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tertiaryunit · 2 years ago

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TW: Portrayal of a toxic relationship and some “explicit” descriptions (courtesy of Wally’s vivid imagination).

This turned out much longer than what was planned. I decided to focus more on the characters’ feelings as this is essentially the “chapter” before a more action-oriented one (when Lawrence actually goes to arrest Paul at the ‘Ton). Let’s call this an “extra” that may or may not be cut if the story is ever posted on AO3.

/ ----------------------- /

[Manhattan, Walton Simons’ penthouse. 21:27 March 2052]

Things weren’t going as the MJ12 had planned: first they had to activate Paul Denton’s killswitch and now his little brother’s too. Loose cannons, the both of them.

“Another fifty-billion dollars down the drain”

Walton grunted to himself. Lawrence walked into the living room holding a tray with a fuming teapot, a sugar bowl, a cup and a bunch of biscuits on it. “If only Manderley listened to you, Sir. His insistence to keep a liability like Paul only proved you right” A month ago, when the Majestic 12 started worrying about Paul’s influence on JC, the FEMA Director ordered his personal assistant to befriend and stalk the younger Denton sibling. Lawrence was the son of JC’s childhood hero and both the youths were in the same age range (with only two years of difference), he was the perfect choice to get all close and personal with him. This way, Carter Jr. would have been able to analyze his target and then refer everything to his beloved superior so that he could have decided their next moves.

In short, he was being asked to do the good old double-crossing. Nothing new for either the Psychic nor the Director. Except for one little detail that did not go unnoticed by the latter.

“Sir, if I may...” Simons didn’t answer, which meant a silent agreement to the “if I may”. “... I feel something is bothering you. As in, other than the current situation with the Denton siblings. I would love to help with whatever is ailing you, Sir” “So you can read minds now or what, Agent?” “No, Sir. I think it’s just empathy. I can tell when the man I love isn’t feeling great” “I have seen you hang out with that JC, boy. For longer than what your mission requires. It... Bothered me”

Lawrence put the tray with the tea and biscuits down on the table next to the armchair his superior was on; he seemed incredibly saddened by that statement, even if he didn’t say a word. The Director felt a fit of hate for himself once he realized what was bothering him so much: jealousy. That was an emotion fit for weaker-minded individuals, not for a man with his power and status.

“Sir, I just want to be sure the younger Denton sibling completely trusts me. I don’t like to leave a job half-done” “I have never seen you so interested in someone before. That’s all” Walton felt the impulse to pin him against the wall or floor and ask him “do you feel something for that JC?��. He imagined himself pinning the Psychic down on the couch like he did that night almost six years ago. To remind him to who he belonged. For some reason, he remembered a song Lawrence would occasionally sing to himself:

[Oh, I am Death, and none can tell If I open the door to Heaven or Hell No wealth, no land, no silver, not gold Nothing satisfies me but your soul I'm Death, I come to take the soul Leave the body and leave it cold] To their enemies, he brought a swift end - to him, la petite mort. And over the years, despite what he did to him, Lawrence loved him to the point of blind worship: he never disobeyed to his orders nor talked behind his back, never lost his composure in front of his colleagues’ malicious gossip on how he managed to occupy the position he did among the Majestic 12. Without the Psychic, he felt empty - and with him, even Hell felt like Paradise. So maybe he *did* take his soul, after all.

Lawrence kneeled before the Director, who let his factotum take his hand. He held it like the most precious of gifts and kissed it with the devotion of a believer towards a Saint.

“If you want me to be a villain, I’ll be a villain” - Lawrence’s tone was firm and resolute - “It doesn’t matter against who, Sir” Walton pulled his half-clone close by the tie - Lawrence was basically forced to stand up and then sit on his lap facing him. The Director’s voice was a whisper but still perfectly audible as they were so close the tip of their noses touched.

“Paul Denton must be in our hands by tomorrow night. I have no doubt his NSF friends will be protecting him... Kill them all, if you need to”

Their eyes were locked together, as if in a trance - one saw the object of his deepest love, the other a lethal weapon that somehow seduced him with more than the idea of power.

“If they resist, I promise you, Sir... All that will remain of them is ashes”

The painful, familiar mixture of guilt and pleasure took hold of the Director, who found himself dangerously close to brushing the young man’s lips with his own. His other hand had already slipped under the Psychic’s elegant black tux, on the white button-up shirt stretched by the muscles below.

“Trust me, Sir. There’s nothing I want more than to make your wishes come true. No other man I desire to serve”

Lawrence’s adoring eyes wandered below for a split second which made Simons very self-conscious about his body’s reaction. The young man didn’t say a word - his resigned smile alone told him everything he needed to know about his undying loyalty.

