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platoniccereal · 2 years

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decided to do the thingy and check whatever theories i believe/like according to this iceberg. honestly, da fandom should make an ask game out of it. there are some thoughts on it under the cut. i was reminded of it bc of this video, give it a shot, it's v interesting and well-made.

ok i checked everything in the first tier, but honesty, i'd like to give andrastians some crisis of faith and make their god a spirit and their prophet an elf or a dwarf. and most definitely she must be a mage. that would fit so nicely morally. don't like maker being a demon though, it would be too far stretched and gotcha, and the maker didn't seem malevolent.

i didn't check dwarf andraste because i don't remember the explanation behind it, but honestly, it's still curious.

i prefer skyhold being the place where solas created the veil over the solasan temple because i believe it would evaluate skyhold's significance beyond being just a fortress for a main character with some shady shit here and there.

i didn't check sandal being connected to a titan for pretty much the same reason i didn't cross stuff like sandal, or solas, or dumat being the maker, or andraste being connected to flemeth, or her straight up being mythal. connections here and there are interesting, but i don't enjoy over-connected plot points. they're fun for fucking around, but it's always better to have multiple complex scenarios and characters than to load this weight on a great few. leliana as the descendant of andraste, shartan anyhow connected to solas are also in this category. there were history and historical figures, i don't feel like it always needs to be associated with whatever figures thedas has now.

i crossed qunari being a result of the experiment, though i'm not sure about the implications because it may go even deeper into the selection stuff. ew. i'm even more not sure about that the qun might really be something to restrain their nature, it's just an unsettling theory with even worse implications. it would turn whatever the player was saying to the iron bull on its head, because suddenly qunari would be beasts that need to be controlled. as to their origin? i think it's still interesting that kossith were very different from modern qunari, and they could have been created by someone out of someone different and may have gone through the process of alteration due to the dragon-related stuff.

my understanding of the older lore is pretty common. evanuris are the actual old gods or at least have some type of a bond, the remaining two are the twins, so there would be a double blight. evanuris are captured and hidden in the sealed black city. since they'd hunted down titans, the latter created the blight and darkspawn, yada yada yada. i'm also not opposed to the idea that the taint ascended from the void. so it was something discovered by andruil. or she rather discovered titan's blood + the taint, i.e. red lyrium, since the taint doesn't cause the same symptoms as the red lyrium.

i like the idea of halla being sentient descendants of elves turned into them long time ago. it's even more sick if they're still not quite animals. it's not my canon, but that's cool. beings with consciousness suffering from their silence? yeah, definitely cool.

sera=andruil is also a pretty common one. i have a headcanon that solas is a creator of tarot cards as well, it seems to be quite in his style, and the boy loves drawing, too. considering that, sera's card would be an intentional thing.

#dragon age #my post

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andmaybegayer · 1 year

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Last Monday of the Week 2023-04-17

Mined Craft

Listening: I have had a bunch of The Longest Johns stuck in my head including Wild Mountain Thyme and John Paul Jones is a Pirate.

They've got those particular clear vocals that are just a nice sound to listen to even in absence of meaning.

Reading: Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky, the one about the planet of uplifted jumping spiders. Love every minute I get to spend with the current generation of Portia, a book that uses the phrase "girls will be girls" to describe female spiders descending into the slums to hunt males in their teenage years. Perfect book no notes.

Watching: Half-watched and did not quite finish The Grand Budapest Hotel, because the power cut a few minutes from the end. It's a Wes Anderson show alright, that style is so endearing. I watched it last when it came out and I had more or less forgotten the plot, I especially forgot that the bulk of the plot occurs like four framing devices deep.

Playing: Minecraft 1.19. As previously mentioned I used the Oracle Cloud free tier to host a 1.19.4 server and I'm now screwing around in there. Only one other person thus far has taken me up on the offer to use it, so if you're reading this feel free to hit me up so I can add you to the whitelist.

I've been watching the Loading Ready Run Minecraft Through The Ages season these past few months, where they spend an episode or two in each version of Minecraft since 1.0.

youtube

Really fun to watch, and it's made me want to build a few farms to feed more endgame equipment than I usually get to. Normally I scrabble together a handful of diamond and barely touch "endgame" gear, so it'll be fun to do and besides, 1.18+ really strongly encourages enchanting and repairing as a core game mechanic.

Also now that I'm no longer quilting I need something to do with my hands while I listen to podcasts.

Making: Embroidering patches for the penrose quilt: start and end dates, a maker's mark, and a song lyric, in the tradition of the other quilts my mother has made in the past. Still in progress, again due to power outages, blanket stitch is finicky enough when you can see what you're doing clearly.

Tools and Equipment: In the event that you have used superglue as threadlocker, you can weaken the superglue with heat if you ever need to separate those parts again.

I had to fix a door bolt where the screw holding the bolt to the handle mechanism had backed right the hell out over the past few months and fallen apart inside the mechanism. I glued the bolt back onto the screw with normal superglue as threadlocker, only to realize the next day that I had not put the spring that holds the bolt in position back correctly, so I had to hit the bolt with my lighter until the glue liquefied so that I could disassemble the thing.

#last monday of the week #Bandcamp

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spiribia · 1 year

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If you're up for it, there's a Job Competency Tier List Maker on tier maker... I'd love to know how you rank Star Catcher :O

none of the other jobs are 'canon' for her ... so far. it sort of descends in skill as you go down the row. the last category was mostly super casual dabbling out of a curiosity of her adventurer heart

#anon #thank you for caring about startcatcher. :thumbs up:

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theprofessionalpromptmaker · 3 years

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Steven Universe: The Movie meets Precure All Stars Memories

(Here you go! Some of these prompts are just Precure in general combined with Steven Universe in general. But some are specific to themes from the movies, so I hope these work!)

Person A has recently come to Earth and befriended some humans that they’ve turned into a magical girl/boy group. But Person B, Person A’s friend/relative/etc. from their home world that Person A and Person B protected as guardians together before it got destroyed and Person A assumed Person B died, comes to Earth. In their anger that Person A seemed to have moved on from them, Person B starts erasing all memories about Person A from the magical girl/boy group’s members.

Person A joined a magical girl/boy group, headed by an alien teenager, because Person A had no family and was desperate to belong somewhere. When the alien teenager’s family comes to get them, the alien teenager refuses to leave, and their family is ready to/tries to destroy Earth. Person B is the alien teenager’s older sibling who tries to find a peaceful solution, not wanting a whole planet to be destroyed during the alien teenager’s rebellious phase. But Person B winds up getting close to Person A and when they realize Person A has no family, offers a solution: their alien family will take Person A as a trade for the alien teenager, who will get to stay on Earth, as long as Person A stays with the alien family. Person A agrees, having grown close to Person B and finally finding a place to belong. (Bonus: Person A marrying into the family by marrying Person B.)

Person A is a magical girl/boy who was created by a group of benevolent alien scientists who raised them and taught them to defend their city/Earth, using the ability of the alien’s race to feed off memories but instead of turning memories into nutrients, Person A’s able to turn them into magical attacks/powers. Person A’s powers work by collecting memories to gain powers, but Person A always takes the memories from willing participants (or uses the power temporarily and then returns the memory). Person B is a magical girl/boy who was created by the same group, but got kidnapped and has been living on the streets, stealing to survive for as long they remember, and so has no qualms with stealing memories, thinking it’s a fair price to pay for Person B protecting their city/world from threats. Person A and Person B end up meeting and having to work together.

Person A is a magical girl/boy who is half human/half alien and raised by the friends of their alien parent. Person A’s alien side can transfer memories into magical attacks/powers, and Person A is able to do this as well, but due to being half human, they also have the unique ability to listen to other people’s re-tellings of their own memories and translate them into attacks, due to Person A’s human ability to empathize. Person A uses this power to use the memories of everyone they meet to become stronger and be able to protect Earth from threats. Person B is someone who loves to experience things firsthand, and has become friends with Person A, because Person A loves to hear their memories, good and bad, and Person B doesn’t realize they’re actually helping Person A grow stronger as a magical girl/boy until Person A winds up saving Person B from an alien attack and explains everything.

