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candyhoiic · 2 months

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Edit: this was way longer than intended

TW this holds like the tiniest amount of suggestiveness as I briefly go over procreation/sex but it's nothing in depth. I only added it since a big part of eden lore is basically cannon Adam being a dick about wanting to be dominant in everything including sex. Spoiler alert he's not a dick about it in this au.

Back with more Adam switching places with Lilith au thoughts that no one asked for <3333 This time I wanted to focus more on their time in Eden and the dynamic between Adam and Lilith.

Since it's said that Lilith and Adam were both made to be equals being made from the same dust I imagine they would have pretty similar personalities at least at the beginning. With them both having dominant personalities, the two would quickly drift apart with them constantly clashing together. I.e. they're naming a deer and Adam wants to call it a buck while Lilith thinks the name doe would fit it better, but frankly neither of them wants to submit to the other so they just keep on arguing. Which eventually leads them to just going behind each other's backs, causing deers and most animals to have two different names based on their sex.

This would continue to carry on until there were no more animals to name, but then it would start all over again when it came to naming foods, and it's quite clear they just don't work well together. So, they eventually come to a mutual agreement to just leave one another alone. And for the most part it works with the two of them just kind of sticking to their own pieces of Eden. I.e. Lilith favoring the beaches while Adam was partial to the more shaded parts of the garden.

However, this doesn’t work forever since eventually the seraphim come back down and ultimately ruin it all. For the first time in ages, the angels call out for them to express their confusion on why the two have yet to even attempt to procreate. This causes them to both play it off as just not getting around to it, and while the seraphims seem to accept their excuse at face value, they still do basically tell them to get a move on. Saying how it's in god's plan that the two of them populate Eden. While Sera even cryptically mentions how if they don't then they'll need to come up with something else.

Safe to say the both of them are a little scared about what will happen if they fail their purpose, causing them to once again attempt in getting along with each other. Although just like before, the two butt heads constantly, and eventually they come up with the bright idea that they don't necessarily need to like each other to have sex. So, they decide to just give up on interacting with one another outside of what was necessary.

Only to also realize they cannot agree on anything in the bedroom either. The position? Who's on top? Fuck that if one of them can't be on the top than neither of them can!

(Or at least Adam was in denial)

Which leads to pretty unsatisfying sex but they do, do their purpose so really the seraphims can't get mad at them. Although this new cycle leaves both Adam and Lilith in even worser moods than before, which is why Lucifer even comes into the picture to begin with.

See the seraphims might not do much, but they do periodically check in on Adam and Lilith with an all seeing orb. Similar to one used to watch Angel Dust during the trial Charlie has with Heaven. So during these periodic check-ins, they notice how Lilith and Adam are unhappy in Eden, and in an attempt to alleviate this they assign Lucifer to go down there to basically keep them both happy. They make this decision partly due to Lucifer being known as god's morning star, making him more than qualified to lighten up the mood. But also because they're tired of Lucifer constantly wreaking havoc in heaven's order with his bouts of creativity. So, they see it as hitting two birds with one stone.

Even if Sera was a little hesitant to do so, considering there's a chance Lucifer will cause just as much havoc with his creativity in the garden if not more. However, the others argue that he would be too busy keeping Lilith and Adam both happy to do much mischief, if any at all. Ultimately, the latter argument won out.

So, Lucifer is now assigned to the garden, and over all his introduction is taken well by both Adam and Lilith. The two of them actually getting along enough to stand being near each other for once. At least while Lucifer was there to keep them both preoccupied. The two being very curious about the seraphim after all.

And through all three of them spending time together I can actually see both Adam and Lilith becoming more tolerant of each other until dare I say it they actually start to like each other. Not enough to love each other as they were intended to, but they basically were those types of friends that only became friends because they had a mutual friend, who in this case is Lucifer.

During these times, Lucifer introduced the first humans to music with Lilith taking to singing while Adam seemed to favor using instruments, specifically string ones. Imagine a cute moment with all three of them just creating music together <333

Now of course there are still times Adam and Lilith can't stand each other, which leads to days where Lucifer has to spend time with them separately. During one of these times, Lucifer may or may not have created ducks, and had Adam name them so they would be a thing because ducks are the greatest and it was a crime that they weren't a thing already!

So, yeah small duck lore they weren't actually meant to exist lmao and Adam was the one to suggest their weird corkscrew penises so blame Adam for that one. Also, blame Lucifer for thinking listening to him was a good idea. When Lilith found out she wasn't impressed.

And just to be fair to Lilith when she and Lucifer spent time alone they probably went to the beach mainly. They had water fights started by Lucifer, but Lilith wasn't about to not retaliate after he got her soaked. Honestly slay

Anyways when Lucifer wasn't around because even he had a life outside of them, and went back to heaven at the end of each day. The two were reminded of their other purposes besides just tending to the garden. Which was the only real time Adam and Lilith weren't happy/at each other's throats. When they had to do the do neither of them ever came away happy from it despite their relationship being arguably better ever since Lucifer came.

And since it was basically Lucifer's job to keep them happy, he could pick up on their moods relatively well. So, eventually he put two and two together, and was like hey they were both happy when I left them, but once I came back they were upset so clearly something must have happened.

So, he asks them both what was wrong, but neither of them seem keen on talking about it with him because if there was one thing these two had in common it was their stubbornness. Safe to say, he didn’t get his answer for quite awhile until eventually it comes out, and well Lucifer's job is to keep them both happy. He would also be lying if he said he didn't see them both as attractive so he made them both an offer. He was already their buffer in everything else so why couldn't he be their buffer in sex too.

Understandably, the offer was shocking and while both were tempted, they were also unsure. Whenever the other seraphims mentioned procreation it was always strictly between Lilith and Adam, man and women. They never mentioned that the act could have a third participant or that it was appropriate for a man to lay with another man. So, they didn't outright decline the offer, but they didn't accept it either. As neither of them wanted to bring forth the wrath of the other angels or god. Instead, the three just kind of acted like nothing was said for a while. Although the offer was fresh in all of their minds.

Lucifer was most likely freaking out in his head being like I really just suggested that?! What was I thinking, I made everything so much more awkward, didn’t I?! While Adam was having a crisis over even being slightly open to the idea of laying with someone that presented male, and Lilith was probably the most level headed.

She wouldn't necessarily be like yeah lets do this right away, but she would definitely see the pros to accepting this arrangement and notice how the cons didn't really outweigh them. Probably would go through the whole scenario and rationalize why it really was for the best that they accepted the arrangement. Before she would do it all over again because she was still scared of upsetting any higher power like any normal human would be and wanted to make sure she was making the right decision.

So, after a lot of consideration and even more panicking, the three eventually agreed to the arrangement. With Lilith being the first to come to this conclusion followed by Lucifer and finally Adam. Although at first, Lucifer would just be there to talk them through it, coming up with solutions to their problems, basically playing mediator while never actually intervening in a physical manner.

Then, when that was well received, and after he was encouraged by both parties to get more involved Lucifer would start to touch Lilith while they were intimate, but still nothing too invasive. He would only touch when necessary to ensure everything ran smoothly. He wouldn't yet lay a hand on Adam because the guy was still kind of antsy over having another man present during intercourse. Period.

Although that wouldn't last for too long with Adam's jealousy winning over his initial gay panic, and eventually Lucifer would have free range to guide both of them in a physical, non-invasive manner. I.e. he would put his hand on one of their hips to get them to thrust in rhythm with each other instead of fighting over who was setting the pace.

From there, they would eventually become more comfortable with the whole arrangement and Lucifer would slowly become more of a participant rather than just a buffer.

This arrangement would notably work better for everyone, and their dynamic would probably become the healthiest it's been.

A/N: Surely, nothing could ruin this. Surely...

Just kidding! Something definitely did mwahaha but that's for another post because this is already too long vfgyusdjzs

Anyways thanks for reading this all if you did lol! I'm not really expecting anyone to, but I appreciate it all the same <33

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notedgyanymore · 10 months

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Lmk x Ninjago crossover prompt

Some important information before I start fully explaining the idea! The Ninjago side of the story takes place in Japan, and its lore is modified to fit lmk's version of Journey to the West, meaning that the characters’ power comes from local gods, not spinjitzu and even though the ninjas are still considered legendary warriors in their own right, they are not that well known outside of Japan and are considerably weaker than the lmk cast, who are just starting to become globally recognizable, especially with the return of Sun Wukong who is already world-renowned.

( Sorry for nerfing the ninjas 😢)

Also Qi Xiaotian and MK are different people in this universe.

Qi Xiaotian is the harbinger of chaos, when his stone was found, it was seen only as a bad omen that needed to be dealt with immediately, so the Jade emperor called upon the help of Sun Wukong and ordered the complete destruction of the stone, so the presumably malicious being could never be born. Even with the similarities to his own origins, Wukong could still see the signs that something was wrong, that this creature wasn’t naturally formed like he was. With much thought, he comes to a conclusion that it was best to comply and accept this mission. The monkey king quickly ground the stone into a fine powder, for there was no sympathy for that which has never lived and never will live, or that’s what he thought. When resurrecting the Six-Eared Macaque, Lady Bone Demon didn't ask for her freedom in return, no, she asked for something seemingly much more innocent, the macaque only needed to do one thing, to fix a broken stone, to give an opportunity to a child to live. It was difficult to refuse, and it took centuries, but with the help of his lantern, he was able to locate every single grain spread by Wukong each containing a piece of the dormant soul, and with that, the stone monkey Qi Xiaotian was finally able to be born!

Xiaotian wasn't purposely fed lies, but unfortunately for him, his guardian didn't know better, and assumptions ended up being made, and a poor kid grew up believing that his own family didn't want him around.

Mk has a similar start in life, but with some key differences. His name is actually Michio Kajiya born as the fraternal twin brother of Kai the Red Ninja. He caught the unfortunate attention of the celestial realm right after birth as he was in possession of a “defective soul” that was never meant to be incarnated in the first place and wasn't defined as being celestial, human, or demonic, thus being unable to be accessed by the underworld, meaning that MK’s name is not on the book of death either, moreover, his being was incredibly susceptible to influences around him, which meant that under the right/wrong guidance he could be molded to become anything and to hold any power needed.

Once again, the celestial realm told Sun Wukong to get rid of the problem, however, this time he was unable to finish the job. Michio unlike Xiaotian was already alive and wasn't destined for anything malign, so the monkey king took pity on the boy, hiding him in China under his watchful eye. There was now a destiny that belonged to Mk a path to greatness, as monkey king was slowly influencing him to take his power, so later he could become his apprentice.

Qi Xiaotian and MK are rivals, contrary to the show, Macaque does not go after MK, leaving that to Xiaotian. Basically, Xiaotian torments MK and Macaque torments Sun Wukong.

Xiaotian dislikes Mk because he is under the impression that he's related to monkey king and that Mk has been given a position that should rightfully belong to him, additionally, he is also Mei's childhood friend from before she moved to Megapolis, has a huge unrequited crush on her, and is incredibly jealous of the relationship that she currently has with MK. Surprisingly, this antagonism subsides with the arrival of the ninjas in China. In the middle of battle, Garmadon (who is working with LBD) reveals to Kai and his friends that his brother Michio was stolen by a demon right after birth and now lives in China. Obviously, Garmadon isn't trustworthy, but Kai needed to be sure if it was true that his brother was indeed alive and well. There in China, they enlist the help of a friendly monkey demon who swears to help them in their journey. Meanwhile, Xiaotian is questioning his worldview now that he knows that MK didn't steal his destiny but was instead stolen from his family.

Bonus information! Yep there is more!

Lady Bone Demon's plan is to use Qi Xiaotian to end the world, and Mk is her backup, cuz even though his soul is more defined than it was before, he can still wield the power of others under the right conditions.

