#skyscraper gods lore

[shirecorn]

Neither unicorn nor pegasus, Alicorns appear to have traits from both species, but are so much more beyond that.

The first alicorns are known as The Two Sisters, a pair of unicorns with magic so potent, they changed the face of the sky forever. After growing wings, the young alicorns were called princesses and treated like royalty, thanked for their gift of the sun and moon. But as time went on, it became clear that these were not simply horses with extra features, but something else entirely.

When mature, alicorns are massive deities that stretch across the sky, ferrying the sun and moon to all corners of the world, leaving magic and dreams in their wake.

Being larger than the tallest mountains, goddesses generally don't interact with ponies on an individual basis. When they do, it is a terrifying honor; one that will alter the course of your life forever. Listen to the Sun speaking into your mind, and pray you are still the same pony when she is done.

[skyscrapergods]

has being fucking Massive and Immortality changed the alicorns’ perspective on regular ponies? I imagine they’d get more condescending and distant and stuff

You are surrounded by flies. If you pause, and look closely, you realize the flies are iridescent, with deeply colorful eyes, and beautiful wings like stained glass. It cannot see the colorful windows of your world, but you can try to describe them. But know that doing so take up the creature's precious time. Years to them is mere hours to you. In a long conversation about the stars, you and the fly share ideas and perspectives. You come away delighted with a new view on constellations and what they mean to the common folk.

The fly comes away dazzled, haunted, and halfway to the grave. What was to you a wonderful conversation was years of study, communion, and dedication on the part of the small creature. He gave up any other pursuits, he constructed his life around this cause. He lost his friends, family, and home. You lost your lunch break.

You love this creature. You love the small being that you once were. You want to talk to him again. You want to tell him of the stars, of dreams... but to speak with him twice, at least meaningfully, would take from him the rest of his life. Could you demand that from him for the sake of your own curiosity? Years passed for him already. In the time it took you to draw a breath, his childhood ended. Do you summon him again? Or do you let him go to live his life, what's left of it?

It is painful for everyone. It hurts something in your chest, it breaks the heart of a god. It wounds his family to watch him leave them behind for the sake of what? A mere whim? He had ambitions! He had a story! It's all gone now. Rewritten for your musings.

You leave him. He cries for you but he needs not a goddess. He needs to live, to turn from the sky to his fellow bugs.

That's what he is. A fly. A mere insect to you. To hold him down is to pin him through his soft center, and display his corpse as a record of his extinction.

So look away. Forget the color of his eyes, the sound of his voice, and the intelligence that stirred you to pluck him out his world and keep him in yours. There, he would be a wildflower with a cut stem. He would be beautiful, but he is so small, and so quiet. He would be just a decoration on your table; made to dance and sing for your amusement and then tossed out with the rubbish when he breaks.

You miss him. You love him. But he is a crawling worm and you are the rain. There are many others like him, but you must be careful to only speak a few words to each. Or better yet, say nothing at all. Let them fade and mix into a writhing blur without name, stories, or opinions on stars.

You are surrounded by flies.

[lemonjestercoffee]

so i said something about alicorns being funky in my last mlp redesign post yeah? well before i get into that-

the beautiful bride and the ugly ass groom

okay okay jokes aside here's Shining's real sheets and Cadance on her own

starting off with design choice notes

Shining Armor - his was like- really hard to figure out and i didn't really know what i was doing, but i did like the concept of him having lost a leg in some sorts of battle. one thing i did know what i was doing with tho was his armor, i never really liked the canon armor so i decided to take my own stab at it. decided to make it cover the more important areas better, added gambeson underneath, put a royal crest on it, and gave them a head weapon. yes the metal horns are on all species armor, it's there not only to protect real horns from oncoming attacks but also give all soldiers an emergency weapon if they get disarmed. the tassels would be colored differently depending on rank

Cadance - the only through i really had going into her design was i wanted her to have a cloud and heart motif, but i'm unsure if the way i handled it is the best. her cutiemark is meant to resemble a Mexican sacred heart because deity of love- like come on. i also wanna kinda change the color of the carnation in her hair to stand out more, but white carnations have a different meaning so it's fiiiinee

okay now what we really wanna hear about, what the fuck did i do to the alicorns?

i decided to tamper with their lore quite a bit, as i was inspired to by the Skyscraper Gods Au by Shirecorn. now mine is no were near as drastic as that au, obviously, but it did inspire me to come up with my own quirks for them.

i went more "alicorns are more like the elves of ponies but because they can only be made by some unexplained rare mystical intervention and live for fuck off long, normal ponies see them as demigods of sorts". i've even given them things like groups or locations that they act as patrons of and prioritize above other things, but that stuff gets a little rambley so imma not do that on this post

for the anatomy tho, i can talk. i'll be using Twilight as a visual example because she's the one i've drawn in all stages

so basically the concept here is pretty similar to the canon, but with some funky add-ons.

first up- when an alicorn ascends, not only do they gain the wings/horn combo and grow an inch, they also gain some other unique anatomy from the other species.

Unicorn- along with the horn, they also receive the ear tip tufts i gave unicorns. these actually have a purpose, they're sensitive to magic energy and allow unicorns to tell where magic is coming from. depending on the unicorn they vary in sensitivity but alicorns are by far the most sensitive Pegasus- along with the wings, the get some of the extra feathers pegasai have on their bodies, namely the ones on their ankles that are used for finer trajectory adjustments in flight. they also receive the sensitivity of their hooves that's used to pick up changes in cloud texture and sense their stability Earth Pony- earth ponies may seem like they don't add shit, but they actually give two very important things. the first thing is a strength boost, as they're stronger than the other two pony species by nature. the other thing is dense as fuck hooves. that sounds kinda lame but they have rock hard hooves that allow for them to dig into dense materials and have a kick with some real bite in it that the others just can't replicate and might tear their own hooves up trying. they also add the visible fluff in the ear canal. but that's just a dust filter and if isn't cleaned properly might actually be more of hindrance

it's worth noting- if you look at Cadance and Twilight side by side- that despite being given extra anatomical traits from the other species they will always look more like the species they were before ascension. this is mostly visible in the ears, tails, and hoof shapes -unicorns have long tails with hair only growing from the underside, basic ears, narrower hooves, and usually have long fetlocks as part of their culture. -pegasai have short tails that are completely covered with hair and have rudder feathers at the base, pinned back feathery ears with restricted movement, and really shallow hooves with no fur around them -earth ponies have medium tails with even hair growth around a third of the way down, basic ears, and slightly taller hooves with varying fetlock sizes.

