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the-grin--reaper · 4 months

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On the surface, the gang is just a happy found family but

Lindon has struggled with self worth all his life, being told that if he was murdered his clan would have to apologise to his murderers, and generally being treated like he's less than dirt. He didn't even start to see himself as important or strong until book ~eight that's how deep his insecurities ran. That is 3 years away from the valley, as a guy in the top 16 of the Uncrowned Tournament. He still felt lesser. When he saw his family again it all got worse and set him back probably months on the measure of his self worth because they still saw him as a useless unsouled. It makes it worse that his underlord revelation was literally "I practice the sacred arts because I don't want to be useless anymore".

Yerin has abandonment issues. Her whole village got killed by a monster, a monster that then lived inside her. Then her master got killed and she was left alone again and in her povs you can see how deeply this affected her, especially in the early books. She was enraged that the Sandvipers attacked her and Lindon whilst he was advancing to Copper because it was cowardly, sure, but she also thought "they wanted to leave her alone again. That was unacceptable." Her Underlord revelation was about never being alone again. She always panicked when Lindon leaving was mentioned; when Cassias told him that they would send him home she froze up, worried that Lindon would leave her alone. She didn't want him to leave her behind, the mere thought of him leaving her frightened her.

Eithan has a deep set loneliness and is the antithesis of what he wants to be. He has been ahead all his life. A prodigy, a genius. But that means that he left all his friends behind. He had no equals, still doesn't, even among the most powerful beings in the universe. He was alone his whole life. When he manifested the broom icon for fun, a bunch of people killed themselves. He wanted to be a healer but he became the literal God of Death. He found a way to reverse death to manifest the Life Icon, and instead manifested the Death Icon. He was compatible with every Abidan type, except a healer. The one he wanted. He created a weapon called Penance. Penace. As penace for everything he's done. Then he had to spend millenia reaping worlds - billions, trillions of people. Regularly. A change in the system could lessen this, he wouldn't have to reap so many lives (lives that he feels the sorrow of) if they just changed the system. But they won't because this one works "so well". At the expense of the one Judge that can never stop, never leave, because he doesn't have anyone that could take his place.

Mercy has mommy issues and was the victim of gaslighting. Throughout the series Malice treats her like a prized possession to be discarded once her worth is lessened in her eyes. Malice shamed Mercy over the fact that her friends are better, she made her feel lesser and weak. She was horribly manipulative towards Mercy and tried to hold her hostage. She lied to Mercy to keep her on her side, and only ever showed Mercy love when Mercy needed to be manipulated. Mercy feared her. Malice also publicly humiliated Mercy, in front of friends and family. Meanwhile all Mercy has ever wanted was to make her mother proud. She even physically abused Mercy, when Mercy was trying to urge her to ascend, and verbally abused her because she didn't want to see the truth.

Ziel got tortured and lost the will to live. He wasn't suicidal, but he didn't care whether he lived or died. He was forced to watch as his whole sect died, then got mutilated and crippled by a mad scientist that took pleasure in torturing him and fixing him up wrong. Then this same scientist threatened to hurt him again and he was prepared to let it happen, prepared to endure it again, because in exchange Yushi and Calling Storms would send the others to help Lindon. He was so apathetic and depressed because of what he went through, and suffered for years, his spirit causing him pain, hardly considering himself a sacred artist. And the worst part is, that he is just a genuinely nice guy. He helps Lindon in Ghostwater. He stays with Lindon after his contract to Eithan expires. He tries to cheer the group up by jumping out from behind a couch, pretending to be Eithan, because they miss him. He doesn't deserve to have suffered so much, but even then, he still finds a way to be kind. Despite his suffering, and having lived with it for so long.

#thats not even mentioning other trauma #like lindon's claustrophobia #they have been through TOO MUCH #TOO MUCH !!#cradle series #wei shi lindon arelius #eithan arelius #yerin arelius #akura mercy #ziel dawnwing of the wastelands #ziel of the wastelands #cradle will wight

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katyspersonal · 4 months

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Thoughts about Crucible and conceptual corruption of religion

I've started trying to figure out what Crucible is exactly today while playing Elden Ring and I need to put down my thoughts about it before I forgot 🤔 I think basically it is what happened when the divine met the natural, the lifeforms on the setting's earth. In a way, the original Greattree is somewhat of a Crucible itself! Conceptually it is a very primordial faith that was yet filling life with meaning beyond just survival in a very good sense, but in ER the divine needs us as much as we need it, if not more so. Elden Ring hasn't always operated by Golden Order / Marika obviously; it was initially just a cool thing that fell from space and kind of accelerated everything, especially life itself! Presumably the result of Greater Will wanting to manifest itself in some sort of personality and coherent shape, but before the decision of what the order would be got handed to mortals (Empyreans first of all)

^ In Farum Azula there is a depiction of Elden Ring in more abundant form, very overflowing with life, so alternatively it'd rely on (ancient) dragons, the lifeform of whole other level back then for "order and personality"!

But yeah, uhhh like how do I put it...? Crucible is the result of the divine growing within the earth full of nature, primordial matters and mortal life. The initial Greattree "contracted" it like an influence, nature of life itself crept into it, it became the divine matter turning imperfect but alive! And the way Misbegotten, Omens and alike have animalistic features placed without any logic (and at times these features are useless) is a reflection of how chaotic life in its nature is brought from a concept to a display! Also the evergrowing "horns" were already a thing in simpler times, like what Ancestral guys are associated with! That's why Crucible used to be seen as a sacred thing - it was like a display of the divine matter wiling to live through you! But also Greattree wasn't meant to last forever and would one day die and in turn give the way to new life to replace it (Erdtree). It is a principle the divine naturally adopted upon becoming alive in the way nature knows it through the first big tree; life sprouts from death as much as it sprouts from birth!

So yeah, the problem began when the mortals (Marika?) pulled an ultimate purity wank and wanted that eternity, divinity and "perfection" forever rather than this new Erdtree once likewise dying (even if in turn it would give way to new life and so on forever). The whole DS3 is just Miyazaki being salty about how some people just won't let things die after their cycle expired, why not use what works again? XD But ALSO in these terms, the beastly idiocy nature of life started being seen not as simply something that MAYBE needed discipline to get the best out of it, but as a "disease" or a curse that "dirtied" the divine essence. So the divine in their eyes needed to be protected from being "sullied", from being pulled down to this level, the imperfections that make the life what it is started to just being liability - a bad mistake forms of civilizing (especially religions) keep making.

So Erdtree eventually ran out of its blessed sap and became ephemeral, useless as the holiness that only preserves its "purity" and doesn't sully itself for anyone can be. How it could give the world any more of the sap that was good for it without subjecting itself to it? It is like sharing advices without ever listening to what people's struggles are to BEGIN with. Age of Plenty was over because of obsession with the purity and defending the divine from "lowly" life, Crucible was an evidence that it once got "dirtied" but now never again, when in reality the very worst thing that could have happened with Erdtree is it dying like Greattree once did but giving life to the next tree in turn. I do think that fixation on the idea of eternity is still a larger part of it but I just can't ignore the thing about purity and control in it

^ @val-of-the-north also showed me these shapes when I shared my thoughts with him, to illustrate my point back to me (basically he said he agreed with my thought process). He pointed out that progression of the symbols shows the same thing - modern Erdtree and Fundamentalist incantations notably lack "life" in them in the form of branches and leaves. It could be not just what the Erdtree stopped doing, but also what they wanted to remove from the divine (Floral Crucible is only mentioned in cut content, but still). The latter two are "trapped" in concrete geometrical shapes, reflecting an actual order like what Greater Will wants in the end; it wants some organization, no matter which one. ...but also doesn't, there are enough implications that Frenzied Flame is just another side of the same coin. It even also has the hand as a conduct of the GW! And makes it funnier how they've sealed the Frenzied Flame away too, removing the alternatives- For sure, a decision that is understandable, but what does life mean if you don't have to fight against the essence of existential despair for it?

___________

Hhhhhh I went on a tangent but I was trying to say that I think Crucible didn't "come from space"! Elden Ring fell in this world cold empty and without self-comprehension like the cosmic void it came from, but initially assimilated with what life is here and Greattree was the manifestation! But Crucible also wasn't fully natural for this world too; it reflects aspects of life forms here but they get taken through this assimilation and then boosted with the blessing and given new meaning! Life for the sake of itself and next level magic for the sake of itself both are far from being meaningful but it is when low and high matters meet everything becomes full and complete! But in chasing to make the good things that come from it last forever people will end up demonizing and trying to exterminate natural things and prioritize only the divine.

