https://www.reddit.com/dndstories/comments/kc5k4p/the_crashed_tower_of_the_late_zephyros_skt/ - Previously our heroes found Zephyros' tower crashed in the wilderness and a bunch of stone creatures were attempting to burn all his notes; among them was a Large Dragon also made of stone but also possessed a regular Dragon's lightning breath. After crumbling all their enemies to rubble the party gathers up as much of their late Cloud Giant friend's notes as they could and put a full day's travel between them and the tower in case any other statue-like minions showed up to finish the job. .
The cast of DnD Comrades.

Ransom - Tiefling Cleric of Thor.
Paxton Hightower - Human Wizard.
Otto Norona - Gnome Rogue/Fighter.
Creedun Grungerock - Dwarven Bard.
Sir Oswald Pinkerton - Human Paladin/Warlock.

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Paxton spends a good part of the evening using a Language-Comprehension spell to pour over Zephyros' journal and other loose pages. He finds pages of recipes, philosophical musings, and several pages relevant to their previous experience together, along with where he went after he dropped them off in Triboar.

1st Page - "I picked up a group of Adventurers yesterday and am giving them a lift to their destination: Triboar. Nice bunch, not nearly as rowdy or treasure-grabby as some Adventuring groups. I especially liked that extra-small-folk with the eyepatch - Otto was his name. He got way to high off some of my less-potent pipe grass and... (at this point Paxton stopped reading to the group as he realized Otto still doesn't know what he did when he was blackout stoned).
2nd Page - "A Storm Giant Herald named Iymrith, from the court of Maelstrom visited me yesterday. She was quite condescnding to my guests, but it didn't feel right correcting a Storm Giant - Ordning or no Ordning. Iymrith claimed the Lords' Alliance murdered Queen Neri, and when King Hekaton went to confront them he went missing. Iymrith also added that Hekaton's youngest daughter sits on the throne, but that her inexperience is throwing the court into chaos and weakening the Storm Giants' Influence.
3rd Page - "That thing the Storm Giant Herald told me last week has been weighing heavily on my mind. If the Lords' Alliance is truly behind Neri's death and Hekaton's disappearance, might they also be responsible for the Ordning breaking in the first place? I will finally make my pilgrimage to the 'Eye of the All-Father' to seek answers for myself."
4th Page - "This temple is much more magnificent that I'd imagined; our ancestors were the pinnacle of Giant-kind to have made all this. The bad news is that it's about as cold as one would expect this far North. On the other hand, for some good news: I finally formulated some pipe-grass with the right potency for myself but now I'm TOO high - I grabbed the wrong weapon and stumbled off with it, hahahahahahaHahaha. Did I really just take the time to write out 'haha?' Oh man..."
5th Page - "They've been pursuing me since I cleared Lurkwood and will be upon me soon. The Dream Spell failed - my friends, if you find this: if what the Oracle told me is true, then I..."

.
After some deliberation, the group decided the notes don't provide enough new information for them to step away from their quest to find the Giant-Slaying weapon presumably left behind in Yartar by the missing Harthol Zymorven so they continue on, but mean to seek out more answers about this 'Eye of the All-Father' at a later time.
Around midday Paxton's Owl familiar communicates to him, "Don't look up, but there appears to be a dragon circling high above us."
Paxton quietly lets his comrades know of the situation. He casts Mage Armor on himself and Sir Oswald casts Armor of Agathys on himself. Their casting of spells seems to have alerted the dragon of their awareness of them as it begins to dive. Paxton then casts Invisibility on himself.
There's a nearby tor jutting out of the bog nearby that Paxton suggests they all run towards, but they only make it a little ways off the road before realizing that Sir Oswald is staying in place, trying to draw the Dragon's ire to himself.
In a flash of cobalt blue, the Dragon both forcefully and gracefully lands on a nearby boulder still some 60' from them. With its bulk nearly the size of a large covered wagon, it puffs out the yellow plates of its underbelly and cocks its head as it stares down its snout and horn towards the group. In a deep, steady voice it speaks, "Greetings little travelers. Are you lost? From where have you come? To where do you travel?"
Not wanting to divulge too much information Creedun only mentions they're traveling to Yartar and they didn't mean to trespass on the Dragon's territory.
"I'm only here to talk, let's drop the spells and magic in the name of diplomacy; I know there's a 5th member of your group skulking around somewhere. Now, normally I'd demand some tribute for such a trespass," the Young Blue Dragon continues, "but today I'm interested only in information. Just last night I passed the strangest thing - what looked like a tower... that had fallen from the sky... just off the road? You wouldn't have happened to have noticed that too would have, traveling past there towards Yartar as you say."
Creedun asks the Dragon if they can just be on their way and that they mean no harm or disrespect. Sir Oswald musters as much Charisma as he can (which is quite a lot) and says they'd be willing to trade information for information). He asks the Blue Dragon what he found in the tower, what he thought of it, and why he wants to know more?
"I found a dead Giant in the tower, I found it rather odd, and it is my business to know what happens in my territory." The Dragon adds with a thin veil of forced patience, "I'm normally not so generous but you amuse me human; I've now answered 3 of your questions and you none of mine. What do you know of the tower?"
Otto chimes in saying the Cloud Giant Zephyros had been their friend once and he believes he'd been trying to get a message through to them.
The Dragon grins a cruel smile, "As I suspected. I will add you to the collection of the Queen of Statues - the Gathering Storm!" as it pumps its mighty wings to take flight.
Roll Initiative!
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Creedun conjures two Giant Eagles which Grapple the Dragon before it takes off.
This is obviously a cunning foe as it completely ignores the beasts and unleashes a torrent of deadly lightning into the Dwarven Bard, shocking him so badly that it's impossible to maintain concentration. As the Eagles poof into nothingness, the Dragon flies up 40' above the ground and begins circling the group.
Otto is struggling to hit the dragon at this range with his Hand Crossbow and uses his new martial training to stow his shield and attack with his Shortbow at the same time.
Paxton appears next to Sir Oswald, and laying a hand on him casts a spell allowing the heavily armored Knight to fly!
Sir Oswald streaks towards the Dragon and positions himself above it, striking mightily into the Dragon's back twice.
Ransom makes a Spiritual Weapon appear next to Dragon to slash at him, while Creedun resummons his Giant Eagles, though this time the Dragon fends off their grapple.
The Blue Dragon mauls Sir Oswald several times then tries to fly away, knowing that even if the Eagle can keep up, the Knight can't. He's betting that his scales can fend off their attacks and is partly correct, both eagles fail to land even a scratch. Sir Oswald with a lucky swing strikes a critical weak spot behind the Dragon's shoulder and adds a charged-up Smite into the fleeing Dragon
Paxton takes advantage of the Dragon having left the cluster of his allies and centers a Fireball on the Dragon. As the dragon flies out of the bursting flame it is singed and starting to look quite hurt.
The resummoned Giant Eagles catch up and both successfully grapple the Dragon as the 3 of them tumble to the ground, WHAM! Still thrashing on the ground the Dragon bites and claws the injured Eagles, causing both of them to poof from existence.
The Dragon takes an expert shot from Otto's Short Bow and not only looks very hurt, but for the first time shows actual fear itself. It moves to retreat, but instead of flying away it begins to burrow into the soft boggy soil. The group only sees it burrow in 10' and then loose sight of it in the dark tunnel.
Paxton throws a fireball right at the opening of the tunnel, hoping the edges of the flaming blast will catch the Dragon. He hears no sound as to whether it hit or missed.
Even running at top speed Otto isn't quick enough to reach the hole before the Dragon can burrow further in and the tunnel turns at such an angle the Gnome can't blind-fire in. Then he remembers that he has one more "Ka-boomer" left from the merchant cart they encountered south of Calling Horns. He lights the fuse and tosses it into the tunnel. 4 seconds later KABOOM!!! followed by a screeching roar of pain.
Sir Oswald flies down into the tunnel with no hesitation in hopes to finish off the Dragon but emerges a couple seconds later saying, "It's dead." The Kaboomer had blown open the side of its face as smoke poured up and viscera dripped down from its eye.
The group tries harvesting some scales and teeth, but damages their trophies in the process. Sir Oswald opens the Dragon's belly to find a couple human skulls and bones, along with a partially digested dagger. He also insists on spending more time to try to acquire the Dragon's snout horn. Paxton puts his Secure Hut spell over the tunnel while he works because spending several hours exposed in the wilderness doesn't seem like a safe plan.
The rest of the day and a half journey to Yartar is uneventful and everyone arrives fully rested.
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They find a contingency of guards inspecting everyone who arrives to the city's outer gate. They make their way inside and get food recommendations from a cheery local man.
They're directed to the man's favorite joint - a "dive" dinner on the edge of the "bad part of town - called Karletta's Table.
There they find a one story flat-roofed building hemmed in by larger buildings that appear to have 3rd-story additions built atop older structures. Karletta's Table has crates stacked up outside that several young street kids are using to play and climb on, some have even climbed up onto the roof and are playing up there, another youngster in dirty clothes runs out from behind the diner with a fist-full of bread.
The group walks through the swinging saloon-style doors and gets their bearings in the dim light inside. Most of the booths have privacy walls, but they see a few folk who look down on their luck, a few more working class people, and a couple women arm-wrestling.
Behind the bar is a window looking into the kitchen where clanging pots and pans and sizzling can be heard. A half-elf with dark blue dyed hair cropped short on one side, wearing leather armor with an apron over it comes into view yelling at some staff around the corner, "You don't have that ready yet? By the gods, what am I paying you for, eh?" She notices the party standing in the dinning area and immediately switches her demeaner to a sweet and welcoming smile. "Hey sorry nobody was there to welcome you, feel free to seat yourselves! Someone will be with you in a moment :) " She returns into the part of the kitchen out of view and continues commanding the kitchen staff in an authoritative tone.
Creedun suggests they sit where he can watch the women arm-wrestle and after a few rounds he approaches them with Otto and asks if he can challenge one of them for a round of drinks. There's some brief chit-chat and the women seem fond of taunting Creedun and Otto, mostly in good fun. They tell the adventurers that they work the docks in the fishing industry. Otto mentions that he's a fisher as well and that's how he lost his eye.
One of the women cranks her shoulder a bit as though it's stiff and says to the other, "What do you think Sally? You wanna take 'im?"
Sally, "Are you gunna need some books to sit on, guy?" alluding to the Dwarf's stoutness. "How 'bout instead a drinks though we wrestle for the story of your friend's lost eye. I win against short an stout 'ere - you tell us your tale, little guy?" Otto agrees.
After a particularly close match Sally pins Creedun and Otto launches into a captivating tale from his youth when their boats' nets caught a Kraken, and how he had to climb into the nets to free the beast. In the process he slipped and severed the end off one of the Kraken's tentacles, fell back into the boat and the knife "poked him in the eye."
There is a long pause. Eventually Sally says, "Pffffft, I call bullsh!t There's no way that was a Kraken. That's a mythical beast; even if one does exist there's been no claims of seeing one in a hundred years at least. Plus, it would have dragged your ship to the bottom before you had a chance to free it."
Otto insists he's not lying.
Sally adds, "look, I'm sure you were entangled with something big and tentacle-y, maybe a Giant Octopus, maybe a newborn Kraken, but if that were a real one you'd be a skeleton at the bottom of the ocean right now."
There's a little more benign chit-chat. Otto refers to the women as "madams" which they get a hoot out of. Then he uses his Thieves Cant to see if there's more to them than meets the eye and mentions being "a part of their guild" and "wondering if they could help him."
The women look at each other and Sally says, "Let's step outside for a chat little guy. Just us and and you; your friends can stay in here and order their meal." Otto assures his party that it'll be fine. Paxton keeps watch on the situation with his Owl Familiar waiting outside.
Sally calls to the kitchen, "Hey Karletta could we get some more bread" and they're given a basket of bread as they walk with Otto out a back door.
.
Outside Sally laughs and says he must be new in town and there's no way he's part of their guild. They ask what he wants and he mentions he's looking for someone. Sally scoffs, saying they don't point strangers to members of their guild. He explains - still in somewhat vague terms - he's looking for a Noble's son who's gone missing. He offers them 50gp if they can help. Sally leans to the other woman and whispers something.
Paxton, listening through his Owl's senses hears her ask her friend, "Do you think he's talking about Mel?"
Sally tells Otto to go back inside with his friends and they'll be back with their friend who can tell him more. Neither Otto nor Paxton (through his Familiar) can discern any fowl-play or malice so they wait.
In the meantime Karletta had come by to take the group's order and comments about how quiet Paxton is and asks why he's sitting upright with his eyes closed. Creedun tells her his friend is just really tired and asks for a bib to put on the wizard.
Otto comes back in just as Ransom is pinning Creedun in their own arm-wrestling match.
.
Paxton has his owl follow the two women. One sets the basket of bread down on a nearby crate but the owl follows them to a warehouse where they disappear inside for several minutes. When they reemerge they're accompanied by a young woman and an older halfling woman; they all head back towards the diner. Paxton tells his owl to check out the bread basket, but when he gets there there are barely even crumbs.
The four women reenter Karletta's Table. Without pause the Halfling woman jumps up onto the bench, eye-level with Ransom and the others "I hear you want to ask my friend Mel some questions. I'm just here to make sure it goes smoothly, okay?"
Mel pulls up a chair and sits at the end of the booth. Between asking questions to Mel and the Halfling, they learn:

