#Unity of Rings

[kassil]

Planescape and the Great Wheel

I've seen some people (understandably) complaining about the Great Wheel cosmology of D&D, and how the default design of things implies a wackified version of christian theology, with Heavens that are Nice Places and Hells that are Nasty Places and some weird stuff sprinkled in elsewhere. It's extremely unpleasant in a lot of ways (and I won't defend the setting at all when it comes to Orientalism - Planescape was arguably worse about it than other settings, since they happily tried shoehorning any pantheon they could find into the planes somewhere.)

(If you want to complain about there being planes of evil and planes of good, take it up with the people who insist that alignment is a thing that has to be in the system. As it stands, it is baked into the rules and changing that requires a lot of homebrew work, but that's a topic for a different day.)

But while Planescape as a setting was what popularized the Great Wheel cosmology the most, I want to be clear that while newer editions paint it as some inherent cosmological megastructure, in Planescape the fundamental concept is that the only cosmological truths are the rule of threes, the unity of rings, and the center of all. That Great Wheel is just a ring imposed by the current Powers of the multiverse, organized in patterns of three, with the Spire and Sigil as an artificial centerpoint. Asking what lies beyond it, what came before it, and what's really inside it are all absolutely valid questions that the setting itself wants you to ask and answer.

There's nothing writ about it officially, but there are plenty of hints and winks - that the fiends of the hells aren't the first to live there, and might be as wardens of the prior occupants or vermin infesting an abandoned home, depending on where and when and how you look. The same goes for the celestials, and the exaggerated alignment aspects of their home planes, combined with the many, many problems both implied and plainly depicted in the material make it pretty clear that the planes are both a battleground and a construction. Planes lose fragments of themselves to other planes all the time; the more-lawful-than-good Arcadia lost an entire layer to the entirely-lawful Mechanus, and while the people who caused it would very much like to get it back, it's clear that none of the planes are immutable - just mostly under divine control.

And then there's the fact that magic - including divine magic and the very powers and essence of the gods - fades as you get closer to the immense spire at the heart of the Great Wheel. Get a god close enough and they're no tougher than a barbarian with an axe. It strongly implies that things aren't what they seem at first glance, even if it's treated as a natural law; to say nothing of Sigil and the Lady of Pain, who can forbid gods from the city and apparently killed one who tried to claim portals as his domain. The City of Doors, which has portals that defy all the understood laws of planar travel, linking everywhere with everywhere without a need to pass through the transitive planes.

Planescape outlines a massive, complex, and self-contradictory Great Wheel cosmology, one that was plainly meant to make you ask "So what if I use Plane Shift to try to teleport to the far side of Mount Celestia?" Because what's past the embodiment plane of Lawful Good? It's either conceptually rarefied to the point that you'll never come back after dissolving into it... Or it's whatever the current Powers really don't want you seeing and learning about. An Astral Sea, a plane of Dreams, a plane of Time, entire other cosmological systems built around other designs, the homes of things older than existence, or any number of other things. All tidily hidden behind "oh yeah that doesn't exist/it's the Far Realm where reality just sort of dissolves we don't try going there/nothing to worry your pretty mortal head about, leave those questions to the gods."

(Which any Athar worth their membership will absolutely begin poking at immediately, while the Bleaker will tell you that it doesn't matter what the gods say, if you help them get the soup finished for the public kitchen they'll introduce you to a guy in the Gatehouse who says she's seen some things, and the other factions all do their own thing and pay the gods and their agents no mind.)

This is all just a long way of saying "The Great Wheel is there as a narrative tool, and breaking the Wheel and finding out what it was built to hide is a narrative that can be told."

[nobleriver]

TWD: The Ones Who Live - Finale Opening Scene + Blurred/Faraway

Requested by Anonymous

[marveltournaments]

[wodealto]

If you don’t understand that fantasy is about overcoming the barriers of tradition (social issues/diversity) to unite under a common banner (unity) in order to overcome impossible odds (world politics) and seek rejuvenation of the world (climate change), you’re probably just not that into fantasy.

[wolf97]

“Indeed in nothing is the power of the Dark Lord more clearly shown than in the estrangement that divides all those who still oppose him.”

J. R. R. Tolkien - The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

[eethok]

"In a hole in the ground there lived a Hobbit."

