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Your Rook has been thrown into some kind of wormhole, or maybe a portal! Oh no! They now have to take the place of one of the other PCs.

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I wish Americans fucked with more foreign music. You don’t have to know the language to appreciate a good record. Folks in other countries listen to our music and don’t speak a lick of english. Music needs no translator

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thinking about the bedroll Leliana keeps in the rookery and making sure she has proper lodgings, can we also like, get her a better chair. there's no way that thing is comfortable.

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Just got stung by a wasp for the first time in living memory bc apparently it was on my fucking blanket when I went to go lay down in bed.

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AETHEROLOGY

WHAT IS AETHER?

Gota Jaab: “Aether knows neither sacred nor profane, yet resides in all creation. Embrace it and a timeless power will be yours.”

Encyclopedia Eorzea - Life and Aether: “Within all beings - whether it be man, animal, or even plant - does aether flow. It is the spark which grants life to the lifeless. Conversely, death can be said to occur once aether has left a corporeal object. From this it is clear to see why many scholars use the words ‘life’ and ‘aether’ interchangeably. It can be assumed that a young man of sound mind and body will possess a high concentration of aetherial energy in his humours, whereas an older man, or one inflicted with corruption, will not. Some scholars have expanded upon this hypothesis saying that the consumption of food serves not only to fill the belly, but to provide the body with aether lost through exertion.”

Lalah Jinjahl: “There’s a limit to the amount of corporeal aether a living being can harbor. As we grow up, it waxes; as we grow old, it wanes. A gradual, gentle process, if allowed to function in the natural fashion…”

Encyclopedia Eorzea - Life and Aether: “Aether is not by any means static. It constantly flows though creation, forming currents through earth, water, and air which ensure that life is sustained throughout the world. The stoppage of these currents would be akin to the atrophication of a limb cut off from the heart. Aether is the lifeblood of Hydaelyn, and without it She - and Her children - would perish.”

Thancred: “I can’t get this bloody thing lit! It must be because the aether has stopped flowing…”

Nicia: “Before one might understand aetherial travel, one must first understand the substance that makes it possible - aether. What is aether you ask? Why, only the source of all being! Though it cannot be seen, it is everywhere… or should I say, it is everything. Aether flows around us and within us, and without it we would cease to exist.”

Mikoto: “Simpler… Right… Um… Aether is not only the building block of all things material, but those immaterial as well. Thoughts, memories, feelings, one’s very will are all understood to be aetherial phenomena, and can be measured as such.”

Beq Lugg: “Their bodies will naturally return to equilibrium given time… But this holds true only for their corporeal aether. Their incorporeal aether─that of the soul─is not so easily mended.”

Alphinaud: “Corporeal and incorporeal aether… I confess I have never had cause to make the distinction.”

Krile: “She could only remind me that the soul is yet an unknown frontier, and that much and more lies beyond our ken.”

Montichaigne: “We shall begin by reviewing the fundamentals of aetherology. The aether which imbues us with life can be categorized into three forms. Two are of the incorporeal sort, the soul and the memory. [Corporeal aether] is the form with which the layman is most familiar. Consumed by even the simplest of daily activities and replenished by the food and drink that sustain us, this form of aether is in constant flux.

In contrast, the aether that comprises the soul is rarely subject to dramatic change. The same can be said for memory, as the two are intrinsically linked. Picture the soul as paper, and memories as words written upon it. Now, what would happen if that paper was doused with ink─the same type of aether as comprises the memories? We would be unable to recall the memories, and any activities that depend upon them would be hindered as well. In fact, this exact phenomenon was observed on a vast scale not so long ago.”

Mikoto: “Every living being is comprised of corporeal aether of the flesh, incorporeal aether of the soul, and the aetherial residue of their memories. Were one to be possessed of only corporeal aether, they would be but a walking corpse. Conversely, entities comprised of only incorporeal aether are referred to in layman’s terms as ghosts. In either case, they may also retain some of their residual memories. Of course, a ghost that possesses residual memories could likely recall its past and retain self-awareness.”

