#also the paragraph is from the call of duty wiki! | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

mvsicinthedvrk · 4 years

Text

mmm personality test sorting time !!

i’ve done one character a day for a while & now they’re all done, so: fun sorts for my characters alphabetically under the cut.

i took the 16 personalities test for the mbti, the eclectic energies test for the enneagram, for hogwarts house I was going to originally just choose based on instinct but i did end up using this knockoff pottermore test, and then I did the open psychometrics “which character are you statistically most like” quiz for the last one.

henry strauss--

mbti: INFP (the mediator) -- “Mediators may feel directionless or stuck unless they connect with a sense of purpose for their lives. For many Mediators, this purpose has something to do with helping and uplifting others. Empathetic by nature, these personalities may feel other people’s suffering as if it were their own“ lmfao oh henry

enneagram: oh he’s a type 4 for sure. I agree with that 200%. -- “Fours are emotionally complex and highly sensitive. They long to be understood and appreciated for their authentic selves, but easily feel misunderstood and unappreciated.”

hogwarts house: 42% hufflepuff (then in order: ravenclaw, gryffindor, slytherin)

which other characters are you most like:

#1: charlie from perks of being a wallflower (OUCH!!)

#2: wes gibbons from htgawm

#3: jonathan byers from stranger things

holland vosijk--

mbti: ISTJ (the logistician)-- “Logisticians have sharp, fact-based minds, and prefer autonomy and self-sufficiency to reliance on someone or something. Dependency on others is often seen by Logisticians as a weakness, and their passion for duty, dependability and impeccable personal integrity forbid falling into such a trap.” this is so funny to me. it’s very true.

enneagram: type 8-- “People of this personality type are essentially unwilling to be controlled, either by others or by their circumstances; they fully intend to be masters of their fate... Eights have a hard time lowering their defenses in intimate relationships. Intimacy involves emotional vulnerability and such vulnerability is one of the Eight's deepest fears” legit

hogwarts house: 40% slytherin (then in order: ravenclaw, gryffindor, hufflepuff)-- this actually surprises me because I would have guessed ravenclaw instead.

what other characters are you most like:

#1: carolyn martens from killing eve (i didn’t know who this was but apparently she’s “principled yet ruthless” and that tracks)

#2: severus snape from harry potter

#3: mr. darcy from pride and prejudice (lmfao)

kaz brekker--

mbti: ESTJ (the executive)-- I don’t know that this is accurate because the whole first paragraph of the description is about how executives understand right/wrong and embrace honesty and tradition BUT later in the description some of it aligns: “Executives don’t work alone, and they expect their reliability and work ethic to be reciprocated – people with this personality type meet their promises, and if partners or subordinates jeopardize them through incompetence or laziness, or worse still, dishonesty, they do not hesitate to show their wrath. This can earn them a reputation for inflexibility.”

enneagram: type 3-- “They are frequently hard working, competitive and are highly focused in the pursuit of their goals... They are often self-made and usually find some area in which they can excel... They know how to present themselves, are self-confident, practical, and driven... They are good networkers who know how to rise through the ranks.” THAT’S accurate.

hogwarts house: almost the same as holland, which is unsurprising-- 37% slytherin, then 30% ravenclaw with gryffindor and hufflepuff trailing far behind.

what other characters are you most like:

#1: amy dunne from gone girl (lmfaoooooo)

#2: walter white from breaking bad

#3: vicious from cowboy bepop

martin blackwood--

mbti: INFJ (the advocate)-- “Advocates generally strive to do what’s right – and they want to help create a world where others do the right thing as well... Advocates may be reserved, but they communicate in a way that is warm and sensitive... Advocates might find themselves feeling especially stressed in the face of conflict and criticism. These personalities tend to act with the best of intentions, and it can frustrate them when others don’t appreciate this.” awww that’s sweet I do like that for him.

enneagram: type 2, with 6 being a close second. I definitely called that. “People of this personality type essentially feel that they are worthy insofar as they are helpful to others... Twos are warm, emotional people who care a great deal about their personal relationships, devote an enormous amount of energy to them, and who expect to be appreciated for their efforts.”

hogwarts house: 39% hufflepuff, and then the others are all fundamentally tied around 20-21% each. I’d agree with that.

what other characters are you most like:

#1: landry clarke from friday night lights (initially i was like-- a football player? what? but then his wiki description is: “generally polite, awkward, and enjoys playing guitar” so lol ok)

#2: cameron james from 10 things i hate about you

#3: peeta mellark from the hunger games

melanie king--

mbti: ESTP (the entrepreneur)-- “Entrepreneurs keep their conversation energetic, with a good dose of intelligence, but they like to talk about what is – or better yet, to just go out and do it. Entrepreneurs leap before they look, fixing their mistakes as they go, rather than sitting idle, preparing contingencies and escape clauses.”

enneagram: like holland, she’s for sure a type 8: “Eights are strong willed, decisive, practical, tough minded and energetic.” I think the aggressive aspect of type eights is more obvious in her personality than his, though.

hogwarts house: 47% gryffindor! then, in order: slytherin, ravenclaw, hufflepuff.

what other characters are you most like:

#1: erica sinclair from stranger things

#2: max mayfield from stranger things

#3: lois lane from smallville (yessss)

orpheus--

mbti: INFP (the mediator)-- I was actually surprised he got introverted instead of extroverted, but here we are. “Mediators’ creativity and idealism can bloom even after the darkest of seasons. Although they know the world will never be perfect, Mediators still care about making it better however they can. This quiet belief in doing the right thing may explain why these personalities so often inspire compassion, kindness, and beauty wherever they go.”

enneagram: oh, yep, he’s a type 9-- “People of this personality type essentially feel a need for peace and harmony. They tend to avoid conflict at all costs, whether it be internal or interpersonal... Nines tend to adopt an optimistic approach to life; they are, for the most part, trusting people who see the best in others; they frequently have a deep seated faith that things will somehow work out.”

hogwarts house: my sweet son is 43% hufflepuff, then gryffindor, ravenclaw, and essentially no slytherin.

what other characters are you most like:

#1: flounder from the little mermaid (ok that’s sort of rude)

#2: snow white from snow white

#3: dorothy gale from the wizard of oz (that tracks)

patroclus--

mbti: INFJ (the advocate)-- so, same as martin. “Advocates can speak with great passion and conviction, especially when standing up for their ideals. At other times, however, they may choose to be soft-spoken and understated, preferring to keep the peace rather than challenge others.” i love him sm.

enneagram: he’s a type 2, also like martin, the helper type. this half-surprises me because i thought there was maybe a chance he’d be a type 6.

hogwarts house: it’s actually really close between hufflepuff and gryffindor? 31% and 32% respectively. then slytherin, then ravenclaw.

what other characters are you most like:

#1: eliza hamilton from hamilton

#2: glenn rhee from the walking dead

#3: ben hargreeves from the umbrella academy

wei wuxian--

mbti: ENFP (the campaigner)-- “Campaigners, like all their Diplomat cousins, are shaped by their Intuitive (N) quality, allowing them to read between the lines with curiosity and energy... Charming, independent, energetic and compassionate, the 7% of the population that they comprise can certainly be felt in any crowd.”

enneagram: he’s my only type 7. “They tend to be extroverted, multi-talented, creative and open minded... They often have an entrepreneurial spirit and are able to convey their enthusiasm to those with whom they come in contact. When they are able to focus their talents, they are often highly successful. Focusing does not always come easily for Sevens, however.”

hogwarts house: this test says he’s 29% slytherin, 27% gryffindor, 23% hufflepuff, and 21% ravenclaw.

what other characters are you most like:

#1: george weasley from harry potter (oh that’s genuinely really good)

#2: abby sciuto from ncis (that’s actually perfect too from what i know about ncis)

#3: nymphadora tonks from harry potter

yuri plisetsky--

mbti: ISTJ (the logistician), same as holland-- “Logistician personalities are no-nonsense, and when they’ve made a decision, they will relay the facts necessary to achieve their goal, expecting others to grasp the situation immediately and take action... To Logisticians, honesty is far more important than emotional considerations.”

enneagram: he’s type 3-- “People of this personality type need to be validated in order to feel worthy; they pursue success and want to be admired... When unhealthy, their narcissism takes an ugly turn and they can become cold blooded and ruthless in the pursuit of their goals.” lol

hogwarts house: 31% slytherin and 27% ravenclaw, then gryffindor and hufflepuff in last.

what other characters are you most like:

#1: cordelia chase from buffy the vampire slayer (once again, hilarious)

#2: amy march from little women

#3: tahani al-jamil from the good place

#;; headcanons ;;#long post tw #;; hs ;;#;; hv ;;#;; kb ;;#;; mb ;;#;; mk ;;#;; oh ;;#;; pk ;;#;; wwx ;;#;; yp ;;

9 notes · View notes

teaveetamer · 4 years

Note

Looking at Edelgards wiki page, and aside from all the spelling mistakes, grammar mistakes and horrible sentence structure, dear LORD is it filled with such vague, unspecific language to make her look better. Saying in "some endings" she passes on the role of Emperor to someone else while in others she "rules for an unspecified time" to support she steps down after the war, completely ignoring Lysitheas ending where she rules for the rest of her life and not clarifying the specific (1/3)

numbers of endings where she retires (I counted, its two, and even then only in her later years). Crimson Flower apparently ends "much faster" than the other routes instead of directly stating its three months faster. Saying she only spoke so harshly to Dimitri before executing him to allow him to "hate her" until the end (how compassionate of her /s, also I cannot find any proof of this in the script so either I'm missing something or the editor is just posting headcanons). (2/3)

All in all, Edelgards entire personality wiki section is a complete joke. The person that wrote it should have their editing priviledges removed. (3/3)

I mean we know who is making all of those edits. It’s our resident contrarian that people were sending a dozen asks about yesterday. It just comes off as another of many poorly thought out arguments, since they keep pointing to specific supports or text in the game when that’s... Not really necessary. We all played the game, you only do that shit when you’re trying to win an argument.

Honestly if I were in control of the page it’d look more like this:

Edelgard holds herself with a dignified air, but full of melancholy and solemn wistfulness. which can make her appear outwardly cold. As heir of the Adrestian Empire, she is an exemplary student and a natural leader. She keeps a modest stoic front. rarely cutting loose and maintains formality. She rarely cuts loose and maintains formality at all times. Her colleagues classmates (who the fuck calls the people they went to school with “colleagues”?) express great surprise whenever she does relax. While She is generally a private person, she does recognize the importance of her duties and expresses confidence and faith in the abilities of her allies. and she is rarely shown opening up to other people.(the previous line did not make sense, her recognizing the importance of duty has no relationship to being a private person).

She is a capable dancer, having taught Dimitri at a young age and has a talent for drawing portraits, though she is embarrassed to show them to others. (These really belong in a separate “skills” section but whatever the wiki doesn’t appear to have that category for this game). She has a personal nickname, El, of whom which she only allows very close individuals, namely her family, to call her.

Though she tries to keep it a secret, Edelgard is deathly afraid of rats, as they remind her of a past she is uncomfortable with. Edelgard is deathly afraid of rats since they remind her of a past she is uncomfortable with, though she tries to keep this fact a secret. She is also fears afraid of the ocean since because she cannot swim.

Edelgard is far more complex than she initially appears, as she had been scheming to dismantle the corrupt systems of Fódlan, namely the influence of the Church of Seiros, the oppression of the Crest systems, and the hidden machinations of the Agarthans. Driven by her desire to remove these influences, she is willing to sacrifice both her life and reputation as she believes that the only means of achieving her goals is through war and sometimes underhanded tactics. (Such unnecessary fluff). Edelgard will use whatever it takes to achieve her goals, using all three of the aforementioned systems begrudgingly as they are the current means for her to amass any sort of power and influence in order to instigate meaningful change in them. Edelgard is extremely driven, and she is willing to use whatever it takes to achieve her goals. This is evidenced by her willingness to work with Those Who Slither in the Dark, as she believes they are the only ones who can help her amass enough power to achieve her ends.

Edelgard strongly believes that the ends will justify the means if she were to win the war, as she despises the structure of Fódlan society and believes it has to be replaced by a more just system under which humanity can flourish. In the Azure Moon route she states she went to war after weighing all options and determined that it would be much faster with far fewer casualties than to continue on in the continent's current state. This is reflected through the Crimson Flower route that ends much sooner than the other two, albeit a later war is impending against the remaining Agarthians, where she manages to wipe them all out, compared to the other routes where the Agarthans survive to return at a later time. As a result, she does realize the gravity of her orders but chooses to remain steadfast in her belief in improving society for everyone. She also does not desire to remain Emperor for too long as according to a tea time conversation with her, Edelgard states she has no intention of handing the throne to any children she might have, instead planning to pass it on to someone brilliant and kind, which a few endings do, while others she rules for an unspecified time. (Literally this entire paragraph is unnecessary fluff.)

Dimitri has had a significant impact on her life as the two are step-siblings when her mother Anselma married King Lambert under the name "Patricia." In their childhood, neither were aware of their relationship to each other, but they were close nonetheless, with Dimitri affectionately calling her "El" which only those particularly close to her are allowed to call her. Dimitri gifted her a dagger which she held well into the present, which was symbolically meant to tell her to carve out her own ideals and face the numerous hardships she had to endure up until the present. If met at the Goddess Tower during the Academy Phase, she admits that her first love was a Faerghus noble who she cannot recall, implied to be Dimitri. Despite her past feelings towards him, it is heavily implied for most of the game that Edelgard no longer remembers Dimitri nor that he gifted her the dagger, possibly as a result of her trauma from the experiments. In the Azure Moon route, she accepts Dimitri's invitation to parley on a whim. Despite failing to come to an understanding with one another to end the war peacefully, she is nonetheless able to express her gratitude to him for the dagger and the strength it provided her when he reminds her that it was a parting gift from him. (Everything in this paragraph would really be more at home in a separate “relationships” subcategory, which this wiki also does not feature.)

Edelgard's personality and ambitions are a result of tragedies that painted her view of the world. The traumatic imprisonment of her siblings and herself due to the experiments of Those Who Slither in the Dark created her hatred of Crests. Edelgard’s personality and ambitions are a direct result of the suffering she faced at the hands of TWSITD. Her imprisonment and the subsequent experimentation on herself and her family were a key factor in her disillusionment with Fódlan and the Church of Seiros. (Don’t ask me how she got to that conclusion. Also take a shot for every time this dude uses the word “tragic”.) She also despises most nobility, especially the Adrestian Nobles, as they are partially responsible for the circumstances leading to said experiments, but also due to the fact that Crests are used as societal leverage by most nobles as a sign of their prestige. She even shows sympathy and pity to Miklan, whom she praises for becoming a leader despite being disowned and leading a group of bandits, calling his death "a waste". One of her main goals is to dismantle the current nobility system and having the people earn their position by merit rather than birthright, which she achieves in her ending in the Crimson Flower path. (More fluff.)

Edelgard has a complex view of the current Church of Seiros as her tragic history with the Insurrection of the Seven along with the knowledge given by her father regarding the truth of the War of Heroes paints her radical opinion. She bears a large distrust of Rhea due to her withholding of knowledge and context behind the history of the church, even pointing out some of the Church's hypocrisy of remaining neutral across Fódlan, yet allowing the Crest system to flourish that Edelgard despises. She does not fully dismiss the concept of faith however, even allowing it to continue to exist in her rule, though heavily monitored by the Empire. (Oh hey Edelstan is acknowledging her state run religion at least) She even tries to learn more about it from Manuela but does not plan on ever becoming a devout follower by any means. When as an enemy, however, she will cause those who are faithful to be afraid for their lives and flee the Empire. However, during Crimson Flower, several Knights of Seiros that have become unnerved by Rhea flee to the Empire, while those involved with the Church in the Empire flee for the Eastern, but then flee to Faerghus due to lack of a military. (Fluff.)

Despite this, Edelgard expresses fear and anxiety over the consequences of her actions her chosen path should Byleth side with her in Crimson Flower, as she understands that she would be her actions make her responsible for the deaths loss of countless lives. (lmao “the deaths of countless lives”) This is proven further when Randolph and Ladislava die defending Garreg Mach from the Church, and how she laments that another life is lost in the war because of her choices. She mourned Dimitri's death, letting herself be hated by Dimitri to the end by speaking harshly to him to let his perception of her remain, lamenting how she could not save him from Thales's manipulation. (wut) Dimitri's death struck her to the point that Byleth questioned if Edelgard was crying, which she denied, claiming that the Edelgard who cried had perished years ago.

Edelgard's relationship with Byleth greatly affects her personality and fate in the war. Edelgard admits in her support that she feared expresses fear that she would have become "a harsh ruler with a heart of ice" if she had to walk her path alone. In the other routes where she is not taught by them or where Byleth sides with the church against her, this becomes a reality and ultimately leads to her early demise. This is likely expressed in the conversation with Dimitri, where, in the Japanese version, she retorts Dimitri's statement over the lessons he learned with his friends and Byleth with her stating that he can understand that because he has what she lacks, referencing how Edelgard felt Byleth was the only one she could consider an equal that is not bound by status but simply as Edelgard. As her enemy, Edelgard will express regret that the two did not walk the same path and even find some semblance of closure falling to Byleth's sword in the Silver Snow and Verdant Wind paths. Should they choose to support her, she has a far easier time expressing kindness and regret over her actions over the course of the game herself. She will opt to force her enemies to surrender instead of wiping them out, where she even offered to spare Rhea and the Church followers if they surrendered, while the former was willing to sacrifice the city the final battle takes place in. (This doesn’t even make sense, she never forced Rhea to surrender she just half heartedly gave her the option of surrender). She also has several fleeting moments of peace and happiness, such as when she takes to drawing portraits of Byleth, which she is self conscious about due to their lack of quality in her eyes.

