiro and Xelter had watched their mother die in cold blood and their brother was just smiling like this was some type of sick joke. Xelter didn’t wanna believe the rumors, but sadly, the weight was too much for him to bear. After that horrific day, nobody was allowed to speak of what happened, or else they would meet the same fate. So Xiro and Xelter were forced to keep it to themselves.

Eventually, everybody moved on. As if this was just a sick dream. However, the once mighty emperor Xavier would never forget what happened. In fact, the trauma was so hard to cope with, it ended up driving him to the brink of insanity. Xirus saw this as a moment of vulnerability, and decided to put him out of his misery.

“Poor father. You should’ve known that someday I would find out about you sealing me from existence completely. All because your pride couldn’t handle me being more powerful than you. Hm? You don’t know what I’m talking about? Heh, it seems old age finally caught up with you, you’ve been forgetting a lot of things lately. Well, in a couple more seconds it won’t matter anymore. You lost this game of war the moment you believed you ever had a chance of claiming victory.”

He ended his father right there and then. Soon after he knew his empire would start questioning where the previous emperor was and would start to get worried, so he took matters into his own hands by erasing everyone’s memories on the ship to believing his father never existed to begin with, as well as his mother.

He decided to leave the AU Xirustale behind him as it was no longer worth anything to him, his loyal soldiers following behind. This opened his eyes to endless possibilities. He had a whole world out there to explore now, but not just for bird watching. He wanted everyone to know the name which was Emperor Xirus Corrupto. With his growing empire, he manipulated millions of strong individuals into joining his forces. He was growing fast by the day, it was hard to tell how many soldiers he had working for him.

He convinced strong entities and anomalies such as himself to becoming allies with him. Such as: Error 404, King Mutiverse, Error, etc. He became unstoppable, he became what everybody feared in the legends of his AU, he became the monster his father feared he would be. He became the monster that would change his brother’s perspective on him in general. And finally, he became the monster known as-

THE OMNIPOTENT OF CHAOS!!!

The End: The Corrupto Family’s Story.

(the remake of this story took me so long ugh-)

[drunkkenobi]

Your mysterious spreadsheet gremlin here with a quick Mystery Files recap:

Once again, I'd like to point out how useless "trending" is as a youtube thing. Only the first three episodes of MF trended, however Sky Trumpets has, by far, performed the best. Trending, I will never understand you.

I think it's a little premature to say for sure, but it seems like the Ryan hosted episodes did perform a bit better than the Shane ones. But I don't think this really means anything, it could of course be the subjects not the host, and with only 6 episodes total, it's hard to definitively derive concrete trends. But I will definitely be interested to see if that continues in s2.

Sky Trumpets also gained the channel like 40k subscribers the week it came out. I don't track this consistently, so it's approximate, but still cool.

Mystery Files overall did not outperform Ghost Files, as I expected, but it is Watcher's second best performing show by a mile. With their third best performing show, Puppet History, on deck, I'll be interested to see how that show does now that we're on the other side of lore heavy season 5 and with New Bigger Professor.

And for posterity, as of June 26, 2023, Watcher has 300 videos with a total of 308,835,434 views and 2.64 million subscribers. The average per video view for this is actually down to 1.029 million views per video from 1.034 that I recorded in May. But YouTube rolled a new feature out in May, the Shorts, which are just YouTube trying to copy Tiktok for some fuckin' reason, and it counts those as proper videos alongside the weekly releases. I also assume it counts the total views that the channel has from those as well SO, I subtracted the total amount of views of the shorts (~2,358,000) from the total views above and got 306,477,464 views and divided by 283, the number of videos minus the 17 shorts, and got 1.082 million views per video. PHEW. That was annoying. Not guaranteed I will continue to watch this as closely as now, but there we go.

[cherrymoonvol6]

ok nvm i'll elaborate right now

i think one of the many weird choices in the finale was to make belos possess raine out of all people. one, because it really comes out of the blue. when has belos ever shown any interest of raine? like, i'm sure he must be aware of raine's record of plotting against the establishment, but he never deals with them himself. instead he sends a plethora of other people to do it for him (darius, eberwolf, kikimora, terra). if anything, it is terra that has a bone to pick with them. and in a parallel work where raine got more to do, i believe terra and raine's dynamic would've been something really interesting to explore. kinda like the relationship between atreus and odin in GOW ragnarok, like this "okay i know you hate me and all that i stand for, but i see potential in you so i'll take you under my wing and prove to you that i am worth of your time and loyalty" kinda thing, which is a banger dynamic btw.

but the second part is that there are two way more attractive options. the first one, immediately on demand, is darius. ofc it would take some canon time of developing that dynamic between belos and darius (it pains me that it doesn't exist), but it would make sense that belos would keep a close eye on darius. after all, he was mentored and was a good friend of the previous golden guard, and it's implied in various scenes (mostly ASIAS) that he knows enough about hunter's "ancestors" to praise him when he doesn't follow orders, and ultimately play the long-con to betray belos. he may even be aware in some sense of belos killing the previous golden guard, or even the existence of the grimwalkers. in that case, it would make sense that belos would have built some resentment towards him that ultimately shows in the choice to possess, corrupt and kill his puppeteer-ed body. but then, there's an even better option here, and a character that belos has hide a long-time resentment against: lilith.

look, if belos remembers luz from all those years ago, then he abso-fucking-lutely remembers lilith as well. and in a sense you can interpret the actions in canon as him trying to exert his personal vendetta against her: keep her close in the emperor's coven, trying to get her sister to join and get branded with a sigil with the promise that he'll cure her from her curse, all this while knowing that she would eventually betray him and join luz's side. we know belos kept her close for a reason and he knows the extent of her abilities, her history and relationship with eda, and her weaknesses as well. belos possessing lilith, then, would not only be the definitive "fuck you" to her, but could've also been an effective way to provoke eda emotionally and lead her to abandon her hideout to confront him. and honestly, from the way belos acts in that scene in FTF, his reaction to finding the best candidate to possess would make so much more sense if it was lilith and not raine.

but like, aren't lilith and raine just... insanely similar characters in the show's narrative? both are figures of eda's past, who loved each other sincerely back in simpler times, and through plot-related actions (raine's reason is much better narratively though, IMO) abandoned eda and joined the opposing side, climbing the ranks through their powerful abilities until becoming important figures in the coven circle. trying to think about the things i'd change in canon to make raeda a better couple involve making them go through similar plot beats that eda and lilith have gone through: an emotional, powerful moment where raine has to choose between their position of power and eda's wellbeing, actual tension between them (resentment and guilt from eda's side, frustration and confusion from raine's side), situations where they are forced to colaborate and their chemistry can still come through but still their dynamic is permeated by those lingering wounds... like, all of those things are stuff that already happened in canon, between eda and lilith. there's even that moment in king's tide where eda has the same somber moment with raine and lilith before executing their sabotage:

to me, it event seems like lilith got a lot of attention and development with eda in S1 and early S2 and then her character got sidelined when raine started to appear, and simultaneously: how raine's backstory and conflict of interest with eda are pretty much an afterthought but they still get to be a key player in the plot through late S2 and S3. i'm really sorry that economic character construction has to work this way, but that's how it is: you don't get to give eda a sister and a significant other and then make those two characters the same one. you have to commit to just one and integrate all aspects onto them.

[12pt-times-new-roman]

c3e77

"You volunteered to be the recon team that goes to the moon" what a fucking sentence.

Laudna, Fearne, and Imogen go wandering around the castle. Laudna guides them; she wasn't just someone who got picked by Delilah, she would also often take refuge in the tunnels beneath the castle and steal things from it like a mouse in the walls. She also says that she was "captured" before being brought to the dining hall, rather than having been invited there for a nice dinner like she'd said before.

