#Arthur being possessed by chaos just feels like what we had to deal with with the demon King

[autumnsorbet]

Was meliodis going to be the villain of 4kota

Random post just came to mind today after I was rereading some of the manga I was talking with someone on Twitter and we were talking about how we didn't really remember much of the manga up till recently when we were rereading it because I was reading the manga back in the day when it was

going on going and never really went back a lot to reread certain parts but after rereading certain parts it would make me change my view on certain things like shipping Merlin and Arthur and shipping anyone with Merlin at all Elizabeth and meliodas's relationship and certain other characters as well

and they also got me wondering after rereading some parts of it yesterday and today and one of my thoughts was what if the same way Elizabeth's spent years dying over and over again and meliodas spent time and time again trying to save her what if we saw the reverse in the four nights where even though many years had passed and Elizabeth had

had a kid she had spent her time trying to figure out a way to get meliodas back still and save him the same way he saved her so many times Life after Life and meliodas was the villain in the four nights of the Apocalypse instead of Arthur sure Arthur's set up as the villain makes sense especially after

everything that happened to him but the villain set up was also there for death peers but it was also mainly there for meliodas especially after so many things we found out about him during the seven deadly sins manga and there's still a lot we don't know about him even though he was the main

character the same with Merlin even though we got her backstory in the god awful chaos ark I feel like there are so many more layers to Merlin we don't know everything and now due to four nights there are even more mysteries when it comes to Merlin and even certain things when it comes to the demons and meliodas himself

I know this sounds like a crazy idea but hear me out imagine after meliodas and came back after being killed part way through the manga by esterosa

Imagine he and Elizabeth ended up doing what they did and Tristan came along 16 years later like he does in the manga anyway

The parkway through the manga and the seven deadly sins meliodas turns evil / gets possessed by the demon Kings similar to how it seems that Arthur is being turned evil/possessed by chaos chaos who I'd like to point out sees the other races it creates is failures and feels that humans are the

perfect representation of chaos itself which is why it's using Arthur its first human hostess ever had to fulfill its true dream of getting rid of the other races but the seven deadly sins and even Merlin possibly stand in the way of that but I wonder what would have been like if meliodas was the villain or rather was he maybe really supposed to be the villain

chaos was only hinted at once or twice but never really properly but meliodas being evil was hinted at several times here and there we even found out that the reason the holy war started was because of meliodas we never found out how meliodas and Elizabeth met why he decided to go from wanting to be the next demon King and giving then giving up his position how he and Elizabeth fell in love what made people trust him back during the first holy war and several other things that happened including with Merlin and certain things that were mentioned that were never brought back up again or given an answer to

Like I'm just wondering what's the end goal to have meliodas be the villain and it carry over to the next story cuz let's be real so many fans have made jokes about this I've joked about this people still make jokes about how the chaos are feels random and tacked on we only had maybe two hints

throughout the whole manga about chaos and there was one in the druid Arc which I think was like what the third or fourth Arc of the mango and then there was maybe one other hint about chaos in the first seven deadly sins movie at the end of the movie or and after credit scene if I'm thinking right where Merlin mentioned that hawk mama was the mother of chaos and then when you go read one of the side chapters if I could have found it I would have posted picture from it so that melioda's net hawk mama and it was in Camelot and I made a post about this before where hawk mama was

probably in Camelot since that's where Arthur was along with Excalibur since she's linked to both of Excalibur and Arthur since she carried chaos within her cuz that's where chaos it is true power was sealed for all this time so Merlin unlocked his power in the final Arc of the seven deadly sins in the chaos part

But even though towards the end of the mango we got a few hints here and there that Merlin was up to something and it involved the magical lake and sure we all put two and two together going oh it's the magical lake and the Lady of the lake is there and then we finally got to meet the lady in the lake and she explained everything it still feels like BS that was tacked on last minute I remember someone made a post about this on Reddit where they talked about how a comment they found somewhere where someone said that nakuba finish the manga winning laid down and then woke up in the middle of the night and realized he forgot about Arthur

because when you get towards the end of the manga it does truly feel like the end and then we get a few more chapters tacked on at lead us into the chaos ark and they just truly do feel like Arthur was forgotten and all of the honest as much as I like Arthur's character maybe that's what should have happened or maybe in the manga instead of having Arthur become the villain which if you look at it he is justified in becoming the villain considering

everything that happened to him and his kingdom and humans but it just feels like if meliodas had stayed the villain maybe it would have made sense and we saw how for years and years meliodas tried to always save Elizabeth it would have been interesting to have it where the story turned everything around and we saw Elizabeth trying to save meliodas for a long time the same way he always tried for a long time to save her

I'm just thinking that maybe would have made more sense or maybe that was the plan but some things changed around because I do remember it being said that originally nakuba wanted to write four nights of the Apocalypse first so maybe in four nights of the Apocalypse originals story or story Bible or whatever they're called maybe meliodas was the villain but part way through writing the story and getting through the seven deadly sins

stories that he decided to do first so he can set up the world building he decided that maybe having Arthur is the villain after everything that happened towards the end of the manga made more sense because there was one point in the manga after like I said they defeated the demon King the first time and everybody was at the boar had celebrating and everything it seems like the mango was going to end right there and that probably would have been a good place to end the manga

Like an alternative I can think of for the manga if we didn't get four nights as it is right now is if Arthur stayed still to sleep in the ruins of where Camelot and the lake and everything was for 16 years then down the line even if Percival is or isn't the main character Percival in his group Tristan Lance and gwaian I'll still come along at some point and are still becoming the four nights somehow maybe there is a different evil maybe instead of Arthur

they still would have gone after death. Like maybe imagine a part of chaos was actually active somewhere else and death Paris got a hold of it and he was going to try to become the ruler of chaos but since chaos was always meant for Arthur even though death Pierce wounded and the four nights did get assembled to go after him so he couldn't destroy Britannia using the dark power of chaos and chaos staff if he created them and the four nights come along and they have to band together they're not only stop death peers but then find the real king of chaos who is King Arthur and they find Arthur and somehow together they're able to wake our throw up by pulling Excalibur together out of him and

then someone heals him and he wakes up and at 16 years later and together with Arthur they rebuilt Camelot and go on different quests cuz I'm beyondest I thought that's what four nights was maybe going to be about I thought the four nights was going to be about some nights gathering together to help Arthur form the round table but we're fighting Arthur and he's evil and from what we all can clearly see it's not Arthur it's just chaos and at some point Arthur is going to get separated from chaos or at least the fragments of chaos that's inside of him corrupting him I don't think chaos is a hole will be separated from Arthur at least not the same way it was with meliodas when he was

possessed by the demon King I don't know this was just a thought I had like it would have been interesting if Arthur woke back up and with the four nights band together to stop meliodas properly and truly bring him back to his senses and let him reunite with his son and then maybe he dies in the end cuz he's free from The demon King and free from his curse and he passes away knowing that he finally got the truly love Elizabeth and that they made a wonderful child together and then he

passes away at the end of the story wouldn't even have to be that long at best it could maybe be like 12 volume but I'm not saying this to like make a like a whole rewrite to replace the story we have now this is just an idea of what I think it could have been like so far with reading the four nights in rereading it and rereading some of seven deadly sins over the past few days cuz I had forgotten some stuff again the story isn't that bad they're just certain elements in the story and fetish like things it feels like in the story that kind of turn you off from the story and it's mostly just me and I've seen a few other people just wondering like what if because some things

with the story just feel like they would add up more if they wanted different way so that's why I made this post cuz that's what I've been thinking and I talked about it with a few other people and we've all just been thinking like what if the story went a different way cuz just certain things when I think about them would have added up more like I said and the main point of this post is if meliodas have been the villain and how things will turn out

Cuz looking at what has happening now with chaos it just feels like the same story that meliodas was going through to begin with Arthur is possessed by chaos the same way meliodas was possessed by the demon King they're both just possessed although I don't think Arthur is going to get a redemption or he's going to die like King Arthur usually does at the end of anything related to King Arthur if he lives Arthur's going to be sealed away or Merlin's just going to take him away somewhere and they're going to be in love possibly I don't know 😐

I really hope we don't have it where it is kind of like with the seven deadly sins manga where we thought we had one villain then there were true villains and it was the we thought it was Hendrickson and then it was the ten commandments and then above the ten commandments this was the demon king and the supreme deity and then it was chaos we do not need all these different layers of villains if it's going to be Arthur just let it be Arthur if it's going to be chaos whatever

I swear to God if it's cathi im going to lose my mind

[pi-cat000]

MSA time travel idea (part 41)

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, Vivi POV, 8, 9, 10, Lewis POV, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, Lance POV 18, 19, Lewis POV 2, 21 , 22, Vivi POV 2, 24, 25  Lewis POV 3,  Mystery POV , Vivi POV 3, 29, Lewis POV 4, 31, ViVi POV 4 , 33, 34, Lewis POV 5, Mystery POV 2, Lewis POV 6, Vivi POV 5, Lewis POV 7 VIVI POV 6

Part 42: here

...

VIVI POV:

The flames are kind of mesmerising, with their dancing oranges and yellows, streaked with green and the occasional blue as various materials reacted differently to the heat. It is easy just to stare and let her attention wander, fatigue turning all her worries into background static. Inside the van, various camping implements twist and warp. It is the ache in her leg muscles that eventually pulls her attention back to the present. Her legs are tired from her earlier search for the van and prolonged restless standing. A reminder that she has a long walk back to Pepper Paradiso and her truck. She feels doubly exhausted just thinking about it. 

Vivi glances at Mystery who is also staring into the fire. His expression borders on thoughtfull, lit faintly by the fire. A familiar etherial red light is diffused amongst his fur, barely noticeable alongside the organge glow of the flames. Does the red light mean that Mystery is casting his illusion to hide the fire? She is not sure.

“So what’s the deal with this spiritual residue, physical plane stuff you mentioned earlier? How does that tie into all that stuff about deals, oaths and whatnot?” There is a lot of folklore warning against making deals with supernatural creatures but she wants the actual facts behind it. With her constant vigil at the hospital and Mystery’s own efforts to spy on Milton’s downtown police department, she hasn’t had the opportunity to ask many questions. This is the first time she’s been alone with Mystery and not been distracted chasing around after leads and information related to Arthur’s possession. 

Mystery’s head swings around so he is looking right at her. His eyes are backlit by that same red light which shines out from behind his irises. The effect is made more intense by its association to that night outside Pepper Paradiso. It isn’t exactly the same- it is a lot less angry- but the small comparison makes her shiver. 

Mystery blinks, ears drooping, and looks off to the side. She wouldn’t think a giant, many tailed kitsune could look awkward but Mystery pulls it off. A sudden change in the wind interrupts her next question. Vivi gets a whiff of burning rubber and melting plastic in all it’s this horridness. Mystery also wrinkles his nose in discomfort. The sheer displeasure splashed across his face reminds her of similar expressions he’d make at his dog food. It is crazy to picture him eating dog food after seeing him like this, with his shimmering white fur, almost silver in the moonlight, tails cascading around him both taking up too much space while also taking no space at all. Not even the fancy, expensive dog food. 

/Perhaps we should move further up-wind?/ 

Vivi nods and they shuffle around as much as the enclosed space allows so the smell isn’t coming right at them. It takes her closer to Mystery but she’s happy to discover that it’s a discomfort she’s willing to bare to avoid the stench. Once they’ve found a slightly new location, Mystery speaks again. 

 /Your question is difficult to answer because none of these - spiritual residue, the physical plane or oaths- are simple. / 

“Well, try. Or at least give me the cliff-notes. Something I can actually do something with. Like, how much can I rely on all those stories, legends and myths I have memorised?”

Mystery considers her, eyes softer, red luminescence dimming to barely an ember as he thinks. / Human belief does hold some influence over how spiritual and magical energies manifest, as does any type of will or resolve. Resolve is what shapes these energies, allowing for us non-physical entities to manipulate reality around us. It is what gives oaths and promises their holding power./

 /What is a promise if not the ultimate statement of intention./

“So, it’s a ‘humans believe in fairies so fairies exist’ type scenario?” That would be convenient if only because it would validate all the time she’d spend pouring over old myths and folktales. 

/Partially…/ Mystery’s tails twitch, encircling his paws, and he settles himself into a seated position, and Vivi gets the sense that Mystery is summarising and skipping over a lot of detail for her, / Get enough humans believing in the same story for a few hundred years and it will have tangible effects on the type of creatures that come into being. It will influences how the spiritual and non-physical function on this plane of existence, giving animation to what would otherwise be mindless energy. /

The explanation makes sense, in a way. Vivi frowns, mulling it over, following Mystery’s example and moving to the nearest rock with a semi-flat surface and sitting herself down. So far things were relatively straightforward. Supernatural creatures existed because of some non-physical, extradimensional energy which was shaped by will power. It both explained human religion and mythology, as well as the odd system of bargaining Mystery had walked her through already. Only things were never that simple, were they?

“You are the way you are because of myths and stuff?” Vivi speaks up and falters trying to think of a generic term for ‘supernatural creature,’ realising that Mystery hadn’t put a name to what he or any of them were outside of being partly spiritual, non-physical in nature, “But you said it was only partially true? Where does the partially come into all this?”

