#or they self destruct getting rid of the primordials | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

intothenoise · 1 year

Text

Thanksgiving Ambivalence

“Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged. And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye. —Matthew 7:1-5

Thanksgiving, as a holiday, inspires feelings of ambivalence.

On the one hand, such holidays are deeply appreciated. Intentional time to gather together and celebrate with family and friends—against the daily grind of life as uprooted and atomized individuals always pulled on by the centrifugal forces of our “late-capitalist” society—is essential. And, even if political tensions within families are at an all time high (and we mustn't diminish the ethical, real-world consequences of our often contradictory positions), it is important to move beyond hashtags and experience one another as whole, substantive persons rather than political opponents. Finally, a posture of thanksgiving and gratitude for all of the good in our lives is indispensable if we are to live authentically as persons committed to radical generosity and restorative justice.

On that note, I am incredibly grateful for you and the many friends of Sabeel within North America and around the world, our dear friends and partners in the struggle to liberate religion from those who misuse it to justify oppression and dispossession. This coming Tuesday is Giving Tuesday, a day rooted in radical generosity, as well as the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. I encourage you to give joyously of your time, talent, and treasure to the cause of justice.

On the other hand, as a holiday, Thanksgiving is deeply problematic. Even as many recognize the mythological nature of the traditional Thanksgiving story, not everyone recognizes the ongoing impact such destructive narratives continue to have. Constructing our “primordial myths,” and therefore national identity, on the basis of such contrived stories of goodwill, between native and needy settler, works to dismiss and justify the settler-colonial violence upon which our nation was built and by which it has been sustained to the present day. A persecuted minority of religious pilgrims finding freedom and opportunity in the “new world” is a lovely American dream. But, it must not be used to conceal or excuse the ethnic cleansing, genocide, and racial apartheid so central to the true history of our nation from its inception. Rather, these national mythologies try to convince us that colonial violence was never inherent to our national existence, but merely a temporary aberration, and that today the situation has been pretty much resolved. As such, to perpetuate such narratives uncritically is to diminish, sideline, and silence the voices of our indigenous and dispossessed neighbors with whom we live side by side.

For those of us familiar with the struggle indigenous Palestinians have endured in the face of settler-colonial violence for the past 140 years, we know how infuriating and heartbreaking it is to hear time and again the self-serving and self-justifying mythologies surrounding the state of Israel, its origins and its contemporary conduct. This is particularly true with regard to the denial of and/or justifications for the Nakba, military occupation, settlement expansion, and even the very identity of native Palestinians. Jews are very real victims of horrific European bigotry and white Christian supremacy. Nevertheless, none of this can be used as an excuse for the open bigotry, settler colonial conquest, apartheid, and ethnic cleansing that has continued apace in the Holy Land.

So, what does it mean for me, the child of European settlers, to stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine? In truth, it could mean a lot of things. But first, it is for me to examine my own national, familial, and personal narratives and self-justifying mythologies and to acknowledge my own complicity in the dispossession of indigenous Americans. This isn’t merely an abstract acknowledgement, however, for my own family history is entwined with one “celebrated trapper” responsible for carrying out pogroms of expulsion against the Mescalero Apache and Navajo peoples of the American southwest, as well as numerous campaigns in California. At one time, his military orders were as direct as:

All Indian men of that tribe [Mescalero Apache] are to be killed whenever and wherever you find them: the women and children will not be harmed, but you will take them prisoners and feed them at Fort Stanton...

This is not a history I can afford to ignore.

Second, it is for me to commit to hearing the stories and narratives of the dispossessed, in their own words and on their own terms, while allowing these stories to challenge my own received mythos. As emotionally challenging and psychologically destabilizing as such a process can be (and has been) with regard to my own identity, it is necessary and ultimately results in a more rich and authentically human experience. And, it is a never-ending process of growth. It means:

Centering indigenous and other marginalized voices, be they Palestinian, Native American, black, or any other;

Elevating or amplifying indigenous voices when they are otherwise silenced; and,

“Running defense” when such voices are confronted with retaliatory violence by those who would seek them harm, most especially from those within my own community.

Finally, it is not to infantilize, but to respect the complexity and diversity of voices, opinions, and allegiances that exist within marginalized communities, as much as they do any community.

Sure, from persecution to poverty, some might say there were very valid reasons for Scotch-Irish, Huguenot, and later Italian emigration (looking to my own heritage). But, this certainly doesn’t justify or excuse settler-colonial violence and indigenous genocide. Although understanding multiple narratives is incredibly important, it is also true that not all narratives are created equal. For some have been constructed explicitly to justify injustice and the exploitation of others. We so easily and so often construct self-serving narratives and ideological, even theological, justifications to espouse our own imagined innocence. At the same time, we promote the “fully-justifiable” mistreatment of others, leading to the rationalization of violence in a multitude of contexts. And, as innocuous as the Thanksgiving story might seem on the surface, this is precisely the effect it has had. This also is the effect Zionist mythmaking has had in the silencing and sidelining of indigenous Palestinian voices.

Ultimately, acknowledging one’s victimhood neither justifies nor excuses one’s victimization of another, nor should it blind us to our own complicity in that victimization. Theologically, the Exodus has long proven itself a powerful metaphor for liberation. The genius of Palestinian Liberation Theology, however, is in how it forces us to ask to the critical question: what happens next? What happens after the exodus? After the revolution? How do we reconcile stories of liberation with the lessons of Canaan and of conquest? Is it even possible?

So, we are challenged to remove the logs from our eyes, to critically examine our own self-justifying narratives, to repent, and to reimagine the true meaning of liberation. For my own liberation cannot come at the expense of another’s, as we are inextricably bound one to another. Nor can it be found in the blind acceptance of an unjust status quo. I close, therefore, with a recent paraphrase I read of indigenous activist and academic Nikki Sanches, from her talk Decolonization Is for Everyone: “Whether our ancestors were colonized or colonizers, trauma is in our bloodline and we are in desperate need of freedom and liberation. ‘This history is not your fault,’ she tells us, ‘but it is your responsibility.’”

Happy Thanksgiving.

0 notes

jespersenbeier6 · 2 years

Text

Brilliantnovel Chaotic Sword God webnovel - Chapter 2937 - The Incident in the Burial Zone (Two) foot chop quote-p2

