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youryurigoddess · 6 months

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On love and sacrifices

There’s so much more to this scapegoating business and big sacrifices referenced in the Good Omens narrative than the literal goats. And they’re only getting bigger, louder, final.

But let’s take it slow and start with the beginning, quite literally — i.e., with the Good Omens 2 title sequence. As we follow Aziraphale and Crowley on their journey, the universe warps and their usual left and right side positioning switches during the magic show (not accidentally an act of trust and sacrifice required both from the angel and the demon). They stay so throughout the next scene, which is their little dance in the air, and after they seemingly get settled on the A. Z. Fell and Co.’s roof and back to normal, the flipped sky in the background suggests that something’s not quite right yet. In the central part of the shot looms a large, humanlike shadow of the Elephant Trunk Nebula.

The nebula is a part of a constellation called Cepheus, after an Ethiopian king from the Greek mythology who agreed to sacrifice his only daughter in order to appease the gods and end a local calamity started by her mother and his wife, Cassiopeia (talk about generational responsibility). With time and a delightfully ironic twist of fate, the name of said daughter, Andromeda, became more famous than that of her father. Although she was chained up to a rock and offered to the sea serpent Cetus, the girl was spotted by the warrior Perseus, casually flying over the sea — either on the back of the Pegasus or thanks to a pair of winged sandals — after his victory over Medusa. He fell in love on the spot, defeated the serpent (with the help of a magical sword or Medusa’s severed head, depending on the varying sources), and freed the princess. That’s not exactly where their story ends, but we won’t be getting into the rest here.

Not surprisingly, Neil has mentioned two parallel child sacrifice stories from the biblical context back in August. The first is one of the big ones — The Binding of Isaac. God's command to sacrifice Isaac, his only son, was a test of Abraham's faith. The angel of the Lord intervenes and provides a ram to be sacrificed in the boy’s place.

The second one isn’t nearly as popular, but you might have heard a variant of it in fairy tales or as the Law of Surprise invoked in The Witcher saga. In exchange for Israel’s victory over its enemies in battle, Jephthah had rashly promised God to repay the debt with the first thing seen on his return back home. The victorious warrior didn’t suspect to see his only child moving innocently "to meet him with timbrels and with dances" though. In horror, Jephthah covered his eyes with his cloak, but to no avail: ultimately, he was forced to honor his vow to God, and the girl was sacrificed. As grisly as it might look like in the Old Master’s paintings, it’s important to remember that human sacrifices weren’t limited to physical offerings only — Jephthah’s daughter might have been offered to God in the sense of officially shunning her family and dedicating her life to service instead, probably sequestered in a temple somewhere.

Interestingly, the main character of a big chunk of the Bible and the reason for the Second Coming happens to be THE most influential child sacrifice in the modern history. You know, a certain 33-year-old carpenter sent by his Heavenly Father to die on a cross for the sins of the mankind? Someone better call Aubrey Thyme ASAP.

Circling back to Aziraphale, he could be also seen as a representative of the concept of filial piety, since Eden willing to personally take a Fall not only for the humanity’s collective or individual transgressions, but the shortcomings of his Ineffable Parental Figure as well. Our favorite angel angel always fights for what is right and good, sure, but why would that be even a thing if God was truly omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipotent?

If Aziraphale’s medal is anything to go by, it looks like we might get an answer from the way it’s introducing another mythological narrative into the game, that is the story of Daedalus and Icarus. The most absorbing thing about this is the stark contrast to the recurring child sacrifice references for S3 mentioned in this post — Daedalus isn’t a father who wanted to sacrifice his son, it was his attempt to save him from imprisonment that ultimately drove Icarus to his death. The boy ignored his father’s explicit instructions, committing the grave and culturally universal sin of disobedience to one's parents that simply couldn’t go unpunished, one way or another.

But Icarus’s transgression could be seen both as high-flying ambition and striving for personal accomplishment as well as humanitarian sacrifice for knowledge and humanity’s advancement in general.

Similarly to a certain angel who left everything for what superficially seems like a work promotion, but is the ultimate act of love — both for his demon and the children they have been protecting and nurturing together for six thousand years. From the very Beginning, his white wings have been shielding everything he holds dear in this world.

