#Artisanry

[hong-kong-art-man]

The Young Woman Leader In Hong Kong Karen Chan Picks The Cultural Battle Of Preserving Cheongsam: “I Don’t Want Cheongsam To Become Another Collective Memory Of Our Generation!”  

German Pool has been a famous brand of electrical appliances in Hong Kong since 1982. It is a family business and the prominent figure is Karen Chan(陳嘉賢)—not only for her contribution to the industry of Hong Kong, but also for her cultural offerings in the form of ‘Cheongsam’(長衫) or ‘Qipao’(旗袍).

Cheongsam is a Chinese dress worn by women and men which takes inspiration from the ethnic clothing of the Manchu people in the North. For woman, cheongsam is most often seen as a long, figure-fitting and one-piece garment with a standing collar, an asymmetric left-over-right opening and two side slits, and embellished with Chinese frog fasteners on the lapel and collar. It was developed in the Ching Dynasty and evolved in shapes and design over years.

Karen said, “I love cheongsam in its traditional form but want to make it respond to the modern life too.” She runs a cultural rather than fashion business ‘Sparkle’ which designs, makes and promotes cheongsam.

Karen studied in Sacred Heart Canossian College. She went to University of Washington for her first degree and New York University for her second degree. In 2000, she returned to Hong Kong to work but soon moved to Vancouver and got hitched. In 2006, she came back to Hong Kong with a family to assist in the family business. In 2009, Karen obtained the master’s degree in Marketing from Chinese University of Hong Kong. Her son is 12 years old now. Karen is tall, slim and represents 2 things, character and competence.

She, as usual, had an unweary smile on her face, “Time flies and I am making up for lost time. I have too many things that I should do.” I stared at her, “Karen, you work too hard! Apart from being a businesswoman and taking care of a family, you sit on government consultation committees and governing boards of universities.” Her eyes were twinkling with mirth, “Don’t worry. The great consolation that I have is making beautiful cheongsam for others and myself.”

She said, “Our past is never dead to us, until we have brushed it aside. I respect traditions especially the old arts and crafts of Hong Kong. Tradition does embody valuable accumulated knowledge, and provide a sense of belonging to our great city. But, I think tradition is not a way of saying ‘we must do it this way’. If you want to keep something old, you will have to let it somehow grow younger and newer. Great cultures in Hong Kong like dim sum, architectures and kung fu are always a fantastic combination of old and new. I really don’t want cheongsam to be called another ‘collective memory’ after it is gone forever.”

I asked, “Why is cheongsam culture uniquely Hong Kong?” She patted her head, “During the 1910s to 1920s, cheongsam commanded her cultural prosperity in 2 major cities, namely Shanghai and Hong Kong because people there were rich and fashionable. It was important for ladies to look trendy and classy. Shanghai was later under communist rule. Fashion basically disappeared and the focus was on the communist cadre look. Clothing available was mass-produced and functional, leaving little room for individuality or femininity. Hong Kong remained a free city. Cheongsam continued to flourish here and it never died out. We had cheongsam of uniquely different designs, styles and materials in the golden days of 1950s to 1970s. Almost all women wore cheongsam. It is sad that since the 60s, western clothes were seen by women as a sign of modernity and liberation. Fewer and fewer women wore cheongsam. Luckily, we still got a small circle of ladies who loved cheongsam and it has become a specialized type of clothing that fits only a niche market. My mission now is to keep cheongsam alive and through my public education effort, I want to tell people in Hong Kong that removing our misconceptions of and prejudice against cheongsam is an important cause!”

I put my final question to her, “What is the future gauntlet that you have to take up?” She sighed, “Wow! Too many challenges ahead. There are 4. I want to prove that even westerners, given their bigger body size, can wear cheongsam and look pretty. Then, I wish to ensure that the knowledge and skills associated with this traditional artisanry can be passed onto the future generations so that the art will continue to survive. Thirdly, I want to be a respectable fashion designer who can create cheongsam as a piece of up-to-date beauty. My last wish is humble: I would be able to keep my cheongsam business from falling. It is expensive to make a cheongsam due to many factors, for example, that the best cheongsam must be handmade and the fabric must be 100% silk. Cheongsam market is however small and a lot of customers are experts in cheongsam. I do hope I can meet their expectations.”

Karen Chan aspires to be a defender of Hong Kong’s cultural heritage. Hong Kong is no more just an international financial centre in Asia. Our civilization is already a rich pool of brilliant beliefs, customs and knowhows accumulated in the course of 19th to 22nd Century.

The problem of modern life is the claim that, for the sake of progress, we have to lose local traditions at a faster pace than that of preserving, not to mention the extra loss accelerated by forces such as globalization and national assimilation. A woman’s greatest asset is her beauty and cheongsam is the wonderful dress that helps a woman capitalize on her physical and emotional beauty.

