#also i just looked it up the original myths came about roughly at the same time around 500 bc

[todaviia]

Book of Job, trans. Edward L. Greenstein

Prometheus, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

[frogonamelon]

Casey Jones and Keno Reyes

So… since my tiny little fill in the space sketches of Casey and Keno left… a lot to be desired (at least for me and my standards), I decided to go more in depth on their designs first.

Casey is in his early to mid 20s… probably 23 or 24, younger than 2k3 but older than 2k12 or Rise. You probably noticed he looks quite different in this version and that is because he’s older and lives in a different time and place in Los Reyes. 

From a design perspective, I wanted to make him an ideal for the ‘California Myth’: the romanization of California- specifically southern CA- as a place where hot people surf all day and the sun shines all year round without a care in the world. He’s got the strong inverted triangle shape with defined muscles, facial hair, long hair pulled into a messy bun, and that one tank top (if you know you know). He’d probably be a gym rat and drink pizza port or modelo at a Board and Brew and go surfing or skating before work.

I wanted to pull in hints to his past (and more canon Casey) so I decided he’s done his own piercing (not the eyebrow or tongue that you can’t see), he has tattoos from his hockey team and a portrait of baby Angel with wings on his chest. He’s probably got some small diy ones on his fingers and a larger unfinished one on his back. He’s got a wallet chain and a prominent scar on his knee. 

While his silhouette isn’t very Casey, his color scheme has much more influence with 2k3’s complexion, dark blue/gray shorts, and a red tank top. As The Penalizer, his clothing is much more monochromatic.

Keno is, despite what most believe, older than Casey at roughly 28. Honestly, I don’t know much about Keno. As of designing him, I haven’t seen The Next Mutation but wanted to include another human character and he was a good fit with a lot for me to work with. He also fits the ‘carefree Californian’ stereotype at first glance in his style but most of the inspiration just came from what felt right for him. 

I wanted Keno to appear as a stable and staple figure in their little community by giving him square shapes. He wears a California hoodie because the red and white color scheme matched his original windbreaker (he probably owns this windbreaker but doesn’t need to wear it much). The Santa patterned pj pants is a personal anecdote as my family will get matching pjs every year and they’re the only pairs I own. His hair fluffing up around his headphones is also something that happens to me that I wanted to represent here.

His complexion is the same as in TNM with his jacket being predominantly white and gray with red stripes since he and Casey have the same color palette in their clothes, and since I gave him more focus on red, I wanted to emphasize blue with Keno. His pj pants are blue.

[zintranslations]

Kaleidoscope of Death, Ch. 120

Kaleidoscope of Death by Xi Zixu Link to Chinese / Novel Updates

Chapter 120: The Thirteenth Door

Right after the new year, it came about time for Gu Longming to enter his door.

Ruan Nanzhu selected a sixth door hint slip, and on it was a name familiar to all—Minotaur. A monster from ancient Greek mythology with a bull's head and a human's body that guarded a maze.

In the myth, it was a creature of an extremely violent temperament born of a human and a white bull. Shut away in the Labyrinth on the island of Crete, it ate seven pairs of boys and girls each year. Then it was killed by a bastard son of Athens, Theseus. Point was, there wasn't much intel to gain about the door from a hint like this. Only once they went in and encountered the actual situation could they connect it to the hint on the paper slip.

Lin Qiushi also showed this hint to Gu Longming ahead of time. After Gu Longming received it, he expressed his thorough gratitude for Lin Qiushi, and Lin Qiushi too was forthright with a vaccination—he said that in this door, he could not be responsible for Gu Longming's life, and Gu Longming ought to prepare himself accordingly.

Gu Longming agreed to every stipulation, and said he had already prepared himself for never coming out.

Their time of entry was roughly the tenth of the lunar new year, when celebrations were trailing off, leisurely vacations were coming to an end, and everybody grew busy again.

Lin Qiushi readied everything and began to wait for the door.

The tenth quickly came. It was a bright, sunny afternoon, and few people were in the mansion. There was only Lin Qiushi sitting in the living room eating Lu Yanxue's freshly cooked pumpkin seeds. Lu Yanxue's culinary skills were, as usual, the best; the pumpkin seeds she fried up were flavored with the five spices and fragrant as all hell. Lin Qiushi could pass an entire afternoon with just a handful of the stuff.

Ruan Nanzhu had already gotten changed and was waiting upstairs. Lin Qiushi saw that it was about time, and so hoisted his hefty backpack and headed upstairs to go look for him.

Due to their last door, Lin Qiushi intentionally stuffed his bag with a great number of food items. Daily necessities from outside could be brought inside, but weapons that were more against the spirit of the doors were not. Guns and other firearms, for example, could not be brought inside.

Once you'd entered the doors, of course, there might exist some special limitations, like in the sanitarium door when the NPC told them the rule where they could not eat food brought in from the outside. The reality was that these kinds of limitations were rare, but all Lin Qiushi wanted to achieve was the principle of Better Safe Than Sorry. At any rate, the condition from the tenth door where they had to open a chest if they wanted to eat had left quite the shadow on his psyche.

Lin Qiushi entered Ruan Nanzhu's bedroom and sat with him on the bed for a while. Then he felt the atmosphere around him change. It took only the time of a blink for Ruan Nanzhu, who had been sitting right beside him, to disappear without a trace. Lin Qiushi pushed open the bedroom door in front of him and saw that what had originally been the hallway was now a series of twelve black metal doors. What a familiar sight.

He walked to the sixth door and gave it a tug. The next moment, Lin Qiushi was sucked in by an immense force. The scenery around him was also altering dramatically, and by the time he opened his eyes again, he could feel a faint rocking beneath his feet.

Lin Qiushi took a closer look, and discovered that he'd appeared on a large old ship. It was just about sunset, and there were black clouds frighteningly low in the sky, as if they were going to smother the horizon at any moment. Inky seawater tossed before him, blown into violent waves by the winds.

Lin Qiushi smelled the gamy salt of the ocean, and because of the excessive waves, the ancient deck beneath his feet was ceaseless in its swaying. He saw that on the floorboards, there were seaweed-clung creatures clutching at the wood, making for an immensely uncomfortable sight.

Lin Qiushi took a few steps forward and saw in the ship cabin a dim-glowing light. He followed the corridor to the interior, and heard miserable wailing coming from inside.

"Uwaaaa, why am I here? What the hell did you all do to me?!" It had been a while since he last heard these cries of a newbie—Lin Qiushi was actually a bit surprised. He spotted the crying person immediately. It was a young woman, wiping at her tears with her hands. "You goddamn perverts, you guys must have kidnapped me. I'm going to call the cops and have you all arrested!!"

Most people were listening to her sob in silence. Newbies, after all, only ever reacted in so many ways: most cried; some tried to run; and some, of the truly psychologically frail sort, came in and pretty much had an immediate meltdown.

Lin Qiushi stood where he was. He noticed that around this girl were a few people who didn't look so good, who also seemed in various degrees of panic. They clearly weren't prepared to enter a door, and were likely newbies like the girl. But at least they weren't wailing endlessly like the young woman, and were still calm in comparison.

Lin Qiushi's gaze searched through the crowd and very quickly found its target—a woman seated in a corner and smiling at him.

The woman wore a long dress—the same outfit Ruan Nanzhu wore before they came in.

Lin Qiushi had the script in his head, and he took his time approaching the woman and holding out his hand: "Yu Linlin."

"Zhu Meng." The woman took his hand and smiled. "The red thread of destiny found us inside this door, let's cherish this meeting."

Lin Qiushi couldn't help but laugh.

"Indeed. Let's cherish this meeting."

Really, this little drama queen of his—putting on a show even when there was no stage to be had.

Just as the two were talking, a young man came tumbling in through the door. Though his face was unfamiliar, his clothes told Lin Qiushi his identity—it was Gu Longming, who'd agreed to meet with Lin Qiushi over the internet.

Gu Longming was entirely soaked. Once he came in he began to curse under his breath: "fuckers, throwing me on a lifeboat—why don't you just throw me into the ocean huh? Goddamn jealous of my beauty or what—"

Though he kept his voice down, Lin Qiushi's hearing was superb, and so could easily hear all the crap he was spewing. For a moment, Lin Qiushi himself didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Of course, he didn't laugh. He only cleared his throat once and covered his mouth with his hand, swallowing down the urge to smile. Gu Longming's eyes lapped the gathered people and very quickly fell upon Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nanzhu. He came over with a bright grin, greeting the two as if they'd just met completely by coincidence.

As a matter of act, this little trick where they faked a chance encounter was only useful for the earlier doors. Once in the later doors, that old fox-spirit manifested in everyone, and not having a partner actually made you the odd one out.

As for whether or not somebody would identify them as part of the same crew, Lin Qiushi used to worry about that. Now though, not so much.

The cabin of the old ship wasn't big, nor was it bright. The only lighting equipment was a handful of tiny kerosene lamps overhead, flickering periodically with the sway of the ship.

The sky grew darker outside, and the number of people kept increasing. Finally, it stopped at the count of fourteen.

Everybody assessed their surroundings as they met up with their own teammates. The crowd seemed to be very quickly divided up into teams, with the handful of newbies left out. Without much choice, they had to make up their own team.

Just as the crowd grew noisy with discussion, a middle-aged man came in from the outside. His get-up looked a bit like a medieval pirate, and he carried a swaying kerosene lamp in his hand.

"Welcome to the Black Skerry," the man spoke. His voice sounded quite raspy, like the effects of long-term drinking or smoking had brought about irreversible damage to his throat. "I hope you all have a good time here."

After he finished saying this, he laughed like a maniac, and his high-pitched laughter, like fingernails scoring a chalkboard, sent goosebumps rising along the skin.

"In ten days, the Black Skerry will reach harbor," the man said. "Our voyage will end then, so please enjoy our wonderful time together."

Just as he finished speaking, somebody rushed out of the cabin. Lin Qiushi first thought that this person had gotten scared, but not long after, there came from outside the sound of violent vomiting—it seemed that some unlucky bastard was seasick.

"Where in the world are we?" The sobbing young girl had also been scared by the man before her, and she spoke: "are we filming a show? I'm really, really scared, can I please quit? I don't want to play anymore, I'm begging you…"

The man completely ignored her. He merely went on watching the crowd with a cool gaze.

The girl seemed to want to go up and take hold of him, but when she got to his side she suddenly stopped, face draining of all color. She then backed up a few steps, as if she'd seen something truly terrifying.

Lin Qiushi's eyesight wasn't as good as Ruan Nanzhu's, and due to the dim lights he didn't see a thing. It was Ruan Nanzhu who quietly explained the situation to him:

"That person's covered in some sort of black insect."

Gu Longming shivered.

"Is he dead or alive then?"

"I don't know," Ruan Nanzhu said. "Doesn't look too good either way."

Under typical circumstances, only the NPC who provided them with the key information was somewhat normal. If even that NPC wasn't normal, then there really weren't any normal people to speak of.

Lin Qiushi hadn't imagined that their door this time would be an ancient ship. And by the looks of things, the time limit was ten days.

"Come along, I'll take to to where you'll sleep," the man said. "It'll be dark soon…and it'll rain."

After this, he began that manic laugh again, and the group was even more disturbed.

The man brought them to the guest cabins and began divvying up the rooms.

Most of the rooms here were doubles, with a rare triple here and there. At first, Lin Qiushi was assigned a double, but Gu Longming brazenly went and found a man to switch room numbers with, strong-arming them into a triple.

"You'll bargain for even this sort of thing?" Lin Qiushi shot Gu Longming a look of admiration.

"Well I'm scared of dying, aren't I…" Gu Longming said. He didn't want to sleep alone, and though it wasn't quite right to be a third wheel, being a third wheel was much better than being dead.

Ruan Nanzhu’s smile was inscrutable.

"That's fair."

They'd planned to inspect the entire ship, but because the night was already so dark, moving about outside would be too dangerous. They would rest first, and wait until tomorrow to make plans.

And so the three got their key and went to their room, getting into bed after quickly washing up.

When Ruan Nanzhu went to change, Gu Longming took the opportunity to poke at Lin Qiushi, whispering, "yo, not cool man, how come you didn't tell me you had such a pretty girlfriend?"

Lin Qiushi answered a vague: "…mh."

"Oh she's stunning," Gu Longming said with a sigh. "If I had a girlfriend like that I'd want to stick around her every day too."

As he spoke, he looked to Lin Qiushi with an expression that was both envy and admiration.

Lin Qiushi watched him back and wondered how he would react if he knew Ruan Nanzhu was drag queen. Of course, it wasn't something he could tell Gu Longming now. Gu Longming was not yet part of Obsidian, and the fact that Ruan Nanzhu wore drag was Obsidian's biggest most vital secret…

After Ruan Nanzhu got changed, he came back inside.

"What are you two talking about?"

"Nothing," Lin Qiushi answered in brief. "He said you were pretty."

Ruan Nanzhu replied with a meaningful oh.

Gu Longming: "…" Why did a chill suddenly go down his back?

The beds on the ship all emanated a damp smell—very uncomfortable for the people lying on top. At this point, the waves and wind were getting bigger, and even the sleeping quarters were beginning to rock. Lin Qiushi remembered that ridiculously seasick, endlessly vomiting pal of theirs from earlier and thought that that guy was pretty much done for.

The sky outside gradually darkened in entirety, leaving only the bellowing winds and the sound of waves beating against each other. With his eyes shut, Lin Qiushi grew drowsy—but before he could fall asleep, he was woken by a sudden crack of thunder. It was like lightning had struck right above their heads. With the loud boom, all three of them awoke in an instant.

After that, it was the pattering pour of rain. The rushing rain and the howling wind—they seemed on the verge of destroying everything.

Their quarters rocked even harder. Lin Qiushi sat up in his bed.

Through the window, he looked to the black evening outside. He saw, however, two illuminated lights. It seemed like the only light sources on deck were kerosene lamps, but how did these lamps stay so bright in the middle of a thunderstorm…? Just as Lin Qiushi wondered this, he suddenly felt that there was something off about those two lights, and Ruan Nanzhu, sitting behind him, spoke up quietly:

"Don't look anymore."

Lin Qiushi, "hm?"

"Those aren't lights," Ruan Nanzhu said. "Those are eyes."

A pair of yellow, inhuman eyes. The owner of the eyes spied through the darkness with malicious intent, as if a beast looking for its prey.

Lin Qiushi instantly looked away, and asked, "what is that thing?"

"I don't know, I can't tell," Ruan Nanzhu said. "The shape is humanoid, but it doesn't seem to be human."

Lin Qiushi's brows lightly furrowed, but by the time he looked out the window once more, the eyes were gone.

Thunder rumbled on and on, and that stench of ocean salt grew thicker and more cloying.

Ruan Nanzhu climbed into Lin Qiushi's bed, and holding each other, the two very quickly returned to sleep. However, the only bachelor present Gu Longming didn't have such luck. Lying beside Lin Qiushi, he stared with plaintive eyes, thinking that in the following days, he'd be fed enough dog food to bloat.

The rainstorm lasted until dawn, and though the rain let up, the weather did not turn any sunnier. Black storm clouds still hovered over the ship, and when the alarm rang, Lin Qiushi actually thought it was not yet morning. He checked the time, however, and saw that it was 8AM. It was just still dark outside.

"Good morning," Ruan Nanzhu greeted Lin Qiushi.

"Good morning. It's so dark outside today."

"It's probably going to keep raining," Ruan Nanzhu said. He walked out onto deck with Lin Qiushi and watched the black waters roil underneath the ship.

Looking up, they couldn't see any land, only the endless swath of sea. Only the old ship beneath their feet felt like any sort of reality.

This sort of isolating environment was easily taxing on the psyche. Even for Lin Qiushi, the scene before them was discomforting.

"Come on, let's go get breakfast," Gu Longming called to the two.

"He's pretty thick-skinned," Ruan Nanzhu commented after hearing Gu Longming's call.

"Yeah," Lin Qiushi said. "His nerves are petty good."

Inside the doors, you didn't have to be too smart, but you definitely had to be brave enough. Before terrifying situations, fright could make a person abandon a large part of their cognitive abilities. The smartest person could lack a strong heart and still do worse inside the door than the obtuse, oblivious Cheng Qianli.

The three went to the dining area and found there an atmosphere that could very well be called lifeless.

Lin Qiushi didn't know why at first. After he saw the menu, however, he couldn't help but also feel a touch of depression.

All the ship offered was fish. And it wasn't even fresh fish—Gu Longming poked at a dead-eyed staring head with his chopsticks and said, "is this thing even edible?"

It was disgusting just to look at.

"It looks gross," Lin Qiushi said. "Try a bit?"

Gu Longming took a bit of meat from the gills and gave it a taste. His expression twisted.

"Fuck, did they deduct the food budget for this door or what? It's disgusting. It's like they’ve had it outside for three days. You try it?"

Lin Qiushi, "oh no, no thank you."

Gu Longming: "…"

The breakfast served in the dining room was, for the most part, stale fish. Aside from that there was only flavorless noddles and peas. The environment had already been vicious enough, but the food in front of them now was salt on top of the wound.

But Lin Qiushi and Ruan Nanzhu didn't care at all. After seeing the inedible breakfast they snuck back to their room and fetched from their bags the food they'd prepared.

Gu Longming watched as they pulled out a bottle of chili sauce, eyes bulging out.

"You guys even brought Lao Gan Ma? Did you come here to picnic?"

"Want some?" Lin Qiushi drizzled the Lao Gan Ma over some noodles they'd brought out of the dining hall.

"Yeah yeah yeah. More please." Gu Longming's expression was shameless.

With breakfast finally done, they got ready to search the ship.

There were a total of three decks in the ship, constructed a bit like the sailing vessels of the great nautical era of the Middle Ages. It was extremely old, was all, covered in the marks and traces of times past.

Beside that NPC, they didn't see any other crew members on deck; there was likely only the one NPC on the entire ship. Wait for the ship's return was the mission the NPC left for them this time, but Lin Qiushi had thorough reason to believe that if they couldn't find the door in ten day's time, this voyage of theirs would cycle back and repeat—and they'd experience the ten days all over again.

When Lin Qiushi climbed onto the second deck, he heard a sort of thumping sound, and was uncertain if Ruan Nanzhu and Gu Longming had heard it as well. So he asked, "did you guys hear that?"

"What?" Gu Longming didn't seem to have heard.

Ruan Nanzhu said, "I think I did, but not very clearly."

"I think it came from the corner…" Lin Qiushi followed the sound forward. "Let's go see."

But before they could get close, Lin Qiushi was hit with a thick, fishy stench. It was disgusting and nauseating to smell; fortunately Cheng Yixie wasn't here, or he might have passed out immediately upon smelling it.

The source of the sound and smell was the same room, and they were close enough now that both Gu Longming and Ruan Nanzhu could hear the thumping noise as well.

The three of them slowed their steps, and through the window, looked into the room.

It was a kitchen with knives and other tools hanging inside. The most eye-catching thing, however, was the dense masses of dead fish hung up on hooks all over the sides.

A person in an apron stood in the center of the room with their back towards them and head down. They were chopping something. After some observation, Gu Longming almost gagged, and said, "don't tell me he's making our breakfast—"

Ruan Nanzhu was very calm.

"It's possible."

Gu Longming did gag. He'd even had a bite of that fish that morning.

Lin Qiushi gave Gu Longming a sympathetic pat on the shoulder.

This person in the kitchen, however, was the second living NPC they'd found on the ship.

The three of them stood watching in the kitchen doorway for a while, and saw that besides chopping fish, this person didn't do much of anything else. And so they decided to go see elsewhere first.

Very soon, they discovered a more peculiar room. This room was locked, and curtains were drawn over the window. It was quiet inside, but they could still smell that thick waft of stale fish. Lin Qiushi initially thought the smell had clung to them from the kitchen, but after a careful sniff, found that it was coming from inside the room.

"Do we go in?" Gu Longming was pressed against the window trying to look in, but he could see nothing.

Ruan Nanzhu gave this some thought, before saying, "let's try," and getting out a hairpin to pick the lock.

