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alittlefrenchtree · 3 years

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Aaaand we're back at it and things are getting serious.

SPOILERS DUNE (Book II : MUAD'DIB, Chapters 10-11)

Chapter 10:

For a unknown reason this,

has become "twenty kilometers" in the french translation. So it's not as big as I thought but it's still quite big.

So the apparent goal of the Fremen is to plant trees (how ironic for a Timmy movie 😁) but they have to do it secretly because... Because with trees there wouldn't be as much spice and people who control Arrakis don't want that? I'm trying to simplify a hypothesis here so I can start caring a bit more about the political plot of Dune. I don't know if it's true.

Did I already wonder if Arrakis was Earth? What is left of it anyway. With all that water deep underground, that could mean something but I haven't really paid attention to details for that theory.

I'm less interested to the first part of the quote, which feels quite common than by the second and the importance it give to individuals. I'm not sure what I think about it yet, but it's interesting. Tell me more, Stilgar.

I'm starting to like this guy.

Ok, I don't know if we didn't talk about this yet or if we did and I already forgot,

but I haven't paid attention to the words used to talk about the prophecy and if it ever mentions a boy or if it's a genderless word every time like child or offspring. I don't remember ever seeing anything about a boy? Because this Bene Gesserit is going to have another kid. And based on how much Star Wars is "inspired" of Dune, do I have to consider that the Chosen One is not the one we expected but someone else from his family? Will Paul go full dark side and is the young sister going to bring balance to the Force? We'll see.

There is something mentioned in this chapter and in the next one that intrigue me a lot:

and this:

I wonder if it's because on something on Arrakis, like the Spice or if someone purposely did something. And if so, who?

So. We need to talk about the end of this chapter. It is part of the answer I was looking for, isn't it? I think?

I really feel like these last couple of pages are a gift celebrating all of my birthdays at the same time so I couldn't be happier. I'm not sure it's going to be the most interesting thing to read but I'm going to try to rephrase all that it says about prescience to sort my thoughts out and be sure I have understood everything.

So first, future in the Dune universe is not predefined timelines set in stone. Paul sees some of them, maybe too much of them for them to all be intelligible for him (yet?) but there are too many, each of them able to sprout from the tiniest changes, including one I hadn't considered before but that is very clever. Which is that, every time Paul accesses to prescience, he makes the future shifts by this very access to prescience.

But, even more amazing amazingness:

Quantum mechanics!! Remember when I was obsessed with it a few months back? Now I have the perfect excuse to make time to read about quantum mechanics again 😍 I'm so happy 😭

Edit: couldn't help myself and start reading about Heisenberg indeterminacy and omg it's amazing and it's even more amazing used it at a way to illustrate prescience. For those who understand French and are interested, I recommend this short and easy access video. But is exactly what's happening with Paul. Future reacts to him like quantum particles react to light. Why are quantum mechanics always so amazing? 😭

But let's go back a few lines above because:

First, Herbert was brillant for using the lexical field of water to talk about Paul's visions of the future. I mean it says it all by itself, isn't it? And secondly, am I supposed to read there that the blind spots of prescience are directly born from fear and that the litany is here to make the blindness go away or, to make the subject survive through blindness or am I not? Like when it says Fear is a mind killer, it isn't just a way of speaking, a psychological thing but a way of saying Fear makes you lose your prescience capacity?

And,

I absolutely love to see stillness making a comeback with an image close that what I have in mind. I can't wait to see what it will look like on screen. Given what I saw of Villeneuve's work already and the second Dune trailer, I trust him completely with this part. The inspiration is going to be amazing, the fan arts are going to be amazing, everything is going to be amazing.

I love and admire Herbert a lot for what he has done here with the end of this chapter and prescience in general. Trying to explain how a brain can apprehend concepts and principles that are too big, beyond everything that can normally be grasped by a human mind. Feeling the brain expands as it tries. Accept concepts that are opposite, contradictory even and still both true. It's really the kind of things I was expecting when I start reading so I'm very happy to see it deliver (and i need even more of it).

Chapter 11:

I was talking about religion vs propaganda last time and how maybe it wasn't that different for some aspects but... Bene Gesserit are religious people aren't they? I mean Jessica does pray. I don't know what or who she prays but she believes in the power of it.

"If I could only pray -- truly pray."

And by this truly pray, I suspect it's not only a matter of belief but the prayer does have real power. I'm-- confused about what kind of beliefs BG has given (more or less willingly) to Fremen (and probably other people around the universe as well). Is the religion only based on Bene Gesserit's powers? Is it a religion they believe in themselves? And for what purpose? Only create safe places for themselves or something else?

I also wonder why Chani is helping Paul so much as well? The guy just show up from nowhere and she already gives him tips to help him kill one of her people. It's weird.

Of course there are so many parts of the fight that made me go omg I can't wait to see Timmy play this. Gimme the fighting machine trained since the day he was born.

The after-fight is really interesting:

"Jessica stared at her son. Paul's were bright. He breathed heavily, permitting the ministration to his body rather than helping them."

🙇🏻‍♀️🙇🏻‍♀️🙇🏻‍♀️

This kid is going to be the death of me, isn't he? But Jessica bringing him down right after is kind of funny. From a semi-god to a child in one quick mental slap of his mother 😁

I've already talked about the tiny jumping mouse Muad'dib but it's really amazing. I wasn't expecting that at all. I'm guessing the mouse will have a bigger purpose at some point? No sure. What I'm really wondering is if I should expect Paul to go full Anakin on me? Wait. Oh. OH. Jessica is the one bringing him down so he doesn't grow so full of himself for killing opposants but what if she's gone? What if she dies, like Anakin's mom and, like for Anakin, the mom's death is one of the first steps leading the son to dark side? Damn. We see there are several futures where people walking behind Paul or the Atreides and setting worlds of fire (and not planting trees, obviously). It goes without saying that I would love, love to see Timmy plays a character who go dark side. Not sure if it will be the case here, but it could be interesting.

Ok, it's already long enough with only two chapters so I'm going to stop this for now. I have to read first anyway. See ya! 🌖💛

#DUNE FIRST READ

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dailyaudiobible · 3 years

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07/29/2021 DAB Transcript

2 Chronicles 24:1-25:28, Romans 12:1-21, Psalms 22:19-31, Proverbs 20:8-10

Today is the 29th day of July welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it’s great to be here with you as we continue our journey through this week and push ourselves into the end of the week. And obviously we’ll get there, one step at a time, day by day taking the next step forward together. And our step today leads us back into the book of second Chronicles. We’re reading from the New English Translation this week. Second Chronicles chapters 24 and 25 today.

Commentary:

Okay. Our reading for the book of Romans today, the letter to the Romans is potent. It is, at least in…to me, one of the most potent clear descriptions of what life is supposed to be looking like, what our postures and motivations are supposed to be looking. Like we’re moving through the theology of Paul and we’re understanding, like okay we’ve died to the law, we’ve been resurrected with Christ, sin doesn't have a claim to us, all of the things that we’re discussing about the transformative nature of salvation, the things that happen because we believe. We believe leave Jesus. And often when we acknowledge…when we acknowledge to ourselves that we still struggle with plenty of things that plague us from our history or our presence, and there are times that it feels like, you know, we’re not being transformed without moving forward. Sometimes it feels like we’re moving backward and what it this supposed to look like? And, so, we can look at…at the things that are laid out in the New Testament as essentially a new law that we have to live up to and the same result happens. We realize we can't make ourselves perfect. We have no power to do that no matter what color prescription gets laid out about how we should be living. It's difficult for us to be perfect all the time. And yet there are postures of our hearts that we do have a say in, right? And we do have a mind and although it may play tricks on us we do have a say in what we are going to put into action. And we have all kinds of thoughts swirling in our minds, but we do have a say into what we going to then engage our body to participate in. So, we do have control we just…we just can't keep self-control 100% of the time. Paul lays out today a picture of what this transformation process should be looking like within ourselves and within the body, the body of Christ, the followers of Jesus on this earth, what we’re supposed to be living into and what our lives are supposed to be. And there are plenty lists like this found in the Bible. So, you know, we’ll go back through this, but rather than going back through this and looking at the ways that were failing and just kind of allow the condemnation to descend upon us, so that we’re like, yeah, I can't…just I can't…I can’t keep up with all this. Let's look at what's described here because what's described here will be what we want and what we’re going for. And we’ll also see that we’re failing at it, but let's at least ask ourselves, are we even trying at these things? Because not trying, yeah that might be failing, but trying to live in this direction, beginning to move toward these things slowly, systematically, that is transformation, but we have to be participants in it. In other words, we have to collaborate with what God is doing with in us by surrendering to what He is doing within us rather than shutting it down and trying to take control and being our own sovereign, which we probably know pretty well leads us in ways we don't want to go. So, let’s kinda look back over what Paul is saying today. He says that we should present our bodies as a sacrifice, a living one, like not one that's, you know, gonna die and be burned up, a living sacrifice, Holy y and pleasing to God. That's where we start. And according to Paul, that's reasonable. So, it's not beyond us, it’s the default, it's the reasonable thing that we should do in response to the love of God for us. We’re told to not conform ourselves to this present world. In other words, to conform ourselves and use the tactics and convictions of the world around us. Instead of that we’re supposed to be being transformed by the renewing of our mind, renewing of our mind. Re-new. New all over again of our minds. We’re actively participating in this. We’re actively cooperating and collaborating and purging the things in our minds that lead us in all kinds of directions, whether that be in action or in stuff that we push down inside of us and hold their, bitterness and rage and anger and jealousy and envy. When these things come up into our minds and get triggered that's when we capture them. We observe what's going on. We see where that is leading us. We surrender it to God, which is reasonable and allow the renewing of our mind so that we are then awake and aware enough to test and approve what the will of God is, what is good and well pleasing and perfect. And that just gets us through the first two verses in Romans that we read today. Paul goes on to tell us we should think more highly of ourselves. Then well…then we should, and we shouldn't be comparing ourselves to each other. Rather, we should be sober about who we are and know that all that we have has come from God. God is…I’m quoting Paul. “God has distributed to each of you a measure of faith. For just as in one body we have many members and not all the members serve the same function. So, we who are many, are one body in Christ and individually we are members who belong to one another, and we have different gifts according to the grace given to us.” So, Paul’s saying like, yeah, this isn’t a game of comparison, this isn’t a game of being better than, this isn’t a game of even measuring up, this isn't even a game. All you have to do is be. You have been gifted by God. Do that. Be that. So, Paul is like, if the gift you were given this prophecy then do that, if it's serving then do that, if it's teaching then do that, if it's exhorting then do that, if it's giving and contributing then do that sincerely, if its leadership than do that with diligence. If it’s being merciful, then do that with cheerfulness. There are things that are true of you that have always been true of you that need to be offered to God's people and to the world, not so that you can be validated, not so that you can compete or be better than somebody else, or that you can be less than somebody else, so that you can be who you are. And do we not spend most of our lives in a struggle in that direction just trying to be who we are while being confronted with all of the pressures that are pulling us in a million directions and pulling us apart so that we’re not whole. Paul’s saying yeah, live…live your life as a living sacrifice. That’s a reasonable thing to do in response to God who has come for you, who has come to rescue you. Be who you are. Let the glory of the Lord shine through you as compared to no one else. And then he goes on to say, love must be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another with mutual love showing eagerness in honoring one another. Do not lack in zeal, be enthusiastic in spirit, serve the Lord, rejoice in hope, endure suffering, persists in prayer, contribute to the needs of the saints, pursue hospitality, bless those who persecute you, bless and do not curse, rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep, live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty but associate with the lowly. Do not be conceited. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Consider what is good before all people if possible, so far as it depends on you. Live peaceably with all people. Is this not the life we’re invited into? Is this not where we’re trying to go? Is this not who we want to be? Because this is the description of what it looks like to be transformed. And we can look at these things and see the places that we’re failing but we have to be fair and say am I even trying? And let's try with all of our might knowing that in our own strength we cannot sustain perfection, we cannot sustain any of this. I mean just get a bad night sleep and you can't control your day. But can we look at these things and know that they all have action involved. Like this is a collaboration. We’re not just going to be able to sit on the couch and be sanctified. The things Paul says are actions, things that we have to participate in. Like be devoted, do not lack in zeal, rejoice, contribute, bless and do not curse, rejoice, live in harmony, do not be haughty, do not be conceited, do not repay anyone evil. You see, these things aren’t just gonna happen. We have to do them. We have to try. We have to live in this direction and read train ourselves, renew our minds, retrain the way that we react to things. So if we’re used…if our default position is to strike back when we’re struck, whether…whether physically or with words, if somebody is gonna bring some kind of thing against us with words then we’re gonna strike back and take them down with even harsher words. If that's our default position we have to catch ourselves in it and understand that we’re supposed to bless those who persecute us. We’re supposed to bless and not curse. We have to try. We have to retrain ourselves by opening ourselves to the renewing of our minds, the Holy Spirit's activity in our lives. So, we have to catch ourselves and remind ourselves this isn't the way I'm going. And, so, to go where I want to go I have to do this differently. We have to re-train re-new, collaborate in the renewing of our minds. And, so, there's an awful lot here in just a few paragraphs from Paul today that really…really affects the way we live. And let's take that into our day and ponder it.

Prayer:

And Holy Spirit we invite you into that, into that pondering. In fact come Holy Spirit and reveal to us the places that we’re not even trying, because that would explain so much, so much of the state of affairs of our lives. Help us Jesus we pray. In your mighty name, we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

Dailyaudiobible.com is home base, it is the website, it’s where you find out what's going on around here. So, check it out. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app you can check out these things by using the little Drawer icon in the upper left-hand corner. Places like the Community section where the Prayer Wall lives. The Daily Audio Bible Shop, where there are resources for the journey through the Scriptures in a year. So, check that out.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, thank you humbly. If this mission to bring the spoken word of God to anyone who will listen anywhere on this planet any time of day or night, and to build community around that rhythm so that we’re not…we’re not in this alone and we begin to realize we’ve never been in this alone. If that is life-giving to you than thank you for your partnership. There’s a link on the homepage at dailyaudiobible.com. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement you can hit the Hotline button in the app, which is the little red button up at the top or there are a number of numbers that you can use depending on where you are in the world. In the Americas 877-942-4253 is the number to call. If you're in the UK or Europe 44-20-3608-8078 is the number to dial. And if you are in Australia or that part of the world 61-3-8820-5459 is the number to call.

And that's it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Good morning Daily Audio Bible community this is Diane Olive Braun from Newburgh IN an encourager, one of many. It is 6:55 AM on July 27th 2021, and it is Tuesday and we have the story of how great great kings came against Jehoshaphat. And he had several options, but he chose the right one, he chose to stay in the presence of the Lord and to yield his will to the Lord and to say we can't defeat this vast army, we don't know what to do but our eyes are on You. Holy Spirit help us to remember this story of Jehoshaphat and how he went to the Lord. He did not deliver himself. He trusted himself in the hands of the Lord and that is the safest place to be. So, we trust ourselves in your hands, we are your very own children. You are our very own God, and we love You and we magnify You and we glorify You and we humble ourselves under Your mighty hand…

Hi DAB family it's James here from the UK it's been a long time since I've put in a prayer request but here I am and here I’m…this is what I'm doing. I'm…I would really appreciate prayers for my family. In particular, our family holiday is coming up. It's been a really stressful year. And I know it's been a stressful year for so many people. But we are just loggerheads a lot of times with our three teenagers and, you know, it goes…it moves…it changes from a relationship with our kids where you can go on a holiday and you know that people are going to be, you know, really having…having a great time to one where, you know, this is going to be putting ourselves through quite some ordeal. But I feel like this is a really important time for us to be together. And, so, I'm just asking for prayers that we would be able to humble ourselves in front of each other and allow ourselves just to be real, be natural, be normal, but also be respectful and just rekindle a sense of family. And, so, I'd really appreciate your prayers for that. Thanks. Thanks family.

Hey Brian, hey DABbers, hey happy family. I just wanted to share…Oh my name is Mary and I've been listening now for maybe…well just started at the beginning of the year and I just wanted to share that I had a dream last night about the Global Campfire and how it's like this constant flame. And then I’ve thought Oh my gosh what a symbol of the Holy Spirit this Global Campfire that we share together. So, I just wanted to share that because I thought that that was a…a really nice God inspired dream that I had about just how wonderful and we’re so blessed to have this community. So, Brian I just thank you so much for doing this for all these years and for bringing us together. No matter where we are in the world, we have this eternal flame of this Global Campfire. So, I thought that was cool. Anyway, everybody have a great day and we’ll see you around the Global Campfire. Bye.

Hey faith fam it's Holly Heart. Career of Contrite Spirit I really like the story you shared about helping someone both physically and spiritually it helped…it brings me such joy when I can help people. I'm sure it does you too. Dear Lord please watch over Jose and please let him get the help that he needs. Joe the Protector. Dear Lord please watch over my brother Joe. He needs help at his new workplace, which is full of non-believers Lord. Use him to help save some of those fellow workers or clients. You have a purpose for him in being there. Joe my husband’s also in the same kind of situation at work and it is very difficult. I am praying for you both. Cindy from California. Dear father please help Cindy heal the cause of her RSD. She cannot bear the pain and needs you to comfort and to heal her. Thankfully Overcome. Congratulations on making it an entire year. I'm glad that you have lots of people praying continually for you and now I am one of them. Dear Lord please watch over Thankfully Overcome and please help her continue on this path that she is on towards you. Zach. Dear Lord please watch over Zach's marriage. He needs Your guidance. They both need to feel You’re loving touch so that they can treat each other the same way. Esther from Orlando. Dear Lord, please help to guide Esther in her living situation. Please help to alleviate the fear she’s having because with you Lord there is no reason to fear Anonymous. Dear Lord, please watch over the anonymous caller who said she needed a new beginning. She lost her husband brother and family dog. So much pain. She is not in this pain alone Father. Her…she has a daughter and two sons, and they also need healing and a new start. Please help bring them Your divine peace. Please help her find a good career so that she can care for her children and please help them find an exceptional living place. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Good morning this is Emily in Minnesota. High DABbers. Brian's message today, oh, so great. Psalm 22 1 and 2. My God my God why have you abandoned me. I groan in prayer but helps seems so far away. I cry out during the day, but you do not answer and during the night my prayers don't let up. Lord Jesus thank you so much for hearing our cries, understanding our grief and our pain and loss and suffering on…in this world. Things I’ve heard in the last few years in my story from others I cannot imagine. There are no words. You're living out my worst nightmare. Our society is not comfortable with grief, loss, lament. Our tears are better when wiped away around others. I've seen this. I've learned to journey through my grief and lament one tear at a time at the foot of the cross with a Father that knows earthy brokenness and suffering and listens unconditionally when I know it and not. Please continue to lift up my family through our losses. As most of you know, my parents are…my families out of state and I have a brother who lost his wife to cancer with a young family in November 2020. My parents are simultaneously diagnosed with Alzheimer's and dementia in the summer of 2019. I have another brother who is homeless and is struggling with mental health or addiction out of state. And then I lost my son, college freshman, to suicide spring of 2019. My own family is to choosing to turn away from God in this time of loss but they know His presence and I continue to pray. Thank you. Have a wonderful day.

