#magic focus

Most likely referring to the latter in concept, though the story itself goes a roundabout way of explaining it.

The Universal Will (Ariels) warned Happy Chaos that I-No would become deeply connected to the world's origin, which was originally "cut off" from itself to prevent a paradox.

And because of that origin, she symbolically became like a "mother" to all of Mankind (hence the reason certain individuals cried when witnessing the "giant I-No phantom"). Somewhat like a nostalgic reaction to something that is familiar and close to the core of human emotions.

The only one who actually didn't cry was Ky (for reasons linked to his own paradoxical origins which I-No herself created, see Side Red/Side Black Drama CDs for details on that one).

ANYWAY... Because of I-No's link to the origin of humanity, even Vampires like Nagoriyuki could sense that origin... but that's not all there is to it:

I-No was also herself a paradox, so the conflict caused her to choose her "past self" and preserve that future instead of her own (asserting Megumi's future). That decision was "altruistic" in nature, which is what saved Nagoriyuki's life, despite I-No's darker nature.

This is a difficult question to answer because really it depends upon the origins of the Tsukumogami in question.

Most Youkai are influenced by stories/folklore surrounding their origins, or if they aren’t influenced by those, they are influenced by the human attachments to objects that are connected to their origins.

Slayer has not stated openly if he is connected to any such folklore... though he is deeply involved with conflicts related to Humanity’s past history involving Vampires.

Slayer is not by any means the OLDEST vampire in existence, or even the most powerful (or at least he makes no indication that that is the case).

As I said, there are different kinds of Vampires...

Even something like Flament Nagel... an axe influenced by Alchemy and Blood Rituals... is something “similar” to a Vampire in nature.  But unlike a normal Vampire, he does not have supernatural abilities and is bound (more or less) to his axe weapon-form and does not have a humanoid body.

Even something like Testament is “kin” to Vampires in some capacity, even though he is still technically a Gear.

Does being a Vampire mean they are Youkai?  Not necessarily.

The term “youkai” iself can mean many things:

妖 “bewitching, calamity”

怪 “mystery, apparition”

Wordplay is often tied to folklore, so you could say that any “ghost” born of a calamity or tragedy is a Youkai in and of itself!

Vampires by themselves are still something of a biological mystery... at least as far as human understanding of them goes.

To gain ludicrous amounts of power just from absorbing blood is almost unheard of, scientifically speaking.

Well, even so, much of what we know about Vampires... vague though that knowledge often is... is folklore just as you would expect of any Youkai.

But, in the realm of Guilty Gear, where the Backyard can establish Human Imagination as Reality... that sort of power is more legitimate than first glance would otherwise dictate.

The larger question would be: “where do Vampires end, and Youkai begin?”

Because of how supernaturally powerful Vampires are... they far exceed traditional notions of Youkai by leaps and bounds... so in that essential aspect, Vampires are a step beyond what Youkai basically exist as.

Are Vampires an evolution from Human Knowledge and Consciousness?  Again, that idea is very unclear.  Even Slayer has no immediate definition for what he himself is... and so he simply referred to himself as an “Ishu” (Outsider/Exception).

Vampires are by no means the “exceptions” to the rules of the many forms of life in this world, but they are just one of many possible beings.

To some extent it seems that way, but only the Original Sage knows that for certain.

I-No’s existence is tied to the present world, but it’s difficult to ascertain how much of that applies to her in the Human form she currently takes.

In some ways she’s a Mortal and in other ways not.

Baiken nearly managed to kill her in one of her older story routes, as did May and Dizzy as well.  In these situations, I-No sustained a lot of damage and pain, unlike Raven.

Even Asuka has been seen capable of incapacitating her, not just sealing her away.

Even so, she seems to keep coming back, regardless of what Sol tries with her.  She’s also pretty good at running away.

You misunderstand, Hemi Jack is the ‘living embodiment’ of a Nightmare.

When people try to sleep, they visualize ‘sheep’ at first as a sleep-aid.

But that’s usually the only thing they remember before going to sleep.

Bedman says that the world of Dreams is actually a brief subconscious 'connection’ Humans have with the Backyard, as he said to Axl Low.

The 'sheep’ in this case is a Magic Focus that is designed to help calm Humans before they process all the daily stimuli and recorded memories they just observed.

Processing all that information is not unlike an Information Dump, but the end result only allows Humans to retain only a fraction of their immediate and past memories.

So where does all that 'recorded data’ go?

Much like your typical security cameras, all the boring and uneventful data is purged to make room for significant events to be preserved as memories.  But that information is also getting processed through the Backyard itself!

Sorting and processing that data means watching near-endless streams of footage in a sped-up state (REM Sleep is said to be linked to this process).

But sometimes information and data gets disjointed and scrambled, creating a distorted paradoxical sequence of events.

This here is what we call a 'Nightmare’.

Whether it was tied to our stress levels, emotional state, what we ate before bed, etc. makes no difference, we end up seeing a Distorted 'Reality’ that could have happened, or an Omen of events yet to truly pass!

But is that truly 'just a dream’?

Not according to the Backyard it isn’t!

And just like with other Magical Foci humanity has created, the Backyard still has to find a way to dispose of that “Information Landfill”.

So who or what is given the task of turning all that processed data in to bio-degradeable “Dream Sand” for information compression?

Most likely our poor sheep friend Hemi Jack has to do all that!

The things he’s seen make his eyes bleed a constant stream, and what he’s experienced would turn your hair 'white’ if not kill you outright!

That’s why people who have touched him feel like they got hit by a freight train, that’s all remnant data he’s processing!

Bedman knows the TRUTH behind the Backyard, and the reason Dream Sheep exist!

A Magic Focus in concept involves the human consciousness investing a great amount of will, wishes, memories, and desire in to an object.

If a weapon has a story, and that story is recalled enough times, or thought fondly of, or feared, or treasured to some extent… the possibility is there that the weapon may develop a will and consciousness of its own.

That, of course, doesn’t just apply to weapons… but everyday objects as well.

You could say that because humans “attribute life” to something that has no life… the life eventually “manifests itself” in to the object.

LG G Pro 2 mostra Magic Focus in un nuovo video

Abbiamo sentito parlare spesso di LG G Pro 2 e, nelle ultime ore, il terminale torna sotto la luce dei riflettori grazie ad un nuovo video pubblicato sul canale YouTube ufficiale di LG Korea. Il filmato in questione dura poco più di 30 secondi e mette in risalto una delle funzionalità più interessanti del nuovo smartphone LG: Magic Focus.

Per chi non lo sapesse, Magic Focus è una funzione che…