/Humans are far from the only creatures that have access to the resolve and will power needed to shape these energies. Stories told by humans are rarely completely accurate for a reason./ 

Well, that sounds super ominous and the way Mystery is watching her. like he is worried about something, isn’t helping. The fox exhales and his ears twitch. 

/If you wish it, we can discuss the matter at length another time. Many far wiser than I have dedicated centuries to understanding how creatures like myself come into being and what shapes our growth and development. For now, consider it context. /

“Context?” Is it just her or does Mystery seam doubly tentative now? His tails are shifting in an uncharacteristic display of outward emotion. 

/This plane, the physical plane, has its own structures and laws which shape it. Then there are creatures like myself that can alter these structures. Mostly, our influence is very limited, depending on our resolve and power which grow slowly with age and experience. Any alteration too drastic requires a lot of energy and may leave one in danger of fading to nothing./ Mystery lapses into a contemplative silence, attention drifting to the fire. The flames reflect in his eyes, so they dance and flicker a warm yellow which intermingles with the red. 

/Gods, deities, higher powers, humans have many names for them, but they do exist, and their resolve is beyond comprehension. More ideas and concept than anything else, their interference here comes in many forms. If one knows how and was willing to take an oath to act as acolytes to the physical plain, then there are a wide range boons available for beings like myself./

Mystery pauses as if to check she’s following the explanation. At this point, Vivi’s just taking everything in stride. Gods exist? Sure, why not. It’s not any crazier than all the other stuff Mystery’s said. What does have her worried is the uncomfortable feeling that Mystery is building up to some sort of unpleasant revelation. The fox looks and sounds dead serious and she gets the sense that he’s explaining something fundamentally important.

/Of course, when you have entities capable of granting abilities with the potential to unravel reality itself, there must be some structure to it otherwise there would be only chaos. A Natural Order exists to maintain balance. /

“Sooo…” She ends up having to prompt when Mystery’s silence stretches too long after the statement, “…you have some sort of supernatural code of conduct that stops you from messing up reality. Good to know.” Ever since Mystery dropped his dog persona, he has never expressed any hesitation when it came to outlining his own abilities.  Right now, he is looking very uncertain, almost like he regrets trying to explain this to her.

“Mystery?” She asks again, more insistent, because dammit if she’s going to let him clam-up when she’s finally getting some popper answers.

/ Your investigation, regarding the change in Arthur’s behaviour, I have a… theory… regarding what might have affected him. / Mystery turns back to her, expression serious, /I received a… vision of sorts. A warning... / 

Mystery exhales, /One tenant of this Natural Order that is rigorously reinforced is that none can interfere with the progression of time beyond the basic manipulations of time fields and alterations of the perhaps a minute or so, a hour at most. Even these small alternations require immense power and a direct connection to a deity within the correct domain. That or immense personal sacrifice. / 

“Time manipulation? That’s possible? Wait…” Vivi’s breath catches because she’s read enough science fiction literature to know that you didn’t just bring up time travel without it being relevant, “Who’s time travelled? Can you time travel?”

/No, I cannot. Not to this extent…Or I should not have been able too./ Several tails unfurl to sway in a slightly agitated pattern, /It is a discussion for another time, maybe. I am not the one who is to be suspected of time-travelling./

“Arthur? You’re saying Arthur time-travelled,” She feels like she should outright reject the implication for being too outlandish. What made time-travel any different from extra-dimensional gods or spiritual energy that was shaped by will-power? Vivi grips the edges of her jacket, clenching it tightly. For the second time that week, her whole world view shakes, reordering as a whole lot of floating pieces and facts finally start coming together into one coherent picture.

“The force behind Arthur’s odd behaviour change is because he time-travelled?”

/It is only a theory. The vision may have been incorrect or I might have misinterpreted it./

“He looks the same though. Wouldn’t he look…older or younger?” It couldn’t be younger because she knows younger Arthur and how terrible he was at lying…Or she hopes she does. Her mind spins as everything she’s worked to piece together over the past few days falls apart. All her theories, useless. Every plan, every detail, now askew.

/ It was implied that he may have travelled backwards from two years beyond our current time. As for appearance, human souls carry an imprint of all their memories and experiences. If one were to send a soul back in time any matching memories would synchronise and newer memories would sit alongside them./

“Okay, okay, say you’re right about the time travel. This is a good thing. It means Arthur was always Arthur, ah...excluding the one day when he wasn’t. The weird behaviour is because we’ve been interacting with an older Arthur.” 

Two years wasn’t a huge age gap. 

Maybe this, if it were true, was okay. How much could Arthur have possibly changed? Even as she tries to considers the possibility in a positive light, all she feels is apprehension. Before all this, she wouldn’t have thought much about the ramifications of time travel aside from the fact that it was cool. Alas, the shine that uncovering the unknown had once brought is dulled with worry. After having what felt like a lifetime of stress condensed into four days, she knows nothing about this stuff is simple. 

/I do not know whether this is good or bad for Arthur, only that such a desperate measure is never taken without dire cause. Divinities that deal in time and fate are incredibly powerful and notoriously unforgiving. I can only assume that whatever this current timeline replaced was worse than drawing ire of fate itself. /

Mystery confirms her fears. His tails finally settle and he exhales unhappily, and she mirrors him.

Warnings of impending doom not withstanding, Vivi tries to picture a future where the only option left for Arthur was to go back and do it all again. Nothing that comes to mind is pleasant. What’s more, it also throws new light onto all her recent interactions with Arthur and she is not sure she likes what any of it implies. Arthur had avoided interacting with them and had snuck off to buy medication alone. He’d had a panic attack, he hadn't had one of those in years. If that wasn’t the work of some demon-possessed asshole, then maybe it was normal behaviour for future-Arthur. Some of what the demon-bastard had said was making more sense now. The body snatcher was right, Arthur was ‘not quite himself’...in a manner of speaking. No wonder Arthur had seemed different, on that day several weeks ago, when she had caught him unawares outside his bathroom and, for a split second, his face had been strange. 

But, what could have  or caused the change. 

‘Flipped a switch on his personality’.  

Had something happened between Arthur and Lewis to cause Arthur’s standoffish, bordering of fearful behaviour? What had she done to make Arthur not feel comfortable coming to her for help?   She and Lewis would never hurt Arthur. Right?  

What could she do to fix something like this? 

How much could have possibly changed in two years? She thinks of Lewis, of Mystery biting into his arm, of blood spattering across the face, of blood on her hands, of blood on the ground. Both her friends dying while she’s sitting there useless. A lot...a lot could change and it didn’t need as long as two years to happen. She shakes her head and massages her temples, trying to rid herself of imagery and not to get drawn into thinking up a worse scenario.  s it bad that she preferred the scenario in which Arthur had been threatened into lying because he was being stalked by some crazy man in leather?  

“You said there’s a chance that you're wrong. How likely is that?” What was the accuracy rate for ‘visions’ anyway? Geez, she’s not even sure how to approach that one. 

/From what I have seen of Arthur, despite the impossibility of it all, I cannot rule it out completely. His soul is warped, his aura altered, far too powerful for a human, double what it should be. It could be a result of an older and younger soul merging or it could be the influence of some other force./ 

She lets out a long, tired breath, watching the fire begin to burn itself out. The cold begins to creep back in and the night seems just a dark as that night outside the diner even when lit by the full moon. Everything feels like it’s too much, too many problems tying themselves on knots.  Funnily, it’s the opposite problem of having too little information. She needs time to work through it all and put it in some sort of usable order. Supernatural creatures, gods, spiritual energy, souls, auras, visions, time travel, different planes of reality. She has so many questions about all of it that they’ve all melded together into a confusing mess.

“When Arthur wakes up, I’ll confirm the time travel thing. I’ll figure something out.” 

 /I will help. I noted a change in Arthur’s aura and did nothing to investigate. I regret it. As unpreceded and worrying as this situation is, I do not want my inaction to lead to further hurt./

Vivi doesn’t answer, opting to continue staring at the van. She’s tempted to let her mind wander and check out of this whole confusing mess. She doesn’t have the energy to reject Mystery’s reassurance like she’d been so adamant in doing over the last few days.

/I will admit, there is a lot I have yet to tell you…/ Mystery continues she feels the slight shift in the air as he tails begin to sway again, /Some of it involves circumstances I am not proud off, unrelated to what is happening now but maybe important for later. I require time to mull it over…I am not accustomed to making decisions so suddenly. It is a very human thing to do./

At least this apology acknowledges the fact that Mystery is still keeping secrets. It is better than a repeat of the ‘I wanted to keep you safe’ bullshit her dad had been spewing. It’s something. 

“I just don’t know where to start with this.” She looks to Mystery, trying to keep the strain from her voice. “If your theory is right, what do I say to Arthur?” Honestly, she hadn’t really thought about what she would say to Arthur if…when... he awoke aside from making sure he was okay. 

/Whatever you would normally say to offer a friend comfort. His time spent with that parasitic abomination was not kind from what I gathered during our brief interaction and it will have likely left some form of mark behind./

The assertion isn’t much really, but it is something. Mystery is right. She’ll focus on Arthur.  Whatever time-travelling disasters might have happened, this was still Arthur and that’s all that mattered in this moment. The bigger picture can wait. She wasn’t going to let the taunting of some bastard demon colour her view of potential-future-Arthur until she knew more. If Lewis were here he would know what to do, he was good at helping people. No. Lewis wasn’t here so she would do what she always did, approach the situation as rationally as possible and give Arthur emotional support whether he wanted it or not. It’s got them through problems in the past and its the only frame of reference she has. At least now she has something concrete to go on and plan around, even if it did suck. And, who knows, maybe Mystery’s theory was wrong. She yawns, now thoroughly mentally and physically exhausted. Maybe, she would fall asleep right here, sitting on this stone.

/We should begin our journey back to your vehicle. It is a significant walk and we should start if we intend to make it before sunrise./  Mystery intones, eyes tracking her as she sways from side to side. The fox stands, stretching his front paws, and she watches his tails fan out then settle.

“We can’t go yet the van is still burning.”

Before she’s even finished the objection the fire undulates, seaming to snuff out, collapsing in on itself. Mystery trots up to the remainder of the van, barely a metal shell now, nudging it with its shoulder. Slowly at first and then all at once, the van rolls over and into the ravine. There is a loud crash, followed by the screech of twisting and crunching metal. Vivi jumps at the sudden noise, standing in her alarm, sleep momentarily forgotten.

/Is this satisfactory?/

She blinks, then approaches the edge of the ravine, peering into it. The blackened, ruined van is at the bottom, warped on the rocks. “Yeah, I guess this is fine.”  Not like she had a better plan. No one would see it from the road when it was like this.

/Will you allow me to carry you. It will be significantly faster and allow you time to rest. /

“I…” She looks back over at Mystery, about to refuse outright and insist on walking the whole way under her own power. However, the way Mystery was dipping his head, ears back, head down, makes her hesitate. He is obviously trying to make himself look as unthreatening as possible. She pauses. It is a long way back and she is tired enough that the visions of looming shadows and blood aren’t so dominating without the backdrop of the diner to spur them on.

“Okay…yes. I think I’ll be alright with that.”

Instead of immediately trotting towards her, Mystery hesitates, watching and Vivi realises he’s waiting for her to make the first move. Wind blows through the ravine, whistling, taking the remainder of the burnt rubber smell and black smoke away with it. The space between them is clear and empty of obstruction. Carefully, inching along the ground to moves, stopping a step away. Mystery leans forward, closing the rest of the distance. She holds her breath as his jaws come near to her hand. There is the sensation of something wet against her palm.

Mystery’s nose is wet. He is sniffing her hand like he would have when pretending to be a dog. His many tails swish from side to side like he is attempting to mimic a wagging tail. The whole effect is somewhat ridiculous seeing as he has so many of them.  

Hesitant at first then with more confidence, she runs a hand across the fur forming the tuft at the side of his head. It is coarse but easily smoothed under her palm. She draws her hand down his neck. In the places where she touches red light particles jump into the air like dust motes, sticking to her hand before quickly fading. For a moment she smells freshly cooked rice, upturned earth, and fresh rain before that sensation fades as well. Oh...and she begins to understand what Mystery ment when he called himself non-physical. Impressions and sensation run down her arm, tickling her thoughts reminding her of when Mystery uses his thought-speech. The Kitsune feels both solid and transient. 

Mystery turns to the side, giving her easy access to his back, waiting patiently. She blinks the non-physical impressions away. More confident, she pulls herself up, gripping onto his fur, feeling his snout poke into her side to nudge her forward.

“I’m still angry at you, you know,” She affirms once she is comfortably situated and Mystery starts walking.  The anger and hurt of betrayal still curl tight in her chest, though they have loosened somewhat. 

/I understand. /  

Nodding once, she relaxes, letting herself rest for what feels like the first time in days.  She finds it oddly easy to balance and she ends up leaning forward against Mystery’s neck, finding comfort in the rock of his slightly uneven gate. Would this count as upholding the crappy agreement to sleep she had made earlier with Mystery?

“Why don’t more people know about all this stuff?” The question is soft, muffled by Mystery’s fur as she attempts to ward off her quickly returning fatigue. 

/Most manifestations of spiritual energy are subtle, indistinguishable from normal acts of nature. Fully realised creatures like myself are also rare and tend to keep to themselves. It is more common to come across formless entities such as spirits and yokai, and even they leave barely an indent on this plane…hard to notice when one does not know where to look.../ 

As Mystery talks, sound washing through her mind like a river, fatigue finally catching up with, taking her quickly into a blissful, dreamless sleep.

