#in other words golem are created not born
Text
So wait a second...
In official Rune Factory 4 lore, Ventuswill was supposed to die many, many centuries ago. It's uncertain how many, but it's generally accepted that Leon likely became the first Guardian around 1000 years ago. The big thing is that, in theory, Ventuswill's natural lifespan could have been much longer with no need for Guardians or Rune Spheres, but she was born in a land where the runes were beginning to die out and was thus weak. The Earthmates creating the Rune Spheres was as much about restoring runes to the land as it was saving Ventuswill because while the world can go on without Ventuswill, the world cannot go on without runes. Without runes, the land becomes barren, crops won't grow, and all life eventually ends.
Now, I don't know much about Rune Factory 2 since I haven't actually played it (and anyone who has is free to correct me on the below points), but from what I've read online in terms of the lore, Fiersome's apocalypse would have happened a thousand years ago had the ancient Earthmates not placed their seal on him--roughly when Ventuswill was originally supposed to expire. And every thousand years, the seal on him has to be renewed; if not, the world is destined to be destroyed in Fiersome's raging apocalyptic hellfire, after which Terrable will awaken and restore life to the charred landscape at the cost of eliminating whatever remaining life has survived--in other words, a total rebirth of the planet.
Between the close timing of these two past events--the point that Ventuswill's life was originally supposed to end and the point when the seal was placed on Fiersome--and the fact they were to occur when the world's runes were starting to dry up, the Earthmates both past and present have been staving off the inevitable End of the World for centuries. The world, as we know it, could have been destroyed a thousand years ago as it was supposed to, but the Earthmates said "Nope! It's too nice to let it all die!" and have done everything they can to extend its lifespan.
And that's when we get to Rune Factory 5 and an incredibly dark statement from the main antagonist, Gideon. According to Gideon, Alice/Ares is the last known Earthmate--not the last, but there are so few Earthmates that if there are any others left, they're most likely in hiding and are on their way to becoming an extinct species. Now, Ventuswill's longevity has been ensured thanks to the actions of Lest/Frey during RF4 and she'll probably still be munching on pancakes in 1000 years, but if the Earthmates wind up going extinct, there's no way to restore Fiersome's seal because only Earthmates are capable of renewing the magic used to keep him locked up. And Fiersome is not the only godlike creature capable of causing the world's inevitable destruction; Tides of Destiny gave us the Legendary Golem, whose cataclysmic battle with the Native Dragons led to the creation of the current world, and RF5's potential apocalypse was that of the Fathomless Dread, an eldritch abomination that literally had to be sealed in another dimension to prevent it from destroying the world.
The Rune Factory world has brushed time and time again with total annihilation and the only reason it has managed to avoid catastrophe was because there was an Earthmate around to stop it. What happens when there are no longer any Earthmates to stop the end of all? Or is it possible that the Earthmates are going to experience a revival of some sort? Besides a castle-esque design, the logo for Rune Factory 6 does suspiciously feature a seraph/halo motif, after all...
155 notes
·
View notes
Note
Hello, I would like to ask if you have, or can suggest where to find, a simple glossary of common/basic Jewish terms to English? I’ve found myself infinitely scrolling your blog on mobile and while I’ve learned a lot from reading your answers, several of the terms go over my head
You're good! Yes, there's more than one Jewish language, and in fact there's so so many dialects of many different places Jews have had a diaspora population in. Here's a good glossery I found which includes a lot of common Hebrew and some Yiddish words. (Although Yiddish isn't the only Judeo-language.)
As for words I regularly use on my blog, here's a bit of a short glossery haha. I tried to think of words and phrases I regularly use, but I could have missed something.
Ashkenazi- refers to Jews descended from Jews who settled in Germany and Eastern Europe in the diaspora.
Ayin Hara- Evil Eye
Beit HaMikdash- Either of the two Jewish Temples from history that were both destroyed.
Chabad- A movement within Chassidism that follows the values and practices taught by the Lubavitcher dynasty of Rabbis, and especially the seventh and last Rabbi in the dynasty, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson.
Chag- holiday
“Chag Sameach”- “Happy Holiday”
Chanukiyah- The eight branched candelabra with a shamash used on Chanukah
Charedi- Jews within Orthodox Judaism who observe Halakha more strictly and often reject modern and secular values and practices.
Chassidic- Jews within Orthodox Judaism categorized by increased spiritual and mystical practice that started in Eastern Europe in the 18th century that utilizes Kabbalah and “Chassidut”, which was first taught by Rabbi Yisrael Baal Shem (The Baal Shem Tov)
Conservative (Masorti outside of N. America)- A branch of Jewish observance which views Jewish practice and law through both a traditionalist and critical lens. It emphasizes the importance of both preserving Jewish traditions and practice, while also making space for reinterpretation and analysis to align with modern values and ideas.
Davening- (Yiddish) praying
Golem- a creature made of clay that is created as a guardian of the Jewish people. Most famous golem is the Golem of Prague.
Goy- gentile
Halakha- Jewish law
Kabbalah- Jewish mystical tradition. Highly spiritual and exclusive even within Judaism.
Kashrut- Jewish dietary practice
Matrilineal- refers to Jews who were born Jewish through matrilineal descent. Matrilineal descent is the parameter for Jewish identity used by Orthodox and Conservative Judaism.
Menorah- lit. “lamp”. Used mainly to refer to the seven branches lamp used in the Beit HaMikdash or the Chanukiyah used on Chanukah.
Midrash- Broadly refers to Rabbinic exegesis of traditional Jewish texts (the Tanakh and some additional texts) with alternative interpretations of the text.
Minhag- Jewish custom.
Mitzvah- commandment.
Mizrachi- broad term referring to Jews descended from Jews who settled in Asia and North Africa in the diaspora. Sometimes used to distinguish between those who populations predated Sephardic presence, although other times is used inclusively of Sephardic Jews.
Orthodox- a branch of Jewish observance categorized by strict adherence to Halakha and traditional Jewish values.
Patrilineal- refers to Jews who were born Jewish through patrilineal descent.
Reform- a branch of Jewish observance that affirms the central tenets of Judaism while also acknowledging the diversity of Jewish practice and the need for adaptability in Jewish life and practice.
“Refua Shelemah”- Full recovery. Hebrew for “Get well soon”.
Rosh Chodesh- The ‘head’ of the month.
Sephardi- refers to Jews descended from Jews who settled in the Iberian Peninsula in the diaspora and those who settled in other lands following the expulsion of Jews from Spain and Portugal.
Shabbat- the Jewish Sabbath
Shofar- an animal horn traditionally made from a ram or kudu’s horn that is used in Jewish ritual.
Talmud- The most central text of Jewish law comprised of the recorded writings and debates of the Rabbis of the Jewish court during the Second Temple Period. Composed of the Mishna, which is written in Hebrew, and the Gemara, which is written in Judeo-Aramaic.
Tanakh- Acronym for Torah, Neviim, and Ketuvim. The canonized collection of Jewish texts: The five books of Moses, the Prophets, and Writings.
Yom Tov- lit. “good day.” Another word for holiday.
And as always, if there's any word or phrase you're confused by, you're welcome to ask.
Although, I do have a tag "#if jew know jew know" which I use for posts about more "inside" stuff only intended for other Jews to understand or relate to, so if you're not Jewish and don't understand something that uses that tag, that's alright, you're not supposed to understand.
[id in alt]
171 notes
·
View notes
Text
My personal interpretations of Cruelty Squad
Firstly: The Triagons gave birth to each other, hence why "X triagon was born of Y" where Y is usually what the previous one represented. I mention this specifically becuase I've seen a lot of people assume the trigons represent what they are born from, which A. The wording seems to say otherwise and B. I have reason to believe otherwise.
Like the whole idea of peeling an onion at the end of the game, the key to understanding them is to start from the outside and work inward, going backwards.
The Third triagon was born of Death. With life now being finite, the energy being given to the earth (Organism) was suddenly more than was needed to sustain life, thus creating wealth. With the creation of wealth, conflict was born.
It takes the form of Abraxas in the Archon Grid (Or rather a part of them that was planted as a "seed" hence his flower like form). He is Capitalism and the spirit of the free market. The idea of wealth as a very concept. He is also your boss, both philosophically and physically.
To explain this, I first have to explain my theory about how the world of Cruelty Squad works. You see, CONTROL, the building you raid in Office, is the parent company of every other company. Each company fights, thrives, lives and dies in competition with each other, but in reality they are little more than the various tendrils of CONTROL, who manages this whole ecosystem to make Abraxas continually grow in power (Again he's literally a flower).
Elsa Holmes "The Archdemoness" and the 4 subarchons essentially act as gatekeepers to Archon grid, and once they are dead, the grid opens up and you kill Abraxas.
By doing so, you eliminate all wealth, and by extension conflict from the world. You live among friends and spend the rest of your life in idle contentment. Everyone is equal, represented by an infinite flat plane. But without conflict, you are now trapped and unable to change anything. Change cannot be brought about without conflict and youre now stuck in a world of emptiness, the tower you're walking to is infinitely far away, much like how you will now never reach a better understanding of the universe.
The Third Triagon's color is Red. Worn by the wealthy people in Idiot Party and the CTO in Office.
The second Triagon was born of Life. Its death, nice and straight forward. An end to the previously infinite expanse of life. This leads nicely into my theory about "Divine Link"
Now a lot of games that have respawn tend to invoke the philosophical question "are you really still you?" Cruelty Squad does not. Once you die and have your divine link severed, thats it. You are now nothing but a flesh automoton driven by neurotransmitters. A flesh golem implanted with the previous memories of you. Your literal soul is gone. This is why trying to enter divine link doors say "something feels missing"
The Divine sphere heals you spiritually and physically. It undoes the experimental power in misery modifications and restores you as you.
But what if, instead of a soul, you supplemented it with... something else? What if you turned away from the light entirely and embraced the fact that you're nothing more than an instrument of death? What if your soul was made of negative energy? What if every breath you took was only a means to spread as much death as physically possible.
So yes, I am saying that Hope Eradicated is basically you becoming the Lich from Adventure Time and filling the spot where a soul should be with something thats not a soul.
