#Muse: Caim

[a-hell-of-a-time]

@keeperofquestions

Caim heaved a sigh as she was surrounded on all sides. It seemed her continued presence in hell struck a nerve with some of the other houses, who made it their mission to take out the half breed by any means necessary. Unfortunately for them, she would not die so easily.

"I guess we have to do this the hard way," she drawled, talons wrapping around the hilt of her blade.

"Don't say I didn't warn you." With a flash, steel met flesh, and the fight was on.

[gu6chan]

drakengard (2003): inuart's betrayal

[voicelesshatred]

.:OOC「 One more run of the Castle Environs mission and I think I’ll be calm enough to work.

[a-hell-of-a-time]

@darkseraphscorner

At the sound of approaching footsteps, Andrealphus turned from the elevator he was checking to spot an angel approaching.

"Well now; what do we have here?" he asked, his gaze narrowing as a corvid demon landed at his side.

"An enemy, or an ally?" Caim looked the newcomer over, a hand resting on the hilt of her sheathed blade.

"That I do not know, but perhaps they can speak for themselves."

[a-hell-of-a-time]

"Of course; a name is part of your identity, and in the society you are about to step into, identity is important. To be exact, the goal is to have you fit in. Unlike America, where individuality is highly encouraged, Japan is a country where conformity to the majority is paramount. To stand out is bad, but fitting in and becoming a part of the collective whole is important.

It's not unlike being a part of goetian society in some respects, which is especially true for the many written and unwritten etiquette rules that govern the land you're about to inhabit. But we'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

She paused. "Fortunately I have been able to get away with just 'Caim' while in human form, but that will be harder to do with your name.

As I mentioned before: Our society requires you to fit in, and if we cannot pass you off as one of our own, that he exchange student route is the only one available to us. As for what 'exchange student' means: It means that you are a high school or university student from another country who is here to learn about our country. High school and university are institutions that deal with the education of humans.

As for your last question: Youkai disguising themselves as human is vital to our survival. If we cannot blend in among the human majority, we could very well end up injured or dead, or hunted down. While most humans believe us to be nothing more than mythology, there are some who have such a strong hatred of us to the point that they want our heads on a platter.

Furthermore, it is an unwritten rule that we youkai, or any other supernatural being aren't to be walking among mortals in our actual forms. It's like how demons aren't supposed to be on Earth unless summoned, and even then there are strict rules about what demons can and cannot do on Earth. It's why there are many rules that govern the use of grimoires."

Duedphelon wasn't sure what to think about the last part of that stipulation. Of course he had several questions about it. "Does your new homeland require such things? Do you have a new name you go by there? What do you mean by 'exchange student'? Student of what? Why must I be passed off as one? Is disguising yourselves amongst mortals commonplace? Why?"

The fact they had this all planned out told the young goetia that the people Caim knew had done this before- and possibly rather frequently. He waited to see what response he would get.

[multydoodles]

Mythology & Its Connection with IDV

I recently got the time to check Ashes of Memory and was astonished by the number of mythology referenced just in the story mode! As usual, I'll list the connected references instead of delving into the deeper meaning, leaving that to the theorists out there.

First, let's look at the names introduced in the Potion List during Miss DeRoss investigations; Orpheus, Siren Song, Mnemosyne & Hydra are the listed names for each drug alongside their ingredients.

Orpheus is the protagonist of "Orpheus & Eurydice." In the story, the musician travels to the depths of Hell to retrieve his wife, Eurydice, only to fail one of Hades' tests for her freedom. Sirens are human-like creatures with alluring voices. They appear in the Odyssey, where they hunt Odysseus' ship crew before the protagonist saves the ship. Mnemosyne is the goddess of memory and remembrance. She is a member of the Titans and the mother of the muses. The Hydra is a serpentine monster famous for its appearances in the story of Heracles and his Twelve Labors, where it is eventually buried alive by rocks.