second up- the only uniquely alicorn physical traits that they really have (aside from height) are their hair and beards. unlike normal pony beards that are made of the same hair as their manes, alicorn beards are made of coat fur and will grow a specific length each year that marks how old they are kinda like tree rings. due to this the alicorns don't try to cut them. the manes are kinda funky cause they start out at the roots as normal hair, but then become more "ethereal" after a few inches or so. they tend to start to become ethereal roughly 10 years after ascension

they do have one more weird trait but it's less noticeable and that's the thing with the patterns. when an alicorn is first ascended they gain an extra pattern on their legs, and that pattern gains a second layer around the time they start to get their ethereal manes. you can see it happening on Twilight's lineup.

there's also a bonus thing here that has nothing to do with alicorns as much as it does unicorns- but i like the idea of Unicorn tails (flesh/bone, not hair) getting longer with age. it's usually not too noticeable because they don't normally live long enough for it to be really noticeable compared to younger unicorns, but alicorns do- so former unicorns can end up with some long ass tails in their 1000's

that's all i really got now- if i added in magic and social stuff this would have been way longer. i'm done with my rambles

[marawhydontyoudraw]

Random ER observations

(I'm making this post and putting a fandom tag in it because I recently spoke with a person who was surprised by the Eiglay-Egle connection)

#1. The name of the God-Devouring Serpent Eiglay comes from lithuanian fairytale. Aaaand I also believe that said serpent is a lady???

#2. More of an amusing fact than a real observation, but still. The name of the Three sisters sub-region in Liurnia may or may not be a shout out/use of the same naming logic as a western nickname for the stalinist skyscrapers in Moscow, often called "Seven sisters" by foreigners. Idk why they picked that nickname, but I remembered it when I first saw liurnian "sisters".

#3. Lamenting singing bat-ladies are basically Sirin from east slavic folklore. It's not just the lore of a flying creature singing mournful songs, just look at them. They wear kokoshniks.

#4. Honorable mention of Nox literally being er equivalent of Tuatha De Danann. I believe someone had a big analysis of this before, but I cannot remember who it was exactly.

[boss-poss]

The thing about Warframe that really keeps me coming back is the way DE leans into the upper reached of a power fantasy. You are so stupid powerful that they have to throw all these absolutely insane things at you to even give you a challenge.

A clone army where even the most lowly soldier is pretty much as capable and powerful as master chief. An unchecked bioweapon that mindlessly consumes all matter and spreads likes both a living swarm and a plague. Sapient machines that were left to stew in isolation so long they became genocidal zealots whose only goal is to exterminate their already mostly dead creators and any remnants. The decaying and rotten remains of fallen civilization sitting at the root of all of it, a people who once commanded reality itself and abolished death to the point it was a frivolous novelty.

The premise purports that that there are currently about a million supermen controlled by demigods zipping around killing in such excess that even a primarch would blush at the scale. And the fucked up part is that this barely keeping together. Without all the super saiyans running amok it would just be over in a week. Civilization in the system would end.

There's also an ocean of lore in the already ridiculously vast universe the chew on and everything wrapped up in this wholly unique and varied bio-tech geiger mysticism aesthetic. You sometimes can't appreciate the scale of it all since you sit so high up on it but every once in a while you walk through a city full of normal civilians (or what can be considered normal anyway) and you realize that what you consider easy entertainment would be a literal, unimaginable hell to experience and one that would end them instantly.

It's a sort on unintentional analysis of why gods can be so callus and cruel to the mortals they rule over. To worry about their worries would be like you or me fretting over the issues faced by an insect, things that we never even think of once and that will never hinder us. It is not malice but ignorance that fuels such suffering.

Natah seems like at first like the babysitter for order, a goodie two-shoes HQ rep with little suggestion of depth outside of that. Then you play the game and learn about the universe and you start to appreciate the scale and timeframe one would have to work on to keep even a shaky stability ongoing. She's an architect trying to rebuild a burned down skyscraper using only primitive, half functional tools while armageddon rains down around her and she has to do all of it while blindfolded. To be able to retain drive let alone competency in such an endeavor would take a near perfect benevolent being.

It's just so wild seeing the themes and their scale in a stupid free-to-play shooter about space ninjas outpace those of other, more recognized and celebrated science fiction works.

[thienvaldram]

Black Mesa - Interloper

Black Mesa Interloper is actually good, the 'I got bored and decided to make this' rant.

So like... you jump through the Lambda Core teleporter and are greeted by this absolutely stunning skybox in Xen, and towering in the distance is the Nihilanth's lair, the 'Interloper Tower' as I like to call it. And you spend a good couple of hours moving your way slowly across Xen towards it.

Until you're finally standing at the base of this absolutely massive megastructure. Journey less than half over because you've still got to climb it.

And the god damn chapter makes you feel that climb. That's always something I've felt HL2s Citadel lacked, its like 8 kms tall in lore but it does not feel like anything other than a skyscraper, which after towering over you for much of the game is so anticlimactic. Like yeah the Super Gravity Gun is nice but the tower don't feel like the behemoth its supposed to.

Interloper does, and it is glorious. It's a slog as you slowly push your way up, as the Nihilanth throws all these forces at you trying to stop you from ascending, and you're burning through your ammo until, when you're close to running out, you come across the Gluon Gun recharging crystals and it goes wild. The tower itself is an absolutely amazing bit of worldbuilding too, it's like a massive living organism with technology sewn into it, enslaved by the Nihilanth to produce Alien Grunts like everything else in the factory.

And you climb, and climb. Reach the elevator and ascend, you can feel Nihilanth's desperation as you get closer. You're hurting, and tired and running on fumes but its a battle of wills between the two of you as to who will crack first.

Until you, at long last triumph, and are standing at the top of all that, overlooking everything you've come through over the last third of the game, conquering the tower. The catharsis of this moment would simply not have worked if the tower was half that height. Without the struggle the payoff is nothing.

This chapter is good, and I only wish the Citadel was like it. Imagine getting stocked up by Barney right before entering the Citadel, only to slowly burn ammo ascending through the Combine's manufacturing plants, going up past Striders and weapons and up to ships. And then hitting the confiscation field just as your ammo is hurting. And then bam, Super Gravity Gun. And then the catharsis of finally reaching the top and knocking Breen of the pedestal you've fought tooth and nail all the way up.

[aduncanrant]

Nightwing Movie

Soo, I see how troubled this topic is so here is my take.

First, let's see what I wouldn't make: For the love of god please don't make Dick incompetent. It's like this man has been fighting crime since he was twelve in the most conservative runs in comics or since he is eight/nine in my favorites. Do you really think that man would be like "I don't know how to be without Batman"? Like really? In some runs, he stops crime by himself just about the time he starts working as Robin (not an expert but I can think of Robin: First Year and how he fights that school of assassins when he is fired as Robin, IN HIS FIRST YEAR) and he has lead the Teen Titans since he is twelve/thirteen.

