#though gods in general are barely utilized

[angstandhappiness]

INTERESTING

I don't remember if the manga says anything about it but since the FT universe has demons do you think it has angels as well?

I don't think there's any mentions in the manga. The closest is the "angels" that Sorano summoned like v2.0 Celestial Spirits in the anime-only Key arc.

Though on that note, I never see angels as a necessary companion to demons in any anime, unless it's deliberately set up to mirror that tradition. The word demon tends to relate closer to the concept of yokai, I've noticed, rather than the evil-spirit-of-the-underworld connotation in the more western sense.

That said, in my reasoning of this magic system, demons mirror celestial spirits more than other else. They are beings formed of specialized magic, while humans and dragons are more terrestrial and tuned to mainstream, elemental magic.

[bortalis]

My concepts for the development progress of an Iterators Puppet

-my ideas below

-Feasibility Study  

[1]: First autonomous control module, any instruction to be given must be done manually through physical means (the keys), outputs were shown through the screen. A very primitive system, however, did its job proving the greater machine concept was achievable. While it does look like a lens above the monitor, this was a simple status gauge for benchmarking.

-Prototyping and Development  

[2]: Now with the capability to wirelessly and audibly communicate to receive instructions and inputs. The system was no longer directly integrated into the facility, and resided on the first instance of an iterator's arm. This was considered a feat due to the complications with isolating the control module from the rest of the iterators components, while keeping processing power. A permanent connection/umbilical was needed to sustain life and function though. 

To “talk” back, they were crafted with multidimensional projectors, the mobile arm allowing the angles and variance for this projection. Only later into development were advanced speakers installed for optimized understanding, however the extra computing power required to synthesize proper speech was found to strain the contained module, so this function had rare use in the end.

[3]: At this point there was a change in perspective in the project. What once were machines to simply compute and simulate, were now planned to be the home, caregiver, and providers. The further the project came to fruition the more religious importance was placed upon these “random gods”. From this stance not only did the puppets have to manage and control their facilities, they had to communicate with the people and priests. To represent benevolent beings who will bring their end and salvation. In this process iterators began to take a more humanoid shape, to better reflect their parents. Development was focused on compacting the puppet closer to the size of an ancient for this purpose. This stage was the first to incorporate a cloak/clothing into their design considerations, to further akin themselves in looks. The cloak would hide the iterators' engineered bodies and give a body to their silhouette. 

[4]: As bioengineering and mechanics were rapidly progressing due to the void fluid revolution, this allowed plenty of margin for developing the outer design of the iterator puppets. This prototype was the first to incorporate limbs for the purpose of body language. This was another step in the drive to give a body to their random gods.

-Final Iterations

[5]: First generation iterators had the final redesign of puppet bodies. Far different from their first designs, they are fully humanoid. Their bodies are shaped to be organic and as full of life as they could at the time. Their center of sapience has fully settled within their body, as can be seen as their unconscious use of limbs without the direct intention for communication. This can also see how they manage their work, where many of the functions (which can be done with just an internal request) are operated through physical gestures of their limbs. Their puppet chambers also allow for full comprehensive projection, where many of their working monitors are displayed. It is seen how iterators prefer to utilize their traversal arm to transfer between the current working projection window.

These designs were hardy and nearly self-sufficient, only requiring minimal power from their umbilical to charge. (However was still limited in the terms of internal power production, for this first generation extensive batteries sufficed)

[6]: Later generation not only incorporated advanced bioengineering internally, but externally. While still a hardened shell, their body plates have been incorporated into the organics of the puppet, maintaining the protective requirements while barely leaving a trace of hinges or plates. This “soft” skin had drawbacks, such as reduced durability to the first generations, this was offset by the greatly enhanced repair speeds and capability this type of skin allowed.

Internal power generation was implemented into these late generation models. If the case arose, the Puppet could be disconnected from their umbilical and still be conscious from an undefined period of time. (However this would limit the operating capacity of the puppet when running self sufficiently) This greatly eased maintenance works, as the Puppet could still run the greater facility wirelessly while work was done on the chamber, arm or whatever as needed.

[quinloki]

Hey there, may i ask for biting, daddy dom and feather play with Beckman & Crocodile for the kinky head canon event please 😊

By the way the generator spits out some very let's call them "interesting" things 😅 got amputation and something with cannibalism on the first try 🙈

Certainly, certainly!

I can't believe it's taken so many asks to get some Benn Beckman love, but I know how it goes sometimes.

And yeah XD That generator does NOT hold back. Makes it very useful no matter what kind of vibes you're looking for - but can make it a bit of a crap shoot if you're looking for a more focused list 😅

Onward and upward, let's shall-

Benn Beckman:

Biting - Sure - Beckman is pretty laid back about a lot of things. I think all the years spent with "up for anything and everything all day and night" Shanks really took the edge off a lot of stuff for him. Sure he gets excited about some stuff, but biting is a little par for the course.

He's got nothing against it, and I think he prefers to be bit than to bite, but you're not going to get him too riled up with it.

Now, if you make sweet sounds for him when he nips at you, he'll be far more inclined.

Daddy Dom - Yes - He'd be maybe more gung ho if he didn't feel like Shanks' caretaker from time to time. Sure the captain can actually take care of himself well enough most of the time, but Beckman's watched him grow from the beginnings of barely a man into a full adult.

What I mean to say, is that he has the skills to do the job well, and he'd make a very solid daddy dom, but I don't know that I think he'd be super excited for it. He's definitely a FIRM dom though, and with those Dilf vibes he's not ducking the daddy dom implications any time soon anyway XD

Feather Play - Oh god you don't even know - The light touch, the intimacy, the way you flinch and gasp softly. How it's just such a perfect way to enjoy the quiet hours of a dying day.

The way he can watch goose bumps roll over your skin, the sweet stretch when you roll over to get away from the light tough, only opening up more delicate skin for him to caress with the feather. The different ones he uses, the assortment he ends up collecting, the way he wants enough to just drop you in a giant pile of them.

Everything else is heavy and harsh and loud and those moments, and those feathers, a soft and gentle and just lightest of moments. In a deep down, kept to himself mostly, warmly quiet way, he enjoys those moments the most. Especially when you peek up from beneath your arms, smiling at him before you wiggle away from the feather's soft caress.

Sir Crocodile:

Biting - FUCK Yes - Crocodile loves to mark you. In anyway that he can, in all the ways he can. He's not going to tattoo you or brand you unless you're begging him to do so, but welts, scratches, bites - anything he can reapply, anything that comes from some shape of him.

He's definitely left a very obvious, red, hand-print on your ass before.

He does let you cover them up, the marks are for him after all. He doesn't need people to see them for others to know you belong to him, that much should be obvious to any idiot with a pair of eyes.

Daddy Dom - Sure - He's definitely a dom. He's strict and I could see him very much utilizing roles and protocols, having contracts. He's not going to expect you to read his mind to know what he expects of you. He'll teach you, or train you, depending on your relationship. He most certainly expects you to call him Sir for the most part.

He won't say no to Master, and I don't see him scowling at being called his name. Sure you can call him Daddy, and certainly he'll call you his good little girl/boy, and sure he'll even care for you in ways you need if you let him know what it is. But it's not something I see him initiating himself.

And not something he's doing for someone who's more object than affection.

Feather Play - Yes - He's more of an impact play kind of guy than a feather play, but all sensory play has space in his book, and the maddeningly light touch of a feather can be used to great effect. You'll be struggling in your binds and sobbing for mercy and completely losing it over the fact that he's driving you to the brink with a single feather.

He might only be a yes for the whole thing, but that doesn't mean he isn't skilled in it.

How May I Kink Your Head Canon?

[rahleeyah]

One of the things I do in my job is title work. I do research to see who owns a property. But it's a lot more than just finding the deed for the current owner. Where did the current owner get it? Where did the last guy get it? Were there any errors in the chain, did they describe the property correctly, did everybody who had an interest in the property sign that deed, or did somebody get left out? Did the property pass through an estate, and was that estate executed properly? Is there any chance an angry heir is gonna come out of the woodwork? Are there bank loans on the property? UCCs? Are the property taxes paid? Are there any federal tax liens against the owner? Are there any contractors? Is anybody suing the owner and if they are is the property involved? What companies have utility easements on the property, where are the easements? Does anybody else have an access easement? Are there dirt roads, or God forbid a grave on the property? Are there any tenants, is anybody farming it? If there are structures, houses or sheds or driveways or fences, are they all contained within the property? Do any of the neighbors' fences or what have you encroach on the property? Does the property have access to a road? Are there any declarations or restrictions, and what do they restrict, and are we cool with that?

