#also tbh eternalism has pretty clear rules

[alteredsilicone]

"people really overblow how Eternalism is used as a storytelling device"

OHMYGOD RANDOM REDDIT USER I LOVE YOU, FINALLY I FOUND SOMEONE WHO GETS IT

Also this comes from a thread how it's "impossible" to explain Warframe's lore without making someone's head explode.

And it literally isn't. If you tell it chronologically it's not that convoluted at all. The worst part is the Operator/Drifter split but like... that's it.

#wf tag #eternalism isnt and has never been used to patch plot holes in DEs writing #those just exist organically LMFAO #eternalism is used to explain how the drifter and operator timelines coalesced #THATS IT #its literally my pet peeve u guys dont get how passionate im about this #good to see ONE person who gets it #also tbh eternalism has pretty clear rules #like a lot of dimension and time travelling stories just kinda make shit up #but in wf its like #the void is how you travel between dimensions #u can do that via void portals #ballas opened a bunch of portals during new war #the zariman is plugging a giant void hole and also acts as a corridor between worlds #and thats it #its really that shrimple #ok i know saying something is simple is condescending but ugh #i dunno i just hate how people think anything that requires thought is like #bad or too difficult or impossible or wtv #IM JUST BEING ANNOYING #wf reddit adventures

[illiophop]

GO and Statue Significance

Anyone noticed the statues? Three in particular, which take center stage quite literally in Seasons 1 & 2. We have:

Crowley and his "wrestling" demon and angel, which had pride of place in his flat.

Gabriel's graveyard statue portrait

Aziraphale's marble bust

Because nothing in the set seems accidental and because the statues are so lovingly and prominently displayed, I think it's worth lavishing some attention on them and think about why the characters chose them/like them/display them. This is gonna get academic, for which I'm sorry/not sorry!

Some background on what we know about each statue, with much thanks to @fuckyeahgoodomens for lots of info regarding #1 and #3 statue origins. The wrestling demon and angel is an original work, based upon the Uffizi statue "The Wrestlers." The original is dated to the age of Augustus after a Greek original, which depicted two men engaging in an Olympic sport called Pankration which is described as "an empty-hand submission sport with scarcely any rules." (Make of that what you will).

Gabriel's statue is particularly fascinating. Typical monumental-sized angel statuary with a large cross either has the cross placed above, and the angel below, carrying it, or the angel crouching while embracing the cross. In either composition, it is the cross which is the focal point. In Gabriel's statue, we see the Cross in a non-dominant position, whereas Gabriel's face is the focal point. Also important to note - in traditional angelic statuary, Gabriel is usually depicted as a herald with a horn, and not with a cross at all.

Aziraphale's statue bust original is located in the Louvre, and is called "The Victorious Athlete." It dates from around the time of Crowley's statue, perhaps a century or so later. It is also Roman and it is most likely an idealized figure, not a Greek portrait. Greek-style hair and features came back into fashion in the Roman first century AD, when the Emperor Hadrian fell in love with a Greek youth, Antinous.

My theory is that each statue represents how its owner sees themself and their purpose. In other words, an allegory that allows us to understand the events of S6 and each respective character's actions.

Crowley: Crowley's statue elevates the beauty of eternal tension between dark and light. It's a spiritual and also a very physical, fleshly beauty. More tension. There is definitely sexuality in that piece as well (a few of us have noticed, including Neil!) Each figure pushes the other to their best effort and is, in turn, shown at its best. And each figure is defined by its engagement with the other.

Gabriel: The statue is a clear portrait, unlike the other two (highly unusual for angelic statuary). The whole composition serves to allow the viewer to look, and admire, Gabriel's face. The hope of a resurrection of the dead, as represented by the cross, is completely sublimated to angel portraiture! Pretty extreme stuff for a graveyard, tbh, and reconciles nicely with Gabriel's complete disinterest with the Second Coming.

Aziraphale: His bust is meant to serve as an idealization and embodiment of qualities of the ancient athlete, summed up in the word arete, a term describing "a maximum of ability and potency for action (optimum potentiae); a man’s effectiveness and skill in goodness." Not making this up, btw, this is a widely accepted view of why such idealized statuary was created to represent ancient Olympic athletes - they were literally offerings dedicated to Gods at sanctuaries in Olympia, Delphi and elsewhere.

Such arete encompasses Aziraphale's goal and purpose, and it makes sense that the bust would be displayed so prominently in his bookshop. In S1, it dangled a medallion presented to him from Heaven in 1800. It is interesting that Aziraphale's medallion is missing from the bust in S2 - has it been stripped by Heaven after the events of S1?

Because Crowley has been stripped of his flat, we have no idea what happened to his wrestling angels statue but we no longer have it in S2 as an allegory to access and reference. Is this because he has evolved in his self-definition and that of his relationship with Aziraphale? We cannot know until we have an opportunity to see his flat again, and whether it is still in place.

We know that Gabriel uses his statue as narcissistic reinforcement and a date spot. With his escape from earth, we expect that it will retain little value to him, shed as a narcissist sheds all supply once it is of no use.

But what has happened to Aziraphale's bust in S2 E6? We see Crowley methodically put everything back together exactly as it was after the Ball/Demon incursion, but we don't see the bust go back in place. What is the significance to its absence in the Kiss scene, and the following one with Metatron? I don't know, but I wonder if this is not foreshadowing to indicate that Aziraphale's self-conception is going to be radically altered as a result of his going to heaven. He is not going to come back the same angel, and his allegory is going to have to change with him!

#good omens meta #aziraphale #ineffable husbands #good omens set #the other kind of good omens art #good omens season two #crowley #gabriel #angel and demon wrestling statue #gabriel statue #antinous

[drawnfamiliarfaces]

First Ninja can easily defeat Chase during Heylin Eclipse. If he finds out about this phenomenon, will he take advantage of the opportunity?

Well, perhaps not easily, but his chances of winning certainly rocket from 15-25% to like, 75-85%!

The thing is, we do not know many details about Heylin Eclipse, the only sure thing is that Chase seems to be unable to use magic freely (but he still can participate in showdowns and use Wu, which imo require some?? sort of minimal magical capacity) and transform into his dragon/lizard form. It also seems that the same magic usually assists Chase in being/reacting faster, since he is easily caught by Wuya (but she is also weakened?? so). Does it just takes away that buff he acquired since becoming Heylin or is the Eclipse actively nerfing him (making him sluggish)?

However, just as Chase himself said, despite lack/suppression of Heylin magic, he is not helpless - he has strategy and experience on his side and not to mention probably 100 tricks up his sleeve AND its one of the rare instances his motto of 'using Wu as a crutch' is nowhere to be seen, because he literally had Serpent's Tail hidden in his gauntlet! (talk about aces in sleeves huh!)

(I kind of wish there was a bit more of that smart and experienced Chase in the episode, instead of what happened.)

So that's mostly the reason why I think First won't get a win too easily. But of course the main question is would he even use that opportunity? TBH I don't think he will go out of his way to do it.

(kinda radnom babbling on under cut, u can ignore it, the point of anwer was said xD)

In my mind, after First VS Chase event, First is too busy doing his stuff to actively worry about Chase. I mean, this guy still has a Sorcerer locked under his town attracting/causing chaos and monsters, and a Ninjanomicon to write and to prepare the future generations to keep Sorcerer locked and Norrisville safe, and probably other dozen things he has to worry about (and unlike Chase, First got only this mortal life and time to deal with it all, lol).

And while, sure, while Chase is a menace and a threat to any capable warrior, Chase also has been around for so long: he has clearly established his place in Hierarchy of Dark forces loooooong before Ninja came around. And yet while participating in wars and causing trouble, he is yet to be the supreme overlord of the world or whatever, so?? Chase kinda leads an existence of eternal evil final boss, doing his evil things and what not. Mostly he is too busy collecting cool warriors, like pokemons or trader cards or whatever.

I feel like in some sense First would understand the whole 'letting evil exist for the sake of the world balance' thing. Because like the XS last episodes established - Chase's existence is a sort of necessary evil that keeps balance from being upset too much on either side. Selfish and Cruel enough to be evil, but also Reasonable and Honorable enough to be sorta neutral good...-ish? I guess the right alignment would Lawful Evil? Though it doesnt really fit completely right, but it somewhere in that ballpark.

(On a side note, IMO about the Sorcerer - he is pretty much clear is not necessarily just Evil, he is more of Chaotic Evil. And Chaos is sort of also neutral, in a sense?? I mean Sorcerer was running around turning people into monsters, causing havoc across continents to gain power to... I dunno, be unstoppable? Cause more chaos and pain? Destroy everything?? Perhaps his goal was to make the World be like Chaos Realm/Land of Shadows? Who knows??? His motivation is as mysterious as his defeat in the finale, lol. But his deal feels more like those World-ending Spiders That Eat from XS, because it seems to me, he basically just gained more power for sake of more Chaos, not like... rule the world or something.)

Also while Chase is bugging First, he is kinda... not actively doing world-ending evil stuff to First's knowledge?

It's like... bothering First is distracting him from doing other evil stuff (he still probably has some schemes going on, but like in the background, not related to First), so First is like 'I could waste energy and effort to put an end to his reign of terror...but i guess i can let him bother me if it stops him from actively doing evil, just for a bit ' (but Chase is certainly doing evil, just nowhere First can see lol).

But, let's suppose First does figure out about Heylin Eclipse. For it to be of any use to First, it has to happen soon and in his lifetime, when he is still physically capable to take on Chase. He also got to plan out how he would defeat Chase (kill or capture him, how to do it and etc.). AND he also got to plan it around his duties to Norrisville. So like, if by incredible stroke of luck, all of it aligns? First might attempt it and most likely win!

But i feel if, it would take much longer (like say 30+ years) for Eclipse to arrive, First would not prioritize capturing Chase over his duties in Norrisville. This dude already wasted most of his life to defeat the Sorcerer (and like a bajillion creatures and monsters to do it), AND he is gonna waste his afterlife to keep him locked up too, just let the poor man rest! xD

(There is now an image in my head of First looking at Chase and going 'Not My Problem' and just peacing out of there.)

So, yeah, while I'm sure First can defeat Chase during Heylin Eclipse, Im not so sure he would actively dedicate himself to doing it.

On ANOTHER, much more shippy note (that u can ignore if its not ur thing), there is something very delicious in the idea that First, knowing such a blatant weakness of Chase's, and just doesn't do anything about it. Perhaps it's because, in some way, First prefers to fight Chase in full power, a much honorable battle no matter if it ends in defeat or victory. Or because it feels like such underhanded tactic of striking when his opponent is at their weakest. Maybe it feels this way because, they are enemies in name only because of their moral alignments, not because either of them actually hate each other (that much lol).

Ooooo just imagine, First and Chase confrontation during Eclipse, Chase fully expecting First to take the opportunity (because its what he will do), but First does the unexpected, and instead of ending the fight, he steps back and that stops Chase on his tracks. And somehow they end up waiting out the Eclipse together, First keeping an eye out for his weakened enemy, while Chase, despite all his previous flirting and needling, is geniuenly baffled by First's behaviour. He really did expect First to take the chance, after all the annoyance and bothering, and just generally First being exasparated with him. But here they are, with Chase at his weakest and First watching his back.... Trully strange.