Watching his adept motions, Gu Longming's eyes widened. Then Gu Longming glanced at Lin Qiushi.

"Is this…is this a basic skillset that y'all come with?"

Lin Qiushi grinned as he joked, "yeah. You have to learn to pick locks if you want to join us."

As he said this, there was a click. Ruan Nanzhu really got the lock open. But oddly enough, after he unlocked the door and gave it a push, he found that though the door lock was undone, there was another lock hanging on the inside. The chain on that lock held the door closed, and they could at most manage a crack—it couldn't be opened at all.

"Wait," Lin Qiushi suddenly said, stopping Ruan Nanzhu from going up and pushing the door. "Stop for a second. There's movement inside."

Ruan Nanzhu halted, and just as he stopped mid-step, a hand, sharp-nailed and covered in scales, reached out of the door. And through that crack in the door, a pair of yellow eyes looked out, peering at the world outside with malicious intent.

Translator’s Note:

The name of the ship could more simply be translated as “Black Reef,” but “Black Skerry” sounds more like a ship name? Let me know if you think otherwise (or know if it’s a specific reference to something).

Lao Gan Ma is a brand of **hot sauce (edited: 7/26), as you can probably tell from context. The original next never uses “hot sauce” though, and just call it Lao Gan Ma in both the prose and the dialogue.

[Ch. 119] | [Ch. 121]

[earthstellar]

TFP Analysis - Timescale: How old is Cybertron and the oldest Cybertronians when compared to Earth and Humanity?

Unicron and Cybertronian Pre-History / Lore

So we know that in TFP the planet Earth itself was formed as space debris accumulated around the slumbering form of Unicron.

You can see the scene in which this is discussed here. 

As far as TFP goes, the timeline isn’t super clear on when Earth’s formation went down as far as Cybertron is concerned. We know the Thirteen were around, but most of what we know is in the scene linked above. 

The story of Unicron and Prima/Primus is treated similar to a creation myth, but one that is more or less factually accurate and did occur as the lore indicates. (This relates to my notes on Alpha Trion’s involvement, further below.)

But either way, we know a few key points are true: Invariably, Cybertron is older than Earth. Cybertronian individual lifespans can cover the equivalent of Earth centuries, covering many centuries. And while we have no specific dates, we do have an idea of Cybertronian eras of time and the events that occurred across each.

Cybertronian Eras and the Covenant of Primus 

We know that Alpha Trion was the scribe of the Primes. (Again, more on this in the Alpha Trion section below.) 

In the Covenant of Primus, we know that Ratchet and Soundwave were both around during the Age of Wrath, with the only earlier time period (on Cybertronian record) being the Great Cataclysm, which was essentially pre-history going into the modern age as this was the point at which Cybertronians began to expand and develop into their early civilisation.

What I’m getting at here, is that while we don’t have a perfect timeline that compares Cybertron and Earth side by side, there are Cybertronians in TFP who would have likely been alive when humanity was relatively young as a species. They would have had beta access to humanity, essentially, if they had made contact with us then. 

Old Bots: Ratchet and Soundwave

We know Ratchet more or less wandered the planet eventually seeking out Iacon as it began to develop as a hub of development, so we can assume that his spark came into existence roughly towards the middle or end of the Great Cataclysm era. This fits fairly well with the timeline of his involvement in other events mentioned in the Covenant, such as the Quintesson occupation. (The picture below is from the relevant Covenant recollection of Ratchet’s early days as a medic.) 

We know that Ratchet was there when medicine was essentially still being founded as a science/practice as it evolved with the development of civilisation in Iacon.

For a more human frame of time reference for relative age, we can compare Ratchet’s early work as a medic under his mentor Remedy to that of Galen, or Ali al-Ridha, who wrote one of the earliest medicinal collections on health and medicines. 

Soundwave’s spark came into existence around the early Age of Wrath, quite possibly a little before it, but I think early Age of Wrath fits best with Soundwave being described as “unique” compared to other Cybertronians, as it was at this point in time when the Quintessons interfered with the Well of All-Sparks, resulting in altered Cybertronians being produced from the Well. 

Alpha Trion: Recorder and Editor of History 

Now, Alpha Trion is the one to really look at to gauge the overall timeline, as in TFP he is himself a Prime and is the oldest possible Cybertronian to measure all this by, but we still have no specific dates. 

And that is significant for two reasons: 

1) We know Alpha Trion is described as a first-generation child of Primus and one of the original Thirteen. 

2) His Primal artefacts are the Quill and Covenant, which although he has perfect recall and is essentially a living memory repository, he has the ability to bend reality and oracular power to alter events-- At least to some degree. 

The Covenant is Alpha Trion’s record of events, and we know in the Exodus novel that it is at least hinted that Alpha Trion “curates” history. 

There may not be any 100% accurate, perfect record to base anything on, as the primary documentation available is all from Alpha Trion. This is partially because even though he does note in the Covenant that he is trying to record things as they were in reality, he alters reality. And when he does so, does that affect his recall? It’s unclear, and seems to possibly vary in places. But we don’t know. 

Timescale Relative to Earth 

Obviously, we have more clear estimate date ranges for Earth’s development in the real world, but whether or not TFP’s fictional Earth follows the same development isn’t verified. We can assume it roughly does. 

Early Modern Humans, let’s focus on Cro-Magnons and Neanderthals, were chillin’ on Earth roughly 40,000 to 48,000 years ago, estimate time frames. We know this irritated Unicron, as he sees humanity as essentially vermin or parasites. 

Without any dates or estimates to work with in regards to Cybertronian time scales, it’s hard to say for sure, but we can estimate based on the sheer number of events/developments in each noted Cybertronian era to get a sense of how long that era must have most likely lasted for relative to a human sense of time. 

Ratchet’s Relative Age for Comparison

Ratchet is a great example for relative time, as he is of course still alive during TFP: He was “born” from the Well only just after the Predacons went extinct on Cybertron during the Great Cataclysm. 

This is roughly equivalent to the Quaternary extinction event that ended most megafauna life on Earth. 

From a Cybertronian point of view, Ratchet is only slightly younger than the extinction of the dinosaurs. 

But their dinosaurs are more or less Predacons, and Predacon remains are on Earth.

Predacons on Earth 

Fossils! We love some good fossils. Shout-out to geology and archaeology. 

While the reasoning for Predacon remains being on Earth is briefly discussed on the show, it still hints that there is likely more significant examples of Cybertronian life being engaged with Earth on some level throughout history. 

If Cybertronians are here now, and Earth itself is a result of Cybertronian influence on a larger universal scale, then who’s to say there hasn’t been even more Cybertronian contact? 

The Autobots only know so much, as far as Earth is concerned. And as we’ve discussed, Alpha Trion seems to love editing as much as he loves writing. 

Conclusion! 

It is wild to think about the differences in relative time between Cybertron and Earth (and Cybertronians and humanity). 

We can’t say for sure, but it’s fair to think that there could absolutely have been further contact between humans and Cybertronians prior to the modern era and prior to the current Cybertronian factional conflict.

That contact could have been potentially very early in modern human development, or even prior to humanity’s evolution, although given that reaching Earth would have required space bridging, we can at least roughly estimate that contact between modern Cybertrontians and modern humanity may have been most likely during the early Golden Age.

Alpha Trion could have messed with Earth’s timescale at any point in-universe to allow for things to line up sufficiently for the sake of allowing for any Cybertronian involvement concerned, so that is also something to consider. 

[raeynbowboi]

Dating Disney: The Black Cauldron

The Black Cauldron is a 1985 Grimdark fantasy movie based primarily on the first two novels of the Chronicles of Prydain series by Lloyd Alexander written between 1964-1968. A primary reference and inspiration behind the series being the Mabinogion, a collection of early Celtic myths written in Middle Welsh. The character names also follow a Welsh naming conventions as Fflewdder Fflam uses the “Double F” found in the Welsh language, as a single F by itself makes a [v] sound in the Welsh language. The name Taran is also Welsh, meaning Thunder. So the movie is very neatly rooted in Wales, or Welsh-speaking Albion.

The Mabinogion

The Mabinogion is comprised of 4 main branches recounting Welsh mythology, compiled in the late 12th-13th centuries based on older oral traditions likely dating back to some time between 1050-1225. However, there are many suggestions as to when the stories might date from. (To hear a story from the Mabinogion, check out Red’s summary of Pwyll, Prince of Dyfed.)

Now, you may be wondering “why is there only 1 book on all Welsh mythology?” and I’m glad you hypothetically asked because it’s time to blame the Christians. Seriously, because Celtic mythology is loaded with god-like figures, Christian interpreters when they came to Albion censored or outright destroyed stories that implied that there was more than their God. Figures such as the Irish Tuatha de Dannan, which were godlike ancestral figures, had to be recontexualized as Faeries, Spirits, or Angels in order to avoid censorship by the Christian monks who transcribed these myths. Brigid, a very important Irish goddess, was Christianized into the figure of Saint Bridgette. This was actually an attempt by Christian missionaries to ease the pagans into Christianity. Essentially the mindset of “yeah, you can worship your holy figures, but uh, cut it out with the holy divine aspect. We can’t have that. They’re clearly not as top tier as our God.” 

You may remember from my Sword in the Stone discussion that I mentioned that Rome occupied Albion before Christianity wormed its way in, and you may be wondering, were the Romans this bad? Haha, clearly you underestimate how awful medieval Christians were. No, the Romans just viewed foreign pantheons as extensions of their pantheon. You have a sun god? So do we. It must be the same god with a different name. This is what’s referred to as Interpretatio Romana. So the Celtic Sun God Belenus would be referred to by the Romans as Apollo Belenus. It’s the same god, but the Roman name always came first. Compared to what is known as Interpretatio Christiana, which boils down to ‘you’re worshiping Satan in the form of a false idol. Stop that.’ So, when I say that our lack of written accounts of Welsh mythology is entirely the fault of the Christians, I’m completely sincere in that statement because the Romans didn’t censor Celtic myths or history, only the Christians did.

The Black Cauldron and Mythological Parallels

Prydain

It might sound like a generic fantasy name, but the name Prydain actually comes from the Welsh name for Great Britain, Prydain Fawr. Unfortunately, the term Great Britain dates to 1707. However, Prydain is also the medieval name for the island, as the Welsh never referred to the Island as Albion.

Henwen

Literally meaning “Old White” in Welsh, Henwen is a sow under the care of Coll, a pigkeeper for Dallwyr Dallben. In the Chronicles of Prydain, Coll is a character, but in the Disney film, Taran seems to have absorbed Coll’s role as pigkeeper. However, the fact that he refers to himself as an assistant pigkeeper could still mean that he is ranked below an off-screen Coll. However, the Henwen of Welsh mythology could not predict the future. It was known that Henwen was to birth something terrible, and so she was chased off a cliff into the sea in Cornwall. She survived however and went on to give birth to many unusual things, including a cat, a wolf, an eagle, and a single grain each of wheat, rye, and barley. And three bees. I really wish I was making this up.

Gurgi

Gurgi’s name might take inspiration from Gwrgi Garwlwyd, whose name literally means man-dog rough-grey. He was a warrior in Welsh Arthurian Legend, and was possibly a werewolf. Gwrgi was a monster that killed a man every day, and two on Saturday so he would not kill on Sunday. The Gurgi in the books is far more monstrous looking with horns, but Gurgi in the Disney film retains the dog-like traits of Gwrgi.

The Black Cauldron

Known in Welsh mythology as Pair Dadeni or “the Cauldron of Rebirth”, it is referenced in the second branch of the Mabinogion. Like in the movie, the cauldron has the power to revive the dead, and is destroyed when a living person is thrown into it, in the mythological case, Efnisien pretends to be a corpse and is thrown into the cauldron for revival, causing the cauldron to be destroyed. There are other similar magical cauldrons in Welsh and Irish mythology, including the cauldrons of Arawn and Diwrnach, which would not boil the food of cowards, and Ceriddwen’s Cauldron of Inspiration, which caused those who drank from it to gain infinite wisdom. There is also The Cauldron of the Dagda in Irish mythology. One of the 4 Treasures of the Tuatha de Dannan, the Cauldron of the Dagda was stored in the mythical city of Muirius, and no man would ever leave the cauldron hungry, for it produced infinite food.

The Horned King

In the novels, the Horned King is a minor villain, subjugated to Arawn, God of Death. However, in Welsh mythology, Arawn is not a death god. Rather, Arawn is king of Annwn, the Welsh Otherworld. Aka, the Faerieworld. See, this is another example of Christians mucking up translations and trying to force other religions to reflect Christianity, so Annwn is often treated as the Underworld of Celtic mythology, but considering Pwyll wanders into Annwn completely by accident, I don’t think that’s how it was interpreted in traditional texts. The Horned King may also draw inspiration from the Horned God, Cernunnos. Little is known about Cernunnos due to being a very ancient god, but his role as a horned god of the wilderness has historians guessing that he’s one of the oldest gods or divine archetypes in human history, as ancient horned gods pop up with surprising regularity in older religions: namely Baphomet and Pan. Cernunnos is also sometimes but not always folded in with the figure of the All-Father as a sort of father to all creation in Gallo-Celtic paganism. Cernunnos is often regarded as a god of nature and the wilds, but is also a psychopomp god that guides the dead to the afterlife, and maybe is also a god of death and rebirth as a part of life. Again, this is kind of very uncertain because of just how ancient Cernunnos is, so don’t take this interpretation as law. But despite how uncertain we are about what all this figure represents, he’s a very interesting deity none-the-less, and very likely contributed to the Christian idea of the devil as a horned figure with goat legs. As a seemingly undead creature, the Horned King may draw parallels to a creature known as a Revenant. A creature found in Celtic folklore, a Revenant is a vengeful undead that seeks to torment all life until it has found the person who wronged it while it was alive and exacts its revenge. However, it should be noted that in the books, the Horned King is a living man wearing a horned skull mask, whereas the movie version is very clearly a corpse.

Taran’s Sword

In Welsh mythology, the sword Dyrnwyn belonged to the great king Rhydderch Hael, and when held by a worthy man would glow with fire. In the books, Taran’s sword is indeed referred to as Dyrnwyn. Similarly, alongside the Cauldron of the Dagda, another treasure of the Tuatha de Dannan is the Claiomh Solais or the Sword of Light, housed in the mythical city of Findias. This may also be the mythical origin of Excalibur, though scholars have not made a direct, perfect connection.

Conclusion

With so much of the story pulling from the single source of the Mabinogion, we can boil down the likely setting to around when the stories were written as our general setting. Luckily, we can roughly guestimate to about when the Mabinogion might originate from, and the general look of the movie seems to match with this time setting. So, we’re looking at about 1050-1225, around the time that the stories in the Mabinogion might have started to be told, thus inspiring the events in the film.

Setting: Prydain (Wales/Isle of Britain) Kingdom: Kingdom of Prydain Era: High Middle Ages (1000-1250) Year: 1050-1225 AD Language: Middle Welsh

[moonice20408]

The Curious Disappearance of C. Cullen

Word Count: 3818

Read on Ao3 Read on FF.net

“This week on Buzzfeed Unsolved we’re investigating the disappearance of C. Cullen, as part of our new investigation!”

“New investigation?”

“Are vampires real?”

Shane groaned. “Oh no. No no no. Absolutely not. Nope.”

Ryan let out a laugh. “What, you don’t believe in vampires?”

“No Ryan, I do not.” Shane shook his head. “And you know what, I think I might believe in them even less than ghosts!”

“Oh wow.” Ryan laughed again. “Why are vampires so much more unbelievable than ghosts?”

“Because Ryan. They’re stupid! That’s why!” He slammed his hand onto the desk with some force. “If vampires were real, we’d know about it.”

“Well what if it’s like in the movies and they’re all just living in secret?”

“Oh, c’mon. There are cameras everywhere nowadays. You don’t think we’d have caught some guy just munching on another guys neck till he drops dead at some point? Then turn into a bat and fly away.”

“Well you’d just say it was fake if we did.”

Shane paused for a second then shrugged. “Yeah, that’s probably true.”

Ryan shook his head, then faced the camera. “So, this episode of Supernatural is a going to be a little different.”

“How so Ryan?”

“Well… we’re not going anywhere. There’s no location footage this week guys.”

“Yeah, this week we just thought, ‘you know what, not feeling it.’” Shane relaxed back in his chair. “We’re gonna sit back and take it easy.”

Ryan ignored him. “The reason being, well two reasons actually. One being that, at least I figure, if they were real, vampires aren’t, err… trapped, shall we say, to one place. Therefore, if they were real, they’d still be free to leave a place. So, we’d get there-”

“And we’d be talking to no one.” Shane interrupted.

“Exactly.”

“Imagine that.” Shane continued. “Going to a supernatural hotspot, just talking to the air…”

“Would you-”

“Wouldn’t want that! Would we?” He threw his hands up in the air. Ryan just stared forward, looking into the camera with an unimpressed look. “Wouldn’t we just look dumb! Just yelling into an empty room, expecting a response.”

“Erm, excuse me, we’ve gotten plenty of responses!” Ryan defended.

“Pffft.” Shane waved his hand.

“You know what, I’m just going to continue.” Ryan said matter-of-factly.

“Please.”

“The other reason we’re staying here, is that this case is from England. And we just couldn’t find time that worked for us, as well as crew members to do a quick trip to another country.” Shane nodded with Ryan. “I did look around the location, y’know on Google, and err, it’s just a bunch of offices now, so…”

“Not as exciting as our last trip there.” Both of them shook their heads.

“Now,” Ryan straightened out the file in front of him, before looking to the camera. “I am going to admit, right off the bat…” He quickly peered to Shane. “See what I did there?”

Shane nodded.

“Vampire… Bat…”

“No, I got it Ryan. That was a good one.”

“Thank you.” Ryan smiled while Shane rolled his eyes. “Anyway, I have to admit, I, err… I’m already prepared for some… criticism, shall we say.”

“What, because vampires aren’t real?” Shane said sarcastically.

“No. Well, I guess that’s part of the debate isn’t it?”

Shane sighed and shook his head, looking straight to the camera.

Ryan continued. “What I mean is, that this is case we’re investigating, is one of the oldest cases we will have covered so far on the show.”

“Oh really? Interesting.” Shane said, genuinely intrigued. “What’s the oldest so far? Witch trials right, gotta be.”

“Err, well that’s the oldest full episode, I think. But there’s some of the ancient alien stuff we looked at-”

“Oh right, yeah.”

“But the Salem witch trials were 1690s. But the case today dates back, roughly, to the 1640s.”

“Wow. That’s pretty old Ryan.”

“Yeah, which is part of the problem. Because it’s as old as it is, the erm, documentation of it is… It’s not great.”

Shane let out a small laugh. “So, what you’re saying is, you’ve got shit.”

“No! No… It’s just we, meaning our tremendous research team, we’re usually able to get multiple accounts on stuff, and can cross reference information, you know, so we can put together a more valid case.”

“So, you’re telling me, that before the videos even started, this case has no credibility and is crumbling through your fingers as we speak?”

Ryan sighed. “Look, I feel that what we have is defiantly something. I just want to make it clear; it’s just not as backed up as our usual content. You know we try to keep it as honest as we can here. So, I figured, I’d be upfront about this, before people start yelling at me through the comments. Obviously, I’m not going to put together an episode if there’s absolutely nothing, cause that’s… that’s just telling a made-up story off the internet isn’t it?”

“Hmm,” Shane nodded. “Okay. Alright. I will reserve my judgement for the end.”

Ryan laughed. “I doubt that, but anyway, let’s get into it.

- - -

“Legends of vampires can be dated back millennia, and stories told of them are found globally. Many ancient cultures had tales centred around the nocturnal undead, reanimated corpses spreading disease to the living, or blood drinking spirits all that hold similar characteristics to the modern idea of what a vampire is.

The idea of blood drinking became very ingrained into the lore of vampires. It was once believed that the blood of a living person, contained that person’s life force, and to drink it would allow another creature to absorb that life force. Some even thought that by drinking a person’s blood, that the drinker would also gain the characteristics of that person, allowing the vampire to better disguise themselves amongst the rest of society.