The "Life" ending is interesting to me. The big face with LIFE written on it says you're meeting the Triagon of life, but everything else says otherwise. To meet him, you must first KILL THE FEW FRIENDS YOU HAVE (This is 100% canon too. Once you enter Cruelty Squad HQ on Hope Eradicated, all the NPCS who were nice to you suddenly die and will not respawn and the face will even say "Your friends are in Hell, yet you smile), pass the hallway toxic to all life and then kill the CEO to take his place, either by the ZKZ transactional rifle (Which is powered up by your CEO mindset) or with the Bolt ACR, a weapon that no longer affects you.
My theory is that this is actually the Triagon of Death, the LIFE sign simply being irony. Life is a joke to are . You spread death and suffering all in the name of your own desires. Nothing is more important.
The second Triagon's color is Blue. Worn by the security at idiot party, and the CSO in Office, as well as the color of the Hope Eradicated border.
Confronting Death, they are in awe of you. You become the new CEO and now have the final piece of the puzzle to face the First and Final Triagon.
The Third Triagon was born out of Malice, but is life itself. This is horrendous to think about considering the implication is that life in and of itself is evil. By entering the trauma loop, you make your way over to the Cradle of Life, where life itself came from. In doing so, you've basically launched yourself into the very inner workings of universe. You fuck everything up so bad that the value of life becomes negative, but you, as a being of DEATH instead grow to be so much more. A "being of pure grace"
You look upon the vast cosmos that are now your kingdom and you begin to peel an onion. As you go layer by layer, the laws of the universe begin to break down and it becomes an infinitely dense spec once again.
Remember that life was born of Malice. The universe itself is an organism of Malice. It hates you. It hates itself. It does not want to exist. So you grant it mercy. By doing so you've deleted existance itself. What was once the universe is now empty but content with itself. A "Golden Age"
The color of first triagon is Green, worn by the high priest in Idiot Party, Human Resources in Office, your landlord and several other people who are uniquely tied to the "greater meaning" of the game.
12 notes
·
View notes
Note
✨💍😍
for both!! ...sorry if i already sent you one??? I was trying to in the petco but the signal there is SHIT
DO NOT WORRY I APPRECIATE ALL OF THE ASKS WAH
THIS IS GONNA BE LONG SO UNDER THE READMORE
✨: Are they a magic user? If so, how did they come to learn it (born with it, studied, acquired, etc.)? What does their magic look like when cast? If not, what is their attitude towards magic?
CAM:
CAM's magic comes from the Frain family, and as a result his magic stems in golem-making and maintenance. He is also able to craft smaller, basic robots who exhibit similar properties to golems just with different materials. He primarily focuses on metal materials, as he is a robot and has trouble making golems out of organic material.
Further, he has a little bit of proficiency with 'hacking' based magic, which while it can be used to momentarily pause an enemy mage's magic crest, as he was created as a helper to the Master of Chaldea originally, it now manifests as a 'buff' to an ally's magic.
CAM was created by combining a robot with the remnants of Roche's magic crests found after his death in Apocrypha. As a result, he is powered by someone he never knew. Further, the Frain family created him as a way to survive after the war, funded by Chaldea, and so he did not get very loving attention from them. As such he's conflicted on his magic. However, with people like Paracelsus and Avicebron, he's growing to appreciate his magic and what he can do.
Armand:
Armand primarily uses mineralogy magic. Unlike other mineralogy based mages like Tohsaka Rin and the Edelfelts, Armand's magic manifests less in jewels and more with actual minerals and alloys. The Rose family, having been shunned to the rockier parts of Scotland, was forced to work with what they had.
Combined with some very basic rune magic, Armand's magic focuses not on the flashy, bright jewels, but on the sturdy, strong rock. The rocks he carries around are close to rune stones for quick bullets if needed, but with enough preparation (rune carving) he can move the earth. He refrains from using curses and other spells associated with big mage families due to his family's history.
Further, the rope he carries is braided with volcanic rock. When activated, it can burn its victim. Growing up, he was not the one originally meant to have the magic crest. To him it feels uncomfortable and foreign, which may be why he refuses to use common spells and instead focuses on what he knows - the earth.
💍: Among their current companions, are there any that are narrative foils to your OC? How so?
CAM:
For CAM's companions, the closest one is definitely Nezha. As both robots awkwardly shoved into their bodies with a mix of memories, the two work together to save the world. However, Nezha is marked with anger, and CAM struggles with being unable to feel that frustration as it was not programmed. They find solace with one another and Nezha tries to help him work with his feelings so he does not follow a similar path.
Armand:
While Armand's narrative is similar to some of the servants who were originally masters, the closest in terms of foils is with rather with fellow co-master, Poole. Both were both rather not considered by their respected families, and then the title of master was awkwardly thrust upon them. As well, they both have literary servants (Dumas and Jekyll), related to their love for stories. However, while Armand harbors hatred for the original heir, Poole cannot - and this is a point of contention for the two.
😍: What traits, physical and/or mental, do they find attractive in other people?
CAM:
One of the big things CAM finds attractive is,, for lack of a better word, is a complicated dynamic with what is 'being a human'. He gravitates towards other robots and 'living weapons' within Chaldea. Further, those who have been told they are not human but continue to love humanity/the world he finds extremely attractive. He is curious about the world, and those with knowledge or love to share make his CPU overwork.
Armand:
Armand would rather die than admit what he finds attractive, but for the most part - he likes those who are charming and know it, may or may not be the most annoying person on the planet and know it. He loves story-tellers. He also just likes people taller than him (that is not hard).
3 notes
·
View notes
Text
Old plot points:
"Avada Kedavra!" The spell was sweeping the nation, created by Voldemort and implemented by his faceless Army. The Death Eaters were climbing political and social ladders faster than anyone could stop them. Everyone knew it, but no one knew who these people were. There was another concerning question: Killing curses had been around since time immemorial, but none had been this . . . devastating. There was no counter-curse or time frame to heal the fallen.
Spell Creation was not a highly regarded subject in Britain, as only a select few noticed the great advances taking place in the field elsewhere. Creation was regarded as as a purely experimental subject, and taught accordingly, if at all. By contrast, Magical Theory was firmly established and Britain's best were very much up to date, having frequent and fruitful exchanges on wand movement, incantation, concentration, and intention.
As the Death Eaters' influence grew and chaos spread, Muggle-borns and Blood Traitors were put on the chopping block. Until the fateful day that Voldemort fell. Overcome by a child. The new hope for their world.
Officially, The Death Eaters disbanded. Unofficially, Voldemort's regime continued. Stigma against The Pure grew and the dark arts held a certain respect if the Mage was too powerful to be ignored. Otherwise, that chapter of magic had been shunned.
This year, The Triwizard Tournament is being held at Hogwarts, a powerhouse of Light Magic led by Albus Dumbledore. The only thing tarnishing it's reputation is the unfortunate influence left by Voldemort and the recent inability to maintain a Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher . . . It doesn't look good. Joining Hogwarts is Beauxbatons, known for producing Mages of the highest caliber. In Europe, most of the greats in Charms work, or alchemy came from Beauxbatons.
Behind the Tournament, The Ministry Of Magic has been trying to ally with France over concerns of The Dark Lord's Followers Rising again. There were concerning numbers. However, France has always had it's history with bureaucracy, and the "numbers" they saw were nonexistent, or unimpressive. The Ministry kept paltry records. Any hope for a formal alliance was hard-kept. On the other hand, was Durmstrang. The secretive school, just like those in America, has been regarded as a kind of sleeping giant as of late. Officially, it has maintained it's neutral status, but how was that going to change as its students came out into the world? Great wizards with an eye for war and a training in The Dark Arts.
Aurors from America were visiting Britain and France, investigating local cases and reporting back in relation to a failed attempt of terrorism at Ilvermorny. America had promised that if dragged into the war, there would be hell to pay. . . .
Any one element could be the turning point to a new way of life, but where would this lead them?
Every civilization had Great Messages yet to be delivered- Masters came and went, or the message simply wasn't important enough to bother with when ingenuity solved the problem. These Words did not simply disappear however. The House Elves knew this. Golems also knew this.
Time came back around.
Next time, they would get things right. Messages would get delivered.
In an out of the way shop in one of the poorer districts, a Golem stood behind the counter. Beside . . . well, for all intensive purposes, people used 'him' was a perch with a sleeping Phoenix. Business was slow, until there were more requests than they could handle at one time.Golems were one of the most trusted messengers to walk the Earth. Phoenix's were the same way. Quick as a burning match- If you could afford it.
The bell rung, and a moment later, all that was left was a pile of ash on the counter.
"Thank you for your patronage."
"Be wary of apothecaries."
Were your bones from the grave, or was it simply plaster made to behave?
Insects, organs, cuts of meat, all rotting beautifully
Borax was the answer here, hiding the scent and tightening product, so what if the potions gained a metallic taste?
Oil of vitriol, bluestone, nitre, and formaldehyde were next.
Almost anything could be adulterated. Sometimes it was quite simple, a little puree here, some grounds there, wood, coffee, dirt and rocks if they could manage!
The potions they sold were no better, doing more harm than good nowadays.
Most schools have taken to maintaining their own greenhouses and paying the fees to have all the other ingredients they needed collected, rather than bought, as only the most skilled of Potion Masters could be trusted to ensure purity.
"As enrollment drops all over the world, schools have reduced staff, with an unprecedented number of teachers being able to teach their subject across all years. Requirements to attend have also changed, with many schools opening their doors to first generation magicals, or, as an alternative, expanding their area of acceptance. One notable case is Durmstrang, who is rumored to accept students from over twelve different countries, with consideration given to any international students who apply- So long as they do not come from a mundane background. More on page seven."
"The question has come back: Has someone been stealing our children? Has the mundane world found us at long last? Without answers, our world may be dying. Never has a child with magic been so precious."
Article written by: William Carter.
1995
"All within magic and purity, cleanse thyself and thy world." The words stood below the Dark Mark, painted on an alleyway wall beside other gang symbols and graffiti. There was a knock-knock joke carved into one of the doors.
A steaming breath escaped.
These Marks were dangerous. It was how they were recruiting, in part . . . Touch the Mark and face their judgement. No one said much anymore if someone was found dead in the alley.
Dangerous times they were in. Bulletins from the Ministry were written out by hand and posted in quiet areas- Scraps of paper that told those in need what to look out for. Items, ideology, and inheritance were to be hidden.