Surveys are a hell of a lot more exact and reliable now than they were in the 50s, when my great grandfather walked off his property and subdivided it to give it to his children. He used his feet and some string. I've seen a property description that used the rotting bumper of an abandoned Chevy as a marker. If you start digging back into a chain you may find out the property you think you have isn't the shape or size you expected at all.

It's a lot!

So anyway for a long time the standard on title work was 30 years. You'd search the property back for thirty years, and the title company would say ok that's sufficient, we'll issue title insurance based on thirty years. Thirty is enough.

In the last decade, though, we've encountered a new problem.

30 years isn't enough anymore.

30 years ago today was Feb 1, 1995.

1995.

The vast majority of infrastructure work in this country - roads, telephone lines, power lines, water lines - was initially done from like the 1930s-1960s. The new deal, and then the post WW2 boom as we invested in our country and made way for the biggest generation in modern history.

Used to be, if you went 30 years back, you'd capture all that stuff. The easements from the DOT taking land to make highways. The utility easements.

Now 30 years barely gets you anything. In the wake of the civil rights movement, the old covenants people used to put in their deeds saying the property could never ever be sold to anyone who wasn't white weren't enforceable anymore and people started to get creative with their hate. The 80s and 90s started the HOA boom, all these carefully curated neighborhoods with their well drawn out restrictions that weren't explicitly racist but made it easy to chase out "undesirables" by fining them until they got tired of the harassment and left. There was a development boom, until the bubble burst in 2008. It's ramped back up, sort of, but a lot of the development work has already been done.

We have to go 60 years back now, to great grandaddy's estate, to when the city laid the water lines.

60 years ago was 1965. In another 5 years, a 60 year search will only go to 1970. That won't be enough, either. It won't be long until 80 is the standard.

The passage of time is a hell of a thing.

[nattobees]

I feel like there's groundwork for Mashiro to be the "mirror/twisted" (read: capitalist) version of Hoeru that the show isn't fully utilizing. (Honestly, Kuon is also the mirror/twisted version of Hoeru but we can't have him doing this stuff because I get the sense production team is trying to keep him out of the story after the "Hoeru is my angel, my love," and "Hoeru let's get married" line (note how he disappeared for a while until the wedding and then didn't really show up until last ep despite being the reason Hoeru was able to get his memories back because he kept his ring.))

Steals his episode introduction from him. (Basically trying to replace him.)

Mashiro demanding he get paid exorbitant fees for shoving himself into peoples problems to "solve" them and make money for doing bare minimum things, or not even properly solving them vs. Hoeru doing everything he can to keep a job under systems meant to keep people like him down. (Sure, we've never actually seen Mashiro *get* paid for any of this, but it's still scummy.)

Putting honey on everything vs. Hoeru scraping by with sucking nectar from flowers (indulgently consuming "refined" goods from "workers" both bees and the people who collect, bottle, and sell the honey, while Hoeru has to drink the raw, free, and potentially dangerous version depending on what kind of flowers and without knowing if they've been treated with pesticides).

Mashiro's very clean and trained boxing choreography that tends to have him stay high up since he's usually aiming for faces and upper torsos to land his blows vs. Hoeru's feral and survivalist wrestling fighting style where his more wolf-like traits come through, generally keeping him low to the ground as he focuses on grapples and take downs.

I get very mashiro negative below the cut.

But then like, the show's just "Mashiro's a good guy! Look, him shoving himself into Aoi's life when he's a complete stranger and forcing field day on him made him a friend! And now he doesn't hate field day even though that episode could've been a really solid filler episode where we see Hoeru and Aoi's friendship more! Even though his bear is the one who killed everyone, he can get a power up and beat Sumino up in her TegaSword mech using it even though she was uncharacteristically kind to BearKuma after killing her good friend Kinji as well as everyone else she knows in the main cast! Mashiro butting into Hoeru and Kuon's fucked up family drama is a *good* thing actually because they could combine forces and defeated someone who wants to manipulate Hoeru and is not at all reductive to have one of his major character conflicts that he needs to develop and grow be solved by someone else!

Is Mashiro a good guy or is he the capitalist version of Hoeru? I need the show to decide because he gives off Mary Sue vibes to me when he is a worse Hoeru but things generally tend to go his way and i would really love it if they leaned into him being an awful guy who has a redemption arc. It would probably make him more fun to watch to me. I haven't even touched on his relationship with Goode, but him making Goode believe he's a god, but who can't make good on his promises when Goode has spent all this time believing in him, defending him, and building him up because at the end of the day Mashiro may be a very talented and skilled human, but he's still always and forever a human who will fuck up and disappoint Goode eventually, would be such an interesting angle and dynamic to explore.

[wereh0gz]

Been thinking abt sonic prime recently. And how much missed potential it had. Like this could've been one of the best sonic shows but in the end it just turned out kinda ok

I think part of it was due to how little time they had to fully explore a lot of the stuff introduced into the series, and also not managing the time they had very well. Like there's so many characters that go underdeveloped or have their development tacked onto the last batch of episodes during a very drawn out fight against nine

The general pacing was so quick it barely left room to breathe and properly flesh things out. Both the characters and the setting don't really get enough time to be fully explored because the almost non-stop action takes a lot of focus away from that, making the series constantly bounce from one place to another until the final season where a good chunk of it is just. Fighting against nine

Shadow is also woefully underutilized as a character which is really a shame bc he's really good whenever he IS utilized. Same with sonic's powered up prism form. It only showed up once and it wasn't even for the endgame. Literally pulled a dark sonic on us again

I'm kinda mixed on the ending too. Basically having it reset to the status quo with no clarity as to whether the shatterspaces and all the new characters that came with them still even exist in some way is definitely. A choice. No closure for me ig :/

Also this is more of a nitpick than anything but ghost hill bothers me as a concept. It feels like they couldn't come up with another unique shatterspace (or maybe they didn't have time?) so they just made it what remains of the og green hill... even though the grim could have easily served that purpose and have been much more impactful and horrifying if it was used that way. AND it would've made more sense bc the grim's shard is LITERALLY THE CORE OF THE PARADOX PRISM. LIKE WHERE THE OTHER SHARDS BROKE OFF FROM? IT'S LITERALLY RIGHT THERE ARE YOU KIDDING ME HOW DID THEY NOT THINK OF THAT

Also kinda nitpicky I think but splitting eggman into the chaos council is also weird to me. It doesn't make much sense in comparison to how all the other characters were split up. Why are they Like That. Why are they basically just eggman at different ages. That's not how it worked with the others why'd that happen to him specifically

Ok that's enough criticisms. I think given more time (both in the sense of having more episodes and more production time to fully flesh everything out) prime could've been so much greater than what we got. It's good, especially in the animation department, but the narrative really falls short imo

In spite of everything tho I'm glad it got made at all and that it had such a positive reception, so here's hoping whatever full-length show comes next is even better (please god make it an anime sega I beg of you give us another sonic anime PLEASE)

[dzthenerd490]

File: Radiant Black

SCP#: AOI

Code Name: The Cosmic Radiant Tech

Object Class: Arete / Keter

Universe of Origin: Υ-17: "Broken Masquerade"

Special Containment Procedures: Unfortunately hundreds of SCP-AOI instances have been confirmed to be in the hands of various people including groups of interests such as The Chicago Spectre; Marshal, Carter, and Dark LTD.; Anderson Robotics, Arcadia, Are We Cool Yet?, The Technothaumaturges, SAPPHIRE, The Reliquary, The White Bloods, IJAMEA, The Valravn Corporation, The Serpent's Hand, “Nobody”, The Black Queen’s Insurgency, and Various Sects form the Church of the Broken God. The Foundation is to focus all efforts into apprehending as much of the SCP-AOI instances as possible. Instances that are retrieved are to be sent to Site-AS for testing experimentation and cataloging. 

A custom armory has been made for them to be placed after containment is confirmed. Each cataloged and contained SCP-AOI instance is to be placed in a paratech suppression box which is a box that suppresses anomalous frequencies and can generate a small EMP pulse to forcefully turn off any paratech inside should it go haywire. Each box is to be labeled with a nickname and said nickname should be put on the datalog outside the containment armory so each Researcher knows what they're looking for and where to find it. 