*eyebrow wiggle*

but thats just silly shippy thoughts haha. I do feel like First will 100% use that opportunity to whoop Chase's ass just to vent all the frustrations about the trouble and annoyances Chase caused.

anyway ye sorry for rambling ;D

#que? #ninja showdown #my immortal soul #lsorry if ur ask was gen anon i made it a lil bit gay in the end lol #i want so badly to write out some of my ns/mis ideas im GONNA EXPLODe its becoming not enough just to write down my unhinged notes for art #<- previous tag was there when i first drafted this ask. but honestly i started to write and yet it still makes we WANNA EXPLODE #i have too many ideas and not enough energy to write bros TToTT

[thegeminisage]

it is time for. NOT a tng update. but a ds9 update!!! wednesday* we watched "emissary" and actually i'm not clear on if we watched both parts or just one since my website is wonky but either way whatever we watched FUCKING RULED. i'm dispensing w the normal bullet points so i can ramble as much as i want

*it was last night actually but it took me all day to type this up so i'm scheduling it to go up later. it got looooong lol

the first most striking thing i noticed about ds9, or at least the first half of what we watched, is that it FEELS like a video game. someone tell me if this is insane. you're playing as sisko. you get flashbacks of his backstory, you get thrown into this starbase that's in shambles and it's Your Job to fix it up. you go around meeting all the secondary characters who will be in charge of this or that gameplay aspect or upgrade system or shop: kira, o'brien, quark, odo, jadzia, julian, etc. the FOLEY in this was insane. all the noise in the back CONSTANTLY suggested a lively and whole universe outside of our direct line of focus - it felt so alive in the way not even the enterprise in tos did. i could picture myself in the opening gameplay/cutscene like slowly walking my character through what will become a hub area that i gradually upgrade over time while kira or o'brien narrates the list of problems. you're starting at the bottom rung and expected to fail, but you can FEEL the potential even in just one brief walk through the promenade. IS THIS INSANE? it feels like an insane thing to say. someone PLEASE write in if you have ever had similar feelings. if they haven't made a ds9 game yet, they should.

i also notice that not only is the quality of the ds9 episodes worse than that of tng and tos - no one has remastered them into 1080p, apparently - but the lighting is very different, as well. it felt WEIRD to see picard and the enterprise D shot this way. but it also lends, perhaps unintentionally, perhaps not, a really gritty atmosphere to what is normally a very clean universe. i guess since we mostly see it from the inside of starships, it would feel like a sterile place to us, but you know how everyone always compliments star wars on how lived-in it feels? the buttons are wearing, sand is stuck in their fancy thingamajigs, etc? this was how ds9 felt to me.

okay. the characters. let's fucking get into it. what's so fun about ds9 in general is that in all other trek shows i have picked out my specialest little guy in 5 seconds flat. tos was spock EASILY. tng i knew it was data before i started. i already know seven's gonna be my favorite voyager character, but i have NO IDEA!!! who my precious little baby in ds9 will be. what a fun surprise for everyone involved. if anybody wants to place bets go ahead.

like, i thought tng had a pretty solid lineup (hence my eternal frustration with its wasted potential) but they're not anywhere as eclectic as ds9's core cast. iirc, sisko and o'brien are the ONLY humans who for once are outnumbered by trek's cool aliens. i'm saving sisko for last because that was the part of ds9 that touched me most profoundly, but for o'brien - it was a little sad to see him leave the enterprise, because picard was right, it WON'T feel the same without him, but i'm really excited to see why everybody says he suffers more than jesus and to find out if the eyepatch is a permanent thing or if it's just mirrorverse fuckery. either way, i win. like, o'brien is cool, and i always miss him when i don't see him in tng, and i'll continue to miss him in tng from here on out, but he could never shine in that show. it's too stiff and too reluctant to put its characters through any real development. it's a shame they can't ALL move to ds9, tbh.

the next person we met was kira, who was WONDERFUL. it took me a minute to warm up to her, not because there was anything wrong with her, but because i figured at first glance she was ds9's version of ro laren, the obligatory bajoran cast member to connect us with the bajoran/cardassian plot - which would of course be good because ro is awesome, but it's not necessarily anything new and i already love ro. BUT I WAS WRONG! kira's personality is very distinct from ro's; really the only thing they have in common is not liking cardassians which lmao Yeah. my favorite thing about kira is that she smiles when she's upset or angry. that's Such an acting choic, to have her grinning at the cardassians when she's almost certain they're about to blow her whole space station to smithereens. all love light and respect to ro laren my beloved, but i think i actually like kira BETTER.

odo: WHAT is that thing he can do oh my god...is this a changeling?? i got that result in a star trek quiz once. i really loved when he snuck aboard the enemy ship posing as a bag to hold gambling winnings. i was like oh they showed us the bag to show us it will get stolen soon BUT NO it was odo!!!!!!! such a fun surprise. the exposition on his backstory was a little slapdash but i enjoyed it all the same, i cannot wait to learn more

i was most nervous to meet quark because i hate hate HATE the ferengi in tng, but he was actually so entertaining! like, you're never gonna be able to entirely remove the antisemetic undertones from the ferengi as a whole, but he was smart, practical, and endearingly longsuffering. i love his wryness and deadpan humor. i have a feeling he is gonna be so much fun to torture lovingly.

meeting julian bashir felt like meeting a famous person. for the longest time all i knew about ds9 was that cardassian guy wanted to FUCK that gay little doctor, so it was a little hilarious that in his first scene he was asking a woman* out on a date. sir do you not know you're gay?? even funnier was the fact that out of everybody in the pilot he had the least lines. we barely know him, but we finally met him. relatedly, i can't to wait to meet more cardassians, especially The cardassian. so far, they're still all gay.

*jadzia!!! gnc/trans queen! the trill stuff is SO interesting and watching that worm slither in and out of people during those flashbacks was so wonderful but also made me wince. i love that she used to be an old man and the jokes about it are actually really funny without feeling transphobic or anything SO FAR. who knows if that changes. i feel like we haven't gotten much yet from her either but i cannot wait.

SISKO. damn. where do i even...first of all, he should be allowed to bite kick kill picard. i say this as someone who experienced a genuine THRILL of pleasure upon seeing picard's borged self again. i loved that whole thing, i'm obsessed with the borg. that it comes back in this small way in ds9, and has such a HUGE impact on the storyline, was so so so fucking good. i always say tng tells and not shows, but even after just knowing sisko for a few moments i felt keenly how much it devastated to find his wife like that and THAT WAS JUST FROM THE FIRST SCENE. and it only gets better! he's a great dad. he's FUNNY. he is not above manual labor. he wants to tear picard limb from limb. and he exists HERE.

the wormhole alien sequence was. so good. it was SO GOOD. explaining linear time to aliens. the aliens using his memories to talk to him. HE EXISTS HERE. back and back and BACK to finding his wife in the rubble because HE EXISTS HERE. he CHOOSES to exist here. he existed there when he applied for a transfer to earth. he existed there when he confronted picard. he never left the ship because HE NEVER LEFT THE SHIP. they dragged him out but they COULDN'T DRAG HIM OUT. he exists here because he won't leave her to exist here alone because damn it we can't just leave her here. that was the most insane series of events i ever watched. like, because at first you DO think it's the aliens taking him back there BUT IT'S HIM. HE IS DOING IT TO HIMSELF. when the penny dropped i got literal chill bumps and when the aliens said "it's not linear" and he, openly weeping, replied "it's NOT linear," i genuinely, truly, shed a tear along with him. TNG COULD NEVER. none of those miserable fucks EVER cry!!! sisko did it in the god damn pilot!!!!!!!

and like, the fact that he can choose to stay at the space station at the end, to shake picard's hand, to exist SOMEWHERE ELSE. AAAAAUGHGHGHG

i really loved the final confrontation, too. kira is so so so so good, again, i LOVE that she smiles when she's angry, when she's sad, and it's not a fake smile, it's genuine and honest emotion, and she's genuinely and honestly going to start eating the cardassians for sport if they don't leave her alone. it was very scrappy, them pretending to be bigger and badder than they actually were because they had no other choice. you get the feeling everybody on the station and indeed the station itself is barely holding together, and what little togetherness is present comes from sheer spite.

anyway, absolutely 10/10. i was so worried ds9 wouldn't be good but it not only met my most furtive hopes it surpassed them with flying colors. it's gonna be REAL hard to go back to tng after this.

#personal #star trek blogging #ds9 lb #what an exciting tag to finally get to use!

[mobius-m-mobius]

was on a bit of a bender, sent a bonkers ask to a another poor blog and forgot about it, but now I think about it, it mightn’t have been as bunk as I thought? I think it went like this

“The clowns are playing their part to perfection” -> thinking about clowns with set parts/roles, Pierrot’s sad relationship/love triangle with Columbine and Harlequin -> pierrot’s character over time has had a lot of range (mostly a sad underdog jokester) -> a 20th century/modernist interpretation of Pierrot as part of ts elliot’s inspiration for the Lovesong of J Alfred Prufrock -> (loki reading other Elliot texts) -> “prufrock” poem pretty lokius-flavoured ? -> is mobius or loki in the sad pierrot role ? Maybe both? Sad little clowns, playing their parts to a fault :(

ok looking back at it again it is a bit of a mess, yet I yeet it unto you

Anon if this is you on a bit of a lark I can't even begin to imagine your full power, lol! What an fascinating take that tbh I wish I had even an ounce of the literary awareness necessary to process as thoroughly as deserved but will happily give it a go anyway 😅

I've always found that "clowns are playing their part to perfection" line of Loki's especially striking because while I'm sure it was meant to imply a dismissal of the situation and nonchalance over loss of control, there's no reason it would have the intended impact when nothing about the TVA had come across as less than hypercompetent?? From B-15's seamless takedown of Loki in the first place to the efficient process of variants, swift guilty ruling as his lack of access to magic is scoffed at, and Mobius having the upper hand as a Loki expert there's not really anything for that line to do except hang there as much higher symbolism so I think you're right to look at it in perspective to both Loki and Mobius considering how much they ended up mirroring each other right down to the temporarily (forever an optimist 😂) tragic romance of their ending.

On that note it's very interesting there are such clear comparisons between Loki and Pierrot since as you mentioned Pierrot's known for being an underdog and prankster to hide his unhappiness, flawed and in search of love, not to mention having a near "obsession" with Columbine only to often end up pining for his best and only friend the Moon 👀

While I'm biased and usually think of everything in terms of Mobius so I see both Pierrot (with his sense of endearing, eternally youthful energy) and Harlequin in him, in this case it makes sense to look at him in terms of Harlequin and how he's usually in high spirits, uses his clever nature to solve and escape problems easily, and unlike those around him doesn't hold onto grudges against those who have wronged him. There's also his TVA service that later turns into full devotion to Loki similar to how Harlequin is later considered a witty, faithful valet (""Why aren't the two of you in cahoots with him and his butler?") and it's notable how Loki is described by Mobius as a man of action when in pantomime Pierrot eventually takes on many of the characteristics of Harlequin, ending up representing the symbol of the artist just like Loki created a new story in the end.

Apologies that Prufrock I'm not quite as familiar with outside of a general awareness, but if I remember correctly it ultimately conveys an isolation or distance from the world after being too afraid to confront the surface level emptiness of life?? Which if so talk about Lokius being doomed to the narrative after failing to escape their past circumstances and getting (temporarily!!) confined in the very places they feared 😬

#basically for now they sadly are clowns performing set roles and so am i after choosing to also spend eternity by that tree lmao #would love if anyone else wants to chime in since like i said i fear i'm woefully underqualified to really expand here #(said after the usual far too long ramblings 😅) #but enjoyed this ask more than i can say so tysm for sending it!! completely unexpected and very welcome start to the day 💖 #and granted i'm aware there are countless tales of pierrot and harlequin etc all of varying beginnings middles and endings #so who knows if my musings even apply but had fun tossing out some thoughts based off prior understanding of the characters #sending lots of love your way and hope you've got a great day ahead 😊🥰 #ask

[urfavmurtad]

Why did you leave islam?