Mel and Harthol Zymorven ran to Yartar with some of his father's stolen property to start a new life.
Harthol ended up "also stealing her heart before proving he was a snake." He got involved with another woman on a Riverboat gambling cruise. They were seen leaving the riverboat together, but he was never seen again after that.
They must have gone back to his apartment because everyone of his that was of value was gone - including gold, platinum, gems, and a weapon stolen from his father's keep.
The woman always wears a purple dress and is often seen entering and leaving the riverboat casino.
Their Thieves Guild - The Hands of Yartar - want payback on the woman in the purple dress, but (a) can't gain access to the cruise (they suspect a traitor in their midst), and (b) has a strict code of no assassinations outside of a hired contract. By pointing the Adventurers in her direction the guild hopes the situation will escalate and revenge will unfold naturally.
The casino cruise itself belongs to a rival of the Hands of Yartar, so any additional mischief or trouble caused for them is a bonus in the eyes of the guild.
The gambling boat - called 'The Grand Dame' - is owned by a man named Khaspere Drylund, who lives aboard the vessel.
The best way to gain access to the cruise would be to pose either as staff (rowers, chefs/servers, musicians, game table facilitators, escorts) or to attend as wealthy guests who come to network and to gamble in the casino.

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Next time - All Aboard the Grand Dame!

From the Blue Dragon to the Hands of Yartar - Ch.3 (+1 level, Kraken's Gamble) - Session 16

https://www.reddit.com/stormkingsthundecomments/kc5nai/the_crashed_tower_of_the_late_zephyros_chapter_35/ - Previously our heroes found Zephyros' tower crashed in the wilderness and a bunch of stone creatures were attempting to burn all his notes; among them was a Large Dragon also made of stone but also possessed a regular Dragon's lightning breath. After crumbling all their enemies to rubble the party gathers up as much of their late Cloud Giant friend's notes as they could and put a full day's travel between them and the tower in case any other statue-like minions showed up to finish the job. .
The cast of DnD Comrades.

Ransom - Tiefling Cleric of Thor.
Paxton Hightower - Human Wizard.
Otto Norona - Gnome Rogue/Fighter.
Creedun Grungerock - Dwarven Bard.
Sir Oswald Pinkerton - Human Paladin/Warlock.

1st Page - "I picked up a group of Adventurers yesterday and am giving them a lift to their destination: Triboar. Nice bunch, not nearly as rowdy or treasure-grabby as some Adventuring groups. I especially liked that extra-small-folk with the eyepatch - Otto was his name. He got way to high off some of my less-potent pipe grass and... (at this point Paxton stopped reading to the group as he realized Otto still doesn't know what he did when he was blackout stoned).
2nd Page - "A Storm Giant Herald named Iymrith, from the court of Maelstrom visited me yesterday. She was quite condescnding to my guests, but it didn't feel right correcting a Storm Giant - Ordning or no Ordning. Iymrith claimed the Lords' Alliance murdered Queen Neri, and when King Hekaton went to confront them he went missing. Iymrith also added that Hekaton's youngest daughter sits on the throne, but that her inexperience is throwing the court into chaos and weakening the Storm Giants' Influence.
3rd Page - "That thing the Storm Giant Herald told me last week has been weighing heavily on my mind. If the Lords' Alliance is truly behind Neri's death and Hekaton's disappearance, might they also be responsible for the Ordning breaking in the first place? I will finally make my pilgrimage to the 'Eye of the All-Father' to seek answers for myself."
4th Page - "This temple is much more magnificent that I'd imagined; our ancestors were the pinnacle of Giant-kind to have made all this. The bad news is that it's about as cold as one would expect this far North. On the other hand, for some good news: I finally formulated some pipe-grass with the right potency for myself but now I'm TOO high - I grabbed the wrong weapon and stumbled off with it, hahahahahahaHahaha. Did I really just take the time to write out 'haha?' Oh man..."
5th Page - "They've been pursuing me since I cleared Lurkwood and will be upon me soon. The Dream Spell failed - my friends, if you find this: if what the Oracle told me is true, then I..."

Mel and Harthol Zymorven ran to Yartar with some of his father's stolen property to start a new life.
Harthol ended up "also stealing her heart before proving he was a snake." He got involved with another woman on a Riverboat gambling cruise. They were seen leaving the riverboat together, but he was never seen again after that.
They must have gone back to his apartment because everyone of his that was of value was gone - including gold, platinum, gems, and a weapon stolen from his father's keep.
The woman always wears a purple dress and is often seen entering and leaving the riverboat casino.
Their Thieves Guild - The Hands of Yartar - want payback on the woman in the purple dress, but (a) can't gain access to the cruise (they suspect a traitor in their midst), and (b) has a strict code of no assassinations outside of a hired contract. By pointing the Adventurers in her direction the guild hopes the situation will escalate and revenge will unfold naturally.
The casino cruise itself belongs to a rival of the Hands of Yartar, so any additional mischief or trouble caused for them is a bonus in the eyes of the guild.
The gambling boat - called 'The Grand Dame' - is owned by a man named Khaspere Drylund, who lives aboard the vessel.
The best way to gain access to the cruise would be to pose either as staff (rowers, chefs/servers, musicians, game table facilitators, escorts) or to attend as wealthy guests who come to network and to gamble in the casino.

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Next time - All Aboard the Grand Dame!

Major Suggestion Compilation for Future Updates

TLDR: This is an unbelievably long post, so feel free to scroll down to the numbered list of suggestions for future updates and read a small bit of each one.
I want to preface this post by saying that I really hope somebody from Rare reads this eventually and acknowledges that they will at least consider these ideas. Not only because a lot of the ideas are wanted by the SoT community, but also because I have been the biggest Rare fan ever since childhood and it would mean so much to me knowing that my all time favorite company on Earth (and creators of the greatest game of all time: Banjo Kazooie) have responded to my post.
With that said, I have been playing SoT since close to the beginning of the game's release and would love nothing more than to see it continue to improve. It is an astounding game that I love and enjoy playing almost every night. This game has been my #1 choice for a while now and has allowed me, my family, and my friends to come together as pirates. What a dream come true!
I have spent lots of time and energy compiling a comprehensive list of all the major suggestions that I have seen on this thread and other SoT forums, along with a handful of some original ideas. I know some of these suggestions would take a lot more manpower to execute than other suggestions, so I am simply asking that the feasible ones can be released in future updates. I am also going to make it a point not to talk about bugs or other programming/coding issues, I won't pretend to know enough about any of that. These are simply suggestions that would vastly improve every pirate's experience on the seven seas. This list was not wirtten in any particular order and does not become less interesting as it goes on, so I urge you to please take the time to read the whole post and consider each point. Here are the things we would all love to see come to your game in the near future:

