Against the Current

Making the right choices is not often easy.

Especially when the almost insurmountable flow of society as a whole imposes a vision from which it is difficult to break free.

Thinking or acting against the current then becomes a trial that is at once discouraging, irritating, and sometimes almost ridiculous, yet within which a glimmer of hope continues to exist.

The Espers all carried within them that ounce of light that was simply waiting to be nurtured, like a planted seed waiting for the gentleness of spring to blossom and fully express itself.

In a world of constant acceleration, going against the current means taking the time to reflect on the real consequences of present actions for the future.

A future that is becoming increasingly uncertain, yet whose main outlines have already been shaped by the choices of the past and the decisions yet to come.

The Espers did not succeed in taking the gamble of creating a world that went against the current of today’s values.

The consequences were the decades that led to the Chaos War.

But within this disaster, not only ecological but also civilizational, the hope of seeing a civilization finally emerge that would go against the current of an increasingly individualistic and arrogant movement had been born.

The Seven Shapes had begun to write the first pages of a new era…

One Daily Tale.


Our latest tales

  • Returning to the Basics

    Returning to the Basics

    The civilization of the Espers before the Chaos War had gradually drifted away from its foundations. It was becoming increasingly difficult for them to give importance to their basic physiological needs, because these needs were no longer right in front of them. For many, the days when searching for food took up most of the…

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  • Universal Consciousness

    Universal Consciousness

    How can we not naturally think that we are at the center of the world when we see the world only through our own eyes? This was the starting point of a reflection by Eklea, the Shape of Consciousness, concerning a paradox of Esper civilization: on an individual scale, an act may seem entirely rational.…

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  • If Innocence Were Queen

    If Innocence Were Queen

    Observing how the civilization of the Espers behaved before the Chaos War, one might believe that they were all afflicted by a destructive madness, or were desperately trying to get the better of others at their expense. In reality, most Espers were simply doing their best every day just to live. And among them, some…

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  • Values at the Heart of the System

    Values at the Heart of the System

    The world before the Chaos War was quite a bewildering spectacle. On the one hand, the use of magic had given the Espers technologies that allowed them to satisfy their thirst for individuality and freedom, which they championed under the banner of modernity. But on the other hand, the system in which they lived had…

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  • Reconnecting with Strong Bonds to What Is Essential

    Reconnecting with Strong Bonds to What Is Essential

    The civilization of the Espers had gradually moved away from what was nevertheless necessary to meet their natural physiological needs. Being able to feed themselves had become an ordinary act, with no apparent connection to nature, its resources, or the ecosystem of which they were nevertheless a part. Why was it important, in the eyes…

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  • Letting Go Takes Time

    Letting Go Takes Time

    Caught up in their own emotions, who has never felt resentment toward someone else, only to later forget even the original reason for the conflict? The new Esperia that the Seven Shapes were trying to rebuild was now founded on principles shared by everyone. Since Shala, the Shape of Time, had become a symbol that…

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  • Whether to Act or Not

    Whether to Act or Not

    The undertaking begun by the Seven Shapes since the end of the Chaos War, to reshape society in a fairer way for everyone and in harmony with the planet’s ecosystem, was obviously a daunting one. Numerous debates and discussions on a wide variety of subjects had emerged, sometimes themselves branching off into other discussions, either…

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  • Transcending One’s Own Nature

    Transcending One’s Own Nature

    The primary instincts of the Esper species pushed them to act naturally for their individual survival before anything else. Even though the Espers were now capable of using magic and had developed a civilization that, from the outside, had little left in common with the time when they had been nomadic in search of food,…

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