#infinite schism

[shawnfreki]

‘Infinite Schism’ by Leilani Bustamante.

[fennelockley]

i would be over the moon if you chose to share your Toymaker x OC pieces 🥺💖💖💖 no pressure of course!! :3c

Ya'll have been so nice about these and the love I got for even the tiny thumbnails was so nice. So thank you, and let's go..

-----

Time Lord OC x Toymaker

Picture one was a trial test. In all my years of art I've never drawn couple art. Hence the use of my OC because I know I can draw them.

Also the Spice Girls scene has left me feeling jealous of Kate and Mel.

Picture 2 was like... what would their dynamic even be?? Enemies to lovers. (I'm sorry my child, I made my OC as a unique concept to explore the whoniverse and now I'm just shipping them with malevolent entities because of my own feelings. How far we fall from grace)

After the second one I was like "Hey, so I am capable of drawing side profiles 👀" and the rest was history.

I know I'd love to see other people's oc x Canon art so I hope my silly OC in these scenarios gives you all some enjoyment :D

[autisticshadowthehedgehog]

sonic the hedgehog tumblr dashboard simulator

0 notes

💠 extremegayr Follow

got held up in traffic today cause some noob couldnt drive the fucking loop-de-loop. lmfao fucking coward

15 notes

🎛 420zone Follow

ok but robotnik's kind of a dilf tho

🌫 wispgender Follow

he's literally a war criminal can we NOT do this tumblr

🎛 420zone Follow

📰 its-no-use Follow

@wispgender dont u literally simp for nominatus like who is one to talk

🌫 wispgender Follow

NOMINATUS ISN'T REAL????

🛜 viralsensation-destructorofworlds Follow

that you know of

🌫 wispgender Follow

what

10,672 notes

🔷 sonicinthewild

43,834 notes

☣️ lineinthesand Follow

saw sonic the hedgehog irl once. he showed up at my village, released 30 feral pickys in the town hall, paid the ice cream vendor roughly a thousand rings for a single chili dog, told me not to waste my life worrying about the little things, and then caused a fucking tornado

🧿 spiralhillspindash Follow

ok and??? you're not special

☣️ lineinthesand Follow

THIS WAS A PERSONAL POST GO AWAAAAY

173 notes

���� chaoinspace2electricboogaloo

sucks that sticks the badger hates all technology you know she would do NUMBERS on here

568 notes

☸️ r0u3e Follow

being an islander be like "are those the kind of eggsplosions i should worry about or the kind of eggsplosions that are gonna repair our crops, fix the economy, and bring my dead grandma back to life"

🌁 eggpawnkindathicctho Follow

being a continenter be like "oh great what primordial diety has risen from the grave to block traffic and fight a 15yo today"

🥭 chao-official

being a chao be like "chao chao chao chao chao"

🌁 eggpawnkindathicctho Follow

you said it my mans

579,056 notes

🏵 sprinkles-the-chao Follow

hold on if sonic the hedgehog is jewish then how is he santa claus

🤖 e123-omegaverse Follow

dont question him

85,628 notes

☣️ sparkygoboom Follow

hey guys real question are human/mobian relationships problematic

💠 extremegayr Follow

op is about to start the anthro church schism of the fifteenth year all over again

🛞 mobotropolis Follow

ok but in all seriousness did your mom never teach you that part of history

🎢 marxiobros Follow

someone doesn't know about the united federations public school system

🛞 mobotropolis Follow

what the fuck is a public school

⏭️ drowningmusic Follow

⚄ paradoxprism Follow

are we gonna talk about op's chaos radiation fetish

💠 extremegayr Follow

OP'S WHAT NOW

🏞 mobiancrossing Follow

ok but am i the only one who thinks that the public school system would be a good idea if handled right? like i know it's traditional to learn from your parents and then experience the world on our own from the ages of 7-13 but like combining all our knowledge and learning together doesnt seem like a bad idea

☠️ fabian-vane-number-1-hater Follow

bitch that's what the internet is for

🌅 s0leanna-apple-barrell

yeah where else am i gonna learn to make infinite chaos emeralds

❇️ freesurge Follow

"infinite chaos emeralds" that's called the phantom ruby

🏳️‍🌈 rainbowwispforgayrights Follow

everybody on this site has brain damage

❇️ freesurge Follow

yeah. from the radiation

603,573 notes

🐸 froggysfriend

caught this today

🏝 digginginthegroundfortubers

if anything happens to this blog i genuinely hope eggman blows us all up as punishment

950,420 notes

🐊 teamchaotixofficial

Hey guys! Sorry to do this again but rent's a little tight this month :( If we've ever solved a case for you guys or made you guys smile, please consider sending a ko-fi our way! we just need a few rings to get through the month <3

6 notes

🖼 give-the-koco-a-gun Follow

do we ever talk about that time the sky turned blood-red and shadow the hedgehog's demon dad descended from on high to murder us all and we only barely survived

❤️‍🔥 songoose4evr Follow

shadow fixed it it's fine

🎮 n0cturnity

yeah that was like twelve apocalypses ago move on

🎆 robotniksbignaturals Follow

kinda wanted to bang black doom tbh

🖼 give-the-koco-a-gun Follow

THE DEVIL???? FROM THE BIBLE????

🎆 robotniksbignaturals Follow

yeah. move over gayboy i'm boutta be shadow's new dad

856,301 notes

🗑️ berrybarry

starting a conspiracy that time hasnt moved since 2006

🗑️ berrybarry

why the fuck was i shadowbanned after posting this

8 notes

🤡 clownfinite Follow

tfw you finally save up enough rings for ice cream and you go outside and get hit by swatbot pieces and the rings just go fuckin everywhere

587 notes

🔷 sonicinthewild

34,452 notes

🌌 h-o-l-o-l-y-n-x

so did y'all see that genesis wave or was it just me

0 notes

🆙 planetsgiantcrack Follow

the virgin tweeter "if you use a bad word in the same tweet as the word 'cream' you get obliterated off the site" vs this chad site of "i want to put knuckles back in a microwave"

💟 presidentyaoi Follow

BACK????