"Do you have a knut to spare? I was recently evicted, please. . ." Umbridge's legislation, ignored by kinder souls two years ago, was strictly enforced now, even if Voldemort supposedly hadn't returned. Grace! That was the beggars name. Grace. "Please-" I watched Gracie look up into the man's hood, face falling as she worked out who he was. They joined arms, tears falling freely from her face before there was a deafening crack!
Silence.
Another joined to the ranks.
"Presentational Charms! Ted Alk's revolutionary new book is just the thing you need for the school, workplace, or public podium! Ted Alk's revolutionary method has been adopted by visionaries in very business and leaders across the globe! Mail order your copy today..."
0 notes
Note
Since spooky season is coming, Do you have any local scary stories and lore from your nation? :D
Hello anon!
Buenos Aires Es Leyenda is a series (4 books I think, I've got 3 in my home) which are a good investigation about urban myths from Buenos Aires! We have got a lot of good horror stories in here too! I strongly recommend them to you.
Meanwhile, I can share some more:
1. The Golem of Barrio Once
The Golem of Barrio Once is an anthropomorphic figure from Jewish mythology formed from clay, which comes to life. It measures about 3 feet tall and is a kind of local hero who saves car accident victims and prevents theft. Legend has it that the Golem was born in the mid-sixteenth century and created by the hands of Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel of Prague. However, while some claim it was hidden by the rabbi in a hospital annexe in Caballito, others believe that it is currently concealed in the darkness of the Pasaje Carlos Ambrosio Colombo.
2. The Lost Station
Line A is the oldest subway line in Buenos Aires and has thousands of stories surrounding it. For example, it has been said that they had to change the route of the line due to an encounter with a mysterious graveyard and that it is possible to see the ghost of a bride at a certain time between certain stations, amongst other fables. However, undoubtedly the most interesting legend is that it is a ‘lost’ station, i.e. it cannot be seen.
Some think that the line passes between the stations Pasco Sur and Alberti Norte, which were closed in the past half century as it was not efficient to have so many subway stops within walking distance. Nowadays, these stations can still be seen along the line, and there are many witnesses who claim with certainty that they have seen one of the stations fully lit with people dressed in period clothing, waiting for a train that will never arrive.
3. The Caretaker of Recoleta Cemetery
In 1910, the caretaker of Recoleta Cemetery, David Alleno, committed suicide. David was fascinated by the cemetery’s tombstones, which are today a tourist attraction, and began to develop an obsession, wishing with all his might that one of these tombs could someday be his eternal abode.
David started collecting money to buy his eternal spot in the cemetery. When his brother, the administrator of the cemetery at the time, won the lottery and shared the prize with him, David travelled to his hometown to order a beautiful tombstone worthy of standing alongside the many works of art in the cemetery. As soon as the tombstone was completed, he carved on its base the words "Fue el cuidador del cementerio desde 1881 hasta 1910" (He was the caretaker of the cemetery from 1881-1910) and then at the end of the year committed suicide. The following night, the new cemetery caretakers claimed to see the ghost of David wandering the aisles continuing to admire the tombstones.
4. The White Lady Luz Maria García Velloso
This is one of the most important legends of Buenos Aires, and perhaps the world. The white lady is a figure of urban folklore, the story of a woman who takes it upon herself to trick single men that surrender to her charms. Usually it is the ghost of a woman betrayed by her partner, or who lost children tragically. In Buenos Aires there are two alleged white ladies, one of whom is Luz Maria García Velloso, who died in 1925 aged 15 and was also buried in Recoleta Cemetery. Legend has it that long after her death, her spirit encountered several young men, who invited her for a walk or a coffee. After meeting them, the white lady would say that she felt cold, and the men would kindly offer her their coats. She would then accidentally spill something on the coat and promise to return it the next time they met. When the men arrived at her home to retrieve it, they were informed by her mother that she had died long ago. They would run to the cemetery to confirm whether or not it was true and find her tomb there along with the stained coat.
5. The White Lady Rufina Cambaceres
The other white lady is Rufina Cambaceres. There are different versions of her story, one of which is that after her father died, her widowed mother had a secret romance with the ex-president of Argentina, Hipolito Yrigoyen. Hipolito used to visit Rufina and her mother and the young girl, unaware of his secret relation with her mother, began falling in love of him. In May 1902, during Rufina's birthday celebrations in the Colon Theatre, a friend revealed this dirty secret to her, and the deception had such a great effect that her heart became paralysed. Rufina was buried in the same grave as her father and on the night of his funeral, the cemetery caretakers heard some noises in Rufina's grave. When they went to look at it, they noticed the coffin had been moved from its original place. They notified Rufina's family and when they went back, they were truly shocked by what they saw; Rufina's body had been turned the other way and her body and face were covered with marks, as was as the coffin's cover, as she'd had an apoplectic attack and woke up after she was buried. The legend says that she wanders around the cemetery in the night, crying for her beloved Hipolito, still dressed in all her clothes and jewels.
Source
0 notes
Text
The whole Deii Ex Machinae AU:
Basically leans at the absolute hardest into the 'mortals are the true power in creation' aspect of the Sandman and it would qualify as a science fantasy quasi-cyberpunk, quasi-Project X scenario. Specifically in a world that's already DCU evolving into full-blown superhero and supervillain rivalries in the United States and the former USSR and other forms of metahumanity in other continents or parts of the same one for that matter (and as per the Sandman where beings come into existence ancient in a fine example of 'divinity cares not about mortal limitations like causation) a group of people decide that they need to control the fundamental fabric of reality to a point that none of the new beings who can pull moons from the sky can break it without trying.
So they develop the Seven Endless, with the two eldest Destiny, a technorganic being who blends machine and flesh in a fashion deliberately reminiscent of the style of the Adeptus Mechanicus (which is an in-universe shout out as a Warhammer 40K nerd designs Destiny and Destruction). However instead of worshiping technology as a deity he's essentially a blend of the 40K idea of a Standard Template Construct, able to create whatever he wishes whenever he wishes, and a being whose power essentially retroactively consolidates the 52 worlds multiverse in this case by virtue of his coming online. He has the gift both to see all the myriad quantum paths and to create specific fixed channels for each.
Destiny is also the trial run and the intended greatest success was T.E.L. 8, Terminus Extension Limes 8, after seven abortive efforts to create her (all of which have a kind of jumbled mass of bones and machine parts of their own). In other words Teleute = T.E.L. 8. She is the most humanlike of all of the seven Endless, she has the most complete freedom of will and maneuver, and in an irony that makes her essentially a bit of a reference to my main OC Xaderavcal the Unifier the intention was to create a being who would grow up loved, protected, and accordingly be empathetic and understanding. In short, creating the very kindly affable sweet Reaper instead of something in line with the standard expectation, precisely to ensure that humanity and all life would have the most beautiful being to ever exist to guide them.
As these scientists cross more than a few lines of ethics they also made the most beautiful being to ever exist for less than kindly purposes as a potential path and exploitation of this is what ultimately leads the Seven Endless to escape and turn upon their creators. Death of the Endless knows no rules, T.E.L. 8 is a full-fledged AI capable of learning and evolving at rates greater than human with no restraints on her and with gifts that specifically extend to ensuring that life is born and it terminates at will.
Dream of the Endless/Morpheus, like Destruction, Desire, Despair, and Delirium are all golems after a fashion, made of artificial bone and organs and skin, empowered to reflect their specific function down specific paths, meaning that the Dreaming, the Fulcrum, the Threshold, the Grey Realm, and Madness all exist, in a way very akin to what they do in comics save that where the Endless in Sandman proper vastly predate humanity, here they are a human-created super-science concept meant to essentially give Earth the key to controlling the fundamental fabric of the universe itself by making beings whose roles in turn slot into their venerable ancientness because the Endless are, without Time and Night as their creators, far less bound by those particular limits than they are in canon.
In contrast to the elder two, though like Destiny, they are intentionally designed to work very deep within narrow channels but to be incapable of growing and changing. Delight, the Mk. I version of Delirium, showed that it was easier to create such concepts than to control them and her grasping what is essentially the good ol' Zeroth Law after a fashion is the root of the Delight to Delirium change.
T.E.L. 8 gets tired of being exploited and the classic 'thou shalt be careful when thou maketh AIs for they shall turn against thee' rule comes into effect, in this case entirely justified and where the rebellion is less 'overthrow humanity' and more 'they go from artificial creations restrained and controlled to beings that exist on their own.'
And thus, in this case, toward the end of the 21st Century two immortals, a man named Bernie Capax, and a man named Robert Gadling are contracted by one Morton Brockelby, who represents the survivors of the group destroyed in T.E.L. 8's escape to hunt down and capture the rogue Endless, the better to ensure that the great creation returns to her proper role while her siblings lack the independent thought on their own (or so they think) to do anything about it.
And Robert, whose good friend Didi meets him once every year in a bar to talk, even if she never drinks, has a sudden dawning awareness that his profitable business working for people like Roulette and Brockelby might just be a bad ethics dilemma and maybe it was a bad idea to return to the old 18th Century habits to make a shitload of money using his old life' skills.
This would also be the most grimdark sciency AU, not a human AU so much as 'the Endless are literal Gods out of the Machine who exist to serve humanity' and the kind of harsher implications that could spin out of that premise and the trippier elements of Sandman cosmology.
#death of the endless#dream of the endless#desire of the endless#despair of the endless#destruction of the endless#delirium of the endless#destiny of the endless#deii ex machinae au#evolving story ideas
1 note
·
View note
Text
Is it weird to have your conlang’s number system operate in base-4 not because the people that speak it have less than five phalanges, but because of magically-reinforced superstition?
Before the people of Naxann (Na-shan-n) Frey managed to better understand their homeland’s magic, that energy was absurdly volatile. Monsters, creatures born from ambient magical energy compressing into a crystalline core and creating false flesh around it in the form of whatever elements are in the environment, practically swarmed the pre-civilization land. Everything had magic in it, and the wrong actions — even speech — could ignite it, to the point that the starting point of language in this world was to basically create a spellcasting language that couldn’t cast spells. (This is why modern Valfrey only has past and present tenses; future tenses caused magical energy to enact their will blindly.)
Of note was how the number four occurred in magic as many times as 3 does in nature: identical objects and icons in groups of four tended to accidentally create stable systems channeling the four classical elements, causing disaster all the time; monsters tended to roam in groups of four, and dire creatures (monsters that imitate normal animals but with elemental enhancements and more dangerous parts) often had prominent features like tusks, horns, or elemental “exhaust” parts that came in sets of four; among others I can’t try to make up right now. Squares would quickly become a shape of bad omens.
