#but because the concept of power and the lure of it corrupts you!

[tavina-writes]

someone stop me from writing an essay about the themes of LOCH being commonly misunderstood by later works.

okay I guess I get frustrated sometimes because adaptations and also later wuxia goes "well it's okay to want to rule the world and or be the greatest martial arts ever if you're pure of heart!" "possessing the macguffin that ruins lives won't ruin YOUR life if only you were a good enough person!!!" which. explicitly not what LOCH is about.

Like, one of the MAJOR introducing elements of the 9 yin manual is "it's a doomed book because human nature such that it is will never allow something so powerful to exist peacefully in the world! and that's why everyone who comes into contact with it either dies or suffers immense tragedy explicitly because of the book, and like, this is not just.... a... it's not just a "oh that's neat" that's a thing that happens in the plot of the book. Everyone who gets near it or hears it or touches it....dies.

For example: at the first tournament at mt hua, Wang Chongyang beats everyone else there, becomes "the strongest in the world" takes the book and doesn't look at it. He's dead within the next five years, and someone (Ouyang Feng, dw we come back to him) tries to grave rob his casket for the book.

Book then passes to Zhou Botong, Wang Chongyang's younger sworn brother, who is tasked with hiding it. On his way to hiding the book he runs into Huang Yaoshi and Huang Yaoshi's wife, Feng Heng, who are newly married and in love. HYS wants the book, so he and Feng Heng concoct a scheme to get it, tricking ZBT. HYS gets his hands on the second volume of the 9 yin manual, and within the next two years or less: 1) two of his students steal his version of the manual, betray him, and run away 2) his wife, trying to cheer him up, tries to recopy the book and dies of fatigue and exhaustion post the birth of their daughter, Huang Rong. ZBT, meanwhile, because of the book comes back to Peach Blossom Island and gets imprisoned there for the next 15 years by the angry HYS.

Mei Chaofeng and Cheng Xuanfeng, because of stealing the book and running away from Peach Blossom Island, are persecuted by the Jianghu until they make it to Mongolia where MCF is blinded and her husband CXF is killed by the six year old Guo Jing in what can only be surmised as a....weird skill issue accident. Now, MCF carries the book with her for the next ~12 years, until y'know, plot keeps happening and people keep attacking her for the book.

Her copy of the book ends up accidentally with Guo Jing, who, right after learning it gets Suicide Boated by HYS who is also now his father in law. Also on the Suicide Boat are ZBT and Hong Qigong who were only tangentially involved with the book.

Ouyang Feng (told you we'd get back to him), wants the book and uh. lets just say he loses his nephew, gets nearly drowned several times for multiple days in the ocean, and then finally loses his mind. Which, turns him from a nobleman and a respected grandmaster to a crazy person for several decades.

Oh, and as for Guo Jing who is pure of heart and a good person and learned the martial arts in the book? Yeah his reward for having the abilities he does is...defending Xiangyang for the rest of his life. The next like three decades. Yes. He dies there. With the love of his life, 4/5 of their children, their grandchildren, and his teacher.

I don't know about you but that's not a reward that's a curse on his entire family lmao.

[flwrkid14]

Tim Drake’s Unhinged Power Move (ft. Marriage, Ra’s al Ghul, and an Uncomfortable Batfamily)

No one really understood how it started. One moment, Tim Drake was Red Robin—tired, overworked, and fueled by caffeine. The next, he was dropping a bombshell in the middle of a routine debrief:

“Oh, by the way, I married Ra’s al Ghul.”

The room froze.

Dick’s dumbbell hit the floor. Jason choked on his beer. Damian’s sword slipped from his hand. Bruce, staring at Tim like he’d grown a second head, barely managed a strangled, “Tim. What did you do?”

Tim took a sip of his coffee, utterly unfazed. “It’s a power move.”

Jason, wheezing with laughter: “Oh my god. You married Ra’s out of spite? Replacement, I’ve never been prouder.”

Tim smirked. “Something like that.”

-----------

It wasn’t really spite.

Ra’s had been obsessed with him for years. The offers of succession, the constant attempts to lure him to the League—it was never-ending. Tim was tired. Tired of being hunted, tired of the games. So, one day, he called Ra’s’ bluff. If Ra’s wanted him so badly, he’d have to deal with all that came with it. Including Tim’s unrelenting need for control.

Ra’s agreed.

And just like that, Tim Drake became the most terrifying in-law the batfamily had ever seen.

-----------

Talia didn’t know what to think at first.

She’d seen it all before—people manipulated by Ra’s, twisted into tools for his will. But Tim? He didn’t play by those rules. He sat at Ra’s’ desk, sifting through League reports like they were Gotham case files. He didn’t bark orders; he made suggestions. And then, the soup happened.

Talia returned from a mission, bruised and exhausted. Tim, barely looking up from his paperwork, said, “Sit. You’re hurt.”

She scoffed. “I don’t need your pity.”

“It’s not pity. It’s soup.”

Talia stared. “Why?”

Tim shrugged. “You looked like you needed it.”

It became a routine. She’d return from missions, and Tim would be there. Not with judgment. Not with manipulation. Just quiet support. He listened. He offered advice. He treated her like a person, not a pawn.

Somehow, they started having regular bonding time. Shopping trips. Quiet conversations on the balcony. Tim became a person Talia could trust—a concept she hadn’t believed possible.

-----------

Damian was losing his mind.

“Drake!” he hissed, cornering Tim in the Batcave. “You’ve… corrupted my mother!”

Tim raised an eyebrow. “Corrupted? She’s thriving.”

“She smiles at you!”

“I’m very charming.”

Damian’s finger trembled as he pointed. “This makes you… my grandmother.”

Tim smirked. “Respect your elders, grandson.”

“I REFUSE!”

-----------

Bruce was spiraling.

“Tim, this is dangerous.”

“Relax,” Tim replied, sipping his coffee. “I’ve got it under control.”

“You married one of our greatest enemies!”

“Think of it as an undercover op,” Tim said, voice calm and unyielding. “I’m playing the long game.”

Jason, from the sidelines, grinned. “He’s playing 4D chess, and you’re still on checkers.”

-----------

The Real Chaos?

Tim didn’t marry Ra’s to make him happy. Hell no. If anything, it made Tim sick to his stomach knowing Ra’s was smug about it. But if putting up with Ra’s al Ghul meant protecting Talia, stabilizing the League, and giving Damian a family that didn’t break apart at the seams?

He’d endure.

Because Talia was healing. Damian’s mother was smiling. And Ra’s… well, Ra’s thought he’d won.

But the real winner? Tim Drake.

Gotham’s most unhinged vigilante had just become the League of Assassins’ terrifying step-parent. And honestly? It suited him.

-----------

Damian, whispering to Alfred: “I need… therapy.” Alfred: “We all do, Master Damian. We all do.”

[stormsthatrage]

Concept: Time-traveling Shinji, whose consciousness took over his younger body, press-ganging the young captain Urahara Kisuke into visoring the other Visored ahead of schedule.

Because the Visored are pack. They're fraccion. And that means they don't live without each other, damn it. Their bond is sacred, soul-deep, and not a single one of them wouldn't fight tooth-and-nail, wouldn't commit atrocities, to fix its severing.

So Shinji, upon arriving in the past, immediately hits up Kisuke. Shinji, of course, has spent enough time with the younger captain to know exactly how to convince him of the truth of the Aizen-induced apocalypse. (Aizenocalypse? Anyway.) Shinji also knows how to emphasize the increased power that comes from being Visored, and how necessary that type of power is in fighting Sosuke Aizen.

So poor Kisuke, under immense pressure from Shinji, finds himself luring various captains and lieutenants into his lab, one by one, over a period of a few weeks, to corrupt their soul. He feels like he's become some sort of horror story villain.

(Shinji does not tell him that, in the future-that-won't-be, Kisuke was framed for doing exactly what he's currently actually doing.)

As soon as each victim is visored, the fraccion-bond snaps into place with those that have already been visored. After a minor initial freak-out, they each quickly find themselves over the deception, agreeing that it was the right choice.

They also all get vague memories and emotional impressions from their future selves, thanks to the traces their future selves left on Shinji's spiritual energy. This has two effects. First, their control over their hollow powers is instinctual, as they essentially have the experience of their future selves. Second, they have a sudden and deep closeness to each other that is impossible to hide from outsiders.

Imagine. One by one, they go down to Kisuke's lab, and resurface with a personality change and a new and powerful ability to give the heebie-jeebies.

Kisuke is pulling his hair out at how suspicious it looks, and how utterly insane his life has gotten.

Also. All of the Visored seem to hover, and he doesn't know why? Before he violated their souls, they were all at best indifferent to him and at worst subtly hostile, and now suddenly they're all very concerned if he's eaten enough or if he's gotten enough sleep? They take turns bringing him meals and forcing him to go home at the end of the day? Instead of, you know, cursing his very existence?????

(What he doesn't know is this: In the future, he was pack, too, even if he wasn't Visored. He stabilized them, and then he and Yoruichi and Tessai -- who were all so young -- took them in at great personal cost. And then those three spent years looking after the Visored, even when none of the Visored knew control and were all wild and rabid and dangerous.

Of course the Visored hover. Of course they worry. Of course they're slightly possessive of their packmate who has no future-memories and doesn't know he's pack.)

