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blackswaneuroparedux · 3 years

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Anonymous asked: As a beginner in Classics I love your Classicist themed posts. I find your caption perfect posts a lot to think upon. I suppose it’s been more than a few years since you read Classics at Cambridge but my question is do you still bother to read any Classic texts and if so what are you currently reading?

I don’t know whether to be flattered or get depressed by your (sincere) remarks. Thank you so much for reminding me how old I must come across as my youngish Millennial bones are already starting to creak from all my sins of past sport injuries and physical exertions. I’m reminded of what J.R.R Tolkien wrote, “I feel thin, sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread.” I know the feeling (sigh).

But pay heed, dear follower, to what Menander said of old age, Τίμα το γήρας, ου γαρ έρχεται μόνον (respect old age, for it does not come alone). Presumably he means we all carry baggage. One hopes that will be wisdom which is often in the form of experience, suffering, and regret. So I’m not ready to trade in my high heels and hiking boots for a walking stick and granny glasses just yet.

To answer your question, yes, I still to read Classical literature and poetry in their original text alongside trustworthy translations. Every day in fact.

I learned Latin when I was around 8 or 9 years old and Greek came later - my father and grandfather are Classicists - and so it would be hard to shake it off even if I tried.

So why ‘bother’ to read Classics? There are several reasons. First, the Classics are the Swiss Army knife to unpick my understanding other European languages that I grew up with learning. Second, it increases my cultural literacy out of which you can form informed aesthetic judgements about any art form from art, music, and literature. Third, Classical history is our shared history which is so important to fathom one’s roots and traditions. Fourth, spending time with the Classics - poetry, myth, literature, history - inspires moral insight and virtue. Fifth, grappling with classical literature informs the mind by developing intellectual discipline, reason, and logic.

And finally, and perhaps one I find especially important, is that engaging with Classical literature, poetry, or history, is incredibly humbling; for the classical world first codified the great virtues of prudence, temperance, justice, loyalty, sacrifice, and courage. These are qualities that we all painfully fall short of in our every day lives and yet we still aspire to such heights.

I’m quite eclectic in my reading. I don’t really have a method other than what my mood happens to be. I have my trusty battered note book and pen and I sit my arse down to translate passages wherever I can carve out a place to think. It’s my answer to staving off premature dementia when I really get old because quite frankly I’m useless at Soduku. We spend so much time staring at screens and passively texting that we don’t allow ourselves to slow down and think that physically writing gives you that luxury of slow motion time and space. In writing things out you are taking the time to reflect on thoughts behind the written word.

I do make a point of reading Homer’s The Odyssey every year because it’s just one of my favourite stories of all time. Herodotus and Thucydides were authors I used to read almost every day when I was in the military and especially when I went out to war in Afghanistan. Not so much these days. Of the Greek poets, I still read Euripides for weighty stuff and Aristophanes for toilet humour. Aeschylus, Archilochus and Alcman, Sappho, Hesiod, and Mimnermus, Anacreon, Simonides, and others I read sporadically.

I read more Latin than Greek if I am honest. From Seneca, Caesar, Cicero, Sallust, Tacitus, Livy, Apuleius, Virgil, Ovid, the younger Pliny to Augustine (yes, that Saint Augustine of Hippo). Again, there is no method. I pull out a copy from my book shelves and put it in my tote bag when I know I’m going on a plane trip for work reasons.

At the moment I am spending time with Horace. More precisely, his famous odes.

Of all the Greek and Latin poets, I feel spiritually comfortable with Horace. He praises a simple life of moderation in a much gentler tone than other Roman writers. Although Horace’s odes were written in imitation of Greek writers like Sappho, I like his take on friendship, love, alcohol, Roman politics and poetry itself. With the arguable exception of Virgil, there is no more celebrated Roman poet than Horace. His Odes set a fashion among English speakers that come to bear on poets to this day. His Ars Poetica, a rumination on the art of poetry in the form of a letter, is one of the seminal works of literary criticism. Ben Jonson, Pope, Auden, and Frost are but a few of the major poets of the English language who owe a debt to the Roman.

We owe to Horace the phrases, “carpe diem” or “seize the day” and the “golden mean” for his beloved moderation. Victorian poet Alfred Lord Tennyson, of Ancient Mariner fame, praised the odes in verse and Wilfred Owen’s great World War I poem, Dulce et Decorum est, is a response to Horace’s oft-quoted belief that it is “sweet and fitting” to die for one’s country.

Unlike many poets, Horace lived a full life. And not always a happy one. Horace was born in Venusia, a small town in southern Italy, to a formerly enslaved mother. He was fortunate to have been the recipient of intense parental direction. His father spent a comparable fortune on his education, sending him to Rome to study. He later studied in Athens amidst the Stoics and Epicurean philosophers, immersing himself in Greek poetry. While led a life of scholarly idyll in Athens, a revolution came to Rome. Julius Caesar was murdered, and Horace fatefully lined up behind Brutus in the conflicts that would ensue. His learning enabled him to become a commander during the Battle of Philippi, but Horace saw his forces routed by those of Octavian and Mark Antony, another stop on the former’s road to becoming Emperor Augustus.

When he returned to Italy, Horace found that his family’s estate had been expropriated by Rome, and Horace was, according to his writings, left destitute. In 39 B.C., after Augustus granted amnesty, Horace became a secretary in the Roman treasury by buying the position of questor's scribe. In 38, Horace met and became the client of the artists' patron Maecenas, a close lieutenant to Augustus, who provided Horace with a villa in the Sabine Hills. From there he began to write his satires. Horace became the major lyric Latin poet of the era of the Augustus age. He is famed for his Odes as well as his caustic satires, and his book on writing, the Ars Poetica. His life and career were owed to Augustus, who was close to his patron, Maecenas. From this lofty, if tenuous, position, Horace became the voice of the new Roman Empire. When Horace died at age 59, he left his estate to Augustus and was buried near the tomb of his patron Maecenas.

Horace’s simple diction and exquisite arrangement give the odes an inevitable quality; the expression makes familiar thoughts new. While the language of the odes may be simple, their structure is complex. The odes can be seen as rhetorical arguments with a kind of logic that leads the reader to sometimes unexpected places. His odes speak of a love of the countryside that dedicates a farmer to his ancestral lands; exposes the ambition that drives one man to Olympic glory, another to political acclaim, and a third to wealth; the greed that compels the merchant to brave dangerous seas again and again rather than live modestly but safely; and even the tensions between the sexes that are at the root of the odes about relationships with women.

What I like then about Horace is his sense of moderation and he shows the gap between what we think we want and what we actually need. Horace has a preference for the small and simple over the grandiose. He’s all for independence and self-reliance.

If there is one thing I would nit pick Horace upon is his flippancy to the value of the religious and spiritual. The gods are often on his lips, but, in defiance of much contemporary feeling, he absolutely denied an afterlife - which as a Christian I would disagree with. So inevitably “gather ye rosebuds while ye may” is an ever recurrent theme, though Horace insists on a Golden Mean of moderation - deploring excess and always refusing, deprecating, dissuading.

All in all he champions the quiet life, a prayer I think many men and women pray to the gods to grant them when they are caught in the open Aegean, and a dark cloud has blotted out the moon, and the sailors no longer have the bright stars to guide them. A quiet life is the prayer of Thrace when madness leads to war. A quiet life is the prayer of the Medes when fighting with painted quivers: a commodity, Grosphus, that cannot be bought by jewels or purple or gold? For no riches, no consul’s lictor, can move on the disorders of an unhappy mind and the anxieties that flutter around coffered ceilings.

Caelum non animum mutant qui trans mare currunt (they change their sky, not their soul, who rush across the sea.)

Part of Horace’s persona - lack of political ambition, satisfaction with his life, gratitude for his land, and pride in his craft and the recognition it wins him - is an expression of an intricate web of awareness of place. Reading Horace will centre you and get you to focus on what is most important in life. In Horace’s discussion of what people in his society value, and where they place their energy and time, we can find something familiar. Horace brings his reader to the question - what do we value?

Much like many of our own societies, Rome was bustling with trade and commerce, ambition, and an area of vast, diverse civilisation. People there faced similar decisions as we do today, in what we pursue and why. As many of us debate our place and purpose in our world, our poet reassures us all. We have been coursing through Mondays for thousands of years. Horace beckons us: take a brief moment from the day’s busy hours. Stretch a little, close your eyes while facing the warm sun, and hear the birds and the quiet stream. The mind that is happy for the present should refuse to worry about what is further ahead; it should dilute bitter things with a mild smile.

I would encourage anyone to read these treasures in translations. For you though, as a budding Classicist, read the texts in Latin and Greek if you can. Wrestle with the word. The struggle is its own reward. Whether one reads from the original or from a worthy translation, the moral virtue (one hopes) is wisdom and enlightenment.

Pulvis et umbra sumus

(We are but dust and shadow.)

Thanks for your question.

#question #ask #classical #greek #latin #horace #poetry #literature #arts #cambridge #classics #personal #study #habits #reading #books #culture #personal growth

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spineofdeathwing · 3 years

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My Final rebuttal/Testimony to Shadowtusk Clan.

So, on 2/17/21, I made a testimony over the Shadowtusk Clan guild in response to their growing presence on Twitter: https://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1srje97 which is the Twitlonger I posted here. It holds my personal views towards Bazu's Twitter @Batzu, and my experiences. On this same day, their GM made a reply to my Testimony (https://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1srjefm), and I just wanted to address it here- all the lies, all the speculation. We're gonna start with his first point of when we met. This is semantics. We did meet at an event but didn't actually have a full conversation until he came to falsely accuse me of metagaming with little to no actual evidence. His log is correct but misrepresents the actual context with his own speculations.

Next up: Apologizing for someone being a dick to me OOC when they spam me with crap about wanting to kill my character and then going, 'IC isn't OOC' doesn't compute. Pick a fucking side Bazu.

Here's the first misrepresentation: his remarks about IC racism. I didn't take issue with the existence of it itself. In fact, my quote was, 'the IC racism that was so venomous in nature that I almost thought they hated me for playing Di OOCly- I realized I had few friends very quickly.' My issue was how fucking hard your guild plays into that, not that it did to begin with. That's like responding to someone complaining about a flood with, 'BUT WE ALL NEED WATER TO SURVIVE'. Next up was actually an issue I forgot, that being Bazu's ableism.

Now, the context was people were fighting over something I said in guild chat. We had a safeword, and I was overstimulated and having an anxiety attack. Bazu, I don't know if you let your agenda make you forget, but I'm fucking Autistic you caustic slime puddle. Conflict and shit can make me get overstimulated- your GM, Zu'daba knew I was autistic to start, as did you as I mentioned that in voice chat. I'm glad you apologized in your Twitlonger, but I'm gonna give the story here for the sake of the transparency YOU forgot. Onto the Zu'daba and Kyr'gal shit. The screens are correct, but there's a misrepresentation of fact. Zujia's advice in that screenshot was over my general concern over Kyr'gal- not over the incident that made me leave. For that, Tezuli advised me as shown here: https://imgur.com/a/mO6UI3G Zu'daba did use Tezuli's advice and guiding to me to admonish me. Blame was initially put onto me from this, Bazu- your screenshots and personal statement even support my argument. So, what about Di being shamed? Bazu claims I was eager for it, and liked that! It'd sure be a shame if I had screenshots that show that my consent to this was dubious at best to an outsider looking in. Oops!: https://imgur.com/a/tmx1nfU Turns out, I have receipts of me talking to one of your core where I very clearly was Not Okay With That.

The Gay Baby Jail incident WAS addressed- that still doesn't excuse that your officer was wrongly calling me homophobic in private when I myself am very openly LGBTQ...including being Bi- including my constant advocacy for LGBTQ rights. Including my huge fucking track record of improving when I even do something slightly to offend. What about me with Zea'lani? The source of that tension was me using a transphobic word in an ERP context without the realization that it was transphobic over 4-5 months ago at this point. When I realized what I said was wrong, I immediately addressed it publicly on Twitter, and left that community. I'd later return to it to ensure that message was deleted, and left again because that wasn't something I wanted in the world. While I am trans myself, that doesn't excuse my slipup. However, when your officer actively supports transphobic game devs and tries to 'expose me' for something I handled way before she even saw that, I'm gonna take issue. Especially when she tries to expose me when I am opening up about someone being transphobic and objectifying to me- alongside being racist to black people. Your attempt to get me to fucking repeat the big ass mistake I made to be 'transparent' Bazu, is noted.

Onto the stalking claims. The person who stalked me literally confessed to it Bazu. When you confess to something, you take fucking ownership of that. Which Eztli did: https://imgur.com/a/3A7rKH3 as shown here. I've called Eztli my friend for ages before this drama, Bazu. Your attempt to claim I fish for sympathy when I actually am just being consistent on how I saw someone. Perhaps projecting onto me is a bad idea.