Before he could ask the Psychic to “make his wishes come true”, Walton snapped back to his senses - his heart rate was as fast as his breathing. The hand clenched on the young man’s tie took a few seconds before letting him go and, once the Agent got up, the Director immediately crossed his legs. [In his mind, the old man saw Lawrence’s lips curved with a malicious smirk, his eyes fixed on the area he was so desperately trying to hide. He saw himself powerless to stop him from sitting back on his lap, teasing him... ]

“You... You need to prepare for tomorrow night” [The thoughts were getting worse. He felt nauseous when he heard himself beg the Lawrence in his mind to kiss him again; that man was like the fire he could generate, he was as intoxicating as carbon monoxide and just as deadly] He counted his blessings that his half-clone couldn’t read minds. “I think it’s better if you rest for now. I don’t want you to be tired or distracted, Lawrence”

He wanted to say “I don’t want anything bad happen to you” but that would have been one of the most hypocritical sentences to come out of his mouth considering the past seven years of using and abusing him in multiple ways.

Lawrence’s smile brightened upon hearing the Director call him by his name (instead of the usual “boy”). ”I think I’ll take a bath, Sir. Would you like me to wait for you?” That smile almost made him say yes.

”I need to unwind alone right now, Agent. Maybe I’ll take a cold shower after you’re done” The Psychic politely bowed to him (”Goodnight, Sir. Please call me if you need anything”) and walked off to the bathroom. It was hard for Walton to think of him as the man who could easily destroy buildings and who could set the sky on fire with his mind - as the weapon Page built. Visions of his half-clone wearing his Power Armor flashed before his eyes, enveloped in a cocoon of flames in the shape of an enormous phoenix, flying over the skies of Washington D.C. By now, he knew Lawrence was more than a weapon - for him, at least. It was just more comfortable to believe the contrary.

__________________________________ NOTES.

The song is “O Death”, this version specifically is from Until Dawn which featured a character who was voiced/played by Lawrence’s faceclaim himself. ;)

(This gif is from “The Pacific” where he played Snafu Shelton though)

La petite mort = “the little death”. It’s... Literally a metaphor for sexual release (Wikipedia link about the expression). I think the duality of the term is fitting for both of them.

I don’t think portraying Walton as completely uncaring would be accurate - my interpretation of him is that of a man who isolated himself from others to not be hurt (physically/emotionally) and, as such, has bottled up feelings he thought were long-gone. He strikes me as the type of person who looks cold form the outside but feels, uh, “strongly” inside. Especially when he started realizing he felt something for the most inconvenient person for him to be attracted to.

If it can help, part of my characterization for him comes from Notre Dame de Paris’ Claude Frollo. The one from the original book, not the animated movie. Link is to TVTropes’ character page. Except that Lawrence actually loves him, it’s not unrequited love - Walton’s just an abuser who loses his mind over the feelings he always considered to be “weakness”. Imposing himself is the way he sees fit to regain control. And also knowing deep down that Lawrence is developing feelings for JC because he actually treats him like a decent human being.

Walton’s “thoughts” being an example on how he’s so determined to find malice in anything Lawrence does, or is perceived doing. So it’s a “not really my fault it’s him tempting me” situation because of course he victim blames.

#The Demiurge [Walton Simons]#The Crusader [Lawrence Carter]#My Writing #if this doesn't paint Walton for the slimy victim blaming bastard he is i dont know what will besides the chapter in which he actually does #THAT thing to Lawrence

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caesarsaladinn · 1 year ago

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everybody tweets like a social theorist these days, blaming their sad little lives on the commodification of art, decline of third spaces, hyperindividualism, and other such nonsense. I, on the other hand, know what's causing my misery--the demiurge's curse

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maryychill · 25 days ago

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Digimon Adventure Tri: why it's more than you think

Originally posted on Reddit.

I believe Digimon Adventure Tri deserves a more careful, emotionally attuned rereading. I'm not here to claim absolute truth. I just want to share what I understood and felt, hoping this might encourage viewers to see the work through a different lens, especially if they're open to reevaluating it.

Tri isn't broken, it's fractured on purpose

Tri is not a classic sequel. It doesn't try to replicate the adventure spirit of the original series. Instead, it dares to explore a more introspective and emotional space. I've read some people saying that there are many subplots. But if you pay attention, everything that seems scattered is actually tied together by one common thread: the dissonance between who they once were, and who they begin to be when life stops giving easy answers.

I understand that not everyone wants to see their childhood characters grow up. That's valid. Sometimes we'd rather keep them frozen in time, running across the digiworld without ever facing heartbreak or existential crisis.

But Tri proposes something different.

