URL: https://search.proquest.com/openview/195a89ec07b9b65460ec878382d9cae2/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750&diss=y

Thanks in advance.

Are there Pagan paths that deal with the topic of ritual impurity? I know there are many religions - like Islam - that require one to wash themselves before prayer. Many Pagans that I've met don't really deal with anything like this in their practice, but I've also noticed that there are many traditional religions that are still alive today that have these sort of rules and taboos.

Quite a few religions have or had taboos around women on their period participating in ritual activities. What do you guys think? Unnecessary holdover from patriarchal cultures disgusted by women's bodies that we can now discard, or valid sacred laws that we should be upholding?

This post definitely not inspired by me having cramps and wanting to get out of going to a ritual later today.

Were the beliefs in such impurity and the required cleansing processes based on a belief in some sort of physical basis, akin to food contamination or disease, or can they be segregated as being purely 'spiritual' in nature.

Or, perhaps this isn't even a meaningful distinction in ancient cultures.

Does the idea of ritual impurity stop you from practicing?

Historically being king in Ireland was a ceremonial role and in Mythology they had rakes of taboos to keep them ritually pure. If they broke them they usually died or were deposed. The idea behind that might be if Kings broke those taboos their role as a mediator between the otherworld and the mortal world on behalf of their people would be damaged and they couldnt do the job.

Given that modern pagans as individualists dont use intermediaries very often I think ritual impurity could be a thing

Jesus seems to advise other Jews to purify themselves of ritual impurity as mandated by Moses' Law.

To a leper Jesus says "See that you say nothing to anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, for a proof to them” (Mark 1:44).

To his disciples he says "So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift (Matthew 5:23-24) and "The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice" (Matthew 23:2-3).

If Jesus encouraged others to obey the laws of ritual purity, did he himself maintain that purity? Was he capable of contracting impurity?

The following elaboration will serve to display more plainly the fact that there is so much evidence that Strange Man is the devil himself that no other logical conclusion remains to be made.

This will be somewhat hard to bind together into one cohesive explanation, but I'll try my best. The intro will most definitely be boring to those who frequent this subreddit, so please bear with me.

Also, in order for the elaboration to remain consistent and easy to understand, certain parts of it will first be told accoring to the general perception, and expanded upon a lot more accurately later on.

Let's start with what is already commonly believed (not definitively proved):

In Strange Man's Bayou Nwa cabin, one of the inscribed messages says 'The moon will shine on in the darkness'. There is a character called Herbert Moon in Armadillo - the clerk in the general store. He is the only one who isn't stricken with cholera in the town.

Another inscription in the cabin states 'I offered you happiness or two generations, you made your choice', which is connected to the letter Herbert Moon received from his daughter, who is about to have a child (second generation).

The following conclusion is instrumental to the Braithwaite part of the theory:

So, Strange Man apparently offered a choice to Herbert, and Herbert made it. He chose particular personal gain (two generations) over happiness, and as a result, everything except that gain was taken from him.

Who's to say this happened only to Herbert Moon, and who's to say that his surname is the only thing referred to by 'moon' in the inscription?

There is, in fact, another, in some ways very similar story to be considered here.

Catherine's Deal

The following explanation is pure canon intertwined with the most logical possible events that took place between the canonical ones.

The Braithwaites had been a rich and powerful slaver family until their practice was abolished in 1865. Their rivals, the Grays, also suffered heavy financial losses, but they got a hold of Rhodes. They controlled the Rhodes Sheriff's office (the law) and saloon (alcohol distribution). The Braithwaites started producing moonshine, but couldn't actually sell it because the Grays controlled the local market. They tried expanding their zone of influence to make money selling it elsewhere, but were heavily outmatched by the uncontested moonshine producer and distributor Maggie Fike. At this point the B

What exactly is a culinary ethnography?

Food is many things, to many people. What exactly that thing is, says a lot about that group of people as a whole. What we eat is a huge part of who we are, who we’ve been, and what we experience as we encounter the new. In my 90 years, I have done my best to experience first hand the many, many ways that each denizen of the Forgotten Realms decides to break bread.

