#even if you arent familiar with religion

[superbellsubways]

everyone watch The Prince of Egypt neow

[local-unintelligible-shifter]

Some World building changes to your Hogwarts DR if you want because what the fuck Joanne

(I don't know if i'm ever going to go through with making a script beyond world building, this is all from a hypothetical script that may or may not ever have any other work done)

Magic Schools: Okay so the cannon magical school distribution is wierd. How it works in my dr is that there are major magical schools like Hogwarts which take students from mostly close by countries with similar languages and is kinda like a melting pot for culture and learning (excluding countries that are massive or have a very high population though those are in central points in the nation and students who live in certain areas can still attend other nearby large magical schools if they want, think of school zones basically but it goes across countries) and then there are the "regular" magic schools, basically muggle schools but magical, theyre smaller obviously, theres more of them and theyre more tailored to the specific region culture magic wise and has a better oppertunity to get more indepth with the culture then major schools that normally take students from diffrent countries and hence cover multiple cultures (magical practice wise). - The oldest magical school is in China and isn't Hogwarts because why the fuck would it be hogwarts going off the history of education - Students get a basic non magical education beyond what they learn in whatever theyre previous schooling was, what they learn depends on the school but they definally continue math, science, language, geography and history, not just of the magical world

The fucking names: Seriously what kind of name is Cho Chang and who names their kid Wolf Wolf? I didn't script all the name changes and that my subconcious would come up with actual names. Some examples is that Remus still Reumus but has a diffrent surname and The Fat Lady (seriously why the fuck is she just 'the fat lady'?) is now Catherine

House elves: Why the fuck are there slaves? I removed house elves, theyre just Brownies which is what theyre based off, TLDR for those who arent familiar with Brownies, theyre a type of fae and household spirit that lives in a home and helps with housekeeping like cleaning, but in return they are to be given a portion of each meal, a seat by the fireplace and a place in the family. If they see the food and drink as payment they will get offended and leave, if you mistreat them they will get offended and leave, if you speak of theyre work they will get upset, if you give them clothes thats you basically saying to them that you don't think theyre clothing is adequate, get offended and leave. There is also a chance that instead of leaving they will become a boggart and terrorise the home. Some wizarding families do have brownies but they are as I said earlier, part of the family, they do not put up with any disrespect or mistreatment. Also theyre aren't any Brownies working at hogwarts, all the food is made with magic

More diversety: Enough said. Not just skin colour (even though we all know its depratly needed) but also cultural backrounds, gender, sexuality, religion, spirituality, ect

Spells: For the sake of Latin being one of the Ancestors to English there will be some spells in Latin at hogwarts but theyre relitavly new since Latin isn't that old of a language all things concidered. The spells learned depend on regions, lots of diffrent cultures have spells for similar or the same things but worded or performed diffrently. The really old spells (at least the ones taught at hogwarts specifically) are in Proto-Germanic, Old Gaelic, Old Norse and Old French due to the evolution of Britan as a country and it's history and the English language. Other anceint spells are taught and studied as a form of studying history

[bijoumikhawal]

reading my Magdalene book and having read the Kohenet intro book I think part of my feelings about the ideas being brought up (given the overlap with the particular pilgrims being looked at with Goddess worship movements) is "okay, you've acknowledged the divine feminine. Now what are you going to do about it?"

This is because like. Both books are pinging my gender essentialism and heteronormativity radars like crazy, and I don't think some of the things going on are as radical as people think. The Magdalene book goes "Judeo Christians got rid of divine women because of patriarchy"- okay, what's Mary then if not basically Christianity's goddess? (Intentionally being a bit reductive). Also I know those pilgrims actually don't know much about Judaism, but similarly, the Shekhinah exists and is casually accepted by many Jews even if lay people dont necessarily know about her in depth. Similarly, I find a significant amount of anti-Kohenet backlash silly because they're basing so much of their ideas on Kabbalah, but that's also why it fails to draw me in because- and I'm not saying this to denigrate Kabbalists- Kabbalah is a mystic system based on the needs and perspective of heterosexual married men. It's great that women find aspects of it affirming, but I don't as a gay man. I've said it before- I have no interest in sacralizing specifically heterosexuality. I also have little interest, as someone who doesn't experience much sexual desire, struggles with dysfunction, and probably wont have kids, in denigrating people who naturally arent very sexual and people who aren't going to have kids.

Additionally because of my mild familiarity with some Indic religions, I'm skeptical that maintaining goddess(es) is all that antithetical to patriarchy. It IS valuable, dgmw, but it's not the magic bullet. A patriarchal society is very happy to deifiy one kind of woman and demonize all others.

[heystephen]

i have to share this scout, i hope you don't mind

in a surprising turn of events I just met a zionist

i was at a birthday party and a group of us were chatting about eurovision, and i said im boycotting this year because israel is participating, when they should have banned it just like they did with russia and this girl (from abroad, working here) went "why?" and i said "because of the ongoing genocide" to which she replied "oh you think israel is perpetrating a genocide? im a zionist i think hamas is doing that to the jews in israel, but i respect your opinion" which i know it's code for no she doesn't

but she's currently in a country that has an eerily similar history to palestine and she doesn't even know it. she doesn't know that my people were forced out of their homes, and those homes taken from them. the men were forced into a war for others while the women were left behind with two options: cross a mountain in the middle of winter and hope you reach the other side, or die then and there. they were banned from practicing their religion and speaking their native language and the world just stood by. it happened 80 years ago, and the kids that survived are either great grandparents today or have passed away, but half of the people she was surrounded by are the descendants of those people. the two countries where this happened now have great relations, and the past is the past, no need to punish the son for the sins of the father, but my blood boils to see the same thing happening today to anyone else. and to be met with "i respect your opinion but im a zionist" when i know full well what the word choice means. im glad the rest of the people there arent familiar with the term zionist because the party would have immediately ended. i stopped participating in the conversation as she started explaining how great israel and how they're the best at everything (tech, healthcare, rights, etc) is and the others were explaining that there are countries doing far better at this very moment, and she just kept denying it. and then she left a few minutes later because she didn't feel like "debating the greatness of israel when none of us have ever been there, and she's visited twice". except she was wrong there too, as a few of us have visited before and seen first hand what it's like there. she seemed nice on all the other topics but then ran when she got cornered by facts which was very surprising. it almost sounded like we were talking to a trump supporter, telling them trump has committed crimes, and them living in a parallel world where he's done nothing wrong.

hi anon. i’m so sorry you had to hold your composure in that conversation. generational trauma is very real and it makes complete sense why you’d be uncomfortable speaking to her and hearing what she has to say. hopefully, she sees the truth soon and reassess the things that she has been saying.

[tiredtriedfailures]

What's ur thoughts on Kendrick wearing crown of thorns while not claiming to be savior? I always was curious about this because I'm not familiar with Christianity and discourse around it isn't helpful

ohhhh boy. i love this topic. adore it. let me throw off the disclaimer that i 1-am not religious or an authority on it, 2-reject religion as it lives on thru the institutes everywhere and 3-am queer so the religion rejects me too so im not interested in being preached at. with that said,

kendrick has both survivors guilt and survivors bias. and both show up in his art. while his own words show him to be a humane, vaguely left leaning artist, i think his survivors bias makes him preach What-Did-It-For-Him, so he speaks to the people in ways that are individualistic and arent nearly as focused on anti-capitalism and anti-imperialism as his inspirations do. his survivors guilt mixes in with the desire to help his people and becomes a huge weight on his shoulders. how to do right by them? haunting.

and while a marxist or commie would look at someone with this kind of shame and tell them to dump it as holding that anguish isnt a political action, helps no one, at worst it makes YOUR life harder so you cant work to help your community, a Christian says the exact opposite. in christianity you carry that burden, you bear the cross, you accept that you come out of your mothers womb a guilty soul, condemned to hell, unless youre baptized and unless you do this, unless that, unless, unless. its both a show of devotion and a tool of control. and kendrick is closer to the christian than the commie.

so kendrick has the desire, NEED, impulse to be a savior, he believes hes the blueprint and if he can JUST get the people to LISTEN it will help. but also the reality that 1-no one can claim to be a savior without being evil lmao its like the socrates quote, a self contained imposibility, 2-HE personally isnt even that, he must have both the shame and the self awareness that makes him instinctually reject it.

dont get me wrong btw, i think hes kinda self aware about all of this. the only reason we can analyze all this is because its in the text very clearly. so i think kendrick explores both his interpersonal external responsibilities and hopes and dreams and failures and disappointments with christianity in the mix and engaging in a little blasphemy is the sign of a DEVOTED motherfucker. his tone has been the pessimistic, guilty, DAMNed one for a long time. i dont know if he will start analyzing the Material ConditionsTM any time soon or if the weight will get lighter by the power of Jesus, but all the same, kendrick writes with so much purpose and conviction, it will be to further some mission he FEELS he has.

tldr: hes too responsible to NOT try be a savior but too self aware and feeling like a failure to ever Claim to be a savior but its ok cuz Christianity loves shame and a "to know is to know you know nothing" kinda contradiction and humilty and so he tries to reconcile the both sides artistically but idiots take issue with it cuz you cant dress like jesus if youre a black man, i guess

[sorcererslittledragon]

The silly weaknesses vampires have arent arbitrary but based on some fairly significant underlying logic. Now, a lot of this hasnt really been well explored in modern vampire media, and it also ignores a truly massive textual body of lore, primarily drawing from Bram Stoker's Dracula. So lets examine some of that here and figure out how modern day changes some things.