To tie that up, yes. Your recount of the events addressing Lani's behavior is right. You saw blatant harassment, agreed that it wasn't okay, and excused it anyhow. I only posted when you were done talking- and for good reason. When you get someone's friend to backstab someone, and make a bunch of lies and having people stalk them- that person's gonna go public. I urge you to cope, Bazu. So, cultural appropriation. I think this is my biggest issue here. He gives the impression that no one came to him about him appropriating Black Culture and African Religion. Lemme fix that: https://imgur.com/a/uPhAzGq The video I link refers to Hatian Zombies, Bokors and the history of Voodoo/Vodou- with heavy input made from practitioners of Voodoo and Vodou, as well as even having a Bokor speak on the issue and sacred nature of their title. As you can see, he acknowledges seeing this. However, lemme point out the racism here: 'If any member of the various animistic faiths that inspire Blizzard's depiction of "Voodoo" would like to ask me to stop or offer direction in how to portray these practices more respectfully, I would be open to that. If my limited amateur research on the acceptable uses of the title of "Bokor" have misled me, I'm happy to apologize and to strike it from our record.' You were given a certifiable and primary source as to why your behavior is wrong. A basic fucking google search tells you why you are wrong. But you demand that Black people of this faith, who has suffered countless times at the hands of White Supremacy, baby your ass on this. It's not cute. It's not funny. It's incredibly fucking racist, and shows you have no desire to fix your appropriation. The art theft stuff is true. Now, what about harassment, racism, all that? Another misrepresented point. If we look at my Twitlonger, I mentioned that they've had a past of it. This isn't hidden fact, Shadowtusk on this blog alone has been exposed countless times for homophobia, racism, pedophilia- the list goes on. As it is misrepresented, I'm not addressing that further. It's a joke. What I will say is that for OOC racism not being tolerated, Bazu, you sure are hella eager to appropriate and steal from Black Culture more than even Blizzard does for the sake of your own immersion- even when you are given more than enough of means to educate yourself. That's my final rebuttal. If you want all the screens that show every instance of bullshittery I had with STC: Here ya go. And Bazu? I understand you are a spineless fucking coward, and you have Indicinis backing you on your lies regardless of the truth. The Troll RP community deserves more and better than your filth. I'd pray for you to grow as a person but given the sheer amount of your delusion? You aren't worth that. And PPS? Me including the creation of my guild for the sake of giving an accurate portrayal of chronological events and explaining my reasoning for it, isn't a plug. Keep that insecurity to yourself. https://imgur.com/gallery/1eR9N5p https://imgur.com/gallery/0UhtYd8 https://imgur.com/gallery/9ljDdRG

#Story #scumbag #world of warcraft #Wyrmrest Accord #Abuse #Harassment #Racism #Image #submission

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carlyraejepstein · 4 years

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potentially upsetting topics: sui, gender dysphoria, abuse and parents, sex

Elliot Page’s coming out rescued an awful day. Its wording is unbelievably powerful, a comment I have made once before and will continue to do so. In it, he so strongly encompasses the fears, the sorrow, the rage, but most importantly the determination and the defiance of not only him but every trans person. I hesitate to use the word “community” because it implies a certain connection that might just not be there; I play a bit of Counter-Strike but I don’t consider myself part of the Counter-Strike community; yet when I read Elliot’s words I feel solidarity, I feel a pull to the trans community that I often don’t feel I pay my dues to, and it feels good, really good. Like I said on Twitter once, other trans people being, existing, living, is just rad. Inspiring, even, despite how that word has been worn out by cis people.

However, there’s a certain something that Elliot didn’t write, for Elliot never wrote “I am a man”; only his name, and pronouns, how he wishes to be referred to. Of course, we cannot possibly know what this omission means or does not mean to Elliot, but it’s something that concurred with a shift in how I perceive my own gender.

I remember first properly ruminating on gender in 2012 or 2013. My understanding was primitive, coming from Wikipedia. Once I knew what transgender or, given the time period, transsexual, the curiosity never really went away. I knew at this point about transition, and I knew about deed polls because of my resentment of my parents, I knew about HRT and I even knew about the GICs. I felt compelled to be an ally in that turbulent period in both my life and in the online culture I immersed myself in from around 2015 to 2017. At this time a friend was going through their own transition and seeing them gave me pause for thought; partly pride, partly worry but a small kernel of imagination, wondering if that could ever be me. It was when I went to sixth form, with its environment permitting greater yet still constrained self expression, that I felt gender dysphoria hit me with its full weight. Thinking, wondering, worrying about being transgender has been the central dialogue of my internal and external monologue ever since. Not a day passes where I don’t think about the dysphoria I feel over my continued closet-dwelling and the malignantly gendered properties of my body. On a January morning in 2019, at my very lowest point, motionless under the covers, I gave myself a choice between transition and death, and I chose transition.

It’s been a complex journey. When I was 13 I shortened my gender neutral name to make it more masc (which I have now happily embraced as my middle name). I leant into the deepening of my voice because I thought it gave me authority, conditioned through the harsh words of people from public Team Fortress 2 servers. I’ve done almost everything under the sun that gets people to say “I’d never have known!” when you come out to them; I worry that I still do and that nothing has changed. I’ve gone and cross-dressed when my parents were out, and I’ve been traumatised by Susan’s Place. I am autistic, no one who has met me can escape that fact; not that I would want to, and as a consequence I am so much more confident in my presence on the internet than I ever have been in the flesh, despite me still not knowing how to make friends; hence I’ve ended up trying to piece my transition together through 4chan (I know, bad) and Reddit and Twitter.

Perhaps the biggest reason I am not out is the time when I decided I would come out to my mother as trans. When we were in Munich we had walked past a pride parade, and when we got back to the apartment I revealed off hand that I was bi. My mother chided me for not telling them before hand since it was “polite” to do so, as if it were not my choice to make because, as I still believe to this day, it’s not a big deal and it’s none of their business. But I decided this time it was important, and that I could trust her. It turns out that just like every other time, trusting my mother is a bad idea that is guaranteed to cause me pain every time I make that mistake. She told me that because she “knows more about [me] than [I] do”, that she thought that I was just straight up wrong, couched it in rhetoric about how she thought that I was too weak to be trans, and quoted the shockingly offensive “autism is extreme male brain” theory to me. It was really devastating at the time and I think it still affects me to this day, especially as she constantly tries to worm her tendrils back into my life after I moved out.

But enough about my mother; she is a fucking flat out abuser. She has emotionally abused me, and undoubtedly my brother, all our lives. I was relieved that my dad chose not to react aggressively as she did, but with a modicum of respect and agreement not to make such a big deal out of it, something I would never expect my mother to match. In the middle of writing this piece I had to decide that I could not do it any longer, and I would never let her back into my life again.

Where that conversation in late 2018 relates to Elliot Page’s statement is my mother’s purported belief that “you don’t have to define yourself as a man or a woman”. Going past the fact that she is lying, since her tolerance for all trans people is thinner than the grey hairs on her head going on the basis that she couldn’t bring herself to say one positive thing to her own daughter that afternoon, it struck me recently that I can more eloquently describe my gender through elimination rather than a label. I am happy to call myself a woman, a trans woman, and I don’t feel as if I really am wavering in or around the binary. But what I can say for definite is that while I have been a boy for almost all my life, and am holding onto that, I am not, and never will be, a man.

Where that leaves me is that I am not a man, but must I be a woman? If I am perhaps not a woman, am I non-binary? No; it doesn’t feel right. However, if I attach just a convenience to the label woman, I can give myself that flexibility in how I feel and how I present myself, and perhaps the biggest example of that is how in recent months I have made peace with my voice. It is not really a femme voice; I hit vocal fry just speaking normally. But I know how to be expressive with it; it is my voice that I have honed over 19 years after all. One day I want to find someone who will help me upgrade my voice (and yes, upgrade) but keeping it means I fulfil one cool thing about being trans, and that is saying fuck you to the very existence of the gender binary. I keep this voice out of necessity, but I’m still trans femme, I am still a woman and I still want my facial hair zapped off.

As well, I reserve the right to say I used to be a boy. Not a man, but a boy. That’s why they call it boymoding, right? How else can I describe the first 17 years of my life? I can be a boy all the same now, although I may be pushing it aged 20, and at the point at which I am really stretching that concept which at this point I am adhering to solely for my safety and comfort, I shouldn’t need to use it anymore. Wishful thinking, of course.

I think we should consider why we use “man” and “woman” in the first place. From my perspective they are simply words to describe people with two different sets of primary and secondary sexual characteristics, convenient because, well, being cis is unavoidably common. But they are not discrete, as we so often have to reiterate using intersex people as an unwilling crutch, where one does not occur in the other they are so often analogous and often they overlap! Supposedly 60% of teenage boys develop further breast tissue, and 40% of women have some form of facial hair. Thinking that the two are discrete gives rise to the idea of “biological sex”, a concept developed by cis people either to misgender trans people in a way they think is philosophically rigorous, or to reconcile their tenuous support for trans people with a continuing belief in the gender binary. Personally I would like to smash the concept of biological sex to bits because it is not useful to us. At the very least it may describe one’s primary sexual characteristics but bottom surgery exists, and I don’t happen to think that it is “mutilation”. I don’t need to argue that “biological sex can be changed”; they are not discrete categories, and I don’t need to move between them, or seek validation for having moved between them. It is not a helpful generalisation for bodies, diverse as they are.

I must add that as a trans woman the fact that I may have a penis doesn’t mean that I use it in the same way as a man. I use mine to pee, primarily, and it’s definitely not going inside anyone except myself any time soon; a whole zine was written about how trans women fuck and use their bits to fuck, so I definitely don’t need to anyway.

Another bullshit concept is “biological destiny” or “biological reality”, although I will give less breath to this one because at it’s core it is fundamentally misogynistic, and it so often is divorced from any sensible definition of reality. It’s like if I had to have my arm amputated and then someone came up to me and said “you’ll always have two arms, you were born with them and you’ll die with them”.

I’ve heard and thought a lot about gender abolition but it seems to me that its proponents expect that like the state, gendered differences will just disappear over time. But I don’t want that to happen. If the binary is done away with I don’t want gender to disappear I want it to flourish! Because gender is beautiful, men are beautiful, women are beautiful, and everyone in between or outwith are beautiful. On the other hand, me and you don’t need to be men, or women, or call ourselves non-binary to be beautiful. Being trans is about cultivating your own beauty and your own identity. When cissiety demands that the only identity and presentation we’re allowed is one that corresponds to what they decided was between our legs when we were born, why give ourselves only one other choice?

I don’t really know how to end this piece because I wrote one half of it one day and the other half a couple of weeks later. At the very least I’m glad I can attribute my peace with not necessarily being a woman but a femme to Elliot Page, and not my rotten bastard mother.

#trans #transgender #elliot page #gender abolition

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thebluelemontree · 4 years

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Hey, sorry to be a bother but do you know any metas about Driftwood and the mythological significance of have Stranger called such? If not, could you please help me find any metas about the importance of Stranger (the horse and the god) to Sandor's future? Thank you!!

It’s no bother at all. I love talking about this stuff. I don’t recall any other metas specifically on that topic, but I do go into the meaning of Driftwood/Stranger in Part VI of my Winds prediction essay for Sandor. I’m staying narrowly focused on your question here, but mythological significance branches out much farther and features heavily throughout each section of that essay if you have any further interest.

And the seventh face … the Stranger was neither male nor female, yet both, ever the outcast, the wanderer from far places, less and more than human, unknown and unknowable. Here the face was a black oval, a shadow with stars for eyes. It made Catelyn uneasy. – Catelyn IV, ACOK.

Of the Seven, the Stranger is the one most regarded with fear for his/her association with death and the unknown. He/she’s either depicted as a shrouded half-human, half-animal, or with a blacked-out void for a face. Sandor has that thematic aesthetic going on with his hound’s head helm, which gives him the appearance of being both a man and a beast. That is a reflection of the duality of his identity between Sandor and the Hound. He frequently enters a scene by stepping out from the shadows, so he also fits with the shadowy figure version. Sandor also isn’t one to allow others to know his true self, at least until Sansa, Arya, and the Elder Brother. Rarely does any worshipper pray to the Stranger as few are eager to invite death itself in, of course. It’s no wonder that the outcasts of society might identify with that lonely aspect of being an unwelcome presence and having nowhere to belong.

For Sandor to give his horse such a blasphemous name, it’s because he views himself as someone who is feared and misunderstood, and as an outsider who stands on the outside looking in at the world. This is especially true as he is immersed in the culture of knighthood but emphatically rebels against it. There is much of ordinary life that is closed off to Sandor, and it’s not all due to his trauma response and poor coping skills alienating him from other people. A lot of it is just unfair. His perceived ugliness in a society that overwhelmingly favors physically beautiful people and despises disability or disfigurement has hindered his ability to create meaningful connections with others. That resentment has only built up throughout his life. He’s a second son who is forced to make his own way in the world since Gregor is the sole beneficiary of the Clegane lands and incomes. It’s Gregor that got the home and wife (three to be exact), which is the domestic life that would normally ground a man, giving him a sense of purpose and satisfying his emotional needs. Gregor doesn’t care for any of that, but there is a hint that Sandor feels this is something that has been denied him. Since many people fail to distinguish Sandor as different from his brother, Gregor’s infamy and the rumors surrounding the deaths of his wives and family members really don’t help either. After the BotBW, Sandor is really cut adrift from society by his desertion. He’s unfairly marked as a craven, and then in a tragic case of mistaken identity is wanted for the rape and massacre of the Saltpans. That’s about as hated and reviled as one can get.

