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miirshroom · 2 months ago

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Elden Ring - The Fool's Journey

The Fool of the tarot deck is sometimes interpreted as the protagonist of a story and the procession of the Major Arcana as the steps of this story. The Fool begins with nothing but the ignorant faith to undertake a journey full of hardship and pain, and believe that in the end they will reenter the world with new understanding. But the journey never ends, and so The Fool soon begins another cycle and strives for greater heights of understanding.

Rider-Waite-Smith tarot developed by members of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn

Spoilers ahead from some specific characters from other FromSoft games (Demon's Souls, Dark Souls, Armored Core V).

Prophesy and Storytelling and Fate

Prophesy is a literary device. It's a kind of promise from the author to the reader that there will be a payoff for the planting and the prophesy will come true. So effectively when prophets in-universe are able to know the future it is because they have a direct access to the will of the author. The common form of the prophesy is that it is written vaguely, and retroactively shown to suit the events that actually occurred. The belief of the Fool that they can follow the proscribed steps and achieve mastery of the world is a kind of prophesy.

Elden Ring has the prophet class, and the Prophet insists that the path of the future is already laid out. One method of fortune telling is palmistry which is the reading the lines on a hand to predict a person's future. And the Finger Readers strongly allude to this, as well as Godrick directly acknowledging that palm reading is fashionable in the Capitol in volume 1 of the Road to the Erdtree manga. So the Prophet starts with the Two Finger's Seal and the Two Fingers are associated with fortune telling, and Blaidd - a Shadowbound beast assigned by the Two Fingers - is one of only two characters to ever mention the concept of "cards". Tarot card readings being another practice of fortune telling.

"The wheel of fate has been set into motion. If it's on the cards, I'd be glad to meet again." - Blaidd, after Radahn festival if not in Ranni's service"

"There is no denying it, now. A culling appears to be on the cards. One that won't overlook even an aging soldier as myself..." - Sir Ansbach, upon being repeatedly attacked

However, where these two methods differ is that the state of a person's hand (and thus the reading they would be given) is partly influenced by the features that a person was born with and partly by what the hand has been used for. In fact, the joke in the manga is that by grafting so many arms Godrick has taken the fortunes of others to give himself more to choose from. He has tried to subvert palmistry by defying the fixed path set by the hands he was born with. Grafting was his unsuccessful effort to cheat fate.

"One day, we'll return together. To our home, bathed in rays of gold.... ...Not the fool Omen King. Nor the rank malformed twins. O, we are the Golden Ones. The true and rightful heirs." - cut dialogue from Godrick the Grafted

In comparison, a tarot reading is done by choosing cards at random. But from a literary perspective it would be poor setup and payoff to shape a plot based on a random set of cards. Therefore, assume that they are not random - the Fool's Journey. The most well known tarot deck and interpretation guide (Rider-Waite-Smith) were produced by members of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (a late 19th century secret society focused on spiritual development). It is packed full of alchemical and astrological symbology, as is Elden Ring.

Who are the Greatest Fools of Elden Ring?

According to the cut-content Godrick speech, Morgott is a fool Omen. According to Sir Gideon Ofnir, Godrick is an old fool, and the player appears at first assessment to be an irredeemable fool. Morgott agrees that the Tarnished is a fool with foolish ambitions. Bloody Finger Hunter Yura thinks the player to be a fool for picking a fight with the dragon Agheel. D, Hunter of the Dead calls the player "another fool" for seeking places touched by death, seemingly self-aware of his own foolishness in seeking to weed out deathroot.

Smithing Master Hewg thinks that all Tarnished are fools:

"I see you've noticed the chains. Nothing special. I'm a prisoner, and these are my chains. I'm trapped by the Hold, undying, smithing for you fools. That's all there is to it."

From the DLC: Hornsent calls the player a mongrel blood and a fool (he places importance on blood purity in his own way, not unlike Ansbach), and Ansbach calls himself a fool for underestimating Thiollier (as mentioned before Ansbach believes in the "cards" and is thus bound to them, while Thiollier's themes are external to the Fool's Journey). If the player fails to defeat Bayle, Igon seems to have some dialogue that laments giving his finger and his soul to a fool.

The Stranded Soul at Fort Laidd is hiding from fools and brought the Fire Scorpion Charm with him in the hiding place. The charm contains hearts in a cyclical motif and nearby the fort there is a magma wyrm created by a human consuming the hearts of dragons. The Stranded Soul in Dragonbarrow near the Caelid Divine Tower complains of dryness and begs a fool dragon to surrender its heart to be feasted upon.

Boc wonders if he must be reborn - and seems to have misgivings about his fate after that rebirth - but calls himself a fool for not having the answer to this question. Castellan Jerren calls himself a foolish old warrior, wears armor that resembles a kind of Fool's motley, and calls blacksmith Iji an old fool.

Kenneth Haight has this to say of a fool: "I want you to take back my fort...A Knight commander from Stormveil took it. A fool, and plumb mad to boot. Simply obsessed with blood!" He also remarks on the Player's foolishness for refusing the offer to enter his service after clearing the fort.

