#the shaman from the north

[manifestationsofasort]

Things to put in your book of shadows

Of course, only put in your book of shadows/grimoire what you want. If you don't want to put certain subjects in your book then that's fine. It's your book, utilize it how you want. This is just a masterlist of ideas that I've put together. Feel free to add anything else to the list that I may have missed, because there's absolutely no way I included everything.

And for the love of all the gods, if you come across a closed entity or practice, don't try to work with the entity or practice if you're not already part of that group or tradition. You can research it but don't practice it.

+ A blessing and/or protection

+ A table of contents

+ About you:

Your current path

Your personal beliefs

Your spiritual journey

Favorite crystals/herbs/animals

Natal chart

Craft name

How you got into the craft

Astrology signs

Birthday correspondences (birth tarot card, birth stone, etc)

Goals (if you have any)

Anything other relating to your personal practice

+ Safety

Fire safety

What NOT to burn

Plants and oils that can be toxic to your pets

What crystals shouldn't be in water, sunlight, etc

Things that shouldn't be put out in nature (salt, glass, etc)

Potion safety

How to incorporate blood safely

+ Core concepts:

Intention and how it works

Directing energy

Protection

Banishing

Cleansing

Charging

Shielding

Grounding and centering

Visualization

Consencration/Blessing

Warding

Enchanting

Manifestation

+ Correspondence

Personal correspondence

Crystals and rocks

Herbs and spices

Food and drink

Colors

Metals

Number

Tarot card

Elemental (fire, water, air, earth)

Trees and woods

Flowers

Days

Months

Moon phases

Zodiac

Planets

Incense

Teas

Essential oils

Directions (north, south, east, west)

Animals

Local plants, animals, etc

Dream symbology

+ Different practices

Practices that are closed to you (some examples below)

Voodoo and Hoodoo **Closed**

Santeria and Brujeria **Closed**

Shamanism and native american practices **Closed**

Wicca and wiccan paths

Satanism, both theistic and non-theistic paths

+ Different types/practices of magick

Pop culture magick

Technology magick

Chaos magick

Green witchcraft

Lunar magick

Sea witchcraft

Kitchen magick

Ceremonial magick

Hedge witchcraft

Death witchcraft

Grey witchcraft

Eclectic witchcraft

Norse witchcraft

Hellenic witchcraft

Animism

+ Deities

The deity/deities you worship

Different pantheons (the main five are Celtic, Roman, Greek, Egyptian and Norse, all open)

Deities and pantheons that are closed to you

Common offerings

Their epithets

Their mythology

Their family

Deity worship vs deity work

Prayers and how to make your own

Deity communication guide

Devotional acts

Ways to get closer to them

+ Other spiritual entities

Angels

Ancestor work

Spirit guides

The fae

Demons

Familiars

House spirits, animal spirits and plant spirits

Other various folklore entities

Spirit etiquette

Cemetery etiquette

Setting boundaries with the spirits

Communication guide and etiquette

Grounding, banishing, protection and cleansing, aka: "Spirit work safety guide"

How they appear to you

Common offerings

Circle casting

+ Divination

Tarot cards

Oracle cards

Tarot and oracle spreads

Pendulum

Numerology

Scrying

Palmistry/palm reading

Tasseography (Tea leaf reading)

Rune stones

Shufflemancy (Shuffling of a playlist)

Dice divination

Bibliomancy (Randomly picking a phrase from a book)

Carromancy (Melted wax)

Pyromancy (Reading flames)

Psychic abilities

Astrology

Aura reading

Divination via playing cards

Lenormand 

Sacred geometry

Angel numbers

+ Other types of magick

Candle magick

Crystal magick

Herbalism/herbal magick

Glamour magick

Hexing

Jinxing

Cursing

Weather magick

Astral work

Shadow work

Energy work

Sigils

Art magick

Knot magick

Crystal grids

Color grids

Music magick

Charms, talismans and amulets

+ Spellwork

What makes a spell work

Basic spell structure

What NOT to do

Disposing of spell ingredients

Revitalizing long term spells

How to cast spells

What to put in spells (See correspondence)

Spell mediums- Jar spells, spoken spells, candle spells, sigils, etc

Spell timing

Setting up a ritual

Taglocks: What they are and how to use them

+ Holidays and Esbats

Yule

Imbolc

Ostara

Beltane

Litha

Lughnasadh/Lammas

Mabon

Samhain

The 12 full moons (Esbats)

How to celebrate

Deity specific holidays

+ Altars and tools

What they are

The different types and their uses (travel altar, working altar, deity altar, ancestor altar, etc)

What you can put on your altar

What you use your altars for

Common tools in witchcraft

How to use the tools

Food and drink

Common herbs in recipes

Sabbat recipes

Moon water: What it is and how to use it

Potion bases

Tea magick

How to get your herbs

Foraging

+ Mental health and self care

Bath magick

Affirmations

Burnout prevention

Aromatherapy

Stress management

Mental health coping mechanisms

+ History of witchcraft

+ Dream records

+ How to differentiate between the magickal and the mundane

+ Calendar of celestial events (Esbats, retrogrades, etc)

+ How to dry herbs and flowers

+ What chakras actually are and how they work within Hinduism

+ History and traditional uses of reiki

+ The witches' alphabet

+ The runic alphabet

+ Common witchcraft terms

+ Common symbols in witchcraft

+ Your own witch tips

+ Good witchcraft books and authors to avoid

+ Any online resources you utilize often

[harmoonix]

⚷ Chiron Notes - Astrology ⚷

🌱 Chiron (⚷) in your birth chart can represent multiple things, for most of us, it repsents your wounds, physical or spiritual and the way you manage and heal them. Chiron (⚷) is our inner "healer/shaman". 🌱

The applying aspects for this post are: (⚷)

Conjunct

Trine

Sextile

Sqaure

Opposition

Quincunx/Inconjunct

Quintile

🍃 Chiron - Sun indicates a sensitive healing process to the native, they may have issues or wounds related with their dad, their personality/ego, they may stay in the shadow watching others while the others are ignoring them, they can be very sweet people once you start to know them. They may have wounds connected to their own persona, to your own mind and spirit 🍃

🍃 Chiron - Moon indicates a deep wound in your soul that you may have it from childhood or when you were younger, it may indicate wounds related to your mother/grandmother and problems with your own feelings. You can often doubt your feelings, you tend to often ignore the things that cause you pain thinking that will solve everything, but sometimes your feelings matter more than anything 🍃

🍃 Chiron - Mercury indicates a deep wound related to your speech, your communication, the way you express yourself. You can be prone to social anxiety or anxiety in talking with others, you can often be shy in others presence. Try to listen to healing music, that can often help you with your thoughts and feelings, if you find yourself having a good time listening to healing music they definitely help 🍃

🍃 Chiron - Pluto aspects, indicate the "Phoenix" myth. That once they are hurt, they reborn into better versions with themselves. They have a powerful healing but it may come with their own struggles such as feeling too clingy or wanting to be clingy/too attached for others and sometimes you tend to put others above you. With this aspect you have a great inner healing that takes you to an ultimate state of mind where you may choose if you choose yourself or if you choose others instead. Once you are reborn you feel like a new person

🍃 Chiron - Mars aspects indicate wounds related to your own anger, frustration, and your own confidence, some people with these aspects may develop anger/angry issues, they may get angry fast. They may give an angry person vibes when they are in the mood though. And some of them may have the fear of losing things 🍃

🍃 Chiron - Venus indicates, here Chiron is highly sensitive, it can be wounds connected to the way your view yourself as your image, the way you love yourself, the way you treat yourself, but the way you handle love relationships, you may be insecure in relationships and in your partners. You may suffered in your past relationships that left you with a trauma to love, but the most important, you may had enough love to love others but they couldn't give the same love back

🍃 Chiron - Ascendant (Rising) - indicates problems/wounds with viewing yourself, you may see yourself in a very negative imagine. You may not trust yourself enough, you may have problems with your body, some people can develop eating disorders, some people can develop anxiety about their body or about the way they look, this aspect shows healing inside and out in your body 🍃

🍃 Chiron - North Node aspects most time indicate a healing journey that's ready to start, spiritual and body healing are both needed in this journey, take as much time as possible and listen to your intuition. Take mediation as a healing key

