#the god-willow sapling is also a giant nine-tailed fox! okay! | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

girlfox · 28 days

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while listening to kas talk to me about their ahri portrayal, they inspired me to elaborate a lil' more on her ritualisms; therein, the manner in which she ornaments her cadavers post-feeding. i've spoken on this meta a million and two times in the past, as it's been an integral part of her character for almost as long as i've written her ━━━━ and a shard of my portrayal that i hold very dear. so, i won't ramble too much about that!

but i did want to touch on the very purposeful reasoning behind ahri performing this act & the variations she has in it.

as a devotee to the all mother, and keeper of her design, the fox finds profound meaning in every blade of dewy grass and whistle of the wind between tree boughs, and the rot of death gently sheathed in blankets of moss and soil. there is symbolism spun like intertwining threads amongst every facet of nature; no matter how small & insignificant or forthright & proud. it all has a purpose, something to speak into the world around it. this is why she guards her domain so fiercely, in protection of what is inherently good and giving without fault.

「 the forest of the one - thousand faced fox is where nature sprawls unto to thrive, and where lost souls go to find beastly penance. 」

this is also why the kkoch-ui janglyesig, or ❛ funeral of flowers ❜ ritual is also a tribute to the soul it's vessel once contained. in respecting the feminine entity that is the forest, ahri must respect the souls that wander beyond the boundaries of her realm ━━━━ that is, if she deems them so fit to guide gently and with honor into the spirit realm. after all, there are many instances of those who taste of ash & rot that challenge the fox in her own arena whom far from deserve a garland of flowers but rather the maw of hungry wolves.

all this is to say that ahri is keenly aware of the meaning bestowed upon particular flora, and takes note of this whilst adorning her prey in moss and flowers. knowing this, ahri makes an effort to impart these meanings onto those who pass in her forest. ( the particular flowers needed are not always readily available, but nonetheless she makes an effort in the name of sanctification ).

although ahri would never harm a child, it is a sorrowful fact in a war-ridden world that she must guide their souls beyond the natural realm and into the spiritual, at times. in this case, ahri delicately blankets them in nature and bestows upon them 𝐖𝐇𝐈𝐓𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐄𝐒 & 𝐋𝐈𝐋𝐈𝐄𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐕𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐄𝐘.

they represent innocence and purity, as does the soul of a child; deserving only of safe passage into the warmth of the spirits beyond. if their soul should linger, perhaps forlornly shackled to the corporeal plane still, ahri will not consume it but delicately pull it from where it remains and dip it back into the all-encompassing, ethereal ocean of souls where it may find peace. after all, this is as simple a task as drawing her foxes fire from the intangible.

the most frequent of unwelcome visitors are lost travelers and merchants seeking out a lesser walked shortcut on their journey. as if tying the knot of their own fate, ahri then deems them fair hunt for their intrusive presence. these are the souls she will consume with minor remorse ━━━━ though that's not to say it's without none, as ahri has a deep-rooted appreciation for human nature and human emotion, and the short bursts of life they carry. under normal circumstances, the fox does not desecrate her prey without reason.

therefore, once the hunt is over, she will impart on them 𝐁𝐔𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐂𝐔𝐏𝐒 & 𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐃𝐅𝐋𝐎𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐒.

representing invasiveness, they are the most straight-forward form of symbolism when used; it is also most common to find her corpses embedded with this particular brand of flora, and the one she's become most known for in the surrounding areas and towns that have likened her to a dangerous mythos.

now, it's rare for ahri to even consider bestowing those she would tear to ribbons without a second thought with her ritual. but in very rare instances, she might. this is particularly true for souls she may feel are wrong and corrupt, but perhaps simply had a bad draw in life or their hand was forced. this opinion is typically formed post-feeding, as their memories and experiences and emotions crawl through-out the crevices of her mind. ahri is not without complex nuance in these situations; she is capable of benevolence in the face of rotten souls. it is simply ... infrequent.

for these, if ahri should bother looking for them, 𝐀𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐈𝐓𝐄 & 𝐁𝐔𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐅𝐋𝐘 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐃 are used. the former, though can be equated to the first blush of spring and rebirth, is also highly toxic despite this. it is a reminder that there can be grim darkness in the once clean human soul. the latter is known to symbolize rejection, or serve as warning to others to stay away; it is without subtlety that ahri uses this in bushels.

of course, an abundance of other flora and foliage is utilized in her rituals as the end purpose is to relinquish their physical forms to the omikayalan⁰¹, but there are consistencies between particular souls. the flowering ritual is something ahri holds dear to her heart and is not only a form of metaphorical prayer but a means of returning what once was to where it came from, preserving the natural circle of life.

#𝐓𝐇𝐄 ⠀⠀(⠀ⅴ.⠀)⠀⠀𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐀:⠀⠀ಇ⠀⠀sit and sing in the darkˏ arched marrow of me.#⁰¹ ━ omikayalan: heart of the world; or 'god-willow'. a sacred landmark of her species & the origins of all nature.#also known as: the all mother & the feminine nature.#remind me to write more meta on omikayalan because. it means so much to me & my portrayal of ahri.#her lore is so heavily heavily rooted in it.#and like off topic from this meta but it simply cannot be a coincidence that the guardian of #the god-willow sapling is also a giant nine-tailed fox! okay!#anyway ahri the cadaver florist making corpses pretty.

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