The Dungeater mentions fools (and fate!) in his mad rambling:

"Hundreds will be reborn cursed, and they'll bear thousands of cursed children, who'll bear tens of thousands more. A few of those will be born just like me, and they'll kill, and defile, and bless in my stead! The rotten fools. My fate was the grandest, most brilliant of them all!"

One Finger Reader Crone speaks of a fool, but it is ambiguous who is the fool here, the “all-hearing”, or the “big pot”:

"Miquella's favour can be yours. Slaughter, slaughter, slaughter... The all-hearing slaughtered, but alas, it was for naught. But all you need do, is snatch it from the big pot....Pity the poor, poor fool!"

The Demi-Human Queen's Staff is "sneered at by fools in the academy". This does not necessarily mean that everyone at the academy is a fool, but applies to a certain faction. The spell "Glintstone Arc" declares that "fools travel in packs". Animals that may be grouped in packs: dogs, mules, rats, weasels, wolves. The singular mention of "weasel" in the text of the game is Gostoc addressing Godrick. The other animals are more common.

Seluvis speaks of the player's ability to make fools of others - naming Nepheli as being successfully fooled and Ranni as a prospective fool (doesn't work).

Diallos Hoslow is a good case study. He has seven lines of dialogue calling himself a fool - the most of any character. And the animal theming of House Hoslow is that of a ram - which has association with "beginnings" similar to "The Fool", as the warlike Aries is sometimes considered the start of the zodiac. At the least, this astrological zodiac association shows up fairly early in tarot with the 4th Arcana: The Emperor. Observe the storyline of Diallos as understood through the Fool's Journey:

10 Wheel of Fortune - Where we pick up with Diallos he has entered the service of the Round Table Hold. This is a turning point - destiny called him here as it called all Tarnished.

11 Justice - Diallos considers the cause and effect that led to the death of his servant and childhood friend Lanya (and perhaps his Lover, calling back to the 6th Arcana), and decides that he must confront the Recusants to seek Justice. This is also the first instance where Diallos applies the word "fool" to himself.

12 The Hanged Man - Rather than a direct confrontation Diallos finds himself with an opportunity to join the Recusants - originally accepting their offer for the purpose of infiltrating them. Volcano Manor also stands above the Prison Town where likely the Dungeater was hanged. In a reversal of fortune Diallos is soon swayed by the words of Lady Tanith. Interestingly, he describes the decision to pursue becoming a champion of Volcano Manor as thus:

"According to Lady Tanith... I've got the stuff of champions. And champions, ironic as it is, are oft forced walk a tainted a path. It hit me like a bolt from the blue... That my former thoughts were simple naiveté. Of course, my heart weeps for Lanya. That unfortunate incident was a cruel twist of fate indeed. But succumbing to the pain and sadness caused won't make me a champion, will it. Lanya knows this, I'm certain. Fate has laid hard roads for us both."

The "bolt from the blue" is a classic motif of "The Tower", which is 4 cards away from the Hanged Man. The reference to two roads is significant, it will come up again later.

13 Death - Diallos in his previous dialogue claims that "[these hands will] be darkened by grit, once I've set out on the path of champions". And then after the player has completed two missions for Volcano Manor he will say "I haven't achieved anything at all thus far. Even though I've dirtied my hands time and time again." It can be inferred that in the time between Diallos has set out on the path of champions - paralleling your own progress - and killed assassination targets for the Volcano Manor. In the process he experiences a death of his former principles by cutting away that which he believed unnecessary:

"I always resented these hands. Their pale complexion, a far cry from any warrior's."

14 Temperance / 15 The Devil - These also occur in the space before Diallos' next dialogue. Temperance is balance and stability - Diallos falling into the routine of Volcano Manor. The Devil is the ignorance of being in a situation from which one could easily free themselves, but do not even realize that they have been bound to a limited range of experience - Diallos failing to appreciate that there is much more that he could be living for other than dealing out death for a sight unseen benefactor.

16 The Tower - Diallos faces a crisis either when Rykard is slain (by the player who sneaks through the back routes to find Rykard) and the blasphemous core of the Volcano Manor is revealed, or when he is suddenly confronted with the final contract from Volcano manor: Juno Hoslow, Knight of Blood. This crisis shakes him free from the allure of being a Champion for the Volcano Manor.

"It's just as my noble brother says. I'm a complete fool. I can't believe I thought I could become a champion."

17 The Star / 18 The Moon - Diallos finds himself healed by the peace of Jarburg. He is hopeful that his soft hands will finally be good for something in becoming Potentate to the jars. However, Liurnia is also governed by the moon and this peace is an illusion, for the pots themselves are mad/lunatic/crackpot creations that look innocuous on the outside but are internally stuffed with gore.

19 The Sun - Diallos finally has his moment of greatness in defending Jarburg from attack. He is tragically enlightened as to what it means that "the tale of House Hoslow is told in blood" when he meets a bloody end.

20 Judgement - Diallos sheds his ego with and so his soul is freed from his flesh. That flesh will be reborn soon, as the contents of a Warrior Jar.

21 The World - Diallos's worldview was coloured by blood, and so becoming reduced to blood was his fate. A macabre twist on the end of the Fool's Journey, but it was what was called for by Diallos's character arc. And to emphasize that "blood" means more than simply a red liquid, the visual design of Hoslow's Petal Whip is fashioned in a way to evoke the visual of a DNA strand. A person's DNA is indeed something passed down through generations, as indicated in the item description.