Looking back at real humanity history, yeah I can see the relevance with how religion has been developing as a concept. How it started simple and fulfilling as a (successful) attempt to add higher meaning in existence than just surviving, was full of joy and wonder and freedom. And how in the end it came to incredibly suffocating and corrupt systems of control, purity wank and denial of normal parts of life 🤔

#elden ring #elden ring headcanons #thoughts #use later #sorry if I forgot something or worded something awkwardly aaaa #it is 2 AM I woke up and tired in a way no sleep can heal hghjhjh

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dragynkeep · 9 months

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i don't really understand the argument that aang should've killed ozai. n1. from a realistic pov, its a kids show, it's not gonna be game of thrones. but from a writing perspective he is the last air nomad, not just the last airbender. being a nomad is different to being an airbender as its the cultural aspect of it- aang carries the weight of being the last of both. he doesn't want to kill ozai because the monks believe all life is sacred, and by killing ozai, there will be no nomads left, as he felt he would've abandoned his culture.

i don't know what would've happened if he hadn't discovered a way to remove ozais bending, but i do know that it literally doesn't matter if he killed him or not. ozai loses either way, he suffers either way. the people of the other nations, including the ones from the air temples who were murdered, still get their justice because he is still being held to what he did and punished. arguably, being stripped of his bending and locked in a cell to rot is more of a punishment than death. and also, then zuko becomes fire lord. meaning if he wants, he could have ozai executed and nobody could do anything about it. the end circumstances were the same either way. aang not killing ozai was not bad, the people still got their justice, arguably more because ozai was sentenced to suffer like he inflicted on them.

the entire issue with this is twofold in that aang is not only responsible for himself & without the magical lion turtles, the earth kingdom would've been destroyed.

"we don't know what would've happened if he hadn't discovered a way to remove ozai's bending" but we do, ozai was in the process of it. ozai would've razed the earth kingdom to the ground in pursuit of his new world & continued further on with mass genocides & oppressions of non fire nation folk as he blatantly said on screen. he was doing this while aang was still quibbling with his nonviolence ethos.

& the nonviolence isn't even reflective of the air nomads in the show: we literally see in the first book that monk gyatso murked at least 20 - 30 fire nation soldiers in order to preserve his own life & the life of other air nomads fleeing.

& monk gyatso isn't the only airbender nomad to choose violence as a defensive measure, avatar yangchen also does. she straight up tells aang that while he has these cultural ethos, he isn't just responsible for himself anymore. he is responsible for the entire world & with that comes having to make hard choices even if he doesn't personally agree with them because that's his job.

here we see aang being confronted with the fact that his idealized caricature of his own culture is not the truthful representation through both monk gyatso & yangchen setting it straight: the air nomads were not devoted, peaceful spirits willing to follow a non violence ethos straight to their death, they would protect themselves. aang is responsible for protecting the world, even when he's confronted with that he accepts it.

it's only through sheer bullshittery that we get the lion turtles who show him the ability to remove bending — which then came with it's own host of ethical issues further in the series so it's not like this is a null harm issue — & even then it took a specific plot rock to the back to get him to put this into action. aang was losing, he was going to die & it's delusional to think that him following his non violence ethos to his death at the expense of a kingdom dependent on him is the "correct" choice.

especially because we've also seen aang kill before in self defense. while in the avatar spirit yes but what was to stop him from doing the same to ozai while in that same avatar spirit state. this whole devotion to a bastardization of a marginalized culture irl written by white men who have never had to face a racialized violence as the basis of aang's decision "not to kill" is borderline insulting.

also in respect to "this isn't game of thrones": people have died on screen. even as early as book 1 we were featuring on screen deaths & if a child affected by the brutality of war like jet can die violently on screen, then so can the imperialistic, genocidal dictator hellbent on again, burning an entire kingdom & not stopping there.

this whole argument hinges on the plot saving aang's ass by not letting him make that hard decision, instead offering up a last moment's holy grace which was never foreshadowed & ended up only hurting aang as a character. especially when not killing ozai only left the world in further instability as cults & secret factions devoted to wanting him to return as fire lord sprung up in the wake of zuko's coronation & put the fire nation in further turmoil when it was incredibly sensitive post war. so aang didn't even help in that regard & only caused further harm instead of helping.

#atla #atla critical #atla salt #aang #aang critical #aang salt #ais.txt #answered

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eclecticmiasma · 2 years

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Kinktober '22 Day 6 (Dottore x Reader)

"It's been so long since you've been treated with any sort of kindness that you want nothing more than to fall into him, to show him how grateful you are for his work."

NSFW

[Warnings: DEAD DOVE: DO NOT EAT, Dottore is his own warning, gore, afab reader, blood, descriptions of medical equipment/procedures, stockholm syndrome, reader is a bit fucked in the head]

Art credit: Kradebii on pixiv

Two masked men take the mostly covered body away on a stretcher. Its arms, already seized by rigor mortis, are outstretched to the sky in final plea for mercy. The edges of your gown are frayed as you pick at them, anxiously watching what had once been a friend disappear. At least he's at peace.

Long ago, or maybe last week, those held underground decided never to share their names. It makes it too personal when they inevitably succumb, whether it's to the disease or the methods themselves. It's too easy to make friends here. It's too easy to cling on to the little shards of humanity you find scattered within one another. A simple sharing of bread can make you feel like you've known this person all your life.

Some patients sob. The sickest don't even spare a glance in the corpse's direction. Some curse the doctors to hell and back, rumbling through gritted teeth. All you feel is overwhelming guilt.

Guilt that you continue to survive, guilt that every death feels less and less heart-wrenching. Guilt that somewhere deep, deep in the pit of your gut lies overwhelming anticipation.

Dottore is coming.

That's what the others call him. It's only fitting that the coldest, cruelest, most calculating of them all have a title different than the rest. It doesn't escape your attention that all the workers seem deferent to him, if not outright submissive. Yes Dottore. No, Dottore. It was only a mistake, Dottore. These callous bastards crumble the minute he enters the room.

Every time a patient dies, Dottore is soon to follow. From what you've gathered in your time here, he has purview over any and all anomalies. The regular doctors won't even touch you if something unexpected occurs. All autopsies are to be done by Dottore as well- you found that out when a young Doctor from Snezhnaya was...removed after deigning to investigate a patient's death on his own.

Not only will Dottore come to perform the autopsy, but every single patient is to receive a full body examination and additional testing if needed. Though testing occurs like clockwork at the facility, a relatively healthy patient such as yourself is examined but once a week. Even then, it's a surface level screening at best. The doctors come and check your pupils, lungs, blood pressure. They might check your limb function before taking a small vial of blood and going on their way. They don't even take the time to restrain you lest you decide enough is enough. It's as if they have no vision, no care for their work.

It's different with Dottore. One can tell he views his research as something sacred. Everything he does has meaning. He considers your open wounds, your thick scaled skin, the heavy throbbing of your pulse inside your throat with meticulous concern, logging pages of notes through your time together. Even when he hurts you, you feel as if it's for a greater purpose beyond your understanding. When you're with him you feel important, elated that you may just be the thing he's searching for. As his skilled hands survey you, you want so desperately to be good for him- whatever that might entail.

"Everyone back to your beds!" Your chest tightens, nerves building. A commotion breaks out as one of the newer patients resists, demanding to know what happened to the man who died. As always, he's given one verbal warning before being forced to the ground and sedated. He'll learn soon enough.

Once cries of agony begin to echo throughout the halls, you know that he's arrived. The other patients maintain that Dottore is psychotic, a madman chasing something that he'll never quite reach. They say he's using those afflicted with Eleazar as mere lab rats. He views your bodies as a means to an end and most of the medicine he practices is for his own sadistic pleasure, they say. If all of you died tomorrow, he'd simply hunt for a new batch of victims. For the sake of peace and your own conflicted heart, you always hold your tongue.

The cries get closer as time drags along. Dottore may spend hours with a single patient, harvesting all of the data he can uncover. It only makes your anxiety build. You wonder if their lives would be less painful if they would only allow the testing to go unimpeded. As much as it's pained you, you've never once shrieked the way the others have. The pain is only temporary if it can help rid the world of Eleazar completely.

Finally, you hear his heavy footsteps as he makes his way down the corridor. You lie flat on your back and swallow hard, barely able to breathe. His shadow fills your doorframe. Mindlessly, your fingers continue to rip at your gown.

Metal and glass clank together as Dottore enters your room, dragging a cart full of equipment behind him. As always, he pulls out a ragged piece of paper and studies it for a moment before taking your arm in hand. A number was branded into the skin on the inside of your wrist when you first arrived. He hums in confirmation.

"[Y/n]," He greets you curtly, reaching down to grasp a black strap attached to the side of your bed. A terrible nostalgia nearly overwhelms you. How long has it been since you've heard your name? Without another word, you lay your arms flat at your sides and allow Dottore to fasten the straps around your limbs one by one. A precaution, he noted the first time you met. Their tightness makes you feel strangely secure. Everything is in Dottore's hands now.

First comes the tourniquet. Dottore ties it neatly over your bicep. Two of his slender, gloved fingers tap gently for a vein to rise. Even through the material you can sense how cold his hands are. Soon the lengthy needle tip of a syringe is aligned and the head pricks your skin painfully. You remind yourself to breathe.

"Such lovely veins," He muses, watching your deep red blood flow into vial after vial, "Much easier than digging for an opening," You can't bring yourself to look at him, body flushing at the sudden compliment.

