#there's like this sense of unity despite being separated

[foone]

(screenshotted to avoid spamming their post with my OC/setting)

See, that's why you gotta watch out for chronomancers and other artificers in Union, because their weapon of choice is usually also a gun. And then you don't have a weapon advantage, and they've got arcane powers on their side. So you might have a very shiny ar-15 or something, but they've got a pistol that doesn't run out of ammo and can't miss and will do far worse things than poke holes in you if it hits you. As I've said before, when a wizard pulls the trigger on a gun pointed at you, you pray that it hurts, because the alternative is so much worse.

Anyway "the speed of latin" being associated with magic is funny, because on Union they actually have latin, not any kind of dog latin a la that one boy wizard made by the transphobe. (Such a silly idea anyway. You can't be a wizard without being trans. I don't care if you were AMAB and still use he/him and dress masculinely, you're trans, as your gender is now wizard. Your chromosomes aren't XY or XX anymore, they're W. For Wizard). The Silent Mother, the matriarch of their main religion, came from Earth, and her native language was Latin (or as they call it in Union, Old Tower). But the really funny thing is that you would never speak it. You can't, really. They don't have any idea of how it's spoken, there's no pronunciation rules. It's solely a written language used by the Tower church, and it's not supposed to be read aloud... and you'd have to try pretty hard to figure out how to speak it at all, given the lack of pronunciation rules.

It'd also be deeply, deeply blasphemous. And not in some cool "you could use this to summon the devil!" way, in a "this makes no sense and just offends every believer who hears you trying to do it" way. (They don't believe in a devil or a hell anyway, so that also makes no sense)

They do have a Tower sign language, which you could argue is kinda like "speaking Latin", but signed languages aren't really directly connected to spoken languages. The grammar is different. For example, compare how there's British Sign Language and American Sign Language, which aren't mutually intelligible despite both being sign languages used in places that have English as their primary spoken language.

Tower sign language is mainly known by d/Deaf people in Union and ordained members of the Tower church, not wizards (not that there aren't d/Deaf wizards, of course). It's importable because at the highest (no pun intended) levels of the Tower church, you literally can't speak. Not "aren't allowed" or "shouldn't", but can't, similar to how the City of Towers is a city of women, and that's not prescriptive but descriptive (which is not also not a pun, even if it might seem like one since I'm talking about linguistics).

Anyway yeah. Old Tower/Latin is a religious language in Union, not a magical one. Magic stuff is usually done with Unity (that's the language, not the video game engine), dwarven runic, or one of the sky languages. The church uses magic, sure, but they do it by working with outside magicians, not doing their own magical stuff. Religion and Magic are separate domains in Union, and both of them prefer it to stay that way.

[thaisibir]

Faith, Science, and Lessons to Learn in Claymore

Here come my thoughts I've articulated the best I could on why I absolutely love Claymore for over ten years. I love how faith and science are represented and explored in this series, especially how they are not only compared side by side but brought together. And I don't exaggerate when I say this series had taught me valuable life lessons and how to be a better person.

Faith vs science: Rabona represents the institution of faith. The organization is an institution of science. As Claymore is a story centered on, of course, the Claymores, and the world as they know it, we see a lot more than the institution of faith how the institution of science operates. And it's a very cruel, brutal operation. Girls are salvaged and trafficked to be subject to experimentation and training, conditioned to think and work like cogs in a machine. Their entire lives revolve around constant, endless missions of killing yoma. All the while they're fighting against their own inhuman side. They're ticking time bombs destined for nothing but a violent death. It's a vicious cycle. A system set up to doom them from the start.

I have to mention how incredibly disgusting and clever the psychology behind the organization's system is. 47 Claymores are deployed and scattered throughout the continent at all times, but few ever come across one another. I'm sure that after training, most full-fledged warriors go through their entire careers without ever meeting another of their own. The few times they meet up are strictly for missions only. No time for real bonding and fraternizing. In fact, it seems to be discouraged and deliberate. And there is no care or effort whatsoever put into fostering friendly relations between Claymores and the common folk. They have no home, no family, not even friends, no autonomy, only complete dependence on the organization. Not unlike a toxic relationship where the victim has no choice but to be shackled to the abusive partner. That's exactly how the organization wants it to be. They want their subjects to be powerful, dependable, but expendable and replaceable at the drop of a hat. The lonely and isolated lifestyle imposed on Claymores, along with the rules, keep them in line. Keep them apart and they would never get a whiff of the skeleton in the organization's closet and entertain the idea of rebelling. We all know that didn't last forever. (More on that in a later section...)

All right I think I've been beating a dead horse talking about how horrible the organization is. In contrast to their operations involving exploitation, dissection, and separation of Claymores, Rabona is the site of their unity and humanization.

Rabona is the pivoting point for bringing together a Claymore and three humans in their efforts to take down a yoma. It's where we learn that bonds are stronger than the carnal desire to awaken and feast on guts. Years later, it's also in Rabona where the same cooperation happens. Just on a much greater scale. Humans and Claymores collectively learned to fight alongside each other. Irene proved that it's possible to survive outside the organization. Galatea took it a step further, being the first to show that it's possible for a warrior to live happily among humans, albeit in secret. By the end, an era of a truly peaceful coexistence begins. It's a beautiful irony that the city well known for its spirituality, image of holiness, and rejection of the "unholy" becomes the first place to openly welcome Claymores.

The organization topples and falls apart from a single decisive strike. Meanwhile, despite multiple assaults from powerful Awakened Beings, Rabona still stands. And I'm sure it will continue to endure and flourish with the Claymores as its new resident defenders. An institution built on fear and blind obedience is much weaker than one built on the warriors' true sense of allegiance, belonging, and home.

That is not to say that science is all bad in Claymore. After all, surgery is what physically brought Teresa and Clare together.

Father Vincent: I need to talk about this man and how vastly underrated he is. In a story full of incredibly strong and kickass half-monster women, Vincent is not only one of the few ordinary men in the cast, but the best of them morally speaking (second to Raki). That scene of Vincent with Galatea, Clarice, and Miata made him my favorite male character in the series. He had come a long way since his first appearance. Even then, he had come around from a position of prejudice and his city's idea of holy vs unholy to acceptance and gratitude for Clare. His brief sharing with Galatea of that turning point shows incredible self-awareness and introspection, a mindset we should all strive to have. Then, as the head priest of the religious order entrenched in Rabona, he initiates that change at the greater societal level, turning Rabona into a sanctuary that welcomes all Claymores. I especially love that panel where he raises a hand of blessing to Galatea and says he wants to pray "for her and her wonderful companions." I found that incredibly touching. Those words must mean the world to Galatea, and to any Claymore if they heard. After all, they're so used to being dehumanized and reviled. Vincent is the perfect foil to the terrible men of the organization, second to Raki when it comes to showing empathy and compassion to Claymores and regarding them as more human than monster. Vincent sets a great example of what it means to be a decent human being, and just what it means to be human, to be capable of growth and change for the better. I'm sure we all want to be badass like the Claymores, but really we must try to be the Father Vincent in people's lives. You don't need yoma power to be an agent for good and change.

The measurable versus the immeasurable: In this world where only the strong survive, power and rank is everything. Or so it seems. Like I mentioned earlier, the organization is insidiously clever in using a ranking system to define the Claymores and keep them in line. Claymores have very few possessions to call their own: the emblem and armor they wear, the sword they wield, and the number they're given. Numbers are what separate and define them, what seem to give them identity, worth, and purpose. Enter Clare, the series protagonist, who flips a giant middle finger at all that. Unlike some Claymores who obsess over numbers (lookin' at you, pre-timeskip Helen), Clare doesn't let her low rank define or upset her. Mathematically and rationally speaking, with the flesh of a half yoma warrior, she's only a quarter yoma, therefore half the strength of a typical Claymore and the weakest of them all. Clare gives that rationale the middle finger too. What keeps her alive from beginning to end is her limitless, immeasurable, astounding courage and endurance that impressed Teresa from the beginning. And there's her great capacity to love and care for others. Love forged those strong, lasting bonds with Teresa and Raki. The lengths she went to save Jean inspired a loyalty like no other, and what leads to one of my favorite quotes in the series: "She saved my life. Her rank meant nothing then and it means even less to me now."

