#this is an extremely abridged description

[infriga]

Find yourself someone who will love you as much as Joe Ben Wheat loved the Olsen-Chubbuck bison kill site:

[laniemae]

Figured I’d post more fangan OC stuff since I’m so obsessed with it and need to post about it here more and realised I actually haven’t written any full descriptions so here’s the summary of my protagonist, Kayo Minowa.

(sprite & design by me)

Kayo is a graffiti artist whose work embodies boldness, brightness, and chaos. Her street art consists of giving life to dull grey environment through striking colours like an oasis in the desert. Kayo became a graffiti artist through being sick of the constant decay of her neighbourhood and inspired creation and change where it seemed impossible.

Kayo is known for being highly tenacious and having an iron will, letting no one change her mindset or beliefs. She’s stubborn, always following her own morals without influence from other people. And because of this can be irritable, loud and blunt, often giving a bad impression on people she first meets.

When faced with uncertainty or fear, Kayo often jumps to violence as a first response. Not taking in external factors until it’s too late. Often being highly alert in unfamiliar areas.

Despite this Kayo can be quite upbeat and sarcastic when she’s in a good state of mind. She’s an optimist who looks at things with a glass half full attitude but mature enough to know that a blind attitude towards optimism can be dangerous. And has this mindset because she knows a mindset of decay and despair will ruin her drive and passion, and tries to look at the side of hope.

Kayo is always on the neutral sides of things. Preferring to be on the side of herself rather than ally with other people. Because of this, she prefers having acquaintances rather than friends, having hard times forming friendships with people and feeling it would only be a matter of time before they become disappointed or worried about her. And often becomes hostile around people who try to exercise authority over her.

She can take this to an extreme though, having a very self centred mindset and is always willing to sacrifice other people for her own gain. Ditching people at the first sign of betrayal or danger, and having unwavering trust in herself which she can’t apply to other people.

Abridged bio I made, kinda worried the text is too slanted the composition for this was hard and I ended up losing the file sjabkqkdbwd

[cleolinda]

Honey in perfume, feat. Bee (Zoologist, 2019)

(Picture from the Zoologist website, obviously, and not my magical cottagecore abode)

I am a big fan of (wearing very small amounts of) sweet gourmand fragrances, including sugar and honey notes. “Notes,” of course—nowadays, it’s not the real thing. While I have seen at least one or two indie companies touting actual honey in their honey perfumes, for the most part, it's an aromachemical: phenylacetic acid, derived from beeswax and generally combined with other notes to create an accord. This Fragrantica article tells you everything you could ever want to know about the chemistry of honey perfumes, including:

"Honey absolute" is generally beeswax absolute (technically not even an absolute), which has "a relatively mild scent, reminiscent of hay and tonka beans with waxy and honey undertones."

"Phenylacetic acid itself, in high concentrations, has a sickeningly sweet smell, really reminiscent of honey, with sour, powdery and floral nuances. In its composition, the nuances of tobacco and chocolate are clearly distinguishable – one, without imagination, can also describe them as a strong animalistic urinal smell, vaguely reminiscent of civet."

If you saw barrels with a bee symbol in Breaking Bad: that's the stuff. It is, in fact, used to make meth.

Other notes/aromachemicals used in various honey bases (abridged): vanillin, heliotropin, coumarin (often tonka bean), violet (ionones), hyacinth (phenylacetaldehyde), rose and wax (geranyl acetate), and a note only found in citrus blossom honey: methyl anthranilate.

In the "mellis" base: "benzyl salicylate (balsamic, herbaceous) and eugenol (cloves), [...] patchouli, hydroxycitronellal (lily of the valley), woody notes, spices, and coumarin." This is a foundation used in many of the classic older fragrances like Youth Dew (which my grandmother used to wear), Opium, and L'Air du Temps.

If you're interested in the chemistry, take a look at the article—the parts I'm quoting are only to get across the palette of scent possible in a honey fragrance. Guerlain creative director Sylvaine Delacourte also reels off an exhaustive list of honey notes in perfumery. I'll quote four of them:

Miel de Provence (Firmenich base): "tobacco, aniseed, honey, curry, immortelle, coumarin, hay"

Beeswax Absolute: "quite buttery, very honey-like, broom-like"

Phenyl acetic acid: "honeyed, fruity, dirty, a little blackcurrant"

Tabac Turc Absolut: "honey, animal, leather"

Dance break for further reading:

Fragrantica: Beeswax in Perfumes

Perfume Society: "We love what the nose Christine Nagel has to say about this ingredient: 'Honey has two facets – half devil, half angel. In Ambrée structures, it has a sweet, comforting effect, taking you back to childhood. But a small touch in a feminine structure can be extremely sexy…'"

Bois de Jasmin: Sweet Honey Water: Perfume Recipe from the 17th Century

Also at Fragrantica: Best in Show: Honey Fragrances (2020). Now, if I had a money tree, I would probably go straight for samples of Back to Black (Kilian), Scandal (Jean Paul Gaultier), Poison (Dior), Chergui and Miel de Bois (Serge Lutens), L'Instant de Guerlain, and Honey and the Moon (TokyoMilk). The sample I actually ordered was what I felt must be The Honey Scent of All Time:

Bee (Zoologist, 2019)

I had actually never tried a Zoologist fragrance before this; they're famous for animal-themed scents that range from the imaginative to the, uh, challenging. (And the infamous.) Here's the official description:

Like the frantic hustle of the bee through a maze of multi-faceted scents, Zoologist Bee delivers a surreal experience. The rich aroma of honey captivates, while alluring florals, royal jelly, animalic beeswax and regal incense unite to create a buzz, offering excitement, and the sweet rewards of life.

Perfumer: Cristiano Canali Top Notes: Orange, Ginger Syrup, Royal Jelly Accord Heart Notes: Broom, Heliotrope, Mimosa, Orange Flower Base Notes: Benzoin, Labdanum, Musks [synthetic], Sandalwood, Tonka, Vanilla

Now, glance back up at all the background business we just went through: heliotropin, coumarin (tonka), citrus that could include methyl anthranilate. Sylvaine Delacourte invokes mimosa and broom in her full list of notes—

But then: royal jelly apparently has a cheesy, condensed milk scent; she also mentions that beeswax absolute can read as "buttery." For that matter, her mention of a "butyric" honey aromachemical is a bit alarming: it's the "rancid butter, parmesan cheese, and vomit" note that makes Hershey's chocolate so objectionable to people who didn't grow up with it. Like, it's all here if you google know what you're looking at. It's all fun and games until the bee cheese comes out.

And then, labdanum, as you might remember, is the key ingredient in amber accords, where it's often blended with benzoin and vanilla, so we're going to get a warm, resinous, highly projective effect as well. I love amber, but I have to apply it exceptionally sparingly: it's LOUD.

What I'm getting at is, once you look more closely at the notes and the chemistry: I am not surprised that some wearers report a claustrophobic feeling like their head is stuck in a beehive. If your skin chemistry emphasizes the floral notes, it's said that you'll feel like you're right there soaring with the bees among the wildflowers; if you amp the cheesy, waxy, or A M B E R notes, well. There's nothing I can do to save you now. Remember Tabac Turc Absolut ("honey, animal, leather") up there? Or that phenylacetic resemblance to civet? Zoologist is famous for (surprise!) their intensely animalic fragrances. We don’t know exactly what Cristiano Canali used, but we sure do know what’s possible. You are IN that hive with the bees. Hope you brought some pollen as a hostess gift.

I always apply, like, three entire molecules of perfume when I first try something, so I was fine. On me, Bee has a creamy-yet-powdery "texture"—not dairy, not "old lady" powder; something almost tactile. The honey itself is primarily what I smell, and it’s "high" in my nose; I think I would have preferred a deeper note, like the dark clover honey I use in my tea, but it's nice. I don't specifically smell any ginger or florals—maybe a little citrus. Nothing cheesy or objectionable, barely waxy, just a general sense of hive. But Bee does seem—alive. It seems to move in the air around my wrist.

And it persists for hours, despite how little I wore (three different occasions), especially since my skin does amplify amber notes. If you find yourself in trouble, it is not going to wash off. DO NOT SPRAY BEE ALL OVER YOURSELF. DO NOT. I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR CHOICES. I really enjoy honey fragrances and this one in particular, but—you have been warned.

Addendum: It was extra fun to edit this out on the deck under a cherry laurel with about 7-8 bumblebees circling overhead. They were chill.

[grayeyedandroid]

hi. ok, so: as tmnt 2012 abridged is slowly starting to look like a real thing that could happen, rather than just the rapid fire idea bouncing between me and @hellfire371 or the occasional silly ms paint comic, I’m going to be on the lookout for script writers and voice actors.

There’s nothing official right now. This is mostly an interest check to see if there’s anyone out there who would like to join the project.

This got pretty long so I’m putting all the information under a readmore. If you read everything and are interested feel free to interact with the post in some way, dm me, or join the tmnt discord I have to speak with me and some others currently interested in the project (linked in my pinned post) :).

I’m not looking for anything professional, just people who are willing to try their best :). This would unfortunately be on unpaid project of passion (I am a poor college student. If I did come across a solid income I’d love to compensate people for their hard work. Right now, credit + an unending supply of thankfulness is what I can give).

For script writers, I’m looking for someone who’s willing to, well, write scripts! I personally don’t have much script writing experience and having someone, even someone who also doesn’t have a lot of experience, would honestly be very helpful. Some familiarity with how abridged series typically function + familiarity with tmnt 2012 is the only thing that’s required :).

For voice actors, I’m really just looking for people who are willing to have fun with it! It would be nice if mic quality is something higher than a smart refrigerator, but I’ll try to work my editing magic if needed. The only requirements here are a willingness to listen to feedback/take direction and capability to act a range of emotions. I would like some people with a lower vocal range on deck, but please feel free to show interest even if that isn’t you!

Something I don’t desperately need but would be nice to have is someone to help with video/audio editing. At the moment, I’m planning on taking on the brunt of that work. However, it’s always nice to have some help :).

Some more important information:

- this series isn’t a 100% go right now. I’d like to see who is interested, if anybody, and then go from there.

- piggybacking off of that, if I am able to get a crew together the plan of action would likely be to create a single episode (3-7 minutes) that could work as a standalone to test things out. And, if that works, begin production on a single season (6-10 episodes of about 4-10 minutes each).

- The series would be posted on YouTube. Everyone involved would be credited in video as well as in the description.

Even more important information:

- There will be no acceptance of racism, ableism, antisemitism, or lgbtqphobia in the series. Let’s actually be funny, please.

