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purgatory-if · 7 months

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demo (tba) | faq | masterpost (you are here.) | art cred @aykaypee

You’re in danger, and every fiber of you knows it.

You’re sure, by now, that no matter what you do you won’t be able to stop it. Maybe that’s a good thing.

...This is the end.

You wish you had something that would remember you.

... YOUR life is a mystery to you when you wake up in the sunny fields of Purgatory. Apparently death isn't supposed to be a full memory wipe to the soul, but that's no problem, right? There's usually some sort of record kept of this kind of thing. If not for special cases like yours, then at the very least for organizational purposes. You're told all of that, assured that nothing is wrong and that this jsut 'happens' sometimes up until the moment they look for yur death and find nothing to speak of. Nothing of your life, either, just to make a bad time even worse.

Without knowing anything like this, it's safe to say that it'll be impossible to pass on. The underworld isn't built for fringe cases like you and even if it was, not even knowing who you were is disconcerting at best and cause for crisis at worst.

So alright. It shouldn't be too hard to find out how one person died, right? Detectives and story characters do it all the time- and now you have all the time in the world.

You should, anyways.

... FEATURES include:

play as a seriously unlucky pc whose cause of death depends on which route you decide to pursue

be whoever you want to be! standard for ifs nowadays; things such as pronouns, general appearance, personality all that jazz

8 romance options (mostly fem/non-binary, 1 option you can choose the gender of) and the ability to play as aro and/or ace

at least 4 poly romance routes!

love me some good vanity stats! vanity stats

get recruited (read: forced) into a 9-5 where time isn't real

beat up time

really symbolic mythology! i could write a goddamn essay on these fuckers

... PURGATORY is recommended for players over the age of 15, though I’m not going to police what you do on the internet. The game will contain major character death and death of all kinds, what is probably sacrilege, memory loss, fantasy violence, potentially sexually suggestive scenes and dialogue (hi ama.), morally dubious behaviour, and more. In-depth content warnings for each chapter and specific routes will be released at a later date.

... 'MAIN' CHARACTERS

THE DIVINE.

Angel (prns selectable) / Witty, charismatic, more than a little bloodthirsty, there's a certain volatility about someone who is Fate embodied. While they take their time on the many, many field missions necessary for stability in the multiverse or whatever very seriously, they'll put their restless passion into anything if it catches their eye for long enough.

Achlys (they/them) / Death itself, stoic and sharp and more than a little intimidating, it's hard not to let their mere presence get under your skin. While it would be nice to say that's not an intentional effect, the only unintentional thing about them is the fact that they're down here, of all places. They seem to be making the best of it.

Esme (they/them) / An angel in what is certainly an analogy for hell, classic, isn't it? They're little more than a shambling mess in a skirt if we're being honest, oh so scared of any shadow that moves in the corner of their vision. They truly do wear their heart on their sleeve, which seems to be an invitation for some to try and stop its frantic beat.

Amaterasu (she/they) / Don't let her meet your parents, is the only advice I'd give, because she'd be gunning for at least a threesome by the time starters are served. Unflinchingly forward and seductive, they're horribly charming in the most impermanant of ways. There's nothing she'll shy away from trying sooner or later, it seems, in or out of the bedroom.

THE MORTALS.

Viviana Alatorre (she/her) / Businesslike. Some people really don't change when they die, and going to this office just means you see the sun less on your coimmute. She doesn't appear to be dead, or alive, something in the middle. Out of everyone here, she's probably the most terrifying. Even more than the death god, probably because she's actively working towards terror.

Ailbhe Kahinu (she/it) / There's nothing that troubles Ailbhe, and it wouldn't be concerning if she was... y'know, dead. In the face of certain terror, it faces things with a shrug and a sigh. At least she's good-natured about this whole thing, being dragged down here by both her girlfriend (Vivi) and her sister (Rahley). The prices here are better than aboveground, anyways.

Rahley Kahinu (she/her) / Rahley's been compared to a robot more than one time, and while the comparison probably wasn't in good faith that doesn't mean it was necessarily wrong. She's intensely focused on her work, and her skill in that department seems to have drained her ability in things like basic conversation and empathy. So it goes.

M Blankenship (prns selectable) / Previously called 'Hit 'N Run' in the world of roller derby, the violent nickname seems odd on someone as cheerful as M. They act as a sort of tour guide for souls entering the Underworld proper instead of hanging around Purgatory, and it's hard to say their easy extroversion makes them anything worse than great at their job.

THE CONSTANTS.

Stratos C. Lusse (he/him) / The eternal guide to Purgatory for souls lost, souls found and all who are inbetween. He seems to have been here the longest--minus all of the deities, of course.

Octavia Hardin (she/her) / The part-time guide to Purgatory. She seems more likely to throw your soul into damnation if you cross her or anybody she cares about. Stay on her good side!

Salem Astor (she/her) / She would be a romance option if I had the energy to code in a shop feature. But I don't. So she runs free through the city.

Abbadon (prns selectable) / Personification of the past. If anyone can help you figure out what the hell happened to you, then they should be the one to go to. Sometime in the next 5 centuries would be ideal.

Maliel (prns selectable) / Personification of the future. Again, probably someone who can find out in a second what you'll know when you figure out this mystery, if you're able to find them at a good time. The woes of being a primordial deity.

...and more! Probably. Co-workers, pirates, other deities but this is running long.

#if: intro #interactive fiction #if game #if wip #choice of games #interactive game #twine game #twine if #interactive novel #twine wip #purgatory if #masterpost

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from-the-coffee-shop-in-edoras · 5 months

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I see you very much as an expert on all things Rohirrim, so I bring to you this question, hoping I can pick your brain for info to use in my own fics (full disclosure). 😅

It seems to be a popular fanon that the Rohirrim/Riders of Rohan have tattoos, and that body art is a part of their culture. Do you have any thoughts or personal HCs about this that you're willing to share?

Thank you in advance! I appreciate you and your blog so much (if you didn't already know that).

Oh my goodness!!! I am so very honored to be thought of as a person who is knowledgeable about my beloved Rohirrim, and I hope very much that I can live up to that reputation. Thank you!!!

I’m not aware of any real textual evidence for body art among the Rohirrim, and the historical record in the medieval Anglo Saxon and Norse societies that Tolkien used as a reference for them seems to be disputed. But I absolutely understand and agree with the conventional wisdom that tattoos are a thing in Rohan. It just fits well with a warrior culture that has a wilder, dare-I-say more pagan aesthetic as compared to the smooth solemnity of Gondor or the formal elegance of the elves. And since they’re a culture that doesn’t document things in written words, pictorial representations such as tattoos and body art would be one way to fill that gap (along with their songs and oral traditions).

In my mind, tattoos in Rohan are common but basic—they’ve really only got the technology for the “stick and poke” method so the designs are kept simple because anything too elaborate is difficult to pull off well. They’re mostly in black line (using soot) but some have color using powder made from grinding up certain dried roots and plants.

Each village/community has its own distinctive tattoo motif that is worn by all of that community’s members. So you can tell just by looking at someone whether they’re from Upbourn (a fish because it’s a river town) or Dunharrow (mountain peaks since they’re in the White Mountains) or Everholt (a boar in honor of the wild boar that live in this part of the Firien Wood), etc. And soldiers also tend to share tattoo designs specific to their éored—getting your éored’s mark is a formal rite of passage for the younger members when they first get assigned to their company. These shared tattoo designs are important both for group cohesion and as a means of identifying fallen Rohirrim even if the deceased isn’t known to whoever finds the body.

Beyond these ritualized and practical functions, I do also like to think that there are some purely decorative tattoos among them as a means of personal expression and/or to help cover small scars that so many Rohirrim have from battle, riding accidents or other mishaps. Obviously horse-based designs would be very popular, as well as other flora and fauna of Rohan. But they’re a very sentimental people and so I think little emotional signifiers would also be very common (again, especially because they generally don’t have a means to pay tribute to beloved people/things in written form, this sort of symbol would serve the purpose of making some kind of record of those tributes).

In terms of specific people in my head canon: Éomer has a little simbelmynë blossom for each of the major figures in his life that he’s lost (forearm). Háma had a sun to remind him of his wife, who brought warmth and light to his life (shoulder). Théodred had stars in the shape of a particular constellation that is visible every year on his mother’s birthday (chest). Éowyn has a representation of her father’s sword (left wrist) and gets a quill (right wrist) to represent Faramir after they get married. (Faramir got a little running horse in her honor on his first trip to Rohan. He was glad he did it, but he never wants to sit through that again.)

Merry brought tattooing back to the Shire when he showed up with a tobacco pipe on his bicep (both for its association with Buckland and in tribute to Théoden, whose last words to Merry were about smoking together someday when peace was restored). Unsurprisingly, tattoos did not catch on with the other hobbits, but Merry remains very proud of it.

Anywayyyy…I hope that was in any way helpful! Thanks so much for asking!! I remain a huge fan and am so grateful to you for helping convince me to put some of my thoughts and stories out there vs keeping them all in the confines of my own Google drive!

#lord of the rings #lotr #tolkien #asks #answered asks #rohan #rohirrim #éomer #éowyn #háma #théodred #merry #faramir #lotr headcanon #tattoos

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cassiefromhell · 4 months

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Clairvoyant: Visions (pt. 2)

Nanami Kento x International Sorcerer!Clairvoyant!Reader

Prologue (heavily encouraged to read this first.)

wc: 2.3k

warnings: mention of blood/gore (brief descriptions), very short sexual cues, SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS you MUST be finished with season 2 please & ty

a/n: requests are always open, submit shit, im bored <3

“Nanamin,” Yuji calls, finding his teacher standing in the back of the assembly hall, his face pale. “What does this mean?”

“It means we’re getting a visitor,” Nanami frowns, hands tensed at his sides.

“Then why is everyone so worried?”

“Because,” Gojo joins in, grinning, having appeared out of nowhere. “Everyone here is a worrywart. Nothing is going to happen.”

