#spirit of variance

[evilhorse]

A rider must have a steed.

[comicwaren]

From Nightcrawlers #001, “Voices of Fire”

Art by Paco Medina and Jay David Ramos

Written by Si Spurrier

[lesbeansprout]

Wanted: fiction podcast recommendations to replicate algae to!

Once a month I have to spend 2 days replicating algae plates and I always use that time to marathon a podcast or two. Just on day 1 of this month’s replication, I caught up on… all the shows I currently listen to. So I need to build a list back up!

Only catch is, they need to be good Lab Work podcasts, so minimal audio jump scares (specifically sudden high pitched noises), and ideally nothing with a lot of audio gore either (silt verses and malevolent are my upper limits on that front so anything with more audio gore than those, I have to sit out)

If you have suggestions, I will love you forever!!

[amongthestackspodcast]

New episode!

In which something in the Records Room makes itself known

Written by Jesse Syratt and Nigel McKeon

Starring Jesse Syratt, @bullshotuk and @ratgrimes

Directed by @alexyquest

Produced + scored by Linwood

Credits by @reefsharkivist

Out everywhere now!

[hangingslothcentral]

New Episode of Spirit Box Radio!! SBR 3.1: Darker

Hello, faithful listeners. Welcome back to Spirit Box Radio. It's been a while, and maybe broadcasting again isn't the best idea, but Sam wants to help people and he has the power to do just that, which means it's his responsibility. Right?

Listen here: https://shows.acast.com/spirit-box-radio/https://shows.acast.com/spirit-box-radio/

Read a transcript: https://hangingslothstudios.com/sbr-3-1-darker/

Content warnings are provided in the episode notes, and at the top of the transcript.

Support the show on Patreon!! https://patreon.com/hangingslothstudios

Until 23:59 GMT tonight, you ccan get the SBR S2 Soundtrack for free when you sign up at £5pcm or above!!

Stick around to the end of this episode for a trailer for the brilliant Department of Variance of @somewhereohio !!! Check out their tumblr for more info or find out more on their website, https://somewhereohio.com ((Just LOOK at that incredible artwork too my word ;-;))

[eilinelsghost]

(Medium) Hot Take: "Did the Oath actually condemn Fëanor & his sons to the Everlasting Darkness" is the wrong question because it has a clear textual answer: which is "no."

Did it have the power to do so? That's another question entirely and a fun one to debate.

But did it? Absolutely not.

Because each of the sons of Fëanor (and Fëanor himself) fulfilled their Oath. Nowhere in the various drafts of the Oath is there a version where they call down the Everlasting Darkness if they fail to retrieve a Silmaril. What they actually swear is:

an oath of enmity for ever against any that should hold the Silmarils The Book of Lost Tales, Part One

shall no law nor love nor league of Gods, no might nor mercy, not moveless fate, defend him for ever from the fierce vengeance of the sons of Fëanor, whoso seize or steal or finding keep the fair enchanted globes of crystal whose glory dies not, the Silmarils. The Lays of Beleriand, The Flight of the Noldoli

no law, nor love, nor league of hell, no might of Gods, no binding spell, shall him defend from hatred fell of Fëanor's sons, whoso take or steal or finding keep a Silmaril. The Lays of Beleriand, The Lay of Leithian: Canto IV

neither law, nor love, nor league of swords, dread nor danger, not Doom itself, shall defend him from Fëanor, and Fëanor's kin, whoso hideth or hoardeth, or in hand taketh, finding keepeth or afar casteth a Silmaril. This swear we all: death we will deal him ere Day's ending, woe unto world's end! Our word hear thou, Eru Allfather! To the everlasting Darkness doom us if our deed faileth. Morgoth's Ring; Fifth section of the Annals of Aman

they swore an oath [...] calling the Everlasting Dark upon them if they kept it not; [...] vowing to pursue with vengeance and hatred to the ends of the World Vala, Demon, Elf or Man as yet unborn, or any creature, great or small, good or evil, that time should bring forth unto the end of days, whoso should hold or take or keep a Silmaril from their possession. The Silmarillion; Of the Flight of the Noldor

Every version of the Oath that includes the Everlasting Darkness calls it down upon them only if they do not pursue the perceived thief with vengeance and hatred. The only variance from this is in the version from the Annals of Aman where one could conceivably link the Everlasting Darkness with a failure to kill whosoever took a Silmaril. But this version is replaced by the consistent form shown in all other iterations (the same form that is included in the published Silmarillion) and consequently doesn't hold much weight for the argument.