I don't have a defined timeline for which season of Ninjago this is taking place, but I'm thinking about a hybrid timeline in which the ninjas are older and the same age as the LMK's characters, but the plot is about them battling against Garmadon for golden weapons.

Lloyd is the same age as the other ninjas.

Garmadon in this universe was killed by Master Wu, and it was brought back by LBD.

LBD has asked Garmadon to bring her the golden weapons to use on her mech however, he totally wants to betray her and keep the weapons for himself.

Shipping time!

Pigsy and Tang are married and are MK’s adoptive parents.

Xiaotian falls in love with Lloyd after getting over the fact that Mei doesn't like him back. (He likes green, I guess.)

Mk, I would ship with Red Son cuz I like spicynoodles

And maybe a bit of Mei x Nya 🤔 or some subtle shadowpeach.

I'm aware that no one is going to read this, but I need to get it out of my system so this Au will stop assaulting my brain in the middle of the night when I'm trying to sleep.

#lego monkie kid #lmk #ninjago #crossover #lmk fic prompt #lmk au #lmk x ninjago

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overobsessedfanboy23 · 2 years

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A Yubel Theory That Isn’t About Their Gender

Alternatively: I was overthinking Duel Monsters and GX and trying to connect their conflicting lore in a way that makes sense and ended up coming to a crazy conclusion about Yubel.

(Also, massive spoilers for both DM and GX in this theory, don’t read it if you haven’t watched both shows all the way through)

Let me first open with the fact that GX and DM (and 5Ds but I won’t be discussing it here) are supposed to exist in the same universe. GX takes place about five to ten years after DM if I had to guess, as Yugi and Kaiba are still around and even appear occasionally:

So all of the lore and history in both these shows should be consistent. The problem with that is that Duel Monsters isn’t even consistent with itself. In season four of DM, it is established that there is a dimension of duel monster spirits existing parallel to the human world. Pegasus’s card game is actually harnessing and using the power of that world through the cards, which is what makes them so powerful.

However, season five later contradicts this somewhat. In that arc, the Duel Monster spirits (at least a few of them) come from inside people. They’re this magical essence inside them (the wiki calls it ‘ka,’ which may be the term used in the Japanese version) which can be harnessed when the host is alive but when that host dies, they straight up become that essence, or what we would call a duel monster. Kisara became Blue Eyes White Dragon, Mahad became Dark Magician, and Mana later became Dark Magician Girl.

So… are the Duel Monsters beings from another dimension or are they the spirits of dead people magically infused with their essence and then stored in stone tablets and later cards?

...

What has my life come to? How in the world am I comprehending this madness that I’m spewing out right now?

Anyways, you can argue season four’s interpretation simply isn’t canon since season four is a filler arc. If you didn’t know, the Duel Monsters anime was adapted from a then ongoing manga so to fill time for Kazuki Takahashi (may he rest in peace) to write more of the manga for them to adapt, the show writers decided to write a crap ton of filler in the middle of Battle City and between it and the final arc. This filler wasn’t even considered canon at first (at least by the fans). The arc where we learn about the Duel Monster spirit world’s existence is one of these filler arcs and is later seemingly contradicted by the final arc, the latter of which is definitely canon.

However, if you disregard season four of DM you also have to disregard GX since season 3 of GX has the characters go to the monster spirit world established in this DM filler arc, thus making it canon to this timeline while also needing season five’s interpretation to be true too since the entire ending of DM (which GX is a sequel to) wouldn’t have happened without that arc.So by that logic, both sort of have to be true: the monsters that later become the cards (some of them at least) came from the spirits of dead people in Ancient Egypt and they discovered a world that these seemingly immortal spirits live in. But… who’s to say Ancient Egypt were the only ones who knew about this?

This is where my theory about Yubel comes in. Past life Yubel is told by the King (past life Judai’s father) that someone needs to protect Judai before he is able to save the world from The Light of Destruction and later the “harsher” Darkness. Yubel offers to protect him but in order to, they needed to be transformed into… well, for lack of a better term, a monster.

But… how exactly did they do that? We don’t exactly see the process of which Yubel’s body was changed but what little we do see of it makes it look horrific, potentially life threatening considering the way Yubel cries in pain and just the way both Judai reacts to it:

For god’s sake, they’re poking Yubel with scalpels. In what looks to be ancient times. I don’t think they’re actually giving Yubel surgery here, I think they’re killing Yubel, killing them in such a way that they become that indestructible spirit meant to protect Judai. Remember, these “spirits” in DM were very physical, they caused real damage, fought real wars, had a body count. For whatever reason, Duel Monster spirits in ancient times could interact with the real world with the same physicality as a human. Yubel is briefly shown to be the exact same way in this shot of them with Judai:

Yubel, even in this past life scene, works exactly the same as the other monster spirits we see in season five: completely physical in ancient times but more like a ghost in modern times, with the exception of when they are in the spirit world, which yes, applies to all the monsters. Winged Kuriboh, the elemental heroes, they’re all completely physical in the spirit world.

This would also explain Yubel retaining their exact body and memories from hundreds of years ago when Judai didn’t. Judai was in the cycle of reincarnation, losing his memories when he was born again while Yubel’s spirit has been immortalised within this new monster body, so they keep their memories and goal of protecting Judai. How Yubel came to be a card is anyone’s guess. We don’t know exactly how every Duel Monster spirit became a card, just the ones shown in season 5 of DM and Yubel’s card existing at all is proof enough that they don’t all have to be from Ancient Egypt. I don’t know where the heck Judai and Yubel’s past versions were but it certainly wasn’t Egypt. Sure, the Ancient Egyptians had the Millenium Items which may have made some of the things they did possible but the Millenium Items were things they created, not a power that was gifted to them. So who’s to say another ancient civilization couldn’t have a similar power?

So… yeah. In my theory, Yubel didn’t just go through some surgery so they could protect Judai, they died so they could protect Judai, who they continued to love and protect throughout his multiple lives… gosh, if that’s not love, I don’t know what is.

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sealrock · 9 months

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still slowly working on my carrd, it's 60% finished for the most part. I still have my old bio pages up to read, but just know once I'm through they will be taken down as I'll consider them out of date

I added some new lore bits, removed some old bits, revamped the current bits to be more cohesive, and I'm considering some extra bits to add but I'm not 100% on them yet

here's some crumbs in random order under the cut:

I was trying to avoid this, but tauvane drinks dragon blood (courtesy of her brother-in-law zeumont) and fights the dragonsong war on the side of the dragons, thus making her public enemy #1. she has scales that she doesn't show to anyone and goes through a mild transformation that gives her superhuman speed and draconic features

evander is trying to create the philosopher's stone to cure a fatal illness related to his unstable aether, and he'll stop at nothing to obtain forbidden knowledge through rather unethical means. he owns and operates a tiny chemist guild in ul'dah and they always struggle to secure funds and resources as they're in direct competition with the alchemist's guild. he has a team of mammets that monitor his health and a rag-tag group of fledging chemist guildmates who strive to make life-saving medicine more accessible and affordable to the smallfolk in and around eorzea

achille may or may not have abilities related to tauvane's dragon blood addiction. he doesn't crave blood, but it sends him into a spiral thinking that he can turn out like her despite his efforts to save his mother. and instead of limsa lominsa since I'm moving away from the sea pirate angle, achille was born in coerthas in an abandoned cabin and wasn't allowed to go outside for the first 8 years of his life until he met chiron. he was almost executed by the halonic inquisition as a child after they found tauvane's hiding place, as they believed he was a draconic spawn that must be put down

patroclus has trauma-based amnesia that's related to the night his parents died. he was an unlikely witness to what would later be known as a murder mystery, but he can't remember much of it. instead of being killed, the perpetrator left him in the desert in hopes he would perish from exposure as he was still a child when it happened. after almost a week he was miraculously found wandering alone by a traveling merchant; he was weak from hunger, barefoot, and mute from shock. patroclus didn't speak for almost two years after the event. priam only took him in to keep patroclus from revealing the truth of his parents' murder

hector and halmarut have a more personal relationship with one another than anyone had ever realized. think of gaia and mitron but it's not romantic, it's more akin to beyond: two souls, amnesia: the dark descent, and outlast with psychological horror elements mixed in. hector is plagued with horrific visions and moments of dissociation because of halmarut's influence, though he didn't know it then. he only associated this with what he called 'the shadow', a terrifying but strangely protective entity

kirke was a scientist for the garlean military, the body she inhabits was once a conscript soldier from a far away province, she effectively killed off the host to take over the corpse like a parasite. she rose through the ranks quickly once the higher-ups realized that she's a living relic of allag. kirke doesn't care much for garlemald's conquest of the world as long as it doesn't interfere with her work of mixing science with necromancy. she held the rank of 'mal' (praefectus medicorum) and was the head medic of an imperial legion before the fall of garlemald

andromache may or may not be involved with a shadowy organization (NOT the ascians) with the goal of destroying hydaelyn the mothercrystal. this organization saved her life after the 7UC and helped her get back on her feet despite her amnesia. they want to go back to a time when man once had the power to become a living primal without the need to temper others, they share a common goal with the scions in stopping the ascians from completing another rejoining

yves can transform into a giant voidsent canine with multiple heads (aka shadowkeeper). despite his moniker 'the accursed one', the mages of mhach worshipped him and his mother cessair as their savior and destroyer of amdapor. think silent hill with the order and alessa/alessa becoming god. yves' sire is still being figured out he may or may not be related to golbez just based on yves being extremely powerful

paris and their voidsent have a relationship much like light and ryuk from death note. they bicker, they argue, they fight, they joke, but they have a contract with one another: the more paris borrows its power, the higher the voidsent sets the price for paris' aether afterward. in the event that paris is no longer able to control the power, the voidsent is allowed to eat them whole, thus the contract would be fulfilled. it makes the climax of endwalker incredibly dicey because of paris and zenos' deathmatch against one another, paris quite literally almost died out there if it weren't for meteion's timely intervention

azem (helen) is much more of an outsider and firebrand than originally conceived. they never conformed to any of the rules and fought back against society's conservatism and politics, which earned them a lot of enemies and very few friends. their parents, highly esteemed scientists, strived for them to earn a respectable seat in the convocation since the seat of azem in my vision is less respected and more mocked for its reputation of attracting odd seat holders like venat. instead, helen became the new azem, which infuriated their family enough to cut off all contact with them. helen is related to lahabrea, and they despise each other. helen enjoyed hanging out with erich however

#i should make a tag for these kind of posts #after i rewrite evie's bio i'll have. 2/10 done :^)#meta.

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lairofdragonagelore · 1 year

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The Crossroads [DLC Trespasser]: Deep Roads; Lower Walkways

This particular section of the Deep Roads seems to have been abandoned. It connects to a former lyrium mining site of unknown origin, which contains statues of Mythal, Fen'Harel, and of an unknown creature. Unlike dwarven constructions, this location lacks the usual lightning and heating produced by moulting rock, turning it unusually dark. There is no trace of darkspawn activity either.

This place is divided into

Overlook

Excavated Caves

Lower Walkways

Unknown Ruin

[This is part of the series “Playing DA like an archaeologist”]

[Index page of Dragon Age Lore]

As we continue getting deeper into this mine in order to stop the Qunari from mining more lyrium, we can notice an increase in dwarven style. The architecture, patterns, and decorations are not mixed with Elvhenan ones.

With Dorian's comment we know that there is something off with this mining. Another of his comment if romanced is:

Dorian [if romanced]: Cold stone, dark tunnels, and surrounded by extremely hostile Qunari. Not the place I'd have chosen for a romantic homecoming.