Overall, there is significant textual support that the Tarnished in general and the player in specific is seen as a Fool. Dragon-hunters and dragons themselves are considered to be fools. And obsession with blood is a recurring trait of Fools.

Authorial Intent for the Tarot Sequence

As I mentioned previously, prophesies are an expression of the hand of the author on the story. Aside from a few references to "cards" and "fools", there is little enough evidence to be found looking solely within Elden Ring. Rather, the circumstantial evidence extends outside of the game, which is to say, from paying attention to the development history of FromSoftware.

There are coincidentally 22 years between Elden Ring and a FromSoft game called "Eternal Ring" released in 2000, which is long enough for a full cycle from Fool to Fool. One of the antagonists of Armored Core V (2012) pilots an AC unit called "Hanged Man" and with an emblem alluding to the iconography of the Hanged Man tarot card, which is the 12th Arcana. An added detail is that the hanged man is positioned in front of a guillotine - the looming spectre of death by beheading.

And there are a few hints that I've noticed in Dark Souls - such as Havel the Rock drawing inspiration from the Hierophant of 2005 (a priest in keeping with Havel's background as a bishop, and the Hierophant is associated with astrological Taurus matching his bovine leg armor and proximity to the Taurus demon), and of which 2005 was also the Year of the Wood Rooster (Havel being derived from Gallus meaning "rooster" and having a cock's comb on his helmet). Those familiar with Dark Souls may point out that this selectively ignores aspects of Havel's character such as how he carved his own armor out of stone, his hatred for Seath the Scaleless, and reputation as a Dragonslayer who uses a dragon's tooth as a club. Also there is a significant difference between a "Wood Rooster" and rooster carved of stone. But to that I would say: read to the end of the last section about parallels from other fantasy stories that are structured around a "Fool" character.

And if that was all, it could be easy to pick apart the overarching story by looking for the steps of tarot. But the pattern has been growing for 30 years and it is far more complex than that. It is - for example - not my intention today to explain the throughline of the astrological wheel as it applies to all of the Armored Core games in sequence. I do think it important to describe the truly convoluted decision to merge a second Fool's Journey to the first.

A century ending in 0 is one natural start for a Fool's Journey, but so is April 1st - April Fool's Day, which is known in Scotland as "The day of running the cuckoo". There has been one single game that FromSoft has released on an April 1st - Kuon in 2004. And like the 12th Arcana being incorporated in the year 2012, one of the puzzles of Kuon also references the year of its release - the zodiac puzzle is solved by "rooster first - monkey last" with 2004 being the year of the monkey. A cycle ends and is on the precipice of starting a new one, from the perspective that the Fool's story only truly begins upon meeting Arcana #1: the Magician. Also coincidently backtracking a bit to the previous cycle on this track will land "The Tower" arcana on the release year of "Shadow Tower".

Remember back with Diallos where he talked about two roads, and also referenced aesthetic of "The Tower", while playing out the spirit of "The Hanged Man"? Both align in 2016.

So now consider as a case study the significance of the year 2012. The Fool is the Hanged Man and suspended in a moment where the world has been turned upside down. An experience that seems too difficult to endure and the only choice is to let go. With the benefit of hindsight we know now that FromSoft did let go of something in 2012 - mecha games almost entirely disappeared from FromSoft development for 10 years after being a core part of their development for the previous 20 years. 9 of 29 (31%) from 1994-2003, 16 of 31 (52%) from 2004 to 2013, and 1 of 7* (14%) from 2014 to 2023 (*8% if counting DLC’s). The true last mecha game before AC6: Fires of Rubicon was Armored Core V: Verdict Day in 2013, with a name that speaks of finality and released in the year matching the 13th Arcana - Death. And as well as continuing the Fool's Journey the natural next step is to travel into the underworld - and so picks up Dark Souls. Hence the double-entendre subtitle of the Dark Souls Complete Edition directed to both the player and FromSoftware's long-running AC game franchise: Prepare to Die.

In the second Fool's Journey, 2012 is Arcana #8: Strength, following after Arcana #7: The Chariot. These tarot build off each other, as the Artorias of the Abyss expansion built off the base Dark Souls in the consecutive years of 2011 and 2012. Strength is associated with patience and tolerance and with the Fool having the courage to go on despite disillusionment, such as that which occurs in-universe upon learning that Artorias did not defeat Manus, Father of the Abyss, but instead fell to the Abyss. The Chariot is the Fool achieving the will-power to grasp control over the environment and achieve adulthood, as Dark Souls achieved the assertive success that was lacking in Demon's Souls.

Demon's Souls itself was released in 2009, the year of the 5th Arcana: Hierophant in the 2nd tarot journey. The Hierophant represents the beginning of the Fool's education in an organized belief system - identifying with a group and belonging. One might be tempted to think that this was the beginning of a belief in "souls", but that is too narrow focused - a "soul" is "thought" and exists whether it is believed in or not. Rather the contemplation of the nature of thought and personhood is more suited to the first Fool embodying Arcana #9: The Hermit, who looks inwards to search for answers. The Hierophant I find to be better expressed in the gaudy religious figure enthroned in the Tower of Latria - the old monk who brings belief in madness and eldritch entities, and is the first of the King in Yellow references scattered throughout the souls games and Elden Ring. Perhaps the Hermit-fool looks inside and sees a developing cuckoo of the Hierophant-fool, but has not the power to do anything to separate the conflicting parts. There is indeed an acknowledgement of two entities to consider as it is said in the opening titles: "On the first day, man was granted a soul, and with it, clarity. On the second day, upon Earth was planted an irrevocable poison; a soul-devouring Demon." So, there is the man and there is the demon.

