#Team Rubicon
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Pics of my Mountain Dew collection. Box 4.
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Ford Motor Company and Team Rubicon Join Forces for Hurricane Idalia Disaster Recovery Efforts
https://headlinehorizon.com/Business/Lifestyle/1244
Read about how Ford Motor Company dispatched volunteers to support Team Rubicon in aiding local disaster recovery efforts in Florida after Hurricane Idalia.
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Great to get back out working in the field helping to film Team Rubicon and interview people being helped by their disaster relief.
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Good People Doing Good Things -- Team Rubicon Again! And Yet AGAIN!
Good People Doing Good Things — Team Rubicon Again! And Yet AGAIN!
In October 2017 in another ‘good people post I wrote about Team Rubicon, a group of veterans started by Jake Wood, in 2010, initially in response to the devastating earthquake that had hit Haiti, leaving hundreds of thousands dead and at least that many more homeless. Wood convinced a former classmate and a few other former Marines to join him and starting off with a group of 8, they headed to…
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#&039;Neighbors Helping Neighbors&039;#coronavirus pandemic#Hurricane Fiona#Hurricane Ian#Jake Wood#Team Rubicon#Typhoon Merbok#veterans#volunteering#William McNulty
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Armored Core: Not only do you have Repair Costs for your AC, but also Ammo Costs for your weapons after you complete missions.
Me buying dual miniguns:
#armored core#armored core 6#fires of rubicon#team fortress 2#tf2 heavy#memes#I don't actually use mini-guns but this stupid idea randomly popped into my head
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The official french twitter for adult swim posted ANOTHER rubicon trailer today! We’re finally getting a look at some of the new characters!
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Some of the Halo books I have in my possession at the moment. I've already finished Silent Storm and I thought it was good, and I got The Rubicon Protocol back on 8/11/22. I'm currently reading The Cole Protocol then I'll head to Ghosts of Onyx and THEN I'll get to Rubicon Protocol.
#Halo#Halo: Silent Storm#Halo: The Cole Protocol#Halo: Ghosts of Onyx#Halo: The Rubicon Protocol#S-lls#S-llls#S-lVs#Blue Team#Gray Team#Sabre Team#Team Sabre
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Dating sim but it takes place in 50 BCE and your real goal is to prevent Caesar and Pompey's civil war, using such tools as:
The mos maiorum
Thinly disguised homoeroticism
Fulvia's hitman agency ("You hire, the jerk expires!")
Hortensius' funeral (great for matchmaking)
Three consuls named Marcellus who all look alike
A chariot drawn by panthers
Hiding the fasces so neither consul can do anything
Mark Antony (nude)
Inserting an extra month into the year at the most inconvenient moment possible
Mithridates VI (dead)
Clodia Metelli's definitely-not-poisoned dinner parties
Cato's harem of Greek philosophers
Undisguised homoeroticism
Replacing Cicero with an identical double so you can smuggle him back to Rome early
Mithridates VI (alive)
Springing Vercingetorix, leader of the Gallic revolt, from jail
A secret fourth Marcellus
A rotating amphitheater/highly flammable death trap
Vampire Sulla (undead)
Appius Claudius Pulcher (necromancer)
Julius Caesar's fucked-up horse (missing)
Great Caesar's ghost (currently in Great Caesar's body...unless?)
A man-eating eel named Lucius Tiddlypuss
Cato's tits (out)
Unrepentant homosexuality
A team of priests streaking and hitting people with whips
Strategically-placed sacred chickens
Moving the "Rubicon" sign in the middle of the night so Caesar hasn't actually crossed it yet
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Allow me to rant about Rusty and his theme for a moment okay.
spoilers for Armored Core 6 below.
Okay so first off Rusty's theme is so fucking good I love it so much.
It just has this sense of determination and righteous justice to it. It's so powerful and it fits his character incredibly well. If you've finished chapter 5 you know what I mean. Hearing this song kick in when you and Rusty team up to take down the Xylem makes everything feel worth it. "FUCK YEAH." Admittedly, I havent gotten the other ending (yet), so I dont know for sure how the song works there, but I can reasonably assume there's a final showdown with Rusty and it plays then.
Next I want to bring up Rusty's emblem. For the majority of the game, when he's part of the Vespers, it's a muzzled wolf.
But after 621 defeats him towards the end of chapter 4, he leaves the Vespers, and (at least in the liberator of Rubicon ending,) he joins them in taking down the Xylem and saving Rubicon. This change is accompanied by not only a new AC, "Steel Haze Ortus," but also a new emblem, depicting a wolf with it's fangs bared, free of any restraints.
This is a really subtle change but I like it a lot.