The Seven Ghosts embody true sisterhood allowed to flourish outside the confines and prying eyes of the organization. Living, hiding, and training together, sharing survivors' guilt from that massacre in Pieta, they are fueled by a drive that's far greater and more enduring than mere petty competition for ranks within the organization. They don't fight just to survive, but to honor the memory of their fallen comrades. Years later, those old ranks they were given mean nothing. The Ghosts become more than that, undefinable, and for all their strengths and weaknesses they come to regard each other as equals, as true friends and sisters ought to.

And finally, the most powerful manifestation of love is none other than Teresa and Clare, the twin goddesses who defeat the one horned monster. The organization had tried and failed many times to replicate that perfect synergy. They left out one important part of the equation. Clare and Teresa's love for each other makes their union a truly powerful thing that defies the limits and bounds of numbers and stats. Many times throughout the series, especially by men from the organization, it's brought up that Clare's true abilities and potential don't align with the number she was given. She's truly a wild card, defiant in the face of obeying the organization's rules and rationalities. It's human nature to assign numbers and ranks to things because we like to compartmentalize, but the real world is a lot messier than that. Clare is there to teach us that we are not defined by the numbers we earn or are given.

All of this is to say that the most important lesson I took away from Claymore is this: it's what you do for others that truly counts, not what others think of you. Love and compassion is enough to move the most powerful being in the entire series to tears.

[kairunatic]

I'm thinking about what Tiamat and Marduk's loves gonna be, and I have an idea. Honestly I believe that Tiamat allowed Marduk to defeat her.

Marduk mentioned in the New years event that he was swallowed by Tiamat countless times in their battle. Though it raised the question of how he would be alive if he was eaten over and over. I theorize Tiamat most likely didn't intend to kill Marduk since he was still her child and was just spitting him back up over and over again. (So yeah, I'd probably get tired of having my rebellious teen come at me and have to throw him up over and over again). Tiamat was seen as the mother of everything in Babilim and see was angry for what the gods did to Anu,b ut they were still her children.

Especially with Marduk's case, he was her child that the other gods convinced to fight her because everyone else was afraid to, even though he had no part in Anu's murder. He really didn't know what he was doing, just that someone told him he NEEDED to do it. Tiamats action of swallowing him and spotting him back up was probably more of her trying to scare him off so she wouldn't hurt him. (Which kind of worked, since he's now afraid of being swallowed and dark places).

I think the system of Babilim is one that revolves around a primordial concept of imposing order by dividing things into sects rather than a chaotic amalgamation. Think of it like a bunch of different strings you bundle into a ball. To make it more orderly, you untie the knots and separate them into their individual strands. Tiamat was like that ball of yarn.

I think she just allowed herself to be defeated because she still loved her children but also because it achieved her goal in another way. By allowing herself to be defeated, she gave birth to new life and Era for the gods but also achieved unity among them. Her flesh composes the world itself, and her blood runs through every living thing in it, so in her own way, she is with everyone. I feel Marduk's case is that despite being forced to maintain order, he still has attatchment to Tiamat as a mother and son. I think it also just makes sense with how he has the whole idea of being a newborn due to being reborn and his title as "calf".

Ooooooo

That's an interesting concept

But yeah I'm still curious how does Marduk sees MC being Tiamat cause they barely gave any Exposition about it and hopefully this event will give some

[mythicalcowboyatheart]

True love

Roman Godfrey x reader

Fluff

Roman Godfrey and Y/N had always had a complicated relationship. From the moment they met, there was an undeniable connection between them, but circumstances always seemed to keep them apart. Roman, being a vampire, had his own dark secrets and struggles, while Y/N was a human, trying to navigate the supernatural world she had been thrust into.

Despite the challenges they faced, Roman and Y/N couldn't deny their growing feelings for each other. They found solace in each other's company, understanding each other in ways no one else could. Their conversations were filled with a mix of playful banter and deep, meaningful discussions, creating a bond that only grew stronger with time.

As they spent more time together, Roman's protective instincts kicked in. He couldn't bear the thought of Y/N getting hurt, and he would go to great lengths to keep her safe. Y/N, on the other hand, saw past Roman's tough exterior and understood the pain and loneliness he carried within him. She became his confidante, someone he could trust with his darkest secrets.

Their love for each other grew slowly, like a flame flickering in the darkness. Roman would steal glances at Y/N when he thought she wasn't looking, and Y/N's heart would skip a beat every time their eyes met. They found comfort in each other's arms, seeking solace from the chaos that surrounded them.

But their love was not without its challenges. Roman's vampire nature made it difficult for him to control his urges, and Y/N had to constantly remind him of his humanity. She became his anchor, grounding him and reminding him of the good within him.

Together, they faced countless obstacles, from supernatural threats to personal demons. But through it all, their love only grew stronger. They became each other's rock, supporting and protecting one another.

In the end, Roman and Y/N's love prevailed. They overcame the odds and found a way to be together, despite the forces that tried to tear them apart. Their love story became one of resilience, sacrifice, and unwavering devotion.

Roman Godfrey and Y/N's love was a testament to the power of love, transcending boundaries and defying expectations. They proved that even in the darkest of times, love could conquer all.As their love deepened, Roman and Y/N began to envision a future together. They dreamed of a life where they could be free from the burdens of their past, where they could build a life filled with love, happiness, and peace.

Roman, once consumed by his own darkness, found a renewed sense of purpose in Y/N's love. He vowed to protect her at all costs, to be the person she could always rely on. Y/N, in turn, embraced Roman's flaws and accepted him for who he was, reminding him that he was deserving of love and redemption.

Their love story became a beacon of hope for others in their supernatural community. They inspired others to believe in the power of love, to see beyond the differences that separated them. Roman and Y/N's love became a symbol of unity, bridging the gap between humans and supernatural beings.

Together, they faced the challenges that came their way, never wavering in their commitment to each other. They fought side by side, their love serving as a source of strength and determination. Roman's vampire abilities and Y/N's resilience made them an unstoppable force, and they became a formidable team.

As time went on, Roman and Y/N's love only grew deeper. They shared countless adventures, creating memories that would last a lifetime. They laughed together, cried together, and supported each other through every triumph and setback.

In the end, Roman and Y/N's love story became a tale of redemption and transformation. They proved that love could heal even the deepest wounds and bring light to the darkest corners of their souls. Their love became a force that defied all odds, a love that would endure for eternity.

And so, Roman Godfrey and Y/N lived out their days together, their love serving as a guiding light in a world filled with darkness. They found solace in each other's arms, knowing that they had found their true soulmate. Their love story would be remembered for generations to come, a testament to the power of love and the strength of the human spirit.

[zapreportsblog]

May I request Ben or Garrett(or both separately) with a mate that lost her ability to walk in an accident. She's been in therapy and refuses to let them see or see her work with Carlisle on walking again. This is because the first time they will see her walk will be when she's walking down the aisle at their wedding(I can see em being so proud but also ready to catch her at a moments notice). Please and thank you!!

Ooh this is so beautiful

❝a day to remember ❞

✭ pairing : garrett x reader x benjamin

✭ fandom : twilight

✭ summary : Benjamin and Garrett are getting married to (y/n), what a day to remember

✭ authors note : this will mostly be fluff and I’ll divide it into 3 sections

✭ twilight masterlist

Benjamin :

The lush surroundings of the Cullen residence buzzed with anticipation as the family prepared for a momentous event — the wedding of Benjamin, the talented member of their coven, and his beloved mate, (y/n). The air was tinged with excitement and a sense of unity, as each member contributed to the preparations in their own unique way.

For weeks, (y/n) had been tirelessly preparing for this day. She had been through more than her fair share of challenges, having lost the ability to walk in a tragic accident. Determined to overcome her circumstances, she had committed herself to intensive therapy under the guidance of Carlisle. However, what no one knew was that she had kept her progress a secret from her soon-to-be husband, Benjamin, and the rest of the family.