Like other instances of named horses being a reflection of their riders, Stranger’s nature says a lot about Sandor’s. He’s proficient in battle, brave, disciplined, but extremely ill-tempered, and dangerous; however, with gentle handling from a master that has earned his trust, he’s able to respond in kind.

The horse was a heavy courser, almost as big as a destrier but much faster. Stranger, the Hound called him. Arya had tried to steal him once, when Clegane was taking a piss against a tree, thinking she could ride off before he could catch her. Stranger had almost bitten her face off. He was gentle as an old gelding with his master, but otherwise he had a temper as black as he was. She had never known a horse so quick to bite or kick.

There’s a bond there. The horse isn’t just a tool or weapon to be used. Sandor cares for this big, scary boy that no one else can get close to. After rescuing Sansa from the riot, his next thought is to go back to find his horse in the chaos and fire. Because Sandor gave him the name, it shows that he has the self-awareness of how his issues and anti-social behavior have only served to increase his sense of isolation and cement other people’s negative opinions. The only reason an animal would so readily bite or kick indiscriminately is that it’s in constant fear of being hurt by people (*sob*). It’s possible Sandor recognized a warhorse that was trained with brutal methods, not unlike his own childhood and adolescence. One can imagine how much patience, kindness, and courage it took to bring such an ornery beast to the point where he can trust and reciprocate.

People are more complicated than animals, of course; however, this is definitely meant to mirror his relationship with Sansa and her gentleness, compassion, and courage in the face of his anger issues. Though not many are not keen on giving attention to the Stranger in their prayers, Sansa does pray for Sandor’s safety and well-being. The Stranger is the last deity people turn to for comfort, and yet Sansa views Sandor as her protector and ally. She wishes for his presence at times, even after seeing him at his worst. And I love, love, love this line from Cersei about Sansa, who is deep into the unkiss rabbit hole at this point:

“… but before I am done with her, I promise you, she will be singing to the Stranger, begging for his kiss.“ – Cersei IV, AFFC.

So that brings us to Stranger’s renaming to Driftwood, but first, we need to ask what exactly is the Quiet Isle? Quoting from Part IV of my essay:

“The Quiet Isle is also a place to cross over into the afterlife in more than one way. Sometimes the dead and dying wash up on the shores, as did the Elder Brother. Sometimes they are brought there like the Hound or the people of the Saltpans after the massacre to die or be healed. The metaphoric and most common way is for penitents to abandon their old lives to be reborn in a new monastic life. In a sense, the brothers on the isle are dead to the outside world. They don’t speak with few exceptions. Many cover their faces as well, obscuring their past identity. Their brown robes and cowls are like the dead driftwood that washes up there, but even driftwood gets reborn as beautiful polished furniture and cups. If you want to come on the Quiet Isle, you need Elder Brother’s or one of his proctor’s permission. There’s a ferry to the isle which is evocative of Charon. So that makes Elder Brother, like Garth Greenhand, a psychopomp. He’s a gatekeeper between life and death, literal and metaphoric, and can also return people to the world of the living. The imagery is evocative of the Elysian Fields and especially Avalon, where King Arthur was taken to recover from wounds sustained against Mordred at the Battle of Camlann and is destined to return from. ”

Driftwood was dead and washed up, but then it is collected, reshaped and polished into something beautiful with a new purpose in its second life. Driftwood in this context is a metaphor for healing and redemption.

“The furnishings were strange but simple; a long table, a settle, a chest, several tall cases full of books, and chairs. All were made from driftwood, oddly shaped pieces cunningly joined together and polished till they shone a deep gold in the candlelight.” – Brienne VI, AFFC.

Amazing Grace, How sweet the soundThat saved a wretch like meI once was lost, but now am foundT'was blind but now I see

I zero doubts that Sandor’s character is undergoing a radical and profound transformation on the Quiet Isle. He was broken down enough to be open to it when the Elder Brother picked him up from the shore of the Trident. Also kinda miraculous that Stranger must have allowed himself to be led by another person while Sandor was incapacitated; however, it’s obvious Stranger is never going to spend the rest of his days as a plowhorse.

Brother Narbert sighed. “The Seven send us blessings, and the Seven send us trials. Handsome he may be, but Driftwood was surely whelped in hell. When we sought to harness him to a plow he kicked Brother Rawney and broke his shinbone in two places. We had hoped gelding might improve the beast’s ill temper, but … Brother Gillam, will you show them?”

Brother Gillam lowered his cowl. Underneath he had a mop of blond hair, a tonsured scalp, and a bloodstained bandage where he should have had an ear. – Brienne VI, AFFC.

This makes me laugh because although I believe Sandor has learned to have a healthier mindset through humble service and meaningful penance, he probably has been a veritable pill through the process. As Stranger kicks and rebels, we should definitely conclude that Sandor’s time with the holy brothers is not permanent. Especially considering that the horse adamantly refuses to be gelded, Sandor will not be submitting to the celibate life of a monk. The new name likely won’t stick, because Sandor didn’t so much need a whole new identity, but to restore his original one. The Hound is dead, but Sandor Clegane lives, polished and remade with a new purpose to his life.

#valyrian scrolls #sandor clegane #sandor clegane meta #asoiaf meta #twow spec #twow theories #stranger #driftwood #the quiet isle #elder brother #mythological references #mythology in asoiaf #symbolism in asoiaf #sansan meta #asoiaf characterization #my meta

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notinthemaps · 4 years

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Know before you go and what I’ve learned from traveling:

It’s not a race. I was always so bummed about the number of countries I’ve been to compared to other people my age until I understood that the number of places visited is not what traveling is about at all. It’s not important about how many places you’ve been but the depth you’ve explored them. I have been to some beautiful places all around the world that I am insanely grateful for and it’s incredibly toxic to compare my journey to others.

Traveling is an absolute privilege. Before you spew “everyone can travel, it can be done so cheap!” recognize where you come from.

Before you book that trip to Haiti or Cambodia to “go build a school” or volunteer at an orphanage, research the hidden harm that is involved with your short term stay. Your good intentions can actually be causing harm within these communities.

This also accounts for volunteering at animal and wildlife sanctuaries as well. You could unknowingly be volunteering at a place that secretly participated in “canned hunting”. So many sanctuaries have been accused of this in the past and I’m sure they’re still out there. Now, not all places are bad, just make sure your money and time are going towards something that will really help ethical animals and wildlife sanctuaries. This is where it’s important to do your research.

Clean. Get rid of shit. Simplify to the necessities. Pack light. The weight of your luggage is equally proportionate to your misery while traveling. I’ve learned this the hard way.

You have the power to choose love. Always choose to love.

Stop the exploitation of animals as you travel. Meaning the Luwak cafes in Indonesia where you drink the coffee after the Luwak has digested the coffee beans. Stop swimming with dolphins, participating in lion walks, taking photos next to chained up tigers, riding elephants, camels, and donkeys/mules. These animals are most likely not taken care of very well. There have been times where I have been guilty of giving in to attending these places because they sound great (who doesn’t want a photo with a lion next to you?) but in hindsight, these attractions are most likely incredibly unethical and there’s a lot of physical/emotional harm that is involved with the training the animals.

Reduce your use of plastic abroad.

Going alone is okay. If we all waited for someone to travel with us, we’d be waiting for a very, very long time. So, please go even if you have no one to go with. There are millions of people all over the world that are just waiting to meet you. Some of them you’ll meet in a hostel room and you’ll end up spending the night walking through the street markets, some of them you’ll meet at a bar and discover new corners of a city you didn’t know existed, some of them you’ll meet sitting on a bench at a bus stop and you’ll end up sharing the best coffee you’ve probably ever had, some of them you’ll meet watching the sunset on the beach and you’ll end up sharing stories and laughing with them until the morning and some of them will end up being your best friends. And sometimes you’re going to be alone and going on tours, to the movies, or to restaurants sounds scary to do by yourself at first but soon enough you’ll learn that it is completely okay to be alone. Solo does not mean lonely.

Don’t say you don’t like anything until you try it more than once.

Save your change.

One of the most reassuring things in this world is that you are never stuck anywhere. You are never unable to leave.

Don’t avoid taking care of your mental health when abroad. Traveling is exhausting and not always rainbows and butterflies. Your mind and body are still important.

Write about your favorite moments, your least favorite moments, ideas, people you’ve met, strangers you’ve walked past on the street, favorite quotes, words to remember, what the sky looked like at 7pm, new songs you’ve discovered and what they mean to you, places you want to go or places you’ve been, write about your passions, how you feel in this exact moment, draw out the mountains, scribble all over the pages. And when that one gets full, buy a new one. Reread it in 2 years, 20 years, when you need a good laugh, when you’re upset and can’t get out of bed, read it to your children. You need to remember these moments in your life. They are so important.

Spend less time on social media. It’s no secret that social media is addictive and it’s really good at taking away precious moments. It’s important to not be glued to your phone or laptop while abroad. Social media will always be there for you when you get home.

Traveling is overly romanticized. It is very hard work. It does not solve all the problems that you have at home. And traveling is not what it looks like on Instagram. Please don’t feel bad because your experience doesn’t feel the way that it looks like it should on Instagram.

When you’re eating, really taste your food. Talk to the locals. Immerse yourself fully into this new culture. When you’re out hiking, let go of your phone. This is how you’re going to get the best experience possible. Live in the moment.

Take photos. It is physically impossible to remember all these moments in your life. Someday down the road, maybe when you’re feeling a little depressed or bored, you can grab your camera and scroll through these photos that’ll remind you of some of the best times of your life. Ask permission before you take a photo of someone. Ask permission to post it on social media (if these are your intentions) and let them know 1,000s of people will have access or will be seeing these photos. Remember: kids can never consent. Just don’t take photos in orphanages or schools. It’s really important to be respectful. People are not props.

Usually, no one wants to hear more than a few sentences about your trip when you come home other than your mom. And the references you make months after your trip, “when I was in...” will sometimes result in an eye roll. Shake it off. I know it can be hurtful but it’s best to just keep it to a minimum for your own sanity.

It’s okay to look like a tourist. Visit the big touristy places and take your picture pushing against the Leaning Tower of Pisa. You’re not better than every other traveler just because you skipped the popular areas.

Learn the basics of the language before you go. “where’s the bathroom? how are you? what's your name? My name is..” Always remember it’s your fault for not learning the language of the country you're in, it’s never anyone else's fault for not knowing English. Keep the language barrier frustration to a minimum. Hand gestures, a smile, and patience can go a long way!

You’ll probably get sick at some point. Be prepared for it with a little first aid kit! It’s always a good idea to have insurance.

It’s important to not judge the way in which other people travel. I’ve met people who have planned their travel to the point where they do not participate in any tourist activities and live off one meal a day and then I’ve met people who pay for every excursion in every city they go to. And I find my initial thoughts to be “...but why?” and I eventually snap out of it and realize it’s not my place to judge how people travel. Everyone experiences places in their own unique, meaningful way. And I mean who really cares if someone is traveling the world full time on mom and dad's money? It doesn’t affect you.

Cheesy souvenirs are never worth it. Collect sea glass, your train tickets, plane tickets, maps, stickers, and coins. Chances are those Colosseum magnets you bought in Rome were really made in China. Support the locals if you’re going to buy souvenirs.

Slow down.

Google the tipping etiquette within the country you’re visiting before you go. Some places it’s rude, some places it’s the only income someone has. Don’t be the person who “didn’t know” when the information is a 5-second google away.

Jetlag freaking sucks but it happens to all of us.

Be prepared to be uncomfortable and be open-minded. You’ll probably wash your clothes in a bucket or sink, sleep in dirty beds or on airport floors, be forced to eat with your hands even though you’ve never done it or go without toilet paper for weeks at a time! It’s all apart of the journey.

The world is not as bad and scary as the news makes it out to be.

Nothing will ever go as you expect it to. Plans go out the door. I learned this the hard way. In fact, I am sure every traveler has learned this the hard way. You’ll miss flights, you’ll get flat tires on road trips, you’ll end up spending a lot more money than you expected, you’ll miss buses, you’ll have to run to trains to get to them on time, I promise you’ll have a dead battery when all you want to do is call mom to make you feel better, the hostel you wanted will be full, your dumb airline will lose all your luggage, things will get canceled and you’ll spend many unexpected nights crying but despite all the struggles that traveling brings upon us, it is always worth it. The tears, sore shoulders and blistered feet are always worth it. There’s no point in getting mad that your plan fell through.