And I get it there's this trope in movies of making a character relatable for the audience. But we have so many movies with the same thing: A normal dude overcomes his self-worth problems and becomes actually someone for in the next movie to be a normal dude again. I HATE that trope. And I get it this is actually the story of Robin in comics, he exists to be a reflection of the readers, but that doesn't make him average. Actually the opposite: he is extraordinary. But that doesn't mean I don't want to make him flawed. But I want something different than fighting and detective incompetence.

Second: I wouldn't make yet another Robin grow to be Nightwing. Yeah! I know! This is like THE movie most people want, but I think that to make it work it has to be attached to the whole Titans run and a deeper intervention of Batman that I would like to evade. I'm thinking about a movie to introduce the public to the concept of Nightwing, not a full flesh cinematic universe attached (in that case I would have first a long timeline of Robin, Teen Titans, Nightwing, Titans, Batman, etc).

But I want to preserve the full world of superheroes living in a relationship with him (Am I making sense?) but the center being Nightwing himself, not the other heroes. They exist, and we have enough references to make the fans have fun searching all of them. But we don't have Batman or the Titans entering the story and intervening more than Nightwing himself.

So let's introduce the things I would do: I think the perfect point to get into Nightwing lore is with the introduction of Blüdhaven but not as a Robin gets into Blüdhaven and surfaces as Nightwing but as a Nightwing finally finding what that mantle actually means. A way that is different from Gotham and Batman.

My first scene would be deep in the night, everything in high contrast cyan and the darkest black you could find. He would jump towards some buildings gaining height till he reaches a big skyscraper (close shot to the mouth smiling) and the emblem in his chest to move through the night like a bird soaring in the sky as he descents from so high above that anyone would call it a certain death. It would be a good start, like to see how he is different and add that thing of he liking the adrenaline. He throws a line toward a much smaller building and reaches a street.

A group of criminals can be seen in the alley and behind only Nightwing eyes can be seen. Long story short this is where we have to show his fighting abilities (WITHOUT him needing to be saved by anyone) I would like to give a spin to the classical punch and go with heavy grounds in Aikido, like I don't want him to fall in his back like ever, his fighting style has to look like a dance. And obviously, he will have the jumps and turns of an acrobat. The shot is intersected but mostly red shots of Robin fighting alongside Batman.

I'd like the shots to form a continuous scene between the two timelines to show that no matter the change of colors he is still the same child he was back then. The nail in the coffin is when he reports to Batman through the coms. Showing that even now he is still in the shadow of the bat (without the senseless bickering that the authors usually have them do).

The next scene starts with him entering a room from the window. Here the colors normalize and we have a room with a lot of oranges and browns. I wanna keep the naturally disorganized nature of Dick, which also conveys the fact that he has not his personal life in order too. There can be a feast for fans to look out for easter eggs, like photos and items, that stuff.

Oracle's voice comes from the comes as he undresses himself for the night. She tells him that the intel says those men come from a mob in Blüdhaven, and he agrees to investigate the town the next day. Roll the introduction credits (side note I'd love it to be a dripping cyan stain that moves around the screen revealing characters in one gradient color, a little like the Teen Titans cartoon intro?).

Part 2

[raedshadowlegends]

LO hot take:

idk if I was writing a story about Greek mythology I would a) do actual research first b) not make it about Hades and Persephone cause the original myth to my understanding contains some pretty heavily implied SA and c) if I was still going with the modern theme Rachel’s going on I would commit to it fully, set it in actual Greece (again, doing research) and have the Olympians live in a skyscraper instead of a mountain

also I wouldn’t make the gods neon

I feel like it would be more interesting to write a story about, say, Hephaestus and his struggle to fit into the Olympians, or play with the themes of how power corrupts or how the Olympians attempt to navigate their complex family relationships while trying to stay true to original myths

but yeah there are a ton of super cool myths in Greek mythology and a lot of them are really epic stories with important details like the fatal flaws of heroes, the earning the favor of the gods, anyway I feel like they shouldn’t be reduced to cotton candy looking smut with a barely held together plot

I agree with everything you're saying here.

Now I am by no means a mythology expert but I'm pretty sure that the original myth was about the grief of Demeter and not a fluffy uwu smut story.

It's honestly kind of disrespectful to be slandering a myth this much. Yeah, retellings have always been around and they always will be. But I'd expect a retelling to treat it's source material with respect, y'know? LO is far from respectful in my opinion.

I remember seeing a while back that if LO characters just had normal oc names, nobody would give a shit about it. And yeah. That checks out.

But you're right, there are dozens of myths to choose and retell in unique (but respectful!) ways. I genuinely think LO would be much more appealing if it were a collection of mini stories. Each one could take on a new myth in new ways/ Maybe add some original twists and turns. And get creative with the designs too!! That way Rachel and her team wouldn't be handcuffed to the Persephone and Hades myth and they could have fun experimenting.

Shit, if they had a myth they had fun retelling then they could expand upon it later down the road.

I dunno, I just would have preferred to see that version of Lore Olympus.

It's sad that Greek culture is kinda being slandered like this. It feels pretty disrespectful to me but I'd love to hear more thoughts about it.

Also the neon colors fucking suck.

I'm not a big fan of having my retinas fucking obliterated each time I look at Persephone's horse face. Dear god I wish Rachel had reference sheets and the colors didn't gradually become blinding. Honestly sad.

But I can imagine that the bright colors draw in younger readers. They see the pretty pink lady on the cover of a book and they go for it. Not good. Don't let kids read LO.

Anyways thank you for the ask, I agree with literally everything you said. I wish we got to see a more fleshed out LO like you suggested </3

[adventuringalchemy]

Beware, incoming ramble!

For the time period question I always saw MC as purely medieval, at least when you as the player pop into the world.

Either by nature or because of post apocalyptic consequences. Each explains the hordes of zombies/undead, structures, old strongholds, etc. Either created by old magic and ancient wars that created those old bastions and constructs (blazes, guardians, irongolems so forth) or simply leftovers of a greater civilisation that has vanished now.

While the world of minecraft itself is purely Medieval, humans/players bring knowledge and technology with them! We know how to mimic big skyscrapers, tele communication, modern structures and such because we have seen them before and know how things work already! Knowledge that is lacking in the other "native" inhabitants of the world.

Humans/Players (and I guess the mods they might bring with them) are the varible that determines how advanced the time setting and technology can be.