These comments make us aware that there is no molten rocks to illuminate these corridors (so typical in dawrven infrastructure), which seems to be a lead to help the player to consider the possibility that this "spring of lyrium" is some deep part of a Titan. This place, in fact, seems pretty similar to the Uncharted Abyss in its lack of molten rock illumination and darkspawn. I’m not sure if this means that we are in the Storm Coast and this is another part of the same titan we visited in The Descendant, or this is another titan, somewhere else.

There is a Charred Note that informs us that these deadly purple flames were cast by Solas. I find it a very curious element, because so far in the Base game, we didn't find this effect beyond some “purple effect” with necromancer spells or rogue powers [it feels more a game mechanics that something related to lore, to be honest]. However, it brings to my mind the old graphics of DAO where the Archdemon breathed upon the Warden and it was of similar colour, like purple breath [flames]. The note describes it as blue, so it could be related to Flemeth’s power that now belongs to Solas, although, somehow, the game shows it purple when we know it can show it in blue. Who knows.

As we walk upstairs to the mining and processing, we find big statues of Howling Fen'Harel.

The veins of lyrium are everywhere, even sprouting from small cracks in the area, surrounded by gatlok, ready to be exploded and have access to them.

Close to a cliff, we see the third part of the codex Torn Notebook in the Deep Roads, Section 3. Due to the blood around the scroll we find, we assume the elf fell from the cliff and died. What this elf refers to can be summarised as:

Again, he is not an expert in Dalish Lore, but he remembers an old song about Mythal. As it belongs to the unreliable Dalish Folklore, it may have a hint of truth but it's hard to know in which part it is.

The song suggests a tranquil or a dwarvish state [empty/nothingness], something that is disconnected from the dreams. We know the codex Old Elven Writing from Ancient Elven codices, Temple of Mythal that the elves perceived dwarves [the “workers of the titans”] as soul-less and witless creatures, so this song has a good chance to talk about dwarves.

The author of the song explains that Mythal gives them dreams, which is very curious since Mythal seems to connect with people through dreams: In Val Royeaux, we hear an environmental discussion between an elf servant and his master, in which the elf claims that Mythal appeared in his dreams and told him things. Apparently after that, he acquires a Vallaslin of Mythal [I can’t confirm this myself]. There is also another similar situation with Sandal in DA2, where I think he dreams of Flemeth [he sees ”an scary old lady” at night], but we don’t know how serious we can take this, since Sandal was always a joke for the devs.

So, Mythal gives dreams means that these creatures will be filled with something that makes the Evanuris proud. Even though this elf translates it as leaders, the original song speaks of Evanuris [hence I use that word]. What could make an Evanuris proud? probably magic, which is attached to dreams and souls/spirits. So, if these creatures are dwarves [seen by the elves as soulless] filling them with dreams, fade magic, or souls would make the Evanuris proud in their opinion [or so it thinks the author who clearly has no real idea about the true nature of the Evanuris]. Therefore, this song may be related to give magic to dwarves, or to give them a soul, which would mean to bind spirits to their “empty” bodies. Both possibilities are huge discoveries in the lore if they are true.

The last part of the song reinforces our suspicion that this song is related to dwarves and Mythal has given them something to make them dream/have magic [I wonder if this is related to Valta’s words spoken by the Titan about the history of the dwarves: the dwarves were broken in two kinds at some point, more details in The Descent – The Wellspring].

This song is material for high speculation, but sadly it's not too reliable: it is based on a Dalish song, and written and commented by a Dalish person who was not even a Keeper. However, there must be a hint of truth in it, since devs would not put 3 pieces of a long codex just to lie to the players. This is basically the main, central codex of all the Deep Roads in Trespasser. Its implications are enormous.

By the end of the codex, it seems to imply that the light of this place died out and, trying to look for another source, this elf fell from the cliff and died.

As we continue this path, Cole says another comment: “songs are old here”. He speaks of old songs and old blood when it comes to Titans. But he also calls old pain to the elvhenan’s. “Sleeping sadness already forgotten” could be translated as the sadness of the Titans to have been defeated long time ago, and because their existence is quite vegetative since then, it’s already forgotten. This coincides with what Valta says by the end of the DLC that the Titan talking to her is sad [ The Descent – The Wellspring]. Another interpretation, related to the Elvhen and their Uthenera process, will be commented below.

In the main bridge, we find another statue of the Moon-head creature. It's placed in the beginning of the bridge, looking into the chamber that the bridge leads to. At its feet we find Torn Notebook in the Deep Roads, Section 2 that can be summarised as:

The elf claims that these statues are older than anything they saw. Which is expected, since these statues were usually seen in ancient elvhenan temples that I doubt their clan may have found in their migration. However, it's not clear if they are including the statue of the Moon-head creature. If they do, they are not providing great insight: they are only saying it’s an old statue.

They recognises the mixture of dwarven and elvhen architecture in this place. They wonder what the elves were doing. If it was mining, why don't use dwarves? [because the Elvhen mining is different to the mundane one]

The author suspects that this aggressive intervention [bringing the elvhen gods to the dwarven kingdom] may have been a sign of War between the two groups.

Again, we have another Dalish Tale claiming that Elgar'nan's fire and the Sun are equals, and for that reason the dwarves feared them and lived underground. This idea links with the Dalish tales of Elgar'nan shoving fire inside the ground in the zone of Emprise du Lion [some tales claim it was the sun itself, but one can also speculate that it may have been Sylaise too, for more details Emprise du Lion: Pools of the Sun]. The only source more or less reliable that links Elgar'nan with a potential attack to dwarves and his manipulation of fire is in the codex Song to Elgar'nan, explained in Ancient Elven codices, Temple of Mythal, where the codex relates "Elgar'nan's gaze”, with “burning the ground”, taming the land that "shakes" the elvhenan cities. This codex can be complemented with Vir Dirthara: Signs of Victory, from Ancient Elven codices; Vir Dirthara, where Elgar'nan statue is erected using a collapsed mountain [potential allegory of a defeated titan]. All these details from sources a bit more reliable than Dalish tales [although equally vague] allow us to be more confident in believing that Elgar'nan led a war and won it over the titans and their workers: the dwarves. However, I must say that this seems strange since the codex Veilfire Runes in the Deep Roads implies it was Mythal who defeated them; these vague overlapping concepts make me wonder sometimes if Elgar’nan and Mythal are not the same entity in similar fashion than Dirthamen/Falon’Din are, but this speculation is for another post]. In the process to win the war against the titans there was burning, apparently. And if the song of the section 3 has some grain of truth, Mythal may have helped the dwarves to have souls and connect to the Fade.

Here is the bridge that the Moon-head creature seems to encourage us to follow. Its columns are typical dwarven-made.

As we walk in, Cole says: "This is where they dig". I would assume that "they" means qunari, this is a comment of the present. "Tricks and trials so the singing stones don't kill them", implying what we learnt through the ex-templar human before: the qunari have been experimenting to try to mine lyrium without being killed in the process. So “singing stones” seems to mean here “lyrium veins”

As we enter, we see again elvhenan iconography and decoration. The dwarven details were left outside this building, and its interior seems to be focused on Elvhen design. A lot of golden details, yellow mosaics with the asterisk symbol on them, arabesque decoration, and more Howling Fen'Harel guarding the chamber inside can be found.

Since the Qunari are using this chamber, there is a lot of Qun decoration that has nothing to do with the ancient ruins: Qun banners and Qun drapery, gatlock bombs, desks with many details of the operation, etc.

Now, this is the important thing. We can't explore this chamber below, but I thinks this is the Elvhen mining. The first detail we see is the many sarcophagi below. We have seen these sarcophagi in the Solasan Temple and in the Elvhen Tomb of Frostback Basin. They are Elvhen. We know via the Masked Empire, that some of the nobles would be in Uthenera in beds, but we also have read that there were sarcophagi in these subterranean Uthenera chambers. So, it doesn’t seem unreasonable to understand that these coffins belong to Uthenera elvhen.

This massive well emanates pure blue light, making us suspect it's a pool of lyrium. The columns beside it are decorated with big statues of Humanoid Mythal.

The ceiling is clearly elvhenan-made as well.

Beyond the "well" there is more and more sarcophagi, indicating this chamber is massive and filled with a lot of elves potentially still alive in Uthenera.

The hole sadly has nothing interesting to offer when explored inside with flycam. Which makes sense, the devs never thought we would explore this via flycam.

One can understand that the hole is a place heading to the core of the lyrium spring [or the Titan's heart] which would explain why so much light is coming from it. This “well” could be considered an easy access to the heart of an already defeated Titan. I mean, we can see the mural and interpret it in two ways:

A “ray” [Mythal’s final strike] falling into the heart that slices the Titan in two and defeats/kills it.

Or a tunnel or “well” which gives easy access to the heart for mining purpose in an already defeated/dead titan. This is the option I’m inclined to, because it looks similar to what we are seeing in this chamber. This chamber does not show signs of battle or struggle [there was not fight in here]. Instead, this was built on a peaceful, calm surface: the titan may have been already defeated [if not dead].

As addition, Cole’s line gives us more context to understand the whole chamber: Cole is confirming that these are elves in Uthenera. Singing a song in the dark. My speculation tries to link this song with the Lyrium’s, as if these elves are part of it or use it, in an attempt to keep the Titan sleeping still. And this process may have turned the Titans into vegetative entities that only stir when big disruptive Fade-related events occur [like the access to the Golden City by the Magisters Sidereal or maybe the creation of the Veil, and recently, the Breach in the sky]. They are unable to wake up, they forgot how to do it, according to Cole’s comment. Maybe they forgot how to wake up because the immense amount of elvhen in Uthenera are preventing it somehow.

For a more integral interpretation of this, we can gather all the lines that Cole have been saying in Trespasser related to the Deep Roads:

When we entered to the Deep Roads Overlook: "Songs screaming far away. It wants to wake up but can't remember how. No one should be here." [Songs mean many, it’s not the “old song”=titan, so I understand this line as “the songs of the elves”, referring to all those elves in Uthenera coffins. Cole always said that elves have songs related to them. Immediately after this comment, he speaks about the impossibility of the Titan to wake up. This indirectly implies that the first sentence is related to the second one, hence my idea that Uthenera elvhen may be preventing the awakening of the Titans].

When we reach the darkest place of this zone: "It's singing where no one can hear." [This means the titan is singing too, this is the song of the lyrium itself]

Close to the bridge of this chamber: "The songs are old here. Sleeping sadness already forgotten. I can't help this hurt.” [This could mean Titans as well as Uthenera elves, both are always described by Cole as “old” songs, and both are sleeping in sadness. Since he uses the plural I’m inclined to think of the elves. Once more we can see that Uthenera is something rather more different than what we have been told since DAO. If we link this to the codex Vir Dirthara: A Flowering Imago, we can see that elves entering to Uthenera are always sad and weeping.]

As we cross the bridge: "This is where they dig. Tricks and trials so the singing stones don't kill them.” [We assumed this was about Qunari, and still sounds like that, so I will not considered it further, just including it here for completion's sake]

In the chamber with the coffins: “They are all singing. Coffers, coffins, corpses that aren't dead. A song crying out in the dark.” [Here is a clear confirmation that these are Uthenera elves. The song in the dark feels more like the song of the Titan. This description also connects with Valta’s war table: “a cry in the dark”. In general, Cole tends to relate the singular song to a Titan.]

If we bring Sera, in the Overlook, Cole will reinforce the idea that the Titans are vegetative now

Sera: Why are dwarves so short but carve their tunnels so tall? Cole: Their ancient shapers were mountains drawn of all their wills, walking their memories into valleys of the world.

With Dorian

Dorian: All this lyrium. If the Qunari wanted they could make a fortune. Cole: The stone sings. The song scares them. It’s the wrong song, the wrong blood. They don’t know how we stand it.