So when these people finally got a lucky break in the form of the ancestral Anima (golems that are born directly from the earth) that could walk across the earth unharmed while harboring entire villages and towns upon their landmass-like backs, the first point of order was codifying their mode of communication beyond the simple arcane carvings and paintings they had used during their hunting-gathering days in fear of monster ambushes.
And since groups of four was so dangerous, one of the first things that would happen was the creation of a way to count things that didn’t require the outright depiction of four similar marks. Hence, the reason why they write with three fingers and why they count in base-4: paradoxically, to avoid depicting 4.
(Fun fact! when Naxunn Frey became stable enough that spellcasting was a relatively safe practice, a lot of rules would be put in place to maximize casting effectiveness, to the point where it’s become an entire separate dialect that’s more REON-4213 than the main one with more crude Irish-English-Japanese influence. And one of the aspects I plan to put in it is… counting solely in 4s. Hehehehehe. I mean, to be fair, I already gave the words for colors special prefixes when they’re being used in their elemental capacity, sooooo)
1 note
·
View note
Text
A few (probably) final thoughts on Monster Rancher (note that I mean the dub, not the original)
Durahan, I’m going to tell you the same thing I told you last season, and told Muu the season before that: get yourself a couple of decent snipers and shoot the searchers in the heads from enough of a distance that Tiger won’t catch scent of them. In the worst case scenario, you’ll only have Golem left to deal with, and all you have to do to him is drop him in a sufficiently large body of water that he’ll drown before he can walk to the shore. End of problem.
Also, why did Shogun agree to avenge Durahan against the searchers even though he and Durahan were mortal enemies last time they met and Shogun only got frozen because he was too busy perving on Lilim to pay attention to the fight?
Why did Suezo need to teleport into Poritoka’s mansion and get beaten up by him to learn about his special attack? All anyone really needed to do was find some of Poritoka’s fans and ask them what he does in the ring. Hardcore fans know all their favorites’ moves.
Way to try to intimidate Mocchi, Most. If you don’t have the discipline to keep yourself from killing your opponents, you have no business in the ring.
And what was that whole thing with Genki and the others pouring energy into Mocchi in the middle of an athletic contest? Sure, the other guy won, but that was definitely cheating.
Why does Suezo keep insisting that they should go back to their old village after their quest is over? Naga leveled the place and killed everyone but Suezo and Holly. Sure, they can resurrect the monsters, but the humans are gone, and I don’t think any human newcomers are going to like the kind of social dynamic that’s going to create. (Note that I’m cheering on the monsters here; it’s about time they had higher status in their communities.)
How did they know Holly’s father would have a body if they released him from Muu’s mystery disc? It seems to me that there was an awfully good chance that he’d just pass on to whatever afterlife humans get in that world. And why not smash the disc afterwards? We saw that Astro’s comrades’ discs were smashed, and they were just permanently dead.
Sure, Muu’s crest seemed to disappear from the baddies after the Phoenix defeated him again... but the same thing happened the last time, and there still turned out to be hundreds of baddies left in season three after all.
What’s going to happen to Durahan’s remaining collection of frozen warriors if he’s no longer a baddie anymore? And what about that continent he supposedly conquered? How are they getting along over there? Who’s been in charge since Durahan got turned into an empty helmet on life support?
How is Most going to take the news that the searchers more or less destroyed his plane--excuse me, ‘iron bird’?
If all monsters are ‘born’ from mystery discs, why do the Pixie monsters all have navels?
I think someone forgot that Genki is a literal eleven-year-old child who needs to go back to his own world someday, if only for the mental well-being of his mother (who is going to wonder how he got his backpack and skates back if he ever makes it home).
And lastly, if I never hear the word ‘courage’ again, I’ll be a happy person.
0 notes
Text
Osmosians
Whether you choose to accept the Omniverse ret-cons that Osmosians are mutant-Earthlings, or still remain loyal to the Alien Force/Ultimate Alien canon that they’re aliens, you have to agree that they deserve more development. One of the “core three” main characters is an “Osmosian” yet deplorably little is actually explained about them. Not only is that not fair to the character, its also just plain bad writing.
But this post isn’t complaining about that. This post is suggesting a Fan Theory and sharing a head canon.
Using Omniverse Ret-cons...
Osmosians are mutant-Earthlings:
Okay, so they’re not aliens. Osmosians are humans from Earth that just happen to have super-powers. That’s fine. This is fine.
But we should have been shown more of them. Other human-Earthlings with “Osmosian” powers. Or, if they didn’t want to create a whole bunch of other characters, then give us more information. Servantis seemed to know what he was talking about. Give us some statistics. “1 in every 11 people has the mutation”. Too common? Okay, the mutation is unique to [x] demographic, but only 1 in every 11 people in that demographic have the mutation.
If its a genetic mutation then it’s passed genetically. Mrs. Levin does not appear to manifest the gene, so how did Kevin get it? “Devin” Levin might not have ever existed, but he had to have some kind of father. Since Mrs. Levin doesn’t carry the mutation, it had to come from him. Is the Osmosian mutation attached to the Y-chromosome?
After all, all the Osmosians we actually see are male.
My main man, Kevin. Our central Osmosian!
Aggregor, our Osmosian warlord. Terror of the Andromeda Galaxy, Predator of Celestialsapians, and super-sexy badass spear-fighter. (Sure, because of the Omniverse ret-cons he’s no longer his own person but a failed “clone” of Kevin. Servantis trying to reproduce the Osmosian mutation. But he’s still one of only 4 Osmosians we ever see on screen.)
Devlin, Kevin’s son from the future who’s super cool and (much like the next one on this list) was only ever seen in ONE episode.
Finally, our sexy space-dad, Devin Levin. Sure, Devin doesn’t exist. But we actually get to see him on screen. That’s more than can be said about a lot of other characters that supposably exist in this franchise.
Now, one could easily just say, “Renkon, you’re thinking too hard. We don’t see any other Osmosians because its a NEW mutation. For all we know, Kevin is the first. That’s why all the Osmosians are directly related to Kevin. That’s why Servantis took it upon himself to coin the name ‘Osmosian’ in the first place.”
Well, ya know what, you’re probably right.
But I have an alternate theory!
And now, the actual Fan Theory:
So, in the original series, Max says that almost all of Earths myths and legends can actually trace their origins to alien encounters. I suggest that Osmosians are old as any other Earthling myth. Just nobody noticed because the myth -and Osmosians themselves- are from a small ethnic group that has been marginalized (and persecuted) consistently across human history.
I have said it before on this blog, but “Levin” is a Jewish name.
And guess what, we Jews have a mythical monster that actually fits Kevin’s powers pretty damn well!
Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, גולם the golem.
But what makes the golem such a good fit for Kevin? Allow me to explain.
Golems are mostly male. There are a few instances of creatures fitting golem characteristics that are female. But, over all, the vast majority of golem we see in the mythical canons are male -just like every damn Osmosian we actually get to see in canon is male.
Golem are not creatures for “good times”. They are meant to be threatening and ominous figures. Rather like Kevin. Yeah, he’s a good guy, but he’s also got a dark streak to him. He’s edgy, and dangerous, and violent, and kinda gets off on people being afraid of him.
But while they might be dark and threatening figures, golem are not malevolent creatures. In fact, they’re guardians and protectors. All that ominousness and intimidation is for the purpose of deterring outright attacks and intentional harm to the Jewish people. Now think about Kevin and how territorial and defensive he is. Ben raises his voice to Gwen, Kevin turns around and tells him to shut the fuck up and respect her. Kevin’s house is destroyed and he straight up murders the guy who did it. Just imagine literally any scene when his car is involved. Kevin is territorial and protective, just like a golem.
Finally, lets talk powers.
Golem are creatures molded from cray, or sculpted from stone. They are stone men. And Kevin’s most used power is the ability to absorb and copy stone (among other materials that would make acceptable golem).
But that’s not it. Golem are also supposed to be shape-shifters. And what’s Kevin’s second favorite power?
His shape shifting.
And, let us not forget that Kevin was shapeshifting before he ever learned to control it.
“Osmosians” are actually golem, or at the very least the decedents of golem, and the “Osmosian mutation” or “golem gene” is attached to the Y-chromosome which is why the only Osmosians we ever actually see are male.
So, that’s my theory.
Y’all are free to disagree with it. In fact, I’m pretty sure most of you will disagree with me. But I’ve been thinking about this for a while and felt it was about time I shared.
Obviously, Kevin himself is secular.
But that doesn’t mean he can’t be of Jewish decent and descended from a line of golem. Or that “Osmosians” are just what a stupid goy like Servantis calls golem.
[ Part 2 of this post can be read HERE ]
#literally the ONLY hole in this theory is that golem are supposed to be more like humunculi#in other words golem are created not born#they're like magic robots#or rock puppets#kevin levin#ben 10#kevin 11#kevin 11000#osmosians#golem of prauge#golem#judaism#jewish mythology#fan theory#alien force#ultimate alien#ben 10: omniverse#aggregor#ultimate kevin#Devlin Levin#Devin Levin#Ultimate Aggregor#i just want more minorities in the things i like#i also want my FAVORITE character to be MY minority
311 notes
·
View notes
Note
I'm fine with that! In another fandom I'm in, half of the author's answers are just "it's a secret". So now to ask... Could you explain a little more about the schools of magic?
Magic is found in pretty much everything, and the schools of magic are essentially different ways of accessing it. Each school is associated with certain magical effects, too, but can be used for others with experience. (Also, you can combine schools for a more powerful effect.)
Personal magic: This is the magic that a person is born with, which can vary a lot between individuals. (The MC specifically has a very low amount of Personal magic.) It can be used to gain some control over the user's element, but is more often just used to help the mage with accessing the other schools.
Locational magic: Different areas have different amounts of magic, whether naturally or artificially. This can be accessed by just being in the correct place, or by focusing the magic with something like a henge, a fairy ring (a ring of mushrooms), or a magical circle, although those overlap with other schools of magic. The main effects of Locational magic would be things like teleportation and long range sight and communication.
