#for example the guy behind the country apparently

[saviourkingslut]

i went to pick up engage the other day and was talking about it with the employee behind the counter and he said hed been enjoying it so far because it feels more like the older fire emblem games to him (world map over calendar system like 3h was a big point for him) and i off handedly mentioned that i heard the story was simpler than 3h and i was thankful for that because i cant go through more discourse and he went "yeah me either that edelgard discourse was fucking awful" and it was so funny to me that i had to share djslfkjdlajdfn

while i completely understand the sentiment (by god) i do think that there's this... misconception, concerning the relationship between 3h discourse and engage coming out. im fairly sure that engage isn't gonna generate much discourse bc it's campy and not very serious and the characters and the story don't really go anywhere deep and complex. that sure is a breath of air for many people, as you say! however, and i guess this is the negative flipside, that also means there might just not be much for people to talk about when the game's been out for a month or two. by which i mean to say, the existence of a new fe game, especially one written as this one, does not mean that 3h discourse is going to suddenly disappear. it's been going strong for a solid three years, and if there's no serious bones to pick about the new installment... (or perhaps i should say no edelgard equivalent to form a cult around)

it's hard to say rn bc engage is very new, but it might not hold people's attention for a very long time, is what im saying, and so the decline of 3h discourse might not be as sudden or as substantial as many people seem to hope/expect. on the other hand, there is new content to talk about for those who want to, so that can be an escape for people who are just 100% done with fódlan and everything linked to it, which can be a breath of fresh and free air in and of itself. and obviously maybe im wrong and 3h discourse does die a quiet death soon lmao but i am personally not expecting it to

[sergle]

I think my favorite thing about doing ginger red hair instead of cherry red hair is: lying to people about it

[britcision]

In honour of a combo Wednesday and then post-midnight Yule, have a WIP Wednesday friends! We haven’t seen Sam for a while and Hanukkah was early this year (finished on the 15) but we are here now!

This chapter’s already gotten intense as hell for Danny and Jason with Lady Gotham but we’ve been tragically without our resident fashionable goth (sorry not sorry Bruce) and we are definitely still a muppet movie, so enjoy Sam-Miss-Piggy creating some extra chaos behind the scenes 👀

No promises about how regular these updates will be because again, plot chapter, I like letting those drop without spoiling the reveals too much, but we shall see

——————

Chapter 18 part i So That Just Happened

Back in her own room on the other side of the country from Gotham, Sam Manson reclined back into giant, coffin shaped body pillow her beloved girlfriend had given her when they moved and contemplated her phone.

The brand new Wayne-chat was blowing up satisfactorily, although apparently Tim was a massive stalker too. That was probably a good thing; it meant she hadn’t actually nuked Tuck’s chances with his nerd-crush. Now they could bond over their mutual stalker tendencies.

But, did that make her revenge less effective?

It wasn’t like she was actually out to ruin his life, but she’d kinda like to leave a mark. Something that would make him think twice about letting her think he and Danny had fucking died in Gotham in her absence.

Or. Well. Gone radio silent in Gotham, which was probably actually worse because if they were dead she’d know exactly where they were.

The Wayne chat were all pretty sure Tim and Tucker were together too, and Sam’s new best friend Babs had even pulled up the feed from their living room tv somehow. Sam wasn’t exactly the tech wizard Tucker was, but… after seeing that, she disconnected her and Val’s TV from the wifi.

And settled in to remote watch Tuck get his ass kicked at Spiderheck, apparently. At least for a little while; until something else on her phone caught her attention.

It was… almost funny. While she knew she was a whole two timezones away, she’d never really felt left out before. Like maybe she should have stayed on the east coast…

Not that she regretted it, of course. She had a good job, a good school, a wonderful girlfriend who’d been so excited to get into a good school and really go to town on the business department.

(Apparently there were posters of Val’s face in the ethics classrooms. Sam refused to ask if they were golden example or dire warning.)

She was just… a long way away. Even a long portal away, and… being back with the guys, even in Gotham, made the quiet of their comfy little apartment seem lonely.

Huffing, she turned and traced her fingers through the leaves of her mimosa plant on the windowsill beside the bed. They curled gently shut at her touch, and made her smile. Just like always.

She was happy to be home. She wasn’t technically liminal enough yet that it was her haunt, but… well, for all the jokes Val made, Sam had to admit she’d put down roots. She loved her job at the greenhouses, and her internship at the botanical gardens.

She loved scaring the hell out of the dudebros in Val’s business classes who thought ethics were a waste of time. She loved sharing messages with Jazz about the boys, laughing that even three hours ahead, Tuck and Danny still couldn’t get up before them.

She was kinda considering texting Harley about Timblr too. Not like, for any particular reason; if Tim’s family weren’t gonna embarrass Tucker enough, Harley probably wouldn’t either. She’d probably think it was adorable.

Or, y’know, worrying evidence of obsession. Psych types worried about stuff like that, usually.

Sam was kinda also considering sending Harley Jazz’s number. Jazz might still be skating just on the neurosurgery side of the line, but she’d always been big into psychology. Big enough to try and double major, and only drop to major-minor after the third pre-exam meltdown.

And she could use having someone else do the shrink bit on her a little more often. Although really, for that Sam should make her a professional appointment; friends didn’t ask friends to psychoanalyze their overprotective pseudo-sisters. And Jazz could use more friends.

Jazz could use a transfer to a specialty that would let her sleep once in a while, a more stable supply of fresh ecto, and about six weeks in a meditation retreat to get the accidental telepathy under control, but more friends would be good too. And less stubborn insistence on her second try for double majors.

Maybe the switch to psychiatry full time would be good for her? Or psychology. Sam was a little fuzzy on the difference, which one Jazz was minoring in, and which one Harley did.

(Jazz’s current second major was neurosurgery, which Jazz insisted was totally less taxing alongside a neurology major because it was the same body part. She was the only person in her class attempting the double major though, so.)

Humming tunelessly to herself, Sam flicked back into the group chat. Babs was still sharing the feed… brows drawing in, Sam frowned at the little spider figures still fighting to the death. Now, she wasn’t as big of a gamer as she used to be, but she was pretty sure Spiderheck didn’t actually offer red berets.

Snorting a laugh, she flicked back out of the chat and opened a new one, adding both Jazz and Harley. All it needed was the perfect name… something that would grab both of their attention.

Obvious. Child’s play.

Snuggling back into her coffin pillow, Sam grinned down at her phone screen.

Danny Has A Boyfriend chat was live.

——————

And in at the last minute, Jazz! We’ll see if she shows up in person this chapter, I’m hoping it’ll be the last big lore dump before the first plot arc begins but We Shall See…

Chapter 20 is right around the corner though, and I like my divisibles of 5 so I miiiiight shoot for that Red Hood Reveal then… 👀

Tag List: @welcometosasakiworld @someonebored0100 @stealingyourbones @starkcravingmad @frostedthroughghost @akikkobara @rainbowbunny0159 @littlefeather345 @violet-catsarelife @serasvictoria02 @wolfjackle @blacksea21090 @secretdestinywerewolf @anime-hipster-the-amazing @undead-essence @skitscratched @blackroserelina @snoodly-boop @mayoota-blog @xysidhe @little-apricot-the-writer @chaoticmistake @the-legal-shipper @bun-fish @aroranorth-west @demon-cat-goes-woof @perfectwastelandcreation @onyxlightdragon @larks-and-katydids @peachesandcreamfemboy @jesus-camp-the-sequel @may-rbi @mothman-the-mothman87 @viyatrix @stargirl1331 @thedepressedrobin @skulld3mort-1fan @rootsmudge @ravenshadow17 @cankoking @phantom-dc @mentalcarebear @magic-pincushion @redamancyardor @lyra689 @itsparadoxlacuna @alcorbearson @asphyxia778 @why-must-i-be-like-this @tkiesai @greenpyrowolf @frivolous-pastel @honeysuckletook @adorkable1291

[sissa-arrows]

Why are people so stupid ?? I've seen so many people twist the truth and say that that Algerian judoka didn't want to fight against that israeli judoka because "he was scared" and I'm here like... What the fuck ??!!! 😂😂😂

Are people really that stupid ? Do they have so little dignity that they don't understand the whole concept behind this move ?!

Algerian sportsmen have always, ALWAYS, refused to play against israeli players, BECAUSE PLAYING AGAINST ISRAELIS MEANS YOU ACCEPT THE FACT THAT ISRAEL EXISTS.

WE DON'T GIVE THEM THE TIME OF THE DAY. THEY DON'T EXIST. WE DON'T KNOW WHO ISRAELIS ARE.

It's nothing new, but for some weird reason it's only in 2024 that people talk about it and somehow manage to twist the truth.

It's funny 'cause I remember people not being so critical when the news dropped that russian players wouldn't be allowed to participate to the Olympics.

By the way, can we just talk about the fact that ALL THOSE ISRAELI PLAYERS ARE ACTUALLY IDF SOLDIERS ?!!

I kid you not. People have done research on them and all of them are IDF soldiers. Disgusting.

But obviously even if they weren't IDF soldiers we still would have boycott them and that's literally what the whole world was doing until we learned this new piece of information.

ALGERIANS WILL NEVER PLAY AGAINST ISRAELIS.

People need to learn what dignity means.

Free Palestine 🇵🇸

You know what’s funny? It’s that there used to be a time when a large part of the global south did that. That’s why “Israel” can’t play in the Asian cup or the Arab cup for example. For about 20 years nobody wanted them “permanently” and they kept playing with different white people depending on who wanted them that year. The global south boycotted them so much that as some point they had to play with Australia. Until the 90’s when Europe decided to fully include them in European cups.

But now that some countries like Algeria still stand on their feet and didn’t become cowards suddenly some people have an issue with it.

Speaking of the “Israelis” athletes being soldiers (or rather terrorists) apparently when the media presented their delegation they insisted on October 7th and on how they had to have private security (which is the perfect way to sneak in weapons for a false flag attack but whatever). Meanwhile when they presented the Palestinian delegation not a word about Gaza or the fact that the delegation is so small because “Israel” is killing Palestinians. From what I know one guy said “Their presence is a miracle” before quoting someone else who said “their presence in itself is a symbol of resistance” but without saying resistance against whom or putting the blame where it’s due.

Anyway this will get down in history like the Berlin Olympics of 1936 and we will remember who supported genocide.

[nkn0va]

This your man? This the guy you want?

Alright, apparently I got two asks about this in the span of 10 minutes so clearly we need to talk about this.

Before I get into that though, the other Blazblue writer's old blog has since been deleted. I signed out to look for their writing and it is all gone. That old blog is in fact deleted.

First off, I never ever once said I wanted Trump in office again, please do not put words in my mouth. Those DMs have since been deleted now so I cannot provide screenshots (I never thought I'd need to, fml). I do remember though that admittedly my choice of wording was pretty much as poor as it could've been and made a rather poorly timed joke. Also there was a lot of things on my mind that I unfortunately was not able to articulate before I was blocked. However I was simply stating an objective fact that the economy was largely better under Trump's presidency than Biden.

This is a huge multi-faceted argument in and of itself that I don't have the time or patience to talk about, including the fact that covid really fucked things up, but that's really not an excuse for the state of the economy 4 or even 2 years later. Inflation hit an all-time high under Biden's presidency and prices are higher than they've ever been. The cost of living is only climbing higher and higher with no current signs of dropping anytime soon. The statistics do not lie, inflation was dramatically lower under Trump's presidency than it currently is under Biden's. Popular opinion when looking at both responses to inflation and the inflation itself point to the economy doing better under Trump's term.