Finally I just want to mention that, in the wild, Ravens are known to adopt wolf cubs and play with them as they grow. Even following the wolf of it chooses to leave it's pack. Just like 621 and Rusty both abandon their missions in order to save Rubicon. I love that. Bravo fromsoft.
#thats all i just love rusty#armored core 6 spoilers#armored core#armored core 6#armored core vi#fires of rubicon#v.iv rusty#pocketposting#i have something in my head about G5 Iguazu being a dark mirror of Rusty but i need to finish NG++ first
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The Game Awards 2023 winners:
Game of the Year - Baldur's Gate 3
Best Game Direction - Alan Wake 2
Players’ Voice - Baldur's Gate 3
Best Multiplayer Game - Baldur's Gate 3
Best Sports/Racing Game - Forza Motorsport
Best Sim/Strategy Game - Pikmin 4
Best Role Playing Game - Baldur's Gate 3
Best Action/Adventure Game - The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
Best Adaptation - The Last of Us
Best Ongoing Game - Cyberpunk 2077
Most Anticipated Game - Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
Best Fighting Game - Street Fighter 6
Best Community Support - Baldur's Gate 3
Best Independent Game - Sea of Stars
Best Score & Music - Final Fantasy XVI
Games for Impact - Tchia
Best Audio Design - Hi-Fi Rush
Best Mobile Game - Honkai: Star Rail
Best VR/AR - Resident Evil Village VR Mode
Best Art Direction - Alan Wake II
Best Action Game - Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon
Best Debut Indie Game - COCOON
Best Narrative - Alan Wake II
Best Performance - Neil Newbon, Baldur’s Gate 3
Content Creator of the Year - Ironmouse
Best Esports Team - JD Gaming
Best Esports Game - Valorant
Best Esports Event - 2023 League of Legends World Championship
Best Esports Coach - Potter
Best Esports Athlete - Faker
Innovation in Accessibility - Forza Motorsport
Best Family Game - Super Mario Bros. Wonder
#The Game Awards#TGA 2023#Baldur's Gate 3#Alan Wake II#Forza Motorsport#The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom#Pikmin 4#The Last of Us#Cyberpunk 2077#Street Fighter 6#Sea of Stars#Final Fantasy XVI#Tchia#Hi Fi Rush#Honkai Star Rail#Resident Evil Village#Armored Core VI#COCOON#Super Mario Bros. Wonder#video game#awards
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when you get the urge to just crank out 2k+ oneshot about rusty getting briefly jealous over ayre when 621 tells him about her............ well anyways. here, enjoy! (it's not 2am i should sleep)
jealousy
Rusty wasn't quite sure when it started exactly, these talks with the new merc in town.
The days were long on Rubicon, and the nights even longer, and as the stalemate stretched between Arquebus and Balam, so too did the monotony of the various sorties Rusty was sent out on. Usually he was alone, performing well at 'surgical strikes' or 'sabotage runs', but sometimes he was deployed alongside the MT squad he was the commander of. There wasn't much chatter there, though, except for 'yes sir!' or 'understood, commander!' from the grunts, or Snail's dulcet tones drawling through the comms.
With the new merc, it was a little different.
He didn't talk for one. Raven only ever communicated through text, and even these were very short phrases like ack, or negative, or clarify. It should've been off-putting, but Rusty found a strange sort of openness to the blank canvas Raven offered during sorties. No matter what Rusty said, Raven always replied with an ack at the very least.
Acknowledgement. I acknowledge your words.
It was little things at first, inconsequential. After their first team up at The Wall, where Raven survived where he shouldn't've, Rusty had been curious yet wary. He knew that the merc was running a stolen license - he'd met the original Raven and had narrowly escaped with his life in the encounter - and he'd heard of Handler Walter's reputation. His Hounds tended to be high-quality pilots, no matter their outdated augmentations and their equally outdated ACs - and they bore no loyalty to no one but Walter, who was a dangerous wildcard in his own right.
So Rusty had tried to scope out this 'hound'. Got absolutely fuck-all in return.
"So, where're you from?" Ack. Negative. "Nowhere?" Ack. "How old are you?" Ack. Negative. "You don't know?" Ack. "What's your favourite food?" Ack. Negative. "You don't have one?" Ack. "What're your plans after Rubicon?" Ack. Negative. "None?" Ack.
Was it cageyness? Maybe he was so brainfried he didn't remember? Rusty didn't know, but it prompted him to give him examples in return, even if they were all blatant lies:
"I'm from the Jupiter colonies, though I grew up in Tau Ceti." Ack. "I'm almost forty years old." Ack. "My favourite food is seafood paella." Ack. "I plan to take a two week vacation to the beach after Rubicon and blow all my bonus money on a new car." Ack.
And from there...
