Okay, okay, maybe a bit of clickbait... Kinda.
One evening when thunderclouds were rolling in in the near distance I had a brilliant idea to sigilize a spell for lightning to strike a nearby church. I had the text on a different piece of paper, and made the symbol itself on another. I charged the sigil and discarded it. Then i had the "brilliant" idea of placing the piece of paper with the phrase "lightning, strike this church" into the prayer box in the church lobby.
Well, it turns out the priest mentioned it at mass next sunday. Now a hundred people live with the vague consept of "harmful intent towards the congregation" in their minds.
Luckily the priest was also talking about not caring too much about earthly possessions, maybe this will be a win/win in the end.
Lets not turn this into a religion conversation tho, no ill will towards christians here. I just hate ugly brick buildings.

TL;DR Don't be rude when theorizing or critiquing people's theories, paragraphs 5-8 have the meat of the stuff I want to say that I haven't seen posted elsewhere so just read those if the whole thing's too long.
I'm sure everyone is tired of reading these posts but this has been sort of gnawing at me all day so I thought I would get it out of my system. I personally find the theory that the dragon depicted in the haligdrake talisman is a map of what the Lands Between may have looked like in the past extremely unconvincing and I'm going to dedicate way too much text to explaining why (no pictures tho cuz i'm lazy).
Earlier today, there was a post that attempted to explain why the theory was unconvincing, but I think OP there didn't do a very good job of responding to people's points, and IMO was also very rude to everyone in the comments. I feel like this may have psychologically made people feel somewhat more prone to defend what I believe is an unconvincing theory, so I'm aiming to do a more thorough and also less obnoxious job of saying why I'm not convinced.
The previous poster stated that the haligdrake talisman could not be depicting a map because it's "just a dragon" and doesn't look anything like TLB. This fails to meaningfully refute the theory in any way because the viewpoint of this theory's supporters is not that the talisman isn't a dragon, but that it is a dragon and a map at once, and that the map is of a past depiction of TLB, a landmass we know has undergone drastic changes over time from mountains of different in-game evidence. Therefore, the theory is stating that one possible past version of the ever-changing lands-between looked like a dragon, and that the talisman is depicting this. If I'm doing a flawed job portraying the theory let me know because I'm trying my best not to strawman here. I want to have an actual good-faith discussion unlike some on this sub.
This is where my issues with the theory crop up. My first issue is that this theory is impossible to disprove. We know that TLB looked different in the past for a variety of reasons (meteorites, blackstone, farum azula, eternal city banishment, etc.) but since the game takes place at a specific point in time and we don't go back in time except to fight placidusax (which doesn't effect our in-game map), we have no examples of what TLB looked like in the past from a cartographic standpoint (except the map in the theory of course). Because the landmass has changed numerous times and we do not know what any of these times looked like, literally anything could be pointed to and called a former map of TLB if it looks even vaguely map-like. So yes, I am admitting that I cannot disprove that TLB could have looked like a dragon in the past because there are an infinite number of things it could have looked like. However, just because it's possible that the map looked like that is not itself evidence that it did. I think this is a perfectly acceptable headcanon, it's admittedly pretty cool, but it's not something that I think makes sense to claim as a fact.
This is where I would expect someone to say that the talisman being a map is the proof that it looked that way, and I think that's a fairly reasonable response. However, this is where my second issue appears, and it's that there is very little to suggest that these talismans represent a map at all other than vaguely looking like one. I can genuinely see why people say it's a map, since it does kind of look like one, and people have pointed out similarities that are interesting, but I don't find this to be compelling evidence. It is very easy to look at two things and find similarities if you are looking for them. Many things I've seen on this sub pointing out similarities completely ignore the stuff that doesn't match and try to account for it with the impossible to disprove statement of "it's in the past and TLB in the past could be anything". This is not really my main point against it being a map, however. My main point is that if the talisman were depicting a map, why does the item description not make any indication that that is the case? The item description for the haligdrake talisman is as follows:
"Talisman depicting a golden ancient dragon. Boosts holy damage negation. The ancient dragons, who ruled in the prehistoric era before the Erdtree, would protect their lord as a wall of living rock. And so it is that the shape of the dragon has become symbolic of all manner of protections."
A couple things to notice here are the complete lack of reference to maps of any kind, the fact that the dragon depiction is specifically symbolic of something other than a map, being protection (obviously something can symbolize more than one thing but I think it would warrant mentioning), and that the dragons protect their lord as "a wall of living rock."
A lot of the basis for the map theory comes from the talisman looking like it has coastlines, and that's understandable. However, in my mind a simpler explanation is that these supposed coastlines are actually depicting the stony, wall-like nature of the dragons that the talisman's description mentions. This would mean that the strangely flat map completely missing any kind of variance in elevation except coastlines is actually a just a stylized depiction of a dragon, meant to more clearly get across its stony nature while still being a different color than the dragons' typical stone-grey (since it's gotta get across the point that it negates holy damage). This applies to all the other elemental versions of the drake talismans as well.
As an aside, the ones besides the haligdrake talisman have elemental effects that pretty significantly obscure the supposed map that Miyazaki wants us to see, which to me seems strange because if it were actually a map you would think it would be clearly visible on all of the drake talismans and not just the one. Additionally, the pearldrake talisman has more smooth "coastlines" that don't make a ton of sense if all these talismans are supposed to be the same map AND if it's a map, why would someone in universe decide to put three of the same map on the +1 and +2 talismans, or even put a map on a talisman in the first place, instead of on paper where a map typically is (I'm sure there are maps on things other than papescreens irl, but it's not typical and i'm mostly spitballing for this part).
These are essentially the reasons why I don't think the drake talismans are depicting a map of TLB during the age of the ancient dragons, but I want to add one more quick thing. If I'm completely wrong (totally possible) and these actually are depicting a map, what does that add to the story? We already know TLB changes physically through the ages as tons of much less obscure evidence in the game tells us. The giant skeletons, the eternal cities, the blackstone civilization, the giant crater in the center of the map, and the apparent missing caelid/mountaintops land bridge already serve to give the player a sense of TLB's vast history and tumultuous state of physical being in a much more tangible and evocative way than a single talisman that vaguely looks like a map ever could. If the devs wanted to add another element to this they certainly could to further expand that feeling, but why do it in such an obscure way that there has to be so much argument about whether the evidence in question even exists in the first place? It is my opinion that any good theory for this game should be able to place itself in the context of one's reading of the game as a whole. If a theory doesn't add anything to the story, what's interesting about it in the first place? This is where I'm most looking for some opposing opinions though, since I genuinely haven't found anything where someone places this in the broader context of the story in a compelling way imo.
Hope I did a decent job of not being rude (sorry if I didn't, I dislike this theory quite a bit and am trying to be nice about it), and hopefully some decent discussion can come from this and not more flame-warring. A lot of arguments against this theory kind of amounted to "you're wrong because i said so" and i thought that was lame and wanted to try and make an argument against it in actual good faith instead of blind rage lol.

https://www.northumbriangames.com/post/of-orcs-and-ai

Made vs. Created and the Nature of Orcs

J.R.R. Tolkien's stories are deeply rooted in Thomistic metaphysics and Christian theology, where the distinction between "made" and "created" is pivotal. This distinction underscores the nature of goodness, creation, corruption, and the intrinsic limitations of evil. The dichotomy between making and creating is most vividly illustrated through the origins and nature of orcs, the monstrous foot soldiers of Middle-earth's dark lords.

Creation: The Divine Act

In Tolkien's world, true creation, or creatio ex nihilo (creation from nothing), is the exclusive province of Eru Ilúvatar, the supreme deity. This act of creation involves bringing something into existence that possesses the Flame Imperishable (or the Secret Fire), which grants true life, free will, and inherent goodness. Beings created by Eru Ilúvatar, such as the Ainur (angelic beings), elves, and men, are imbued with this divine spark, making them fundamentally good and capable of independent existence and moral choice.
From The Silmarillion:

"Therefore Ilúvatar may not only send forth the Flame Imperishable into the Void, but he may also bestow it to others, who may then sub-create, though only as permitted by Ilúvatar"​​.

Making: The Act of Sub-creation

In contrast, the Valar and other beings can engage in making or sub-creation, which involves shaping or manipulating pre-existing matter. They cannot infuse these creations with the Flame Imperishable. A notable example is Aulë, one of the Valar, who crafted the Dwarves. Initially, these beings were mere automatons, moving only according to Aulë's thoughts. It was only when Eru Ilúvatar chose to bestow them with the Flame Imperishable that the Dwarves gained true life and independence. This story illustrates the fundamental difference between divine creation and sub-creation: the former grants true life and free will, while the latter lacks these essential qualities until blessed by Eru. Tolkien clarifies this distinction in his letters:

"They [the Valar] shared in [the World’s] 'making'—but only on the same terms as we 'make' a work of art or story. The realization of it, the gift to it of a created reality of the same grade as their own, was the act of the One God"​​.

Orcs: The Corruption of Creation

The origin of orcs in Tolkien’s mythos serves as a poignant example of the difference between making and creating. According to various writings, orcs were not created by Morgoth or Sauron but were made by corrupting pre-existing beings. In "The Silmarillion," it is suggested that orcs were originally elves who were captured, tortured, and perverted by Morgoth's malevolent influence. This corruption transformed them into beings of evil, stripped of their original grace and beauty. In Morgoth's Ring we find:

"It became clear in time that undoubted Men could under the domination of Morgoth or his agents in a few generations be reduced almost to the Orc-level of mind and habits; and then they would or could be made to mate with Orcs, producing new breeds, often larger and more cunning. There is no doubt that long afterwards, in the Third Age, Saruman rediscovered this, or learned of it in lore, and in his lust for mastery committed this, his wickedest deed: the interbreeding of Orcs and Men, producing both Men-orcs large and cunning, and Orc-men treacherous and vile."​​.

Tolkien emphasizes that orcs, though rational and capable of independent thought, lack the divine spark of the Flame Imperishable. This absence signifies that while Morgoth could mar and twist the creations of Eru, he could not create life himself. In Flame Imperishable, Tolkien is quoted as saying:

"Treebeard does not say that the Dark Lord 'created' Trolls and Orcs. He says he 'made' them in counterfeit of certain creatures pre-existing. There is, to me, a wide gulf between the two statements"​​.

Essence
Elves: Created with inherent goodness and free will. Their essence is tied to beauty, longevity, and a deep connection to nature and creation.
Men: Created with inherent goodness and free will. Their essence includes mortality, adaptability, and a dynamic nature.
Orcs: Originally, corrupted elves or men, or made from slime and heat, the essence has been radically distorted and corrupted by evil. Their essence now reflects malevolence, subservience, and a perversion of their original nature.
Existence
Elves: Given existence by Eru Ilúvatar, independent and autonomous. Their being is fully realized with a true purpose aligned with their essence.
Men: Given existence by Eru Ilúvatar, independent and autonomous. Their being is dynamic, capable of growth, and change, and is fully realized.
Orcs: Their existence is subjugated to the will of their corrupt masters (Morgoth or Sauron). While they have real, physical existence, it is dependent on the malevolent forces that control them.
Autonomy
Elves: High degree of moral autonomy, capable of making independent choices and pursuing their own paths.
Men: High degree of moral autonomy, capable of making independent choices and pursuing their own paths.
Orcs: Almost entirely controlled by their evil masters, reflecting their corrupted essence and dependent existence.
Connection to Eru
Elves: Directly created by Eru with the Flame Imperishable, giving them true life and free will.
Men: Directly created by Eru with the Flame Imperishable, giving them true life and free will.
Orcs: Not created by Eru but rather made by corrupting pre-existing beings or materials. They lack the Flame Imperishable, highlighting their dependent and perverted nature.
Philosophical Implication
Elves: Represent the ideal of Tolkien's metaphysical and theological views, embodying true creation and the perfect blend of essence and existence.
Men: Embody the dynamic and adaptable nature of true creation with a perfect blend of essence and existence, according to Aquinas's philosophy.
Orcs: Serve as an example of how essence and existence can be corrupted and diminished by evil. Their existence is real but heavily dependent and perverted, lacking true autonomy and the Flame Imperishable.