Person A lives in a world where magical girls/boys exist and can fuse together to form even stronger magical beings through dancing. Person A is a dancer, working on the choreography for a play/ballet/etc. they intend to audition for, and asks Person B, their close friend and fellow dancer (who for some reason, refuses to dance with people and only dances solo pieces) to help them practice. Person B agrees hesitantly, but when they’re dancing, and Person B finally starts to relax and get more fluid with their moves, the two end up fusing. Which is a shock to both, since Person A didn’t realize Person B was a magical boy/girl and both of them didn’t know Person A was one either. But to make matters more complicated, Person B explains to Person A that all magical girls/boys are actually aliens or descended from aliens, and the powers Person A seems to have are ones only a royal lineage of a super rare alien species have. Which means Person A will have a huge target on their back if they’re ever discovered. So Person B vows to protect them.

Person A was taken to Earth by their parent, a royal of their home planet’s main race, who was afraid if they let Person A be raised their own kind, they would turn them into someone bitter and cruel towards all life in the universe. Their own kind being militant and dangerous and spreading throughout the universe as it was, so Person A’s parent also stole a few magic items, and granted them to some close human friends to work as guardians for Person A, should anything happen to them. Person B is an alien of another race, trying to fight back against the oppressive regime of Person A’s species, but thinks Person A’s parent stole a weapon and took it to hide it somewhere in the universe until it was ready, and when they meet Person A, thinks they’re the weapon and starts trying to kill them. Person A has inherited the magic device of their parent though, letting them transform into a magical girl/boy.

- Mod Poss, the Professional Prompt Maker

(Head’s up: below is my new ending for requests -- not directed at the asker specifically, just a method to promote my Patreon.)

Want more prompts? At the $10 Tier on Patreon, patrons receive 10-15 prompts for every request!

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coochiequeens · 4 years

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Hinamatsuri (雛祭り, Hina-matsuri), also called Doll's Day or Girls' Day, is a special day in Japan.[1] Celebrated on 3 March of each year,[2]platforms covered with a red carpet-material are used to display a set of ornamental dolls (雛人形, hina-ningyō) representing the Emperor, Empress, attendants, and musicians in traditional court dress of the Heian period.

The earliest record of displaying the dolls as part of the Peach Festival comes from 1625, for Emperor Go-Mizunoo's daughter Oki-ko. Imperial court ladies set up equipment for her to engage in doll play (雛遊び, hina asobi). After Oki-ko succeeded her father as the Empress Meishō, Hinamatsuri legally became the name of the holiday in 1687. Doll-makers began making elaborate dolls for the festival (some growing as tall as 3 feet (1 meter) high before laws were passed restricting their size) and over time, the hinazakari evolved to include fifteen dolls and their accessories. As dolls became more expensive, tiers were added to the hinadan so that the expensive ones could be placed out of the reach of young children.[6]

During the Meiji period as Japan began to modernize and the emperor was restored to power, Hinamatsuri was deprecated in favor of new holidays that focused on the emperor's supposed bond with the nation, but it was revived. By focusing on marriage and families, it represented Japanese hopes and values, and as the dolls were said to represent the emperor and empress, it also fostered respect for the throne. The holiday then spread to other countries via the Japanese diaspora, although it remains confined to immigrant Japanese communities and their descendants.....see rest of article

#Girls day #hinamatsuri

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mythicaldemigoddess-of-deltarune · 2 years

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Credit For Helluva Boss & Hazbin Hotel goes to Vivziepop and Spindlehorse

Credit for The Smash Or Pass: Hazbin/Helluva Tier List Maker goes to SharkAxeSock ------------

I tried this out a few days ago on that TierMaker...

and yeah I put Ozzie and Fizzy as the....you know Smash and Marry one...

but then I put them in the Double Pass, like there are two versions...

where they are in the Smash/Marry and the other is Double Pass.

feelings for those two, and well The Embodiment Of Lust, would be like complex.

it’s like that song “Hot N Cold” by Katy Perry, or like the song “Take A Hint” by Victoria Justice & Elizabeth Gillies.

and if I had to describe my feelings for any version of Asmodeus,

it would be “10 Things I Hate About You” by Leah Kate.

I’m a Earth Angel (a Defective one that doesn’t work as perfectly as other Earth Angels), and my Blood Type is O RH D Negative, well I’m still procrastinating in checking to see if my blood type will turn out O RH D Negative for a third time.....I will try to get around to it when I can...

I mean I know the last few times I tried, and half of them didn’t turn out very well, and only two might of turned out okay, but I would end up feeling not so great and I would have to either go lay down or sit down or be close to some cool air.

and I have to keep my eyes closed half the time and we did find out it works better if we get the blood from my left hand instead because it being closer to the heart.

and I guess I do have a small crush on both Ozzie and Fizzy, and well there are different levels of crushes, and we know that a lot of fans have fallen for the whole Ozzie x Fizzy ship.

I think that I made the right call, by placing Alastor in the “Date” part...

at least he wouldn’t try do anything and maybe he would respect the whole me not wanting to be touched at times and the times when I really need space and me time.

if Angel’s brother Arackniss was in as one of the choices, I would put him along with the “Date”...

if Ozzie and Fizzy were real, and they tried anything with me, I would slap both their hands away, all while saying “No Touchy”

and well if I were able to or allowed to, I would probably try that with the Real Life Asmodeus, and yeah if I were allowed to, if Jesus and Antichrist ever crossed a line....I still want to grab both of them by the ears.

I’m weird and those are the weird thoughts that come to my mind...

i can still believe in Jesus, but with some info I found that has to do with him, makes me want to grab him by his ear and scold him.

and if he is a descendant of King David as well, then he is still technically family.

I still see me being a descendant of King Solomon more of a blessing than a curse, so jokes on the ones from back in those ancient times and those in this modern times who still view being a descendant of King Solomon as a curse.

cause to me it’s a freaking blessing, means I don’t have to take that throne.

don’t know how that Toxic-Religious person who made me feel really bad before, by repeatedly misusing the words “may god have mercy on you” or “may the lord have mercy on you” at me, I know it was one of those two...

would feel or think about that info, well so long as I don’t run into them on here it should be good.

I mean they didn’t have to misuse those words at me, just because I believe in a Goddess now too, but they did and even if I tried to point out it was hurting my feelings, they kept throwing those misuse words at me, and I had to block them because they kept throwing those misused words at me, even when I pointed out it was hurting my feelings and making me cry.

even if not everyone who is religious is like a bad toxic type, there are some that wont listen to reason and will cause some kind of trauma to those who are religious or not religious, and there was no reasoning with that Toxic-Religious Jerk who couldn’t take a bloody hint that they were doing more harm than good.

there could be a lot of people that went through that, not just me.

anyway as weird as it is to say, and even if it were true...

if the whole how Solomon met one of his future wives is true, that it was because of Asmodeus, that would mean that The Embodiment of Lust is the reason why my Ancestor and Ancestress ended up together.

I mean if the story are true, and I know that Lady Godiva is one of my Ancestresses and the whole “Peeping Tom” came from a story that had involved her.

so maybe the story behind that whole Peeping Tom thing, could hold some truth as well.

picture Asmodeus fainting if Fizzy tells him that he accidentally played match maker for two people that would end up being my Ancestors, well mine and a few others who are Solomon’s descendants as well.

well we do know that Asmodeus of Helluva Boss, is like a Ficto-Counterpart of the Other Asmodeus....and Ozzie is suppose to be like the King of The Lust Ring...

who knows if there will be a King Solomon in Helluva Boss or Hazbin Hotel, but if there were, it would probably be like a parody song of “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” from the Encanto Movie

like picture Stolas and Stella singing the first part of the parody version of the song that goes “We Don’t Talk About Solomon”....

picture Ozzie being the Dolores and Fizzy being Mariano in that parody.