As for SCP-AOI-Black, Red, Pink, and Yellow, they are officially recognized as U.S. heroes and will be pardoned of their crimes for robbery and public property damage so long as they continue to protect the public. Foundation agents watching over them are to alert MTF command if they ever show a tendency to do more harm than good again. Though until the SCP-AOI situation is resolved they are our best hope in dealing with criminals who utilize them as well as the Intergalactic Group of Interest: The Catalyst Empire.

Description: SCP-AOI is alien technology that has the capability to bend the laws of physics in ways current science cannot and the Foundation is only barely close to achieving. The technology of SCP-AOI was made by an unknown alien species fighting the Catalyst Empire and as a result most of it consists of armor and weapons. Said weapons can create energy fields, allow the user to teleport, allow the user to phase through matter, create energy blasts, control gravity, control light, make portals, absorb matter, absorb energy, create physical objects of any material, control frequencies and vibrations, and so much more. Many of the weapons in development within Site-GRID pale in comparison to what SCP-AOI weapons have to offer in both capabilities, practicality, and overall power.

However, of all the SCP-AOI weapons none of them can even compare to the ever growing power of SCP-AOI-Black, Red, Pink, and Yellow. SCP-AOI-Black was the first ever discovered SCP-AOI instance and was not a physical piece of technology but instead an orb of pure energy that almost looked like the often scientific representation of a black hole. Once it chooses its host it grants them a set of armor that greatly resembles SCP-ALO armor.

The armor of SCP-AOI-Black also grants the wearer the power to control any form of light around him making it take on any shape though he mostly prefers to make it form a cape for himself. The true form of his strength relies in complete gravity control, being able lift several cars and an entire train with ease and can even shoot out gravity shots with either half or just as much force as a military railgun. This and the fact that the current host of SCP-AOI-Black has a perfect bond with the power make him the strongest of all four.

SCP-AOI-Red was the second one discovered and also has a set of armor as well as the power to absorb anything. Once absorbed it is added as mass to empower all aspects of SCP-AOI-Red such as strength, speed, size, and armor; the more she absorbs the stronger she gets. Absorbing matter also helps SCP-AOI-Red regenerate from any and all forms of damage, additionally the more molecular value in the object she absorbs the stronger the result. For example if SCP-AOI-Red were to absorb the energy of another SCP-AOI instance or even absorb the object entirely she would become supercharged in a matter of seconds. Granted she can’t fly like SCP-AOI-Black can but she is fast and athletic enough to jump high into the air with ease. It's even possible to turn the mass she absorbed into pure energy to unleash even more devastating attacks. 

SCP-AOI-Pink is able to unleash short bursts of energy when punching enemies though her main power is teleportation. SCP-AOI-Pink is probably the one who has the least control over her powers as she can either make portals or simply teleport herself and several others instantaneously. However she often makes mistakes and teleports people in completely random locations. Worst off teleportation drains her natural stamina a lot leaving her quickly drained if she uses her powers even once. 

Finally SCP-AOI-Yellow has the basic ability to shoot lasers out of his fingers though this is mostly for defense as these lasers are non-fatal or destructive, only powerful enough to knock out a human with a well placed shot. The main power of SCP-AOI-Yellow is to perceive all possible futures and pinpoint the most favorable outcome depending on his current goals. As a result he’s always able to see when hostiles are incoming and will often be the only one to know how to stop them. Of all of them SCP-AOI-Black and SCP-AOI-Red seem to be offensive based while SCP-AOI-Pink and SCP-AOI-Yellow are more support based. 

SCP-AOI as a whole was discovered in 2021 after a bad encounter with a local police at [data expunged]. They immediately reported the incident to the GOC that tried to assess the situation but before they could SCP-AOI-Red appeared. She and SCP-AOI-Black got into several fights due to her robbing several banks and trying to intimidate SCP-AOI-Black’s friends. Soon after SCP-AOI-Pink and SCP-AOI-Yellow revealed themselves after getting attacked by aliens. They were forced to fight against various alien creatures, other SCP-AOI users, and eventually more aliens from the Catalyst Empire. Granted none of them knew exactly how to be heroes and often made mistakes including committed crimes. However, there was no way to take the SCP-AOI cores from any of them and they proved to be the most effective against all SCP-AOI users. 

As such during their rise to fame the GOC and the Foundation agreed to let them be recognized as heroes. In return for doing this and hiding all bits of their true identities they were to continue to do their best to fight crime and intergalactic threats. If they failed the GOC, the Foundation, and the various heroes of the world were to apprehend and arrest them. However, if they ever decide they don’t want to be heroes anymore, all their past crimes will be exposed, and they will be hunted by the ACPA. It is because of them that SCP-AOI as a whole was given the dual Object Classification of Arete and Keter.

.

SCP: Horror Movie Files Hub

[helloescapist]

To Wish Upon a Lantern | Shota Aizawa

Word Count: 1357

Setting: Shota Aizawa/Eraserhead x gn!reader [pining]

Content Warnings: none really, minor suggestive because I can't behave myself.

Summary: a sweet moment releasing a lantern for Mid-Autumn festival with Shota Aizawa.

The night settled into intense shades of lapis lazuli plunged into passionate hues of indigo, touched upon fervid plums. Luminous stars that glistened upon the night sky, beckoned the hushed reminder of distant worlds and celestial bodies untouchable by man. The distant jostle of festival music a mere hum carried across the breeze. Whispered the reminder of the festivities only short voyage away, the rare request of an interlude together having drawn you from booths. The touch of his elbow against yours as he ushered you away from the crowds, from venders peddling their wares, and children in cheer.

The jostle of cheer and drums replaced by the hammering of your heart now inter tangled over the crash of waves against the beach. Shadows that grazed one another, nudging the hammer of your heart. The soothing touch of his hand grazed upon your shoulder. Dark eyes that embodied the vast entity of space, hinted upon black sapphires that traced the sky above, imparting no wards into the silence of the night. The scintillating glow of the moon illuminating his stoic features. The mid-autumn moon offering the rare opportunity to his features in the confidante of the hour. The discoloration of his scars varied amongst several shades; the mark carved into his cheek bone having earned company in the past two years. Thick luscious waves of cocoa locks twirled at the highs of his cheek. The mass of his hair combed back to the best of his abilities. Secured by a ponytail that captivated your heart, concealed his unruly mane. The glimpse of his neck offered by the reveal of his collar. Far more than enough to thrill your features, and whisper prayers to the gods that the night would not reveal the quiver of your heart. Stubble that traced the definition of his jawline, the sharp lines of his eyelashes that could slash your resolve if only he pressed. How you wished he would venture. Bedroom eyes posed and lethal, crumble your façade, and vacated your sense. Trembling beneath the seductive imagery of his dark yukata against delicate ivory skin. The hushed yawn stifled against the back of his hand before resting in the folds of his collar. The touch of taunt muscles wary from fatigue. The movement, the reminder of your circumstances shooing away unsavory thoughts that through the depths of the night, and weaved together lust and yearning. Concerns quick to seize the opportunity to evade your heart, all too aware of the deepening of the bruises beneath his lower lashes. Bid farewell to moonlight trysts, and stilled the hammering of your heart. Aizawa was exhausted. Worn from the duties of Eraserhead, carved from his path, and torn asunder whether to answer the calls of educator, pro-hero, or vigilante. Disaster after devastation, the in balance in this world had long since bared its fangs upon his flesh, and yet, her persevered. Remained steadfast in his ideals, defended his convictions, and remained loyal to his classmates, an unknown name amongst the general population willing to throw his life away without hesitation.  The quiet of the scenery beckoning him, urged Shota to utilize your shoulder if only as a means to rest upon in the ambience of the waves. His husky voice, warm and sultry as it vibrated against your ear. Hummed appreciation for your willingness to accept his burdens if only for the moment. Oblivious to the way it afflicted your heart. Cooed the shiver down your spine, persuaded you to lean into his touch. The flutter of his eyelashes, the touch of his breath against your neck as he breathed in the chill of the night, and savored the scent of your body against his. Comforted, and soothed, as though a child who relied upon another to hush the horrors of the past, to provide distraction for those to come. If only for the one night.

                If only for tonight.