Imogen summons a reiloran to..... unlock a door for her. She's able to summon multiple types of reilorans; this one is a Hexmind, and I'd guess that this one has skills, another type has melee attacks, and a third has ranged attacks.

In the room that Delilah used as a bedroom, they find a hidden chamber: it's filled with strangely-shaped furniture, desks, contraptions, equipment -- like a laboratory. More than that, it was a torture chamber, with refined residuum dust all across the floor and hungry shadows. Initiative!

Laudna's ability is actually called hunger of the shadow-shard. It allows her to absorb the target's soul, and deals 4d8 necrotic damage on a successful melee attack. The creature takes no damage (it's immune to necrotic), and recognizes Delilah within her -- the form of dread looks more like Delilah than ever before, with a choker around her neck and a second pair of shoulders over hers.

As the shadows fall, they all hear a voice: "Loyal servants of the castle. They were all useful subjects." It's Delilah's voice, emanating from Laudna. "It's interesting; you found some of my old additions to the castle grounds. A place to keep Sylas to rest, a place to experiment -- it's nice to see it again. [What am I to you? Are there others like me?] There are no others like you. [So I'm your only thread to the material world.] As I am yours. You have been dead for a very long time. I am the only thing that keeps you here. So let us put aside these strange and unnecessary quarrels and instead,maybe, do some great things together. I'm sure you've many questions -- well? What is it you wish to know?"

What are you after? I wish nothing more than to see history come to its natural close. I want to outlive this world, to uncover its mysteries and keep them to myself. What's so wrong with that?

You may live to see the day, then, unless you help us defeat Predathos. I do not push against your goals. Truth be told, Our interests are quite aligned. I leant you my gifts because you need them and I need you; I should hope thta offers you some solace. [Vecna] has little to gain from the destruction of the gods; I gave up everything to create one. His power is through you, as well. He -- I -- do not wish to see that taken by the enemy of ancient insolence.

And if Vecna goes away? So do we.

Delilah wants Laudna to devour more magic -- she recalls absorbing the gnarlrock, the soul from Bordor, the hunger. Life, power -- and if Laudna grants enough to her, she may be able to separate their souls while keeping Laudna intact. With a new body and new power, the first thing she would do is to bring Sylas back.

"I didn't choose this!" "No. But fate's a fickle mistress, isn't she?"

Delilah also senses that Fearne has the potential to become something terrible and beautiful, a meeting of realms. She recalls looking through a mirror into possible futures,

Imogen, she says, is the child of the god-eater -- "fate itself fears you, and rightly so. No one knows the limits of what you can do, what you're capable of if you should find out... where one like you would normally draw the eyes of the gods, you are anathema to them. You might be the one to choose the future of this world, if your mother doesn't make it first."

"Imogen, I need you to make me a promise. If something happens to me, the greatest honor you could give would be to move on. To be happy. To live, to live! I am quite literally a dead end. If anything happens and I become her little puppet, I trust you to make the right choice." I don't know why but this feels..... unearned, somehow.

Scavenging the room, they find nothing of use.

As they leave, Delilah creeps into Laudna's mind again. "Let us work together. Despite everything, I do care for you." "Let's do beautiful and terrible things together."

And to break!

The morning opens with a lovely little speech from Orym to Fearne. "I got you something." "What?" "I stole it!" "What?!" He gives her the spyglass he stole from the skeleton pirates!

For Chetney, he's doing this because he wants to go to the moon, yes, but also because he wants to be remembered. He's getting old, so he wants to leave his mark on the world -- for him, it's about legacy, planting seeds in a garden he'll never get to see. (i'm SORRY--)

Orym wants to avenge his husband and Derrig, wants to protect the Tempest, yes -- but if his life is lost in defense of all the lives on Exandria, or in defense of the Bells Hells, then it is well-spent. "But what about you? What's your happy ending?" "Tomorrow."

It's snowing in Whitestone, and Ashton doesn't know what sledding is. They decide to take the day to have fun, to remind themselves that they at least love each other even when they don't like each other, and to remember why they're not gonna kill each other when the stupid decisions eventually come.

Allura and Cassandra are supposed to arrive in the afternoon, so the Bells Hells disperse throughout the city to spend the time.

Imogen goes to the temple of the Dawnfather. It's certainly interesting that, between the structure of this temple, the attitude and vocabulary of the arbiter, and the General Vibe of the Place, this place is the most like a real-life Christian church I think we've experienced in Exandria thus far. Regardless, there's a massive difference between the way the Dawnfather's temple receives a non-believer versus temples of, say, the Matron (who has twice granted literal visions to people who have never once prayed to her).

But she prays anyway. "I don't know if you can hear me, but I hope you know we're trying to fix things for y'all, and if everything goes right then hopefully you'll have the power to help us in return. I'm not looking to make any deals, I know that's not something you're supposed to do with gods, but I could really use your help with her -- I know you're more powerful, I know you are, and I guess I could call that faith. But anyway, I'm gonna try real hard to help you. Thanks." She leaves the door slightly ajar as she leaves, and glancing up, she immediately sees the snow-dappled statue of the Matron looming over the graveyard, over the figure of Vax'ildan, the cold vision of death. A raven takes off into the snow. There is no warmth, and there is no response.

Orym heads to the Whitestone expansion of Gilmore's Glorious Goods. The storefront is bare, picked clean by the war effort. He buys 3 basic healing potions, a potion of heroism, and some pastries from Pike's bakery.

Ashton and Fearne go on a walk to the clocktower. "Could you imagine being so pasionate about your life that you'd do something like this? Up until recently, I would've said no... if everything goes terrible, your Nan is going to miss you so much. But if everything goes terrible, no one's gonna miss me, because everyone who would care would be right there with me."

y'all my Rockwild heart is thriving-- "well, when I said sister, you know I meant... I mean, you're hot and otherwise, you've got it going on--"

fuck. Ashton trusts someone. They trust Fearne to make the right decision, and they trust themselves to let Fearne make the right decision, and they are so convinced that they were never meant to have anything but if Fearne survived and they didn't they know that someone will miss them.

but Ashton wants Fearne to be their acomplice in allowing them to absorb the second shard, even against the will of everyone else in the group, just because they think that it is what's meant to happen. they want it to be Fearne and them alone, when the transfusion happens, because they don't think Fearne will try to stop them. "do what you can, and if I'm not okay, it's not your fault."

"Well, I-- I think you're pretty hot too." And Fearne runs the fuck away

They reconvene in the war room with Cassandra, Percy, and Allura.

I'm not transcribing all of this, there's a ridiculous amount of information here, so here are the highlights.

Residuum seems to be mostly unaffected by the solstice, and it is very uncommon for people to understand the workings of complex machines, so Percy offers a way to scramble their automatons to cause a distraction (and suddenly, this ornery old man has a Christmas-morning sparkle in his eye); they're essentially arcane EMPs. There are only 2, and FCG takes both.

They've also agreed that an onslaught of magical illusions would provide sufficient distraction en masse. It sounds like Allura will be the point-person for this, and on top of her being a 20th-level wizard, her magic will be amplified by the nexus point at the key.

The Hells are given a number of magical items: 2 scrolls of mass nondetection; 1 scroll of greater restoration (for Ryn); 1 scroll of dimension door; 2 potions of greater healing; 1 potion of superior healing; 1 potion of speed; 2 potions of gaseous form; and a bejeweled baking sheet worth 1000gp (the material component for heroes' feast).

Next is the matter of Ludinus' vest and the titan shard. First, the place: at the prompting of Cassandra, Percy leads them through well-carved, well-guarded pathways to a chamber; there are researchers here, in this cavern crowned by massive roots, and they climb the steps of the Ziggurat.