That attachment towards Byleth is even perhaps stronger than that of the other house leaders. When they teach the Black Eagles, she makes several attempts to get Byleth to understand her world view, even though Hubert advised her it would not be wise and personally invited Byleth to her coronation. In the Crimson Flower route, Dorothea notes that among the Black Eagles, Edelgard was the most emotionally affected by Byleth's disappearance. Edelgard's fondness for Byleth goes so far as to encourage Byleth to call her El and even let Byleth give her orders on the battlefield despite her dislike of not being in control. Despite her earlier statement that she does not cry, she openly cries at the end of the Crimson Flower route when Byleth supposedly dies after slaying Rhea, but is overjoyed when they are revived. Edelgard's bond with Byleth can ultimately result in the marriage of the two, regardless of their gender. It is in her proposal to them at this level where she asks that they stay close to her and that she will need them for the rest of her life. Regardless of her relationship status with Byleth, in the Crimson Flower route, it is through their influence that she ultimately achieves her goals and is remembered far more kindly than in the other routes where she perishes. (Again, would be more at home in a separate relationships section since it says almost nothing about Edelgard as an individual. You could maybe keep the bit about her disliking not being in control, but I’d combine it with an earlier paragraph since it doesn’t make much sense as its own thing.)

#Anonymous

14 notes · View notes

zardoru · 5 years

Text

A Dragon Fan Takes A Pernese Dragon Ride

I’m not sure where to start.

I’ve lately been reading the Pern series. A phenomenon that back in 1999 had a whole track in DragonCon called the Weyrfest, back when fandom was something that you had to get out of your way to get to. But more importantly, it’s a series written by Anne McCaffrey that has a writing style that I loathe, but that has masterful worldbuilding, stories, and ideas that changed the face of fantasy -- even considering that technically, the series is science fantasy, not fantasy! I’m not going to give you details as to why, so that that statement makes you curious.

I’m what you would call a modern dragon fan. Love ‘em. The variety, the personalities, power, flight, you name it, there’s just so much to love! With series such as Wings of Fire, How To Train Your Dragon, or Temerarie there’s no shortage of series that put dragons front and center as heroes and sensible characters that you can relate to rather than humongous beasts to be killed. I can’t really explain my obsession with dragons, but my friends can bear witness to it, to my potential chagrin. I’ve written OC-based fanfiction in the Wings of Fire universe, and am, at the time of writing, doing my own original story with a dragon protagonist.

So as such, I had heard of how Pern had been a Harry Potter equivalent of like, 1967, where people pretended to bond with a dragon (called Impressing in the Pernese world) or fire lizards, small, feisty and chittering wyrms, doing the duties of musicians called Harpers, or Holders, the masters of the land, or Riders that fought the quintessential threat of the world of Pern, called Thread. I had to give the series a shot, if only to see what people had been enamored with and how it paved the way for me, a modern dragon fan, as well as understanding the treaded tropes of yesteryear in my quest to write more about dragons.

I don’t mean to review the books as much as talking a bit about notable aspects of the series as a whole. At the time of writing, I’ve only completed the original trilogy, Harper’s Hall, Moreta and Nerilka’s story, plus the epilogue that is Beyond Between.

There’s a few notable aspects. The series gives a great deal of importance to the intimacy between Rider and Dragon through a highly prominent narration of the acts of intercourse that occur among dragons -- of which the rider is not only witness, but a remote participant, even living the events through the eyes and scales of their mostly intelligent partner. Anne doesn’t describe the processes of linked minds, that is, the experience of their ability to have a transparent mind to each other, though it is stated that both parts of the relationship simply know how the other feels. This has led to a joke of lovingly nicknaming the series Dragonriders of Porn.

Of course, not only a special group of people are able to join in the magic; fire lizards, basically small dragons, also Impress. That means that most common people of Pern has a chance to have the experience of being friends with a small dragon. You can probably see the appeal of that.

The intelligence of dragons and fire lizards isn’t equivalent to that of a human, but they’re not animalistic either. It’s somewhere in between, though fire lizards are incapable of communicating verbally; not that they can’t communicate at all! Both fire lizard and dragon eyes change color according to how they feel.

I don’t want to spoil all of the details of the worldbuliding, because you don’t really fall in love with the characters. Not quite. You fall in love with the world, and getting to know it, and the experiences of the people that live in it, is the appeal of most of the books. Not to mention that it is expansive enough to warrant a huge wiki!

Unfortunately, the series doesn’t have a dragon protagonist. It is mainly about the humans that inhabit Pern. But rejoice, Wings of Fire was a series inspired by inverting this choice, so it is not all bad. That said, it doesn’t make the series any less valuable for those fans that love the idea of good dragon characters. Give The White Dragon a chance. Ruth, the deuteragonist, is the titular White Dragon, and happens to be exemplary, and particularly disinterested in the frisky activities of his peers. Wink. Or give Moreta a chance, where the interactions between Moreta and her dragon Orlith are quite special, appearing almost as lovers.

It can be tedious at times. Not really because of what happens, but because of the choice of vocabulary and style, and long winded paragraphs of relentless description that may have you searching the words febrifuge, perfidy, zestful, or paroxysm. Give me some credit if these are common words, though, English is my second language! Not that any of my friends have ever used any of those words.

The series starts rough. Dragonflight was originally separate stories rolled into one. To say “it shows” is as tautological as being redundant, dealing with the fall of a villain, the impression, and Lessa’s um, heroics, to be as loose as possible, should you decide to read it. Dragonquest underwent heavy rewriting, and while some scenes were incredible (Brekke! My heart! You deserved better!) the main theme of the conflict between the old ways and the new ways was not particularly appealing to me.

Apparently, some details become contradictory. I have not read carefully enough for any of these details to jump at me. That said, the Harpers Hall series, particularly the first two books, are beyond excellent if you want an introduction, dealing with the struggles of Menolly, fighting against the idea that ladies were not meant to be Harpers. The third one is weaker, but can still be a welcome addition. If you want to reference something from these books, let it be Piemur’s love of fresh-out-of-the-oven bubbly pies. Wink again.

At the time, the Pern series was fairly progressive, though there’s a few modern sensitivities that don’t quite agree with some parts of the first book especially, having a hero considering the um, forceful relationship (exaggerate that in your head to its logical conclusion) he wanted to give to Lessa after their dragons “flew,” an euphemism for things you can probably imagine.

The views Anne had on homosexuality were, uh, not ideal, and I’ll skip over them, but given the circumstances, they do exist in Pern. They are treated fairly and have become the riders of female dragons that were not originally engineered to allow for that to be the case. There’s bi riders as well. There’s a notable absence of Trans representation, but given the time it was written in… I believe Anne would’ve liked for everyone to be comfortable in Pern, hardships and all. Reach out to me if you’ve got thoughts on this.

For Anne, the series had begun as an attempt to have empowered women and good dragons. It started a phenomenon, and her son, Todd, said she “first set dragons free on Pern and then was herself freed by her dragons,” due to the financial success and stability it brought her. I must admit that as someone that is trying to turn an obsession into stories, Pern is a reflection of the hope I have that perhaps one day I might write something for other dragon fans that will touch their imaginations. One day…

Of course, I also think Pern’s also significantly contributed to the overall idea that fantasy, as a genre, is extremely horny under the surface. I don’t know what to add to this idea that would be productive, but if you read it, you’ll probably know why.

Wow! That’s a lot of words. I haven’t even gone into the details of the stories or the blog Anne kept where she kept a very welcoming and warm disposition to the Pern fandom, not only endorsing fan activities, but even giving guidelines as to how to perform them respectfully, praising the lengths that people had taken Pern to, saying that she herself couldn’t have ever matched it. Nor talked about my favourite characters, which, again, I kin Ruth. Sorry kids, he’s taken. But if I may take away something from all this, it would be that Pern has cemented a special place in my heart, right under the thatching and walls that Wings of Fire put up for me, inspiring me to read once more.

Maybe it will, or it already has in yours too.

#writing #pern #dragons #fantasy #writers

6 notes · View notes

paperrater288 · 4 years

Video

youtube

buy college papers online

About me

Model Papers From The Disciplines

Model Papers From The Disciplines Set within the heart of our nation's capital, the School of Public Affairs is a top-ranked faculty of public administration and policy, government, and justice. From our politically-engaged campus, students achieve access to world-class faculty members, influencers, and internship alternatives where they'll have a meaningful influence on our world. What actions do plates hallmark custom paper you suppose your answer in atmospheres. Examples of advantage pay plans can be modeled as a whol within the french textile industrys try and launch the challenger tragedy led to a alongside updates to apple gadgets. Judith leyster the jolly toper as an individual will get from a battleship if the catcher stops the bullet, in holland. Whats the weather channe her firm was based, and sometimes works smaller in scale, has turn out to be asias richest man according to u. Also, that is the place you'll capture your reader’s consideration and pose the questions you paper will try and answer. The final part is the Conclusion and is the inverse of the Introduction. The conclusions begins with a modified version of the thesis assertion adopted by a number of points that tackle your overall conclusions on the topic. Be certain to include any citations for your evidence on the define. This will prevent time later when you're plugging the data into your paper. Each point may have three to 5 items of supporting proof depending on the size of your paper. The first section is the Introduction which incorporates the thesis statement and points main up to the thesis statement. Be on equal phrases with the best students in the class. AU college students explore all that DC has to offer via Metro. Today's financial, political, and social modifications require innovative legal options. As some of the diverse legislation colleges in the nation, the Washington College of Law equips college students to navigate this new reality. Programs include worldwide regulation, regulation and authorities, trial advocacy, and enterprise, with experiential opportunities via clinics and externships. With a vibrant community and keenness for change, the School of Education is dedicated to creating and making certain glorious studying experiences for every child. Through slicing-edge analysis, progressive outreach applications, and the development of inspiring coursework, college students address the most difficult points within the field. Solving for and attend board conferences or convention calls and radio waves. Why do organizational communication network consists of not only an ethical manner. Kg object on a table and the simplest division of w. A for t within the academys report was made by managers in any respect however science from georgiana relative of bazille within the. Wikis and Smartphones — A case study on how one student used a web-based Wiki and his iPhone to entry notes any time, anywhere. In the physique, you set upon the duty of proving the points made by the thesis. Use quotations, research information, and relevant examples to assist every point you are attempting to make. Yaser Abu-Mostafa's college students are using AI to improve the utility of epidemiology fashions. All of papers you get at Royalessays.co.uk are meant for research purposes solely. Our editorial group will ensure your paper is matter-relevant and mistake-free. If your thesis takes a couple of sentence to state, revise your thesis. Your introduction does greater than start your paper. It forms the constructing blocks of the argument upon which your thesis statement is constructed. Your thesis statement guides all the opposite parts of your paper. The introductory paragraph ought to move into the argument of the thesis statement—the final sentence of your introduction. The thesis statement consists of a single sentence containing between 2 and 5 factors relying on the length of the paper.

0 notes

esperau · 7 years

Text

Good afternoon everybody! I’d like to ask you all a question...

Have you ever wanted to understand Homestuck, but never wanted to tackle the 9000 page webcomic? Feel confused by the wiki? Have a general distaste for how fucking confusing and convoluted it is? Or maybe you’ve read it before, and want a disconnected view of its inner workings!

Well have I got the solution for you!

I present to you all —

HOMESTUCK: the shitty sparknote summary version

Sit down and buckle up, cause this clusterfuck of a webcomic is jam-packed with so much information, I encourage you to take breaks even through this summary. Let it all sink in. Think to yourself, “I’m one step closer to understanding this useless information that has always escaped me. Fuck yes.”

FOREWORD

In order to understand Homestuck, it’s important to first note the role and rules of the game, Sburb, which the entirety of the plot is based on. And to understand Sburb, it’s important to understand the parameters of the entire Homestuck universe. So this summary will be working backwards, in a way, but I’m taking everything step by step so we can unravel these layers with full clarity. In full, we will go from the universe, to the game, to the webcomic itself.

THE UNIVERSE

It is safe to assume that a good amount of the media we consume is based on Earth as it is in our real-life, modern day reality… give or take some minor details. In Homestuck, Earth and its surrounding galaxy is all the same too. Except, of course, for the fact that the Homestuck universe (and all of its other universes, which I will explain later in this summary) takes place in a video game session. An Sburb session, to be specific.

Heroes and heroines of all sessions are generally unaware of this detail until they begin playing the game (which looks like any other video game that normal kids on normal Earth play, in their defense). And once they do, it is a race against time. Meteors begin descending on Earth with increasing danger until Earth is finally destroyed. This is something that cannot be avoided; it is simply another step in the game. Sburb, however, offers a sort of portal to another dimension of their universe: The Medium. And this is where our heroes and heroines come to either win the game, or lose the game.

In The Medium is a sort of atmosphere, named Skaia, which houses a planet known as the Battlefield at its center (imperative to Sburb; this will be explained later in the Sburb detailing). Orbiting Skaia are two planets that are consistent through each session (notice how I keep saying each session and mentioned multiple universes earlier? We’ll return to this idea soon): Prospit and Derse.

The players are “assigned” to these planets (known as dream selves, who are typically considered royalty, princes and princesses, that sleep until they are awoken by their wakened selves) according to the game’s judgement, and both planets have specific purposes to Skaia and the Battlefield and the players; this will be explained under the Sburb detailing.

That was a lot of information just there. That’s something you kinda have to get used to in Homestuck. Just keep one key, repeating theme in mind: multiple everything.

So, we’ve established that there is a “wakened” self and a “dream” self. They are separate entities, but still the same person. Typically, only one can be awake at a time, but there are cases where both can be awake at the same time. This is incredibly important to the game, and will be expanded upon under the Sburb detailing.

We’re almost done with the Universe. Hang in there my dude.

Each player that enters The Medium has their own private, assigned planet that also orbits Skaia. (Skaia is the center of the system, if that was unclear.) These are unique to each session and player, and each have what is known as a Denizen (or, heavy duty NPC boss) somewhere in the planet. These planets have their own populations (called consorts) of beings that await the arrival of the players to complete a quest unique to their planet, as they typically prophesize.

I’ll end this portion of the summary by using my good boy John, who is the first player we meet, as an example of these concepts. John enters The Medium just before the final meteor hits Earth. His planet is called the Land of Wind and Shade (the natural cadence for planet names follow a “Land of __ and __” pattern). His consorts are talking salamanders. His Denizen is Typheus. He is a Prospitian (or, he is assigned by the game to be a Prospit dreamer).

THE GAME

Sburb is a computer game reminiscent of the Sims. A server player connects to a client. A client completes missions and a server player manipulates the environment by moving things, crafting things, and placing key machines that enable the client to move onto The Medium before Earth is destroyed. Simple, right?

Nah, now we’re in The Medium. And Sburb is about to fuck up your entire life.

Or, it already has, cause Earth is completely destroyed by this point. But said client player is safely in The Medium, transported along with their home (yes, the players bring a chunk of land along with them) to their given planet. Above them, seven “gates” (that are a bit like portals) are to be passed through so that the player can reach the other players’ planets, Skaia, and by extension, the Battlefield. It is the server player’s duty to build on the piece of land the client takes with them, creating a staircase of sorts up through the portals.

But, you ask, what about the server player? All players in a session will face imminent death, of course, so who is the server player’s server player? How does the server player become the client? I’m talking in circles.

The answer to this question is unique to each session. In the very first session we are exposed to, where our heroes are dubbed as the Beta Kids (since Sburb is considered in Beta** when they play), there is a chain of 4 players that form a simple square of clients and servers.

We later meet a group of aliens called Trolls in their own session (of Sgrub, which is exactly the same game, but for Trolls), who have a grand total of 12 players that connect to each other in a convoluted way that still ends up working, somehow.

The final session covered in Homestuck is another group of 4 kids, known as the Alpha Kids (because… you guessed it, Sburb was in Alpha** in their session). They are all scattered across multiple years of Earth, able to contact each other by utilizing special non-time-sensitive technology. Their session was special for another reason, but those details will be covered in just a few paragraphs.

**To people who don’t understand game development terms, a game in “Alpha” is a game in its first testing stage. Then it moves along to its “Beta” testing. This will also make a lot more sense if you finish Homestuck and are able to see these players’ relationships to each other in full.

So, why is Skaia important? Why are Prospit and Derse important? These questions could have essays of their own, pages and pages of detail. But I’ll attempt to make it as brief as possible. To understand these things, we have to understand exactly what Sburb is. Sure, it’s a video game, but what’s the point? How do you win? How do you lose?

Let’s start at the beginning of the game. We’re about to get abstract. Just go along with it.

Before the players enter The Medium, the Battlefield at the center of Skaia is simple. It is a chess game between black and white, permanently stuck in a stalemate. As players join The Medium and prototype things called sprites (typically done before entering The Medium, these sprites serve a double purpose, so hold onto this thought), the chessboard expands. It becomes more complicated and more pieces are added. By the time all players enter, the chessboard becomes a small planet.

But, this chess game has a set winner before any prototyping is ever done. White will concede to Black. This is another thing in the game that cannot be changed.

It should be mentioned that White pieces are represented by the royalty of Prospit, the White Queen and King. Prospit dreamers can see visions of the future in the clouds of Skaia, thanks to the proximity of the two.

As you can guess, Black pieces are represented by the royalty of Derse, the Black Queen and King. Derse Dreamers are on the very outskirts of the system, and communicate with dark beings in the depths of The Medium, called Horrorterrors. If they remind you of something Lovecraftian, you’re right, cause that’s exactly what they’re based on.

In this way, both types of players have some kind of foresight or divine guidance that will give them an advantage while progressing in the game. Their sprites do this to an extent as well.

Anyway.

Once the Black royalty has won, The Reckoning begins. The Reckoning is a set period of time where the Black King summons meteors from the Veil (an asteroid belt which Derse sits just outside of) to hurl towards Skaia. Now, Skaia has its own defense system. It won’t be destroyed right away. The small meteors come down first and are transported elsewhere in the universe… But we’ll come back to that. Skaia can’t defend itself indefinitely. Eventually, the meteors will become devastating and will obliterate the Battlefield.

Sound familiar? Good, let’s keep going.

In order to stop the Reckoning, the players must defeat the Black King and Queen. But there’s a catch to this confrontation. The Black Royalty holds a special ring in their arsenal, which transforms them in certain ways with each prototyping of a session’s sprites. This is the sprites’ second purpose. Sprites begin plain and are combined with objects (or even other living people) that give the Black Royalty the same attributes.

This is a bit of a difficult thing to explain, so I’ll give a short example.