Boskernovel Chaotic Sword Godblog - Chapter 2937 - The Incident in the Burial Zone (Two) kitty cold propose-p2 Novel-Chaotic Sword God-Chaotic Sword God Chapter 2937 - The Incident in the Burial Zone (Two) scare marvelous One of them, there had been a lot of other Chaotic Primes. Making use of their information, they can obviously show that somebody acquired turned up on this page right before them, intentionally throwing along the formation to end them in an effort to claim the cause of methods all for himself. In the episodes of so many Primordial kingdom professionals, the development failed to previous very long. It shattered and crumbled in a short time, and also the two average good quality god artifacts that was imbued in to the structure to strengthen it shattered as well. “It can’t be incorrect. It’s definitely the origin of Ways. Get hold of the great elder quickly.” “It can’t be completely wrong. It is definitely the original source of methods. Get in touch with the truly amazing elder quickly.” Gazing at the gal, the many Primordial realm specialists in the endless darkness below became even paler inspite of the girl in whitened did not providing off any pulses of her farming, reducing them from sensing her world of farming. “Elder!” the disciples of the Seven Things sect all called out miserably. Several Godkings disciples realised the disadvantageous situation and quickly fled to the yardage. Spurt! Using the destruction on the the lord items, the Chaotic Excellent behind the formation was impacted also. He opened his jaws and coughed up bloodstream. Observing since the Primordial kingdom industry experts surged in furiously, strong feel dissapointed about and pity stuffed his eyeballs, while he recognized that not only managed he fail to say the cause of methods all for him self, even his over-the-top want of absorbing a little more acquired fallen through way too. “T- this is really splitting apart the planet.” Increase! “The Way to obtain Approaches has sprang out during the ruins from the Spirits’ Entire world. We must circulate this media into the clan as soon as possible.” Unexpectedly, a streak of light-weight declined downward from higher than nowadays enveloped by darkness. Absolutely everyone could not assist but boost their heads. Their gazes all compiled for the way to obtain gentle who had instantly showed up previously mentioned. … Without delay, quite a few Primordial world presences erupted during the five sacred lands of your Spirits’ Entire world. The Primordial world experts that witnessed over the numerous places all built into groups and rushed on the Burial Region. With regards to Chaotic Prime, he failed to infiltration others soon after getting rid of the 4 Endless Primes. He only sensed since the excellent potential of formations spread out through place, growing much stronger and more robust. Potentially in his sight, these Godkings were definitely existences even beneath ants. Simultaneously, he was confident that these Godkings definitely could not evade, which was why he failed to drive them really. Preferably, he utilised every next open to him to cast the formations, refusing to throw away even a moment about the Godkings. Chaotic Sword God … However, he also stayed alert. Gazing for the Chaotic Primes that hurried towards him assertively, he immediately named out, “Fellows, the origin of Ways is leaking away continually. It won’t past for too long, so every second you waste is actually a enormous decrease. Why don’t you hurry up and take in it as a substitute?” On the other hand, the effectiveness of approaches she gifted off seemed to be disturbing this location of area continually, modifying the functioning of the means and adjusting the transaction of the world. Additionally, it created a really terrific demands of methods to most of these Primordial kingdom authorities. So, they sensed like these folks were dealing with the full world, the complete universe, after they encountered this girl. The spatial crack obtained actually swallowed the overall region, besides it was subsequently extremely hard to tell externally. Chaotic Sword God Growth! Spurt! With all the destruction of the our god items, the Chaotic Perfect behind the formation was afflicted as well. He started his oral cavity and coughed up blood vessels. Watching since the Primordial kingdom experts surged in furiously, intense repent and pity stuffed his vision, since he comprehended that not only managed he forget to claim the cause of Ways all for themself, even his expensive wish of taking in a little more possessed fallen through far too. Because he could not hide the Source of methods, he then would cast down an impregnable growth to obstruct any burglars, money-earning him more hours to gather the Source of Ways. Consequently, regardless of whether he was near to doing his formation, the inclusion of the original source of methods that leaked out out extended to drift to the long distance uncontrollably. Space near in which the Source of Means experienced appeared rumbled. Most of the Primordial kingdom professionals who have been inside the Burial Zone from the start acquired already came, starting out episode the formation. At this moment, when someone transpired to be in the Burial Region, they might have found that the destroyed continent the spot that the Supply of Means acquired showed up acquired completely vanished from the Burial Area. The positioning of the ruined country was clear far too. Merely a spatial crack around ten yards longer remained there without closing up. In addition to that, who realized the amount of spatial breaks such as that existed on the chaotic room of your Burial Zone. “This may be the Burial Area. J- just how highly effective of any pro can divided apart space during the Burial Sector?” Novel Boom! … Immediately, quite a few Primordial world presences erupted inside the five sacred areas with the Spirits’ World. The Primordial world specialists that viewed above the several destinations all put together into organizations and rushed into the Burial Region. Additionally, who realized the number of spatial cracks like that existed on the chaotic living space in the Burial Zone. Growth! Every one of the Primordial realm authorities not anymore cared about taking in the cause of methods around the spoiled continent any more. At this time, they all noticed the surroundings because of their eyes broad open. Their confronts paled instantly and heavy concern filled their confronts.

#ull #The Girls From Ames #picking up a furball after 10 years

0 notes

lostsoulaltair · 4 years

Text

OnS Theories (14S). Seventh Theory - The difference between demon Mikaela and the black demon series (Long Theory)

Hey guys, the cowntdown starts, 5 theories left for the moment; hope everyone’s been doing well, without any other stuff to say, let’s begin!

In the previous theory, I talked about the factors that were involved in Mika’s power related to being a demon. We saw that Ashera’s natural reaction was that of fear instead of being happy for an opportunity to save Mika.

Image from Vampire Reign - Chapter 94

But despite giving the factors that made Mika an extremely dangerous and powerful demon, what makes him different from the other demons from the black demon series if they’re labeled as dangerous as well?

For that, let’s talk about each demon so far and how exactly their desire ended up awakening their demon selves, what do I mean?

Instead of focusing the traits they possess, there’s something more to base upon, such thing is the desire they had at its peak before they even became vampires, such thing will be stated within the next list:

1. Asuramaru - Ashera Tepes

Asuramaru is the second most dangerous demon that has ever existed, he was the one that drove Mahiru somehow out of control before she turned into a vampire; her desires grew wilder as she kept growing after she stated having nightmares:

Image from Catastrophe at 16 - Chapter 18

Within the Catastrophe LNs and manga, Mahiru started having nightmares about a demon back when she was around 11 years old or so, such dreams started to increase with time until it was hard to resist them:

Image from Catastrophe at 16 - Chapter 18

Mahiru ended up taking measures so she could protect Shinoa and give the option for Guren to save the world of its own madness drove by the First Progenitor.

But now, what exactly did Ashera’s desire end up revolving around?

As a demon, Asuramaru displayed the desire of power, violence, the power to be able to handle down any enemy in front of the wielder; in Mahiru’s case, Asuramaru offered the power she could have ever dreamt of; which is something that applies with Yu at the same time:

Image from Vampire Reign - Chapter 46

It can be said that Asuramaru’s primordial desire as a demon was to unleash its power freely, to unleash a savage destruction with the body of the wielder but then, how does this relate to the “he” that was once a vampire in the past?

If many might recall, Ashera once he along Krul and Noya discovered the corpse of Sika Madu’s son, Noya ended up killing Yu; Ashera ended up taking the responsibility of such acts:

Image from Vampire Reign - Chapter 94

Ashera clearly stated:

“I accidentally killed Yu. Oh! But my little sister is innocent! It’s my fault only mine! She kept telling us over and over that we shouldn’t...”

What does this imply?

Correct. It means that Ashera’s strongest desire was the safety of his sister; his sister was primordial after loss of their mother; he being the elder brother kept the oath of protecting his little sister which is why after being turned into a vampire, his main goal was to save Krul.

Then, why did Ashera look happy back in chapter 49?

Image from Vampire Reign - Chapter 49

Correct, it’s likely that Ashera traveled with the First not by his own but rather as a deal with the First with the sole purpose of actually protecting Krul from becoming a test subject after entering the forbbiden chamber where the corpse of his precious son.

Therefore, it can be said that Ashera’s strongest desire was the one to protect. The safety of his sister. Then what could it be concludedd with this?

Correct. That Ahera’s strongest desire was “Protect his Sister” hence why the demon form he took was that of a violent demon able to crush down enemies if the wielder wished for but of course, everything would depend a lot with the mental strength of the wielder in order for him to really unleash his powers.

2. Noya - Noya Hienma

Noya’s often portrayed as a destructive demon who feeds from strong desires that involve a carefree life but getting rid of what ties a human from it’s pain. Which can be seen in the Catastrophe LNs, what do I mean?

Back in the Catastrophe, Noya once suggested Guren to kill his friends so he could embrace the power he required:

Image from Catasstrophe at 16 - Chapter 32

Noya promised Guren he’d give him the power to reach Mahiru if he allowed all what he harbored free; thus included harming his friends. Of course, Guren withstood such tempting offer since his squad was and still is the most important thing for him. Something like this can be see in Vampire Reign as well:

Image from Vampire Reign - Chapter 83

It can be said that Noya is a demon that gives power in exchange of having the wielder set all the things that bound them free, of course, letting go could result in a worst scenario; in Guren’s case, it means seeing his friends vanish after resurrecting them.

Now, what can it be said with the human or vampire self on which his desire was at its highest?

Noya once remembered a time on which he was roaming freely back in the catastrophe:

Image from Catastrophe at 16 - Chapter 32

It can be said that perhaps his desire was at its highest when he was roaming freely as a carefree boy back then, his looks show he was the happiest in the past, no cares no worries that could destroy his happiness; of course, once he became a vampire, some glimses of his personality displayed that Noya actually went through a hard life, it is pausible to say that perhaps he was tasked to do bad things hence why he displays no remorse when he kills Yu in the past.

3. Byakkomaru - unknown real name

Byakkomaru is Shinya’s demon, his manifestation form is that of a tiger while the vampire hiding behind such manifestation is:

Image from Vampire Reign - Chapter 83

Byakkomaru is displayed as a demon hiding beneath animal skin, he is rather the interesting demon, he seems rather patient compared to other demons when they aim to possess their wielders; Byakkomaru, in order to give power to Shinya, he asked his wielder to name what he desired; but why?

Byakkomaru in fact, is a demon that devours the void, what do I mean?

Shinya’s real personality is the one that stopped caring about the world, for him, it doesn’t matter if he really tries or not, it could be said that it’s technically Sloth; which is something Byakkomaru feeds from, the sloth that increases within Shinya; but, at the same time, in order to give his master power, Shinya stated his desire, which was to “have power to save Guren”.

It could be said that before Byakkomaru was turned into a demon, Byakkomaru’s personality was that of a man that never gave up, a man that was constantly battling even if the results were a complete void, if there was nothing to be achieved; it is likely that his desire was at its highest when he actually succeeded in something eventful.

