#feat. shoebill

[sezja]

💖

[lookbluesoup]

The Shoebill, the Phoenix, & Emet-Selch

Before Endwalker's release, I was in hardcore denial that Emet Selch was going to stay dead and a lot of that hinged on this unhinged research binge I went on about shoebills and their relationship to the phoenix.

I'm sure none of this is original speculation but I'm in a rambly mood and kinda want it saved on my blog just to have it bc I'd had a lot of fun digging into stuff back then and I'm feeling nostalgic today.

This isn't exactly current speculation or a deep dive into lore, just some collected sources that I've enjoyed pulling bits and pieces from for symbolic reasons, and hope to maybe one day create a more coherent well-rounded essay out of. Or maybe someone else will read them and write an essay!

Click the cut to read more!

Exhibit A: Through His Eyes - the Phoenix symbolism

"There was an accident," Hythlodaeus began. "During the concept's examination, a drifting soul merged with it─a soul burdened with regret, judging by the being's behavior. It rages against the pull of the Underworld." As he listened, Hades kept his gaze fixed on the creature, which flew about in a frenzy. No sooner would it dash itself against the wall in an explosion of broken feathers than it would heal itself and repeat the grisly feat. This self-destructive dance unfolded again and again, with the creature occasionally giving vent to its overflowing magical reserves─or fury, as it seemed to him─as fiery breath. Witnessing the excruciating display, his thoughts poured forth unbidden from his lips. "Consumed by the fear of death, it thrashes blindly about. It will know only pain and suffering and inflict the same upon others. A pitiful existence." "Such moving empathy. It's as if you wore the feathers yourself."

I always took this to sort of represent Emet-Selch/Hades's inability to cope with the mortal world (and his determination to 'return' from that 'death') There was an element of projection in his mind, he saw the sundered souls as lost thrashing broken things being reborn over and over just to suffer but... he was all of those, too, or even moreso. He lived life after life among men, except he knew what he'd lost and he wanted it back, desperately. He was stuck in this awful cycle he couldn't escape because he was so burdened by regret.

But that's anecdotal the whole point was the phoenix metaphor.

Exhibit B: Shoebill

The shoebill that keeps showing up in Shadowbringers is kind of a gag, of course, but it definitely felt intentional at times - it shows up when you're looking for the Exarch after he wanders off in Kholousia, effectively pointing you towards him. It could feasibly have flown anywhere over Norvrandt where it cameos, but it then shows up in The Tempest, which it should have absolutely no way of reaching. Unless it's tied to Emet-Selch in some way, perhaps as a familiar. (And of course, we see it once in Elpis, too, in Endwalker, which kinda confirms its related to Emet in some way)

In taxonomy, Shoebills are in a family all their own, though they were once classified as storks.

I honestly don't know how accurate all of THIS was, I know it takes some liberties and is pretty New-Agey, but it was something I'd found back then which fueled my theories so its worth including:

The stork was shown as the vehicle of the god Hermes in art and was often portrayed as killing snakes – the snake in this case is the symbol of kundalini energy and the ‘killing’ is not so much killing the experience as ensuring the energy became balanced. In the Orient, the stork is an enduring symbol of the immortality of the Higher spirit as opposed to the soul and the Taoists use this bird to represent both the Higher spirit and immortality. In ancient Egypt the stork symbolized the ba, which was the Higher spirit. (the ba was often shown in pictures as a bird because during out of body experiences it was the Higher spirit that left the body to roam about the spirit world. It was the objective of all Egyptians on the spiritual path to merge the ka [soul] with the ba – producing as a result the concept of akh – a living god, a person allied to the symbolic Sun.) Source X

(Liberties or not I'd honestly argue Endwalker lore kind of affirmed all of this LOL)

It's worth noting that in Greek mythology, Hermes was also a god of the Underworld - the psychopomp who guided souls to the afterlife. So there's... some really really fun stuff to dig into with Hermes and Hades being at odds in FFXIV over the fate of souls on Eitherys.

Especially when you add in the confounding element of Azem/the sun. Which brings me to...