- No character bashing. There might a joke at a characters expense here and there, but nothing that crosses the line into bashing. If you’re a huge April or Raph hater this probably isn’t the project for you.

- If you engage in/create t///ces/t content this also isn’t the place for you. It makes me extremely uncomfortable and I’d rather have no interactions with those who participate.

And now, some very very basic character descriptions!! just so you can get a vague sense of what we’re going for here :)

Introducing:

Leo - Warrior Cat’s Enthusiast

Mikey - Minecraft Youtuber

Donnie - Dimension Hopping Imposter

Raph - Animal Handler & Keeper

April - Kraang Princess (first time on Earth!)

Casey - The Only Normal One There

Splinter - Warrior Cat’s Elder

(feel free to dm me/send an ask for a more in-depth explanation on the current plans for character and story ideas if you need to know more before declaring interest :))

[dumfanting]

VOLUME ONE MASTER LIST (Complete!)

F! Reader / Echo (and Fives) (and Crosshair)

Reader Insert | Angst | Mature/Explicit

You’re a medic for the 501st Legion, but after losing Echo, you cope by taking an assignment with Clone Force 99.

General warnings: grieving, major character death, occasional smut, PTSD, war trauma. There will be specific warnings for each chapter.

Extras

Images:

Coruscant Apartment | The Stone | Shalka Myrr | Shower Scene with Fives 🌶️ | Shower Fantasy with Crosshair 🌶️

Alternative timeline stories:

Remnants (Alternate Ending with Kix)

Nothing Left (Follow up to Remnants)

Uncrossed Paths (Alternate Ending with Crosshair) 🌶️

An Unexpected Survivor (Alternate Ending with Echo)

Technical Assistance (A ‘What If-?’ with Tech) 🌶️

Abridged (AO3 exclusive) For those intimidated by the original 157,000 word count and/or aren’t good with angst.

Chapter 1: Prelude

Echo leaves on a high-risk mission and you’ve got a bad feeling about this.

M | death and loss, the citadel mission | 1715 words

Chapter 2: In the Wake

The days after you receive the news.

M | grieving, death of a loved one | 1116 words

Chapter 3: Specters

Feeling better after Fives’ visit, you decide to return to work, but it takes a toll on you.

M | grief, loss of a loved one | 1669 words

Chapter 4: Traces

You’re slowly starting to cope, with Fives’ help.

M | grief, nightmares | 1169 words

Chapter 5: A Spark

You and Fives keep getting closer, then he comes to you with something heavy on his mind.

M | none | 1025 words

Chapter 6: Aflame 🌶️

Things with Fives get heated.

E | fingering, hand jobs, love bites, PiV, guilt | 1735 words

Chapter 7: Embers 🌶️

The morning after.

E | PiV, oral (giving and receiving) | 1983 words

Chapter 8: Ashes 🌶️

Some days are still harder than others, but you and Fives get through it with each others support.

E | nightmares/night terrors, PTSD, guilt, grief, sex in a closet | 1683 words

Chapter 9: Dust

The men return from Umbara.

M | none | 1384 words

Chapter 10: Inquiry 🌶️

Fives is finally able to come home and he tells you what happened during the Umbara mission.

E | Umbara arc, PTSD, shower sex, love bites, bruises, alcohol consumption | 3117 words

Shower scene

Chapter 11: Conspiracy

All too soon, you have to say goodbye again.

M | major character death, drinking, alcohol, conspiracy, panic | 3828 words

Chapter 12: Ruin

“Why do you all have to look the fucking same?”

M | panic attacks, fainting/passing out, hospital stay, implied suicide reference | 2135 words

Chapter 13: Interlude

You’re burning out, badly, then Kix approaches you about a job.

M | grief, anger, night terrors, discussion of death | 1453 words

Chapter 14: The Bad Batch

A long time has passed between your last conversation with Kix and where you are now.

M | description of injury | 3259 words

Chapter 15: A Distant Echo

The steam clears, and you can’t help but scream.

M | loss of bodily autonomy, loss of limbs, prisoner of war, extreme body modifications, body horror, PTSD, nightmares, death, Crosshair is an asshole | 6013 words

Chapter 16: On the Wings of Keeradaks

Oh thank the Maker, he’s alive! Now it’s time to get him out.

M | heights, flight, canon typical violence, body dysphoria | 4406 words

Chapter 17: Overload

It has to get worse before it can get better, doesn’t it?

M | accusations of cheating, fainting, medical scenario, panic attack, grief, confusion | 3357 words

Chapter 18: To See

Everyone gets clarity on the situation.

M | trauma dumping | 4222 words

Chapter 19: Crash

You feel an odd sense of both loss and peace at the same time as tears continue to roll silently down your cheeks.

M | fainting, grief, panic attack, medical emergency, surgery | 4499 words

Chapter 20: A Force

You and Echo finally get to talk, then you find out something surprising about yourself.

M | medical scenarios, prosthetic limbs being removed, discussion of death, grief | 4412 words

Chapter 21: Truth

The days progress slowly, then you realize you’ll need to make a choice.

M | medical scenario, discussion of death, Umbara, grief | 3741 words

Chapter 22: Replacement

Things just got even more complicated.

M | body dysphoria, possible breakup, jealousy, arguments, yelling, astromech | 6072 words

Chapter 23: Guilt 🌶️

It’s been a long day, but it isn’t over yet.

E | light smut, makeouts, female masturbation, yelling, arguments, accusations of cheating, grief, hallucinations, panic attacks | 7721 words

Shower Fantasy

Chapter 24: Unfinished Business

There’s one last thing to take care of, then Echo has to make a difficult decision.

M | canon typical violence, electrocution, being shot, moderate description of injury, droid massacre, goodbyes | 5059 words

Chapter 25: Mechanic

Everyone takes a break, but problems never do.

M | prejudice, sexual harassment (not from the Batch), OC introduced, grief, Hunter kinda sees you topless | 9438 words

Shalka Myrr

Chapter 26: Ad Infinitum 🌶️

You finally catch Echo up on everything, then go for a drink with Crosshair.

E | trauma dumping, grief, ptsd, make outs, dry humping, alcohol, so much dialogue | 10,554 words

Chapter 27: Both 🌶️

An understanding is reached.

E | nightmares, mild smut, self consciousness, body dysphoria, love triangle, jealousy, alcohol | 4162 words

Chapter 28: Radiant 🌶️

You’re surprised to wake up between Echo and Crosshair, and you all work out some stress.

E | mild description of injury and wound care, smut (specifics in the actual post), exasperated Hunter trope | 6257 words

Chapter 29: The Veteran

You get into the library, then visit Kix, and Rex finds out about the ‘agreement’.

M | wound care, description of injury, implied sex (but there actually isn’t), painkillers | 7410 words

Chapter 30: Distraction 🌶️

Crosshair uses you and Echo to make a point to Tech, unbeknownst to any of you.

E | arguments, dry humping/outercourse, love bites, being walked in on, Star Trek reference, face slapping (again), ass-grabbing, claustrophobia, medical scenario, full-body submersion | 8400 words

Chapter 31: Premonition 🌶️

Fives has something to tell you, and so does Crosshair.

E | (nearly) drowning, CPR, blood, scars, body worship, nipple play, fingering, oral (F receiving), squirting | 5241 words

Chapter 32: Listening 🌶️

You fill Echo in on your near miss, then realize just how shaken by it Crosshair is.

E | drowning, nightmares, pet name (baby), makeouts, spanking, pussyjob, clit rubbing, exhibitionism, voyeurism, love bites, obedience kink, authority kink, praise kink, fingering, overstimulation, squirting | 5935 words

Chapter 33: Lies 🌶️

Unbeknownst to either of you, Crosshair was awake, and he heard everything.

E | angst, lying, confrontation, misunderstandings, yelling, implied spousal abuse (there is none), Force pushing, broken trust, storming out, declarations of love, love bites, oral (m receiving), overstimulation | 6661 words

Chapter 34: Upgrade 🌶️

Echo talks to Crosshair, you talk to Anakin, and you both see Shalka for the last time.

E | angst, handjobs, fingering, mutual oral sex (m and f receiving and giving)(69), exhibitionism/voyeurism, shouting, jealousy, public makeouts, punching, almost shooting someone | 9594 words

Chapter 35: Riddur (finale!)

All is right in the galaxy again as you both drift off to sleep.

E | proposal, handjobs, fingering (f receiving), squirting, PiV, body dysmorphia, Emotions, oral (giving and receiving), blowjobs, face sitting, vibrators | 6738 words

[mariacallous]

On Friday, June 24th, Justice Clarence Thomas got something he’s sought his entire adult life: recognition. Writing in support of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, Thomas recommended that the Court, as a next move, strike down a half century’s worth of “demonstrably erroneous” precedents establishing the right to contraception, the right to same-sex sexual conduct, and the right to same-sex marriage. On television and across the Internet, commentators took notice.

Insiders have long known that Thomas is the right’s pacesetter on the Court, laying out positions that initially seem extreme yet eventually get adopted. For years, Thomas pulled Justice Antonin Scalia—even, on occasion, Justice Anthony Kennedy and Chief Justice William Rehnquist—to the right on issues of crime and punishment. His opinions on campaign finance, once seen as recklessly deregulatory, now command a majority. In 1997, Thomas signalled his belief that the Second Amendment protects an individual’s right to bear arms, a fringe position that the Court would come to accept, eleven years later, in District of Columbia v. Heller. Even Thomas’s extraordinary claims, in a concurring opinion three years ago, about the racist foundations of abortion and birth control, found their way into a footnote in the Court’s recent abortion decision.

Despite this track record of stealth and success, liberals have often dismissed Thomas as stupid or a sellout, a patsy and a puppet, the Justice who cannot speak. That era is over. Yet Thomas’s significance far outstrips his captaincy of the Court’s war on liberalism. The most powerful Black man in America, Thomas is also our most symptomatic public intellectual, setting out a terrifying vision of race, rights, and violence that’s fast becoming a description of everyday life. It’s no longer a matter of Clarence Thomas’s Court. Increasingly, it’s Clarence Thomas’s America.

Like so much else in this country, the largeness of Thomas’s vision hinges on the smallest of claims: two clauses, all of thirty-eight words, in the second sentence of the Fourteenth Amendment. One is the due-process clause, which Thomas believes has been misread. In Thomas’s view, that misreading is a stain on the nation—and the reason for its fall.