Or I suppose in case of MCSM- where humans act merely like any other inhabitant of the world- the admins. They determine what experience the server should offer, after all. They just mod the world themselves and give the tools needed if they just want to. Maybe they even go out of their way to remove possibility of modern features if they like to keep it fantasy like, or bust all doors open for people to create their own modern utopia. Fancy thinking. Much theorising.

Opinions, thoughts, counter arguments?

ANONYMOUS SENT AN ASK .

sorry if this isn't 100% because my benadryl is kicking in super hard atm but i 100% agree with you. especially since in mcsm there are actual mc youtubers put in there but they still act the same as other humans inside the universe there. their world was just a lot more modern as seen that they have modern clothes on, act a little different, and reference making things for people to watch.

it does make me wonder though. i have always thought the admins to be the gods of mcsm. they have the power to create things and to delete things. what about the other worlds? did fred, xara, and romeo all make those other worlds? did they make the old builders to see how they would fuck around with shit? romeo has obviously tried to find a new "champion" and/or people he can simulate into an admin without making them an admin to try and replace the old friends he fucked over. i mean if you think about it, they had to have right? because of all the technology that these other worlds have compared to jesse's world. but then again maybe not because the old builders did that all themselves. the mcyters in mcsm made everything themselves as well.

sometimes i wonder if the admins were the first actual people to spawn in the underground. the world below the world. like they are the humans that are playing the game yet they're absolutely forbidden to talk about it. or perhaps they were humans that were teleported into the mc world by force and they haven't had the ability to come back out. idk. just something i've thought about.

another theory i have is that romeo put the command block in the world to see how people would react to having true admin/god power. and it was all just a huge test before giving jesse the gauntlet to see if anybody would be worthy or capable of becoming friends with him / being the next new champion. obviously the order of the stone wasn't capable of destroying it, but jesse was. and that's what made him reach out to him.

i don't personally know much about the lore of base minecraft other than that there are several stories woven within a world you make yourself. like saving the end and the endermen. the piglins are a hostile mob protecting their home. villages with everyone having their own life to deal with. the illagers and their dark culture. the alchemist who was in the igloo trying to figure out how to heal zombification. though it is strange that you and your friends are the only humans left in this world.

to me it almost seems fair to assume it was some sort of amnesia thing. the character spawns in and is so fucking lost and confused but gradually figures out what to do along the way.

[lirondellee]

I guess it’s time to tell a bit more about my OCs and the universe my stories take place in. All of this info (and more) is already on my Twitter (for now only in Ukrainian, sorry) but now I’ll also post it here, on Tumblr in ua and eng

ENG

I’ll start with the New Age Inc itself

So… in short, there is the mortal dimension, that is our generic normal Earth and other normal totally not supernatural planets, and there is the Veiled World (the subtle world), where all kinds of creatures from various mythologies and legends live, as well as half bloods (children of Immortals x mortals or Immortals x Immortals of another species) and souls of the dead (who also become inhuman creatures with time, they’re called neo-immortals: neo-demons and neo-angels).

All this mad house is ruled by the so-called Immortals — basically the local elite, that is, angels, demons and gods from various mythologies, who one wonderful day concluded the "Non-interference Treaty". The mortal dimension was fenced off by the Veil, which cannot be crossed by either mortals or Immortals (later the latter will ofc find a way to do it tho) they made peace and no one from the Veiled World can now directly influence people and openly show themselves to them (why they had to do it in the first place is a long story, there was a whole series of absolutely crazy events, but ooof, that’s spoiler zone).

The universe still needs to be controlled somehow. And that is why they built Mythopolis. That’s a huge metropolis that unites all the dimensions of the immortals (Heaven, Hell, Asgard, Vyriy, Olympus, and many others, and these are all separate states with their own government, infrastructure, economy, legislation, etc etc etc), except for Purgatory, because thaaat, my dears, is a whole separate topic (and it kinda looks like a huge suburban weirdcore-ish landscape with the vibe of Will Wood songs). And then all these guys cooperated and built the Citadel, a skyscraper, each floor of which is a portal to one of these dimensions, and created New Age Incorporated. It controls destinies, where each department (domain) is responsible for something from people's lives (like really anything, from the weather and natural phenomena to feelings and some material things), and one of these beings is responsible for each such thing and has respective abilities.

That’s just the suuuuper basic lore info but I’ll get into more detail later, I guess :>

UA

Отже, якщо вже розповідати про свій всесвіт, почну з самої Корпорації Нью Ейдж.

Якщо зовсім стисло, то є вимір смертних, тобто наша рідна звичайна нормальна Земля та інші звичайні нормальні планети, а є Потайкрай (Світ за Завісою, тонкий світ), де живуть всякі істоти з різних міфологій і легенд, а також напівкровки (діти Безсмертних і смертних, або Безсмертних різних видів) і душі померлих (які також з часом стають нелюдськими істотами — нео-безсмертними: нео-ангелами або нео-демонами).

Заправляють всією цією дуркою так звані Безсмертні — місцева еліта, тобто ангели, демони та боги з різних міфологій, які в один пречудовий день уклали між собою «Договір про невтручання», тобто по-перше, вони укладають мир і більше не мають права між собою сратися, по-друге, ніхто з Потайкраю тепер не може напряму впливати на людей та відкрито показуватися їм, а по-третє, вимір смертних відгороджується так званою Завісою, яку не можна перетинати ані смертним, ані Безсмертним, хоча пізніше останні таки знайдуть спосіб це робити (для чого це все — довга історія, там ціла низка всратих подій, але то вже спойлери).

Та всесвіт же ж все одно якось треба контролювати. І тому був побудований Міфрополіс — місто-метрополія, яка об’єднує всі виміри безсмертних (Рай, Пекло, Асґард, Вирій, Олімп, та інші, і це все окремі держави зі своїм урядом, інфраструктурою, економікою, адміністративним поділом, законодавством і т.д, т.п, ТАК, Я ЗАМОРОЧИЛАСЯ, ДУЖЕ ЗАМОРОЧИЛАСЯ), окрім Чистилища, бо то окрема тема (і все це чудо природи виглядає як величезне вірдкорне передмістя з вайбом пісень Вілла Вуда). А потім вся ця різнобарвна тусня скооперувалася і побудувала Цитадель — височенний хмарочос, кожен поверх якого — портал до одного з цих вимірів, і утворилася Корпорація Нью Ейдж. Вона контролює долі, там кожен відділ (по-місцевому, домен) відповідає за щось із життя людей (реально будь-що, від погоди й природних явищ, до почуттів і якихось матеріальних речей), і хтось із цих істот відповідає за кожне таке явище і має відповідні здібності.