If you really want you can read on the topic in more detail here

Now does that I mean I support him?

Not quite.

Look, I don't think I need to tell anyone old enough to vote that Trump isn't exactly a saint. I recognize that and support the notion that as a person he is not fit for presidency in many ways despite the good he did for the economy. People are not black and white, it is not a bad thing to admit the good qualities of a person even when they're still bad outside of their deeds. Mother Teresa is a prime example. Despite all the great things she's done she's been proven to have severely neglected and at times even abused and humiliated the people in her care all in the name of indoctrinating people into the Catholic church.

This is in no way to compare her and Trump, I merely bring her up to emphasize my point that bad people can still have good qualities and vice versa. Thinking that a person is pure good or pure evil is immature, childish, and is exactly what a lot of people in power want. To create drastic divides in the American people in order to further advance their own agendas, whether we agree with them or not.

Now who might I be voting for is the question?

Frankly, I still have no idea. I don't want to skip out on voting, both on principal and especially the fact that this will be my first election, but unfortunately ERB Lincoln's worst fears have come true. The president shall once more be who the public decides is the shiniest of two turds.

I am not a Trump supporter nor a Biden supporter, just someone that wants the best for this country. Alas, as long as these two fucking idiots are our candidates, we'll have to hang in there for another four years.

This topic shall no longer be talked about on this blog publicly. If you wanna discuss anything political stop hiding behind the anonymous feature and discuss this with me in DMs like a intelligent, civilized person. Any future asks regarding this topic will be promptly deleted.

[thefinalcinderella]

Tsurune Book 3 Chapter 3 - The Song of Naru (Part 2)

Let me share my personal theory: In this universe, the sport of kyudo possesses the supernatural ability to alter one's brain chemistry. Those who have a deeper affinity with the bow are more transformed by this ability. Kyudo, it seems, can make one become more spiritually attuned and connect seemingly completely unrelated concepts, but also warp one's thought processes to the point of non-kyudo practitioners finding them incomprehensible.

Anyways I still had no idea what's going on. And yes, that last line in the chapter is real

Glossary here

Full list of translations here

Translation Notes

The word used here is 文字絵 (mojie) which means a picture formed by letters

In Japanese, superstring theory (超弦理論) contains the character for "bowstring"

A yotsugake is a kyudo glove that covers four fingers

Dousha is "a form of Japanese archery with the purpose of shooting arrows from one end to the other of the outer area on the west side of Sanjyusangen-do temple"

Toshiya is another name for dousha

A kosode is a short-sleeved kimono. It contains the character for sleeve

Apparently this is a quote from Kuroko no Basuke?

Previous | Next

The sun was flashing, spreading rainbow-colored wings of light.

It was the middle of May. The prefectural high school kyudo tournament preliminaries were being held.

The competition event was “close range.” The first day’s “individual competition” consisted of shooting four arrows in two stages in zasha, and the top ten with the highest number of hits would be selected for the next round.

The “team competition” on the second day consisted of one coach and five to seven archers, and one male and one female team per school could participate. The competition format was teams of five, four shots in zasha, and a time limit of eight minutes. Forty-one schools participated in the boys’ competition, and the eight teams with the highest scores in the first and second rounds would advance to the prefectural tournament. Looking at the past results, winning was between thirty and thirty-five hits, and the lowest halfway point was twenty.

Kazemai High School had a total of six girls: the three second-years Hanazawa, Shiragiku, and Seo, and three first-years. The boys had a total of seven, with the five second-years Kaito, Ryouhei, Seiya, Nanao, and Minato, and the two first-years Himuro and Kanbayashi. A total of thirteen people entered the individual and team competitions.

Kazemai was the winning school last year, so they attracted a lot of attention. Their school’s name was printed on the back of their green jerseys along with the illustration of an arrow.

When a student from another school said, “Oh, it’s Kazamai,” Nanao folded his hands behind his head.

“This is read as Kazemai. I get it, I sometimes say it wrong too.”

Kaito was appalled. “Don’t get the name of your own school wrong.”

“Japanese kanji is hard because there are so many different readings. Nippon, Nihon, Hinomoto, and Yamato are all examples of the ever-changing name of our country, after all.”

“Oh, it’s Asahina and Eddie from YumiDou,” they heard someone say.

They looked and saw the Haneina High School members passing by, with the flashy duo leading them. “Haneine?” someone muttered when they saw the characters printed on the back of their orange jerseys.

“Those guys are called ‘Haneina High School’… Oi, Asahina and Eddie! Merha!”

When Nanao waved at them, Asahina and Eddie also waved back. In addition, there were other unique members following them, such as a man with narrow eyes, a boy with a notebook and pen, and a boy with fresh flowers in his bag.

Asahina saluted them. “Hey, Nanapri and everyone from Kazemai. It’s been a while. How are you guys?”

Eddie continued, “Prince Nanao, it has been long seen we’ve last contacted each other. The frog art (1) I received from you the other way has seen a lot of uses, that it has.”

“I’m glad to hear that. I saw your last stream. You hit the center of the target in the dark!”

“Thank you. My body learned how to do it using something interesting. If it’s my dojo, I rarely miss a shot.”

“That’s amazing. I’d like to learn that technique too,” Seiya said.

“During kai, the second joint of your bow hand’s index finger should be in line with the position of the tree branch outside the kyudojo.”

“That isn’t something you learned with your body, it’s something you saw with your eyes…”

“Haha, well, it’s alright, isn’t it? I’ll be able to do it with my mind’s eye sooner or later.”

Suddenly, Asahina stared at Minato.

“Hmm? Is there something on my face?”

“I don’t know why, but I feel like rubbing your forehead, Narumiya.”

Seiya quickly hid Minato’s forehead. “You need our advisor’s permission.”

“Seriously? Just how strict are things at Kazemai? If only we can use a jutsu to clone him and borrow one of them. Oh, speak of the devil, Doppelgangers No. 1 and 2 have arrived.”

Asahina’s gaze was directed at a group of people dressed in purple jerseys.

It was the Kirisaki High School kyudo club. The twin brothers Senichi and Manji stopped walking at almost exactly the same moment. Their bangs were arranged symmetrically to each other. Senichi, whose bangs were parted to the left, spoke.

“Doppelgangers are already old news. We’re the Twin Fighters now.”

Hearing this, Kaito’s jaw dropped.

“I can’t believe there are guys with terrible naming senses in a different way from Seiya… Are you sure you guys aren’t going against the times?”

“Huh!?” The twins exclaimed in unison. Kabashima and Yushima tried to calm them down, but Senichi picked up the corners of his mouth and bared his teeth, and Manji pulled his eyelid down and stuck out his tongue. Without paying any attention to what was going on around him, Ryouhei ran up to a certain person.

“Shuu-kun!”

“Hey, Ryouhei. Did you grow taller again?”

“Yep. I’m not losing to you yet!”

“Fufu. I guess I have to give up.”

“It’s a shame that Motomura-senpai and Sase-senpai aren’t here anymore. It’s so sad that everyone has to go their separate ways after graduating from high school, even though we had so much fun together. I wish I could shoot with everyone more.”

Shuu’s pale eyelashes wavered. Senichi and Manji reacted.

“Yamanouchi, stop calling him that.”

“Huh? But Shuu-kun is Shuu-kun, isn’t he?”

Someone was watching the jumble of green, orange, and purple as they chattered.

Kuon was lamenting outside the circle.

It’s him! The man I saw in my dreams.

…No, wait. Who is Fujiwara-senpai looking at?

Following his line of sight, Kuon found Minato there. Shuu had a gentle smile on his face.

I can’t believe this. Those who stand at the top should not smile so frivolously. I don’t care about the dog anymore. This guy must be harmful to Fujiwara-senpai.

The antique doll smiled coldly.

After the opening ceremony, the individual competition started. The order was random in individual competitions.

The girls went first. Hanazawa, Shiragiku, Seo, and six other girls put on their yugake and headed for the waiting room with their bows, arrows, and tsurumaki with spare strings. Tommy-sensei went with them.

Cheering squads from each school took their places in the stands. It was filled with people holding paper cranes with prayers written on them and others recording in notebooks.

The Kazemai girls started appearing from the third group. Hanazawa’s matooto was cheered by the audience, and Shiragiku and Seo, who were in separate groups, followed. They performed a light and lovely dance, and as a result, Hanazawa had two hits, Shiragiku had three hits, and Seo landed all four of her arrows.

Next was the boys’ division.

Haneina’s Asahina, Eddie, Matsuda, Kanuma, and Igarashi. The five unique and showy individuals captured people’s attentions even when they were alone. Two in particular, Asahina and Eddie, had hair colors that couldn’t be misperceived even from a distance, and their shooting was even more beautiful than in their videos. Their arrows were like flashes as lightning, and they hit with all four arrows.

Kanbayashi, a Kazemai first-year, watched them from the waiting room and thought, I can’t shoot disgracefully. I have to do my best not to bring shame to Kazemai.

The first individual match. Kanbayashi was at the second target in the second group. The archer before him drew his bow. He released his arrow and hit the target at three o’clock. It was a good start.

Meanwhile, tension had stiffened Kanbayashi’s shoulders.

Huh? Why can’t I focus?

As he panicked in his mind, he raised his bow and moved to daisan. He slowly pushed his bow open—

Right when Kanbayashi realized it, the arrow was no longer in his hand and was sticking out of the arrow path. The arrow had jumped out of his hand while he was still drawing his bow. He had no idea what happened.

Crap, crap, crap.

No way, is this target panic…?

No, no, no, I’ve been nervous plenty of times, but I’ve never let go this early. No, there’s no time to think about this. I have to nock the next arrow—. His hands were shaking, and his bow grip was becoming slick with sweat.

It’s fine, it’s fine, it’ll be okay next time.

The more he chanted that in his mind, the rougher his breathing became.

For his second shot, Kanbayashi’s arrow was once again released before reaching kai. The venue became noisy as people started murmuring to each other, and the sound of someone saying “Ah” remained in his ears. The archer behind him released a sharp-flying arrow. Shouts of “Yes!” reverberated.

Kanbayashi’s third shot came around. He could feel his hands shaking. He didn’t know how to interpret this first-time sensation. What did Narumiya-senpai say? To overcome target panic, focus on breathing and exhale slowly. Exhale, exha…, oh no, I can’t do it—.

Again, before he even drew his bow back, the arrow was released in an instant. The sound of the aluminum arrow sweeping across the ground resounded, and it pierced the target after bouncing.

Is this what it means to not hear a tsurune?

It was almost terrifying for an archer.

After shooting all four arrows, Kanbayashi didn’t make any matooto, while Kaito, Seiya, and Minato landed all their arrows, and the others ended the first round with three hits.

Once he left the kyudojo, Kanbayashi buried his face in his hands. His heart was still pounding. “Don’t be so hard on yourself,” Nanao called out, but Kanbayashi’s face was so stiff that all he could manage was a forced smile.

This is so embarrassing. I became a complete mess in front of my senpais and my family who came to support me.

I’ve been practicing and practicing, but when the actual competition comes, I end up like this. What am I doing—.

Kanbayashi gripped the arrows that he retrieved.