“Did you not receive the code?” Nanami raises a brow. “The damned Reaper Repeller is coming. The kids don’t deserve to be lied to.”

“…What’s the Reaper Repeller?” Yuji tilts his head to the side. “Some weapon?”

“I met her a couple times,” Gojo’s smile widens. “She’s pretty damn cool. She’s part of the International Squad and can see the future, so when she shows up it either means that our superiors deemed that a mission needed an extra hand, or that she saw something and is coming to change what she saw. Last time, she saw that I was gonna make a building fall or something, so she gave me a certain set of rules, like what to not do. No buildings fell, so she’s pretty legit.”

“That was an 18C18 code,” Nanami grumbles. “That didn’t even require an assembly. This is an 18J18.”

“…What’s that one, again?” Gojo gives a sheepish smile.

“I’m so lost,” Yuji mumbles, looking between the two. “18?”

Megumi walks up, followed by Nobara, and joins the conversation. “This is a J?”

Nanami nods.

“How do you break down the codes?” Nobara adds.

Nanami sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. “The eighteens are for R and R, due to her nickname. The letter in the middle represents what she saw. For example, she showed up to Canada a few months ago on a code 18A18, which meant a battle would cause some sort of dispute that would stir trouble. B means she saw a civilian or two die. C means she saw mass civilian death. And so on, until J. It’s the maximum letter.”

“And?” Nobara pushes, raising a brow.

“It means she saw something very bad, and everyone has been gathered to be told who is set to die.”

Stepping off the jet, you haul your suitcase behind you, and are immediately greeted by two men. You know them both — you studied the entire Japanese Sorcerer database on your way here.

Kiyotaka Ijichi, clad in a suit with a grimace on his face.

Masamichi Yaga, principal of Tokyo Jujutsu High and teacher to one of the students you watched die.

“We would welcome you, but we know you aren’t here with good news,” Yaga says with a sigh, straightening his uniform. “Please, follow us. Ijichi will take your bags.

The pilot of your jet is already helping Mila unload the twenty-three suitcases you brought, all full to the brim with weapons and necessary training items you handpicked to make sure you turn the gate of Shibuya.

“My associate will get them,” you gesture to Mila, who is currently hooking all of the bags onto her extra limbs, leaning back a little from the weight. You grip the handle of your singular personal suitcase.

The two men nod, not bothering to even try arguing with you. Why would they, when you’ve come with death biting your heels?

You slip sunglasses off of your forehead and over your eyes, following them as you approach three cars, sleek and black with a subtle Jujutsu symbol on the back license plate.

It’s a short car ride over, one in which you and Mila sit silently in the back of a limo, while Yaga tries to ask you questions. Nobody gets a private briefing, that’s just how you operate. You avoid all his inquiries with vague comments, crossing your legs and sipping a glass of sparkling water. International sorcerers are known for kind of being hardasses anyway, so

You pull up to the school in no time, and Yaga escorts you and Mila through the building, down hallways and around corners. Eventually, he stops outside a large set of double doors and turns to face you.

“This is the assembly hall. All of Japan’s sorcerers are gathered behind these doors,” he gestures to the entrance. “Please remember that we have children in there.”

“I know,” you whisper. “One of them dies.”

Yaga goes very still, and you walk past him, opening the doors and immediately finding yourself on a slightly elevated platform.

A massive crowd of dark blue uniforms stands before you, all falling quiet at your entry.

You step forward, approaching a podium. Mila has her spider limbs tucked away, as to not appear threatening. She hands you a stack of papers, and you gather them, placing them on the podium as you lean forward to speak onto the microphone.

“Good Evening, sorcerers. My name is (Y/n). I won’t stretch this meeting to be longer than needed. My technique is Clairvoyance, and I am here because I have seen the future of a battle here in Japan. It will take place in Shibuya, on October 31st.”

A murmur goes through the crowd, but you clear your throat to recapture their full attention.

“I do not want you to be afraid. My visions can be changed. Without me, there will be sorcerer death, irrevocable damage, and the snuffing out of thousands of lives, including civilians. But I am here to help. To do so effectively, I will call forward the names of the affected. I will save your lives. Stop you from losing limbs. Prevent disaster. Do not be afraid.”

The room goes deadly silent.

“Nanami Kento.”

And just like that, the crowd erupts once more.

A man in the back of the crowd — the blond that you saw burnt and ultimately exploded — nods to the pink-haired boy at his side and starts making his way through the crowd.

With a sharp raising of my hand, the crowd goes silent once more, as Nanami passes soldiers who give him solemn nods.

“Kugisaki Nobara.”

You continue calling names, until you have at least a dozen sorcerers in front of you. Too many are children. There are managers, too, and other people in suits.

Your eyes skim the crowd, then fall back to your paper, which has crumpled in your grip. You call the last name, knowing what reaction you’ll get.

“Gojo Satoru.”

The crowd erupts, the room filling shouts and surprised cries and confused discussion.

The Untouchable.

You take a steadying breath at the rowdiness and gesture towards a private briefing room to your left, raising your voice to a shout.

“I will now ask for those who have been called to follow my associate here into a separate room. You all will be privately briefed. The rest of you… you will get the minimum details from your superiors.”

With that, you step back from the podium, and even more of the gathered sorcerers start shouting, demanding more details. You ignore them — you have to. Mila guides the called ones into a side room, just as you approach a small group of superiors and give them the very basics: there will be a city cratering, and the start of many bad, bad situations. You inform them that you will be making ideal teams for the mission, which you will release in a few days’ time.

With dragging feet, you force yourself to walk to the side room, where all of the ill-fated sorcerers are.

So far, at least.

Dealing with the future is a tricky business. Changing one thing, even so simple as this meeting, will cause different futures, which you will see and have to adapt to.

You swing open the door, and find everyone already sitting at a long, oval table.

“I’m sure you’re all not happy to be here,” you take a corner of the room to stand in, crossing your arms and attempting to look as non threatening as possible. “Unfortunately, this meeting is necessary. I’ll call you each one by one into a private space, to be told what will happen without intervention. From there, we’ll talk about options—”

“(Y/n),” Gojo interrupts, leaning back in his chair like this is all just a game. “You know me. I don’t really need to be here, do I?”

“You do.”

“What’s gonna happen, I get a scratch? Lose a limb? Shoko will fix all of that,” he drawls, putting his hands behind his head.

“Gojo, you’re going to be sealed in a box, and then a shit ton of people are going to die or be injured trying to save your ass,” you reply, narrowing your eyes. “You need to be here.”

No more arguments come.

You step forward, softening your expression, and your eyes land on the blond man, sans goggles — Nanami Kento. He’s handsome, even if in the back of your mind you still see that burned half of him. You decide he’ll be the first.

“Kento, right?” You drop the formalities — which you’re happy to do anyway, since you usually struggle with those when you’re in Japan. “Please, come with me.”

His jaw tenses as his eyes flick over you, and then he stands. You escort him into a small private room, closing the door behind you. There’s three comfortable chairs and a little coffee table, which has tissues and a pitcher of water with glasses on it. Comfort items, because people often cry.

Kento sits in one chair, and you take the one across from him. He’s exactly as you imagined in your vision. Tall, muscular, with a sharp jaw to match. He smells like vanilla and cedar. Except this time, the putrid scent of burning flesh is left out. He’s so… lovely.

“Lay it on me,” he clasps his hands together in his lap, after pulling his goggles off.

You chew your bottom lip. You usually don’t have issues with this part of the process; the bluntness is part of your job. But something about this man is putting you off, making your mind stagger behind your duty. Typically, there’s a sniffling/worried/sobbing/angry person in front of you. But Kento? He’s so… ready for this. Not upset at all.

“You would die a hero,” you whisper.

Then you blink, realizing what you said. There’s no need for comfort here. Excessive sweetening of the truth is just counterproductive. And yet, something in you is screaming at you not to stop.

“In your current fate, a curse burns half of your body. And yet, you still fight. On death’s door, you would be noble. A good mentor for your students. One they would miss dearly,” a tear pricks at the edge of your eye. “The curse by the name of Mahito is the one to finish you off. But we will stop that path. You will live, that I can be sure of. I’m sure your future has already changed, just because this conversation is setting the base for the weeks of prevention training to come.”

If anything is going through his head, he doesn’t show it. “Does your technique show you when the future changes?”

You scratch the back of your neck. “In a way. My technique has a mind of it’s own. I can typically foresee imminent death a few moments before it happens, but I can also get mass visions like I got of Shibuya. If I need something more specific, like to see if your future changes, I would have to touch you, and then see what my technique gives… me…”

You trail off as he holds out his hand, eyes focused with intent.

“Please,” he murmurs.

You nod, slowly sliding your hand against his—

“Oh my gods, that’s a lot of roses,” your jaw drops, eyes widening at the sight before you.

Your bed is littered with roses. The floor is covered in its petals. It’s beautiful, and the scent fills your nose with a loveliness like no other.

“You deserve every last one,” Kento grins, coming up behind you and kissing the nape of your neck. His arms slide around your waist. “For honoring me in being my wife.”

“Wife,” you giggle, tossing your head back to gaze up at him. “I’m never gonna get used to that. Mrs. Nanami,” your tone becomes sing-songy as you admire your engagement ring.

“Always and forever, my love,” he leans down, claiming your mouth with his. His thumbs rub against your hips, then move inwards, moving up and down the seam of your jeans crotch, as you feel him against your ass—

You pull your hand away quickly, blinking as you snap back to reality. You look to his hand, then to his face, but all you can see are his lips, those lips that kisses you better than you’ve ever been kissed in that vision—

“What did you see?” He asks, leaning forward. “What did you see?”

You open and close your mouth. Once. Twice. Thrice.

“Well…” you start, chewing your lip. “…You live past Shibuya, that I’m certain of.”

Relief crosses his face, and he relaxes, all as your heart pounds harder.