The due-process clause, which prohibits the state from depriving anyone of “life, liberty, or property, without the due process of the law,” is the basis for the constitutional right to contraception, same-sex sexual conduct, same-sex marriage, and, until a few weeks ago, abortion. To some, it might seem strange that the clause contains an affirmative right to anything. Doesn’t it simply require that the state declare the law, set out a punishment for violating the law, charge a suspect for its violation, try him in court, and so on? That, as it happens, is Thomas’s view.

But there’s a second, more expansive, interpretation of the clause, which holds that certain rights are so intrinsic to “liberty,” so fundamental to what it means to be free, that they may never be abridged without a vital reason. It’s not enough for the state to dot its “i”s and cross its “t”s before it takes those rights away. The state should not take them away at all—unless it must. Among those rights is privacy, from which derive the rights to contraception and so on.

Most liberals and conservatives accept some version of this second interpretation—which is called “substantive due process”—but argue over which rights it protects. Liberals say abortion; conservatives say guns. Thomas rejects the entire idea of substantive due process. In his concurrence in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade, Thomas calls substantive due process an “oxymoron” and a “legal fiction.” The due-process clause “guarantees process” only. Because it “does not secure any substantive rights,” he writes, “it does not secure a right to abortion.” The same goes for birth control, same-sex sexual conduct, and gay marriage.

Thomas’s argument against substantive due process is more than doctrinal. It’s political. In a speech before the Federalist Society and the Manhattan Institute which he gave in his second year on the Court, Thomas linked a broad reading of the due-process clause, with its ever-expanding list of “unenumerated” rights, to a liberal “rights revolution” that has undermined traditional authority and generated a culture of permissiveness and passivity. That revolution, which began with the New Deal and peaked in the nineteen-sixties, established the welfare state, weakened criminal law, and promulgated sexual freedom. The result has been personal dissipation and widespread disorder. Workers lose their incentive to labor. Men abandon wives and children. Criminals roam and rule the streets.

Today, the left ties itself into knots over whether it should defend sexual minorities, dismantle the carceral state, or fight for social democracy. For Thomas, these are three fronts of the same war. To reverse the downward spiral of social decadence and patriarchal decay, conservatives must undo the liberal culture of rights, starting with the unenumerated rights of substantive due process.

Thomas has never made a secret of his belief that the rights revolution hit Black people especially hard, destroying the Black patriarch whom Black women, children, and communities need for protection and instruction. “The salvation of our race,” he declared in 1985, depends upon “the strength and the will of black men.” But welfare “takes your manhood away,” as his grandfather told him. Sexual freedom takes husbands and fathers away, he told the students at a Black college in Savannah. Liberal criminal-justice policies take sons and brothers away: “The people who will suffer from our lofty pronouncements,” he writes in a dissent from a liberal Court opinion defending the rights of gang members, are those who live in Black neighborhoods. Because of their vulnerable position in American society, Black people have the greatest need of the stern patriarchal authority from which self-discipline and communal strength derive. Black fathers must become “the lion of children’s safety” and “the sheep of their peace.”

If misreading the due-process clause has caused the dissolution of Black men, another part of the Fourteenth Amendment offers their rehabilitation. For Thomas, the privileges-or-immunities clause, an obscure and mostly discarded provision that he has sought to resurrect for decades, promises the restoration of both his community and the country.

The privileges-or-immunities clause has its roots in the battle over slavery and emancipation. Before the Civil War, many Americans, particularly Southern slaveholders, argued that the Bill of Rights applied only to the federal government, leaving the states free to deny basic rights like the freedom of speech. With the privileges-or-immunities clause, which declares that “no State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of the United States,” the authors of the Fourteenth Amendment hoped to abolish the distinction between the rights of national and state citizenship. From now on, all Americans, especially Black Americans, would enjoy fundamental rights and freedoms—“privileges or immunities”—which would be secured by the federal government. “No general assertion of human rights can be of any practical value,” Frederick Douglass declared, while “there remains such an idea as the right of each State to control its own local affairs.”

A persuasive argument, but it was never accepted. In a series of cases during Reconstruction and its aftermath, the Court gutted the meaning of the privileges-or-immunities clause, forcing later activists and lawyers to rely upon the equal-protection clause and the due-process clause to advance the claims of Black people, women, and queer people. Thomas believes that this was a crucial mistake, and that the Court’s precedents on the privileges-or-immunities clause should be revisited. The clause “gives us a foundation for interpreting not only cases involving race,” he writes, “but the entire Constitution and its scheme of protecting rights.”

Lest we think that Thomas imagines anything like the rights that contemporary liberals defend, he made clear, in Saenz v. Roe (1999), that his interpretation of the privileges-or-immunities clause would protect only a narrow range of rights. Abortion is not one of them; neither is same-sex marriage. But he does include the right to bear arms, which he views as the right that precedes all others. Citing Justice Joseph Story, Thomas calls the right to bear arms “the palladium of the liberties of a republic.”

Liberals often claim that there is something hypocritical, if not perverse, about conservatives enshrining the right to bear arms without enshrining the right to abortion. Conservatives have an easy response: one right is found in the Constitution, both as tradition and text; the other is not. That’s what Justice Samuel Alito argues in Dobbs and in his concurrence, the day before, in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc., et al. v. Bruen, which struck down part of New York’s concealed-carry law.

Bodily autonomy is so foundational to contemporary understandings of freedom, however, that it’s hard to imagine a reason for denying it to women other than the fact that they are women. The fetish for guns, meanwhile, can seem like little more than a transposition of America’s white settler past onto its white suburban present, a reading Alito suggests at the end of his concurrence in Bruen:

In 1791, when the Second Amendment was adopted, there were no police departments, and many families lived alone on isolated farms or on the frontiers. If these people were attacked, they were on their own. . . . Today, unfortunately, many Americans have good reason to fear that they will be victimized if they are unable to protect themselves. And today, no less than in 1791, the Second Amendment guarantees their right to do so.

It’s worth comparing this passage with Thomas’s reading of the right to bear arms. Alito argues that the Second Amendment can be enforced, over and above state law, because of the due-process clause. Thomas roots his justification in the privileges-or-immunities clause, and in its backstory of slavery and abolition. Not only does that free Thomas from Alito’s white frontiersmen of yore but it also allows him to conjure the history of Black slaves arming themselves against their masters, and of Black freedmen protecting their families during Jim Crow. In his concurring opinion in McDonald v. Chicago (2010), a landmark guns case, he concludes with this resonant image:

One man [in 1919] recalled the night during his childhood when his father stood armed at a jail until morning to ward off lynchers. . . . The experience left him with a sense, “not ‘of powerlessness, but of the “possibilities of salvation” ’ ” that came from standing up to intimidation.

Thomas tells some of this history in Bruen. He dedicates a paragraph to the horror Chief Justice Roger Taney expressed—in the infamous Dred Scott decision declaring that Black people, enslaved or free, were not citizens of the United States—at the prospect of Black citizens having the right “to keep and carry arms wherever they went.” Mocked and misunderstood on Twitter, the paragraph reprises a longer story, which Thomas narrates in McDonald, of how terrified whites were of Black slave revolts in antebellum America. Citing the work of Herbert Aptheker, the Communist author of a pioneering history of slave rebellions, Thomas notes that white fears of Black revolt would be “difficult to overstate.” Those fears “peaked” during Reconstruction, to which Thomas devotes even more attention in his McDonald and Bruen opinions.

If there is any rational basis to the Court’s claim that people have the right to carry guns because they fear violence at the hands of a generalized other, it is in Thomas’s account of Black arms and Black history. Of the four pro-gun opinions in Bruen, Thomas’s is the only one in which we find an empirical example of a people’s justifiable need for armed self-defense in the face of violent enemies and government indifference. “Seeing that government was inadequately protecting them” under Jim Crow, he writes, Black people took up arms “to defend themselves” against white terrorists. The only history that can make sense of the Court’s position on guns, in other words, is that of race war.

In his second year on the Court, Thomas said that he was “proudly and unapologetically irrelevant and anachronistic.” Almost thirty years later, he has become what conservatives of every era seek to be: anachronistic and relevant.

Under Thomas’s aegis, the Court now assumes a society of extraordinary violence and minimal liberty, with no hope of the state being able to provide security to its citizens. In his Bruen concurrence, Alito extends Thomas’s history of Reconstruction to all modern America: “Many people face a serious risk of lethal violence when they venture outside their homes.” Like the Black citizens of Reconstruction, he argues, few of us should expect the police to protect us. “The police cannot disarm every person who acquires a gun for use in criminal activity,” Alito writes, “nor can they provide bodyguard protection for [New York] State’s nearly 20 million residents.”

Once upon a time, Alito’s claims of systemic danger and state incapacity would have been dismissed as the rantings of a mountain survivalist. But, after decades of mass shootings, his assertion that the cops can’t protect you reads as a corollary to the left’s warning that the cops won’t protect you. What makes both beliefs plausible is the failed state that America has become, with no small amount of help from Thomas, the right-wing Court, and elected officials from both parties.

Today’s felt absence of physical security is the culmination of a decades-long war against social welfare. In the face of a state that won’t do anything about climate change, economic inequality, personal debt, voting rights, and women’s rights, it’s no wonder that an increasing portion of the population, across all races, genders, and beliefs, have determined that the best way to protect themselves, and their families, is by getting a gun. A society with no rights, no freedoms, except for those you claim yourself—this was always Thomas’s vision of the world. Now, for many Americans, it is the only one available. ♦

[truly-sincerely]

Back in January I attempted to do a heavily modded Skyrim playthru and I tweeted a thread with lots of screenshots. I got to level 10 before I found out that the thieves guild had a major bug and could not figure out how to fix it, so I put Skyrim down and probably started aggressively playing Vintage Story instead. I’m a very one-game-at-a-time kind of autistic.

I know the joke is that modding Skyrim is a game in-and-of itself but I’ve never done the main plot past returning Jurgen’s horn to the Greybeards and I would really like to. I would like to complete the Thieves Guild questline, and become the Dean of Magic and Werewolves and maybe find out what the Dawnguard’s deal is, if only for the huskies. But what I really want is to go to Solstheim and Blackreach (especially since I installed what look like some really pretty mods for it, and a train!!) and take pictures of mushrooms like a filthy tourist.

I’ve checked a bunch of the major locations with my new loadout and they should be good. If there are any wildly broken dungeons or mechanics I will try to fix them and/or ignore them. I will do my very best not to install any new mods until I’m done with this run.

So here’s Savvy the Forsworn. She’s gonna do great.

I'm using Skyrim Anniversary Edition (that's special edition + all the creation club stuff) with Survival Mode. This is an extremely abridged list of the mods I'm using, not including patches to make them all work together.