This is by no means a rule book, as if I am some sort of dictator of what is, and isn’t proper for a member of a race to do in the kitchen. Rather, it is a collection of observances in regards to commonalities and trends among members of the same race. While my own experience is obviously limited, and there are plenty of individuals I have yet to dine with and learn about, I would like to offer up what I have learned so far.

-Adelbert Boffin, Halfling Culinarian

First things first, as a disclaimer of all Culinary Ethnography entries, let’s set some caveats. Who are Elves? Am I including Half-Elves? Drow? All those of Elven lineage? All those of Elven parentage back to the Fae themselves? While I would like to eventually include more varied looks at the similarities and differences between all of these groups, for the purposes of this analysis, I will be looking at those Elves that live in, or near the Faewild in particular. As always, this is a look at some of the major trends I have seen occur. It is not a rulebook that one must follow to be a “proper Elf” in the kitchen. Food is as much culture as it is history, geography, necessity, community, and personal freedom. With that out of the way, let’s give this culture a respectful look.

Living off the Land

To truly understand the cuisine of the Elves, it is important to first understand where their sustenance is derived from. While this maxim is true of all races, it holds even greater weight with Elves. Food culture is derived from the culmination of necessity and environment and the environment that most Elves live in is one of true bounty, allowing for a more “particular” palate. After all, it is much easier to only eat things that taste good, when starvation is not on the line. Not many races can claim the same abundance, leading to a rather unique culinary culture.

The first subject of note is that Elves do not take part in animal husbandry. From Dwarves, to Humans, to Orcs, you can see some sort of animal that is a mainstay in their diet in some form or another. As always, this is co

It didn't take long for Diana and Tyler to reach the cafeteria. When they did, Brodie, Kaleb and Jen were already there, in line for their food. From the looks of things, they hadn't been far behind, as the 3 of them were at the back of the line, with the other students attempting to keep a considerable distance from them. Diana and Tyler joined their friends, and were greeted by Jen once again going off on the food.

"I swear to god if I have to eat another slab of raw meat, I'm going to lose my mind!"

"Oh, come now Jen." Diana said. "Don't you think you're being a tad overdramatic? I mean, to these people uncooked food is just the normal way they eat."

"From what my Biology teacher said, the reason they eat their food raw is because they have no reason to cook it." Brodie said. "Raw meat for them doesn't make them sick. You can't get infections from it like meat from Earth apparently."

"Well, that would explain why all of our Dorms kitchenware was imported from Earth. They don't cook anything, so things like Ovens and Microwaves are an unimaginable concept for them." Diana said.

"Well." Jen spat out. "That may be the case for them, but I refuse to eat some uncooked slab of plastic! When I get my food I'm taking it back to our Dorm and cooking it at once!"

The others turned to each other, eyebrows raised and with a single collective thought in mind. Why didn't they take their food back to their Dorms and cook it? "Alright then, Jen. We'll follow this idea of yours. But, on the condition that you cook our food." Tyler said.

"Deal. Besides, I'm the only one who's taken cooking classes here anyway, considering both of my parents work in 5 star restaurants back home." Jen said, not even bothering to hide the smugness of her voice. What the humans failed to realize was the presence of the certain Pythrox standing behind them, waiting for her meal as well. Athalia just so happened to hear the group talking about them returning to their Dorm to indulge in this... "cooking" activity. "This is it", she thought. The perfect opportunity to learn more about these elusive Deathworlders. If what the Human with the short black fur on her head was going on about, then this cooking had to be important to their race, especially if the others were so willing to agree to this activity.

"Uhm... excuse me, humans." Athalia tapped Diana on the shoulder. "This, uhh... "Cooking" activity. I overheard you discussing it, and I was wondering if I could... participate in it."

#What Is This?

Almost 10 years ago a user organized a vote of everyone's favorite albums which the mods have been using in welcome packages for new people. We wanted to update the list with music from the last ten years as well as a wider pool of participants. In total, 273 Users submitted a list of 50 albums with no more than two albums per band,. The users voted in total for 3361 albums from 1970 - 2021.