It doesn't ask us to return to who we were, it asks us to acknowledge that we've changed. It shows that heroes can hesitate, that bonds can shift, and that searching for meaning is part of the fight too.

I find it moving that these characters have grown, that they're still evolving, each in their own way. That gives me hope. Because evolving doesn't always look like a flashy transformation. Sometimes it looks like staying, questioning, choosing not to run.

And if this stage doesn't resonate with you, that's okay too. Maybe it wasn't your moment. Or maybe your connection to Adventure lives on a different plane.

The beauty is that nothing takes away what came before or what comes after. It just gains new layers over time.

An emotional, not conventional structure

Tri doesn't talk about an external enemy. It speaks of an internal fracture.

From the very beginning, it tells us:

“Demiurge, the soulless creator... Idea, the true form of the world...”

This isn't just poetic dressing, it's the story's thesis. The Digital World was created as a system, but one that never truly understood the beings it would hold. The infection corrupting digimon isn't just a virus. It's a metaphor, a crack in the digital soul.

Tri doesn't follow the traditional "adventure-enemy-digivolution" formula. Its core conflict often comes in silences, glances, inner contradictions.

What hurts isn't always what happens. Sometimes it's the feelings too complex to name.

Taichi hasn't lost his courage, he's transformed it into responsibility.

Yamato isn't angry for drama's sake, he's frustrated because he doesn't know how to reach Taichi anymore.

Sora doesn't fade, she's depleted from holding everyone together while forgetting how to hold herself.

Joe isn't a coward, he's the first to confront doubt.

Mimi isn't shallow, she's defending her authenticity in a world that tries to mute it.

Koushiro isn't just the genius, he's a child who made logic his shield to avoid emotional collapse.

Takeru isn't just the optimist, his quiet strength is how he doesn't get pulled under by others' pain.

Hikari isn't just light, she's a channel. Her sensitivity connects her to the invisible, but it also makes her deeply vulnerable.

Meiko isn't a mistake, she's the weight of quiet guilt and undeserved blame.

Himekawa isn't a villain, she's a warning, consumed by a love that couldn't let go.

Nishijima isn't a mentor, he's a man who regrets arriving too late.

A symbolic reading of the Digital World

Tri challenges the Digital World's mythology. It introduces concepts like the Demiurge (imperfect creator) and Idea (true essence), pulling from gnostic and platonic philosophy. The infection is not just a digital bug. It's the result of a world built without understanding the emotions that would one day inhabit it.

Distortions in space, corrupted binary code (like the unexplained "2" in a system built on 0 and 1), the merging of realities, and the appearance of soulless replicas like Imperialdramon, none of it is random. It all speaks to a world collapsing from within, not due to external battles.

A quiet story of transformation

At the beginning of this story, Taichi wants to bring everyone back together, but time has passed. They've taken different paths, changed in ways that aren't always compatible. It's not about caring less. It's about learning that closeness sometimes fades without meaning to, and that trying to reclaim it isn't always simple.

A common criticism is that Taichi now hesitates and that this is regression.

Taichi's hesitation isn't fear, it's awareness. A pause. A question: can I still protect, without hurting anyone?

This isn't a contradiction, it's a continuation.

Let’s go back to Adventure:

Episode 16: SkullGreymon emerges from his recklessness

Episode 19: Sora was kidnapped because of him

Episode 45: his leadership fractures the group

Episode 48: we see him doubt and we learn the origin of his guilt, blaming himself for Hikari's near death as a child.

02 never explored that aftermath. The story shifted focus to a new cast. But Tri picks up that thread and now Taichi isn't afraid of danger, he's afraid of causing harm. That’s not cowardice, it's growth.

And in that pause, we glimpse the roots of the future Taichi, who will one day become a diplomat, working for coexistence between humans and digimon.

Yamato doesn't understand the change, and he pushes, hoping to ignite the old spark. But underneath the anger is the fear of losing a connection that once felt unbreakable.

Meanwhile, the Digital World is fracturing.

Not from outside danger, but from the blurring lines between emotion and system, past and present, role and identity.

Soulless Systems

These aren't classic "villains":

Yggdrasill is not an evil mastermind or alien invader. It's a symbolic, near-divine system that governs without empathy. Cold, logical, and utterly disconnected. It never appears because it doesn't need to. Its will is carried out through proxies like Alphamon, corrupted Gennai, and even manipulated humans. Yggdrasill represents the idea of a creator that has lost touch with its creation, a divine absence rather than a presence.

Alphamon is not an enemy. He's an executor without voice or motive. He doesn't speak, doesn't hate, doesn't choose. He deletes threats because that is his function. He is kind of a ghost in armor, a weapon with no soul, following the will of a broken god.