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ganondoodle · 1 year

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totk rewritten (for me, specifically)

since i dont have time to get to drawing it right away AND im worried people might take this the wrong way, i thought i could write out some bullet points about my rewrite of totk (meant as a fix FOR ME not saying its inherently better) to give you a better idea on what im going for:

the core structure largely remains the same, the biggest change is no time travel, thus making zelda your travel companion, and zonau tech being lagerly gone/broken with shiekah tech instead

it is not shown but said in dialog that shiekah tech, such as the ancient furnaces, shrines and towers are either turning off or have flickering power supply and purah having calculated that all their connections point towards beneath hyrule castle

game starts pretty much the same as real totk, most zonau ruins are so withered away that they are barely recognizable and the further you get down theres more and more shiekah tech pipes and occasional a miasma vein, some pipes are broken and spill miasma, others flicker

instead of the room with the wall carvings theres one with old ancient shiekah research remains, old broken tech and prototypes you dont what their purpose was, all documents are too withered to read but zelda finds one that was sealed in a container and takes it with her (she got a backpack now)

theres a structure similar to the bed thingy of the shrine of life from botw but its working in reverse; within it is sealed ganondorf (i gotta work out the details around it still)

(details still missing) it breaks and zelda takes the enigma stone but doesnt touch it directly and puts it within a sealed container (you know kinda like you should do with soemthing you have no idea of what it is and was alsO LOCATED ON A CORPSE)

ganondorf isnt the elegantly talking villain type in this version but more of a mess, talking in different languages both modern and ancient but you cant make out any clear sentences, struggeling with suddendly being awake and half alive after spending thousands of years in an agonizing limbo, having witnessed every second of the passage of time yet also it feeling like everything just happened all at the same time

the ground breaks as he recognizes zelda (bc of her fighting calamity ganon in botw) but also not really, still sees her as a threat (also bc of the enigma stone in the container she still has in her hand) attacks her, link deflects with the master sword, it breaks and damages his arm, zelda drops her torch and pulls link away towards where they came in from and both run as the caves fill up with miasma like a flood with arms starting to reach after them while they both run back through the tunnels (creepy chase sequence anyone?)

cataclysm happens (ground breaks, miasma bursts out of the ground, especially where shrines and towers where since they were still connected to the pipelines) ground shifts massively in some places giving alot of the map a whole new structure; all shiekah tech that was not independent stops working due to power loss

links arm is amputated since otherwise the miasma would spread to his whole body; purah, robbie and zelda work out a prosthetic arm prototype to give to link (protoype at first will be upgraded at halfway point of the game) that can switch between multiple modes, like a hand to hold normal items or a weapon that isnt crafted, and a fusing ability (though maybe limited in the prototype) that lets you make weapons similar to the weapon fusing in canon totk (potential upgrades including an extendable guardian arm that doesnt break, grapple hook anyone??, also the ability to build stuff out of shiekah tech parts, not glue needed you actually screw it together, maybe zelda even helps)

now you are given free roam of hyrule, the goal is to explore and find what has changed and check on people, see what the underground has, new monsters have spawned etc.

zelda is your companion the whole time, she can use the shiekah stone/purah pad to analyze enemies for you, she also carries at least a dagger for her own self defense but doesnt contribute much to the fight (subject to change maybe), you can talk to her anytime and she usually has something to comment on depending on where you are or what you just did, can give you tips and advice IF ASKED FOR IT, when you discover ancient ruins, whether zonau or shiekah, she can either decipher it for you or take photos for later to find out more about everything that has happend and what it means, she also takes part in conversations when you talk to someone, her outfit changes with yours (meaning when you wear the tingle set she wears it too, opens up alot of funny interactions njfkdk)

purah has built new towers but they function different (still working on the details) mainly that they function independent from the energy source in hyrule castle

there are floating islands but they are bigger and in more connected clusters, when reaching them its ancient withered ruins that the ancient shiekah built support around (like the platform used by monk miz kyoshia) to keep them afloat; there are building like observatories and research labs, but all very overgrown due to being up there for so long, theres a titan prototype on one of the islands, its shaped like a whale and zelda deciphers it was called vah narisha (reference to the whale deity in skyward sword) (i havent decided yet if its fully broken and just a big piece of enviroment to explore or half functioning floating around, or maybe first broken but later half repaired so it can fly around at least giving you an easier way to reach other island, you cant steer it tho) some of them are falling bc of energy loss but the bigger ones have independent energy sources (work in progress)

the underground has more diverse zones depending on which part of the map it is located on, there are old mines (for luminous stone) from the zonau but all is extremely withered, in each one its been mostly built over by the shiekah but there are construct remains that were clearly dissected and studied, half built shrines and towers, you can find collectibles and lore there (working on more details, but an idea was to include remains of ancient shiekah tha fled there when they were persecuted by that old king of hyrule, adding to the eery vibe)

some titans (maybe two, and the other are still on the sruface, like vah medoh) feel down during the cataclysm, broken apart or malfunctioning/ possibly being a boss as in they were used by a big cluster of miasma hands like a hermit crab uses its shell, the inside filled with eyes and different sized hands dragging itself towards you like a drowing man grabs after anything to save him)

dongos are your go to transportation here and a little different, when you call one they dig a path to you (not permanent, just so they can always spawn near you) they glow in the dark and can climb on walls (bc why not), and can point you towards the next objective/point of interest, likely where theres a high concentration of luminous stone since that is what they eat and its usually where old mining/construction sites are (still working on a replacement for light roots that are less invasive)

the rat from the trailer is a miniboss/boss you need to defeat in order to get the broken mastersword back into your possession