You glance down at your left hand, the hand that now feels too light without a diamond on it. Then you glance back up to him, and even though his expression gives nothing away, you know from that vision that something else is brewing in that beautiful, beautiful head of his.

Because this man? Nanami Kento?

He’ll be your husband.

taggies: @vxmethyst @techs-ass @gasp-a-homo @doubtsanduncertainties (me when tumblr isn't showing you as a user when tagging: ) @vee-ai

want to be tagged on the next part? comment and ask!

#jujutsu nanami #nanami drabbles #nanami kento #jjk nanami #nanami x reader #kento nanami #jujutsu kaisen #jjk fanfic #jjk x reader #clairvoyant #cassiefromhell #writing #fanfiction #fanfic

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broomsick · 19 days

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Hey! How do you communicate with your deities? I'm curious. Also do you believe in fire candle things?

Hi there! Thank you for the ask!

I might have mentioned this in the past, but I'm not somebody who tends to "communicate" with deities very much. At least not in the sense that implies back and forth conversation. I've often noticed that when I'd reach out to a deity in order to establish some kind of "conversation" in this spiritual sense, I'd only ever perceive the answers I wanted to perceive. I don't pretend to have any sort of clairsense, or gift for "God-phoning", and much like a lot of my pagan peers, I can have quite a hard time interpreting signs from the Gods. And I'm afraid to say that despite my having been being pagan for eight years now, I've not gotten much better at it with time. I believe that the divine will always be shrouded in a certain amount of mystery. To try and pick it apart in order to understand it fully will forever be pointless, because what makes a deity truly divine is the unexplainable nature of everything spiritual. To be frank with you, the instances of communication I've experienced with deities were always pretty much one-sided, but I find this pretty exciting! Reaching out to a deity has always soothed me, and sometimes, you might get this feeling of being genuinely listened to. I believe it's one of the most fundamental ways to experience divine presence. And sometimes, often out of the blue, you might receive a message that's as clear as day: a sign or a piece of advice that fits into your situation in a wonderfully accurate manner. For me, these are often words spoken by strangers that seem to resonate, symbols or patterns that keep re-appearing around me, or omens of any kind. I will sometimes ask for the message to be specified if I'm having trouble deciphering it, using a divination method such as rune casting, oracle or tarot. They're basic methods, but generally effective in my experience. However, I always approach them with a lot of skepticism: I find it harder to read messages for oneself rather than for another person. For this reason, I'll very often ask for a friend to make a reading for me: the outside, unbiased perspective makes it that much easier to avoid "hearing what you want to hear". Nevertheless, while I admire people who easily communicate with the divine, I don't seem to fall into that category, and that's fine by me. To be able to venerate the Gods is already a true joy, and I believe that I'll keep getting better at understanding their messages bit by bit.

I’ll now address your second question! I've actually used this method a few times in the past. I’m sure that some, when well practiced and in tune with their intuition, can be great at interpreting signs in a candle. However, my only issue with this divinatory method is that even in a room that’s locked and closed, the air still circulates—a flame never goes up straight when it burns. It'll flicker and go different directions, even when nobody’s there to witness it, or interpret messages from it. The way I see it, interpretation of a candle’s flicker is akin to scrying using a mirror, a black bowl filled with water, or else. Meaning it can make for a great divination method, in a manner that's similar to seeing omens in the weather or in the patterns of a bird’s flight: the movement will happen either way, and I don’t believe it happens with the only purpose of sending a message to one particular individual. I’ve never given much credit to the idea that a candle making a particular sudden movement translates to a direct message from this or that deity. I think it’s all about introspection and finding answers thanks to one’s intuition. In that manner, I think the flickering of a candle can give interesting answers to questions you might be asking yourself. That is why I treat this divination method like a means of scrying rather than communicating with the divine, although I know that this opinion might not be shared by all. I would be curious to hear other people's opinions on this topic!

#ask #asks #personal #divination #witchcraft #deity work #norse paganism #spirituality #heathenry #polytheism #paganism #deities #deity worship #pagan

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literary-illuminati · 1 year

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Book Review 22 - The Employees: A Workplace Novel of the 22nd Century

This was a fascinating book. Another one I probably appreciate as an art object more than as a story, per se, but in this case that’s not really a knock on it. Or at least, I believe the whole project began as the written accompaniment to an actual visual art display. Which I really rather wish I could have seen, it seems like the right sort of setting and accompaniment would have made this a lot more affecting.

Anyway, the basic synopsis of the book is that, sometime in the future, a massive space vessel called the Six Thousand Ship is launched from Earth and ends up in orbit over an alien world, where strange and vaguely eldritch objects are retrieved and brought on board. The story is told through a series of anonymous employee testimonials to some silent and anonymous survey/study/HR board. Crucially, some large fraction of the crew is not human but humanoid, synthetic workers created and programmed by the organization who own the ship.

The entire thing is perfectly designed to convey a very particular sense of corporate alienation, right down to the polite euphemisms used for murder. Especially at the beginning, everything from obsession to grief and nostalgia over never seeing Earth again is always framed as how it might effect ones productiveness as an employee, and to figure out everything that really happened in any given statement you usually have to first decipher the thick layer of corporate HR-ese its buried under. The packaging provides a sort of antiseptic distance that kind of clashes interestingly with what is actually happening at any given point.

Which is, I’m sue, all making a point of the alienation and inhumanity of the modern workplace and the absolute horror of a life that is nothing but work – I think I first heard this book mentioned in the context of people discussing Severance, and I can absolutely see the relation between the two. I’m sure it’s incredibly uncultured of me, but the whole framing device (especially as things moved towards the climax) also just seemed incredibly reminiscent of the audio logs and scraps of text you would find in a video game, providing the backstory of how whatever environment you’re exploring collapsed into the ruined state you found it in. Which is, certainly, an interesting effect to go for in a book.

The objects themselves are almost certainly weighted with deep symbolic meaning that flew entirely over my head, but the effect they had on the various employees is definitely interesting. Things definitely do happen, but in terms of page count the inner musings and angst over the human(oid) condition and how interaction with the objects effects different individual psychologies is what the book is actually really interested is. Being allowed to care for the objects in the way they seem to like becomes an intense preoccupation for some of the crew involved, even moreso than the allocated time with holographic recreations of children the organization starts providing as an incentive at a certain point.

I’m not entirely sure it really does anything with it, but all the ways the book gestures at transhumanism is at least interesting. The humanoids themselves, with their probably immortality and regular mental reuploads and lack of anything outside the Work to contextualize or complicate their life (at least until the objects show up), as well as plenty of mentions of add-ons that the Organization provides its human workers as needed. And just very oblique mentions of ‘transfers’ to positions with very different mental architecture or sense of self or physical/mental autonomy. It’s all a great/creepy vibe, at least.

On the whole book left me slightly cold, but that’s really a me problem more than the book problem. Short enough to be worth a read if it seems interesting, at least.

#the employees #Olga Ravn #sff #literature #book review

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tamelee · 1 month

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Hii tamelee! If I remember correctly, you’re studying storytelling, is that right? I wondered if you could explain in details what kind of school you’re going, or just what exactly you are doing in your studies? If it’s okay with you of course 😊

Have a good day :)

Hi~! Yeah, sure!

I did marketing, (communication and entertainment), but then finished audiovisual and graphic design because I liked that much better than learning about how manipulative the industries are tbh. Unfortunately, I found out quickly, that pretty much every job in that industry has been taken over by AI and that even me learning how to draw wasn’t going to help me with that anymore either 🥲. Then, I continued doing Storytelling in the communication sector (where, yet again I learned about all the ways people are being manipulated -.-) because it’s quite a new official study. And then, I was accepted to apply for the program that focusses more on fiction— and got in. Which I’m doing right now (though I’m almost done).

In short, what I learned about Storytelling in business is that organizations use the elements of fictional storytelling combined with science (both internally and externally) in order to influence and convince the attitude, knowledge and behavioral patterns for the right audiences that are targeted by a certain communication goal. That goes so far that even the science about our brains are dissected to figure out the best ways in which the organization can redirect your neurotransmitters and hormones to benefit the storyteller. Even if you know you’re being manipulated, (for example, through a commercial that’s shamelessly stomping on your morals through a guilt-trip, or a product in the store that’s obnoxiously being shoved in front of you), often it’s still about targeting your subconscious and trust me when I say that if you enjoy spending time on the internet, it happens to you all the time and you don’t even know it :D

And yes, companies like shueisha/VIZ are masters in this as well— hence me disappointingly complimenting that skill at times.

So, imagine my joy when I crossed the bridge toward fiction.

Fictional storytelling is where I dissect not the science of a human brain exactly, but the story that’s being told. I have to figure out all the elements and literary devices that are being used and what they mean in the story. Not what it means to me, but finding meaning through the Theme the author/creator has used, and why. It’s about how a story is structured and what impacts people on an emotional level for their benefit (mostly). Why a story works and keeps you up all night, why others are usually almost always forgotten quickly. It’s not as subjective as people may think. Interpretation doesn’t mean much unless there’s intentionally room for it. (And when something is intentional or when it’s not.) There’s also science in its logic, but that’s not something most authors/creators focus on. And they really shouldn’t have to imo. It’s also knowing about character arcs and how to implement symbolism and motifs effectively. I have to write essays on movies and books or even TED talks. It’s using knowledge to figure out the why, what and how.

I think it’s awesome as a study, but other than some creative writing lessons, it won’t help me with great prose. It’s hard for me to connect with my own emotions and body which is something a lot of great authors can do really well. Either naturally or having to have practiced the connection with their personal emotional intelligence in order to write their Truth in their own authentic way through their characters. I read many books outside of my study from scriptwriters as well which were helpful. None of it is any reassurance I’ll be able to write my own story effectively though. It’s more a guideline of sorts with knowledge and structure which a neurodivergent like me (yes, I’m diagnosed officially) really needs xD. I still have to practice a lot! ^^ Hope you have a good day as well 🌷!