A list of everyone's favorite albums isnt a definitive list of essential and important heavy metal rather the collection of albums people enjoy. Imagine if you asked a room full of people their favorite records. This is what it is. What all lists can be are tools for people to discover new metal. No one cares what #1 is versus #317 rather this is a collected list of what 273 people found to be their favorite metal record when asked. If it is helpful or enlighten to you, then it is successful. If you find one record off of this to listen to then this list did its job.

#Shreddit's Favorite Bands (Top 25)

#Shreddit's Favorite Country (Top 25)

Shreddit's Favorite Year (Top 25)

#Shreddit's Favorite Albums (10+ Votes)

What If Part 1 --- Part 1 Rewrite of the Main Story -- Original Part 1 of the Main Story --- Discord ---- YouTube --- My Patreon

Part 3

Suma’s POV

“A NAME IS REQUIRED!” A voice like thunder demanded, but where it came from I couldn’t tell. Suddenly, the flames began to morph and take shape, into something else entirely. At first, it looked similar to my familiar, but it kept changing into something else, something more like a salamander or a drake. “A NAME IS REQUIRED!” It boomed again. I had no idea what was happening, and my classmates were now all cowering behind the nun and our teacher, as well as their familiars.

“A name?” I asked the voice, which I believe to have come from that figure of flame.

“A NAME IS REQUIRED!” He bellowed again. I thought for a moment, I hadn’t planned on using a naming bond, but if I had to give it a name…

“Ulok!” I shouted at the figure, and in doing so, gave the summon a name.

“Ahh!” Ulok cried out, sounding in pain. A magic circle had embedded itself onto his body. I knew that would happen, but I didn’t expect it to hurt him. With that, the figure made of flames vanished into smoke, and the room was left with nothing but a deafening silence.

“W-what was that?” A scared student hiding behind their familiar cried out shattering the quiet. The nun who had been watching us was in what I think was a prayer position, but I couldn’t tell if she was praying for protection or something else entirely. I could see some of the others whispering to themselves, probably wondering the same things I was. Eventually, our instructor snapped himself out of it.“O-okay everyone, um… we are going to… to take a break for a moment. Everyone who has already completed the ritual may… may go home, and any who haven’t but do not wish to stay may also go home.” He announced and almost everyone left, save a few who seemed determined to bond to their summons no matter what. They waited with a guard, one of the few who hadn’t fled, until they would be allowed to continue th

I knew I wasn't getting a husband today, but I still had to wear the same robe I was given at fifteen (now practically threadbare), and go to the annual matching ceremony. Pansy watched me with her typical feline disinterest as I prepared myself, and she yawned and curled up on my bed as I waved goodbye and walked out into the night.

After hiking up the highest hill in our commune, I sat on one of the mats reserved for the unmatched, studying the nervous girls in the hut with me. Soon, all the boys that turned fifteen this year will enter, meet with us, and make their choice. Whoever they choose must accept, as it was Eorþe's will and we must abide so He'd continue blessing our lands.

I used to feel humiliated at these ceremonies. Most girls get matched on their first attendance, at fifteen. A few may get lucky a year or two later. But me? I was already thirty-five and still as single as ever.

The community pitied me at first, but the older I got, the more they started avoiding me. Especially the young unmatched girls. They didn't want my curse to rub off on them.

Honestly, though, once I hit twenty, it felt more like a blessing than a curse. We were taught from childhood that a girl's purpose was to serve her husband, and at fifteen, I desperately wanted to prove my worth. But as I grew older, the council didn't know what to do with me, so they had me tend to their gardens, still serving men until a man matched with me.

Although I lived in a hut on their property, they left me alone, for it was improper for men to interact with unmatched girls, no matter their age. Their wives and children left me alone too, due to my aforementioned "curse". And it was then that I learned how wonderful it was to be independent. Just me, my little hut, the gardens, and Pansy.

I was still forced to continue attending the ceremonies though, but I began enjoying them. Certain none of the boys would choose me over one of the younger girls, I'd relax and watch their awkward courtship rituals, trying to guess who'd match with who.