More skins - This is the most obvious one and would probably be the least intensive of any of the suggestions on this list. Many people have already bought all the skins they want or have bought literally every skin there is to buy! Technically, the "goal" of the game is to collect gold, and as of right now, the only thing you can possibly spend gold on is skins. So why not add more? Like, LOTS more? I don't mean one more set or some exclusive drops you can get through Twitch, I mean get your design team blasting out concepts day and night and double our current options! Shoot, there are hundreds, if not thousands of incredible fan-made drawings online, you could even offer payments to those people and take the concepts that have already been provided to you! The more skins, the more incentive there is to keep playing. And by the way, Pirate Legends could use more exclusive skins as well.
More ship customization - Being able to customize your player is awesome, and being able to customize your ship is even cooler, but why can I customize so many aspects of my player, but not my ship? With my pirate, I can customize every detail down to the belt, the peg leg, the patch over the eye, and the tattoos on his chest. With my ship, I only have a few customization options available. Allow me to make my ship way more unique than I currently can. Don't make "hull" one thing, split that into 5! Let me choose my mast colors, my deck color, the color of the side of my ship, everything individually! And add other fun customization options, like your harpoons, the tip of the front of your ship (I don't know the name of it), maybe even the placement of your supply bins! And please, for the love of goodness, let me customize my rowboat. WE ALL WANT UNIQUE ROWBOATS.
Skill-based combat - I think the SoT community by now is all aware that this game is not about hand to hand combat. However, the combat as of right now is just a little robotic and stale. If there was any way to improve the sword and gun fighting, that would be incredible. It doesn't have to become some combo heavy Street Fighter game, but it would be nice to add in some new types of slashes or kicks or something of the sorts. I don't think the community is asking for a combat overhaul, but just some spice.
New weapons - The guns in this game seem diverse and balanced, but this game desperately needs more hand to hand weapons than just a sword. Let me hack with an axe, whip around a heavy chain, poke with a fencing sword, SOMETHING else. We don't need tons of new options, we just need new options. If there were maybe 3 weapons, it could turn into a game of rock paper scissors or something like that where certain weapons counter others. Variety is nice!
Axes - I know I just mentioned axes as an example for new weapons, but I've seen a lot of complaints from the community about how impossible it is to do anything once you've boarded an enemy ship and killed the players. You have very few options to put holes in their boat and sink it, and the few options that you do have are usually extremely time consuming and difficult to pull off. This is especially frustrating for solo players who put in so much time and effort to take out a whole crew and try to sink their ship and steal their loot. A weapon such as an axe would solve this problem. If a player was holding an axe, they could methodically bust holes into a ship and sink it without having a cannoneer on their own ship. Now, I can see how this sounds unfair because obviously s galleon crew will just jump on another ship and start hacking away. To avoid this issue, make is so there's only one axe per ship, so only one crew member can carry it (it would teleport back to the ship after not being used for 1 minute). This weapon would obviously have to be balanced, but I don't think it would be that difficult to do.
Cannon and harpoon variability - You know how you can go into the weapon box and choose between 3 different guns? Why can't you do that with your cannons or your harpoons? Put a new box next to the ship customization box on the dock at each outpost that allows you to change the type of cannon or harpoon you want on your ship until the next time you dock at an outpost. Make a quick reloading cannon that can shoot far but can only make tiny holes in a ship. Make an ultra powerful cannon that can shoot all the way through an entire ship and blow multiple giant holes, but takes a full 5 seconds to reload. Make a harpoon with twice the range that can only grab loot and people. Make a sturdy harpoon with half the range that will never break off an enemy boat as it turns. Also, it might be fun to be able to customize the placement of the cannons and harpoons (with limited options, so it stays fair). All of this would make sailing the seas more enjoyable to each individual crew and would give them the fighting experience they want.
Expand the map - I don't know how else to say it, but we've been playing on the same map and sailing to the same islands for a long time. I understand there have been some minor changes, but the addition of the Devil's Roar was absolutely jaw dropping and we want more! I'm sure this would entail a LOT of work and would have other implications such as upping the number of ships on each server, but it would be absolutely worth it. The more you are able to expand the map, the happier your player base would be.
New bad guys - Skeletons are cool, but not cool enough to only fight them for years. We could use other enemies like large animals (such as bears, wolves octopuses), elementals, warriors from Atlantis, etc. I also saw a really fun suggestion for giant invulnerable crabs that you have to throw a blunder bomb at them to flip them over, and then you can slash or shoot their bellies. I even saw an amazing drawing that a guy made of a monster even larger and more terrifying than the Kraken: Cthulhu!! I know that the Kraken only spawns once after completing a major event, but maybe Cthulhu could spawn only after somebody completes the FotD (or he could be the main boss of the fort). That would be an interesting idea!
New types of wood - As long as I have been playing, we have always had many types of cannonballs. About a year ago, you guys added new types of fruit. Well, the third basic component to staying alive is wood, so why do we only have one type of wood? Heck,we even have 3 types of fish bait! There should be more types of wood, like oak, maple, pine, etc. and give each of them a different boat repair time. Maybe one piece of wood could withstand one cannonball shot and be much rarer than the other woods (similar to that of a pineapple). This wouldn't drastically improve the game, but it's just one of those small things that gives the game more diversity and makes it more fun!
New types of loot - Again, this is simply to add diversity to the game. Some players seem to get bored seeing the same things over and over, so just create new types of loot with new looks and new names! Also, it would be nice to be surprised when we open up a door to a fort, kill a megalodon, finish a quest, etc. rather than know almost exactly what we're going to be rewarded with. Maybe you could make some megs randomly have WAY more gold, or maybe some forts will have like 10 stronghold chests and that's it. Just shake it up a bit to surprise us.
Add more ships to servers - Server hopping is not healthy from a server management perspective. While the emissary system is a step towards fixing server hopping, it is not having its intended effect due to the lack of players using emissaries. Increasing the ship total on a server to about 8 could help this. Also, don't allow servers to be missing ships (at least, not for a long time). Some servers feel so empty because they're not completely filled. As players log in, they should only fill into servers that need more ships rather than just starting up a new server.
Single person ship - I don't know how passionately I personally want this one because I love the sloop and believe it's perfectly suitable for one person, but I've seen a lot of threads about people wanting a ship more tailored to one pirate. It would be fun just to have a tiny little sail boat to cruise around the ocean with no cannons on it, I must admit. I've even seen some creative drawings online, so maybe check those concepts out and give this some consideration! Plus, it would make a lot of solo players very happy (I don't see how it could hurt adding this new tiny ship, it would basically be an upgraded rowboat).
New larger ships - Look, some of us have a lot of friends who really enjoy this game. Server hopping is a pain and almost never works. Locking down a server through some shady Twitch streamer breaks the game and is unethical. Rare, we love your game, but you have to allow us to play with more than 4 people. Please, please, please make larger ships that can hold 6, 8, even 10 people!! Make a battleship with tons of cannons and a massive hull that takes a full 10 seconds to run across!! Just give us something, we're begging you!! If you're worried about this becoming unfair and ruining servers, then create servers dedicated to these mega ships where only 4 or 5 of these ships can sail around and nothing else. I'm 99% positive that different servers can have different rules, so why not make this happen? Your players want it so badly and it would solve so many problems for a lot of loyal fans and their friends.
More friends in a crew - If you are absolutely unable to create a new, larger ship, then please find some creative way to create a larger crew size. Make a server where ships spawn in pairs, or something like that. I can't stress this enough, this is so important to your fan base and would allow so many more people to enjoy this game with their friends. If you ignore every other suggestion, at least make this one happen.
Remove certain emotes - Tucking was fun when it was new and silly and unexpected, but now everybody does it all the time. It's impossible to do a fort without somebody popping up at the end and wasting their own time doing nothing as you shoot them twice and walk away. Literally 50% or more players are skinny and wear all black just so they can be try-hard tuckers. It's making players paranoid and annoyed and is somewhat ruining the game. Casual players can't catch a break and it's rough for a lot of new pirates out there getting constantly tortured by far better players who know how to curl up in a ball and lay down or sit in their black clothes. So why not remove these emotes? If you simply get rid of any hiding emotes, then tuckers will still exist, but have to be much more creative. They won't be able to exploit nooks and crannies in the graphic designing of the game, and will just have to honestly find a spot to hide. These emotes seem unnecessary and, at the moment, are making the game very frustrating for a lot of players.
Gold sinks - As mentioned earlier, many players have hit what many people consider the "end game." They have all the skins (or all the skins they want) and millions of gold with nothing to spend it on. Not only should you all create many more skins, but you should also consider adding gold sinks so people can put their gold to practical use. Stocking up recourses can be grueling, so maybe allow players to buy cannonballs for 200 gold, wood for 100, etc. Maybe a player could spend 5,000 gold to make their ship look new again (take away the burn marks and jagged wooden boards) or maybe 2,000 could get you a collector's chest to help carry loot a little quicker. Maybe 10,000 gold could buy you a rowboat and 15,000 could get you one with a harpoon. These are just random numbers and random ideas, but some sort of a repetitive gold sink would be incredible for long time players. And if my gold numbers seem unfairly low, then double them! Whatever you need to do to make it fun and fair.
Add a new carrying vessel - We have collector's chests and treasure chests for small loot, but there's no love for large loot. A skull can be worth the same amount, sometimes more than a chest, so they probably shouldn't get an unfair carrying advantage. Add a new carrying vessel for large loot, such as a wheel barrel or a net that you can drag behind you to put 2 or 3 chests on it. That would make things more balanced and pirating just a little more convenient.
Slight map changes - This is a suggestions that isn't necessary, but would add a little fun to the game for new players. SoT is all about exploration, so it might be fun to only reveal parts of the map that you've previously visited (whether it's this session OR older pirating sessions). Also, it might help new players to mark where the venders are specifically on each outpost. Veterans know their locations and this gives them an advantage when selling loot. None of this is necessary, but just something to think about.
Skill tree - I've seen posts about adding a skill tree to the game so that you can improve your pirate. I know that you guys want starting players to have all the same capabilities as veterans so that everything is fair and balanced, but it might be fun to look into some customization options. Maybe even instead of a skill tree, each player could just choose one perk to add to their pirate every time they go to an outpost. Here is a quick list of ideas completely taken off the SoT suggestions forum: Bigger bucket, Carry more wood, Carry more food, Stable telescope, Fast repairer, Sprinter, Deep breath, See treasure from far away, Speedy ladder climber, etc. Some other ideas I came up with would be Shark repellent, Extra sword/gun damage, Sail/wheel turning speed, etc. These perks would be interesting to look into but I could also see how they might ruin your current vision of the game. Take this suggestion with a grain of salt!
Avoid AFK - We all hate when our stomach grumbles and we're stuck in the bathroom for 20 minutes just to come back and see Lazy Beard on our screen as our crew is selling 50,000 gold worth of loot. It would make sense that in order to avoid going AFK, your crew can just vote you into the brig. This should be a safe, AFK free zone where you are essentially removed from the game without missing out on the benefits you fought so hard for. I'm not sure if an enemy pirate can currently kill a player stuck in the brig, but this should be a completely invulnerable zone (other than the ship sinking). You could even add a 1 minute timer to being released from the brig so that crews can't abuse this invulnerability mechanic during combat.
Casinos - Pirates are dirty, rotten, money hungry thieves. Add a casino section to the tavern where you can play mini games and gamble your loot away!! This would be a fun way to pass the time and would give players something to do for a bit when they don't feel like adventuring out on the seas. Maybe even add a super shady casino in the Pirate Legend area where you can gamble doubloons!
New songs - In the same way that you can unlock and buy new skins for your pirate, you should be able to unlock songs with commendations and buy them! There are only a small handful of songs in the game, but it would be a blast if crews could show off loads of pirate tunes to other crews. This would also add a new way to spend your gold (and/or doubloons).
High and low tide - This was a very interesting idea that I read a while back from a very passionate pirate. This player came up with the idea of adding extreme tides to the game. When tides are high, you can reach cliffs on islands that would otherwise be unaccessible, and when tides are low, you can explore amazing underground cave systems. Obviously, you can also cannon yourself to the high tide areas and swim down to the low tide areas if need be (for a mission or something), but this would add so much versatility to the game. Many islands would have to be redesigned, but this would literally double the adventure without necessarily expanding the map. I thought this was one of the most unique and amazing ideas I've read on this SoT Reddit page.
Add gimmicks - This game is more silly than it is serious (from what I've experienced and read from the fan base) and it might be fun (and not too tilting) to add little annoying gimmicks to the game! What if 1/100 gunpowder barrels was a dud? Or what if your gun jammed in the middle of combat? What if you sold cursed loot and actually LOST a little bit of gold? There are endless ways to add tiny, infrequent gimmicks to the game!
Ropes/lassos - Currently, the only reasonable way to board a ship is to climb one of the side ladders. What if you added a new boarding item? I've seen suggestions for ropes or lassos that you can toss onto your ship or other ships to climb or swing across in order to make boarding easier and more discrete. Obviously, this can't break the game, so it would have to make some sort of alarming noise, or would have to be visually obvious when it happens. I could easily see how this would be incredibly overpowered when it comes to sneaking onto an enemy ship, so this would take some balancing and play testing to make sure it works properly.
Add a speedometer - This is one thing that I'm sure you guys have looked into and considered and withheld from the game for some specific reason. But because I don't know what that reason is, I'm still going to suggest it. In my opinion (and the opinion of many others), a speedometer on each ship would be very helpful. I don't know enough about pirate history to know if they had speedometers back in the day, but it would be nice just to have an idea of how fast you're sailing across the open seas directly against the wind in a giant galleon while your friend is fighting a 4 man crew by himself and screaming at you to hurry up (not like I'm speaking from experience or anything...)
Add potions and a crafting table - It would be a neat idea if you could buy potions at an outpost or craft potions out of different fruits and fish that you catch. These potions could be counters to specialty cannonballs, like a potion that you drink to cure drunkenness or a snakebite, or a potion you throw at your friend to wake them up when they're asleep, or even a shark repellent potion! These potions could have a whole new key/button assigned to them so you can quickly rotate through them in the middle of combat. Additionally, you could add a crafting table to the boat next to the frying pan. In order to craft these potions. Maybe you could even craft new, rare skins at the crafting table! Or paints for your ship. And adding a new potion shop to each outpost would be another great gold sink, which is a suggestion that I mentioned earlier.
More pet interactions - Pets were an awesome addition to SoT, but are just a little lackluster. They currently have very few interactions with the players and players tend to forget about them after a couple weeks. I think it would make everybody very happy if we could do more with our pets. Give them a different dance for each song, allow us to whistle so they hop right into our hands, maybe even let us talk to them! It would also be a fun little gimmick if every now and then, they brought you a fruit from an island while you're exploring, or they find you one doubloon from digging in a bush! These silly things wouldn't be game breaking and wouldn't give a noticeable advantage to any players.
Fix the revive system - many players are frustrated with the new revive system. The main issue is that a galleon will almost always beat a sloop in a cannon fight because the larger crew can continuously revive any fallen comrades. After reading many forums and weighing the options, I came up with an idea that I believe will solve a lot of problems. Give each player "soul charges" that have to be earned. Each time you kill an enemy player OR kill 20 AI enemies, you gain a soul charge. Each player can hold up to 1 or 2 soul charges. You must spend a soul charge to revive a fallen crewmate. This would keep the current system in place, but would not allow any player to abuse the system as they currently are. I think it would be a great idea!
Respawn immunity - This would solve an unbelievable amount of frustration for players who hate dealing with spawn killers. In my personal experience, I once played against a pirate who knew all the spawn locations and exactly where I would spawn next. Every time I came back, he was standing directly in front of my face with a blunderbuss ready, I believe he killed me 6 times while the single hole in my sloop slowly sunk me and I grasped my computer chair armrests trying to restrain myself from punching in my monitor. If players were granted just 3 seconds of immunity after respawning from the Ferry of the Damned, it would make situations like that so much more fair. This is especially relevant for new players who have no chance at all against spawn killers.
Skin presets - Adding preset ship skin and pirate skin combinations would make life a lot easier. It obviously isn't a HUGE issue to not have presets, but if it's a simple addition to code into the game, it would at least save a couple minutes of searching around your collection. Could be a nice touch!
Naming your boat - This is arguably the suggestion that I've seen more than anything else in the SoT Reddit page. It would be a fun, silly addition to an already fun and silly game. Many people have pointed out that there's already a blank wooden banner above the door on the galleon, so why not allow words to be written in it! You could also have the names written on the side of the ship, carved in all ugly and pirate-like. Plus, how fun would it be to sink an emissary ship and see their flag float up out of the water with their ship name on it?
Market the emissaries - Please add more information and incentives to put up an emissary flag. This is a great addition to the game and the community loves it, but anyone who is not immersed in the community is just confused. Outside of outside of the game research like reading patch notes or watching a YouTube video, players have no way of learning the benefits of emissaries. The only in game interaction is a brief conversation on the outpost with a emissary leader that players may or may not find and is entirely uninformative. Most servers should have 3-4 emissaries at any given time, my experience is that I usually see 1 per server, mostly due to lack of information.
Add more PVE events - Rather than just having active forts or the ship on the sky, add more events! Make a giant dig up event (symbolized by a chest in the sky) where you can uncover up to 100 chests on an island with no map whatsoever. Make a new type of raid with one of the enemies that were previously suggested in #8. Add a massive skeleton ship (thinking 16 or so cannons, 5 levels or something) that slowly sails across the server every few hours. Make it extremely difficult to bring down, but Fort of the Damned like rewarding. And make it so more than one event can show up in the sky at once. It becomes grueling and sometimes boring to have to do an event or wait for it to disappear just to do the one you sought out to do. Options would be great!
MAKE THAT MERMAID LESS BUTT UGLY - Seriously, that thing is nightmare inducing... Aren't mermaids supposed to be beautiful creatures?

