The Trump administration is cynically exploiting calls for stricter AI regulation to pass broad censorship measures at the federal level.
So, in terrible news, Trump's trying to pull some strings to pass this massive internet censorship bill, featuring all the kinds of internet censorship we're terrified of, including mandatory ID for accessing basically any website, specifically to crush state regulation of AI, because apparently this man will always see the moral bottom of the barrel and start digging.
So, if you live in the US and hate censorship and AI you know what to do, contact your congresspeople and tell them do not fucking dare let this through or so help us god...
Wait, is it actually canon that Amon has a supply of juice boxes at the ready?? that's actually so cute goddamn. Is he basically just a more intimidating version of Rush????
Yeah I don't picture C4SH having a fixed place to stay for very long but if he did end up traveling with the others in a sanctuary style ship; why do i feel like his room will be quite creepy but in a cool way, he's got that voodoo witch doctor vibe in his design so besides all his gambling spoils, I imagine his room will just be filled with totems and mysterious relics that are probably not cursed.... right??? (they absolutely are) I bet Vex would be fascinated with all those things and ask him about it all the time.
that's so cool that there's lots of enemy lines for the specific vault hunters in bl3, sadly i don't remember any of them T_T do you remember some of the ones for Fl4K?
while playing some bl4 this weekend, I actually noticed some rippers saying stuff like ''hey there, handsome'' or something along those lines. So now I wonder if that's just something they say all the time, or if its just for the male vault hunters or specifically for Rafa. This was in Carcadia Burn but I don't know/remember if I heard it in the other maps too. I meeeeaaaan I could go back through my recordings and check every fight in the fadefields as well but I got so many hours recorded by now that it starts to feel like a needle in a haystack xD
you're probably right about Tediore and training, I think i got so caught up with learning how real world military (or just any fictional non-tediore one) would work that I kind of forgot about their whole 'as cheap as possible' business model, sorry ^^'' not sure how I could've forgotten since that's their whole spiel. And aren't the tediore soldiers in New Tales pretty incompetent? xD so I guess 'zero training' makes the most sense.
I was listening to Rafa's echo logs again and with the one to his parents, I noticed that he says ''- and I'll come back for you, once I'm strong enough, [I swear]''.
Come back *for* them, instead of *to* them.
Now again, I'm not a native english speaker so if *for* is just the default way to say that sentence then you can ignore this, but to me this makes it sound like he doesn't just want to return to the seam to see his parents again (and I obviously don't expect him to wanna go 'home' there cause of how much he absolutely hated the place) but that he wants to get his parents out of there as well, offer them a better life somewhere else.
And in the intro cinematic when you start the game and Marcus tells you the story he lists the reasons why people go Vault hunting; glory, wealth, knowledge and power. And Rafa's shown when he says 'wealth'.
I know his own words mention strength ('once I'm *strong* enough') so I guess you'd assume that it would make more sense for him to be linked to Power instead. But I think I wanna interpret it like this; ''Once I'm strong [to open a vault/get the treasure inside/get enough money/etc.]''
idk, i feel like I dont have a good track record when it comes to accurately predicting his true motives (or anything else really..) Either that or I'm just here stating the blindingly obvious while thinking I cracked some kind of code xD but what do you think?
Also I've been wrecking my brain on trying to figure out exactly how his Deadframe works and how it's connected to him and I'd love to hear your interpretation ^^
I know (and remember ><) so little from the siren lore so I feel a bit ill-equipped to speculate on what the phase really is, I'm sorry. But I like the sound of it being a graveyard of former sirens, sounds very interesting ^^
I really enjoyed the Timekeeper as a villain! ^^ and what an awesome performance by Dave Fennoy! The guardian reveal at the end was really nice too! But I do wish we saw/heard more from him throughout the story tho. One thing that always felt a little weak to me is that the TK is apparently so focused on dealing with the vault hunters and that they're the ultimate threat to his perfect order and control, but then it never felt like the Order was really hunting us while playing. Seeing how the TK can see through the eyes of everyone with a bolt, read their thoughts and take control of anyone at the drop of a hat, you'd think that he would possess more people (and not just at the beginning and end of the story) and that he would just constantly send platoons of Order after us wherever we go. But the Order you do run into in the open world just feel like random encounters or patrols that we just happen across.
idk, maybe being constantly hunted would get old real fast as far as gameplay is concerned but story-wise I think I would've preferred a bit more of a constant, looming threat from the TK. Maybe he was just so confident that we would ultimately fail that he didn't bother as much as he could've?