After a few years, my predictions became flawless, especially after I began drinking dandelion tea before the ceremony. Intrigued, I experimented with herbs, roots, and flowers from the garden, and soon I could even foresee the matched's futures. I was certain I was tapping into Eorþe's will due to my connection to His creations.

A bell chimed, and I adjusted my patched robe and smiled as a train of teenage boys entered the hut. They walk

The Kasugai Crows

The crows owned both a childhood name (which they use when they weren’t assigned to a Corp member) and a name they take once assigned to a Corp member (one which the Corp member gave them). Their childhood names were given by Oyakata-sama.

There are crows who liked to go by their childhood name, as well as crows like Tanjiro’s who went by a name they give themselves.

If the Corp member they were assigned to died, they might be assigned to a different Corp member. In those cases, they respected the name given by the previous Corp member.

Ubuyashiki Kirya

Despite becoming the family head after his father’s death, [Kiriya] had wondered for a long time if his sisters, who were more intelligent and mentally strong than he was, would be more suitable.

After the final battle, he was sometimes afraid he would die when he reached his 20s and the Ubuyashiki Clan would cease to exist as he had completed their duty of defeating Muzan.

But as he grew older, past 20 and 30, he realized that the curse was gone, and he cried for hours with his wife, children, and sisters.

Ubuyashiki Kagaya

Among the successive family heads, [Kagaya] seemed to have had a strong voice, a strong leadership ability, and a strong spirit. His father, the previous family head, was a sensitive man who committed suicide at the age of nineteen because he could not bear the thought of his troops getting hurt or dying. The children he had were all boys, and he lost all of them except Kagaya.

All boys born into the Ubuyashiki Clan always died, leaving only one successor. Girls, too, must be married and change their surnames by the age of thirteen, or they would die in accidents or from illness, no matter how careful they were. Kagaya became the family head when he was four years old.

Ubuyashiki Amane

Her maiden name was Himorogi Amane. She came from a family of Shinto priests. She was born with white hair. For the sake of her husband and children’s health, she performed purification rituals even on snowy days (like bathing to remove impurities, and praying for their good health), and had never missed even one.

Her children were quintuplets. Both the doctor and the midwife were impressed, saying it was the first time they had ever helped with quintuplets.

Kasugai crows (after)

The crows and the sparrow who cooperated with the Demon Slaying Corps were freed from their duties after Muzan’s defeat and spent time freely, but they sometimes went to visit t

1. My first question relates to South Indian caste dynamics which I feel like are often ignored or not addressed very well by the mainstream anti-caste movement in India which seems to focus mainly on the North Indian Vedic caste model. So first for some background: Unlike in North India, where the landowning and merchant castes were considered ritually pure by the Brahmins, who thus classified them as Kshatriyas and Vaishyas, respectively, South Indian Brahmins did not recognize the ritual purity of the local landowning and merchant castes such as the Reddys, Vellammas, and Kammas in AP/Telangana, the Nairs in Kerala, and the Vellalars and Balija Naidus in Tamil Nadu. These castes were considered Shudras as were all non-Brahmin, non-Dalit castes in South India. (The reason for this which makes Brahmins very uncomfortable is that many South Indian Brahmins traditionally didn't consider themselves South Indians at all, they believed themselves to be Aryans and thus considered other Dravidian South Indians to be impure and thus 'Shudra'). It is however believed that there was a hierarchy within the Shudras, with the landowning and merchant castes of the South being considered 'Sat-Shudras', or Shudras of "pure being". While these Sat-Shudra castes were severely discriminated against by Brahmins in certain instances, they nonetheless formed the bulk of the ruling class in South India historically and even in the present day (at least in AP/Telangana which is the context I am most familiar with). Their relationship with the anti-caste movement is kind of complicated. They have committed many atrocities against the Dalit and non-Sat Shudra castes, such as the Kilvenmani_massacre and Karamchedu_massacre, but in Tamil Nadu at least most of the ire of the anti-caste movement has historically been directed at the Brahmins and Periyar very much included the Sat-Shudra castes in his Dravidian movement. The Sat-Shudras don't seem particularly sympathetic to the BJP either (the Brahmins in South India are also not as sympathetic to the BJP as the Northie Brahmins but there is some vocal support from a certain segment of 'TamBrahms'). These castes are also considered "general category" by the Indian government and don't receive reservations. In some places they are also referred to as "middle castes".