🍃 Chiron - South Node aspects, here we take some steps back to your past life, something in your past life caused you pain and suffering, sadly some traumas have been coming into your current life from your past life, do you often have experiences of deja-vu? Takes these as signs, most times your own wound is right in front of your eyes 🍃

🍃 Chiron aspecting the asteroid Nessus (7066). Chiron here can mean many things, because asteroid Nessus is an violent one It can show violence, abuse, in worst cases (r@pe) which takes some time to recover and I hope nobody ever experience that. Nessus aspecting Chiron DOESN'T mean that you will get these things in your life, it means some people may went through this in their lives. Sometimes astrology is dark and it can show things we didn't know about, with Chiron aspecting Nessus which mostly indicates abuse, can indicate your soul can heal from that thing only if you learn to let it go, you have to let go off your past in order to heal yourself 🍃

🍃 Chiron aspecting Neptune shows a wound related to their creativity, you are talented but you may fear people may not like that, and that can cause you pain sometimes, you may experience prophetic dreams that can be signs to you 🍃

🍃 Chiron - Saturn indicated wounds to authorities, but in most cases most of the natives with these aspects have strict parents and they could've have been raised in a strict household where there could be some authorities you didn't got so along with. You fear of failing/or being seen as a "failure". You may have wounds connected to your father again aswell, you may experience anxiety/panic attacks and fear of letting your past to go 🍃

🍃 Chiron - Jupiter aspects, a really good point about them is that they have this inner "optimism" that keeps them alive, and their hope for getting/being better. You can heal faster than others with these aspects. Especially if you have harmonious aspects you have more energy to heal. With negative aspects the energy is still to heal fast but it may face some challenges. They may be hopeless at times, and at other times to be the type of people who can achieve anything. They have powerful mindsets and goals

🍃 Chiron - Uranus aspects, may show off as different and people often think to them as the person who doesn't always shows much, because to you, your wounds and your suffering can come in unexpected ways. You may be seen as someone who doesn't show their emotions entirely which you're not to blame for. You are very transformative, going through a stage to the others, gaining experience and evolving your soul. You see the world with different eyes and you want to help it make it better 🍃

🍃 Chiron - Lilith (h12) aspects. You may feel trapped with your own sexual desires, or with your own sexuality, these aspects tend to show only the mask of their feelings, ignoring their own. Sometimes you may have the need for intimacy but also the fear of rejection, both these things can cause you a deep wound. You may not feel yourself if you're not in your own energy which you mostly need to be in most times. Your desires may come and go, but only you know what your heart truly seeks for 🍃

🍃 Chiron - aspecting asteroid Juno (3), in some cases people with these aspects tend to attract people who have wounds aswell as they have, like a magnet your partner can be mirroring your own wounds,fear and traumas. But in some cases the relationship can be a healing key, like healing and transformative waiting for eachother to grow and to be bounding. Sometimes it can happen for your partner to not understand your wounds or to be confused about it, and that can cause you tension and overthinking about your relationship. In my opinion try to heal the wounds/traumas you have before entering in a relationship. If you are in a relationship and you have traumas/wounds try to make it work together with your partner 🍃

🌱 Healing is always a key to happiness 🌱

🌱 Have a good Monday and a great week to everyone who reads my notes. Stay grounded and listen to mother's nature melody!!🌱

And remember that an broken soul is not broken is just waiting for you to heal it 🌱🌱🌱

Yours truly, Harmoonix 🌱

[humansofnewyork]

“The question everybody wants to know is: why don’t the aliens contact us if they're really here? The answer is simple: because it would melt your psyche to contact beings from another dimension. Whether it's ghosts or spirits or deceased relatives or past lives or future lives or aliens or Bigfoot or fairies, all of it will melt your psyche. Because you’ve been programmed by The Empire to believe those things don’t exist. Unless of course you’re an indigenous person raised on traditional shamanic ceremonies. I learned all this by talking to other humans on other earths in other universes, so I'm trying to not blow your mind right now. When you’re talking about other dimensions you have to use a lot of metaphors, so just imagine earth as North Korea. You’ve probably seen enough documentaries to know what's going on in North Korea. The North Korean people are completely mind locked and brainwashed, and they have a completely inaccurate understanding of the rest of the planet. Well, that’s the same thing that’s happening here. Earth is the North Korea of the multiverse.”

[plusvanity]

Øystein, son of Aarseth, is the one and only son of the King of Norway. He's the innate leader of the viking army, conquistador and future ruller of the North Sea empire.

He's known to be fearless, radical, and merciless towards his enemies, a brilliant strategist, but an arrogant and selfish commander.

Pelle is the first child of a noble family from Stockholm. Although he never had an inclination for heroism (nor enough stamina for it), he became a viking at the peer pressure of his household.

After a near dead experience during one of the Swedish raids, he came back 'from the dead' as a shaman. He ditched the battlefield to be guided by gods to his new enlightenment. Although reluctant and resistant at first, his kin slowly became aware of his new wave of wisdom and his fortune-telling gift and proclaimed him a 'bridge between gods and mortals'.

Obsessed by death and the occult, Pelle embraced his new status as a nonhuman (how else, really)

After hearing about his powers, Øystein decided to kidnap Pelle for his own benefits. He made Pelle his personal clairvoyant and advicer, but didn't take him as a slave. He was Øystein's loyal companion during raids, following him everywhere and having a privileged place next to the smol and grumpy Majesty.

Varg was the son of a Jarl who had a very close companionship with the King, so (unfortunately) Varg and Øystein have quite a history together.

They never standed each other. At first, the animosity was one sided, but in time it became mutual.

Varg was only 11 years old when he had to follow his father to a congregation in Oslo. He and Øystein had a (seemingly ordinary) sword fight until Øystein cut Varg's face. Naturally, he got away with it, but Varg never forgot him for the humiliation he endured and the new scar that became a constant reminder of his weakness. This is when the hatred became dual.

10 years later, at his father's order, he had to join the youth's movement and become part of Aarseth's army. Arrogant, confident (or so he tries to portray himself), and revengeful, he gladly took the role of a viking, but the worst part had yet to come. He was rendered to have a close position to Øystein and to travel alongside him and his other minions (Jan, Jørn, Fenriz, Snorre, Faust, etc).

Fights occurred on countless times and if they were caught together in a 'life or death' situation, they would let each other simply die rather than work a way out, so the tension was always high, trust was non-existent and curtesy was another word for forced-agreeableness.

Øystein wanted to get rid of Varg as much as Varg wanted to obtain his revenge (kill him and take the throne), but in unfavorable circumstances there was little to nothing they could do (yet).

When Pelle entered the picture, Varg fell in love with his mystic beauty. He began sneaking out and postponing duties to spend time with the shaman.

Pelle's interest in the mortal way of living and human affection was limited, but he became fond of Varg to a certain extent.

Having both Øystein and Varg's trust put Pelle in a delicate position. Typically impartial, he tried his best to stay away from taking sides, but he couldn't deny the ever-growing antagonism between the two.

The story is basically about them having to survive the cold, the hunger, the fights and each other while Varg has a massive crush on Pelle, Pelle acts like he doesn't understand the languages and Øystein munches on elg meat.

[katyahina]

Marika had grey/ashen hair in her past?

So, I was taking a closer look at Marika's cut braid,

JUST like I was suspecting, her golden hair is not actually her color, but something she gained! You can see it is actually grey hair "painted" with gold, especially at the ends!

^ ( x ) The Shamans in Jars do have grey hair, too, despite what seems like a young age! I also was seeing something like looked a speck of gold hair in Jar Innards, but again, I looked closer, and I don't know anymore...

It is... something golden, but not hair? Maybe? Instead of hair, maybe this could be a thread of gold, something connected with the threads she pulls out in the second DLC trailer:

Both Grandam and the Hornsent NPC we interact with mention "Marika's betrayal", suggesting some sort of long planning and social games on her end in order to claim whatever power from the Divine Gates she claimed to have her Erdtree and then go with the Crusade at them! I will link a post from @val-of-the-north here ( x ) delving more into it, but yeah..