Note. There are many versions of vampire myths across the planet. I am most familiar with the european variants and while i am not a true expert. I am the next best thing. Autistic with a special interest in vampires.

Vampires have no reflection. Historically this is because mirrors were often made of silver which was considered a "pure" metal (also, something to do with that purity interacting with the soulless nature of vampires but ill get into that later), as such we can infer that (at least) one of three possibilities is true.

First. That the "purity" being refered to is theological. This is supported by vampires being unable to enter hallowed ground and their aversion to crucifixes.

Second. That the "purity" being refered to is chemical. There isn't anywhere near as much support for this (i cant actually recall any), but it does have some very fun implications that i'll get to later.

Third. Both are true.

Now for where the fun begins.

If it is theological purity then all religious centers, cemetaries, and ritual spaces innately keep them out. So to will religious and ritual objects. Icons, holy symbols, consecrated tools. Of significance is that there are way more religions than just christianity so we can absolutely explore the imteractions there.

Many pagan beliefs holds that not only are their shrines holy places, many natural locations are held as equally holy. How will your vampires cope with seemingly innocuous locations being effectively hallow. Do they still keep them out? Or do your vampires simply avoid such places out of fear or to avoid harm? Do they keep a mental catalogue of all such sites to ensure they dont accidentally destroy themselves? Or do they keep to cities in an effort to avoid having to worry about it?

Judaism will probably some very fascinating interactions here. Now. Let me preface that i am not Jewish and as such i cannot speak in depth here. Jewblr, please pipe in here with what you know would be relevant. I really want to hear from you.

Theres also a lot of fun to be had with christian theology. Did you know that theologically speaking, in an emergency, any christian can perform the rite of consecration (for rpg nerds this is the spell Bless)? This is strongly advised not to do even in an emergency, but i think vampires would constitute being granted a dispensation for having done that. So in otherwords you can turn any object into a vampire repellant or bane if you are christian.

Bear in mind that according to lore it is the strength of the faith in such things that grant them this power so a particularly faithful person will be able to use these to incredible effect, possibly allowing even the simple presentation of a holy symbol to destory one. While a sufficiently faithless individual might theoretically strip such things of that power with their mere presence. Have fun with that.

If it is chemical purity? Well to start. They shouldnt be visible via any sort of tech. Our ability to chemically purify matter so greatly outstrips that of the pre-industrial world that i doubt there is a single material we do not have the ability to purify entire orders of magnitudes above what we were able to do previously. This means that vampires should be completely invisible to tech.

Anyway im tired now. Thank you so much ADHD (sarcasm). Thats all food for thought. Please, explore the historic roots of vampirism across the globe and extrapolate how those interact with modern society. Its fun and an excellent exercise in critical reading and critical thinking skills.

Wouldn't it be entirely possible, even likely, that with all the silly weaknesses vampires and stuff were supposed to have, they'd also turn out to be weak to any number of things that have only been invented more recently? Like who's to say vampires aren't also repelled by the smell of play-doh or driven insane by MIDI music? We've invented so much shit in just the last century there'd be NO predicting this. For all we know they burn to ash if they look at Luigi.

[mevekagvain]

Summary of noble history - HCs

(Text copied from messages)

a 'short' summary of mine is along the lines of nobles came to be 4 billion years ago and at that time were not humanoid but rather just floating aura wreathed souls reminescent of will-o-wisps. the first noble was also the first lord, and the other few firsts were the clan leaders of type 1 nobles. so one was the ???, two sisters for blersters, one for the drosia, one elenor, one kertia, one landegre, and one mergas. the noblesse came later and was a child of a lord who willingly took on certain powers that belonged to the lord and thus from then on the lord and their lineage lost those powers/were released of part of their burden.

the lords upon seeing certain super sapient species slowly goin extinct would sometimes feel pity and offer to make them nobles. thats how loyards (originally an anaerobic species feeding on souls) came to be 3.8 billion years ago, the agvains (hydras) were offered after them but they refused due to wariness and only accepted later when it was also offered to the siriana (sky dragons/dragons in gen except for sea dragons and hydras) 2.6 billion years ago, the kravei (sea dragons) were 2.4 billion years ago, the ru (supernatural winged tigers that were created by a diff supernatural species in order to guide their souls safely after death and lost their purpose once said species went extinct) were offered the chance and accepted 800 million years ago, and the tradio are an assorted group of fae who begged the nobles for sanctuary due to being hunted minorities and later became a clan 35 million years ago.

then 130k years ago the nobles of the time were sick of all the humanoids that would chase after them cos 'pretty lights' so the lord as a solution made them all take humanoid forms which is also when depending on au they went from asexual to sexual repro or from asexual to diff asexual repro lol. this worked out for a short while when their looks were considered strange but over time their appearances became peak beauty for everyone else and they started feeling extremely bothered again so when the kravei came across a supernatural realm, the nobles moved there. thus Lukedonia came to be 30k years ago from present day.

so nobles just kinda look at all the things humans do and go 'you'll all be gone millions of years from now and we will still remain. when our beloved home passes, we will remain. when our sun is gone, we will remain. as long as matter remains in the galaxy, so shall we, and so we will pass only shortly before it does'.

thus due to everything, nobles dont have organised religion and very few are religious at all aside from their obsession with the lords/noblesse lol. even the religious ones have beliefs usually that nobody else has so you wont ever find like a christian noble or something. speaking of, abrahamic religions (judaism, christianity, islam, etc) in my hcs stems from a noble writing shitty satire and failing to dispose of the book which humans later came across and used as inspo to write their own stuff.

then theres even crazier shit in that i refer to all my aus as worldcycles. basically any iteration of anything has happened, just in a diff cycle. the cycles go on and on and on, and the only person from within the cycles, lily (an immortal human) has ever been in more than one cycle due to his immortality just being that immortal lol. he only dies when he is granted reprieve by the overseers. the overseers refers to a group of beings that are called gods and angels but arent actually that. their purpose is to 'design' everything within a cycle (species, planets, physics, everything), keep the current cycle/s in check/functional, etc. i have some ocs in that group such as fa'ill, a 'god' whos role is to keep the cycles balanced, adam who is the prototype human/oid (aka the first ever design of a human species), eve/hawwah a prototype ww, lilith a prototype vampire, and the threes 'familiars' who are 'angels'. adam, hawwah and lilith were taken in by fa'ill as his children. in some worldcycles (aka aus) hawwah is frankensteins mother and in many worldcycles (aka almost always in my aus) he is raised by adam which is why hes so anachronistic historical inventions wise lol.

[loemius]

Hiii!

I read a post of you talking about books and so on of the hellenic gods

Do you have a list or something?