Це тільки супер базова інфа, пізніше розповім детальніше :>

[shirecorn]

What we call "ponies" are actually 3 different species that have managed to intertwine with each other through centuries of love and friendship.

Earth ponies are unique in their strength and solid, powerful hooves built for running and moving heavy objects. Ancient ponies only displayed earth tones in their fur and hair, but even one pegasus ancestor many generations ago can imbue colorful hues to all their descendents.

Pegasus are completely covered in feathers, with long feathers forming crests much like horses' mane and tails. They are usually the smallest species, but some exceptions do appear. Hooves are usually small and cloven, with prehensile dewclaws for gripping branches and perching in trees.

Unicorns are much closer to deer than horses, and their horns are actually a set of two antlers that wind around each other from a single base. The coiled structure pulls magic from the world around them and concentrates it at the tip, allowing the unicorn to cast whatever spells it wishes, while the other species can only use magic for flight and affecting the environment.

That is, until new alicorns began to ascend and through their power, grant magical properties to intangible concepts like friendship and love

Alicorns are mysterious, ethereal giants who fill the entire sky as they pass by. They are not a mix of unicorns, pegasus, and earth ponies, but a creature beyond any of the species; an ascended form that could supposedly happen to anyone... But but that's just an old foals' tale. Right?

[skyscrapergods]

do ponies ever give gifts or make sacrifices to the alicorns?

or did they use to do that and they just were like “stop it it doesn’t do anything”

Gods are powered by belief in them, and their powers are linked to what exactly those beliefs are.

The Sun was long regarded as sublime and benevolent. And she was, as long as she remembered to care about ponies. But as she towered above them, she often forgot to think about mortals while she thought about the planet as a whole, ecosystems and the heavens. Fearing they would be forgotten, the population turned to more and more desperate rituals to command her attention and favor.

Celebrations to her name did more than summon her; they gave her power. Summer sun parties, gift giving, and community feasts caused the nourishing warmth of sunlight. Hospitals erected in her name lent healing touch to the mind in the morning rays. The grander the festival, the more attention The Sun paid. You would surely be blessed with long days and beautiful sunsets as thanks for the artisans crafting stained glass windows for her churches.

Not every pony was happy with happiness. They wanted more. With greater gifts and more breathtaking rituals, surely they could turn her favor toward them and command her aid in matters of war.

The sacrifices began.

They got what they wanted, in the end. The Sun turned her attention on their alters stained with blood and pools running red.

She was not pleased with this new form of worship. She was not pleased with the powers it weaved into her feathers, with the new nature of her lifegiving light.

She smote them all.

In the reeling black of burning villages, she wondered what she had done. She could not wash their stain from her essence. Her act of wrath had cemented their violence into her very being.

Now the sunlight shriveled, it seared, it dried and droughted. To the creatures she loved so much, it caused burns and other illnesses of the flank. She had become one with fire.

The harshness of her love never faded. Society had to adapt. Agriculture now required levies and aqueducts to irrigate the fields and keep the plants from burning. Shade needed to be brought to outdoor events. Flighted ponies created blankets in the sky to give relief from the punishing radiation.

Today, all of this seems normal. Of course the sun burns, that's how it's always been. It seems like such an inevitable part of life that it's hard to remember we caused it.

But we must remember. We must remember to never go there again. We must keep our worship kind, and remember that pain is not holy. Suffering is not divine. Death begets death and fear begets fear. Do not hurt each other for the sake of your god, and do not hurt yourselves.

She doesn't like it.

[raventroll80]

Reunion

Another Troll Doomguy Fic (ficlet? idk)

Apparently I’m incapable of writing an actual proper story for this idea so here have another short story. The Interns name is still going to be Seth btw because names are hard. Also this story takes place a month after the Slayer felled the Icon of Sin and just before TAG (The Ancient Gods). Also the Slayer is also going to be named Slayer for au lore reasons.

Feedback is more than welcome!

It had been a little over a month since the Slayer felled the Icon of Sin. The moment him and Vega had left the Fortress Dr. Hayden had forced Seth to leave the Fortress with him, Seth could still remember the cyborg telling him the Slayer was nothing more than a savage beast and claiming that he’d turn on them once he returned.

Seth still doesn’t understand why Dr. Hayden is so afraid of the Slayer, from his experience the big guy was actually quite the gentle giant. He missed the feeling of being held by him and he could still hear his rumbling purrs. He hoped the the big guy was alright and Vega too.

The bellowing fog horn snapped him back to reality as the barge neared the dock. Seth had been assigned to help finish setting up an outpost on the mainland for the ARC. The boat was full of people both ARC personnel and civilian volunteers. Though about half were security personnel that Dr. Hayden was adamant on coming due to the reports that the Slayer had made his way to central Sweden.

Though it felt a little excessive the extra soldiers made a lot of people feel safer because even though the Invasion was over there were still a significant amount of demons left roaming the earth. But that wasn’t the only thing freaking people out, reports had come in from all around the globe talking about unknown creatures fighting back against the demonic hordes as well as other strange happenings. One of the more concerning reports were that of massive trees erupting from the earth in certain areas.

Seth had seen the pictures, trees as taller than skyscrapers dotting the globe. One had even split Iceland in half. While earth may have survived the Demonic Invasion, clearly they weren’t out of the woods yet.

Soon the barge had docked at the outpost, people were milling about the place. A makeshift wall was being erected around the outside of the ruined town. Seth was being ushered towards what appeared to be an old news/radio station.

The building wasn’t too badly damaged and a surprising amount of the equipment was still in one piece.

After many hours of work to get the station operational when Seth left the station. It was dark out and he was walking towards one of the makeshift dormitories when he spotted some stray cats in an alleyway.

Seth had stopped and beckoned the cats, one of whom surprisingly came. The cat was orange and black with soft fluffy fur. Though the cat was oddly long.

Seth had been petting the cat for a few minutes when it suddenly startled and hissed at him before running off. Seth had turned around to leave when he spotted what had spooked the cats.

On the next block over stood a tall figure. They stood taller than the lampposts one of which they were covering with their hands.

“S-Slayer?” Seth softly asked, stepping towards the figure. Hoping the figure was in fact his friend and not some random creature.

The figure straitened up before letting go of the lamp light and grabbing something from their waist and disappearing into shadow. In the brief moment in which the light had illuminated the stranger, Seth had spotted a large amount of green on the figure.

Seth’s hopes were raised when he saw the green.

It was the Slayer!

Seth had quickly made his way to the dorms with a broad smile on his face.

“Well someone looks happy,” a guard said as Seth approached.

“Yeah, I guess you could say that,” he replied.

“Well what’s got you so happy then?” The guard replied.