#asktamelee #on storytelling #storytelling talk #personal

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zee-the-zebra · 6 months

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Scara's a Youkai, Hoyo's Just Dumb

Genshin lore is driving me up a wall, what else is new? But this is one particular thing that has been bothering me for a while. Because in an effort to make “original lore” for Scara (I’m not writing his full name), they basically confirmed what he actually is while trying to deny it.

So Explain?

Scara, as described in the game as a “humanoid puppet” created to be a prototype for the Raiden Shogun. There are really no details to how he came about or what was done to create him. The Genshin Wiki says that Khaenri’ahn techniques were used to craft him, but I’m calling bullshit because there’s no source for that info.

This puppet was meant to be “indistinguishable from true life” as Ei’s character story called it. The word “youkai” is never used to refer to him and they took time to say that Hanyuuda Chizuru, a tsukumogami, is an entirely different sort of being from Scara.

Now let’s talk about how all of that is stupid and that Scara is a purposefully induced Tsukumogami.

WTF is a Tsukumogami?

Tsukumogami (付喪神), literally translates to “tool god” or “artifact god”. They are abandoned objects that gain sentience after 100 years of being out of use. Some have specialized names, such as the biwabiwaboku, or the karakasa-obake, while some don’t. Modern tsukumogami can range from being mischievous but ultimately harmless to being vengeful, dangerous beings. The types of tsukumogami known to be the most likely to exist are dolls.

Because dolls have a human shape, it is far easier for them to gain a soul, and have a human understanding of the world. But at the same time, because of that grasp of human emotion and attachment they are also likely to be the most wrathful when abandoned. There are several urban legends where doll tsukumogami are left somewhere and find their way back to their owners to get revenge for being abandoned, the most prevalent being “Mary-San”.

I don’t need to go into detail about how this lines up with Scara’s backstory.

Existence and Creation

Now, it’s not known to happen in mythology or mytho-history, but in fiction, tsukumogami can be purposefully induced before a century comes to pass. An example of this is seen in Touhou 14: Double Dealing Character, in which Shinmyoumaru Sukuna uses a magical mallet to make tsukumogami out of a gohei (purification rod), a mini-hakkero (Eight Trigram Furnace), and a knife.

And to further this point, by the next game, Urban Legend in Limbo, Shinmyoumaru took back the overflowing magic, causing the objects to revert back to being objects. So causing a tsukumogami to come to life on purpose is not unreasonable, especially if you play fast and loose with mythology.

In the context of Genshin, Scara can easily be seen as an induced Tsukumogami. And because Ei didn’t take back the magic she used to create him, he remained alive rather than reverting back to just being a doll.

The Symbolism of Fire

There’s a certain Shinto tradition called the “Ningyo Kuyo”. In which dolls are brought to a temple and given a proper funeral and farewell. This is done in order to avoid them becoming vengeful tsukumogami. Oftentimes during these ceremonies, these dolls are burnt as a send off.

However, sometimes people tend to just skip the ceremony and just burn the doll. The purpose being is that it’s meant to lay the doll to rest, and if there is already a spirit inside, to grant it freedom, rest, or and a chance at a new life.

Fire symbolism is in two parts of Scara’s backstory. First with the Mikage furnace, in which he should’ve perished but was protected by a device containing Niwa’s heart. Perhaps it can be read as despite going through fire, he did not burn, meaning it wasn’t his time to be laid to rest yet.

The second, and important one is with the human child he adopted as a brother. The boy he befriended made a doll in his image to remember him by, but when he succumbed to an illness, Scara burned down the house with his body and doll inside. While on surface this was done so he could cast aside the memory of his connection and “betrayal”. But in the context of a send off, it can be read as him making sure both the child and the doll don’t linger in this world in the same way he did. What’s more is that in his teaser trailer, he walks through, and sits in the burning rubble, as if he is considering putting himself to rest as well.

Gods and Names

Tsukumogami are technically gods because “Kami” usually translates to god in English. However, in Shinto, Kami aren’t gods in the Western sense. Shinto uses the religious concept of Animism, in which there is a god or a spirit for everything and every concept. This is what Kami are. Not gods in the Western ‘can smite you’ way, but spirits that embody certain aspects of nature and the world. Most “godly’ kami tend to have names while most Tsukumogami, and a few other beings with the “神” suffix aren't given unique names.

Most tsukumogami, hell, most Youkai in fiction tend to name themselves, rather than have their names given to them, as seen again with Hanyuuda Chizuru. But that's really only when they form naturally. Those who weren’t induced and even some who were have already accepted themselves as Youkai, and don't care about being gods. So they name themselves and live their lives.

But because Ei created a tsukumogami with the intention of it housing something divine, and never named it, she had basically done the equivalent of calling a project complete even after not doing the last step. Scara was always going to feel incomplete. Because Ei quite literally never finished the process.

The “Kojiki” and “Nihon Shoki” are sacred books of Shinto, meant to explain the existence of the already worshipped gods. In both, Izanagi, the father of the gods Amaterasu, Tsukuyomi, and Susano-o named them the moment they sprung to life. Because they were named by a god, they became gods.

For all intents and purposes, he could’ve been a god, but only if Ei named him. Because he never was given a true name when he was first brought to life, he simply remained as just a youkai rather than “godly” kami so to speak.

How Disappointing

It’s so funny to me. Hoyo had literally the perfect set up to incorporate numerous parts of a mythology into their lore. Doing so would’ve given a, frankly, previously flat character far more depth and meaning to his story. But yet, in an effort to be “creative” they ended up with something rather boring and poorly defined.

Not like that is new for them.

But I can still grieve the lost potential.

#genshin #genshin impact #scaramouche #kunikuzushi #wanderer #wanderer genshin #this has been bothering me for a while #so i finally dumped it all here

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amity206 · 11 months

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Sky Theories: The Shattering Diamond

In this post I’ll be going over various theories on the Shattering Diamond, and evidences to support (or not support) then. This is probably going to get a bit long, so the rest will be below the cut. If you have any theories you’d like to add or flaws you’ve noticed in what I’ve written, please let me know!

I also ended up going into the aftermath of the explosion so tw for discussion of nuclear fallout

We can be pretty confident that the Shattering Diamond was a massive darkstone / artificial star. It seems to have consumed a lot of light and had some sort of purpose, so what was it supposed to be used for?

Theory One: it was meant to levitate Eden into the sky, like some sort of spaceship (sort of a modified Ark plan like we saw in concepts) - that being the reason part of Eden is now levitating. We know that darkstone can levitate things, see the platforms in the Vault of Knowledge.

This could have been a sort of Planet B project, as the ancestors realized their world was dying. It could have also been a plan to reach Megabird as sort of a religious journey (I remember one user comparing the structure of Eden’s city to the Tower of Babel). It could also have been a plan to OVERTHROW Megabird. But the massive ark (which seems to have been scrapped, in 7 Days of Sky they said (my emphasis on certain words) “in ONE ITERATION of Sky’s story, they built a massive ark to survive the apocalypse) would have been much more efficient at all of these things. Which brings us to the next theory.

Theory Two: it was meant to be an unlimited power supply, tapping into Eden’s light beacon to provide sustainable energy for the Sky Kingdom.

I’ve been seeing this theory a lot more lately, and I think it makes sense - with light getting scarcer in the Sky Kingdom and increasing protests against the use of light creatures for power, the King could have turned to Eden’s light beacon - a seemingly unlimited power source - for power. That could possibly explain why everyone is praying beneath it (though not entirely, I mean I’m not going around worshipping solar panels, so probably it’s the King they’re worshipping, with the Diamond seen as a symbol of his power).

This could have run into two problems - first of all, the light creatures needed that beacon for migration purposes. They might have been drawn to it - only to be absorbed - or attacked to keep their migrations safe. Second, that was a LOT of power.

I’m going to pull up the quotes from four of the six Shattering memories (if you’re hanging trouble reading them, you can find these on the Season of Shattering page of the Sky Wiki):

It’s possible that some of these could refer to light creatures being drawn to the Shattering Diamond, or just to artificial beacons set up to capture them. This could also point to the Shattering Diamond actually holding the souls of these light creatures, and that being how we can view them inside these “frozen memories”. So perhaps when the Shattering Diamond started to absorb the beacons power, for a while it glowed brighter than the beacon and the light creatures were instantly drawn to it - and as a result, absorbed by it. Since this meant their souls couldn’t rejoin Megabird, it further weakened the light in the universe, possibly causing the stars to start falling as we see in “The Seed” from the Aurora Concert.

It also had another consequence - the Shattering Diamond couldn’t hold that much light. Something was going wrong with it, and it was getting unstable. Let’s look at the final two Shattering memories:

This points to a massive explosion of the Shattering Diamond - as it absorbed too much light, it, well, shattered. Somehow the Elders were all there when that happened - the concept timeline says they gathered to curse the King in Eden (trapping him forever), so maybe they were doing that? (Maybe the King is the dark star thing at the very top of the Diamond?)

In Light Awaits, there was a note on them trapping the resulting storm behind the Gate, so maybe they were trying to stabilize / contain it?

The explosion also created the just mentioned storm of darkness from all the light it had absorbed, warped, and released (I believe someone in TGC referred to the red as a warped flame and @/lelanida theorized that red presented darkness mixed with light). The storm corrupted light creatures caught in it, turning them into the krill (“a distorted reflection” of light creatures).

(Images from Aurora Concert and Seed of Hope quest)

We know from the Seed of Hope and Stealthy Survivor’s memories that ancestors encountered krill, so the blast didn’t kill everyone in Wasteland and beyond - it might have done so in Eden, however.

It might have been similar to a nuclear bomb, and krill creatures created by “radiation” poisoning - many people would have survived the initial blast, only to be crushed under falling buildings, die later of their burns, or die days or months later (maybe even years) of radiation / darkness poisoning.