Anyway. Imagine the outsider POV. Imagine Kisuke's slow descent into hysteria as he finds himself playing the role of horror-movie villain. Imagine half the upper echelon of the Gotei 13 hiding the fact that they're part hollow. Imagine...

[yanderes-galore]

A romantic concept of Darth Maul (Star Wars) if you will?

Sure! I think he's a neat (and tragic) character within the universe he's in. Although at the same time... his motivations are rather simple.

Yandere! Darth Maul Concept

Pairing: Romantic

Possible Trigger Warnings: Gender-Neutral Darling, Obsession, Manipulation, Possessive behavior, Violence, Murder, Kidnapping, Isolation, Biting, Marking, Forced relationship.

Maul, like Vader, is another apprentice manipulated by the Sith.

Except his manipulation came first.

From a young age he was fed the seeds of being a Sith due to his fighting prowess.

Nowadays all he really knows is hate.

There's just... so much to hate.

Especially after Kenobi sent him into exile.

Maul, despite having his mind put back together, probably never recovered from his thirteen years of isolation on a trash planet.

Maul is described as obsessive already in canon.

He's this way towards power, revenge, hatred, and rage.

He embodies so many negative emotions due to the Sith who manipulated him.

Using his training, Maul survived death through hate and became ruthless and manipulative.

He's not afraid to use fear to make others obey him.

Although... He is not devoid of care.

Maul is shown to care for his mother and brother(s).

So if he found interest in someone to be his partner, that care is shown even if he's mostly intimidating.

Although, his behavior isn't going to change much just because he cares about you.

Maul is the type of person to murder innocents to lure Jedi out to kill.

Naturally Maul will also want to isolate his obsession.

He feels you're all he needs and you're one of his obsessions.

I can see Maul breaking a Jedi in to corrupt them if he likes them romantically.

It would drive him insane at first as he's supposed to kill Jedi.

But the idea of breaking this specific one in, of corrupting them, making them his...

He'll let that slide.

Other alternatives include you not being Jedi or Sith, probably still Force Sensitive but you haven't chosen a path.

That or you're an adult Sith he found a way to manipulate into listening to him. (Like an apprentice or something after your own master was slain....)

Regardless, as expected of a Sith like him, people will die.

Maul has been shown he's capable of kidnapping if it aids him, and obviously murder is instinct.

That alone makes him terrifying.

But when he takes over Mandalore?

Even worse.

Maul does anything for power... and with that power he plans to make you obey him too.

Maul seems like he'd break you down just to build you back up.

He enjoys obedience, be that willingly or through fear.

The love of a Sith is twisted, especially with Maul.

While Vader has loved once and would seem more "caring" to the one he adores.

Maul has always known being a killing machine.

His love for you would be more rough, maybe primal in a way.

He's possessive, I can see Maul nibbling on his obsession's neck or shoulder to vent that.

Maul doesn't plan to attack you or hurt you physically (much).

It's those around you who are in the most trouble.

Normally, in Maul's culture, the female chooses the male.

However, it's obvious he's playing the rules differently here (especially if you aren't even female or a different race)

You can't choose any other partner if they're dead, right?

Even then I imagine Maul still tries courting you, it's just you... don't have much of a choice but to accept him?

You can barely even speak to others without hearing that signature noise of a saber being activated.

You and his family are what he cares for other than revenge and power.

Although, in Maul's life, he loses his family eventually.

When left with nothing else, Maul becomes even more suffocating.

He hides you away, and as much as he'd rather not, restrains you.

You're the only person he has now, the only one he needs.

To him, you should feel the same way.

He's your partner, your mate, you'll need him as much as he needs you if he isolates you

Maul is a yandere who would force you to need him.

He'll force you to be addicted to him, to give into desire and have him as yours.

Why fight him when he can give you all you want?

He can read you, he can give everything...

Just give in to him...

You're his to corrupt, his to have, his love... and ultimately, his to own.

[entities-of-posts]

Do you have any theories as to how the fears developed? Do you think the split from each other or they all sorta gradually came in?

I think when a new Fear emerges, it pulls from the edge cases of others, coheres the overlaps into something new. I believe the first fear was the End. Back then, it held all others. The Hunt followed as soon as creatures began to evolve minds capable of separating the fear of the Chase from the fear of Death, as a particular danger more pressing than other ends like starvation or accidental injury. Claustrophobia and vertigo are both deep seated instincts; though they wouldn’t be bolstered with philosophy until later, the beginning of the Buried and the Vast would be early. The Dark might have stayed a part of the Hunt for a while longer, or might have split here. The Corruption was probably next, and most likely at the time encompassed the proto-Spiral and Stranger that animal minds couldn’t truly differentiate. I’m sure as soon as social animals began existing, so did the fear of being separated from the pack. Things probably stayed such for a while, until the arrival of sapient minds more effectively separated a lot of specific flavors of fear. As it became possible for your packmates to judge you, the Eye was coalesced from that new overlap of the Lonely and the Hunt. Here would be where I place the separation of the Dark from the Hunt, if it didn’t happen already, because I like balance. As well, the fear of Unusual Behavior previously encompassed by the early Corruption became split between physical sickness, mental sickness, and malicious mimicry. The latter, eventually, would split as well to draw a line between a lure and a more complex manipulation, as our ancestors became capable of such. The fear of destruction would likely separate from the fear of death about when we started to build things, accumulate the fruits of our efforts. Where social creatures begin to wage war, to hurt each other for reasons other than simple subsistence, is where the Slaughter emerges from the Hunt, a new type of violence almost for its own sake. The concept of hatred.

Which leaves us with the state that things were in for thousands of years, until farming slowly reaches such heights of scale and cruelty that the Flesh finally breaks through, picking up scraps of the Slaughter, the Stranger and the Hunt where they don’t quite fit. And a couple centuries later… the Extinction, long felt by those who watched the bisons be decimated and the forests cut down for fields, finally reaching critical mass with blankets of coal and diesel fog over cities and two atomic bombs, begins to claw its way to the light.

But, as an addendum… I don’t believe that the Entities ever were so clear cut as this summary makes it seem before Smirke classed and named them. Names have powers. Belief shapes fear. He didn’t just discover the Fears; in some ways, he gave them shape.

[spider-gem]

if you feel like hearing some silly goofy mobius-mr tesseract thoughts, I have a hc that post-finale mobius might- after a long long time of looking for a way to reach loki- go a bit bonkers with grief (particularly the denial/anger/bargaining stages of grief), he gets a bit morally dubious. over time he steals as many tesseracts as possible, hiding them away in a secret tva office. eventually, surrounded by thousands of stolen tesseracts and out of ideas of how to use them, he has a “WWLD/what would loki do? probably suggest we take a coffee break” moment and puts a bunch tesseracts into the office coffee grinder, making a piping hot cuppa jOH NO. except there’d be a little anticlimactic fake-out after he drinks it (maybe pairs it with some pie) where nothing immediately happens because infinity stones aren’t active inside the tva. but the moment he exits the tva…….

On a more realistic thread, I can imagine mobius somehow absorbing/becoming the space stone à la Princess Kida in Atlantis, and the stone ‘asking’ “where do you want to go?” and mobius ‘telling’ it “outside of space and time, I know a guy” or something. And prying open a tear in time and space to reach Loki.

The idea of missing a friend so deeply and wanting more than anything for them to be ok because you believe they deserve to be with you, helping them to be ok because it’s NOT FAIR -to the point of obsession and corruption, maybe even loss of self… ouch… but if he succeeded, “Time and Space” are always paired together after all (lmao “mobius, king of space”)

Anon, I love your mind! Mobius initially using the Tesseract’s power to find his (boy)friend, but slowly being corrupted by its power… Loki being the King of Time and Mobius being the King of Space… Oh, the possibilities…

The first idea is hilarious (Mobius, sipping the triple shot Tesseract espresso: hmm I probably should’ve done this outside of the TVA…) but I love the second concept! Mobius merging and becoming one with the Tesseract raises many questions of how it would affect him. Does the Tesseract have a mind of its own? Does it influence Mobius’ thoughts? My best guess would be: yes, absolutely.

This raises another question: if/when Mobius reaches Loki, how will Loki react to his friend’s new power? Loki has been lured by the Tesseract before, he’s been where Mobius is now. Will he be shocked seeing what it has done to his friend? Or has he been suffering this whole time, watching the timelines helplessly as the Tesseract has been corrupting his friend’s mind? And ultimately, can Mobius gain control of this new power, or will it control him?