Overall, SoT is a wonderful, constantly growing game. It has evolved so much since the time I started playing and I have enjoyed every update so far. I really hope that many of these suggestions come to fruition, I think they would vastly improve the game and make the players incredibly happy! I understand that this is a lot, but even if these changes are released gradually in future updates, I'm sure they would make every pirate quite jolly! Thanks so much for the game Rare, and I sincerely hope you read this and consider each point. Oh, and I wouldn't mind giving you my gamertage to have my name immortalized in the game if these things work out wink wink

It's The Rich Man's World in Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor

Warning: Mild Spoilers for Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor, as well as its second season Against All Odds.
In a Discord server I mod, one of the bots has an option to gamble with a virtual currency. You gain coins by scoring in a coveted top-three spot for any given artist. The gambling is limited to a single channel, fittingly called #gambling-den, and while at the start I have observed people gambling some of this fake currency, lately it’s full of users simply gambling “all”. I don’t have the channel muted, even though I should have, and I like to gamble all as well - just to see myself lose. Every time I return to the channel - not that this happens worryingly often, simply once in a while - I gamble with the intent of losing everything I got. Maybe this time, I tell myself, I will quit for good. Maybe this time, I will learn my lesson. After all, everything should be in moderation, and I always lose with these things (I was thinking of the gambling moments in the designated city in Pokémon games), and anyway, gambling is haram. Yet I never mute the channel, and I feel a low current in myself, the tip of a dynamite ready to spark: a sliver of a hope to raise the white numbers on a black background. A fuse kicks off when I do, and a cold wind blows out my flame when I don’t. Tough luck, I tell myself. Maybe next time.
Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor, and its successor Kaiji: Against All Odds tap into this vague rush of luck and unfold it into its extremes: innocuous games develop to sprawling plans of strategy and a deathly corrosion of empathy and selfishness; debt-riddled characters, beginning from the protagonist Itou Kaiji, that put their hope into said games, regardless what happens to their minds and bodies; and lastly, the owners of the devious games that enjoy the sight that presents itself. You could watch Kaiji and thank God your sense of gambling isn’t as severe as his -- but you could also watch Kaiji and see a millennial suffering through the uncaring systems of this world.
The first thing we know of twenty-one-year old Kaiji is that he’s just lost a gamble among friends. “The future is in our hands”, doubling both as opening title and poster in Kaiji’s single-room apartment, quickly unhinges on one side as if it sensed the viewer’s presence or realized the sheer crookedness of this statement. The narrator quickly adds with a grave voiceover that Kaiji lives in Tokyo for three years, hasn’t been employed since New Years, and that he is a bum. He spends his money on beer and gambles and likes to hang stolen emblems of foreign cars like trophies to be won in order to release the pent-up resentment. “Anyone who drives this car can’t be a good person, anyway,” Kaiji says with a petty smile on his face, but moments later, the reality of his situation crushes him: “It’s all about money,” he mutters, lying on the ground while a silent tear runs over his cheeks. Seasoned loan shark Endou pays Kaiji a visit moments to remind him of a debt he cosigned, its crushing interest raising it to unmanageable levels, all of which Kaiji has to pay for alone now. The only way out of it is to enter a ship named Espoir (French for “hope”), alongside an accompanying game: it will either clear his debt or put him into underground work for a year or two. Kaiji seems against it - he won’t pay the debt, and to hell with the ship. But Endou is quick to remind him that the worst possible outcome is to continue living like he does. The cruise could be a great opportunity to rid of this “loser” mentality that Kaiji has: his resignation to this life, as unhappy as it is. After all, the things Kaiji wants are always behind display cases, and could he ever think of buying the foreign cars he likes to mutilate? “You’ve given up from the beginning and are satisfied by the little pranks you play,” Endou says as a choir and organs wail dramatically behind him. “If you had ten million, would you do shit like that? Of course you wouldn’t!” Kaiji grunts, all too aware that Endou is right. Must be funny in the rich man’s world, ABBA have aptly sung in Money Money Money. almost four decades ago. Kaiji spends two seasons proving them right.
Early on in the first arc and in the game provided in the ship -- an adult men’s card game involving stars, money, a ticking clock, and rock-paper-scissors -- Kaiji mentions the desire to be better multiple times. “Once we get out of here,” he says, “let’s turn our life around. Let’s really try our best.” The game itself requires a hand of luck or the confidence to make his own choice, but as Kaiji fails to have either -- his cunning is reserved for self-interest at the morally purest level, and he’d rather have someone else choose for him -- he’s quickly scammed by the sly Funai. Kaiji finds himself two new friends to survive the game with, convinced that they wouldn’t betray him, and determined to get all three out of the ship hell or high water. The early winners enjoy the game from above with champagne flutes and stars pinned on their chest; the early losers find themselves doomed behind the game room, stripped bare both literally and mentally, dubbed as “hell” by both Kaiji and the narrator. As the four-hour time and card counters tick down ominously, an uneasy, tense electricity passes through the viewer and Kaiji’s face, which usually alternates between a worried face slick with sweat or wet with tears. To win three stars each for the three with a limited amount of cards and money proves itself a tightrope act, requiring Kaiji to plan on the fly as they are thwarted over and over. It comes as little surprise that the visual metaphors in this show usually revolve around abysses, darknesses, lighthouses, and bridges; red, violet, and blue swirls of dark thoughts and evil intent; monstrous hands that claw and pull at the characters; stretches of zawa, translated as “uneasy atmosphere”. Kaiji stops mentioning this elusive better life in progressing episodes, more focused on friendships and winning for their sake, but he doesn’t deny others of their dreams: in the climax of the first arc as well as one of its tensest moments, Kaiji hears the calls of a teary-eyed man and saves him from the literal hell that awaits him. Ironically, it is preceded by a betrayal of the earlier mentioned friends.
The show is about as subtle about its observations on capitalism as a sledgehammer flying your way. The ultimate antagonist is Hyoudou, an old and rich conglomerate head who admits he likes to see poor people like Kaiji struggle, that the only form of sincerity is in the face of crushing debt and pain; two henchmen act as players opposite Kaiji, both in season one and season two; the second season’s first game plays out in a prison for debtors, its second in a casino run by the conglomerate, while the Espoir is a sponsored affair. The second card game involves slaves that can win against emperors; a character aptly surmises that the poor don’t care about overthrowing the system, simply about being rich themselves. Kaiji has a difficult relationship with society, leading him to unemployment, but he needs to have money somehow. Unsurprisingly, he circles back to gambling, and back into the conglomerate’s hands. But there’s also Kaiji’s fellow debtors that work against him, equal in Kaiji in every way barring their moral stance: while Kaiji will think of a collective - two losers that could help him out on a ship, say, or a group of workers that owe the local kingpin money - these debtors are driven by a selfish sense of survival. Empathy, kindness, and respect: these are the coordinates that Kaiji operates in such high-risk situations, rewarded by men that believe in Kaiji’s good graces and help him the best they can. However, these virtues are juxtaposed with Kaiji’s vice to simply win: a gamble involving tissues that he thinks of on the fly; an accusation of theft that Kaiji seizes as opportunity to offer a gamble; the pachinko game that nobody can beat. “The fucking pigs that thought of this system, where everyone is taken advantage of, are laughing their asses off. The more we think about loss and gain, the more obsessed we become, the more we play into these fuckers’ hands!” Kaiji shouts; the next episode, he regrets that he’s helped out anyone to begin with; the episode after that, he starts crying at the prospect of (literally) pushing aside someone to win. By the second season, he actively begs for a new gamble, anything to rid of his broke state and clear his debts as swiftly as possible. He’s led by vague beliefs of reaching for the stars, but a moment later the narrator flips around the hopeful image: “Kaiji is back into the darkness of gambling, where the light of stars never reach.” But in the darkness, he finds the light of fellow men, ultimately able to dispel the fog for even a single moment.
“Kaiji, fated to lose, loses; Hyoudou, fated to win, wins,” recaps the narrator in the second season. It’s crucial that only Hyoudou is mentioned here; as much as capitalism favors companies that own as much as possible as fast as possible, there is always a single man behind the company, the ruler over the rulers. We like to think of this singular owner in order to relay it to us, to give ourselves motivation and despair both; this trick involving carrots and sticks is one frequently brought up in the show as well, by the people that think they can claim a part of capitalism’s cake. Tonegawa admonishes Kaiji until the game turns in on him, calling him trash and belittling his ability to strategize. He berates another character, Sahara, for even asking more than a fake ticket meaning nothing: “Whether you’re a salaryman or a bureaucrat, everyone is risking their lives for money!” The show makes no illusions on ordinary life: to work up, suck up to people they dislike, and barely save with money - that the characters that are racked up with debt have no way to mingle with that league. In one of the most emotional moments of the show, it draws a link between money ruling the solitary person, the solitary person’s isolation, and how connections are all that we have left. It ceases to be about the debts made, gained, regained, and cleared: as two characters ask one another if they’re okay, that they’re here, they can make it to the other side. I am reminded of a moment of Korean future classic Parasite (2019, dir. Bong Joon Ho), in which the poor driver asks the rich man if, despite her lack of cooking, cleaning, or maintaining the house, he loves his wife. The rich man hesitates for a second, then starts laughing. “Of course I do,” he says with a conviction that love has no materialistic gain. It only propels the poor character to scam the rich some more.
The best arcs of Kaiji are the ones where he has some control in the games and said control isn’t pulled out of thin air. Ostensibly, it’s because an active protagonist makes for better stories, a far more engaging watch than a protagonist simply pulled from one moment to the next. But as the show personifies capitalism, gives him a name and an unseemly appearance to match, Kaiji’s control gains a second and third dimension. Because to talk about capitalism is to talk about control: who gets to have control, who can exact control on you, who bought the game and rigged it. So then, Kaiji seizing the means means a pushback, a rebellion: in a system within a system, he can thrive and win -- and maybe get the people around him to win, also. When Kaiji is able to tell the opponent’s card, it is not by sheer deus-ex-machina, but by observation and planning in the game’s long term. When he can accurately call out a scam, it’s with the additional knowledge that Kaiji himself has a counter plan. “We don’t care about your rules,” Kaiji’s VA sings in the first opening. “We don’t care about your morals / We weren’t born to lose.” The rebellious attitude manifests best when Kaiji has something to rebel against, and if it’s in his means. Conversely, the most crushing moments of Kaiji are the moments where the chance of him destroying himself irreversibly seem greater than him winning, when his life is on the line and his irises have shrunk far into his wide eyes. In those moments, it’s impossible not to think of the pain of Kaiji’s temporary friends; as if he could hear the viewer’s thoughts, Kaiji frequently cries for the same reason. Absolute despair, chants the narrator.
In her excellent essay collection Trick Mirror: Reflections of Self-Delusion, Jia Tolentino observes that, now more than ever, surviving can look a lot like a lottery. “As wealth continues to flow upward,” she continues, “as Americans are increasingly shut out of their own democracy, as political action is constrained to online spectacle, I have felt so many times that the choice of this era is to be destroyed or to morally compromise ourselves in order to be functional -- to be wrecked, or to be functional for reasons that contribute to the wreck.” For one and a half episode, we see Kaiji’s moral compromise in order to function in society: he pushes aside the people that are friendly to him and presents himself as difficult on purpose. But in the gambles and against morally compromised people, his own moral compass shines through. He can only control when it’s a system within a system, a rigged game he can work against, be it by its design or the opponent’s cheats. In the workplace, he admits he can’t suck up to others and that he hates others that do; in the gambling ship, he berates others that they didn’t care about friendship, about the promises he’s wholeheartedly believed in. His sole sore spot, expertly pushed by Endou over and over until its breaking point, is when he points out to Kaiji that he can’t make choices on his own, and thus control his own life. Control, then, becomes both the bridge the characters crave and the abyss that they all fear. It manifests in the darkness and the hands that seizes hold of the characters. It’s Kaiji’s obsession of gambling, and its lack the empty feeling he senses in ordinary life, desperation and economic bankruptcy beckoning at every corner. Control, simply put, hides in the games of the show, the gambles that Kaiji takes, over and over: the fleeting moments where Kaiji doesn’t cry or feels despair, where he takes the scam head-on and has a retaliation, where he can take care of others and of himself. The outside games showcase compulsion -- the lack of control -- but even then, it’s hard to admonish Kaiji, who genuinely seems like a good person compromised by the world he’s in. In the second opening’s second half, Hyoudou’s wide and joyous face twists and turns to a roulette that Kaiji runs on like a ball to someone’s game, money bills blowing past him. He stretches out his hand to a bird of light; in the next shot, it flies high above the air and Kaiji chases on concrete. He falls, scraped and bruised, and gets up, eyes wide and then narrow as the viewer takes the bird’s place and flies off to the distance. “I can do it,” sings the vocalist of Fear, and Loathing in Las Vegas. “Stretch out your hand.”
There’s a message pinned to the #gambling-den channel in our Discord server, dated 23rd December. “there is a command called !gamble all alt that will gamble an extreme amount of your coins, and result in gains or losses of up to 25x”. I tried it out and promptly won, totalling my fictional currency to around 100k and, more importantly, got myself a spot in the top 20 currency holders of our server (a proud #13). I tried out the command again, but mixed up the prefix; this was while watching a Kaiji episode, and I felt in my gut that I would lose. I tried again and, as I had predicted, lost all of my currency. A fellow user, one that is very fond of me, sent 500 my way, and right away I felt the embarrassment I always do when receiving presents. “It’s not that serious,” I wrote; but in truth, I still glance at the channel, waiting for the moment when I feel ready to lose it all again. Or, maybe, possibly, gain some more. You know, just so that I can lose it all.
Credits: Title is a lyric from ABBA’s Money Money Money, off the 1976 album Arrival.
Translations to the first season are provided by the sub group Triad, the second by Nutbladder (if the file names don’t completely fail me). The translation to zawa has been found by urbandictionary. If there is a mistake in the translations provided, please let me know.
Parasite (2019) is a movie directed by Boon Jong-Ho, distributed in the US by Neon.
The excerpt off Jia Tolentino’s Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion is in the essay A Story of a Generation in Seven Scams. The book is out via Random House and on all bookstores.
Translations to the second opening, Chase the Light, provided by Musicmatch.
Kaiji: Ultimate Survivor and Kaiji: Against All Odds has no licensors available for legal streaming (according to MAL).
Also thank you to DutchPeasant, Chariotwheel, and theangryeditor for their initial insights and comments.