Philosophical and Theological Implications

The distinction between made and created has profound implications in Tolkien’s universe. It aligns with Christian theology, reflecting the belief in a singular, omnipotent Creator who alone can grant true life. This distinction underscores the inherent limitations of evil: it is parasitic, relying on the corruption of what is good rather than generating new existence.
Orcs epitomize this concept. They are beings made through corruption, reflecting the perversion of creation. Their existence as fundamentally corrupted creatures illustrates the limits of Morgoth’s and Sauron’s power. They can induce suffering and manipulate life, but they cannot originate a true life that burns with the Flame Imperishable. This underscores a central theme in Tolkien’s works: the resilience of good and the ultimate impotence of evil to truly create.

On Artificial Intelligence

This leads us to Artificial Intelligence. Modern large language models (LLMs) and artificial intelligence systems, despite their sophisticated capabilities, are constructs without true volition or understanding. Basically, an LLM is an advanced version of autocomplete. These systems operate on vast datasets and algorithms designed to predict and generate human-like text (or audio or images), but they lack genuine consciousness, intent, and moral agency. Unlike beings created with the divine spark in Tolkien's world, LLMs do not possess free will or intrinsic purpose; they are tools made by humans to process and mimic patterns. Some commentators have even referred to AI as an alien intelligence, a ~shoggoth with a human face~, meaning that while the text may look humanlike, in reality, it originated not from a human but from an unknowable, formless alien process, which is the LLM.

"Well, we're fooled by their fluency, right? We just assume that if a system is fluent in manipulating language, then it has all the characteristics of human intelligence. But that impression is false." --Yann Lecun​​ on the Lex Fridman podcast #416

The outputs of an LLM are determined not by experience, education, and emotion but by the data and programming they receive, reflecting the biases and limitations inherent in their design. This underscores the crucial distinction between artificial constructs and beings endowed with the Flame Imperishable, with true life and volition. Parents, for instance, should think carefully about giving a child unbridled access to an LLM which has no discernible ethics. The AI is a soulless, thoughtless machine built by human researchers, much like an orc is designed by Sauron simply to act as an instrument of his evil desires. The ethical and philosophical results of deploying such constructs into our society is staggering indeed.

The AI is only the Tool of the Maker

Of course, while the analogy between LLMs and Orcs highlights the artificial nature and purpose-driven creation of both, there are clear and fundamental differences in moral intent and potential for ethical use. LLMs are not (as far as we know) inherently evil constructs. They seem to be neutral tools that reflect the intentions of their creators and users. As such, the focus should be on ensuring that AI development and deployment are guided by ethical principles to maximize their benefits and minimize potential harm. That said, as with social media, we may come to regret the technology and wish to fling it back into Mordor's fire.

Conclusion

Tolkien's distinction between made and created is a metaphysical aspect of Middle Earth. It emphasizes the unique power of Eru Ilúvatar's true creation and the corruptive nature of evil. The orcs symbolize this dichotomy, illustrating how evil can distort but not create. This concept resonates in modern large language models and AI systems, which lack genuine consciousness and moral agency despite their advanced capabilities. Orcs and contemporary LLMs demonstrate the ethical implications of using such technologies and serve to enrich the philosophical depth of Tolkien's work.

So, as the title suggests, this is my idea for the Indigo Park Timeline and Lore, including the time before, and the game's events. This will be one of three parts due to character limitations, this part dealing with the time before the events of the game.
BEFORE THE GAME
So, this game is clearly based loosely on Disney, if it wasn't obvious enough: a man by the name of Isaac Indigo opening Indigo Park (Walt Disney, Disney World, self-explanatory), starting out with cartoons in the early 1900s.
Mr. Isaac Indigo started out his business ventures in the cartoon sphere, specifically with Lloydford L. Lion, or more commonly known as Lloyd the Lion. The reason that it's Lloyd specifically, and not anyone else, can be seen when interacting with the Retro Lloyd Plush, both from the protagonist and Rambley the Raccoon, the modern day representative of Indigo Park.
Protagonist in regard to the Retro Lloyd Plush: "Lloyd obviously had an older look in the classic Indigo cartoons, but I'm not sure it looked like this. I guess nostalgia sells..."
Rambley AI in regard to the Retro Lloyd Plush: "Ugh...I don't get why we even have those. And why did they only make one of LLOYD? Is it because he's the loudest? I CAN BE LOUD TOO! WHERE'S MY LIMITED-EDITION THROWBACK PLUSH?! WHERE'S MOLLIE'S? WHERE'S FINLEY'S?"
Protagonist in regard to the Lloyd Plush: “I feel like as a kid, Indigo used Loyd a lot more.”
If it wasn't obvious enough by Rambley's rather frustrated demeanor regarding the plush, only Lloyd received this sort of plush, while none of the others received such a collectible. Well, it's possible Salem the Skunk received one, since Rambley didn't mention her, but that might be more representative of his intense dislike for Salem, something that will be discussed down the line. Another thing to note is that this plush does not look like the original Lloyd Lion, which is a detail I will discuss in depth towards the end.
Anyways, over the years, the other mascots we know and love, Mollie the Macaw, Finley the Sea Serpent, Salem the Skunk, and Rambley the Raccoon are added. I would like to put forth the idea that Mollie, Salem, and Rambley were all added in the same general time period, thanks to the Rambley Rush Arcade Game.
The quick rundown of the game is thus: Mollie Macaw crashes somewhere in the depths of Rambleberry Woods, and Rambley goes to find her. Along the way, he must jump across rivers and pits, collecting Rambleberries, and stomping upon evil purple squirrels, eventually reaching Mollie, who is still near her crashed plane. When she gets up, she claims that she crashed because her vision became rapidly obscured, at which point Salem Skunk appears and takes credit for that, claiming that she needed better test subjects for her potions than a bunch of squirrels. Infecting Mollie with the potion, Salem flees, not before Rambley and Salem exchange some barbs. Rambley eventually knocks Mollie out by stomping on her a few times, and the game glitches and crashes.
This arcade game is important for several reasons, one of which is that it introduces us to the dynamic that Rambley and Salem have: one of enemies, different than with Lloyd, because Rambley is merely jealous of the fact that Lloyd came before him, and was the main character for a long period of time. There is also the fact that Salem's area in the Rambley Railroad is completely destroyed. Not even Lloyd's area is so damaged.
From my basic understanding of early black and white television, based on the Chapter 1 opening cutscene of Isaac Indigo, Indigo Park opens somewhere in the 1940s to 1950s, as the grainy, blurry footage and somewhat muffled audio is reminiscent of such times. All sorts of rides and attractions are available for families to explore, such as Rambley's Railway, Jetstream Junction, Oceanic Odyssey, and Lloyd's Main Stage Theater. Again, interesting to note that Salem doesn't have such an area dedicated to her, though that might just be a way of putting off that area for later in the game. People in costumes (note, not called Mascots themselves, as I will use the term to address the replacements of these costumes) roam about the place, likely acting like modern day Disney Cast Members do today, interacting with guests in character.
After a long period of time, and possibly into the early 2000s, the focus is drawn away from Lloyd and onto Rambley, and specifically after the park was open, and not before, because in that same commercial that I dated to approximately the 1940s or 50s, the front gates are decorated with artwork of Lloyd, which is different than in game, where the Lloyd artwork has been replaced by art of Rambley. The reasoning for this is unclear, though I do have a few speculations. It is noted, both by the Rambley AI and the protagonist when interacting with the limited Golden Rambley Plush, that the idea is kind of cheap.
Protagonist: "So wait. They were so money hungry that they just recolored a regular Rambley plush and called it a new product? Kinda lazy don't you think?"
Rambley AI: "... Seriously, our employees had to clean up SO many stray teeth and nails. Hard to believe that there was all this demand for a regular Rambley Plush we blasted with gold spray paint..."
The idea of cutting corners and lowering costs comes up a fair bit. This might be the reason that they swapped main characters, after all: it's easier to animate a cute, small raccoon with a bandana than a large lion in a full on suit. This might also be the reason that the park transitions from costumed staff members, or "Ranglers", to Mascots.
Another reason for the change could have been growing awareness of animal welfare issues at the time, with many circuses and zoos facing criticism for how they treated their animals, lions and elephants specifically, and is an issue that is still ongoing, so perhaps Indigo Park didn't want the negative press to come to them, so they swapped. However, it is important to note that these are purely my speculations, and no concrete reason for the swap was ever introduced in Chapter 1 (to my knowledge).
A third possible reason could be in reference to what Indigo Park represented, at least in the time that it was built. According to Isaac Indigo:
Isaac Indigo, giving a press conference outside Indigo Park: “Indigo Park offers a slice of the American dream to call your own. In this place, echoes of days gone are brought back to life as a new generation captures a glimpse of the exciting potential of Tomorrow. Indigo Park pays homage to the values, dreams, and unwavering truths that gave rise to our great nation.”
Let’s take a step back. Remember how I dated the opening of Indigo Park to the 1940s or 1950s? If that was true, that means that Indigo Park opened in the shadow of the Second World War, the deadliest human conflict ever recorded, with a death toll of over 50 million people, both soldier and civilian. After the atomic bombs were dropped on Japan, it was eventually public knowledge that the USA still decided to drop the second one, even after Imperial Japan had surrendered after the first one had been cast.
It's entirely possible that Indigo Park was, in some way, propaganda. Think about it, Lloyd the Lion was the mascot. And what do lions represent? Strength, power, unity, leadership. Lloyd could have been a symbol to the American people that proclaimed themselves as leaders, people who thought of the future, while trying to sideline the negative press the USA received.
After a while, however, there was no need to justify their victory. People, for the most part, accepted their victory, and as the world headed into a Cold War, there was no need to justify themselves; many people were afraid of the Communists, the Red, and the influence it may have. Clearly, the USA and its allies were the good guys. Communism was a threat to democracy, everyone knew that! So there was a switch to a more child friendly character, Rambley, as the main man himself.
That might also explain why the retro plushie doesn’t look like how Lloyd did in the old cartoons, as stated explicitly by the protagonist; perhaps that older Lloyd was more mature, older, and signified some much darker. There’s no need to stir up bad memories of WW2, so they changed his design to be softer, younger, much more unassuming.
The Protagonist, regarding the Retro Lloyd Plushie: “I always find it weird when companies make merch that’s supposed to look old. Lloyd obviously had an older look in the classic Indigo cartoons, but I’m not sure Lloyd looked like this.”
There’s also a case to be made that Disney also participated in some good old propaganda of their own, mocking Nazi Germany and their ideals.
Now, disregarding politics, because that thing is a minefield to safely navigate, this is just my theory. I am not trying to radicalize the game, and if you hate this theory, you can go about ignoring it! I personally don’t think it’s the correct answer, just a potential answer.
Another change that soon occurred was the change from costumed "Ranglers" to living, breathing, flesh and bones Mascots, introduced to us in the Rambley AI interaction with the Rambley mask.
Rambley AI, playing an old tape in the database in regard to the costumes: "First Person - Hey Jackson! You hear about the new mascots? Jackson - Yeah, you think it will put us out of a job? First Person - I think so, Old Sport, and right after we got this damn raccoon costume."
An important note to this is that this interaction is considered an Easter Egg to a FNAF fan game called Dayshift at Freddy's, alongside some other references such as the Golden Rambley being a reference to Golden Freddy, and the Poodle Plush being a reference to another FNAF fan game Playtime with Percy. Despite this, these items seem to carry a bit of significant lore in them, something that I think is an interesting way of hiding it. It opens up the possibility to state that it should be disregarded, since it's supposed to be an Easter Egg to something else, but I don't think so.
This quote makes me think that the switch from costumes to Mascots happened quite early on in Indigo Park's lifetime, considering it's said that the Mascots should appear quite soon after the introduction of the costumes, perhaps yet another clue that Indigo Park was looking to cut costs. After all, why pay people when you can have Mascots roaming about, doing just the same, if not better, of a job?
And everything seems to be going fine for quite a while. The protagonist notes several times that his family, and especially his mother and himself, were avid fans of the place and characters, his mother liking Mollie Macaw the most, while the protagonist favored a few, such as Lloyd the Lion, while disliking Finley due to his large size, which was revealed when interacting with a few different collectibles.
When the protagonist interacts with the Lloyd the Lion plush: "I feel like as a kid, Indigo used Lloyd a lot more. He was always one of my favorites."
When the protagonist interacts with the Mollie the Macaw plush: "I remember when my mom took us to the parks one summer. Her favorite was always Mollie, so when they first opened new Mollie Meet & Greet in Jetstream Junction, we were some of the first in line."
When the protagonist interacts with the Rambley Ears: "My dad promised me he'd buy me a pair when we went."
When the protagonist interacts with the Souvenir Rambley Cup: "When I was a kid they used to have free unlimited refills on those things. I once drank so much Bird Up that I got sick and threw up while riding Rooftop Races. That poor kid behind me..."
Anyways, we got the point: the family went there often and were huge fans of the park. What could go wrong?
Well, apparently a huge evacuation and closure of the park with no explanation whatsoever, to the point where the authorities also were not able give any reasoning or answers.
This comes from the newspaper we see in the beginning cutscene, after the old video of Isaac Indigo introducing Indigo Park. So, let's theorize a bit. Out of everything in the park, what could possibly lead to such a drastic evacuation of a place so well loved? Oh, I don't know, maybe the killer Mascots that try to kill you in Chapter 1 ...
What isn't so clear is what happened to them. Clearly, they were well behaved and safe to be around, even for small children, as the park remained open for 50 years (minimum) without issue, and almost as long with the actual mascots themselves. Obviously, they went rogue, as can be seen when the protagonist has to run away from Lloyd the Lion's attempts to attack and have the Rambley AI save the protagonist from the Mollie the Macaw by killing the Mascot with a metal door. I don't think it had to do with resources such as food, since the Mascots remained by themselves in the park for 2920 days, exactly eight years, and only seemed feral. Besides that, we see a bunch of vendor stations and a few cafes, still with food in them. Moldy, perhaps, and expired, but there's still food. There's also water (possibly) available in those self serve drinking fountains. The last time the park was operational was October 7th, 20XX (with the exact year being a mystery), and the reason I say operational is because of an announcement seen on one of the Rangler monitors in the reception area.
Announcement: "Attention Ranglers. The date is October 7th, 20XX. Charge guests the SATURDAY pricing indicated in your Rookie Rangler Handbook! Thanks! - Management."
What jumps out immediately is the way Saturday is so bold. So, what can we assume? The last operational day we have knowledge of was Saturday, October 7th, somewhere in the 2000s. Unless this is the future (which we have no reason to believe), we can assume this Saturday occurred somewhere between 2000 and 2023 (2023 and not 2024 because the creator, in a livestream, ended up giving a vague message of the game taking place in 2023). Looking up old calendars and looking specifically for an October 7th that lands on a Saturday reveals a couple potential years: 2000, 2006, and 2023. We can discount 2023, as we know the park was closed for 8 years. I did try to find a date on those three monitors the protagonist uses in the opening cutscene, but only found the time, 7:32 pm. Unfortunately, Harmony, a knock off of Discord (antonyms) also doesn't have a date, or even a time, for that matter. And besides, we know that we're the first actual person to visit in quite some time. So, we're left with 2000, and 2006. Assuming this game takes place in 2024, I have a feeling the year it closed is actually 2006.
First foremost because of the Rambley AI. Having AI Rambley be as advanced as he is makes it seem like the park was closed in 2023, but again, there is no evidence to say the game takes place in the future. And AI's back in 2000s and 2010s eras were good, but nothing like we have today. They were capable of basic object identification, and navigation, but the capabilities were limited, compared to today. And in 2000, it was much more basic. Image recognition consisted of identifying edges. That's it. Edges, not distinct features, and even then, the accuracy was pretty bad. At the time, AI was mainly used for data retrieval and predictive modeling, mostly for things like language translation, text classification, and such. They were basically office assistants.
Of course, that's assuming that the AI was introduced back then. It is entirely possible, and likely plausible, that the AI was introduced later. After all, the park may have closed, but Ranglers were still visiting the place as late as 2015, which was the last time the AI Rambley notes an actual person arrived. So, if that's true, then I am still not too sure as to which of the two years the park closed.
Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. And the present of the game and my conclusions shall be posted in separate posts, as there is a 40k character limit. Leave any theories of your own in the comments, and I'll be happy to theorize regarding and questions or concerns yall have!