69,849 notes

⬜️ chao-and-wisps-4-ever-so-cute-2 Follow

ok posting my first fanart to this site pls be nice! <3

2 notes

🌔 emeraldfwuitgummy Follow

why does tails look like he's always about to say "it fucken WIMDY"

🦊 miles-prower-official

Hello, @emeraldfwuitgummy!

I actually quote that image on a constant basis! Sonic thinks it's hilarious every time. He's quite the fan of memes, and it's nice to get a laugh out of him!

Formally,

Dr. Miles "Tails" Prower, PHD

🌔 emeraldfwuitgummy Follow

SO WAS ANYONE GOING TO TELL ME THAT TAILS WAS ON THIS FUCKING SITE OR--

🏅 iwishhumanswerereal Follow

do. do you not know he created tailblr. dude it's in the name lmao

🌔 emeraldfwuitgummy Follow

he

WHAT

🍭 milfwisp Follow

didn't eggman invent this site???

🪫 veganswatbot

THE EGG ABANDONED SCRAMBLR IN ITS TIME OF NEED AND THE FOX RAISED US FROM THE ASHES. YOU WILL NOT DISRESPECT HIM

🦊 miles-prower-official

Hello, @milfwisp and @veganswatbot!

Very good question! This site was Eggman's until I ate his bones. Thank you for engaging! :D

Formally,

Dr. Miles "Tails" Prower, PHD

🌔 emeraldfwuitgummy Follow

YOU

WHAT

🌭 sonicsays

what's not clicking

[mysticalspiders]

I can't stop thinking about how close Asmodeus (Imri), Pelor (Aru), and Sarenrae (Luz) clearly were before coming to Exandria or perhaps even before the Schism. Imri asking Aru if they are starting a new game and running off down the staircase to be the first one there; Aru and Luz following behind. Luz asking where Imri is when she reaches the ship. Luz and Imri remaining standing as the ship moves through chaos. Imri saying "I'm something, I'm not everything, but I'm something. I love you." and Luz immedialty responding with "I love you." Imri creating a wall and being burned at the front of the ship to protect the rest of his friends while Luz keeps him alive by hugging him. The three of them were clearly a close trio in Tengar; in an infinite place they stayed close to each other.

And now this trio has become fractured in such a painful way. Sarenrae believing that Asmodeus can be redeemed, that their friendship could return, and Asmodeus betraying that faith and trust, killing nearly all of her followers. Amodeus mockingly comparing Zerxus to Pelor. Asmodeus, in his mortal form, becoming a priest of Pelor to as an insult to his brother. Pelor, in his mortal form, becoming a cleric to Saranrae to stick up for his sister.

And now the three of them, tentatively allies, on a mission together. I cannot wait to watch more of this broken trio's dynamic unfold.

[utilitycaster]

I love the discussion out of game (mostly in Cooldown) and the hints in-game of why the Betrayers and Primes split along the lines they did. It's something that I feel only gets explored during the era of Calamity, perhaps rightfully so; it would have to be then or during the battles of the Schism, as the Divine Gate renders a lot of that division moot in terms of what they can actually carry out in the world.

Taliesin in Cooldown says that The Wildmother is not opposed to leaving a natural cycle of life, including beings killing each other, to play out as it would; the issue for her was that she cannot leave Exandria for something else; it is essentially a part of her. If she could leave, perhaps she would have been a Betrayer. The Lawbearer on the other hand is discussed in and out of game as not dedicated to mortals as "her little guys" but dedicated to, well, dedication and promises; while intervention has its dangers that she acknowledges, it would be quite literally a betrayal of responsibility not to do so. There are deities who genuinely seem to hold affection for mortaldom, like The Dawnfather and The Everlight, but many had other motivations.

Something I find really interesting is Tishar (The Ruiner's avatar) and her clear distaste for Zaharzht (unconfirmed but heavily implied to be The Crawling King). One of Gruumsh's tenets is that the only two emotions are "fury and joy", and many of the Betrayers and their avatars, particularly Zaharzht, seem dedicated to the idea that all is suffering. For some, the act of betrayal itself seems baked into their nature (Asmodeus, Lolth, Zehir) and for some, a worship of pain (Torog) or of nothingness and end itself (Tharizdun) but but Gruumsh, Tiamat, and Bane ultimately boil down to "if the strong try to kill the weak, let them" and Gruumsh in particular is dedicated first and foremost simply to destruction but does not seem to have any true hate for mortals as some of the others do. Rather like Melora, it is only a few details that determined his side in the Schism.

Just as the gods became who they are out of the need to survive the destruction of Tengar, and found themselves locked into those aspects of what was once an infinite self, I think by the time of Calamity, the gods found themselves on existing sides based on the choices that are no longer entirely pertinent now that the battles of the Schism are over. Within those two camps, the gods hold a wide range of opinions; some of the Betrayers genuinely do wish for the elimination of all of mortaldom but some would probably be happy to just leave if the Primes were willing. It's just that the Primes, for a wide variety of reasons, are not.

Calamity is, essentially, the Betrayer Gods fighting a war they lost centuries if not millennia before. I don't think their cause was ever actually in favor of the Titans, but if it was, a revival of that war ended in the instant of its beginning with Laerryn's act. At this point, they're fighting the Primes to make them join them again; even if all mortals died I don't think they'd get what they wanted, and surely if all the Primes died they wouldn't either.

[thoughts-i-have-had-in-passing]

The Spock Universes Theory of Star Trek

Recently I made a very quick, late-night reply to a post in which I mentioned my ‘Spock Universes’ theory which to my surprise ended up being somewhat popular with the people, and so I have decided to give it its own post.

The theory is simple. Every time Spock is played by someone different on screen you are watching a different universe’s timeline.

Why does this work? First off it is canon that there are different universes. For one, the Animated Series was disavowed by Gene Roddenberry as not canon, which by extension means it had to have taken place in another universe, but we also have the mirror universe  which continues to exist even when we occasionally wish it didn’t. So Star Trek was doing a multiverse from almost the very beginning. So what is the easiest way to tell them apart?

Spock.

Spock is the key to the whole multiverse. Behold:

TOS: Nimoy Spock, Prime universe

TAS: Voiced by Nimoy but disavowed by Roddenberry, ‘Animated Prime’ universe in which everything that happened in Prime Universe also happened here, but everything that happened here did not automatically happen in Prime.