MLee

Chinese Version 中文版: https://www.patreon.com/posts/chen-jia-xian-de-76769559?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link

Sparkle Collection Fashion Show  https://youtu.be/1SqDDu_MJZM  Acknowledgement – Sparkle Collection

Sparkle Collection Cheongsam 2023  https://youtu.be/RSQGXX-R-7E  Acknowledgement – Sparkle Collection

Cheongsam Etiquette  https://youtu.be/dx5d2hQKiWs  Acknowledgement – Sparkle Collection

Maggie Cheung’s Cheongsam in Movie《In the Mood for Love》  https://youtu.be/KloZiML4jQ8  Acknowledgement – San Shi Ma

Karen Chan Interview  https://youtu.be/SP5LuLssrlQ  Acknowledgement - hkfederation

[sheltiechicago]

paulodysseys

Saadian Tombs: A Cemetery Forgotten For Centuries

Located in Marrakech, Morocco, the Saadian Tombs were built in the 16th century to be the final resting place for the Saadian royal family. However, after the fall of the Saadians, the tombs were sealed off and forgotten for centuries. The cemetery is located in the Kasbah Mosque, which is one of the oldest mosques in Morocco. Many authorities, consider the cemetery as the high point of Moroccan architecture and artisanry in the Saadian period.

wearemoroccotravel

paulodysseys

sila2909

paulodysseys

[pallisia]

Hi there! Me and my partner finished the prologue of soulsov yesterday and are absolutely fascinated by its concepts and the art accompanying it! excited for the eventual release! I had to come to ask however. Does Ysme ever actually wear clothes or does she use artisanry to actually just appear to be wearing whatever she wants... Is girl tits out 24/7? This has been plaguing my brain since yesterday. Thank you!

thank you! i'm glad you enjoyed reading. mass-produced clothing is made with artisanry, so if she's tits out 24/7, so is everyone else.

really, the difference between practical artisanry and what ysme describes as "illusion" is the amount of planning involved. ysme's constructs have physical mass, but as langlais points out, they're very fragile. it's less that she's walking around naked and more that her clothes would probably shatter if they got snagged on a branch too hard.

[windienine]

on soul of sovereignty, ysmé the exalted, and gender presentation.

so! soulsov. soulsov and gender identity.

on my second playthrough (a livestream with friends), somebody pointed out that ysmé scanned to her as trans woman. i asked why, and we ended up in a conversation that lasted long into the night and notes for an analysis post i'd make at some inchoate point in the future.

that inchoate point is today!!

below the cut are some explorations into ysmé's character, her past, and potential intersections with gender identity. spoilers for the prelude ensue. if you're planning to play the game yourself in any capacity, i gently urge you to do that now before reading further. :)

I. YSMÉ, PRESENTATION, AND SPECTACLE

Ysmé is a practiced mage whose highly idiosyncratic use of artisanry (constructive magic) as a body mod is vital to how she chooses express herself as a person. She's out to become God and/or die trying.

We get introduced and reintroduced to Ysmé a whopping seven times throughout the prelude alone. In order, we are presented with her:

as a thief, stealing from a church,

as a sickly damsel, at the Lamplight,

as a treasure-hunter, when her guise starts to falter,

as a crazed mage, when she holds Loïc at gunpoint,

as a spooky ghost, when she is stabbed,

as a goddess, when she ascends,

and, finally, as a tired and scarred woman in the epilogue.

In many of these circumstances, how she appears to others is something she gets to dictate. Most notably, this factors into her choice to take the guise of a frail, sickly maiden` to better court the goodwill of Loïc (who she's already designated as a mark for this kind of act)

and when she later reveals her "true self" in the middle of the Hollow Temple to awe and frighten him. Here, she's in her full clowngirl glory! You can tell that she's spent time poring over every little flourish of this outfit, down to her nails matching the color of her facepaint. It's tacky, it's maximalist, it's sensual, it's a little unsettling, and boy is it everything. This is Ysmé qua Ysmé, and she makes sure you know it with the impact this one scene makes.

Even when we see her put together a look as a literal goddess, we get so much ostentatiousness that points exactly to what kind of person she wants to be seen as!

Two faces, one beneath the other, victory beneath a pulled-aside mask of tears. Fuller lips, fuller lashes behind a mask of smudged makeup. Eyes on her tatas because who the hell is there to tell her not to. She gets scene after scene where we get to see that she curates every single aspect of her appearance, and as someone who takes on many of the signifiers of a stage performer, she cares deeply about the kind of mask she chooses to wear.

Nothing here is accidental. Everything about how she genders herself is purposeful!

II. GHOST YSMÉ... (HEAVY SIGH) AND ALSO LANGLAIS'S ACCOUNT

The first time we see a version of Ysmé who isn't carefully curating her presentation using glamours, it's when she is quite literally dead. Along with wild hair and a body made of ghostly flames, she has a broader, straighter build than she had in any of her past guises (plus a gaping stab wound.)

It's our first hint that Ysmé's use of "glamour" goes beyond just a change of outfit and hairstyle. For friends more observant than I was on my first playthrough, this was the first "wait hold on is this an art style thing or is Ysmé being telegraphed as transgender, here?" moment.

There's one other named character appearing in the prelude who already has his own idea of who Ysmé is prior to the plot, and that's Langlais-- a police officer pursuing Ysmé at the behest of the Church of the Builder.

He quickly demonstrates himself to be pretty repugnant.

Regarding Ysmé's skill with artisanry, he remarks:

From context clues laid out in the wider text, "artisanry" is a magic based around weaving physical matter out of nothing. It is used in construction, art, and the production of goods, generally at a slow, measured pace, making one object at a time. Constructs made with artisanry are meant to be durable. It seems to be the main form of magic taught within the Mosaic, and its creation-based theming seems appropriate to the Builder writ large.

Ysmé's favored use of it (weaving entire new outfits and tools out of thin air, trading durability for speed and flexibility) is considered non-standard and low-brow-- "illusions" that are deceitful or childish in nature. Loïc has been mislead, he warns.