Exhibit C: Bennu

According to Egyptian mythology, Bennu was a self-created being said to have played a role in the creation of the world. He was said to be the ba of Ra [the sun god] and to have enabled the creative actions of Atum [the primordial god in Egyptian mythology from whom all else arose.] The Greek historian Herodotus, writing about Egyptian customs and traditions in the fifth century BC, wrote that the people at Heliopolis described the "phoenix" to him. They said it lived for 500 years before dying, resuscitating, building a funerary egg with myrrh for the paternal corpse, and carrying it to the temple of the Sun at Heliopolis. The name "phoenix" could be derived from "Bennu", and its rebirth and connections with the sun resemble the beliefs about Bennu Source X

And what was Bennu?

That's right. A stork.

Ok but what should Egyptian mythology REALLY have to do with all this?

The ancient Egyptians believed that a soul (ka/ba) was made up of many parts. According to ancient Egyptian creation myths, the god Atum created the world out of chaos, utilizing his own magic. Because the earth was created with magic, Egyptians believed that the world was imbued with magic and so was every living thing upon it. When humans were created, that magic took the form of the soul, an eternal force which resided in and with every human. Source X

I mean c'mon it's not even a stretch we've been to Elpis we talked to the Ancients we fought Zodiark the literal god of Chaos and Will of the Star.

[skygraced]

MISCELLANEOUS HEADCANONS II

ONCE AGAIN, NONE OF THESE HEADCANONS AREN'T LONG ENOUGH TO GET THEIR OWN POST, SO ENJOY SOME MORE SMALL ZELDA RAMBLINGS.

1 ) MIA WAS ZELDA'S REMLIT AND ZELDA IS THE ONLY PERSON REMLITS WON'T GO FERAL AROUND AT NIGHT. the biggest mystery in skyloft is how the hell zelda had managed to domesticate a remlit enough that it could sleep in her room without any issues. remlits are known to be feral creatures at night and thus must be avoided at all costs namely for self preservation, but somehow an eight year old zelda had managed to befriend one to the point where it would sleep in her dorm room every night without causing any issues. in hind sight, maybe her divine origins should have been much more obvious by this feat alone.

2 ) ZELDA'S EVERYDAY OUTFIT ISN'T THE PINK DRESS OF THE START OF THE GAME. i don't know if this actually classifies as a headcanon but i am largely of the team that the pink dress zelda wears in the start of the game isn't her everyday outfit and is just a costume she wore for the wing ceremony. in all actuality, her everyday outfit is something much more similar to the residents of skyloft. personally, i always picture zelda's day to day outfit being the one from the hyrule hystoria ( image below cut at bottom )

3 ) ZELDA'S LOFTWING IS NAMED PASI. while the riders aren't the ones to come up with the names for their loftwings, they do have names. the rider ends up finding out about their loftwings names through the bonds they share with them, which allows them to be able to address each other properly. pasi is also a male loftwing, and is very protective of zelda, known to click at people it doesn't trust and make zelda uncomfortable ( and if you haven't heard what a shoebill sounds like, it's genuinely a terrifying noise ). his protectiveness only got worse after they were reunited following the events of skyward sword, refusing to let her too far out of his sight, much to the dismay of most citizens of skyloft.

4 ) SHE ABSOLUTELY REFUSES TO WEAR ANYTHING WITH AMBER IN IT. i'll create a separate headcanon on zelda and the amber, but in the aftermath of it all, zelda actively avoids anything that does contain amber, be it art, jewelry, anything. she likes to think she's good at keeping her trauma under the raps, but it's something about the honey colored rock that just causes her to freeze up and feel sick to her stomach. groose and link have both gotten extremely well at keeping it away from her or politely asking people to take off accessories involving them without zelda even noticing.

Zelda's everyday outfit

[thanatle]

Bunscian Solus: -ears perked as he looks up at the towering bird-

Shoebill Emet: -stares down at the tiny rabbit-

WoL: I'm gonna regret this chaos.

Both rabbit and bird: -their eyes hold wicked smiles-

[melyzard]

The World Is Amazing, Actually Pt4

(Or: “Why Constantly Talking About How It Ought to All Burn Is Really Narrow Minded and Probably A Strategy By Your Enemy To Make You Useless In Your Despair”)

Today’s Wild Place (the Earth is an alien planet):

Vinicunca “The Rainbow Mountains” (Peru) [Source: Rainbow Mountain Peru official website]

(Where is my high-budget space opera set in this alien landscape? Why must I settle for yet another “everything is flat and white” Ice Planet? Give me Rainbow Planet!)