After five or six vials he removes the syringe from your flesh and swipes at it with a piece of fabric. You wince as it drags over the inside of your forearm, catching a fresh patch of Eleazar that has begun to form. Dottore frowns as he spots it and your heart sinks.

He turns to check his notes and you can't help but feel you've disappointed him. For weeks your affliction has been held in check, of course a relapse would happen just before a visit from Dottore himself. Sure enough, he mutters much of the same.

Without a word, he sets down his notes and rifles through different equipment before extracting a small scalpel. He holds it up to the light above and turns it, checking the sharpness of the blade. Deeming it worthy, he grasps your forearm presses the scalpel to your skin, dragging it forward without warning.

It takes every ounce of self control you have not to scream. Not to be like them. The nature of Eleazar is that its physical symptoms run deep. Unlike a scab or scrape, the crusted scales run well into the dermis and require surgical intervention to remove. You feel the hot rush of blood as it trickles forth, soaking your gown and the bedding beneath.

Dottore looks at you as you try not to writhe, as you try so desperately to stay still and let him work. You unconsciously emit a long, pitiful whine as he cuts deeper and deeper still, burning pain overwhelming. Little do you know that Dottore could end this as quick as he started it, but curiosity has overtaken him.

Where is your line?

"Look at me," He orders. You hadn't even realized that your eyes were screwed shut, face wet with tears. You do your best to obey, to tunnel vision on the dark mask that covers Dottore's face. If you could see his eyes, you think, all of this would be so much easier to take, "Good girl."

In a swift motion he slices the rest of the Eleazar away, leaving a deep, bloody gash in its wake. A sob escapes you despite your best efforts, but Dottore doesn't seem to pay it any mind. Instead, he quickly pours antiseptic on the wound, stepping back as you thrash while it does its work.

Once you're certain you aren't going to pass out, you will your body to relax. Dottore grasps your forearm once again and small pinpricks make themselves known to you. While they're nothing compared to the agony of what occurred, they're irritating enough to make you look over, "Shh...it's over," Dottore coos. It registers that he is suturing your open flesh shut. There's a twisted smile on his lips as he does it. Mixed emotions wash over you. Not once have you seen another patient with stitches, unless their injuries truly were catastrophic. Something like this the doctors would have left to the open air, preferring to witness the healing process and be sure that the Eleazar would not return for the present.

The way Dottore touches you so tenderly, is so careful with your ragged skin, it fills you with something akin to adoration. You wish that he hadn't placed you in restraints after all. It's been so long since you've been treated with any sort of kindness that you want nothing more than to fall into him, to show him how grateful you are for his work.

Dottore can see your emotions shifting in an instant. The minute he takes you in his hands he feels you stiffen, your pulse race. Though he often takes his patients' vitals when they are in the midst of abject terror merely being in his presence, he can tell that you aren't afraid, not truly. He can't decide if you're terminally stupid or truly mentally unwell. His fingers trace lightly over the sutures once he's finished, gauging your reaction as he does so. Your pupils widen, your chest heaves. There is a small theory he is compelled to test.

"[Y/n]," He says, leaning closer to you, "Is there anywhere else the Eleazar has spread?" Dottore doesn't miss the way your throat bobs up and down.

"I...no..." Dottore leans in closer, tips of his hair touching your face and neck. His breath ghosts across your skin. Glee strikes him as he watches you squirm.

"Let's find out, shall we?"

You start to protest as his gloved hands find their way up the opening of your gown. Your body rocks against the restraints, begging him to wait. You watch in shame as he peels back the fabric and peers between your legs.

Sure enough, on your inner right thigh is a small patch of Eleazar. It appeared this morning. But what Dottore is much more fascinated with is how damp your entrance is, folds soaked with a thick, sticky substance.

"My, my...and here I thought I had hurt you," Tears fill your eyes as you imagine what's coming next, the disgust he must feel. Dottore moves away and you think he's going to pack up and be done with you. Where do discarded patients go?

The torrent of shame and anxiety swirling in your mind when you notice Dottore taking off his jacket. Beneath the layers of clothing, he appears to have a surprising amount of muscle. For a brief moment you're distracted as he rolls up his sleeves, large veins peeking out from beneath his skin. In his left hand he takes the scalpel once again.

"Would you do something for me, [Y/n]?" You shudder as he faces you, moving to spread your thighs apart. Despite every nerve in your body screaming at you to say no, you find yourself nodding.

"Speak," He says, flipping the scalpel around and tracing the outline of your labia with the dull edge.

"Y-yes..." Your voice cracks, world around you feeling fuzzy.

"Yes, what?" Dottore asks quietly, flipping the scalpel back around and pressing it to the corner of the Eleazar that mars the supple skin of your thigh. Two digits of his free hand press against your hole.

"Yes, Dottore!" The man chuckles, deep and knowing. He slowly slides his gloved fingers inside of you. You beg him to wait, but he gives no sign of relenting.

"Let me hear you scream."

Just as you start to really feel the stretch in the warm depths of your cunt, blinding pain tears through your thigh. Your back arches in an attempt to buck away from Dottore, but it's no use. His fingers cant in and out of you as the head of the scalpel makes its way beneath the blackened scales on your skin. It's all too much.

For the first time, you cry out. It tears from your throat like a wounded animal as you float somewhere between immense pain and blinding pleasure. Dottore whispers to you as you mewl aloud, goading you to be louder, louder.

Somewhere in the depths of your mind you're inclined to obey. You scream for him, sob as he presses against the soft, slick walls of your cunt while slicing deeper and deeper into the meat of your thigh. Blood trickles down your leg, heady fluid leaks from your swollen hole.

With a final push Dottore flips a chunk of your flesh out with the scalpel and tosses it all to the side. Another shriek is ripped from you as he slots a finger into the open wound, swirling it around in the viscera. At the same time the digits that impale you hit a sweet spot that have you seeing pinpricks of light.

"D-Dottore!" A wild grin spreads across the man's face as climax overtakes you. You pull against the restraints so hard in your ecstasy that one on your leg nearly snaps. Relentlessly, he continues to thrust into you until you're a bloody, sobbing mess. Only then does he tear his fingers from you, wiping your bodily fluids on the side of your bed.

The next thing you register is the sound of a pencil on paper. Dottore writes furiously in his log, no doubt chronicling in detail what occurred today. When he's finished he snaps the book shut and looks down at you with a sinister smile.

"I very much look forward to the next time one of you dies."

*all original work is my intellectual property. do not edit or re-upload.

[KINKTOBER '22 MASTERLIST]

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httyddragonfox · 9 months

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Secrets of the Arcanums

I'm not sure if we'll ever get to see Callum connecting to all of the Arcanums and explaining them to us. Here's me trying to attempt such a feat:

First off, Sky: Skyline elves are very independently focused. We meet Nyx and she's trying to steal the good deed from under them and get a reward, next she's trying to save her own hide. We meet Ibis, when times get tough he suggests the heroes protect themselves and zym rather than protect the queen. A skywing Dragon guard in the past opted to flee when the chips were down, and suroh's family in blood moon huntress told him to focus more on his own safety.

The sky Arcanum is about understanding how the sky and it's power constantly surrounds you, and you constantly weild it just by breathing. It's power is at your fingertips and you can decide how to use it, you are in control of your own destiny. Basically it's "the sky is the limit." It's freedom, as it is said that 'those who discover flight wish to escape back to the sky.'

Next Ocean: We don't meet many tidebound elves and don't spend much time with them. What we know of Finnegran, he desires freedom and fears what he can't control. This makes him a villain in this sense. As for Akkiyu, she tries to trick them into thinking their task is pointless, and when discovered she knows too much, begs for an alternative. Akkiyu must've felt that nothing would stop this group, not even her defiance. So she did all she could to hinder their path, as she knew she couldn't stop them on her own.

Ocean is about understanding their are depths of knowledge that can't be known, and that the Ocean is too vast and powerful to control. The ocean is about working with the waves, not controlling them. It's about trust and faith, about "going with the flow of the tide," taking things as they are. Sailors like being on the sea because they like going wherever it takes them. It's acceptance of the unknown.

Third, Moon: Moonshadow elves have this mantra that death isn't an ending, death is nothing to be feared (at least for themselves). Life and death are both sacred. That doesn't mean it doesn't hurt when it happens to those they care for. Lujanne is a bit of a trickster, who likes to play with people's senses.

As Lujanne describes, most think appearances are deceiving and reality is truth. The truth is all there is of reality is the appearance. This must mean that reality is what you make of it. We see only parts of the moon, but that doesn't mean it's not there, we just believe it's not. We believe the moon sheds light, but it's just reflecting the sun. We believe those who die are gone, but they merely enter another plane of existence. We believe we are eating food, it's just grubs. Reality is what we make of it; we see what we wish to see, others perceive what we wish them to perceive. Truth and lies, it's mainly based on the perception.

Now for the hard ones...