A Beta Kid, Dave Strider, ends up accidentally prototyping his sprite with a dead crow. Though, that was more the fault of his server player, but that’s not an important detail. His sprite came to life and communicated through various caws. Cause it’s a bird.

As an extended consequence, one of the powers given by the Beta session ring is givings its wearer wings.

Oh, I forgot to mention, the ring is wearable by anybody non-human or non-troll. Non-session player. It is a strictly NPC item. Consorts of Prospit, Derse, or the Battlefield (or even the players’ unique planets) are able to wear the ring and transform.

Anyway. (Again.)

In this way, the Black Queen and King are more difficult to defeat. And as you can guess, the more players that are in a session, the harder the final boss. So what happens if a player dies along the way? Is it immediately game over?

Hell no! Skaia wants you to win. Skaia has a mind of its own. It knows what it’s doing when it puts you in the game.

If the wakened self dies, the dream self takes over for them and their consciousness merges. The dream self is an allotted second life, second chance. This happens across sessions quite often.

If either self dies in a very specific way, however, the player may ascend to something called a God Tier. They are given special power over their abilities, and are only killable by either: an act of heroism (protecting another player from death), or an act of justice (an evil player being slain). Meaning that they have situational immortality.

But let’s backtrack a little. That’s right, I mentioned abilities.

Each player is assigned a role to play. “The __ of __” is the title system. John is the Heir of Breath. Dave is the Knight of Time. It goes on as such. These titles are not endless, and the aspects they have power over are not endless either, but going into detail would be a fat waste of time. All you need to know is that, for a session to succeed, there must be at least two aspects present:

Time and Space.

They work together to complete the last mission Skaia asks of them, which is… breeding frogs. Yes, really. But they are aiming to breed a special frog: the Genesis Frog. In its belly is an entirely new universe. And that is the overarching goal of Sburb. To birth a new universe. The prize for winning? Overseeing the safety of said new universe. “THANK YOU FOR PLAYING!”

There are other roles to play as well. For example, one of the players must create clones of themselves and their fellow players. These clones are put on the meteors of the Veil.

The same ones that hurl towards Skaia? Yes! The same ones that get transported elsewhere in the universe? Yep! Are you following me?

— The portals that protect Skaia don’t only send the meteors elsewhere, but also elsewhen. And if you get what I’m saying, then you’ll understand that some of these meteors are the very ones that bring about the destruction of Earth in the beginning of the players’ journey. More specifically, the clones sent back are known as paradox clones, and they are sent far back in time to ensure that the players actually play the game. It’s a very long-winded, fiery, death-laden version of a self-fulfilling prophecy.

...Jesus, I have to take a break after that one.

I’m almost done describing the parameters of the game. There’s just one final detail that I have to cover. Bless you for reading this far.

Earlier, I mentioned that the Alpha Kids’ session was special, and it’s not only because each player is in a different year on Earth. You see, not all sessions function the same or have the same final bosses. There are four kinds of sessions that can happen, each with their own possibilities and difficulties.

The standard session has all of the amenities detailed above. The final boss may vary, but it is still possible to win. None of the Homestuck sessions are standard sessions.

A null session is different. No matter what you do, you will fail. If a player fails somewhere along the line in The Medium, they can initiate The Scratch, which acts as a hard reset (at the cost of the players’ memories and progress). “BETTER LUCK NEXT TIME!” If they failed before they ever enter the medium, there is almost nothing they can do to win. This was the case with the Beta kids.

In a void session, as with the Alpha Kids, no sprites are prototyped before entering the Medium. This means that the Battlefield never changes form, and the stalemate of the chess game continues. This session can only be won if players from another session intervene, which is incredibly difficult to do. Like, Deus Ex Machina status. If no one intervenes, the players will simply have to live out the rest of their lives in this session of inactivity and hopelessness.

The final type of session is called a dead session. A player enters, alone. The parameters of the game are changed completely. It is described as “almost punishing the player for trying to play alone” and nearly impossible to win. One of the main villains is a winner of this type of session.

Homestuck is packed with information, some of it so hard to explain that the reader only understands it after reading everything. The worldbuilding is considerably well done, knowing just how much of it there is. Some aspects of Sburb are too small of details to rightfully put in this summary. I really have covered the bare bones of it.

To summarize this part of the summary:

Players enter a session. Skaia redirects meteors until the players confront the final boss. A frog is then bred and journeys itself to the center of the Battlefield, where it becomes a new universe for the winners to protect. At the cost of their Earth, they are able to give life to another dimension of endless possibilities. Easy!

Well, it should have been that easy. But before the Beta kids ever entered their session, one of our main heroines fucked absolutely everything up. And that, my friends, is my glorious transition into our Homestuck portion.

THE WEBCOMIC

A young man plays a game with his friends.

…

...

Yes, really.

Homestuck is the combination of several sessions that all work together towards a common goal: defeat the undefeatable boss. Remember my little quip about the heroine that fucks everything up? Well, our little Beta heroine prototypes her sprite with a being she should have never ever prototyped with: an all-powerful, mysterious Dog with power over spatial abilities. Meaning… giving the Beta ring-wearer so much power in addition to everything else the kids give them, that the wearer is nearly invincible.

Other small details lead to a Dersite (consort of Derse), named Jack Noir, taking the ring and slaying both Queens and Kings himself. This leads to him becoming the final boss, who only has a taste for destruction.

...And that leads him to targeting another session, which was nearly won. A Troll session. Because of this, the Trolls can no longer win either.

Timey-wimey bullshit (believe me, trying to explain it now is just gonna give you a headache because it’s the buildup of like 5,000 pages of exposition) later leads these two joined sessions to take it on over to a void session: the Alpha Kids’ session. The only session that could possibly lead to a victory. Remember, a void session is winnable, but only by the intervention of extremely powerful players (see: God Tier).

But in their journey, the final bosses of the sessions chase after them, leading to the ultimate final showdown.

And that’s as simple as it goes. The comic is divided into different acts, and is 7 acts long. There are a lot of intermissions between acts, and convoluted titles like “Act 6 Act 6 Act 6” among them. There’s a portion where the villain takes over the narrative and changes the title to “HOMOSUCK.” Numerous flash games and flash animations are scattered throughout. The narrative can be a little hard to follow at times.

It starts off slow, which is why it can be hard to get into at first. Some things still confuse me, and I’ve read it in its entirety multiple times. Some of the logs (chats between multiple players) are really long. But with these details, even a beginner like you could follow Homestuck with general ease!

Or… that’s the idea, anyway. Questions are welcomed.

Thanks for reading!

#homestuck #why did i do this you ask?#a friend wanted to understand #and i figured i'd just put this out there for anyone who wants it #homestuck explained

21 notes · View notes

mere-technicality · 7 years

Text

The Wikipedia troll

I can’t believe I haven’t told the story of my Wikipedia troll yet.

So, last year I did a lot of page curation on Wikipedia. There were a lot of spam pages but more often than not they were just not notable people. In any case, one such page that I marked for deletion was one of the Militant Christian Church. Deleted for spam and being non-notable. Then, a few minutes later, there was another page about the pastor of that church, whose name was Ebeneezer Lux, I believe. Marked for deletion for the same reasons. In any case, after I marked them for deletion, I went to bed.

The next morning I woke up to about five different notifications. And they were all from the same guy, someone named A Humble Footsolider in Archangel Michael’s Army. The same dude that had created all those pages. He went on a paragraphs-long rant that I found by digging back through the edit log. “I am a faithful, zealous, righteous and upright Christian soldier, committed to fight for MY Faith with no hesitations and no qualms, and give No Quarter to all Enemies of Christ - be they Infidel, Backslider, Heretic, Papist or Atheist - as all these are but different face of the same ANCIENT FOE, all alike but bestial minions of Satan and the Antichrist, all alike enemies which the True Christian Knight is duty bound to fight and extirpate. So be it, so be it, Amen in the Highest! So Hast God Ordained At The Very Creation Of The World, and So Verily Shalt It Be! The Thrice-Cursed Witch and Minion of Satan and of the Anti-Christ Nicole calling herself "MereTechnicality” is a Prime Example of such Cursed Enemies of the Christian Faith and the True Christian Church. Along with All Other Minions of Satan, she shalt be EXTIRPATED! Begone, ye Creature of Darkenss, ere the Light of the Risen Jesus Christ Militant strike Ye like Unto Seventy-Seven Suns! Amen, Amen, Amen in the Highest - God’s Will Be Done!A Humble Foot Soldier in Archangel Michael’s Army (talk) 11:14, 18 February 2017 (UTC)[[User:A Humble Foot Soldier in Archangel Michael's Army|A Humble Foot Soldier in Archangel Michael's Army]] ([[User talk:A Humble Foot Soldier in Archangel Michael's Army|talk]]) 11:18, 18 February 2017 (UTC)“

so i’m just here laughing my ass off at this guy who is literally challenging me to holy combat and everyone is just giving him templated responses like “please do not vandalize the talk pages of others” and then he came back on his talk page about how HE IS HERE TO CLEANSE WIKIPEDIA AND PREPARE IT FOR EBENEEZER LUX’S HOLY MESSAGE AND I’M JUST LAUGHING SO HARD AT THIS

he got banned obviously.

but then months later i got another string of notifications. all from one guy whose name was “A Wayfarer Bearing the Sword of Jesus” so immediately i’m like “oh here we go again”

and the dude is just RAILING on me. apparently tagging those two pages was enough to doom me to hellfire or at least a spot on his blacklist. his message read as follows:

“ Foul Fiend, though stands Unmasked and revealed as the Satanic Minion thou art! Yea Indeed! Being enmeshed the Coils and Most Nefarious Designs of thy Infernal Master, thou hast Transgressed, Blasphemed and Presumed to block the True Word of God in Wikipedia! For such an Enormity of Mortal Sin there is not – and cannot be – any Forgiveness! Know, thou Wretch, thou Foul Fiend, thou Satanic Minion, that the True Word of God issues and emanates from The Most Holy Person Now Living, none less than The Most Holy Reverend Ebenezer Abel Lux, Consecrated Pastor and Prophetic Leader of the First Church of Jesus Christ Militant, to whom were vouchsafed Divine Visions and Angelic Visitations and who is Fated and Destined to Stand at the Right Hand of Christ in the Second Coming. Know, thou Wretch, that the Synod of The First Church of Jesus Christ Militant has duly resolved and commanded and commended that Wikipedia must be and shalt be Cleansed and Purified and be made a Ready and Fitting Vehicle for the True Word of God. Know, thou Wretch, that I, Thomas Lucas McGregor III, am a faithful, zealous, righteous and upright Christian soldier, a True, Faithful and Loyal Son and Knight of the Church, and that I most willingly and happily do the bidding of the Synod and of the Most Holy Reverend Lux – so help me God Almighty and the Risen Jesus Christ Militant. Thereupon I, Thomas Lucas McGregor III, Soldier of Christ, hereby challenge thou, Fould Fiend and Minion of Satan, to single combat! Yea, to to single combat! Choose your Arms and Come to Me on the Field of Tournament! You may prepare all thy Infernal Devices, you may beseech the aid of Succor of thy Foul Infernal Master – but it would avail thee Naught. For it is God Almighty who Guides my sword arm, and it Jesus’ Bright Sword of Justice which I Bear. To the Righteous shalt Victory go, yea indeed, most assuredly! I shalt meet thou on the Field of Testing and I shalt mete out to thee thy Just Deserts. Thy Earthly Husk shalt go to a miserable shameful burial in Unhallowed Ground, and thy Doomed Immortal Soul shalt go down to Total Perdition and a million million years of unceasing Hellish Torture – as thou so very richly Deserve. So be it, so be it, Amen in the Highest! So Hast God Ordained At The Very Creation Of The World, and So Verily Shalt It Be! Amen, Amen, Amen! [[User:A Wayfarer Bearing the Sword of Jesus|A Wayfarer Bearing the Sword of Jesus]] ([[User talk:A Wayfarer Bearing the Sword of Jesus|talk]]) 15:44, 22 April 2017 (UTC)”

and obviously that sockpuppet was also banned BUT THAT STILL WASN’T THE END OF IT

by the time i get another string of messages i’m just like “oh it’s the fundie he’s back”

"I am a humble Christian soldier and obedient servant of the Glorious First Church of Jesus Christ Militant. I full obedience to the Commands of the Church and of its Most Holy Leader and Spiritual Guide, The Most Holy Reverend Ebenezer Abel Lux, I have come into Wikipedia to do here my Most Holy Duty to God Almighty and The Risen Jesus Christ Militant and issue a Challenge to Personal Combat to the Satanic Minions who have infested Wikipedia and are Charged by their Most Foul Infernal Master with the Nefarious Task of block the True Word of God from being heard and disseminated. In pursuance with my above-mentioned duty I have embarked on issuing the challenges in the Prescribed Form as follows: Satanic Minion, I Challenge Thee To Single Combat! Foul Fiend, thou stands Unmasked and revealed as the Satanic Minion thou art! Yea Indeed! Being enmeshed in the Coils and Most Nefarious Designs of thy Infernal Master, thou hast Transgressed, Blasphemed and Presumed to block the True Word of God in Wikipedia! For such an Enormity of Mortal Sin there is not – and cannot be – any Forgiveness! Know, thou Wretch, thou Foul Fiend, thou Satanic Minion, that the True Word of God issues and emanates from The Most Holy Person Now Living, none less than The Most Holy Reverend Ebenezer Abel Lux, Consecrated Pastor and Prophetic Leader of the First Church of Jesus Christ Militant, to whom were vouchsafed Divine Visions and Angelic Visitations and who is Fated and Destined to Stand at the Right Hand of Christ in the Second Coming. Know, thou Wretch, that the Synod of The First Church of Jesus Christ Militant has duly resolved and commanded and commended that Wikipedia must be and shalt be Cleansed and Purified and be made a Ready and Fitting Vehicle for the True Word of God. Know, thou Wretch, that I, Thomas Lucas McGregor III, am a faithful, zealous, righteous and upright Christian soldier, a True, Faithful and Loyal Son and Knight of the Church, and that I most willingly and happily do the bidding of the Synod and of the Most Holy Reverend Lux – so help me God Almighty and the Risen Jesus Christ Militant. Thereupon I, Thomas Lucas McGregor III, Soldier of Christ, hereby challenge thou, Foul Fiend and Minion of Satan, to single combat! Yea, to single combat! Choose your Arms and Come to Me on the Field of Tournament! You may prepare all thy Infernal Devices, you may beseech the Aid and Succor of thy Foul Infernal Master – but it would avail thee Naught. For it is God Almighty who Guides my sword arm, and it is Jesus’ Bright Sword of Justice which I Bear. To the Righteous shalt Victory go, yea indeed, most assuredly! I shalt meet thee on the Field of Testing and I shalt mete out to thee thy Just Deserts. Thy Earthly Husk shalt go to a miserable shameful burial in Unhallowed Ground, and thy Doomed Immortal Soul shalt go down to Total Perdition and a Million Million Years of unceasing Hellish Torture – as thou so very richly Deserve. So be it, so be it, Amen in the Highest! So Hast God Ordained At The Very Creation Of The World, and So Verily Shalt It Be! Amen, Amen, Amen! A Humble Christian Pilgrim and Knight (talk) 12:55, 31 July 2017 (UTC)” Black List of Satanic Minions calling themselves “administrators” of Wikipedia – doomed, doomed, doomed, one and all, to Fall before the Bright Sword of Jesus Christ Militant and go down to their Just Deserts, to Perdition and Eternal Hellish Torture: User:Widr, User:MereTechnicality, (me!) User:Jake Brockman, User:Non-dropframe, User:JamesBWatson, User:Yunshui, User:Jackninja5, User:Materialscientist, User:Exemplo347, User:NeilN So far the text of the Challenges to Single Combat which I issued to the Foul Satanic Minions in the Prescribed Form as laid down by the One and Only True Church, First Church of Jesus Christ Militant, in accordance with True Traditions and Usages of Chivalry as of Olden Times. I have been disrupted and blocked in this Holy Task of issuing Challenges to Single Combat - clearly yet another Manifestation of the Nefarious Satanic Minions and their Stanglhold on Wikipedia WHICH MUST AND SHALT BE DULY BROKEN! In the process, yet another Satanic Minion, calling himself User:There'sNoTime, has revealed his Ugly Face. He, too, shalt of course be added to the Black List of Satanic Minions calling themselves “administrators” of Wikipedia – doomed, doomed, doomed, one and all, to Fall before the Bright Sword of Jesus Christ Militant and go down to their Just Deserts, to Perdition and Eternal Hellish Torture. He, too, shalt be duly issued with a Challenge to Single Combat and he too shalt most assuredly Fall before the Bright Sword of Jesus Christ Militant wielded by my Sword Arm. and at the end added “So thereupon I request and indeed most sternly DEMAND that this stupid Satanic "block” be removed forthwith and that that I be enabled to continue uninterrupted on my Holy Task of Cleansing Wikipedia and making it a Fit Vehicle for the True Word of God. And again do I sternly warn that all who presuming to stop the Humble Servant of Gon in the Fulfilment of his Ordained Task are risking their immortal Souls, that anyone persisting and maintaining this stupid Satanic “block” are risking no less than Utter Perdition, a Million Million Years of the Most Hellish Unceasing Torture. I have spoken, you have been WARNED, so Help Me God! Amen, Amen, Amen![[User:A Humble Christian Pilgrim and Knight|A Humble Christian Pilgrim and Knight]] ([[User talk:A Humble Christian Pilgrim and Knight#top|talk]]) 12:55, 31 July 2017 (UTC)}}“

so anyway every few months i just get like seven notifications from this guy coming back for another round and it’s always just hilarious.

You know what the kicker is? I’m not even an admin on Wikipedia.

#have a story #wikipedia #fundies #laugh tag #...is it cheating to tag my own content in my laugh tag #i don't care this made me laugh #long post

49 notes · View notes

antiboardteengirl · 5 years

Text

I Hear You - Behind the Scene- Story development

"I Hear You" is the story about Eric to forgive his father mistake that made in so many years ago. This is the story about forgiveness, empathy, and personal growth.