Life would have very difficult for ancestors that did survive, especially in Wasteland - the water was polluted, krill searched for any light they could consume, and they had little light left to power the darkstone boats they could have used to escape. Darkness pollution would have sickened and killed many, especially children.

Vault accepted some refugees (as seen in Season of Remembrance), but probably shut their doors to keep the corruption at bay. This was probably the era of the Abyss spirits - concept art has Cackling Cannoneer wearing trophies that represent their battles with krill, and the spirit’s search for resources would fit in with this era.

Other areas faced a lot less of a threat from the explosion, but no longer having light to power their boats they would have lost contact with each other. The Elders had died in the Storm and they had no one to lead them. The animation trailer points to the falling of the stars as the reason Isle became a desert - meaning the people there would have starved (of course, they could have gotten food from the sea, but a lack of light probably also meant a lack of fish).

Prairie’s farms might have suffered, but they probably still had food for a while - we do see darkness growing on their bell towers and out of pots, so perhaps their farms became contaminated. Maybe the storm used to be a lot bigger, and affected all the realms a lot more.

Forest probably would have suffered due to the polluted rain and lack of food. Valley likely relied on imported food as well, so they would have starved.

The Lightseekers would have become very important, as they searched for the last traces of fallen light the ancestors could use for power.

Slowly, the last survivors died. The explosions around the Shattering Diamond continued to maintain the storm, as the beacon was still an infinite source of power. Eventually, it would start erupting again - triggering the start of Season of Shattering.

The shards we get are referred to as “pieces of frozen memory from the Eye of Eden”, again connecting all these memories to the theory that every one of them (not just the obvious ones) takes place in Eden.

It’s possible Eden started erupting again because of excess light brought to it by skykids, or due to the Megabird and therefore the beacon getting stronger. The fact they’re referred to as “eruptions” links Eden to volcanoes - other links include the way the fallen look like the bodies at Pompeii and the possibility that the storm contains volcanic lighting - but instead of being a regular volcano, it would be a volcano of darkness.

Anyway that’s all I have for now! Please share your thoughts / theories / things I might have missed, I’d love to hear them! (And please if you think I got something wrong don’t hesitate to tell me why and what your theory is, I want to make sure my understanding of the lore and the big lore blog(s) I have on the sky wiki is as accurate as possible)

#sky cotl #sky children of the light #thatskygame #sky: cotl #sky: children of the light #sky cotl lore

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poimandresnous · 9 months

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What is My Pluralistic Stance on Human Sacrifice/Murder? (Caution Spicy)

First, I must start by saying: I don’t think human sacrifice was justifiable in any time period, race, culture, or geographical location. I can’t imagine that’s an acceptable way to appease the gods. But in the same breath, I can also be aware that that is my perception of the Divine, gods, and powers that be. Any interpretation I muster will be my subjective interpretation of the symbols and images cast before us by the gods and, ultimately, The One.

If someone today were to think human sacrifices were still acceptable, who am I to say they are wrong and then go out to enforce my perception of what people should be doing? I am not in law enforcement, this is why we have people that do that in society, to go after murders. This is why I’m also drawn to both (Neo) Platonism and Daoism. It allows me to have and establish my morals but also allows me to flesh out my pre-existing pluralistic beliefs. I'm being taught to not make distinctions between what “is” and what “isn’t” and to let Fate naturally distinguish itself.

Zhuangzi says this: "The Dao has no boundaries. Words have never had constancy. It is because of "it is" that boundaries exist (2.14.1-3). Guo Xiang expands on the last sentence: It is because the Dao has no boundaries that each of the myriad things can fully realize the limits to its own potential.

Regarding punishment and the enforcement of things like murder, I take a very deterministic stance that if it is not in accord with Fate or Nature…whatever we are doing, Nature/Fate, or the Law of the Land will correct it, sometimes in the most brutal and disgusting ways. But we have grown as a society where murder and human sacrifice are unacceptable.

I don’t think pluralism gives the murders any “legitimacy.” I think pluralism allows for more of an understanding of all the bad stuff we do to each other and the world and to try to find the next best solution to correct our mistakes. That said, I’m also being taught/reminded that our knowledge does have limits, and that in turn means so does our understanding of things, be they bad or good.

So how can I "understand" the murder while also believing full-heartedly that their actions are completely unjust and should meet some sort of punishment? Zhuangzi says this: To know how Heaven acts and how man acts is to reach perfection. To know how Heaven acts is to live in step with Heaven. When it comes to knowing how man should act, he takes what his knowing knows and uses it to know what he does not know and so lives out the full span of his years without dying young in mid-course; such is his fullness of knowledge. (6.1.1-3)

I take the above quotes to mean spontaneously having morals but not too self-consciously pondering or enforcing them. To know how Heaven and Man act is to act in accordance with our innate principle, which is always in step with Heaven, if we cast aside the notion of "what is" and "what is not" (Zhuangzi 2.14.11).

And a friend in Discord raised a good point: how much understanding can we give until we give that bad or good thing a platform? The answer will vary for everyone, as I don't wish to dictate how much "understanding" or "knowledge" one should have. According to the words of Zhuangzi and Guo Xiang, we are allotted a certain amount of understanding or knowledge. This doesn't mean it's futile to study or try to gain understanding or knowledge, but it's to recognize your own limits. If Law enforcement and politics are in one's innate nature, then one should most definitely pursue that. For me, I know that's not in my nature. We are encouraged to have "fullness of knowledge," but this is not as good as completely discarding knowledge entirely and leaving it up to Heaven to naturally divide and distinguish. (Zhuangzi 6.2.1). The act of "not knowing" and "knowing" results in a sort of wholeness that our knowledge nourishes what we "don't know," according to Guo Xiang comments on 6.2.1.

We "don't know" why people thought human sacrifice was okay and justifiable. Today, we "don't know" why people murder and why some people have a greater understanding of why the murderer murders. So for each of us, we use what we know to furnish what we "don't know." This is why so many of us have different answers for this spicy topic: Murder and Human sacrifice.

I was explaining a little bit of what I’ve been reading on Daoism to my father, and he’s skeptical too of how “loose” and lacking the ethics are. But that’s a wrong takeaway from what I was saying and pluralism in general. Daoism calls us to act spontaneously when we know something in our innate principle (nature) to be wrong. If we are perfectly aligned with Fate, in harmony with it, we can act in accord with what naturally is and isn’t good for the world. But first, we must cast aside the very notion that things are and that they are not. It’s very similar to Hermeticism in that respect, as in we must cast aside the physical world and all its illusions to truly find the images of God(The One).

#daoism #pluralism #pluralistic #human sacrifice

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strawberry-soot · 1 year

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✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* ♦️ CATER BIRTHDAY SSR FLOWER ANALYSIS* ♦️*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

*Mandatory reminder that I’m no flower specialist, which means these are all very subjective opinions. Take everything with a grain of salt!

With their vivid hue orange roses express passion and excitement. They’re a symbol of energy and enthusiasm, as well as liveliness, youthfulness, new beginnings, and happiness. They’re a great gift for someone who needs a mood lift.

Daylilies are used to represent joy, love, courage, beauty, and devotion. They indicate good luck and have been used as symbol of flirtation (but not untrustworthiness) since it blooms at sunrise and closes at sunset and thus only stays around for so long. However, more commonly, they’re used to express joy, energy, and power, making them a great flower to gift someone who’s struggling or working hard to achieve a certain goal. They’re also said to indicate pride and confidence, or in the Japanese language of flowers power, success, and wealth.

Ranunculus stands for charm, attractiveness and having a crush on/wanting to learn more about someone. More particular, in yellow, it symbolizes happiness, joy, and positive feelings, and is used to bring positive energy to the recipient, while orange ranunculi express charm. According to Native American Mythology however, it can also be a symbol of careless behavior.

On a lighter note, gerbera daisies generally symbolize cheerfulness, loyal love, innocence and purity. I’m going to be honest here, I’m not sure if Cater has yellow gerberas or white ones that are just shaded in a way that makes them look yellow, so I’ll just tell you the meaning of both. White gerbera daisies represent purity and innocence, as I already mentioned. They’re used to show someone you find them loyal, thoughtful, and pure of love, which makes them a popular wedding flower, or as a gift from parents to their children. They can also be used to wish someone good health so a bouquet of white gerberas would make a great get well soon gift. If they’re yellow, however, they symbolize friendship and happiness, and once again are the perfect present to cheer someone up from a gloomy day, or as a recovering gift from an illness.

The small bulbous ones I believe to be white arbutus berries, which grow on arbutus trees, or as they’re more commonly known as, strawberry trees. Arbutus trees symbolize uniqueness of the human spirit, strength, beauty, as well as the ability to grow despite suffering, to live life fully no matter the circumstances.

The goldenrod/solidago in his bouquet represents good fortune, growth and encouragement, as well as positivity and good/happy thoughts since it’s one of the rare flowers that can survive harsh, diverse environments. They’re also a sign of support and often given to those suffering from depression to alleviate some of its effects.

Mimosas symbolize sunshine (as well as the sun and light in general), sensibility, sensitivity, and the want to expand in some sort of way. They’re associated with problem solving and the finding of complex solutions (sensibility), or to convey gentle emotions that are difficult to express or to represent emotions you don’t know how to talk about (sensitivity), which is why they’re also sometimes used as mourning flowers. The need to expand can relate to family, wealth, travel, and other areas of your life, though most commonly, it symbolizes the birth of a baby. Generally speaking, gifting mimosas means that you care about the recipient and that you want to convey your support, admiration, or sympathy.

Naturally, these are my un-educated guesses, but feel free to let me know if I got anything wrong/what flowers I might’ve missed.

#twst #twst spoilers #twisted wonderland #cater diamond #twst cater #flower analysis

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shadowmaat · 2 years

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Getting Closer

23: Once you meet your soulmate, it becomes physically uncomfortable to be away from them for long. From this prompt list. Codywan

At first Obi-Wan attributed his exhaustion and headaches to the stress of suddenly being thrust into a war, but no amount of sleep, proper meals, exercise, or meditation seemed to help. If anything, his symptoms seemed to get worse. There were times his vision blurred or his nausea got bad enough he wound up curled in a ball in the ‘fresher.

