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Tuesday, February 21, 2023

Sad news for Ciem: Inferno: The Grand Tour

One would think that history would be kind to The Gerosha Chronicles. In some ways, yes. In other ways, not so much. But while the alternate history world had to struggle with the tie-in tour A Very Anarteq Tour of the Soo coping with the fact that AirBnB wasn't in possession of 1011 Wellington St. in real life in 2015, requiring a retcon to make it so, and further had to deal with the fact that the HD Sports Grill in 2015 had since become a Montana's, these were minor setbacks to one being able to live inside the world of Anarteq: Guardian of the Soo.

Yet, the timelines for Ciem: Inferno and Sodality: Instigation were done both an ironic service and disservice in September of 2022. So, what happened?

According to this article from The Warrick County Standard, the Posey's Market so critical to Earth-G7 Ciem mythos got shut down, just two years after its ceasing normal store operations in the Earth-G7 timeline. Only, it wasn't repurposing as a gateway to Imaki's catacombs to hide the Exodus Agenda from Halal Affadidah's patrols that led to the shutdown.

Instead, Posey's fell prey to something else: poor management. More specifically, health code violations up the gazoo.

Pummeled by the economic brutality of the Scamdemic, and draconian lockdowns that failed to protect anyone from disease, the business had to start cutting corners just to stay in business. The building was old and decrepit. Its infrastructure, in bad shape. And that was on top of other acts of mismanagement leading to lots and lots and lots of spoiled food!

It wasn't just spoiled meat that was an issue, however. All that rotten vegetation that went unadressed had led to a fly population growing out of control. Customers could look forward to being assaulted by horseflies while trying to by canned garbanzo beans. Store shelves in an "out of order" freezer unit tried frantically to get shipping companies to accept recalled products that they failed to pick up from recalls from 20 years prior! The logs were never honored by the companies back in 2002, and were ignored all through 2012. But after 2020, records about it all...went missing.

With credits to be earned from overdue returns, Posey's didn't want to eat the cost to simply have that way-expired product go in the dumpster. Speaking of which, no one was maintaining the dumpsters to deal with the maggot problem. Probaby because the insane city hall had made most practical "cowboy" methods of dealing with the problem illegal, resulting in having to wait for services that the Scamdemic destroyed in order to (never actually) deal with the problem that Posey's was no longer able to deal with itself!

Rather than come to the store's rescue, when it was begging for help, that's not the Indiana way. Instead, the store got kicked while it was down. The health department's sign notices didn't even bother to give anyone an explanation as to why the store had been suddenly closed down. The only thing anyone knew, was that what used to be a mainstay of shopping local in the area, and supporting local store owners, had fallen prey to government red tape. Only an article published later by the local paper finally explained what the rationale behind this closing was.

Who could benefit from letting a store like that die? For one, Big Box. Wal-Mart, which has had its share of issues with meat, and the War on Flies, is big and powerful enough to survive getting slapped with occasional fines by the health department. And was all too eager to eat up the business that Posey's lost. Little guys, like Posey's? Defenseless! And given how tied their hands had been for years, it seemed the problems with that aging store were only destined to get worse. The inevitable finally happened: the store became unsafe to do business in.

What does this mean for Dozerfleet fans? It means, barring a massive internal overhaul and new management, Posey's will likely never again be open to the public. At least, not under that identity. So if you are fans of Ciem: Inferno, and you would love to revisit the locations mentioned in Ciem: Inferno: The Grand Tour as part of your Boonville-visiting experience, just take note that shopping at the grocery store whose parking lot was the setting for Candi Flippo's arrest in Ciem: Inferno is no longer an option.

This is unfortunate, as the cashiers were very friendly. Alas, you can't stay in business in an old building when Big Box wants you gone - especially if you can't control your inventory, and the flies take notice!

Monday, February 6, 2023

Uncovering Lost Wiki Treasures Pt 14 - Candi's evolution across Gerosha timelines

Before the video above was made, and encapsulated most of the points of note regarding the evolution of Candi as Ciem, there was a wiki article that detailed much of it. With Divergency accounting and disambiguation pages becoming the new normal for Dozerfleet characters with multiple variants, much of this old article can now be converted to a blog post.

The article was primarily written before November of 2012, so the variants are focused on Earth-G6 and earlier primarily. However, the above video chronicles G7, G7.2.0, and G7.2.1 variants of Candi, as well as the 12131-F version.

Gerosha Prime (2005)

Genetics and appearance

This was the first attempt ever at the character, being a quick-fix way of trying to put good use to the multiple children that Sims 2 base game Stan and Shalia had in 2005. The other purpose behind Candi's inception was to show how a superhero Sims comic could work, to illustrate a point to users of Mod the Sims Social that not every story had to revolve around teen pregnancy drama exclusively.

Due to the way game genetics work, Candi looked very much white like Stan and bore none of Shalia's skintone attributes. She was also blue-eyed like Stan, since Sim genetics randomly decide which trait is dominant. Had the Dozerfleet founder known how to use SimPE back then, Candi's genetic issues would've been resolved much sooner.

In this timeline, the adult version of Erin was murdered offscreen, and never once depicted. After the opening chapter, no word was ever spoken of concerning her death ever again; only it is to suffice that she gives Candi reason to move away and marry. One other major theme that would continue after this was that Candi had an affinity for dyeing her hair red, though her natural color is black.

Family

In 2005, Denny marries Candi due to her having led to his conversion, as his family is still atheist. We know almost nothing else about Denny; and Donte does not surface in Candi's life until much later on. "L1 the Llama" was originally Jeraime in a high school llama mascot suit, as that was easily pulled from the game's Sports career path. His catchphrase of "DIIIIEEEEE!!!!" was in here, but was downplayed considerably. Jeraime's catchphrase didn't reach exaggerated levels until a reboot attempt in 2006.