...

NOTE: THE EXPOSITION NIGHTMARE IS OVER!

And in the end Arthur never had to tell either of his friends about the time-travel. 

I have decided I hate  exposition writing, this thing took freakin forever and I’m still not sure it made complete sense. Should have explained some of this shit way earlier to make it easier on myself. Anyway, now I can finally shift the focus back to Arthur. 

I hope I made this interesting enough seeing as it was just Vivi and Mystery talking for 3000+ words. 

Part 42: here

[coffin-of-eternal-darkness]

Well... I think it’s time for some chapter thoughts again after a long long time~

I’m so happy to see the Holy Knights again, I missed them so much! To see them first thing in the new chapter, everyone safe and cheering because the demon king has finally been slain and the danger is over... Griamore THROWING VERONICA IN THE AIR Only to then find out about the... not so great news. I was surprised to see that Gil, Howzer and Griamore kinda stayed in the spotlight with them deciding to drink a bit at home. And then the first plottwist happened: Vivian is alive. I always had a feeling she might have not died back then, just simply because Nakaba never showed her actually dying. It did look pretty deadly but Dreyfus reacted fast and someone with healing capacities (Hendy) was nearby so it wasn’t impossible for her to survive... But to be honest, I just completely forgot about her existence XD” And what surprised me more is how she completely jumped off of the “Gil~~~~” ship and boarded the Dreyfus train. She’s just jumping from one guy she has no chance with to the next.  Next thing would be the thing Merlin said. And this is where things get really interesting.  “When the balance between light and darkness crumbles the age of Gods will end and chaos will return” Chaos could mean anything. It could mean the supreme deity taking advantage of the situation and trying to take over Britannia herself. It could mean some new force that was hidden before surfacing... It probably has something to do with Arthur though. And my first thought when I heard the word chaos, was the Mother of Chaos aka Hawk Mama.  And around half a year ago in chapter 313 she talked about this exact balance, the balance of light and dark, crumbling. But instead of “chaos” returning, she said that “the king will be born”. Now coupled with the corresponding panels I think everyone else is already guessing the same thing I am: That it’s finally Arthur’s time to be resurrected. But that’s not what I want to talk about.  I want to talk about the connection between Hawk Mama and Arthur, about the prophecy and maybe also a bit about Merlin.

THEORY TIME

Let’s start of with Hawk Mama. From the movie we know that Mother of Chaos is/was a being that possesses a darkness great enough that it is even feared by the demon clan, and a light that is revered by even the goddess clan. She’s a being with incredible powers, that has created all monsters that exist, including the vampires and the creatures from purgatory. It would make sense for her to be the “chaos” in this chapter’s prophecy, but apparently the person (pig) herself isn’t what the whole thing is about. We all know Hawk Mama. She’s powerful, she always remains calm and she definitely doesn’t seem like someone who would suddenly try to plunge the world into chaos because she got the chance to.  And let’s not forget that small little thing she said before: “I’m sleepy” I didn’t know what to think about it back then but together with today’s chapter I have an idea.  The “Mother of Chaos” is just that, the mother of Chaos, not Chaos itself. She’s either willingly or possibly unwillingly creating chaos in this world. And I think Arthur just might be part of that chaos. Or rather, the king of chaos.  Ever since Arthur appeared we knew that despite being really strong already, he hadn’t awakened his magic yet. Merlin has always been awfully attached to him and it was always assumed that it was just because she helped raising him and was with him ever since he was a child, just like a mother. But that’s not all. She called him the child of hope (also HER hope), and the one who will lead Britannia. The entirety of it, not only Camelot.  Cath is with him as his bodyguard. Cath was born ON THE SAME DAY as Arthur, he was born TO protect Arthur. Nanashi said it too, nothing will happen to Arthur as long as Cath is there. Arthur was only hurt because Cath was in no condition to do anything. Cath was “summoned” in the cave of training, that was supposed to make Arthur stronger, maybe because Cath is part of his power? Merlin has started to look really shady again too with that “It’s too late” and “There are sins you can’t take back” and I fear she made a deal of sorts. Her sin is Gluttony, which is most likely referring to her extreme thirst for knowledge. What if, in her thirst, she made a deal with someone who offered her more knowledge? And in exchange she agreed to help this someone? And this is going who knows where but what if that someone was actually the supreme deity? And the supreme deity wants the power of chaos? Maybe the supreme deity even IS the Lady of the Lake that gave Excalibur to its first wielder. Maybe she planned this all along. And, what if the horn in the basement of Liones castle really was the vessel for the supreme deity and Merlin secretly always secretly talked with her down there? Merlin’s favourite animal is the Mother of Chaos according to her profile, yet in the actual manga she never showed any interest in her despite most likely knowing it’s her. I’m just throwing random thoughts and ideas in the room at this point and I don’t know where I’m trying to go so I’ll leave it at this for now. But this could be really interesting! Anyway, Arthur will be resurrected and I’m pretty sure Merlin’s sin will finally be revealed and have a lot to do with the current events. 

[glatisants]

Albion: The Legend of Arthur (Part XI of XIII)

Part XI: A Counsel in Around

Some weighty decisions are made.

We begin where we left off, with the Picts capturing Medraut. He is thus delivered to Morgan/Anna. She tells her men to keep him tied up, as she will deal with him herself.

***

Owain and Gwenhwyvar head to the council of lords. Owain wonders where Myrddin has gone, and says he’d hoped he would be back; he admits that he’s come around to have a better opinion of Myrddin, as his predictions have been correct, and his prophesying would be useful to all of them now.

The round council begins, and those assembled include: Aergol and Arthur representing the house of Ambrosius, Owain of Rheged in his father’s place, Gwenhwyvar of the Legion City, Caradoc of Gwent, and the lords Tewdrig, Cadwallan, Meirion, Brychan the Unborn, Celynin the Younger (?), and Hywel of the Bloody Axe.

Aergol broaches the question of who shall lead them in the years to come, but Caradoc cuts in to ask about the whereabouts of Cynon and Lewdwn. Aergol starts to tell the lords about the fate of Lewdwn, but at that moment Cynon arrives, late, to the meeting. Aergol confirms that little is known about Lewdwn’s death, as they have only heard the rumors of the enchantress and the Black Army, and Tewdrig adds that the entire land seems to be under her spell. Gwenhwyvar says that means it’s even more important to find order.

Aergol tells the council that Ambrosius made it known to his inner circle that he wished to see Arthur inherit his rule, and Cynon confirms that his father had once favored Arthur. One of the other lords says that Arthur was indeed the clear choice, but wonders who would lead in battle in his place. Arthur replies that the natural choice to take over for him would be Owain, as he’s more than worthy.

Cynon speaks up, then, and suggests that the old ways of ruling are outdated; he says that Arthur is their greatest warrior, and it might be better if Arthur continued to lead them to victory in battle, while someone else took the office. The others are lukewarm on the suggestion, and Gwen pointedly says the choice would be up to Arthur.

Alone with Rhun, Cynon expresses his anger at his birthright being taken from him, with Arthur being the certain choice. Rhun tells him to rest, but Cynon is determined to go see Arthur—the council may be over, but he’s certain Arthur and his inner circle are still plotting, and he wants to be present for their decisions.

Arthur thinks things went well, but Aergol is wary—he says that the ones that appear to be most in his favor could very well be raring to stab him in the back when his guard is down, and he can’t relax until he has a sword forged from the Kingstone. Arthur mutters that he’s no good at politics and prefers to meet his enemies out on the field, but Aergol tells him that he’ll learn over time, just as his uncle did. Arthur tries to share Ambrosius’ warning about Cynon, but Aergol dismisses him, saying he’ll take care of Cynon, that he’s putting up a front and isn’t as well as he pretends to be.

Gwen comes to visit Arthur, and Aergol starts to excuse himself, but she tells him to stay, as this concerns all of them: there is still tension among the council, and forging a Kingsword won’t be enough to quell dissent, so she proposes a formal union between her and Arthur. Their combined might should be enough to discourage anyone from challenging the peace, and with her as his wife he would have direct command over the Legion City. Aergol congratulates them, and tells Gwen it’s a cunning move. They all agree to arrange the contract as soon as possible.

Cynon shows up, then, and Gwen lets him be the first to know about the marriage. Cynon is startled by the news, and starts to tell them that they need the permission of his father, when he collapses; his wound has reopened. Arthur carries Cynon back to his quarters, and assigns Cled to keep watch over him, which angers Cynon, as he thinks he’s effectively being made prisoner. He protests that “everything [he] feared is coming to pass.”

Arthur tells Owain about his forthcoming marriage to Gwen; the ceremony is to be done in the chapel forge, before the Kingstone. Surprised, Owain questions the logistics, before Arthur asks if he approves. Owain replies that he doesn’t know. Arthur asserts that it’s just politics, though he is attracted to her. Owain says the other lords might think it’s an act born of insecurity rather than strength, and tells him he should wait until he’s high king. Arthur informs him that the decision’s been made, and the Kingsword is just a symbol, while Gwenhwyvar’s army truly gives them an edge. Owain faintly offers him a congratulations. Arthur then tells Owain that he’s sending him to Gododdin to suppress the unrest at the border, and he’ll be leaving immediately. Owain asks if he doesn’t want him at the wedding; Arthur won’t give an answer, just tells him to do it.

After Arthur sees Owain off, Aergol tells him not to push Owain away, as he’s his most important comrade. Arthur replies that that’s not the same as being friends, and he’s not sure what they are anymore. Aergol reminds him that he should stay on good terms with the man controlling his army. Arthur sends Griff after Owain to accompany him to Gododdin, and Owain wonders if this means Arthur doesn’t trust him.

Arthur and Gwen are lying in bed after sleeping together. Gwen says that if he can carry on like that after they’re married she’ll be very happy, and he says he’ll be glad to accommodate her as often as she likes. They kiss, but Gwen withdraws, and tells him that they need to be able to understand each other if they are to be married.

She reminds him that their marriage is a political alliance, as close and intimate as it may be, and she does not wish to get in the way of whatever is between him and Owain. Arthur says there is nothing between them, and she asks if there ever was before. He admits that they were once together, but they were just boys at the time and there’s been nothing between them for quite some time. She pointedly asks him if he deliberately did not want Owain at the wedding, and he denies it, but asks if it’s commonly believed that he and Owain are together. Gwen says that it isn’t, she’s just very perceptive, and the young men do go out to battle for long stretches of time. She tells him not to blush on her account, for he’s hardly her first, and she informs him somewhat wryly that her heart was lost to a stable boy one summer when she was fifteen, and none have possessed it since. Arthur clarifies that he never loved Owain, not in that way, and when Gwen asks if Owain ever loved him, Arthur just replies that he never asked him. 

Arthur does say that he loved Anna of Gododdin once, and she asks if that was why he’s been so cold about her death. He says that he wished to feel nothing about her, and that’s all he can say. Gwen tells him that it’s good that they can talk to each other openly, and that they may be able to be friends as well as husband and wife.

Gwen admits that she knows what happened at Badon, and she reminds him that they’ll all have their parts to play in the time ahead, and he must go easy on Owain. She then tells him that she’s pregnant; he is surprised but pleased, and they kiss. 

The next day, the marriage goes forward as planned, with Aergol bearing witness.

On the road to Gododdin, Owain has the marriage on his mind, but Griff distracts him with talk about the land around them. He remembers it as a fertile place, before the pestilence struck. Owain doesn’t believe in the tales of the enchantress, but Griff thinks they’ve seen enough by now for the stories to at least be plausible. Owain replies that he puts his faith in what he can see, rather than the stories told to him. He remembers that Myrddin was supposed to have journeyed this way, and he wishes he knew where he had gone.

They are approached by a soldier of theirs from the fort they’re headed to, and the man tells them that the Picts have overrun the borderlands, in an unprecedented act of boldness. He tells them that they’re followers of the enchantress Morgan of Ynys, but Owain is skeptical.

***

Meanwhile, Tulloch and his men show Morgan/Anna their plunder, and she encourages her men, telling them that their fortune shall only grow, as long as they continue to fight for their freedom.

Medraut overheard her speech, and when she joins him he tells her that she’s being ambitious, before asking if they may speak. When she asks what brought him to her lands, he scoffs and says that this godless wilderness belongs to no man; she informs him that he’s correct, and reminds him that he is at her mercy. He tells her of his plans to find an army, and says that her army is only good for small-scale ambushes, not drawn-out military campaigns. Morgan/Anna shrugs off his doubts, and he asks how she’s achieved what she has. He doesn’t believe her claims to be an enchantress, and says she can’t hope to beat Arthur in open battle; she’ll need a war leader, like him. She is unimpressed, and reminisces about how in the old days she, him and Arthur were inseparable, and their fathers were terribly sure of their place in the world. The three of them have none of that certainty, though, bc all their fathers gave them was chaos. She points out that they’re both outcasts, and Medraut can’t possibly hope for any legitimate claim to the throne at this point.

Medraut tells her that all he wants now is to destroy Arthur with his own hands. She says that in order to lead her Black Army, he needs to understand it, to see it as their enemies see it. She gives him a concoction that will let him cross the veil and see glimpses of the Otherworld, and he chokes it down.