First off, Sun: Sunfire elves live in a grand capital, heavy with knowledge, healing, and justice. They have brilliant scholars, amazing healing magic, plus strong and capable warriors. They have a rich history and culture. They hold a lot of reverence towards the sun. Their funeral rites are to guide souls to it's embrace, "returning them to the sun." Karim shouts at the sun, "what would you have me do? Give me a sign!" when he is baking under it. He claims lack of hope is a setting sun. So it seems the sun is like their God. They at least hold great reverence towards it. They also have two forms, fire form and light form, destructive powers vs creative powers.

What can we gather from this? It seems that without the sun there is no life, no hope. With the sun comes energy to live, it can also very easily destroy. Fire is like life itself, you have to feed it, and give it air. The sun and fire can both be snuffed out, much like life. The sun is also always constant, even when there is clouds, even at night with the moon. The sun never leaves, it exists to give energy and strength to everything that lives, that persists in the plants and every living thing. The sun is the strength and vitality of life. The sun Arcanum is much like, "with the rising sun comes a new day." The sun is hope, and the strength to keep on living. The sun Arcanum is understanding that inner strength.

How about Earth?: Earthblood elves tend to live amongst the wilds. Warlon likes dominating dragons, N'than is a more timid elf boy, Terry has a great relationship with plants and a super understanding nature towards otherness. According to Rayla the drakeriders guard the drakewood from trespassers. They seem to have a strong sense of community...towards themselves, but I don't think it has to be limited to that. Terry did not fit into that community, and N'than didn't either; probably a strained sense of community. The difference between Warlon and those two is that those two are much nicer. Warlon demonstrates social order community, following tribal traditions, while Terry and N'than demonstrate community in generosity and kindness.

Terry has a great relationship with plants, and N'than may know his gemstones and lava, Ezran can speak with animals (which can be apart of the earth arcanum), and Rex igneous is a master of stone. From these we can gather what the earth arcanum's secret is.

N'than has a playful way of perceiving the world, especially with how he playfully introduces the zones of peril, also he thought Soren was cool for standing up to Warlon and defending the drake, he also is empathetic towards dragons. He's a friendly guy. Warlon, took pride in showing N'than the ropes of being a drake rider, as well as defending his home turf. Terry doesn't control plants, but has a good relationship with them, he asks for their help and he comes to their aid. He's also understanding towards Claudia, who just wants to save her father. He does draw the line at needless cruelty or violence, and can be torn up from necessary violence (killing someone). He's also a playful guy as well. As for Rex igneous, he understands the humans aren't really a threat and there is no need to decimate them, as well as everything that shines meets it's end.

This all seems to stem a few things. For one, empathy: Showing care for your fellow man so to speak, and even an understanding for your enemies. Rex igneous, while hostile to avizandum was friends with him before but thinks he's a fool because he can understand the human's situation. Also not helping with Aaravos at first, because it would endanger everyone, then comes to help when he understands what has befallen avizandum's family. What about Warlon? We didn't see much of him, but I could understand if he was brotherly with the other Drakeriders. N'than and Terry speak for themselves. Another thing is playfulness. Rex igneous loves surprises, rare desserts, and being given gifts in the past. Warlon has a lot of fun chasing down intruders and going after drakes. Again, Terry and N'than speak for themselves. Not to mention the earth golems were playing jenga, and proclaimed themselves guardians of the gate. Ezran also has a sweet tooth, and starts his council meetings and big events with desserts.

I should probably get to that Arcanum secret...okay. There are plants and animals, as well as rocks and stones. N'than, Terry and Ezran treat animals and plants with respect, Warlon not so much. So that's not a necessity. Earth is probably understanding the life within all things, plants and animals. Understanding that life is all around you, each having their own ways of living: food, water, reproduction, communication, knowledge, their own communities. You could be like Warlon and make them submit to you anyway, or you can treat them with respect. Yet this doesn't apply to rock and stone. Rex igneous points out that all things lose their luster over time. This applies to all of life, everything on the earth. All is susceptible to time and change, nothing on earth is immortal. Everything has a lifeline, everything has a life, and while you are living that life you might as well have some fun. "The early bird gets the worm," it means to seize the day while you have it. Diamonds and gems are things to cherish, to compare someone to an animal is to endear them, it's to give them love.

Now Star: All we have to go off is startouch elves and Stella. For startouch elves, all we have are the stories Aaravos told. Both Aaravos and Stella are playful. That's only one facet. Thinking of the other startouch elves, aaravos says humans are puny compared to them, as they are aware of their own greatness. Is arrogance a factor, aaravos saw potential in humans? What does arrogance have to do with the stars? Well, they say if you are star, you stand out. You are popular, you're eye catching. Stars definitely do shine, startouch aren't just shiny thy are powerful. Stars are also powerful, being able to suck people in, like Aaravos can draw people in. I don't think the Arcanum is just power.

Stella has the power is make pocket dimensions and portals, and startouch elves are masters of divination. That's all realms of space and time. That is very vast, while Stars are single points, so it's not vastness. What do stars do that nothing else does? My theory is that it's persistence, as startouch elves are immortal. Stars are long lived. They take a long time to be created, they live for thousands of years, and even after they die it'll be hundreds of years before you notice. It takes many elements to make a star, and it takes a long time to reach any goal, to achieve greatness. "Rome wasn't built in a day," so to speak. Patience is not a trait of the stars, so it's not waiting for greatness. Instead it's understanding that their power will persist, memory also persists, everything has an echo. Much like starlight takes hundreds of years to reach earth, anything that happens will be remembered, it take a while for anything to truly die.

That's my 2 cents on the Arcanums and my understanding of them.

Tldr: Sky=agency and freedom, Ocean=faith and trust, and mystery, moon=reality is what you make of it, sun=the strength to keep living, earth=everything has life,star=power/action and memory persist

#the dragon prince #arcanums #Sky Arcanum #ocean arcanum #Moon Arcanum #Sun Arcanum #Earth Arcanum #Star Arcanum

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vickyvicarious · 9 months

Text

Lucy was looking sweetly pretty in her white lawn frock; she has got a beautiful colour since she has been here. I noticed that the old men did not lose any time in coming up and sitting near her when we sat down. She is so sweet with old people; I think they all fell in love with her on the spot. Even my old man succumbed and did not contradict her, but gave me double share instead.

Everyone loves Lucy! ...as they should, she is such a sweetheart. I was struck again by her voice today, it's such great casting. I also love to see Mina's concern for her, when talking about her color. She's obviously glad that she's not so pale anymore.

But I seemingly never get to just enjoy a Lucy entry without feeling sad for her in some way, and here's today's:

"Sacred to the memory of George Canon, who died, in the hope of a glorious resurrection, on July, 29, 1873, falling from the rocks at Kettleness. This tomb was erected by his sorrowing mother to her dearly beloved son. 'He was the only son of his mother, and she was a widow.' Really, Mr. Swales, I don't see anything very funny in that!" She spoke her comment very gravely and somewhat severely.

Reading this line knowing what comes later, it feels like some really horrible foreshadowing. There's certainly no perfect direct parallel, but there's plenty of resonant elements here: the only child of a widowed mother, the lies about cause of death. Mr. Swales' response about one of the son ensuring the mother didn't get to inherit her money is a kind of reversal of what happens with Mrs. Westenra's will. Even the 'hope of a glorious resurrection' makes me think of the language used around killing vampire!Lucy. Of course, there's no open hatred in the Westenras' relationship (maybe hidden resentment, but definitely still love), but this whole bit feels awful.

Lucy obviously is upset by it too ("very gravely and somewhat severely" is definitely an atypical way for her to speak), though I think the part that resonates with her most is just the mother left alone in the world. It makes me wonder if she's feeling worried about her mother in the future. I can easily imagine Lucy being eager to get out from under her mother's wing/thumb and live her own life once she gets married... but feeling worried about her mother left alone afterwards, and guilty for not wanting to take her too. Depending on how aware she is of Mrs. Westenra's poor health those worries may be even worse, and even without that element her mother's nervous disposition may well lead her to fear she won't do well alone.

"Oh, why did you tell us of this? It is my favourite seat, and I cannot leave it; and now I find I must go on sitting over the grave of a suicide."

That bolded part also feels like awful foreshadowing. Lucy doesn't mean anything more here than that she loves this spot and isn't willing to move somewhere else even if the idea of it being over a suicide's grave freaks her out. But the wording just makes me think about how little ability to escape her fate she has. How she truly cannot leave her spot over the grave of a suicide (a doomed soul). Her death and the unrest that follows seems inevitable.

The way she talks to Mina of Arthur while holding hands is really sweet. But coming after this conversation (after she ended the conversation because it was upsetting her), I can't help but feel like a little part of it is Lucy trying very deliberately to focus on what she is looking forward to, to try her best not to dwell on anything upsetting. And maybe a bit of seeking/giving comfort at the same time with the hand-holding, all unspoken.