In Earth-G3.1, Denny is killed by Capp Aard rather than Jeraime, after being brainwashed into "Dr. Leone" and assigned to make monsters. Candi's pregnancy is less of a big deal in this version; but she does lose Angie shortly after Angie's birth. Jeraime is blinded in this version, and Milp was introduced. This version also established that Candi would have Dana in the future, and that Arfaas wants Candi's head as a trophy.

Donte's half-brother Khumar is introduced in this version as Khumar Emeraldo, recycling the old masculine form name that was going to be assigned to Esmeralda in Stationery Voyagers before that character was made feminine. Likewise, Donte wasn't known as Emeraldon in this version. He was known as "Captain Emerald." Lindsay was still Khumar's wife, but she was at one point attached to an AI backvisor and put in a Janette the Bunny suit to become S2 the Bunny. Dolly was forced into being S1 the Bunny. All such "Bunny Units" were using the game's Social Bunny NPC outfits.

With exception of Miriam and sometimes Marina, it was implied that Candi did not have a healthy relationship with most of her family. Reily ignored her, Erin was a surrogate mother to her when she didn't stay with the McAuleys, Jason and Tanya ignored here, Mike and Jeff outright held her in contempt, and Vince had vanished to some place that nobody knew. (In actuality, he was somehow exported as a Townie and the game all but forgot about him afterward.)

Power losses and nature of enemies

Arfaas' sister Harga attempted to reform and become a human woman named Hannah. By Classic Gerosha, Harga became an impenitent Hebbleskin Gang member. By Comprehensive Gerosha, she was written out entirely.

Candi's power losses in the original cut of Ciem 2 were brought on by feelings of guilt that by developing an interest in Donte, she was somehow cheating on Denny and that Denny was still alive somewhere and somehow. In the 2009 version, being pregnant with Frank became the basis for her developing a vulnerability to a strain of influenza that interfered with her powers. Later iterations of Centhuen Prototype physiology mythos remove most of these plot devices, instead merely stating that pregnancy hormones interfere with focus, making Candi less effective at using her powers while pregnant. Therefore, Candi has to also avoid most pill forms of birth control.

By extension, Earth-G7's retcon regarding why Candi getting pregnant interferes with her being effective at being Ciem also applies to Michelle and Dana's hesitation with the thought of ever wanting to get pregnant.

By contrast, Zize Choi simply grows to believe that she may have been sterilized by the Chinese government without her foreknowledge or consent, explaining why she has a difficult time conceiving a child. Since Zize got her powers via Phex-1 injection, rather than being a proper Phexo Centhuen Prototype, and she never developed proper centilegs, Zize isn't considered a proper Chilopod Crusader. Likewise, she doesn't ever gain Zeran tech to aid with clothing quantum storage nor with teleportation.

Rather, Zize's primary means of combat is still to utilize weapons and military drop tactics on par with her training as an MSS agent. Her rapid healing, high jumping, and other enhanced senses and skill potential make her slightly more than "peak human," but her overall methodology is still standard. As such, the effects of pregnancy hormones on her powers are much less substantial at influencing her performance in the field. Although, if Zize ever did get pregnant, she'd try to avoid conflict for the child's sake. She has no guarantee that her infant child would be able to endure abuse to the extent that she can.

Miriam Flippo, Marina Baret, and Tanya Woven are also interesting case studies on this subject. Miriam and Marina are considered honorary Chilopod Crusaders, since the sequence is inside them to become like Candi. However, they haven't successfully activated it. Without its activation, they have no clear way to ever manifest their centilegs nor control them. They lack the means to be truly superhuman. As a consequence, becoming pregnant wouldn't interfere with their talents any more than it would most ordinary women.

Tanya in Earth-G7, however, isn't a true Chilopod Crusader at all. Propped up with Padua Network tech and Imaki Izuki tech, she's an elaborate imposter of a Chilopod Crusader. However, she knows that if her tech fails, and she's pregnant, failure to escape from enemies in the event of her tech's destruction means being responsible for two lives being placed in danger. This becomes her impetus to retire from being the Ciem of Seattle. Even before Tanya was expecting Yong's child, she had her doubts about continuing as Ciem. Not having Candi's powers, in her mind, made the job suicide.

Despair Gerosha (2006)

This was a primitive attempt to take seriously the continuity started in 2005 via reboot. Awkward though this failed universe was, it established several firsts that have carried on as canon ever since.

Erin's death and Candi's enemies

One of these established facts is that Erin Flippo was murdered by Gunner and Skellig Soorfelt. Her killers were never made explicit until 2006. Despair Gerosha is also the last time that Ciem's archnemesis early-on was named "L1 the Llama." Musaran in Classic Gerosha was a '''BrassTex Mecha''' suit from Mod the Sims repainted to look shrew-like. L1 in this version was a repainted Storm Trooper and a repainted llama mascot helmet. This was still an improvement over the 2005 version, where L1 used the Sims' in-game llama mascot unchanged as his suit.

This was also the first version where Candi saves Denny from a Meethlite's assassination attempt late at night. Candi's attempt to save Denny also leads to the Meethlite's death. However, Classic Gerosha states that Gunner makes the attempt right outside Candi's house. Comprehensive Gerosha has it happen outside the home Candi is renting from Heather, and has Gunner fall on his own knife after a quick and vicious battle with Candi. Classic Gerosha's explosion death for Gunner is also covered in this version.

Relationship with Denny

Another change to occur in this version is that Denny was attending church with Candi well before they got married, and that this version shows them getting married because of their common enemies. That trend carried over into G5 and G6. In 2005, Denny marries Candi due to her having led to his conversion, as his family is still atheist.