I’m weird and that might be the weirdest and awesome thought that comes to my mind, but it’s okay that not everyone likes that idea.

anyway maybe some will find it amusing that I put both Fizzarolli and Asmodeus in both Smash/Marry and Double Pass, well not sure if many will find that a little amusing...

instead of posting the two versions separately, I decided to post them together.

and if a Earth Angel did fall in love with Asmodeus, like let’s say hypothetically...

the song that might fit in that situation would be this...

“I Wont Say I’m In Love” from Disney’s Hercules Movie.

anyway I’m going to go watch a movie now, I might sign back on tomorrow or the day after tomorrow to check out more art on here and maybe post some theories and fan art.

also don’t read too much about that whole Earth Angel falling in love with Asmodeus thing, I did say it was hypothetically.

#helluva boss #hazbin hotel #smash or pass #tier maker #asmodeus helluva boss #fizzarolli helluva boss #blitzo helluva boss #robo fizz helluva boss #alastor hazbin hotel #husk hazbin hotel #vortex helluva boss #tom trench hazbin hotel #wally wackford helluva boss #vox hazbin hotel #collin helluva boss #sir pentious hazbin hotel #striker helluva boss #mature audiences only #do not reblog without permission

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architectuul · 4 years

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FOMA 41: In Search Of Theatrical Halls

Lemonot, a tandem that meets between architecture and performative arts to trigger and celebrate the spontaneous theatre of everyday life, is presenting five Forgotten Masterpieces that shaped their modus operandi.

The first cholets were sighted almost fifteen years ago by Freddy Mamani Silvestre. | Photo © Lemonot

Five architectures seem at first glance completely disconnected, they are located in five different cities, designed by different architects, with different programs in diverse historical times. Yet they’re all united by the presence of prominent public interiors with a strong emphasis on the use of unique spatial languages, that make them great examples to investigate how to stage alternative forms of theatricality beyond specific theatre architecture.

In his “Texts on Theatre” describes Jacques Copeau how architecture doesn’t simply contain the drama but produces it, by co-creating its meanings, conventions and aesthetics. Staging a performance, Copeau continues, “is about acting in architecture: it is a practice that demands we pay attention to distance, scale, style, person-to-volume ratio and the immaterial architectures of light, heat and sound. Furthermore, using performativity as a design tool outside the boundaries of fictional scenographies leads to real yet unconventional spatial experiences.”

Indeed, the uncanny linguistic features of these buildings, in terms of geometry, colors, materiality or the clash between architectural layout and designated purpose, affect the way people inhabit them, enabling a peculiar acting in space as the performing of collective rituals and daily routines.

The Solimene Factory was born from the friendship of Vincenzo Solimene, called “Il Vasaio” (the Pottery Maker) and Paolo Soleri, who in 1950 traveled to Italy with the purpose to learn the art of pottery. Solimene entrusted him with the first and only project carried out in Europe, allowing him to design the factory for the production of ceramics.

Circular bases of round terra-cotta vases are embedded in the concrete cladding and decorate the facade. | Photo © Luca Bullaro

The building is as if carved into the rocks overlooking the sea, incorporating the objects it produces. From the outside a bright enamels mosaic in the form of a drapery, almost as a garment giving a hint of what is produced inside, constructed with sixteen thousand waste vases, glazed in copper green or in simple terra-cotta embedded into the facade.

Facade and section. | Photo © Luca Bullaro, © Cosanti Foundation

If the outside is wavy and sinuous like the Amalfi domes, the inside is geometric and defines the space towards the center. This fifteen meters central skylight illuminates the objects that are produced every day by expert hands. The interior, flared upwards, follows the same archaic principle of the object that is produced: the growth of the vase on the lathe. The ramp going through the floors, defines the four stages of ceramic processing and allows us to better observe the thousands of coloured and painted dishes, cups and vases.

The pieces are fired at the top floors and slowly come down to be painted in the main atrium, as you descend into the building you see this chromatic and also geometric change - from the material to its final creation. The building accompanies you throughout the production of a single object - starting with the terracotta and gradually seeing its final shape and colours. The objects become part of this scenography, framed in every gaze. They’re simultaneously actors and props that drive the public - constraining you to squeeze and linger among them. It is an architecture that screams the craft made with hands, which is still in full fervor today.

The building received the ASA Architectural Conservation Award in 2012. | Photo © Antoine Lassus

The Scala Theatre in Bangkok was without doubt the grand old theater and the finest movie theater left in Southeast Asia. Named after the Teatro della Scala in Milan, it first opened in 1969, showing the American civil war movie “The Undefeated”. Unfortunately, it has been recently closed down, probably due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and changing consumer preferences.

Its wonder is certainly due to the central location in Bangkok, one of the most chaotic cities in the world. The most interesting part of the building is not the enclosed screening hall. Rather, it’s the covered yet open foyer, whose elegant and geometric interiors are constantly and directly contrasted by the noise of the mopeds, by the smell of street food grills and tropical plants that can be seen from the windows. Its relationship with the city is definitely theatrical.

The foyer consists of a huge domed ceiling, set up with bronzed art deco flowers. | Photo © Antoine Lassus

In the past these kinds of theaters were usually situated in city centers and markets, where they became community gathering points as they supported the theater and the community. In this line, the foyer of Scala theatre acts as a proper public space, as a shaded portico that offers shelter from the heat of Bangkok. This is reflected in its overwhelming but at the same time welcoming decorations - columns that drop from the ceiling, lights in the shape of geometric flowers, floors and walls covered with velvet fabric. Thai culture is eccentric, it is flamboyant and greets you by dominating your senses.

The architecturally significant cinema’s Art Deco stylings and interiors were designed by Jira Silpkanok, which with its velvet curtains, veteran ushers, and vast auditorium, evoked the golden age of film exhibition. Specifically, the foyer consists of a huge domed ceiling, set up with bronzed art deco flowers. You are conquered by the vaulted windows that frame Bangkok as a choreographed spectacle - by the different types of textures both on the base of the columns outlining the shadows. Two stairways converge at the top taking you to the second floor, while almost touching the long chandelier that illuminates the center. A visionary architecture, where as soon as you enter it seems to be in a ship, or a spaceship.

The Bellini Theater in Palermo was first called Teatro Travaglino, from the name of a Sicilian burlesque mask. A hidden truth is hidden in its name since the theater has had to change many faces throughout the centuries. Destroyed several times by earthquakes and wars and many times rebuilt and renamed, looking for a new identity. What we have today is an incomparable Architectural stratigraphy of historical facts.

The theatre was an open living room in between privately owned palaces where the public could go in for the first time. | Photo © Lemonot

The theater has been literally carved inside a noble dwelling, the gallery and the stage are built between private houses, in fact it is still possible to see the windows of the neighbors that overlooked the main stage. It was entertaining popular operas and due to this fact, the space was constructed around a small stage with few wooden benches. Initially the main gallery had only festive purposes, banquets were set up and dances were often opened; it is only later that great artists were presented and therefore had a primarily cultural purpose.

Destroyed, rebuilt and renamed. | Photo © Lemonot

Over time Marquises of Santa Lucia sacrificed part of their palace to build in 1726 a classic Italian-style theater with 4 tiers of boxes and entirely in decorated wood, it was called the theater of St. Lucia. The need for a more refined theater for the Elitè was entrusted to the royal architect Nicolò Puglia who accommodated more than 500 spectators.

Due to the disastrous earthquake that struck Palermo in 1726, the theater remained closed for several years, reopened only in 1742, enlarged and restored again, incorporating some neighboring houses of the Marquis Bellaroto.

