#like there’s a time and place for that and a religious shrine is NOT one of those places

[moriphyte]

if i see one more video of some dumbass dancing at/on a literal shrine im gonna loose it they need to establish vatican level entrance rules for tourists who wanna visit shinto shrines i am so serious i would be happy to jump through whatever hoops i need to if jt stops these people from playing “who can be the most disrespectful piece of shit embarrassment to their home country?” by fucking DOING PULL UPS ON A TORII GATE like what is wrong with you for real would you run into fucking saint peter’s basilica and plank on the altar? no? THEN DONT FUCKING DO IT AT A SHINTO SHRINE JFC

[berriblossom]

Oh, Great Divine!

☆| It's time for a SAGAU, more so a comforting one. Reader's gender is ambiguous and gender neutral, archons adore reader, in this sense the Nahida tag is platonic!|

☆ Tags/warnings! | Socially Aware Genshin AU, archons and people of Teyvat treat the reader as a god or heavenly figure, religious references (cathedral of Mondstat and Narukami/ Sangonomiya Shrines of Inazuma) some minor lore for reader, Reader is referred to as "Their Grace" or "My/Your Grace" and "The Great Divine" ALL PORTRAYALS ARE FICTIONAL!! anyway, enjoy.|

Within the lands or nations of Teyvat, for centuries the practice of worshipping an Archon was beyond common, more so for those who wish not to believe in spiritual practices concerning the gods of each element are more on the rare side to find. However even if such existed, there was one thing to never be doubted within the lands of Teyvat.

The Great Divine's presence over mortals and immortals alike.

The creation of Teyvat in many national mythos credits the sole ideas and creation to the Great Divine. Even the archons and the sources of their celestial names were blessed upon them by their divine grace. Depending on which nation you visit, some may say that their archon is specifically blessed by their grace.

In Mondstat, the nation of wind, song, freedom, wine, and bard's ballads, once every 100 years they celebrate the freedom blessed to them by Barbatos and the Great Divine. A tradition stretching for the last millennial to show the love and deeply routed affection given by its people and archon. Yes, Barbatos, or now the "drunken" bard known as Venti among his people. Every festival of a "New Eve" as they call it, is another 100 years for him to show his affection for his beloved divine. Despite his defiance to Celestia and the natural order placed after your departure, he still fully believes in your care and love for humans and archons alike. To Venti, whispering to the wind like he did with you thousands of years prior, even in his wind-spirit form. You'd sit together where now the great tree at Windrise and speak about the future of Teyvat, something despite having the authority over you simply spoke to him as:

"For what will come, Your nation will prosper and learn the true meaning of freedom and song..."

So to this day, he sits under that tree and thinks of the years since, missing your warmth from curling up in your hands as a wind spirit to laughing and humming beside you in his divine form. He has seen it for the last few hundred years, the art, songs, plays, books, and even food and weapons made in your name, and every hundred years he repeats the same. A small prayer from his soul is whispered into the wind as he tells his deep care and love for his dear grace. And the people of Mondstat no different, all gather at the great Cathedral and warmly sing about the Great Divine and Lord Barbatos as they place to wine, food, and gifts at the altar of your image. When alone Venti will sneak in and sit under your statue, missing the warmth of your hands but relishing the love in your image.

In Liyue, the nation of Geo, contracts, and the adepti, the greats divines are influenced by the first contract Rex Lapis made with them over 7000 years ago, even before Liyue was a fully combined nation. Zhongli remembers the conversation you two had, sharing a simple game of wit and tea. Then he was immature to your influence and power but now he relishes in it. Proudly in his vast historical knowledge, preaching his love and the power the great divine holds. How you could shape the sea with a flick of your wrist, how you've created mountains from your fingertips, how your vast knowledge is spread throughout teyvat as a bible to be studied and read over and over again. But mostly what he and all of Liyue celebrate is the contractable care and affection you give him and the people of Liyue.

This time around Liyue is a time spent every hundred of years a new eve of dawn as it is called, one Zhongli and his fellow adepti never get tired of. A time to give gifts of care to neighbors, friends, and even coworkers in the busy harbor. Even the Northland Bank celebrates by lowering interest on loans!

(But only for this amount of time and by the next New Eve of Dawn the Interest WILL reset)

But mainly it is a way to give worship to the Great Divine and their trust in Rex Lapis and his Adepti to protect and serve Liyue. Everything Zhongli has done was for your gratitude and divine love. So when a New Eve comes, he sits anywhere in Liyue, the mountains, hills, somewhere to overlook the harbor, and enjoys a warm cup of tea. Your favorite while imagining your smile as you talk, the games you'd two play. He watches his disciples and Apeti celebrate with gifts, food, and songs at your altar set around Liyue. He sips his tea and awaits your fated return, happy to share more memories and stories with you.

Within the land of Eternity, formerly transcience, Inazuma's style of celebration differs slightly from some nations. The Grand Narukami Shrine would hold a private ceremony, cleansing the sacred Sakura tree and your statue underneath, barhing the precious stone engravings with crisp clean water. Meanwhile the people if Inazuma would be celebrating on their own occasions, firewroks light into the clear sky, dancing ceremonies at the teahouse fill with guest.

However, the new electro archon herself sits alone at the top of Tebshukaku. Quietly walking down memeory lane in her mind. For the last five centuries of the New Eve of Dawn celebration, she'd sit in her space of Euthymia alone in solitude quietly sulking at the idea of your everlasting figure. How her and Makoto would chat down the lane of inazuma speaking about plans of you, speaking of your visions of the nation of electro, Makoto laughing at how embarrassed Ei used to be around you and your divinity. Now Ei smiles solemnly..

She knows now that she as archon must take the mantle, for in your teachings that it the goal of the heavenly principles you've left. Fated to return, she prays that you'd come to her first. She dreams and imagines in her meditations within her quiet Euthymia that you'd hold her. That her loneliness would be cured indefinitely. But for now she waits, with a plate of dango and some ofdly colored tea, shit eats alone as the fireworks set off atop Narukami island, she whispers a promise to herself and her nation on your honor.

"For it will be fate...my grace...you shall return to us...to eternity...we shall be reunited."

Far off in the lands of eternity, however, the island that formed the resistance sings and dances around the bonfire, the resistance army of Sangonomiya and Watatsumi laugh as they praise the late OmiKami, or the serpent god Orobashi. The fire dances as troops tell stories, shrine maidens sing and laugh, and her priestess sits while holding a book. She smiles softly. Kokomi looks above at the horizon and sees the corpse of their late god, she wishes silently to herself and for her ancestors to below the sea. That once the great spirit of life and forefather of the vishaps would return to bring life to the benevolent serpent. But for now, she sits alongside Gorou as they watch the troops enjoy the holiday.

Within Sumeru, however, and alongside it, Fontaine...the New Eve of Dawn has been on the academic calendar differently, which is how some older nations react. For those in the rainforest, it is a blessing of Lessor Lords Kusanali's birth. For the dessert, it is the bringing of a new promise for the scarlet sand kings doubted return. Within the nation of dendro, it is a holiday of now academic activities, no scholars shrouded in work, but a day off. The people worship by their own will and sit in taverns, bars, and cafes to drink mereily while chatting with friends. Some visit your altar within the Akademiya, and others pray at home.

Nahida sits on a branch of the great tree that houses the knowledge many wish to obtain, in her hands an ancient seed of fate, she herself has no memory or knowledge of where it came but holds ot and teasures its existence. For she has a kindling that it is tied to this divine spirit that is expected to awaken. From her small conversation with Apep, the seed is treasured. Hence, she holds it and feeds the growing plant bits of dendro elemental energy. She sighs as she watches the sun set and the cheers from the streets and grand bazars performances. Nilou must be dancing now, she thinks. She hums a small song while kicking her feet, her hands warm with caution. She may not know you yet, but she knows already... Your spirit and divine will watch for her and her nation. The goddess of wisdom has many questions for the great creator of this world, but for now, she just hums and sits happily, a great birthday gift indeed.

Meanwhile, in Fontaine, similarly, it is deemed a weekend off of work. Many go home, some go to the Opera to catch performances of the holiday, others read tabloids of the steambird that some random person in the court has the great divine in their basment all along. All fiction truthfully. Furina reads her book as she makes another plate of pasta macaroni. For the occasion, she bought extra special ragau to taste amazing. She dances around her kitchen listening to soft music. For years her mind would have doubted and even hated this day, anxious fears of disappointment and disapproval looks from her days as stabding archon. Would you have hated her? Did you think she failed fontaine and you? Was her a cursed human taking title of archon an insult to you? Furina had nightmares even of the prohecy and your return to see fontaine gone and underwater. But now, as the prophecy and fontaine were safe and out of fear, she ate and asked a good question this new century.

"What kind of pasta would their grace like..."

Soft rainfall drops onto the steps of the Palais Mermonia, the evening rain was forcasfed but welcomed, Neuvillette wrote on the papers softly, agreeing to a few celebratory events the Opera wanted to hold. Usually Lady Furina would be jumping for the task but here he was. Dread builded in his soul. This time of year brought many pains to Neuvillette.

A new century meant a new set of hundreds of years he gets to oulive humans, melusines maybe, but also the clock inches closer and closer to your return. Neuvillette spent early years of his lofe researching and discovering his species and kind for decades. Figuring that if you are the forefather and creator of vishaps and the sovereignty. Why was so many things done the way they were? Why ddi the power the gnosis and archons hold come from them? Why can't he understand your implications, even such his ancestors didn't wish to think against? What power do you hold and how did aid Fontaine in the end? He knew Focalor and Egeria spoke to you, even asking for forgiveness before your departure, so why? Neuvillette, places his pen downs and stands to look out the window of his office to look down at the streets of the Court of Fontaine, a glass of crisp water swirls in his hand. He sips slowly and sighs, coming to think.

"In this new century...please with it, may you come along too my grace."

In the nation of fire, victory, war and passion, raors could be heard from the stadium of flames as people of different tribes shouted and cheered the competitions down below. Surfing races, climbing achievements, conbat bouts, even break dancing competitions held. Mavuika sits at her throne above as her people cheer and celebrate, raising glasses, foods, gifts, and money even in your image. She slips away from the fesitivites to be alone in the speakers chambers, past the sacred flame, and into her personal get-away. Now empty, she stares at the famous wheel of the sun, Natlan has held for centuries, the same you blessed the first pyro archon with, as their rules of ruilibg were left in your favor. She smiles as she too holds her head high, similar to her ancestors before her.

She remebers before she was even archon, how her parents would tell stories of the Great divines influence, love, and power. That the spirit of victory belongs to the pyro archon yes, but the strength was given by you as well. She remembered your fave engraved in ancients temples and stones around Natlan and now some statues around the lands too. She knows too well her nation is blessed by your, not only for the peoples cheers and vitcories but the long-lasting stay they've had against the threat of the abyss thus far. Maybe when you return and ward off the abyssal threats for good, she top could ask something of you...for that she won't know until she sees you herself.

"Until we meet my grace...may your memeory burn eternal.. and your power live within my people."

-> Did i go overboard, yes...but eh...hoped you enjoy, and also i may make a small series out of this..who knows..

[daryldove]

The Sinful, The Guilty

incubus!daryl x fem!reader

dubious consent, monster fucking, size difference, stomach bulge, happy halloween!

summary: you get more than you bargained for when stumbling across a spooky basement in a seemingly abandoned cabin. 2.3k

It's an unnecessarily humid day, and although you had planned on covering lots of ground, you can't muster the willpower to bother. Now you're deep in the woods, trying to improve your mediocre hunting skills. You can't even remember the last time you ate fresh meat. But you're also already exhausted. It's too hot, the bugs are relentless, and it seems like a storm is brewing, so you decide to only walk as much as you can handle while searching for shelter.

Cabins this far out were few and far between, but as one appears through the trees after hours of walking, you decide maybe things aren't so bad after all. The interior is dusty and musty, but it's a better shelter than you've had ages. And you can't exactly afford to be picky. A small cot sits in one corner across from a cold fireplace. Lucky, after all.

You spend the next few minutes getting settled, spreading your belongings around, already taking advantage of having such a secluded, safe feeling place to call home for a bit. That's when you suddenly trip over something protruding from under the frayed rug. Which fucking hurts. You start rolling over the worn material, ready to give whatever inanimate object a piece of your damn mind, only to stare wide eyes once you expose a boarded up trapdoor. Immediately, it has you feeling somewhat queasy.

It takes an hour, your knife, and more energy than you'd like to admit to finally pry all the boards off. You hesitate, for the first time despite all the work it took, as an eerie feeling washes over you. This is creepily suspicious; maybe you should mind your own business. In fact, being inside the cabin at all suddenly feels… off. You sit back on your heels, biting your lip anxiously as you stare down at the latch. Just as the idea of leaving grows appealing, light rain starts echoing against the wood roof. Fuck. Okay, well… Guess you're stuck here, and you're absolutely not sleeping without knowing what's hiding underneath. With growing hesitation, you unclip the latch and open the trapdoor.