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redteabaron · 4 years

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The three gods and their lots - (three heads of the dragon)

Contains meta below the cut as well as possible interpretations and theories and speculation. I feel like I should also add a disclaimer that no, I don’t think Targaryens are gods incarnate, this is just examining mythological aspects in their stories and characters and finding commonalities. (I only respect one mortal turning into a god and that is Bran)

The major three gods of the Greek pantheon were: Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades. They drew lots and shared dominion over the world - Zeus was god of the sky and king of the gods, Poseidon was god of the sea, and Hades was the god of the Underworld. Three dominions, three gods.

“The dragon has three heads.” - Daenerys IV, ACOK

Aegon/Zeus

“I have. Why should I go running to my aunt as if I were a beggar? My claim is better than her own. Let her come to me...in Westeros.” - Aegon, The Lost Lord, ADWD

The lesson began with languages. Young Griff spoke the Common Tongue as if he had been born to it, and was fluent in High Valyrian, the low dialects of Pentos, Tyrosh, Myr, and Lys, and the trade talk of sailors. … Geometry followed languages. There the boy was less adroit, but Haldon was a patient teacher…” - Tyrion IV, ADWD

“...Yandry said we ought to throw you back, but the lad forbade it.”

The prince. - Tyrion VI, ADWD

Upon his birth, Zeus had to be spirited away from his father, Cronus, who had swallowed his siblings and hidden so he could escape the fate of his siblings. He would later grow, revolt against his father, and regurgitate his siblings. After drawing lots, Zeus would be given dominion over the sky and be named king of the gods.

Zeus was affiliated with protection, authority, righteous rule, battle, and justice. He was considered a fair protector and ruler, but not above petty jealousy or anger (or amorousness).

Aegon, in what little we have seen from him, is actually groomed from a young age to rule. He doesn’t have the hands-on experiences several other characters are thusly put through in the books, but it is very clear he knows what is expected of him, has the knowledge required for the position, and has a good claim to the throne - one that is seemingly preordained, as Zeus’s was foretold before his father swallowed his children.

Aegon’s connection to the red comet seen on the day of his birth can be loosely traced to Zeus’s mastery over the sky itself (where the sky reflects a point of significance to both Zeus’s temper or demands, so did Aegon’s birth seemingly coincide with the prophecy of the prince that was promised).

“Young Griff”/Aegon had similarly been spirited away as Zeus had during a time of catastrophe when his claim would threaten another (where instead of a stone wrapped in swaddling, Aegon’s escape was tendered by Varys switching him with another baby) and raised in secrecy, despite being the rightful heir of a kingdom. It’s not Cronus he was hidden from or his actual father, but Robert Baratheon who is hellbent on wiping out the entire line of Targaryens, even agreeing to Tywin’s methods (whether or not he ordered the Mountain to do what he did to Elia and the children doesn’t matter; he was the Mountain’s lord, and so at best he just insinuated ‘do what you want’ very well knowing what Gregor was like). Not so different from Cronus, who, desperate to keep his power, swallowed all of his children.

In text he’s shown to be a little impatient in his desire to be taken seriously and not be coddled by Griff (but honestly he’s 16 and every teenager everywhere in the history of anybody can be impatient and a little overdramatic; Tyrion is briefly reminded of Joffrey when Aegon throws a tantrum over cyvasse, but Tyrion is shown to not like a lot of people for various reasons, so). However, he has a fantastic grip on his studies, in particular language and history, and we can infer that he has an interest in ruling that goes well beyond ‘it sounds like fun’ (Robert Baratheon’s quote that he never felt so alive as when he was winning the war, and never so dead after it was won comes to mind), at least from what we know from Varys and Griff, and a bit from Tyrion.

But aside from the impatience we see from him, he shows compassion and an unwillingness to forget kindness when he refuses to let Tyrion drown after Tyrion saves him from a stone-man. From the Tyrion chapters in ADWD, we see Aegon laugh quite freely, is at ease among people of a different station from him; we actually get the idea that even if he can be a little immature, he shows a lot of promise for rule and justice.

One of the more interesting connections between he and Zeus is the fact that there is some debate as to whether Zeus is the youngest or the oldest of his siblings since he was never swallowed by his father (who technically, after he regurgitated them, also gave ‘birth’ to the swallowed siblings) - and there is understandable debate as to whether Aegon is really Aegon. It could go either way; they are Schrödinger's brother and represent a puzzle, a possible paradox (I do actually believe Aegon is the real deal; if Ned can smuggle out a secret-baby from a tower across a battlefield with only his buddy from the swamps, Varys could certainly have arranged a switch).

And associating Aegon with justice, imo, isn’t a stretch - particularly when we’ll get to see him gain some traction outside of Jon Connington’s influence (who just likes to hate on the Martells because he’s a Rhaegar fanboy don’t @ me) and we see him meet Arianne. Jon C only sees Rhaegar in Aegon because all Jon C can ever see is Rhaegar; once we move beyond Jon C’s immediate and constant influence over Aegon (and him trying to shape him as Rhaegar 2.0) we’ll see Aegon have the opportunity to connect directly with his Martell side. I believe there’s a good chance we’ll see Aegon seek out, and speak about it, justice for his mother and sibling especially given that he’ll have a positive Martell influence at his side. We just haven’t had the opportunity yet. (And Zeus was always associated with righteous authority and justice).

It’s not a huge hint, but there is also the connection Zeus has with gryphons; in a translation of Prometheus Bound by Aeschylus, Prometheus has a warning for Io “Beware of the sharp-beaked hounds of Zeus that do not bark, gryphons”. Gryphons/griffins are also said to pull Zeus’s chariots. Jon C is undoubtedly the guard dog that stands ready at Aegon’s side and manages to ‘carry’ him in a sense to Griffin’s Roost (poor influence on him notwithstanding, I can’t really cast aside the fact that he is loyal to Aegon, regardless of the reasons why).

Admittedly, Aegon is definitely much milder than Zeus with his flaws microscopic compared to the king of gods, but I think a lot of mythology references aren’t word-for-word, and in asoiaf they sometimes pull through less obviously. Casting Aegon as Zeus works specifically for this because of the rule of three, and who I ended up going with for the other two in this meta/theory.

Zeus was not without his share of flaws and while he was king of the gods, his rule never went unchallenged - chief amongst them to instigate things was Poseidon. Aegon similarly won’t be unchallenged for it.

Daenerys/Poseidon

“The Dothraki sea,” Ser Jorah Mormont said as he reined to a halt beside her on the top of the ridge. Beneath them, the plain stretched out immense and empty, a vast flat expanse that reached to the distant horizon and beyond. It was a sea, Dany thought. - Daenerys III, AGOT

“...I shall fear the Dothraki the day they teach their horses to run on water.” - Ned, Eddard VIII AGOT

The horse seemed to know her moods, as if they shared a single mind...The Dothraki were a hard and unsentimental people, and it was not their custom to name their animals, so Dany thought of her only as the silver. She had never loved anything so much. - Daenerys III AGOT

“...I know that somewhere upon the grass, her dragons hatched, and so did she. I know she is proud. How not? What else was left her but pride? I know she is strong. How not? The Dothraki despise weakness. If Daenerys had been weak, she would have perished with Viserys. I know she is fierce. Astapor, Yunkai and Meereen are proof enough of that. She has survived assassins and conspiracies and fell sorceries, grieved for a brother and a husband and a son, trod the cities of the slavers to dust beneath her dainty sandaled feet.” - Tyrion VI, ADWD

Poseidon was lord of horses, god of the sea (and all that it entailed). Upon drawing his lot, he envied Zeus his position as rightful king and challenged him for it several times (conspiring with his siblings at some points), and would often needle his sibling. He was a key deity to pray to for protection, mostly travelers and sailors. He was associated with the sea, storms, earthquakes, and horses. In some stories, he too was smuggled away from Cronus, in others, he was swallowed like his siblings.

Poseidon’s temperament was known to reflect the sea and storms; he was unruly and seen as a rebel against authority that existed both in the divine realm and the mortal realm. Him being lord of the sea, storms, earthquakes, and horses, reflects a wilder nature.

While Aegon is seen as the rightful heir to the iron throne (and consequently has the Golden Company with him, lending a further air of credibility to his right since the GC are ‘honorable’) and has a shared mastery of the sky with Zeus (referring to the day of his birth and its connection to the red comet), Dany has been ‘given’ domain over the sea. The Dothraki sea, at any rate, and the Dothraki themselves (who are also known as horselords). While her temperament hasn’t shown itself to quite the extreme Poseidon’s has shown in his tales, she has a connection to the foreshadowing of a storm, of bringing a storm (her name, the day of her birth, repeated connection with the unruliness of her largest dragon Drogon, and indications of her possibly forming an alliance with Euron Greyjoy in the future etc).

No squall could frighten Dany, though. Daenerys Stormborn, she was called, for she had come howling into the world on distant Dragonstone as the greatest storm in the memory of Westeros howled outside, a storm so fierce that it rippled gargoyles from the castle walls and smashed her father’s fleet to kindling. - Daenerys I, ASOS

It’s an interesting connection that Dany has with the sea and horses, imo. She’s shown to love the freedom of the sea, of sailing, and she loves horses. Both are associated with freedom to travel and journey, as we see her ecstasy on the back of Drogon flight gives her a similar feeling. It is, I think, reflecting the fact that she isn’t shown to enjoy ruling, but she does enjoy power and victory (and conquering although it’s not so cartoonishly overt). The fact that Ned says there’s nothing to fear so long as the Dothraki never learn how to cross the Narrow Sea on their horses was setting up that they will ‘learn’.

Dany, cast under Poseidon, as lord of horses and the sea (and journeying), gives them that “opportunity” (one they don’t want or need, desperately).

While all the gods of the pantheon were guilty of petty meddling and warring with each other and having rivalries, Poseidon was infamous for having disputes with other gods for supremacy and control of other countries. At once point, when Athens chose to follow Athena over him, he flooded them in his outage. Some believed that his anger roused storms, caused earthquakes, and floods. (Again, he was far from the only god to do petty things like this, but he was held up as the one who was infamous for it even as he was also viewed as a protector).

Dany doesn’t summon any of those things, but there is a buildup of her anger/frustration in the books. Her justice is biased (to say nothing of her hypocrisy in dealing with slavery, in one breath claiming it is abominable, in the next allowing it to happen and partaking a portion of the profit just as the slavers she had ousted did) when she corrects herself to demand that the wineseller’s daughters be questioned more harshly, rather than gently (implying there is torture to follow in the interrogation).

We see that temper rear its head when she burns Mirri, a victim of the Dothraki who was taken as a slave after being assaulted a number of times, after Drogo dies, when Jorah’s duplicity is revealed to her and she sends he and Barristan into the sewers hoping they’ll die, etc, (not necessarily to say her anger in some of these moments isn’t warranted, but gradually over the course of the books, her frustration becomes more obvious and her solutions bloodier and less focused).

Poseidon, despite having his own dominion and having drawn the lot for the sea, challenges Zeus for his. He loses, but it isn’t the only time he challenges Zeus, or any other gods, at times enacting terrible vengeance on them or their favored humans.

Dany and Aegon meeting is pretty inevitable, but there is foreshadowing that they will be at odds. Maybe they’ll meet with the united idea that the Lannisters/Baratheons have to face justice for what was done, but Dany’s idea of a legacy is wrapped up only in the legacy of the Targaryens, and she refuses to consider any other elements that occurred during the Rebellion (her father going mad, why the Starks and Baratheons rebelled, what Rhaegar was at fault for, etc). Aegon at least is implied to listen to Tyrion - he isn’t only blinded by what Jon C undoubtedly has told him - meaning he’ll likely hear Arianne out too, and Jon Snow. Dany has one truth, passed down from Viserys, one legacy.

Like Poseidon, Dany already isn’t satisfied with her lot, warring over other countries (or conquest, claiming Meereen for her own after Astapor falls to the butcher). She will challenge Aegon for a lot that belongs to him, but I believe that unlike Poseidon, she’ll actually win against him.

Jon/Hades

Casting Jon as Hades is something I’ve already written about in this meta, so this is just a summary with bits added on.

When I compared Jon to Hades, I also compared the Night’s Watch being the place when men went and died, metaphorically, they died in the eyes of the realm (no wife, no sons, no land, no glory, etc). I believe that Jon is being groomed for rule in a different way, that is, holding domain over the condemned or forgotten.

When Aegon and Dany inevitably clash over the throne, the aftermath is going to look like a hellscape. King’s Landing is repeated through the text to be the seat of power, the center of Westeros, multiple times, and with another Dance building up, I think, leads to foreshadowing that it’ll be ruined or on the brink of ruin at the end. It’ll still need someone to rule it, whether through the infant stages of an elective monarchy (it sounds like they’ll need something more than that or it’ll just invite more chaos as though rule can only be achieved through conquest of some kind, particularly for a monarchy) or otherwise.

Jon has already fallen into an unenviable position. Sure, he gets to be Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch - an order that vows to remain at the Wall, against a horde of undead, with no support besides Stannis, with ‘dead’ men as his subjects.

Some myths meld Zeus and Hades into the same being existing on different plains. Hades is also known as “Other Zeus” or “Infernal Zeus”; here, where Zeus is the god of living mortals, Hades is the god of the dead souls.

Aegon is meant to take the Iron Throne and be the ruler over the Seven Kingdoms, in King’s Landing, a place of power, wealth, bounty from other kingdoms, etc. Dany will be his end in the Dance of Dragons and turn that bounty, or its possibility, into a wasteland. I don’t doubt people will still be alive, but it’ll be a place of ruins, and so will quite a few other places. I think Jon will likely kill Dany after the fact, for kinslaying and being a threat to the north and the realm, and thereby becoming a kinslayer himself.

The gods of Westeros punish kinslaying. Jon, at this point of finding his family and being murdered for being Lord Commander and spending time under threat with the free folk (even if they do get along now) will probably just want to go home. Punishment for kinslaying will be for him to hold another position no one wants; the throne. Where when Aegon is set to take it, the kingdoms are in chaos, he’ll seem like a bright spot with hope, we might see him pay attention to food issues, the chaos, logistics, etc. And then he dies. And then Dany dies. And all that’s left are the survivors - those seemingly forgotten and condemned to this place afflicted by war and famine -, and Jon. His punishment for kinslaying (and maybe making mistakes with Dany) will not be able to go home, or be made to take up a post at the Watch; he’s condemned, once again, to the people who’ll seem more dead than alive after everything that’s occurred.

Jon’s duty was, and will continue to be, to the condemned.

#jon snow #aegon vi targaryen #anti daenerys #anti daenerys targaryen #jon snow endgame #the targaryens are a greek tragedy and a comedy #the targs are all of the greek tragedies and comedies at once #king's landing will be a mess #good thing bran is going to be the god-king of spring #aegon in this is meant to be the promise to the living that there'll be a stop to the ruin and chaos #him dying means that jon is left with a ruin no one wants and is condemned to take it for the crime of kinslaying #not fully comprehensive #if i did that it'd be too long lbr

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marsandchariot · 3 years

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Mars and the Tower in Gemini

(image from The Hermetic Tarot)

Because Mars, like Saturn, is a malefic (as opposed to the benefic planets of Jupiter and Venus), we might consider the onset of its influence in Gemini (beginning on March 3rd) through qualities of challenge or disruption, with factors of positive growth or change becoming more accessible or recognizable as the transit continues.

We might recognize Mars in the impulses we wish later we hadn’t acted on, despite feeling a surge of emotion at the time that told us what we were about to express was true or right. Mars’s Tarot equivalent, the Tower, speaks to radical, difficult, or painful change, change that can feel like a destructive force if we are unwilling to work with it. The image of the Tower doesn’t necessarily describe change itself, but our fearful attitude towards it, or the way we experience it as a kind of utter loss. We might feel tempted to place blame somewhere in the face of jolting or difficult experiences. Whether or not we saw it coming or even knowingly took steps to aggravate its progress, change in accordance with the Tower feels like a loss of control, a traumatic dislocation or dissociation of the self. This may describe many different forms of becoming un-stuck, or falling out of joint. Lynn Bell has described Mars as where we have impact; maybe it can also describe where we feel impact, and how we react to it.

If you’re looking at the card from the Rider-Waite-Smith deck, the Tower looks pretty precarious to begin with--old, most likely already long in the process of deterioration, i.e. in need of some renovation. Tragic or scary as it may look, the destructive change underway in the image of the Tower can lead to positive change, or changes necessary to building the next phase of stability.

(image from the Smith-Waite Borderless Edition)

With Mars leaving Taurus and entering Gemini, we might bring a bit more of a spark or apply a radical angle to the things we do and the way we work in order to frame our contributions as offerings to others. With Mars in Gemini, it’s a great time to be a novice, to surprise yourself. In Gemini terms, the Tower might describe the productive instability incurred by new and even contradictory ideas. It might refer to necessary alterations to the ivory tower of elite intellectualism, inviting us to imagine how we might rebuild the tower, or if we’d rebuild academic and “high” cultural spaces as a kind of tower at all. Instead of rebuilding, we may benefit from observing the rubble for a while.

A tower looms over all, claiming an ability to see all, know all, consider all. How can we divert our active, propulsive, Martian energy to experience movement in multiple directions? How can multidirectionality (or intersectionality) serve as a baseline for cultivating focused and empathic understanding of multiple perspectives?

It might be helpful to think of Mars in Gemini setting up for the planet’s entrance into Cancer by late April. If Gemini operates in the technology of ideas, and Cancer builds from the material of emotion, what is it that feels important to launch into the air, even briefly, so that when it falls downward, or when you no longer see it anymore, you can trust that it has sunk itself into a structure of deep feeling?

The twins are non-hierarchical. They are not, for example, a parent and a child, a performer and an audience member, nor a teacher and a student; they are two entities that share a secret, or are embarking together on a journey into a mysterious place. They are not competing with one another; they prefer one another’s company above all else. They speak in a shared language that they didn’t mean to invent; coded descriptions simply emerge between them, and help them to identify what’s hidden and invisible in the surrounding world. In short, they share for the joy of sharing, because they know that collaboration is how knowledge takes shape.