Star Trek Movies I through VI: Nimoy Spock, Prime universe

TNG: Nimoy Spock appeared in Unification Parts 1 and 2, therefore TNG is in Prime universe

Star Trek: Generations: No Spock. NOT PRIME UNIVERSE.

The evidence: In the TNG episode Relics the crew discover Scotty, played by James Doohan, trapped in a transporter buffer on an infinite loop. This is considered god-tier engineering by Geordie, who did not believe it was possible despite 70 years of advancements in the engineering space (more on that in the SNW section).

Scotty makes a comment that he thought Kirk got the original Enterprise out of mothballs to come looking for him, and was saddened to find out this was not the case. In Generations, Scotty is present when Kirk get pulled into the Nexus and everyone think he is dead. In Prime universe Scotty was not there or he would not have made this assumption, however there is one person who has to be there in order to determine if the universe is Prime: Nimoy Spock.

Who was originally supposed to be there according to the original script? Nimoy Spock.

Who forced a change to the universe by not showing up? Nimoy Spock.

In Prime universe Spock was there instead of Scotty, who had not delayed his retirement to see off the Enterprise B and instead was already on his way to the Norpin colony when Kirk was ‘killed’ the news reached the colony but not the ship, which because it never made it meant Scotty never knew Kirk was gone.

It is important to note that everything else happened the exact same way, except Lursa and B’Etor got hold of a much better ship solely because I said so.

DS9: In the episode Trials and Tribble-ations, the crew was thrown back in time to the days of the original Enterprise, in which Nimoy Spock appeared, even without the various TNG crossovers it’s still Prime universe

Voyager: No Spock, but pilot episode crossed over with DS9, and the character of Barkley crossed over from TNG on more than one occasion. In addition, in the episode Flashback there was an appearance by Captain Sulu, played by George Takei, who was last seen playing his character opposite Nimoy’s Spock. Most likely Prime universe

Enterprise: Predates the Spock schism and therefore theoretically belongs to all universes. It has been referenced in several of the newer series in various ways, however there is a continuity issue in regards to the Klingons, which may mean that the event which lead to Spock being played by someone other than Nimoy happen even further back in the timeline, with the majority of changes being negligible by the time of Enterprise other than the Klingon ridge thing, which Discovery and SNW do not follow

‘Kelvin’ movies: Two Spocks. Nimoy Spock is specifically stated to come from the future Prime universe and the events featuring Quinto Spock are now a new, branched timeline. Further proof for the theory.

Discovery: Peck Spock, new timeline. Other notable changes include the style and advancement of technology and the fact that the Klingons appear to have solved their forehead ridge-flattening troubles, plus added extra for good luck.*

SNW: Peck Spock, crossover with Discovery. Peck universe. This also means that major continuity changes like the Gorn being both known and evil monsters are due to the different universe. In addition, Dr. M’Benga hides his daughter in a transporter buffer to slow down her illness. As previously mentioned, this was god-tier engineering when Prime Scotty did it in 2294, however in this universe technology is more advanced as no one bats an eye at the doctor’s technical prowess when they find out what he did.

Prodigy: Nimoy Spock facsimile which uses Nimoy voice recordings, Prime universe

Picard: No Spock, pick your poison. Basically because there is no Spock this could be Prime or it could be the same universe as Generations. Clearly there are a lot of similarities between Prime and Generations universe, but as the ending shown in All Good Things is not the one we see in Picard, it’s possible, likely even, that we have crossed universes again. I blame Q.

Lower Decks: Somehow exists in a universe where all shows are simultaneously canon, including TAS, probably due to some weird phenomena  

*Challenges to the theory and how it has adapted.

It was pointed out to me that Michael Burnham watches a recording of old Spock once she goes to the future, and that this recording was of Nimoy Spock, and so I have had to alter my theory slightly.

The Spock Checkpoint can only be done when Spock is a young man. This is because once Spock approaches old age, regardless of who has been playing him, he begin to morph into Nimoy Spock. As Mr. Nimoy himself claimed in his second autobiography: I am Spock.

Dude wasn’t kidding.

Personally I find that this theory helps me deal with the more extreme continuity issues that NuTrek has brought to the show. It's easy to pretend that Turnabout Intruder's claim that women can't be captains never actually happened, harder to believe that everyone met the Gorn except Kirk, and that somehow they demonsterfied in about five to ten years, or that a doctor could rig a transporter as well as a master engineer with technology forty years more advanced. Spock theory has calmed my mind and soothed my soul so I can better enjoy Trek. I hope if you felt the same way then it can do the same for you.

Thank you for reading my waffle.

[dailyadventureprompts]

Why I don’t Use the Great Wheel Cosmology

For those of you who might not know, “The Great Wheel” is a name given to the arrangement and relations of planes that’s provided for the “default” d&d setting, and is assumed to be going on in the background of 99% of all published d&d material. It arranges the planes in a looping sequence vaguely based off the alignment chart, with wordily embodiments of the most extreme forces of good, evil, law, and chaos existing at the cardinal points. Souls depart from the material plane and are drawn directly to whatever plane most aligned with their alignment, to either live on in an eternal state or to become outsiders of their particular domain.

Over the years that I’ve run this blog I’ve stated time and again my distaste for the great wheel cosmology, meting out my critiques in bits and pieces as they were relevant to whatever I happened to be writing about at the time. This has happened so much that I wanted to collect all my gripes in one place so I could link back on it instead of reexplaining myself each time. So without further ado, brace yourself for an opinionated nerd telling you his in depth opinions about something that absolutely does not matter: 

The whole point of a cosmology is to describe the natural order/structure of the universe, and the great wheel describes a universe that’s effectively just the christian dichotomy of heaven and hell with a few extra steps. It’s a fundamentally moral view of how the multiverse works, and makes “right” and “wrong” not only into objective facts, but a geography you can walk across, travelling from the most morally correct place to the most incorrect place with just a couple of protals. 

This system is painfully rigid, not only removing any nuance over whether a course of action is correct, but preventing any competing worldviews from even existing: you can’t have differing belief systems/schisms of faith when you can go out and see proof of the rightness of the great wheel. Much like with how d&d handles gods, this paradoxically removes the idea of “faith” from matters of worship, which to me removes the whole point of having gods in the first place, reducing the big questions around death into a moral assembly line with one of a select number of pre-determined outputs.