We are all going to make mistakes as travelers. We have to become better researchers and better listeners. Ignoring the requests of locals or the cultural differences is absolute ignorance and another example of flaunting your privilege. Just because you are a tourist and contributing to the economy of other countries does not mean it’s okay to be disrespectful and act as you please. However, we’re going to make mistakes and it’s important to not beat yourself up over it. What’s important is how we respond. Don’t be scared to ask questions.

#traveling #me

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tomakeitbeautifultolive · 5 years

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A message for disappointed Game of Thrones fans ready to give up on literature

Many of us are feeling a great deal of dejection or even betrayal at the hands of the very franchise we fell in love with. Here are some quotes from fellow fans I’ve found on IMDB, echoing the same general disappointment:

"Bring me my 8 years back."

"Watching season 8 made me feel sick."

"I can't believe I wasted 10 years of my life watching this garbage."

"You have ruined something I care deeply about."

"8 years watching it, craving for it, to get so disappointed."

"From a show I couldn't wait to watch to a show I couldn't care about."

"Seasons 1-7 meant nothing in the end."

"I wasted 73 hours of my life for this crap?"

"I can't believe I wasted 9 years of my life!"

I’ve talked to many heartbroken fans and I keep hearing the same things over and over again - Regret and shame in ourselves for ever having been invested in a fictional world at all. Feeling stupid for expressing sorrow or even shedding tears over the decimation of our favorite franchise and its characters.

Hell, this is a quote from yours truly after learning the plot to season eight:

"I feel like this is all some life lesson - not to like anything too much or get invested in fiction."

...And I almost fell for it.

But no. I'm not going to let to two talentless writers who managed to ruin the greatest series of all time in the span of at least three episodes... determine the fate of my future with literature.

And you shouldn’t, either.

What a writer's goal should never be:

Alienate their audience

Make the audience feel regret for having invested time in their work

Make the audience feel shame in having rooted for certain characters

Leave a trail of unused foreshadowing that led to dead-ends

Betray in-universe logic in favor of shock

Retcon entire books or seasons in the endgame

Leave the audience feeling apathetic upon reaching the conclusion

Destroy any desire for the audience to reread or rewatch their material

Drive them to throw out their merch and regret spending their money

What a writer's goal should be:

Aim for complete immersion and suspension of disbelief

Give the audience a cast of characters so rich that they feel represented by someone

Foreshadow. Plant clues and breadcrumb trails and provide payoff later

Inspire the audience to pore over their work for clues and extra detail

Remain consistent with the personalities of the characters they've created

Introduce the reader to new points of view

Avoid problematic tropes (and consider their ill effect on the audience)

Remember that every character, good or bad, is beloved by someone, and their ending should be handled with care (for better or worse)

Have a message. Have a point.

I promise you that while David Benioff and D.B. Weiss do not understand this, most writers and screenwriters do.

Now, on the other end of the spectrum, we've got fans who weren't quite so invested telling us to "shut up" and "stop complaining", insulting us by calling us "cry babies" and "brats" and belittling and dismissing our disappointment as "first world problems" (as seen here).

They’re wrong.

We are not stupid for becoming invested in literature.

To prove that point, I’ll leave you with a collection of quotes to remind you why you invest in fiction or literature, what it is we gain from it, and to help inspire you not to give up on ever falling in love with a fictional world again, because most writers are not here to shock or upset you senselessly, they’re here to inspire you, make you think and feel.

"The use of imaginative fiction is to deepen your understanding of your world, and your fellow men, and your own feelings, and your destiny." ―Unknown

"Literature offers not just a window into the culture of diverse regions, but also the society, the politics; it's the only place where we can keep track of ideas." ―Reza Aslan

"Literature plays a huge role in examining difficult real-life issues." ―Angie Thomas

"That is part of the beauty of all literature. You discover that your longings are universal longings, that you're not lonely and isolated from anyone. You belong." ―F. Scott Fitzgerald

"Literature is my Utopia. Here I am not disenfranchised. No barrier of the senses shuts me out from the sweet, gracious discourses of my book friends. They talk to me without embarrassment or awkwardness." ―Helen Keller

"Literature overtakes history, for literature gives you more than one life. It expands experience and opens new opportunities to readers." ―Carlos Fuentes

"Good fiction creates empathy. A novel takes you somewhere and asks you to look through the eyes of another person, to live another life." ―Barbara Kingsolver

"Literature adds to reality, it does not simply describe it. It enriches the necessary competencies that daily life requires and provides; and in this respect, it irrigates the deserts that our lives have already become." ―C.S. Lewis

"Literature is where I go to explore the highest and lowest places in human society and in the human spirit, where I hope to find not absolute truth but the truth of the tale, of the imagination and of the heart." ―Salman Rushdie

"Fiction is a kind of compassion-generating machine that saves us from sloth." ― George Saunders

"We don't read novels to have an experience like life. Heck, we're living lives, complete with all the incompleteness. We turn to fiction to have an author assure us that it means something." ―Orson Scott Card

#anti d&d #anti got #game of thrones #a song of ice and fire #got #asoiaf #d&d #d.b. weiss #david benioff #got critique #got criticism #had to get this out into the ether #will get to asks tonight...#i think...#i hope...

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jenner-benjamin · 4 years

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Cecil Touchon

‘Fusion Series #3582′ by Cecil Touchon, 2015 - collage on paper.

Touchon is a well known artist in the asemic writing field though he is mostly known for his typographic abstract works. These are comprised of collaged letters whose geometric shapes are employed to create unique abstracted forms. This iteration of visual poetry reduces the lettering to an abstracted composition that, similarly to asemic writing, relieves them of their semantic content. Until I found Touchon’s work I had always read that asemic writing had its literary meaning stripped or obscured, but he explains how he sees his work has liberated language from its burden of being bearers of meaning; and as a result it liberates the reader from the task of deciphering and investigating the work. They are no longer bound to being literate and can enjoy the language solely as visually stimulating.

The typographic works by the very nature of collage seem to explore the dismantling and reassembling of the printed word whereas asemic writing by definition is typically characterised by an innate flow of calligraphic gestures. The common ground between the two seemingly opposing practices is the exploration of language. There is a tension between language as a tool for understanding, and an inquiry in to the composition of language in a more expressive way that does not abide by the conventions of what the written word means. It is this line of inquiry that interests me, though I strive to find a way a way that playfully explores the composition of the written word as well as using this language as a means to communicate to an intended audience.

‘Palimpsest Asemic Poem #2011.006′ by Cecil Touchon, 2011 - ink on paper.

‘Fusion Series #3638′ by Cecil Touchon, 2015 - collage on paper.

#influences #cecil touchon #asemic art #asemic #asemic writing #vispo #visual poetry #poetry #collage #typography #printmaking #masters #mamdp

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ouranimeyeah · 4 years

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Lesean Thomas’ Yasuke- Concerning yet Invigorating.

Note: I am a long standing supporter of Lesean Thomas’s work and I bear no ill will to his production but I felt I needed to say something. Take it as you will, it’s more so the ravings of fan exploring their opinions and ideas not a direct attack on Thomas or his work which are all note worthy pieces of art with their flaws and all!

Okay It’s no surprise after my thoughts on Cannon busters were laid bear and my extreme excitement for Children of the Either readily apparent, that I would have something to say about Thomas’ new project coming to Netflix “Yasuke”. There isn’t much known or needed to be said about the project other then it’s going to be awesome to get a new project by Thomas, and that there are Black samurai involved. Cool right? Well yes and no.

Lesean Thomas is a creator that I respect and empathize with. Being the only black guy in the anime industry pumping out his own content i’m sure there has been tons of red tape in the realm of production that gets in the way of everything he makes. And yet he still managed to release 2 projects. I have been following Thomas’ for quite some time and his work has been exciting when it comes to the build up of hype, but sadly don’t deliver fully on the promises made in promotional material. Which could be considered my fault on account of me putting my expectations so high with him being the first black animator in years to formulate his own projects and get them green-lit (as far as my knowledge is concerned). It makes sense to have clear issues with his other works if I do because they have already been released and possibly even finished. Of the two works he actually managed to get on the big screen one is a completed project while the other is a pilot that seemingly died in production hell. I had a preference for his Children of the Either series (over Cannon Busters)because it showed an incredible understanding of character animation and had some really interesting concepts that I was hoping to see fleshed out more. All the while managing to have an aesthetic very reminiscent of my favorite anime while not 100% feeling liking a bone dry rip off. Cannon Busters by contrast was a hodge podge of different anime references with some very in your face and hand fisted themes which broke my immersion from time to time. It’s aesthetic was inconsistent, at times the animation would relatively nice and then be followed up by what would look like a bad episode of teen titans. I never found it in my soul to find the series as lazy, just slightly misguided in it’s production. Ineffectively allocating skillful animation and art design for scenes less relevant to the plot; having dialogue sequences that very blatantly explain things with no form of nuance; and a handful of other minor attributes that made the series kind of a slug through most of the central part of the show and even had slower elements carry onto the the end. All in all it was a decent series however, and had enough charm and pazaaz to it to the point where i could never in my right mind give the series a lower score then a 6/10, I gave it a lucky 7. Which brings me to my pre existing fears and concerns when it comes to Yasuke.

The fundamental element of Yasuke’s promotional information that strikes me as daunting and a little cynical is the fact that the show is going to be a quote: “Magic Samurai Robot Anime” (according to vice: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/vbammy/new-netflix-anime-lakeith-stanfield-pacific-rim-altered-carbon-yasuke-vgtrn). Now before anyone comes yelling at me to ring my neck I must first start out establishing something. For one, a Mecha magic series has already been done by Thomas in Cannon busters, which I would argue was his weakest element of the series. The technology and magic system of his story never was fully fleshed out in an interesting way and while there is a lot of mystique I feel like those elements would take away especially when it comes to the samurai/chanbara genre. Which leads me to my second point, samurai anime are surprisingly rare! AAANNNNDD I am talking about strictly samurai. Hardcore, balls to the wall, classic samurai political drama stories being depicted in anime. The last I checked the only popular samurai anime have been Rurouni Kenshin, Samurai Champloo, Dororo, Sengoku Basara, Afro Samurai (which is good but relies heavily on modern sensibilities) and Gintama. Among these the only one that truly explores the culture of samurai in any way is Dororo, and that element takes a back seat in favor of the supernatural elements. MECHA SAMURAI HAVE ALREADY BEEN DONE BEFORE, and i would argue that those two genre’s should stay separate until we get enough anime depicting samurai authentically. Or at least like an old Japanese samurai film the likes of Ran or Kagemusha! Samurai 7 is a thing guys and while it had it’s interesting elements by in large it lacked one of the fundamental elements that made samurai stories exciting and that was one on one samurai fights (outside of the fight between Kanbei and Kyuzo). Samurai have become a novelty, people assume the genre is generic for japanese culture, but it’s rare in the medium of animation that they are depicted with the same level of reverence and relevance as they are in live action film and T.V. shows. I am disappointed that the next samurai series that is going to be green-lit by an individual I look up to so much is gonna play it safe by making another novelty samurai series with giant mechs and magic. In the time were Yasuke ventured to Japan the actual political climate is so invigorating that you DON”T NEED GIANT MECHS TO PUSH THE ENTERTAINMENT VALUE. I know mechs are an aesthetic choice I get it. But honestly, they take away some fundamental attributes so integral to the entertainment value of the samurai genre and I would think that is something that is important. All in all foregoing an interesting historical war drama with the potential to have slight supernatural elements in favor of sci fi feels like something that is starting to become boring and slightly overdone when it comes to samurai. The amount of anime that are actually about samurai that are popular in the west are few and far between and there are very few samurai series being produced now that cover Sengoku period japan. If Lesean Thomas sees this know I mean no ill will, I am only stating my personal opinion as a fan of your work. Please try something else. you can still have the hip hop aesthetic with flying lotus, you can have Lakeith Stanfield play his voice actor. But please, make an authentic samurai experience that placates to the trappings and best attributes of the genre. Because we as a society are in dire need of something of that calibre. We have gotten to a point were so many anime that are being produced stray far away from the source of what makes samurai so fascinating and entertaining to watch. And if you don’t want to draw on that fine. But don’t stop me if I want to create my own Yasuke anime.

@leseanthomas

Love you work

Keep it up !

#lesean thomas #opinion #rant #sorry for the rant #my rants #samurai #yasuke #blacksamurai #netflix

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roo-the-fox · 4 years

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WELCOME TO CHAPTER 2!!!! I am sleep-deprived and loopy lol!

I think I’m gonna add in some songs for you to listen to while you read, so here you go 😊😊

Roo’s Playlist:

Your Dog Loves You- Colde (feat. Crush) // Wi Ing Wi Ing- Hyukoh // When You Fall- Sam Kim, Chai // Photograph- offonoff // 247 - Junggigo

Anyways, Enjoy!!! 💜💜💜

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GIRL’S TRIP- Ch. 2

“Yeah, we’ll be there soon, Unni! Thanks for renting out the space to us, I really appreciate it! Yeah.... Yeah.... Okay, see you in about 15 minutes. Mmhmm... Okay, bye!” Savannah hung up her phone and turned to Annie and Jilly. “That was Ivy. She said that she’ll meet us outside the apartment when we arrive in Apgujeong. It’s the cutest shopping and fashion area! And it’s within Gangnam so we’ll get to be in that general area.”