I would be curious to know if anyone here has any thoughts on

To keep things simple, let's limit it to just the top five places you would visit. Let's also assume that your trip would be safe, regardless of the geopolitical situation at each site, and that you would actually be permitted to enter/approach the site, even if access is normally limited to certain groups (for example, if access is normally granted only to men and you're a woman, let's assume that an amicable exception would be made for you, or if access at one of the sites is normally granted only to members of that particular religious community and you are not an adherent of that religion, a similar exception would be made, etc.).

I've visited lots of different sacred/religious sites throughout my career (first as an archaeology tech, and then as an ethnographer with a focus on religion and religious communities). I'm fortunate to have had the opportunity to visit those places, especially since I had to get research grants and scholarships in order to afford the trips to foreign countries...but I've been out of commission for several years now (after suffering a traumatic brain injury during one of my research trips, and then developing PTSD) so I have had lots and lots of time to just sit around and think about all the other places I'd visit if I was healthy enough (and if I actually had any money). I'd really like to spend time at some of the sites in North Africa, Mesopotamia, and Central Eurasia, including both ancient ruins and active places of worship. I'd also like to learn more about the indigenous sites in the Americas and the Pacific Islands.

Anyway, I think my top five choices would be (in no particular order):

• The Islamic centers of Timbuktu in Mali

• The rock-hewn churches at Lalibela in Ethiopia

• The Buddhist complex at Swayambhu in Nepal

• Sedlec Ossuary in the Czech Republic

• The Ateshgah Zoroastrian Fire Temple in Baku, Azerbaijan

There are many other sites I'd like to visit, but I think those five tend to top the list.

The Temple that was dedicated to the Semitic god, Bel at the ruins of Palmyra (located in the middle of the Syrian desert) used to be near the very top of that list, too...but unfortunately, ISIL demolished that si

Do your worst!

To start, in Wano we recently learned about the Sun God Nika, which follows a list of cultures in One Piece that have some form of reverence or worship of the sun (Shandians, Giants, Fishmen, and Merfolk). This is likely going to be important later, especially given that bringing the Dawn to Wano and the World is one of the driving motivations for many of the Alliance characters right now. A Sun God would be appropriate to be the one to bring the Dawn. Yamato is relevant to this because I believe that Oda is going to reference the story of Ame-no-Uzume, just as he did with the story of Momotaro.

First, Yamato's clothing is that of a Miko, which is a Shinto female shaman.

Traditional Miko garb

Yamato's clothing for comparison

Miko are supposed to represent absolute purity, which Yamato could possibly be a reference to the phrase yamato nadeshiko, which is the idealized version of a Japanese woman. More importantly, Miko are known for performing a ritual dance known as Kagura. This dance is inspired by the dance performed by the goddess Ame-no-Uzume. According to the myth, Amaterasu the sun goddess has hidden in a cave by placing a giant rock in front of the entrance, preventing anyone from retrieving her and causing an endless night. Ame-no-Uzume danced in order to lure out Amaterasu from her hiding spot in a cave. This is important for two reasons: the first is that Ame-no-Uzume stripped as she danced, which is referenced by Yamato stripping off the sleeves of her kosode and partially revealing her breasts just as the goddess did. There's little reason for Yamato tearing off her sleeves beyond Oda referencing the story of Ame-no-Uzume. The other reason is that Ame-no-Uzume is also the goddess of mirth and revelry. This ties into two important figures that have been brought up in Wano: Joyboy and Nika. Nika has the title of the Sun God, and freed enslaved people. The Dawn of Wano and the World has also been coming into focus in the latest arcs. We don't know what the Dawn of the World entails exactly, but the Dawn of Wano involves it opening up, or "being free," to the rest of the world. Joyboy is also involved in the Dawn of Wano, as Wano needs to b

It really does, I swear!