In 1943 during the second world war it was also requisitioned by the US military and used as a movie theater for soldiers. In 1964 the building was damaged by a fire and subsequently recovered thanks to the intervention of the Teatro Biondo Stabile in Palermo and thanks to the professionalism of its director Claudio Grasso who regained the license from the Palermo police headquarters and returned the theater to its original function in 1980 until 2014.

It was reopened as a permanent exhibition venue. | Photo © Lemonot

Since 2019 is hosting a mixed-media installation designed by Alfredo Jarr. This operation led to many controversies - since part of Palermo’s cultural community stated that a theatre should be open only for spectacles and actual plays. The theatre layout and the museographic stage set affect and update each other in a very interesting way: the usual relationship between the proscenium (the place for the spectacle) and the platea (the place for the audience) is inverted, since the public gathers to admire the exhibition from the first, while the artworks are hosted in the latter, emptied of chairs’ rows.

Furthermore, this peculiar theatrical framework, shifting the way we look at the artifacts, activates a spontaneous layer of performativity, otherwise left behind in most traditional museum environments.

The Cistern Chapel or the Sewage Cathedral is a former pumping station designed by chief engineer Sir Joseph Bazalgette and architect Charles Henry Driver. Its construction became necessary in response to the the Great Stink of 1858.

The meticulous designs and bright colors have made the Crossness Pumping Station a real Victorian-style gem. | Photo © Lemonot

Its construction became necessary when the Thames became particularly polluted enough to raise a putrid smell throughout the city. The situation was aggravated by the unusually hot climate that hit the English capital and made the stench even stronger and unpleasant. To solve the problem, the Bazalgette plan consisted in the construction of two sewers to be placed in the outermost areas of the city. One of these was the Crossness Pumping Station which, at the time, had the function of draining the putrid waters to the east by running clean water into the Thames.

The complex is covered with decorations surrounded by cast ironworks forming columns rising up from the ground floor. | Photo © Lemonot

An architecture is made of joints and unconscious paths following geometric shapes and colored corners. The light is drawn to the central octagonal arcade, which supports a frieze of regimented yet twisting leaves and tendrils and on each column flowers, leafs and fruits decorate the capitals. At the time, the highly crafts fancy curlicues of cast iron weren’t seen as an unnecessary expense - it was the first time for such functional purpose to build with opulent and organic decoration of this kind.

Indeed, there is a great sacral charge within the main octagonal space that encourages the people to gather between the columns, inviting you to look up but also to hide among the industrial spaces - that become almost domestic. All four engines were named after members of the royal family; Victoria, Albert Edward and Alexandra: for this reason the choice of colors, materials and different patterns follows a specific narrative, becoming a built embodiment of their personalities. The spatial elements are actually personified, transformed into architectural characters.

Sprawled over a high plateau above La Paz, El Alto is arguably Latin America’s largest indigenous city. At an altitude of 4800 m, colorful buildings arise and geometric facades are visible from the teleferico travelling above the altiplano. The first cholets, also called New Andean architectures, were sighted almost fifteen years ago by Freddy Mamani Silvestre. Since then, they proliferated: various architects have appropriated them in terms of style and copied them typologically.

Cholets became expressions of wealth and cultural pride after centuries of oppression and colonialism. | Photo © Lemonot

Cholet is a portmanteau of the high-class chalet - the pitched roofs of these mansions resemble the ones of Swiss cottages and the derogatory cholo, a racist slang for an indigenous person. Mamani ‘s buildings have a common language, two or three storey and a ballroom on the highest ceiling room filled with Andean symbols, casted columns and windows with different geometrical profiles cutting the whole space. Using the colors of textiles are tracing inspiration from traditional garments and folkloric masks. These ballrooms are identified not only through iconographies but also by the use they make of it - from dances to ceremonies, to domestic inhabitation, to basketball courts or swimming pools.

Cholets are always designed in close contact with the buyer, triggering a personal and almost process of embodiment of the owner with the building itself. The building is to produce income. On the roof is our own home. The spatial experience can be read in completely opposite way, during the day the light from outside is absorbed by the colors and it seems to be in a video game, a confetti space. As soon as darkness falls, the LED lights direct you into the ballroom and surround every architectural element.

Not only the architecture itself is ornamental but the eccentricity with which the Aymara use and change the program of the space. The one of cholets is a controversial phenomenon, that nonetheless portrays the political, social and economic contemporaneity in Bolivia. On an urban level the cholets have become a symbol, recognizable monuments - able to immediately recall Andean identity nationally and internationally. Ultimately, the architecture of Crucero del Sur speaks the same language of the ceremonies that take place inside it. In these exuberant interiors, matter and performance achieved an absolute reciprocity.

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#FOMA 41: Sabrina Morreale and Lorenzo Perri

Sabrina Morreale and Lorenzo Perri are architects, educators and co-founders of Lemonot, a design and research platform based in London. Hungry observers and compulsive collectors of anthropic mirabilia, they’re interested in all those iconographic gestures that enable the mutual immanence among objects, bodies and rituals. Their academic research focuses on contemporary folklore as a trigger for unconventional spatial languages, between geometrical abstraction and material figurativism. They’re Programme Heads of the AA Visiting school El Alto and currently teach at the Architectural Association and the University of Applied Arts Vienna.

#foma #forgotten masterpieces

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themissinglynx · 5 years

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Let’s Worldbuild a Warriors AU - What’s in a Name

Within the Clans of the Vale, names carry great significance. They’re used to quickly identify key aspects of a felid’s identity such as appearance, personality or skillset, homeland, and rank within the clan.

History

The felids who lived in the Vale before the Gray Family’s arrival had a general unspoken rule when it came to naming their children, name according to color. However, this was not always the case, as with two kittens the Gray Family met named Birch and Alder.

The origin of the two-part name came from the Gray Family, who came from a culture with fanciful names such as Quickwater, Sunshadow, and Graywing. Occasionally a felid would be named after their color, but not often.

The blend of these two traditions produced the two-part naming system. Kittens were named according to their appearance (a red kitten named Fire, a black kitten named Rook, and a tortoiseshell named Dapple). Originally, suffixes had no meaning and it was generally “anything goes”. Fire-eyes, Rookflight, and Dapplepelt, while seemingly normal names to onlookers, would be seen as odd and unfitting names to descendants of the Vale.

As the ages went on, gaining the second part of one’s name was used as a rite of passage, reserved for adults and accepted members of clan life. Leaders and deputies began using certain suffixes to quietly mean certain things. “Snow is pretty quick on her feet, so her name is Snowbreeze.” It soon became common practice that the suffix was to be symbolic of a felid’s skill, personality, or general competence. Just after the written word was invented, suffixes became somewhat standardized. Clans and deputies still had their own personal flourishes, such as the case with Thunderclan using -thorn as a substitute for “skilled fighter” and with Riverclan’s use of -song to replace -throat.

Upon the Fall of Skyclan, Cloudpath the Crownless forged the Vanguard, a training regime taught by skilled monster slayers for the purposes of teaching felids how to adequately handle monsters so another clan doesn’t fall. Only felids who’ve already earned their full name are permitted to join as to not endanger apprentices. Upon the first fireteam’s graduation from the regime, a new usage came to old, discarded suffixes and suffix system was re-standardized. Upon becoming adults, a felid would gain a body part suffix, such as -tail for agility or -heart for a strong moral code. Upon graduating the Vanguard, a felid would gain a more metaphorical name, like -bark and -rock for those same meanings.

Warrior and guardian names do not correlate. “Adderfang” does not mean “has fangs like an adder”, but instead means “dark brown tabby warrior with a temper”. Likewise, “Sandstorm“ and “Lionblaze” both mean “cream guardian with a temper”. The only exception is names based on life-threatening injuries, such as “Halftail”, “Tornear”, or “Crookedjaw”.

Prefixes

The Vale is a vague temperate/subtropical forest region, including flora and fauna from Eastern America, Central Europe, South Island New Zealand, Eastern China, and Japan. Any given animal or plant that can be found in those regions can be found there or in the surrounding area.