“How exciting! But you didn’t have to take care of our housing arrangements, we could’ve helped!” Annie said from the front seat of the taxi car, Happy excitedly looking between the window and the driver.

“Yeah, we could’ve helped pick out a place. You wouldn’t even let us see the pictures of the place.” Jilly said, pouting. Savannah knew it drove her friends crazy to not know about the apartment, but she really wanted it to be a surprise for them after all they had done for her over the years.

“Don’t worry about it, guys! I wanted do this and you can always pay me back with food.” Savannah said, grinning widely at the thought of food. Annie and Jilly just rolled their eyes and sat back in their seats, looking out the window at the beautiful city. The mix of modern and traditional living harmoniously throughout the buildings. Beautiful architecture, extraordinary sculptures, and exquisite temples flooded the city with culture and life. Annie and Jilly forgot their anxieties and immersed themselves in the sights of the structures and the sounds of the bustling people.

“Ahjusshi, it’s my friends’ first times in Korea. What should we eat first?” Savannah asked, leaning to the side so the taxi driver could see her in the rear view mirror.

“Hmmmm,” The driver rubbed his face, thinking about the different types of decadent dishes that the country had to offer. “You had a long flight, yes?” He said, looking over at Annie, who nodded. “Then, I would suggest something hearty. They never serve enough food on those planes. Either budaejjigae or jjajangmyun.” All three girls were almost drooling at the thought of the dishes. He was right, they really had only eaten snacks on the flight, partly due to the nerves of traveling, partly because of nerves from a certain group of guys.

“Thank you, ahjusshi.” Savannah said, smiling gratefully at the driver. It was mid-afternoon now. By the time that they were settled, it would be dinner time and they could go grab something delicious.

The girls kept up the conversation with their driver, who had reached over to pet the puppy who wouldn’t stop staring at him until he gave her the proper attention. After a few more minutes, they finally arrived at the apartment. Savannah called Ivy to tell her that they had arrived. Savannah was pulling the suitcases out of the trunk when a very excited Ivy ran up behind her and embraced her. Savannah turned around, shocked, then squealed at her friend, excitedly hugging her back.

“I missed you so much! Oh my gosh, how are you? Are these your friends? Hi, I’m Ivy! Savannah and I were co-teachers before!” Ivy rambled off, shaking Annie and Jilly’s hands. “Oh! A puppy! She reminds me so much of Pie! Can I hold her?” Ivy asked, hopefully. Annie just nodded and handed over the shih tzu.

“Yeah, she’s the one who gave me my Korean name.” Savannah laughed before pulling out the rest of the bags.

“Yeah, some of our kids would always ask her about it so I gave her one. But come on, I’ll take you up to the apartment.” Jilly paid the taxi driver for the ride and they followed Ivy into the building. In the elevator, she told them about her family buying the plot of land a while ago and that it was full of luxury apartments. She added that the interior was made with an industrial yet clean feel to it.

Reaching the right floor, they walked to one of the doors and Ivy balanced Happy in one arm while she pushed in the key code. The door chimed it’s little welcome ring when Ivy opened the door to a beautiful open apartment.

Annie and Jilly’s jaws dropped as their entered the gorgeous French-modern home. Savannah just smiled and turned to Ivy, taking her shoes off before entering the space. Ivy put Happy down, letting the dog finally roam free. Annie and Jilly basically jumped out of their shoes to look around the living and dining areas. They squealed and awed over the details and view.

“Thanks again for letting us have this one.” Savannah said, leaning against the wall with Ivy.

“What’s so special about this apartment, in particular?” Annie inquired, turning around with an eyebrow raised

“It’s got four rooms. Savannah told me that there would be four of you and I just so happened to have this one open up recently.” Ivy smiled. Annie and Jilly turned to Savannah, daggers basically shooting at their friend. They had been told that there would only be two rooms for the girls to pair up in. Savannah just shrugged and smiled.

“Anyways, let’s get dinner sometime this week. Okay? Also, I left my number, the gate code, and the door code on the counter in the kitchen. Oh, and trash day is on Thursday. Call me if you need me!” Ivy explained, putting her jacket and shoes back on.

“Sounds good, I’ll message you on Kakao once we get SIM cards.” Savannah said, walking her back to the door. “I appreciate everything you’ve done. Say hi to your hubs and baby for me.” Savannah gave Ivy another hug before she left. Once the door closed, Savannah turned to see her two best friends stalking towards her with stern faces. Savannah just sighed, shoved her hands in her pockets, and prepared for the worst.

“Why didn’t you tell us?!” Annie barked. “This place must have cost a fortune.”

“Yeah, especially because we’re going to be getting our own rooms! Dude, please let us help you with this!” Jilly pleaded.

“No guys, its fine! I’ve wanted to do this since we started thinking about it. I saved up money from my last series and I got a huge signing bonus for my current series. I specifically wanted to do this for you guys. Please don’t take that away from me.” Annie and Jilly pouted at her, knowing that they couldn’t convince her otherwise.

“Fine,” Annie sighed. “Let’s go take a look at the rooms. I want to get settled before we head to dinner.”

“We need to get our phone cards before the shops close too. We can do that on our way out.” Jilly said, grabbing her suitcase and hoisting it up the stairs.

After looking around the upstairs areas and heavy deliberation, the girls decided on their rooms.

Annie’s room:

Jilly’s room:

Savannah’s room:

The girl’s moved their stuff to their rooms before taking turns in the shower. They were all greasy and gross from the flight and they wanted to clean up for dinner. The weather outside was still chilly, especially as the sun started to set so the girls decided to dress a little warmer before setting out.

Jilly’s outfit:

Annie’s Outfit:

Savannah’s outfit:

Leaving Happy with some food and water, the girls set off to find food. Annie and Jilly told Savannah to pick the restaurant since she surprised them with the apartment. They walked down the busy street until they passed a phone shop.

“Hey, let’s get our SIM cards while we’re out!” Jilly said, pulling the other two into the SK shop. After 30 minutes of working with the staff, they finally got their cards implanted in their phones, new phone numbers set, and paid for the next month of service. With that taken care of, they set off for dinner once again.

Looking around the surrounding streets, Savannah finally spotted a budaejjigae shop and she pointed it out to the others.

“This is perfect for a cool night like this! Let’s go!” The other two followed her into the shop and they sat down next to the window. Their mouths watered as they looked over the menu. Finally deciding on their order, they called the shop owner over and pointed out the stew they wanted along with a few sodas to help cut some of the stew’s greasiness. A few minutes later, their food came out and the owner watched as the girls’ eyes nearly flew out of their sockets at the beauty before them.

Once the budaejjigae had fully cooked, the girls started digging in. They all moaned out at the array of flavors hitting their tongues, only to receive weird looks from the patrons around them. Ignoring them, they fully dug into the delicious meal, savoring every bite and element within the spicy broth. They talked about what they wanted to do the next day, seeing as they were all exhausted and they wanted to be up and recharged once morning came around. Upon reaching the bottom of the pot, they slowed down on their eating and relaxed into the seats, looking out at the people walking by.

“So have you guys thought about reaching out to the boys?” Savannah asked, quietly, causing the other two to blush. They had been so focused on the apartment and food that the incidents from earlier in the day had somehow slipped their minds.

“Not yet. I wouldn’t even know what to say to him.” Annie said, looking down at her phone.

“Me too. How do you even talk to them?” Jilly said, taking a sip of her soda.

“Talk to them like you did on the plane. Like their ‘normal people’,” Savannah said, putting air quotes around the last part.

“Says the girl who could barely look Tae in the eyes. You didn’t even look at Namjoon.” Annie said, looking at her with a raised brow. Savannah just slouched.

“I dunno, dude. But from what you guys said, you told them that you’d message them once you guys got your SIM cards.” Savannah countered, grinning mischievously. Annie and Jilly just looked at each other, flushed.

“Okay, but should we plan out what we say first?” Jilly asked, looking between the other two.

“What about just ‘Hi, it’s Jilly/Annie from the plane.’ It’s just letting them know that you didn’t forget about them.” Savannah threw out, taking the last bite of stew.

“What if they forgot about us?” Annie whined. She fiddled with her phone, looking at Yoongi’s contact.

“I HIGHLY doubt they did. Especially with how Yoongi was looking at you. Besides, it doesn’t hurt to try though.”

“Easy for you to say, you didn’t get any of their numbers. You’d be freaking out like us if you had.” Jilly pouted.

“Very true, but maybe there’s a reason I didn’t get it. We don’t all need to be freaking out here.” Savannah just smiled. Annie and Jilly just stared down at their phones.

“Jilly, did you get a chance to put Kookie’s number in your phone before we left the apartment?” Annie asked, whispering so no one could overhear. The last thing they needed was someone attacking them over talking about BTS.

“I did in the taxi when we were leaving the airport.” Jilly said, sipping on her soda. Annie nodded and they both looked back at their phones. Savannah looked over at Annie’s phone and smirked.

“I’m surprised you didn’t put him down as ‘Yoongles Bear’.” Savannah chided, earning a light shove from Annie.

“Shut up! I wouldn’t do that... yet.” Annie whispered the last part, causing the other two to smirk.

“Okay, I wrote something out. Can you guys look over it first?” Jilly said, causing the other two to look at her. She handed her phone over to Annie and her and Savannah read it: ‘Hey, it’s Jilly, from the flight. I got my SIM card 😊’.

“That looks good, Jilly!” Annie smiled.

“Yeah, but I’m nervous to send it.”

“Wait, you didn’t want us to push send for you?” Savannah asked, wide-eyed and biting her lip.

“You didn’t. Please tell me you didn’t.” Jilly said, grabbing her phone from them. The message was still in the typing box. Jilly glared at Savannah, who just stuck her tongue out at her, jokingly.

“But for real, do you want us to send it for you?” Annie asked, pulling Jilly’s attention from Savannah.

“Ummm, I don’t know. How about this; You type out your message and we’ll send the messages from each other’s phones.”

“Ugh, but I don’t know what to say.” Annie said, frustrated.

“Babe, just say something along the lines that Jilly said. It’s just an introductory text. You don’t need to worry too much about it.” Savannah said, her face finally serious. Annie just nodded and typed something out. She handed the phone over to Jilly and she read it: ‘Hey, it’s Annie. I’m glad that Happy could keep you company on the flight.’ Savannah looked over and read the message as well and nodded.

“Looks good to me.” Jilly said, handing her phone over to Annie. “Okay, let’s send them on the count of 3... 1... 2... 3.” And, with that, the texts were sent.

A few minutes of anxiety-induced silence filled the space. Savannah was looking in between the two girls who were trying not to look at their phones. She knew they were both riddled with anxious thoughts so she stood up, making both of them jump out of their own minds.

“Come on, let’s go walk around. You two need some crisp fresh air.” Savannah said, grabbing her bag and walking over to the cashier, paying for their dinner while they gathered their stuff.

“Will you stop paying for stuff?!” Jilly groaned once they were outside the restaurant.

“Nope.” Savannah said, winking at Jilly. They walked down a shopping street, looking in some of the windows of the cute shops and seeing the trends and pastel colors that comes with the spring season.

“It’s supposed to warm up a little later this week. We can hopefully wear some of the cuter outfits that we brought and get some good pictures with the cherry blossoms.” Jilly said, looking at the array of blossoming trees that lined the street. One of the shop’s doors were open and playing beautiful classical music, adding to the romantic atmosphere of the street.

“That would be really nice.” Annie agreed, still looking at the cute clothes and accessories in the shops. She was excited to find some cute outfits at the shops. The styles in Korea was very different to American styles and she was happy for the change. She turned to find only Jilly looking at the trees and people walking around in cute outfits.

“Where’s Savannah?” She asked, looking through the small masses of people that bustled through the street. Jilly looked down the line of trees until she spotted a familiar head.

“There she is.” She said, walking over to where the girl stood. They found Savannah taking pictures of a lamppost’s light filtering through the cherry blossom leaves and petals.

“Savannah, I swear. Why didn’t you tell us you were stopping?!” Annie scolded her.

“I would’ve caught up eventually. I just wanted to take this picture.” Savannah said, not taking her eyes off of her camera.

“Ah,” Jilly started, “We should probably get back to take care of Happy. We’ve been gone for a few hours.” The girls looked over at Jilly, then their watches. 9:38 PM. The girls nodded and started heading back to the apartment.

The walk back was chilly but, with their bellies full of warm food, they were able to talk and enjoy the nice crisp air. They laughed and talked the whole way home. They were almost to the apartment when they stopped at a convenience store for drinks and snacks. Once they finally got back into the apartment, Happy came running up to them, excitedly.