It’s no stretch to say that the great wheel is just the alignment chart canonized as a fundamental part of the game world, and while we’ve all grown past the fundimentally black and white morality of the alignment chat It still mystifies me that d&d uses the great wheel as a piece of worldbuilding upon which most campaigns are supposed to be set. 

This boggles my mind because d&d has a much better and simplier cosmology upon which campaigns can be set, one that makes no moral judgments and instead allows for the infinite creativity that the game is supposed to be all about. The astral sea is an infinite expanse of possibility, where worlds are spun together from thoughts and dreams paralleling the process of creation that goes into the act of storytelling itself. What better way to explain a multiverse that functions on narrative tropes more than it does physics? Where hope really can prevail against wickedness and rule of cool supersedes the dictates of fate.

To end with a couple of personal gripes, the great wheel is really kind of boring? As a selection of afterlives about half of them are idyllic natural landscapes with nothing really going on and the other half are unplesant caves/wastelands suffering some kind of fucked up weather event. Most of it is painfully eurocentric when it comes to visions of the afterlife, and those planes that DO stand out ( The crashing metal cubes of Acheron) are more weird for the sake of weird. 

I can’t help but focus in on how much the great wheel doubles down on the game’s weird hodgepodge of colonialist belief structures. While WOTC has hastily amended out “always chaotic evil” over the past couple years, they still set their material in a cosmology where creatures like orcs/goblins/gnolls are born evil, drawn to evil all their life, and are doomed to suffer eternally in various hells because “evil” is in their very nature. This isn’t good worldbuilding, it’s the authors seeking some kind of weird vindication for their own beliefs by creating a group of people they can feel morally justified in punishing, and we all know where that gets us.

[halobirthdays]

Happy birthday to Shipmaster Rtas 'Vadum!

Today is his -463rd birthday!

Rtas was born on Sanghelios and raised in a keep by the sea. He spent much of his childhood exploring the shoreline and hunting the creatures within. He graduated with honors from a top war college, setting the course for his advancement.

By 2552, he held the rank of Special Operations Commander, specializing in discreet, unconventional warfare--often answering directly to a Hierarch. He served under then-Supreme Commander Thel 'Vadam(ee), who tasked him with investigating the agricultural support ship Infinite Succor, which sent the fleet a distress beacon. Once on board, 'Vadum(ee) discovered that the ship had been overtaken by the Flood, making him one of the first to encounter the outbreak from Installation 04. Recognizing the threat of the Flood spreading, he and his team fought their way to the bridge to initiate self-destruction protocols. Before he could escape, he was forced to fight his Flood-infected comrade, Bero 'Kusovai, who had been his best swordsman. During the engagement, the Flood form cut off 'Vadum's left mandibles with an energy sword, leaving him permanently maimed.

After the destruction of Installation 04, he and Thel 'Vadam were given a mission to find and kill Sesa 'Refumee, a Covenant defector who was labeled a heretic for his (correct) denial of the Great Journey. By this point, his once-superior Thel 'Vadam had been publicly shamed, stripped of his title, and was appointed as the Arbiter. Though Rtas lost respect for Thel, he still recognized him as a skilled warrior and valuable asset.

Rtas and Thel fought their way through the gas mine, killing the heretic leader and taking 343 Guilty Spark with them. When the Prophet of Regret arrived at Earth unprepared and fled to Installation 05, Rtas sent a large group of reinforcements to protect the Hierarch, before being unknowingly thwarted by the Prophet of Truth. When Truth used these events to justify the Changing of the Guard, he protested but accepted the decision.

However, following these events, he and Thel forged a mutual trust in their unified disagreement with the decision, and their experiences fighting together. When Thel was betrayed by Tartarus, Rtas was the first person he told, kicking off the Great Schism and forming the first Covenant separatist group.

While Thel fought his way to Installation 05's control room to prevent the firing of the Halo, 'Vadum engaged Jiralhanae forces in orbit, capturing the Kerel-pattern assault carrier Shadow of Intent, which would become the flagship of the newly-formed Fleet of Retribution. Rtas was instrumental in forming an alliance with the humans, quickly recognizing the importance of Flood containment above their previous hostilities. He ordered his fleet to glass Voi, a restrained measure meant to balance his serious interest in containment with the delicate alliance with the UNSC.

At the close of the war, Rtas and the fleet would follow Thel and the UNSC to the Ark, providing joint support to pave the way for Master Chief and Thel to stop Truth. When the ceasefire between the humans and Sangheili was formalized, he escorted Thel back to Sanghelios, but would not stay for long.

Though he grew weary of fighting, Rtas continued to serve as commander of the Shadow of Intent. After answering a distress signal from the colony Rahnelo, he learned that some San'Shyuum--who had largely gone into hiding after the end of the war--were still alive through Prelate Tem'Bhetek. He went on a mission with Tul 'Juran to stop 'Bhetek's misguided revenge efforts against the Sangheili, believing that the Swords of Sanghelios were responsible for the death of his family. Rtas convinced him of the truth, and 'Bhetek died trying to aid him. After this encounter, Rtas set aside his resentment of the San'Shyuum, recognizing that some deserved death, but some, like 'Bhetek, had also been deceived. Though he was offered leave by Thel, who was now a brother to him, Rtas declined, having learned that thousands of San'Shyuum yet survived, and was determined to locate those responsible for the lies of the Covenant. By present canon, he continues this campaign.

While serving the Covenant, Rtas was devout but not a zealot, willing to challenge orders from the San'Shyuum, including threatening to kill the Minister on the Infinite Succor for his singular interest in his own safety over Flood containment protocols, and his vocal disagreement with the Changing of the Guard. Though he is war-weary and embarrassed by his disfigurement, which makes it difficult for him to enunciate, he still prioritizes his responsibility to his species and loyalty to Thel over his own wishes. He is more tolerant than typical for his species and values pragmatism over tradition, willing to let female Sangheili and Unggoy in his ranks before either was deemed acceptable. In other words, he's special and amazing and you love him. And that's still lore so jot that down.

In canon (~2560), he is turning 73!

If it wasn't apparent, Rtas is this blog's favorite character and EVERYONE IS GOING TO CLAP RIGHT NOW.