In the days leading up to the wedding, (y/n) had quietly practiced walking with the assistance of her therapists. Despite the pain and the obstacles, her spirit remained unbroken. She pushed herself harder with each passing day, not only for her own sake but also for the surprise she had planned for Benjamin.

As the sun dipped below the horizon on the eve of the wedding, (y/n) took a deep breath and steeled herself for what lay ahead. Tonight, she would reveal her secret to her family, and tomorrow, she would astonish Benjamin with a sight he had never dreamed possible.

On the morning of the wedding, the Cullen residence bustled with activity. The family members were dressed in their finest attire, each eagerly awaiting the arrival of the bride and groom. (y/n), adorned in a breathtaking gown that shimmered like moonlight, moved gracefully despite the wheels of her chair. Her radiant smile belied the determination that fueled her every step.

As (y/n) rolled toward the gathering, she caught Benjamin's gaze from a distance. His eyes widened with a mix of surprise, disbelief, and sheer joy as he beheld his beloved's transformation. He stood there, rooted to the spot, his heart pounding as he watched her approach.

The assembled guests followed his gaze, their murmurs hushed in awe and admiration. The path before (y/n) felt both endless and exhilarating, each step she took a testament to her unyielding spirit and the love that fueled her desire to overcome.

With every step, the distance between (y/n) and Benjamin diminished, until at last, they stood before each other. The shimmering threads of her gown and the determination in her eyes were radiant, making the moment unforgettable for all who bore witness.

Benjamin extended his hand to (y/n), his touch gentle yet strong. Their fingers intertwined, and (y/n) finally let herself stand unaided, her steps steady and sure. A collective gasp swept through the crowd as they marveled at her triumphant walk, her journey of perseverance culminating in this remarkable moment.

The emotions that surged within Benjamin were indescribable. Pride, love, and awe swelled within him, threatening to overwhelm his senses. As he gazed into (y/n)'s eyes, he saw not just the woman he loved, but a living testament to the power of determination and the strength of their bond.

The ceremony that followed was a celebration of love, unity, and the unbreakable ties that bound the Cullen family. As the newlyweds exchanged their vows and sealed their commitment with a kiss, the cheers of their loved ones echoed through the air.

Benjamin held (y/n) close, their hearts beating in sync as they danced their first dance as husband and wife. His arms wrapped around her, providing unwavering support even as she swayed to the rhythm of the music on her own two feet.

Amid the whirlwind of joy and celebration, (y/n) glanced up at Benjamin, her eyes sparkling with happiness. In that moment, the challenges they had overcome seemed to fade into the background, leaving only the promise of a shared future that held endless possibilities.

As they moved gracefully across the dance floor, (y/n) realized that this was the moment she had been working toward. The journey to surprise Benjamin with her newfound ability to walk had been long and arduous, but the look of astonishment and love in his eyes was worth every step.

And so, in the midst of music, laughter, and love, (y/n) and Benjamin embraced the path ahead, united not just by their unbreakable bond, but by the incredible strength and resilience that had brought them to this extraordinary day.

Garrett :

Garrett, had found his soulmate in (Y/n). Their love had blossomed amidst the supernatural world they inhabited, but their bond went beyond the realm of vampires and werewolves. (Y/n) had faced a tragic accident that left her unable to walk, but her determination and resilience shone brightly.

As their wedding day approached, (Y/n) had been diligently attending therapy sessions, working tirelessly to regain her ability to walk. However, she had kept this progress a secret from Garrett, wanting to surprise him on their special day. She knew that the first time he would see her walk again would be when she gracefully made her way down the aisle towards him.

In the depths of the Cullen residence, Carlisle had been tirelessly assisting (Y/n) in her rehabilitation. His expertise in both medicine and vampire strength made him the perfect ally in her journey to walk again. (Y/n) had trusted him implicitly and confided in him about her wish to keep her progress a secret from Garrett.

On the day of their wedding, (Y/n) stood in front of a full-length mirror, her heart pounding with anticipation. She wore a stunning white gown that accentuated her beauty, and a veil that cascaded down her back, completing the picture of a blushing bride. Her legs, once confined to a wheelchair, were now strong and capable.

As the music began to play, signaling the start of the ceremony, Garrett stood at the altar, his eyes filled with love and excitement. He anxiously awaited the sight of his bride, unaware of the surprise that awaited him. He had always admired (Y/n)'s strength and determination, but he had no idea just how far she had come.

The doors at the back of the venue swung open, and (Y/n) took a deep breath, her heart fluttering. With each step, she felt a rush of emotions, a mixture of nerves and exhilaration. As she made her way down the aisle, every eye in the room turned towards her, their gazes filled with awe and admiration.

Garrett's breath caught in his throat as he saw (Y/n) walking towards him, her radiant smile and newfound strength lighting up the room. The pride in his eyes was evident, mingled with an overwhelming love for the woman who had overcome so much.

In that moment, (Y/n) knew she had made the right decision. She had wanted to surprise Garrett, to show him that she was not defined by her accident but by her unwavering spirit. As they exchanged vows, Garrett made a silent promise to always be there for her, ready to catch her at a moment's notice if she ever needed it.

Their journey together had been marked by challenges and triumphs, but this day symbolized a new chapter in their lives. They had faced adversity with unwavering love and support, and now they would continue to conquer whatever obstacles came their way, hand in hand.

Benjamin and Garrett :

The sun was just beginning to set, casting a soft glow over the small town of Forks. In a quaint, cozy house nestled amongst the trees, lived three extraordinary beings who were about to embark on a life-changing journey together. Benjamin and Garrett, two powerful and captivating vampires from the Twilight saga, had found their souls intertwined with that of a remarkable human named (y/n).

However, (y/n) carried a secret, one that she had been meticulously hiding from her loving mates. An accident had robbed her of the ability to walk, leaving her confined to a wheelchair. Determined to regain her strength, she had been undergoing intense therapy with the esteemed Dr. Carlisle Cullen, who had become like a father figure to her.

As the days turned into weeks, and weeks into months, (y/n) made remarkable progress. But she had made a decision, one she kept from Benjamin and Garrett. She wanted to surprise them, to give them a gift that would forever be etched in their memories. She wanted her first steps, the symbol of her triumph over adversity, to be taken down the aisle at their wedding.

The wedding day was fast approaching, and (y/n) couldn't contain her excitement. She had meticulously planned every detail, from the delicate flowers adorning the ceremony space to the soft, ethereal music that would fill the air. But the biggest surprise of all was yet to come.

While Benjamin and Garrett were aware of her therapy sessions, they respected (y/n)'s wishes for privacy. They knew her determination and strength, but they couldn't help but worry about her well-being. They were eager to witness her progress, to support her every step of the way. But little did they know that their first glimpse of her walking would be on the day they vowed to spend eternity together.

Finally, the day arrived, and the anticipation hung in the air like electricity. The ceremony was held in a secluded meadow, bathed in the soft glow of twilight. As Benjamin and Garrett stood at the altar, their eyes filled with adoration and love, they couldn't help but feel a mix of excitement and nervousness.

The music swelled, signaling the arrival of the bride. Slowly, (y/n) emerged from behind the trees, her radiant smile lighting up the entire meadow. Her hand gently clasped her father's arm, who beamed with pride. But as she took her first steps, supported by her own strength, Benjamin and Garrett's hearts swelled with a sense of awe and overwhelming love.

Every step she took was a testament to her indomitable spirit, and as she made her way towards them, her mates couldn't help but be ready to catch her if she needed them. Their hands trembled with anticipation and pride, their eyes never leaving her graceful form.

Finally, (y/n) reached the altar, her eyes sparkling with joy and determination. Benjamin and Garrett stood there, their love for her radiating from their very core. As she took her final step, her mates let out a collective breath, their hearts bursting with love and pride.

In that moment, as (y/n) stood tall and strong, surrounded by the love of her mates, she knew that she had achieved something extraordinary. The surprise she had planned had not only surpassed their expectations but had also become a symbol of their unwavering bond.