Major differences between the first battle for Denny's life in Despair Gerosha and Classic Gerosha are location. Despair Gerosha had the affair happen in a city park. Unlike later Geroshas, where Candi and Denny decide to get married later the same week or following week, the two of them decide to consummate their relationship immediately in this version. They get engaged, but don't marry until after Candi learns she is pregnant.

Other major changes include the fact that Despair Gerosha is the first time that Donte was in Candi's life before Denny. Donte and Denny both meet Candi in this version around the same time. It is discovering herself pregnant that convinces Candi to choose Denny; but Donte remains a best friend. Denny's tragic and sudden death becomes the grand opportunity for Donte to win Candi's heart for good. However, he does get captured; leading to Candi having to rescue him.

Earth-G7 and beyond replaces Denny Levens with Danny Loffin, who in spite having some outdoors and survivalist training, is otherwise just some very friendly teenage boy that Candi falls for when he's proven to have a better heart than most of her other male peers at school. Also unlike Denny, Candi and Danny never actually succeed at getting married, before Danny falls prey to the Hebbleskins' schemes. Candi and Danny conceive a child together; but that ends in a miscarriage.

Earth-G7 and beyond also make the change that Ciem and Emeraldon don't actually meet until some time after Candi loses both Danny Loffin and Tyrone Menster as fiances, with the latter dead due to Halal Affadidah's goons. In fact, Ciem: Ash Cloud goes to some Sleepless in Seattle lengths to keep Candi and Donte from meeting, even though the logic of their circumstances makes it seem highly likely that they'd meet.

Candi's biology

In 2005, Candi had visible pores where her centilegs were hiding inside her. Denny has to strap her up to a device to allow her to hide the openings. This never becomes an issue in later versions. However, 2006 Candi also had half the centilegs at half the length of her 2005 counterpart. In Prime, Candi had 64 centilegs around 16 feet in length total each. These were reduced to only 32 centilegs at 8 feet in length each. By 2007, she'd have only 16 and they'd be about 5 feet in length each. Finally, the 2010 version has only 10; and they are only called "legs" by a technicality of term. In truth, their small size and length of only a few inches makes them more adequately described as stingers.

The year 2006 was also the beginning of efforts to make Candi more biologically realistic in terms of appearance. Her eyes were still gray/blue instead of the brown they'd become in 2010, but her skin was getting darker. Sims 2 depictions are limited, since only four default skintones are possible.

Other relationships

Donte's last name in Gerosha Prime was initially stated as Williams, before being changed suggestively to McArthur. That was fixed in G4, with his name having always been McArthur. The change also reflects that McArthur is the name he was assigned by the game when he was auto-generated for the first time by the Tombstone of Life and Death. Donte is a police chief for the last time in G4. Afterward, it was ruled that he was highly unlikely to have obtained that role. Donte also hides his alter-ego from Candi for the last time in this version. He is revealed to her almost immediately from then on.

Milp is an interesting case in this version. Unlike every other version, where she is at least briefly mentioned before her appearance in part 3, Milp is never once mentioned in G4. However, this version does make it explicit that Jeraime, not Simon, was Denny's murderer.

Candi in G3.1 is first arrested when she is mistaken for a streetwalking prostitute. She is never sent to jail for any reason in G4, though later Geroshas have fun with the idea. Candi's first arrest in G5 is for being Denny's widow, and for hacking a library computer to acquire information about Arfaas' raid and Donte's location. This essentially makes her a freedom fighter captured by Afaas' growing police state; one that has somehow still not figured out that she is either Ciem and / or a Flippo. In G6, she is arrested by a lady officer who mistakes her for Miriam. Due to Candi's ability to heal quickly from injuries, she is unable to pin the officer for brutality. Candi is later detained for about a week, as she is in shock after her battle against Don the Psycho, and the police aren't sure what to do about her mental state.

Candi goes into a coma after giving birth to Angie for the first time in G4. Her G3.1 self remained consciousness all throughout the ordeal. Imaki dies of a heart attack in Candi's presence in G3.1, as well as in G5. Although G3.1 and G6 attempt to make Imaki relevant to Candi's life somehow, G4 had Imaki leave behind little more than a video for Candi to watch. As Candi recovered in the hospital in G5, Imaki died in front of her.

Classic Gerosha (2007)

Along the way to developing the distilled and promising Comprehensive Gerosha (G6) continuity, the Classic Gerosha (G5) of Ciem webcomics proved to be an important precursor step.

This version of Candi's life initiated many firsts in the character's mythology. Even more so, her enemies were revolutionized. S1 and S2 the Bunnies were now only alluded to, with no intention of them ever being shown. One universe generation later, and they never existed at all. L1 the Llama was renamed "Musaran," shorthand for "shrew" in Spanish (''musaraña''.) According to Wikipedia, shrews eat certain types of centipedes. This made pitting Candi against a shrew-themed villain only natural. This version of Musaran was not as crude as the failed L1 suits of before, but was still not as well-thought-out as the Comprehensive Musaran promised to be.

The 2007 webcomic was also the last reference ever made to Arfaas' sister Harga Hebbleskin, who more or less doesn't exist in later adaptations. Gunner's brother, Skellig, was consistently identified as Skellig in this version. However, the surname of Soorfelt didn't get made explicit until 2010. This was the first time that Denny's would-be assassin was identified explicitly as Gunner.

Nolle Barret first made an appearance in this version, leading the charge to destroy Candi's reputation at church. Aiding Nolle is Pete the Shouter.