The word ‘vampire’ itself only came into use in the mid-18th century, from fast spreading tales told in Transylvania, and was later further popularised due to Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula, which was published in 1897. It’s Stoker who is credited for defining the modern vampire, after combining multiple myths together for his book.

In most folklores, vampires were believed to be the revenants of evil beings, or an unrested deceased person who had committed unforgivable sins in their life, but it became a common belief that a living person themselves could become a vampire by being bitten. The belief in some parts of the world became to extensive that it led to mass hysteria, which resulted in many people being sentenced to death, usually by burning.”

- - -

“What’s interesting to me,” Shane started.

“Yeah?”

“Is just how wholeheartedly people, back in the day, believed in this stuff!”

“Yeah. I did come across something, and can I just say, the historical research in this case was very interesting… Like, go look up vampire history guys.” Ryan pointed at the camera. “But anyway, in, err, Greece I think it was, was that after three years, they would dig up dead bodies and they’d be examined.”

“To see if they’d become vampires?”

“Basically.” Ryan nodded. “And if they hadn’t decayed to standard, or whatever, then they’d be ‘dealt with accordingly’” He said, adding air quotations.

“Who decides,” Shane snickered. “Who decides what a suitable decomposition is?” They both laughed. “Were they just like, ‘hmm, no, too much meat left on ‘im’”

“‘toss him in the fire!’” Ryan added.

“‘Into the pit’,” Shane mimicked throwing something over his shoulder. “‘Bring in the next decayed body!’”

“It’s like a line at the doctor’s office.” They both chuckled.

- - -

“Now, back to the case at hand. In early the 1950s, construction workers in London were working to fix up a number of buildings that were destroyed by bombs during World War Two. In one particular location, the damage caused actually led to the discovery of a basement-like room, that had been previously built over, remaining hidden for centuries. Upon further investigation, it was determined that this room was originally part of an Anglican church that was destroyed during the Great Fire in 1666, and was never rebuild.

Inside this room, many historical artefacts were found, but some of the most interesting, at least to me, were a journal and a stack of documents, that belonged to a previous pastor of the church. It is worth noting that the year 1640 is written on the first page of this journal, but it is up for debate for how long this journal was kept. The documents that were recovered, have been since entitled the ‘Crusades of Evil’.

Unfortunately, over time a lot of the writing on these pages has become too faded to accurately read. But enough can be made out to get a good sense of what they’re about. In short, the pastor of the church would lead hunts for all manner of unholy creatures. Almost all of them resulting in the execution of people who were thought to be these creatures. These documents contain the information about the accused, which was essentially just a name and location, if that, as well as what they were accused of doing/being, and the method of execution. Most of the documents found were signed a S.C. Cullen. But, thanks to the journal that was found with these papers, we know that the man in question was named Samuel Cullen.”

- - -

 “No middle name?” Shane asked.

“Err, no this guy didn’t write his whole name. Unfortunately.”

“And am I correct in assuming that the unknown ‘C’ initial is perhaps the same as our missing person’s?”

“It is certainly believed that the initials do come from the same name, yes.”

“Interesting…” Shane paused for a moment. “You know… just to switch subjects here,” He huffed a laugh, “And I want this on record, this guy already seems like an asshole… I’m very against the whole idea of burning innocent people to death…”

“Oh good, I’m glad.” Ryan said sarcastically.

“But, I gotta say… Crusades Against Evil! Sounds like a badass movie!”

Ryan chuckled. “To be honest, when I first read that… I did think it sounded like some kind of shooter video game.”

“Oh! Like Doom! You ever play that?” He mimed holding up a gun, and pointing it around the room. “Vampires just popping up, like bangbangbangbangbang!” He ‘aimed’ at Ryan. “Kaboom.”

Ryan just raised his eye brow. “You done?”

“Yeah.” Shane sighed, smiling to himself.

- - -

“Not much is known about Samuel Cullen, other than the fact he was the church pastor during the 1630s and early 1640s at the very least, according to the papers found. And the journal that was found, was unfortunately in an even worse condition than the documents. That being said, one legible section did make reference to a son, and if you were paying attention, you’d have noticed I said most of the documents were signed by Samuel. Some however, were signed C. Cullen. Which has led many conclude that this C. Cullen was the pastor’s son. But when efforts were made to find out more about this man, researchers came up empty handed, and found almost nothing. Not even a first name.”

- - -

“Not even a name?” Shane said loudly.

“I know.”

“So I take it that it was Samuel naming his son after himself?”

“Err, yeah. At least that’s what most people think. Which, honestly, I think is a fair conclusion to make.”

Shane nodded in agreement. “That’s kind of sad, that we’ll never know this guy’s name.” Ryan hummed in agreement, and there was a brief moment of silence. “I bet it was Clive.”

Ryan laughed. “Clive?”

“I dunno man, first name I thought of.” Shane shrugged.

“You thought of Clive before, like, Christopher? A much more common name.”

“Aaa, this is an uncommon guy though, Ryan.”

Ryan shook his head, not commenting.

- - -

“As I said, Samuel seemed to be very enthusiastic about the hunts he led, given the number of documents signed by him. His son however, only seemed to have taken charge in two of these crusades. And if it is to be assumed that the documents were kept in any sort of order, then that would mean, these two accounts from the son were much further apart in time, than that of Samuel’s. It’s also worth mentioning, that C. Cullen’s papers were noticeably longer in length, even if too faded to fully read. But this does suggest the man was, perhaps, more detailed in his telling of what happened, or even maybe had more compelling evidence of what he believed to be a supernatural creature. Researches involved believe the most likely scenario is that Samuel put his son in charge of the church and of the hunts, when he was old enough, as the son’s involvement doesn’t seem to be much later. But that his son was much more hesitant at doing the job at hand. Therefore, leading Samuel to decide to take over once again, possibly to save his own or his family’s reputation.

One document in particular sparked interest, when upon further inspection, it appeared to be written by both Samuel and his son. When comparing the handwriting, it was concluded that it was mostly written by the son. Starting with what seemed to be a description on a group of people living underground. This most likely meaning the sewage system at the time. Bible verses can also be found, such as Leviticus 17:10-14, which quotes ‘And whatsoever man there be of the house of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, that eateth any manner of blood; I will even set my face against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from among his people.’. But the account of the raid itself, as well as what is assumed to be the execution details, was written, and signed by Samuel. And no evidence of C. Cullen can be found after this point in time.

Which begs the question, what happened during this crusade that meant C. Cullen was unable to complete his own documentation? Was it a conscious decision to leave for good? And, what became of him?

- - -

“See,” Shane started, “I know where you’re going with that that question…”

“Yeah?”

“And I don’t like it…” He sighed.

- - -

“One theory as to why he vanished, is that it during this aforementioned raid, someone fought back against him, and he was killed in self-defence. As mentioned, this attack was written to be on a group of people. Consequently, it seems pretty likely that this group would fight back, given the chance. So perhaps C. Cullen met his match, and ultimate end in this way. Similarly, could it be that he was killed accidentally? Many historians agree that these types of hunts for supernatural beings, would have involved a large number of people. Could it be, that in amidst the chaos and disorder of the crowds, undoubtedly fuelled by fear, that C. Cullen was killed. Perhaps being trampled, or being mistaken for someone else.”

- - -

“Personally,” Ryan started, “I’m not sure I think that’s likely.”

“Of course you don’t, it’s a logical assumption.”

“Oh what, you don’t think, if we were in some crazed mob, I wouldn’t recognise you?” Ryan raised an eyebrow. “And I’d just accidentally kill you cause I was so caught up in the madness?”

“Okay one, you couldn’t kill me no matter how hard you tried.” Ryan made a sound to interrupt, but Shane continued before he could. “And two, hysteria does things to people man. You’re not thinking straight.”

“I just think that the leader of this raid, would be the most recognisable person out of everyone there. I imagine they’d have had him up on a little stage while they all crowded round for instructions before they set off. They’d all of had a pretty good look at the guy, and I’m sure he’d have just been a well-known guy at the time. The trampling, or self-defence I could kinda understand, but I can’t see how someone could’ve just like, grabbed him, and I don’t know, beat him to death or whatever.”

Shane just shrugged.

“Plus, again, he’s probably the most relevant person there.” Ryan added. “So, you’d like to think someone would have noticed his death and there’d be evidence of that.”

“It’s the 1600s, Ryan! What kind of evidence do you want? It’s not like they were running round taking photos or anything.”

“Well, there could be some sort of documentation of it. Newspaper article perhaps?” Ryan suggested.

“I don’t think many newspapers would’ve survived that long… Were newspapers even a thing at this point?”

“You know, honestly I don’t know.”

“And this is the 1600s, how many people were reading?”

“Hmm…” Ryan sighed. “Okay, you got me with that one.”

- - -

“The most commonly accepted theory is that C. Cullen simply ran away. As I said, it is widely believed that he was more hesitant about conducting these crusades in the first place, so is it possible that he used the attack as a cover to escape? Many believe so. Perhaps being in charge of the crusade in question granted him more protection in the event, and perhaps he wasn’t involved in the attack at all. He was simply waiting for news on whether it was successful or not. Is it possible that he hung back, and made his escape while the crowds fought without him? And that no one realised he was gone until afterwards. That being said, some have their doubts about this. Afterall, if C. Cullen was indeed so much more humane than his father, would he really cause an attack on other people, just for his own benefit? And would he be one to watch from the side-lines, while others risked their own life?”

- - -

“Okay…” Shane said.

“What?”

“I mean, obviously, I don’t believe for a second that there were actually vampires involved in any of this… But back in the day, people did quite truly believe that they were real. So, I can’t imagine it would have been difficult to get a crowd all riled up, and then send them off. Especially if the leader of it all also truly believed in the… in the cause, I guess. And I think, that if this guy did use the attack as a cover, and if he was as good of a person as everyone thinks, then he at least thought they were really vampires.”

“That’s fair.” Ryan agreed. “And if you think about it, bible verses were only found in his accounts. So that leads me to think that he at least had like, I dunno, God in mind or whatever.”

“It’s kinda strange to, like, imagine yourself living like that. If you’re taking the bible that seriously, and know it well enough to quote like that, it’s gonna be hard, cause it has a lot of contrasting points. I mean, I can’t say I’ve read the bible, but just from what I’ve seen online. It seems like it’s a bit all over the place!”

“Oh yeah, I agree. I mean, this quote again,” Ryan shuffled through his papers, “I will even set my face against that soul that eateth blood, and will cut him off from among his people’. I can understand that perhaps that could be interpreted to mean killing vampires is okay… But then in the same book you have ‘thou shall not kill’.”

“You know Ryan, I like it when we argee on this stuff.”

Ryan laughed. “Well, we’ll see what you’re saying after this last theory.”

Shane let out a loud sign.

- - -

“I’m sure you all can guess what this final theory is. But some people actually entertain the idea that C. Cullen was correct in his quest. And that he truly found a coven of vampires living underground in London. He was attacked, and transformed into a vampire himself, and he is still out there today.”

- - -

Shane let out a long and loud groan. Leaning back on his chair, and covering his eyes with his hands.

Ryan giggled. “What, you don’t like this one?”

“No.” Shane replied in pained voice.

“Well you’ll be glad to know, neither do I.”

“Oh really. I’d of thought this one was right up your street.”

“What? You seriously think I’d believe in vampires?”

Shane shook his head. “You are so genuinely terrified of ghosts, it’s really not so outlandish to think you’d believe in anything like this.”

“No, no. I’m gonna put vampires in the same category as I put witches. I think a lot of innocent people were unnecessarily killed. And in all honestly, I think Samuel Cullen here, knew what he was doing. I think it was a case of him wanting to maintain a reputation, and as with the second theory, his son just took off and left to live an honest life somewhere.” Ryan nodded.

“I dunno…”

Ryan exaggerated a gasp. “Do you think it was vampires?” He laughed.

Shane chuckled. “Absolutely not. But I mean, I’ll put the whole vampire thing down to mass hysteria, you know, like those people in France!”

Ryan rolled his eyes. “I was so desperately trying to avoid you bringing that up.” He muttered.

“They danced till they died Ryan!” He looked to the camera. “Look it up! Anyway… Mass hysteria, plus, like I think I said this about the witches, but, general boredom can cause a lot of crazy behaviour. But with this C. Cullen guy… he probably just died. It’s not like they were medically advanced. People would get some sort of disease and the local doctor would give them cocaine or some shit. And it’s just a case of crappy documentation.”

Ryan laughed. “You don’t think he managed to get away and just move somewhere else? Probably chance his name?”

“I mean, that’s a possibility.”

“I just… I think there’s something just not sitting well with me, that this guys own father, never seems to mention a death. And that he just seemed to vanish and no one noticed.”

“Well maybe he did mention it, it’s just part of the journal that was unreadable.”

“Maybe…” Ryan said, unsatisfied.

“I guess we’ll never know…”

Ryan sighed. “I hate it when you say that.”

“I know…” Shane nodded, chuckling slightly. “I’m not gonna lose any sleep over it. It was four hundred years ago, he’s defiantly dead now anyway.”

Ryan nodded and hummed. “Well on that note!” The two laughed. “Hey, do you think if a vampire died, that it could still become a ghost?”

“Okay…” Shane stood up and walked off camera.

“Where are you going?”

“Away from you!”

“It was just a question.”

Thanks for reading, and hope you enjoyed it. Please let me know what you think!

[trickstercaptain]

DMTNT ALTERATIONS circa 2020 edition

okay okay okay so i’ve managed to consolidate this into four separate parts that deal primarily with Jack in DMTNT ( and, frankly, that’s enough to deal with without me going into my issues with every other character and plot decision lmao ). I’m still not overly fond of the direction they took his character in this movie ( because there were 293243 other more interesting routes to take ) but this is me making it workable because if you fix Jack in this movie you immediately solve a number of the problems with it imo. a lot of this hasn’t really changed from the original posts i made on the old blog back when the film first came out, i’ve just consolidated it in order to move it over and hopefully make it easier to read.

also, particularly when it comes to the continuity section, this is just my personal take on it. I don’t expect any of my partners to adhere to the timeline etc, this is just how I’m choosing to make sense of it:

CONTINUITY WITH OST & THE TRILOGY

Jack and Henry KNOW each other. Jack was a sporadic presence in the young boy’s early life and became a surrogate father to him in Will’s absence ( but never did he seek to replace Will. Jack was always the one telling Henry stories about his father ). Therefore, when Henry receives the message from Salazar to find Jack, and he encounters Jack in that jail cell, the two of them already have a strong relationship and rapport. This also means that Jack is in favour of using the trident not only to defeat Salazar, but to free Will from the Dutchman’s curse.

Post-AWE: Jack briefly meets Margaret Smyth during this post-AWE period, because Carina is the same age as Henry in the novelisation ( they’re both nineteen ). this is also around about the time that she’s conceived and later left in an orphanage by Hector. this is also why I lean towards the headcanon that Jack and Barbossa spent more time together leading this joint crew than is implied right at the end of AWE, and therefore Jack does not immediately lose the Pearl following the third movie.

Pre-OST: during the time between AWE and OST, Jack would have been pirating, regularly ( ish ) visiting Elizabeth and Henry on Shipwreck Cove but, most importantly, looking for the Fountain of Youth. he does eventually find it – or at least locates the caves past Whitecap Bay, hence why he is in a position to lead an expedition there during the fourth movie – but he does not know of the ritual at this point, nor does he actually see the fountain himself.

The events of OST take place seven years after AWE.

The events of DMTNT take place twelve years after OST, meaning that is the length of time in which the Black Pearl has been locked away in bottle-form.

To explain away Jack being in his late fifties at this point yet looking and acting like a man no older than his late forties, even though he doesn’t drink from the Fountain himself in OST, some of the youthful properties of the water rub off on him and slow his ageing process after this point. Jack wonders at whether he has somehow unlocked the secret of effective immortality.

CHARACTERISATION

First things first, Jack is not the useless drunk jester that he is for the vast majority of this movie. He does not make lewd comments about Elizabeth or act as if he does not care about the Turners, nor does he lack the intelligence and wit he possesses in the other four movies.

He is depressed at the very beginning of the film, which results from a curse placed on him by Shansa at Barbossa's request to 'curse his enemies.' This curse is placed on him around a year or two before the events of DMTNT, and immediately hampers his cultivated legend by causing repeated bad luck and disaster at every turn.

Every attempt he makes at getting the Black Pearl out of the bottle or tracking Barbossa down with the intention of using his sword to do so ( in the years since OST I refuse to believe that thought does not cross Jack's mind ) ends in failure. He attempts to barter and scheme for another ship and instead ends up with the Dying Gull, which is so unseaworthy that it strands Jack and his crew on the island of Saint Martin.

Jack has spent roughly six months on Saint Martin prior to the events of DMTNT, and his grand plan to secure passage off of it is to steal from the bank ( with the aid of the mayor's wife, Francis, with whom he is having an affair and intends to accompany him ) and use the funds to refit the Dying Gull and make her seaworthy again.

I am also stating right here that Jack does not demand tribute of his crew following this failed bank robbery and, when it comes to his execution scene, Gibbs does not have to be paid to come and rescue him. That's nonsense I want nothing to do with, thank you.

When that ends in failure, Jack, in a moment of desperation and amplified by the effects of Shansa's curse, gives away his compass for another drink. For a fleeting moment, he gives it away with no intention of getting it back, and that is all the compass needs to lash out and free Salazar.

The compass' reaction is the first moment of realisation for Jack of how far he has sunk in the last couple of years. When Henry reaches him with Salazar's warning, he actually sits up and takes notice and, for the rest of the film, is the same Jack we know and love and actually cares about seeing Henry reunited with his father. 

With the trident of Poseidon destroyed, Shansa's curse is lifted and Jack is once again free to do as he pleases.

Jack goes with Henry and Carina on land where they are united with Will at the end of the movie.

THE COMPASS

To explain away that Jack has given away his compass MULTIPLE times throughout the trilogy without any serious repercussions such as... whatever the Devil's Triangle is, I'll firstly note that  each time he has bartered it away to somebody, the intention on his part has never been permanent. He has always intended to get it back somehow or use the bartering away to further his own ends, and through whatever laws of magic or physics has always obtained it again.

The difference in DMTNT is that Jack gives it away with no such intention, and that is what constitutes as betraying it. Jack and the compass are inextricably linked and have been ever since he was given it by Tia Dalma as a child: the compass is a powerful enough magical artefact in my opinion to have a consciousness or soul of some kind, in the same way that the Black Pearl is implied to have. In betraying it, the compass is spurred to react.

I don't like the idea that the compass caused Salazar to be trapped inside of the Devil's Triangle ( since Salazar and his crew went down as they entered -- that had nothing to do with the compass ), but instead I interpret that freeing Salazar is the compass' reaction to being betrayed. It lashes out and causes the earthquake in order to punish Jack and, on some level, spur him on to restore his reputation and break his own curse that's plaguing him.

THE FLASHBACK

tl;dr; i actually don’t mind this scene in most of its execution, but this is me fitting it into the wider canon of TPOF and my own headcanons that predate this movie. this is also me fitting it into POTC’s own canon.

The ship Jack is on is NOT the Wicked Wench. Nor is he made captain of it through his actions against Captain Salazar. Instead, he is a sometimes crewman on an unspecified ship sailing from Shipwreck Cove and comes up against the Silent Mary in battle. Jack's actions and quick thinking save the lives of those on his ship and others trying to escape the carnage.

Jack does not gain his 'sparrow' moniker from Captain Salazar. Firstly, there is no plausible way for Jack to overhear or know that Salazar refers to him as a sparrow given that they do not say a single word to each other ( other than Jack shouting in the crow's nest ) and Salazar spends the next several decades trapped inside of the Devil's Triangle, and secondly my own interpretation is that Jack obtains his last name from his mother.

Jack did not receive his compass from the captain of the ship he's on in the flashback, but from Tia Dalma as per trilogy canon. He also does not receive pieces of his iconic costume from the crew as tribute.