“I’m pretty sure I just saw an old friend just now, I didn’t get a good look but I think it’s him.” Seth responded.

“That’s great! I hope you’re right, we need more optimism in the world,” the guard replied before wishing Seth a good night.

The night was rather peaceful, though the bed was rather uncomfortable. Seth didn’t mind, at least he wasn’t listening to yet another four hour lecture from Dr. Hayden on how the Slayer was dangerous and needed to be contained.

Even though Seth disagreed with the Dr. he still felt that the ARC got his point by the second lecture. Honestly he felt like Dr. Hayden was bordering on paranoia on the whole Slayer situation.

The longer he thought about it, it was really strange how scared Dr. Hayden was of Slayer. In fact from what he’s seen Slayer is more or less indifferent towards Dr. Hayden. After that train of thought Seth was more then ready to go to sleep.

In the morning Seth headed to the mess hall to grab a coffee and a breakfast. As he ate Seth overheard some people talking about seeing a large shadowy figure in the dead of the night.

Seth had a small smile on his face as he heard, glad that he hadn’t hallucinated his encounter last night. He finished up his breakfast and made his way back to the radio station.

On his way he saw the same cat from last night. The cat looked fine and happily approached him looking for more pets.

“Sorry buddy, can’t pet you right now. I gotta get that radio station up and running,” he said as the cat began loudly meowing at him.

The cat continued to follow him all the way to the news station. When he got there the cat was still following him. The guard at the door stopped him.

“Hey, uh, you can’t bring that cat in here?” They said confused.

“I don’t think I can control that,” Seth replied.

The cat meowed again.

“Hmm… if we’re quick enough you can get inside and I can close the door and stop the cat from entering,” the guard replied, Seth noticing that it was the same guard from last night.

“That could work, just be careful. We don’t want to hurt the poor thing,” Seth said staring at the cat.

It meowed yet again even louder then before.

“Let’s do this then,” the guard responded before counting down.

“Three… two… one!”

Seth rushed in the door and the guard closed it behind him. The cat stared at the two before walking through the broken glass door.

“Oh…” they both said as the cat walked over to the old reception desk and lied down.

“I’m just gonna go get to work setting up coms,” Seth said sheepishly.

“Yea…” the guard replied, embarrassed that they’d both been outsmarted by a cat.

As Seth entered the hallway he heard the cat give a happy meow as the guard began to pet it.

Today’s work was similar to yesterday but they were able to get the receiver up and running. Hopefully they’d be able to transmit soon, another priority was getting a PA system for settlement announcements.

After another long day of work Seth left the old news building. This time as he left he was greeted again by the guard and the cat. He chatted briefly with the guard talking about what he was working on. Once they were done the two left the building with the cat in tow.

As they were walking to the dorms Seth and the guard heard something fall over. The two turned to look at the source of the noise.

At first they didn’t see anything but then the guard raised their gun and positioned themselves between Seth and the alley. Seth followed the guards gaze and saw the shadowy outline of a large individual.

Seth was worried that the guard would fire on Slayer and he was about to try and drag the guard away, when the Slayer just walked away. The guard slowly lowered his gun before turning to Seth.

“You saw that right?” He asked, his voice shaking.

“Saw what?” Seth said after some quick thinking.

“The massive spectral visage of the Slayer? It was right there!” He shouted.

“Nope, though I will say this town is creepy as hell… haven’t seen anything myself but it just has this creepy vibe to it,” Seth replied, this time with a bit of truth to his words.

They continued their walk to the dorms, this time the guard was more on edge constantly looking around searching for threats. They parted ways once they had entered the old apartments, Seth heading up to his room, and the guard headed to the barracks.

The night was mostly uneventful, though there was the occasional skittering to be heard from the walls. The morning was uneventful as well though the cat was absent from his walk to the news station.

This time Seth was working in the basement trying to find one of the apparent several breakers in the building.

“Why are there several breaker boxes, who needs that many breakers?” He said as he searched the dark and dusty basement, cobwebs hung from the ceiling their owners long dead.

Occasionally Seth would walk into one of those cobwebs and fumble about trying to get the dusty webs, Seth didn’t like spiders and the cobwebs made him feel icky. After one of these little freak out sessions Seth found himself in a room that was apparently used to store holiday decorations.

He was looking around when he found a creepy vampire statue? Or was it a costume? He couldn’t tell. He leaned in and shone the flashlight on the decoration to get a better look. It had a large wide head with a large bat-like nose. It’s eyes were wide set bulging eyes, and had small human-like ears.

“Creepy…”

As he said that the “decoration” moved its eyes then its head to look at him fully. Seth jumped back with a scream. The creature gave a toothy smile before standing up and unfolding its gangly body, long clawed fingers cracking as if they hadn’t moved in years.

Seth sprinted out of the room and down the hallway and the creature slowly followed behind him. Seth slammed into the door and tried to open it, but to his horror it was locked. He began to pound on the door in panic as the creature approached. A painfully wide grin plastered across its face.

Seth’s terror turned to confusion as the creature pulled out a set of keys and unlocked the door, gesturing for him to go first. Slowly he crept through the door before turning around to look at the creature again.

“Greetings viewer, how are you this fine day?” It said with a muffled voice.

“Fine…” he replied still confused, “are… you not going to kill me?”

“Now why would I do that?” The creature replied somewhat offended.

“Sorry it’s just…” Seth started before the creature spoke again.

“Oh! My apologies! How could I forget about that whole “demonic” invasion. I forgot how my appearance could be similar to those things,” it said, sounding disgusted having to mention the Invasion.

“I would appreciate it if you kept my existence, confidential. You reaction is more than enough proof that now is not the time for my kind to return.” They continued.

“O-ok…” Seth said still slightly confused, “uh, if you’re going back down there could you turn the power back on, we kinda need it to finish setting up the settlement,”

“I’d be more than happy to help you in your endeavours, good day to you my good sir,” the creature said before closing the door.

As Seth walked back to the main room the lights finally flickered back on. He breathed a sigh of relief, glad that the creature kept their word. Though now he had millions of new questions.

What was that thing? Why was it down there? Who are they? Why did they call me a viewer? These thoughts swirled around his head as he worked. By the time they were done the had managed to establish a connection to the ARC headquarters.

They were congratulated on their hard work, then once again warned about how the Slayer had been sighted heading north.

“He’s already here,” Seth thought to himself as he listened to Dr. Hayden drone on. Some people had actually walked out being done with the doctors speech, Seth was one of them. He went to the dorms, ate supper, and went to bed. This time though, he woke up in the middle of the night.

Unable to go back to sleep, Seth decided to go for a late night walk. He left the apartments and walked down the street. Dim lights lit the streets as the aurora danced across the night sky.