UI/Core - SKSE, Address Library, USSEP, Cutting Room Floor, USCCCP, SPID, PapyrusUtil, and a bunch of other acronyms - A Matter of Time (hud clock), A Quality World Map (w/ stone roads), Atlas Map Markers, Dynamic Timescale, Disease Descriptions - SkyUI, RaceMenu, MCM Helper, Menu Maid 2, Better MessageBox, menuHUD/inventory, Use or Take, Read or Take, YesImSureNG, Conner's Survival Mode

Stats - Path of Sorcery, Smithing Perks Overhaul, Stealth Skills Rebalanced, Economy Overhaul and Speechcraft Improvements - Odin, Triumvirate, Tonal Architect, GIST - Evenstar, Morningstar, No Starting Spells, Trade & Barter

Items - WACCF, ACE, CACO, CCOR, Open World Loot, Morrowloot Miscellania - Warmonger, Immersive Jewelry, Cloaks of Skyrim, Winter is Coming, Wearable Lanterns - Dynamic Things Alternative, Book Covers Skyrim Updated

Quests - Alternate Start, Timing Is Everything, Rebalancing AE, Even Better Quest Objectives - Thieves Guild Requirements, College of Winterhold Quest Expansion, Blackreach Railroad, Forgotten City, Tools of Kagrenac, The Midden Expanded, Penitus Oculatus - a whole bunch of mods that tweak existing quests; most of the daedric quests, the CC quests, radiant quests - itty bitty mods like Gildergreen Regrown, Bring Meeko to Lod, Finding Derkeethus, Helgi & Laelette, Nilheim, Battle Brothers, etc

NPCs/combat - Immersive Horses (+Wild Horse integration) with KrittaKitty's gorgeous horse replacers, Haladoon's Dogs, Realistic Husky Sounds, All Couriers are Dogs, Unique Barbas - SkyTEST, True Wolves, True Hunter, Less Confrontational Animals, CLAWS, Zim's Dragon Improvements, Arachnid Brutality - Carriage & Ferry Travel Overhaul, BUVARP, Relationship Dialogue Overhaul, Extended Encounters, Immersive Citizens, Realistic Conversations, Rustic Clothes, Prince and the Pauper - Civil War Refugees, NPC AI Position Fix, More Tavern Idles, Less Charitable NPCs - Thugs not Assassins, Hunters not Bandits, Guard Dialogue Overhaul, Bandit Lines Expansion, Forsworn & Thalmore Lines Expansion, Brawl Lines Expansion, Civil War Deserters, Varied Guard Armor, Immersive Patrols - Know Your Enemy 2, Valravn - ELFX, ELFX Shadows, RAID Weathers (Realistic AI Detection), Dynamic Immersive Seriously Dark Dungeons (w/ ELFX hardcore for just dungeons), Dynamic Weather and Time Based Detection

Scenery - The Great Cities, JK's Whiterun Outskirts and about half of JK's Interiors, Magical College of Winterhold, Capital Windhelm, Enhanced Solitude, Quaint Raven Rock, Ryften Down, Paint it Blackreach (w/ a patch to remove the trees, this isn't elden ring) - Civil War Battlefields, Environs-The Western Watchtower, The Ruined Tundra Farmhouse, Hroggar's House, Haafingar Expanded, Unique Border Gates, Lanterns of Skyrim II, Nordic Ruins of Skyrim - Dracos Hearthfire Homes, Hearthfire Extended, Honeyside, Proudspire, and Vlindrel Hall TNF, some other player homes - Do As You Say Redux, Restoring the Aretino Residence, Smelter for Riften, Clutter Doesn't Respawn - DynDOLOD, so many mesh and texture fixes, majestic mountains, seasons of skyrim, turn of the seasons, and a whole bunch of mods that support changing the look of the world based on the date

[the-world-of-literature]

A Brief Review of J.D. Salingers "the Catcher in the Rye".

I have to admit, this story, this story is the one that started it all for me. Every piece of classic literature I have ever read has succeeded this book. It was the first time I read a story, by my own ambitions, considered to be a "classic". While this is true, I still cannot find a way to enjoy this story.

That sounds a little rash but it is the truth; I did not enjoy this one. The protagonist, Holden Caulfield, is one of the most detestable main characters in all of literature. He drags this first-person account of his present reality for over 200 uninteresting pages. Now I should say before I get too harsh on this book, that it was certainly in Salinger's interest to make this character the way he is; it was no mere coincidence that Holden is an absolute annoyance. This was all part of Salinger's plan for the novel and, to be fair, it was magnificently done to make a character this aggravating. Salinger did a great job at founding Holden's personality. Yet, even as strong as his penmanship was in this book, it doesn't make up for the stories boring and withdrawing nature. Holden is just a mildly perverted pessimist who does nothing but complain about people being "phonies", and that gets old pretty quick. He has a disagreeable personality and is much too childish for his own good. He is disrespectful. He narrates the story in a strong tone that reflects these descriptions In the latter sentences.

The plot of the book is one of the major issues that I see; it contains almost nothing to be remembered by. There's absolutely nothing of significance that happens throughout it. It tells the post-account of Holden's dropout from college and now he's faced with having to explain his flunking out to his parents. The issue with this is, is that the whole book leads up to the inevitable facing his parents and telling them he flunked out, BUT THERE IS NO SUBSTANCE IN BETWEEN THESE EVENTS. The whole entire story is pretty much just him walking around New York. Majority of the story felt like busy-work to read, with no real purpose. You could abridge over half the book and it would probably be better.

The plot is one thing, another is that the Holden is essentially the only character we, as the reader, know much about. There is an extreme lack of dynamic characters and thus, very little room for development. Which, gets under my skin a bit, as a reader.

I have been told, however, that this book is one you need to read later in life, and to give it a fair chance, I will read it when I am old. Apparently the minds of the youth cannot properly grasp the story. So, maybe I've been to harsh on it, but I will say I have never met anyone who actually enjoyed this book.

3.4/10

[leam1983]

Second Thoughts

Pulled up the listing again. The Friend's abridged description reads one thing, the listing says another. I'm told they're fucking desperate and took to outsourcing work, and the listing asks for "extensive knowledge in the construction and editing of insurance policies. Knowledge of the insurance market a plus."

I'm a Lit geek with a side order of UX/UI porn fetishism who takes to networking like I'm asked to make the Nice Magic Blue Spaghettis behave as they come in and out of what's still, ostensibly, a Mystery Hole to me. I'm used to Linux, they're running off of Windows 10 Server Edition on a company-wide scale. In clearer terms, why the fuck do they want me?

I do not fit the profile, and the two recruiters are still salivating. I'm expecting my third phone call today. Third. Then there's a Web meeting and an "offer letter" - how fucking presumptuous - and I'm expected to provide everything that isn't the locked-down laptop they'd ship my way.

Judging by the way they reacted to my resumé, initially, my acquired skills didn't mean squat. What made them ping was the fact that I was an available Francophone reference.

That's it. I speak French. That's all they want, and they could scrape virtually any kid fresh out of college or uni, if that's what they were looking for.

In gamer parlance, this is very sussy-wussy. Excuse me while I fetch my plastic pipe and bubble liquid, I need to look extremely concerned.

[steellong]

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[chanoyu-to-wa]

Nampō Roku, Book 7 (22):  Concerning the Setchin [雪隱] that was Attached to Rikyū’s Koshi-kake [腰掛]; and Two Appendices of Related Material.

22) The setchin that adjoined the koshi-kake in [Ri]kyū[’s roji] was of the sort that was described previously¹.  But if [one of the guests] had to move their bowels, there was an ordinary setchin [located elsewhere in the compound]².

_________________________

◎ The minor differences between the Enkaku-ji version of this very short entry and what is found in Shibayama’s teihon suggest that Tachibana Jitsuzan copied his text from a manuscript that was in a poor state of preservation.

    One of the entries in the Book of Secret Teachings (Sumibiki no uchinuki-gaki [墨引之内拔書], and its Tsuika [追加]) corresponds to this entry, and I have translated that material as an appendix.

    And, while Tanaka Senshō used an abridged version of the Enkaku-ji text as the basis for his comments, in a footnote he quotes what he states is the genpon [原本] (original) version of this entry, which will probably seem (to us) to be an amalgamation of the full Enkaku-ji text and portions of the corresponding passage from the Books of Secret Teachings.  Nevertheless, the original (genpon) text suggests that Shibayama’s interpretation of the second setchin as a gefuku-setchin [下腹雪隱] might be wrong; and it was primarily for this reason that I decided to discuss the genpon version of the text separately, in a second appendix (which appears as the final section of this post).

    I feel that it might be good to close these introductory notes with a sort of observation, since it may give the readers a useful insight into the material that we are studying here.  Part of the reason why I decided to write and format this translation in the way that I have is so that the reader will be able to observe how the Nampō Roku was, in a very real sense, created by Tachibana Jitsuzan.  The genpon version is probably as close to the original Shū-un-an document as it is possible for us to get.  The reader, then, can compare this text with what is found in entry 22, as Jitsuzan wrote it in Book Seven of the Enkaku-ji manuscript of the Nampō Roku -- and with the material that the Enkaku-ji scholars included in the Sumibiki no uchinuki-gaki no tsuika [墨引之内拔書ノ追加].  It seems probable that a similar editorial process was employed in the creation of Book Seven (and, to a lesser extent, in the other six books) -- and it is this that has made certain modern scholars uneasy about accepting the Nampō Roku at face value, as an unadulterated representation of the teachings of Rikyū.

¹Kyū no koshi-kake ni tsukitaru setchin migi no gotoku nari　[休ノコシカケニ付タル雪隱、右ノゴトク也].

    Koshi-kake ni tsukitaru setchin [腰掛に付きたる雪隱] means the setchin that adjoined (was connected to) the koshi-kake*.

    In Rikyū's compound, there was no inner or outer roji such as is seen in the complexes favored by the Sen family.  Between the street and the entrance to the tearoom was the koshi-kake, with the suna-setchin adjacent to it.  The tea area was entered through a naka-kuguri, on the inside of which was a small enclosure in which the tsukubai was arranged, and the entrance to the tearoom (usually through a pair of shōji).  From the beginning of the shoza until the end of the goza, the guests did not leave this inner area (unless they had to visit the setchin).