Langlais feels justified in treating Ysmé like some backyard nuisance that needs reining in and Loïc like a wuss for flinching at the sight of a gun, despite him having taken a demonstrably very real bullet from Ysmé's demonstrably very real (if spontaneously generated) handgun just the day before. It all clashes from what we've seen and the inferences we're meant to draw about how Ysmé uses magic--

however temporary, however breakable, Ysmé's "illusions" are to be taken seriously. I think that the way in which she chooses to modify herself should be included here, along with the possibility that that's not exactly an intended use case for artisanry.

In addition, when initially interrogating Loïc, he refers to Ysmé like this

implying that he believes that "Ysmé" is some sort of fake name or alias.

III. BODY DYSMORPHIA

The scene after Ysmé comes down off of her holy high and wakes up ass-naked in god-knows-where, having been assigned to do god-knows-what by the Voice of the Sovereignty, holds a lot of interesting implications for Ysmé in particular.

We get this remark from her internal narration:

Okay, so this is generally the first thing she does when she wakes up. Before doing anything else with her day, she uses artisanry to change her appearance. There are plenty of reasons why this could be the case (vanity, status as a wanted criminal, etc.), but the emphasis on it in this scene makes me believe the text is indicating that Ysmé might suffer from dysphoria and/or dysmorphia.

We get a good look at her in the very next CG, along with the one after, showing us an Ysmé with a different appearance than any of the guises we've seen before...

Ysmé, without any glamours or illusions being sustained, is an androgynous figure, akin to her ghost form. Still quite pale, still a skinny little thing, but the entire cut of her face and all of her body proportions are pretty different than, say,

any of this, in scenes where she's in full control of how she gets to look using magic.

Frankly, she looks like "mysterious elven prince" material, and it contrasts quite a bit with how she presents herself in the temple especially.

For now, I'm not going to go into any supplemental materials like the sketches and paintings featured on GG's blog, but they play with Ysmé's presentation on the regular there as well.

The conclusion I feel like I'm supposed to draw from all of this is that Ysmé is a transgender woman who uses her unique skill for artisanry to change her appearance to whatever she feels suits her. She is not necessarily comfortable being seen or seeing herself without a glamour on, but in this scene she is too spent to do anything about it.

IV. HAHA HEY GG WHERE ARE YOU GOING WITH THIS

BUT, that is not where the game ends. The prelude leaves us on a stinger.

A lone figure stands over an altar, praying to the Builder that His lost children, swayed by the Devil, may yet find their way.

The camera then pans over a figure that looks nearly identical to the Ysmé we saw a scene ago (albeit without any scars), right down to the soul-stealing blue eyes, fancy hair part, and really good clavicles. They open their eyes in response to the prayer.

So far, we've got very little context for this. It appears to take place in the same church as the opening scene where Ysmé is caught stealing, but we don't know who this person or the figure in the church is, and we don't even know if this is happening concurrently to the prior scene or if this is a flashback.

It's still of interest, I think. Something that didn't catch my eye the first time around and that I still didn't quite process until I saw the isolated CG on GG's blog:

Hey, check out that carved idol (presumably of the Builder himself?) right in the center of the goddamned church-- a familiar cut of the jaw, and a familiar hair part. Ysmé doesn't just look the part of a prince, she quite literally looks like an incarnation of the Mosaic's creator deity, who is exclusively referred to using masculine terms.

If the person in the end CG isn't Ysmé, then who is it? Why do Ysmé and this person both heavily resemble the Builder?

I could draw all sorts of conclusions about this from the text as written so far, but the one that feels most relevant here is this: if Ysmé is indeed "meant" to look like the Builder, if she was made to serve a very distinct purpose, if she was at some point meant to serve as a living vessel for His will,

wouldn't that put any decision by her to trans her gender in a very narratively relevant light?

Wouldn't that put her decision to leave the Mosaic and seek the Sovereignty in a very different light?

Wouldn't that mean that the story that she told Loïc on the way to the Hollow Temple (fleeing a religious family to serve a higher purpose-- even if it's just for herself) was technically true, after all?

If nothing else, it would put into perspective why a Church lapdog such as Langlais has been ordered to pursue her, along with a fully mobilized police unit in tow.

This pretty quickly takes a flying leap into the realm of speculation on my part, but I'm sure there's some connection between all of these similar elements and I'm interested in how it plays into Ysmé's character.

V. LOÏC, AND CONCLUSIONS

Let's jump back to that scene of Loïc and Ysmé waking up together.

None of this seems to come as much of a surprise to Loïc, who gives her the cloak off his back for modesty and regards her kindly despite the kind of day she has just put them both through. There's never any demand from him for her "real" name, no demand that she explain herself further, and certainly no shock about her appearance.

I'm inclined to agree with Loïc's read of the situation, here.

Ysmé is demonstrably a pretty poor liar. The dying ingenue act doesn't have much in the way of substance to it-- certainly not enough to buoy her through several conversations and a mutant wolf encounter with Loïc on the way to the Hollow Temple-- but the speech she gave in the forest about wanting something better for herself, a second chance away from a controlling family

struck a chord with Loïc. Despite it having been woven into her ongoing wicker basket of lies, there's a glimmer of something true, there. Ysmé wants the capital-S Sovereignty-- and lowercase-s sovereignty over her future and what she gets to make of herself.