The healers couldn’t find anything wrong with him and they, too, suggested it might be stress-related, but whatever the cause was, Obi-Wan was getting sick of being sick.

“Maybe you met your soulmate and didn’t realize it.” Anakin was grinning when he said it, but there was a worried light in his eyes.

Obi-Wan huffed in annoyance. “Don’t be ridiculous, Anakin. Even if the odds weren’t astronomically against that sort of thing, where, exactly, do you suppose I might have run into them? On Geonosis?”

“It could have been one of the droids. Or the bugs!”

“That’s racist and I’ve taught you better than that.” Obi-Wan leaned against a wall to catch his breath and wait for everything to stop spinning. They were supposed to be on their way to the clone barracks for some meeting of Anakin’s.

“Anyway, I’m quite certain my soulmate is not a Geonosian and droids do not have souls.” It did get him thinking about it, though, much to his irritation. Where else had he been, though? He’d gone to Geonosis straight from Kamino and then...

A troubling thought occurred to him. But he’d been following Jango Fett, not moving away from him, and any discomfort should have ended when Mace killed him.

“Come on, Master Mine, let’s not keep Rex and the others waiting.”

“I hardly see why I need to be here for this,” Obi-Wan said, taking the proffered arm. “If Master Che and her team can’t figure out what’s wrong with me I may not even be allowed to fight.”

“You can always advise me.” Anakin grinned.

“I’ve been trying to get you to listen for ten years without any luck,” Obi-Wan said. “I doubt you’ll start now.”

It made Anakin laugh and that made him feel a little better. He perked up a bit as they approached the barracks. He even released Anakin’s arm and stretched a bit as they approached the guards on duty.

As soon as they entered the barracks proper Obi-Wan felt as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He stopped dead in the hall as realization sank in.

“Obi-Wan?” Anakin turned to look at him. “Are you okay? Do you need to rest again?”

“I’m fine, Anakin,” he said, which was true... for a certain value of the word.

“Okay, well, Rex is in room 31-Besh, and I’m sure he’d love to meet you.”

“Yes, of course.” He smiled, ignoring the speculative look he got in response. “Lead on, Padawan.”

They hadn’t gone far before they ran into a pair of clones. One had the medical symbol stenciled on his pauldron and a tattoo of a bacta patch on his neck. He was haranguing his companion, whose expression was one of grim determination.

“Just because you’re feeling better now doesn’t mean it’s going to stay that way, Commander,” the medic warned.

“I appreciate the concern, Patch, but I’ve been out of commission for too long already. I need to get back to-”

The clone commander froze in place as he caught sight of Obi-Wan. Which was fine, since Obi-Wan’s feet felt glued to the floor. They stared at each other.

“Oh! Generals, sirs!” The medic- Patch- saluted. “Sorry for the interruption!”

“That’s alright,” Anakin said, relaxed as ever. “Is everything alright?”

“Sir, yes, sir!” Patch moved to stand in front of the Commander. “We were just, uh, returning to the barracks!”

“Alright then, carry on.” Anakin gave them a dismissive wave and continued on his way.

Obi-Wan didn’t follow. His heart was hammering in his chest and his palms had gone sweaty. Somehow, he managed to wet his lips and speak.

“Hello there.” His voice sounded loud to his own ears. Was it too loud? He smiled, unable to look away from the Commander. “I’m Master Obi-Wan Kenobi. And you are...?”

“He’s fine, General, sir,” Patch said, now standing directly between them and breaking their eye contact. “Just needs some sleep and he’ll be ready to perform all his duties! Sir.”

Fear wafted off him, brushing against Obi-Wan’s shields. He frowned.

“Master?”

Anakin was a bright ball of confusion just at his periphery.

Pushing past Patch, the Commander held out his hand. “Commander CC-2224.” His smile was hesitant, but it warmed Obi-Wan to his core. “My friends call me Cody.”

“Cody.” Obi-Wan repeated, loving the sound of it. He reached out, grasping Cody’s forearm, Mando-style. “It’s very nice to meet you, Cody,” he said, unable to stop his smile.

“Wait,” Anakin said, somewhere far away. “Him??”

“Is there somewhere we can go to talk?” He tilted his head. “I have a feeling there’s a lot we need to discuss.”

“I...” Cody’s expression wavered for a moment. “Yes, sir. I think that might be a good idea.”

Anakin had drawn Patch off to the side and the two were having an intense whispered conversation.

Obi-Wan realized he was still holding Cody’s arm and released it, feeling heat rise in his face. “Please, call me Obi-Wan.” He gestured at the hall. “I trust you to lead the way... Cody.”

This was going to complicate things immeasurably, but if it led to both of them being happy then maybe it was worth it.

#jedimindfic #codywan #found this in my drafts #I assume I was planning to write more #but this works as-is

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simple-seranade · 1 year

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Okay so your blurb had me brainrot (yes I’m been busy giggling about Qsmp for a min it’s true)

I like to imagine that Saint jim and the rest of the evo is a certain caste of god siblings that hails from the void mother. So way more powerful then new gods like for example Joel.

Jim is charge of omens and death. He also been worshiped as a god of hope though he has been also worshipped as a god of doom. Despite this numerous myths has painted him as the kindest of his siblings that hail from the void mother. But he is also the one out of his siblings to have the most human flaws. But he tends to favor humans more than the others and tends to hide amongst them. He likes to do tests. He is primarily pictured in monoliths as a human man with golden wings. His symbol is the canary which he has been known to shape-shift into.

Grian meanwhile is in charge of surveillance and chaos. He has been worshipped as a god of war as well. He is usually prayed to as a sorta curse to whatever person people pissed off the wrong person. He is one of the cruelest of the siblings but usually he doesn’t interact much with his victims besides mean pranks or bad luck. He is the oldest and the most out of touch with humans. They are his playthings mostly but he has been noticed to have favorites. He can appear as a human but his true form is well horrific and has been shown as such on monoliths. Recently he started disguising himself as a traveler to either reward or punish others.

Pearl is primarily worshipped by sanctuary but she is interesting compared to her siblings beacuse yes she was a god but was thrown down to earth by accident and became a human before remembering who she is and ascending back to where she belonged. She is in charge of the night cycle and also worshipped as a harvest goddess.

Martyn has no known followers. And in fact he is mostly unknown. It’s rumored he is charge of being some sort of messenger and fate. He apparently to rumors also likes to hop down to earth primarily through do whatever he wants. He is noted to have many forms. And tends to give abilities that usually turn out to be more like a curse,

YES YES YES I AM SO HERE FOR THIS

elaborating on Martyn’s, some of the oldest monoliths discovered show evidence of being around long before civilizations. Martyn is the messenger, yes, and spreads the words and tales of the others in the original days. ancient stone statues of the saints that never crack, change poses, incorporate new elements without anyone ever stepping foot by them. Martyn is a craftsman, a storyteller, and he also enjoys creeping people the heck out with his depictions of his siblings

JIMMY! Jimmy my boy! there are a select few circles that hail him as the god of love, though this rarely mixes well with the added god of doom aspect. dedicated and loyal to a fault, earning his favor guaranteed you good fortune in all relationships, platonic or romantic. Getting on his bad side, however, does result in not just him being angry, but also the other three, which… yeah, you’re screwed then!

Pearl i find fascinating because there are myths where Apollo was cast down to earth to be human for a period of time as a punishment. There’s much speculation between scholars- was it an accident she stumbled off the moon, a falling star crashing to the earth below? Was her period of neglected protection from cold winter storms and the rabid wolves in the farmers’ forests what caused the void mother to send her down, to learn from those she harmed? Was she simply a victim of the cruelty of the void, the most polarizing subject in the faith? No one knows. The monoliths don’t tell them.

Grian. He hovers and Watches and it’s said when you feel eyes on you in the dead of night you’re being observed by the divine, so tread carefully. Merchants are the most frequent target of his tests, none passing- at least, besides the legend of one mortal salesman with a silver tongue and the devil’s blessing. They’re nearly rumors, and the scarred man who spreads them is a liar, not to be believed. The divine are not to be trifled with, but Grian most of all. Mushrooms overrunning fields, sandstorms, bouts of mania so strong even Heracles would tremble descending on those who have wronged him-

well. it’s safe to say he has the most loyal and the most terrified group of followers

#inthelittlewood #pearlescentmoon #jimmy solidarity #grian #martyn inthelittlewood #solidarity gaming #grianmc #hermitblr #trafficblr #evo smp #mentioned third life and others #rainbowchaox asks #i am brainrotting so hard over this #watcher #listener

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flamingplay · 7 months

Text

Everything Everything: Making mountains

Jonathan Higgs in the interview about Mountainhead for Dork Magazine | 27.10.2023

With their seventh album on the way next year, EVERYTHING EVERYTHING are still pushing at the boundaries. Check out the latest cover story for our New Music Friday playlist edit, The Cut.

Words: Stephen Ackroyd.

As they approach their seventh studio release, Everything Everything aren’t slowing down or playing it safe – quite the opposite. With a conceptual vision inspired by an alternate reality, the band find themselves questioning society, tech, and what it means to be human.

Lead vocalist Jonathan Higgs takes a break from finalising their latest video (“It’s all one shot, so there isn’t much to do!”) to discuss the forthcoming record. “It’s got a fairly simple concept; it’s about a fictional world wherein all of society is consumed with the building of a giant mountain,” he explains. “The only problem is they have to dig a big hole in order to build it, and they have to live in the hole. I wanted something monolithic and simple to hang the album around, an easy but strong metaphor that can be applied to a number of things.”