After dropping from the ladder, you shine your torch over the dark room. It's damp and stagnant inside, and mostly empty except for what appears to be a shrine on the opposite wall. Your gaze sweeps over various items, herbs, bottles, and books before noticing the faded pentacle drawn in chalk. Unintelligible symbols are written around the outside. Some freaky religious shrine wasn't exactly what you expected, although you suppose it's better than a rotting corpse.

You reach over to pick up a weathered book resting over the star, a small, broken cross resting underneath clinks at the movement. The text in the book is in another language you don't understand, seemingly different from the markings on the floor. Despite the initial creepiness, there's something oddly sad about it all. You can't help but wonder what occurred here—was this done after the world fell? An attempt at seeking answers or protection? You place the book down with a heavy sigh and a heavy heart.

The storm has picked up by the time you ascend the ladder. Dark clouds blanket the woods around you. You gaze around the cabin, something in the stale air feels like it's changed, like time has stopped. It's probably just paranoia, but you can't shake the feeling. The rain pours down harder, as if it's trying to soothe you, and you close the trapdoor with a thud.

No, something is definitely wrong. Your eyes flick around the dark cabin, a shiver creeping up your spine. You force it back down, but the feeling of someone watching you remains. The deep shadows of the room have you patting around for your flashlight, but it's not where you left it.

You practically jump out of your skin as lightning cracks overhead, briefly illuminating the tall, winged figure standing in the corner.

What the fuck.

You freeze momentarily before scrambling for your dagger, a habit the apocalypse built into you, only to remember you left it in your damn bag. The glowing outline of whoever—whatever—stains your vision, only disorienting you more.

You lunge for where you think you tossed your bag earlier, desperate for the comforting weight of your blade, but creature must realise what you're doing. A strong grip yanks you back by the ankle, dragging you along the rough floor until it has you pinned underneath its broad body. Pure terror rakes your body, your eyes wide and frantic. It's too dark to see any features on the dark mass above.

“I ain't gonna hurt ya.” The deep voice comes as another surprise, but you're not exacly reassured by it. You aren't sure how long you lay there, panting, until its hold on you eventually loosens. The moment it does, you crawl back until you hit the wall. Your flashlight bumps against your foot, and you snatch it up, quickly shining it towards the creature.

He's… surprisingly human-looking, aside from the horns poking through his hair, black wings stretching behind him, and the long, thin tail. He flinches at the bright light, still slouched on the floor. Then you notice something else, the fact he's completely naked. Breathing suddenly feels difficult again as you have to force your eyes to stay above his waistline because Jesus Christ...

“What are you?” There's a noticeable shake in your voice as you ask. The winged man just looks a little irritated, and if you're purposely bothering him with stupid questions.

“Stop pointing that thing at me,” he ignores your inquiry as he squints.

“Not until you tell me.” You can't help feeling proud about not letting your voice shake this time. Although he hasn't hurt you yet, you still feel on edge.

He just scoffs like you're an idiot. “An incubus, darlin’. You brought me here, remember?” A what? You what?

Your eyes scan over him again, inspecting his inhuman aspects as if trying to confirm. Did you hit your head? Wait, obviously this has something to do with that creepy shrine. There was likely a reason it was boarded up; seems like you found it. Your eyes fall lower, not even really processing where you're looking until you notice him smirking in your peripheral. A blush crawls onto your cheeks; that was not your intention, regardless of whatever this demon guy thinks. “Stop.”

“I ain't done anythin’.” He looks so smug at your unease, your gut coils at the sight—with anxiety, but maybe something else, too.

“You're looking at me like you wanna eat me,” his smirk widening makes you regret ever opening your mouth, “what do you even want?”

“What do I want? You summoned me here.”

“I don't know anything about that, okay?” It's getting increasingly more difficult to keep your eye level appropriate. With the initial fear simmering, you can actually take in how attractive he is—which maybe is a given considering he's a literal sex demon.

“Well that's obvious, haven't had a human pass through in a while. I'm pretty hungry.” You can see the truth to his claim, something sinister swirling within his irises. He chuckles as you get lost in them for a second.

“I don't... I'm not…” You don't even know what to do or say next, torn between the urge to flee and being frozen in place. For now you focus on getting to your feet. “Okay. Shit, fuck, okay… Do you have a name?”

The incubus raises an eyebrow but nods, “Daryl.” Less biblical than you were expecting, but you return his nod. You attempt to reassure yourself; this situation didn't have to be weird or dangerous. But once you close your eyes to take a deep breath, Daryl is nowhere to be seen once you reopen them. Your heart drops into your stomach again as you stumble forward a few steps. Were you actually hallucinating? Maybe you really fell down the ladder and received a nasty head wound. Right as you place the flashlight hesitantly on the table, an arm snakes around your waist, pulling you back into a broad, muscular chest. Your breath hitches, and you tense as one of Daryl's hands firmly grips your chin.

You don't even realise you're whimpering quietly in fear until he shushes you. One of his fingers slides between your lips to rest against your tongue. “Fuck… I'm so hungry,” his voice is a raspy whisper against your ear. “Can ya be a good little girl for me?” Despite your unease, you feel yourself throb at the words. Not that you're to blame. He is an incubus, after all. Nothing wrong with giving in, you tell yourself.

The feeling of his cock pressing against your back makes you bite down slightly on his finger. This was kinda fucked up, if you thought about it for too long. But you were already tempted to throw caution to the wind. Maybe it's curiosity, frustration after being pent up for so long, or maybe he's got some crazy demon powers. Did you even care? His finger presses more firmly against your tongue as his free hand trails upwards, tugging and tearing at your top until he exposes your chest. His tail curls around your thigh, trapping you close. The way his thumb rubs and pinches at your nipples makes you squirm instinctively as his hips grind against yours. He continues until you're aching, desperate for any amount of friction, your knuckles turning white with how hard you're clutching the table in front of you.

Eventually, he removes his finger from your mouth, stepping back only long enough to yank your pants down. He drags the moistened finger over your clit, chuckling gruffly as you buck up against his hand. A strangled gasp escapes your mouth. “Yeah, baby girl, ya like that?” He presses himself against your back again, this time sliding his dick between your squeezed, wet thighs. His length presses hotly against your cunt, and you can practically feel him throbbing against you.

You feel any remaining hesitance crumble, giving way to complete desperation as Daryl fucks your thighs. He's massive, bigger than any human you'd seen. Right as you feel your orgasm building, he pulls away again to drag you towards the small cot in the corner. You nearly trip trying to kick off your pants completely on the way. The incubus practically throws you onto the bed, immediately climbing over you to capture your lips in a messy, heated kiss.

His taste is enchanting, distracting you until you feel the head of his dick push into your entrance. You reluctantly pull away with a whine at the stretch. “W-Wai..t,” but he doesn't stop, only pushing in further as he holds your chin. “I got ya, baby girl.” Your head falls back as he thrusts deeper, pulling drawn out moans from your lips. He grabs your wrist, guiding your hand to your stomach. Your confusion dissipates to disbelief as you feel the outline of his length press against your palm with each thrust. You're surprised you don't come right then and there. “H-Holy shit,” you barely manage to pant out.

“Takin’ it so well, it's like ya made for me,” the incubus grunts out. He buries his head into your neck, his fangs dragging shyly across your sensitive skin, as if he's holding back from hurting you. His grip on your hips is firm, dragging you down in time with his thrusts as they grow rougher. Your own hands slide up his body, exploring his strong chest and large biceps. His horns intrigue you, curiously wrapping your hands around them like they're handles. Daryl grunts in pleasure, pushing against you even more. He holds you down, fucking you hard until you're squeezing around him and coming with a yell. A deep, satisfied sigh leaves your lips as he pulls away. Your body already feels weak from the effort.

Before you can relax fully, a hot wetness slides up your folds. “Daryl!” Your voice quivers with sensitivity. You struggle to sit up on your elbows to look where his head is buried between your thighs. His tongue is precise, lapping up your juices and circling around your clit with practised perfection. It seems he's larger than a human in every aspect. He presses kisses up your stomach to your chest, long tongue sliding over your nipple before reaching your mouth. “Ya taste so good,” he whispers against your lips. Your eyes flutter shut, fingers roaming over his wide shoulders as he kisses you.

His strong arms flip you over without warning, pressing your face into the pillow as he shoves back inside you with a grunt. The cot shakes with force as he ruts against you, his chest pressing against your back. You feel caged, completely at this monster's mercy, and it's the hottest thing you've ever experienced. His wings fall around you like some kind of dark waterfall, and his tail snakes up to press against your clit. And fuck, if it isn't the most intense pleasure you've felt in your life—it's overwhelming. Daryl angles deeper, harder, and your mind completely blanks. His fingers slide into your mouth again, holding your jaw open as he fucks with animalistic thrusts. You come so hard the room spins.

Then you jolt awake, not even remembering falling asleep. The cabin is empty, void of any sign of the incubus. Your eyes scan the room as you struggle to sit up. Every inch of your body aches. An acute tiredness spreading through your limbs. As you glance down at your nakedness, at least you can be sure what happened wasn't your imagination.

[city-of-ladies]

Writer and traveler, Egeria toured Christianity’s most sacred sites during the late 4th century. Her account offers a unique and historically significant testimony.

The mysterious Egeria

Egeria and her writings fell into obscurity until a fragment of her Itinerarium was rediscovered in 1884. At the time, the author’s name was unknown, leading to much speculation. However, based on other texts and fragments, scholars eventually identified the writer as a certain Egeria (although variations of her name exist).

She likely undertook her journey between 381 and 384 and may have been from Galicia, which would make her the first known writer from the Iberian Peninsula.

Egeria was almost certainly a nun. While some argued that a monastic woman could not have left her order for such a long time, a wealth of evidence suggests otherwise. For one, she addressed her readers as “sisters,” likely referring to members of her religious community. During her travels, she attended services held for monks and consecrated virgins. Furthermore, the 7th-century Spanish monk Valerius referred to her as “a blessed nun.” He clearly saw no contradiction between her monastic status and her activities.

Egeria was perhaps a woman of high social standing. She had the resources to undertake such an extensive journey independently, seemingly unconcerned by its cost or duration. She was warmly welcomed by local clergy, especially bishops, and provided with guides and an armed escort.

However, some elements challenge this view. Egeria traveled without an entourage and often journeyed on foot or by mule. Whether she was wealthy or not, one thing is clear: Egeria possessed a remarkable adventurous spirit.

Egeria’s journey

Geographically, Egeria’s pilgrimage spanned a vast area, including Palestine, Egypt, Syria, Mesopotamia, and Asia Minor. Her journey began in Constantinople, and the preserved portion of her Itinerarium opens with her approach to Mount Sinai. She then traveled to Egypt, following the route of the Exodus, before returning to Jerusalem.

Her choices and flexible itinerary reveal a strong sense of independence. Egeria expressed genuine excitement at her discoveries, showing particular curiosity about the liturgical practices of the religious communities she encountered.

At the shrine of Saint Thecla, she met with a deaconess named Marthana—an earlier acquaintance—who appeared to be one of the shrine’s guardians. Saint Thecla, a prominent female figure in early Christianity, was known for teaching, healing, and baptizing.

"On the third day I arrived at a city that is called Seleucia in Isauria. When I had arrived there, I went to the bishop, truly holy from the time he was a monk; I also saw a very beautiful church there in that city. And as from there to holy Thecla, which place is outside the city on a hill, but flat, is about fifteen hundred paces from the city, so I preferred to go there to make the stay there that I was going to make. But there is nothing else there at the holy church except innumerable monastic cells of men and of women. For I found there someone very dear to me, and to whose way of life everyone in the east bore witness, a holy deaconess by the name of Marthana, whom I had known at Jerusalem, where she had gone up for the sake of prayer; she was governing cells of apotactitae* or virgins. When she had seen me, surely I cannot write down what her joy and mine could have been?"

This encounter illustrates the existence of networks among female religious travelers. Indeed, Egeria was not unique in this respect. Many women visited holy sites, sought out revered individuals, and some later founded their own monasteries.

According to Valerius, once her pilgrimage was complete, Egeria returned home and became an abbess.

Though her account was originally intended for personal use, it holds tremendous historical value. It is unique among pilgrimage narratives—not only describing sacred places but also capturing personal experiences. It also serves as a valuable source of insight into early Christian practices and the spiritual geography of the time.

If you enjoy this blog, consider supporting me on Ko-fi!

Further reading:

Berger Teresa,  Women's Ways of Worship, Gender Analysis and Liturgical History

Dietz Maribel, Wandering Monks, Virgins, and Pilgrims

Egeria, Journey to the Holy Land

“Egeria, Pilgrim, Traveler and Writer of the 4th century”

Plant Ian Michael, Women Writers of Ancient Greece and Rome : An Anthology

[lasavecuvia]

A Guide to Italian Polytheism 🌿 🐺 ꀾ

Italic or Italian Paganism / Polytheism is the term to indicate the worship of the different native Gods of the Italian Peninsula or a specific Italic pantheon and all its religious practices.