(I cannot believe that Travis resisted the urge to use grim psychometry on this place--)

I also can't believe that the Bells Hells are just...... okay with Ashton and Fearne doing this alone. They're not even questioning Ashton's extremely shifty behavior here, insisting that everyone goes away before someone puts the harness on. It legit feels out of character for them to just leave (especially Orym, with his absolutely ridiculous passive insight, and Percy, who's about to leave two near-complete strangers to do whatever they will at the top of this ziggurat).

There's something that's just so incredibly frustrating and wrong about this encounter and I really don't know what it is.

Ashton puts the harness on, and Fearne puts the crystal into it. They feel warmth in their chest, and it begins to blossom -- warm to hot to burning -- the golden fractures on Ashton's skin glow orange. The heat feels like something is trying to awaken, like a second heartbeat, a dormant organ -- it flexes, their shoulder lurches, and the heat goes there. It cracks and falls, shatters on the ground. "Don't you dare--"

The heat spreads, and through Ashton's grin, their ear shatters on the ground. The gold is molten, running, the rock of his skin is smoldering. The crystal loses its color, crumbles, and falls away; Ashton's chest is glowing like a furnace, their body expands slightly, and with each lurch -- like an earthquake that changes tectonic plates -- parts of them fall away.

Ashton fails a saving throw, they close their eyes and look to Fearne -- where their eyes were, there are coals that emit burning light, their body shakes -- another shift, their chest expands, and their right arm falls and shatters.

They start to run up the ziggurat. Ashton staggers toward FCG, FCG puts up a death ward, Fearne casts aura of life, Imogen uses telekinesis to keep Ashton together. None of it's going to work, Ashton is going to fucking die here -- and as much as I do think that Orym, Laudna, and FCG acted incredibly out of character, I also think that, with the context of Molly's death, Matt is giving a fucking masterclass in acting. I genuinely cannot tell whether he's legitimately distraught about Ashton definitely dying here, or if he's putting on a show because he knows that Ashton is coming out the other side of this changed.

"You are a man, currently holding two bombs on the verge of detonation." The gold parts of his body glows bright-hot, his face tenses, and beams of sheer white light shine into the roots of the Sun Tree and Ashton shatters -- until his ring of temporal salvation pulls him back together. They have five rounds to keep them up for.

Their only hope right now is to keep ahead of the damage, but Laudna has already given up and is trying to drag Imogen and Chetney back out of Allura's protective sphere even though she has some perfectly good healing spells in her arsenal. The party is in triage mode, they're throwing everything at this, but they only have a few more rounds to go, and Chetney and Laudna have done absolutely fucking NOTHING.

"Have you not realized that I'm a hypocrite?!" Ashton my beloved

FCG's aura of vitality is saving the fucking day here, and this only supports my hypothesis that it is the best fucking healing spell in the game.

"anyone wanna use up any more healing spells they have here?" Laudna, who has wither and bloom: *silence*

with everything that Matt has said, doing this should've killed Ashton instantly. But because of 2/3rds of the rest of their group, and a couple lucky rolls, and an overpowered spell or two--

"There's a moment where you think he's gone. And then, he erupts in steam, filling the entirety of the ziggurat with mist. You pull back, the heat burning your eyes, and you can't help but cough -- and as it passes, you look over and see Ashton there, cooling. Unmoving."

Ashton sits up, and where their arm was, there is a heavy, muscular, molten-rock arm replacing what they lost. It glows, and where gold once was, there is now just cracks of orange in the crust atop magma. "Thank you for trusting me. Thank you for saving me." Fearne just kicks him in the face with a hoof. "I am never trusting you again!"

They stand beneath the roots of the Sun Tree, and for whatever loss this place has seen, at least something was saved here.

[dachshund-games]

Ok I've seen nothing but countless theories about puppet history lately but here's my it's-not-10pm-and-im-actually-coherent take

See this box right here? This generator looking bitch? Well, she's got a tube that's connected to the stage. The professor was being really defensive about it AND we got that close up of the box. She's gonna be important I can feel it.

Next: What's up with the professor's lighting? Does it seem more red than normal? I went back and looked through some old episodes and in the beginning it's always more of a purpleish blue. Even across seasons this lighting stays the same. Like look at these two shots. The first is from the Pinkerton episode, the second is from the new one. The new one even seems more washed out and less rich than the other.

Next, the glitch at 13:11. When I first saw it I thought it was my computer being weird, but then I went back and saw it happen again. I've looked at that glitch so many times. While this may be completely incorrect, the colors of the glitch kinda match the colors of Asmodeus. And if it's not that, it's a glitch in the power supply from that generator and our little blue ballsack is a hologram or something similar. For the life of me I can't get a sc of the glitch so just go back and watch it.

Now, the weird voice at 13:50 (and other places). I saw someone else say that this is a genie voice, and I honestly can't tell if he's impersonating the noise the algorithm machine makes or that the genie (or whatever thing is controlling the professor) fucked up talking for a sec and he went haywire.

Now, this may just be me, or does the professor look more sinister this season? We know he has a weird fascination with flesh but something about the eyes seem wrong. Under the lighting in the theater they look completely red as opposed to their normal brown. I don't think that they're using a different puppet but who knows.

And, at 20:09, Ryan says "You know a lot about ghosts, professor." and the professor replies "Yeah, yeah I do." Now, this may just be another callback to ghost files, but also, could the professor be a ghost himself? Or met ghosts when he was canonically dead?

ALSO, RYAN WON? But, I went through the video (and while I may have counted wrong) Sara got 4 points while Ryan only got 3. Is this going to be a pattern where Ryan always wins?

In conclusion, I didn't cover every single thing in this post, and I might not, but here are my takes for now. More episodes are gonna have to come out to know for sure about some of these things, and I am very excited for when they do.

[tempenensis]

Unraveling the Gosanke (the Three Great Families),  the Proud Jujutsushi Noble Families

(this is translation of jjk info extra pages in the Jump Giga Autumn 2022, for the Gosanke info. Akutami-sensei’s QAs translation is here)

The Gosanke

The three noble family lineage already existed more than 1000 years ago during the golden era of Jujutsu, the Heian age.

Zenin clan

A battle clan that is controlled by their reverence of talent and power.

They respect talent as jujutsushi more than anything else to the point that even your relatives will oppress you if you don't have jutsushiki. They are self-righteous and still retain the philosophy of older generation so their combat ability is high, contributing to the jujutsu society through their formation of unique combat organizations.

Family head Fushiguro Megumi

The user of inherited technique Ten Shadows Technique. He never lived as one of the Zenin up to now, but he becomes the family head after Gojou got sealed.

26th Family head Zenin Naobito

The user of Projection curse technique. Aside from Gojou, he is called as the fastest jujutsushi.

Zenin Naoya

The son of Naobito who also uses Projection curse technique. He is ranked first in the strongest jujutsushi organization in Zenin family, “Hei”.

Fushiguro Touji

He has zero curse energy, but in exchange, his physical strength is extraordinarily high. Physically gifted.

Zenin Maki

She was oppressed because her curse energy remained at the level of a normal person (non-jujutsushi). She sets her aim to be the family head of Zenin family, so she gets out of the house and enrols to the technical college.

Zenin Mai

She has Construction curse technique which able to create various things. She is aware that she is the reason of why Maki can’t get stronger.

The inherited Technique of Zenin family

Ten shadows technique: The ability to summon shikigami by using shadow as medium. There are 10 varieties of shikigami excluding the expansion technique. Within it, there is also one shikigami which has never been able to be subdued by any ten shadow users from generation to generation.  

Projection technique: Splitting 1 second into 24 frames in advance before the target moves, the user traces the movement of the target. The target is also forced to move in 1/24 second frame.

After this

Mai, by using her own death, elevates Maki to become a strong individual at another level. After this, Maki destroys the Zenin family. The sentence to expulse Zenin family from Gosanke is currently on hold.

