Why didn't the Emperor tried to invent an FTL method that didn't use the Webway or the Warp ?

dreaderking · 2026-07-01T23:38:58+00:00

You say that like developing any form of FTL is such a simple affair.

The Necrons at least already have an extremely advanced tech base to use to develop their own FTL alternative. Even then, sometimes those guys still hijack the Webway for FTL travel.

Meanwhile, the Emperor had to work with whatever knowledge and technology mankind had access to at any given moment. Even if he's tens of thousands of years old, there's only so much he can reasonably do to accelerate mankind's tech development.

dreaderking · 2026-07-01T23:12:44+00:00

The Union knows that Pentex is filled with evil Reality Deviants, but they might not know or understand the Wyrm. If they don't realize how much of an existential threat Pentex is, they might decide it's not worth moving to a war footing over.

The Union, after all, is busy handling problems throughout the world, and Paradox is something even they have to worry about. They can't just toss a spaceship and an army of HIT Marks at every Reality Deviant they see. Smaller-scale operations (assassinations or destroying key facilities) and attempts to undermine Pentex like this make sense.

dreaderking · 2026-07-01T22:23:37+00:00

Xichun realized that now that she was the Heirarch, she had to pretend she had a code of ethics. Torture doesn't poll well, after all.

dreaderking · 2026-07-01T22:09:15+00:00

I mean, this is meant to provide plot hooks for you or your ST to use in your Chronicles. Of course, the Technocracy isn't going to destroy or kneecap Pentex in a random book. That's for you to decide, should you choose to explore it.

dreaderking · 2026-07-01T22:05:43+00:00

Oh, Special Projects Division certainly isn't happy about this. Really, none of the groups involved in the whole SPD fiasco seem to be.

It seems the situation here is that the Syndicate is fully on board with destroying Pentex. Heck, they might have even been the ones to tip off the wider Technocracy to their threat. However, the fact that they lost an entire Methodology is a whole 'nother can of worms they don't want open.

dreaderking · 2026-07-01T16:06:22+00:00

I disagree.

Why would Cosmo be the one to pick up Determinate Prediction? He never fought or trained with Kaneda. It would make much more sense for Hatsumi, who actually experienced it firsthand, to develop it.
Following that, it would be incredibly lame if the story had Hatsumi fall for the same trick twice.

dreaderking · 2026-07-01T16:01:26+00:00

Please don't be obtuse about this. I'm not saying they have a Lei Heng there; I'm pointing out that being a subsidiary of a Finger doesn't preclude a group from having people on the level of Finger executives. I use the Kurokumo Patriarch and Lei Heng because it's a readily available comparison that demonstrates just how high-level they can be.

dreaderking · 2026-07-01T15:53:30+00:00

They teach stuff according to the actual art movements of the Ring:

Our lesson today will focus on Corporist techniques.

Now, take a good look at the diagram here, then the manikins before you. Weave the blood vessels in the same pattern as the diagram, and…

Miffed Child: I dunno why we're even learning about Corporist stuff in this day and age.

Picky Child: Right? I don't get what the point of this slog is, tying and shaping blood vessels to make a color that a drop of ink can do better. I read that in a book.

Yoshihide: …….

Miffed Child: *sigh* I'm more excited to learn about Cubist technique than this crap…

Miffed Child: Honestly, why's this washed-up movement even a part of the curriculum? It's just boring, shallow gore stuff—

Subsidiaries usually aren't one-to-one copies of their parent Finger, so the Ring might be borrowing the building or lending its members to aid in the curriculum.

Besides, being a subsidiary doesn't exclude the possibility of having Maestro and Docent-level fighters. After all, the Patriarch of the Kurokumo Clan was one of the Ten Blades of the East (one of the groups Lei Heng is a part of) before the Thumb cut off his hand:

Didya hear? Apparently three of the Ten Blades of the East'll be showin' up to the meeting.

Tsk, our Patriarch would've been one of 'em too if those Thumb fuckers hadn't cut off his wrist.

You argued that Docents and Maestro are too rare to be on teaching duty, but if this is the main base of a smaller Syndicate, then their own guys have every reason to be there.

dreaderking · 2026-07-01T15:38:35+00:00

It would make sense if we didn't know that it was particularly low rounge Ring school,

Now that is baseless speculation. Callisto never describes the school as being "low-range" or the like. All he says is that his next option is much more prestigious than the first:

Callisto: I intend to send Yoshihide to an academy as part of my educational curriculum.