Jack did not realise that Salazar would end up trapped inside the Triangle. He saw the ship get destroyed by the rocks and go down once it entered the cavern and so Jack assumed, for the next forty years, that he’d killed both Salazar and the rest of his crew. 

Over the next forty years, the Devil’s Triangle became a place of legend ( enough for Henry to be able to recognise it ). It was rumoured that any ship who strayed too close would disappear without trace ( much like the Bermuda Triangle myth ). Jack eventually hears about the rumours but thinks nothing of them, and certainly doesn’t put two and two together that his compass could potentially lead to Salazar’s escape.

[andromeda-sapphire]

Witchy Then Vs. Now

I was SO inspired by the post by @hermeticimp​ regarding comparing the witchy things of our childhood to the witchy things we do now. I had to write a blog post about it!

Herbal Magic:

Then: I remember when I was a kid, maybe around age 5 or 7, I used to make rose water with my brother in the summertime. But not quite the way I would now! My mom had a few rose bushes in the front yard, and we would pick a bunch of roses and put them in a big bucket of water. Then, we’d roll up our pants and jump in the bucket (or for me, just jump in, as I was usually wearing dresses at that age) and start smashing the roses up with our bare feet! We called the rose water “magic perfume” and I remember wanting to keep some stored in a bottle but my mom always dumped it out when we were finished because playtime was over and it was dinnertime.

Now: I typically don’t even make rose water very often now, as I don’t usually have access to fresh rose petals. I love to use beauty products with rose water in them though, like Thayer’s brand alcohol-free witch hazel. Nowadays I usually use dried rose petals for spell bottles and for smoking herbal blends. My herbal witchcraft nowadays is mostly making tea blends, smoke blends, and of course as ingredients for spells. I’ve also made healing salves and oils with herbs over the years.

Crystal Magic:

Then: Inspired by my mother’s geological rock collection (she was a science teacher when I was a kid), I began collecting rocks when I was a young child, probably as young as 7. I have a lot of crystals that came from my mom’s collection, and as a kid, I remember taking out her rock collection boxes from the garage and placing them all over the living room so I could open them all up and look at the cool rocks inside. I remember reading about crystal healing in a book on home remedies that my mom gave me. I bookmarked so many pages in that book, most of them in the crystal healing section. I had one special crystal that I had found near my elementary school as a kid (but lost over time.. sad!) and I was convinced it was a magic crystal. I carried it with me all the time, I slept with it under my pillow, and I never completely knew what it was (maybe some kind of quartz?) but I felt that it enhanced my dreams and made them much more vivid.

Now: My crystal collection has multiplied... Significantly... (oops) I am definitely a crystal collector, and now I go out and find some of my own crystals as well. In fact, the huge chunk of serpentine in the image above is one that I found, and it’s roughly the size of my face! I love my crystals, and I make crystal grids as a part of my rituals and practice. Crystals are somehow always involved in my practice actually. I make wire wrap jewelry now with crystals also (check out Buffalo Wraps on Instagram) inspired by the healing properties of the crystals.

Astrology:

Then: When I was about 10, my grandma gave me this book. It was her original copy of Linda Goodman’s Sun Signs. It even has my grandmother’s signature on the inside cover. I was visiting my grandparents in New Zealand at the time, and didn’t have any other books with me for the trip that I can remember, so I spent my evenings in bed reading the section on How to Recognize a Libra. (I’m a Libra Sun, and that was all I knew about astrology at the time) As I finished the chapter on Libra, I was convinced there had to be something real to this tradition of the cosmos. So after returning to the USA, I began researching astrology in my free time, reading as many books and online resources as possible about the topic. I gave my friends and family birth chart readings, and was constantly examining my friends’ behaviors as a scientist examines their test subject.

Now: Well, now I’m trying to become a professional astrologer! It’s been my goal since my third year in University to become an astrologer, and I’ve been taking webinar courses since then from well-known astrologers and (again) reading as many books and online resources as possible. I now have shelves and shelves (almost a whole large tote full actually) of astrology books of all kinds that I’ve collected and read over the years, and it all started with my grandma’s little copy of Linda Goodman’s Sun Signs. Instead of only giving free birth chart readings to friends and family, now I offer paid readings of all types as well! I’ve learned so much over the last almost 15 years of studying this beautiful tradition! Astrology is also a huge part of my magic as well. I never cast a spell without first planning it for a specific planetary hour and day that aligns with the desired planetary energies. I’m constantly watching transits and studying how they affect us down here on Earth as well.

Astronomy:

Then: As a kid, maybe 3rd grade through middle school, I was super into outer space. I remember having those little glow in the dark stars all over my ceiling. My dad gave me a telescope for Christmas one year, and I remember him helping me to set it up a few times at night outside on the porch. I was always staring at the stars as a kid, looking at the moon and the constellations. I had (still have actually) a great little guide book on all of the constellations in the sky and the mythology behind them, and all kinds of cool info.

Now: Unfortunately, that telescope got very dusty over the years. It’s sitting in storage now, and I’m dying to bring it out and set it up again, but I need the space for it first! I still observe the sky and watch the stars and moon, but aside from my astrology practice and cosmic witchery, I don’t focus too much on space. I still watch documentaries on space and the planets etc. however! My magic actually heavily relies on my knowledge of both astronomy AND astrology.

Mythology/Fairy Tales:

Then: As a kid, I loved reading fiction and fantasy! I loved drawing dragons and unicorns, and reading about magical princesses and fairies. I wanted to live in a world of mythology so badly. I remember one of my favorite books at the time was Dealing With Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede. I think that book really got me excited about dragons and magic. I also have believed from a very young age, not sure where it originated from, that I am a witch, and have magic within me! I know one influence on that belief was a graphic novel series I used to read all the time growing up called W.I.T.C.H. - I related to one of the characters in that series, Irma, who had water magic abilities. I always felt a deep connection to water for some reason, and as a kid I believed I could control it to an extent. Later in elementary school, I remember learning about Greek mythology briefly, but didn’t get to learn much about it until later.

Now: I went through a bit of a phase a while ago where I thought I had to connect to a deity, or a pantheon. And I feel like I did have a few encounters with deities, but nothing that truly made me feel comfortable worshiping a deity. Don’t get me wrong, I love Greek mythology and religion, and I’ve actually taken a class at University on Greek mythology. Though I’m no expert, I feel pretty well-versed in my myths. They have a few good mythology documentary shows on Netflix that I enjoy as well. I guess because I come from a semi-Christian background though, I have a distaste for worshiping a “god” or “god-like” figure... So I don’t really worship any deities at the moment, but I do recognize the possibility of them existing, and I recognize them as archetypal figures. Same goes for other mythological beings, I don’t really work with them, but I recognize the potential for their existence in another plane.

Divination:

Then: When I was a kid, I had a little pendulum that I made out of blue lace agate and a chain. I used that for divination purposes, just asking yes or no questions. I didn’t know much else about divination though, aside from astrology, so I didn’t know what other directions there were for me to explore.

Now: I use a few different types of divination, and surprisingly, I rarely use my crystal pendulums! Besides astrology, my go-to divination method nowadays is tarot. I’ve learned to read tarot cards over the last few years after one of my college roommates gave me a rune reading and introduced me to tarot and other forms of divination. Now I have several tarot decks, oracle decks, and pendulums all stored in a beautiful box I call my “divination box.”

Anyway, that’s my Witchy Then Vs. Now! I really would like to see this pick up on Witchblr cuz it’s a fun challenge to make you reflect a little on how you’ve changed, or stayed the same!

Check out my Ko-Fi below to leave me a tip!

ko-fi.com/andromeda_sapphire

[tikkisaram]

Poetic Patriarchy in Ireland — Part I: Poetry Against Women

It is no secret that poetry offers a plethora of positive effects, be they as extreme as bringing someone out of depression or as simple as putting a smile on their face. Poetry has done a world of good for me and I would not be devoting so much of my spare time to it if it did not. However, we must acknowledge the fact that on multiple occasions in the past, poetry has shaped our world in a decidedly negative way. This can be seen clearly in the history of Ireland and the rights of women there. This blessay will cover how poetry led to the oppression of Irish women and will additionally give an overview of the female poets in Irish history. It will thus answer the oft-asked question, namely — why is the vast majority of Ireland’s internationally-renowned poets male? In my research I have not been able to find an essay exploring this question; I am thus honored to be the first.

During Celtic times, Irish women had more or less equal rights with men. There were many famous female role models for young girls and boys to look up to; these included the legendary queen Méabh and pagan goddesses such as Mórrígan. Unfortunately, the poems that would have been told during this time period were never written down, so we do not know how women were portrayed in them. It is probable that they would have been portrayed positively, considering the equality of gender roles present in that society.

Literacy reached Ireland in the fifth century and came alongside Christianity. While Christianity is often critiqued for its portrayal of women, Christian women in Ireland then were just as strong as their male counterparts. St. Brigid of Kildare is one of the most important women in Irish history; she was a nun — a profession usually associated with conservative tradition. Yet the teachings of the bible didn’t restrict her from being strong and independent. In fact, St. Brigid was close friends with one of Ireland’s first poets - Dubthach maccu Lugair. Dubthach and the other poets of the time were overwhelmingly not sexist. One of the most notable works of early Irish poetry is the prosimetrum by Táin Bó Cuailnge. The first recensions in this beautifully written collection are in celebration of Queen Méabh; she is treated as an equal — if not a superior — to her husband. Other strong female characters follow her, including the sovereignty goddess Macha, the villainous Morrígan, and Gráinne, who shows great power in her taking control of her own sexuality. These are only some of the most notable women to feature in these poems; were I to list them all, it would take all day!

In those days, composing poetry was one of the most lucrative professions in Ireland. This was due to the many kings across Ireland employing personal poets, known as ollams. These ollams were required to have hundreds of original poetic stories ready upon request for the king. What a shame that so many of these doubtlessly great pieces of work have been lost forever! These poems celebrated Irish royals, Biblical figures and figures from Celtic Mythology, including the strong women from each of these sources. My favourite piece is the poetic narrative An Banshenchas, written in 1147 by Gilla Mo Dutu Úa Caiside. This is the ultimate piece of feminist writing from the bardic period of poetry; it celebrates many notable women, from what the author considered to be the beginning of time with God’s Eve up to 1030 with Gormlaith ingen Murchada, a queen who stood as a symbol between the relationship of the native people of Ireland and the Viking settlers. This is not a celebration of one type of woman — we see so many different personalities and characterisations, from the somewhat passive Miriam to the perseverant and powerful Étaín. There is truly a woman in this collection for anyone to relate to, which is a testament to the feminist nature of a poem written 990 years ago in supposedly sexist times!

The most prestigious position a poet could get in this period of time would be Ollamh Érenn, or the Chief Ollam of Ireland. They would sit next to the high king of the country and be commended by all. Out of all of the documented ones, a single woman held the title — Uallach ingen Muinecháin. Since she was the first famous Irish female poet, one would think that her work would be taught to all, yet none of it survives. Were it not for her obituary in the Annals of Innisfallen, this trailblazer would have been forgotten entirely.

But ollams were not the only type of poets around; they were in fact only one subset of the poetry grouping known as filid. The type of filid that is best known today is a bard. Bards were actually the lowest position a poet could take, but the word has become synonymous with poet in the context of Ancient Ireland. Ancient Irish poetry is commonly referred to as bardic poetry, even by many scholars, despite the term's inaccuracy. It is often stated that it is unknown if any of these bards were female (Walker, 1786). However, the previously mentioned Muinech and Sadhbh Ó Mailchonaire are two factual exceptions. As with Muinech, Ó Mailchonaire’s works has been lost and the most famous record of her is her obituary. (Unknown, 1447) There are also some other potential candidates as ancient Irish poets, although once again these women’s works do not survive to this day. Agnes Carkill was a poet who performed for King James IV of Scotland in 1512 and there is speculation that she hailed from the Antrim family, Mac Fhergail, which would have been her maiden name (Bourke, 2002). Walker who spent years researching bards, speculates that the Caoine was written by a woman; most scholars agree with this opinion. The Caoine is a weeping lament, which was performed by women at funerals; its practice has spread from Ireland as far as Libya and Egypt. It is best known today for being the origin of the banshee myth. Women were also associated with the poetic form amhráin, which is a poem that’s sung, a practice which became prominent in the 16th century. It is also possible that many of the anonymous poems were written by women, especially since many of these poems feature distict feminist undertones, such as the spectacular St. Brigid’s Prayer which has since been translated by Brendan Kennelly.

It is also worth mentioning fictional female poets who appeared in ancient Irish stories. One of the characters who appears in Acallam na Senórach, the longest surviving work of medieval Irish literature, is Créide. She is described as a fine poet who invites males to a hostel in order to judge their poems. Créide is one of the first fictional poetry critics, but unfortunately she is not celebrated to the extent that she deserves to be. The Daughter of úa Dulsaine appears in a story by Cormac mac Cuilennáin (who died in 908), where she is one of the most popular poets in Ireland and travels around the country and abroad to show off her poetic prowess. Some suggest that this account is based off a true story and mac Cuilennáin just added the fantasy elements (Nicholson, 2016).

Another feminist fact about Ancient Irish poetry is that what we know today was as alliteration was named after women. It was referred to as “brichtu ban, brechtaib ban”, which roughly translates as “charms of women”. (Stifter, 2016) This technique is found in almost all surviving bardic poetry from its inception to its end. I do find it odd that such a prevalent term was named after women’s ability to speak in an enchanting manner, and yet that this very same society supposedly would not let these women write their hypnotic words down.

Compared to other countries Ireland has quite a lot of surviving poetry, but it’s only a small selection of what was written at the time. Many recorded works of poetry were destroyed in 686 AD after the Saxons raided Ireland, and again in 798 AD when the Vikings settled. Their cultures were more sexist than that of the Celts and their prejudice might be another reason why there are so few works that are credited to a woman from this period. The Saxons and Vikings were not completely able to destroy Celtic culture and bardic poetry, however, despite their best efforts; the bardic tradition managed to continue for hundreds of years after their arrival.

Poetry in Ireland began to shift during its Tudor conquest between 1529 and 1603. Queen Elizabeth brought the first English poets over to Ireland as she was claiming land, one of the most famous examples being Sir Walter Raleigh. This sexist poet’s writings did not have much influence on the Emerald Isle; in fact, in Éirinn he is most notable for the assumption that he planted the first potato in Ireland, even though this is pure speculation and it is far more likely this was done by a Spanish man or woman. (McNeill, 1949)

After England conquered the country in 1601 and Hugh O’Neill surrendered, bardic schools began to shut down. One of Ireland’s most infamous literary controversies — the Contention of the Bards — occurred during this time period. The bards attacked each other through verse, and it brought the end to their influence on the country. Bards were now just known as poets and it was becoming rare for poetry to be one's full-time occupation. Since there were no more kings, poets had to adapt and find patronage from the English settlers. Most of these settlers wanted their poems in English, not Irish, and thus a shift in language began to occur. Many refused to take part in it as it interfered with their Catholic beliefs; those wealthy enough migrated to Catholic countries in continental Europe to study poetry in college. Unfortunately, no one would fund these poor Catholic writers, so almost all of their work has been lost. As Protestant England was an extremely sexist society (even when it was ruled by a queen, ironically), women were discouraged from becoming poets as well.

The harsh Penal Laws put in place in Ireland by England forbade the teaching of the Irish language and poetry to Catholics. To circumvent this people pretended (often unsuccessfully) to be Protestant, or else taught children in secret 'hedge schools'. Hedge schools kept the tradition of Irish poetry alive, but if people were caught teaching in them or being secret poets they were arrested and punished. In Cork in 1584, 71 men an 1 woman were arrested. She was named Mary-ny-Dononoghue and dubbed by the presentation to the jury as “she-barde” and “rhymer”.

Before we get into the bleak sexism, I’d like to bring up two notable female poets who existed in the 17th and 18th centuries: Mary Monck and Charlotte Brooke. Both women come from wealthy backgrounds and married rich men, so they were able to avoid punishment as a result. Monck was multilingual and spoke English, Latin, Italian and Spanish. Many of her works can be found in the 1775 collection Poems by Eminent Ladies, which is definitely worth a read. Unfortunately for some reason in this collection Monck is miscredited as Mrs. Monk! Brooke was homeschooled by her father, who was also a writer. She was interested in the Irish language and became bilingual through hours of study. She not only wrote poems, but translated them too; yet despite being just as talented as her male counterparts, if not more, she was never accorded the same respect as them. Her poetry is rich in storytelling and employs a multitude of techniques, including an effective application of the most obvious ones: rhyme, repetition and rhythm. Monck is also very skilled in her writing; we will discuss possible reasons for why they have been forgotten by history later.

We see the first signs of widespread sexist poems in Ireland during this time frame. Epithalamia made their way to Eirinn in the writings of Dáibhí Ó Bruadair. While epithalamia in theory do not have to be sexist, almost all of the ones written during these times treated the women as inferior to men. There is also the establishment of poetry circles that would only allow male members; the most notable of these was Seán Ó Tuama’s and Andrias MacRait’s Maigue Poets. (Joyce, 1961)

Aodhagán Ó Rathaille’s aisling was invented in this time period and it constitutes one of the most uncomfortable forms of poetry I have ever witnessed. Aislings are set in dreams where women appear to the poet; often the woman appearing in such a dream is an anthropomorphic depiction of Ireland. This poetic brought the Mother Ireland concept into popular culture. Filmmaker Pat Murphy summed up it best when describing Mother Ireland in an excellent 1991 documentary about that subject: “[Mother Ireland] is not a positive image, the associations I have with it are not positive ones, I actually think it’s a wrong thing to do – to call a country after a woman – because it gets into those kind of areas where a country is to be won, or penetrated, or ploughed. And it means that women aren’t seen for themselves”. (Crilly, 1991)

Unfortunately, the concept of Mother Ireland did not stop at one poem; it was featured in several of Ó Rathaille’s aislings, as well as aislings written by other men. The concept transcends the aisling form and poets such as Thomas Moore began writing poems about Mother Ireland. The most notable of his poems about this oppressive concept is The Origin of the Harp, which inspired an equally sexist painting by Daniel Maclise in the 19th century. Even Roisin Dubh, which was an innocent poem about a man being in love with a woman, was weaponised by Owen Roe Mac Ward and turned into a poem about Mother Ireland. It has been widely sung by masses since the 18th century, unknowingly (or not) oppressing millions of women.

Well Tikki Troops, that was a lot to take in for part one, was it not? I decided split this blessay into parts because I did not want to overwhelm you all! The next blessay will cover 19th century poetry up today; despite covering a much shorter period, there are more poems that exist in its time frame. How will Irishwomen combat this Mother Ireland archetype — or will they at all? How will the most famous Irish poets, including Becket, Joyce, Heaney, Wilde and Yeats fit into this narrative? You’ll find out next time! But be patient with me as I try to perfect part two. :^)

Bibliography

Bourke, A. (2002) The Field Day Anthology of Irish Writing. NYU Press.

Cahill, S. E. (1983) ‘Reexamining the acquisition of sex roles: A social interactionist approach’, Sex Roles, 9(1), pp. 1–15. doi: 10.1007/BF00303105.

Collins, G. and Wickham, J. (2004) ‘Inclusion or Exploitation? Irish Women Enter the Labour Force’, Gender, Work & Organization, 11(1), pp. 26–46. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-0432.2004.00219.x.

Conroy, A. and Dickinson, T. (2018) ‘Male adolescent suicidality: a literature review’, Mental Health Practice, 21(8), pp. 50–55. doi: 10.7748/mhp.2018.e1293.

Crilly, A. (1991) Mother Ireland [Documentary Film]. Aired on Channel 4, U.K.

Hanlon, N. (2015) ‘The Role of Men in Gender Equality_Eire Report’. doi: 10.13140/RG.2.1.2011.5369.

History of the Potato (no date). Available at: https://www.potato.ie/history-of-the-potato/ (Accessed: 20 March 2020).

Joyce, M. (1961) ‘The Poets of Maigue’. The Capuchin Article.

