So for you hajimari playing folks. How do you rate the music so far? I recall awhile back that I said cs4's ost doesnt sound as good as 3 and was told that was a pretty common opinion. I heard only about 1/3 of hajimari's music so far and so far I think it sounds great... not sure how to rate it yet. Need more time.
Loving it so far! They've been bringing back some really nostalgic old songs from Crossbell and early Cold Steel and the new music has been really good. One nice touch is that each of the routes has its own battle theme.
Today, I was thinking about overlaps of magic systems in Harry Potter, Nasuverse and the little tidbits we were told about the Hexenclan, which somehow led me to look up an article about hermeticism. (My brain works in strange ways)
While browsing through the wikipedia-article, I found an interesting passage from the Emerald Table attributed to Hermes Trismegistus (which was translated by among others Sir Isaac Newton - yes, that Newton).
That which is below is like that which is above
and that which is above is like that which is below
to do the miracle of one only thing
The next stanza is also interesting:
And as all things have been and arose from one by the mediation of one:
so all things have their birth from this one thing by adaptation.
There are a ton of things to unpack here, which is relevant to Trails. I'll start with the first stanza which is often abbreviated to the phrase "As above, so below".
But there's still more. According to Wikipedia the phrase "as above, so below" is often used in the sense of the microcosm and the macrocosm, which states that a part (micro) reflects the whole (macro). Or how a human (micro) reflects the world (macro). There's a Sidequest in CS4 with the second oldest witch in Eryn (the one who looks her age unlike loligranny), when she asks Class VII to locate hidden hotsprings all over Erebonia which has been contaminated. Once every hotsprings has been found, she conducts a purification ritual using Rean and a partner of your choosing as some kind of magical foci, stating verbatim 或譯為大宇宙與小宇宙, which is the Chinese phrase for microcosm and macrocosm. The idea behind her spell seems to run in the direction that by purifying Rean and his partner, the 'world'(hotsprings) also gets purified in some kind of resonance effect.
Seems like the Witches in Kiseki are practitioners of hermeticism. xD
But to get back to "As above, so below", the original interpretation of the phrase seems to be that "whatever happens on any level of reality (physical, mental, emotional) also happens on every other level".
Now, what was one of the tenets of the Gralsritter again? Protect the peace of the three worlds. I mean, current canon consensus seems to be that the three worlds refer to Zemuria, Gehenna and Heaven, which are strictly divided, but I want to point out that this is in-game church doctrine. Seeing how later titles continue to blur the separation between the planes (In CS4, the entirety of Erebonia has the higher elements active) or how the outside is often mentioned in recent games, things are starting to become... mixed. Pardon the pun.
Now let's look at the second stanza.
Sophia (Greek: Σοφία, lit. "wisdom"), the Demiurge's mother and partial aspect of the divine Pleroma or "Fullness," desired to create something apart from the divine totality, without the receipt of divine assent. In this act of separate creation, she gave birth to the monstrous Demiurge and, being ashamed of her deed, wrapped him in a cloud and created a throne for him within it. The Demiurge, isolated, did not behold his mother, nor anyone else, and concluded that only he existed, ignorant of the superior levels of reality.
If we look at the first part of the second stanza, namely "and as all things have been and arose from one by the mediation of one", this could actually be a reference to the first part of the above myth, the 'one' who mediates might be Sophia, and by mediating she creates a separate one from which all things arose. Of course, the idea that everything arise from the one mediated by Sophia is a sham. Only by being isolated can Demiurge delude itself that it's the ultimate creator.
The second stanza might support my interpretation. "so all things have their birth from this one thing by adaptation." The key word here is adaptation. It implies improvisation, a lack of the full picture, so the one who gives birth to all things(Demiurgos) is basically doing this from the seat of its pants.
The Demiurge, having received a portion of power from his mother, sets about a work of creation in unconscious imitation of the superior Pleromatic realm: He frames the seven heavens, as well as all material and animal things, according to forms furnished by his mother; working, however, blindly and ignorant even of the existence of the mother who is the source of all his energy. He is blind to all that is spiritual, but he is king over the other two provinces. The word dēmiurgos properly describes his relation to the material; he is the father of that which is animal like himself.