Unfortunately, it backfires. Mina's final entry today is so sad, and all the talk about Lucy's future with Arthur made it even worse to come back to no letter. I love the way she starts out talking about her fear for Jonathan, then tries to divert herself into more factual descriptions of the scenery. But it doesn't work, because the two bands who are separated and can't see or hear one another just inevitably makes her think of her own separation from Jonathan again, and she's just miserable.

#dracula daily #dracula daily spoilers #lucy westenra #mina murray

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baatarthefirst · 11 months

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Did you read the Karim short story yet

"After Darkness" was brutal, but I loved it. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I want a Sunfire spinoff aimed towards an older audience (and a prequel series), that could be described as a "GOT: Lite".

It shows off Karim's motivations, and makes me feel really bad for him, but it emphasizes all of the flaws we've been calling him out on, things that would make him a horrible king for the Sunfire to have; especially right now.

He's too impatient.

He's single-minded and shortsighted.

He's overconfident.

He can't let go of the past.

He gatekeeps.

He lets his emotions (more specifically anger and grief) run away with him.

(Before I say this, I would be willing to write this incident off as shock and grief [BECAUSE IT WAS], but he does show the same behavior with the candle incident, so I'd like to mention it).

He wants to stay longer than what would be safe, ignoring Tijana's warning that it's too late for the corrupted elves. Luckily she did get through to Osato, and he could actually convince Karim to flee (meaning her logic was sound, it just came from the wrong type of person).

Tijana saved his life, but he's not grateful, he's just angry that she made a joke. She saved his life again, the purification spell failed to save Osato, but he insists that he could have saved him and accuses her of murder. He tries to take away her right to mourn him. Because Osato was HIS friend. Her friendship doesn't matter because HE decided it didn't.

It's the same in the show, the humans are GUESTS, they should not get comfortable, or have any official ties to Xadia. They are welcome to visit, but only if they meet HIS standards. Amaya can even stay because she makes Janai happy...as long as they both agree to HIS conditions (that they never actually get married).

Not long after we see this mentality, we see him ignore the fact Yonnis could have burned down the city of tents (possibly killing many people including elves without a heat-being mode, not to mention destroying their food and shelter which could lead to more death), because a human extinguished the Soul Candle.

Which in some way is sympathetic, it's very easy to see why Karim would be angry, that's someone's soul who can't make it to the afterlife (whether 'lost' means destroyed or doomed to wander, I don't know). But at the same time, he's so hyperfixated on his anger, he can't look at the whole issue.

Janai, however, does. She doesn't focus so much on that fact 'the human committed a sacrilegious crime' that she can't see the problem 'we need a place INSIDE the city where we can preform the sacred rituals safely'.

Karim would have executed Lucia on the spot and been done with it, but the problem that created the situation in the first place would remain unsolved. The next time someone lit a candle, no one would dare snuff it out, and the whole camp could go up in flames.

Miyana constantly tells Karim that overthrowing Janai would not be easy, that it will take time. He ignores her warnings, because he's so sure that he knows everything; Janai will back down. And on the SLIM chance she doesn't, he's a great mage, he can win and everyone will side with him. The exact opposite happens, but he doesn't let himself be humbled, choosing to be stubborn instead.

This would make him a bad king for his people. He would always push forward even when the cost wasn't worth the gain and/or there was no chance of success, and favor the side that falls in line with his own beliefs while ignoring the facts that don't.

#tdp #janai #Karim #after darkness #the dragon prince #Yonnis #Lucia #Osato #Tijana #amaya #janaya

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eldritch-spouse · 1 year

Note

How would Mother Miara feel about the Facility?

You said that she loathes unnecessary suffering.

Oh, does she.

Miara holds a moderately strict policy of generally not messing with the planet too much. She adores the biodiversity that has sprouted all on its own, and has figured that the least amount of interference should keep it going.

That being said, it's oftentimes hard for the creator to ignore deliberate acts of evil or tragedies that can be easily avoided if only she just lifted a finger to help. It directly contradicts with her policy, and Miara feels guilty whenever she gives in and prevents something from happening. But she can only take so much.

Breeders are monsters who have a strong relation with fertility, monster who can give the gift of life to those who can't do it themselves. In her eyes, they are saviors. Sacred. She feels a deep connection to them. Seeing both humans and monsters abuse them indiscriminately, robbing them of agency, of their health, of their lives- It just about sends the goddess into a blind, crimson rage.

If she had less self-control, the building itself would be ripped off the ground and launched into the fucking sun, but she knows she can't do that. Instead, she makes the walls separate. Picking apart the infrastructure like it's a game of jenga, piece by piece floating off as she collects the wounded, captive breeders in her arms, letting them climb her form and soothing the monsters, who have never once before felt the warmth of a loving god. The staff there doesn't get to leave, they're caged by the very walls of the building they conducted their abuse in.

It's only a matter of time until the walls start closing in, and they die crushed against each other, like the pointless scum they are. Miara is not too keen on torture, she sentences death in a swift manner and moves on. As any higher being ought to.

This, of course, means that now she's got a handful to deal with. Not only did she interveine with an embarrassing lack of subtlety, she now has to clean up the mess, and figure out what to do with the influx of breeders she saved. Well, she figures that with a bit of tweaking, they can be reintegrated into society, bit by bit.

#Mother Miara

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motheatenscarf · 1 year

Text

Really enjoyed the moment where you get to fight as Thancred, it was up there with fighting as Hien/Lyse/Yugiri in terms of how tense it felt and how desperately you had to hold that line.

Maybe I'm just melee/tank trash tho, I don't fucking understand mages and healing in this game yet, so having to fight as Alphy and Y'shtola was just giving me Arishok war flashbacks....

Anyway, that was a good moment, would have been nice to see him at all try to convince this poor little girl that he DOESN'T hate her or resent her or think she's weak or useless beforehand, but.

Well, I guess he really is her father-figure, he's as emotionally unavailable as the real thing.

Minfilia becoming Ryne and reconciling with Thancred is on paper a good moment. It... would have been nice to have seen this super special deep bond he had with original Minfilia back when they had the chance in ARR but the writing and voice acting were so weak we never got the chance. I guess you had to play 1.0 to unlock that catharsis.

I think they salvaged it as much as they could here in Shadowbringers by at least making it a bit clearer through having Thancred fucking open up a little bit that yeah, he maybe he did keep the original Minfilia at arms' length because of the guilt he felt for her father's death. What he's feeling now is regret for not being there for her more when he had the chance, not just, "I failed to protect her."

The two Minfilias conversing and then everyone talking about how much the originals "kindness and compassion and unyielding character" will live on through the chance she gave Ryne. And I'm like... are you sure we mean the same Minfilia?

Idk, I know there is a tendency for a narrative to place dead characters upon a sacred altar once they die. I've seen it happen with Aerith and Haurchefant, but the difference here is those characters had... fucking personalities that you missed when they were gone, lol. And even then, those serene angelic qualities attributed to Aerith and Haurchefant are actually really depressing because those are two characters who were so fun and vibrant and full of vim and fire. That was the point of them. That's why their loss hurts so much. Minfilia was just... kinda there. Then she wasn't. Her role in the Scions was so fucking expendable that they literally didn't bother to replace her once she died because yeah, we don't... need a useless figurehead. She didn't even have enough moral conviction on her own to refuse blood money from the monetarists in Ul'dah without her mommy around.

This new little girl was born into a dying world with an impossible burden placed on her shoulders and given no chance at a life, a name, or an identity of her own. She was held to impossible standards despite having not one moment of agency and bore the burden of Thancred's anguish and ire directed at her every day for three solid fucking years, hating herself for not being the real savior these people wanted and needed to deliver them from Doom. She was willing to die just to secure a shortcut to access the strength and power she needed to be of any use to people because the world was running out of time.

You got a way better daughter out of this deal, Thancred. I'm glad he finally accept that she's here to stay and that she's a good kid in her own right and she needs him to be the adult here and be there for her. Now hug this girl and tell her you're proud of her or I'll fucking kill you myself.

#Caitlin Plays FF14 #FF14 spoilers #istg if thancred doesn't hug this child i'm gonna take up healing just to be bad at it and NOT protect him from tankbusters

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emmaelix · 2 years

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So yeah, I play Time Princess. Sue me. I'm writing fanfic for a video game. Won't be the first, certainly not the last. This is a re-write of chapter two stages 6-8 of The Sacred Beast. Most definitely on the Yazdan route, if you haven't read TSB or finished the second chapter I do not recommend this as it is spoilers. Enjoy!

Full Title: The Sacred Beast Chapter Two Re-write: Yazdan x Asha

Y/n: Your Name. Y/H/C: Your Hair Color. Y/E/C: Your Eye Color. Y/S/C: Your Skin Color

Flames surround me, and the heat feels like it's scalding my flesh. Someone rushes into the flames to carry me out. His clothes catch fire, but even as the flames engulf him he refuses to let go.

"Yazdan! Let go, or you'll die too..." I say as I feel Yazdan's arms wrap tighter around me. "Don't you recognize me anymore, Corey?"