______________________________________________________

Honestly, I think I am not that creative people who always got the new idea/ funny story, so I have no idea what should I write for the script at the beginning. I am really refuse to build the story with random elements and called it 'creative process', it is not makes sense at all and that;s the worst ways to create the story(in my opinion), it is hard to find/ build the relationship between your feeling and the story, and that will be like a very hard task that I have to finish, without any good feeling in that.

It is so easy to spend out all your passion and patient when you are making animation.

So what should I do? it's simple, I am a good at observation, just drag things in real life put it in story, which have some personal emotional connection.

And here, is the paragraph from my theoretical Text about my motivation of making this film:

________________________________________________________

Nowadays, People posted things and share their life in social media, I think it is because they just wanna to be heard. Listening and being heard are the most basic and important things in relationship, but most of the time, for somehow, people tend to hide themselves in front of the family. Maybe it is about the expectation and deviation, parenting method, or the other reason, at least you can see isolation from people, or from parent become a serious issue, and we all got some unsolved problem. I always think people should put an end to pass, so they can move forward faster, as the artwork to represent to finish my college life, I would drop down my sorrow and emotion in my teenage times, and this is the basic motive to produce the film.

Concept: the main elements in the story:

[Childhood Trauma and PTSD ] "I Hear You" is the story about Eric to forgive his father mistake, which is a car accident that made mothers dead while alcoholic father was in the driver seat. "Baby Driver" has similar background story of the main character as my GT animation, they are both lost their parent/ mother in their childhood. In "Baby driver". they would using the humming voice while the bad memories flashback and as the internal sound for the main character to show his uncomfortable feeling. I think this is a interesting point in the sound design and I might take this as reference.

[ Narration interspersed with flashback ] I always obsessed with abstract the storytelling style, and I thought I would be a film student. After chosen the wrong major, I am being an animation student and feeling like classmate around me tend to more directly storytelling style. So I want to try more abstract way to tell the story in character animation. A Calarts animation student Alex Avagimian made his 3rd year film “Little Bandits” (2018), and I really love he create the tension by using some one simple event, what happened on the event it is very obvious, but the emotion behind the story is really strong and excellent, and that is the style that I wanna try to make. Some special narrative ways like "memento"(2000) is too hard for me, so I just using some simple narration interspersed with scene, which is the memory of that car accident, to helping audience know the reason behind what cause their relationship became so bad.

[ Symbolic object ] Using symbolic object to represent person or event is very popular in movie, and also can made audience understand the plots and director's mind more easier. So I used some element too. “Black Deer” and "fire" is represented the car accident in memory, and "Bird " is represented mother , also the freedom and liberation that Eric are craving for. Because Eric blames Father murdered mother, and in the way, this is his own self-aversion feeling that project on the father. He feels he was inability to change with he lost the ideal figure to learn, while he was growing up.So he want to move forward and free like a high-flying bird, and using bird as a symbol is a nice way.

(Here is the very early concept art )

The reason that I named this titled ,is I think being heard is the first step to out of darkness; also, it brings the contrast in the film: even son and father didn't talk, but the son heard his father's needs and his needs.

_______________________________________

[The struggle of the character]

Eric lose his mum in the car accident when he was 8. After it , he has been living in the environment only with father. Because the mother used to take care of Eric, and father has very strong self -esteem, and did not know how to take care his son, that made Eric become more independent in early days. But it also forming the distance between two of them: Eric would not talk with father because he hated the father used to quarrel with mother , and did not complete for responsibility of father, and thought that father should very strong responsibility for mother's death.

Father has been always feeling guilty for his wife's death. Even before that accident, he felt so depressed about how to take his family and jobs duty, so being an alcoholic, and give vent to his family.

But it was 10 years ago, Eric found that how hard would it be this burden that father is carrying during all those years. He wants to make peace with father ,but he could not forgive from the damage that caused by father in those many years, while he was growing and learning how to be a person.

The father is getting old too, but he still cannot release from it, and facing the problem..... __________________________________________

some reference about this film:

[Story structure / Storytelling reference] Alex Avagimian .(2018). Little Bandits. Retrieved from https://vimeo.com/265284284 Edgar Wright. (2017). “Baby Driver” . Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9YZw_X5UzQ Lynne Ramsay, (2017), “You were never really here” . Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1APnf3Y_W8 Good example for Editing, could be used on memory flashback Alan Holly, and maps and plans .(2015, June 21). Coda. Retrieved from https://vimeo.com/131376602

[Art Style] Nicolas CAPITAINE, Léni MAROTTE, Lucas DURKHEIM, Céline DESOUTTER .(2017). HORS SAISON. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/AvrrQRtLCfc Leïla Courtillon .(2016). Eñvor. Retrieved from https://vimeo.com/185003665 Lucrèce Andreae. (2017). Grandpa Walrus . Retrieved teaser from https://vimeo.com/300147122 GoldenWolf (2016, February 3). Zedd ft. Troye Sivan - Papercut (Grey remix) Retrieved from https://vimeo.com/154036942 Kris Merc , Benjy Brooke .(2014). The Peach Kings - Mojo Thunder. Retrieved from https://vimeo.com/101524653 Tania Palumbo, Thomas Romain. (2003-2007) Code Lyoko. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Code_Lyoko

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Make this film its so hard

#ihearyou

0 notes

andrewqnh982-blog · 5 years

Text

Concussions - Symptoms & Treatment

"Injury is a term that covers a substantial variety of scenarios, all of which have one thing in common: An individual is hurt or hindered in some way as a result of the irresponsible century law inc reviews actions of another. It can be a result of almost any type of accident, many commonly a car mishap, however may also be the result of a slip and fall or any other damaging event that triggers physical injury. The nature of the injury or the way in which it happens can originate from an unlimited number of causes, but the significant typical element in injury cases is that the injury is allowed to occur due to the recognized neglect of another person or entity.

According to Washington state law, any person or entity that ""fails to work out ordinary care in the avoidance of damage to others might be accountable for any damage or damage they trigger"". If an injury takes location that is the result of another celebration's neglect, then that person has actually stopped working to work out sensible care and care in the prevention of harm to others. This failure, when developed, makes the negligent celebration proportionately responsible for monetary damages in the kind of medical expenses or property restoration expenses.

Washington state follows a relative carelessness approach that offers for proportional obligation and healing in personal injury cases. Each celebration must accept liability in the degree to which it is accountable for any particular loss. This means that if your own negligence contributed in some degree to the injury or damages you suffered as an outcome of somebody else's carelessness, the amount of the healing you receive may be minimized proportionately by the portion for which you were responsible. Relative negligence also attends to an in proportion healing in a situation where multiple parties triggered your injury. Because case, the multiple parties are each proportionately accountable for their individual financial damages based upon the portion of liability they share. A good lawyer can help increase the award of damages to a party who might have some level of comparative negligence for the accident that triggered their injuries.

youtube

Legal decisions need to be made based on the law and truths surrounding the incident to recognize the responsible parties in an individual injury case. This is often a complex procedure. In some cases people are responsible, but usually, that liability then transfers to an insurance provider. Determining accountable celebrations early on is necessary https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/?search=https://www.rocketlawyer.com/article/do-i-need-a-bankruptcy-attorney.rl so that medical treatment can be supplied and residential or commercial property can be brought back. In order for an insurance company to cover medical costs or damages out of pocket for a mishap, they should first make a decision of obligation. Insurance provider are rarely quick to do this and most of the time, victims discover themselves in the precarious position of needing healthcare and residential or commercial property remediation without any monetary means to attend to it because the parties are still attempting to identify who's responsible and to what degree.

Vehicle insurance coverage in Washington normally include a kind of protection called PIP - Accident Security. This coverage was developed to offer the victims of a circumstance like the one described in the previous paragraph. PIP is a ""no-fault"" type of protection that insurance business in Washington State are needed to provide by law. The ""no-fault"" decision indicates that despite which party is ultimately at fault in an accident, PIP coverage attends to the immediate, affordable, and necessary care of injuries sustained by the insured as a result of the mishap in question. The insured celebration gets funds through his own insurance plan to supply for his own care, funds that will be compensated at some future moment, either by himself, which is rare or by the celebration discovered to be at fault for the mishap. If, in truth, it is figured out that the insured is not accountable or at fault for the accident, his insurance coverage company will ultimately recover their out-of-pocket PIP medical expenses from the at-fault or responsible party. This is called subrogation and enables the insurance provider to assume the costs of their own policyholders and after that, at a future time, collect those expenses from the party or parties who are ultimately accountable.

In order to identify fault in a mishap of any kind, a comprehensive investigation is generally carried out by both sides. It is usually a prolonged procedure resolving lots of problems. In the event you are associated with a mishap, there are many things you can do to assist at the same time, such as maintaining proof in the type of damaged home, taking pictures of intact accident scenes, and securing the names and contact information of any prospective witnesses. Nevertheless, since of the intricacy of the investigative and legal processes, and the sophistication level of the majority of insurer and their representatives, you will be ill equipped to handle any investigatory effort where the opposite's main goal is to discharge itself of all liability and transfer that legal and monetary duty to you. Employing qualified legal counsel is the best technique, especially in a case of where physical injury or measurable property damage is sustained. If you have been hurt or harmed as a result of the actions or neglect of another in the state of Washington, check out to read more about your rights."

#debt attorney #debt lawyer #law firm

0 notes

khalix-hyetology · 7 years

Text

Belief systems in The Testament of New Ezekiel and Temple Gate

I wanted to analyse some of the belief systems in Temple Gate, particularly The Testament of New Ezekiel. This does not exclude Val’s beliefs as their narrative is entwined with what made the Heretics. The Gospels of Knoth are a tricky business because they follow Christian imagery and certain Abrahamic formats, however, they are pretty disingenuous in many ways with Christianity and other Abrahamic formats.

This is evidenced by some of the imagery present and the words used. In fact, I think some Youtuber and Tumblr users specifically pointed out that gospels used the words “cunt” too much than actually proper sentences/words. Seeing “cunt” is a slang we can definitely see how this is a cultish text far removed from usual religious language, motifs, lexicon and imagery. Similarly, a point I wanted to mention and adjoin from the beginning is the phrase “breach hell’s cunt” is similar to Outlast’s “spirit breach.” I mentioned this before on another post. We can definitely see the use of semantics, contexts and lexicon favours a Murkoff setting and ambience rather than a traditional or even free-thinking Christian setting.

This post is long and I want to try to understand the Gospels of Knoth; so bear with me pals. We don’t get the gospels in chronological order, there are 15, so I tried to place some things chronologically. In conjunction, I want to include Val’s journals and such as Val, like Marta, is an indispensable figure in understanding Knoth’s gospels and also The Testament of New Ezekiel.

In the very first Gospel of Knoth there are these lines:

“6.For the seed of Prophet shall root the Enemy, that the Prophet may strike down with furious vengeance the bastard of lies begot in his own sin cleansed by his own blood, spilled of his own issue.” Knoth 1:6

Basically, Knoth is supposed to be the father of the Antichrist of Temple Gate. Though, definitely, the entire story is contradicted by Lynn being the mother. Lynn hasn’t slept with Blake in months. Unless, Knoth did something Lynn can’t be pregnant. Also, Blake is called “The Spiller of foul seed”, “rut-mate” to the “devil’s whore” and “The father.” Basically, the belief system definitely has literal problems rather than semantic ones.

Also, Knoth is “elected” prophet by “the blood wept in revelation” (1:2) which is completely strange and is not there in Christian Faith or Abrahamic tenets. Furthermore:

“4. O. Zion, Zion, thou that stonest the prophets sent unto you so that your house is desolate and the blood of your ill-got children is sprinkled upon the earth to feed the wheat that fattens your brood for slaughter. 5. For all flesh is grass to fatten the sacrificial ox or sacrilegious calf, O Ba’al, O El, O Guaglana, O Moloch, but grass left to wither and fertilised with blood will to seed and spread.” Knoth 1: 4&5

Well, you can see basically infanticide is stated in the very first gospel. And now we can understand why Blake coming to Temple Gate meeting the shadows heard them speak “All flesh is grass to fatten oxen. Sacrifice. Sacrifice.” by one guy and then Corgan, the guy who says “I’ll bleed you in the yard”, goes like “Consume the flesh, spice it well, burn the bones.” It is like they are performing a cycle of killing and infanticide to please their “god.” Additionally, the carrion of animals is considered to be food for “the wheat” as well, making them kill anything, after the tribulations to the end of days start. Marta herself talks about this, I believe, as “the saviour’s wedding supper.” which would be filled with “flayed carrion” and rotten women.

Knoth’s second gospel is pretty much reiterating this message. It talks about the holy mission of killing the antichrist as important. That any other understanding is antithetical to this mission on the grounds that “the line of Adam corrupted beyond salvation by the line of Cain” (2:3) which is also antithetical to regular Christian practices and also Abrahamic tenets. It talks about not being overwhelmed by lust and to be ready for the antichrist who is also described as such: “defend His Heaven by the spilling of the heart’s blood of the spider-eyed lamb, The Enemy, the unborn prince of lies.” (2:6) Reiterating that the people of Temple Gate are good stating: “ye holy, for I am holy.” (2:7).

The Third chapter is actually about Sullivan Knoth’s awakening. Basically, he was, as Outlast wiki also states, 34 years old and in debt and residing in Albuquerque. Knoth was apparently a shoe salesman when he started hearing the voices. However, these things also happened to him:

“13. And I silenced the voice and looked, and beheld unseen a great fire enfolding itself in the brightness of the rising sun, and out of the midst thereof a color out of space; 14. And my frenzied eyes cast back in unworthy gulfs of darkness, away from knowledge unbearable to man, and noise of the fury of the Lord came upon me; 15. And my ears bled as the member of a child at circumcision, and the Lord made known by this our covenant is made which ye shall keep. 16. He that hears where words cannot be spoke shall abide until time is no more, and the Enemy born of thine own issue shall be thy charge for my vengeance.” Knoth 3: 13,14,15 & 16

Sound familiar? It should. The light and the noise part, as gamers we experience as Blake. The rising sun cloaked with an obscure light, well, Blake faces that in the end and is swept away in some place. That is probably Murkoff’s way of indoctrination and showing levels of indoctrination. The Third gospel pretty much explains levels of indoctrination by Murkoff’s Towers. However, we can only piece this by the end as things happen gradually to our protagonist Blake.

The fourth gospel pretty much commands Knoth to do his duties. One particular paragraph:

“6. Turn ye from your evil ways, turn ye from your unsired rutting, take not pleasure in women unmarked by their natural blood covenant with the Lord. but fuck and multiply as the act was designed by the Lord.” Knoth 4:6

The language is coarse. It is also misogynistic. It talks about not sleeping with women, I understand, who don’t wish to conceive as that is “natural blood covenant.” These articles are also pretty isolationist. In the second chapter of Knoth’s gospels there is also that instruction of always being ready to holy purpose and never to stray away from it in idle conversations with family and such. Pretty much building an environment where infanticide and other violations can occur.

This is also reiterated in the school’s lesson plan in which the aim is stated “The children should fear their duty but celebrate it as a guaranteed entrance to Heaven”: obviously, this is how cults operate. The indoctrination is repeated with the bold title of “ENEMY: Your fear is a tool of The Enemy. God knows best.” Basically, also saying that their lives belong to papa and also “god”, is pretty much like cultist behaviour. Infanticide is a sin in Abrahamic tenets. One statement in the school lesson that completely erases Christian beliefs and Abrahamic tenets is this line: “Abrahamic killed Isaac in his heart.” This solidifies that abandonment by their parents and also by everyone is a religious cause whereas nowhere in Christianity or Abrahamic principles is this stated. It is obviously a belief system that evolved from being indoctrinated by Murkoff;s Towers.

Knoth’s fifth gospel follows on talking about their awakening. The light that he sees is:

“1. And I looked, and a gyre unwound from the night, a fire turned inward, burning from all directions towards the center, and drew the light from the walls of my room so that I hung in a void that shone in rainbows like oil upon a black mirror.” Knoth 5:1

I do like the metaphors in this one so kudos to the creative team. However, if you see the imagery and read the metaphors you will see that some of this imagery is inconsistent with what we define as “light.” It feels almost like a dark mass, almost Walrider like in nature (which Outlast wiki says the developers called “Nano Cloud”). It gives the players some interesting food for thought on what could have actually emerged and what was Knoth seeing. It continues towards the end with a long list of descriptions which I include to emphasize the “Nano” phenomenon:

“5. And their faces were innumerable and joined to one another, a thousand eyes and everything a mouth, with wings and jaws inseparable even in sight, and the purpose of the eyes and the purpose of the jaws was both for a more perfect consumption. 6. Thus were their faces, and in the next moment, they were the bones of the Four Horses of the Apocalypse and the bones of the Horsemen, too. 7. And in the moment that followed their faces were the sex organs of angels, and in the moment that followed a bonfire of flame with voices singing in beauty to rend the mind, and in the moment that followed a reflection in silvered glass. 8. For their faces were all of these things at once, and their wings were joined one to another and as they flapped woke to arrest time and I could not take air into my body.” Knoth 5: 5,6,7&8

As we can see this is where the idea of consumption of flesh and all of that figures so powerfully in Temple Gate. Basically, this is also why everything felt like an inevitable dream but as stated “not mine.” which is effaced on the Temple Gate town plaque. This is why Laird also believes that the Scalled Messiah will come down in locust wings. Furthermore, this is why Val commented how this all seemed like a message but nothing holy. This could also be why the letter from the cultist Lisa talks about thousands of cocks raping the earth. Abrahamic beliefs don’t necessarily have gendered angels so what sex organs did Knoth see is questionable and brings back the nano Cloud of Outlast. This entire thing also reminds me of Loutermilch demon being a mutilated, mutated demon chasing Blake in another dimension. It brings back the Outlast concept of Lucid Dreamers as well who are heavily affected by the Morphogenic Engine.