The beliefs and Gods come for the most part from Etruscans and Latins, but on a minor scale Veneti, Sabines, Samnites, Oscans Umbrians, Ligures etc. too.

Italian Polytheism usually refers to pre-Empire and pre-syncretism native beliefs but most of the traditions and Gods of the Roman Religion (before the syncretism) are directly based on Etruscans and Italic populations (like the Latins, whom the Romans come from)

quick note:

if you are transphobic, homophobic, misogynistic or racist this religion is NOT for you and it’s beliefs don’t align with any of those hateful ideologies

𓂃˖ ࣪⊹ Key concepts:

Numen (plural - Numina): in Latin means "divine will" or "divine power." In ancient times, the term was used to refer to the presence of a divine force in a place, a person, or an object. It is not a specific god or goddess but rather the sacred presence or influence that makes something holy or divine.

Hinthial: Etruscan term that refers to the spirit or shade of the dead, representing the soul that persists after death in funerary and underworld contexts.

𓂃˖ ࣪⊹ Spirits:

In Italic beliefs, particularly in Roman and Etruscan traditions, the Genius (Latin name) or Farthan (Etruscan name) represents a personal divine spirit associated with an individual that is created with the birth of the person and stays with them till death, it is often seen as a guardian, protector, or embodiment of one's vital force or destiny, kinda like a more ancient version of the guardian angel. It was often depicted as a youthful male figure, usually winged, sometimes holding symbols of life, power, or fertility- such as a patera (libation bowl), cornucopia, or serpent.

Vanth: Winged female spirit of the underworld, guides souls of the dead. Often shown with torches, keys, or scrolls.

Charu: Male underworld spirit (very different from the Greek Charon) he is depicted as a fearsome, monstrous figure with blue or black skin, pointed ears, fangs or tusks, sometimes horns, and often wings. He carries a large hammer or mallet and has a menacing, grotesque face that embodies the terrifying aspect of death. He is the Guardian or enforcer in the realm of the dead.

Lasa (plural: Lasae):

Female guardian spirits, associated with fate, beauty, and protection. Often winged, accompanying other deities or mortals.

Thuluter:

The divine gatekeepers, represented side by side, one facing the other with their backs turned, standing guard at the boundary between heaven and earth.

Lares: Household protective spirits (Lares Familiares). Also Lares Compitales (crossroads), Lares Praestites (state protectors). Often honored in domestic shrines (lararium)

Penates: Spirits of the pantry or food storage, ensuring domestic well-being. Worshiped with the Lares, especially during meals and family rituals.

Manes: General term for the spirits of the dead (ancestral spirits). Honored during Parentalia and Feralia festivals.

Lemures: Restless or malevolent spirits of the dead. Feared and exorcised during the Lemuria festival in May.

Larvae: Sometimes considered interchangeable with Lemures, but more malicious. Ghosts or shades that disturbed the living.

Camenae: Water and prophecy spirits, sometimes guardians of sacred springs or inspiration. Some mythological figures associated with the Camenae include:

Carmenta, Egeria, Antevorta, Postverta

Lymphae / Diumpas: spirits connected to water in ancient Italic mythology associated with springs, rivers, and healing waters.

𓂃˖ ࣪⊹ Key Figures:

Tages: He is considered the sacred prophet of the Italic people.

The myth tells of a divine child prophet who emerged from the earth when an Etruscan farmer was plowing his field. As the farmer turned the soil, he uncovered a child-like figure, and despite his youthful appearance, Tages possessed great wisdom and divine knowledge, as he taught them the sacred practices of augury and haruspicy, the art of interpreting omens through the examination of animal entrails.

Tages not only shared these divinatory techniques but also imparted the knowledge of sacred rituals, guiding the Etruscans in understanding the will of the gods through signs in nature and ritual sacrifice. The Etruscans later shared this knowledge with the neighboring Italic populations creating the basis of the religious beliefs of the Peninsula.

Lasa Vecuvia: Vegoia, in Latin, Lasa Vecuvia, in Etruscan, is a sibyl, prophet, or nymph within the Italic religious framework who is identified as the author of parts of their large and complex set of sacred books, detailing the religiously correct methods of founding cities and shrines, draining fields, formulating laws and ordinances, measuring space and dividing time; she initiated the Etruscan people to the arts, as originating the rules and rituals of land marking, and as presiding over the observance, respect, and preservation of boundaries. This teachings just like Tages' ended up influencing all the neighboring Italic populations

Italic deities I worship:

I. Culśanś (Latin name: Janus)

2. Menrva (Latin name: Minerva)

3. Usil

4. Thesan

5. Uni (Latin name: Juno)

6. Salacia

7. Tinia (Latin: Jove)

8. Angitia

9. Voltumna / Veltha (Latin:

Vertumnus)

10. Calu / Manth

11. Śuri (Latin: Soranus)

12. Cupra / Ikiperu

13. Flora

14. Thufthla (Latin: Fortuna)

15. Nethuns (Latin: Neptune)

16. Diana

17. Cel (Latin: Tellus)

18. Catha

19. Turan (Latin: Venus)

20. Bellona

21. Pomona

22. Turms (Latin: Mercurius)

23. Laran

24. Venilia

25. Saturn

26. Ops / Opis

27. Feronia

28. Selvans

29. Flufuns (Latin: Liber)

30. Ceres

31. Vesta

32. Turnu (Latin: Cupid)

𓂃˖ ࣪⊹ Festivals

1. Agonalia

• When: January 9th.

• This festival honored Culśanś/Janus, god of beginnings, transitions, and time

2. Carmentalia

• When: January 11 and 15

• Celebration: Honored Carmenta, goddess of childbirth and prophecy, with rites for mothers and newborns.

3. Compitalia

• When: Early January (date varied)

• Celebration: Dedicated to the Lares (household gods), with offerings at neighborhood shrines for protection of homes and communities.

4. Sementivae (or Paganalia)

• When: January (specific date varied)

• Celebration: Agricultural festival to honor Tellus (earth goddess) and Ceres for crop fertility and protection.

5. Lupercalia

• When: February 15

• Celebration: Fertility and purification festival, involving ritual sacrifices and a ceremonial race to promote fertility.

6. Parentalia

• When: February 13-21

• Celebration: Honored deceased ancestors, with families visiting tombs and making offerings.

7. Feralia

• When: February 21

• Celebration: Concluded Parentalia with offerings to appease the spirits of the dead.

8. Terminalia

• When: February 23

• Celebration: Honored Terminus, god of boundaries, with rites at boundary stones for property protection.

9. Matronalia

• When: March 1

• Celebration: Celebrated Uni/Juno, with prayers and gifts to honor married women and bless families.

10. Liberalia

• When: March 17

• Celebration: Celebrated Liber and Libera, deities of freedom and fertility, and marked coming-of-age for young men.

11. Quinquatria

• When: March 19-23

• Celebration: Festival for Minerva, goddess of wisdom and crafts, with games and arts performances.

12. Veneralia

• When: April 1

• Celebration: Honored Venus/Turan, goddess of love, with rituals for beauty, harmony, and love.

13. Cerealia

• When: April 12-19

• Celebration: Festival for Ceres, goddess of agriculture, with games and offerings for harvest success.

14. Fordicidia

• When: April 15

• Celebration: Rituals for Tellus, including sacrifices for agricultural fertility.

15. Parilia

• When: April 21

• Celebration: Festival for Pales, goddess of shepherds, to purify livestock and promote fertility.

16. Vinalia Priora

• When: April 23

• Celebration: Wine festival for Jupiter and Venus, marking the blessing of vineyards.

17. Robigalia

• When: April 25

• Celebration: Offerings to Robigus, to protect crops from rust and mildew.

18. Floralia

• When: April 27 - May 3

• Celebration: Honored Flora, goddess of flowers and spring, with games and performances celebrating fertility.

19. Lemuria

• When: May 9, 11, and 13

• Celebration: Rites to ward off malevolent spirits from homes, offering beans to restless souls.

20. Vestalia

• When: June 7-15

• Celebration: Festival for Vesta, goddess of the hearth, with rituals for family and domestic blessings.

21. Matralia

• When: June 11

• Celebration: Honored Mater Matuta / Thesan, goddess of dawn and childbirth, with rites for the protection of children.

22. Neptunalia

• When: July 23

• Celebration: Festival for Neptune and Salacia, gods of waters, with picnics and outdoor celebrations to honor water and avoid drought.

23. Nemoralia (Festival of Torches)

• When: August 13

• Celebration: Dedicated to Diana, goddess of the hunt, with candlelit processions around Lake Nemi and rituals for protection, especially for women.

24. Consualia

• When: August 21 and December 15

• Celebration: Honored Consus, god of grain storage, with chariot races and rites for agricultural success.

25. Vulcanalia

• When: August 23

• Celebration: Honored Vulcan, god of fire, with sacrifices to prevent destructive fires during the dry season.

26. Meditrinalia

• When: October 11

• Celebration: Celebrated the tasting of new wine with offerings to Jove/Tinia for health and prosperity.

27. Fontinalia

• When: October 13

• Celebration: Honored Fontus, god of springs, with decorations and offerings at wells and fountains.

28. Saturnalia

• When: December 17-23

• Celebration: One of Rome’s most famous festivals, honoring Saturn with feasting, role reversals, and gift-giving as a celebration of agricultural bounty.

29. Opalia

• When: December 19

• Celebration: Honored Ops, goddess of abundance, with rites to celebrate earth’s gifts and agricultural plenty.

𓂃˖ ࣪⊹ More:

[randomfillername]

Random thoughts/hc I have about clinical trial (I did the double accept ending so this is for that).

(SPOILERS)

Angel works at home doing art and commissions while Lee still works his normal job. Lee helped them build a loose schedule and tried to help set up stuff to get the commission money. He doesn't know much about marketing (who wouldn't like their art) or making art so everything else is on angle and he encourages them however he can. (I don't know how artists make money or if patron existed in this timeline). Angle doesn't need to work but they mentioned kinda feeling like a burden so Lee wants to help them feel more independent.

The furry stuff Angel draws reminds Lee of the anthropomorphic animals in his childhood books. The religious ones his mother used to read him before she decided he was too old for it. He doesn't remember her reading them he just remembered that it was a thing and saw it happening with his younger siblings. When his mom would pass out before the younger kids he'd try to read to them but sometimes she'd wake up and yell at him to go back to his room. Angles animals are much more colorful and unique, full or life.

Angel starts living sticky notes with cute little doodles for Lee around the house. Their only sticky for a few day so Lee started to keep them in a folder but he feels super guilty over it because he feels like he's slowly repeating the shrine incident. He even keeps some napkins Angle doodled on. He eventually shows it to angle while apologizing for having it.

I feel like lee got super attached to objects as a child, especially those given as gifts. He kept the old socks he was given as a child even when they were riddled with holes, he kept broken glasses/cups, old clothes he outgrew, bus tickets from a day out, packaging/wrapping paper all hidden in a little space in his room. His parents found it and freaked out on him for hoarding it. He just didn't want anything to go to waste, he should be thankful for all he's given. Other than that he was a very organized kid. He wants to keep his place neat so now he only gets/keeps things he really wants

The blue Turkish floor lamp. I have thoughts on it. Lee likes the reflection from it and his stained glass window. As a child he was enamored by the stained glass at his church. Anyways I can't tell if I want angels hair to remind him of the lamp at home or if I want him to have the lamp because it reminds him of Angel. I'm leaning towards him already having it tho.

Angel starts attending a nearby community College part time for art classes. It's mostly to meet other people.

Sometimes they stay a bit late to hang out with someone or continue working on a piece so Lee would just wait in the car. Angel encourages him to wander around (angle was wondering behind the plexiglass in my run so I hc that they like wandering around places.) Lee ends up finding an entomology class so he just sits in the back happily listening the entire time. He trys to draw some of the bugs too (for scientific purposes). He might also find some biology classes too. He's not enrolled in the classes he's just there in the back. Maybe he listens to the professors like podcasts while studying. The students think he's a security guard the professors don't care. (Idk what community College is like but I once chilled in a horticultural class by accident and the professor just accepted it until I told him I didn't need the handout because I don't study this)

I also like angle going to a community center. They get to do art classes, maybe they volunteer to teach kids how to draw. The shy kids flock to them. Maybe Lee takes some beginner classes too.

Lee is very nervous to meet angels new friends. He's worried they'll think he's a creep even with the abridged version of how they got together. (I wanna maybe write a fic about this because Lee is definitely in the wrong but also their where both incredibly lonely so I wanna explore that)

Lee doesn't feel Like a creative person, he feels like he lacks imagination. He can't really make an image in his head and put it to paper like angel can. Angel tells him he is creative, he made the doll by hand (they emphasize not making another doll). As a kid he learned some sewing skills from his sister and mom but then got told it was “women's work” so now he usually only uses it to mend his clothes. He starts sewing again and makes some plushies (shrimps, rabbits, their sona, ect) then gets into clothes. He feels a little embarrassed about making clothing at first but then he realizes he can make angel outfits. (I might make a short fic of Lee making Angels bunny sona plush and than freaking out because it's a sona so he doesn't know if it's crossing the line again. Angle actually thinks this one is cute though.)