From the log of Edward Price – Clerk for Diplomat Howard Weathers – 03.28.2803
I suppose a summary is in order for things to be clear. Humanity has a bit of a reputation as an odd lot in the galaxy. Most aliens don’t know really know what to think about us. You see, most aliens are actually somewhat boring, having fallen into galactic societal niches over thousands of years. The Atroxians are were space pirates, the Vontacruz own the casinos and travel cruise industries, and the Hordun operate the most efficient morgues this side of the galaxy – usually because of the Atroxians. But the Delridians? They are diplomats. And dare I say that they are the weird ones.
Delri Prima is the homeworld of the Delridians, a tall, lanky race who look like the grimdark cousins of a Star Wars Kaminoan. Brilliant medics, they apparently don’t see a difference between medical work and diplomacy, seeing both fields as the healing arts. Their medicocracy has a long list of accomplishments throughout the galaxy, enough that it’d look like an 18-hour credit reel on a movie. My guess is that they may have been the “Humans” of the galaxy preceding us before they finally settled, and rumors have it that the K’kituun Death Puppets are an ancient offshoot from their early days on the galactic stage.
But more to the point, after about 180 years on the galactic stage, Humanity has made a decent name for ourselves as the handyman and eccentric nerd. We are celebrated, thrown strange looks, worried glances, and altogether treated as small children. Though with the destruction of Axtroxia, they may want to worry about what will happen when we hit puberty. The Delridians have already been through that, though they were never as eccentric as we are.
They reached out to Humanity with a diplomatic frigate appropriately named Olive Branch about a year ago. I’ve learned they like to reflect the cultures they are talking to, so as to ease negotiations. Can’t imagine what the Atroxian equivalent was. Probably something like ‘Torn Heads’. Regardless, Diplomat Weathers was finally selected as the Earth delegate to talk on Delri Prima, and oh boy. That is a dark world. Like, bring a flashlight dark. I don’t know whether it is the slow spin of the planet, or the climate generators they have, but the entire twilight band is just dark and grey. It rains, and thankfully it is safe water, but it is eerie. From the embassy city they built to make us more comfortable, you can look out across the Delridian jungle and see the many other diplomatic cities slowly being devoured by the vines and trees.
The first night was fine, though I’m not sure any of us slept well. We were each provided a separate room or, well, house really. The entire city was made of a cold stone, themed after some old Italian city on Earth. The wind slipped through the narrow streets with a soft whistle, bringing with it a faint jungle fog. Somewhere down the street was a clattering window shutter, but with how much stone they used, and the strange alignment of the streets, you could hear a pin drop from eight blocks away!
Talks went well for the first three days as Diplomat Weathers and the Delridians got to know each other. I met with and discussed a number of cultural similarities with a member of the alien entourage, a Nurse Kelayo, when I wasn’t with the others in my group exploring the city. She was very proud of the settlement they built for us, but in our talks, she asked what we thought of the book. What book?
Well, after having a wonderful meal with my coworkers and some of the alien entourage, we said our farewells and parted ways. Kelayo was vague, but had explained how they had acquired a copy of the book, and that she hoped that we enjoyed the effort she put into it.

I didn’t look into it immediately when I returned to the lonely, lifeless house that was my quarters. Mark was my closest neighbor, and he was a block down. The Delridians, fresh from talks with the Hordun, thought we may want some privacy from each other. And while it is nice not having to hear Mark snore in the cabin like on the flight here, the house was a little… too private.
It was as I was preparing to turn off the light to go to sleep that I thought to look in the nightstand beside me. Kelayo had told us about the book, and when I opened the top drawer, it was indeed there. Sitting center and alone was an old Earth book of gnarled leather and no visible title. Whatever poor creature the Delridians had used to make the cover had terrible skin!
Opening the book, I found it to have been printed in an old dialect of English from before the Third World War, with some much older words I did not recognize. It certainly looked like it was printed in the archaic methods of old Earth, with wet ink instead of modern digital ink that provided touch-based pseudo-memoric context.
I began to flip through the pages of this strange book, turning up the brightness on the nightstand lamp to see better. The faded pages of the book looked sick and moldy, and my skin crawled just touching it, but the letters, despite the stains and grunge, seemed to pop from the page in crisp black. In fact, the ink was so black that it felt like I was staring into the void with each letter. Kelayo’s book was some archaic text of old Earth culture from the end of the 20^th century, though I did not recognize the name. Written by a Bishop Simon from some archaic cult or religion, the book functioned as a “spellbook” like a deepdive virtual reality fantasy game might have. It was filled with a plethora of gods I did not recognize, and a ton of phonetic gibberish that sounded good when said, but easily complicated.
I hadn’t gotten too far when I heard a man’s scream next to me. Jumping out of my skin, I found no one there. But I remembered where I was, and crept to the window. It was Mark’s voice, more panicky than I had ever heard him. Peeking through the slats of the window, I scanned the street towards Mark’s place. The light was on, and someone was shuffling down the street, murmuring in pain.
Rushing down to the street, I rushed out to help him. Mark’s mutterings were too quiet, and he was holding something to his chest. It may have been a minute before I collected myself and tried to get answers from him, but you have to understand, I’ve never seen a dying man before. Not in real life. In the dim and permanent gloom, I could barely make out the trail of blood behind him. He pleaded again and again, and I had to find out where he was injured, and what it was he was carrying.
I went to take what he held, only to realized that in my own fervor to aid him I still had that creepy book. I put that down to wrench free Mark’s own possession. I really wish I hadn’t, for his grip was weak, with only one hand. I held his other, and everything above it.
My own voice was the next I heard echoing down the street as I most certainly fell backwards. Sorry Mark, but I lost your arm. Well, your first one. The second is decorating some chandelier somewhere, courtesy of Vanessa.
Please understand that for anyone in my situation, gorey horror was never my fancy, and I hope no one in the auditing board holds it against me. I would bet credits that any of you would have done much the same as I did.
Time is… unreliable on Delri Prima, with its twilit band and gloom. The only thing that moves is that blasted fog. And the vines. Especially the vines. I’m not sure how long I ran, but Vanessa was the one to find me, flanked by a street littered with Human bodies. Far more people than joined us on the crew… I think. You might want to review the ship manifest just to be sure.
Vanessa, once she verified my identity, guided me through the littered street, still gurgling and reaching out to us. Give her a raise, by the way. She’s the one that got us out of there. We met up with Dwayne and Harry, both armed with metal pipes and whatever other junk they salvaged, and we retreated to a boarded up house with other surviving members of the crew. They were glad to see me, though I don’t remember who they were. Many were new faces to the ship for this mission.
We settled here for hours? A day? Our comms were filled with static, and we couldn’t reach Mr. Weathers to see if he was ok. We needed to get off this planet. Someone mentioned that the ship was still parked at the landing bay. All eyes turned to someone in the back of the group, who slowly stood up, her form long and lanky. Kelayo, the Delridian nurse.
Vanessa worked with Kelayo on a plan to move through the city to the landing bay, while the rest of us sought supplies. This house had a basement, connected to a series of tunnels which we would use to slip under whatever muttering, mumbling horrors pleaded us to come outside.
Slowly, and as quietly as we could, our train of survivors crept through the tunnels. Our flashlights that Ben had found were pathetically dim, and frequently flickered out, sounding with a loud clunk whenever someone whacked it awake. Icy water dripped from the long tangled hairs of wriggling moss that clung to and between the bricks, the lights illuminating white lice-like that lived within the tangle.
Splashing was the only sound we heard for a long time, along with someone’s horrid cough. He was in the back of the line, far behind me, but kept coughing and groaning. Others frequently shushed him, louder than he coughed. But for all the good their efforts to keep him quiet were, it paled in comparison to Kelayo’s odd excitement. When I inquired her about her unusual positivity, she admitted fascination over the many accounts of average Humans combatting the supernatural evils that threatened Earth. How we could survive on a planet infested with the dead with only equally dark magicks astounded her, despite our culture not having widespread knowledge or application of this means of survival. It was faint, but she had nodded at the book. Why did I still have this disgusting leatherback that seemed to shiver in the cold?
I apologize for any impact I may have had on diplomatic relations with the Delridians, but I said some uncouth remarks about the whole situation and the book. I flipped it open to a random page to give an example, forgetting in my annoyance just how dark it was in the tunnels. But that ink… that horrid archaic stain… was fully legible. I admit I came to a stop in awe, though shortlived as the train of people behind me bumped into me. That coughing was gone.
So were half the people we had been travelling with. Kelayo glanced around with a chitter. She was having too much fun with the spooky, and now we heard skittering and scrape scrape scraping on the bricks. Vanessa fired a shot down the tunnel and urged us to run, so we did.
We were near the landing bay when we ducked into a sideroom per Kelayo’s prompting, and shoved a convenient table in the way of the door. The skittering was above us on the ground floor too, and then someone grabbed my foot. It may have been Mark. Well, the part of Mark I dropped.
Long gnarled fingers covered in dirt were the hallmark of these freaky things. Human hands with a life of their own, skittering around like bugs as they fled the flashlight’s beam and sought dark corners. These shelters included their unholy wriggling up our pants and jackets, some grips strong and muscular, and others gentle and cautious. If you have ever had a massage, you may never want one again once a chilly, slimy, dismembered hand tries to nest between your shoulder blades.
Vanessa fired off a few shots in her desperate attempt to keep the grabby hands off, though she nicked Ben’s ear in the process. The loud noise scattered the skitterhands enough for us to fling the last few from our persons. Vanessa slammed the book I still carried, ordering me to read it. She had lost her copy early on, but had the gist of its contents.
The ink on the book was darkest on one particular page, with a weird symbol that looked like it said XOOD. An old-Earth linguist may understand it better than I. Kelayo was forced to provide guidance, as she was the expert on the book, and with many, many attempts, and a dark horde gathering upstairs, were ready to begin. Vanessa was out of shots in her gun, and Ben and Dwayne were futiley pushing back the horde of impossible crewmen. These people smelled horribly of rotten meat, and overtook Ben first, followed swiftly by Dwayne.
Vanessa had backed into a corner, clearly scared. I can’t blame her, since I was, too. But I couldn’t move, couldn’t join her in the false safety of the corner. The rotten crew… this dead crew, was in the room with us, and were already grabbing me. Amidst the noise and confusion, I could hear Vanessa being attacked behind me, and the dull nails of my own assailants tearing at my skin. Kelayo, her form thin and dark, simply stood amidst the dead.
Read it, she said.
Say it with all your heart.
I remember the word that pierced the world that day, but can’t remember saying it. But my throat burns whenever I utter it now. BARASHAKUSHU. The dead froze in place, their fingers dug deep into my skin. BARASHAKUSHU. Limp, lifeless, just as they should be. BARASHAKUSHU. The haze in the air, even in the basement, lifted. BARASHAKUSHU. Vanessa breathed deep as I pulled her from the bodies and out the house to the crowded, lifeless street.
We limped, though we did not bleed, filled with holes and grime, and caked in blood. Kelayo followed wraithlike behind us, always ten paces behind. The landing bay was before us. Our ship and salvation was before us.
Diplomat Weathers was fine, though alarmed at our state. Delridian doctors tended to us as we explained what happened. A full transcript is available via the ship’s DIA-Log.
When all was said and done, the Delridian diplomat thanked us for being so willing to open discourse. To celebrate successful talks between our species, he offered us a parting feast. He motioned Kaleyo over, who had apparently been tasked with researching Human culture for the talks.
She explained over dinner about how she had poured over a stunning variety of Human dishes from our many cultures, but that she had settled on one that appeared to be a universal favorite. An Italian dish of long, stringy noodles over their equivalent of a white cream sauce. And dinner was fantastic! But Kaleyo seemed confused as well, stating that she had a difficult time picking out the right recipe. The instructions were apparently all over the place with a lot of strange steps that seemed superfluous to food preparation.
I asked her what she meant, to which she replied, “The base ingredients were simple, almost mundane. Of note, the various rituals in the preparation exhausted many of our best doctors. Some are still seeking treatment after one batch escaped. You Humans have a very strange culture of food, especially with the names. I believe you called this one… creepy pasta?”
Then the meatball on my fork blinked at me.