For context I'm a Refuse Driver (Garbage man) & today I was on food waste. After I'd tipped I was checking the wagon for any defects when I spotted a lone pea balanced on the lifts.

I said "hey look, an escaPEA"

No one near me but it didn't half make me laugh for a good hour or so!

Edit: I can't believe how much this has blown up. Thank you everyone I've had a blast reading through the replies 😂

Intro

My current pet project was listening through a free yale bible course and looking at where the bible came from and exploring areas of biblical scholarship. From there I went down a major rabbit hole into various topics. I’m also looking at the New Testament, but I feel like I need to write down all the Old Testament stuff now before I move on and forget it. My goal is to fit as much of the relevant Old Testament scholarship as I can in this post, then wrap it up with a Part 2, followed by New Testament Scholarship in another, and finally I will use both of them to go through the different LDS works and teachings that relate to them. And I should add that I’m just trying to share what majority scholarship says. Anyways, here is what I've been able to fit in one post with a logical splitting point:

Two Creation Accounts?

Where else to start other than the beginning. Before getting into the weeds it’s a good idea to read Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 and pay attention to the order. Genesis 1’s order is Light and Dark, Firmament/Dividing Waters, Dry Land, Night and Day, Fish and Birds, Animals and Humans, and rest. Genesis 2’s order is Plants, Water, Man, Fish and birds and animals, and finally Woman. Now try as you might to explain it away, the order is different. Biblical Scholars have concluded that there are two creation accounts that were put together at some point. They come to this conclusion because Creation isn’t the only thing that happens twice, and when scholars took a step back they saw patterns between the various versions of the different stories.

Genesis 7:8-9 has Noah bring 2 of every animal whether clean or unclean, but just before that, Genesis 7:2 emphasized that there were 7 of every clean animal. There are also multiple accounts of Abraham calling Sarah his sister (Gen 12:13, 20:5), Multiple contradicting accounts of how Joseph got to Egypt (Gen 27:28,36), and Jacob is named Israel twice (Gen 32:28 and 35:10). These parallel stories and contradictions go all the way through the Pentateuch, and themes and specific styles begin to emerge.

The Four Sources

There are multiple theories about these sources, but the existence of multiple sources is not debated. Scholars will agree that there are multiple authors, Moses did not write it, and will have some form of the following four sources in their theories. I will be using quotes here, and throughout this post, from Dr. Christine Hayes Yale course on Hebrew Bible to explain th

I (30F) am married to H(34M). We both love each other very much and got married in May.

This is about a multitude of incidents where he has called me ignorant about not knowing something.

1. My brother was visiting and we were just hanging out. H saw a joke on twitter and showed it to me. It mentioned a word that meant a “brahmin who has undergone thread ceremony” other than it’s literal meaning, which I didn’t happen to know and I said so. He looked surprised and said “How can you not know that. It’s your culture”. I said it’s really not and I don’t think it’s a big deal that I didn’t know the meaning of this word. He rolled his eyes and said “You are being like a white girl who says racism doesn’t exist”. Like what!? How does that even make sense? I, being a woman, am being excluded from this ritual called thread ceremony, and I’m called ignorant and compared to a racist because I don’t know some random word!? I have been an atheist since I was 14-15 years old and I have never participated any of the practices/rituals that a typical religious Brahmin woman would. So I just didn’t get why he made that comparison. But I let it go because my brother was there and I didn’t want to make a scene.
2. When we were still dating, I noticed that my hair would get slightly greasier more quickly when I would visit him. So when we were cuddling, for some reason, a thought popped into my mind that it might be the oil from his face and neck that is rubbing off from my hair. Like an idiot, I spoke it out loud. He immediately ridiculed me, looked hurt, and I felt awful for saying that. I agreed that it’s definitely not the thing that is happening, and came up with another hypothesis that maybe it was just the sweat because of sex that was making my hair greasy. He agreed and we started talking about something else. He brought it up after some days teasing me how ridiculous it was, and I apologized. Then he keeps bringing it up again and again as a joke even though I have apologized about it and haven’t said anything similar. Last night, he brought it up saying it is similar to how white people considered blackness an impurity because they are both rooted in ignorance. Now, I have no idea how to handle this, because I think racism and slavery are rooted in hatred, bigotry, maintenance of status quo and so much more than just ignorance. Him comparing my conclusion to racism seems so reductive to me. I swallow his cum for god’s sake, would I be really that worried ab

> #No matter how much pressure I'm under… even if humanity's survival is at stake… as long as Senpai is my Master, I will never feel worried.