Now let's look at the skin/cosmetics available for each member of AOM. (As I can't do all characters in one post, there are too many) Neat-ease hides small references to the character's background in the skins or objects given in each essence.

The following names that shine among the rest are: Phyllis (Entomologist), Pandora (Little Girl) & The Orphan Of Goetia (Prospector.)

The legend of Phyllis recounts the tragic tale of her taking her own life in anguish upon discovering that Demophon, who had been transformed into an almond tree by the gods, would not return to her.

Pandora is mostly famous for opening the jar ( or box, in later renditions of the myth) unleashing the greatest evil of humankind. Leaving only hope as the last thing remaining.

Now, the last one is quite peculiar. The "Goetia" is not from Greek Mythology; instead, it is from Satanism. They're explained in the first of the five sections of the Ars Goetia grimoire, which contains descriptions of the 72 demons that are said to have been summoned by Solomon

Unfortunately, the text never specified which demon the skin references. I hypothesize that it could be Asmodeus, Aim, Caim, or Aamon due to the fire and bird connections.

[gu6chan]

still can't get over this initial concept art of N like what do you mean that's for Pokemon Black and White rated E for Everyone that's literally Caim Drakengard right there

[voicelesshatred]

.:OOC「 Okay, I have a thing for @corditeheart​ and @ardensfides​ to get to and 13 pages left of translating to do. And packing ‘cause I’ll be out of my house from Jan 10 until Jan 31. I’ll still pop up online when I can though. Bed time for now. It’s 5 in the am.

[a-hell-of-a-time]

At the question, Caim took a deep breath. "I...wanted to know if I made the right choice, or if what I've done has doomed myself, my son, and Andre in the long run." She knew that there was no going back to undo what she had done, but Caim still sought some form of closure none the less. She had thought she'd find it here, for she heard that the Duke could see all possible timelines and events. If she could know just where it would all lead, and if her son would be happy in the end, then maybe she could cast out her guilt and shame.

"I just want to know if this path will work out."

Gusion tried to have pity for the poor woman. There were simply those for whom the rigors of Goetia society was ill suited. It demanded strictness of character, expectation, and personal desire. She had been told in no uncertain terms what exile meant. Banishment meant complete removal from the structure of the Ars Goetia. It wasn't just a stripping of titles and a removal from politics. It was to be total and absolute. The fact she was allowed to even come back and present Andrealphus with his bastard at all was a scandal- though so long as there were no attempts to legitimize the child he did not foresee it becoming a problem.

No, that child was going to be a supreme headache for other reasons.

Why Caim arrived and what she wanted was clear before she actually did so. That at much he could prepare for.

But the core of this conversation was to be an emotional one- and that was something Duke Gusion was not capable of seeing with his grimoire. The inner workings of people's minds were a complete unknown to him.

He decided to lead with a question. "What were you hoping to accomplish by coming here?"

Commonly people with regrets wanted to access knowledge of possible other futures or the outcomes to choices they did not make. It was something he could easily do even if he hated it. This commonly made regrets stronger more often than it granted closure. Though it was the only thing he could think of. He hoped he was wrong.

[confessionsofa-roleplayer]

Nothing kills my muse for a thread than a partner not knowing how to yes and…! It's one of, if not the most important rping skill, and if you don't have it the other partner feels like they are carrying the the thread. The number of times I'll post something open-ended for my partners to bounce off of, and they just… don't…!!!! I get get zero elaboration on it (even though they caim they 'perfer to whing it' and 'hate plotting') they'll toss it right back to me to come up with whatever was just proposed or left vauge. Which wasn't the point! This is collaborative! If I wanted to take ff requests, I'd be doing exactly that! Sometimes, I'll be a bit petty and throw the thread back to them with no answers again… push them to come up with something. Every damn time I get nothing. This is a sure-fire way to put your threads with me on the backburber. Please, either learn how to plot or learn how to expand on someone else's writing.