"in the form of man move they amongst us, but only to sight were they as are men. Serpent-headed when the glamour was lifted but appearing to man as men among men. Crept they into the Councils, taking forms that were like unto men. Slaying by their arts the chiefs of the kingdoms, taking their form and ruling o'er man. Only by magic could they be discovered. Only by sound could their faces be seen. Sought they from the Kingdom of shadows to destroy man and rule in his place"
Cultural Artifact Remember in Spiderman where the cathedral bell removes the symbiotes, which was a negative alien parasite feeding on dark emotions? I wonder if This is why the cathedrals (which were healing centers, cymatic symbols in windows) all had their bells confiscated. Or Is this the real reason Armys 1st Nvg starlight scopeswere banned?
So i had someone send me this clip from an interview where an ex USAF & propulsion expert is discussing the rumblings in the Pentagon about Enkis return. Return Of Anu-Naki only Enlil would be upset about the return of Enki & bringing prosperity to the human race... A new "golden age", and nothing can stop it from coming.
"In the Era of Aquarius, Lord Enki shall rule again".
A 700yr old drawing of Sirius A-B & their orbits during 1912-1990 from a Dogon cave. Dogon Sirius - Since 1990 scientists have found our dna has been changing & mutating. Subs like this show that there's been an obvious awakening happening. This DNA mutation is Enki keeping his promise. Enki-Lord of the Earth , Dogon-Land Lord*
GEN 11-7 :"let us go down and confuse the people with different languages. Then they won’t be able to understand each other".... - Historically, theyve sought to undo everything we did, to invert symbols like Swatstika(Dogon origin) to make it represent evil. Like Ainu, Basque, Olmec, E Island, languages across the planet originate with the Dogon. Dogon World Dialect Meanwhile the romans created most Religions from Islam, Catholicism, Talmud, etc.
Pres Kennedy spoke about this war being ancient in origin. The battle between the ‘Sons of Light’ and the ‘Sons of Darkness’ i previously talked about has been ongoing up until this present day. I mostly discuss benevolent NHI but its important to mention this. Same evil Watchers, and their offspring from Enochs time. Archonic reptilians who are called to our reality with sacrifice/black magic. This is probably why Elizondo said that the top echelons of Govt say that NHI are "demons" & interdimensional.
Mostly the plane they Inhabit is between two worlds in the lower astral planes of the fourth dimension of the planet Earth, a dimensionally unstable region and not permanent for the establishment of a galactic race. Dwelling in this place beyond human sensory perception, makes them invisible to the majority of human beings, which allows them to be able to work "behind the scenes", like puppeteers in a puppet theater, in temporary or permanent possession and the manipulation of the "sleeping" population.
sought they from the Kingdom of shadows to destroy man & rule in his place
According to Mi-6 , And Nsa whistleblowers Project Oaktree was ultimately looking for the human descendants of the Watchers. From ancient to modern times, accounts exist of human encounters with such beings, their disguise as humans placed in influential roles, and their seeding of hybrids into human families. Those same general traits could equally apply to humanlike alien groups bent on malevolent domination. The competing alien forces from our ancient past are still with us today, actively influencing the world. • Our respective factions always having been polarized into opposing sides, and have been at war for thousands of years. Some factions have a strong fascist orientation. Theres nothing more dangerous than Scientific perversion of the occult… Modern ufology is familiar with Men in Black, but they aren't new at all. Historically , they've been doing the dirty work of the malevolent forces who mean to keep humanity in the dark. Even Crowley wrote about these "dark agents"..
Even today, men from various secret societies all over take up top leadership positions. Most US pres were apart of skull/Bones. Understand they have NOTHING to do with our ancestors, & the secret societies you all are familiar with are NOT the same as our Cult of Lebe/mystery schools. We dont require black magic/sacrifices often human males are used for breeding purposes by superhuman females who make no secret of their otherworldly nature. Like Peter Khoury
Enki is God of wisdom/magic/fertility, so often they’d be described as magicians because of their abilities to “shapeshift” at will, as Diodorus writes.... Our ancestors where the Apkallu depicted as Sages/Birdmen, protectors of our fathers creation & authority figures beloved by the people. Nicholas De Vere says "rightful shepherds of the human flock". Always service to others not to self.
They’re genetically compatible with us and some of their females have engaged human males for sexual encounters and even long term relationships. Through interbreeding their genes can enter our gene pool and vice versa. Therefore some human individuals and bloodlines would have more of their DNA than others, and their alien DNA would likely show under analysis to be basically human, albeit rare and unusual. 2018 scientists found the ghost hominid whod bred with 2-19% of Dogon/Yoruba giving a sort of "enhancement" including the anomalies Dr Nolan found. Historical Relation Between NHI & w African Tribes You can see in the link that all of the various priesthoods/Sages/Apkallu were all from Mende/Yoruba.
Through genetic manipulation, they can insert alien DNA as a third party contributor to a developing human fetus, so that the child resembles both human parents while also being somewhat hybridized. Whether artificially hybridized, naturally conceived between human and alien, or fully alien, such a child born and raised in a human family will mostly pass for human, except they will be of a caliber beyond their peers.First Baby Born with 3 parents
The euphemism that has come down to describe a female reserved for crossing with part alien being was “virgin.” The offspring of these relations were referred to as being of “virgin birth.”Semiramis was called the Queen of Heaven (also Rhea), the Virgin Mother of the Gods, and sometimes known as the Great Earth Mother (Ninkharsag). She was also worshipped under the name Astarte ‘the woman who made towers’(Malta Hypogeum Elongated Skulls evidence shows they were Priest of Astarte)..
they'd be called blood of the lamb, & other accounts are "Immaculate Conception ”. Founder of Imperial Mali, my ancestor Sundiata Keita was the most recent case of IC documented. According to your textbooks W Africa's royal family is named Keita(clan name) but this is false. Keita means Inheritors, Sundiata was Crowned Keita. Earths wealthiest man was Mansa Musa, A W African ruler who went around sharing his wealth to counter the enemies bloodlines campaign to control the world. Columbus saw the indigenous people with gold-tipped spears which he had assayed & found it came from W Africa like the Aztecs
So with Masons, the go by degrees with 33 being the top so to speak. In Enochs writings, he describes how the followers of the evil ones would go & meet with the 33 fallen to learn the secrets of the angels. The Tribe of Dan travelled from Dan (‘Kaish’ in Hebrew) just below Mt Hermon and went up into Greece around the time of the Exodus. From Greece they travelled to France where they were the Merovingian Priest-Kings and other French Royal lines. From France they travelled to Scotland, Ireland and America. 43 Us President descend from the same European bloodline.
These evil factions believe that by abusing children and people of our 7 bloodlines, they are directly attacking God.. This is a fascinating book written about the Hall of Records under the Sphinx in Romania, you'll see that a certain secret society wasn't able to gain access due to an energy barrier that couldn't be bypassed, they had to get one of US to even enter it. What I spoke about with apotropaic spells surrounding megalithic sites . Transylvania Sunrise
In the Testament of Baruch -"Thus they allured the Watchmen before the flood, for as these continually beheld them, they lusted after them and conceived the act in their mind; for they changed themselves into the shape of men and appeared to them when they were with their husbands; and the women, lusting in their minds after their forms, gave birth to giants" ....

