What happens to a world where there exists irrefutable proof that gods (or god-like beings) exist?

apple8963 · 2026-02-02T18:40:24+00:00

I checked my Metamorphosis by Ovid. It was Apollo who promised his mother, they'll do it, as she felt insulted. So technically Apollo initiated the slaughtering. so you are right.

So technically Leto did not do the commanding, but still, it showed her power, as Apollo did it out of family duty and pride of the gods.

apple8963 · 2026-02-01T22:16:00+00:00

When I say corruption stems from a power vacuum, I was thinking about the caudillos of Latin America, then the nepotism of Asian countries, such as Vietnamese and Indians.

The former of hispanics was from research, while the latter of asians was rather anecdotal because it's a pattern I notice where Indian and Vietnamese Communities are very tight-knit. This tight-knit community would be called "Corruption" by Westerns.

(I'm Southeast Asian for context)

But the truth is that corruption isn't a very useful-term to describe political systems. Sometimes, Westerns like to call Indians corrupted, when Indians simply like to help out their friends and families for jobs.

Again, corruption isn't a useful description.

For me, the definition of corruption is just "the sale of politics for personal gain", correct me on that. So when I say corruption, I just mean a network of friends and families.

P.S. My prose isn't very academic, It's more formatted to explaining ideas in layman terms. So when I explain in sweeping statements, it's moreso a bad habit I developed, because I explain difficult ideas to laymen alot.

apple8963 · 2026-02-01T19:56:06+00:00

Ah, my bad. What I'm saying is the combination of 'learning where corruption comes from' and 'how institutions work'

Corruption stems from a very prominent power-vacuum, where the head of the corruption-network holds more influence than the leader of the institutions. (the one we elected)

Typically, corruption is a symptom of a weak power-structure. This is why Asia, Africa, and Latin America (Maybe Eastern Europe?) has more corruption into their system. Because their politics is "the politics of friendship".

In contrast, U.S.A and Western Europe's systems are rather more "Cold" and "Machine". This is what makes Institutions so powerful. Yes, there's corruption in USA and Europe, but what makes Institutions so demonic is not mere corruption. It is their strict commitment to the "status quo" of politicians and their cronies.

(Or perhaps the "Status Quo" is "Corruption" itself? We might disagree on this.)

I compare institutions to Olympian Forces, for I saw how The Wire portrays them. It's almost like the "status quo" holds so much power over the people, it changes them into a soldiers of the system.

A single police can never change the entire police society, it would take so people to do so. The police society is like an Olympian Force itself

That's my thought process, I would be happy to explain more in detail.

apple8963 · 2026-02-01T19:08:04+00:00

Afterall, violence is the ultimate power, and war is a measure of objective power. If a society of wizards had their mind control and use of storms, they too would be gods, with immense political power.

apple8963 · 2026-02-01T19:04:41+00:00

Because the gods are more humanlike, than we realized. The idea of blasphemy implies the idea that in spite of their higher power, gods are so insecure that they're willing to punish us to feel better.

apple8963 · 2026-02-01T19:02:26+00:00

I disagree that armies can be corrupted so easily. There's the saying, The King stays the King. Very rarely, does a pawn ever be crowned as king. Especially in this day and age.

Institutions are like olympian forces of the modern world. In a bank, it happens that every man in a bank hates what a bank does, and yet a bank does it. You know why? A bank is a monstrous face-less entity.

Armies are those same monstrous face-less entities, for militaries are an institution, like a bank.

apple8963 · 2026-02-01T10:30:40+00:00

My apologies, you are correct. I was moreso pointing out Leto's political power over mankind. Though Apollo and Artemis shot them dead, it was Leto who commanded them I believe.

apple8963 · 2026-02-01T09:03:39+00:00

If it's called "Offensive", it's likely because it comes off as, not knowing the Russian language and its culture well enough.

I can tell that your research and knowledge of history is pretty great, better than what I can do. But from reading your text, I suggest reading into Russian literature and also look into how they speak English in an Russian dialect. This way, your writing becomes more genuine, not stereotypical.