They go outside to see her army, and Medraut sees the truth of the Black Army rising all around him, and it is a terrible thing, made of dread and nightmares; he is overcome with equal parts horror and awe as Morgan/Anna tells him it’s the darkest of all magic, but he adamantly wishes to lead them nonetheless, and she gives him the command he desires. She lets out a wild laugh, one that echoes with the din of many voices, and he fearfully asks what she is. She replies that she is “the means of [his] salvation,” and that they “shall destroy Arthur and devour this land together.” He joins in her laughter, overcome with mad jubilation, before he falls to the ground in a swoon. Morgan/Anna tells Tulloch that their Black Army finally has its general. 

[birminghamblinders]

baptism by fire; tommy shelby

Business is not an industry which lends itself to possessing an empathetic nature. Business is by design the striving to procure profits, and businesses which succeed do not do so through weaknesses and by making excuses for the shortcomings of themselves or of the various inferiors which make up their labor staff. Businessmen, then, as the main extension of this cognitive, innovative, cut-throat machine, are also not by nature kind-hearted or gentle. Choosing to enter into business means that one must be capable of making very calculated decisions with their own money and with the money of others. They also must see the parts of their company-and to many, employees often registered only as a moving part in a greater machine-as disposable when they are broken. Thus, although business does not generally allow for strong expressions of emotion, Tommy Shelby believed there were “no hard feelings” when he had to release a person from his employment. He held no personal vendetta against the ex-employee, and did even earnestly hope they would realize the error of their focused labor and once again find fruitful employment elsewhere. But conversely, he would note to himself the error of his ways in allowing an employee of less-than-acceptable caliber to be hired, and would remember what traits made that person useless in the future.

Tommy had to let people go and hire new people on a fairly regular basis. He generally believed in hiring younger people to do menial labor, on the idea that they would have more energy and thus be able to execute these tasks over a larger spread of hours. The past month, however, Tommy had fired two young men or about twenty, who had been hired for menial labor but had proven to be prone to slacking off on the job. He bore no ill will to them, and in parting mentioned a shipping company which operated out of dock forty-three which was hiring, in the genuine if not deeply-felt hope they would reform and become contributing members of society.

Besides, Tommy had larger things to worry about than the performance of workers who neared the bottom of the Shelby Company food chain. In merely three weeks, if all went well, he was going to recite his wedding vows to the love of his life in the full and unyielding gaze of their pastor and before the gentle eyes of God. Tommy and his soon-to-be wife endeavored to make their wedding as small an affair as was possible, only extending invitations to those who they actually, truly wanted to he there. Eliminating the menial made the whole thing blessedly easy to plan, and he found himself mainly concerned with planning out the right words to say to his life partner when she arrived at the altar.

—

Thankfully, the wedding went as smoothly as any Tommy had ever attended, and the flurry of the day seemed to end as quickly as it began. When he settled into bed next to his newly acquired wife that night, slipping a gentle arm around her waist, he even entertained the fantasy that the wedding had taken away so little of his concentration from work that he might be able to take a few days and have a honeymoon of sorts with her.

This was not the case, as both the legal and illegal enterprises of the Shelby Company were growing at a seemingly exponential rate. He was no sooner able to take a few days off without consequences as he was to grow wings. His wife, the young, pretty, tough creature she was, shrugged this slight off, and told her husband he had things he needed to do for the good of his family, and that said family also included her now, and so he had better get to work. Guilted by his inability to properly celebrate his wedding with his wife, but also emboldened by her strong words of encouragement, Tommy dove right back into the chaos of the Company, cutting deals on firearms and horse races in equal stride.

Unbeknownst to either man or wife, the two young men who had just a short while ago been terminated from Shelby company employment had not shrugged it off as a loss of low-level job of which there were plenty in Small Heath, but had instead chosen to interpret it as a personal slight and a middle finger directly from Tommy Shelby. As uneducated as their interpretation of a routine firing might have been, they were not so ignorant as to think they could exact revenge on their perceived enemy in a face to face interaction with him. They instead chose to focus on his weaknesses, and despite the whole thing being a low-level affair, there was no one in Birmingham who didn’t know Tommy Shelby had recently gotten married.

—

The two young men whom Tommy had fired were not in possession of any particularly great intellect, or capability to plan a complex kidnapping and ransom plot, but part of the reason they were hired initially was that they possessed plenty of brute strength. It would seem fairly reasonable that considering her relatively high profile relation to the Shelby family that there would be some type of protection for Tommy’s wife, but she had insisted on being allowed to live independently. As often occurs, there was no real hindsight considered with this decision until it had already generated negative consequences. Tommy’s wife did not work for the Company, and after their marriage continued her job as a secretary for the largest newspaper in the city. It was on a fairly cold morning, while she was walking to begin her shift, that the two ex-lackeys of the Company grabbed her and dragged her out of the sight of the few other passers-by that were on the street that early in the day.

On the days which Tommy was not able to finish his workload in time to be home for dinner (which were fairly plenty), he would just sleep in his office, wake up early, and continue. These were all circumstances which the two ex-lackeys were aware of; though the Company employed plenty people, most of them got their orders from Tommy or one of this brothers and were in and out of the office daily, and knew the movements of the main heads of the Company. They didn’t know exactly on that day that Tommy would work late and stay in the office, but they were willing to take their luck.

Due to the circumstances of their both being employed in highly demanding jobs, and sometimes not being able to wake up together or eat dinner together, Tommy and his wife always spent at least an hour on the phone each day. This usually happened around noon, which left the two wanna-be criminals four hours before Tommy Shelby discovered his wife was missing.

They had, it so happened, taken his suggestion, and sought employment at the loading station at dock forty-three. This particular dock mainly handled night time shipments coming in from the United States or Canada, and so the two decided that with a little duct tape over the face, and ropes holding her arms back, it would be as good a place as any to keep Mrs. Shelby.

—

As it happened, the two men, who were not exactly in possession of god-like intelligence, got the timing right. They had her for four hours before her husband realized something was wrong with her. He called her office at noon, and was received by the voice of her supervisor, who told him his wife had not come into work that day.

At the same moment as Tommy leaned back to yell for his brothers, Polly came into the room and absentmindedly remarked that the postman had left something for him as she dropped a letter onto his desk. Dread built up in his chest as he stared at the sloppily folded paper, and he grabbed hold of the letter and nearly tore it open in his haste. The would-be kidnappers were not elegant nor were they educated, and so their ransom note was not exactly a masterpiece of the English written word.

Tommy Shelby, it read,

We have your wife. Come to dock forty three as soon as you get this. Bring ten thousand pounds with you and you will get her back alive. If you call the police we will know. Don’t bring a gun.

The letter was not signed, and as Tommy’s two eldest brothers crowded their way into the room, the middle Shelby son swore loudly and launched an ink pot against the room, where it shattered against the window and left dark black tracks down the glass.

“Some fuckers took my wife,” he informed them in a violently calm voice. “Get your coats and your guns. We’re going now.”

—

Upon arrival at the specified dock, the faded painting sign reading “43” swinging violently in the sudden gust of wind that had arisen off the waters, Tommy gestured for John and Arthur to stand back.

“I’ll call you when I need you,” he spoke quickly, and indicated for them to stand just out of sight of the door of the loading area, still close enough by to be of immediate assistance if needed.

Tommy grabbed the handle of the door and launched it open, bursting into the large, open room with his gun pointed straight ahead. At the same time as he gained his bearings, he heard a pistol cocking, and found he was looking at a gun pressed to the side of his wife’s head.

Tommy had been in the war, and had seen more men die than he ever cared to speak about. He was used to carnage, and hadn’t flinched at the sight of blood in years. At the sight of his wife with a gun pressed to her head, however, his own blood ran cold.

He felt his breath coming in shorter and shorter intervals, and he had to control himself to keep from hyperventilating, as his wife, a gag stuffed in her mouth, started crying at the sight of him, and leaning towards him as if to beg him to get her out of here,only to be grabbed roughly by the neck and shoved back into her chair by another man, who stepped out of the corner only for that brief moment before vanishing from Tommy’s sight again.

Tommy stopped short, only about four feet from the door he had burst from, and was so dazed by the sight before him he had to force himself to focus as the man holding the gun began to speak.

“We told you specifically not to bring a gun. Didn’t you read the fucking letter? Put that shit down. Where’s my money?”

Tommy still found himself unable to fully compute the situation before him, and so fell back on his usual bravado, scoffing at the man’s question even while wildly searching for a plan.

“I didn’t bring your ten thousand pounds. What were you going to spend it on, whores and cocaine? You’re a piece of shit. You’re going to give me my wife back and you’re going to apologize for the trouble you’ve caused the Shelby Company.”

Another man stepped out of the shadows, loudly swearing at Tommy, and he couldn’t believe the sense of these two useless criminals as they both started walking towards him, leaving his wife unguarded and making it far too easy for him to raise his gun once again and expel a hail of bullets on them, aiming for the head and then adding ten more in just for good measure and as repayment for the insolence of daring to touch his wife.

As he turned to face her, still bound to her chair, tears rolling down her cheeks, he felt his heart stop again as he sprinted to her, pulling the gag out of her mouth and untying the ropes from her wrists all while speaking to her frantically, begging for forgiveness.

“I’m so damn sorry, my love, I should never have let you walk around alone, I should have had a man with you all the time, I should have known someone was going to try something with you, I’m so fucking sorry-“ and broke himself off with a sob, curling into her shoulder.

He felt her take a deep breath and wrap her arms around him, stroking his back as he cried like a child into her arms, terrified by the ease at which two bumbling idiots were able to endanger the person closest to his heart.

She began to console him quietly, his sobs still echoing around the empty room, and Tommy could almost feel her grow harder, more tough, more like a Shelby.

[ladytshelby]

Stand By Your Gun chapter one

Stand By Your Gun chapter one

Tommyxamelia

Gifs are from: pcllygray, weheartitsource, miss2lit, sirenjaandthestag. - if wrong please let me know and I’ll fix it.

I hope you enjoy the first chapter. There is plenty more to come in Amelia and Tommy’s story. Please let me know what you think. It would mean the world to me.

𝑪𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑶𝒏𝒆: 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒇 𝑺𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈

Blood is coating the floor. Blood is dripping in her eyes, staining her clothes and her shaking hands. Amelia isn't even sure if it belongs to her because of the adrenaline pumping in her veins. She looks around, her eyes scanning the room finally seeing the damage that was caused in only a few minutes. Bodies littering the floor. Their faces belonging to people that, thankfully, Amelia can't recognize. Bullet holes making honeycombs out of the walls. Blood acting in place of the sweet honey.

Polly said this was a long time coming. A sort of reckoning for the Shelby family. Everyone kept going on and on about how the Italians were going to get what they deserved, but as Amelia walked around, she couldn't help but wonder if anyone actually deserves this end, dying in an abandoned warehouse with the only people who know where you are, are lying dead beside you. Tommy would say it is poetic to die with your brothers and take a bullet in the heart or a knife to your throat as long as it was for your family.

Amelia’s thoughts were interrupted when the sound of footsteps echoed in the hall, slowly coming towards the room. Her hand immediately went for the gun Arthur gave her back at Watery Lane. She raised it, pulling back the hammer, waiting.

Now

“Miss Hastings, are you listening to me?”

Amelia’s head shot up, immediately snatched from her daze by her boss looking at her as if she possesses three heads. “Yes, of course, I am.”

Nurse Smith crosses her arms and looked at Amelia with a crooked smirk, “Okay then, what did I say?”

Amelia sat up straighter and put on her smile that would always get Ada and herself out of trouble when they were younger, running around Small Heath, “you said and I quote, “Millie, you are the best damn nurse on this side of Birmingham, and you know, I like you so much more than Margret Williams. Also, I’m going to give you a raise because I’m feeling quite generous today.”

Nurse Smith is trying hard to mask her laugh behind her scowl when she replies, “That was not it at all Miss Hastings,” She moves to sit in front of the younger nurse, who looks like she hasn't slept in weeks, “I was telling you that all the surgeries have been moved up from tomorrow to today, but never mind that dear, I want to know when is the last time you’ve had a full night’s rest.”

“What month is it again?” Amelia questions jokingly while leaning back in her stiff wooden chair. Her back popping with two loud cracks. There are nurses and doctors cramped into the closet they call a breakroom, all having the same look of tiredness. Even Doctor Anderson is in such a daze that he isn't drinking his tea, he is only staring into the cup, unblinking.

Amelia turns her head back to Nurse Smith who is looking at her with sad eyes, “I am being serious Amelia, you need to rest.”

“And I will,” She replied standing up from the table, “When I’m dead. I have to go check on Mr. Brown, his next round of meds is coming up.”

Nurse Smith stands up with her and blocks the door. Her head only coming up to Amelia’s chin. She may be short, but she makes up for it with her presence. Luckily, Nurse Smith really likes her and treats her as a daughter and doesn't see her wrath as much as the other nurses. “No, I got Miss Williams to take care of that. You, my dear, are going home to get some sleep.”

“But I’m fine, I promise.” Amelia tries to reason with her boss, but nothing was working. “I took a little nap in the broom closet earlier, p –”

“This isn't up for discussion,” Nurse Smith interrupts, pushing Amelia gently towards the exit, “Go home and tell that Shelby boy to leave you alone and let you rest. Doctor’s orders.”