Hey anon, I think I’ve already answered this but I don’t mind answering it in more detail if that’s what you want. There wasn’t any one triggering moment tbh. My parents are both very religious (my mom especially, she is a hafiza) and I’ve been shoved into Islamic education classes since I was a kid. Even back then a lot of things didn’t quite add up for me. Little things mostly, like I’d notice errors in the Quran and be like 🤔. Just minor details, like the mixup between Maryam (mother of Jesus) and Miriam (sister of Moses) and things like that. Or I’d just think about stories like Adam/Eve, Noah, Moses, Dhu al-Qarnayn, Isra/Miraj, the moon splitting etc and think… uhh this shit ain’t happen.

But I still 100% thought of myself and identified as Muslim until a few years after we moved to America. I was maybe 12-13 and started considering the way I’d been raised and the way I’d been taught to think and behave. Before then, I really hadn’t thought about any of that stuff. Not just basic stuff like hijab and things like that but general… rules about how society should function. How women should behave. How people’s lives should be regulated. Everything from regulations of sexuality to even financial regulations I was skeptical of. I saw misogyny in rules that I had previously been taught existed to “protect women”. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that I didn’t agree with much of it, and some of it I thought was actively harmful. I started to consider how it had impacted my behavior, my view of other women, the way I interacted with the world in general, and I realized that it was mostly a negative impact. I had grown up being self-conscious of my body just because it was a female body, I had regulated my movements and emotions around men even when they were people I fully trusted, I had felt the need to view men as authority figures above women, and I had been taught that my main role in life should be as a man’s dutiful wife and as a mother to many children. And I didn’t want that!

Like 99% of other girls raised Muslim, I was also quite ignorant of much of Islamic history and what the Quran actually says and, more importantly, how it has been used to oppress women. The single most shocking thing to me as a young girl was the sexual slavery. The Quran allows women to be held as slaves and raped by their owners, regardless of whether either the slave master or the slave is married. This is stated repeatedly, in clear language, throughout the Quran (4:3, 4:24, 70:30, etc). Despite the fact that I had an Islamic education in high school, this fact was rarely brought up and immediately dismissed as “oh that was just part of the culture” whenever the subject was raised. That’s when I knew I was being fed a load of misogynistic crap. This is something written in a book we are meant to base our entire lives upon. The Quran is meant to be eternal. Either my own teachers didn’t truly believe that, or they were lying to me, and neither option made me very happy. The fact that many Muslim empires throughout history had open, institutionalized sexual slavery for upper-class men also did not escape my notice. Women throughout Islamic history had been abused, enslaved, and raped–and I was being told to defend an ideology that allowed it. (Later I would go on to learn more about Islamic history, from Muslim sources, and realize that the Quran’s verses about raping slaves weren’t merely allowances but encouragement. Mohammed’s soldiers were uncomfortable with the thought of raping enslaved women who were married and Mohammed “revealed” that Allah thought it was fine.)

I realized that not only did I not believe in the religion at all, but I didn’t even like it. The long list of rules, the whole moral philosophy is just deeply unappealing to me and it got less appealing as I learned more, which is not a good sign. And no shade (well, some shade tbqh), the Quran itself is… not cute to me, as I have elaborated on in the @quranreadalong sideblog, so even if I ignored the ahadith, I still wouldn’t have liked the religion as an ideology. I think I still self-identified as Muslim even then, but I was no longer very into it. When I prayed, I was just going through the motions at that point, and I think I considered my attachment to Islam more “cultural” than actually religious.

A bit after that, I dived into Islamic history. My mother has all kinds of books and was happy to let me read them and even discuss them with me. But the more I read, the more I got a “Hans, are we the baddies?” sense. I developed a pretty strong dislike of Mohammed as a person, and realized that a lot of what I’d been taught (and also just assumed) about the early history of Islam was completely wrong. And so I felt my last “cultural” attachment to the religion start to slip away. If I don’t believe in the religion, don’t like the religion, don’t respect the founders of the religion, and don’t appreciate the manner by which that religion became part of my ancestors’ “culture” nor the impact of it on said culture, what exactly is left for me?

In high school I had a Big Gay Awakening and that was really the last straw. I’m fortunate that it happened after I began doubting religion and not before it, because I think I would have had a lot of self-hatred otherwise. (In hindsight I always had feelings for girls, but I assumed it was normal to not be attracted to men and have little crushes on girls instead. My younger self just assumed that would change at some point, and it never did.) Why would I invest any emotional energy into an ideology that doesn’t even respect me as a person?

So when I was… maybe 16-17, I think, I was pretty much mentally checked out of Islam. I still present as a Muslim and no one irl beyond like two people is aware that I’m even slightly non-religious, because my parents would be furious if they found out (to say nothing of me being a lesbian). Since then, nothing has drawn me back into religion; most of the time I find myself being drawn even farther from it. In hindsight, so much of what I’d been taught was either bullshit or manipulative, and I lowkey resent it a bit for that reason.

But I started reading more about the history of religion, including Islam but not just limited to it. I learned more about how Judaism became monotheistic. I read the Biblical versions of stories in the Quran and looked into where Mohammed got the non-Biblical stories. I read up on all sorts of Islamic empires and historians. I still like studying Islam. I just don’t believe in it anymore and I don’t think I will ever believe in any religion for the rest of my life. That’s the long answer anon, hope it is helpful. ✌

#ask #anon #ex muslim #rant

[couldnt-think-of-a-funny-name]

Okay...weird shit happejed to you throuout yojr life, but has anything happened on Halloween specifically (other than you selling your soul to a demon)

Alright, it’s time for the requested and promised Ouija Board Story™

Listen, before I start this I wanna put a REALLY STRONG trigger warning on it- I really, truly recommend you not read this if you’ve been affected by suicide or get very easily freaked out by thoughts of death and the afterlife. I am not fucking kidding around here, okay? Someone in my family killed themselves over the summer and I’ve been trying so hard to not think about this whole event, because it’s terrifying to imagine anyone I know in this situation. Really think about it before you keep reading, okay? While this is an interesting and cool story I’m posting for Halloween, I don’t wanna get anyone too freaked out. If you think this is gonna mess with you or sit with you, just keep scrolling. 

This happened in 2015. My friend Zoe (@commando-rogers) decided to have some friends over for Halloween, because like, who doesn’t want plans on Halloween, right? Also there was Alexa (@starshiprangpr), Patricia (@trishaslats), Liz, and Ian (I don’t know if they have accounts if they do I’ll add them later). I’ve known these guys for years, so it was sure to be a fun night. 

Now, like. I’m bored with life. I’m freshly 20 years old. It’s Halloween. I’m dressed like Mabel Pines. I’m ready to fucking party. And we did have, you know, regular, normal fun at first- ate junk food, joked around, stuff like that. Average hangout. But then, a few hours into the night…Zoe pulls out a fucking Ouija Board. 

I’m immediately on the other side of the room, tbh. I’m very interested in paranormal stuff, and I was raised Catholic, and I’m also not a dumbass, so I know not to fuck around with Ouija Boards. You just don’t use them, ever! It’s never a good idea! Even if nothing talks to you through it, you’re still opening yourself up for something to happen. But I also knew this was five against one, so I didn’t stand much of a chance complaining. I conceded to watching whatever happens from a safe distance on the couch and not actually touching the board. Lord knows, I insisted, with my luck? Touching the board will get my ass possessed. 

The girls seemed to somewhat agree with me on that- Ian was the only person who agreed to use the board with Zoe. Ian’s a very smart, logical guy, you know, like the token genius asshole friend that you love to death even if he gets a little condescending occasionally? Love the guy. But he was pretty sure it was all bs and nothing would happen, versus Zoe’s deep belief in the paranormal, so they made a bit of a weird pair working the board. I remember texting my friend Raychel about what was about to happen, and getting the response “YOU MOTHER FUCKING WHITE PEOPLE FIT ALL THE HORROR MOVIE ARCHTYPES GET YOUR BULLSHIT TOGETHER AND DONT DO THIS”. And I agreed with her, honestly, but I did actually have a strong curiosity to see if anything would happen. Zoe had told me all about her trying to use the board by herself before (bad!!! idea!!!)- she said she never got any words out of the board, but her camera or phone or whatever she was trying to film the session with would always malfunction or die unexpectedly. No one expected what happened though. 

Now, before I really start, I wanna say- could this have all been an elaborate hoax by Ian or Zoe? Sure. Absolutely. Believe that if you want- but Zoe was so freaked out and even got all shook when we were going over details the other day, and Ian seemed really rocked, and honestly I can’t think of anything they’d get out of keeping up a ruse on it for two years now, especially when people they’re good friends with were literally crying during this mess, so…I really don’t think this was fake. Like, I want to believe it was fake. As I mentioned in the trigger warning, this has really stuck with me and been bugging me as of late, so if one of them suddenly fessed up that it was a prank? I would fucking jump for joy! But it doesn’t look like that’s the case (otherwise, they’re just, you know, dicks by this point). So, anyway, whether you believe it or not, just know that I am absolutely not lying about anything that happened in this story. I’m recounting everything truthfully. 

Okay, so…Ouija Boards have rules, you know? You have to be polite, say hello and goodbye even if nothing speaks to you, you have to keep at least two fingers on the planchette and ‘charge’ the piece, I’m not going over all the guidelines right now. And also, when a living person is manipulating the planchette…Like, you can tell. You can feel it. Zoe and Ian charged the piece, we all said hello, and we waited in silence. 

Zoe asked ‘Is there anybody here?’

Nothing happened for a long moment, but then…the planchette slowly started sliding towards ‘YES’. 

Ian was trying to look like his eyes weren’t wide, and going ‘Zoe! Zoe are you moving it!’ but Zoe was already having a mild freak out, her voice higher then normal and repeating ‘Holy shit holy shit holy shit!’ (like I said…she’s a deep believer in the paranormal). 

When it finally landed on yes, she took a deep breath and tried to seem a bit, I guess, politer. “Um, okay, hi, I’m Zoe? This is Ian and our other friends. What’s your name?”

…K…E…V…I…N.

Patricia made some joke about the name but got shushed. 

“Are you…usually in my house?”

‘NO’.

“Are you…here for someone?”

‘YES’.

We’ve only been at this for a few minutes and there was already that feeling in the air- you know, the one that gets over described every time anyone recounts a paranormal experience? Just a heavy feeling in the air, a twisted feeling in your gut, the feeling that someone is right behind you. Tension was building even though nothing had really happened to warrant it yet. 

“Who are you here for, Kevin?”

The planchette starts to slide towards the ‘I’. Cue to five girls yelling “IAN” in high pitched, worried (and some teasing) voices as the boy in question’s eyes are flying out of his head. 

It spells out the rest of his name. Zoe asks, “Is there anything you want to say to Ian?”

…H…E…L…L…O.

Me, an asshole who needed to cut some tension before she got sick: “Hello from the other side~~~~~~”.

Pillows were thrown at me.

The board respelled ‘Hello’. 

I will literally never forget the awkward forced smile on Ian’s face, or the raised eyebrows, or the way his confused voice cracked when he said, “…Hi, Kevin?” 