He was told to avoid “women's work” so now he sucks at cooking. He doesn't believe that, he was just never given the opportunity to learn and was never interested in learning once we left the religion.

Angel bakes cute animal themed feed. Lee thinks it's too pretty to eat but he can't keep it forever so the next best thing he can do is eat it. He likes it and feels that it brings him closer to angle. He's put on a few pounds from it.

(I'm projecting and also I thought this before I saw the reject ending) I feel like lee would really like chilling in corners. Like if he knows hes going to repeatedly go to a a place he's picking a corner to chill in and that's his corner now. His day is off if someone is in his corner. Why have you taken His mentally assigned spot?

____

I'm 100% projecting but angel tries to get into a physical hobby (Lee is very stoked about this!) So they do rock climbing and Bouldering. They don't wanna Crack their head open trying it outside so Lee buys them a subscription to a climbing gym. Angel kind of sucks at it at first but they get a climbing kick and keep trying. Their not very tall so they get good at launching themselves up to grab the next rock instead of stretching to reach it. It makes them feel like an animal (in a good way) and they get to let everything go and focus on completing a task. Lee feels like he's watching his Angel fly.

[kat-idk]

Skykid Culture - Skykid lingo!

Disclaimer: this is for the sky au I’m building for my characters. Most of these are terms that have been floating around ingame that I put in with some original ones. If you want an actual reference for game terminology, check out this page on the Sky Wiki.

Also edit: removed “dev”, im nuking the Secret Area out of existence in my AU. My Sky Kingdom now, TGC.

See? I told you I had worldbuilding stuff coming. This has actually been sitting in my back pocket for a while, so I decided to break the silence.

yeet

Ancestor - interchangeable with Spirit, or ancestor spirit, describes the Kingdom’s original inhabitants

(the) Ark - short for Forgotten Ark, casual

(the) Aviary - short for Aviary Village, casual

Bird Statue - term for one variant of a Home shrine.

Butterfly - a young skykid, no longer a moth but not in the “teenager” phase, named as such because the next progression in appearance from the moth look is usually one of the capes from the realm spirits

Call/Honk/Chirp - the sound skykids can make that isn’t normal spoken language.

Caterpillar - word for newly landed skykids without a cape.

Candle Hunting/Candle Running/Wax Hunting - the practice of going through a realm to collect all the light in order to craft candles.

Wedges/Wings/Flaps/Cape Stars - the amount of stars that a Skykid has on their cape.

Chibi - slang for a skykid who is very short and/or wearing the Hide n’ Seek Pioneer’s mask. Origin of this term is unknown.

Closet - the places where a skykid can change their outfit and hairstyle, magical or otherwise.

Constellation - the star pattern for each Realm, can be accessed from a Constellation Table.

Friend Constellation: a skykid-only star pattern. Not an actual star pattern in the sky, just a made up one. Used by groups of friends or groups like the Theater Troupe to display members.

Constellation Table - one of the big slabs in the ground in Aviary, Home, or Orbit that allows you to view Constellations (both kinds.)

Daily Quest - The daily tasks you can get from the Home Shrine or spirits at the Aviary Cafe.

Dawn - very old slang for Isle of Dawn. Used by really old skykids (Pre-Gratitude to maybe Lightseekers) or people who want to be pretentious.

Day - very old slang for Daylight Prairie. Same usage as Dawn

Deep Call/Big Honk - yelling using the non-language Skykid noise.

Descendant - very old term for skykids. Used by Elders, some Spirits (ex. Prophecy spirits & other religious folk) and very old or pretentious skykids (same crowd as the word Dawn)

Dusk - very old slang for Golden Wasteland. Same usage as Dawn

Eden Cycle - another word for week.

Expression/emotion - the gestures skykids learn from spirits.

Faerie Ring - a ring of mushrooms that sometimes appears in the Village Islands.

Ikejou - term for conventionally attractive feminine presenting skykid. 

Ikemen - ditto to Ikejou, but masculine instead 

Jelly - short for Jellyfish

Kreb - funny way of saying Crab

Krill - Everyday term for Dark Dragon

Library - uncommon informal term for the Vault of Knowledge.

Manna - Another old term for Golden Wasteland. Part of its original name, Golden Shores of Manna. Used by some normal Spirits and pretentious skykids.

Moth/Sparrow - term for new skykids who have a cape

Night - an old term for the Vault of Knowledge. Same usage as Dawn

Point of No Return/the Eye/Stormlock - word for the part of Eden where you’re supposed to die

Rain - an old term for the Hidden Forest. Same usage as Dawn 

Realm Spirit - word equivalent to saying “base game spirit” in-game.

Recorded Memory - word for Shared Memories.

Season - a period of time that lasts 12 Eden cycles, or 3 months. Also refers to the event where a new group of Spirits appears and all attention is focused on helping them after being freed, which takes roughly 3 months 

Season Pendant - a special neck accessory awarded for helping the new spirits of a specific Season a lot.

Shores of Manna - same usage as Manna or Dusk, “Golden” part of name omitted because of the Realm’s ruined state

Shrine - can refer to a spot where offerings are made or something like a Home Shrine where you tap into the surrounding light to do something through meditation.

Small Mask - the Hide n’ Seek Pioneer’s mask, which shrinks skykids when worn. 

Social Space - the gathering spot at the beginning of a Realm.

(the) Storm - most skykids just say Eden or the Eye of Eden, but spirits and the same types who use Dawn for Isle use this word.

Sunset - Name for Valley of Triumph, same usage as Dawn

Tower - a very rarely used name for the Vault of Knowledge

Veteran - an uncommon term for an older skykid with 11-12 wedges. 

Wax/Light (in context of candles) - the material used to forge candles.

Wing Blessing - word for the winged light Spirits offer to Skykids when they give them Ascended Candles. Aka wing buff in game terminology.

Owl hair - the Rhythm Guide’s hair. Came about after a spirit compared their hair to an owl. …whatever that is.

Penguin hair - the Performance Guide’s hair. Since the Rhythm Guide’s hair got a nickname, people thought, “why not their twin too?”

[yanderepuck]

@lulu-the-smol-floof and I spent like 2 hours talking about the religions the guys were, so we looked it all up just to be sure. There are so many more arguments happening

Napoleon: was baptized into the Catholic faith as a child, however, he never became engrossed in the faith

Mozart: Catholic (and fairly religious)

Leonardo: more than likely Catholic. He referred to God as a supreme being. Could also be called a spiritual metaphysician.

Vincent: Protestant (father was priest, also nearly was a priest)

Theo: Protestant (father was priest)

Arthur: Catholic turned atheist(after studying medicine) then got interested in the occult.

Isaac: Born into an Anglican family, by his thirties held a Christian faith. Saw worshipping Christ as God was idolatry, to him the fundamental sin.

Jean: Catholic

Will: Protestant

Dazai: Christian but in the way that God is a punisher (in game possibly more Shinto since we see him in shrines)

Comte: He believes...in something

Sebastian: atheist but superstitious

Vlad: Eastern Roman Orthodox Catholic (going off Vlad in Impaler)

Faust: Protestant (was banned from churches tho)

Charles: Catholic

Drake: Protestant

Galileo: Roman Catholic (supported the church and hoped the church would support him, spoiler alert: they didn't)

~~

Fun lil thoughts now

Jean and Mozart are the only ones who go to church every Sunday.

Because here Leonardo is a pureblood, I think that maybe for a hot moment he was religious but very quickly turned his back on that.

Theo is SOOOOO mad that the three he hates the most are the only other Protestants. He's stuck with Will Faust and Drake.

Will actually grew up in the Church of England, which was possibly more Roman Catholic but when you look at his writing it reflects Protestant more.

Best part is that Faust is Protestant but Vlad has him working in a Catholic church. Vlad doesn't know the difference. Faust gives all his sermons in German and they aren't even sermons. He just bitches about this and gives out recipes, but Mozart is literally the only one who knows

Faust: I fucking hate this city. It's so dirty

Mozart: he's so right

Now bc they lean into Drake being more of a pirate, I don't think this man has much religion to him. He sticks to the pirate code. But I feel like if you showed him a sign of God he'd believe you.

Okay so Dazai. When we first talked about this we couldn't really find anything (I was honestly doing a quick Google search, not a deep dive), so we said he's probably Shinto, at least in game since we see him in shrines in some cgs. @tako-cafe informed me that he was first communist (when growing up) and then Christian, but int he way that God is here to punish/torture us bc humans themselves are sin and cannot escape it.

Arthur went atheist once he discovered science basically.

Isaac is actually right with the idolizing thing. It's actually blasphemous to have depictions of Jesus on a cross, or having a place dedicated to God. But that part sort of got lost bc obvs churches don't want you to know that. Also, he's just a god fearing man.

Isaac: going to church is a sin

Jean, across the room: ITS WHAT

That being said, Christmas Day, aka Isaac's birthday, Isaac and Arthur are the only ones at the mansion in the morning.

Dazai is going bc they have snacks. Sebastian is going because ..well.. we shouldn't trust them all to behave.

Back to Dazai. If we stick with him being Shinto, everyone in the mansion finds it weird as hell. Sebastian has to tell them that "no. This is actually the religion, not just weird things Dazai does"

Meanwhile Dazai is like "I need to go feed the frogs goldfish so that we have good weather"

Oh? Comte? Yeah. He believes. In what? He believes

Also, keep in mind that even tho that most of them are Catholic, they are all from different countries and time periods where being Catholic meant different things.

[demonslayedher]

Determining Ages and Birth Years

Kimetsu no Yaiba’s first official fanbook gave us ages for the many of the main characters, but in a manga where calculating age can be crucial, why are these numbers not so straightforward? Because the Japanese calendar is a mess, and the Taisho period was an in-between stage in many ways. Many new changes were established in the Meiji period but not broadly enforced until the Showa period, including how to count one’s age.

This subject can be terribly complicated, but please follow me below for:

--Historical context for how methods of counting age could differ --Which method I choose to apply to Kimetsu no Yaiba and why --Based on that, a list of my calculations for dates of birth, zodiac signs (Chinese and Western), and because it’s handy, the date each of these characters would have turned 25

In the Taisho period, there are two methods of counting age in play:

Kazoedoshi (“counting years”): Counting the years one has been in alive in, with that year having started on the agricultural new year and counting a new year to one’s age each New Year’s Day after that, like how it is still practiced in South Korea.

Which is to say, you are born at age 1, counting the first calendar year you lived in, and on the following New Year’s Day, you are age 2, even if you have only been out of the womb a very short time.

Mannenrei (“full year age”): Counting only each full 12-month period since your birth as part of your age, like how it is practiced in the United States of America.

Which is to say, you are born at age 0, and after twelve full months have passed, you are age 1.

Kazoedoshi was practiced through most of the Demon Slayer Corp’s history, but the Meiji government enforced a switch to Mannenrei in 1902. However, most people still practiced Kazoedoshi throughout the Meiji, Taisho, and early Showa periods, and it wasn’t until 1950 that the government reinforced the switch to Mannenrei. This is also when, with the influx of American culture due to the post-war occupation, individual birthdays started to be marked with cake and presents. Until that time, people did not pay much attention to their date of birthday besides, perhaps, a passing notion and maybe a shrine or temple visit and a nice dinner (see more on this post). Many people continued to count their own age in Kazoedoshi until 1950, and although some people liked the “oh, actually I’m younger than I thought I was!” surprise (because Manrenrei really was outside of their usual way of thinking), it made centenarians a little sad that they hadn’t actually reached 100.

Similarly, even though the Meiji government enforced a switch to the Gregorian calendar which put New Years on January 1, many people still celebrated a sliding date according to a lunar-based agricultural calendar, like is still done in China. It was likewise later reinforced.

In modern Japan, New Years on Gregorian January 1 and counting age by the Mannenrei system are the norm and standard, however, some customs (especially but not limited to religious customs) are still celebrated according to the agricultural calendar and Kazoedoshi ages. It’s annoying to keep track of and if I had a 5-yen coin for every time I say the Japanese calendar is a mess, I’d have a lot more yen.

The canon of Kimetsu no Yaiba does not specify any of the following: 1. What year most of KnY takes place (but based on clues from the Hand Demon, we can extrapolate that most of it takes place in 1915) 2. Whether the characters’ given ages are according to Kazoedoshi or Mannenrei, and whether the characters’ given birthdates are according to the Gregorian or agricultural calendars 3. Which method the characters use to count New Years and their own age 4. If there are any differences among the cast and how they count these things (like if the city-slickers were with the times and the country bumpkins were not) 5. Whether or not Amane accounted for Mannenrei or Kazoedoshi when stating that all the marked swordsmen of the Sengoku period died by the age of 25

So what are fanfic writers who are preoccupied with canon accuracy to do? How much should the fans of characters who got the mark fret?