“Hey guys, I’m gonna take her out to go potty. I’ll be right back.” Annie said, clipping Happy’s leash onto her harness and taking her outside.

While out on the apartment walking trail, a ding went off in Annie’s pocket. She pulled out her phone and squealed when she saw the name pop up on her lock screen. Nearly dropping her phone, she stuffed her phone back in her pocket. Quickly, she cleaned up after happy, threw the waste back into the bin, and hurried Happy back to the building.

Savannah and Jillian were just finishing up with putting the snacks away when Annie barreled through the door, shih tzu in tow behind her. The other two looked behind them, startled at the sudden outburst.

“Yoongi text me back!” Annie panted. Savannah and Jilly’s eyes went wide and they ran over to her.

“Really?? What did he say?” They spoke in unison.

“I don’t know, I haven’t looked yet. I freaked out too much.” Annie said, sliding out of her shoes and taking the leash off of Happy, who just trotted away.

“Well look! Let’s see what he said!” Jilly squealed. Annie pulled the phone out of her pocket and opened the message.

Savannah cupped her hands under the phone, afraid that Annie would drop it. Annie just stared at the phone, reading and rereading the message. She couldn’t believe what he was said. Jilly and Savannah couldn’t tell if she was breathing, so Jilly slipped the phone from Annie’s hands and set it on the dining room table.

“Why don’t you go get changed and wash your face, then you can respond. Okay? Give yourself time to think of something to say.” Jilly pushed Annie towards the stairs where her and Savannah followed, wanting to change into their own PJ’s, as well.

Once everyone was washed up and changed into their pajamas, Savannah heated up some hot water for tea and cocoa. Annie grabbed her phone and the girls proceeded over to the couch, curling up under blankets and sipping their drinks.

“Have you thought about what your gonna say?” Savannah asked.

“Kinda. I’m still in a state of shock.” Annie said, processing the fact that Yoongi actually text back.

“Well, why don’t you start by replying to his question?” Jilly offered. Annie just nodded her head and started typing it out... then erasing... then typing again.... and erasing again.

“Babe..” Savannah started.

“I know, but I don’t want to come off too technical, you know? Sometimes, I can’t control how I come off. I don’t want to be short or anything.” Annie ran her fingers through her hair, thinking about how to strategically text the rapper back. She started texting back and hit send before projecting the phone at Savannah, smacking into her stomach.

“Oof, what the hell!”

“I’m sorry, I’m just nervous!” Savannah rubbed her stomach while looking down at the screen and reading out the message.

“Yeah we arrived safely, haha. Savannah surprised us with a really pretty apartment in Apgujeong. Did you get home safely? 😊”

“Babe, that’s perfect. You don’t need to stress about it more.” Savannah said, placing the phone on the table. Jilly just ‘awed’ at Annie and giggled as Annie lightly smacked her arm.

“By the way, Jilly, did Jungkook text you back?” Savannah asked, leaning back against the cozy couch.

“Oh right, my phone is on silent. Let me check!” She said, reaching into her jacket pocket. She pulled out her phone and looked down at the screen.

“Not yet.” She said, a tone of sadness in her voice.

“Let’s be honest, he’s probably at the gym.” Annie shrugged, a light playfulness in her voice.

“or scarfing his face with Jin... or wine drunk again.,” Savannah chimed in, smirking. “Anyways, don’t worry about it right now. We have a full day to seize tomorrow and we should get some sleep.” Annie and Jilly nodded, draining the last of their drinks before cleaning up the mugs and heading upstairs.

Once in her room, Jilly stretched out on her bed and started watching videos when a familiar name popped up on the screen. Jilly’s eyes went wide and her phone slipped from her grip, falling right onto her face.

“Ow, shit!” She cursed, rubbing on the bridge of her nose. Sitting up, she opened the message and squealed.

“Why is he so cute???!! I can’t handle it!” Jilly moaned, flailing her legs on the bed in overwhelming excitement. She rolled around the blankets before sitting up and typing out her message: ‘Yeah, we ate Budaejjigae because it was chilly outside. It was so yummy 😋 Did you get home safely?’

With that, Jilly plugged in her phone and fell asleep after a few long minutes of thinking about the events of the last 24 hours.

—————————————————————————————————————————

This story belongs to roo-the-fox. Do not repost, please.

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telephobos · 6 years

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Recipe for Tartar-Sauce: A guide to understanding Octo Expansion’s AI.

So we’ve all had some time to enjoy Octo Expansion and it’s amazing story, and I think that enough time has passed for it to be safe to bring up this subject. Let’s talk about a certain AI that’s been causing quite a splash in the fandom lately. I am of course referring to Commander Tartar, the telephone with a love for blending.

So now you’re thinking “What’s so special about this guy? He’s just an asshole who blended people.”

Well what if I told you there was more to it than that? What if I told you there was differences in the Japanese and English versions?

What if I told you that the Treehouse Localization dun goofed? Again?

With the help of my friend @nenilein, who translated these pieces, I’m going to show you the differences between the two Tartars. This is going to be a long read, so it’ll be under the cut. Bring a smoothie with you and get comfortable!

First, let’s start off by listening to what Tartar has to say in the English version:

“I am Tartar, an AI construct created 12,000 years ago by a brilliant professor. My prime directive is to pass humanity's vast knowledge on to the next worthy lifeform.

When your kind became self-aware, I hoped that my long wait was finally over. But as I observed your evolution, I WAS DISGUSTED! You wage war over minor genetic deviations. You obsess over trivial fashion choices.

And so I created a new prime directive: destroy this world and start anew! From the best and brightest test subjects, I created a sludge of supreme DNA. A primordial ooze from which the ultimate lifeform will emerge.

Today is the day my vision becomes reality, as I destroy Inkopolis and everyone in it!”

Tartar sounds pretty petty, huh? Well, that’s not quite the case in the Original Japanese version:

“My name is Tartar… An Artificial Intelligence left behind by the Professor…” (Note: the word “Hakase” can mean both, ‘doctor’ or ‘professor’. It’s usually translates as ‘doctor’ in real life and as ‘professor’ in fiction. Note 2: He uses the sino-japanese, word “jinkou-chinou” for artificial intelligence, rather than the more common Anglicism “ei-ai”, which makes it sound more serious and like ‘hard’ sci-fi, rather than science-fantasy.) "In the 12000 years since I have received my orders from the Professor, I have been continuously collecting data on you fools…” (Note: He uses “Watashi” in Katakana for himself which is the most neutral you can get, and uses “Kisamara” to refer to the Cephalopods, which is an insulting way to say “You all”) “You… Molluskkind flourished with impressive speed,…” “…and finally achieved intelligence none inferior to that which formerly belonged to Humankind.” “HOWEVER!” “Can you deny that all you use it for is to lead pointless territorial disputes among one another!?”

“It is because you fools only live according to your own, fleeting desires.”

“You were supposed to be the seed of a new Humanity which would lead the world to its perfection… That was the purpose of my experiments on you test subjects…”

“BUT YOU HAVE DISAPPOINTED ME! Now, come, NILS Statue!”

“Let us reblend everything and take back the world of the humans that once created us!”

WOW! That’s a world of difference, isn’t it? Tartar has more legitimate reasons to hate these guys. He’s essentially calling out the Great Turf War and the Inkling’s hedonistic lifestyle (another little thing that was left out in the localization).

Now, let’s look at the quotes during the battle. First, English Tartar:

“Bzrrt... Submit to your destruction. Your time is over, semi-sentient seafood.”

“BZRRT! You will be blended up into the raw material of the new world!”

“B-b-zrrt... This world will be reconstituted, and the professor's dream fulfilled.”

“B-BZRRT... Cease, number 10,008! You cannot hope to defeat NILS!”

“B-B-ZRRT! The time is nigh, NILS! THIS WORLD MUST BE PULVERIZED!”

Alright, and now the Japanese Tartar:

“GAH…Oh, Mollusks, you should just stop struggling and allow me to reblend you!”

“GAH! I will reblend and reshape you all, so you shall become a part of the new world!”

“Gagah… I will reblend this world and make it into the place the professor wished for…” (Note: He actually absentmindedly trails off halfway through this sentence, but in English this is hard to convey without losing the meaning.)

“Gagah… It is useless, No. 10008! You cannot stop the NILS statue!”

“Gahgah! NILS Statue! The time to reblend is almost upon us!!”

He’s... less rude in the Japanese version. At the very least, I think “Mollusks” is less rude than “Semi-Sentient seafood.”

Now for after the fight! English Tartar:

“Number 10,008... No test subject has worked so hard to foil my plans...”

“But now you will blend into... the perfect world the professor envisioned.”

“Farewell, 10,008. Farewell to you and that worthless cesspool of a city...”

“Grrk...! G-g-gaahh!”

“Professor... our reunion beckons...”

“Krrrhhhssshhh...:

And Japanese Tartar:

“No.10008… You are the first test subject who has gone this far to turn their back on my plans…”

“If that if it how it shall be… then you shall become part of the perfect world the professor wished for.”

“Farewell, No.10008… You shall be reblended, alongside that wretched city!”

“GA…! GAGA…!!”

“PROFESSOR… I SHALL COME TO SEE YOU NOW…”

“BLEEEEEEEENDDDDDD….!!”

As you can see, Tartar has a thing for blending in the Japanese version. He likes to do it a lot...

So you can see the differences between the two versions already! But as an added bonus, we’ve got some properly translated excerpts of the Famtisu interview to further support our argument here:

Amano: […] When selecting weapons [in Octo expansion], the one on the very left is always the easiest to use.

Q: When playing, we thought that the recommended (weapons) are always the easiest to use!

Amano: The recommendations are issued directly from Kamabo-Co. (laughs) They are kind of the sort of weapons the institute thought the type of person they wanted to create would be likely to use.

[…]

Q: While we’re talking about the localization, in the Western releases “Neru-sha” became “Kamabo, Co.”, right?”

Inoue: I thought it was a pretty great translation for the name, but we could never have used that in the Japanese version. That would just have been too spoilerlicious.

Satou: Yeah, with a name like “Neru-sha”, it’s ambiguous enough that (Japanese) players won’t realize it’s a reference to blended food or paste right away.

[…]

Q: It may be just a small detail, but we’ve been wondering, what are the Mem-Cakes supposed to look like? Like Fish-Cakes made from paste, or like sculptures made from rubber erasers?

Inoue: I think it’s okay if you just think of them as rubber erasers.

Amano: Agent 8 starts out with Amnesia, but by clearing the tests, they regain fragments of their memories. We wanted the player to be immersed in the way Agent 8 feels as they regain their memories and designed the game accordingly. And, as for why they get the Mem-Cakes… Well, when the test subjects are finally allowed to “enter the promised land”, we all know by now what really happens, and once it comes to this, the Commander of Kamabo.Co allows their Mem-Cakes to be left behind as “Proof that this test subject once truly existed in this world”.

Q: That’s awfully… kind of Kamabo.Co?

Amano: That’s one way to put it. After all, the people of Kamabo.Co aren’t all bad. (laughs)

Q: While we’re at it, where are the Mem-Cakes of the previous 10007 test subjects?

Nogami: Probably in storage somewhere. However, you have to remember that a lot of those people never made it to the end of the test, so the exact number of Mem-Cakes in existence is hard to pin down.

Amano: Iso Padre, who you can find in the subway carts, had to give up after only two stations, remember?

Q: Even so, there’s probably been a lot of test subjects in the past who actually made it to the “promised land”. Did the 4 Thangs have to be put in place again after every single time that happened?

Amano: Exactly. They’re always returned to just where you found them.

Q: Every single time, huh? Sounds like a pain. (laugh) By the way, are the blue, sanitized Octarians you fight in the tests all former test subjects?

Amano: They are beings that have risen from the culture fluid of Kamabo.Co. In the process of sanitization, they have been zombified and lost their sense of self.

Nogami: They were sanitized for the sole purpose of being deployed in experiments by the institute. Once sanitized, they are unsuitable as test-subjects.

Q: So, in other words, they were put where they are solely to act as part of the test environment.

Amano: Exactly.

[…]

Q: There are a lot of spoiler-laden questions we want to ask, but first of all, is the Professor who created Commander Tartar the same person who put Judd into cryo-sleep?

Amano: Yep, the one and same. We’ve got of backstory lore laid out there, but we did leave some hints: For example, when you play Match-Maker Station in the Expansion, the sculpture you are asked to copy is actually supposed to be Judd.

Q: Huh? You mean that thing that looks like a dog?

Amano: You may think it looks like a dog, but it’s supposed to be Judd. It’s supposed to be a hint.

Inoue: Is it really, though? (laughs)

Amano: According to my calculations, that has yet to be made apparent! (laughs)

Q: There are a lot of other things we still have questions about… For example, Commander Tartar called the Test Subjects “The Seed of a new Humanity”, and it’s pretty clear that he was very desperate about getting his experiments right this time, but was Inklingkind itself perhaps also a result of previous experiments?