…H…I.

“How do you know Ian?”

…F…R…I…E…N…D…S.

Ian looked at is, giving an insistent whisper of “I don’t know any dead Kevins!”

That had us all stumped for a few moments, before “Do you think maybe like, past lives?”

Zoe asked Kevin if that was right. The planchette flew to the ‘YES’. 

“So Ian was your friend in his past life then? Who was he?”

…E…V…A…N.

“Evan! So how did Evan die?”

…C…A…R.

“Oh. Were you, like…with him?”

‘NO’.

“How did you die then?”

Nothing happened for a few minutes, the piece didn’t move an inch. They recharged it and Zoe tried again. “Was that a rude question? Do you not want to talk about that?”

‘YES’.

“I’m so sorry, we’re not trying to be rude.”

…F…I…N…E.

We started brainstorming for better questions (Zoe or Ian had to be the ones to formally ask, though). 

“Where were you from?”

…O…H…I…O.

“And what year did Ian die?”

(I’m going to admit here that I can’t remember the exact year, it was definitely around the 1920′s or 30′s, though. We all thought it was a bit odd that the death year wasn’t exactly close to Ian’s birth year)

“What year did you die?”

He spelled out the same year. 

“Oh? Um…how long after Evan did you die?”

A long pause, and then: …W…E…E…K. 

“But you didn’t reincarnate like Ian?”

‘NO’. 

“Why not?”

The board fell silent again. They recharged. “Sorry. Um…Why did you decide to find Ian in his current life?”

…B…E…S…T…F…R…I…E…N…D. 

Before we could all start flat out cooing at that, it kept going, spelling out ‘…S…A…F…E.’

“Oh, so you’re his guardian angel?”

…C…L…O…S…E. 

“Close?”

No response. “Okay…How did you know Ian was Evan?”

…H…I…S…E…Y…E…S. 

(cue everyone going ‘awwwww’) “You have the same eyes when you reincarnate?”

‘YES’. 

“So…what were you doing before Ian was born?”

It fell silent again. 

“Kevin? We’re sorry?”

…F…I…N…E. 

“What did you mean by ‘close’ to a guardian angel? Are you not an angel?”

‘NO’.

“So…what are you, then?”

…S…T…O…P.

“Okay, sorry. Um…Is anyone else here with you?”

…Y…E…S.

“Who’s here with you?”

…D…E…A…T…H.

DEATH.

WHEN I TELL YOU WE SCREAMED. No one was Goddamn prepared for an answer like that! We’re just a bunch of asshole teens! None of us actually wanna die! What the fuck!!!! 

While we were all busy freaking out and trying to rationalize, Zoe managed to choke out a “Is…Death here for someone in this room?!”

‘NO’. 

“Is Death going to effect someone in this room?”

‘NO’. 

That got us to all calm down slightly, but….We were literally just told DEATH IS AMONG US. We were still freaking out, and were trying to figure out what Kevin meant by that. After a while though, something clicked. 

“Kevin? Does Death just have to be with you in order for you to talk to us?”

‘YES’.

THIS.

THIS LITERAL GODDAMN GHOST GOT PISSED OFF AT US.

AND SAW THE OPPORTUNITY TO FUCKING TROLL A BUNCH OF SHITTY TEENS. 

AND HE GODDAMN TOOK IT.

I HAVE NEVER RESPECTED A MAN MORE IN MY ENTIRE LIFE. I STILL CANNOT GET OVER THIS. Eternal hats off to you, Kevin, oh my God.

We all slowly recovered from that scare, a little more wary about pissing Kevin off but also…more curious, because there was a lot to ask and a lot he seemed to want to hide. 

“Um…so is Heaven and all that real?”

A very, very long pause. Zoe and Ian almost went to recharge and try a new question, but then it slowly slide over to ‘YES’. 

The pause seemed to make it clear it wasn’t something he really wanted to go into. But, “So…what’s Heaven like?”

A long pause. …D…R…E…A…M.

“…And…is hell real?”

The planchette immediately flew around the board, spelling: …N…I…G…H…T…M…A…R…E.

None of us really knew what to say about that. 

We asked a few more questions, but Kevin still didn’t want to talk about himself that much. He liked talking about Evan, though (After this night, we had a running joke for a little bit about ‘cant believe we’re shipping Ian with a ghost’. There were some ‘implications’ I remember we all picked up on) But he still avoided questions pertaining to him. Zoe had a very worried look on her face around this point. She had been very curious about Kevin’s unwillingness to talk about certain topics, and things were slowly piecing together in her mind. She tried once more to get answers. “Kevin, I’m really sorry for asking, but I just- Um, I’m sorry, but did you kill yourself?”

There was a bright flash in the room. 

That made everyone jump and look around- we had caught it in the window, but we couldn’t see anyone outside or around the house. Zoe’s parents and brother were upstairs. We couldn’t find anything that would have caused it. It was just a flash, but we were completely alone and with the timing of the question…Well, everyone was unsettled about it. 

We eventually settled back down and recharged the board. “Kevin?…Did you?”

Slowly, it slid towards the ‘YES’. 

“…Because Evan died?”

‘YES’.

“And…that meant you couldn’t be reborn?”

‘YES’. 

“So…what happened?”

It stayed still. 

I had a very sick, sinking feeling in my stomach at this- I’d gone to Catholic school for 9 years, and I knew suicide is classified as a sin. In the more modern times the Church stopped being awful about it, always prayed for suicide victims and didn’t deny them burials anymore and always told the families the same spiel about being in God’s hands, but…It was still considered a mortal sin none the less. I told the group as much. 

Zoe said in a small voice “Were you…in hell?”

A long pause. ‘YES’. 

Fuck.

“Um…for how long?”

…F…O…R…E…V…E…R.

“That’s why you’re not a guardian angel then? Because you were in hell?”

…D…E…M…O…N.

“How did you…get out to find Ian?”

…L…I…L…I…T…H.

We’d all been on edge with the turn of the conversation, but that. Fuck. I nearly lost it at that. Zoe and the other’s asked who Lilith was, because she’s not common curriculum, but, well, short story answer- She was created before Eve, but she didn’t want to submit to Adam, so she was tortured to give birth to a dead child every day, but other accounts and stories of her do go on to say she became a lead torturer/essentially queen of hell. Fucking. 

“Lilith let you out of hell?”

…Y…E…S.

“Why? Like what for?”

…I…D…O…N…O…T…K…N…O…W.

“You don’t….You have no idea why they let you out?”

‘NO’. 

“So you found Ian and became his…Guardian demon? Is that a thing?”

…Y…E…S.

“Does everyone have one?”

…Y…E…S. 

“Do I have an angel or a demon?”

…D…E…M…O…N.

Zoe, even though she’d been talking to a seemingly reasonable demon all night, looked a little worried about that. Back then we had a running joke in our friend group that Zoe was Satan, and well “Um, do I have a demon because of all the jokes I make?”

…Y…E…S.

“Um??? I’m sorry? Fuck.” 

We were all a little #shook but trying not to laugh at the look on her face at that. She went on to check with Kevin that having a demon instead of an angel didn’t actually mean anything bad, she wasn’t in like, undead trouble or anything, the only difference is the demons are usually working off a debt or something versus the angels not…But when Zoe and I were going over this the other day, she did suddenly realize that she hasn’t made a single Satan joke since this night and she’d ‘feel weird if one was made now’. Make of that what you will. 

He said me and the other girls all had Angels (Shoutout to you, Sarah! I’m still kicking at 22!).

Patricia, however, wanted some proof that ‘Helena’ existed and was there for her. Which is reasonable. She asked if her angel wanted to tell her anything. There was a brief pause before the planchette spelled out: …E…R…I…K…I…S…G…O…O…D. 

We were y e l l i n g. Listen, I know that’s clearly not going to be convincing evidence to a bunch of random people reading this, but basically Erik had been dating her best friend at the time and she was just…Very worried about the relationship. Very worried. For many reasons.‘Erik is good’ is exactly the thing she needed to hear from a guardian angel. (And, spoiler alert from two years in the future: he IS good!) But like. She teared up hearing that. It was nice. 

We tried to stray into lighter topics than the whole hell thing, because, again, fuck- I remember thinking to myself at some point ‘this poor guy is after-living the plot to a really great book’- but none of us wanted to upset him again and none of us wanted to get anymore upset ourselves. Liz had already had a panic attack by this point (the hell talk obviously got to her), and she was actively trying not to sob as she asked if she could speak to any passed on family members. We were told pretty much everyone gets reborn and there was no one else around except for Kevin and the other guardians (and good ole’ Death, of course). 

Ian’s got a big birthmark on his face, right? It’s adorable and we often made a lot of jokes about it (fondly), so at some point, while trying to stay on lighter topics, someone asked ‘Did Ian have that birthmark in his past life?‘

…S…C…A…R.

Now, I don’t know if you’ve ever heard about that theory that birthmarks have to do with how you died in a past life, but….shook. We all started trying to figure out if we had any meaningful birthmarks. Zoe got further freaked out because she has one on her wrist and one on her temple. What the fuck did she theoretically get up to in a past life?

That was the last really substantial thing he gave us, all the other questions tapered off so we could try to pretend we hadn’t learned we were talking to a demon who went to hell for no seemingly good reason and also no one would be able to talk to dead loved ones. After we finally came to a loss for questions, and people started having to leave- we just did the proper ‘goodbye’ and everything, followed all the rules, put the board away and split up. Liz was still drying her eyes when she left. Ian was mumbling to himself and swearing up and down he didn’t fake all that.  Zoe was frantically researching the information we received and kept repeating that that was the craziest fucking thing that ever happened to her (and she actually did find some thread about guardian demons). We talked about it for a bit before I went home. 

And, it’s like…Again, this could be nothing. But it doesn’t feel like nothing. It feels like a shifted view because…Even if it’s not real, it’s still an outlook on the afterlife that I had never considered before, and it’s…horrifying? This whole night I’ve just never been able to shake, I can’t get it out of my head, because if it is true? Fuck. If it’s true, fuck. The whole drive home I couldn’t help but think ‘ignorance is bliss’. 

It just left me with so many questions, questions I literally don’t think you can get the answers to until it’s too late, and…I don’t know what to do about that. 

#ghosts #paranormal #demons #halloween #Ouija boards #asks #molly mumbles #molly's memories #and honestly #I tried to make this as little creepy as possible #like it was so much More in person #so uh #happy Halloween anyway

[patapons-of-star-army]

(📜: Land geography edition!)

Send 📜 to receive a random piece of lore about my blog!

tbh if i say the exact locations of each places it’ll be extremely long as hell, so i’ll say the most prominent lands in my patapon world.

Land geography:

There are 4 prominent lands:

1: Surface/Outerworld

2: Earthend

3: Overthere

4: Underworld

Surface or Outerworld:

It’s the typical part of the world where every ‘mortal’ lives, the Patapons, Zigotons, Karmens and any other ‘normal’ creatures are. It has a millions, if not- countless types of biome and recourses for these critters to live and survive, thougth not only they walk on this lands, also any other living organism as well, for those whom are deemed as gods, angels, demons and paranormal beings, the Outerworld works as a ‘neutral grounds’ for them where they can also live and be amongs those whom are created by either them or by the Benevolent One, thought…there is always a constant fight between good and evil, and those of opposing beings whom aren’t in the same tune or agree there views.

Netherless, the Outerworld is mostly described as a wonderful place to be.