With all these vague tiny bits, and this massive chamber, I came to the conclusion that the Uthenera of the past, when the Veil did not exist, could not have had the same goal than it has nowadays. There was no reason for immortal elvhen to go to sleep forever to live in the Fade, when they already lived there.

That ancient Uthenera had another goal, and I suspect that it may have been related to keeping the Titans sleeping, calmer, so the elvhenan empire, so fragile to the "reinforcement of reality" of the Titan's powers [Valta's sudden appearances of reports all over Skyhold] could exist without struggle. However, the Evanuris may have learn something of the power of this reinforcement of reality and “shape”, since the Vallaslin and the murals of the elvhen seem to suggest that the slaves of the Evanuris may have been victims of "the shape" via vallaslins made of lyrium.

Sadly this place is lost forever: when we destroy the Qunari operation, the whole place begins to collapse and flood. All those ancient elvhen are finally dead.

The place is filled with water to a point that we can't return and explore this cave anymore, and the only place that we can explore at this point is the blocked room with an eluvian that will direct us to the Unknown Ruin, which is not the Deep Roads anymore. Curiously, it’s a surface dwarven ruin [could it be the located in the Hissing Waste?, more details in “The Crossroads [DLC Trespasser]: Deep Roads; Unknown Ruin”.

#Playing DA like an archaeologist #dlc #dai trespasser #song related #purple fire #da song #Howling Fen'Harel statue #codex focused #asterisk symbol #uthenera #lyrium #moon head creature #mythal #dwarves #dwarven design #elvhen design

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marcillfll · 1 year

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hello hello~

I came to you again with a minute of theories abot the trailer.

At the begining, achtung! these are just mine assumptions that based on what I saw and read on the Internet, as well as what I myself noticed in clips and various skiz content.

And one more time the reminder: there are mistakes in text since English is not my native, im sorry

So, for the last time, I assumed to discard a bunch of references to all sorts of Skz videos and assign an album to each member. This time I will try to reveal my thoughts about what happens in the scenes with the guys.

To be honest, I don’t have thoughts and answers about everyone, but I’ll tell you what I guessed .D

🌟Firstly, I want to note that it seems to me that, in addition to references to albums, references to some films are hidden inside the scenes.

🍞 About Innie, I have no thoughts at all. Okay, there are a few, but they are so incoherent and uninformative that I don’t even want to talk about them ... (to be honest, this character inside the lore of skz literally drives me crazy, I have too many questions and almost no answers ... )

🐰🐷 I don’t know what with Changbin either, the only thing is that we see how he is such a cute cutie trying to call someone, after a failure he gets mad and starts to destroy everything. I have a feeling that somewhere I saw something like that, I just can’t remember where, I can’t :c

🦦 Hyunjin, as mentioned in previous post, is similar in his scene and setting to Kingsman, I honestly didn’t watch this movie, but asked around, and no one could give me answers about what was happening could mean. However, referring directly to this "happening"... at first I thought that Hyunjin crossed out the star (yes, it seemed to me that it was a star, not a flower on the jacket, bc there are five ends, as it seemed to me then), and there are 5 stars now. Then I read here and there, and someone wrote that this is the Innie's birth's flower ... perhaps it is (I'm not strong in this), and Jinnie seems to finish painting the 5th petal for him (here I already considered that there are 4 petals and 1 pistil xd). After he says these numbers: 644. Everyone has already written that this is an angel number and so on. In addition, I saw a bunch of "analyzes" of the number, what it is about money, that those you support will start sitting on your neck, etc. I don’t know how much we can believe this... although about “concentration on one’s feelings” or something that was in those theories, it may be similar. Hyunjin is quite sensual, yes... ahem, but in general, what can be interesting is 644: 6+4+4=14 1+4=5, we have 5 stars here, after all. And one more thing I thought about. Do you remember that I consider Hyunjin to be the "personification" of the maxident? And the title is case 143, 143=I love you. Communication with numbers. What if some words are hidden here too? Flower - 6 letters, stay/star/five - 4 letters. flower five star? Maybe you can find some other words?.D

Upd: i don't know why we didn't do it earlier BUT! With help of my friend we found out sthat if u will count with this "644" numbers letters in the korean alphabet u will get "별", which means 'star'~

🐿 Han... ohh well, it's time for completely crazy theories uhhhh. What do we see in the picture? Some kind of train-plane flying in the clouds. I thought of Laputa Castle in the Sky. After all, Han loves Howl, loves anime, Laputa is also from studio gibli. In the sound, in Han's last part, he mentions "Laputa". The plot of the anime was that there was this floating island with untold riches. But in order to get there, a special stone was needed, its keeper was main character, and the pirates tried to steal it. In the trailer, the guys introduce themselves as they play in the i'm ground. And Han says "isn't that right? Then I won't do it" maybe this train is his idea that Jisung himself is a guide to the world of clouds, no "pirates" (or haters) will get there without a stone, but he is capable to achieve all this on his own? (Therefore, it is important that All in is a Japanese comeback, a reference, presumably, to a Japanese anime, well, Han's love for him x))

🐶 I don't know what to say about Seungmin... I can't even imagine what kind of movie it could be... however, it is some kind of point in favor of the theory about films in general. He sits in a bucket full of POPCORN (First Felix said he ate candy, then Seungmin said he ate popcorn while filming... hard life for idols xddd). And he shows us a ticket to the cinema (sort of, if I read it right). Many assumed that these was the same tickets that were in the trailers and clips of past eras, but I do not think so. There were "one-way tickets to the new world", here is another ticket. They refused those tickets because they turned out to be a trap, and skz went their own way.

🐣 I mentioned Felix - Joker... just Joker ahah, ready to read your thoughts~

🐺 Bang Chan... uh, here my theory of connection with the Japanese album sounds dubious and far-fetched. At first, it seemed to me that Chan resembled Sub-Zero (I know that I am not the only one). I'm not strong in the lore of mortal kombat, so I went to read internet. Both Sub-Zero (this is a kind of title, not a name), being brothers, were born in the USA and were taken to China, belong to a Chinese organization. However, the developers said that the character was originally supposed to be named Ninja, and the whole story should be based on some book about how China influences Japanese ninjas. So there's a rather subtle connection to Japan... well, like Han, Chan loves anime in one way or another. But I also saw a theory about the similarity of Chan's vibe with the character of lol - Jhin, there are similar scenes in the video: playing the piano, concert hall, lighting... I also read his story, but there is also China (and the setting is more fantasy), not Japan... I also really liked the last lines of this character's bio, they are very suitable for the mood and meaning of the trailer: "It seems that all of Runeterra might be but a canvas for the atrocity that is Khada Jhin’s art, and only he knows where the next brushstroke will fall."

But still, my theory was movie references, according to MK there is a movie, but according to lol - no. Perhaps everything presented here is how Chan sees himself? Since the game is about introducing themselves, perhaps they themselves have described which films/animes/games they would like to be like or associated with? Therefore, it turned out to be a little chaos? (also Chan commented, that mask is just his own suggestion) So, there are a lot of thoughts, but the answers are not so... ahah xddd

🐰 And finally Minho. The first thing I thought of was Saw, but it's kind of too much for a k-pop band, I guess? I am not sure. It also reminds me a little of Parasite, this scene in the toilet ... here I would also love to read your thoughts .D

This time it's all I could guess, thank you for your attention~

Also i have the 3d part which is more connected to the lore story of skz. I will post it soon ~

#skz #skz 5 star #skz comeback #skz theories #skz thoughts #stray kids #stray kids 5 star #stray kids comeback #stray kids theories #stray kids thoughts

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dragon-ball-meta · 2 years

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How much weight should we put into objectively non-canon material with Toriyama's input? For instance, DBO (Dragon Ball Online) was once believed to be canon because Toriyama had considerable creative oversight into that game and it had no contradictions with the established lore of the original manga. While it was eventually disregarded as a canonical source, ideas from it (such as time travel being forbidden/illegal by the Gods) made its way into DBS. Same with Vomi/Android 21.

"Cont'd from my last post: I guess what I want to ask is, should we consider certain things (such as the characters and lore info) that Toriyama's personally worked on as canon, while disregarding the body of the work they came from? Sorry if I'm not making much sense." In a word? None. In more words? None, and we even need to contextualize interview and Q&A answers to a POINT. Toriyama has often helped contribute to DB projects that aren't part of his main series and has even written one himself in the form of Neko Majin Z. So not everything he writes pertaining to Dragon Ball is necessarily binding or "part" of DB proper. But he's given responses in some interviews and some Q&A sessions that need to be taken with a grain of salt at least to a point because... Toriyama is a writer who tends to write by the seat of his pants, and likes a degree of freedom as a result. So while he may have said in an interview in, say, 1998 that something in the series works a certain way, he may later change his mind and decide he wants it to work another way later. He's also sometimes tried to come up with answers on the spot for things he didn't put too much thought into when writing and forgotten that later. At the end of the day though, he's only really bound by what he's written down in his actual series. Interview questions are not inherently binding or canonical; they can illuminate or clarify or enhance the written work, but they're not set in stone.

Further, there actually WAS a period between the early 2000s and about 2013 where Toriyama would be interviewed and could give some rather... odd answers to questions, getting basic things about characters and story events in his series wrong. This is because of the way Toriyama writes; when he's done with a project, as time goes on he tends to MAKE himself forget about that in order to focus more on the works ahead of him now. He feels it allows later works to be more unique and less derivative of his previous ones. As such, he did forget things, including confusing Super Saiyan 2 and 3 at one point, or forgetting that he'd given 18 blonde hair and not white. People at Shueisha and Toei got him up to speed again fairly quickly, but that's something to keep in mind when reading or citing interviews in that time period. Hope that's helpful.

#akira toriyama #Dragon Ball #Dragon Ball Z #Dragon Ball Super #DB #DBZ #DBS #Dragonball #Dragonball Z

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ladala99 · 1 month

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One Spyro Level a Month Until the Next Spyro Game Releases - April 2024 - Town Square

Intro/Rules

Previous Level

Next Level

Welcome to Town Square! The land that tests you for the first time on your gliding abilities. Also: it's the place with the bulls.

Fun fact: as a kid I didn't realize the red part of the horns was supposed to be blood. I assumed their horns were metal and a little rusty, like the swords in Dark Hollow.

Opening Staircase/Nils

You start out in a clearing surrounded by chickens and a circular staircase that leads to the first dragon of the level: Nils!

Nils tells you to gilde over to where the bulls are. He also gives you a tip on how to look around with the L2 and R2 buttons, something I constantly use both in the originals and Reignited (yes, I use classic controls in Reignited. The control stick camera gives me motion sickness. Something that doesn't happen in PS2 games with that type of camera control so I don't know why it's like that.)

Anyway.

"That Area with the Bulls"

The first glide's landing puts you face-to-face with a couple of bulls. Flame defeats them easily, but charging them gets their horns stuck in the ground. Either way, they're considered dead and give up their gem. Past them, there's a staircase, leading up to another platform getting ready for another glide, this time above water.

The first required dangerous glide in the game. I didn't like it as a kid. You couldn't get out if you failed it.

Devlin and the Fountains

Actually, we did learn that already in Stone Hill. But you can play these levels in any order.

Past him, we have a fountain with another bull and a gnorc with a red flag, running from the bull. The gnorc will not attack you until the bull is dead. The bull will not aim for you even if the gnorc is dead, but will attack you if you get too close.

Continue up the stairs, and there's a whole mess of bulls and another gnorc being chased around another fountain! This level is pretty repetitive. Clear those out, and rescue the next dragon.