(2nd page under the cut)

Kamo family

The core of conservatives who values tradition and lineage

An orthodox clan with ancient and honoured origin. They are especially close to the upper echelon of jujutsu world. However, the Kamo family has a stain that can’t ever be wiped—because in their past, Kamo Noritoshi appeared from this family, who left his name as the worst jutsushi in history.

Former family head Kamo Noritoshi (young)

He possesses the Blood manipulation technique, therefore he is welcomed to the Kamo family to falsify being the legitimate heir. He wanted to create a place to belong for his oppressed mother.

Clan head Kenjaku

He has jutsushiki of moving into another body and able to change into various bodies. Currently, he is using Getou’s body.

Kamo Noritoshi (old)

He lived 150 years ago during early Meiji era. He conceived child of curse spirits in human and created the “Kusouzu”.

The inherited technique of Kamo family

Blood Manipulation technique: A curse technique able to manipulate one’s blood. It can let out various attacks such as blood compression, release, molding, or manipulating components. Regardless, it’s a flexible, all-purpose jutsushiki.

After this 

After the Shibuya incident, (the Kamo family) is taken by Kenjaku. The proud and distinguished family of jujutsushi is now reduced into a curse user’s puppet.

Gojou family

The strongest One-man player in the current age

A family descendants from one of the Three Great Vengeful Spiritsof Japanand also well-known as a jujutsushi, Sugawara no Michizane. It is said that the strength of the family head Gojou Satoru itself = the strength of Gojou family power. Therefore, he can do various unreasonable things in the jujutsu world.

Clan head Gojou Satoru

He uses the combination of Limitless curse technique and Six eyes, the strongest jujutsushi in the current age that acknowledged not only by himself, but also others.

The inherited technique of Gojou family

Limitless Curse technique: A technique that controls “infinity”. The user who is able to create infinity can force non-aggression. The attack power using pulling force and pushing force is tremendous.

Six eyes: Capable of curse energy detection and curse technique reading, the user can possibly manipulate curse energy to a fine level. Two people who possess Six eyes can’t exist at the same time, they have rare unique constitution.

After this

The family head who holds the entire “power” of Gojou family is now sealed. Not only Gojou family, it has become a disaster that involves the entire Japan.

[two-bit-socrates]

SPOILERS FOR SEASON 5 EPISODE 5 OF PUPPET HISTORY

My thoughts on the latest episode:

6:51 seconds into the show - the vibes are certainly hostile in this one.

10:30 seconds into the show - I like how The Professor kind of almost but not quite stumble's into the premise of Alan Moore's From Hell. Note to anyone reading this who may want to check that out - look up content warnings if you need content warnings cause it's a lot.

14:40 seconds into the show - This discussion has unlocked a childhood wish of what I wanted done with my body after death: Preserved in some see through material posed like a horrific monster and placed in a cemetery in lieu of a gravestone. :D

20:45 seconds into the show - I love how this is just 18th century Grey's Anatomy with Dr. McDreamy at this point

30:56 into the show - OMG I was off by one percent!

38:15 into the show - My theory was pretty close*

*No it wasn't**

**I did notice the fur being lighter in the first episode of this season

39:25 into the show - Honestly I'm not opposed to the third wish but yea there's always a catch

40:19 into the show - Actually, this may be the covid bivalent booster brain fog talking but part of my theory is still possible, kinda. 42:12 into the show - Mr. Burns has nothing on this music number 44:11 into the show - Listen, we've all been there. Covid has been hard on all of us. Final thought - I think god might have fucked up to be honest.

[humanoidtyphoons]

ep 19!!!

-vash/wolfwood absolutely being dumb and dumber together living in each other's pockets and dehydrating in the desert!!!! getting rescued by a stranger, and then bickering about their next destination. cuties!!

-hell yeah angelina ii gets a name!!!!! how much wolfwood loves that bike!!!

-peak wolfwood and vash squabbling over who is going to pay over pasta, talk philosophy with their opposing viewpoints, and about the nature of actual typhoons, and then wolfwood in full dumbass mode 100% believed vash turned into kuroneko before going wait a fucking second-- and is forced to pay the restaurant while vash ditched him!! they're so cute!!! i want so much more of their adventures where they travel together as idiots!!

-love seeing the bernardelli office workers! meryl saying that vash isn't that bad... sounds awfully close to admitting you have a crush on him!!! love that milly is now on window washing duty, as punishment for arriving late to work 20 times.

-them chasing vash in the sand steamer, and also going no not again :((( to another hold up is SO cute. life is never easy for poor ole meryl, but at least she has milly by her side! also did milly teach meryl how to use her stungun bc um?? they're so married!

-i do enjoy vash retreading old haunts, ofc people have met him before and know he's not that bad as the rumours say. but it's still... sweet to see, 10 years later, vash has friends in places. we may not know the history there, but... it's wholesome. and they tease him that he's not wearing his usual red clothes, he's still dressed as eriks.

-kinda amazed that vash is serious for a lot of the episode tbh? like he's being goofy with wolfwood, but in a comfortable way, but even during the ransom he got caught up in, it's incredible to see that he's not masking into silly cartoony antics like he did in the first half of the show. (him standing on the ceiling to slam two guys head's together might disprove that but... yk, it's efficient and quick.)

-ngl i love wolfwood just listening outside because the loud speakers are on, so everyone can hear what's going on in the building, especially vash's murder song~~~ wolfwood just smokes a cigerette, and lets vash handle it, curious to see what he'll do, cynical in spite of vash's optimism.

-and yeah, no one dies, and vash is relieved.

-meryl/vash reunion!!!! it's so cute!!! she's relieved that he's alright, and afterwards, she hands him a handkerchief, and they just sit quietly on the dry hills, saying it's been a while... ugh, my heart.

-wolfwood saying go easy on the good guy stuff, alright? he cares in his own way, but ah, that cynical viewpoint is cracking, he cares when he knows he shouldn't.

-love the puppet man! love that legato doesn't do a thing, and yet i'm glad he features at the very end!

-anyway, the ot4 are together again, and i'm so happy for them!!!

[bramblesramblesintoshambles]

The Eclipse Dungeon (Part IV)

This will likely be the last of these posts, it took me a little time to create a map of this area. I also had to settle on monster levels for this area as well as determine what monsters to use. To start I'm going to talk about some narrative stuff to do with this dungeon. Advise on healing, communicate expectations for this part as it is meant to be a boss battle. Again, I'm not very experienced in all this and while I'm looking forward to someday using this I've not had a chance to yet. So please, any feedback would be lovely!

-Art from Black Miners Museum.

The Calm Before The Storm

After completing all three puzzles, and defeating the animated armour sets, your party will find the third barrier is gone. Specific details of its appearance or design should be up to the game master running this adventure. However, I'd advise describing it as a large set of doors which were once blocked and now are free to open. They have not opened by themselves. Keeping these closed allows players a moment to think tactically, perhaps take a Quick Heal depending on their current HP and other factors. Before they open this door, be sure to describe how a new message has appeared above it. Characters who translated the script above the entrance to the first maze have advantage on this. Otherwise translation requires an Intelligence/Wisdom check, adding any applicable backgrounds, with a normal (11+) level of challenge. Skills which would be sensible are any relating to ancient history, languages, cultures, myths, etc. Again, those of human and elf lineage (or those with the linguist feat) only require a 6+ to succeed. If translated the message reads: "Long ago the moon clung to the sun and plunged a kingdom into darkness". A failure only grants them any words shared from the previous translation (if they succeeded on that check).

-Art taken from Dungeon Solvers.

This is also a good time to check in with your players, some like touch upon their one unique thing and how it relates to their circumstances. A young woman prophesised to defeat the Lich might be seeking arcane secrets to aid in her task, information on her foe from lost civilisations. An older man seeking glory might recall how his childhood friends all left to make their fortune and consider he may just catch up to them yet. A person of indeterminant age might worry about the village relying upon them for one mysterious reason or another and find the resolve to grow stronger. At this point ask each to roll for their Icon relationships. Successes may allow the GM to give pieces of mechanical advice sprinkled through role play of recalled conversations. It's relatively easy to offer a mechanical benefit otherwise. Such as +1 to attacks against Mooks. Or advantage on Saves, or attempts to Disengage. However, at this point, your players should be ready to step through that door.