I have to get this idea to Marvel…

In the meantime, I would love to know if there are any fics with this concept! If not, I’ll have to get writing, I suppose…

[lucascecil]

Sixth Doctor - Project: Blue Box

TV Stories

◆ The Twin Dilemma

◆ Attack of the Cybermen

◆ Vengeance on Varos

◆ The Mark of the Rani

◆ The Two Doctors

◆ Timelash

◆ Revelation of the Daleks

◆ The Mysterious Planet

◆ Mindwarp

◆ Terror of the Vervoids

◆ The Ultimate Foe

Audio Stories

- 6th Doctor Adventures

◆ The Ratings War

◆ The Maltese Penguin

◆ Real Time

◆ Her Final Flight

◆ Cryptobiosis

◆ Return of the Krotons

◆ Voyage to Venus

◆ Voyage to the New World

◆ Trial of the Valeyard

◆ The End of the Line

◆ The Red House

◆ Stage Fright

◆ The Brink of Death

◆ The Headless Ones

◆ Like

◆ The Vanity Trap

◆ Conflict Theory

◆ One for All

◆ The Murder of Oliver Akkron

◆ Elevation

◆ The Rotting Deep

◆ The Tides of  the Moon

◆ Maelstrom

◆ The Mindless Ones

◆ Reverse Engineering

◆ Chronomancer

◆ Broadway Belongs to Mel

◆ Purification

◆ Time-Burst

◆ Girl in a Bubble

◆ The Corruptions

◆ The Wrong Side of History

- Main Range

◆ Davros

◆ Year of the Pig

◆ Whispers of Terror

◆ … ish

◆ The Reaping

◆ Memories of a Tyrant

◆ Emissary of the Daleks

◆ Harry Houdini’s War

◆ Plight of the Pimpernel

◆ Recorded Time and Other Stories

◆ 1963: The Space Race

◆ Breaking Bubbles and Other Stories

◆ Blood on Santa’s Claw and Other Stories

◆ The Wormery

◆ I.D./Urgent Calls

◆ Vampire of the Mind

◆ The Acheron Pulse

◆ The Lure of the Nomad

◆ Iron Bright

◆ Hour of the Cybermen

◆ The Hunting Ground

◆ The Marian Conspiracy - ★★★★★

If anyone is unsuse about how good pure historicals can be, check this out. This is a fun adventure but also charged with this sorrow and melancholy of knowing there is no changing the past; a concept a bit weird for a time travel series but still it’s in these situations that Doctor Who leaves me the most breathless. Add that to the impecable chemistry of the Sixth Doctor and Evelyn Smithe and you have one of the best companion introductions ever.

Complete review: here.

◆ The Spectre of Lanyon Moor - ★★☆☆☆

The first time I listened to this release, I left with a bitter taste in my mouth. It was not the worst thing ever, but extremely average. I had a lot more fun in Lanyon Moor this time around, but I am sad to say my opinion didn’t change all that much. There are good things here - the main characters have stellar chemistry, I love the setting and the premise. But it’s a story that don’t leave much of an impression and, even if not bad, is quite forgetful.

Complete review: here.

◆ The Apocalypse Element - ★★★☆☆

I can acknowledge the good things about The Apocalypse Element as a war epic in a huge scale (Daleks vs Time Lords) but it’s not the kind of story I like, specially because I started Doctor Who in 2020. I feel it would be dishonest to call this a tradicional Dalek story, but if we ignore this is the first time this specific conflict was done - it’s still a tale of a bunch of Daleks trying to invade a planet and destroy the whole universe. What gets to me the most is that I’m not necessarily a hater of traditional stories - I love how Lucie Miller/To the Death builds beautifully upon that with a huge character focus on part one and Masters of Earth is an action epic that is delightful to hear -, but this one I just don’t get. The best thing in my opinion is by far the regulars (the Doctor, Evelyn and Romana), which are great and very well characterized. I think average is too harsh, so consider this one of the good stories I like the least.

Complete review: here.

◆ Bloodtide - ★★★★★

An energetic adventure and full of powerful images. Bloodtide is one of the best Silurians stories and a triumph as a historical. Bringing Darwin and them together is a really clever choice that opens a lot of opportunities to work around biology concepts and ideas within the interspecies relationships. This is also a narrative full of wonder - for Galapagos, for its characters, for all this background it wants to tell. And I go head on in wonder with it, it’s a tale that fascinates me. All of that plus one of the best performances for Six and Evelyn and you have one of my favorite releases of the Sixth Doctor.

Complete review: here.

◆ Project: Twilight

◆ The Sandman

◆ Jubilee

◆ Doctor Who and the Pirates

◆ Medicinal Purposes

◆ Pier Pressure

◆ 100

◆ Assassin in the Limelight

◆ Project: Lazarus

◆ Arrangements for War

◆ The Nowhere Place

◆ The Crimes of Thomas Brewster

◆ The Feast of Axos

◆ Industrial Evolution

◆ Thicker Than Water

◆ The Wrong Doctors

◆ The Holy Terror

◆ Last of the Cybermen

◆ The Condemned

◆ The Doomwood Curse

◆ Brotherhood of the Daleks

◆ The Raincloud Man

◆ Patient Zero

◆ Paper Cuts

◆ Blue Forgotten Planet

◆ City of Spires

◆ The Wreck of the Titan

◆ Legend of the Cybermen

◆ The Curse of Davros

◆ The Fourth Wall

◆ Wirnn Isle

◆ Vortex Ice/Cortex Fire

◆ Antidote to Oblivion

◆ The Brood of Erys

◆ Scavenger

◆ The Widow’s Assassin

◆ Masters of Earth

◆ The Rani Elite

◆ Criss-Cross

◆ Planet of the Rani

◆ Shield of the Jotunn

◆ Order of the Daleks

◆ Colony of Fear

◆ Absolute Power

◆ Quicksilver

◆ The Behemoth

◆ The Middle

◆ Static

◆ Cry of the Vultriss

◆ Scorched Earth

◆ The Lovecraft Invasion

◆ The End of the Beginning

◆ The One Doctor

◆ The Juggernauts

◆ Catch-1782

◆ The Wishing Beast/The Vanity Box

◆ Spaceport Fear

◆ The Seeds of War

- Classic Doctors, New Monsters

◆ Judoon in Chains

◆ The Carrionite Curse

◆ Together in Electric Dreams

- The Companion Chronicles & Peladon & Stageplays

◆ Peri and the Piscon Paradox

◆ A Town Called Fortune - ★★★☆☆

◆ Night’s Black Agents

◆ The Ultimate Adventure

◆ Beyond the Ultimate Adventure

◆ The Death of Peladon

- The Lost Stories

◆ The Nightmare Fair

◆ Mission to Magnus

◆ Leviathan

◆ The Hollows of Time

◆ Paradise 5

◆ Point of Entry

◆ The Song of Megaptera

◆ The Macra

◆ The Guardians of Prophecy

◆ Power Play

◆ The First Sontarans

◆ The Ultimate Evil

◆ Mind of the Hodiac

- Short Trips

◆ Not Forgotten

◆ The Shadow of Serenity

◆ Primer Winner

◆ Murmurs of Earth

◆ The Authentic Experience

◆ Under ODIN’s Eye

◆ To Cut a Blade of Glass

◆ The Doctor’s Coat

◆ Mission Improbable

◆ These Stolen Hours

◆ The Darkened Earth

◆ The Wings of a Butterfly

◆ Intuition

◆ Mel-evolent

◆ Loud and Proud

Books

◆ State of Change

◆ Time of Your Life

◆ Millenial Rites

◆ Killing Groung

◆ Burning Heart

◆ Business Unusual

◆ Mission: Improbable

◆ Players

◆ Grave Matter

◆ The Quantum Archangel

◆ The Shadow in the Glass

◆ Instruments of Darkness

◆ Place of the Red Sun

◆ Blue Box

◆ Synthespians TM

◆ Spiral Scratch

[buggie-hagen]

Sermon for Christ the King (11/26/23)

Primary Text | Ephesians 1:15-23

----------------------------------------------------------

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

          The kingdoms of the world are defined by things like geographical territory, the exercise of authority and power, and a people who belong to such a kingdom. Today we tend to call them countries rather than kingdoms, and we don’t really have kings. Though some of us Americans have a fascination with people like the King of England and his late mother, the Queen of England. King Charles is himself a weaker form of a monarch than what we find in history. Though there are still some places throughout the world where kings and queens are a primary political figure. In the US we don’t call the leaders kings, clearly. There was a whole Revolutionary War about that. We have presidents, governors, and other elected officials that hold the political power. Elected officials are, at least in theory, supposed to represent the people who vote for them. But as with anything a human being touches, self-interest, wealth, and the lure of more wealth tend to corrupt the way things should be. Government, as an established order of God, is supposed to be one of his good gifts—operating in the world as God’s left arm. When it operates as intended it makes sure everyone lives in peace, that there is enough bread for everyone to eat, and it seeks to prevent and punish any evil that may arise within society. Because you and I are sitting here today safely with relative peace in our land and hopefully a full belly—we know this function of government is more-or-less accomplished—even while at the same time we can acknowledge the heaping swaths of corruption and injustice that nevertheless exist. Though the US is not a kingdom under a monarch as traditionally understood it still operates as a kingdom because it has a geographical territory, it exercises authority and power, and it has a people who belong to it. And even though we be red-blooded Americans, I suspect kings and queens remain common in the stories we teach our children and in the media that entertains us. So a king is not an unknown concept to us.