I can't really tie this myth to the Kiseki version of Demiurgos yet beside the name itself, but I find it funny how two stanzas from a very famous real world occult source (Emerald Table) are more or less worked into some of the higher mysteries of the Trails universe. Kondo or one of his writers might be quite an occult geek.
As for the Sanderson experts, does the concept of "As above, so below" regarding the interconnection of the physical, emotional and mental tie into some of his Cosmere ideas? I've seen how a 'cognitive realm' was mentioned and how things manifesting there can become real in a physical sense, so I was wondering.
Nobody probably thinks too much of it. But trails sure has a thing about azure this and azure that. Then they make a character named Lapis if all things. Is there any hinted, suspected, or stated significance to the change of habit?
I'll have to read and unpack that post on hermeticism and Kiseki a bit later.
Nobody probably thinks too much of it. But trails sure has a thing about azure this and azure that. Then they make a character named Lapis if all things. Is there any hinted, suspected, or stated significance to the change of habit?
I'm just at the start of Chapter 4 of Hajimari so right now I don't know of any in-universe significance that's been attributed to the name (though I have my speculations) but the 'azure' thing should probably be taken with a grain of salt because there's a mix of stuff that's actually present in the Japanese and stuff that's an artifact of translation. In the Crossbell games, the stuff that's really important and which have been translated as 'Azure' by fans are all written with the same nonstandard character as Ao's title; 碧 as opposed to 青 or 蒼. We know Falcom intended that character to be read 'Azure' because there's in-game English for some uses and the final boss song is 'The Azure Arbitrator' where their name is written in Japanese with the same character.
However, in a number of the instances elsewhere in the series where you'll see 'Azure' in English one of the more common characters is being used in the original script. The 碧 character does shows up in the variety of septium read via furigana as 'Saphirl', hence if it's not referring to plot stuff from Crossbell it's used in references to the tower in Liberl, to the city of Ordis/the Undine statue there and to Musse's healing Craft. Meanwhile things like Ordine the Azure Knight, a certain Anguis' title, one of the banned books that gets mentioned in The 3rd and Azure Siegfried are all using more standard characters, but the word azure just rolls off the tongue better than the generic 'Blue' or most other synonyms.
Which is a longwinded way of saying that while 'Azure' is an important word, it's a bit obscured in localization because there isn't a 1:1 correspondence between the significant kanji and the uses in English of azure. But for all I know there's going to be something in the rest of Hajimari that makes the name choice of Lapis more important. And if so I'll definitely notice, because Lapis is probably my favorite of the new characters. xD
So I'm playing CS3 and two things came up in chapter 2 that are kind of headscratchers. I'm wondering if something got lost in translation.
First,
And second,
Edit: Beware CS2 spoilers in my second question & in the answer to it down below. Oops!
There are a ton of things to unpack here, which is relevant to Trails. I'll start with the first stanza which is often abbreviated to the phrase "As above, so below
SpoilerCs3/CS4IIn CS4, they really start to throw this phrase around, calling it 上臺 and 下臺 in Chinese which can be roughly translated as "above the stage" and "below the stage".
Regarding this post, the Japanese is simply 裏 and 表 (back and front) making front stage/backstage an excellent metaphor. The concepts you have quoted have similarities to certain Jewish concepts such as the Temple on High being a mirror of the earthly Temple in Jerusalem, but I don't think that Falcom is familiar with such ideas.
So I'm playing CS3 and two things came up in chapter 2 that are kind of headscratchers. I'm wondering if something got lost in translation.
First,
SpoilerCS3 chapter 2Major Michael says something to the effect of 'the dinner party should be okay because there's been no activity from the Society. Things should be fine.' Um. What? Rean just met one of the Society's enforcers, who blocked calling Valimar (a previously unknown development), blatantly obviously summoned a Cryptid, and all but said the Cryptids that had been showing up were doing so specifically because your party was going to be there.And second,
SpoilerCS3 chapter 2Rean talks to Rufus, who tells a frankly unbelievable story about why he became an Ironblood. When mulling this over later, Rean thinks to himself Rufus isn't the type to lie about things like that. Huh? Rufus has admitted to being a double agent working assiduiously to undermine a cause he outwardly was pretending to champion.