i'm trying to split the code of my os so its easyer to work on it on the long run, but i'm getting issues with my make file saying that symbols that i made x file are not being known to the main kernel, here is the error: i686-elf-gcc -c src/kernel/lib/terminal.c -o build/kernel/lib/terminal.o -std=gnu99 -ffreestanding -O2 -Wall -Wextra i686-elf-gcc -c src/kernel/lib/vga.c -o build/kernel/lib/vga.o -std=gnu99 -ffreestanding -O2 -Wall -Wextra i686-elf-gcc -c src/kernel/lib/stringu.c -o build/kernel/lib/stringu.o -std=gnu99 -ffreestanding -O2 -Wall -Wextra i686-elf-gcc -c src/kernel/kernel.c -o build/kernel/kernel.o -std=gnu99 -ffreestanding -O2 -Wall -Wextra i686-elf-gcc -T src/kernel/linker.ld -o build/SourOS.bin -ffreestanding -O2 -nostdlib build/boot.o build/kernel/kernel.o -lgcc /uslocal/cross/lib/gcc/i686-elf/13.1.0/../../../../i686-elf/bin/ld: build/kernel/kernel.o: in function `kernel_main': kernel.c:(.text+0xa): undefined reference to `terminal_initialize' /uslocal/cross/lib/gcc/i686-elf/13.1.0/../../../../i686-elf/bin/ld: kernel.c:(.text+0x17): undefined reference to `terminal_writestring' /uslocal/cross/lib/gcc/i686-elf/13.1.0/../../../../i686-elf/bin/ld: kernel.c:(.text+0x28): undefined reference to `numbtostr' /uslocal/cross/lib/gcc/i686-elf/13.1.0/../../../../i686-elf/bin/ld: kernel.c:(.text+0x30): undefined reference to `terminal_writestring' /uslocal/cross/lib/gcc/i686-elf/13.1.0/../../../../i686-elf/bin/ld: kernel.c:(.text+0x3c): undefined reference to `terminal_writestring' /uslocal/cross/lib/gcc/i686-elf/13.1.0/../../../../i686-elf/bin/ld: kernel.c:(.text+0x51): undefined reference to `terminal_writestring' idk why its doing this error, i checked on the makefile and it seems fine, u can all look at my repo an say whats wrong: https://github.com/jossse69/SourOS, anyways cheers! (EDIT I FORGOT TO COMMIT THE MAKEFILE CHANGES SORRY)

We have been dating since a little more than a year, but this has been an issue a several times.
When my boyfriend, let's say Kyle, was in highschool, he dated a girl, let's say Clara, for about a few weeks, right before graduating. He told me that Clara ended it shortly after graduating due to different life paths etc., so they dated for about a few weeks.
For months he tried to get back with her, but it didn't really work out. During that time Kyle met me and we started going on dates. Kyle admitted to me that he was still sort of moving on when we were dating and that he texted Clara multiple times apparantly to "catch up", nothing big really happened though. At some point Kyle fully stopped texting her and asked me out to be his girlfriend and ever since we've been dating.
I am sure that he doesn't like her anymore and that I am the one he loves me. But sometimes when he is trying to find a different photo, we stumble upon pictures of her and selfies they took together. I know that it doesn't mean anything more than just a memory but it still stings when I come across them and am confronted with them.
The time they were together was short, but Kyle told me Clara was sort of a picture-lover that they simply took tons of pictures together. So it's inevitable that we come across them often because I don't take a lot of pictures with him and he also doesn't take that many on his own.
I know that what we have now is most important and that I shouldn't be bothered by something from the past. Kyle also makes it very clear that he loves me and I am sure that he has no intentions of getting back with her etc. I honestly don't know why it still bothers me this much.
I confronted him a few times:

• Maybe delete the "excessive" ones and just leave a few for memory.
• Kyle said that all the pictures symbolize a certain time after graduation and that it's still a part of him.
  
• Maybe hide the pictures or move them to a space different than his phone gallery.
  
• Kyle said would make it even weirder, since he would only selectively have to open those files just to see Clara's pictures and hiding the pictures make it seem like he is secretly trying to take a look at those pictures. Kyle said keeping them in his phone gallery is the only way to keep it equally or less important than other pictures and keeping it separately will make it even more special than others.
  

I told him that I understand all the reasons. It wasn't actually a big deal until we were viewing the "memories" video that iPhone makes and were hit by bunch of Clara's pictures in a row.
TLDR: Boyfriend wants to keep pictures due to memory reasons. Not a problem at first, but they keep popping out that I am confronted by them. Then it bothers me. What to do?
How to confront him? Or if I am in the wrong, how to deal with this feeling?

Starting off with pictures of me because I've got ghosted too many times right after showing them.
I am looking for a lady between 25 and 35 years old, for a committed monogamous childfree relationship. My goal is to become a true team, supporting each other, caring for each other, nurturing each other and helping each other grow and realise our goals and dreams as much as possible. I'm hoping to find someone that values a relationship as much as I do and takes it seriously. It's not the only thing my life revolves around, but it's also not just something 'nice to have' for me.
I am 186cm tall, slim/fit built, dark brown hair, brown eyes. Both my arms are tattooed (full sleeve), as are my calves and the areas above my ankles. Regarding pictures see below. I am a runner, training multiple times a week. I'm also vegan. My love languages are physical touch and words of affirmation. While I am mostly securely attached, withdrawing from me triggers anxiety and I have made a horrible experience with an avoidant partner in the past, so that is something I fear I cannot deal with again.
I am also an atheist.
I am a very warm, soft and sensitive person, I think I am humorous, I am self reflecting a lot and I can also be really passionate and romantic. Those are traits that also are really important to me in a woman.
I can be quite social, I am a good talker, but also love to listen to really get to know someone on a deeper level. I can enjoy an evening out with friends just as much as the silence of sitting at the shores of the river and watching the sunset in solitude (although I've been craving to watch it together with a partner for a really long time now). I can be out in a pub, at a rave, a metal show or at a football game and have the time of my life, but I cannot do these things every day; I need recharge time (on the sofa, in the woods for a run, a lazy Sunday staying in bed etc.). This should give you an idea; basically, I am a homebody that thoroughly enjoys going out in moderation.
I won't say too much about hobbies; suffice it to say I am into the dark, the obscure, the macabre, the occult, the mysterious, the erotic. It won't surprise you that I had a gothic phase in my youth, bonus points if you did too!
What I'm looking for
Although similar hobbies and interests are a plus, emotional and intimate compatibility are more important to me. I am a very sensitive and emotional person (I do cry easily and by this point I don't think I'll ever be able to change that, sorry), so if you're too, we will definitely understand each other. I need someone who I can open up to (which I do rather quickly, anyway), be myself, bare my soul to and I need these things from you, too. I've had my share of emotionally unavailable women who were afraid of intimacy so I know I can't deal with that again because of the way how those things affect me. I am always emotionally invested with the woman I pursue and in those cases that was to my detriment. But my ability to feel so deep is also something I wouldn't want to change because as of yet, although it's getting harder, I haven't given up on finding someone.
With those emotional needs come two requirements that I found to be vital over the years: First, being able to be silly and cutesy together and to accept each other's inner child and care for it. I am not talking about having to deal with another person's immaturity or inability to perform basic adult skills, rather with the way sadness, hurt, anxiety and being overwhelmed manifests for me (and maybe for you, too?). I need someone who is able to comfort me, to hold me, to allow me to be weak and needy for a while until I've calmed down, and I'm more than ready to offer the same. Your inner child can come out for a while, no problem (: Also in a positive way: Thankfully, today everyone seems to be understanding of the cuteness overload cats (or any animal baby, really) can cause; I need that with a partner. I also still have plushies as comfort animals and ideally, you do too.
Apparently in every relationship, one person is the stronger one. In the past, I have been with women who obviously were stronger than me, but that doesn't mean they always had to be strong, far from it. I certainly need to be able to feel protected, but it's not like I'm a particularly needy partner, like everyone, I have my ups and downs, but I can pull my weight and have been told by past partners that I am very caring and that they felt safe and understood with me, and providing that for my partner is really important for me as well.
Second, intimate compatibility. I am rather insatiable and love to experiment when it comes to the bedroom, so you should, too, in order that we can explore and enjoy together. I found out how fulfilling living out those fantasies can be after years of never being able to try and in a relationship, this kind of fulfillment for both partners is a must for me. I found the term 'filthy best friends and partners' to be a perfect description.
I'm looking for a balance between healthy independence and being emotionally present. A relationship where we 'get' each other; we're both each other's number one and treat each other like royalty. Where a disagreement leads to more intimacy between us as we understand better, not to resentment. Where we're comfortable baring our souls to each other, becoming a safe haven and secure base for each other. I don't like the modern notion that you 'should never feel too safe in a relationship' because that sounds like running from the mafia (and believe me, I love mafia movies); you should always put in effort, yes, but safety is one of the things I always want to experience and provide in a relationship. We shouldn't fear that a disagreement leads straight to breakup. I know ‘self-sufficiency’ is trending right now, but I feel like as partners, we’re partly responsible for each other and not our own but also each other’s happiness. Being dependant and dependable at the same time is important; making each other’s wellbeing a priority. If you’re not able to healthily depend on someone and their support while you’re having a hard time, look elsewhere. If I have to be afraid you’ll run at the first major problem that surfaces, even if it’s a ‘you’-problem, it’s not going to work. I think that all things can and need to be talked about. If you think ignoring someone for days is a form of communication, please look elsewhere.
I am looking for someone real. We all have our problems, I don't want or need a 'perfect' person. You don't have everything figured out or 'all your shit' together. Be imperfect. Admit when you feel sad and angry, lonely, hopeless or even helpless – it's all relatable. Don't hide it. Be quirky, be dorky, be witchy, opinionated, be yourself. Don't pretend.
I'm looking for someone to share romance with. Not great gestures, but small, meaningful ones. Poems for each other, expressing our feelings; cards with heartfelt messages that we put our perfume/cologne on, and a symbol that means something to us only, the print of your lips with lipstick, the way I sign and seal my letters for you.
Just as important to me is agreeing on living a healthy life, staying in shape both for ourselves and for each other, regularly working out and eating healthy. I am drug and disease-free and expect the same of you. I do drink as I love a good beer or glass of wine, rum or whiskey, but I've never really been drinking much and especially during the past year have further reduced it. One vice I have is that I enjoy a couple of cigars a year, but I can definitely accommodate you in this regard.
Another important point is aligned life goals: I value safety more than adventure. I want to build a home together with my partner, a safespace for the both of us, where we always feel loved and protected, a place that we create together, make it cozy together so we just love to get back home there wherever we might have been, a home we decorate together for Halloween (my favourite holiday) or Christmas or Springtime, as we live in tune with the seasons, enjoying nature on a walk or the rain outside, reading in our cozy home. I value stability and harmony.
Appearance-wise, I am into ladies on the smaller side), so I'm looking for someone petite/slim/skinny/healthy-fit. Likewise, I am not really muscular and don't have visible abs; like I said, I'm a runner, so if you're more into the gym-type, I'm not a good fit.
I’d prefer to move from text to voice calls, videochat and then meeting up, all of that rather sooner than later. Not that there’s a need to rush anything, but I’d rather see earlier if we’re compatible or not; as someone who catches feelings fast I need to protect myself.
Caveats

• I don't like travelling as it stresses me out; I don't mind being somewhere else for a week or two, but the organisation part of it drains my energy very quickly and dealing with stuff that doesn't work out is overwhelming to me. Smaller trips are ok, but I'm not the right person to travel the world with.
• I am not the most awake person in the morning (i.e. I identify as nightowl)
• I don't want children and had a vasectomy
• I need space for my own projects/time to recharge after social interaction.
• While I feel like I am in tune with my inner child and working on/with it through therapy, I realise this is something that could be a turn-off for people.
• I have been diagnosed with depressive episodes in the past and am taking anti-depressants right now. I realise that I am a work in progress, maybe more so than in times past, but I manage and the fact that I'm putting myself out here is based on me being ready to get to know someone new.
• I want to create a home together here, as I'm firmly rooted where I was born; I realise this is a lot to ask, but I have seen many people here being open to moving, so I want to at least try reaching out to them.