Rusty didn't know when it started. When his probing questions getting stonewalled turned into him just... talking to Raven, if only to hear the ack in return. How his blatant lies shifted into something just half a step away from vaguely truthful, on those long days and even longer nights, during sorties where they trashed Balam outposts and sent their MTs running, or harassed Liberation Front supply lines (yet, somehow, those Rubiconists always somehow managed to slip away before they could be captured for re-education, strange that....)
It'd become a sort of catharsis for him, a comfort. Maybe this was what it was supposed to be like when you went to therapy, having someone you could just talk at to sort out your own thoughts, not having to juggle with actually carrying a conversation, just needing someone to say yup, i hear you, i'm listening, without giving needless platitudes or advice - or worse, asking questions.
Hah.
It was kind of pathetic, really.
But for someone like Rusty, this was the best he was going to get. Once he'd finished his mission, no one would ever want to speak to him again - provided he wasn't buried in a shallow, unmarked grave, with his name synonymous to traitor.
So, despite the slippery slope this was, with Raven squatting in the nebulous region of threat i am keeping close to observe and one of the few decent people in my fucked up social circle i'd be sad to kill one day, Rusty kept talking.
And eventually... Raven spoke back.
-
"-nyway, it's getting a bit awkward right now. Freud's more than a little antsy at how Snail keeps giving me all the assault missions while he's staying benched just in case, and I have no idea how to tell him that Snail's probably just trying to kill me by overworking me. Well, tell him in a way to say 'this isn't a good thing!' Pretty sure Freud would find that a fun afternoon, dodging assassination attempts..."
'Ack.'
"Honestly, I'm a little jealous of you sometimes, buddy," Rusty sighed half-jokingly. He toed a chunk of scrap with STEEL HAZE's clawed foot, checking it for mines. Balam had gone a little nuts with this current outpost of theirs, and the place was lousy with them. "You get to pick and choose your missions, and don't have to deal with office politics. Now there's a battlefield that takes no survivors, let me tell you."
'Ack.'
"In fact, it's just you and Walter, isn't it?" Rusty mused. He knew Arquebus had already exhausted its information network to dig up as many skeletons as it could on Walter, and amazingly enough they'd only come up with a few bones. Walter's past was shadier than midnight fog, and Raven basically manifested out of thin air with how non-existent his papertrail was.
Or, rather, how fraudulent it was. The original C4-621 had died over two years ago. Whoever this 621 was... no one had a clue, no one but Raven himself and Walter, that is.
'Ack. Negative.'
Rusty paused, putting his very cautious examination of his immediate surroundings on hold as he fixed STEEL HAZE's ocular feeds onto STALKER.
"It isn't?"
Raven didn't respond, which was odd. He always gave at least an ack. Had he said something he wasn't supposed to? Rusty was intrigued... but he knew he'd get nothing else out of him. Still, it was a scrap of info-
'i have a friend.'
Rusty blinked at the words that flashed across his HUD, in the little chatbox that was designated for STALKER's text comms. It was not ack, negative or clarify. It was actually a full on sentence, the very first that Rusty had ever read from the mercenary.
He was actually speechless for several moments, the words actually taking some time to fully process their meaning.
"A... friend?" Rusty repeated.
'Ack.'
Rusty waited, because in any normal social setting this would be when elaboration occurred, but after three whole minutes where they just stood there staring at each other, Rusty realised nope, that was it. Raven just upended the norm to drop an enigmatic sentence and decided to explain nothing. Typical.
"...who's this friend?" Rusty tried. "You got a name for them? Any details? C'mon, throw me a bone here."
There was no immediate response. Rusty waited impatiently.
'Ayre. She's a Rubiconian. I have no bones. Sorry.'
Ayre? A Rubiconian? She?
"Huh..." Rusty's stomach felt weird, a sort of knotted tension he couldn't quite explain. A Rubiconian... he didn't know anyone by the name of 'Ayre', but then again, he's been away for ten years and didn't know everyone... as an independent mercenary, too, Raven probably took jobs for the RLF - Rusty already knew of two he'd taken - so... probably someone from one of the other cells...
A friend though... he probably interacted with her outside of missions to have that close of a relationship. Two months, though? This was the first time Rusty had prised anything other than ack, negative or clarify from the guy in those months, and it turned out he had a full on friend in his back pocket this whole time? Talk about a shock...
"How'd... you meet?" Rusty asked, aiming for casual but his words coming out all stiff instead.
'Mission.'
Right, of course.
Rusty abruptly returned to the task at hand: checking their ground route for mines as they inched through the outer perimetre of the Balam outpost. Usually they'd just fly over the damn things, but Balam had installed some heavy-hitting anti-air cannons, the outpost practically a bristling porcupine with how many of them were primed and ready to shoot a fly out of the sky so... here they were, tiptoeing through a minefield instead.