“Please remove me from the lineup for tomorrow’s team competition! I can’t do it! I definitely have target panic! I don’t want to be a burden on everyone!”

This time it wasn’t Kanbayashi, but Minato and the second-years who were blinking rapidly.

It was Kaito who responded. “Oi, oi. We’re still only halfway through the individual competition. Why don’t you just hit the remaining four?”

Nanao and Ryouhei also chimed in.

“That’s right. It’s a little too early to give up. Let’s focus on the individual competition in front of us first.”

“Yeah, what he said. There was also a time when I panicked because my string snapped, but I managed.”

However, Kanbayashi didn’t change his opinion.

“It’s impossible! I’ve always had the potential to get target panic! My mental weakness is the only thing I’m confident about! You have to have had it to understand how awful it is!”

Everyone’s eyes turned to Minato. Nothing but the words of someone who experienced target panic could reach Kanbayashi’s heart now.

Minato stepped forward.

“Although it’s called target panic, it’s still a relatively early and sudden system. It’s not severe yet. We can get back on track.”

“You saw me, didn’t you!? My terrible shooting! I was so careful about target panic, but why, why…”

“Let’s do the dantian breathing exercises together. You’re too worked up right now, but you’ll calm down in a few minutes.”

“I can’t do such wishful thinking!”

Minato took Kanbayashi’s hand.

“Kanbayashi, listen to me. My mom once told me about something she read in a book. In ancient times, the Japanese named very fast vehicles ‘tsubame.” The second-fastest were ‘kodama,’ and the ones after that were ‘hikari.’ What do you think is a vehicle that’s faster than light?”

“…Was there anything faster than light?”

“The Shinkansen ‘Nozomi.’ It’s the Japanese word for ‘hope.’ The slogans were, ‘Nozomi of Ambitious Japan! is always there for you’ and ‘Nozomi is the fastest way to meet the person you want to see.’”

Tommy-sensei, who had been watching their exchange, smiled broadly.

“I’ve ridden on the ‘Hinotori’ before. E=mc2. It reminds one of Einstein, the monument of theoretical physics. When things move, they get heavier.”

“Tommy-sensei, you’re knowledgeable about physics too?” Kanbayashi said.

“No, not at all. I’m just a geography teacher. I only know the two theories: relativity, which deals with gravity, and quantum mechanics, which explains the behavior of matter in the microscopic world.”

“The only one of the seventeen subatomic particles that hadn’t been confirmed, the Higgs boson particle, was discovered in this century. It was called the God particle, and is responsible for giving mass to everything. And I guess there’s also the ‘superstring theory,’” Seiya supplemented. (2)

“Super-string?”

“The superstring theory. It’s a theory that claims that the origin of all things is ultra-small ‘strings’. The theory is that particles are actually the vibrations of these strings. It’s still at the stage of hypothesis.”

“The universe is made up of the sound of strings. I guess it would be too poetic to say that tsurune is the true nature of matter. Sound is the vibrating waves of air. Since it’s said that everything from people and plants to minerals are made up of waves, to say that ‘Nozomi’ is faster than light might not necessarily be wrong,” Masa-san said.

“Wow, tsurune is incredible.”

Tommy-sensei smiled with satisfaction at Kanbayashi, who was blinking rapidly.

“When I hear the word ‘ambitious,’ I think of Dr. Clark’s words. ‘Boys, be ambitious. Like this old man.’ I can almost hear the doctor laughing as he says, ‘I’m an eternal young man.’ Now, there’s still a long, long way to go. Let’s go to the next stage together.”

“I don’t really understand, but I’m going to let the team competition wait and focus on what’s in front of me right now.”

Kanbayashi changed his mindset and practiced dantian breathing as Minato put his hand on his lower abdomen.

As for the results of the individual competition, Kazemai’s Minato, Seiya, and Kaito, Kirisaki’s Shuu, Kabashima, and Kuon, Haneina’s Asahina and Eddie, and Seo from the girls’ division would be advancing to prefecturals.

The second day was the team competition.

The first round. The Haneina team, who were famous as Yotubers, drew a lot of attention for their shooting.

The oomae was Eddie Fox.

His long, blond hair was tied high up on his head, and a headband was tied around his forehead. He looked like an actor in a period drama. Once he gripped his bow, his jokester persona disappeared as his eyes sharpened, his breathing became shallower, and his face became dreadfully serious. A burst of sound resounded from the target area as he took advantage of a momentary gap and got in close to his opponent.

The second target was Matsuda Kotetsu.

He had poor vision, and the world he saw was composed of multicolored balls of light. His hearing was above average, and he had an excellent sense of perception. Whenever he stood before the target, he always stood behind someone else because it was easier to perceive the distance when someone was standing in front of him. Kyudo was a sport that could be played by people of all ages, and physical differences were no handicap. With the use of remote video conferencing, it was even possible to have a match with people on the other side of the world at the same time.

The third target was the naka, Kanuma Nobuhiko.

He was a haiku poet who loved writing haikus. He was staring absentmindedly into space during the middle of a competition.

A staff member approached him and asked him in a whisper, “Hey, what’s wrong? Are you not feeling well?”

“The eye of the snake/the white water surface holds/the golden-scaled fish. I tried to write a poem about carps living in a pond, but I guess it’s too mediocre. On a summer’s day/the koi frolic and a cat/sleeps beneath a tree. How’s that?” (3)

“This isn’t a haiku contest, it’s a kyudo tournament! Concentrate on your shooting!”

“Okaaay.”

Kanuma nocked his arrow. The spectators who had witnessed the scene were taken aback by his lack of nervousness and extraordinary strength of his heart.

The fourth target was the ochimae, Igarashi Shion.

He was the Gardening Prince who loved flowers. Even when he was sitting in his chair in the waiting room, he kept fresh flowers with him and left them with his tsurumaki. Even his bow was decorated with flowers he drew himself, and there were even people who wanted him to sell it to them. His shooting was as sweet-smelling as a flower and created the illusion of a fairy flying.

The fifth person was the ochi, Asahina You.

His red hair symbolized the rising sun. He parted his bow and followed the correct tsurumichi path. What was beautiful was good, and what was good was true. If you sought beauty and aesthetic, you would naturally follow the right path without being aware of it. Far from concepts such as “seeking the truth” and “ascetic training,” and the irrepressible joy that radiated from him captivated those who watched him. He liked to have fun, and believed in fundamentally ignoring what wasn’t fun or changing it to be fun.

The Haneina High School kyudo club was both noble and greedy. They lived not by the values of others, but their own axes. The five of them were comrades and friends who had met each other on their travels. Of course, there were occasional clashes of opinion, but they knew when to quit, so there were no lingering resentments. Making videos was a great way to learn about life and society, as what one said and did was constantly exposed to the public eye. It wasn’t easy to communicate something to others. True expressive people seemed to be free and unfettered at first glance, but they kept their feet on the ground and devoted themselves to their work.

The five of them carved out the Eight Stages of Shooting.

Ashibumi, douzukuri, yugamae, uchiokoshi, hikiwake, kai, hanare, zanshin.

When five circles, a “yoko kaichuu,” were lined up next to each other on the scoreboard, there was an eruption of applause.

Hanazawa, Shiragiku, and Seo, who were watching from the stands, let out sighs.

“It feels really fun.”

“Their shooting was brilliant.”

“They’re formidable opponents. It seems that the boys’ division won’t be so smooth-sailing.”

The members of the Haneina High School kyudo club achieved the high results of four, four, four, three, and four hits each.

Second round, first kyudojo. The champions, Kirisaki High School, were taking their turn.

The oomae was Kabashima. He was particular about his face and form. In the name of Kirisaki High School, he shot so that no one could complain. When gripping the bow, the tenmonsuji should be firmly sticking to the todake, and the skin between one’s thumb and index finger should be rolled up from below. It was no exaggeration to say that kyudo began with the Eight Stages of Shooting and ended with the Eight Stages of Shooting. Originally, it was the Seven Stages, but with the addition of “zanshin,” it became eight. Why did they make it eight? He felt something profound in it. He earnestly, single-mindedly, carved out the Eight Stages and created a matooto. He was intoxicated by the sweet tone.

Senichi was at the second target, and Manji was at the third. Although their time-difference attack was sealed up, the confidence of the Twin Fighters was evident. We stand on the front line, the firing line. Come on, follow us. They looked completely relaxed, as if victory had been decided before the fight had even begun.

The ochimae was Kuon Takumi. Unusually for a high school student, he used a yotsugake. (3) There were slight differences in gripping the string depending on whether you were wearing mitsugake and yotsugake. Originally used in dousha, (4) and it was said that yotsugake was more suitable for people who drew many arrows like the toshiya (5)in Sanjusangen-do or for people with tough bows, but since Kuon believed that yotsugake were more superiorly ranked than mitsugake, he chose to use it. The arrow that was released almost hit the center. A rapturous air exuded from his whole body.

When the ochi, Shuu, started to lift his bow, the entire venue resonated with silence.

Even the sound of his clothes rustling was daunting. He possessed a divinity, as if he had reached a higher level than what everyone called the “Young Lord.” He himself became a bow and emitted a tsurune that soared through the heavens. Shuu’s sound instantly erased the uncanny colors created by Kuon and purified the place.

A true sound.

A good sound.

A beautiful sound.

By the time the people whose hearts were pierced came back to their senses, Shuu had already left.

The results were announced over the loudspeaker.

“The results will be announced now. First shooting range, Team 17, four, four, three, four, four, nineteen hits total. Second shooting range, Team 18, four, two, two, four, 12 hits total. That is all.”

Kirisaki won, and Kazemai went after them.

The oomae, Kaito, drew his bow tightly. He relaxed his hands and stretched his upper arms.

More force, more force. He stretched and stretched—then released. The arrow was sucked into the target while spinning clockwise.

The second target, Ryouhei, didn’t only grow in height. He had the dignity of an archer, and he shot with majesty. He was someone who had love for everyone. He would continue to have affection for himself and others for the rest of his life. The target accurately reflected the archer, and the round target, without deceit or calculation, was waiting to be pierced.

The naka, Seiya, was also clearly different from who he was a year ago. He took off his obstinate armor and stretched his limbs freely. He hated himself. He hated irrationality, fate, all of it. When he became entwined with hatred and fell into a swamp, there was someone who reached out to him. That person said that they didn’t care what kind of person he was.

The ochimae, Kanbayashi, began to carry out his shot. He concentrated on the lower abdomen that Minato had put his hand on before.

The dantian is “here.”

Now, gather the light here.

He threw away all speech and listened only to the sound of his breathing. When the wind calmed down, his arrow flew at high speed.

The ochi was Minato. He summoned the wind that should have stopped. The wind that rushed around the earth was the land’s breath. Once you were able to feel that, you became a wind user. He manipulated the wind at will and connected it to a new era.

The tsurune took everything away.

For the results of the first round, Kazemai had fifteen hits out of twenty.

After the first and second rounds were completed, Kirisaki had thirty-six hits, Haneina had thirty-five, and Kazemai had thirty-three.

All three schools made it through the preliminaries.

After the tournament, the Kazemai second-years and Masa-san waited for a car to pick them up. Tommy-sensei and the first-years went home first. Waves of people came and went to the other shore.

Minato, Seiya, and Ryouhei sat on the edge of a flower bed. Ryouhei immediately started to eat his sweets. Seiya, finding the verse from “Greensleeves” stuck in his head, couldn’t help but hum it.