[furrbbyx]

Hear me out monster fucker edition but its just a thin bodied person with "monster" features

I petition the ensemble for a schism bc i want the grotesque, unfathomable, nightmarish hotties with infinite forms unlike a human's

[jakey-beefed-it]

Every now and then I think about how most of the universe, between dark matter and voids, is essentially invisible to us, and I have a brief mental schism- either we (planet-bound organic life tied to stellar systems and made of baryonic matter) are the bacteria that squirms atop vast soap bubbles of nothingness, or we are the bacteria that squirms atop a windshield while the rest of the universe carries on within, vaster and more numerous than we can imagine.

And that's just the maximal scale. Bring it down to even just our star system and you can get a little dizzy just thinking about the distance from here to the fucking MOON much less Mars or god help you Neptune and beyond into the black. About how this planet is a real oddball thanks to a big moon, a big iron core making a strong magnetic field which allows for life altering the atmosphere, the temperature, even the topography a bit.

Might go have a lie down now. It's really cool to think about, but I am still fundamentally an ape with indoor plumbing and my mind is easily blown by the infinite.

[badjershark]

All Cops Are Bastards... at least if you're Catholic

14 June 2024, 7:17 a.m. GMT

In an unscheduled announcement, Pope Francis, presumably in an effort to regain the trust of the historically anti-police LGBTQ+ community after being recorded using a homophobic slur, has declared that all marriages which resulted in a child who later became a police officer shall be annulled by the Catholic Church.

This latest papal decree comes as a shock to many clergy and laymen alike, but sources close the Pope say this has been at the forefront of his mind ever since a 2019 episode of Paw Patrol featuring a canine pope who made "undignified decisions" at the behest of the show's police dog, Chase. These decisions include using his forbidden powers to banish an unruly pigeon straight to hell after it tried eating a single grain of his holy kibble, using autotune software to exclude other animals from mass by saying prayers in a pitch so high only God and dogs can hear it, and ultimately destroying the fictional "pup mobile" in an effort to stop the mayor of Adventure Bay from codifying the Separation of Church and State.

In his statement, Francis said, "God, … in His infinite knowledge, knows which unions of Man and Woman will result in children who will later become police officers, and He does not recognize those unions in His Great Kingdom of Heaven."

The announcement may prove to be rather costly for the Church, as the Archdiocese of New York—which, since its elevation from diocese to archdiocese in 1850, has only ever had Irish-American leadership (we checked)—has released a statement claiming that, considering the long history of Irish-American police officers in New York City, the Church will have to do an intensive audit of its clergy to determine how many of them were unknowingly born out of wedlock, and thus falsely ordained. If this number proves large enough, it could lead to a significant portion of the Archdiocese's congregation learning that they, and their families, were never actually baptized. Religious scholars warn that this may lead to a schism or even the rise of seemingly oxymoronic "Irish-Protestantism," as some laymen would rather proclaim a false Pope than their own false baptism.

Francis has assured the press that he's "not worried about false baptisms at all," since baptisms within the Catholic Church need not be performed by a Catholic priest.

"The bigger concern is false marriages," says 52-year-old half-Italian professor of religious studies at Florida University College, Kingston whose name has been omitted as he asked to remain anonymous. "Think of how many people a single priest marries. Now imagine that priest's brother became a cop. Because of that brother's decision, now they're both the result of an illegitimate union, and all those people who think they've been married in the eyes of God have actually been living in sin this whole time, not to mention their children, who are illegitimate as well. It's really a cascading effect when you think about it. Our early calculations estimate that under this new rule, nearly one third of Catholics in the United States are bastards, and nearly one third of Catholic 'marriages' in the United States are illegitimate."

Some critics have drawn attention to the fact that this announcement comes just weeks after reports that the Church has purchased nearly $2.8 billion worth of stock in the U.S. wedding industry. When asked if the two events are related, the Vatican declined to comment.

[holyshonks]

Rtas is the friend that Thel needed because he's immune to the societal pressure around him. Rtas and Thel are cut from the same cloth: they were both stand-outs in their families, trying hard to honor them. Yet Thel was far more susceptible to his belief that he was destined for greatness.

Sangheili are arrogant. Their position in the Covenant hierarchy stoked this arrogance, and ultimately spelled their downfall. Their size and strength made it easy for them to throw their weight around with client races and each other, and there's many examples of them doing it in spades.

Thel perfectly captures this arrogance in the years leading up to his advancement as Supreme Commander. As a kaidon, he was harsh and exacting. As a shipmaster, he pulled rank, dishing out orders and punishment in equal measure. This was all seen as a good thing--a sign of a good leader.

Look at the difference in the way that they address the Unggoy, the lowest in their command:

Thel leans into not using the Unggoy at all unless they can be used as cannon fodder, whereas Rtas directs the Unggoy to take cover behind the Sangheili, an unheard of amount of concern for a servant race.

Before the destruction of Installation 04, Rtas answered to Thel. He was doing the dangerous work of investigating and quelling the flood outbreak on the Infinite Succor, a mission which cost him his crew and left him disfigured. Two days later, Installation 04 is destroyed and 'Vadam slides way, way down the totem pole. He is now a public enemy. He is literally branded as a pariah and openly reviled. His chosen punishment was to be hung by his entrails and paraded through High Charity, save for his appointment as Arbiter.

Despite his appointment, no one would have blinked if Rtas chose to demean Thel, but he chooses not to. Save for a lecture on who's in charge (Rtas was answering to him a month before, after all) when Thel joins his crew, Rtas treats him much the same as anyone else. He recognizes that Thel is the same person that he was before his disgrace: he is still a worthy warrior and tactician, and as a result, does not resent or prohibit counsel from him. If the roles were reversed, I don't believe Thel would have treated him the same way.

Rtas is the first individual to treat Thel with any kindness after his fall from grace. This theme plays out throughout the events leading up to the Great Schism, with Rtas fighting alongside Thel and treating him with respect. When the Changing of the Guard takes place, they exchange a significant nod, solidifying their roles as friends and allies during a period of terrible change, despite the fact that Thel answered to the very same hierarchs that made the decision. During the events Halo 2, Rtas is his only friend, and even after that, his only true confidante while they're surrounded by a species they barely trust.