"The Devil & Max Sullivan: Book 2" (Fiction)

I dropped a thousand on 8 and shook the dice, tonight’s the night I can feel it in my bones. Taking my shot I watched the dice tumble across the board and come up short, “Shit” I took the last of my chips and walked away, Vegas was looking more and more like a mistake every day. Strolling through the casino looking for a hot table I spotted a familiar frame passing through the crowd, I only saw her for a second but there was no mistake, it was her. I didn’t waste a second looking around, I cashed out and headed for my room. As I got on the elevator an older guy stepped in with me, something about him gave me a bad vibe, he never spoke but I couldn’t shake the feeling he was watching me. The elevator stopped on the 6th floor and the old man got off, as the doors slid shut he turned to face me, his milky white eyes were the last thing I saw as the door completely shut.
The doors finally opened on my floor and as I stepped out I spotted a kid coming out of one of the rooms. I didn’t think much of it as we passed one another in the hall but just as I got to my door I heard his voice. “Hey mister you dropped something.” Instantly recognizing it I turned around, but there was no one there. I unlocked the door and rushed into my room, as soon as the door slammed shut I started packing. I set my bags by the door then called the front desk to let them know I was checking out, there was no answer. I hung up the phone and started to walk out, just as I grabbed my bags someone knocked. Releasing my grip, I pulled the pistol from my waistband and clicked off the safety, easing up to the door I looked through the peephole staying as quiet as possible. Three rough looking types (great) I stepped away from the door and called out, “Who is it!?” I heard someone clearing their throat. “Room service.” I had to smile, these guys were clearly watching too many gangster movies I tried to remember exactly where they were standing as I took aim and fired. I could hear them scrambling in the hall as I shut off the lights and got in the closet near the door, with a loud boom they came crashing in waving guns around. They didn’t even bother to look in the closet (amateurs) I stepped out and shot the one closest to me in the back of the head, the other two put their hands up and stopped moving. “Turn around slow.” They did as they were told and the second they were both facing me I shot the one on the left, smiling I stepped closer and pressed the barrel to the last ones forehead. “What seems to be the problem here boss?” He shifted his eyes to me without turning his head,” You killed our brothers and kidnapped our VP’s old lady.” Flashbacks of dragging a woman into a black room fluttered through my mind, taking a deep breath I stepped back and pulled the trigger, I was on the elevator and headed for the parking garage before the bodies could get cold. The elevator dinged as it came to a stop on the 6th floor, the doors slid open to reveal that same old man standing exactly where I’d seen him last. He didn’t move, he just stood there staring at me with a strange expression on his face, “You getting on or not old man?” he responded by smiling at me then opened his mouth releasing a wave of earthworms and dirt spilling down the front of his suit, flipping him off I mashed the button to close the door….
Once I finally made it to my car I tossed my bags in the back seat and hopped in, the second I slid the key in the ignition I heard her chuckle. Slowly glancing up I saw her reflection in my rearview, she was in the back seat. “Hello Max.” I closed my eyes and put my head down, “You gotta be kidding me. What do you want?” She smiled that wicked smile, “Oh nothing, I saw you were in town and thought I’d pop in to say hello.” Taking a deep breath and shaking my head I started the car, “Go away. I don’t have time for your bullshit.” She smiled and in the blink of an eye she was gone, I cruised the strip for a while before I hit the road. A few hours later I was pulling up to a motel just off the highway, once I was settled in I walked to the vending machine for a coke. I stood there gulping down my ice cold soda when I felt someone tap me on the shoulder, “Excuse me sir, but could you spare a couple of dollars?” I turned around to see a teenager, he was 17 possibly 18 years old. His hair was long dirty and matted, his clothes were tattered old rags that looked like they’ve never seen the inside of a washing machine and he was barefoot. “Christ kid, you can’t go around sneaking up on people like that, it’s a good way to get yourself killed.” He stepped back and smiled, “My fault, I didn’t mean to scare you. I was just hoping I could maybe get a few bucks for something to eat.” Looking around I put my hand in my pocket and thumbed a few bills. “I’ll tell you what, I’ll give you 500 dollars if you can do something for me.” He stepped back with an angry expression on his face, I already knew what he was thinking and I had to laugh. “Calm down there Skippy, I’m not trying to buy your hole. I need someone to keep an eye out while I’m staying here.” I saw him relax as a curious smile slowly eased across his face, “So you’re gonna give me 500 bucks to be a look out? Who am I supposed to be looking for?” I took another swig of my soda and pulled out the money. “Bikers specifically, but if you hear anyone looking for Max I need to know about it. We got a deal?” The kid nodded his head and I gave him 200, “You’ll get the rest in the morning, I’m in room 14 knock twice if you see anything.”
I went back to my room and fell asleep, after an hour or so the smell of something rotten pulled my out of my dreams. When I opened my eyes it seemed like the smell got worse, I sat up to see that old man from the elevator standing in the corner of my room. A writhing pile of earthworms and dirt stood knee high around his legs and when he spoke his voice sounded like there were dozens of people talking in unison. “You have been” I didn’t let him finish talking, I grabbed my gun and fired causing him to explode and cover everything (including me) with the worst smelling sludge I’ve ever come across. “What the fuck!?” some of it got in my mouth and I almost threw up as I got to my feet. The second I stood up the room started to vibrate with a low hum that made my teeth rattle, as the sound got louder I found myself fighting to stay awake and before long I was falling to the floor splashing down into a pool of that black sludge. There was a moment of absolute silence, I was floating in an ocean of darkness looking up at a star filled sky, a tapping sound cut through the silence and the world around me started to spin. White light blinded me for a second then I was back in my room lying face down on the cheap motel carpet. (Tap, tap) The sound that brought me back was coming from the door, I got up looking around the room realizing the goo was gone but I could still taste it on my tongue. I didn’t bother looking out the peep hole I just flung the door open to see the kid standing there looking nervous. “There’s a group of guys asking questions at the front desk. I think they’re looking for you.” The kid came in and closed the door while I grabbed my things. “Damn it stinks in here. What’ve you been doing?” I looked at him for a second then dug in my pocket for the rest of his money. “Thanks for the heads up, you better get moving before they get here.” as I handed him the cash the door came crashing in.
There were five of them all together, the first one through the door pistol whipped the kid and the other four rushed me, they were in the middle of beating me to death when I heard that low humming sound and everything went black. I don’t mean I blacked out, I was completely conscious, I just couldn’t see anything. Over the next few seconds all I could hear was them screaming along with the sound of bones breaking and blood splattering. When it was over I sat there watching the darkness ooze down the walls slowly revealing the light as it pooled in the center of the room forming itself into the old man from the elevator. He smiled then vanished leaving me with an unconscious kid and a room full of dead bodies. Sirens whaled in the background while I woke up the kid, he sat up and wiped the blood off his face looking around the room. “Holy shit! What happened? Did you do this?” I grabbed my bags and headed for the door, “The cops are coming, you better get moving.” about half way to my car he came running up behind me. “Hey wait! Can I get a ride? You can drop me off at the next town, I can’t deal with the cop’s dude. Please man, I gotta get out of here.” I shook my head and hit the alarm, “Get in.”
We were on the road for an hour before either of us said a word. “So what’s all this about? Why’re those guys after you?” I grabbed my cigarettes off the dash and lit one up, “It’s a long story. What’s your deal, why’re you running from the cops?” he smiled and let the seat back. “They ask too many questions.” We didn’t talk much after that, I drove till the sun came up then stopped to get gas. When I got back from paying the kid was gone, once I finished fueling up I hopped in and started pulling off. I was just about to pull onto the highway when the kid came running up to the passenger side tapping on the window while franticly pulling at the handle. “Let me in, let me in!” the second I popped the lock he dove in laughing as we peeled out of the parking lot. I glanced over to see him counting a wad of 20s and 10s, “What’d you just do?!” he smiled, counted off 50 and stuffed it in the cup holder. “Got some gas money.” Getting comfortable in the seat he chuckled a little, “I saw some guys shooting dice on the side of the store, so while you were chatting up the cashier I took your gun and robbed them, speaking of which.” Leaning back in his seat he pulled my gun from under his shirt then slipped it back in the glove box…
Chapter 2:
The kid’s name is Sam, I was supposed to dump him in the next town but he’s managed to make that a lot harder than it should be. We were speeding along the back roads somewhere in Texas when a state trooper lit us up, pulling off the highway I already knew how this would play out but what happened next threw me for a loop.
As the trooper approached the vehicle I glanced over to see Sam was gone, after the usual line of questioning I was pulled out of the car and placed in cuffs. The trooper was walking me to the squad car when I heard Sam’s voice from behind us, “You should’ve let him go.” before he could turn around a hand gripped the top of his head and in one swift motion mashed down. There was a wet crunch as his spinal column compacted and his skull caved in, his lifeless body crumbled to the pavement revealing Sam standing there with a huge smile plastered across face. Laughing and kneeling down wiping his hands on the officer’s uniform he chuckled, “That was awesome, I didn’t think it would work. Bet you’re glad I’m here now aren’t you?” Watching him retrieve the keys from the officer’s pocket I noticed a slight wisp of black smoke coming from his eyes. “You’re one of hers aren’t you?” Sam glanced up at me with a disappointed look, “Why does everyone think we all work for her? As a matter of fact I can’t stand the old bat, no matter what happens she gets all the credit.”
While he rambled on I was planning my escape, the second the cuffs came off I bolted to my car, jumped in and sped away. Zipping down the highway I saw someone step out into the road ahead of me, it was Sam. I mashed down the accelerator and gripped the wheel to keep control, I was going to leave him splattered across the highway, the closer I got I braced myself for impact. As my front bumper made contact the little shit phased right through it grabbing me by the shoulders and snatching me out of the car, in a split second I was standing on the road watching my car veer off the pavement and slam into a tree, there was a loud whoosh as it burst into flames taking my money with it. “What the fuck man!? Why won’t you go away?!” Sam stood there shaking his head dusting himself off, “You are one ungrateful bastard, aren’t you? I’ve saved your life, and kept you out of jail, do I get a thank you?” As he finished dusting himself off his clothes transformed from rags to a nicely tailored solid black suit. His filthy matted hair turned to dreadlocks as he passed his fingers through it. “No, instead you try to ditch me then you tried to run over me with your car!” he smiled and nodded his head. “I can see why she picked you, here’s the deal Max, I want you to kill her.”
“She’s been hiding here for a long time and.” Sam paused in midsentence then shook his head as black smoke started pouring from his eyes, “We’ll talk later.” He turned to walk away and vanished in a cloud of smoke as a familiar voice sent chills up my spine. “Hello Max, how’ve you been?” Turning around to face her there was a loud pop and I found myself standing in an office. Her back was to me as she stood there looking out over the city, I couldn’t help but to admire her figure for a second and before I could stop myself she chuckled, “You really shouldn’t look at me that way people might get the wrong idea.” She turned to me with that wonderfully wicked smile, “I have a new offer for you Max, my competitors think they can run the show and I need them dealt with. In return I’ll give you back what you’ve lost and toss in a little extra for your troubles, do we have a deal?” Laughing to myself I started towards the closest door, I paused to glanced back to her. “Why me? I’m sure you could handle this on your own, why do you keep dragging me into your shit?” The smile slipped from her face as she stepped over to the desk and took a seat, “Do we have a deal?” Patting my pocket I found my smokes, got one out and lit it then opened the door, “No, I don’t think we do. See you around.” As I stepped into the hall the door slammed shut behind me and as it did I was back on the highway standing a few feet away from my burning car.
I walked till the sun came up eventually coming to a town called “Ravens rock”. Stopping to rest under an old tree I fished the last of my money out of my pocket and counted it. A hundred and fifty Bucks, it would have to do till I could come up with a plan, as the morning rolled on and the sleepy little town came to life I started attracting attention. Strolling along I realized everywhere I went at least one person would openly stop and stare at me, the really odd part was no one seemed to notice. After seeing it three or four times I decided to walk up to the next person I spotted staring at me. Walking to the end of the block I turned right onto another street and as I made the corner I spotted an old man standing in front of a hardware store. He was in the center of the sidewalk, puffing on his cigar staring directly at me. From a distance I didn’t recognize him but as I got close enough to see him I realized I’d seen him before. He blew out a heavy cloud and scowled at me, “Leave my town or I’ll kill you myself. I’ve good thing going here and I don’t need you screwing it up.” I nodded my head looking around the street for a second then punched him in the nose so hard I heard it snap. Grabbing him by the collar I hurried him inside the store and locked the door behind us, long story short, I drug him in the back and beat him to death with a hammer then cleaned out the registers and got out of there.
I was two blocks away when the old man popped up again, puffing his cigar he blew a huge cloud that immediately engulfed me transporting us both to a bar. As the smoke cleared I spotted him pouring two cups, “Have a seat Max.” judging by the look on his face I wasn’t sure I wanted the drink but considering he probably could’ve killed me already I took the chance. “I am Stolas, and unlike the majority of my kind these days, I’m neutral in all this.” Tipping his glass to me he emptied his cup then poured another. “That’s the only reason I haven’t killed you. After your little temper tantrum at the hardware store I was tempted, but I’m sitting this one out.” sniffing my drink I finally took a sip. It went down warm and smooth coating my mouth with the sweet aftertaste of honey. I downed the rest of it as the old man slid the bottle over to me, “What is all this, Stoli?” He frowned at me and took another sip, “Its Stolas, and I don’t know. What I can tell you is, there’s a lot of bad news headed your way. Ask your little pal Samael he knows, from what I hear he’s in the middle of it.” Refilling both of our cups, he paused and looked at me. “So Max, what do I have to do to get you out of my town?”……..
Chapter 3:
Stoli agreed to give me a car and keep his mouth shut about seeing me. Heading north the day turned to night as the miles drifted by, since my money was gone the plan was to link up with an old friend of mine and pull a job or two for some fast cash. Passing through Colorado I came to a crowded truck stop, the parking lot was packed, people were walking around drinking and having a good time, I just needed gas. Once I got a pump I went inside for supplies, grabbing a few things I made my way up to the counter. “So what’s going on around here, is it always this busy?” The cashier an older lady smiled and glanced out the window as she rung me up. “Its Friday, all the locals go to the little club on the other side of the lot, things usually die down around 2 or 3 in the morning.” As she turned to grab my cigarettes from the rack I noticed a tattoo on the back of her neck, I didn’t recognize the symbol but something about it gave me a bad feeling.
Fueling up and watching the crowd move through the lot I figured a drink might do me some good, besides I was in no hurry to get back on the road. Once I had a parking spot and made my way inside I grabbed a beer and found a quiet corner far away from the dance floor. Scanning the crowd for marks and picking a couple of easy targets I spotted a crew casing the place. There were four of them, the point man or woman in this case was standing near the end of the bar, she was talking to a couple of different people but they didn’t seem involved. Two gunners, one by the restroom and the other near the front door, by the looks of them this wasn’t their first run. Looking around I found the ring leader, center stage in the middle of the dance floor, he was dancing with a group of people while the others waited for the signal. Polishing off my beer I got up from my table and walked out, as soon as I hit the parking lot I started searching for the getaway car, it didn’t take long. I put on my best fake drunk walk and staggered over patting my pockets looking for my cigarettes. Once I got to the trunk I pounded on it with my hand calling out to the driver, “Hey man, you got a light?” He glared back at me opening the door to get out, “Did you just hit my car, get the fuck out of here! No I don’t have a light!” Fumbling with my smokes I dropped them as he got closer, staggering leaning forward to pick the pack up I braced myself and as soon as he was in reach, I punched him in the balls so hard he lifted up on his toes. He wheezed and doubled over as I stood up grabbing the back of his head kneeing him in the face until he crumbled to the ground gurgling and spitting out teeth. Once I was done stomping his skull in, I put his body in the dumpster and checked the car. I found one fully loaded AR 15 and a Chiappa Rhino along with a few extra rounds in the center console, I took the guns and was planning on taking the car when the sound of gunfire from inside the club let me know it was show time.
Hiding behind some parked cars I waited for them to come out, it wasn’t long before they came running. As soon as they stopped to look around for the driver I opened up with the AR. The first few shots dropped two of them, I ducked down and moved to another position as the others fired blindly not knowing where I was. Circling around to my left I could hear one of the downed men screaming while the other two yelled to one another in the confusion. Creeping over to another cluster of cars and taking a quick look, I could only see one of them it was the woman from the bar. She was clutching a 9 in one hand and a bag in the other as she nervously looked around, taking a deep breath I popped up and dropped two shots on her center mass then immediately took cover and moved to another spot. The guy that was bleeding out in the dirt was still screaming his head off, pausing to listen I heard the last one yelling, by the sound of it he was close. Using the strap I put the AR on my back and pulled the revolver. Moving slow and low I kept closing in on the sound of his voice. When I spotted him I had to smile, he was clutching a second bag (Must be my lucky day) he popped up from his hiding spot and made a break for the car. Taking aim, I let him run for a second then put one through his lower back and he hit the ground screaming.
There wasn’t much time left I could already hear the sirens echoing in the distance, rushing I grabbed both bags then booked it back to my car and got the hell out of there. I was a couple of towns away when I finally stopped to check the money, not a bad haul a couple of thousand at best but it was more than enough to get me where I was headed. Before I could pull off there was a tap at my window, grabbing the pistol off the seat I turned to see Sam standing there peering through the window at me. “You gonna let me in or what?” My first thought was to throw the car in drive and smash the gas but then I remembered what Stoli said and unlocked the door.
Getting in looking around the car Sam Laughed. “Where’d you get this piece of shit? Come on Max, you’re letting me down, I had such high expectations for the old lady’s number one draft pick. So far I have to say I’m not impressed, I mean seriously, stick up kids and low budget bikers? What does she see in you?” Shaking his head Sam reached for my cigarettes on the dash and I grabbed his wrist before he could touch them. “The way I see it, you have two choices. I can beat you to death or you can tell me what going on.” Sam looked at me smiling as black smoke filled his eyes, he tried to shift away from me, when he couldn’t his smile was replaced by shock. Using my left, I grabbed my knife from the door panel and drove it through the back of his hand pinning him to the dash. “Holy fuck that hurts!! How did you?” I cut him off by bouncing his skull off window a couple of times then snatched the blade free and plunged it into his leg. “So Sam, What’s it gonna be?”