He met eyes with Masa-san, who was next to them.

“Is that an English folk song? You know a lot of old songs, Seiya.”

“If you know it, then you must be ancient as well, Masa-san. Minato’s mom used to hum it. Oh, it can’t be helped if you don’t know it.”

A bell was rung. Fighters burned with quiet fighting spirit.

Seeing the two jab at each other, Nanao quickly took out his phone. He entered the search words, and the English lyrics and translation were displayed.

Kaito peered at them.

“What’s this? Isn’t this just a guy who got dumped and kept whining about it? Isn’t it too obsessive to say at the end, ‘Goodbye, please come here again and love me?’”

“Kacchan, you don’t understand heartbreak at all.”

“Hah? I don’t need to.”

“Yep, that’s what I thought.”

Ryouhei said that he would eat all the sweets.

“What kind of woman is Greensleeves? He’s calling her name over and over, right?”

Seiya was the one who answered. “I did some research, but the prevailing theory seems to be that it’s a metaphor and not a real name. There are various theories that Greensleeves is a prostitute, a dead person, or a ghost. Also, some people think that Greensleeves isn’t a song about lost love, but more like a hymn.”

For a moment, sound disappeared.

Even though it should have been extremely noisy with all the people around, the area was so silent that it made their ears hurt. Even the birds were quiet.

Masa-san murmured a few words.

“Green kosode—. (6) I think it’s talking about the upper arm.”

“What do you mean?” Minato asked.

“There’s a custom in the West to wear green when one turns into a spirit. When you think of Santa Claus, you think of red clothes, but that was because he was dressed in a company’s image color in advertisements, and in England, he was originally dressed in green. According to one theory, Santa Claus is Saint Nicholas, that is, a clergyman. He is a person who seems to have existed, and his name and deeds are passed on to his disciples.”

“What does that have to do with ‘upper arms’?”

“I think ‘Greensleeves’ refers to the arms themselves. It’s ‘green sleeves.’ When you touch the arm of a person, a miracle will occur. That makes them a vessel of the divine.”

Masa-san typed into his phone.

Alas, my love, you do me wrong.

Greensleeves was all my joy.

Greensleeves was my delight.

Oh, my chest feels like it’s about to burst. You who bestow love, how cruel you are.

You let enjoy your love, and say you’ll forsake me. Is this a test of God?

Greensleeves, you are joy itself.

Greensleeves, you are days of happiness.

I was happy just being by your side.

Seiya spoke.

“That sound like words dedicated to God. A somewhat critical song of lamentation and resignation.”

“Greensleeves may have been a person who had a healing hand that could cure illnesses and injuries, or maybe she was a saint. There are even those who say that it is the name of God. It’s distinct from the secular world and doesn’t appear openly. Even if you’re attracted by, yearn for, adore, sacrifice yourself, and give up all your wealth and power for the singing voice that you overhear from the church, you cannot touch ‘it.’”

“I see. In that case, I can at least acknowledge the manly spirit of ‘I’ll stop you even if I have to cling to you,’” Kaito said. (7)

“Kacchan, this isn’t a rugby play. And ‘manly spirit,’ really? You completely ruined the mood,” Nanao said.

 Seiya lowered his eyes and took off his glasses.

“Being abandoned by God might be an indication that humans are irredeemable.”

Shiragiku’s expression clouded over, and she gripped Seo and Hanazawa’s hands.

“How awful…it was such a wonderful melody.”

As everyone fell silent, Minato pondered.

Has God abandoned humans?

Is this really true? Didn’t I forget something important?

“You’re wrong! Such a sad and gentle melody could never be a criticism and lament to God. This is a joyful song for a coming-of-age ceremony!” he started shouting.

Before he knew it, everyone was staring at him blankly. The three girls shrank back while still holding hands.

Masa-san tried to follow Minato’s thought process.

“Coming-of-age ceremony? What’s with this all of a sudden? Where did your thoughts fly to, Minato?”

“I remembered my mother’s words. She said that at coming-of-age ceremonies, it’s a ‘song of naru.’”

“…What do you mean? Did your mother have a shrine maiden disposition?

“No, she was a normal mom.”

“Don’t put too much stock in what Narumiya calls ‘normal.’ By the way, who’s Naru? Is that a new character? Now I’m even more confused.”

Kaito scratched his head.

Previous | Next

[lettersfrombeyondthegrave]

United by music my ass

So the whole thing was a mess. My aftermath thoughts are these

UK made me nauseous for how much it overshadowed Ukraine again and again. And fun fact, this wasn't the first time a country couldn't host and UK in particular stepped in. Like, it happened multiple times before.

"Look at these cool Ukraine places you can't visit and then oh a British place you CAN visit!!!"

One question. During the entire thing, has any of the hosts said a few concrete ways people at home can help Ukraine? Said any association you could donate to? Gave phone numbers to call? Anything at all I may have missed? I mean there was time to include that lil 10 seconds ad about Moroccan oil or whatever before the start of the evenings.

I fucking KNEW they would have made someone sing Imagine. And that was nauseating in itself. Mahmood looked like he was dissociating for the whole thing tho lmao

Making an Israel old entry perform two seconds AFTER imagine? A... Choice.

Also a choice the enormous amount of points that the jury gave to Israel on a year that the winning country couldn't host because of the war affecting them.

And on that note, these couple years wasn't the first time Russia launched their ass in a fucking conflict with an European country. Hello? 2008 Russo-Georgian war? Georgia is 20% fucking occupied by Russia!

And in 2009 what did Eurovision do? Said that "We don't wanna Put in" entry by Georgia was too political!!! Hello?

So why, on earth, is Israel still allowed to participate? People talk shit about Australia not being in Europe but compared to Israel I'll fucking take the Aussies and I don't even particularly like them !! And why, on earth, they thought the unicorn song was decent?

Next point. Fucking. Jury. Votes.

Do you want to know as an example the average age of Italy's jury? When I read it on Twitter I didn't believe it so here's the math!

(70+ 55+60+64+37) ÷ 5 = 57

No comment.

"united by music" let's be real you're united by the money and having the 60th anniversary of Abba + a previous winner that was involved in the ost for Euphoria, a tv series that was a massive success, is easy marketing.

Onto the next point, way too many countries were robbed. Czechia? Slapped. Germany brought for once something to the table and still got less points than whatever TikTok bullshit UK had going on. Absolute robbery. Could it have more metal screaming? It can always have more metal screaming but it was still serving cunt.

I don't even wanna mention Croatia. I'm so tired of people that treat Eurovision like every other fucking song contest, WE DONT NEED STONED SIA, I was for two minutes on Twitter and god the takes on that app. Just shut it down already. "Honestly this year was underwhelming" girl go back buying polaroids of Jimin. This wasn't made for you.

Croatia is how you MAKE a song with a message relevant to the shit that's going on in europe. Switzerland is how you DONT. Croatia was fun, parodying, putting on an apparent nosense and punk old men in drag, and THATS how it's done, what do you guys want more? Croatia was an Eurovision entry

What about Czechia message then? One question: did it sound like a boring ballad that any random British singer could make? No. Did it sound powerful and recognizable, with an identity behind it? Yes.

Ukraine this year? The cyberpunk was county, amazing, but Eurovision material? No. I've loved Ukraine entries in the past because they sang in their own language, which is already a +1 point regardless, AND included folk elements in the song. That flute thing they always have going on is DELIGHTFUL and EATS UP every single time. I love Eurovision because it exposes me to different sounds, different ways of singing. This is why I liked Moldova this year!

Anyway that's about it.

[talos-to-listens]

I saw @cerastes posting about his mom and about how she like causing Chaos and Puzzlement, which reminded me of an incident.

My old workplace was in a mall next to a hotel, and we’d get a lot of tourists as a result, and they’d tend to get up early, and the mall has a coffeeshop of sorts which is open and tourists tend to go to it because it’s a local coffeeshop chain (Fun Toast for the locals reading this). For breakfast that’s really all the mall has, it’s that or Subway and Macs, and the tourists tend to go for the coffeeshop because it’s something they don’t have in their countries.

Now, one morning, I went there to pick up a cup of tea, as I always do. And I notice this American family standing to one side, peering at the menu. And I hear them talking amongst themselves, trying to puzzle out the different things on the menu. Because it doesn’t say “tea” or “coffee” it says “teh/kopi/teh-c/kopi-c” that sort of thing. And they have no idea what it means. And everyone is ordering in Chinese - they have no idea what the customers are saying either.

See, down here in Singapore ( and a lot of SEA countries) there’s a certain lingo for ordering tea aka teh or coffee aka kopi. You order a kopi-siew dai if you want a coffee with less sugar, a kopi-c if you want a coffee with evaporated milk, a kopi-ping if you want it iced, a kopi-kosong if you want it without sugar, a kopi-o if you want it black. And you can combine all these options so you could, for example, order a kopi-c-siew dai-ping for an ice coffee that’s less sweet and made with evaporated milk.

And all of these options are listed on the menu. And this tourist family is lost beyond all reason. However, like a ray of light from the heavens, who should turn up but Mike.

Mike is also an American. Mike comes by, gives me a wave of greeting, and then he notices the American family. He realizes, they’re relying on him to somehow decode the menu for them in a fashion they can understand - in fact they queue up behind him so they can (i think) learn what this guy was ordering and order the same and be (relatively) safe.

Unfortunately for them, Mike had been living in Singapore by that point for about a decade, and was fully immersed in the local culture and the coffee lingo. More to the point, he came to this coffeeshop very often and the staff there knew him. And, as I was to learn, he apparently was capable of being a massive troll. 

Fully aware of the hopes this family of tourists was pinning on him, Mike steps up to the counter. He opens his mouth to order. The family leans in with bated breath, hoping to listen in, that they can start to comprehend, perhaps, by proxy, what the menu means.

What does Mike do? Mike orders, in quick succession and with perfect pronunciation, a kopi-c-siew dai-gao, kopi-o-kosong-gao, teh-o-kosong-ping, teh-c-siew dai-ping, ying yang-siew dai-ping.

The tourist family’s faces change. From one of hope to one of utter despair. Worse than not comprehending, he’d ordered something that wasn’t even on the menu! But the staff knew Mike well enough that they made it for him anyway!

As Mike turned away from the counter, with his drinks in hand, I saw the biggest shit-eating grin on his face. I could only sit in awe and wonder at this man, who’d intentionally placed as confusing sounding an order as he could come up with, for the sole fact of messing with this random family of tourists that he didn’t even know. 

What about the tourists, you may ask? Well, simple. 

They (sorta) gave up, and just went with normal tea and coffee for their drinks.

[isfjmel-phleg]

September 2022 Books

The Ghosts by Antonia Barber

The "ghosts" in question are time travelers! I enjoyed this one.

The Trolley Car Family by Eleanor Clymer

A charming example of the "family lives in an unconventional dwelling which is described in loving detail" genre.

The Little Bookroom by Eleanor Farjeon

Collection of short stories. Inventive but didn't really strike a chord with me, not sure why.

Grace Harlowe's Freshman Year at High School by Jessie Graham Flower

This is a reprinted edition of a novel from the 1910s. I picked it up at a library booksale because Edwardian YA literature! Read it around the same time as Mike and Psmith for purposes of comparison.