Eathend:

The land where the Patapons believes where IT is located, where it is described as a beautiful and peaceful land where they will find eternal happiness. For deities and ‘immortals’, Earthend is like a ‘bridge’ between the Surface and the Overthere, this particular place is mostly disguised or well hidden from the mortals, even it is named like so in hopes for them to not approach it, yet…it is possible to reach it, you just need to prove your worth to be stepping on this particular ground, considering the gods aren’t very keen on having mortals reach there holy lands.

Luckily for the deities, there are certain creatures that roams around Earthend, constantly searching for trespassers due to being incredibly possesive of there grounds and territories.

Do you feel strong and confident to live on this grounds in search for happiness?

The Overthere:

Also known as the ‘Land of Gods’ as it’s name implies, only deities and selected fews are able to take a step and even live on this lands. The deities decided to name there world like so to create confusion amongs the mortals, after all, they all fear that one of them would dare reach this lands in hopes to gain strengh and use the deities knowledge for bad, which it’s the reason that those whom aren’t ‘invited’ or does not contain either blood or essence of a deity are instantly killed on sight.

mostly a confusing, yet beautiful place. If someone were to go there, they would notice the array of colors that the sky has, and the diffrent pieces of lands that floats aimlesly around, those whom are worthy to take a step on this world, they could instantly see that it’s completly diffrent than the surface, specially with the flora and fauna that they have.

There are currently 2 possibles way to enter here, one is through Earthend, and the second one is by passing a special entrance in which the deities most valuable possesion, Gaya the tree of Gods, guards…thought obviously both choices are incredibly dificult to find, or even know of, so virtually for a mortal it’s impossible to enter there, or even know of these sacred territories.

The Overther is just a myth, a silly rumor from ancient times, but do you believe its true?

The Underworld:

This world is pretty much the opposite of the Overthere,yet it shares a bit of similarity with the Surface, instead of deities, demons and souls whom are either ‘cursed’ and caused a horrible crime inhabits those lands and calls it there home, while the Outerworld has clean and even clear & colorful skies, the Underworld has it dull colored, and is usually clouded, it’s ‘surface’ is dead, there is not a lot of flora and fauna, and instead it’s a very harsh world where chaos usually reigns there. You could probably describe it as a desert, but it has a lot of oasis, oasis made out of lava. (it’s no wonder there are demons whom are desperate to escape there)

The Underworld also has a variety of biomes suprisingly, aside of flat surfaces, it has it’s pieces of lands where it has mountains and volcanoes, sadly this world is incredibly hot when it’s about it’s usual temperature, either that or it’s horribly freezing if your living at the tops of the mountains.

Like mentioned, chaos reigns in there, there isnt much rules and it ussually follows the sayings of ‘It’s Killed or getting Killed’ to survive, yet, the vast mayority of them all shares the same rage and disposition, they all follow the same leader, whom it is known as ‘The Dark One’ and of course it’s right hand, Black Hoshipon.

Then again there those unfortunate souls whom ends up in the Underworld for wrong reasons, and they all miss and even crave the olden days, and of course they all end up attempting to reach the surface or being forced to have the same ideology as the other demons. Luckily they are a small few whom managed to reach and live up in the mortal’s world, but due to there race and it’s ‘leader’s’ malevolent plans, these poor souls are usually ostracized or being ignored and even being thrown around.

If your chosen to go to the Underworld, it’s like a death sentence…for Eternity.

#.*The Benevolent One (OOC)*. #.*Our World's History (Lore)*. #pataponsoftheoldworld

[simon-newman]

Newman's List of Anime 2015 - Part 20: Overlord.

First thing first: I am sorry this took SO FUCKING LONG to write.

The point is - I am more fluent in writing about bad movies or bad shows. When I get to write about good ones I rewrite the stuff for eternity trying to get it just right...

And I am still not satisfied with the result - dammit!

Without further delay...

Another cliche setting lately...

A character travels to a different world.

Or more specifically - a world where rules of the game he's been playing apply (if not straight game-world that is).

Ever since SAO showed up it's ugly head the anime industry exploded with such stories...

Sad as it is most of them were just as bad or even worse than fucking SAO.

And yes - SAO is a piece of shit.

So now. Lets look into one good example of such story I've found...

Overlord

TBH this is another title I didn't even plan on watching at first.

The moment I read the premise I was like "Yeah. NOPE" and went on to watch something else.

How wrong I was?

Verily.

The thing about Overlord is that it doesn't fuck around.

There's no EMO kid for a protagonist who claims only a cheater could outplay him.

No target for this tiresome romantic bullshit who at some point will have to be saved by our Uber player.

No.

Overlord knows what it wants to be and does it.

And it wants to be an anime about a guy who gets stuck in a body of nigh invincible Elder Lich with an army of followers who consider him to be a Supreme Being - and Evil Overlord.

*ba dum tss*

I mean... He has the looks down perfectly.

  I really liked the feel of power the show gives to people watching it. But lets begin with the actual premise:

It is early established that our Protagonist - Momonga - has maxed out his game level.

He and other players of his guild Ainz Ooal Gown - all playing monster characters - banded together to defend themselves from other players who hunted them for their choice of character race.

Together they created a massive dungeon infamous for being impossible to clear - the Great Tomb of Nazarick.

And since they're playing monsters anyway they decided to play the part and customized everything to fit the theme of Evil Fortress of Doom.

At the end - after 12 years of playing - Momonga was the last player of the guild to play regularly.

With the servers closing he decided to stay online till the very end - to properly part with the game he's invested so much time in.

He gives his last orders to the NPCs created by his friends and includes one little change in the description of tomb's Overseer NPC. Then the end comes...

And he's not forcibly logged out.

Momonga finds himself trapped - his console doesn't open and he can't contact the GMs. What's more - the NPCs surrounding him start to show concern over his visibly agitated state.

They change from programmed game constructs into true, living creatures.

Everything within Nazarick becomes reality - the Tomb itself, it's inhabitants and Momonga's skeletal body.

A body of an Eclipse - a powerful, undead magician.

It doesn't take long for Momonga to figure out the basics of how his skills work now.

The real problem he's facing is how the NPCs see him.

 The head of all the supreme beings and a merciful leader who stayed behind with us until the end.

  For the Guardians of Nazarick - a group of Boss NPCs created by the guild - Momonga is the Supreme One: the one and only true ruler of Nazarick, an evil overlord who guides them, an ascended being of unlimited power and even greater wisdom, infallible and inerrant - a being equal or superior to gods.

With this in mind all the Guardians swear their eternal loyalty to Momonga - pretty much forcing him to play the part as they explore the world they were transported to.

But enough with me describing the plot or this entire review will last for a few dozen pages.

What's important is that Momonga decides to secretly search for other players and takes on the name of Ainz Ooal Gown.

His pan is to spread the name of his guild so that other players can hear of it - a goal his Guardians accidentally misinterpret as a plan to take over the world they arrived in.

For the world they ended up in is not same as the game world of YGGDRASIL.

It's a different place altogether.

True - it has the magic from the game which surprises Ainz at first and indicates that someone from the game appeared in this world much earlier in time.

Ainz begins his quest to explore the world and quickly establishes that being a lvl 100 character here is pretty much breaking the system.

High level angel? More like a minor nuisance.

  Remember the feel of power thing I mentioned above?

This is what all this exposition above was getting to.

Nothing in the new world can even compare to Ainz. He's just THAT powerful here.

With this the anime focuses on the story and characters foremost. And I'll be honest - the anime does a great job in that regard.

We don't get to see much of ALL the guardians or other NPCs - the anime doesn't last this long.

What we get to see is that they're all individuals with distinct personalities like the people who created them - something Ainz will never fail to recognize.

The guardians are like children of the people who were his only friends and he'll go to great lengths to protect them while they in turn are ready to die for him.

The battles are still there - don't get me wrong. The battles are awesome and work greatly.

The point is - they're always a part of something bigger. The fight itself poses no challenge to our Protagonist AT ALL.

It's the same as with One Punch Man - the fight is won the moment Ainz or any of the Guardians decides to get serious.

Shit. They don't need to cast a spell or throw a punch.

All they need to do is to... Hug an opponent. Yes - really.

Well... Death by sword. Death by broken bones. Death by crushing. There’s not much difference, right? You die at the end.

In the end - baring the last fight in the anime - Overlord focuses on Ainz learning stuff about his New World and being awesome while doing it.

And by awesome I mean dark as fu*k.

He slowly grows into the Overlord the Guardians see him to be.

Partially because of his actions and partially due to his Lich body suppressing his human emotions.

Now - a warning word for those who might want to watch this show.

It's brutal and bloody.

People are going to fucking die and die brutally, painfully and amusingly. The Guardians are EVIL and shit is getting DARK frequently.

And yet it's still fun to watch and it gets a bunch of funny scenes as well.

What's more - it's a damn good story.

Not to spoil much of what's going to happen in the later episodes I'll tell you only this.

Remember the thing I mentioned about Overseer NPC?

It's a beautiful succubus whose description included a bit about her being a slut.

On a whim Momonga changed that part so that Albedo would be in love with him.

Their interactions are mostly funny from there on partially thanks to Momonga being... Well... A walking skeleton...

There's this little bit however when Ainz is going to seriously risk his life and it seems to Albedo like he is saying his farewells.

The ensuing scene is a really touching exchange between them.

Yes - a truly well done romantic scene between a succubus and a Lich.

Better love story than Twilight... Well... Actually... Better love story than most of the shit we see nowadays.

  Now.

The animation is done by Madhouse and looks absolutely beautiful.

Just like with OPM the studio doesn't disappoint and delivers a truly breathtaking spectacle which only pales in comparison to... To the source material - the illustrations of which look like Death Metal album covers.

Yes - the show is lightened in animation and (as I've heard on the web) the story is actually softened as well to better fit the anime format.

IMO this worked greatly as making the story even darker might have ended with something repulsive for most of the audiences.

And with the story and characters of Overlord being the strongest points this would have potentially killed the show.

In the end I also wanted to mention the music.

You probably know by now that I don't pay much attention to it.

Yes - I listen to it while watching but I barely recall anything after I'm done.

Music in Overlord... Well... I remember it clearly.

It. Is. Awesome.

A truly great finishing touch for a really good show - silver medalist of 2015 anime I’ve watched.

With this in mind...

  Final Score: 8/10  +Newman's Mark of Quality Status: Completed Sentence: Stuck in a skeletal body in the company of a horny succubus (I mean... It’s great but... There’s something missing...)

  Previously reviewed title: One Punch Man.

Next reviewed title: Yamada-kun to Nana-jin no Majo.

#Anime #Review #Overlord #Ainz Ooal Gown #Momonga #Nazarick

[clonerightsagenda]

The final part of the Vriska arc commentary! Let's go.

Terezi and Vriska's conversation was a big ticket item and something we never got actual resolution on in canon, so I knew I wanted to do it right. I totally scrapped a first draft of this conversation and gutted my second one pretty hard before I was happy with anything.

Vriska has mellowed out at this point, because it's been a long time for her. However, time is weird out in the bubbles. If she'd fully lived thousands of years, someone she knew for thirteen of them shouldn't be a big deal. But bubble time is more stasis than much else, so even if she's chilled out in many ways, when Terezi shows up it brings a lot of stuff back to the surface. I kept hitting walls until I let Vriska get a little angry - I've found often character interactions go more smoothly if I let them get mad at each other.