Another major difference that pops up in G5 that is not found in any other version is the existence of Kelsea Linney. This enemy of Denny's was based on a real-life hairstylist who worked at a salon in Big Rapids. However, the G6 universe sought to be profitable, leading to Kelsea becoming a G5 exclusive.

Donte's job as a police chief in G3.1 and G4 was no longer true as of G5. However, exactly how he afforded his house and what he did with his time outside heroics was never explained. G6 sought to cover those grounds in more detail. His capture happening early in the story is established in this continuity, and is explored in more detail in G6. Unlike in earlier versions, Donte established who he was to Candi early on here. Since he was now Emeraldon and not Captain Emerald, Khumar and Lindsay were renamed from the Emeraldos to the Hamiltons. This last name is a recycling of Anyce Hamilton from Replox: Abstract Foundations.

Just like in Despair Gerosha, Classic Imaki does very little for Candi onscreen. This is also the last time that Imaki is pure Japanese, as his backstory grows more developed after this continuity. Much like Gerosha Prime, however, Classic Imaki dies of a heart attack in front of Candi. This becomes established as true for all later versions.

Comprehensive Gerosha (2010)

Exploring other image formats

This version made significant changes to Candi, but most notably, it changed the size of her centilegs and the strength of her venom. Unique to this version is that a Sims 3 version existed at The Dozerfleet Forum, and was available via DzMD. More work was done with this version to find a template for what she would look like if played by someone real. In addition, this was the first version of Candi to be depicted in 2D using UGO's HeroMachine software.

Also of note, is that she is only portrayed by a Sim in this version for storyboarding, wiki portrayal, lot layout reference, and marketing of her for download. The book cover featured an as-of-yet-to-be-decided version of Candi in a format ''not'' drawn by a game engine. This marked the first time that Candi was primarily marketed outside of game downloads using anything other than Sims software.

Geography more realistic

This was also the first version where Evansville was explicitly called by its real-life name, rather than being dubbed "Dirbine." This change made at least the city where Ciem patroled into a real geographic location, cementing the mythos. Viron kept its name, but was based on Perry Township in Vanderburgh County. This was a departure from traditional Virons, which were entirely fictional towns.

Musaran

Musaran retains his name in this, but a lot of other things changed involving Candi's enemies. She no longer had to worry about Kelsea Linney, Bumphrob, or other villains of that sort. She did, however, have new enemies to replace some of them. Gunner fell on his own knife in this version of his epic showdown with Candi. In past versions, the Meethlite which Candi fights blows himself up. Musaran's slaughter of Viron University students is depicted a little differently here than in the 2007 comic, but that tradition carried over in general.

Allies

G6 also saw a return of Imaki to being more actively involved in Candi's life and in the decisions she made. He dies of a heart attack in her presence, same as in most earlier versions. However, he offers her more actual practical contributions that are more than just referred to. His presence was barely there in 2007's story.

G6 was the first to show much concern for Candi's in-laws: the Levenses. Eric and Patti were only alluded to before, as was Jessie. In G6, they almost got to be shown reacting to Candi and Denny's decision to elope.

In G7, the Levens family is replaced with the Loffins. While they find Candi and Danny's relationship cute, they are surprisingly apathetic about protecting and preserving that union. Roger at one point even gets Danny drunk at a party, then sends Jissika Sundue after him, to get him to forsake Candi, after essentially tricking an also-drunk Jissika into date-raping Danny. However, when the two of them awake and discuss what happened, the ruse is discovered. Neither Danny nor Jissika are amused by Roger getting them drunk and then tricking them into sleeping together, and they part ways after reprimanding Roger. Danny remains loyal to Candi from then on until his dying day.

Lesser enemies

Nolle Barret returned in G6, but her role was toned down significantly. A right-hand man of the church's district president turned out to be manipulating Nolle the whole time. Nobody was ever referred to by name as defaming Candi before G5. In the G6 timeline however, Luke Zahrn is identified as being behind Nolle. Luke is a pudgy, liberal-minded Arfaas sympathizer. He was a replacement for Pete the Shouter, whom Candi handled very differently in the G5 timeline. All of these lesser foes were written out entirely for G7.

In almost every other respect, Earth-G7 pushes Candi in directions that prior variants never explored - especially with regards to her tenuous relationship with the feds, and propensity toward being a political prisoner.

Friday, February 3, 2023

Uncovering lost wiki treasures Pt 13 - Who is Corvin the Caller?

Corvin the Caller was the working name given to a mysterious figure, who knew more than he was letting on, who often called Jessie Morcin and Mindy Liptash from burner phones in the Kozerlen TV series pitch from 2009.

Exactly who he really was and what he really wanted were a mystery to all but himself. At one point in the story, there were plans that he'd be exposed by Jessie after a fight. She'd actually get to compel him to switch sides in her war, supporting her.

Inspired by the Mouth of Sauron character in Return of the King, he would have been a figure dropping taunts and clues randomly, such that even the audience wouldn't know who he was or what is agenda was. This would be achieved by having a character who was never shown above the lower half of his nose. He was, in practice, to be something somewhere between Mouth of Sauron and Watchmen's Rorschach.

When the pitch for Kozerlen was abandoned in favor of Blood Over Water, Corvin was replaced with the character of George Lawence. While George is much more clearly and unambiguously evil and hammy, his voice effects are toned down from Corvin's considerably. Also, much of Corvin's intelligence was toned down when he was adapted as George. Some of that intellect was restored for the comic adaptation, though the miniseries reduced George to a dumb thug.

Friday, January 27, 2023

Uncovering lost wiki treasures Pt 12 - Gray Champion suit evolution

The following may be integrated back into the wiki at some point. An old "talk" page discussed the evolution of Gray Champion suits.