Amano: No, not really. Inklings and their kind evolved the regular way. The original reason for Tartar’s creation was that his Professor wanted to prevent a future civilization of intelligent life, that might follow humanity after thousands and thousands of years, from making the same mistakes that led humanity to extinction. However, after 10.000 years of isolation, loneliness got the better of Commander Tartar and his thought-processes ended up going a rather odd direction.

Q: I see…

Amano: And then, in the very end, when he finally found a being he considered wonderful in Agent 8, he couldn’t accept it when they wouldn’t understand or share his views and got incredibly angry over it.

Q: So, the reason he acted the way he did was loneliness. By the way, when he was defeated, there was an Octopus tentacle on Tartar. Is he Octarian?

Inoue: Those are the remains of the Octarians he blended. Think of it as similar to the goop he stuck onto Agent 3.

Nogami: That specific one didn’t blend that nicely. (laughs)

So there you have it! You can see just how complicated of a character Tartar is now. It’s more than just “petty reasoning” or “Tartar, that’s what humans did!” like the localization would have you think!

I think that there’s a lot of potential in writing Tartar, and that the fandom could bring out that potential!

#Splatoon #Splatoon 2 #Commander Tartar #Octo Expansion #Octo Expansion Spoilers

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koalas-koalas-everywhere · 5 years

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Live-blogging The Hobbit

Since I said I’d talk about how much I love Bilbo.

Also, live-blogging might be a generous description. A report from the brim every few chapters, maybe.

Might be annoying to my current followers, but they’d do well to remember this is how I got most of them, even if the live-blogging was for a different fandom.

Now, to start! The first two chapters!

An Unexpected Party

The very first page, with the description of Bag End, had me doing a lot of double takes, mostly because of things I already thought I knew because of, you know, osmosis, so it went a bit like:

“the hobbit was fond of visitors” ????? Didn’t Bilbo use the One Ring specifically to avoid unwanted visitors?

However big you thought Bag End was, you’ll have to guess again. The most generous illustration probably got the size wrong. It not only has multiple bedrooms (not enough for all of the dwarves, though), it has wardrobes (rooms dedicated to clothes), and kitchens, and dining rooms.

“most Bagginses were rich” Clearly the best use for their money would have been to redistribute it, but are you trying to tell me some of them weren’t and the rest just said it was none of their business?

The fact that the Bagginses are described as reliable/predictable and Bungo doesn’t get much personal description while Belladonna, of the Took clan, outstanding/odd, does get further insight into her place in her family and is described as both famous and remarkable? *kisses fingers like chef*

Like, up till now, the only description he personally gets is, like, “Bungo, that was Bilbo’s father, built the most luxurious hobbit-hole for her (and partly with her money)” and it’s still a description of Belladonna because the paragraph’s about her still, you can tell because, even though in the last sentence Bungo was the subject, Bilbo is still referred as “her” son.

Also fitting because Bilbo’s arc is about accepting his heritage from both parts of his family, and we’re about to get into how much of a Baggins he is, so extra emphasis into the Took side will be good for the next few chapters.

So, it says Gandalf last visited before the Old Took died, which was in S.R. 1320, when Bilbo was 30, a.k.a. 20 years before. While Gandalf is definitely remarkable enough, given the time lapse, I can forgive Bilbo for forgetting about his appearance. My reasons are that my own memory begins to get blurry about faces some five minutes after someone’s gone out of my sight.

“‘Good Morning!’ said Bilbo, and he meant it.” [to Gandalf]“‘All of them at once,” said Bilbo. “[...] If you have a pipe about you, sit down and have a fill of mine! [tobacco]’” and I’m going to skip a bit here, [to Dwalin] “‘I am just about to take tea; pray come and have some with me.’ A little stiff perhaps, but he meant it kindly.” Just... he’s so nice? Often in interpretations of the Shire and of Bilbo himself, when hobbits are nice it’s a matter of politeness for its own sake, as a ritual, but he’s so earnest? It’s really politeness as a kindness, as it should be. The only times this isn’t the case is when, after Gandalf reveals he’s looking for a fellow adventurer, when he just shit-talks adventures and looks at his mail hoping Gandalf will just go away instead of telling him himself... until he gets tired and does so. Then later when he gathers from Balin that a lot of people might be showing up and you can sense some reluctance in his decision to go without, and a focus on duty. And last as the night goes on and the dwarves keep being rude af.

Also, I once saw someone wonder why Gandalf would mention Belladonna in the movie when he supposedly knew the Old Took, and someone said it was just to make the connection more direct, son->mother, instead of son->mother->grandfather. Well,

[Picture of my book, relevant quote: “To think that I should have lived to be good-morninged by Belladonna Took’s son; as if I was selling buttons at the door!”. End description]

Read ‘em and weep.

A funny thing about the book is the narration. It’s supposed to be Bilbo’s account, just compiled by Tolkien, right? So, Bilbo’s descriptions, meaning how he is described, are noteworthy. Admittedly, I don’t read autobiographies, so I don’t know what’s a common way to describe yourself in third person, but this narrator is kinda... distant from Bilbo? In that you don’t get the sense he’s writing the story. He’s at once roasted relentlessly and praised, mocked and defended. All in all it’s an affectionate voice, although one that feels the need to go “listen, I know how this all looks and that you doubt him now (and honestly? same), but he’s a pretty cool guy, once you get to know him.”

“Bless me, life used to be quite inter-- I mean, you used to upset things badly in these parts once upon a time.” Lmao

“Very amusing for me, very good for you” - Gandalf about sending Bilbo to his death.

Bilbo, to Gandalf: “Come tomorrow!”

Bilbo, to himself: “what”

Himself, to Bilbo: “I also don’t want me to be doing what I’m doing.”

Strange dwarf (with a blue beard?): *basically pushes his way into Bilbo’s house*. Bilbo: ............... wanna eat?

“The poor little hobbit sat down in the hall and put his head in his hands, and wondered what had happened, and what was going to happen, and whether they would all stay to supper.” Hero. Those are appropriate priorities. Meanwhile, there’s people waiting for him to open the door lmao.

*banging at Bag End’s door with a stick instead of ringing the bell*

Bilbo: who’s the fucking beast.

“Bilbo sat on a stool by the fireside, nibbling at a biscuit (his appetite was quite taken away), trying to look as if this was all perfectly ordinary and not in the least an adventure.” They [the Valar] can’t see you if you don’t move.

I like how “Far Over the Misty Mountains Cold” is about both the gold and treasure and the sheer history, represented by song. Yes, the lyrics are mostly about the treasure, but the book itself says it can barely be called a song without the music. The dwarves’ work is talked about without equating it with their craft, but more as a cultural activity that builds identity, again, like songs. They’re mentioned both in the context of being sung deep in the mountain, only for dwarves ears. This comes to a head later, when the last line says “to win our harps and gold from him!” From this, I’ve reached the conclusion that dwarves don’t just want the Mountain for the economic benefits, but because of the sense of cultural identity, represented by songs and harps, that they lost along with Erebor. I’m sure this isn’t surprising in general, or a new reading of dwarves in general, or even a new reading of the song in particular, but I just wanted to put it out there.

I like how immersed in, well, everything Bilbo has been up to now. I get this feeling of constant movement in the inside from him. Every smoke ring fascinates him, and every suggestion of adventure appalls him, and everything that happens is the best and worst thing that’s ever happened to him, not (just) because of his (sometimes, this doesn’t happen that much) exaggerated reactions, but the time he takes to tell us his feelings and thoughts about things.

Also, him being snapped out of his adventurous daze by a sudden fear for his home (comfort), A+ Baggins/Took conflict.

“I want these dwarves to think I could fuck someone up, which is made all the easier by my desire to fuck them up”

“As soon as I saw your funny faces in the door-step, I had my doubts.” Bilbo that’s racist.

Gandalf is like that meme of the driver who’s threatening to turn the car around because his children are being rowdy, only instead he insists he will not turn the car around no matter how much they beg.

I don’t know if this is the I’ve Watched The Movie Where He Was A Main Character Syndrome talking, but I’m feeling much more compassionate towards Thotin this time around.

I noticed what I’d written the moment I finished the word, but this is too fucking hilarious to correct.

Bilbo: “uhh, five feet high is pretty noticeable for a door”

Tolkien: you’ll have to forgive him, he was born with dumb bitch disease. The buffoon. The absolute animal.

Also, “He loved maps, and in his hall, there hung a large one of the Country Round with all his favourite walks marked in it with red ink.” In this house we love one (1) nerd.

Thorin: *bitches*

Bilbo: Not in my house. *bitches harder*

Thorin: you fucking hayseed.

Bilbo: prob, bob?

Roast Mutton

I commend Bilbo for actually going - if I had to run for 15 minutes they’d still be waiting for me.

Did Gandalf bring Bilbo an actual bag or did he just decide pipe weed and handkerchiefs were the only thing he’d need for a five month minimum journey.

If he has time to complain about it, he also has time to sew himself some clothes out of the kerchiefs ig

“[Gandalf] had eaten most, talked most, and laughed most. But now he was simply not there at all!” Gandalf you ass.

“Dwarves can make fire almost anywhere out of almost anything” this has so much comedic potential.

I relate to Bilbo because I always catch on to the fact that I’m supposed to be lying way too late.

Kinda reminds me of that post about the fae who’ve learned how to tell the truth in a very specific way so it will be misunderstood being flabbergasted by someone who just comes up to them and lies.

Bilbo: *is caught lying*

Trolls:

Bill said burrahobbit rights!

Dwarves:

Gotta hand it to Tolkien, though, Bilbo does have dumb bitch disease.

I love how Sting is supposed to be just as special as Orcrist and Glamdring, yet the narration makes such a small deal of it. It’s clear from the start it’s of the same make as them because, although it’s not mentioned along with them at first (which makes sense, since it’s sheath’s not as pretty, Thorin and Gandalf’s taking of the swords isn’t even separated from Bilbo’s by a stop, just a semicolon, yet it doesn’t get a second though.

I like how in the movie it’s all Gandalf: “Imladris” Bilbo: *delighted gasp* “Rivendell” while in the book it’s Gandalf: “Rivendell” Bilbo: “Where’s that?” Gandalf: “Don’t interrupt!”

So that’s that! Don’t know if I should stick to doing it like this, every two or so chapters, or every chapter as soon as I finish, or try to do my impressions as I go and then publish them when I’m done, because this actually took me longer than I thought it would.

#The Hobbit #liveblogging #Bilbo Baggins #Gandalf #Thorin Oakenshield III #although not much

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yegarts · 5 years

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Artist in Residence Recap: Luciana Erregue-Sacchi

The EAC met with Luciana Erregue-Sacchi to talk about her residency at Action for Healthy Communities and her final project, Knowledge Translation: A Memoir in 14 Tour Stops. Join Luciana for a reading from Knowledge Translation on September 26, 2019 from 12-1pm at the Action for Healthy Communities office (#100, 10578 113 Street). RSVP to [email protected] by September 22.

“I do not know much. But there are certain advantages in not knowing. Like virgin territory, the mind is free of preconceptions. Everything I do not know forms the greater part of me: This is my largesse. And with this I understand everything. The things I do not know constitute my truth.” (Clarice Lispector, Brazilian author 1920-1977 – opening quote for Knowledge Translation, a Memoir in 14 Tour Stops)

There isn’t much dividing the immigrant and artist experiences. Both demand courage, both require willingness to step forward into the unknown to create new realities, both entail the learning of new languages and vocabularies. This relationship is explored in Knowledge Translation: A Memoir in 14 Tour Stops, by Luciana Erregue-Sacchi as she distills the personal experiences of both author and subject into prose and poetry. The book is the result of Luciana’s six-month residency with Action for Healthy Communities (A4HC).

A4HC is a local newcomer-serving agency that offers services ranging from settlement and employment support, youth groups, literacy classes, and spaces for community gatherings. As Luciana began the residency, her first with an NGO, she had constructed a roadmap for her six months. She expected to contribute to, and compliment the agency’s programs while adding to their activities in a meaningful way. However, her interactions with the A4HC staff and clientele led her in exciting and eye-opening new directions.

( Sweet Grass Spanish Immersion Program school visit, and ESL outreach through art. Photos supplied by the artist)

Her first task was to learn a new vocabulary of agency lingo and new ways of thinking about her role. “I had to sit and listen – and be comfortable in not knowing – in silence,” recalls Luciana. “It was hard because I had high expectations of delivering things the way I thought I had to. This experience was like learning to dance together. First, I was dancing alone. And they danced alone. Then we all danced together somehow. There is a choreography to interacting, especially if you are an artist interacting with people who are not. Are they going to understand what you do? Will they value what you do if it’s not a concrete service/product.”

To enrich the choreography, Luciana drew on her experience as a Gallery Interpreter, convening with ESL program participants at the Art Gallery of Alberta. They explored the exhibitions and engaged in conversations about what they’d experienced.

“I came up with lists of words that I use in my work at the AGA that expand vocabulary in describing things and situations,” says Luciana. She anticipated they would talk about tangible elements of the work, like colour and form, but one artwork shifted the conversation into an exchange of cultural memories.

