☬~Sharers of Blood~∱

In every respect – visual design, gameplay, lore – Martyr Logarius stands out as an exemplary Souls boss. Where the boss fight itself is concerned, he blends elements of Lord Gwyn and False King Allant in such a way that, in my opinion, achieves a new level of refinement.

As a character, he adds another layer of fear and violence to the background lore of the Healing Church, to say nothing of what he illuminates about Alfred’s inner character. Even within a “series” that has always criticized Western religion pretty barefacedly, Logarius the home-invading crusader is pretty frightening. But did he always play this role in the game’s lore?

I believe that the boss of Castle Cainhurst – now “Martyr Logarius” – was originally conceived as the King of the Vilebloods, and that much of the game’s design still reflects this.

Bear with me as I put forward the support for my theory…

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I. AESTHETICS

Let’s take a gander at Logarius’s design, and let’s see how it compares to the known lore about both the Executioners and the Healing Church as a whole.

(Pardon the large image; I’d like to be able to examine Logarius in close detail.)

It’s immediately evident that Logarius is not wearing the attire of the Executioners. The Executioners wear dove-gray coats and mantles made of thick fabric, studded leather gauntlets and boots, and very large holy shawls. As hunters of beasts and Vilebloods, they wear the “Hunter” rune stitched upon their chests. Seemingly only on special hunts, they also wear the Gold Ardeo and wield Logarius’ Wheel – which is not only a weapon, but a special emblem of Logarius himself.

Here Logarius wears a loose, thin robe of some golden fabric, belted by a sash of some kind. Quite a difference! Now, it should be kept in mind that Logarius commanded the Executioners, but he was not one himself; the Executioners were his disciples. What strikes me oddly about Logarius’s design is not that it differs from normal Executioner’s garb, but that it lacks certain symbols and styles.

I wouldn’t expect Logarius to wear a thick protective coat emblazoned with the “Hunter” rune because, obviously, that’s a hunter’s attire. I would, however, expect to see the wheel emblem and the holy shawl somewhere on his person – yet Logarius wears neither.

The description of the Executioner’s attire states that the holy shawl began with Logarius and his Executioners; and the description of the Wheel Hunter Badge states that the wheel symbol was crafted within “a secretive enclave of mystical beliefs and heady fanaticism,“ which almost certainly was conducted by Logarius himself, given that he is stated explicitly to have been the Executioners’ spiritual leader.

Why doesn’t he wear the Wheel or the shawl? Why, instead, does he appear to be wearing jewel-studded ornaments, including a Fleur-de-lis, a symbol of French royalty?

In addition to these points, I’d also like to add the fact that the Healing Church began at Byrgenwerth, and that the attire of Healing Church clergy was based on the Byrgenwerth scholars’ uniform. We can observe that the Student’s Uniform is fitted with buttons, a fairly modern collar, cuffs, a vest, and modern trousers. We can also observe that Provost Willem, literally the oldest member of the Byrgenwerth university, also wears a similar collar beneath his heavy robes. He might even have a cravat or some similar necktie thing…

The ultimate point to be gleaned from this is that the style of Logarius’s attire predates that of Byrgenwerth and the founders of the Healing Church.

Even if the holy shawl were worn only by the Executioners themselves, and achieved its popularity only through them, Logarius would still wear something reminiscent of Byrgenwerth. Instead, he wears a thin, billowy robe with a much older-fashioned mantle – something more Medieval than anything at Byrgenwerth. Who, other than the nobles of Cainhurst, would ever wear such a thing?

II. THE DEVELOPMENT TIMELINE

Given that Alfred serves as “Mr. Exposition Dump” for reasons largely unrelated to his role in the story, we can reasonably assume that he was added late in Bloodborne’s development cycle. They needed some way to convey vital background information to the player – about the Healing Church, Byrgenwerth, the Chalice Dungeons, the Vilebloods, and all the rest. The fact that they ultimately chose to have one NPC spit it all in the span of two conversations indicates that they hadn’t the time to implement this information elsewhere, in a more organic and spread-out way.

This having been established, we can assume that the canon lore of the Executioners – which exists only through Alfred and through text descriptions, which can be edited very easily – was also implemented late in the development timeline.

If we strip all of that away, and focus solely on the visual design of Cainhurst Castle and its boss…

III. CAINHURST AS AN IMAGE; THE LEVEL DESIGN OF CAINHURST

We have a lonely castle full of vampire aristocrats – or, rather, what remains of them. Most of them are ghosts, or have become decrepit monsters. Within the castle, you find a pair of fine silk gloves (very unlike the Executioners’ actual gloves) that summon blood-red spirits. At the very top of the castle is the vampire queen’s secret stronghold, in which two thrones reside.

This hidden stronghold is guarded by a seemingly undead man wearing rich clothes, jewelry, and a crown. He sits upon a throne. He uses a sword and a polearm that glow blood-red, and the latter appears to be made of some organic substance, perhaps bone or something calcified. (He does not carry a wheel or a Church weapon.) He summons the same blood-red spirits that the silk gloves summon.

Upon this man’s defeat, the player uses his crown to access the hidden throne room of the Vilebloods.

Oh, and by the way, the music track that plays during the boss fight is titled “The Queen of Blood.” It also plays during the fight with Yharnam, the Pthumerian Queen – whose role as the mother of the Blood Child is coveted by Vileblood Queen Annelise.

Given all of the above information – and NONE of the text or added exposition – what would you assume to be the boss’s identity?

Anthropomorphic Tree

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REF USE : Cosplayer: Payton Woolbert

There has been a lot of confusion and misleading information about Net Neutrality, leading to me getting tons of mature, often uneducated comments on my post such as, “Pussy liberals, nothing changed!” or “Its leftist propaganda! We need less government oversight on the internet!” and my personal favorite type of comment, “Net Neutrality ended in December!”