I wanna connect more to this deities but lm really lost cuz the only thing people recommend it’s the Iliad

Only if you have time though

Thank you ♥️

hello! thank you for the ask :D

i'm not as in depth in my research yet as other recon practitioners as i'm still pretty new to the scene but here is what i would suggest as far as general information goes:

-Theogony and Works and Days by Hesiod (primary source)

-Odyssey by Homer (primary source)

-Hellenic Polytheism; Household Worship by LABRYS Polytheist Community

-Greek Religion by Walter Burkert

-Fel the Blithe (youtube channel)

as always, i am going to suggest the websites theoi.com, labrys.gr/eng, and hellenicgods.org. these sites will have info about specific gods and general praxis. i will outright state this upfront: some of these sources will have differing perspectives. LABRYS is a hard recon organization and hellenicgods.org comes at it from an orphic perspective. fel the blithe is a modern practitioner who posts about her praxis and research on youtube. i think this is best for someone looking to connect to the theoi more. there's a lot of ways to worship out there. do research from a lot of different places, soak up the information, and figure out your path to the gods. the theoi are personal gods, after all, and your path will look different than another worshipper, and that is both okay and natural and also cool as shit imo. that's something i love about the theoi, personally.

i will also strongly suggest familiarizing yourself with the primary sources of hesiod and homer, then i suggest moving onto sappho and the comedies/tragedies. if you're interested in dionysus, i suggest the bacchae. interested in demeter? read about her mysteries. interested in aphrodite? read about her adonia festival. pick a god or two and get *deep*, find primary sources about it and look at cult worship in central areas. if the language is giving you a headache (no shame if it does! i'm a significantly slower reader when i read the classics because of the time it takes me to digest them and make sure i'm fully understanding) then i strongly suggest at least looking over the cliff's notes or a summary. even if you read the summary first then try to read the primary text itself, it helps to know what's going on. having an understanding of the remaining texts we have from the ancient era helps provide context to the theoi themselves and their domains. the gods arent the myths themselves, but the myths are a good place to start. if all else fails, hit up wikipedia and go to the bottom in the references section. they link all their sources, and you can just start diving into all their citations.

best wishes and honor to the theoi!

[mofledowe]

SHOOT my last ask sent early um um um sorry to spam ur inbox but also Can I get a little peeper at the Phone lore 🥺👉👈 sillay blue gal

"little peeper"......... hah......... get ready 4 a super duper long post 😈 /srs its really long

ok, so first i really wanna share Phone's developement. below, these r all from july 2021 (in order of oldest 2 newest) (CRINGE!!!!! but i was having fun :))

and here are some of her more recent glow up pics <333333

just noticed but like what happened to her eyelashes. i dont know.

anyways! background:

but before that, so this makes sense in case you arent familiar with the other 2, left 2 right, Micheal, Michelle, and Phone

Nobody knows how they got there, but Phone one day appeared in The Factory (where all the catboys are made, like Micheal). the higher (intangible) beings (some have taken them on as a religion) took in Phone and basically taught her their gospel. their gospel just so happens to be love! so now Phone goes around the factory (they cant just LEAVE) and teaches all the clones about love! (this is literally the second oc i have that parallels with dhmis but i swear i totally forgot about Shrignold while making her)

one day, a clone comes out kind of weird and wrong- or weirder and wrong-er than what is considered usual. this one is Micheal! while Micheal looks ordinary, he doesnt think that way. he completely rejects the gospel of the higher beings, and that makes them upset. he decides to leave (NOT ALLOWED!?!?!?!?!) and sneak out of the place. there isnt actually anywhere for him to go, though, so he just lingers outside of the higher beings view for now, still inside the factory... somewhere.

a long while later, another one comes out wrong. its PINK!!!!! she decides to name herself Michelle, saying she knew something like that was the name she had rightly owned even before she came to be. anyways, she doesnt quite understand the higher being's gospel- not like Micheal, enough to push it away, but enough to: not really listen, point out inaccuracies, and make even Phone irked and off-put of what Michelle's saying. (this is so long im sorry heres another paragraph break)

Michelle, though not meaning to, plants doubts in Phone's mind, though they try their best to dismiss Michelle. some accident happens in the factory, and Phone is pushed down, and something inside of her breaks (emotionally and mentally). noticing this, Michelle leads her away from the bustling area as Phone cries, and they accidentally find a warm hole in the wall. surprise surprise, this is where Micheal camps out.

though they've never met in their life, Michelle immediately claims that Micheal and her are siblings. Micheal doesnt really know what siblings are, but he's already too tired to fight anybody, so he just lets them stay. well, he lets Michelle stay- he doesnt welcome Phone with open arms at all.

away from the influence of the higher beings who lost track of Phone, Phone begins to wither away from the higher being's teachings. they start to realize how corrupt their teachings were, and Phone makes a plan to escape. actually, she just declares the three of them are going to escape. to Phone and Michelle's surprise, the hole-in-the-wall Micheal basically lives in doesn't immediately lead outside. you would have to go through a whole 'nother wing of the factory in order to get in or out (at least this is how Micheal does it. there really arent any other options)

they go through the wing, and get split up; Phone finds new clothes (the dress), Micheal sees the horrors (more than he usually sees), and Michelle gets out first. Micheal and Phone finally find each other near the exit, and establish a truce! fun. once they finally get out and reunite with Michelle, they all agree they arent big fans of the higher beings.

once they're out, Micheal starts to go back inside. he only came with them in order to escort them out, after all. they catch him and persuade him to follow them and journey to find more. Micheal insists there's nothing out there but the white void. seeing they wont be able to persuade him to follow, they regrettably leave without him, ready to tour the unknown, leaving him to go back into the factory indefinitely.

thats pretty much a short summary (lying and sillay)! this makes me want to actually write about them. gonna post that stuff on my oc account though. thanks a bunch for asking!!!!! (biding, eading, giggling, killing hehe /pos 💗💗💗💗💗

[seoafin]

BYE I WAS IMMERSED WITH GENSHIN’s STORY PLOT (AND THE FANARTS ON MY TL) WHICH WAS ALSO DROPPED EARLIER THIS MORNING AND FORGOT ABT JJK FOR A SPLIT SEVONDSJJSJEJ

but anyways ,, jjk 145// the more i write abt it, the more i’ll sound incoherent, this is ur last warning to ignore this 🧍‍♂️(1)

the one who is based on avalokitesvara (i’ll start calling it them as kannon from now) that i mentioned was actually brain (out of ppl) 😭😭

kenjaku (羂索) is shorten from "不空羂索観音 (fukukenjakukannon)" ,, they existed b4 the heian period... older then sukuna ?? suggested that brain is at least 1k years old... hsjsjjsjs

fukukenjakukannon, a manifestation of the buddhist god of mercy and compassion,, perhaps of some interest is that the fukukenjaku shares some kanji with gojou's infinite void followed by kanjis for trap & rope, with kannon directly referring to an all-knowing/overseeing divine existence. it rly does seem that kenjaku, tengen, and gojou's fates have all been strongly interwined throughout history,, kannon has been perceived as both male and female depending on the portrayal and the region, not unlike jjk's kenjaku switching bodies and genders over the course of time (kamo vs kaori vs getou)

some associations with kannon may be relevant to jjk. namely, as yuki mentions, salvation ,, kannon is a deity to serve his subjects, and resolve their suffering by eliminating its source,,, in which case, i think kenjaku's goal may possibly not be too far off from geto’s ,,,,, he may think that he is saving a group that is enduring greater suffering than any other. whether that is shamans, cursed spirits, or sth else entirely is up for debate. given his persistence over the millenia, and the likelihood of spreading suffering worldwide through a universal tengen merger, it's more than likely that he has a very personal motive. note that under his plan it is specifically the evil of a human that would spread and destroy all of humankind connected through tengen

this is an interesting contrast to sukuna, who is much more whimsical and far less calculated. i think the clash between these 2 in the past will have strong relevance for the future,,, on the other hand, since kannon has historically manifested in response to the suffering of various beings, it may be that the feelings of cursed spirits as a whole have led to kenjaku's existence. he could very well be a curse born from curses, instead of from humans.

okay now what i'm really excited abt: the relationship between kenjaku and the 6 eyes. 1 of the functions of kannon is to protect the 6 realms of rebirth/the 6 paths. u may already be familiar with this buddhist concept as it has been referenced in a variety of animanga (notably it is a major plot point of naruto, it's mukuro's ability in KHR, etc.). there's strong reason to believe this concept also has connections to the gojou 6 eyes ability. i think if we get to learn more abt the 6 eyes, i may be able to speak more on this point.