Ultimately, Rtas is not encumbered by the pretext and grandeur seeped into the culture around him: he does not care for titles and will give anyone due respect if they deserve it, and, conversely, will disrespect anyone who doesn't, no matter who they are.

When Tul 'Juran asks to join Rtas' crew, she is asking him to break centuries of tradition prohibiting females from joining the Covenant military. But the Covenant is over, Tul is capable, and, more importantly, her intentions are true: she wanted to avenge her family, something any Sangheili would set out to do. So Rtas lets her, over the objection of the older soldiers under his command. Thel gets the credit for allowing females into the Swords, but Rtas was the first to do it.

In the same vein, Rtas permits Stolt--an Unggoy--to lead his own ranger squad. Why? Because he is competent, and that is all a leader need be. Rtas levels out his arrogance with pragmatism and a sense of humor not often seen, particularly at his rank.

ANYWAY Rtas 'Vadum is level-headed in a culture built on boastfulness and zealotry and kind in a society that doesn't reward kindness.

Here's him being Thel's bff for good measure:

[bracketsoffear]

Ever After High: The Legend of Shadow High (Shannon & Dean Hale) "Now, Ever After High itself is very Web. The children of famous fairytales being destiny-bound to relive their stories or go 'poof' is the driving force behind all the books' conflicts.

However, Shadow High takes it to another level. The narrators, who were present throughout the series, are more influential within the story. Even the straight-laced narrator parents who believe only in observing stories leave 'plop devices' to coerce characters in or out of making decisions. The titular Shadow High is a school for narrators run by antagonist Ms. Direction after a narrator schism between those who observe stories and those who control them. Ms. Direction uses 'unmaking lava' that turns characters and props into the words that compose them, destroying them so that they can be made again in her vision. She also uses narration to compel characters into doing her bidding. The narrator of the book, Brooke Page, is the daughter of the other books' narrators and has frequent arguments with her parents between chapters about why she can't intervene in the story to help the characters. Brooke ultimately does this in the book's climax by climbing the Fourth Wall and asking the reader for help, turning the book into a choose-your-own-adventure and having the reader write in how Ms. Direction is ultimately defeated.

Also, it's a crossover with Monster High so Frankie Stein and Draculaura are there."

The Taking of Jake Livingston (Ryan Douglass) "Jake Livingston is one of the only Black kids at St. Clair Prep, one of the others being his infinitely more popular older brother. It’s hard enough fitting in but to make matters worse and definitely more complicated, Jake can see the dead. In fact he sees the dead around him all the time. Most are harmless. Stuck in their death loops as they relive their deaths over and over again, they don’t interact often with people. But then Jake meets Sawyer. A troubled teen who shot and killed six kids at a local high school last year before taking his own life. Now a powerful, vengeful ghost, he has plans for his afterlife–plans that include Jake. Suddenly, everything Jake knows about ghosts and the rules to life itself go out the window as Sawyer begins haunting him and bodies turn up in his neighborhood. High school soon becomes a survival game–one Jake is not sure he’s going to win."

[utilitycaster]

okay sorry i’m not a Lore Person but is the beginning of downfall the start of the Calamity? why are they falling out of the sky like what is it that’s happening at the start? would you mind giving me like a suuuuper simple timeline? like just a list of events in order to the best of ur knowledge? u seem to know a lot about the lore and i really enjoy ur posts :)

Hi anon, sure! Here is a rough timeline of Downfall and some of the Calamity events we know:

The opening of Downfall is a telling of how the gods came to Exandria, and is new information to us as the viewers - the lore is out there indicating the gods were not originally from Exandria, but this shows that they were once eternal and infinite beings of light whose home and many of the others of their kind were destroyed by nothingness (very possibly Predathos) and who, in fleeing that danger, were forced into the concrete, physical forms of the gods as they are now. They then crash-landed on Exandria, where the Primordial Titans lived.

We then flash forward within the episode to about a century into the Calamity, and the rest of the episode takes place then. To back up into some key events (this is extremely high level and noncomprehensive, so lore people who are reading this, do not @ me if I like, don't cover the Luxon or Alyxian and so forth because at this point they're not particularly relevant to the Downfall story, but if I get something totally incorrect let me know.)

The Founding: Sometime after crash-landing the gods create mortals (elves, humans, etc). It's unclear what the primordials are doing at this time. The gods also give people divine magics. (This info is specifically from sourcebooks and a retelling of it episode 1x43 by Highbearer Vord; we haven't actually seen this play out)

The Creation of Ruidus: After quite some time - mortals had already built civilizations - Predathos came to Exandria and ate two of the gods, Ethedok and Vordo, as well as created its own forms of mortal life. The gods sealed Predathos away in Ruidus and tried to send it away, but it remained as a moon (Retold in episode 3x43 by Planerider Ryn from texts from Vasselheim; plenty of other explorations of this in C3).

The Schism: The titans rose up against the mortals (precise reasons why unclear; this is all from various retellings including 1x43 and the sourcebooks) and the gods split in what they felt they should do: The Prime Deities (all good or neutral aligned) believed they had an obligation to their mortal creations and should assist them. The Betrayer Gods (all evil aligned) believed they should let the titans kill everyone and they (the gods) all should leave. When the Prime Deities would not leave, this led to the Schism. The Prime Deities granted the mortals arcane magic, which (per the sourcebooks) they used to destroy or seal the titans and seal away the Betrayer Gods as well. Two titans, Rau'shan and Ka'Mort, were sealed in Mount Ygora on Domunas, which later became Avalir and Cathmoíra.