On this day we call Christ the King. That implies he has a kingdom. Though the kingdom of Christ is different than all other kingdoms on earth. It is a spiritual kingdom. That means a kingdom that is not found with eyes. It is not the sort of kingdom where we could say, “See! This building is the kingdom of Christ!” or “See! This ethnic group is the kingdom of Christ!” or “See! The people who dress this way are the kingdom of Christ!” You couldn’t go to Germany and be like, “Here. Germany is one and the same as Christ’s kingdom.” The territory of Christ’s kingdom has no land boundaries. It is not beholden to a certain ethnicity. Instead, his kingdom is in diverse, little pockets throughout the world. The kingdom of Christ has for its citizens some each of Ukrainians, Russians, Brazilians, Ethiopians, Indonesians, Israelis, Palestinians, and yes, even some Americans. Christ’s kingdom is a spiritual kingdom because it is found in the heart. A particular kind of heart though. Not the heart of a holy, righteous, pure, ideal or an astoundingly moral person. Such self-made saints he sends away. So let us not come to God with presumption of our own goodness. Christ admits into his kingdom only what we would call a “broken and contrite heart. Such a heart God will not despise” (Ps. 51:17). Therefore, Christ’s kingdom is filled with real-not-pretend sinners…rot-gut sinners who at the same time know their need for a savior and in him have a real-not-pretend-forgiveness. Luther says: “Thus only those sinners belong in the kingdom of Christ who recognize their sin, feel it, and then catch hold of the Word of Christ spoken here: “I do not condemn you.” (pause) The citizens of Christ’s kingdom are those whom God has spoken into the ears Christ’s own words of “I do not condemn you.” This is called gospel-speaking. Gospel-speaking happens in Christ’s spiritual kingdom known as the body of Christ. Which, the body of Christ has another name—the Church. The church, which is not only “the body of Christ” but is “the fullness of him who fills all in all” (Eph. 1:23). So God is in the church fully and without remainder. Which means the church is not similar to a voluntary human organization like a pickleball club or a philanthropic society. The church is a necessary, divine institution designated so by God. Which God gathers to himself whenever the gospel is given in his holy word and his sacraments. (slight pause) The church of Jesus Christ is put together by God through the gospel. Which means the kingdom of Christ is put together through the oral word (the “oral word” which we otherwise know as a sermon). God creates the church as well through communion and through baptism—which are little sermons in the water and in the bread and the wine. In these lowly, and by appearance, insignificant things and people God builds the kingdom for his Son. In his oral word he makes known the immeasurable power of God for us who believe. The very same power that raised Christ from the dead is what makes living people out of dead people. The same power that gives us hope in this dark age.

The Kingdom of Christ is different from the kingdoms of the world because it has something the world does not believe in: forgiveness. This kingdom Christ is defined by forgiveness. Luther gives us a key to the proper understanding of Christ the King. It is simply Christ the King speaking to lowly sinners like you and me, saying: “This is the slogan of my kingdom. I forgive your sin; for in My kingdom no one is without forgiveness of sins. Therefore, you too, must have forgiveness.” (pause) It is precisely this power of the forgiveness promised in the crucified and risen Lord and King Jesus Christ that raises people like you and me from the dead. Christ becomes your King with these words: I forgive you all your sins. I do not condemn you. And now, Christ is your hope—a hope that cannot be undone. This is God’s great and immeasurable power first in Christ’s resurrection, and now begun in you in your hearing of the word. Christ is not just any king. He is your King. Through this word you have heard, you are made alive together in Christ. By grace you have been rescued. Amen.

[gatheringbones]

["The phrases plumbing the depths and reaching new lows occur frequently in conversations about the far-right, but where transphobia is concerned, the truly remarkable thing is not the depths to which believers sink, but rather that the movement has struggled, for all its malicious creativity, to produce anything more depraved than the material that is already available in respected newspapers, on surface-web social media platforms, and in the Gender Studies sections of high street bookshops. Just think of all the absurd fabrications we have encountered in these pages— children are being corrupted and cajoled by a manufactured 'social contagion' so as to expand the trans population; trans people are trying to silence their critics— most of all, women— because they are really patriarchal shock-troopers sent in to break feminist resistance; trans women perform 'total rape' by simply existing in women's spaces; trans women are forcing cis lesbians to sleep with them; trans people are trying to destroy the very concepts of reality and truth; trans identity is a disguised form of ancient mysticism, and on we go, deeper down the dank rabbit hole.

Leading trans historian Jules Gill-Peterson has described what she calls the 'laundering' of transphobic conspiracy theories for mainstream consumption, but I would note that, very often, transphobic lies do not begin life in the far-right or similar alcoves of hate and then find their way outwards, but rather originate in mainstream discourses and then find their most violent expression in the far-right. Case in point, by the time Q-Anon's morbid fascination with trans people began to pick up in 2019, the bottom of the barrell had been well and truly scraped clean by well-connected anti-trans feminist and Christian commentators in Britain and the United States, and the Uvalde and Highland Park lies were not far removed from the lies put forth by the likes of Janice Raymond and the Christian Institute. The characterisation of trans women as 'total' rapists, to use Raymond's words, is but one particularly ugly example. As Shion Faye writes:

The image of the trans women as a living, breathing act of rape is a potent and persistent trope in the transphobic discourses of both right-wing men and anti-trans feminists: both groups are capable of providing cover for the other to perpetuate it. If transition itself is rape, so this argument goes, then the trans women is already guilty by the mere fact of her existence and can expect to be punished.

The casual association of trans people with abhorrent crimes that carry hefty sentences under the law does not stop there. J.K. Rowling's 2020 novel Troubled Blood features a male murderer who wears women's clothing in order to lure his female victims— a classic example of the 'trans predator' archetype, very popular in Britain's tabloids at present. This was, she insists, based on real cases and not a deliberate attempt to smear trans people, although even were this true, the implications carried by such a narrative in the current discursive climate cannot possibly be lost on Rowling, who chose to write it anyway. In the 2022 follow-up, Ink Black Heart, a woman is harassed by trans activists and then murdered after she expresses transphobic opinions online, thus actualising, in the most inelegantly on-the-nose fashion imaginable, trans people's supposed fantasies of an Orwellian suppression of wrong-think. If this agonisingly implicatory train of thought— the narrative that there exists an unpopular, insular minority that possesses a counter-intuitive and wholly disproportionate vice-grip on the levers of media and state power, which it uses to attack, murder, and imprison nay-sayers— gives you deja vu, there's a good reason: Transphobic imaginations never stray far from standard antisemitic models for conspiratorial hypothesis. What's new is old.

Much as these parties might protest that all they are doing is voicing legitimate concerns about rapid societal change, there are only so many logical conclusions to be drawn from their portrayal of trans people as paedophilic, raping, murdering, child-indoctrinating, grooming, anti-democratic, self-obsessed, God-killing, truth-bending, science-denying heretics— and none of those conclusions are conducive to peaceful coexistence. With so abhorrent a statement of faith, political transphobia habitually teeters on the edges of stochastic terrorism: mass character assassination with the (sometimes subconcious) intent to encourage others— those with less to lose than established politicians, authors, journalists, academics and pundits— to resort to violence. The messaging is underhanded enough to preserve some plausible deniability, but specific enough to impart a clear call to action that runs something like this: 'Look around and see what's happening. Women are in danger. Children are in danger. Traditions are being destroyed. Western [White/Christian] civilisation is being weakened [feminised/secularised/postmodernised] from within. Now what are you going to do about it?']

rebecca jane morgan, from gender heretics: evangelicals, feminists, and the alliance against trans liberation, 2023

[thefirstknife]

I'm in a desperate NEED for help cause I've recently developed an inconmensurable attachment for my boy Shin Malphur but I do not have A Single Clue regarding wHeRe to start reading about him! So if you'd recommend me some lore tabs I'd be more than grateful. It's completely understandable if for any reason you don't want to / can't, though. Drink your water and live your life!

Shin Malphur 👀 I like him :) There's also A LOT of lore about him, especially for someone who never appeared in the game.

First the most important is the lore about Dredgen Yor and Jaren Ward because that's what makes Shin. Dredgen Yor was the infamous Guardian turned Guardian-killer wielding the Light-consuming weapon of sorrow, Thorn. He was being hunted by Jaren Ward, a Hunter, who wanted to put an end to Yor's killing spree. In his hunt, Jaren found a young boy, Shin, and took him under his wing.

How Rezyl Azzir turned into Dredgen Yor: 1, 2, 3 Rise of Dredgen Yor: 1, 2, 3

When Jaren lost his duel to Dredgen Yor, Jaren's Ghost gave the Light to Shin, as well as giving him Jaren's signature weapon, The Last Word and then Shin continued the hunt for Yor.

About Shin's childhood, Jaren and Yor's defeat: 1, 2, 3, 4 Jaren's message to Shin attached to The Last Word

Shin ended up defeating Yor, but his hunt for rogue Guardians wasn't over. He founded the Shadows of Yor under a disguise to lure corrupt, rogue and overall bad Guardians to follow him so he can monitor them and kill them if he has to.

He also teamed up with the Drifter (who was a member of the Shadows of Yor for a while until he decided it wasn't for him) to create Gambit. Why? Well, at first, Shin was monitoring for rogue Guardians in the Crucible. Who is acting especially sadistic or cruel, who isn't complying by the rules, stuff like that. But the Crucible is where Guardians go to kill each other! A lot of people are going to act cruel. It wasn't the best way to make sure.

Therefore Gambit. A game where Guardians are given powers of Darkness to play with and are more susceptible to reveal themselves as corrupt (especially through the concept of invasions: Guardians who invade more often and for no reason are more likely to be tempted and corrupted).

Lore book about Shin's observations of Drifter (and coming up with the plan) Lore book about a lot of the stuff in regards to Shadows of Yor and other details, but most importantly Shin revealing that he was the one who founded it Lore book for us after we earn The Last Word (that details the whole plan about shutting down Shadows of Yor and weeding out those that were genuinely members because they were corrupted) Lore book for us again after Shin decides to retire

Shin is unique in many ways as a Guardian, given that he received someone else's Ghost as his Ghost and didn't have to die to get it. However, we do get a tiny hint as to why this was possible in Ghost Stories lore book: Confession of Hope Part One and Confession of Hope Part Two details a story about a Ghost that couldn't bear to see a family lose their baby (which died in a Fallen raid) and gave that baby its Light. That Ghost went on to die, and the baby's family died as well and the baby was adopted in the village called Palamon and was named Shin.