It was tedious but doable. STEEL HAZE's LIDAR system was finetuned enough to detect the mines before he entered their detonation range, and STALKER was a repurposed surveyor AC. It was slow but safe. Mostly slow.
'You too.'
"Huh?" Rusty blinked at the sudden text, confused from the lack of context. "Me what?"
'Friend.'
"...oh." It clicked. "I'm your friend too?"
'Ack.'
"Thanks, buddy," Rusty said, injecting some friendly cheer into his tone, even as he felt... conflicted over the whole thing. His stomach hurt like he'd just eaten a bowl of stinging nettles, his mouth twisted into a grimace as his emotions bounced between tiredly resigned and intensely guilty.
He didn't return the sentiment, and Raven said nothing else. In fact, the rest of the mission was completely silent, broken only by Rusty giving the occasional order or situation update as they penetrated the minefield and destroyed the anti-air guns in the outpost, the Balam MTs routed and in full retreat.
Rusty knew it was out of character. He was chatty, especially with Raven, but his mind kept churning over this mystery friend. Ayre. She. Apparently been buddies with Raven for a while.
He was surprised Walter would've tolerated it. He always weighed in whenever he was on comms on their sorties, snapping at Raven to focus on the mission, or curtly telling Rusty to stop distracting his hound. Needless to say, he and Walter did not see eye-to-eye often, and Rusty couldn't help but feel that Walter held a hint of disdain for him specifically. He had no idea what he'd done to earn that mysterious handler's ire, though. Getting too friendly with his dog, maybe?
In which case...
"Hey, Raven," Rusty said, too curious for his own good. "Does Walter know about this Ayre of yours?"
'Ack.'
"He does? And he's... fine with her?" Rusty asked in mild surprise. Huh, maybe Walter was fine with his hound knowing nice girls? Well, as nice as freedom fighter girls could be... or Walter disliked corporate mercenaries? But he was oddly friendly with Michigan, so that couldn't be it...
Maybe he was just plain homophobic? Thought Rusty was some evil gay trying to seduce his hound to bat for the Arquebus team only? Rusty couldn't help but snort at that theory.
'He doesn't think she exists.'
Uh...
"He... what?"
'He doesn't think she exists.'
Rusty had no idea how to unpack that.
"...like, does he think she's a catfish or...?"
'? Catfish can't talk?'
"What?"
'She's not a fish?'
"No, I- not that kind of fish. A catfish."
'Catfish are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. They can't communicate with humans.'
"No, no, not- it's- it's describing a technique people use, to decieve someone with a fake identity. Usually in romance scams... it's called catfishing. So, a catfish. A person faking their identity to scam you out of something."
'Ack. Negative. Ayre is not 'fake' or scamming me.'
"But Walter thinks she is?"
'He thinks she doesn't exist.'
Why did Rusty feel like they were going in circles...? He let out a laugh, amused despite the frustratingly confusing nature of this entire discussion, and shook his head.
"Buddy... why doesn't he think she exists?"
The response was a long time coming. Long enough that Rusty thought Raven had dropped the topic entirely - even if it would've left Rusty thoroughly scratching his head on the apparent Schrodinger nature of one Ayre Rubicon, when:
'Because she doesn't have a body and only I can hear her voice. He thinks she's a hallucination.'
...
Okay.
Rusty had no idea how to unpack that.
"Huh," he said, with absolutely no emotion whatsoever. "I see."
He said nothing else. What else do you say to that. Really.
'You don't think she exists either.'
"I..." Rusty could practically sense some sort of wall being pulled up between him and Raven, leaving him with only a split second to make a snap decision. Tell the truth and say yes, I actually agree with your handler for once and think she's a hallucination, and alienate Raven, or lie and say no, I believe you, tell me more, and end up spending the rest of his time humouring Raven and his hallucination in full earnest.
And... really, what was wrong in that?
This hallucination clearly didn't interfere in Raven's mission performance, and he seemed to be otherwise connected to reality. Maybe Ayre was just a manifestation of Raven's loneliness, an imaginary friend he'd conjured up for himself and just couldn't let go of. Rusty knew Gen Fours had it hard. Legally, they weren't even considered humans, just intellectual property or military assets. Maybe this 'Ayre' was the only "human contact" he'd had until Rusty had come along.
With that in mind... Rusty's decision was easy.
"I believe you," Rusty said gently. "Just trying to wrap my head around not having a body... must be hard."
There was a pause, a long one, and Rusty waited to see if Raven would see through him and scorn him for trying to humour him, or if he was just-
'She says she's used to it, but there're some things she wants to do but can't, without a body.'
"Oh? Like what?"
And just like that, their roles were reversed. Raven's responses were slow, typed out as they were, but Rusty was getting more than ack, negative or clarify, and he felt a little rueful that it was because of an imaginary friend when he'd been standing right here for months...
