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elodieunderglass · 2 months ago

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And one amang, an Iyrysch man,

Uppone his hoby swyftly ran…

WAIT HANG ON - slamming the brakes on drawing this stupid picture - do you nerds even KNOW the etymology of the word “hobby”? The thing you do for pleasure? The thing you have too many of? The thing you spend too much money on and share with your friends? The thing tumblr probably is to you? Those hobbies?

It comes from a now-kind-of-extinct breed of Irish pony-horse. It was called the Irish Hobby. Supposedly the hobby got its name from the Gaelic word obann, or swift. They definitely were. They’d obann your pants clean off.

Fast tough little bastards, built for rough terrain and renowned for their speed and stamina, hobby horses belonged to the Celts, and their highly annoying style of mounted warfare. but their conquerors liked hobby horses a lot, kept them, used them for themselves, and found them useful enough, despite the fact that they also had famously useful things like mounted knights or horse archers. A lightweight Irish warrior, mounted on a hobby horse, was called a hobelar.

Reportedly and in depictions, hobelars rode without stirrups. Or saddles. Or bridles. Or - well - this is all sounding very improbable, because the hobelars COULDNT have just been charging around basically bare-assed on naked ponies, screaming, and somehow in the process undoing the composure of actual mounted armoured knights. Knights who, I remind you, had stirrups. Stirrups are useful! It’s quite likely the hobelars had some gear. And clothes. and weapons. And the ponies probably had some tack - I am picturing a bellyband that you could at least hang a saddlebag on, and a neck rope for catching the bloody thing, even if not a saddle. But the overall impression, somehow created by people on darling little ponies, was apparently quite striking and fearful.

I mean. God Forbid People Have Hobbies.

Anyway after a while, whatever people became the British had eventually conquered all of the rough terrain that hobbies were best at, and horse archers just got sexier, and mounted knights became aristos, and all the bog and forest people had been subdued, so it was time to sunset the hobelars. but WAIT! Hobby horses are still tremendously fun and appealing! They’re so fast! and you can ride them without a saddle! Sure, they’re not up to the weight of a mounted knight, or indeed a lot of guys… but surely we can still find a use for a hobby or two? In the back garden? Somewhere?

At which point an English king decided to keep hobby horses just for fun. No military application. No further development of the technology. Not for fun. Just as expensive, pleasurable, pets. Just for the joy of the thing.

And that is how hobby (activity done purely for pleasure) comes from hobby horse (small horse) possibly from obann (swift.) they’re very interesting and you should look all this up for yourself! because it sure sounds like Elodie doing a bit, doesn’t it?

Today, Irish Hobbies are functionally nonexistent. References for drawing include the Kerry Bog Pony, the Connemara, and (I personally think) Dartmoors and Exmoors. They’re said to have lent their speed to the Irish Hunter/Sport Horse and from there to the Thoroughbred, but every damn horse in the world claims relation to the Thoroughbred, and they can’t be THAT thoroughly bred.

At any rate - you can never have enough hobbies. Just be glad that yours aren’t expensive beasts with minds of their own, eating their heads off in the pasture! …Unless they are. In which case, you’re part of a proud tradition.

#Killie #this is Killie’s ancestor who occasionally turns up in hallucinations with various ghost horses #like all elements of magical realism in the killieverse he does absolutely NOTHING useful.#your ancestor is neither proud of you nor disappointed in you. he’s riding alongside explaining some thoughts he had at breakfast #performing weird fuckin feats of equitation outside the window while you’re trying to sit through school or waiting in the queue at Greggs #if you wake up in a hospital bed in a bleary moment before consciousness he’s perched next to you chattering complete fucking nonsense #about. like. the stupidest stuff. like he’s just free-associating his thoughts based on a pattern in the ceiling tiles. incredibly annoying #his dialect just close enough to Irish that you can pick out a few words here and there #enough to tell that it’s complete nonsense. but also he’ll just say things like BASED. (possibly he is also visiting miles?)#and occasionally he points out that he did everything you do in your job but barefoot. no stirrups. in the snow. uphill both ways.#which is quite hard to do in a bog since they’re notably quite distinctively flat usually so sometimes he’d have to find a hill and ride up #and down it a few times just to build character. no saddle no bridle no shoes and the Romans were there maybe - and when you object to that #thinking there seems to be a lot of collision of timelines and historical accuracy - he doesn’t speak Irish suddenly . and why would he.#anyway he doesn’t exist and never did. but he’s fun #occasionally turns up to ride alongside you in a race apparently just to prove he can keep up with modern breeds #usually he can surprisingly well but tbf his horse is a ghost. and when he can’t he says well. I’m not a professional like you.#this. is just my hobby. ahahahahahahahahahshahahahahasha #and with that I get back on my hobby horse and ride away