Alvar

Alvar waits by the exit portal, but tells you about a blue thief nearby that has stolen a dragon egg! That's what was going on with that guy in Stone Hill!

Thief Chase/Top of Town Square

So to the difficult jump around a corner and onto what appears to be level boundary to chase after the thief! This guy is probably THE most annoying thief in the game, because if you let him get to the end of his route, he jumps down and won't reset his position until you jump down after him, meaning you have to do that difficult jump again.

Once you torch that annoying guy, you glide across to the final gems and dragon in the level.

Thor

Thor is skinny, has a squeaky voice, and only has one thing to say: "Thank you for releasing me!" I thought it was funny as a kid, so worth it.

And with that, we are 11% of the way through the game. Double digits! 3% more than last time.

Lore Talk

Town Square does more than anything else in the game to tell us how dragons, or at least Artisan dragons, live. This area is, as the name says, a town. Buildings line streets, and there's fountains in a couple of areas.

Also very telling is how unnavigable this place is for creatures without wings. Which is the point: this area is for dragons and dragons only. Flying from one area of town to another is expected.

Artisan Dragons also apparently enjoy having grassy areas on their roofs. And why not? It's pretty and I'm sure comfortable to sit on. When you have wings, the roof is just as valid a place to hang out as your yard - and these guys' houses are so packed-together that they don't have yards. The roof is the yard!

Next Stop

May's level will be Toasty.

Concurrent Spyro Events

Not much has changed since last month.

Toys for Bob concluded their talks with Microsoft, getting the rights for whatever thing they were talking about.

Youtuber Canadian Guy Eh posted a video confirming that a Spyro game is in development by Toys for Bob, being that thing they were negotiating with Microsoft about. He stated it has been in development since January (...If I actually started this when I intended to, that'd line up really well. What a coincidence!), so it's really early. Which is pretty much what I assumed last month. If they're taking their time, we won't be getting it for another two or so years.

Popular belief in Spyro fanspaces is that he's lying that he knows this for a fact, and the general opinion is that a new Spyro game isn't happening. Which even if you disregard him, there's still been teases? I get not getting your hopes up (that's my default state nowadays, anyhow), but now it's just being contrary because people don't like CGE.

I personally believe him. I've seen enough of his videos to know that when it's speculation or rumor, he says it. He's a big Youtuber and has contacts in the industry. Of course he is going to learn things that haven't been officially announced. He's popular enough conducting his usual hype train - he doesn't need to lie to get clicks.

Anyway, that was a bit of a tangent, but honestly that's all that's happened this past month Spyro-wise. At least on my radar.

All that matters for this project is that no Spyro game is getting released this month, so Toasty is on schedule to be toast in May!

#spyro #one spyro level a month until the next spyro game releases #spyro the dragon

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eliz-elai-rigel-star · 7 months

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Gods in my head (Work in progress)

1. Lore about the stoopid Gods I made. (I don't have a damned title for this)

I'm going to start from the most important (or powerful) to the least powerful.

💙 Grand Creator (Story writer) any/all pronouns

This dude was the first God, basically created all the gods and deities after him.

He decides the 'story' of everything. All of history within this world is planned and managed by him.

He has control over all things occuring but has limited control over souls (humans and gods).

Sort of like the Christian God.

She doesn't have a form or a voice of her own, if you want to represent her in a physical way you'll just use the other gods for example.

They move in mysterious ways, unpredictable af. They are supposed to be like the author of the story. They do care, but they also won't hesitate to torment you to have a good story.

"I am the world, and the world is me. Every voice you hear is mine, and my voice is all that there is."

💕💕 2. Principles of the Universe.

These are angels that govern the world, and have direct communication with god.

They are basically God's officers, they do what He wants, they govern the natural world (including gods).

They have a cosmic 🌌 theme and have powers based on shit like time, space, reality and all them bs.

They do not have the privilege of creation. They cannot create lifeforms, or rule over humans.

They can be considered archivist, police, messenger, guide, and manager.

💙 Principle of Death. (Grim reaper?)

it/its pronouns

This is the angel of death.

His main job is to take all the human souls that have passed away and put them in the afterlife.

But he can also completely delete things (and people) completely out of existance.

There wasn't an afterlife at first, but they kinda felt pity for the humans, and wanted to give them a place to rest and reincarnate.

As much as the creator can make things, he can also destroy them in an instant.

He supposed to represent loss. As long as something exist, there will be a time where it wouldn't anymore.

Death is very calm and solemn, he is not aggressive. He is not a 'destroyer'.Things always come to an end.

He is depicted as a really old dude, who walks slow, is quiet, and doesn't really give a f. (chill mysterious grandpa)

I would describe his presence like a very warm faint gentle breeze.

Death moves slowly, but it never stops walking. And it may just show up in your doorstep without you noticing.

"Among the principles of the universe, truth, order, justice...only death always remain certain."

💙 Principle of truth. it/its pronouns.

This girl knows EVERYTHING.

She is aware of everything that is happening.

Every action you make, every word you say, EVERYTHING.

She knows the absolute truth, you cannot make up stories in front of her.

She also can peer into your mind to see what your exact intentions are.

She knows everything that is happening on the outside and has memory of it, but she can't know what everyone is thinking. She can only do so in real time and only brief.

She basically a cctv camera, and your search history.

She is also serious and chill like Death, almost same personality but more soft.

"Humans have debated on what good and bad truly is, but they have no idea that the absolute truth bears no weight in moral."

💙 Principle of Faith It/they

God assigned them to make sure that humans and Gods follow their designated stories.

They are sort of like a director or manager, and God is the boss/writer.

They know what God's plans are and the only one who could perceive it.

You can say they are an oracle of some sorts.

But they like...keep a catalogue of papers, dictating God's plan for every single individual.

"Hmph...humans try to change their fate, but everything is already set in stone according to the Creator's plan."

💙 Principle of Order. They/them

Kinda like a president?

God communicates them the laws and rules that have to be followed, and they execute it.

"The laws I present, are the laws the Creator himself have given me. Everyone must fall in like and obey, including all humans, gods, and angels."

💙 Principle of Justice they/them

They go after those who have broken the law and have offended others.

They can be considered as a punisher, or police. But of course they are fair and square, and don't tolerate injustice or corruption.

They are sort of scary and grumpy, they can and WILL punish you if you did something wrong.

"Injustice and corruption are the things that I firmly despise, and humans have done them more than I could ever count."

💙 Angel of purpose. They/he

He is the one mostly communicating with humans about God's plan and terms.

Sort of like those angels in the bible, bringing message to humans.

He tells gods and humans, what their purpose should be and what is their role in life.

He is very approachable, and just really really nice. Humans are not scared of him or hate him, they completely adore him even.

The other deities have mixed opinions on him, some say he barely acts like how an angel should. While some just respect him as he is since it's part of who he is.

"Everyone has an importance on this world, everyone has a role they play. Humans may be weak, but you cannot deny that they are meant for great things."

Fun fact, the angel of purpose has actually been replaced once. The original angel of purpose was stripped of his title and power, and was replaced by another angel that is *almost* a clone of him (they made him a bit different but he basically does the same thing.)

As to why the original Angel of Purpose was replaced, that's another can of worms. But basically he's 'fallen'.

#elizelai

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ganymedesclock · 2 years

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I know Zelda lore is generally complicated and all, but if you know of the manga (it is a prequel to Skyward Sword and considered a origin story of sorts) what are your thoughts on Hylia and Demise? and the chosen hero aka The First Link?

Some would interpret it as more of a origin story of hylian legend, so like something that is more biased and very different than the true historical happenings of an ancient era, so shrouded in legends very much.

IMO Zelda lore is also immensely take-it-or-leave-it. I've always been a bit lukewarm on The Great Zelda Timeline, since I feel like it's more logistical to think of the games as effectively self-contained AUs of each other with a few threads of continuity that can give context.

I'll also say that I know little of the various manga adaptations, but the skyward sword manga in particular doesn't really appeal to me; I know enough of it to not particularly want to know more. I’m not a fan of its version of Hylia being almost exactly like Zelda, especially when canonical details in Skyward Sword imply Hylia was not really humanlike at all- the “feathers” from her wings look more like chunks of crystal shrapnel.

I've got my own headcanons / reads into that gap, which are- much like canon- completely take-it-or-leave it, but I think they’re fun. I will put those down under a cut, here, because they get long.

So my major read on the events predating Skyward Sword, and thus predating "everything" in the Zelda mythos, is that the golden gods are effectively the big bang. Nothing 'as we know it' exists before them, everything 'as we know it' exists after them. For a while, they overlap with their creations; this is where their names and predilections become known to a degree. Thus, there's a kind of dynasty of gods- the first dynasty being Din/Nayru/Farore.

This ultimately ends in the creation of the triforce- the point where the gods exited the world. Eldritch artifact, basically a hole in reality that leaks infinite primal potential. Simultaneous evidence that "the throne" is empty, and the tools of creation used to shape the world.

A take I have at this point is that both Hylia and Demise are worshiped like gods, but they're basically powerful natural spirits. But they're kind of major contenders, and begin fighting each other over the Triforce. Hylia has her supporters and creations, Demise has his, and they’re both, IMO, flawed.

Hylia is calculating. This is basically textual in Skyward Sword- she appears to value leaving as little as possible up to chance (hence Fi as a guide to Link, who seems to have been trained to disregard her own emotions as much as possible) and by the works she leaves behind alone, she verges on pretty heartless- the entire Lanayru Mine society consists of sapient robots who are clearly people, and cherished by the Thunder Dragon and vice versa, and, um... are obviously dying and collapsing into an inevitable disrepair they are, a certain degree aware of. Skipper does not even leave his duty to try and go home using the borrowed time the Timeshift stones give him so that he can be with his family when that borrowed time runs out... and it does, because we never see those guys in any “future” game.

Basically, Hylia values order, but not autonomy. If she has her way, it will never even occur to you to contradict her or speak against her. She cares, but her model of caring is irreconcilable with human free will or determination. She’s seen as the benefactor of the hylians, who took their names in her honor, but Skyloft from what we see of it is a little less like a sanctuary and a little more like the Human Zoo from Steven Universe- especially down to that it was used to cultivate Link and Zelda. The Loftwings are even ostensibly divine forces that specifically observe and manage each denizen.

Fi is arranged to self-terminate so she won’t contaminate anything other than her objective. Zelda is given the ability to realize Hylia’s goals at a key point such that if she has an attack of self-loathing on recognizing Hylia’s memories, this, too, serves her larger game plan- it in fact works better if Zelda doesn’t want to be Zelda right then, because she’s just gotten Hylia’s memories uploaded into her real hard. (We’ll get back to Zelda)

Meanwhile, Demise enjoys freedom, but not in a way that really seems to respect people. Ghirahim, compared to Fi, is wildly unfettered; left to his own devices, to pursue his own interests and opinions. He’s free. And Demise crushes him.

Likewise, when talking to Link, Demise is polite, even charmingly sporting. Unlike any other Zelda boss before or since, he textually in-universe suggests that you should prepare as best as you can and take as much time as you need, while agreeing to wait in one specific location. In polar contrast to Hylia, he clearly does not have a grand divine plan. He intends to strip Link down by force exactly the way he did Ghirahim, but he won’t enjoy it if he doesn’t give Link the chance to waste all of Ghirahim’s hard work stalling and forcing Link to a standstill. Demise wants Link to be as gorged up with freedom and power as possible... so that he can be the greater force and shatter it.

This factors in to their metatextual successors, Zelda and Ganondorf. Zelda is anticipated, cultivated, and extremely controlled. Even at the extreme endpoint of the timeline as we’re aware of it, Zelda is invoking Hylia for power. This, logically, shouldn’t be the case- Hylia is completely terminated. Anything that Hylia had, is now Zelda’s, via birthright and the ritual that awakened Skyward Sword Zelda, the very first one. Zelda’s a divine-blooded demigod; she ‘honestly’ comes by all the power she must need.