McNeill, W. H. (1949) ‘The Introduction of the Potato into Ireland’, The Journal of Modern History, 21(3), pp. 218–222.

Meaney, G. (1991) Gerardine Meaney Sex and nation : Women in Irish Culture and Politics. ARTIC PRESS.

Morrison, T. G., Speakman, C. and Ryan, T. A. (2009) ‘Irish university students’ support for the human rights of lesbian women and gay men’, Journal of Homosexuality, 56(3), pp. 387–400. doi: 10.1080/00918360902728871.

Nicholson, T. (2016) A Biography of Story, A Brief History of Humanity. Troubador Publishing Ltd.

Owens, R. C. O. (1984) Smashing Times: The Irish women’s suffrage movement 1889-1922. ARTIC PRESS.

Patterson, R. A. (2015) ‘Women of Ireland: Change Toward Social and Political Equalityin the 21st Century Irish Republic’. Available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20151008154655/https://martindale.cc.lehigh.edu/sites/martindale.cc.lehigh.edu/files/Patterson.pdf (Accessed: 9 December 2019).

Stifter, D. (2016) ‘Metrical systems of Celtic traditions’, North-Western European Language Evolution 1983 & University Press of Southern Denmark, p. 58.

‘The Present Duty of Irishwomen: The Contribution of Irish Women as documented in the Archival Record’ (2016). Irish Archives Source.

Unknown (1447) ‘Annála Connacht’. Walker, J. (1786) Historical Memoirs of the Irish Bards. Dublin: Printed for author, by L. White.

[red-will]

KINGSTON, R.I. – June 9, 2020 – Men are taller than women because millennia ago big, strong men beat out their shorter rivals for access to mates. The female pelvis is broader than the male pelvis because women have evolved to give birth. So the thinking goes.

They’re compelling evolutionary narratives that have lasted in textbooks, classrooms and pop culture as explanations for the skeletal differences between men and women. But as explanations, these simple stories no longer stand up to current science, says Holly Dunsworth, associate professor of anthropology at the University of Rhode Island.

Poring over decades of existing research, Dunsworth has reevaluated and rewritten the narrow, reigning theories for sex difference in height and pelvic width in a new paper, “Expanding the evolutionary explanations for sex differences in the human skeleton.” The paper, published online by the journal Evolutionary Anthropology, maps out the critical role of estrogen production on bone growth in men and women.

“A lot of these conventions and how they support these old stories, such as sexual selection made men taller, are out of a tradition where we really only had skeletons to study,” says Dunsworth. “People hadn’t done behavioral observations, or studied the physiology or the genetics. There have been so many advances in 150 years of human biology, and when you put all these things together, the old origin stories don’t add up.”

In rewriting the explanations, Dunsworth waded through hundreds of existing studies. Her paper cites 94 references, but she reviewed five times that. “I tried not to go too far back. The further I went the more misconceptions I found,” she says. “I think there is an old assumption out there that testosterone makes men taller, but that’s just not the science.”

In her paper, Dunsworth focuses on how different levels of estrogen production dictate bone growth in both sexes, with ovaries producing more estrogen than testes. Boys and girls grow at roughly the same pace, reaching about 62 inches by age 13. At that age, greater estrogen production in girls causes long bone growth plates to fuse. Boys continue to grow taller for about five more years, until they reach levels of estrogen that fuse their bones. In that time, boys grow another 8 inches on average; girls just 2. As with height, sex differences in the pelvis skeleton are also rooted in the differing levels of estrogen and its effects over time on differing systems of gonads, genitals, ligaments and bones.

“There are ways that men and women are so obviously different in their evolved reproductive physiology,” Dunsworth says. “It’s really as if the reigning theories just look at the skeleton to claim that men are taller because they evolved to be dominant and competitive – as if women didn’t – and to claim that women are broader because they evolved for reproduction – as if men didn’t. Conspicuous sex differences in our bodies lead to assumptions about gender differences. They feed our narratives about what a man is and what a woman is, and what our different roles in society should be. These myths about human nature haven’t exactly worked wonders for women and they fuel toxic masculinity.”

Dunsworth, a biological anthropologist, sees it as her job as a professor and researcher to overturn outdated and false evolutionary traditions and to retell origin stories that are inclusive and unbiased.

“We make meaning out of human evolutionary origin stories,” she says. “Whether they really dig human evolution or not, people are using it to make sense of the world and they’re thinking that some of these very narrow, very outdated ideas are the science, are the facts,” she says. “There are facts and then there are stories we tell about them. But we can improve our stories. There are more inclusive stories to tell, more complicated, more dynamic, more interesting, more scientific ways of describing the facts and telling stories about those facts.”

Despite their flaws, theories of sexual selection for height and natural selection for pelvis size continue to be taught in classrooms, Dunsworth says, even in hers.

“We’ve taught it for years because there’s an obsession with comparing the degree of difference between men and women to the much larger difference between male and female gorillas. Somehow, it’s supposed to show that we are more peaceful and more cooperative, while still acknowledging that, because human men are bigger than women, the big men in our ancestry have been the big winners,” she says. “I was teaching sexual selection. It’s canon. I thought this is how we explain this until I sat back and thought it through.”

Dunsworth had doubted the use of sexual selection to explain male and female body size differences. But the tipping point came in 2016 after she took exception on social media to comments by a well-known evolutionary biologist who was defending the theory in a politically charged rant.

“I’m a feminist and I’m trying to be part of this inclusive, diverse future of the world,” Dunsworth says. “I knew that this one simple, narrow story wasn’t even scientific. So, I spoke out. That’s when I realized this is a huge problem.”

She started her research immediately and submitted her paper in 2018 for peer-review in Evolutionary Anthropology. Already available online, it appears in the May/June issue of the journal.

“To have this new way of thinking in a major journal in my field and reviewed by my peers is the gold standard of knowledge,” she says. “It’s not just me on my blog, raising my feminist fist in the air. This is how you advance knowledge.”

[tenchiforum]

For the first time ever, the Toonami versions of OVA1/2, Universe, and Tokyo are available online! On their respective archive.org pages you can access each episode easily.

Watch now: OVA1/2, Tenchi Universe, Tenchi in Tokyo.

For users who keep up with contemporary anime communities, we also have an upload for the entire run available on Nyaa.

It’s been quite a journey in getting these episodes from analog to digital. If you’re interested in reading about the process of how these almost lost-to-time edits came into our hands and how we’ve gone about preserving them before the tapes rot, then sit back and enjoy the story below!

Part 1: Toonami – A Love Story.

Tenchi Muyo! and Toonami are tied together like the red thread of fate often times referenced in many East Asian myths. For those who aren’t aware, Toonami was a programming block on the Cartoon Network channel. Starting in 1997, it did one thing for anime that no other channel in the English-speaking world had ever done: showcased anime during “PrimeTime” (In North America at least, this was 4pm to 7pm Eastern Standard time). Before the internet, having this block of time meant having the most eyes on your product, meaning exposure was huge. Oftentimes whoever got on this block, regardless of the channel, was “made.”

However, it wouldn’t be until mid 1999, with a soft-rebranding, a new host, and an almost entirely anime-focused block, that Toonami would take over the world.

And on July 3rd, 2000, an entire generation was introduced to Tenchi Muyo! for the first time.

- The now legendary two minute Toonami promo.

Thanks to the efforts of Jason DeMarco, Sean Akins, Gill Austin, Sean Polinski, and the rest of the Toonami crew, the “Toonami generation,” still to this day, is the largest block of Tenchi Muyo! fans. Whether it was Toonami US, UK, or Australia. Tenchiforum is a testament to this fact. I personally would not be here were it not for Toonami, so to say that fans of Tenchi Muyo! hold Toonami in a high regard is an understatement.

I had always wanted to somehow, some way, get the Toonami version of Tenchi up for everyone to see again, but my old Toonami VHS recordings were long gone, and I figured trying to piece together the Toonami version from other people’s tapes would just be too hard with how many episodes were broadcast, that was until… 2012

In mid-to-late 2012, I found out that Pioneer actually released a home video version of what was shown on Toonami. It was simply released as “Tenchi Muyo!” in those big, white, clam shell VHS cases (that most people probably remember for old Disney movies). I felt as though I had struck gold! I was able to get a hold of the first two OVA, and was able to rip them to my computer.

- Vol. 1 & Vol. 5 of “Tenchi Muyo!” – No distinction was made that they were separate series.

Though I was high on my endorphin-induced nostalgia, I ran into a couple of unforeseen problems.

First and foremost, the equipment I was using was not great. I used an old StarTech composite to USB dongle and the software that came with it. While this isn’t necessarily bad at first glance (it doesn’t support Windows 10), I had no experience whatsoever in the field of digital transfer. While I think my rips were okay for the time, I knew even then that they were too low of bit-rate and the quality of the rips suffered for it.

Because I also had no VCR at the time that had S-Video output, I was only able to output from composite, which meant the whopping 240p equivalent VHS tapes look fuzzier than they probably should. (I realize that VHS is technically an analog format, meaning that a 1:1 equivalent digital representation is hard to pin down or that someone might argue that it did technically output 480i over composite, but basically it was 240p.)

Another problem was the software itself, I had no idea about Virtualdub, AmaRecTV, or other helpful capture software, so I only recorded at a lower bit-rate, again producing an inferior quality rip.

I also ran into the problem of showcasing the videos. Funimation (who now owns the vast majority of the Tenchi Muyo! franchise in North America) had finally started really cracking down on people uploading videos to Youtube. Even though my videos were not completely the same, the algorithm immediately flagged and blocked them. This led me to uploading the videos to Facebook. I had to cut them in half because of Facebook’s restriction to roughly only 12 minutes of video. Somehow in the process, some of the videos had audio drop out for a minute or two, and for some the audio dropped out completely.

Arguably the biggest blow though, was when I learned that this set of Toonami tapes was incomplete. Pioneer stopped producing the Toonami version for home video after they finished releasing Universe. Meaning, the only way to get the Toonami version of Tenchi in Tokyo, was hope that someone, somewhere,  had taped it 11 years earlier.

While Tenchi in Tokyo has been getting more appreciation from fans as of late – thanks in part to most newer entries in the Tenchi OVA sucking harder than a vacuum – in the year 2000, it was the black sheep of the Tenchi Muyo! franchise. So expecting fans to have recorded any of it, let alone the entire series, was the long shot of all long shots. But even still, I made a post on the forum in 2013 asking if anyone knew anyone that might have anything.

Naturally, no one had any leads, and all of these previous problems meant that this project would, frustratingly, have to be shelved indefinitely.

Or at least, that’s what I thought.

Part 2: Deferred Dreams Don’t Die.

On April 5th, 2019, a person by the name of Talos dropped into our Discord server, and posted an introduction. Like so many, they had gotten into Tenchi through Toonami, but what would change everything, was this.

I couldn’t believe what I was reading, someone actually had it!

Instinctively, I reached out to Talos via PM to ascertain how to go about acquiring these tapes, and admittedly, to see how legit this claim actually was. Because the fact of the matter is, when you’ve been around Tenchi fandom as long as I have, you’ll quickly realize the best bullshitters in the world come from this fandom.

But Talos was more than the genuine article! They sent over pictures and an incredibly detailed analysis of the quality of their tapes, watching through them all again to prove to me that their claim was valid.

It can’t be said enough that this all would not be possible without Talos, their willingness to work with me and send me their own personal tapes that they’ve kept for almost two decades just goes to show how awesome they are and how much they care about the fandom.

So the deal was struck, and the dream that laid deferred for almost six years lived again.

- A time capsule from another era.

But with dreams from the past, come the demons that plagued them way back when. I still only had the setup I once had, and at this time I was really trying to be tight with my finances for a number of different reasons, but this opportunity was too good to pass up, I wasn’t going to let this dream go, even if it wasn’t perfect.

Talos’ tapes showed up, and I rolled up my sleeves.

So I put in the first tape, the first seven episodes of Tokyo, into the old VCR I used to originally rip the Pioneer tapes, a JVC HR-VP650U….

And static…

Or rather, a tape that would play for 3 seconds, then immediately drop to static.

This wouldn’t work.

I then tried my other VCR, a Sony SLV-N50 from the mid-to-late 90’s that I was able to “fix” by removing the old Android Kikaider tape that got stuck in there many years prior.

It worked!…..but…..not all that well.

While it did actually play the tape relatively smoothly, the colors were completely washed out in comparison to the JVC, and it had this weird color flickering that was particularly noticeable when black backgrounds were on screen. (This was not unique to this tape, it did it with everything I put in there.)

As much as it pained me, there was no way I was going to rip it with this setup.

So the hunt began for not just a replacement VCR, but one that was high quality and recommended among enthusiasts for digital transfer. Which meant research and long winding rabbit holes of non-answers and vagueness, and unfortunately, money.

Without a doubt, the de facto list of best VCRs for transferring comes from digitalFAQ.com. This list is not only informative but gives you a broad range of ones to look for in the event you can’t find an “elite” one. However, this list has also become the de facto list used by people who are hawking their sets on eBay to try and get every penny from enthusiasts and new-comers as possible.

After three frustrating weeks of losing bid wars on eBay, someone finally put up one of the good sets, the JVC SR-V10U. I quickly sent them what I thought was a reasonable but not bank-breaking offer….

And they accepted! The beast was finally mine.

Immediately upon unwrapping and testing it, the quality difference between what I had then and what I was looking at now was staggering. The SR-V10U had beautiful color, while having the incredible ability to stabilize the old tapes with its TBC (Time Base Corrector), as well as onboard Video Stabilization option. Combined with the ability to output video via the superior S-Video cable, I now had something that, despite its age and typical old VHS wear, was way better than I could have imagined.

Part 3: No Need for Nostalgia.

You’re probably thinking to yourself “Dagon, why go through the trouble? The OVA has a beautiful Blu-ray release, and Universe and Tokyo have pretty decent DVD releases. Why would you ever want to rip old VHS tapes of an inferior quality release that was in some cases censored?”

- The now famous Toonami “bikinis”.

Because this version of Tenchi Muyo! is a piece of history. Not only is it a piece of Tenchi history, but a piece of Toonami history as well. Being able to preserve this in the best quality possible is being able to point to future generations and say “This is why I’m here.”

For a lot of us it’s about taking us back to a simpler time, grade school, high school, university. Taking us back to a time before the internet was what it is today.

So now we can, after almost 20 years, re-watch the version of Tenchi Muyo! that brought so many of us joy and wonder.

[lazuliblade]

“Figure Skating Fan” Magazine 2018-2019「羽 から生まれる」Translation

This is the interview with costume designer Satomi Ito on the construction of Yuzuru Hanyu’s Origin (and a little on Otoñal) costume featured on pages 42-43 of the February issue of フィギュアスケートファン (Figure Skating Fan) magazine released Dec. 22, 2018. 

I’m formatting this to resemble the original formatting in the magazine.

Words after a long dash ------ are the interviewer talking/asking questions.

Words in「Japanese quotation marks」are Satomi’s responses.

Where text color changes for emphasis, I’ve used bold italics.

The interviewer tends to put technical terms, concepts, and key words in “quotations”. Which means: 

When they bring up titles of literature, program names, and quoted phrases, those are in 『blocky quotes』instead. 

Anything within (parenthesis) was originally in parenthesis within the article.

[words between brackets are my translator’s notes] 

Following English conventions, I’m writing her name as Satomi Ito. For reference in Japanese: 伊藤聡美 いとうさとみ Itou Satomi The interviewer/writer is いとうやまね (Itouyamane) - a writer unit composed of Itou Miho and Yamane Seiji.

I’ve left the honorifics. They refer to Yuzuru as “Hanyu-senshu” (athlete Hanyu) throughout the entire article. -senshu is the respectful term for athletes. -san is the general honorific (Mr./Ms./Mrs.).

---------------------------------------- I agonized over capturing the ways they said certain phrases, but even so, I’m just an amateur translator, which means there are some turns of phrase I probably could have translated better. I originally wrote this all by hand, so there’s no Japanese transcription typed up, but if you’d like a specific section to see what exactly they said, send me an ask or a message and I’ll be happy to type that up. For more learning, sewing/fabric/technical terms will have a glossary at the bottom, along with various notes. 

INTERVIEW[<---the original text is actually in English, but misspelled as INTERVEW]

Costume Designer・Satomi Ito

「羽 から生まれる」Born from feathers

Here is Origin’s “temporary-stitched”[baste-stitched] costume. Black lace on a flesh-toned base, and velour pants. In costume designer Satomi Ito-san’s atelier, she let’s us see the “idea’s prototype.” Interview/text: Itou Yamane

100 feathers

-----Black and white feathers are being attached to the lace on the upper body, aren’t they! Although it’s surprising that the feathers are all handmade.

「I made all of them here. First, I cut leaf shapes with a rotary cutter, then I cut into the sides with scissors. The black is [made of] PowerNet, the white is a 2-way with a bit of thickness. Both are fabrics with elasticity. One by one, I would sew this by hand.」

-----It must be a large number of feathers isn’t it?

「I wasn’t counting, but it’s probably around 100. I don’t know the exact number of feathers that I’ve cut each and every time. I’ll feel like “it’s not quite enough, huh” so they increase. The entire weight is light, though.」

-----When I first saw what Hanyu-senshu was to wear, a structure, or should I call it a construction?, I thought “it’s like an architectural structure.” By way of intricate three dimensionality, there’s a sense of great depth.

「I’m doing that quite consciously. If you just simply put the feathers down it won’t feel very 3D, so I kind of group creases to make it feel like the feathers float. When it’s just right, I pin it.」

-----As for the white feathers, there’s also a gradation on the front side, huh.

「The appearance would be too jarring if white abruptly appears on the black fabric, so I put in a bit of airbrushing. Filling just the center part with black. Furthermore, there’s factoring in the sketch too. Whatever pattern there is. I’d try and put it on the [mannequin] torso and it’s like let’s place this feather on this area.」

-----You do the airbrushing on the styrene boards by the wall, right?

「I’ll fasten with pins. Lining up a large quantity.」

-----On these boards, numerous......starting from Hanyu-senshu, [Shoma] Uno-senshu, [Marin] Honda-senshu, [Wakaba] Higuchi-senshu, [Mai] Mihara-senshu, and others. Thinking about the airbrushing for the various costumes, I’m deeply moved. I thought “is this fine art”?

「It’s not. (laughs)」

-----The inlet-like form of the chest is wonderful isn’t it. I was impacted by the inlet being composed of black feathers.

「To start, I cut the lace on the chest area roughly, then apply the feathers there. In the middle of that process, I also cut hole shapes here and there in the lace. It’s a sense of torn holes.」

-----Also on the lace itself there’s an intricate pattern of light-and-dark, furthermore, you make light skin-tone portions. This is the secret of “depth” isn’t it.

「And I put feathers on top of that. I’m pretty interested in this technique. Of all the costumes I’ve made for Hanyu-senshu so far, this one is my favorite.」

-----The curves on the back are also technical. The detailed flow of gold is beautiful. It’s a little terrifying.

「I kind of thought it’d be nice if it looks a bit bone-y. I could do lines which run along the shoulder blades. Then in addition the crawling-like gold stones and bugle beads, and putting in purple rhinestones too.」

-----At the sketch stage, did you have an image for the white feathers? 「At first I was thinking of just black feathers. But because that didn’t really stand out, I kind of thought maybe adding in white feathers would better bring out the “sense of feathers being attached.” I’m glad I did put them in.」

-----It’s effective. The amount and arrangement are also nice.

「As for the design image, the [costume’s] flow changed a little. The result: I was correct that the feeling of ascending/rising would come out more than before. Entering production, I mostly don’t look at the design image. I won’t know the full picture not putting it on the [mannequin] torso and making it. Although because there is the initial image, there are times where I do more-or-less stick to it. That’s why the completed piece isn’t faithful to the sketch.」

The concept is from the “surname”

-----As for these costumes, for stuff like attaching feathers, or setting rhinestones, to give some examples, was there an assistant?

「For 『Origin』, the craftsmanship is brutal, so I did it all myself. For the Short [Program] 『Otoñal』 I received help.」

-----This is about the part most essential to a designer. Can we say that the design’s concept comes from Hanyu-senshu’s “surname”?