Alphinaud: “Hmmm… In the past, when I sought to identify the true nature of ghosts, I came upon literature examining a similar subject. The soul was likened to a core that resides in the aether, and its presence is what differentiates us from such beings as sprites and arcane entities. Upon death, said core ordinarily dissipates alongside the aether that composed the flesh. However, it may be held together and bound to the corporeal realm, either by the will of its owner or by means of certain arts. In time, the soul may regather aether unto itself to assume another form, or find newly emerged life in which to abide.”

Beq Lugg: “But the soul is not a candle to be snuffed out and relit on a whim. In order to maintain a corporeal form, your souls constantly draw aether from your surroundings. This process must be halted, and the resulting surfeit of aether removed. Your minds would ultimately be separated from these faux bodies of yours, rendering you incapable of interacting with the world around you. A cruel fate under normal circumstances, but one which will be rectified upon your return home.”

Nicia: “When we die, it is believed that the shock separates our spirits from our corporeal forms. Our bodies are then broken down and are absorbed back into the aetherial river, while the soul is left to journey to its final destination in the afterlife. Some call this ‘returning to the lifestream.’”

Erik: “As I laboriously explained, aether is not only the source of all magicks, but also the fount of all life. Yet despite its ubiquity, it remains imperceptible to the senses of man. When a living thing dies, the aether comprising its life is released. It has been learned that when this discharge takes place, a portion of that aether remains, lingering in the physical world. No doubt you have come across aetherial crystallizations in the course of your travels. All scholars now agree that these are the physical manifestations of great concentrations of aether.

I have a theory, however, that they are not the only such manifestations. Allow me to give you an example even you can understand - that of ghosts, spirits, disembodied souls. Apparitions of the deceased come back to haunt and generally unnerve us? False! These are nothing more than the luminescent glow of aether in the atmosphere.”

Montichaigne: “Barring that, we must wait until we return to the aetherial sea… For there we will be purified. The blots upon our souls washed clean… And our memories drift apart and dissolve. But there are those memories that are indelibly etched upon our souls, some believe. We are reduced to pure aether, coalesce with that of others, and create souls anew. Alternative schools of thought assert souls remain whole and return to the corporeal world, reborn into another form. Both theories have their proponents. Personally, I consider each equally probable.”

Severian: “Now, each [person]’s aether has a unique color. When drawing geometries with enchanted ink, this hue is passed to the pages of a grimoire. There has never been a way to detect the shade of this aetherial signature. Until now, that is. I have a powder that renders this color visible to the naked eye. If my aether is purple, then sprinkling the dust over a grimoire I made will reveal the same shade of purple. I call it spectrolium…”

Hythlodaeus: “The color of your souls tells the tale. A hue that distinctive cannot be mistaken, no matter how thin the soul is spread.”

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Hello, new followers and old! I just wanted to say thank you for your patience, your kind words in game, and your continued support while I struggle to find enough free time to put out new posts. This post has been an absolutely massive undertaking, covering what we know about aether, the elements, aetherytes, and every disciple of magic, and more all in the Read More below.

All of my lore posts can be found in Lore Index here!

@seercull, @rmnoffs, @ovalnephrite, @twilt-dreams, @thejollynecromancer, @kimiko-ffxiv, @sidarah

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Keep reading

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Nald’thal, the Traders Patron Deity of Ul’dah

Brother of Oschon*

*Oschon being Nald’thal’s brother is a widely held belief by most of Eorzea, however, there are others who believe that Oschon created Nald’thal from magma, or, in Ul’dah specifically, that Nald and Thal are twin brothers and are worshiped as two separate entities.

Character Creation - Nald’thal: “Nald’thal, overseer of the underworld and god of commerce, is the guardian deity of Ul’dah. He commands the element of fire and is associated with the tenth moon of the Eorzean calendar. Nald’thal is the single manifestation of the deific twins Nald and Thal. He is most often depicted as a discerning merchant holding a balance. His symbol is the cowry, an ancient shell currency.”