    Migi no gotoku nari [右の如くなり] means (as described) at the right -- referring to the description of the suna-setchin found in the previous entry. ___________ *In this sketch, I have attached a second setchin to the far side of the suna-setchin, in accordance with the original text (that was quoted in Tanaka Senshō’s commentary) -- though nothing is said regarding where this second setchin was actually located (nevertheless, the extremely small size of the plots of land in the residential parts of the city meant that it could not have been too far distant from the suna-setchin).  This second setchin was used for defecation; and, rather than a mound of sand, contained a pottery jar or bowl (partly filled with rice chaff) in which the wastes were deposited.  Further details are given in the appendices.

²Mata soto ni yō wo ben-zuru tame, tsune no gotoku ni shitaru setchin ari　[又外ニ用ヲ辯スル爲、常ノゴトクニシタル雪隱アリ].

    Soto ni [外に] means outside -- that is, outside of the roji; located elsewhere in the compound (probably in proximity to the residential buildings, since this was probably part of the main lavatory of the complex).

    Yō wo ben-zuru tame [用を辯するため].  There appears to be a miscopying in the Enkaku-ji text*, since the others read yō wo ben-zuru-tame [用を便するため]. Ben-zuru [便ずる] means to satisfy (the needs of), to be useful (for the purpose), to make convenient:  therefore, “to make use of....”

    Rather than yō [用] (function), Shibayama’s text has dai-yō [大用], which is a word for feces or excrement.

    Tsune no gotoku ni shitaru setchin ari [常の如くに爲たる所あり] means there is a setchin of the ordinary sort (presumably a gefuku-setchin [下腹雪隱], or a hibako [樋箱], since these were the two most common styles of benjo [便所], toilet, in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries).

    In other words, since the suna-setchin (that is attached to the koshi-kake) should only be used as a urinal, if one has to move their bowels, then that person should use the ordinary setchin.

==============================================

❖ Appendix 1:  The Entry from the Supplementary Book of Secret Teachings¹.

￮ Besides the setchin that was next to Rikyu’s koshi-kake, there was another one -- and it was this setchin would be used for defecation².

    A pottery jar, containing rice-chaff, was installed in this setchin³.

    The way to use [this setchin] was similar to what has been described previously [in relation to the suna-setchin]⁴.  But, compared with the appearance of the setchin at the koshi-kake, this arrangement was not liked⁵.

    The setchin in the roji is a urinal [only]⁶.

_________________________

¹The actual title of the final two (supernumerary) books of the Nampō Roku seems to be Sumibiki no uchinuki-gaki [墨引之内拔書], with the second book sub-titled tsuika [追加] (which means supplementary material).  The title means something like “a book of explanatory notes intended for restricted access [by the original group of Enkaku-ji scholars, only], that should then be blotted over with ink” (in other words, the notes were compiled for the reference of the group of Enkaku-ji scholars working with Tachibana Jitsuzan, only; and once everyone had familiarized themselves with the content of the two books, they were supposed to be destroyed, so that this information would not be accessible to unauthorized individuals*), thus, indicates that the material contained in these two books was for internal consumption only, and to be obscured (to prevent access by unauthorized persons). ___________ *In other words, these books contained the secret knowledge, which, once assimilated by the first generation of Nampō Roku scholars, were supposed to be destroyed.  Thus, the books created the “authorities” for future generations (while keeping the source of their knowledge “secret”).  This gives us a glimpse at how the Edo period system of “secret teachings” worked -- and this is the same system that exists even today within the modern schools of all persuasions.

²Kyū no koshi-kake ni tsuki-taru setchin no hoka ni, ima hitotsu daiyō wo benjiru-yō ni shitaru setchin ari　[休ノ腰掛ニ附キタル雪隱ノ外ニ、今一ツ大用ヲ辨ジル樣ニシタル雪隱アリ].

    Koshi-kake ni tsuki-taru setchin [腰掛に付きたる雪隱] means the setchin that adjoined the koshi-kake.  As implied in the text of entry 22, this was a suna-setchin.  (The photo below shows this kind of setchin before the sand has been poured into a mound in between the two large stones -- the stones on which the guest squats while urinating into the sand.  The single large stones that were placed in front of, and to the rear of, this well are here replaced by the several smaller stones that perform the same function of preventing the wastes from spreading outside of the central well.)

    Hoka ni [外に] means besides, in addition to.

    Daiyō [大用] means feces, excrement.

    Benjiru-yō [辨じる樣に] means the way to manage (something), the way to dispose of (something).

    Nothing indicates where this other setchin was located (though, given the generally small size of residential plots of land in cities like Sakai and Kyōto, it seems more likely that this was the same facility used by the members of the household).

    If it was not the lavatory used by the household, then this second setchin was probably in the proximity of the koshi-kake, perhaps on the far side of the suna-setchin, and possibly sharing a wall with it (as I showed in the sketch under footnote 1 or the previous part of this post).  The fact that the doorway did not open onto the koshi-kake would mean that it was not technically “attached” to the waiting bench.

³Tsuchi-no-mono-no-tsubo wo irete, kiri-wara wo ire　[土ノ物ノツボヲ入レテ、切ワラヲ入レ].

    Tsuchi-no-mono-no-tsubo [土の物の壺] means a jar made of pottery.

    Irete [入れて] has been translated as “installed*” -- since the jar was sunken into the ground (see sub-note “†,” just below), rather than simply placed on the floor of the setchin.

    Kiri-wara [切り藁]† means crushed rice-straw and rice-chaff.  This material was put into the pottery jar, filling it perhaps half way, perhaps a little more.

    The kiri-wara would absorb any moisture, as well as help to control the smell.

    In his commentary on this entry, Shibayama Fugen states that this sentence is referring to a gefuku-setchin [下腹雪隱]‡, and that appears to be the most common interpretation of what is meant here. ___________ *Though to understand irete [入れて] to mean “installed” is, frankly, stretching things.  See Tanaka’s “original manuscript” version of this entry, at the end of this post.

†Literally, kiri-wara [切り藁] means chopped up dry rice stalks.  These were incorporated into the soil of the rice fields during the early spring (when the field was plowed prior to flooding and planting), to help improve the structure, as well as return some nutrients to the soil.  This material was also commonly used in the gefuku-setchin.

‡A gefuku-setchin consists of a large ceramic jar (at least 60 cm in diameter and close to a meter deep, though often considerably larger) was sunk into the ground, with the mouth of the jar at roughly ground level.  The jar was filled perhaps a third full with chopped rice straw or rice chaff (to absorb moisture, and so prevent splashing).  Two parallel boards were laid across the mouth, with a gap of around 1-shaku between them.  The user squatted down on the boards above the gap, with the human waste collecting in the jar (which was periodically emptied).  The jar prevented sewage from seeping into the ground water and contaminating the wells in the area.

    That said, it actually appears that, originally, a very different sort of arrangement (that more closely resembled the suna-setchin) was actually being described here.  See the second appendix for more on this.

⁴Migi no tsukai-yō taitei dō-zen　[右ノツカヒヤウ大抵同前].

    Tsukai-yō [使いよう] means the way to use (the jar).

    Taitei [大抵] means for the most part, generally, largely (the same).

    In other words, this gefuku-setchin contained a long-handled, oar-like soku-jō [觸杖] with which the feces were buried in the chaff that partly filled the jar.  First, a hole would be opened in the chaff, and after relieving oneself, the soku-jō would be used to bury the feces in the chaff.  This procedure resembled what was done in the suna-setchin.

⁵Koshi-kake no setchin no yō ni yōji wo konomu-bekarazu　[腰掛ノ雪隱ノヤウニ樣子ヲ好ムベカラズ].

    Yōji [樣子] means the appearance of something.

    Konomu-bekarazu [好むべからず] means not be fond of (something).

    The gefuku-setchin could seem rather dirty, especially after several people had used it.  This may be the reason for the disgust apparent in this sentence (it is not clear whether this was Rikyū’s feeling, or whether the author was simply expressing a more general reaction to this kind of toilet).

    The alternative was the hibako [樋箱 or 樋筥], shown above.  This kind of toilet had an elevated floor, below which the waste fell into a sort of wooden drawer lined with sheet-copper.  After use, the drawer was removed and emptied (by an attendant), and it was replaced after it had been cleaned.  The person squatted down facing the door.  The skirt of the kimono was supported by the perpendicular wooden panel (which also kept feces from accidentally falling onto the floor).

⁶Roji no setchin ha shōbenjo nari　[露地ノ雪隱ハ小便所ナリ].

    Roji no setchin [露地の雪隱] means the setchin in the roji -- the setchin that, in Rikyū’s roji, was constructed next to the koshi-kake.

    Shōbenjo [小便所] means a urinal.

    The continual repetition suggests that this was not always the case (and, indeed, the suna-setchin was used as an ordinary toilet in the Zen-rin).

==============================================

❖ Appendix 2:  The Text from the Gen-pon [原本] that was Quoted in Tanaka Senshō’s Commentary.

￮ The setchin attached to [Ri]kyū’s koshi-kake was the same as recorded [previously] in this document¹; in addition to which, one more setchin was found [in the compound]².

     [This other setchin] was available for the sake of convenience³.  Within [this setchin] was placed a pottery jar, [and] the way to use the stones should be followed as [has been described] previously⁴.

     [Because this other setchin was] like the setchin at the koshi-kake, the appearance was displeasing, so it is said⁵.

_________________________

¹Kyū no koshi-kake ni tsuketaru setchin ha hon-sho ni shirusu gotoku　[休ノコシカケニ付タルセツインハ本書ニシルスゴトク].

    Hon-sho [本書] means this book, this manuscript -- in other words, the text of entry 21 as found in Book Seven of the Nampō Roku.

    Shirusu [記す] means to memorialize, write down, make a note of, record.

    In other words, the setchin attached to the koshi-kake in Rikyū’s roji was just as described in entry 21.  That is, it was a suna-setchin.

²Soto ni ima-hitotsu setchin motte nari　[ソトニ今一ツセツイン有也].

    Soto ni [外に] means likewise, besides, also; and it can also mean somewhere else, in another place.

    Motte nari [有なり] means (another toilet) exists; there is (another toilet).

³Yō wo ben-zuru yō ni shitaru setchin nari　[用ヲ便ズルヤウニシタルセツイン也].

    Yō wo ben-zuru yō ni shitaru [用を便ずるように爲たる] means it is convenient to make use of (this second toilet).

    Unlike in the other versions, the “why” of its convenience is left up to the imagination of the reader (in light of the next sentence).

⁴Uchi tsuchi-no-mono tsubo wo irete, ishi no tsukai-yō, narai dō-zen　[内土ノモノツボヲ入テ、石ノツカヒヤウ、ナライ同前].