Seth had stopped at a pier to watch the fiery curtains dance about. As he was watching the same cat from the days before jumped up on a pole and joined him. The two sat there for a while just watching the night sky.

Suddenly Seth was lifted up into the air. He yelped when he felt large hands wrap around his waist and hoist him into the air. His captor held him close to their body as they left the pier.

He tried to look at who had taken him, but the person just held him closer. Soon they had stopped at an old shipyard outside of town. His captor had now slowed down to a walk and had entered one of the abandoned buildings.

Seth had finally managed to calm down, and he had noticed that his captor was purring. He was able to wiggle a bit loose. Now that he was able to properly see who his captor was.

“Slayer!” He exclaimed as a big smile covered his face as he saw his beloved friend.

Slayer looked at Seth before setting him down. Now that his hands were free he was able to take his most of his armour off.

Once he was out of his armour he immediately picked Seth back up and held him close. He began to cry softly.

“I missed you too big guy,” Seth said softly and he tried his best to hold and console his large friend.

Eventually Slayer had stopped sobbing and had carried Seth to what appeared to be a large sleeping bag. He lied down still holding Seth in his arms and curled around the small man. It didn’t take long for the two to fall asleep.

When morning came Seth was the first to wake. He could tell Slayer was still asleep by his deep breathing and occasional snore. Seth was right next to his face and he clearly could see how tired Slayer must have been.

His eyes were more sunken than normal and he could see bags under his eyes.

“How long has it been since he slept?” Seth thought to himself.

Slowly he reached out and rested his hand on Slayers cheek and gently rubbed his thumb across one of the many scars that dotted his face. Slowly the Slayer began to rumble, the same kind of rumbling purr from when they had first met.

The Slayer’s face softened and a small smile crept across Seth’s face as he slowly drifted back to sleep.

[sebastianshaw]

“God put that rock there for a reason, and I’m not so sure you should move it.”

"Pffft! Allerdyce, as someone who makes his living writing fiction, I'd think you'd understand that it's all made up. What so-called "gods" there are, the Thors and Lokis and so-ons of the worlds, are really no different than a sufficiently powered mutant or alien or modified human. Sometimes less, in fact! Not the omniscient, omnipotent forces of Abrahamic lore. Those, those are as much a creation of man as your novels---and have historically been far more profitable. The price of church indulgences alone, once upon a time! My point is, I'm not letting a mere ROCK get between myself and a profit today. You don't need to help. Just stand back. I'd prefer that, in fact---that way, you have no claim to any share later." And when later did arrive, with all its skyscraper-high tentacles and billions of lamprey-like mouths with spirals of teeth and pulsating jelly-like eyes, from which Pyro and Shaw hid behind another rock, Shaw admitted, as much as Shaw admitted anything, "So, I'm starting to consider that when you said God put it there for a reason you might not have been speaking exactly literally, and I think I do take your actual meaning a bit better now."

@sammysdewysensitiveeyes

[faroreswinds]

Hey does three hopes give any info on when/how the serios religion was started? We know from houses it was started before sothis got murdered by nemesis. Was it because she gave tech and taught people? Or was it because she restored the world, everyone saw that and started calling her god? Is this answered in the main game and I missed it? I just want a proper timeline sometimes.

Hopes doesn't really offer much other than what we already knew from Houses - that it was an ancient religion that came from the time of Sothis.

I think we do get some more insight into some things though, such as the people considered the Relics as divine long before it was coded into the Church's teachings. But from what I can tell in terms of timeline, this is the impression I have gotten.

A long, long, very long time ago, Sothis came down to ancient Foldan. She fell literally, but whether she came upon a spaceship that came from space, or whether her fall from a heavenly plane is more literal we can't say. Needless to say, there was a legit crater where she fell, and it was were a civilization began.

Now, was it the Nabatean civilization or was it the Slithers? Houses and Hopes does not really make it super clear if the ancient Slithers were there first or not. I sort of get the impression that the Slithers may have been there first and then Sothis fell, but Sothis also claims she is the mother of all those who call Foldan home. We know Sothis created life, and more signs show that she also created the current humans that live on the surface now. But did she create the Slithers?

I think the game wants us to think she didn't, but there is honestly no hard concrete proof either way. We do know that the Slithers feared her wraith (after they tried to kill her first) and that they consider her a false god and a fell star. They also consider the other humans as "beasts", in a literal sense. This has led many fans to believe that the humans now are just warped versions of the Crest Beasts we see running around, or perhaps Nabateans who have been altered to be unable to transform and lack the other trademark signs of their race (green hair, green eyes, pointy ears, long lives). It does make sense, but I couldn't tell you if it's actually true.

The problem is is that the game really doesn't want to divulge too much information about the lore or backstory of the ancient past. It also likes to purposely muddy up the truth, and have characters believe in truths that may not actually be grounded in reality.

So much of what the Slithers claim... may not be true. Perhaps Sothis did create them long ago and then went into a Slumber, and they just... forgot about her. Their myths got mixed up, so that they believed her to be a false god, so when she awoke again they no longer worshipped her. Or perhaps she is legit a false god that rained on their party eons ago and they are just big mad that they aren't stronger than her. Sothis does seem to know of their group and dislikes them, but that's not a strong indication of her actual relationship to them.

Regardless of what the truth actually is, the world advanced to what you could consider a close equivalent to our own, and even beyond in terms of technology. They had skyscrapers, great advancements like robots, etc. But they also had weapons of mass destruction. And they began to war with each other, which angered Sothis (whether she was asleep and awoken by this destruction or she was always ruling from above isn't exactly clear. I think she was awoken though).

Fearing her wraith, the Slithers turned on her and basically nuked most of themselves out of existence in an attempt to destroy her. But they were unable to. Her own power and technological achievements were far greater than theirs. So before they could all drown in the great flood that she set upon them (I suspect she might have also down this to wash away the literal fires that burned the land from the nukes but this isn't exactly stated), they fled underground.

Arval and Ephimendes speak of an accident. Of rushing water. I almost wonder of this memory is of that of the great flood, but I'm... not entirely sure.

The world was basically in ruins. So Sothis spent an immeasurable amount time repairing it. I personally think she created more than just the new humans - with that must destruction, surely the animals and plants were destroyed too. I think she recreated those as well. She healed the land, and it took so much energy that when her labors were complete, she went to sleep in the Holy Tomb to recover.

Then Nemsis did the stabby sometime later.

Was it because she gave tech and taught people? Or was it because she restored the world, everyone saw that and started calling her god?

We don't know why the people call her a god, but literally Sothis calls HERSELF a god. She never makes any allusions to lying either - she legit thinks herself as a deity. Her own magic seal calls her one too.