(im still working on how the sages work, but the idea is to incorporate their abilites for more efficient and reliable use into links shiekah prosthetic, so you can still use their abilities but only when you actually want)

(again still working on details) halfway point of the game is you trying to find out where ganondorf went, not intending to fight necessarily but just to find out more but it devolves into you fighting some sort of miasma monster (either him or some sort of manifestation he made) and you get a bunch of short memory flashes from him, all vague and a wild mess from both the time he was sealed and from the time afterwards, maybe even a perspective shift from when link was fighting dark beast ganon, but from ganons view, from zelda when she was keeping that manifestation in check, random views from the malice eyes from botw, from the blights, maybe even from the fight with the old and new champions, from the point when shiekah built their tech around him while he had to watch not able to do anything etc.)

links arm gets upgraded from prototype to a full prosthetic, opening up more fusing abilites and other things (like the grapple hook, again working on it, im open for ideas lol)

i will reblog this and add more over time if you want, but do let me know if you like it thus far, bc im still unsure if its worth the effort of working more on this QnQ

(also if you dont like just keep scrolling, i dont need to know that you hate it, it literally changes nothing but make me annoyed xD)

#ganondoodles talks #ganondoodles rewrites totk #this is the tag i will use both for written posts of this topic and when i get to drawing it .. if i get to it #zelda #totk #again this is like a fix FOR ME doesnt mean its inherently better or that you have to like it #long post

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amirisqueer · 1 year

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Cringetober Day 5: MS Paint

(I don't actually have MS Paint so I cheated and did pixel art instead </3)

#Art #Digital art #Pixel art #Cringetober #Dragon #Oc #Original character #Coyote #Tcs #The calamity sequence #Full body #Amirisqueer

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cheshiresaf · 1 month

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The sun's warmth

| A Leona oneshot of what I imagine might have happened in the sequence during his overblot. I wish we'd gotten more depth into it, especially since he's such a complex character.

! Semi-canon divergent!

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"From the moment I was born, Ive had to bear the weight of a burden unfit for a child so young."

The sun had shone valiantly the day the young prince had been brought into the world. But, the birds ceased their singing, and those dim rays of light quickly began to fade.

The plan had always been for there to be one heir. One child to carry on the noble Kingscholar lineage. The King and Queen had fulfilled that plan, and along had come Farena, the shining star in their lives.

But with it had come a price.

The Queen, Amirah, had never exactly been in the best of health. It had only deteriorated after she'd had her son. Thankfully, she made a quick recovery. But the doctors told her that it would be a great risk if she were to have any more.

And yet, there Leona was.

He'd never been planned. Not like his brother. It had been easy to tell, even for a kid who had been 5 years old.

They'd been born 10 years apart, and monarchies such as the one his family followed required the eldest child to be the heir to the throne.

Besides, Farena had always been treated better than him.

The attendants had always dawned over him like hed been their own son, murmuring endless praises of how 'bright' and 'cheerful' he was. Whenever the Crown Prince had passed, they made sure to ask about his day, easily and willingly making conversation with him.

His father always put Farena above him, for he was always the priority. His brother could have gotten anything he wanted with so much as a simple ask. Leona had taken note of the conversations they used to have, both of formal and informal topics. Yet, there'd always been that underlying hint of love sprinkled in. Whenever his brother smiled, the affection had been crystal clear on his father's face.

It was never like that with him.

The same attendants who adored his brother to no end always chided him. He was moody, closed off, selfish, rude. He truly wondered why, he'd sarcastically snarked to himself. They cowered from him, eyes alight with fear and worry for their well being. All because of his magic.

He'd never asked to be given the power to cause such destruction. He'd been just 5 years old when he had discovered it. By marring the face of his very own personal attendant, in what he'd thought had been a normal childish meltdown. Did they think he'd meant to do it? That he was some sort of monster, a calamity that had befallen the royal family's ranks?