As the ceremony continued, the love that was shared between Benjamin, Garrett, and (y/n) only grew stronger. Their journey had just begun, and they knew that together, they would face any obstacle that came their way. With each passing day, they would cherish the gift of love, trust, and the unbreakable bond that had brought them together.

And so, their story unfolded, a tale of love, resilience, and the power of surprises.

[i-dont-evenplaygenshinanymore]

Prophecy

Fem!Reader, don't like don't read. Religious symbolism and imagery and themes.

————02————

The people of Teyvat will never be as united as they'll be that day. They will never again come together under the same sense of camaraderie, nor will they ever feel again the taste of unity's warmth.

The Imposter will watch them with undisturbed serenity, uncaring of the blade above her neck, ready to take her sacrilegious life. She will watch them with the conviction they are wrong. She will watch the Creator be taken to her magnanimous golden throne, made by the hands of the late Geo Archon himself, and she will smile with heretic amusement at the righteous fury in the Creator's expression.

“Any last words, heretic?” the Creator will ask, ushering the silence to befall upon the place.

“Even defective dolls will be loved by their doll maker, She Who Wears My Face,” the Imposter will answer calmly, no fear nor anger in her being. “I do love you, despite everything. After all... I made you.”

“You insolent–!” the Shogun will exclaim, ready to attack the Imposter. “Disrespectful to the very end!”

“Celestia forgets who I am,” the Imposter will continue, not bothered by the imminent threat. “Well, I can't blame them, I had forgotten at some point. Go on, then. Doom yourselves. It's not me who should fear death.”

And with a gesture from the Creator, the blades will fall, slicing the Imposter's neck to separate her wretched head from her miserable shoulders.

A gasp.

The red blood that will ooze from the cut will corrode the altar. It will rot the vegetation as it gets drank by the ground below. It will poison the skies above as it evaporates as hellish miasma. The brilliant red will then become the color of tar, darker even than the most hopeless pits of the Abyss.

The water will swallow the land and poison everything it touches. The land will crack open and drown everything that stands. The wind will cut everything in the path of its storm. The fire will brand everything unlucky enough to survive its wrath. The ice will break everything that dares face its biting hate. The lightning will burn everything no matter how well hidden. The vegetation will abandon everything that eats.

Life will meet its end. Teyvat will choose its end, and the people of Teyvat will be abandoned by their how world, much how they abandoned their true Creator, and Celestia–

Celestia will pray for the first time since greed overtook their hearts.

And when Barbatos opens his eyes, he can only ask one thing to the divine being who's lap his head rests.

“My Lady, is that a premonition if what could happen... Or a retelling of what already happened?”

He is met with a serene expression.

[fantasydreaamer]

Sugar Apple Fairy Tale: Anne Halford [ESFJ]

MBTI Type: ESFJ - Extraverted - Sensing - Feeling - Judging

Extraverted Feeling (Fe): Anne is a very kind, caring, and compassionate girl who wears her heart on her sleeve. She enjoys helping people and making them feel appreciated and warm. She's great at detecting other peoples moods and feelings. Anne helps and offers emotional support to people that don't like her, Bridget and Jonas, she puts her personal feelings and issues aside and helps them. She cares about social harmony and steps up to promote this, like when she when with Glen to try to help Bridget. She constantly puts other people's feelings and needs above her own. With the Duke she wanted to complete his confection despite the danger, validate his feelings, and give him hope. But Shall being the opposite told him how deluded he was and was totally uncaring of his feelings, Anne didn't liked this. When Lafalle wanted to kidnap her she was completely focused on others, not herself. She's a great leader and team player that values unity and cooperation, at the Paige workshop she was able to align the individualistic team into a common goal and sentiment they all agreed on.

Introverted Sensing (Si): She wants to be like her mom, a great sugar artisan and follows in her steps. Memories are very important to her, in the LN she thinks that the wagon is old but full of memories. Her crafting method is about gathering all the possible details first and then meticulously executing the piece. Anne likes the feeling of sugar and molding and chooses a profession that enables her to have a hands-on approach, sugar crafting, and thinks that's she's not good at studying.

Extraverted Intuition (Ne): Anne is open to new possibilities, job opportunities, and experiences. She is idealistic and believes that fairies and humans can be friends. Good at improvising and spontaneous ideas. When gathering information from old books about what has worked before in the Paige workshop failed (Si), she dissmised it and was open to a new vision, the snowflake tree. In the second contest, Anne depicted an abstract idea, the former kings wish for human and fairy coexistence, and made it tangible in a confection.

Introverted Thinking (Ti): Anne's not good at being detached and objective, she struggles to separate feelings and situations. That's Shall's strong suit, he balances her. In the LN she is aware at how illogical the Duke is at her intention of Christina's sugar confection, but she doesn't voice it and puts the Duke's needs above her safety. She did it for her pride as an artisan, but still she was being illogical that's why Shall gets annoyed and calls her an idiot. In vol 3 she starts to use her Ti in her sugar crafting, she realizes that gathering details is not always enough and realizes that she needs to understand the reason why the royal family likes themed fairy sugar candies. She searches for answers and when she understand the reason, she's able to apply this knowledge to her confection.

Sugar Apple Fairy Tale MBTI:

Shall Fen Shall: ISTP

Lafalle Fen Lafalle: ENTJ

[giankumar-blog1]

Who Am I – In Search of the Self.

Alter your perceptions and seek -Who Am I? It is the most crucial and the substratum of the subject of Spiritualism. A lot depends on whether you consider the divine a deity or a supreme cosmic ability of energy. Only after you accept this intuitive ability from which all that we know about God and the universe will your mind be able to comprehend the meaning behind the spiritual axiom of the creator and its creation being the same and not two as ascribed in the Vedas declaring the first great saying to be Prajnanam Brahma – Intelligence is Divine.  

Discovering who we are is a journey that contributes to the growth and spiritual development toward finding inner peace and fulfillment. It's essential to explore the connection between our personality and the more expansive universe to grasp the nature of our actual reality. After recognizing one's limitations, it is necessary to concentrate on areas that need improvement. The soul containing the cosmic spirit is your guide, based on which your mind rides.

Furthermore, when you say – my body, mind, or thoughts- indicate these are yours, you are not them like you consider material objects such as my phone or my house. Body and mind belong to you; they are your instruments to use and not to be used. You will never say I am mind or thoughts; they are yours. So, who owns everything your mind erroneously claims as 'me and mine'? If you rule out everything that you presume as 'you are' from the cognitive mind, what is left is the actual owner. Now, all you need to know after this is - Who Am I?

Over millennia, understanding the Self remains mysterious despite access to spiritual knowledge. It frequently intertwines with consciousness, ego, and our sense of "I." Because there are multiple interpretations and meanings associated with this concept in science, theology, philosophy, and different religions, it becomes a subject of opinion.

Through introspection and meditation, Eastern philosophies have delved into self-knowledge, offering insights that deserve consideration. The question "Who am I?" holds significance in Hindu and Buddhist perspectives. It emphasizes the importance of self-inquiry to self-realization, transcending the ego, unlike the view of other religions that often separates creation from its creator. 

Understanding the Self's essence and connection to the cosmos is fundamental to spiritual exploration. Modern scientific explorations, particularly in Quantum Physics, resonate with ancient Vedic wisdom. The Vedas express that all existence is fundamentally unified—eternal, infinite, transcending space and time—as inseparable energy. This concept aligns with the understanding that the creator and creation are not separate entities but interconnected in the universe's vast nothingness, where unchanging eternal waves of energy exist. Essentially, you are a collection of electron clouds entangled by the principle of non-locality in Quantum Mechanics controlling the universe.

This convergence between ancient philosophies and modern scientific perspectives emphasizes the unity and interconnectedness underlying existence, transcending dualistic views and highlighting the intrinsic nonduality of all that exists from which everything in the forms of matter and consciousness appears to disappear. What eternally survives is the ultimate truth- we are all nothing but energy, where the supreme ability is the spiritual awareness from which everything becomes known, representing the creator and creation.