Some prefixes can have multiple meanings, as is the case with Dandelion-. It can be given to gold felids in reference to the flower and to white felids in reference to the fluff. Another example is the prefix Fox-, which can mean “a red felid with a white belly” in reference to the red fox, or can mean “a dilute tortoiseshell” in reference to the gray fox. Some names imply pattern, like Birch- means a gray tabby and other tree prefixes. Mothers prefer to not name their kittens after “filthy” bugs, such as mosquitoes, flies, and the like, but will name them after butterflies, spiders, bees, and others.

Prefixes that are too broad of a category such as Flower-, Bark-, and Bird- are not used. Words used in biomes such as Lake-, Meadow-, River-, or Marsh- are also not used because it’s a biome, not a plant or animal that can be boiled down into a simple color or two. Things that don’t have a color or change color too often are not used, such as Sky-, Wind-, Ripple-, Thunder-, and Breeze-.

The prefixes Sun-, Moon-, Star-, and Shadow- are not used due to the first three being sacred and the last one the name of a clan, which would be considered rude.

Names of abstract concepts such as Brave-, Quiet-, and Kind- are not acceptable as they do not have a color and will often be rebelled against by the kitten in question.

Suffixes

The role of the suffix is to identify a felid’s rank and individuality. A felid earns their suffix through their own merit and not being named after another. Suffixes come in three tiers: skill, personality, and appearance.

Skill suffixes are the highest tier and are given the highest priority. Felids with this suffix are normally specialists and don’t venture too far from the roles their skill makes easy.

-claw: A felid skilled in fighting. Felids with this suffix are usually large and burly, but can sometimes be brilliant strategists. They normally escort weaker members of society from settlement to settlement, such as young mothers, kittens, elders, shamans, and healers with their sick. -claw felids are the ones most likely to join the Vanguard. It’s unusual to see an older felid who hasn’t joined the Vanguard. Guardians with this suffix are named -thorn, -briar, -burr, -rose, and -thistle.

-foot: A particularly swift felid. Felids with this suffix are usually lean and muscled in the legs. Many -foot felids become messengers for inter-clan communications. Guardians with this suffix are named -breeze, -dust, or -bolt.

-leg: A felid strong at swimming. Felids with this suffix normally have strong limbs and carry a bit of fat on their bodies. An overwhelming majority of -leg felids are from Riverclan, but some Shadowclan felids gain it from time to time. Guardians with this suffix are named -water, -brook, -stream, and -creek.

-maw: A shaman skilled in hearing the voices of the gods. This suffix is sparse among shamans, but it does spring up every couple of generations. Shamans with -maw are highly revered by the spiritual or judged with contempt by the skeptical. Guardians with this suffix are named -feather and -light.

-nose: A felid skilled in tracking. Felids with this suffix are normally hunters, trappers, foragers, and those sent to find little Dawnkit who ran off a few hours ago. They tend to be very detail-oriented and often wear clothes with fanciful embroidery. Guardians with this suffix are named -shade or -ivy.

-tail: A felid with great agility or dexterity. Felids with this suffix have a similar body structure to -foot felids, but are generally smaller. -tail felids normally are messengers, hunters, or trailblazers. Guardians with this suffix are named -bark or -branch.

-throat: A felid skilled in the art of the voice. This suffix can be given to bards, diplomats, linguists, storytellers, or just those who are well-spoken. -throat felids are often revered for their wisdom and knowledge and those who earned it for their diplomacy skills often become captain or leader of their clan. Guardians with this suffix are named -voice or -song.

-tongue: A felid skilled in healing and medicinery. Felids with this suffix tend to be one of two personality types: sweet and optimistic, or the most brutally honest personality you’d ever met. There is no in-between. Guardians with this suffix are named -root, -leaf, or -berry.

-whisker: A prudent hunter. Felids with this suffix are much like -nose felids, but tend to be more simple and pragmatic. They are almost always hunters, but some become herdsmen. Guardians with this suffix are named -dawn and -dusk.

Personality suffixes comprise of the second tier. Felids in this category tend to have a wider range of roles in society, but some of them give them an inclination to narrower roles.

-back: A felid skilled in teaching apprentices and older kittens. These felids are normally no-nonsense and thrive in the teaching of young minds. Older kittens, apprentices, and young warriors heed their words and instructions. Kittens who may be difficult apprentices will often be given to -back felids as mentors. Guardians with this suffix are named -stone or -rain.

-belly: A felid with a nurturing personality. It’s essentially the younger version of -back and mollies tend to earn this suffix more often than toms. -belly felids can be dismissed as being soft baby-makers, but those who dismiss them tend to forget about the rage of a mother ursa. Most -belly felids will take to domestic services, spinning thread, weaving blankets or baskets, looking after the kittens of the settlement and teaching them life lessons. The role of laying the groundwork for a kitten’s life is integral to any society, one that -belly is meant to honor. Guardians with this suffix are named -flower or -moss.

-fang: A felid with a turbulent disposition that tends to mellow out over the years. These felids are full of energy in their youth and are often easily pissed off, mostly because of their impatience. They tend to be great motivators, if only because that means they’ll finally shut up about the lost sheep or why don’t the leaders kiss and make up already or why can’t Pebblepaw get the goshdang maneuver right it’s so simple! However, as the years pass, their temperament will calm down. It’s nothing like a -pad felid’s calmness, but it’s a welcome one nonetheless. They tend to do a lot of jobs in society, everything from messengers to hunters to cotton seed pickers. A lot of them find the hated job somewhat calming, probably because they’re sent to do it so often. Guardians with this suffix are named -storm or -blaze.

-flank: An optimistic felid with a comforting disposition. Morale has to stay up and these felids are generally the ones to do so. They like pranks and puns and silly stories, but also seem to know the right words to say to a grieving felid. -flank felids take up many roles in society, it wouldn’t do justice to list them all here. Guardians with this suffix are named -shine or -blossom.

-heart: A felid with a strong moral code and/or sense of justice. These felids are much like -fang felids in that they tend to be great motivators, but alternatively, they can be great deputies, captains, and leaders. -heart felids tend to be very outspoken and confident in themselves and are very popular choices in leadership roles, for better or worse. Guardians with this suffix are named -spark or -rock.

-pad: A patient, calm, and gentle felid. These felids tend to be rather emotionally stable compared to others. When they show strong negative emotions, it’s telling that something genuinely is wrong and action must be taken soon. They tend to make friends easily, even in other clans. -pad felids can be good babysitters or substitute mentors, while others like the company of animals like sheep, goats, or rabbits. Guardians with this suffix are named -cloud, -frost, or -mist.

Appearance suffixes comprise of the third tier. These are for felids who are now adults, but don’t show any skills or personality that a suffix may cover. Many of these can be jack-of-all-trades sorts and fulfill many jobs throughout clan life. Instead of organizing alphabetically, I’ll organize by priority.

-face: A particularly beautiful or handsome felid or one who models the clan ideal. It’s essentially a more flattering -fur or -pelt. -face felids don’t normally become guardians, so the less than a handful of times a -face guardian has graduated, they were named -soul, much to the disdain of other felids.

-stripe: A tabby with distinct stripes. Will be ignored in favor of -fur or -pelt if the prefix already alludes to this (such as Oak-). Guardians with this suffix are named -fern or -grass.

-spot: A spotted felid. Can refer to spotted tabbies or white cats with spots of other colors in their fur. Will be ignored in favor of -fur or -pelt if the prefix already alludes to this (such as Lynx-). Guardians with this suffix are named -dew.

-speck: A speckled felid. Is much like -spot, but has smaller spots. Will be ignored in favor of -fur or -pelt if the prefix already alludes to this (such as Sparrow-). Guardians with this suffix are named -flake.

-patch: A white felid with patches of another color. Will be ignored in favor of -fur or -pelt if the prefix already alludes to this (such as Swift-). Guardians with this suffix are named -puddle.