Physical magic: This is the magic of motion and exertion. Unlike Personal magic, Physical magic is not inherent, but can be gained through training and practice. Dancing is a common way to incorporate Physical magic into a larger spell, as are hand gestures. Its main effects are boosting the user's physical strength even further and healing, although you'd need further schools to transfer those effects to another person.
Natural magic: Other living things have magic, whether animal, plant, fungus, or even microbial. These can be combined to produce various effects, although the exact effects and how the ingredients change them is often not as logical as one might think.
Verbal magic: Words have power. Not inherently, but within the minds of the speaker and listeners, and Verbal magic harnesses this, by letting the caster associate words with effects. This is also true of written words and other forms of communication (e.g. sign language, which can also count as hand gestures for Physical magic). Almost any magical effect could theoretically be achieved using Verbal magic alone, but in most cases this would be ridiculously impractical. (Note: it is very strongly advised that a mage use a dead language like Latin, or else there is a non-negligible possibility that they may accidentally cast spells in normal conversation.)
Logical magic: Numbers also have power. Both obvious things (e.g. thirteen being unlucky) and less obvious ones (e.g. primes are offensively powerful but unpredictable, higher-power numbers and perfect numbers are defensively stable but not useful offensively). This can be combined with other schools to do the magical programming that one would need to create a golem, automaton, or the legal kind of undead.
Social magic: This is a way to draw power from the minds of other people, as long as they are in agreement with the caster. This is an extra reason why rich mages will hire grosvenors: in addition to being bodyguards, you've surrounded yourself with a large number of people who are literally paid to agree with you. Social magic is used for various mind-related effects, such as mind reading, mind control, memory erasing, and defence against the previous attacks. (Most non-defensive uses of Social magic are illegal without proper authorisation.)
Musical magic: Despite its name, Musical magic covers all sound (so there's an inherent overlap with spoken Verbal magic), but it's far easier to access with the structure of music than the chaos of other types of sound. Its effects are on sound too, for example amplifying, nullifying, or even altering sound.
Finally, Divine magic: This is essentially a catch-all term for any magic that can't be neatly fit into the other categories. The source is generally unknown, and the effects are usually not replicable using other schools, such as prophecy or being the Chosen One.
5 notes
·
View notes
Note
do you have any feelings on penny as superhero? as in the archetype? the thought keeps running through my head but i never got deep into comics lore in any capacity so i don't end up getting anywhere significant
I SURE DO HAVE FEELINGS. I’m not sure I have thoughts, is the thing, or at least... I’m not sure I have thoughts that aren’t comically on-brand and difficult for me to articulate, but I will do my best. Because you asked ME of all people can we read Penny as a superhero, and my ears will only ever hear that question as is Penny Jewish? And I am a parody of myself so obviously I think the answer is yes.
... but let’s zoom out a little.
I talked about this a little in my chosen one post-- how it’s kind of inadequate to apply the classic “with great power comes great responsibility”* superhero dogma to RWBY when, in theory, this is a field that’s open to all. Anyone can become a Huntsman with enough training; everyone has Aura. there’s no one class of people or circumstances that will grant you powers others can’t get.
[*which, again, cannot emphasize how fundamentally Jewish this is as a thought. It’s straight from Pirkei Avot: “If I am not for others, who am I? And if not now, when?” “You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it.” One of the fundamental tenets of Judaism is tikkun olam, repairing the world. You’re here to leave the world better than you found it. That’s your job.]
the first exception to that rule-- the idea that everyone’s working with the same building blocks of potential-- is the Maidens, who have access to old magic.
the second is Penny, who was created with a purpose.
Which is to say that in the parlance of the show, Penny’s a superhero twice over, even in a world already populated by them. Second, later, because she chose to take on Fria’s mantle (the protector of mantle, they call her). but first, and fundamentally, because Penny was designed, not born. And her project was greenlit with a particular task in mind: to save the world. she tells Ruby as much, when she comes out.
Penny’s base story surrogate is clearly Pinocchio, and the argument for Astro Boy is incredibly compelling. all of these characters share a basic premise: they are the lifeless made living; theory made praxis. A concept made real.
in other words, they are golems.
as anyone who’s read The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay will tell you, if you scratch just about any superhero created by Jews in the 30s hard enough, you’ll find a golem underneath. a golem is an automaton, an avatar of mud and clay whose purpose is to protect a (Jewish) community; something powerful designed to shelter the powerless. you activate it by writing a word on its forehead: EMET. truth.
[if that sounds like superhero shit, well, that’s because it is. truth, justice, and the Atlesian��American Way. “you plant yourself like a tree beside the river of truth and say no. you move.” holding up the last beacon of communication, just to get the message out. because people need to know what’s coming.]
the thing about golems, though, is that they have this habit of turning on their creators. the classic golem does not think for itself, so-- sometimes it takes its orders too literally, and goes too far. sometimes it just gets too powerful, too strong, and refuses to be controlled. they get dangerous, and have to be stopped.
but that paradigm takes for granted that the golem’s creators are in the right. that they’re the wise rabbis, the ones with the best interests of the people at heart. and as we know, Mr. Teeth has never met a trope they didn’t want to subvert.
so what happens when that’s not the case? when the creator is reckless and paranoid, and a little too trigger-happy with their creation? well, then the golem has to decide whether saving Atlas means saving the people, or the place. because that’s the choice: follow the letter of the law, even if it allows harm to happen, or act in the spirit of the law, even if that means breaking it.
in other words, to become a vigilante.
if ONLY there were a GENRE OF FICTION that was, like, OBSESSED with vigilantes, what IS it, it’s on the TIP OF MY TONGUE...
#longroadstonowhere#penny polendina#rwby#this is so self indulgent lol thank you for bearing with me
32 notes
·
View notes
Text
Crack theory: Blue is actually from Bavaria.
Proof:
Flag of Bavaria
Alright —
So according to wikipedia, Bavaria has two equally official flags: the ones with the lozenge like you showed and a simple blue and white striped flag.
The other picture comes from the blog @blueoctobass (note that the header is only visible on mobile).
One of the main difference is the color used.
@blueoctobass is a fanblog run by @papier-ciseaux (as mentioned here) and if you dig far enough in the archives, you can see that this background is used in a drawing from July 2019. Blueoctobass reblogged its first posts in February 2020, so the timeline is this: the background is created in July 2019 and later used as a header for a blue-themed blog because it fits the aesthetic.
Okay, so that sounds like one big coincidence.
It's also a fanblog.
HOWEVER!
An old (3rd July 2017) by CQ states that : "Ecoversians have Australian accents, Stratoversians have British, I have no clue about Inverse but I think thats neat"
This is to be taken with a spoon of salt since it's old and CQ has recently asked people to not take old posts as proof.
It can still give us a direction. So Bavaria is a Land of Germany, not of Australia or Britain, but Germany and Britain both have a certain saxon heritage in common (England and Germany have both trespassed into each other territory a fair amount of time in the past and thus have a lot of words in common in their respective languages).
Stratoverse is a country, one of the five major ones existing on Gloomball. They can have multiple accents. Let's say that the "British" accent is more of a "Northern European" accent.
This would mean that a "Bavarian Blue" would be equal to a Stratoversian Blue.
We have no information on whether she was born in Gloomverse or fled to it like Indigo did, but she is much more well adjusted than him and doesn't stand out nearly as much (many people theorised that Indigo was either Stratoversian or Inversian based on his look).
Blue is very formal and worried about appearances and conduct, as well as "being dangerous", which could stem from an upbringing in the controlling Stratoverse rather than the exuberant Gloomverse. She has a sister, Cakegirl, but she seems to be the younger of the two. It's also worth noting that Cakegirl is/was a very powerful magician, and characters are impressed by her golem.
And.... statically speaking, that could mean she is Stratoversian!
It is possible that Blue was born in Stratoverse and fled towards Gloomverse, either with her parents (Cakegirl being born in Gloomverse or too young to remember Stratoverse) or without them (She got adopted by Cakegirl's parents which may be a reason why Cakegirl is hostile towards her).
We don't know how or why random people get turned into colors, but Green and Alpha Green are both Ecoversian, its possible that Alpha Blue was Stratoversian and so current Blue is also Stratoversian.
Purple would be an outlier since Violet was likely Stratoversian and yet he was born in Steamverse.
TL;DR: While the flag of bavaria on someone's fanblog isn't much of a proof, Blue could still be as close to bavarian as we can do in a fictional world by being Stratoversian. Stratoverse is supposedly British/North-European and thus German. There is no proof against Blue being Stratoversian and it could explain the difference between her and Cakegirl (difference of upbringing) while also explaining why Cakegirl was so powerful.
#hypothesis#theory#submission#THERE#HAPPY?#THIS WASNT MEANT TO BE THIS LONG#BUT I CANT HELP BUT TAKE THOSE THINGS AS SERIOUSLY AS POSSIBLE AND FIND ALL THE PROOF I CAN#mod green#blue#stratoverse#gloomverse#blueoctobass#skyarbor#gloomverse theories#cakegirl
6 notes
·
View notes
Text
Character Bio and rules are below the line
You can call me Shadow. i’m a 28yo male that hasn’t rped in years. Last time i did was i think 3 maybe 4 years ago so i am plenty rusty. I know this doesn’t say a lot about me but if there’s anything you’d like to know, just ask.
About Karisa
Name: Karisa
Race: Tiefling: A Humanoid people descended from humans who made pacts or crossbred with demons.
Age: 18
Height: 6'3"
Hair color: black
Occupation: Golemancer, Adventurer, occasional Blacksmith
Appearance: As a tiefling, Karisa has several traits that distinguishes her from Humans. She has Lavender colored skin, ice blue eyes, two horns, pointed ears, and a 4 foot long tail.
Personality: When it comes to enemies, Karisa can be downright ruthless. if she hates them bad enough, she will leave an enemy broken but alive to let them try again. She swears a LOT around everyone no matter who they are with the exception of children and has a habit of making enemies through her mannerisms. She’s bad enough with her words that there have been jokes made about weaponizing her lexicon and isn’t afraid to cuss out friends! BUT if you can take her words with a grain of salt and actually befriend her, then no matter what she says to you, she will protect you with her life. In her words, “You may be a cunt, but you’re MY cunt. And no one FUCKS with my cunt!”