The Age of Arcanum: Human civilization flourished and developed technologically. This is when the flying cities like Aeor and Avalir were created. At some point during this time, the Tree of Names was created to protect the world from extraplanar threats (though it is implied through Loquatius's presence in EXU Calamity that the Feywild had a pass or something). About 130 years prior to the start of the Calamity, the Raven Queen used the Rites of Ascension to assume the station of the former god of death, destroying him and his name in the process (though we do now know that when he was an eternal being of light he was called Nahal!). (Info from sourcebooks and EXU Calamity)

The events of EXU Calamity: Vespin Chloras, a wizard, hoped to replace or reform Asmodeus as the Raven Queen had replaced the god of death, but in trying to do so unsealed all the Betrayers. He became a thrall of Asmodeus. The Betrayers were prevented from entering the world via the Tree of Names, but they developed and were able to communicate this plan to both destroy the Tree of Names and release the sealed titans in Mount Ygora, and had followers begin building a stronghold in Ghor Dranas (eventually to be reclaimed as Rosohna in the Kryn Dynasty, post-Calamity). I highly recommend watching EXU Calamity if you haven't, because it's very good, but essentially, this plan begins to go into motion, and is particularly successful due to various forms of corruption and hubris among the Ring of Brass in Avalir (and like, a lot of other people in Avalir). This begins the Calamity, but total annihilation is avoided because Laerryn Coramar-Seelie is able to redirect the Astral Leywright, which she had hoped to use for extraplanar travel, into instead sending Rau'shan and Ka'Mort across the planes. Avalir is destroyed as is the continent it came from, Domunas, in the southern hemisphere. Domunas becomes the Shattered Teeth archipelago. The ash from this destruction covers the skies for at least a hundred years. A war between the Primes and the Betrayers, who still want to destroy everyone, spanning the entire world, begins.

Between EXU Calamity and the part in Downfall set in Hawk's Hill: This spans about a hundred years. As mentioned, the sky is covered with ash; there is an implied worldwide famine. The only major flying city remaining, by 100 years in, is Aeor (note: Campaign 2 states that Zemniaz, where Halas is from, was still around after Aeor so either Matt and Brennan forgot, Halas is lying, or Zemniaz just isn't very important or powerful) The events of the Calamity are many and there's not a ton of information re: the order, so I'll just link you to the wiki's Chronology for further reading (with the caveat there that again, the order is speculative) but we do know from 3x99/Downfall Part One that Asmodeus's slaughter of followers of The Everlight occurred early in the Calamity as it's already happened. At some point in the Calamity, the gods all realized Aeor had developed the Obtenebrator, which hid them from any scrying/divine spying, as well as the Latimus Princeps which prevented the gods from coming to Aeor. They called a truce between each other (though I think their armies still fought) and formulated a plan for six of the Betrayers and seven of the Primes to be somehow born as mortals (in a way that seems reminiscent of how the Dynasty's consecution works!) so they could infiltrate; some communication also occurred with the gods staying on the outside. Ioun/The Knowing Mistress was the first person in, and her mortal form is Arcadia Cerenvetorix. She learned of Aeor's plans to create something to kill the gods (Factorum Malleus), and sent visions to the others calling them to their mission.

Downfall Part One: Trist is The Everlight; Ayden is the Dawnfather; Emhira is the Raven Queen; and Asha is the Wildmother. SILAHA deviated a little from the plan and was born as an Aeormaton in Aeor already, but joins the others. The Lawbearer (The Wildmother's partner) also deviated from the plan and sent The Emissary instead. They all, as we see in the episode, make it to Aeor in these mortal forms. The Betrayers meanwhile only sent four; Milo Cowst is Asmodeus, and while we don't have hard confirmation yet, it's heavily implied that Zaharzt is Torog (god of torture); Tishar is Gruumsh (god of destruction); and Umleta is Lolth (the Spider Queen). They begin the main part of their mission: to in some way neutralize the Factorum Malleus, Obtenebrator, and Latimus Princeps (and additionally the Eravox Protocol first, a contingency protocol that sends the plans for the Factorum around the world if Aeor is attacked directly).

After Downfall: we'll find out precisely how Aeor ends up crashed into the arctic above Wildemount in Downfall parts 2 and 3, but it does; many people end up in stasis bubbles as seen in Campaigns 2 and 3. The Calamity continues on for an unspecified but significant time; towards the end, Ludinus Da'leth experiences an unknown trauma that sets him on his path. At the end of the Calamity, the Prime Deities seal themselves and the Betrayers all behind the Divine Gate, which shares similarities with how they sealed away Predathos, though permits some degree of indirect influence and communication with their followers (vs. however the Betrayers were sealed originally during the age of arcanum, which did not). This is called the Divergence, and the current era is Post-Divergence. The main campaigns of Critical Role begin about 800 years Post-Divergence.

[transmechanicus]

alpharius really gonna take the advice of a group that has this man as a memeber?

Literally among THE stupidest plotlines in the entire heresy, i would have infinitely preferred the Alpha Legion to have had an implied internal schism and never have it be concretely addressed which side they’re on. I wanted them to be at the drop site massacre for the traitors and then loyalist at like 20 other battles. Company by company tricks and deceptions against both sides with the primarchs never really committing to anything major. They finally show up at the Siege of Terra and it turns out each side has a primarch fighting for them but neither knows for sure which forces are really loyal or traitor within their own ranks. Terrible decision having the illuminati and assorted perpetual dumbasses ever exist in the setting i hope they all die.

[diceriadelluntore]