Seems like the Hornsent had no idea what hit them, and Marika stole some sort of golden threads naturally being an essence of people who were born in Shadow Realm... Or maybe, the gold thread found in jars IS the product of failed "ascension", since shamans (and not only they) were stuffed into jars TO become holy from how Hornsent saw it? :^) fun stuff.. So, Marika claimed that gold to herself when she became a God, painting her hair permanently this way now!

___________

This is more headcanonish, but additional support for this might be an idea that Dominula are descendants / close culture to Marika's Shamans! Hear me out:

This is a new item found in the Shadow Realm, and.. not only it is called festive, not only it uses bone shards to be made and Celebrants have many bone shards on hands, but also the feature of creating runes (!) on landing attack is a trademark feature of all weapons of the Celebrants!

(etc etc...)

Additionally, the celebrants seems to have copied Marika's trademark hairstyle (2 braids and the third one cut), as well as her specific iteration of Erdtree incantation:

But as for the grey hair, they're all just old, right....? WRONG!!!!!!!

They might be not necessarily all old! Instead, they might be shriveled up because of a long time alive, kind of like the wandering nobles that left the Leyendell after the Shattering! It is implied that they are not able to die from old age, even though they all look very """old""" at the first glance:

So, age of the Celebrants is a non-factor, as they are not old, they are undead! It seems to be the fate of the most Golden Order - affiliated people, after Marika disappeared and thus no one could die normally anymore!

However, copying hairstyle, doing the runes thing, copying her version of the Erdtree sigil, and even sharing the blue clothing with golden embrodery like her/Radagon and Godwyn all might point towards cultural proximity! Maybe they are descendants of the Shamans that were not slaughtered in the village (evacuated in time, lived in another place than the village and then were taken, etc)! So, them having grey hair even as 'young maids' could just be this genetic!

[thewisecheerio]

Elden Ring Map Overlay

Someone made a really helpful overlay of Elden Ring's base game map with its DLC map. https://www.reddit.com/r/Eldenring/comments/1dmm27d/so_i_overlaid_the_dlcs_map_with_the_base_games/

A few things stuck out to me:

The Church District, and especially Ymir's chapel, would have been a wonderful gazing ground for the Erdtree, as the Erdtree sits just north of it.

The heart of the Erdtree is right over Shaman Village, which makes me wonder if that's why the Erdtree is located where it is. It also makes me wonder if that's why the Shadow Realm is left with only a minor Erdtree in its place—a pale imitation of what was there before.

The back of the Shadow Keep abuts the furthest reaches of the capital, including the Erdtree Sanctuary and Marika's bedchamber. Her room is filled with scrolls and tablets that look very similar to those of the Keep, lending credence to the theory circulating about her having taken them from the Keep originally before it was sealed away. At the time, it probably wasn't much of a walk from the Storehouse's library to her chambers.

Messmer's chamber was built over what would be the Colosseum in Leyndell. The Duelist Helm tells us, "The snake is viewed as a traitor to the Erdtree, and the audience delighted in seeing these bronze effigies beaten and battered." Because of this helm, people had already been guessing that Messmer is why snakes are so reviled in gladiatorial imagery.

The timing doesn't fit his crusade, though—which likely has to post-date Godfrey's exile and the creation of the Tarnished, since he knows the word "Tarnished". Meanwhile, the Colosseums were around in Godfrey's time as Lord. So if the visual placement of his chamber and the colosseum (and the Duelist Helm) is purposeful, it makes me wonder what happened earlier in regards to him that would cause that connection. Maybe it's just a coincidence of map placement, but it's certainly suspicious. Was Marika playing a long con, slowly turning the culture against snakes, knowing what she would eventually do to seal her serpentine son away?

Stone Coffin Fissure's entrance, where St. Trina is imprisoned, extends between Gatefront Ruins and an evergaol in Limgrave. This makes me wonder if that's intentional, given that Stone Coffin Fissure does become Trina's jail. The gaols even glow with a sleep-purple hue, keeping their occupants in stasis and cut off from the reviving powers of the Erdtree.

The bull headed stone coffins are even more mysterious. When the Lands of Shadow are divorced from the Lands Between, they look as if they have come from across the Cerulean Sea. But when the lands are merged, that sea becomes a lake.

Does that mean this burial ritual is post-Crusade? That's a bit hard to square with the idea that the Ancestral Follower religion seems quite old, being connected to the Eternal Cities. And that religion's iconography involving bulls does make it the best contender for where these coffins come from.

So does that imply these were originally burials-at-lake instead of burials-at-sea, maybe rising onto the Cerulean Coast during the division of the Lands? Perhaps the lake they were buried in simply became a coastline as the water that would have otherwise covered them rushed out into what became an endless sea, exposing the lake bottom's treasures.

The Abyssal Woods is at a very deep elevation. So is the Forsaken Chapel where the Three Fingers dwells. The latter is still quite a walk from the Abyssal Woods, but it does make me wonder if the two used to be connected by further subterranean tunnels extending beyond what still exists in the capital's sewers. And I wonder if that's how Midra reached the Three Fingers.

[whencyclopedia]

Queen Himiko

Queen Himiko, also known as Pimiko or Pimiku (183? - 248 CE), was a 3rd-century CE ruler of the territory in ancient Japan known as Hsieh-ma-t'ai or Yamatai, later to be known as Yamato. Considered by the Chinese as the ruler of all of Japan or Wa, given her state's power, she exchanged diplomatic embassies with the ruling Wei dynasty. A semi-legendary figure, Himiko is curiously absent from Japanese historical records but does appear briefly in Chinese histories. Himiko was noted for being a shaman queen, unmarried, and living in a fortress where she was served by 1,000 women.

Yamatai

Himeko's name in archaic Japanese means Sun Child or Sun Daughter and probably alludes to her divine descent from Amaterasu, the Shinto sun goddess, as all Japanese rulers would later be identified as being descendants of. Scholars do not agree on the exact location of Queen Himiko's state Hsieh-ma-tai/Yamatai. A minority place it in north Kyushu, but the majority consider the Nara region as the most likely candidate. In Japan, at the time of her reign during the 3rd century CE, there were around 100 kingdoms spread across the islands. It seems that Himiko's state was the most powerful of these and may have led a loose federation of 30 states as the contemporary Chinese state recognised her as, in effect, the ruler of all of the Japanese islands.

Continue reading...

[dailyadventureprompts]

Dungeon: The Bleakfather’s Throne

The world is heavy here, cold knaws at the bones of your companions making every step forward a struggle and the desolate wind sounds like a lamentation. Coming over the rise you see it, the regal corpse that rivals the surrounding mountains for imposing grandeur, the source of this dread season that seeks to smother all good things beneath its sorrow. 

Not all archfey are tricksters or stag-crowned gentry. Like the realm they inhabit, they embody stories, emotions, and the strongest aspects of nature.  The Bleakfather is an aspect of winter at it’s most cruel and deadly, as well as the sorrow that saps the will to go on living, all too common in those long, dark months. For ages untold he has sat his mountain-hewn throne, mummified by the cold winds of his domain as the depths of his misery chokes every spark of life from the land. 

So titanic in size, the bleakfather’s throne is itself a fortress inhabited by ice giants who claim decent from the archfey and raid in his name. They fear their father’s stirring from his glacial malaise, and so listen for his voice on the wind and scour the surrounding lands for any note of happiness that would defy the tyrant’s sorrowful reign. 

Adventure Hooks: 

With his eyes on becoming Jarl of the Bleakfather’s Children, an upstart Jotunn by the name of Talfjarn has assembled a warband and is going raiding in the realm of mortals, hunting the coast on longships the size of wargalleys with an enchanted storm at their back. Though he’s willing to crack towns open in the hopes of gathering pillage and slaves, he’s heard tell of a dragon slumbering somewhere up river that he wishes to test his mettle against. 

The giants have constructed a great temple in the vault of their father’s sword hand, where the trophies of great battles are heaped and the haunted wind howls between his pillar like fingers. Here there shamans divine the Bleakfather’s will, and listen for disturbances that might dare wake him.  Unluckily for our heroes, a celebration they attended ended up getting rowdy enough that its echoes were heard all the way in the feywild..and now a squad of towering winter warriors will be showing up to crash the party and put an end to their good times.   