MCU Movies Behind the Scenes Facts *Wanted to do this for fun* Day 1: Iron Man

So i'm going to go on IMDB and look at each MCU movies behind the scenes facts and POST THE MOST INTERESTING ONES here, I will post each movie a day instead of what I did before where I did 10 posts, I will start with the first Iron Man today and each day will be the next MCU movie after it, ending with Guardians 3, if people like this and want me to do the Netflix shows, Agents of Shield and Agent Carter, please let me know...OK....let's start

IRON MAN

1. The script was not completely finished when filming began, since the filmmakers were more focused on the story and the action, so the dialogue was mostly ad-libbed throughout filming. Director Jon Favreau acknowledged this made the film feel more natural. Some scenes were shot with two cameras, to capture lines improvised on the spot. Robert Downey, Jr. would ask for many takes of one scene, since he wanted to try something new. Gwyneth Paltrow, on the other hand, had a difficult time trying to match Downey with a suitable line, as she never knew what he would say.

2. Paul Bettany has never seen the film, and is unfamiliar with the plot. He said J.A.R.V.I.S. was the easiest job ever, and it was almost like a robbery, since he only worked for two hours, got paid a lot of money, then went on vacation with his wife (Jennifer Connelly).

3. Agent Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) was originally a much smaller part. In fact, the character at first was only called "Agent", and as filming went on, and it became apparent with Gregg's chemistry with all the other cast members, they added more and more scenes.

4. Director Jon Favreau wanted Robert Downey, Jr. because he felt the actor's past was right for the part. He commented: "The best and worst moments of Robert's life have been in the public eye. He had to find an inner balance to overcome obstacles that went far beyond his career. That's Tony Stark. Robert brings a depth that goes beyond a comic book character having trouble in high school, or can't get the girl." Favreau also felt Downey could make Stark "a likable asshole", but also depict an authentic emotional journey once he won over the audience.

5. To avoid spoilers about the final press conference, the extras were told that it was a dream sequence.

6. Tony Stark's computer system is called J.A.R.V.I.S. (Just A Rather Very Intelligent System). This is a tribute to Edwin Jarvis, Howard Stark's butler. He was changed to an artificial intelligence to avoid comparisons to Bruce Wayne's butler Alfred Pennyworth.

7. This is Marvel Studios' first self-financed movie.

8. In an interview with Britain's Empire Magazine, Robert Downey, Jr. thanked Burger King for helping him get straight in 2003, with a car full of drugs. He had a burger that was so disgusting, it made him rethink his life, and dump the drugs in the ocean. He repeats this, with his impromptu sit-down session with the press, upon his return from captivity. Burger King also promoted the film with toys based on this movie, as well as the sequel.

9. Jeff Bridges said he felt really uncomfortable not having a script or rehearsals, since normally he is very prepared, and knows his lines to the "T". But realizing it was like he was in a "two hundred million dollar student film" took the pressure off of him, and made it fun.

10. The Iron Man (1966) theme track can be heard in the film on several occasions: in the casino, in Stark's bedroom, and as Rhodey's ringtone.

11. Roughly four hundred fifty separate pieces make up the Iron Man suit.

12. To prepare for his role as Iron Man, Robert Downey, Jr. spent five days a week weight training and practiced martial arts to get into shape.

13. The roadster on which Tony Stark was working is owned by director Jon Favreau.

14. According to Paul Bettany, he did not know on which film he was working. He merely did the job as a favor for Jon Favreau, with whom he worked, in Wimbledon (2004).

15. This is the last film special effects expert Stan Winston completed before his death.

16. Jon Favreau celebrated getting the job as director by going on a diet and losing seventy pounds.

17. Four hundred extras were meant to be filmed standing at Tony Stark's press conference, but Robert Downey, Jr. suggested they ought to sit down, as that would be more realistic and comfortable.

18. Stan Lee, the creator of Iron Man, had originally based Tony Stark on Howard Hughes, who he felt was "one of the most colorful men of our time: an inventor, an adventurer, a multimillionaire, a ladies man, and finally, a nutcase." Robert Downey, Jr. further described his portrayal of Stark as "a challenge of making a wealthy, establishmentarian, weapons-manufacturing, hard-drinking, womanizing prick, into a character who is likeable, and a hero."