To sum up, being is what self-realization entails, not becoming. It marks the end of seeking, acquiring, and possessing. The truth—the radiant Self—shines forth when the seeker dissolves. It's the complete dissolution of the ego. Ultimately, self-realization reveals that there's no one to realize the Self; the Self embodies truth, knowledge, and bliss and is that boundless nondual presence in the form of being-ness or awareness. 

Therefore, self-discovery is profoundly personal and ongoing; it requires us to transcend influences and dive into who we are. Approaching this journey with a receptive mindset enables individuals to experience personal progress and self-improvement. For more information please visit www.giankumar.com

[touch-me-oooo]

Shifted Cardinal Aspects - A Theory?

If you don't know, the cardinal aspects in canon are just the topmost and sidemost aspects on the wheel. I'm starting up a fansession where the aspect wheel is shifted clockwise so that Light and Void and Hope and Rage are the new cardinal aspects. The point of this is to shift the powers so that I have something to hone my focus on.

So, aspect wheel is cardinally shifted. The cardinal aspects now are:

Void = Light (was. Space = Time) Hope = Rage (Breath = Blood)

Or,

Hope, Light, Rage, Void (Breath, Time, Blood, Space)

It seems that I MUST always relate my theories to homestuck canon(which makes perfect sense), though in my honest and serious observations I can see I've completely lost the fucking plot of the whole comic. Homestuck made me feel like opening my eyes and truly being INTO something for like. The first time in my life. Like, yes, I still know the comic, I've read it through multiple times, each time taking a fine look. And I hate what Hussie did to it. TBF, he was probably in a very strange place when he put this all together. But thank you Hussie, for showing us your "ironically good webcomic." It actually touched me, in ways nobody understands. But I have found this new dimension of the plot. And lost my mind. This knowledge, this insight, could possibly prove useful for once though.

The sessions in homestuck were twin, for few other reasons than that Hussie probably read some books with some big names on them. Jung and Campbell for example. Beyond the threshold(entry into sburb) there will be guardians, helpers, and mentors. In the comic, the two races are at odds and obscured from each other. Reading it was like reading an instructional manual on how to puke. That was because they are also, due to it literally being their pre-ordained fate, chronologically moving in opposite directions. The trolls arrive at the kids session pretty much right after having to future-past mouthfuck themselves in individual separate time zones on the meteor. Future selves informing the past selves, and the past selves being no more prepared to make a difference in how it all panned out in the end says the same thing about time as it usually does in homestuck. Needlessly complex 10th dimensional nonsense. Time is all about events, and Time was what Aradia had given the trolls when she took the hit for all the other trolls to scram, only for her to come back after death having transcended. Then they busted out the other side of the scratch into the universe they created. Karkat seems convinced he makes them Bound to his misfortune, despite actually being the only leader among them to succeed in uniting them all, pretty much AT all. John is just inverse. He IS the Hero of Journeys, whereas Karkat is the Hero of Unity(*). The Heir to Plot Progression, to be the god that became this force that pushes things toward the place they're going to be. The wind blows the way it is meant to go. No-place-else. John just controls that wind, thus justifying the depiction of his powers. John is also a leader-non-leader. He isn't the leader, he will take no such responsibility, meanwhile Karkat begged to be the Leader. But they both will lead, they will do the work, they will ultimately be the force necessary to save the session and everyone. I think because Breath and Blood were the difference between leaders, lives, species, relationships, and all such matters, and they made the depiction of those two worlds look and act and feel the way they did, WE can flip it a few degrees clockwise and achieve a method.

So, whoever is closest to Hope and Rage on the aspect wheel will then save or harm the session. One being the Hope, another being the Rage. One for the Optimism of Prospit, another for the Skepticism and Drudgery of Derse. These heroes are going to either make it through with (hope) or break through with (rage), and at the end of the tunnel they're passing through is a blinding (light). The only thing they have to protect themselves and proceed? Nothing. (void). They have not a damn thing. But. Perhaps. Thats the only thing you've needed all along. A solution in the void.

Our heroes of Light and Void or those closest to them will be the heroes keeping shit afloat. These guys are on the latitude of the graph, they're the line of increase/decrease(passive/active*). When you don't have an even balance of light and void, its either too bright or too dark. However, we're up against a tyrant of Light, using it with unmatchable strength and influence. Caliborn becomes Lord English because he killed his sister, even though he shouldn't have and he knows it. But, even as the Lord of Time he was not victorious at the end of the story. His sister, the Muse of Space, only wins when she loses. By dying, and by existing, inspires a timeline where she kills her brother and plays the doomed session, makes a deal with the mother of all monsters that ends with… Stopping. Lord English. It is unknown what happens after the trolls and kids escape into the new universe but. Yeah. There we go.

[bumblingbabooshka]

Co-Morbid.

Two Vulcans who, bonded as children, were raised in the same household (their parents were close friends, hence why they decided to bond their households together officially as family) and became obsessed with one another to the point that their life’s goal is to become one being in the most literal sense imaginable. They refer to themselves as a singular entity ‘Ulotyn’ (a mash of their names, Ulonk and T’ynara) and as children had a shared diary in which they recounted every conversation, movement and thought they could possibly remember as they couldn’t go everywhere together at the time. Their parents became concerned by their increasingly frequent ‘lapses in memory’ in which one would claim that something that happened to the other happened to them. (Ex: Ulonk gets a toy and T’ynara says that she received that same toy. T’ynara goes to the park and Ulonk claims to have gone to the park despite having been forced to study that day.) They did not make friends with other children and became distressed when they weren’t in contact for a period of time which became shorter and shorter with age. However, they became extremely adept at telepathic communication and devoted themselves to the study of telepathic abilities, not only of Vulcans but of all telepathic species. Once they grew old enough to live on their own they married (before any pon farr) and began seeking out more ways they could become one singular person. Unlike in most Vulcan marriages in which the strive to become “as one” is about unity and cooperation, Ulotyn sought to eliminate all differences between them and would become distressed if any arose.  (For Example: If Ulonk liked a certain fruit that T’ynara didn’t they’d both have to decide together if Ulonk would hate the fruit or T’ynara would like it - instead of these differences merely being accepted.) Also unlike most Vulcan marriages they had known one another and been in close proximity (and, at a certain point, nearly constant contact) for all of their lives. This left very few differences between them to reconcile or reasons to grow and gain new insight into themselves. Though they became very well-respected scholars who furthered research into the telepathic abilities of Vulcankind they were eventually ostracized and shunned due to their behaviour becoming more and more concerning. They were eventually taken into custody after attempting to perform a bonding ritual without the aid of a priestess, elder or medic between them and another individual who they claimed to have fallen in love with. (as they viewed themselves as one individual they also viewed themselves as being unbonded. They also saw the potential success of such a ritual as confirmation that they were truly one being.) Ulotyn was confined to a facility dedicated to their continued care in the hopes that one day they might separate themselves from one another and rededicate themselves to logic. However, they continue to communicate with the individual they refer to as their ‘bondmate’ and through them they have been able to continue publishing papers on the subject of Telepathy. It is still unknown what precisely caused these events to transpire. Was the priestess who bonded them responsible? Was it the fact that they grew up in extremely close proximity to one another? Was one of them born with mental health issues that were compounded and transferred through the bond? Both of them? Was it the familial environment? No one knows to this day, though several papers on the subject have been published. Perhaps one by Ulotyn themself.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

* * * * *

The climate crisis requires a wartime footing

Camilla Cavendish: “I wish,” a longstanding US Democrat and environmentalist said to me recently, “that we’d never politicised global warming.” Even as extreme heat is demonstrating that no country will be immune from climate change, the politics are becoming more treacherous. Parts of the right are mobilising to slow down the path to net zero, as inflation bites and the fossil fuel industry comes under pressure. In the US, Ron DeSantis has rejected “the politicisation of the weather” — despite having had to grapple with the effects of its extremes in Florida — and House Republicans are lobbying to overturn a tax on methane pollution within the Inflation Reduction Act. In Britain, Conservatives who fear annihilation at the next election have decided to use green policies as a wedge against Labour. Even Canada’s premier, Justin Trudeau, is struggling to deliver what was a radical plan on decarbonisation.