Judging from her seeming unfamiliarity with the outside world, it might not be something she's ever had before.

None of her presentations by themselves comprise a complete snapshot of who Ysmé is as a person. However, they are different parts of the elephant, so to speak-- there is flicker of truth in each of them. After seeing several, Loïc decided that the fuller picture they form isn't one of the kind of person who would doom humanity.

He doesn't truly know her, yet, no. However, I think he has decided what he has seen of her paints a picture of a lonely, long-suffering, malcontented queer lady who, indeed, as mentioned by the pastor (?) figure in the first CG...

... has a heart. More alike to his own than different, even. In every form she's taken, she's revealed a little more about who she is and who she would like to be seen as. (For the record, I also feel like there are a few parts of the text that imply Loïc is his own flavor of trans and/or queer, but that's a much bigger leap and would deserve its own post)

I'm not sure how much all of these inferences will be backed in the final release. In Loïc's words,

Thank you for reading!

(your honor, i love her.)

[swagtastic-bougie-pompadour]

Here at Naranja-Uva Academy, we always seek to "bring it" with the newest, most cutting-edge classes, while also embracing tradition! Here, we provide a...

Clive Update!

On some of this year's proposed classes! Feedback always welcome.

HIST466: The Treasures Of Ruin, Or, Why You Really Shouldn't Pull Those Stakes. Taught by Ms. Raifort. A history class, whose name Ms. Raifort heavily protested, focusing on the history of [Poké-China], its historical artisanry, trade and international relations with Paldea, and Paldean mythology surrounding the Four Treasures of Ruin. Course due to be updated should any more Treasures be unleashed during the semester.

BATL288: Battle Safety: Only YOU can protect yourself from a rampaging Machamp! Taught by Ms. Dendra. Battles. You know them. You love them. I sure love them!!! But what do you do when your foe's Charizard sneezes wrong and a fireball's flying at your face? In my Battle Safety course, learn some of the Paldean League battle safety standards, emergency Pokémon-calming techniques, and the best ways to get the heck out of dodge! Live demonstrations NOT included, at Director Clavell and Nurse Miriam's request.

BIO301: Deconstructing the Pokédex. Taught by Mr. Jacq. A new required course for all STEM-track students! Work with Mr. Jacq to learn what's true and what's written by 10-year-olds in the Pokédex, and how you can empirically test these facts for yourself with fun field experiments! (And please, update the Pokédex to the correct facts in the process!)

HOMEC140: Sweet Treats for All! ♪ Taught by Mr. Saguaro. A class entirely dedicated to baking and tasting the sweets of the world, for humans and for Pokémon! Highlights include mock Rage Candy Bars, group Poffin-making, and the secret recipe for Casteliacones...?! Teatime included.

That's all we've got for now... but course proposals are always welcome! (Although, sadly, our offer to Miss Rika to teach "Clodology" has been gracefully declined.)

[digamma-f-wau]

Idiosyncratic genreless sound. The 16 chord, Rumrom-powered artisanry also defies genre.

-Burrn

[luna-the-bard]

this is an oc x canon lore dump, you've been warned

-> Act II

Just for organization purposes, I'm calling this Act I. I'll add links to other parts as (and if) i write them. Anyways let's hope Tumblr can fit 11 pages of text into one post! :)c

General lore:

Te’rra is a small planet that stopped participating in Big Space Politics about a century ago. Due to this, its existence has been forgotten by most.

It doesn't help that the planet is in the middle of fucking nowhere

It’s fine they chillin

The society populating the planet are called terraninans, and they are an avian species - humanoids with feathered wings and tails, and some other features like blue skin, striking, cat-like eyes, or elaborate skin patterns that are unique to each individual, akin to birthmarks.

Here’s a couple examples:

Note that the Head Priestess (pic. 1) lacks wings, which is normally not the case for the species. Lower image shows more patterning on parts of the body that aren’t the face (mainly arms).

Fun fact: this species is entirely female! This is not relevant to the story tho, so I won’t dwell on it.

The life expectancy of a terranian is somewhere around 1k years. There are old folk still alive who remember Te’rra before it isolated itself from the rest of the world.

Te’rra has pretty high levels of technological progress. However, culturally they put a large emphasis on co-existing with the ecosystem, which makes their technology rather different from what you would normally expect. There is a very developed culture of artisanry, with most goods being produced by individual masters or small guilds.

Main storyline:

Skeets is a relatively young terranian huntress. She is part of a small, about 10-person, hunting group - a common occurrence for her city, as they are located on the edge of a vast jungle. 

She is neither a newbie nor a master of her craft; her position is more akin to a promising junior - not quite ready to lead her own hunting group, but experienced enough to hold a certain amount of weight and respect among her peers.

Hunting groups normally alternate between staying close to the city and going further out into the jungle to balance out their impact on the flora/fauna. Skeets’s group has recently started going further out, as more experienced hunters.

Meanwhile, there is a Space Pirate ship that happened to be passing the planet - a rare occurrence, considering there were no trade routes nearby and ships of any sort were almost never seen in this sector of the galaxy. The Space Pirates were likely taking such an unusual route to avoid a police or military patrol; the reason is really not that important. Identically, it doesn’t matter why exactly the Space Pirates decided to take a closer look at the little blue planet before them, because the impact is the same nonetheless: the small hunting group that ventured a bit too far from the city catches their attention.