Theme: The Shield of Chaldeas

In the year 2016, the Chaldeas Security Organization was left as the one remnant of Humanity. The King of Mages enacted his onslaught upon the planet, and Chaldeas was the first victim. Most of the staff were killed in a saboteur's explosion, including a certain girl. However, as she was about to leave the world for the next, an unknown Heroic Spirit offered his help. And so, Mash Kyrielight accepted.

Becoming a Demi-Servant, and Chaldeas' sole weapon against the outcropping Singularities in history, Mash readied her shield and steeled her heart. Along with Ritsuka Fujimaru, the duo embarked upon their Grand Order: reverse the Incineration of Humanity, and defeat the King of Mages.

Thanks to u/Cleverly_Clearly, u/AzureBeast, and u/Rangernumberx for helping gather feats. Thanks to u/virlex15 for providing Grand Order profile scans.

#Key

I'm surprised it hasn't decade.

They’re on standbi

Buenosdillas

Previous

Next

Codex

This story is mainly being published on RoyalRoad.

It's also hundreds of thousands of words and entire arcs ahead on there.

Also, artwork of Zelsys and Zefaris

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

In short, searing pain and equally searing hunger consumed his being, but he was used to it. More used to it than he wanted to be. A swig of Vitamax dulled the pain enough to make his way to the barrier and cross it, collapsing in the grass with a plea of, “Y’mind dragging me inside?”

The three of them took to the task, each of them breathing Fog to hoist his considerable bulk into the shack on stilts. It was almost humorous, that he was the most thoroughly trained in aethermancy, probably had the highest aether rating out of all of them, yet was the only to not know some form of Fog-breathing.

They set him down on one of the four cots, where he remained for the remainder of the day and night. Strolvath spent the rest of the day keeping to himself, drinking Vitamax and grinning through his pain as he made repeated attempts at grasping the method of Fog-breathing that Zelsys had described, each time with no result beyond yet greater self-inflicted pain.

The shack had no cooking utensils, but it did hold mixed rations sufficient for both the rest of the trek and the return trip, plus a small cask of… Something. None of them could figure out what it was, beyond the fact it was some type of restoration elixir. It was light-golden and tasted somewhat like short-aged mead, but also carried the trace aftertastes of Viriditas and conferred similar boons.

Partaking of this beverage relieved pain to a greater degree than either Vitamax or Liquid Vigor, but it also intoxicated the mind in a manner not unlike normal liquor.

Strolvath quickly inebriated himself off the nectar, and took to ruminating on the state of things as pertaining to the threat that locust-men were whilst the others did… Whatever it was that they did. Si

For context, this campaign is a Part 2, as our current PCs are descendants (children blood related or not) of the PCs from Part 1, who managed to beat the BBEG, become world heroes and then split the party each going their own way, with their children in Part 2 dealing with the remaining followers of BBEG trying to resurrect it.

In both Parts, the main cast of players remained the same, with some new players appearing for only one session and never showing up again, mostly because some had a issue or something, like feeling bored for not doing anything useful through the whole session because they went scout another part of a cavern with nothing relevant to report or tried to become "the main protagonist". Nothing that actually messed up with the main cast playing experience.

A couple sessions ago, our DM told us in our private whatsapp chat that a new person would join our campaign. I thought for a moment and believed it would happen the same; play just one session and the person would simply vanish. He told the group that some people knew him and those started groaning, saying he definitely doesn't know how to play as a team (first red flag). I never met the guy so couldn't say anything.