There is power in mythology. It’s said in years beyond counting that the Bleakfather destroyed the ancient dwarven kingdom in order to steal a relic of great beauty upon which the dwarven lords and ladies swore their oath. Seeking to reunite the warring clans, a would-be hero has set her sights on breaking into the archfey’s vaults and taking back the relic.  It’s only after the party aid her in this daring task that they realize that her advisor had a very different end in mind: Waking the Bleakfather and letting him rampage through the material plane in a jealous rage, to better clear the way for a new order with the advisor at its head. 

[invisible-pink-toast]

who's who in the zoo wilderness

like many yellowjackets fans i am Obsessed with the flashbacks in the pilot episode - but while many theories are about who pit girl is or who the antler queen is i also wanted to have a look at who each of the creepy cloaked cultee's might be under their masks...

Info

in the flashbacks we have nine characters -

pit girl (called "The Runner" in the script)

antler queen (called "The Shaman")

the one wearing beaver fur ("The Overseer")

the one wearing a skunk fur ("The Hunter")

the one in the pink hood ("The Butcher")

one wearing an owl

one wearing racoons

one wearing what appears to be a wolf

one wearing pants/leggings in a way that looks rabbit-like.

The antler queen is the name the fans have given the mysterious veiled figure - but the creators have been firm in saying that is an interpretation and not a fact. What we know about this figure is she's referred to as "The Shaman" and she's obviously a significant figure in the group - but not necessarily the queen/leader. I don't think this character is automatically the leader of the cult.

The definition of a shaman includes:

A member of certain traditional societies, especially of northern Asia and of North and South America, who acts as a medium between the visible world and an invisible spirit world and who practices magic or sorcery for purposes of healing, divination, and control over natural events.

The term shamanism comes from the Manchu-Tungus word šaman. The noun is formed from the verb ša- ‘to know’; thus, a shaman is literally “one who knows.” 

So of these nine, seven of them must be our seven known survivors:

just a note: aside from sammi hanratty (misty) none of the other actors were playing characters in this scene - those roles were filled by body doubles. so i'm not going to be too specific in comparing looks to try and match these characters to our known characters. There's also the fact that these scenes were written and filmed for the pilot before the show was greenlit and since then the story has changed somewhat (for example - van most likely originally dying from the wolf attack but that being rewritten because they loved what liv hewson did with the character and wanting them to continue). So I'll mostly be focusing on the characters we know were absolutely intended to be there: Shauna, Tai, Natalie (confirmed to survive in the pilot) as well as Travis and Lottie (confirmed to survive later in s1).

Theories/Predictions/Headcanons

Only one figure is 100% confirmed - the Overseer being Misty, as she is the only character seen to remove her fur mask at the end of the pilot episode.

The other that is basically confirmed is the identity of the Butcher being Shauna.

Not only was Shauna... literally the butcher in the past and the present ("Shauna, you're the best with the knife, so you'll handle the body. I mean cut it up." - Misty in 1x10) but when Shauna kills Adam she has flashbacks that include the Butcher bleeding the Runner's corpse.

Then there's the Runner, and given that she dies gruesomely she is not one of the survivors, but is one of the yellowjackets who survived past the end of s2.

Aside from her face, she is the character we see the most of physically (so i will mention her physical appearance in relation with who her character might be) - she has long dark hair and lighter/olive coloured skin.

based on this we know that pit girl is most likely either Gen or Mari (my vote is mari, and i wrote a meta on why). now that gen has been recast for s3 :( i'm thinking it's almost definitely mari.

that's 3/9 and where the clearest examples stop.

Owl

I think the animals were chosen with intention, both by the costume designer and within the story by the characters. whereas the other masks seem more for the sake of warmth (like the raccoon pelts sort of sewed together into a hood) this one feels a lot more symbolic. like can you even skin an owl while keeping the feathers??

I think this is a reference to Tai's connection with the "Other Tai" - the one who comes out in sleepwalking, and somehow knows the lay of the land (where the symbols are, where the other yellowjackets are) in a way that Tai doesn't understand. The imagery of having a character appear to literally have two faces just screams Tai to me.

From some very basic research it seems that owl can symbolically mean: wisdom, a guide in the dark, death, visions, etc.

While this could relate to Tai, it could also relate to Lottie.

While as the audience we know Lottie is schizophrenic and without her meds, the others have taken Lottie's visions as signs from the wilderness and treat her as the resident seer. While she's clearly trying to pull away from that role and the responsibility it entails by the end of s2 - the other yellowjackets already look to her as someone with the knowledge to guide them through the wilderness.

There's also the clothing. While most clothes seem to be passed around communally (a sweater Misty & Mari wear in s2 is the legwarmers on the owl and the mask on the skunk) there are some items that are reserved for specific characters (like Shauna wearing Jackie's butterfly shirt).

In the '96 timeline Tai wears a lot of patterned blue and purple clothes, some of which almost definitely become part of the outfit for this owl character.

There's also the vest - it could be an animal fur but it has some of similarities to Lottie's fluffy coat, especially one that's become dirtier while stranded without the cabin. This coat is only worn by Lottie. The raccoon character also wears a similar vest, so it could just be fur, but Lottie's coat resembles the owl character's vest more based on the colour, or the coat could have been split in two.

Overall I think the owl character is most likely Tai.

in doomcoming and in the hunt in the future the upper half of tai's face is covered and it makes sense to me that trend would continue in all her hunt outfits. there's also the repeated imagery of eyes within her story - the man with no eyes, her grandmother's eyes, sammy's doll on the altar missing an eye, so her outfit having a taxidermy owl with no eyes tracks.

Wolf

unfortunately not many clear images exist for this character. i'm not even sure if the pelt they're wearing is a wolf, it could also be a bear, but i'm going with wolf for now.

i think this is Travis. travis is the other hunter of the group and it makes sense that the characters furs might come from their own hunts/kills. symbolism wise travis does fit a wolf as well - loyalty, protection, strength. wolves are closely tied to the bonds of packs and family, making sense that travis would be the lone wolf as he's lost his father and brother out here.

tai and van are also associated with wolves - but i don't think either of them would want to wear one all the time, given that van was attacked by one and tai is haunted by them.

the wolf character also has some small details that fit for travis' character. their face is covered from the eyes down, something travis often does throughout season 2. the wolf, owl and skunk characters are also the only ones (that we can see) wearing fingerless gloves. given that the last time travis saw javi happy was him being gifted gloves by natalie, and that much of their clothes would have been destroyed in the fire (but not javi's, which were most likely still outside) i can see travis wearing javi's gloves.

The Hunter / Skunk

i think this is Natalie. before the season 2 finale i would've said this was 100%. now knowing that natalie is their new leader, there is the possibility that she is the antler queen character, which i will talk about later, but for me this character only makes sense as natalie.

nat's the hunter! even as a new leader, she's still the most capable and knowledgeable in hunting. travis is very much her second while she leads the hunting trips. it also makes sense that as the leader she would be the first one to check The Runner, to stand over the pit. both an 'honour' and a duty.

natalie's also been the one standing over the bodies so far. she's the one waiting outside with jackie's body at the start of 2x03, she's the one who takes jackie's remains and has a short memorial for her. she's the one who stays outside the longest, standing over travis with javi's body. obviously not definitive but does work with the skunk character.

as for the clothes - the hunter wears the iconic co-ed soccer shirt, pink converse, and for a mask the cloth is currently a sweater within the show.

the shirt begins the show as van's - but almost every character has worn it now (including tai, travis, akilah, etc.). the pink connverse have never been quite as clear, but it appears that might have originally been shauna's (a darker colour that most likely faded over the 19 months) and have been worn by at least lottie, gen & tai. the sweater that the mask is made of has been worn by misty, mari & mel. so none of that narrows anything down sdjflsakhfl;h

i think the skunk is quite a specific choice too. could be about seeing things in black & white, about keeping your distance, etc. there's not a lot about skunk symbolism but it mainly seems to involve confidence, courage and direction. these are interesting when paired with natalie, given that she fits some very well but struggles with others.

it's also implied in the original pilot script that this character is natalie.

while we do see the hunter pulling up the runner's body with the rope, the scene with natalie does not make it into the episode. it does suggest that when filming the pilot this character was thought of to be natalie though. of course, as the show progressed this may have changed.

still in 1x10 when it's decided that shauna will cut up adam's body, natalie is the one who volunteers to help her, while misty is the one who directs all of them, mirroring this scene with the butcher (shauna), overseer (misty) and hunter (natalie).

some say that the hunter is van - has a similar build and the general blankness/darkness that van has by the end of s2, as well as being the shirt's og owner. but van wasn't supposed to be there in the initial conception of this character. while it may have changed now, for me this character is natalie.