If you're interested, feel free to message me and include some pictures of yourself (:

Starting off with pictures of me because I've got ghosted too many times right after showing them.
I am looking for a lady between 25 and 35 years old, for a committed monogamous childfree relationship. My goal is to become a true team, supporting each other, caring for each other, nurturing each other and helping each other grow and realise our goals and dreams as much as possible. I'm hoping to find someone that values a relationship as much as I do and takes it seriously. It's not the only thing my life revolves around, but it's also not just something 'nice to have' for me.
I am 186cm tall, slim/fit built, dark brown hair, brown eyes. Both my arms are tattooed (full sleeve), as are my calves and the areas above my ankles. Regarding pictures see below. I am a runner, training multiple times a week. I'm also vegan. My love languages are physical touch and words of affirmation. While I am mostly securely attached, withdrawing from me triggers anxiety and I have made a horrible experience with an avoidant partner in the past, so that is something I fear I cannot deal with again.
I am also an atheist.
I am a very warm, soft and sensitive person, I think I am humorous, I am self reflecting a lot and I can also be really passionate and romantic. Those are traits that also are really important to me in a woman.
I can be quite social, I am a good talker, but also love to listen to really get to know someone on a deeper level. I can enjoy an evening out with friends just as much as the silence of sitting at the shores of the river and watching the sunset in solitude (although I've been craving to watch it together with a partner for a really long time now). I can be out in a pub, at a rave, a metal show or at a football game and have the time of my life, but I cannot do these things every day; I need recharge time (on the sofa, in the woods for a run, a lazy Sunday staying in bed etc.). This should give you an idea; basically, I am a homebody that thoroughly enjoys going out in moderation.
I won't say too much about hobbies; suffice it to say I am into the dark, the obscure, the macabre, the occult, the mysterious, the erotic. It won't surprise you that I had a gothic phase in my youth, bonus points if you did too!
What I'm looking for
Although similar hobbies and interests are a plus, emotional and intimate compatibility are more important to me. I am a very sensitive and emotional person (I do cry easily and by this point I don't think I'll ever be able to change that, sorry), so if you're too, we will definitely understand each other. I need someone who I can open up to (which I do rather quickly, anyway), be myself, bare my soul to and I need these things from you, too. I've had my share of emotionally unavailable women who were afraid of intimacy so I know I can't deal with that again because of the way how those things affect me. I am always emotionally invested with the woman I pursue and in those cases that was to my detriment. But my ability to feel so deep is also something I wouldn't want to change because as of yet, although it's getting harder, I haven't given up on finding someone.
With those emotional needs come two requirements that I found to be vital over the years: First, being able to be silly and cutesy together and to accept each other's inner child and care for it. I am not talking about having to deal with another person's immaturity or inability to perform basic adult skills, rather with the way sadness, hurt, anxiety and being overwhelmed manifests for me (and maybe for you, too?). I need someone who is able to comfort me, to hold me, to allow me to be weak and needy for a while until I've calmed down, and I'm more than ready to offer the same. Your inner child can come out for a while, no problem (: Also in a positive way: Thankfully, today everyone seems to be understanding of the cuteness overload cats (or any animal baby, really) can cause; I need that with a partner. I also still have plushies as comfort animals and ideally, you do too.
I certainly need to be able to feel protected, but it's not like I'm a particularly needy partner, like everyone, I have my ups and downs, but I can pull my weight and have been told by past partners that I am very caring and that they felt safe and understood with me, and providing that for my partner is really important for me as well.
Second, intimate compatibility. I am rather insatiable and love to experiment when it comes to the bedroom, so you should, too, in order that we can explore and enjoy together. I found out how fulfilling living out those fantasies can be after years of never being able to try and in a relationship, this kind of fulfillment for both partners is a must for me. I found the term 'filthy best friends and partners' to be a perfect description.
I'm looking for a balance between healthy independence and being emotionally present. A relationship where we 'get' each other; we're both each other's number one and treat each other like royalty. Where a disagreement leads to more intimacy between us as we understand better, not to resentment. Where we're comfortable baring our souls to each other, becoming a safe haven and secure base for each other. I don't like the modern notion that you 'should never feel too safe in a relationship' because that sounds like running from the mafia (and believe me, I love mafia movies); you should always put in effort, yes, but safety is one of the things I always want to experience and provide in a relationship. We shouldn't fear that a disagreement leads straight to breakup. I know ‘self-sufficiency’ is trending right now, but I feel like as partners, we’re partly responsible for each other and not our own but also each other’s happiness. Being dependant and dependable at the same time is important; making each other’s wellbeing a priority. If you’re not able to healthily depend on someone and their support while you’re having a hard time, look elsewhere. If I have to be afraid you’ll run at the first major problem that surfaces, even if it’s a ‘you’-problem, it’s not going to work. I think that all things can and need to be talked about. If you think ignoring someone for days is a form of communication, please look elsewhere.
I am looking for someone real. We all have our problems, I don't want or need a 'perfect' person. You don't have everything figured out or 'all your shit' together. Be imperfect. Admit when you feel sad and angry, lonely, hopeless or even helpless – it's all relatable. Don't hide it. Be quirky, be dorky, be witchy, opinionated, be yourself. Don't pretend.
I'm looking for someone to share romance with. Not great gestures, but small, meaningful ones. Poems for each other, expressing our feelings; cards with heartfelt messages that we put our perfume/cologne on, and a symbol that means something to us only, the print of your lips with lipstick, the way I sign and seal my letters for you.
Just as important to me is agreeing on living a healthy life, staying in shape both for ourselves and for each other, regularly working out and eating healthy. I am drug and disease-free and expect the same of you. I do drink as I love a good beer or glass of wine, rum or whiskey, but I've never really been drinking much and especially during the past year have further reduced it. One vice I have is that I enjoy a couple of cigars a year, but I can definitely accommodate you in this regard.
Another important point is aligned life goals: I value safety more than adventure. I want to build a home together with my partner, a safespace for the both of us, where we always feel loved and protected, a place that we create together, make it cozy together so we just love to get back home there wherever we might have been, a home we decorate together for Halloween (my favourite holiday) or Christmas or Springtime, as we live in tune with the seasons, enjoying nature on a walk or the rain outside, reading in our cozy home. I value stability and harmony.
Appearance-wise, I am into ladies on the smaller side), so I'm looking for someone petite/slim/skinny/healthy-fit. Likewise, I am not really muscular and don't have visible abs; like I said, I'm a runner, so if you're more into the gym-type, I'm not a good fit.
I’d prefer to move from text to voice calls, videochat and then meeting up, all of that rather sooner than later. Not that there’s a need to rush anything, but I’d rather see earlier if we’re compatible or not; as someone who catches feelings fast I need to protect myself.
Caveats

• I don't like travelling as it stresses me out; I don't mind being somewhere else for a week or two, but the organisation part of it drains my energy very quickly and dealing with stuff that doesn't work out is overwhelming to me. Smaller trips are ok, but I'm not the right person to travel the world with.
• I am not the most awake person in the morning (i.e. I identify as nightowl)
• I don't want children and had a vasectomy
• I need space for my own projects/time to recharge after social interaction.
• While I feel like I am in tune with my inner child and working on/with it through therapy, I realise this is something that could be a turn-off for people.
• I have been diagnosed with depressive episodes in the past and am taking anti-depressants right now. I realise that I am a work in progress, maybe more so than in times past, but I manage and the fact that I'm putting myself out here is based on me being ready to get to know someone new.
• I want to create a home together here, as I'm firmly rooted where I was born; I realise this is a lot to ask, but I have seen many people here being open to moving, so I want to at least try reaching out to them.

If you're interested, feel free to message me and include some pictures of yourself (:

Ancient God of Egypt and the pineal Gland (The connection)
In the mythological and symbolic framework of ancient Egyptian deities, each god and goddess plays a pivotal role in representing aspects of the journey toward awakening the pineal gland, often considered the seat of spiritual insight and higher consciousness.

Osiris: Symbol of Dormant Potential

Role and Attributes: Osiris is the god of the afterlife, resurrection, and regeneration. He is often depicted as a green-skinned deity, symbolizing rebirth and fertility.
Connection to the Pineal Gland: Osiris represents the dormant potential within the pineal gland. His death and subsequent resurrection by Isis signify the hidden spiritual power that lies within each individual, awaiting activation. Just as Osiris must be resurrected to fulfill his destiny, the pineal gland must be awakened to achieve higher consciousness.
Details: Osiris was a wise and just ruler who brought civilization and order to Egypt. His death at the hands of Seth, who dismembered his body, symbolizes the fragmentation of spiritual awareness. The restoration of Osiris’s body by Isis reflects the process of gathering and integrating these fragments to achieve spiritual wholeness.

Isis: The Nurturing Force

Role and Attributes: Isis is the goddess of magic, healing, and motherhood. She is often depicted with a throne-shaped crown, representing her role as the queen of the gods, and with outstretched wings, symbolizing protection and guidance.
Connection to the Pineal Gland: Isis represents the intuitive and nurturing energy required to awaken the pineal gland. Her magical and healing abilities are essential for resurrecting Osiris, paralleling the nurturing and development of one’s inner spiritual faculties. Isis’s wisdom and dedication are crucial in setting the stage for spiritual awakening.
Details: Isis is renowned for her magical prowess and relentless determination. Her search for Osiris’s scattered body parts and her efforts to piece him back together reflect the quest for spiritual integration and the healing of the soul. Her role as the mother of Horus also signifies the birth of higher consciousness through her nurturing influence.

Ra: Embodiment of Enlightenment

Role and Attributes: Ra is the sun god and the supreme deity in the Egyptian pantheon. He is depicted as a falcon-headed man with a sun disk encircled by a serpent, symbolizing the cyclical nature of life and rebirth.
Connection to the Pineal Gland: Ra embodies the ultimate enlightenment and supreme awareness that the pineal gland promises when fully awakened. Just as Ra illuminates the world with his light, the activated pineal gland brings clarity, insight, and a deep connection to the cosmos.
Details: Ra’s daily journey across the sky represents the soul’s journey toward enlightenment. His battles against the serpent Apophis, a symbol of chaos and darkness, reflect the struggles one must overcome to achieve spiritual awakening. Ra’s triumph each morning signifies the victory of light and knowledge over ignorance and darkness.

Seth: The Obstacle to Overcome

Role and Attributes: Seth is the god of chaos, destruction, and storms. He is often depicted with the head of an enigmatic creature, combining the features of various animals, symbolizing his disruptive and unpredictable nature.
Connection to the Pineal Gland: Seth represents the forces of ignorance, material distractions, and ego-driven desires that obscure the pineal gland’s potential. His role in dismembering Osiris signifies the obstacles and fragmentation of spiritual awareness that must be overcome to achieve higher consciousness.
Details: Seth’s usurpation of Osiris’s throne and his subsequent battles with Horus symbolize the internal and external challenges that hinder spiritual progress. Overcoming Seth’s influence requires strength, perseverance, and the ability to transcend chaos and material attachments.

Horus: The Fully Awakened Pineal Gland

Role and Attributes: Horus is the falcon-headed god of kingship, protection, and the sky. He is depicted as a powerful warrior, often shown with the double crown of Egypt, symbolizing his role as the unifier and rightful ruler.
Connection to the Pineal Gland: Horus represents the fully awakened pineal gland, embodying heightened perception, spiritual insight, and divine vision. His role as the avenger of Osiris and restorer of order parallels the pineal gland’s function when activated, providing clarity and enlightenment.
Details: Horus’s battles against Seth to avenge his father and reclaim the throne symbolize the struggle to restore spiritual order and achieve higher consciousness. The Eye of Horus, a symbol of protection, health, and rejuvenation, directly refers to the pineal gland’s power to provide inner vision and connection to the divine. The restoration of Horus’s eye by Thoth after it was damaged in battle reflects the healing and awakening of the pineal gland.

Integrating the Narrative

The combined narrative of Osiris, Isis, Ra, Seth, and Horus serves as a profound allegory for the journey of spiritual awakening:

• Osiris: The latent potential within the pineal gland, awaiting activation.
• Isis: The nurturing and intuitive force that catalyzes the awakening process.
• Ra: The ultimate enlightenment and supreme awareness achieved through the awakened pineal gland.
• Seth: The obstacles and distractions that must be overcome to achieve higher consciousness.
• Horus: The fully awakened pineal gland, embodying spiritual insight and divine vision.

This mythological framework offers a rich, symbolic text on the path to higher consciousness, guiding one towards enlightenment and the awakening of the pineal gland’s full potential.