Fëanor and each of his sons (save Maglor who survives the First Age with a Silmaril in his possession) met their ends in pursuit of this exact clause - pursuing those who hold a Silmaril with vengeance and hatred - and consequently dying in fulfilment of their Oath. Which is to say that even if we do hold that the Oath had the power to damn them to the Everlasting Darkness (which it very well may have!), it would not, could not, and did not do so because the terms were met.

And even setting the specific wording of the Oath, the text tells us exactly what happens to one who dies in pursuit of the Oath while still not regaining a single Silmaril: "...[Fëanor's] likeness has never again appeared in Arda, neither has his spirit left the halls of Mandos" (The Silmarillion, Of the Return of the Noldor).

So yes, the Oath might have had the power to send them into the Everlasting Darkness, but it did not have the grounds to do so. And so it did not.

[tropinano]

List of As Many Fiction Podcasts As I Could Think Of

NOT ORGANIZED! This is a big list of fiction podcasts with no descriptions, meant for the sole purpose of picking one based on the title and just trying it out. Just a big ol' list of titles. Kindof like a blind date! Explore a couple of the ones that intrigue you and come back later for more.

The Hotel

The Night Post

I am in Eskew

Whisperling

Residents of Proserpina Park

The Daedalus Compound

EOS10

The Magnus Archives

Francis Forever

SMILE GROVE

Janus Descending

The Godfrey Audio Guide

Old Gods of Appalachia

Camp Here & There

The Way We Haunt Now

Jack of All Trades

SUPERSUITS

Illuminati Interns

Death by Dying

Life with Leo(h)

Hello from the Hallowoods

Malevolent

The 12:37

Spirit Box Radio

Lost Terminal

Desperado

Neighbourly

The Switchboard

The Mistholme Museum of Mystery, Morbidity and Mortality

Aurora Everlasting

The Swashbuckling Ladies Debate Society

CARAVAN

The Amelia Project

Jar of Rebuke

Monstrous Agonies

Where the Stars Fell

Kisses In The Dark

The Town Whispers

Uncommon Commons

The Author's Anathema

Elevator Pitch

Brimstone Valley Mall

Kane & Feels

Middle:Below

The McIlwraith Statements

Caledonian Gothic

I have seen Niagara

Petrified

In Darkness Vast

The Outside Tapes

Seren

Gather the Suspects

This Foul Earth

John from Home

Glasgow Ghost Stories

The Tower

The Antique Shop

either

Tales from Aletheian Society

The Secret of St Kilda

The Green Horizon

Road X

THE NOWHERE MALL

Seven of Hearts

The Department of Variance of Somewhere, Ohio

SubverCity Transmit

The Nuclear Solution

Inkwyrm

Jim Robbie and the Wanderers

Burst

With Caulk and Candles

This Planet Needs a Name

The Glass Appeal

Mar's Best Brisket

Nym's Nebulous Notions

Midnight Radio

The Bright Sessions

When Angels Visit Armadillo

The Mysterious Secrets of Uncle Bertie's Botanarium

Nowhere, On Air

Dark Ages

Welcome to Night Vale

The Silt Verses

Care & Feeding of Werewolves

The Bridge

The Far Meridian

ars PARADOXICA

Among the Stars and Bones

Counterbalance

Primordial Deep

Hannahpocalypse

Someone dies in this Elevator

Mabel

Seen and Not Heard

Abyss FM

Bodies in Space

Among the Stacks

Station Arcadia

Station Blue

Mnemosyne

Wolf 359

Tranthologies

Mx Bad Luck

SAYER

Limetown

What will be here?