"Asha! Asha, wake up!" Yasmin's brash tones interrupt my dream. Or possible nightmare.

I open my eyes and see a slightly blurry version of Yasmin. "Yasmin?"

"Finally! You were having a nightmare. You almost scared me half to death! Now, change your clothes. You're covered in sweat, you'll get sick."

I huff out a laugh and walk towards the small changing room near my bed. Changing into an armored outfit, I hum and try to shake off the dread from my nightmare.

After changing, I realize I'm in an unfamiliar room. I don't know what's happened. "Weren't we in the king's residence?"

Yasmin shakes her head scornfully. "That turncoat Reza wanted to murder us. We had to retreat for a while."

I have flashbacks to Yazdan shielding me from Corey's fire. I almost don't want to ask. "W-" My voice breaks, so I stop and try again. "Where's Yazdan? Is he okay?"

Yasmin smiles at me. "Prince Yazdan protected you when Reza ordered C-... the Manticore to attack." I notice she almost says Corey but changes it at the last moment. A small gesture, perhaps, but appreciated.

"He held it off so we could get out. Asha, I-"

"Yazdan is alone, but maybe not dead. Is he...?" I interrupt, not wanting to hear Yasmin's possible announcement.

"Prince Yazdan will use his gift to his advantage. He'll be one step ahead. Don't worry, Asha. He might not win, but I'm sure he'll escape and join us later."

Yasmin looks unusually uncomfortable. Maybe she doesn't like pep talks. I smile and heave a sigh of relief. "I'm glad he'll be okay."

Yasmin returns the smile. But it quickly turns to disgruntled disbelief. "The lazy prince... I never thought he would be this reliable."

"He always has been."

Yasmin sighs, and starts fiddling with the rope attached to her waist. "Still, I can't shake this feeling he's hiding something. Like he isn't telling the whole story, keeping just enough tucked away. Wouldn't he have foreseen Reza's ambush and true identity at some point?"

I don't want to believe it, but maybe Yasmin is right. Maybe he is hiding something. But what?

"It feels like he already knew what was going to happen, but deliberately let things run their course. Asha, it just feels wrong somehow."

"You don't mean you think he knew all along? If Yazdan knew Reza was a traitor, why not just stop him?"

Before either of us can say more, King Darius mumbles from behind me. "Where am I! You kidnapped the king! I'll have your heads on a pike for this!"

"Well, I didn't want to save you. Your son - for some reason - wanted to keep you alive. He's the only reason you aren't burning in hell right now," Yasmin snaps, pointing a small dagger at the king.

Darius' face has become increasingly red. "If not for you I would've had that beast's heart long before tonight! My foolish son is stupid, lazy, and good for nothing but perhaps a sacrifice to the Manticore."

I can't stand hearing Darius talk about Corey or Yazdan this way. "You're selfish, immature, and lazy! You aren't worthy of being a fly on Yazdan's wall, let alone his father! Yazdan risked his life to save you, but you only think of yourself! You don't deserve to be a father, but what shocks me the most is how you ever convinced a woman to lie next to you long enough to have three sons!"

The king's face is now as pink as his robes. "Why would I worry about him when he has his gift?"

If I wasn't shocked before, I certainly am now. "You aren't worried for him at all?"

The King laughs at my question. "For him to die would be a great benefit! That boy foretells the worst of the worst, and it always comes true. He saw his brother's deaths-"

"You don't understand anything!" Tears are pouring down my cheeks, and my finger is pointed accusingly at Darius. "Yazdan sees the future. He can't change it! Do you ever wonder how powerless that makes him feel? The stress he has quietly endured would probably topple you over within a day. Yet Yazdan doesn't give up trying to change the future!"

This time the King just rolls his eyes. "Aha, he's bribed you, hasn't he? He bribes everyone for everything, like a future usurper."

I'm so sick to my stomach at what Darius is saying I can't even talk to him anymore. I'm so angry words won't come out. But even if they could, they wouldn't express the pure, blinding rage I feel towards this powerless man standing within strangling reach.

Yasmin puts her hand on my shoulder. "Asha, stop. Don't waste your breath, he'll never under-"

The ground trembles as though elephants are running over the land. I hear crashes and screams. I quickly deduce it's an earthquake. And a powerful one, at that.

I look out the window and my breath catches in my throat. Saruwa Volcano is spewing black smoke in the distance, dying the sky an apocalyptic black.

"It's an eruption," Yasmin says, breaking the silence that had fallen over us.

"Well if it's an eruption get me out of here! Save me!" The king cries as I start to gather my things.

I roll my eyes. "Yazdan told us to get you out of the palace. He never said anything about keeping you safe after that. Bye-bye!"

I've gathered everything I think I'll need, and I grab Yasmin by the hand. "Come on, we've got to find Yazdan. And Corey."

-----------

By the time we've reached the courtyard night has fallen, giving the castle an eerie look. Yazdan walks up to us.

"Hello, ladies," He says, smiling at Yasmin and me. I can tell this isn't my Yazdan. I put my sword up to his abdomen.

"Don't move," I command, putting on a brave face despite the worry swirling in my brain.

This version of Yazdan simply laughs, before walking forward. The edge of my sword pierces through Yazdan's clothes, and blood begins to pool at his fresh injury. I jump back instinctively.

"I thought so. You can't kill your precious prince, can you?" This is definitely not my Yazdan.

Even though I'm terrified Yazdan will run himself through with my sword again, I - probably stupidly - put it up to his neck. "I don't want to hurt Yazdan. But you- you aren't my Yazdan. And my Yazdan would rather die for his people than watch them suffer, so if that's what it takes I'll do it for him."

This Yazdan smiles. "Loyal to the bitter end, he was. Wouldn't stop screaming you'd avenge him until I slit his throat and took over his body," He says, pulling down his collar slightly to show a large gash on his neck.

"Yasmin? Go deal with Reza. I'll stay here with the imposter."

"Ah, but you underestimate me," Yazdan says, and within a moment he has knocked out Yasmin and grabbed my wrists. "Don't you, princess? Now, come with me, to Lord Reza's ceremony."

-----------

Noxious gases from the heart of the volcano spread throughout, and it was hard to breathe with all the smoke around me. I look around to see Reza and Corey in a corner of the underground caves, with Reza laughing maniacally.

"Yazdan, please. Didn't you say your visions were getting hazy? Maybe that means we can change them!"

Yazdan scoffs. "Ha, I've decided to make peace with the fact that these visions depict reality. Now, get a move on."

As I look around me, I realize it's entirely possible I'll be dead by tonight. I meet Reza's eyes, and instead of the calm I'm used to I'm met with a roller coaster of emotions. Most strong of all of them? Revenge.

"Good. Welcome, Asha, to the revenge of our king."

I struggle against my bonds as I speak. "Reza, why are you doing this? What good is there in speaking to someone who's already dead?"

Yazdan's hands tighten on my wrists, and as I look at his blue sleeves I'm reminded of the mushroom I have in my pocket. If I could just move to-

"Ah, what did I say? You can't-" Yazdan began, seizing my wrist with one hand, but consequentially letting go of the other hand. I take advantage, pulling him in for a kiss as I shove the blue mushroom into his mouth, keeping the kiss long enough that the mushroom has to be at least partly dissolved.

"Asha? Oh... my head. Asha, what happened?"

Even though I felt like I could yell and scream with joy, I held back. There was a possibility this hadn't worked. "Reza was controlling you, making you do things you wouldn't have, normally."

Yazdan smirked. "Like this?" Then he spat out the unchewed piece of blue mushroom. My heart sank to my stomach.

Reza laughed and shook his head. He paused, as though enjoying his victory. "There is no poison for you to cure. I have given Yazdan my gift, and we shall rule the world."

Reza walked towards me, a knife outstretched towards my hand. He started to slice a small cut up my arm. Before Reza could finish, an ornately carved dagger was shoved into his back. Yazdan stood triumphantly behind him, grinning at his ex-advisor.

Yazdan smiled at Reza's shocked expression. "But- but how?" He spluttered, his eyes wide with fear.

"Some things override gifts. Love, for instance. Of course, you wouldn't know anything about that, would you?" Yazdan said, wrapping an arm around my waist.

I heard a rumbling ahead of us in the caves. "Caves are collapsing. We have to move, now!" Yazdan yelled.

I thought I heard yells from behind us. I ran in the direction of the sound, with Yazdan following close behind. "Asha, wait! Stop!"

Turning back to face Yazdan, I yell, "Get Corey and leave! I'll be fine, I think I hear people!"

Yazdan's face changes immediately. "I'll grab the big cat, then come back for you and whoever you can find."

I nodded, and begin searching the rubble. I hear yells again, and start running towards them. As I start to move the rocks, I see about five people underneath. "Hang on!" I yell as I hear Corey's roar once again.

Yazdan and Corey are behind me. "Thank you, kind people," The elderly man in the group says, nodding to Yazdan, Corey, and me as he is pulled out of the rubble.