After tying my brain in knots (for years, since I attempted tackling this issue years ago and this is my better post addressing the issue(s)), here are the ways that I approach it.

First: I firmly treat most of the events of canon as firmly taking place in Gregorian 1915, with the Final Selection taking place that winter and Muzan’s defeat coming sometime around the very end of 1915 or start of 1916. (See here for how I calculated all the time frames indicated in canon. You’re welcome.)

Second, we have to treat the official fanbook material in the context of how it was published. I think the ages in the fanbook are given in Mannenrei for the benefit of Heisei/Reiwa period readers, but if you really want to dig into it, the characters might interpret their own age differently based on Kazoedoshi, since it was such a prevalent way to count one’s age even for people born in the Taisho period. For example, Tanjirou’s given canon age is 15 (Mannenrei), but if you ask him in-universe, he might say he is 17 (Kazoedoshi).

Even if we assume many of the characters use the agricultural calendar and Kazoedoshi, there is a chance that characters who actively used western technology—for example, Shinobu, who uses textbooks in English microscopes and thermometers that likely came from Germany—had switched to Mannenrei for the sake of more accuracy on an individual basis. It is also possible that the Corp enacted their own standardization to Mannenrei around the time they standardized uniforms and updated the payment structure. If this is the case, it might have required country bumpkins to rethink the systems they had always been used to. Tanjirou, if asked in-universe once he is a Corp member, would therefore say he is 15 (Mannenrei).

The places the Kazoedoshi/Mannenrei difference has more implications is where characters have stated their own age. For example, Himejima seems to use a Mannenrei system (he states that he became a Hashira at age 19, and now is clearly over the age of 25, with his canonical age being recorded as 27. The numbers check out). This makes me more curious about Muichirou, who has a canonical given age of 14, but says in his own recollection that he was 10 when he was orphaned, and 11 when Yuichirou died.

If Mannenrei: It was four years or more ago that his parents died, and then sometime after he and Yuichirou turned 11 on Gregorian August 8, the demon attacked on a hot summer night. If Kazoedoshi: It was four years or more ago that his parents died. New Years passed that winter and he and Yuichirou turned 11. Many more months passed before the demon attacked on a hot summer night. However, if the Corp enforces his Mannenrei age of 14, but being a country bumpkin with a fuzzy memory, Muichirou still thinks of himself in Kazoedoshi, thereby making him think of himself as 16: It was six years or more ago that his parents died. New Years passed that winter and he and Yuichirou turned 11. Many more months passed before the demon attacked on a hot summer night. He nonetheless became a Hashira relatively recently (according to aligning Kyojuro-related flashback material and the second fanbook making passing mention that he hasn’t been a Hashira that long so his impression of the others isn’t that deep). This implies he spent a very, very, very, very long time incapacitated before he could so much as hold a sword, let alone join the Final Selection.

So what if we consider the opposite, that every given age is in Kazoedoshi? That would mean that when the fanbook and Tanjirou say he is 15, we would translate that back to a Mannenrei age of 13. And, dear readers, do you really want to imagine the entire cast being one or two years younger than their given age? I didn’t think so.

It is already very, very difficult to determine the order of Kimetsu no Yaiba canon both due to incomplete histories and canonical errors introduced by outside material (Ufotable animating Kanao’s May 19 encounter with the Kochou sisters with a winter setting, or Hirano-sensei drawing a spread of all nine Hashira in a 1913 setting) or timeline errors introduced in the original manga likely due to oversight (Gotouge drawing Aoi in uniform shortly after Kanae’s death when Aoi is later stated to have attended the same Final Selection as Muichirou, who at the time Kanae died is likely still living with his parents). That is why I assume the following rule of thumb:

When ages are given in-universe or in supplementary material, assume it is Mannenrei, because this is a shounen manga and not a math textbook. (As another case in point, the heights of the characters would have made most of the characters giants in Taisho society, though they get away with just being a bit on the tall side in Reiwa society. Some things are simplified for the benefit of modern readers.)

Assume the characters do not pay much attention to their age, or their birthday, because this is a shounen manga with a lot of dedication to historical settings and folk traditions (and those folks didn’t pay much attention to their birthdays).

Ergo: If the Corp tells its members “this is your Mannenrei age, use it. When we say 25, we have already done the math from our Sengoku period records and we mean 25 in Mannenrei,” the Corp members probably accept that. However, the Corp members might think of it as having two ages for two different purposes. Given the prevalence of Kazoedoshi, in their heart, they might still think of New Years as the time when you collectively celebrate everyone’s birthday.

Since I’m assuming Mannenrei, I’m also assuming Gregorian birthdates, and assuming everyone’s given canon age to be the age they were during the Infinity Fortress battle that took place roughly around New Year’s Day 1916.

Why am I picking this date? Because this is when the first fanbook was published, and it treated canon as it was occurring at that time in publication, so Akaza, Douma, and Kokushibou were not yet given the “eliminated” status (also, Rengoku was given already called “former” Flame Hashira. Shinobu’s demise had not yet been published in the serialization).

I also say “roughly New Year” because of the agricultural/Gregorian calendar issues. The agricultural New Year’s Day in 1916 would have fallen on Gregorian February 4, but because I’m treating this as the Corp having adopted Mannenrei, I’m also having them treat Gregorian January 1 as New Years. Because Ubuyashiki Nichika and Hinaki were singing a New Years song when Muzan strolled in to visit, that leans credence toward it happening around then. More crucially, cherry blossoms are in full bloom “three months later,” which aligns it best with Gregorian January 1, since late March/early April is when you are most likely to get the full bloom of the most common somei-yoshino cherry trees.

It’s also a convenient date and time in the plot to measure by because all their birthdays would have passed for that year, barely including Nezuko’s. (But if Mugen Ressha took place prior to May, like I have calculated before… does this mean Rengoku would have been part of Team 21? My gosh, I’m crying. For this list, I’m treating it as the age he would have been relative to the others on that date.)

Tl;dr: I’m assuming you can treat every canon age as Mannenrei, and totally ignore Kazoedoshi in the first place (unless if it will help you be crafty in your fic, because there’s still a good case to be made for the characters using it).

Now here is the fanfic reference list I promised, including: 1. Their date of birth according to the Gregorian calendar, calculated based their canon age being their Mannenrei age as of December 31, 1915. 2. Their birth year according to the Japanese period 3. The year they would have turned 25 4. Their Chinese zodiac sign (yes, I know there is argument about whether or not you can say “zodiac” here, but this isn’t the place to start a new topic. Anyway, I’ve also included the elements for each year for the deep nerds who anticipate it) (also I’m really sorry, Inosuke is not born in the Year of the Boar, nor is Iguro born in the Year of the Snake) 5. Their Western zodiac sign (yes, I know there was a recalculation of sun signs some years back, but no, I’m not bothering to take that into account, this post is complicated enough as it is) Important caveat: I'm bad at math.

Kamado Tanjirou: July 14, 1900/Meiji 33 (1925/Taisho 14), Metal Rat, Cancer Kamado Nezuko: December 28, 1901/Meiji 34 (1926/Taisho 15), Metal Ox, Capricorn Agatsuma Zenitsu: September 3, 1899/Meiji 32 (1924/Taisho 13), Earth Boar, Virgo Hashibira Inosuke: April 22 (as was written on his fundoshi along with his name), 1900/Meiji 33 (1925/Taisho 14), Metal Rat, Taurus Tsuyuri Kanao: May 19 (chosen for the day she encountered the Kochou sisters), 1899/Meiji 32 (sometime in 1924??/Taisho 13??), Earth Boar(?), Taurus (???) Shinazugawa Genya: January 7, 1899/Meiji 32  (1924/Taisho 13) – by Gregorian/modern Japanese system he is an Earth Boar, but the agricultural New Year wasn’t until February 10 that year, so he might instead be considered an Earth Dog, Capricorn Tomioka Giyuu: February 8, 1894/Meiji 27 (1919/Taisho 8), Wood Horse, Aquarius Kochou Shinobu: February 24, 1897/Meiji 30 (1822/Taisho 11), Fire Rooster, Pisces Rengoku Kyoujurou: May 10, 1895/Meiji 28 (1920/Taisho 9), Wood Sheep, Taurus Uzui Tengen: October 31, 1892/Meiji 25 (1917/Taisho 6), Water Dragon, Scorpio Kanroji Mitsuri: June 1, 1896/Meiji 29 (1921/Taisho 10), Fire Monkey, Gemini Tokitou Muichirou: August 8, 1901/Meiji 34 (1926/Taisho 15), Metal Ox, Leo Himejima Gyoumei: August 23, 1888/Meiji 21 (1913/Taisho 2), Earth Rat, Virgo Shinazugawa Sanemi: November 29, 1894/Meiji 27 (1919/Taisho 8), Wood Horse, Sagittarius Iguro Obanai: September 15,1894/Meiji 27 (1919/Taisho 8), Wood Horse, Virgo

Afterword:

Suppose Amane didn’t do the math to state the Sengoku swordsmans’ ages in Mannenrei terms? What if their records were spotty, or she took Kazoedoshi and applied it to swordsmen who now use Mannenrei?

Well, in that case, Tanjirou would probably die sometime in 1923, and Giyuu & Sanemi sometime in 1917. Ergo, I think I will stick with Amane having done the math and converted Sengoku ages to Mannennei if she was going to tell them all something so important.

Also, using Kazoedoshi would totally mess with the Kimetsu Gakuen AU.

[lazywriter-artist]

Chapter Two

Remembrance

The palace was just as sound as the day it was first built. Even with the stains of candle wax and more Aquilas and skulls than he recalled embedding into the walls, Dorn was simply glad that whatever fools had done so hadn’t even broken past his first layer of safety precautions. After all, this was the reason the palace felt much smaller on the inside than the outside! To the trained eye anyway, accommodations for his brothers’ and father’s size and rowdiness meant the palace was still very large in spite of the many structural layers he had included to account for any misflung punches or brothers, and random zealotry induced remodeling it seemed.

Dorn would frequently fall behind his brothers to examine new carvings made into the walls he was sure he had built solid many eons ago, he knew such carvings never used to be there! His hand reached forward to put out the candle in a small shrine burrowed into the wall, the wax was staining the floors something unsightly but before he could follow through with his plans to extinguish it he was grabbed by the back of his uniform and dragged onward. Sigh, damnit Magnus. Frustrated or not, Dorn supposed it would be for the better, he found since his return he would often get into squabbles with many ecclesiastical figureheads. He could only imagine the dogmatic hysteria at him putting out the sacred ‘keep the palace upright’ candles, that if ever put out would cause the walls to crumble! He grunted gruffly, what foolishness many had chosen to believe in their absence. Candles do not keep buildings upright! Proper fortifications and structure do so. Dorn slouched with his arms crossed tightly across his chest, only his thumbs resting freely, tapping his biceps impatiently. So many stains across the once beautiful palace! Frustrating, but Magnus had fallen back to keep him moving forward so he would not begin any impromptu remodeling in the wake of all of this religious dribble.

All because father had become a god. Tch, a god. Who could take father for a saint, let alone a god? Perfect as an adjective to describe father was laughable. Father made mistakes all the time, they all did, demigod-like powers be damned, they were still human deep down. After all, they all fell to the same pitfalls they were alleged to rise above, if not to demigod proportions. What was the saying the old hero always chirped? “The bigger they are, the harder they fall”? Fall hard indeed. Placing improper reinforcements that don’t allow some room to squirm for larger structures was a sure way for them to fall! Tch. Any fool would know that, any fool not blinded by their own hubris. Of course father’s failings were really just what made him human, Dorn had come to terms with these little isms of his father. What else was one supposed to do when endlessly lost to the dizzying sameness of space? The slipping that time seems to commit itself to when you no longer have standardization leads you to ponder what had gotten you to this point? Father had been distant ever since Dorn could recall, oft treating them more like soldiers than sons. Dorn had heard a time or two whispers of these ideas that this was how father felt deep to his core, Dorn had learned otherwise early on. His father had always been a pompous overconfident bull charging forward, no doubt, but he was not indifferent to his sons. It’s what made Dorn always harp on his father’s humanity in the back of his mind, father was no more a god than any other warmonger. He simply had a few enhancements his unusual nature had gifted him and an obnoxious way of showing it. Father was no fool, not entirely, but he did often let his own thoughts and showy nature overtake logic. The palace was, after all, coated in gold at father’s behest. One of the weaker metals unless alloyed with other metals to strengthen it. Father likely didn’t ponder this idea too often that he, much like his metal of choice, could not stand alone no matter how brightly he shimmered. He needed allies to strengthen him.