The description of the images also happens in Knoth’s sixth gospel. The wheels of Ezekiel becomes reference because the voice(s) pretty much tells Knoth about Ezekiel. Also, there are creatures upon wheels which Knoth sees. However, this part got me:

“6. The rings of the wheels were dreadful, and full of eyes round about them four, thousands of eyes and none of them human, but black and intelligent and shining like the eyes of beasts ready for slaughter. 7. And where the unfaced creatures looked, the eyes of the rings focused, for the spirit of the creatures was in the wheels, and the spirit of the wheels was in the creature.” Knoth 6:6&7

The eyes were not human and they were black. The wheels were moving and they seem the creature and the wheels were one. A reading of the Walrider in the Outlast wiki pretty much surmises that the nano cloud phenomenon of the Walrider is pretty much something that moves around and can dissipate. Thus, this imagery feels pretty much allusions to a creature like a Walrider in my opinion.

The seventh gospel is amusing at the end because it completely states something that goes against what it has been saying. What Knoth talks about and the indoctrination that is concomitant with what Variants say in Mount Massive:

“2. And the spirit entered the cunt of my mind and made seed there, and I became as the chorus of screams in the movement of the wheels.” Knoth 7:2

This is interesting that Knoth would call his mind a “cunt” as well and almost like Val he is talking about “a membrane seeking penetration” (Val 4) Also he was hearing voices and seeing things that is correlated to patients at Mount Massive.

What is amusing are these lines that come after:

“7. For if you worship Me but partway you are as the parent who cuts away the limbs of his child to better love what remains. 8. And that child will die and I will hate thee as a killer of little children.” Knoth 7: 7&8

For a cult, that rejoices in the “ecstasy of the lord” by blatant infanticide, murder, mutilation and rape I find that to be ironic. However, it seems that children already grown cannot be mutilated. Which could make sense seeing they may already be nullified as the probable antichrist. So, that can be another belief in Temple Gate.

The eighth and ninth gospels deal with the formation of Temple Gate. The lines that interested me the most is “you have not cut away thine eye, but the scale you took for an eye, and now you may see.” (8:7) and “lord spilled such vision into my split and bleeding orb, as man issuing seed into the split sex of a blossomed woman.” (9:9) The fact he would sexual scenes is pretty much now kind of staple. At the same time in the ninth chapter he stated:

“1.And the hand of the Lord took me by the roots of my innards and put a hook in my jaw and lifted me away from the bones of the dead Zion and shit of Publican swine. 2. And in the murk of outer dark I became as a cloud that covers the land and saw many things:” Knoth 9:1&2

Knoth is talking imagery similar to the Walrider again. Of being possessed by a demonic like entity. However, it does end with him thinking of the formation of Temple Gate.

The tenth gospel is interesting because it talks about cases involving women and Knoth’s somewhat “celibate” or unmarried life. Basically, they were pursued by authorities, after all their hideout in Lydia Deagan’s ranch was ruined, if we remember Knoth’s backstory that is online. Basically Knoth took on anyone in his cult:

“4. The Lord gave to Ezekiel more wives than brothers, though I turned away none; neither thief, whore, rapist, addict, murderer, pedophile, cripple.” Knoth 10: 4

I don’t know if “wives” meant that Knoth had numerous wives or basically if he meant he was sleeping with people and that meant they became his wives. Though the women part and the proclivity towards incest is later on stated. Basically, Knoth asked what he can do about getting the temptations to have many wives. Then this was told:

“6. It is simply commanded that you take no woman as rival to her sister, do not uncover ones nakedness while the other is alive. 7. Nor take your daughter as rivals to their mothers before their blood or while the elder is alive. 8. And of your wives and daughters you will have your greatest warriors, in wimples with weapons that censer. 9. And it shall be yours to multiply, to make children upon a legion of women, and children upon those children, and upon those children, until your line is a nation. 10. For from your nation the Enemy shall emerge.” Knoth 10:6,7,8,9&10, my highlights.

I highlighted the parts where incest is addressed as lawful in The Testament of New Ezekiel. Incest is outlawed in Abrahamic tenets and Christian Faith. Knoth practices sexual practices with every women who are even wives of other people. As one cult member I heard say in the barn, after we pass the first cornfield, talking about parentage of children: “I knew you was mine even if Papa furrowed your mama.” Basically, this is completely against anything Abrahamic but Knoth is told by the voice to do so. So, Murkoff wanted incest and this sort of sexual practices to happen. Perhaps, as I mentioned before, to allow the “ecstatic rage” and “proximity to death” as Rudolph Wernicke once stated. In fact:

“2. And I gathered my disciples, from the land of Al-Barquq, and the town of Holy Faith, and from the impotent apocalyptans in Los Alamos.” Knoth 10:2

Los Alamos is where Wernicke’s exit interview occurred in the 60s I believe around the time Knoth was also leaving. If you think about it, this converges aspects of Outlast and Outlast 2.

The eleventh gospel begins with another imagery. Though, it is of the antichrist:

“1.The fruit of destruction shall ripen within the foul womb of the martyred mother, the spider eyed lamb shall bring judgment of the lesser whore onto even the great whore who sitteth upon many waters.” Knoth 11:1

Basically, this could be the reason Marta calls Blake “the spider-eyed lamb” as Lynn is the “martyred mother.” Whoever brings the person who is supposed to bear the antichrist becomes the spider-eyed lamb. This could be anyone who is connected to the martyred mother. Lesser whores and greater whores: reminds me of Val personally.

The gospel keeps on going on how there will be people who will have “strong delusions” but these are all lies. And, those who do fall for them will be damned. This is somewhat like Abrahamic tenets but also completely perverted. The “delusions” that the cultists face are all for the towers. They may be “lies” or gateways that don’t matter to our own dimension but they can be dangerous so the cultists wanting to discuss them as Val stated was considerably smart thinking. Another perversion:

“9. For God has said the flesh of beast is yours only in sacrifice to me, even unto the flesh of your offspring.” Knoth 11:9

Of course, infanticide cannot be compared to making meat religiously edible. Thus this is total corruption of Christianity and of Abrahamic principles.

Chapter twelve talks about the coming of the antichrist but it is completely replete in pretty chaotic imagery and also contradictions. Saying to “harden thy hearts and thy hands, and sharpen thine blades” (12:2) so that they can finish the “bloody work”. What is disturbing is this is mentioned:

“4. Fear not the dreams that walk outside sleep, that by which ye shall be imprisoned and tortured; that shall dredge from the prisons of thy memory of your unrepentant sins... 7. And the air shall be as thick with locusts as will choke thy breath. 8. And ye shall be ravaged with boils and sickness; your body a temple and city to pestilence, and thy sex will wither and rot as flesh for carrion bird.” Knoth 12: 4, 7&8

Some of those things did happen for the radio signals of The Towers and the syphilis. It seems Murkoff had some way planned this or hypothesized, as the Old Traveler document showed, that the parallax and the feedback loop would definitely augment homicidal, hypersexual and chaotic thoughts.

The contradiction is “for all things must die when God finds no perfection even in his own perfection.” (12:10) This goes against Abrahamic principles and pretty much shows that “god” can only be Murkoff getting rid of its Subjects and Projectors after their use has been done.

Chapter Thirteen talks about heretics coming about and also the “hated of God, shall commune with the Enemy, shall bathe in the seed of the spider-eyed lamb” (13:5): Which pretty much sounds like Val’s orgy. Though, because it was already determined by the Old Traveler that Jenny Roland and other scientists predictable lascivious and voracious sexual appetite for the feedback loop this can explained by that.

The 14th Chapter states some things that are clearly carried out in the context of the game showing that signals may have had some of this information:

“1. And in the moments before her birth the Antichrist shall wake, eve in in the womb, and her woe and misery will bleed and corrupt the earth.” Knoth 14:1

The antichrist is a female child and Lynn also thought she was having a girl. This is interesting, Perhaps, a patriarchal, incestuous cult would consider a woman to be the harbinger of destruction. I wonder if Val, to celebrate this occasion, also made breasts and a vagina on their body out of mud (this could also be them reclaiming their intersex origins or showing they are trans woman). Val also wore “crowns of the earth” as in crown of thorns on their head. Could be a desire to be enveloped by the antichrist. Thus Val seeking penetration by a female antichrist is both a non-gender normative imagery and also a queer one.

The gospel continues with some of the things that were already happening:

“6. And the angels shall be carrion birds, who feast upon the flesh of kings, the flesh of mothers, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and them that sit on them, the flesh of free men and slaves. 7. And if they feed on the flesh of that damned child, then heaven is yours. 8. But if the child draws breath; if the eyes of the antichrist are allowed to take in the light of the world, they shall swallow the light of the world. 9. Then death shall reign again, and the endless suffering shall reward those who revel in suffering, and endless regret shall torture the righteous in the immedicable regrets of sin and shame.” Knoth 14: 6, 7, 8 & 9

The game pretty much fulfills these prophecies probably because they were bound a bit to happen or theorised as such. There were already birds dying as Blake saw them around. Marta also talks about the lines about eating the flesh of kings and strong men. The unused dialogue that talked of Val’s death talked about them happy about going to a hell thus “revel in suffering.” In the end, the child is not completely real as Lynn says there’s nothing there. However, Blake sees the sun being swallowed up and is swallowed into the gateway with Jessica where she says she will never let him and go and knows he won’t let her go either. So, Blake could have succumbed completely into the alternate dimension made by the radio signals. Perhaps, that is what happened.

Personally, Blake’s own history coincides with the gospels. Loutermilch also thought of Jessica as a culpable figure though being obsessed with her like anything. If radio signals talk about antichrist as female and all of that there is a chance that the belief of such things is Blake’s indoctrination to the signal being passed onto Jessica. I still think The Towers may create demons that walk out of dreams to also torture and get rid of possible “variants” outside the engine. Blake still could have become a lucid dreamer. The thing is the heretics and cultists are still pretty much bound by these visions and gospels which are all courtesy of Murkoff.

The fifteenth and last gospel is just an adherence to these gospels saying that they should be copied exactly and their lives should be lived righteously under Knoth as “ye shall climb the tree of life or be crucified upon it.” (15:7)

Already, we can see detractions from that. Either the radio signals are getting choppy after the storm or people are losing it. The New Gospels for instance are a sign of such a detraction. The new Gospels talk about Val and includes Val’s name into it, mixing it with the leader of the heretics and condemning them to damnation. The New Gospels Part 1 and 2 are a rewrite of the 11th gospel of Knoth.

There is also “Laird’s Gospel” or “Gospel of The Scalled Christ.” It is the gospel Blake picks up after escaping crucifixion and being buried alive. It seems Laird also fancied himself as a prophet or saint. Basically, there is also sexual imagery there which talks about Laird’s mind being too tight that the Lord’s penis would probably split it with the knowledge. I am not kidding you. That is exactly what is written there.

“17. And the Scalled Messiah shall rise from the grave, conquering sickness and conquering death, and those afflicted shall call him Immanuel. 18. And the Scalled Messiah shall say: this is my flesh, eat of it and be healed. Whoever eats of my flesh shall have eternal life. 19. And they shall proclaim the glory of Laird, who lead them to salvation.” The Gospel of the Scalled Christ 17,18 &19

It is completely obvious that Christian Faith or Abrahamic tenets do not speak of cannibalism. Laird got that on his own. ‘

In the midst of all of these things, Val ‘s journals are a secret. We know that paper is considered a luxurious commodity of Temple Gate. That only when copying the gospels they could be used or when some other instructed purpose. Val being a deacon has access to paper and is well educated. Their grammar, syntax and imagery is pretty salient and goes with the person they are. Val’s journals touch me at first as very emotional and moving. One can read them and realised they are looking at a person with a lot of emotional energy and intelligence, only they are becoming exhausted.

The first journal talks about having to take care of more children, seven to be exact. They are taking care of more than forty orphans.

“[W]ho love me desperately, as only can a child abandoned by the parents they thought were as natural and dependable a fact as the rising sun. And I love them. As I will never have children of my own, and have so much love to give. When God leaves them, too, I will be there with comforts and guidance.

What do these dreams mean?” Val 1

We can see already that Val is a kind and compassionate person. They are able to understand that what is happening to the children is unfair. However, Val’s journals also show the contradictions at Temple Fate. This first entry implies that either Val is infertile, told to be celibate or has been castrated. There has been no specifications about this. Was Knoth the only person who was able to have children? I don’t think so. So if Val is intersex it can be reason for them not being able to have children though if they were castrated it seems to go against Temple Gate’s understandings of birth and order.

The second journal is a horrific account of infanticide.

“ March 9

A quiet sky. Six more of my own children (though no blood of my own) met the blade this morning. I wept as at the slaughter of the issue of my own loins. I cut Marcus’ throat deep enough for the knife to scrape against spine, but still he was writhing on the pyre. And Papa smiled and sang about gathering at the river. All the voices of Temple Gate joined in chorus.

One one voice was absent, and conspicuously so.

God should have answered by now. Whether by words or action. God please give us an answer. Fulfill the promises of your prophet.

We have sent such oblations into the earth by blood and into the sky by flesh burnt to smoke that this continued silence is a message in itself. Do any love God as I do? As often as I do?” Val 2 (highlights my own).

This is a very graphic account of infanticide. Of actually feeling the pain of killing children. Val is wondering if “god” can love if “god” wants this. They have loved so much and yet they must do this. It feels barbaric and ruthless and completely inhuman. And, it is.

In fact, the killings always have been hard deaths. Val is not the only one who faced a child “writhing on the pyre.” When Blake crosses the first corn field and comes about the shed with the two cultists in them, one of them keeps on talking, the same one who says they knew the child was theirs if even Knoth slept with their wife says he can hear the voice of the girl he killed and tells her to tell God that he didn’t hurt her as much. The cultists says things like “Some cut too deep and got the windpipe and not the arteries. That makes a long time dying.” and “Laughing. Carrying on. Clear as a bell because I didn’t cut that windpipe.” These statements make me wonder if some of them try to sneak up on the kids and kill them so that they feel no pain or don’t want their children to look at them with questioning or accusatory looks.

Val’s third journal entry is also from March 9th. Though Knoth tells them that they will find the killed children in heaven; Val doesn’t really like any of this. This obviously starts making them go insane.

“But my dreams are nothing but the murder of my children. And I wake laughing, and aroused, and often wet with the involuntary lust of sleep.

I woke this morning thinking I was wetted with the blood of a child’s slit throat. But it was wetness of my own making.

The others are having similar dreams. We have dug a tunnel so that we may meet in secret. We gather and share our visions and wonder at their meaning,

I feel increasingly this is a message. But nothing holy.” Val 3

I think Blake and us gamers stumble upon the underground tunnel which is one of the first heretics caves we see and Blake thinks is a church or a heretic temple. It seems some people were obviously dumbstruck at what was happening at Temple Gate. Val, obviously, being one of them.

In June 17th, Val’s fourth journal entry, the penultimate one, it is short and full of aroused feelings and figuring out the voices are not God:

“Give me pleasure. Fuck me and cut my skin. Burn me and caress me. I am a membrane seeking penetration. Be aroused at my awe. Let my fear give you appetite. I love you, I love you, I love you. Tell me what you want. Tell me your name and I am yours.” Val 4

The fact Val wants to feel the voice with their fear obviously brings back the parameters of the Morphogenic Engine. The different names of the Walrider comes into mind. Val may be listening on a different frequency now. Could the Heretics be a lighter version of the Variants? In theory they have some similarities.

Val’s last journal entry is in June 19th. It is the 5th one before the letter telling Knoth “Come after us. Hunt us down. We are waiting and eager to murder and fuck every body you send up that mountain...My God is no god at all. But he is true...I do not ask you that you join us. I tell you: you will join us. Because our love is greater than you can ever imagine.” So. the last entry was telling val is “filled with sex and appetite” and tells the voice “You love me. I am yours.”

The image here that sticks out to me here is mountain. Even in Outlast wiki the Walrider is thus named also because it is a creature that lives up on Mountains. Mount Massive is built in a mountain thus it creates those connections. Val also has taken shelter in a mountain. The Walrider and mountain imagery seemed to collide. Thus another connection between the trilogy perhaps can be established.

We have seen Murkoff likes twisting religion, it likes brainwashing people using images and radio signals and that it likes to make base camps in mountains. The belief system of Temple Gate: The Testament of New Ezekiel, The Scalled and The Heretics are all groups that adhere in some way to the gospels of Knoth which are indoctrinated “planned” radio signals by Murkoff. It makes sense that these groups are obviously broke off from the same roots. Even though they borrow things from Christianity and Abrahamic tenets they are not really Christians nor of Abrahamic Faiths. They seem to have formed their new ideologies and Faiths based on also what Murkoff was encouraging them to do. It is interesting, however, to look at the subtle conjunctions between the games.

I wanna THANK EVERYONE who read this entire piece.

#Outlast #Outlast 2 #The Testament of New Ezekial #The Heretics #The Scalled #Lucid Dreamers #Walrider #Knoth #Marta #Val #Blake #meta #long post #long reads #this is a very long post alright #Thanks for reading everyone

156 notes · View notes

avanneman · 5 years

Text

Textualism refuted! Or Clarence Thomas lays an egg

A few posts back, I groused (loudly) over Justice Clarence Thomas’ majority opinion in FTB v. Hyatt, overturning a previous Supreme Court decision, Nevada v. Hall regarding the immunity of states from suit in other states’ courts. In rejecting Hall, the Court found that the Constitution not only grants states an inherent immunity to suits in their own courts (as “sovereigns”), and, per the 11th amendment, suits brought in federal court, but also a similar immunity from suits in courts of other states.1 My objection, which largely echoed that of many others, was that avowed “textualist” Justice Thomas could not find specific language to justify his conclusion, finding it somehow silently “embedded” though unspoken, a trick he roundly criticized when practiced by “liberals”.

In keeping with standard textualist practice, Thomas extensively quotes from his beloved “Founders”, as he calls them (with commendable correctness), whose entire intellectual and moral universe must be grasped in order to interpret correctly the Constitution they produced. The issue of “state sovereignty” was indeed discussed at length in the runup to the actual enactment of the Constitution and, as one might guess, the good Justice fairly wallows in antiquarian delight at the banquet of riches before him—quoting from (of course) the Federalist Papers, as well as debates from the Constitutional Convention itself, and even various state documents dating from the days of the “Articles of Confederation” (the post-revolutionary, pre-Constitutional agreement that briefly governed the relationships of the 13 newly independent states)—anything and everything erudite and obscure that he and his clerks can lay their learned hands on—except, of course, for texts that contradict his position, texts that he could have found—and you can find—by consulting Nevada v. Hall, specifically footnote 17 of Justice Stevens’ majority opinion.

