#((It truly depends on the characters and how compatible they should be in theory I think))

[fightingthetides]

[水]

Being that he had at one point been on a swimming team, he had a high affinity for water. Though, athletes in general always kept themselves well hydrated, so Mizumachi couldn’t understand the notion of not bringing yourself to drink water regularly. It was like that one classmate of his who said that she could go a full day and maybe only drink a single glass of water and feel okay. He would’ve shriveled up and passed away like a dried-up prune if that was him.

Mizumachi grins at her comment about the ‘mid-alternative’ to Coke.

“Yeah! It gets the job done if you don’t have Coke, but you’ll always be wanting for Coke when you drink it.”

Pity about the Fanta, but he realized that it wasn’t as common or well-loved as a drink here than it was in Japan.

“Right, ten teriyaki cheeseburgers and two cokes. I can carry everything for ya.”

He certainly had the arm span to carry everything and more if needed. You could say that it was a perk of being tall, your proportions usually scaled accordingly. He was excited for the burgers, because the smell coming from the food truck was no joke already! With how it smelled, he was sure that it was going to taste great even without him having taken a bite yet.

“Thanks for showing me this place, Bia. Imma come here often!”

A repeat customer who ate a ton in a single sitting could probably be considered both a blessing and a curse if he was going to come around during lunch rush all the time. It was comforting to know that he could enjoy something cheap and tasty, somewhat reminiscent of home.

“Are ya a foodie? Gotta show me all the nice places to eat at!”

He already trusts her food judgement, so, if she ever needed a bud to eat with—count him in!

    Vivian nods away in agreement for to her, having a considerable amount of burgers without any soda didn't seem like something that's really heard of... and yeah, perhaps there were way better palate cleansers to be had than carbonated drinks, but as this was a food truck and not a restaurant, the selection of beverages they could realistically order would understandably be a bit limited.

    "Welp, I wouldn't go as far as to say I necessarily understand 'everything', per say, but yeah, once you manage to live through twenty one years on this planet, you start discovering some pretty basic stuff... like, for instance, how the human body gets thirsty if you consume salty snacks yet do not occasionally bring yourself to drink water throughout regular intervals," Vivian states. Granted, most would consider that to be 'common sense', but as per usual, she frames it more like an academic study than redundant knowledge nobody would truly bother disputing.

    Either way, it doesn't take long for her bespectacled gaze to soon settle on the drinks menu, which was situated to the right side corner of the food truck... and to her delight, Coke was listed as one of the drinks that were available to order, causing her to clasp both hands together.

    "Ooh, what do you know?! They do indeed have Coke! No Fanta to be seen, though... then again, at least we aren't forced to choose Pepsi, which is the mid alternative to Coke," Vivian pipes up. Of course, after the final customer leaves, she'll then finally pull out her wallet before turning to Mizumachi. "Alright, so to summarize super quickly... we want ten teriyaki cheese burgers with two cokes?" Vivian repeats in order to ensure they were on the same page.

[nikethestatue]

Saw an argument that elriel isn’t a viable ship because Azriel doesn’t contribute anything to Elain’s character growth, and that he doesn’t see or acknowledge the parts of her others also don’t see (since he also “coddled her” and didn’t want her exposed to the troves). Thoughts?

I personally, thought it was a little ridiculous especially since we have an entire scene where only Azriel recognizes Elain is a Seer, and he was just as protective of Elain as Cassian was of Nesta when they talked about the darkness of the troves.

Hi,

My personal thoughts on that are varied.

It's funny, because I was thinking about this earlier today and honestly, I am not a big fan of LIs being in some way responsible for the growth/healing of the other party.

Whatever Elain is or is not, she needs to develop herself. Azriel/Lucien or Bob aren't responsible for 'pushing' her, for making her do things, or for ensuring that she finds herself (in whatever capacity that needs to happen). I know SJM likes the idea, but I personally don't. I think that I was okay with Feysand, because obviously Feyre was an anomaly and Rhys needed to push her to investigate her powers, since no one knew what they were. Ultimately though, she kind of developed them herself. She also had her love for painting throughout, which was entirely hers.