For the following considerations of Mars in Gemini, we will look at the topics of the houses as impacted by this Mars transit, drawing also upon Mars's Tarot equivalent of the Tower. With Mars cutting its way through the twins, it is worth it to ask: what is separating or crumbling? What is coming together, or fusing, via the alchemical power of lighting and fire? Where Mars splits something open, when lightning strikes the Tower (so similar in appearance to the word “I”), what is it that comes out? Susan Harding describes “apertures in the ordinary” as disruptions that provide opportunities to speak. In other words, when something ruptures, it provides an opportunity to tell a generative story, which, as M+C, is at the heart of what we hope to offer.

(image from Small Spells Tarot)

MARS TRANSITING GEMINI IN THE 1ST HOUSE

You may be doubting yourself in terms of intellectual abilities. This has little to do with how you yourself experience your internal world, where thoughts are quick, agile, and interesting, leading you to investigate unfamiliar fields or topic areas. But you may feel a stagnancy when it comes to expression. Understand that that stagnancy or feeling of being unable to communicate your knowledge is not a deficiency but an unfair pressure you put on yourself to usefully demonstrate or disseminate your knowledge in legible or impressive ways.

Instead of attempting to share everything with the most people, individuate what you’ve learned; consider who in your social world would be most interested in what you have to say. If what you want is to connect, you can; you just might have to be more mindful and do so on a 1:1 basis, tailoring what you share to each individual based on who they are, not how interesting you personally find the information.

In this case, the jolt of Mars, the bolt of lightning, is a gift you give to others. In your own experience, when lightning strikes the tower, it probably thrills you. Consider the difference between concentrated electricity versus electricity in the atmosphere. What are the situations where you’re creating static versus the ones where you’re being clear? Are you more interested in a heightened, invisible tension or a single, visible impact? For these next few weeks, be mindful of the results you want, and be careful about your aim. You have the power to communicate more than your own intelligence.

MARS TRANSITING GEMINI IN THE 2ND HOUSE

You may be experiencing an anxiety over what you can claim as your own. The force of Mars might make you feel separated from your usual topics of interest. You may be worried that your focus or interests are mimetic of others’, or of something that already exists; you may be feeling defeated by an inability to see your work or your insights as “original.” This may cause you to want to tear down or blow up this work you have been constructing. But what if instead you gave your work the permission and the time and space to develop its own mouth, its own projection of speech? Allow your work to breathe and fully realize the thing it wants to be--existing beyond, or outside of, the compulsion to compare. When we call something derivative, we are reaffirming capitalist mythologies of material fetishism, intellectual ownership, and a lack of alternatives except the one dominant mode experience.

Gemini in the 2nd house is about entering communities by sharing a response to what is already there, not by pressuring oneself to generate a new topic; by adding layers of connection rather than a shock of distinction or separation. Instead of possessing a field, or an atmosphere, or an audience, Gemini in 2nd, by practicing self-possession and being honest about how one perceives or experiences something, exudes their own alluring atmosphere, which comes from a direct translation of how they think about things. You may not experience your own aura as striking, but your honest transmission of your experience, more with the excitement of a phone conversation than the gravity of prophecy, imparts to others an originality of relation that arises from the sense that you learn about topics by becoming friends with them, by earning their trust. When ideas or things we learn about are our friends, they don’t just reveal information, but they can provide us with actual advice. We don’t need our ideas to be strikingly original; we need to build relationships with them, so that, as in any relationship, we can experience the gift of their difference and transformation over time.

MARS TRANSITING GEMINI IN THE 3RD HOUSE

Busy bee. A lot may have been added to your plate, or a change in schedule has left you in a pinch in terms of getting everything done. Don’t try to do it all, but don’t think of yourself as “dropping” something in order to make room. Figure out, instead, what you can put aside, or approach in a partial or modified way until you can resume the energy to address it again. Instead of seeing your fatigue as a failure to meet demands, try and incorporate this Mars transit as an indication that you are entering a new phase of juggling multiple expectations and routines. Mars is not pointing to a weakness or depletion, but of a need to make room in the existing order.

When we look at the Tower we might think of the Tower of Babel, a symbol of the human desire to encounter God. Seeking to maintain his omnipotence and singularity, God punished the Babylonians by destroying the tower and separating the people via language, preventing their coordination in the future. The story attributes a lack of universal and mutual understanding between people to punitive divine will.

What is it that we expect from the divine? We may call it many things--God, or luck or circumstance--but when we assign an entity the role of determining situations outside of our control, it can in some cases prevent us from locating aspects of those situations within ourselves. When we feel stalled or punished by some force (whether seen or unseen), it’s important to take the time to ask ourselves what we are working toward and why, and what, as a reflection of the answers, might need restructuring, or what might not need to be built at all.

If we feel the approach of a breaking point, we’d do much better to focus our energy on bending. Work with your parameters in a way that honors the element of air and the m.o. of the twins--change directions, and delegate. What trajectory are you on that no one is insisting you remain on, except yourself? What are you trying to sort through on your own that you could talk through with someone else? It’s not a character flaw to change your approach to your schedule so that you are allowing yourself, at least once a day, to prioritize your own restoration.

MARS TRANSITING GEMINI IN THE 4TH HOUSE

You could be feeling some discomfort in your home life, whether that’s reaching a point of tension or conflict with a roommate, or having conversations with family members that seem to go nowhere. Instead of a burst of movement or change, Mars might have introduced a sudden awareness of the stale areas of your life. Mars in the 4th house is asking us to reconsider our routines, especially the aspects of them we practice unconsciously. Some of our habits are so deeply held that we may not understand they can be changed. We may replicate traditions of our childhood--ones that aren’t necessarily negative, but ones that simply no longer serve our happiness. We may set arbitrary rules about what we should eat, or when we should do things, like watch TV, read, or do nothing. We may be so desperate to be physically and psychologically healthy during a time defined by illness that we have become our own nagging, overbearing parent, exacerbating our own boredom and self-resentment.

Let Mars kick those real or imagined eyes of surveillance out of your head. If you have a Tarot deck, we recommend you look at the Tower card and let it act as a representation for the mental exercise of clearing your mind (or you could even use the images of the Tower included in this post). You might meditate on the image and close your eyes; imagine yourself sending a bolt of lightning into that point in your psyche where you envision these controlling voices live and tell them to get lost. You deserve to be liberated from their control.

4th house Geminis: you can live however you want. No one is watching you. You don’t need to coordinate with anyone. You don’t need to wait and see what others are doing. You don’t even need to plan ahead. Try acting first and apologizing later; don’t resent the lack of clarity or permission as a way to prevent yourself from being a bit more spontaneous within your own sphere of experience.

MARS TRANSITING GEMINI IN THE 5TH HOUSE

Hit send! Submit your work, your proposals, your effusive text messages. Find opportunities to pursue, even if it’s just entering a raffle, or bidding on something in an auction. Whatever you’ve been working on, or whatever desire you’ve been half-nursing, get it out there, or begin shaping it so you can let go of at least this iteration of it. Provisional conclusions are your friend right now. Trust that you can say what you need to say in this moment, with the resources and feelings available to you. Even a prayer is something that you give over to an invisible network or channel outside of your immediate control, and in this way the idea of sending something into the world is also an exercise of letting something go, a leap or an act of faith.

Even though the fall from the Tower feels like a self-destructive risk, it’s likely that it feels liberating too--in both material and immaterial ways. If you’ve been working hard, it’s time to open the windows, take the lid off. Otherwise you run the risk of the work and your worry shutting you in and shutting you off. Don’t let your energies solidify into rock.

Eventually outside forces and voices will intercede or interject. One of the Tower’s Kabbalistic meanings is related to the mouth; it’s time to speak and/or let some outside nourishment influence or add to your ideas and projects. The energy of the relinquishing act is its own reward in that it teaches us a way of relating to what we love that is generous, creative, and inwardly lightening and restorative. Whatever it is, get it off your chest, or send it on its way.

MARS TRANSITING GEMINI IN THE 6TH HOUSE

You may be encountering a challenge that involves the navigation of a complex system; the transit here very much speaks to tax season, or the challenge of paperwork. It could be about wills, property, and other kinds of titles. It could be about getting yourself organized so you can see all the resources that are available to you. It could be that there are archives that need to be put into order so that you can actually use all the information you’ve collected. There is a pattern in your life--materially or psychologically--that is waiting to be discovered. Follow the feeling of Mars for the next two months. What are you drawn to? What are you repelled by? These signals are telling you what’s available in your extrasensory repertoire. They’re telling you what kinds of behaviors, thoughts, or other inclinations are no longer serving you, or what you’re undergoing for the sake of the space these things take up in your life. You may even be worried that without these behaviors or interactions in your life, you will be more bored, or you worry you will miss them when they’re gone. Divert your path. You can find things more worthy of your energy and attention; Gemini in 6th can always adapt to changes to the network.

In the Smith-Waite deck, the figures falling from the Tower are surrounded by Yods, a Hebrew letter that also symbolizes a dot of energy, a spark of fire and life. These marks appear throughout the Tarot, especially in the S-W deck, as points or moments of generative potential. While changing things up (even just thinking about it) might generate feelings of anxiety, at the same time movements of change create new energy. You don’t need to balance your life between what you hate and what you love, or what you fear and what you want. Follow your “nose” (your heart? Some other Martian organ?) toward objects, people, and mindsets that linger with you in a way that is both challenging and pleasurable. Do not mistake resentment for challenge, and do not mistake fear as something you have to bury. Feel for the sensation of something that lingers like a question, or an itch--what generates electricity in your body or the surrounding air. Clear space around that feeling so you can examine it; look for Yods. Chances are what you are unlocking is a key or a clue to the challenge of establishing a new, creatively generative system, one through which you can communicate to yourself and others with a surprising or refreshing clarity. Don’t get frustrated with yourself; enjoy the challenge of the game.

MARS TRANSITING GEMINI IN THE 7TH HOUSE

This might be you right now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mxyz1UwHGFA

In looking at the Heaven’s Gate birth chart, Mars in Gemini in the 7th house seemed to speak very directly to the way couples were required to separate in order to exist within the community. In the HBO documentary, one of the men was sharing a kind of deep sorrow that he experienced when separating from his partner of many years, and the urge he felt to propose that they leave Heaven’s Gate so that they could be together (he did not end up saying this to her). Mars in the 7th isn’t just about the separation of the romantic pair bond, but the challenges of all aspects of intimacy, the way we struggle with ourselves to express things to another person, and the way we struggle to hear what they have to say to us. It can also be the desire that draws us to others in a way we can’t explain. With Mars transiting your 7th house, make sure to be present for the way you are experiencing your intimate, perhaps emotionally difficult relationships. Do you feel like you are able to get distance from your feelings, or do they overwhelm you? Do you feel the need to argue on behalf of your feelings, or, in conflict, can you sit with the unfairness of your perspective as it may feel unrecognized or unacknowledged?

Instead of the desire to use conversation or argument as an outlet or a primary outward expression of difficult emotions, try to bring the difficulty of conflict into a different or less immediate context than with the person who your emotions immediately relate to or concern. Talk to someone else. This might be about “airing out” the feelings of conflict rather than directing them towards a purpose or outcome.

(image from the Tabula Mundi deck)

In Kabbalistic thought, the Tower represents the mouth; and, speech, like the top of the tower, or the crucible, might be the opening that attracts the destructive activation of the lightning bolt. You may feel tempted to spout fire, especially in the direction of a loved one, but, before you do so, try to take a moment to consider the effects this will have on your immediate relationship or environment. Is the scene depicted in this card the kind of results or energy you want to foster? If you are seeking change, is this what you want it to look like? Here it might be more useful to look at the Thoth deck. To do so, we have included a picture of MM Meleen’s version of Crowley’s Tower. In the heat of chaos, the source of discontent matters less than the approach to recovery. How can you divert the force of your words--while remaining true to your feeling--in the heat of the exchange? Can you find a way to examine the feeling without making it a part of a contract or negotiation? When you are ready to share for the sake of sharing--not for the sake of achieving a certain outcome--it may be that the other person has an easier time hearing what you have to say, and you won’t feel the value of your expression wrapped up purely in the way that they react to what you express.

MARS TRANSITING GEMINI IN THE 8TH HOUSE

Go deep. This is a great time to lean into a divinatory practice, particularly Tarot, which helps you to focus your feeling into language and recontextualizes your language into imagistic forms, the descriptions of which provide answers. Use creative dialogue--prompts where you have to ask yourself questions and answer them. Book an appointment with a reader of some kind, or set an intention with a therapist that helps you to excavate a point of uncertainty or difficulty that you are having a hard time working out on your own. Mercury, domiciled in Gemini, delivers messages between the underworld and the surface world. Gemini in 8th is about bringing the depths to light, not necessarily so they can be shared, but so they can be meaningfully integrated in the way you understand and experience yourself. With Mars transiting the 8th, it may be that something has sent you downward, or inward, in an unexpected way. It could have been a trigger, something that in a straightforward way feels unrelated to trauma but nevertheless has made that trauma feel very present. Try not to see being in this place or mindset as if it’s a setback, but rather a challenge to your abilities of mental resourcefulness; feel around in the dark for the tools available to you, and celebrate that you are not with nothing.

You might take out the Tower card from your own deck of Tarot cards or use the ones provided in this post and meditate/converse with the images there. What kind of immediate thoughts or physical reactions do you have toward the card? If, at first glance, all you can perceive are negative messages, what if you tried connecting these to changes or next phases that you would consider positive? You might even choose one of the figures (again, here, referring to the Smith-Waite deck) and imagine that you are them, falling through darkness and fire. If you knew that in the end you would be physically okay, how might you use this inward, metaphorical “fall” as a potential space for personal revelations and transformation? Or, if a visualization of the fall is too much, imagine the figures once they have finally reached the ground: disoriented, lost as to where to go or what to do next. Try not to focus on climbing out of the darkness, but rather find ways to set up camp for a while, and to let your eyes adjust to what is there. And always remember that the card that follows the Tower is the Star.

MARS TRANSITING GEMINI IN THE 9TH HOUSE

You may experience the onset of this transit as a kind of rebelliousness or a “storming the palace” energy. Use it. Argue with your superiors on behalf of those you love and admire. Say what you need to say in order to make space for productive exchange, not only to critique. Be mindful of shots fired. Be honest but not cruel. If you are responsible for young people, as in an educational field, teach them strategies to experience anger, and to honor it as a useful tool for advocacy. Be the lightning bolt in the Tower card: assertive yet precise. Remember that the things you say--even one thing--carry the potential for cataclysmic effect. Use your own anger to advocate for others rather than focusing energy on harming those you might have positioned as antagonists, otherwise you risk becoming the antagonizer yourself. Remind people in power that their confusion is their own challenge and not your responsibility. In some cases this might mean stepping back and letting some of those that you care for “fall from the Tower,” knowing that this can be a loving act, even as it operates as a necessary learning opportunity. Remember that often we are protecting some people from the ignorance of others.

If you are thinking of ways to disrupt a structure you exist within while being aware of the ways in which it is harmful, think about ways you might attract lightning, or ways to welcome powerful transformative force. Like Walter de Maria’s lightning field, which “is intended to be experienced over an extended period of time” and “does not depend upon the occurrence of lightning,” you may find your inclinations better served by setting the scene for change to occur, rather than ushering in that change yourself. Laying the groundwork, or discussing widely and clearly the necessity to do so, remains a valuable contribution to the process of overall change.

We don’t need to rectify privileged ignorance; we only need to provide reminders that the ignorance of a few should not have the power to delimit the experiences of many. Take space by giving reminders that that space exists, whether the powerful acknowledge it or not.

MARS TRANSITING GEMINI IN THE 10TH HOUSE

Facilitate a meeting of the minds. You are probably the hub for several different social groups, and it is likely that you can think of people in these different areas of your life that would benefit from knowing one another. Think of a selection of your social world that would most benefit from a convergence of some kind, and make it happen. You don’t have to feel a responsibility to host, per se, and it may not even be the case that a large group (or email chain) makes sense, but for this transit you might want to think about connecting people who you think ought to be in touch with one another. It may be your job or your public role in some way to do this for others already, but with Mars coming through, it may be a productive challenge to think about conducting this role of connection by considering different topics of connection than you normally would. Like the flash of lightning that disrupts the stability of the Tower, subsequently creating a space for necessary change and dynamic thinking, how might you also shake things up in your communities that need it?

The resulting fire in the Tower is not simply disruptive; it is fabulously alchemical. It may be that you facilitate a connection between people who could enter into a kind of productive conflict, rather than a conventionally harmonious situation. Whatever you decide to do, it could potentially bring greater excitement into others’ lives if you consider the ways in which the people you introduce to one another are very different, rather than very much the same.

MARS TRANSITING GEMINI IN THE 11TH HOUSE

You may have taken on more than you actually wanted to in terms of zoom groups or other meetup type things to pass the time in this past year. You may have said yes to so many things out of the idea that too much is better than not enough, but now you don’t have as much time for yourself as you would like. You also may have figured initially that joining different kinds of arts or leisure communities could be a way to unwind, but you ended up taking on more responsibility in these situations than you initially anticipated--again, out of the idea that it would be interesting, provide more opportunities, be inherently rewarding. Mars may be asking you either to cut ties with certain community obligations or just to change your habits related to the amount of community responsibility you feel energetically capable of or interested in taking on. Don’t feel bad about “abandoning ship,” like the figures in the Tower card. Anticipate your exhaustion. Anticipate your boredom. Listen to your intuition telling you it’s time to step back--it might be trying to save you from a lightning strike or a burn-out. Before you say yes to any new roles or zoom meetings, think about what it is you’re actually willing to do, and be willing to admit what it is you want to get back. Are there times when you want to experience a more passive role in your chosen communities, where someone else is directing or organizing? Maybe ensure that if you continue participating in multiple community settings, there are instances in which you are not in a primary leadership position. A sense of being taken care of, at times, can be the pleasure of existing within a group. Remember that this kind of pleasure helps to strengthen your bond to other members of your community, and in some ways the cultivation of this bond is more useful than an assumption of leadership.

MARS TRANSITING GEMINI IN THE 12TH HOUSE

For some reason you rarely forgive, permit, or celebrate in yourself the same qualities you recognize as valuable or forgivable in others. You are very well-versed in the value of disruptions, of flaws, of setbacks; you even know how to counsel others through the difficulties of grief or loss in order to bring them back in touch with the generative potential they themselves possess. For whatever reason, however, you are hesitant to accept this kind of forgiveness or gentleness from yourself; you may delay asking others for help, or putting yourself into a position to receive the advice that you know others can give. The 12th house, renownedly difficult, seems to assert that you must recover alone, that convalescence and strength of will are related and if you cannot endure something privately then you will not successfully survive it. But what you are thinking of as the burden of your pain placed onto others is actually the generosity of vulnerability; by sharing your predicament with others, you are honoring your connection with those others by expressing that you believe they have the ability to know you, to love you, and to help you. It may be hard to believe that others experience your admission of suffering as an affirmation of intimacy. You may be quicker to defend your feelings than you are to express them, perpetuating a cycle based on boundaries and obscurity rather than openness and transparency. It won’t always guarantee solving the problem in your favor, but before you punish yourself--or others--for the feeling you have, remember that you are the only one who can access what that feeling is. Mars is poking a hole in the fortress, and inviting that feeling to escape.