Skeets and her group were actually sent to investigate a disturbance in the ecosystem - because of course the Space Pirates have made quite a ruckus, scaring away the local wildlife. What was a result of their ship’s landing got mistakenly interpreted by the city’s lookout post as a sign of a large predator, which would have to be warded off to avoid causing damage to the area.

Unfortunately for everyone, it was not, in fact, a giant blue dino-chicken. 

The Space Pirates decide that “exotic” humanoids would fetch a good price on the black market - especially considering no one has seen their kind for almost a century, and most have forgotten what they look like. This leads to an ambush and the subsequent capture of Skeets’s hunting group.

Having got what they need and not wanting to attract more attention, the Pirates promptly take off; they’re gone from the planet before anyone has time to react. 

—-

Unfortunately for everyone. But especially the Pirates. The ship experiences an engine malfunction, forcing the Pirates to land on a desolate planet that has long been abandoned by civilization; in hopes of either fixing the engine or finding parts to fix it, the Pirates with their precious cargo have to descend into the deteriorated catacombs under the planet’s surface (as the surface itself is inhospitable). They make their home in an empty room that is still structurally sound and fairly close to the surface. It even has some of the basic technology still functioning, likely from an emergency power source (they attempt to locate it, but to no avail). The room only has one entrance, so it’s easy to guard; this was not the last reason on the list of priorities. The bunch of terranians are placed in that room for the same purpose - easy to make sure nothing gets in… or gets out.

Now, you were probably wondering why this circumstance is especially unlucky for the Pirates. As it turns out, the catacombs aren’t as desolate as they appeared. 

As the Pirates find out from their own experience, deeper in the catacombs dwells the apex predator of this planet; whether it’s a result of a genetic mutation or a creature native to the ecosystem is unclear. But the monster is at the top of the food chain for a reason; it’s fast, its spider-like lower body giving it the ability to climb walls and dwell on ceilings. Its limbs have a poison canal underneath each claw, making even minor wounds lethal - the only difference is that this death is much more slow and painful than getting mauled. The creature has a humanoid upper body, but there is nothing human about it: a demethor would be prettier; those at least lack rows of sharp, curved teeth and even more prominent fangs. Its mouth and skin can secrete a slimy substance saturated with its poison; it leaves a wet trail on the walls of tunnels it frequents most.

Not able to retreat back to the surface, and desperately needing to find resources to fix their ship, the Pirates are forced to witness their crewmates being plucked one by one each time they venture out into the planet’s depths; those who manage to escape are subjects to the unsightly fate of being slowly consumed by the poison. The creature knows these catacombs far better than the Pirates do; it calls them its home. The only reason Skeets and her kin are in relative safety is due to the lack of worthy prey closer to the surface - the spider-like abomination has no interest in rodents and other small animals that scurry along the industrial pipes. Terranians see the state in which the Pirates return from their missions; watch their numbers grow smaller and smaller. The ruins are cold, unwelcoming. While the Pirates have to deal with injuries and worry about their resources running low, their captives are faced with a survival issue of a different kind: none of them are suited for the climate. Te’rra is a warm planet. The temperature in the jungle never drops past zero or even close to it; it has no winter.  Hunters almost never have to go into freezing areas, and when they do, they are heavily equipped - a complete opposite of Skeets and her team, who were dressed very lightly. 

For most, it starts as a cold. The average body temperature of a terranian is slightly above human; it runs around 38-39 ℃, and being constantly exposed to the chilly, humid air of the catacombs is taking its toll on each of the ten captives. Colds grow into acute bronchitis; Skeets, who has been secretly sneaking out to look for resources, develops pneumonia.  Before it gets bad, she continues toying with fate: having a much smaller build than Space Pirates, she can fit into tight maintenance corridors and dried-out pipes. Those on guarding duty are delirious from poison, and sneaking out gets less and less challenging with time. Once, early on, she gets lucky and finds a sealed first-aid box - most of the things there expired long ago, but rubbing alcohol and bandages are still safe to use. She brings them back to mend some minor wounds received during the pirate ambush (they were so, so lucky to avoid any serious injuries). Later on, however, her condition worsens too much for her to continue. At this point, everyone is sick, and Skeets and some of her teammates are rapidly declining. The Pirate numbers are so small there is only one of them guarding the door; and even he is near-comatose from wounds and poison. The Pirates decide to take their chances and send out a distress signal - it’s better to get arrested by some Federation patrol than become food for the monster that lives below. Although, the Pirates hoped that the signal would attract a less armed, civilian ship - so they could kill the unsuspecting crew and get off this planet.

Fortunately for everyone but the Pirates themselves :)c the distress signal is received by a lone gunship that happened to be passing through the area. The gunship that, of course, belongs to the universe’s best bounty hunter - Samus Aran.

To no one’s surprise, Samus traverses the catacombs with ease. This is far from the first time she’s had to navigate a labyrinth of rooms and ruins. There is so little left of the Pirates that Samus almost gets suspicious of how… unchallenging it is to defeat them. Then she finds out the reason behind the Pirates’ weakness; whether or not she kills the arachnid creature is unknown. On her way back up, Samus finds one last Pirate - on the brink of death, guarding the entrance to a room. Compared to being slowly digested from the inside, death by Samus’s hand is almost an act of mercy for him.