But Hylia never really meant Zelda to be a worthy successor; simply a Favored Heir, who, for her favoritism, has the best prize Hylia gives all of her most important servants: the prize of being completely preordained. Known. Controlled. Nayru seems to be the “natural” god of time given Oracle of Ages; but Hylia seems to position herself as a conqueror of time. She viewed Zelda as an extension of herself; simply a continuation who would behave in certain, useful ways- human ways, sentimental ways, that are inaccessible to Hylia herself, to love Link and be loved by him- and then when the time is right she wakes up and knows all of her instructions and will act perfectly, because you were Hylia all along.

Conversely Ganondorf pretty obviously hates the gods period, no exception, no “your god’s worse than my god”. He wants things to be his and his alone. He’s not even a favored son to Demise’s curse, if we are supposed to believe- as seems to be the implication- that said curse is responsible for every Zelda antagonist that is a blight to Hyrule; there are plenty that have zero connection to Ganondorf, and it suggests Demise’s Incarnation is a concept that abandons Ganondorf, regularly even. If there’s anything Ganondorf has from Demise, it’s things like the title of demon king, that seems to be Ganondorf’s own efforts that pull him over the gap.

The one time Ganondorf succeeds by the obvious assistance of a higher power, it is when the Triforce of Power intervenes on his behalf in Twilight Princess, and in the same game, we see Ganondorf desecrate and behead the statues of the Triforce Goddesses in Hyrule Castle’s throne room.

So- getting back to Skyward Sword and the god war.

Hylia claims she was entrusted directly with the triforce. We hear this claim through the story told by her subordinates. It seems to line up with that Ghirahim- the chattiest member of Demise’s forces by virtue of being last man standing for most of the game- makes it clear Hylia’s incarnation is his biggest problem to resurrecting Demise.

But, there’s a couple of threads to spot in this narrative, and those are the things that make me think Link’s position is complicated, both regarding the triforce and otherwise.

Hylia cannot use the triforce. This is explicit. If it was truly given to her for keeping, she’s at bare minimum using bad faith workarounds of instructions she was given or parameters set on her. We don’t have Impa as an entity informed of the war who understands and agrees with Hylia make the wish on her behalf; instead a hero is cultivated. Link is a trap for the triforce.

And Link is obviously cultivated. He’s marked from birth by the Red Loftwing. Zelda’s speech when Link finally catches up to her and she gains Hylia’s memories have her outright say that Hylia used Link. That Zelda’s existence is a trap for Link.

Now... to me, I feel like this has fascinating context for the fact that Link and Zelda have this omnipresent yet often stilted relationship. Almost every game ends with the implication Link and Zelda are together now, a couple now; games that give him over love interests tend to come with this obvious subtext of “but you’ll leave her to be with Zelda, right? Or if you won’t be with Zelda, you won’t be with anyone,” and even in isolation, in Majora’s Mask, the Song of Time taught by Zelda and the Ocarina of Time given by her are the most essential thing in-game to proceed.

But also, there’s a bunch of times Link either optionally or explicitly tried to be in a relationship with someone else? In Skyward Sword you can flirt with Peatrice and while the game clearly insinuates this is a fake, ‘mean’ relationship unlike Link’s devotion to Zelda, it never out and says it. Link could be totally serious. He definitely was serious in Breath of the Wild, where Mipha’s working on their engagement rings, which no unserious couple would be talking about, and the wedding’s only called off on account of the bride’s abrupt death... which her kin even take out poorly on Link.

I don’t mean this as an anti-zelink screed, but I think it’s interesting to me- and really morbid- that Link and Zelda are implied in Skyward Sword to be cosmically ordained star-crossed soulmates. Link is destined to be Zelda’s symbolic groom, but also, their happiness and union are actually optional. The real thing that’s mandated, that Hylia counted on, was Link loving Zelda and despairing at losing her. Link, running after Zelda into certain danger. Link, loving Zelda, and Zelda being loved by Link, as a trap.

This is the main way I diverge from the manga’s take of Hylia and the zeroth hero as lovers- because I feel like the fact that Hylia, who herself does not seem to value emotion directly (less than Demise, who deliberately wants to get an emotional response out of you) is so concerned that Link must love Zelda, that he must know and chase Zelda, that Hylia’s will has to be distant to him...

Implies Hylia was perhaps scared of Link. Which is silly; she’s a goddess and he was not even really destined yet. She was scared of a hypothetical person she was molding into a template, or if ‘scared’ isn’t the right term, she was concerned that something might. go wrong. with Link, if she started selecting people for these qualities.

As if, perhaps, from the original person Hylia was seeking to cultivate again, there were actually qualities about the zeroth hero that Hylia didn’t like very much. That the zeroth hero may have been strong, and brave, and deserving of the title of hero... but did not love Hylia, and was not devoted to her.

The zeroth hero also seems vanished from Skyloft’s history. Only Hylia is stated to have saved them.

But things come in threes in this franchise, even if one of the three is disgraced or hidden.

If Zelda is Hylia’s favored heir, whether or not she wants this and often explicitly not wanting this, and Ganondorf is Demise’s (figurative) discarded bastard whose frustration and ambition allow the parent to parasite off of him from beyond an absolute grave...

What is Link?

Let’s talk about Majora’s Mask.

A friend of mine exposed me to the notion that Majora’s Mask is kind of a dying-dream game; that it takes place overwhelmingly within Link’s mind. Actually looking at the imagery and word choice used by this game, and how many characters inexplicably repeat (Cremia and Romani’s unnatural resemblance to Malon; Koume and Kotake as benevolent NPCs who seem to never acknowledge their previous run-in with Link; Ganondorf’s face leering down from the moon), this would seem to make sense.

Especially the Happy Mask Salesman, who as textually as the game can get, is functionally a psychopomp and definitely has some kind of agenda that makes him very pushy towards Link, but in a way that feels distinct from any other character nudging you into a quest.

Majora’s Mask seems to be illuminating the death of the Hero of Time, not the first Link but the ‘ur’-Link that out-of-universe came to define modern Link. There are two major, powerful figures in this game, one that’s omnipresent and the other that is much more enigmatic and missable.

The first is Majora. We are introduced to Majora only through its death mask. Implicitly, like Darmani and Mikau and the Deku Butler’s Son, Majora is dead. Majora is also immensely powerful, and was used by others to curse their enemies.

Unable to rest or be at peace, Majora has tumbled through time. Its current host is Skull Kid, an innocent child from the woods who was driven by loneliness. Skull Kid has fairy companions, and also, feels that he was abandoned by his friends, because they departed to the corners of the world to become divine pillars protecting from harm. They are only reunited in event of catastrophe.

All of these things are traits of Ocarina of Time Link, actually. He was also, originally, a child from the woods; we can figure he was almost definitely lonely when everyone in his society had a fairy except him, when he was actually a hylian among kokiri and lacked words to articulate why he felt unlike others; Saria was kind to him but most others are at best indifferent and at worst, Mido. Much is made in OoT that he cannot be with Saria and this becomes true no matter where he goes; he can’t be with Ruto, or Darunia, or Impa, or Nabooru, or Rauru. Just about anyone who’s notably kind to him perishes or ascends to become a sage. He is not like them.

And Link is told that there is this specialness, this thing that is beyond him and older than him, but it becomes core to his identity until after a while it’s the only thing anyone sees: the role of the Hero.

“But Clockie,” you might say, “the hero is a good thing, and Majora was used to curse others!”

To which I say: in Wind Waker, The Soul of The Hero is explicitly and repeatedly tied to the wind. His legend survives ‘on the wind’s breath’. Link is given a powerful royal artifact, that the king of Hyrule used to command the wind.

And at the very end of Wind Waker, Ganondorf talks about the wind. He lays it out as plainly as possible that part of what he coveted in Hyrule was that the wind favored it. The winds over Hyrule bring it peace and prosperity. That same wind, over Ganondorf’s world, brings death and destruction. This is... never argued with. In fact, at the very end of Wind Waker, as Ganondorf lays dying at the hands of the hero yet again, he cracks a bitter smirk and says that the wind is blowing.

To the civilization that profited from Majora’s Mask, it probably seemed like a blessing until it became impossible to contain. While we never hear about the hero going rogue or turning on the people around him, it is notable that Wind Waker’s incarnation of the hero’s myth in particular features people cursing the hero’s absence. Just like with Majora, the prosperity given by the Hero fails.

It’s also notable that as a villain, Skull Kid seems to do an awful lot of sidequests, doesn’t he? He messes with others’ trivial affairs quite a bit.

So, I think that Majora, in Majora’s Mask, is almost a form of Dark Link- he embodies things Link fears about himself and the hero’s role.

And then there’s the other entity- the Fierce Deity.

The Fierce Deity, unlike Majora, is completely erased from history. We do not know who or what they are.

We know that they are dead, because they’re a mask.

We know Link only gains access to them if he faces the questions of the moon children- questions that seem to be interrogating both Link’s feelings, and the nature of the Hero, but one in particular involves asking Link if that’s really his face.

The Fierce Deity is otherwise never seen in Hyrule’s pantheon. Their fallen regalia surfaces on rare occasions.

They are stated to have overwhelming dark power, and seem only willing to manifest through the mask to fight a great enemy. And unlike any other spirit Link connects with in Majora’s Mask, they never speak.

The mask has an uncanny resemblance to Link.

I think that Majora’s Mask is a point where Link is accessing his precursor.

I think that in the original god war, there was a third contender.

Hylia, Demise, and Majora.

Majora, the Fierce Deity, presenting as neither a goddess nor a demon king, an entity that aligned themselves with mortals and brought prosperity and security to them. A creature of dark power, who nonetheless became known as a Hero.

At some point during the war, Majora aligned themselves with Hylia. They may have had their own designs on the triforce. They may have seen her as the lesser of two evils. After all, compared to Demise, Hylia just wants to control people; she doesn’t want to crush them.

But the key distinction here is, Majora did not love Hylia. If they may have, they did not let this stop them from seeing her as almost as much of a problem as Demise. They would bring her prosperity, but only up to a point. Then, they would part ways.

Majora faces Demise. Demise is pleased to have an opponent, and facilitates Majora, perhaps far more than he should have.

Demise crushes Majora, but not without sustaining serious injuries.

Majora dies; mortals and smaller spirits grieve the loss of their hero. A death mask may or may not be forged in their likeness.

The stalemate is broken; a weakened Demise is no match for Hylia. She embeds him in the sealed grounds, and becomes the decisive victor and remaining survivor. The die is cast; from this point onward, the existence of Hyrule as the dominant land and the worship of the golden gods becoming synonymous with the worship of Hylia has its foundations here.

But Demise isn’t gone; he’s a god. He’s a little hard to kill, if he wants to stick around. And Majora does not want to stick around; and forcing them to will almost certainly exacerbate their connection.

If only, Hylia thinks, there was a useful way to contain all that was important about Majora- their valor and great strength- in a form that was more pliant. She has worshippers. She has the mortal entities that Majora once cared for.

That’s right. Majora cares about mortals, don’t they? They fought to save and protect others. A Majora who doesn’t remember that they lived wild and disobedient, a Majora whose uncanny power of twilight is tempered and weakened, a Majora who grew up among Hylia’s chosen people so as to carefully control who he gets attached to, and to ensure among those attachments, there is a friend- a dear friend, a beloved friend- who he will fight to stay close to, no matter what.

Who is not the entity that they once distrusted, but who will, predictably and perfectly, act as a continuation of that entity’s will, and because her love is real, she will be so, so sorry about it, and hurting so much, that it’s impossible he would ever betray her.