4. Gekkouin - Unknown real name

Gekkouin’s first appearance was in chapter 51 after Yoichi spotted Lacus Welt; after recognizing his face, Gekkouin started to take over Yoichi due to the deep grudge Yoichi has against him.

Image from Vampire Reign - Chapter 51

Gekkouin is displayed as a rude demon towards his wielder, he seems like the type of guy that enjoys bullying the weak but actually, there’s something hidden beneath his physical appearance, what could it be?

Correct. Gekkouin’s demon self enjoys revengeful wielders, he insists Yoichi to take revenge upon the death of Yoichi’s sister who was taken by Lacus Welt.

Image from Vampire Reign - Chapter 51

Gekkouin attempts to convince Yoichi to allow him to take over him to kill Lacus which at the end results with Yoichi showing a sadist side which no one was really expecting; therefore, what could it be said about Gekkouin’s vampire side?

Who exactly was he before turning into a demon or what made his desire reach the peak?

Justice.

You might ask why justice if his current self enjoys revenge.

In a way, despite the path Yoichi is taking, he’s attempting to do justice for the unfair death of his sister, it could be said that his former self was someone tied to the bounds of what was rightful or even it could be that he striked down with justice, but what exactly does justice ends up meaning?

It’s not that Gekkouin might have taken revenge as a mean of justice, but rather, law and order to make justice.

5. Kiseki-O

Kiseki-O is a demon whose background is really short, he hasn’t appeared ever since he made the pact with Kimzuki along the fact he got a better comunication with him to use his abilities for manifestation.

Image from Vampire Reign - Chapter 21

Kiseki-O is seen as a patient demon, he enjoys playing around but there’s actually a characteristic of him, what could it be?

Correct. Rage. He feeds from Kimizuki’s rage, back in chapter 21, Kiseki-O kept taunting Kimizuki until this one ended up losing his cool and eventually was submitted into a dream until he passed Kiseki-O’s test.

Furthermore, such statement can be reflected in chapter 84

Image from Vampire Reign - Chapter 93

Kiseki-O instantly got possession of Shiho since Guren killed Mirai Kimizuki in front of him; Shiho’s biggest desire is to protect his sister at any cost, even if it means betraying his friends, his biggest fear is to fail such task which is something that instead of paining him, it literally made him go beserk into a deep rage which is something Kiseki-O feeds from. What does this mean?

Shiho in fact has a deep rage within him due to the fact he doesn’t have the power to keep his sister safe, he was aware that he wasn’t able to protect her from the experiments, furthermore he ended up losing his sister in front of him after he finally retrieved her.

But now, what does this imply with Kiseki-O? What was Kiseki-O before he became a demon that fed from rage along the strong desire of Kimizuki?

It could be said that Kiseki-O might have had someone he was successful to protect, which might actually stablish as his most fulfilling desire.

6. Raimeki - Unknown real name

Raimeki appears or makes her debut in chapter 58 after Shikama possesses Kureto or likely attempts to possess him, of course, Raimeki states that she’s trying her best to not allow Shikama Doji possess him.

With Raimeki, there’s something rather peculiar, she suggests Kureto to break two personal taboos, one of them being lust towards Aoi and the 2nd one being to let loose of himself, to be a carefree instead of being strict with himself.

But what could it be implied with Raimeki as a demon?

Correct, Raimeki is a demon that feeds on strong desires, those desires end up withing longing, and you might wonder how it might be possible, for that, let’s take a look at Kureto; ever since the LNs, Kureto has been a strict guy that has literally worked hard so his father could acknowledge him, of course, his father never looked up to him which is something Kureto kept going on and on until he learnt his father was a puppet of someone else.

Returning to the theory itself, what could it be said about Raimeki’s former self or likely where her desires were at her highest?

It’s possible that Raimeki’s highest desire or wish was with someone she deeply longed to be with, perhaps that was the part of her life that literally made her the happiest, hence it could be the reason why she feeds on what Kureto longs for.

7. Special cases, Mikaela Hyakuya and Mahiru Hiragi

Now, as I’ve stated in other theories, I don’t involve ships within theories; therefore, let’s talk about the type of love these two displayed within their respective stories.

Mahiru Hiragi

Mahiru Hiragi as a demon has become rather more merciless and “free”, she enjoys taunting Guren but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t care; in fact, she cares about his well being even knowing she left a huge burden within him.

But, if we talk about her human self, Mahiru was once a kind hearted girl, of course, the curse she had ever since she was born wasn’t going to let her live a normal life, furthermore, the fact that her fate was written in stone was something that as much as she fought, was something she couldn’t avoid.

The reason why she became a demon was “love”. She loved Guren so much and yes, I’m aware many state she didn’t due to her being the person who killed Guren’s friends but, in fact, if she didn’t kill Guren’s friends; Tenri Hiragi would have killed them afterwards. How can I state this?

It is well known that Tenri was a merciless man, he was always stepping on the Ichinose family, always mocking on them, he didn’t hesitate on executing Sakae Ichinose, nor he even considered Guren’s feelings one bit.

Returning to the theory once again, love is one of the desires that has a high meaning within the story, of course, love can be different when it comes to characters, it can be selfless love, selfish love, obssessive love, possessive love, etc.

For Mahiru, her love was something that could be denominated as selfish, her actions seemed as she was always making Guren suffer but in fact, she was guiding him to find the pieces on how to fix the world and how to actually rescue those he held dear.

The reason why her body was never lost was due to an ability she had when she was a namanari, she was able to devour demons or parts of them; which is something that happened with Noya at the end of the Catastrophe LNs; she merged with him by devouring him, hence why Guren’s cursed gear is called Mahiru-no-Yo.

Mikaela Hyakuya

As I’ve stated in other theories, Mika’s love goes in two forms, selfless but obssessive as well; what do I mean?

Mika’s love for Yu is selfless, he cares about his well being, but at the same time, his past, the fact that Yu is the only family left he has, awoke obssession within him; he doesn’t hesitate to kill if it means to keep Yu safe, even if it goes against his wishes.

Mika’s love is pure in its own way, he always thanked that Yu became his light after the darkness surrounded him; when he stated “I love you” all the thoughts he had were transmitted in such phrase, a deep “thank you for everything you’ve done”; but then, what exactly makes Mika as a demon so dangerous?

Correct, his desire at its highest was love, when he reached the dream, his desire was at its highest, his dream only displayed what he wished and loved to have for the rest of his life; he wanted to keep the orphanage kids by himself, along Yu, all he needed was that, his family, the moment and the fact they were his only happiness.

Hence why, once he awoke as a demon, those who had knowledge about it were aware that the new demon was going to be the most dangerous and powerful that has ever existed.

To conclude, it can be said that the current demons from the black series had their desires at its highest whenever they had a goal in mind or aimed to achieve something even if it meant their lives; or simply, their happiest moments they’ve ever had along the fact that there was something that marked their lives in a positive way.

What do you think guys?

Let me know!

P.S: Theories don’t involve ships. They remain in a neutral view.

85 notes · View notes

dakshinakali · 3 years

Text

Kali -from the beginning of time

The story begins from the times primordial, the origin of everything from the abstraction of nothingness. The concept of creation roots back to the time when desire emerged in the Supreme Force to be multitudinous. our creation is the result of the kamana that crept up in the mind of the singular, Primordial Entity. The Upannishads quoth

Ekaki na Ramate

Cha kamayate : Eko’ham, bahu syam.

Meaning anyone who is alone is not happy. I desire that since I am alone, let me be many.

Thus, the Para Brahman split into two : the Supreme Goddess and Supreme Lord. This Lord waited for the right time to be manifested while the Goddess relesed all her vivacity into the creation. Energies of the world was now released into a singularity, which was smaller and denser than anything we can imagine.

The goddess resembled depths undiscovered, and assumed the form of mysterious darkness, having a thousand faces and limbs. This Adyaa or primordial form of the goddess is known as Mahakali, or Adyaa Kali.

Now,Let me narrate the story of Bhadrakali...

The goddess now harmonized her supremacy to create a deity resembling her attributes,but manifested as a male force, the one of the Three Supreme purushas, Maha Vishnu. The goddess made him indulge into her Maya, her power, and Maha Vishnu was put to sleep in a divine slumber, the Yoganidra, by the Yogic powers of Yogmaya Mahakali.