Homeostasis is not the "good side". It's a system that seeks balance. A bodiless, emotionless protocol whose only priority is to restore order when chaos threatens to collapse the Digital World. It doesn't act out of empathy or cruelty, it simply follows its function. It doesn't shift because it changes its mind, but because its compass is not moral, it's systemic. It speaks through vessels (like Hikari) and intervenes not with force, but by rebooting what’s broken to restore balance.

Hackmon / Jesmon is not a friend or foe. He is the system's messenger. He watches from the shadows, especially focused on Meicoomon, whom he perceives as a destabilizing anomaly. But Hackmon doesn't act on feeling. He is the voice of Homeostasis. Its blade. And when observation is no longer enough, he digivolves into Jesmon. But Jesmon is not hope, is protocol. A final measure. He doesn't come to save, he comes to execute.

When the system doesn't grasp the soul

In a world where connections become unpredictable, systems try to fix what they don't understand.

But emotions can't be repaired or deleted with code.

It's there, amidst reboots and algorithms, that the chosen children must decide whether to obey or to choose.

Meicoomon, a rift in the soul

Meicoomon isn't just an infected digimon, she contains Libra, which can't be controlled or regulated.. Her bond with Meiko is the most fragile, yet it's also honest.

Meiko, a chosen child who struggles to understand and bear her role, still chooses to stay. She remains, even when she feels she's the source of the pain, and even when her presence brings discomfort to others.

Libra, the code sealed in the soul

Libra is more than just a virus or a system error. It's an anomaly within the code, a burden sealed within Meicoomon from her origin. Imagine it as a living archive, holding the emotional record of the Digital World before its reboot: light and shadow, order and chaos.

To safeguard this data, it was encrypted inside her, unbeknownst to her and beyond her capacity to handle.

But Meicoomon was not created to carry such a burden. Her sensitivity and natural instability made her vulnerable to that information. It overwhelmed her, turning her into a contradiction of innocence and chaos.

Libra is not her fault. It's the Digital World's doing for putting such a heavy burden on a digimon who simply deserved to exist.

The Reboot: resetting isn't healing

The reboot wasn't a mere narrative whim or an attempt to "fix" the Digital World. It was an emergency measure. The infection had destabilized the system so severely that Homeostasis executed its last resort to restore balance: a complete reset.

This reboot came with an incredibly high cost: the loss of memories, of everything shared between the chosen children and their partners.

It wasn't an act of malice, but one of coldness. A systemic protocol that simply doesn't account for emotions. For Homeostasis, a bond is just another variable in the equation of balance.

Some criticize the reboot for "failing" because Meicoomon remained infected. But that's precisely the point: Libra wasn't a superficial error. It was a deep rift, inscribed in her soul. It wasn't just digital, it was existential. And that can't be erased with a reset. Systems can be rebooted, but the soul cannot.

Yet, even though the reboot failed in its ultimate goal, the most valuable outcome was this: even without memories, without data, without prior programming... the bonds found their way back. Because some connections don't depend on memory. Some encounters transcend code. When the soul recognizes another, it doesn't need reasons. It simply responds.

Tri shows us that some connections can't be explained, they can only be felt. These are the bonds that endure, even through forgetfulness and loss.

And it's within this very mystery, something that completely eludes rigid systems, that the emotional and the intangible begin.

The "canon" isn't broken, the story has layers

The absence of the 02 kids has been one of the most persistent criticisms of Tri. However, from the first episode, their disappearance is presented as a deliberate choice, not an oversight. It's not a case of forgetting or erasing them. It was about narrowing the focus. Also, a narrative void designed to generate uncertainty, and that uncertainty is a key part of the emotional tone the story aims to convey.

Alphamon defeats them off-screen, and while this bothers their fans, it also emphasizes a crucial point: this isn't their story. It's the story of the original chosen children. Of those who are drifting apart and question if they are still the same people. Himekawa deceives them, telling them everything is fine, much like the system watches them silently. This manipulation also reflects an uncomfortable truth: sometimes, we grow up believing everything remains as it was, until it no longer does.

And when Imperialdramon appears in Episode 8 “Determination - Part 4”, it does so as a shadow. Not as the return of a beloved digimon, but as an anomaly. Daisuke and Ken aren't there. There's no digivice, no connection. It's a silent replica that attacks as if the Digital World were projecting a broken memory.

Could the pain of their absence have been explored more deeply? Maybe. But Tri chooses to focus its lens. It doesn't erase or contradict, it simply pauses at a different stage: the stage of those who are present. Those who, without intending to, also somewhat disappeared from themselves.

Perhaps Tri wasn't created to please. Perhaps it was created to make us feel.

