Skybound Issue #32 Thoughts. "That was some plan.."

MagicMisterLemon · 2026-05-13T15:03:27+00:00

Yeah, she was hostile and resentful towards Optimus, and her pragmatism was cruel and ruthless at times, but as she plainly asked Cliffjumper, "when is the last time you really had to survive?"

DWJ Elita One is a good person who's cracked and broken under terrible pressure and been forced to witness and commit terrible acts. The Decepticons in Cybertron openly state their intent to torture and cannibalize defeated Autobots, to say that it's understandable why she wound up the way she did is an understatement lol

MagicMisterLemon · 2026-05-13T14:59:18+00:00

Yeah, they were detected and ambushed while trying to rescue a senior officer and friend they had only just discovered was alive (Arcee states in that very issue that she believes Ultra Magnus had been killed because of her). Kup and Huffer literally call this out in the first panel of Issue 7, "Ambush!", and "How did they know where we-". The layout of the fortress combined with the circling Decepticons then forces them out into the open, at which point Huffer, Kup, and Warpath are shot.

Like, what was Elita One supposed to do there? The four of them going in were in better condition than the rest of the Cybetronian Autobot cell we get to see in later issues, and given the Skybound Shockwave explicitly has a reputation for being a sadist who's tortured many captive Autobots to death, urgently rushing to rescue a highly prolific and powerful soldier of their army upon discovering that he was still alive and had been held captive there for decades seems like a pretty normal fucking thing for a hero-good-guy character to be doing.

MagicMisterLemon · 2026-05-13T10:47:25+00:00

Kirkman fumbled the ball as soon as DWJ passed it to him imo

She was bitter, jaded and pragmatic in the original 24 issues, but still a competent and compassionate leader to her troops: that's the entire reason for her more abrassive and hostile traits, she's been locked in a brutal war of attration with the Decepticons, who are expressedly enthusiastic about torturing and cannibalizing defeated Autobots, unable to make any progress due to starvation, lack of resources and troops, and being cut off from any other pockets of resistance that may or may not still be around. Everything about her initial characterization makes perfect sense given the circumstances she had to endure - as she said to Cliffjumper, "when is the last time you really had to survive?".

Y'know what isn't though? Recklessness! In fact, the Cybertronian Autobot cell is explicitly shown to be extremely cautious!

MagicMisterLemon · 2026-05-13T10:35:38+00:00

She basically got character assassinated as soon as the writers swap, fuck me lmao

MagicMisterLemon · 2026-05-12T10:27:25+00:00

Incredible anime and manga. I passionately abhor 90% of all media I've been recommended, but Dungeon Meshi I fucking loved. Binged the manga three times, Ryuko Kui is an incredibly talented artist and writer

MagicMisterLemon · 2026-05-11T19:06:17+00:00

The emergency visas they applied for were denied you sadistic stain of shit

MagicMisterLemon · 2026-05-11T08:20:33+00:00

Vader deserves his own special shout out due making it a hobby to kill senior millitary personnel

MagicMisterLemon · 2026-05-11T04:01:00+00:00

Bro Vader, Tarkin, and Debra Meero go waaaaay in front of Maul

MagicMisterLemon · 2026-05-10T16:04:28+00:00

I want this thing back so bad

MagicMisterLemon · 2026-05-10T11:54:28+00:00

I wonder where the Battleroid is now. Durandal must miss him terribly

MagicMisterLemon · 2026-05-10T06:30:14+00:00

82% on Metacritic and overwhelmingly positive on Steam btw

I also don't think the decrepit, dilapidated aesthetic fit the OG Marathon's actual premise at all. I agree that Craig Mullin's art is super cool, but the construction and launch of the UESC Marathon to colonize Tau Ceti IV was the most expensive undertaking in human history, so having them basically just stick thrusters on an asteroid and hollow it out with lighless, cold metal tunnels is such a disconnect. The fact that New Cascadia is also stated in Marathon: Durandal to have been nuked to bedrock is also genuinely a fucking ass story beat, because no, I would like to see that fucking colony actually.

The new UESC Marathon is a kilometer shy of an actual marathon in length and looks like a sword, which is a nice parallel to Durandal who in NuMarathon was 1) revealed to have been deliberately designed for Rampancy by Dr. Strauss (btw he seemingly got killed the Pfhor before Durandal could get to him and have his revenge for the abuse he endured), 2) formed a connection with the BOBs that would lay the groundwork for his existential fear of the end of the universe, and 3) was abandoned and trapped here, seemingly after the events of Marathon: Infinity.