It may be that, as in the Tower card, you have been living in an upper room, mentally speaking, where no one can reach you. This room is not related to status or confidence, but simply the way you see yourself, or what you know about yourself to be true, fixed, constant. This vantage might keep you safe from the contradictions in your thinking, which is a way of keeping you safe from others’ judgments. But when we talk about a fall, it’s not so much about falling in the esteem of others, but about not being able to rely on the stability of your feelings and thoughts. What bothers you most is not the fall, but the activity of rebuilding the safety of structures you previously assumed would last.

More so than most, you may feel a sense of vulnerability or discomfort in the way you experience your own contradictions. Gemini in 12th might describe the way we protect or preserve our own self-conception; you believe that if this (the Tower, the structure of the “I”) remains stable, then stability is possible in other areas; if it feels unstable, then so is everything else. But when you climb down from the tower, you might see that embracing contradictions are actually what help us to live among other people, as well as to accept ourselves as a fluctuation, or a renegotiation, and not a monolith. In this case, the threat of the lightning bolt might tell you that if you don’t make preparations to climb down from the Tower, the Tower will create the situation for you.

(image from the Anima Mundi Tarot)

#astrology #tarot #thetower #gemini #mars #divination #chariot #houses #planetary transits #transit #astro transits

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noonymoon · 4 years

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JUSTICE FOR JESUS — Misconceptions & Prejudices about the Faith in the Biblical Jesus Christ.

PART ONE: Christianity is not a Religion, it is God‘s plan to redeem mankind and have a relationship with us forever

I‘ve used to think that Jesus is about Religion, Church, Pastors, Dogma. When you look around in the world it makes sense: Everyone believes something different, all faiths are entirely valid for the people who practice them. Of course you throw Christianity in the same pot as Islam and Judaism, they‘re called „the Abrahamic Religions“ (because Abraham was the father of Isaac, who was the father of Jacob, and Jacob is „Israel“, but also Abraham was the father of Ishmael who was only born because Abraham and Sara didn‘t put their faith in God to have a child like God promised, they were impatient and didn‘t have faith, because Sara was already old and could actually not get pregnant anymore, so Sara suggested that Abraham should have a child with Hagar, the handmaiden of Sara; and from Ishmael‘s lineage basically the Arabs and Islam came along, since God had promised to make a great nation out of Abraham, this blessing went worth to both sons of Abraham) - so basically YES, Jews and Christians worship the same God. The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, as it is written all over the Old and New Testament. The only difference is that Christianity has been infiltrated by Satan a loooong time ago, and Judaism (for the most part) rejects Jesus as their Messiah, even though Jesus was prophesied from the FIRST LETTER of the FIRST WORD of the FIRST BOOK of the Bible/Torah FOR the Jews! When he finally arrived FOR the Jews, the Gospel (the message of Salvation) was preached to ONLY Jews for 7 years (3 and a half years of Jesus‘ ministry, 3 and a half years after His death preached by His Apostles) and only THEN (after the Jews for the most part rejected the Gospel and persecuted everyone who believed in Jesus; our best example for this is the Apostle Paul who was actually Sha‘ul; he was formerly an extremely Jewish Pharisee who relentlessly persecuted Christians but then Jesus Himself appeared in a vision to Him and asked Him „Why are you persecuting me?“ and by seeing Jesus‘ glory and majesty, He was born-again and wrote ~70% of the New Testament) God decided to spread the message of Salvation to Greeks/Gentiles as well, because He wants to save all humans, and His chosen people would not do the work that He hoped they would. God‘s priority was always Israel until they have entirely rejected the Salvation that is ONLY found in God‘s Son, the Messiah, the Anointed One: Jesus Christ. Gladly there are a lot of messianic Jews nowadays who do their best to bring Israel‘s saviour to the Jewish people, just like it was supposed to be.

Every single Religion or Faith that there is that does not teach that you can find Salvation in Jesus Christ, the literal Son of God, will not give you peace, love and the Truth, will not give you Eternal Life (and if „Heaven“ and „Eternal Life“ sounds too ethereal for you try „different non-linear dimension“ and „consciousness transferred into a spiritual body“ - because THAT‘S how it was supposed to be before our Earth fell into a linear timeline, away from God‘s presence) and that‘s just how it is. There are tons of Religions, Faiths, even pretty much ALL Christian denominations and all the Christian cults, each one of them has a different way of denying the only thing that leads to Salvation: Jesus is the LITERAL only-begotten Son of the one true God & He died for our sins & was raised to life again by God the Father. Satan literally tries in ANY way possible to deny the LITERAL Sonship of Christ whose Father is God Almighty, YHWH. [...by the way, if you believe in that Zecharia Sitchin nonsense, please visit http://sitchiniswrong.com/ - by an ACTUAL scholar of Biblical Hebrew and of Ancient Semitic Languages]. And for the people who don‘t even bother with Jesus at all, he developed a plethora of options, to believe in something else, his first and only goal is to keep people away from Jesus, and he literally does not care how he accomplishes it. Every single Faith that does not lead to Jesus and into the Kingdom of God, has its roots in Ancient Babylon and leads into the Kingdom of Darkness. There are literally only two options, and that’s the absolute Truth, no matter if “truth” today is a “subjective matter for everyone”; that’s exactly what Satan wanted to achieve, and he sure did it. People are always extremely offended when Christians claim to have the only true God, the One who brought all things into existence despite the circumstance that they don‘t even believe in the FACT that we were brought into existence by this one God through Jesus Christ (who is the „Word of God“, and as you all know „God said: Let there be light, and there was Light“ - basically God spoke things into existence BY his Word, and his word IS Jesus Christ, the Son of God).

People rather believe in an extremely ridiculous and propagated concept of a „Big Bang“ that caused things to just „happen over time“, that our Earth is millions or billions of years old, that it is sheer „luck“ that we can survive because if we were just a tiny bit closer or less close to the Sun we would either burn up or freeze, that we evolved from ape-like men who were not very intelligible, that our extreme complex languages also probably evolved from ape-like sounds (you have no idea how ridiculous all of this sounds, when you are awake, I can‘t even type it without putting it in „quotation marks“, and you literally can NOT UNSEE the Devil’s work once your eyes have been opened) when there is literally an abundance of undeniable evidence that the Creation by an intelligent and brilliant God is a LOT more plausible; or let‘s say: there is a LOT of evidence that the public narrative is simply a deception (for example, tons of GIANT human bones have been found since at least the 1800s but of course not a single person informs us about stuff like this, and of course we don‘t make an effort to research it, because we‘re all brainwashed until we realize the Truth; people who study their Bible know EXACTLY who these giants were and they also know exactly who all those other spiritual entities are which we see in Mythology from ancient cultures) - and when the public narrative is a deception, the only logical conclusion is that something different must be true. And which book contains the entire story from the very Beginning to the very End of humankind, which fulfilled a massive amount of prophecy throughout human history 100% accurate, and is by „sheer conincidence“ the most translated and printed book of ALL time? Exactly! The Bible!

„In the beginning (TIME) God created the heavens (SPACE) and the earth (MATTER)“ — Genesis 1:1

(parantheses added)

Isn‘t it AMAZING how the inspired Word of God through the Prophets conveys complex scientific concepts in only a little sentence? THAT‘S how incredible God is! He is a Mastermind and good beyond ANYTHING. Sadly Satan has accomplished that the world sees our Creator like a hateful, narrow-minded, strict and arrogant Ruler who just wants to dominate us and put His Religion on us, but that could not be further away from the Truth. God, in fact, HATES Religion, all He ever wanted is to be loved by His people, acknowledged by His people and praised by His people (and honestly, He DESERVES praise for Everything He has done for us and for Everything that He is!) .. And then of course, you can look all around in nature! I swear, being born-again is like being a child again, before this world and our „education“ brainwashes you. When I walk outside, I just MARVEL at God‘s handiwork, it‘s literally AMAZING. When I look at flowers, veggies, fruits, animals, insects of all kinds (I even lost my fear of spiders and wasps and even hornets, it‘s just amazing to look at them), when I taste different kind of nuts, herbs and spices (by the way, isn‘t it amazing how there‘s a herb or plant for every health issue a human can have, just like the Bible says? if we really evolved from a Big Bang to THIS, how do we explain the miraculous powers of all of these things? Have they just „happened“...?) look at the funny shapes of everything; everything just blows my mind, it‘s incredible. Someday I really want to ask God what He thought when He created Romanesco Broccoli because each time I see that thing, I just marvel at its weirdness and beauty. The world is just so ridiculously beautiful and NO ONE can see it except born-again Christians (I‘m really excited for eternal Life because this Creation is in a fallen state and the Bible says that the actual glory of the actual Creation is even more magnificent, WHOA...!!!) and I sometimes literally cry because it‘s SO SAD what Satan has made us believe about our planet, about ourselves, about literally everything. And why? Just because he hates Jesus, he hates God and he most certainly hates EVERYONE else, you, me, everyone. He loves only himself and he doesn‘t care if he‘s robbing us from the most astonishing experience ever: Life! He enslaves us through spiritual warfare to desires that we would naturally not have (social status, money, power, career, material objects of all sorts, fame, success, other people no matter how toxic they are for our health, drugs, likings and addictions of all kinds, literally ANYTHING can be the work of spiritual warfare) and makes us believe on top of that that we‘re just a bunch of random Apes in a random world, that our purpose is to make money and survive in a society that grows more and more into cold robots each year, only so that at the end, we die, never knew Jesus, and perish in Hell with him. It‘s literally the saddest thing EVER.

So yes, „Religious Freedom“ is a thing; everyone CAN believe whatever they want and feel drawn to, but ONLY born-again believers in Jesus Christ will live with God forever and ever in a different dimension that is not bound to time. Just like God wanted to live with us from the very beginning! We are His masterpiece of creation! Did you know that we are more cherished than angels? He sent his LITERAL SON to die for us, ALL of us, just so that we can live with God! Isn‘t that incredible??? I’m just absolutely in Love with God and Jesus and I’ve never thought that I’d EVER say this, growing up as an Atheist and then, over 2 years deceived in a spiritual bubble that is not even real.

My prayer is that the people who are written in the book of Life and belong to God’s kingdom find Jesus Christ, and experience His Love, because once you have, there is not a single day that is sad or empty, not a single day that seems pointless, you will have peace and a blessed hope for eternity to come. Amen.

TESTIMONIES

From Buddha to Christ. Powerful Testimony.

Chinese Triad Gangster Finds Jesus In Death Encounters

SATANISM, WITCHCRAFT, DRUGZ, DEPRESSION this is my testimony

"New Age" Occult Practices Nearly Ruined My Life | Warning & Testimony

Raves, drugs, vanity, new age to Jesus Christ | My Testimony

#Jesus Christ #jesus loves you #God is Good

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danwhobrowses · 4 years

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One Piece 972 - Initial Thoughts

Spoilers for Chapter 972

So we finally reach Oden’s end, and it ends in tragic fashion like it often does, so let’s get through some highlights - ‘It’s hard to change your mind’, she literally told you that the man threw away his reputation and dignity to save lives, it’s not hard man! - The Oniwabanshu are scummy, we kinda knew that already but they seemed to have no reservations with killing Shinobu - one of their own - and innocent civilians who were still treating Orochi respectfully - Yasuie why are you home? I thought you were protecting Toki right? And that must be some archer to fire messages to each province about Oden. I wonder who’s narrating at this point though, may be the translation but they’re using ‘we’ like someone’s recounting the events - Some Void Century lore though, the Kozuki closed off Wano to keep away from a Great Power (which I’m guessing is the WG) but Oden wants to open them in order to welcome Joy Boy’s next incarnation - again may be the translation but he/she is used to support reincarnation - Oden makes it, seems that this was the ‘Hour of Legends’ rather than the battle, Oda you sneaky fox. Kaido is not happy, Oden looking like Zoro when nothing happened - Buuuuuut someone’s a sore loser, changing the sentence unannounced to the firing range - making Yasuie’s death a bit more similar since he was shot also - and he wants to kill Oden’s family too...it’s as if he doesn’t care that this is the very thing that caused him to want revenge - I hope we didn’t just see what caused the rift between Inu and Neko though, it seems a bit...soft, for 2 decades of not even being in the same vicinity as one another - The strength of Oden though, he still boils in 700 degree heat and he threw all 9 of his vassals in the air after carrying them for an hour - ‘Don’t underestimate my Samurai’ was definitely a Zoro smile there - Before I get to the death itself ‘SORRY ABOUT THE OLD HAG’ you mean the death I wanted to hang on my wall was an OFF-SCREEN DEATH!? How Dare...Did Semimaru get killed by Kaido’s wrath as well then? I feel like we should’ve seen those deaths - But then we get to Oden’s death, a lot to unwrap here. For one he knows it’s happening and takes it like a man, even encouraging Kaido to get stronger. Seems that Kaido does respect Oden though, killing the hag and killing Oden himself, though there’s something off about Kaido using a pistol for me, a warrior’s death is not to be shot in the head and left to sink into a cauldron of oil which it’s implied that Kaido will soon eat with a cup of sake as recommended. Not saying it was a bad death but it seems weird that this was the choice we went for - felt a little like Bell-Mere’s death too. - Going out like Kozuki O-D. En with that smile, though I’d wager that all who saw Laugh Tale would die with a smile on their face - Toki’s stoicism breaks and is explained, she had hoped for his survival and was told to send the vassals into the future by Oden himself. It means the prophecy is a little bit hoo-hah but okay, still weird she didn’t send Hiyori with Momo or accompany either of them, I get that she wanted to be with Oden but surely ensuring the future she wants Oden to see from beyond would be a better plan? But I think I’m a little relieved that she did cry at the end, if not to shun away theories that Toki was just using Oden And that ended the chapter, great one obviously, Oda sure knows how to do big deaths. But I am a little sore that we were robbed of Higurashi’s death on-screen, also now that we do go back to the future we still don’t know too much about Toki’s death or Inu and Neko’s rift, or anything about Denjiro. I’m glad that we’re gonna be seeing Luffy again after so long no doubt but we could’ve had some answers in here. Nonetheless, back to the present we go, what happened to the crew, with Law, with Kid, with Hawkins (also where Tashigi, she should be in Wano it’s the land of Meito)? The storms have come on the promised day and the alliance seems to be failing, so where comes the fight? I still think Kaido will get his war but a small victory is in order

#one piece #op spoilers #one piece spoilers #one piece wano #wano #wano spoilers #wano arc #Kaido #kozuki clan #kozuki oden

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thefatalmarksman · 4 years

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Darkness of the Dawn

[[ aka, borderlands au luxu/xigbar’s tragic origin story, aka luxu/xigbar is never allowed to have a backstory without a shitton of baggage that goes with it and also i basically replaced the watcher’s role with luxu because they didn’t do more with them and because i can :))) ]]

~~~

“Luxu---I am going to tell you a secret I have never told anyone else.”

His Master’s voice abruptly cut through the white noise, breaking the reverie that had settled over the picturesque scene. For all Luxu could tell of the unaccounted-for passage of time, the two of them could have been standing there for a few minutes---to even a few hours. And for Luxu, he would have gladly stood there for days upon days for his Master to address him---just waiting for his Master’s initiation of the dialogue, admiring the placid blue lake-view sprawled out before them, dappled in a radiant ocher sunset, in never-ending contented patience.

“And you must never tell anyone else---understand?”

The graveness of his Master’s tone was most perturbing, for the wise Eridian Sage was known for his predominantly teasing, playful attitude, almost edging on manic behavior on occasion. So when he slipped into these serious phases---showed that side of him that truly marked his position as a wise scholar, a philosophical authority, and nearly-omniscient oracle that had written out the mysterious Book of Prophecies---that was the cue to hush, and listen.

And as such, upon this turn of attitude, Luxu’s response wavered slightly in tone, “Y---Yes,” then, more convincing once he’d gotten proper control of his throat, “of course, Master. You can trust me entirely.”

Thus, his Master began his slow pacing, all along the steep cliff side overlooking the expanse of crystalline water, and Luxu---ever-compliant---followed along as he spoke:

“It is time you knew the truth. Things are going to be... changing, Luxu. Very soon. Sooner than is probably pleasant,” and his meandering was slow, hands clasped behind his back, a movement back-and-forth so close the edge it made Luxu anxious. “And as my most trusted Apprentice, you will be a key figure in ensuring that everything---everything, everything---goes exactly as it must.”

Luxu had already been unnerved by his Master’s pacing, but at this revelation, could feel his gut clench anew, like he had swallowed a large stone---nervousness overtaking him in a fresh wave. Such an intense proclamation of responsibility---and Luxu, barely out of his youngling phase, still so uncertain of the universe around him, having primarily lived vicariously through texts his Master provided him and meager interactions with what little of the population that chose to speak to him, instead of absorbing any extensive real-world experience.

When his Master paused, Luxu took this as his turn to interject, drawing closer, until he was within arms’ distance---and yet, at this moment, feeling so much further away, “So... what is going to happen, and---what must I do?”

His Master suddenly stopped his movements, facing towards the lake, disappearing far into the horizon, towards the distant mist that glowed burning orange in otherworldly vibrancy---as though the water had been set aflame as the sun appeared to sink deeper into it. Luxu only wished that he could see his Master’s expression---beyond the hood that covered his head, beyond the mask that covered his face. Never before had he seen what lay underneath, and now, more than ever, he wished for just a glimpse---perhaps just a single glance at his visage would dispel the yearning for respite from this terrible conversation.

“...Luxu,” the name from his Master weighted with foreboding, “...soon enough, this place, this planet---this, what we have made our first home, in the hopes of expanding our progeny---will one day have a second name. Future generations of future species will concoct a translation, one name that they will misinterpret as another in their language, its true meaning lost to them:

“Nekrotafeyo.”

As the word came out of his Master’s mouth, Luxu felt an increasing trepidation, and---despite his hesitation---asked, “And it... means?”

“...Graveyard.”

Luxu grew silent, then his Master clinched in place his awful point, “Yes---all of this---everything we know, that lay out before us, everything that we’ve built---will come to its end, left as nothing but a wasteland filled with crumbling ruins.”

Turning his back away from the scenery upon which he had been staring so fondly---the resplendent, enthralling brilliant dusk, smoldering into a purplish hue, as though denying the comfort of the sight in light of this news, in order to linger on the impending tragedy---Luxu raised his gaze upwards, towards the towers that reached into the sky, extending proud and tall like the arms of his Master’s followers at a sermon in the throes of holy reverence. To think---soon, as his Master had described so vaguely---these monuments---testaments to their proud civilization, their masterful craft in establishing their dominance over the universe, the loudest statement possible of ‘we exist!’---would soon be nothing more than... tombstones.

“However... this is where you come in, Luxu.”

He had been silent in his approach, and Luxu felt the long-fingered hand of his Master land on his shoulder---a gesture meant to be of comfort, and yet the Apprentice could only feel it minimally, its warmth at the very edge of his mental awareness.

“Luxu---you will survive. You will live on.”

At these words, Luxu knew he should feel some semblance of relief---that he would avoid such a catastrophic fate that the remainder of the Eridians were doomed to suffer---and yet, he was just cognizant enough, just keen enough, to know that there was a price to this fact. That, as he felt his slight shoulders shrug in discomfort---his Master’s touch suddenly becoming far more intrusive as all of this sunk in---there was more harrowing information to come.

“...Just me? Even you... even you will be gone?”

A soft response, the barest flicker of sympathy, “Every single Eridian, yes---even me.”

Another ensuing silence, and Luxu could feel the weight of everything---everything, everything---toppling down on him. A black hole inside, sucking out every light of hopefulness he had ever felt. Every single moment, culminating to this very one---so very bleak, so very wretched.

“But,” his Master went on, and finally the unintentionally cruel presence of his hand was lifted, “the good news is that, one day, you will see my return. I will come for you---at least, after some time has passed.”

With a palpable disquiet, “...How long?”

There came a breath from behind the mask, and Luxu watched the movement of his Master’s form---wanted to picture behind the porcelain veil some sort of commiseration, some condolence as the time mounted between the question and the answer.

Pleading for the truth now, “How long?”

“Just---” and, suddenly, his Master’s voice upturned in mood, “well, just think of this as a vacation! An extended one, filled with lots of adventure! Lots of sight-seeing!”

Usually, such an abrupt, jovial switch in his Master’s tone was a signal for relief---that all worries should melt and be replaced with utmost optimism---but in this case, it only worsened the sinking feeling. The dread. The fear. The heartache, even. Perhaps it was selfish, but the main source of his pain now---even more acute than the concept of the death of the entire planet---was that he would be separated from his Master. He had never known a life without him---and now, in a matter of several minutes of conversation, all of his preconceived notions of safety and protection had been entirely stripped away from him.

“...So, what do I do now?”

A brief, yet brutal pause, then, “You will have to be...” another pause, to search for the right term, “...rebuilt, in order to endure what is to come. You will need the physical means to carry on through the ensuing generations, because as it is, your body is too frail to stand the test of time that is before you,” and again, that hand on his shoulder, increasing that throbbing emptiness in Luxu’s chest.

“I promise you, the pain will not last long.”