He faces Yazdan, probably to thank him again. As the old man looks Yazdan in the eyes, his demeanor changes almost instantly. "You're Prince Yazdan!" He exclaims, and the rest of his companions perk up.

"Bastard! Your father trapped us here!" A young woman yelled as she began throwing medium-sized rocks at Yazdan. His face is bleeding as they continue to throw rocks at him. Corey is alternating between whimpering and growling behind me.

"Stop! He might be the prince, but he's trying to help you!"

Yazdan looks graciously at me, but what he says doesn't match the look he sends me. "Please, let me get you out. Then you can punish me, stone me all you like."

I'm waiting for him to laugh and say something stupid, like "Surprise! I have a pain kink!" But he doesn't. He just looks them all in the eyes.

They nod, seeming to understand that Yazdan is their only chance of survival.

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

We had managed to get out of the cave alive, but Corey had run towards the volcano to stop it. Yazdan placed his arms around me, hugging me in front of all these people. "Asha, I'm so sorry," He said into my hair.

Tears fell from my eyes, falling into Yazdan's clothes. The group of people muttered to each other at our closeness. Yazdan and I jumped back, suddenly aware of the other people.

The youngest girl, about seventeen, approached me. "Miss? I'm sorry for how my family has been treating you and the prince. You don't deserve that."

I smiled at her. "Thank you. Yazdan is a special person."

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Alright, so this is my little re-write. I like it, and I'll probably do part two, as well.

#time princess #the sacred beast #asha x yazdan

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joshuatosborne · 8 months

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I always get asked about my beliefs and I’m always holding myself back from posting them because you never know how people will react but today is a new chapter of my life and I only want to be around those that accept others for being human right or wrong so this post offends you and you don’t want to be associated with me because of it hit that UFRIEND BUTTON….

Im Joshua T. Osborne and sometimes I believe things that are true and sometimes things that aren't true and then there are those occasions that I believe things where nobody knows if they're true or not.

If i want I can believe in Santa Claus or the tooth fairy, tupac and biggie, or Marilyn Monroe and Elvis.

Listen - I believe that people are perfect, that knowledge is infinite, that the world is run by secret banking cartels and is visited by aliens on a regular basis, nice ones with cute little wrinkled faces and bad ones who mutilate cattle and want our water and our women.

I believe that the future can suck and I believe that the future Fu#kin rocks and I believe that one day our ancestors are going to come back and kick our ass. I believe that all men are just overgrown boys with deep problems Communicating and all women are just little princess looking to be saved and that the decline in good sex in America is simultaneous with the uprise with mobile phones.

I believe that all politicians are unprincipled crooks and I still believe that they are better than the alternative. I believe that California is going to sink into the sea when the big one comes, while Florida is going to dissolve into madness and alligators and toxic waste.

I believe that antibacterial soap is destroying our resistance to dirt and disease so that one day we'll all be wiped out by the common cold like martians in War of the Worlds.

I believe that the greatest poets of the last century were T. S. Eliot and Robert Pinsky, that jade is really just dried alien snot, and that thousands of years ago in a former life I was a Buddhist monk.

I believe that all of our destiny lies in the stars. I believe that candy really did taste better when I was a kid, that country living is better than city living and that light is a wave and a particle, and that there are stars in the universe billions of years older than the universe itself.

I believe in a personal god or higher power who cares about me and worries and oversees everything I do. I believe in an impersonal god or higher power who set the universe in motion and went off to hang with his or her girlfriends or boyfriends and doesn't even know that I'm alive. I believe in an empty and godless universe of causal chaos, background noise, and sheer blind bullshit.

I believe that anyone who says sex is overrated just hasn't done it properly and has never found love. I believe that anyone who claims to know what's going on will lie about the little things too.

I believe in absolute honesty and sensible social lies. I believe in a woman's right to choose, a baby's right to live, that while all human life is sacred there's nothing wrong with the death penalty if you can trust the legal system implicitly, and that no one but a moron would ever trust the legal system.

I believe that life is a game, that life is a cruel joke, and that life is what happens when you're alive and that if you give it enough thought while your here you just might be the one creating it.

I believe that there is only energy and matter, I believe that 78 degrees fahrenheit is the perfect temperature and I believe that snow makes a picture perfect. I believe it takes failure to make a successful person and everyone is born with the same potential.

I believe that anyone who believes in a political party is a moron and I belive popcorn taste better at home than the movies. I believe that every decision deserves respect and understanding and I believe everything is meaningless unless we give them meanings. I believe the next generation of entrepreneurs will change this world and make it a place of harmony and I believe we could live in a near perfect world and people would complain that it wasn’t perfect.

And I Belive In Living Your Life On Your Own Terms….

Because It’s The Only Point Of Living In the First Place…

Hope this helps you understand me better let me know what you believe in the comments if your still reading this and havent deleted my ass yet!! LOL

#mindset #digital marketing #motivation #business #growth

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locustheologicus · 1 year

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The Celeita Clan

A Sanabria Origin Story

My family was never interested in sharing their history. Sometimes I think that families have to keep their stories tightly held are nervous about exposing shame that families want to keep hidden. In this case the family historian needs to gently enter into the existing narratives in order to find the messy details that are normally kept hidden. After my father passed away my mother became a much more open book but as expected I had to weave my way around the unexposed aspects of her narrative.

My mother's family line begins with my Great, Great Grandmother named Kitiara Quintero. Around 1950, my mother knew her own great-grandmother until she passed away a few years after that at the age of 104, suggesting that she was born around the 1850s. My mother was under the impression that she came from Spain and considered her as someone who was part of the nobility. She considered her "una Dama" (a Lady). I recall being impressed with her last name, I had just researched about the reign of Carlos Quintero in the early to mid 1500's. He was the Spanish king who ruled a vast empire, and for my own interest, he was the one who observed the famous cases that Bartolome De Las Casas debated concerning the rights of the indigenous. Let me be clear, there is no conceivable relation here, but like every good Irishman who wants to identify with King Brian Boru, I too fancy this legendary connection. So I am left with the fact that this relative shares the same last name, which means "the fifth." According to my mother, her great-grandmother was a tall and strong woman who worked the farm/estate and cooked till her last days. She is also described as a fair looking woman who had clear eyes and showed great love to her great-grandchildren, including my mother. The death of this grand matriarch is marked by a big celebration where a daughter of hers, Blanca, lovingly fed and offered her some water. As soon as she took her sips, she smiled, closed her eyes, and passed on.

Kitiara's granddaughter was Euvaldina Celeita Quintero, who was married to Francisco (Pacho) Celeita. They lived in a place called Une, in Colombia. During the early part of my mother's life, she was raised by her grandparents. Again, she remembers them very fondly. Evidently, they were very fond of her as well. She recalls living in a finca (farm) with them, taking care of livestock. Pacho died some time after Kitiara. My mother had an amazing experience during this time that she likes to share and reflect on. She saw a dove that came to her window and stayed with her a bit in her room. It then left and flew up to heaven. This happened the moment Pacho died, but before she became aware of it. All she recalls is that she was not sad about his passing because she witnessed him going to heaven very vividly.

These are beautiful memories that my mother had, but when it came to her own mother, Euvaldina, and Pacho's daughter Cecilia, we now have to enter the messiness that all families have. The reason that her grandparents raised her is because they protected her from her own mother, Cecilia Riveros Celeita. Now get ready because this is a type of messy that turns heads. This story was one that my mother sat on for a while. I never heard much about my grandmother growing up, and it turns out that my mother applied the old axiom, if you cannot say something nice do not say anything at all. But as Cecilia herself was dying my mother did what she could to reconcile herself with her. This included going to sacred waters of Lourdes and bathing herself in them. During this process my mother tells me that she carried the rancor of her hatred for her Mother and the sacred waters washed them away. Well, maybe she forgave, but it doesn't seem like she forgot. It was after Cecilia's passing that I heard the story.

So according to the story Cecilia had met a man named Gustavo Sanabria, This is my grandfather (who I actually knew and will write about later). This story comes from my mother who heard it from her uncles Ramon and Casto. Evidently Cecilia was courted for short time with him. At some point, during an exciting outing, they evidently fooled around. This left Cecilia pregnant. It seems that my grandfather became aware of that and was ready to marry Cecilia. But Cecilia evidently had a massive hormonal/emotional shift. She loathed my grandfather and hated him from that moment on. The story goes (which my mother believed), that Cecilia had told her cousins that Gustavo had violated her. She made her case to her male cousins that they were honor bound to kill Gustavo in order to satisfy this disgrace. But they were not to tell the larger family in order to keep this hidden. So they had planned to take Gustavo out and have him murdered. Evidently, this plan included getting drunk with him and then beating him to death. However, it seems that the cousins overindulged on alcohol more than my grandfather. So it was that he was able to escape, but they did chase him down. Cecilia's uncles, Ramon, Tomas, and Casto, were also at a bar (probably the same bar), and they became aware of the row, so they went to see what was going on. It turns out that they worked for Gustavo and heard nothing about the incident. Seeing him attacked, they came to his aid and forced the story from the boys. It seems that Gustavo had a reputation of being an honorable man, so he came forward with his own truth. In the end, they had them go away, got Cecilia, and took her to her parents to ascertain the truth. Evidently, she admitted to his version, and her parents, Pacho and Euvaldina, told her that she was going to have the child, but since she did not want it, they would raise her.