-fur: A competent longhaired adult. Guardians with this suffix are named -tuft.

-pelt: A competent shorthaired adult. Guardians with this suffix are named -coat.

All the suffixes mentioned here neatly fit into the “other” category. (Note felids age differently than humans do, so some ages will be skewed.)

-kit: A member of the clan under ten years old. They’re not allowed outside of their settlement without adult supervision. Older kittens commonly assist with domestic life, but still have plenty of time to be kids. Once they turn eight, they occasionally sleep with the apprentices to get used to being away from their parents or guardians.

-paw: A member of the clan between ten and fifteen years old. They all sleep in a single hut in their settlement. Generally, they’re not allowed outside the settlement without adult supervision. Before becoming a warrior, the deputy will assign them a task, be it organizing and leading a patrol on their own, sparring with a -claw or the deputy, escorting the shamans on their daily tasks, or simply doing domestic work.

-path: The leader of a clan. Leaders are most commonly the previous captain of the clan, and captains a former deputy. Most leaders are respected for their charisma, wisdom, and diligence. Many of them have spouses and families of their own, but all of them have mentored at least one apprentice. A leader does not have the gift of nine lives, but one would be rightly mistaken if one were to read their literature.

-spirit: A kitten or apprentice who died. This is tied to a religious belief that the gods will only bring warriors into Starclan. Upon a body’s (or whatever scraps of a corpse they can find) cremation, the shaman renames the kitten or apprentice -spirit as the flames consume the dead.

-ear, -eye, -face, -foot, -jaw, -pelt, -tail: The most common suffixes of renames. If an apprentice or warrior survives a life-threatening injury, they’re given the choice to take on a name that fits their new description, like Tatteredpelt or Clawedface. No one’s pressured to do it, but due to the aforementioned religious belief, apprentices are a little more fussed over if they qualify for a rename. Their injuries are nothing to be shamed about, but instead are a celebration of the felid’s survival.

Other Notes

Normally, felids don’t name their kids after others as to not strip their child’s individuality and in the early days, there was a tradition of no repeated prefixes within the clan as to not cause confusion. However, since clans have gotten much larger than forty felids per clan, this tradition is largely ignored. If there happen to be two felids from different clans with the same name, say, Robinpelt, they’ll introduce themselves as, “Robinpelt of Windclan”. If there are two felids from the same clan, they’ll use the name of their location or their occupation as part of their name, “Robinpelt of Hollow Village” or “Robinpelt the Smith”. Sometimes, if married to someone important, their title will evoke the name of their spouse, “Robinpelt, Wife/Husband to Darkpath”.

By the time an apprentice nears their graduation, they have a good idea as to what their warrior name will be. Warrior ceremonies are performed by the local deputy and sometimes the captain. Shamans perform the ceremonies for their own apprentices and for new leaders. Leaders perform ceremonies for new guardians.

In the Tongue of the Vale, there are two spellings for words a felid can be named after: one for being used as a name (the old words) and the other referring to the actual plant, animal, color, element, etc (the evolved words). Most are pronounced the same, but words used for names are spelled conservatively with old spellings. An example using our own language is as the following:

“Wait, so you’re saying that I have to spell my name ‘Aakclwu’, even though we don’t say it like that anymore, even though my name is ‘Oakclaw’? That tree over there is spelled O-A-K, this thing on my finger is spelled C-L-A-W. Why is my name spelled ‘Aakclwu’??”

Linguists and scribes are trying to update the language to be more user-friendly, such as scrapping conservative spellings in favor of the evolved words and updating words that evolved from consonant and vowel shifts. Shadow and Thunderclan, as a whole, don’t really like this, but Riverclan is quite pleased about the update.

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theblackbookofarkera · 4 years

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Rotokosan

The state religion of the Morotoko Empire Rotokosan has rapidly spread, becoming an opposing force to the Erushan faith of the Ashonki Empire. The religion’s founder is also the political founder of the Morotoko Empire, Ifu the Pale. Born a slave and stricken with albinism, Ifu was put on display for his physical malformation where he suffered mockery and degradation. During his years of torment he was receiving visitations from his departed grandfather who gave him the strength to carry on. In his final visitation Ifu’s grandfather brought him a gift from Mama Tokko, a shard of godhood. Imbued with a shard of power from the goddess of all things Rotokosan escaped bondage into the wilds of Hypraxia.

An orator of preternatural ability and miracle maker Ifu sparked a great rebellion uniting hundreds of tribes and clans against the corruption of the Ashonki Empire and kingdom of Tha’raka. After Ifu led his rebels to victory and founded the Morotoko Empire and ruled for a near half century as a living god. In his five decades of rule his teachings would become the contemporary religion of Rotokosan.

In Rotokosan the universe was born in chaos and destruction after a previous existence consumed itself in cosmic wrath and despair. Pure divine power was shattered into untold trillions of shards each one resonating with raw power. A young goddess of life and creation guided by an inner voice collected a great number of these shards, bedeviled by corrupt and evil beings seeking the power for themselves. With cunning and might she defeated her enemies and gathered enough raw power to light a mighty flame in the center of creation banishing the unholy eldritch powers to the shadowy corners of creation.

At the heart of the religion is the belief that every person is on a journey with the goal to find these divine shards to bring about wisdom and enlightenment. These shards can be gained in a myriad of ways beyond faith and religious devotion including selfless deeds, courage in battle or the mastering of one’s craft. Some are born able to grasp these shards easier than others, it is their responsibility to lead and pull others out of darkness. Those who shepherd the ignorant are the blessed servants of Mama Tokko and brave guardians of the divine light in a dark universe.

Rotokosan teaches personal achievement for the benefit of the whole, those who use achievements for personal gain or to harm others walk the dark path. Rotokosan recognizes hundreds of dark gods and beings by name but collectively know them as the Shadow Chorus. The Shadow Chorus sing their dark hymns from their shadowy corners of creation luring the souls of the weak away from the light into their service.

Henotheistic in nature Rotokosan does not deny the existence of other gods going as far as recognizing some of them as good. However none of these other beings have as many shards of the old wisdom as Mama Tokko and thus inferior. Adherents of Rotokosan largely respect other faiths, rarely attempting to assert the dominance of Mama Tokko over their respective deities. Not a well known religion beyond the continent of Hypraxia missionaries of the faith concentrate their efforts on converting those within the Morotoko Empire to further unify the rising nation.

The Rotokosan afterlife is one of many tiers depending on how many shards of divinity one has acquired in life. For those who led simple lives a gentle paradise awaits them where they will be given further opportunities to elevate their soul. As one ascends higher in the afterlife the more powerful they become eventually suckling at the breast of Mama Tokko, the highest place for any mortal soul. As one can ascend they can also descend farther down the ladder to realms of abandonment and torment. The farther a mortal soul descends down the ladder the worse the torment becomes until there is no hope for redemption...only eternal night in the darkest gulfs of the universe where the Shadow Chorus sings.

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lemonjoonah · 4 years

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Okay so must be an idiot or really out of the know. But can you explain the ranking system and letters and numbers in the tier maker? I couldn’t figure out if it was ascending or descending or what was good or bad. I am very confuzled.

No problem anon! I had to double check myself before I started to fill it out 😅.

The Tier ranking system is much like the letter grade system only now there is a grade above A which is S tier, often considered the god-like tier and the epitome of perfection! The rest of the letters follow in order with D being the lowest and considered a no go for the ranker.

Hope that helps! 😊

#the colours just fall in line with the colour spectrum so red is still representitive of top tier #anon #lemon explains #tier lists

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sparrowmoth · 4 years

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I ranked all 52 ships from the tier list maker I created because I have zero chill.