Levaine definitely needs some more love from the writers, so hopefully the new side quest this week will provide, I liked her and her personality but for me there weren't enough 'hooks' to really get me invested in her character and backstory in the same way I had with Rush and Calder, but that's probably partly to blame on my general character preferences as well.
Fun question time; favorite zone in bl4? Could be measured in any way you want, like best story chapters/side quests, prettiest landscapes, best vibes etc. For me its definitely the Terminus mountains. Sometimes an absolute bitch to navigate but the whole Auger aesthetic with the neon holograms combined with the harsh mountain landscapes and general Tibetan(?)-like vibes is just such a good combination!
if it's alright with you, i think I prefer the ask format, but ty for being willing to open up your dm's! it's just that I like to write these asks over the course of a couple of hours sometimes while I try to gather my thoughts, go back and fix any typos if I spot them and to double check some things as I'm writing and I feel like the ask format fits that better than a chat format if that makes sense? + like you said, I like to reblog these and have them neatly in one place to refer to should I need it.
And apologies this ask is a little bit late, had some busy days with rl stuff to take care of.
He does! If you go listen to his idle dialogue I recorded (there's just 1 part) he states "I bear juiceboxes in case someone finds themselves thirsty" so yes he canonically carries around snacks and the like for others him and Rush are definitely buds
C4SH 100% has places of prayer and worship to Kanansi (the entity that created and blessed his cards possibly his other artifacts too) I think his room or living space would feel creepy and unsettling at first but then you'd get comfortable and it'd be really cozy and chill a bit like C4SH himself a lil scary and intimidating and then you realize he's quite friendly and kind
I always thought it was cool as well I think a couple for Fl4k were like "get that beast master, I'm gonna scrap you for parts, target that skag"... And I think those are some lines exclusive to Rafa! I've heard them before playing as him but not on anyone else, if you decide to hunt those down I wish you the best of luck lol
No no it's perfectly alright I think to fully explore theories and ideas for borderlands a mix of real life knowledge has to come into play, I've personally done a bit of research into how knee joints work in prostheses so I could have a better understanding of how Rafa's could possibly function, so going based on real life military structures is a good starting point but then yeah you gotta factor in that Tediore does things cheap they also struggle heavily financially so they end up cutting corners on top of that and then you get guns that explode when you try and reload them (it's a feature! Not a bug) that are made out of chunky unfinished plastic so the same could probably be extended to their soldiers, cheap and mostly incompetent
Yes the Echo logs I think if Rafa just wanted to see his parents again he probably would've phrased it differently the implications of him saying "I'll come back /for/ you" does seem to me like he wants to get his parents out of the Seam as well so I think you are absolutely correct in that, the "when I'm stronger" line is interesting to think about could be wealth, like you said using his newfound wealth to provide a better life for his parents, could be more training and experience to better tackle any opposition that he might encounter, or it could even just be emotional strength being too afraid of seeing his parents after what has happened to him a mix of shame and guilt, he doesn't know how they will react to seeing him now, implanted with metal and missing limbs, guilty about leaving them behind in those god awful conditions knowing that their only choices are to work or die, I think deep down when Rafa thinks about seeing his parents he feels like a little boy again after his parents warned against doing something that might hurt him, doing it anyways and winding up hurt having to go back to them and proving their point perhaps being scolded for not listening..he probably stops there not thinking any further, not thinking that after they've scolded him, after the disagreements and arguments they'd cry for him and comfort him because they're sad for him but so happy to have him back. I think he's scared and therefore feels weak or powerless so him wanting to be stronger comes from mastering himself and his own emotions and inner conflict I feel he has a bunch of it...most of the way I interpret Rafa's characterization is that he's very anxious and stressed so he puts on this facade of overconfidence to hide the fact he struggles with open and honest communication he doesn't know how to explain his feelings outwardly, like I think if you put him in a situation where he has to open himself up to someone he'd end up crying through his words and I think he hates having people see him like that, something something the mortifying ordeal of being known...like if you think about how he talks in game any fact he mentions about himself is superficial, he'll talk about what weather he prefers, how he maintains his good looks, and things like that but he rarely ever talks about what he's feeling inside...that aside I do think you're picking up on his lines that show what's underneath very well, knowing that just based on how he phrased something that there's clearly a deeper meaning shows good understanding of any character really, changes in speech patterns are great tells for subtle story telling..at least in my opinion anyways