Today’s Incredible Feat of Engineering (look! at what! we made!)

The Great Mosque of Djenne (Mali) [Source: smarthistory.com]

(It’s constantly in danger of erosion and flooding, so the local community is constantly maintaining, tweaking, rebuilding this ancient temple. It’s as alive as the people who live here).

[Bonus: An article about the renaissance of traditional african architecture, with lots of interesting pictures) [Source: archidatum.com]

Today’s Abandoned City (reality tells the best ghost stories):

Centralia, Pennsylvania, USA - The Town That’s Still Burning [Source: ripleys.com]

It’s been on fire for more than 50 years and still going strong [source: history.com]

(The video game “Silent Hill” was based on this place, right down to the spooky abandoned church and the clouds of toxic smoke everywhere. The game is mostly greys and browns, but in reality, the town’s been covered with colorful graffiti because humans never did see a flat surface that we didn’t want to cover in our names, beliefs, and sense of humor.)

Today’s Interesting Living Creature (the rare, the beautiful, the WTF):

The Shoebill Stork (aka the living muppet) [Source: shoebillbird.org]

Bonus: Shoebills Are Metal [Source: youtube]. Look at how this giant animatronic dinosaur moves. It’s both hilarious and haunting. Nature is weird and so is this bird.

Today’s Act of Humanity (psst, that meteor you’re wishing for would kill these people too):

Jhalandar Nayak carved through a mountain with a pickaxe to build a road so local children could get to school [Source: the Guardian]

Bonus: “Random Acts of Kindness compilation” [Source: youtube], put together by The Sound Project, showcasing a variety of people just...being people, all around the world. [small note: there is a quick clip somewhere in the middle of a young black man hugging riot armored USA cops. That imagery can be conflicting for a lot of people, myself included, but it is a thing that happened, and I believe it came from a good place in that young man].

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[supereffectivemoonblast]

Shoebill Stork (Balaeniceps rex)

The Shoebill Stork, also known as the Whalehead Stork, is a large Stork-like bird, who's closest living relatives are in the order containing pelicans and herons. It is tall, reaching ~140cm in height, ~250cm wingspan, weighing between 5 and 6 kilograms. It lives in central Africa, in swampy marsh environments.

The Shoebill moves slowly and deliberately through the dense marshland, often perching on waterplants, quite a feat for its size. Shoebills are mostly fish-eaters, hunting using vision alone, and striking out to grip them in their massive hooked beak. But they are also opportunist hunters, eating amphibeons, small reptiles and even other water birds.

The Shoebill Stork was also the direct inspiration for the Loftwing Birds in the Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword. And the resemblance is uncanny.

[recentanimenews]

FEATURE: Why It Works: Five Pitches for Kemono Friends

Attention all Kemono true believers, and welcome back to Why It Works. I know your hearts are strong and pure, but Kemono Friends demands more than just us passionate few to truly take over the world. Kemono Friends needs Kemono footsoldiers, and I’m here to recruit you to the Kemono ranks.

As we all know, Kemono Friends has turned out to be the unlikely surprise anime of the season. Rising from murky, seemingly child-oriented and decidedly 3DCG origins, it’s revealed itself as a strangely excellent story of goofy Friends and not-so-distant apocalypses. Starring the buoyant animal-person Serval and the confused human Kaban, its first season has cataloged their journey across the derelict Japari Park, where animal-people construct homes and host tea parties in the ruins of some human civilization. The show’s unique blend of slice of life charm and dystopian worldbuilding has made it a hit in Japan, but outside of that market, promoting this unique property has come down to us special few. We are the Kemono evangels, you and I.

Of course, there are perfectly understandable reasons that Kemono Friends hasn’t become an international hit outside of us chosen few. There’s the fact that it looks ridiculous, for one thing: its CG characters only seem to loosely correlate to the backgrounds they traverse, and often their models clip through themselves, an impressive but somewhat immersion-breaking feat. There’s also the fact that slice of life shows are just a hard sell in general, and even though Kemono Friends keeping its dystopian elements far in the background is part of its appeal, that definitely doesn’t help the pitch. Even the idea of selling someone on Kemono Friends for its strong worldbuilding seems a bit disingenuous, since if you’re not enjoying stuff like Serval and Kaban goofing around the jungle, you probably won’t have a good time with the show overall. With that in mind, I have constructed a list of five bulletproof sales pitches to ensure the Kemono gospel extends far beyond the season’s end. Without further ado!