When Brahma, another member of the Trinity, was just created from the lotus-navel of MahaVishnu, he was sheer inane. He was just like an infant, unknown to exactly what his purpose was. However, he was but a child, and his urger for a populous world full of care was also like any other human new born. But here, the new born Brahma was to become the progenitor to satisfy his own desire of a populous world. He did not know so, but saw glimpses of the creation (that he was to endeavour for) in the all overwhelming smile of the dark goddess on whose lap was he seated as was all that was existing and was yet to exist. In the laughter of the omnipotent mother he say glimpses of the creation and his desires began to grow passionately intense. He began the creation. He urged the Mother Mahakali to help him. So, she appeared as Maa Kushmanda and released the celestial objects from her smile (essentially from her tongue), ie, from Mahakali or the rooted omnipresent dark energy was released the percievable mass and strength which led Mahakali to be manifested as the illuminati Kushmanda.

However soon, the demons Madhu and Kaitabha arose from the dust in the ears of Vishnu, who was absolutely unaware of the incidents, slumbering divinely. These pig-ignorant beings tormented Brahma, who called out to Kushmanda for succour. Now, Kushmanda entered Sri Vishnu's ears, adsorbing all the dust to awaken him. Once again rose the goddess of dark complexion, who wakened Vishnu, and inducing her maya, she lead Madhu and Kaitabha to their doom all by themselves. This form of Kali is calm and the bestoyer of Maya to devise divine ploys so that she may create events and attributes to her wishful choices. Thus she is Bhadrakali, or the calm Kali or the Yogamaya Kali.

Bhadrakali appears in the following descriptions too

Upon coming to know that her father Daksha was planning a yajna to insult Shiva, Sati became clearly determined to refute her father's opinions. She, Mother of the creation, knew that no world would be equilibriated without Destruction, her husband Shiva, who was the complete manifestation of the Supreme Lord as Mahakala. However, as Shiva refused to let Sati visit her father and question him, Sati was hurt. To top this all, Shiva camouflaged his fear of losing Sati behind the arrogant voice of a dominating husband. She flared up and revealed to Shiva her very primordial form. As a glaring illumination emanated from Sati, she stood no more in front of Shiva as the same benevolent wife, clad in all the earthly indulgences . No longer was she bedecked in jewels of gold but a garland of apes and men alike, she revealed the Ugra form of Mahakali in herself. Howbeit, as Shiva ran affrighted, Sati was struck with pity. She calmed down and stood before Shiva as somewhat sangfroid and soberly mild, yet dark as blue iris. This milder form of Mahakali is the 1st Mahavidya, Bhadrakali, who calmly spoke out to Shiva that he better calms down and relents his wife to live to her decisions. However, Shiva ran out of fright, only to be encountered by the rest of the 9 Mahavidyas.

Incidentally, the same Bhadrakali reappears when Shiva came to know about Sati's self immolation. After Shiva became the destroyer Panchanana and utilises a lock of his matted hair to create Veerbhadra, the latter becomes bound by Maha Vishnu at the Daksha Yajna site. To release him, Shiva invites Sati to reincarnate and avenge the wrong done to them. Sati's soul, that of the great Mahamaya, enters the 3rd eye of the North Face of Panchanana, and emerges as Bhadrakali, iris blue as the eye of the North Face of Panchanana Shiva. She is diplomatic in words, calmly frees Veerbhadra after an exchange of arguements on basis of justice. Next, she calmly fetches Daksha, brings him to Veerabhadra and again reunites with the lifeless body of Sati,yet housing all the divine vitality, to rid her worshipper’s body of all sins, proving the fullest blessings of the Mother Supreme.

The same Bhadrakali appears again in the slaying of Darik. He was a demon who ruled in the Darikavana, utilising the powers of his wife Mandodari, also called Daruki, and is not to be confused with Mandodari of Ramayana. The wife Daruki was a great devotee of the Goddess Parvati. Hence she attained immense powers though tapas and imparted the good of her yogic attributes to enable Darik stay overwhemingly poweful. Parvati blessed that he may remain undefeated unless rendered to her displeasure . However, he became so amorous and torturous to women that Parvati was troubled. To top it all, Darik captued and began torturing a snake-man , Supriyo, who was worshipping Shiva in his kingdom. This infuriated Shiva, who instantly came to save Supriyo in form of Nageswara jyotirlingam. Now, Parvati was humiliated to an ultimatum. She decided to teach Darik a lesson, for, by saying that Parvati would spare Darik provided he doesn't disrespect her, she meant her disregard in all respects, be her own self, her abode, or her beloved. And fool was Darik to assume that Shiva's devotee would repose not in Parvati,’s heart.

Into the third eye of Nageswara entered Parvati, and appered in a form of blue complexion, absorbing the colour of the Prussian hued poison in Shiva's neck. Again she stood as Bhadrakali, who slew Darik with great aplomb, yet did not lose her mind in the liquidation of the fool asura. She remained clam and did not continue the blood-shed once Darik met his end. Bhadrakali is thus the exact bearer of her duties.

As Bhadrakali Parvati indulged in her happy domiciliary life with Shiva at Kailasa, Daruki began to practice severe austerities to propitate Shiva, that she may avenge the death of her love.

Now, let me narrate the story of Bhadrakali's transformation into Ugra Kali. We shall again come back to the Daruki episode later.

In the meantime, Sumbha and Nisumbha began their abuse. The maltreated world, afflicted with misery, cried out for help. To top it all, they attacked the Gods while the son of Ugrasena, Kamsa, took over the mortal world. Such was their tyranny that every nook and cranny resonated with cries for relief.

The Gods approached Kali Parvati as she was going to take a dip in Mansarovar . She manifested herself from the Kosha or cells of her body, appearing as the wheatish complexioned, the radiant Kaushiki. As Kali remained in yogic trance, Kaushiki went to serve her task.

Kaushiki took birth as the daughter of Yashoda while Sri Vishnu manifested as Krishna, taking birth from Devaki's womb. As Krishna's father interchanged the children, Kansa appeared to kill Devaki’s 8th child, prophesised to be his death itself. Having already killed her previous 6 children and thinking her to have miscarried the 7th pregnancy, finally he would become immortal, thought he. However, as Kamsa took the girl in his hands as was about to thrash her to death, she flew out of his grip. A thunderous laughter of the celestial lady overwhelmed all directions as she proclaimed that his death incarnate was intact , and disappeared.

She went to to the Vindhya Mountains and assuming the form of a very young girl, a Kumari, she slept her Yogic slumber. The trinity performed the Kumari Puja to awaken the damsel Goddess. The Goddess rose as a young maiden, with the attributes of MahaSaraswati, and lured the demons. As Sumbha and Nisumbha sent a marriage proposal, she rebuked it and invited them to fight. Instigated, they sent their comarades to fight, but all were sent to the abode of death by the Eight Warrior Sisters whom Kaushiki created, headed by the skeleton-thin, fierce, blood-red necked Chamunda, the slayer of Chanda and Munda. However, quite opposed to the common notion that Chamunda is same as Ugra Kalika, she is not. They are similar in their dark complexion but different in genesis and their seed syllables. Chamunda was created by Kaushiki from her eyebrows and after the slaughter Of the asuras, she reabsorbed Chamunda into herself. Whereas Kaushiki herself arose from the Bharman within the Koshas of Kalika. This Kalika gets enraged and becomes the Ugra Kalika. Moreover, the physique of the goddesses differ in the sense that Kali is described as a plum woman, having full breasts and a youthful radiance of the feminine; while Chamunda has a thin, malnourished appearance with protruding ribs . However, both Ugra Kalika and Chamundika have fearsome expressions and are extremely stormy, angry and malevolent in destruction of the negative elements of the Universe . The emergence of Ugra Kali in the story is as follows …

When Raktabija arrived at the battlefield, Kaushiki went on stabbing him with her trident but with the flow of hus blood rose thousands of Raktabijas. So, she invoked Kali Parvati. Kali Parvati woke up on the banks of Mansarovar and incarnated on the battlefield as Ugra Kali. She slew all the raktabijas abd drank their blood. The drops that fell were consumed by jackals following her.

Kaushiki then killed Sumbha and Nisumbha. Meanwhile, Ugra Kali became extremely stormy and aggressive. The dance of her feet struck sheer destruction on Earth. Her tongue lolled out in desire to consume more blood. This signifies how Kala or time dissolutes into the goddess of time . Her all devouring tongue signifies the all engulfing Kala or time.

Finally, to pacify her, Shiva lay as a corpse at her feet. This shows how Shiva or Purusha is just a corpse without Shakti or Prakriti. Stepping on Shiva, whom she loved dearly and placed him in her bossom, the malevolent act aroused a perdurable sense of guilt for causing pain to her love. She bit her tongue in guilt, as Kalika is portrayed for popular worship.