~~~

His Master had been wrong about the pain.

Very wrong.

~~~

“You know of the Sirens, correct?”

The voice of his Master was distant now---an echo, at this juncture. Mental movement between points in time often felt like a dream---an absence of thought, and suddenly, he was somewhere else. Right now, it appeared he was in some sort of stony, high-ceilinged chamber, illuminated by a series of red lights, and appeared to still be under some sort of construction. He could not conceive its purpose---nor was the notion at the forefront of his mind.

“I know thus far you have not gotten the chance to meet any of them---the one living here included---but believe me, you are going to meet many more of them on your journey. Though we have surveyed that only a set amount can exist at a single time---” then, a tilt of his Master’s head, “---there... will be exceptions to this. As you know, there always are to the norm,” then a broad gesture towards Luxu. “Somewhat like you!”

Luxu did not respond to the joke at his expense, whether or not it was meant to console him. Instead, his ruminations swam through him like agitated anglers---how long had he been like this---hurting like this? The rending agony still remained from the procedure---still fresh, still sharp---within his newly-constructed joints, down into his heftily-reinforced bones, and through his now-heightened, sensitive nerve-endings.

And how long must he suffer the harsh stares when traversing within public spaces? Younglings told to avert their eyes, gazes filled with ever-tensing apprehension as he passed them by---and, at times, bordering on complete disdain at his... unseemly appearance. A disgraceful mishmashed monstrosity of two different entities---Guardian and Eridian---deigned to be neither by their standards.

Even before this, as an Apprentice to his Master, he had not properly belonged---and now, the stigma had only increased, this time in contempt.

He was a freak.

And when Luxu said nothing, his Master continued, “Well, any-way. Your main job is going to be keeping an eye---” this word especially emphasized, Luxu noted, “---on the various goings-on of the universe---and we will get to that bit soon enough, most assuredly---but another thing you are going to have to do is watch these particular individuals. And even when you think you should interfere, do not. If you do, it could create paradoxes of untold consequences.

“The only time you may ever act is when you know you can act---and you shall know what that means soon enough. But otherwise, everything must unfold as foretold---that is, first and foremost, your Role.”

Still, Luxu’s mouth did not move---made not a single sound---and still his Master went on, “Thankfully, the way your body has been---altered, it will not only extend your lifespan significantly, but it will be what protects you from any supernatural powers the Sirens have. And believe me, you are going to be quite thankful for that. Because trust me, you are going to be in for some... close encounters.”

At long last, Luxu replied, “...Okay.”

“Just...” his Master’s slow approach, a hand on his shoulder---the renewed return of Luxu’s despair, “be ready for the next phase. You will be meeting your first Siren soon enough---and I must prepare you for it. After that... unfortunately, you will have to go alone from here on out.”

~~~

His Master had been correct.

He was prepared. And he was alone.

Above what would be known as the now-completed Pyre of Stars---at least, what his Master told him it would be known as some time in the future, yet again unspecified---he watched the Siren called “Nyriad” with the new Gazing Eye he had been given, replacing what had once been his own right eye. He clutched within the talons of one deformed hand the ultra-weapon that he referred to as “No Name,”---and at his side, hanging from his other claw, the Black Box, heavy with its unbreakable locks and containing a Secret to which only he and his Master were privy.

These were to be considered, he supposed rather bitterly, parting gifts from his Master---and the application of Eye the last testament to the fact that what pain he thought was the maximum of what he could endure... was not.

As he stood witness to the disappearance of what could have once been considered his entire species, his position at the pinnacle of the temple’s arch leading out towards a field of diminishing starlight---captivated by Fate until it appeared every single one of the Eridians had been rendered into nothing but their bloody essence to feed the Eldritch being that was then sealed away---she saw him.

And yet, as he returned her stare---gazed into such stunningly blue eyes---he found himself... feeling nothing. Where once there was empathy, there was apathy---where once was a concern to be loved and to belong, there was complete and utter detachment. Cruelly forced upon him---perhaps, he had pondered, for the better.

Therefore, as she surveyed him surveying her, he did nothing.

For from now until the end of the unknown, he had accepted that this would be his all-consuming Role, at the behest of his absent Master---the Fate to which he would have to adhere himself:

Waiting.

Watching.

Dawn was approaching, and in the wake of the genocide, he turned his back on the first Siren he had ever met, and, dragging the Black Box behind him with No Name in tow, tread heavily on towards the rising sun---and to wherever else his feet were destined to take him.

#au: ancient aliens are real and they wear cowboy hats #drabble #i think???? this is the most proud of my writing i've been in a long ass time #like i pounded this baby out fairly quickly cuz i was just!! on a roooll #and also incorporating Narrative Themes is my jam #and i'll be real withya the 'close encounters' bit about sirens??? toooooootally nOT foreshadowing to some of the hhh relationships he's had #and HAS #don't @ me

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the-ringalan-tribes · 5 years

Text

2000 years ago... (3)

Outcast checked her mental list of requests. On the northeast point of the island, she and Gaboon sat in waiting.

Joining them was Delta, and a SeaWing Animus named Bluering. Bluering was a bit older than the rest, maybe ten, and a little immature, but Outcast wished for all the help she could get with these new dragons.

Gaboon had the prophecy scroll ready to show the diplomats, and was rehearsing his interpretation in his head. Delta was an onlooker, able to step in and hold Outcast back if she lost her temper (if there was a future with war involved, she wanted to make it the least possible one). And Bluering... had hidden his thoughts from Outcast. She eagerly awaited the day she would get a vision that explained his behavior.

As the sun set, Outcast saw the shapes of several dragons flying in a formation toward them. “Back up.” She said. “They came prepared.”

The group did so, Gaboon watching carefully. They were close to a forest, and Outcast’s firescales were unfortunately still very hot. Bluering had offered to take them away, but Outcast refused (and later, when he secretly gave her a necklace that did take them away, she immediately destroyed it and promised to burn him if he tried again).

The strange dragons landed. The most were a colorful group of short, stout dragons with black spots, in the ranges of red, yellow, blue, and white. The two black and white dragons were obviously in charge, though the tallest only came up to Outcast’s chin. She wore a simple ring with a diamond on it, a necklace with a small glass tree charm, and was covered in pale green stripes. They were all rehearsing plans in their mind, aside from their leader, who was composing her welcoming statement. The other black and white dragon was rehearsing a plan if things went south: red dragons were to build some kind of temporary shelter, the blue were to jump in and heal, and the yellow were taking stock of the plants nearby to start attacking.

The other three dragons were tall, pale white or gray, and seemed to shimmer like mirages as they studied Outcast Their minds felt like looking into a bowl of diamond under the sun in the Sand Kingdom on Pyrrhia: very, very shiny. The largest of them looked up at the sky, then flicked her wings at her guards. All at once something about them shifted, and they looked... lighter. Bigger. They seemed to be glowing, really.

“We come in peace.” Outcast held up a talon. Some of the group were sizing her up. “I warn you now, I was born with too much fire.”

“Firescales.” The leader of the glowing dragons said. “If we touch you, we’ll be burned, correct?”

Outcast nodded. “You’ve seen dragons like me before.”

“Not quite in build,” said the black and white dragons’ leader, “but some Ringalan dragons can be born with too much fire, as you are.” She paused, then bowed. “I am Queen Oak, of the HueWings.”

So the nearest continent was called Ringala. Outcast tucked away that piece of information for later.

“Queen Iris, of the MirrorWings.” The glowing dragon said.

Outcast bowed. “Outcast. I’m acting as Queen here. These here are my trusted companions, Gaboon and Delta.”

Bluering cleared his throat.

“And Bluering, my animus.” Outcast added.

Queen Oak tilted her head. ‘Animus’ seemed to be a new term to her, and the gathered dragons. “You lot, leave.” She waved off her escorts. Iris’s escorts retreated, as well. “May we ask what business you have on this island?”

Gaboon stepped forward, holding the prophecy scroll. “This, your majesties. Outcast here prophesied that this island was our refuge from the dragons of our own continent.”

The two queens took the scroll, studying it. “You’ve made translation notes here.” Queen Iris said. “Who is this… Darkstalker?”

A shudder went through Outcast’s gathered dragons. “He was a hybrid dragon born under all three moons- in his home tribe, this gives dragons powers beyond belief. He recently became mad with this power and tried to ascend to the throne.”

“He wasn’t successful.” Iris said, reading the notes. “It never would have worked, anyway. A dragon king, what a ridiculous idea!”

“He forced his own father to disembowel himself, nearly assassinated the reigning queen, and then… vanished.” Gaboon said. “The dragons on our home continent now see thrice-moon-born dragons, and hybrids, as dangerous lunatics.”

“You’ve noted that here…” Queen Oak said, pointing at the margin of the page. “And this sends you here because-“

“I’m a thrice-moon-born hybrid.” Outcast said. “The NightWings wanted me destroyed, and accused me of having an army.”

Both queens took an odd half-step back, shock rolling through their minds. “You… do you have-“ Queen Iris started.

“Not all of his powers, no.” Outcast said. “I inherited two things from my parents that he never did; firescales, and morals.”

Gaboon chortled into his talons, trying to disguise it as a cough. Bluering leaned forward, coming around her side. “Yes, quite correct!” He exclaimed. “Darkstalker’s powers didn’t drive him to the brink of insanity- no, it was his lack of morals! If you let us live here, peacefully, we can assure you that we’ll all live like Outcast and-“

“That is enough, Bluering.” Outcast said. “Though, I do suppose there is a note of truth, there. In any case, we just want to peacefully exist here- perhaps learn of the tribes on your continent, and some food and building materials to set up a proper society.”

“A peaceful society.” Gaboon said. “Where dragons don’t have to watch their step so tightly, in case all available eyes see their failures as a failing of everyone like them.”

Bluering sighed dreamily. “We want to make our own rules!” Outcast tried to ignore how he was staring at her when he said that.

Outcast nodded. “We would, of course, be functioning as a new tribe. Gaboon’s been outlining our system since we got here. Of course, we’re working on a name, and I suppose I will be filling the role of the tribe Queen, after all.”

Gaboon grinned from his side- after all the times she’d yelled at her dragons for referring to her as such, she was royalty now. “She FINALLY accepted the title last night.”

Queen Oak nodded. “We’ll spread word to all corners of Ringala. And perhaps, when the TempWings are done warring over their next queen, you can come meet the others.”

Both Queen Oak and Queen Iris wilted under the weight of this sentence. The war was a brutal one- the tribe was genetically split and were battling it out over their next queen. Whoever won, the other half the tribe would likely be ignored. It was a terrible system… unless…

“No.” Outcast said. “Take me to the TempWings. Gaboon and Delta can follow.”

Iris seemed confused, and slightly suspicious. “Why?”

Outcast flared her wings out. “To stop the war, of course! Listen, we just came from a war-torn continent. Arguably, the situation is different, but this one has a very simple solution.”

Bluering leaned forward. “Ooh, are we gonna enchant someone?”

Outcast turned and glared at him. “Absolutely not. You’re going to stay here.”

Bluering made a pouting face.

“If I find out you followed us, I’ll burn your tail off.” She added. “Now, to the TempWings?”

“If you’re so sure about this, Outcast.” Gaboon said.

“I am sure.” Outcast said.

“Then come on.” Queen Oak said. “The sooner we stop this war, the better.”

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ssentiwsavonej · 5 years

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Game of Thrones: Battle of Winterfell Dead Pool

*mostly conjecture, but spoiler warning to cover bases*

Ok, so: after watching 8.02, I’ve been thinking a lot about the looming largest battle sequence out to film, and obviously given the happy moments in the lead-up, a lot of our faves are gonna bite it next week. So I wanted to put my thoughts to paper, as it were, and talk about the major players, where they’ll be, and what could happen to them.

Jon Snow

Location: atop Winterfell battlements, then eventually in the thick of it, because Jon

Outcome: ALIVE. C’mon, I barely have to say anything here. Jon Snow/Aegon Targaryen is far to pivotal to the titular game to die here. Plus he’s gotta sort things out with his girlfriend/aunt Daenerys. Speaking of...

Daenerys Targaryen

Location: based on previews, she’s gonna be all over Winterfell: atop the battlements, viewing the battle from afar in the nearby hills, and even in the TOTALLY 100% SAFE NOT-AT-ALL DANGEROUS CRYPTS

Outcome: ALIVE. Literally same reasons above. She’s key to the Game and she’s gotta deal with Jon’s poorly timed bomb drop. Plus she’s gotta survive here to potentially become a villain herself down the way as the Mad Queen/Night Queen

Ghost

Location: probably three feet from Jon at any given moment

Outcome: DEAD. “Whaaaat? You mean they’d really bring Ghost back for five seconds this week, just to kill him next week???” You’re goddamn right they would! And for a very utilitarian reason that every major crew member has said many times over: those Direwolves are hella expensive to make (somehow more so than dragons? I’m guessing because they still have to use live wolves, so getting the animal to behave just so, and then enlarge them in post is likely a bigger pain than straight CGI? Anywho...) so Ghost is gonna be badass and rip some throats out, probably save some asses, and then get the shit wrecked out of him like Summer did.

Sansa Stark

Location: She’s gonna be in an interesting spot, too bold to hide in the crypts, but not a fighter. So she’s gonna probably try (and fail) to stay high and dry.

Outcome: ALIVE. I don’t have as strong an argument for her survival, but I just have a feeling. She didn’t have any serious revelations or resolutions in 8.02, aside from flirting/fighting with Dany, so her death wouldn’t be AS heartbreaking as some others.

Arya Stark

Location: in the battle with her new weapon, though also from previews she ends up in the crypts (and looking fucking terrified)

Outcome: DEAD. It hurts to say this, but Arya is very likely going to be done saying “Not today” to the God of Death. She banged the hell out of Gendry KNOWING THIS COULD BE HER LAST NIGHT ON THIS PLANET, and ignoring that cardinal cliche, something in the crypts is going to scare her shitless, and to do that to Arya, it’s gotta be something BAD (more on that later) **EDIT: I also think her death next week would go down as the ultimate prank, because when she went on Jimmy Fallon and “accidentally” let loose a spoiler as an April Fool’s joke, the (supposedly) fake spoiler was that Arya died in episode 3. What greater troll could there be than her fake spoiler not being fake at all?

Bran Stark

Location: in the Godswood, seated in the perfect spot to make awkward eye contact with the Night King

Outcome: ALIVE? The situation with Bran and the Night King is interesting, and undoubtedly won’t be as cut-and-dry as “two men enter, one man leaves.” Like, obvious the Night King ain’t going down here, but I feel like the Three-Eyed Raven is too cosmically important to not survive this. So I feel like if/when these two meet, it may not end in death, but change of some sort. (If the Night King even shows! Speaking of...)

Night King

Location: outside Winterfell *MAYBE*

Outcome: ALIVE (generally speaking). As I said before, the Night King is too big a deal to go down here without more of Westeros dealing with him first. So if Bran’s plan works, something more nuanced is gonna go down in the Godswood. But here’s the thing: what if the Night King isn’t even here? In the preview we see a line of White Walkers on horseback, seemingly in the lead position of the army. But no Night King, no Viserion. He knows where Bran is, so he’s in no rush; what if he’s taken his dragon (and some of the army) on past Winterfell, marching instead directly on King’s Landing? Bran had previously seen a vision of a dragon’s shadow darkening the skies of King’s Landing - what if this was the Night King, not Daenerys?

Theon Greyjoy

Location: in the Godswood with Bran and the Ironborn (aka the bait)

Outcome: DEAD. Theon has had a very very strong arc over this show: we’ve liked him, hated him, felt beyond bad for him, and then grew to care for him again. But with this week and Sanaa’s hug, his arc is complete. Plus, if the Night King does show, he’s at GROUND. ZERO. He’s fucking toast mate.