(as a side note here, i’ll mention that there’s an association between kannon and the protection of aborted children, perhaps relating to og kamo and the death paintings)

at the very least, we know that kenjaku and the 6 eyes are in opposition, and i'm speculating that the gojou bloodline is the true manifestation of a protective deity, at least for the humans, and kenjaku's goals are antithetical to that,,, perhaps, as yuki kind of suggested, taking the name kenjaku is a joke of sorts. if sukuna is malevolence incarnate, kenjaku is mercilesness,,

i think some of the core concepts being explored by the tengen storyline are that of form and existence. gojou satoru, tengen, kenjaku, and eventually the star plasma vessels are existences that transcend the norm,,, toji on the other hand, is the only example of the opposite. an existence that shouldn't have ever existed, in a sense. kenjaku seemed to have used that to his advantage in his manipulation of the events in hidden inventory,,, but it also leads me to believe that only a similar anomaly could undo the new destiny he's setting up for himself.

geto was the perfect piece to set kenjaku up for success in conducting a merger and putting this culling game into motion. geto's path has led to this outcome,,, in which case, an apt parallel as we have known all along is that gojou's path should lead to the counter-outcome: megumi, yuuta, and especially yuuji— these 3 will be the key to unravelling kenjaku's plan.

also tengen said that kenjaku’s objective is to send all the ppl in jpn to higan or turning all non shamans into one but he doesnt have enough cursed energy to do that,,, i did say that yuuji’s birthday took place in the 4th solar term where a part of a week long celebration haru no higan (higan 彼岸→other shore, buddhist pārāmitā), when ppl would honour the dead and sweep ancestral tombs took place,,,

so theres this buddhist mantra, called the “heart sutra” and the last verse of the sutra is,,

there are many sutras in buddhism, but the most well-known among them is probably the Heart Sutra,, altho it depends on the sect (of buddhism), the heart sutra is often read at funerals and memorial services, so even if,, and for some reason the sutra is often associated to kannon even in the utube thumbnail 👁👁 if u search up prajnaparamita sutra,,

heart sutra has the meaning of "an important teaching to reach the state of enlightenment by the power to see through the truth and essence." which is based on the idea of ​​"void" as this important teaching,, the sutra tells us what we shld do to be free from the suffering of this world and live in peace,, in the heart sutra, the idea of ​​"void" is especially important.

buddhism can be broadly divided into theravada and mahayana buddhism,,,,

theravada is a teaching that only some ppl (those who practice buddhism with strict lifestyle like the monks) reach the state of enlightenment, while mahayana is a teaching that all ppl (some who practice Buddhism) can reach enlightment even if u dont practice anything related to the religion,,, the idea of ​​the void has the idea of ​​not being caught up in individual things and not being obsessed with it, and the idea of ​​heart sutra belongs to the category of mahayana buddhism

"void" does not mean "empty" but "no substance (no fixed shape)". the sutra also states that "everything keeps changing" and "although it keeps changing, the essence (core) of things remains the same."

for eg, the idea is, "i am me, no matter how old i am,, my appearance and various abilities deteriorate, how I am evaluated by others, whether i feel good or bad."

in other words,,, it’s a teaching to be aware of the essence without being caught up in the phenomenon of change.

"void" means "no substance (no fixed shape)", which means that u don't have to be obsessed with things or get caught up in one value.

eg, the reason why diamonds are beautiful is that diamonds arent beautiful from the beginning, but that humans decide that they’re beautiful,,, and that each person has a fixed evaluation of the movement of their hearts that they feel is beautiful. but thats not always the case right?

the last verse goes like this :

“Therefore, Prajna Paramita is known as the most divine mantra,

the great enlightening mantra,

the utmost mantra,

the incomparable mantra,

destroyer of all suffering!

Since what is true is not in vain, listen to the mantra of the Prajna Paramita– it goes like this:

GATE GATE PARA GATE PARASAM GATE BODHI SVAHA!”

the translation of the last line is: “going, going, going on beyond, always going on beyond, always becoming buddha.”

quoted from a web here : “it suggests movement toward awakening. It expresses the enlightenment of a buddha as an unfolding process, rather than a steady state. It puts us in the hopeful position of one who may not have arrived, but who may be on the way. The destination may not be an end, but the journey itself.

As appealing as this translation is, it is by no means the only one. When you do an Internet search for the terms “Heart Sutra” or “Prajna Paramita” you get numerous references. At these various pages you will find several different translations of the mantra. These include:

* Gone, gone, gone beyond, gone altogether beyond. Oh what an awakening! All hail!

* Gone, gone, gone beyond altogether beyond, Awakening, fulfilled!

* Gone, gone, gone to the Other Shore, attained the Other Shore having never left.

* Gone, gone, totally gone, totally completely gone, enlightened, so be it.

* “Oh, you have done! You have done! You have completely crossed the margin. This is Enlightenment! Congratulations!” “

the irony though of toji dying thinking that he should've stuck his principles but actually having ridiculous impact on the world,, this also puts a new spin on the "look upon the flesh of one who is free" (afaik it was left untranslated on his cover page when he invade dagon’s domain) and the implication is imo,,, the more cursed energy, the more restrictions and so in a way humanity goes into a devolution the more cursed energy there is because they will be bound even more tightly to the cycle than before,, which is the irony of the kenjaku & bodhisattva linkage

toji had a heavenly restriction and has zero cursed energy, which is an anomaly that is his own, which makes me wonder what he would've been like if he had an expressed technique,,, but it's the zero cursed energy part, that uniqueness, that makes him powerful in canon

im rly curious how having cursed power automatically seems to lock u into a binding,,, which is seemingly fate. the shaman world rly operates entirely on rules,, where this is because of tengen's barriers or the origin of techniques being more commonplace im not sure

i used to think CTs came abt when individual sorcerers made pacts with supernatural beings etc but now im not sure,, despite leaning hard on shinto and buddhist frameworks there isnt much overt indication over what is and is not a real power in canon,,, like we have mahoraga but are bodhisattvas assumed to be real and exist? or as figures of belief, are they and other figures of shinto mythology, all just cursed spirits in the end?

but that tengen is linked with the proliferation of 6 eyes and star plasma vessel, makes me start wondering how and why tengen started this whole barrier thing,, like yes jpn has a ton of cursed spirits but was it before or after the barrier i can't remember now

maybe Kenjaku was messing around too much back then,, i like how sukuna also maybe had very lil to do with this and is possibly going to interfere as a wild card once more. is the idea to use him as a hail mary so u convey more ppl to the other side all at once? unless kenjaku thinks sukuna is the person who got closest to the next evolution of humankind and is actually a fan 🥴

but yeah if sukuna and megumi can remake the world together can they just hit the reset button so tengen isn't somehow this massive jungian collective unconscious? is sukuna going to accidentally save the world lol,,, i didn't care for fate themes before since it felt like akutami hadn't wholly committed to it as a theme,,, but fate and collective responsibility/influence on the individual just became a much bigger theme

also the mind/body/soul thing with tengen,,, when is that idea coming back

so tengen and sukuna are so far the only ppl who have said to have evolved into curses, whereas kenjaku still seems to be a shaman, as well as angel. what catalyzes that??

also how tf are the cursed weapons made i have questions,, just putting it out here but i actually thought that if toji, presumably, didnt rebel and defected from the clan,,, what are the chances of zenin thinking of turning him into a cursed weapon lol

,,, does being a cursed spirit mean u are bound even more tightly to fate? or do u escape because u are no longer a human bound by ur technique and u are instead just energy that keeps cycling over and over.....cursed energy rly just karma with strength mechanics???

why did gojou get rid of the black rope only for yuuta go to find more??? seems contradictory,, like...did he exorcise sth in that couple years gap?? or were there other reasons? or is HE the one scared since he also hid the inverted spear of heaven,,, makes me wonder how common knowledge all these mechanics actually are

trying to wrap my head around potential megumi learned helplessness or not being able to work through his own problems, or if it's this weird backward wishing that he didn't HAVE to deal with problems if he didn't HAVE to do these things and there were simple solutions,,, like i don't think he's exactly lazy bc he seems to do a lot of work behind the scenes, but there's a certain stasis to him, a wishing not to know. i wonder if he was ever given the "u are a child and I'm the adult" speech nanami gave yuuji

nanami, qifrey and maybe reigen are the adult/ mentor figures i wish was/ is in my life orz

i think it's kind of funny how 145 is like suddenly christianity! this manga is just abt the many ways people seek freedom and want to be delivered,,,

but im not going to talk abt it 😔 — i only have lil to no knowledge abt it other than the lil trivias my friends dropped time to time whenever we’re having a discourse abt religion suddenly lmao and im not a big fan of talking abt things idk abt bc i’ll just look stupid otherwise LMAO