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nabi-unveiled · 3 months ago

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Catching Up: Love for Love's Sake (Ep 1)

During the tag game a little while ago, it seemed like there was a character from this show on almost everyone's list. Anytime a character or show becomes that ubiquitous, I become curious. Especially since the show's over a year old by now. Recency bias couldn't be the main factor.

I had to reload iQIYI several times before subtitles began working, but the opening shot already had me intrigued.

It made my brain automatically race with questions.

Because apparently someone is looking for this person...

Even if the bell reminds me of my incredibly annoying alarm clock from high school.

All of this running is reminding me of a post I have in my draft graveyard about the importance of movement in emotional sequences. Not relevant right now.

Ooooo. So the box is going to be a thing is it? Unlike the first one, this one has bells on it so it appears to be a notification of some sort. It looks like a video game in some ways. "Love Supremacy Zone" could be taken multiple ways. I don't have enough evidence to make a call yet.

I do know that it's making me very nervous to have whoever this is on the roof and standing like that. I'm hoping this just means it's a show with rooftop scenes rather than this being a jumper type scene. In my former job, I had to cope with several teenage suicides, and my grandfather ended his life about a year ago. It's not a hard limit or major trigger for me, but it will make me emotional if we're going there.

Apparently the person on the roof is our missing person. So it'll be okay. The runner will intervene if this is a jump scene.

Ok, I don't know who this person is...

But I already love them from the intro. Watching them struggle to get over the wall with their adorkable styling was an instant delight. However, we know I make snap judgments and often regret them later. Only time will tell.

The fact that the episode is named after an emotion makes me leery. Does this mean other episodes are also assigned emotions? Cue up the angst I guess. (Actually, please do. I love angst.)

There's a cornflower. That's interesting. Blue cornflowers are highly symbolic. They carry meaning in several different cultures and religions.

There's folklore related to men wearing them as a sign of love. If the color faded, the love wasn't returned. Girls wore them as a sign they were eligible to marry in some cultures. They also have connections to Christian symbolism, Greek mythology and several historical references if I remember correctly 🤔. None of this is probably important. We don't know if they'll be used symbolically yet. For now, they're just a flower.

I'm trying to figure out if we're jumping forward in the timeline, because my boy here is drowning himself in drinks. And while this other dude basically said "slow down", he didn't say "stop" so we must be out of high school. I'm going with this is a different timeframe. It's definitely a different vibe from the beginning.

And there are too many references to death and happy endings in a short time frame. My spidey senses do not like these types of phrases. They mention the book being turned into a video game which makes me think my earlier thought about the box on screen looking like a game was correct. The question "Would anyone want to play it?" makes me wonder where they're going with that thread.

Yeah, me too. I know it's terrible, but I often get bored with super-sweet shows. It's why I often fast forward through date sequences. Don't get me wrong - I watch the sweet shows. But I'd rather that sweetness be tempered with some actual emotional turmoil and tension.

Our drinker says it bothers him that our missing person is the only only one who's miserable.

I take it this dude is meant to represent all of typical society. Just bury my head in the sand and ignore other people's problems as long as I'm living a good life. I have a bitter taste in my mouth about it so I'm glad our drinker calls him on it and says that it's "vile" that some people are destined to that kind of life.

I did not expect this conversation to go here. That's a loaded question. There is obviously a lot of subtext, because this guy knows things that I'm not privy to at the moment. But it's a great question. You can complain. But does it matter if you're not going to do something about it?