I also admit to following some of the misleading posts, for as much as I try to research before spreading said “information” that came my way. But I will cover all of this right now to clear the fog.

1. The end date never changed, it was miscommunication. A lot of people were confused because the end date for Net Neutrality kept changing, but it didn’t ever change. Back in April or May, posts were made claiming it was the end for NN, but that wasn’t correct. It was the deadline for Congress to enact the Congressional Review Act (or CRA) to review the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) December 2017 decision to roll back Title II Net Neutrality Protections, which passed the Senate, and is still sitting in the House Of Representatives (more on that in a moment). Title II Net Neutrality Protections were officially rolled back and erased form the books June 11th, 2018.

2. It wasn’t ever going to change overnight. Internet Service Providers (ISP’s) know that we have our finger on the pulse of everything, and wouldn’t be stupid enough to censor, slow and overcharge on day one. But over time, it will happen slowly and randomly. Less attention is paid to something when its no longer fresh news. Its done in a way to make it seem as if its not happening at all.

3. Rescuing Net Neutrality. The CRA didn’t go through the House in time for Monday’s official repeal, but it still is sitting in the House and can be voted on through December 31st, 2018. I also believe this is called a Resolution of Disapproval, but I definitely recommend researching all of the official titles for these acts instead of just taking my word on that portion. Anyhoo, if it passes in the House, it will then go to Trump’s desk to either be passed or be veto’d.

Now, you’ve been told numerous times to call your representatives, and that is still what you should do, and always should do, when you want to be heard.

How to contact your representatives

Go to this site and enter your zip code. 

Call the phone number listed on the site for your House Representative

Tell them you support net neutrality, why you support it, and tell them to use the Congressional Review Act to pass a “resolution of disapproval” reversing the FCC’s vote. NOTE: There are scripts, but its also important to edit this script in a way to not just sound like every other scripted call. Make it individual!

more:

go to this website to see which specific reps need to be pressured into supporting net neutrality

this video explains how net neutrality affects you

And finally, remember to register to vote (look up rules for your state as it differs for dates and deadlines to register before an election). There will be a Primary, and then the General Election in November. Get the word out, remind others to register, do thorough research on the candidates of your choosing, and VOTE. Its easy as pie!

Push your shoes off with your toes or with the tip of your shoe, most likely. Props for drama if you yank your converse or your vans or your boots off like a soldier in a scyfi drama, but otherwise, you’re “toeing your shoes off”

Humans are much better at dissecting scents than we give ourselves credit for. If you sit there long enough, you could dissect how your friend smells. I smell like “old, beat up cars, the sour citrus he isn’t supposed to have, and something musty and natural and unique to him that clings to all of his clothes.” In order that’s old flannel, three day old hair mousse, and fish tank water. Smells like cigarettes and oils cling to your clothes, stuff like fishtanks and the food in your kitchen seeps into your belongings. Don’t feel bad about describing scents, people carry our houses with us everywhere. 

Have you ever pet someone else’s hair? That’s “carding your fingers through.” That’s it. It’s the same thing.

Ever walked around barefoot? Its three am and you’re trying to make Dark Lunch? You’ve padded around. You signal to other people nonverbally whether its coughing or sighing that you’re there so that you don’t scare them. 

Smirking is a thing most of us do with our face. Grinning, looking cheeky, and raising our eyebrows are also all things your face does. Sorry :/

You might not get this if you’re a straight girl whose never had sex, but sometimes that little strip of skin between ya shirt and ya hips? The mouth can go there. That’s an intimate place to touch and its a vulnerable place to be exposed. Overused maybe, but a valid way to show a shift in the situation. 

We all sigh!! Are some of y’all really saying that sighing isn’t a thing you do ten thousand times a week?? You don’t sigh when someone says something stupid as shit?? You don’t sigh when you gotta get up?? 

SAID IS A VALID WORD

Everything on your face casts shadows, I’m sorry you have weak eyelashes, or that somehow your brows are flat with your eyeballs

People laugh silently! I’m sorry you’ve never laughed that hard!! People giggle! People snort! People double over and move and flail! Have you ever fucking laughed?

For that matter how do y’all not blush and can you teach me

I’d also like to say sorry if: your heart has never skipped a beat reading something terrible, or when you saw someone you liked even platonically, or if you’ve never been so surprised all you could do was blink, that you never looked at someone like you loved them, and that you somehow never fucking show any emotion in your voice or your posture at all

Every story you love uses tropes. Every type of protagonist, antagonist, and conflict is a trope. Everything written by Shakespeare, Miéville, Atwood, Gaiman, Pratchett, and so on? Chock full o’ chewy trope goodness. “Ordinary person becomes a hero” is a trope. “Seemingly-ordinary person is actually the Chosen One” is a trope. “Tragic Hero” is a trope. “Human against __________” (fill in the blank) is a trope.

“Trope” and “cliché “ are NOT synonyms. Certain tropes can (and have) become  tired and cliché through over-use, but even clichés are okay if you do them well enough (or if you hang a lantern on them) and know when to stop.

Using a tired, worn-out, overused trope is one thing. Using tropes in general, though? Without tropes, you have no stories.

So what is a trope? Here’s a quick and dirty run-down. Usually when we talk about tropes in writing groups, we mean anything in a story that can be expressed as a simple concept, and that we can find general examples of elsewhere. (“Okay, so you’re going with the ‘reluctant hero’ and ‘tragic here’ tropes here.”) It’s no crime not to know every term professionals use when discussing writing, but it’s pretty fucked up to criticize someone for using tropes when you don’t even know what they are.

Gates of Hell

Oddly shaped lava formations look like a mass of twisted bodies.

Location: Hawaii over the West Kamokuna lava skylight