The Eclipse Queen

Players will find themselves in a long hallway, wider than those of the mazes or labyrinth. As they move down it, on the walls are images of a fierce battle. On one wall The Eclipse King, in his reanimated glory, stands ready to face legions. The other wall depicts The Eclipse Queen, as she puppets the armour of those sent to defeat her. This stretches on for a two minute walk, the walls only depicting further soldiers, archers, mages. Two nations worth of combatants combined into a singular force to defeat them. The last third, however, is different. Rain pours down from the ceiling above (all in the rain are Vulnerable 1 to Cold and Lightning damage and have Resistance 4 to Fire damage). One path, which grows ever narrower is to the left. Another, guarded by various pieces on animated armour is to the right. Beyond these she guards a gilded door, The Eclipse Queen, ready to do battle once more.

So starting with the rough distances of this space. Generally from the start of the battle map they could not reach the second purple heart with a move action. The first is considered close and can be engaged with easily. The second is nearby and could be reached with a move action. The rest follow this logic, being far away or beyond this. Thankfully there are two solutions to this in the form of two paths towards The Eclipse Queen.

The path on the left requires you to move single file. Attempting to move ahead of your allies pushes them aside into the water. A move action can take you to the end of one section, given that characters have to move carefully. The next section requires a Dexterity check, adding applicable skills, to walk across and requires a 7+ to succeed. The section after that requires the same check with a 14+ now needed to be successful. However, from the end of the second section The Eclipse Queen is considered far away (within range of spellcasting). Additionally, the animated suits of armour cannot balance on these narrow walkways. Falling into the water causes you to become waterlogged and gain Vulnerable 3 to Lightning or Cold damage, until the end of the battle. However they also gain Resistance 8 to Fire damage. After falling, a character can use their move action on their next turn to climb back on but until then they are hampered. Out of combat characters can navigate these sections easily, taking their time to cross them at their leisure.

The right is vastly more simple, as players can pass by one another without pushing each other into water. They simply have to fight the mooks which block their path. These are more animated suits of armour, which will begin to approach players they can reach. Unlike previous animated armour these are Mooks with a Monster Level 1. Use the table below for their stats. I'd also advise giving them immunities to various conditions as discussed previously, however is the mechanics of these can be reasonably explained there's little need. Additionally, these are Vulnerable 2 to Thunder damage. In terms of appearance, they are a blend of silver plate and brass mail. If descriptions of such armour are included in the description of the first maze they should be described as similar if blood stained and foul smelling. Beyond that you should be good to go for these!

-Image from 13th Age SRD webpage.

Beyond these smaller enemies is The Eclipse Queen. She wears a pale silk dress which clings to her slender body in the rain, over this is silver plate armour. When approached she will say in archaic elvish: "We will not be parted" before attacking. She uses the same stats as a Drow Spider-Mage. However it would be accurate and appropriate to rename her to a Drow Puppet Mage. Several abilities in the stats below will be renamed or altered to help her feel unique. If an alteration is not mentioned or described, assume it follows the stats below. It is important to offer a reminder that all creatures in this area have the vulnerabilities and resistance from the rain in this room.

-Image from the 13th Age SRD webpage.

These are all the things which must be changed:

In order the changes for marked out sections are as follows:

Puppet-Mage

Eclipse Fire

Holy Damage

Eclipse Damage

Crashing Wave

On a hit targets take 5 damage and are pushed 5 feet in a direction of your choice. If used when the escalation die is odd this is once per battle, if used on an even escalation then it's at will.

Puppet-Mage

Puppet-Mage

Puppet Master: Any time an enemy targets the puppet-mage with a melee attack a nearby, unengaged, puppet can move and attack the enemy as a free action.

(Additionally) The Puppet-Mage should have access to Ray of Frost as a 1st Level Spell.

(Additionally) If the Puppet-Mage has no puppets as a free action once per battle she can make 1d4+1 puppets.

(Additionally) As a Drow, The Eclipse Queen has "Take Advantage of Weakness" to deal the level of an enemy in damage whenever they roll a save.

Animated suits of armour count as her puppets.

-Art by Nikki Dawes, taken from The Critical Role Fandom Wiki.

Hopefully, everyone survives this battle. Those who do will naturally gather around the body of their enemy. Only to find their resolve broken as a door behind her opens.

I guess I'm doing a part V guys. Hopefully that will be the last one!

[princeofgod-2021]

LIGHT OF LIFE 481

John 1:4

DIVINE ORDER 46: Process Of Marriage 16

Gen 2:24 FOR THIS CAUSE will a man GO AWAY FROM HIS FATHER AND HIS MOTHER AND BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE; and they will be one flesh. BBE

NAKED BEFORE MARRIAGE 8

We have approved Courtship because we see too many broken marriages and pains beyond the Nuptials. But 2 wrongs can’t make a Right.

We assume that broken marriages are because they didn’t take time to be sure of each other before going into it, hence we “advise” that they take about 6 months at least, to Court before they say “I do”.

Mat 19:4-6 Jesus answered, "Don't you know that IN THE BEGINNING THE CREATOR MADE A MAN AND A WOMAN? That's why a man leaves his father and mother and gets married. He becomes like one person with his wife. Then THEY ARE NO LONGER TWO PEOPLE, BUT ONE. And NO ONE SHOULD SEPARATE A COUPLE THAT GOD HAS JOINED TOGETHER." CEV

People have lost God! Let’s go back and “Find” Him.

Marriage is MADE of God; He does the JOINING.

God made the Man & his Wife and arranges for them to MEET, hence you must CONNECT with God to “find” HER.

If we are too weak in FAITH to receive this, then there will always be problems with Marriages.

Gen 2:21 So the LORD God caused him to fall into a DEEP SLEEP. While the man was sleeping, the LORD God took out one of the man's ribs and closed up the flesh at that place. GW

Again, we must understand that the major impression for putting the Man to SLEEP was to imply the Spiritual Capacity of KNOWING her without having seen her being MADE.

Gen 2:23 THEN THE MAN SAID, “THIS ONE AT LAST IS BONE OF MY BONES AND FLESH OF MY FLESH; this one will be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.” NET

Sincerely, if a young man cannot attain the Spiritual Capacity and responsibility to identify his wife, how will he have the Spiritual Authority to RULE the Home according to God’s will?

Please think about it.

Jacob spent 7yrs before he married, wherein you can be sure he was “Courting” Rachel, yet he didn’t recognize whom he slept with on wedding night?

Whaaaat?

Gen 29:20,23 Jacob worked seven years so that he could have Rachel, and the time seemed like only a few days to him, because he loved her…But that night, instead of Rachel, he took Leah to Jacob, and Jacob had intercourse with her. GNB

This is what shows the senselessness in Courtship. If she is God’s will for you, you don’t have to bother yourself about knowing her till after you are married to her.

Of course you remember that Jacob never had serious Spiritual Authority over his home. This Rachel was the “Vice” of his household; he was just her puppet.

We need to understand folks.

Gen 30:16 That evening when Jacob came in from the fields, Leah told him, "You're sleeping with me tonight. I HIRED YOU WITH MY SON'S LOVE FLOWERS." They slept together that night, CEV

Madam Rachel had to give permission as to who will be with Jacob per night and he seem incapable to do anything about it.

What a Man!

Anyhow, Courtship will only give room for us to open up to “strangers” that we have no future with, if God does not approve.