VRISKA: You're the one who set the terms. You're the one who hemmed us into two 8inary options. VRISKA: Heads or scratch, stay or go. VRISKA: I might have agreed to those terms, 8ut you offered me the deal. VRISKA: Are you telling me, Seer, that you REALLY couldn't find any other way????????

TEREZI: 1 H4D TH3 CH4NC3 TEREZI: 1 4LMOST TOOK 1T TEREZI: 1 W4NT3D TO R3WR1T3 TH3 UN1V3RS3 FOR YOU TEREZI: BUT 1TS NOT 4LL 4BOUT YOU VR1SK4 TEREZI: 1T C4NT B3 4LL 4BOUT YOU

The spectre of the retcon hangs over a lot of Terezi's scenes, especially BAA and this one. We as readers know that in canon, postretcon Terezi remains miserable. This Terezi doesn't know that, but she has come to the conclusion that we have to live with the decisions we have made. Our mistakes define us as much as as our good choices. As she says, if we change that, we're not saving ourselves, we're saving someone else, and that's a big risk to take with everybody's lives. Canon GO!Terezi takes it, but I felt that considering she felt her judgment was so untrustworthy, and she regretted her past overindulgences in trying to puppeteer others, she wouldn't be willing to change so much for so many. As Vriska acknowledges, that act wouldn't have saved her. It would have spared some other iteration, and we've seen that this just makes Vriska dig deeper into her bad behavior.

VRISKA: May8e I should 8e thanking you. TEREZI: TH4NK1NG M3? TEREZI: FOR K1LL1NG YOU? VRISKA: Weird, huh?

At this point, as mentioned above, Vriska has chilled the fuck out considerably. She's aware of the way her behavior was shaped by her situation and is somewhat grateful to be away from the circumstances that made her act the way she did. Most of this happens offscreen, because it happens over a long period of time, and all of team dreaming dead is classified as secondary/minor character-wise. Hopefully her slow transition is believable. A lot of it simply came from being out of the environment that built her for thousands and thousands of years. After that long, it'd be weird if you *didn't* figure out some stuff about yourself. Her new attitude is something she can pass on to Terezi, who expresses anxiety about living without her sister there. I wanted to give that relationship some closure and express how important and formative it was to both of them, but at times Terezi in particular took it to some codependent extremes. Being able to exist without Vriska is something she needs to learn before they can meet again on an even footing.

I did want to get in at least one Vriska and Kanaya conversation, since they had that loose end going on. Don't have much to say about that re: Vriska's arc, but I did think it was worth touching on. As a side note, I was in Chicago for ALA during this update. Gill posted 'we're going to hit 2000 pages with this one' and I reblogged it going i think the mcfuck not since we were at 1200. She'd mixed up some numbers, but the thing is, I had left her unattended and while her drawing 800 pages of Vriska seemed unlikely, I couldn't rule it out.

VRISKA:  W8key w8key!!!!!!!! <33333333

I really liked the idea of having Vriska's dialog in the actual command prompt. Her psychic command is so powerful it's escaping the text box. It's fitting, too, because directly after this update Dave "wakes up" and then helps John "wake up" Calliope. As I mentioned before, all that stuff could've been lumped together into one flash, but I quickly decided not to do that.

On page 1213 Gill only has six 3s for the heart. Apparently the mspfa discord decided that's because she gave one each to Kanaya and Terezi. That's how we cover up our errors here folks. With style.

On page 1214 Vriska's literally stealing Lord English's light from Terezi and Kanaya which is a nice touch, I think.

On 1215 we can see Terezi's eyes starting to go, while Kanaya sensibly covers her face (and is more resistant to light damage in general.) Terezi's first blinding was done by Vriska and, despite it being done with negative intent, Terezi ended up associating it positively with their relationship. Her losing that blindness represented her failure to see justice as "blind". When she tried to do something because it was "right" even when it went against her heart, it destroyed her. This reblinding doesn't mean Terezi can be impartial again. You can't and shouldn't dispense justice that way. But it rebuilds her connection with her sister, and the last thing she ever sees is the last good thing Vriska Serket ever did.

Vriska's clock hits heroic and then explodes. The heroic/just thing is kinda pointless because she's already dead AND we've been told English can override that, but it was a nice touch and parallel, considering her initial death was a Just ruling followed by the clock being damaged.

So, about that sendoff. I've mentioned before that I dislike the heroic sacrifice trope. Ironically, in a juxtaposition I hadn't thought about until just now, Dave bitches about it at length in a conversation a few updates before this scene. I greenlit this one for a few reasons. First, it's not a redemption through death. Vriska doesn't suck up until this point and then this action alone is supposed to balance the scales. She's bettered herself as a person up to this point. Also, we've made it pretty clear by now that all the dreaming dead are on the way out, one way or another. Vriska isn't being singled out to die. She's being singled out to get a particularly dramatic exit because of her weight in the story. Even so, I felt bad about it. Still, as I talk about more extensively over here, I can't see an alternative that works. And maybe we're used to Homestuck not killing anyone for keeps, but sometimes stuff hurts, and it's supposed to. It says a lot for me that I actually felt bad about it, tbh. I really warmed up to her in the end. Even in the land of eternal children, she did grow up, and although TLC has no canon stance on what happens to the double-dead, and I haven't really developed an opinion, I like to think that one day after Terezi has a few more thousand years under her belt they'll meet up and she can tell her all about it.

There's probably more that could be said but this has been Very Long so I'm gonna leave it there.

#dvd commentary #tlcstuck

[queerloquial]

1. First game you played obsessively?2. A game that has influenced you creatively? Writing, drawing, etc.11. Have you ever made new friends from playing video games?36. Have you ever shed actual blood, sweat or tears over a game?48. How long does it take your to customize your player character?50. If you were a game designer, what masterpiece would you create?69. In your opinion, best game ever made?

1. First game you played obsessively?

babys first video game and major special interest, skyrim. which i currently have roughly 1500-plus hours on between regular and special edition

2. A game that has influenced you creatively? Writing, drawing, etc.

the vast majority of my fic has been for dragon age. its just such a neat world and i love getting to play around in it, even though i dislike a lot of what biowares done with their own setting in later pieces and prefer to sandbox on my own

11. Have you ever made new friends from playing video games?

well first of all, dragon age brought me to the love of my life, so jot that down :>

second, aside from my darling datemate, video game fandom did land me some awesome mutuals, a number of whom are still around years later even though we share almost no interests and barely ever interact. technically quinns the only one who could be defined as a friend, bc we talk fairly regularly and stuff, but aside from the occasional reply to personal posts most of my mutuals are silent but still dear to my heart

36. Have you ever shed actual blood, sweat or tears over a game?

when i get frustrated i tend to slam my hand down beside me or on my knee but one time i misjudged the landing spot and caught my hand on the edge of my laptop and scraped my hand, does that count

48. How long does it take your to customize your player character?

chargen takes an hour, minimum, and thats if im familiar with the cc and have a character in mind already

50. If you were a game designer, what masterpiece would you create?

dudebruh, idk. the first thing in my head was ‘ace and aro friendly romance/qplatonic relationship arcs’ and ‘canon nonbinary characters��, so i guess thats a thing. ive never been particularly good at plots (hence, why all my fic is one-shot fluff...), altho i did once have an ongoing story in my head about a fallen god trying to get back to the overworld to stop the ruling goddess from destroying everything, and maybe in the process clear his name with the mortals who had hated and feared him for centuries if not millenia bc the goddess had warped the legends to reverse their roles and paint him as the callous self-centered destroyer instead of the literal author of life whose job had been to keep the record books of history so that no soul faded from eternal memory

maybe something with that

69. In your opinion, best game ever made?

uhhhh. shit. i mean theyve all got high and low points, and some i like more for the sandbox they gave me than for anything in canon. i like dragon age: origins and da2, but dao is tedious to replay and i feel like in order to get my ideal ending in 2 i have to trawl the wiki and plan out all my dialogue choices and party constructions for each quest before i start playing. inquisition is pretty and i liked the story i crafted with my lavellan (and also being a knight enchanter, even after the nerf its still super powerful with the right skills picked), but it doesnt really fit other ocs and the first several hours are a drag to play

ive enjoyed what ive played of andromeda so far, although it really couldve benefited from more development time and care from the parent company. i liked me1 and what ive completed of 2, though im terrible at combat, and dont often have the spoons for the level of concentration needed to pay attention to plot things (which is why i like exploration-heavy games, tbh)

fallout 4 is one of my favorites, id say. i tried new vegas, with two different characters,and just couldnt get into it. i think my biggest problem with 4 is that it kinda forces you into a specific character at certain points (ranging from having a nuclear family at the start and automatic attachment to your spouse and child, to being limited in good options in nuka world, down to the very trivial bit in the bradberton quest where you can only object to letting him live bc then you dont get cool weapons, and not bc /hes been living essentially in solitary confinement for 200 years/ and wants to rest, which i only remember so strongly bc i was going through my screenshots the other night and got grumpy about it all over again)

saints row is a series i like almost exclusively for the sandbox. my boss’ life follows maybe 10% of game canon; it might as well be an original work that just happens to have cities called stilwater and steelport and a gang known as the saints

dream daddy was cute and fun (and i Love damian and mary, and also amanda, best daughter), skyrim is my longest-running game and i enjoyed oblivion as well, starbound fulfills my need for mindless exploration and resource hoarding without the need for any plot or direction, stardew valley is adorable and lets me be a polyamorous bi nerdlord with a sweet farm...

i cant really pick a favorite tbh

#misc tag #endlessly screaming into the void #askbox meme reply #numberless-doors

[kamelodi]

Get to know me tag!

Tagged by the beautiful @toomanyfeelsexogdi, lovely @ilikechimchimnuggets, sweet @kaidonutsuniverse. ✨

Tagging: @loyalkaisoo @wuace @xxlostinthedragonxx @livinka-n-diland @wakawaka33 @hellomellowyellowjello @dcc1288 @monkeecamsie (Do it if you want to! I apologise if you’ve already done it! :>) 

Rules: answer these 92 statements and tag 10 people.

THE LAST:

1. Drink: Orange juice. Gotta get that Vitamin C because I ain’t getting that Vitamin D. It’s so cold here, I feel like my nose is going to fall off. :< Please eat lots of oranges to protect yourself against the cold everyone! :> 

2. Phone call: My friend Toby. He let me listened to his dog whine through the phone. Great thing to fall asleep too. :> I wish I had a pupperino. 

3. Text message: My sis-in-law because I wanted bubble tea! 

4. Song you listened to: What Redbone would sound like if it were a Cat Piano Cover

5. Time you cried: Today!

HAVE YOU:

6. Dated someone twice: Yes, only once~ I actually remember sneaking out of my house once when I was really young, lied to my family just so I can have a sleepover with them. We didn’t do anything inappropriate but I nearly got lost in the streets by myself at night just to see them. We haven’t talked in years and it’s funny how they live down the street to me now. :> 

7. Kissed someone and regretted it: Yes! I would rather kiss a frog than kiss them again. 

8. Been cheated on: Fortunately not yet. 

9. Lost someone special: Yes. 

10. Been depressed: :(


11. Gotten drunk and thrown up: No! I don’t think I will ever drink hahaha but I do want to get drunk once and see if I do anything funny. Just so I have a funny drunk story to tell. :>

LIST 3 FAVORITE COLORS:

12-14: Blue has been my favourite colour since I ever knew about colours. It’s really pretty, calming, like the sky. However I definitely think colour is associated with personality because nowadays I prefer to tell people that I like red ever since I wanted to become more confident. I think the intensity and passion of the colour is what I wanna be rather than a passive and calm blue. But that’s how I show myself to the world, I’m still an alice blue inside (I say that because my name is Alice and alice blue is a shade of blue! hahaha). I will always love black...even if it’s a shade. It’s just sophisticated, classy and mysterious. 