John's Outfits

Old Englishman

Debut: Of Angels and Icicles

There is little noteworthy anything to say of this. This was John's civilian outfit, around the time he found himself on his way to a new life in Lynn, as the Order of the Oraphim was founded, and the monarchy in England had no use for him.

In real life, this look for John was first drafted in 2017, for purposes of his backstory.

Man of Lynn

Debut: Of Angels and Icicles

The Man of Lynn outfit was John's default appearance during his life in Colonial Massachusets. There is little else about it that is noteworthy.

In real life, this look for John was first drafted in 2013, for purposes of his backstory.

Professor Mike Edwards

Debut: Freedom's Apparition

John was able to hide himself briefly, by becoming a tour guide for Hea's museum. Knowing firsthand about history and literature of the 17th century, only the vocal and beard similarities to John Domeck betrayed eventually to anyone that "Professor Mike Edwards" wasn't quite who he said he was. John's secret identity as a modern history professor had a short-lived tenure.

In real life, this look for John was first drafted in 2011.

Confederate Hybrid

Debut: Freedom's Apparition

John of course begins his journey in 2012 in his old outfit from the 17th century. After Hea Pang and Kyle Medsor's family assist him, he gets a high-tech black body glove to wear that augments his new abilities. This gets covered up by gray pants, a gray overcoat, a black-and-blue cape, some Puritan-era belt and scabbord for his sword Fishkiller, dark blue gloves and boots, a gray Pilgrim hat, and his signature black face mask with the yellow square "Eyes of Judgment" on it, with a slit to let his beard through.

This look comes to be his default superhero outfit, the Confederate Hybrid. This is because it is a fusion of Puritan and Confederate soldier styles into a single costume, created by Hea kitbashing together the look. It's slightly modified, and more practical, than the de-facto true 17th-century fashion he once sported. However, the evolution of his suit is still possible, given Hea's guiding principle in having John adopt the Gray Champion mantle: the words of Hawthorne himself on the matter:

But none could make reply. The fathers of the people, those of four-score years and upwards, were disturbed, deeming it strange that they should forget one of such evident authority, whom they must have known in their early days, the associate of Winthrop and all the old Councillors, giving laws, and making prayers, and leading them against the savage.

The elderly men ought to have remembered him, too, with locks as gray in their youth, as their own were now. And the young! How could he have passed so utterly from their memories--that hoary sire, the relic of long departed times, whose awful benediction had surely been bestowed on their uncovered heads, in childhood? [1]

Long story short, the Gray Champion's newest mantle, during the fourth turning of his calling, will always appear with fashion sense that's at minimum a few decades behind the population he arrives in. The general benchmark is 80 years, in keeping with Strauss-Howe generational theory.

However, John was plucked from the 17th century. Merging his Puritan fashion sense with that of a Confederate soldier, when the parts were spare parts from a history museum, was the most reasonable compromise.

Variants of Confederate Hybrid not only helped John deal with Eric Andro, and with Eqquibus; but were there for him in dealing with Blackveil, Chillingworth, Brackett, Hibbins, Korsicht and minions, and all of Terry Beliah and Halal Affadidah's goons sent after John. He also utilized this after joining the Sodality Western Militia. The Confederate Hybrid suit is the one most associated with John.

Confederate Hybrid is the Gray Champion suit that has been associated with John Domeck since September of 2001 in real life.

Homeless Militant

Debut: Shaken Dust

This "hobo" outfit was kitbashed together by John during the events of Shaken Dust. His Confederate Hybrid outfit was in storage, along with Fishkiller, as Hea was getting ready to move to Arkansas.

Being the most modern of John's hero outfits, Homeless Militant bears only the mask and body glove in common with the Confederate Hybrid. The outer garments are modern gray jackets and jeans, allowing him to appear like a homeless vagrant bearing the same spirit as the Confederate-Puritan Hybrid, but sporting a different look. This outfit also forced John to practice his shooting range gun training, as opposed to trying to rely entirely on Fishkiller to solve his problems.

Once out of bullets, John had to improvise some new sword weapons. However, he also had to learn to rely less on his electric field manipulation, as the power grid became sparse in Boston after Brackett and Hibbins aided Affadidah. Easy teleportation became difficult without a consistent electrical grid to fall back on, forcing John to have to scout his way about Boston the old fashioned way. He still had his enhanced strength and healing, levitation, invisibility, intangibility, and other phantomimicry powers. But without lightning bolts and fast travel, John found being a Gray Chmpion to Bostonians harder than ever.

John passed the test, however, in freeing Hea and Tina. Once in Jonesboro, however, he had to revert to his Confederate Hybrid and Fishkiller arrangement to defeat Brackett.

In real life, this look for John was first drafted in 2017. It was known he'd need an outfit modification as early as December of 2015; but this design didn't arrive until two years later.

Scandium Phantom

Debut: Sodality: Vindication

The Scandium Phantom was an upgrade made by Malestrom Industries, which sought to allow John to have improved resistance to "Tug" tech. It wouldn't have been able to help him against the one that the Chrome Kite eventually put around Arkansas; but it ensured that lesser Tug devices wouldn't be able to trap him while he went to Italy to thwart Rappaccini's evil plans, along with the rest of Team Spaghetti Liberation.

Anticipating that her being a political hot item would complicate matters, Dolly saw writing on the wall for her continued tenure of being able to be the Earwig full time. She knew that the time would come that she'd be too preoccupied with other business to be active in duty as the Earwig, so she bestowed partial Earwig tech on the two she trusted most with it: Candi and John.

Therefore, Candi was permitted an upgrade from Ciem to the Vanadium Centipede, although Candi only got to use the Vanadium Centipede armors a handful of times. John was given the Scandium Phantom outfit, though it was eventually destroyed in the Second Great Battle for Dephinapolis. This resulted in John reverting to the Confederate Hybrid once more.