                “There,” Shota’s voice spoke before offering a low growl that vibrated against his Adam’s apple. Revealed his discontent of the contort of your body, daring to pull from his at the draw of his voice. Shuddered at the sudden way the words had practically petted the back of your neck, unable to admit the indignant coo that near threatened to escape your lips. The whisper of his voice in your ear, making you suddenly aware of the intimate prospects that fumbled through your brain all too aware of the press of his chest against your back. Joy that sparked through your yukata, a moth to the flame drawn in by the prospect of intrigue. Shota’s arms threaded around your middle, drawing you into him. Beckoned you to remain still. The close press of fabric, slipped from shoulders and tucked. Thin. Very little separating the graze of his flesh against your skin. Your response curious, allowing you only to avert your eyes under his intense press. Warmed your cheeks, taunted your senses. Betrayed dormant desires as absent minded as the way he held your form to his own. The mix of vanilla that danced with a citric note whispered sweet notes into your heart, Aizawa’s scent touched upon your fingertips drawing your attention.

                The callous of his fingers, wrappings that coiled around the digits of his hands drawn to the direction. Reprimanded yourself for deluding a tender moment with an old friend with perverted daydreams as your eyes followed his guidance, ignoring the pounding of your heart.

                The vivid hush of night that had spread across the sky, shy hues now elicited to life. Celestial bodies painted across the night hours. Their brilliance reflected upon the ripples of the sea below. Hummed distant memories of the year that had passed, touched upon fond recollections of the time you had been gifted alongside Eraserhead’s side. As though a spirit guided to the heavens, caught amongst the breeze; a delicate paper lantern ascended to the sky. Its solidarity quick to draw company. The prayers and wishes of festival goers weaved into every lantern. Desires and hopes etched into their siding, the flame elicited intended to carry their wishes to the heavens above. Warm, and tender. Gentle. Thousands that grew by the moment, a small lantern no longer along amongst the dark night. The warm sigh that tickled against your neck, and the press of arms that remained at your side. His hold tender against your frame, careful of your size difference.

                The melancholy that threatened to rob the joy of the moment from your pores. Your fingers betraying your conscious, revealed the depths of your anxieties. The uncertainty that clung to the back of your mind regardless of how you wished it away. The fear--- an adult of your age all too aware that prayers…. Often go unanswered. Clung to the touch of wood between your fingers, a lantern—your hopes clutched between your small fingers. The tremble of your knuckles threatening to grow white, and splintered wood against the pads of your fingers. Your response defiant to the flicker of the flame. Unable to relinquish your prayers to the night. To the risk of rejection. Horrified that the rejection of your hopes… would mean to witness the fall of Eraserhead, to become acquainted with his absence, ignorant of the press of his form against yours, and to endure cold nights as a permanent reminder he would never return home. To never know more. The doubts that shook your heart, whispered anxieties to the pit of your stomach was only soothed by the warmth of his breath, warm and reassuring against your neck. Delicate in the touch of his calloused fingers, careful to gently unfold your fingers from the lantern’s frame.

                Shota’s fingers intertwined between your owns. If only to remind you that life still resided within his bones. The flicker of the flame ascended from your reach. The cutesy motif of a cat the pro-hero had etched into one side, oblivious to the scribble of your hand writing. Urged prayers, hummed into your heart, into your soul.

                Your wishes carried to the heavens.

[nodawnesperia]

Current Status Report (faction status part 2)

The second part, this should be the final of the worldbuilding posts at least for now. After this, I'd like to start getting into specific characters/events. Not sure who I'll start with so if you have a preference, do let me know (same for specific events). Reminder that the Graveborn faction is mostly the same but I will point out the few things that changed. The Hypogeans will be more about their general structure as a faction since the canon provides little to no info on it put concisely. The Celestials though? That's where things will get a little more curious.

This one is short, much shorter than the previous posts. Have fun!

Graveborn

The School of the Dead: The Metamorphs

Previously: The School of the Dead is split between two factions: The Spiritualists and the Metamorphs. While the Spiritualists practice necromancy through magic only, the Metamorphs utilize alchemy and experiment with various other substances in order to further the limits of necromancy. Currently: With the Hypogean backing and support, the Metamorphs of the School of the Dead came up with a new way of reanimating bodies – using Hypogean magic. The resulting creations are tireless, hardworking, intelligent, and brutal warriors.

The Boneyard: The Whispering Doom

Previously: A massive tower looming over the Boneyard, it is filled with sinister spirits known as the Harvesters who collect the lost souls of Esperia, purifying them and stuffing them in new bodies, creating legions of submissive Graveborn soldiers. Currently: With Annih back in the picture, lost souls are no longer present in Esperia. However, for the sake of the alliance, fragile as it may be, Annih allows Niru as the head of the Whispering Doom to choose a limited number of souls for the Graveborn armies.

Hypogeans

Creatures of chaos and destruction exist all over the universe, spawned by the leaking powers of the elder god Lutos. Most of them are disorganized and chaotic, barely capable of any rational thought. In Esperia, however, many influences affected their creation to the point where many are born sentient and even intelligent. There is a wide variety of them now, the only thing tying them all together being their natural draw to destruction.

However, united under the leadership of Annih and Uemiss, the Hypogeans are a formidable force. Annih appointed two high commanders of the Hypogean armies, Kane and Conrad, to lead the lesser Hypogeans and make up for their lack of intelligence. Kane is a strategic attacker while Conrad takes care of the Hypogeans' steadfast defense. By promising domains, power, and their pickings of prisoners and captives, Annih managed to sway the will of most other powerful Hypogeans as well, using their vast array of powers and skills to form a strike force the likes of which have never been seen in Esperia.

Celestials

When Dura created the Barred Gate, she made the remaining gods swear a divine oath to protect it and guard it from ever breaking again. However, when Uemiss began trying to reclaim his power over Altor, many Celestials abandoned their posts to go and combat the galactic threat. When the Gate shattered, so too did the gods' divinity. And as more and more of Esperia fell to the Hypogeans and the mortal faith weakened, even the remaining demigod powers quickly weakened.

At present, the Celestials are either scattered around Esperia or hiding within the deepest parts of the Celestial Sanctum, unable to shed their physical bodies or put up much of a fight. Some died, others got captured. Most of them remain free but it is only freedom in the name. The worse the situation gets, the more desperate the Celestials grow, employing means they once deemed beneath them to secure even the smallest of victories. Mortal faith no longer sustains them so they, in turn, no longer care about the mortal lives. If a hundred mortals die to kill ten Hypogeans, the Celestials only see the dead Hypogeans. Those who are unwilling to submit to such cruel methods are abandoned, left without a faction, allies, or place to belong.

[mumpsetc]

Here’s some object show criticism if you please:

I don’t give two shits if HFJONE was supposed to be a commentary on object shows and the object show structure a la never finishing, failing to develop characters, whatever. I didn’t come to ONE for the commentary, even if it was a super interesting facet of the show; I came for the mystery, and the mystery ended up disappointing me HARD.

When you set up plot points and emotional beats with absolutely zero payoff, you inevitably create a sense of disappointment and a near betrayal of the audience’s trust in you. Hfjone could have been a magnum opus of the OSC, and by god it still might be, but it fell into the same trap of mediocrity every other object show does when they lose sight of the storytelling.

There’s not even really any real tragedy (even though that’s what the show sacrificed its narrative cohesion for), because applying logic for a second mitigates any questions we might have of where the characters will go next. When there’s only one or two answers available to any questions asked by the open-ended ending (will they get out? Probably, if they wait long enough! Is Liam gonna turn into Airy? Sure would be a poor writing decision if he did, cuz “facing similar traumas automatically turns you into your abuser!” Is bit of a bad take imo!) it’s not really so open-ended, is it? I physically couldn’t be too sad about how the characters ended up, because giving it a even little thought already routed out how the rest of their arcs and lives might go.

I don’t know. There’s so much that HFJONE could have done and been that it just genuinely ended up not becoming, and I was really saddened by it, because I know it’s not for lack of trying. It was purposeful storytelling that it ended up how it did, and I feel like it was the wrong decision.

Also, the complete under-utilization of Amelia as a character was probably The largest detractor of the show. Dangle her presence and significance to the story in front of us then grant her like, a minute and a half of screen time. For someone so critical to the themes of the show she really ended up hardly existing, which inadvertently says something about the themes of the show (that being that they hardly exist :shrug:)

I've Been Rewatching One With Friends Lately and I've Run Into a Lot of Similar Qualms You Mentioned. I Will Admit to Being a Lot Softer on One, Both for Emotional Attachments Because I Am a Sap, and Just Out of Respect for Doing a Lot of Osc Firsts, But Yeah I Do Think It Held a Lot of Punches, Esp in Regards to Amelia.