That's why Shin calls Jaren his "third father": the first was his biological father, the second was the one that adopted him in Palamon and Jaren was the third. Shin died as a baby and was resurrected by a Ghost which then later died. So Shin had the Light but not his original Ghost (which presumably allowed him to age normally). So later he gets adopted by Jaren's Ghost and didn't have to die for it because he already did die once before and already had the Light in him.

Also if you have an hour and a half to spare, most of this is told in a sort of cinematic way by Byf on youtube.

I hope this helps and that it isn't too confusing! It's a bit rough putting it all in vaguely chronological sense given that Destiny timeline is the way it is. But these are the most important lore mentions and lore books about him.

[rabdoidal]

[pretend there's a tea emoji here] vampires?

Oh baby I can talk about vampires forever! I love how vampires were constructed to be nobility that were, literally and metaphorically, draining the people they lorded over, often becoming a power struggle between the bourgeoisie VS the proletariat. The image of the classic rich, pretty, and ultimately strange vampire is so burned into the collective consciousness that the concept of the mysterious royal languishing in his bedchambers is pretty universal, but the more recent trope of the post-80s vampire is one I'm more interested in watching.

Vampires during the 80s-90s turned from strange recluse into mysterious queer - the polyamorous mess of The Hunger (1983), the friendly neighbours Jerry Dandrige and his servant Billy Cole in Fright Night (1985), the curious Michael Emerson and the alluring David Powers in The Lost Boys (1987), the overtly queer but toxic Lestat and Louis in Interview with the Vampire (1994). The new vampire didn't have to come from money, but they were older, more dominant, and held power over the main character, representing temptation and manipulation for them.

This is due in part to both modernisation, and the HIV/AIDs epidemic. Some directors wanted to show what eternal life would mean for the modern city-dweller - what one's sexuality would be, coupled with the inherent intimacy of feeding off another and what the bond between vampire & victim would be (albeit still only depicted via lingering eye contact and pinning each other to walls and wearing an awful amount of leather). Other directors and artists responded to the times - vampirism was coded as "a disease you contract only under specific circumstances" that was passed between "people who live in cities that go out late at night" as well as the lingering idea that vampires were seductors, able to use hypnotism to "lure in innocent minds" to be hurt or infected.

Horror is, perhaps unfortunately, a genre that can get away with representation because it can still be seen as evil. We can have characters of all types of backgrounds, sexuality, race, gender, and socioeconomic class, but the catch is always going to be either "this character is The Other and is therefore inherently evil" or "this character is an innocent that has been corrupted by The Other." The turning of the vampire into a gay allegory is one that, in many circumstances, makes me happy to see people like me on screen, but it has been used in so many ways to hurt us at the same time.

All in all, I think vampires have have come a long way, and I certainly enjoy the decentralisation of the rich vampire into a variety of identities and positions in power - they still represent a type of hierarchy over others that I think is an important thing to keep vampires a monstrous creature in cinema. They aren't my #1 monster but they sure are interesting as hell!

[demonfamilytherapist]

Okay so in the Shadowbringers expansion they introduced these new enemies known as Sin Eaters. They (most of them) were once living beings that were corrupted/mutated by primordial light/holy aether/magic. Kind of like demons, but holy/light based demons. Most of them have names like Forgiven Rebellion, Forgiven Cruelty, ect. There's some more powerful ones named after the different types of Greek love (Eros, Philia - they are Light Wardens) as well as Cardinal Virtues.

They were specifically designed to be eldritch horror but themed around light. The stronger ones can actually turn mortals into more of them. They are bad, really really bad. When they were being designed the concepts kept having to be sent back because they were being made to look too pretty/"good"/angelic.

Apparently the name Sin Eater came from the idea of man's sin becoming too great and causing the world's destruction. Sin eaters exist to consume and eat, and in a sense take those sins away.

The player more or less nearly becomes a Light Warden in everything but appearance at one point the game due to having absorbed the corrupting light from the previously defeated wardens. You've taken on so much excess light that your soul is beginning to crack and is at risk of shattering.

Which made me think of Sin Eaters being eldritch beings in Obey Me. Because horrifying creatures that still wield light/holy powers/magic? Sign me up! I can only imagine how the angels and demons would react to meeting one of these abominations. Of course my favorite Sin Eater is Forgiven Obscenity. She's kind of pretty.

I could see them almost being villainous counterparts to the Avatars of Sin and the angels. I'm still thinking about how they would actually come about in Obey Me's universe. Maybe either as beings that already exist but were incredibly rare that most felt them to be myths (like cosmic/eldritch horrors). Or the result of some sort of experiment by the Celestial Realm and they loss control.

Plus I could see them actually being natural predators of both angels and demons. More demons then anything because of the whole sin thing.

Some Sin Eaters are little more than animals, but there are quite a few intelligent ones - like on the level of human intelligence.

Anon you've accidentally hit on one of my favourite tropes: Light as a corrupting horror. It blinds just as well as darkness, it lures you into a false sense of security, it tells you it's good! That it's there for your own good, what would you do without it?

My thoughts on its origins would be sort of the inverse of the brothers' status as fallen angels. Given their 'forgiven' titles, it seems the Sin Eaters must be former sinners - maybe the strongest are former demons? A demon that was cleansed by the Celestial Realm? An accidental baptism, of sorts? You can have their same power structure in the game, where animals are turned into Sin Eaters without much intelligence, humans and regular demons/angels vary depending on their previous sin/magic maybe? and powerful demons/angels ascend into Light Wardens or even the Cardinal Virtues.

The Celestial Realm, at first, is delighted - even smug and amused at this development. Isn't it wonderful, that even demons can be Saved? Can feel the Grace and Love of God? Truly, their Father is beyond merciful.

But... as it turns out, angels aren't actually free of sin, it's just that their loyalty to their Father happens to outweigh that sin. We see it in every angel we've met so far (Luke and Simeon have their respective associated sins. Raphael doesn't have one himself yet, but what we've seen of his backstory and his personality shows a bit of pride and wrath at minimum). When the Sin Eaters decide that even angels are impure beings needing to be cleansed, that's when the Celestial Realm recognises them as an issue.

According to the Wiki, it seems they have a form of resurrective immortality too? So it's a threat that only keeps growing. A threat large enough to unite the realms as allies, perhaps?

Maybe MC, with the ring/Ring of Light, has to face down the Light Wardens. They're the only ones who stand a chance of being able to absorb that much corrupting light without turning themselves. Diavolo might be able to handle a bit too, being a very powerful demon, but Lucifer and his brothers (aside from Satan) used to be angels - their risk is actually much greater, as they haven't entirely gotten rid of the light within themselves. The idea of Satan having to take a hit for one of his brothers, since he's the only one who can risk exposure without turning straight away...

Forgiven Obscenity is very pretty. Also, Light Warden Eros looks like Cerberus.

[jadienjaystoriesandart]

Corrupted/Egg Tommy AU

Yup, we’re going down this rabbit hole, my ideas however are a little different. Using some concepts from both @smallm0th and @deyageka ideas. Along with some corruption concepts from @littlewolf651 As we have this fun concept that the Egg is connected to The Void. 

OKAY!

So this idea starts when Tommy is in the Egg Room before bring Tubbo along. Upon touching the Egg, he gains a rune on his palms. Can be whatever you wish, but it basically stands for ‘Corruption’. (I often see it as an hourglass symbol.)

Tommy gains magic from the Egg, and it slowly corrupts his mind as more runes of many meanings spread along his arms. (Things that might mean Destruction, Blood, Power, Fire, among other things.) And his eyes turn from a bright blue to a dark blue, and glow red along with the runes when he uses his magic. 

He wears dark black robes with red and white trim, not like Phil’s, more like Harry Potter sorcerer robes. They aren’t as flowy, they hug his frame rather well. Think like Organization 13 from Kingdom Hearts.) With a belt around his waist that holds potions. His shirt stays white, but the red sleeves turn white also under the robe like coat. Though he rarely takes it off. There are also vines that hug around his chest and arms. With dark black pants on and white and red shoes. 

This Tommy is calmer than before, still rude and mouthy, but he swears less and has more of a cool demeaner, with a slight aloofness about him now. He seems to be enjoying where he currently is, and loves the magic he’s been gifted or cursed with, however you wish to see it. He now has control of his life and what he wants in it, all for the price of just obeying the Egg and doing as it asks. For all he’s been given, it seems like a simple and sparing price to pay. 

Out of respect for Bad, and per his request, Tommy does swear less than before. But that is because Bad is the Leader, and Corrupted Tommy acknowledges this and understands that he is only the helper. Something he is content with, as it means less stress and less things to worry about. He used to be a Vice President after all, and he finds leaving Bad and Ant to deal with the spreading and problems are much easier on his mind.

He’s given a chance to do as he pleases and enjoy life to it’s fullest, just spreading the spores and helping convert people. And Bad keeps him in check really so he doesn’t over use his power or let it get to his head like Dream did with his type of power. Bad is the leader, and Tommy has learned that he isn’t. 

POWERS

Tommy has been given a variety of powers but he has his favorites.