Encyclopedia Eorzea - Ul’dahn Religion: “While many believe that [Nald’thal] is possessed of a dual nature, Ul’dahns see Him as twins, and worship Nald and Thal separately. Since times of eld, the Order of Nald’thal has devoted itself to this task, and encourages the devout to donate their coin - for virtue in this life, and happiness in Thal’s realm.”

Havak Alvak: “Nald'thal, the Traders. This dual-aspected divinity administers the afterlife and commerce, a curious combination. Eminent entities in the sand-girt sultanate, Nald looks after the living, while Thal deals with the dead.”

Officiant of the Graces: “Sounsyy─as the Traders teach, our lives are an everlasting circle of exchange, not unlike the ring for which you have bartered.”

Sinette: “They are called the twins, Nald and Thal. Or at times, the Traders. All of reality is governed by their two aspects, and they hold a ceaseless vigil to ensure order is maintained. Long ago, our city itself was split into two great sections, to mirror this truth. As a great teacher of mine once said, microcosm recapitulates macrocosm. We have since merged, and prospered for it. Perhaps the gods will someday mirror us.”

Tutubuki: “If you would walk these halls, you must know of Nald'thal of the Twelve, and His two aspects. It is Nald who rules over this world of the living, and Thal who keeps the realm of the dead. All which lives must die, and to cross over one must be devout of mind - a true follower of Thal.”

Yayake: “Duality lies at the essence of all things. The sun rises in the east, only to fall in the west. Just as life rises in birth, only to fall in death. Your own death draws nearer with every breath you take—this is known. But you must live right to die well. Let us help you, friend, to cross whole and full to the realm of Thal.”

Omphalos Monument: “He who is named Nald'thal shall preside over the subterrane. His duty: to make gleam the riches hidden in the darkest depths─and in men themselves.”

Encyclopedia Eorzea - Creation: “When Nophica, mother of life, learned of Halone’s wanton destruction of Her creations, She was angered beyond words and swore revenge, but the Fury ignored the Matron’s challenges, widening the rift between the two. Oschon, feeling responsible for this rift, devised a plan to calm Nophica. From within the mountains of His creation, Oschon summoned a fount of magma which spewed forth onto the land. Upon cooling, the magma took the form of the Twelfth and final god -  the dual aspected Nald’thal. With Nald’thal, Oschon had provided a god to oversee the souls of those who met their deaths and provide them with peace in the afterlife. Satisfied that Her creations would no longer wander the void aimlessly, Nophica agreed to a truce with Halone.

And with the advent of the Twelfth and final god was the pantheon complete. But before They could call an end to Their toil, They first required a realm in which They could reside and watch over Their myriad creation. To this end, They created the seven heavens, and to there did They finally retreat, bequeathing rule of Eorzea to mankind.”

Encyclopedia Eorzea - Hells and Heavens: “Every god and goddess of the Twelve is associated with one of the six controlling elements. When the deities deemed Their work on Eorzea complete, They proceeded to create the firmament, the result being six astrally aligned heavens aspected to each of the six elements, and a final seventh heaven to rule them all. However, a residual product of these heavens were six similarly aspected hells, ruled by an all-encompassing, umbrally aligned seventh hell. The six ‘lower heavens’ are represented in the sky by six constellations - star formations which astrologians also perceive as gates that, when opened, can allow a person to become attuned with the heavens and manipulate their aether. These constellations revolve around the pole star which is believed to be the gate to the seventh and final heaven. While some sects of Twelve worship have different views of the afterlife, most believe that the righteous are promised a place in the heavens while sinners are doomed to an eternity of punishing trials in the hells. A belief made popular by a famous theologian and playwright of the Sixth Astral Era states that upon an evil man’s death, he will fall to a hell that corresponds to the sins he committed in his lifetie. Once suffering an eternity in payment for those sins, he must journey through the remaining five ‘upper hells’ and witness the sins of his brothers, before finally arriving at the gate of the seventh hell, where his heart will be weighted. If it is heavy with sorrow and repentance for what he has done, he will be sent to the heavens. But if it remains light, he will be admitted to the seventh hell where he will suffer forevermore.”