And it made me really appreciate what a brilliant story M&P was compared to other school stories of its day. Because this book...well, I found the introduction, which established historical context, to be interesting. The actual story, not so much. Plotlines are predictable and overly dramatic, and the characterization is shallow. All the good characters are embodiments of Admirable Traits and all the antagonists are Utterly Horrid and the narrative makes sure you know it.

There's a scene where the main cast of high schoolers is preparing to meet a young man raised in England, and they expect a stereotype--and get it.

They had pictured him as a sort of dandy, with needle-toed patent leather shoes and a coat cut in at the waist and padded over the shoulders.

Even David had voiced a few thoughts on the subject of Tom Gray.

"I'll bet he's an English dude," he said. For Mrs. Gray's nephew had spent most of his life in England. "He'll probably carry a cane and wear a monocle."

They were not surprised, therefore, when a young man entered the room who bore out somewhat the picture they had conjured. He was tall and slender, very dapper and rather ladylike in his bearing. His alert, dark eyes were set too close together, and his face had a narrow, sinister look that made them all feel uncomfortable. He spoke with a decided English accent, in a light, flippant voice which sent a quiver of dislike up and down David's spine, and made Reddy Brooks give his right arm a vigorous twirl as if he would have liked to pitch something at the young man's head.

Does this description seem familiar? Sounds a lot like Psmith (down to the eyes "set too close together"!), but notice the absolute disdain with which the narrative treats these traits. He's "ladylike," and of course the Manly, Red-Blooded American Boys are disgusted by him.

As the conversation proceeds, there is some mocking of his accent, the boys call him "asinine dandy" and "Miss Nancy" behind his back, and his aunt struggles to hold back "tears of disappointment" at his distaste for America. The boys question him about sports, he confesse he "do[es]n't like outdoor games at all" and prefers "afternoon tea [...] and bridge," and while the other boys barely conceal their disgust, the aunt pointedly mentions that all of them are athletes! When he takes out his monocle, she scolds him: "[D]on't wear that thing here. It's not the custom in this town or in this country, for that matter. If you are nearsighted, buy yourself a pair of spectacles."

Anyway, it turns out this guy is an imposter, and when the real nephew turns up, we are assured that he is "broad-shouldered, well-built" with "a sunburned, wholesome face" and "carried no cane; neither were his shoes pointed at the toes, and there wasn't a tinge of English in his accent except that his enunciation was unusually good." He openly professes his American patriotism and is of course outdoorsy--but, lest you worry, "there was nothing of the gypsy in him. He was full of energy and ambition and infused such a wholesome vigor into whatever he did [...]" The only acceptable boy/young man, after all, is one who fits a rigid mold of exaggerated masculinity, which apparently is something that American males have the upper hand in.

Cf. Mike and Psmith, in which Psmith fits the description of the English dandy and has a complicated relationship with sports, but the narrative never insults him for it or questions his masculinity. If Flower had written Wodehouse's book, Mike and Adair would have been constantly held up as Good Examples, while Psmith would have been An Object Of Disgust with no redeeming qualities.

Anyway, interesting rhetoric, but not really worth one's while as a story.

A Clock of Stars: Beyond the Mountains by Francesca Gibbons (reread)

Reread because the next book in the series is coming out soon.

The Boyhood of Grace Jones by Jane Langton

For context: published in the 1970s.

Grace, bless her heart, is a tomboy with a bad case of internalized misogyny. What she needs is to learn how to live in the world as her own unconventional self without having to hate femininity/herself for being female.

...the solution to this is not for her to suddenly be okay with femininity after receiving the attentions of an adult male teacher she now has a crush on. But that's what happens in this book. I was not impressed.

The Secret Detectives by Ella Risbridger

What if Mary Lennox made friends and had adventures on the ship from India to England when she stumbles into a juvenile version of an Agatha Christie novel? I didn't know I needed that question answered, but I did, and this book was delightful. Maybe not always historically spot-on, but not enough to be jarring like some other middle-grade historical fiction.

A Lemon and a Star by E. C. Spykman

I didn't really get this one. It's in the slice-of-turn-of-the-century-family-life genre, but not all of the family was endearing. The older brother, quite frankly, was terrible, and allowed to be, and I didn't care for that and couldn't connect with the story as a whole.

The Secret Keepers by Trenton Lee Stewart (reread)

Reread as something suitable for before-bed reading when I don't have the brain capacity for something new.

All Systems Red by Martha Wells

Dashed if I understand all the technical sci-fi stuff, but I love the highly relatable Murderbot! Will be reading the rest of the series in October.

Mystery of the Haunted Pool by Phyllis A. Whitney

I really liked this one! Not only an interesting mystery but interesting characterization. I'm planning to read more of Whitney at some point.

Mike and Psmith by P. G. Wodehouse (reread)

Reread for Psmith Pseptember.

In their own section, all the comics!

Tagging @brown-little-robin so you'll see this when you get back, because I know you'll want to know what I thought.

In order of encounter:

The Flash: Book Four by Mark Waid

Read this one to get further background on the events leading up to Bart's going to live to Max. Mostly interesting for insight into Wally's character (ESTP 7w8 maybe?) and the perception of Bart as opposed to Impulse's portrayal (which I've discussed elsewhere).

Impulse #13-89 (plus some extras) by Mark Waid, William Messner-Loebs, and Todd Dezago

Regrettably had to leave numerous threads dangling but quite enjoyable! I've talked about this in more detail elsewhere.

Young Justice: Books One-Six by Peter David

I really enjoyed the character dynamics in this, especially as the series progressed. Lots of humor but some really heartbreaking moments too. The ending could have tied things up a bit better (what exactly happens to everyone?), but the redemption of poor Secret was very satisfying.

Superman Volume 2: Trials of the Super Son, Super Sons: Volumes 1-3, Super Sons of Tomorrow, Adventures of the Super Sons: Volumes 1-2, and Challenge of the Super Sons by Peter J. Tomasi

These boys are the cutest thing. Jon is a sweet, good-hearted kid who is Doing His Best, and Damian is a holy terror, and they drive each other crazy but somewhere along the way they become best friends, and it's delightful to watch the relationship play out. The differences in their family lives are interesting too. I didn't love all the storylines (why would you bring back (older alternate versions of) the core four of Young Justice and not utilize their very distinct personalities?), but the boys' dynamic makes this series quite fun.

Batman and Son and The Resurrection of Ra's al Ghul by Grant Morrison et al.

So then I figured I might as well start from the beginning with Damian. Yikes.

The Resurrection storyline crosses over with Tim's and Dick's solo series, which gives us some interesting, more character-focused angles, including Dick trying to talk a desperate, recently bereaved Tim out of collecting Lazarus Pit water to use on his dead parents and friends. While fighting him, of course.

Also read various issues of various comics that tie into the Batman R.I.P. storyline and its aftermath, specifically dealing with Damian's role, and I'm not going to bother listing them all here because who has time for that.

[gulfportofficial]

Thinkin' about USpol in a small town.

Something I'm thinking a lot about lately is Joe Bageant's "guy in the bar" observation. Bageant wrote about, essentially, white rust belt communities of the kind he grew up in, factory towns, and the fact that they had swung hard right in the lead-up to and increasingly during the Bush Years. In Bageant's youth, these towns, towns like his, had had a strong union presence, even a socialist presence. They were unlikely to vote Republican en mass. Bageant's book - Deer Hunting with Jesus: Dispatches from America's Class War - is very good, and he details and investigates several factors that went into this evolution towards the right. Among other things, he talks about funding being diverted into Christian-led education while being cut back for other education, the impact of extended credit leading into the credit crunch, Reaganism and the loss of employment, Scots-Irish history. But also he talks about, and it pops into my head at least once a day lately, the fact that Republicans have a guy in the bar.

What he means by this is that Republican campaigners specifically do a thing where they go to the town bar. The Republicans often have a guy in town, who hangs in the bar with all the other good citizens of the town, who affirms their fears, who gives them reasons and solutions. Following this, he observes that the Democrats in the same given town do not do this. They don't do it because poor people are icky, and more importantly, because sometimes they say things or ask questions that are not on the approved list of correct words and knowledge that apparently everyone is issued in college.

(And watch out, because that list changes every year. I point that out because I want to say it does no good just to learn the buzzwords. You have to learn what's behind them, why things matter, where the egg is and where is the wall. But that's another subject for another day).

And I recognize that it is not the responsibility of the oppressed to educate. Of course it isn't. But be realistic, man. Sometimes people have good hearts and they'll just as likely listen to you as they will to the guy who's telling them, yes, in fact, there is a secret conspiracy to make every child trans. Just as likely, provided you don't instantly dismiss them as stupid and wrong and so far beneath your esteem that you can only sneer at them. It's not even education! It's just having faith in people, believing in them. Here's an example. Where I live, there is a queer org that is very college lib, and we're right in the heart of MAGA country. So when the queer org puts up their post about an event on the "Happening in [Town]" facebook page, instantly someone springs up to say, "Great, just what [town] don't need. More homo stuff." (I don't remember exactly what was said, but I do, crucially, remember the "don't").

How does the queer org respond? Like this: they write, simply, "*doesn't."

Just smugly correcting the grammar, as if education and having the Right Values automatically go hand in hand. It's just... just futile. And smug. And I get that it is exhausting and draining and frustrating to engage with someone who says that and people shouldn't always have to. Further, I get that a lot of what we hear from the Republican end of things is so unbelievably, bafflingly dumb that the natural reaction is just not to even bother. But I've been at this a long time. I've seen people come around. And what it takes is having a guy in the bar. I think also of Sarah Palin. Absolute fucking disaster of a person. Rotten to the core. But people loved her. Because she listened to them. That's what people said about her, for example, a mother of a disabled son (one of Palin's children has Downs Syndrome): "She listens to me. Nobody listens to me." I don't really have a lot else to say about this. I don't like the Democrats either, obviously, but even removed from party politics, I don't know. We should have a guy in the bar.

[junithelooperrrr]

FOMO is not exclusively online - a long post

for the uninitiated = FOMO, or "fear of missing out", is an experience where someone sees a more lavish or decorated lifestyle than theirs and feels jealous, or like they are "missing out".

Please note, this whole post is from my personal perspective and experience.

I see the term constantly associated with instagram and influencers, but I really think that that's not the whole story?

Continued under cut.

Because it's not *just* influencers who have money and nice things that, if not given full context, can make someone feel like they're missing out.

For example, I live in the UK - and here, it's all school uniform (for most schools that I am aware of) up until year 12 (or 11th grade for the Americans), and even then it's a very business-type dress code that you have to get creative to personally style yourself into. This goes even further for the guys, since most schools limit boys to a suit, while girls get a much looser dress code (binary terms used because that is how the dress codes are written).

One of the main defences of the uniform rules is that it puts everyone on an equal level - meaning that, for the most part, you don't see who has the latest trendy stuff or who is less well-off / lags behind on trends - so, avoiding fear of missing out.

It does this quite well, but a counter to that effect is when we have non uniform days - pay what used to be £1 (when you'd just drop a coin in a bucket) but is now £2 (paid online in advance & you'd get a token) or even £3 (paid by card at the door - I don't know why they did this either, they only started hiking the at-the-door price in year 11) to come in in your own clothes.

That in itself is harmless, but I rarely got to participate - it usually happened that we just couldn't do that right now, and for the most part, the only times I really got to were either when I had spare money on my card (only in year 10 and 11) or a friend had a token they didn't want. I just remember always feeling jealous and like I stood out (because I did, it'd only be me and a few other kids in my year) - and when I was especially little, I was sometimes droven to tears over it. I knew it was nobody's fault but it was still upsetting - because I was missing out.