Leviathan, the Eikon of Water concept art
Leviathan, the lost Eikon of Water, has finally been found! After months of waiting, the Rising Tide downloadable content (DLC) has been released and with it, I am once again rambling about the mythological, religious, and cultural inspirations behind the Eikons of Final Fantasy XVI. If you would like to check out any of my previous posts on the subject of Eikons, you can find them here:

1.) Phoenix

2.) Ifrit

3.) Shiva

4.) Ramuh

5.) Garuda

6.) Titan

7.) Bahamut

8.) Odin

As I’ve said in the past, if you feel that I may have said something wrong, or if you would like to add to what information I have provided; by all means please do so. I absolutely welcome the discussion.
The sea serpent Leviathan, like most of the Eikons, has been a staple of the Final Fantasy series since its introduction as one of the original summons#Summon_Magic) from 1990’s Final Fantasy III. While modern usage of the terms “leviathan” and “behemoth” are often used to denote something large and imposing, these words actually originate as the names of two creatures from the Tanakh (or Hebrew Bible). According to the verses 40:15-41:34 in the Book of Job, Leviathan and Behemoth are two gigantic and nigh indestructible animals born around the same time as the creation of the first two humans Adam and Eve, with Behemoth residing over the wilderness east of the Garden of Eden called Duidain and Leviathan bound to the watery Abyss) as stated in verses 60:7-10 in the apocryphal Book of Enoch. While the term abyss may bring to mind the idea of a bottomless hole or even an underworld such as the Greek Hades, Hebrew Sheol, or Christian Hell; the Septuagint, the earliest Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, often uses the term abyss to instead refer to deep bodies of water. In fact, Abyss is the translated noun for the Hebrew Tehom, or the “deep” primordial waters from which the god Yahweh formed the world after the creation of light as stated by the verses 1:2-10 in the Book of Genesis; which is but one example of the cosmic ocean motif, whereby existence is conceptualized as originating from a watery void. I find it very interesting then that the Abyss is referenced several times in the Rising Tide DLC, such as in the name of Leviathan’s Eikonic ability Abyssal Tear; the Motes of Water adage “Know that even should you walk Abyss, our hands will guide you home” from the Minwu Arm Ring description; or the description of the Radiant Tidestrike weapon that says “Surge did the tide, the water rising as if it were some mighty whale stranding itself upon the shore. Behold, the Devourer of Worlds. The beast within whose foul belly our hopes are carried unto the Abyss. - Eikonomachy - Book of Currents 15:40-41”.
From the aforementioned verses of the diegetic Book of Currents, as well as one of the Active Time Lore Entries for Leviathan that states “Old writings clearly speak of Dominants past summoning great whale-like creatures capable of swallowing entire cities…”; we can possibly see a reference to Leviathan) swallowing the protagonist Firion and his allies on their way to the Mysidian Tower in Final Fantasy II. However, I would suggest that these quotes go further than mere references to past games and are actually an allusion to the parable of Jonah surviving in the belly of a whale from the eponymous Book of Jonah. For those unfamiliar with the story, the Hebrew prophet Jonah was tasked by God to preach on His behalf to the citizenry of Nineveh in the Neo-Assyrian Empire. Jonah instead refuses the call, and attempts to sail across the sea to Tarshish. On the journey, Jonah and the sailors he is accompanied by are caught in a huge storm, and believing that Jonah’s dismissal of God is the cause, the sailors thus throw him overboard. God then sends a whale to swallow Jonah, with the intention of preventing the Israelite from drowning. Miraculously surviving in the whale’s stomach for 3 days, Jonah vows to do God’s bidding and is thus safely returned to shore, whereby he travels to Nineveh and beseeches the citizens to renounce their wicked ways, lest they be visited by calamity. This story is meant to illustrate that Yahweh is a merciful god who allows for second chances, giving not only Jonah, but also the Ninevites the opportunity to learn from their mistakes and redirect their course of actions.
With this parable in mind, I would like to mention that in 1949, literary professor Joseph Campbell published “The Hero with a Thousand Faces”; a work of comparative mythology in which he proposed his idea of the Monomyth (later called the Hero’s Journey). Campbell’s theory of the Monomyth posits that while most narratives involving a heroic protagonist may have differing contents, these stories also typically follow a similar pattern; that being a three-act structure comprised of 17 subset stages. One such stage in Campbell’s model is the Belly of the Whale (sometimes also referred to as the Abyss), one of the literally or figuratively lowest points in the story for the protagonist in which the hero must engage in introspection and commence a process of self-transformation if they are to be equipped to finish their journey. This stage acts as a symbolic death and rebirth for the protagonist, with some Christians even interpreting Jonah’s story as actually being an allegory for Jesus Christ’s sacrificial death and resurrection.
A prime example of this stage can be seen in Carlo Collodi’s 1883 novel “The Adventures of Pinocchio”, whereby the eponymous puppet Pinocchio and his creator Geppetto are swallowed by the Terrible Dogfish; with the typically irresponsible and selfish Pinocchio instead performing a self-sacrificial act in order to save his “father”, which he is thus rewarded for by being brought back to life as a human by the Fairy with Turquoise Hair. Viewing the Pinnochio narrative as an example of a more modern mythical epic, Thomas J. Morrissey and Richard Wunderlich state in “Death and Rebirth in Pinocchio”; “Gods can die and be reborn, or rise from the dead. Such mythological events probably imitate the annual cycle of vegetative birth, death, and renascence, and they often serve as paradigms for the frequent symbolic deaths and rebirths encountered in literature. Two such symbolic renderings are most prominent: re-emergence from a journey to hell and rebirth through metamorphosis. Journeys to the underworld [Katabasis] are a common feature of Eurasian literary epics: Gilgamesh, Odysseus, Aeneas, and Dante all benefit from the knowledge and power they put on after such descents. Rebirth through metamorphosis, on the other hand, is a motif generally consigned to fantasy or speculative literature… These two figurative manifestations of the death-rebirth trope are rarely combined; however, Carlo Collodi’s great fantasy-epic, The Adventures of Pinocchio, is a work in which a hero experiences symbolic death and rebirth through both infernal descent and metamorphosis”. We as the player also experience this Belly of the Whale stage in Final Fantasy XVI, when our heroes Clive Rosfield and Jill Warwick confront the Dominant of Darkness Barnabas Tharmr on the seafloor of the sundered Naldia Narrow, appropriately labeled as the Abyss, whereby Clive is soundly defeated by Barnabas for a second time. Fleeing their assailant, Clive and Jill consummate their love for one another on the shore of Ash, with Clive acquiring a portion of the Eikon Shiva’s powers from Jill so that he may finally triumph over Barnabas in a battle of physical prowess and ideals; proving to the false prophet and his God that compassion and the desire for freedom will always overcome any adversity.
With all this talk of whales, I should mention that from the descriptions as given in the Book of Job, Behemoth sounds to resemble that of a large ox or hippopotamus, while Leviathan is suggested as being similar to that of the tanninim) or “great whales” mentioned several times in the Hebrew Bible. In fact, Islamic folklore has its own variant of this terrestrial and aquatic duo, that being the large bull Kujata and the even larger whale Bahamut; as outlined by the medieval cosmographer Zakariya al-Qazwini in his seminal work “The Wonders of Creation”. Even though I am going to hazard a guess that the name of the Kuza Beast), a variant of the Behemoth enemy in several Final Fantasy games, is named after Kujata; it is quite obvious on the other hand that the draconic Eikon Bahamut borrows its name from the Islamic whale of the same name as well as the dragon god Bahamut) from the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game. While the Book of Job describes Leviathan as being a whale or even a crocodile as suggested by a footnote in the Revised Standard Version of the Bible, verse 27:1 in the Book of Isaiah instead equates Leviathan to a sea serpent or dragon, with the Book of Job description also making it a point to mention Leviathan’s fearsome fiery breath. Given its status as a tutelary god for the Japanese-inspired nation of Wutai in Final Fantasy VII, it could be argued that Leviathan in the Final Fantasy series also shares similarities with Eastern dragons, such as the Chinese Lóng or Japanese Ryū; beneficent, serpentine deities of water and rain.
It is presumed that the figure and name of Leviathan actually originates from the older Canaanite sea monster Lôtān, whose name in the Ugaritic language meant “coiled” and was given the epithets “the fugitive serpent” or “the wriggling serpent”. In the first two tablets of the fragmentary Ugaritic Baal Cycle text, the storm god Baal (Lord) Hadad engages in a feud with the deification of the sea Yammu) to succeed their father El) as the ruler of the gods. At some point in this first chapter of the Baal Cycle, Hadad strikes down the seven-headed serpent Lôtān, who given the missing pieces of the text, could either be a servant of or another name for Yammu, with it also being believed that the monster was a zoomorphic representation of the Lebanese Litani River. Why I bring this up is to illustrate that Hadad’s defeat of Lôtān is but one example of the Chaoskampf mytheme, a pattern found in numerous Indo-European mythologies whereby a younger storm god or culture hero representing order and human civilization slays an ancient serpent or dragon associated with water that represents primordial chaos); perhaps a sentiment held by early agricultural riverine civilizations wishing to triumph over the constant and often devastating threat of floods.
One of the oldest examples of this mytheme is that of the Mesopotamian god Marduk’s dismemberment of Tiamat. According to the Babylonian Enūma Eliš, in the beginning there existed only Tiamat, the female personification of salt water; and Abzu, the male personification of fresh water. From the union of the two primeval waters sprang forth the first generation of gods called the Anunnaki. One such god, Enki (or Ea) would capture and kill Abzu after he plotted to kill his children due to the commotion they were causing. Enraged by Enki’s actions, Tiamat gave birth to eleven monstrous children to wage war against the gods along with her new consort Kingu, who possessed the Tablet of Destinies); the mark of divine rule. Marduk, the son of Enki, challenged Tiamat and her monsters, eventually slaying his opponents with lightning and storm winds. Defeated, Tiamat’s body was sliced in twain, with the two halves becoming the sky and earth. From an earlier promise made with the Anunnaki and the Igigi (lesser gods) as well as the acquisition of the Tablet of Destinies from the beaten Kingu, Marduk was made king of the gods; later mixing the blood of Kingu with clay to also become the creator of mankind.
Through the lens of the Chaoskampf mytheme, we can start to see connections between Tiamat’s dismemberment, the defeat of the multi-headed Lôtān, and Leviathan form. The non-canonical Book of Enoch actually specifies that the land-dwelling Behemoth is male, while the aquatic Leviathan is female; possibly creating an inadvertent association between Leviathan and the sea goddess and mother of monsters Tiamat. This may also be why Leviathan’s Chronolith Trial is named the Hand of Tethys. While still following the moons of Saturn naming convention, it is very fitting that the trial is also named after the Greek Tethys); wife of the world-encompassing river Oceanus and mother to the male river gods and female water nymphs called the Potamoi and Oceanids, respectively. Furthering the connections to Tiamat and Lôtān, several accounts in the Hebrew Bible describe Yawheh triumphing over the forces of the sea, such as in Isaiah 51:9-10 “Awake, awake, arm of the Lord, clothe yourself with strength! Awake, as in days gone by, as in generations of old. Was it not you who cut Rahab) to pieces, who pierced that monster through? Was it not you who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep, who made a road in the depths of the sea so that the redeemed may cross over?” and Job 26:12-13 “By his power he churned up the sea; by his wisdom he cut Rahab to pieces. By his breath the skies became fair; his hand pierced the gliding serpent”. It is believed that Rahab, while occasionally used as a flowery term for Egypt or arrogance, was also a sea serpent either comparable to or synonymous with Leviathan. While Leviathan’s death at the hands of Yahweh in Isaiah 27:1 is viewed as a metaphor for the enemies of Israel who will submit to the Hebrew God, the Chaoskampf and the connection with the Canaanite Lôtān is further shown in verse 74:14 from the Book of Psalms, which says “Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces, and gavest him to be meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness”; which is where the name of the trophy for beating Leviathan on Final Fantasy mode, Thou Brakest the Head, comes from.
Along with the account of Leviathan’s death in Psalms 74:12, several other Jewish sources, such as the Second Book of Esdras 6:47-52, the Apocalypse of Baruch 29:4, and the Bava Batra tractate in the Talmud state that Yahweh will slay Leviathan and Behemoth so that their flesh shall be given as food and shelter to the righteous during the End of Days and the Messianic Age. This may explain why the Behemoth King in FFXVI has several attacks referencing Christian eschatology from the Book of Revelation, such as the Four Horsemen; personifications of War, Conquest, Famine, and Death that herald the Last Judgment; and the Apocalypse, another term for a revelation which has since become synonymous with a cataclysmic end-time event, like the battle at Armageddon for instance. Leviathan and Behemoth’s statuses as eventual sacrifices is very similar to the role that Leviathan and its Dominant unfortunately play in Final Fantasy XVI.
Both DLCs, the Echoes of the Fallen and the Rising Tide, deal with themes of rectifying the sins of the past; whereby the Fallen and the Motes of Water engaged in questionable behavior in an attempt to create their own Mothercrystals to disastrous effect. The Motes of Water, a central focus of the Rising Tide, are a tribe originating from the southern coast of the continent of Ash and hosts to the Dominants of the Eikon Leviathan. After the loss of their Mothercrystal Drake’s Horn, the tribe migrated across the twin continent of Storm; where they were mercilessly persecuted by several groups, particularly the Greagorian faithful of the burgeoning Holy Empire of Sanbreque, causing the tribe and their Eikon to become “lost” to history. Due to their nomadic nature as well as Sanbreque’s similarities with the Roman and Holy Roman Empires, one could say that the Motes of Water mirror the Jewish Diaspora (exile) and transformation of the faith after the Roman Empire’s siege on Jerusalem) and the destruction of the Second Temple during the First Jewish-Roman War; or perhaps one could say the tribe is treated in a similar fashion to the oft demonized itinerant Romani people of eastern Europe. Either way, the Motes of Water are meant to represent the “Other”; ostracized outsiders to the customs of Storm who hid themselves away from the rest of the world to avoid further religious persecution.
After finding sanctuary in the northern territory of Mysidia, the Motes of Water tried to create for themselves a new Mothercrystal to replace the Northern Territories’ own shattered Mothercrystal called Drake’s Eye. The story of the Motes of Water is one of loss and a constant fight to carve out a place in the world to call their own, so it is no surprise then that they wished to regain something taken away from them so many years ago. However, the tribe would engage in a terrible act, enraging their Eikon Leviathan that laid dormant within the infant Dominant Waljas, and freeze both the baby and the Eikon in time to essentially act as an aether battery. Unsuccessful in turning Waljas into the heart of a Mothercrystal, all the tribe achieved was robbing the poor baby of its life and autonomy, imprisoning the Dominant and the tidal wave it summoned in that moment where the tribe’s greatest sin occurred for 80 years.
This frozen tsunami, dubbed the Surge, is not only a monument to the tribe’s greatest shame, but is also a constant looming threat over the tribe’s village of Haven; a reminder to never again engage in such a transgression, lest they be met with watery doom. This mirrors not only Jonah preaching to the Ninevites to change their ways, but also God’s warnings against individuals sacrificing children to Moloch in the Book of Leviticus 20:2-5. In fact, as ProfNoctis suggests in his video “Final Fantasy XVI Lecture Stream: The Mythos of Leviathan Part 2”; Leviathan and the Surge are symbols of human and divine regret, with Ultima, the creator of mankind and the Mothercrystals, referring to Leviathan as its “most profaned fragment”; due to the Eikon being rested from its creator’s control and the act of creating a man-made Mothercrystal being a repeat of the Fallen’s blasphemous attempts at attaining godhood during the War of the Magi and the Sins of Dzemekys, flagrant displays of mankind’s development of free will which is anathema to Ultima’s collective identity.
As a symbol of divine regret, the Surge could be seen as a parallel to the Flood from the Book of Genesis. Deluge or flood myths are motifs that can often be found amongst cultures residing near the Mediterranean Sea, Black Sea, and Persian Gulf such as Egypt, Greece, and Israel; with these stories usually recounting a tale in which a deity or deities summon a world-wide flood as a form of divine retribution. One of the earliest examples is the Mesopotamian Epic of Atra-Hasis, in which mankind was created by the gods to act as servants and laborers. However, due to overpopulation, the storm god Enlil seeks to reduce their numbers by bringing forth a great flood. Enki, seen as a benefactor of mankind, warns the human Atra-Hasis about the flood, telling him to build a boat to protect himself, his family, and his livestock from the deluge. After seven days, the waters recede and Enki and Enlil agree on other means of maintaining the human population. This story is also thought to have been later adapted in Tablet XI of the Epic of Gilgamesh, where the survivor of the flood is renamed Utnapishtim; though both the Atra-Hasis and Gilgamesh flood accounts seem to originate from an even older source called the Eridu Genesis. Similarly, the Greeks also had a deluge myth, as outlined in the Roman poet Ovid’s Metamorphoses, where Deucalion, the human son of the divine Prometheus, is warned by his father to build a chest for himself and his wife Pyrrha to escape a gigantic flood that the storm god Zeus plans to bring forth as a response to the insufficient offering given to him by Lycaon), the king of Arcadia); with the pair washing up on Mount Parnassus nine days after the storm.
There are several theories, such as the Black Sea Deluge Hypothesis, that propose that the ancient Middle East did indeed experience a large flood at some point in the very distant past. Given that flood myths are thus believed to have originated from Mesopotamia, it should come as no surprise that the Hebrew flood narrative bears similarities to the previously discussed deluge myths as well. According to chapters 6-9 in the Book of Genesis, God grows increasingly distraught over the wicked nature of the humans descended from Adam and Eve and their inadvertent creation of sin, and so decides to reset creation to a state of watery chaos. God warns one of the few moral men, the Antediluvian patriarch named Noah, about His plan to flood the world and instructs him to build an ark to house himself, his family, and two of each animal to be the first creatures to inhabit the new world. After the firmament breaks forth and floods the world for 40 days, Noah’s Ark washes up on Mount Ararat. Noah then builds an altar, with God forming a covenant with Noah whereby He declares to never again summon a flood to devastate the world. As Genesis 9:9-17 states, this promise between Noah and God is commemorated by the rainbow, a symbol of peace; which as ProfNoctis points out, also appears once Clive saves Waljas.
Through a certain perspective, the Flood could be seen as a sort of baptism, a spiritual cleansing of the world through physical water. Baptism is considered one of the 7 sacraments of the Christian Catholic denomination; a rite of initiation whereby the individual joining the faith is either submerged in or sprinkled with water three times, representing the purification of sin and the grace given by the Holy Trinity. This is not unlike the Rite of Immersion that the infant Waljas is granted at the conclusion of the Rising Tide DLC; a ceremony for all babies born into the Motes of Water in which the initiate is sprinkled with mountainous rain water from Maiden’s March, river water from Riversmeet, and sea water from Tailwind Bay. The water used in this rite is used as a metaphor for life’s journey, likened by the tribe to that of a river, with this revealing that the Motes of Water hold a very cyclical view of life in a similar fashion to the Buddhist beliefs in reincarnation or the Lifestream from Final Fantasy VII. As the descriptions for the 3 kinds of water used in the ceremony state; “The rain that falls upon the mountains of Mysidia emerges in the springs of Maiden’s March. Thus the water collected from said springs represents birth-the fountainhead from which the river of life begins”, “In the Riversmeet valley, several tributaries merge into a single stream, where clear currents and roiling eddies swim side by side. Its water represents life-a course complete with myriad meanderings, yet one that runs inexorably from source to sea”, and “The Mysidian river empties into the ocean amid the shallows of Tailwind Bay, and thus its water represents death-the stillness that lies beyond the end of the river of life, and from whence the raindrops are born anew”. In fact, the symbol for the village of Haven is meant to be the combination of Leviathan’s scales and the river called the Ceaseless Rill, “...the circle of life that has neither beginning nor end”, not unlike the serpentine symbol of the Ouroboros. I would thus argue that not only does Leviathan represent regret and retribution, but also the chaotic journey of life.
If it’s not already apparent, I find Leviathan to be very interesting. I want to thank you all for sticking around and reading the whole thing, as I know this was a lot. If you would like to check out some more information about Leviathan, I would recommend checking out the videos “Leviathan of Final Fantasy VS the Leviathan of the Bible - FF16 The Rising Tide” by Country Kratos and “A Brief History of Final Fantasy Summons Final Fantasy Lore” by Alleyway Jack.
With the conclusion of both DLCs, Clive and by extension the player, is granted one additional Eikonic power. As such, I am actually going to do one more essay, which I will post next week. I hope you look forward to it and thank you again for reading this. Have a fantastic day!
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The narrative for this season had a decent premise, and it provided some good flavour text about the first interactions between the three original factions. But I do think it is weird how we only really focus on the Unsung knight and not the knight faction in general.
The unsung knight was a squire who was given a sword that has been passed down for generations, they apparently rallied the knights behind the idea of her sword to defend against the Vikings and samurai.
This narrative, although rather simplistic, ties into the older themes of For Honor which have been missing since year 3.
Despite me liking this season overall, I’m surprised the writer didn’t correlate the sword the unsung knight uses to the sword that is on the knights symbol. It was low hanging fruit that they didn’t take.
Something else I’d like to add is how going back in time was not a smart move on Ubisofts part.
We left off year 7 with a bunch of bad things happening to heathmoor. Horkos launched inquisitions, sent conquistadors to the Aztecs, The Wu Lin did whatever they did in season 3 (still don’t know what the hell ubi was thinking while writing that season) and the Horkos presence in Valkenheim was expanding.
Ubisoft isn’t even acting like any of that happened or treating it like it had any effect. We had a year of injustice, but what are the lasting effects of it? How does this impact each faction differently? Was there a point other than conquest and gold? We might have to wait a year until we find out because it seems Ubisoft would rather create stories that exist in the past than try to write an evolving narrative that changes the present.

