#as opposed to creating it there

[blasphemousclaw]

a closer look at the weapons of Mt. Gelmir

Do you ever get possessed by the uncontrollable urge to catalogue every weapon related to Mt. Gelmir, overanalyze both their visual design and their purpose, and then arrange them in a rough timeline reflecting Mt. Gelmir’s history? Because I do! There might be something wrong with me. Anyway, I ended up grouping the weapons into three main eras: the ancient cult of the great serpent, the Inquisition era under Praetor Rykard, and Rykard’s war of blasphemy against the Erdtree. This analysis became ungodly long, so I’ve put everything under a read more:

CULT OF THE GREAT SERPENT

Long before Rykard took up residence on Mt. Gelmir, the volcano was inhabited by a civilization who worshipped the Great Serpent: they practiced pagan hexes of poison and magma, and offered up blood sacrifices to their Serpent God. The weapons associated with this civilization can be identified by the following characteristics: an association with pagan magic and ritual sacrifice, dull-colored metal or wood material, and serpent imagery.

Serpent God’s Curved Sword

“Curved sword fashioned in the image of an ancient serpent deity and tool of a forgotten religion practiced on Mt. Gelmir. Formerly used to offer up sacrifices, this sword restores HP upon slaying an enemy.”

This weapon helps establish the distinct visual style of the serpent cult, since the cult is specifically referenced in the description.

Serpent Bow and Arrows

“Malformed bow in the shape of a pair of poisonous snakes. Imbues arrows with poison through pagan magic, revealing its true worth when used with poison-infused arrows. Used by assassins known as the Formless Serpents.”

“Arrow carved to resemble a flying snake. Used in tandem with the Serpent Bow. Loyal minions of the Formless Serpents, their fangs are daubed with deadly poison.”

Who are the formless serpents? Who the hell knows. But what tells me that these weapons are from the same era as the serpent cult is both the style and the mention of “pagan magic,” which brings to mind the ancient magma “hexes” that Rykard eventually rediscovered. We find the bow in the Caelid Abandoned Cave, among a hoard of ruined abductor virgins… this seems to be a case of Rykard utilizing the weapons of the serpent cult in tandem with his own modern inventions.

Serpentbone Blade

“Sinister katana modeled after a serpent bone. The densely packed row of spines that jut away from the cutting edge are coated in a lethal poison.”

A quest reward from Tanith, which implies that Volcano Manor has many of these serpent cult weapons stashed away somewhere. This weapon is likely infused with the same poison-imbuing pagan magic as the serpent bow. Notice how the hilt is decorated with coiling serpents in a dull metal color.

Devourer’s Scepter

“Scepter in the shape of a serpent devouring the world. This weapon will one day become the very symbol of the Lord of Blasphemy. A vision of the future briefly seen by Rykard in his final moments before being devoured by the great serpent.”

I believe this weapon was crafted by the serpent cult as a premonition or a prophecy of their god that they had glimpsed, which Rykard himself glimpsed in his final moments. The description says the weapon “will one day become” his symbol, implying that it had existed long before him. We also know that this weapon can’t have been made after Rykard was devoured because, since we know that Tanith was “the only human to remain by his side when he became the serpent of blasphemy,” the only ones who could’ve created the weapon are the man-serpents — and as we’ll later see, the three weapons we know they created have a uniform design that’s entirely different from the Devourer’s Scepter. Lastly, the serpent depicted on the weapon does not have Rykard’s face, while his personal sigil does depict both his and the serpent’s head.

INQUISITION ERA

Now, we skip forward in time to the weapons created under Rykard’s tenure as Praetor, during which he enforced a brutal inquisition involving the imprisonment and torture of people most likely presumed to be heretics (ironically, this inquisition in the name of the Golden Order was itself physically built upon a hotbed of ancient heresy). We can distinguish the newer weapons from the ones of the serpent cult based on a few factors: they were made to be instruments of torture, they are decorated with loopy flourishes, and there should be no serpent imagery — I don’t believe that an Inquisition of the Golden Order would be using weapons decorated with snake imagery due to their society’s view of the serpent as a “traitor to the Erdtree,” especially because the previous heretical denizens of the volcano had been crafting weapons in the serpent’s image.

Inquisitor’s Girandole

“Instrument of torture used on nobles behind the curtain at the Volcano Manor of Mt. Gelmir. Its numerous spikes pierce the flesh, then singe the wounds with flame. The smell of burnt blood induces despair in the victim. A candlestick conceived by a thorough mind.”

Unfortunately, this is really the only example of a purely inquisition-era weapon in the game, but it is immediately noteworthy that there is no snake imagery here whatsoever. The loops and flourishes are consistent with other design work we see throughout Volcano Manor, such as on the mechanized metal bridge:

Ghiza’s Wheel

“Great iron wheel lined with flesh-flaying blades. Device of torture used by Inquisitor Ghiza. As the wheel spins it causes severe pain and blood loss. The design was adopted for use as the iconic weapon wielded by Iron Virgins.”