I have the eerie sense that some of the old tunes of the 1990s are being replayed. Although outright climate denial is now patently delusional, rightist politicians are quick to claim that the west has already done enough, or that new technology will save us. There have also been some bizarre attempts to distract from the main issue. When the skies in New York State turned orange in June, Rudy Giuliani tweeted “Is it due to wildfires, climate change or something more sinister?”. In Britain, the former Tory minister Lord David Frost recently declared that we shouldn’t worry because more people die of cold than heat. Meanwhile the hard end of the oil industry continues to lobby for projects that would be stranded assets under net zero.

The dilemma is how to balance climate action with the preservation of livelihoods. This can feel frustrating to those of us who fear we may soon reach planet tipping points which will wreak their own economic havoc. Extreme weather has already made some US homes uninsurable. Canada has lost more land to wildfires this year than any other on record, and its Climate Institute estimates that extreme heat will threaten half a million jobs by 2050. Meanwhile Greece, Italy and Spain, which are sweltering in 40C heat, must fear for the future of their tourist industries. Nevertheless, it is legitimate to ask which solutions will be most cost-effective, and where the costs should fall. The path to net zero demands that governments pull off the equivalent of a new Industrial Revolution in only three decades. Politicians are reluctant to move ahead of where they think public opinion is — and the public dislike blank cheques. The answer is surely to invoke a wartime spirit, and make the fight against climate change a joint endeavour against a common enemy. If the public and political will is there, human ingenuity can prevail, with remarkable speed. In the second world war, America transformed its manufacturing base to produce tanks and ammunition. The Covid pandemic resulted in the discovery and development of vaccines at scale, saving millions of lives. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has finally prompted Germany to free itself from its dependence on Russian gas.

What do all these cases have in common? A determined focus on a single objective, a sense of national unity and leadership by the private sector. For this to happen with climate, the political conversation has to mature. The left is correct in believing that getting to net zero will require a bigger state to mobilise resources and frame objectives. But the right is also correct that only markets are nimble and innovative enough to deliver. In Britain, some Tories are disingenuously trying to elide an unpopular tax on polluting vehicles in London with entirely separate climate policy. But many Green parties have committed similar sins, merging ‘green’ policies with ‘red’ ones — like wealth taxes, shrinking the military or, disastrously for Germany’s carbon footprint, opposing nuclear power. The story that voters need to hear from political leaders cannot be ideological. Long before Al Gore spoke so eloquently about the Inconvenient Truth, Margaret Thatcher warned of the growing peril of carbon emissions, and called for a framework convention on climate change in her speech to the 1989 UN General Assembly. Some modern Conservatives who consider themselves Thatcher’s disciples hate being reminded of her words that “we shall only succeed in dealing with the problems through a vast international, co-operative effort” — but she was right.

In two decades of writing about climate change I have learnt that it provokes deeply emotional reactions. People are quick to dispute any suggestion that they should change their lifestyle, or that the world they inhabit might change. They are understandably concerned about who is going to bear the costs of decarbonisation, and whether it is fair. Many would rather not think about it too much. Individual political leaders are navigating a very complex situation, a global tragedy of the commons in which no one population wants to lose out to any other. My American Democrat friend was right: the issue is too important to be held hostage by any one group. If we are to tackle the warming climate, we must take the heat out of the politics.

[thanks Robert Scott Horton]

[nicklloydnow]

“There is no doubt that, on the one hand, every Authority tends to become total: the Authority of one given type tends to capture the Authorities of other types. On the other hand, the metaphysical structure of Authority is antithetical to its division: three modes of Time naturally constitute one bloc, and Eternity is real only in and through its union with Time. It therefore seems that analysis of the phenomenon of 'Authority’ prohibits any division of political Authority, and any 'separation of powers'. It is therefore useless to insist on all the arguments of a practical nature that have been set against the 'constitutional' theory and practice (see for example Rousseau). It seems that, generally speaking, the division of an entity weakens it: the sum total of the powers of separated parts is less than the power of the same undivided whole. In fact, the division is not real (it has a meaning and a raison d'être) only if the separated parts are inclined to enter into conflict with one another; or if a conflict (even a latent one) looks as if it must necessarily 'neutralise' a part of the powers that are in question, in such a way that this 'lost' part of the power constituted by the sum total of powers of the separated parts, taken in isolation, would need to be deducted. Thus it seems better to give a political Authority taken en bloc one and the same (collective or individual) 'support’.

But the arguments - of a practical nature - uttered in favour of the thesis of the separation of powers are also very strong. Besides, these arguments are also well known, and we need not elaborate on them. Let us just say that the metaphysical analysis itself can, in a certain sense, be cited in support of the thesis in question. In fact, if it is true that the three modes of Time form a unity, it is also true that there would be no Time at all if there were no separation between the three modes - that is to say, also some sort of 'tension' or 'conflict’ between them. Similarly, if Eternity, being the totality of the three modes of time, forms a unity with it, it is also opposed to it in so far as the totality (the whole) is something other than the sum total of the parts. It is simply that, in both cases, the opposition, or, if we like, the separation, does not mean isolation of the separated or the opposed. There is interaction - that is to say, separation, since there are two (or several) agents; but there is also union, since there is action of an agent on one or many others inseparable from the reaction.

It follows for the question that interests us that, even when we want to separate the Authorities that in their ensemble constitute political Authority, they must not be isolated from one another by having each one of them withdraw into itself. They have to be able to act and react on one another: their dynamic union must be preserved despite their static division. (For example, if we separate the - legislative - Authority of the Leader from the - political-judicial - Authority of the Judge, the latter must not be pinned down by a system of laws that are in principle immutable, or by a Constitution that is supposedly unchangeable. Conversely, we must not establish the Authority of an ‘irresponsible' Leader, as is the case with that of the Monarch - that is to say, diminish the action of the Authority of the Judge, and so on.)

But if the thesis of the ‘isolating' separation of Authorities is rejected, should the principle of separation itself be preserved?

In order to answer this question, let us make a remark that is generally overlooked: when one and the same (individual or collective) 'support' is used by several pure types of Authority, there is always a tendency to develop one of those types (the 'dominant' or 'primary' type) at the expense of the others: the 'derivative' types cannot manage to develop completely as such, and remain at an embryonic stage. If we wish the four 'pure' types of Authority to be perfectly and completely realised, it is therefore necessary to allocate independent 'supports' to each one of them - that is to say, to 'separate powers'.

Note: This is also true for the Authority of the Leader and the Authority of the Master, which nevertheless cannot be separated. But there is here no political hindrance, because we can show that with political progress the Authority of the Master must give way to that of the Leader - that is to say, it will 'degenerate'. It even seems that it must completely disappear in the 'ideal' State of the future. Generally speaking, the Authority of the Master presupposes the real possibility of war and bloody revolution, and it thus presupposes its own disappearance along with them.

Political evolution goes from the unity of political 'power' to the separation of 'powers'. But what we have just said 'justifies' this state of things: in order for each 'pure’ type to reach the plenitude of its development, it has to be separated from the others. But this does not mean that Authorities must remain 'divided' even after they have realised all their implicit possibilities. It seems, on the contrary, that they will have to reunite again. Political evolution would therefore start from the non-differentiated unity (the unity of the embryonic form), and go through a period of division and development of the separated elements, finally leading to totality - that is to say, to differentiated unity (the unity of the adult organism).” (pages 80 - 83)

[theseventhoffrostfall]

I'm not sure if you've gone into this in detail before, but in your fantasy setting are there any particularly notable organizations of wizards or sorcerers? Or of wizards and sorcerers? I assumed that the difference in casting style might lend them to be more separate but if that isn't the case, or at least isn't strictly the case with all spellcasting organizations, how exactly does that relationship look?