His father didn't care to so much as spare him a glance. What was he meant to do with his second son, the spare? Conversations were non-existent, short exchanged words slowly dying down over the years with change. As he'd grown older, Leona had begun tirelessly studying in the royal library, cooping himself up to one of the desks for hours, perched walls of books shielding his view of the outside world. Once he'd reached his teenage years, exhaustion and realisation had hit him like a truck, and he began shielding himself from view once more. Only this time, he'd stayed in the comfort of his room for extended and unhealthy periods of time.

There was a reason why he didn't remember much from the years after he'd reached 10, and before he'd come to Night Raven. There was nothing to remember. He'd slept through half the days of the week, rotting in his bed as the energy began sneaking away from him.

The only exception had been his mother.

Even with her health rapidly deteriorating after Leonas birth, because of his birth, she never loved him any less than she did Farena.

It wasn't his fault. Nothing was.

It wasn't his fault that she wouldn't be there to see him grow. It wasn't his fault that the attendants around the palace hated him. It wasn't his fault that he'd been given the power to destroy.

It wasnt his fault he was unloved.

How could a child have controlled the circumstances to be in his favor?

For the years she'd been around in Leonas life, he remembered her with nothing but fondness and love in his tired heart.

When he had turned 1, she had been the first to congratulate him. She'd snuck into his room at midnight, the light of the moon reflecting her features as she'd whispered to his ears a soft, "Happy Birthday, my little prince". He'd been so confused, blinking sleepily up at her. She'd chuckled at his reaction, urging for him to go back to sleep. Amirah had sat by the foot of his crib, her son's tiny hand in hers as she reassured him. "We have all the time in the world."

When he was 2, the boy had grown a little bigger. He remembered the day he'd first learned to walk. With each stumble, she'd kept encouraging for him to keep going. With wobbly feet, he'd finally managed to get across to her. She let out a laugh full of pride as she'd gently picked him up. Shed held him close to her chest, murmuring "I knew you could do it, Leo."

When he was 3, was when his curiosity had really started to set in. It was the prime age of all toddlers to grow imaginative aboutthe world. He had mindlessly flipped through the large pages of his children's books, not quite getting some of the material. And so, he'd rushed to his mother's room, moving as fast as he could on those little legs of his with a load of books in his hands. His mother had seemed surprised when he'd suddenly burst through the door, but as usual, she welcomed him with open arms. They'd sat together from the afternoon long into the night, Amirah doing as best as she could to explain to her young son. The boy listened as eagerly as he could, sitting still for as long as possible. Until eventually, the soft lull of his mother's voice began to sound like the sweet melody of a lullaby. Hed nodded blearily by the time night had fallen, his small ears drooping. On those days, Amirah let him stay in with her. And as expected, she always held him close to her heart, hands supporting his small head. "Goodnight, Leona."

When he turned 4, Leona began to slowly grow into his features. He'd tilted his head as he'd stared at himself in the mirror. He noticed he looked alot like his mom. The colour of their eyes was the same, a royal shade of emerald. His brown curls, he'd gotten exactly from her. He remembered the time he'd tried braiding some strands of her hair with his little fingers. It hadn't turned out pretty, really. But his mom had kept them in for the whole day. Later in the day, he'd told his mom how happy he was that he looked so much like her. To look like the person he loved so much.

When he turned 5, he took more notice. His mom was growing more sick. She seemed more frail, more lethargic. She didn't have the energy to chase him around anymore to take a bath, nor did she have the energy to play hide and seek with him when he used to hide, afraid of getting his nails cut. Even so, the light in her eyes never diminished. One particular night, he'd crawled into her bed, gently tugging at her sleeves like he had always done. Even with how exhausted she was, she'd sat herself up, brushing the hair out of his face as she'd smile down at him. Always loving. But this time, she'd been melancholic.

"My little prince, mommy might go away soon." She'd muttered softly. "And.. I won't be coming back."

He'd stared up at her confused, earning him a soft chuckle as she begun to explain. Her sickness had recently taken a turn for the worst, and she'd been told by the nurses and doctors to prepare any day now. Yet, she'd gently stroked his hair all the while, in hopes of soothing his heart.

Leona hadn't quite yet processed it. Why did his mom have to go away? Why couldn't she stay? He wanted her to stay with him. She was all he had.

And before he knew it, tears were streaming down his cheeks. Amirah had brought him close to her chest once more, and perhaps for the final time. Shed held him there for as long as she could, humming a soft lullaby in his ears. She'd kissed the top of his forehead, whispering to him right before he fell asleep. "Don't forget that I love you, Leona."

......