We know that Ghiza’s Wheel was created as a weapon of the inquisition. The wheel itself is also decorated with a loopy design, but the handle is interestingly covered in golden snakes. However, the description also reads that the design of the wheel was “adopted for use” on the iron virgins: the handle of the wheel matches the gold coiling snakes of the abductor virgins, so I propose that the special handle was added later on, when the iron virgins were likely created as machines of war for Rykard’s blasphemous crusade. Perhaps Ghiza worked on them too, and made adjustments to his wheel’s design himself?

WAR OF BLASPHEMY 

When Rykard declared his treason against the Golden Order and the Erdtree, it’s likely he embraced the serpent as a symbol of his blasphemous intentions. For this reason, I theorize that Rykard only started actively using serpent imagery after his treason, which is also why we don’t see serpent imagery in the architecture and design of Volcano Manor itself. 

Abductor Virgins

Looking at the abductor virgins, we see serpents throughout the design mixed with intricate swirls and flourishes, which in my opinion places their creation after Rykard's treason. We also don’t know for sure if they were created before or after Rykard fed himself to the great serpent, but I’m inclined to believe it was before: The iron maiden is a notorious real-world torture device, so it would make the most sense if Rykard’s own torturers had a hand in its creation, and we know that they had abandoned him after his devouring. It's also possible that they were altered after the fact by the man-serpents, however.

Magma Weapons of the Man-Serpents

After Rykard’s devouring and the subsequent birth of the man-serpents, we have a new subset of weapons that appear — all of these weapons make use of Rykard’s innovations in magma sorcery based on the old hexes of Mt. Gelmir. They are all made of filigreed gold and embedded with glintstone, and are created and wielded by the man-serpents. 

Magma Blade

“Curved sword with a blade fashioned from the lava of Mt. Gelmir. An armament of the man-serpents, impossible for a human to have made.”

This description implies that this trio of magic weapons must have been created by the man-serpents, which makes sense as we know that Tanith was the only human left on the Volcano Manor’s staff. The man-serpents are clearly capable of forging complicated weapons.

Gelmir Glintstone Staff

“Staff with a forked tip, embedded with red glintstones. Enhances lava sorceries. The Man-Serpents of Mt. Gelmir draw from faith in addition to intelligence to enhance the potency of their sorcery.”

Again, this description identifies this as a weapon of the man-serpents, and tells us that they are adept sorcerers who have followed in Rykard’s footsteps. The design references a serpent’s forked tongue.

Magma Whip Candlestick

“This ritual implement is a three pronged candlestick with solid flames formed of the magma of Mt. Gelmir.”

Volcano Manor sure loves its candles!

Man-Serpent’s Shield

“Small copper dome-shaped roundshield carried by the man-serpents of Mt. Gelmir. Said to have been tempered in lava, it boasts great resistance to fire.”

This one isn’t technically a weapon, but it’s still worth examining. Notice the embedded gems and the bright gold snake imagery, consistent with other weapon designs of this era.

CONCLUSION

The art in this game is extremely deliberately designed, and it can tell the story beyond what just the words on the screen say. Many of the specific details are my own conjecture, but I think it’s quite clear that these weapons are consciously designed with similar features in order to place them within the game’s world and history.

[teratomatica]

you always land on all fours

[girlbossvicvega]

ik it was intended primarily for funny show reasons but shassie is just a crazy dichotomy. Guy with commitment issues vs guy who commits too hard. Guy with no dad vs guy with too much dad. Guy with net negative social skills who desperately wants them vs guy with incredible insight into people who hates himself for having it. Guy who’s surly and mean to hide need to be loved vs guy who’s breezy and charming to hide need to be loved

[brainrotcharacters]

"every once in a while I do get a Charles around here" are those the ones who chose Erik?

[feyspeaker]

I feel like the playable companion thing in BG3 was kind of a wasteful gimmick whose writing energy could have been better spent on deepening each companion's connection with Tav/Durge and each other platonically AND romantically (less so). I love BG3 but I think it's sorely lacking that found family thing I love in RPGs.

[denniswithoutmakeup]

“wait what am i smelling?”

“cheese”

“is that made of cheese?”

“YEAH yeah and then i painted the rest with like magic marker”

“chRIst, why did you make a cheese lollipop??? it STINKS”

“f-for my NERVES yeah!”

“it smells horrible??”

“i know”

“OHGOD there’s nothing sexy about cheese, put it away!!!”

“what did you eat???? why am i getting a weird taste???”

“i had cheese!”

“ooHhhhggghh???”