We're definitely jumping timeframes. We're now back in high school. The sound is very distorted like in a dream world. It sounds like running water to me. I definitely stopped and restarted thinking the sound had gotten messed up in my app again. It happens a lot.

Actually, have we time jumped?

Uh oh. I didn't realize this show involved time jumps. That's such a tricky, tricky mechanism to use well. Most of the time it falls flat or leads to massive narrative holes. I'm going to trust that most of you wouldn't be recommending this show if that was the case though.

And the video game box is back. That means our earlier scene involved the time jumper. The Love Supremacy Zone has been activated after all.

Ok. I'm still not sure how I feel about the time jumping, but I'm loving the gaming aspect. Everyone in my house games (including me). If time is limited, I'll choose shows over games. But I love shows that execute gaming tropes and references. A lot of these are anime like Solo Leveling or Delicious in Dungeon, but there are a few live action ones (Love 020 or Falling Into Your Smile). Actually, I even enjoy the shows like Missions of Love that are objectively pretty bad. It's not a common framing device in a BL so I'm really curious how it'll be used.

The addition of the gaming aspect makes me wonder if this is a blackout dream. Like he'll figure out what "could" have been and then use that knowledge when he goes back to his current time.

And now I'm confused. That's ok. Myung-ha is too. Blackout dream seems like the most likely option unless we're bringing in some kind of fantasy/magic aspect.

I've missed what Shinyeop is, but apparently it's connected to the senior writing a book and adapting it into a game.

No thanks. I'll pass. Life is INFINITELY better as an adult. Even with all of the adult responsibilities, I never go "man, I wish I could go back to high school".

I'm glad your memory has been restored and that the game aspect is going smoothly, but I need to know more about this cutie. Like...now.

I have so many theories and thoughts running through my head. So the missing man has similarities to Myung-ha? Did his senior base him off of Myung-ha? This question feels very different now than it did earlier, and we definitely have some fantasy music vibes now. Did I just miss the vibe earlier or is this purposeful reframing? Could go either way.

I don't trust "senior" though. He seems like a man with his own agenda rather than seriously looking out for Myung-ha's well-being.

I'm also realizing that I shouldn't call this a "time jump". It's really an alternate reality scenario. The distinction is important, because the two setups have different potential narrative problems.

Ahhh! I cannot express how much I am loving the gaming aspect. We're now on a timed mission to prevent our missing man from hurting his leg. I guess he WAS going to jump?

I do wonder why Myung-ha isn't questioning the fact that his senior managed to trap him in a game.

There isn't any way I would've made it in time. I might could've made it as a teenager. I could run a 7.5 minute mile on average back then, but I didn't ever do more than 2 miles at a time. But now? No way.

I felt this line in my soul. I doubt it will be mine, but I feel like this would be a lovely epitaph. Whether it's positive or negative would be up to interpretation of whoever viewed the stone decades later. Lol.

Affection level is at -20. LMAO. Time to start building up some hearts. Do some quests. Give some liked or loved gifts. Find the NPC that gives you all of the important clues and needed information. Please let that be our cutie in glasses.

Myung-ha says he was sent by Yeowoon's grandmother. I can't decide if this is genius or a low move. Using his halmeoni to manipulate him? I guess if it stops him from doing stupid stuff that destroys his life, then I'll support it.

😂😂😂 Apparently, "offers ice cream to comfort people" needs to be a list. Since Let Free the Curse, I'm now noticing ice cream in a lot of places. Apparently Yeowoon's flavor choice is unexpected. Lol. Myung-ha didn't have enough money. Ah, red bean. Yeah, I've tried it. Not my favorite ice cream flavor. This reminds me that I still need to make garlic ice cream to try. It's warming up so I'll break out the ice cream maker soon.

I love the debuff effect. Myung-ha seems intelligent which I appreciate. But he keeps talking about going home, and I'm really wondering where his home is in this world.

Obviously our virtual world pre-loaded that information. I doubt that's what we'd find if we googled it. I'm betting we'd find this show actually. Could also be a song or book title. I might test it after my watch. Regardless, I'm glad Myung-ha knows his main objective now.

OMG. Did Yeowoon try it because that's what Myung-ha had picked out? Plus, this is a delightful way to get the information. It's like a quest log being updated. I have not tried chestnut-flavored ice cream.