My mother was raised by her grandparents for most of her young life. She had a pretty decent life but was deprived an education. At some point after Pacho died Cecilia came back to take her daughter back. By this time Cecilia was married and they owned a gas station and store in Colombia. My mother's memory was that she was treated fairly well but she, and her older sister Julia, were not loved by Cecilia. Only her younger sister, Luz Marina, was loved by her mother and given an education and gifts. My mother saw herself as a worker bee for her own mother and she felt that Cecilia wanted her to basically work and take care of her for the rest of her life. She never received an education and was never given anything beyond the basic clothes and food she was allotted. What more, Cecilia also told her a consistent lie, she had her believe that her father, Gustavo, was dead.

By the age of 16 my mother began to have her suspicions about her father's death. She knew that her uncle Ramon was aware of a truth that Cecilia did not want revealed to her daughter. So in a clever moment my mother was able to entice Ramon to have a few beers and spill the secret, which he did. From this moment my mother recruited her uncle to formulate a plan to bring her back to her father. That story will come up on the next story.

My mother does end up leaving her mom at that age and never goes back. I know that at one point she does meet with her in a café with her father Gustavo in order to hear her confession publicly. Afterwards she does not ever go back to her. At some point she does see her after my mother moves to America and evidently she wanted to explore her and her beloved daughter coming to live with my mother in New York. This was a request that my mother refused. Nothing else happened until a year before she died in 1996, two years before my grandfather Gustavo also died.

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mylittleredgirl · 2 years

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i'm thinking about ezri, and about trills, and specifically about how ezri gets the dax symbiont.

what we know is that she never wanted to be joined. she's not prepared. she's the only trill on the destiny, and en route to trill, the dax symbiont takes a turn for the worse and she becomes a host.

the thing is -- we know that while rejection is a real danger, there's still a better than 50% chance that any given trill is capable of safely being joined. but outside of us (the audience), the only people who know that are the symbiosis commission and the three people in the room in "equilibrium" where this news comes out: sisko, bashir, and dax. everybody else, including ezri and the destiny's medical staff, believes that only one trill in a thousand can be safely joined, and that an improper joining will result in the death of both the symbiont and the host.

starfleet officers routinely take on all kinds of dangers to save lives, even to save a single life, but those are absurdly bad odds. there is no way a starfleet doctor, or a starfleet captain, would order, coerce, or probably even ask a starfleet officer to take on that kind of risk, even if it's the only chance to save another being's life.

which means it was ezri's idea. which means ezri must have insisted, over the warnings and objections of the ship's chief medical officer, that she was willing to take the risk. which means that despite personally having no interest in being joined, ezri looked at a dying symbiont and felt it was her responsibility to try and protect its life at all costs, knowing she would most likely fail and die in the process.

which says something about the trill! no one in ezri's family is joined. for all we know, she didn't even grow up on trill, since her family now lives off-world. but joining must be such a significant factor in trill mythology, trill culture, trill life that she couldn't turn away from that, even in the face of all publicly available information and the fact that she doesn't actually want to be joined.

maybe there were other factors at play that mitigated some of the risk, like universal testing for young trill children that at least point to whether someone might be able to be a host, or the possibility they would make it to trill in time for the symbiont to be removed. but it seems like regardless, ensign ezri tigan made the choice to get on that operating table, knowing that more likely than not, she would die.

in one way, she does. in another, she gets the chance to live forever. in either case, joining isn't just something that happened to her. for all the challenges she faces in that first year, all the regrets and struggles and loss of herself, it was her very brave choice to do it. we know from jadzia that the most sacred obligation of a trill host is to ensure the survival of the symbiont, and ezri did that instinctively, without taking any oaths, without any training at all.

#ezri dax #trillblogging #deep space nine #what i wouldn't give for a flashback of ezri tigan pre-joining #star trek thoughts

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diamondcitydarlin · 2 years

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one of the pieces of nuance I feel a lot of people who reject Lokius/Mobius wholesale miss out on, regarding the initial interrogation scene: it is indeed true that Mobius forces Loki to confront his past actions and it is indeed true that Mobius launches this info at him over and over and over again so as to punctuate with, "you weren't born to be King, Loki, you were born to cause pain and suffering and death, that's how it is, that's how it was, that's how it will be; all so that others can achieve their best versions of themselves" and "THAT'S the proper flow of time! And it happens again, and again, and again because it's supposed to. Because it HAS to!"

And again, yes, this is all initially very hard to watch. For whatever Loki is, it doesn't seem he deserves to be told he's worthless and has no potential for anything but destruction while wilting on the floor. It's heartbreaking and it's easy to project one's own feelings of insufficiency on him in this moment, thereby making Mobius the voice of anyone that's ever been cruel to us IRL. And maybe if that had been the extent of Mobius' actions I'd agree with them that he's a bad guy or whatever.

but that's...not the full picture of what Mobius does or says even within this same episode. While Mobius needs Loki to understand and accept the reality of what his sacred timeline self has been predetermined, conditioned to do/be, the moment they're back in the time theater together Mobius assures Loki that he doesn't actually see him as villain that can never change; not here, anyway, where they are outside of the timeline's design.

I mean for goodnesssake, he's insisting to Ravonna pretty much from the jump that he sees potential in Loki to branch out and be something more/something other than what he's designated to be ("Maybe he wants to switch it up. Isn't that possible? That he could change?") and I feel this is sincere because it certainly doesn't win him any convincing points with Ravonna ("Look...I know you have a soft spot for broken things-" "I don't think so." "Yes you do.")

So, the fact that they're both essentially test subject mice being trapped in the same enclosure forced to run around in circles aside, it's not fair to say Mobius is the worst thing that's ever happened to Loki or, at best, just the same as everyone else who assumes the worst of him because...it's not true?

And if you think about it it makes sense; Mobius has studied the entirety of Loki's sacred timeline life, he's seen facets of him no one else has, moments of Loki being true to himself when no one is looking and he does happen to be a genuine fan of Loki's more ambitious acts of mischief. He has the ability to see more to Loki than others and even with the timeline expectations of what a Loki is (a scourge, a crime against humanity, a liar, a villain), even with the TVA pressure to adopt this assumption like everyone else, Mobius says 'oh don't worry I have a permit' and the permit just says 'I'll do whatever I want'

#lokius #mobius really risked it all for loki #and continued to do so through the entire show #it is a shame that there are people who cant see just how much love there is between them UGH

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magimagali · 3 years

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speaking as someone who is terminally online, i feel like social media destroys the sacredness of things

it conditions you to experience life not through your own eyes, but through the eyes of an imagined audience

even just taking a walk in nature, you might find yourself automatically surveying the environment as like, instagram fodder, before you even think to just be, to engage your senses, alone and unobserved

you can forget how to enjoy things exclusively for yourself, or exclusively with the people you're spending time with in real life; doing so can gradually become an exercise, a resistance against the way you've been programmed to be seen rather than see

there is sacredness in transience. posting something online permanently documents it

there is sacredness in only being able to experience something once. the internet allows you to experience the same thing endlessly until you're numb to it

there is sacredness in each of the endless, varying, unknowable levels that all things operate on. posting things on the internet puts everything on the same, 2-dimensional level. a meme is placed on the same level as your text post about your dog dying

it's why posts that say things like "love is peeling potatoes with someone" or "why do the deepest conversations happen in the kitchen" make me so uncomfortable. it's not that i don't appreciate that these are apparently universal human experiences--it's that by acknowledging it online, it saps it of its power. you can't condense the fullness of a moment in a text post, and by trying to, you kill it. you literally put it in a box. secrets--experiences that elude definition or even conscious recognition, feelings and energies felt by and known to you alone--are filtered of all of their magic and mystery as soon as they enter the online spotlight. some things are better left unsaid. some things are better left kept to yourself--if only to allow it to live inside of you rather than become something to be so heavily appropriated and repeated that it loses all meaning

the online spotlight is designed for one thing: clout. your dog's death becomes clout. if you're an internet celebrity, strangers who have never met you or your dog will loudly and openly grieve your dog as if it was their own.

your heartbreak is sacred. once it's shared online, doesn't it feel reduced? doesn't it feel like it no longer belongs to you? but it certainly doesn't rightfully belong to anyone else but you, right? so it just... gets lost

i actually don't wanna know about the mugs you made because you picked up ceramics during covid. i don't wanna know. i don't want meaningless peeks into the lives of strangers. something about it feels horribly wrong and violating and it's sick because it's impossible to fully honor and respect the complexity of a human being through a flat screen

basically, the internet is where sacredness goes to die, and social media is a godless abyss. still gonna use it though (depressed)

#vent

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