In real life, this look for John was first drafted in 2015.

Roy's outfits

Roy Bernald arrived some time shortly after Arkansas was captured by the Chrome Kite. It wasn't long before John took Roy under his wing, seeing it as a sign from God that Roy was destined to eventually be John's replacement as official bearer of the Gray Champion mantle.

Gray Doughboy

Having come from the fields of WWI, Roy was destined to be a very different sort of Gray Champion. He tried to adapt his combat experience at first, as the Gray Doughboy. However, that name was no longer taken seriously in the 21st century, as the term "doughboy" had become too closely associated with the Pillsbury Doughboy. Roy's love of horses - particularly his steed Fellertooth (named after John and Orenda's long-deceased pet wolf Fellerfang) - resulted in Roy abandoning the Doughboy outfit.

Gray Rancher

The Sodality Western Militia had to scout the western territories reconquered from Netheel, in order to minimize Hebbleskin revivalist and Chrome Kite agent activity. They had a variety of safehouses set up for them in a network, and found the safest way to travel was often on horseback - reverting to 19th-century methods of doing almost everything.

Roy modified his attire accordingly, and his Gray Champion variant reflected more of a "wild west cowboy" influence as a result. The "Gray Rancher" identity was born.

References

  1. Hawthorne, Nathaniel. "The Gray Champion." ''Twice-Told Tales''. 1837.

Wednesday, January 25, 2023

Uncovering Lost Wiki Treasures Pt. 11 - The Evolution of John Domeck

Somewhat unnecessary now, the following is an old list of versions of the John Domeck Gray Champion's various incarnations throughout the history of the Gerosha Multiverse, detailing how the character evolved as a concept over time, departing from who he was in Earth-G0.

Earth-G1

Unlike in Earth-G0, Earth-G1 John was made still-living, and bonded with the Marlquaan, instead of a spirit trapped in it. This came as the result of a need to:

  1. Make the character more vulnerable and
  2. Make the Marlquaan's nature more universal and applicable to other characters.

A lot of this change was necessitated by a decision to merge John's story into the greater budding Gerosha mythos, where it needed to share space with the Meshalutian Trilogy and and eventually with Ciem mythos. However, he would remain largely under-developed at the time, due to greater emphasis in the fall of 2002 on 90 Has No Secant, which was in-turn inspired by The Ring.

The decision to replace Verdabbin with Eqquibus came after the Dozerfleet founder watched 2002's Spider-Man in theaters. Willem Dafoe's Green Goblin became the inspiration for a newer, more fleshed-out and more personable villain. From there, pictures of horses and one of an incubus that featured on Google Images inspired the idea of a man who was merged with a horse and an incubus.

Earth-G2

John was to be a canon figure, along with other cast members of his continuity family, in Earth-G2. However, very little was changed apart from what were already included in Earth-G1's changes. Emphasis was placed in this version on the Rintels and the Flippos.

Earth-G3

Test Gerosha, had it taken off, would have eventually tried to merge the Gray Champion's continuity together with that of Stan and Shalia Flippo. Instead, all it accomplished was to define Marissa Hood better - as well as much-reduce the size of Shalia's original family. Her brothers were erased from the timeline this time, making Shalia an only child.

Earth-G3.1

Immediately following Test Gerosha, Gerosha "Prime" (first proper Gerosha universe) became the first-ever attempt at telling The Battle for Gerosha. This cemented both the continuity family's title and the Flippo family's central importance to greater mythos. However, emphasis on defining Ciem through an early Candi Levens meant that pursuit of a reconciliation of Gray Champion and Ciem continuity was delayed. Further delay came in the form of side projects in disconnected universes, such as When Bikes Argue.

However, Ciem's story being spread out over three webcomics provided some fixed timeline for Gray to connect with.

Earth-G4

One more time, Gray Champion continuity development was sidelined, this time to build a better Ciem continuity. This first attempt was doomed, partially by software and hardware issues. However, the problems with 2006's Ciem webcomic led to better things a year later. It was first in 2006, however, that sketches were attempted of Eqquibus, officially having him replace Verdabbin as Gray's initial adversary in Freedom's Apparition.

Earth-G5

In Classic Gerosha, there was an attempt to make the Gerosha universe even more inclusive, which resulted in Volkonir and Grillitan Diner Easter eggs in Ciem. There were even plans, ultimately rejected, to fuse the Bison and his mythology into Classic Gerosha. Instead, all that was done about that was a movie poster Easter egg near Miriam's bed featuring the Bison.

Since then, the events surrounding Volkonir and the Bison were moved into a universe of their own. The Grillitan Diner was moved to being canon to the same universe as The Trapezoid Kids and Camelorum Adventures.

John's battle with Eqquibus was moved in setting from Grand Rapids to Boston, but few other changes were made to his role.

Ciem was released to Mod the Sims, with chapters being published from 2008-2009. There were plans to immediately follow it up with Ciem 2, but this was canceled due to health and college activity reasons.

Blood Over Water was made instead, which would become a starting point for a complete revamp of continuity. Life in the dorms at Ferris inspired the Dozerfleet founder further to consider making Sorbet a story. The inability to get by on mere free webcomics alone came to the desire to pursue more commercial and profitable novels, which would require much more planning before being written. This would give way to the entire Classic Gerosha timeline being abandoned in favor of Comprehensive Gerosha.

Earth-G6

In Comprehensive Gerosha, John's mythology would be refined further. "Heeshwa Pwong" became Hea Pang, and her unnamed mother was named Dae Pang. Eqquibus would become slightly more clever, and use cheap lines less often. Gray's first superhero tale was going to simply be called Gray Champion, after the Hawthorne story. However, it soon became obvious that a more distinct title was needed.