Perhaps it was a good thing he'd gotten his scar. The one that marred across his left eye. If he looked too closely into the mirror, all he saw was the spitting image of his mom staring back at him. The scar set them both apart.

He didn't think he could handle it if he was reminded of her every single day.

In the years after her death, he'd found studying as a way to cope. He had read tirelessly in the library, hoping to earn some form of recognition if he proved his intelligence.

And for a while, it worked.

Until he came along.

The day Prince Cheka had been born had been a real turning point for him.

Nobody cared to take note of how hard he'd worked. The hours he'd spent rereading college material at the age of 10, to the point he'd constantly cried tears of frustration and annoyance if he didn't get it immediately. The constant exhaustion after staying up all night, to get not a single question of concern regarding the eyebags under his eyes that seemed to big for a child such as he.

All of that? Thrown out the window as soon as his nephew was born.

Unlike the day he has been born, Chekas birth was celebrated. The irony of it, considering the topic of his birth had always been ignored. He shouldn't have gotten annoyed at a child. It wasn't his fault.

But the burning frustration within him couldn't be ceased.

And boy, did his relationship with Farena only complicate things further.

His older brother had always been nice to him. He wondered if he would have been loving too. If only Leona hadn't pushed him away.

It burned, knowing that no matter how hard he tried, no matter how much effort he out in, he would never be first.

When would he get to see his mom again?

He'd finally learned how to tie braids now. He desperately wanted to show her, reaching out to do them on her brown curls just as he had when he was a child.

Was returning to her warm embrace such a bad thing to ask for?

#twst #twisted wonderland #twst wonderland #twst x reader #twst x you #leona kingscholar #leona kingsholar x reader

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justalittlebluetiefling · 2 years

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Okay wait I have to pause for a second because I remember when they announced that as Critical Role, they were going to switch things up to give the room for other GMs to come in and stuff and none of us had any idea what it meant. But now, we have EXU with Aabria and Brennan and they’re some of the coolest stories I’ve ever heard in my life. I just remember being kind of nervous about what it meant and now I can’t imagine CR lore without them being involved and I can’t wait for them to come back or even bring in more new people.

#best decision ever by cr though #bringing in new people to do stuff like this #i want more #more exu stories please #like the exu calamity title sequence played and i got chills #i miss last summer when we were all watching these live and LOSING OUR MINDS #it was probably my favorite CR month ever

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esamastation · 10 months

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Nobody asked but here's some random world building headcanons I have about FF7

Gaia is a dwarf planet that's stupidly rich in iron, which gives it earth like gravity and makes constructions like Midgar, Junon and Gold Saucer cheap.

Shinra scientists haven't discovered DNA yet and most of their medical science is successful via dumb luck of Jenova being highly adaptive and also the existence of literal magic. They probably haven't figured out atomic theory either.

Cetra did some measure of terraforming on Gaia and Meteor is how they did it. They made the Black Materia for a reason and doubt it was because they wanted to destroy the Planet. I think it was to nudge the Planet's orbit to more desirable place. There's bunch of craters all over Gaia, including the bottom of the ocean, and I don't think they were all caused by the Calamity.

The Summons (in their original non-playable cutscene form in FF7) aren't actually creatures from other worlds, they're memories. Each summon sequence is a event that happened on Gaia sometime in its past, that was then immortalised into Materia so strongly that it can affect physical world.

Which means that there was once upon a time an actual living breathing orbital laser dragon capable of spaceflight and the fact that Cid is a dragoon suddenly makes so much sense.

#I feel like shit and don't feel like writing but I'm still thinking thoughts #Ff7 #Headcanons #Bahamut ZERO my beloved

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vulgar-mary-p-ppins · 10 months

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A glorious and stunning movie, well worth going to see. Miyazaki has not shied away from talking about the war before: The Wind Rises, albeit at it’s core a love story is still about the problem of creating the kamikaze planes and how life continues even in war time. As Miyazaki’s work has matured and his son has taken over more and more of the production, I find that his stories have become darker and his story-lines more complex. As such, I am delighted to see him make something so unsettling and mature as a (extremely loose) Dante’s Inferno. This is a far, far, FAR cry from something like Kiki and Totoro.

The details in which the shadow of the ongoing Pacific War color this film lend to Miyazaki’s style of talking about calamity in the softest way possible. Barring the opening sequence in which the main character witnesses the firebombing in Tokyo, there is no other “war violence”. However, at one point, his father stores something his factory is making in their house: the cockpits of the kamikaze planes. A character in the other world mentions off hand “soon, your world will be enveloped in fire”, which is clearly in reference to the bomb. Background details show wartime propaganda posters, nationalistic symbols, and children and adults performing the volunteer work usual for late stage war time. Much like Nausicaä, these are all details of the setting and are almost never overtly mentioned or pointed out.