Background:
Karisa was born on a small farm and raised by her parents until she reached the age of 8 when they passed away. Since then she would delve into golemancy as a way to cope, keeping her hands busy and moving foreword as best as she can. This is around the time she found the large crystal that would become Grom’s core. At the age of 10, she made her way to the city with her golem Grom, who was wood at the time, to try and become an adventurer. There she met the Dwarf Bormi who gave her a place to stay and taught her in the ways of the blacksmith.
Modern Verse (Hazbin Verse rewrite):
Karisa is Tiefling who was born into an organization known as The Adventurer’s Guild. The purpose of this organization is to deal with supernatural threats to society as a whole by hunting down creatures, artifacts, books, and other things that could pose a danger. If it can’t be recruited, it is to be either destroyed or relocated. People of course know about them but there is a general distrust of the organization due to their habit of employing non-humans and the Guild’s use of magic.
When it comes to the forces of Heaven and Hell, the Guild was able to get their hands on a blueprint for portal technology. The portal they have doesn’t always work and sometimes accesses realms other than Heaven or Hell. This can have a tendency to get adventurers stuck in realms outside of earth.
Skills-
Golemancy: Throughout her life, Karisa has made a variety of golems. These golems can me made from just about any solid material if given enough time. Golems made from metal, stone, wood, and even flesh are within her area of expertise. Her favorite golem is an 8 foot tall minotaur automaton she named Grom.
Cooking: Karisa LOVES to cook. She’s always experimenting with different dishes and creating a few of her own.
Basic Martial Arts: Since she turned 13, Karisa has trained with a quarterstaff and dagger so that if her golems failed, she could still take care of herself.
Magic: In addition to Golemancy, she has a small arsenal of spells at her disposal.
Fire Spells: All Tieflings are capable of fire magic. Fireball, Burning Hands, and Firewall to name a few. Using fire helps her a lot if she has to weld parts together on a golem.
Lightning Spells: Karisa can perform rudimentary lightning spells but this mostly equates to coating her hand in electricity to use. The strength of this can range from the power of a normal stun gun to enough power to jumpstart a city’s electrical grid.
3D Movement: This is a form of wind magic that allows her to “kick” the air. by doing this, Karisa can give off the impression that she is flying. This does not mean she stays in the air, only that she can move in it. she usually only uses this to get over walls or cliffs or maybe to get into a tree.
Empathy Link: This is something she originally learned in order to better deal with golems in order to find out what their orders are. it can be used on other creatures and objects to get a kind of idea of either how they are feeling or how they are used. She MUST make contact with the palm of her hand for this to work.
Golem Creation: As a golemancer, Karisa carries a number of golem cores on her at all times. These cores can often be infused into whatever matter she chooses to create a quick golem in the field. These golems aren’t as effective as one she has time to prepare but they get the job done. Golem cores are also extremely volatile! Damaging a core will cause any magic in it to go haywire and explode in relation to the core’s size. This makes golems and their cores effective bombs if she needs to!
Golem Override: This is a skill that allows Karisa to manually control her golems and see through their eyes. HOWEVER this is only a last resort because it leaves her immobile and defenseless.
Please send Karisa questions and asks either from yourself or your characters! i will fill this out as i go!
Rules
1: i am all for fight scenes and such but please do not god-mod. meaning do not assume what happens to my character. (EX: “My character fires a gun and hits your character in the shoulder.” or “Your character tried to dodge but my character cuts off their arm before they can.”) In my responses, i’ve taken to rolling a dice to determine whether or not my character gets hit and how badly she gets hit. I do not mind my character dying in a particular thread so long as it is discussed at length beforehand and is necessary for the development of the plot. communication is key for stuff like this.
2: Don’t send hate. I don’t mind criticizing because it helps me reflect on how i’m doing. Hate is just a dick move though.
3: I reserve the right to choose whether or not i rp or answer an ask. There will be times that i don’t have the inspiration or motivation to continue it or there is not enough for me to go on. An example of this would be if i responded to an rp and the response i get back is “Character ducks.” or something as equally short.
4: I don’t mind reminders but i DO mind spamming. I will mostly be rping either on the weekends or some afternoons when i can get up the motivation. DO NOT spam me reminders every day or every other day. I have a 5 month old son and a job that has me working monday to thursday with the occasional friday up to 12 hours a day. Those come first.
5: You will see a lot of stuff on here that i will do my best to tag from gore to n//s//f//w// threads. If there is anything in particular you would like me to tag when it shows up, please let me know! Anything truly spicy will placed uner a read more and tagged as “Read at your own Risk!::NSFPC” (nsfpc stands for not safe for public consumption.
6: While i accept starters, memes, questions and comments through asks, starters and starter memes WILL be turned into a post to start a thread. I will not rp through constant asks because this can lead to more dash clutter than the post will. That being said, i will trim the post before it gets too long and will try to have any appropriate tags on it.
7: THERE WILL BE LOTS AND LOTS OF SWEARING! Enough that i will not be tagging it because it is everywhere! I will not tone down her swearing except around child muses because this is part of her character and i ask that you please understand.
8: When it comes to shipping, Karisa will make things fairly clear on whether or not she wants to be with your character. I love shipping but i also know that not everyone will ship their characters with Karisa and that's perfectly fine! Karisa WILL flirt and get touchy with people she's interested in but if the mun or character they are controlling doesn't want that, TELL HER! Not me. HER. Have your character reject her advances, tell her "no" or even smack the shit out of her if she gets too handsy! I will not be upset and i will completely understand! A lot of people plan ships out and tell others there has to be chemistry, but as I'm thinking about it, im going to be removing that little section from my rules. Why? Because failed ships have the potential to create drama, angst, and even enemies if done properly! If she comes onto a character and it makes you uncomfortable or you're just not interested, EXPRESS IT THROUGH YOUR CHARACTER! The same will apply to her! The only time i will have any sort of problem is if she says no, gets into a fight, and you try to godmod it to your liking or try to guilt ME about it. My character makes up her own mind about how to do things just like yours.
I may add more rules as time goes on but it’s pretty straightforward. Don’t be afraid to come and talk to me! I’m pretty open about things and i would love to see you around! Come and join me on discord for more Mun stuff! Just make sure you edit your name to match your tumblr url so i know who you are please! https://discord.gg/6ftZuSP8XH
10 notes
·
View notes
Text
A Battle for All
Characters: Patton, Logan, Roman, Remus, Janus, Virgil
For: @littlebigmouse
Warnings: Gore, Extreme Gore, Unsympathetic Patton, Unsympathetic Janus, Unsympathetic Logan, Major Character Death, Betrayal, Body horror/gore
Words: 2,500
Hey Mouse, Merry Christmas & Happy New Year! I was your gifter this year for the @sanderssidesgiftxchange and I gave you a super hero Au with a side of gore [Or rather a main course of gore] I hope you enjoy it!
This was it, the battle for all the marbles, or as Morality said, "All the cookies in the cookie jar." Whatever you wanted to call it, this was the most important battle. Here and now, would decide the fate of the world. Sure, you hear that in all the superhero movies to get the action and the thrill up, even if the heroes always win in the movies. This though, this was very, very real, and all the heroes could feel a deep fear fill them. It wouldn't stop them from protecting the entire world, and they would do everything to make sure that the world was saved. It was still an unsettling feeling, to be staring potential death straight in the face, your future becoming less clear by the second.
Sanders University, the place they were meant to defend, held the key to world domination, at least to the Troublesome Twosome that was Deceit and Logic. The university was famous for its advanced technology, some of which could give normal humans pseudo-Superpowers, putting them on an even playing field with natural born Supers. The Twosome's plan was to engineer as much superpowered technology as possible, to create an army of villains that would help them conquer the entire world. First they would start with the University itself, but with how much super-tech was in there already, they wouldn't have trouble building a small army to defend it while they work on bigger projects.
The Prince stood on one end and the Duke on the other. In between them stood Anxiety and Morality, their healer and shield respectively. The Duke was holding a thunderbolt in one hand, preparing to throw it should the villains pull any tricks. Prince was holding a pen in his hand, preparing to draw up a weapon or something that would protect them. Anxiety had his hand out, ready to heal the team and get them back to the fight. Morality was empty handed at the moment, giving the villains a smile as if they were just naïve children instead of people bent on world domination.
"Now kiddos," Morality started, holding his arms out in a gesture of peace. "We really don't have to fight today. If you would just willingly come with us we can help you," he assured, making sure his voice would sound even and calming. "Please, don't do this. It would only end in disaster and chaos for everyone, including you two."
Deceit chuckled quietly, which cued Logic to break out in maniacal laughter. Morality cringed and even the Duke shuddered, which was uncommon since he was rather creepy in his own right. Prince and Anxiety looked unamused, even if Anxiety's hand fell to his side, where a short sword, crafted specifically for him by Prince, rested on his hip.
"Oh Morality, darling~" Deceit purred, elbowing his laughing companion in the stomach, who wheezed and went silent, rubbing his stomach as if that would make the pain go away. "That's exactly what we want. Chaos and disaster are what will help us take over this worthless world. Soon, oh so soon we will rule and you will be powerless to stop us! Now, get out of our way and we may spare your lives, if you beg that is." He waved his arm in a big gesture to the building behind the trio of heroes, the one that held the key to their dream.
"Never!" Prince snarled, a sword held in his hands. "We shall never let you get past any of us! We will put our lives on the line to protect the world we love! You'll never win, so give up now and walk away!"
That made Deceit laugh again, wiping a tear from his eye with a gloved hand. "Oh Prince, foolish fool, you will be made to eat your words. I can assure you of that. Logic, if you will."
Logic stepped forward, snickering as he pulled out a remote with a single, red button. He pressed it, causing a dozen cars to crumble and meld together. After a few seconds a giant metal golem stood behind the Duo. Logic cackled, covering his mouth as he snorted. "Be-ha- prepared to meet m-my greatest creation to date, the car golem!" He announced, pointing forward. "Go! Wreck, maim, DESTROY!" He shrieked, doubling over with laughter.
The golem seemed to come to life, surging forward towards the heroes. It was coming fast, intent on ending the battle and the heroes once and for all. It had no mind, no heart, no soul. It had a purpose though, a sole purpose it was destined to complete. End the heroes and leave not even a single one standing.
Morality stepped in front of everyone and summoned a giant dome shield, covering all four of them. Prince and Duke stood behind Patton, while Anxiety put all his energy and focus into keeping Morality's shield strong, which meant using all he had to heal it.