[the-average-melli]

Pokémon Legends Arceus Tickles the Collective Unconscious

The Collective Unconscious (kollektives Umbewußtes) is a concept originating from psychoanalyst Carl Jung's writings to explain the connectedness of certain themes, symbols, and experiences that can be found across different cultures and epochs. Jung classified these reoccurring primordial themes, symbols, and instincts as archetypes, which combined, illuminate overlapping mythologies across space and time. Archetypes are universally-shared ideas of events (such as birth or death), figures (such as the mother figure, father figure, the child, the hero, etc.) or motifs (such as the apocalypse or creation—the beginning and end of all things).

In comparative mythology (a look at different cultures’ mythologies to identify common elements), the axis mundi (axis of the Earth) describes any connection between two higher and lower points. Some examples of axes mundi are human-made structures such as towers, religious temples, sculpted pillars, skyscrapers, spires, or staircases; other examples include natural phenomena such as trees, the northern and southern poles of earth, columns of smoke or fire, or mountains.

Mountains are one of the oldest natural examples of axis mundi; throughout antiquity, these elevated spaces became embedded in the Collective Unconscious as holy and sacred sites since they were considered by many groups of people as a direct connection between Earth and the heavens above. Because of this connection, many cultures incorporated mountains into their mythos detailing divine encounters; mountains served as a midpoint where humans could ascend, while divine forces could descend.

In ancient times, Mount Olympus—the highest mountain in all of Greece— was considered the “seat of the gods,” or a “heavenly threshold” in the prose of Homer's Odyssey and the Iliad. Mt. Olympus was said to be home to the 12 Olympian gods who were worshipped as major deities of the Greek pantheon. In the present day, people continue to pilgrimage to Mt. Olympus as a sacred site in the present day despite historical domination by other religions and cultures because of its lasting status as axis mundi in the Collective Unconscious.

Mount Sinai shares a similar status within the traditions and culture, and religious observance of Judaism, and the religious texts of Christianity and Islam in the way that it provided a physical location where humans could ascend while G-d could descend; it served as a place where humanity could come face-to-face with the divine and encounter it in a personal way. The events at Mt. Sinai, according to the Bible, included divine revelation and in some interpretations, a story of creation; the Hebrew man, Moses, ascended this mountain to receive the Ten Commandments which functioned as the legal structure for the newly freed Hebrew people to live by. The reception of the Commandments marked the “creation” of the Hebrew people as their own distinct tribe in the way that they provided a fundamental framework for social conduct and order.

The Curious Case of Mount Coronet

In the main series Pokémon games Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, Platinum, their remakes, and, as of January this year, Pokémon Legends Arceus, the same archetypes appear pertaining to one fictional axis mundi: Mount Coronet. Mt. Coronet has geographical significance as the highest mountain in the Sinnoh region; it holds cultural significance for Sinnoh’s inhabitants as the seat of creation within the lore of the games. It was here that Arceus brought into being the Creation Trio comprised of Dialga (time), Palkia (space), and Giratina (antimatter) which themselves bear similarities to real-world religious themes and cosmogonies. Arceus also created the Lake Guardians (Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf) who respectively brought about the traits shared by all people and Pokémon (knowledge, emotion, and willpower).

Slight noteworthy tangent, but one subtle detail in Pokémon’s cosmogony that may reference Biblical cosmogony is how the Pokémon Unown appears often with Arceus and the Creation Trio. I personally link this to B’reishit/Genesis of the Bible and the method G-d uses to create all things; spoken word/language are use used to declare all things into existence just as Unown behave as the “backbone” of the Pokémon universe, especially in areas where space and time collide during fight scenes between Dialga and Palkia. This little detail with Unown which occurs in games during an Arceus event in Pokémon Heart Gold and Soul Silver or movies like The Rise of Darkrai, stands out to me personally as a beautiful visual for the way language and how it is used can be a means of creation, and a method that binds together all things in the universe.

The reason I brought up Mt. Olympus earlier ties into the peak of Mt. Coronet and the Temple of Sinnoh that we finally get to visit before it is destroyed in Pokémon Legends Arceus; undamaged, the architecture almost definitely takes inspiration from Ancient Greek structures like the Parthenon. Both buildings share a raised stage, Doric and Ionic columns, and a pediment façade decorated with statues and ornaments pertaining to the sacred nature of the space. Just as the actual Greek Parthenon resting on the acropolis, this Temple of Sinnoh shares a deep connection to the indigenous group of people in-game who built it: the Celestica people. (This strong inspiration from Ancient Greek cultures persists with Arceus’ own elements, and Volo’s post-game drip).

Post-Game Drip

In addition to physical features like the Temple of Sinnoh, Mt. Coronet shares overlapping similarities with Mt. Sinai as a location where humans can ascend and the divine can descend--an elevated stage perfect for encountering the divine. With Carl Jung’s archetypes, the Collective Unconscious, and axis mundi in mind, Mt. Coronet functions as the location where archetypical events climax in the main story, but more notably, the post-game once the player character collects 17 of the 18 plates. During the post-game, the mountain is used as a vehicle to the divine. It is here that Volo explains his entire motive to meet Arceus face-to-face, and the lengths he went through to initiate this desired interaction with the Pokémon version of G-d itself. Though he doesn’t accomplish this goal to confront the Being he and his people worshipped for millennia, he relinquishes the remaining plate required for the player to obtain the Azure Flute—the ultimate item required to encounter Pokémon G-d in the Hall of Origin (without hacking! The original event in D/P/Pt games was never held, so there was no other way to get this item unless it was hacked into the bag. The Hall of Origin existed above Spear Pillar and there was a soundtrack for Arceus’ battle, but authentic methods to get this flute didn’t exist. Over a decade later, hurrah! We can now enter the Hall of Origin and duke it out with Pokémon G-d!)

In Conclusion

The way Pokémon Legends Arceus evokes certain archetypes is incredible; I only talk about mountains and the deeper meanings humans have given them throughout antiquity here, but there are several more that I might tackle in the future if I find any motivation to do so. "Vidya gaems" don’t cause violence, but they do serve as a fount of information and an accessible, enjoyable way to learn. By recognising overarching themes and similarities across time and space as Jung seeks to describe with the unified nature of the Collective Unconscious, we may find in our own lived experience rich ways of exploring the complexities of the human condition.

References

https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Hisui

https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Sinnoh#History

https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Mount_Coronet

https://m.bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Temple_of_Sinnoh

https://m.bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Spear_Pillar

https://m.bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Coronet_Highlands

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Sinai

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacred_mountains

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Olympus#Name_and_mythological_associations

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axis_mundi