&. heart time.

The Pariah blades are no longer hidden away in a museum. They’ve been soaked in the freed blood and spirit of the people who forged and wielded them.

They are in the hands of Rungjani, clanging in the streets of Dol-Makjar, calling the people to witness a story.

The Hallowed Round is also covered in the liberated blood of Rungjani. Blood held captive for centuries now shapes the forms and faces of Rungjani, captives who strove and died, but did not fail, because their rebellion was a step forward on the path toward freedom.

The play is going forward, with no influence from the Creed. Everyone in the city will see it in its true form— a story of rebellion.

It makes me think of the Falconer’s Rebellion, another failed rebellion. Two rebellions that failed with the fall of a single great man.

But there were nine blades used in the Rebellion that succeeded. Decades later, the Lloy name is held in highest honor as the creators of the Blades, not the wielders.

It makes me think of Uli saying, “I know now that those who sang songs in this place, even if the words were meant to soothe [Azgra’s] wrath and keep our lives in propitiating his fury; the melody, the dance, the fury and the passion, that was always for us.”

It makes me think of Demodus, saying that things have to start as an illusion first.

It makes me think of Thaisha, speaking a Rungjani blessing, blessing the Conqueror, “for in his appetite, he saw Aramán forever changed from what it was to what it might be. A blessing to him, then, that the Rungjani reject peace in favor of a dream.”

Why do we tell stories?

A Painful Pot - Johnson Tsang / Porcelain /  L28  W20  H45 cm / 2013

Johnson Tsang is a Hong Kong-based sculptor who blends realist sculpting techniques with surrealist imagery.

We know this. This is an established fact. This is how he worked up until he gained agency.

This is the context in which he kills.

In order to discuss whether or not he's a serial killer, you have to start with the fact that he deliberately chooses murder over pursuing other options, which he does have.

He can be worn by someone who chooses to wear him. He 100% knows this.

A lot of people have done a lot of murder apologia for Bolaire about how he has to do this for survival, but he doesn't. Like, flat out, he doesn't have to kill to continue to exist. He could choose to work with people and find compatible partners who are willing.