[a-hell-of-a-time]

@hells-greatestdad , @hells-sirenqueen

Once everything had been done according to Lucifer's wishes, and the plans made with Paimon, Andrealphus and Caim made their way to the palace. It was agreed that the royal pair should not be left alone, and since Andrealphus's mansion was in the care of his staff and a never ending blizzard, there was little need to stay.

"Grand Marquis Andrealphus and Former Great President Caim requesting entry and an audience with their Majesties," Andrealphus called, Caim following behind as the pair arrived in the palace foyer.

[copaceticjillybean]

💀 (Andre, Caim, @a-hell-of-a-time)

Send 💀 for a fear my muse has in relation to yours- accepting!

For Andrealphus:

“I’m scared that someday, your loyalty to whatcha were taught you should want will force ya to distance yourself from me. An’ that I’ll jus’ be a footnote in your life, when I long to be so much more. Or worse- that someday all the stress you’re under will crush ya in a way even you can’t fully come back from.”

For Caim:

“I fear that I will drive you away with my neediness- ya got a whole life an’ a growin’ family to take care of, an’ I’m scared I’ll frighten ya off by bein’ overbearin.’ An’ I’m also afraid that, if ya knew how much jealousy I got for what ya have, ya’d want nothin’ to do with me.”

[a-hell-of-a-time]

"Do you have a map with the locations of the elevators?" Knowing where they all were ahead of time would save them in case of a surprise attack.

"I'll double check the evacuation routes and then join you to check the elevators," Caim said, looking to Lucifer first before moving to Andrealphus. "I can move quickly so it shouldn't take too long."

"That's fine," he said, looking back to Lucifer as Caim expanded her wings, taking off in a flash.

"Once the elevators have been attended to, do we remain on standby?"

Upon hearing himself called, Lucifer straightens his stance, willing all the heaviness off his shoulders and from his facial expression, to what extent that is possible.

Lucifer typically wears his emotions on his sleeve, finding it difficult not to. But: he has also had thousands of years to perfect the persona he wears as King. Almost like a mask he wears. (It helps that he typically doesn't need to wear the mask beyond things like official meetings, or public appearances.)

"If evacuation routes are secure, then.... I want you to double check that the elevators are set to be off limits, once we no longer need them. Everyone needs to be on the same page in regards to... well, everything. But that, definitely."

"I want them to be inaccessible by 8 pm on August 7th. Or.... at a moment's notice, if God decides to send us any more baby Purgatory beasts for more 'tests'..."

[toestalucia]

i know ive talked about this a lot on akira but idk how much ive brought it up here ?! the struggles of talking about all my muses across all my blogs (will not change). but ive been thinking about it again, because akira 1) talks more than gran does 2) is more likely to actually speak up about their/your feelings. not to say gran wont address it, but theyll either be very short about it or show it through actions. motivational speeches is reserved for moments when its expected of them (captain stuff in main story, shieldsworn, etc) <-guy who actually does not like being the center of attention

there are times when they get better at it, depending on situation & ppl involved (vyrn&lyria has special rights, even tho there are times when they dont get to know either (no rain no rainbow....)), as the grandcypher & things theyve been through has them learning to rely on others a lot more. in general theyre rly thankful to have lyria around at most times cuz of how easily she feels for others (as someone who gained the life back in her eyes thanks to katalina!), cuz while theyre very often of the same feelings as her, shes a lot quicker at voicing it.

not very related but, gran, as someone who does know how to fight, is instead a lot quicker at stepping in front of others. ofc akira isnt, theyre Normal (even tho theyre always shown doing exactly that anyway if the situation calls for it/the time they ignore a death threat towards them in order to relay important information), but im mentioning it cuz i think a loooooooot about the times theyve jumped off islands/cliffs just to save ppl (alliah, at least 2 times in grimnirs fate eps alone, bnha..........). also constantly think about the yurius event when yurius goes to sacrifice himself and captain & albert are just wtfffff get OUT of there COME BACK HERE and refusing to leave him. caims 5* uncap........ i truly do think a lot about that moment in paradoxroid where no one goes after owen and akira decides to do it themself likeeee.......and akira who stood in front of owens body to protect him from a unicorn,,,,,,(gesture vaugely) something about the things the varied experience about the things they have in common

[gu6chan]

would've loved to have heard caim's wheezing laughter as a 42 year old man tbh........