However, instead of an ammo stash or a navigation room, Samus finds a bunch of very sickly-looking blue humanoids. The readings from her suit indicate that, although their species is not in her database, they clearly require medical attention - even more so since Samus doesn’t know that terranians have an above average body temperature, so to her their state is not much better than the Pirate’s. 

Luckily, the room is close enough to the surface for Samus to be able to contact A.D.A.M. without having to re-emerge. She sends out a request to the Federation - although, really, it’s much more like a firm order, - to direct a rescue vessel their way; she includes just the necessary minimum of information in her message - that there are about ten individuals, species unknown, in need of immediate medical attention; the coordinates of the planet; the instructions on where to safely enter the catacombs.

She does have to leave the terranians briefly, to clear out the path for medical personnel - the last thing she wants is them getting hurt by the local wildlife. She returns quickly, however, making sure that everyone is still there and that no one has declined to the state of comatose (luckily, things are not that dire).

—

It shouldn't surprise anyone that the ship the Galactic Federation sends is not an emergency vehicle. Or even a military patrol vessel. Or anyone directly affiliated with the Federation.

Because, simply put, the Federation officials are cheapskates. 

Why spend money and resources on sending a warship somewhere, when they could just find some cruiser that was the closest to the disclosed location? Paying a random merchant ship is much cheaper than paying for all that fuel.

So, the ship that enters the planet’s atmosphere is not full of paramedics; in fact, there are only two doctors on board, the minimum legal requirement for a small merchant ship like theirs.

Samus has to cast her frustration aside and work with what she’s got. Terranians get evacuated from the catacombs; some on their own two feet, some - on a stretcher, being too weak from fever to properly walk. In case of the latter, the doctors have to make several trips - there’s only one stretcher (they never needed more). When they descend into the catacombs the third time, Samus, who has to accompany the doctors for safety reasons (she already cleared out the path, but it’s better to be safe than sorry), decides that she doesn’t want to do this a fourth time. There are only two terranians left that still needed to be carried to the merchant ship. One of them is being carefully placed onto the stretcher by the medical personnel. The other has spent the entire time that Samus has been there huddled alone in the furthest corner of the room. 

At this point in time it should be obvious to you that the one in the corner is Skeets. The reason she’s distanced herself from others as much as possible is because she is sick. More than others - her pneumonia worsened violently due to her frequently exposing herself to the cold of the tunnels. She was doing her best to not pass it onto others - somewhat successfully, I must note - the other three terranians who were in a similar state suffered from acute bronchitis, not pneumonia.

Not willing to make another trip through the catacombs, Samus simply picks the little avian up - her suit is enough to avoid the biohazard, she is in no danger of getting sick. In a different setting having both her hands - arms? - full would compromise the crew’s safety, but having made close to five trips down and back, Samus knows that there is nothing dangerous left on their path. So she simply trails behind the medics and their stretcher until they’re back on the surface.

No one wants to stay there longer than necessary - the atmosphere is mildly toxic, and it is not recommended to be out in the open for more than a couple hours - the toxins would accumulate in the body. Thus, the two doctors situate their new passengers as fast as they can - and this is where the first issue arises.

In the best traditions of fictional tropes, they are one bed short. 

It’s a small merchant ship. They’ve done what they could. Took in as many people as safety regulations allowed - and even if they could take in one more, their medical bay was simply not equipped for handling this large of a number of people. They would simply not have enough medication.

The nearest multispecies hospital is a week away from this desolate planet. It would just be futile to try and accommodate everyone - someone would inevitably decline beyond what they could heal in that timeframe.

Samus, on the other hand.

Surely, in her line of work, she had to be as self-sufficient as possible and equip her gunship with top-quality medical equipment and supplies?

Judging by the size of it, she can take in one more person no problem. So do you really have a choice, Samus Aran? Are you going to let someone unfamiliar into your personal space because she desperately needs your help, or are you going to refuse and have that on your conscience for the rest of your life when, inevitably, someone dies?

If you don’t know the answer to this, you don’t know Samus, lol.

The second issue surfaces right before Samus is about to bring Skeets over to her ship. 

None among the present know what species they just rescued. There is an apparent language barrier. Skeets, barely even conscious from fever, is still able to see what’s happening -  and draw her own conclusions.

The Pirates disappeared.

There are new, unfamiliar people, and they took all of her kin into their ship - she can’t understand a word they’re saying, and thus their intentions are unknown.

Sure, there are what seem to be medics - but is that really a sign that they are coming to their rescue?

After all, someone who illegally buys sentient creatures to show off their wealth would want their new exotic decor to be in good, presentable shape.

It doesn’t help that she, alone, is not joining her group. No, she is held firmly by someone else - the same person that first entered their shelter. Tall. Imposing. Armed.

Perhaps the mystery byer only wanted nine specimens. Or could afford just this many.

It’s not unusual to divide the product and sell it to several highest bidders, is it?

Samus is almost taken by surprise when the frail, sickly creature in her arms tries to struggle free. Almost. For someone with her reflexes, however, this is more of an annoyance than anything - all she has to do is adjust her grip so that the alien doesn’t accidentally hurt herself.

It is rather uncomfortable, however, when someone you’re carrying is frantically flapping her wings and trying to wriggle out of your grasp. It is also even more annoying when said someone is desperately scratching at your suit - this doesn’t leave so much as a scratch, the powersuit is so much more durable than claws, but the prospect of it is still… irritating. 