Came the middle-end of the session and he presented his character as Asteria,"Mistress of the Dawn" (he basically gender-swapped Bondrewd from "Made in Abyss"; perhaps biggest red flag!), having her to be some sort of Artificer that created her own weapons based on the ones used by Bondrewd in the series. Never researched much about this class to know how exactly it worked, so I just went with the flow.

As the session was coming to a close, we faced a giant worm. It dealt relatively good damage and we of the main cast were doing ok. Then it was Asteria's turn and in a single attack it dealt (no kidding) over 20d10 + other dices of damage! I barely managed to get something close to 50 damage as a Ranger using Lightning Arrow and he managed to get over a 100 easily! And we were all around Lv.10-11! When asked how he simply said "that's how my weapons work", like not giving any proper explanation whatsoever (third red flag).

Doing good damage in battle wasn't much a issue (sometimes the DM could get a bit sadistic), but the worst part about Asteria's player came about in the next session: he didn't payed attention to anything happening if he wasn't directly involved, kept downgrading our previous PCs even though they've already saved the world previously, ignored our w

Pilot on me!!

I notice most recon people (seem to) care much less than me about purity requirements. I'm sure my having OCD doesn't help, but I think it's a major concern for me also because I have just my bedroom both to set my altar in and, say, to have sex.

In your experience, is it common:

• to talk and/or to read anything about religion or Deities only after a shower, never after sex having or after touching a menstruating woman, after touching a woman who gave birth few days ago, etc.?
• to talk and/or to read anything about religion or Deities on a smartphone one touched after sex or masturbation before a complete shower (but after washing one's hands)?
• to talk and/or to read anything about religion or Deities after seeing something that caused one to be sexually aroused? I mean, while one is experiencing erection, wetness by a fluid that one's sexual organ oozes before ejaculation, etc. before a shower?
• to talk and/or to read anything about religion or Deities after being touched or licked by a pet?
• to try to avoid seeing religious content on the same feed one sees sexual content on one's Facebook? [I don't know how to deal with this... currently I'm trying to prevent religious content to appear on my feed by unfollowing groups, for instance, and to see it just on religious groups. I even considered opening another Facebook account just to separate religious content from sexual content...]

What do you think about it?

The following elaboration will serve to display more plainly the fact that there is so much evidence that Strange Man is the devil himself that no other logical conclusion remains to be made.

This will be somewhat hard to bind together into one cohesive explanation, but I'll try my best. The intro will most definitely be boring to those who frequent this subreddit, so please bear with me.

Also, in order for the elaboration to remain consistent and easy to understand, certain parts of it will first be told accoring to the general perception, and expanded upon a lot more accurately later on.

Let's start with what is already commonly believed (not definitively proved):

In Strange Man's Bayou Nwa cabin, one of the inscribed messages says 'The moon will shine on in the darkness'. There is a character called Herbert Moon in Armadillo - the clerk in the general store. He is the only one who isn't stricken with cholera in the town.

Another inscription in the cabin states 'I offered you happiness or two generations, you made your choice', which is connected to the letter Herbert Moon received from his daughter, who is about to have a child (second generation).

The following conclusion is instrumental to the Braithwaite part of the theory:

So, Strange Man apparently offered a choice to Herbert, and Herbert made it. He chose particular personal gain (two generations) over happiness, and as a result, everything except that gain was taken from him.

Who's to say this happened only to Herbert Moon, and who's to say that his surname is the only thing referred to by 'moon' in the inscription?

There is, in fact, another, in some ways very similar story to be considered here.

Catherine's Deal

The following explanation is pure canon intertwined with the most logical possible events that took place between the canonical ones.

The Braithwaites had been a rich and powerful slaver family until their practice was abolished in 1865. Their rivals, the Grays, also suffered heavy financial losses, but they got a hold of Rhodes. They controlled the Rhodes Sheriff's office (the law) and saloon (alcohol distribution). The Braithwaites started producing moonshine, but couldn't actually sell it because the Grays controlled the local market. They tried expanding their zone of influence to make money selling it elsewhere, but were heavily outmatched by the uncontested moonshine producer and distributor Maggie Fike. At this point the B