Dorn grunted some as he was pulled from his thoughts, their little exhibition had been halted. Guilliman was heading their menagerie, he did the best with the zeal and dogma after all. Currently, they had been stopped by a slightly dazed commissar asking a few questions of them. The man seemed as though he’d just woken from slumber, dizzy and struggling to form his questions and thoughts. A lesser man might assume it demonic possession, Dorn however parsed that the man had likely just been slumbering at his post and was trying to cover it up. After all, he barely comprehended whom he was speaking to at first, before his eyes got big and wide as he began to process what was going on. Picking out two of his heroes of legend. Dorn could see the man’s gaze fall upon Magnus and felt a grunt of displeasure already boiling in his chest. He knew what would be the next question and implications. HE was nipping it in the bud. Pushing past his brothers, he glared down at the man— with no great malice or much aggression mind you, Dorn simply held an aura about him and he wished to move things along— clearing his throat as he spoke in that booming voice. “He is with us. We are on official business, the Emperor's work. Why don’t you run along, and rest during allotted hours?”

The man’s face reddened, either with the final realization of whom he was talking to, or the fact that Dorn had caught on to what he had been doing. The man fumbled over a few more words before he finally deemed it would be best to just offer a humble salute of submission and scamper away with his tail between his legs. Dorn snorted with displeasure as he turned back to his brothers, Guilliman held his usual nervously thoughtful look masked by his signature expression of “mature exhaustion” on his face and Magnus seemed to be processing Dorn’s actions. Dorn felt some sort of question that would be too much of a pain to parse answers for bubbling up in Magnus’s chest, thus he quickly dismissed any urges by brushing past the two brothers and taking up a spot leading the group. Most he offered them in some sense of closure was a grunt of ‘onward’ slurred and buried under Dorn’s thick drawl as he pressed forward. No time for foolish questions, just work to be done to aid his brothers’ concerns and hopefully give father some semblance of a “wake up call”, even if they wouldn’t actually be awakening father, this was merely proverbial.

Master post || Chapter Select || Chapter Three

[writers-potion]

Aight I just remembered what I was gonna ask. I think It'll be my second ask because I do remember I submitted the same question I wanna ask months ago HAHA

Okay so, I'm writing a story that explores a lot of subjects, one of them is morality

So... How do you make a fictional religion feel "real" in a sense? Like I know there'll be shrines, temples, and stuff but I need to know more than just that.

Take your time and thank you! ✨

Writing Realistic Fictional Religion

Hi! Thank you for the question :)

Please refer to my posts about writing hateful gods and writing deities for stuff about writing gods! I'll talk more about writing religion in general here.

Religious Hierarchy

Think about how you'd want your religion to be structured:

Polytheism: the belief in many gods.

Monotheism: the belief in a single, all-powerful god.

Atheism: the belief in no gods. A belief in nothing is stil a belief.

Are there tiers of gods? (Gods above Gods)?

Is there a "Mother God" or "Father God" that must be worshipped over everything else?

How are religious leaders selected and trained?

What kind of actions (celibacy, vegetarianism) do the believers need to do in order to be a faithful person? Is there a consequence when they don't do this?

Religious Texts

The most important question a religious text should aim to answer is: where did the world (and therefore, us) come from?

Here are some story patterns you can use:

Creatio Ex Nihilo: God creates the world from nothing

Creation from Chaos: God introduced order into a chaotic world

Primal Couple: The first "couple" gives birth to the world

World Parent: A god sacrifices (a part) of their body to construct the world's elements.

Emergence: Before the current world, there existed another world. After a period of time is over, a new world emerges.

Earth-Diver: A deity sends over a person/animal, etc. to construct a world out of the barren land they've created.

This "Origin Story" will dicate the basic values that your religion thinks is the most important.

Religious Practices

You have the freedom to invent your own religious practices. When you are trying to invent one, consider:

The weather. Is the Sun in your world so blazing that all religious festivals are only held during the night?

What can you not do in the name of religion? Are you not allowed to have stuffed animals in your bed? Not eat blue stuff?

Who are the people that work the most during festivals/worship ceremonies? Are slaves exploited to prepare the feast? Are the women the only ones that works while the men sing? Are animals tortured or exploited in the process?

Sacrifices. What/when/how do you offer sacrifices?

You can also think about:

Who determines the kind of religious practices the other people have to follow?

Are the reliigous practice discriminatory and if yes, who do they benefit?

Religious Locations

Historically, religious lands have had the power to have its own rules and be protected. which will provide a good

One Location vs. Many: Is there a shrine in every home/street, or is everyone required to report to the city square every Saturday?

The Ruler's Castle: Sometimes, the king is considered to be the "son of god" and the palace is therefore the most sacred place.

One Unreachable Location: It can also be that in order to be ruly faithful, you need to visit a place that is so unreachable that people die trying.

A Moving Location: Does the god choose their new home every year?

A Constructable Location: If you draw a circle in bone ash, does the patch of land inside it become holy and no ghost can enter it? What if you lack faith and the circle construction doesn't work at a time you need it the most?

Question of Morality and Religion

While many religions preach equality and kindnes, it has been used to justify conflict and discriminate those who do not believe in it.

Does the deity promote such violence? Or is it the bad leaders?

Is the deity uncritical towards such behavior? Or do they actively step in?

Is the God falliable? Like the modern-day presidents, is the god's survival/power somehow dependent on the believers? Is that why they stay silent even when bad things are being done in their name?

Does the god favor rich people?

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* . ───

💎If you like my blog, buy me a coffee☕ and find me on instagram! 

💎Before you ask, check out my masterpost part 1 and part 2 

💎For early access to my content and priority questions, become a Writing Wizard 

[jasper-pagan-witch]

hi! sorry to bother you, but i would like to get into pop culture paganism and am intimidated by all the.. everything people are talking about that i dont understand. do you have the most basic, "explain it like im four" crash course for learning PCP? [i feel the need to specify, i dont think im interested in being a witch at this time, i just have a pop culture deity id like to venerate] [i think thats the right word? worship? work with? idk]

thank you very much!

I'll happily help, anon.

WARNING! This post is a very, very basic introduction to Pop Culture Paganism, and I'm writing from my own perspective. There's no way I can cover everything. Please let me rest.

Let's start with some abbreviations:

PCM = Pop Culture Magic, the usage of elements of pop culture in one's magical or spiritual practice

PCP = Pop Culture Paganism, the usage of elements of pop culture (including but not limited to pop culture deities or characters-as-deities) in or as one's religious practice

PCD = Pop Culture Deity, an entity who is worshiped as or is a deity in their source material

PCE = Pop Culture Entity, any entity from a pop culture source (any PCD is a PCE, but not all PCEs are PCDs)

And some of my own definitions (yours may not be the same!):

Veneration/worship = including a figure in your religious practice

Work = creating an agreement with a figure in a magical or spiritual practice, which may or may not be religious in nature

Devotion = worshiping one deity above all others, that deity becoming your patron

All of these have been greatly simplified for ease of use in this guide.

PCP can be done in addition to or in place of other religions. Due to the nature of the phrase "paganism", a polytheist approach is implied but ultimately isn't necessary - there are plenty of pop culture pagans who only worship one PCD/PCE. I practice both PCP and """mainstream""" polytheism.

PCP can be done in addition to PCM, but the two can also be mutually exclusive. I, personally, practice both PCP and PCM.

The primary appeal of PCP is that it is deeply personal. Many people who engage in PCP find that starting their religious practice from the ground up, or in using familiar religious practices from their culture that they're used to, is a lot of fun. Others love the source material(s) that they're drawing from so much that practicing PCP is just a natural way to continue expressing their love for it. There are a thousand reasons to practice PCP.

Some of the """mainstream""" polytheism issues appear in PCP, too. Gatekeeping, cliques, the insistence that deities have to "choose" you...a lot of toxic ideas tend to show up, just because of how online spaces work nowadays.

"That's great, Jasper, but how do we actually do this?" I'm getting there, dear readers, I promise.

Decide your approach. What pop culture source are you drawing from? A video game? Music? A book series, or even a standalone book?

Outreach. Do you build an altar or shrine? Make an offering? Write a poem or invitation? Pray? Wait for the PCD/PCE to reach out first? Do you create them yourself?

Set expectations. What are you going to do? What do you expect? Do you want to communicate back and forth, or just pray and not expect a direct answer? Figure out what you want.

Continue developing. Your PCP practice will likely not remain the same as time goes on. Let it grow, and let yourself grow with it.

Hopefully this is a very beginner-friendly 101 style post! For further resources, please check out my Pop Culture Magic/Paganism Resources Masterpost.

~Jasper

[garrickc]

For: All.

Garrick's not a creature of one place. That much has always been very clear-cut. Between The Ports, Olympic Serval, Satin Cabaret, and Blacktop Mile. He's not familiar, but he's becoming something of the sort. He needs to push the edges of a city, to know what it's about. Vying to know its guts and its glory and where there are open wounds he might need to heal, or to bleed fatally.

It's a gimmick sitting by the water. Rascal Jack's is a bustling entity, he's found. But he's never been inside when there's too much stuck to its outside, like an evergreen being decorated for whatever religious holiday. Garrick believes he'd tear down its innards if he were allowed in. Instead, he's in the yard of it, docked himself at a table with a rum (because it's all over the menu) and eyes the bow fastened to the front of the restaurant for all its crass craving. Whatever ships and vessels (if any) they'd pulled these novelties from, it's a theme. Not a museum, or a shrine.

And if he hears 'Ay, me hearty,' one more time, he's going to make them say it whilst they're gurgling blood. An education in how much a corsair cared to have a conversation with them, let alone serve them grog and bread.

He's telling himself to see the humour in it. The Caribbean hadn't been the same as Munster, and everyone gets a fair trial in the name of the people.

He knows he's been far more than a man at sea by this point, and he's about to be on his way to the Serval to go break the same bread with those without homes, nestled in the hull of a once great structure, abandoned.

The rum is but a trickle at the bottom of his glass now, and he raises it as a new wave of patrons eagerly come to experience a night of piracy.

They look lost.

"You lookin' for a table? Here, I'm just leaving."

When he goes to stand, he realises that he's on his fourteenth rum. And he's tried to leave about eight drinks ago.

They keep serving him, or maybe he's compelling them to. "Could you be a doll, lad and give me a hand?" a lifts a finger in pause before trying for another go at standing up. It's not so clean — any of his movements — and a funny little chuckle breaks free as he's got another table looking their way. "You don't wanna rattle about it, not in front of all these ankle biters, do you?"

[hughiecampbelle]

Wraith (Will Graham Oneshot)

Character/s: Will, Hannibal mention

Word Count: 1,307

A/N: I'm so sorry this was a day late my loves!!! I'm trying my hardest to remain on schedule, but of course things come up and December is very busy. Not to make excuses, just a little clarification. I loooveeeee bringing religion and beliefs and prayer into the horror genre!! It's what I live for my loves!! Lol I am really excited for this fic :) I love yearning, I love religious issues, I love everything about this and I wanted to make it absolutely perfect before I posted it!!! Feedback is always appreciated!!! ❤❤❤❤

WRITING EVENT ❤️🔪🩸

He loved you the way men love Gods. By kissing the ground, the gravel, the earth that you have gifted him. Perhaps not the soil itself, but the bannister in which your hand caressed as you climbed the stairs. The rugs you placed in the kitchen, the living room, the bathroom. To make it cozy, you beamed, and he could do nothing but melt. The blankets you placed across the bed when the weather grew cold and dreary. Not the ground, but the places you poured yourself into making the house – your house – a home. By creating a shrine, a sanctuary, an altar in your image. Pictures of you, of him, together and not, scattered across every surface. Stills, photographs, of the collective you at the lake, in the woods, shouldered together with the dogs, your family growing every few months. His favorites – the ones you never realize there was a camera at all. Nose in a book, hands wet and soapy, body over the dishes. Asleep, in bed, on the couch, ease etched into your features. Your back to him, in the snow, the grass, the sun kissing your face. Your silhouette stitched into his mind. He studies your scriptures. Pours over them when he cannot sleep, when he cannot eat or think of anything but you. Your file, your autopsy report, the notes in the margins of the books you love, following your swooping handwriting with his eyes. Read until his eyes sting, strain, until he has to take his glasses off and close them for a very long time. Even the death certificate sits on the dressed, unfolded, worn from his hands running over the edges to smooth it out. The last evidence of your existence. Your final testament. He loves you the way men love Gods – their Gods – because e=he believes you are still out there. Waitting. Watching over him. And if he prays, and if he observes, and if he believes hard, rough. You might show yourself to him again. 

It’s difficult to put into words, sentences, to utter to any other living being without being mistaken for a fool. He sees you. Not in the clothes you have left behind, Will unbothered to move, to clean out, desperate for your scent. Not in the soaps you used that sit in their dishes, untouched, afraid to move them, to get rid of you. Not in the pillows you slept on, the same ones he has not smoothed, your indentation sacred within them. No, not the usual places one might look for signs of you. There is nothing emotional about this. This is not dream-like or imaginary. There is nothing metaphorical about the way he has become your witness. You are real. You are in that house. And he holds his breath in anticipation for the next time you will visit. 