Not all errors are failures

Tri isn't perfect. There are narrative moments that could have been more polished, and even the technical aspects of the art could have been refined. Yet, as a whole, it's a work that takes risks and proposes new ideas. It shifts the focus from "what happens" to "what we feel".

And for a series built on emotion and evolution, that might be one of the most natural next steps it could take.

What Tri tells us (if we dare to listen)

Tri shows us that growing up isn't just about leaving things behind, it's about relearning who you are when everything changes.

It shows us that sometimes, bonds break without anyone being at fault.

It reminds us that you can't always save another person, but you can stay, watch, feel, and simply be there.

And above all, Tri makes us realize a powerful truth: that bonds, even if they fade, change, or cause pain, are still what makes life truly meaningful. Because to feel, to doubt, to make mistakes, and to try again with another, that is truly to evolve, and it's absolutely worth it.

Recommendations for a better viewing experience

Divide it into chapters. I know Tri was originally released as OVAs, but you might find it on platforms like Crunchyroll, which divides it into episodes. This makes it easier to digest its emotional pacing.

Watch at least these prequels beforehand: Digimon Adventure, Our War Game and Digimon Adventure 02. Not because they're strictly mandatory, but because I think Tri is in direct conversation with the memories and events of those stories.

Choose the original japanese audio with subtitles. The dubs (especially in english and spanish) often contain significant errors that distort the emotional message. The original japanese voice acting is also rich with subtle nuances.

Avoid external noise. Don't let soulless criticisms or external expectations contaminate your experience. Watch Tri with a clear mind and open heart. Let the story unfold and speak to you, at your own pace, in your own way.

If it helps, approach it as a side story. Think of Tri less as a continuation and more as an exploration of this particular stage in the original Adventure kids' lives.

And if Tri wasn't for you, that's perfectly fine. Don't worry. It doesn't ruin anything, and it doesn't change anything. You can simply choose to omit its existence, or you can enjoy the layers it adds as it leads us toward the epilogue of Adventure 02.

Thanks for reading. If Tri also stirred something within you, offered you comfort, or left you with questions... it's truly wonderful to inhabit that space with you.

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therobotmonster · 1 year ago

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God: Hey, weirdos. Move to the Dominican republic.

A Grogg: Sure thing!

Dominican Police: So, what's with all these guns, weirdos?

God:

"The YouTuber patriarch of a right-wing Canadian family, Arend Feenstra, decided that he’d had just about enough of the gay people existing in his country. So he decided to take his family to Russia instead.

“We didn’t feel safe for our children there in the future anymore,” said avowedly Christian dad of eight Arend Feenstra on Russian state TV. “There’s a lot of left-wing ideology, LGBTQ+, trans, just a lot of things that we don’t agree with that they teach there now, and we wanted to get away from that for our children.”

...

Would it have been a good idea for them to learn Russian before they went? Yes, yes it would. Did they do that? No, they did not. “We were naive on that,” said Anneesa Feenstra, matriarch and former beet farmer. “I needed to use the washroom, and on the doors said male and female, but I didn’t know which was which!”

...

In a YouTube episode titled “our first week in Russia”, Arend Feenstra showcases the hospitality that the local people living in their district had shown to the clueless family, who hadn’t brought enough cold-weather clothes. The locals donated snow suits for the children, and even helped them with their language issues.

...

Unfortunately, no amount of kindness from strangers can make up for significant financial problems: something the Feenstras encountered because – who knew?! – Visa or MasterCard don’t work there, and authorities closed the Russian account they moved their money to due to it being a suspiciously high sum with no explanation of where it came from. Similar anti-money laundering laws exist in the UK and US.

Arguing for their money proved incredibly challenging since Russia doesn’t require any bank, or any business, to hire English translators.

This caused a fairly significant tantrum, posted on YouTube by Anneesa Feenstra and then deleted. “I’m very disappointed in this country at this point,” she said – about a snag that could have easily been solved in advance with a quick Google search. “I’m ready to jump on a plane and get out of here”."

Read the full article here: https://t.co/t1b3Y7xFce

#Look #I do want to be mean about it #if your last name is “Grogg” or “Burpo”#god has already demonstrated he thinks fucking with you is funny #take that into account when listening to him #I blame the demiurge

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cryptotheism · 2 years ago

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is it weird that i blame random inconveniences in my life on "agents of the demiurge" or "zionist plots"? i dont really have any idea what either of those things are, i just think its a funny thing to say.

Agents of the demiurge is funny, but you probably shouldn't call shit "Zionist plots"

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blankie-greenie-anon · 7 months ago

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Listen. I'm not saying ThinkFast should be soulmates. And I don't think they should get married.