As Ugra Kali calmed back into Bhadrakali, she retreated into the forests of Darukavana, guilty of having performed such unnecessary destruction and having harmed the Purusha of her heart.

It was here that Daruki was performing tapas to appease Shiva and avenge Darik's death. Shiva was forced by her tapas to grant her a boon. Daruki asked for a boon to avenge her husband's death. Shiva, the Ashutosha, got quickly satisfied. He was already preoccupied with thoughts so as to console his consort, who was troubled by what she had done and was residing somewhere in the same Darukavana. Shiva gave Daruki few drops of his sweat, such that one when sprinkled by which would be afflicted with tremendously irritable and painful eruptions on one's appearance.

Daruki now sought for Bhadrakali. Finding her, Daruki sprinkled on Bhadrakali Shiva's sweat. As a result, she was Bhadrakali was extremely pained by the blistering eruptions in likeness of chicken pox. Anguished , she questioned Shiva , in the trauma of her maim, what wrong she had done in punishing Darik that too in compliance with Shiva's wish.

Shiva sent Ghantakarna, one of his ganas to medicate and remove her rashes, which detrimented and saddened Bhadrakali Parvati all the more, for she knew not what caused Shiva not to come himself, unknown to the fact that Lord Indra had come to meet Shiva. Hence she sent the gana back.

Indra, the king of Gods, wished to send some apsaras to assist Shiva help console Bhadrakali. As Shiva approached her, he found the fair complexioned apsaras advancing , and he addressed his consort as the ‘O dear Kalike, my Dark One’, and called out to the apsaras as “ O ladies of divine radiance as fair as the pristine snow, the possessor of Divine Arts, I hope you shall take no offence in assisting me to serve my little woman here… she is quite pained. ”

Bhadrakali-Parvati took offence at seemingly racist comment . She believed Shiva was mocking at her black complexion and that Shiva too was harnessing the traditional mortal belief that fairness was beauty and became depressed and dolorously declared,--- “since i am such an ugly burden to you that you can take such liberties with me as afflicting me with quite an incessant pain and since you again look down upon me in public; it is better that you may stay without me forever. As for the scars of these boils I have on my soma, let it stay forever thus, blemishing my skin to mark how REALLY BEAUTIFUL I AM.”

Bhadrakali retired to Kanchipuram as a yogini and began penance beneath a mango tree , dedicated to a Shiva lingam she made out of sand . The greatest of all Yoginis as Parvati is, her anger, the force of destruction, the primordial energy of the most intense enigma, i.e., the darkness that comprises the depth of the unkown where all converges into and diverges from, is all lost within Parvati and she becomes the fair maiden. This incident does Not eulogise racism but denotes the fact that Parvati is not ashamed of her colour, be it as the fair Parvati or the Dark Mahakali. Quite opposed to popular notions that Parvati was born Dark…, Parvati was the FAIR born Goddess Mahakali, she was fair and not dark from birth. It is a simple fact and no comment made on the preferred colour of the skin. Hence she simply reverts to her original form.

I intend to end this narrative on a more softer and delicate note, the story of their reunion after the episode of Shiva-Parvati’s previous fall out.

Narada, the divine mischief maker, sage of the gods, visited the Yogini Parvati, who was now her original self. She was, by now, terribly missing Shiva and having carved out a sand Shiva linga to be consoled by his physical appearance near her, was now continuing her penance with grit and determination so that no force might deter her from extracting one just sorry from her beloved.

Narada however ployed some fun and notified the Goddess that Shiva was not at all unhappy without her company. Rather, he showed no signs of grief in her absence. The fair Parvati, dedicated and dolorous to hear this, sat down to concentrate in an even deeper meditation.

Shiva was woebegone at his loneliness, would watch Parvati from the branches of the mango tree. Unable to bear it any longer, he called upon Ganga to break Parvati's penance. As Ganga tried her best to counsel her sister, the latter showed no signs of budging from her trance. With every passing moment, she was becoming even more radiant and was as if on a journey to get re-incarnated as a maiden, with a newly youthful glory. She had as though made up her mind to test Shiva with her allure and check if it were only the outward beauty which appealed to him or he was actually the very ascetic she loved so dearly.

Ganga, unable to break Parvati's austerities, decided to flow in and flood the area with all her force, her waves smashing into the Shiva ling to destroy its sculpture. At this, Parvati woke up with a start, and assimilating all the love she So dearly cherished in her heart, hugged the lingam with her youthful nurture, in form of his eternal inamorata. She thus emerged as Kamakshi.

Ganga notified her of Shiva's longing and advised her that she need not have changed to prove in adverse to Shiva's heart, for the heart of her man loved her in all her attributes and that she was not to be objectified, neither should she have given in to this objectification, nor was she at all objectified by the PARAMA Purusha Shiva.

Parvati, nurtured in good counsel, decided to test the same and visited Shiva in her renewed manifestation as an young damsel of 16, named Sorashi, the queen of all seasons, the 2nd of the 10 Mahavidyas, who is the same as Kamakshi.

As Sorashi asks Shiva who resides in his heart, she finds the imagery of the damsel she is in the guise of- — the beauty of Sorashi. Just as Parvati is downcast to find that outer beauty is what seemed to be appealing for Shiva, a closer glance revealed the picture in Shiva's heart to be Kali, the primordial, and then Parvati, as she had always been and ever shall be . Sorashi's heart melted and with it was washed away the misunderstanding that separated them . She reverts back to Parvati, in whose form she became the consort of the householder Shiva.

Thus were the Purusha and Prakriti reunited…

Source : quora

5 notes · View notes

commanderfloppy · 3 years

Text

Interview: Commander (Vlixxa) Floppy

INTRODUCTION:

1. Can you introduce yourself?:

Well most people will usually know me by my title, The Commander. But my name is Vlixxa Floppy. What? Yes, I know it is weird that I have a surname. No, it was inherited.

2. What is your gender identity, orientation and relationship status?

I’m a woman, she/her pronouns, and it’s been like that for about… 40 years now?

These next questions...pfft, you’d think people were lining up to date me or something..

I like women, though my feelings on others are...unclear? Though I’ve had different partners in the past….. Now? No, I'm single. How long? It’s been a while..

3. Where and when were you born?:

I was born in 1285 AE, in the swamplands near Kessex Hills.

4. What is your weapon of choice and fighting style?:

Nowadays I tend to use my staff a lot, ranged combat is much less tiring. But I used to fight primarily with my rapier. My fighting style? Well I was a little classically trained, but I mostly just learned from experience...and pirates, I learned a bit from them too. Same goes for my magic, I am mostly self-taught. Which is why my skills can be...spotty.. But where I lack the illusionist skills some of my fellow mesmers have, I do think I’ve perfected a bit in the way of chronomancy and clone magic.

5. Lastly, are you happy?:

Saving the difficult question for last huh?.. It’s hard to say whether I specifically am..happy. I’m certainly happier than I’ve been before. But I will say, in the advent of Jormag and Primordious’ death, that knowing the people of Tyria will be safer and happier because of my accomplishments.. That brings me a lot of joy.

FAMILY AND FRIENDS:

1. What's your family like? What is your relationship with them?:

My biological family is all gone at this point, but I will say that I’ve definitely developed a bit of a familial relationship with the other members of Dragon’s Watch. So if you count them I’d say it’s pretty good, especially now that I’ve realized how much we all mean to each other.

2. Have you ever ran away from home?:

I’ve definitely snuck out before, but I never really ran away.. Unless you count me leaving to attend college at Rata Sum. Though, I guess I was running from something that day….and could never go back from it.

3. Would you consider marriage or having children?:

I suppose the answer would be yes, since I’ve already done both those things before. But I don’t think I can really have biological children anymore… Besides, I’ve got enough kids to take care of back in Dragon’s Watch...Maybe don’t say I called them kids...

4. Do you secretly hate one of your friends?:

If I hated someone I wouldn’t call them a friend. But I suppose there are times where I have to deal with someone I dislike amicably for diplomatic reasons..

5. Which friend knows everything about you?:

No one really knows everything about me, It would be a lot to know. But I’ve shared quite a bit with Rytlock, and he has with me too. We both have our differences but we also have a lot in common.. At least when it comes to experiences. Besides, it’s nice to have someone else to talk to who isn’t in their 20s.

ASKED BY FANS:

1. Are you literate? Have you been to school?:

Yes, I am a graduate of the college of Dynamics, and I’m literate in the common languages, as well as Elonian dialect and some script.

2. The eeriest prediction you made that later came true?:

I don’t really predict thing that will happen, though I do once remember saying that commanding would be the death of me and well….