Wake of Corrosion

The Pasithea Powder

SINKHOLE

Tell No Tales

The Vesta Clinic

Dreamboy

Georgie Romero is Done For

The Domestic Life of Anthony Todd

Alice isn't Dead

Stellar Firma

Unwell

The Strange Case of Starship Iris

The Heart of Ether

The Orbiting Human Circus

Wooden Overcoats

Greater Boston

Valence

Moonbase Theta Out

The Penumbra Podcast

Desert Skies

Deviser

Leaving Corvat

Red Valley

Back Again Back Again

Sidequesting

[tepkunset]

When we talk about decolonizing gender, it’s important to think about your own cultural context and identity. For Indigenous people, this might mean looking inward and to your elders to understand the history of gender variance in your community. Many young Indigiqueer people have also taken to revitalizing sacred traditions and roles typically performed and held by Two-Spirit people, such as performance, healing, and art. But the responsibility of decolonizing gender isn’t limited to Two-Spirit people or even just Native folks. We all have a part to play in returning the land and its history to its rightful stewards. It’s on non-Native allies to work to deconstruct the colonial idea that gender is limited to narrow definitions of what constitutes a “man” and a “woman.” This means understanding how gender-based oppression stems in great part from centuries of colonial violence, patriarchy, and queerphobia. It also makes listening to Two-Spirit elders and organizers all the more important.

(I wanted to highlight this part, but please read the entire article; it's a great one!)

[spaceistheplaceart]

Body Swap - The Exorcism Part One

finally done... ough. its really hard to make shigeo emote just the right amount... hes such a deadpan boy its hard to have variance over the panels

masterpost

previous

(Please Reblog! Leave a comment in the tags! They make me very happy :)

SUMMARIZED ID: Reigen gives Mob a pep talk about speaking to other people and tells him he just has to gain experience by training his social skills. Mob is at 50% progress towards his explosion. They arrive at the clients house and Dimple leaves due to the powerful spirits inside. FULL ID UNDER CUT

START ID:

(This is a body swap, so I'll be referring to the characters as who they actually are but keep in mind that Reigen is in Mob's body and vice versa.)

"Reigen is speaking to Mob,his hand is on his shoulder and he's holding up one finger while speaking. Reigen says, "There is no set way to get along with other people. Because every person is unique- what might be the right thing to say to someone, could be the wrong thing for somebody else, understand?"

Mob looks at Reigen with a slightly awed expression. Reigen continues, "The best you can do is try to treat people with the same kindness you'd want for yourself."

Reigen smiles and leans over a bit, putting his free arm up on his knee that's perched on the curb. His other hand is still on Reigen's shoulder. Dimple is sitting to the right of Mob on the curb, with two little legs dangling over the edge. Reigen continues, patting Mob on the back. "More than likely, they're feeling just as awkward as you are! Nobody's got it all figured out- it only seems that way because you're not seeing the bigger picture of their lives."

Reigen holds up two fingers, smirking confidently. "People who are really good at talking to others benefit from common sense and experience." He gestures his hand out and shrugs a little dismissively. "And while you don't have common sense," He points at Mob, smiling widely again. "You can get experience!" He places his hand over his mouth in thought. "You're still in that exercise club, right?"

"Mhmm." Mob replies. Reigen points at him. "How much can you lift right now?"

Mob looks a little embarrassed, averting his eyes with a slight blush on his cheeks. "mm... 35 pounds."

"And how much could you lift when you started?" Reigen asks. Mob looks back to him, eyebrows raised slightly and a sweatdrop on his cheek. "20." He answers.

Reigen beams and holds up a finger, gesticulating. "That's a huge improvement, right!? But that's only because you trained everyday."

He tilts his head slightly downward, lopsidedly grinning, and confidently looks at Mob. "You have to train your social skills too, remember that."

He continues, "Hey, why don't you start helping me with consultations every once in a while? We can start small."

Mob's lips are slightly parted and he looks at Reigen in slight awe. "It's like training...?" He thinks to himself. He smiles, eyes shining and nods. "Yeah."

PROGRESS TOWARDS EXPLOSION: 50%

A transition panel of the top of a taxi, just showing the 'taxi' sign on the top of the car as speed lines go across the panel horizontally.