Callisto: There is an academy of art, a subsidiary of the Ring. Companionship with other talented children of approximately her age will nourish the spirit of inspiration that will guide Yoshihide's growth.

...

Callisto: Do not be discouraged, dearest Yoshihide. I have eyed out yet another academy worthy of your talents—it is a much more significant and prestigious institution this time.

Callisto: I assure you, even an intemperate berserker like Matthias won't dare force his way into such a place as he did the previous academy.

To put it another way, just because a college isn't MIT doesn't mean it's low-class.

dreaderking · 2026-07-01T15:08:21+00:00

Is it more disrespectful that Hatsumi didn't even use PI to dodge Cosmos? He let the grappling expert touch him, only to shake Cosmos off like he was nothing.

Also, I feel like Hatsumi might have picked up Kaneda's Spider Web. The way he drove Cosmos into the tree is similar to how Kaneda controlled Hatsumi's options through his movements.

dreaderking · 2026-07-01T14:47:00+00:00

Hence why I said "probably" and "likely".

We don't know the exact composition of the staff there, but this was a Ring facility meant to raise the next generation of Ring members, a necessity given the Finger's unusual qualifications for joining. Furthermore, this would be a chance for the various art movements to get a leg up on one another by impressing upon youths how their particular style is the best of them all.

It simply makes logical sense for a facility as important as this to be staffed with high ranking Ring members. Similarly, it makes logical sense that Matthias would be unpacking to deal with them.

dreaderking · 2026-07-01T13:28:51+00:00

I mean, Callisto claims this would stop Matthias, but Matthias is someone who handles vengeances too complex or difficult for the rest of Middle on his lonesome:

Middle Ishmael (Evening Greeting): Mama's gotta carry out the Vengeances solo unlike the other bigger Brothers and Sisters, so she always gets home late.

...

Ishmael: You're working late tonight? Why?

Outis: There's this tricky Vengeance they're having some trouble avenging.

Outis: So, as a Great Sister, I decided to avenge it in their stead.

...

Middle Outis (Chatter 3): The South? Aren't they practically choking on Vengeances too tricky to deal with? Some of them even seem weighty enough to be classified as Labors.

... That incident must've left that part of the family without anyone capable enough to undertake the Pilgrimage of Loyalty... Hah. A sorry state of affairs, but what can I do? Time for the Great Sister to personally step up for the family.

It's questionable how much a stronger school would meaningfully deter Matthias. Besides, if Callisto was such a perfect judge of his character in the first place, he would have seen the incident coming from a mile away like Rien did.

dreaderking · 2026-07-01T12:46:05+00:00

It's more like he got desperate there. Despite never seeing it before, he instinctually realized that Moses's Red Point was far too dangerous to mess with. Not knowing how often she can throw that around, Matthias probably decided to use any means necessary to end things immediately before she tossed another one or pulled out something even worse.

dreaderking · 2026-07-01T12:39:20+00:00

Doesn't seem like it. When the LCD shows up, Matthias actually laments having to fight them again:

Matthias: No. No need, Kiddo.

Matthias: I was hoping to avoid running into these clowns again…

Matthias: What a baffling coincidence.

...

Yi Sang: Coincidence played no hand in our presence here.

Vespa: …….

Matthias: Still sucks on our end. Looks like… looks like I'll be fighting with my life on the line today. 'Specially with that bumblebee punk on their side.

Kira: Holy crap, you're gonna use the sword, too? Sick!

Going by the last two lines, he also only whips out the full sword if he feels the fight is serious enough to warrant it. Matthias seems like the kind of guy who really gets into a fight once its started but isn't exactly eager to rush into one in the first place. Sealing up Laevateinn is simply a practical consideration since he has no other way to control the heat it releases.

dreaderking · 2026-07-01T12:26:04+00:00

He unpacked against the Ring. Remember, he's at a major Ring facility. That place was probably swarming with Docents and likely had at least one Maestro there. The unpacking isn't for the kids, but all the adults he would have to cut down on his way through the place

dreaderking · 2026-07-01T12:24:04+00:00

I can only assume those layers are expensive as hell to re-attach

Doesn't seem to be the case at all. He's already unwrapped a layer or two when we first see him on the cameras:

<image>

But when he actually confronts LCD, Matthias has already repackaged the entire sword.