I just think they had a very interesting dynamic that the comics should've fully explored, first in a platonic context, then a romantic one. Show us what these two brought to each other's lives.

Then a huge event happens; ThinkFast are paired up for a mission. And during the mission, they make some unethical decisions. Speed's comfortable committing them, Prodigy not so much, but he gets less reluctant with Speed's encouragement. They succeed at their task, the event is resolved, everyone rejoices.

But then, the weight of their actions hit David. He doesn't like that he was able to sacrifice his ethics and enjoy it. He still remembers the vision – where he went mad with power and valued results over life. It scares him that Tommy could make him let go, even for a short moment. David doesn't blame him. He believes Tommy is fine as he is, but David is afraid of what he could become if they stayed together.

So David says he wants to break up. Tommy doesn't take it well. Sure, he's used to everyone being worried about him being the "sociopath" of the Young Avengers, but David was one of the few people who accepted him as he was, and Tommy got used to that. And suddenly David wasn't okay with it. David says that's not the point; it's okay for Tommy to stay the way he is, but David's afraid any possibility of losing his morality. To Tommy, that means there cannot be any possibility of him in David's life. From them on, Prodigy and Speed stop teaming up.

They avoid each other, but they can't help thinking about each other from time to time. Tommy remembers facts David had once told him. David uses speed-related information he learnt from observing Tommy. It makes them miss each other. They had so much fun when they were dating. When they do bump into each other again, and there's alcohol in vicinity, they end up making out. But when they come to their senses, they both understand they cannot get back together.

Then David fulfills his destiny of becoming Patrinot, who then helps Tommy fulfil his destiny of becoming Time. In the one brief moment they could share together, David tells Tommy he's glad he could do this for him. After Tommy becomes Time, he finds Billy. They use their combined powers as the Demiurge to save David's soul and have him pre-incarnated.

#BGA blabs #ThinkFast #David Alleyne #Tommy Shepherd

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valbellepeche · 5 months ago

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The Beginning, the End, and Everything in Between - A Xenoblade Future Redeemed narrative analysis

Spoilers for Xenoblade 1, 2, and 3

Alpha is the primary source of conflict in Future Redeemed. Understanding him is key to understanding the narrative as a whole. Alpha exists because Ontos's communication with Logos and Pneuma was cut off. In the context of Xenoblade 3, Pneuma represents hope for the future and is associated with the Ouroboros power, and Logos represents fear of the future and is associated with Moebius. Without these, Alvis loses his humanity and is left as "a heartless machine." Additionally, Logos and Pneuma are established as being specifically masculine and feminine, respectively. This could be interpreted as being representative of anima and animus as a callback to past Xeno games while also fitting the theme of different parts of a person being needed to form a complete whole. A was only freed from Ontos when Ouroboros and Moebius clashed during the attack on the City, which grants access to the human part of Ontos. A acts as a guiding figure for the world and for Matthew specifically, leading him on the right path, but letting him come to his own conclusions and make his own decisions, much like Alvis did with Shulk in Xenoblade 1.

Alpha's goal is to create a new world for the City people, disregarding all other life. This "olden life" he speaks about could be thought of as an allegory for the elderly who do not contribute labor and are deemed unnecessary because of it. What I find more compelling is seeing them as the homeless, who are labeled as criminals and leeches of society are constantly dehumanized because of it, or as any marginalized group that is wrongfully considered a threat to society. Regardless of interpretation, the meaning is the same. Alpha does not believe in the sanctity of life and wishes to remove these "undesirables" who do not contribute to his ideal. You could see his desire to remove them as a form of eugenics. This kind of dangerous idealogy seeks to prey on people discontent with the way things are by giving them a group to blame all the world's problems on, which in actuality are symptoms of the systems that exist to uphold those in power.

Na'el is struggling with loss, and Alpha takes advantage of this by presenting her with a false ideal reality. Essentially, "If you get rid of these people, there will be no suffering." Such a belief can only lead to conflict and destruction. This is shown through the memory of the original world, which ended up destroyed in response to a civil rights dispute. The specific use of an American suburb brings to mind the American dream, telling people the ideal life they should strive for and that those who cannot achieve this do not deserve it. Alpha also attempts to emotionally manipulate Matthew, both through Na'el (also seen with Ghondor,) and when he latches onto Matthew's own doubts. Alpha's design shows the idea of using utopian ideals to hide sinister motives by having him take the form of Alvis, who represented the Gnostic Monad in Xenoblade 1, while having traits of and acting similarly to Zanza, the demiurge. A having one of Zanza's wings then would be because humans were created by the demiurge and retain its inherent quality of being flawed.