Raccoon & Rabbit

I'm honestly not sure who these two might be. One is most likely Van, given that we know she survives.

Early on there were theories that Jackie was the Rabbit, due to her association with rabbits, which makes sense, but now we know Jackie's dead. Then they were possibly Javi, but he's dead too. As for symbolism, I'm not sure who of the remaining Yellowjackets fits either of these characters.

I think the creators were purposefully ambiguous to leave themselves with options. If the audience doesn't know who is who, they have the opportunity to change the story slightly as the show progresses (like with Van surviving).

The Shaman / Antler Queen

while initially thought to be lottie, as she is set up as the leader in the wilderness, the season 2 finale revealed that natalie was the new leader. both of these characters could be the shaman, but i feel as though it makes more sense for natalie to be the hunter. even though there are moment that in retrospect hint that natalie becomes the leader (misty's devotion, natalie stating that she lacked a purpose after they were rescued, tai and shauna's conversation about nat being the reason they're alive), there are no clear references to natalie being the antler queen character in the story so far (although that could have been hidden on purpose for the reveal).

in the adult timeline the others are terrified of the antler queen in a way that's different from their reactions to the symbol from the wilderness. when they receive the postcards or realise the symbol is under travis' body they are disturbed, they have a distrust of the symbol and everything it reminds them of.

but their reactions to the shaman are different. she appears in shauna's flashbacks when she kills adam, in natalie's visions/hallucinations after she overdoses, and in lottie's visions/hallucinations after hearing natalie's experience and in her office with the fake therapist. each of them are utterly terrified when she appears.

i think who the shaman is depends on what her role truly is. as i've already said, the "antler queen" is a title made up by the fans.

Leader:

The Shaman does appear to be the leader of the group, sitting in the centre of the semi-circle, being elevated, everyone waiting for her go-ahead to begin the feast, and everyone waiting for her to leave first.

If The Shaman is the leader, then she is Natalie.

This is supported by the editing in the pilot episode - at the '96 party when Natalie gets high, she stands by the fire and sees Misty standing across from her. It then cuts to the Overseer bringing the Shaman the cooked feast.

Chief Mourner:

If the Shaman is the chief mourner, it would depend on who the Runner is. If she's gen, the Shaman would most likely be mel in this instance. if she's mari, the most likely mourner would be akilah. the shaman doesn't appear to have akilah's dark skin, but body doubles were used and her face is veiled. if akilah has already died, the mourner might be lottie or gen.

It would be interesting with the idea that the antler queen changes from person to person. That they're all still terrified of "her" when what she represents is you losing the one you love most, you being the one with the most grief.

This is supported by what's happened with the two acts of cannibalism so far in the series. Shauna is Jackie's chief mourner, she is the one to light her funeral pyre, she is the one to give the go ahead that they should eat Jackie's body ("She wants us to." - Shauna in 2x02). Travis is Javi's chief mourner, and he is also the one to give the go ahead to eat Javi's body, everyone rushing in for the 'meat' after Travis has put Javi's heart on the pan.

However the Shaman is never seen eating. Both Shauna and Travis have the first bite of their loved one, whereas the Shaman only nods for the feast to start. It's possible this is part of a ritual that evolved over time, but it's still puzzling.

Spiritual Advisor :

if the antler queen is some sort of spiritual advisor, then she's most likely lottie. this fits with what we've seen in the '96 timeline already, with lottie's wilderness connection and the reverence shown to her by other team mates. even though lottie abdicates her role of leader in the s2 finale and claims she 'can't hear' the wilderness anymore - it's clear this is because of the weight of the responsibility to keep them alive, as well as her grief and guilt over javi's death.

still, several of the others seem confused at lottie's decision, and only seem to be accepting natalie as the leader because lottie said so. if this is something that creates tension within the group, it makes sense that natalie might appoint lottie a role where they can still look to her.

natalie as the leader/hunter is the one brining in the kill, but lottie as a spiritual advisor/shaman is the one leading the ritual.

this is supported by how in the adult timeline when they are having another hunt, it's lottie that leads it, not natalie. though that may be because lottie was the one to initiate the hunt. lottie also still acts as a spiritual advisor, with the others coming to her for advice.

the other option for a spiritual advisor is Tai. Not necessarily tai though... but Other Tai.

Much about Other Tai still remains a mystery. Is she another personality, a response to the trauma and repression, some sort of possession from the wilderness? In the adult timeline Lottie says that Other Tai is a part of Taissa, but Other Tai's conversation with Van in the woods raises questions about this.

Van: How do you know where you're going? Other Tai: He shows me. Van: Who's "he?" Other Tai: The one with no eyes. Van: Is that who you always follow? Other Tai: Only when she lets me. Van: Okay there's a "she" too, am I "she?" Other Tai: [shakes head] Van: Then who is "she?" Other Tai: Taissa. Van: Then who are you? Other Tai: [gives Van a look before walking away]

Other Tai's ability to track the whereabouts of the other survivors (Javi, Natalie), her connection to the man with no eyes, and knowing where all of the symbols are imply something more supernatural then just "sleepwalking".

Other Tai is the one to participate in cannibalising Jackie, she's strongly implied to be the one who pushes Taissa to continue running for senate even after she told Simone she would drop out, and she is the one to behead their fucking dog and make an altar in their basement. The creators and actors have talked about Other Tai and explain that she has Tai's best interest in mind, but she is willing to do what Tai wouldn't do to get it. Other Tai has a connection to the wilderness and the supernatural, she desires power and can become violent. She could very well be The Shaman.

"I don't know how bad it's going to get this time, but you know how bad it can get." - Tai in 1x06

Group Hallucination:

It's been theorised that the Shaman / Antler Queen doesn't really exist at all.

With the show toeing the line between visions, hallucinations and grief-induced psychosis with multiple characters (including Lottie, Tai, Shauna, Natalie, Travis) it's possible that as the group spirals more and more out of control and into ritualistic cannibalism - a way that they attempt to cope is through this Shaman. A 'physical' manifestation of the Wilderness itself. Something that gives them permission to feast on the flesh of their teammates, but does not eat herself, because she's not really there.

We only see The Shaman during the feast scene, and in other's visions/hallucinations. We know there are seven known survivors, but during the pilot's flash forward scene we see eight. Only if The Shaman doesn't exist, it's our seven survivors and a hallucination sitting around the fire.

So in the end my main theories/predictions/headcanons stand as:

Mari as The Runner / Pit Girl

Misty as The Overseer / Beaver

Shauna as The Butcher / Pink Hood

Natalie as The Hunter / Skunk

Tai as the owl

Travis as the wolf

Lottie as The Shaman / Antler Queen

the one I am least sure of is The Shaman, she could still be Tai or a hallucination, and I look forward to finding out!

[bestiarium]

Aagjuuk the Entrail-Stealer [Inuit mythology]

In an earlier post, I talked about Taqqiq, the benevolent lunar spirit from native Inuit religion. Whenever a person dies, it is Taqqiq who guides them to the afterlife. Though he is a powerful and important spirit, he is not the sole inhabitant of the Earth’s moon. When Taqqiq is guiding a soul, they are greeted by Aagjuuk, also called Ululijarnaat or Aukjuk. This enigmatic spirit resembles an old woman and some versions claim that she is Taqqiq’s cousin. She always carries an ulu knife (a traditional Inuk tool for cutting ropes, hair etc.) and a copper pot.

Aagjuuk puts on a kind and friendly façade, but in reality she is a cruel and vicious monster. She will attempt to make the visitor laugh, but this is a test, and the soul must remain absolutely emotionless. If the victim so much as giggles, she will slice open their stomach with her ulu knife and then collect their innards with her copper pot. She then devours the victim’s entrails. Because of this, this spirit is fittingly called the ‘entrail-stealer’.