This is a story about grief, just as Dante’s Inferno is, but also about the processing of war time trauma by a country besieged. Mihito, the main character, means “sincere one” and, when looking at this piece through the understanding that many Japanese perceive themselves as victims of World War II, he is a symbol of the victim mind-set of Japanese war time. He takes things as they come, never having a strong reaction either way. He isn’t bitter or angry, neither is he sad or grieving. He is numb. He goes through the motions of politeness, the motions of nationalistic fervor, the motions of life; but he is numb. It is only when the promise of retrieving his mother from death comes to him that he begins to break through his numbness, but it is the retrieval of his aunt that makes him a little boy again — a symbol of processing the loss of his old way of life, pre-war Japan, by embracing the new, post-war Japan.

I need to do more research into the symbolism of particular birds, because the usage feels too specific for me, but frankly, I haven’t yet. I loved the movie. I can’t wait to watch it again. Its a movie about sitting with your emotions, however, so, much like Miyazaki’s other more mature works, it is almost painfully slow. But that is what makes him a master storyteller; as an artist he reminds us to sit down and wait. The world is too fast now, and he has stated in interviews that his works is supposed to instill nostalgia for a time when we were younger and the world wasn’t so fast nor demanding. He wants us to sit: with the whimsical, with the painful, with the romantic, and in this case with the unsettling. And he does it again.

youtube

#long post #the boy and the heron #hayao miyazaki #miyazaki films #studio ghibli #tw war mention #Youtube

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vampkomori · 5 months

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Ena the Order is the concept of conforming to Fate, and Elio is an Emanator of Order

welcome to my pre-2,2 theory, i got carried away.

for those yet unaware, theres been a theory flying around that the Goddess of Sigonia, Gaiathra Triclops, is a folkloric interpretation of Ena the Order, on account of the iris of Ena's eye having the same colors as Aventurine's. we can go much further with this though.

(Aventurine's pupils are diamond-shaped, but little Kakavasha has round pupils. its likely that diamond-shaped pupils are a result of becoming a Stoneheart, because Topaz also has diamond-shaped pupils, and Aventurine used to not have them. but i digress)

Anyway, Gaiathra=Ena. Gaiathra is described as a left palm with 3 eyes, arguably Ena also has 3 eyes- two closed ones on their face, and one massive, open eye floating around them.

Gaiathra "reigns over all matters related to fertility, travels, and trickery." (Sigonia, Planar Ornament Relic Set) and is said to have been the one to bestow Aventurine with his luck.

but first: What is Order? Based on the words alone, youd think Order would have more in common with Equilibrium, but evidently that wasnt the case. Considering it was assimilated into the Harmony, it must have overlaps with that though, since the broader path is the one that absorbs the narrower one if their concepts are too similar. So, if Harmony is unity and peace, the idea of everyone joining a happy paradise, then how did the Harmony manage to absorb Order?

"I am filled with curiosity about how THEY swallowed up Order. The hymns of Xipe continue to spread and grow, occasionally overseen by ideology. In contrast, Ena's harmonic songs seems to align within a three-dimensional framework, akin to an emperor maintaining hierarchical order among all creatures. While there may be some overlap between THEIR Paths, the ancient Order is enormous in size, and swallowing THEM would prove far from effortless... Among the Aeons, there exist countless enigmas that surpass my own speculations." - Dev Log for Xipe in Simulated Universe, Herta's comment

Herta doesnt know either, and by all means a freshly ascended Aeon should not have an easy time absorbing someone as ancient as Ena- that is, unless Ena intended for it to happen.

This is a lot of establishing facts before i get to the meat of things. We still dont technically know what Order even is, so lets try figure it out!

"The planets governed by Ena adhere staunchly to established rules, yet I must acknowledge that the various calamities in the cosmos were all hindered by Ena's guardianship, leading to extremely efficient development of civilization among diverse planets. Interestingly, however, civilizations all eventually hit rock bottom because of Order. The ancient planets that once fervently worshiped Order would shine briefly before their total collapse... Perhaps this is the "Path" of these planets." - Dev Log for Ena in Simulated Universe, Herta's comment

So: Order is the concept of adhering to a predetermined outcome- their "path". Ena observes humanity "gazing into a crystal orb containing the cosmos" and ensures that they all follow their predetermined path of Fate. None may go astray, no outside influence may interfere, no matter what fate awaits them, they must follow their set path.