Again, this is nobody's fault, but the fact I've never seen anyone else even discuss this or give it any thought is frustrating.

On a higher level, there's this strange (to me) assumption that everyone has gone on some big vacation at some point, especially to another country - one time, for some reason I was talking about how I don't have a passport (I don't) and a girl overheard us was like "how do you go abroad then?" - as if it just hadn't occurred to her that I might not have? I don't (/didn't? I'm done at that school now) even go to a super fancy school - it was just a grammar school, which only required that I pass a test and that I live nearby (the latter is only because it's oversubscribed) - no tuition fees or whatever. Just normal-ass kids. I don't know, have most people actually gone abroad (Looked up a statistic, apparently 94% of people in the UK have?)?

Also, the classic question "did you guys do anything over the holiday?" - Everyone seems to have some kind of answer that isn't just "no lol". And when I do say no, the response is "oh so you were just relaxing then? :)" - which is either Just Being Polite or people just think that everyone has Go Out And Do Things At The End Of the Month money.

Either way, it's just depressing to, even without using major social media (I only use youtube, tumblr, reddit and discord) feel like I'm missing out on so much. And it's strange that this is something nobody seems to talk about. Is the whole "fomo" panic just part of the Social Media Bad stuff, or is it genuinely that people do not realise that it's not at all exclusive to social media because "irl fomo" just not something they are affected by?

[meglyfer]

I just saw some very upsetting shit and I gotta talk about it

(Vent) (Kinda long because I'm complaining about like three different things at once)

You guys don't get to talk about history of my country if you have absolutely no idea about it The dictatorship of 1976 was something led by POLITICAL IDIOLOGY, NOT RACE. BOTH THE SOLDIERS doing atrocities AND THE VICTIMS of said atrocities were white, black, morenos, any colour in between I'm forgetting, and it takes LESS THAN TEN MINUTES of Google search to know this. Not only you can check what were the reasons behind the coup, but also, if you look up for pictures of the victims, you'll see how a lot of them were WHITE (This is because the most affected province was Buenos Aires, province which also recieved the most amount of Europeans immigrants) Don't you ever again dare talk about Argentinian history without doing even the most minimal research about it. I don't want you to speak the name of my country when you have clearly NO IDEA what you're talking about

Also, while I'm at it, would you guys quit it with the "Argentina is a n4zi paradise" crap? We are literally the third country with the biggest Jewish population "bUt, BuT, wHaT aBoUt PeRóN fOrGiVinG n4zI sOlDiErS" PERÓN WAS JUST ONE MAN WHO DIED 50 YEARS AGO HE DOES NOT SPEAK FOR ALL OF US, AND EVEN IF HE DID, IT'S BEEN 52 YEARS SINCE HE'S BEEN PRESIDENT, I AM PRETTY SURE THE POPULATION WOULD HAVE CHANGED ITS MIND IN ALL THAT TIME "bUt PeOpLe vOtEd fOr HiM" AND SAID PEOPLE REALISED HE WAS A N4ZI AFTER HE BECAME PRESIDENT, DUMBASS

IF YOU GUYS WANNA HATE ON ARGENTINIANS SO BADLY, THEN EITHER FIND A GOOD REASON FOR IT, OR JUST DO IT, BUT DON'T MAKE UP SHITTY EXCUSES TO JUSTIFY YOUR HATE WHEN YOUR STUPID ARGUMENTS CAN BE DEBUNKED IN LESS THAN A MINUTE, AND THE ONLY THING YOU'RE DOING IS HURTING THE IMAGE OF US TO EVERYONE ELSE'S EYES I SURE AS HELL DON'T LIKE BEING CALLED A N4ZI FOR WHAT A MAN, THAT I DON'T EVEN AGREE WITH, AND DIED EVEN BEFORE MY MOM WAS BORN, DID SAID OR THINK IN HIS TIME ALIVE AND I DO NOT LIKE BEING CALLED RACIST FOR FALSE INFORMATION ABOUT ONE OF MOST PAINFUL CHAPTERS OF MY COUNTRY'S HISTORY EITHER

OH, OH, AND ALMOST FORGOT ABOUT IT NO, YOU STUPID FUCK, JUST BECUASE WE ARE WHITE DOESN'T MEAN WE ARE GRINGOS, OR EUROPEAN, OR ANY SHIT LIKE THAT. WE ARE STILL LATINOS DESPITE OUR SKIN TONE, BECAUSE, GUESS WHAT, YOUR SKIN TONE DOESN'T DEFINE WHETHER IF YOU ARE LATINO OR NOT I KNOW, SOMETHING COMPLETELY MINDBLOWING FOR YOUR INSIGNIFICANT BRAIN AMERICANS APPARENTLY HAVE I was born, raised and lived my whole life in Argentina, a lationamerican country. My parents, grandparents and grandgrandparents were too. We face the same struggles as other latinoamerican countries, like poverty, corruption, insecurity, and a million other things. We share part of out history and culture with them, while also having our own. Not to mention that we meet the most important requirement to be part of LATAM, which is the geografical location of the country I am so fucking tired of brain dead people saying that we Argentinians are not latinos because we are white. I am so sorry for not having the exact same skin tone that you expect from your stereotypical Mexican character in Hollywood movies who is there to make fun of Mexican people, but just because I don't match your biased expectations it doesn't mean that I am less latino than someone from Perú, for example (Mando amor a toda la banda peruana, los quiero 😘) I thought we had made it clear that LATAM is a place with very diverse culture and people. We have people of all shapes and colours, metaphorically and literally speaking, why are you surprised some of us are white??? Not to mention that the vision of "All Argentinians are white" comes from just viewing BUENOS AIRES. CLEARLY YOU HAVEN'T MET A SINGLE PERSON THAT ISN'T FROM CAPITAL FEDERAL, THERE ARE WAY MORE PEOPLE OF COLOUR ONCE YOU LEAVE THAT PLACE

Summary: I fucking hate people who talk shit about my country and people when they barely even know how our flag looks like 😋

VIVA ARGENTINA CARAJO 💥💥💥 LPM, NO PUEDO PONER EL EMOJI DE LA BANDERA ARGENTINA EN LA COMPU YA FUE, LE MANDO UNA IMAGEN ENTERA

[yessadirichards]

When it comes to Hollywood strikes, it's not just entertainment industry that's being hurt

LOS ANGELES

The company had struggled for years, tossed around by pandemic-induced production shutdowns that began in March 2020. Last year, though, business for Valentino’s Costume Group had finally picked back up.

Hoping to capitalize on that good fortune, the shop moved in January to a North Hollywood space twice the size of its old building.

Then Hollywood's screenwriters and actors went on strike. Now, says co-owner Shon LeBlanc, Valentino’s can no longer afford to pay its rent.

“My chest is tightening because the money is so tight,” says LeBlanc, bemoaning the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers’ apparent lack of urgency to try to reach an agreement with the unions. “When is the mayor going to step in and say, ‘I’m ordering you guys to figure something out because you’re about to collapse the economy in Los Angeles?’”

It has been well over 100 days since members of the Writers Guild of America stopped working, and more than a month since the actors union joined them. LeBlanc’s is just one story of many detailing the financial ripple effects.

From studio rentals and set construction to dry cleaning for costumes and transportation to sets, it’s hard to find a corner of the Los Angeles economy that has entirely escaped the reverberations.

“A movie set in one day can generate tens of thousands of dollars," says Kevin Klowden, chief strategist with the Milken Institute, a think tank that researches social and economic issues. “Depending on the level of activity, it can be hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

The last writers strike, more than 15 years ago, took three months to resolve and is conservatively estimated to have cost $2.1 billion in lost output. This time around, the number will be harder to measure given how much production costs, locations and timelines have changed in recent years thanks to technological improvements and increased globalization.

“We tend to think of productions as sort of a self-contained thing,” Klowden says, while in reality, a production often spans companies and even countries. Projects are often “shipped off” to New Zealand for the addition of visual effects, he cites as an example. “The larger a production is, the more likely you are to see a whole bunch of different tax credit mentions at the end.”

Both guilds are seeking to address issues brought about by the dominance of streaming services, which have changed all aspects of production, from how projects are written to when they’re released.

For the writers, the guild has said the use of small staffs, known as “mini rooms” (a riff on the notion of the “writers' room”), for shorter time periods has made a living income hard to achieve. Actors' concerns include protections on the use of artificial intelligence.

Although talks between the WGA and the AMPTP have resumed, there are no plans between the actors and studios to return to the bargaining table.

“I’m not really understanding what the silent treatment is,” SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher told The Associated Press last week. “It could be a tactical strategy to see if we they can wait us out until we lose our resolve and then they can make a better deal for themselves.”

In an earnings call at the beginning of August, Hudson Pacific executives tried to assuage concerns about the financial impact that the strikes are having on their businesses, while still conceding the reality behind those fears. The company owns both Quixote and Sunset Studios, two major equipment and studio rental companies in the entertainment industry.

“We’re all hugely aware of the shrapnel around the industry in general and all of the residual businesses that are getting affected. It will start to feel fairly painful,” warned its chair and CEO Victor Coleman in response to questions of how long the strikes may last. “It will be damaging. And I think everybody is very cognizant of that.”

The uncertain duration of the strikes looms large over every business feeling the financial effects, with fallout spreading well beyond the entertainment industry. Restaurants, coffee shops, even nail salons that neighbor major studios — they're all desperate for a quick resolution.

Patys Restaurant, a Toluca Lake staple that boasts regulars including Steve Carell and Adam Sandler, has seen a major slump in business from diners and catering orders, according to owner George Metsos. He cites lost businesses from obvious patrons — actors, writers, crew members — but also speaks of other regulars who aren’t coming in: electricians, set carpenters and the drivers who stop in for breakfast on their way to work at the nearby valley studios.

Emmanuel Pelargos, who owns Astro Burger across the street from Paramount Studios in Hollywood, says the regular presence of writers and actors on the picket lines has not offset the decline in business from halted productions.

“They come in sometimes," he says of the picketers, “but it’s mostly to use the bathroom.”

Corrie Sommers, vice president of the Toluca Lake Chamber of Commerce, says the timing of the strikes — on the heels of financial recovery from the pandemic — hits small businesses particularly hard.

“The strike ... has just set everybody backwards again. Only this time, there’s not the aid that is needed,” Sommers says. “No one’s saying, ‘Here’s some free money to bail you out. Here’s some money to float you through.’ That’s not there anymore. And it’s affecting everybody.”

Sommers, also a real estate agent in the area, cites multiple clients who were interested in buying homes but changed their minds.

“I’ve personally had about five buyers in the last three months say, ‘I’m going to have to wait until next year because I don’t know what’s happening,’” she says.

While many on strike acknowledge the financial burdens on both peers in the industry and their neighbors outside of it, the writers are standing by their decision with renewed vigor on the picket lines after the much larger actors guild joined them.

Luvh Rakhe, a member of the WGA negotiating committee who has written for hit shows like “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” and “New Girl,” is acutely aware of the financial costs. But he believes people across industries and professions know it is necessary.

“I don’t think anyone is, like, blase and happy about the momentary disruption to their lives," Rakhe says, “but they understand why it happened and what it is hoping to achieve.”