With that, she turns to walk down the hallway, ending the conversation. Amelia waits until she was a few feet from her before she mutters, “Fine, but you’re not a doctor.”

“I heard that.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Small Heath is buzzing with life. Merchants trying to sell goods, children running senselessly down the streets with their parents none the wiser, and evangelists speaking prophecies of almighty damnation. Voices and laughter carried and could seemingly be heard anywhere in the town, and Amelia loved it all. She loves the idea of people walking in the same direction but ending up in different places, and people living in the same city but experiencing it differently. Tommy says it silly to think that way, but she has to remind him that he used to think the same as her. When he came back from France, he changed and so did the world around him, everything now has a gritty film over it covering the good and not allowing it to shine through. With the good, comes the bad. Tommy only sees the bad, and Amelia tries her hardest to show him that there is still light in the world, no matter how dim it seems sometimes.

A voice from The Garrison pulls Amelia from her thoughts as she went to walk past the bar where she used to spend a lot of her time as a teenager. Harry, the bartender, waves her over and starts saying something, but she cannot hear from all the noise in the street.

“Harry, what's the matter? Is something wrong?” Amelia questions when she makes it to him, stepping aside to let a man in the door.

Harry shook his head, “No, nothing's wrong. Tommy came by looking for ya saying if I saw ya, to tell ya to meet him at Watery Lane.”

“Did he mention why?” Amelia asked while racking her brain not remembering if they had a family meeting.

“No, but he had a giant horse with him,” Harry replies shrugging his shoulders.

“Oh shit! I forgot that was today,” Amelia shakes her head, looking at her watch seeing that it is much later than she thought, “Harry, I got to go, but thanks for telling me. I’ll see you later on.”

She turns to leave, not waiting for Harry to reply and runs straight into a girl with blonde hair, who she swears appeared out of nowhere.