Under this reading, Shulk, Rex, and the Liberators would be people who are well off but sympathetic and charitable towards those in need. This role is emphasized by using characters from previous games who we've already seen fight for others. It is through their knowledge, strength, and kindness that rescued soldiers are able to find meaning in life.

In the final confrontation with Alpha, he is only defeated once Logos and Pneuma are reunited. It is their reunification that creates a complete whole, accepting opposing parts both within an individual and within society. Only when this is achieved can we create a better future for us all. That future may not come to be in our lifetime, but the more people who strive to achieve it now and in the future, the closer it becomes.

I'd be remiss not to mention the metanarrative at play. The idea that you should respect what came before you comes up a lot in Future Redeemed, and the many references to past Xeno games coincide with this. Said references do not exist as mere fan service but also serve to inform on the present and future of the series. Using certain names or design motifs tells you that something is similar to what it's referencing, which provides greater insight into things like Alpha's role in the story or what the world was like on Earth pre-experiment.

That's all I have to say. I'm very passionate about this series, and I hope I can share that with those who feel the same. Thank you for reading 🩷

#future redeemed #xenoblade #xenoblade chronicles #alvis #xenoblade 3 #xeno analysis

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inbabylontheywept · 2 years ago

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The Mormon Heretic, and the Leviathan

I have decided to make an explanation of how a Mormon heretic gave me the idea for my short story, Leviathan. It is very long explanation, mostly focused on the fascinating theology the heretic created on accident. The explanation of how it led to the story will only be at the end. You have been warned.

So, a short explanation of the heretic: He was a seminary teacher of mine that had deep dived into theology and Jungian analysis and the views that he'd come out with were just... fascinating. He didn't really consider this stuff heresy, because he didn't think it wasn't directly disagreeing with normal doctrine, just adding stuff into the margins. I think that his definition of Godhood and the nature of God was so alien that it was essentially an entirely new religion wearing the same terminology as the old one like a skinsuit. Calling it Christian would be stretching the word to the point of meaninglessness. And without further adieu, his beliefs: He was big on the idea that Jesus/God and GOD/Elohim were separate entities. He based this on the fact that Elohim refers to a plurality, while there are later words for God that are purely singular. He'd envisioned this sort of weird cycle where the God Cluster (Or Big God, or Elohim, or the Monad, he used a lot of terms for it) is this sort of outside-of-time entity that encompasses everything in an unconstrained sense. To exist in this way is to be incomprehensibly lonely, because there is literally nothing in the world but you. So it would, occasionally, go mad and cut out a temporary pocket of reality where it could not go. Sort of the "God creating a rock so heavy that It could not lift it" moment. This God-Cluster would then manifest a sort of physical reflection of itself in these constrained spheres, a self-that-was-not-the-self. That physical unself would go through apotheosis as a rite of passage, to create something different enough from the Monad that it would temporarily alleviate the isolation of being everything. So the God that there was with Eve and Adam was basically just a fetus-demiurge, and the reason that paradise failed was because it was still learning how to not suck at being a God. That was Lesson 1. Lesson 2 was the flood, which was really important because it was, according to Heretic Teacher, the first time that God felt shame. It had not blamed itself for the loss of Eden, it had blamed us, but this time it knew that it had overreacted. After Lesson 2, it spent a couple thousand years mulling over why it kept failing to predict humans and decided to try being one. That was Lesson 3, and the experience went so unbelievably badly that it decided it wasn't going to keep micromanaging us until it got its own shit together. It also gave it quite a bit more sympathy for us in our condition, and basically promised us that it was going to be nice to us, and to please be nicer to each other. This whole little thing relates to the prompt because, in his eyes, the grand cycle of existence seems to be based around the higher powers creating separations within themselves to avoid loneliness, with the goal of each split to be finding a way to reform into the big thing again, thesis-anthesis-synthesis style. We were mini-runs of the demiurge, who was using us to try and understand Itself, and It was in turn a mini-run of the monad, who was using it to try and understand itself and also as a way to pretend that it is two things, because being the only thing is very lonely. In this context, I made the Leviathan as the singular state, and humans as the sort of temporary split within it. That's why it eats people. We were always part of it. We were just a weird embarrassing stage in its life cycle.

As for why the flood is a recurring motif, that teacher talked a lot about the flood. He was fascinated with it, considered it the primary sin of God against man, and in turn, a sin by God against Itself. That one day, as we progressed back to unity with mini-God, all of our pain would become Its pain, and that as it progressed back to unity with the Monad, our pain would because its pain, and that in this way, even the Gods would be held accountable for forcing us to deal with some amateur hour schmuck of a deity for the first several thousand years of our existence. The universe is just a lonely god trapped in a room, arguing with a sock puppet, and occasionally getting so heated that it punches the sock puppet into the wall and hurts itself.