An Angakkuq (an Inuit shaman) could also converse with Aagjuuk through a special spirit-summoning ceremony, something like a séance. But this was a dangerous practise, for the entrail-stealer would then attempt to make the shaman laugh. If she succeeded, she would open the shaman and steal their entrails, just like she does with victims in the afterlife.

Oosten argues that it is also a symbolic thing: a hunter who does not manage to restrain or control himself will eventually become food for something else.

Sources: Christopher, N., 2013, The Hidden: a compendium of arctic giants, dwarves, gnomes, trolls, faeries, and other strange beings from Inuit oral history, 191 pp, p. 178-183. Oosten, J. G., 1981, The structure of the shamanistic complex among the Netsilik and Iglulik, Études/Inuit/Studies, 5(1): pp. 83-98. Barraclough, E. R., Cudmore, D. M. and Donecker, S., 2016, Imagining the Supernatural North, University of Alberta, 328 pp. (image source: Eva Widermann on Artstation)

[teriri-sayes]

Reactions to the Lone Flame's Chapter 215

TL;DR - Gashan can't use his shaman powers too. Story about how dragons became gods. Village chief does not know someone named CJG. Subjugation force will arrive in 3 days.

More Power Restrictions Mana and aura were not the only powers that were restricted. Gashan confirmed that he could not use his shaman powers/power of nature. So this brings us to the question: What about Cale's ancient powers? Unfortunately, the author did not mention anything about the ancient powers for the past chapters.

Dragons as Gods We got more world-building today, so I'll summarize it all in a story format:

This tale begins at the time when the weather drastically changed, and powers like mana and aura became unusable. These drastic changes brought about chaos to the world, and was thus referred to as the period of cataclysm.

There existed a place called the Free City of Gonia, which was rumored to be founded by people with dragon blood, the so-called half-blood dragons. During the cataclysm, the free city asked help from their dragon protectors for a solution.

The dragons responded to their pleas, and roamed around the world, helping in stabilizing the chaos. They repaired places where mana and aura became unusable, and stopped the beastkin who had fallen into madness. Their powers and attributes also helped alleviate the drastic weather changes.

Hence, people all over the world began to praise and worship the dragons. Their faith in the gods wavered, for the temples were rife with corruption, and the gods seemingly did not listen to their cries for help.

The Free City of Gonia renamed themselves as the Holy City, expanding its territory and openly declaring the worship of dragons as gods. However, the last emperor of the Har Empire vehemently opposed it.

The last emperor of the Har Empire and the last Archduke Snow secretly believed that it was actually the dragons who caused the cataclysm in their desire to become gods. But the world thought the Har Empire's opposition was because they were afraid to lose its status as a powerful nation, and the prestige of their first emperor, who was a dragon slayer, from falling.

War took place. The dragons abstained from joining the war, and only the ones said to be half-blood dragons participated. And in that war, the last emperor and the last Archduke Snow passed away.

The Har Empire was demoted to a kingdom, and fled to the north. The Holy City seized control of the Har Empire's territory, once again renaming themselves as the Holy Empire.

The Holy Empire declared to its neighbor countries that they would maintain friendly relations as long as they accepted the worship of dragons in their countries. They even offered their assistance in solving the chaos brought about by the cataclysm.

Thus, no country opposed the Holy Empire. And true to their word, the Holy Empire did assist other countries that asked for help, sending out dragons to resolve their problems. Dragon worship further spread to the world.

Other Answers to Cale's Questions As for Cale's other questions, CJG seemed to have disguised himself here, so the village chief did not know anyone of that name. But the village chief did keep a record of strangers who entered their village, so they would have to check that for any CJG clues.

The subjugation force was expected to arrive in 3 days, and Eruhaben expressed his worry about the enemies finding out about them. But Cale even welcomed it, saying that because they lacked information, they could just capture the subjugation force and interrogate them. Yes, typical Cale. 😂

Ending Remarks Nothing exciting happened again today. It's just info dump and more name reveals. The wolf beastkin among the villagers was called Koukan, and the village's name was Wins Village. Frankly, it feels weird? Back in the murim arc, we would have gotten lots of named characters already, but this time, only one person had been named. Village chief is still called village chief or elder, though it was revealed that he was a descendant from the butler family that served Archduke Snow.

Anyway, next chapter is either the villagers meeting Lock, or Cale's group capturing the subjugation force. And hopefully, we get an answer if Cale can use his ancient powers here.

[timetravellingshinigami]

For anyone who likes a good alien romance with plot and smut👌👌 I

happily give some recommendations .

There's one which give me Miles Quaritch x reader/oc vibes 😏

Obviously if you love big blue aliens (Na'vi)

You gotta check out Ice Planet Barbarians by Ruby Dixon

You can also go on the tag #iceplanetbarbarians and you'll find memes and art. It's a big fandom for this series.

There's a spinofff series of this called CORSAIR Brothers

And the first book ADIRON

Has a hilarious hero who's goofy and a himbo. Personal favourite 👌

Next if you want aliens who are very Na'vi like in culture but also don't hesitate to use technology then this one is for you

The Ash Planet Warriors

It's a spin off of the series Garrison Earth.

There are three races here the Vetusian, Jal'zar i.e The Ash Planet Warriors and Humans. The humans and Jal'zar are invaded by the Vetusians.

My favourite book in the spin off is this

Enemies to loves, political marriage. Here's a summary

I won’t touch her. But I will torment her soul. While the other warlords mate with the daughters of our enemy, I want nothing to do with these political marriages. Fate calls me north, searching for what the shamans say will complete my soul.

Now in the Garrison Earth series the last book is very interesting.

It's the Miles Quaritch x reader/oc fanfics but in a book 👇👀👀

Claimed

I conquered her planet and pillaged her body. Now I’m back for her heart.

A decade ago, I brought war to Solgad, home of the Jal’zar. I sacked the planet and slaughtered the people, all to save my race from extinction. Until one of their female warriors hissed defiance, promising me death at her hands no matter how her body longed for mine.

Each night, she came to end me, only to succumb to the raw urges of her mating heat.Each night, I gave her hungry womb what it needed, the way we coupled neither safe nor sane.

I was the enemy she couldn’t kill.She was the female I couldn’t have.

Together, we unleashed chaos.

Many solar cycles after the occupation, I return to Solgad, searching the ashen plains for her: my soulmate. This time, I will claim the Jal’zar female as mine, and nobody will get in the way.

Not even myself.

If you can, do read the entire series first if you want to know a little back story of the male character.

Now on to a villian from a different series

Zorus from Redeeming Zorus by Laurann Dohner.

Here's an enthusiastic comment about the character

Zorus, You Evil Bigot, M*ther F@cking, Sadistic Bastard!!! I have HATED You for SOOO LONG. Now I have to read your Love Story!!! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Anyway here's what's he's all about: Zorus is a member of the Ruling Council that governs cyborgs. His orders are law and must be obeyed. But Zorus is a sick bastard. He hates humans with a passion, and has been an evil terror to all cyborg males that have attempted to take a human female as a mate. He has gone as far as ordering them to be killed under the pretense that they were Earth Government spies searching for cyborgs.

But in a way his intense hate is justified. It's like if a Na'vi wanted to kill all the humans and Avatars (even the good ones), and all the hybrid children, because of what the RDA has done in Pandora.

Obviously this book is part of a series.

I'm sorry this spiralled into Alien villains but here's the last one

The Fractured Mate

Comments on the book:

Halian was so damned evil in previous books, I couldn't possibly imagine how he could be redeemable. But DAMN if our author didn't come up with the absolute most genius, creative, plot twist of an explanation!

Again part of a series of many interesting alien characters. Best to read those so you get an idea of how bad Halian is.

Now three other good alien books (not a villain main character)

Heart's Prisoner by Olivia Riley

He's not like anything Lana has ever encountered.

Asset X: Massive, deadly, a little terrifying to say the least. A devilish warrior. And a killer. Captured on a hellish world after attacking a military campsite and now imprisoned in a state-of-the-art cell inside one of the military’s top bases--Lazris.

And Lana has been assigned to "study" him. To learn his secrets and gain his trust, if he is ever allowed to set foot out of his cell. As a top behaviorist, it is the biggest hurdle of her career.