“I’m sorry I didn’t see you there,” They both said at the same time laughing lightly and continuing on their separate paths. Amelia’s feet going a little faster than before. She is anxious about finding out how the charm went with Tommy and the horse.

~~~~~~~~~

The chaos of Watery Lane will always bring a smile to Amelia’s face. As she walks into the house, she can faintly hear the chatter of the bets being taken behind the door by the fireplace. She usually helps with the boys take up them up but the hospital has been taking up the majority of her time. It seems as though everyone decided to get ill at the same time.

Amelia pushes through the door to come face to face with John who stumbles backward almost falling into the man behind him. “Shit Millie, where have ya been?” He straightens up smoothing out his worn jacket and motions for her to follow him. “We’ve been waiting for ya all damn day.”

“You do know I work at the hospital, John,” Amelia answers John, motioning to her nursing dress and walks into the room where the family meetings are held. “I can’t just up and leave whenever I please, ya know.”

“Yeah speaking of the hospital, we need your he—”

“What the hell happened to his face?” Amelia interrupts John when she sees the looks of Arthur. its as though he has been in a fistfight with a cat... multiple cats. She makes her way over to him and lifts his chin with her finger. He winces a little at her touch. “Who did this to you?”

“That fucker Campbell.” Arthur curses as Polly begins grabs his hand inspecting it.

“Who is that and why is he trying to kill you?” Amelia asks reaching for the rag from Ada. “Give me that Ada.”

“Yeah Ada, Let a real nurse do it,” John interjects, earning a scowl from his younger sister.

“Hey! I’m trained.” Ada pouts and hands the rag to Amelia knowing her brother is right.

Amelia laughs while dipping the rag into the bowl of water on the table and wiping some of the blood from Arthur’s face. “Ada, you ditched after day one of class and left me alone so I had to partner with that horrid Margret.”

“Well, all of ya can just fuc—” Ada begins to swear but gets cut off by Tommy bursting in through the door carrying a bottle of whiskey.

“Let me see him. Here” Tommy comes to stand beside Amelia and holds the bottle up to Arthur’s mouth for him to drink. Once he gets a good swig, he takes the rag from Amelia and pours the alcohol onto it before handing it back to her. Tommy gives her a look that says he is concerned for his brother, but under it, there is something Amelia can’t quite read.

She puts her hand on the back of Arthur’s head to hold him still. She dabs the rag on his cuts to clean them so they won’t get infected, and he hisses through clenched teeth and grabs her arm with his free hand. “Shhh, Arthur it's all right. None of the cuts are too deep to need stitches so you will be okay, only a little sore.”

After Arthur is patched up, Amelia sits down beside Polly and puts her head on her shoulder. Polly rubs Amelia’s knee and smiles. “What would we do without you, girl?”

“Probably have to deal with Ada’s nursing skills,” Amelia jokes and laughs when Ada throws a bloody rag at her.

“Leave me alone. I swear its pick on Ada day!” Ada exclaims and moves to stand by Tommy, who is watching Amelia closely.

“No, it isn’t. Its just quite easy to mess with you.”

The sense of family is what has always drawn Amelia to the Shelby family. She is grateful that they took her in all those years ago when she was new to Small Heath. After her father died and her mother turned into a recluse, Amelia was looking for a place to belong, and thankfully she found that in them. Of course, she knew about the family business and it has never swayed her love for them, she is in on everything that goes on. Tommy confiding in her the most.

Arthur’s voice breaks her thoughts when he says, “That inspector said Mr. Churchill sent him to Birmingham.” Arthur tries to sit up straighter but stops and winces. “He said something about a robbery.”

“We don’t know nothing about no robbery,” John interjects. He has to talk around the toothpick in his mouth.

Amelia raises her hand still confused about who this inspector is. “Can someone explain to me who that is.”

“You would know, Millie, if you were here earlier.”

“Why don’t you shove it, John. I’m sorry I’m trying to help the sick.”

“Will you two shut up for the love of Christ,” Polly exclaims then turns to Amelia. “Amelia darling, Campbell is an Irishman who is trying to clean out the IRA.”

Amelia nods appreciatively, “Thank you, Aunt Poll. That’s all I wanted to know. Arthur, please continue.”

While Arthur is explaining the situation with the BSA strikes and how the inspector wants the family to be his eyes and ears, Amelia keeps stealing glances at Tommy trying to get his attention, but he won’t look at her. Instead, he is keeping his eyes on the floor seemingly very interested in his shoes. Something is not right and she knows it. He knows more than he is letting on, information he deems unworthy for the rest of the family to know, or it is the opposite. They are unworthy of the information. A knot forms in Amelia’s stomach and makes her feel ill at the thought of something being wrong.

She mustn't be the only one who notices Tommy’s silence because Arthur points his finger at his brother and looking at everyone else, his face mad with anger. “What the fuck is wrong him lately? Been doing all sorts behind my back for a while now and I’m bloody sick of it, Tom.”

Tommy finally looks up and looks his older brother in the face, his face the mirror opposite of Arthur’s and just says, “I’ll tell you in due time, brother. It’s none of your concern at the present.”

That was the wrong thing to say because Arthur tries to launch himself at Tommy but is restrained by the table and his injuries. John jumps up and pushes Arthur down into his chair telling him to be quiet.

Amelia takes this time to get up and go over to Tommy. She stands in front of his slouched frame in such a way everyone else in the room can’t see him and can only see her back. She gently puts her hand on his arm feeling the roughness of his jacket under her hands. She waits for him to look up before she nods her head towards the stairs and mutters, “We can go talk upstairs.”

Tommy looks like he wants to say no, but ultimately agrees and turns to make his way to the stairs leaving Amelia to follow close behind.

[ruffoverthinksthings]

Prometheus

Short story for @screaminginternallyalleternity involving her OC of Jane’s dad.

There was always an interrogation before and after Jane’s visits to her father, Adrien Castle, or as he was more popularly known, “Professor Prometheus.”

Before, it was always questions of if she knew that “The Stars” had formally expatriated from Auradon, that they were only allowed to practice magic as they were keeping out of Auradon’s proper territories and out of sight, and that she would lose all of her rights, her privileges, and be denied contact with her mother if she defected to whichever cell, out-of-the-way hide-out, or alternate dimension he was living in at the moment.

Always, she would answer yes, yes, and yes.

After, it was questions of if she had any plans of expatriating, if she would now be practicing magic, or if she was thinking of encouraging others to do so.

Always, she would answer no, no, and no.

She wasn’t a child, though her physical form looked the part. She could understand that there was a very big, very complicated, and very dire reason why Auradon was always so concerned about “defection, propaganda, and the influence of subversive elements” like her father and the circles he ran around in.

She just didn’t know exactly why, up until the day she asked her father about it.

She didn’t ask him outright, as she knew enough to shut up about all matters involving Auradon and especially the Magic Ban whenever she was in any of the Star settlements.

But so it was that fate happened to give her a chance, and she didn’t want to waste it.

It started with her father placing an item on his worktable, what looked like a flower in a pot, except it was made of intricately carved rock, crystals, and precious jewels, the closed “petals” made of glass with finely carved inscriptions on it.

Jane marveled at it, from her position standing on a stool and her tiny hands on the edge of the table. “It’s beautiful!” she said, her voice tinny and squeaky.

“Hold your praise, I haven’t turned it on just yet,” Adrien said, smiling as he waved his hand in front of a specific section of the “pot.”

Jane gasped as the petals slowly, delicately unfolded, before the whole device began to hum with magical power, a glowing field emanating from the blooming “flower.” “What does it do...?” she asked.

“This, my Sunshine, is a miniaturized, local anti-gravity field generator, and what it does is that it holds things up in the air for as long as it’s on,” Adrien replied as he tossed a marble atop it.

The ball quickly slowed to a stop as it entered the field, until it was gently bobbing up and down in the center of it.

Jane clapped. “It’s wonderful, daddy!”

Adrien blushed, and plucked the marble out. “Wait till I show you just how much it can lift...”

So a show started, Adrien putting increasingly larger and heavier balls on the field generator: tennis balls, baseballs, soccer balls, footballs, basketballs, until finally, Jane watched him strain and grunt as he lifted an entire bowling ball up and put it atop the field.

Jane clapped her hands over her mouth as it dipped dangerously low, almost touching the glass petals… then, it slowly lifted back up, and the bowling ball was still. She giggled in delight as she clapped her hands once more.

“Great job, daddy!”

Adrien blushed. “Thank you, Sunshine!”

“How does it work?” Jane asked.

Adrien beamed. “I’m glad you asked! First, this relies heavily on the--”

The field suddenly gave out.

The two Fae watched as the bowling ball fell in slow-motion, dipping down a little, almost touching the crystal petals, until gravity got hold of it once more and it crushed the device, flower and pot and all.

Jane screamed as shards of glass, cracked crystal, and jagged chunks of rock came flying out. Adrien quickly grabbed her, hugging her to his chest as he turned away from the mess, bits crunching underneath his aged leather shoes as he ran to the counter on the opposite corner.

“Oh gods, Jane! Are you okay?” Adrien asked as he set her down and began to look her over. “Did you get cut? Do you need a hug?”

Jane sniffled, her heart racing from the fear and the panic pouring from her father. “I’m fine...” she said shakily.

Thunk. Crack.

The bowling ball rolled off the table, and made a crack on the floor. “Oh no!” Jane said. “Your invention and your floor, daddy!”

Adrien groaned. “Jane: fuck the invention and the floor! I can fix both, and if I can’t, I can just get a new workshop with a snap of my fingers, and build a brand new prototype out of my blueprints and notes!”

His voice and his face softened. “After all, I can’t replace you, sunshine.”

“Are you sure it’s not a big deal...?” Jane asked.

Adrien kissed her on the forehead, and smiled at her. “Positive. I love you more than I do any of my inventions, my possessions, or even Science and Magic itself, my Sunshine.”

Jane smiled, and sniffed. “I love you too, daddy.”

Adrien hugs her and strokes her hair. “You just wait here while I get cleaned up, Sunshine...”

Jane hums. “Okay, daddy.”

“Ah, I’m happy you didn’t get hurt, and the field failed during testing rather than during a live use of it…” He said as he picked up the bowling ball, put a wooden board over the new crater in his workshop, and swept up all the glass and rock for recycling. “I don’t want to think of what sort of chaos and unpleasantness would have happened if this was being used to move supply crates around...”

“Did you invent this for the settlement, daddy?” Jane asked.

“Yes,” he replied. “The trolls, the familiars, and the golems can only be asked to do so much before they start asking for or needing more magic than we feel comfortable giving. Gods, if this works out the way I think it will, we’d save ourselves so much time, effort, and resources, free to use them for much better pursuits!

“It’ll be leaps and bounds more efficient than anything they’re using in Auradon, that’s for sure!”

“Then why don’t you try selling it to them?” Jane asked. “Maybe they’ll make an exception like they did with the Animal Translators?”

Adrien sighs heavily as he dumps all of the shattered pieces into a bin. “I seriously doubt it. If there’s anything Auradon hates, it’s progress; just look at Camelot, with King Arthur keeping his entire state stuck in the Middle Ages!”

He grows quiet for a moment. “Frankly though, with all the things he and the others know, I can sympathize with him, even if it’s still a stupid-arsed decision...”

“What do they know…?” Jane asks.

If her mind had matched her appearance, this would have been when Adrien would have copped out with some vague, general, or woefully sterilized account to protect her innocence, and help her understand it in the first place.

As they both knew, however, her clothes, her voice, and her body were the only things even remotely child-like about Jane.

“Let’s sit down for tea,” Adrien said as he put away his dustpan and broom. “This is going to be a long conversation...”

Later, when they are seated across each other with cups of herbal tea, Adrien began his story.

“You know why I got into the business of combining science and magic, yes?”

“You wanted to make it more accessible for everyone,” Jane replied.

Adrien nodded. “Indeed...

“I thought it was the beginning of something beautiful, a miracle when Beast’s ambassadors came opening their rifts into my home realm, when the local government forged an alliance and we joined their ever growing network of dimensions sharing all the knowledge, goods, and culture they had, chattering about making a brand new, better world, together.

“It’s only too late that I realized it was the start of one massive atrocity.

“The Isle’s barrier is just part of it, my most visible failure. No, the true scope of my mistake was that and everything else I helped create.

“When the Great Uniting was said and done, the celebrations and the speeches were over, and us scientists and magicians could finally start collaborating in-person with all the new facilities, associations, and resources available to us, it felt like the start of an exciting new era for Science and Magic.

“There was nothing we couldn't do, nothing we weren't allowed to do, and we were encouraged to do everything we could... and that, my Sunshine, was where it all went to Hell.

“We could have all the resources we wanted, no supervision, no regulation, no questions asked. We had all the willing test subjects we could ask for, along with a huge population of people that nobody would really miss, the scientist's dream of completely random sample spread across ethnicity, gender, economic class, and even species.

“And we did things, Jane—TERRIBLE things.

“It was the Barrier, what I thought was supposed to be just a simple security measure until the Villains could be rehabilitated and re-released back into society.

“It was the fact that we broke the laws of nature and reality, bringing those Villains back from wherever they had ended up and here, what experiments we had to do to prove the concept let alone a completely successful result, and the horrific failures from our attempts.

“It was all the theories, the methods, and the experiments we lifted from overlord’s spellbooks, old tomes bound with mysterious leather, ancient scrolls sealed away in tombs and deep within caves.

“We should have known better. We knew what dark magic could do to mere mortals and even immortal Fae. Genie wasn’t kidding when he said raising the dead was a messy business.

“But we were arrogant, thought ourselves incorruptible, and that was our downfall.”

“What happened?” Jane asked. “Did Evi—uh, morally questionable people get past the vetting process?”

Adrien shook his head and chuckled sadly. “No. We were all good people. But you’ve no idea what happens to even the best of folks when you give them the power to play god, or worse yet, when you make them think that they are ones, like with that arrogant, pompous fool, Beast.

“We all saw the problems, the horrors, the disasters waiting to happen with what we had wrought.

“I’ll admit I wasn’t one of the first who sensed that something was wrong, but as soon as my eyes were opened, I was flooding those communication channels about emergency shut downs, regulation, and more Royal Guards with the others.

“But he refused to believe that things would ever get that bad. Too focused on building his brand new legacy. Too drunk with the idea of all the praise and the love he would receive for authorizing and spearheading these new techniques, spells, and inventions.

“Then Belle, bless her, managed to convince that bone-headed jackass to come down to the facilities and see what we were working on, and bring all the other monarchs with him, see what we were doing with all that gold from their treasuries and supplies from their kingdoms.”

Jane frowned, sensed the unease, the horror, the disgust welling up inside her father. “… What happened…?”

Adrien sighed, and hung his head. “It was the End of that glorious Era, and the start of that farce you and so many others are forced to live in.

“The Royals sensed something was wrong when on the days leading up to their visits, personnel started to go missing, entire facilities were going radio silent, and there was an aura of gloom and unease gnawing at the pits of our stomachs.

“Then, Beast ordered teams of Guards to open up the locks, force us all to show them everything we were working on—and what they found, what we all found, were things none of us will ever forget.”

Adrien raised his head, his eyes said. “This is why the Magic Ban was really instated, you know.

“It wasn’t any of that bollocks of ‘fairness’ and ‘achieving on your own merits’--it was because they finally realized what magic and science was truly capable of in this new world, when they let it run wild, even in the hands of people who were ‘Good.’

“The Ban was supposed to be temporary, until we could get things under control and bring about better regulations. But like all of his other orders, that tyrant Beast apparently decided it was better if we just swept the whole problem under the rug than mar his shining reputation with the uglier consequences of his actions.

“We protested. We fought. We saw what could be done if you were willing to admit it was there, and convince everyone to roll up their sleeves and get to work cleaning it up.

“However magic and science was abused, this was our lives’ work, and never let it be said that from great horror and tragedy, great things may rise.”

Adrien sighed once more. “I suppose we really shouldn’t have been surprised that he just banished what he could, set fire to the rest, and forced us all into secrecy. That’s what Beast does with his problems, you know: he sweeps them under the rug, or he yells, he bullies, and he threatens until you just grow tired of trying to pull that head of his out from his ass.

“It’s sad, really.

“Our vision was to let anyone have the power and the wonders that were exclusive to the Fae, the Demi-Gods, and the Mages. Erase the hierarchy of mortals being forced to bend to the will of those with power lest they be destroyed. Raise us all to the same plane, so we may all see what new heights we could achieve together.

“We were all supposed to be Stars. Instead, we all turned into slaves.”

It was silent for a long time after that, father and daughter slowly sipping their tea.

Jane put down her cup, opened her mouth, but quickly closed it.

“Something up, Sunshine?” Adrien asked.

Jane debated it for a moment, before she asked, “Do you regret it?”

Adrien chuckled. “No. Strangely enough, I don’t. My work… my work has opened up new horizons, exposed so many to the possibilities they couldn’t have fathomed, like Prometheus stealing the flame of Knowledge to give to man.

“It is an unspeakable tragedy that such potential was wasted and corrupted in such a way by men like Beast… but, I take heart in the fact Alfred Nobel invented TNT, and later started the Nobel Peace Prize.”

He smiled bitterly. “It’s only a matter of time until this farce ends—it always is.”

“Is that what keeps you going??” Jane asked.

Adrien shook his head. “Sunshine, it’s you that keeps me going. When I toil away in my laboratory and immerse myself in research, I do not think about the glory it may give me, the accolades I will receive, the royalties I can earn from patents.

“No, I think of myself as one scientist among many, slowly, gradually helping expand the knowledge of all of us, creating a better world for ourselves and for all future generations to live in.”