Skeets doesn’t stop thrashing around after her first failed attempt to break free. She has to do something, she has no choice - how could she just let someone separate her and her kin? They were all she had left; they depended on her. They could be facing a fate far more terrible than starving to death in abandoned catacombs.

So she scratched. And she kicked and she flapped her wings and she tried everything she could to get away, get back to her group - to her people, whom she may never see again - until she could do it no longer. Until her body harshly reminded her that she was ill; that adrenaline alone is not enough to fight someone far stronger than you.

And so Skeets cried.

She wasn’t trying to accomplish anything with her tears. They weren’t a tool, or a message, or anything intentional at all - they were tears of frustration; tears of powerlessness; tears of anger and tears of giving up; they were the kind of tears that you simply have to cry, and there’s nothing you can do about it.

She did not expect her carrier to stop.

Samus was beyond capable. She was The Ultimate Protector, she was a top-class bounty huntress, she was an unmatched warrior; she’s been on the brink of death and came back, she has saved entire planets and, on the larger scale, the galaxy as a whole, she knew how to survive and get through the most hostile of environments, and then save the universe on top of that.

She had no idea what to do with feelings.

Even less so when she had no ability to verbally communicate. Samus understood that she had to do something, it has become apparent that the girl in her arms was in intense distress, and she couldn’t put it off until they’re at her ship anymore. Sure, she could just ignore the issue and keep walking to her ship, but that would likely only create more problems - ones she would have to deal with until she can find a way to communicate what she was doing. (Which would take weeks; she’d have to identify the girl’s species of find someone who could identify it, then find a translator or at least a textbook on their language, learn said language, all the while potentially fighting off a scared avian who she’s supposed to be treating so she wouldn’t die on her before they got to a hospital - it was clearly a better course of action to solve the problem now).

Regardless of how much Samus would like to get back to her ship and get this whole ordeal over with, she walks back to the merchants. The two doctors are standing at the entrance ramp, talking - no, gesturing, - to one of the rescued aliens. This must be one of the less sick ones - even so, one of the medics has her arm over his shoulder, supporting her weight. The other is holding up a small screen; when Samus gets closer, she can see that the screen is actually a drawing pad filled with doodles. The doodles are… ugly, but readable, and Samus takes note of this being a working form of communication - at least the alien seems a lot more calm and composed than the one currently shivering in her arms. Samus mirrors one of the doctors, carefully lowering her burden so she can stand - still, however, firmly holding her so she doesn’t fall. Even so, the girl can barely stand - but at the moment this was far less important than making sure she can get an explanation of what’s happening. 

It works - even without the help of the crude drawing of nine beds and ten stick figures (no offense to the doctor), the other person immediately starts talking in an unfamiliar language, the avian that Samus is holding answering in a hoarse, strained voice. Samus pretends her and the medic’s arms aren’t in the way when the two aliens awkwardly hug and put their foreheads together. She even ignores the fact that that’s a biohazard - honestly, she just wants to get outta here.

Which she eventually gets to do; finally being able to carry the exhausted alien girl to her ship, get her bed set up with medical equipment (she has to dig out an oxygen can), and leaving the planet. 

Samus charts a course to the nearest hospital and prepares an array of medications - from fever reducers to cough suppressants to an IV (all of the aliens are malnourished and dehydrated after spending a month in the ruins; the Space Pirates didn’t exactly provide them with a five-star buffet, if you know what I mean).

She makes peace with the fact that she’s going to sleep in her pilot’s chair for the next week, since her bed is taken; one thing that kind of compensates for this is the opportunity to research a species she’s never seen before. Samus is a nerd at heart (if Prime logs are any indication), so diving head-first into research is a nice way to spend her time while she has to care for her passenger. Besides, she’ll have to at least try to learn her language. Out of necessity, of course, simply to be able to communicate - this is what she tells herself, but we all know it’s not the only reason, haha.

Now, some closing notes for Act I: 

This storyline takes place after Fusion, but before Dread (closer to Fusion in the timeline). 

Samus definitely saw something vaguely resembling her suit in the doctor’s doodles. It was lopsided and had her arm cannon on the wrong side

The terranian they were communicating with is the leader of the hunting group; Skeets sees her as a mentor figure

Due to being a solely female species, terranians don’t really have a concept of gender. They don’t even have words for it (or men lmao) - when they need to describe a male specimen (like some insect or mammal that inhabits the jungle) they just say something like “non-female” or “opposite” or some other word (I’m still working on a better term for it bc I came up with this literally just now) (also this is completely unrelated to the storyline, just a fun lore fact)

This ship was born before I even knew what metroid was. A friend of mine was infodumping about it, and I thought: Hey, most people probably ship this Samus gal with other humans or themselves; looks to me like she needs a cute alien wife

And so Skeets was made. Literally because I decided to be Not Like Other Girls™ . You're welcome people✌️

-> Act II

[mybeingthere]

Taiwanese artist and jeweller Ching-Chih Wu (b 1988) is devoted to creating contemporary jewellery. Specializing in plique-à-jour enameling, chasing, repoussé and patina, Wu’s signature is combing enamel to break through the restrictions of metalworking techniques.

Most of his works are inspired by plants and insects from Taiwan.

Ching-Chih Wu studied artisanry at the National University of the Arts in Taiwan, working with metal, sculpture and design with enamel. His main techniques are Plique-à-jour, a technique with enamel on glass, Repoussé and Chasing, an artisanal embossing technique that creates ornamental relief figures on malleable materials like metal sheets or leather, and Patina, the oxidation of metals such as copper.