Very alien looking hero and mostly from the FMC point of view so there's a whole lot of mystery around him and what he's thinking. When we talking alien this dude is very alien. Also, it's a slow burn. Definitely no attraction at first sight. Actually we're all terrified 😂

Next is Classified Planet: Turongal of The Darvel Exploratory Systems

Cottonwood by R.Lee. Smith

Have you seen District 9? If you haven't please do..one of the best Sci fi alien movies out there. Anyway this book has the same kind of aliens. And a sort of similar plot. It feels like a fanfiction if that movie but it's different from the book too. All the characters are well written and brilliant plot. If 'Hearts Prisoner ' hero is a 7 on the "how alien does he look?" scale, the aliens in this book are a 9.

Argurma Salvager #1 Broken Earth

☝️ Hero's features inspired by the Predator in Alien vs Predator movies.

Saving Askara #1 Saving Askara

This has :

First contact

Slow burn (almost all the books i mentioned are slow burn)

Learning the cultures (Ash Planet also is about learning a different culture.)

Anyway these are some of my favorites and the best sci-fi alien romance i love till date ❤️ obviously there'are many more that I've probably forgotten 😅

[the-passenger-if]

hi Pime! Is it too early to ask questions about your new project yet? ROs and characters and setting and stuff? Sorry if this sounds pushy, that’s not intended!

Not at all! I enjoy talking about my IFs <3

Since I'm working on two projects I'll give you a quick rundown of both of them. First,

❆❆❆Leesangre❆❆❆

This game is set in the southernmost tip of South America in a distant future after a cataclysm wipes out most of humanity and the Earth turns into a big snow globe.

The main character travels in a caravan along with their family/clan which are also the only people they have ever interacted with, 1. because there aren't a lot of human beings around, just small settlements, and 2. because their family doesn't want other people to know about the main character. The lack of contact with other human beings and their constant dependency on their family has made the main character very sheltered.

The game starts after the death of the matriarch of the clan just as the main character's big brother becomes the new leader and everyone is feeling very uncertain about the future. The family consists of the main character's father (a huge mother-hen to everyone but mostly to MC and MC's niblings); the main character's brother (who has a strained relationship with MC); the mechanic of the caravan (the best mechanic in the world, or at least that's what they proclaim); the "shaman" of the caravan (a woman the caravan adopted when she was nine, she's in her late twenties at the start of the game); the main character's nephews, two teens who are also the clan's hunters, and the preteen nibling who has yet to find what role in the clan they will fulfill (these three were given to the clan when they were six, five, and one year old and they are presumably children of another big brother MC has never met); the main character's five-year-old niece and four-year-old nibling (they are the children of MC's brother and the mechanic). The clan also adopts a guy they find passed out in the snow at the start of the game (something neither the clan nor this guy really wanted but is forced onto all of them after he finds out about the main character).

The romantic options are:

Heco (they/them) — the clan's mechanic. They are thirty years old and they prefer to be maintaining the caravan than interacting with others but they don't mind people sitting in a corner and watching them work if they aren't too distracting and promise not to touch their tools. They're also the parent of MC's youngest's niblings, but they aren't in a relationship with MC's brother and never have been. It's a bit complicated.

Mo (she/her) — the curandera or shaman of the clan. If Heco is the hands of the caravan, Mo is its soul. It's impossible not to know where she is at any given time because she's a talking machine and also the type who loves to make people laugh. Of course, her jokes are hit or miss now that everyone is mourning the clan's matriarch but Mo's sense of humor can be like a runaway freight train if she isn't paying attention. (Mo is also my attempt at the friends-to-lovers trope)

Gil (he/his) — the guy the clan saves from certain death. He's in his early twenties and speaks a language that's more common in the north of the continent, so what was he doing completely alone so down south? Even though not much is known about him, he is friendly and quick to adapt to his new life in the caravan.

This game is a trilogy and I will add a few more ROs in the next books.

Project 2 is called,

˚.༄˚.༄A Song of Sirens and Soulmates (ASOSAS)˚.༄˚.༄

ASOSAS is set in modern times (2024∼) in an alternate timeline where Sirens appeared in the fifties changing the world forever. The game starts in New York but the main character and their buddy are thrown into the Siren realm around the first or second chapter so don't expect a lot NY lore.

In this alternate timeline Sirens are considered THE beauty standard with tall and toned bodies if they are male and petite and graceful figures if they are female. Also pointy ears, cavernous black eyes, and wide mouths full of sharp teeth.

Although they prefer to live in their own dimension it isn't rare to see Sirens as movie stars, runway models, and musicians. Most humans won't ever interact with this larger-than-life creatures but a few lucky ones will get claimed by the Song of the Siren, a red dot that shows up just above a person's belly button and marks them as a Siren's soulmate. Sure, leaving the human realm means never coming back but most people will take the opportunity if it means marrying and forming a family with these impossibly beautiful (and rich) beings.

Unfortunately, the main character of this game isn't interested in any of that and has been on the run since they were twenty and they were claimed. Seven years later, their betrothed finds them in a prison cell after they and their road buddy are detained at a punk show. MC is able to convince the Siren to bring said road buddy along and off they go into the Siren realm. Now MC and their ally must come up with a plan to escape before MC's wedding day befalls them.

The romantic options are:

Spook (ze/hir) — MC's ally in this mess. They met a month before the start of the game and decided to travel together for the time being. Spook is a thirty-three year old crust punk that can't stand Sirens and the power they wield over humans. Ze's also half-human and half-Siren, something ze carefully hides behind masks and dark shades. (Non-binary RO)

Verna/Vernon "Vern" Harley (she/her or he/his) — Twenty-four year old Vern is on the same boat as MC; they are a Siren's soulmate who has just arrived to this realm. Unlike MC, however, they've completely bought into the Siren fantasy and can't wait to marry and form a big family with their betrothed. Vern might not be the sharpest tool in the shed, but they are a sweetheart and painfully candid. They are a breath of fresh air among the sneers of the Sirens. (Gender choosable RO)

Camille Abadi (she/her or he/his) — In their mid to late thirties, Camille has been married to their Siren for a longer time than they've been single. They speak with the tiniest trace of a french accent, which is hard to notice when they so seldom speak. They are very polite and attentive but a hard person to get to know on a deeper level. (Gender choosable RO)

[madqueenalanna]

so i'm almost done with my "terror" (show) rewatch and just finished reading "terror" (book) yesterday so let me ramble lowkey about the differences

i do love of course the little character details of the book that couldn't possibly make it into the show. sir john's devotion to his "gentleman" status to the point that he stays dead silent during sex, for one, crozier getting jacked off in a pond for another. the book's meandering pace gave us lots of ship descriptions (agonizing) but also lots of time with even minor characters (peglar for one)

and so because of their respective mediums, i like each ending/portrayal of tuunbaq in its own way. in the book, it's a spirit created by a goddess, forced to wander the frozen north and feast. silna and people like her are psychic, marry other psychics to create their own tribe, their own people. this is not to control tuunbaq but simply to communicate; they leave it offerings, it doesn't kill them. the white men have no way to understand this, and so they trespass and are murdered. crozier leaves his identity behind to join these people, loses his tongue, has children by silna, and feels the honor in this choice. tuunbaq's appearance is ephemeral, difficult to explain, almost incorporeal. it isn't a monster, it's a part of the land in the same way winter is. very spiritual

in the show of course it's much more straightforward. it's a beast that can be injured, can eventually be killed, needs to be bound to a shaman that can control it. silna cuts out her own tongue to follow in her father's footsteps, instead of having lost her tongue as a child in this psychic group. it dies, agonizingly, like so many of the polar bears it resembles, yet another victim of british colonialism. silna is ostracized by her people for its death under her watch. crozier joins the netsilik without her, assimilating culturally if not on this secondary spiritual plane. obviously this makes much more sense to see on screen

the other big change is of course the health of the men. sure they SAY in the show the men are failing, and we see some of them, but the book, agonizingly (good), details every mile they haul sledges, every symptom of scurvy, a few violent deaths from botulism, blanky losing first part of his foot, then half his leg, then several wooden legs break and he calls its quits when the stump is gangrenous. the book is so clear that this takes MONTHS, it feels like months, hickey's mutiny is almost a minor footnote because they were all already almost dead by the time it occurs. the cannibalism is such a last resort that they're all half-dead by that point. it's slow, it's painful, so it all makes more... sense, almost. you FEEL their pain, this slow horrific death, the STARVATION

that said i love the death of fitzjames in the show. he's got scurvy and dies of botulism in the book, but i think it's just scurvy in the show. we see his battle scars, obtained in a colonial venture to asia, re-open and suppurate. in a very real, literal way, his past has come to haunt him, to poison him. he dies on another colonial mission, weakened by his former expeditions eating him alive, destroyed by this land that wants them dead

and from researching this show/book i got linked by some very helpful redditors to some very long articles detailing inuit descriptions of finding hms terror before it sank, so i'm excited to dip into those

[coolancientstuff]

Permian animal style bronze plaques from the Ural mountain region of Russia. Dating from the 3rd to 12th centuries CE, they depict mythological stories and creatures from the shamanic tradition native to the region.  