IN THE LAST YEAR HAVE YOU:

15. Made new friends: Yes! Hopefully it will last! :> 

16. Fallen out of love: Was I really in love with that person? 

17. Laughed until you cried: Yes, my friend was reading a poem to me and I fell onto the middle of the road and laughed until I cried. It was the way he read it. No one else can make it funny but him.

18. Found out someone was talking about you: Nope!

19. Met someone who changed you: No...? But ever since I joined Tumblr a few months ago, I got to talk to people who has had a major influence on me. Before that, I would just stalk them online so I’m happy to have finally talked to them. :>

20. Found out who your friends are: Yep!

21. Kissed someone on your Facebook list: Ya! 

GENERAL:

22. How many of your Facebook friends do you know in real life: 50%? 


23. Do you have any pets: I have 3 lovely pet fish who like to splash in their pretty fish bowl and I stalk this beautiful cat who appears in my neighbourhood. 

24. Do you want to change your name: Not...really? When I was 8, I remember asking my mum if I could change my birthday. It was really silly because it was the date that the Simpsons movie was going to be released lmao and I guess that was me expressing my excitement? Twitter/tumblr style lmao. But I love my birthday. 💕

25. What did you do for your last Birthday: Every single birthday, we go to my favourite fancy restaurant and eat lobster. 

26. What time did you wake up: 8am because food. 

27. What were you doing at midnight last night: Watching The Little Mermaid for fic writing purposes! But I fell asleep while watching it! 

28. Name something you can’t wait for: kaisoo’s wedding. I even have a speech prepared. 

29. When was the last time you saw your mom: This morning. 


30. What is one thing you wish you could change in your life: A lot of things...I really wanna go back in time. Let’s build a time machine. \o/

31. What are you listening right now: The Weeknd - Die For You | The Theorist Piano Cover

32. Have you ever talked to a person named Tom: Yep!  


33. Something that is getting on your nerves: My uncle smokes and drinks a lot. He has lung problems but he’s really stubborn about overcoming his addictions or going to the doctor. He just stays in his room, play games and every 2 minutes he would cough and clear his throat very loudly and it drives me insane. I’m too scared to talk to him. 


34. Most visited Website: Youtube/AFF. 

LOST QUESTIONS.

35. Mole/s: Many! I’ve even had some removed...it was my biggest childhood dream to have them gone tbh! 

36. Mark/s: Some!? 


37. Childhood dream: Wanting to be like wonder woman, do every job in the world. I had a whole list of what I wanted to be like an author, doctor, lawyer, singer, artist, director, actress etc. I would count them off my fingers really quickly like my whole life was planned. But growing up, I learnt a few things about the world, myself and my family and I know now that I really want to be a doctor! I still have an interest in many things but I think it would be wonderful to take care and save all the wonderful people I want to be. :) Also publish at least one book in my life! My ultimate life goal! 

38. Hair Colour: Light brown. 

39. Long or short hair: Medium?

40. Do you have a crush on someone: I don’t do crushes. ;) 

41. What do you like about yourself: I am small. 

42. Piercings: Ears! 

43. Blood type: ABO because I don’t know! ^o^  

44. Nickname: Arisu!!!!!!!

45. Relationship status: In a relationship.  

46. Zodiac: Capricorn 

47. Pronouns: She/her

48. Favorite TV Show: Can I say EXO Showtime? I also like Hannibal! I really wanna get into House of Cards or Game of Thrones lmao. 

49. Tattoos: No....t yet. 

50. Right or left hand: Right. 

51. Surgery: Dental surgery?

52. Hair dyed in different color: Yes! My favourite was red, I will go back to it soon. :> 

53. Sport: Running! Track and field with my super short legs! 

54. Vacation: Seoul?

55. Pair of trainers: 3. 

MORE GENERAL:

56. Eating Currently: A starburst. 

57. Drinking currently: Nothing but I should drink some water. Stay hydrated everyone! 

58. I’m about to: go workout! 

61. Waiting for: sleep! 

62. Want: turn my dreams into reality! 

63. Get married: yes!? I grew up watching this TV sitcom where there’s this really rich lady who married 8 rich husbands. I joke to my mum that I will be like her. 


64. Career: Something medical, something literary. 

WHICH IS BETTER

65. Hugs or kisses: Hugs! Warm bear hugs. :>


66. Lips or eyes: Eyes. I wonder what Kaisoo would choose lmao. 

67. Shorter or taller: Taller. I’m really not asking for much because I’m super smol. 


68. Older or younger: Older? 


70. Nice arms or nice stomach: Nice stomach? 

71. Sensitive or loud: Loud like Baekhyun please! 


72. Hook up or relationship: 
Relationship pls. 

73. Troublemaker or hesitant: Trouble maker. 

HAVE YOU EVER:

74. Kissed a stranger: nope! ^o^ 

75. Drank hard liquor: nope! ^o^ 

76. Lost glasses/contact lenses: nope! ^o^ 

77. Turned someone down: yep!

78. Sex in the first date: nope! ^o^ 

79. Broken someone’s heart: yes. 

80. Had your heart broken: yes, it’s karma. :)

81. Been arrested: nope! hopefully never! 


82. Cried when someone died: yep! 

83. Fallen for a friend: yep! 

DO YOU BELIEVE IN:

84. Yourself: it’s a tough journey getting there but eventually yes. 

85. Miracles: yes
! always having hope.

86. Love at first sight: Yes! But I think the Japanese phrase “Koi no Yokan” describes how I see it better, “The sense one can have upon first meeting a person that the two of you are going to fall in love.” 

87. Santa Claus: no. T^T 

88. Kiss in the first date: yep! :> 

89. Angels: I think people can be like angels. I also have this silly thought that I have a guardian angel these days. 

OTHER:

90. Current best friends’ names: Toby, Zeri 

91. Eyecolor: Dark brown! 

92. Favorite movie: Classic list - Her, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, A Beautiful Mind, Oldboy, The Handmaiden, Amelie 

[delunesnumberonefan]

@fatalcookies

ok so I'm gonna Break It Down get ready bc it got long

1. okay listen are Tisiri and Sedira any kind of religious?? I wanna know about their belief system and dialect or cultural stuff about where they’re from tbh

Sedira is from the Golden Isles, while Tisiri is from the Pale Island. Both of those places have different religions, and Sedira’s is a bit more complicated because the Golden Isles is a cultural melting pot of different customs and religions.

On the Pale Island, the Refracted Ones are the main gods and goddesses worshipped (they had the equivalent of the crusades there and kind of wiped out any other religion). the north and the south sides of the pale island have different views on how the religion “should” be worshipped, but ill get into that more in the next bit bc you also asked about the refracted ones.

Sedira grew up with the deities/spirits listed in the Silver Book, which is a...its like. there's one main god, Venthras. but Venthras can wear different faces, which are the different gods in the pantheon. its?? they’re all the same god, just different facets of the god. in that way, its kind of like hinduism?? i pulled that idea from that religion.

i explain the religion more in Faera’s second viewpoint, let me pull it up.

Faera recognized the name Rahdena.

It was the name of the goddess of peace and plenty in the religion based on the Silver Book, one of the two arms of Venthras, the main deity. Rahdena and the other arm, Aderra—the goddess of war—were two different faces Venthras could wear. They weren’t separate entities, technically, they were merely two different sides of the god.

And to add to the faces he could wear, each arm had five minor deities associated with it, like fingers on a hand. And then from their, each minor deity had hundreds of smaller deities, spirits, and beings that were associated with them, like pores or hairs on fingers.

All in all, there were about a thousand deities in the pantheon, though the average person only knew of fifty or so, and worshipped only the more major deities. The people who organized and ran the churches could name most, if not all, of the deities, and they could also say what they were the deities of.

And of course, there was another being, a twin to Venthras, but no one spoke her name for fear of drawing her wrath. She was the goddess of the afterlife, of darkness and trickery and every foul thing that existed.

Some theorized that she was only an arm to another deity, and that the goddess of death was the other arm. There were certainly enough evil spirits to mimic the pattern of five minor deities and even more minor beings after that.

The afterlife, as told by the Silver Book, was split into three sections: the Pits, the Plains, and the Steppes. 

The Plains were a desolate waste where those who were waiting to be judged wandered. If they didn’t do anything exceptional in their lives, they were often condemned to wander the Plains for all eternity. 

The Steppes were reserved for those who had done good in their lives, and was a paradise full of fruit trees and crystal-clear lakes. 

The Pits were reserved for the worst people imaginable, and held the worst kinds of torment. That was where the goddess of the underworld resided, in her obsidian castle and blood-filled moats, reigning from her seat below the rest of the afterlife.

I, admittedly, have not named all of the gods and goddesses yet but in my defense there is a Lot of them.

Sedira isn’t too religious. she...its like casual worship sort of?? swears using those gods, makes allusions to the Silver Book sometimes, but doesn't actually practice it. can name eight gods on a good day. actually, she probably makes casual offerings to Marlaot, god of the sea.

Tisiri grew up in a religious household, so she’s the type who doesn't practice her religion but can totally quote whatever the equivalent of bible verses are to you. Her and Emira bond over this bc Emira is very religious. 

Tisiri finds the religion to be really strict and prefers more freedom with how she lives her life, but she sticks sort of close to it because she grew up and its still familiar and comforting to her.

2. but also tell me about the Refracted Ones bc that sounds badass 

ok!! refracted ones, also called the Prismatic Gods. they’re six gods who have a virtue and a color associated with them.

Draigia-     goddess of magic (purple)

Tastuna- goddess of beauty (blue)

Stymia- goddess of Intellect (green)

Sabrason- god of Reason (yellow)

Venet- God of logic (orange)

Styren- the god of strength (red)

Emira worships Tastuna and Stymia primarily. 

Each person can pick one or two patrons gods/goddesses to follow and strive to be the best in those respective virtues. 

this religion is seen as strict by outsiders, but its really not that strict??? one is restricted to the respective color of one’s patron when it comes to fashion, a single noble house leads the religious practices for each patron and are seen as sort of divine because they're closer to the gods than the average person. headscarves are common in this religion but not required.

The northern end of the pale island favors a more strict outlook on the religion than the south does.

There's celebrations and holidays according to this religion but tbh despite one of the main characters following this religion I don’t have it very fleshed out oops. I need to fix that.

I know that it's better to stay silent than to sing an incomplete hymn, I know that asking for signs from the gods is seen as being weak in faith. I just…need more…im not very religious myself so developing religions has always been challengng to me.

Oh BOY I'm excited for this last one.

3…also tell me about your favorite celebration that you’ve come up with and the customs around said celebration

ok so a little bit of backstory. the chaos god is called Misendo, he’s the primary god down in Arhyana, that religion is all about finding method to the madness and rolling with the punches, no matter how unfair they may seem. Arhyana used to be controlled by Aalzho, keep that in mind.