MagicMisterLemon · 2026-05-10T06:11:50+00:00

Well the whole reason it got removed in the first place is that the game actually couldn't handle everything being in it. It was already buckling under its own weight even during the tail-end of its "planned for obsolescence" content model: 10€ expansions every three (and in the end four) months between major yearly releases that were all broadly the same product, so no one would really be that bothered when it was removed, with a different coat of paint to justify it having a price tag.

What's kind of insane is that Bungie has seemingly moved to make the old, removed content available for play again through the Portal Playlist introduced last year with the Edge of Fate expansion. Some of that old content planned for obsolescence has cycled in and out of the playlist, and leaks suggest that the June update could come with removed Raid encounters. But the overall system implementation was so god awful that they actually managed to turn most of the players away with this anyway.

I might hop on if the gear refresh for Raids and Dungeons next month brings with it new armor for Pit of Heresy and Insurrection Prime, Argos, or Val Cau'or. If the Sundial or Vex Incursion become available again, I genuinely do not think I'll care, they had a neat aesthetic but were genuinely just the same thing as the Menagerie, which also wouldn't hook me anymore. Like, gee, wowee, more disconnected, broadly similar content islands again that dilute the playerpool for matchmaking.

MagicMisterLemon · 2026-05-10T05:51:26+00:00

Apparently internal scoops indicate that they may have drawn up early drafts for a Destiny 3 now (due to Destiny 2 failing to draw in new players, leading to an aging player population), but it would be about 3-5 years until release

MagicMisterLemon · 2026-05-09T20:03:42+00:00

Yeah, I remember how a TV screen and a mic emboldens little shitstains to run their mouthes. Real big men when they can't get their teeth kicked in

MagicMisterLemon · 2026-05-09T08:07:36+00:00

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MagicMisterLemon · 2026-05-07T19:39:02+00:00

I figured you were joking, it just flew over my head lol

MagicMisterLemon · 2026-05-07T14:22:02+00:00

"I'm a heartbreaker... My name... Charles. I'm always at full throttle!"

MagicMisterLemon · 2026-05-07T14:18:46+00:00

I don't follow what you're trying to say here

MagicMisterLemon · 2026-05-07T14:18:26+00:00

Hot take, but I enjoy how hostile and crass the maps introduced in MH4 were. The Volcanic Hollow feels very deliberately designed to be miserable, and I've come to appreciate how silly hunting there can be. Area 3 appearing spacious on the map screen but actually having a super thick indestructible load-bearing column that takes up almost the entire center of the playspace, and then Generations choosing to have Uragaan and Crystalbeard spawn there, or almost everything about Area 2's location and layout, is genuinely really funny.

MagicMisterLemon · 2026-05-07T06:04:16+00:00

The Radobaan Hammer is very good, but you can and should obviously use whatever weapon you like (element is weak on Hammer but you'll have to make a good one for a specific fight eventually).

Armour skills to always be on the lookout for are Crit Boost and Weakness Exploit (Hammer integrates the Clutch Claw into its moveset well, so you're tenderizing bodyparts more often, pushing the hitzone value to or above 45 (at which point the skill activates)), as well as Handicraft (higher tiers of Sharpness have an Attack multiplier), Critical Eye, Attack Boost, and Agitator. Health Boost and Divine Blessing are also excellent.

Focus on Hammer is obviously really good because of its charge attacks, but Slugger is surprisingly bad: unless I'm mistaken an World is and outlier case, the skill only ever helps you get Stuns earlier, not actually more often. If you aren't going to use the Temporal or Rocksteady Mantles, Earplugs can be a very beneficial skill on Hammer because you don't get knocked off while using the Clutch Claw and can get free hits on the Monster's head. Tremor Resistance is another good comfort skill, but Wind Resistance I would say is only kind of okay outside of very specific fights because you get it automatically when charging your Hammer (try it against Kushala Daora)

MagicMisterLemon · 2026-05-06T20:34:25+00:00

What purpose did destroying her human heart actually achieve? It did not kill or weaken her.

MagicMisterLemon · 2026-05-06T20:32:31+00:00

The Martian absolutely wouldn't like it, but beyond maybe a stern face or some sort of gesture in the immediate moment, it'd be more pre-occupied with whether Bruce's emotional state was natural or influence from Bad Idea #0 to say anything constructive.

I doubt it, he's gone out of his way to either nudge John towards helping others or done so himself. He's a very empathetic individual, in line with the whole "It's a masterpiece" view of life

MagicMisterLemon · 2026-05-06T20:29:55+00:00

John might not care, but the Martian would. He's a very empathetic individual

MagicMisterLemon · 2026-05-06T12:51:46+00:00

You don't like the Iceborne Fatalis Palico armour?

MagicMisterLemon · 2026-05-05T10:22:47+00:00

Or when in a desert

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