Mutuals, please tag me if you decide to do this! It’s fun to see the results. <3

#descendants #descendants fandom #anti-devie #I don't like the other NOTPs #but I only really hate devie #anyway!!#had to make this complicated lol #just because a lot of ships I prefer in a poly context #and if they're not #well #I'm just not as invested #*shrug emoji*#tier list maker

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alexis-amour-blog · 6 years

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#cryptocurrency

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aion-rsa · 4 years

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How X of Swords Changed the Marvel Universe Future of the X-Men

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

After 22 chapters, Marvel’s massive X-Men crossover event, X of Swords has come to a close, and with it, the Dawn of X era. The story touched every book in the X-Men family and brought us answers to a few of the lingering questions that were casually tossed at the audience during House of X/Powers of X. But X of Swords asked more questions than it answered. And heading into the next phase of X-Mastermind Jonathan Hickman and the rest of the magnificent team of X-Men creators’ big plan, that’s a very good thing.

To set the stage going into Reign of X, we’ve decided to lay out some of the big questions asked in X of Swords (and by the Reign of X teaser image you see at the top of the page).

WHAT HAPPENED IN X OF SWORDS?

X of Swords was primarily three stories: Betsy Braddock’s journey towards fully becoming Captain Britain; Saturnyne trying to get Betsy to accept being Captain Britain (and trying to nail her brother Brian, the previous Captain Britain); and the payoff to the Krakoa/Arakko schism first introduced in Powers of X. It did all of those things magnificently, telling what ended up being a definitive Apocalypse story reuniting him with his long lost family, and reestablishing the Captain Britain Corps of multiversal guardians under Saturnyne’s control.

Along the way, the story also gave the X-team of creators a chance to cut loose and have a blast. The setup promised what was essentially a season of Dragon Ball Super in an X-Men comic: the battle for control of Krakoa and Arakko would come down to a tournament between 10 champions for each side, with each champion wielding a unique sword. The first half of the crossover followed several heroes as they tracked down their blades, and gave us some wonderful character moments with Magik, Cypher, Storm, the Braddocks, and others.

But once the tournament started, it ended up being the fighting equivalent of Whose Line Is It Anyway – the rules were made up and the points didn’t matter. There were definitely sword fights, and when they happened they were usually excellent, but there was also a drinking contest between Storm and Wolverine, and Gorgon and Magik did a jigsaw puzzle together, Doug married Bei the Blood Moon, and Gorgon banged a boulder.

When it came down to it, X of Swords was an Excalibur story, and it honored that book’s roots by being multiversal, very silly, and full of effective character growth. And very, very good.

In the end, Krakoa won the tournament when Apocalypse defeated his wife and the Annihilation Helm in single combat. Amenth did not take the loss well, and unleashed the full might of its army on Saturnyne and the Krakoans, but they were saved three times; first by the return of the full Captain Britain Corps; again when the X-Men rode in on the once and future S.W.O.R.D. headquarters and dumped a swarm of extradimensional cyborg virus people on the Amenthi monsters; and finally when Apocalypse claimed the Annihilation helmet, and ended the battle by surrendering to Saturnyne.

And at the end, when Saturnyne demanded an exchange of prisoners (sort of) between the two sides to seal the peace, Apocalypse decided to join his family on Amenth, and in return sent all of Arakko to join the Krakoans on Earth.

MILLIONS OF NEW MUTANTS AND A NEW LAND MASS JUST SHOWING UP IS PROBABLY GOING TO BE A THING, ISN’T IT?

For some people, sure. Presumably the already tense geopolitical situation created by a new mutant nation leveraging Krakoan superscience is going to have a little more pressure added to it when Krakoa doubles in physical size and adds millions of super powered beings born and raised in (approximately) hell.

Add to that the two open seats on the Quiet Council and you have a ton of politics that need examining, something that both X-Men and X-Force have done gladly since the relaunch.

WHAT TWO OPEN SEATS?

Apocalypse’s departure to wander Amenth with his wife and kids (honestly, this crossover is God-tier just for believably turning Apocalypse into a Wife Guy) left one Autumn seat open. The other open seat came when Marvel Girl joined Cyclops in some light insubordination at the climax of the story.

The Council repeatedly ruled against outside involvement in the Otherworld tournament – the 9 fighters could compete, but they weren’t sending anybody else (who mattered – more in a second), both because it wasn’t deemed safe for Krakoa to leave it unguarded, and because death on Otherworld scrambled the resurrection protocols. Cyclops and Marvel Girl decided that they couldn’t abide by that and rounded up an enormous crew of mutants, who they brought through on The Peak to save the day. However, when Marvel Girl joined, she resigned her seat on the Council.

That leaves two open seats, and speculation abounds about who might join their ranks.

The Spring seat vacated by Marvel Girl should be filled by someone with more traditional X-Men ties. Smart money here is on Angel, with Penance being another possible addition, in part because of the teaser. It looks like the long-rumored (and subtly referenced in Empyre: X-Men) X-Corp book is finally on its way, and we know that the heads of the mutants’ non-Hellfire corporate interests are Warren Worthington III and Monet St. Croix. They would be a logical addition and a nice counterbalance to the Hellfire Trading Company, which looks like it’s about to descend into chaos as Marauders follows up on Kitty Pryde’s murder at the hands of Sebastian Shaw from before the crossover.

Apocalypse’s seat is a complete wild card. Other Autumn seats are held by Professor X and Magneto, and with Apocalypse, the three represented three pillars of mutant philosophy. It’s not immediately clear who might be a suitable fit in that framework, but an Amenthi representative does make a certain amount of sense. Some have speculated Isca the Unbeaten might join the council, but I’m not sure the mutants would want to include in private strategic discussions someone whose mutant power compels them to switch sides if they’re going to lose.

WHAT IF THAT LAST SEAT GOES TO THE SHADOW KING?

Oh yeah that would really suck. Also, he’s prominently featured in the teaser, and it looks like he might be joining the cast of New Mutants when Vita Ayala takes over. That would be very, very bad. For the mutants. For us, that’s probably some good story.

WHAT HAPPENED TO BETSY?

It’s not entirely clear. She “died” in one of the earliest battles of the tournament, and we know from Rockslide’s death at the start of the crossover that dying on Otherworld scrambles your backups. What comes out of that egg is approximately whatever a slot machine that contains all of that person’s personalities from throughout the multiverse decides to shoot out.

However, when Captain Britain died in the tournament, she shattered into shards of stained glass. Shards that Saturnyne had collected, and then as all looked grim in the tournament, she pieced them back together and resurrected Betsy, and with her, a full Captain Britain Corps comprised of all the various Betsys from throughout the multiverse.

The Captain Britain Corps, as a refresher, was created by Merlin as a group of protectors of every corner of the omniverse. They served in that function largely uninterrupted until the multiverse was destroyed in Jonathan Hickman’s massive Avengers story that culminated in Secret Wars, when the Corps was demolished in battle by the Beyonders. That destruction caused Saturnyne to close off the Starlight Citadel and led to turmoil among the realms of Otherworld, so presumably the return of the Corps is going to help with stability there.

That said, Avalon is still governed by Jamie Braddock; Sevalith is a realm of vampires and has a possibly turned Death on it; Mercator is an unknown region, but sounds like it’s governed by another reality-altering omega mutant, Mister M; and the Crooked Market is administered by yet another reality warper, Mad Jim Jaspers. And Betsy Prime (or Betsy 616, as the main Marvel universe also reclaims its original number for the first time post-Secret Wars) is apparently missing. It would seem all of this will be followed up on in the pages of Tini Howard’s stellar Excalibur.

Skipping the obvious ones that are asked in the story – what kind of drama will grow out of Storm’s theft of the Wakandan sword; can Bei, Doug and Warlock manage a throuple; what happens when arakko and krakoa bang it out; where’s solem.

DID ALL THOSE HELLIONS DIE ON OTHERWORLD?