“i wanted to-WELL NOW YOU KNOW HOW IT FEELS!!!??”

“OGHHHH i DON’T WANNA TASTE YOUR CHEESE???”

“WELL I DON’T WANNA TASTE YOUR CHEESE EITHER?????”

[weapologize4theinconvenience]

Something that gets me is how familiar Lister was/w the hologramatic projection suite in thanks for the memories. Like what was he doing in there before that episode ??? The implications man...

[zestyderg]

Donny B doodle

I've been thinking about the idea of Joe/Don learning magic after getting his body stolen and creating most of the brigade's boneysaurs instead of simply finding them.

[xinyuehui]

A greater power than we can contradict Hath thwarted our intents. ⸺ William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, Act 5, Scene 3.

Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In (2024)

[ryllen]

said wolf,

🐺

[mother-giselles-hat]

Me: I should go to bed

My brain: It is time to ruminate on whether the triumphs and defeats, the epic highs and lows of high school football could have fixed Elgar'nan

[cherry-bomb-ships]

I am not just evil. I am extremely evil. I am the most evil of all evil beings. Nothing is more evil!!

Behold, my new temporary header for the month of August!! This was so fun to make, I honestly might do similar ones in the future uwu 💚 Give it a reblog if you like, all reblogs, tags, and comments are seen and appreciated!! 🥺

[petr1kov]

one thing i'm noticing about most cobra kai discussions that i'm seeing online is that many people seem to not have watched the karate kid movies before watching the show -- which, on the one hand, is understandable given that the show does provide enough context to stand on its own (and that many fans are young enough to have missed the original movies), but on the other hand, there will always be some things that you can only really get if you watched the movies.

i, however, dutifully decided to do my karate lore homework before starting the show, so i'm aware of the difference this should make in the experience. like, for instance, the fact that daniel opposed the creation of cobra kai less because of his personal rivalry with johnny and more because an insane coked up millionaire terrorized him and mr miyagi for weeks when he was a teenager and tried to groom him into having a villain arc on karate kid 3, specifically through recreating cobra kai but doing it in 'the right way' and tricking daniel into joining it, all with the goal of corrupting daniel and making him suffer a humiliating defeat in order to bring the dojo back and spread it throughout the country like some saturday morning cartoon villain. an experience which shook daniel up more than having a duel to the death with a karate assassin who tried to kill him and his girlfriend with a knife. so when he sees his old school rival trying to reopen the same dojo, he's not into it lol

[stardust948]

I always felt the problem wasn't Ozai surviving , the problem was the writers using a cheap copout to take Ozai's powers away to avoid the moral dilemma entirely. I think a lot of kill Ozai people could've at least tolerated Aang stalling Ozai's comet time and arresting him since that would mean Aang make a decision but the writers instead chose to machina the problem away. It lowkey feels like the writers didn't know how to get Aang out of the corner they put him in and just used a machina as an escape hatch from answering the question.

I agree. Aang literally slept walked his way to victory which is such a cop out. Especially since the rest of the fight was really good because we see Aang use bending moves that his friends taught him; each one saved his life. (I.E. The rock armor, the wave Aang used to catch himself with, and of course, lightning redirection)

It also doesn't help that we see Monk Gyatso's body surrounded by dead Fire Nation soldiers, heavily implying he killed them. Aang's mentor was willing to kill to protect himself and most likely others (like in the live action Netflix show he was protecting a room full of children).

The victory doesn't feel earn while everything else in the finale got its long-awaited conclusion. That's why they should have introduced the Lion Turtle in season 2 and make energy bending a high-level move that only fully recognized Avatars can do. Then it gives Aang a choice. Keep avoiding his Avatar responsibilities and end the war by killing Ozai. Or put in extra work so he can end the war without compromising his morals.

[sneakyboymerlin]

It’s 2025 and people are still putting posts that absolutely SHIT on rare pairs in favor of their popular ships in the rare pair tags. Keep that shit out of rare pair tags! We don’t care to see you talking about how your ship is better! 🥱

[theresistanceneverquits]

The way that it took me watching a three hour video essay on FF7 and its environmentalism messaging to fully understand the cohesiveness of Sephiroth AND Shinra as antagonists. Because for so long I've been viewing it as having Shinra as the antagonists until Sephiroth shows up, and then suddenly the story has shifted messaging and genres. But NO. It's all related!!

Sephiroth only exists because his creators wanted to revive a species to discover the "Promised Land" with more mako to exploit, to uncover the secrets of revitalizing the Planet to continue to exploit. His entire existence aside from being "Cetra" was a form of capitalistic ventures in itself. Everything that Sephiroth does, it is because of what Shinra hoped to do with him. The way they try to bandaid over the problems Sephiroth causes, the way they further exploit the Planet to try to destroy Meteor to no avail, it is all because of a problem that exists because of THEM.