Mob and Reigen stand outside the clients house. It very boxy in shape with a square roof and garage. The windows are in triplets and shaped like rectangles. There is one small tree in front of the house. The double doors are framed by an angular archway and are dark. Above the archway is a semicircle window. Outside is a square, brick, fence.

Reigen knocks on the door. Hiroto opens the door. Reigen looks up at Hiroto, the camera angle makes him seem smaller. He is smiling up at him with his customer service smile. "Good evening, Mr. Hiroto!" Reigen greets.

Hiroto crouches down, hands on his knees, and smiles at Reigen. "Good evening, young man. You're right on time!"

"Come on in." He continues. Reigen keeps his smile, but it's tighter and strained now. There's an angry pulse symbol on his forehead. He heads inside with Hiroto. Mob stays stood outside.

Mob looks behind him at Dimple, who is floating away. "Dimple? Are you going somewhere?"

Dimple turns to Mob. "Yeah. I can tell there's some pretty powerful spirits in there so... I'm gonna steer clear for now."

He shrugs, smiling in a lighthearted manner. "Would've been fun to see Reigen try to use your powers, though!"

"Oh." Mob says.

Dimple's lightheartedness lessens and he looks a little unsure. "But... uh... if you need me... you know how to reach me, right?"

Mob nods, smiling slightly.

Dimple floats off, waving behind his back to Mob. "Alright, good luck. And don't let Reigen get your body killed! You don't wanna be stuck looking like that forever, ahaa!~"

END ID

[kyri45]

ISAT Sky:Cotl!AU Part 1: The Dock

AKA: How I think a possible sequel could be stroctured, using Sky: Cotl as a base for this AU)

SO! We know that Something happened after Siffrin almost destroyed the world. Something broke in a way, by the presence of Red. And also by the fact that the Daydreaming one can remember more clearly about their sister (they remember her appearance and that she had a bag, all things that are more visual than the abstrac fact that she liked to sing, etc… all this while she didn’t struggle to remember)

So the island is so forgotten, you can barely see it anymore (you CAN, briefly, see it by the end of the game)

… but that doesn’t mean is not there physically, right? Wouldn’t that mean you could theoretically still go there? It would probably kill someone from the amount of headace they would have probably. But something happened, and remembering some of the stuff isn’t as painful anymore.

The story could begin with the gang going to Bambouche, maybe to go see Bonnie’s village. The are rumors about people starting to see the island again, But it seems clouds and fog are in the way most of the time. Siffrin could finally start talking slowly to their family about what he could remember from his home.

This could lead them to try and physically go there to the Island by boat (Shiffrin used to have one, and could properly use it even at a young age, so they maybe they know the basics of navigation?) If you can see the island from Bamb0uche it means it can’t be more than a day on a boat away.

What they land on is something similar to the Isle of Dawn, and as they explore, Siffrin unintentionally activates one of the first murals of the game. (I’m using Sky's old beginning for this, not the one after the Aviary update).

“All are given breath by starlight…”  “The first of us lived in the joy that we would one day return to the stars”

The murals could be written in Siffrin language, and being that Siffrin DOES have Memory of Memories even after the loops ended, he CAN read without pain his language again.

As they venture further, they explore the only things left which are the boats and the remaining dock.

The Spirits

The spirits could be either actual people who are in an unconscious state from being part of the Wish or reflections of them (almost like the Sadness is the equivalent of becoming lightless in Sky) and their memories can help you remember how to say specific words in your language that will help you later unlock doors or simply slowly breaking the Wish.

Winged Lights as Wish/Star levels

As for all the stuff about winged lights, I would like for Siffrin to gain his first “star” here, but in any case, I don’t think they would be able to fight until the end. But each “star” or “winged light” could be used as a way to gain more Wish Craft or XP in a way.

In any case, the Family could reach the main entrance of the Kingdom (the Temple of Dawn), and more star-based riddles are solved to enter the temple. A vision of the future gives them a flash of the Wish and lowers their HP aggressively, but then, they see one constellation and Siffrin realize that he can finally recognize it. The first constellation he can recognize after years...