Yeah, actually. The Confederation integrated as its state magical authority a pre-existing tribe of magic users (whose name I consistently waffle on). Said tribe, which previously worked for the likes of Thurakanda and Crucian--it's been noted by historians that their penchant for picking the winner in any given conflict is a bigger asset than their magical might when it comes to their continued survival-- essentially codified wizardry as it's practiced by humans. They were the ones who started shaping their spells through cold logic and mathematics rather than passion and imagination, to the point that they invented calculus in the setting as a byproduct of their research.

Under the Confederation's auspice, they're the ones who authorize civic and military wizards, providing basic training for them in most cases, and license independent mages to operate. Despite not training sorcerers (more on them in a moment) they're responsible for licensing and overseeing them as well.

Per their charter and treaty with the Iron God, they retain their rights as a semi-autonomous tribe rather than a purely government ministry. Mages, be they independents or civil servants, rely on either self-directed research or networking mutual support to advance beyond the sufficient-for-their-tasks training they receive from the tribe precisely because the tribe reserves the right keep their advanced learning and secrets, well, secret. If a wizard wants to continue studying under the masters of the arcane in the human world rather than going it alone, they're required to swear a blood pact and be adopted as a full member of the tribe, and thereafter fall under tribal law rather than that of an ordinary Confederate citizen (said law, incidentally, include things like "betraying the tribe, abandoning the tribe, or simply failing to perform to the satisfaction of the elders are punishable by death").

The elven model of wizardly training is a bit more conventional (and less fleshed out at the moment, though between the elven cultural mindset and their lack of political unity, they don't have any analogue to the tribe), but by necessity their customs for sorcery remain largely the same.

Sorcery, being inherently something developed through imagination, force of will and constant practice, doesn't lend itself to the same amount of rigor and standardization. Throughout the world, it's nearly universal that aspirants study the basics of how to channel magic relatively safely under an established sorcerer, and then are simply cast out in a fly-or-die method--Sorcery has no spell tomes or equations, no secret techniques or knowledge that can be passed from one sorcerer to another in any practical or meaningful sense. Their power comes from within, and so they can rely on no one.

Some cases are a bit less merciless than this traditional model--a master may allow their apprentice to journey with them, perilous though these journeys tend to be, and provide whatever advice and guidance they're able to. And, in the case of the Confederation, Sorcerers being licensed to practice (read: live) confers the material, legal and networking support that loosely exists among the mage community throughout the continent

[greatwyrmgold]

I just started watching KamiKatsu. It's hard to describe! It's like someone stuck Konosuba, a Re:Zero RPG Maker fangame, a Unity asset flip, and the journal of a young left-wing thunderf00t fan trying to work through some stuff, then had one guy stitch that slurry together into a full cour in a single week.

KamiKatsu is a story about Yukito, a cult leader's son whose last thoughts are a wish to reincarnate in a world without gods or religion, because said cult made his life a living hell (and also ended it in a weird barrel ritual). As requested, he ends up reincarnated in a world with no gods or religion...or adventurer's guilds or RPG mechanics or anything like that. However, it does have two things that are kinda religious: A totalitarian government which enforces arbitrary rules with absolute moral certitude, and the god from Yukito's dad's cult, who he accidentally summons to the other world while almost re-dying at the end of episode 1.

The most important thing about KamiKatsu isn't its story, though. It's the budget, or rather the patently obvious lack thereof. There are two ways a studio can react to this kind of issue: Either do the normal cost-cutting measures all anime needs to use, just more, or do some extreme cost-cutting measures that make the anime artistically distinct. KamiKatsu goes for the second route, and while it sometimes just looks cheap, it looks absurd often enough that I'm willing to overlook that. I'm particularly fond of the pixel-art doodles that pop up to backfill fight scenes, daily chores, and so on.

(KamiKatsu is the cheapest-looking anime I've ever seen dubbed.)

But the story isn't bad. The first episode's pacing feels a bit rushed, probably so they can get to the bit where Yukito accidentally summons a god in the first episode, but I like Yukito as a character. He's consistently watching for the plot hook that might signal the fantasy journey he's been anticipating for weeks, which is funny, but he's also content doing manual labor and getting drunk alongside people who he gets along with. I also enjoy the supporting cast, and the world they inhabit. It's not a deep world, but it isn't pure nonsense and it has some interesting ideas that mesh together into a coherent whole.

Speaking of interesting ideas that mesh together into a coherent whole, themes! The left-wing thunderf00t fan thing I mentioned was a reference to this bit. The fantasy world Yukito ended up in cleanly divides religion into two separate entities; you have the institution in the empire's absolute authority, and the spirituality in . It's making a strong statement about organized religion—that it has both good and bad aspects, which aren't closely linked. You can have the good without the bad. It doesn't seem super deep, and I don't agree with everything it seems to be saying about religion. Despite that...it's clearly trying to say something, that something is mostly positive, and it's a bit nuanced. Not just "religion good" or "religion bad," but "this part of religion good, this part bad". It would have given me something to think about in my shitty teenaged atheist phase, and there are a lot of shitty teenaged atheist otaku out there.

Also the jokes are consistently funny, and not just in the charmingly-shoddy sense prior paragraphs implied. Yukito reincarnated in a world that, for all its hardships, is absurd in a lot of ways, which are leveraged for comedy. It's no One Punch Man or Kaguya-sama, but it's consistently funny. And while it occasionally has dramatic bits right next to serious ones (like when it switches rapidly between Mitama being a goofy god and being a vengeful one), it generally avoids having the humor step on the drama's toes or vise versa.

KamiKatsu should suck. The story is a mash of stuff that, on paper, sounds absurd at best and incoherent at worst. The animation ranges from mediocre to baffling. And yet, it's enjoyable.

Is this an anime recommendation post? I have no idea!

[shittygaypornmagazine]

Jsyk I was shaking while writing this

Oh my god, I’m back boo, disclaimer tho. Anything and most definitely everything will not make any sense, BUT THINK THATS THE POINT. Honestly this might just be a rant. I honestly don’t know any way that I could interpret Casey’s segment other than the way it’s already written, because the out of all the things that got to me from Casey’s segment, was that none of what he was feeling made any sense. He could define his jealousy and despair but yes, he could not explain why he felt that way in any form that would make sense. THAT IS GRIEF, BUT YOU VALIDATED IT SO PERFECTLY, like I thought I was the only one. Because for some reason it does feel like your missing out on something, and it gets so frustrating.

There is something so unique about this kid that just makes be want to stop existing so that he can take my spot (in a very positive way).

I think what separates Casey from Nardo even if they have the same time displaced experience, is that Nardo knows that he is (was) the future. Of course Jr comes from the same year he does, but he spent his entire life being told that his surroundings weren’t what they were supposed to be, and he wasn’t meant to grow up the way he did. I feel like It’s best and it makes so much of the sense it’s not supposed to if Casey is not defined, and only acknowledged for what he is. Because his life transcends time and space, his heart and mind break the barrier meant to keep both aspects of his life separate. People can say that he comes from one and now living in the other, but he is a unity of both, and I can completely get how he feels like isn’t bound to anything but himself.

Omg, the way you explained it was so real, despite his isolation he finds a way to coexist with the circumstances and acknowledges his displacement even in the simple things he does. Learns to live with and become aware of his emotions. That little segment really got to me and every time I read it I wish that I could gift you my heart and mind so that we could somehow find a way to discuss it or just feel it further. Like a ninja mind meld but with emotions as well. I CAN’T EXPLAIN IT, I REALLY WISH I KNEW HOW THO.

Just know that if you read Casey’s segment again, everything conveyed in those letters I cried over because yes, you get it, I get it, and our poor beloved Jr gets it (even the stuff he doesn’t get because, yes) That’s all I can say and I have no idea if this will give the same weight as all of the other things I’ve flooded your inbox for. Just know I have a tissue box near at all times because of you, YOU’VE ROTTED MY BRAIN, Idk if there’s anything left to rot boo ╥﹏╥

THIS KID IS SO ME CORE. I will never forgive the universe for not giving me a chance to cry the ugliest tears with him and share them together. HE DESERVES COMFORT AND HAPPINESS, he is my beloved.