its interesting to note that christian have this uh for a lack of better way to describe it, higher power which can grant u eternal salvation or damnation while buddhism is just fending for urself in pursuit of enlightment ,,, while buddhism also have beings like devas/ deities it just means that 1) if ur born as one, u must have done a good deed sometime in one of ur previous lives,, 2) u just have a ridiculous long life span but yes u’ll eventually die again and rebirth as sth depending on ur actions,,, that goes for living in gods, demi-gods, humans, animals, hungry ghosts or hells realms

this is completely unrelated but,, my mother used to blast the heart sutra frequently in my house back then and the only thing i catch is the “gate gate parasamgate bodhi svaha” which i used ,, whenever i see sth..that is supposed to be unseen

theres this time i stayed behind in cram school for an exam,, i purposely took a another path from my usual one to clear my head (but im still familiar) and i saw this guy standing on the side road and the only thing that went thru my mind back them was “why is he not moving? is he waiting for someone? is he lost or sth,, the main road is just 6 foot away tho lol”

it was until i keep looking at each house that i finally notice that the spot he stood on is not even a ground lvl asphalt,, it’s a fucking sewer which means that he’s actually floating 😭😭 i just jogged and say sth along the line “wow today, ma is cooking hotpot for dinner (i actually have no idea what she plans to cook everyday) i dont want to eat it cold,, so i better hurry up” out loud while chanting the verse in my head

theres also this time me and a friend were sitting on my motorcycle after getting our late night food run until a particular smell and when we stay silent, a woman is singing on the branch right above us that we dipped right away and i almost catch a ticket for speeding all the while thinking abt that verse💀

i dont mind seeing one of “them” but i do have a problem with them following me back home and end up haunting my house for some period of time,, that one or sth ghost who slam things around and giggle in the middle of the night is enough for me to deal with 😀

now im off crying abt genshin (again) now and i’ll go back to sleep afterwards,,, ALSO I LOVE WITCH HATE ATALIERJSJEJEJ- 🐱 (2)

you literally brought up THE SAME EXACT QUESTIONS I HAVE!!! like why would gojo send yuuta to find more of the rope if he destroyed it in the first place?? unless he destroyed it in the heat of the battle with miguel during the prequel but it didn’t look like that. also i saw on twitter kenjaku might not even be a male?? apparently when referring to kenjaku, tengen didn’t use gendered pronouns. im also super curious as to how the six eyes, star plasma vessel (riko...), tengen, and kenjaku are all entwined because kenjaku’s plan was a long time coming, even though he was foiled two times already.

this reminds me of the heavenly restrictions because im still so confused about what exactly it is!! is it something a person is born with or is it something that is placed on a baby by another person??

you brought up fate too and i think that’s such an interesting concept like with akutami making more and more references to the heian era and the “golden age of sorcery” in the end I feel like everything led up to this moment. the existence of cursed energy too just feels like this “endless cycle of fate” which makes sense considering this theme also kinda aligns with yuuji’s birth which was pre planned. idk...this whole thing is suddenly feeling so much more insidious than we may have originally thought.

the sudden christianity mention is a pretty odd choice on akutami’s part but a lot of ppl (including me) are speculating that hana is going to be a harbinger of doom or something. once again is she even japanese?? the western concept of angels have never been particularly altruistic either.

unfortunately gojo has always been treating megumi like an adult so i don’t think he was ever given the “you are a child” talk from gojo. we can see it in their first meeting too. when their conversation takes a turn to serious, it becomes a conversation is from one adult to another. gojo also seems like the type to pile even more responsibility onto megumi because gojo isn’t responsible, so megumi had to pick up that slack.

i agree with you. i think sukuna is literally a wild card LMAO he does what he wants when he wants and that’s in. i don’t even think you can have a contingency plan for sukuna because he’s just that unpredictable!!!

nanami, qifrey and MAYBE reigen LSDNFKJFKN....reigen beats gojo by far though so i’ll give reigen that (that's not saying much tho tbh 😭) reigen's still sexy as hell tho 😁

also you mentioned khr!! khr is one of my favorite mangas of all time....although amano akira cannot write women despite being one khr still holds a very special place in my heart. i had no idea mukuro was influenced by kannon (to be fair i was like 14) but then again...mukuro’s eyes....i can’t believe our tastes in animanga are the same....bestie our taste>>>

HELLO???? YOU’RE RUNNING INTO SUPERNATURAL CREATURES LIKE THAT??? also motorcycles!! now im like 80% sure you're in SEA somewhere, bc as someone who lived in a SEA country for 3 years and went to school in a haunted building I feel you LMAO

[avellanas-nutty-empire]

I just wanna get this off my chest, but I love the thought of aexl meeting a girl on the cult bus and falling inlove with her. Then Travelling on the bus with her

All fucking hell I looked at this ask at almost midnight while trying to fall asleep and instead my head is swarming with Ideas for an entirely new axel x reader fic god damn it

Oh well... but I need to finish Silent Love first. For now, look forward for a future axel x modern witch!reader type thing cause that's where I'm leaning

I know modern witchcraft isnt really common knowledge for most people, although I did answer an ask that's was otto with a kitchen witch, I'm sure most of yall would need some clarification on the basics of witchcraft in order to understand.

Me myself am only a baby witch, I started learning because of quarantine so I have very limited knowledge that may or may not be entirely correct, but just know for now it's not satanic, we dont worship the devil, we are not evil automatically because we are a witch. Modern witchcraft has next to nothing to do with media portrayed witchcraft. We even spell the word magick with a k to signify that it is different from the make believe shit.

You dont have to believe in it, just be respectful. Concerning religions, witchcraft can be incorporated into literaly any religion ever (although wicca is, as I like to think of it, the one religion where witchcraft is basicaly its official form of practice put simply. Dont quote me on that tho, I hardly know anything that's just how I think of it) and you dont even have to use religion in it at all if you dont want to.

Theres many different ways to practice, and many different types of witches. Just know the labels arent gonna make or break your witchcraft career like the whole thing is very open. Theres a type of which (I dont remember right now) that is literaly a home brewed mix of whatever type of witchcraft you practice

Theres crystal witches, who use Crystal's,

Theres kitchen witches, as explained in the otto x kitchen witch ask, look through my Avellanaask hashtag to find it

Theres sea witches, who work with water and the ocean mostly I think,

Theres witches that specialize in like zodiac and asteonomy

Theres a lot, just know that. But you shouldent let the labels define witches just like you shouldent let race, gender, age, or religion define a human person. As I like to say, nothing is black and white. It's all a mixture of gray.

If you dont think this kind of reader fic is gonna be for you, that's totaly fine. Everyone has their own tastes. I'm gonna be mostly self portraying in it with my limited knowledge from my own witchcraft experiences. Not everything is gonna be completely accurate regarding witchcraft. This is gonna be a bumpy ride, but I wanna attempt it.

If you are still really confused on modern witchcraft but are interested in the fic, plz plz plz take the time to research about it. I wont be starting it till I finish Silent Love so you've got a while. Research is the backbone of witchcraft, since there isnt a set book or bible telling us about it and how it 'must' be done. I'd reccomend youtube searching a witchcraft series to get started. But DONT ONLY PULL FROM ONE SOURCE PLZ. I'll try and do my best to explain things in the fic since Axel will know nothing himself about modern witchcraft, but it still might be a bit confusing. Also the fic is not mean to substitute for real witchcraft research plz it's just a story for funsies. You wouldent go reading a fictional story about the irish to learn how to be irish, would you? No. It doesnt work like that.

If you are a more experienced witch than me (most likely if you've been practicing for over 2 months) and you see me doing or saying something wrong or misinforming plz plz plz call me out, I dont wanna mislead people and miss educate. I think this fic could be a great opportunity for people to get familiar with modern witchcraft so it scares less people. Hate is born out of ignorance and lack of knowledge. Even if you dont wanna read the fic, you could still go out and learn about witchcraft If you want to that's your choice. You dont have to commit to practicing it or anything, but knowledge is power sometimes, ya know?

I dont have a name for this new fic yet, but I will probably announce it (mabey with a like prologue thing if I can come up with one)

Also I'm so so sorry anon this is probably the EXACT OPPOSITE of how you thought I would answer this ;-;-;-;-; but ty for the inspiration for a new fic!!!!