Compare Demon's Souls Old Monk with the gilded tree growing behind his head with Shadow of the Erdtree's Midra who has the roots of a tree growing through his skull.

And while it seems unlikely that game development cycles could be contorted to some greater overarching narrative, consider this: how often have FromSoft games shipped "unfinished"? They always seem to set their goals a bit too high, resulting in outcomes like the abandoned 6th archstone in Demon's Souls or the under populated Izalith area in Dark Souls. They cut so much content that it ends up incorporated into massive DLC's like Bloodborne's Old Hunters DLC or Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree. Rather than delay games by a year or so until they can ship "complete", they have seemed more concerned with releasing as close to schedule as possible. The amount of content left unfinished simply does not matter if the overarching narrative was never intended to be completed in a single game. The game developer can't control for dataminers who will scrutinize any unused strings of code and invent in their heads a more "complete" game that could have been, regardless of whether these unused pieces were simply cut in the editing process because they didn't suit the artistic intent.

On the other hand, Elden Ring was delayed by a year from the initially planned release in 2021 and the result: not a single FromSoft game released in the year matching Arcana #21: The World. The final twist of the Fool's Journey was that it simply failed to manifest a world on time. My guess is that a substantial amount of cut content remained unused because it would have been appropriate for a 21-year story concluding in early 2021 (with 2 DLC to follow) and simply didn't suit the restructured 22-year story that released in early 2022. But there has been one last entry for the cuckoo-fool's journey. Shadow of the Erdtree released in 2024, and corresponds to Arcana #20: Judgement.

And notice that again it is specifically Ansbach - a follower of Mohg, Lord of Blood - who most closely applies to Miquella the tarot phrasing associated with the concept of "Judgement" in the Fool's Journey:

"Pure and radiant, he wields love to shrive clean the hearts of men. There is nothing more terrifying"

Ansbach is not wrong - he should be terrified. From the perspective of Miquella-as-god, the Lord of Blood and his followers are the false ego that needs to be overcome in order to manifest as a pure and radiant being. There is no negotiating - it is simply what must be done before moving on to the next step of creating a new World according to Arcana #21.

A person could get forever trapped in the circular logic loop of which happened first: Mohg taking Miquella to bathe in blood or Miquella using Mohg for his goal of becoming a god. Because from a mythic story-telling perspective it is a loop - Miquella is the Golden Dawn and Mohg is the twilight before nightfall - they are two sides of the same spinning coin. Mohg looks at the ruins of his life and is enchanted by the idea of living on through the life of the younger generation, continuing the pureblood dynasty at all costs even to inflicting pain on everyone involved. Miquella is the child who is traumatized by the abuses of the older generation and determined to regain bodily autonomy, yet blinded to the way that the trauma has corrupted his own dream for the future. In time, Miquella would inevitably become a new version of Mohg, unless some outside force intervenes to break the cycle.

The Fool's Journey in Fantasy Novels

As for George RR Martin as writer, I can't say that I know much about what he thinks of tarot. I don't think that the decision was in his hands - as an astute reader may have noticed, I am making a claim that FromSoft has been sculpting their library of games since before even Miyazaki was hired. But I suspect that GRRM is aware of the Fool's Journey, as he has expressed praise for Robin Hobb's Farseer and Tawney Man trilogies (and with an unsourced quote attached to Liveship Traders as well).

“Fantasy as it ought to be written…Robin Hobb's books are diamonds in a sea of zircons” - GRRM book quote for the Farseer trilogy

The influence of the whole Realm of the Elderlings series by Robin Hobb upon Elden Ring should be considered for a lot of reasons. Not only is "The Fool" one of the named characters and a prophet with meta-knowledge of what will happen in the story, but also the series has the following uncannily specific parallels with Elden Ring:

- A metaphor around smithing and Forging, paired with an alchemical metaphor about attaining the status of a Golden Lord before fading/dulling/tarnishing

- A quest to a snowy mountain that unexpectedly ends in being teleported to an ancient city and a place full of stone dragons

- Creatures that made giant cocoons for themselves and slept within them in a secluded city, only to have their cocoons cut open and soft infant forms removed before they could finish metamorphosis. Also the sleeping creatures can project themselves into dreams and there is a major plot point around soaking the cocoons with blood being a form of mental trauma.

- An elaborate homage to Moby Dick that works in themes of the generational cycle of violence (even featuring characters of similar name with Igon and Igrot).

- Protagonist has a close spiritual connection with wolf (counting for Elden Ring that the Raging Wolf set is often used to represent the player in promos).