[laconic-nightmares]

if you have resources on splitting myself (im not sure how it would work? the impetus is a trauma of sorts but it would be a created plurality so idk) then that would be great. For what its worth I do already practice a distinction between the thoughts and 'me' and have used 'you/us/we' to refer to myself for forever?

and yeah, this seems like a bad way to cope but I have few options yk? ill try real therapy for me and esp the thoughtform when im able.

yeah it's difficult to be sure of origin labels when it's complicated like this, but we settled on the origin label of parotraumagenic because, similarly, our first split was due to the trauma of intrusive thoughts but simultaneously 'on purpose', even if we didn't know any names for what we were doing at the time.

as far as the actual creation goes, i don't really know how i did it, i just sorta 'did it' and experienced very subtle switching for about 5 years until i stumbled across the tulpa community. it was there that i created our tulpa, though my intent at the time was to hijack the consciousness that was already there and turn that into a tulpa. it didn't work so well though, but caim in turn used the process of me making our tulpa to give itself a more defined personality so idk, i guess it kind of worked?

also, it's my belief that a lot more people experience at least a form of psuedo plurality than we're aware of as a society. actors and writers have talked about their characters having minds of their own for centuries, and the concept of a muse is also vaguely pluralish. so yes, that distinction you already have is at least a small step towards it. i think it's incredibly common for people with intrusive thoughts to at least do a small version of what we're doing here as a means of coping.

anyway, enough rambling;

this Tulpa Creation Guide (1) appears to be the main guide in use by the tulpa community right now. there is also this giant list of guides (2) to look through

keep in mind that everything here is pretty separated from the rest of the plural community, so there are going to be a lot of different terms and a lot of different ideas as well. i'm a firm believer in picking and choosing what works for you, so don't feel beholden to any ideas presented in those guides that don't vibe with you.

especially don't be too concerned with the idea of making a fully separate consciousness to your own, or their ideas of full possessive switches (hell, you don't even have to have switches at all if you both vibe with that) - i've found their ideas don't fully gel with median systems (3) and that kinda seems to be what you're going for, they also don't always account for differences between polyconscious (4) and monoconscious (5) systems

i also wouldn't really bother with anything related to imposition. it's a cool thing to be able to do in theory, and if you want to get into it that's fine but it's pretty much just intentionally hallucinating your headmate into the real world and it's not necessary nor does it seem very useful for your case specifically

lastly, though there isn't much in the way of intentional creation of headmates, healthy multiplicity (6) has a lot of resources for how to manage being plural in ways that benefit the whole system, and i'd recommend having a look through all of that as well

i have also found a guide for self-directed exposure response prevention (7), which might be a good thing to do along with your new headmate once you're a little more established. i'll also direct you to the tiktok account (8) - along with their first video on the topic - that i discovered this therapy from

i wish you the best of luck and i do genuinely hope that things get better for you soon. thank you for your patience in the delay of getting this to you

plain text links under the cut in case any of them get weird

https://pluralpedia.org/w/Parotraumagenic - parotraumagenic definition

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1feviU9YQ4o773XEDeZHyjKugNoM1hTgA/view - tulpa creation guide

https://www.reddit.com/r/Tulpas/wiki/guides/ - r/tulpa guides list

https://pluralpedia.org/w/Median - median systems definition

https://pluralpedia.org/w/Polyconscious - polyconscious definition

https://pluralpedia.org/w/Monoconscious - monoconscious definition

http://healthymultiplicity.com/ - healthy multiplicity

https://iocdf.org/expert-opinions/expert-opinion-self-directed-erp/ - self-directed exposure response prevention

https://vt.tiktok.com/ZS8xg9u8G/ - ERP tiktok