Despite the burdens being placed on people in peripheral lines of work, many of them say there is a general sense of solidarity. LeBlanc, the Valentino's co-owner, continues to underscore his support, even amid the uncertain future of his 25-year-old business. (To answer his question, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass hasn't indicated she will intervene, but did say in a statement in early August that she is “ready to personally engage with all the stakeholders in any way possible to help get this done.”)

To keep the shop afloat, Valentino's has started a GoFundMe to pay the rent for now. LeBlanc is hopeful that if they can raise enough money for the next month or so, Halloween and school productions starting back up will get them through the rest of the year.

“We do have things coming up,” he has assured the landlord. “We just need to get some money in here to get us over the hump.”

[askadvancewars]

2013

This is a long rambling essay I wrote in 2013, musing how the prime antagonists are depicted in the first three Advance Wars games.

-

We have met the enemy and he is Foreign

boy I sure hope you like words

In first two Advance Wars game the mastermind behind Black Hole is a mysterious, robotic invader who first turned the countries against one another, and then moved on to stealing resources, all for the chance to dominate the world. In the third game, the mastermind is revealed to be an elderly CO whose conquest for the world comes one step after his conquest over death and old age, this time by stealing the land’s energy itself.

In the Japanese versions, their names were Hellbouze and Hellvolt. It may be a ‘war simulation’ game, but it’s supposed to be family-friendly cartoony kinda deal, so can’t use the word hell! Their names were changed to Sturm and Von Bolt. Sturm, the German word for storm, and Von Bolt–von which is “In German, von [fɔn] is a preposition which approximately means of or from”.

The bad guys are Germans, or at least, meant to evoke the image of the scary warmongering Germans.

When I was growing up in America in the 1950s, evaluating Hitler’s commanders was all very simple: all Germans were Nazis, and all Nazis were evil. The higher in rank a Nazi rose, the lower he sank as a human being. …His favorite hobbies were mass murder, bombing undefended villages, and eating small babies for breakfast. -Hitler’s Commanders, preface

Really just musing here but it was kinda popular to paint vaguely European characters as the enemy, Germans and Russians especially, because of the world wars or threats of wars. What comes to mind is the Baroness from GI JOE and the von Karmas from Ace Attorney. Zangief’s speech from Wreck It Ralph also comes to mind, but as fans would adamantly point out, he isn’t really a bad guy. Bison-look-at-my-vaguely-Nazi-uniform maybe a better example. My-name-is-German-for-piano and Franziska aren’t strictly bad guys, but they’re definitely antagonists to the protagonists of their games. Look at Manfred and Kristoph, though. It’s worth noting, that, I think Franziska and Manfred were supposed to be Americans in the Japanese version?

Back to Advance Wars. The German influence in Black Hole is not unprecedented. Flak wears some sort spiky version of the Stahlhelm. Max rescues POWs who were afraid of Lash’s experiments on them. Sturm seems intentionally designed, to evoke, again the scary image of the Schutzstaffel.

Let’s take a quick look at the faction that’s based on WW2 Germany: Green Earth

But first this:

In Famicom Wars, the two warring factions are between Red Star and Blue Moon. You apparently can use (secret???) COs but I don’t know how to do that. In Super Famicom Wars, Red Star and Blue Moon returns, alongside their respective COs, Yuan Delta and Rojenski (basing the names on the advancewars.net site because no official translations). Delta and Rojenski are stated to be bitter rivals. Even the opening of the game is a throwback to the Famicom Wars opening where Red Star and Blue Moon try to blow each other up.

Also, take a gander at that Black Hole edits. Pretty cute.

Left to right: Yuan Delta, Rojenski, Fon Rosso, Hetler, Caroline, Billy Gates and Mr. Yamamoto. Caroline, Billy and Yamamoto aren’t attached to any particular factions. They’re also the Super COs of the game. There are no CO powers yet in the game, but the latter three specialize in luck, extra funds and extra strong units respectively.

(billy gates broken as hell pass it on)

Gameboy Wars has Red Star and White Moon fighting but I don’t really know what’s going on with that game so 

-

In Advance Wars, Red Star and Blue Moon continue their rivalry, with Nell facing Olaf. I read on a wiki that Red Star was changed to Orange Star to possibly avoid communism associations. Here we have another case of name changing, from Catherine to Nell, and Whip to Olaf.

Another note: I’ve seen on Japanese fansites having to clear up the issue who and where the games are made. They were made by Intelligent Systems and they’re Japanese games, but the first two Gameboy Wars Advance were only released in 2004, together in one pak. AW1 and AW2 were released in 2001 and 2003. I’ve seen pictures of Japanese fans importing the English versions just so they could play them.

This also brings up the issue of translations and design. If you’ve noticed the first game had markedly different CO designs for Mop, Whip, Asuka and Kikuchiyo, but in Japanese AW2, their designs seem to take cues from the first game’s internationally released version–Mop loses the pirate outfit, Olaf gets a more military Russian uniform, Kikuchiyo loses the armor, Asuka gains a cover (hat). Billy’s hat is unchanged.

-

So we’ve got name changing. Catherine is probably a reference to the preceding game’s lucky blonde CO Caroline, but got changed to Nell. Wikipedia tells me Olaf is a proto-Germanic name but it’s a name most strongly associated with Russia. The story is Orange Star and Blue Moon were bitter rivals, but only now has hostilities started up again. Olaf was once part of Orange Star but betrayed them. Olaf is a commanding officer most comfortable with snow.

INTERESTINGLY, while Red/Orange Star is ostensibly based on the USA, the main players of the game would be You/The Advisor and a young boy named Andy. Ryo in Japanese. Which is a Japanese name. From Japan. DOUBLE INTERESTINGLY, the Battle Maps shopkeeper is named Hachi. Who keeps his name throughout. Also ostensibly Japanes. TRIPLE INTERESTINGLY, the character designer for the first three Advance War games? Ryo Hirata. HMMM. COINCIDENCE???Probably. But making things for a Japanese audience, they probably wanted a Japanese-sounding main character as well. For most the campaign, you can get to play as Domino (Sami) and Max (Max).

-

Skip ahead

I was supposed to be talking about Green Earth

Let’s look at their names in Japanese: Eagle, Mop, Hannah, and Bittmann

And their names in English: Eagle, Drake, Jess and Javier

Mop was probably changed for the same reason as Whip, that it might’ve sounded too silly in a children’s war game. Hannah, I think was changed for the same John was turned to Jake, to make her sound 'cooler’. On yet another sidenote, it’s spelled differently, but in naming her Hannah, maybe they were also alluding to 'hana’, flowers? I think the point, if anything, was to give the tank-riding CO with masculine attributes deliberately 'soft’ name, much like her liking dandelions.

Bittmann. An ostensibly German name. Well, Jewish-German last name, if I remember prior research. It gets turned to Javier, the Spanish spelling of Xavier. His whole deal is steeped medieval knighthood and chivalry, but maybe by changing his name, the allusion slightly shifts from Landsknecht (look at his armor, LOOK AT IT) to images of Spanish knights. Specifically Don Quixote, a spoof on chivalric Romances. 

Or maybe Bittmann just sounded too weird, and Javier is nicer. Maybe naming him Alonso, Miguel or Cervantes would probably have too on point?

-

You know, how much I love Javier, the first time I played Dual Strike? There are some parts of me that wished that they toned down Javier’s 'funny foreigner' shtick, mostly with some of CO powers lines.

Yet I loved every moment with Jake. Go figure.

-

As the country kinda based on Germany, how is Green Earth treated over the course of the games?

In the first game, Green Earth is introduced by fighting a roaming independent battalion led by a 'tough-as-nails’ pilot named Eagle. He recognizes Andy and yells at him for something he’s done–which is attack Green Earth. He and Drake find out the truth, and then he lends his hand to set things right.

In the second game, Green Earth is on the verge of defeat at the hands of Hawke. Eagle is mad of course. Introducing the new friend: JESS! Eagle yells at Jess, who then yells at them, and Drake yells at them both. Also yelling at Hawke how he’ll never forgive Hawke for what he did to Green Earth. There’s a lot of yelling. Also some other stuff, but I’ll get to that some other time.

In the third game, Jess teams up with a knight named Javier–Green Earth is joining with the rest of the Allied Nations but not before they battle! Yellow Comet is sad that they have to fight friends. Orange Star gives Yellow Comet the evil eye. Blue Moon chuckles, thinking “haha for once they don’t fight US”.  Green Earth introduces the Megatank. Jake yells excitedly. It’s also implied that the new Stealth units are also  Green Earth’s doing–well, an Allied Nations thing–but Green Earth is the group that quips during the loss dialogue. Jake isn’t as excited, “tanks tho”.

CONCLUSION:

“This is why Green Earth is a military power. We must get them on our side.” - Sasha 

 "If they can make a monster tank like that, Green Earth must be a freaky place.“ - Jake

"They built this monstrosity for a reason–to stop us from taking another step. They’ve got money and nerve, too. If only Drake and the flyboy were here…” - Jess

“I’m getting angrier by the moment!” - Eagle

-

To bring this 'round home, so Sturm and Von Bolt got scary sounding German names. A German last-named CO got his changed to a Spanish first name. Flipside, Two Yellow Comet COs had their Japanese names changed to Western ones: Asuka and Kouzou to Sonja and Grimm. Sonja is a name can be found in many variations in many countries…such as Germany. Grimm is also an international name, but mostly associated with Germany and the Brothers Grimm. Why they chose to change change the Japanese names of the Japanese-inspired country, I can’t figure out. They must have a good reason at the time. Just interesting to note that German names in this game aren’t necessarily villainous.

Tune in next time as I tackle exciting issues such as depictions of Hawke and Koal as COs, the role of women in the series, the themes of Dual Strke and analyzing Green Earth chain of command 

haha just kidding no I won’t

[pumpkinupsidedowncake]

Live(ish)blogging my reaction to The Road Not Taken, by Robert Frost, for posterity, part one: the long ass introduction I feel obligated to read.

Introduction by Louis Untermeyer:

Every time I read the lore behind poems I know, which is three times, I learn something that fundamentally alters my perception of the work. Only once have I appreciated the insight. This occasion was not that time.

Additionally, and I don’t know why I’m surprised by this, but this guy is such a Robert Frost simp. I truly don’t think there’s a better word to describe it. When explaining how at first only one magazine wanted to publish any of Frost’s work, Untermeyer basically calls all the other magazines cowards with shitty taste:

They were totally uninterested in poetry that refused to repeat the pretty platitudes of verse; they were afraid to consider a new kind of pastoral poetry which, instead of using the shopworn stereotypes of exaggerated country sentiment, showed the country in its quiet, sometimes drab, but always true colors.

Like, wow. Rip to those other poets. Who, you know, were well-liked enough to get published and all that. But no, I’m sure their art was nothing but unimaginative drivel, Frost’s number one hype man says so and surely he wouldn’t be biased.

Moving on: how the hell is “poetic radiator” a job description?! Now I’m picturing Frost sitting against the wall, making loud humming noises and intermittently saying things like “Poems are cool, yo! You should write one!”

Okay, finally some valuable insight. By my definition of valuable which is extremely relative.

Preferring a reality of experience to a retreat to a fantastic dream-world …

Idk if that’s the right way to end that quote. fuck it we ball. This quote is referring to Frost, and it interests me because of what it could say about Arthur’s gravitation towards Frost’s poetry in Malevolent. It also explains why I’ve never felt particularly drawn to Frost.