Oh hohoho!!! I love thinking about how the Deadframe works...so from official renders on his in game appearance looking at both the default and the prison garb I notice that there are implants,
1. Around his eyes - these are for the digital display shown during any skill activation and probably work as a vital monitor and aiming reticle (it's probably a lot easier to hit things when you're moving at mach speed when you having a scope site directly in your eyeballs)
2. Nape of the neck - this probably connects to his spine, spinal cord, and brain for neurohaptic feedback allowing him to process information and produce fine motor skills while moving at high speeds
3. Shoulders, forearms, back of hands - these all connect and allow for the digistructing and usage of the different weapons the Deadframe offers, when in use it almost appears like a second set of arms, otherwise the base of them sit on his shoulders like little wings (very cute)
4. Collarbone - this one is the big one, it most likely extends to his sternum and ribcage perhaps even going down to his lower back as well as his spinal cord, it ensures his heart can beat normally, he can breathe and isn't crushed by heavier (normal) gravities also probably where the "IP Protection Protocol" is, it detonates his whole torso explodes
5. Legs obviously - this one wasn't on purpose it's clearly stated in echo logs that his immune system rejected at least some of the artificial muscle fibers so they were amputated, but going deeper into that I think they're osseointegrated, so metal rod goes into and is screwed onto femoral (thigh) bone so that it grows around it then the remaining portion sticks out from the skin, an abutment, that lets the rest of the prosthesis connect to it. From what I've read these are more comfortable as they support the individuals weight more naturally so there's less strain on the remaining limb and hip..I think that his prostheses are partially removable namely like the foot and ankle joint, and the shin these can be removed and cleaned or tightened general maintenance y'know, the knee joint is probably computerized and links back into his nervous system via the Deadframe so too technical to just pop out and fiddle with: He seems to be mostly in control of the Deadframe's functions albeit there's a couple of fully autonomous abilities like the peacebraker cannons, maybe they auto target and fire at things Rafa's perceives as a threat which could mean the Deadframe runs off his neurotransmitters could explain why his emergency escape protocol (<- that's another of the autonomous functions) kicked in when he smelled that guy and proceeded to run for an hour..that's all I can think of for now if you have any specifics you wanna toss back and forth lemme know
I think the idea of the Timekeeper having the order hunt us during the story is really cool or even just having the order show up to ruin our day more during the story beats, and yeah why didn't they use the Timekeeper's ability to possess people more the lines where you're exploring Dominion City and he talks about watching the vault hunter through a thousand eyes out every window just they way that's built up is so good it makes him so creepy and intimidating that could've been used a lot more
Agree Levaine needs more screentime I adore the Electi faction quests I think it shows how capable she is to lead and manage her people along with her cunning and intellect so I have hopes that the dlc with her will be good
Oh fun question I'm gonna to agree with you wholeheartedly Terminus Mountains was beautiful as well as difficult to navigate I have gotten used to it over time and now have little issue maneuvering the mountains I think that they are one of the most gorgeous places on Kairos; although I do adore the beaches in the Fade fields
Absolutely okay 👍 and no worries I took a bit of time to respond to the last ask anyways so it all worked out and I get it I write out responses in notes to re-read and tweak as well :)
would you look at that, fandom.com has started adding completely content-blocking popups to their page that totally prevent you from using the site unless you turn ad block off.
it sure would be a shame if people went to their URL bar and typed "anti" in front of "fandom.com" in order to go to the antifandom.com mirror of the page they were trying to reach, which shows all the same content but without any ads,
idk man not to sound like a cartoon hippie but if your entirrrrre blog and dash is about how the world sucks and everyones bigoted i think you are going to give yorself brain worms
guy on the subway with one ear pierced, little gold hoop. other guy on the subway very quickly and subtly googling "which one is the gay ear". it is not the gay ear. visible disappointment on his face as he puts his phone away.
your straight boyfriend is not FRUITY he is not a TWINK he is not GAY FOR THE STRAP he is a 25 year old heterosexual man named TYLER and his favorite hobby is playing MARVEL RIVALS
Protesters voiced anger at the new guidance on single sex-spaces and fears that trans people are being excluded from society.
"Every single person who marched today is proof that we are not going anywhere, that our joy is louder than their hate, and that London Trans+ Pride will keep fighting, keep loving and keep growing until every trans person is safe, seen, and free," they added.