19. An early draft of the script revealed Tony Stark to be the creator of Dr. Otto Octavius' tentacles from Spider-Man 2 (2004). Octavius is a villain from the Spider-Man comic, but at the time, this wouldn't have been allowed, as Sony was the film rights holder to Spider-Man. However, Sony and Marvel agreed to share the film rights to the character in 2015, with Spider-Man/Peter Parker (Tom Holland) first appearing in Captain America: Civil War (2016), where he's introduced to Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.). Downey reprised his role in future Marvel Cinematic Universe films alongside Tom Holland as Peter ParkeSpider-Man.

20. Jon Favreau shot the film in California, because he felt that too many superhero films were set on the East Coast, especially New York City. As of May 2018, only seven of the nineteen films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe have featured New York City in some capacity. These being The Incredible Hulk (2008), Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), The Avengers (2012), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015); Doctor Strange (2016), Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), and Avengers: Infinity War (2018).

21. For the first three Iron Man movies, director Jon Favreau thought of making the Iron Monger the main villain of the second film. Stane was going to be Stark's friend and confidante in the first film, but then would become his enemy in the second installment. However, Favreau was worried how to handle The Mandarin, who was to be the villain of the first film, so he decided to re-work the character into a behind-the-scenes presence, and make Iron Monger the first villain.

22. (At around one hour and fifty minutes) Just before the final press conference, Tony Stark is reading the newspaper with a grainy, amateur photograph of Iron Man on the cover. The picture is part of a video, shot by onlookers hiding in a bush during initial filming, that appeared on the Internet in 2007.

23. (At around one hour and twenty-five minutes) When Pepper discovers Tony removing the damaged Iron Man armor, Captain America's shield is on a workbench. This same scene was shown in many trailers, but the image of the shield was edited out.

24. (At around fifty-eight minutes) Obadiah Stane plays on the piano a musical piece written by eighteenth century composer Antonio Salieri. Salieri is best known as a jealous rival of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and was said to have murdered Mozart (although historical records have proven that, on the contrary, both had collaborated on, and promoted each other's work on several occasions). This serves as an appropriate parallel of Stark and Stane's relationship in the film.

25. Gwyneth Paltrow only needed to travel fifteen minutes to get to the studio. She claimed that this is a part of the reason she took the role, as she could be home with her two children during the entire shoot.

26. To prepare for his role as Obadiah Stane, Jeff Bridges read some of the "Iron Man" comic books that featured Stane. He also grew a beard and shaved his head, which he said was something he'd always wanted to do.

27. There are about five sets of armor in the film, all inspired from the "Iron Man" comics: Mark I armor, Stark's first suit, is a simple suit constructed of iron. Mark II armor is a silver suit, the prototype Stark develops (this can also be counted as the War Machine armor, as Rhodes looks speculatively at it). Mark III armor is the final red and gold armor. J.A.R.V.I.S. first presents the Mark III armor in full gold, the look pays tribute to the all-gold "Golden Avenger" armor Iron Man wore early in his career. J.A.R.V.I.S. later presents the armor in silver and red, making it look almost identical to Iron Man's "Silver Centurion" armor that he wore in the 1980s.

28. During the final battle, there was originally going to be a sequence where Tony, in the Iron Man suit, drives an Audi R8 that would crash into Iron Monger's legs then flip over, after which Iron Man would split the car in half and jump out. However, the Audi R8 was so well-built, that it refused to flip, despite repeated crashes and the roof wouldn't split the way director Jon Favreau wanted it to, because the car's frame was so tough. As a result, the whole final fight sequence was re-written. The filmmakers were so impressed by the toughness of the car, that it was decided that the convertible version was to be featured in Iron Man 2 (2010).

29. (At around one hour and forty-five minutes) During the highway battle with Iron Monger, a building can be seen in the background with a Roxxon logo. In the Marvel Universe, Roxxon is a notorious conglomerate known for illegal activities, agents of which were responsible for the deaths of Stark's parents.

30. During pre-production, Robert Downey, Jr. set up an office next to Jon Favreau's office, to discuss his role with him, and to be more involved in the film's screenwriting.

31. It took approximately seventeen years to get the film into development. Originally, Universal Pictures was to produce the film in April 1990. They later sold the rights to Twentieth Century Fox. Later, Fox sold the rights to New Line Cinema. Finally, Marvel Studios decided to handle their own creation.

32. Jeff Bridges, hearing that Obadiah was a Biblical name, researched the Book of Obadiah in the Bible, and was surprised to learn that a major theme in that particular book is retribution, which Obadiah Stane represents. However, the name "Obadiah" means "servant and worshiper of the Lord", which Stane obviously isn't.

33. In the comics, Obadiah Stane ran his own company (Stane International), and was actually a business rival to Tony Stark, rather than being part of Stark Enterprises.

34. Agent Phil Coulson repeatedly states he is a member of the "Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division" (finally shortening it to S.H.I.E.L.D.). In the comics, the S.H.I.E.L.D. Agency originally stood for the "Supreme Headquarters, International Espionage/Law-Enforcement Division", then in 1991, it was revised to the "Strategic Hazard Intervention/Espionage Logistics Directorate".

35. An early draft of the script had the Mandarin appear in the film, re-imagined as an Indonesian terrorist.

36. The production met with about thirty different writers, and they all passed, as most of them felt that Iron Man was a relatively obscure character in the Marvel universe. They were also a bit nervous about working for an untried studio better known for producing comic books. Even the re-writes led to many refusals.

37. In the comics, Tony Stark participated (and became Iron Man) in the Vietnam War. Later, this was changed to the Gulf War. In this film, the character's origin was changed to Afghanistan, as director Jon Favreau did not wish to make the film a period piece, but instead give it a realistic contemporary look.

38. Gwyneth Paltrow based her performance on 1940s heroines (who she claimed were sexy, witty, and innocent all at once).

39. In the Ultimate Marvel Comics series, the character of Nick Fury is portrayed as African-American, with his look and personality tailored after Samuel L. Jackson, all carried out with Jackson's explicit permission. During one of the Ultimate Avengers issues, while discussing the possibility of a movie being made about them, and which actors would play which heroes, Nick Fury comments that nobody else but Samuel L. Jackson could play him. Jackson, himself a comic book fan, played Fury in this movie. Later on, the popularity of this character led Marvel to introduce this character into the mainstream comics as "Nick Fury, Jr.", the son of the original Nick Fury, in a move to work towards retiring the original from the mainstream universe.

40. According to Jon Favreau, when making this film, there was a lot of pressure for it to succeed. This was particularly due to Marvel using their characters as collateral when they received a five hundred twenty-five million dollar, seven year deal, called a non-recourse debt facility, allowing them to make original films based on their properties. Marvel wanted to have complete creative control over their characters, build a film library, and greater profit potential than the deals they've inked with other studios owning the film rights to their characters. Marvel also changed its name to Marvel Entertainment, Incorporated, to establish a Hollywood presence. If the film didn't succeed, Marvel would've lost the intellectual property rights to their library.

41. Rachel McAdams was Jon Favreau's first choice to play Pepper Potts, but she turned the role down. She played a role in Doctor Strange (2016).

42. The Iron Man Mark I armor weighed ninety pounds.

43. An animatronic puppet of the Iron Monger was built for the film by Stan Winston Studios. It stood ten feet tall, and weighed eight hundred pounds, and was built on a set of gimbals, to simulate walking. It required five operators to run it.

44. According to Jon Favreau, Clive Owen, and Sam Rockwell are among the actors that were considered for Tony Stark during pre-production. Rockwell played Stark's rival Justin Hammer in Iron Man 2 (2010).

45. Chapter One of Phase One in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

46. Hugh Jackman was offered the role of Tony Stark.

47. According to Terrence Howard, he and Robert Downey, Jr. competed physically on the set: "I'm forty to fifty pounds heavier than him, so I'm lifting and I push up about two hundred twenty-five, and knocked it out ten times. Robert wanted to go about two hundred thirty-five, and he did it, so I pushed it up to about two hundred forty-five. Robert and his competitive ass almost tore my shoulder trying to keep up with him!"

48. The cave that imprisons Tony Stark was a one hundred fifty to two hundred yard-long set, which had built-in movable forks, to allow greater freedom for the film's crew. It also had an air conditioning system installed, as production designer J. Michael Riva had learned that remote caves are actually very cold.

49. This was the first in a planned six-picture deal between Marvel and Paramount, before the acquisition of Marvel by Disney, which transferred the distribution rights of The Avengers (2012) and Iron Man 3 (2013) to Disney, while Paramount kept the rights to Iron Man 2 (2010), Thor (2011), and Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) until Disney acquired them.

50. To prepare for her role as Pepper Potts, Gwyneth Paltrow asked Marvel to send her any comics to aid her understanding of the character.

51. For some of the shots of the first incarnation of the Iron Man suit, director Jon Favreau performed the motion capture.

52. Rock guitarist Tom Morello assisted Ramin Djawadi in composing the film's soundtrack. Morello had a cameo in the film as an Insurgent who gets killed when Tony Stark escapes the cave (perhaps fittingly, since Morello is a member of the band Rage Against the Machine).

53. Originally, Iron Man's archnemesis, the Mandarin, was going to be the film's villain, but Jon Favreau felt him to be too fantastic and dated, so he was re-written into a "working-behind-the-scenes" presence. Favreau cited "Star Wars" as a case: "I looked at the Mandarin more like how in 'Star Wars' you had the Emperor, but Darth Vader is the guy you want to see fight. Then you work your way to the time when lightning bolts are shooting out of the fingers, and all that stuff could happen. But you can't have what happened in Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983) happen in Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)."

54. (At around one hour and forty minutes) In the film, Rhodey (Terrence Howard) looks at the Mark II armor and says "Next time, baby!" hinting at War Machine, Rhodey's alter-ego. An animation of a War Machine suit, with a Gatling gun attached to a shoulder, can be seen in the closing credits. War Machine appeared in Iron Man 2 (2010), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Captain America: Civil War (2016), and Avengers: Infinity War (2018). However, in those films the role of James Rhodes was played by Don Cheadle.

55. In the comics, the chauffeur, Harold "Happy" Hogan, is a confidante of Tony Stark, who later marries Virginia "Pepper" Potts, after a tragedy draws them closer, though they later divorce. Additionally, the origin of Happy's nickname in the comics, is that he was a former professional boxer who earned that nickname, due to his reputation of never fighting back.

56. When Robert Downey, Jr. was carrying out motion-capture work on the film, he would sometimes wear the helmet, sleeves, and chest of the Iron Man armor over the motion-capture suit, to realistically portray Iron Man's movements.

57. In October 1999, Quentin Tarantino was approached to write and direct the film. Later, Joss Whedon, a big fan of the comic book, was in negotiations to direct the film in June 2001. In December 2004, Nick Cassavetes was hired as a director, with the film to release in 2006, but everything fell through. Finally, Jon Favreau was hired as director in April 2006.

58. (At around forty-seven minutes) Obadiah Stane tells Tony Stark "We're iron mongers, we make weapons." Stane's supervillain moniker is the Iron Monger, and thus foreshadows Stane's own transition in the film to an armor-clad antagonist.

59. First film released in 2008 to pass the $300 million mark at the U.S. box-office.

60. One of the cars in Tony Stark's garage, is a Tesla Roadster, which had not yet been released during the film's production.

61. (At around thirty-four minutes) The code that appears on the computer screen is a utility that downloads firmware into Lego robotic toy (called RCX). It may suggest that Tony Stark used this program to download firmware into his robotic suit.

62. The sound used during a target lock-on in Iron Man's Head Up Display (HUD) is the sound of the laser cannon firing in Space Invaders (1978) video game.

63. There are various references in the film to the Mandarin, Iron Man's archnemesis: -The organization that kidnaps Stark is called "the Ten Rings", after the ten rings that comprise the Mandarin's arsenal (Jon Favreau has stated that The Ten Rings, in fact, works for The Mandarin). -Commandant Raza speaks of Genghis Khan and Asia. -Commandant Raza is seen occasionally fiddling with an ornate gold ring. -The rings are worn by Stark, Stane, Rhodes, and Raza (that is to say those in positions of power).

63. According to Jon Favreau, it was difficult to find a proper opponent for Iron Man to face, since he wanted the film to remain grounded in reality as much as possible. It was decided to have a foe in the film who would serve as a parallel of Stark (for example, an armored opponent). Well-known enemies like the Titanium Man and the Crimson Dynamo were considered, but finally the lesser-known Iron Monger, Obadiah Stane, was chosen as Iron Man's adversary (Stane, as well as possessing his own armor, is also a business contemporary of Stark).