A short note about the colors

The first hints of the history of The Country could lead them to see specks of one of the colors.

Now, my main theory about colors is that whoever made the Wish for the country to disappear could have made it in a way phrased so that they also took its “Light” away, and being colors a variance of light refracted, that could have caused them from being taken away.

(also because I like how in Sky the following mural says “But then the sky went dark, and our kingdom shattered”)

What it would be REALLY cool to see in a sequel, is how shades of colors are slowly coming back the more you uncover about The Country (kind of like Gris in a way)

From darkness, one color at a time, they could light up the memory of the Country again!

And that’s all for part one! If you like where this is going, please let me know!

[ancientcraftnoccultism]

Beginner Class - Casting A Circle

Ancient Craft & Occultism

___

By KB

Introduction

Welcome back to class everyone! ♡ As you may have noticed, we're moving out of getting familiar with our own energy and beginning to establish our own path in the craft! It's important to note that everyone's path will be different, which is one of the main reasons for so many various forms of the same essential practices. Today we will be discussing casting circles in ceremonial work. Casting circles IS NOT ESSENTIAL when it comes to ceremonial work, although specific paths do adhere to this tradition. It's also very beneficial when starting your path to find what does & doesn't work for you! Let's get into it.

What Is A Circle?

Essentially, a circle is an energetic barrier that is used as protection, concentration, and raising energy. The magic circle represents fullness, perfection, and unity as well as the cosmos' creation, the womb of mother Earth, the seasonal cycle, and birth-death-regeneration. It becomes possible to transcend the physical and to awaken the mind to greater and deeper levels of consciousness inside the circle.

Since ancient times, when they were drawn around the beds of sick people and new mothers to shield them from demons, circles have had a magical, protective connotation. The ruins of stone circles in Britain are evidence of the significance of circles in early paganic rituals. Modern Paganism and Witchcraft use sacred circles that are derived from Western ceremonial magic. Despite these significant variances, there are some parallels.

In ceremonial magic, the circle stands in for a sacred location where the magician summons and controls deadly and elusive spirits and entities. The circle must be carefully cast in order to protect against them. In order to avoid having a summoned entity seize him and strike him down or experience something terrible, the practitioner must never leave the circle while performing a ritual, not even accidentally swinging his arm outside of it. Detailed directions for casting the circle with consecrated ritual materials during specific astrological conditions and hours of the day or night are provided in grimoires and other magical texts. A floor that has been well cleaned is used to form the circle, and salt might be used to emphasize the border.

In modern Paganism and Witchcraft, circles are formed based on the amount of space available, the number of participants, and the goal. They can be measured out with a string or traced on the ground, or they can simply be established by traversing the circumference. Outside, circles might not be perfectly round. A circle is cast after expelling bad energy. The high priestess in Wicca may symbolically sweep it away with a broom. Participants' consciousness is prepared through esoteric techniques like breathing exercises, drumming, visualization, and meditation. The circle area contains the altar and the necessary ritual supplies. Pagans and witches working alone could just have a few tools. The four quarters, or cardinal points, are marked with candles, stones, or other things placed on the ground. These circles can be cast for protection, for example, to ward off psychic attack or protect a home against intruders. magic circles do not last indefinitely; protective ones must be periodically recharged through ritual.

Why Cast A Circle?

Ritual magic can be hindered by a variety of things, including distractions from the real world, other people's opposing wills, and chaotic entities who feed off the practitioner's efforts, to mention a few. Casting a circle might help you block out outside distractions and maintain your attention on the task at hand. Many practitioners cast the circle with psychic protection in mind because a magical trance can be a psychically vulnerable state.

The inner barrier of the circle is just as significant as the outer one. Like all energy that we are aware of, magical energy has a propensity to ricochet and disperse throughout the cosmos. Its natural habit is motion. The basic idea behind ritual is to temporarily focus part of that energy for a specific reason. You may gather more energy and hold onto it longer in a circle. A well-constructed circle provides spirits or deities with a comfortable landing area for the length of the ritual if your activity entails calling forth spirits or deities.