    Tsuchi-no-mono tsubo [土の物壺] means a pottery jar.  But, rather than a large, sunken jar (as Shibayama Fugen imagined, based on his inquiries of the surviving Enkaku-ji scholars), this actually seems to be describing what we would call a chamber pot*.  The jar would have been partly filled with rice chaff, perhaps with a soku-jō [觸杖] resting in it (probably leaning against the rim of the jar, since rice chaff would not allow it to stand upright)†.

    Tsubo wo irete [壺を入れて]:  irete [入れて] means to put (the jar) into (this setchin).  As odd as it might seem to us, today, the sketch literally depicts what the language says.

    Ishi no tsukai-yō [石の使いよう] means how to use the stones.  This phrase seems to be the key to this entry:  apparently the arrangement of the interior of this setchin was the same as the suna-setchin -- with two to four large stones arranged so as to create a central well (as shown in the above sketch).  But while the suna-setchin had a pile of dry sand mounded up in the well between the stones, it appears that here a pottery jar (partly full of rice chaff) was placed in the middle, with the person squatting down and defecating into the jar (after which he buried the feces in the chaff, using the soku-jō [觸杖], hiding the waste from view, and helping to control the smell).

    Narai dō-zen [習い同前] means something like it should be done‡ just as before (referring to the way to use the suna-setchin). ___________ *In some Edo period writings, there are mentions of antique chamber pots (which were usually made of blue-and-white ware, or celadon or a similarly-colored pottery, and often imported from China or Korea) occasionally being used as mizusashi -- giving us an idea of their general shape (roughly like a large bowl, usually with a nicely rounded rim, with no sharp edges), and size (such as the example shown below).

    Edo period sources also occasionally describe the horror of guests who recognized what the host’s treasured mizusashi originally was used for.  (Unfortunately, as Rikyū’s period recedes farther and farther into the distant past, and as our understanding of his way of doing things is more and more overshadowed by the examples and precedents given to us by the modern schools, we have become increasingly insensitive to this matter -- to our own misfortune, since such pieces are still being sold and used as mizusashi from time to time, even today.)

    As for why white porcelain (hakuji [白磁]), blue-and-white ware (some-tsuki [染め付け]), and celadon (seiji [靑磁]) were preferred for such purposes, it is because such wares were traditionally associated with the idea of purity.

†After defecating, the person would use the soku-jō to cover the feces with chaff.

    And after the guest left the setchin, an attendant would have removed and emptied the jar immediately, for the sake of cleanliness, and then returned it with fresh chaff inside.

    This is why I depicted it as being back-to-back with the suna-setchin, with the entrance on the far side, so that the attendant’s activities would be hidden from the guests.  Most of the people practicing chanoyu in Jōō’s and Rikyū’s period were at least moderately wealthy -- the emphasis on meibutsu all but precluding the participation of those of limited means -- so the home would have had at least several servants, one of whom would be delegated to be on “setchin duty” on those usually infrequent occasions when chanoyu was being given.

    Since the guests were supposed to prepare themselves before leaving home for the tea gathering, it would actually be quite rare for anyone to need to make use of this second setchin during the chakai.

‡Narai [習い] means according to custom, common usage, or force of habit, or in the usual way -- rather than referring to behavior specifically learned in lessons.  In other words, this variety of setchin should be used in the same way as when using the suna-setchin:  standing on the stones and then squatting down.

⁵Koshi-kake no setchin no yō ni yōji wo konomu-bekarazu, iu-iu　[コシカケノセツインノヤウニ樣子ヲ好べカラズ、云〻].

    Koshi-kake no setchin no yō ni [腰掛の雪隱のように] means (this other setchin) was like the setchin (that adjoined) the koshi-kake.  This is referring primarily to the arrangement of the stones in the suna-setchin, on which the person squats.

    Yōji wo konomu-bekarazu [樣子を好むべからず] means the configuration or appearance (yōji [樣子]) is disagreeable (konomu-bekarazu [好むべからず]).

    Once again, the language here is completely natural -- while what is found elsewhere (in the two entries quoted above) is often forced (suggesting that they were edited from this one at a later date).

◎ This, then, seems to have been Nambō Sōkei’s original text.  But its description of this alternate setchin struck Edo period chajin as being so outlandish or unreasonable that they were inspired to modify it into the several different versions that appear to relate the pottery jar to a gefuku-setchin.

[guzhuangheaven]

do you know what weddings were like for princes and princesses in the qing dynasty?

Most of this is based on information about Emperor Guangxu’s wedding to Empress Longyu. Obviously the emperor’s wedding is a lot more elaborate, but weddings of princes and princesses should be somewhat the same.

Sources: 1, 2, also Vietnamese book: Những người đàn bà của hoàng đế, Hướng Tư (2003), NXB Văn hóa – Thông tin

Normal people’s weddings during the Qing dynasty would consist of the following six ceremonies:

Proposal 纳采 nacai

Asking for the bride’s name and birthday 问名 wenming

Visit the fortune teller (to ensure that bride and groom’s birthdates are compatible 纳吉 naji

Prepare and send wedding gifts 纳征 nazheng

Choosing a ceremony date 请期 qingqi

Wedding ceremony 亲迎 qinying

For the emperor, this is reduced down to basically :

nacai

nazheng (for the emperor, it is called dazheng 大征, because the emperor’s marriage is referred to as the “great marriage” 大婚 dahun)

wedding ceremony combined with the investiture of the empress (in the cases of Shunzhi, Kangxi, Tongzhi, Guangxu who came to the throne before they were married)

(The whole things to do with asking for the birthdate and checking whether it’s compatible is pretty redundant considering if you are chosen to marry the emperor, you have already gone through the xiunv selection process which is pretty much the same thing.)

Timeline for Guangxu’s marriage:

2nd day 11th month 14th year of Guangxu era: proposal (nacai)

4th day 12th month 14th year: sending wedding gift (dazheng)

26th day 1st month 15th year: announce the betrothal to Heaven and Earth and the ancestral shrines

27th day 1st month 15th year: the empress enters the palace (fengying 凤迎, 凤 phoenix refers to the empress), investiture of the empress and wedding ceremony

2nd day 2nd month 15th year: ceremony of the empress paying respects to Empress Dowager Cixi (chaojian 朝见)

In normal weddings, the groom and/or his parents would present the betrothal/wedding gifts to the bride’s family himself, and then on the wedding day, the groom would go to the bride’s home to pick her up. However, as the emperor is considered too high and mighty to do any of that himself, for all these ceremonies, he would appoint several representatives consisting of one main commissioner (正使 zhengshi) and at least one deputy commissioner (副使 fushi) to carry out these tasks for him. These commissioners would be chosen among the princes or high-ranking officials close to the emperor.

Legend of Ruyi: Fu Heng being the zhengshi at Qian Long’s wedding to Ruyi, because nothing says fuck you true love like getting the brother of your dead first wife to be your proxy at the wedding to your second wife, whom your first wife hated and spent her last breaths more or less cursing. No wonder Fu Heng looks so happy.

(This appointment was historically accurate, but considering Langhua and Ruyi's relationship in this drama, this is such an asshole move. Fu Heng was the zhengshi at the investiture of the Step Empress into the position of Imperial Noble Consort as well.)

Nacai (proposal)

During the proposal ceremony, the commissioners will present betrothal gifts to the bride’s family. For Guangxu’s marriage, betrothal gifts consisted of four horses with saddles; ten suits of armour; one hundred bolts of brocade in yellow, red, orange, indigo, blue; and two hundred bolts of fabric, along with gold and silver household items. The horses and armour represent the Manchurian history of conquering China through martial prowess.

Afterwards, an engagement banquet is held at the bride’s house, prepared by the Imperial Tea Kitchen of the palace and at the expense of the imperial palace as a thank you to the bride’s family for raising her.

Dazheng (sending wedding gifts)

Wedding gifts will consist of gifts to members of the bride’s family, as well as items for the bride’s use after marriage. There is so much of it, tl;dr: they stupidly rich, Mr Darcy got nothing on them.

If you can read Vietnamese, here is the list of wedding gifts given for Guangxu’s wedding. This goes on for literally three more pages. I’m not translating it because my eyes glazes over every third line of jade descriptions.

Wedding and investiture of empress

On the wedding day, the emperor’s commissioners would take the emperor’s proclamation to create the empress, along with the empress’ golden book (金册) and golden seal (金宝), the physical manifestations of the empress’ power, to present to the bride.

Empress's golden book 金册 in Legend of Ruyi

Empress's golden seal 金宝 from the Palace Museum

The bride then will be brought into the palace on a golden palanquin (called 凤舆 fengyu) through the middle gate of the Meridian Gate into the palace.

Painting of Emperor Guangxu's wedding 光绪皇帝大婚图

During the journey, the bride would carry a ruyi scepter and an apple, both representing auspiciousness and peace.

Ruyi scepters were essential in imperial weddings. During the Qing dynasty, four emperors were married in the Forbidden City after their enthronement. Their weddings were luxurious spectacles and had fixed rituals. The Qing Palace Archives record the following:

On the eve of the wedding, the Grand Minister in Command of the Guard, Commissioner of the Imperial Procession Guard and their entourage carried the empress's sedan from the middle of the Gate of Heavenly Purity (Qianqing men) and placed it in the Palace of Heavenly Purity (Qianqing gong). Dispatched to receive the bride were four court ladies of high rank dressed in red were commanded to place inside the sedan chair a ruyi scepter and a scroll with the character for dragon (long) written by the emperor. Then these ladies as well as some female attendants of the Imperial Household Department prepared the bridal chamber and the bridal bed called "dragon and phoenix bed". The four ladies also set four ruyi scepters on the bed, one at each corner.

During the wedding, officials presented their gifts which all included a pair of ruyi scepters. They were also included in princesses' dowry. The Qianlong Emperor gave his daughter Hexiao Princess a set of nine pieces, and her husband a Ruyi with turquoise inlay. (x)

ruyi scepter

Apple is pingguo 苹果 which sounds the same as ping as in pingan 平安 (peaceful).

(full post)

Once reaching the steps of Qian Qing Gong (Palace of Heavenly Purity, the seat of the emperor), the bride will hand over the ruyi and apple, and then hold a golden jar (ping) and step over a brazier of coals, signalling burning away any bad luck.

Ruyi and Xiyue carrying jars (ping) as a symbol of luck on their wedding day

From Qian Qing Gong she makes her way to Kun Ning Gong (Palace of Earthly Tranquility), which is traditionally the seat of the empress of the Ming and Qing dynasties and were all weddings of emperors took place. Before entering Kun Ning Gong, she would also need to step over a horse saddle - 鞍, pronounced an, as in pingan 平安.