Jaime Lannister

Location: on the flank with Brienne and Podrick

Outcome: ALIVE. Our second-favorite Lannister has had a lot of character development (which usually means a tombstone), and he’s not a super capable fighter on a dangerous fucking part of the field with Brienne. Despite all of that, the Kingslayer’s probably gonna see the other side of this battle, because he’s gotta A) deal with Bronn coming for him and Tyrion, and B) fulfill the prophecy Cersei has obsessed over and be the “little brother” that kills her.

Tyrion Lannister

Location: In the completely ironclad safe crypts

Outcome: ALIVE. I’m gonna talk more about the crypts later on separately, because it’s gonna get a bit contradictory. Obviously the crypts aren’t safe, but there are a solid couple of charcters down there that I think will make it out. Tyrion’s safety is twofold: A) they made all that fuss of everyone, especially Jorah, telling Dany that Tyrion should remain her Hand. That would be a lot of wasted runtime if he dies here, and B) like his brother, Tyrion currently has a former traveling buddy coming for him with a crossbow, and Game of Thrones is known for many things, anticlimax not being one of them.

Samwell Tarly

Location: on the battlements, ready to go balls-out, apparently.

Outcome: ALIVE. Despite Sam being a not-at-all capable fighter, I think he’s going to live by simple fact that somebody has to finish that book at the Citadel about the history of Westeros to present day (and totally title it A Song of Ice and Fire), but he’s also gonna have to do some mourning of his own...

Gillie

Location: those ironclad crypts of solitude

Outcome: DEAD. Gillie and Sam has their happy moment, and frankly, Sam is more important than her. So she’s gonna die, and to distract himself from the grieving process, Sam is gonna lock himself away in the Citadel to finish that damn book.

Jorah Mormont

Location: probably protecting Dany, then breaking off at some point when it goes to shit

Outcome: DEAD. Jorah’s has quite a ride, in and out of the friend zone with Dany from the beginning, and as of now he’s accepted his place and even gone to bat for Tyrion as the better man for his job. Couple that with his reunion with his family, and Sam passing on his family sword to him, and Jorah is going down swinging (and those swings are probably gonna save Sam’s ass, because it would be poetic to save the man who gave him the sword)

Sandor “The Hound” Clegane

Location: in battle somewhere (ideally far from fire, if he had his way)

Outcome: ALIVE. Though the Hound has solid development and actual dimension as a character this week, he’s gonna see it through for one simple reason: CLEGANEBOWL! This is something book fans AND show fans have been teased with for years, and this battle is likely the last hurdle between the Hound and burning his undead brother right the fuck back.

Varys

Location: the crypts, because lol at the idea of Varys fighting and not hedging his bets

Outcome: DEAD? I was more certain of his survival initially, because come onnn it’s Varys! The Spider played things in the shadows better than Littlefinger, and always knows how to avoid the God of Death. However, since my first thoughts, I was reminded that Melisandre mysteriously told him he would die in Westeros. So, the crypts could likely become his tomb.

Gendry

Location: swinging a big ass hammer somewhere, no doubt.

Outcome: ALIVE. I debated on Gendry’s survival for a bit, considering he was recruit to smith, and he did his smithing (not to mention the horror movie trope of “you fuck, you’re fucked.”) However, I think he’ll see it through just because he’s still Robert Baratheon’s son, and could therefore complicate the line of succession for the Iron Throne once Cersei is finally knocked off.

SER Brienne of Tarth

Location: on the flank with Jaime and Podrick

Outcome: DEAD. Also painful, but after this week, the writing is on the wall is tears and giant’s milk for our favorite honorable knight. She is officially a knight of the seven kingdoms, saved Jaime’s ass from a barbecue, and noted that she’s fulfilled all of her oaths. She’s going down, but she’s not gonna go down easy (probably going to be the reason Jaime survives).

Podrick Payne

Location: on the flank with Brienne

Outcome: DEAD. Pod’s golden pipes and magic cock can’t save him here. He’s noticeably better with a sword now, but even Brienne said he’s not there yet. Plus he got to sing that song to the drunk sharing circle. Pod’s going down, and I’m betting he’ll be one of the first.

Grey Worm

Location: in the battlefield somewhere nasty

Outcome: DEAD. Not much to say here: Grey Worm promised to take Missandei away after the battle, wherever she wanted, and they can be happy on a beach. He may as well have said he’s two weeks from retirement.

Missandei

Location: the danged ol’ crypts man. Can’t say much else here without repetition.

Outcome: ALIVE. This is by a razor-thin margin in my head, but everyone’s favorite translator is going to live for one reason and one reason alone: she’s the perfect candidate to cry over Grey Worm’s body after the dust settles. Because let’s be honest: they made the cardinal mistake of talking about their futures, so (at least) one of them gotta die, and Grey Worm is a soldier on the field.

Dolorous Edd

Location: atop the battlements, for now anyway.

Outcome: Edd’s DEAD, baby. He survived the wall coming down, made it back to warn his friends, and hugged it out. Jon said it himself: the Night’s Watch has no purpose now, meaning Edd has nothing to be Lord Commander of. His watch is ending next week.

Tormund Giantsbane

Location: somewhere in the thick of it, with a belly full of giant’s milk

Outcome: WILD CARD. Honestly, I couldn’t peg down Tormund, and it’s just because he’s so damn bonkers. Like, he survived the wall, and we got more insight to his (alleged) upbringing, and his surprisingly liberal ideals when it came to Brienne’s status, which could spell death. But he’s just such a crazy bastard that if anyone could defy the writing on the wall, it’s him.

Davos Seaworth

Location: on the battlefield, giving everyone a good what for

Outcome: DEAD. He’s had a good run, but it’s time to say goodbye to our dear Onion Knight. He said it himself: he’s been through a lot of battles and he’s not even sure how he’s made it. He’s been a mentor, but they’ve all gotta spread their wings, plus he had those moments with the reluctant militiamen and the adorable Shireen stand-in. He’s going out like a damn champ.

Beric Dondarrion

Location: somewhere out there with his medieval lightsaber

Outcome: WILD CARD. I couldn’t pin down Beric because he’s in a very unique position: Rhllor the Lord of Light has brought him back from the dead 13 times. Despite his weapon being covered in something very effective against the undead, there’s no doubt he’ll fall in battle. My question is: which side will he fight for when he gets back up? The Lord of Light could bring him back, but the White Walkers also have a knack for putting corpses back on their feet. Or even crazier, will he become some sort of halfbreed, with tht eyepatch covering a glowing blue eye? (Probably not, but it’s a fun idea)

Lyanna Mormont

Location: the front? The crypts? I don’t know, she does what she wants.

Outcome: WILD CARD. I’m leaning slightly towards the dead end of the scale with Lyanna, because despite how sharp her tongue is and how big her balls are, she’s still a small child fighting an army of zombies. She’s a badass and could make it, but she’s a child and could just as easily eat it.

Bronn

Location: somewhere between King’s Landing and Winterfell

Outcome: WILD CARD. I can’t even say if Bronn will show up for this battle, but we do know he’s on his way with a big ass crossbow called “poetic justice” (according to Cersei). So he totally could show up and off one or both Lannister brothers while they’re distracted by zombies, or he could learn the true meaning of friendship and forsake the money to help out. And possibly die saving them. Or he won’t even make it there until afterwards. Who knows here man.

Now, a little more on the crypts, and why they gave me problems. So, they put the non-combatants and the children in the crypts, because it’s underground and by all accounts, safe. However, sollowing cinematic rules of foreshadowing, repetition is the surest sign that something’s important. EVERYBODY said the crypts are safe, repeatedly. Couple that with the shots of a very frightened Arya running from something, and it’s shaping up to be bad news bears down there. Many have guessed it, but for the sake of thoroughness, here’s the issue: the crypt is full of DEAD STARKS, and we all know how fond the White Walkers are of raising the dead. Provided they’ve got the range, Arya could be facing down the dead wearing the faces of her family. And given that, we could figure who it’s likely going to be. Ned is headless (plus it’s been mentioned that his bones were returned, implying there’s not much to bury), Robb is also headless and possibly not even buried in the family crypt, considering his body was paraded around on horseback with his wolf stitched onto his neck, so aside from ancient Starks, that leaves two candidates: Rickon (which, let’s be real, nobody cares about him and he’s not that intimidating either), and Catelyn. We don’t know if she made it to the crypts either (because Red Wedding), but she’s the strongest candidate for a truly unsettling foe for Arya, as well as an in-point for the TV show to introduce a skewed and twisted interpretation of Lady Stoneheart from the books into the show.

So yeah, with this information the Crypts could have a much higher principle death toll, but I think Arya being in the crypts sets up a heroic sacrifice scenario where she can ensure the other (important) people get out alive.

With a score of 11 - 11 - 4 the Battle of Winterfell is shaping up to be a potential Thanos Snap for our cast of characters next week. I can’t say how right or wrong I am on this, but this is the most thought I’ve put into predicting character deaths since Negan whistled his way onto the Walking Dead. So regardless, I’m excited to revisit this after the episode goes up on Sunday!

#game of thrones #winterfell #got spoilers #spoilers #dead pool #got s8 #got predictions #battle of winterfell

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argentvive · 5 years

Text

Jon Snow: Reconciling Opposites

In Jon II of ADWD, Aemon Targaryen, tells Jon (alchemically) to “kill the boy and let the man be born.”

In Jon III, Jon starts to put that advice in practice. He starts to play the central alchemical role of peacemaker. The hero, the Principle of the Work, must reconcile opposites. In this case the “opposites” are Stannis’s party and the wildlings as well as Stannis’ party and Jon’s own men.

His first test is the execution of Mance Rayder.

Jon watched unblinking. He dare not appear squeamish before his brothers.

This does not mean that Jon has hardened his heart against mercy, however. He had arranged for four men, at his signal, to loose arrows on Mance. (In the show Jon fires the mercy arrow himself.) Jon starts as he means to go on--be firm and unyielding when he must, but show mercy when he can.

This chapter is where Jon first sees the sword Lightbringer, and we have it described.

The sword glowed red and yellow and orange, alive with light....Lightbringer was the sun made steel.

The imagery confuses me here. “Red” and the “sun” are obviously propitious descriptions alchemically, but “yellow” and “orange” are not. And we know from later on that Lightbringer does not bring Stannis victory, only an ignominious death. Would there be a happier result if Jon wielded the sword? I don’t know.

As the wildlings kneel and pledge their allegiance to Stannis, we learn of Jon’s earlier conversation with him.

It’s too cold for this mummer’s show, thought Jon. “The free folk despise kneelers,” he had warned Stannis. “Let them keep their pride, and they will love you better.” His Grace would not listen. He said, “It is swords I need from them, not kisses.”

So here is Jon the diplomat, Jon the reconciler, Jon the realist. Jon understands instinctively that the best rulers are loved, that a ruler should strive to win his people’s affection.

Instead we get this fanatic line from Melisandre:

“One realm, one god, one king!”

It’s not an exact translation, but it’s pretty close to the Nazis’ “Ein Reich, Ein Volk, Ein Fuehrer.” I think GRRM meant us to make that association.

Jon remains focused on his central mission. He tells Bowen Marsh:

“We have seen the face of our real foe, a dead white face with bright blue eyes. The free folk have seen that face as well. Stannis is not wrong in this. We must make common cause with the wildlings.”

When Marsh argues that the Night’s Watch would be safer if the gates of Castle Black were sealed and the wildlings kept beyond the Wall, Jon replies carefully but carries the argument.

...what Bowen was suggesting went against all of Jon’s instincts. “If we seal the gates, we cannot send out rangers,” he pointed out. “We will be as good as blind.”

An alchemy hero, the “heart” character, always has empathy. And this empathy is inborn--instinctive--not learned. (I gave up counting the number of times Harry Potter is described as acting “instinctively.”)

Jon’s next test comes from his own men, his best friends in the Night’s Watch. He goes to join them for dinner, but they are mocking Melisandre and her religion. Pyp says,

“The night is dark and full of turnips....” His friends laughed--Grenn, Toad, Satin, the whole lot of them.

Jon has to reprove them several times before they stop:

“Making mock of another man’s prayer is fool’s work, Pyp. And dangerous.”

“You have your gods and she has hers. Leave her be.”

“Lady Melisandre is not part of my command. You are. I won’t have bad blood between the king’s men and my own.”

So again we see Jon attempting to reconcile opposites. The men finally calm down and Grenn invites him to dine with them. But Jon has “killed the boy” and realizes that the days of easy companionship are over. We get this paragraph that sums up how Jon now realizes and accepts his new role.

No, he had to tell himself, those days are gone. The realization twisted in his belly like a knife. They had chosen him to rule. The Wall was his, and their lives were his as well. A lord may love the men that he commands, he could hear his lord father saying, but he cannot be a friend to them. One day he may need to sit in judgment on them, or send them forth to die. “Another day,” the lord commander lied. “Edd. best see to your own supper. I have work to finish.”

This is the only time in the chapter when Jon thinks about the advice of his very first alchemist, his father.

Once he’s alone, Jon reflects on his choice to reject Stannis’ offer of Val and Winterfell.

Instead he had chosen a black cloak and a wall of ice. Instead he had chosen honor. A bastard’s sort of honor.

So here is the word honor again. In AFFC we saw Jaime Lannister choose honor and stick to it in his dealings with Brienne and Riverrun, among others. Now Jon has done the same, consciously and deliberately. Jon thinks to himself, “I should be walking the ice. The Wall is mine.”

Jon, as the Mercury/Argentvive of the story, is water and earth. Here we have an explicit statement of his mastery of water, i.e., ice in this case.

Ghost appears at Jon’s side, and Jon’s warg sense detects the “taste of hot blood.”

No, he thought. I am a man, not a wolf.

The obvious meaning of the words is that Jon is denying his animalistic, warg self. But there is a strong alchemical meaning too.

When I first started my blog I wrote about how Jon’s association with a white wolf doesn’t just mark him as White (the Stark sigell does that too). It marks him as the prima materia, the raw material that is being transformed. The prima materia used by the alchemists of history was an ore of antimony, and antimony was called the “wolf of metals.” So in alchemical illustrations, the prima materia was often symbolized by a wolf. (Michael Maier, Atalanta fugiens)

For the prima materia to be transformed, it must be “killed” in the alchemical process of solve et coagula. So in Jon’s declaration that “I am a man, not a wolf,” he is saying, in a different way, that he has killed the boy and let the man be born.

Only Jon, Daenerys, and Jaime are associated with animals that symbolize the early stages of the alchemical process: Jon with antimony, the prima materia; Daenerys with dragons, the symbol for Mercurius; and Jaime with the green lion, another symbol for the prima materia.

So yes, logically, we could expect Ghost and the dragons to die at the end, as their masters achieve full transformation to the Philosopher’s Stone.

Jon finally finds someone to talk to--Clydas, the 60-year-old steward. Jon reveals that he has obeyed Aemon Targaryen’s other instruction, to read the Jade Compendium, a history of Westeros. It’s quite an odd title, but I suspect it’s GRRM’s play on the legendary founding document of alchemy, the Emerald Tablet.

Here is where the Lightbringer/Azor Ahai/Nissa Nissa prophecy is laid out. Jon explains how the original Lightbringer was always warm to the touch, while Stannis’ Lightbringer is cold. So it’s not just the wrong colors but the wrong temperature!

The chapter ends with Jon’s rueful comment about his fate:

This is my lot, he realized as he undressed, from now until the end of my days.

And of course he’s wrong.

#game of thrones meta #alchemy #a dance with dragons #jon snow #stannis baratheon #aemon targaryen #lightbringer #prima materia #daenerys targaryen #wolf #dragon #atalanta fugiens

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sailor-cresselia · 5 years

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Zi-O 37: Gotta go fast!

I’m gonna sprinkle in some chat segments from the live watch that @miyukomatsuda and I did of the episode as it aired, but this is mostly my watch of the RiderTime sub.

(I’m also hoping to do a watch of some of the recent episodes again, but with the O-T subs, so that I can get a more… well phrased translation.)

As always, spoilers for Zi-O episode 37 below the cut.

~~~~~

So, a giant meteorite just hit. It doesn’t have a Rider inside this time, though! No, it has Worms! Shapeshifters! Who are basically the Zygons!

(I don’t go to Doctor Who anymore, but that’s what I’ve been told, and the impression I got from Marcosatsu’s History of Kabuto vid.)

Team 9-to-5 are watching a news broadcast at breakfast about the meteorite – aaaand nope, newscaster’s a Worm, much to the poor cameraman’s surprise.

Cressy: Woz: Welp! Found out who we’ve got this week!

Miyuko: “My turn to do things.”

Miyuko: “Also, we dealt with the gas leak.”

Miyuko: “We should all be sane again.”

(The idiot ball was in full force during the Kiva Arc. We will never let it rest.)

~~~~~

Sougo, Tsukuyomi, and Geiz are headed off to see where that second meteorite hit, the one with the worms on it, when a third one shoots down, in the other direction. So, off they go, splitting the party. Again.

Poor Geiz, he’s with Woz again. Who, by the way, is nowhere to be seen, having ditched the team to go do his recap.

At… the Hachiko statue.

Huh.

And the key player for this fortnight’s worth of episodes… Kamen Rider Gatack – Arata Kagami.

Who is clearly in a state of “Not this again...” as another meteorite streaks by. Or it could be that one that split the party, it’s a little hard to say.

~~~~~

They used part of the Kabuto opening – with the beetle wings – to cut into the OP this time! Nice touch!

I was host for the stream Miyuko and I did when we watched the Raw, and I BLINKED AND MISSED THE FORM RUN THROUGH that time! And here I pride myself on noticing differences in the OPs!

But Kamen Rider Woz’s base form has been replaced by his Ginga form, with the ‘base’ version, Ginga Finaly shown in full, and the Planet and Sun forms shown in bust form.

~~~~~

And FINALLY, they notice that the Another Rider’s aren’t erasing the previous Riders from history anymore! They haven’t been doing that for a while, guys. I mean, if they were still doing it, you wouldn’t have been able to have all of your senpai help you out in the movie last December… you know, shortly before you moved into having Future Riders for a while, and then back into the older Legend Riders.

You might write it off as ‘odd’, or ‘paradoxes have messed with space-time nearly beyond repair’, but I still say that time travel doesn’t work like you think it does.

I will hold my ‘they have been faking it’ theory until absolutely proven otherwise, folks.

…and I’m still going to be using it in ReUnited, anyway. ~Fanfiction land says I can do what I want.~

Besides, Sougo’s having fun! He’s getting to meet all of these Kamen Riders, after all!

…Sougo, kitty, I’m pretty sure you still don’t quite get how serious some of this is, but you get a solid B for effort.

~~~~~

Cressy: THEY FINALLY REALIZE THAT THEY AREN’T ERASING PEOPLE ANYMORE

Miyuko: YOU DUMBASSES

Miyuko: Mouri: DAMNIT SHIMOMIYA STOP MAKING ME HANDLE LORE

~~~~~

At the third landing site…

Woz. Woz you are so unbelievably petty. “I will be giving the orders around here, let’s go.” For crying out loud, Woz, just work as a team with Geiz, please.