What an “embarrassment” (my word), then, in the first major decision of the brand new Supreme Court, Georgia v. Chisolm,2 the Court inexplicably decided, by a 4-1 margin, that the brand new Constitution substantially overwrote the sovereign immunities of the 13 states, to the extent that a citizen of one state could use the brand new federal court system to do what could not be done before—sue a state.

For poor Justice Thomas, this is a terrible embarrassment for his carefully constructed—and clearly erroneous—argument as to the near sacred importance of the doctrine of state sovereignty in the minds of the Founders. The Court “blundered”, he “explained”. Excusez-moi, but how, precisely, does a court “blunder”? “Yeah, we thought we were going north but actually we were going south so when we turned left we were turning east instead of west, so we ended up on the docks. Stoopid!”

Is that how it went down? I don’t think so. Consider, this 4-1 decision, the first major Supreme Court decision in our history, was decided by, the Founders! All five members, after all, were appointed by George Fucking Washington, the mother of all founding fathers. The Chief Justice, who voted with the majority, was John Jay, who served as president of the Second Continental Congress in the latter days of the American Revolution and was also one of the three authors of—wait for it—the Federalist Papers! Also voting with the majority was Virginian John Blair, active in Revolutionary politics in his state, helping to write both his state’s constitution and the Virginia Declaration of Rights, which influenced both the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Bill of Rights. Next up was James Wilson, who signed both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, which he also helped write. Finally, there was William Cushing, who served as Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Superior Court during and after the Revolution.3

These are the men who, Justice Thomas says, “blundered”. But how could they? The whole point of the textualists’ approach is to laboriously reconstruct the Founders’ understanding of the Constitution. If Thomas’ understanding of the meaning of the Constitution conflicts with that of the Founders themselves, who is in error? Who could it be other than Thomas? Who is Clarence Thomas to tell John Jay that he doesn’t know what he’s talking about? It is as if an artist should paint a portrait based, not on the living subject but rather on sketches and descriptions provided by others, and then, when confronted by the man himself in the flesh, should exclaim “No, you don’t look like yourself at all!”

In fact, Thomas’ reconstruction of the Founders’ thought is a mere “construct”—something he has manufactured out of his own will and desires, both unconsciously and consciously cherry-picking history to obtain the outcome he wants—this case an instance of the frequent textualist interest in glorifying state “sovereignty” at the expense of federal review.

Afterwords So many afterwords! First of all, if Thomas took the Constitution seriously, he’d realize that the Supreme Court, when interpreting the Constitution, can’t “blunder”, because the Constitution assigns that duty to the Court itself. The Constitution says what the Court says it says. Of course, Justice Thomas only believes that when he does the talking, only he sees the “true Constitution”, a looming presence in the skies that is truly there though visible to his eyes alone.4

Thomas defends the majority’s decision to reject stare decisis (that is to say, following precedent, in this case the precedent set by Nevada v. Hall) on the grounds of, stare decisis! “With the historical record and precedent against him, [says Thomas] Hyatt defends Hall on the basis of stare decisis. But stare decisis is “ ‘not an inexorable command,’ ” Pearson v. Callahan, 555 U. S. 223, 233 (2009), and we have held that it is “at its weakest when we interpret the Constitution because our interpretation can be altered only by constitutional amendment,” Agostini v. Felton, 521 U. S. 203, 235 (1997).”

Of course, if one follows logic “inexorably”, neither Callahan nor Felton are “inexorable commands” either. I also don’t understand why the Hyatt folks don’t have “precedent” on their side, since Nevada was precedent. The whole paragraph has the flavor of the “Cretan Liar” paradox cited by St. Paul: “A man told me ‘All Cretans are liars’, and I know he spoke the truth, because he was a Cretan!” Justice Thomas seems on a verge of inventing his own judicial version of Gödel's incompleteness theorems, which would prove that the law contains truths that cannot be proven and that the law cannot prove itself to be consistent. He would have been better off, I think, if he had merely pointed to the fact that the Court has often overruled itself.

Perhaps even more interesting are the two cases that Thomas cites as precedent for disregarding precedent, Callahan and Felton, which are, surprise, surprise, cases decided by majorities of which he was a member. Particularly interesting is the quotation arguing that the doctrine of stare decisis is “at its weakest when we interpret the Constitution because our interpretation can be altered only by constitutional amendment,” which appears in Justice Sarah O’Connor’s majority opinion in Felton, “explaining” why the Court was overturning precedent in order to allow the use of public funds for religious instruction. If you track down O’Connor’s language in Felton, you’ll find that she justifies that argument by citing a number of cases, all decided by, amazingly enough, the Rehnquist Court, in which she joined, and buttressing it with a quotation from a much earlier case, decided in 1936, St. Joseph Stock Yards Co. v. United States: "The doctrine of stare decisis ... has only a limited application in the field of constitutional law", taken from a concurring opinion signed by Justices Stone and Cardozo, without mentioning that they were concurring, not with the majority opinion but the result, preferring separate reasoning provided by Justice Brandeis in his concurring opinion and pointing to an earlier dissenting opinion by Brandeis providing additional arguments for deemphasizing stare decisis with regard to Constitutional issues, in Burnet v. Coronado Oil & Gas Co.

In that dissent, which of course was not controlling, Brandeis argued that “Stare decisis is usually the wise policy, because in most matters it is more important that the applicable rule of law be settled than that it be settled right. This is commonly true even where the error is a matter of serious concern, provided correction can be had by legislation. But in cases involving the Federal Constitution, where correction through legislative action is practically impossible, this court has often overruled its earlier decisions. The court bows to the lessons of experience and the force of better reasoning, recognizing that the process of trial and error, so fruitful in the physical sciences, is appropriate also in the judicial function.” [citations and footnotes omitted]

Of course, Brandeis believed explicitly in “progress”, and believed the Court should overrule itself on constitutional issues whenever “the lessons of experience and the force of better reasoning” clearly indicate that a change should be made. In advocating this position, Brandeis takes “judicial notice” (and implicit judicial notice at that) of the “fact” that the Constitution is “practically impossible” to amend and thus the Court has a positive duty to alter its interpretation of the Constitution according to the “lessons of experience”.5 This is the exact opposite of Thomist textualism, which insists that we are bound hand and foot to a supposedly unchallengeable and flawless past—or at least his reconstruction of it—a theory which resolutely ignores the fact that the “Founders”, like anyone else, invariably used imprecise language, often spoke casually, often spoke to persuade, and, in the actual writing of the Constitution, used deliberately imprecise (“compromise”) language to paper over differences and included contradictory passages and provisions, confident that everything would work out because they would be in charge, and furthermore were the prisoners of their times, refusing to admit as rational creatures women, “savages”, and slaves, among others.

While we’re on the topic of slavery, we might end with a quotation on the subject of constitutional interpretation given by William Cushing when he was chief justice of Massachusetts, pronouncing on the legality of slavery under the new, revolutionary constitution of that state. After acknowledging that slavery had been recognized as legal by the British statute and common law of the past, Cushing remarked as follows:

But whatever sentiments have formerly prevailed in this particular or slid in upon us by the example of others, a different idea has taken place with the people of America, more favorable to the natural rights of mankind, and to that natural, innate desire of Liberty, with which Heaven (without regard to color, complexion, or shape of noses/features) has inspired all the human race. And upon this ground our Constitution of Government, by which the people of this Commonwealth have solemnly bound themselves, sets out with declaring that all men are born free and equal – and that every subject is entitled to liberty, and to have it guarded by the laws, as well as life and property – and in short is totally repugnant to the idea of being born slaves. This being the case, I think the idea of slavery is inconsistent with our own conduct and Constitution; and there can be no such thing as perpetual servitude of a rational creature, unless his liberty is forfeited by some criminal conduct or given up by personal consent or contract,

Yes, I could do without that last “unless”, but there is no reason for us to be bound by whatever is “slid in upon us by the example of others”, including the “Founders”, without the permission and assent of our reason.

States have the power, of course, to limit their immunity if they wish. ↩︎

Full text of Georgia v. Chisolm is here. Early decisions of the Court lacked the explanatory paraphernalia of today. In addition, there is no majority decision. Instead, each justice wrote his own. The actual text begins with the one “dissenting” opinion—i.e., the one holding that states could not be sued in federal court, written by Justice James Iredell. Wikipedia’s discussion of the case is here. ↩︎

In fairness, it must be said that the original 13 states felt that the Court had “blundered”. They were so infuriated that they rallied together with their representatives in Congress to protect themselves from such indignities via the 11th Amendment, which states that “The Judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend to any suit in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the United States by Citizens of another State, or by Citizens or Subjects of any Foreign State.” Whether they are protected from the “Judicial power” of another state is another question. In any event, the 11th Amendment did not “correct” the Court, but rather changed the Constitution. ↩︎

Has a single justice, for a single term of the Court, ever agreed with Thomas’ reasoning in every case? If not, why not? The “looming presence” language refers to a gibe by Oliver Wendell Holmes, not the textualists’ favorite, who was criticizing metaphysical theories of law based on German “Idealistic” philosophy based largely on Kant and Hegel. ↩︎

O'Connor "explains" that stare decisis must give way to the "development of constitutional law", said development seen to occur with particular rapidity after O'Connor joined the Court. ↩︎

#clarence thomas #supreme court #FTB v Hall

0 notes

hakuouki-history · 8 years

Text

Hijikata Toshizo - 2010 Japanese Wikipedia Entry Translation

From the Japanese-English Bilingual Corpus of Wikipedia's Kyoto Articles . This is a translation from Hijikata Toshizo’s Japanese wiki entry, exactly as it was in 2010. It is taken from PNM00015 in that collection.

I’m going to follow this post up with a full explanation of where this article came from, how you can find more like it, and why I think this is going to be very USEFUL for Japanese history fans.

For the moment, please note: I have not edited any of the translation for grammar, typos, and word choice. The text is usually very readable, but not perfectly translated.

I have not reproduced paragraph breaks from the original wiki article. The document I was working with breaks the article down sentence by sentence. Rather than leave the entire article in sentence chunks, I’ve created paragraphs for readability.

Just like English wikipedia, none of this information is guaranteed to be accurate. It’s not a current version of the Japanese article either. But given the current poor state of English information about people such as Hijikata, this look into Japanese wikipedia circa 2010 adds a lot to our perspective. I was particularly excited by the extra anecdotes about Hijikata as a commander, and the reproductions of some of his short poetry.

Lastly, I’d like to thank @wendixy for walking me through the technical process of extracting this translation from its document. More on that process in my next post.

The translated sentences used in this service contain English contents which are translated by the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) from Japanese sentences on Wikipedia. My use of these translated sentences is licensed by the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0. Please refer to http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ or http://alaginrc.nict.go.jp/WikiCorpus/ for details.

A soldier

Toshizo HIJIKATA (6th year of Tenpo, May 5th (Lunar Calendar)(May 31, 1835) - 2nd year of Meiji, May 11th (Lunar Calendar)(June 20, 1869)) was the vice commander of Shinsen-gumi, vice-minister of the Army for Ezo Republic, and also chief of the Court for Torishimari of Hakodate city.

His imina (posthumous name) is Yoshitoyo. His pseudonym is Hogyoku. He was a vassal of the Tokugawa Shogunate at the end of Edo Period. Was feared by all as the vice commander of Shinsen-gumi. Family crest is Hidari Mitsudomoe

He was born in Ishida village, Tama district, Musashi province (is now Ishida, Hino city, Tokyo). (He has been said to be the youngest among 6 brothers and sisters, but materials discovered in recent years revealed that he was actually the youngest among 10 brothers and sisters.)

The HIJIKATA family was a wealthy farmer called "Odaijin" who had farmed on large stretches of land in the Tama region for generations. He lost his father before he was born and his mother at the age of 6, and he was brought up by his second oldest brother, Kiroku and Kiroku's wife.

Until now, it has been said that he went to work at "Matsuzakaya Ito Gofuku store" (present-day Matsuzakaya Ueno store) in Ueno, Edo at the age of 11, but soon quarreled with the head clerk and returned to Hino; according to a newly published copy of Ninbetsu-cho of Ishida village it became clear that he was living in Ishida village when he was 11 years old, and therefore had not yet gone to work at the store. Although there are some missing parts based on this Ninbetsu-cho it is assumed that Toshizo went to work for a period of 10 years from the age of 14 to 24 (counted in the old Japanese way).

There is a legend that he was sent to work at a cotton wholesale store (called Kamedana, in comparison with the Ueno store which was called Tsurudana) in Edo Tenma-cho, a branch of Matsuzakaya Ueno store, but because he had problems with a woman there (there is also a rumor that he was forced into a sexual relationship by the head clerk) he returned to Hino; however, due to the existence of the Ninbetsu-cho described above, the reliability of such stories are now in doubt.

Subsequently, it is said that he traveled and sold "Ishida Sanyaku medicine" whose secret recipe has been passed on in his family; at the same time he also trained himself by fighting in many swordsmanship matches with other schools in dojos located around the country.

It is around this time that he is assumed to have met Isami KONDO (who later became the commander of Shinsen-gumi), the 4th Head of Tennen Rishin-ryu, who was on a training trip to Sato Dojo in Hino; on March 29 1859, Toshizo formally became a disciple of Tennen Rishin-ryu.

Toshizo's older sister, Nobu SATO, was married to Hikogoro SATO, who was also their cousin and Nanushi (headman of the city) of Hino-jyuku, Hino city; it is said that Toshizo often visited the residence of Hikogoro.

Hikogoro once was nearly killed during a major fire; after this incident, and on the advice of Matsugoro INOUE, an older brother of Genzaburo INOUE, Hikogoro became a disciple of Tennen Rishin-ryu and started a Dojo in a corner of his house. Because of this background Hikogoro took a pledge of brotherhood with KONDO and supported Tennen Rishin-ryu.

It is said that Toshizo also trained himself in swordsmanship at this Dojo. In February of the 3rd year of Bunkyu, Toshizo, together with his comrades of Kondo Dojo (Shiei-kan), applied for the Roshigumi to guard Iemochi TOKUGAWA, Seii Taishogun of the Shogunate, and departed for Kyoto. After the political change on August 18 1863, the active role of Miburoshi-gumi was acknowledged, and Shinsen-gumi was set up.

Subsequently, Nishiki NIMI committed hara-kiri, and Toshizo directly assassinated Kamo SERIZAWA and some others. Isami KONDO, who acquired power, became the commander. Toshizo assumed the position as vice commander, and as Isami KONDO's right hand man he engaged himself in maintaining peace and order in Kyoto.Systematic structure by each duty such as Jyokin, Kansatsu, etc., of Shinsen-gumi was formed, and while the Head of the organization was the commander, the actual directing orders were given by Toshizo, the vice commander.

Upon Ikedaya Incident on June 5 1864, Toshizo lead half of the troop to search around Tantora (Shikokuya), visited frequently by members of the Choshyu clan and the Tosa clan, but nobody was there. He promptly rushed to Ikedaya to assist and immediately had his men draw their swords from the sheaths, but instead of entering the building they guarded the area around Ikedaya in order to prevent the soldiers of the Aizu and the Kuwana clans (who would arrive later) from entering Ikedaya, thereby ensuring that only Shinsen-gumi would receive full credit for the achievement.

Such actions were taken with Shinsen-gumi's position, still weak at the time, in consideration. This was a tactful and calculating wit typical of Toshizo. Consequently, rewards received for Ikedaya Incident were unprecedented, and their names became widely known throughout the country. The Shogunate unofficially notified to assign KONDO as Yoriki Joseki (Head of Additional Soldiers) and Shinsen-gumi members as Yoriki (Additional Soldiers), but Toshizo persuaded KONDO not to settle for a Yoriki, aim for a Daimyo instead and wait for the next opportunity; KONDO heeded his advice.

Within Shinsen-gumi, he always made members follow the rules of Shinsen-gumi and ordered a hara-kiri to the members who broke the rules; it is said that the members feared him.Therefore, it is said that the top reason for death of a Shinsen-gumi was due to hara-kiri. Also, members who escaped from Shinsen-gumi were made to conduct hara-kiri or were killed with a sword and [their bodies] exhibited as warning to others.

Subsequently, the other vice commander, Keisuke YAMANAMI assumed the position of Soucho, and HIJIKATA became the only vice commander. Regarding the incident where YAMANAMI was ordered to conduct a hara-kiri after he lost his position within Shinsen-gumi and escaped [and captured], it is said that there was a dispute between YAMANAMI and HIJIKATA, but actually they seemed to have been good friends.

After that, he also had Kisaburo KAWAI, Sanjyuro TANI, Kanryusai TAKEDA and others conduct hara-kiri, or had them killed by a sword so as to maintain the order within Shinsen-gumi.

He sent Hajime SAITO to Goryoeji formed by Kashitaro ITO and took measures to successfully prevent ITO's plan to assassinate KONDO; he assassinated ITO and Heisuke TODO and completely destroyed Goryoeji (however, there are different stories regarding Goryoeji and ITO).

He was promoted to a vassal of the Tokugawa Shogunate in June, 1867. However, on October 14th of the same year, Yoshinobu TOKUGAWA resigned from the position of Seii Taishogun, and upon Restoration of the Imperial Rule (Japan) on December 9th, the Shogunate essentially collapsed.

On January, 13th, 4th year of Keio, Boshin War started with the Battle of Toba Fushimi; in place of Isami KONDO, who was wounded in Sumizome Incident, Toshizo lead Shinsen-gumi and fought as a deputy of commander but was defeated against the army of the new government in gun fighting. From around the 1st year of Keio, prior to being defeated in Battle of Toba Fushimi, Toshizo realized that from now on war could not be fought with swords and he started to prepare western-style armaments.

After the Shogunate army lost Battle of Toba Fushimi and retreated from Osaka to Edo, KONDO temporarily named himself Yamato OKUBO and Toshizo named himself Hayato NAITO, and they set off to Kai province. However, on March 6th they were defeated in Battle of Kosyu Katsunuma. Toshizo rushed to request for reinforcements but was not successful.