But it was fine. Rusty'll show him that he didn't have to pretend to get his human interaction. Just like how Raven quietly listened and acknowledged his words, Rusty'll will do the same. And even if Raven kept hallucinating this Ayre, what did it matter, so long as it didn't interfere in his connection to reality?
Out of all vices Rusty had seen in his fellow pilots... this was the most harmless one
...if a little sad.
#armored core#armored core 6#v.iv rusty#c4 621#viv621#fanfic#when ur slapped with a fic idea instead of sleeping...#anyway here's rusty getting jealous over ayre for a hot second
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//Spoilers for Everything in AC6: Fires of Rubicon//
The Meaning of the Motif of "Borrowed Wings" and how G5 Iguazu Exists to Reinforce It
What seems to fly over everyone's heads about G5 Iguazu is that the point of his character is how 'deciding upon a goal and having the willpower to strive for it, no matter what' is literally as important as the line between life and death.
You need to find a purpose for yourself that you personally believe in. Cause no matter how grand or how petty that purpose is, if you don't have one... you die!
With whether or not you actually succeed at that goal being completely irrelevant... to your conviction for it.
(Something, something, it's the ambition that you're living for, not whether or not you get the accolades at the end.)
A moral proclaiming the importance of "deciding upon a purpose of your own free will, and then pursuing that goal no matter what setbacks you encounter" is all nice and easy when you're main character e621, who experiences no setbacks because, as the player, you're necessarily going to be strongest fighter in the galaxy.
But it's pretty obvious how trite that is on its own, where your only canonical character trait is that you always win no matter what.
And so, Iguazu's purpose narratively is to show how, beyond any ounce of doubt whatsoever, that 'winning' is not a relevant part in what makes "having a purpose" so important, or so necessary.
In essence: It's what makes Iguazu live.
Start of the Game: Volta and Iguazu both want to beat up Michigan.
- Volta gives up, and then he gets sent by Michigan to die at the Wall.
- Iguazu deserts. And he does not die at the Wall.
After Gallia Dam he send you hatemail to say that the Redguns will scale the wall, but Iguazu himself doesn't even approach the Wall after this. As G4 Volta's last words reveal, he deserts before the operation is attempted.
Iguazu *himself* watches from the sidelines, costing him no less than an almost certain death like Volta's.
And the reason Iguazu changes his mind about scaling the wall with the Redguns is because, after Gallia Dam, Iguazu decides upon his purpose. His personal conviction.
Iguazu personal goal becomes -> He wants to kill you.
We love pathetic boys.
But the reason Iguazu deserts for the sake of this new goal is specifically because he wants to become stronger than 621, and not want his obligations as part of the Redguns to get in the way of this goal of his, he goes independent.
--- Correction ---
Iguazu deserts the Redguns at Watchpoint Alpha, prior to the death of G1 Michigan. He doesn't desert the Redguns at the Wall, he only goes Away WithOut Leave. The reason for which he goes AWOL being to take independent work, as we see an example of at Grid 086. Outcomes of everything are still the same, I just mixed up the order.
Also;
Volta: "Iguazu, listen, like, Michigan really like cares about us...! It's like we're part of his family, man, just give him a chance."
Volta: *Gives Michigan a chance*
Volta: *Gets killed under the leadership of G1 Michigan*
It's really funny but sad.
It's also really funny and sad how effective at Yank-bait G1 Michigan was.
But it's illustrative of how effective it is to break down someone's expectations and feelings of self-worth to legit 0, such that empty platitudes like simply saying the right words, like the names of the expendables themselves or to bring in the medical teams after a battle (as if they wouldn't have come otherwise?), will leave such an impression that they think you really do care about them--even in despite of how worthless they obviously are~!
And all at the same time as your direct actions and orders lead them straight to their meaningless avoidable deaths.
What could be more cost-efficient for your employers than soldiers who're literally suicidal for you, right?
Ha!
--- ---
And not only does this decision directly lead to Iguazu not dying at the Wall, but, no longer squeezed under G1 Michigan's boots, G5 even directly improves as a fighter.
This is shown in how his AI differs between his fighting at the Gallia Dam--where he's overly defensive, constantly having his shield up, despite wielding two guns.
And then, later at the Grid--where he actually fights aggressively like his AC's loadout is built for.
The second major encounter with Iguazu is Watchpoint Alpha where he either fights you directly, and dies there. Or he hires Coldcall to kill you, and survives elsewhere. Again, this is an instance of Iguazu's legitimate determination towards his chosen goal directly separating him from life and death.
When he hires Coldcall, Iguazu focuses on his goal, and let's go of distractions like his personal pride and image.