1. Red Fire: This fire is the opposite of Blue Fire. It’s often called Blood Fire, and can melt the skin off a person at it’s highest temperature. It’s much more tame though compared to Blue Fire, which requires more chaotic energy. Red Fire requires a calmer nature to use it, it took Tommy a while to learn to turn off his emotions to use it. But it slowly became second nature with each Rune he gained.

2. Illusions: He can manifest illusions of peoples desires out of a red mist like substance. It moves like water, but looks and feels like sand. Twisting and turning to create what you want to see. From this, Tommy can show you what he want more than anything, and what the Egg offers to you. They are only illusion to the real thing, but with enough concertation, he can made their solid for a short period of time. 

3. Blood: His own blood is a weapon now, infused with spores from the Egg. Anywhere or anything he bleeds on can grow vines and flowers. His blood is warm to things, and can heat up even more at will. If Tommy were to bleed on a person, he could cause vines to spread along their body and root in their body. It’s one way to corrupt people, but he’s admitted to Bad he dislikes doing this as it causes the person intense amounts of pain. And there is no guarantee they will be corrupted for the long run.  He also can create runes on the walls, floors, and ceiling of places with his blood. To create protection or corruption in areas. He did this to the Egg room making it safer to leave it alone as people who intend to harm the Egg have a harder time entering.  Tommy doesn’t use his magic often though as it’s rather draining. 

4. Wings: Tommy has wings now, they are large, dark red with white speckles along the flight feathers and turn from dark at the top and bright red as they go down. Though, he doesn’t use them to fly that often, mostly used for intimidation, he can float without his wings just fine. 

5. Creation: Tommy’s found he likes to create things more, but doesn’t do so often. He isn’t sure where this knowledge came from, but it’s there and he helps out Ant and Punz in building things for the Eggpire. It keeps him occupied really, and at least it’s something to do.

PERSONALITY

This Tommy is calmer than others. He isn’t as loud, but still rude to people in a playful manner.  He’s still protective of people he cares about, but this extends to the fact he’s not afraid to kill to protect them now. If it won’t affect their views of the Egg, he’s willing to help out here and there with things. Such as using magic to repair things or make things. 

He’s aloof too, still friendly Tommy as ever and, unlike other members, he’s easy to approach and talk to. That is what makes him deadly, his attitude and easy to approach look outside of official meeting lure people in.  He’s still playful, and pranks people, but these even come off slightly as more planned and less mean. Like he’s actually thinking about it before he does it. He also still mouths off to other members when they try to force him to do things, save for Badboyhalo.

Tommy is also very respectful to Bad, he doesn’t talk back to him like he would Ant or Punz, to get on their nerves. If Bad tells him to do something, Tommy does it without question. He sometimes laughs and says he sees Bad as a better Father Figure to him than others. He swears less at Bad’s request, which that shocked alot of people. Guess more reason to wonder what the hell did this Egg do to Tommy?

However, when situation calls for it, Tommy can be very cold and uncaring to people who are trying to harm the Egg. He’s not afraid to kill, one shot from his Red Fire and you’ll wish you hadn’t do anything to The Egg or it’s followers. He’s their power house, and the Eggs Protector.  He gains a coolness to his words when in the Egg room, and when agitated or aggravated he gains a voice that sounds like two people mixed with his own voice. It’s honestly terrifying to hear, as at these moments it feels and sounds like this isn’t Tommy but The Egg speaking through him. 

His voice also gains a softer tone when offering up your desires, and sounds like honey to the ears. Enticing you to listen to what he says, it’s very creepy when you notice it. 

APPERANCES

- Dark blue eyes that glow Red when using his magic.

- Runes along his arms that glow red when the magic is used.

- Hair has some white streaks in it

- Coat like robe over his outfit, but now with dark black pants. (Think Organization 13 from Kingdom Hearts.)

- In the Egg Room or near the crater he has vines growing along his arms and chest. 

- Away from it, wears a white, long-sleeved shirt and black pants with red shoes, looks very normal. Never would think he was corrupted until his eyes glowed red.

- Hair is longer, never bothered to cut it, makes a short pony tail.

- Has a belt around his waist that either carries potions or his daggers/sword.

- Might have a small backpack on, just a simple draw string bag really with food or items in. 

[infinite-xerath]

Runeterra Retcons 9: Shaco

The time has come to discuss League’s resident killer clown… Or killer jester, I suppose. There is a difference, not that it really matters because even the lore doesn’t ACTUALLY know what Shaco is. To be frank, Shaco is a weird character because he’s NEVER had a proper place in the story, even from his conception.

Shaco’s original lore paints him as a complete and utter mystery. Nobody knows who or what he is, where he came from, or what he really wants. All anyone has ever known is that Shaco loves killing people because he thinks it’s funny. He could be a demon, a rogue weapon, or just a homicidal madman who’s really good at what he loves. That’s where his character begins and ends, so there’s really not much to actually analyze here. Shaco’s second lore attempts to give us a little more detail but all it really does is say the exact same thing with more words added in.

Of course, Shaco’s first two lores were written at a time with the Institute of War and Summoners were still canon, so after the retcon back in 2015 Riot opted to give him a new backstory to make him fit in with the new world of Runeterra. That backstory, as we can see, is ultimately little more than a placeholder. I mean, his extended bio doesn’t even match the blurb on his Champion page!

In summation: Shaco is a haunted doll who belonged to an unknown prince of an unknown kingdom and was transformed by unknown magics for unknown reasons. This backstory now feels especially redundant with the introduction of Gwen into the game, a living doll with a similar backstory albeit far less evil. To be frank: there’d be room to have some interest thematic parallels between Gwen and Shaco if Riot had written these two in such a way that they were creations of the same person or belonged to the same kid but wound up becoming wholly opposite of one-another.

For example: perhaps in an alternate version of the lore, Gwen comes to embody the childlike innocence and hope of her maker/owner and seeks to spread joy and cheer while Shaco is a corrupt and perverted manifestation of those desires who seeks only to amuse himself in the suffering of others. This, I think, would have been a fantastic way to go about it, but given that Gwen is already so heavily tied to the Shadow Isles plotline and Viego is set up to be her primary enemy, I feel like it would be kind of difficult to work Shaco into that dynamic at this point.

Besides, it’s clear that Riot DOES have plans for Shaco: namely, that they aim to retcon him into being a demon. This is somewhat evident by his champion title, the Demon Jester, as well as his relationships are listed as being Nocturne and Fiddlesticks, the demons of nightmares and fear, respectively. There’s also that branch on the demon family tree labeled “Delirium” which would fit a murderous jokester pretty well.

To be honest, I was initially hesitant to even bother doing an episode for Shaco given that Riot clearly has at least some vague idea of what to do with him, but since reworks are coming out a lot slower now and Shaco’s not even on Riot’s priority list as far as we’re aware, it’ll probably be a WHILE before we actually see them do anything with this particular concept.

So, given what we know about Riot’s current plans, the general direction of this rewrite is simple: make Shaco a demon. Admittedly, though, that’s a little easier said than done. Demons in League are creatures who feed on mortal pain and suffering, but each of them has a different way of going about it. Fiddlesticks mainly uses paranoia and trauma to drive his victims mad while Nocturne takes a more Freddy Krueger approach of just invading dreams and turning them into nightmares. Tahm Kench likes to make Faustian Bargains by giving you everything you want and then tearing it all away from you, while Evelynn lures you in with seduction and then proceeds to tear you apart piece by piece.

Every demon takes a different form and has different ways of going about things, but all of them share a core concept: they feed on suffering and misery, be it physical or emotional. That said, there’s a bit more to demons in Runeterra than just that. See, back when Fiddlesticks was released, Riot went and released what the community has dubbed the “Demon Family Tree,” which appears to be a chart displaying the hierarchy of demons and different emotions that different kinds of demons can prey on.

Now, admittedly, there’s a LOT about this chart that we don’t currently understand, and frankly I wouldn’t be surprised if Riot doesn’t either. There’s a key that resembles the one around Zoe’s neck in the top-left, a bunch of circles in the top right we don’t know the meaning of, and a whole bunch of text written in what I think is supposed to be Old Noxian that we can’t currently decipher. There have been theories and discussions about this already, so I’m not going to get too deep into it, but the main takeaway, I think, would be the words on the chart that we CAN read: Fear, Delirium, Nightmares, Secrets, Bliss, Frenzy, and Obsession. There’s also the term “Azakana” at the bottom, though we know thanks to Yone that this basically just refers to a demon that hasn’t fully matured yet.

Tying the chart back to the demonic Champions in the game, it’s easy to piece together the connections that they each have: Fiddlesticks is fear, Nocturne is Nightmares, Raum (the demon bound to Swain) is Secrets, Evelynn is commonly believed to be Bliss, and Tahm Kench is most likely Obsession. That leaves Delirium and Frenzy untouched, which leaves us with two spots to fit Shaco into.

Now comes the hard part: the decision. Delirium refers to a state of mind in which one’s awareness of their actions or environment is significantly reduced, whereas frenzy is a sudden burst of frantic, uncontrolled emotion, typically rage or aggression. Either one of these could work well for a killer jester, but I personally think that delirium would suit Shaco better in terms of how his personality is portrayed in game. So, with that said, let’s dive deep into the realm of demonic and see what can be done to turn this cursed puppet into a proper Demon of Delirium.