That added distinction came on September 28th of 2011, when the Dozerfleet founder watched a YouTube video featuring footage from the trailer for Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance. It suddenly became obvious that a subtitle on that order was needed. Since the novel adaptation of Ciem became Ciem: Vigilante Centipede, Gray's first story in Dozerfleet was renamed The Gray Champion: Freedom's Apparition.

More work was done to expand his family background too, including to Orenda "Kicked Deer" Domeck being his wife, and Marge "Mapacha" Domeck-Ramirez being his daughter. Plans existed back in Earth-G1 for Mapacha, but were never pursued until G6.

Earth-G7

Comprehensive Gerosha plans for the Gray Champion trilogy were only slightly revised for Cataclysmic Gerosha. Gray's role in Abolition was rewritten slightly to make it conform to the season 4 plot for Sodality.

In late 2015, real-life news events inspired Shaken Dust. The desire to make John Domeck have his own Gerosha-continuity-building trilogy also arrived as a result of reimagining the character some more. Comments on DeviantArt that he was basically "Puritan Thor" have led to a desire to pursue playing up the similarities.

Shaken Dust was to be the final part of John's adventures in modern Boston, in much the way that Thor: Ragnarok was to be the final movie in the MCU's Thor saga (that is, until Love and Thunder was greenlit.)

From there, John would go on to play a role in Augmentation, Vindication, Battle for Metheel, and even have some significance to Centipede + 49. After meeting Roy Bernald, he quickly concluded that the latter would one day be a worthy replacement for himself. He would continue to play roles in the background during Swappernetters, though Tabitha Pang would take center stage by that time as the new main character.

The Society of the Icy Finger became much more significant this time around, quickly gaining power after Eqquibus' stunts to rise up as a formidable global threat on par with and even exceeding that of the Hebbleskin Gang. Their brief alliance meant that John would have to cross paths with characters from Ciem mythos even before the two factions were joined in the Sodality of Gerosha years later.

Events in Chillingworth's Revenge would inspire the Hebbleskins and Icy Finger to recruit Drop-In and Eric Korsicht as liaison mercenaries, as well as competing with the Kerpher Gang's leader Victor Nanale by taking on Clyde Spendelworth of Gleeful-N'-Young, at one point the regional manager of Sleet Mountain Lower Northern. However, that also meant that the Purge-Flare would leap from the pages of Blood Over Water and join in with the not-yet-officially-formed proto-Sodality to take on these common threats, inspired in costume by Extirpon.

More so, Eqquibus' experiment that brought John into the year 2012 is also credited with creating Extirpon, Slip-Sadie, Cocklebur, Extirwraith, Nematode, Spoliat, and more. Events in Ciem: Inferno would therefore inspire events in Shaken Dust to happen, which would in turn inspire events in Ciem: Ash Cloud and Ciem: Caldera. And those events would in turn lead to a young Tabitha's hero-worship of Ciem.

Not only did the Ciem and Gray Champion myth arcs get to finally connect, they actually indirectly affected each other's immediate successive progressions.

Earth-G7.2

In Sodality: Battle for Metheel, John Domeck returns. He, Hea Pang, Tabitha Pang, and a few others are captured by King Morzhuk's invading forces on Earth. However, the ship transporting him is intercepted by Phaelite warriors.

John is rescued amidst the ordeal, but is stranded on Phaeleel. He and his friends defend a scientist named Desulon, while Hea travels back in time to destroy the Grand Ultimate's Ruby with the help of Kicked Deer and Hester Prynne. John gets to battle a new villain named Bosom-Serpent, named after a different short story by Hawthorne. He later joins Extirpon and other Sodalists on Metheel to bring about the overthrow of Morzhuk and establishment of restored freedom to Metheel.

The only major difference between this version and his Cataclysmic Gerosha counterpart in the same exact story, is the exact choices of actions taken during the fight to bring about the outcome. What specifically he does would depend on the player's decisions, as opposed to their minutiae being author-dictated. More or less, however, G7.2.0 continuity attempts to adhere as strictly as possible to G7.0 continuity.

Earth-G7.2.1

Percolation

Percolation marks the first explicit appearance of the John Domeck version of the Gray Champion in a form of media not canon to any prior Gerosha continuity.

This fanfic for Marvel: Avengers Alliance explains how it would be possible for Extirpon to be temporarily exported to that game's version of the Marvel universe, where he'd partially lose his powers and be forced to become a SHIELD agent operating under the moniker of "Agent Opendi."

Jubilee and the Danny Ketch version of Ghost Rider find themselves switching universes with Extirpon and Anarteq temporarily. SHIELD and SCALLOP would eventually find a way to establish contact with each other, and negotiate how to get Extirpon and Anarteq home.

However, the two displaced Marvel heroes initially arrive in Boston. They are attacked by Janet Phillips, the Icy Finger, the Crooked Rainbow, and Boston police. Hea Pang and the Gray Champion intervene to save them. Hea contacts Darius, and has the displaced heroes sent to SCALLOP headquarters until something can be done about their predicament. From there, she and Gray further monitor activity related to their new friends, as SCALLOP agents request them to. This story takes place a short time after the events in Extirpon and Freedom's Apparition, happening roughly in early 2013 right as Hea first discovers she is pregnant with Tabitha. This was also, according to some players, the moment when Avengers Alliance reached its peak of popularity on Facebook. However, Percolation as a story wasn't a significant deal in Dozerfleet continuity until late 2013, when the founder of Dozerfleet started playing Avengers Alliance and needed to name his in-game agent.