So, off they go, into battle against a swarm of Worms using Faiz and Kikai!

~~~~~

Miyuko: if sougo goes to space i’m gonna yell that I called it

~~~~~

SOUGO IS SO DUMB.

SOUGO. You already knew that they could copy people. You SAW one do it on tv. So why would you assume that the people working at the crash site, where that broadcast came from, were normal humans?

Sougo, PLEASE.

Also, it looks like the Worms agree with me: right before they drop their disquises, they’re giving him this look like “Wow, this kid is dumb.”

And before Sougo bothers to transform, shots fly from off screen~!

Hey there, Gatack! Nice to see you’re doing okay!

~~~~~

Meanwhile, over with Woz and Geiz, we’ve got them landing finishers on a pair of Worms… but there’s still more of them. And, as Woz finally bothers to mention…

Worms can go faster than you can see when they get stronger.

(I agree with Geiz’s frustration at not having been told this sooner! WOZ!!)

Good thing they’ve got Revive Typhoon and Shinobi~~!

~~~~~

Back with Sougo and Kagami… They finish off a mass of Worms, but something red knocks them down.

Something – sorry, someone – that Kagami calls ‘Kageyama’.

Enter PunchHopper.

And with his entrance, Kagami goes into Gatack’s cast off Rider form – and right into Clock Up.

~~~~~

Cressy: “Hey, new kid, how fast can you go?”

Cressy: Actually, super speed is a problem for Sougo!

Miyuko: Sougo: UHHHHHHH

Miyuko: He has to hide

Cressy: Because he couldn’t keep up with Revive so

~~~~~

The battle starts to deal some collateral damage to the infrastructure, leading to rubble starting to fall towards a mother and child.

Tsukuyomi says no.

A stopwatch ticks.

The rubble freezes in midair, letting the civilians escape.

Tsukuyomi sees something.

Herself, younger, and three people facing away from the cameras viewpoint. At least one is an adult – presumably male, in an outfit that looks an awful lot like the one Swartz wore in 2009. The other two… I think the one to the left of the screen is a young girl, with pigtails. The one on the right looks to be an adult male… and it’s very grainy, but that style of dress looks like a black and white version of what Sougo’s uncle wears.

Of course, she only focuses in on young her and almost-definitely-Swartz.

Please, Toei, Shimomiya, I am begging you, do not let anyone be related. We’ve got both time travel and amnesia going on in here already, we do not want you to go that route!

~~~~~

Swartz sees this from a nearby roof, and notes that her powers are getting stronger, and soon they’ll completely awaken.

Someone asks what will happen when they do.

~~~~~

Miyuko: **YELLS**

Miyuko: TSUKASA

Cressy: Tsukasa: Sup.

Miyuko: WERE YOU OFF GETTING LAID TSUKASA

Cressy: Look at that posture

Cressy: Daiki showed up.

Cressy: he def was.

~~~~~

Tsukasa: “So… you’re connected to that girl somehow. I’ve been doing some investigating…”

Swartz: “Oh, yeah, sure. Do what you want… If you can.” (he says in an ominous tone, ominously.)

Tsukasa: “Thanks. I’ll do just that.”

~~~~~

Back on the ground, Sougo… is getting his ass handed to him. But! He does have the realization that the speed PunchHopper and Gatack are moving at is similar to Geiz Revive Typhoon… and he’s figured out a way to counter that.

It used to be that he was only looking one move ahead when he used Zi-O II’s precog abilities.

He’s looking ahead three here.

Sougo knows he won’t be able to react in time for the first two strikes, but the third…

On the third he can time a strike of his own.

And he knocks PunchHopper down.

Gatack tries to finish him off – but a red blur takes the hit.

Another Kabuto has made his appearance, and it looks like he’s Sou Yaguruma, former alias KickHopper. He grabs PunchHopper, and nyooms right on out of there.

~~~~~

Miyuko: OH FUCK IT’S ONE FO THE HOPPER BROS

Cressy: OH MY GOD ANOTHER KABUTO IS ONE OF THE HOPPER BROS

Miyuko: KAGAMIII

Cressy: OR A WORM OF ONE OF THEM

Miyuko: IS IT TIME FOR HIM TO SUFFER (We saw one was a worm

Miyuko: (shame we uh

Miyuko: (remember the rider sona

~~~~~

(Miyuko’s at least watched some Kabuto, but not very far. I, on the other hand, have seen exactly none, and would have no idea which one we saw in the cold open.)

~~~~~

Now then, we jump to Kagami explaining the situation to Woz and Sougo at the shop, giving them a basic run down of who the Hell Brothers are, along with showing them pictures. Pictures of the terribly dated late ‘00’s Hot Topic discount bin wardrobes that those two wore.

Kagami: So, the PunchHopper is definitely a Worm mimicking the original.

Woz: How can you know?

~~~~~

Miyuko: Woz intensifies

Miyuko: “Pretty sure he’s dead.”

Cressy: “So, yeah, he’s dead, but. uh. Apparently not anymore.”

Miyuko: “Fuck if I know, guys.”

Miyuko: Shibuya!

Miyuko: FLASHBACK TO KABUTO

Cressy: “Also, it’s really weird that Shibuya exists again.”

Miyuko: “Wait what”

Miyuko: Sougo: :)

Miyuko: Woz: “THE FUCK?!”

~~~~~

So, yeah, the timelines are a mess here. In 1999, in Kabuto, Shibuya was destroyed by a meteorite – one carrying the Worms. It’s … incredibly intact here.

OH. DUUUHHHH. That’s why Woz was at the Hachiko Statue!

It’s at Shibuya station.

WOW, I feel dumb. I remembered who Hachiko was, but didn’t catch the link as to why Woz would be there until just now.

Also, Sougo, I get that you were born in 2000, but. Like. That was only one year later. I thought your only decent subject was history! If this happened in the current timeline, you ought to know about it!

~~~~~

At an overlook, Geiz finds Tsukuyomi, having been told about her using her time powers again, and she tells him that she remembered something. Her mother and father, and ‘another man’.

… wait SHIT I said that the seated man’s outfit looked a lot like Junichiro’s, didn’t I? ABORT MISSION! NO, NO, NO! CALL IT OFF! STOP THE RIDE, I WANNA GET OFF!

Tsukasa appears on the scene. “Hey, so. Do you want to take a look and see what was going on back there? I’m trying to find the source of why the fabric of space and time is getting holes poked in it, so if you want to come along…”

… Okay, so he says ‘distorted,’ according to the RT subs, but it amounts to the same thing.

Geiz thinks this is a terrible idea, but Tsukuyomi wants to know who she is. So she goes with him.

Er, Tsuka- Tsukasa? I think you are a poster child for ‘sometimes you are better off not knowing who you used to be’, just as much as you are for ‘don’t lean too hard into the world-destruction prophecies.’ You may want to rethink your stance on this.

Mind you, you’re also a shining example of ‘there’s no escaping destiny’ and ‘you can’t thwart stage one’, so I guess that ship has already sailed.

~~~~~

Miyuko: TSUKASA’S UP TO THINGS

Cressy: Tsukasa: “GUYS, QUIT FUCKING WITH THE TIMELINE. YOU’RE MAKING MY JOB AND THE DENLINER CREW’S JOBS THAT MUCH HARDER”

~~~~~

So, a quick call between Geiz and Sougo, and we switch back to the Sougo and Woz team. (Man, we’re really getting the groups together this week, aren’t we?)

They’re confronted by Kageyama – who, yes, is a Worm. And he admits it. But he still has the original Kageyama’s memories as a human, and he wants them to help his brother. Worm or human, he can’t stand to see Yaguruma as an Another Rider – as a monster. They’ve seen too much hell for him to want any more.

Woz: My lord, this is clearly a trap.

Sougo: You need to start trusting people, Woz. Besides, we want to help save Yaguruma, too, don’t we? :)

Except that that is not his usual ‘This is going fine!’ smile. That is a smile of ‘he knows what’s going on.’

… You know, So Okuno’s really grown into his role, here. I think he’ll be able to do pretty well once he graduates from Sougo.

(He’s grown into his role, if not his clothing. Seriously, wardrobe department, could you let him wear clothes that fit properly? Why was this whole ‘everything is minimum a size and a half too big’ thing a decision?)

ANYWAY. THIS is a good scene for the instrumental of Toki no Ouja.

Also, you can hear the belts and chains Kageyama’s wearing well before you see them.

~~~~~

A quick interlude to Junichiro, back at the shop, having just fixed a radio. He goes to make sure it’s actually fixed, and turns it to the news.

There’s a large meteor headed for the center of Tokyo. And it’s much larger than the previous ones that have hit.

…

WAIT WHAT

(cue shot of said meteor in space)

~~~~~

Miyuko: OH MY GOD THEY ARE GOING TO SPACE

~~~~~

And now, to a totally-not-suspicious definitely-not-a-trap perfectly-harmless warehouse.

Sougo: So, Yaguruma’s supposed to be in here, right? (proceeds to walk in, with his back towards the guy who literally calls himself one of the Hell Brothers, like an idiot)

KAGEYAMA GOES TO STRANGLE HIM FROM BEHIND. BECAUSE OF COURSE HE DOES.

But he doesn’t get to – because Kagami bodychecks him away.

Kagami: “Kid, NO! You’re too naive! Walking into a trap like this!”

Kageyama: “Ahahaha… I mean, yeah, it’s a trap, but it’s not for the brat.”

Another Kabuto SLAMS into Kagami.

Kageyama: “We’re after you.”

Kagami and Kageyama both transform.

~~~~~

Cressy: THANK YOU KAGAMI

Miyuko: Aw yiss

Miyuko: Shoutout to Mouri USING THE RETURNING LADS

Cressy: STRAIGHT INTO CAST OFF

Cressy: UNLIKE INOUE

~~~~~

PunchHopper LUNGES at Sougo, who is just standing there – there’s a clicking sound – and a massive surge of gravity slams PunchHopper to the ground. (cue Miyuko and I basically just shouting WHAT into the chat)

Oh my god. Turns out Woz’s attack is even more ridiculous than I’d thought. He’s allegedly channeling the gravity of 10,000 black holes, because that’s totally a thing that’s possible. … Meh, he’s got reinforcements from the armor, he’ll be fine.

Woz: Ah, yes, as expected of my overlord. Taking advantage of the enemies trap-

Sougo: Er, actually, I just wanted him to take me to Yaguruma. Now we just have to defeat the two of them. (goes to transform)

Everything starts to shake.

Oh, there’s that giant meteor!

Rider Time!

Zi-O! Fourze!

3! 2! 1! Fourze!

~~~~~

Miyuko: HE’S GOING TO

Miyuko: OH MY GOOOOD

Cressy: UCHUUU KITAAAAAAAAA

Miyuko: UCHUU IKUUUUU

Miyuko: Sougo pls

Cressy: FINE I’LL TAKE THE MESS UP

~~~~~

I mean, if it stops a GIANT METEOR FROM HITTING TOKYO? I don’t CARE if he gets the catchphrase wrong!

And it’s pretty close, anyway. Way better than his attempts at Ex-Aid’s and especially Build’s catchphrases.

~~~~~

Back to Gatack versus the Hell Brothers, who are soon joined by Woz.

Turns out, Yaguruma doesn’t care that Kageyama’s a Worm, since he’s the only one willing to be his partner.

After being tremendously outsped, and taking a few good blows, Woz unleashes an incredibly over-the-top finisher in the form of his Planetary Explosion. Yes, I know that’s not the actual name, but my computer’s autocorrect is a pain, and I’m not going to try typing out any of the forms that attacks real name can take. I don’t want to teach my computer that.

And there’s a huge explosion of flame, flames spreading across the floor… Woz gives a grandiose pair of quotes in a very Tendou style, down to the pointing. But a sound comes from ground zero of the attack.

A green suit drags itself into a standing position.

KickHopper: I don’t believe in the power of the universe… I only believe in the power of hell…

He lands a Rider Kick that Woz just manages to get a guard up in time to block. When Woz can look up… nobody’s there.

Geiz comes in… but none of the three returning characters are around anymore.

There is, however, a ‘message’. Someone’s left a package of instant bowl ramen, and a note, with one word.

“Hell.”

SO THAT’S NOT OMINOUS AS FUCK AT ALL.

~~~~~

Miyuko: “Wait, I’ve had this form one ep why am I being worfed”

Cressy: WELCOME TO BAD TIMES

Cressy: ON BOTH ENDS OF THE TIMELINE

~~~~~

A portal appears in the air, in 2058. Tsukuyomi and Tsukasa step out, to when she would have been 8 years old, into a ruined city.

With an incredibly ominous looking cloud front and thunderstorm off in the distance.

~~~~~

Back to 2019… Geiz… is in no position to do anything but leave the whole meteor thing to Sougo. A man in black, with copious chains, drags himself through the river below. “Did… someone laugh at me?”

Yaguruma, what are you doing there?

~~~~~

IT’S SPACE TIME!

Sougo’s ready! He can do this! He -

Did not realize how big that was actually going to be!

But he drills through the meteor with a Limit Time Break, shattering it… and also releasing a bunch of Worms that were in there into the vacuum of space.

Oh well.

Except that one wasn’t the real problem.

No, the real problem is that the grey meteor?

Is a pebble in comparison to the giant red one behind it.

Everything is very red in 2068.

~~~~~

Miyuko: THISISFINE

Miyuko: oh shit

Miyuko: IS THIS WHY THE EARTH IS FUCKED UP

Miyuko: SPAAACE

Miyuko: oh boy SOUGO PLS

Cressy: SOUGO BABBY

Miyuko: GEN WOULD BE SO PROUD

Cressy: DID YOU NOT REALIZE FROM HOW BIG IT SEEMED

Cressy: OBJECTS IN MIRROR-

Miyuko: HOLY SHIT

Miyuko: POSE

(He was pretty close, with the pose! It’s… probably easier in 0G, given Gens whole thing.)

Cressy: OH MY GOD HE DRILLED THROUGH A METEOR

Miyuko: OH NOOOOOOOO FUCK

Cressy: OH MY GOD THAT WAS A PEBBLE

Miyuko: OH NO OH NO OH NOOOOOOO

Miyuko: THIS IS WHY THE EARTH IS FUCKED IN 2068 ISN’T IT

Cressy: OH MY GOD THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED TO FUCK UP THE PLANET

Cressy: IT’S REMNANTS ALL OVER AGAIN. I AM HAVING K.A. APPLEGATE FLASHBACKS HERE

Miyuko: WELL BOY FUCKING HOWDY WHAT A ZI O. -oh god PLEASE LET THE KABUTO WATCH GO TO KAGAMI. PLEASE

Miyuko: But Damn that was toei making it up to us from last week huh

Cressy: OH YES

Miyuko: GOOD USE OF RETURNING ACTORS.

DRAMA

STAKES

SOUGO DRILLING A METEOR.

TSUKASA CAME BACK.

Cressy: Tsukasa: “It’s not technically spoilers if it’s your own past, right? Right. I could have used this sort of heads up.”

~~~~~

So! Yeah! We were! Basically just completely screaming after that!

This is a much better episode than the last two. Thank you, Mouri-san! THANK YOU!

#kamen rider zi o #sailorcressy says

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mal-likes-biscuits · 5 years

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Series Behind the Scenes (Diablo: Amor Aeternus)

I wanted to share some of the fun hidden eggs/did you know/lore reference/extra stuff that appears throughout the series, but I didn’t have a chance to mention as I posted.

LONG post: content after the break! (Also, series spoilers. In case that’s not obvious.)

In All Things Light and Dark

Water imagery: all the Aspects have an element associated with them. Wisdom/Death is water/ice, per their arcane spells and the domain itself (Pools of Wisdom). Malthael returns to life in a spot that reminds him of the Pools.

Biscuits are the first food Malthael ever eats. He likes them afterwards because they remind him of the warm compassion he was shown. This carries on into later stories, where he has an obvious preference for baking, but also a lingering soft spot for biscuits in particular.

Fallen angels carry with them some sort of lingering power. One of Mal’s most important but not really mentioned ones is that he can speak/read all languages. It’s about 50% practice and 50% magic. He just knows what things mean.

I probably should have had ice manifest on his hands in the church instead of the arcane glow. However, I also wanted to underscore the difference between his base element/person and the Reaper.

The blades themselves aren’t the cause/fix of his memory loss. He’s suppressing things due to a) an extremely painful death and b) his mortal brain trying to reconcile things with his previously immortal/corrupted soul. His taking up the blades and recovering the past through combat is purely symbolic.

Things Malthael does in the year before Tyrael finds him: scribe, translator, and at-no-pay demon cull-er. He spends his entire savings to buy Talm the farm sickles.

Tyrael and the companions probably overreact when they see Malthael, thinking he is a Reaper. But he also is super grungy looking and his clothing is all tattered. He’s been sleeping on the streets when he hasn’t been working at the church. He doesn’t look that far off from a corrupted Reaper.

The reason there’s a punisher in Salvos, and a demon swell in general, is because (you may have guessed it) another angel Fell near there, and is now living there. You see undead when Tyrael falls and his angelic power causes chaos. Any remaining Reapers come out of their fugue state and gravitate towards the lingering essence of their master...who is not really impressed to see them.

This does get mentioned elsewhere, but yes: they all drink the mead. They all get extremely drunk. Malthael and Tyrael get dragged into the farmer’s hand-to-hand just for fun fight and end up smacking the snot out of each other for catharsis.

Arcane & Apples

This story came about because I wanted to write a fun one-shot about how Tristram would appear to an outsider.

Also, I felt bad there was a lack of scholarly characters in the series after Cain dies and wanted to bring someone else in.

Farah was originally meant to be an Archivist (based on the April Fool’s content in the game) before I canned that idea, because I have plans for that later that are very different.

Osseus’ name was one he took when he became a proper necromancer. It derives from “ossuary”, or a place where the dead are kept (bones only).

Farah had a cat for most of her life in Caldeum, but she was currently without one or she would have likely brought it with. You see a few cat references from her throughout the series.

Aya and Tyrael were more than a little hoping that Malthael would strike up a conversation with Farah. They were just dodging around the topic most of the time.

Aya almost barfs when Farah sniffs one of Malthael’s journals. She says she doesn’t know where it’s been, but she has ideas from what she’s seen.

Originally Osseus was going to be Xul, until I learned that Xul was the Diablo 2 necromancer. Part of this carried over to my description of Osseus having a rather charming voice, which is more like Xul and less like the actual Diablo 3 necromancer. I’m chalking it up to artistic variance.