「『The nonhuman born of feathers』. All along I’ve thought I want to make a costume with that theme. This time it came true.」

-----Hanyu-senshu feels superhuman doesn’t he. He’s not an ordinary human. Shae-Lynn Bourne also said as much.

「The Hanyu name, isn’t that by itself cool? The song’s starting pose too, it has the air of spreading one’s wings. Although I knew absolutely nothing of the choreography, so having the image link pretty well was surprising.」

-----I thought you must have heard the concept for the choreography beforehand. It seems Shae-Lynn conceived it from the 『Kojiki』. Without establishing some [sort of] story and image with the choreography, the world won’t unfold, I heard.

「Design is like that too, isn’t it. With nothing, you can’t create. That is the same. Hanyu-senshu is Hanyu-senshu, so he likely has yet other different ideas.」

Each Individual 『Origin』

-----From this one piece various worlds unfold, it’s wonderful isn’t it. I as well, from the concept 『born from feathers』and the 『Kojiki』information, researched various things on birds coming from Japan’s creation myths. I also more-or-less tried reading the English version『KOJIKI』. Because I was interested in how it’s conveyed to foreigners.

「Was there something?」

-----Quite a lot of birds appear. Within those, the black Yatagarasu and the golden kite, after that I came across the egret that Yamato Takeru, on the cusp of death, metamorphosed into and flew away. I thought “this is nice,” and I wrote it in the [article] column.

「There’s a story nature to it, right? Exactly. Although, I didn’t consider it to that extent when I designed [it] (laughs).」

-----Hanyu-senshu himself likely wasn’t thinking of the『Kojiki』either. I think it’s good that the performer, creator, narrator, and fans each have their own 『Origin』. As for the design check-in, did you send the image to the person himself [Yuzuru]?

「This time, because I was able to take the time to meet personally with Hanyu-senshu, the design image and fabric were shown at the place to him himself. As for baste-stitching, it’s done when he’s in Japan at ice shows and such.」

-----What about the final fitting?

「That’s also just before he flies to the actual competition. The product delivery itself is passed on through the manager.」

-----About how long did it take to design and construct the costumes this time around?

「The ornamentation alone takes 1-2 weeks. From design to product delivery it takes about 2 months. For 『Origin』 the image solidified relatively quickly, but the Short kinda ended up taking a lot more time.」

-----The blue of the Short is pretty too, isn’t it. Rather than fall, [it’s] winter-like. The crackling line of rhinestones is characteristic.

「It’s the image of ice crystallization. And you can also see it as the tracings left by blades on the rink. He’s the champion of the ice, so I thought it would be nice if [the costume] could have that symbolization. Because he’s the young noble of the ice.」

-----We can say the fundamental [costume]order was the blue and black-gold of the tributes’ original designs from Johnny Weir-san and Plushenko-san, but could you also be making alternate versions?

「The Short and Free each have two [costumes]. The B version too is a similar feel.」

-----I’m looking forward to the day we can see those too. First off, wishing for Hanyu-senshu’s return from his injury.

(Itou Satomi) Costume designer. [After high school] enrolled in the Esmod Japon school of fashion and design. The ‘08 Kobe Fashion Contest special choice award winner, studied abroad at England’s Nottingham Trent University School of Art & Design. After her return, [while] at Chacott she came to be engaged in figure skating costumes; [has been] independent for 15 years. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Glossary/Notes:

Baste-stitching - a temporary loose stitching to hold the pieces of fabric together while the initial form and alterations are being made.

PowerNet fabric/PowerNet mesh fabric - a type of high compression 4-way stretch fabric

2-way fabric - fabric that stretches in 2 directions, meaning it has some elasticity (4-way fabric stretches in all four directions)

bugle beads - the thin tube-like beads often associated with embroidery

the title of the article 羽から生まれる“Born from feathers” or “Born of feathers” is a pun on Yuzuru’s last name: 羽生 

In a previous interview, Satomi talked to Itou Yamane about her past work focusing on fashion as architectural structures, and deciding which kind of architectural design to use as a motif. Which is why the interviewer brings up “structure, or should I say construction?, architectural structure”

I translated this 王者 as “champion,” because it’s slightly different from the court title “king”王様. Satomi is giving reasoning behind her expression of ice crystallization - saying that he’s a champion (“ouja”) of the ice, then adding further: “because he’s the young noble of the ice”- which would sound a bit odd and redundant if she had just called him a “king.” 

Yamato Takeru and the egret - "isn’t it a swan?” The Japanese text is 白鳥 which normally would mean “swan”(hakuchou), but in parenthesis the interviewer clarifies the reading as “しらとり” (shiratori). It seems the white bird that’s referred to as 白鳥 in the Kojiki and Nihonshoki is considered to be referring to the bird 白鷺 (shirasagi) in modern Japanese. Here’s a site (JP only) about the myth, with pics of the shrine.

the interviewer tweeted pics too

The column that the interviewer mentions, I think they’re talking about how they wrote down the birds to mention in this interview column itself. They’ve written various pieces before for magazines and online articles, and they published a book last year called   氷上秘話―フィギュアスケート　楽曲・プログラムの知られざる世界 (secrets on the ice - knowing the world behind figure skating songs and programs). They dig up information on the music, art, design, history, and legends (basically, an entire meta book on theories and relevant links), and shed light on the actual choreography and program’s concept. So it’s possible they could be writing something else too.

I want to include photos of the full two pages, but I feel that’s probably something I shouldn’t do... so I’ll wait a while longer and then edit this post. 

[hereticaloracles]

TNO Watch: Eris

Helios on Eris– So, somehow in my accounting of the Transneptunians, I managed to overlook the biggest, most prolific of them all (however not the first to be discovered past Pluto!)- Eris! Now I can’t rightly finish off the archive without her, now can I? So without further ado, let me formally welcome back the most controversial dwarf planet back into the party! Gird your loins, y’all

The Astronomy– Eris is the most massive and second-largest (by volume) dwarf planet (and plutoid) known in the Solar System. Eris was discovered in January 2005, and in September 2006 it was named after Eris, the Greek goddess of strife and discord. Eris is the ninth most massive object directly orbiting the Sun, and the 16th most massive overall, because seven moons are more massive than all known dwarf planets. It is also the largest which has not yet been visited by a spacecraft. Eris was measured to be 2,326 ± 12 kilometers (1,445.3 ± 7.5 mi) in diameter. Eris’s mass is about 0.27% of the Earth mass, about 27% more than dwarf planet Pluto, although Pluto is slightly larger by volume.

Eris is a trans-Neptunian object (TNO) and a member of a high-eccentricity population known as the scattered disk. It has one known moon, Dysnomia. As of February 2016, its distance from the Sun was 96.3 astronomical units (1.441×1010 km; 8.95×109 mi), roughly three times that of Pluto. With the exception of some long-period comets, until 2018 VG18 was discovered on December 17, 2018, Eris and Dysnomia were the most distant known natural objects in the Solar System.[

Because Eris appeared to be larger than Pluto, NASA initially described it as the Solar System’s tenth planet. This, along with the prospect of other objects of similar size being discovered in the future, motivated the International Astronomical Union (IAU) to define the term planet for the first time. Under the IAU definition approved on August 24, 2006, Eris is a “dwarf planet”, along with objects such as Pluto, Ceres, Haumea and Makemake thereby reducing the number of known planets in the Solar System to eight, the same as before Pluto’s discovery in 1930. Observations of a stellar occultation by Eris in 2010 showed that its diameter was 2,326 ± 12 kilometers (1,445.3 ± 7.5 mi), very slightly less than Pluto, which was measured by New Horizons in July 2015.

The Myth– Eris is the Greek goddess of strife and discord. The most famous tale of Eris recounts her initiating the Trojan War by causing the Judgement of Paris. The goddesses Hera, Athena and Aphrodite had been invited along with the rest of Olympus to the forced wedding of Peleus and Thetis, who would become the parents of Achilles, but Eris had been snubbed because of her troublemaking inclinations.

She, therefore (as mentioned at the Kypria according to Proclus as part of a plan hatched by Zeus and Themis) tossed into the party the Apple of Discord, a golden apple inscribed Ancient Greek: τῇ καλλίστῃ, “For the most beautiful one”, or “To the Fairest One” – provoking the goddesses to begin quarreling about the appropriate recipient. The hapless Paris, Prince of Troy, was appointed to select the fairest by Zeus. The goddesses stripped naked to try to win Paris’s decision and also attempted to bribe him. Hera offered political power; Athena promised infinite wisdom; and Aphrodite tempted him with the most beautiful woman in the world: Helen, wife of Menelaus of Sparta. While Greek culture placed a greater emphasis on prowess and power, Paris chose to award the apple to Aphrodite, thereby dooming his city, which was destroyed in the war that ensued.

Another story of Eris includes Hera and the love of Polytekhnos and Aedon. They claimed to love each other more than Hera and Zeus were in love. This angered Hera, so she sent Eris to wreak discord upon them. Polytekhnos was finishing off a chariot board, and Aedon a web she had been weaving. Eris said to them, “Whosoever finishes thine task last shall have to present the other with a female servant!” Aedon won. But Polytekhnos was not happy by his defeat, so he came to Khelidon, Aedon’s sister, and raped her. He then disguised her as a slave, presenting her to Aedon. When Aedon discovered this was indeed her sister, she chopped up Polytekhnos’s son and fed him to Polytekhnos. The gods were not pleased, so they turned them all into birds.

Eris has been adopted as the patron deity of the modern Discordian religion, which was begun in the late 1950s by Gregory Hill and Kerry Wendell Thornley under the pen names of “Malaclypse the Younger” and “Omar Khayyam Ravenhurst”. The Discordian version of Eris is considerably lighter in comparison to the rather malevolent Graeco-Roman original, wherein she is depicted as a positive (albeit mischievous) force of chaotic creation.

A quote from the Principia Discordia, the first holy book of Discordianism, attempts to clear up the matter: One day Mal-2 consulted his Pineal Gland and asked Eris if She really created all of those terrible things. She told him that She had always liked the Old Greeks, but that they cannot be trusted with historical matters. “They were,” She added, “victims of indigestion, you know.” Suffice it to say that Eris is not hateful or malicious. But she is mischievous and does get a little bitchy at times.

The story of Eris being snubbed and indirectly starting the Trojan War is recorded in the Principia and is referred to as the Original Snub. The Principia Discordia states that her parents may be as described in Greek legend, or that she may be the daughter of Void. She is the Goddess of Disorder and Being, whereas her sister Aneris (called the equivalent of Harmonia by the Mythics of Harmonia) is the goddess of Order and Non-Being. Their brother is Spirituality.

Discordian Eris is looked upon as a foil to the preoccupation of western philosophy in attempting to find order in the chaos of reality, in prescribing order to be synonymous with truth. Discordian Eris teaches us that the only truth is chaos and that order and disorder are simply temporary filters applied to the lenses through which we view the chaos. This is known as the Aneristic Illusion.

Why She Matters– Okay, its no secret that Eris is fantastic and I love her. Yes, Eris is chaos, but you know what? So is life. You can try and plan and make things nice and neat, but then the Universe comes through like a toddler who just learned how to walk, hellbent on getting to the other side of the room- consequences be damned. Eris is that universal action. Make no mistake, she is a destroyer and lives for the battlefield, but she also loves to dance, finding the beat in the deaths of men clamoring to prove that they are right to unseen forces (but most of all, themselves). If Mars ever did drag, she would look like Eris (and you bet your ass there would be death drops and shablams like you’ve never seen before!)

When people (read: hecklers) try to come at me with proof that astrology works (but who don’t have their birth time handy for me to utterly eviscerate them) I point to Eris. I remember when she was discovered, and the excitement that her unveiling brought to all of us. And then I remember, quite vividly, the fallout from the IAU decision after she was named but then relegated to dwarf planet status. It was a repeat of the Judgement of Paris myth! She was snubbed, yet again, by the authority, and Pluto was caught up in the fallout as collateral damage just because she was bigger than him (men and size issues, amirite?). And the authority paid for it in the end! Even total luddites who don’t follow the whirling and twirling of the planets (dwarf or otherwise) have a strong opinion about the decision. It made people care about these crazy space rocks, which brings me great happiness.

We aren’t all running around fighting all the time in this modern age, so how do we look at Eris now? A primal force of chaos doesn’t really mesh with our modern sensibilities- or does it? One of the more enlightening views on Eris comes when we consider her in terms of Justice, especially against any kind of oppressive authority. This can be seen in almost every major social movement to demand better treatment, to deny an oppressive ruling class its ability to exploit those below it- Stonewall, May Day, Ferguson, Rodney King, The Arab Spring…. Hell, even the Boston Tea Party! Eris is that urge we feel to stand our ground and refuse to roll over to the bad guys. Eris is the urge to fight for our rights. Yes, it can get violent- but better short violence that changes things for the better than the long, slow violence of inaction. Far better to live boldly and bravely. More commonly though, Eris spurs us on to fight with our racist uncles on Facebook or send petty gifs in the group chats calling out our friends for being slutty… but like, in an endearing way. In fact you could solidly call Eris the Goddess of Shade. Hey, not every action can be a revolutionary one after all- sometimes you just want to get brunch with your girls.

Eris isnt just Chaos, by the way- she also represents Strife. More specifically, what you are striving for. What do you want out of this life? If you are lost, look to Eris and she can help you find your way when you’ve lost it. Mind you, you’ll be in for a HELL of a trip with her (more Thelma and Louise than Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas- That’s solidly Arawn territory) and you might not survive, but at least you’ll know!

Now, we all have all of these planets and asteroids SOMEWHERE in our chart, so in you is the seed of chaos- even the most holier-than-thou Libra. As with all of the Transneptunians, look at her house placement, not necessarily the sign, to see her effect. To find out where she shows up in your chart, go to astro.com, put in your birth details and in the extended options, all the way at the bottom of the next page, there will be a menu of additional objects. Under that is a blank space where you can enter the number 136199, for Eris. Once you have it entered, generate the chart! Where does Eris affect your life? Let us know in the comments below!

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TNO Watch: Eris was originally published on Heretical Oracles

[moodybidoof]

The benefit of being stuck in the suburbs is I finally got around to answering this questionnaire. It’s really long and unedited and I don’t expect anyone to read it lol, but it was fun to do. 

If nothing else you should look at the question “What stories does the clan have with moral lessons?” bc I literally just copied my favorite childhood fairy tale and it’s raw af. 

Where in Thedas does the clan reside?

Until relatively recently they stayed close to the Frostback Mountains, mostly towards the south near the Arbor Wilds. During a lean winter in 8:82 Blessed, while settled in the Frostback Basin, they were attacked by a group of Avvar warriors who aimed to appease their gods with a live sacrifice. Several of the elves were killed, including the clan’s Second, and the Keeper was seriously wounded, so Marethari took charge and had them flee into the eastern lowlands.

They moved around the Korcari Wild and Brecilian Forest up until the start of the Fifth Blight, when they took a ship to the Free Marches and, as we all know, got stuck outside Kirkwall for years. After Marethari’s death and the chantry explosion, some of the clan members joined up with Merrill and the Kirkwall city elves to get to safety, and they continue to use the name Sabrae for their hodgepodge clan.

They stayed near Kirkwall and were offered a permanent home outside the city by Viscount Tethras in 9:44 Dragon - a gift for aiding in the reconstruction of the city.  

What are the dangers of living where they live?

The Veil is thin around Sundermount, though that’s not so much of a problem as long as the clan is careful. Templars and apostates were obviously an issue soon after the chantry explosion, and not long after that there were red templars to deal with. Forces from Starkhaven also tried their hand at conquering the city, and all this chaos attracted looters, bandits, and the like.

Needless to say, things were a mess for a while.

Nowadays they still have to worry about the creatures that share Sundermount with them, but things have calmed down considerably. The biggest issue is finding game to hunt. The clan had already been in the area for several years and they're competing with the indigenous predators of the Vimmark Mountains. Also, the whole thin Veil issue was only exacerbated by all the death and magic that dominated Kirkwall for the last almost decade.

What are the benefits of living where they live?

In the years after Corypheus’ defeat, Varric’s boone to the elves went a long way to normalize their presence and give them the recognition they deserve, and of course they also have a friend in Guard-Captain Aveline. All things considered, the clan has very much made itself part of the city in a way that few elves of any origin have before

Since Kirkwall has once again become a trading hub, Clan Sabrae has access to goods from all across Thedas. Also, they’re settled right near a trove of ancient elven artifacts.

In what ways has their location shaped their culture and way of life?

Like I said before, they’re a part of the surrounding community to an extent that’s really unique to Dalish elves for sure, and even city elves; probably the only thing that’s comparable is Wycome’s city counsel, after the Inquisition got involved there. Many of the clan members are former city elves, so they still keep up close relations with those that chose to remain in the Alienage, and the clan is more attuned to the problems of their city cousins. It won’t be a surprise if within a generation, the Dalish children of Clan Sabrae grow up hearing a mix of traditional and modern elven stories.

Going back a bit, living in the Frostbacks for so long created a culture very much focused on preparing for the worst. They farmed and hunted when it was warm, then pickled and tanned anything they didn’t immediately need for the winter. If push came to shove, they would trade with trusted Avvar clans. Resources were scarce so they were very practical about how they used everything, and while they encouraged resourcefulness, they avoided anything that seemed like an unnecessary risk. There was a certain way of doing things, so that was the way it was done.

Halla can’t survive in the cold climates of the Frostbacks, so the clan hearded and bred harts instead - greater frostback elks, specifically - to use as draft animals. They didn’t start keeping halla again until they settled further east.  

The wheels on their aravels could be switched out to sled runners.

Living near the Avvar and then in the Brecilian Forest meant that the clan had up close experience with spirits and hedge magic. Prior to the incident with Tamlen and Mahariel most of the clan members had a healthy suspicion of such things (for example, traditionally putting up wards in the doorways of their aravels and around camp to guard against spirits) but it wasn’t something that was taboo either. In fact, it wasn’t uncommon for the mages to create and work with docile sylvans to aid and protect the clan.

They knew many stories about ancient elven magic and old myths about Thedas’ wilder places, but after Marethari became Keeper she began telling those stories with a darker edge to them. After the Avvar attack, a trek through the Fallow Mire, and run in with feral sylvan and other demons, her view of wilder magic was tinged with fear - and then there was the incident with Tamlen and Mahariel. Marethari’s time as Keeper shifted the clan’s culture, but Merrill is trying help them shed their fear of mysterious magic.

Have they always been here, or did they come from elsewhere?

Oops I already wrote their whole story in the first question. So yeah, they’re from the Frostbacks originally, then southern Ferelden, before settling where they are now.

If so, where were they from before, when did they leave, and why?

Long story short, Avvar attacked the clan, the Keeper was injured and the second killed so Marethari had to make split-second decision as the clan’s First and lead them into the lowlands to the east. They traveled towards through the Korcari Wilds, where Marethari tracked down Flemeth and made a deal with her to secure the clan safe passage. They moved around the Wilds and the Brecilian Forest for almost 50 years until fear of the Blight and mounting suspicion from local Templars forced them north.

Are they nomadic? Semi-nomadic? Or do they have a permanent settlement? How has this affected them?

They used to be semi-nomadic, staying in roughly the same area but moving around enough to make sure they wouldn’t overuse the resources in one place or outstay their welcome with any nearby human settlements. Especially when they were in southern Ferelden, they were dogged by rumors of walking trees and “demon elves” (which weren’t entirely untrue), which attracted attention from the Chantry, so they had to make sure the Templars never caught up with them. This was just all the more reason for them to be as practical and cautious as possible, especially around the Chantry.

Their hunters had seen anything and everything you could think of; lurkers, giant spiders, demon trees, templars, the walking dead - you name it and they’ve probably had to fight it while they traveled through some of the weirder parts of Thedas. As a result, most of the clan members are trained to fight in some capacity, just in case.