With Nessian, I truly HATED the idea that Nesta was sort of forced to become like Cassian. Nesta, who lounged on the bed/in the chair, reading most of the time, suddenly became this exercise junkie. To this day I think it's bullshit. She was slated to be a witch and develop those powers. And the fact that SJM made her so dependent on Cassian didn't sit right with me at all. SJM tossed in Emerie and Gwyn, which is fine, but like, did Nesta really experience 'growth'? She still lives in HOW, kind of dependent on Feysand for financial things, and the sisters still didn't really resolve their issues.

On to Elain--putting aside the fact that it's not Azriel's job to 'develop' Elain, and neither is it his job to hypothetically develop Gwyn, just as it's not the job of the women to help him deal with his issues, I think there are a few things:

Elain's and Azriel's powers are potentially compatible. They are both 'predictive' in nature. She, as a Seer and he, as a shadowsinger both see the future in some capacity. He of course was the one to determine what the power was and and very many interesting and important things happened after that.

He and she were working in tandem together, even without realising it.

He felt that she was deserving, strong and capable enough to handle Truth-Teller. Not Mor. Not Feyre. Not Nesta. ELAIN. Elain proved that she was indeed capable.

It's absolutely untrue that he 'stifles' her. He mentioned that she shouldnt be exposed to the darkness of the Trove--not to her. To the IC. She is untrained, and he is concerned for her from a romantic standpoint, as well as because of the nature of the Trove. I don't think it's abnormal for him to express concern about this. Just like Cassian expressed concern about Nesta.

During the War, he wasnt running around telling them to hide her, not arm her, or keep her in Velaris. He armed her himself, and basically told her 'make it work'.

Finally, by the looks of it, Elain is the one who will be and has been climbing out of her darkness and issues herself. She takes independent steps to normalize her life as a Fae. While Feyre needed Rhys, and Nesta needed Cassian, I think Elain's journey might be different because she has been working steadily on herself and her own place in this world. She also offered to go and find the Trove, herself.

I don't think that her 'development' will be about trauma. I think it will be about choice and asserting herself. Which she very much began doing already, hence Rhys's comment about her showing 'claws'.

PS that's why I deeply dislike the 'Spy Elain' theory. Because unless there is a gardener and baker Azriel, she should be carving out her own path and not becoming something that he is.

[ethelynjapaneseblog]

B # 4

Blood Type & Kakuri: The Origins of the Japanese Passion for Robots

Blog Entry - Chapter #4

Blood Type

According to the author, it all began with a Japanese Psychological Professor, publishing an article, called “The Study of Temperament Through Blood Types.” The study’s theory became extremely popular amongst the Japanese since it was published in 1916. Today, Japanese people have form opinions and understand each other’s behavior through blood type characteristic. This goes as far as being asked at job interviews and even in match-making situations. Blood type category have been published and commonly recognize as way to tell fortune and compatibility.

“The Japanese believe your blood type determines your character to a great extent. People are very superstitious, and religions are based on superstition.”                                                      - H. Garcia, “Superstitious Japan?”

Image: Blood Type Personality Comic: Study Group

✹ In the Western world, namely the United States, there are a few who believe in something that could tell your fortune, compatibility and advice, and it normally originates in a different country. Few believe in Astrology, where they believe the movements in the celestial sky indicates your fate and fortune. For example, a person who is born on March 29th is an Aries, and horoscope originates in the Middle East, tracing its history all the way to the 2000 BCE (1). United States have borrowed the concept of Twelve Zodiac animals as well from China. All these have a few things in common, such as they also believe that your personality, fortune, etc. is something you are born into. The concept of doing so play on psychological analysis on the people. For instance, humans are socially creatures, where we, as an individual, would like to belong to a group. Horoscope, zodiacs and blood types categories most certainly categorize people into groups. However, unlike Japan, the United States, for the most part, does not develop many of their superstitions into a culture-wide, practiced tradition.

