#I'll make a new post separately for this

[reginrokkr]

→ Study 𝐗𝐕𝐈𝐈𝐈: Opposing sentient forces of death and life —Abyss and Irminsul—. The Sinner, Caribert and the Loom of Fate at fate's end.

The recent Caribert AQ offered us a new —albeit expected if joining the scattered pieces of old and new lore alike— view about what the Abyss exactly is, represents and the way it affects other beings in more detail now that we were introduced for the first time to a sentient entity of the Abyss, albeit lacking a physical form. Before anything, let's have a brief reminder of what its energy supposed from the very beginning up to this point:

1) it can warp the perception of those affected by it (see Dvalin as an example)— this point will be touched briefly. 2) it can drive escapee gods from the rule of the Seven to madness in the Dark Sea. 3) it consumes everything that contains the seven elements. 4) it’s the potential reason of why some humans become Abyss Mages / Lectors / Heralds / Husks / Black Serpent Knights. 5) it makes people ill to the point of reaching death if left unchecked and in a similar vein to the escapee gods, it can drive them to madness. 6) it’s the source of energy that Khaenri’ah has been using to power the ruin machines up.

Sumeru's additions under the name of Marana confirm some of these and dive deeper in details about these, as per the Aranara's wisdom:

1) Marana urges everything towards death. The realization that all things meet their end makes the Marana fester further to the point that it becomes part of the memories. Said memories go as far as to engrave themselves in the Ley Lines, and into Irminsul by extension.

2) The essence of memories is one of the things that can defeat Marana, but at the same time Marana not only can make others forget. It enters the consciousness and dreams too. Furthermore, this contributes to the Black Serpent Knights and Husks’ loss of intelligence and memories as an independent element to the curse.

3) Ruin Machines are powered by Marana and it’s said that Abyss Wolves and Marana are one and the same. They are not natural. They do not belong to the cycle of heaven or earth.

And lastly but not least, the origin of this poisonous energy as told by Nabu Malikata (Goddess of Flowers, initially a dweller of the kingdom of the sky before the Second Who Came arrived):

But, in time, invaders descended from beyond the firmament, bringing with them destruction, overturning rivers, spreading plagues… And though the invaders brought war to my former kin, they also brought about illusions that could break through shackles to the land. But the master of the heavens, consumed by fear for the rising tide of delusion and breakthroughs, sent down the divine nails to mend the land, laying waste to the mortal realm… We then suffered the torment of exile. Stripped was our connection to heaven, to our powers of enlightenment…

All of this information is a lead towards how destructive what we know as Abyss can be and how nothing good can ever come from it, however, this AQ showed us a side never seen before that could come across even as miraculous, which is in being able to change fate of two individuals thus far: Caribert first and then Clothar. However, can we truly talk about a miracle when it seems that this change of fate doesn't come without a price? Is it truly the "Abyss" able of change fate, or is it the sentience of a still mysterious identity merged with the Abyss that is able to change the course of someone's fate?

In this description of the Caribert AQ, there is a count of 4 groups of people / individuals that it's referring to: Those who would oppose fate (Khaenri'ahns), the one who understands fate (the Sinner) [in Chinese, 'the one who understands fate' appears in an earlier appearance translated in English as 'a self-proclaimed prophet' also— as for what he says, it's the official announcement of Dainsleif which suggests that Dain not only may have suspicions of whose identity this is, but that he must've heard the Sinner's voice too], the one who weaves fate (Caribert) and lastly, the one who witnesses fate (Traveler). Looking in retrospective, it makes sense that Clothar refers to his son as the "Loom of Fate" if he's the one who was made to weave fate. As the title suggests, loom of fate is a tool to weave threads of fate and this is a topic that has been addressed before in the Travail trailer:

Your journey has reached its end, but one final doorway remains. Step forth, if you have understood the meaning of your journey. Defeat me, command me to step aside, show me that you are worthier than I to rescue her. Then, the threads of all fate shall be yours to re-weave.

Interestingly, the talk about this door is also teased in one of the Abyss Lector: Violet Lightning's defeat quotes: The door... is... opened unto you...

As the sentience of the Abyss is stated to have an understanding of fate and even be capable of changing it via means yet to be disclosed, there is one more individual that is said to have knowledge of fate itself: Dain.

Judging by the way Clothar didn't wish his son to live a miserable life were he regain his mind again, it's crystal clear that his wish to make him have clarity of mind came with the price of making out of him the Loom of Fate, alongside the loss of sanity that Caribert himself began to experience as his change of voice suggests— which eventually would lead to this complete madness in 100 years. Though his wish had a side effect, this seemed to be a desirable one (be it due to his madness or because it is genuine it's up to debate) as it's the potential reason why it led to his desirable death also and the continuation of his legacy up to this day with Kaeya.