They’re still getting used to having a permanent home now. Even the original Sabrae clan members among them have been around Kirkwall for ages at this point, but being in limbo is very different from settling in for the long haul. Though they are an independent settlement, they’re fairly involved in what’s going on in Kirkwall proper and obviously have strong connections with its people.

If they are nomadic/semi-nomadic, what are their migration habits like?

While they lived in the Frostbacks the clan moved as the weather changed, going further north in the winter and back south in the summer. They followed wild harts to ensure they always had game to hunt and pastures for their own animals. While they were settled in for a season they would set up tents covered in furs and skins to provide space to rest outside their aravels.

They ended up moving more often when they starting living further east because the land was far more unpredictable and they had to make sure they didn’t attract attention from any nearby human settlements. As a result they mostly lived out of their aravels and clearly had two types - ones to transport stuff, and ones that were homes.

In what ways does the clan sustain themselves? What do they have for resources, and how do they acquire/use/maintain them?

The nearby caves are full of nugs, mushrooms, and various ore, and even the giant spiders and deepstalkers can be used for the webs, venom, and scales.

The mountains themselves are home to august rams, hares, coyotes, and black bears, which provide the clan with meat, furs, leather, and (in the case of the rams) horns which can be carved into most anything. There’s also plenty of herbs and flowers native to the area, including a clearing of ironbark trees not far from the camp, which is of course an incredible resource.

In a pinch the clan could also always send a hunting party to the Planasene Forest or simply peruse the Kirkwall market stalls.

The problem is that almost everything in and under the mountains is dangerous, so scouts and hunters try to prepare themselves for anything from wild animals to darkspawn. Though, ideally, they won’t have to fight at all - instead preferring to use traps, poison, and stealth to their advantage. Clan Sabrae also has an abundance of mages from the fallen Circle, and having a magic on your side always makes things a little easier.

Imagine a spirit looking down at their site. What would they see?

Banners hung from stones at the city-side entrance to the camp, both a welcome and a warning to those arriving for Kirkwall. It’s a familiar shade of red, emblazoned with the white face of a halla.

Large aravels wrapped around the edges of an alcove in the mountain, forming makeshift walls. Some are flat-topped and covered in warm furs and skins; others look more like the landships humans expect to see, their red-orange sails wrapped tight for now. The camp itself has grown since the elves first arrived in Kirkwall, expanding further into the VImmark Mountains to accommodate the elves who’ve arrived from cities, Circles, and other Dalish clans. You can see from their mismatched clothing and the number of bare faces among the crowd that these elves all come from very different backgrounds, but the atmosphere of the camp is undeniably warm.

A shop is set up, where an old elf is chastising his young apprentices for the way they’re handling their ironbark tools. A red-headed elf sits among the halla, who’ve been penned just outside the camp; she looks at them like they’re her own children. A hunting party armed with wooden bows and ironbark blades returns from their adventures further into the mountains; they leave their catch - a deer - with another elf, before settling down by the campfire to listen to the stories a harhen is telling. The world was turned upside down, and these hunters know they must protect their clan from much worse than wild animals, but for a moment, in this place, they are safe.

What is their typical style of dress?

Furs and leather to keep them warm and protected, but otherwise it’s a hodgepodge. There are elves from all over that have joined the clan, and while a Circle mage might not want to keep wearing her robes, it’s easy enough to use to reuse the fabric and turn it into something new. They wear more shem-style clothing than you’d expected from a Dalish clan, but it’s all layered underneath typical elven armor, embroidered with elven style patterns, and tailored to better suit their tastes. Also, they wear closed toed shoes! They live on a mountain, they can’t just walk around barefoot.  

What are their interactions/relations with outsiders/other Dalish like?

Like everything with this clan, it’s a mixed bag. They’ve welcomed elves from all over and even helped human mages, plus Keeper Merrill is obviously pretty on top of what’s happening with people in Kirkwall, so the clan itself is pretty open to outsiders but that doesn’t mean everyone is comfortable trusting shem yet, or that the shemlen are thrilled to have a Dalish clan right outside the city. If nothing else, the arrangement’s been good for trade.

As for other Dalish, there’s some tension there. Word has spread about Marethari’s death and Merrill’s eluvian, and while some people are thrilled to Clan Sabrae to share what they’ve learned at the next Arlathven, others seem to think that there might be some truth to the rumors of demons in their midst. There are also clans that disapprove of how many city elves they’ve taken in, but that’s something the clans have always disagreed about.

If strangers were to approach them, how do they react?

With a welcoming smile and dozens of elven arrows trained on the stranger from afar. Like their Keeper, the clan is warm and friendly, but they’re not naive. In addition to the usual dangers that the Dalish face, they’ve also had to deal with people looking for apostates among their ranks or elven servants who’ve been “stolen” from their homes, and obviously Clan Sabrae isn’t going to give up anyone who comes to them for protection.

What are their interactions/relations with each other like?

Like any family, there’s ups and downs. 8P

It was rough at first. After Marethari’s death the clan was leaderless, and those that chose to stay near Kirkwall did so mainly just because they had no idea where else to go. Even more fled after the Chantry explosion, and not all who stayed to help the city were willing to work with Merrill until it became clear that no one else could be the leader she’d become. It was hard to hold on to their fear of her when they saw her risk her life to protect them and the city elves; saw in her the familiar young woman many of them had grown up with, more willful and loving than ever - not some abomination.

There’s still some tension around the mages, and of course arguments arise around day-to-day cultural differences but at the end of the day they’ve all got each other’s backs.

If a clan member wanted to leave the clan, how do they react?

There’d be a kerfuffle as they said their goodbyes and the clan would send them off with some supplies for the journey ahead, but no one’s gonna stop them. At this point they have a lot of elves coming and going, but even clan members who’ve been around forever are always free to leave if they wish.

What roles does the clan have, and what do they consist of?

Ofc there’s the Keeper, with her First and Second.

Master Illen is the master craftsman, and he trains many apprentices in creating armor, weapons, aravels, furniture, and even overpriced trinkets to sell to shemlen. After living so close to Kirkwall for so long they’ve started sending dedicated merchants into the city, many of whom are former city elves. With more mages in the clan they’ve also started enchanting amulets and such, though they mostly keep those for their hunters.

Maren is the head groom and Halla Keeper, and there are others who tend to the horses and mules they now keep as well.

A Hearthkeeper tends to things at home along with many of the other haren, keeping watch over the young children while their parents go about their daily duties.

There’s a healer whose versed in both healing magic and herbal remedies.

In recent years two Master Huntsmen have taken up training everyone in the clan to defend themselves, in addition to running more intensive drills with the hunters and scouts. There are always guards posted around the camp at all times - day and night - and those who venture from the camp always travel in tight-knit groups. The clan’s Second has also become involved in training the hunters who are mages, taking special care to make sure they can defend themselves against templars (both human and red).

How many people are part of the clan on average?

About 40 and growing. They’ve been stationary for a long time, which made it easy for other elves to find a join them. While many members fled after the Chantry explosion, new elves joined them seeking protection, especially mages who were fleeing the Gallows. Now that their home has been officially recognized by the Viscount they’ve attracted that much more attention.

What is the history behind the formation and building of the clan?

Sabrae was an elven lord during the time of the Dales, and a friend of the Emerald Knights Mahariel and Talas. During the Second Exalted March, Sabrae and Talas fled into the Arbor Wilds, leaving Mahariel and the other Emerald Knights behind to fight in Chantry invasion. As the Andrastian forces moved even further south, the newly formed clan continued into the Frostback Mountains.

The clan is obviously named after Sabrae, and Talas’ ancestors remained with the clan right up until recently; the line ended with Marethari. (Mahariel went on to found a different clan, where Mahariel’s name and mother are from. The ancient history between the clan founders is part of the reason why Mom’s elders didn’t want her to be with the Keeper of Clan Sabrae.)

What stories does the clan have with moral lessons?

The Halla and Her Three Kids, a fairy tale in which a halla mother goes out to forage, and warns her children not to leave the aravel while she’s away. She sings them a song and tells them to only open the door when they hear it. A servant of the Dread Wolf hears this and uses his wicked magic to change his voice and trick the kids into letting him in - only the youngest child is clever enough to be suspicious, and he hides while his two brothers are gobbled up.

When the mother halla returns she’s of course devastated, but her grief and rage are a powerful motivator. She calls upon Mythal as both a mother and as one seeking justice, Falon'Din to guide her lost children, and thanks Sylaise for keeping at least one child safe - and then she and her youngest begin to work on a trap.

The mother cooks a rich meal, and sets a special seat over a hidden pit, which is filled with embers and slow-burning firewood. She then invites the wolf to come to her home and mourn with her, as if she doesn’t know he is to blame. As he eats the chair grows heavier and heavier, until it collapses and he falls into the fire below. As he burns and pleads for his life, the mother tells him that she does as the gods have taught her: “a death for a death and a burn for a burn”. She and the child then finish off their enemy with a stoning, and all the halla in the clan celebrate with a real feast.

(This is an actual story I grew up with.)

What legends does the clan have about their people/history?

Clan Sabrae tells the story of a skilled hunter named Harralan, whose clan once lived in the Brecilian Forest. Harralan was arrogant and full of anger; he resented the life his people lived and dreamed of returning to the days when his people ruled cities and nations of their own. Though his wish was understandable, he thought of little else and allowed his heart to be clouded by his bitterness; so full of hate was he, that he attracted the attention of a rage demon.

The demon transformed him into Mythallen - a child of vengeance. Though he espoused concern for the future of the People, and for the injustices they have suffered, in truth he understood nothing of sympathy, compassion, forgiveness, or true leadership. Instead, he enslaved, yoking others to his revenge, transforming them into little more than weapons, extensions of his will.

The clan was able to destroy Mythallen, but too few of them remained to continue on as one. The remaining elves joined other clans, while their dead were remembered in legend.

How do clan members spend their leisure time? What do they do for fun?

They’ve picked up some games from humans - Wicked Grace being a particularly popular one. They also have their own gambling game that involves a four sided top, and some clan members have started combining both games.  

The harens don’t like it, but rock climbing is becoming the entertainment of choice for the younger members of the clan.

Also, reading! Many of the mages brought books with them from the Circle, plus Clan Sabrae now has unprecedented access to books that human and dwarven traders brought with them to Kirkwall.

What kind of laws/rules does the clan have?

Aside from the obvious, “be a respectable member of society” stuff, hunters and craftsmen are taught to respect the balance of the land and to use every part of the animals they hunt.

Everyone has a job to do, and every job is important. Whether you watch the children, whittle trinkets, or are the Keeper, every role is equally important to the survival of the clan.

Members of the clan are obligated to give mythvhen - a word that literally translates to righteousness, or righteous heart. This means to help others simply for the sake of helping, without receiving or expecting any recognition in return.

There are all sorts of rules associated with specific holidays and religious practices.

If a clan member breaks these rules, what punishments are there?

Depends on the severity obviously. A scolding from the Keeper (and probably every hahren, just for good measure), extra community work, exile at the worst. Unless something really terrible happens, the focus is less on punishment and more on understanding why the rule was broken, and explaining to the clan member why it’s important.

What is the clan’s culture surrounding birth?

During the first three months of pregnancy, couples and the healer won’t tell anyone else about the birth, to protect the baby from the evil eye. Even after the pregnancy is revealed, parents won’t even discuss naming the baby and nothing is prepared aside from what the child will need right after it’s born (so no toys and things like that).

Wards on the family’s aravel should be inspected, to make sure that spirits are being kept out.

A mother usually prays more often to Mythal, and a father to Elgar’nan. They pray to Sylaise to make their home safe and welcoming, and Andruil to keep the Dread Wolf at bay.

The birth itself is a joyous occasion, and the whole clan gets involved. A week after the child is born, the clan celebrates with a feast and welcomes them into the family. This is when the child is named, and the Keeper will say the first prayer for them using their new name, asking each god to watch over them.

What is the clan’s culture surrounding death?

When a clan members dies, the burial process begins immediately.

The dead is covered until they are with the Keeper, at which point they are uncovered and washed with water from a mountain stream. They are then dressed in simple burial clothing - white cloth, nothing more - and a sash is wrapped around their waist and tied in a way that represents the god of their vallaslin. (If they were too young to have been tattooed yet, the sash represents Falon'Din.)

From death until burial the dead is never alone, and those with them regularly recite prayers to Falon’Din, asking for safe passage into the beyond.

No more than a day after the death, the body is brought to the graveyard at the top of Sundermount and laid to rest alongside their ancestors. A tree is planted to mark their grave, and the Keeper asks Mythal to watch over her people even in death - the prayer directed towards the statue of Mythal that stands in the graveyard.

The deceased’s family mourn for a week, rarely leaving their aravel and putting vanity aside to allow themselves all possible space to grieve and process. Clan members will take care to bring them food and drink, keep them company, and take over their daily duties. After the week is up they return to work, but of course the clan is mindful of the pain they are still feeling.

What are the most monumental parts of life for clan members?

Receiving their vallaslin is an obvious one, as it means they are now an adult in the clan’s eyes. Young elves spend the day in contemplation, meditating on which vallaslin is most suited to them. Once they’re ready, they will wash and purify themselves, then don a traditional shawl that has likely been passed through their family. At sundown the Keeper will begin applying the vallaslin, during which time the young elf must make sure not to make a sound.

In what ways does the clan honor and revere the Elven Pantheon?

In every way? Lol

By which I mean, there are prayers for literally everything. Before a hunt, after a hunt, when skinning an animal, when purifying a home, when setting magical wards, when eating a meal, when making an herbal remedy. A prayer for an elven birth, a different prayer for a halla birth. A prayer to keep a secret, and a prayer to reveal hidden knowledge. And so on.

Some are longer than others, some are more formal, some are made up on the spot, but the gods are woven into everything. The clan doesn’t pray with the intention of being heard, but they want to acknowledge their heritage and give thanks that they can carry on these traditions.

What practices does the clan have in regards to vallaslin? How is an elf determined to be ready? How is the design chosen?

Oops I already talked about this a little bit. To add on from question 27, elves receive their valasllin soon after their 17th birthday. The Keeper and the hahrens discuss among themselves whether or not a child is ready, based on how mature they are; in other words, how ready they seem to take on the burden of being an adult in the clan.

What is the clan’s vallaslin like?

Just the normal vallaslin from DA:O.

[amer-ainu]

In this, our fifth and final episode, The ID Question looks at questions of language and culture in a rapidly changing world. Padmaparna Ghosh talks to people being directly affected by endangered languages and shrinking numbers of indigenous tribes – groups whose survival depends on a clear sense of identity.

As a child, Kanako Uzawa treasured her school vacations, when she traveled from Tokyo to her family farm in Nibutani, a remote village in northern Japan. “There were rice fields extending into the distance,” she said. “It was all very green with fresh air...It was paradise for kids.”

Uzawa, who was born in Tomakomai, Hokkaido, is a member of the Ainu, an indigenous group from northern Japan. The story of this small community is one of erasure instigated by the state. In the late 19th century, the Meiji government sought a unified, cohesive vision of Japan; the very existence of the Ainu and other indigenous groups threatened Japan’s national myth of homogeneity. In 1899, the government passed an act now known as the Former Natives Protection Law, which stripped the Ainu of their identity: names were changed, language was curbed, and they were forced to give up hunting and gathering and begin farming on poor land.

As long as humans have formed shared identities around ethnicity, religion, race, language, and culture, those identities have been subject to erasure, from colonialism to war to economic globalisation to linguistic homogenisation to environmental change. Just look to the island nations of Tuvalu and Kiribati, preparing to sink beneath the sea, or to Greenland, preparing for its ice to melt away.

In the previous episode, we explored how asylum seekers struggle to define their identities, caught in limbo between their home countries and their adopted ones. Governments define official, legitimised forms of national identities, the structures into which new arrivals should be integrated. But these same structures are applied to groups who have long resided within countries’ borders – or, in the case of many colonised nations, predated the groups that currently hold power. How can a given group retain a sovereign identity within those national constructs?

The map of the world has never remained static. Right now, there are secessionist movements from Scotland to Kurdistan, each with their own particular historical origins and degrees of success. The ways and forms in which groups assert themselves might differ, but what unites them all is a clear sense of communal identity: one that demands to be seen, heard, and acknowledged as legitimate.

Continuing battle

In Nibutani, the vast majority of its approximately 200 inhabitants are of Ainu descent. When Uzawa would return there, she would feel like she was part of a close-knit community. But back at school in Tokyo, she didn’t want to stand out from the crowd. “I never thought of that [Ainu] lifestyle as special or unique as a child,” she said. “But what was strange was when I would come back to Tokyo we would never talk about that life. Because nobody knew what it was and nobody asked. So I closed that part of myself and I just became a city girl.”

Now she feels pride for her heritage, inspired by her grandfather, Tadashi Kaizawa, a prominent Ainu rights campaigner. He first came to national attention in 1989, when he and a friend, Shigeru Kayano, sued the government over a hydroelectric dam that was being built on the sacred Saru River – it was being built, they claimed, on stolen land.

Close to a decade later, Kaizawa and Kayano won their case – though by the time the judge issued a ruling, the dam had been built. The judgment marked the first time that the Japanese government was forced to both acknowledge the existence of the Ainu, and to acknowledge that they had certain rights endowed to them under the country’s constitution. In the middle of the case, when Uzawa was 15, she heard her aunt say that to be Ainu is to be discriminated against. “That was the awakening, from when I started to critically think about my heritage and identity.”

Uzawa feels that many Ainu people are still afraid or reluctant to reveal their identities. When she worked in Tokyo, she kept her Ainu heritage private because she didn’t want to create a situation where she would have to defend or explain herself. “I don’t know if I would call it open discrimination,” she said. “But there is a feeling of discomfort.”

Japan did not actively recognise the Ainu as an indigenous group until 2008, and the battle continues: the Ainu still don’t have political self-determination. “Even though it looks like we have been given recognition, a large part of the struggle remains,” said Uzawa. “We still feel that we do not have the final say in matters related to us.”

“The government only said that yes, OK, you are indigenous people of Japan, but you can only promote and disseminate the historical parts and cultural parts of your group,” said Uzawa. “Under this act, rather than focusing on a comprehensive notion of livelihood or indigenous rights, there is only support for the practice of culture, and still, many problems remain.”

Catalonian struggle

Spain, like many European nations, is built out of a number of smaller medieval kingdoms, each with their own culture, language, and history. In the east of the country, Catalonia is currently caught in a secessionist struggle that’s as tense as is possible to find in a contemporary democracy in peacetime.

Some Catalonians are fighting for more independence within the existing Spanish constitution (which devolves power to the different regions, in recognition of their independent histories); some want an entirely independent state, either due to patriotism, economics, or both. Catalonia is Spain’s wealthiest region, and many Catalonians claim to be tired of subsidising the poorer parts of the nation – something seen in less popular secessionist movements elsewhere in Spain, as well as in other countries, like Italy.

What is it to be Spanish? What is it to be Catalonian? Rosalia Martinez, 38, considers her own national identity to be complex. Her father is from Galicia, and her mother, who is from Catalonia, in turn has ancestors from both Catalonia and Aragon. “My idea of being Spanish has been constructed from a mix of different regions,” she said. “It’s about sharing regional languages and identities. My parents teach Spanish and at home we speak Galician. My grandmother used to sing us songs in Catalan.” She doesn’t feel she should have to choose one of these identities over any of the others.

Like Uzawa, Martinez traces back the origin of identity to childhood memories. She speaks Galician at home, and spent her summer vacations with her grandparents in a small village in Galicia. Today, she can speak several of the Spanish languages and smoothly transitions from one to another. But her language choices at any given moment are inextricable from sense of place: when she wants to convey a feeling of wilderness, she slips into Galician, inspired by childhood memories of the natural world. “There we practically lived in a forest,” she said. “So when we have to refer to something like that, we shift, without even noticing.”

“Identity has a lot to do with language – it has poetry and literature, myths and stories and archetypes,” said Martinez. “It isn’t just day-to-day communication. You share a code when you share a language.”

In a word

When countries work to define national identities, language is key. Language links people to a communal past, and newcomers to a shared future. But it can also exclude and alienate, and forcing a language on a community can be devastating: a tool for asserting state dominance over individual and local forms of identity.