They have been found throughout a large area of forests in the north-eastern Urals and western Siberia from the basins of the Kama and Vyatka to the Ob. In the Middle Ages, these territories were inhabited mostly by the Ugrian tribes, ancestors of the present day Hungarians and Ob-Ugrians – the Khanty and the Mansi people.

Researchers point to the influence of Scytho-Sarmatian animal style on the development of cult toreutics of the forests of the north: famous animal battle scenes, vertical model of the Universe in the form of three worlds – three levels of the plaques and the cult of the great mother-goddess are present in both styles. Perm animal style objects include metalwork of bronze with the usage of single- or double-sided forms for casting, bone and wooden carvings, engravings on metal and bone objects. Figures depicted on the images are elks, rain-deers, bears, fur-bearing and other types of animals, horses, different waterfowl and birds of prey, snakes, insects and a number of "complex creatures" of mixed nature (hybrids), mixed zoomorphic and anthropomorphic half-human creatures; there are also a number of images of horsemen. The stories, which the Perm animal style plaques tell, are numerous and diverse.The objects are found in the hoards, on the sites of the temples, among the skeletons, in burials, as part of sacrificial complexes or on the sites of metallurgical workshops. Most of the bronze artifacts were used as a cult figures for the sacred rites.

[katyspersonal]

If you defeat Messmer the hornsent will say that the snake emerging from him is a "sublime scene" or something similar i wonder is the snake is something that has been considered as holy/ divine by the hornsent. + What is the deal with abyss serpent? Marika was so afraid of it she banished her son for it, i know gameplay doesn't necessarily equal lore but the Abyssal serpent doesn't seem to be that dangerous

;-; This is like the third time I forget to answer an ask and only remember about it when I get a similar one I am so sorry dhfhsd

As for the Vengeance-Seeking Hornsent, I think it was either a sarcasm or expression of satisfaction to see how monstrous Messmer was with his own eyes, given the place of that line in the full dialogue:

That being said, it doesn't exclude seeing the Base Serpent as divine either! It could always be sort of both, a bit like how Fell God is both revered and feared/dreaded!

I actually touched upon the 'Abyss' and Base Serpent in my post diving into what happened with Romina recently ( x ), so for the starters I'll copy a small bit from it to prevent the confusion! Ymir states that Marika's roots are 'in madness' and flowers on the painting of Midra's Manse in its past are the same as in Shaman's Village, but just in case the 'abysses' are not the same:

I need to add that Abyss of the serpent plaguing Messmer and Abyss of the woods tormented by Frenzy are different things though; whereas serpent’s Abyss is 深淵 meaning literally an abyss, Woods’ Abyss is 奈落 that means Naraka (Hindu Hell)! His serpent is AKTUALY named Base Serpent, but he refers the 'Abyss’ in his Stage 2 transition: '光無き、深淵の蛇が’. ( x ) In fact, his dialogue in both English and Japanese original suggests the 'Abyss’ is a PLACE, where Base Serpent comes from! The mysterious space without light!

So, the Abyss is the place without light, the 'hole' within what Greater Will entails and embraces:

@val-of-the-north also says that it further proves that Frenzied Flame is basically a "sibling" or the second side of the same coin, as its "face" likewise has a black hole at the centre!

Elden Ring itself is light, the blue stars controlling humans and the amber stars controlling Demigods are light, Erdtree and the greater tree predating it are light... Light is the essence of life and the orders, not even just the Golden Order however it has been THE order for a while! Messmer and Queelign repeat that all "lightless" should burn in his flames, and they are doing it for the sake of Marika's beliefs. So, the 'lightless' part of the issue is very important! It is fearsome as something they cannot fully control, it is antithesis for life the way they know it and they are used to! At the same time, no longer seeing the light is something grace-given lifeforms fear (Iris of Occultation)!

However, another, and arguably more important aspect of why Base Serpent is something feared, is Marika's fear of fire! For one, she went at war with the Fire Giants because they might have burnt her precious Erdtree, and she'd lost everything again:

(+ Also worth to note that the Fire Monks that peer into flame and go 'hmmm actually..... 👀' and get blinded discover the Bloodstar, and Alberich who did the same by blinding self is "heretical" sorcerer! That's why I think Lightless Abyss is not empty but various horrors live in it, and Formless Mother appeared from it too! Again, not the point of this post as I already talked about it in Romina post I linked earlier)

Another precedent was burying the Nomads because Shabriri said that they were worshipping Frenzied Flame:

(From the video that recovers Kale's quest ( x ))

There is also this:

I assume the prophesy has to come from the Hornsent in some capacity! Like maybe when the Two Fingers gave her aid to ascend to Godhood, she already knew from the Greater Will (?) that she won't rule forever! Ranni and Miquella both refer to the ages they want as 'thousand years voyage', so perhaps any era being set on the timer is a common sentiment! The Age of the Erdtree logically must end with the Erdtree being burnt, of course, and there is Empyrean Grandam who is a Hornsent..

I am yet not sure whether Melina is Gloam-Eyed Queen "killed" and reborn, making her instead an adopted daughter to keep her fire under control or she is a real daughter but stripped from her true power and body because of the fear of fire or both! I just think that back then, looooong before Marika could've predicted the thorns created by Radagon needed to be burnt, Melina being so "downgraded" for someone who is her daughter also had to do with the fire!

Messmer getting discarded is just an extension of it. Or her not willing to deal with the fear of the Erdtree getting potentially burnt because of the Base Serpent's fire!

As for whether it is an "evil" power? I likewise don't believe so! Fromsoft always makes 'eldrich' Gods either powers of nature or just creatures far from humans' concepts that just vibe! It is Gods who are basically just humans with too much power who can be evil and cause havoc, like Gwyn and his family and Marika and her family! Base Serpent is not "evil", it is a force of nature; necessary inferno to burn the nature, so it doesn't rot and later can be born anew from the ruins! INRI means 'Iesvs Nazarenvs Rex Ivdæorvm', but it also has an occult interpretation: 'Ignis Natura Renovatur Integram' ('All nature is regenerated by fire')! I believe Messmer has to be not only Marika's firstborn but also have special position compared to other Demigods, because he is "necessary" evil. A "promised" end to Marika's reign, who maybe is not even cursed but rather hard-coded to be this way by the Greater Will itself.. because Base Serpent comes from the Abyss inside it, Fell God on the other hand is not connected with serpentine stuff! When Messmer gets rid of Marika's eye, he promises oblivion that you and him will fall into, which again refers to the lightless Abyss.

The only evidence to Base Serpent being dangerous is that it has to be kept in check by the Winged Serpent:

It is not inherently evil, but it IS chaotic! It would not know when or where to stop or how to take the pace, much like the element of fire itself who simply burns whatever it meets on the way! And yet again, how "evil" can a force of nature be? It is "evil" for those who don't want to burn, but that's it and it is not a moral value but a (reasonable) fear! Burning things needs to be smart and balanced, or else it will just be 'Frenzied Flame at home'!

_____________________

Anyways thank you for asking so much!! I love discussing this particular topic a lot actually! +I assume Eiglay is a similar kind of serpent, but specifically promised death of Gods (maybe Outer Gods specifically, even) rather than Demigods and various things mortals built and birthed! Maybe she is even a sister of Base Serpent of sorts