- Time is a wheel - from Demon's Souls to Elden Ring these games literally embody one of the philosophies outlined in Realm of the Elderlings. The player can try again and again infinitely as long as it takes to correct all mistakes and play perfectly:

"All of history, a great wheel, turning inexorably. Just as seasons come and go, just as the moon moves endlessly through her cycle, so does time. The same wars are fought, the same plagues descend, the same folk, good or evil, rise to power. Humanity is trapped on that wheel, doomed endlessly to repeat the mistakes we have we have already made. Unless someone comes to change it. ...And when an entire cycle passes in which every prophet succeeds, time itself will finally stop. ...For time is the great enslaver of us all. Time that ages us, time that limits us. Think how often you have wished to have more time for something, or wished you could go back a day and do something differently. When humanity is freed of time, old wrongs can be corrected before they are done."

This is where I wanted to point again at Havel the Rock from Dark Souls. In RotE's Liveship Traders trilogy a precious material is discovered in an ancient city in a room called the "Crowned Rooster Chamber" for the sigil carved into the walls. This material is a silvery wood that is as hard as stone and is sawn into boards used to construct the titular "Liveships". Despite being marketed as such by the secretive traders, the "wood" is not wood. It is the cocoon of an infant dragon - a sea serpent - spun from sand and toxic/acidic saliva containing the memories of mature dragons. Harvesting this wood kills the squishy scaleless dragon inside the cocoon, who would normally absorb the material in the process of gaining adult form.

In-universe the source of the Liveship "wood" is a well kept secret for generations where outsiders have no idea that it is made from dragons. Here in the real world there is a certain amount of symmetry in imagining that a book series that Miyazaki or anyone from FromSoft has never even mentioned in interviews could be the inspiration for some of the best kept secrets in the entire library of FromSoftware games.

Final Notes

There are enough pieces of circumstantial evidence that I am confident that the Fool’s Journey is a central concept in Elden Ring. In a way it is the “Golden Order” - the process of taking an insignificant fool and forging them into a higher state of being through a spiritual journey heavily associated with hermeticism/alchemy. From one tarot perspective, Elden Ring is about the life and death and resurrection of Armored Core. Or from another perspective, Elden Ring is about the rise and fall of Dark Souls from the buried groundwork laid by King's Field and Shadow Tower.

However, at the same time the outcomes of the game also point out the pitfalls of the Fool’s Journey. Diallos follows the spirit of the journey...but what he prophesied for himself was a tale told in blood, and blood was how he ended. Diallos couldn't bring himself to confront and overcome the Knight of Blood - represented by his own brother - and dies in obscurity protecting crackpots.

The God form of Miquella in the DLC follows the aesthetic of the journey (banishing doubts and becoming an angelic “good” being, on a path to literally restart the cycle as the base Fool), but an outside observer cannot accept Miquella forcing his charm on others - even if the ultimate goal is to achieve peace - and most likely rejects him. The will of the God Miquella is detached from the reality of the game, where the Tarnished are avatars of real world people who are clueless as to what they are "supposed to do" to play their role in following the tarot fate. The Fool's Journey is just a story framework with nothing inherently intuitive about it - if all of the pop culture keywords are stripped away it becomes unrecognizable unless a person goes digging for it. So instead the player opposes Miquella on the principle that he is an obstacle who can be fought and is placed in the way of seeing end game content.

These two are examples of fools who looked inwards and backwards and reached conclusions that were self-destructive. They reached greater understanding of themselves, but at the same time became detached from the outside world (for Miquella - literally retreating into the dream realm of the cocoon) and have no idea how to apply that understanding towards constructively improving the civilizations around them.

Seluvis tries to make a fool of Ranni and cannot. Ranni’s quest is one that involves actively exploring the most inaccessible and secret places in the game. It's an externalized journey compared to an internalized one like Miquella who retreats into the surreal dreamscape of the cocoon. Ranni is strongly aligned with the intelligence sphere of influence compared to Miquella being aligned with faith. The entire Liurnia area is structured in ways to help a player notice that story is being told literally through landscape elements (in short: try mushroom vision, or climbing up churches). Escape from the wheel of the Fool's Journey is achieved from an active and ongoing effort to understand the systems that intertwine and form the ecosystem of a whole world.

#elden ring #shadow of the erdtree #tarot #media analysis #were the pie charts overkill?#31 years is a reasonable length for long form storytelling except that with video games the oldest entries are nigh inaccessible #the quality of information available relies upon the dedication to digital preservation #it has good synergy with the themes of Robin Hobb's books about how freedom of information and accurate records is a societal good

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bitch-liquorice · 9 months ago

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I recently started reading again (very exciting), but I’m seriously experiencing like a culture shock from the lack of fandom for the books I’m reading. Like I’m so used to consuming media with a big dedicated fan base that’s writing fanfics and making art and not having that is insane bc all I wanna do is dedicate my life to this series and I CAN’T.

#like sure ‘create the things you wanna see’#but I LOVE being a consumer #i need fanart #I need someone to discuss the turn of events that I just read about #usually too there’s at least a few posts I can find #but I can’t find ANYTHING besides booktok reviews #this is abt #the halfling saga #I’m so close to finishing the second book #like I’m having dreams abt this book it’s consuming my life #and I need things to look at !!!!#i can’t do books I need to consume things in a way that is obsessive and unnatural #this is basically just a journal entry #a broken blade #a shadow crown

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the-fox-jawed-witch · 9 months ago

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April 12, 2024

I didn't do a ton of meditation today, but I took a long shower and just kinda let the water cleanse me of some negative emotions. I also cut some of my hair, and possibly after dinner, I will be attempting to bleach it.