3. What is something you were embarrassingly late to realize?:

It took me a while to realize that my companions and allies actually cared about me as a person.. For some reason I thought that any care or concern was only about my functionality as the Commander...Guess I just needed time to realize I was more than my accomplishments.

4. Do you have mental health or physical issues?:

Oh certainly, I’m just not quite sure which issues I have. But there’d have to be some miracle of the Eternal Alchemy for someone to go through what I have and not come out with some problems...even if my mental state was a mess before becoming Commander..

5. What is your current main goal?:

To finish my work in ridding Tyria of any other dangers’ it faces. Currently I’m trying to track the energy released by Primordious and Jormag after their destruction. I don’t want another situation like that with Kralkatorikk.

CHOICES:

1. Drink or food?:

Both are essential to survival but drink. I can go a while without food, but dehydration is much harder to face. Especially after some moment’s I’ve had in the desert..

2. Cats or dogs?:

Both are...fine? I suppose. Personally I prefer reptiles..

3. Early bird or night owl?:

Night owl, I like sleeping in when I can. Besides, night is much more quiet and suited to research.

4. Optimist or pessimist?:

Again, I try not to think too much about possibilities outside of strategy. But I suppose I am more Optimistic at this point, at least I try to be.

5. Sassy or sarcastic?:

Neither, at least when I am trying to be professional. Though I do enjoy being sarcastic in less formal situations..at least sometimes.

HAVE YOU EVER:

1. Been caught sneaking out:

Yes, many times.

2. Broke a bone:

I’d be more amazed if I haven’t broken a bone. Though, to my surprise, I haven’t broken that many. Perhaps because enemies that like to bludgeon me are slower and easier to dodge.

3. Received flowers:

I’ve certainly received flowers at least a couple times, mostly during celebrations for victories.

I also used to get flowers a lot back when- ...I had someone who liked to give them to me.

4. Ghosted someone:

Ghosted? I’m not sure exactly what that means. oh… no I don’t think? Does not responding to someone count? Yes? Well they hadn’t contacted me for 6 years beforehand so… then it isn’t?

5. Pretended to laugh at a joke you didn't get:

Once or twice, though I will genuinely laugh at my confusion from a joke I don’t understand. Humor seems to evolve quicker than Gorrik’s beetles...

#gw2 #commander floppy #I tried my best on this #not sure if I've really found floppy's voice in terms of writing yet but #ehh whatever #also the joke question made me realize something...#Floppy is a boomer

3 notes · View notes

ygoreviews · 6 years

Photo

Vendread Revenants ———————————————— If this card in your possession is destroyed by an opponent's card (by battle or card effect) and sent to your GY: You can Special Summon this card, but banish it when it leaves the field. A "Vendread" monster Ritual Summoned using this card on the field gains this effect. You can only use the preceding effect of "Vendread Revenants" once per turn. ● Once per turn (Quick Effect): You can target 1 Special Summoned monster your opponent controls; banish it. ———————————————— Can Be Found In: Code of the Duelist (COTD-EN083)

Ritual Decks gradually became easier and less severe when comes managing their resources, and the Vendread archetype is a great example of their current status. Taking advantage of Zombie support along its own, a Vendread Deck will constantly have materials available at any moment for one of their many Ritual Summons. From revival effects to even able to retrieve banished monsters, overall the archetype will almost always have a chance to Ritual Summon under any circumstances.

"Vendread Revenants" is one of the various candidates to become a material for the archetype's Ritual Summons, not only providing an additional effect to a Ritual Monster but also having a failsafe effect in case something goes wrong. If the opponent uses a destructive effect or attack to take down "Revenants", it will immediately revive itself in exchange of banishing itself once leaves the field. But the main objective of this monster is to be used as tribute for our Ritual Summon(s), as will grant the Vendread Ritual Monster the ability to banish a Special Summoned monster from the opposite field each turn. Obviously a devastating effect given the fact that can be activated during any player turn, clearly making "Revenants" one of the most primordial materials to work arround the archetype's goals.

Combining the support of both its Type and archetype, "Revenants" shouldn't take too long to become available not only for our Ritual Summons but other setups we might need its assistance with. "Revenants" will arrive to our hand thanks to the effect of the Field Spell "Vendread Nights", which although requires discard a card to do so we can use a Zombie as cost (Including another copy of "Revenants") to be revived by one of the many options the Type provides. Another similar method is by "Vendread Charge", letting us trade a Zombie from our hand or field to summon "Revenants" from inside our Deck in return. Because all the options involving our Graveyard, alternatively we can mill "Revenants" by effects like "Revendread Evolution" to become accesible from that position. From "Book of Life" to "Mezuki", "Revenants" will barely rely on its own effect to come back from the Graveyard. Finally, no matter if is banished by its revival effect or other sources the opponent or the archetype uses we have nothing to worry about, as many cards like "Vendread Anima" and "Vendread Revolution" will retrieve it in one way or another.

"Revenants" overall leads part of the archetype due how devastating the banishing effect provided to the Ritual Monsters can become, becoming the main material for most of their setups. With the mentioned revival effects as well cards like "Revendread Origin" letting us use materials from the Graveyard and "Vendread Reunion" using banished monsters instead, the chances to Ritual Summon with "Revenants" are quite assured. We can add also the fact other Vendread monsters will also provide other effects to the point we can stack them together in a single Ritual Monster, like "Vendread Core" providing some immunity or "Vendread Houndhorde" letting us destroy backrow cards. But clearly the removal effect of "Revenants" is the most valuable among them, letting us get rid of potential threats during any turn as well bypassing some protective and/or recovery effects by banishing the target. From making basic Ritual Monsters like "Revendread Slayer" even more powerful to leading with already powerful creatures like "Vendread Battlelord", "Revenants" overall becomes a core part of the Deck's whole strategy. However, due the many methods we can bring out "Revenants" from virtually anywhere, don't hesitate on using him as material for non-Ritual Monsters like "Advendread Savior" or "Dragonecro Nethersoul Dragon".

While the self-revival effect has its uses in some dangerous scenarios, "Vendread Revenants" is all about providing its removal effect to our Ritual Monsters so they can lead Duels as banishes monsters each turn. Despite only affecting Special Summons, due the popularity of such in recent years makes "Revenants" one of the most valuable materials a Deck can depend on. Combined with many options from early to late game to the point that can be recovered after being banished, "Revenants" becomes an always accesible material ready for our Ritual Summons. With some archetype builds only requiring its assistance along vital Zombie and Vendread options, "Revenants" clearly becomes a staple choice on its role as material.

Personal Rating: A+

+ Immediately revives itself if destroyed by the opponent + A Vendread Ritual Monster brought with this monster as material will be able to banish Special Summoned monsters during any turn + Greatly supported from early to late game

- Its revival effect might rarely have any uses - A few Decks will barely be affected by its removal effect

#yugioh #Yu-Gi-Oh #Yu-Gi-Oh!#yu gi oh #ygo #vendread revenants #vendread #revenants #ritual #vendead revenant #vendead #revenant

38 notes · View notes

trulyhumblenarcissist · 7 years

Text

Hannibal or Hannigram

Well.. Unfortunately this amusing journey has come to an end. Yesterday I watched Hannibal's last episode and I am still hooked on it.

I'm not a quiet media consumer, I literally devour everything I like (lol), the faster the better. However I wish I was more disciplined and patient this time around, since Hannibal is such a deep and complex work you can't just binge watch it. If you're too hasty you'll end up missing some key points, affecting the whole experience. Every single line the main characters share is full of double meanings, layers on layers of lies and half truths that force you to constantly question your level of understanding.

The light is rarefied, usually diffuse rather than direct, the colors are cool-toned, never loud, with the exception of some intense flashes of red and orange. This contributes to create a deliberately somnolent, dreamlike atmosphere that accompanies the spectator through a meticulous, yet poetic inspection of the human unconscious.

The main subject of analysis is Will Graham, a man so skilled in understanding others the he usually loses himself. His "pure emphaty" is both a gift and a burden, something that makes him probably the most innocent being on hearth, a compassionate and merciful human mirror incapable of really condemn anyone, because he's too prone to wear other skins, even if they belong to serial killers.

On the other hand we have Hannibal Lecter, an extremely conscious and self aware man that uses his strong personality as a defense and attack tool. He secludes his real self into a fake human suit, impervious to any intrusion. This perfect camufflage that acts like a solid shield allows him to undermine other people without being affected. Hannibal is basically the crafty puppet master always in control, while Will needs to be "contaminated" by humanity in order to better comprehend it. Apart from this fundamental difference, however, Will and Hannibal are tremendously similar. Both intelligent and condemned by an overly lucid vision of reality, they "feel things" deeply and can read the minds of other people as printed books. Many common traits attract these two men in a way that seems almost fatal.