All of this can be summed up by noting that a magic circle serves two main functions: to keep outside disruptions out and to keep ritual energy inside. Without a doubt, this is greatly oversimplified. So let's suppose the circle is a tool to help your magick be more powerful.

How Do I Cast One?

Well, this one is honestly all up to you. As with most things in witchcraft, everything depends upon the practitioner. Regardless of whatever way you decide to cast your circle, all methods share a form of concentration/visualization and commitment to self belief.

Four cardinal points are evenly spaced around the circumference of a conventional circle. They are connected to the Wiccan seasonal calendar, the four directions, and the four elements. The Quarters, in my opinion, are legendary beings that have made appearances in numerous world faiths. You can think of them as tent poles to balance the energy and form of the circle. All of them are typical procedures in circle-casting: Visualizing the circle's boundaries, walking around it, cutting a boundary with a dagger or sword, calling the Quarters, lighting candles, setting objects along the circle's edge, and performing a ritual cleaning inside the circle. You might incorporate some or all of these components into your casting.

Some individuals favor using an athame, a length of cord, stones, or candles for each of the four quarters when casting the circle. Setting up the circle's boundaries can be made much easier with the use of these tools. Since participants may not be familiar with the ins and outs of circle-casting, more tools are typically employed in larger and more public rituals. Numerous calls, shrines at the Quarters, chants, and textual evocations are frequently used in large public circles to increase visibility. There isn't a technique that is superior to the others. The participants' will and other circumstances will affect the circle's strength.

Here's a small guideline to help those who aren't sure where to begin this exercise.

Ground & Center Yourself

Set the four cardinal points with correspondences if you wish

Light an incense (or visualize) and use it as a wand to "trace out" your circle.

As you face each cardinal point, call to the spirits of the direction if you wish.

You will have a very distinguished energetic feeling, which will feel different for everyone, but you will know once your circle has formed a solid foundation.

Of course, there are MANY ways to cast a circle, this just may be the most basic for those who aren't sure where to begin.

[brother-emperors]

I know everyone likes to do the cassius seduces brutus into conspiracy bit, but consider that porcia also has a list of political grievances about brutus and that they should conspire to seduce brutus together

(I saw a tweet on ph twitter about a politician's recent marriage and it made me laugh)

the background text in the first panel is plutarch's brutus 7

 Now that there were several praetor­ships to be had, it was expected that the one of greatest dignity, that is, the praetor­ship of the city, would fall either to Brutus or to Cassius; and some say that the two men, who were already slightly at variance for other reasons, were still more estranged by this circumstance, although they were relatives, since Cassius was the husband of Junia, a sister of Brutus. But others say that this rivalry was the work of Caesar, who secretly favoured the hopes of each until, thus induced and incited, they entered into competition with one another. Brutus, however, made the contest supported only by his fair fame and his virtue, as against many brilliant and spirited exploits of Cassius in the Parthian war.​ But Caesar, after hearing the claims of each, said, in council with his friends: "Cassius makes the juster plea, but Brutus must have the first praetor­ship." So Cassius was appointed to another praetor­ship, but he was not so grateful for what he got as he was angry over what he had lost.

Plutarch, Brutus 7

Brutus: The Noble Conspirator, Kathryn Tempest

[thebaronfelidae]

Two-spirit

"“Two-spirit” refers to a person who identifies as having both a masculine and a feminine spirit, and is used by some Indigenous people to describe their sexual, gender and/or spiritual identity. As an umbrella term it may encompass same-sex attraction and a wide variety of gender variance, including people who might be described in Western culture as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transsexual, transgender, gender queer, cross-dressers or who have multiple gender identities."

Quote source: Two-Spirit Community

[scifikimmi]

Note: I have already finished or am caught up on Welcome To Nightvale, Malevolent, The Magnus Archives, Re: Dracula, and The Greater Gatsby.

[lokiondisneyplus]

The easiest way to save the Time Variance Authority and the timelines from imploding on themselves? Why, Time Slip again and again into the same scenario hundreds, if not thousands, or maybe millions of times until you get it right (this is not actually how to save the TVA, but that’s a story for another time…).