Pitch #1: Kemono Friends’ Absurd Art Style is Part of its Charm

Kemono Friends is a story about scrappy animal-people who aren’t terribly good at most things doing their best to get by and be good to each other. That overall tonal space is actually matched by the show’s visual style, which is itself pretty bad at everything, but still trying to do its best. Obviously I’m a fan of fluid, evocative animation, but there’s also something to be said for Kemono Friends’ desperate attempts to convey the illusion of movement, or even just the illusion of standing in a place. Watching Serval get almost killed every episode just wouldn’t be the same if Serval wasn’t floating from a standing position to a seated one across one bizarre, graceless object shift. Kemono Friends doesn’t look good, but it looks extremely Kemono Friends.

Pitch #2: Kemono Friends Stars a Beaver Who Has Anxiety

There have been a number of noteworthy shows this season, from the charming Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid to the majestic Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju, but when you take a look across the overall crop of releases, one thing becomes resoundingly clear: only Kemono Friends stars a beaver who has anxiety. Do any of Saga of Tanya the Evil’s characters suffer anxiety attacks when they leave their hand-built dam? Have any of the new characters from Blue Exorcist: Kyoto Saga been so nervous about constructing their new home that they instead made a model, and then gotten so nervous about making the model that they made a model of the model? I rest my case.

Pitch #3: Everything About Crested Ibis’ Design

The fact that Kemono Friends has enjoyed a vast proliferation of fanart in spite of its own awkward visual execution is a testament to one of the show’s clearest strengths: its underlying character designs. Designs like that of Crested Ibis, a character who sings warbly songs about wanting to make new friends while flapping around on hair-wings, don’t come around every day. And Crested Ibis isn’t the only one - look at Tsuchinoko, who lives in a cave and wears a hoody that is her lumpy snake body. Look at the owls, who manage to exude the fundamental nature of owldom in spite of actually wearing big fluffy parkas. Look at Shoebill, whose design manages to be weirdly adorable while clearly evoking her fundamental shoebilliousness. These characters may look clunky in motion, but their underlying designs are brimming with personality, and it’s always fun watching the show bring some new animal-person to life.

  Pitch #4: Going to the Zoo is Fun and You Are Not Too Cool For It

Kemono Friends may offer a twisted variation on a trip to the zoo that involves a whole lot more napping and genetic experimentation, but the majority of its episodic run still demonstrates the fundamental appeal of wandering through habitats and visiting the creatures that call them home. There’s something inherently compelling about crossing a slice of life with a trip to the zoo - watching how these animal-people live and interact is often its own reward, and each new episode offers a fresh cast and climate. The episodic interludes offering random facts about any given episode’s real-life creatures is all part of the charm.

Pitch #5: Kemono Friends Made Me Cry, and I May Cry A Lot, But Still

I really didn’t expect Kemono Friends to get to me, but the show got under my skin. The transparently awkward visual execution turned out to be a bit of a misdirect; underneath that goofy CG exterior hid a narrative that was expertly building all the time. I really don’t want to oversell it, but Kemono Friends’ most recent episodes have seen its post-apocalyptic clues all spinning together into some legitimately thrilling drama. From character development to thematic congruity to narrative payoff, Kemono Friends is ultimately a great story all around. I laughed, I cheered, and yes, I got a little teary-eyed. Kemono Friends made me care.

That’s all I’ve got for this list, but there are plenty more things to love in Kemono Friends. The show has a warm sense of humor (exhibit A: penguin idols who sing about being flightless birds), a great cast, and a consistently satisfying dramatic center. It’s a weird one, but lots of our favorite things start out looking pretty weird. Now go, and help spread the light of Kemono to all our many Friends.

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Nick Creamer has been writing about cartoons for too many years now, and is always ready to cry about Madoka. You can find more of his work at his blog Wrong Every Time, or follow him on Twitter.

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com