He won the Grand Prize at The 28th International Cloisonne Jewelry Contest, first prize at the “Itami International Craft Competition” in Japan and in 2014, the Grand Prix Award at the “Artistar Jewels Exhibition” in Italy.

[cockmancers]

You might enjoy David Graeber's Bullshit Jobs, which is basically a look at how "labor" changed from "artisanry" to "hourly work" and how as automation has developed, more and more white collar jobs have been made that are just make work. It's not exactly what you're looking for but it's a good jumping off point!

this sounds rly good, thank u! i def have thought about this topic before and it seems extra relevant with the advent of AI. makes u think

[layingeggs]

I am playing through Soul of Sovereignty Prelude at the moment and enjoying it muchly!

I particularly like the clocky clown. I have some spoilery thoughts. Though for those who are yet to play it, I certainly recommend if you want more clocky clowns in your life!

Honestly, irony and horniness aside, I do really like seeing cute girls in media who actually look like me. All these years I've debeated and read up on political theory on representation in media and it's still a novel and comforting feeling to actually be represented.

Now, spoilers under the read more.

They took her boobies! Her boobs fully disappear don't they? When she gets moidalised by the Voice. She goes to the Hollow Temple and tries to get the Sovereignty and she gets killed to death instead. And she dies.

Then we see her ghost. Her ghost is boobless! What's that about? Why is her ghost unbetitted like that?

I know she had *some* kind of magic that allowed her to change her appearance. This is my first playthrough and I'm only just picking up on the worldbuilding.

I think it was called Artisanry and was said to be a newly developed magic in the last city state of a dying world?

I like that they can have new and old magics developing like technologies. That's fun.

I can't remember if it ever said exactly what Artisanry is though. They did emphasise that Ysme is particularly good at it.

I wonder if the appearance change in the ghost is related to that. Does she have magic boobs. And in ghost form the enchantment wears off or she's just not in the mood to keep it going owing to her having been killed dead.

Further to previous comments on appreciated clocky clowns, if my initial thought is correct and she does in fact use magic to give herself big boobs and she has an unenchanted form where she's flat chested, then that means that she's not changing the rest of her body?

She also has somewhat narrow hips and broad shoulders. Not especially so but notably so. And she gives herself the big boobies but doesn't just change her whole body.

I really like that! That seems like a really cool character detail. It's probly what I would do if I had that magic honestly!

However, I don't know that that's what the explanation is. So maybe there's some other reason she has ghost no boobs. Maybe the Voice gave her top surgery for some reason. Probly not but I'll have to keep playing and find out more.

OH actually further thought. Maybe the boobybless thing isn't a literal mechanics of the hard fantasy magic system or whatever. Maybe it's more abstract. Like the reason why she doesn't have boobs as a ghost is because she's been stripped bare and made vulnerable. (Evil plans foiled. Killed and left as a ghost with her soul slowly slipping away. Entirely dependent on the innocent and naive men she originally intended to coerce and threaten into serving her.)

So as representative of that, we see her body revealed also. The way she is when naked and simply existing as herself, in contrast to the way she is when clothed and trying to present an idealised or safer version of herself to the world.

[kuramirocket]

Festival de Comunidades Extranjeras (Festival of Foreign Communities)

The Festival of Foreign Communities is a space for the artistic, cultural, ethnic and social expression of migrants from various countries of the world, who reside in Querétaro City and its surrounding areas. It allows the harmonious coexistence between foreigners residing in Querétaro and Mexican citizens, in a family and educational environment, through the following activities:

- Artistic shows

- Exhibition of country stands

- Gastronomic samples

- Artisanry exhibitions

Source

[narutopolls]

Fab village headband symbol?

[pallisia]

can artisanry or flower reading magic overclock its users/are there physical drawbacks for overuse of magic?

how else would i be able to realize the "overusing magic and passing out" part of loic's tales trope diagram

[windienine]

me: wow! in the ending, ysme without her glamours sure is drawn differently! and actually, on second glance, she's completely flat-chested without them. and that's true for her ghost mode too. huh. but not her goddess form. and she says she normally applies her glamours as soon as she wakes up. i guess it would make sense for her to be shy about loic seeing her naked, but it's interesting that there's this textual implication that she doesn't even like looking at herself without her artisanry illusions up--

me: ohhh okay

[dutchfoto]

Artisanry: Why I started working with clay and ceramics

Artisanry: Why I started working with clay and ceramics

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[forestmossling]

okay, no, hear me out. god is not a woman. god is the women. who created humanity as a whole? women, who gave birth to it. who created artisanry, who were the first storytellers, who created the first arts and were behind forming morality of the growing children? women. who were the first people tasked with transformative creation - cooking food, weaving clothes? women. who first comes to mind when i ask you who is the kindest person in your life, the one who unconditionally supports you in times of hardship, who guides your moral compass, whose disappointment you fear most, who inspires you to grow and be better? your mother? maybe your sister? your girlfriend, your wife, your female friends? so, like, women. (okay, i understand that this is more of a personalized experience and isn’t the same for everyone, but, you know, just as a concept, as a general societal expectation).

we don’t need to create a random man who creates and bestows grace, wisdom and kindness upon humanity, when we already have women and they’re absolutely wondrous.