Mat 1:5 Salmon was the father of Boaz. (HIS MOTHER WAS RAHAB.) Boaz was the father of Obed. (His mother was Ruth.) Obed was the father of Jesse. ERV

Sometimes, we blame marital failures on lack of perspective on the spouse’s past. We may say: “you should have checked the background, Medical History, family covenants etc”.

Well, Rahab was an International Prostitute, yet she was in the Lineage of Jesus Christ. Salmon shouldn’t have married her if he considered her past or former life, right?

Wrong!

Act 10:14-15 But Peter said, “Certainly not, Lord, FOR I HAVE NEVER EATEN ANYTHING DEFILED AND RITUALLY UNCLEAN!” The voice spoke to him again, A SECOND TIME, “WHAT GOD HAS MADE CLEAN, YOU MUST NOT CONSIDER RITUALLY UNCLEAN!” NET

If God has shown you whom to marry and you discover she’s had abortions, slept with 100 men, etc & blablabla! Please go ahead and marry her.

The only criteria you need is that she is [now] born again.

May God guide your marriage all the way, IN JESUS NAME.

Come back on Monday, as we proceed in digging into this inspiring Subtopic.

Brother Prince

Friday, March 08, 2024

08055125517; 08023904307

[piecesofchess]

Queen - My Theories

I haven’t talked about Queen on my blog much, so I’m making a masterpost about my thoughts/headcanons/theories about her, since there isn’t much to work with. Keep in mind these are my own interpretations - and no one is obliged to share or agree with them.

The Moretta / Colombina Mask

The Armada’s masks are based on a real Italian celebration(Venetian Carnival) and history/theater. Regarding Queen, she happens to wear not one, but two masks. The one we most see is what’s often called a Columbine/Colombina mask(also can be referred to as a masquerade mask). It is a mask held on a stick, often decorated with feathers. Regarding the Columbine influence - it’s often a half-face mask that’s popular from one of the Commedia Dell’arte stock characters, Columbine.

--Regarding the Masquerade interpretation, they were often used for balls and social events in Renaissance, Italy(which Pirate101′s Valencia is primarily based on). They were used to assist with anonymity during these parties - sometimes for scandals or debauchery.

Queen’s second mask happens to closely resemble the Moretta mask, which is a black, round mask used to conceal the face, exclusively to women. It’s known as the “mask of seduction” since it was usually worn for the mysterious lure, and the wearer had to hold it between their teeth to wear, therefore keeping them quiet. It was up to the one wearing it whether to remain anonymous, or remove it and answer to others(revealing their face as well).

...I’ve learned that Kingsisle has put time into their research and use the Armada’s masks thoughtfully, regarding their purposes. Taking a look at Queen’s mask combination, I best assume her personality revolves around them. That she contains the outward grace/beauty of the Columbine mask, however contains the mystery and seduction of the Moretta underneath. She may present herself a certain way to other people - but under it all, she is cunning, deceitful, and working towards the Armada’s evil plans.

She leads other people astray, keeping an image of herself at all times (graceful, beautiful, elegant), but deep inside, wears a dark mask that reflects her dark purposes and intentions.

Her Role in the Armada

A somewhat-debated topic in the fandom is Queen’s relationship to Kane. I’ve had a few conversations - but essentially, I see her fulfilling the Queen’s role in chess, and Kane naturally represents the King piece. She is his counterpart and therefore the most powerful piece on the board - which brings an interesting question into play: Just how much power does she hold? Where does she stand in the Armada?

Personally, I’ve been a Kane/Queen shipper at heart and therefore believes she was crafted with a semi-purpose of being Kane’s partner. To share his beliefs and play the game together - as she shares a distaste in Pirates, and views us as an enemy. She supports Kane in the final battle like chess pieces do. In the Puppet show, we see that she has a seat beside Kane. It’s a great hint to her having just as much power - or even more - as Kane does.

Here’s where I mention my headcanons. Personally, as I see her being the misleading type, I like to think she shares an important role with forming a public image of the Armada to Valencia. She’s accompanying Kane in the throne room with King Casimir and Queen Margherita - therefore, I assume she is at Kane’s side when it comes to consulting the royalty. She may be there to keep them misguided just like Kane is doing -- regarding their public relations. She’s likely a figure high in politics(possibly Kane’s second-in-command regarding his Clockwork army? This is debatable, though.) 

-- Circling back to the Chess symbolism...the Queen is the most powerful piece in the game. She has more range and mobility than the other pieces.  This seems to hold true, as she is the only Elite in the final battle to survive against our Pirate, resurrecting herself afterwards. She looks to Kane with her mask lowered, then rises it again and laughs...which brings me to:

..Theories?

 The biggest question Pirate101 players have been left with for years now: How, and why did Queen survive? As of right now, we have no clear or definite answer. It leaves an open end to theories, and I have mine:

An important detail to remember is that Kane built Queen. And interestingly enough, he refers to her as “greatest of his creations”, implying he has high confidence in her and may have purposefully built her...different. It brings the possibility: did Kane build Queen with the intentions of surviving the battle? Did he give her an ‘extra life’, somehow? We know Kane accounted for the Pirate even making it to him -- he takes defeat into consideration, no matter how unlikely. Did he consider his demise in the final battle, and integrated a ‘backup’ plan in Queen? Or was she always intended to continue his plans, if the worst ever comes?

A more minor possibility is if Queen perhaps did it to herself - to survive this battle, if she knew no one else would. We don’t know if she has any expertise in clockwork -- but it’s not impossible, since Kane could’ve taught her what he knew before he perished. So now I will mention the possibilities of:

What Will she Do Now?

The fact of the matter is, El Dorado is *still* out there. Perhaps Queen was built to continue where Kane left off - to resume his plans to find El Dorado, if she happens to have his knowledge of the map(or his pieces, if she doesn’t). What she would do when she gets there is....another question. Perhaps build a Kane of her own? ‘Perfect’ her body, to borrow the mind and/or heart from the Golden Sentinels? Or to simply...find Kane? Wherever his mind is, or happened to land? Re-build him from there? Or perhaps she’s the one who’s after the golden riches after all? It’s open-ended, unfortunately...

Another theory of mine is that Queen simply decides to take over Valencia for herself, and overthrows the King and Queen. She may be successful, she may not(if our Pirate steps in) -- if she is, things can easily tumble from there if she strives for domination like Kane did. Perhaps she’ll continue with his ‘First World’ plan in a different way...or she just wants the power. :) She may also want to rid Phule out of the picture now that Kane’s gone and she can do so. I imagine he’d be on the run from her, if so.

A more hopeful theory(because i LOVE them urghghg), is that Queen was taught how to craft clockworks from Kane, and puts this knowledge to use. She constructs an Elite of her own, maybe even the Queen!Elites leaked from Kingsisle. They can assist her with whatever she strives to do - but they’re made to be replacements of the old Elites, perhaps similar to them, perhaps not...I just REALLY wanna see these designs in use okay??? 

[absolutebl]

This Week in BL

March 2021 Part 4

Being a highly subjective assessment of one tiny corner of the interwebs. 

This is a LONG ONE, it’s been A WEEK everyone. 

Ongoing Series - Thai

Lovely Writer Ep 5 - a little slow this week, but at least Gene finally flirted back, and very cute flirting it was, too. Also we got Aey’s motivation, background, and love interest. Thank goodness for that. 

Brothers Ep 8 - still pants, what can I say? Clearly I am a BL masochist. Very embarrassing for everyone concerned. 

1000 Stars Ep 9 - the conflict over Tian’s father was REALLY well done. The plot of this drama is excellent, the leads are great together, and yes I totally cried. What, you didn’t? 