Storia di Musica #287 - Tool, Lateralus, 2001

Ho scelto di dedicare la serie di album di Agosto ad un pensiero che nella musica popolare (nel senso più puro del termine) spesso non è il primo sentimento che passa per la testa dell’ascoltatore. Sto parlando di album “impegnativi”, che capisco benissimo che come concetto è qualcosa di aleatorio, ma che nella mia idea di scelte questa volta vogliono rappresentare un certo stato dell’arte dal punto di vista tecnico musicale, e spero che da queste scelte ne possa scaturire un bel dibattito al riguardo. Il primo di oggi ci porta negli Stati Uniti ad inizio anni ’80. Maynard James Keenan nato a Ravenna (quella in Ohio) e che era compagno di corso all’Università di Grand Rapids con il padre di una mia pen friend americana, è un tipo dai mille interessi, fa due anni a West Point, la prestigiosa accademia militare americana. Li con il termine tool si intende un cadetto che segue senza nessuna esitazione qualsiasi tipo di ordine dai superiori, che spesso li usavano anche per episodi di nonnismo. Scelse Tool come nome della band che fondò nel 1990 per il principio che avrebbe fatto sempre e solo quello che gli piaceva. Inizia così il percorso di una delle più incredibili realtà musicali degli ultimi anni, capaci di rinnovare e sperimentare almeno tre generi: l’heavy metal, il progressive e la musica sperimentale. Insieme al chitarrista Adam Jones (che è anche un grande esperto di effetti visuali e scenici, e ha lavorato in pellicole come Jurassic Park), dal bassista Paul D'Amour (prima) e in seguito dal britannico Justin Chancellor (dal 1995) e dal batterista Danny Carey (quest’ultimo uno dei più incredibili e bravi batteristi di tutti i tempi) pubblica Undertow nel 1993, che pur rimanendo in un solco heavy metal elettrico ha già degli spunti interessanti, si prendano come riferimento le adesso iconiche Prison Sex e la lunghissima Disgustipated. Nel 1996 l’album della consacrazione. Ænima è infatti un disco tutto giocato sul concetto della catarsi junghiana (ascoltate la lunga Third Eye o andatevi a rileggervi la storia che riguarda questo disco) ma che ha ancora momenti di puro e durissimo hard rock (la seminale Stinkfist) e rock progressive del ventunesimo secolo (H., Forty Six & 2). Per problemi con la casa discografica passeranno oltre 5 anni per il lavoro successivo. Keenan tra l’altro non si perde d’animo ed inizia il suo progetto parallelo degli A Perfect Circle, dove cura più la sua anima heavy metal, ottenendo tra l’altro grande successo. Nel 2001, dopo aver per mesi parlato di un album intitolato Systema Encéphale, il 15 maggio esce Lateralus. Il titolo è un riferimento sia al muscolo vasto laterale (Vastus Lateralis che ci permette di piegare le gambe) sia al pensiero laterale, definizione dello psicologo Edward De Bono, che individua soluzioni non di logica sequenziale, risolvendo il problema non partendo dalle considerazioni che sembrano più ovvie, ma cercando punti di vista alternativi per trovare la soluzione. Le fotografie interne fanno capire ancora più a fondo il percorso musicale di questo album: un viaggio nella mente umana, nelle sue passioni, nelle più profonde fratture, in cerca di risposte, anche di tipo politico, religioso, spirituale con il chiaro intento di arrivare alla perfezione, quindi ad un incontro con la divinità. Musicalmente è come proiettare i Van Der Graaf Generator o i King Crimson, scontratisi con il grunge e la musica industriale, negli anni 2000. Ne esce fuori un capolavoro assoluto, dalle infinite sfaccettature musicali.

The Grudge parla del mito di Saturno che divora i suoi figli, ed è una scalata strumentale incredibile, spezzata da un urlo di Keenan che supera i 20 secondi, citando anche La Lettera Scarlatta, romanzo del 1850 di Nathalien Hawthorne. The Patient inizia lenta e sognante ma poi finisce in una contorsione ipnotica. Schism, uno dei capolavori del disco (e Grammy per la miglior canzone metal del 2002, sebbene sia una costrizione bella e buona definirla tale), cambia il ritmo per 47 volte, inizia con un tempo di 12/8, poi passa prima a 7/8 e poi a 5/8, e parlando di scismi religiosi, effettua musicalmente uno scisma metrico (che geni…). Ticks & Leeches è uno dei più incredibili brani di batteria, grazie anche alla maestria diabolica di Carey, un gigante dello strumento, e che è rabbiosa e allucinata nel canto di Keenan, che dedica la canzone a tutti coloro gli hanno succhiato il sangue dalle vene. Mantra è uno di quei giochi musicali per cui sono famosi: è la registrazione lavorata come si deve dei miagolii di uno dei suoi gatti siamesi (i primi ascolti ipotizzavano fosse una donna che in trance dicesse I Love You). Parabol\Parabola sono due brani che si fondono in uno, con una natura da cantata funebre tibetana, mistica e struggente ed una seconda di rock maestoso. La triade finale che è da considerarsi come una super suite in tre parti è formata dalle splendide Reflection, Triad e da Faaip de Oiad (che in lingua enochiana, la lingua degli angeli, significa Visione di Dio) che sono lunghe, ipnotiche e dimostrano la maestria assoluta di questi musicisti (i duelli ritmici basso batteria, la chitarra affilata come una lama di Jones, un fenomeno). Menzione speciale però ha Lateralus, una canzone che ha affascinato i fan sul significato ma soprattutto per la sua struttura: Keenan canta parole le cui sillabe seguono la successione di Fibonacci (1,1,3,5,8…), per una musica ed un testo che non seguono un andamento lineare, ma a spirale (la canzone finisce con i versi Spiral out, keep going…). La copertina, realizzata da Alex Grey, è composta da strati trasparenti con la figura di un busto umano, e man mano che si sfogliano le pagine si penetra al suo interno così da vedere in successione i muscoli, lo scheletro, gli organi ed infine, voltata la penultima pagina, si trova la chiave di accesso al mondo spirituale, nell'ultimo strato è nascosta nel cervello la parola "GOD". Quella che ho postato all'inizio è la prima ristampa europea del 2003, molto più bella della prima in assoluto, che per dovere di cronaca posto adesso:

La copertina Digitale è ancora più bella, e da collezione è il picture disc olografico per l’edizione celebrativa del 2005. Dopo altri 5 anni ritorneranno con 10.000 days, che è molto meno fantasioso e mistico, ma che mantiene un ottimo livello generale. Ne passeranno addirittura 13, quando nel 2019 uscirà Fear Inoculum (da cui dovete andare ad ascoltare 7empest che racchiude un po’ l’essenza della musica Tool) la cui title track da 10 minuti e 21 secondi è citata nel Guinness dei primati per la canzone più lunga mai entrata nella classifica di Billboard. Tutta questa carne al fuoco tra musiche elaborate, testi dalle mille citazioni e dai mille simbolismi, le grafiche dark e potentissime dei dischi (tra l’altro, per riallacciarci alle storie di Luglio, le prime copie di Undertow furono censurate per le foto di donne nude che c’erano a corredo dell’album), sono facili da spiegare le tentazioni dei più maliziosi alle immancabili allusioni magiche ed occulte; resta il fatto che sono uno dei più grandi e riusciti tentativi di modernizzare la musica contemporanea degli ultimi 30 anni. E come sempre possono piacere o meno, ma resta la novità stilistica dei linguaggi e soprattutto della musica. Ascoltateli. Ne vale la pena.