❇ Personally, I do not believe in superstitions, from horoscope to blood type, but it is actually quite fun and interesting to indulge and assess what horoscope or blood type category you belong to. It was most certainly a fascinating to read and discuss with friends what your fortune is for the day or whom you are compatible with without taking it seriously. As a group sometimes, friends amongst friends can boast to be the same horoscope or the same blood type. It propel a sense of belonging to some people. From my experience, some people know their horoscope, zodiac and even their blood type, but only few truly believe in them religiously. I have known people as well that cite their blood type, horoscope or zodiac as a reason for their particular behavior. When comes to online, there are few people that obsessed over their celebrity’s horoscope and feels connected to their celebrity if they share the same category as them. There is most certainly a wide range of people. Having grown up in a household that is not superstitious, we never have traditions that we follow outside the ones that has been declared as a national tradition or that is based on our religion

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Karakuri: The Origins of the Japanese Passion for Robots

Karakuri are the famous and iconic mechanized puppets, and its automating mechanics have fascinated Japan since its introduction in the 16th century (2). The Karakuri puppets is based on its simple mechanics and perform various task depending on the creator. There is a tale of Prince Kaya, son of Emperor Kanmu, creating a mechanical doll whose hands hold an empty bucket. When the people pour enough water on the bucket, the doll will automatically empty the bucket of water onto its own face, and it eventually soaked the ground. The doll fascinated the locals as they continuously played with it, leading to the nearby farms to be watered. Prior to the placement of the doll, the farms were becoming barren since the recent drought had dried up the Kamo River that was used to irrigate the farms (3). This contributes to the Japanese’s perspective and opinions towards robotics. Japanese people are generally very receptive of automation and articificial intelligence (AI). Evidently, Japanese have also produces arts, manga and animation that portrays robots with AI as heroes in the stories. Some of these media have gained popularity internationality, and Japan is also well known for its electronics and technological innovations.

“It is thought they are one of the reasons the Japanese have come to accept robots as friends and not enemies. Notice how in American movies robots always end up rebelling and trying to destroy the worlds, whereas in anime series and manga robots are very often superheroes.”                                                                   - H. Garcia, Karakuri in Society

Image: Real life-size Gundam

✹ As the author indicated, there is most certainly a difference between the Western view, namely the United States’ view when comes to robots, automation and artificial intelligence. The United States are generally receptive of our technological advancement to automate many procedures. As technology progresses, westerners beg the question of what are the possibilities and long-term effects of these changes. Over here, many people call into question of automation replacing human work skills, affecting employment in the long term, while praising its use to make our quality of living better. Artificial intelligence or AI is among the main focus of the United States’ many technological innovations. Movies and other animation raised the concern of what are the possibilities of AI overtaking human intelligence and even as far as existence all together. Thus, media have portrayed robots being an antagonist to humans, and public opinion generally echoes it as well. 

❇ I personally love technological innovations. Technology have changed how we live and interact with each other tremendously. I love how technologies can be integrated to our everyday life, enhancing our effectiveness, quality of life and the pace of how we progress. The science, mechanics and configuration behind technologies are equally fascinating. I agree, however, that it is a concern how these technology can be use against us. Therefore, I believe in addressing the changes early and not resist it because technology development is inevitable. As society and as an individual we must find a balance on how we incorporate technologies and ensure its regulation moving forward. I believe in a balance of how we view technologies, such as robots. As a society, we should be encouraging when it comes to the changes but also take precautions as we progress forward.

—————————————————————————————— Quotes from Chapter 4: Curiosities & Symbols - Garcia, H. (2012). Geek in Japan: Discovering the Land of Manga, Anime, Zen, and the Tea Ceremony. Tuttle Publishing. Kindle Edition.

(3) Boyle, K. (2008, January 14). Karakuri Origins. Retrieved from Karakuri Info: http://karakuri.info/origins/index.html

(2) Editorial Committee, & Foley, K. (2018, 12 July). Karakuri Ningyō - からくり人形 . Retrieved from World Encyclopedia of Puppetry Arts: https://wepa.unima.org/en/karakuri-ningyo/

(1) Karasavvas, T. (2017, April 9). The 4,000 Year History of Horoscopes: How Astrology Has Been Shaped Throughout the the Millennia . Retrieved from Ancient Origins: https://www.ancient-origins.net/history-ancient-traditions/4000-year-history-horoscopes-how-astrology-has-been-shaped-throughout-021321