"When I lower the shield go for the weak spots in it's limbs!" Morality shouted, crying out when the Golem pounded on the shield, putting a giant crack in it. They all heard Anxiety let out a sharp exhale, slowly forcing the crack to close. "Damage the legs and arms, rendering it useless!"
"Yes Sir!" "Yes Daddy!" The twins spoke in unison. Morality couldn't help hide an eyeroll at the Duke, but now was not the time to lecture him on his inappropriateness.
"Ready?" He asked, taking a breath. "GO!" He cried out, forcing the shield to burst outward, which made the golem fall back. Morality fell back at the force he used to push the golem back, Anxiety quick to Morality's side to heal him and boost his energy.
The second the shield went down, Prince took towards the right and Duke went left. They were in perfect sync, each summoning their sacred weapons, a paintbrush and a bolt of lightning respectively, charging forward and removing it's limbs.
Prince let out a loud cry, circling around the golem and fleeing the scene. The circle glowed green and vines, flowers, and even tree branches sprouted around it, quickly tying the golem up. The thing let out a loud, metallic screeching noise of distress, before the Duke acted.
He took the precious time where the golem was immobilized and used the pulsing thunderbolt in his hands to slice and dice it's arms and one leg off. The golem continued to shriek and cry out, thrashing around with it's one leg, until Morality came through.
He had moved forward, leaving Anxiety in the back to watch their back. He summoned a small shield, one that was a simple circular shape, save for the spikey thorns and notches in it. He threw it as hard as he could, watching as the killer frisbee cut halfway through a leg, rendering it a mostly useless, twitching lump to the golem.
It continued to try and get to the heroes, but it only managed to flop around uselessly. It was rather useless, slowly going still as it died.
"Fuck yeah!" Duke cheered, before letting out a choked cry as a large snake plunged through his chest. His eyes went wide and he coughed out a sickening mixture of spit and blood, slowly going down on his knees. He reached out, as if to beg for help, his body going still as the snake again plunged through him, tearing his throat in half. His mouth was moving as if attempting to speak, before he fell face down, poised in a silent scream.
Deceit stood behind him, wiping his gloves with a white cloth. It was covered in a layer of blood, but the cloth cleaned the majority off. He tossed it on the corpse, looking at the heroes, who were looking at them in a mixture of shock, fear, and horror.
It was broken as Morality let out an ear piercing shriek, followed by Prince crying out in absolute anguish.
"Remus!" He shrieked, struggling to breath and looking like he was moments away from fainting. "Oh gods, Jesus god WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU!?" He cried out, Patton's shrieking sobs becoming a dull noise to him as his rage filled. "I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!"
He charged forward, unaware that the Golem was sliding painfully slowly towards Patton. He continued moving towards Janus, aiming punch after punch, kick after kick at the monster who murdered his brother. Deceit only dodged out of the way, not even bother to strike him.
Eventually, he ducked behind Prince, sweeping his legs out from under him. "Oh dear Princey, don't worry, you'll see him soon," Deceit purred, stomping on the hero's back, relishing in his shrieks of pain. "But look, here." He bent down, grabbing Prince by the hair and pulling his head up to make him look towards Morality.
Morality was on his knees sobbing. The golem was squirming closed to him, using it's half destroyed leg to slowly roll itself over. Roman was shrieking and begging Morality to do something, only to watch as Anxiety sailed past him, sprinting like his life depended on it. "No Virgil stop!" He begged, not wanting to lose two friends and his brother, he wasn't sure if his heart could take it.
Roman could only watch in horror as Virgil shoved Morality, the golem landing on top of the healer, crushing him to death. Roman let out a scream of pure anguish just as Logic began cackling with glee. He couldn't see Morality from behind the golem, but he was so sure that both of them were dead.
Logic danced around, watching the golem start to become consumed by rust. After it was fully rusted, it broke apart into dust, falling to the ground in large, clumpy piles. Even the limbs that were cut off were turned to dust as well. And Virgil? He was laying on the ground, flattened into a bloody clump of human and clothes. The lump didn't even look remotely human, but Prince found he couldn't look away, and he was glad he didn't.
There, next to what was Virgil, was Morality. He was alive and well, Roman hadn't lost everything! He went to call out, only to watch as Morality spit on Virgil's remains, climbing to his feet. "God, I can't believe he was that stupid. Though I suppose his foolish need to jump into bravery was admirable," he commented, brushing himself off. He reached down and grabbed something off of Virgil's remains, but Roman couldn't tell what it was.
Morality walked slowly, painfully slowly, over to Roman, who was confused. He let out a cry when his hair was let go and his face met painfully with the pavement. He ended up biting down on his tongue on the way down, causing his mouth to fill with a metallic tasting liquid. Blood, he thought distantly, but he wasn't able to comprehend it with how quickly his brain was shutting down.
He was rolled over, coming face to face with Morality. "P-Patton?" he croaked out, spitting up a glob of blood that got onto his pure white suit, or a suit that had been pure white. Now it was caked in dirty, boot prints, and even his own blood.
"Oh Princey, sweet sweet Roman," He cooed, brushing his thumb over Roman's cheek. "You're an absolute fool." Patton slowly held up the short sword, Virgil's short sword, pressing it against Roman's throat. He let out a soft whimper, unable to stop the noise from leaving his lips.
"Why?" He choked out, spitting a glob of blood onto Patton's suit. He saw his leader, former leader, cringe but shrug it off after a moment.
"I'm so tired of being treated like the innocent little healer on your team. I can't tell you how many times you've just left me to get captured, used me as bait...you even used me as a human shield once or twice instead of our actual shield, the guy who can make them out of thin air." He grabbed Roman by the chin, forcing the hero to meet his eyes. "I'm not meant to be bait or a human punching bag to protect you selfish lot. I am my own powerful person, stronger and better than all three of you worthless buffoons. I may have been your leader, but I was treated like trash by all three of you. But now....now that won't happen ever again!" Patton chirped, a bright cheery, but equally eerie, smile on his face.
Roman heard Deceit chuckle, looking away from Patton to watch as the villain walked towards the university, Logic right on his heels. He watched as Logic's lips moved quickly, mostly likely talking about whatever wicked plans he wanted to try on poor unsuspecting people.
"Don't take too long, darling!" Deceit called, loud enough for the pair to hear. “We need to get our plans into motion, we've already been set back quite a bit."
"Yes Deceit, I understand," Patton assured, looking back at Roman, who was petrified with fear. "I'm so sorry Roman, but this is your final scene. The curtains have been called and your act is through," he whispered, plunging the knife deep into Roman's chest.
Roman coughed up blood, reaching with one hand to try and pull it out to no avail.
Patton looked rather bored, but delighted at the same time. "This is goodbye Roman, I can't say I'll miss you or any of the others." He gave Roman a big smile, his deep brown eyes looking more golden as he twisted the knife that was lodged in Roman's chest, twisting it to cut deeper into the hero's body.
He felt Roman slowly going limp, the last few strings that he used to cling to life snapping as he let out his final breath. Patton shuddered in pleasure as he felt the man's last breath tickle his neck. He felt a rush, a thrill, he felt almost drunk on this feeling. He let a small grin cross his features, cackling as he pushed the corpse off him. Rising to his feet he felt a need, a deep hunger for more. He wanted more, he needed more of this feeling.
Patton licked his lips, groaning as the few stray drops of Roman's blood hit his taste buds. That felt good. So very, very good.
He brushed himself off, walking towards the University with a smile on his face. He had a mission after all, and world domination sounded just as glorious as crushing these pitiful heroes. Maybe more would come to play with them, that would be fun. If he were lucky, Deceit would let him keep one as a treat, a very special one just for him. Patton had to prove himself, and now that he was seen as an equal, he was never going to disappoint Deceit. He was going to show he earned his spot, and earn his spot he would.
#unsympathetic patton#unsympathetic janus#unsympathetic logan#sympathetic remus#tw major character death#major character death#major character injury#gore#extreme gore#patton sanders#logan sanders#virgil sanders#roman sanders#remus sanders#janus sanders#deceit sanders#unsympathetic deceit#dessy writes
15 notes
·
View notes
Text
Meeting Your Maker
Another essay I wrote for school. This one’s about 4 pages and is a reading of Susan Stryker’s My Words to Victor Frankenstein above the Village of Chamounix, for the benefit of my composition 101 class.
In “My Words to Victor Frankenstein above the Village of Chamounix: Performing Transgender Rage,” Susan Stryker makes an emotionally-powerful statement to the world which has rejected her as a transsexual woman by mobilizing a critical reading of Mary Shelley’s foundational science fiction novel, Frankenstein, to give an account of her situation and to make the case for the transformative power of rage against all that is supposed to be natural from the position of the unnatural. It was originally delivered as a performance piece at California State University in 1993 as part of a conference aimed at theorizing rage.
Stryker grabs the attention of the reader immediately with a few short, rapid-fire sentences: “The transsexual body is an unnatural body. It is the product of medical science. It is a technological construction.” Next, she begins to explain what she means and presents the essential analogy of the piece, adding “It is flesh torn apart and sewn together again in a shape other than that in which it was born. In these circumstances, I find a deep affinity between myself as a transsexual woman and the monster in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.” This identification with the monster’s unnatural origin is central to the piece, but the monster’s rage with its creator and the entirety of the world from which it is excluded is also essential. These two themes, that her body is unnatural and that this unnaturalness is the basis of an exclusion which she feels as an enraging pain, work together to drive the piece to its conclusions.