Encyclopedia Eorzea - The Hell and Heaven of Fire: “In the Heaven of Fire sprawls an endless city built by Nald’thal from golden bricks fired in the heat of Azeyma’s sun. Here reside the just and the fair, the honest and the philanthropic. The Hell of Fire was formed when the rubble left after the creation of its heavenly counterpart was cast from the firmament into the dark Pit and set alight. Here burn those who wrongly judged their peers, those who tricked their customers, and those who gave and received douceurs.”

Leveva: “The Balance represents the heaven of fire – a realm made prosperous by the blessing of the Traders, but at the same time, one whose equilibrium is maintained by the divine judgment of Azeyma, the Warden. Azeyma’s might will empower those who would take up their blades and mete divine punishment in the name of the sun goddess.”

Yayaroku: “Nald'thal, also known as the Traders, is the arbiter of the afterlife and commerce. He is the single manifestation of the twins Nald and Thal. Each oversees a separate but significant aspect of existence. Nald oversees the financial fortunes of the living, whereas Thal weighs the worth of the departed. Our order is devoted to the worship of the Traders. Here we share our wisdom with the faithful and teach them means to attain virtue in this life so they may find peace in the next.”

Hahayo: “Those who worship in the world of Nald value achievement over all else. Pray to him, and be rewarded in the here and now. Through him, salvation lies in the affirmation of life, friend.”

Kyokyozo: “Pilgrim, merchant, adventurer… Thal judges you not by who you are or where you hail from. Open your heart to His blessing, and you will find respite in His halls.”

Rururaji: “Hahaha, quite a bit of excitement, no? Not like to be a kerfuffle such as that without some fools losing their lives. They’ve no need for grief, though. Those who die at festivals are greeted by Nald'thal as friends.”

Bouchard: “Off to Gridania, are you? I can’t say I’ve any love for that place in these old bones. The folks there don’t even believe in the realm of Thal, you know. Bloody barbarians! And just what the hells do they think happens when you die!?”

Totono: “Perhaps you have come to know that there are two sects within the Order. There is a reason for this - our god is not Ul'dah’s alone. Wherever man is, life and death are as well. This is providence, and known by all. But what awaits beyond death is known by none.”

Trader Eel: “This freshwater eel native to the rivers and lakes of Thanalan will often display the unique trait of swapping its mate with other nearby eels when spawning. Because of this characteristic, the wavekin is oft used in religious ceremonies involving Nald'thal.”

Allagan Runestone - Nald’thal: “A small, smoothed stone featuring in its center a single carved symbol representing Nald'thal, the Traders.”

Gest: “The blundering Manderville boy is on his last legs and you need something of mine to save him, you say? Hmph… Perhaps you can give me a good reason why I should care. Those bloody Mandervilles are richer than the Traders Themselves, yet they have the audacity to haggle me down to the last gil for every purchase. If the family line ended today, I’d be a happier─and wealthy─man.”

Words of Prayer and Curses:

Ququmi: “May Nald'thal lighten your cares and fill your purse!”

Brazen-faced Broker: “Thank you again for your assistance. May Nald'thal smile on our future dealings as well!”

Flame Recruit: “May Thal lift their burdens and dry their tears! Sometimes it is more than I can stand, to look upon those who seek out the church.”

Wounded Flame Soldier: “For a moment there, I thought I was bound for Thal’s great hall.”

Giff: “But Thal’s balls─I didn’t think you’d actually go through with it!”

2014 Las Vegas Fanfest Lore Panel: Q: “Can you please talk on the origin of the in game expletive ‘Thal’s Bloody Balls’?”