How many times is Link in essence, told to wake up, often by a manifestation of Zelda?

#Legend of Zelda #readmore #tl;dr hot take #Zelda is the demigod Incarnation of a lovecraftian deep one #who did not understand that in creating Zelda she was creating an entity separate from herself #and thus arranged everything to expect Zelda to continue to carry on Hylia's Perfect Work forever #Ganondorf is the bearer of Demise's curse that he was not born into but caught like a parasite and it chews on him #and because he is That Motherfucker; Bespoke And Inimitable #Ganondorf has made an entire career out of stealing Demise's shit in response without even fully being able to know who and what Demise was #because Demise is dead #LINK THOUGH. Link is possessed #Link is a Nice Young Lad who is super turbo possessed by a half-conscious entity #who was betrayed and trapped to be here #and it's super fucking pissed but there's not enough of it there to fully assert most of the time #this nice reasonable young man has a well in his soul that goes straight to the core of the earth and the screams of the damned wrathful god #echo all the way up

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cosmos-coma · 2 years

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A Gift from Above - Part 6

A/N: Part 6! This is a darker chapter than the others, so if you're at all concerned, please read the warnings, and if you need to skip it read the detailed summary.

Pairing: Eskel x Reader

Warnings: (semi- graphic) physical torture, violence (canon-typical), Near-death situations,

Word count: 2.4 K

Summary: You have finally gotten to the town of Mender's where the General has set you up in the abandoned mage's home. Because of your defiance and inability to give him the godly army he wants he decides to torture you to push your magic to do what he wants. Having lost all hope you decide to take everyone out in a bang that almost kills you in the process.

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5

___________________________

Your cart pulled up to a smooth stop around what you guessed was just before midday. You heard many people beginning to move about outside your walls and the clanking of armor on a few men. The doors of your enclosure opened and you physically recoiled, squeezing your eyes shut against the light of the sun. “Ahh..” you gasped out.

As you squinted into the bright light of the day multiple soldiers transported you inside, re-chaining you to new metal spikes laid out just before a balcony, with a view of a large clearing below. They had you positioned on your knees and put the shackle adorning your neck on a short chain that forced you to bow in false respect for whatever stood before you. Your wrists were bound back and away from your body, forcing you to be open and vulnerable from all sides.

You looked around as best you could with your head bowed. You were in a spacious area connected to a tower that stood in the corner behind you. You could hear the soldiers moving things up and down the tower steps, most likely unloading their carts. There were old tapestries on the wall and the corners lined with bookshelves that had long been looted or destroyed. An old fireplace crackled with life as they added new logs and relit it, the flames causing shadows to dance around on the walls. When your eyes fully adjusted you could see a town a short ways out with people going about their business, oblivious to the horrors soon to take place here.

Opening your mouth to call out to whoever may hear you, your voice got caught in your throat and instead came out in a pained shout as the General stepped his whole weight on your foot. “Ah, ah, my little Healer… No one will come for you no matter what they hear.” he said and finally took his foot away. “The people here are already too wary about the legends of this tower that no one dares to investigate. They’d just consider you confirmation of their village lore...” He continued and walked around to the front of you, smirking in twisted pleasure as he looked down at your form, forced to bow before him.

You heard a soldier rush his way inside and stop as he addressed the General. “We should be ready momentarily, Sir….”

Gazing upward you saw the General grinning from ear to ear like a hyena. His shining moment had finally come. “Excellent… have the men ready in the courtyard to greet our new brothers in arms while I take care of work in here.”

You heard the soldier's feet hitting the stone floor as he ran off to relay orders and your stomach started to turn as you realized that this really was happening, there was no way out of it now, no one had come for you in time.

He grabbed your face in his hands as he crouched down to your level, holding your jaw firm enough that you couldn’t turn away. “So, what will it be, my little Healer? Are we going to do this the easy way, or the hard way?”

You had wondered if your whole world lead up to this moment, your whole life set up so that you may die at the hands of this monster? Did your gods know that this is how it would end when they sent you Eskel? Was he meant to be a happiness that made the end worth it all?

You fought back the tears in your eyes that threatened to pool at the thought of your beloved Witcher. This may be how your story ended, but you would ensure you didn’t go calmly. Eskel wouldn’t want you to.

You pulled your expression into a taught one of silent defiance, and spit directly on his face.

Without a word and with a slow hand he wiped it off his cheek before swiftly slapping you across the face. The stinging in your cheek and the inevitable bruise you may not live to see were well worth it to show him his true place in your eyes.

“I see. Then let’s start with the exceptionally hard way and we’ll see how you feel.” he spoke, his words laced with restraint and calmness as he stood and walked out of sight to prepare.

You smiled a touch to yourself, the first smile you let grace your lips in what felt like forever. Your lips cracked and hurt as you pulled them into your expression, but it was worth it, almost anything felt worth it if it made it difficult for the general to get his way.

“Now…” the general said, from behind you. You could hear the logs on the fire shifting and the sound of metal scraping against stone as his steps came closer. “I understand you have some hesitations in doing as I ask.” You felt him grab the back of your dress and draw his knife down it, jaggedly cutting and tearing it from the nape of your neck to the end of your spine. He let go when he finished and your dress draped loosely around you, kept up only by your sleeves and freely opening your naked back and sides to him. “... But let me see if I can persuade you to see my point of view….”

You felt humiliated and exposed under your current state, but the feeling did not last long as a searing hot pain lay itself on your shoulder. Though your scream filled the room it seemed you couldn’t drown out the way your skin sizzled and popped under the glowing hot fire poker he now held. Tears openly ran down your cheeks now and you didn’t bother to stop them.

“How do you feel about my proposition now, Healer…?” he asked and you could feel the heat of the poker nearing your skin again.

“I-I can’t..!” you yelled once your voice came back to your throat.

“Can’t? Or Won't…?” he questioned, with far too much pleasure In his voice, as he laid the poker on your skin again.

Your scream echoed through the halls and you began to silently hope that this would be over sooner rather than later.

But you know you hoped for naught as again he brought the poker close.

As you screamed and attempted to recoil in on yourself you felt heat pooling in your chest and your magic building up in response to your pain. You weren’t sure if they had switched out your dimiterium bonds for something less, but your chains did not resist you now. There was no noticeable icy pain that shot through your limbs as the waves of magic rushed in and pooled with every inch of searing flesh. Though your mind was clouded with a haze of pain and fear at the next touch you began to form remnants of an idea and what would be your last stand.

```

Eskel got the group moving as early as they could. As soon as Geralt got Ciri up and she was on her horse they made a fast track to Menders, racing through every town there and in between.

Eskel knew that they were getting close and his stomach dropped when he heard your screams echo through the valley. His hands white-knuckled the reins as your screams just kept coming, unrelenting and consumed with pain. He was so lost in your sounds that he almost missed the bugle of a horn and an arrow whizzing past him from the trees before them.

The tower of the mage’s home had finally come into view and a few armed men came out of the tree line to engage them. They made quick work of the first few men, Ciri even deflecting her first arrow. However, as they rode closer there were dozens more men surrounding the formerly abandoned home.

Eskel hopped off of Scorpion as the soldiers began coming towards them, as well as Geralt to his own horse, standing beside his brother in arms. Ciri stayed on her horse and in the back, mostly out of the way with her sword drawn just in case. With a nod to his brother Eskel and Geralt went headfirst into the fray, the sounds of soldiers and screams only driving them forward as Eskel became consumed hot anger.

```

You were under the Generals searing “persuasion” for what felt like a lifetime. The reservoir of your magic pooling in your body was more than you had ever channeled. Usually the pain would grow to be too much, but this time you had another pain to pull your mind away whenever you felt like you would burst.

You could barely hear, let alone register the fighting that went on outside. Your chest burned with the heat of a hundred suns and you thought your skin would soon start to bubble if you held it in any longer. The floors began to quake beneath you, cracking and splitting in hairline fractures.

“Thats it…” said the General in an almost praising manner, mistaking your barely controlled contempt for him as the beginnings of his wish. “You just need a final push, it seems…”

The General grabbed a new poker that had been resting in the fire, as the previous one grew too cold for his liking. Instead of laying the poker on your skin, he had grown impatient and wished to push you over the edge in one fail swoop. So slowly but firmly he pressed the point of the glowing rod into your back, burning your skin away and digging into your flesh.

You knew it was time as you let out the most unholy scream, rattling the stone walls around you. You channeled the swirling magma of your magic through your legs and into the ground, no thought associated with the power, no restraint. Your eyes were squeezed shut as your magic poured into the earth. From it, large jagged rocks like those from an impact crater shot out of the ground in a circle around you, extending into the battlefield and even the town below.

```

Everyone fighting on the field of battle before the house had stopped upon hearing a scream unlike the other ones, even Geralt and Eskel. Eskel was about to shoot forward towards your cry, past the men they were fighting, when jagged rocks, taller than any man or beast shot out of the ground before him. Barely missing him and his brother. Many of the soldiers they had been fighting were now either laid out on the ground, unmoving, or skewered upon the rocks that burst forth. And like that the screams had stopped and all was silent.

“Y/N!” Eskel shouted as Ciri ran up to them, tears streaming down her face with all she’s seen, done, and heard.

The group quickly made their way through the rough terrain, using aard to clear a path and came into the abandoned home. The walls now being supported by the lengths of ground that protruded through them.

When they came into the house they witnessed you at the center of this crater like impact, with the General that Eskel recognized from his dream still standing over you. He was beaten and worn, but still standing, having been close enough to you that he didn't get the brunt of the earthly spikes you put forth. But his eyes were drawn more to your slumped figure, curled on your side and barely moving, even for breath.

Eskel heard the General start to speak and move closer to you. He barely knew what happened next as blind rage overtook him once more.

```

Your eyes were clouded with the dust that sprang forth from the results of your magic and you fell forward, laying on your side as you curled around yourself in pain, the chains holding your arms now freed from their metal stakes.

Your chest still burned hot, worse than all the marks now adorning your back and became inflamed with every movement and breath you took.

“I guess I was wrong…” the General coughed out as he took steps towards you. “I didn’t need an army to fight for me.. I just needed a weapon like you…”

You grimaced at the sound of him, the one man you wished to do away with had survived your last act. But as your strength waned and your body began pulling you deeper into the black of unconsciousness you heard the unmistakable sound of a sword going through flesh.

The General’s severed head bounced and rolled into your fading view as his body thumped to the ground out of sight. A look of fear was immortalized on his face and you couldn’t have asked for a more fitting end for the man.

You let out a small whimper as invisible hands grabbed you with a sense of care that you had so missed. You breathed shallowly as you were held and turned to meet the face of your savior. You couldn’t help but smile, your dry lips splitting with the force of it, when you saw golden yellow eyes above you, framed on one side by long etching scars.

“Esk..” you squeaked out, your voice almost completely gone from the screams preceding this. Your muscles fought you with everything they had, but you slowly reached up to touch his face, making sure he was real.