Not mentioned in the description of Guangxu’s wedding, but there is also another ritual where the groom would shoot three arrows at a target as a symbol of luck.

Qing dynasty royal weddings take place at night. During Guangxu’s wedding, Empress Longyu entered the her bridal sedan chair and departed her home at around 11:45pm, and reached the palace at around 4:45am, because walking ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Hejin 合卺

Hejin is the ceremony after the bride enters the bridal chamber, and the bride and groom drink a cup of wine together and share a meal, signalling the start of their married life.

卺 originally refers to splitting a hulu gourd in half, and 合卺 means to bring the two halves together, which is why in earlier dynasties you will see couples drinking their wedding wine out of two halves of a hulu gourd.

Afterwards there would also be a banquet at Taihe Dian (Hall of Supreme Harmony).

Chaojian 朝见

Normally the day after the wedding, the bride would pay respects to her in-laws by going to greet them, serve them tea and wine. With Guangxu’s wedding, this ceremony didn’t happen until several days later because they needed to wait for an auspicious day™.

See also:

Attend The Grand Wedding of the Guangxu Emperor

The Grand Wedding of China's Last Emperor

[blackswaneuroparedux]

A wonderful person - not very like a woman, you know?

- T E Lawrence on his friend and colleague Gertrude Bell

Of the two Lawrence is undoubtedly the more famous of the pair, branded in film history by Peter O’Toole as Lawrence of Arabia, headdress and all. But anyone versed in Middle East would quickly agree that Bell’s influence on the region may have outweighed that of her overly confident counterpart.

Bell’s achievements were extraordinarily wide-ranging: she was a precocious and gifted scholar (first woman to get a First in History at Oxford); travelled round the world twice; spoke better Arabic than TE Lawrence; translated Persian poetry and carried out archaeological work in Turkey and Mesopotamia;  prior to 1911 and her third major journey across the Middle East, at the age of 43, she had recorded ten mountaineering first ascents in the Bernese Alps. James Buchan describes her as 'the greatest woman mountaineer of her age'.

Her greatest and most troubled legacy is Iraq itself. As the modern Middle East took shape from the ruins of the Ottoman empire, Gertrude argued in favour of Iraqi self-government, helped establish its borders, draft its constitution, and founded its National Museum until her tragic death in 1926.

Bell was aware that she was starting to be regarded by men whom she thought of as her social and intellectual inferiors as being insufferable. Mark Sykes, a British diplomat, used language about her that could only have been applied to a woman: 'Confound the silly chattering windbag of conceited, gushing, flat-chested, man-woman, globe-trotting, rump-wagging, blethering ass!' She'd felt the casual, cold hand of misogyny even when at her most influential and hard-working.

And she'd seen T E Lawrence - a man 20 years her junior, born outside of her privilege - match her fame following what was only a very limited publication in 1922 of The Seven Pillars Of Wisdom about his role in the Arab Revolt during WW1, subsequent to the sensationalising of his exploits by journalist Lowell Thomas.

Lawrence then kept a fairly low profile for a while, partly due to imposed changes to his military career, but in the years between 1922 and 1926 he had been hard at work on a corrected version of Pillars which was intended to reach a wider audience - an abridged version titled Revolt in the Desert. It was inevitable that this would be greeted with further publicity and notoriety for Lawrence.

The intersections of the lives of Bell and Lawrence have been written about, but as far as I'm aware only in terms of their supposed spying activities, so it's interesting to consider how Bell's last year and her death intersected with Lawrence's resurgence as the character in the Arab Revolt.

Bell certainly did know what Lawrence was up to with Revolt, as she was one of the people he selected to ask to read through the near-final drafts. This appears to have happened during her final summer in England in 1925, as Lawrence wrote to his editor Edward Garnett on the 27th July of that year, 'Judgements upon this chapter vary. Gertrude Bell, a woman of enormous heart and whirling head, of the book said, "Approved: all but the libellous, untruthful description of yourself." Very nice of Gertrude.'

How she might have felt about the forthcoming book is difficult to gauge. She'll have been aware that it was an extremely well-written, richly observed travel narrative as well as an adventure story. She may have been all too aware, as her influence and privilege waned, that Lawrence's fame and career were only just starting.

Ironically, T.E. Lawrence - whose famed exploits, in my view, were informed by Bell’s work but who failed to learn from her cultural sensitivity - may have summed up her legacy best, just after her death: “That Iraq State is a fine monument, even if only lasts a few more years. She was born too gifted, perhaps. By the way, do read her letters. They are splendid.”

For all that though both saw something of themselves in the other and their friendship remained steadfast. Both though were hugely gifted misfits out of their time and ruffled feathers. Both were idealistic and sincere in their aspirations for the Arabs who revolted against the Ottomans. Both were to become disillusioned at the perceived compromises and ultimate betrayal by their British overlords over the future settlement of the Middle East.

**T.E. Lawrence and Gertrude Bell (with her trademark cigarette in her hand)

[shihalyfie]

Kizuna itself vs. the two versions of the novel

Written on request from a friend who wanted to remain anonymous. This is more of an editorial than a meta, and while I usually have a policy of “this is an analysis blog, not a review blog” it goes into more of my personal impressions and opinions than usual, but it’s something I write hoping to be helpful.

There are basically three “official” full versions of Kizuna: one being, of course, the movie itself, one being the Dash X Bunko version of the novel, and one being the Shueisha Mirai Bunko version of it. While it’s certainly not to say that any of the three is an “incomplete” version of the narrative, if you really want as full of a picture of the story as possible, somehow, each of all three versions of the story happens to have really important information that the other two do not. If I had to pick only one of these three versions to recommend to people, I would of course pick the movie itself; it’s obviously the base story everything else is based off of and was the one the production centered around as a priority, but the novelizations have a surprising amount of info that provide a lot of insight into the movie’s story and themes.

I get the impression that the creation of Kizuna involved making a lot more story and background details than could fit in a 95-minute movie, so these novelizations, which were based directly off the original movie script, ended up being an outlet for a lot of these details (and as much as I could be harsh on the movie itself for being a bit “reliant” on extra material, I have to admit that Adventure and 02 were both like this too -- a lot of our current understanding of the series comes from the Adventure novels and drama CDs -- so frankly I’m thankful we at least got this with a 95-minute movie instead of a yearlong series). On the flip side, while I'm not going to say that the novels are completely and utterly inaccurate representations of the movie, in a perhaps too-close approximation of Adventure and 02's writing style, this is a movie where even the nuances in a single line or split-second moment carry heavy implications, which become much blurrier or harder to identify when they’re presented differently (or not even presented at all) in the novel’s context, especially when they emphasize very different things from what the movie itself was emphasizing.

The short version of this is that I believe the Dash X version contains the greater amount of “plot and story” information but significantly misses out on the emotional themes and presentation, whereas the Shueisha Mirai version abridges and cuts chunks of content but is much better at conveying the intended message. More on this below the cut. (Note that the following post spoils Kizuna’s plot events.)

The movie itself

Since the following parts are more “in comparison to the movie”, I’m not going to go too much into this in this section, but one thing I will say is that the official English subtitle translation for the movie is really not great. Even if you take out nitpickiness about the fact it misses several significant nuances (the difference between “unchangeable fate” and “changeable destiny”, or the fact that Gennai refers to partnership dissolution as a “case” and not like it’s something that happens overall) at really plot-important moments, some lines (thankfully, usually not plot-important ones) are just straight-up incorrect. And worse, there’s evidence the official English dub was based on that translation! (I’m not faulting the people in charge of the dub for this, but whoever handed them that translation to work with.)

The dialogue in the Dash X Bunko version is transcribed effectively word-for-word from the dialogue in the movie (or perhaps vice versa, given that the novel is based on the original script), so I highly recommend checking that version as a reference for dialogue or if you want to do any intimate analysis on it. I don't want to go as far as to suggest not supporting the official version of the movie because of this, but at least please be aware that the translation used there is not entirely reliable.

Dash X Bunko

If you talk about “the Kizuna novel”, this is the one that people usually tend to be referring to, for two reasons. Firstly, it was translated shortly after the movie’s release, and due to the unfortunate circumstances of Kizuna being delayed in accessibility outside Japan for several months, this basically served as the only comprehensive source of info about the movie outside Japan for a very long time. Secondly, in Japan, this one was marketed as “the one for adults” in contrast to the Shueisha Mirai one being “for kids”, which meant that a lot of people assumed that the latter one was just an incredibly stripped down version that was otherwise disposable or replaceable. (This is very, very much not the case, and is extremely ironic when it comes to a movie that partially centers around the dangers of looking down too much on things associated with childhood.)

When it comes to “plot and story info”, this is the one that probably serves as the best reference (especially for fanfic writers or those who need a refresher on certain plot events or to look up something quickly), and probably has the most “comprehensive” listing of plot events surrounding the movie. The dialogue in it is a word-for-word recreation of the movie’s script, and actually includes more scenes than the movie itself does, including two that I suspect to be deleted scenes (a detailing of the specifics behind the initial plan to pursue Eosmon, and a conversation between Koushirou and Tentomon) and adaptations of the first and second memorial shorts within their context in the movie. It also contains some interesting background details and extra context for some things in the movie that you might think would normally be animation flair or something, but take a very interesting implication of story importance if they’re going out of their way to write this in the script. (There’s a scene where Agumon and Gabumon appear in front of their partners when they’d been behind them a minute before, and it’s easy to think this might be an animation error, but not only does the surrounding context make this unlikely, the novel itself actually directly states that their positions had changed.) Given that, I think it was very fortunate that this novel was available to us for those outside Japan waiting for the actual movie to come out, because this level of detail was very important to have on hand rather than fragmented spoilers on social media.

However, the part where I think the novel is significantly deficient in compared to the actual movie (and also to the other version of the novel) is that it describes the plot events in too blunt of a manner and doesn’t bring out its themes very well. (It’s kind of like having a long and very detailed Wikipedia article plot summary; it definitely got all the hard facts down, but the emotion is gone, which is still a pretty significant issue when media’s all about the feelings and message in the end.) While “considering the movie to be more cynical than it’s probably meant to be” happens regardless of which version someone’s working from, I’ve talked to perhaps an unnervingly high number of people who started with the novel and were absolutely convinced that the movie’s message was about adulthood sucking and needing to just accept it, until they saw how the actual movie pulled it off and the surrounding atmosphere and realized it definitely was not. (I think one really big factor here is that a lot of the visual imagery makes it extremely, extremely hard to miss that Menoa’s mentality is completely screwed up and her way of seeing things was dubious to begin with; prose descriptions really just don’t capture the way they slam this in your face with visual and musical cues during the climax of the movie.)