I did go to the library and look around, I didn't find anything useful to my craft (thanks Utah!) But I did pick up a book I used to read back in high-school (Alice in Zombieland, might do a book review on that on my main blog or create a new blog just for book and app reviews).

I'm making Keilbasa and potatoes tonight for dinner, a good hardy meal, I think.

#witchblr #original post #Journal/Grimoire/Book of Shadows #TFJW Journal Entry

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bluebellplayinggames · 5 months ago

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THE BOOK OF SHADOWS CALLS MELINOË SHORT AODJSIDJSKCJSKCJDJ

#IM SORRY QUEEN YOU DESERVE BETTER BUT AIDHWIDHSIXHSJDHSJDJDJFJ #about zorephet: she is for the likes of nemesis; not for goddesses of modest proportion #book of shadows once again being so so mean to meli :(#arry plays hades 2 #(there is a bit more to it but jesus christ this book)#okay i may have misled y'all #the actual entry goes on and goes 'silly thought isnt it?' like #okay

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roadkilledretard · 5 months ago

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god i fucking love. this one oc. hes an ancient forest spirit whos fed up with all the supernatural chaos being enacted upon the non magical world, so hes working against the othet supernatural creatures. however, when the humans (the main characters) get upset at him he turns into this petty bitch like "well no, you left so until you rejoin me im gonna be like them. its not like anyone can even find the town right now" like omgggg hes so self motivated <333 when he was human he probably had a crazy addiction to something idk what (probably alc tbh)

#oc posting #I LIKE HI.#his name is the woodsman btw #he usually appears as a shadowy deer skeleton with moss growing on it and a voice that sounds like the wind rustling through the trees #but when hes in different moods/different levels of power his appearance changes #sometimes hes a crazy gorewold #*wolf #sometimes hes just a dude in a flannel and a baseball cap #sometimes hes a sixty foot tall deer shadow with glowing yellow eyes #oh + his actual most common form is just a pair of glowing eyes staring from the bushes #he lives in a cabin in the woods thats always moving around and he gave the mc an enchanted map that will always show where ot #*it is #i liiiikkeeeee him :]]]]] im gonna draw some of his different designs i think #ramble #he lives in this little pos town and sometimes fucks with the residents #all the characters live in that little pos town #fuck i wanna talk about this so bad and turn it into a um #the first “book” is an arg #the secong book is an epistolary of journal entries and logs of spirits the custodians (the mcs) have dealt with #and the third “book” is an indefinitely long collection of short stories #the literal apocalypse happens in the first and second books<3 i love the apocalypse #OKAY shutting up now

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cozy-coven · 8 months ago

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A short reflection on the way Spirit works in undeniable, yet subtle ways…

I see you in flashes.

I see you in the mist.

In great subtlety,

Yet grand spectacle.

Appearing to me,

But too often explained away.

Perhaps what I saw,

What I knew,

What I experienced,

Was actually, You.

@cozy-coven

#my post #my commentary #cozy coven #a lil poem #pagan poem #pagan poetry #a quick poem #journal entry #digital grimoire #digital book of shadows

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cryptidsmagick · 1 month ago

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About Soulbonds...

Intro

So, I thought I might talk about this as it's not really a big part of my practice per se, but it is part of my experience and sometimes pokes into the WitchShit™️.

Most people, when talking about soulbonds, are talking about an intentional connection to, most popularized, a fictional character's soul.

Well, that is not my experience.

People often forget that soulbonding started with... walk-ins. Before it was even called soulbonding and developed its own community, it was predominantly, if not completely, walk-ins.

Okay, I'm going to ask you all not to click away yet. I have absolutely no issue with the modern practice of soulbonds, I just want to explain the origins and my personal experience.

Let me introduce you to something called a Lost Soul.

Lost Souls

A Lost Soul is a soul that, after their original body dies, quite literally becomes lost. They may be incarnated (not reincarnated) into another body, coexisting with the Host Soul and sometimes controlling the body (soul shifting). However, there are cases where they don't coexist and completely replace the Host Soul (soul swapping).

A Lost Soul...is quite frankly a Soulbond.

Some Lost Souls simply wander the realm of the undead, sometimes body-hopping (like a particular pesky soulbond named Astra I had to deal with).

The concept of Lost Souls show up in various things (webtoons, animes, fanfiction, witch communities, plural communities, etc) and it's...hard to pin down the origin. However, doing some research, I did dig up that the terms "soul shift" and "soul swap" (and "walk-ins"!) are used by those who incorporate the Akashic Records into their practice.

The Akashic Records were first coined in the 1800s, but individuals claimed that the records existed in BC. It was officially known as part of Theospy later on in the 1900s.

Here's an article I found on the different types of walk-ins. (I found more but I would...not recommend wasting your time.)

In Shamanism, they were sometimes mentioned as "Free Souls." However, Free Souls may be interpreted slightly differently depending on the tribe and people.

In my research, however, I could not find anything about the origin of the term, "lost soul." Just the occasional usage of it.