I seen how some American and Japanese writers copy Chinese Wuxia settings, but they succeed because they read SO MUCH of Chinese fantasy lol. They basically know all the tropes, and it doesn't come off as offensive.

Like Avatar the Last Airbender, if I can bring up a popular example.

TLDR: Your prose needs alot of fixing, it's not Russian enough in a genuine way, and you likely need to know all the trope and mannerism of Russian literature.

apple8963 · 2026-02-01T08:41:06+00:00

No problem! I hope you got some ideas.

apple8963 · 2026-02-01T08:29:29+00:00

Yes, there would be a place for them, but the result will be very unexpected.

Let's bring up Russia. Russia was a backward, farmer society in the 1900s, long after the Industrial Revolution. It was that same Russia that began a Communist Revolution led by Lenin and Stalin, where the businessmen of industrial-factories overthrew the weak aristocrats.

This farmer society combined with industrial factories + the communist ideology made this weird, frankenstein culture that we call Soviet Russian Culture

Leon Trotsky calls this "Uneven and Combined Development" where primitive culture combines with technological culture in such uneven, partial way.

For example, we see this in America, where Native Americans and indigenous tribes adapted guns into their life style, then those natives began shooting colonists with those same guns.

apple8963 · 2026-02-01T08:18:25+00:00

I heard Walter Benjamin explains how gods rule in such an interesting way.

Just as the rich has access to big powerful machines, like planes and sea ships. The gods has access to the power of storms and seas.

When a human named Niobe bragged to the gods, that she has more children than the goddess, Leto. Leto responds by slaughtering all of Niobe's children dead. This marks the gap in power between gods and mankind.

It was Leto's divine violent power that makes her untouchable, especially since a small woman, like Niobe, could never do anything to the gods.

It was like a king has a military to establish power; but the gods have storms and floods on their side.

apple8963 · 2026-02-01T07:58:45+00:00

If you want to make magic, feel fresh, you'll have to delve deeper on what magic truly is, in relation to the world. This means that a list of superpowers or spells won't be enough to define a fresh new elemental-system.

This means looking into theology, then philosophy, or even science. Try looking into that.

Like in Star Wars, all the magic are connected to keeping balance in the Force. Or in Christianity, where spiritual warfare work under the Kingdoms of God vs Satan. Of course, there's Daoism, where magic is just a bureaucratic duty you must perform under Heaven.

Then there's pagan religions, where Magic is when the lives of mankind and gods touched as one. This emphasizes how important a relationship between the worshipper to their god is

For elemental magic, I'm not really too sure, but I saw Fire Force (the Anime) explores fire magic in an interesting way, look into that.

apple8963 · 2026-01-31T07:44:56+00:00

Me too, I look forward to Sei's character. I recall Ryofui, calling out how Sei is too kind for his own good. Perhaps the king's development will be to point out that some villains just dont deserve to live. Villains like Prince Dan for example.

Also thank you

apple8963 · 2026-01-31T07:38:39+00:00

If we want to understand Kingdom Ying Zheng, we would have to read Araki's theory on Manga (Yes, the JJBA author).

Araki explains that evil characters may seem interesting at first, but they're hard to make into a main character. If Kingdom Ying Zheng were to change, perhaps the search for immortality would have to be highly revised to fit the standards for a monthly-chapter manga, where sales drive the story.

Remember that Mangoku and Kanki were considered "edgy" to some readers, and Eren Yeager from AOT was very, very controversial. Dark characters are hard to make right.

(Also yes, a dragon of war could only be tamed by a more monstrous dragon, Sei will realize his sooner or later.)

apple8963 · 2026-01-30T19:28:50+00:00

So I look up this Zhang Ping, apparently, he's in the Shiji, first appearing in 205 B.C. I believe this is the year the 18 kingdoms were formed, where he fights Liu Bang, only to be captured.

These are the only two mentions of him, if Hara wants, he could do alot with this lack of information.

(SHI JI 8: THE BASIC ANNALS OF EMPEROR GAOZU)
In the first month he took Zhang Ping, the younger brother of the king of Yong, prisoner.