You can figure this out from the novel itself, but you have to really be looking closely at the way they word things, and on top of that it’s hard to figure out which parts you should be focusing on and which parts aren’t actually that important -- in other words, the “choice of priorities” gets a bit lost in there. Even the little things lose a lot of value; it’s theoretically possible to use the novel to put together that Daisuke is wearing his sunglasses indoors during his first scene, but you have to put together the context clues from completely different paragraphs to figure this out, none of which compares to the actual hilarity of visually seeing him wearing the thing in a very obviously dimly lit restaurant because he’s our beloved idiot. (For more details, please see my post with more elaboration on this and more examples of this kind of thing.)

I wouldn’t say that the movie itself isn’t guilty of (perhaps accidentally) having some degree of mixed messaging, but I would say this problem is rather exacerbated by the novel’s way of presenting it due to its dedication to dropping every single plot detail and event without much in the way of choosing what to contextualize and what to put emphasis on (as it turns out, treating practically everything in the movie as if it has equal weight might not be a great idea). So, again, for that reason I think the novel serves as a good reference in terms of remembering what happened in it and knowing the movie’s contents, but I also feel that it’s really not the greatest deliverer of the movie’s message or themes at all.

Shueisha Mirai Bunko

The second version of the novel was not translated until several months after the movie first released, and shortly before the Blu-ray and streaming versions of the movie itself came out anyway, so my impression is that on this end a lot of people don’t even know it was a thing. On top of that, even those who know about it often dismiss it as the “kid version” -- and to be fair, it did baffle quite a few people as to why this version even exists (Kizuna is technically not unacceptable for kid viewing and its plot is still understandable regardless of age, but since the movie is so heavily about the millennial existential crisis, it’s not something kids would really relate to). So a lot of people tended to just skip over it...which is really a shame, because it contains some interesting things that actually aren’t in the other two versions at all. For instance, did you know that, as of this writing, this is the only thing that plainly states the specific explanation for why Yamato decided to become an astronaut, for the first time in 20 real-life years?

While there are still some things that weren’t in the movie proper (mainly the Eosmon initial plan and the adaptation of the second memorial short), for the most part, the actual events are somewhat abridged compared to the movie and the Dash X version, and other than a few stray lines, there’s not a lot of extra information that would be as helpful for referencing the events of the plot. The version of the novel here is rather broadly interpretive of the scenes in the movie, so several things are condensed or taken out (and, amusingly, because it’s assuming that the kids reading this don’t actually know the original Adventure or 02, it has to describe what each character is like in a quick one-liner).

However, interestingly enough, it’s because it’s so heavily interpretive that it illuminates a lot of things that weren’t really easy to glean out of the Dash X version. For instance:

Some scenes are described with “other perspectives” that give you info on someone else’s point of view. (For instance, we see more of Yamato’s perspective and thoughts when he has his first phone call with Daisuke, or a bit more detail in the process of how Eosmon kidnappings work.)

We get a lot more information on what’s going through everyone’s heads during each scene, and what emotions they’re feeling at a given time. (This is something that you could at least get to some degree in the movie itself from facial expressions and framing, but would often be a lot blurrier in the Dash X version; here, it’s spelled out in words.)

When things are abridged, you get a clearer idea of what the intended point and theme of the scene was because it’s stripped down to include only that part. In one really interesting case, the scene with Agumon finding Taichi’s AVs has a “censored” equivalent where Taichi’s pushed to a corner because he can’t find anything non-alcoholic in his fridge -- so when you look at the two versions of the scene and what they have in common, you can figure out that the point isn’t that it was a lewd joke for the sake of it, but rather that Taichi’s forcing himself into boxes of “adulthood” that are actually meaningless and impractical.

Some of the descriptions of the characters, scenes, and background information make it a lot more obvious as to their purpose in the narrative (it outright confirms that Miyako being in Spain means that her personality is getting overly enabled there).

The scene where the circumstances behind Morphomon’s disappearance are revealed makes it significantly less subtle what the point is. In the actual movie, a lot of this involved visual framing with Menoa seeming to become more and more distant, but in this version of the novel they basically whack you over the head with the final confirmation that Menoa is guilty of neglecting her own partner, which contradicts her own assertions that “they were always together” (maybe not emotionally, it seems!) and helps clarify the commonality between her, Taichi, Yamato, and Sora in what exactly led to their partners disappearing.

Bonus: this version of the novel really wants you to know that the ending of the movie is about Taichi and Yamato fully having the determination to turn things around and lead up to the 02 epilogue. (The movie’s version of this involves the extended version of Taichi’s thesis and the credits photo with Yamato obviously next to a rocket, while this novel’s version involves more detailed fleshing out of how Taichi and Yamato decided to use their experiences to move onto their eventual career paths and what kind of hope they still have at the end. The Dash X version...didn’t really have a very strong equivalent here.)

In other words, while this version of the novel isn’t the greatest reference for plot or worldbuilding, it does a much more effective job being straightforward about the intended themes and message of the movie, and even if the scenes in it are much more loosely adapted, it’s much better at adapting the emotional nuances of the things that would normally be conveyed via visuals, expressions, and voice acting. (Although I would still say that the movie itself is the best reference for that kind of thing, of course.) If you just want lore or plot ideas, I don’t think it’ll help you very much, but since this series is so much about characters that had their ways of thinking fleshed out in such incredible detail, and about strong theme messaging, this is all still very valuable information in its own way.

[paradife-loft]

okay so, the episode 4 xiyao heart eyes moments. I think it’s probably having read some other people’s threads talking about the specific circumstances engendering the various 3zun dynamics that show up in mdzs the book, that makes me specifically take note of this now as something worth digging into a little?

because the closeness we see essentially from the start between lxc & jgy in the novel, comes in the context of their first meeting being the pre-sunshot rescue situation - a fairly... intuitively obvious context for why two people would bond so strongly, I think? - whereas even though I think it’s p clear in the show that the relationship they have absolutely develops the same sort of depth during the sunshot campaign and after, they are also just as clearly immediately drawn to one another when they first meet despite there being much lower stakes and less interpersonally enclosed circumstances around them.

for meng yao, I think the “why” of that is pretty obvious (shockingly singular kindness and esteem along with social graces! clearly a sharp mind for navigating tricky interpersonal political situations! high cultivation and graceful, restrained power! also, y’know, absolutely !! Pretty Boy!)

whereas lan xichen is less... immediately clear, I think, in particular if you’re going for a more serious read that blends in traits that exist in both versions but nonetheless come across more strongly in the book, like his reservedness and reticence to form all that many close social bonds with others? (as opposed to a more silly meme-y “sect leader lan sees pretty big-eyed twink and is immediately head empty dtf” which is funny but not where I personally want to go with this; you do you etc. etc.)

but so, I do think the key to inferring context and parsing what’s going on for him, is definitely the line (”I’d heard clan leader nie has a capable assistant” or similar) where lxc indicates he’s heard noteworthy good things about meng yao already - enough that they’d stick in his mind when he meets him in person! because, and this is the key, I think it’s reasonable to infer that what nmj would have already told lxc, would give him an abridged description of a good selection of the traits that lxc does find so singularly compelling in jgy as they get to know each other more deeply later - diligence, quick wit and political astuteness and general competence, kindness and patient caretaking (re: nhs, because I’m sure nmj would mention the care his new vice-envoy takes with his beloved little brother). and then, with that already in his head as the picture lxc has of meng yao, meeting him in person and getting to see his impeccable manners and speech, and again yes definitely Pretty Boy.

and I also think about, hmm, perhaps subtler features of their meeting that help give lxc that immediate feeling of connection and interest, too? like, for example, what he says when meng yao tries to bow to him - “we are peers”. almost a bit of an absurd statement on the face of it, particularly from meng yao’s pov I’d imagine! - but that’s the thing, is that in all the roles he’s been raised in and living up to already, lan xichen doesn’t really have peers? and so if you take that line of his as not only the extreme social kindness and generosity he has, but also perhaps a bit wistful for that kind of connecting to others on their same level? you can see also, in this encounter, lan xichen for perhaps the first time meeting someone he’s heard good things of from a friend he broadly shares similar values with*, who seems to have the same sort of interests in outward presentation and social-aesthetic values, and also is similarly attuned to the kinds of diplomatic/interpersonal responsibilities lan xichen himself is.

so yes, I guess... my point is that, while it’s certainly a short bit of interaction and a set of fairly surface-level impressions they get of each other due to that - there’s still a fair bit of implied groundwork and possible readings going into those scenes that suggest lan xichen’s reaction comes in large part from a quick read on meng yao’s genuine personality and virtues, and impressions of traits they share and that eventually form the backbone of their substantial, much deeper connection and relationship.

they’re a quick couple scenes, but they pack a lot of implied context into them, and that makes a big difference!

[merakimousumi]

Enlightenment- This word is like a diamond for someone who starts the spiritual journey and becomes an object of desire. Almost like - “when I become enlightened, everything will get solved. I will have streaming exchange of information of the deepest truth and wisdom, people will start seeing me as a star , there would be calmness within me , manifestations of abundance is natural as breathing oxygen, walking on earth would be in slo-mo , music could be always heard in my head , breeze around feels like Air-con filtered temperature, your spoken words becomes quotes of inspiration and sleep would be like prince or princess on bed of roses …. phew !! technically an adult is having a cartoon network imagination in the head “.

I missed mentioning- An enlightenment person is a crowd puller and is extremely popular, the Hollywood personality of spiritual world.

Slap comes the reality after you search of this enlightenment torch for years , you wonder where is the switch, where is the power !! Why am I not becoming enlightened.

Someone recently told me that xyz does not look enlightened!! This became a curious point of understanding to me. I probed to understand what does according to him enlightened person looks like or feels like. An abridged version of my description mentioned above given . He mentioned- In presence of enlightened person you feel peace, full of love. The definition closest I could think was of a mother. In presence of mother( only when you are a child) you feel peaceful, full of love , cared and everything qualities that my adult head could imagine. For a child the mother has all informations too , she is not only enlightened she is my Universe.

As we grow up we start seeing faults in mother, father, family members and soon people around . Before we realise, we blend ourselves in the fragrance of society and blame the same surroundings.

We are all born enlightened. When we think of meeting an enlightened person, know that the part with you has recognised in the other. He is not enlightened because he has followers , you are enlightened because you recognise his light .

Now go back to what you were doing before you came to this post. You have nothing to achieve, just be . It’s enough.

Love Mousumi