I Don't Think Cheesy Was Misogynistic on Purpose But Her Writing, and a Lot of S2's Writing in General is Unintentionally Pretty Misogynistic. I Think There Were Ways to Keep Amelia's Role as the One Who Knows Nothing and Gets Beaten Down While Still Giving Her Anything to Do, a Friend Pitched the Idea of After Credit Scenes Done in the Black and White Style With No Dialogue Just Kind of Showing Her Subcumbing to the Monotony of the Plane and I Love That Idea.

However I Will Say I Do Still Love the Ending and the Themes are Enough for Me Personally. I'm a Huge Sucker for Very Theme Centric Work and One Scratched That Itch for Me, Though I Can Definitely See How a More Mystery Focused Viewer Would Be Disappointed. You're Right the Ending Isn't as Open Ended as People Like to Pretend But IMO It Doesn't Need to Be. I'm Just Happpy That the Final Time We'll Ever See the Characters is At Their Absolute Lowest, I Think That That's a Very Interesting Final Note and At the Very Least I Respect the Hell Outta Cheesy for Sticking to That in a Community Who's Barely Interacted With Bittersweetness at All.

[majorasnightmare]

hmmm. 30 and 25 :) for the durge list boo gimme those durge facts of life

HIIIIIIIII BELOVED MUTUAL WHO LOVES MY LITTLE FREAK 💜💜💜💜💜💜💜 thank u for vampire autism permission ily forever

25. How does your Dark Urge feel about Sceleritas Fel?

Pre tadpole Sceleritas was the closest thing he had to consistent emotional support. Sceleritas formed a key cornerstone of the varying pressures that worked to keep Dirge in the cult by being a source of emotional relief (he was free to abuse Sceleritas whenever he saw fit as a form of affection+Scelerias served as one of his only confidantes for the complicated tumultous scenarios bhaal often forced dirge into) and also a method of keeping Dirge isolated (Scleritas's form of affection typically took the form of acts of service, and as his dedicated butler Sceleritas took it upon himself to handle any and every menial task that he felt were too lowly to be performed by his rotten master). the end result is that Dirge completely lacked the skills to meaningfully support himself outside the cult because Sceleritas was handling everything that wasnt ritual worship or murder, and was the closest thing Dirge had to a genuine friend, disincentivizing him from leaving. Can you really bare to abandon the only person who truly cares for you to the same figure your both so terrified of? Dirge had a twisted form of familial affection for the little bastard, as both a caretaker+guardian figure and as a fellow abuse victim (though neither of them perceived it as such, instead forming a toxic loop of justifying bhaals abuses to each other)

Post tadpole Sceleritas is a sign of everything that goes wrong. He shows up after Alfiras murder, tells him to kill Isobel, then informs him hes going to try and kill a party member. None of those are particularly positive encounters, and Dirge doesnt remember enough about his past life to counteract those experiences, which id imagine is hard on the little dude. Dirge views him with a measure of trepidation and disgust all the way through Act 2, and after the Act 3 revelation remembers enough to start viewing him with pity. When everything is all said and done, Dirge would probably say he even misses him, but not enough to make an attempt to bring him back

30. What are your Dark Urge’s intentions/goals after the end of the game?

WIFE GUY WIFE GUY WIFE GUY

In GENERAL its whatever Minthara wants whenever she wants it. Beyond that, hes dedicated himself to perfecting his study of the Necromancy Of Thay's manipulation of life, death, blood, and flesh in the form of fleshwarping magic, the art of necromantically manipulating corpse flesh into novel forms of life. turns out hes a minion guy and adores making soulless abominations of nature. it combines a lot of his passions, vivisection and taxidermy, his medical proficiency, his ambitious knowledge seeking, his blasphemous disregard to the gods, his power hungry tendencies, and also his fondness for companionship mixed with a demigods inability to die. turns out godspawn flesh is compatible with just about anything, and he has a tendency to utilize his own flesh as an arcanic anchor to bind his creations to his will, and will also just graft on replacement limbs and warp them back to normal if he ever gets anything amputated. it takes a while to amount to anything but id imagine long after the events of the game are said and done and most of the companions are long since passed, he makes a really fucking annoying combatant for some plucky group of adventurers cuz the fucker just keeps reusing all that spilled blood to top himself off.

he also uses it for gay transgender sex because it turns out an intimate knowledge of how to shift and warp flesh makes a pretty easy jumping off point to shapeshift your body into whatever gives you gender envy that day. theres a reason why he kept emphasizing orins changeling abilities in his letters to her and its cuz that egg hadnt cracked yet

[just-another-chthonic-devotee]

Hey all. It’s been a minute.

I realized recently it’s been five years since I’ve picked up this blog/app, and I realized that it was something I missed — community. I missed being a part of something larger, a part of something meaningful. So, I started a mid-year goal to make at least one post a week starting with this one, an update regarding my life and practice. So, here’s what’s new in the last five years.

Pandemic hit me hard, I became disabled through multiple covid infections despite doing my best to be careful (I worked “essential retail”, then in a nursing home, now in the community. More on that later). As a result of those infections I developed POTS, Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome. I went from being an active 19 year old, to barely being able to stand up and walk across a room without being faint and dizzy, sometimes resulting in a full syncope episode. Nowadays, my POTS is controlled with medication, compression, and my service dog(s). Speaking of…

Remember that post, asking for assistance with my pup’s emergency surgery? Well, not only did Cosmo pull through and recover beautifully (thanks to generous people in our community), he began training as my cardiac and psychiatric service dog which was exactly what his driven, energetic, keen mind needed. Over the course of two years we trained rigorously together, and he became public access approved in 2023 — when my POTS really developed full-on. Now, at almost 13, Cosmo is happily retired and only works on HIS terms, and is helping me train my next service dog — a Catahoula Leopard Dog named Amaretto Pucker, or Puck for short. See end for pics.

I graduated in 2021 with my BA in Sociology and minor in Anthropology with nearly enough credits for a criminology degree as well (I didn’t want to take an extra class at the time). I utilize this degree as a Community Support Worker/Direct Support Professional, where I assist clients from all things like getting public aid (think food stamp, disability, social security, etc applications), to going to appointments and attending those appointments with clients when consent is given, to managing health conditions and medications, to teaching and developing social skills, to so much more. It’s exceptionally fulfilling.

I have moved 4 times in the last 16 months, and it’s about 3 times too many. Right now I am in my own place, a mobile home in a rural town that is just enough space for me and the critters — because I also got 3 cats over the course of the last year, as the cat distribution system is no joke! They’re lovely, though, and we are our own family.

I am in a happy relationship with my partners, Katie and Nova — a high school teacher and a state clerical worker — and am finally feeling safe and loved and seen in a relationship. Bonus points for Katie being polytheistic as well, though more eclectic than I!

My devotional practice has flourished, and in my current days I find myself becoming more mindful of my practice — I sit quietly now, instead of raging or crying or begging. I find myself more at peace, less desperate for guidance. I am working on building a functional yet safely out-of-reach-from-animals altarspace, so oftentimes I find myself praying very khernips in the mornings and evenings, thanking the Gods for the blessings of my day. I veil more frequently now, as I find it not only ground, but soothing.

I appreciate those of you who have stuck around this long, and I look forward to going through my askbox! Plan for more devotional activities/outfit inspirations/veiling ideas/devotional playlists from me, as I have been working to develop and curate these ideas for a while!

May the Gods’ favor shine upon you,

Gray ❤️

[corianderchronicles]

Magic Mechanics!