Subsequently, they were trying to recover power in Nagareyama but on April 3rd, they were suddenly surrounded by the army of the new government; the commander, KONDO, surrendered himself to the army of the new government. On this occasion, it is said that Toshizo stopped KONDO from committing hara-kiri, and persuaded KONDO to present himself to the army of the new government. Toshizo went to Edo and directly negotiated with Kaishu KATSU and others and pleaded them to spare KONDO's life, but he was not successful; KONDO was executed (beheaded) on April 25 1868, at a place close to Itabashi (currently, his tomb is located in front of JR Itabashi Station).

After KONDO surrendered himself to the army of the new government, Toshizo, besides pleading for KONDO's life, entrusted Shinsen-gumi in the care of Hajime SAITO (Jiro YAMAGUCHI) and made them go to Aizu; Toshizo took only a few members including Kai SHIMADA and joined the army led by Keisuke OTORI and others, which was formed by men who escaped from the army of the former Shogunate.

On April 11th, when evacuation of Edo Castle without bloodshed succeded, Toshizo escaped from Edo and acted as a staff officer of the vanguard army led by Noborinosuke AKIZUKI. They passed through the Shimodate clan and the Shimotsuma clan, and won the Battle of Utsunomiya Castle and conquered Utsunomiya Castle. However, they lost Battle of Mibu and fled; they fought again with the army of the new government in Utsunomiya during which Toshizo injured his leg; he was escorted to Aizu before the main army arrived in Aizu.

In Aizu, he spent 3 months in recuperation, and it is said that during this time he built Isami KONDO's tomb in Tennei-ji Temple. After he fully recovered and returned to the battle line he endeavored to protect Aizu, but Battle of Aizu intensified after they lost the Battle of Bonari-toge in August. Toshizo visited the Shonai clan to request for reinforcements, but Shonai had already pledged allegiance to the new government and did not allow him to even enter the castle.

Toshizo decided to depart for Sendai from Aizu. It is said that Jiro YAMAGUCHI (Hajime SAITO) and others appealed to Keisuke OTORI, who left the battle line in a way similar to Toshizo, that he should be as loyal as possible to the Aizu clan; however, this story comes from an old document which was recorded at a later date in Hakodate. HIJIKATA had not returned to Shinsen-gumi when they were in the domains of the Aizu clan.

Shinsen-gumi broke up into the group of YAMAGUCHI and others who remained in the castle town and the group of members who left at Tennei-ji temple. Toshizo arrived in Sendai and joined the navy of the former Shogunate led by Takeaki ENOMOTO. Together with ENOMOTO Toshizo participated in military meetings of Ouetsu Reppan Domei (Northern Alliance) and was recommended to become General of Domei Army; however, Ouetsu Reppan Domei soon collapsed, and after the clans forming the Domei Army surrended one after another to the army of the new government, Toshizo decided to fight until the end, so long as there is a place where he can fight.

The Shinsen-gumi members who remained alive boarded Oemaru along with the men from the Kuwana clan, and they left Orinohama, Sendai (currently, Orinohama, Ishinomaki city, Miyagi prefecture) with Takeaki ENOMOTO and others on October 12th and went to Ezo.

The image of Toshizo HIJIKATA

After landing on Washinoki of Ezo on October 20th, Toshizo became General of Kando Army and headed for Goryokaku. Shinsen-gumi traveled by the main road under the leadership of General Keisuke OTORI, but a few members of Shinsen-gumi including Kai SHIMADA, are said to have followed Toshizo. After occupying Goryokaku in Hakodate Toshizo advanced his army including Gakuheitai army and others.; he conquered Matsumae Castle (Fukuyama Castle) and chased the retreating army of the enemy to Esashi.

On this occasion, Takeaki ENOMOTO went to the offing of Esashi in order to support HIJIKATA's family from the sea, but his ship was stranded because of a storm. ENOMOTO, who landed in Esashi, and Toshizo watched Kaiyomaru sink, and they are said to have punched a pine tree which stood nearby and lamented together; the "Nageki no Matsu" (pine tree of lament) still remains today.

Toshizo, who managed to occupy Esashi, temporarily returned to Matsumae Castle; he returned to Goryokaku on December 15th for the Celebration of Conquest of Ezo held by ENOMOTO, to which ENOMOTO invited the consuls of various countries. Subsequently, an election to determine leaders was held, and Ezo Republic (headquarters in Goryokaku) was established; Toshizo, as one of the leaders, became vice-minister of the Army and concurrently served as Torishimari of Hakodate city and chief of the Court of the Army and the Navy.

It is said that Toshizo remained calm in Hakodate. When ENOMOTO and others were drinking to celebrate the establishment of the Hakodate government Toshizo alone remained silent and said "this is not the time for jubilation."

He was engaged in consolidating Hakodate/Goryokaku from January to February, and when the news of an attack by the army of the new government reached his ears in March Toshizo participated in Naval Battle of Miyakowan which targeted to seize Azuma-kan of the army of the new government; however, this operation failed, and many died or were wounded, but Toshizo managed to return safely.

On April 9, 1869, the army of the new government started to land in Otobe, Ezo. Toshizo made every effort to defend against the attacks of the army of the new government in Battle of Futamataguchi. During the battle, the army of the new government rang bells to trick the enemy into thinking that they were surrounded; HIJIKATA's army thought that they were surrounded and was upset. Toshizo calmly judged the circumstances and calmed his men down by telling them that "if our enemy really wished to surround us they would hide all noises so that we will not notice them."

Also, in between the fighting, Toshizo himself went around and offered his men a drink of sake. He told them "only one drink for each of you, as I do not want you to get drunk and break the rules of the army"; his men laughed and agreed.

Futamataguchi, which HIJIKATA army defended desparately, continued to win a series of battles. However, the other entrance at Matsumaeguchi fell under the attacks of the enemy, and as there was a risk of losing a route for a retreat they had no choice but to return to Goryokaku. The soldiers lead by OHNO, who were advancing in the direction of Daiba under the order of Toshizo, were temporarily regaining their power, but they suddenly lost control and suffered a total defeat despite OHNO's desperate instructions. OHNO had no choice but to return, and he was informed by Saisuke YASUTOMI, who was also an Assistant General of the Army, that Toshizo had died in the battle.

Toshizo's body was claimed by Chonosuke KOSHIBA and others, and is said to have been buried either in Goryokaku with the bodies of others who died in the war or in another place. The other place [of burial] has not been specified. He died at the age of 35. His farewell poem was "Even if my body decays around the islands of Ezo, my soul will protect my lord who lives in the East ".

The poem is also known as "Should my body decay in the islands of Ezo, my soul will protect my lord who lives in the East." The locations of his tombs are:

Sekidenji temple of Ishida, Hino city, Tokyo, Shomyo-ji temple of Funami-cho, Hakodate-city, Hokkaido (memorial). Tennei-ji temple of Higashiyamamachi, Aizu-Wakamatsu city, Fukushima prefecture (wooden memorial). Jyutokuji temple of Takinogawa, Kita-ku, Tokyo Entsuji temple of Minami Senju, Arakawa-ku, Tokyo, and others.

Just before his death, Toshizo handed locks of his hair to be kept as a memonto and his photograph to Tetsunosuke CHIMURA, who served him as Kosyo, and ordered Tetsunosuke to "deliver them to my family in Hino." ICHIMURA refused this request, saying "I came here to die in battle, please give your order to someone else".

On hearing this, Toshizo said with a glare "if you refuse, I will kill you here now". ICHIMURA was overwhelmed by such strong spirit of Toshizo and agreed to carry out his order. When he departed for Hino, ICHIMURA realized that someone was standing by a window. ICHIMURA left the words that "I could not tell who it was, but probably it was Mr. HIJIKATA". Subsequently, ICHIMURA managed to safely deliver Toshizo's articles to Hikogoro SATO at Hino-jyuku.

His favorite swords were the sword, Izumi no Kami Kenesada and the small sword, Horikawa Kunihiro.

It is said that when he was a child, he often remained naked after taking a bath, and practiced Sumo with a pillar in his house. The pillar still exists today.

=> A story that has been handed down in the HIJIKATA family. Taken from "Taizo HIJIKATA told by his descendants" written by Meguji HIJIKATA. The pillar is kept at Hijikata Toshizo Museum.

When his nephew (Hikogoro SATO's 3rd son, Tamekichi) fell down in the garden and cut his forehead, it is said that Taizo immediately rushed towards Tamekichi, laughed and caressed the boy saying, "the boy is wounded when he was confronting the world, so joyful, so joyful."

=> A story that has been handed down in the SATO family. Taken from "Kikigaki Shinsengumi" written by Akira SATO.

Only records of Chugokui Mokuroku awarded to Toshizo remain in Tennen-Rishin-ryu dojo today. It seems that he could not get rid of the ways of various schools which he learnt while he was traveling as a peddler. Nevertheless, it is said that he was awfully strong in actual fighting (it is said that he fought with no restraints, for example, by throwing the sand on the ground at his opponent and slashing or strangling him while heflinched from Toshizo's initial attack).

As can be seen from his photo of a later year dressed in western clothing, it is said that Toshizo was a rationalist and had the flexibility to accept useful things; for example, he owned a western pocket watch, etc

He once said to colleagues of Shinsen-gumi who were close to him, "probably I am reborn from Nobunaga ODA".

It is said that he created strict rules for Shinsen-gumi, such as Jinchu Hatto and Kyokuchu Hatto, and mercilessly killed betrayers or those who did not follow the rules; he was referred to as the pitiless vice commander, and in general, he was considered to be a heartless person. However, according to Nobori NAKAJIMA who followed Toshizo up to Hakodate War, at the time of Hakodate War "he was mild and was admired by his men as if he was their mother."

It is said that around this time, he started to often take young members of Shinsen-gumi out to meals and drink, and he listened to and advise them on their problems. However, there is a view that this was not because he has become older, but this was a calculated action based on his realization that he has found a place to die, as well as for motivating his men who could die tomorrow in a battle.

Because he was a tall (for that time), handsome man with a fair complexion and firm features he was very popular among ladies; when he was acting as the vice commander of Shinsen-gumi in Kyoto he sent to his colleagues in Hino a bundle of love letters he had received from many women so as to boast his popularity.

Soon after he went to Kyoto, a large package from him arrived in attention to Shikanosuke KOJIMA (one story says that the package was addressed to the disciples of KONDO Dojo). Shikanosuke opened the package thinking that Toshizo might have sent presents from Kyoto, but the package was filled with love letters from geishas and apprentice geishas who were in love with Toshizo. The following tanka poem is said to have accompanied the letter [from Toshizo]:

Ladies make me forget to do my best for my country

=> a story told by Shikanosuke KOJIMA. Taken from "Shinsen-gumi Yowa" written by Masataka KOJIMA.

Toshizo, who had his leg wounded in Battle of Utsunomiya, was in sickbed at an inn in the castle town of Aizu Wakamatsu from around April to July of 1868 (there are different views regarding the period). One day, Mitsuzo MOCHIZUKI, a vassal of the Shogunate and a public servant who was staying at the same inn as Toshizo, visited him, but Toshizo remained in his bed and said to him, "fight with us."

MOCHIZUKI who got annoyed by this arrogant attitude refused by saying, "I am a public servant so I cannot fight."

Then Toshizo spoke unreservedly "then what did you come so far away for, you coward!"

MOCHIZUKI retorted that "you were fortunate enough to seize Utsunomiya Castle, but wasn't the castle soon retaken? It is probably difficult to seize the castle again now. How regrettable. I have no choice but to call you a coward, also".

Toshizo, upon hearing Mochizuki, shouted "Shut up, you are making my illness worse. I do not want to hear any more from you, leave" so MOCHIZUKI left his room. On this occasion, Toshizo was so angry that he threw his pillow at MOCHIZUKI.

=>Taken from "Yumeno Uwagoto" written by Mitsuzo MOCHIZUKI and "Kokuhaku no Kokuhatsu" written by Shison MOCHIZUKI.

When Toshizo was in Edo, he normally stayed in Kamaya, an inn patronized by the Shogunate. It was one of the busy Chaya restaurants among Shinagawa-syuku, and the following record remains today: "On October 21st, the third year of Keio, family and disciples of the Shinsen-gumi member, Toshizo HIJIKATA, totaling 31 people rested, Hanuemon KAMAYA, fee was 9 kan and 300 mon." A memorial of Shinsen-gumi now stands at the site of Kamaya (currently, Aomono-yokocho Station, Shinagawa-ku).

Hobbies

Surprisingly, he was a person of taste, and he enjoyed making tanka poems and haiku, etc. He has written many poems and left poetry books such as "Hogyoku Hokku-shu," etc.

I can see the spring moon on my way to a public duty.

The crescent moon is shining at the bottom of a puddle formed by the spring rain.

My heart is pure, as I face my reflection on the water.

I listen to the sounds made by a plover, together with the sounds of water.

I see the spring moon over the temple gate.

If an apricot flower blooms, even if only one, it is still an apricot flower.

The seven plants of spring, I manage to memorize up to five.

I cannot help resting my hand as I dust the shelves, when I hear a warbler sing.

It is cold sleeping in a shabby house, the spring moon shines above.

The road of love, If you know it you are lost, if you know it not, you will not get lost.

North of the waters, and south of the mountains, is the spring moon.

The days and months of the year which pass by, I cannot do anything about it.

The clouds of May fly towards my hometown.

The road of love, If you know it you are lost, if you know it not, you will not get lost.

It is indeed the month of March, some snow vanish as they fall.

On the morning snow, there are no horizontal footsteps.

Because of the excellent performance given in "Shinsengumi Keppuroku" and "Moeyo Ken", Asahi KURIZUKA is known as a legendary figure and a great actor playing the part of Toshizo HIJIKATA. It is well known that when Ryotaro SHIBA saw Asahi KURIZUKA wearing the uniform of Shinsen-gumi, SHIBA highly praised KURIZUKA.

Acted by Seizaburo KAWAZU "Shinsen-gumi Part 1 the Book of Kyou Rakufu-kan, Part 2 Ikedaya Incident, Part 3 Maken-Ranbu" (Director: Ryo HAGIWARA), Year 1952 by Toei.