Before the march, a mother of a trans woman who took her own life said "more children are going to die" unless Mr Burnham works to reverse the "anti-trans policies" that Sir Keir Starmer oversaw.
preferring the robot-y, distorted voices for the robot characters and not the human ones is totally valid, I get ya ^^
I've only had one weird audio bug while playing, this happened only in co-op so far but npc's would start talking and then just go silent halfway through the sentence, drove me absolutely mad xD
I looked up gameplay footage from the other VH to check this one line from the intro quest which reveals if they might've opened any vault (either alone or together) before coming to Kairos.
Arjay: ''So. Have you ever... opened a Vault?''
Rafa: ''Me? Hahahaha, no, no! No, this is, uh, sort of a new gig.''
Amon: ''I have. It changed me. Scarred me.''
Vex: ''Not yet.''
Harlowe: ''Yeah! Well, I've... watched some ECHOtube tutorials.
C4SH: ''Now that, Arjay, would be telling. And I play my cards close.''
So Rafa, Vex and Harlowe never opened one before, Amon obviously has and C4SH is being a tease about it xD
I suppose you could argue that there's still a chance they *found* a Vault before Kairos, but somehow just couldn't open it, but that's open to your own headcannons and interpretations ^^
And I can't believe I didn't remember that Harlowe ECHO log at all!! We did 100% everything so I guess either my SO found it during our run when I was afk or something or it played while I was focused on something else and just didn't register what she was saying but that's so cool that she's the one out of the team that 'discovered' Kairos! And that the others trusted her judgement, so wholesome <3
I like your idea of them all having their own hobbies and side gigs to fill the time while traveling together, that's actually so cute, I'd love to know more about the group dynamic during that time, but that also makes me sad that we never got a Sanctuary style hub in bl4, I always loved seeing the personal touches and decorations for each VH room.
I can picture Vex just blasting super loud music from her room, maybe even joined in by Rafa who plays his own music even louder in an attempt to 'win the fight' (btw, despite the big age gap where in my HC Rafa is mid 30's and Vex early 20's, these two would have such sibling energy where they just constantly annoy/tease each other but still got each other's back at the end of the day).
Maybe Rafa annoys everyone by hogging the bathroom (and all of the hot water) while he's working on/perfecting his look lol. I can picture friendly dinners or quiet evenings where they just lounge around, maybe listening to Amon reciting poetry ^^ Perhaps Harlowe tries to convince Vex to help her with some experiments cause how often do you have an actual siren with cool siren powers around to satisfy your scientific curiosity with?
I would watch a 10 season drama about these guys just being weird roommates in a heartbeat!
you know, you're completely right on the Rafa deployment front, I guess I just interpreted that idle line about loud planetary life differently, I did agree that he experienced those things for the first time while with Tediore, but just assumed it was during the time he had his Frame installed and during the training period that followed immediately after and not while on active duty which would come later. And at that point I wasn't even sure if any active duty even happened at all.
I think I like your explanation/timeline more ^^.
There's another line that I can think of rn, tho I don't remember if its a combat line or a story/quest one but he says; (assuming he's talking about some weapon) ''Damn, wish we had these in the Corps''. but again, first time I heard that line I just assumed his only experience in the Corps was training to use the deadframe properly before the shareholder meeting happened.
I remember that order grunt line from your video! and I was a bit sad that I didn't hear it when I played the Mercenary day story on my solo run recently, guess I killed all the enemies too fast haha. And seeing how I haven't heard any other order grunt (or other enemy type) say that line in over 200hours of playing on Rafa, it must've been unique to that side story.
Here's hoping the new DLC will give us more lore bits on Rafa's time at Tediore!
...please Gearbox... I'm begging T_T
Oof, picturing Rafa being forced to work in the mines as young as 6 is absolutely heartbreaking... and at the same time my tragedy loving writer heart loves it! xD
We definitely know Rafa's never been on Pandora before cause its got deserts and therefore presumably sandstorms;
''A bit of sand never hurt anyone! Then again, this is my first time on a planet that has sandstorms...''
Yeah the whole Arjay think could've and should've been handled better.. going through the story first time I was definitely affected by his death at the beginning and then by his reveal in the phase but I do get overly invested into these stories and characters (or I'm just really easily impressed lol) but in hindsight, they should've done so much more to make us really care about him and really make us feel his 'death' and suffering at the hands of the timekeeper and Lictor. Cause especially if you don't bother collecting his Vault Hunter's Guide to Kairos logs while playing, giving you more insight into his journey and personality, I can imagine some people just straight up forgot Arjay even existed until he suddenly revealed himself post-Lictor fight.