The only book that was functionally superfluous to X of Swords was Hellions, but that’s okay because it was such a riot. Mister Sinister gathered up his team on a Quite Council-sanctioned mission into Otherworld to try and steal the Amenthi swords before the tournament started. Unfortunately, they were extremely late and couldn’t do anything to help their Krakoan countrymen. On the other hand, that was exactly Sinister’s plan.

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Sinister went to Amenth to get genetic material from the Amenthi mutants, to add to his collection. While there, he and his team met Tarn the Uncaring, Sinister’s Amenthi equivalent. Tarn unleashed his Vile School mutants on the Hellions, and absolutely wrecked them: Nanny and Orphan Maker were killed very quickly; Wild Child stayed behind to buy Psylocke, Havok, Empath, and Greycrow time to escape with the genetic goods Sinister stole; and Sinister himself is pulled apart by Tarn in the fight (it’s fine, he was a clone).

However, it’s not entirely clear where those four died or if it will have any bearing on their resurrection (Sinister is fine, he’s got another clone waiting for the Hellions on the Krakoan side of the Otherworld gate so he can shoot them before they tell anyone what happened). Also, Tarn survived, and it looks like he’s coming back to haunt this team of misfits in upcoming issues of Hellions.

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Hail the Bless’d Morn Matthew 2:1-12; 1 Timothy 2:5-6 Sunday, January 5, 2020

We have turned the pages of our calendars and a new year has begun! Resolutions have been made…and perhaps already discarded. We look forward to opportunities that await and the transformation God will work in our lives this coming year.

The old has gone, the new has come, all this is from God!

We gather in worship to proclaim that our lives are shaped by the One we call “Maker and Monarch and Savior of all!”

We light this Christ candle acknowledging the work of the One who secured our reconciliation with God.

Christ has come! Christ will come again!

Hymn, Hail the bless’d morn, # 221

Does our worship service feel a bit weird or out of place today to anyone? Christmas was so last decade already! I don’t know about you, but we took down our Christmas Tree and put away our Christmas decorations on New Year’s Day, mostly because it’s convenient. I will admit to being quite surprised on Christmas evening when we were driving back to Roanoke that a few radio stations were still playing Christmas music. But here we are in worship, lighting the Advent candles one more time, enjoying the last piece of Christmas artwork on our bulletin cover, and singing a few more Christmas hymns.

I’m glad today feels a bit out of whack, because following Jesus ought to feel that way from time to time. If there is never a disconnect between what we do in here and what we encounter out there, we ought to wonder who or what is really Lord of our lives. The faith we profess ought to prick our consciences during the week, because we do worship the One described as “the great Mediator down from the region of glory descend!”

Regardless of the disconnect, we have arrived at the last hymn of our Advent-Christmas-Epiphany series: Hail the bless’d morn. Unlike some hymns, there isn’t really a story to this hymn. The hymn’s author, Reginald Heber (who is better known for his hymn Holy, Holy, Holy) simply wrote a hymn for congregations to sing at Epiphany.

For many of us Epiphany is a second- or third-tier Christian holiday that doesn’t get a lot of attention in our lives. Epiphany celebrates Jesus’ revelation as God incarnate and the visit of the Magi recorded in Matthew 2. Epiphany is technically tomorrow (January 6) but is often celebrated on the first Sunday of January.

The hymn begins by urging the shepherds to respond to the angels announcement of Jesus’ birth (in verse 1) before turning its attention to the wise men in verse 2:

Shall we not yield him, in costly devotion,

fragrance of Edom and off’rings divine,

gems of the mountain and pearls of the ocean,

myrrh from forest or gold from the mine.

But it is verse three that raises the significant point:

Vainly we offer each ample oblation,

vainly with gifts would his favor secure.

Richer by far is the heart’s adoration,

dearer to God are the pray’rs of the poor.

I know that it can be a challenge to connect hymn lyrics and Scripture texts to our faith especially when we’re singing a hymn for the first time. But I hope you see in these hymn verses some excellent questions: this is the choice the Magi wrestled with put onto our lips. How will we respond to Jesus? What does costly devotion look like in our lives filled with hectic work schedules and mortgage and college loan payments? How are we connecting our lives with Jesus’ life?

In researching this hymn, I read one article that suggested the unusual length is intentional: we are to realize the long journey the Magi made to offer these gifts, and then wonder what efforts we are making to offer gifts to this one who is “the great Mediator.” We’ve celebrated Christmas with hymns and songs and art and good food and family and friends. Many persons have made an attempt at New Year’s resolutions. But how will we honor Jesus in the life that we have?

Thinking about that question for a sermon celebrating Epiphany reminded me of how we tell the story of Jesus during Advent and Christmas. We normally begin the story of Jesus’ birth with Matthew and Luke:

“When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 1:18). Joseph decides to do what he thought to be the honorable thing and “dismiss her quietly.”

“In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee…to… Mary…you will conceive in your womb and bear a son” (Luke 1:26-31).

But telling the story another way—also from Scripture—really focuses in on the fact that Jesus’ beginnings are not like our beginnings. Our lives began at conception. But Jesus had a prior existence with God:

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1).

“…although he was in the form of God, [he] did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness” (Philippians 2:6-7).

It’s the same story, whichever way we tell it, and it’s the story for Epiphany. John’s prologue to his Gospel and Paul’s letters give some theological reflection to fill out the story for us.

And when Jesus was born into the world, things began happening. We might prefer the innocence of the babe in the manger and the delight of our children in the Christmas play. But why is it that Jesus is born? What is the significance of his name, Immanuel, “God-with-us”? Why is it that the Magi travelled a great distance—many miles and many months—to worship him? Why is King Herod afraid of this baby—how could a baby possibly threaten a tyrannical king?

The story of our faith must inevitably wrestle with the point that our relationship with God is broken. Too often, we go through our lives like the young plumber who saw Niagara Falls for the first time, pondered it for a minute, and said, “I think I can fix this.” Or we’re like the village priest who disappeared for a month. When he returned, everyone came by and expressed the deep concern they had felt over his disappearance. So he confessed to them, “I’ve just spent the last 30 days in jail.”

“Jail?” they cried out, “Father, you wouldn’t hurt a fly. What happened?”

“It’s a long story, but briefly: I was standing on the train platform waiting for my train to arrive to take me into the city. Suddenly a beautiful woman appeared with a police officer, pointed at me and said to the policeman, ‘He did it. I’m certain he did it.’ And, to tell you the truth, I was so flattered that a pretty woman noticed me that I pleaded guilty.”

We go through our lives thinking that we’re basically OK and we can handle things on our own. But the Bible simply tells a different story. The purpose of Christianity is not to create people who do good, nice, moral things. It ought to lead to that, but that’s not the point. Our faith is not a matter of just fixing a few broken parts of ourselves, like a new year’s resolution or a self-help plan. Our faith is about bringing broken people back into a right relationship with God, where our brokenness can be made whole.

Because Jesus is different from us—because he is by very nature God—he is able to serve as the “great Mediator” both the hymn and the Scripture from 1 Timothy describes. Jesus is the one whose birth, life, death, and resurrection bridges the gap between our brokenness and God’s holiness and invites us to return to God.

And he did this by being like us: God-with-us, living real lives like ours, encountering hurt and broken people and inviting them into God’s family. Fyodor Dostoyevsky describes this relationship in his novel Crime and Punishment when he wrote:

“At the last judgment Christ will say to us, ‘Come, you also! Come, drunkards! Come, weaklings! Come, children of shame!’ And the prudent will say, ‘Lord, why do you welcome them?’ And he will say: ‘If I welcome them, you wise men, if I welcome them, you prudent men, it is because not one of them has ever been judged worthy.’ And he will stretch out his arms, and we will fall at his feet, and we will cry out sobbing, and then we will understand all, we will understand the Gospel of grace! Lord, your Kingdom come!”

That invitation is still extended today, as you are invited to share in the bread and cup of communion, an act of worship for all who confess Christ as Savior. Let us share in this sign of God’s kingdom come.

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