Ongoing Series - Not Thai

Word of Honor (China) Ep 16-18 - big battle fighty fighty stabby stabby. Ep 17 switches to “this drama isn’t big enough for two chaotic-neutral godlings!” So what do they do? Drink together and bicker... A LOT. Then in Ep 18 we all get the dubious joy of really freaky puppets. (I HATE puppets.) Also how is China letting this be so SO VERY VERY GAY?  Also, I wanna walk through the forest wearing a smanshy purple robe and waving a big fuck-off white fan around simply because I’m a pretentious fuss monger. And frankly, I feel like this is an achievable life goal for me. 

We Best Love 2 (Taiwan) Ep 4 - not gonna lie, this is looking to be one of my top 3 BLs of 2021. It’s SO GOOD. Big bonus to this ep for treating stalker behavior like the mental illness it is and not as some dumb representation of enduring love. 

The Most Peaceful Place is My Place (Vietnam) Ep 1 - finally dropped (find it under NƠI BÌNH YÊN NHẤT LÀ VỀ BÊN EM on O2′s channel). It’s got actors already comfortable with BL and looks pretty good so far. An angry tsundere uke reunited with his ex, a stoic chef, giving us lots of snap, crackle, and pop out the gate. 

Dear Uranus (Taiwan GL) Ep 2 - I want to love it, but it is just moving too fast. There’s not enough character dev and then they’re throwing flashbacks in? It feels like a treatment rather than a show, and a rushed treatment at that. Bummer. 

HIStory 4: Close To You (Taiwan) Ep 2 (AKA Ep 3-4) - let the cheesy popcorn continue! Idiot remains an idiot; ingenue remains an ice queen; nice gay guy remains nice and gay; obsessive stalker brother is getting ever more whackadoddle. Of course these last two have the best chemistry. (It’s caregiver codependency and the salvation trope. We got us a Leo/Fiat situation going on.​) Plus lots of classic BL tropes because OF COURSE there are lots of tropes. 

Occasionally, I am tempted to argue that shows like H4 or Cherry Magic or Ossan’s Love aren’t technically BL because of the office setting and age of the protags - but then they all behave like high school students anyway, so *shrug* 

Stand Alones

Cute little Taiwanese micro BL Friend or Lover dropped, about bisexual realization within a friendship group. Normally these are too short for me, but this one did pretty good with its 15 minutes of charm, plus it’s abad boy + shy softy pairing. 

Breaking News - Thai BL

Fish Upon the Sky released its actual trailer. The upside-down kiss is gone, which makes everyone sad, and it seems far less rivals to lovers than the first iteration, which makes ME sad. But it still looks good and a more classic BL than GMMTV has given us in a while. New trailer focused more on the makeover trope and they’ve upped Mix’s role (the object of everyone’s affection) now that he’s proved himself. (Or they are using him more to carry the trailer since he has a fan base form 1k*). Starts April 9 on GMMTV in 1K*’s time slot, probably with a 10 ep run. 

2gether the movie is apparently coming April 22 to Thai theaters. F4 Thailand must be having issues or GMMTV just wants to milk the BrightWin cash cow. It’s rumored to be a combination of 2gehter + Still 2gether with some extra scenes and ending. Also, one assumes a lot will be cut out, if it’s movie length.

Call It What You Want released its updated trailer. If anything, it looks more scary than before. What are we in for? April 9th. 

Nitiman got a release date, May 7 on One31. 

I Told Sunset About You 2 got an updated release date of May 27 on LineTV. 

Second Chance the series is coming to LineTV on March 29. I don’t know much about this one. Tons of familiar faces (mostly TharnType side dishes) and some nice looking new talent but a dearth of eng subs. I think it may take on Brothers’ time slot. Line did eng subs for Brothers so maybe they will do 2nd Chance too? 

Close Friend the series is coming April 22. This is a combination of 6 couples with 6 story arcs as music videos (maybe)? It’s an epic fan service with familiar faces like OhmFluke (UWMA), MaxNat (LBC also in Y-Destiny), YoonLay (YYY also in Y-Destiny), KimCop (GenY), and JaFirst (TT2).

Y-Destiny starts March 30, and has starting dropping couple’s trailers. I’m still suspicious given the director but it seems like there is plot (or plots) and a theme. Looks to be a series of 7 single ep vignettes (amended, see comments, might be 2 eps each for 14 eps total), different couple each time, some with supernatural elements, all with decent chemistry and acting chops. 

Sun MaxNat’s tutor/student arc

Mon jaded rich kid meets poor innocent  

Tues sports romance enemies to lovers 

Weds the messy realistic actual dating one 

Thurs hot ghost boyfriend (sad) 

Fri YoonLayPerth coping with loss and finding new love (sad). This one will all rest on Lay's acting so we know it’s in safe hands. Our boy is going to KILL it. 

Sat time-slip memory loss reunion romance 

I’m thinking we can’t expect any of these to end happy or be classic BL. They’re gonna be more slice of life-ish. 

Gossip - BL Outside of Thailand 

Scholar Ryu’s Wedding Ceremony AKA Nobleman Ryu’s Wedding (Korean historical BL) got a legit teaser (eng sub here). @curriculumvtae​ reports that it’s releasing April 15th on WeTV (Philippines & Thailand) and Idol Romance (South Korea), while Will of Thai Bl says it’ll be on Viki too. It’s a short run of 8 ep built on a fake relationship trope (arranged marriage variant):

Ryu Ho Seon’s (Kang In Soo from You Wish) arranged marriage turns out to be with his expected bride’s brother, Choi Ki Wan (Lee Se Jin from Mr Heart). Ryu tries to undo the marriage, but his ill mother opposes this saying the scandal would be too much. Meanwhile, Kim Tae Hyeong (Jang Eui Soo from Where Your Eyes Linger), a senior at Ryu’s school, comes to congratulate him and falls in love with Choi. Then one day, the original bride disappears.

Okay it seems a bit twisty turny for ONLY 8 EPS, but oh my goodness how excited are we? Our first intentional historical BL out of Korea!

We already knew Hong Kong was doing a remake of Japan’s Ossan’s Love under the same name (not my favorite Japanese BL but so very popular) but it’s now reported to be coming to Viu in June. Who knows how the CFA will take it. Depends on whether Hong Kong bows before the NO GAY KISSES regs or if they are going to use this as a political nose thumb... things could get cray with this puppy (the original has several kisses and s shower scene). Are we back in Addicted territory only with added comedy and civil unrest?

Speaking of Japan, Absolute BL (AKA Zettai BL ni Naru Sekai vs Zettai BL ni Naritakunai Otoko) dropped sooner than anyone thought, March 27. But being Japanese who knows how/when/if we get subs. Protag finds himself trapped in a world of BL, but being straight he fights against any hot guy that draws near, but the whole world (literally) is conspiring against him. It’s a parody adapted from a yoai.

What with Absolute BL from Japan plus Lovely Writer and Call it What You Want from Thailand, is 2021 the year of BL being ultra self referential? Sure feels like it.

In Case You Missed It

Faded a gay micro film from Taiwan from 2017 deals with parental acceptance and serves up a ton of BL tropes (piggyback, forehead kiss, etc). I’m pretty sure this was a propaganda piece for legalization of gay marriage, and it’s an interesting nugget of BL history as a result. Yes, it ends happy. It’s cute. 

Next Week Looks Like This:

Some shows may be listed a day later than actual air date for accessibility reasons.

Upcoming 2021 BL master post here.

Links to watch are provided when possible, ask in a comment if I missed something.

Man there’s a lot going on right now! Spring has sprung... I suppose. 

P.S. I cannot believe I missed Absolute BL as a blog name. Numbnuts = me. 

[animefreak1145]

The Irony of Adler and Bell

Call of Duty: Black Ops Analysis of Adler’s Brainwashing

It’s me again. And I’m here with another analysis! This time based solely around Adler. It’s always about Adler. But also Bell.

And this is about the brainwashing of not Bell, but Adler.