For the second question, Rean's Japanese line is specifically that Rufus isn't the sort to joke about something like that. Basically, Rean knows he's a liar but doesn't think that is the type of thing he'd lie about. Probably because the story is unbelievable, and it fits with what Rean already knows about Osborne generally and Arngarmr's ill-fated attack on the Chancellor specifically.
There are a ton of things to unpack here, which is relevant to Trails. I'll start with the first stanza which is often abbreviated to the phrase "As above, so below
SpoilerCs3/CS4IIn CS4, they really start to throw this phrase around, calling it 上臺 and 下臺 in Chinese which can be roughly translated as "above the stage" and "below the stage".Regarding this post, the Japanese is simply 裏 and 表 (back and front) making front stage/backstage an excellent metaphor. The concepts you have quoted have similarities to certain Jewish concepts such as the Temple on High being a mirror of the earthly Temple in Jerusalem, but I don't think that Falcom is familiar with such ideas.
Were it just about "As above, so below", I would easily concede that I'm stretching the issue. But as I mentioned later in the post, microcosm and macrocosm is explicitly mentioned by one of the Hexen Clan, so I'm willing to give Falcom some credit. Besides, I shudder to think just how many occult references Hajimari is going to touch on. The trailers alone gave Yotaka enough fodder to start speculating about Rosicrucianism.
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1. Most of the way through CS3 now and this is kind of a question, kind of a bet with myself over where I think the story's going. This definitely could involve whole series spoilers, if it's right (or even if it's wrong) - I don't mind CS3 spoilers in any answer but definitely please separate CS4/Hajimari spoilers. Thanks.
Then I remembered CS1. Wherein Emma just happens to have no clue that Vita Clotilde, who she's desperate to find, is one of the most famous people in Erebonia - never mind running a weekly radio broadcast down the block. The explanation for that when I asked was 'fate control magic'.
That explains everything, doesn't it? Rufus is enslaved by fate, isn't he? Compelled to serve ... whoever the puppet master is. Compelled to imagine he's doing it of his own free will. The same as the Stahlritter are compelled to serve Arianrhod. Claire is compelled to overlook the fact that the most convenient explanation for Osborne knowing everything about what happened to her family is he set the whole thing up, even though as one of his top agents, she *knows* that's his modus operandi.
That's why Obsorne took the Zero Child in stride, and didn't seem afraid of her powers, isn't it? And it's also why in The Third he tells Lechter the possibility Lechter might betray him is 'still within expectations', isn't it? Osborne himself's just another puppet, isn't he? He underwent a sudden change accompanied by a terrifying spike in competency, just like Rufus and Claire and Cedric. Rean's "mysterious power" looks awful suspicious in this light, too.
It's re-enacting the War of the Lions, isn't it? So it's even wrapped up Olivert, hasn't it? There was a civil war. Olivert left the country to recruit foreign allies to help him save the day because he loved his homeland. His mothe was a commoner and she's even dead, to boot. That's eerily similar to Dreichels' backstory.
2. I can't remember exactly when this happens, but
3. Has there been any explanation for all the real-world references? There's an awful lot.
The Septian Church in particular seems have a LOT of parallels. People like to crack jokes about "Christ who's gonna die next" - but there arguably are actual Christianity references. "Bishops" and "archbishops" and nuns, wearing real-world attire bishops and nuns wear. Not only do their churches look like cathedrals, some are even CALLED "cathedral". The "graalsritter" has a logo that... has a grail in it. There's the Grail Locket, and I believe I've seen official art or something depicting it as a crucifix. CS3 has a time art Lost Genesis. And Space has Seraphic Ring, and in CS3, Cross Crusade. There are Saints. And the whole Dominion thing - the name of a rank of angels in reference to a bunch of people with stigmata?