We personally, frankly, can barely remember the first time we heard the phrase, but we have run into people with residing souls that resonate with Lost Soul more than Soul Bond which... I found interesting, frankly.

The Differences

Now, here's the thing. So far, while reading this, you might thing, "oh, the difference between modern and historical soulbonding is intention!"

...no.

There's a reason I said most people earlier. Many people start soul-bonding by accident. However, note that the linked resource is an example for fictional characters, which once again are in the majority for soulbonding.

In addition, I can't really call Lost Souls and whatnot "historical" soulbond because of how it apparently still happens in modern day, but I can't call it "traditional" soulbonding either. They're both under the same umbrella though, that's for sure.

Paradoxical, however, the main difference is the intention, just in a different way than you expect. Mainly:

Intentionally creating a character and developing a bond as you do so.

Actively wishing to be/be like a character.

Acting in the writing practice of letting the character "take over" and write their "own story."

Plus similar situations. Meanwhile, with Lost Souls, it's more of:

Not a choice made while you're alive. Those who believe in the Akashic Records might believe that walk-ins/walk-outs might be planned before birth, but not during life. They might also believe a soul swap might occur when you lose with will to live, but that's more of dying spiritually rather than choosing to.

Some other differences from Soulbonding include:

Can be a fictional character, but more often, people and things you have absolutely no connection to. Sometimes you might have a connection with them in a past life, but it's uncommon.

Has a higher chance of being malicious (or becoming malicious) than soulbonds.

A Lost Soul may sometimes struggle to leave, unlike a Soulbond. But this is not always the case.

Although the Lost Souls may be a predecessor, it's different enough to be its own thing and/or an umbrella. Kind of like how otherkin is the older term and umbrella for therianthropy, but they're considered distinct things (as they have differences).

My Own Experience

As of currently, our residing soulbonds:

Apostasia (not the fictional character)

The Arbiter/Noren/Gale (not the fictional character[s])

Autumn Fae (he refuses to say his name)

Neuvillette (the fictional character)

"The God" (also refuses to say his name)

Soulbonds who frequently hop in:

Astra

Stardust Cookie (the fictional character; humanoid)

Bennette (the fictional character)

Fierce Deity Link (the fictional character)

All of these soulbonds align more accurately with Lost Souls. Apostasia and the Arbiter are both incarnated deities, for example.

The Autumn Fae showed up randomly one day and still hasn't left. He's distinctly his own soul.

Neuvillette comes and goes (which the Arbiter also does), but mostly resides here. We can distinctly sense his sovereign.

All four of those weren't intentional summonings, and the only one we had any connection to was Neuvillette as we were playing the game at the time. Even the Arbiter, who looks similar to a character from childhood, was here before we were even introduced to the character.

Sartdust Cookie visited before he was 1) released to the game and 2) before we were introduced to the game. Same goes for Bennette and Link (and we did not know about Fierce Deity Link until much later). Astra's just a normal guy.

Even if Neuvillette was a normal soulbond, all of the others above didn't have the preexisting connection to be Soulbonds.

Where Are You Getting With This?

Because of the evolution of terms over time, many lost souls are considered to be soulbonds. I personally use the term soulbond because it's easier for people to understand. But there is a history to this all and I wanted to share it. As mentioned at start, I don't have a problem with modern practice. The point of this isn't to bash on modern soulbonding or claim it's "appropriated" or anything similar—previous practices aren't superior, and both are valid.

The point of this is to share information and my own experience for others to learn from them.

#book of shadows entry #book of shadows #soulbonds #lost souls #lostsoul #soul bonds #soulbonding #soul bonding

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spectersandspells · 2 months ago

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Some of my favourite pages from my grimoire so far <3

#i haven't done much but shh #also I definitely did take a much needed break from my practice #but I'm doing well now !!#and I'm back to doing my grimoire #which is just the basics rn as a refresher to myself and because I want them all in one place that is fun to make & nice to look at :)#ghost's grimoire #witchblr #grimoire entry #book of shadows #book of shadows entry

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digitalgrimoire · 2 years ago

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February 4th

The reason why I have an issue with being kind to others is that I don't love myself enough. How can I have enough love to share when I don't even have enough for myself?

And I do have love to give, I know. But I give it to a lover because it's so much easier to love somebody else than love myself first. It's so much easier to accept his flaws and encourage him to be better than do exactly the same thing for myself.

Is it because I don't think I could be better? Or is it because I haven't made enough space for my flaws? Is it because I refuse to embrace the shadow version of myself and repress it, instead of showing her it's possible to blossom, even in the dark?

My fear of being rejected comes from my rejecting her, over and over again. Rejecting her feelings, rejecting her existence, refusing to see the mess she's done. I don't want to gently hold her hand and show her the way.

I don't want to acknowledge her existence, so she screams at the top of her lungs and knocks her bloody fists against my chest. Her touch pierces holes through my aura. Then she hides and waits for her moment. Because as fiery as she is, she's methodical, she's vengeful and she knows her time will come.

She knows that only when she will ruin beautiful moments for me she will be noticed, she will be seen. So she picks her time accordingly and wreaks havoc in my life. And not even then do I choose to see her - I blame it on everyone else but her, the part of me that I repress.