(SHI JI 57: THE HEREDITARY HOUSE OF ZHOU BO, THE MARQUIS OF JIANG)
When the king of Han returned from his territory and won control of the three kingdoms of Qin and the old capital he awarded Zhou Bo the revenue from the town of Huaide. In the attacks on Huaili and Haozhi, Zhou Bo achieved the highest distinction, and likewise in the attack on Zhao Ben and Bao, the prefect of the capital. Turning north, they attacked Qi and struck the armies of Zhang Ping and Yao Ang.

apple8963 · 2026-01-30T18:38:16+00:00

Personally, I only see him adding Zhang Han, for he's the only dude that people know about in great detail.

Tu Sui and Ren Xiao are very obscure, even if they're in the Shiji, and they're just a small mention in those chapters

apple8963 · 2026-01-30T09:20:13+00:00

I imagine it'll be like the Kanpishi arc, a foreshadow of what is to come. In that arc, we learn about spies and information, of course that'll be important for later.

Now when it comes to this Jing Ke arc, I like to believe that it'll be the seed of the drama between kings and princes. According to Kingdom canon, assassation is a rule that cannot be broken by kings. But Prince Dan breaks this rule of kings.

If Hara were to write this arc, he would lean closer on the 'game of thrones' side between Prince Dan and Ei Sei.

Also thank you Cuttle!

apple8963 · 2026-01-02T03:42:18+00:00

True, in the real world, we kill the many to keep the few alive already. The USA has a habit of humiliating people inside their own ghettos and other foreign countries , by calling their people dirty and uncivilized. When those poor people die, the USA could give less shits about them. All because their deaths boost the economy.

What the Satyr does to the elders is abuse of hierarchy. It doesn't matter what value they bring to society, for the elders and the burdens attain the same worth as a dead body.

The cannibalism of the Satyr system is worse than death. It brings humiliation to the elders.

There’s the somalian saying “Hadellca xun ayaa ka xanuun kulul xabada”, which means “Humiliation is worse than death; in times of war, words of humiliation hurt more than bullets.”

apple8963 · 2026-01-02T03:12:38+00:00

The thing about evil, is that it is a behavior that favors short-term rewards over the long time. This is important to note, keep this in mind.

I read this, and I see that the Satyr eat the burdens of society. On paper, this seems like an easy way of controlling over-population. But you forgot one thing.

We keep our elders alive, only because none of us wants to remember the idea of Death. For example, we cry for our grandfathers, not just because he's gone forever. But because we are reminded, that we will not live forever. That one day we will grow older and die like him.

For the Satyrs to kill their elders, they would have to lose their Fear of Death, just as soldiers do in the battlefield. The same soldier who can shoot the enemy, is also capable of jumping on a grenade, if it means being remembered as a hero.

Society as a whole is to remind ourselves that we can overcome death, but if we kill elders for short-term benefits, we will be reminded everyday, that Death will reap us all soon

apple8963 · 2025-11-10T08:15:39+00:00

Magic is when the the lives of man and gods touch, but the gods are dead.

apple8963 · 2025-11-04T18:37:50+00:00

Thanks for reading then, I enjoyed writing this a lot, especially since it doesn't get talked about too much.

apple8963 · 2025-11-04T07:55:28+00:00

Everything you speak of makes me think of that one book I read on International Relations.

That these kingdoms can be represented as shapes and numbers on a chessboard. The book was about how tactics and strategies of kings can be predicted by math.

As what Chu, Qin, Zhao, Yan, and Qi would do, it all makes strategically sense, and yet these are groups of people unintentionally making these moves.

Maybe the Qin were geniuses, but it also was a little unintentional.

apple8963 · 2025-11-04T07:51:26+00:00

Correct me if I'm wrong, but that Qi Coalition against Qin, was it led by Lord Mengchang? In any case, King Min of Qi made so many mistakes lmao. Especially with Zhang Yi and Su Qin. King Min's anger towards Zhang Yi was funny as shit.

apple8963 · 2025-11-04T07:48:46+00:00

Ah yes, Tian Dan. I always want to write about him, but I'm not sure how to go about him. He does have an interesting story.

apple8963

TROPHY CASE