He started tearing up. “Jane, my Sunshine, my only Sunshine… Auradon was for you. And I am so, so sorry things turned out this way...”

Jane got up off her seat, walked over to him, and hugged him. “It’s okay daddy,” she whispers as she buries her face in his chest. “I forgive you.”

The tears start to flow as Adrien wraps his arms tight around his daughter.

He would never truly find peace, not now, not ever… but that one person forgave him was enough, if only for the moment.

[dankesdarkman]

Fate and Economics: How FSN Is An Economical Commentary By The Spacebattles Forum

You know what’s normal? fate shitposting

You know what’s fun? fate  economics shitposting

The beginning of this madness

Raguna Blade said:

You know, thinking on it, yeah that totally makes sense based on what I know of japanese work culture. Especially when mixed with the targeted audience of the FS/N games (otaku type) who were already on the outside edge of such culture and were totally open to hearing alternate idea's of what to do, it makes a clear amount of sense. Tying with the heroines then, it sort of follows that the various routes demonstrate how things work out for him. Following Saber, who basically embodies the Work your ass into dust ideal set's him up with an impossible goal for happiness. Saber has to Wait Forever, He has to work forever and if they can both keep it up without fucking it all up along the way, Glory GLory forever. Rin though? Rin's got a discrete clear goal. It requires hard work certainly, but it's not the end all be all. You need to work certainly, you need to work hard, the world is utterly vicious and will swallow you up (the clocktower, then, is true society I guess. None of those fake niceties, it's kill or be killed, eat or be eaten, real Chaos Route stuff there.) but there's plenty to do aside from it and happiness can coincide easily enough if you're willing to stick out that hand and work for it. And then yeah, Sakura is a full on rejection of that, and it makes sense that in her route there would be the most shit going horribly wrong is just in general kind of the most painful (as my recollection calls anyway). Shirous not only rejecting the dominant paradigm for work ethic, sorta, but he's doing to be with someone who is kind of coded as handicapped(? Recollections may be failing I apologize). Severe Trauma, violent violent freak outs (or just freak outs in general really), Sakura is a broken girl really. SO He not only rejects the idea that he has to work himself into dust for his ideals, Ideals he still technically has but needs to better consider and come to terms with as I understand it, But he makes use of that titanic drive to do something utterly radical and do what would make him truly happy even if it means rejecting basically the entire culture he's in. So that's neat. And Bludflag Imma need you to stop. I can legitimately go at this all day, but my surface level knowledge of the FS/N series is gonna out me as a clown sooner or later and I kinda need to dodge that. Assuming I haven't run face first into the clowning pie already.

frozenchicken said:

The Economic Simulationism of the Fate Franchise Part 1-Economic Mechanisms Many compliments have been offered to Nasu for the depth of his worldbuilding, but very few discuss the blatant economic commentary hidden within his works. In particular, the Masters and Servants of the 5th Holy Grail War* are each distinct commentaries on various Economic mechanisms and social systems. Mechanisms Spoiler: Large Corporations

The first of these mechanisms is one that is obvious even to those unfamiliar with economic theory. The Archer-class Servant Gilgamesh is a Great and Powerful Hero, stronger than any other in the series. He enacted his deeds long ago, and in addition to the power and wealth this initially brought him, he laid claim to the Gate of Babylon, a Capitalistic Means of Production that grows his strength from the work of others. In this current age he has thus become an unstoppable juggernaught who can throw his weight around anywhere in the Marketplace of Ideas. Obviously, Gilgamesh symbolises the tyrannical strength of a Corporation who has become too large, and managed to gain a Monopoly. Interestingly, we can see that his Villainy is linked to his growth and desire to expand, as he never possessed such horrific goals in pre-modern times, or when people had purposes that suited his goals. Interestingly, we know that Gilgamesh was at his most personable back in Ancient times when his friend Enkidu was present. This a clear commentary on the necessity of competition to cause healthier business structures. Spoiler: Rational Choice vs Behavioural Economics

One of the simplest and most basic Economic theorems-known as 'Rational Choice Theory'-is examined by the character of Medea ('Caster'). Rational Choice Theory is the assumption that all individuals within in an Economy will act within their own best interests, acting in order to maximise their profits and minimise their losses. This behavioural pattern is shown by Medea's first master, Atram Galiast. Atram is a skilled mage, backed by the Magus Association and equipped with a workshop full of human sacrifices that could massively empower Caster's Magic. With his support, she could easily achieve success in the Holy Grail War. She instead elects to kill him, release the sacrifices, and wander around without hope of survival. In this, we see that Nasu has chosen to support the converse theoreom that is Behavioural Economics. This is the psychology-based study of human behaviours that examines why humans embrace irrational behaviours that makes modelling human action in an economic model so difficult. Medea rejects her first master due to hatred of being bound, and yet embraces Souichirou Kuzuki for his kindness, in spite of the the tactical disadvantage his lack of magic brings. This demonstrates both how standard logical predictions of her actions fail, however once we understand her psychology better (such as the fact she would rather embrace temporary happiness with Kuzuki rather than seek the ideal perfection of a Holy Grail Wish), we become better able to understand her decisions. *Fate/Stay Night, Fate/Unlimited Blade Works, et al. ------------------------------------------------------------- AN: There, look at what you've all made me do. You crazy people. Also, I'm neither an Economist nor an expert on Fate lore, so I accept no blame for this being an illogical pile of absolute BS. We all knew that going in. I was planning to write up a section called 'Love Triangles as Symbolism for Competing Economic Social Systems', but it's 3am here, so I won't. I also didn't comment on all that 'Saberface' stuff, but that's because I know practically nothing about the 10 billion variations of Saber. If somebody wants to actually continue this, be my guest. I have no idea what my work ethic will be like in the morning. [Perk Activation: Sloth!] ....Seriously, feel free.

BlueHelix said:

The Symbology Of Saber In Economics (Or: I Really, Really, Hate Things Like Macroeconomics. Yorokobe, TehChron, frozenchicken, and Neroj. Feel free to critique, this is a half-assed attempt in between my analysis of the MotSR world, and developing my own quest idea.) One could put Saber into one of two possibilities: Keynesian economics, and a pure representation of capitalism. Let's begin with the Keynesian aspect. The ideal of Keynes is a planned economy, that "spends against the wind." Okay, let's break it down. This great plan, hatched by Uther Pendragon and Merlin, try to create something amazing, which is a symbol for the planners like those of Keynesian economics. And Keynes, for a large part, works in times of war, which basically is King Arthur's entire reign. The people unite, things go along to rationing and planning. In times of economic downturn, Keynes says to spend more and more, and to go into debt, which is a little similar to how Saber had to drain the resources of a village to go to war. And in times of economic surplus, one raises taxes and then pays those debts off, which shows in the prosperity of Camelot before it fell. In the perfect ideal of Keynes, also known as "Saber Lily," Keynes works perfectly, with it being a utopian ideal that whenever things go wrong, the government will intervene. On the other hand, Hayek in "The Journey To Serfdom," envisions that this so-called planned economy will fail, and sets the ground for the total corruption of Keynes' ideas, which finally takes the form of in terms of TYPE-MOON as the inversion of Saber: Saber Alter. In between the range of Saber Lily to Saber Alter, from Mysterious Heroine X, to Saber Lion, to Nero, would be the variability of how Keynes' ideas actually worked out in the long run. Secondly, one could look at Saber, and at an extension of her, Camelot, through the lens of free-market capitalism. Saber begins at her journey, and has a really successful start: pulling the Sword of Owed Victory, Caliburn, out of the stone. However, this is really the beginning of a bubble, as she can no longer be a normal person, but rather has to be a king, which is exacerbated by how so many people put faith into her (a false representation at that, as they believed for her to be a male, and put a false set of expectations upon Arturia, putting an enormous task that she, and most of her counterparts, were doomed to failure), and put some truly significant investments into a stock that was higher-valued than its true value (such as Guinevere. And look at how that turned out.) For the longest while though, just like the post-World War I American economy, Saber, buoyed by support from so many, managed to get through the countless wars and competition. However, like all bubbles must eventually do, they burst. And the indicator for this was the eventual plateau of Camelot and Merlin (a vital investor/co-founder) leaving for better pastures (woman troubles.) Then came the confrontation by Mordred, who took so many of her knights (investors) away, leading to a civil war (Black Tuesday and the Great Depression.) Which all went to hell, leading to Arturia making a deal with Alaya (a government bailout), which as we all know, generally fails (Hoover, am I right? And really, Roosevelt as well, because it was the Second World War that revived the American Economy), which leads to a major conflict (Holy Grail War=World Wars. You could fit an enormous amount of connections and parallels here, especially how the Fourth is similar the the First World War, and the Fifth is similar to the Second World War) in order to rejuvenate our stocks (Saber) through the major investments and turnarounds (the Wishes), which usually are misused, and we head back to a depression after a peak (Angra Mainyu and the Corrupted Grail.) This continues on ad infinitum, with the hope that things will be better for the individual, similar to the Fate Route (that one quote I forgot where they say something along the lines that one has to seek forever, and the other will have to wait forever. Halp Bludflag), and maybe, it will work out, similar to the Avalon Bonus Episode: "Welcome back, Shirou."

Raguna Blade said:

Hm. Maybe? Although there's another pretty obvious bit in play here. As far as systems go I can't say but well... Ilya represents Old Money. Like Flat out. Her family is wealthy, one of the ancient and old magus families, they're the ones who functionally MADE the grail wars and the systems that everyone has to deal with, or at least has lived through their transitions, and compared to everyone else, they have a flat overwhelming advantage that simply cannot be surmounted by playing the game as it's supposed to be done. If, as the Grail Wars was supposed to be (basically a big ole tournament of heroic spirits fighting each other) went to plan, basically nobody in the running has a chance at victory. Ignoring Girugamesh for a second here, nobody else was remotely in Hercs range. Flat out, his ass SHOULD have won. And had things functioned as intended, had the other players not basically gone out of their way to get around it, he would have smashed them to pieces. Which, well, is actually a lot how it works with old money anyways. When you have the best education, the best tools, the money, the connections, and all that, it takes something coming from out of left field entirely or a variety of smaller systems and groups rising up to actually topple that power. Now of course I don't know the actual status of the Einzburn family's wealth and a quick wiki walk shows me little to say their exact financial standings, but it has been made clear that as of present the head of the family is basically sinking everything they have into making damn sure that they win the grail war. That is, they want to continue to win the system that they created/had a hand in creating for as long as possible and...Well, past acts in the Grail War Series has proven them to be kind of breaking down. Their attempts to game the system fail spectacularly (See that Whole Avenger thing) and functionally spells their doom down the line as the blow back from basically breaking the system they created keeps coming back to haunt them (Mud of the Grail My guys), while attempts to hire an outside agitator ultimately proves to be damnably effective, in giving the reigns to someone who they do not have perfect control over, it also further destabilizes their control over the system that they are inherently tied to. In fact, let's talk about Mr The Ends Have to Justify The Means for A second, Since he is, in fact, Our Girl Ilya's Old man. At least, as far as it goes with alchemic golemy nonsense. Not quite sure about the blood lines there. But we see him, and Kiritsugu is unquestionably an outsider to the system the Einzburn's have up and running. Oh yes, he is a magus, no doubt, but in the view of this, His family is fallen disgraced and can't claim old money status because well...Dudes poor as shit. Relatively. But the thing is, due to his nature as an outsider, because he's taken the time to grow up outside of the system, to develop and learn things in it, he comes to a very specific view of the world. What it represents in an economic sense isn't important for this here, but the important thing is that because of this, and then later training he acquired in order to pass through the world that he was an outsider of, He was better able to navigate in ways that others in the system simply couldn't conceive of. This of course lead to his ASTOUNDING success at the 4th Grail War, but because again he was fundamentally an outsider, he saw how clearly the system was broken by the time he won and had a choice in the matter. The System can't support itself anylonger, not in the way that it exists presently. It can only be destroyed, and built upon. So what's this to do with Ilya? Well, again, Ilya is Old Money. She has the resources, the connections, the education, the knowledge all that. She can do a tremendous amount. She can, in fact, just about grant the wish of any given person she wishes given those connections. I mean hell, she's literally the Holy Grail. She's literally the system she's built to work within. And as such, compared to the Einzburn Family as a whole, she has unparalleled power to shift control and ultimately destroy the system as she see's fit. And ultimately, in every single route she is dead or dying. Fate See's the system crumble around her, leaving her functionally on life support. Unlimited BLade Works See's the system Kill her itself for it's self (as repped by the glorious golden boy himself), before ultimately self destructing anyway. But Heavens Feel? Well, that's about the only route she has Agency as Grail-chan, and in here we see her, as far as true route's go, Sacrifice herself for Shirou, Underpaid Everyman with Anarchic Leanings. The system is breaking down and dying, and rather than let everything collapse into the rubble and close off any kind of hope for the future (such as it were) she gave a part of herself to those who most wish to abandon what ultimately proved to be a failure of a system, effectively trusting them with the power and resources and such to go forth and create a better tomorrow and all that. Alternatively, It's the Old Money using their powers for good, fostering the growth of a new system that will inevitably replace it down the line, given her existence as a opposite to the Grail that Sakura Represents. Which, Just for the moment, As Black And White Grails, the two play off each other interestingly in that the Matous Are ALSO old money with deep ties to the system. But where Black Grail Sakura could probably be described as Old Money lording it's power around to ill effects, Ilya would essentially be the opposite. Of course, that is a bit beyond what I'm able to play with here.

BlueHelix said:

Okay, first off, someone compile the shitposts about Rin and distill it into something coherent. It is literally that easy, and I'm way too exhausted to do that right now. I think what you're going with here is that Sakura symbolizes those that are under the "capitalist boot" that look to communism as a better alternative, like how Sakura is hot for Shirou. And Shirou is definitely a communist, wanting to save everyone and all that. Actually, the Emiyas could represent the parts of Asia that turned to communism (spits to the side). Norikata Emiya, who went all in towards the pursuit of advancing himself (actually, most hardcore magi) would fit the bad part of free-market capitalism. Such as the big corporations stepping over the people, oil companies and factories polluting the earth, etc., he and ruthless magi represent those who cast others down for their goals of greed and similar actions. And he gets shot by his son after screwing things up royally. Make of that what you will. Now, I'm going to only talk about Natalia, Kiritsugu's sensei, briefly. I'm going to put her as the original capitalists that turned to communism. She has a Russian name, after all. So she represents Russia, who then taught Kiritsugu (other to-be communist states), all she knew (communism/Marxism). And then Kiritsugu has that dream/ideal of being a superhero, to save everyone (haha definitely communism there), which then, after Natalia's death (the reality of a communist state after the "glorious revolution"), turns him into a ruthless machine (Lenin in his first decade or so). However, after taking a job from a third party to win the Fourth Holy Grail War (World War II connection), he meets Irisviel and fathers Illya, significantly mellowing him out (New Economic Policy). At the end, however, the true vision of his dream (the failures of communism: Stalin. Great Leap Forward. Five Year Plans. et al.) is shown to be horrific, which then forces him to cast aside his dream. Then he passes down the ideal of his dream to Shirou. I think basically anyone could make an easy amount of connections between Shirou Emiya and communism. He wants to save the world. He fights against Gilgamesh (the 1% bourgeoisie lording over the poor proletariat), Kirei (the cruel rich finding joy in abusing the poor and others), and Dark Sakura (dark side of capitalism incarnate). He is the "imitation that surpasses the original" (refined "communism" that China, Vietnam, and others have that have outlasted Soviet Russia, the OG communist state, which could technically be Gilgamesh in the sense of being the "original," Natalia on account of being Russian, and Kiritsugu who passed the dream down). He creates an infinite amount of swords with his Reality Marble which then he distributes for the "greater good." And of course: Shirou's inherently self destructive unless something happens to change him. Archer anybody? Edit: I'm done with economic analysis for today. Need to get some rest for the next exams.

Mortifer said:

Okay, okay, how do I sound smart when I know nothing about economics... Uh... Well, the thing about Shinji is that he is, as per canon, actually rather knowledgeable about the theory behind Magecraft, He's just utterly incapable of using it. And his main reason for hating Sakura isn't that she can Magecraft, but that Sakura pitied him for it. He hated that. So, uh... I give up, I don't know economics. Maybe he represents something to do with putting in a lot of effort but not having anything to start with and might be commentary on how being born without advantages is nigh impossible a goal to overcome? I don't know, I don't economics, I should really just shut up before I say something objectively wrong and stupid-sounding. ...Actually, that's never stopped me before. Shinji's backstory friendship with Shirou is symbolic of how those who are disadvantaged in the system may embrace anarchism because the current system isn't working for them, and the two of them stopped being friends when Shirou found out Shinji hit Sakura, which is symbolic of... ...Something... Abusing flaws in a system to progress when the system itself isn't working for them? Criminal activity when legit methods don't work for them I don't know, I'm blanking on how to pretend I know what I'm talking about without getting political and even I refuse to touch the cancer known as politics. Maybe the relationship between Shinji and Sakura can be vaguely considered to be charity? Shinji doesn't care about Sakura, just the benefits he can get from her, but as soon as Shinji starts seeking too much from Sakura she cuts him off. By killing him. Yeah, if I keep following this train of thought I'm going to end up concluding that Sakura's killing Shinji is evidence that capitalism will eventually lead to The Purge so I'm gonna wait until someone else uses something I tossed around here in a way that makes sense and then I'll claim credit.