"THEIR voice is composed of syllables sequencing the rise and fall of civilizations in accordance with the Aeon's path."

Ena has the ability to foresee the future, as they dont just sequence the rise, but also the fall of civilizations. They are inherently impartial, just, things are destined to happen and so they see to it that they happen. Order is the concept of conforming to Fate, if a planet is destined to be destroyed by a calamity, then Ena guides it to that outcome.

However, Aeons, despite being concepts, arent just concepts, they have some semblance of sentience, self-awareness. they have goals, they make deals, though humans are unable to comprehend them.

So, Ena conforms to fate, but what is the purpose of doing so? Ena can see the future, but we know Kafka. there isnt just ONE future, theres a lot of futures, and endless paths. So its logical to assume that Ena, by being able to see the fates of civilizations, can actually see the endless amount of paths towards all possible fates, and personally chooses which path is specifically followed. and for the sake of the theory, lets assume Ena is benevolent and guides humanity towards the most fortunate fate (though even the most "fortunate" of fates can still end in destruction)

Before Ena was assimilated into the Harmony, they made a deal with Qlipoth the Preservation: Qlipoth will bring an end to Tayzzyronth the Propagation (as they are interfering with the predetermined Fates of planets) and in turn Ena will help Qlipoth against Oroboros the Voracity somehow (likely foreseeing its Fate and interfering with it). Qlipoth held up their end of the bargain, but Ena was assimilated before they were able uphold their part, which is interesting

We know theres something fishy about the Orders assmiliation into Harmony- it doesnt make sense, especially knowing that Ena foresees the future, and is likely aware of their own fate.

Heres where we remember that Gaiathra is also a goddess of trickery. Theres two possibilities:

Ena foresaw their own "demise" and made a deal with Qlipoth knowing they wouldnt be able to follow through on their part of the promise

Ena, able to see multiple paths for the future, foresaw that being assimilated into Xipe would lead them towards the most fortunate one, so they let themselves be absorbed on purpose, as the Harmony would not have been able to absorb the Order otherwise. The deal was just a bonus.

Either way, Ena would have known of the future, and making a deal shortly before the assimiliation of their path is clearly a scheme- they get something great out of it, and dont have to follow up on it.

Heres where we bring up Elio (and the Stellaron Hunters). We actually still dont know what path they follow, and isnt that so interesting? What path could possibly include following a "script" to ensure a certain future? hmmm

sounds like Order to me!

Elio possesses the ability to foresee future possibilities and the paths that lead towards them. Essentially, the exact ability that Ena is shown to possess. All the futures look pretty bleak though, except for one, which hes trying to achieve by making sure to follow that exact path: his "script". the very definition of Order.

Note also that despite Enas assimiliation, their faction can still exist. After all, Idrila the Beauty is also gone, but the Knights of Beauty still roam around. The path of a deceased or assimiliated Aeon can still be upheld even if the Aeon no longer exists.

Anyway, Elio is basically upholding Ena's legacy by ensuring that we adhere to fate, and guides us towards the most fortunate one. His ability is far too powerful though, so its safe to assume hes an Emanator, since theyre considered to be "as good as emissaries of the Aeons' wills"

*As a bonus, Gaiathra also reigns over "all matters related to 'travels'". if you stretch the definition a little, "travels" could refer to the idea of embarking on paths towards fate. you "travel" on a path, after all.

Theres also this interesting little tidbit here:

"THEY are always so symmetrical and so equal. If we were to rank those most sublime beings, only the Voracity and the Permanence can stand toe-to-toe with the Equilibrium's antiquity... Oh, and also the Order. After Ena disappeared, the Equilibrium's duties have only grown greater. Then, how would HooH perceive Nanook?"- Dev Log for HooH in Simulated Universe, Herta's comment

The fact that Nanook is brought up is pretty funny as theyre the youngest Aeon, and since only the most ancient ones would be able to stand "toe-to-toe" with HooH, youd think as the youngest, Nanook wouldnt stand a chance against them. but they were brought up regardless, in tandem with Ena no less

Coincidentally, Nanook is also the Aeon that Elio wants the Trailblazer to defeat too. Curious! You could say that it is the Will of the Order to see the fall of the Destruction? anyway,

HooH's duties "have grown only greater" since Ena disappeared, meaning that they must have overlapped in some way before, but coexisted. (similarly to how the Remembrance and Preservation coexist, possibly) We dont know much of anything about Equilibrium yet though, so lets put that aside.

Lets talk about luck.