I don't even know how he came up with this number, but he'd estimated that something like a trillion people died in the first flood, which was comparable to how many people had died since. Even as a teenager, I had this weird realization that the synthesized proto-monad of our world was going to be comprised mainly of drowned, which was unsettling. Our world was the world of the drowned God.

I could write more about the weirdness of this guy. He was fucking fascinating, both because of his beliefs, and also because he genuinely viewed himself as a normal Mormon. But this is how that guy accidentally helped me write cosmic horror. By truly and genuinely believing in one.

#cosmic horror #mormon #exmormon #mormon theology is weird but this guy really took it to another level #he only really talked about this with my class because he was retiring the next year #this guy was close friends with lindsey stirlings dad weirdly enough #who worked in the same seminary building in mesa #you gotta respect people who see a weird thing and then just go to town making it weirder #Babylon-Lore

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cali · 3 months ago

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I can’t stop drawing demiurges and I fully blame you. Love your art btw

im almost done with a commission that got one in it 😇👍👍👍 and thank u

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therobotmonster · 8 months ago

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I can't imagine how much easier things would be if my body and mind would stop trading off inflicting pain on me for like, three days.

#FML #I blame the demiurge #SoundCloud

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literary-illuminati · 2 years ago

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Book Review 52 – The Gods Are Bastards Volume Three by D. D. Webb

Okay this is properly a review for Books 8, 9, and 10 of the gargantuan serial – which I’ll freely admit I read more than a month ago in one week-long fugue along with all the books before them and the next few after. Which is to say I really shouldn’t have waited this long to write this review, and my apologies for all the vagueness and inaccuracies that are going to result. Which is a pity, because this is the best volume of the serial I’ve read and it isn’t even particularly close.

The serial continues the story of a Dungeons & Dragons-esque generic fantasy world advanced a couple hundred years and in the throes of a magical industrial revolution. The story theoretically stars the now-sophomore class of almost comically privileged and powerful students at what’s basically Adventurer University, but compared to the previous volumes they get barely any screentime in this one. Instead you get the Bishop of the god of thieves, the Archpope of the Universal Church, their respective pet openly-plotting-and-near-mutinous adventuring parties, political intrigue in the goddess of war, and a huntsman we’ve never met before learning the secrets of creation and also that his god was always just kind of a dick. It’s great! Also, to reiterate, the students get barely any screentime!

Really I kind of get the sense that I’m a deeply atypical fantasy reader, in that I find 90% of both involved romance plots and drawn out action scenes deeply tedious and basically the price you pay to get at the good parts of the story. In this case the good part is incredibly byzantine and too-complicated-by-half political shadowboxing carried out by proxies only barely kept on their masters’ leashes. Also several thousand words of pure exposition about the deep lore of the setting delivered by a malfunctioning AI.

Because yes, the big massive reveal of the volume is that the elder gods who were overthrown millennia before the story began had actually pulled a Lord of Light. The world runs on generic fantasy tropes because it was created by powermad demiurges who were also specifically insufferable 20th/21st century earth fantasy nerds. The different types of magic were just the results of them folding and rewriting physics, the fact that mortals can only access four is down to the vast majority getting wrecked when their creators died in the Titanomachy. Gnomes are an apparently successful attempt to perfect humanoid life.

This is, first and foremost, an absolutely hilarious bit of worldbuilding. Like, I actually burst out laughing. Knowing that orcs existed because the elder gods were big Tolkein and Warcraft fans may have permanently damaged my ability to take the setting seriously on its on terms but like, honestly? Probably worth it. Also just an excellent excuse for any shotcuts of contradictions in the worldbuilding and for all the kind of lazy fantasy worldbuilding tropes.

While it hasn’t happened yet, I hold out some hope that the increased pivot to the divine and Deep Lore means the serial will start to live up to its title and foreground the gods and their bastardry more – as I’ve said before, a narrative where the literal lords of creation are present but only because they just show up sometimes to descend to earth and make the protagonists lives easier is just boring. Which is why Archpope Justinian, the scheming mastermind who wants to overthrow heaven and earth and works exclusively through needlessly convoluted schemes that don’t stop a single person from knowing he’s to blame. I’m sorry but ‘somehow brainwashed the gods into making him their high priest so he can use the resources of their church as his personal power base’ is such a great bit. Also he’s opposed by literally every major POV so of course I need to root for him. (Honorary mention to Basra Syrinx, who is literally just The Worst in an incredibly entertaining way)

#book review #web serial #sff #the gods are bastards #d. d. webb

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