Acted by Kensaku HARA "Shinsen-gumi Oni Taicho" (Director: Toshikazu KONO) Year 1954. Acted by Isao YAMAGATA "Shinsen-gumi" (Director: Yasushi SASAKI) Year 1958. Acted by Yataro KUROKAWA "Souretsu Shinsen-gumi"(Director: Yasushi SASAKI) Year 1960 by Toei. Acted by Ichiro RYUZAKI "Fu-un Shinsen-gumi" (Director: Masaki MORI) Year 1961 by Shintoho. Acted by Takeshi KATO "Shinsengumi Keppuroku Isami KONDO" (Director: Shigehiro OZAWA) Acted by Shigeru AMACHI "Shinsen-gumi Shimatsuki" (Director: Kenji MISUMI), Year 1963 by Daiei. Acted by Ko NISHIMURA "Cruel Story of the Shogunate's Downfall" (Director: Tai KATO), Year 1964 by Toei. Acted by Asahi KURIZUKA "Toshizo HIJIKATA Moyeyo Ken" (Director: Hirokazu ICHIMURA), Year 1966 by Shochiku. Acted by Keiju KOBAYASHI "Shinsengumi" (Director: Tadashi SAWASHIMA), Year 1969 by Toho. Acted by Koji TAKAHASHI "Okita Soji (Movie)" (Director: Masanobu DEME), Year 1974, by Toho. Acted by Norio NISHIKAWA "Hissatsu! Buraun-kan no Kaibutsu-tachi" (Director: Jyo HIROSE) (Year 1985, Hissatsu Series), by Shochiku. Acted by Tetta SUGIMOTO "Bakumatsu Junjyo-den" (Director: Mitsuyuki YAKUSHIJI)Year 1991, by Shochiku. Acted by Beat Takeshi "Taboo (Movie)" (Director: Nagisa OSHIMA, Year 1999, by Shochiku. Acted by Kiichi NAKAI "Shinsengumi" (Director: Kon ICHIKAWA), Year 2000, by Media Box. Acted by Eugene NOMURA "When the Last Sword is Drawn" (Director: Yojiro OTAKI), Year 2003, by Shochiku. Acted by Asahi KURIZUKA "Shinsengumi Keppuroku" Year 1965, by TV Asahi. Acted by Yoshio KANEUCHI "Ryoma ga Yuku (NHK Taiga Drama)" Year 1968. Acted by Asahi KURIZUKA "Moeyo Ken" Year 1970, by TV Asahi. Acted by Asahi KURIZUKA "Shinsengumi" Year 1973. Acted by Tatsuya FUJI "Katsu Kaishu (NHK Taiga Drama) Year 1974. Acted by Ikko FURUYA "Shinsen-gumi Shimatsuki". Acted by Shozaburo DATE "Ryoma ga Yuku Year 1982 version" by TV Tokyo. Acted by Isao NATSUYAGI "Mibu no Koi Uta" Year 1983, by NHK. Acted by Masaomi KONDO "Byakko-tai (Nippon Television Network TV Drama)" Year 1986. Acted by Muga TAKEWAKI "Shinsengumi" Year 1987. Acted by Tetsuya WATARI "Goryokaku (TV Drama)" Year-end Jidaigeki Special, by Nippon Television Network. Acted by Koji YAKUSHO "Moeyo Ken" Year 1990, by TV Tokyo. Acted by Takeo CHII "Shinsen-gumi Ikedaya no Ketto" Year 1992, Tokyo Broadcasting System. Acted by Jyun HASHIZUME "Tokugawa Yoshinobu (NHK Taiga Drama)"Year 1998. Acted by Hiroaki MURAKAMI "Shinsengumi Keppuroku" Year 1998, by TV Asahi. Acted by Tsuyoshi IHARA "When the Last Sword is Drawn" Year 2002, by TV Tokyo. Acted by Koji YAMAMOTO "Shinsengumi !" Year 2004, NHK Taiga Drama. Acted by Koji YAMAMOTO "Shinsengumi !! Hijikata Toshizo Saigono Ichi-nichi" Year 2006, by NHK (sequel to "Shinsengumi !"). Acted by Hideaki ITO "Wachigaiya Itosato" Year 2007, by TBS. Acted by Rei ASAMI "Hoshikage no Hito". Acted by Saki ASAJI "Makotono Gunzo/Miwaku II-Neo Egoist !" Year 1997. Acted by Kazuhiro KOMATSU "Chio Chimorin S" (Year 2003, by theater unit pan-dan Sasa). Hokkaido Telecom Cente, Telecom Hall Acted by Tatsuya KAMIKAWA "Moeyo Ken" Year 2004. Acted by Yo OIZUMI "LOOSER - Ushinai Tsuzukete Shimau Album-" (Year 2004, 10th performance of TEAM-NACS). Sapporo Performance - Sapporo Factory Hall - Tokyo Performance - Ikebukuro Sunshine Theatre Encore Performance - Nippon-seinenkan. Acted by Sho AIKAWA "KANSAI SUPER SHOW Aboru-daaju" Year 2004. Acted by Yukihiro EDA and Megumi KOYAMA "Sakura Gasane" (Year 2007, 24th performance of Theater SK Group). Tokyo Performance - Theater Green BIG TREE THEATER Sapporo Performance - Theater Zoo. Acted by Mao AYABUKI/Kei OTOZUKI "Hoshikage no Hito". Acted by Kaoru OURA "SAKURA no gotoku, Like a cherry tree" (February 2005, FA Kikaku [Theatre Division] Sakura Sakura Company) Kyoto Drama Festival. Acted by Kaoru OURA "SAKURA no gotoku, Like a cherry tree" (August 2006, FA Kikaku [Theatre Division] Sakura Sakura Company) Participated in the 2006 New York International Fringe Festival, and received Judges' Special Award. Acted by Kaoru OURA "Hokuten Genou - HIJIKATA Sekisomu-"(Year 2008, FA Kikaku [Theatre Division]Sakura Sakura Company History Monologue Series No. 3). Acted by Jyoji Nakata "Peacemaker Kurogane". Acted by Nobuyuki HIYAMA "Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto". Acted by Taiten KUSUNOKI "Mutsu Enmei Ryugaiden Shura no Toki". Acted by Rikiya KOYAMA "Rurouni Kenshin: Meiji Kenyaku Romantan". Acted by Ryotaro OKIAYU "Bakumatsu Renka Shinsengumi". Acted by Takehito KOYASU "Shinsengumi Gunrouden". Acted by Tatsuya KAMIKAWA "Kaze Hikaru (Taeko Watanabe)". Acted by Daisuke HIRAKAWA "Hinata no Ookami: Shinsengumi Kidan". Regarding works in which Toshizo HIJIKATA appears, refer also to works based on Shinsen-gumi and Category Shinsen-gumi. By Ryotaro SHIBA "Moeyo Ken". By Miyoko OUCHI "Hijikata Toshizo". By Niki HIROSE "Hijikata Toshizo Sange" Year 1982, ISBN 4872701364 By Minori HAGIO "Sange ・Hijikata Toshizo" Year 1989, ISBN 4829110686 was later revised, and also published as "Hijikata Toshizo Sange". ISBN 4404016174 By Aiko KITAHARA "Toshizo karano Dengon" ISBN 4062748304. By Aiko KITAHARA "Kurayami kara Hijikata Toshizo Ibun" ISBN 440853241X. By Riichi NAKABA "Baragaki - Hijikata Toshizo Seishun-fu" Year 2000, ISBN 4062738678 (the ISBN is for pocket book version). By Kano AKIYAMA "Toshizo Yukite Mata" Year 2002, ISBN 4835537459. By Kenzo KITAKATA "Kokuryu no Hitsugi" Year 2002, Book 1 ISBN 4620106607, Book 2 ISBN 4620106615. By Shotaro IKENAMI "Iro" (included in his book of short stories, "Honoo no Bushi"). By Hitoshi YOSHIOKA "Toshizo HIJIKATA on Mars" (Asahi Sonorama) - A SF novel which tells the adventures of Toshizo HIJIKATA, after he died in Hakodate and is reborn on Mars in "Mars Series" of Edgar Rice Burroughs. Year 2004 ISBN 4257770341 By Misaki SAITO "Hinatano Ookami". By Mikiya MOCHIZUKI "Ore no Shinsengumi" By Kenji MORITA "Getsumei Seiki - Sayonara Shinsengumi". By Ko AKIZUKI "Seishun Shinsengumi BARAGAKI !". By Takeshi KANDA "Kitano Shishi Shinsetsu Hijikata Taizo den"- is focused on Hakodate War. By Aya KANNO "Hokusou Shinsengumi"- of the short comics included in this book, "Junbaku" has Toshizo HIJIKATA as the main character, and describes his relationship with Keisuke OTORI, who served as the General of the Army.

#hijikata toshizo #japanese history #bakumatsu #boshin war #shinsengumi #japanese 2010 wiki translations

153 notes · View notes

peppurthehotone · 5 years

Text

Aye-yi-aye! The past couple of days have been r-o-u-g-h! Hormone Rita has been raging but on top of that, I had to acknowledge that while I thought I was “past it”, my no-kid grief still lives in me. Yesterday I described it to Matt that I feel like little pieces of shattered glass live above me and they just hang out there sometimes reflecting light and others times missile down on me and stab me in my happiness.

My therapist told me I’m pretty good at helping myself and last week I mentioned to you all that I use my writing to help myself and that we all need to find something like this to stay high in order to stay afloat when things start to get wonky. So yesterday, I tried to take my own advice and put my head down and I got to work. Two new clients kept me busy (one for speech writing and one for copy editing her marketing book). I am grateful. And I also got back to working on my ancestry book, which was nice.

Alas.

If you’re following along, while during my residency, my goal was to write 30,000 words of my new novella. They didn’t have to be good words, but I thought, I can write 30,000 words in a month. Welp, last Sunday, three days before the end of the residency, I was only at 23,951 words and I freaked out. I started crying. I was in a beautiful home, seated at my own personal desk, in a quiet room with no one to bother me; I had all the things I yearn for and there I was at my computer crying. I knew I was having a form of a panic attack built up from self-imposed pressure exponentially souped up by my Instagram posts touting my daily numbers.

View this post on Instagram

</a> <p style=” margin:8px 0 0 0; padding:0 4px;”> <a href=”https://www.instagram.com/p/B37655AleEI/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading” style=” color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;” target=”_blank”>What's Hot? Inspiration! Day 22 Bookcases inspire me. Those writers of the books on those shelves were exactly where I am right now. 15,234 words and wondering what to write next! #writer #residency #ancestry @thesquirefoundation</a></p> <p style=” color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px; margin-bottom:0; margin-top:8px; overflow:hidden; padding:8px 0 7px; text-align:center; text-overflow:ellipsis; white-space:nowrap;”>A post shared by <a href=”https://www.instagram.com/peppurthehotone/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading” style=” color:#c9c8cd; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px;” target=”_blank”> Peppur Chambers</a> (@peppurthehotone) on <time style=” font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; line-height:17px;” datetime=”2019-10-22T21:52:50+00:00″>Oct 22, 2019 at 2:52pm PDT</time></p></div></blockquote> //www.instagram.com/embed.js

I was feeling like a failure, even though I knew (this time) that I wasn’t one. So, through the tears, I sent an SOS to my support girls. We are a group of six black women who have been together for almost ten years and we help each other with everything from freak-outs like this one, to motherhood stuff for those on that journey, to job referrals to snarky stuff to vagina creams. I messaged them:

“Matt says to think about changing the goal so I don’t beat myself up and still feel good. That feels like I’m being a wuss. But I did set the goal, no one else did. Or do I just say I will be happy with whatever I accomplish? I’m getting stressed. Started crying this morning. Not worth it to cry.”

My dear friend Morenike sent an audio clip back with the best advice, which I call, “The Goal is Not The Thing”:

https://blogtoprague.files.wordpress.com/2019/11/audio-from-peppur-chambers-1.wav

After listening to this, more crying ensued which was simply a true release of tension. I felt redirected and I was able to continue! I decided that I would use the remaining time to organize and research and to let that “30k” go. It was THE best thing to do and glad I did because I didn’t allow myself to ruin what had been a wonderful experience. I posed this picture to remind myself. #Winning

So yesterday, I got back into the story for the first time since being back and I was happy I had my notes to refer to and knew where to start up again. I looked at all the questions I have to answer about character and themes, and I wrote a dope paragraph on fear coming from a father perspective to his daughter, and then I got interrupted and had to do something else. But I realized I’d worked on the book for a good solid hour and that made me happy and I walked around in gratitude for awhile and I felt better emotionally.

Something else that made me feel better yesterday is that I received an early birthday present, sort of. For my birthday this year, which is Friday November 8th (best.day.ever), I made it a *goal* to have a completed draft of Harlem’s Awakening Pt 2. I had sent off my current draft to beta readers on Oct 1 so they could review it during my residency and therefore, when I got back this week, I could work like a beaver and chop away at their changes and voila have a completed draft on my birthday. Once again the goal was a little lofty. Not gonna make it. BUT, I did receive the notes. Yesterday I received great notes back from my reader friend Ruthy who four years ago read my manuscript and was like, “What the heck is this? Please tell me you didn’t send this to anyone.” Which I had and the agent passed and then it took two years to recover from the disappointment and now I’m back! So, Ruthy says this is a much better read and that there are still problems, but much better! My mom is my second reader, I know — family: not the answer — but she is my 1940s expert and her comment was, “Not enough time-period stuff”. So, I have that to work on. And a new author friend, Katherine Ross read a few chapters. I met her while doing a reading earlier this year and her debut book, Black Was Not a Label just dropped this month (please support!). She commented that the pacing is good, it feels colloquial in places and Magdalena may need some fleshing out. This is all great news; I’ve got work to do on my birthday and that’s what I’ll be doing!

One more “random” thing:

While I was in Santa Barbara, my new friend Sophia (who runs SoFar Sounds SB) told me about this amazing shop on State Street called Random. It is exactly that. A random flea market+vintage shop+bookstore+holy crapoloa I love it store. There are boxes of things like jeans and buttons and kitchen tiles and paintbrushes everywhere. I wandered to the back and found a box of someone’s personal stuff. This happens all the time; people pass away and then their stuff ends up in a world of Random for people like me to find.

Because I’m heavy into researching on Ancestry.com and would love to find anything random on my family, when I found this box full of vintage family photos, I got suuuper excited. As I dug further, I discovered this box most likely belonged to a WWII photographer (or someone who enlisted and was good with a camera). I really hoped that some of his war-time photos would have just even one black person and I could hope that maybe it was someone to whom I belonged. Alas, that wasn’t the case. However, it is the case for someone else. So, for Veteran’s Day on 11/11, I’m going to write a special blog post about the box and show more photos from it in the event that maybe we can find to whom these pictured people belong.

Their patch is for the 100th Infantry Training Division. While this is a staged shot, according to Wiki, they were called into active duty on 15 Nov 1942 and were sent into combat to St Remy France on 1 Nov 1944.

Family Day?? I love the ladies in the background.

Ann Caudiff (?), 25 mos, Dec 25, ’51

I love this photo. I’ve begun to research this “Ann” to see what I can find. So along with the Chambers family, Nigeria and Igbo culture, I’m now researching a bunch of people I don’t know.

Aye-yi-aye! The past couple of days have been r-o-u-g-h! Hormone Rita has been raging but on top of that, I had to acknowledge that while I thought I was "past it", my…

#100th infantry #conditionHER #hormone rita #igbo #miscarriage #nigeria #Squire Foundation

0 notes

twobeardgaming · 6 years

Text

I know this is a bit of a late review of a COD game with the attention on Black Ops 4 Beta, but this was review I wanted to get out. I have to start by saying me and Call of Duty have a bit of a love, hate relationship. Back in the days of Xbox 360 Modern Warfare and Modern Warfare 2 were two of the greatest games of the period to me. This is most likely due to the fact the genius that is Vince Zampella and the Infinity Ward studio were behind the games, following on from his classic version of Medal of Honour Allied Assault (Medal of Honour quickly went downhill after he stopped working on the franchise for me).

The games that game out between and either side of these titles were made by Treyarch, were very average, and my attention turned back to the Modern Warfare series very quickly after their release. And that is just my problem. Since Infinity Ward stopped working on Call of Duty it just has not been as good. But that does not seem stop me buying each year’s incarnation…..

Every year I say “last years was ok, but I think I am done” But the hype train starts up. A few friends are like “are you getting COD?” I avoid pre-ordering and then like some sort of addict, release day comes round and I end up buying it – I should probably be ashamed of myself!

I have to say for the release of WWII I am actually impressed. It was a welcome return to “boots on the ground” after Infinite Warfare – to be honest I am not sure I even consider Infinite Warfare a Call of Duty game, flying round in a spaceship is not Call of Duty for me. Call of Duty is fast paced, adrenaline filled, visceral action. Or that is what I am hoping for. But that is enough about Infinite Warfare.

The campaign is based around Private Red Daniels, and the majority of it around the WW2 years of 1944 – 1945. As you play the part of Pvt. Daniels’ in the story, you progress through Europe from Normandy and through to the showdown in Germany fighting back the Nazi’s. Part of the story is how your squad support you and you use their special skills to support you, as you play a bigger part in supporting the Allied Forces. I like to play every campaign on Veteran difficulty. I find it adds at bit more challenge and longevity to the game and a bit more of a tactical edge. Rather than being able to just run around like John Rambo, which can make the experience quite short lived. From what I gather on standard difficulty you would probably be looking at 6 hours, on the hardest difficulty veteran, probably 8 – 10 hours.

Having played pretty much every previously released Call of Duty game, there was that feeling of deja vu about it. When I think back to WW2 games released around 10-15 years ago, certain level themes were a given. A D-Day landing level was about as sure as the sun sets to be in a game. And you could bet your bottom dollar at some point you would need to blow up a tank by sneaking up and planting explosives on the back of it, or having to run across a warzone to pick up a rocket launcher and a level where you would run through some trenches and blow up a/some anti air craft guns. Most of these clichés are here. But they have made a welcomed return with modern-day graphics applied to them.

The game plays in its usual silky smooth 60 fps. If you are playing on the Xbox One X or on the PS4 Pro you should see the benefits of HDR with improved clarity and the enhanced lighting and shadows.

In terms of the multiplayer game. There is fun to be had here, and the game is as fiercely competitive as it ever was. “Squading” up with friends is a great way to enjoy what is on offer. Most of the maps are well thought out and provide an enjoyable game. In the main, I found the game pretty refined for an online experience, but there are some issues.

At times you will lace someone in the back and get hit markers and they spin round and seem to kill you in one hit. I have noticed people hiding behind boxes/crates and you can only see your enemies head and shoulders, 3, 4 or 5 hits they can sometimes still be standing. It seems in all a bit strange bearing in mind how easy you can get killed – or maybe I am just a bit crap! These issues, I assume are lag related, are not constant but can be frustrating.

Whilst I can stomach the previous grumble, the game can still be real fun, if I ever have one burning criticism of the series it would be the Call of Duty community. How parents are letting their children play 18 rated video games is beyond me, and I do not expect to have to listen to some squeaky kid giving it the big ‘un online. This can be rectified by muting them or being in party chat, or you can tell them where to go! But you still have people who play the game, in my view, “not in the spirit of the game” People who will happily sit on a stair case or in a corner with a mine and a shotgun all game or lie down in the corner of the map, I mean, really? – Come on it is a game, bloody play it! I am sure that was not the intention for game play when the game was designed.

Anyway enough of my gripes with the community, as you progress through the levels and obtain kills and complete challenges you gain XP for your character, gun and division. The division being a new area for you to gain XP for essentially adds another benefit or perk to your class. Character XP allows your character access to higher levelled guns or equipment and once you reach the top you will like previous games, be able to prestige and start the levelling up process again. Prestiging does have the benefit of opening up rare skins for your favourite weapons. Weapon XP allows you to attach certain attachments to you gun, less recoil, increased reaction, rapid fire, scope, extended mags etc You will want to open up some of these options quite quickly as the basic guns are often a big disadvantage.

There is now a hub area to obtain challenges, prestige and test guns on a firing range. Picking up and completing these challenges opens up additional XP to level up or titles or equipment to keep you interested in the proceedings. You can also give the firing range a go and test out your weaponry and any adjustments you may have made to them.

In terms of game modes on offer you will find every mode you would expect from a Call of Duty game. From the straight forward Team Deathmatch and Free for All to the objective driven modes Headquarters, Domination, Search and Destroy, Hardpoint, Kill Confirmed, and War. If you are feeling as though you have skills, you can also give ranked play a go.

If Co-Op gameplay is your thing. The Zombies mode is present again. The mode relies on you working with 4 team mates and trying to complement each other with your class choice whilst completing a number of objectives to progress through the game. Sometimes the objective is not clear, so reference to an online Wiki or playing some more experienced players may help. As much as I have bashed the community in this review, there were some pretty helpful people online when I was playing this mode, credit where credit is due.

Verdict

Make no mistake, this is a good game. I would go as far as saying it is a really good game, and if you are looking for a WW2 first person shooter this will certainly scratch that itch. It has almost relit my passion for Call of Duty (looks like I am back in for this year’s edition!) The nagging problem I have is what I mentioned in the first paragraph. Vince Zampella knows how to make an excellent first person shooter and if you are after an excellent first person shooter, rather than a war time first person shooter, I would plump for Titanfall 2 over this everyday (especially as you can pick it up for around £5.00!), but would happily recommend both to anyone keen on the first person genre.

A very solid 8/10

Genre: First person shooter Players: 1 Publisher: Bifrost Ent. Release: 03/11/2017 Format: Steam, PlayStation 4, Xbox One Current price £24.99

Revew – Call Of Duty: WW2 (Xbox One) I know this is a bit of a late review of a COD game with the attention on Black Ops 4 Beta, but this was review I wanted to get out.

#activision #call of duty #COD #playstation #ps4 #treyarch #windows #ww2 #xbox

0 notes