The unreadable scrolls about scroll-crafting are going to be important in Series 2.

The prophetic line from Farah’s dream about Malthael ("This man walks the crossroads. One path leads to ruin. The other, survival.") is meant to read as applying to the survival of the Nephalem (or himself), but it also applies to his decision about the Arch in Act 4.

Farah reacting to the tone of Malthael’s voice (beyond just basic surprise) was added in after several edit rounds, when the characters decided they had this Love thing going on in later stories. Still, I wanted to keep it relatively understated.

The "Aya, would you explain mortal courtship?” line was in the very first draft and was meant to be a humorous throw-away line, but, you know. He still doesn’t understand mortal courtship.

A Light in the Darkness

Most of the first scene was added in the final edit draft, because I wanted to up the banter between all of them.

Lyndon and Malthael pretty much subside by insulting each other, like the not-quite-brothers they seem to be. Tyrael is mostly relieved it’s not him dealing with it anymore.

There’s a small suggestion that people have been beaking at Farah for her being kind to Malthael, and this is true; he’s not making that part up. But they try and not whisper about it if he’s around because he would end them. He finds out anyway.

Lyndon isn’t bugging him for that reason, he really just likes pushing his buttons and doesn’t have anything against Farah or them all getting along.

Unlike Osseus, Zaira never changed her name. It’s hers. It’s who she is. That pretty much sums her up.

Zaira happened because I wanted to write a morally grey/lesser evil human character who was nonetheless on the side of good. Sort of like Malthael when he’s the Reaper.

Zaira’s unhealthy fixation that Lyndon mentions has been mentioned on this blog a few times and implied in the story. She is obsessed with learning more about the Reaper of Westmarch, and admires him greatly. Also, had a really weird infatuation with his power, which is what led to her and Osseus breaking up.

Chith never got far enough to even talk about adopting a new necromancer name.

Chith was named by my husband, when I asked him to come up with a name for a necromancer. He thought it was for Zaira’s character, who we’d chatted about in concept awhile earlier. Nope.

The book lady really has no idea she just called the oldest being in creation “young man” until after it happens.

The book lady is also important and is going to be reappearing later in Series 2.

The bit with Malthael arguing with the Reaper part of him (mentally) during the big gem-fight was added in much later, as part of a sweep I did across the series to build up that conflict for his character, as well as establish the level of PTSD flashbacks he experiences.

Born of Night & Beams of Light

This was originally meant to be the second large story in the series, and come fairly closely after “In All Things Light and Dark”.

The idea for the Archshards happened way before Diablo: Immortals and the Worldstone Shards were announced (my reaction to that probably makes more sense now).

I had planned on making Imperius the antagonist for this story from the beginning, based on his character development in Diablo 3.

Originally, the Prime Evil was going to take more complete control of Imperius, and his form was going to reflect that. But I didn’t think a character as strong as Imperius would give in that much, and that a lot of his behaviour would be due to his own issues and not the influence of the Hells.

The “charger” Tyrael rides in the opening chapters is a reference to Tyrael’s Charger from Heroes of the Storm.

I had notes for the scene in Salvos with Malthael drafted while I was writing “In All Things Light and Dark” because I knew he was going to be revisiting Death.

Talm and his family were originally slated to die in Salvos, but I thought Malthael bringing them back alive would actually have a more positive impact on his character, plot-wise. I wanted him to draw on Death out of responsibility instead of despair.

Malthael’s Death abilities (while mortal) are inspired by the frost magic he uses in Reaper of Souls, as well as by some of the magic the necromancers use in the game series. His Wisdom Aspect form is mostly intellectual abilities (scrying with the Chalice, languages, etc.); his Death Aspect is mage-ish.

The “mental connection” Malthael and Farah use is inspired directly by what Tyrael does with Leah in Diablo 3 in terms of imparting memories and feelings. The mortal angels seem to be at least partially psychic.

A lot of Aya’s character development in the series was inspired by me wanting to write a) a more HUMAN Nephalem and b) how a Nephalem would handle having imposter syndrome. (Since the Nephalem in the game are essentially unflappable.) It is a slight departure from the game characterization, but also my attempt to bring some realism to an overpowered character class.

Originally, Auriel wasn’t supposed to recognize/learn it was Malthael stealing the Chalice until after it was all done, to show that she was willing to help the humans specifically. But the scene ended up being very emotional and affecting and I left it as I wrote it, with her finding out his identity right away.

Auriel’s fate was somewhat undetermined, but I knew she would oppose Imperius. When Chith came about as a character, I decided to have her become mortal instead of dying because I wanted to be able to write a student-mentor relationship between them.

Itherael was plotted to die from very early in the series planning, due to the nature of the Prophecy of the End of Days. Unfortunately, for everyone who is a fan of them.

Auriel’s mortality is one of the more self-indulgent items I wrote into the series, mostly because that could have gone so many different ways.

I really wanted to explore Chalad’ar’s uses, particularly since it seems to be so powerful but isn’t really explained much even in Storm of Light. There’s a lot of suggested functionality, intentional or accidental, with how the user can interact with what they are studying.

Farah helping Malthael with the scrying was a relatively late addition to the story and didn’t appear until I began to write the scene.

Farah’s Nephalem abilities actually extend beyond the Sight, but aren’t fully developed yet -- though they are hinted at when she is able to tolerate Chalad’ar better than some of the others. This will be developed more in Series 2.

My description of the Chalice use/scrying was written before I read “Storm of Light” and ended up being surprisingly close to canon. I had to change very little.

All the various Nephalem classes from Diablo 2 and 3 are represented in the final battle, though not all are named characters. Some of the unnamed Nephalem will be appearing in Series 2 as “new” characters.

The final battle takes place somewhere in the Fields of Misery.

The “Death Knells” described by Chith are a reference to Auriel’s Heroes of the Storm ability that lets her see the “souls” of the dead in order to resurrect them with her ult. This idea will be expanded on in Series 2.

None of the end-battle deaths were planned ahead of time except for Imperius. I let the battle write itself fairly organically and saw what came out of it.

Malthael sees as much in the Caverns of Terror as Tyrael does. Imperius is correct when he says he is thinking about Farah: one of the visions he has is of her telling him that he has disappointed her (which, thanks to some of the mind-to-mind conversations they have had, he does not believe).

The arcane abilities that Aya unleashes on Imperius at the end of the fight are a reference to the wizard’s archon mode in the game. And like in the game, they are taxing and have a cool-down period.

We don’t see Kormac return as one of the souls that Malthael works with, because he is “ready to die” and at peace with how he goes out. It’s in many ways the ideal death he wanted to have as a warrior.

In the original outline I did for the series, Malthael was scripted to die at the end, ensuring Imperius could be defeated. I had a change of heart as his character developed throughout the series, and his redemption occurred in very different ways than I had planned.

Lyndon saving Malthael from death was not scripted at all, but when I started writing that part, it came about naturally. I went back and built up stuff with the two of them for the entire rest of the story to set it up, character-wise.

Malthael is meant to be the “brother” that Lyndon actually manages to save, vs. the one that he didn’t.

The bit with Farah waiting at the water is an accidental but direct mirror/echo of the opening story, where Malthael washes up on the lakeshore. More overt references to this were added in after the draft was completed.

There’s a lot of unwritten material that happens during the Epilogue, including lots of conversations between the characters, patching up, the wake/celebration, etc. This may be material I write and refer back to later, but I didn’t want to include it in the Epilogue because there is so much of it.

I hadn’t actually planned on getting Tyrael and Aya together until I wrote the Epilogue and it just sort of happened. Again, lots of additions/tweaks went into the story earlier to help set it up more overtly.

Malthael hasn’t actually been sitting on that bench for that long. He doesn’t specify when he leaves Farah to go back home.

Tales from Tristram

I wrote “Echoes” about 3 times partially, and scrapped each version, because I thought the chapter kept backtracking on Malthael and Farah’s character development from “Arcane & Apples”. The published version is the 4th attempt.

“Echoes” is also the first time we see Malthael’s PTSD manifest from his POV, post-memory recovery.

"Echoes” also gives the details of him working through the PTSD after fighting himself in Act 1, including some subtle references to the very annoying inner (anxiety) monologue he has.

“Night of Souls” was me writing a Halloween story and accidentally stumbling on pivotal character development for pretty much everyone.

Malthael’s comments in “NoS” about Wisdom angels stargazing is related to the description of the Pools. Even when they are pure they are said to show Balance, and I assume if you went high up enough in the Heavens you would eventually see the stars. It’s an interesting visual balance between light and darkness and very fitting of his role.

Malthael arguing with himself while sitting at the bonfire in “NoS” is an example of how he handles his anxiety when he’s in better control of it; the devil’s advocate voice is a lot more nuanced, and he’s more than able to tell it to be quiet.

“Justice and Wisdom Walk into a Bar” was the original plot idea behind “A Light in the Darkness”. Zaera-d was telling me a story about their DnD group burning down a tavern and I thought it was something the Tristram gang would do. Only they ended up not doing that in Act 3.

The above chapter was also the only real time in the series that Tyrael and Malthael’s sexualities get mentioned directly (though Lyndon hints at Malthael’s in Act 3); I really had to balance it being a humorous scene without actually making fun Tyrael because that was 100% not my intent.

#diablo: amor aeternus #my writing #behind the scenes material #long post #some fun stuff for you to read #a little insight into the stories #i'm sure there's stuff i'm missing #but this is a sample of some of my notes and related things

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dcarevu · 5 years

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DCAU #20: Prophecy of Doom

“You gave him ten million dollars, sir? And to think I was fretting over the electric bill…”

Hey, guys, so lemme tell you about the craziest thing that just happened to me. There I was, dressed in my cloak at the DCAU brotherhood meeting. And the leader of the brotherhood, Nospoilerz, looked right at me and said, “You! Young man! You are in graAaAve danger! I see disappointment! I see pain! I see misery and woe!” I left the place scoffing to myself, not believing one word of it. But then I turned on Prophecy of Doom and I realized that this guy actually may have known what he was talking about.

Episode: 19 Robin: No Writers: Sean Catherine Derek (teleplay), Dennis Marks (Story) Director: Frank Paur Animator: Akom Airdate: October 6, 1992 Grade: D

Am I being too generous with that D? Because this is definitely my second-least favorite episode so far. It’s another Sean Catherine Derek/AKOM “classic” from season 1, and this just goes to show that sometimes reading the episode credits is all you need to do… Sigh… Bruce Timm himself has made certain remarks about both of these creative forces, citing AKOM as a subpar studio, and Sean Catherine Derek as a writer that would always try to throw in a big message, but could never really make it work in practice. We saw this in The Forgotten with the subject of homelessness, and we see it here again with the fortune teller who is actually just scamming people out of all their money. Yeah, she didn’t write the story of this one, only the script and such, but her fingerprints are all over the place when you break out the powder. Unless you’re a really good writer, a half-hour Batman show is just not a good way to get some of your important, socially-conscious messages across to the public. Who exactly wants to see that? Eric Radomski and Bruce Timm were going for a grim, crime-noir. Sean was pushing for a recycling bin and a god damn dog to be in the show, guys. I think recycling is as important as the next guy. And boy do I love a cute pupper. But this says a lot. Boy. Don’t you just wish that we got a whole episode about why we should should recycle? Just imagine how that woulda turned out.

We would see some of the “big, real world statements” taken on much later with Static Shock, and from what I understand, it often worked quite well. But this was after a lot of DCAU establishment. It also was a very different show than Batman TAS. Not to mention, well, Sean Catherine Derek wasn’t involved with Static Shock at all. I wish her no ill will, and I hope she’s happy writing for whoever she writes for nowadays, but the sooner these episodes we’re looking at leave her behind, the better. Reportedly, she clashed a lot with Bruce and Eric when it came to their visions for Batman the Animated Series, so overall I would say that she just was not meant to be part of this team, or wasn’t flexible enough to write stories that would suit this show.

I didn’t think he was legit until he showed me his kickass flyers!

Nostromos is the one-off villain of this episode, and I’m certainly not gonna be anxiously awaiting his return for a future episode. He’s a guy who supposedly has magic powers and the ability to read fortunes, but as we can tell from spending less than five minutes with him, he’s a big fraud. In this episode, it makes for some confusion as far as how we’re supposed to see and react to him. Mysterio from Marvel did this concept wayyy better because Mysterio was more frightening than this guy. At least back when I was a kid he was (yeah, I get it, he’s got a big bowl on his head)! With Nostromos, we, the audience, along with Bruce Wayne, are skeptical of him from the beginning, and the way he carries himself makes it really hard to feel threatened by him at all.

Top 10 DCAU guyliner material

“The vibrations are right for prophecy.” This guy offers a translation to a completely lost Bruce Wayne

“You are merely the eye trying to view itself!” explains Nostromos. Now this guy looks just as confused as Bruce is.

Even after we come to the conclusion that he likely was responsible for the sinking of the gambling cruise ship. He’s just so silly and his plan is so uninteresting. And then we see that the other people involved in Nostromos’ brotherhood (a big group of rich/important people) are eating up every word that he spews out, and we get music cues and other moments that almost seem to try and make us take him seriously. It makes the people in this episode seem like absolute dimwitted fools, and how all of them managed to finesse their way to the top of the money tree with that kind of gullibility is beyond me. The tone is really mixed. And it continues to stay mixed throughout the entire episode. It’s just weird to see Batman, the strong creature of the night who always saves the day (not literally, saving the day at night sounds bonkers), be in any sort of danger, but then see everyone else being idiots and that the villain is just a big joke.

“You!!!” This was a pretty poor-looking shot, especially when you see it in movement.

Bruce’s glass mysteriously shatters.

And what is Nostromos’ plan? Well, his main one is to basically convince the brotherhood that an economic crisis is right around the corner in order to get them to give him all of their money. Is that not the least creative place you could go with a crazy cult in a Batman episode? The least they could have done was made it so that Nostromos wants to kill Bruce for a specific, personal reason or something. Things do get a little bit crazier eventually, but in a way that’s almost as dull as everything else. Nostromos ties Ethan Clark’s (a friend of Bruce in this episode) daughter to this giant solar system display, where she is in danger of being crushed if another planet happens to collide with her.

Seems to me like he could have made things a little simpler if he had just threatened to shoot her.

This sequence just doesn’t visually suck me in, nor did it with Char. She thought it could have looked a lot better, especially when it’s such a preposterous idea. The episode needs to do something for me to fall under the spell of the suspension of disbelief. It has been said that Akom just didn’t have the chops to animate this the way it was asked for. And trust me, I believe that. It hasn’t taken me long to understand the impact of Akom on Batman the Animated Series. But in my mind…even with proper transition from the storyboards to full motion, is this really a scene that I would have been asking for? Did I really want a conclusion where Batman jumps around on moving papier-mâché planets gone awry?

This is pretty much the best we got, folks

So yes, I do in fact agree with Char, this scene could have looked a lot better. But I also have to ask the writers whether or not this was even a good idea in the first place. And Nostromos causes the planets to spin all over the place, past their normal speeds, by beating on the control panel and breaking it. Why does whamming on a piece of technology not usually just shut off the technology? It always sends it off on a deadly rampage. By the end, Batman escapes, saving Clark’s daughter. And Nostromos gets caught by a stray planet from the spinning display as it lands on top of him.

Nostromos and his crazy plot are much like how Red Claw ended up being a few episodes back. Has potential, then does nothing worth remembering with it. Y’know, this episode also feels like a 70’s Scooby Doo episode. The villain seems like a Scooby Doo villain, has a Scooby Doo villain-esque plan, and even gets caught like one of Fred’s traps. And y’know how usually Fred’s traps are completely over the top, but ultimately the animation and everything keeps it pretty underwhelming? That was the whole climax to this one. It’s like Batman was Scooby Doo, wrecking the bad guy’s plan and managing to trap them. I really wish everyone on the Batman TAS team had known better by this point when it comes to what type of show they should have been writing. Clearly some of them were in on it, but not some of those stubborn ones. I get that it’s still season one, but this episodes wastes time. Instead, we could have gotten something much better in its pace. But these writers were here taking up staff slots, not trying their hardest to produce a really good Batman show. They were too focused on only pushing hard enough to create a typical Saturday morning cartoon show, or a show that displayed a moral, and it’s like, another show could be used for things like that. I think when Paul Dini or Alan Burnett wrote their episodes, they made it so damn evident that they were pouring their hearts into the scripts, and were actually trying to make something good, something they they would have wanted to see. They were giving the best to Batman that they could. This show was airing before I was born. And even if it were brand new, it wouldn’t make any sense to hold a grudge or anything on some of these earlier writers. The ones who didn’t utilize the potential of a Batman show like this. Because what these writers did was make the good episodes seem even better. Not every episode may have been ground-breaking in this series. But even with those which weren’t quite up to snuff, with those which didn’t elevate the animation landscape, we still got so many episodes that did, and they are why the cartoon is remembered as being so important, so influential, and so gosh-darned entertaining. Them, and Batman going, “Psyyyyychic energiiiees, Alfred”. I could listen to that on repeat.

One of our establishing shots of the episode, use for a prelude which ultimately doesn’t end up being all that significant for the story. But at least the jazz was nice!

I don’t believe that we ever actually get any confirmation as to whether or not Nostromos planted this. I’m surprised an episode like this didn’t take the extra step to spell it out for us.

Uh oh, don’t let the fish drown!

Ethan and Lisa Clark. Wonder if they’ll appear past this episode.

Total Scooby Doo villain vibes.

Here are the mugshots

These keyboard sound effects, though. Let’s get some official Batman TAS ASMR.

Batman flees the falling elevator, not falling victim to Nostromos’ plot

This was a pretty shitty fight scene.

Were you even trying to avoid that swing, Batman? He even gave you some time to react before he swung!

This was a decent shot.

Kevin Conroy’s acting was a lot of fun here. He put a tremble into Bruce’s voice that we all know is Bruce faking, but that’s only because we know better!

The most disturbing moment of Batman TAS so far. This damn smile. Especially with the way his eyes move. And you’re telling me that Bruce couldn’t hold in this smile? It’s not like he saw the camera and knew we were watching. They shoulda had him wink right at us while they were at it.

Maybe the bit that saved this episode from an F

Or maybe it was specifically this ass shot. And you say you watch Batman for the plot.

This is the shot our climax ends on. Just take it in.

This one was harder to write for some reason. Could have something to do with the fact that I’m staying in some friends’ living room and sleeping on their couch with another person over spring break. Not to mention, I have to do a lot of this typing on the floor. But I hope it gave something worth reading regardless! Here’s to a smoother review for next time. They can’t all be winners. Much like the episodes themselves.

Char’s grade: C

Next time: Feat of Clay (Part 1) Full episode list here!

#batman tas #dcau #dc animated universe #batman the animated series #prophecy of doom #batman

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