But the truth is that this isn't the first time that the Sinner's voice makes itself manifest, be it in a chronological way or not. A similar pattern if not the same can be noticed in the Black Sword description:

And like other hilichurls and Clothar bowed to the Sinner, so, the Bloodstained Knight who descended to Khaenri'ah to kill the monsters that spawned from there pledged his loyalty to who seems to be the Sinner as well as per the Bloodstained Chivalry set:

In a similar manner as Clothar's wish in regards of Caribert and how he would even give his life for his son to regain clarity of mind if he was allowed, the Bloodstained Knight had his wish potentially at the price of his willing loyalty to the Abyss upon finding out about the truth of the curse of wilderness in Khaenri'ah.

To jump to the next point about the Abyss, looking into what happened to Dvalin and other details like Childe or even other fallen gods inside or outside the Seven's domain, it was safe to assume that the Abyss heightened one's negative traits or emotions by magnifying them in such way that it's hard to escape from the Abyss' grasp. This quest shed more light in the alluring way that the Abyss has to attract creatures in, to make them feel better or even give them a sense of release somehow. Looking into this, Enjou's quote about how the Abyss is "intoxicating" makes all the more sense, as feeling better in a moment that one isn't at their best could be perfectly a feeling that one would want to seek and repeat. It's all the more interesting to see how easily someone can fall into the abyssal corruption like this and how it would take a very strong will to not give in to those urges (Dain, I'm looking at you, sir).

To conclude the matter of the Abyss, I wanted to point out the dichotomy of death vs life that is evident through the Abyss' existence but also Irminsul's and how one parallels the other in the sense that both have a sentience and a voice. In the Abyss' case through the undisclosed individual (I'll touch this later briefly) that claims to be a Sinner, and Irminsul. But not through Rhukkadevata or Nahida as per their connections to the tree nor the fact that Rhukkadevata was Irminsul's avatar, but as Irminsul with its own voice and sentience as per the Frostbearer:

And just like the Abyss has its form of "blessing", so does Irminsul in giving life not only to the whole world by spreading what it needs to be sustained, but also to select individuals as per the Doors of Resurrection mechanic:

In regards of the Sinner, there is not much more to say that I already didn't besides a small hypothesis of his identity as King Irmin based on the similarities between that warmth the Sinner seemed to exude while he had that feeling that something is wrong with him as King Irmin seemed to have according to the statuettes. Moreover, according to one of the writings that Kaeya had saved in secret of his father, Khaenri'ah wasn't in the best shape at least during King Irmin's final moments on the throne:

Remember always that it was the Alberich clan, who did not have royal blood, who stepped in as regents when the strength of the one-eyed king Irmin failed. Though we could not restore Khaenri'ah to life, we of the Alberich Clan should lead lives as those who blaze life fire, rather than those who wallow in the embers.

The last thing I want to mention is how interesting it is the prospect that strong abyssal creatures like the Abyss Herald: Frost Fall, Fortune Lector already existed before the foundation of the Abyss Order. Which suggests that there were more creatures as part of the Abyss (not the Abyss Order yet, although we do see the Hydro Herald Dain defeated, Enjou and other Lectors as part of the Abyss Order) and that they were at the Sinner's command. Perhaps they were humans before during King Irmin's reign and he had a small group of people that later on would follow after his steps.

[sulumuns-dootah]

Welcome to Tokyo Debunker we have:

Yoosung and V from Mystic Messenger

Prince Diavolo and the wholesome twin of Solomon from Obey Me!

Ayato and Reiji from Diabolik Lovers

Miles Edgeworth from Ace Attorney

Gojo from Jujutsu Kaisen

And then there's this bitch...

[wildfang-gender]

homoeroticism is nothing without participating in a satanic ritual and carving out your lover’s heart... or whatever the hell dan and phil said

[cirrus-grey]

Georgie sounds like she may be without a Melanie and I am devastated.

[acoraxia]

Hiya! you mentioned that you mostly post lmk on patron now in one of your tags, can we get a link to it? (sorry if you have already posed it I couldn't find it)

i have NOT made a post about it publicly.. ngl i was going to wait until after July because i'll be busy with artfight BUT if you guys want to check it out here's the link:

[moonchild-in-blue]

The Moon shines in gold for us tonight, my loves 🌜

these look like sick wallpapers, so why not 🌗

left is raw/no filter ; right is edited (moon colour is accurate on this one)

[sapphire-draw]

Here's some more doodles from my notebook. I never intended to publish them but I think the world deserves more Malroth nonsense maybe perhaps

so here's Tiny Malroth compilation. Drew on top of it for clarity.

Most of these are from little comics of my diferent playthroughs but I cherry picked the best drawings to show so no context.

[oceanwithouthermoon]

been thinking about kubosai with saiki meeting kuboyasus dogs again...

the dogs TEASING KUSUO for having an obvious crush on aren and they all think the two of them are either in a situationship, since theyre CLEARLY in love but dont really look like theyre dating, OR that theyre straight up dating but are hiding it cuz they havent told arens mom yet

"does he know you love him? have you told him?"