How It Works

Magical ability comes from a combination of two measurable aspects: innate power and skill level

Innate Power

How much magic the possessor is born with

This takes into account the type of magic they possess and how powerful it is

All living things on Anatol are created with some level of magic, which is tied to their lifeforce

This includes all species of flora and fauna, both sentient and non-sentient

This means that if someone or something is stripped completely of the magic within them, they just die

Additionally, if they die like this their soul kind of disintegrates and therefore cannot reach the afterlife

But this doesn’t mean that using this magic will cause the person to die (except in the case of Lifeforce Magic)

There are two types of magic that animal-folk can possess: Technical Magic and Emotional Magic

Emotional Magic is the more powerful of the two, but harder to utilize

Skill Level

This is basically a measure of the possessor’s ability to utilize their magic

Even if a person has a low level of innate magic, they can still become powerful if they are able to utilize it effectively

And vice versa, if a person has a high level of innate magic and cannot utilize it, they’re not really all the powerful

However, skill level is affected by innate magic

Someone with a low level of innate magic will have a more difficult time in general to utilize their magic effectively

And someone with a high level of innate magic doesn’t necessarily need to have a high skill level to utilize their magic effectively

Types of Magic

Technical Magic

The most common type of magic

Most animal-folk possess this type

This is the type that mostly involves studying and reading spells from a spell book

It’s the least powerful type of magic

Like emotional magic, it’s innate but it’s not as easy to access

Significantly less likely for spells to be cast unintentionally

Spellbooks help channel this power, along with other tools like staffs and wands

Emotional Magic

Second most common type of magic

Possible for animal-folk to possess this type of magic, but less common

Magic is generally genetic, but there can be other factors that effect what type someone possesses

This is the type of magic is more volatile in nature

But it’s also more powerful than technical magic

Can’t be channeled with physical items like technical magic

Life Force Magic

The most powerful magic mortals can possess

Not possible for animal-folk to possess, it’s really only found in Brallams

Super powerful, can do almost anything with barely a thought

However, it is more directly connected to the lifeforce of the possessor compared to the other types of magic, therefore using the magic decreases their lifespan

The amount depends on the complexity, duration, etc. of the spell

Deity Magic

The most powerful type of magic period

Can only be possessed by gods and ALL demigods

(though it becomes more distilled the further the relation to a godly parent there is in demigods)

Like crazy powerful, but also specialized

Unlimited cosmic power, but it only works for magic within the god’s (or godly parent's) domain

That’s not to say they can’t cast any magic that doesn’t have to do with their domain, it’s just they can’t cast as powerful of spells

Individual Magic

While magic can be categorized, it works uniquely for each individual

For examples, the same spell might look completely different depending on the person who cast it

A person's magical "flavor" is affected by a combination of things, including but not limited to their environment, culture, and genetics

It’s especially noticeable in food-related magic because the taste can have slightly different nuances depending on caster

Oftentimes, there are also certain elements that each individual’s magic leans towards

It’s just what comes most naturally to them, whether that be plants, electricity, water, or more obscure domains

This again doesn’t mean that they can’t cast magic outside of where their magic leans, it’s just these types of spells often come easier

-Potato Chip

EDIT: All demigods have deity magic -Cakes

[jonquildove]

starkmatriarch:

Harwin looked a little uncomfortable at Sansa’s questions, and while he would not refuse her, it did not sit well with him to speak to the young lady of the sorry and tragic state in which they ahd found her Mother. The slaughter at the wedding had been against the laws of the Gods themselves, and would curse the Freys util the last of their name was gone from this world, but what they did to Lady Stark…it was as though to offend the Gods, to anger them further and he could not fathom why they would wish to injure the Lady so. A woman who, in all the years he had known her as wife to Lord Stark, had been generous and wise and kind and all that his Father had ever taught him to expect of a highborn lady. And she’d been tough, he thought a Southern maiden would have fainted from the cold and been terrified by the Northern ways, but Lady Stark had risen to it, becoming as much a part of it as any Lady Stark before. She didn’t deserve her fate and whenever he looked upon her now, he felt a great sadness and wished he could do something to change what had become of her. To make her the woman she had once been. “She had been three days dead, my lady,” Harwin finally said, “It was a wolf that found her. A large one with white and grey fur, not unlike them direwolves your brother brought home. Dragging her from the river…for a brief moment, it seemed like milady was smiling and alive with her wolfpup next to her, we pausing to allow her a moment of happiness... she ran off when she heard us coming. It had...deep dark eyes, looked right at me...looked almost human. They’d…stripped your Mother bare, milady, I’m sorry to say, and dropped her body into the Trident” A mockery of the Tully traditions, and even at the thought Stoneheart felt her anger flare. She remembered when she had woken upon the riverbank, and how she had naught but Dondarrion’s cloak across her, which he had placed. She was wearing a cloak a man had given her, he looking like a monk. She had been naked beneath though she had not been cold. Harwin and her had then visited Alyssa's Tears after some thought, she hearing the gentle water of the waterfall flowing. Pale white was the water, as it rushed shyly over the mountain of Arryn's vale and to the Giant's Lance. Had they enjoyed taking her clothes from her? As her dead boy had lay in the hall of the Twins, in her own blood, her son’s body by her side, had they laughed and jested as they removed her clothes piece by piece? Had they made a parade of taking her body to the river and throwing her in? She drew Sansa closer to her and placed a kiss atop her dark hair and wished they were her familiar copper locks still. She had one of her daughters back and soon they would have Arya…and the Freys would hang and the Lannisters would all pay the debt they owed her. Life for a life and a son for a son. She placed a hand to her throat once more “I care…not…why…you kissed…her. It should…not..have been. Liar. Betrayer. Oathbreaker” She hissed each word like a curse, and it seemed to make the flames of the cavern flicker. “Enemy”

She gulped in surprise, upon hearing Harwin’s description of her lady mother’s demise. Such humiliation her Mother had to bear, adding salt to the wound. No peace, even after death. “A wolf? What would a wolf want with my Mother’s body? To feast upon it, mayhaps?” It was not something that she wished to imagine, and in a way, Sansa was glad that Beric and his Brotherhood had reached the Trident before the wolf had gotten her way with her Mother’s body. But then…she paused. A direwolf? “Was it a Stark direwolf?” Of course, it could not have been Lady, her own Father had killed her with Ice, as was the order of Queen Cersei. Lady had been tied to a post, and Father did not want a Lannister butcher to kill her. The kiss bestowed upon her head, by Catelyn, made Sansa slowly close her Tully blue eyes in its familiarity, and she leaned closer to her Mother. Renewed hope started coursing through her body. Perhaps, not all hope was lost in the world. She remembered the words she had once thought; “in life, the monsters win.” But, now, she started to think, instigated by the now multiple displays of affection her Mother bestowed her, she realized that she still clung on to the idea that there might be better days, in the darkness.The snow at the Eyrie had reminded her so much of the snows in Winterfell, a powerful nostalgia that could not be held back, and even with Robin destroying her snow castle modelled of it, it could perhaps be rebuilt just like the true live version… “—-Listen, please, Cat.” Sansa heard Petyr implore, a slight tremor now present in his voice. He remembered touching her scar, when they were young, she getting grazed when climbing a tree. She had many scars, scars written in sirithar and sorrow. “I apologize most grievously for my actions. How can I prove that to you?”

[ahlulbaytnetworks]

🍃🕊🍃 The Expansive Earth 🍃🕊🍃

وَالأَرْضَ فَرَشْنَاهَا فَنِعْمَ الْمَاهِدُونَ

And the earth, We have made it a wide extent; how well have We then spread (it) out.

🍃🕊🍃 Holy Quran 🍃🕊🍃

🍃 (51:47) 🍃

وَالأَرْضَ مَدَدْنَاهَا وَأَلْقَيْنَا فِيهَا رَوَاسِيَ وَأَنبَتْنَا فِيهَا مِن كُلِّ شَيْءٍ مَّوْزُونٍ {o} وَجَعَلْنَا لَكُمْ فِيهَا مَعَايِشَ وَمَن لَّسْتُمْ لَهُ بِرَازِقِينَ

And the earth - We have spread it forth and made in it firm mountains and caused to grow in it of every suitable thing. And We have made in it means of subsistence for you and for him whom you cannot sustain.

🍃🕊🍃 Holy Quran 🍃🕊🍃

🍃 (15:18-19) 🍃

أَلَمْ نَجْعَلِ الْأَرْضَ كِفَاتًا {o} أَحْيَاء وَأَمْوَاتًا

Have We not made the earth to draw together to itself; (prepared for) the living and the dead?

🍃🕊🍃 Holy Quran 🍃🕊🍃

🍃 (77:25-26) 🍃

One of the branches of the ever-increasing knowledge of mankind in contemporary times is the methodology of exploiting the earth’s natural resources and God-given treasures. Scientists have always been apprehensive that unplanned tapping of the existing resources would engender problems for future generations. For this reason, elaborate and extensive programs and projects have been designed by experts to optimally utilize the natural resources, which are an influential factor in the determination of the wellbeing of human societies.