“You found me…” you whispered, smiling softly as you finally succumbed to the black encroaching your vision.

```

“Y/n...?” Eskel murmured and rested his hand over yours as it started going limp against his cheek. “Y/n…?” he tried again as his eyes grew wet, though no tears fell. His memory rang with one of the first things you had said about your magic:

‘I’ve never used as much as I could, I don’t know if it's even something I could survive…’

Geralt came over with Ciri and touched his shoulder as he clung to you desperately, nose buried in your hair to soak up your scent once more. Eskel yelled and screamed at the gods you worshiped for letting this be done to you, for taking away the one being who seemed to really love him. When Eskel's muscles slackened a bit, the anger and will to fight now gone, the group sat quietly in the aftermath.

“Wait..” Geralt interrupted after a moment. “Eskel, listen….”

badum…

Softly, even to a Witcher's ears, they heard it again.

badum…

The quiet and gentle beat of your heart.

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Taglist: @writingmysanity @open--till--midnight

#if i missed a warning let me know #theres something about the raw emotion of pain that just makes me want to write #i know it hasn't been particularly lovey dovey but we'll see a bit of it next chapter!#eskel #game!eskel #eskel x reader #eskel x y/n #eskel x you #the witcher #witcher eskel #geralt of rivia #geralt #princess cirilla #ciri of cintra #a gift from above

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echosong971 · 3 years

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Ways I Think Cayde’s Character Potential Was Wasted, Part 1:

Hey do y’all know what would’ve been so fudgin’ cool?

y’all wanna know what I think would’ve just been so absolutely neato?

Imagine for me if you will, Cayde manages to survive to the events of Beyond Light

So, I think most if not all of us in the Destiny fandom collectively agree that Cayde—had he been alive—would’ve been absolutely against using Stasis in any way, shape or form

SO CAN YOU I M A G I N E

That being put into play for the DLC?

Not ONLY would you have to deal with Eramis and whatever the hell she’s doing, but you also have to deal with one of the members of the actual fudging Vanguard actively trying to stop you using Stasis in any way he can

ESPECIALLY IF YOU’RE A HUNTER, because you’re actually under his direct jurisdiction

Imagine, as a Hunter, you have specific quests where you literally have to dodge under Cayde’s radar in order to keep using Stasis, or you have to deal with whatever the hell he throws at you to keep you off your trail

He bans you from going to Europa and you have to find a way to sneak out of the Tower in order to meet Variks and the Exo Stranger

MAN can you imagine how fun of a mission that would be?

SOME MORE IDEAS:

The small disapproving vendor lines he’d give you if you approach him with Stasis equipped

Cayde having spats with the Exo Stranger about continuing to influence the Guardian to use Stasis

Hearing the arguments between the Vanguard members with Ikora and Zavala trying to quell Cayde while he has absolutely None Of It

THE YOUNG WOLF HAVING AN ARGUMENT WITH CAYDE HIMSELF WHEN HE’S DISCOVERED YOU’VE GONE AGAINST HIS DIRECT ORDERS

THE MORAL DILEMMAS AND CONFLICT GALOREE

AND NOT ONLY THAT

But Cayde could’ve also provided SO much insight and thoughts on all of the BrayTech stuff, the Deep Stone Crypt and Exo lore, considering how much he’s already researched about it, plus he’s an Exo himself.

“These are what Clovis Bray called “memory banks.” Digital recordings of people’s minds. It’s how they became Exos. That means any Exo’s past could be in here….even yours, Cayde!”

“….yeah uh…probably…probably best to leave those lost. Y’know, with Zavala’s whole….policy on pokin’ around in your past and whatnot. Plus, some things are just…better left forgotten…”

Ohhhh and don’t get me started on Cayde’s whole existential crisis he’d probably have when he finds out JUST what Exos were made with and how

TL;DR: I feel like Beyond Light could’ve been SO much more interesting with Cayde alive and I will die mad about it

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xu-ren · 3 years

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Genshin gods and their connection to demonology and mythology

I’m no expert on demonology nor mythology, simply someone that enjoys both and the connection between them and Genshin Impact. I think that Mihoyo did a splendid job on the choices they made when deciding which demons in The Lesser Key of Solomon to use. Anyways, I hope that you enjoy.

Barbatos

Barbatos in demonology is one of the earls of hell, ruling thirty legions of demons and has four kings as his companions to command his legions. His name seems to derive from Latin 'barbatus', bearded, old man, philosopher. He is the 8th demon in The Lesser Key of Solomon, while Pseudomonarchia Daemonum listed him as the 6th demon.

So far it does not really have anything to do with Genshin, except maybe the fact that Barbatos refers to Morax as old man when his name means old man, so that’s a little ironic.

Barbatos is very known for his command over archery, which is why Barbatos in Genshin uses a bow.

Alright, here is the fun part, Barbatos, unlike some of the other demons in The Lesser Key of Solomon, doesn’t have anything to do with foreign gods. Foreign gods in this case refers to gods not belonging to the Abrahamic religions.

In fact, Barbatos is a fallen angel and was once of the order of the virtues of heaven. This is a delicious piece of irony, given that Barbatos’ godly form greatly resembles an angel.

Barbatos takes upon the name ‘Venti’ as a mortal. The name Venti is most likely Latin instead of Italian. Venti in Latin means wind, and can either refer to the entirety of the four wind gods that serve Aiolos, the Roman Lord of the Winds, whose Greek counterpart is Aeolus or a specific type of wind spirit in Roman mythology, whose Greek counterpart is known as Anemoi Thuellai. The wind spirits are violent storm winds, sons of the monstrous hurricane-giant Typhoeus and were kept locked up in Aiolos’ floating fortress.

The four wind gods that served Aiolos are Aquilo, the north wind, Favonius, the west wind, Notus, the south wind, and Vulturnus, the east wind. Their greek counterparts are Boreas, Zephyrus, Notus and Eurus respectively. I brought this up because of the Knights of Favonius.

Another of the four winds gods appear in Genshin, although this time with a Greek name. Andrius, the Wolf of the North, is also known as Lupus Boreas. Lupus is the Latin term for wolf while Boreas, as stated above, is the Greek god of the north wind. In conclusion, the name Lupus Boreas itself more or less means Wolf of the North.

Morax

Morax in demonology is one of the presidents of hell, ruling thirty legions of demons. His name seems to come from Latin 'morax', that delays, that stops. He is the 21st demon in The Lesser Key of Solomon.

So far, similarly to Barbatos, the only thing that has anything to do with Genshin is his name, mostly because rock is the most likely to be able to endure time.

Morax appears as a great bull with the face of a man, which is interesting in a Chinese context, as Liyue is based on Ancient China. In the Chinese zodiac, an ox has a fixed element, which is earth. The Chinese zodiac sign Ox is disciplined and orderly in his or her thoughts and actions. They are known for the strength of body, mind, and character, and tend to be very conservative. They do well in business, not because of ingenious inventions or clever self-promotion, but by hard work and long hours. Sometimes considered old-fashioned, Chinese Oxen are well-known for their moral fiber. They live by a code that may no longer be popular, but they have a clear sense of what is right and wrong. While others may see them as slow and plodding, inside, they are romantics who want to look at the world as it once was (or at least how they know it was).

This makes the ox a very fitting animal for the Morax we know in Genshin.

Furthermore, another belief for his name is the Egyptian goddess Maat, the goddess of truth, balance, order, harmony, law, morality, and justice. This makes it fitting for the Morax in Genshin in my opinion.

Alright, back to demonology, Morax teaches Astronomy and all other liberal sciences, and gives good and wise familiars that know the virtues of all herbs and precious stones. The precious stones part is fitting for the Morax in Genshin but also the fact that Morax in demonology likes to teach, just like the Morax in Genshin.

Morax descends upon Liyue as a dragon. Dragons in East Asian mythology is commonly associated with good luck, propitiousness, power, and nobleness. In ancient times, only emperors were allowed to use a dragon as a symbol. This is probably used to further reaffirm Morax’s position as the highest of the adepti. The colours used in Morax’s dragon form are simple, brown for the earth and gold for the gold that flows in his veins. Even if he did not create Mora, it is typically said that immortals bleed gold, which is commonly known as ichor.

“The Dragon is believed by the Chinese to present power and valiancy, excellence and determination, dignity and divinity. A dragon is believed to have the powers to overcome obstacles to see success. He is spirited, confident, enthusiastic, intelligent and determined.”

As a mortal, Morax takes the name ‘Zhongli’. Chinese names are a bit more difficult to decipher, compared to Latin names since they depend more of the characters used to make up the name as compared to just the sound of the name. Different characters in Chinese could make the exact same sound but mean very different things. Zhongli’s name in Chinese characters is 钟离, the Zhong in his name means clock while the Li in his name means leave. A interpretation of his name would be off the clock, symbolising his retirement.

His name is likely from a figure in Chinese mythology, 锺离权, Zhongli Quan, one of the Baxian, the Eight Immortals of Daoism. Zhongli Quan is also sometimes known as , 汉锺离, Han Zhongli because he is said to have lived during the Han dynasty. In legend, he wields a large fan which can resurrect the dead and transform stones into silver or gold. The Zhong in his name is actually the same Zhong used in Genshin’s Zhong but in traditional Chinese as opposed to the simplified Chinese used in Genshin.

Baal

Baal in demonology is a Duke of Hell, with 66 legions of demons under his command. His name comes from a Canaan and Mesopotamian god, specifically the god of fertility and storms. The Semitic word Baal means lord or master, and the ancient people believed he was in charge of all of nature and humans. He is the 1st demon in The Lesser Key of Solomon.

Baal in Genshin forms herself as a ruler or lord and master of Inazuma. Unlike Barbatos, who is mostly absent or Morax, who descends once a year, Baal seems to be a god that rules with an iron fist, appropriate for someone whose name means lord or master.

Baal in Genshin claims that her ideal is "nearest unto Heaven," calls her body the "noblest and most eminent of all in this world," and sees her reign as eternal which is again, fitting for someone whose name means lord and master.

Baal in demonology is also commonly associated with Satan or at least as his primary assistant. The arrogance shown in Baal in Genshin is therefore fitting, given that Satan was once Lucifer, the most perfect of angels before he rebelled against God and fell to heaven. He too believed that his ideal was the nearest unto Heaven and that his body is the noblest and most eminent of all in this world. Another interesting factor is that Baal in Genshin believes that humans are not deserving of visions, similar to Satan’s reason for his rebellion against God, for he believed that humans did not deserve God’s love or protection.

Baal as a god was believed to be the "giver of life" and mankind was dependent upon him for providing what was necessary to sustain the farms, flocks and herds. Baal was the god of fertility and storms, it is fitting as storms meant lighting and therefore electricity. In Ugaritic and Hebrew, Baal’s epithet as the storm god was He Who Rides on the Clouds.

The question on how a powerful ruling god, similar to Zeus in Greek mythology, became known as a demon is fairly simple.

“According to the Old Testament, after the Israelites wandered in the desert for 40 years, they arrived in the fruitful land of Canaan where the prime deity was Baal. Before they entered the Promised Land, the Hebrew people were warned not to worship the pagan gods of Canaan. However, after wandering in the desert for all that time, they weren’t quite sure that their god was the right choice since the Canaanites were living it up on the fertile soil. Many split their allegiance and decided to worship both their god and Baal.”

Many pagan gods were demonised by the Abrahamic religions as the Abrahamic religions did not allow worship of gods that weren't their God. They called it idolatry and deemed it a sin.

Baal’s primary prophet was Jezebel, if you are not familiar with the Abrahamic religions, she is symbolically associated with false prophets. The original Jezebel instituted the worship of Baal and Asherah on a national scale and violently purged the prophets of Yahweh from Israel. Through the centuries, the name Jezebel came to be associated with false prophets. By the early 20th century, it was also associated with fallen or abandoned women. In Christian lore, a comparison to Jezebel suggested that a person was a pagan or an apostate masquerading as a servant of God. By manipulation and seduction, she misled the saints of God into sins of idolatry and sexual immorality. In particular, Christians associated Jezebel with promiscuity. The cosmetics which Jezebel applied before her death also led some Christians to associate makeup with vice.

Personally, given that the records of Jezebel are mostly from Abrahamic religions, I would advise that it be taken with a spoonful of salt. I mentioned Jezebel because she was said to have violently purged the prophets of Yahweh from Israel, similar to how Baal in Genshin purged the vision holders in Inazuma.

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