Hello,
Me and my dad recently bought a ZX Spectrum from an auction. We managed to hook it up to a VCR and after having it search for channels and configuring the correct PAL encoding we managed to sort of get a signal.
The CRT I connected the VCR to would show a small black window within a border of noise. It almost never showed any text and the spectrum would seemingly restart every few seconds, with the signal appearing and reappearing. I never quite got it stable except one time where the spectrum would make a bunch of sound and created all kinds of funky artifacts. At some point I had it shortly display "This is out disc" or something, and sometimes it showed what looked like a flashing symbol in the top left. In general it would be a black window that disappeared and reappeared every few seconds. I never saw the copyright notice I was hoping to see.
We bought a third party power supply that was meant to be compatible with the zx spectrum But because it seemingly rebooted we thought that the supply might not be stable and we tried another power supply. This was a big mistake as we didn't check the amperage (nor if it was center negative) on that power supply and it immediately fried the zx specturm. I haven't gotten a signal out of it since and the DC port smells fried.
So I opened it up. Sadly the left keyboard connector broke when I tired to pull it out. And I can't really tell what fried where. The DC port smells burned but I don't see any clear damage.
On the back of the board I can see that two chips have really ugly yellow solder. It shows well in the images. A lot of chips are marked with a red marker, but those two aren't. I think someone replaced them at some point. The TR4 also has the ugly solder.
I ran these tests up to testing the TR4 TR5 transistors and I think the board passed all.
I am no electrical engineer but I have a multimeter and a soldering iron (and access to a university full of electrical engineers). If anyone could shed some light on these issues and tell me how to proceed that would be highly appreciated.
Images: https://imgur.com/a/dRgWMmS
The images also include a video of the weird artifacting, this only happened once and normally it would only show the small black window with a fairly stable green border.
EDIT: TR4 and TR5 seem to work right
EDIT 2: The voltages from the 5v regulator seem to be all over the place, so I will be replacing it.

EDIT: SOLVED
Me and diverwifey decided to eradicate the bugs (and the planet) on Meridia once and for all.
We know can handle the Dark Fluid mission and we even manage to extract, but for some reason, at the mission summary it says two mission objectives and only the first one is full, the other is empty (looks like the drill symbol), and we get less EXP and a Disgraceful text.
Any idea why? Are we missing something? We do the 3 drills and then extract. None of the drills explode beforehand. Mission looks successful when starting the extraction.