A shadow cast in the middle of the bathroom. He wipes the steam from the shower, but just as you have appeared, you are gone. Your face, your eye following him, between the semi-closed doors of your closet. In the dark of night he will see the white of your eye – moon-like – but when he tries to get closer, throwing the doors open, exposing you, there is nothing there. Footsteps in the snow leading from the house, not towards. He follows eagerly, desperately, forgetting the time constraint he under to appear at work on time. Through the woods, the fields, but when he feels in his heart he is getting close, you are nearby, they stop in the midst of the trail. He searches, but they never pick up again. Your voice, he hears, humming from the next room. He used to drop what he was doing – the dishes, a hobby, a meal – and interrupt your song with his presence. The music stops just before he enters the threshold. Now, instead, he listens carefully, unmoving, wondering how long you could go on. Hours, he hopes, though you’ve only ever reached a couple of minutes. Growing louder, closer, until you are right behind him. It takes everything in Will not to turn around, to reach out and expect you, your body, in his arms. In his ear, your voice. On his neck, your breath. But when he finally lets go, when he gives in, he is met with silence. Open air. The feeling that something crucial is missing in the middle of his chest. 

Are you having any suicidal thoughts? Hannibal is careful to ask. It isn’t like that, he clarifies, wondering what he means. He would never. He would. No. Stop it. He doesn’t have to, he reminds himself. You visit him now, you visit the living. Their death is recent, Will. . . But he stops listening. He is stating the obvious. Again. You are grieving, Will. You lost someone you loved, someone you thought you were going to spend the rest of your life with. It was sudden and unexpected. A terrible accident. It had all been spelled out to him before. The reality of the situation, of this new version of his life, his future, settling across his skin where it bubbles and burns. Sessions Jack ordered, prescribed, since the funeral. He wants not to yell and scream. That would be childish. It would show them they are right, that he is unstable, but he is more aware than ever. He wishes to invite them over. To sit at the kitchen table and wait, wait as long as you need, to hear your song. To follow the steps in the snow. To smell your perfume, your cologne, as if it had just been sprayed. Walk through the phantom mist. Crawl on his hands and knees. Begging, crying out to the house where you might hear him. Please, he says, please just show yourself y/n. Please, I need you. Falling into a fitful sleep. Are you still imagining things? He asks delicately and Will wants to smash his porcelain words with a hammer, a bat, his fists. It’s real, he wants to plead, but knows better. He must hide the truth. He must pretend you are truly gone when you come back to him, visit him, protect you and him. Protecting what you have. Not anymore. 

He’s been cleared. Deemed stable enough for light duty. Minimal fieldwork. Lectures mostly, paperwork. If he cared more he would have fought tooth and nail for his regular workload. But he doesn’t. He thanks Hannibal for the work he’s done, the work he’s put into him. He stops for flowers, replacing the ones he left at your grave just days before. The snow had covered them, cradled them how he wished to be held by you. He locks himself in, shutting the door, welcomed by the dogs. He will make dinner, something quick with few dishes. He will go over the cases Jack had given him. Only a few, light reading, though the crimes themselves are as gory and bloody as ever. He pats his face dry and spits toothpaste from his mouth. He dresses with ease, throwing his clothes in the basket, opting for a t-shirt and boxers. He anticipates when you will show up, when you will make yourself known, doing everything in his power to invite you back. Hopeless, he pulls the covers over him, turned on his side. Did denouncing your existence, your presence, make you go away? Were you even real to begin with? And just as he begins to doubt, to panic, he hears a shuffling noise behind him. Something tugs as the blankets. A weight sits, then lays, the bed creaking on your side. He thanks a nameless being that you have come back. That you still love him, need him, exist. He falls asleep to your even breathing, grateful you have spent another night with him.

[devout-khajiit]

Being Both Fandom and Not Fandom: A Pop Culture Paganism Perspective

So, this is more of a personal dive of my own experiences with fandom as a pop culture pagan.

For anybody in the broader sphere of Tumblr coming across this post, pop culture paganism is essentially the worship of fictional characters or other things like a Pokémon species. Sometimes it's based on fictional religions - Like the Nine Divines from The Elder Scrolls, sometimes it's not and is just a collection of characters the pagan likes.

So, I'd consider my experience as partially fandom, partially not. Some aspects yes, other aspects no.

It's definitely an odd experience, because if people asked me about fandom, I don't have a clear answer for them.

To me, I consider PCP to be inherently a partially fandom thing for myself. This is a fairly hot topic for PCPagans, where some believe PCP exists outside of fandom and sometimes that it should exist outside of fandom, with no touch to fandom at all.

I engage with fandom as part of my worship, I create fandom content as part of my worship. I don't just engage with my entities on their lonesome - I create fanfic, I engage in roleplay, I watch fan content, I laugh at memes, etc. It's more than just calling upon the entities as needed/wanted, worshiping them, making offering and devotional, etc.

I also engage with fandom as a devotional thing - if I want to honor my The Elder Scrolls guides, I'll watch videos of the games. I'll write fake myths for them, stories of things they'd probably actually do.

But at the same time, what I do is distinctly not fandom. What I do is not a general fandom experience, and can be identified as something unique from fandom. While some people out there do things like make joke shrines (as in they identify them as jokes), the shrines I make are for actual worship purposes.

I engage with my entities from a very religious perspective. Not everyone engages with them this way, obviously. I've even had experiences where people engage with my PCP blogs from a purely fandom perspective.

While I also write headcanons about Touhous, I also talk to the entities in question and learn about them. Sometimes my headcanons are right, sometimes they're way off, and I keep those headcanons away from the entity in question.

I take great care to tell the difference between the fictional character and the entity in question. Marisa Kirisame the character is a different person to me than Marisa Kirisame the spirit.

As an aside, I think different interpretations of the same character could function the same as epithets - One side of Zeus is of Hospitality, whereas another side is King of Gods. One side of Reimu is quiet and sweet, whereas another is much harsher and can even be cruel.

This is another way that fandom can intersect with PCP.

There is, however, a line. Yes, I can write Touhous, while worshiping Touhous. But I can't act like my version of them is the definitive version. They're a person afterall, who I can get close to understanding, but probably never perfectly. However, I don't have to write them exactly like the them I perceive, they don't care that much anyways.

I also can't turn them into blorbos. I have to acknowledge who they truly are and their agency as individuals, I can't start viewing them only as characters I can write into my silly little fanfictions.

I have to acknowledge them as people, because I worship them as people. I may distinguish between character and entity, but I need to have respect for the entity in question as I move forward.

It's an odd place to be in - Both fandom and not fandom. It applies to all of my practice, where I acknowledge fandom and also do my own thing entirely independent of fandom. Same for canon, actually - Hence why the Molag Bal I interact with is so distinctly different than canon (and fandom) Molag Bal.

Because I acknowledge Molag Bal to be a distinct individual, completely different than whatever his canon counterpart has going on (which is not great by the way!). Same for all of my entities.

I very much, obviously, believe these things can intersect. It's not for everyone, because everyone can do their own thing, but for me! I love engaging with fandom. I don't want to give up engaging with fandom.

I hope this post explains my stance pretty well.

So yeah, I'd say I'm both fandom and not fandom when it comes to PCP.

[reyaint]

tesrvenkodria | culture

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

date: july 10 2025. started: 1:20am ended: 2:32am

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

✧˖*°࿐the national culture of tesrvenkodria

*ೃ༄core values & identity

𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָꪆৎ aura as identity:

the aura is not just a source of power—it’s a spiritual fingerprint, a birthright, and a social lens. while discrimination based on aura color or rarity has significantly declined in modern times, historic reverence remains. people often refer to their aura as their “soullight.” fused or rare hues like gold, adularescent silver, or prism-shift tones are still respectfully admired, even if not worshiped.

historically, aura color and strength once determined social status. those with rare tones—like gold, adularescent silver, or triple-aura fusions—were often elevated to elite roles. but in the modern day, while rare auras are still revered, there's a strong cultural push toward equity of mastery rather than raw power. a skilled blue aura user (e.g., water affinity) can command more respect than an undisciplined white-aura prodigy.

𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָꪆৎ spirituality without religion:

the culture is deeply spiritual, but not religious in a traditional deity-worship sense. people revere the leylines, the living world, and their personal aura “thread” as part of a greater universal pattern. meditation, aura-harmonizing rituals, and mana sanctums are widespread.

დ࿐ ‎˗ˋ social greeting & etiquette: ꪆৎ 𓂃 › common greeting: “may your colors shine true.” ꪆৎ 𓂃 › farewell: “walk in balance.” ꪆৎ 𓂃 › when meeting someone new, it’s respectful to place your hand over your sternum (where aura concentrates) and bow slightly—an acknowledgment of the soul within. ꪆৎ 𓂃 › it's considered invasive to ask about someone’s full aura composition unless you're close.

*ೃ༄gender identity & social hierarchy

𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָꪆৎ gender & aura perception gender expression is diverse and culturally fluid. because aura presence often supersedes gender in spiritual and social status, society emphasizes the "tone of soul" over body. pronoun flexibility and neutral honorifics like “Vas” (Mx equivalent) are normalized. aura tone shifts during puberty or trauma are seen as part of one’s identity evolution, not abnormalities. 𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָꪆৎ family & kinship family is often extended and fluid, based more on aura compatibility and oath-binding than genetics. it’s common to “bind families” through ceremonial links—adoption or political marriages that also blend aura traditions. 𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָꪆৎ women in society highly represented in aura scholarship, judiciary courts, elite military units (especially sniper corps and diviner-pilots), and politics. matrilineal naming traditions exist in many rural areas, especially among powerful aura lineages. 𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָꪆৎ military & public respect veterans are treated with deep respect—memorial gardens include aura-shard shrines that pulse with fallen soldiers’ last known colors. public service is honorable, with aura medics and peacekeepers seen as national guardians. 𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָꪆৎ non-aura users though they don't command magic, non-aura users are integral in science, infrastructure, farming, politics, and civil law. many are skilled in aura tech engineering and diagnostics. a common phrase: “No light burns without the lantern-maker.” 𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָꪆৎ education & career people are encouraged to explore careers aligned with their aura affinities, though cross-disciplinary work is celebrated. schools offer aura-based tracks, and changing one's life path after an “aura shift” is normal.

*ೃ༄cuisine & food culture

𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָꪆৎ mana-charged ingredients foods are often grown in ley-enhanced soil or through aura-farming. fruits like starplums, pulsegrapes, and lucent melons glow faintly and taste stronger during different aura seasons.

დ࿐ ‎˗ˋ aura-infused cooking cuisine is both a nutritional and magical experience. spices and cooking methods are selected based on aura compatibility. aura chefs are a professional class who understand how mana interacts with ingredients. ꪆৎ 𓂃 › ley-grilled meats: charged over crystals that retain specific aura types (e.g., storm-charged steak for air-aligned soldiers). ꪆৎ 𓂃 › mana dumplings: soft steamed pockets filled with nutrient-rich grains, sometimes used in coming-of-age rituals. ꪆৎ 𓂃 › starpetal syrups: used in desserts, both as flavoring and mild aura enhancement.

დ࿐ ‎˗ˋ national dishes include: ꪆৎ 𓂃 › soulroot stew: made with mana tubers, silvergrain, and grilled Skybleat meat. comfort food. ꪆৎ 𓂃 › mistfire dumplings: popular street food with fillings that reflect the eater’s primary aura (sold with infused sauces). ꪆৎ 𓂃 › crysteel bread: shimmers faintly, popular among working-class laborers. provides mild aura restoration. ꪆৎ 𓂃 › leytea: herbal beverage brewed with wispgrass and heartmoss, often served during serious talks or mourning. said to calm fraying auras. ꪆৎ 𓂃 › silvergrain bread: daily food that glows faintly. sold in dozens of local variants. ꪆৎ 𓂃 › lusterfruit wine: alcoholic beverage brewed from shimmering fruit harvested at leyline intersections. ꪆৎ 𓂃 › skyroot tea: calming infusion known to rebalance frayed mana threads.

𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָꪆৎ dining traditions: eating together is deeply symbolic. families light an aura lamp in the center of the table before the first bite. In some households, meals begin with a silent centering to “settle the colors.”

*ೃ༄fashion & appearance

დ࿐ ‎˗ˋ everyday fashion: most people dress in ways that reflect or complement their aura colors. clothing is often color-shifting, tone-reactive, or imbued with passive aura threads (not magic-enhancing, just responsive). aura-aware fashion allows the fabric to shimmer, warm, or shift slightly in intensity depending on emotional state—considered both practical and expressive. most garments are layered, flowy, and asymmetrical, blending traditional silhouettes with high-tech fabrics. embroidery often depicts leyline maps or historical glyphs. ꪆৎ 𓂃 › warm-toned auras (red, gold, orange): often wear strong geometric lines, bronze/gold accents, short-sleeved tunics, or arm bands. ꪆৎ 𓂃 › cool-toned auras (blue, violet, silver): tend to wear layered fabrics, cloaks, belts, and longer coats. ꪆৎ 𓂃 › nature-linked auras (green, brown, iridescent): prefer biodegradable fabrics with vinework motifs or cloaks grown from mana-infused fibers. 𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָꪆৎ form & function: clothing is modular, especially for aura-users, allowing flexibility for combat, ritual, or emergency surges. wraps, belts, and layered cuts are common. urban youth culture favors asymmetry, integrated tech-wear, and accessories coded to aura stability (bracelets that pulse when you're emotionally overwhelmed, etc.). 𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָꪆৎ cultural garments: traditional robes and sashes denoting aura lineage are still worn during rites of passage, aura training milestones, and court hearings. the number of visible tones in a garment’s dye is often symbolic. 𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָꪆৎ hair & accessories: hair dye that reacts to aura is popular among youth. piercings often use polished ley-metal. necklaces may contain aura crystals bonded to personal resonance. non-aura users sometimes wear tone charms to reflect their emotional state. Jewelry is deeply symbolic. crystals keyed to one’s aura are worn as pendants or beads. tattooing with aura-reactive ink is also popular—some families even keep hereditary ink recipes.