Many conferences have been held to discuss the soundest way to exploit these natural resources, so that adequate attention is paid to the fundamental and vital needs of humanity as well as ensuring that these needs are met in a balanced and equitable manner. No scientist will endorse the principle that each individual is free to exploit nature in a manner that is to his sole and limitless advantage.

However, God, the All-wise – whose wisdom is barely reflected by the entirety of man’s knowledge – had also made arrangements for this important issue at the time of the creation of the earth; indeed this is a proof of the intelligent, knowledgeable and capable design that underpins existence. He made man aware of these blessings and invited him to make lawful use of them. Man has been required to take advantage of the Divine bounties in the earth in a thoughtful manner and not to give way to excess and overindulgence in an attempt to acquire as much as possible, which would ultimately cause a disparity between needs and consumption. If these resources are managed correctly through a system of organization and control, then neither scarcity will affect them nor will these plentiful resources be depleted.

In the days when the human population was not even one-third of the present number and many of the earth’s resources had yet to be discovered, poverty and famine arising from ruined crops was much more common than it is today. Indigence and hunger were constant afflictions and would cause widespread death amongst human societies.

Nowadays, although the earth’s population has increased manifold, those unfavourable circumstances no longer prevail (in the same abundance), even though contentment and moderation in consumption is not only less than in previous times, but has given way to wastage and shameful excesses. Furthermore, in order to balance their markets, many countries actually destroy a substantial amount of their agricultural produce annually, a fact that distresses the heart of every free-thinking individual.

Thus, poverty and scarcity arises due to the method of exploiting resources and its disproportionate distribution – and not because of a decrease in the earth’s natural resources themselves – and consequent to the clash between demand and profiteering and the corruption that arises as a result, the social fabric and harmony is torn apart; in reality this unfair utilization of resources is due the culture of excess on the one hand, and the absence of contentment and the insatiable appetites of today’s greedy and selfish individuals on the other.

🍃 Let us also cast a glance at the very distant past: 🍃

It is not known when the earth initially acquired the capacity to support life and when the first living creatures appeared, developed and multiplied on it. The exact date when man walked on earth is likewise shrouded in mystery and thus far no convincing answer to this riddle has been presented by researchers. Whatever has been postulated in this regard is based on a chain of theories and suppositions and not on any conclusive and well-accepted facts.

If we consider this earth, we find that we do not know how old it is, nor do we have any method to determine its age with any certainty, and every opinion on this matter is no more than a conjecture, which does not shed much light on its past and its true nature. When historians commonly disagree about events that are just a few centuries old, what kind of theory can reliably explain an episode that occurred in the system of creation several million, or rather billions of years ago?

We do not even know when life and subsequently, man, first appeared on earth; what we do know for certain, however, is that God has provided an abundant variety of materials for the benefit and needs of every living thing (humans, animals and vegetation) without the least parsimoniousness.

Every creature and plant can draw sustenance and nutrients for its survival and development from the earth. Since the earth is limited in size, it follows that the food it can produce is also limited. These limitations seem to indicate that the earth would be unable to provide for the needs of all its inhabitants over a prolonged period of time.

This however, through an astonishingly complex and regulated system that governs this small planet – which has so many diverse and different aspects and is intricately linked to its store of resources – every living creature and plant receives its sustenance. And this has been the case from the obscure beginning of creation, and will continue till the end of time, while the resources are not exhausted or even diminished. This amazing miracle of creation is a fact that is undeniable and in this regard, the Qur’an declares that the earth has the capacity to support the entirety of its inhabitants and satisfy their various and diverse needs:

وَجَعَلْنَا لَكُمْ فِيهَا مَعَايِشَ وَمَن لَّسْتُمْ لَهُ بِرَازِقِينَ

And We have made in it means of subsistence for you and for him whom you cannot sustain.

🍃🕊🍃 Holy Quran 🍃🕊🍃

🍃 (15:19) 🍃

And so we see a constant and continuous process in the earth which progresses in association with a special system of controls on a pre-planned and guided course.

When man desired to build houses and the supplies he needed were bricks, stone and lime, God placed these simple materials at his disposal so that he could take steps to alleviate his basic needs and make a shelter for himself.

However, nowadays, due to urban overpopulation, especially as people move into the main townships, and due to the problems associated with overcrowding and the increased communication of people with one another, man even needs buildings with more than one hundred storeys. In His infinite wisdom and knowledge that encompasses every particle in the universe of existence, God endowed within the earth – many millions of years ago - the raw materials that would one day be used for construction (stone and clay and iron) in the shape of quarries and mines. He then inspired man to create and invent and made these materials accessible to him so that he may advance in the world by extracting these pre-prepared stores from the depths of the earth and utilizing them in providing for his needs.

The foregoing discussion described the adequacy of the earth’s resources in catering for the needs of mankind and his fellow creatures throughout its history and for as long as life-forms exist on it and wish to make use of its provisions.

The Qur’an also emphasises this very same point, and adds that the earth not only sustains every living being, but accommodates the dead as well. 115

Although man’s development and transformation will never evolve away from his fundamental humanness and the essence of his existence and constitution, nevertheless, in his material trappings, man has come a long way in the course of time, and this is evident across the world.

Death is the inescapable end of every living being that inhabits the earth and the earth itself is ever ready to welcome the remains of the dead in its embrace. Sooner or later, the bodies of humans go back to the earth, as do the carcasses of animals. Every variety of vegetation – from leaves to the trunks of trees – is likewise gradually assimilated into the earth’s stores.

Therefore the earth is at once the main support for human life and the source from which mankind can gather bounties, as well as the burial place for all living things; thus, the Qur’an states:

أَلَمْ نَجْعَلِ الْأَرْضَ كِفَاتًا {o} أَحْيَاء وَأَمْوَاتًا

Have We not made the earth to draw together to itself; the living and the dead.

🍃🕊🍃 Holy Quran 🍃🕊🍃

🍃 (77:25-26) 🍃

That which resonates with the principles of nature is purpose and the pursuit of perfection; indeed these are the distinct and well known properties that permeate creation and are the immediate and consecutive fruits of Divine planning. Therefore, imperfection and diminution – which are the outcomes of chaos and unwise planning – have no place or meaning in the system of existence.

Thus, when we contemplate the foundations of existence, we come to realize that it abounds with splendour, grandeur and greatness. The Qur’an states in this regard:

مَّا تَرَى فِي خَلْقِ الرَّحْمَنِ مِن تَفَاوُتٍ فَارْجِعِ الْبَصَرَ هَلْ تَرَى مِن فُطُورٍ

You will not see any incongruity in the creation of the Beneficent Lord; then look again, can you see any disorder?

🍃🕊🍃 Holy Quran 🍃🕊🍃

🍃 (67:3) 🍃

Behind the system of creation of the all-Merciful God, one will not find inadequacy and disorderliness; carefully look again and again, do you see any flaw? No!

Therefore, indifference towards, and ignorance of the various phenomena that are manifested in the world and of what goes on around mankind, has consequences that will form obstacles to the ultimate felicity of humanity.

✧༺♥༻∞ 🍃🌺🍃 ∞༺♥༻✧

🍃🕊🍃 Source 🍃🕊🍃

1. Have We not made the earth to draw

together to itself; the living and the

dead (al-Mursalat (77:25-26)

🍃🕊🍃 al-Islam.org 🍃🕊🍃

✧༺♥༻∞ 🍃🌺🍃 ∞༺♥༻✧

.

[loverandservantoftheahlulbayt]

🍃🕊🍃 The Expansive Earth 🍃🕊🍃

وَالأَرْضَ فَرَشْنَاهَا فَنِعْمَ الْمَاهِدُونَ

And the earth, We have made it a wide extent; how well have We then spread (it) out.

🍃🕊🍃 Holy Quran 🍃🕊🍃

🍃 (51:47) 🍃

وَالأَرْضَ مَدَدْنَاهَا وَأَلْقَيْنَا فِيهَا رَوَاسِيَ وَأَنبَتْنَا فِيهَا مِن كُلِّ شَيْءٍ مَّوْزُونٍ {o} وَجَعَلْنَا لَكُمْ فِيهَا مَعَايِشَ وَمَن لَّسْتُمْ لَهُ بِرَازِقِينَ

And the earth - We have spread it forth and made in it firm mountains and caused to grow in it of every suitable thing. And We have made in it means of subsistence for you and for him whom you cannot sustain.