A potent metaphor, while the narrative presents a dystopian universe, the album is not without its lighter moments. As Jonathan puts it, “It’s not as anxious as some of our earlier albums. Yes, I worry about the future and also the present, but I don’t think I’m alone in that. ‘Mountainhead’ has quite a few moments of revelry and fun, somewhat divorced from reality, perhaps. I never want to make a record that’s one tone, and my life has been fun and happy recently, so there is less negativity coming out of me in the music. I’d say a lot of our records are more like warnings than despair.”

Their lead single, ‘Cold Reactor’, serves as a doorway into this alternate universe, exploring the human cost and the complexities of digital communication. “Isolation and communicating through symbols and screens is talked about a lot,” Higgs notes. A portrayal of the modern digital age, where a performative projection of emotion replaces genuine human interaction, it turns out the subject matter is quite literal. “The term “cold reactor” is how I’m describing a user of social media or digital communication rather than a nuclear power station. One who types a crying laughing emoji but does not laugh.”

“I never want to make a record that’s one tone”

Jonathan Higgs

Not new to experimentation, Everything Everything’s previous work ‘Raw Data Feel’ incorporated AI into the creative process. At the time an innovative, experimental approach that quickly became a sort of unnerving present, it’s something that doesn’t permeate ‘Mountainhead’. “We felt as though it wouldn’t be interesting to do it now,” Higgs admits, highlighting the rapid evolution of technology and its integration into our lives. “We used AI to write a few lines here and there on ‘RDF’, and make the artwork, but within a very short time, it became very commonplace to use things like ChatGPT and MidJourney, so we felt as though it wouldn’t be interesting to do it now.”

“It isn’t particularly interesting in terms of creating things,” he continues. “It can’t give you a proper idea; it can only hint at things. We have a lot of ideas going on already and haven’t felt the need for it. It can be useful to augment, but not really create.”

However, that interest in technology remains. “I think the next big innovation is incorporating the user into the medium, for example, films that are personalised to the individual. Like a game. Everything will become like a game.”

‘Mountainhead’ was forged amidst the latest set of challenges to arrive thanks to our good friend ‘the pandemic’, in a way that so many bands may yet find over the coming months. “It knocked us right out of sync with the usual timings of an album cycle,” Higgs recalls. “We never found our feet properly. So we had to make certain we got the album out at the time we will. This meant a lot of late nights – particularly for Alex [Robertshaw, guitarist] as he produced this album.”

The hard work was worth it, though. Asked if there’s one track Higgs is especially eager for fans to hear, his answer is pretty straightforward. “There is a song called ‘Dagger’s Edge’ which has some good lines.”

In the world of Everything Everything, albums are more than just a collection of songs. They’re an exploration, a question, and sometimes a warning. For ‘Mountainhead’, while the overarching theme is dystopian, it’s rooted in our current realities – capitalism, religion, celebrity worship, and digital disconnection.

But, as Higgs points out, the music comes first. “Musically, we never really put the concept before the song; it has to be a good song on its own first – even if the lyrics are nonsense to begin with. Once we feel good about the songs, we can thread in the larger concept.”

“Nobody actually wants to hear a concept album; they want to read one,” he says, emphasising that while the content is important, the music shouldn’t be overshadowed.

This might be their seventh outing, but Everything Everything are showing no signs of plateauing. Instead, they continuously reimagine and rediscover their sound, presenting fresh narratives that captivate and resonate. With the album’s release set for the new year, the band stands ready to climb new heights, challenging us to follow along.

#Everything Everything #Jonathan Higgs #Cold Reactor #Mountainhead

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shining-star-system · 1 month

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i say if people think you don’t “fit” into their standard of what a certain person from a certain culture looks like then they can get fucked, really

i get nervous learning about my cultures too because i am worried that i’m appropriating, even though i know for a fact i have family from those countries, nobody in my family besides our late grandpa really cared about family history, so i don’t know where to start with it, but if you are from that culture people shouldn’t hound on you for learning it. it’s stupid.

it’s stupid how even learning about cultures can be seen as appropriating, but writers and artists and film makers etc learn about cultures all the time. it is incredibly stupid that people will scream that simply learning about a culture you are interested in is appropriation when it’s not. it becomes an issue when you try to act like you’re part of that culture (such as doing their traditions, their holidays, their religious practices, using their names / naming system, etc [most of which will be closed off to the general public, again, unless you are invited]) when you’re simply learning about it.

the stuff about symbols is mainly because people use actual languages as an aesthetic, which is really disrespectful and rude. あいうえお (a, i, u, e, o) and 日本 are not aesthetic symbols like how 𝛝𝛠﹐⟢ are. they come from a language, and hold meaning. mathematical symbols and small form variants of punctuation don’t

it’s important to remember that you can, in fact, care about the stuff going on in the real world and the symbol / name stuff

people can care about two things at once and i find it really odd to say you can only care about one or the other /lh

all of this is /not mad by the way. i just like sharing my opinions and rambling. i hope we can come to some sort of understanding? because i understand your side, and agree with some of the points, but i personally don’t think you understand mine (not sure of this tone, sorry. but. not meant to be rude)

I agree with all of this and I more and likely struggle to convey the tones of the other messages.

The other ones (assuming you’re the same anon) just seemed like it was focused on speaking of all POC people. I’m also autistic so tone is on me as well.

But yeah, languages being used for aesthetic purposes and not knowing what they mean is certainly rude and wrong. Being invited in is also good, but there’s also issues where someone might not know that individual was invited or not (which is in itself just a large case of miscommunication and stuff).

My whole issue is that people will hound others without knowing and then when someone says their heritage/lineage is said, it just seems like it’s just more understood.

I’m more so upset with the people that take it entirely too far and cause things without seeing that a lot of things can depend on who says what or what is asked

But yeah, I get what you’re saying.

Sorry for being rude

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gretchensinister · 2 months

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@purplebloodedmajesty also gave me the word "space" when I asked for words. I ended up going in a different direction than I expected, but space is mentioned!

This piece is a fragment of what I’m casually calling the “Garnetting AU.” I want to save most of the explanation for the longer fic, so the things to know for this one: 1) it’s shortly post-movie, Jen, Kira, Aughra, some podlings, and SkekGra and UrGoh are currently at the Castle of the Crystal trying to Deal With All That, 2) the Great Conjunction granted SkekGra and UrGoh a fusion form who is both them and a new person. The fates of certain other parties aren’t defined in this fic and there’s a lot of stuff that isn’t addressed that obviously would be in a longer work.

~*~

“I always wanted to travel through space. Do I not find that aimless desire granted, now that I am the farthest from my origin that I have ever been?” UrGoh’s voice rose and fell as he spoke, as if he were trying to make what he said into a song.

“I knew about the wandering through the stars part, but what do you mean about the rest? Why do you sound like that? And we’re not exactly far from our origin, now.” SkekGra turned and froze when he saw the books in UrGoh’s hands.

One was triangular and made out of some glossy material that neither they, nor Rhoga, nor even Aughra had recognized, but had reluctantly opened to some combination of Rhoga’s hands and breath and voice. It held arrays of symbols that Rhoga could almost recognize and sort of interpret if they didn’t think about it too much. Rhoga didn’t like doing that, though, despite their curiosity, so what they did was make plenty of notes for SkekGra and UrGoh to use when they examined the book. SkekGra intimately understood why Rhoga was uncomfortable with the project. Rhoga was young, and new, and wonderful, and they weren’t the author of this book. At least they hoped they weren’t, and they worried that spending too much time with this book would change them from Rhoga into someone else. SkekGra and UrGoh, on another hand, had crossed a thousand trine, and if even Rhoga and the light of the Great Conjunction hadn’t made them other than themselves, then it seemed unlikely that any book possibly could. SkekGra was still suspicious of it, though. Mostly for UrGoh’s sake. Which was, of course, partly why Rhoga was suspicious of it for their own sake.

The other book was the blank volume that UrGoh had decided to use for Rhoga’s notes. Or, wait, was it Rhoga who had decided to use that book for notes, it was just that UrGoh’s choice had totally aligned with Rhoga’s? SkekGra still wasn’t used to remembering Rhoga-time, or even conceptualizing it. That was all right, though. It was wonderful, wonderful, wonderful to learn. He loved Rhoga just as much as he loved UrGoh. And he loved being Rhoga as much as he’d loved being a young skeksis—maybe even more, even if he couldn’t remember Rhoga’s experiences the way he remembered his own. He thought he’d leave a note to ask Rhoga to write down how they remembered things that SkekGra and UrGoh experienced. Because he really wanted to know what they thought about this.

“That’s—”

“The translation,” UrGoh said. He tilted his head. “The work is almost slower than I can stand. There are complexities that Rhoga has sensed but need an analytic point of view that we don’t share...yet.” He smiled softly. “I wish I could work with them face-to-face. We could work with them. Then again...I have a feeling that between you and Rhoga I wouldn’t get anything done.”

“Rhoga does have a silly tendency to miss you even when they’re happy,” SkekGra said. “I can only imagine what they would be like if they could actually hold you.”

“Well...that all applies to you just as much,” UrGoh said. He paused. “You know...I don’t think Rhoga is in danger from this book...at least not any danger of not being Rhoga. Perhaps the danger is...learning about someone else to miss.”

“Or learning about someone we’re glad is gone—even when he’s not really gone—I—look, what I mean is that all of me came from GraGoh. The Conqueror was already in him.”

“Surely you know by now...that only makes me want to know more?” UrGoh met SkekGra’s eyes. “GraGoh can’t make me love you or Rhoga less, no matter what I find.” He glanced at the more ordinary book. “I want to share this with you.”

SkekGra looked at UrGoh for a long moment. “Well,” he said, “I’ve never said no to anything when you’ve put it like that. And—I can’t forget you were inside GraGoh, too.”

UrGoh motioned SkekGra over to a table where they could sit down. “I haven’t yet figured out if GraGoh or any of the urSkeks would have laughed, been affronted, or even understood the double entendre when you speak of us being inside GraGoh, by the way.”