MCKF: “As you know, I like swearing. This is a fantasy world and we’re talking about everyday people here who have hard lives. They have to fight gigantoads to get their breakfast and protect their babies, Calamities happening, they have a hard job it’s almost all manual labor, and so people are going to swear. That’s a natural thing to do. I didn’t wanna have the game be whitewashed. You wanted to make it feel real by having people swear, so I wanted to get in as much swearing as possible.

When you think about swearing here, on Earth, a lot of it is based on religion. I mean you have your ‘god damn’s and things like- I’m going to stop there. But it’s that blaspheme is putting strength behind those words. Because Eorzea has twelve gods, that’s twelve gods we can use when we swear! Back in 1.0, working with Iwao-san on this, he came to me with ‘Okay I want to make twelve gods can you help me with the names?’ The first thing I thought was how can I use these names in some expletive? I work backwords. How can I swear with this? What do I want to use? I want to use ‘balls’. What rhymes with balls?!

I was like ‘Oh can we call this god Thal?’ And he was like ‘I don’t know, it’s kinda short. I kinda want a longer name in Japanese. How about Nald-thal?’ ‘Nald-thal’s bloody balls, I don’t know doesn’t have that good ring to it. So how about we take Nald Thal and split it and make it like a double aspected god.’ So basically before I mentioned anything, it was just a regular god that was gonna be the god of the afterlife and then because I wanted to use Thal separately for ‘Thal’s bloody balls’ and ‘Thal’s balls’, I made him a dual aspected god. So that’s how Nald’thal became dual aspected, so I could use Thal with Thal’s balls!”

Hope this helps, anons! Order of Nald’thal lore by request of @ghostiemaiden.

More of my lore posts can be found in the Lore Index!

| Halone | Menphina | Thaliak | Nymeia | Llymlaen | Oschon | | Byregot | Rhalgr | Azeyma | Nald’thal | Nophica | Althyk |

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was checking out the dao gifts and mkdfdk df insane thing to give to this man.

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Surya Bonaly is a retired French figure-skater, and in 1998 she became the first person—not just woman, but person—to successfully land a backflip on one foot in a competition since its introduction in 1976, after which it was immediately banned due to being too dangerous and supposedly impossible to land on one foot.

The backflip is around 4:00, but I recommend watching the whole video.

History made! Surya Bonaly lands a Backflip during her free skate!

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Saw a full rainbow for the first time today 🌈

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Manga Rec: The One Within The Villainess

Hey tumblr, I heard you like unhinged women.

The One Within The Villainess is the story of the elaborate revenge plan the protagonist/villainess Remilia enacts on those who had hurt the one she loves the most: the girl who was possessing her body.

It starts as a typical Isekai: Emi, a girl from our world, dies and reincarnates in the body of the villainess of her favorite otome game, Remilia, and decides she will live a happy, generous life. But here is the thing: Remilia is not gone. She is trapped inside her own body, so she can both acess Emi's past memories and watch as Emi lives her life.

And Remilia loves it.

The villainess, from within her own body, genuinely starts to love and adore Emi as her own sister.

But then something (or better, someone) happens (if you know the genre, you can imagine what), and all the friends Emi had tried so hard to make to give the villainess Remelia her happiness suddenly betray her. And the emotional shock is so strong that Emi gets "reverse isekaied": she goes to sleep inside the villainess, and Remilia, who had been watching over her for years now, takes control of her own body back.

And my girl is insanely pissed.

And so starts the journey of our villainess to both achieve "The Villainess Remilia's Happiness" that Emi tried so hard to give her and enact her extremely elaborated and cruel revenge plot against those who took Emi from her. She's unhinged and insanely smart and I love her.

The support cast is pretty good too, and the artwork is amazing. The plot doesn't fall back into cliches and the pay off is immensely satisfying.

Please, give The One Within the Villainess a try. You can read it here. And if you do read it let me know what you think!

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Thinking about companion Jowan gossiping with mage warden about whoever they're romancing

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The men of reality will never compare to the men of my (literal) dreams.

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The most important choice you’ll ever make in life is choosing kindness.

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Danny Phantom, also known as Schrödinger’s Boy