Ridiculous, right? Iguazu letting go of his pride?
But consider how it's directly Iguazu's personal feelings that lead him to facing 621 personally. He doesn't *just* want to kill you in that instant, he wants the glory of killing you as well.
But the accolades at the end aren't what makes it worthy to pursue a chosen goal.
Iguazu wants 621 dead. And when he hires Coldcall, this is him coming to terms with pursuing his goal, regardless of his personal setbacks. Iguazu faces the fact that he personally wouldn't be able to kill you. And, because he comes to term with this setback, he finds an alternative method that would still lead towards fulfilling his chosen purpose.
To confirm, of course, Iguazu's purpose is really dumb and terrible. But it's not whether one's chosen purpose is 'a good goal' or not that the value of pursuing it comes from. The value comes from it being one you decided for yourself, as opposed to, for, for example, by a corporation's profits. (Not a coincidence narratively how Balam's forces, united most in their complete idolization of G1 Michigan, following *his* word no matter what even knowingly to their deaths, are the deadmost losers in the story.)
Unlike for example e621's chosen conviction, or Rusty's chosen conviction, (Also no coincidence narratively that G1 Michigan, who only exists as the weapon of his corporation and put out a bounty for his own assassination--expressing how he has no personal plans for the future and literally wants to die--is guaranteed to be taken out by either of these two, no matter what.)
It's not the loftiness of a goal that determines if it's of worth to decide upon one of your own free will and pursue it in the first place.
The 'value' of pursuing a goal is unrelated to what that goal itself is.
What makes pursuing a goal valuable, is the conviction.
You don't have to be smart. You don't have to be emotionally mature. You don't have to be a good fighter. You don't even have to be brave.
You just need to choose your purpose and follow it.
This is what the motif of 'wings' and 'borrowed wings' are all about in the story as well. It's about pursuing a goal that was chosen by someone else, versus pursuing a goal that was chosen by you yourself.
"They choose what to fight for, and take to the skies in flight."
"One cannot fly on borrowed wings" in this case literally meaning that if you pursue a goal not because you want it, but because someone else wants it, it will directly lead to your death.
Criticizing their "borrowed wings" is what Ayre and Rusty chastise the RLF for for solely repeating slogans and "not bothering to think [for themselves]."
And Iguazu, deciding he doesn't care about how he'd be seen by others, and only caring for the goal itself to be accomplished. Survives, where Coldcall dies in his place.
Coldcall, a far superior fighter to Iguazu. Dies, instead of Iguazu, because he was flying for Iguazu's purpose -> Fighting on borrowed wings.
Etc etc "this is hell, we're in hell!" and so on and in the Alea Iacta Est true ending of the game Iguazu, outta nowhere!, becomes the legit Final Boss of Armored Core 6.
How the hell did this 4th-gen AC pilot, otherwise a completely random nobody without a purpose not given to him by his employer, get to outer space and stuff, right?
Well, consider how the complete rando that was e621 does the same: Their personal conviction.
"But Iguazu only got to become the final boss out of dumb luck," right? ALLMIND chose him for little else but that he was the only old-gen Augmented Human that was still alive. If ALLMIND wasn't there, he couldn't have accomplished anything, so obviously it can't actually be meaningful.
But how would 621 have escaped Institute City without being rescued by Carla? How would we have escaped Arquebus re-education without the AC that Handler Walter secretly assembled left for us?
And, most relevantly here since this is the Alea Iacta Est route itself: How would 621 have known about V.II Snail planning to ambush you in Institute City without ALLMIND herself's very assistance?
C4-621 is, at a glance, just as much a recipient of dumb luck as Iguazu.
But thematically, it's not pure happenchance.
It's the results of the both of these characters continuing to fight for a cause they chose to believe in, no matter what.
So Iguazu survives. He survives the hijacking of Watchpoint Alpha by ALLMIND. And he even goes so far as to survive the hijacking of his own brain by ALLMIND, taking over the final boss even after being assimilated.
"What essential difference made ACs superior to unpiloted craft?"
The answer is simple -> One cannot fly on borrowed wings.
Unpiloted craft can never have a purpose that is actually their own. They exist only for the person who's wings they borrow--who's purpose they serve--who built them.
That's why piloted ACs are better. *Not* on borrowed wings, in this case, they can fly higher.
For C4-621, that chosen goal is to achieve Coral Release. (Since it's is still the mission you yourself choose that finally puts you on the Alea Iacta Est route or not, it fits within the theme of free will. Even though, as a videogame, there's an obvious limit to just *how* much free will the player is actually able to express. Within the story, however, when 621 chooses the mission to begin the path to an ending, that's them deciding for themselves 100% that's that the goal they want to achieve, no matter what.)
For Iguazu, that chosen goal is to kill you. (The goal he wants to achieve, no matter what.)