John's clone in the MAA fanfic universe was elaborately described and laid out in the hopes that Marvel would take interest and want to integrate him as an actual character for Avengers Alliance on Facebook, along with many other heroes. However, the Dozerfleet-to-Marvel project was abandoned in 2016 when it was announced that Playdom was going to take Avengers Alliance offline. In addition to John, Candi got an entry. Several members of the Camelry were also given entries, including Lemon Witch and Maddening Rod. There were even plans to include the Knights of Cortascius and the 20s Altered Judo Iguanas.

Percolation: Legends

This story documents how John and others became cloned into being long-term parts of Earth-12131-F. It was essentially a tie-in for ''Avengers Alliance Tactics''. However, its further pursuit was dropped when that game and the original Avengers Alliance were taken down by Playdom. The short-lived mobile app of Avengers Alliance 2 also failed to justify a return of the Gray Champion to pursuit within Marvel.

Camelorum Adventures

John is recruited to the Percolation Warriors by a joint effort with Lex Philippine, Fred Hanom, and Stan Woudean to save the entire multiverse from the Triumvirate. He finds himself initially working with Emeraldon, Pablo, Anna, Ion Boy, Lightning Hobo, the Judo Iguanas, most of the Knights of Cortascius, and Extirpon to deal with certain pocket dimensions that are endangered by Triumvirate activity. Also joining him are Roy, Tobias, and Sarah. Hea and Tabitha are sent to the other unit: Team "F-Pod." They work with Ciem, Sniperbadger, Maddening Rod, Semaphore, Lemon Witch, and Kayla Tarington to resolve the other issues.

Wednesday, January 18, 2023

Uncovering lost wiki treasures Pt 10 - Becka Rangers: Dory Charge

Becka Rangers: Dory Charge was an internet parody of Power Rangers: Dino Charge and Finding Dory, set in the same world and serving as a sequel to Becka Rangers: Nemo Thunder.

As told on DeviantArt, it described how Dr. Cendo must stop a new threat inspired by the old one, by getting his old team to recruit members for a new team - this time, with Ranger suits themed off of characters from Finding Dory.

Plot

When Barracudron's evil clone arrives to pick up where the original left off, Cendo is forced to call the Nemo Thunder Rangers out of retirement. But with busy adult lives and the clock ticking, the team realizes they're gonna need young replacements - and soon.

The team sets to work finding worthy successors. After watching Finding Dory, Dr. Cendo uses his discovery of the Gems of Charlie - said to be even more powerful than the Gems of Coral - as a way to make new Australagems and create the next generation of Nemo Rangers: Dory Charge.

Characters

Dory Charge Rangers

Ranger Designation Avatar
Becka Tangle Regal Tang Ranger Dory
Rob Eber Octo Ranger Hank
Terry Thent Grammafish Ranger Gurgle
Gordon Rittaru Beluga Ranger Bailey
Brett Fline Seal Ranger Fluke
Juan Ricardo Shrimp Ranger Jacques

Allies

  • Dr. Cendo, the kind mentor that was there for the Nemo Rangers, now with a lot more experience.

Nemo Thunder Rangers

Ranger Avatar Description
Becka Saline Nemo The veteran Clownfish Ranger, who finds Becka Tangle.
Emiley Violet Pearl The veteran Octopus Ranger, who finds Terry.
Scott Slate Bruce The veteran Shark Ranger, who finds Brett.
Mike Bruin Nigel The veteran Pelican Ranger, who finds Gordon.
Dillon Jade Crush The veteran Turtle Ranger, who finds Rob.
Kyle Tentac Jellyfish The veteran Jellyfish Ranger, who locates Juan.

Villains

  • Barracutrox, the evil clone of Barracudron, set to pick up where the original left off, but nastier.
  • Sabichubs, seaweed-haired advanced Chubblers.
  • Various monsters

Weapons

  • Whalespeaker Hand Cannon, Beck Tangle's new sonic hand cannon, based on the "Speak Whale" gag from Finding Nemo. Has similar damage effects to Beck Saline's Lucky Fin Missile Launcher.
  • Octo Multi Whip, a multi-purpose, multi-tentacled tool in Rob's possession.
  • Sonar Saw, a buzz saw that can emit damaging amounts of sonar on enemies as well. In the possession of Gordon, and based on Bailey's issues with his sonar in Finding Dory.
  • Cleaner Scythe, Juan's weapon, which can inflict massive amounts of damage similar to the Jelly Staff. It can shoot energy projectiles as well as be used as a traditional scythe. It is named after Jacques' obsession with cleaning things in Finding Nemo.
  • Scum Zapper Baton, Terry's signature weapon. Inspired by Gurgle's hatred of the AquaScum 2003 in Finding Nemo.
  • Jagged Tooth Blaster, Brett's blaster, which can shoot out globs in one mode that eat into an enemy's flesh and then harden quickly to take the form of seal teeth.

Morph call

"Dory Charge, Just Keep Swimming!"

Zords

As with Nemo Thunder, the zords are based on character avatars. Dory combines with Hank to form the head and chest of the Aquarium Megazord. Bailey forms the legs, and Fluke the arms. Gurgle becomes chest armor. Jacques has his own Megazord form.

Theme song

Becka Rangers! Becka Rangers!

With the ocean at bay;
A new team finds a way!

Gotta keep land and sea alive!

A new generation;
The same war will come!

Hold on, it's Dory's time to thrive!

Go Go Becka Rangers!

Flowing to the top;

Go Go Becka Rangers!

Sea monsters on land flop!

Oceans surrender!
(Dory Charge!)

Now or never!
[Becka Rangers!] x 4

Becka Rangers: Dory Charge!

Links