[foulserpent]

What's like kinda ur advice for coming up with designs for god or divine characters, like the way u design them feel a lot more,,, magical and not like ,,,people just rlly tall and glowy if u get what I mean lol

how i usually go about it is kind of breaking down their spheres and thinking about things associated with that. with elder scrolls stuff its a lot easier bc they have their spheres handily laid out for you, and some depictions you can use as a starting point. so taking the concepts of what theyre about, and linking in symbolism that relates to them. i mostly go with animal and plant symbolism bc thats what i like, and its easy to research

it also helps to have real world religion and mythology knowledge, and some familiarity with how gods are depicted. and the example im about to give is mostly from greek mythology and im a hypocrite but do try to familiarize yourself with things besides greco-roman bc it gets really boring imo. but also on that note, when researching religion, dont just yank gods from peoples practices and use them for designs. stuff from history that hasnt had unbroken practice is fairer game, but peoples religions and gods arent stock mythology. warrants being said

anyway, not the best example bc its literally just a goat with some leafs on it but i think explaining the thought process of the goat sanguine i did recently would still be helpful

i was drawing on an animal that kind of relates to his sphere in symbolism. sanguine is about like revelry, debauchery, pleasure- his sphere includes any pleasure and excess, most obviously drinking, drugs, sex, but the important aspects are overindulgence and with an implied dual sphere of addiction, dependence, enabling.

goats tend to be HEAVILY associated with lust and sexual energy in folklore and symbolism (though not always!), which i think could be easily broadened into being representative of all kinds of ‘lusts’ beyond sexual.  theres folklore about goats whispering horny shit into saints ears and all sorts of shit like that. and of course satyrs in greek mythology are goatmen, characterized as perma-horny but theres also elements of pulling pranks and drunkenness.

theres even more unavoidable greek mythos inspiration - i see distinct dionysus and pan influences in the concept of sanguine, and i very straightforward borrowed the grapeleaf crown from depictions of dionysus. except instead of being on a man and having implications of some restraint, its on a goat, which has symbolic baggage of lust and excess. 

so the bottom line is this guy is all about revelry. he has a crown of grape leaves, promising wine (or your indulgence of choice), but his body is a beast representative of lustfulness and that promises no sense of restraint, just endlessly feeding you whatever you desire until you destroy yourself. him being a literal goat tones down the sexual elements and kind of broadens the message- unlike the satyr, he will not force anything upon you, but fully enable you to lose control of yourself.

[ourcollectivefantasy]

OC Profile

The Basics ––– –

Age: 480 (Human equiv. 48)

Birthday: October 18th. 

Star Sign: Scorpio.

Race: Sin’Dorei / Blood Elf

Gender: Cisgender Male

Face / Body Claim: Ewan McGregor

Marital Status: Married, but separated [for over 10 yrs]. No plans for divorce.

Relationship practice: Polyamory

Server: Wyrmrest Accord - Horde (Faction Neutral)

Physical Appearance ––– –

Wardrobe: 80s London Punk. Black on black, otherwise greyscale or muted, cool colours. Studded leather jackets, spiked combat boots, vintage punk rock band t-shirts. Prefers solids with classic lines. Almost all clothes are second hand from Charity Shops.

Hair: Bright ginger. Short faux-hawk style with long sideburns. In the Winter months, keeps a trim beard.

Eyes: Emerald green.

Height: 6′7″

Build: Swimmer/Jogger's athletic, slim build. Slightly under weight but muscled.

Common Accessories: Wears lots of rings of bone, metal, and stone on his fingers. A plethora of necklaces and bracelets on each wrist. Carries a Dwarven vintage carved silver cigarette case & matching lighter. Never without his comm and his motorcycle keys. Concealed throwing daggers in inside jacket pocket, as well as a coil of steel guitar strings, and full dagger in his boot, always. Wears a small silver hoop earring in right ear.

Distinguishing Marks: Sprayed with freckles all over his body and face. Missing both middle fingers. Thin white scar across his throat (affects his voice; graveled). Silver coin sized scars on fronts and backs of hands and feet. Banishment symbol burned into his chest. Small K scar over his heart; large K scar on right shoulder. 

Tattoos: Small sound wave behind left ear. Maiden’s Anguish at base of throat/along trapezius. Pirate ship (enchanted) on left bicep. Two birds holding banner that says ‘BAD SEED’ over a skull on right bicep. Troll-style boa constrictor wraps from right knee, up thigh, and across hip. Small gypsy clan symbol (skull ontop of a rose) on lower back.   

Personal ––– –

Profession: Founder and CEO of Blacksong Records.

Hobbies: Partying - frequent patron of Succulent Tart, Howling Owl, and Red Moon. Recreational drugs & drinking. All things music: goes to punk rock concerts, buys and trades vintage records, plays mech-guitar, repairs broken guitar pedals and amps. Riding and repairing motorcycles. Extreme sports, primarily stunt biking and surfing.  

Languages: Traveler (Native), King’s Common, Dwarven, Thalassian, Orcish Common, Sign Language.

Residence: Lordaeron Coast, and sometimes Silvermoon. 

Birthplace: Quel’Thalas

Religion: Mildly Old Ways/Traveler (Pagan).

Relationships ––– -

Spouse: Kharris Dawndancer-Blacksong

Dating: Aelberyn & Jericho Bloodsword (Primaries), Saeil Moonblade, Se’lysona Riverblade. 

Children: Aelenna Sinead “Sean” Bloodsword & Fib Bloodsword, both almost 5 yrs.

Parents: Maebh Blacksong & Daigh Blacksong (deceased).

Siblings: Younger brother, Kieran Blacksong.

Other Relatives: One female younger cousin, Fox. Status unknown.

Sex & Romance ––– –

Sexual Orientation: Pansexual

Preferred Role: Dominant | Submissive | Switch

Preferred Position: Bottom | Top | Vers

Libido: Extremely High

Turn ons: Power, confidence, high intelligence, witty sense of humor, empathy, submissiveness, great conversation, flirty.  

Turn offs: Trying-too-hard, mind games, wall flowers, air heads, big egos, pretty but no substance, bad conversationalists, people that only talk about themselves, drama queens, brats.

Love Language: Quality Time & Physical Touch

Kinks:  BDSM, WAM, leather & latex, sensory deprivation, mask play, blood play, knife play, age or pet play, dirty talk, phone sex & sexting, being watched/performing or watching, sharing/group sex, cuckolding, orgies, sex clubs, casual sex.

Relationship Tendencies: Prefers casual sex and FWB. Romance adverse, and very selective about who he gets into commitments with. Once committed, stays in relationships a very long time and plays the emotional role of Dominant, with a focus on care giving and very protective.

Traits ––– -

* Bold your character’s answer.

Extroverted / In Between / Introverted

Disorganized / In Between / Organized

Close Minded / In Between / Open-Minded

Calm / In Between / Anxious

Disagreeable / In Between / Agreeable

Cautious / In Between / Reckless

Patient / In Between / Impatient

Outspoken / In Between / Reserved

Leader / In Between / Follower

Empathetic / In Between / Apathetic

Optimistic / In Between / Pessimistic

Traditional / In Between / Modern

Hard-working / In Between / Lazy

Cultured / In Between / Uncultured

Loyal / In Between / Disloyal

Faithful / In Between / Unfaithful

Additional information ––– –

Smoking Habit: Often. Smokes mainly bloodthissle. Drugs: Often. Very into party drugs. Long history of struggle with heroin. Alcohol: Often. “Defaults” to functioning alcoholic, but can get crazy at parties.

RP Hooks ––– –

Music Fans - He runs a small but successful punk rock music label. If you’re into rock, punk, or even just a music fan, you’ve probably heard of Blacksong Records or even one of his bands. You may even know his face from music magazines; he’s often in the background at concerts or industry parties. Feel free to mention it!

Pirates & Sailors - He used to run a very successful and well known salvage company (Atlas Treasure Salvage, or ATS). They were well known in the Booty Bay, Bilgewater, and Orgrimmar ports. It’s possible you saw him around “in the old days”.

Drugs - He’s well connected among drug dealers as both a buyer and seller. Got a big party you want to sell to? He’s your in. Or maybe you’re looking for pure quality and tired of thugs selling you stems in the Drag? He’ll get you the good stuff if you’re willing to pay top coin.

Motorcycles - He’s a frequent shopper at gear head garages around Quel’Thalas. He also stops off at biker taverns for a pint on the way home from work. You may have seen him. Or maybe you just notice the brand of his jacket or boots are a familiar favourite amongst aficionados. 

Gossip Rags - Is your character SUPER into Silvermoon tabloids? Iloam is “reportedly” dating one of the hottest couples of the SMC Elite crowd, Baron & Baroness Aelberyn & Jericho Bloodsword. Paps frequently snap them slipping into vine covered cafes and exclusive night clubs. Your character may have a theory on the whole ‘are they or arent they’ debate that keeps socialites guessing on the trio’s relationships status.