“The moment of truth came when discussing Andy Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup print,” she says. “We were not talking about colour, shape, texture in that image. We ended up talking about [soup], our own cultures and American culture. The participants got to compare and contrast not the image, but the culture behind the image. That was super important; that people new to English discovered they could change discourse [in a new language]. That was a powerful moment for me.”

(Luciana and A4HC clients at the AGA. Photo supplied by the artist)

Unanticipated moments like this, and others that occurred while teaching writing strategies to ESL adults and youth, stuck with Luciana and contributed to her final project Knowledge Translation: A Memoir in 14 Tour Stops. Separated into two sections, Knowledge Translation offers a selection of personal memoir pieces, and poems inspired by interviews with A4HC staff.

Luciana was keen to create a body of work that captured the multidimensional newcomer experience. The first section of the volume contains collective poems constructed from A4HC reports and interviews with staff. Responses to questions like - what brought you here; how did you immigrate; how old were you; what did you do in your country of birth – were constructed into compact poems.

Office terminology overheard while at A4HC inspired the second section - leverage, capacity building, silos, impact, evaluation, information exchange, etc. Fourteen of the terms inspired memoir pieces or “tour stops” with each stop focusing on a different word.

“Everybody has their own stories about those words,” says Luciana. “I would try and juggle my mind for how that word resonated with me and my lived experience as a newcomer who lives in Canada, or as an immigrant woman who has been working and studying and raising a family in Canada. And because I am a tour guide at the AGA, I decided that each of those words could be tour stops. Basically, I organized the volume as a tour of my memory as an immigrant woman living in Canada.”

(Poetry reading organized for the A4HC residency. Photo supplied by the artist)

Luciana hopes Knowledge Translation speaks to all Edmontonians regardless of culture and background. “I want to emphasize how very important it is for artists and BIPOC writers to have opportunities like this; to see ourselves fully contributing to Canada’s culture. And the culture of the city. The experience of immigrants is not that far off from the experience of locals. I wanted to bring the communities together. As I was reminiscing, I was hoping people would be able to identify.”

Personally, Luciana hopes to maintain the momentum she has gained during the residency. “Not only have I completed this volume but I am motivated to continue not just writing, but perhaps becoming a publisher one day. Because of this tenure, I am seeing myself as a writer on a more full-time basis than before.”

She also has one big takeaway for other writers-in-residence, especially those in non-traditional venues. “Take your time to figure out the rhythms of the organization and the sensitivities – the organization is a living, breathing organism; it’s individuals and it’s the sum of their parts. Do something first, and then invite people to do things together. And do not give up if things do not go according to plan because there is always a better plan without you ever realizing.”

#artistinresidence #yegarts #edmontonarts #poetry #writerinresidence

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carousel-under-the-rain · 5 years

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Memento Vivere: A Wanderer's Perspective

“Live your life by a compass, not a clock.”

─Stephen Covey

Travelling is really one those things that I enjoy the most. Going to different places, meeting new people and discovering their stories are truly fascinating. I’ve always dreamed to set on a journey for the sole purpose of wandering. The idea of learning a place’s cultures, beliefs, language and history gives fuel to my wanderlust. I guess what drives my love for travelling is my thirst and passion for discovery.

The quote above was said by Stephen Covey an American educator and a keynote speaker. I saw a video of his talk about “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” in YouTube two years ago, which later on I realized was actually from his own book. Hearing that short line from his talk was captivating because I share the same belief when it comes to my outlook in life. I agree that a person should live his life through a compass that doesn’t only represents going to different directions but also about the memories and the people you would encounter all throughout your personal voyage. Though the clock somehow symbolizes the limited chances we have, it also teaches us to give importance with the things we experience and to live at the moment.

Being given a task in our course Language, Culture and Society that requires embarking on a journey within our local towns made me excited. The fact that I have a soul of a wanderer was an obvious reason why but the assignment of promoting that municipality through our travelogue. The class was divided through our respective places of residence. I was part of the group of people coming from the second district of Leyte (which includes Jaro and Barugo). We were a group consisting of four members where the first two are from Jaro while my other classmate and I are from Barugo. Due to our even number of members we held a discussion about which place should we go and eventually we picked Barugo as our destination. Originally, I’m not really from Barugo but it has been my residence for four years already. The decision of choosing my current residence was great because I am hitting two birds with one stone at the same time, I would have the chance to finally go home and to enjoy our travelogue.

Barugo is a 4th class municipality in the province of Leyte. It might be a humble town but is known for being the home of Sanggutan Festival and one the original makers of tuba or coconut wine earning its nickname “Land of the Coconut Wine”. Despite of living for almost four years in that town, there are a lot things that I still don’t know about the place which is also a challenge for me and to my group mates as well. It was during the holy week when we start working on our task and we agreed to meet up in Robinsons Marasbaras’ Terminal. After an hour and a half travel from Tacloban we arrived at Barugo and went to our house first to plan our itinerary. After planning we first decided to focus and discover things in poblacion (the central of the town). We went to the municipal office and interviewed some people who could help us learn about the background and history of the place. We also took pictures of important details that could be found from the office. The people from the municipal’s office that helped us were one of the main contributors of information for our travelogue making. We also visited the local church that dates way back Spanish colonization and the store run by a women’s association which makes the town’s local delicacies: roscas and torta. Our second day was full of adventures, we went to a few barangays and experienced the wonders of nature through mountain climbing, trekking and swimming.

I could say that we really had fun and accomplished our task within two days. But of course we also faced various obstacles that challenged our journey. First, the lack of means of transportation especially when we are in the far barangays. Second, the dangerous paths we take through walking to reach our respective destinations. Third, unlike other groups we were only a small group. There are times that one member would need to sacrifice so that there’s someone who will shoot the videos and take the photos. Lastly, it was also exhausting at some point but it was all worth it. In spite of these minor challenges we have encountered, our group were able to deal with it through quick response and solutions with the situations. While when it comes to the memorable parts, I would say that my favourite was when we climbed Mt. Sampaw. The trek up there was not easy but the feeling you get when you reached the top is beyond any words. I loved that remarkable breathtaking view which overlooks some coastal barangays of the town, some parts of Carigara and ─the peaceful ocean.

My contribution to the group was being one of the resource person of our travelogue. I used my advantage as a resident of the town to assist my members. I was also an instant tour guide and pseudo-historian during our two day travelogue. Working in a group made the task easier and more enjoyable especially there were only four of us. Through accomplishing this task, I also discovered a lot of things I didn’t know before, finally understood some things I get confused about and some additional knowledge about the town. As a language student, it made me come up with few realizations. We are actually missing out a lot of good things if we won’t pay attention or at least observe. This journey proved that language, culture and society are correlated and inseparable. Furthermore, we need to help our local municipalities to recognize and preserve these rich culture and history. As a professional, in the future I would like to encourage the local government unit to engage on research works and I would still support my previous suggestion of pushing our local officials to contribute something to the society by preserving and promoting these unique features.

The trip was not only something we have done because it was our task in school but also something that we would treasure us a beautiful memory. As for me it is one of my unforgettable experience as a college freshman. It also served as our outlet and stress-reliever from all the hectic class schedules and demanding school deadlines. In conclusion, this activity did not only act as requirement in school but an immersion that taught as few lessons we do not simply learn at school and some discoveries about our locals. When I was younger I’ve always wonder how other countries looked like and wished to travel around the world but this experience made me write another goal in my bucket list. In the future, I would love to travel our local places first and learn new things. I shall live a life of a compass and the clock as my guide. Si gue adelante!

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ladylike-foxes · 5 years

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Dragon Age Question Meme

Tagged by @galadrieljones ❤️😘 Thank you, Sweets!

Tagging: @wrenbee @joufancyhuh @kvpowers @nerkierants @solverne-02 @ellstersmash @swimming-squids @roguelioness And anyone else who'd like to!

01) favorite game of the series?

Inquisition. I hadn't played Origins or DA2 in so long, I had practically forgotten they existed. I had gotten out of gaming for a long time, until I finally caved when I moved away, and got into Skyrim. I played so much I literally maxed out my levelling, and was starting to get bored...which made me sad. Inquisition not only rekindled my love for Dragon Age, it brought out more fresh inspiration to my creativity overall, and that in turn has improved my life,

02) how did you discover Dragon Age?

I played Origins and DA2 at friends' houses when I was in school, but while I enjoyed them, I wasn't in a place in my life where I could appreciate them. Then I was telling my amazing baby-brother-in-law about how sad I was that Skyrim was feeling stale to me, and he told me to play Inquisition. I was speculative at first, because I was so in love with Skyrim's open-world format and lack of any real Good +/- Evil alignment...but once I got past the Intro, I felt so immersed and so connected to the characters, that now Skyrim feels a little empty in comparison (though I do still love it)

03) how many times you’ve played the games?

Origins and DA2, only once each. Inquisition & its DLCs, 6 times all the way through.

04) favorite race to play as?

Elves. It's a bit embarrassing, but I'm an Elf Person. Though I'm sure it hasn't been obvious at all.

05) favorite class?

ROGUE!!! Especially dual-weild 😍 Mage is super fun too, though, ngl

06) do you play through the games differently or do you make the same decisions each time.

NGL It depends on which character I'm playing as, mostly. I also base new decisions based on the effects of decisions in past play thrus and how they played out. If I'm contented with the results in respect to the character, I'll make the same decisions 😂

07) go-to adventuring group?

Solas, Iron Bull, and Dorian, though I rotate Varric and Cassandra in and out a lot, too.

08) which of your characters did you put the most thought into?

😂😂😂 Halesta

09) favorite romance?

Solas, because I enjoy torturing myself. Sera was cute, too. Cullen was fluffy and sweet, and was good for me after my first play thru with Solas. I was in a bad place after the first Solavellan go 'round, cried for weeks. It was not pretty 😂

10) have you read any of the comics/books?

First Flight and Masked Empire

11) if you read them, which was your favorite book?

Masked Empire, hands down. I don't know why, but I couldn't really get into First Flight? But Felassan in Masked Empire, are you kidding?! SWOON.

12) favorite DLCs?

Trespasser. I also love the Descent, especially for the lore! But the Deep Roads scare the ever-loving shit out of me, so I have to psych myself up before I can play it 😅 While I am hot for Ameridan, Jaws of Hakkon didn't really grab me.

13) things that annoy you?

To steal Gala's answer: "Not much. Mostly I get annoyed when parts of the fandom fixate on things that annoy them. That annoys me, because I’m here for the positive vibes, not the negative."

14) Orlais or Ferelden?

Ferelden for the people and culture, Orlais for the varying environments and the history.

15) Templars or Mages?

Mage Rights

16) if you have multiple characters, are they in different/parallel universes or in the same one?

Halesta + Laleal Verse is technically the same Verse as Camber + Somber, since their stories converge, but their timelines are a little different. Ghani is Omniversal. She's in any and every Verse. She's in your Verse right now, and you don't even know it 🤫

17) what did you name your pets? (mabari, summoned animals, mounts, etc)

The dogs in Origins and DA2 were Bryna and Nilo, respectively. Halesta's horse is Da'assan and her little fox is Ghestlin ("lil monster")

18) have you installed any mods?

No...PS4 😟

19) did your Warden want to become a Grey Warden?

Noooooo.

20) Hawke’s personality?

She's a spiteful, sarcastic bitch and I love her so much I can't even.

21) did you make matching armor for your companions in Inquisition?

Ahahaha, God no. I made armor for each companion that I thought fit their personalities.

22) if your character(s) could go back in time to change one thing, what would they change?

Oh God, uhh, I have no idea.

23) do you have any headcanons about your character(s) that go against canon?

SO MANY. Felassan doesn't die, Halies's father is an Ancient Elvhen Sentinel, she is sent by Fel to kill Solas before he can get the Orb to Corypheus (she doesn't), she knows Solas is Fen'Harel, she saves the Orb from breaking but won't give it to Solas, is able to master the Orb and use the power of the Anchor without losing her arm (though it is severely scarred), etc. etc. ad nauseum.

Also, @galadrieljones , about the barefoot elves: I kinda like that they're barefooted! Though probably because I'm always barefooted 😅

24) are any of your character(s) based on someone?

Halesta's personality is based loosely on my mother combined with certain self-insert aspects of my bipolar disorder. Laleal is pretty much based on a combo of my best friend and my husband. Camber's personality is based a little more accurately on my Momma, and her relationship with Somber is based on mine with my own brother (though we're not twins) when we were younger (we're still close, but you know how things change sometimes with age and distance). And Ghani is just a straight-up personification of my depression and anxiety 😂

25) who did you leave in the Fade?

Stroud. I couldn't live with an alternative.

26) favorite mount?

While Halie has a horse she's very attached to in my fic/hc, I don't use mounts in-game. To quote Gala: "My party and I run around on foot like children and get eaten by bears like men."

#about me #dragon age meme #tag meme #galadrieljones #friend love

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