64. "I am Iron Man" was ad-libbed by Robert Downey, Jr. Producer Kevin Feige approved using it in the final cut of the film, and credits this with his decision to largely do away with secret identities in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Only Spider-Man conceals his identity, while Thor's alter ego, Donald Blake, is similarly not used.

65. (At around fifty-eight minutes) Obadiah brings Tony a pizza from New York City in a box marked "Ray's". Ray's is a famous chain of pizza places in New York City. It also marks the second Favreau-directed film to refer to Ray's Pizza. In Elf (2003), it is the pizza recommended by Santa Claus to Buddy the Elf.

66. As a tribute to Howard Hughes, who inspired Iron Man, production was mainly based in the former Hughes Company soundstages in Playa Vista. The scene where the Iron Man Mark III armor was created was filmed in the area where Hughes assembled the H-4 Hercules airplane (better known as "The Spruce Goose").

67. (At around one hour and forty minutes) When Tony Stark tells Rhodey to "keep the skies clear" before going to confront Obadiah Stane, Rhodey looks to the silver Mark II suit before saying "next time, baby". Rhodey (played by Don Cheadle) donned this suit in Iron Man 2 (2010), becoming War Machine.

68. Christine Everhart (Leslie Bibb) works for Vanity Fair in the movie, but in the comics, she works for the Daily Bugle.

69. Nicolas Cage and Tom Cruise were interested in playing Iron Man. Cruise, in particular was going to act in, and produce the film. Cage played another Marvel superhero in Ghost Rider (2007).

70. Jon Favreau was originally going to direct Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) in the manner of a superhero comedy adventure, but he instead chose to direct this film and give it a more serious tone. Ironically, Nick Cassavetes, who was chosen to direct that film, had been filled in to direct this film in December 2004.

71. The climactic showdown in the film, with Tony Stark, a.k.a. Iron Man, facing Obadiah Stane, a.k.a. Iron Monger, is based on Iron Man #200 (November 1986). A face-off occurs between Stane's larger, more powerful Iron Monger and Stark's greater experience, and an exploding reactor appears. However, the comic concludes with Stane committing suicide with a repulsor ray blast to the head.

72. Jon Favreau advised composer Ramin Djawadi to keep the core of the music on heavy guitar, which he felt suited Iron Man best. Djiwadi composed the music on a heavy guitar before arranging it for the orchestra to perform.

73. This is the only Marvel Cinematic Universe film, and the only Iron Man film, that does not feature any martial-arts fights. It is also the first of two Marvel Cinematic Universe films in which Robert Downey, Jr. (Iron Man) appeared, but doesn't show off his skills in the Wing Chun fighting style.

74. Most of the exterior scenes set in Afghanistan were filmed at Olancha Sand Dunes. There, the crew had to endure two days of forty to sixty mile per hour winds.

75. Jon Favreau wanted Tony Stark and Pepper Potts' relationship to be like a 1940s comedy along the lines of His Girl Friday (1940).

76. Tony Stark drives an Audi R8 in the film, as part of a promotional deal Marvel Studios made with the Audi Automobile Company. Two other vehicles, the Audi S5 Coupe, and the Audi Q7 SUV, also make an appearance in the film.

77. (At around one hour and four minutes) Adi Granov designed a billboard poster of Iron Man's nemesis, the alien dragon Fin Fang Foom, for the film. This poster can be seen when Stark, while testing the Mark II armor, flies straight down a road (on Stark's left side).

78. The Industrial Light & Magic animators studied skydivers performing in a vertical wind tunnel, to create Iron Man's aerial movements. Iron Man was also animated to take off slowly and land quickly, to make those movements more realistic.

79. This is the first film set in, and the beginning of, the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

80. When Pepper Potts is downloading a set of secret files, the authorization on one document is listed as "Lebowski". Jeff Bridges, who plays Stane in this film, played "The Dude" in The Big Lebowski (1998).

81. (At around one hour and twenty-one minutes) The pilots in the F-22 jets are codenamed "Whiplash 1" and "Whiplash 2". In the Ultimate Iron Man comics, Whiplash is a super villain who possesses a pair of gloves with steel wires attached that acted as whips. Whiplash appeared in Iron Man 2 (2010).

82. According to Ramin Djawadi, Tony Stark's different moods, as performed by Robert Downey, Jr., was the inspiration for the Iron Man scores in the film.

83. The leader of the Ten Rings is named Raza, after a Marvel Comics character. However, the comic version of Raza is not an enemy of Iron Man, but an alien cyborg, who is a member of the space pirate gang known as the Starjammers. The only similarity they share, is their facial disfigurement. In the comics, Raza has implants on the left side of his face, while in the film, Raza is scarred on the right side of his face.

84. Comic book writers Mark Millar, Brian Michael Bendis, Joe Quesada, Tom Brevoort, Axel Alonzo, and Ralph Macchio were commissioned by Jon Favreau to give advice on the script.

85. An early draft of the script had Howard Stark, Iron Man's father, as a ruthless industrialist who becomes War Machine.

86. (At around one hour and twenty-four minutes) When Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges) watches Rhodey (Terrence Howard) on television, an expensive chess set is visible on the table in front of him. In the comics, Obadiah Stane was fond of playing chess, and also created a group called "The Chessmen" to attack Stark Industries.

87. Clark Gregg (Agent Phil Coulson) stated in the DVD commentary of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2013), Season One, Episode Eleven, "The Magical Place", that he and Gwyneth Paltrow have known each other since she was nineteen-years-old.

88. According to the January 2012 Air & Space Magazine, Tony Starks's character was also inspired by South African born SpaceX (and PayPal co-founder), Elon Musk. A statue of Iron Man, complete with company ID, "stands guard" at SpaceX, along with a current version Cylon.

89. Jon Favreau played a character similar to Tony Stark, named Pete Becker, on Friends (1994). Stark and Becker are rich playboys, who give up their current life to fight, Tony fights crime, while Pete fights in Ultimate Fighting. Favreau even sported Stark-like facial hair for the role.

90. During filming, a tank accidentally ran over an Aaton 35mm camera.

91. To prepare for his role as James Rhodes, Terrence Howard visited the Nellis Air Force Base on March 16, 2007, where he ate with the base's airmen and observed the routines of HH-60 Pave Hawk rescue helicopters and F-22 Raptor jets.

92. Director Jon Favreau described the film as "a kind of independent film-espionage thriller crossbreed; a Robert Altman-directed Superman (1978), with shades of Tom Clancy novels, James Bond films, RoboCop (1987), and Batman Begins (2005)."

93. All three sets of Iron Man's armor were designed by Adi Granov, a comic book artist from the "Iron Man" comic, and Phil Saunders. They were then constructed by Stan Winston Studios.

94. Jon Favreau chose Industrial Light & Magic to provide the film's visual effects after watching Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007) and Transformers (2007).

95. (At around one hour and fifty-five minutes) Shortly into the end credits sequence, there is an animation of the Ten Rings logo. This refers to the terrorist group that captures Tony Stark early in the film, but is not actually acknowledged. It is, however, commonly acknowledged in Iron Man 3 (2013).

96. Timothy Olyphant read for the role of Tony Stark.

97. (At around one hour and two minutes) When Iron Man first takes flight, he travels at 0.29 Mach (two hundred twenty miles per hour) over California.

98. Production designer J. Michael Riva researched on objects found in prison which could be improvised and used for other purposes (for instance a sock used to make tea), to provide more verisimilitude to the film.

99. The Stark Industries logo is similar to that of Lockheed Martin, co-developer of the F-22 Raptor.

100. To create the shots of Iron Man against the F-22 Raptors, cameras were flown in the air to provide reference for the dynamics of wind and frost at that altitude.

101. Jon Favreau was inspired to cast Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man after seeing his performance in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005). Shane Black, who wrote and directed Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005), co-wrote and directed Iron Man 3 (2013).

102. Harry Gregson-Williams was offered the job of scoring the film, but he had to turn it down due to scheduling conflicts with The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (2008).

103. The film had a torturous development process. Stuart Gordon was originally going to direct in 1990 when the rights were held by Universal Pictures, though nothing came of that. In 1996, Twentieth Century Fox acquired the rights with Nicolas Cage expressing an interest in the project. Two years later, it hadn't moved on so Tom Cruise tried to kickstart a production, to the extent of commissioning a script by Stan Lee and Jeff Vintar. Jeffrey Caine then did a polish on the screenplay. Still nothing. In 1999, Quentin Tarantino was approached to see if he could move things along but that too came to nothing. The rights moved to New Line Cinema in 2000 with Ted Elliott, Terry Rossio, and Tim McCanlies writing a screenplay (this version even featured a cameo by Nick Fury). New Line Cinema started talking to Joss Whedon about directing, but this didn't pan out. By 2004, Nick Cassavetes was attached as director, but when this too failed, the rights reverted back to Marvel.

104. According to Phil Saunders, Tony Stark would develop a Mark IV armor, which would have been used in the final battle. This Mark IV armor would become the War Machine armor, and had swap-out armaments that would be worn over the Mark III armor. However, halfway through pre-production, the concept was removed from the script.

105. Property master Russell Bobbitt won Hamilton's "Behind the Camera Award 2008" for the props he created on this movie.

106. An early draft of the script (before Marvel Studios was making its own movies) would've kept Howard Stark alive, and had him adopt the War Machine identity as the film's antagonist.

107. Composer Ramin Djawadi's favorite musical score is the "Kickass" theme, because he composed it according to "a rhythm very much like a machine."

108. Louis Leterrier was interested in directing this film, but opted for The Incredible Hulk (2008) when Jon Favreau was given the job.

109. Robert Downey, Jr., Terrence Howard's father, Terrence Howard, Faran Tahir, Ramin Djawadi, and visual effects expert Stan Winston are fans of Iron Man.

110. The terrorist organization "Ten Rings" is a reference to Iron Man villain Mandarin, who wears ten rings imbued with superhuman abilities. Mandarin appeared in Iron Man 3 (2013), albeit in a radically different iteration from the comics.

111. Each Marvel superhero movie has a main theme: -This movie and sequels - Weaponry and technology. -The Incredible Hulk (2008) - Mutation and nuclear power. -Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) and sequels - Experimentation and espionage. -Thor (2011) and sequels - Mythology and religion. -Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) - Extra-terrestrial life and cosmic beings. -Ant-Man (2015) - Telepathy and control of animals. -Doctor Strange (2016) - Magic and witchcraft. -The Avengers (2012) - Alien Invasion. -Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) - Artificial Intelligence.

112. Len Wiseman was originally slated to direct.

113. According to The Cannon Group, Inc. co-owner, producer Yoram Globus, in the 1980s, along with Captain America, Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987), Spider-Man, and Masters of the Universe (1987), The Cannon Group, Inc. also had an Iron Man movie in production. The Cannon Group, Inc. wanted Tom Selleck to play Tony Stark. They also wanted the costume house that made the RoboCop (1987) suit to build the Iron Man costume.

114. This was the only movie for Terrence Howard to play Lieutenant Colonel James "Rhodey" Rhodes. However, Howard opted to not go forward with the character (reportedly for financial reasons) so Don Cheadle was brought in to assume the role commencing with Iron Man 2 (2010).

115. CAMEO: Stan Lee: (At around one hour and eight minutes) Comic writer Stan Lee appears at Tony Stark's party playing the role of Hugh Hefner, accompanied by three blonde women. Lee later mentioned that it was his most fun cameo.

116. Brian Michael Bendis had written three pages of dialogue for the Nick Fury scene, out of which the filmmakers chose the best lines. To keep it a secret, the scene was filmed with a skeleton crew, and was omitted from all previews of the film, which thus maintained the mystery and surprise, and kept fans speculative and interested. It conclusively appeared in the final cut as a post-credits scene.

117. When presented at the movie's end with the cover story by S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Coulson that Iron Man is employed by Tony Stark to act as his bodyguard, Stark dismisses it as "pretty flimsy". In the Iron Man comics, this was precisely the cover that Tony Stark used to protect his identity until 2002, when Stark went public with his identity as Iron Man.

118. According to Jeff Bridges, Obadiah Stane was originally supposed to survive the final battle against Tony, with Stark opening up Stane's destroyed suit to find that there was no corpse inside. Presumably this would have poised Stane to return for future movies.

119. The Iron Monger was the prototype of Tony Stark"s Mark 1 iron Man suit

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