Yeowoon needs someone for sure. It sucks. Especially if his grandmother was his main person in life. My grandfather wasn't my main person, but he was an important person to me. I still get emotional when things remind me of him.

😢 Is this HIS grandmother? He just said "it hadn't changed". Has his past merged into this virtual world? That's going to be hard for Myung-ha as it seemed like he had lost his grandmother in the bar scene. But this is also going to be hard for Yeowoon who just lost his.

Grandma has eyes. She immediately clocks the funeral clothes and that our boy Yeowoon is a handsome one.

Yeowoon is wondering if this is about pity. It's a fair question. Apparently Myung-ha fought a lot as a teen.

Aww, Myung-ha's leveling up. His affection level is now at -10.

I got distracted by the mural. I love public art.

But I'm going to assume my translation app is wrong. It translated the quote as "I think of the holy and beautiful thoughts in the fact that I am guarding that gun."

Myung-ha chooses to sit closer to Yeowoon on the bus.

Uh oh. Debuff is active. The purple aura surrounding our person getting on the bus is sending me. It's so video game coded. Myung-ha better get ready to defend.

Myung-ha speaks and the potential bullies notice his nametag. The fights his grandma mentioned must be well known. They back down.

Myung-ha is learning the rules:

The love supremacy zone is a 5m region surrounding Cha Yeowoon.

Negative affection levels leads to debuffs and consequences.

This is important in every game. Myung-ha reasons that this means he needs to stay outside of the zone. But I'm not sure that Myung-ha's logic is sound here. Staying outside of the zone will make it harder to level up affection. Especially if he can counter the debuffs as easily as he has so far.

Yes. I know this is really talking about the game rules, and on that score - maybe. But on the relationship side, something good would happen for both of you. Because Myung-ha is obviously lonely too. You can tell from our bar scene that his life wasn't a picnic. He needs a reset too.

Oh. Poor baby Yeowoon is distracted and running slow. He doesn't understand why Myung-ha is avoiding him.

And our bullies are threatening to "teach him a lesson". I can't get a read yet on if this is going to be one of those bullies that mellows, and we're expected to understand eventually.

Or is this one just an actual bully that I can hate on? It does look like Myung-ha is a problem for him. And this makes me wonder if averting the jump only delayed the potential for getting hurt.

Who's Sangwon? Apparently our bully isn't the top dog of his pack.

Yay! My cutie is back and we now have a name for him - Kyunghoon.

He IS our NPC with the information! Love it! Myung-ha says he doesn't hit kids, but...we'll see.

I love that Yeowoon ran after Myung-ha down the hall, and that the music has a video game quality to it.

Myung-ha informs Yeowoon that he needs to like him more for them to be close together. That will definitely be misunderstood.

The fact that he's not questioning this "trapped in a game" situation is still throwing me for a loop. Just what does he know about his senior? Or is he the type that just accepts things and goes with the flow? I still feel like that would be a big ask in this scenario.

Yeowoon calls Myung-ha to ask if he likes him. He also says that yes, Myung-ha does look like he would beat someone up. I'm enjoying how direct both of these characters are with each other.

The affection level has went up to -7. And we've now been given a time limit on our mission to make Yeowoon happy - 300 days. But there's a penalty if you fail.

Is this Yeowoon's death? Myung-ha's death? Would it translate to death in his real world? Would it mean that he died in the virtual world and got taken back to real life? He did say he wanted to stay here.

Actually.....does that mean that IF he succeeds, this world becomes his new, permanent world? I'm not 100% sure how I feel about that, but it does seem like an avenue to a happy ending. Hmm. That's going to be something I have to ponder on. It's a conundrum in any show that plays with alternate realities (comic, game, etc.). It's one of the trickiest aspects of this type of premise.

I had seen some GIFs of this show, but I hadn't expected or anticipated this framework AT ALL. It looks like Myung-ha's going to have to quickly adjust to this new reality too. We're counting down 300 days.

#love for love's sake #korean bl #live reaction #i had held this for a while #thinking I might play with queue #but I don't think I'll do that for now

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