Hannibal is soon interested in Will, although initially it is a simple professional curiosity: Will's mind and his peculiar functioning are a frequent topic of conversation in psychiatric circles. Doctors and psychologists wonder whether Will is a genius or a psychopath. Hannibal's approach is completely different. He doesn't seek a demarcation line between madness and sanity, he doesn't believe in psychotherapy either, or at least, he refuses the concept of a treatment that makes people more willing to be subjected to social conventions and morality. Hannibal is definitely a master manipulator, but I don't think he has ever wanted to "shape" his patients. He aims for their darkest fantasies and fuels them, trying to bring them to light. His therapy is like wearing a pair of corrective lenses: you put them on and you see things you originally didn't notice because you couldn't focus well. Things that had ALWAYS been there, in your deepest core, denied and soffocated by fear and shame. Hannibal's velvety voice is never imperative, it drives without force, it creates a sort of psychological malleability that allows you to find your true self, no matter how ugly it is, and leads to catharsis, unlimited freedom and inevitable destruction.

Without any moral qualms everything becomes possible and God himself turns from Judge to loving ally.

On a metaphorical bed of twisted personalities, the troubled relationship between Will and Hannibal develops harshly. It can be considered the true and only protagonist of the story. A LOVEstory in all respects, filled with courtship, burning passion, fear and desire for the other, tenderness, betrayal, redemption... Death.

Honestly I was pretty surprised by how much this mad love between Hannibal and Will seemed "right" to me. There is nothing canonically healthy in their relationship, yet they both find their own safe place in the other. At the end of the day, shouldn't love be just like that? Ideally, love should allow us to acknowledge our most intimate nature, through the expression of desires that we would never reveal to anyone else. Love should make us feel safe and confident thanks to the reassuring awareness of being perfectly understood and accepted for what we are, no filters, no shame. In reality, however, we keep some barriers to protect ourselves and our loved ones. Boundaries makes life apparently easier, creating a comfort zone where we can recognize our intact individuality and protect it from contamination and excessive exposure. Humanity is just as coward as that... But wouldn't it be nice to leave everything behind, every defense, every fiction, every useless embellishment? Wouldn't it be nice to competely surrender to the other (desire becomes surrender and surrender becomes power)? Will's answer to this question is yes, but only after a very rough path.

The first season is characterized by a strong relational asymmetry. Will is completely succube, he is sick and vulnerable, so he is eventually imprisoned for crimes committed by Hannibal. With the second season reality begins to be completely blurred. We are kept in anxious waiting, trying to find out if Will has truly become a killer without remorse, but in reality the most radical transformation is Hannibal's. Such a huge metamorphosis projects itself subtly under our eyes and we're too focused on other things to effectively catch it.

Hannibal lets himself being fooled by Will's farce, he dangerously lowers his defenses and, as it happens to any "common" human being, he falls in love. He falls in love so deeply he begins to project a future with Will, far away from everything and everyone, the two of them caught in an everlasting artistic battle against this vulgar world. Actually the romantic family portrait in Hannibal's fantasies involves two fathers (murderous husbands as Freddie Lounds would say) and a daughter to protect and educate. Abigail represents communion, affection and heredity. All of this comes to a cruel end when Hannibal discovers Will's true intentions. Well, technically Will himself tells Hannibal to run away, but this is not nearly enough to what Hannibal wished for. He was laying bare in front of Will and Will ignored his feelings, or at least he violated his trust.

The third season leads us to a full closure. After a short period of separation Will and Hannibal meet again. They try to get rid of the yoke that binds them through different and useless attempts to kill each other. At some point the end up escaping death together and Will, full of doubts and consumed by a deep discomfort, allows Hannibal to flee. He asks Hannibal never to look for him again and assures that he would do the same. This is Hannibal's equivalent to a terrible defeat, another painful rejection that drives him to a drastic decision: he lets himself being captured so that Will will always know where to find him.

The yoke is still there, around their throats, more lush but equally heavy.

Will tries his best to lead a normal life, he marries a nice woman and even takes the role of the perfect foster parent, but after three years of relative tranquility, the great red dragon makes its appearance and the fragile veil of stability is torn from its sharp claws. The great red dragon is a formidable catalyst: it symbolizes passion and raw nature, eroticism, primordial impulses that express themselves freely, away from the inquisitive eye of the Christian God.

Francis Dolarhyde physically drags Will to a point of no return, he forces Will to decide who should be saved and Will chooses: the last fig leaf rushes to the ground leaving him completely naked and finally free. Will kills the great red dragon that was an almost perfect work of personality construction and by doing so, he acquires enough power to finally abandon the "idea of duty", the preconceived dimension of right and wrong. He embraces both Hannibal and himself at the same time, he forgives and fully understans the indomabile force of his feelings for Hannibal: by loving him he truly loves himself.

"It's beautiful": Will whispers full of emotion, soaked in blood, dark like the night, clinging to freedom and new awareness. He finds his peace after a terrible journey, he finds it in Hannibal and in the stormy waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

I don't think it's possible to write a more poetic death for this two fatal lovers... Hannibal finally reaches Will with the power of his endless, loving stare and Will accepts it as an anchor of salvation that drags him into a place of absolute spontaneity and security, the true paradise on earth.

#Hannibal #hannibal tv #hannibal lecter #will graham #mads mikkelsen #hugh dancy

280 notes · View notes

the-canon-nebula · 6 years

Text

“You have come seeking me out... why?”

The Shredder tensed his hands, steel shining in what little light was in Old Cob’s sanctum.

“There was a presence even stronger than my own... a Dark, Primordial essence; that of an Oni, or far stronger, still. I want that power.”

“Patience, child. Do not get so overzealous with an old man such as myself. I will grant you the power you seek, without even lifting a finger. You’ve already the power that you seek... the power of Shadow.”

“Shadow? Explain.”

“You already are such an imposing force of Death and destruction... and your ambition leads you to want more and more power. Your Shadow is that power. Shadow forms Reality... and those that can harness Shadow can change their forms, call upon their own Darkness, and even corrupt their own powers that exist within. You’ve had that power, all this time. You just never knew about it... However, I will give you the chance to become easier to get in touch with your inner Shadow... but once you are Tainted, you will never return back to your normal self. Are you willing to give up everything that you are; your family, your friends, if any, and every good thing that you know... just for this power?

“...I am the Shredder. I come across Time, Space, and Dimensions to destroy, conquer, and eliminate anything and EVERYTHING that stands in my path. Four mutant monsters have prevented that goal one too many times... I will do ANYTHING to be rid of those horrid little creatures.”

“Hrummm.... Very well then. Come closer, Agent of Destruction. I will give you and your kin a boon... the Boon of Shadow...”

#long post #Muse: The Shredder #muse: Grandfather Spider #(This won't end well :3c)

0 notes

archonreviews · 7 years

Text

The Archon’s Review of Supreme Commander

Supreme Commander is a real-time strategy game by Gas Powered Games and published by THQ. In the far-flung future, humanity has colonized space with the help of space portals (which can apparently be hacked, which presents a massive security risk, I should think, but nevermind that). This led to an era of peace and prosperity unseen by humanity ever before. During this time, an old, enterprising scientist named Dr. Gustaf Brackman fuses an artificial intelligence with a human brain (again, this presents a massive security hazard, but nevermind). The new, half-computer, half-human people are called “Symbionts”. This development spooks the Earth Empire’s bigwigs who hack the Symbionts and enslave them. Disgusted and not at all aroused, Brackman takes a corps of his loyal Symbionts and forms his own Cybran Nation with blackjack and hookers. Meanwhile, on a far off world, a human colony finds religion via an alien race called the Seraphim (in a surprising twist, it’s the Seraphim who’re presented with a security risk, rather than the humans). The Seraphim teach the colonists the way of “The Way”, shortly before being obliterated by the millenia-in-the-future equivalent of a Neo-Nazi, who really just could not stand that the other humans were finding a peaceful religion brought to them by a benevolent green people. Jokes on that asshole though, as the destruction of the Seraphim brings about the Aeon Illuminate, a sort of Knights Templar in space. After these two factions finish tearing up ye olde Earth Empire, it reforms itself into the United Earth Federation, because it’s always a federation, isn’t it? Can’t be a cadre, or a union, or a confederation, it’s got to be a federation if it’s in space, doesn’t it? Anyway, the three factions develop a cool mecha called the Armored Command Unit, or ACU, which can pull entire military bases out of their “mass”, and command entire armies of automated(?) tanks, boats, and planes. With the ACU, war becomes easy-peasy, so the three factions decide to have one for a thousand years, just for kicks. That’s where you come in. You take command of one of the three factions, hoping to end the Infinite War once and for all.