Rush is probably my favorite of the new npc's too! ^^ followed closely by Defiant Calder. I feel like the 'protect this man at all costs' meme was made for Rush and characters like him T_T he is just such a sweet, caring man. There's probably nothing I would be too scared to do if I had Rush cheering me on <3
I really like your HC with Conway bringing people back to Kairos, so many wholesome, emotional reunions that would come from that T_T It is such a lovely thing to think about ty <3
Yeah I think I just prefer the specific vocal editing they do to robotic characters
Lucky >.> I've had so many but to be fair I usually play any add-ons or update as soon as they launch and still have many bugs present
I can fully see them finding vaults but maybe they've already been broken or they can't find the key to them or there isn't any way to charge the key there's a couple ways to fail in opening a vault
Np I have a weirdly good memory about the most niche things, usually names (I have very little issue remembering the names of places or characters in games, TV/movies, and books)
Yessss I'm so sad theres no hub in bl4 like I'd love to see how their rooms were decorated I can just imagine Rafa's room being jammed with all sorts of little knick knacks and things he's picked up from different places alongside various tools and things for repairing his Deadframe, Vex probably has so many posters and CDs of bands and cheesey horror flicks, probably some busted or cracked makeup sets, maybe a nice set of string lights (no big light for her I don't think she likes them) Amon I can see being very simplistic he probably has a place for meditating, a few things to upkeep his prostheses and a couple of books, also definitely has stashes of various things for any emergencies, first aid kit, juice boxes (canon), snacks, and the like, he seems to have a paternal side to him, Harlowe's room has different projects and WIPs of course alongside stacks of books, but I can also see her having lots of plushies and games too maybe even a couple of animes probably also some type of pain meds I can imagine working on science projects all day leaves quite the crink in the neck, I don't think C4SH traveled with them but crashed separately and ended up in the same cell as the other VHs I also don't think he likes to stay in one place but if he had a room it would definitely be littered with his gambling hauls anything from money to possessions just anything and everything you can envision I'm sure C4SH has won it
Harlowe would definitely try and rope Vex into her projects I also feel like whenever she'd ask Vex a question about her powers the answer would always be "I dunno" I can also see Rafa asking Harlowe for help maintaining or tweaking his exo suit joking if she has anyway to safely remove the explosives from his bones
I just don't see Tediore doing any sort of training they don't have the time or resources to spend on that just kinda shoving soldiers into the deep end, sink or swim y'know? I do remember that line but I'm blanking on where it's from as well lol
I don't think it's unique to the dlc but just that the character specific call outs that enemies can do are so imperceptible at times like you'll barely hear them I think they're also really rare only a handful of unique lines for each character or class, you hear them a lot in bl3 though I can very clearly hear CoV and Maliwan calling out Zane "down that operative, get the old man, don't get fooled by that clone," etc. so I just feel that they are super rare and hard to hear over everything else going on shame too, that line for Rafa was really cool and makes me wonder what other lines they have
Yes delicious angst hurt the blorbo
There was a couple of things that could've been done way better in bl4's story but considering the general mess that it came off the back of (bl3 story) I think it did relatively well, but yeah I was a little shocked by Ajay's initial death but then basically went "oh no!...anyways" and kinda forgot till they had him pop up after Vile Lictor, I was very interested in how the phase effected him though, it raised several questions like what is the phase exactly? Why aren't sirens affected by it, is it a sort of graveyard for past sirens a place where their Psyche goes, and those are the voices Arjay heard? I will mention one of my absolute favorite plot points of bl4 was the Timekeeper being a guardian like that was so sick we don't know a ton about the Eridians or the guardians they made but from what we've seen there have only been a handful with sentience and it seemed a bit limited like the guardians in the pre sequel said a few words but the Timekeeper had like full blown sapience as well he even had conflicting feelings towards Zadra and I feel maybe resented the Eridians for creating him and leaving him on a planet alone (hence why I think he made the proto guardians in the mini vaults) like what a cool character and we barely saw or heard from him but it did create a complete lack of knowledge so that reveal really did hit
Rush is wonderful, love Calder, I like Levaine too but I agree with most other people in that she felt the least developed kinda just slapped her next to Zane and that was that maybe the upcoming bounty pack will help flesh out her character some more
Yess please I need them happy Gearbox, let them be happy damnit