🍃🕊🍃 Holy Quran 🍃🕊🍃

🍃 (15:18-19) 🍃

أَلَمْ نَجْعَلِ الْأَرْضَ كِفَاتًا {o} أَحْيَاء وَأَمْوَاتًا

Have We not made the earth to draw together to itself; (prepared for) the living and the dead?

🍃🕊🍃 Holy Quran 🍃🕊🍃

🍃 (77:25-26) 🍃

One of the branches of the ever-increasing knowledge of mankind in contemporary times is the methodology of exploiting the earth’s natural resources and God-given treasures. Scientists have always been apprehensive that unplanned tapping of the existing resources would engender problems for future generations. For this reason, elaborate and extensive programs and projects have been designed by experts to optimally utilize the natural resources, which are an influential factor in the determination of the wellbeing of human societies.

Many conferences have been held to discuss the soundest way to exploit these natural resources, so that adequate attention is paid to the fundamental and vital needs of humanity as well as ensuring that these needs are met in a balanced and equitable manner. No scientist will endorse the principle that each individual is free to exploit nature in a manner that is to his sole and limitless advantage.

However, God, the All-wise – whose wisdom is barely reflected by the entirety of man’s knowledge – had also made arrangements for this important issue at the time of the creation of the earth; indeed this is a proof of the intelligent, knowledgeable and capable design that underpins existence. He made man aware of these blessings and invited him to make lawful use of them. Man has been required to take advantage of the Divine bounties in the earth in a thoughtful manner and not to give way to excess and overindulgence in an attempt to acquire as much as possible, which would ultimately cause a disparity between needs and consumption. If these resources are managed correctly through a system of organization and control, then neither scarcity will affect them nor will these plentiful resources be depleted.

In the days when the human population was not even one-third of the present number and many of the earth’s resources had yet to be discovered, poverty and famine arising from ruined crops was much more common than it is today. Indigence and hunger were constant afflictions and would cause widespread death amongst human societies.

Nowadays, although the earth’s population has increased manifold, those unfavourable circumstances no longer prevail (in the same abundance), even though contentment and moderation in consumption is not only less than in previous times, but has given way to wastage and shameful excesses. Furthermore, in order to balance their markets, many countries actually destroy a substantial amount of their agricultural produce annually, a fact that distresses the heart of every free-thinking individual.

Thus, poverty and scarcity arises due to the method of exploiting resources and its disproportionate distribution – and not because of a decrease in the earth’s natural resources themselves – and consequent to the clash between demand and profiteering and the corruption that arises as a result, the social fabric and harmony is torn apart; in reality this unfair utilization of resources is due the culture of excess on the one hand, and the absence of contentment and the insatiable appetites of today’s greedy and selfish individuals on the other.

🍃 Let us also cast a glance at the very distant past: 🍃

It is not known when the earth initially acquired the capacity to support life and when the first living creatures appeared, developed and multiplied on it. The exact date when man walked on earth is likewise shrouded in mystery and thus far no convincing answer to this riddle has been presented by researchers. Whatever has been postulated in this regard is based on a chain of theories and suppositions and not on any conclusive and well-accepted facts.

If we consider this earth, we find that we do not know how old it is, nor do we have any method to determine its age with any certainty, and every opinion on this matter is no more than a conjecture, which does not shed much light on its past and its true nature. When historians commonly disagree about events that are just a few centuries old, what kind of theory can reliably explain an episode that occurred in the system of creation several million, or rather billions of years ago?

We do not even know when life and subsequently, man, first appeared on earth; what we do know for certain, however, is that God has provided an abundant variety of materials for the benefit and needs of every living thing (humans, animals and vegetation) without the least parsimoniousness.

Every creature and plant can draw sustenance and nutrients for its survival and development from the earth. Since the earth is limited in size, it follows that the food it can produce is also limited. These limitations seem to indicate that the earth would be unable to provide for the needs of all its inhabitants over a prolonged period of time.

This however, through an astonishingly complex and regulated system that governs this small planet – which has so many diverse and different aspects and is intricately linked to its store of resources – every living creature and plant receives its sustenance. And this has been the case from the obscure beginning of creation, and will continue till the end of time, while the resources are not exhausted or even diminished. This amazing miracle of creation is a fact that is undeniable and in this regard, the Qur’an declares that the earth has the capacity to support the entirety of its inhabitants and satisfy their various and diverse needs:

وَجَعَلْنَا لَكُمْ فِيهَا مَعَايِشَ وَمَن لَّسْتُمْ لَهُ بِرَازِقِينَ

And We have made in it means of subsistence for you and for him whom you cannot sustain.

🍃🕊🍃 Holy Quran 🍃🕊🍃

🍃 (15:19) 🍃

And so we see a constant and continuous process in the earth which progresses in association with a special system of controls on a pre-planned and guided course.

When man desired to build houses and the supplies he needed were bricks, stone and lime, God placed these simple materials at his disposal so that he could take steps to alleviate his basic needs and make a shelter for himself.

However, nowadays, due to urban overpopulation, especially as people move into the main townships, and due to the problems associated with overcrowding and the increased communication of people with one another, man even needs buildings with more than one hundred storeys. In His infinite wisdom and knowledge that encompasses every particle in the universe of existence, God endowed within the earth – many millions of years ago - the raw materials that would one day be used for construction (stone and clay and iron) in the shape of quarries and mines. He then inspired man to create and invent and made these materials accessible to him so that he may advance in the world by extracting these pre-prepared stores from the depths of the earth and utilizing them in providing for his needs.

The foregoing discussion described the adequacy of the earth’s resources in catering for the needs of mankind and his fellow creatures throughout its history and for as long as life-forms exist on it and wish to make use of its provisions.

The Qur’an also emphasises this very same point, and adds that the earth not only sustains every living being, but accommodates the dead as well. 115

Although man’s development and transformation will never evolve away from his fundamental humanness and the essence of his existence and constitution, nevertheless, in his material trappings, man has come a long way in the course of time, and this is evident across the world.

Death is the inescapable end of every living being that inhabits the earth and the earth itself is ever ready to welcome the remains of the dead in its embrace. Sooner or later, the bodies of humans go back to the earth, as do the carcasses of animals. Every variety of vegetation – from leaves to the trunks of trees – is likewise gradually assimilated into the earth’s stores.

Therefore the earth is at once the main support for human life and the source from which mankind can gather bounties, as well as the burial place for all living things; thus, the Qur’an states:

أَلَمْ نَجْعَلِ الْأَرْضَ كِفَاتًا {o} أَحْيَاء وَأَمْوَاتًا

Have We not made the earth to draw together to itself; the living and the dead.

🍃🕊🍃 Holy Quran 🍃🕊🍃

🍃 (77:25-26) 🍃

That which resonates with the principles of nature is purpose and the pursuit of perfection; indeed these are the distinct and well known properties that permeate creation and are the immediate and consecutive fruits of Divine planning. Therefore, imperfection and diminution – which are the outcomes of chaos and unwise planning – have no place or meaning in the system of existence.

Thus, when we contemplate the foundations of existence, we come to realize that it abounds with splendour, grandeur and greatness. The Qur’an states in this regard:

مَّا تَرَى فِي خَلْقِ الرَّحْمَنِ مِن تَفَاوُتٍ فَارْجِعِ الْبَصَرَ هَلْ تَرَى مِن فُطُورٍ

You will not see any incongruity in the creation of the Beneficent Lord; then look again, can you see any disorder?

🍃🕊🍃 Holy Quran 🍃🕊🍃

🍃 (67:3) 🍃

Behind the system of creation of the all-Merciful God, one will not find inadequacy and disorderliness; carefully look again and again, do you see any flaw? No!

Therefore, indifference towards, and ignorance of the various phenomena that are manifested in the world and of what goes on around mankind, has consequences that will form obstacles to the ultimate felicity of humanity.

✧༺♥༻∞ 🍃🌺🍃 ∞༺♥༻✧

🍃🕊🍃 Source 🍃🕊🍃

1. Have We not made the earth to draw

together to itself; the living and the

dead (al-Mursalat (77:25-26)

🍃🕊🍃 al-Islam.org 🍃🕊🍃

✧༺♥༻∞ 🍃🌺🍃 ∞༺♥༻✧

.