*ೃ༄festivals & celebrations

𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָꪆৎ tonefall festival: celebrates when someone undergoes a major aura shift (ex. lightening of tone, unlocking secondary hue, evolution to metallic or fused aura). families host tonefall feasts, wear color-themed attire, and invite aura monks to offer blessings. 𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָꪆৎ solstice of stars (midwinter) a major cultural holiday where all aura-users light candles in colors matching their aura. sky lanterns are released with handwritten intentions. originated as a way to affirm life during the Cataclysm era. 𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָꪆৎ prismveil week commemorates the historical moment the first fused-aura user saved the leyline collapse. it’s a week-long celebration with parades, light shows, artistic exhibitions, and storytelling contests. 𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָꪆৎ prism solstice (summer) – a celebration of fusion auras. sky lanterns are released, each tinted with personal aura hues. 𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָꪆৎ waking colors (spring equinox) – marks the aura evolution season. Young adults undergo rites of passage. 𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָꪆৎ the still bloom (midwinter) – a quiet, meditative festival for those grieving aura shifts due to trauma or loss. 𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָꪆৎ gleamday – annual national holiday where families light aura torches and recount personal evolution stories. 𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָꪆৎ founding of the ley accord – historical festival marking the agreement that created balance between the military, magical, and civilian branches.

*ೃ༄education, media, & art

𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָꪆৎ aura education: all children undergo aura testing at age 7. specialized schools branch students into tech, arts, law, or combat depending on their affinity and interest. balanced education is encouraged; a fire-aura child might also study healing or composition.

𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָꪆৎ modern media: films and novels often center on aura mystery, court intrigue, leyline disasters, or coming-of-age rituals. holo-theaters use embedded aura projectors for fully immersive performances.

დ࿐ ‎˗ˋ popular art styles: ꪆৎ 𓂃 › prismcalligraphy: painting with aura-infused ink on crystal-paper. ꪆৎ 𓂃 › ley-weaving: weaving mana-threads into textiles that “sing” with aura tones. ꪆৎ 𓂃 › echo dance: modern street performance blending combat, projection, and mana music.

*ೃ༄art, music & cultural expression

𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָꪆৎ visual arts: painting is often done with mana-dyed ink, which shifts subtly over time. canvases are layered with auric silk that reacts to viewers’ auras, creating personalized visual experiences. sculpture is favored in cities, with statues that channel leyflow and resonate.

დ࿐ ‎˗ˋ music: musicians play aura-threaded instruments, such as: ꪆৎ 𓂃 › threnalis: a string instrument that hums in harmony with ambient mana ꪆৎ 𓂃 › windweaver flutes: used in festivals to guide tone shifts ꪆৎ 𓂃 › pulse drums: played by multiple people whose auras synchronize the rhythm 𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָꪆৎ aura performances, called chroma concerts, are immersive experiences where auras are projected in concert with music, creating visual symphonies.

𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָꪆৎ storytelling & literature: spoken word and epic poetry remain honored. Stories are often passed down through “aura glyph recitals,” where voice, aura projection, and gesture weave together myth and truth.

*ೃ༄aura etiquette & spirituality

𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָꪆৎ aura control = respect: control of aura tone and stability is a virtue. outbursts of uncontrolled magic, even accidentally, are seen as undisciplined (or dangerous). spiritual maturity is often measured by how well one carries their aura. 𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָꪆৎ monasteries & shrines: still important today. people visit prism monasteries on major decisions, rites of passage, or tone evolutions. priests and seers help interpret aura shifts during emotional turning points. 𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָꪆৎ aura synchronicity rituals: close friends or lovers may perform soul-harmonics, where auras are aligned in ritual and timed breath. it’s a mark of trust and deep emotional awareness.

*ೃ༄urban vs rural life

𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָꪆৎ urban cities (e.g. caelenport, varinspire): densely aura-charged, filled with tech infrastructure. aura trains, public ley-sinks, hologram billboards, floating platforms, high political density. fashion-forward. the younger generation is more relaxed about tone-based etiquette. many fusion auras and “third-wave” art. 𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָꪆৎ rural provinces (e.g. caerlynne, solavar): more traditional aura practices. communal rituals and seasonal aura farming dominate. the birth of aura is celebrated like a harvest. rural youth still take part in aura duels and honor-rites.

*ೃ༄language, slang & sayings

𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָꪆৎ “colorblind fool” – an insult implying someone’s missing obvious aura cues. 𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָꪆৎ “to bleed color” – means to reveal deep emotion or vulnerability. 𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָꪆৎ “light-struck” – slang for someone dazzled by love or awe. 𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָꪆৎ “threadwalker” – a compliment for someone with deep insight or vision. 𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָꪆৎ “muted hues” – describes someone in grief, recovery, or illness.

✧˖*°࿐culture by provinces

✧ VEREDENE – The Heart of Harmony

ꪆৎ 𓂃 › fashion: refined and dignified. robes, jackets, and formalwear incorporate aura-reactive embroidery that shifts tone based on the wearer’s emotional state. politicians and scholars wear ceremonial collars called Solbands. ꪆৎ 𓂃 › cuisine: herb-forward, clean dishes. glazed river fish, garden greens infused with tone-balancing mana, leyline-spring teas. ꪆৎ 𓂃 › art & music: political murals, kinetic sculptures using balanced mana cores, orchestral music with aura-vibrating crystal harps. ꪆৎ 𓂃 › social norms: formal, tactful, highly educated populace. politeness is sacred. public debates and academic salons are common.

✧ THALMERA – The Frozen Sentinel

ꪆৎ 𓂃 › fashion: heavy-layered wool and spectralweave cloaks that shimmer faintly under aurora skies. functional, often bearing clan symbols. ꪆৎ 𓂃 › cuisine: hearty root-based meals. spectral elk stew, crystal berry preserves, salted glacierfish. warm mana drinks brewed with glowing snowroot. ꪆৎ 𓂃 › art & music: ice-sculpting is an artform; songs are chanted slowly in harmony with leyline pulses. ꪆৎ 𓂃 › social norms: stoic and loyal. storytelling over bonfires is sacred, especially during ley-glow events. valor and silence are equally respected.

✧ TIRVENREACH – Forge of Flame

ꪆৎ 𓂃 › fashion: fire-resistant leathers, thick cloth, and metal-threaded scarves called flarebands. black, red, bronze are dominant colors. ꪆৎ 𓂃 › cuisine: smoky and spicy. lava-roasted meats, ember-bread, and heatroot ale. ꪆৎ 𓂃 › art & music: metalwork art, aura-forged blades as sculpture. music is percussive—drums, anvils, molten gongs. ꪆৎ 𓂃 › social norms: respect is earned through skill, not rank. dueling rituals resolve personal conflict. apprentice-master dynamics are sacred.

✧ OSTELIA – The Mistshrouded Vale

ꪆৎ 𓂃 › fashion: flowing, layered robes of translucent spectral silk, sometimes floating with enchantments. diviners wear veils or eye-gems. ꪆৎ 𓂃 › cuisine: light, herbal. mistfruits, lakefish smoked over leywood, dreamcap mushroom broths. ꪆৎ 𓂃 › art & music: watercolor-style spellcraft, light magic woven into tapestries. music is airy, featuring flutes, chimes, and harmonics. ꪆৎ 𓂃 › social norms: spiritually inclined. hospitality is ritualized. divination services are honored and protected by law.

✧ CAERLYNNE – The Breadbasket of the Nation

ꪆৎ 𓂃 › fashion: simple and breathable, reinforced with dustguard enchantments. farmers wear aura-sun hats to reflect leylight. ꪆৎ 𓂃 › cuisine: grain-heavy meals. aura-charged honeybread, skycorn stews, leywater cider. ꪆৎ 𓂃 › art & music: agricultural murals, festival masks, and tone-carved whistles. music is rhythmic, perfect for dancing in fields. ꪆৎ 𓂃 › social norms: generous and practical people. aura festivals mark planting and harvest. “sharing bread” is a sacred act.

✧ SOLAVAR – Land of the Duelist Spirit

ꪆৎ 𓂃 › fashion: structured, high-collared uniforms and sleeveless jackets. combatwear often doubles as formalwear. ꪆৎ 𓂃 › cuisine: grilled, seasoned meats with mana-forged salts. combat tea rituals before sparring are common. ꪆৎ 𓂃 › art & music: battle dance is an artform; performance duels are public entertainment. string instruments mimic fighting rhythms. ꪆৎ 𓂃 › social norms: honor-bound. challenges are formal and respected. children are trained in aura discipline from youth.

✧ BRAVESSET – Where Sea Meets Spell

ꪆৎ 𓂃 › fashion: loose robes, mana-threaded sails used for cloaks. nautical jewelry made of coral, spectral pearls, or shark bone. ꪆৎ 𓂃 › cuisine: raw and steamed seafood with tidal spices. enchanted sea kelp used to boost aura clarity. ꪆৎ 𓂃 › art & music: tidal dance and net-weaving are performance arts. Instruments include sea drums and kelp-string lyres. ꪆৎ 𓂃 › social norms: explorative and lively. portside “color duels” (aural sparring for art) are legal entertainment.

✧ ESHARAL – Jungle of Breaths and Beasts

ꪆৎ 𓂃 › fashion: lightweight, breathable robes with vinespun threads. tattoos often infused with minor glamour. ꪆৎ 𓂃 › cuisine: fruit-based dishes, aura-charged elixirs, medicinal broths. beast protein is ritualized. ꪆৎ 𓂃 › art & music: illusion art is popular; dancers use scent-magic and glowdust. music includes flutes, hand drums, and growl-based tones. ꪆৎ 𓂃 › social norms: healers are revered. deep empathy and emotional honesty are cultural pillars. conversations often include touch or scent.

✧ GRISWYN – The Mind’s Forge

ꪆৎ 𓂃 › fashion: muted tones, functional academic garb. scribes wear aura-lenses or monocles. ꪆৎ 𓂃 › cuisine: leygrain pastries, smoked mana fish, focus-enhancing teas. ꪆৎ 𓂃 › art & music: symbolic wood carvings, crystal mobiles. music is often solo—a ritual to focus aura. ꪆৎ 𓂃 › social norms: knowledge is the highest currency. aural etiquette is strict in scholarly circles. Silence is golden.

✧ ISENHAR – Storm-Winds Sovereign

ꪆৎ 𓂃 › fashion: tight-fitted skyweave suits. pilots wear capes that shift color with pressure altitude. ꪆৎ 𓂃 › cuisine: salty, smoked foods. thunderfruit jams, windroot stews, rainbread. ꪆৎ 𓂃 › art & music: weather-activated murals, kites with glowing trails, aerial acrobatics. music includes hornblasts and wind chimes. ꪆৎ 𓂃 › social norms: fast-paced, thrill-seeking. youth test wind-magic skill through glider races or storm dancing.

✧ VIREWYN – The Fog-Watchers

ꪆৎ 𓂃 › fashion: camouflaged cloaks, aura-dampening fabrics. spy sigils hidden in lining. ꪆৎ 𓂃 › cuisine: simple but sharp. bitter greens, tangy stews, fermented mana milk. ꪆৎ 𓂃 › art & music: secret messages hidden in paintings, music as code. dagger-dance is a regional performance. ꪆৎ 𓂃 › social norms: privacy and precision. secrets are respected. “a sharp word is deadlier than a dull blade.”

✧ ZARENTHIA – The Labyrinth Below

ꪆৎ 𓂃 › fashion: urban tactical styles. high-collar, layered robes with hidden enchantments. ꪆৎ 𓂃 › cuisine: dense, exotic fare. desertfruit roasts, flame-brewed coffee, sand-spice. ꪆৎ 𓂃 › art & music: industrial neon calligraphy, echo-synth music in ley-tech clubs. ꪆৎ 𓂃 › social norms: competitive and expressive. magical inventors are folk heroes. pacts and duels are digital and binding.

Note: unlike haiqin, I didn't go into too much detail about every province as I could because I didn't feel like it and realized it would take too long, so... plus this is a more ig story/lore-based dr??? idk

@reverieshifts @lalalian