Misendo, back when the world was new, came up from his seat to find someone to spend eternity with. he found a bride, but her name has been lost to the sands. they had a daughter, and they named that daughter Arhyana. she had skin dark like the sands and eyes like burning coals.

one day, misendo was tending to his spirits while his wife and his daughter travelled the sands. they were set upon by the people from the east, the ones with the long spears and the giant birds. in the fighting, his wife was killed but his daughter escaped. 

so began a war that lasted a generation.

misendo, upon hearing that his wife was killed, vowed to wash the world in lava and blood to cleanse it, but his daughter begged him to have mercy on his people so that’s why they built the peace temples which are temples made to specification that can survive the end days but no blood can be spilt inside yada yada yada 

during the war with Aalzho, one man was sent as a spy to a base the easterners had. he discovered they were planning on attacking Arhyana, and he ran for three days and three nights across the sands without stopping in order to deliver the news to Arhyana herself. because of this man, they were able to surprise the forces, which turned the tide of the war.

since then, the Running of the Sands is a marathon type race that starts in a city near the source of the Onyx river and they run pretty much to the end of it over the course of three days. its a time of great pride in Arhyana’s accomplishment in freeing itself from Aalzho’s rule. the winner of the race is basically set for life and lives in luxury. it happens yearly, but there has been years where no one has made it to the finish line, be it that they perished running across the sands (due to black lions and giant scorpions) or that they were just too slow to make it across the finish line in time.

fun fact?? Raz is trans, right. well, the man that ran across the sands was named Razehran, and Raz totally named himself after that hero bc he came from arhyana and grew up with those stories.

#daosa #roselyn talks #wow this. got really long #thank you so much!!!!

[survivortaveuni]

Steffen's Jury Speech

==Speech== Walks Into FTC with martini in hand Why hello ya bums, its ya favorite Buzzed Steffen here to ask you your jury questions, but hows buzzed Steffen different from normal Steffen? oh its cause Buzzed Steffen doesn’t give 2 craps about consequences of his actions, so lets have fun with this Jordan seeing as I have the most to say to you about this game out of any of the finalists, I’m just going to begin with you. So lets admit our past has been a rocky one, but we seemingly have sorted our stuff out right??? Or at least that’s what I wanted to believe coming into this game, that’s what you told me coming into this merge, but for some reason I still have that foul taste of deception in my mouth that makes me feel you were lying saying we were ok. See you said we were ok, and the only reason that you targeted me wasn’t because of our past, but because we never were on the same tribe…..honestly how stupid do you think I am. Obviously yes I am gullible, we saw that in the touchy subjects, but its been made clear to so many people that you devoted a majority of merge to trying to get rid of me, but why me? you never were on a tribe with Charlotte and Tyler out of anyone left here, yet you feel obligated to single me out for the merge to try and destroy me for practically 4 rounds, and seemingly let the other 2 who share the “no tribe shared pre-merge” distinction sit next to you in ftc, honestly that was one huge ass slap in the face, upon the fact of not allowing me to vent for some time, but you know what, should I expect anything. maybe I am that stupid. Furthermore I saw what you and Jack E said behind my back together, I’ve already had it out with Jack saying how hurt I felt because of it, literally labeling me as stupid, thinking I didn’t know what was going on, you seemed cocky over my deception and seeing that honestly hurts, and this is a social game, why the hell would you feel it necessary to make me look like an idiot and then revel in the fact, it makes writing this that much easier in a sense I guess so thanks. Besides feeling made fun of, I also have a few things against your game that I have problems with besides the obvious social aspect, it seemed that besides targeting me solely for pretty much all of merge, that left you blind to anything else going on in the game, you took out Jack of all people instead of Charlotte who lets face it has a better chance of winning than Jack could, which I don’t personally understand at all. I also don’t understand how you don’t attribute luck to being a major catalyst for you sitting there today, not only did the rainbow idol magically spit out the idol you needed, but you also got real lucky that a chaos idol was waiting for you at the auction, like you got real lucky Jordan, frigging own up to it. I’m not impressed either by the fact that I feel you depended on immunities, like Brad Culpepper did in Game Changers to make it to FTC, as we saw, immunities doesn’t mean they played the best game, and tbh it just felt that you were playing haphazardly and messily that doesn’t really make me have any respect to how you played. Now onto the final part of my problem with your game, the rule breaking, now I’m not talking about the wikipedia screwing with, cause that was clever, I’m talking about the cross tribal and jury communication you performed in this game. It is literally outlined in the rules that its forbidden, yet you felt it necessary to constantly do that in the game, and don’t think I’m dumb Jordan, you obviously do, you chose to give yourself an unfair advantage in the game and honestly that makes me not want to reward you even further, when we got those warnings I know very damn well who those were about, don’t hide it. So in the end I need a couple of things from you, 1 admit luck was a major aspect of your game, 2 fess up to your communication rule breaking because denying what you did isn’t gonna be pretty, and 3 tell me why you felt it necessary to revel in my stupidity. DANG I WROTE A LOT, sorry Charlotte, girl I swear to god you were impressing me in this game, but reading your speech just made me fall backwards over the railing of FTC so kudos, but now I’m here. I won’t deny you played an impressive game cause lets face it, you followed the rules and made it there, however there are a couple things that puzzle me. Now you seem to be in a power position, however you seemed to be there due to Jordan targeting me pretty much all of merge, freeing you up to do a lot more since an entire alliance was focused solely on me. You also admitted to me that you operated under a lot of paranoia, and as Jack E will tell you, I am the king of being a paranoid mess, and my fear is it affected your game, so my questions to you are, 1 Did paranoia play a huge thing in your gameplay honestly, and 2 if the whole Jordan targeting me thing wasn’t the storyline of merge, do you think you’d still be sitting there at ftc campaigning for votes? Also please send me a nice meme or gif, preferably of RDJ cause dat man is FOINE Tyler, my child, girl I love you to the moon and back, like you a loyal ass hoe, even when I was questioning you, you stuck by me by my side, and I am eternally grateful so thank you, and you seemed to notice that in your speech….but that was the only thing in your speech, and I think that’s where the jury, including myself finds a flaw in your game. Now I would love nothing more than to award you a jury vote this season, but I can’t for the sole fact that I didn’t see you do outside of being loyal, and in this game I need to see strategy go on, so my question to you is, outside of being loyal, was there literally any other part of your game or was loyalty it, and I’d appreciate honesty at all possible, if there wasn’t good, then admit that. Realizing my Buzzed Bamblings may have gone on for a bit I’m going to end my time here. I would like to thank the hosts Kevin and Mitch for the chance to play and y’all for a fun season, now I hope we can vote for a well rounded player and that Athena won’t have it’s first Cheater winner. I make a lovely 5th alternate, thank you and gooooooooooood morning Santa Fe Charlotte: ugh steffen, ily. bless you and your martini, we give thanks. so first of all, lets start with the meme. that’s what is most important. http://i2.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/facebook/001/124/042/dfa.jpg ps: why did boom never watch shrek? still offended. that was how we all first bonded rip. i’ll be the first to admit that i did experience some paranoia. i think we all did, to a certain extent. there are people in this game that i never trusted from the moment they opened their mouths, to the moment we severed ties or they got voted out at tribal council. however, i’m not gonna lie… i did know that you were a paranoid person, and insinuating that i thought i was on the bottom did get you to be a bit more forthcoming with me. there were times when i wasn’t entirely sure that i could trust you because you weren’t the chattiest, but i get now that it was partially due to paranoia and not because you were a shady MF. i think jordan and co having it out for you was both a help and a hinderance. trying to save you all the time wasn’t necessarily the funnest and they really were bound and determined to send you home. why, i still don’t really know. i always assumed it was because of another game where you’d showed you were a threat but i never really got the whole story. at the end of the day, i made a choice when i flipped on the chaos squad to side with you and tyler - to keep you over lily. i stand by the move today, and i don’t regret the decisions that i made that got me where i am now. would i still be sitting here if they didn’t want you out? i like to think yes, but i think the people sitting beside me could very well be different. but that’s the thing with survivor - you never really know how things are going to pan out. Jordan: I am not going to answer your questions Steffen, but I will say this and I hope you enjoy this because it will be the last bit of communication we have for a long time. How dare you, How fucking dare you. I have a lot of flaws Steffen, a lot of flaws I openly admit to. I am a liar, I am a narcissist, I am a person who usually finds it hard to empathize with other peoples problems. And I am open about these flaws, I wear them as battle amor because if hold them in front of me no one can use them against me. But there is one thing I am not, I am not a cheater. I have been known to cross tribal communicate before, hell I cross tribal communicated with one of theses hosts before, but so are you and so are lots of people on the jury, but I played this game clean. I never got any information to progress me further, everything I did I did legit and I am proud of my game. In fact I think what hurts the most is you didn’t use your jury speech to ask me if I cheated, to enlighten you to make a good decision. No this was a certainty in your mind, and judging by the way it is assumed by a lot of jurors now, given their speech it seems a certainty in their mind as well. I don’t know if it is the fact that you can’t believe that I can beat you legitimately, maybe its the fact that the last time you beat me in a game was when I had to be bullied out of it by your alliance, remember that Steffen. I don’t know why you couldn’t just ask me with your question, but quite frankly I do not care any more. You are not a nice person Steffen, and I can see that clearly now. I tried to have fun with you this game, I tried really hard. I don’t know how much more clearler I could have made that I don’t make things personal and that we could be against each other and still have a good time. I guess you couldn’t understand that, I guess you couldn’t understand a lot of things. Like if you think I was working with Charlotte and Tyler, and wasn’t at the end as clearly against them as I was to you, but merely didn’t attempt to vote them out as their were much bigger threats than you have little to no game perception. Here is what I have to say to you Steffen. I worked hard this game, I worked very hard but that doesnt matter to you and it no longer matters to me. I do not want your vote, I do not want you to talk to me after this game at all in fact. You know how I pride myself on not making things personal. I am breaking that rule for you. Because you have refused to treat me with respect and you will not have that respect given back to you. You’re ego is just as big as mine the only difference is I am able to admit it. This game was something I tried to keep clean but it is clear you are as vial as a person as you were at the end of Kanto, at the end of Westeros and at the end of countless other games you have been at, from which I can only assume is as a goat, given that I have seen you in 3 final tribal councils, or Aeolian, Kanto and All stars and you have received a total of 2 votes between all 3. As you know I am leaving for the summer and if it were not that hoenn is my last game before I leave what I am about to say would follow it to. When I return at the end of August and start playing games again, I will not be speaking with you. I will make it clear in every game I apply for that if both of us apply they will have to choose me or you to be in the cast and if I am in a game that I see you in I will quit immediately. I do not want to play with you Steffen, I do not want to talk to you Steffen and I above all do not want to be your friend until you can get over yourself. I thought we’ve both grown Steffen, I really did. I was wrong about you. I give second chances to people, I rarely give a third. Good bye. Tyler: I have played this game twice before, and my downfall both times was playing too hard. I would always be going around asking everyone who they were voting for and trying to make a plan. Both times that was my downfall. This season I decided that I was going to take a step back. I withheld myself to reduce the target on me, because of that it ended up being you leading the way when it came to strategy. By having people in my alliance who were more strategic, I knew that the target would be on them before it would be on me. I used them as a sort of buffer to keep myself safe. When William and Shea were voted out, they both threw votes my way, and because of that I did my best to make sure that I wasn’t the target. However though, you and Charlotte still consulted me when it came to strategy. We made decisions as a group so in terms of strategizing, I still did strategize with the two of you. It is quite evident that there is some bad blood between some of the jurors and finalists, but none of that bad blood is directed at me. I didn’t turn on my allies. I didn’t stab people in their back. I played with integrity and I feel like that should be rewarded.

#shevotedouthermom