"i dont love him..."

"ಠ_ಠ ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)"

"i regret showing you that i can talk to you."

this from aren and his mom's perspectives is just kusuo having a staring contest with a dog and looking very annoyed for some reason lmao

[girls-and-honey]

.

[softpine]

hacker voice we’re in

[vickysaurus]

The many outfits of Luz Noceda: season 1 edition.

[violetrains]

maaaan i love webweaving i want to get into it soooo bad i have so many ideas already asdjbhgsjudzg

[chipthekeeper]

ooh wait, here's one that's been stuck in the drafts for a while and also connects with the beautiful gifset @jynlottie put together for me:

For the whole Aldhani arc, we see Vel as the commander. Yes, she's very obviously new at it and she's doubting herself and the plan and she's scared, but she's tough and she commands the respect of her team. And when they finally, after months of sitting in all that fear and doubt, get into the garrison and get the show rolling, she's tougher than we've ever seen.

She tells Jayhold, “One path. One choice. We win, or everyone dies.”

And this fucking breaks my heart. Because they do win. But (almost) everyone dies anyway.

And we never hear that same strength or conviction in Vel’s voice again throughout the show. She gives Cinta the order to come away from the window, but even that is sad and hesitant and fearful.

I don't know what my point is here, I just hope in season two she gets to heal a bit and be Commander Vel again.

[antihibikase-archive]

Blight / Blur : Gym Guides

In Gen 5 canon, there's only one gym guide throughout each of the gyms, named Clyde, who gives you a bottle of Fresh Water upon entering/upon interacting with him.

In Blur/Blight, however, Clyde is specifically the gym guide in Burgh's gym. In BW, he was the guide for Burgh's gym as he had a taste for his art- in BW2, however, he becomes the gym guide for Cheren's gym!

There are different gym guides for each gym leader, and they have their own partner Pokemon;

Striaton - Waitress Tia (Patrat)

Nacrene - Scientist Satomi (Herdier)

Castelia - Gentleman Clyde (Deerling) / Harlequin Jack (Swadloon)

Nimbasa - Lady Colette (Flaafy)

Driftveil - Clerk Katie (Drilbur)

Mistralton - Pilot Chase (Unfezant)

Icirrus - Black Belt Thomas (Cubchoo)

Opelucid - Veteran Kim (Fraxure) / Veteran Ron (Fraxure)

Aspertia - Gentleman Clyde (Sawsbuck)

Virbank - Guitarist Billy Jo (Koffing)

Humilau - Ace Trainer Santino (Walrein)

Clyde's trainer class is a Gentleman, he's just dressed differently!

All the other gym guides in Blur/Blight are existing NPCs in the games! Some of them are npcs in only one of the games, while some are npcs in both, but unless specified, they're the gym guides in both BW and BW2! (Harlequin Jack and Pilot Chase are in both BW/BW2 for example, but Clerk Katie is only in BW!)

[the-haunted-office]

Me: (Spends approx. 30 seconds looking at how to make a Caard) Aaaagggh it's too much work!

[reginrokkr]

𝐂𝐗𝐈𝐕𝐋. I'm revisiting the cutscenes of Dain's AQs and it's pretty neat to notice little things with a fuller perspective:

✧ It never fails to interest me that he would know about Venti and Zhongli's identity.

✦ It's also pretty telling that he gives importance to his observations of other powerful creatures being subjected to the gods' whims, as if implying that they could very well do their own thing without being chained to them.

✧ About the Abyss Order: It's even harder now not to think that Dain knows where to appear and when, or at least more or less. In the AQ: Dainsleif he was chasing an Abyss Herald and went to Wolvendom and in AQ: We Will Be Reunited it is shown that he was actually on to something except he was too early when he did the first time he went to see Boreas (this calls for speculation if maybe there have been times in which he was in the Abyss and the sense of time was distorted, considering how it works there and how it warps one's perception, or if it was a miscalculation on his part to show up the first time he did when in reality he should've gone to that place later, whatever the case— if one of the uses he gives to his connection with Irminsul is to know exactly where to go and at which moment to achieve his goals, that's a pretty big move).

✦ I like the detail that he would seek information for someone, as Dain says he did in order to give the Abyss Twin information about Boreas. Given the circumstances of the time during the Cataclysm, I highly doubt that he would go around asking people in order to conjure a complete tale about Boreas or read into books when he has a reliable source of information. And speaking which— this does seem to indicate that back then he already had a connection with Irminsul.

✧ More about the Abyss Order: When Paimon comments about how much Dain knows about them and he says that they have a common history. It's impressive to see this now and realize that he must've meant that there was once a time in which they actually shared a nation and a daily life, considering that the Abyss Order was founded by Chlothar and, while not the whole Abyss Order is formed by Khaenri'ahns, it is safe to say that a significant portion of the organization is.