It is often said that misery and comedy are but two sides of the same coin. Laughter often comes at the expense of others, and one person’s despair may be another’s delight. Most entertainers would tell you that walking the line between humor and malice is key, but to Shaco, such distinctions are a joke for which he himself is the final punchline.

The demon known as Shaco has stalked Runeterra for ages, spreading his twisted influence far and wide. There’s nothing Shaco loves more than to bring joy to those who need it most, often appearing to mortals who have experienced great loss or tragedy. Those coping with grief or misfortune may find themselves unexpectedly visited by a grinning jester, who assures that his only desire is to take away their pain with the power of laughter.

At first, Shaco’s antics are innocent enough. Some cheesy jokes to lighten the mood, some harmless pranks to lift the spirits of the downtrodden, all with an unyielding smile that one cannot help but start to imitate. Soon, those enthralled with Shaco’s antics are invited to play games with the jester to help distract from their worldly worries. Those who accept are whisked away to partake in a day of fun and merriment, playing all manner of pranks on friends, family, and even innocent bystanders.

When the games end, Shaco leaves his playmates cackling insanely in the aftermath, often surrounded by bodies and covered in blood. None laugh louder than Shaco, however, who delights in watching his playmates slowly regain their sanity and come to realize all the atrocities committed at his side. Some cry out in despair, while others break down laughing or crying harder than before. Some go mad, others are executed for their crimes, and some even opt to take their own lives. All outcomes are equally hilarious to Shaco, who soon sets out in pursuit of his next playmate.

Stories of the Mad Trickster exist all across Runeterra, often told as children’s tales to teach valuable lessons: don’t trust strangers, never give in to sadness or despair, and always be mindful to never take a joke too far. Few truly believe in Shaco’s existence, but those who fail to heed such warnings may find themselves to be his next playmate, as well as the butt of his joke…

So, this one was a bit shorter than normal, but I think it serves to get the point across. As the embodiment of delirium, I wanted to give Shaco a set-up sort of similar to Tahm Kench: he appears to offer help to those in need, only to end up ruining their lives in the long run. The difference, of course, is that Shaco lures people in to help them forget their troubles with fun and games, only to escalate to full-blown murder and mayhem.

In essence, Shaco drives others to delirium, making them believe the carnage is all just fun and games until his spell is broken and reality sets in. I’d like to think he particularly likes preying on the downtrodden because those who are suffering mental anguish already are easier for him to cast his spell on.

This is just my take on Shaco, though. Who can really say what Riot will do with him in the future? Who knows, his rework might end up even better than what I have here, but of course, anything is bound to be better than his current, non-existent lore.

[robininthelabyrinth]

continuation of Star Wars Wangxian AU - on ao3 or tumblr

-

The way of the Sith is the dyad, the rule of two: always two, no more, no less.

A master and an apprentice – one to represent the allure of the Dark Side of the Force, the other to serve as the baited, walking willingly into a trap. A pair of magnets, the moth and the flame; without each other, they were incomplete, unstable, and only together could they be considered complete.

Perhaps, Lan Wangji reflects, he should have considered this fundamental precept more thoroughly.

Certainly earlier.

If he had thought about it earlier, he could have taken steps, measures, something. Anything, really, as long as it wasn’t…

“Hey, Master! You’re back! Did you have a nice trip? Kill lots of people?”

…this.

“No,” Lan Wangji said, in the tones of one who knew suffering. The Dark Side rippled around him, thickening as he poured his frustration and annoyance into it – a complaint shared with the abyss, in a world where rage and despair only made the abyss stronger. “No deaths.”

The Sarlacc didn’t count.

Anyway, Wei Wuxian had been the one to kill it in the end, in order to enable them to escape. He’d almost looked like he’d felt bad about it, too.

Silly fool, Lan Wangji thought with far too much affection.

Though, speaking of silly fools...

Xue Yang grinned at him, his little tiger tooth making the otherwise vicious expression significantly less intimidating. 

Lan Wangji had observed that fact early in their acquaintance, and had resolved never to tell Xue Yang so as to let him continue to be frustrated by the apparently inexplicable fact that people never seemed to take him seriously at first glance. If Xue Yang ever figured it out and confronted him about it, he could even theoretically, at a stretch, justify it as additional Dark Side training.

“Sounds like a wasted trip, then,” he said. “I killed five.”

Lan Wangji met his gaze with a steady one of his own. “I do not recall instructing you to go on a mission.”

“Aww, but Master –”

Lan Wangji was newer to the Dark Side of the Force than Xue Yang, but he had the rigorous training of the Cloud Recesses behind him: he did not even need to reach out deliberately through the Force to oppress Xue Yang, driving him to his knees.

“It was a continuation of an earlier mission, Master! I wouldn’t disobey you intentionally –”

Lan Wangji released him. “Of course you would.”

Xue Yang looked up at him, grin back on his face. “Well, yeah. But not that obviously. I wouldn’t admit it to your face.”

He would, if he thought he could get away with it, and Lan Wangji permitted a look of skepticism to cross his face, though he did not comment aloud. 

“What mission?” he asked instead. Knowing Xue Yang as he did, there were very few missions that he had given in which murder was permissible, much less multiple murders. They were trying to keep a low profile, after all.

Xue Yang bounced to his feet. “I invaded another Hutt palace!” he announced gleefully, his eyes shining like stars. “Dressed up as a bounty hunter and everything!”

Xue Yang had once been a slave on a planet controlled by the Hutts, a dirty sandy place with little compassion for the young and none for the weak – and Xue Yang had been both. He had been bartered from one master to another until one careless owner had crushed his hand and his spirit at the same time, rendering him even more useless and condemning him to a terrible fate. No one wanted damaged goods, no one but those who wanted to break them further.

How Xue Yang went from that to being the apprentice of a self-styled Sith Lord, Lan Wangji was unsure beyond a basic understanding that Xue Yang had somehow risen up from his dire circumstances to massacre the entire clan of that particular owner. They had met only when Xue Yang was already in the midst of his training, a slightly gawky teenage delinquent who’d long ago learned that murder was the first, best, and only answer to all of his problems.

He’d tried to kill Lan Wangji, of course.

The circumstances had been admittedly been rather unusual. The Sith tradition called for dyads, a master and an apprentice in each set (though of course there could be more than one set of Sith, though rarely if ever on a level or in an area where they could challenge each other); the typical way of things for the Sith was that the apprentice struck down the master, rising to take on an apprentice of his own, or that the master tired of the apprentice and lured another promising would-be apprentice into Falling, with the typical test of a new apprentice being the slaughter of the old one.

Lan Wangji was strikingly idiosyncratic in that he had Fallen entirely on his own, without a master to guide him to the Dark Side. 

This did not mean he was without knowledge: the Lan sect, which prized learning, of course had a rich collection of treatises on what the Dark Side entailed, although they were meant to be read as warnings rather than guides. After he had had the Force vision of that terrible future, the future he would Fall to the Dark Side, had Fallen, rather than permit to take place, Lan Wangji had stolen several before departing the Cloud Recesses.

It was little surprise, then, that Xue Yang’s old master had put such effort into recruiting Lan Wangji as his own apprentice once he had discovered him.

Lan Wangji had had no patience for such nonsense. Rather than slaughter Xue Yang, who had clearly been incited against him, he had followed the traces back to their origin and killed the Sith master that Xue Yang followed instead.

Unfortunately, per the rule of two, that left Xue Yang without a master and Lan Wangji with the horrible realization that would-be Sith masters would be crawling out of the woodwork to attack him on a regular basis if he didn’t put himself in a dyad at once to prevent it. In the interest of not being harassed, and thereby distracted from his plans, he had recruited Xue Yang as his own apprentice, skipping the apprentice step entirely and becoming a master.

Perhaps that was why Wei Wuxian had called him a Sith lord, he mused. Wei Wuxian was sensitive to the Force, talented in it almost to extremes; maybe he could tell that Lan Wangji was in a position of dominance, rather than growth.

“ – it was great. Even with all the warnings from previous incidents, they were so arrogant, thinking it would never happen to them. Rotten slugs! The leader had a rancor in the dungeon under his throne, too; the thing was kept half-starved so that it’d turn on anyone that got dropped into its nest – wretched little space, I could barely move, much less a rancor –”

“I take it from your explanation that we now own a rancor,” Lan Wangji said, feeling somewhat pained.

Pained, but also gratified: he had been working on teaching Xue Yang the concept of empathy, reasoning that the truly psychopathic would never truly be able to connect with the rage, suffering, and pain that powered the Dark Side of the Force.

Only once Xue Yang understood love, understood it and lost it, could he truly understand the Dark Side as Lan Wangji did.

A pet was a good start.

“Uh, maybe? I mean, rancors are from Dathomir, which is pretty steeped in the Dark Side, so it’s almost like they’re a natural ally of the Sith –”

Rancors were semi-sentient five-meter tall reptiles that resembled boulders, with armored hides that could resist blasters and even light sabers at times, and while it was true that their home planet was rich in the Dark Side, home of assassins and Nightkin and murderers of all sorts, rancors themselves were actually quite friendly and non-combative as a general rule.

Not that Xue Yang knew that. 

“You will care for it yourself, without disturbing me,” Lan Wangji instructed, not wanting Xue Yang to dwell too long on whether or not what he had done was appropriate. Some people could only be coaxed, not coerced; Xue Yang’s former master had very nearly ruined him, teaching him all the wrong lessons about divesting oneself of emotions (the Sith way, of course: no emotions but hate) without any of the necessary context, and any future education needed to done cautiously to avoid Xue Yang becoming utterly consumed by the abyss, capable of nothing but lashing out, a rabid dog in need of being put down.