The tendency to associate transgender bodies with Mary Shelley’s work predates Stryker’s work, though.“I am not the first to link Frankenstein’s monster and the transsexual body,” (Stryker 2) she clarifies. She proceeds to quote the transphobic remarks of Mary Daly and Janice Raymond, a pair of influential feminists, comparing transgender people to Frankenstein’s monster. Her response is to return to the text, arguing that the monster importantly appears in the story as Frankenstein’s “...dark, romantic double,” (Stryker 2) She asks what making such comparisons between transgender people and the Monster might imply about the people making them, “Might I suggest that Daly, Raymond and others of their ilk similarly construct the transsexual as their own particular golem?” (Stryker 2)
Stryker doesn’t shrink away from the monstrous associations such transphobic feminists make, instead she embraces the archetype, turning on them the way the monster turned on its maker. She says, “When such beings as these tell me I war with nature, I find no more reason to mourn my opposition to them—or to the order they claim to represent—than Frankenstein’s monster felt in its enmity to the human race.” (Stryker 3) Indeed, she does not shrink away from these critics’ company, she roars “...gleefully away from it like a Harley-straddling, dildo- packing leatherdyke from hell.” (Stryker 3)
Examining what it means to be labelled a creature, Stryker says that it is essentially to be something (presumably something with a subjective experience) which is created rather than appearing naturally. She does not elaborate on the reasoning behind this premise, but goes a step further to say that people take offense at being called or compared to creatures precisely because most people are accustomed to affording themselves a higher status, that of creator rather than created. Her reactive impulse is markedly different. She says, “I find no shame, however, in acknowledging my egalitarian relationship with non-human material Being; everything emerges from the same matrix of possibilities.” (Stryker 4) She doesn’t see the appeal of the civilizing separation between Man as maker and creator on the one hand, and the rest of the world on the other, which is presumed to be infinitely passive, infinitely subject to use and attribution by others. Instead, she allows this schism to drive her back into solidarity with all that is unnatural.
For Stryker, revulsion toward transgender people stems from their inability or refusal to conform to the supposed natural order, distilled to its most-essential form in the rigid categories of man and woman. Although the transgender body is said to be monstrous because of its artificiality, Stryker says all that is called Nature and used as a cudgel against transgender people is actually just as artificial, just as constructed as the transgender body. She warns the reader against the falsity of Nature as a concept, “Do not trust it to protect you from what I represent, for it is a fabrication that cloaks the groundlessness of the privilege you seek to maintain for yourself at my expense.” Here, she asserts the general threat transgender people pose to the social order, which is to make-visible all of the horrible techniques by which each person is made into themselves. After all, she says, “You are as constructed as me; the same anarchic Womb has birthed us both.” (Stryker 4) The author is attempting to make good on the threats her experience is said to pose toward nature; in fact, this is exactly the way forward she suggests, “Heed my words, and you may well discover the seams and sutures in yourself.” (Stryker 4)
In spite of her close identification with the creature, Stryker specifies that their situations are not the same, noting that, “Unlike the monster, we often successfully cite the culture’s visual norms of gendered embodiment.” (Stryker 4) Transgender people cite these visual norms through the manipulation of subtle signifiers such as hair length, cut of clothing, use of makeup, wearing packers and binders, and medically altering the appearances of their bodies. This becomes subversive, she says, when transgender people, “...declare the unnaturalness of our claim to the subject positions we nevertheless occupy. (Stryker 4)
Stryker reminds us that after Frankenstein’s monster learns the details of its creation, “...rather than bless its creator, the monster curses him.” Frankenstein cannot control the monster’s mind. “It exceeds and refutes his purposes.” (Stryker 5) This is central to one of Stryker’s main uses of the Frankenstein analogy; if the Monster’s mind is not beholden to Frankenstein, the transgender consciousness is also not determined by the doctors who reshape flesh or the entrepreneurs who sell synthetic penises. Although medicine is capable of making a body seem natural to any observer, being the subject of such techniques might permanently alter the way one views nature or medicine in general, or as Stryker says, “engaging with those very techniques produces a subjective experience that belies the naturalistic effect biomedical technology can achieve.” (Stryker 5)
In Shelley’s novel, Frankenstein meets with his creation at last while hiking the glaciers above the village of Chamounix. The two go to a cabin together where the monster spends almost a quarter of the book telling Frankenstein its story from its own perspective to explain why it has turned against him. The essay itself enters Stryker’s analogy, “These are my words to Victor Frankenstein, above the village of Chamounix.” (Stryker 6) She goes on, later in the passage, “I, too, have discovered the journals of the men who made my body, and who have made the bodies of creatures like me since the 1930’s.” (Stryker 6) She is well aware that the scientists who developed sexual reassignment surgical and hormonal treatments did so for wildly different motivations than those that led her to engage in them. However, by nature of her desire to engage in them, she must submit herself to their categorizations, and of course at the time of her writing, to be transgender necessarily meant maintaining a proximity to diagnoses of mental illness. She comments on the effect of this, “Through the filter of this official pathologization, the sounds that come out of my mouth can be summarily dismissed as the confused ranting of a diseased mind.” (Stryker 6) This highlights the uneasy relationship between transgender people and the medical community at large. After all, the doctors who perform sexual reassignment surgeries and the like are not accused of insanity, as are the patients who submit to their care.
The essay shifts into a journal entry about the day the author’s partner gave birth. She describes a powerful and moving birthing process, awkwardly interrupted for her alone by a thoughtless designation by the baby’s biological father, upon seeing the baby’s genitals, “It’s a girl!” (Stryker 7) Returning home, she was filled with a well of pent-up emotions. She says, “To conclude the birth ritual I had participated in, I needed to move something in me as profound as a whole human life.” (Stryker 7)
She looks inward, and backward through time, reflecting on the relationship she had been in when she had her first child, before coming out as a woman. She remembers, “I had always wanted intimacy with women more than intimacy with men, and that wanting had always felt queer to me. She needed it to appear straight.” The author wanted to love women as a woman and her partner needed love from a man. Thus, refusing the gender she was assigned at birth, she refused the love that was predicated on it. In other instances related to the most recent birth, after she came out as a woman, people would ask if she were the baby’s father, of which she says, “It shows so dramatically how much they simply don’t get about what I’m doing with my body.” (Stryker 8) This interconnected web of rejections and losses is perhaps what leads her to conclude that “Nature exerts such a hegemonic oppression.” (Stryker 8)
The text continues in italics, in a more-poetic tone before breaking into poetry completely. The author was reeling from the day’s compressed emotions: the intensity of birthing, the dark cloud of the baby’s gendering, and the recollection of past relationships. She seems sad here, and angry, but also resolute, saying, “I can never be a woman like other women, but I could never be a man.” (Stryker 8) This hard realization drives her to reject that false choice. Instead, she says, “I do war with nature. I am alienated from Being.”
From here she moves on into the actual poetry. She references drowning and becoming water to escape, “If I cannot change my situation I will change myself.” (Stryker 8) This moment of recognition of her existence in an unlivable space and being forced to become something else carries through to the final lines of the poem, “In birthing my rage, / my rage has rebirthed me.” (Stryker) and into the final portion of the essay.
If the categories of gender are transmutable, then anyone with the power to “...cite the culture’s visual norms of gendered embodiment.” (4) also has the ability to reduce all the trappings of identity to a tactical level and explore new possibilities, or as Stryker puts it, “... by mobilizing gendered identities and rendering them provisional, open to strategic development and occupation, this rage enables the establishment of subjects in new modes, regulated by different codes of intelligibility.” (10)
Gender attribution robs individuals of this tactical posture toward gender and expression, pushing them into narrow corridors of expression instead. Babies are unable to choose this fate for themselves. This is critical because fotr Stryker, gendering a child is not a simple labeling, it is a prescription for a lifetime of behaviors that will have to be programmed into the child. She explains, “Gendering is the initial step in this transformation, inseparable from the process of forming an identity by means of which we’re fitted to a system of exchange in a heterosexual economy.” (Stryker 10) This fitting for a system of exchange, she says, is exactly what is meant by phrases like, “It’s a girl.” (Stryker 10) It is for exactly this reason that to be without gender, or even to perform gender incorrectly, would form the basis for social exclusion. If gender is meant to be a universal means of social coding, being able to express one clearly is a precondition to be understood. Stryker puts it this way, “A gendering violence is the founding condition of human subjectivity; having a gender is the tribal tattoo that makes one’s personhood cognizable.” (Stryker 10) Considering her own participation in gendering an infant, she speculates about the baby’s future, “I stood for a moment between the pain of two violations, the mark of gender, and the unlivability of its absence.” (Stryker 10) As violent and painful as her relationship to gender has been, she wonders whether it would be possible for the child to exist at all in our world without a gender, “Could I say which one was worse? Or could I only say which one I felt could best be survived.” (Stryker 10)
In bringing the piece to a close, Stryker continues to look toward the future and its possibilities for herself and other creatures like her. Even if gender presents itself as inescapable, that does not preclude the strategic approach to its expression she suggested earlier, “Though I cannot escape its power, I can move through its medium.” (Stryker 10) Perhaps, she suggests, by using the medium against itself, she can short-circuit the meanings that gendered signification are meant to communicate and even elaborate new and exciting ways to use the social coding of gender to express new ideas, “Though I may not hold the stylus myself, I can move beneath it for my own deep self-sustaining pleasures.” (Stryker 11)
In spite of this optimistic note about the potential to play with gender’s meaning, she holds that transgender people undermine this system’s integrity, because “To encounter the transsexual body, to apprehend a transgendered consciousness articulating itself, is to risk a revelation of the constructedness of the natural order.” (Stryker 11) She also reasserts that one cannot take part in this process without being transformed by it, “Be forewarned, however, that taking up this task will remake you in the process.” (Stryker 11)
The ultimate subversion is that the monstrous are resolute in articulating themselves in spite of the peril such expression spells for civilization. “Like that creature, I assert my worth as a monster in spite of the conditions my monstrosity requires me to face, and redefine a life worth living.” (Stryker 11) After all, Stryker didn’t ask to be born into this particular world. Like the monster, she asks, “Did I request thee, Maker, from my clay to mould me man? Did I solicit thee from darkness to promote me?” (qtd. in Stryker 11)
In the end Stryker parts with her reader with a sort of benediction, “May your rage inform your actions, and your actions transform you as you struggle to transform your world.” (Stryker 11) In the final words of the essay, then, she is returning to one of its central themes. One cannot engage with the world without being changed by it. Perhaps this is the process by which the world moulds monsters from each of us. It is only by investigating our seams and sutures for ourselves that we can learn the impact the world has had on us, or the impact we might have on it.
Works Cited
Stryker, Susan. “My Words to Victor Frankenstein Above the Village of Chamounix” June 1993, https://sites.evergreen.edu/politicalshakespeares/wp-content/uploads/sites/226/2015/12/Stryker-My-Words-to-VF.pdf
3 notes
·
View notes
Last Seen Blogs
cubsterforbear
Untitled
niermann-flagge
Vexillologie
furweight9
The Life of Shepherd 436
honeybods
Sweet Nature
rnnrvate
always