Hah, I thought the F/GO intro was long. Sorry mates.

So, I like real-time strategy games. I’d go so far as to say it’s one of my top two favorite genres of video game. Which makes the fact that I’m only now reviewing an RTS a somewhat criminal act of neglect. I was first tuned in to the Supreme Commander series when I was a teenager, playing Supreme Commander 2. Incidentally, this is also when I would learn about Steam’s DRM, when I was so used to just installing stuff from a CD. In any event, I found SC2 a lot of fun, once I figured out how to play the game properly. So, SC being on sale a while back, I decided to see if it lived up to the fond memories of it’s descendant. The short answer is, “Eeeehhh... Kinda?”

The game’s primary objective for a standard game is to destroy all of the enemies’ ACUs. In fact, the ACU is the most important unit for any player, as it represents the player themselves. In addition, the ACU builds your base before you gain access to Engineers. As far as objectives go, “regicide” is pretty straightforward, and given that all the other units are possibly automated, it makes sense. Sadly, the story campaigns decide to complicate things significantly.

This objection may be subjective, but I have a feeling it’s less subjective than I suspect. See, I’m used to an RTS presenting me with an overarching objective in each mission, flowering with optional objectives or minor complications as the mission progresses. Supreme Commander, however, does something slightly different. In the beginning of a campaign mission, you will be presented with a very simple, deceptively easy objective. Something like, “Kill these dudes we’ve essentially tied to posts for you,” or “Hey, see that building over there? Yeah, send your ACU over there and grab it for us, ya?” But then, once you’ve completed it, the map will expand to reveal a new objective. At this point, things’ll be okay, with only minor adjustments in strategy required. But then, it’ll expand the map again, and you’ll be faced with your final enemy... and usually a massive wave of enemy units that you couldn’t have known were coming on your first go-through. To add insult to injury, they’ll usually give you the ability to produce a unit that would help a lot, but with the wave of enemy dudes bearing down on you, you’d best hope that you’ve got adequate base defenses while you build your new units, otherwise, to paraphrase Richard III (or maybe Game of Thrones), things will go very hard for you.

The best way I found to deal with the game stringing you along like this is to develop a super economy mid-mission, and put off your objectives as long as you can. This strategy, however, presents two challenges: first, some objectives are timed. Second, and perhaps more annoyingly, is that as you procrastinate, a comms officer or a superior will occasionally complain at you for not completing your objectives. It’s kinda funny at first, but after a while, it sounds like a middle manager reminding you of a minor job-related obligation that nobody performs anyway. Anyone who’s ever had to push a credit card will know exactly what I mean.

^(Large robot friend building up my super economy. Also, my apologies for the console box in the corner, I had to change the screenshot button to the ` button, as the F12 button brought up an even more obtrusive thingie.)^

Now, it might sound like I’m ragging on the game, and to an extent I am. The game doesn’t seem to have too much of a player-base to battle against and I imagine single-player skirmishes can only be exciting a few dozen times. Most RTSes base much of their content on their story campaign, and indeed, that’s where I began, but while I didn’t much like the way the individual missions were formatted, the mechanics of the game itself were actually pretty fun! Building up a base with your big robot friend and then later, your little robot friends, is generally gratifying. Churning out a massive army of gunships and raining hellfire on your foes is quite entertaining. Watching stuff explode is almost as primordially engaging as a Michael Bay movie without the casual racism, sexism, poor acting, and poor screenwriting. Watching boats explode is a particularly fun thing, and this is coming from someone who is usually uneasy about commanding naval forces in RTSes.

That said, there are a couple more nitpicks, but these are some pretty big nits. First off, the pathfinding for ground units may be best argument for self-driving cars ever, ironically. When in formation, they will move the front line first, then the lines behind, until they’re all moving, instead of everyone moving at once. This can create major problems when you’re trying to roll out an attack force into an enemy base and their turrets just shoot down all your bots as they come. Otherwise, they tend to just move however they want to, which may interfere with your strategies, and it gets worse when you realize that the only way to get rid of enemy shields is to march your land units inside the shield and shoot at the generator from there, more or less necessitating the insipid groundlings. In fact, if it weren’t for shields, I probably would’ve relied solely on air and naval power, as air units don’t need to pathfind, and naval units don’t have any obstacles to get tripped up on and their range is long enough that even if they did, they could still perform their essential function, i.e. total boat obliteration.

^(It’s difficult to see, but on the left is a fleet of my submarines demolishing an enemy fleet on the right. Note the lack of physical obstacles. Note pictured: My joy at the destruction of my enemies.)^

Also, the tutorial is absolute bollocks in cheese. It’s basically a bunch of videos detailing basic concepts, and then they let you loose in an empty map with an ACU from each faction, and that’s your lot. This game is actually fairly complex, and an actual tutorial wouldn’t have been remiss.

The aesthetics are nice. Environments are pretty, if a bit sparse in places, and all the robots look pretty cool. Each factions’ units are distinct enough that you can tell friend from foe immediately; the UEF has this sort of “basic Earth unit” look to them, all blocky with lots of things on wheels and conventional design, the Cybrans are all spikes and doom fortresses (only somewhat ironic, as their goal of freeing all enslaved Symbionts is actually the most morally justifiable), and the Aeon design is half cathedrals-on-legs and half Space Alien(TM) aesthetic. When the game is being all wiz-bang-kaboom, it is indeed rad A.F, but the flipside to that is that I frequently got the disquieting feeling that I was doing something wrong somehow. Like because I wasn’t wiz-bang-kabooming all the time, I wasn’t playing properly. Or maybe the game’s marketing was a big fat liar; who knows?

(^What I expected vs...

what I got. I mean, there were shades of the first image, but the vast majority of my time was spent constructing like a hyperactive Mincraft player.)^

The music isn’t much to write home about. It’s alright, I guess.

The reason I believe the player-base is sparse is because looking up walkthroughs for this game was excessively difficult. There were no Steam guides except for those telling you how to get the game to work; which wasn’t a problem for me. The only GameFAQs walkthrough I could find was very light on actual details, preferring instead to provide me with information I probably could have figured out on my own. I finally had to find a Youtube playthrough; and incidentally, Ser “SergiuHellDragoonHQ”, if you happen to be reading this, it is generally considered bad form to periodically pop in with obtrusive demands that I subscribe in the form of extremely distracting low-res graphics. I was only there for a walkthrough on that particular mission, we’re not that close bruh. That said, you have my gratitude for your walkthrough, which taught me the “super economy strategy”, mentioned above. All of that said, it may just be that the player-base are super leet haxorz and therefore don’t require any walkthroughs.

^(The notes I took on SergiuHellDragoonHQ’s walkthrough. Note the rushed handwriting and Gudetama in the bottom left.)^

Ten slotte, SC is fun at it’s core, but the lack of a good tutorial and the frustrating and drag-out campaign format kinda kills it in places for me. I would recommend it mostly on the basis that the person I’m recommending it to would play with me so we can, as wise men have written, “git gud”. I’m probably not going to keep playing it, unless I start playing SC2 again and a major plot point comes up that necessitates me playing through the campaign of the original. As for social commentary... well, it’s actually remarkably progressive in places. The while the Earth president is a dude, and the main character is also a dude, the high commander of Earth’s armies is a woman with a badass battle scar; you know she’s seen some shit. In addition, the Aeon Illuminate are ruled by a Princess, and most, if not all of their commanders are women. So apparently the Infinite War is much more gender-equal than today times. That said, everyone appears to be white, although the cockpits of the Aeon commanders are poorly lit, and it looks like maybe there’s a Latina commander somewhere. So the lack of racial diversity’s a bit of a problem. Also, the Symbiont slavery thing has some pretty obvious parallels, and while it often isn’t mentioned by UEF commanders, the Cybrans will talk about it constantly. Almost like their primary objective is freeing a marginalized group of people from government enforced bondage. Almost creates a parallel to a certain real-world tragedy that was enforced by the government and resulted in a certain war that itself resulted, ostensibly, in a certain marginalized group of people being granted their freedom. That said, the parallel isn’t too clear-cut, and I didn’t get far enough into the campaign to see where it goes.

All in all, if you’re looking for a sci-fi strategy game, you could do worse than Supreme Commander, but I remember the sequel being better, so go play that maybe.

^(Pictured: The prelude to Wagner’s “Ride of the Valkyries”.)^

#archon reviews #video game #sci-fi #rts #real-time strategy #supreme commander #review

0 notes