OOC Info  ––– –

Mun is 21+ in age. Dark themes/ERP friendly.

I have been playing WoW since the beta for Vanilla and gone through many phases of enjoying PvE aspect (including a raiding guild), but at this point I only play for RP and have no interest in game play. I prefer Discord text RP for 1:1 or small group scenes. I generally only login to game for RP events or by request.

For text RP, I am very bad about forum style/casual post RP and will generally lose track of it quickly. I also try to stray from forum style post on Tumblr for the same reason. The best way to RP with me to set a date/time to both login to Discord or game and set aside several hours to write out a scene together.

I’m a very fast typer and tend to do multi-para for scene sets only, and then fall into a more natural rhythm as the scene plays out. I do not ask that partners match my post length.

Communication is very important to me. OOC discussion of dark themes or comfort level with ERP will be discussed first. I am happy to FTB or avoid topics that are triggering. I also ask that my partners always feel comfortable letting me know if for any reason big or small, they need to cancel a scene or are not feeling up to it. Real life will always come first.

Contact Information  ––– –

@ourcollectivefantasy​ is Iloam’s In-Character blog, shared with characters of Aelberyn and Jericho Bloodsword.

@blacksongrecords​ is Iloam’s record company blog. Look here for event announcements!

All follows from my OOC blog @desolatedangel. 

I am reachable in-game via mail on the name: Ilóam

Feel free to send me an ask or message for my Discord handle, but if we haven’t met before I prefer we mutually follow each other’s Tumblr and interact a little bit before giving that out.

[downwithwritersblock]

Welcome to part five of our Monthly Guide to Monsters! My dear sweet  @quills-and-golden-ink and I have put together some quick and easy guides to some of the world’s most infamous creatures!

The guide will include: basic background, historical information, abilities, how to defeat them, and portrayals in media. My sets will also always come with Prompts!

For the Month of October, we will be posting two a week! I’m so sorry that I am so late for this one. Life has been a bit hectic. But no matter the date it is posted on, we promise it will be 2 a week for the rest of October, and two a month for the rest of the year. 

*Warning for graphic or gruesome depictions and retelling of violence*

Without further ado, we present to you all, the Monthly Guide To Monsters #5:

Witches

Definition: One who practices the art of witchcraft. Can be good, evil or neutral.

Definition of Witchcraft: There are many meanings or definitions given to witchcraft throughout the world and through many different cultures. In some beliefs, it’s a practice usually used for healing, in others, it’s a magical ability to do mystical things far beyond normal human capacity. In cultural anthropology, Witchcraft is usually defined as the innate ability to cause harm.

Description: Just like the definition, the description of witches changes across cultures. Many legends depict them as being physically indistinguishable from humans. They are often depicted as females in folklore, but more modern media has broken that line. In some (older)media, Witches were depicted as being rather grotesque humanoids, with large noses, warts and straw like hair. (*Disclaimer Edit*: I didnt add this before, because I found it unnecessary, but apparently it is needed. This old depiction of witches comes form anti-semetic propaganda. This description is extremely racist, but is no longer seen in modern media, so I did not think I had to advice people against doing it.)

Abilities: Depending on where you are looking, the abilities of a witch can change drastically. In some cultures, Witchcraft is purely a practice that requires hard work, education, potions or special ingredients, mystical objects and sacred words/spells/incantations. In other cultures, Witches have innate magical abilities where they need only to think of something in order for it to be done. Other cultures, and most forms of media, like to mix these two ideas. So usually Witches have or use the following:

Spells are a kind of incantation with strong magical power(Older spells are often in a foreign or ancient language rather then English, so it’s not uncommon to see a witch portrayed as speaking multiple languages)

Potions made from magical or mystical ingredients and can be used for a large number of things.

Witches are often shown possessing a large amount of knowledge about other magical creatures.

Levitation and flying

Witches are sometimes said to be able to disguise themselves through transformation magic, though the extent of the transformation depends on the lore. Some are just to look ‘more human’, others can fully transform into animals. 

Opening of portals to teleport

Some witches are said to control or communicate with certain aspects of nature, like animals, elements or the weather. 

Necromancy is usually more of a specialized practice, but it is said that some witches can raise the dead.

Demonology is a darker idea behind witches, it’s the idea that witches can and often summon demons from hell or trade their souls with demons in exchange for magic.

Healing. This is a magical art usually given to ‘white witches’, in which a witch is able to use their own or the life force of the wounded to heal some injuries or illnesses.

They are usually immune to human illnesses, diseases, and deaths. They have a stronger immune system and usually a prolonged life.

Witches usually have a familiar, a magical helper usually in the form of an animal.Familiars help witches with spells, potions, collecting ingredients, and even help protect their witch. Familiars are usually voluntary, but sometimes they are humans that have been cursed to live as an animal and serve the witch. Familiars are usually seen as cats, owls/birds, spiders, and rats.

Testing, curing and killing witches: As many know, Witches have a very long and dark history when it comes to their treatment. So many people who were more than likely to be innocent were tortured and killed in extremely gruesome ways.

Testing:

The ‘swim’ test. The victim was often tied with a heavy rope and weight tied around their waist and then tossed into a river or lake. It’s said that an innocent person would sink, but a with would float and bob a long around the surface. Almost every person subjected to this trial drowned to death.

The Prayer test. It’s said that witches were incapable of reciting the holy scripture. A witch on trial might have been expected to recite a line or two, but were expected to do it perfectly without any hesitation or mess ups. If someone failed at this test, it’s most likely because they were either illiterate, or too nervous to talk. It's said that some people even managed to do it without problem, only to have their success be waved off a ‘a trick of the devil’ and for them to be executed anyway.

All witches were said to have a unique mark somewhere on their body that could be in any shape, form or color. Examiners rarely didn't find a ‘witches mark’ because birthmarks, moles, scars, tattoos and sores could all be seen as being the mark of a witch.

The scratch and poke test. So, witches marks were said to be incapable of pain and bleeding. If an examiner could not find a witches mark, they would produce this test, using specialized or dull needles to poke around the accused bodies until they found a spot that produced the painless, bloodless results they desired.

Pressed. The accused would be lied down, and a wooden board would be put over them, then  heavy stones would be placed over it repeatedly until either they confessed to being a witch or they were crushed to death. Either way, they died.

The perfect Weight test. This one wasn't as common as some, but it still existed. Some accused would be weighed against a stack of bibles. If they weighed more than the bible's, they were a witch. If they weighed less than the bible's, they were killed. They had to weigh the exact same amount of the bibles. It was an impossible test to pass.

There was also many tests involving the accused victims, which were always faked as their victims would lie just to have the accused prosecuted.Witch trials were designed to always work in the favor of the ‘victims’, and the ‘Witch’ was almost always killed.

Killing of Witches: Because yeah, those were just the ways that accused were tested for being a witch. If that test didn't kill them, there were many other ways to do it. The most popular ways to kill a witch were:

Hanging

Burned at the staked

Real Life Witches:

Now witchcraft isn't just an old folktale. It’s considered a very real thing in many different cultures. Witchcraft was a real thing that many people actually did study and practice, many people still do. A more modern, well known descendant of witchcraft is the practice or pagan religion of Wicca

Wicca: A more modern pagan religion that while it draws on witchcraft, and has a good deal in common with it, is entirely separate. Many who practice Wicca do not consider themselves a witch, and vice versa.

 Wicca is a belief system, and a way of life that focus on peace, harmony and balance with oneself, humanity, and nature. 

Wicca is nothing like the old tales of witchcraft. The most stark difference being that old witchcraft was said to be to harm others, while Wicca not only avoids harming others, but strictly forbids the harming of innocent beings.

 Wicca is often rather specialized, and changes little features here and there depending on the individual coven or practitioner.

Studying and becoming a Wiccan is not quite as simple as many believe

To find more about the faith(and other sects of witchcraft) I highly suggest browsing around the web, in books, and through any willing Wiccan/witch consultant. Go with multiple sources, not just one or two in order to get the best and most in depth understand of the practice. To be clear, I myself spent many years studying witchcraft and I myself am wiccan. 

Witches in Media: Now over the years there have been a lot, and I mean a lot of media that focuses on witches. I’ve tried to arrange for you all a good range of some of the most popular witches in media.