frozenchicken said:

The Economic Simulationism of the Fate Franchise Part 1-Economic Mechanisms Many compliments have been offered to Nasu for the depth of his worldbuilding, but very few discuss the blatant economic commentary hidden within his works. In particular, the Masters and Servants of the 5th Holy Grail War are each distinct commentaries on various Economic mechanisms and social systems. Mechanisms Spoiler: Large Corporations

The first of these mechanisms is one that is obvious even to those unfamiliar with economic theory. The Archer-class Servant Gilgamesh is a Great and Powerful Hero, stronger than any other in the series. He enacted his deeds long ago, and in addition to the power and wealth this initially brought him, he laid claim to the Gate of Babylon, a Capitalistic Means of Production that grows his strength from the work of others. In this current age he has thus become an unstoppable juggernaught who can throw his weight around anywhere in the Marketplace of Ideas. Obviously, Gilgamesh symbolises the tyrannical strength of a Corporation who has become too large, and managed to gain a Monopoly. Interestingly, we can see that his Villainy is linked to his growth and desire to expand, as he never possessed such horrific goals in pre-modern times, or when people had purposes that suited his goals. Interestingly, we know that Gilgamesh was at his most personable back in Ancient times when his friend Enkidu was present. This a clear commentary on the necessity of competition to cause healthier business structures. Spoiler: Rational Choice vs Behavioural Economics

One of the simplest and most basic Economic theorems-known as 'Rational Choice Theory'-is examined by the character of Medea ('Caster'). Rational Choice Theory is the assumption that all individuals within in an Economy will act within their own best interests, acting in order to maximise their profits and minimise their losses. This behavioural pattern is shown by Medea's first master, Atram Galiast. Atram is a skilled mage, backed by the Magus Association and equipped with a workshop full of human sacrifices that could massively empower Caster's Magic. With his support, she could easily achieve success in the Holy Grail War. She instead elects to kill him, release the sacrifices, and wander around without hope of survival. In this, we see that Nasu has chosen to support the converse theoreom that is Behavioural Economics. This is the psychology-based study of human behaviours that examines why humans embrace irrational behaviours that makes modelling human action in an economic model so difficult. Medea rejects her first master due to hatred of being bound, and yet embraces Souichirou Kuzuki for his kindness, in spite of the the tactical disadvantage his lack of magic brings. This demonstrates both how standard logical predictions of her actions fail, however once we understand her psychology better (such as the fact she would rather embrace temporary happiness with Kuzuki rather than seek the ideal perfection of a Holy Grail Wish), we become better able to understand her decisions. Part 2- Love Triangles as a Symbol of Competing Economic Models Whilst Financial mechanisms can greatly influence the Global Economy, they are all ultimately subordinate to the various social and Economic systems championed by various nations. This is displayed most clearly in the form of the Masters of the Holy Grail War, particularly Shirou and his assorted romantic interests. Spoiler: Advertising and PR is an important part of the Capitalist System

Tohsaka Rin is perhaps the simplest of the Masters to classify, as her connection to the Capitalist Model has many facets. She is an ambitious young Mage, who desires to work hard in the Holy Grail War so as to achieve success. This expresses itself as desire for a Wish, but also a desire to obtain the Wealth her family once had. Indeed, Nasu makes her connection to finance even more obvious by literally using valuable jewels to store and empower her magic. Moreover, her Capitalistic Philosophy is displayed by the way she not only uses her own efforts, but suborns other Economic systems and models into alliance with herself, and as seen in the UBW Route she even purchases The Means of Production (Saber) for herself and rides her accumulating asset-derived wealth to a successful circumstance. It is perhaps easy to think of Rin as having an unkind philosophy, but it is eventually shown that her pragmatic outlook is simply a way of creating a stable platform of success that she can use to enact her desired philanthropies. Spoiler: Anarchism as an Adaptively Symbiotic Social Construct

The character of Shirou began as a blank protagonist in the F/SN visual novel, who progressed into an Amnesiac anime protagonist with many love interests, multiple established 'Routes' of development and the ability to copy the weapons of others. It is therefore no surprise to say he represents a sort of Symbiotic Anarchy, that is extremely flexible, born from rejection of the ideals of previous systems (as represented by The Revolution), and yet willing to ally with other Economic systems that he believes will align well with him. Though his Anarchistic Philosophy is lacking obvious markers of a particular Economic Policy, he does maintain a clear ideological philosophy that represents itself as a rejection of the unphilanthropic mechanisms of the systems of the past, which is also displayed by an initial fondness for the philanthropic basis of Socialism (Sakura). However, as events continue, he finds himself strongly connected to the will of the People (Saber) and eventually comes into a symbiotic alliance with Rin (Anarcho-Capitalism). One of Shirou's best traits is his adaptability, as he later gains the ability to copy the Economic Mechanisms of other systems. However, he must be careful with his development lest he end up as something he despises (as symbolised by Archer). Spoiler: The Pitfalls of an Idealised Philanthropic EconomyTo build on the earlier analysis, the kind-hearted Sakura initially represents Socialism, and the worms within her are a metaphor for how such centralised power attracts corrupt interests who seek to gain control of everything. The routes where Shinji takes over show one vision of how this can end, as a decadent and corrupt Communist governmental system that replaces her, and exploits the efforts of the past, with his extreme incompetence symbolising the degradation of the state until an eventual collapse. Dark Sakura is the other end of the situation, where the self-interested powers seize control of the state mechanisms, maintaining a coherent Facist government at the cost of perverting the kind-natured original designs of the economic system. Spoiler: The Idealised Economy as represented by a Magical Girl

Illya represents the dream of a post-scarcity economy. She is artificial, shares a parent with Anarchism, her unaging youth shows just how far we are away from achieving that dream, and (much like Sakura) her potential as a Grail Vessel shows the hopeful, dream-like nature of their systems and how they are vulnerable to degradation/corruption. Herakles (and his 12 Labours) symbolises the impossible difficulties involved in achieving such a dream, but also the impossible strength of such a system if it were actually achieved. (Continued in the next post, as SB has an Image Limit).

frozenchicken said:

Part 3- Economic Analysis and The People Economic Systems of the Past Spoiler: Rejection of the Old and the Revolutions that followWe can see that Natalia rejects the old systems and turns away from them, but it is Kiritsugu who is the most interesting representation of this aspect, as he is The Revolution. He enlists the help of the Masses (as represented by Saber), and then proceeds to destroy all the existing power structures. His path is bloody and destructive, he fails to achieve his goals and in the end his victory only ends in disillusionment as he destroys the unrealistic hopes presented by the Holy Grail. However, in the wake of his passing, two new philosophies, Shirou (Anarchism) and Illya (Post-Scarcity) come to be. Spoiler: The limitations of Theory when contrasted against Pragmatism

The final aspect of Fate to be analysed is The Holy Grail, which represents the Grand Theories of Economists, with each wish being an idealised end state of various economic models-and the cursed nature shows they all eventually fail to predict how human agency alters events, causing the models to go off-track. Shirou (Anarchism) does not have a specific Wish in mind, but may react in a manner determined by circumstance. Saber has multiple desires, that may include allying herself to other economic systems, seeking a perfect state for capitalism to operate by, or perhaps even rejecting the truth of trickle-down economics and attempting to remove the elitist mechanisms of the capitalist state-as represented by herself. All the manifestations of the Grail that interact with a member of the Matou family seem to end badly for them, and though an ideal state could be found, most have given up hope of that. Special Thanks to Raguna, Blue Helix, Last Sanction and also to Karugus for coming up with that 'Invisible Hand' line. Oh, and also Mortifier whose lengthy contribution ended up...well, it's quality, not quantity that matters, right?

[joelliberati]

Introduction to Alchemical Meditation

Meditation is an age-old human activity that is designed specifically to get beyond the illusions of social falsity and personal ego and contact the essence of Self. It is the art of focusing consciousness by directing your attention inward, without regard to the demands of the external world, in order to move beyond ego and achieve union with your spiritual core. In the Hermetic view, the creation of the universe took place through meditation – the focusing of the mind of God. “All things have come from this One Thing,” says the Emerald Tablet, “through the meditation of One Mind.” The source of that One Mind is the same for everyone, and it can be found in meditation. That is a profound idea. In fact, just saying that people could make contact with the divine through meditation and private prayer was enough for the medieval Church to burn several famous alchemists at the stake.

It should also be noted that alchemistic meditation is different from other forms, because it is often an active instead of a passive discipline. The alchemist’s meditation seeks to actually work with the transcendental powers beyond our everyday world to create something truly new. The object is not always to still the mind; sometimes alchemistic meditation requires us to fill our minds with chaotic and energies images and follow them back to their divine source. Each group of alchemical meditations has specific goals in mind, much the same as the desired results from the corresponding operation in laboratory work.

There are three basic types of alchemistic meditations that correspond to the three magisteriums (or accomplishments) in alchemy. As we learned in Module 1, these are the Lunar, Solar, and Stellar levels. They are the three accomplishments that made Hermes “Thrice Greatest” and correspond to the three levels of reality – the physical, the mental, and the spiritual.

Lunar Meditation is cultivating the stillness and the darkness within to discover the deeper essence we all possess. It is an introverted journey to the underworld of matter and body to seek out the light trapped there that is our essence. During lunar mediations, we plumb the depths of soul in a deeply relaxed state that seeks connection with unconscious or dormant powers. The ultimate goal is to retrieve those sparks of light buried in matter and bring them together in a holistic entity that is greater than the sum of its parts.

Solar Meditation is a more extroverted journey into the realm of light and consciousness. It is soaring with spirit towards the light Above. During solar meditation, we attempt to break the shackles of ego and cultural controls to seek higher consciousness. By exposing the self-deception in our thoughts and using mantras and other “gimmicks” to lull our everyday ego mind into submission, we purify and increase our personal consciousness

Stellar Meditation requires the merging of Lunar and Solar consciousness in the most powerful of all the alchemists’ tools. By retrieving the sparks of light trapped in our bodies and uniting them with the light of consciousness freed from egotistical or societal control, we create a brilliant beacon to the universe. Through stellar meditation, we connect with the source of all spiritual power, far beyond our primitive, anthropomorphic ideas of heaven or hell. During this kind of meditation, we attempt to merge with the One Mind of the universe to take on its Greater Identity. This state requires a truly free and purified consciousness, free of psychological, genetic, and social restraints to our being. The void created by this “death” of our worldly personality is automatically filled by a higher presence that becomes our true guide in alchemical transformation. It is at this level of mind that Hermes speaks directly to us.

The Dragons of Alchemy

The focus of most the alchemists’ meditations, whether they were seeking purification, insight, or spiritual power, all had to do with dragons. Alchemists both East and West believed in dragons, if not in the real sense then certainly as archetypal energies that are part of the very fabric of the universe. In fact, if you do not understand the nature of the Dragon, much of the advanced alchemical wisdom will be beyond your grasp.

In the Grail legends, Merlin takes a young King Arthur into the  dark woods to instruct him in natural magic. But the young man is terrified by the wild sounds, threatening growls, and glowing eyes that hide in the forest. “What are you afraid of?” Merlin says. “Shall I tell you what’s really out there? The Dragon – a beast of such power that if you were to see it whole and all complete in a single glance, it would burn you to cinders. Where is it? It is everywhere; it is everything! Its scales are in the bark of trees. Its roar is heard in the wind. And its forked tongue strikes like lightning. And there is only one thing you can do to survive the Dragon. Be still. Rest in the arms of the Dragon.”

The Dragon is a composite of the features of many animals and represents the chaotic matrix of creation of which the life force is part. Dragons derive their power from the primordial Black Hole from which all things sprung, the One Thing, the formless Tao, the unrelenting chaos of the First Matter. In modern physics, the Dragon is the unknowable quantum foam from which atomic particles are created, the underlying strings of pure, wild energy that become physical reality.

There are three steps in dealing with the dragons of alchemy, and the steps correspond to the Three Phases of alchemy. The first is called “Facing the Dragon,” and it occurs during the Black Phase (Nigredo) of alchemy. This difficult stage is the beginning of true transformation. An old alchemical saying states: Opponere Draconem est prehendere Vitam (“To face the Dragon is to seize life itself.”) Why is it so hard to face the dragon? Because we are afraid to. We want to live in the illusory but comfortable world of personal ego and civilization. The Dragon is the underlying chaos in our bodies, our lives, our culture, and the whole universe. Humans are afraid to face that fact. Individually, the most important step in facing the dragon is to acknowledge the darker side of reality, all the suffering and stupidity that is around us. Our great spiritual leaders, from simple shamans to Buddha and Christ, all began their spiritual journey by realizing how much chaos and suffering there is in the world.

Once you do face the Dragon, there is nothing to do but accept it and try to understand it. In dealing with the Dragon, you must not challenge it directly or it will ruthlessly destroy you. To gain control of the Dragon, you must go to its primal level to surrender yourself, while bringing with you a higher state of consciousness or awareness. So the second step in dealing with the dragons of alchemy is called “Surrendering to the Dragon.” That challenge begins during the White Phase (Albedo). During this stage of purification, we have to not only acknowledge the chaos in the world but also the chaos within ourselves. The Dragon is never all good or all bad; it is just all things in all ways. That means the darkest parts of you, all the habits of thought and body in which you are trapped, are part of the Dragon. And all the best parts too. You have to give into this process in which good and bad, positive and negative, health and sickness, life and death, heaven and earth, are poles of existence. The universe is not just about you or your comfort. There is a greater pattern, and the Dragon is what fulfills it. This idea is often expressed in the symbol of the Ouroborus, the Dragon (or Serpent) eating its own tail. It is also sometimes depicted as two dragons, a lighter colored one on top with wings and a darker colored one on the bottom with feet.

The last step in handling Dragons is the most difficult and dangerous. It is the act of “Unleashing the Dragon” and marks the Red Phase (Rubedo) of alchemy. If you are not pure of spirit and free of ego-fused thoughts and emotions (like greed and ambition or guilt and shame), you will be destroyed by the Dragon and all will be lost. But if you are free of falsity and devoid of ego, there is a chance the Dragon will allow you to transform into something completely new. Oddly, the real trick to unleashing the Dragon is not to confront it but to disappear before it notices you. The idea is not to hide from it, but to become transparent to it, like a completely empty cup waiting to be filled with this tremendous energy, which normally would wipe out any content or “Salt”.

This unleashing of the Dragon into our bodies and the world is the final goal of Great Work. The alchemists wanted to be masters of the life force, and they knew that the life force was carried and protected by dragons. In Taoist alchemy, advanced techniques of Unleashing the Dragon center on the microcosm of the body. Disciplines like Tai Chi and Chi Kung seek to allow the Dragon to live and circulate within us without our interference. To do this, we have to become transparent to the life force, so it moves without resistance or  control. This feeling of energetic “flow” is often experienced by athletes. The same experience occurs on mental and spiritual levels too and is felt as boundless creativity.

Visit The Alchemy Guild, for guided lessons with Master Alchemists where they will elaborate on how the Dragon is the real focus of all the operations of alchemy. They will show how the Dragon reacts to our presence and efforts at each stage, and how to avoid the pitfalls of ego and falsity that bring the fiery Dragon’s breath that will destroy us. No alchemist will ever achieve his or her goals by confronting the Dragon, by trying to slay it or chain it up. The only way is to face the Dragon, surrender to it, and unleashing its power by becoming part of it. If you become invisible to yourself, if you become the purest life force possible, the Dragon will embrace you, for the Dragon is attracted to and protects the pristine energy of the life force and destroys all salted imperfections, including your own ego. As Merlin advised: “Be still. Rest in the arms of the Dragon.”

Sapphire Ball Meditation (goldenageascension.wordpress.com)

Third Eye Kundalini Shaktipat Energy Transfer (goldenageascension.wordpress.com)

All 7 Chakras Shaktipat Tones Set In Alpha Wave – MP3 (goldenageascension.wordpress.com)

On Alchemic Gamesmastering from Elthos RPG (elthosrpg.blogspot.com)

Reduce Pain With Mindfulness Meditation (fitsugar.com)

Benefits of Meditation (counselingatheritage.wordpress.com)

Alchemical Resources (ruscumag.wordpress.com)

New Middle Pillar Meditation (goldenageascension.wordpress.com)