Luck is just chance. The results of "chance" are left up to "fate". We know that not all choices or events matter in the grand scheme of things. Theres endless possible paths, so rolling a 1 or a 6 doesnt matter because it will still lead you onto the same destiny. Luck is irrelevant to fate, it does not influence it. Luck only influences how you arrive at it.

So how do you reconcile that with Order? if Order is staunchly adhering to fate, observing humanity to ensure they all end up on the "right" path, then how does chance, luck, happenstance, fit into all this?

Luck is the ultimate Order, because there is only ONE path that luck can take: the most fortunate one. It does not influence your fate however, luck only influences which one of the countless paths towards your fate you end up on. and always being lucky narrows your potential paths down to just one.

This is also why Nihility was the natural conclusion for Aventurine. If you realize that no matter what you do, you cannot change the outcome of your choices, then you realize its futile and decide to succumb to it. youll always win, so whats the point? Thats Nihility: succumbing to Fate, the inevitability of everything, realizing your choices dont matter. When youre lucky and everything you do leads to the same result then you start to think that maybe nothing matters.

Back on track though. Fate, despite being predetermined, is not singular. as in, theres predetermined fates (plural) waiting for you at the end of your path. theres multiple endings. Luck means you have less paths to end up on but luck does not influence the end goal.

In a way, what Elio is trying to do is very similar to what Aventurines "luck" does: he wants to end up on a very specific path that leads him to a very specific fate, and luck leads you onto one single path, theoretically making it easier to achieve certain fates. Its an interesting parallel.

"Blessing" someone with luck seems a bit too hands-on for someone like Ena, so while we might never know why Aventurine was blessed specifically, we can kind of see it as a sort of trial-run. Ena does not interfere, does not "defy" fate, but bestowing luck onto someone to narrow down their futures is a bit like interference- except its not, only on a technicality. theyre still adhering to the set paths that exist, after all, im not changing fate, what are you talking about? look, hes still on one of your predetermined paths. the fact that he cant go onto other paths is irrelevant if he still ends up at one of the predetermined endings.

As a note though, Ena is not Fate itself. Ena adheres to fate and ensures that humanity follows it. Nihility is basically succumbing to fate and thinking its inevitable and change is futile, and I guess you could see Harmony as the concept of circumventing fate- instead of arriving at one of your predetermined endings, how about you get assimilated into our harmonious hivemind and experience eternal bliss? (lets wait on that 2.2 harmony lore-drop before saying anything about that though)

got off track a little. basically, Ena's Order is the concept of conforming/adhering to Fate. potentially, in their era, Fate was a singular end, because they were the one to guide humanity onto certain paths and towards certain ends (which is why civilizations thrived but ultimately still collapsed). Enas assimiliation was on purpose, although we can only speculate on the reason. so i will. heres my speculation:

Ena is not Fate itself, but a Guide. seeing the countless possible paths and possible fates for humanity, they foresaw the same thing that Elio foresees- a terrible End at the hands of the Destruction that may affect humans and Aeons alike. potentially, Enas Will mightve been to avoid that (but remaining within the confines of fate, not defying it) so they set in motion the steps needed to embark on said path, which necessitated their assimilation into Harmony. if Enas reign caused the Fates of humans to be "set in stone", then Enas disappearance could be seen as humans regaining the ability to choose their own paths, their own fate. Essentially, Enas disappearance wouldve been necessary in order to even create the possibility of an "alternate ending" and leaving the choice up to humanity.

anyway thats the conclusion thanks for coming, godspeed if you read the whole thing. im bad at keeping things short and concise. and i started rambling near the end

as a disclaimer: these are vague thoughts and i change my view on things often. if we get new info in the future that says this was all nonsense then thats that. im not trying to convince anyone. just offering a perspective for funsies

#honkai star rail #ena the order #gaiathra triclops #when the new simverse update comes out with a new harmony path and we get lore about Ena we popping the BIGGEST bottles #cough. well anyway. Order am i right.#i didnt talk about Enas imagery but its pretty insane what with the puppet strings and and giant eye and #well. to offer another perspective: genshin is very fond of describing fate as a panopticon. 'casting an examining eye on humanity'#(especially with the new lore about the crimson moon- the eye of fate and judgement)#and literally calling Fate the strings that puppeteer humanity. haha. ha. HA.#not necessarily saying hsr and gi are connected. but rather that hoyo has a definitive view of fate and often uses the same ideas #over and over again. so. rather than saying theyre connected its more like. the imagery is so similar #that you could say the heavenly principles are how theyre representing their idea of fate in genshin. and ena is hsr's idea #i just wanted to mention that though its been driving me insane #um. ena sweep. live love laugh #vampy.txt

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