Yeah, I should say this for context: the only reason I am reading this book, the only reason I bought it at half price books in the first place, is because I enjoyed the poetry included in that podcast. Well, that’s half the reason. The other is that I don’t really get Frost. I appreciate his artistry, but the emotions he conveys are not immediately relatable to me.

Take, for example: the big one. Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening. The first time I learned of it was through the story behind Eric Whitacre’s choral piece Sleep. I don’t remember if I read it then or not, if I did it made no impression on me. Years later when I actually read and reflected on it, an admittedly childish dominated my mind:

why not just go into the woods for a time?

It’s bad weather, just get wherever you’re going late and blame it on the snow or forgetting something. Cell phones don’t even exist yet, you’re free! Nobody needs to know. The miles will be there when you get back.

I know what the poem is saying. I can understand the experience it’s speaking to, even. But unless I really try to get what it’s going for, I don’t. And that’s why I’m here, reading the longest introduction known to humankind, instead of working on the large assignments due tomorrow, as Robert Frost intended-in-reverse-as-in-definitely-would-not-appreciate-especially-since-he-was-apparently-a-teacher.

I want to get Frost’s poetry, or at the very least make my best attempt at it. I’m a nerd, I basically get a stat boost to this type of thing. I can do this. All I have to do is make it through this introduction. And then the actual poetry collection.

I did it. The introduction is finished. I’m being overdramatic, there were only like two pages left. The last thought I have to offer today is on the last line of the excerpt from Frost’s “The Lesson For Today”:

I had a lover’s quarrel with the world.

It’s described as what he wants written on his tombstone. My first thought was “same”, my second was “wait a minute, is this just a universal thing?” and my third was “no, it’s because I refuse to pick a struggle.” Meaning not everyone would describe their existence as such, but plenty of people probably would.

So yeah. This has been a journey and it’s literally just passing through the gateway. Thanks for watching, like and subscribe, I will be back with more at some point.

[sapphosclosefriend]

- Expect the unexpected -

Pairing: Nerd! Natasha Romanoff x Popular! Fem! Reader

Genre: fluff, smut

Summary: When everyone wants to get a night with you, maybe giving the tall nerdy redhead a go is the best thing you can do.

Word count: 2052

Warnings: bottom! Reader, top! Natasha Romanoff, slight slut shaming (not from pookie bear Nat ofc), making out, SMUT, thigh riding, r being a big tease

A/N: this story contains explicit smut, so anyone who isn’t 18+ DNI. This is set at the end of the last year of high school, which means that everyone involved is of age (at least in my country everyone is at least 18 by the end of high school but I know that in some countries you only go to high school for 4 years instead of 5 like, for example, I did). I’m gonna use the lessons “layout” that I’m familiar with, as I don’t know enough about other countries’ school systems. This means that the school year starts in September and ends at the beginning of June, with the final exams for graduation starting in the middle of June. As usual, likes, reblogs and comments are very appreciated! Enjoy <3

Masterlist

It is may, it is freaking may, how is it already may? You are panicking, you really don’t know how the hell you never realised that time was moving so fast, perhaps it is the fact that you’ve only focused on your literature classes to have the best grades possible and get into your dream university starting at the top, but it suddenly hits you. It is May and you still don’t have a passing grade in maths and physics. Yes, you’re not gonna study those subjects ever again after graduating high school, but in order to do it in the first place, you have to have somewhat decent grades. Shit, how the hell are you gonna get higher grades when you don’t even know what the professor has been talking about for the past two months?

You try to take the matter in your own hands and start reading the needed chapter of the maths book you’ve barely opened, it won’t be so hard if you closely follow the freaking book, right? Wrong, you don’t understand a single word written in the damn thing, useless waste of paper.

After some more desperation you resolve to the last thing you wanted to do, ask for help.

You are, for some unknown reason, pretty popular at school. Ok, it may or may not be because apparently everyone lusts after you. In fact, you may or may not have had a couple dozen people try to ask you out just in the past three months, but in your defence, they were just porn-addicted guys who wanted to get lucky for one night. It actually all started getting a lot more frequent since the spreading of the (true) rumor of you sleeping with the student body president Wanda Maximoff, another person the whole school thirsted over. You actually spent a couple good times together, but you knew from the get go that she “didn’t commit” as she had to focus on school, a decision you were fine with. Soon after, the whole school considered you the hottie who apparently gives incredible head, thanks to Wanda spreading the news so effectively and your past companions confirming.

Despite some people calling you a slut, even directly to your face, you know that you never did anything wrong, they’re all just uptight assholes who can’t get laid and get angry at your sometimes teasing demeanour.

Now, you have the phone number of almost any top maths and physics student, as they were even handed to you personally by the owners, hoping for you to eventually be in need of help, like you are right now. You end up deciding to just go to class and try to ask the person who inspires you the most at the moment.

The next day, as the maths class is nearing its end, you still have no idea who you are willing to talk to, when the feeling of someone watching you from behind gets impossible to ignore. As you turn around you see a tall redhead quickly move her eyes away from you while nervously biting her lip. You know her, actually, you only know her name and the fact that she definitely could be of help, as she even got a scholarship in the top national university when it comes to maths and physics. Natasha Romanoff, that’s her name, which you remember very well since that party at your friend’s house, where no one took you seriously as you talked about how you think she’s pretty hot.

You finally make a decision just as the bell rings. You immediately stand up and turn around to look at Natasha who, as she stands as well, you notice is actually a lot taller than you, damn that’s hot. You look up at her and, when you notice the nervousness behind her eyes, you softly smile at her and introduce yourself, despite her already knowing your name. You go straight to the point and ask her for help.

“I just need to meet a couple times to get the main points. I don’t care about being the best, I just need the bare minimum. Would you help me out?”

She looks at you with a stunned expression for a couple seconds, before breaking out of her trance when you smile at her once again.

“I- yeah, I mean, of course I can, yeah..yeah!”

“Yeah” you teasingly repeat, making you bite your lip as she blushes a little bit.

You end up deciding to meet up at her house later that day, as her parents and sister are out, so you can also look over the homework your professor just gave you. You happily say goodbye and leave her stunned at the encounter she just had.

Just like everyone else at school, she is drooling over you, the only difference being that she’s never tried a single move on you. That’s why you didn’t even think about her at first, as she didn’t give you her number before today.

By the end of the day you find yourself freshly showered and wearing a cute outfit you know will make Nat’s jaw drop. You truly need to do some tutoring, but there wouldn’t be anything wrong in trying to test the waters as well. You don’t even care about your friends’ teasing, thinking about Nat all day just made you more and more desperate for her.

As you get to the address she previously messaged you, you find her ready to open the door right before you can ring the bell, letting you in and checking you out as you look around her house, getting lost in the skin of your thighs getting exposed by the sundress you’re wearing.

You end up sitting in the living room, your books left in your bag and only a notebook at hand. Listening to Nat passionately talk about what she loves really makes it all easy to understand. How the hell does your professor make everything sound so complicated? You spend a good couple hours listening to her and asking questions from time to time, feeling shocked at the amount of stuff that you were able to go through. It will definitely be easier than you thought to get your grades on track thanks to Nat.

Deciding on stopping for the day, you start to gather your stuff in your bag while asking Nat some questions about herself, wanting to know more about her. After looking slightly shocked at first she shily answers while looking anywhere but at you. As you are sitting on the couch with one leg under the other, your dress rides up your thighs a bit more, making her lose her concentration. Of course you notice what’s happening, but you feign innocence and touch her much bigger hand and ask her if she’s alright, making her fully stop talking as she sees the way you’re rubbing your thumb on the back of her hand. As her eyes move higher and lock with yours, she notices the way you are looking at her lips, making you let out a small whimper when she slowly wets them.

She suddenly realises how close you’ve moved to her and, when you whisper her name she can’t hold herself back anymore, suddenly kissing you with so much hunger that you can’t keep yourself from moaning at the urge she’s displaying. When you lick her lower lip, asking for entrance, she immediately accepts and surprises you with the way a simple kiss of hers takes your breath away.

When she pulls away, you are both panting like you just ran a marathon and your heart starts beating even faster when you take her in, looking hotter than ever, making you rub your legs together to try to relieve some of the discomfort you are now feeling, a sight that makes her lowly moan and grab your face to continue your previous activity.

After heavily making out, you make her fully sit while keeping your lips locked all the time, not being able to get enough of each other, just to straddle her and lock your arms behind her neck, making sure to stay connected as much as possible. When you inevitably have to breathe properly you notice how stiff she is, with her hands on the couch under her.

You lean back, fully sitting on her thighs, and take her hands to guide them over your body, over your waist, your hips and finally placing them on your ass, making her throw her head back when she finally squeezes it, at first lightly and then with more force, making you moan out loud. You then lean down and immediately start nipping at her neck more and more as she thoroughly kneads your ass cheeks as you involuntarily move your hips back and forth over her thighs.

When you feel her panting under you, you just stop marking her neck and lean back once again, only to fully take off your dress, revealing your bare boobs and your underwear being the last piece of clothing on your body. At the sight of your tits’ slight wiggle when you fully remove your dress, Nat just lets out a loud moan while once again squeezing your ass. You know what she wants and you also know that she’ll never do it herself, so you grab her hands and this time you move them up to your chest, which she gladly touches mouth-opened, as if she’s never seen a pair of tits in her life, which may be the case.

As she tentatively runs her thumbs over your nipples you throw your head back and expose your neck to her, giving her the perfect opportunity to start kissing it. You truly feel desperate for her and, as you run your fingers through her hair while she sucks the skin of your neck while pulling your nipples, you start rolling your hips over her with much more will. After moving around a little bit, you are able to fully straddle her thigh, making her notice only when she feels your slick soak through your underwear and her pants.

At this moment, with you desperately riding Nat and her watching your boobs bounce a little with each roll of your hips, the lust in the room is more prominent than ever. You feel your peak quickly approaching when she suddenly leans over to suck on your tits, even leaving one or two hickeys on top of them, making you feel like you just could never be more attracted to her than right now.

When you tell her that you’re cumming, she leans back on the couch to fully take you in when you finally reach your orgasm, your head thrown back and chest heaving at the immense pleasure and relief you feel, a sight that makes her groan and that she’ll never ever forget. When you look back at her, still panting and with reddened lips, she can’t help but lean in to pull you flush against her and kiss you, moaning a little when she feels your nipples poke her chest through her shirt.

Soon things get heated once again, but you are only able to take her shirt off and teasingly ask her where she hid those perfect guns, before you hear the bell ring and her sister’s voice asking to open the door, as she forgot her keys.

After you hurriedly put your clothes back on and get your stuff, you both go up to the door, Nat opening it and you quickly walking past Yelena while saying goodbye and telling Nat that you’ll be texting her. When she’s sure you’re far enough, Yelena looks at Nat dead in the eye and just tells her

“You just fucked, in my house.”

“No, we didn’t..and it’s my house as well”

“Yeah yeah and I bet that she just spilled some water on your pants” Yelena finally says with a disgusted look while going inside.

There was indeed a noticeable wet spot on Nat’s leg which only made her mind go back to your previous activities and how beautiful you looked while lost in pleasure. As she starts to get lost in the memories, Nat receives a message from you

“Looking out for your next lesson, tutor ;)”

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Part 2