THANK YOU for the insight on the daddy with a shotgun situation btw, it makes me love the fact that the trope is switched between father and son so much more like- (ಥ﹏ಥ) YES JR, GET THAT BITCH (I swear, I love Yuichi too)

I love and appreciate you so much boo (´Д⊂ヽ

-If you can, listen or read “Glide- Mitski” the cover, I think- it just- KBADGHIGKNVFD

(Jr with a shotgun real)

OMG I MISSED YOU MY BOO I'M SO GLAD TO SEE YOU (⁠┛⁠✧⁠Д⁠✧⁠)⁠)⁠┛❤️

I guess there's two of us shakers now cuz I am literally unable to read any ask abt Full Lair without having to take a moment to walk around the room in excitement or flap my hands at a compliment but YOUR asks are a whole lot different case and I have to clear out my schedule for at least the next three business days to recover

anywizzle!

I am feeling so many feelings about you getting the feelings that Casey is getting to feeling because we're all feeling the same thing, and just like you said, you get it.

especially the thing about knowing the feeling and acknowledging it but still not being able to understand why is it still there because honestly that's one of the first things that fucked me up when I first encountered grief.

cuz like grief it misinterpreted a lot but what is it if not loose thread of someone's lifeline, sticking out of your life like out of a corner of a completely new t-shirt? it's not supposed to be there. you're not supposed to feel it. it's out of place. and yet here you are, staring at it, unable to shift your focus to anything else because it touches your skin and ruins your look, even if no one else is aware of it.

sorry, got into rambling again.

so, Casey! baby boy Casey, oh how I love him! honestly the whole "shovel talk" being switched is just so funny to me because imagine this 16 year old in his battle gear appearing out nowhere Just To Talk 😇 (the dude can literally terrifying when he wants to be, just look at his mask). especially considering he grew up listening to Nardo tell him stories about his exes. I mean Usagi REALLY should check where are his swords cuz Jr is not playing games.

only hokey.

anyway, I had something else to say, but I don'ts remember what exactly, so just. THANK YOU FOR EXISTING, BOO 💕

AND LISTEN I HAD A MITSKI MARATHON A COUPLE OF DAYS AGO AND I DIDN'T GET TO THIS SONG BUT NOW I DID AND I LOVE IT SO MUCH?????

[frosteee]

The Tragedy of the Hassan of the Hundred Faces

'Finally, after roughly two centuries, the Assassins disappeared from history, leaving only an ominous word as their legacy.' - Day of the Assassins, Michael Burleigh.

I love the Hassan servants, but to me none capture the sense of lost legacy and individual struggle than the Hassan of a Hundred Faces.

The OG Assassin

Hassan of the Cursed Arm has legacy as his personal motive as well, but as much as I love Uncle Cursed Arm, I have to admit that it feels more like a redo of Hundred Faces, distilled into a single Servant. One personality of HF, Zayd, declares his intent to be personally renowned in history, like Cursed Arm wishes to be.

History

Rarely do the names for Assassins come up in the history books aside from the founder, Hassan-i-Sabbah. I have only discovered one so far. They are mysterious, nameless killers. We are far more likely to get details about the victim than the Assassin who killed them. Time has made them an amorphous blob, known for the whole rather than the sum of its parts.

It is fitting, then, that in a desperate attempt to avoid this fate, the man who would become the Hassan of a Hundred Faces would forcibly fragment his own psyche in an attempt to compartmentalise all his knowledge and skills.

Lost Face

Whatever he attempted to achieve with this in life, he did so in death, able to manifest these personas in one hundred individual bodies. These personas are so distinct that they have their own specialisations, personalities and appearances.

However, by separating himself in order to stand out, he lost something important. Each individual Assassin is weaker by itself than when it was part of the original. The man who became Hundred Faces weakened himself one hundred fold. And because there were only so many skills to divide between the individual personas, some are Assassins only in name and, like Zayd, are so lacking in talent that losing them has little effect on the group's overall strength.

But not only did the person who bacame Hundred Faces nerf himself x100, those one hundred people also had distinct personalities of their own. Some are 'glory-hounds' who 'ignore orders like fools', and one of their dislikes is listed as 'in-fighting', something which is garuanteed to happen when such a large group with individual personalities are forced to co-operate.

The only time in Fate/Zero that the Assassins act as a group is in their confrontation of Rider, Saber and Archer in that war. We don't know what their plan was, but once Rider pulled the rug of reality from under them and took them to a place where their army of a hundred had to square off with another, their unity fell to pieces.

They would have lost regardless, but the fact of the matter is that when the situation called for them to come together, their conflicting selves made that impossible. The female Assassin gave up and accepted her fate. The others ran - many dying with spears in their backs - and the remainder only fought when cornered.

There was zero (pun intended) co-operation between the individuals. It was every man (or woman) for himself.

Motive

There is a sense among each Assassins of Hundred Faces that they have lost themselves. Their goal is to return to being a complete personality. But they don't just want to be complete, they want to be 'perfect'.

That's why they can carry on despite the loss of one or more of their members. But even with this lofty goal in mind, there is an uneasiness in each one of them. In the Zero manga, the female Assassin dismisses Zayd's death, comparing it to the loss of a little finger. We don't rely on our little finger nearly as much as the others, say the index finger, and if it is lost we can get by fine without it.

But, she adds, "a loss is still a loss". No matter how weak he was, Zayd still mattered. He was not fodder to his fellow Assassins. His death was felt by them.

Tragedy

What is so tragic about this is that if the Assassins could reflect on this just a bit more, they would realise that this isn't just the grief of a lost comrade. As weak as he was, Zayd was just as much a part of the whole as each of his ninety-nine fellows. They are all part of the same being, and losing even one dooms their goal to failure. They can never be complete.

It of course didn't help that their Master was Kirei, a man who viewed them as nothing but pawns and never intended to use them as much more than scouts. The Assassins go on their individual missions with few, if anyone, backing them up. They are thrown to the wolves in almost every scenario, particularly the last, where they are disposed of.

This isn't to absolve the Assassins themselves entirely from blame for their own misfortune. Their setup from the get-go puts them at an extreme disadvantage. Their only strength is in numbers, working as one unit, but with so many individuals with conflicting personalities, strengths and weaknesses, each containing only a fraction of the original person's talent, if they fail to function as a unit then they cannot hope to succeed.

Their biggest failing is in striving to achieve the 'perfection' the original person sought. Because each of them has their own sense of self, they each view themselves as the one to achieve that goal. They all see themselves as 'the original', or the one worthy to become the original. Zayd states this outright in the 'Consultation Room' episode, vowing to ensure his name echoes throughout the ages. Because every persona has its own name.

It's even noted that the Assassins - one, more or even all of them - were planning to beat both Kirei and Tokiomi Tosaka to the punch and get the Holy Grail themselves once they'd got a leg up (which would have been so funny to see). This would have ended supremely badly for all of them if they'd gotten half a chance to actually put this plan in motion.

You could argue that this is the result of dissatisfaction with being a servant of a servant, having a Master who only sees them as fodder, but it's just as plausible to imagine the more rebellious ranks in their number pulling the same stunt on a Master who genuinely cared, so even if they did get far in the war, their disunity would still be their undoing.

Even worse, only a maximum of eighty of the Hundred Faces can be summoned at one time, so even if the Assassins got the Grail, a full twenty other personas would be left in the void. They would still be incomplete. Even if they won, they would still lose!

The Best Case Scenario (fantasy)

In the best case scenario, their Master would be able to summon all one-hundred personas. That Master would be a person who respected not only all one-hundred individual strengths and weaknesses, but also acknowledged that they were each an equally important part of a whole, and that the perfection they sought was impossible.

That Master would also be able to succeed in the enormous task of memorising every single one of their talents, weaknesses and personalities, and be able to use that to its fullest potential to get ahead. Not impossible, but a massive task very few could actually pull off.

But this would rely on the individual one hundred faces of Assassin agreeing to throw their ideals of perfection away, resolving to become the person they once were, and coming together to make that happen.

Until that day, they will remain forgotten.