Lan Wangji was not in the market for another Sith apprentice.

Xue Yang, at least, was easy to manage: as long as he was permitted to vent his more murderous inclinations in the way he liked the most, pursuing the vile Hutt clan wherever they had set up their gangster dens full of corruption and rot, his attempts to overthrow Lan Wangji were half-hearted and disinterested, and the worst Lan Wangji would need to put up with was a bit of back talk.

“Of course,” Xue Yang said, grinning with teeth. “Wouldn’t want to keep you from your boy, would we?”

…not that the back talk wasn’t annoying.

“You are not permitted to speak of him,” Lan Wangji said coldly, but that never worked for very long. Xue Yang was an extremely disrespectful apprentice, although Lan Wangji supposed it was his own fault for rejecting the rigid hierarchy of the traditional master-apprentice relationship – of the entire concept of the Sith lord and the classist structure generally associated with it – and encouraging Xue Yang to similarly reject such things in favor of the anarchy of self-determination. “He is not yours to even think of.”

Perhaps a wiser man might refuse to let Xue Yang even know of such a weakness, but Lan Wangji was moderately sure that in an even fight – or even an uneven one – Wei Wuxian would have no difficulty putting Lan Wangji’s unruly, unwanted apprentice in his place.

“Yeah, yeah,” Xue Yang laughed. “I know: hands off, no touching. I still don’t get it. What’s so great about this one guy? The universe is full of people, even force-sensitives; if you’re so hung up on having a Jedi, why not go find one that’s a little more compromising?”

Because there is no one else like Wei Ying. There will never be anyone else for me, not ever – only him.

“One day you will meet someone who moves you,” Lan Wangji said placidly, a touch of his old talent for Force visions shimmering in his soul in confirmation of the dimly uncertain future. “And we will have this conversation again, when at last you understand.”

“Sure,” Xue Yang said, clearly disbelieving. “Whatever. Let me tell you about these two bounty hunters I met on my trip – a matched set, one in white and one in black - fuck, they were so annoying, you wouldn’t even believe –”

[not-xpr-art]

Unprecedented ~

A bog of filth piled high with coins 

A clang of chains twists fear in your loins 

A fire burns high as all sit and stare 

A rust corroded man tries to tell you it's not there 

A ripple of water reflects something not real 

A dust covered track boasts of nothing left to kill 

A fan of feathers each as blind as the last 

A world so corrupted; a world dying fast.

(04/2021)

(digital painting of an apocalyptic/hell-scape version of our current world inspired by the seven deadly sins... as you can probably expect, there is a lottt of symbolism in this piece, which I’ll go more into below, along with some detail shots!)

This piece has kind of been a 6 month long labour of love, starting with a vague idea I had of a piece that is going to reflect the strange and scary times we’ve all lived in over the last year or so, and then slowly begun to take shape into a kinda apocalyptic/hell-scape piece based on the seven deadly sins representing our current world...

(also the poem above is something I wrote too, but couldn’t fit it anywhere in the actual piece itself)

The piece itself took roughly 60 hours of painting over almost an entire month. I originally planned for it to be a big mixed media piece, but instead decided I would try to keep it as purely a painting. Surrealist art was one of my biggest inspirations, purely because I thought the style would fit this piece the best. I also like how as a style it combines things that are familiar with things that are strange, which is exactly what I wanted for this piece!

The piece is split into 3 major sections, and 7 individual sections (to reflect the 7 deadly sins, which I’ve wanted to do my own version of for ages now). I had thought at first I would stick to creating demonic ‘characters’ for each sin, but then found this illustration on Wikipedia depicting the 7 sins as animals which I thought could both be an interesting challenge for me, and would visually be more interesting too! 

I also decided pretty early on that I didn’t want any humans actually in the piece, but rather the imprint of humans. Our actions, our feelings, what we leave behind, etc...

First is the section is dedicated to Greed, Gluttony and Lust, known as the ‘lustful appetite’ sins.

At the top is Greed, which is symbolised by a toad. I wanted this to be representative of capitalism, the toad looming over piles of gold, surrounded by a cardboard box (a not-so-subtle dig at people like Jeff Bezos lol), as it is surrounded by a bubbling dirty bog. The toad is ‘crying’ the same sludge, which I wanted to act as ‘crocodile tears’, showing their falsity. (I feel like it’s also important to note here that in my notes for this part I originally wrote ‘won’t someone think of the economy :(’ lol, which was something I heard a lot of in the news last year...).

Below that, and in direct correlation with Greed, is Gluttony. Gluttony is depicted as a pig, which is why I painted a pig skeleton. This is supposed to represent our overconsumption and over-production, and how that has impacted the planet. Plastic hidden in plain sight, increase of forest fires, etc, all under the ‘watchful’ gaze of mother nature (the trees were inspired by a post I saw about ‘Quaking Aspens’) I wanted the ‘overlord’ of this section to be dead to symbolise how humanity’s gluttony has lead to complete destruction, even in hell itself...

The final in this section is Lust, represented as a goat. This one is arguably a lot darker than the previous 2, and is reflecting the violence performed against women over the last year (Sarah Everand’s murder in the UK and the 6 Asian women shot in Atlanta, just to name a few, not to mention the various hate-crimes against trans women which have been helped with the rise of transphobic rhetoric). Lust is often depicted as someone attractive trying to lure you to sleeping with them. But I feel like that misinterprets what lust really is. Someone with lust is described as being a ‘slave to the devil’ (hence the chains in my art), and I wanted to showcase lust as a quest for power over someone else’s body, particularly women’s bodies. The eyes in the darkness are representing the fear that so many people feel about going out at night, and the goat being in the light also shows how danger can come at any time of day, in any place. The design of the goat was inspired by this medieval artwork of a seven eyed lamb. 

The central section is Irascibility, and includes the sin Wrath.

Wrath is represented by a Lion. I wanted this section to be dedicated to how racial injustice against black people has been truly highlighted in the last year, particularly in the case of George Floyd’s murder. Angry people are described to being slaves to themselves, a selfishness that is both reflected in wrath and in racism, and is why the lion has it’s paw rested on a ball and chain. I wanted the lion in this section to be a statue, both because of the Edward Colston (a slave owner who lived in Bristol) statue that was pulled down by protestors last year, and also how statues of lions are a significant symbol of Britishness in general (for example, Trafalgar square) and therefore in turn a symbol of the institutional racism that still permeates so much of the UK. This is also reflected in the rust covering the statue and the trees surrounding it, showing how old and well rooted racism is woven into the fabric of our world. The colours surrounding the trees, and the trees themselves, were based on these photographs of Sulphur lakes in Indonesia. 

The lightning is a suggestion of change in the air, and a reflection of the Black Lives Matter movement. Although this whole piece is of course a critical look at our current world, I also wanted to have an air of ‘it’s not too late’ to it. That we CAN make this world a better place to live if we’re willing to fight for it!

The final part is the 3 final sins grouped into the ‘corruption of the mind’ section.

The snake represents Envy, which is also a sin that is associated with vanity, which is what I decided to focus on for this. The snake is completely absorbed in it’s own reflection, very much like narcissus. My idea was the concept of the envy of things that aren’t real, much like how social media has created a world where we strive to be something that we are not, something that we will never be. So to us, the outsider, all we see is an abstract shape of a snake, something that’s intangible. Whereas the snake is so distracted by it that they can’t see the rest of the world. The reflection of the water was based on a photo I took of some reeds in water, which I also thought looked a bit like wires or computer circuit boards. 

Above the snake, and taking advantage of it’s distraction, is Pride. Pride is shown as a peacock, obnoxious in it’s wings covered in glowing eyes. Pride is described as something that ‘blinds’, hence why some of the feather-eyes are closed. The peacock is wrapped in a snare wire and is partially behind bars. This is to depict how pride causes people to play the victim, suggesting their intentions are pure, only to stab you in the back, so to speak... The ideas behind this one are more general and vague than the others, more of a commentary on humanities general hubris rather than any specific event. And perhaps speaking of how if we’re not careful, pride will sneak up on all of us, and will ultimately be our downfall.

The final section is above Pride and represents Sloth, depicted by a pile of snail shells. I had originally planned for this whole piece to be dedicated to the pandemic, but realised there were a lot of other issues I wanted to talk about aside from that. So Sloth is the dedicated ‘virus section’, representing how slow my country’s government (and many like it) were in bringing in precautions to stop the spread and save lives. Sloth is often described as a failure to love God, negligence at it’s very core. Both Pride and Sloth are partially covered in bars to critique our current justice system, which suffers from being overly prideful and negligent itself...  

This piece is in effect my way of trying to deal with a year that has really fucking sucked lol... It includes a lot of bitterness and anger, feelings I think many of my generation will relate to. 

But despite this, I don’t think it’s hopeless... I believe in humanity, in the goodness and beauty of it. Perhaps a naïve notion, but one I will cling on. For if we delve into despair, then it will truly be too late...

I hope people like this piece since it took a really long time and effort! 

Other inspirations for this piece:

various images & quotes about car crashes, various surrealist artists’ work, Evgeny Sedukhin’s symphony of the 6th blast furnace, paintings by David Mensing, this creepy lad and this lil snake lying in a chalice.