In Japan, where the various Ainu languages were banned in 1872, efforts to revitalise the last surviving dialect have only recently been supported by the state. In Catalonia, speaking Catalan can be a patriotic gesture, a recognition that centuries of suppression in favor of Castilian – what we now think of as simply “Spanish” – was not enough to extinguish the region’s identity.

According to UNESCO, there are currently 2,464 threatened languages spoken around the world. 592 are classified as “vulnerable” –  children still learn them, but they are not necessarily used widely in daily life  – while the rest, the vast majority of the world’s languages, are seen as “endangered.”

Many countries fund language courses for new arrivals to encourage immigrants or refugees to integrate. Between now and 2020, Germany is spending €5.7 billion on such courses  –  including “soft” skills like cultural understanding in addition to language instruction. This is an unusually large sum; countries like the UK or the Netherlands spend tens of millions, rather than billions, on similar programs.

The UK has shown how a country can reverse a policy of suppressing a language through reasonably small budget commitments: roughly £150 million per year is spent on tuition in Welsh schools and on subsidising Welsh-language media. A few decades ago, Welsh seemed doomed for extinction, though these programmes have slowed that decline rather than reversing it. Other languages in the UK – including Gaelic, Scots, Manx, and Cornish – have yet to receive the same kind of government support, despite being closer to extinction.

While many are still under serious threat, indigenous and minority languages in other parts of the world are experiencing a period of regrowth. According to the 2016 World Minority Report, “In New Zealand, there has been a steady increase since the 1990s in the number of children being taught in te reo Māori [the indigenous Māori language]. Policies promoting the recognition of Māori culture and the visibility of Māori identity in the national arena have been a positive factor in the revitalisation of the language.” A similar revival of Hawaiian is being used as a model for how other indigenous languages can be revitalised.

The case of Spain

In Spain in the mid-20th century, Castilian Spanish was the only language allowed. Francisco Franco’s authoritarian government revoked the official statute and recognition for Basque, Galician, and Catalan. The minority languages were banned in schools, advertising, religious ceremonies, and road signs. Rosalia Martinez didn’t live through this time of cultural suppression, but she heard about it from her parents. “My father used to tell us how Galician was forbidden at school,” she said. “Treatment of other languages was shoddy and oppressed.”

Since Franco’s death in 1975, the Spanish government has encouraged the use and revitalisation of regional languages, from making them compulsory in schools to granting them official language status, including support for public-funded regional-language TV channels. “I remember my cousins from Catalonia and Galicia complaining because they had an extra subject to learn,” Martinez said with a laugh.

But some Spaniards feel that the urge to protect and conserve regional languages can be counterproductive. Elisabeth Borras, who is half-Catalonian, thinks the government’s language revival efforts may have been taken too far. “So much money has been spent dubbing movies into Catalan. Ultimately you should be spending money on things that might be helpful to society, like more schools,” she said. “I think it was a mistake to take it so seriously.” Her mother, who lived through the dictatorship – when Catalan was banned in schools – is today learning how to properly write in the language.

Others fear that these linguistic revivals might be etching deeper divides. Anti-independence Catalonians – as well as people in other regions of Spain and across Europe – worry this might create risky precedents that could set off a series of secessionary demands.

Martinez understands these concerns: she feels that some part of the current polarisation between Catalans and Spaniards has been institutionalised by education and worsened by the financial crisis. “It serves the purpose of politics, making the identities clash, especially for regional governments,” she said. “I think it is a pity. If you ask people in Spain, we feel quite sad.”

She believes the Spanish government has done a good job reviving regional languages – but that doesn’t extend to the independence question. “The government is important in this but I don’t think you need an independent country for that,” she said. “Historically and culturally we have co-existed for the most part. I don’t understand why we can’t go on. They are a part of Spain, too, because they are a part of me.”

Uzawa, Martinez, and Borras all want to pass their cultural identities onto the next generation, whether through language or traditions or visits to specific regions. For all of them, childhood is the touchstone to which they return when their identities are in question. The next generation is the one that will have to continue the work of preserving and spreading cultural traditions, including language.

Borras attended an English school because her parents could not decide whether to put her in a Spanish or a Catalan one. But she wants to ensure that her child grows up Catalan. Uzawa, who now lives in Norway, makes sure to take her children to the ancestral village at least every other year, so they can feel a part of it. When she took them to the Tokyo Ainu cultural centre, she explained Ainu traditions. “And my daughter asked: if this is Ainu clothes and you’re Ainu, why aren’t you wearing those?” she said. “Sometimes your children ask you questions that you haven’t asked yourself.”

[randomisedgaming]

Tomb Raider Sega Saturn, how does the unfinished PAL version compared, with the NTSC release.

In recent years there's been a lot of discussion around the Saturn version of Tomb Raider regarding which was the best release. As is the case with these type of discussions, facts often get ignored by people putting out myths and rumours. Often it's the case someone talking about something they know nothing about or using a ten year old memory as their source.

After, slicer1000 started a topic on version changes over at the Sega Saturn UK website, he had a number of people mention Tomb Raider to him. Some claiming many differences between versions, others none. Following this slicer1000 asked me to look into this and so I have and these are the early results so far we've found. Which have turned out to be very interesting and for us it's opened a real can of worms on the console versions of Tomb Raider.

We've seen other people talk and video about the different Saturn versions of Tomb Raider before. However, most seem not to have dug that deep into the issue and missed many of the changes between them.

The original PAL European UK cover for Tomb Raider on Sega Saturn

First a short history lesson, Core Design agreed a deal with Sega of Europe to release the PAL Sega Saturn version of Tomb Raider ahead of both the PC and PlayStation release. This deal, meant Core Design had to badly rush the Sega Saturn release, which many of the development staff of Core were against. This decision badly impacted on the Saturn version as that version had to be rushed to market as a result, corners cut, bugs not fixed, engine optimisation never occurred on the Saturn code.

Some of the telling signs that this may have been the case, include the fact that the handstand move added in by animator Toby Gard, seen in the PlayStation and PC builds of the game, isn't present. Another is the lack of sound options seen on the main menu. Neither are present in any version of the Saturn release either PAL or NTSC. While Randomised Gaming hasn't tested the Satakore release, it seems doubtful in this case it would have any extra bug fixes over the normal NTSC/J version. As by the time it came out in Japan, Core Design and Victor had just released the Japanese version of Tomb Raider II. Most likely the Satakore release was Victor the Japanese publisher trying to earn some extra cash by re-releasing the original Saturn game around the same time the sequel arrived on PlayStation.

While without being a fly on the wall at Core Design in 1996, we will never quite know the whole story. It's been over twenty years since the team made the original and even their memories might be a bit foggy. It would be great, if someone could get the developers together again for a full interview, but so far that hasn't happen.

The Japanese cover for Tomb Raiders, the name change is meant to reflect the fact that Lara Croft and Jacqueline Natla are the raiders in the game.

With that in mind, I was surprised in the amount of changes between the European PAL and the Japanese NTSC/J Saturn version. While we can't say anything for certain on the American NTSC/U version due to not having a copy, it's likely somewhere between the two.

So the first thing any PAL Saturn gamer will notice, after booting up the Japanese NTSC/J version aside from the localisation changes such as the title screen and name change to Tomb Raiders. Is that memory cartridge support has been added to this version. To the untrained eyes these might be the only changes you spot in the game.

On the in-game performance front the game speed of the NTSC/J version at 60hz is just about the same as the PAL version when being forced into 60hz. By default the PAL version is roughly about 17.5% slower at 50hz. While we need to run some more tests the NTSC/J version only seemed to be a single frame faster, than the PAL code forced into 60hz, but this could be down to a frame drop on our capture unit. In short it appears at 60hz the PAL and NTSC/J versions both run at the same game speed on Sega Saturn.

The rather bland Japanese title screen image.

Tomb Raider was designed to run at 30fps and while the Saturn version can't quite hold a stable 30fps it got pretty close in our non-combat comparison with the PC version. Being about eight frames behind, in a twenty five second run comparison video at 60hz. This is just based on one test so far, but we plan to do more and provide the details in a superior attack video at a later date.

(Note, we should stress that attract/demo mode sections should not be used for frame rate tests, as these sections are often videos or unique sections designed to showcase the best of the game. Often there can have a bit of underhand trickery going on with them, as they are designed to be shown to consumers in shops.)

While the Saturn game engine doesn't appear to have been improved much for the NTSC/J version, there are numerous art changes and bug fixes. That have occurred, the first one I'm going to highlight is the added loading image of Lara in a dress included after selecting the gym, it appears after the FMV intro to the house.

A rare chance to see Lara in her non adventure attire, not seen in the PAL Saturn version.

Next up we have a clear, art bug fix seen in the music room, in the PAL version there is an incorrect over lapping set of strings, incorrect placed upside down. In the Japanese NTSC/J version this has been fixed.

Bug fix to the harp in the music room PAL (Left) NTSC/J (right)

One improvement you might not easier notice without a stop watch is loading times. The NTSC/J version at 60hz, when compared with the PAL version forced into 60hz, loading into and out of scenes a few seconds quicker. So in that area some optimisation has taken place to improve the games performance.

One of the big changes Randomised Gaming spotted is that the PAL version doesn't use final texture art. In the opening stage alone extra snow and touch ups to the rock textures can be seen in the NTSC/J disc which matches the PC release. Take a look at this images, two from the Saturn and one from the PC version. The grey rock to the far right of Lara has added snow as does the big rock just to her left, in the PAL version there is a dull grey patch where much of the snow was added. All this extra snow is included in the PC version.

PAL (Top) NTSC/J (Mid) PC (Bottom) the added snow in the NTSC/J version is easy to miss, but is just one of many texture changes.

Now here comes the real last revelation (forgive the Tomb Raider name pun) if you are playing the console ports. As neither the PAL or NTSC console version is running the game correctly. Tomb Raider was designed to run at 30fps, something only NTSC consoles can do, due to the game's speed not being correct optimised at 50hz. However, the screen aspect ratio was only optimised at 50hz/576i as more of the screen is displayed in each frame. The NTSC version at 480i crops the picture and makes Lara appear stretched at 60hz as a result. (This, 576i optimisation is also why NTSC owners should not purchased the PAL version. As at 60hz the PAL version camera cuts off the bottom of the picture. The NTSC/J version has the camera position adjusted to correct for this issue.)

To demo this, here is the aspect ratio seen on the gym floor at both 50hz PAL on the left and the NTSC/J 60hz. More of the floor tiles both top and bottom can be seen in the PAL release compared to the NTSC version. The same is true with all the previous screenshots shown in this blog post.

PAL 576i Saturn (Left) NTSC/J 480i Saturn (right) the NTSC version looks very zoomed in and the floor titles are no longer true squares. Note how in the NTSC picture it can only show five tiles from top to bottom. Where as the PAL version is almost able to show six fully.

Here's some more comparison screenshots to show the height of Lara with the PC version, note how in the NTSC screenshot she is in fact taller than her PC counter. That's because the aspect ratio is incorrect in the NTSC version due to it being badly stretched. Also note how much of the top and bottom of the picture is missing in the NTSC screenshot.

The PAL Saturn version uses a matching aspect in line with the PC release, compared to the stretched looking Lara in the NTSC picture. Left PAL Saturn, Middle PC and right Saturn NTSC.

Now, you might be wondering what this all means, well applying my own industry experience and having read as many old interviews with the team behind the game. It's clear Tomb Raider was rushed and unfinished on the Saturn. In fact, it's very likely that if you are playing the Saturn version, you aren't playing a version of the game the developers intended to release.

To me, it looks like the later NTSC builds, just patched the final PAL Saturn code, without adding in some of the improvements seen in the game engine on the PlayStation or PC. The big exception to this rule, is the art textures, they have been completely overhauled for the NTSC/J Japanese version.

In a somewhat odd twist of fate neither the PlayStation or PC versions are quite the definitive versions either. Now this is still early research, but having spent a few hours comparing the early levels in the game. The PC version is the best version these days, not least thanks to some of the nice mods you can get for it. Even if they still don't add in some of the Saturn and PlayStation exclusive effects. The PlayStation version also has its own unique set of issues not seen in the Saturn.

It like the Saturn version was also clearly designed to display at 576i, but it also incorrectly stretches some textures, much like the square floor in Lara house, which in the PlayStation version isn't square in either PAL or NTSC. It doesn't take much to note that many textures in the PlayStation release also appear distorted or incorrect at an angle even the flooring.Lets run that field of view comparison test again.

(Left) PAL Saturn 50hz 576i (Right) PAL PlayStation 50hz 576i. While the PAL PlayStation field of view is more than the NTSC Saturn version, it’s still quite a bit shorter than the PAL Saturn. There also not quite true squares either on PlayStation.

The PlayStation version also has trouble keeping textures straight when drawn at a perspective angle as shown here. Observe the wall to the left of the window and the zigzag look of the wooden panels on it, compared to the ones seen in the Sega Saturn version.

NTSC Saturn (Top) PAL PlayStation (Bottom)

While the PlayStation has sharper textures overall this is mainly the case in the mid range field of view. Up close you can see it adds a mesh effect to them and at distance, textures lose their detail hence the PlayStation version has a smaller draw distance, as you can see below. Look at how the flooring fades out on the PlayStation screen capture.

Two comparison of the draw distance between PAL Saturn (Top) PAL PlayStation (Bottom). Same again for the one below, you can’t see into the music room on PlayStation.

Currently trying to find a truly objective and good quality comparison on Tomb Raider is just impossible on the net. The Saturn and PlayStation rivalry still lingers on even now 20 years later and it shows in comments, videos and just about every news post on the internet, par this one I hope. The other huge problem is the amount of people using emulators to compare games, which doesn't reflect the performance of games on original hardware.

Our early performance tests also raised some interesting results between the Saturn and PlayStation version. All I'll say for now is the Saturn version suffers from slowdown noticeably when AI enemies are present or with rapid movement of the camera. Neither of which the PlayStation has an issue with, giving it a more stable frame rate. While the Saturn has a more unstable frame rate, it also runs at a higher frame count, making it the fastest of the two versions when slowdown doesn't rear its head. This is what I saw when I compared both PAL versions at 50hz on “real hardware” and I must stress the real part.

Shading and colours also differs between the two console versions, Saturn uses a darker palette compared to the PlayStation version, the lighting also differs between the two in many areas. As with other areas we noticed the PAL and NTSC/J Saturn releases use different palette to one another, the NTSC/J seemed to use a slightly lighter palette in some areas. At first I did wonder if it was just a bug with my capture unit settings, but the more screen grabs I took the more I realised that there had been changes between the two.

Quick level of detail test at short and middle range, while the Saturn has the edge at the long range. PlayStation clearly looks better at the mid range, the more commonly used range. As for the near range both look almost the same. PAL Saturn (Top) PAL PlayStation (Bottom)

That's all I'm going to cover for now until we can get a full on video comparison done. There are many other areas the Saturn and PlayStation differ on, already listed over the net. Yet, Lara does have one last secret to tell us, you see it's not just the PAL Saturn version that was incomplete. Now I know traditional PC versions are usually the last version to be mastered for release. Console games have to be mastered much earlier, as they have to also pass Sega's and Sony's internal testing, something you don't have to do for PC titles. (On that note as a bit of trivial the PAL Saturn release incorrectly uses an image of a Japanese joypad, grey with blue button, the NTSC/J is the flip of that as it uses the western black pad instead.)

Now normally due to this the PC release often ends up being the final code and art, it's a good rule of thumb, but not always so. In Tomb Raider's case this seemed to be so, based on the improved textures seen in this version. These days thanks to mods, you can also run the PC version in lovely 16:9 at 1080p. So time wise if you also include the ATI patch in 1997 it is the last build of the game that got an update.

That why I'm using the PC version as the end point of this next screenshot comparison, so first will be the PAL Sega Saturn which was the first build released and according to the header file on the disc was mastered on the 17th September 1996. Followed by the PAL PlayStation one which released in late November 1996, so mastered around the end of October and third will be the Japanese Saturn release with a header build of 26th November 1996.

Ignoring the fact that the PC version is in widescreen and that the Japanese NTSC Saturn release looks stretched can you spot the texture changes? The key areas to look at are the chair, stained glass in the window, pictures frame and wall texture. Order again is, PAL Saturn, PAL PlayStation, NTSC/J Saturn and PC.

The PAL Saturn version is the only one to have the dark red texture on the left side of the back of the chair's red padding, in every other version it is flipped so appears on the right. The wood texture used on the chair is also different from other versions. In the two PAL console versions the stained glass window is a muddy brown like the frame it sits in. Where in the NTSC/J Saturn one it is a grey, the PC version adds in some blue with the grey. Both the PC and NTSC Saturn versions have recoloured picture frames and touched up wood panelling with a white highlight on some walls. There are a few other changes also, but that is a clear timeline of art fixes and changes to Tomb Raider.

Remember when I said it up opened a can of worms early here's the thing, based on this evidence, none of the PAL console versions use the final build of the game. While I wasn't able to source a NTSC/U copy of the Saturn version, I was able to look at the last American PlayStation version. That had all the same colouring and textures as the PAL PlayStation release from what I tested. We weren't able to find a Japanese PlayStation version either, but as Victor published it the same time as the Saturn release. The fixes seen in the Japanese Saturn version are likely to be includes in the Japanese PlayStation release as well. 

Lara’s handstand move which doesn’t appear in any version of the game on Sega Saturn

Now while we can't say for certain until someone tests every version released in Europe and American. As the Platinum or Greatest hit versions might be different, it appears the fixes added to the Japanese release, weren't then added into any of the later western releases on PlayStation. I can say for certain the PAL Saturn re-release in the DVD hard case, was just the original Saturn version with no added fixes. As Randomised Gaming has both PAL boxed versions one is from print pressing B the other from G. The only change is the case it came in and an additional number code printed on the disc rim.

Which on a bit of a bombshell note means that if you live in the west and played Tomb Raider on console you likely have never played the final version of the game, Core Design wanted to give to gamers in the 90s. OK, that's a bit of a sweeping, without us check every version released, but the evidence isn't looking good.

As is often the case the last version out the door of the studio, is the best patched up release which is why for a British developed game the Japanese console version is the best looking. Strangely the same often happens with the European version of Japanese games as the PAL version tended to be developed last.

The Japanese Sega Saturn joypad cameo’s in the PAL version

Ultimately it leaves me with a lot more questions, such as how does the rest of the game compare between versions seeing as so far, I've only tested the early levels. It's been over a decade since I last finished the game and I've only just starting working through the NTSC/J release for the first time. To me applying my industry experience and the tight time frame it's been said, they build the game in, it couldn't have been an easy development. As many of these changes showed the developers kept trying to make the game better with every release, up until development finally stopped. Certainly having looked at the various versions myself this past week, there's are now a few burning questions I'd like to ask the team if I could.

As for our final verdict on the Saturn version, it's clear the games has been improved for the NTSC/J release in many areas when directly compared with the PAL release. This comes at the cost of an incorrect aspect ratios, but the improvements are worth this trade off. While many of the changes aren't easily noticeable and there is no clear evidence of a an frame rate improvement when both versions are run at 60hz. The amount of improvements to textures, load times, cartridge support, bug fixes make the NTSC/J the version of choice for Saturn owner.

Is it worth upgrading, if you own the PAL version or NTSC/U already? That really depends how much a fan you are of the series and if you plan on playing the game again. It's far to say that many of these changes most users wouldn't notice unless they are directly pointed out to them. However, for the best version it's far to say, grab the steam release and look into some of the fan mods.

That's it I hope you've enjoyed this short look at some of the changes between the Saturn versions and are insight into some of the other releases and changes. We will aim to a more in depth video on the subject at a later date, but for now I need to look into the Japanese PlayStation version.

For high resolution of many of the comparison images used in this feature please visit these two image blog post here and here. They make comparing some of the changes much easier. You can also see are video look here:

Feature by Random Gamer Riven.

Twitter: RDGamerRiven

E.mail: randomgamerriven@gmail.com