And that only makes her angrier, more vicious. If this wasn't enough to make her feel seen, then she would have to cause even more damage. And more. When will I finally notice her? When will I finally look her in the eyes and acknowledge her presence?

Is today the day we finally look upon each other? I still don't want to hold her hand, but I can finally see her clearly.

#journal entries #book of shadows

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felassan · 5 months ago

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John Epler in the BioWare Discord (August 7th) -

John: "You can disable/enable helmets for cutscenes or at all times." --- User: "Will we be able to collect codex entries again?" John: "Absolutely. Codex entries are part of the series' DNA - plus, they're really fun to write." --- User: "Are there long curly hair options?" John: "There are!" --- User: "Are sub-classes locked to the faction you’re in?" John: "No. They're themed towards factions, but you can choose a specialization from a separate faction than your own." --- User: "Will subtitles from companions be on screen with their icons lit up like in Inquisition?" John: "Subtitles will appear center-screen and have the speaker name attached. So you'll see who's saying what." --- User: "Regarding the cutscenes findable in the game, will a gallery be available for re-watch?" John: "Not at present, no. Since our cutscenes are (almost all) real-time in-engine, this would be nearly impossible with our tech."

[character limit text break!]

User: "What are the chances for a third World of Thedas volume after The Veilguard's release?" John: "I can't comment on specific plans, but World of Thedas is close to my heart and I'd love to do more in general with our ancillary books and products, once we're able to come up for air from the game." --- User: "Can we edit our race during character creator freely or are we locked in by choosing race first like in inquisition?" John: "Lineage informs a number of options after that choice - you can always go back in CC and change it, but it's the first decision you will make and changing it will reset the following decisions." --- User: "I did have a follow-up on lineage - do the other lineages/races also have background choices the way elves do with city/dalish? CAN we play a qunari raised within the Qun?" John: "So a couple of things, just to be super clear on this. There is no 'city elf/dalish elf' switch (for example) that you can pick in character creator. Each lineage can be each faction, though, and that will provide a baseline for your character you can further refine through role playing. For Elves, as an example - Veil Jumper elves tend to be more 'Dalish' to reflect that background, while Shadow Dragon elves tend to have a background that reflects being an Elf in Minrathous. Other factions have their own nuance. Importantly, those things tend to be more focused on how you relate to that faction, while leaving more general 'Elf' topics as something you have more freedom with. Or, TLDR - while choices at CC define some baselines around your character, we like to give you the opportunity to build your character's background and beliefs through in-game RP. Hopefully all that makes sense." User: "That does, and is right in line with what Corinne said during the Q&A! I was asking whether we would see the same background variety in the non-elven lineages." John: "Yes! Sorry, that's what I was trying to answer - there will be plenty of opportunities to RP who you are/were as the other lineages as well."

[character limit text break!]

User: "are there companions gifts again" John: "Isn't the gift of your presence enough? More seriously, though - you very well might find things in the world that certain companions would appreciate!" --- John: "Rook is generally assumed to be anywhere from late 20s to late 40s, but ultimately we don't give Rook a specific age. You can RP them to be however old you want." --- User: "will conversations be zoomed in like a cutscene type or zoomed out like in DAI?" John: "While we do have some 'lighter' conversations for specific types of content, they use a more traditional over-the-shoulder cinematic camera. I created the simple conversation system in DAI and while it did what we needed it to do, we heard the feedback on the camera loud and clear." --- User: "The darkspawn look fairly different in veilguard. Is ot a simple redisgn like the demons or is it due to them being enhanced by red lyrium?" John: "I'm not going to tell you WHAT it is that's making them look different, since that's a spoiler, but it's more than just a visual redesign." --- John: "Need and inspiration, mostly. We can't bring in every single animal out there, especially since we want the ones we DO put in the game to be at the right level of quality. So we pick the ones that we know make sense in the spaces we're building, and also it's based on what the team wants to do. If someone is incredibly passionate about bringing in a specific creature, it's something we want to give opportunities to pursue wherever possible. As to the general ecology of Thedas - there are absolutely similarities, but it's not 1:1. A world where megafauna still exist as apex predators (dragons) is going to have some pretty significant impact on what else exists." --- User: "does the lighthouse have a kitchen, can we eat and drink? what sort interactables are there at the home base" John: "Not going to get into specifics on interactables, but there is more to do in the Lighthouse than conversations with companions. The Lighthouse does have a kitchen, and your companions acknowledge it/use it both narratively and ambiently. Some maybe better than others." John: "A little more expansion on this - we want the Lighthouse to feel like a 'real space' as much as possible. That means making it a space that makes sense and, eventually, feels like home to you and your team. It also means spending a little extra time on how the companions (and Rook) use and exist in the space. At this point we've made a LOT of personal hub spaces in DA and ME, and we've learned a lot from doing so." --- John: "It wouldn't be a DA game if we didn't have some returning characters. We've shown some of the more obvious ones, and hinted at others, but we want to keep some surprises for launch."

[source: the official BioWare Discord]

#dragon age: the veilguard #dragon age the veilguard spoilers #dragon age: dreadwolf #dragon age 4 #the dread wolf rises #da4 #dragon age #bioware #video games #long post #longpost #mass effect

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