And so, because he was not flying on borrowed wings. Iguazu survives fucking everything. Stupid wings, yeah. But that just shows: What matters is only that they were his own.
Even against the most powerful super duper AI mastermind that ALLMIND was, the biggest loser on Earth, G5 Iguazu, survived.
Where even she is made to give way to Iguazu's conviction -> Killing e621.
Hammering this point home is why "I'm only here for what *I* want! I don't care about ALLMIND's goals, just my own!" is basically the only thing Iguazu says across like 2 entire 3rds of the final boss.
Iguazu's chosen goal is not ultimately successful.
But it wasn't whether or not Iguazu ultimately killed 621 in Rubicon's exosphere that lead to him not dying at the Wall like G4 Volta, or at Watchpoint Alpha like G1 Michigan and Coldcall, or upon the destruction of his physical body by ALLMIND.
It was his conviction that lead him past those things. His WINGS!
He chose what to fight for, and he fought for it.
On the wings of his free will, Iguazu flew above even the very clouds of Rubicon itself.
And that's why he was the Final Boss.
The only thing able to finally kill him being the person with a conviction even greater, C4-621.
(As a sidenote; Taking account of the main moral of Armored Core 6 really puts into perspective how many trillions of times it gets repeated explicitly across the game lol.
VS Rusty, VS Rusty when he calls you "power without a purpose," VS Cinder Carla, VS Handler Walter, Ayre's description of what the name "Raven" is literally supposed to mean, etc.
They all talk about how you've chosen your path and you'd made sacrifices to get this far and you finally have a conviction that is your own and how big a deal that is and so on.)
#tlgtw ooc#g5 iguazu#my boyfriend who hates me g5 iguazu#armored core 6#armored core 6 spoilers#alea iacta est#armored core lore#g1 michigan#it is way late at night and I am stressed out about computer problems and the only way for me to feel better#is to get as many thoughts out of my brain as possible. I'm not even really sure if this is coherent or not#but that's okay#as far as I'm concerned anyway e621's conviction is just seeing G5 Iguazu again gehehehehhehehe
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Mission: Buy the Armored Core VI Blu-rays
1. "621. Here's a request from a friend.
Street dates for the Armored Core VI Blu-rays are in. Volume 1 includes Episodes 1 and 2. Deluxe Limited Edition packs in a bonus novella, if you wanted to know how G4 and G5 ended up in the Redguns. Audio commentary from me and Michigan too.
Bring it home, 621."
2. "This is V.II Snail. I am commissioning you for this request—consider it a privilege. Having been favorably received, Volume 2 of the Armored Core VI Blu-rays is now available for reservation. Episodes 3 and 4 detail the events up to and including Operation Wallclimber. Packaged as a bonus is a novella that lays bare V.IV's induction into the Vesper Squad, as well as some of the meager deaths of Walter's mutts. Proof of your ability is on the line—you will not return empty-handed."
3. "Raven, it's me. Volume 3 of the Armored Core VI Blu-rays is going on sale. That means Episodes 5 and 6, where you take on the Watchpoint. I've looked into the bonuses. There's a novella in this one covering the Fires of Ibis, and a report on Dolmayan. I don't have any funds with which to buy it... Would you preorder it for me?"
4. "Tourist. This is "Chatty" Stick from RaD. There is a date set for Volume 4 of the Armored Core VI Blu-rays, which has made the boss very happy. Episodes 7 and 8 will cover the Crossing. There is a novella about how the boss created me, and a bonus CD of Arquebus and Balam corporate anthems. That's all I had to say. Later, tourist. "
5. "Hey, buddy. V.IV Rusty here. They just announced a date for Volume 5 of the Armored Core VI Blu-rays. That's Episodes 9 and 10, but word is they're going deluxe—a fresh cut of Episode 11, the one where we down the Ice Worm. Still going strong with the bonuses, too—a spin-off courtesy of Arquebus PR's radio station... one whole hour of Vespers VS. Redguns on CD. Don't miss out on it, buddy."
6. "Hey, tourist. It's your old friend, "Cinder" Carla of RaD. Looks like they're pushing out Volume 6 of the Armored Core VI Blu-rays. They're capping this one with the special where you intercept the Redguns. And hey, the viewers didn't vote for it, but someone up there loves us, because they're throwing in the alternate ending too. Chatty, boot up the ACs! Something tells me we're gonna go shopping!"
7. "V.II Snail, come in! This is V.VI Maeterlinck! They've gotten too lavish with Volume 7 of the Armored Core VI Blu-rays! On top of Episode 13, they've brought out a reveal-all OVA about the formation of Overseer, and a top-secret Institute report from Professor Nagai! They even have a CD where Handler Walter sings for the Episode 13 ending theme!? Requesting backup, stat!"