“Do you expect to?”

UrGoh looked at the urSkek journal thoughtfully. “Yes, I think so.”

“I guess considering all the things we wrote down—all right, what’s—what’s there, so far? And explain it without pauses, won’t you?”

UrGoh looked at SkekGra innocently. “It’s a hard...habit to break.”

SkekGra groaned, and UrGoh reached out and covered his hand with one of his own. “I won’t do it on purpose for this. But I really did get used to thinking and speaking that way...our renewal didn’t undo that.”

“Nothing undone,” SkekGra said. “Ah, fuck it. At least I’ll always know it’s you, talking like that. And my thoughts still race around the place where the nail was. Anyway—so—now—how did GraGoh speak?”

“I don’t know if we can ever know that,” UrGoh said. “The distance between speech and writing...at least this journal was only for GraGoh himself, if the way it was sealed means anything.

“So...the translation is possible because of Rhoga’s...memories, if that’s what they are. Puzzle pieces of the mind...finally fitting together. Their memories link symbol, sound, and meaning. It helps also that we taught each other skeksis and mystic, as both of those share a great deal with the...physical aspects of the urSkek language. Knowing spoken and written ‘Gelfling,’ which is really urSkek-arrival-era Vapran merged with auditory urSkek, also helped. The urSkeks...did not want to keep their way of writing a secret, though I can tell they greatly simplified it in ways that...I doubt were truly necessary.

“What also helps...my memories of how UrAc constructed his chronicles. There was a lingering urSkek sensibility, there.”

“Are you showing off?” SkekGra asked playfully.

“I just want my work to be complete,” UrGoh said.

“Well—you’re making me want to find something I can dig into so I can show off.”

“You were just nervous about this whole project.”

“I—”

“Unless you’re flirting to put off getting to the heart of this…”

“I wasn’t trying to do that, it’s just—” He smiled. “I will always be ridiculous about whatever you do, I guess. Including research. Remember all that prep work to make Lore?”

UrGoh chuckled softly. “I remember...I was the one who accidentally broke your reading glasses...after you made a key breakthrough.”

“My fault for keeping them on. Wanting to see you clear up close.”

“I’m still going to tell you about this translation.”

“Right, right,” SkekGra said, leaning forward, putting his fore elbows on the table, and propping his head in his hands—not neglecting to replace the hand that had been under UrGoh’s with one of his hind ones, of course.

“Cute,” UrGoh said, with a small smile. “Where was I...oh, yes...so, there were many ways that urSkek is still embedded in the languages of Thra. It will take a very long time to go away, if it ever does...if Jen and Kira value connecting to the gelfling of the past in their own language...Aughra hasn’t given them any advice on that but I think she’s ranted to Rhoga about it….

“All this is to say that the structure of urSkek is not nearly as opaque as I first imagined it might be.” He paused. “I imagined the urSkek language littered with inconceivable concepts...relying on shades of meaning too subtle for a mortal mind to distinguish...approaching time in ways I could never comprehend so long as my brain was made of matter. This way of thinking...it helped shield us from GraGoh before the Great Conjunction, and we needed it then. Now, things are different. Even from what little we know...the urSkek are not so incomprehensible. They easily communicated with gelfling. They had opinions on the ways gelfling day-to-day life should be changed and ‘advanced.’ They came from a place with rules, and laws, and customs, and punishments for those who broke them. They have long lives, but each one still has a beginning and an ending...mortals, all. The difficulties in translation instead stem from urSkek senses being very different from ours, and different aesthetics and values. And even so...they were us.”

“So—the way you were almost-singing when you got my attention?”

“My attempt to address what I think are ways of adding emotion and beauty to the text that rely on urSkek senses. Like the figurative and poetic language we use relies on our senses and experiences. I don’t know enough...we, including Rhoga, don’t know enough yet to know the best way to approach that part of the text. So...we may never know if GraGoh was a good writer...but we can know a little about what he thought. About what it was like, for him.”

SkekGra watched UrGoh, who had turned his attention back to the book with the beginning of the translation in it. The urSkek book—GraGoh’s book—rested on the table like any other object. He took a breath, feeling for the hum in his very bones that had steadied him ever since the Great Conjunction, feeling for the shining, pulsing loop of life that was Rhoga in potential, in essence, or both, always present and waiting, just on the other side of a breath, a desire, a choice—especially when he and UrGoh were touching. “I know there’s no reason to be afraid of myself anymore,” he said. “What does GraGoh have to say so far?”

UrGoh smiled, and squeezed the hind hand under his own. Sometimes SkekGra wondered why they hadn’t been fully restored, but when there were moments of such familiarity with UrGoh, he thought he understood. He’d let the light heal him only as much as it could and still leave him UrGoh’s SkekGra.

“‘By the time this record is complete, may it show that my soul is healed and that I may be safely enfolded in the lace of home.’ The word isn’t lace, exactly. I think it’s an idea that I’ll be able to translate better after I see it more. ‘I always wanted to travel through space. Do I not find that aimless desire granted, now that I am the farthest from my origin that I have ever been?’” UrGoh began again. “‘But even traveling into exile felt no different than arriving anywhere else that is connected to our Crystal—like the passing from one room to another, save that we cannot go back. Still—I do feel we are in exile. We lament. I let it flow through me that this seeming-granting of my desire severed me from everything I ever knew.’”

UrGoh paused, and softly hummed an eerie, sad tune for a few seconds. “I don’t know what it should have sounded like,” he said, “but there’s a break in the text that indicates a lament for a still-broken soul. I borrowed the urRu Lament of Repentance. It...helps me understand my translation.

“The text resumes. ‘I do not forget that I am not severed from everything I ever knew. I am with my closest, particular companions. I am still connected with those I held above all else.’ More indications of the lament...I think GraGoh included this when he wrote of something that meant he wasn’t thinking as an urSkek should. ‘This tempers my lament, and makes me feel almost like I have been granted a gift, and not the gift of a duty that will allow all of us, including myself, to correct ourselves. It feels like a gift of honor and joy to be here with my friends. Not everyone felt the way I did, but I had long attempted to imagine what it would be like to leave everything, even the lace, behind. To go beyond our Crystal and discover what existence is like, there.’ I don’t think GraGoh means just the urSkek homeworld crystal, here. There are certain marks that link it to the word I’m translating as ‘lace,’ for now.

“‘I feel that instead of drifting, I am free in a way I could never have conceived within the lace. It overwhelms almost all other feeling, and I suppose I must be patient and careful with my thoughts as I wait for the longing for the lace to return to me, as it must, because after all, I am still urSkek. I know what we are here to do, and the doing will set my thoughts right.’ There are some subtle marks here that are hard for me to interpret, but if I had to guess, they would indicate something about GraGoh not agreeing with the idea that the thoughts he is supposed to correct are actually wrong. ‘For now, the pain waits, and my lament is in an almost unrecognizable key. And I am not the only one. When we disperse—when we are away from those who feel our punishment most keenly, like SoSu—I see that MalVa’s colors approach rapture, and mine probably do as well.’ It’s not ‘see,’ or ‘colors,’ what GraGoh describes here is an urSkek sensory experience.” UrGoh paused and took a deep breath. “‘The world of our exile is astonishing. It is completely unlike homeworld in almost every way, and still I find it beautiful. I didn’t know places like this could exist, and feel so harmonious, while still being entirely wild. Surely there can’t be much work ahead of us to tune this place. I am looking forward to finding out for sure. I imagine passing over every atom of this world, and I thrill at the toil it will be. There are no crystal paths, no memories of others to help me understand what I am seeing more quickly. It will not take endless time to explore one planet, I know, but I feel I have been granted a wonder that is as close to endless as one can be.’ That is as far as I have gotten in the translation,” UrGoh said.

SkekGra lowered his fore hands and wrapped them around UrGoh’s. “There's no point in hesitating to say it, is there? GraGoh sounds like—well, I hear a lot of you, in that.”

“And I hear you,” UrGoh said. “Especially when he’s glad to be in exile with the people he loves.”

“Is love the right word, for urSkeks?”

“I think so...I think that was part of the problem.” UrGoh shook his head. “I can’t help but project everything that tangled up us and the rest of the skeksis and mystics back onto the urSkeks.”

“It makes sense to me. They became us.”

“Still...some of GraGoh’s thoughts remain unfamiliar to me.”

“Conqueror thoughts? I thought I heard a few.”

UrGoh shook his head again. “You showed me the Conqueror. I know what he was like and what happened to every bit of him. I mean...ways of seeing Thra that, truly, neither mystics nor skeksis ever had. Then again...there is so much more to translate.” He met SkekGra’s eyes. “I’m not as fearless as I try to seem...about this translation. But now...we need to know GraGoh. I think I can find him…”

“You found me,” SkekGra said. “And you loved me.”

“It could be a terrible thing...to love GraGoh.”

“Surely only half-terrible, at most,” SkekGra said, giving UrGoh a little smile.

UrGoh turned his hands to cup SkekGra’s and gently press them. “I don’t know what the urSkek homeworld is like,” he said, “but if walking over the ground seemed so wonderful and novel to GraGoh, then I’m glad he had the chance. I’m glad...that stayed.”

“Yes,” SkekGra said. “But you don’t have to act like it’s not uncanny—what we were, what feels like what we could have been, another world, another time—I—I think Rhoga needs to think about this translation. I want to think about this as Rhoga—I need to be Rhoga right now.”

“Breathing as them...knowing their joy as the end,” UrGoh murmured. He left the books on the table and began to walk to SkekGra, who ran up to him before he could take more than two steps.

One embrace. One breath. One being.

“You figure out a triad and suddenly there’s a complicated fourth,” Rhoga said to themselves. “Well, we’ve done that before, too.” They smiled. “Glad I’m less worried about where a book could take me, now. It really didn’t suit me.”

#gragoh #skekgra #urgoh #the dark crystal #the dark crystal: age of resistance #garnetting au #implied malgravagoh lol

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