Then there's Ouroboros, the snake devouring its own tail. As can be clearly seen in their crest.
Regarding Rusus' loyalties:
mid cs3 spoiler:
It's still damned strange and unlikely. (Technically about a turn of events that you only find out about in CS2, so this post and the previous 2 are technically all involving a CS2 spoiler.)
And then there's a scene significantly later in CS3 where the Stahlritter remark to each other how weird it is that only a few words from Arianrhod were enough to win their undying loyalty.
Now that's definitely a pattern, even ignoring Cedric suddenly undergoing a change in personality and a corresponding alignment with the Chancellor. Something has to be up. Too many things line up. It's basically never a coincidence when things line up like that in this series.
Falcom could really stand to throw in a red herring here or there. Even if it's just once, have the guy that seems totally unconnected to anything, who just happens to show up multiple times because it's a small world ... actually be just turning up by coincidence; he really isn't connected to anything.
It's still damned strange and unlikely. (Technically about a turn of events that you only find out about in CS2, so this post and the previous 2 are technically all involving a CS2 spoiler.)
SpoilerCS 2/3 spoilersAnd then there's a scene significantly later in CS3 where the Stahlritter remark to each other how weird it is that only a few words from Arianrhod were enough to win their undying loyalty.Now that's definitely a pattern, even ignoring Cedric suddenly undergoing a change in personality and a corresponding alignment with the Chancellor. Something has to be up. Too many things line up. It's basically never a coincidence when things line up like that in this series.
Falcom could really stand to throw in a red herring here or there. Even if it's just once, have the guy that seems totally unconnected to anything, who just happens to show up multiple times because it's a small world ... actually be just turning up by coincidence; he really isn't connected to anything.
- No comment on Cedric. xD
- floofy and I both have bets going that a particular character who keeps turning up isn't a red herring and if they are, we'll do things we're going to regret later. xD
It's still damned strange and unlikely. (Technically about a turn of events that you only find out about in CS2, so this post and the previous 2 are technically all involving a CS2 spoiler.)
SpoilerCS 2/3 spoilersAnd then there's a scene significantly later in CS3 where the Stahlritter remark to each other how weird it is that only a few words from Arianrhod were enough to win their undying loyalty.Now that's definitely a pattern, even ignoring Cedric suddenly undergoing a change in personality and a corresponding alignment with the Chancellor. Something has to be up. Too many things line up. It's basically never a coincidence when things line up like that in this series.
Falcom could really stand to throw in a red herring here or there. Even if it's just once, have the guy that seems totally unconnected to anything, who just happens to show up multiple times because it's a small world ... actually be just turning up by coincidence; he really isn't connected to anything.
SpoilerSame spoilers- There's more to the Stahlritter than just a few words though. Lianne gave a girl who had lost everything something to believe in and a place to belong serving her idol (Duvalie), saved another girl from a horrible cult (Ennea) and... okay, Ines is the one outlier in the group who was just so impressed with Lianne's strength that she abandoned her career to follow her after losing a duel. That's not exactly unknown in martial arts fiction so a one-off can fly.- No comment on Cedric. xD
- floofy and I both have bets going that a particular character who keeps turning up isn't a red herring and if they are, we'll do things we're going to regret later. xD
So this mysterious "character who keeps turning up" must be
As for the
The problem is the villains in Ao are all accomplices to everything the cult did. Mariabelle, Dieter, Ian, and Arios all benefited directly from the cult's activities. They all knew and allowed it to continue. And while they didn't exercise direct day to day hands-on control, Zero demonstrates the cult ended because they decided to end it, meaning they could have done so anytime they wanted, and did not.
And this guilt taints by association. Arianrhod knows all of this and chose to work with Mariabelle anyway, to make what was (by that time) their joint plan come to fruition. Whether she got involved before or after the cult's destruction is an irrelevant minor detail.
So Ennea was rescued from her awful fate by one of the people responsible for it in the first place.
Or is the series just going to continue ignoring this? Is the canon intended to be that they aren't really responsible for it?