8. "Guess who's calling, tourist. Listen to your lucky numbers—Armored Core VI Season 2, Boxset 1, coming to stores. Sounds like they've got Episodes 1 through 4 in the "Fires of Raven" arc. Bonuses are... an old diary written by that little Ayre interloper, and a drama CD they're calling "MIND α, Release Phase 1". Happy face, tourist! Let's have ourselves the last laugh!"
9. "Hey, buddy. V.IV Rusty here. Just got a message about Armored Core VI Season 2—they're readying to sell Boxset 2. Contents are Episodes 1 to 4 of the "Liberator of Rubicon" arc. They're packing an Alternate Limited Edition with a figure of STEEL HAZE ORTUS. Your ideals brought cinders to life in the production team. I'm moving out to preorder, buddy."
10. One new message.
"Rb23, independent mercenary Raven. Armored Core VI: The Movie -Alea iacta est- is now on streaming services. A UHD-BD, containing audio commentary by myself and Ayre, a CD of the main theme as sung by Ayre and ALLMIND, and a storyboard collection, is also available for purchase. This ending exists for all mercenaries."
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Author Love Letter!! Eldritcher <3
Gosh. I love eldritcher's works. One of the funniest/kindest/brilliantest folks in fandom and I am just excite when I get a new fic from them because it's guaranteed to be fresh/different/unique/empathetic and just 100% written with heart and emotional connect. Even the darkfics/smutfics are just really soulful and beautiful.
Because the majority of their fic in 2023 are not HP I don't want to do a fic deep dive here. You can check my 2022 letter for those! But everybody should read the fantastic Birds of Paradise, about the friendship between Fawkes and Albus Dumbledore. Definitely in a nutshell shows a lot of the emotional richness of eldritcher's writing.
Eldritcher writes a lot of Problematic (affectionate not derogatory!!!) Because of their fic I read the following Really Problematic works.
Anne Carson. I mean! Really problematic. Lots of gender.
Beowulf. Nobody told me it was super problematic. Anyway, I read Beowulf because Ossuarium is technically Beowulf fanfic. I ship Grendel/Grendel's Mom because it's pretty much every single Ossuarium dragon/dragonrider ship ever. Also I am Team Modthryth if anybody cares. Also I don't really do anything outside Heaney version because English. Heaney is a hero.
Tempest. Also super problematic because Prospero did some serious Not Good stuff. Also Sycorax and Caliban is pretty much the same vibes as Rubicon parental relationships.
Piranesi. Idk how this happened. But this happened.
Lots and lots of other stuff. The Easter Eggs. Rocky Horror Picture Show coded in a Asoiaf fic. Love love love for the ingenuity and absolute why the heck not attitude.
2023 was an amazing year for me with eldritcher's works. Loved the fics, loved the books they got me hooked on, loved the folks I met reading the fics and the books. It was super brilliant to have a lot of challenging books to read and discuss with other folks/understand different perspectives/see the common patterns and things like that. It's like movie analysis when you can have a lot of fun if you are doing it with the right folks. I feel like it's incredible to enjoy the good parts of a franchise when you have a writer who can work it out. Ossuarium can be technically called Beowulf fanfiction but it's also the best deconstruction of the pseudomedieval fantasy genre/that part of the asoiaf canon I have actually read.
Anyway.
Everything is Beowulf. Also I support Modthyrth Wrongs.
#author love letter#eldritcher#fandom#love love love#fan folks i love#beowulf#support modthyrth wrongs#multifandom fic authors
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tsundere iguazu
thats it thats the ask- no of COURSE its not
fanon good ending- all the nice npcs live and rubicon is safe yipee! but iguazu is still iguazu. rusty ends up taking out 621 for drinks, as he promised in that one dialogue you know the one.
iguazu gets squashed in with the rlf since he cant go back to the redguns. its pretty sweet being freelance, but he gets. REAL jealous of rusty and raven. like that's HIS raven, why are they spending more time with that traitor
not understanding that raven likes rusty better because he isn't a bitch-
BUT rusty Knows What Iguazu Is. so he and raven ambush him. and rusty gives iguazu compliments like 'see that's how you get someone to like you doesn't it feel nice?' and-
am i writing fanfiction
i need the sleep
this makes me laugh because i do have a hc that in a world where those 3 have to live in close proximity with each other post-LoR ending, Rusty and Iguazu (probably Ziyi too) would form a frat bros tag team or sth ...(what the hell are you saying)
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Got a job for you, 621. Valus Ta'aurc. From what I can gather he commands the Siege Dancers from an Imperial Land Tank outside of Rubicon. He's well protected, but with the right team, we can punch through those defenses, take this beast out, and break their grip on Freehold.
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