We have all had our theories since we first saw Adler getting tortured in the Cinematic Warzone Trailers, shown in Season 3 of COD:BOCW. Our suspicions growing when we see Sus Adler™️ doing what he does best in Season 4 by stealing an important looking chip within the crashed satellite that was taken down. (Also, Hudson, what is wrong with you letting Adler be cleared for a mission when he was just rescued like two weeks ago?!)

And although we did not see him in Season 5, we can all gather that anyone could be potentially brainwashed if you have a certain brand of earpiece. (Woods and Stryker appeared unaffected despite having their own earpieces). So the naive hope and calming words to others that Adler being different and strong is out the window. All it takes is hearing the numbers. What do the numbers mean, Mason?

Besides Bell wasn’t your average run of the mill agent either. An amazing decoder and created codes(I am with the theory that Bell did create the codes for Perseus that we have to decrypt in the game for Operation Chaos and Red Circus) with a brutal close combat skill as well as charming based on how one could talk to everyone and be a social butterfly. Also, able to handle and withstand torture after one hour of leaving Cuba despite previous injuries AND be able to go to Solovetsky/Duga and able to aim and shoot despite having a needle shoved in their eye a few hours earlier.

Bell had crazy skills. Just like Adler does. Bell was brainwashed. So is Adler.

Confirmed with this bundle that will be released. Thank you to @reclaimedbythesea who first found it and pointed it out.

We have the confirmation—the amazing, horrible, war criminal man we all love has become an agent of the man who he swore to chase down and capture/kill for longer than a decade. (Adler said thirteen years in COD:BOCW universe, so 1984 it would be sixteen years. Sheesh. Correct me if I’m wrong. I may be mistaken.) Is it wrong I kinda find it funny? Especially since he did the same thing to Bell—believing it to be necessary. Just as Stitch I’m sure finds it necessary.

It’s just a big brainwash back and forth between these two countries, a race to see who has the most mindless agents on their side in the end. But we’re not focusing on that.

We’re focusing on how Adler’s karma finally caught up to him with all his war crimes. We can infer that he hasn’t just done a cruel action like that to Bell, but to others. “Whatever it takes.” That’s his motto. He’s messed up other’s lives—hundreds, maybe even thousands. The Vietnam War has a deep dirty history, such as the real operation of Fracture Jaw, Operation Ranch Hand with the use of Agent Orange, the Mai(My) Lai Massacre and who knows how many other operations that would/did affect civilians. Not that I would see Adler doing anything like the massacre, but you can’t expect me to not believe that he may have been involved with Agent Orange somewhat? And who knows what other operations and missions he’s done as a CIA agent after the war?

My point is, the man has been gathering karma for awhile. Not just with Bell(I am aware he had his orders in the war, I’m just saying I’m not sure if he feels much guilt about some said orders. Guilt I believe he may has, but I’m not sure it’s a high degree.) Of course, Bell isn’t a saint either. They were willing to kill millions with Perseus after all. A wayyyy higher body count than Adler. And who knows what Bell did with Perseus even before the Greenlight plan? Didn’t seem to mind millions blinking in an eye, so must be pretty cold or delusional about the whole free world killing their country thing. Thank you @yunatheintrovert for this post pointing out and showing a hint of just how not good a person Bell was.

I’m not going to say they deserved what happened to them due to Adler. I feel for Bell. I really do. Just like I can’t say if Adler deserves it for everything—just can’t say that because I’m not at liberty to judge other’s actions and claim what is deserved and undeserved. Leave that to judges.

But now I’m going to point out certain things—other things. Such as what I think to be Adler’s “new” name. At least to those in the Perseus Collective/Stitch.

Do I realize that “Cipher” may just be what this awesome skin is called? Yes. Will I rather ignore it and rant about the name for two ten minutes? Also yes.

On to the analysis!

ci·pher/ˈsīfər/: a secret or disguised way of writing; a code.

This first definition is what we can all gather of what the numbers represent—the code and simultaneously the key of brainwashing others in earpieces with just a certain order of number together.

Stitch and co. used said numbers on Adler, so why not call him Cipher? The Code? Funny, cause he killed Bell—the Decoder. Maybe Bell would’ve helped him out if he didn’t kill them.

Another hammer to the irony of between these two.

But no. The name gets better. Second definition!

ci·pher /ˈsīfər/: a person or thing of no importance, especially a person who does the bidding of others and seems to have no will of their own.

PAHAHAHAHAHA! *clears throat* Now, this, this is what I think Stitch calls some true vengeance. Not only did he get to torture the man who did the same to him before, but made Adler a shadow of who he was before. A husk. Nothing really there. “Whatever it takes” indeed but for the opposite side now—a puppet with numbers for strings. Stitch did a good job in naming Cipher—I mean Adler. We don’t even know how far Adler shall go now, will the CIA have to kill him or will they be able to recondition him when/if they capture him? Will he even be the same? Nope.

Why do I find that definition funny? Well, I think Adler had a multitude of reasons for naming Bell, Bell. Just like Stitch did with Adler. And not just the obvious reasons of him ringing the bell at them to condition them as he was torturing/brainwashing them(we love Pavlov!). Let’s get the first definition out the way.

bell /bel/: a hollow object, typically made of metal and having the shape of a deep inverted cup widening at the lip, that sounds a clear musical note when struck, typically by means of a clapper inside.

I wonder if anyone knows where I’m going with this or I’m starting to seem like a madwoman.

I’m going to ask you guys to focus on the word, “hollow” for me. Hollow, as in not filled. There’s something in the bell alright, but it doesn’t do enough to fill out the hole does it? Like Cipher is now made a husk. Bell was made hollow—only a little bit filled with the little memory they got back before they were killed(maybe they weren’t, let’s just go with it for now). Or perhaps just a bit filled with false memories of Vietnam, of camaraderie. I doubt Stitch did anything like that.

Also, Bell is just an instrument for someone else to play. Play the right tune, and the Russian agent will do anything for you. Right, Adler?

Cipher is the puppet, just doing what he’s told when they give the orders. No will or thought. Just how Stitch likes it.

I’m not done yet! Second definition!

bell /bel/: a. A stroke on a hollow metal instrument to mark the hour.

b. The time indicated by the striking of this instrument, divided into half hours.

Another play on words of Bell being struck(jabbed with needles) to do what needs to be done. But it also represents the limited time that Bell has. Bell needs to help to stop Perseus and quick, Adler will make them go faster if needed by putting the highest dosage as possible without killing them to accomplish it. Or maybe it’s also a representation that Bell does actually have limited time left—Park did say MK—Ultra will be hard on the body physically and mentally. Perhaps MK-Ultra was slowly killing us and Adler just decided to give us a mercy kill while he was at it as he “tied up our strings.”( @cryinginthebackseat does point this out in their Adler/Bell story, go check it out!)

Let’s focus on the instrument thing again though, but back to Cipher. The third definition!

ci·pher /ˈsīfər/ : a continuous sounding of an organ pipe, caused by a mechanical defect.

Oh man. Sounds like Adler is being played like an instrument too, continuously due to all the numbers and how the numbers can be everywhere if one is in the armed forces since they all use earpieces. Interesting shape too, a pipe. Long and thin and has two holes, a beginning and an end but which one is the top or the bottom? The beginning and the end? We don’t know how far Adler will go like this—as Cipher. It will eventually come to a point, where something squeezes within the pipe and manages to get out. Maybe. Or maybe Adler is just forever defected, like the definition suggests.

Not quite Adler anymore and just Cipher.

Just like Bell will always just be Bell. The other self practically gone.

It seems these two will always somehow reflect and affect one another, whether one is dead or not.

I swear I love Adler, so don’t mind some of my dark humor about him and this situation he’s in. It is pretty funny. At least to me. Stitch is funny. And petty.

Hope you guys enjoyed!

@salvija @smokeywhalee @quizzyisdone @efingart @samatedeansbroccoli @weirdoartist21 @tr1ppylady