The beginning of Episode 6 of Marvel Studios’ Loki is essentially Loki reliving a no-good, very bad day again, and again, and again in hopes of just once getting the Temporal Loom to stop overloading. Loki literally spends centuries trying to figure this out, which means that on-screen everyone at the TVA is reliving the same scenario again and again…and again. And again.

Behind the scenes, that meant that the cast had to film scenes from Episode 4 again (and again and again) to mesh into Loki’s quest in Episode 6. While Loki might be frustrated with having to replay this multiple times the rest of the cast was left very bewildered — mimicking what we see on screen for the TVA characters.

“I think the funniest part of all of that, though, was as we were shooting it, you are essentially replaying that Episode 4 over and over and over again, as performers, as actors, they just start to lose track of days, and where we are in the story and what's actually happening,” Executive Producer Kevin Wright explains to Marvel.com. But taking everything a step further, star Tom Hiddleston was clued into what was happening in the latter half of the season with this constant reply of Episode 4. The rest of his friends at the TVA? Not so much. 

“I would say the way that Episode 4 ended, the way it was shot, our cast, outside of Tom, thought something very different was happening,” Wright adds with a laugh. “We kind of lied to them about what was happening to sell a really insane performance. Up until I think they had all seen the episodes, they had thought something very different was going to happen at the end of 4. I think there was all this extra level of confusion for them, as we're repeating this moment over and over and over again, trying to figure out why that is happening and what is going on.”

And the cast certainly felt this confusion. Season 1 of the series was filmed in order, while Season 2 was filmed out of order, so no one questioned why one scene was being filmed again and again (and again for centuries).

“Sometimes we’re the end before we’ve shot the beginning before we’ve shot the middle before we’ve shot the beginning of the middle and then the end of the middle and then the end of the beginning,” Star Sophia Di Martino jokes. “It’s already a head melt trying to get your head around this series and all the time slipping and to-ing and fro-ing between universes but then shooting out of sequence is like a hat on a hat and the hat is really confusing.”

But Di Martino didn’t care how many times they had to film it because it just meant she got to see her friends every day on set.

“We did a lot of days in [Temporal Core] room, over and over again. There were some really fun times when we were all going a little bit stir crazy, Cabin fever on the edge, but it was really lovely knowing I was going to come to work every and see all those guys every day.”

To the surprise of no one, Tom Hiddleston kept everyone’s spirits up, because as Wunmi Mosaku notes, “He has the whole script in his head at every moment and he can tell you exactly where you were just coming from and where you’re going.”

“He’s always reminding us like, this is the first time even though we’ve shot this a thousand times, this is the first time we’ve done this. The repetition of the scenes was really, really hard to keep the intensity equal as well because it’s a repeated scene. Honestly, some people are just magicians, and I would say Tom Hiddleston is one of those, I don’t know how he keeps happy, and chirpy, he doesn’t dream about [filming] it all night. He keeps the joy in the room.”

Not only was he the cheerleader, but Hiddleston was also working extra hard to keep an air of mystery for the scene, continuing to film while others had left.

“Oftentimes, a lot of that with Tom specifically was shot when the cast would go on their lunch breaks,” Wright adds. “They would all go away, and Tom would stay back with our directors and our camera operator and everybody and kind of just like churn through so many different versions of these. It was weirdly a thing that I think we all had the same idea of what it was going to be, but only Tom kind of had it in his head of how it would end up.”

Don’t worry, Hiddleston always took a lunch, too, as Wright notes, “he just did it later.”

[markrosewater]

Does R&D have any plans to harmonize the names and rules text of tokens, similar to what happened to creature types in Llorwyn? For instance, Thopter artifact creature tokens are usually 1/1 fliers, but Leonardo da Vinci makes 0/2 flying Thopters. So the name "thopter token" doesn't uniquely tell you what the rules text is. Likewise, there are 2/2 Knights with firs strike, 2/2 Knights with trample and haste, 1/1 colorless Spirits, 1/1 white Spirits, and many more examples.

We do within any one set, but we allow variance between sets.