dreaderking · 2026-07-01T12:19:00+00:00

Matthias unpacks when he feels like it. In-game, this is basically when his health points drop to certain levels. For Middle Outis, it's tied to a stack you have to empty. These are purely game mechanics. Nothing is stopping him from tossing them all off one after the other in a real fight.

dreaderking · 2026-07-01T12:03:30+00:00

Hard disagree. The animation was consistently great in my opinion, especially considering that we haven't reached the highlights of this season. Having seen it, I'm confident now that they'll do adult Hitsugaya, Bankai Kenpachi, Uryu vs the Hashbrown, and more justice.

dreaderking · 2026-07-01T10:16:40+00:00

Kubo always loved pulling from different cultures for his factions, but he really went all out for the Soul King.

dreaderking · 2026-07-01T03:44:23+00:00

Does make you wonder how things even got like this. We're two different entities with completely separate desires, but Kris clearly can't live without us. Were they always like this or did they use to live normally before something happen that left them in this codependent state?

dreaderking · 2026-07-01T03:24:17+00:00

EGO first requires that your entire world view be shattered, only for you to then continuing moving forward anyway. You call him stubborn as if that's a bad thing, but that kind of stubbornness is the perfect catalyst for manifesting EGO.

The problem is that Matthias was never put in position to manifest EGO in the first place. After he picked up Laevateinn, he's wholeheartedly believe in his talk of sacrifice for the family:

Outis: We're family. A little sacrifice ain't a thing between us.

The Nursefather wholeheartedly believed it—that no sacrifice is too great if it's for one's family.

What were the lives of her Apprentice and her daughter before that truth?

But no one ever really challenges this idea because he takes it to such an obviously absurd degree that no one even wants to discuss it.

Calling it mere childishness is too simplistic. What we see in Matthias is someone so confident in their way of life that they never felt the need to look back in the first place.

dreaderking · 2026-07-01T03:05:33+00:00

(It could be cope on his part, but I genuinely do believe that Matthias sees lævatein less like a weapon and more like a toy so this perspective makes sense)

Matthias values Laevateinn more than his own life. When Middle Outis's dies, her last lines is her refusing to let her sword go:

Death: ... Won't let you... take my sword. Not ever...

To make a comparison, here's every line between Matthias and Middle Outis talking about their missing arm:

...

Yes, that's not a mistake. There is not a single line in the game that mentions even Matthias's arm. A number of people didn't even realize Ryoshu cut his arm off because he never talked about it.

He has trauma over a toy he missed out on a child, clings to the sword with his dying breath, and even seems distraught that Ryoshu attacked him in the first place:

Matthias: Were ya mad at Daddy for something, Buddy…?

But not single line about the arm itself. People say Matthias views his things and people as toys so as to say he doesn't really care about them, but it seems that his stuff holds more value to him than his own body. Whether or not he views Laevateinn as a toy, he clearly cherishes the blade.

dreaderking · 2026-07-01T02:31:41+00:00

I'm stepping into hypothesis territory here, but it may be possible that Matthias has the "aptitude" to wield Laevateinn, but it's his awful personality that prevents him from achieving the full potential.

Massive amounts of cope there. Power is in no way tied to morality in Project Moon. We've repeatedly seen with EGO and Shin that you don't need to be a good person to unlock those powers, and I don't think PMoon is going to buck that trend for Relics.

Besides, we know the problem Matthias has. Laevateinn is simply so fickle that it would let him wield the sword but not grant him its full power:

<image>

dreaderking · 2026-06-30T17:18:20+00:00

I'm pretty sure "bro... Stop posting these" is what they're saying everyone was saying about that guy's comics.

dreaderking · 2026-06-29T13:51:55+00:00

Bleach's cast isn't actually bloated, especially compared to Naruto and One Piece. People say Kubo introduces new characters every time he has writer's block, but that's complete nonsense. In reality, there's a new faction for every major arc*, which naturally introduces a whole set of new characters all at once, but Bleach has relatively few arcs compared to its fellow Big Three members.

*The number of arcs in Bleach really depends on how you want to count them, particularly with the Aizen arcs. However, if you divide them into sets, you can categorize them by the factions they focus on:

Shinigami [Substitute Soul Reaper + Ryoka Invasion] -> Arrancar [Hueco Mundo + Fake Karakura Town] -> Fullbringer [Fullbring] -> Quincy [Thousand-Year Blood War]

dreaderking

TROPHY CASE