[lewisrrrr]

The placement in the extended edition of Return of the King with the Witch-King saying “The world of men will fall” right before being interrupted by the hope filled horn blasts signalling the arrival of the Rohirrim at Pelennor Fields is god tier. Just so perfect.

[glitzpits]

[yutopia-eleftheria]

Summer Drawings 2024

These last 2 weeks, I was on vacation. And for the occasion, I did Summer inspired drawings so I can be in the entire "Summer Vibe" and completely disconnect from my work.

Here are all the Summer Drawings I did during these 2 weeks.

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Tokisada & Tokisaki (OC) : Saint Seiya Oméga

Made on Monday August 26th.

I slightly changed Tokisaki's design. She used to have back hair, but I thought it was a bit too much, so she only has the front part now. Also be careful not to be gazing at her too much, or you'll be destroyed by her protective older brother Tokisada, who, in my Headcanon, has a "scar" of the curse "carved" in his body. Also his fingers are a lighter color as a side effect to being imprisonned in ice for God knows how long...

Rouge Redstar & Naomi Orthmann : Metallic Rouge

Made on Friday August 30th.

Something new I did for the holidays : the 2 main characters from Metallic Rouge in a swimsuit, having some time for themselves. I absolutely ADORE Naomi's design (girl on the right). She is so lovely ♥

Ashley Mizuko Robbins, Tommy Harrisson, Élizabeth Alfred & Janet Rice : Another Code

Made on Tuesday September 3rd.

How about a couple battle on the beach ?

In this drawing, you have a mix of 2 styles : my usual one and minimalist. The style actually determines the team as well.

Which team/couple are you choosing : Tommy & Élizabeth (left) or Ashley & Janet (right) ?

Kayna, Leïa (OC) & Ruby (Friend's OC) : Monster Hunter Stories 2 ; Wings of Ruin

Made on Thursday September 5th.

When some girls from Mahana are having some time together on one of the wooden docks of their villages after hunting down some monsters. And it's even better with some fresh food and drinks !

Kayna was a mentor to both Leïa (my OC, right) and Ruby (@emilie_nct on Instagram, middle), so she is pretty much like a big sister to them ♥

Fun fact about our characters :

We both had the game the day of its International release (July 9th 2021) and we created without even knowing that the other one got the game. At the end of the same year, we were talking about our experience in the game, and we showed our characters to each other. We were shocked by how similar they were, so we decided to make them twins, with Ruby (middle) as the older one, and Leïa (right), as the younger one, just like us in real life (we are not blood related but she is older than me).

Messmer & Tatsumi Kyoudai Otouto : Elden Ring DLC ; Shadow of the Erdtree & Juuni Taisen ; Zodiac War

Made on Saturday September 7th.

The final is a silly little idea that I had.

2 types of Snaky Boys meeting randomly at the Swimming Pool. They both are linked to fire (one manipulates it and the other uses a flamethrower), but where they are very different is ... the "Snake part"... While the Warrior of the Snake is just born the year of the Snake (in Chinese Zodiac), the Demigod has literal snakes coming out of his body (and a Abyssal Serpent inside but Otouto doesn't know that), so that was ... unexpected to say the least...

Also since Messmer is 11'9" (304 cm), it must be hard for him to find fitting clothes, so that's why his clothes are a bit too tight for him ngl.

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Now we have to go back to work... On Tuesday thankfully. So I still have some time.

[mattness]

[ohmerricat]

scp 001 when day breaks is a transgressive and romantic story of love and metamorphosis to me but you wouldn’t get it

like is this not the peak of romance to you??

is this not beautiful?? are you still afraid?

[mybrainproblems]

.

[visserdaniellebpw]

Before and after shots of the environment!

Almost done with this graduation project ^^

[marveltournaments]

[anto-pops]

I just wanted to say a big thank you for everything that you write. I can't fully explain how much I love your writing, but you deserve to know it!!! So thank you for literally everything you do (but especially breeding kink!seb) 💚💚

AWWHSHAHEIHS THANK YOU SO MUCH !!! You’re so so welcome, you got me smiling like an idiot in my car :’))

I’m happy to be of service, hopefully the breeding kink content lives up to everyone’s expectations 🫶🏻💕

[sixty-minuteman]

Sorry I’ve been busy playing like 6 different games simultaneously and working for the holidays did I miss anything