The Craft(Movie, 1996)

Hocus Pocus(Movie, 1993)

The Harry Potter Series(Books and Movies)

The Blair Witch Project(Movie, 1999)

Practical Magic(Movie,1998)

Halloweentown(1998)

The Crucible(Play by Arthur Miller, Movie; 1996)

Kiki’s Delivery Service(1989)

Bewitched(Movie;2005, TV show 1964-1972)

The Witches of Eastwick(1987)

The Wizard of Oz(Movie:1939)

Wicked(Book1995, Musical 2003)

Charmed(TV show 1998-2006)

Charmed(TV show 2018 reboot airing)

Buffy the Vampire Slayer(TV show, 1990s. Now I included this because although it’s not primarily about Witches, one of the main Charcters: Willow, is one of the most famous witches in modern media)

American Horror Story: Coven (TV show)

The Secret Circle(2011)

Sabrina The Teenage Witch(TV show 1996-2003, and there are rumors of a new,darker retake of sabrina coming soon to netflix)

Prompts:

“What are you gonna do, huh? Curse me again? I’ve spent the last three centuries with you, there’s nothing left for you to threaten me with” 

“Okay so, I think you gave me the wrong shopping list,?I don’t think the local grocery store carries dragons scales or fairy tears? They might have the pigs tongue though...”

“You love that cat more then you love me”                                                     “This cat has been with me, helping and protecting me for the last four hundred and twenty seven years. Of course I love him more then you.”

“We arent all bad you know. Look at me. You know me. I would never, ever hurt you. My magic isnt evil. It doesn't come from anywhere bad or dark. My magic is a gift. It comes from the earth. My magic can help you. Please just trust me about this.”

“You turn one person into a toad one time by accident over six hundred years ago and nobody ever lets you live it down!”

“I’ve been crushed, hung, stabbed, drowned in freezing rivers, crucified and burned alive. So go ahead, try me. Read all the weak, half-assed incantations you want. Call every priest in the state  Torture me all you want. You don’t scare me in the slightest. There’s nothing you can do to break me, I have endured worse for centuries.” 

Hope you enjoy, and find it useful :) 

and if you like my work and would like to support me, consider buying me a coffee?

https://ko-fi.com/I2I1L0Q2

[lokeanwelcomingcommittee]

Hello good day! I would like to know what is your opinion about the punishment of the Gods, do you think that the deities punish those who act badly and ruin their lives? Are there pagan people who claim that Loki is not a god? that he is not Thor's brother and does not have kinship? and that nobody knows where loki comes from? if loki is not a god then what is it? Is it just a Scandinavian folklore character?

Hi!

Loki isn’t Thor’s brother in the lore. This isn’t really a debate, even among Lokeans. Thor’s parents are stated to be Odin and Jord. (Not Frigg–Odin sleeps around a lot.) Loki’s are stated to beFarbauti and Laufey (or Nal.) There’s no surviving medieval version where Loki is also a son of Odin: that’s a Marvel thing. It’s unclear whether Loki has kinship to Thor, in that it’s unclear whether Loki’s mother is a jotun or an asynja. If he does, there’s nothing indicating that they’re what we’d consider immediate family.

I’m not sure what you’re asking regarding where Loki comes from. Again, we know his parentage. We don’t know where he was born, but the same could be said of a lot of other figures, including Odin and Thor. The Eddas in general don’t establish geography very solidly or consistently for the most part.

It’s true that some pagans and academics don’t refer to Loki as a god. This is because some people don’t view the jotnar in general as gods, just the aesir and vanir. As discussed above, it’s unclear whether Loki has any aesir heritage. However, there is historical evidence that the jotnar were also venerated. It’s unclear whether it’s really fair not to call them gods. And even if they don’t qualify, it’s worth pointing out that Snorri lists Loki as one of the aesir regardless.

A lot of people who claim to be against worshiping Loki because of his jotun heritage are mysteriously okay with worshiping other jotnar like Skadi, Hel, and Mani. A bunch of anti-Loki sentiment really stems from prejudice against the marginalized folks who tend to make up the majority of his devotees.

As for whether the gods punish humans…Heathen relationships with the gods are different than some other religions you may be familiar with. The Norse gods aren’t really treated as perfect exemplars of human morality. They actually frequently fail to live up to human moral standards (and by that, I mean both modern Western and pre-Christian Norse moral standards.) In other words, while they’re powerful and wise and have much to teach us, they’re not really going around condemning humans for every single ethical breach. The discussions about being a good person in the lore are almost always centered on being a good family member and citizen and leading a happy life, not keeping the gods appeased.

That said, while the gods aren’t necessarily going around playing moral police, they aren’t above metaphorically breaking some kneecaps to defend their own or collect on a big debt. Deliberately spiting them or going back on a promise can end badly. This is one of the reasons some Heathens discourage making any oaths to the gods.

But again, they’re not like, out waiting for a chance to smite us. Unless you’re deliberately trying to disrespect or cheat them, you don’t need to stress over the possibility. It may be helpful to conceptualize your relationship with them as something akin to a human family member or mentor. Generally speaking, they wish us well and want to maintain a positive relationship even if both parties may screw up once in awhile. . 

- Mod E

To add on a little about the relationship between Odin and Loki being very different in the mythology to what it is in the MCU, this is a quote from the poem Lokasenna in the Poetic Edda:

Loki spake:

“Remember, Othin, | in olden daysThat we both our blood have mixed;Then didst thou promise | no ale to pour,Unless it were brought for us both.”

There is a scholarly theory that Loki was a member of the Aesir through ‘adoption’ into the family via his blood bond with Odin. This is, however, just a theory. Either way, Loki - although not historically worshiped - is no different than any other Norse deities. - Mod L

[maine-writes]

Oh wait!

The whitest man. From a culture that was mostly replaced by Western culture.

You want to know how to preserve your culture? Educate, make better art than the rando white guy who got it wrong. Dont shit on people for trying, maybe getting it wrong. If they mean well, why villify them?

What of the profiting? Let's look at Wakanda, The Last Airbender, the general culture of hip-hop, any of the myriad films and television shows that draws inspiration from Asia and sometimes Africa, are they creating perverse corruptions? Are they getting people interested? "Why couldnt X make it?" Ask them, why didnt they? Why didnt China think of King Fu Panda? Why didnt a bunch of Asians, a Tibetan Buddhist, and a First Nations rep come together and make The Last Airbender?

What of a random white kid wearing a kimono, is that a horrifying moment of cultural appropriation? A black guy becoming Buddhist? An Indian woman being very Irish? A black Parisian? A white guy being mastering the shakuhachi? A white guy learning the history of Southern food and sharing everything he's learned in a restaurant?

People are getting better at respecting culture. We're seeing less of the insensitive "geisha are slutty courtesans" image, the "tribesman wearing skulls and grass" image. These are not yet distant memories, but we'll get there.

Now we talk gentrification, the making of cultures and areas more attractive to white people. What exactly is attractive to them? Whats familiar. How do we make our cultures, our neighborhoods, our cultures, attractive, yet preserving our identities? The same way we got white people to stop calling every unfamiliar dish "ethnic food". Teaching them, educating them, helping break down the divisions that make everything seem as if reality is "us vs them", get them to embrace the culture, the identity, the neighborhood.

And yet there are those who insist on keeping these divisions, insisting white people be scrutinized before interacting with the culture, yet offer no guidance, no leeway in their education, just judgement.

History has witnessed government mandated reeducation programs, banning of religions and cultural celebrations, genocides masquerading as crusades and manifest destiny. Where do we see these today? Look to the plight of the Palestinians, Muslim populations in the Philippines and China, First Nations and Native American. The fight to preserve, to save them, I understand.

But what of the cultures and identities thst arent going anywhere, whose continuation and preservation are assured? The same argument is made, and is rightly ridiculed, when applied to the culture of what it means to be American or British. "They're white". Let's look at the Irish and Scottish cultures, the old Gaelic language and culture. The English were adamant about ridding their isle of them, yet nobody says a damn thing about it. I'm not even remotely Japanese, yet I can wear a kimono without a problem. I can wear a kilt and no Scotsman would call me out for wearing it.

The more we share aspects of our cultures, the more we guide and educate, the more we embrace those who wholeheartly try to understand, the more we can progress in regards to the preservation and growth of our cultures.

To react with anger, with no thought or insight. To lash out at people who genuinely are fascinated by your culture, who may not get everything right, but their heart is in the right place. To demand others to bear the weight of your trauma and reluctance to be better, to heal and grow.

Sounds childish to me.